Chapter 34: Iwa Defensive Will of Stone

Quest:

"The Will of Stone..." Naga ran these words over and over through his head as he walked through the busy village. It was a beautiful day outside, one of those days that would have felt wasted if spent indoors between four walls. The Will of Stone was something that he heard before from various shinobi within the village. Truthfully, he always thought it was just gibberish that they mumbled. "...Still sounds like mumbo jumbo to me still." Naga would continue to be lost in his own thoughts in an attempt to come up with a reasonable meaning behind this phrase.
"H-H-Heeeeelp!!" the sound yell for assistance broke Naga out of his thinking trance. Normally he would continue walking and mind his own business, but the severity of the yell demanded that he help. Naga began to rush towards the direction from which the yell came from. He gave a sharp whistle as he ran, causing Kenji to appear suddenly behind him. "I'm glad to see that you are ready to go Kenji. It has been quite some time since we got to see some actually action." Naga said Kenji, whom bellowed with excitement. [196 words | 196 total words]

Naga arrived just in time to see a group of teenagers standing above a frail old man. From the looks of it they were trying to rob him. Naga quickly began to analyze the situation. Although, he couldn't understand why anyone would rob an old man, whom already looked like he didn't have nothing of value anyway. "Hey guys, looks like we have another target to get our chump change from." one of the teens stated. Naga quickly assumed that he was the leader, giving that he was more assertive that the others. Naga let out a annoyed sigh. "Why does it seem like the Village is overpopulated with you airheads?" The teens weren't threatened by Naga's words. If anything they were amused by them. "Oh, and a loudmouth to boot. Its going to be fun shutting you up." Naga began to count his opponents as the leader of the riff raff began to speak again. Naga hardly paid him any attention. "You know this is getting kind of played out. I could have sworn that I killed someone like you not too long ago. But...." Naga stated back to the group. "Six... There are six of you. Including the one hiding in the shadow." [209 words | 405 total words]

The five boys all had an expression of shock on their face as they listened to Naga speak. "I first I thought maybe you where the leader." Naga said, pointing at the boy whom he previously assumed was the mastermind. "But I can see know that this guy is much more skilled than the rest of you." Naga was speaking in regards to the amount of chakra he could sense coming from the shadows. However, when compared to his own his was at least five times that amount. "Just when I was starting to think that today would be just another cliché fight between a group of arrogant teens..." Naga said with a grin on his face. The young man stepped from the shadows and revealed whom he was. His black hair was rather long for a males. It was easy to mistake him for a girl, his young looking face also seemed to add to his feminine appearance. He stood before Naga looking him down. Naga assumed that he, along with the others, that 18-19 was the approximate age range of this group. "Impressive, and here I thought this village was nothing scrubs and uptight monks. Now I can see that there is somewhat some talent in the pathetic excuse for a village." [215 words | 620 words total]

Naga didn't say anything after this stranger began to discredit, not only Nagakoto, but his village and clan as well. Naga stood silent, glaring at the young boys arrogant words. By this time the old man had stood up and managed to hide behind some trash and trash cans. The wind blew slightly, adding on to the silent tension. For a moment Naga tuned out the noise from the hustle and bustle of the busy streets and gave this situation his full and undivided attention. It was silent for a little while longer. The young man's long black hair waved as the wind blew. His face was just as expressionless as the stone that the builds where made from. "I think that its safe to assume that you aren't from here." Nagakoto said calmly. The young man nodded. "Correct, I am not from here. Truth be told we really don't have a home. We just go where we please and take what we what." Naga shook his head and began to chuckle. "So what makes you think that you can just wonder with my village and disrespect its citizens?" Naga said as his Tengan began to activate. One of the teenagers who had managed to keep his mouth shut this whole time decided that now would be a good time to say something. "Your village? Since when were you made Kage? After the last one died? Even your leaders are a bunch of scrubs. Some Villa-" [250 words | 870 total words]

Seemingly right on queue Kenji busted through the debris on the opposite side of the of alleyway. Without missing a beat, Kenji charged one of the teens, in particular the one that decided to open his mouth. Kenji effortlessly picked up the young man by his horns and began to charge at a wall in order to pin him down, however given Kenji's strength it was more likely going to result in the teens death. The young man let out a cry for help towards his friends. However, they were still in shock that a raging bull was in the vicinity. The leader seemed like he didn't care what happened to him. Naga observed the face that leader man and then shifted his sight to kenji. He could have easily told Kenji to not kill him, but pin him down instead. Naga decided that if this leader didn't care about his grunt's life then neither did he. Kenji slammed the teen against the wall with such force that blood fired from his mouth and on to the streets. The other teens looked on with horror as they helplessly watched their friend lose his life. Naga extended his arm out, as if to grab something. "Let me give you a quick lesson on Iwa. We are all willing to die for what we believe it. Without question we are the most dedicated shinobi in the world." A staff quickly fried up from the ground and into Naga's hands. He twirled the staff around behind him and extended his opposite hand towards the teens, with his palm facing them. Using his extending hand he made a single hand seal, causing a cloud of smoke to appear around him. Once to smoke cleared Naga was dressed in his typical battle armor and mask. "And I am part of the Jiin Clan. We exist to extend the will of Iwagakure by any means necessary."[325 words | 1,195 total words]

The fight between the rowdy teens did not last very long. Naga and Kenji were very meticulous in making sure that this old man was the last one that they would ever torture and abuse. The old man thanked both Naga and his pet bull before running out of the alleyway into the crowded streets of Iwagakure, leaving Naga to reflect on his actions. It was a surreal feeling, normally killing was second nature to him and not really something that he would contemplate. "Not so long ago, I had a problem with killing. It was something that I would honestly try to avoid, but look at me now." [109 words | 1304 total words]

Naga looked down at his hands, although in the literal sense they were clean, the amount of blood that was on his hands was a clear indication of the type of man he was becoming. "I suppose that this is what the 'Iron Will of Stone' is. Most would like to think that it is defending Iwa from all of her enemies, but what happens if her enemies are citizens of Iwa? Am I still protecting the village but slaughtering those same ones I set out to protect?" Although he was questioning his action, at the same time he approved and accepted the life that he has chosen for himself. |110 words|

Naga and Kenji soon left the bloody and corpse filled alleyway. The fact that Iwa allowed him to get away with such things only added to what he already thought about himself. "I suppose if I am going to be a cold blooded killer I might as well do it under the guise of "The Iron Will of Stone", right Kenji?" Naga said with a smile that fronted a attitude of cold and indifferent logic. Despite everything Naga's attitude started to go back to his usual carefree tone. "I guess I should go tell someone of what happened here. I wouldn't want a little old lady to see what has happened here and go hysterical." |117 words|

Naga would find a village shinobi and explained everything that transpired in the alleyway. The village shinobi, looked a little annoyed, Naga really didn't care. He shrugged his shoulders and continued walking down the streets. Being in the Jiin Clan truly had its advantages. "I guess its time for more training, Kenji." Naga stated to his pet as they headed back towards he Jiin Compound.

Deep inside the Jiin Compound Naga was meditating around a circle of candles on tall stands. The way to train and awaken the Tengan differs from each member in the Jiin clan, manipulating the particles in fire is how Naga's Tengan was awakened and thus he found that it was the most effective way for him to train. |125 words|

The fires around him danced and slowly began to change color. First from the regular orange color, then to purple, and finally to blue. Such is the ways of the Jiin's Tengan.



However, before Naga could go too deep into his meditation he began to feel a presence nearby. Normally, this wasn't anything he would worry about, but the chakra that he felt was new and unfamiliar. "Impossible, how could someone sneak in? This is one of the most secure places inside the whole village." Naga thought to himself as he stood up from his position and prepared himself. Shortly after noticing the presence, Naga could make out a shadow in the hallway. |115 words|