Leveling Up Against the Gods

Deep within a dark and quiet forest, it's leaves and branches rustled in the gentle breeze that circulated the forest. It was late, the ever luminous sun had settled down and the moon had risen, illuminating the earth with it's glorious light.

Footsteps which became more audible as time passed by, polluted this calm environment with it's noise.

"Find them quickly." A strict order echoed through the dead of the night continuously. A group of individuals ranging to a total of 20 people dispersed through the forest. They were all dressed in all back, their faces covered by some kind of ski mask.

They navigated the environment like someone who was searching for the unknown. They were all ninjas and currently they were in pursuit of two certain individuals.

"Show yourself!" One of the ninjas exclaimed with an authoritative tone, he was most likely the leader of this group.

Watching from above from one of the trees was was what seemed to be silhouette of a young man and a young woman, they both had a hood over their head so it was difficult to determine who exactly they were.

The feminine silhouette dropped from the tree and descended swiftly towards the group of ninjas. Landing straight in their middle, they were all alarmed and quickly drew out their blades and rushed at her. "Kill her!" The man in charge ordered.

"Ninja Art.." The female silhouette whispered softly as they all swung their swords at her simultaneously, in the blink of an eye all their swords shattered as well as every bone in their bodies. "Aesthetic Palm." She added.

"What!?" The leader of the group of ninjas took a step backwards, he couldn't believe what his eyes had just seen.

The other silhouette of a young man dropped from the rooftop and descended swiftly towards the head of the group, landing right in front of him the man's reflexes kicked in and he jumped backwards and quickly unsheathed his blade.

"Die!!" He exclaimed swinging his sword ruggedly at the man out of fear.

With his hands slotted into his pockets, the young man effortlessly evaded his offense with a series of acrobatics and finally got into the range of his assailant.

With one powerful thrust, he swiftly drove his right hand through the chest of the man and forcefully ejected his heart from it's initial position.

Spewing out a large quantity of blood, the man dropped to his knees in shock. Blood dripped down the hole in his chest and he stared at the ninja who held his heart in his hand.

"J-just what the hell..."

Slowly he slumped to the ground before completing his statement. "Are you.."

The young woman approached him and placed her hand on his chest before expressing her worries. "We must keep moving, they are bound to more ninjas coming after us."

"Yeah, I doubt Jashin placed his full trust in his team." With a nod of affirmation, the two ninjas disappeared into the night as more ninjas approached the scene.

[Three years later]

Dwelling within the confines of his living room, a young man—Renji Storm whose facial features included brown eyes and silky brown hair, rested on his couch. Visibly tired from all the work he's been through for the day.

Renji, now declared to be a rogue ninja of the Storm Clan, is a former citizen of the village of Kazegakure otherwise known as the Hidden Wind Village.

"How was work dear?" His wife asked, grinning as she held her three-year-old child in her arms.

He sighed, facing her with an anxious expression.

"Same old Mia, same old." He replied as he switched on their flat-screen television.

His wife—Mia Liu Lynx, was also a former kunoichi of Kazegakure who went rogue together with Renji, there were several codes which guided the existence of all shinobi clans. But these two had broken the most significant code of them all in their quest for freedom.

In the Shinobi world, ninjas are those who disregards emotions, feelings of happiness, hate, love all in order to accomplish one thing —their mission. They are regarderd as tools of destruction and peace therefore have no need for such silly emotions.

It has been three years since they left and ran away from the Storm clan, but even with the four years of momentary peace Mia couldn't help but worry when their past will catch up to them.

"Is our quest for freedom really an impossible dream Renji?" She asked with dismay, after everything they had done for the Storm clan they only desired one thing, the freedom to start their lives over.

"There is only one way to be free of the Storm-"

"In other news, our serial killer remains at large as two more deaths have been confirmed tonight behind the Kings Plaza. The reason behind this unexplained and bizzare deaths are unknown but one thing remains for certain, this cannot be the work of a human."

The reporter in the news announced, the camera zooming in on the bodies of the victims who were discovered to have three horizontally slashes on their chest along with broken necks.

"How long do you think we can keep hiding Renji?" Out of concern for the safety of their child, Mia spoke with an anxious expression. With each passing day, the location where the dead bodies of the victims were found drew closer to their residence.

Turning the television off, Renji got to his feet and approached his child and wife. Placing his right hand on her cheeks, he smiled as he spoke with assurance.

"As long as we need to, I've said it before and I'll say it again Mia, we are safe for now. No harm will come to you or Charles, I'll never give up till I protect my friends and loved ones. That is my Ninja Way."

Hugging him tightly with their child in her arms, tears rolled down her cheeks slowly as she found comfort in his words.

"Get some sleep Mia." He said.

"Okay, but can you get some milk for charles. He won't be patient enough to wait in the morning." She requested.

With a gentle smile, Renji kissed her forehead before grabbing a hoodie and a star-shaped katana from the couch and headed towards the door. "I'll be back shortly."

As he walked through the streets towards the store, he couldn't help but notice the odd silence that ensued moments later. It was too silent that an eerie feeling overcame him and he stopped moving.

"So, you've finally found me huh, Kizito." He chuckled softly as he spoke, turning around to face the three ninjas that had been tailing him all this while.

"Long time no see huh Renji, you're

way past your deadline." The masked individual in-between the other two proclaimed. Taking off his mask slowly, he was revealed to be Renji's childhood friend who he grew up with attaining mastery of the way of the ninja.

"You've been blinded by the greed and tyranny of Jashin, this is not our ways, can't you see that Kizito?" He said, in an attempt to reach his friend who once understood what the ninja code stood for.

"Those ways you speak were once adopted in our clan, not anymore."

Kizito clutched the hilt of the blade fixated on his back, making his intentions clear and precise.

"Good grief."

Renji vanished from where he stood with his cloak floating in the air. Gusts of wind blew through the environment as all four ninjas were seen no more.

In the blink of an eye, Renji appeared behind their backs. In a quick succession, they all unsheated their blades and turned around aiming their blades at their target.

Renji's katana clashed with the blades of the three ninjas who aimed to kill him, creating considerable amounts of wind pressure which rippled through the ground.

"Let's see what you're made of, Kizito!"