Master & Pupil, Past Intertwines: The Black Dragon's Hellfire

The large gates of the temple were ablaze with flames. Their colors varied, but their purpose was the same. To decorate, to protect, and to educate. These flames were the hearts and minds of those who studied, lived, taught, and worshiped at this temple. They each had a meaning and a purpose that related to the realms of human personality. Though these flames were highly symbolic in nature, they caught the attention of one hot headed rule breaker.

Enjou Kagutsuchi, A-ranked Rogue, Nokogakure Runaway, Former Member of Kaen no Metsujin Madoshi. Though he no longer considered himself part of his former clan, he kept all of their secrets and abilities for himself. One of which was the desire to eat flames, and these multicolored flames looked awfully tasty. The shinobi leapt up onto the wall and examined a particular brightly burning blue flame. It had significant heat, but it also cooled extremely quickly in the natural air. Enjou speculated that its taste would be like a burst a flavor before fizzling away in his mouth. He opened his mouth and leaned forward when a loud cry stopped him.

”You there! Halt your progress and dismount yourself from that wall.” Enjou gave the man a puzzled look before taking his suggestion. He stuck his hands in his pockets and hopped off of the wall. The man approached Enjou. He had long gray hair and dark black eyes. His wrinkles were all dipped inward toward his brow making him seem even angrier and older than he really was. He was just under Enjou's height and wore traditional monk garb including robes and the such.

”What was your purpose up there near one of the sacred flames?” The man asked.

Enjou grunted and looked away with his chin high, ”Obviously I was going to eat it.”

The man scowled even further if that were even possible, ”What gives you the right? Who the hell do you think you are?”

Enjou snorted and smirked, ”I give myself the right, I do as I please.”

”What arrogance, I will teach you to be humble,” the old man said, ”Then I, Ginrei Kageroza, will purge you with your fill of flames young one.”

Enjou scoffed at the old man, ”If you want a fight just bring it, I won't hold back because you're elderly.”

Ginrei gave a sour look before leaping backward, with the skill of a shinobi. He raised his sleeve to reveal a black scar or tattoo that ran along his arm. It snakes around and up his arm like a serpent. The made several handsigns in quick succession. Enjou watched with mild interest obviously underestimating his opponent. Ginrei finished his handsigns and held his hand high above his head. In a matter of moments a giant black dragon of flames emerged from his hand. It seemed to give off no light and block out the sunlight around it.

Enjou looked up with a mixture of horror and excitement. He could hear Ginrei yell something else, but he wasn't listening. He wanted to do something like that. Ginrei cried out one final phrase and the dragon turned itself upon Enjou. The large black flame beast moved downward before flying just above the ground directly toward Enjou. The blond maned shinobi took a stance and called out his own technique. A large fireball, black in the center and white around the edges emerged around him. The black dragon crashed into his fireball, and it seemed to be repelled for a moment. Enjou had a victorious smirk at first, but that quickly dissolved as the black dragon ate through his fire. It took only a moment for the fireball and Enjou to be swallowed up. The dragon's flames ran over him for several seconds until the dragon simply disappeared into the air.

Enjou stood heaving large breaths, a small portion of his fireball remaining, with many light burns across his body. His eyes were alight with fiery passion. Ginrei was disgusted with his very existence. The old man prepared for another blast when a cool voice call out.

”Enough Ginrei, please do not disrespect a member of my kin.”

Ginrei quickly turned around and dropped to one knee. His head was bowed and he was silent. Enjou however was speechless. His mouth was slightly agape and his mind couldn't quite comprehend what was occuring. Only one questioning word escaped his lips.

”Grandpa?”

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Three individuals walked through the interior of the temple. One was the older Ginrei who was an elder monk of the temple and another was the blond maned Enjou. The final member was light gray hair that hung down around his head and a long beard. He was much older than Ginrei, but still moved with the coordination of any young person. The eldest member of the group was Koga Hiryu, and was Enjou's grandfather. Koga was the patron of the temple and made sure the temple was well-maintained. The trio had been walking through long hallways of black and gold lite only by small candles hanging on the wall.

Enjou had a sour expression as he was forced to walk with Ginrei. His grandfather was hailing him with questions about his life since he had last seen him. The fiery man didn't mind the questions, but wondered if he had heard the news of his departure.

”I'm so glad to hear you're doing well grandson,” Koga said with a small smile, ”If you continue to excel at this rate you shall find yourself the head of the clan tomorrow.”

Enjou frowned but didn't say anything, ”Grandpa, is this where you've been since you left the village?”

Koga's smile faded a bit, ”Yes it has. This temple belongs to our family and has been maintained by one of our kin for generations. My great nephew was maintaining it in my old age, but he received an early death.”

”What's this place for? Why is it so important?” Enjou questioned.

Koga took a deep breath as he began his explanation, ”This temple serves as a ground to practice the lifestyle of the great dragons. We conduct our day to day lives within the codes and traditions of the nine flames. We're also a shinobi temple so we teach our students how to survive as such.” Koga gave a glance to Enjou, ”And we hold a secret to a special flame you got to experience.”

Enjou's interested were piqued, ”Talkin' bout that black dragon the old man used on me?”

”The very one” Koga turned to Ginrei who had been silent this whole time. ”Ginrei, would you mind teaching my grandson the technique? He may one day be head of my clan and I would be so proud if I could see him do it.”

It was evident that Ginrei didn't want to head the task by the furrow in his brow, ”Of course Koga-dono, as I may not like your grandson's arrogant demeanor, I will do it as a request from you.”

Enjou scoffed loudly at his mention which caused Koga to chuckle loudly, ”It comes with youth in our family.”

The three walked into a large chamber room that was much brighter than the hallways, but still seemed dark. The chamber was easily large enough for thirty people to train in without disturbing each other. Koga waited by the wall while Ginrei beckoned Enjou toward the center of the room. Enjou looked around the room with an annoyed expression, though he was very interested in all that was going on around him. Ginrei lifted up the sleeve on his right arm to reveal his tattoo from before.

Enjou lifted his right hand and pointed at Ginrei's arm, ”What's the significance of that black marking?”

Ginrei continued preparing himself without looking at Enjou, ”No questions, you will learn. That is all.”

Enjou scowled, but decided to sit tight which was against his many impulses. Ginrei had secured his sleeve to his upper arm and walked over to Enjou. The blond maned behemoth watched with curious interest as Ginrei's hand erupted in black flames. They appeared the same as that dragon he had used on Enjou before. The flames themselves looked like Kokuton flames at first glance. Enjou found the differences quickly. Kokuton flames looked strictly like black flames. These flames burned and shaped oddly as it moved about in its form. They reminded him of the old pictures he had seen of Amaterasu. Ginrei grabbed Enjou's right hand and placed the black flame in his hand. At first it seemed to sit in his hand and it didn't burn him. However, when Ginrei removed his hand the black flames remained and began attacking Enjou's arm. He gritted his teeth as the flames pulsed up his arm and snaked around forming the same markings as on Ginrei. The black marks seemed to seer his skin leaving it incredibly sensitive to the air around it.

Ginrei stroked his beard, ”Good good, your resistance to heat and burns makes the first step of the training child's play. Most students require at least one week's rest for the markings to fully develop and have the strength to go on.”

Enjou didn't much care and his expression showed it. Ginrei picked up on this and continued, ”This type of technique is far more complex than simple fire conjuring. It is even more advanced than the god-like fire control shown by members of your clan. Some say the correlation of the markings and the nature of the fire suggest its actual a summoning technique. These flames are said to be from hell itself.”

Ginrei clenched a fist and opened his palm to reveal a small flame. ”Bringing forth a small flame should be easy for you as well I'm sure.” Just as Ginrei believed, Enjou flexed his fist and poured his fiery chakra into the marking causing his hand to produce the same black flames. Enjou had a great smirk on his face from the ease of his advancement.

”Don't get cocky now,” Ginrei warned, ”Acting in such a way will get you killed.” Enjou continued to play with his fire causing Ginrei to sigh. ”To create the dragon you must envision the beast within your mind's eye and call it forth from the depths of Makai. When you do such and infuse your spirit with the beast you should be able to materialize it into our world.”

That's all Enjou needed to hear. He didn't care about the specifics of what he said. He thought about a dragon and poured more chakra into the marking. His great stamina and natural affinity to fire made it an easy task to cause his whole arm to burst into the black flames. The flames quickly expanded and shaped into a dragon's head. Ginrei cried out desperately for Enjou to stop, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. Enjou turned to his right toward the empty wall and threw his fist forward. The dragon on his arm flew forward as he commanded. It produced no light and even seemed to suck the little light on that part of the room away. Enjou grinned wildly as the dragon obeyed him. This single technique was taught to Enjou in a matter of seconds.

Or so he thought...

Enjou's face paled as realization took over. The light near him was fading as the dark red eyes of a best beyond the darkness approached him. It was obvious now what had happened. The dragon demanded a sacrifice upon arrival, a target to kill. Enjou supplied him with none and wasted his presence so the dragon would make one out of him. The giant flame beast flew straight at Enjou. Enjou, instead of defending, held his arms out wide and beckoned the beast toward him.

”You think you can kill me? You think you can go against your master? I will teach you obedience flames,” he put extra emphasis on the flames comment, ”Don't f**k with me!!!”

Just as he called out the gigantic dragon overtook him wrapping him in darkness flames. His whole body felt like it was on fire. Quite literal I know, but someone of Enjou's clan rarely experiences this sensation. It created a pressure so strong that Enjou felt like he was going to die. It was incredible. The beast got its fill of pain and disappeared from sight as fading flames. Enjou stood there covered in burns and wounds. He fell to the ground. Ginrei, who had been a safe distance this whole time, now walked up to the fallen man. He shook his head and turned his back on him. His eyes widened in surprise as he felt something grasp his leg.

”Don't count me out just yet!” Enjou snarled before passing out.

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Koga and Ginrei stood over Enjou's injured body. He remained unconscious still. They had brought him to one of the guest beds in the temple. His body was treated for burns and medicinal solutions were spread on his burns to help them heal. His resistance to the flames were stunning receiving only wounds that one may sustain from bathing in actual fire. Ginrei was still in disbelief at this fact.

”You're clansman's natural traits are astonishing Koga-dono” Ginrei said softly.

Koga laughed softly, ”I would have to agree with you, though this is a special case you are witnessing my friend.” Ginrei looked at Koga with a puzzled expression. ”Enjou was born to a family with two daughters already. His father desperately wanted a son, and when he received one his wife died from the labor. As such the clan gave him the surname Kagutsuchi. I was only there briefly to witness the birth and upbringing of my grandson. His father remarried and had two more daughters. His father, my son Taimatsumaru, put pressure on his son to become a far better warrior than himself. My son worried that Enjou wouldn't be able to take over the family, and without any other sons, would be taken over by another family within the clan. As he trained it become obvious that Enjou was special.”

Koga's eyes seemed sparkle and his grin became kinder as he recalled Enjou's past, ”His flames are blue. It is a rare defect in the clan, but it makes the user more adept. It is said that those who are born with these flames are destined to lead the clan. Another pressure for my grandson. He trained to become a warrior and to be obedient to the clan, yet he became more and more defiant. I'm surprised that he's stayed with the clan this long,” obviously unaware of Enjou's defection, ”Those with blue flames are said to be masters of fire and able drink lava itself. Of course these are exaggerations, but as you have seen his body withstood the Jaou Ensatsu Kokuryuha much better than anyone else ever seen.”

Ginrei fell silent as he reflected on Enjou's past and Koga's words. He began to understand why this man was so arrogant and so hungry for power. He too understood the burden of expectations from a young age. Ginrei continued to question Koga about his clan, ”I find it most peculiar that his hair is perfectly unscathed from the flames.” This was true. Enjou's long blond hair held no scorch marks nor burned a bit in the flames.

”Another clan trait. Our hair is highly fire resistant. So much so that large quantities can resist the burning effects of even demon flames. Though the heat distribution is a problem. It is a tradition in the clan to grow ones hair out so that it make be harvested and sewn into the clothing and armor. Wealthy men purchase our wares for their special properties for high prices. The income supports the clan outside of the kind support of Nokogakure.” Koga explained.

Ginrei thought for a moment and had many more questions, but Koga rose to his feet. ”Let's leave the boy to rest. We'll return when he has awakened to continue his training. The dragon's defiance may have taught him a lesson about his own.” The two older men picked themselves up and left the room allowing Enjou to rest.

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Enjou stood in the main training room once more. Ginrei taught him while his grandfather watched as they had before. The burns across Enjou's body had healed traumatically in the short time he had rested. His once second and third degree burns were now simple red and pink patches upon his skin. He had to spent a short time repairing his clothes as some had burnt up in the dragons strike. He now wore mended remains of his previous garb covering him roughly the same as before. He neither winced nor whined about his burns.

Ginrei had been practicing some kata and chanting some prayers before beginning the day's training. He approached Enjou once more and examined his markings. Nothing had changed from Enjou's perspective since the day he got it. Ginrei seemed satisfied and left it be. He walked a few paces away and turned to face Enjou. His face showed a stone set determination that only a lifetime of wisdom and stubbornness could bring. His voice cut through the still room like an icy wind.

”You cannot handle nor are worthy of the black dragon.” Enjou immediately tried to protest and almost got flared up when Ginrei held up a hand to halt Enjou's outburst. ”You will practice other techniques to prepare yourself for the dragon and hopefully teach you your place.”

Enjou ignored his annoying tone and insults, again against many impulses to beat him. Ginrei held out his left hand. The hand began to distort as the air around it seemed to shimmer and move. Enjou recognized that his hand was covered in an intense heat. The air around his hand continued to waver until it finally burst into a white centered flame. The flame only had a very small center of white while the rest was orange and yellow.

”Just as the markings give you the chance to summon flames from Makai in the form of demonic black flames. You can bring forth the mortal flames of our world. These flames are spawned the hottest flames this planet can produce and can contend with demonic flames well, but are still outclassed. This technique should be simpler to master.”

Enjou tried to do as he had done. He felt that the trick was perhaps not focusing the chakra inward, but around the skin. By rapidly heating the air around your hand you can create a flames the truly holds the name of a plasma. Enjou performed this theory, but quickly found that he was not getting his hand hot enough. The more chakra he put out the worse the result it seemed.

Ginrei finally called out, ”You must envision the hottest flame imaginable. Think of the sun or the planet's core. While envisioning these elements focus your spirit into summoning it with your markings.”

This did the trick for Enjou. Just as he had done with the dragon he thought of the sun and focused chakra around his hand and in the markings. It took several minutes of concentration, but he finally found the right mixture and focus to bring forth the mortal flames. He found quickly that the flames did not shoot outward as the dragon did nor did they have any sort of ranged functionality. They simple cloaked his hand boosting his taijutsu threat. Enjou found it fascinating that the flames remained orange and yellow and not stained blue like all of his other flames.

Ginrei didn't give him the chance to test the flames out more. He stopped Enjou by slamming a katana down in front of him blade first. The sword stuck in the floor holding itself up. Enjou looked at the weapon curiously.

”I am not good with a sword, give me a blunt weapon instead.” Enjou boldly said.

Ginrei sighed, ”Your skill with a blade matters not, this is a medium for a technique you can practice on your barbarian weapons on your own time. Now pick up the blade.”

Enjou gripped the light blade with a single hand and wielded it with a lack of style. ”Just as you did with your dragon yesterday, I want you to form black flames. However, I want you to focus on the sword rather than on a dragon. Think of cloaking the sword with the black flames.”

The description was simple enough. Enjou forced chakra into the markings on his arm and thought about the fire which caused the black flames to peck out upon his arm. With flames easily creatable, Enjou then focused on the blade. What he expected was that the flames from his arm would travel onto the blade, but new flames actually appeared along the blade edge. He required several minutes of concentration to keep an even coating of flames along the blade. He was pleased that he managed to do this, but dropped the sword while breathing heavily. The tasks had used up much of his chakra.

Enjou sat himself upon the ground and tried to catch his breath. To his surprise, Ginrei threw an object and hit a large bell hidden by the darkness of the poor lighting. Several younger boys and girls brought them food. Ginrei sat himself upon the floor and began eating. Koga too ate with his grandson and friend. The three ate silently for a while before Koga broke the silence.

”Enjou, my grandson, how goes your life and the clan. I see you wield Ifrit upon your legs.” Koga inquired.

Enjou felt a tinge of nervousness and guilt before pushing it aside, ”Life goes on. I have defeated many of the clan's warriors in battle and I was given permission to travel on my own.” He avoided the all notions of his defeating the former head and leaving his clan and village.

His grandfather smiled, ”That warms my heart. I have always been proud of you Enjou. Please remember that.”

Enjou wasn't sure what to say next, but Ginrei interrupted their family chat saving Enjou the awkwardness. ”There is one more technique to learn and you will most likely be able to wield the black dragon without any more of my instruction.”

Enjou leapt to his feet, ”Let's get this over with then!” he cried out.

His grandfather laughed while moving away from the two while the youngsters cleaned up their meal. Enjou was surprised to feel how fast his strength had returned. There must have been something special in the food for restoring vitality and chakra. Ginrei pulled his sleeve back down over his arm visually similar to sheathing a blade.

”This next technique is impossible for me to perform, but I will verbally instruct you as best I can. Your clan has a natural style for covering ones body with flames. It is possible to do this with the black flames. Though to avoid burning yourself the balance of power and control must be kept in check. I feel you will master this technique Enjou. You have yet to fail me thus far.”

Ginrei turned and walked next to Koga. The two older men watched Enjou. Ginrei waved a hand similar to how an adult would gesture for a kid to go play. Enjou looked away from them and performed his clan's common method of igniting ones self. His chakra simply was focused on his skin and rose up through the layers. When the chakra hit open air it turned into his flames. The blueish purple flames covered his body much like he had done hundreds of times before. This technique was simple for him. Now he focused on the markings on his arm. The black flames. He needed them to appear. The flames responded to his call and coating the marking with their presence. Just as he had done with the sword he thought of his own body and the flames. The black flames creeped along his arm and began coating his body little bit by little bit. He wanted it to hurry, but every thought to force it along resulted in him thinking about the dragon's backfire and he would slow down. The flames took an eternity to coat his whole body, but it created a thin veil of blackness around him that moved and swirled like some sort of living armor.

Enjou heard Ginrei call out for more power which Enjou tentatively followed. The flames slowly rose in intensity causing them the move about more frequently and expand away from his body. He felt their desire for more power. More life spirit to explode outward and engulf everything. As he added more chakra to the flames he felt the flames begin to lash back at him. They tried to burn his body which caused Enjou to cry out. His wounds pained him so. He instinctively pulled chakra away from the flames causing them to attack harder. Demanding more power. He feared them and wanted to cancel the jutsu. Before he could his mind paused and he thought about the feeling. The worry and pain in his gut that came from doing something strenuous and pain-staking both physically and mentally. He lived for this experience. Enjou gave the flames as much chakra as they desired. They tried to strike back against him, but found they were unable to. His chakra was infused with his will. It couldn't harm him.

Enjou reveled in his victory when a roar occurred behind him. He turned to see a large fireball rushing toward him. He almost tried to use his clan's flame jutsu to protect himself, but forgot of his black flame armor. The armor not only blocked the attack, but seemed to force the flame toward it and suck it up. Enjou saw that the black flames were attempting to devour the other flames for more power. Enjou opened his mouth and devoured the foreign flames before his black flames could. He felt invigorated and powerful. He had never been able to eat flames that quickly before. Perhaps he was gaining some traits from the black flames that surrounded him.

The blond maned shinobi reared back and gave out a loud laugh of victory for mastering this technique just as Ginrei said he could. “U-haa haa haa haa” with a small “U-hee hee” near the end. The black flame armor shrank away as he approached his grandfather and Ginrei. Both of them had smiles upon their faces. Enjou wondered if they would want to spare or congratulate him or tell him to go train. He was so use to his family forcing him to work on the next technique after learning the first. His grandfather put a hand on his shoulder and told him to go rest. Enjou smiled brightly for the first time in years it had seemed like. It felt nice.

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The fiery man walked out into the courtyard in the brisk night air. It had only been a few hours since he had completed the techniques and training, but he planed to get out of here quickly. He was certain his grandfather would inform the clan of his presence or progress and suddenly the pressure of Nokogakure and Kaen no Metsujin Madoshi would be upon him. He took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly before walking forward.

”Halt fiend!”

Enjou turned around to see Ginrei breathing heavily and looking disheveled. He had his sleeve rolled up as if he were ready to fight.

”You! You betrayed your entire family! You betrayed your village! You betrayed their trust!” Ginrei shouted.

Enjou sighed, ”I guess you heard. It's a pain. Thanks for your help.”

Ginrei's face contorted to pure rage after Enjou's statement. He pulled his right arm back as it was engulfed in the very black flames he taught Enjou. He threw a punch forward sending the very same black dragon that had attacked him before. The great fire beast lunched for him and threatened to swallow him whole once more. Enjou had a plan this time. His body was quickly coated in the very same black flames. As the two flames entities collided he could feel them attempted to absorb each other. Enjou became a third force in the power struggle. He sucked inward and began bringing Ginrei's flame toward himself. The black dragon resisted at first, but quickly couldn't pull away from both the armor and Enjou's suction. Enjou devour much of the dragon and what remained was taken by his armor causing it to burst outward furiously.

Ginrei watched in horror as his most powerful technique, the temple's most powerful technique, was devoured by this amateur who was easily defeated by it just a blink of an eye before. Enjou's hair began to turn color as the dragon's power flowed through him. His hair changed from its usual vivid blond to a black akin to the night sky. The peaks of the spikes upon his head were the only remaining yellow in his hair. His eyes remained the piercing red they had always been.

Ginrei sweated profusely and dropped to his knees. He knew that defeat was evident and he was just overwhelmed by how the tables so quickly turned. His mind desperately attempted to wrap around where he had gone wrong, or rather how he had gone so right with his teaching. No pupil could have taken this technique and made it his own in such a short time. He knew that Koga had been correct in his stories of Enjou. This man was like no other. He lowered his head and accepted his fate. Death awaited him.

”GINREI!!! GRAMPS!!! LISTEN UP!!!”

Ginrei looked up at Enjou's piercing cry.

”Thank you for everything...”

Enjou bowed for several seconds before straightening his back. With speed enhanced by the black dragon's influence, Enjou disappeared in a flash of black flame into the night.