"Impossible!" Yelled Kazuki in disbelief as Bakorio's image and actions simply didn't remind him of someone so young, but what he was in even more disbelief of is the fact that he saved her life… He never very well that Nono was quite the capable ninja despite her amiable disposition!

"He must have saved you from some random bandit or beasts right?"

Nono couldn't help but shake her head before she dropped another bomb on the two boys' ears "At the age of 7 or 8, Bakorio-kun saved me and my adoptive son from the pursuit of the third Tsuchikage and 3 of his most elite ninjas, some of them are even at the Kage level currently… I'm sure you've heard of the strength of mister Onoki"

"This…" Kazuki's eyes widened in disbelief but Sogetsu suddenly asked curiously "I heard that teacher played a key role in the negotiations with the land of Earth to found the current alliance… Does it have something to do with this incident?"

"That's right" Nono nodded at him in appreciation before she said "During that encounter, he spared the life of the Tsuchikage's granddaughter Kurotsuchi, that was the basis of the rebirth of trust between our hidden village and theirs"

"How's this possible? How can he be that strong?" Asked Kazuki again but Nono simply remained silent before she replied "I don't know, All I know is that he sacrificed his childhood to reach his current level of strength, in fact, he's still not thinking about himself… You will understand one day how much this world is surviving by hanging on a thread… a thread woven solely with the hard work of Bakorio-san…"

Kazuki couldn't help but find himself remembering their first encounter with Bakorio… He and Sogetsu were making their way to the village that was attacking theirs because of the fear they had of their existence and potential which led them to attack what they started to consider home...

Yet, despite trying to take his life, Bakorio still took them under his wing and showered them with nothing but kindness.

Yet, the worse the situation of the world got, the stronger Kazuki wanted to become, as if a hidden urge inside of him was being ignited, all so he can protect those he held dear... but his teacher kept holding him back from following that urge which would have ended with him seeking fights recklessly even if it meant using his friends as baits…

So, he made his goal to beat his teacher so that he can do whatever he wants, yet no matter how much he tried, he always ended up failing. Time after time, he couldn't even land a hit on his teacher, but he always attributed that to their difference in age and he was sure he could catch up to him in terms of strength sooner or later and even surpass him!

Yet that day never arrived, and he simply kept discovering how abnormally strong his normal-looking teacher was… And now, he was told they were of the same age… How could he accept this? HOW!

Suddenly, Kazuki felt something breaking in the deepest parts of his soul as a terrifying demonic aura bloomed with him at its center in the shape of a dark rose before he screamed into the air suddenly startling Sogetsu and Nono!

"Kazuki-kun!" Yelled Nono but Kazuki remained unresponsive as the demonic aura covered his body and created shockwaves that destroyed the hospital room before it went back inside him again and he started staring at his hands with a mad grin on his face

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"Finally I'm awake… Aster's gift is truly miraculous!" spoke Kazuki with a weird orange glint in his eyes...

"K-kazuki-kun?" Nono spoke lightly but Sogetsu suddenly put her behind him to protect her and faced his brother before he said with an eerie calmness "Who are you!"

Kazuki, whose red eyes turned into yellowish orange stared with a wild smile at Sogetsu before he said "I sense my brother's presence in you…HAHAHAHA who would have thought, after all these years, we would still be together"

Seeing the maniacal laughter on his brother's face, Sogetsu was more than sure that this wasn't his brother but he still tried to wake him up "Kazuki wake up! Don't let a demon take over your body!"

"OH, It seems like you already realized the secret of your own existence, you even inherited my brother's genius… Interesting, you two are perfect vessels for our revival and pursuit of revenge… But first, let me help this little one achieve his little request"

Seeing the evil smirk on Kazuki's face, Sogetsu suddenly felt a chill in his heart as he had an idea what he was going to do, but just as he yelled "Ice release: Ice prison Jutsu!" To stop him, the possessed Kazuki simply disappeared into a puff of flames!

"What's going on Sogetsu-kun?" Asked Nono hurriedly but Sogetsu directly started running while leaving one sentence behind "Send help quickly, teacher is in danger!"

….

Sogetsu rushed at his top speed in hope of catching up to Kazuki and saving his teacher, yet no matter how fast he rushed, he soon arrived at his teacher's home and found to his shock that it was set on an orange fire that burned with a demonic glint…

And from inside the second story of the house, he heard the sound of an eerie laughter "HEHEHEHE, is this the weakling that was delaying my return, how disappointingly weak"

Sogetsu had just jumped to the second floor of the house only to see his brother carrying their struggling teacher by the neck before he turned to him with a wider grin and simply snapped the head of their teacher…

*CRACK*

Sogetsu felt his whole world stop as the sound of Bakorio's neck breaking echoed in the room... and even Kazuki had tears streaming down his face as if he wasn't in control at all yet he could see what was happening…

Sogetsu remained watching like that as his teacher's lifeless body fell to the ground and the light soon disappeared from his eyes, and slowly, the shock in his eyes turned to a normal look, and then it turned into a serene calmness as a cold voice spoke from Sogetsu's body

"Brother, you went too far, you almost broke this little kid's mind… You know we still need them to fully restore our strength"

"HAHAHA sorry sorry, but this's the fastest way I could think of to awaken you…" Replied 'Kazuki' to which 'Sogetsu' slowly approached the fallen corpse of their teacher and simply said "Too bad, this guy is quite a talent, we could have made use of him…"

"That I agree with" Replied 'Kazuki' but suddenly an eerie aura manifested behind them and they both instantly felt a chill as a calm voice slowly spoke "Really? I'm all ears, tell me how you intend to make use of me"

Kazuki and Sogetsu instantly wiped their heads around, only to find themselves staring at a perfectly healthy Bakorio staring at them coldly and the former couldn't help but stare between this new arrival and the body on the ground "How the hell did you survive!"

Meanwhile, Sogetsu's eyes flickered eerily before his hair began to float in the air as spoke coldly "You planned all of this from the start?"

Hearing this, Bakorio couldn't help but grin at the two of them before he said eerily "Welcome to the human world, Enja, Suija…!"

Then, an aura full of death suddenly exploded from his body in the form of tentacles that rushed to get hold of the two brothers!

Kazuki's eyes were full of rage as he stared at his enemy that was clearly underestimating them causing his hair to burst into orange flames before he yelled "Infernal Charge!"

Meanwhile, Sogetsu on the other hand started floating with an eerie look on his face while a cyan aura started to revolve around his body as e said "Peaceful execution"

And right after he finished what he said, countless cyan-colored water slashes were launched at Bakorio and started to counter his Death energy!