Re: Clash of Souls [P]

Thu Feb 17, 2022 11:32 am

In order to gain a more advantageous victory in the future, one needed to relinquish something precious to them in the present. For most strategic warfare which bore the lives of millions in the hands of generals and tacticians, tacticians would indiscrimatantely utilize the lives of their own soldiers as tools and sacrifices for war to gain an insurmountable advantage in the future. However, in this Clash of Souls, the rules of battle were seemingly reversed. The Dread Knight used a most perturbing strategy...his relinquished his eyesight because even if in the present he would be punished for an extraordinarily risky gambit, in the near future - he could see - this stepping stone of weakness would become an insurmountable strength... One that would crush Zeo Kamigawa entirely.

But before that could happen, the Dread Knight felt a sort of pressure surrounding him after he unleashed his Gigavolt to destroy the bubbles encircling him. It was just above him, ignoring the fiery cloak that defended him to attack his very mind...!

The pressure swirled.

Encircled.

Then consumed.

Suddenly, Enishi felt the force of an ocean swirling around his head, attempting to crush it entirely with oceanic pressure. He couldn't breath - no, it was impossible to! After all, some water like projection was trying to drown him. He couldn't see! It felt like he was falling through an ocean of sorts! No matter how many times the Dread Knight attempted to shake his head and move his hands around...this watery pressure, was going to consume him. It was as if he was tied down to a wooden plank and was falling in the darkest depths of the sea; added to the fact that he relinquished his sight in hopes that his prediction would come to fruition, Enishi blindly followed his strategy instead of thinking about a possible counterattack. Yes, it was evident, through someway - Zeo found a method to drown him without being present. This led to another thought, a Genjutsu! But, there was no way! Visual sight? He erased the possibility through the removal of his eyesight! How could Zeo trap him like this without some sort of visual stimuli? But, this led to another thought...

Water.

"Heh. Heheh. Hehehehe. HEHEHEHEHEHEHE!!!" His voice ringing in the water, the Dread Knight began to mechanically laugh in self-derision, beginning as a light chuckle as if the demon was humored by Zeo's humorous strategy...but then it grew darker...darker...until it became an earsplitting roar from hell itself, rippling through the water as if it was some demonic sea creature. The pain from being drowned didn't matter anymore, he was so delighted! It was like at any moment, he would pass out from ecstasy. At that moment, any chance of reverting Enishi back to normal was gone, this was the original Enishi... and the person who awoke the demon sealed in the Tundra of Haven's Mountains would pay with their life.

The demon howled.

Using his howl in conjunction with Genjutsu Release, the sphere of water that imitated drowning splashed away into a fiery mist. The Dread Knight, now seeing his plan coming to fruition, reactivated his eyesight, being able to see as normal and also swallowing a Military Rations Pill in the process. However, unbeknownst to Zeo unless he was able to focus on it with the amount of chaos exuding from the Dread Knight's suffocating poisonous red aura, a gaseous faint aura of purple also exuded from the demon, near-instantly expanding to twenty meters in all directions...it was the Seal of Absorption and its target was five bubbles that surrounded the twenty-meter radius. The aura exuding from the seal on the demon's body ate away at all bubbles in the area until there was only one. That bubble being the one that Zeo hid in; you see, Seal of Absorption only absorbed jutsu, but couldn't absorb people. The Dread Knight utilized that rule of Seal of Absorption to his advantage, he couldn't absorb Zeo who was using Hiding in the Bubbles, but he could absorb the Soap Bubble Ninjutsu, meaning that every other bubble that Zeo did not hide in was absorbed into the purple mist. This left a single bubble left, Zeo's.

"I found you..."

In a twisted voice, the Dread Knight began to gloat in disgusting bravado yet cutting cynicism. "Did you really think you would defeat me, Zeo Kamigawa? You are pathetic to think that you would destroy a being that has killed thousands... Your strategies, mind, and spirit are lukewarm at best. Your fanatism with spirits of the dead, childish bubbles, and cowardice with your reliance on Genjutsu and false trickery instead of strength in one's power is laughable. Do you know why you lost in the Chuunin Exams against my pathetic, weaker half?"

"You lack ego."

"I'm not talking about arrogance, as I know the first thing you wanted to do was yell at me and say that ego is an inherently bad thing, and that being modest and calm is better than being egotistical and prideful. However...why do you think that people will themselves to become strong? Because they didn't believe in themselves? Because they were nice? Because they were modest? INCORRECT! They had the underlying instinct to force their opponents to submit to their strategy, strength, and intelligence in battle. Because they believed that they were strong! They believed that they could defeat the opponent standing in front of them! You hesitated so many times against my weaker half, and you hesitate even now! It's wrong to embrace your demons? Fool! To be strong is to accept that you have hidden darkness inside of you, and to be strong is to subjugate and control the darkness of yourself! Zeo, through your years of living...do you still not understand such a simple concept at your AGEEEEEE???!!!!" The Dread Knight's head jerked manically in utter rage...this kid's spirit annoyed him.

"Before you die, allow me to show your sin. This is what it means to be strong."

During the Dread Knight's demonic speech, he had formed two sets of handseals with the use of one handed seals, one jutsu per hand, and once he was finished speaking, he would begin the end of his strategy... Suddenly, the air surrounding the area turned to a foggy mist, 30 meters in all directions centered on the Dread Knight himself; the mist made it unable for Zeo in his bubble state to see through it for a far distance, so unbeknownst to Zeo, he didn't know that Enishi...was merged with the mist. In conjunction with the Hidden Mist technique, Enishi merged himself with the mist to become one with it; so every motion that Zeo performed within the hidden mist, the Dread Knight knew - stalking his opponent and becoming the mist itself.

WC: 1129
TWC: 12731

Gang Shit:

Thu Feb 17, 2022 11:26 pm

Zeo's Genjutsu had hit its mark and his target was indeed t rapped by the bubble of water over his head. Even in Zeo's state, he could see it and how it was affecting him. But soon he saw the result as the empowered sage-demon began to emerge and soon with an ear-splitting roar, the bubble popped with a demonic haze. Even from inside his bubble, Zeo saw the sickening deep red haze that now oozed malice. It was like Enishi was a completely different person now, his soul fully taken over by the darkness he had seen in him. It was wrong, corrupting and sickening. Zeo fought hard to keep his stomach calm at the sight of the sheer miasma, as that was the only way to describe that aura of chakra he saw that was an extension of Enishi's soul. Was he that forgone now?

It was then that he triggered a sudden suction jutsu-- the seal on his arm suddenly pulling the bubbles in. Any bubbles leftt soon was sucked in-- with no choice, Zeo's bubble popped, and he landed on the grass below with a small landing, exposed from the hiding place the bubbles had. He hid in the bubble, a new trick he invented to fool his enemies. Clearly, in this case, it did him little good as he looked back at Enishi with his star-filled eyes. He boasted back at Zeo, as Zeo only glared at him crossly.

As he talked down to Zeo, the air drew thick with fog-- mist. Zeo knew this jutsu instincitively and used it all too often. Hidden Mist Jutsu, but Enishi demon took it further. However to Zeo, the mist looked red to him-- red as his bloodlust. It quicly swept around him, as he spoke, becoming a demonic specter in the mist. Zeo glanced around, seeing the malevolent chakra around him wherever he looked. THe enraged Enishi's words were spiteful, hurtful and cut into Zeo well enough. He said nothing as he stood there, the mist closing in around him. He just stood there, unmoving as those words and threats batted against Zeo's head...

... but Zeo didn't immediately reply. After a moment his brain remembered the tragedy. The fire he saw before his parents died, the burning of his village, and the death of an ally before his very eyes-- seeing his soul with his very eyes vanish as if it was a candle in the wind. Those scenes lived in Zeo-- the darkness he witnessed and saw.

Slowly, he raised his head up a bit, his expression still the same immovable and stalward resolve. "I have my share of inner demons, Enishi. I will not deny that. NOt at all. I only got this far for accepting that," he said as his eyes looked at the miasma filled chakra of the mist. However, Enishi didn't understand. What he said was almost hypocritical. He was not fighting the same person anymore now for him to talk like that. It was a contradiction. So he held fast to his belief-- that he was himself, all of himself. He accepted who he was, all of himself, t he good and the bad. No one, least of all him was going to tell him otherwise. "The only difference between you and me...is that I don't let my demons define me."

"Yes, your demons do not control you. Forged by the bonds you share, those demons now are your strength, Zeo Kamigawa... a voice rang in Zeo's head. His eyes widened, as if for the briefest of moment, his eyes' vision kicked in-- giving him a flash of a vision

****
Zeo was once more on the mysterious blue boat, adrift down a midnight river ride as it traveled to some unknown destination. He couldn't move or say much, but he saw her. The mysterious woman from his dream when he was in the hospital after he first awakened to his powers. The blond haired, yellow-eyed women sat at a table and had tarot cards laid out before her. She sat there as one of the cards drifted up from the table on its own, levitating in the air. "You possess the power to wield multiple Persona. It's the Wildcard," she explained, he expression peaceful and neutral as she spoke. "Just as the number zero, on its own it is not worth much... but has the ability of infinite potential. Now show him, why you desire to grow strong." she said, finally looking towards him, resolve in her yellow eyes.
***

(True Resolve music)

Zeo's attention snapped back, the vision lasting a fraction of a second and enough to reinforce Zeo's confidence. His memory returned to the hospital room-- where he met none other than the Hogokage himself-- lord Ayato Hyuuga himself. He came all that way to see him, and told him a story about the fish who swam against the river, to reach the end-- even up the water fall. In return for his efforts, the gods favored the fish and transformed him into a holy beast. A reward for his relentless journey no matter how hard it got. Lord Hogokage's words rang true to him then, inspiring him and now it took shape now.

"Zeo, become a dragon."

Swift hand signs formed under his sleeves as his resolve stood strong. Zeo's eyes raised as he drew his attention to the mist-- finding the hues of Enishis' demonic/malevolent chakra-- his soul becoming lesser, in patches as his gaze came to one part in the corner of his eye behind him. One patch far denser in the 'miasma' of violence, hate and bloodlustt that he carried. Even enshrouded and enfused in mist-- Zeo could see him-- his true location within the mist. With a final hand seal hidden from view-- Zeo drew what appeared to be a "Spirit Gun". He held it up, and then , surprisingly-- aimed it to his head.

"Persona!" He roared, his starry eyes widened with defiance.

The 'bang' went off and followed by a spectral flash around Zeo! While seemingly overly dramatic-- what happened with the shot to his head-- appeared as something different. A gush of air swept around the battlefield and the same starry chakra engulfed the area Zeo was. The light air pushed back the mist a bit, but soon revealed something far more intimidating...

A beastly roar echoed through the air as great, blue, prismatic wings stretched out, followed by scale-like armored body, claws and vicious talons. A tail lashed out, as well as a strange divine, holy ring that floated behind its grand wings. It stood there, grandious with 'arms folded before its chest, in defining judgement upon all it saw. The beastly creature, was in fact a mighty dragon-- conjured in place of the Persona--- instead of He Bo. Zeo somehow manifested a completely different Persona from before-- not the same watery god of the rivers, but one of the fabled Dragon kings!

Zeo stood with ragged breath, his eyes glaring in the mist and the 'disembodied' Enishi from where he hid. No doubt inside the mist, he might very well be shocked.

"Get him, BAHAMUT!!" Zeo ordered.

The mighty dragon roared as it lifted its wings as high as it could, before giving them a massive flap that hauled itself off the ground for a brief moment. Even for a spectral creation, its weight gave true as it conjured a massive charge of wind before it, and towards the area Zeo saw-- the area in which Enishis' twisted chakra was congealed in out of the rest of the mist. With the Persona infused with wind chakra-- there was no doubt that the gust would force the mist to recede-- and with it expose the enraged sage Enishi.

WC: 1314

246/ 1121 AP Total . UPkeep paid for eyes.

Persona - 45> 34 AP --- defining element, Wind/Futon. Power/Speed/Health: 90. .. Use wind element to blow away Enishi's Hidden Mist jutsu as power is over Enishi's jutsu.

Sat Feb 26, 2022 3:37 pm

At that moment, time stopped.

By focusing his senses to the maximum, the Dread Knight transcended the concept of time and removed any form of extraneous noise that was irrelevant for the purposes of combat and the absolute erasure of threats. In this closed room of stopped time - where no one can neither exit nor enter said space of stopped time - emerged a single shattered gem of possibility. In this closed room, this was the Dread Knight's domain where anything he decided would be birthed into existence and simultaneously an area where anything that was a threat to his domination...would be purged! Within the closed, misty room of red that the demon created, resembling flaming air, the Dread Knight could see a bright light from within emerge...then dimmed into nothingness. Then he heard those words, those very words that he remembered from his other self at the beginning of the battle...

"Persona!" The words of the obstinate shaman roared, his starry eyes widened with defiance and spite. A sickening smile threatened to split the Dread Knight's head in half, seeming the formation of another spirit in a starry glow, different from that old river spirit baboon that he slew at the beginning of the battle. A beastly roar echoed through the air as great, blue, prismatic wings stretched out, followed by a scale-like armored body, claws, and vicious talons. A tail lashed out, as well as a strange divine, holy ring that floated behind its grand wings. There was no mistake; it was the beast of legend, the Dragon King - Bahamut. Enishi smirked, seeing that Zeo - in their Clash of Souls, unlocked a new power. It seemed that the Dread Knight should give the Kamigawa some type of acknowledgment; Zeo had successfully gained the regard of the demon of the Jugo Clan. However, like everything that interacted with the Dread Knight in this world...it would be crushed.

With a yell from its master, the Dragon King roared as it lifted its wings as high as it could, before giving them a massive flap as it floated in the air. Even for a spectral creation, its weight gave true as it conjured a massive charge of wind before it, a bastion and swarm of wind that effortlessly dissipated the blood-red mist and revealed the Dread Knight's position, three meters away from Zeo and Bahamut who floated just above the Kamigawa. Due to the previous reallocation of the battle, the three people were on the ground, Bahamut being the only construct that was floating in the air once the wind blast was finished and deactivated the Light-Weight Rock Technique. Due to the effects of the red-winged cloak, the Dread Knight was absolutely unharmed by the wind blast as the cloak shielded him from the wind, and instead...released his demonic glare while forming the Ram seal, exchanging nature energy for more chakra. However, the glare masked the Dread Knight's fear.

Rising from the destructive winds, and only three meters away from the two targets, the Dread Knight's golden eyes slit and his wings swirled in a crimson-black color. The wings rotated at light speed, to the point that they began to warp reality. They spun clockwise to the point that they became chainsaws of natural energy, expanding to five meters in length and a foot in width on the Dread Knight's back. And covering a short distance, the chainsaw-like wings changed direction, and in an X formation - slashed and tore through Bahamut's chest. The action was performed at a speed that even Zeo couldn't even process, and just like the He-Bo, the spirit dissipated into nothingness. Without even letting the Kamigawa understand that his Persona was destroyed by the blade wings of disaster that were on Enishi's back, the wings lowered themselves at the same light speed, and restrained Zeo's body at his midsection - not hurting him, but making him unable to move from a potential killing move that the understudy was about to unleash.

A single orb emerged in front and between the two horns that materialized from the Dread Knight's forehead. Pitch-black it was and yellow sparks radiated along with the pitch-black orb, resembling the orb of the Sage of Six Paths. This orb was the combination of five factors: Water Release, Earth Release, Lightning Release, Natural Energy, and something that was far more sinister than these four energies...cursed energy. Birthed as a darker variant of natural energy that emerged from nature and animals, cursed energy spawned from impurity, death, destruction, and hatred. This would be the origin of Foul Legacy; so naturally, when cursed energy and natural energy are combined together...

The two opposing forces would clash, and everything caught between the interaction between the two would be erased.

That was how much the Dread Knight - the cursed spirit dwelling within Enishi, wanted to destroy Zeo's existence. That was how Enishi became Enishi. At that moment, that thought would be transferred to Zeo through some sort of spiritual miracle, Zeo would be able to know that the Enishi he knew before, and the Enishi that was trying to kill him now were not the same.

"I am the evil that spits on harmony. I am the evil that creates conflict. I cannot commit virtue, I shall be cursed to perpetually sin. I kill, and from death, I create life. From pain, I will create pleasure. From evil, I will create good. None will escape me. None will flee from my sight."

The orb violently grew.

"I am the monster that creates heroes."

An ear-screeching ringing sound emerged from the orb, turning the environment a blood red.

"Cursed Sage Art...Empty Disaster!"

And it burst.

Three meters was all it took for Zeo to be struck with the life that erased human lives. No longer able to use his Personas to aid him, and bound by the chainsaw wings that restrained his body from physical movement, the Dread Knight unleashed his strongest technique. The world was dyed with red and black, and the environment thundered with a sickening hue. Erupting from between his horns, a black ray of destruction rushed towards the Kamigawa. Twenty-five meters in width, height and extending to fifty meters in total distance, the ray vaporized anything it touched - from wildlife to trees to anything in sight, leaving the ground in rubbles. It would be...quite literally impossible for Zeo to dodge a point-blank range blast, but unbeknownst to the arrogant Dread Knight actually overestimated the power of the Cursed Sage Art...it wouldn't be enough to kill Zeo, but it would gravely injure Zeo. The Great Water Vortex that he was hit by in the Chuunin Exams would be child's play in terms of the pain and injury that he would sustain from the Empty Disaster. But there was a possibility that he could withstand the pain, and end the fight in a resounding fashion. Adversity like this...created heroes.

The ray of black would soon end, leaving desolation, a crater with the outline of the blast, smoke, and sparks of black and yellow also outlining the Empty Disaster.

"Did you see that, MY WEAKER HALF?! This is true power! This is absolute strength! Power is the ability to surrender to your demons, and erase all distractions in life! You can't protect others, Enishi Kurosawa! You never wanted Zeo and other people to see this part of you...in fact, you've been begging this whole time to stop hurting your friends on some shit like 'oh, you're hurting the sanctity of our duel' to hell with that!!! With this power, you will never feel pain again!!! Stop trying to pretend that you can be a hero and protect your friends! Do you understand now?! You were never meant to be born and you don't deserve peace, so stop trying to be the saint!!!" Insane rage came out from the Dread Knight as if he were in anguish...

Was he talking to the other Enishi, the Enishi that Zeo knew the whole time?!

WC: 1310

TWC: 14014

When you barely have AP Left...haha:

Sat Feb 26, 2022 11:25 pm

(OOC permission from Ace/Enishi given to use following scenario)

The awakening of the dragon within, Bahamut was indeed a great feat to behold, and rewarding to Zeo as he now revealed his true strength. The power of his own inner soul made manifest. While it wasn't 100% clear how he had TWO persona to Enishi or Zeo, the caster didn't question it as he unleased the gale of air to clear the fog. Despite it, Zeo had his eyes focused right on Enishi and soon realized where he was-- directly above them as his eyes met his in that briefest of moments.

The mad sage came crashing down with his empowered aura, and soon came slashing at the dragon Zeo conjured. The dragon gave a great bellow and roar as its form shattered into starry energy, scattering through the air. Zeo didn't have time to respond or counter as Enishi was soon on him-- and using the same aura, wrapped around Zeo like a boa constrictor, binding his body in place. His eyes clearly showed distress as he struggled to get free but was left with no other recourse as he glared directly back to demon-Enishi in his super-powered state.

As he begot his musings of his evils, an orb formed before his head-- the swirling malice and hate that filled Enishi's soul literally seemed to come together as Zeo saw with his eyes, to form a venomous, lethal attack. At point-blank, Zeo's face was alit with the flare of death and it went off, carrying untold devastation and destruction before him. The black and yellow blast of unholy sage-power devistated the land, leaving the earth scarred, and devistated.

Shimmers of the starry energy remained from the destroyed Persona... and no other trace of Zeo as the blast had eraticated all before it. Was there even anything left?

Enishi entered a mad rant and laughter as he boasted to his 'other weaker self'. This Enishi clearly was a different person in all accounts as he screamed to the high heavens of his twisted ideology. The land was silently dead with his utter devestation.
....

"...You're wrong," a voice spoke.

(Revelations)

No doubt shock would break that maddening grin and look as he would turn around. Behind him, standing in the field was ... ENISHI. The true Enishi. Untwisted, and untransformed from the sage's effects. This was the true form he appeared as, uncorrupted from his 'curse'. He faced the 'evil' Enishi, directly and unafraid. No doubt, such a sight would make the wicked one clearly unraveled and surprised to see his other self standing right in front of his face like this?!

"You're strong, I won't deny that. I could let go, destroy everything that ever hurt me and be the evil the world wanted me to be. I could accept that...but no. I can't deny you're a part of me, but you are not ALL of me. It's what Zeo's been trying to drill into our thick skull!,"

It was Zeo, whom despite all the pain Enishi endured, faced him not as a monster or hated rival-- but a friend and ally. One who wished to see Enishi rise above his vices and become a better person. One that Enishi never thought he could be due to his 'curse' and evil side. That faith Zeo had in him, was what took form before the evil Enishi. He closed his eyes with a sigh, unafraid to speak his mind to his demon. " And you're wrong about Zeo. No matter how you attacked him, how you put him down, he never stopped coming to face you. He never stopped trying to raise me up. He never will. Even now... I won't let his efforts be in vain. You're me... and I'm you. We can deny one another forever if you want, but these feelings I have, terrify you. Just as much as I was terrified of you."

Those words no doubt would infuriate the evil Enishi, and all coming from his own mouth-- his own voice. But it would be around this time that it would finally hit him.

"I will decide what my demons make of me, not you! " he called out, and finally snapped open his eyes-- revealing the star-filled mystic gaze of the Uchugan in Enishi's own eyes!

!!!

Reality snapped back as (Demi-Enishi) would realize the error. The scene before him was a dream! He faced the devastating destruction he caused, without any sign of bodily impact as the landscape was scarred by his unholy use of nature energy. However, one defining detail marred the battlefield...

... it was the visage of Bahamut that loomed no closer than a meter away, standing behind evil Enishi. Before anything could be done, the dragon grabbed Enishi in its claw! With a growl, the dragon now held a disempowered Enishi as his transformation had ended. He still had traces of the 'evil' version of himself there, but he was no longer empowered by the corrupted nature energy he once had! With that, Bahamut had no problem gripping Enishi in his claws. The beast hauled him off the ground and before him-- to find Zeo crouched upon the dragon's head.

"You may have the power to destroy, but my power comes not from simply accepting my inner demons. I work with them, as I worked with all the people I have bonded with. You, included, Enishi. " Zeo said as he wove his last sign, his action defining as he faced Enishi with no place to go. "This ends now--" His eyes widened with defining resolve as he cast his last jutsu... "Stargazer!!"

Enishi would feel a sudden pull as he looked at Zeo's eye-- drawn in and suddenly sucked as he saw the swirling stars blurr by him as if he was flying and falling at same time. The blur of visions flew through him as he fell pray to Zeo's ultimate Genjutsu. One he made in homage to the Star Village itself.

Enishi would suddenly find himself landing upon a barren, bleached-white landscape. The remnants of their previous battlefield was gone, as Zeo now stood there as well, located 5 meters or so apart. The sky was now dark-- as if night had come, and yet the ground was clearly visible, rocky and white. Zeo rose up from his crouched state. "It's over... so surrender now, before I make you yield by force." No doubt, Enishi (evil) would be baffled by all of this. What did Zeo even do? Change the terrain? Lett him go as he now no longer was in Bahamut's grip. It was as if the battle started anew beyond the simple change of scenery?

Whatever questions or insults Enishi would sling at Zeo, Zeo then slowly and solemnly raised a single hand up and pointed behind Enishi. Should he look-- no doubt what he saw would surprise him.

Return to old soundtrack now on the Moon

Above them far in the distance, the night sky was indeed filled with stars-- but the biggest thing to explain this bleak, white setting, was that up above them, far away-- they could see the giant green and blue sphere in the heavens. The brilliantly elegant planetoid that they called home. IT was earth-- and they were observing it from far away, on an alien surface.

"Welcome to the Moon, jackass." Zeo explained to the evil Enishi. "This is my domain-- the stars and night itself. You may command nature energy and use it to destroy. But my power, is only limited by my imagination. The stars themselves give me strength. You cannot win!" Zeo said as he soon drew the sword he never even touched this whole fight, drawing it in defiance against him. If Enishi continued to fight, he would fight with his sword in this unique battlefield.

WC: 1314

AP: 145/ 1121 AP Total . UPkeep paid for eyes and Persona

Dreamwalker B-rank -- Use Genjutsu substitution to fake the deaths of Bahamut and Zeo, and show phantasmal Enishi to distract and rattle evil Enishi

Persona grabbs Enishi (Physical damage) to drag him up to meet Zeo on his head)

Finally, Zeo cast's Stargazer-S rank 70> 53. Transports Zeo and Enishi to the moon , and now empowered by cosmic force to strike down Enishi's on the psychic plane The shit is on !!!

Wed Mar 02, 2022 10:17 pm

A victorious sneer once again split the mouth of the rampaging demonic spirit, laughing in ecstasy as the flare of corrupted Sage energy laid waste to the arena before him. Once an area of peace where kindred spirits could clash within the garden-like field of combat, full of wildlife and luscious vegetation now became a wasteland of dust, craters, excavated dirt, a crumbling pillar of Earth with a giant hole in the middle, and remnant cursed energy swirling around the environment as if it were some sort of pollution attempting to violate the air. The only living being that retained its form on the battlefield was the cackling demon. The Dread Knight's words were venomous, insulting, and most notably - spat on the treasured bond between Enishi and Zeo. The hymn that he spoke was objective, undeniable, and irrefutable; he was the evil that created that spat on harmony, he was the evil that created conflict, he was the evil that could not commit virtue, he was the evil that was cursed by the heavens to perpetually commit crimes against all of humanity - to be cursed by humanity...and eventually, be chained down by humanity. From life, he created pain; from pain, he would then create pleasure. None would escape the Dread Knight, none would flee from his sight.

However...

He was also the monster that created heroes.

"...You're wrong," a voice spoke.

No...

It couldn't be.

This...he already suppressed him, so how??? The Dread Knight slowly turned its head around, and there it was...Enishi. The true Enishi. Untwisted, and untransformed from the accursed bloodline's effects. This was the true form he appeared as, uncorrupted from his 'curse'. He faced the 'evil' Enishi, directly and unafraid. No doubt, such a sight would make the wicked one clearly unraveled and surprised to see his other self standing before him. But it was impossible! They were the same...right?! Everything that the Dread Knight believed, the Sage of Pleiades must have believed as well! Sure, they were two sides of the same coin, but deep within, they knew they were monsters; birthed in the genesis of a tundra, abandoned by their biological parents, and tortured relentlessly by the only place they could call home...the heir of the Jugo Clan can only be called a demon that could never hope to heal and save the lives of others. That was...his fate. So why?! Why?! Why did HE denounce himself? How could HE denounce himself?!

The simple axiom that the Dread Knight and Sage of Pleiades were different people...scared the demon.

"No. No. No. NO! Nononononononononononono, you don't GET to decide whether to abandon me or not. I am you, you are me. We can't run away from each other. Don't fucking joke around with that bullshit!!! Can you really, honestly, TRUTHFULLY call yourself not a monster?! No! You can't! Have you forgotten your past, your origin, your lack of purpose! This is the fate of ENISHI. So shut the fuck up, you IDIOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!"

Reality shattered, then warped.

When he eyes registered the materialization of a new reality, the world he "knew" all too well was bleached absolutely white - representing a type of purity or clarity of sorts. Far in the distance, the night sky proliferated with stars, nebulas, and celestial bodies with a size infinitesimal to count - but more notably, above him was a giant green and blue sphere in the heavens; even with flight, it was a fool's errand to try to reach that celestial body. Soon, it became evident that the green and blue sphere he observed upwards was Earth...yes, the Dread Knight appeared to be transported from Earth to outer space. "Wha-"

"Welcome to the Moon, jackass." Zeo agitated the Dread Knight, making the demon turn his head around slowly. "This is my domain-- the stars and night itself. You may command nature energy and use it to destroy. But my power, is only limited by my imagination. The stars themselves give me strength. You cannot win!"

...Huh?

So...

This power...

The ability to change reality...

...This was from a mere weak shaman boy?

Clash of Souls [P] - Page 3 G6V9ce7LCVWoriRWssra8ZSjf92impMOKOWtqF_opfaNztuEyj9HC8ILIUTpIx3qnG14tR4ucXqMNm_e2d3UoCfKSceleemv6JFIpjD_DkGVw0Dymakp1z07_zIEmGEUGd4qAbgr

"I refuse. I refuse. IrefuseIrefuseIrefuseIrefuseIrefuseIrefuseIrefuseIrefuseIrefuse I REFUSE!!!"

Black and crimson wings spurted out from the Dread Knight, reminiscent of how a monarch butterfly's wings would initially be bloodied through metamorphosis; except this time, the wings of a butterfly would be cursed energy. Horns ruptured out of his forehead once again. and his golden eyes slit once more. This was Zeo's world - correct...but this world also allowed others to bring their thoughts into this altered reality. However, the ability to instigate such a clash of deterring souls was either to have a mind so detached from reality and or, a single emotion must be enough to alter the personal reality of someone else. In other words that meant...

Enishi's rage for Zeo superseded reality.

"ihbfKILLwq..." Words that superseded human comprehension and reality spewed out the demon's mouth like phlegm, commanding the wings a single task: murder Zeo Kamigawa. And so, the wings obeyed the master - akin to a puppet's masterful obedience. Rotating around into chainsaw-like blades once again, the wings swung, but this time, they projected two tornaodes made completely out of cursed energy, aiming sideways to the Zeo that stood 5m in front of the roaring demon, both aimed to rip off the Kamigawa's arms and shred them into nothingness. "galajTATTARIighewetqmnahgeRASENGAN..." In an instant, cursed energy propelled the Dread Knight forward as if he told reality to move forward, and in the lunge, his hand aimed forward. His target? The heart of Zeo Kamigawa, and from the right hand, appeared a spiraling black orb of energy, bleeding out cursed energy - Cursed Rasengan. There was only one way Zeo could move at this moment since the tornadoes would rip him apart if he tried to move laterally - and that was...forward.

The Dread Knight no longer cared about anything else anymore, the only thing he wished, for was the death of the person that kept trying to break away his other self from his fate.

WC: 1004
TWC: 15018

When you barely have AP Left...haha:

Sat Mar 05, 2022 8:22 am

The windless, emptiness of space surrounded Zeo, the stony feel of the moon's terrain under his feet. He felt it clearly. He had created it. His own reality. Even though it was a genjutsu, a world created by the power of his own mind and inside his opponent's he felt immersed in it just as well. But that didn't hinder him in the slightest. However, what concerned him now... that the evil Enishi snapped. Unable to accept the trauma of facing his other self, and now st uck into a Genjutsu of superior might-- he went berserk and his sage powers seemed to sprout forward in this place again.

However, Zeo remained as calm as he ever did as he raised his sword to meet the enemy. Eneshi sprouted two powerful tornados of energy to crush Zeo on both sides. Had this been any other situation, Zeo would of been in danger. However, his mind was calm and collected as he raised his sword-- and swung in a wide arch--- spinning around to meet both forces.

A bright flash sounded and the blade clashed with the tornados--- causing a loud crash and the energy of the curse power to shatter! The tornados became specks of light in space, scattering them to the stars around them. Here, Zeo's mind was strong and in control of the flow of events. He could even employ the power of sword skills he never could due to the limitations of the body. Here, he felt he could do anything.

"I told you. My power here is only limited to my imagination." Zeo expressed calmly as he raised his sword once more to Enishi as he formed his next attack. "You only exist to destroy, to make a legacy from the destruction you cause. But here is a bit of advice to you--- it's far easier to destroy... than to create!!"

He faced the incoming Rasengan as Enishi charged to face him. With his free hand, Zeo raised it up towards the earth above him. TO enishi's view, it looked like he was holding the planet--- and soon from it, his own Rasengan formed. It glowed brighter, pure, beautiful as the planet itself. Surrounding them, the stars soon started to move! Energy from the stars started to stream and fly-- and began to gather with Zeo's growing Rasengan. While it remained the same in size, rainbow-like colors, like a nebula started to show. A rasengan that gathered power from the very cosmos around it! Was that even possible? But here-- it WAS possible. Even the earth seemed to resonate with the power of the jutsu as Zeo focused. This was not just some genjutsu to Zeo-- it was a reality where anything was possible. The stars were the limit, and Zeo was still just being modest as he channled the power of the planet towards him.

IF Enishi had any kind of clarity or awareness-- it was clear. Zeo had the potential to be a sage as well!

As Enishi charged and threatened to crush Zeo with his cursed Rasengan-- he raised his hand out and soon met the force with his own Rasengan. Seemingly modest, the Rasengan glittered and radiated with starlight. He raised his hand forward and met Enishi's Rasengan head on.

The two spheres clashed-- the mighty flash of two opposing powers flashing off into outer space. However, Zeo didn't even flinch or move. It was as if the Rasengan he bore, was simply repelling the cursed one. With sword still in hand, Zeo used the Rasengan to halt Enishi's advance. And even then it started to build up in strength, almost as if the polar opposite power of Enishi's was feeding it's strength.

Zeo with his starry eyes, brimming with focus, mind and hope-- never faultered as he pressed his Rasengan forward with a strong cry of determination. With it, the sphere of starlight and chakra released, creating a powerful wave that consumed not just Enishi-- but half of the moon's surface as well. From a distance, it looked as if the moon erupted from its tip as a giant comet-like tail was produced, shooting out into deep space.

Enishi would feel the doubtless sense of being overwhelmed as his power and body were wiped away by the sheer cosmic and harmony Zeo possessed. For him, it was a power of mind over matter-- a concept Zeo had mastered to the fullest extent. A lesson no doubt Enishi-- both versions, would no doubt remember in the future. Evil Enishi would feel the shock and horror of his body torn apart by the cosmic event created b y Zeo's hand-- as his body and mind was wiped away into the depths of space....

....
....
....

Zeo's starry eyes soon closed-- causing the glow in them to fade. He stood there, on t he battlefield, now torn, soaked and tattered. No doubt the people of Hoshi would probably raise concerns to them after such a fight. It was now afternoon. Their battle had lasted quite some time as he let out a sigh. While his Uchugan still was active, he looked down at Enishi.

The results of his Genjutsu was strong, able to cripple the strongest' person's mind. The signs of the cursed Enishi had long faded from his body, as his mind was in the genjutsu Zeo had placed on him. While he remembered everything, even as events seemed to go on longer than he thought, he returned to the instance b efore him. Bahamut, his Persona, was long gone now and back inside him. For now, he took a deep breath to recover. He felt his chakra was severely spent, but not as much as Enishi's likely was.

When facing an opponent of superior power-- it is better to wind them down. Be patient, take the openings you can, and windle their will down. Zeo didn't have to land lasting damage, if he could exhaust his opponent. Between his Genjutsu and strategic ninjutsu, he kept the iniciative and won this fight.

Zeo approached the passed out Enishi and knelt down to him. A sigh escaped him as he saw him sleeping. "If I had a camera, I could really get some fun dirt off you," He joked to himself, and dismissed the funny thought. Instead, he reached down to shake his shoulder as he looked above him. "Release..." he said, focusing his chakra into Enishi to snap him out of the genjutsu of cosmic, fiery death.

Enishi-- ideally the true Enishi would wake up, as if nothing had happened. He clearly would be startled but in one piece and healthy outside of an exhausted chakra capacity. He would look up to see a smirking Zeo looking down at him. "Have a nice nap?" he said, with a smile.

WC: 1144

AP: 109/ 1121 AP Total . UPkeep paid for eyes and Stargazer

Subtle but cosmically awesome combat erupts on the moon as Zeo soon overpowers Enishi's curse sage power with the might of the collective universe in the palm of his hand. After the starry eruption fades... Zeo returns to reality and ends the Genjutsu to see Enishi unconscious as he soon walks over and undoes the Genjutsu, allowing him to recover out of it as the fight is over-- with Zeo as the victor .

Sun Mar 06, 2022 11:10 pm

White.

The world was painted white.

Huh, so this was...defeat.

The demon who had slaughtered hundreds and tormented thousands among the tundras of Hoshigakure had faced defeat in quite honestly, the most humiliating way possible. A mere boy - hailed from a line of spiritual shamans who were able to manipulate the infinite cosmos and possibilities in the universe - exorcised the Dread Knight by reversing his cursed energy entirely. Perhaps it was fitting - and rather ironic this way; the only method where the demon could be absolutely vanquished from existence was through the absolute erasure of his existence. At this very moment, Zeo Kamigawa had destroyed the physical presence of the Dread Knight - terminating his corporal self from the physical plane, essentially meaning that he was nothing more than a wandering spirit in limbo, foreign to the world and absolutely unable to interact with anything as he used to before. Exorcism through the use of methods such as cosmic and spiritual energy was an efficient way to ward off evil spirits; however, scorching a spirit was not the same as outright vanquishing an evil spirit from existence. Most exorcisms were rather short-term solutions for that very reason as it was pretty much the same as putting insect repellant on an area rather than expelling the insect entirely. Eventually, when the exorcism would ward off, the spirit would return and wreak havoc on the world once again. Whether it would take one day or ten thousand years for the spirit to regain its strength and rip through reality once again, it would inexorably return and cause mayhem, demanding another exorcist to exorcise the demon. It was this cycle of exorcism and revitalization that created the clash between demons and exorcists, sworn enemies that began since the beginning of time. It appeared that this clash was inevitable and there was no method to completely erase demons from existence...

Unless...the demon willfully accepted erasure.

Oni, demons, evil spirits, devils - whatever name humans desired to ascribe the spirits that plagued the human world - all originated from the thoughts and emotions of humans. No matter how much humans tried to escape their consequences and tried to distance themselves from demons, the truth of the matter was that demons and humans were the same. Created from the malicious thoughts, emotions, and desires from humans, demons were the manifestation of said thoughts, given birth by humans. This energy that demons used and fed on - created by humans was called "Cursed Energy." Essentially, demons were the cause of humans. As is such, every demon possessed a "medium" that created it and continues feeding off of it; if the said medium was able to repent, understand, and forgive their sins, then the demon would subsequently be able to pass on and be freed from a life of wreaking havoc. If exorcism was the short-term solution to defeating demons, then acceptance is the long-term solution to allow a demon to rest and be freed from reality. However, the Dread Knight was different in that regard, this was an evil spirit that was birthed from the Jugo Clan's malice and rage towards the world for giving them a curse that would force them to assault others relentlessly. The demon had been feeding off of the rage, sorrow, and sins of the Jugo Clan for centuries - corrupting and forcing them to live a life full of sin and rage; it would be nearly impossible to make it accept its sins...

However, Enishi Kurosawa refused to relent.

"Damn, you really suck, huh?"

"...???!!!"

In this white world - a closed space that symbolized the Dread Knight's limbo from acceptance to rejection, Enishi materialized in front of the winged spirit that coursed with cursed energy. The Dread Knight's rage for Zeo superseded reality - that part was evident, yet simultaneously, Enishi's desire to free the spirit that was created by humanity's selfishness then shackled by humanity's sins for centuries. He knew that feeling all too well. A golden aura streamed throughout Enishi's body...this, was the purest, truest, and ultimate chakra of a Sage, uncorrupted by malice and sin. "...You decide to hijack my body and then you try to confine yourself in this place after you got beat by some kid that you wrote off as a 'weakling.' How ironic... Honestly, if you didn't exist, I would have most likely have won the battle. You tried to take the fight into your own hands and then you start running away when you lost it fair and square. Why are you so retarded?" A slightly irritated expression formed on the visage of the understudy, but for the most part, he was pretty calm.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Yeah, the Dread Knight was pretty pissed off at his "weaker half" pointing out his irresponsibility. "If YOU had fought the way a true berserker should fight, we wouldn't have lost. I keep running away from my responsibility?! You keep trying to run away from your fate! You're a monster, you were simply born this way, why do you insist on lying to yourself? This desire to be good...this desire to be a kind person...is what makes you weak!"

"...After all of what has happened, you still insist that people arbitrarily have to follow what their ancestors have done on the basis of some predetermined fate? I admit, I used to think the same as you, that I was cursed to be a monster because of my past...but that was a copout - a coping method because I knew that I could be someone righteous, but it would require nearly insurmountable changes to do so..." For a moment, Enishi appeared anguished and sorrowful but that moment of weakness turned to strength, "...Yagami. That was your original name, right?" "How-wha-" "I saw it, your origin. You were a wandering spirit, born from the hatred of my clan. You thought you were born to guide fallen berserker to their haven - to a state a being where they could move on from their malice and become righteous individuals...but you were sorely mistaken. Your initial reason for existence was to be a scapegoat - a reason that the members of the Jugo Clan could continuously rage on and indiscriminately murder others in their drunken stupor manifested by their bloodline. Instead of blaming themselves for succumbing to their curse, they blamed fate, or rather, you. You were created to be the ultimate source of malice. Eventually...you believed that because others cursed you on behalf of yourself, you began to think that your only purpose in this world was to allow members of the Jugo Clan to be the true berserker they were. So you urged them even as they cursed you, you were forced to enable them to commit atrocities. Eventually, you began controlling their spirits and performed atrocities as well. Soon, people called the demon that you slowly became...The Dread Knight. Because my ancestors - my clansmen couldn't face their inner monsters, they created their monster...you." Enishi explained with surgical accuracy, hints of pain in his voice and he realized how eerily similar he and the spirit before him were - both humans who wanted to help others...but became scapegoats of their society.

"Yagami...even if people called you a monster upon birth, you don't have to prove them right! You can still carve your future, you can still atone, you can still find happiness in morality!"

"No. No. No! No!!! NOOOOOOOOOO!!! Y-you, don't understand!" Tears, tears of blood began streaming down the evil spirits visage. Again, an emotion so foreign, yet so relatable to the demon began clotting his heart and throat...Those clansmen, those people...yes...he remembered the emotion once again.

Fear.

Fear of not knowing which path to take.

"...E-even if I wanted to change, there is no path for me to take! H-how can I atone for the lives I've murdered because I was too scared to carve my path with my own two hands?! How can I make up for the centuries that I've lived where I have done nothing but chase my own shadow relentlessly? H-h-how can...a monster like me, ever find happiness?!" A once proud spirit, filled with malice and spite was reduced to nothing more than an intelligibly sobbing mess. His wings tried to strike Enishi out of instinct, but they were batted away instantly by the golden aura surrounding the understudy, making Yagami even more dejected that he couldn't swat his "weaker half" out of the way. "...There's no place else for me to go. Just leave me alone already in this empty world. I've burnt down all the bridges that would allow me to find salvation...many years ago." Accepting his fate, the demon's tears of bloody ichor stopped streaming...

"No."

"...What...the fuck do you mean NO?!"

"Yes Yagami, you have made many mistakes, but it isn't too late for you, it isn't too late for anyone - quite honestly. If I was able to understand that...then you can too, at least, that's what Zeo taught me." A wide smile began to form on Enishi's face. "Yeah, you've killed many! You've done many disgusting acts! But the fact that you acknowledge how terrible those acts are, proves that it's not too late. What those clansmen have done towards you was wrong, but it is impossible to change the past! The only way to move...is forward! If I was able to move onward from my past, then you can do so as well!"

The Sage outstretched his hand towards the Dread Knight.

"Choose me, Yagami."

"...What...you're not going to force me to erase myself? Fucking numbskull, you're even more retarded than that blue popsicle stick! I'll still be in your soul, I could relapse at any time and butcher everyone you know!!! And who fucking cares anyway...this world is temporary. Even if I changed, even if I became a good samaritan, and EVEN if I clap my hands and say 'kumbaya!' nothing will change!"

"Yeah, it's true. This world is temporary. It won't last forever. The future you're fearing will definitely come, where you'll have to find another path to take once this world ends. The time when you're left behind, eternal as you are, will almost definitely come. You may even think about slaughtering once again. But if you think only of fear for farewells, and throw away all the fun of being together, it takes far too much out of your existence...Does the sun setting mean that the day is all about the night?"

Yagami was silent...as much as he hated to admit it, Enishi was absolutely correct.

"I'm hopeless. I'm weak. I'm not particularly notable. I struggle in social situations a lot. Hell, I've been infatuated with this one girl, but I don't have the courage to confess my love for her. People call me a genius but I'm pretty much wasted talent. Zeo is a far greater shinobi than I am, but I will be damned if I refuse to accept that I am Enishi Kurosawa, son of Suguru Kurosawa! I will make my own decisions! If I succeed in a task, all the glory is to me! If I fail in a task, all the shame is to me! I make mistakes, I fall all the time...but something I will never do again is a slave to fate!!!" Enishi spat, his shoulders shaking with the magnitude of his powerful words. "Auuuu...." The Dread Knight groaned, bloody tears reappearing.

"Join me, Yagami. You need me, and I need you. Let's show these fuckers who thought we were destined to be monsters that we can be heroes that save the world and protect others! With our will, with our strength, with our KAKUGO...this world will be OUR kingdom!"

"...Stop it...please...stop... I don't know...I don't know...if I can change..."

"The first step happens now. You can curse and moan about it all you want, but you won't know whether you made the wrong choice or not without putting that first foot forward, YAGAMI!!!"

Flames erupted from the closed space, threatening to swallow them whole.

"Choose me, Yagami!"

With a decisive roar, the closed space meets its end - the universe seeking to destroy all "errors" in reality.

The closed space, The Dread Knight's isolated tomb, is swallowed and disappears in rifts and fire.

But the instant before that happens.

The wings vanish.

The world materialized in a swift daze as the afternoon, nearing evening air settled upon the tannish-alabaster skin of the understudy, reacting magnificently to the beating sun as it expressed a lighter complexion than typical. A brustle of his brow and a sudden twitch upon his nose and the aging teen would lightly expose his ice-blue pupils as he awoke from a deep slumber, incapable of escaping into a deeper state, due to a mixture of what had unfolded in the hours before his slumber. For a moment as his eyes began to adjust to the setting yet beating sun, he was temporarily unaware of what had unfolded.

And then...the memories replayed in his memories.

"Ah~"

His clothes were in tatters - his pants ripped and half of his upper body's skin was exposed, showing his frame which revealed the promising growth of some muscles. Yet, the cosmetic red mask that he often carried - a sign of goodwill given by his late adoptive father - was still attached to the side of his head. Luck? Nah, if there was a God, he most likely hated Enishi due to the cards he was given upon birth. Blinking upwards as he fully adjusted to the light, Zeo stood above him, looking down with a satisfied smirk on his face - asking if he had a nice nap. "...You know, I would be so much happier if a cute girl was asking me that question, but I suppose this will have to do," A typical stupid grin appeared on the Sage's expression and whether Zeo responded or not, a short silence would occur after the response as the wind blew through the torn battlefield. "...My apologies, Zeo. I understand what you were trying to tell me for a long time but I was too stubborn to face reality; I just wish that I understood it earlier so our fight could have no interruptions..." The more Enishi talked, the more his aura flowed, and given by this new aura that Enishi held...it would be obvious to Zeo that there was a change in the understudy's behavior.

The Dread Knight and the Sage of Pleiades fused to become the ultimate version of Enishi. While Enishi still kept his authentic personality through and through whilst gaining a heightened amount of maturity from the aftermath of their clash, the Sage also gained access to the power of his other half - the power of the Dread Knight. Not only that, but he also gained complete access and knowledge to the Dread Knight's memories...meaning that he had probably three hundred years' worth of memories at the very least. All of the secrets of the Jugo Clan were at Enishi's disposal. Not only that...but he could hear Yagami very clearly now in his thoughts - apparently the contract is now that Yagami would be Enishi's guardian spirit...

The price?

Yagami wanted to see Enishi succeed and crush his enemies without ever once abandoning his moral code.

"I'm starting to regret this decision..." Enishi internally sighed for a moment; he could hear some weird barking noises from Yagami who heard his annoyed thoughts but he didn't care at the moment, his focus was on the Kamigawa.

"It's my loss, Zeo," Enishi said with calm honor, showing respect to his friend and rival. "It wasn't really about who fought worse, but rather, one was simply the better shinobi and got the upper hand at the end. It was a pretty humbling experience...but damn...I know I was being possessed but you really tried to drown me in water, huh? For someone who wants people to not be monsters, you do have some devilish tendencies yourself, hehe." The understudy said with a teasing expression before standing upwards, letting the mask that was attached to the side of his head fall down, allowing the wind to assault his crimson-auburn and let it flow freely. His gentle smile formed. "Thanks for teaching me the error of my ways, my friend. My path...is my own to choose." The Jugo would outstretch his hand towards the Kamigawa for a handshake, and if the handshake was accepted, his gentle smile transitioned into a smug grin, "I'll kick your ass next time for sure, super-cosmic eye powers or not!" Turning around and facing away from the Kamigawa, he would part with a few last words, however...

"I have no interest in being a villain, and I don’t know that I can become a purely righteous person. I’m at a halfway point where I’m not even sure which path I should truly walk down… but I guess even there, I can still interfere in someone’s life and help bring things to a positive conclusion… Yeah... If people are smiling in the end, then that's all that matters..."

Soon, Enishi left.

"Heh...If you really cared about what people felt, then you wouldn't have made a contract with a demon like me..." Yagami scoffed at the hopeful words that Enishi said to Zeo as the understudy strolled to the Kurosawa Estate. "However, say that I really do relapse and try to cause havoc as I have done for the past thousands of years, what would you do in that case?"

"Kill you, of course." There was no hesitation in Enishi's words. "But not for the reasons you think; good and evil are subjective concepts, there's no objective way to measure how good or evil people are to this world. I didn't make a contract with you because I thought you were a good person; I made a contract because I saw the potential within the being that is called Yagami. Yeah...if people are suffering, I'll help them. If people are performing atrocities, then I'll put an end to their ways.

But this world is unfair. Some saints are forced to commit atrocities, and some demons can perform good - just as you are doing right now.

So until the world decides to start being fair...

I'll save people unequally."

[EXIT]

WC: 3073

TWC: 18091

[OOC: Great Match, Zeo!]

Claims:

Making claims later, on next post, probably. Just wanted to get this post out

Mon Mar 07, 2022 11:59 am

A sigh of relief came from Zeo as he saw Enishi respond and snap out of the Genjutsu. While his eyes were still active, he kept good look at his reaction. He was worried that the Genjutsu did permanent damage but Zeo had tried to control himself. Stargazer was a powerful genjutsu capable of trapping one in a cosmic reality completely under his control. The sheer shock of cosmic destruction upon a human was almost instantaneous and could really be serious harm on one's mind-- even when he held back. However, he was a bit releaved to here Enishi make a bad joke about being a girl.

Zeo gave him a shove for good measure at that. "Oh shut up. " he replied at the obvious joke. It was then Zeo noticed it-- a sudden change in Enishi's soul or aura. The 'seed' of corruption, the sickening orange and black he saw that permeated his soul that way-- it had faded. No, to be more clear, the green and lighter shade of orange was now mixed, forming a more... synergized color between them. It brimmed and flourished together, less violent and more... at peace? Calmer? Regardless of the words he couldn't say to describe the aura he saw, this new development showed Enishi was not only better-- but his state of mind was far more stable and healthier than it had been before. Far from it! It was like a completely positive emotional epiphany-- as it was clear how he talked to Zeo afterward.

"Hehe... don't worry about it. I'm just glad it worked out. And besides, you're pretty incredible... hey, I only did that cause you were hiding. If you did that, you could easily just dug your way out right? I knew you'd come out if you knew you had no other options. " Zeo explained, not being so dark that he would be that morbid to kill an opponent. "I simply was trying to flush you out." With that, Zeo's chakra finally relaxed-- as he realized everything was fine. His starry eyes soon faded, returning to their normal blue and white shade.

It was then Zeo was surprised that Enishi formally accepted defeat and thanked him for showing him the error of his ways. Zeo did it... this was more rewarding than a won fight against the guy who bested him in the chunin exams. He gave his friend peace in his soul. His only goal as a shinobi, his dream, was to use his gifts to help people. In his way, he showed him a better path that his life was his own to make, not the curse he was given at birth. He could control his own fate, and define himself, and not as others said to him. It was clear Zeo saw it-- he was now a blank slate, with a grand future of his own making to decide.

Zeo reached down and shook his hand, helping him up. "Heh, next time I will only get stronger. I think I am finally able to understand... what I am now." he said as they shook hands, signaling a great fight.

Enishi's parting words made Zeo fell a hundred times better. He didn't just settle things with Enishi, they both came out stronger for it. "It means your future is your own now, Enishi. That's a good thing. No one knows where they are heading. But you're future is now yours to make. That can only be encouraging, man. " he called out to him and waved bye for now.

The destroyed landscape seemed to finally be at peace, as was Zeo as he relaxed and looked out at the distance. It was a new turning point for him too now, as only the future would show his role, his idenity too. There was so much he still didn't know about his family, bloodline, and so much more. But he now accepted his traits, and the new part of his life, both the good and bad. With a glance up to the afternoon sky, he too headed back to the village to face the future head on.

WC: 693
TWC: 11,988

Zeo Won. End.

Reward claims next post.

Mon Mar 07, 2022 6:28 pm

Claims:
886 WC to finish off training of Wood Release, previous training is here [1500/1500], using 25% Max Stats Discount
1125 WC towards Wood Release: Cutting [1125/1125], using 25% Max Stats Discount
1750 WC towards Wood Clone [1750/1750], using 25% Max Stats Discount
1750 WC towards Wood-Dragon [1750/1750], using 25% Max Stats Discount
2062 WC towards Jet Booster Jump A-Rank [2062/2062], using 25% Max Stats Discount
2062 WC towards Foo Dog Heads [2062/2062], using 25% Max Stats Discount
1125 WC towards Nativity of a Sea of Trees [1125/1125], using 25% Max Stats Discount
1750 WC towards Nativity of a World of Trees A-Rank [1750/1750], using 25% Max Stats Discount
1750 WC towards Tree Bind Flourishing Burial A-Rank [1750/1750], using 25% Max Stats Discount
3831 WC towards Kanzeon Lotus King [3831/7500], using 25% Max Stats Discount

Mon Mar 07, 2022 6:43 pm

Sure. Approved.