Silence fell like a blanket within the confines of the dimly lit hall, the spacing between the torches that were the only light source were too far apart to provide facial recognition of the many cloaked figures kneeling at attention, their heads bowed as they paid their respects to a figure shrouded in shadows and mystery sitting on a throne. A certain degree of self-control had been obtained by each and every member as they remained motionless and inaudible, something akin to a statue if you will, for the better part of an hour. Then without warning, the only entrance and exit to the hall had flung open, the sound of sandals meeting the stone floor echoed with each passing step.
Bang - The sound of the big wooden doors shutting behind the newest arrival to the hall cracked like thunder cutting through the silence like a hot knife through butter, despite all the commotion that occurred the cloaked figures remained unwavering.
Walking up the center aisle, the young shinobi seemingly parted the sea of cloaked individuals before coming to a complete stop and kneeling before the man on the throne. With his head angled downward the short blonde haired male kept his hazel eyes fixated on the cold stone floor as he awaited further instruction to the presumed leader, like those whom were cloaked he dared not move. Minutes had passed before the veil of silence which previously occupied the hall was broken, from behind the chair a soft but fierce purr sounded as a black tiger with various white stripes made its way around to the left side of the throne. The man on the throne extended a hand intercepting the big cat's head, immediately it lowered its head and opened its mouth to the young boy before him, its tongue unraveled revealing a scroll to which the boy took into his grasp.
"Good evening, my very young prodigy… Yet, what is age when you are The Apex Predator… Are you not at the top of the food chain?... The single being who holds no fear to others?... Haha, no need for an answer now… Time shall tell, but… In the mean time, you have your orders… You are dismissed"
The man's voice was cold, icy even, able to send chills down the backs of those who opposed him and innocent bystanders a like. Yet, his words were very much true. Who did he, Rōarku Puredetā, have to fear any if he had conquered his fears and silenced himself along with all unneeded emotion? There was no correct answer to this question, but a suitable answer accepted by the caramel mocha skinned toned skin shinobi lied within time. Time would be the deciding factor for all, for shinobi it would come quicker than with others. Without another word said or exchanged Rōarku assumed his full height before nodding to his sensei, turning on his heels he escaped the confines of the hall.
The moon lingered in the starry night's sky, it's luminescent rays able to shine as free as possible due to not a single cloud in sight, to many this would be considered beautiful, but to Rōarku this was a hindrance to his most current missions. The concept of the mission was based in stealth, thus the more viewable that he was made the more of an increase in a chance for failure did the mission have. Surprisingly, this fact did nothing to demoralize the spirits of the young boy, rather it did the opposite, like with many hindrances and bumps on the road Rōarku simply took this as an even greater challenge.
Unbeknownst to the uninitiated, the Foundation's headquarters had multiple entrances and exits rooted beneath the surface of the ground, these paths snaked and crisscrossed every which way making it impossible to navigate or outsiders, but Rōarku managed to make his way from the hall on the western end of the headquarters to the exit on the eastern end of the village without fail. Upon passing through the invisible barrier leading from the Foundation's headquarters the chilled air smacked Rōarku on the face, a certain chill coursed down the length of his spine, brought upon not by the air, but by the Thrill of the Hunt. Though his mouth was hidden, the devilish smile he wore shone through his eyes as he started in a slow stride before fully sprinting into the night in pursuit of his newest mission.
"Hmm… From the information that I've been briefed with the Lobos Gang's hideout shouldn't be far from here… I've already exited the village on the Eastern side… Shouldn't be long now… Failure. Is. Not. An. Option."
Nose deep within the scroll outlining the details of his mission, Rōarku used his enhanced senses to navigate the intricate pattern of the trees as he began memorizing his assignment, soon this information was to be destroyed for outside knowledge of the operation was strictly forbidden. All movement ceased as Rōarku feet met with a thick and sturdy branch, placing a hand to the trunk of the tree he began channeling his chakra evenly throughout his body enhancing his sense of touch.
Blip - like a rock being thrown repeatedly into a still pond causing ripples to rush to make their way to the shore, vibrations originating far off had traveled back to Rōarku alerting him of someone's presence.
"There, I’m certain... There it is again, stemming from the North East… Ahh, yes… Multiple occurrences means multiple combatants… Oh how I love the Thrill of the Hunt!"
The safety net that were his enhanced senses had given Rōarku new insight on the subjects of his mission, the Lobos Gang's location and their numbers became ever clearer as the young shinobi approached the hideout. A three story building, shabby in appearance, stood behind the very loose guarding off a metal gate, in some places there were dents even in its frame. Either they were simply cheap or confident in their abilities, Rōarku would soon find out as he passed over the gate and made his way around the backside of the building. That same spine tingling feeling that he felt at the start of his mission had made its way back and his eyes began to twinkle in the same fashion, the mere thought of a challenge was enough to wake him from a deep sleep, but being in the mix of things was nearly orgasmic. His body convulsed uncontrollably as he used the most basic of shinobi techniques to scale the building and enter through an open window.
"The time is now… Due or die… Will I die here or will I be able to continue the pursuit in search of the true extent of shinobi life?... No… I have a purpose, the Thrill of the Hunt shall not die with me…"
The window from which Rōarku entered had not been chosen because of its availability, but merely because of the sounds stemming from it. Snoring loudly, laid out nude spread eagle across the bed, and crushing the very sole of a young doped up female. The scene at hand was sad to say the least, but times for emotions were long lost, thus he removed a kunai from his pouch and spun it on his finger by the ring at the end before catching it in his right hand. The daggered point sliced clean across the man's jugular vein causing a mass of blood to usher out, his free hand had grabbed a pillow and pressed it against the man's mouth muffling any sounds from being heard.
"3… 2… 1… You are not worthy of my study…" No sooner had he finished his thoughts did the man's body grow limp, the blanket and linen sheets became stained with the man's blood, and the poor female remained doped up lying there in the accumulating pool. A side note placed on his mission(s) was to ensure the safety of any sex slaves within the hideout, thus grabbing a hold of her leg he removed her from underneath the engorged body of the deceased Lobos Gang member and simply on the floor.
"There are bound to more about the place… Hopefully not as heavily drugged as this one… The clock's ticking, I need to move quicker…"
One gang member was successfully executed, but by his count there were seven more awaiting his unsuspecting arrival and that didn't include Tai Hachi, thus he coated the soles of his sandals and the palms of his hands with chakra which allowed the young shinobi to navigate the interior walls and ceilings of the building silently and undetected. Following the sounds of drunken laughter mixed with banging on a table, Rōarku made his way from the second floor down to the first floor. The scene at hand depicted the five men sitting around a sake soaked table playing a game of cards, the same amount of women were either sucking their necks or doing the same to their johnsons, then there was the eleven year old with his kunai still in hand dripping blood on the floor as he stood in the doorway.
"Hey? What's that chocolate bar doing in the doorway? I think it's melting or something? Do ya see it?"
Doped up to the highest degree, one of the women was the first to make notice of Rōarku which alerted the rest of the group, her mistaking him for a chocolate bar almost brought a chuckle from the boy, but this quickly subsided as he dodged a chair which exploding into pieces as it hit the wall behind him. With this action, The Hunt was on! The boy's unique chakra began circulating throughout his body, specifically working on the specially developed sweat glands that his body's housed, the contents of these glands around the entirety of the users body began to boil rapidly increasing Rōarku's base temperature from 121ºF to 212ºF.
Blump -This gift blessed upon him by his unknown lineage had at that moment became a living hell for one of the Lobos members as the sound of his fist making contact with Rōarku's chin filled the air. Unfortunately, . . . For the attacker, the boy's body went nowhere, seemingly absorbing the blow and transferring the increased temperature over onto the fist. The lobos member retracted his fist as he began to succumb to the effects a first degree burn.
"Hmph… A pussy hit…"
The first strike had been dealt among those within the room, thus in every right the eleven year old shinobi had every right to defend himself. Hmph… And so he did. Erupting from the ground, Rōarku's right knee drove like a freight train into the abdomen of the man, slumping him over and needing to be shouldered off of the boy and onto the floor. The string of swift movements leading up the strike was seemingly flawless, from the moment he slid his leg behind him, to it exploding from the ground propelled by a jet of steam. Flawless. Upon seeing the man assume the fetal position on the floor the women in the room began screaming and huddled up with each other in the nearest available corner away from the conflict, on the other hand the remaining Lobo Members looked on in awe as one of their strongest fighters had been broken down with a single strike.
Switching up his stance, Rōarku slid his feet together assuming his full height, his right hand containing the kunai tucked behind his back while his left was extended out in front, his hands motioned the men forward in a taunting manner unique to Taijutsu legend of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Once more, the uniqueness of his chakra began circulating throughout his body only this time his caramel-mocha skin tone began to become infatuated with an orange hue, his body's temperature had subsided to it regular temperature, but now it had grown higher than ever. Since none of the men stepped forward the eleven (11) year old took it as an insult that they didn't accept his challenge, thus one moment he was by the slouched over man and the next he had managed to sweep the legs off the ground of one of the men fixing the belt to his britches. Only a blurred trail of orange and blonde followed the paths the boy took as he disarmed and knocked unconscious the various member of the Gang. Admittedly showing off a bit, but one could deny the skill in Taijutsu that Rōarku displayed.
The final blow was dealt onto the left side of the face of the last of the five Lobos members, with his kunai still in hand Rōarku went around the room like a deadly surgeion, slitting the jugular vein of each male and allowing fate to take over. Knowing that there were two other members somewhere in the building along with the leader, Tai Hachi, he did not waste time worrying about he safety of the women and left them as they were. However, before leaving he managed to grab there attention and somehow made gestures which got across the message that he would be returning. While making his way back into the hallway and up the stairs once more he placed his senses on high alert as he went on in search for his remaining targets.
This was it, the last phase of his mission, as he moved about silently on the third floor in search of hi targets, or rather prey, the Thrill of the Hunt sent that familiar tingling sensation passing down the length of his spine. Although no particular jutsu or technique was used, through means of his eye sight he began to see the various stenches and smells that objects had whether they had been touched by an unclean hand or had a scent of its' own, thus he was able to track his targets. Four different smells strongly radiating from behind a locked door drew Rōarku to it, one in particular had a brief reminiscent moment over Rōarku that he couldn't quite put his finger as to what it reminded him of. Providing chakra to his sense of ears he began to gather intel from his opponents that he normally wouldn't have able to.
"Kitaro… Is everything set?..."
"Yea… Everything's set… Once our little intruder try's coming through that door he'll be skewered like meat by this kunai launcher… And as a fail safe, Bruno here will be waiting against the wall of the door with his mace incase of any slip ups… Ain't that right Bruno?!"
"Yea, I gots ya!"
"Good… "
Though admittedly a good plan against the average shinobi, then again, Roarku wasn't the average shinobi. He was labeled the Apex Predator for a reason and through the use of skills little was left to the unknown, thus with the information that he had he began formulating their demise. Taking an effective control over the cross-wiring sensation in his brain known as Synesthesia, Rōarku began to link together his sense of taste and touch to aid him in the situation, a hand was then placed on the wall. His brain began processing what he was touching and correlating it with his sense of taste and memory so as to remember what the substance was composed of.
"Hmph… Dry wall, aye?... In a place like this… Come on, you guys are making things too easy for me… Well, that's not my fault what your fate shall become…"
The gears of his plan went into motion as he gauged where his opponent would be on the other side of the wall, this would be where he would strike, but a boost to his physical condition would need to be achieved first. Once again his body began to circulate with his unique chakra before achieving the same orange hue as before, the moment was now or never, thus in one swift movement his arms passed through the dry wall and clutched onto the belly of the brutish Lobos Member known as Bruno. His screams filled the room as his mace banged loudly against the floor after being let loose because of the heat of the limbs touching him, he then was pulled straight through leaving a gaping hole in the wall followed by a cloud of debris preventing. Wasting no time, Tai Chi, angled the kunai launcher into the hole in the wall and fired a round of thirty kunai. None of which sounded, meaning they had impaled a target, but being able to discern if it was the right one was uncertain.
"SSTTTOOOP!?! You probably just killed my brother!"
"Well then Kitaro… Go and check on him then…"
The man's voice giving out the order was cold, void of emotion or attachment to either of his henchmen. The sound of his voice was all to familiar to Rōarku, this was the sound of the initiated. But, what he couldn't quite put his finger on was if he was initiated then why had he succumb to a second rate criminal? Either way, before he could answer the brutes remarkably similar brother passed through the hole and stumbled upon his brother's kunai skewered body. Over the course of time from pulling the man through the wall to his brother coming through to check on him, Rōarku had applied the same principals as before and scaled the walls like a certain web-headed hero, only when the other brute was directly below him did he release himself.
Thud - The two body's sounded as one made contact with the other. The struggle was now on the way as Kitaro flailed around madly to remove the Genin, in contrast the boy tried with all his might to stay on. A poor choice this was for the boy as the brute backed up and slammed him against the wall, the man's 6'7 272 lbs frame provided much of the damage which caused the boy to become unattached and slumped on the floor.
"No no no… Don't react just yet… Be patient… Let fate take it's course and you'll know exactly what to do…"
"Oi! Damn kid get over here… Ahhh! The little fucker is hot ! ! !"
In between the realization of the boy and the man screaming and cursing Rōarku's name he had been flung through the hole and into the other room, his head a mere meters away from the barrel of the kunai launcher. A tight predicament he was placed in, nonetheless he kept his assignment in mind a played a level head. Tai Hachi bent down turning the boy over once or twice with his foot apparently checking for a headband so that he could tie him to a village, of course one was not found. Kitaro grabbed his brother's mace and repeatedly smacked it against his open hand ready to pay homage to the fallen by beating every ounce of breath out of the kid, but during mid-swing a hand was raised by his leader halting any further movement.
"So… No identifiable village, yet you posses the skill to take out six of my men?... Hmph, I must say… This is impressive… I wonder… How are our friends doing over there? Still living in the shadow of the Konohagakure no Sato?"
Obviously, this was to get a reaction out of the boy, but unlike the rest of those who were so called "initiated" he stayed true to his roots and left all emotion and voice of reason out. Surprisingly, this brought about a smile upon the man's face as he walked with his back facing the boy and his subordinate so as to get repositioned behind the Kunai Launcher. In this brief moment opening Roarku began the course of completing his plans. Though normally used in the repulsion of objects, Roarku was jetted vertically off of the ground by pressurized steam, then at a certain point he released more pressurized steam blinding Kitaro and propelling him into a full on head-butt against Tai Hachi.
Upon getting to his feet, Rōarku activated the kunai launcher sending a line of thirty Kunai into the body of Kitaro, all of which traveled vertically from the floor to his forehead. For him, the light of day would never be seen again. Scrambling over Tai's body, the boy had removed the same kunai from his earlier assassinations and held it to the man's jugular vein with his right hand, his left began rummaging through the man's pockets before pulling out a beige and red striped scroll, the Kanji for
"Steam" marked its front. The same smile, although filled with blood now, carried across the man's face. All of which he had asked about was true, but due to the silent nature of his assailant he would never get the chance to hear a true verbal confirmation… Or so he thought.
"Hachi, Tai… On this day, you will die… But first, tell me why you disbanded from the organization… Better yet, how are you alive after disbanding… And also, tell me what our leader want's with this scroll…"
Silence out of pure shock filled the air for the first couple of moments after the boy had spoke, his voice rugged but deep, but somehow matching his overall appearance. For the first time in months, Rōarku Puredetā showed the capability of producing speech. A light chuckle escaped the man as he leaned over toward the edge of the kunai, the crimson liquid began to trickle down the length of his neck.
"It seems you've abandoned the silent persona after all… Good, progress… Thus, I'll give you the information you seek… Apex or should I say Rōarku of the Puredetā clan… Oh! Has he not told you yet…"
