Chapter 107: Impressions, Gift and Returning Home

Chapter 107: Impressions, Gift and Returning Home

__________ POV Narration __________

Ken dashed from tree to tree as his hair blew in the wind.

His head snapped back in the direction of the Leaf Village for a second, his mind wandering back to his departure from that place.

He hadn't bothered to go and say goodbye to the Hokage, the Assassin assumed that the Leaf Village Leader had enough on his plate for now.

Instead, he took off right after Pa helped him return to the training grounds.

The Shinobi of Konoha had likely already been instructed to not try and stop him, as no one even reacted when he left.

Overall, the assassin's time on Mount Myboku was not quite what he had expected.

He certainly wanted more answers than he had gotten. But at the very least he had the basics of what he was down.L1tLagoon witnessed the first publication of this chapter on Ñøv€l--B1n.

In a sense, he hadn't always been the same. Back in his early years, his body wasn't the way it was now, he was more... Human.

'It's fair to say I'm slowly becoming less and less human... The Great Toad Sage said that I am a like that beast, the 'Ten Tails'...'

It was a bit concerning, as Ken couldn't even feel much difference from how he was before.

He felt no difference in his body, besides the Scaled Sage Mode.

Although, one could say that him being able to modify his body even when outside of the 'Scaled Sage Mode', meant that his body was no longer normal.

Small things like hiding the Tenketsu, or adjusting his height, essentially growing his muscles and bones.

It all hinted that his body had already become more than human. He just hadn't really thought of himself as a Tailed Beast in the past...

Then there was also the aspect of his mind.

The Great Toad Sage had led him to believe that the 'Ten Tails' was more or less a mindless beast. So did that mean he was also predisposed to slowly losing his humanity and becoming a mindless beast?

But his thoughts were just as clear, if not clearer than before. Clear enough to see his past hypocrisy in a different light although he had no eyes...

Just meeting Minato and Kushina alone was enough to give him a bit more perspective regarding Shinobi, and that perspective led to him looking back on his actions in a more critical manner.

But at the end of the day, he always did what he thought was necessary, so he wasn't going to regret the past.

After all, he had killed thousands upon thousands.

There were some he didn't regret killing. People like the brainwashed cultists, and even the warmongering Shinobi from the alliance he had taken down.

Although some of them might've been faultless, fighting someone else's war, they were still going to war. They had gone out prepared to kill others in a merciless offensive.

But then there were the samurai and guards that he had killed back in the day...

Did they truly deserve to die for doing their jobs? Not really.

Ken had no way of knowing how innocent they were, or if they were innocent at all. But was he truly the most qualified to act as their judge, jury and executioner?

That was a bit more difficult to answer... But one thing was for sure.

Ken wasn't going to be judging the innocence of others anytime soon unless he sensed their intentions personally.

'I should strive to work for a better future instead of living with uncertainty or regret.'

In the end, the reason that so much blood was being spilt was exactly because the world was still a messy place, filled with war.

'I need to work harder if I want to create my very own slice of heaven... As we are now, our peace can still be ruined if the other villages decide we are too big of a threat...'

Ken knew that he needed to grow even stronger, and he also needed to train his students to grow even stronger.

After all, he would need strength to carry out any of his future plans. He needed overwhelming strength, and freedom to act without worrying about the Dark Brotherhood being harmed.

'We are on a good track already... Here's hoping we keep up with this pace for the foreseeable future.'

Ken shook his head as he decided not to think too deeply about the future while in the middle of travelling.

Although there were some concerns on his mind still.

Things like, 'Why exactly did the Toads give me a contract as a gift?'

The first thought was that they had done so to keep an eye on him, but they had allowed him to choose the animal he preferred most.

But there was always the possibility that all of the Contracted Beasts they had offered were going to act as spies.

Ken didn't quite like the idea, but at the same time he didn't really feel like the Toads were his enemies. They hadn't quite done anything to even suggest they were hostile towards him.

Various items and trinkets the samurai that raised him held dear to them.

Ken waved his hand towards the altar, the force of which created a small shockwave that blew away all of the snow from the small makeshift memorial.

After that, the assassin sheathed his long blade, placed it on the ground, and slowly crouched down.

"You know... I first wanted to build something bigger... I was thinking of building a shrine in the Dark Brotherhood with the help of the others."

He spoke to no one in particular, his gruff voice reverberated through the wind, which responded with a hollow breeze.

"But at the end of the day, I don't think there ever will be a better place for this shrine other than here..."

The Blind Monster reached for the shrine and he picked up one of the items on there, a particular hairpin.

He gently clutched it in his hand as he heaved a sigh.

"Daisuke, I wonder if any of you can hear me now... Would you be proud of me if you saw the man I have become? Would you think less of me if you knew more of the things I did?

Why did the world have to cut our time so short?"

He once again spoke to no one in particular.

He had never been a sentimental person, he also didn't use to put much value on human life.

But it was the samurai from the altar in front of him that taught him the value of life. More specifically, it was their deaths that taught him a valuable lesson.

Still, the blind swordsman couldn't help but feel bitter. A hatred for the world that took them away, a hatred for the ones that had killed them.

But the ones that had done so had already met their end.

Ken was also bitter towards the Land of Iron, but he saw no sense in pursuing them for revenge. He no longer saw any meaning in it.

He had also heard about the afterlife in that world. The belief in the 'Pure Lands'. The world was mystical enough for the sceptical assassin to believe such a thing as possible.

So to him, there was a chance that the Samurai were watching over him... Maybe.

He wanted to have proper closure, which was why he had returned there, to his old home.

The blind monster stood motionless as he listened to the wind a bit more. He hoped for a whisper, to find a different pattern than what was natural. But no such thing happened.

He eventually placed the hairpin back on the altar, before slowly reaching into his cloak.

"I grew out of it a long time ago... And it's a lot more broken down than when I received it... But I think it's better if I leave this here with you."

And in front of the altar he placed a wooden mask, stitched together with glue, cracked in many places.

It was the mask that Koji, their resident doctor, had originally gifted him with.

"I wore this when I first sought revenge blindly... I'll close that chapter of my life with this."

Ken then picked up the long blade from his side and placed it on the ground in front of the altar as well.

"This blade was stained with the blood of those that killed you. I'll also leave it here to soothe you in the afterlife...

I never got to say this, but I'm sure all of you knew it... You were all my family, and I treasured you greatly."

After that, Ken sighed, sitting down for a few more seconds before slowly standing up, and nodding towards the altar one last time.

He then turned around and started walking off.

It was only then that it happened, an odd gust of wind blew towards the altar, throwing off the hairpin that Ken had just touched.

The assassin immediately turned around when sensing that.

He followed the hairpin as if it was in slow motion, his senses trying to find a source for that gust of wind, unsuccessfully.

Then, the hairpin landed on the mask.

And the Assassin smiled. Before chuckling and turning back around and leaving.

'Rest well, father... I have plenty of children to take care of myself now...'

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Hope you liked the chapter! Tried to write a bit more, wanna get back on track and all that. Anyway, imma go take a shit and go to sleep

Story Shoutout!(send me a DM if you've got any interesting story for a shout out, have little time for reading as of late) : The Last Observer

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