Rumble of the Ruins (Treasure hunt-- Reward die at end) (Satoshi training: Katon and Int)

Once again Asura made his way out of Iwa towards the caves that occupied the span of the mountainous region of the Earth nation. He had traveled there a few times, and always at the opposition of the village authorities and adults-- including his own Master Roku. Still, Asura was an adventurer by nature. He loved to explore and try new things. It was why he snuck out of Iwa even just briefly that one time. He wanted to know the beauty of freedom.

Luckily for him, he had finished his training with Master ROku. Had he ditched training again, he would set his ass on fire. And not figuratively either. Asura left the safety of the village and was now moving up the dirt road heading for the caves. There were many paths and many caves. Some ended a few meters in, some networked through the mountains and some were unexplored.

The Earth Nation mined minerales and some of them were unused or even forgotten. ANd of course some were havens for the unsavory types in this nation. Bandits, thieves and other lowlives or dangerous beasts. Either way, the thrill of danger drew Asura like a month to a flame. Pun intended.

As he reached the top of the hill, he would look around, wondering where to start.

(219 words)

It was around 12 in the afternoon when Heise had left his teammates back at the House he’d created. He ended up close to the borders of Iwagakure as he could sense ninja all around him.
“Where are you going?” A voice said behind him. Heise quickly turned around and noticed Wukong was standing there.
“What the fuck ? Don’t scare me like that.” Heise said sulking over. Wukong could tell Heise was in a playful mood and was happy to see that. Lately, Heise had been gloomy and depressed but today was a good day.
“What shall we do today?” Wukong asked as he followed behind Heise.
“There’s some cave in these region with like bandits and monsters. I don’t know, I just wish to test my strength today.” Heise said with a smile over his face.
“Oi, the old testing of the strength.” He replied.

Around 1 Heise came upon a slope where he would run into the Asura kid again.
“Hey there Asura is it? How’s your training going?” Heise asked. Wukong looked at Heise who seemed to be very social.
“You know this kid?” Wukong asked.
“Yeah, He’s my little apprentice" Heise said with a laugh rubbing his head.

Asura was about to venture to the further ends of the northern mountain range-- till he heard a voice call out to him. This surprised him. At first, he thought it was Master ROku or perhaps one of his fellow academy students-- but no, it was someone older. Turning around, he found the stranger from last time Heise. ANd to top it all off... he had a large monkey with him.

"WHat the-- you followed me back here?" Asura said a bit defensively. He felt a bit unnerved by him but he soon gained some sense of control over his fright. "I am doing good. Your scrolls really helped. Hey I am not your 'apprentice'. Don't expect me to call you master or anything like that" he said strongly.

CLearly Asura was a very independent soul, and of course he found it hard to trust just anyone. IF he did find out he was Jiin, and might be as shady as he could imagine, he might want to rip out Asura's eyes for the Tengan. He couldn't let that happen.

Asura gave them a look, then calmed down. "Well what ARE YOU doing here? And what is with the freaky monkey? You running a zoo?" Asura jived, not really seeing the large monkey as a viable fighting companion.

After that pleasantry, Asura would turn to the caves around him. "Let me guess you came out interested to explore the caves or you doing something else here?" he asked.

(238 words)

Both Wukong and Heise were wondering why the kid was being so jumpy and defensive. It wasn’t like Heise was trying to follow the boy or spy on him. When Asura made the comment about freaky monkey Wukong flipped. His body completely became red and the fur ignited with fire. His eyes were also pouring out a orange aura into the sky.
“Oh boy, you called him a pet” Heise said as he placed his hands to cover his face. He knew he couldn’t stop Wukong’s temperament so he didn’t even try.
“I am not some pet boy! I am Sun Wukong of the Sun Monkey Clan! You will respect us Monkeys.” Wukong screamed. When he spoke it was as if his voice had been layered with that of a demon. Heise was on the floor laughing with amusement as his partner in crime had been reduced to a pet. When Wukong reverted back to his old form, Heise was now able to talk without being interrupted.
“Sorry, he has control issues” Heise said as he stood up from the floor. “But actually, Wukong here is training me in the fire release nature.” Heise said not afraid to expose his secrets.
“I’ve already mastered the earth and Water nature, as well as crystal release natures but Wukong and the Sun Monkey ninja believe there are two more elements that I have to learn to complete my Training. After I learn those two elements, I will be officially announced the Monkey Sage at a coronation.” Heise said. He wondered if the kid knew what it meant to be a sage. He shrugged it off in his head. If the boy wanted to know about sage mode than all he would have to do was ask. Heise was sure it would help the kid later on in life.

Asura did have the bad habit to mouth off to the wrong people sometime. In this case, a very odd and mighty monkey as he suddenly went ape-shit angry and became a fiery anger over him. Asura felt a sudden twinge of fright as the monkey took on a more demonic vistage. Of course, he looked at Heise and was baffled to see how he was laughing. The monkey quickly was growing angry, so Asura did the only thing he could.

Reaching into his pocket, he took out some of the food he packed for his journey into the caves and retrieved something from it. "You want a banana?" he offered in a casual tone, as if trying to meekly smooth things over with the monkey.

As things calmed down, it was soon revealed that Heinse was here in fact for training! He explained that he and the monkey-- WUkong or whatever his name was, had jutus that related to one another. It became clear that it was one of those summon or pet jutsu combinations. The two worked together in symbiosis in order to complete tasks. Asura had never seen that before. However, the concept of sages were lost on him. "Sage mode?" he asked.

The Only sage Asura knew of was his own Master Roku. The fellow Jiin mentor had been granted the title, "Roku the Red Sage" for his achievements in the past. He was most curious how he earned that title.

"Sage mode? I never heard of that, I'm afraid." he admitted. Still he was interested in exploring the caves further in. He had something in mind. There was one cave system that he had not found the end to. It was neither an old mine, or an animal den. It went back quite a ways and he had yet to see where it went. It was a wonder he intended to explore and perhaps find rarities in there.

(323 words)

Heise would burst forth into laughter when he saw Asura give the banana to Wukong. He calmed down and though bitter, he accepted the banana and ate it silently.
“Look’s like you found the way to the Monkey’s heart” Heise said with a bit of laughter. Asura didn’t speak much of the Sage mode so Heise decided to let it go. The wind picked up a bit and Heise felt his stomach grumble. He was a bit hungry but he was in the mood for adventure.
“Wukong share” Heise said as he snatched the monkey’s banana. Wukong growled but let him eat the rest of the Banana by himself.

“Asura, you’re an academy student right? Why are you out here all alone?” Wukong as he adjusted himself. Heise to looked up and to was interested.
“Yeah, Why are you out here. This is just as far as you were yesterday. But these are more dangerous parts” Heise said remembering what he had to do with Wukong to get here. It was only a few bandits but even thugs were dangerous when they wanted to.
“We need to get you back to Iwagakure kid.” Heise said placing his hand on his hip and giving the kid a look. Heise viewed the boy as a little troublesome brother.
“You feel something for the boy?” Wukong asked.
“Meh just don’t want to have to clean up the body while i’m out here.” Heise said. Wukong took a look at the boy.
“He looks like he’s capable of holding his own.” Wukong joked.

Seems the banana went over well. Silly monkey, indeed as he saw the two squabble over it a bit. Asura found it hard to keep his guard up against such people. Heinse commented how he smoothed things over with the monkey Wukong and Asura just smiled. "Eh, I'm good with animals." he commented as he put his lunch away back into his pack.

He was curious about sage mode but the topic soon drew away to the fact of why Asura was out there all alone. Asura took on a more firm look. They didn't seem to think him capable of being on his own for his age. "Hey I am only 13. I am not a little kid. Besides, this is Iwa territory. The entire mountain range here is pretty much my backyard." he explained, gesturing to the mountainside behind him. "I been coming here for years. I can handle myself just fine from the basic stuff that goes on here,"

Perhaps he was trying to sound tougher than he actually is, but Asura had a special talent for testing his limits and overcoming them. He had a strong will and never liked to be treated like he could not do anything. It was obvious to see the kid had a fiery nature and he wouldn't stay a 'kid' for long.

"The monkey has it right. I can hold my own... save for that psycho you had in toe yesterday," he pointed out. The academy was a small issue. "As for my academy... classes had been suspended for a long time. Lack of attention to us. I been under the training of my master from my own clan." Asura explained further.

Turning to the mountains, Asura looked at the nearby caves. "Anyway you came here to see the caves?" he asked.

(302 words)

Heise felt bad for the Kid, he had no one to talk to. Private lessons were never really fun unless he had friends. Heise could relate to the kid. Back when he was in the academy, he was trained by some old geezer for the most part. Being a genius would either get you hated or completely respected. He was completely hated. Heise sighed knowing he’d had to pay extra careful to kid and watch his back.
“Yeah” Heise said to Asura who had been asking about the caves. Wukong grabbed Heise and reminded him about his training.
“Don’t get to carried away. Emma told me to watch over your training.” Wukong said. Heise fell to the ground realizing he was being babysat by a monkey. Though Wukong did have good reason. The lava style techniques were strong and hard to use. From the way Wukong described it, Heise knew that they would drain a lot from his body.
“Alright. Asura. This is your town. Take me to the danger!” Heise shouted.

Asura overheard how the monkey was pretty much babysitting Heinse. Asura resisted the urge to laugh this time at that. Still, it was a very curious duo he was with. Realizing it was better to go with other people, he sighed and let it go. "Fine... you can tag along. Who knows, the monkey may make a good distracton for the beasts so we can get past them" he said half-joking , wondering how Wukong would react.

Asura seemed to be having a knack for wanting to aggro Wukong a little bit out of playful jest. He really didn't take the monkey too seriously for the moment. Still, he seemed nice all the same.

Following him, Asura showed them down the mountain trail and past a few of the landmarkers. Some trees, a waterfall and other markers he often visited. Soon, they reached the northern cave Asura had been thinking off. It was cast in the shadow of the mountain, making the entrance even more darker.

Opening his palm, Asura created a small flame to light their path. it was not a jutsu but a small trick that was a trademark to his clan. At least this way, they had some light in the tunnel. "I been through here before but not very far. There are numerous caves around Iwa. Old mines, animal habitats, the types from the village. There are more here than I probably explored... but its never dull," Asura explained as he ventured into the tunnel.

It was like an endless maw of a beast as Asura walked in fearlessly. He watched the wall to the right as he went in-- and soon he saw it, an X marking on the wall. It was his as he had left it last time. He took out a Kunai and then etched a small underlining to it, indicating the symbol. "So we don't get lost," Asura said as he proceeded forward. "So what is this training for, Monkey Man?" he said-- directed at Heise more than Wukong.

(338 words)

Wukong managed to give Asura a bonk on the head when he heard the comment about being a distraction. “I am a ninja. Not a play thing. Learn respect” Wukong yelled. Heise released a sigh. He couldn’t protect this boy from Wukong if he wanted. Simply because Wukong was physically stronger than Heise was and he only grew stronger for some reason. Heise knew about the correlation in their powers and the stronger he got the stronger Wukong got.

Heise and Wukong both joked about Shizou being a bit on edge as they both followed Asura down to the cave. The path was a beautiful forest where Heise felt at home easily. When the trio arrived a the cave Heise sulked.
“Aww shit. A cave in the shadow of a mountain? That’s never good.” Heise said noting that whoever put it there was hiding something.
“I’m going to break the 4th wall here and say whoever wrote that cave in wants me to die.” Heise said as he walked behind Asura. Wukong looked at Heise a bit confused.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Wukong said now getting annoyed.
“Don’t you get it Wukong? We are walking into danger! What the fuck do you think I am stupid? That I would knowingly want to die?” Heise yelled. Wukong stopped for a moment and grabbed some soil on the ground. Then he took the soil and turned it into mud. From their he would put the Mud over heise’s mouth where it would harden creating a bondage for Heise’s mouth.
“No more talking for you.” Wukong yelled. Heise stared at Wukong and then melted the mud from his face using the fire release.
“Fuck you monkey.” Heise said.

Heise watched as Asura placed the symbol placed on the wall. He nodded in approval still not saying much due to Wukong’s mistreatment. When Asura asked about his training Heise smiled and was delighted to tell him.
“Well, you see the Sun Monkey Clan are the 4th known sages right now. Their power comes from Sun Goku, Wukong’s dad, who has the ability to use Sage Class techniques and the Lava style. They Monkey clan is very particular when it comes to choosing sages. You have to be able to master their Lava style which is what I’m learning. The problem is for me, I already have two advance chakra natures. So mastering a 3rd basic chakra nature is really difficult for me. Not only that I have to mix the final natures which is again also difficult for me.” Heise said as he rubbed his head. Wukong had his mouth gapped open to Heise who just revealed all of his secrets.