{BEFORE THE RAID}

Currently, Gimu and Kiyo are standing atop a hill outside Furusato. They just got word from Regashi that the Queen is going into labor, so they plan to wait for orders from Imawashiki and raid the village from there.

"Why can't we just go now?" Kiyo questioned, irritated by waiting for so long.

"Imawashiki has yet to contact us for further orders; we then have to see if the newborn brat has any potential to be a threat in the future or not; if he isn't, he can be considered lucky that a family like the Ketsueki are gone for good and he can do whatever the hell he wants when he's older," Gimu answered, warranting a moment of realization from Kiyo.

"What do you mean 'if he's a threat or not?"

"His Aura Sense, idiot. If he attains his father's magic, we would obviously be in huge trouble in the future. The Aura Sense someone has gets doubled in their child, so we're lucky Regashi is on our side or we wouldn't be doing this." Kiyo did a quick 'oh' and sighed.

"This better go as planned."

XXX

{BACK TO ORITSU}

"Hello, Your Majesty," An unknown voice spoke out.

When the King looked up, he saw a middle-aged man with dark black hair and red sideburns that ran down the sides of his face to his cheeks and a black cloak that was open in the front, revealing his gray, mesh shirt underneath with red lines tracing down the sleeves.

"It really is an honor to meet you in person." The man chuckled to himself,

"Who are you?" Oritsu asked, now being fully on guard.

The man adorned an amused look and answered, "Call me Imawashiki."

"All right, Imawashiki—what are your plans, and why are you invading the village?" The king hastily asked, gritting his teeth.

"We've come under orders from our newest King, Regashi Ketsueki." Imawashiki stated.

"Why are you calling my son your newest king? And what do you know about Regashi?!" The King demanded, animosity being laced within his tone.

The cloaked man wore a small smile on his lips. "Your son clearly sold out his family for the sake of power; he wanted to be on top instead of you." Imawashiki announces, "He thinks you're too easy-going and not using the village to its actual potential; you have powerful village folks here and you're doing nothing with them." Imawashiki finally responds completely.

The response apparently left the King in denial and spiraling in anger.

"BULLSHIT!" The King yelled as he sprinted towards Imawashiki, and Oritsu activated his Aura Sense.

Magic traveled towards his fingertips, and a red Genso-kyu was formed. He then aimed the Genso-kyu at Imawashiki, followed by a bright red beam that was then shot out of the Genso-kyu, taking a trajectory toward Imawashiki. The cloaked man simply stepped aside and dodged the beam with relative ease.

After the blast was sent out, the Genso-Kyu's red Aura Sense died down in his hand and dissipated completely, only leaving remnants of red magic trails.

"Bad move." Imawashiki grumbled as he rushed forward, and fire then started to form in both of Imawashiki's palms as he shot a wall of fire towards Oritsu.

The king nearly felt overwhelmed, but quickly formed a red barrier in front of him. Oritsu could then see the wall of fire splitting in two as it made contact with his barrier; he could also feel the air around him start to heat up, making him persperate on his palms and his face.

Once the barrage of fire gradually subsided, the king dropped his barrier. Looking forward, he noticed that Imawashiki was still standing directly in front of him. Oritsu then looked to his left and right, realizing that Chikara and the guards were burned to a crisp.

Imawashiki hummed, parting his lips to speak, "I believe that you lost."

Looking back at Imawashiki, Oritsu's face hardened, a red glow started emitting all around his body.

"I won't stop fighting until I win." Oritsu declared, making Imawashiki's eyebrow raise.

"Until you win? You still seem to be confident in your abilities, Your Majesty." Imawashiki mocked, grinning slightly as his cloak swayed in the wind.

Oritsu then stood straight up; no slouching can be seen in his stance. The king's hands then began to glow brighter than the rest of his body.

After taking the stance, Oritsu formed a very faint smirk, saying, "Well, if you're fighting till you die, are you fighting to win or fighting just to shed blood? I aim to win this fight, not only to kill you, but also to protect my village!" Oritsu proclaimed as he raised his hands into the sky. Two massive red Genso-kyu began to form, each pointing diagonally out from his body.

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As all of this was happening, Imawashiki was only standing in place. A huge toothy smile was then present on his face.

"Fighting someone with high amounts of confidence is what gets me going! I'm going to drain all of your self-esteem and confidence and witness your disappointment!" Imawashiki declares, making fire combust in his palms. He then bent his knees and reeled his arms back, the fire growing more intense by the second.

"I hope you're ready, Your Majesty!" Imawashiki enthusiastically warned, dispelling an even bigger wall of fire than before.

As for Oritsu, he stretched his arms outward as both of the giant, red Genso-kyu shot out two massive red beams, blowing everything in the vicinity away as if a cyclone were sweeping through the area.

The two barrages of power were quickly gaining speed as they headed towards each other; the inevitable clash of the two attacks was mere moments away, getting closer by the second. Right before the two merged, Oritsu said the fight's final words:

"This,"

The two attacks were 10 meters apart,

"Is,"

The attacks were 4 meters apart,

"MY HOME!"

*BOOM*

A deafening sound was heard, thundering in the air around them. The village around them was getting blown away as if a rampant tsunami of wind was running through the village. Homes, stores, signs, and the village walls were being torn down by the massive amount of power surging out of the clash.

After a minute of sheer magic and power being exerted, the attacks from both parties came to a close. The fire was dissipating and the red beams were diminishing, showing off a crater that was formed underneath where the two had intercepted.

Footsteps were then heard, and only a shadowed figure could be seen through the smoke and debris that had been launched into the air. "Let's see how the famous Oritsu held up."

With the debris and smoke being cleared up and swept off into the air, the body of Oritsu Ketsueki was visible, while for Imawashiki, he was standing straight up, appearing unscathed from the battle.

"He didn't last, huh?" Imawashiki grumbled, slightly disappointed.

Imawashiki then approached Oritsu's body and flipped him onto his back with his foot. Using his eyes to scrutinize his remains, he noticed that Oritsu's hands were purple and black, indicating that they had broken under the pressure of using an immense amount of his Aura Sense.

"He sure had my hopes up... Oh well, time to go retrieve Regashi."

{BACK WITH NOZOMU}

Nozomu and the Queen have been running through the halls of the castle for roughly 10 minutes now, with no sign of any invaders so far. The newborn seems to be asleep, fortunately, most likely from crying for so long.

"The exit is just up here." Nozomu claimed. Unfortunately, just as they neared the end of the premises, a man with a scythe appeared from the corner of Nozomu's eyes and swung at the white-haired man.

"You!" the man known as Kiyo shouts. "You made my idiot partner retreat, so now I have to deal with all the castle guards alone!"

"Out of our way," Nozomu demanded sternly, causing the scythe wielder to smirk maliciously.

"I don't take orders from you, piss ant!" Kiyo yelled as he dashed forward. The man swung his weapon as Nozomu grabbed his dagger and blocked the swing, but unfortunately has the dagger knocked out of his hand upon impact. Kiyo shifted his body and sliced at his opponent again, but Nozomu managed to form sparks of lightning in his left hand and clutch onto the scythe-wielding man's wrist, incessantly shocking him.

"L-LET G-GO, ASSHOLE!" The man shrieked in agony.

Nozomu's right hand glows a bright blue as he shoves it through the man's gut, pushing past his body and coming out of his back.

"AAAHH!" The man howled in pain.

Nozomu doesn't seem to notice as a foot swipes him from underneath and knocks him down, and the scythe wielder utilizes that time to toss his weapon at the Queen and child.

Nozomu, who's currently on the ground, glanced over to the Queen, noticing that she and the baby were in the scythe's path. A pang of fear danced throughout the white-haired man's body, his blue eyes widening.

"No!" Nozomu hollers as he quickly dashed forward, lightning arcs spread around his body as his speed increased. Just before Nozomu could reach the two, The scythe made contact with the Queen's stomach, impaling her on contact.

"HAHAHAHA!" The man aggressively laughs, spewing out blood. "WE WON!" suddenly, sounds of crying can be heard,

"The child is still alive..." Nozomu noted as he rushed to the newborn. Picking him up and dashing away; meanwhile, the man who's been impaled by Nozomu slowly drifts away from reality, signifying his death.

{WITH REGASHI}

"What do you mean the two failed!?" Regashi asked Imawashiki with an irate tone.

Regashi and Imawashiki can be seen standing on the castle's roof, giving them front-row seats to the destroyed village; Imawashiki is currently informing Regashi about what happened to the accomplices.

"Gimu was forced to retreat and Kiyo was killed during battle." Imawashiki replied calmly, his head tilted downward slightly.

"Is the kid and Hana still alive?" Regashi queried, a gruff exhale escaping his lips.

"The Queen has been killed, but for the child, he disappeared without a trace whatsoever." Imawashiki answered honestly, knowing that the brown-haired prince would be more than angered.

"What!?" howled Regashi, clenching his fists tightly until his knuckles became white.

"I find it hard to believe as well, but we'll have to put our plan into full effect now. We don't want to be caught off guard by any neighboring villages, do we?"

"No..." Regashi concurred, still feeling lingering anger.

"Now, Let's get to retrieving Gimu and getting to work." Imawashiki advised, enabling a spiral of fire to consume the two.

"Very well."

XXX

{2 DAYS LATER}

Nozomu and the child can be seen wandering throughout a forest, constantly heading west of Furusato Village. Nozomu was stopped in his tracks when he heard a faint grumble emit from the child's stomach, indicating that he was currently hungry.

"Damn it, we have no food," Nozomu grumbles in agitation. Suddenly, ruffling in nearby bushes could be heard, alerting Nozomu and making him take a fighting stance, only to see a rabbit jump out. "Great, the food is here."

{5 HOURS LATER}

Soon after eating, they started traveling again. After two hours of walking, they stumble across an abandoned cabin. Upon entering, Nozomu scanned the area for any dangers. Then, once settled, Nozomu sat the child down and sat down next to him. After fifteen minutes of resting, Nozomu recollects:

"The child hasn't been officially named yet," Nozomu spoke to himself. He proceeded to turn toward the child, thinking of a name. Nozomu was never great when it came to topics like this. He had never considered caring for a child in his life. After ten painful minutes of Nozomu's brainstorming, he finally decides on a name. He was quite impressed with his decision. The name of the child will be...

"Tanjo."

XXX