Shadow of the Light (Continued from Recipe For Awesomeness)

Torigoma stood looking over the edge of waterfall in amazement, the cool spray of water gently brushing the rocks, a small wind blowing in from the mountains of Konoha and blowing into the low field of the Rice Country, Bringing with it the sweet smell of the forest mingled with the Earthy smell of the bare Mountain sides. The only Waterfalls in his home were in Taiyou, The land of the Sun, and even there, they were no where near as Grand as this. As Torigoma stood amazed, he almost did not hear the soft sound of footsteps coming up behind him.

Hodaka Hyuuga walked calmly with his hands behind his back, white eyes studied the man before him as he came to stand next him.

"This is The Valley of The End, the story states that the Shodaime Hokage and Madara Uchiha fought a fearsome battle, and the devastation left in its wake was this valley and the lake below."

Hodaka smiled slightly before bowing, "I apologize for you meeting a clone of me first before actually meeting me, but I have many things to do, and not enough time to do them, so I use clones to get through the workday.", he sighed slightly. There were a lot of circumstances rising that he didn't like, and in truth he had seen it coming. It had been too peaceful, things were going too well, and the lands had let there guard down too much. Peace was a fragile thing, and if for any reason conditions were not at their optimal, it would shatter like a fine china falling from the shelves. It was beginning to feel like Hoda's old friend knew what was going on long before Hoda himself even had seen the signs.

"It appears that we are being surrounded on all sides by enemies of a new caliber.", he sighed slightly, his speech coming out more like thinking out loud rather than actual statements. "I got lazy also in the promise of peace, thinking that it would endure, but that is a fools error. And I fully plan on rectifying it."

He suddenly snapped out of his monologue, looking toward Torigoma smiling warmly. "So new friend, tell me of this new menace...and this new chakra..."

"That how they work my friend" Torigoma said, looking over the landscape, "They move in the Shadows of War, using the "Peace" that follows to sink their roots deep into the land. Like the Spider Ivy, They latch onto a host, and though on the outside everything seems fine, on the Inside, the host is slowing rotting, No one ever sees till the Tree comes crashing down." Then looking over towards Hodaka, Torigoma continued "The Group calls themselves "The Hidden", though here they are still few in Number on this continent, in reality they control many of the World's most powerful countries, and intent on spreading their rot even further. They have existed long before the Age of the Shinobi, and lead by the man called The Shinkokage, a man that should never had existed. My clan has been hunted by them for a very long time, But we have been hunting them for just as long. The Light chakra that is our birthright is the only thing that can harm them, and has been our only weapon in pushing back their advances in other lands, though I fear we are the ones who's strings are being pulled, but for what purpose I can not speculate." Then turning back towards the Waterfall, Torigoma let out a sigh, Somthing was not right this time, The Shinkokage was not moving as he had in the past, somthing had changed, and Torigoma had a bad feeling that it would be good for no one.

Hodaka nodded slowly, listening to what Tori had to say, taking in all the details he could, making a mental note about the Shinkokage. Hodaka looked toward Torigoma and smiled, looking at the sword in Tori's hand.

Hodaka looked at it, the blade was incredibly beautiful, but Hodaka didn't know what it was made of.

He pointed toward it, "May I have a look at that my friend?", he asked.

With a Nod, Torigoma pass over Earthsong, then said "This Blade has been passed down in my family ever since the Kashoku Clan was formed, and is one of the Treasures of “The Ten”, the first of the Shinobi clans that stabilized the world after the Great Wars. Legend says that it was forged by the Earth itself, and given to the head of the Kashoku clan”. As Hodaka examined the Midnight blue Blade, its surface marks with tiny specks of light formed on its surface like new born stars, and older ones winking out, memories of his homeland flooded back to him, as tears weld up in his eyes. If they could not stop the approaching shadows, just like the tiny stars on the blade, their world would be consumed by the Darkness.

Hodaka stared at the blade in amazement, it was astonoshing to say the least. Hodaka asked him politely, "What is this made of?"

"Crystal....of some sort, I've run hundreds of tests on it, but so far I’ve got no conclusive evidence on it origins or it composition. What little I’ve gathered on it does not make much sense; The Structure of the Crystal itself seemed to be able to mimic Chakra, like the White Crystals of my home land, but on a much Grander scale, to the point that it contained the Chakra signature of every living thing it had ever touched, even one's that should have decade years ago. It also seems to thrive on Shadow Chakra, as Shadow Chakra pasted through the Blade, it was changed and turned into a form of energy I’ve never seen before, that strengthen the signals of the Chakra Signatures, In a sense, It is 'feeding' on Shadow Chakra, but other than these little pieces of the puzzle, it remains a mystery”. Then reaching into his bag, Torigoma pulled out a blade about the size of a long dagger, it’s blade a softer tint of blue and without the stars, and handed it to Hodaka and said, “This is Shadou-Kuikorosu, The Shadow Devourer, it is the product of years of research on Earthsong, and while it may not be anywhere as effective as the true thing, it should give you a edge if even you cross their paths again”

Hodaka reached out his hand and took the dagger from the man, bowing as he did, "thank you tori, this gift is greatly appreciated." , Hodaka moved toward the edge of the cliff, his white eyes scanned the horizon, pondering the events that had just passed. The wind blew his hair softly and he closed his eyes, breathing deeply, he sighed as he opened his eyes.

"Torigoma, there is something else that concerns me...", Hodaka turned toward him, "He could have easily killed me... And yet he didn't ... As if he was toting with me...as if he saw something useful in me... And that worries me above all else.