Naruto : Sequence 0 Visionary

In a typical Japanese-style room, a man with soft, feminine features sat kneeling, his back straight. Beside him lay an ancient sword with a crimson-red scabbard.

Suddenly, the lights went out. The suffocating darkness enveloped the room like a rising tide.

Bang~ Bang~ Bang~

The crisp sound of wooden sticks grew louder and closer, hollow and monotonous, with no distinct rhythm.

However, each strike seemed to cause the air itself to resonate, like whispers from a ghostly presence, making the heart tremble with each beat of the stick.

The delicate man kneeling on the tatami mat instinctively sat up straighter, like a bowstring pulled tight. Veins bulged at his temples, and his eyes darkened with a brooding intensity. He turned his head toward the door of the room, gazing into the corridor shrouded in thick darkness.

In his eyes reflected a figure, something ghostly.

The figure moved like something out of an old Japanese horror film, advancing with a stuttering motion that sent a chill down one's spine.

Accompanied by the rustling sound of the wooden sticks, the eerie figure suddenly appeared in the room.

The person wore a traditional Noh mask.

The mask was ghostly pale, like it had been smeared with bone dust, with bright red lips and sharp, menacing teeth. The corners of the mouth twisted into a sinister smile, like an evil spirit from hell, exuding an aura of strange malevolence that made one feel deeply unnerved and fearful.

The delicate man still knelt, his eyes glowing faintly with a golden light. He stared at the bizarre figure that had entered the room.

The face beneath the terrifying Noh mask was like a demon that would haunt one's dreams at night. His eyes were dark and merciless, full of cruelty, savagery, and cunning. The large black cloak he wore billowed in the breeze, releasing an almost suffocating, rotten scent of blood.

The aura surrounding him was as oppressive and terrifying as the arrival of a vengeful spirit, like a tsunami sweeping over everything. The immense shadow cast by the figure felt suffocating, as though a monstrous beast's gaping maw was ready to tear anyone apart who dared approach.

And he was the leader of the Oni Clan, Osho.

"Thanks to you, now the eight families of the Yamata no Orochi know that we've been plotting against that student from Cassell College," he said.

The delicate man spoke softly, his gaze distant, as though recalling something. A flash of vicious murderous intent crossed his eyes, quickly replaced by a trace of sorrow.

Osho, wearing the mask of a noble, seemed unconcerned. He sat across from the man, casually lifting a teacup and sipping the prepared tea. "How does it feel to meet your long-lost brother? Gen Chime," he asked calmly.

"I told you, don't mention that name in front of me!"

Gen Chime... no, he should be called Kazama Ruri. A fierce killing intent erupted in his eyes. The blood vessels on his soft, beautiful face bulged like a bloodthirsty beast. He stared intensely at 'Osho' and said, "My name is Kazama Ruri, Gen Chime... is already dead!"

"Calm down. Don't get so worked up."

A steaming teacup was pushed toward Kazama Ruri. Osho spoke calmly, with no sign of disturbance in his tone.

"Why are you so fixated on that person?"

Kazama Ruri didn't drink the tea, instead staring at the pale mask on Oshos' face, which seemed to meld with his skin. "This isn't like you. You're being too obvious, with too clear a purpose. The Yamata no Orochi Families already know the importance of 'him.' What do you plan to do next?"

"That child... is the key to the 'God.'"

Beneath his mask, there seemed to be a bloodthirsty glint in Oshos' eyes. His figure became brutal in the darkness, like a vicious ghost. The black cloak he wore fluttered in the wind outside the room. "If we are to walk the path to the underworld and seize the power of the dragons... then Adam is indispensable."

"Is he really that important?"

Kazama Ruri raised his eyebrows, clearly skeptical.

He had investigated 'Adam,' and his bloodline was only Ranked 'B,' with a relatively low ranking in the Word Soul sequence. No matter how he looked at it, he seemed like an ordinary Hybrid.

Especially when compared to other 'A' Rank Hybrids, like Caesar and Chu Zihang, Adam appeared even more mediocre and unremarkable.

Yet, despite being such a seemingly ordinary Hybrid, the leader of the Oni Clan, 'Osho,' was willing to provoke the Yamata no Orochi Families head-on just to get him. 

This move would undoubtedly spark a bloody conflict between the Oni Clan and the Yamata no Orochi Families.

"Is it worth it?" Kazama Ruri asked, his eyes narrowing slightly as he placed the teacup down and asked calmly, "The Oni Clan's actions are a direct challenge to the Yamata no Orochi Families' bottom line. With Tachibana Masamune's personality, this won't end so easily. It might even push him to make up his mind to completely eliminate us."

"We won't act. Does that mean he won't take action?"

Osho chuckled lightly, his pale mask with crimson eyes flashing with cold, red light. "Hasn't Tachibana Masamune always wanted to completely sever the curse of the Yamata no Orochi? Since that's the case, let's fulfill his wish. The road to the underworld will open, and the gods (dragon Izanami) will return to the world."

"Indeed... in the end, it must all come to an end."

Kazama Ruri lowered his eyelids, speaking softly, finishing the tea in his fine porcelain bowl.

He placed the bowl down, slowly stood up, and picked up the ancient sword with a crimson scabbard, saying lightly, "From the moment we set foot on this path, there's no turning back."

The Yamata no Orochi and the Oni Clan were like a person and their shadow.

The bloodline inherited from dragons was not viewed as something sacred or elevated by the Yamata no Orochi, but rather as a burden, a curse.

Once the bloodline became unstable, the family would watch over them, until they turned forty, at which point the curse would cease. 

But some people, unwilling to accept this fate or determined to pursue the path of the dragons, would inevitably clash with the Yamata no Orochi, resulting in the formation of the Oni Clan in the family's shadow.

For centuries, the Oni Clan and the Yamata no Orochi have been locked in an endless struggle. It is a curse passed down through their blood, as well as the curse of the gods buried deep in the abyss, a curse upon their descendants.

On the streets of Tokyo, there was a mobile ramen shop.

In Japan, food carts like these were quite common, especially loved by drunk patrons late at night.

Suddenly, the door curtain was lifted, and a young boy with black short hair walked in and sat down at a table.

"What would you like to eat?"

The ramen chef was an elderly man with deep wrinkles on his forehead, looking kind and gentle.

"Special ramen."

The young boy with black hair sat there, but his eyes remained focused on the ramen chef.

Soon, a steaming bowl of ramen was placed in front of him, garnished with some green onions and three thick slices of char siu, topped with a soft-boiled egg, giving off an appetizing aroma.

However, the black-haired boy didn't reach for his chopsticks. Instead, he continued to observe the ramen chef, a slight smile playing at the corner of his lips.

His strange behavior made the ramen chef pause, wiping his hands with a towel around his neck. Looking at the boy, he asked, "Young man, why aren't you eating the ramen while it's hot? Why do you keep staring at me?"

The boy smiled lightly and replied, "I didn't expect the former 'Shadow Emperor' Uesugi Koeru to be making ramen on the street now."

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