Chapter 18- Ryuugaime Kyuuji

The pale crescent moon shone like a silvery claw in the cloudy night sky. From a certain distance, large craters were all around the valley. It was recently created from a deadly battle between two enemies.

A pair of metal swords clashed against each other at a blurry speed. Dust particles circled the two figures, their brown hair dangling to each attack as their clothes sway to the wind. The two barely missed a mistake dodging their swords from slicing their throat.

"I expected less from the renowned Cursed Blade of Konoha.", golden eyes shone with amusement in the darkness, hiding a dangerous intent. "Your kenjutsu skills are superb. I must say it's second to none."

A huge mud wall suddenly rose from the ground in between them, as the long-haired male jumped away, hiding behind the shadows of the wall. His enemy only snickered as he whipped his katana in the air, its blade reflecting his malicious grin.

Sticking his index and middle finger together placing it millimeters away from the tip of his nose he closed his eyes.

"Seiryuugan!", he shot his eyes open which revealed to be flashing golden as three blue circles surrounded his now blue iris.

His vision heightened and he can see from his view, every living thing containing chakra, including that of his opponent who was running to the left. Smirking in triumph he manipulated the chakra in the male's body and greatly decreased it to depletion.

"That was rather disappointing.", he muttered as he inactivated his Dojutsu.

Believing he won as the figure fall on the deserted soil, he placed his sword back to its sheat. He examined the dead body, his katana beside the owner.

He silently walked towards his opponent attempting to claim his sword, when out of nowhere he felt a dreading powerful aura. And before he knew it, an ice spear pierced his chest and the body on the ground poofed to smoke.

Spitting blood he asks in incredulity. "How?!"

He didn't sense him, it was as if he appeared out of nowhere. He turned his head to the right glaring at the man behind him.

"You have always relied on Seiryuugan and you forgot the fact that you can only manipulate chakra in your line of vision. Your weakness is your blind spot.", a cold and low voice spoke.

He twitched the corner of his lips upwards, "I understand...now-uwargh! You were waiting...for me to use my Seiryuugan..."

Rich blood continuously fell on the ground, seeping through the soil. The long-haired male roughly pulled his spear from his chest and his enemy fell on his knees.

His eyes were drooping, his remaining seconds numbered but this wasn't a factor for him to accept defeat so easily.

"Even if I were to die, the clan's will shall never cease..."

The young man firmly held the handle of his spear before speaking.

"Devils like you have no right to live.", his words contained nothing but despitefulness, blood splattered on his face as he brought his spear to his enemy's head, striking his skull going past his brain as it get engraved on the ground.

He breathed the iron blood first before fluttering his eyes open and close. He walked past the body to pick up his sword before eyeing the two pairs of eyes watching his movements.

"You can come out now."

He returned his sword to the wooden scabbard attached to his back. Two shinobis walked up to him clearly showing a sight of horrifying disgust on the dead person.

The female one among them asks. "The usual, captain?"

Their said captain hummed in return. The two looked at each other before nodding. Forming hand signs they burned the body to ashes. After all, bodies lead to secrets.

The two gasp when the iced spear did not melt and they mentally noted how it did not even have a single scratch on it.

'How..?!', the two asked in their heads.

"What should we do with this?", the younger male asked.

The auburn-haired male just snap his fingers and it was reduced to molecule particles, invisible to the naked eye. The two only gaped and their respect for him only doubled.

"Taichou, where are we going next?"

The male did not respond instead remained quiet as he narrow his eyes looking to the eastern direction somewhere far away.

"Kyuuji-taichou?"

Kyuuji spared a glance at his teammates before opening his mouth.

"Let's return to Konoha.", this sentence brought a smile to the group.

After hunting down missing Ryuugaime members for an entire year, they were happy they can finally come back home. Hikari, the only female in the group squealed in excitement as she can finally taste again the best takoyaki in the entire world. Shinui, the other member took his notebook out and began writing to his diary.

Kyuuji, already familiar with the unusual behavior of the two let them do whatever they want as he held a certain ornament in his pocket, stroking it with care.

"So, when are we leaving?", a grave voice spoke, the captain turned his attention towards their supervisor and teacher who was skidding down the slope.

Kyuuji answered, "As soon as the sun rises."

"Alright."

Tanaka had a slight curiosity gleaming in his eyes as he watch his youngest student write.

"You're taking longer than usual, Shinui."

The said boy turned his back around. "Please don't bother me, Tanaka-sensei, I'm under a deep mental concentration right now."

The old man only chuckled liking his bold answer.

"Oh, Tanaka-jiji! You're finally here!"

"I was already here moments ago.", the girl sweatdropped.

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, and it looks like you were daydreaming again."

Hikari scratched the back of her neck in embarrassment thinking of an excuse. "Gomen, gomen. Hehehehe."

Tanaka sighed and observed the brunette who was thinking deeply.

"So, are you sure this man is the last one?", Kyuuji gave a skeptical look.

"I believe so. But we must not let our guard down.", Tanaka nodded in agreement.

After all, one can never be too careful.

"Aye aye captain!", Hikari gave a mock salute. "I can't wait to go back to Konoha!", she shouted punching the air.

"Please quiet down, Hikari-san, your voice is irritating to the ears."

Her eyes snapped towards Shinui who was still taking notes. He was respectful yet also unashamed.

"How could you say that?! Mom said I was gifted with a beautiful voice!", Hikari was visibly shocked.

"Please tell your mom she was wrong."

"No way in hell!"

"Yes, it is."

"Aww! Come on!", she pouted.

Kyuuji stood still with a poker face not the least unbothered by the two. Tanaka sighed again already growing weary just watching them bicker. They suddenly felt chills rushing over their spines when a low growling sound was heard.

"Look Hikari-san, because of you the beast woke up from its sleep."

"It wasn't my fault!"

"Just run you two!"

Their captain is the most temperate out of all of them just walked behind his team rather slow when compared to the three who were racing. The beast went past him more like avoided him.

Tanaka lead the race, even at his old age, one could say he was still in his prime for being able to run slightly faster than his students who were enjoying their spring of youth. Their old professional reminiscences his early days.

"What's wrong? Looks like you're no better than a boomer such as me."

He received a playful glare from Hikaru and a confused look from Shinui.

"What's a boomer?", he innocently asked.

"Hmmm....", Hikari pondered the question rather seriously before speaking. "Loser?"

"I see, so Tanaka-sensei calls himself a loser.", he took out his note and clicked his pen before writing.

'This generation...really...' Tanaka deadpanned before looking straight ahead. 'More than that...Kyuuji seems to be growing more powerful getting a lot more dangerous...than ever...'

He felt that one day, he may even become the strongest Ryuugaime to even exist even though he's not a full-blooded one and he may even surpass the legendary first female clan leader.

They run in the forest jumping from a tree to another. They were quite fast, a normal person with a 20/20 eyesight may not even see them just a gust of wind.

"Mou! I'm tired of thi--! Oh! A town! I see a town!", she sent chakra through her feet and leaped in the air past the leaves of the trees to see the place before nodding. "Hm. Hm!"

After a few seconds in the air, she fell on a tree branch, gracefully landing on both feet. The rest of the team remained stoic already used to her ways.

"I thought you said you were tired, Hikari-san."

"Not anymore! I can't wait to eat some decent food other than these disgusting soldier pills!"

"Hey, I made that food!", Tanaka interjected.

"Jiji, I will say, it does not even fall to the category of food. From now on, we shall not call it soldier pills but mudballs!"

"Hai hai, thank you for telling me, Hikari...", their sensei solemnly had depression lines hovering over him.

"Hehehehe!", the girl laughed completely oblivious to the atmosphere, thinking it was a compliment.

In a few moments they finally arrived in the town, they quickly checked in inside an inn.

"Captain! Jiji! I'm going out for a bit!", Hikari dashed out of the building not letting anyone even reply. "Woohoo! Freedom!"

She walked the noisy streets of the town. Inhaling the mouth-watering smell of a huge variety of foods, she quickly wiped away the saliva drooling from her mouth.

"Takoyaki! Dango! Yakitori! Oh! Old man, I'll buy these!", she waited excitedly like a child for the sweets getting packed.

"Here you go! Young lady!", they exchanged money and food before Hikari stuffed her mouth with the delicious desserts.

"Delicious! Arigatou, old man!"

"Come back again!"

"Yeah!"

She visited a shop then another just buying and tasting different kinds of anything edible when she spotted an old lady sitting alone on the ground a ball of crystal in front of her.

Curiosity overtaking her, she walked towards the old woman and squatted in front.

"Ne ne, baa-chan, are you a fortune teller?", the girl might look like a mentally retarded person in front of others but, she was just extremely curious about anything and everything. She was a genius, a rare one at that, she is just a glutton like an Akimichi. She wouldn't be with Kyuuji if she was weak and can't observe the smallest details.

The old woman looked at the girl. "I am..."

Her eyes sparkled. "Really?! Then, will you tell me my fortune!"

"That is...if you pay first...", Hikari blinked her eyes before placing 1 Ryo.

"Here! I paid now! So tell me!", she was practically yelling at the old lady.

The old woman sighed squinting her eyes at the female in front of her. Blue spiky hair that was tied into a high ponytail, bright green eyes, tanned skin like the ones on the Hidden Village by the Clouds.

"Name and birthday?", she tiredly asked. She has been scamming people who had a bad day, telling their fortunes she made up on a whim.

"Yuake Hikari! May 8!", the old lady placed her hands around the crystal ball, moving them from side to side to at least convince her client she can see something when she did. She nearly choked when she did see something on the crystal ball.

"Is there something wrong, baa-chan?", she was too baffled she couldn't reply.

For the first time in fifty years of fortune-telling, she saw a scene on the crystal ball a clear one at that. The 17-year-old girl in front of her accidentally met a boy, whom she saw got stabbed in the heart and unfortunately died. Then something rolled on her tongue.

"The child of prophecy...Protect the child of prophecy at all costs from the hands of the evil dragon!", she can't stop her mouth from spouting nonsense.

"The child of prophecy...?", Hikari was astounded before asking more questions. "Who is that child? Can you tell me what that child looks like?"

"An unpredictable person who can turn enemies into allies using mere words. A person who will, later on, save the world. But, someone is meddling with the future. The storyline is already in jumbles...so you must save that child...!"

"Name?!", Hikari was excited more than ever.

"The child's name is--Hah!", the old woman snapped from her daze and suddenly fell asleep.

Hikari was only troubled and tried to wake the elder up but to no success. In courtesy, she placed a blanket over her and stood up walking back to the inn, the words she said ringing in her ears.

'The Child of the Prophecy, huh?', In a split moment, she smirked. Not the usual cheery bright smile but a sly one. 'Moreover, the evil dragon...sounds like a Ryuugaime...well... it's not like the old woman is telling the truth anyways...'

"Where did you go? Hikari?!", she turned around to meet Tanaka and just laughed as nothing happened before apologizing. "Anyways, hurry up and clean yourself up. We'll be eating dinner in a little while but it looks like you already filled your stomach..."

"That's not enough, you know!", Tanaka only sighed in return watching the blue-haired dashed towards the designated room for them.

Opening up the door, she was met with Kyuuji sitting by the windowsill, reading a familiar book.

"What volume are you currently?", she suddenly asked not expecting an answer or attention. It's just that she was also a fan of the series.

"Volume 3. Book 2.", her eyes snapped towards him, slightly surprised.

"Really?! Wait, book 2? Isn't that the latest book going to be out for a few more days? Ryuu's books are getting popular each day, and it's getting harder to even buy one. Woah! How did you even get your hands on that?", she walked towards him, leaning slightly forward.

"Hm. I met a merchant."

Hikari tilted her head to the side. "And? You didn't steal it did you?"

Kyuuji remained quiet and Hikari let out a laugh.

"No way!"

Kyuuji would be the last person who would ever do something like that.

"I traded with him.", Hikari blinked her eyes before sighing in disappointment.

"Tch. And here I thought..."

The blue-haired female looked from the window to the dark sky before placing her hand on the glass praying something. She then turned her attention towards Kyuuji who simply flipped to another page, she noticed how he only shows different expressions when he was reading any book that the author wrote.

She remained quiet, a sign of respect for Kyuuji who ignored her who was staring at him intently. Her eyes traced the outline of the man's face, from his slightly pale skin to his high pointy nose, to his rosy lips. The way how his long brown lashes flicker a bit every time he flutters his hazel eyes close, made her stare in silent wonder.

His long silky chestnut hair tied in a low ponytail brought more splendor and charm to his look. The loud and noisy woman could only be marveled in awe of his unparalleled beauty. She snap out of her daze when she realized how long she had been looking at him. Heat rushed to the young woman's cheeks and she immediately looked away.

'If he just smiles, he could have been perfect...'

He was usually stoic and even if he was surprised he would never show it. She wished she could at least bring out a smile from him. That was why she had always been loud and cracking jokes all the time to gain his attention although deep inside she was just another lady longing for love from the man beside her.

She smiled bitterly, even though she had been with Kyuuji for an entire year, never once did anything change between them from the day they met. Unless for her love towards him getting harder to contain and his resolve to eliminate all evil in this world that was growing scarier as time passed.

Turning her heels around she went to her bed and rummage through her bag looking for clothes before heading towards the bathroom, to take a shower and wear her new set of clothes. Returning, Kyuuji was still in the same position.

"Oh, by the way, Taichou! Jiji said to eat dinner together!", the said man only hummed in return.

"Then, I'll go now!", she hurriedly walked out of the room heading to the restaurant below. Trying to contain the pain of being ignored.

The brunette silently flipped over another page reading intently on the book but he was well aware of his surroundings. He raised an eyebrow and shifted on his seat when the story was reaching its climax, his eyes moved from side to side, quickly reading the words written in the book. As he flip more pages, it was getting a lot more exciting and intense.

No one was stopping him from thoroughly reading the story until he turn over another page to see it empty. He blinked his eyes and closed the book with a sigh of contentment.

'Truly a masterpiece...'

He placed the book on his lap upside down before leaning his temple on the transparent glass. Now that he just finished another story, he was back again in reality. Recently, Kyuuji found himself to be getting distracted and immerse in numerous books written by the same person.

The story gives him comfort, thrill, and excitement as if he was a part of the novel itself. It was like exploring and experiencing a different kind of life in another world. Maybe he should have asked the merchant if he had the whole series. Now, he had to wait for a few more months or even a year for his next book.

He truly admires the works of Ryuu and the author himself, he wished he could meet him and tell all his problems to that person. He felt like he was the only person in the whole world who could understand him. And more than that, he was an amid worshipper among all his fans. He declared himself his biggest fan and he knows the people around him knew that, well in all honesty they were too.

Anyways, he probably kept the others waiting so he walked out of the room and trudged his walks below.