"The Path We Blaze" -- The Akatsuki (Invitation: Shadow) (PVP-Peaceful OOC) (Lava Training X2 + Int)

The travel into the land of fire was not as perilous as Asura had thought as he and Ravana crossed the border. He would of thought they had to take it slow, to hide and keep their heads down before Iwa decided to catch up to them. However, it was possible they had other things to deal with. After all, Asura did leave Iwa in a mess after summoning Boss Byakko of all people. He literally tore Iwa a 'new one' in their escape from Deepground. No one was too happy to see the giant tiger... again.

Though having worked out his frustrations on the road thanks to Ravana, he now knew he had a ways to go before he could ever return to Iwa. Deciding to follow Ravana, who too was a long time rogue ninja, it was in his interest to stick with him. The older, white haired man who was as strong and big as a mountain-- led the way into the land of fire, as Asura soon felt a bit more at ease. He wanted to see more of the world, but didn't know it would happen like this. He had been to Konoha briefly, but he loved the time there surrounded by so much greenery. Here he was feeling a bit happier.

They were not heading towards the hidden village, but traveling along through Konoha, as they didn't have any place in particular to go-- except one place. The hidden tiger homeland where Asura got his contract with the Blood Vale tigers. He would return there in due time. For now, Ravana insisted they try to 'celebrate' Asura's new found freedom.

"Come on, quit pouting already. Do i have to smack some sense into your head again," Ravana bellowed as they walked down the dirt road.

Despite him feeling less sad and depressed about all that happened, it didn't restore Asura's jubilance as he used to. His cocky persona was stunned by the trauma of seeing his master die and the fact Iwa's minister wished him dead simply because he excelled in his training. All for the sake of 'order'.

If that was order, Asura would of preferred chaos. Hands down.

"I'm fine, really, Master Ravana," Asura said, getting a bit more used to calling Ravana his master.

Grinning at him, Ravana slapped Asura on the shoulder. "See. I told you things wouldn't be so bad. We had no trouble getting into Konoha. And trust me, kid. This place is alot better than that hole of your village." he said boastfully.

Asura had to admit, while he did miss his home and family-- he was always restless in Iwa and didn't enjoy being there so much. It felt like a prison to him to be stuck there, but now that was no longer the case.

As they soon reached a bend in the hill, Asura and Ravana had reached a small town. A trade center in the middle of a forest valley. It looked like a festive area, with stands and stores everywhere. Even from their place on the hill, they could see many people moving around down there.

"Heh... I think that would be a perfect place for us to rest," Ravana said, stretching his arms upward and cracking his neck. "We traveled far enough."

However, Asura rose his voice and grabbed hold of Ravana's arm. "W-wait a second! Hello? Do you think its smart to just waltz into a town like that?" he rose his voice in concern, his face showing his anxiety about being a rogue. "I'm a rogue ninja. If someone see's me-- hell if someone sees you as well-- we will have jounin on our butts before you can say "Wasabi". "

Ravana looked at Asura for a moment, and soon pulled his arm free from Asura's grasp. "Hmmm... now that I think of it..." Ravana led on, as if to seriously considering what his pupil said, "Wasabi is sounding rather delicious right about now."

THUD!! Asura fell to the ground on his side, stunned that his master was so single minded. "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME, YOU CRAZY OLD MAN!? "

This time, however, Ravana gave Asura a firm glare back as he spoke. "Will you calm down," he said in a firm tone. "First thing you gotta learn is that drawing attention to yourself is the worst thing you can do. To not do that-- you just relax and act like you belong there. And believe me, we do."  Ravana explained and soon waved a hand for his pupil to follow him into town. "People have a 'see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil,' outlook anyway. MOst won't go looking for trouble if they can help it. If trouble finds us, we can react to it then. For now, if we don't look for it, it won't find us. "

Asura's frustration dimmed as he grew less tense, realizing Ravana, despite his hedonistic outlook on life, was right in his line of thinking. "Yeah... I guess you are right."

"Like I said, if you run yourself ragged with worry, that will kill you faster than any kunai," Ravana said and turned to the small village down the hill. As he walked, he soon gave a wide smirk. "Besides, I heard good things about this town. They got hot springs here. Very popular with the ladies, and they allow mixed bathing...hehehe..." he said, marching on ahead.

At the last part, Asura stopped in his tracks and sighed, his head hanging low. "You and your ulterior motives..." Asura grumbled. Regardless of his master's behavior, he followed him nonetheless into town.

As ‘Shadow’ watch his brother jump down with his other six squad members not far behind in matching robes, heading towards the shrine in which they were to pay respects to Kokoro, he looked to the side to see two figures either approaching or passing by. He looked at Brad and nodded. Brad firstly closed his eyes, then used Byakugan, looking at the two from afar through his mask.
“Um… Lord Shadow… we have one of the two people there marked as a person of higher interest.” He said.
“Pinged by who?”
“You…” he said. Shadow has only done so to four people. Only one of them, he could see being here near the Uchiha complex.
“Mantan…” he said lowly. Shadow raised his left hand, and the four members that had remained with him sped off, heading towards the two figures. Shadow then created a portal, jumping through it.
The four, all in matching cloaks with a small Black Snake emblem at the chest, landed themselves in front of the two walking men, all with their masks active. Two of the four released the mask, revealing their faces and white hair, and Brad’s Byakugan. The other two, built men, kept their masks on, standing firm and strong.
A portal appeared behind them, revealing Shadow stepping through it.
“My apologies, Kage-Sama…” Brad said. “It’s just the young man from Iwa…”
“Very well…” Shadow said as he made his way to the forefront of his team. “Note to remove him from that list to just the observation list. Uchiha Mantan and his friends are really who I expected to see… very fancy meeting you here, young Asura… and with a new person? Where is your usual company?” he asked.
Hayabusa and his six followers could still be seen from afar at Kokoro’s shrine, matching the robes in which his 5 member squad had. It was clear that the twelve of them were together for the time being.
“The team is officially forming. That mean with the red hair all the way over there… that’s the ‘Leader’ that healed that tree last time we meant. Great guy. Potential is wasted on his nature to ‘care’…. That’s why we’re here today, so he can sob about the loss of his girlfriend…” he said. He began to chuckle a bit. “Weak…” he continued to chuckle. Brad cut his eyes towards him. Shadow saw. “What? I’m sorry…” he said. Clearing his throat. He then observed the boy. “Hmmmm… is that a scratched headband I see…” he said. “Did that tragedy cause you to go rogue? Was it a government issued massacre? Same thing happened to my people, here, ages ago…” he said, looking at the Uchiha complex.
[451|451]

Asura and Ravana continued down the path, intending to reach the village down the hill. THings were quiet for the time being-- till suddenly movement caught both their attention. "Seems we have company," Ravana said, half amused rather than surprise or on guard. The man didn't even reach for his katana.

Asura however did in surprise as he saw masked men appear-- thinking they were tracker shinobi, specifically from his home or Konoha. Asura looked aorund, seeing a few of them and finally a portal opened up. A space time jutsu of some kind. As Asura bared his teeth out, prepared to strike-- he saw another masked man, and this one rubbed him the wrong way, as he felt he seen him somewhere before.

As the masks came off-- he knew it. "YOU!" Asura said, almost losing his guard. Shadow-- the man who saved him from the attack against his clan. It seemed this guy was both helpful and a smug pain in the ass as well.

The mention of Mantan however, made Asura a bit more guarded. "What?! How do you know about Man--" Asura stopped himself, biting his tongue lightly. That information was classified! It came back tohim like a brick to the head. The time when he was sent back in time to the 4th shinobi war, and how Mantan tried to alter history by becoming the 10 tails Jinchuriki. With the aid of Sauske and Naruto-- Asura was a valid assist in Mantan's death, and the defeat of Kaguya.

But no one should of known about it! No one should of known about that man since it was now a different era-- a different time line. How in the world did Shadow know of him?!

For now though, he just continued to focus on what he COULD answer. Despite the pain of him now being a rogue shinobi. "Well this is my usual company,"

Ravana stepped up and raised an hand towards the shinobi. "Name's Ravana the Ravenous," he said in a boastful voice. "Nice to meet you. So you're Shadow, eh? Heard about your exploints in Iwa." he complimented.

Asura glared back at his 'sensei', hating how laid back he could be. "Don't encourage him!" he replied.

And finally, the topic turned to Asura's headband--- the rogue symbol scratched there. Asura instinctively hid the headband back behind his arm, keeping it away from sight. It seemed that both Shadow too was a rogue as well... but just cause they were rogue, didn't mean they were trusted allies as well. Asura continued to keep his guard up.

"I don't know what you know what the hell transpired in Iwa. If you had stuck around, you probably would of known," Asura said firmly, "I am sorry about your own loss, but there is nothing you could understand as to what happened. "

Even though Kage seemed to be acting nice, the scars on Asura's psyche was still fresh. Even with the training Ravana taught him about the new inner gates that spared him the pain of the burning desire for revenge... the events in Iwa was less than a month ago and he still was a fugitive on the run. And he still didn't trust Kage.

At least not at this moment.

Even so the fact he knew about Mantan raised a concern to Asura-- someone who held the memories of the previous timeline somehow. Just who the hell was this Uchiha??

“You know Mantan? Hmmmm… you’ve managed to grasp my interests now in a scale far beyond prior times. The better question would be, how do YOU know him. You see, we belong to the same clan, him and I. I want to fight him… I need to measure his strength… his power. I haven’t met too many active Uchiha Shinobi; he, however… he had been accompanying somebody that I’ve studied for quite some time.” Shadow said to himself. This person had been Orochimaru; that was information that he would keep to himself for the time being. “Anyway… ran into him once; during the attack on the Major Countries. I want to measure my power compared to his. Do you know how to get in contact….” He asked. Just as the other man came up to shake hands, Shadow began to outstretch his arm. This revealed the Black Snake that is always wrapped around it. Just before he stepped forward, Brad cut in.
“Hmmmm… Ravana…” he took his hand and shook it, gripping tight. “The name’s familiar… the look is familiar… have you ever visited the springs of Kiri? Perhaps maybe a decade ago?” he began in conversation. Just then, an explosion from where the other now ten Gesshoku Akatsuki members had been had interrupted him. He saw first a Golden Aura Susano’o. He then saw ‘Hayabusa’ from afar, with his exposed torso and on a sand cloud, approaching this Susano’o. He began to think to himself.
‘We’ve been here for merely five minutes and he’s already in a battle… with a Mangekyou user… at a funeral… Kokoro’s funeral… in Exposed Torso mode… what the fuck am I missing over there?’ Shadow looks at Brad, who activates his Byakugan.
“It’s Lord Hayabusa fighting… it looks like the Uchiha who always hung around The Monkey…”
“Hmmmmm… perhaps he played a part in Kokoro’s death…” he began. “Ah well… He has that handled I’m sure. Anyway…” he turned back to the two. “Mantan?”
[330|781]

The situation now was troublesome for Asura as he heard the distant sound of combat further in the depths of the woods. He didn't know what was going on but there was both a clash and friendly banter with Ravana and some of Shadow's men.

Either way Asura was up between a rock and a hard place-- as this guy had knowlege of Mantan and demanded an answer regarding him. A silent gulp escpaed asura. What was he going to do? What details could he say-- but it was clear he had to tell him, and tell him as close to the truth without revealing the time-traveling troubles he caused.

Ravana awaited too, unsure what was going on-- but then Asura spoke up. "I know Mantan. He was an enemy on a mission I was on. I hate to break it to you, but I killed him. He's dead." Asura said plainly and to the point, being as clear and concise as possible.

Despite his straight face, he still held the hilt of his blade, afraid to imagine the Uchiha's reaction. Who knew. The guy might not even believe him. Still, with so many rogue shinobi around him-- Asura was concerned if saying nothing would only make matters worse.

Shadow looked at the younger man now, still with the same look on his face. He then turned around, visibly gripping his fists. He left his right hand up to his head, as if to grip in sorrow. He then began to shake. But, surprisingly, this shake was a little bit of laughter. A chuckle, that became an all out laugh.
"HA! Hahahahah...." Shadow turned and looked at him. He cleared his throat. "Hmm... my apologies. Honestly, young Asura... I had hoped to fight him myself. He ran with one of the greatest to have ever lived..." he implied Orochimaru. He almost had to fight himself to avoid saying 'And not died'. "Ah... Mantan you disappoint, cousin. Very well..." Shadow looked at the other four. Brad pulled back on the other man's shoulder, and the other three formed a circle around the two, as if they were forming a invisible barrier around them.
"May I have this dance?" Shadow said, as he bowed to the young man before him, and backed up. "You see... if I cannot measure his strength by fighting him, I must simply guesstimate by fighting his killer. If I can beat you, I could've beat him, a step closer to rightfully claiming the Uchiha Clan Master... or at least the right to appoint one." Shadow stood upright. "How about this... Battle me. I beat you; you join our ranks... you continue to intrigue me. I must watch how you continue to evolve. You beat me... hmmmm... how about enough money to get you far away from this place, provide you safe passage whereever it is you want to retreat to. You would never have to worry about being caught again. You'd be able to call on us a few times to deliver any resources... Then again; you'd get that whether you win or lose... really, it's a win win. What do you say?" Shadow asked, keeping his arms down to his side.
[326|1107]

The tension was clear and Asura prepared for the worst-- but it then came out to it. SHadow erupted in laughter. Asura had a look on his face between confusion and anger-- cause he hated being laughted at. As things got weird-- he asked 'may i have this dance'. A horrified look cross Asura's face-- misunderstanding SHadow's intent. "DA HELL! I DON'T SWING THAT WAY, you FREAK!!" thinking the guy was trying to hit on him.

Ravana scratched his chin. "Don't be surprised, kid. You got a hot sexy little body. I wouldn't be surprised if you attract people like him,"

"DON'T YOU GET FUCKING WEIRD ON ME TOO!!" Asura snapped at his master as well.

Clearly that wasn't the case as Shadow explained further. He wanted to test his strength-- and since he couldn't fight Mantan as he wanted, he was going to settle for the man responsible for his death. Though for Asura, it was a half truth. He aided in his death, but he didn't stand a chance against him at the time-- due to the fact he was infused with the Ten Tails and his Yin-Yang release made almost all of his jutsu useless!

The humor of the homophobic jokes was over as Asura faced Mantan, considering the audience of his minions. Something about him proving his strength to be the master of his clan-- not that Asura saw the logic in it. And so came the offer. If he lost, he would have to join their group-- the same offer Asura had gotten before. This time, it didn't sound so bad-- but if he won, he would help him escape the bounty of the nations. Either way, win or lose it sounded like a good deal.

Plus Asura did want to wipe the smug grin from Shadow's face.

"Heh... sounds like a good deal, either way you slice it," Asura said with a smirk, now understanding the situation. He wished he could of done it somewhere more convenient, but this would do. Despite his rogue status, he was still a shinobi and stronger than he was before. "Alright, smart-ass. But word of advice to you-- even for the Uchiha... play with fire, even your kind will get burned."

With that, Asura drew his sword. With a spin of the handle, he had it flip in the air and snatched it out from its movement, a flashy form of drawing his blade for battle. He dragged his footing back, entering a fighting stance to be ready.

A thunderous laugh escaped Ravana as the great white-haired man slapped Asura's back, almost knocking him over. "Ahaha... this should be fun,"Ravana said, agreeing to see a fight between these two. "Alright, give em hell, Asura. I'll just see how you do from over here." With that, Ravana appraoched the allies of Shadow, curious to see them. "Hey any of you got any popcorn or sake! I wanna enjoy myself watching this!"

As Ravana proceeded to pretty much get a good seat to see the fight, Asura knew that things were going to get hectic really quickly. He took a deep breath, clearing his mind of distractions, and then opened his eyes towards Shadow. "Let's go..."

(OOC: Battle will begin from this point. Naturally you have the higher Dex, so you are starting first unless you don't want to)

Christine kept a straight face at the misunderstanding. The two that remained masked looked at each other and shook their heads. Brad, still near Ravana gave a small chuckle. Shadow was glad the boy agreed, finally.
“Hmph…” Shadow smirked. “Be sure to keep that sense of humor.” He said, in reflection to Asura’s getting burned pun. Shadow raise his arms, slightly bent over, baring yet no weapon with his hands; only his body showed, the gourd on his back, and the katana at his left hip.
“Actually…” Brad pulled a gourd from with his cloak, held at his hip usually. “Sake, I have… popcorn, I do not. But if we drink Sake long enough, we can pretend its popcorn! It won’t begin to taste like popcorn or anything… but we can still pretend!” He said, as he took a swig and offered it to the next man.
Shadow slowly closed his eyes, then opened them, revealing his Fully Awakened Sharingan eyes. “Let’s…” he said, before he quickly began to weave hand signs. He then points his left hand at his opponent, continuing to weave signs with his right. From the points of his fingers, a shot of water at high speeds had begun to head towards Asura.
[207|1314]

”Actions (2 Max)”:

”Uchiha Shadow Stats (Chidamari Bunshin)”:

The member 'Hayabusa' has done the following action : Dice

---

'Battle Dice' : 10

Asura Stats wrote:

O Level: 74| Exp:5,466/7400
O Total Exp Earned: 285808
O Action + Reaction Gauge: 3 & 3
O Ranking: Jounin
O Shinobi Type: Asura

O Health Pts: 480/480 [480]
O Chakra Gauge: 3203/3203
O Stamina Gauge: 1591/1591
O Soul Gauge: 1748/1748
O Mind Gauge: 100% [Healthy]

O Chakra Control: 100%
O Nature Control: 000 % (Unlocked)
O Bijuu Control: LOCKED

O Strength: 602  (662)
O Endurance: 605 (+15 Gear)
O Dexterity: 614 (+45 Gear) ) (674)
O Intelligence: 1748

Active Style: The Fighter's Edge. Tai-ken Style
A balanced fighting style that utilize the combination of Taijutsu combos along with the use of a blade. Users of this technique rely on fighting with their bodies as well as the extra support of a sword, increasing their defense and offense. Originally created by a street fighter from Kumo.
Type: Passive + Offensive-- when wielding one handed sword.
Limit: N/A
Effect: Strength and Dexterity + X 1.10.  Adds (Sword DMG + X1.20 ) to Taijutsu DMG.  
Requirement & Restriction: Must use a one-handed sword in combat.  

Weapon:
[- + - Shinkou - >

> Asura's personal weapon. A skillfully crafted tantō/ short katana of the highest quality. A silver-colored blade with flames engraved upon it with a light red hue. The light curve of the blade allows for agile combat. Red cloth is wound around the handle with bit of golden filigry. Not the same as the gold ingots but to bring out a shine to it. The handle part that divides the hilt from the blade has the engraving of the Jiin clan on it-- the three flame pattern crest.
+ Effect: Damage: 35 + Chakra Storage Added & Cap +250. Katon DMG x1.15 & Sunder Negated (Ruby)

The battle was on as Asura took a fighting stance with his sword. It was odd he couldn't see any noticeable weapons on Shadow-- but of course that didn't mean they were not there. Of course he did notice the gleam of his eye. The Sharigan activate and the tonri pattern appearing. He knew it was dangers to look in his eyes, so he kept his observation fleeting at best as he could.

What was more immediate was the fact he wove hand signs and created a blast of sharp water aimed at him-- the kind that could slice through material like a blade!

However, that didn't phase Asura in the least. "Do you really think I don't know my own weaknesses?" he said as he wove hand signs of his own. Upon finishing, he slapped a hand down on the ground. "Doton! Dochubaku!!" The ground suddenly heaved and quaked as his chakra effected the earth below him-- causing a series of stones and ground to jump from the earth below them. The flow of earth easily met with the blast of water-- and soaked it up.

When it came to elements, Asura had familiarized himself with the relations to each one-- one of the most valuable lessons Master Roku taught him. Having knew fire was weak to water, Asura choose to learn earth to use against water, being its natural weakness.

With Shadow's initial attack thwarted, Asura was free to act now. Taking a deep breath he closed his eyes for a moment-- and upon opening them, the irises of them changed into the tribal sun design. The Tengan was now active in Asura, allowing him to use his clan's abilities to the fullest. While not as strong or as fabled as the Sharigan-- Asura knew he could match it with his own skills. He didn't know everything about the Sharigan but he knew enough.

With another elegant and flashy spin of his blade, Asura grabbed it once more-- and this time, it began to glow. Asura funneled his chakra into his sword. On its own, his short katana was rather flimsy of a weapon and hardly useful in battle in comparison to others-- but Asura designed a unique fighting style of his own, using both the sword and the power of taijutsu. Further, Asura had created this very sword-- using chakra metal to allow it to store and grow stronger with chakra introduced from its wielder. The once flimsy sword was now far stronger than it was on its own.

"I'm going to enjoy finally getting the chance to KICK YOUR SMUG ASS!!" Asura roared and charged forward. He kicked off the ground and charged right for Shadow!

What followed was something unexpected. A form of Taijutsu that Asura developed around both the flow of the blade and his own body. Asura's charge was followed by a long sweep of his right leg towards Shadow's face, a punch towards the man's left shoulder with his free hand, a sweep of the left leg towards his legs to trip him up-- and finally with a dizzying slash of the sword downward upon Shadow-- attempting to throw him off with the physical hits.

While on its own, Taijutsu might of not been as fearsome as Shadow's ninjutsu-- but with Asura's use of combo techniques, he had transformed his Taijutsu into a formidable force!

Action and Reaction wrote:

Reaction 1: + - Doton: Dochubaku - Earth Style: Landslide - >
> Gravel and large rocks will shoot from the ground causing them to fall from the sky like a landslide.
+ Chakra & Stamina Cost: 230 (196) & 81
+ Type: Offensive
+ Hand Seal(s) + Rank: 3 + C
+ Damage: 150
Used to counter water jutsu--negate.

Action 1: Activate Tengan : 60 (51) [To Activate] 30 [Per Turn] | 15 [To Activate] 10 [Per Turn]  link +4 to rolls/evasion

Action 2: To Flow Chakra-- Weapon. 250 Chakra into Chakra Blade for battle.
+ - Iku Chakra - To Flow Chakra - >
> Transfer chakra into object, or body part to give an extra boost in something that is missing.
+ Chakra & Stamina Cost: "250" & Chakra Cost x.65 = 88
+ Type: Supplementary
+ Hand Seal(s) + Rank: 0 + C
+ Effect: "X" Into 1 (Nexus) Attribute & Use of Chakra Weapons.  (Weapon now 285 dmg)

Action 3: + - Red Beast - >
> Delivering a series of whirling punches and kicks, followed by a decisive slash of one's sword. Dizzying and beautiful to the naked eye.
+ Stamina Cost: 225 (191)
+ Type: Offensive
+ Rank: C
+ Damage: 125 + sword DMG.
Calculation: Sword:285 +125 + STG: 662 + Style:  Adds (Sword DMG + X1.20 )285 +20% = 342
Total: 1,414 dmg. DICE ROLL FOR THIS.
+ Requirement + Restriction: The Fighter's Edge - Taiken Style

O Chakra Gauge: 2706/3203
O Stamina Gauge: 1216/1591
O Soul Gauge: 1748/1748
O Mind Gauge: 100% [Healthy]