The daylight had gone and the evening was on its way. The dark shadows that lurked behind the tall and unique bends of the buildings of the Leaf District were growing in size, it had yet to be seen what tidings it brought. In the wake of the attack by the Shadow Group worldwide,
Konohagakure was still intact, however the spirits of the individuals within the other ninja villages, namely the ninja who protected them, either lost their lives trying to protect it, while the others seemed as bleak as the sky that is currently evolving into the night. All units within the village were to be on high alert and all out-of-village personnel were to be recalled back to the village in preparation for another potential attack from the unknown invaders. Little is known about the darkness that befell the villages, the only thing that anyone knew for certain is that they were no longer safe, and that the enemy was just as close as they were to want them to think they were. Maybe, even closer still.
There were some in the village who were able to take somewhat of a breather in comparison to most: the
children. All safely tucked away during the chaos in the comfort and safety of their own homes. Unlike the rest of the ninja globe, Konoha was able to operate as normally as usual, peace was always relative within the
Land of Fire, however, there seemed to be an air of calm in the late evening winds that blew through the streets of the village. Climate was always warm, and the air clean enough to be intoxicated by, what was there not to love about the
Leaf District? With the hours winding down, the day beginning to close and shops starting to end services for the day, there was still one still open past their usual hours. Always attracting a very lively crowd, always beaming with excitement, and consistently managing to not only retain their customer market, but also, their ability to always keep the lights on. Even past closing out of the love for their customers.
What store in Konoha could bring this much excitement on one street? Are you done taking guesses?
“I play the fireball jutsu card! You gotta remove all active support cards on your side of the area!” the crowds gasping and talking amongst themselves, a major move played in the final round of the card tournament, the stakes were clearly high at the
Gēmuniiku (ゲームに行く, Go for Game) trading card store.
The opposing player was quiet, and had been quiet for some time, his raven black shaggy hair and high cowl nearly masked his appearance to the crowd unless you were his opponent or anyone standing directly behind him. Sat at the last table in the entire table half of the card store, the tournament had gone on for three hours with multiple rounds, the excitement was palpable. The card store that housed the young children was located in the northern hemisphere of the village. Close enough to a market district while also being local to some residencies with a high volume of children.
The player would then finally remove his two support cards from the card arena, leaving only his strongest ninja on the battlefield and in his deck, the
Yellow Flash of Konoha himself, the Fourth Hokage card,
Minato Namikaze. The card itself was well-maintained, sleeved like the rest of his deck, with detailed art and a foil with a dazzling shimmer signifying its high rarity and value. However, the young man remained quiet but still sitting with a poker face, holding tight four cards in hand to his opponents one while he was also controlling three cards in the arena, more than the dark haired young man. His opponent now, then tries to flip his face-down support card up to activate a jutsu card effect, only to be interrupted by the dark haired mystery.
“Ah, tut. Not so fast Kenichi. Quick effect of the jutsu my Yellow Flash card has, I can use one ‘Flying Thunder God’ counter I have accumulated on the card from each turn it was face up, and negate the activation of any ninja art, anywhere in the area." The crowd then remained silent, as they were also aware of the effect of the Yellow Flash. Curious to see his opponents response, it was clear he too forgot that the Yellow Flash had a signature move that could be a detrimental interruption. Or was he
prepared? Utilizing the last card in his hand, he threw it down with dramatic force, standing out of his seat and nearly knocking his chair back to the floor, only to exclaim his literal trump card.
“Ha! I finally got you Daimaru!!! Quick effect of my Sasuke support card, Amenotejikara! I get to discard this to the ninja graveyard and negate one jutsu activated on the field!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!” He laughed almost in terror, with the crowd laughing alongside, but not with him as the nature of his ridiculous tone was deafeningly comedic. A smile would creep across the face of the
Windmill Uchiha however, so much so, that certain members of the crowd were starting to also grin because they knew what would happen next. His opponent is about to realize why he hasn’t lost a tournament in
three months.
“Ok. One thing though, when you destroyed my support cards that were face down, one of them was the support jutsu of the First Hokage, Nativity of a World of Trees. Its face up effect protects all of my ninja from one attack or jutsu per turn.” Daimaru would then assume the same hand seal that Lord First Hokage would in order to activate the jutsu, mocking his over-excited opponent for his unnecessary outburst. He would then continue on.
“However, when it's destroyed and sent to the ninja graveyard, I can banish it from there and protect all ninja and support cards on my side of the arena in response to the activation of a jutsu. In other words….Sit back down, because I'm not done with you yet. Neither of your Akatsuki member cards can beat Minato’ attack stat.” The crowd now would murmur heavily while some chuckled audibly, completely embarrassing the younger opponent, he went from happy to angry all within thirty seconds. Glaring directly into the calm Uchiha’s eyes, who still mocked him by making the Ram hand seal. He sat down slowly and passed his turn.
Ten minutes would go by and the outcome was very much never in doubt. Daimaru had yet again won his local card stores weekly tournament, adding yet another invite to a larger event that could be held in the coming months. The crowd quickly filed out of the store so that the owner could clean and close up shop for the evening, some of the audience waved to Daimaru as they left, while he stood, smiled and waved back, ensuring them he’ll be back next week to play. Turning his back now while he was fiddling with his cards as he looked to secure them in his pockets before he headed home. Stretching his back and legs after sitting for just under an hour for that one last round alone was excruciating because his opponent had been stalling his turns to try and allow young genin to potentially lose from a timeout as he had the deck size ruling advantage in his favor. Nonetheless, the creative young man stood his ground and assured himself victory.
“Now, let's get home. Mom probably made short ribs again tonight!” He thought to himself. Hopping from one foot to the other in place out of excitement, he would also be gathering chakra in his feet to move
rapidly away from the area, bouncing from the sides of each neighboring building at a swift speed quickly reaching the high rooftops of that area of Konoha. Daimaru decided to take the scenic route home as he always likes to pass by the stone faces, even if it were only for a fleeting moment to pay homage and respect for the fourteen Hokage that served the village faithfully over the generations. It was a title he coveted and held great respect for, and obviously like every other young child within this village, one day dreamed of wearing the white diamond shaped hat along with the matching white attire to complete the look.
‘Iconic' was the word Daimaru would use to describe it.
Still making great use of his high-speed technique, something would immediately catch his eye just as he would make his way near the Hokage stone faces. A great golden serpent like shape took hold of his attention right as the young Uchiha was daydreaming about how he would look in his adulthood overlooking the village as Hokage. Almost instinctively he stops moving, magnetizing himself to the side of a building halting all movement at once, with red and black orbs quickly taking hold in his skull. Standing sideways crouched in between the shadows of the hidden leaf village buildings he observed the snake overlooking Konoha’s gates above the stone faces. That was all he could see. Its golden scales nearly shimmered off the orange light of the setting sun, allowing it to take on a blood-orange tint giving it a more wondrous and mysteriously soothing color. From what he understood about snake summonings, they were powerful, potentially mean, yet loyal, courageous and intelligent. It was clear someone aligned with Ryuichi cave had arrived at the Leafs doorstep. But who? No one he had known who had signed a contract with the snakes of Ryuichi cave were aligned with a golden snake. A curious mystery indeed. Powerful chakra could be felt in the air, and even with the young Uchihas’
sharingan still in development, he could plainly see that whoever this was, was formidable.
As always, the curiosity of the young washed over him.
Fleet-footed, he once again flickered to the gates, but just close enough to the tallest building outside of the wooded area to the gate so that he could visualize the entirety of what was going on. Suppressing his chakra once getting to the top, taking a seat, and deactivating his
sharingan in the process. Now he could see everything. A man older than himself by at least over a decade and a half in comparison to himself with short, brown hair, konoha attire and was backed by the large serpent. Daimaru could have been eye level with Ryuga if he had been closer, but should the snake take his gaze elsewhere and spot the young Uchiha, then that would become an immediate reality. Good thing he wasn’t afraid of snakes.
He also visualized
Yaju Inuzuka, an elite Jounin form within the village, riding the back of
Jūjin, his personal ninja hound who was the largest and most powerful from within the pack. With a size comparable to a
Clydesdale horse, the combination of the ninja and his ninken was something to truly be wary of indeed. It would be no surprise to Daimaru if the
Black Hound had sniffed him out upon his arrival. Daimaru was far enough to be away from the encounter, however safety should be a concern. If the Hound and the leader of his pack were here, then the encounter could go either way. Watching Iwagakure's ninja quickly make her way from the gate, he would return his attention back to the two men. He could hear what either of them were saying, but even without the use of his sharingan, he could read lips and recite the words back to himself in his head. And from what he could tell, the Senju potentially could mean no harm, however, the size and appearance of the snake said otherwise. He couldn’t see Yaju’s lips as he was more behind him then to the side, he could tell from his body language that he was on high alert. Daimaru was very curious why. What’d he miss in the village the last three hours?
Maybe if he stuck around he’d find out…Maybe a little bit more than he’d expect.
"Now this...I gotta see.".
