After thanking his mother, the camp went another cheering frenzy. Some were surprised that Arashi could put up such a performance. While others didn't doubt his abilities for a second, and even expected him to do that well.
"Great job Arashi !"
Said a voice with proud excitement. Arashi then felt someone hugging him from behind and smushing their face against his. Once the person stopped Arashi could see it was Hina and smiled thanking her. Jubo then walked forward with a proud smile and spoke.
"Good job Arashi. You went beyond anyone's expectations and won."
Before Arashi could also thank Jubo. He felt the sword being snatched from his hands, and saw that it was Pakku with an angry expression.
"Why the hell does everyone keep saying he won. We didn't even have our final clash before we got interrupted."
Suddenly he felt a large hand gripping his head. Feeling his body beginning to tingle and every hair on his body stand up from static.He already had a feeling who it was.
Karai, holding Pakku's head began to speak in a gentle tone masked with hostility.
"Well Pakku my dear childhood friend. The point of the test was to estimate Arashi's current abilities. Not to win an actual fight. And seeing that he made you actually go all out, it's safe to say he passed don't you think?"
Pakku began nodding his head quickly. Causing Karai to say good, and he received tiny shocks of electricity on the back of his neck. Causing him to yelp in pain and rub his neck.
Karai then clapped her hands in the air causing a loud noise, and getting everyone's attention. She then spoke.
"Everyone, as you know tonight will be the night we begin our move on Matsugi. From what I hear he made ties with a sleezy bastard like him named Gato. So far we don't know much about him except he has money, a lot of it. So we need to be on guard from this point onwards. We'll take care of the 3 bases they have here in the Land of Hot Water. Then move up to the Land of Frost. Once we do that, we'll take care of the last base there and crush them. He'll be nothing more than a burning crisp when I'm done with him!"
The camp began to roar with determination. Matsugi was a long rival of theirs, who they've been stealing from long before Arashi was born. But since his birth, Matsugi over the years became more aggressive in taking them out, and has been getting closer in doing so.
So they decided to target him directly and take everything he owns. It was now a full on war. Walking away from the middle of the crowd, Karai began thinking.
'If this goes as planned, the benefits would be huge. But what about him?' She thought looking down at her son. She was worried if bringing him into this life was a good idea. Maybe she should have let his father take him and teach him to become a shinobi. Maybe then he would have better means to protect himself.
Snapping out of her thoughts, Karai began ruffling his hair and spoke.
"Go inside our tent and do what you do best kiddo."
Arashi sighed before speaking.
"I still have to make paper bombs? I thought I was fighting too."
"You are, but that doesn't mean stop doing what you've been doing. Now get to it before your father arrives."
Sighing again but this time in more defeat. Arashi walks off to his and his mothers tent. Since last year, his father has been teaching him seals and how they work. Surprising to everyone else but his father, Arashi showed he was pretty adept at creating seals for his age. So Karai made it his job to create paper bombs for the camp when they went out for raids. On rare occasions they even sell them.
Walking into the tent and grabbing his stool and ink brush. Arashi sat at his desk and got to work. While making the seal that he's done over a hundred million times, he began to think about the night he's had so far. He never fought like his life depended on it before. And in that one fight alone he learned so much.
He started to reflect on every step of the fight. Every deflect, every foot placement, the seal he used, even every breath he took. He remembered it all to the smallest detail.
His heart began to beat faster. His leg started bouncing and he began to smile. He was getting excited at the thought of battle. So much so that he stretched his arm out too far and spilt the ink all over the other papers.
"Shit."
He said grabbing a rag on the desk and cleaning the mess.
"I see your finally picking up Pakku's habits."
Turning around quickly to the voice Arashi saw it was his father. He hasn't seen the man since his last birthday. All he ever does is appear on his birthdays then leaves after giving him a gift in the form of a scroll.
Arashi looked up at him. The man had long red hair and brown eyes. His skin was tanned and he was wearing a black cloak. He held eye contact with Arashi for awhile. His eyes would usually show signs of tiredness and undying conviction. But when it came to his son, his eyes showed guilt, maybe even regret at times. To his surprise Arashi was looking back at him as well without any signs of wavering.
"You've changed." His father said in interest.
"I'm surprised you can tell any difference. Your never here after all."
There was a moment of silence between the two until Arashi turned around and walked over to a barrel of water. He began washing his face and looked at his reflection in the water. He had his mother's dark red eyes. His skin was lighter than his mothers brown skin but still darker than his fathers. His hair was jet black like his mothers until the tips which were red like his fathers.
The boy was a perfect combination of the two and he could see that now.
Wiping the water from his face Arashi spoke, taking a seat in the chair once more and continuing his seals.
"If you don't have anything to say you can drop off the scroll and leave."
"Is that all you think of me?" Said his father. Gently placing a scroll on the table.
Arashi looked at the scroll then back at his father. He spoke, his words cold and flat.
"Isn't that all you ever do?"
His father yet again didn't have much to say. He held his silence and left the tent.
Arashi watched his father as he left. Deep down he wished his father would have said something back. To at least snap on him once. But he never does and it angers him. Arashi snatched the scroll and began reading it.