__________ 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 Myōboku 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.

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.

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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.

Maybe his suspicions were just unfounded, but the old assassin just couldn't help himself but be paranoid about such matters.

The choices he got were rather interesting too...

'Vulture Summons, Raven Summons and Bat Summons...'

It was a tough choice for the assassin.

For one, he felt that Vulture was what described him best when it came to the mindset and strategies he used as of late.

He was a scavenger, someone that stood by the sidelines most of the time and reaped the rewards with as little danger involved as possible.

Although he was not against getting his hands dirty, he did enjoy indirectly reaping benefits from the actions of others...

He also felt that ravens suited him in the sense that they were an extremely smart species of birds, and they were mostly known for being sneaky.

But in the end, Ken chose something that wasn't quite what he had expected at first.

The Bat.

A species of flying mammals that could be more aptly described as flying rats. Yet they shared many similarities to the Blind Assassin.

They saw through echolocation, a method that Ken could also use to see. They were by far the fastest flyiers from the list that Ken was given.

They weren't anywhere near as fast as a Falcon, sure, but they were at least twice as fast as the other two.

They were also a mostly nocturnal race, which fit the Assassin best as he also preferred carrying out most missions at night if possible.

It was not what he would have gone for if he had been given that choice a few years back.

In the past, he likely would've chosen a race with a great vision. Something that could help him read in a pinch.

But now there was no longer a need for that. He had the brotherhood, and if truly needed he could always summon one of them to his place and ask for help.

It was virtually the exact same thing, but with people, he knew he could fully trust.

He had yet to open up and sign the contract with the Bats, but he planned to do so later after he got back home.

But for now, he wasn't home yet. He was in a place devoid of warmth.

A cold mountaintop, a forest broken but healed, skeletons and strewn across a clearing, incomplete, eaten and played around with by the local wildlife.

The Assassin's pace slowed down as he walked those mountain roads, winding, natural and overgrown.

His feet dragged through the snow, his sandals and toes sinking into it further with every step.

The assassin sighed as he eventually reached it, the broken-down walls of a ruined temple.

'I'm back home, huh?'

After all that time, the blind monster returned to his home... Empty and desolate.

He walked further into the courtyard, stepping over the skeletal remains of a man wearing samurai armour.

'Now that I think about it... He was my first successful assassination in this world, wasn't he?'

The first high-ranking samurai he had killed. The Hatamoto that had cut down his home.

As an odd twist of fate, Ken had used that same blade to cut down many enemies that had stood in his path.

He took it out of the seal on his wrist. He sighed as he allowed the blade to slide out of its hilt.

He ran his finger over the blade, it was chipped in places, blunt in others.

It had held up well over the years, it was what allowed him to fight so efficiently at first. Acquiring a good weapon was only the start of his journey.

'But I can't use this one much longer, can I?'

The blade was strong, but it was slowly approaching its deadline. It was expiring, much like the lives he had taken with it.

He wasn't worried regardless. Even without it, he still had an assortment of blades he could use.

So, he found its final resting place.

He took the hilt from the ground and walked forward.

A small, dilapidated shrine was now in front of him. Corroded by wind and snow, frozen solid by time.

On it were ten small wooden planks with names written on them, on each plan stood a different item.

On one plank lay a hairpin, on one lay a small sheathed blade, on one a pair of sandals, a necklace, a pair of broken glasses and so on.

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...'