"The light and the darkness"

Kyo and Kazuya were completely bewildered by what they just witnessed.

Both of them were fairly unversed in kenjutsu, but coming from a ninja village and living through the war, they saw many people using the art of sword before, and never have they ever seen someone use a sword as flawlessly as Karna. To top it off, he was using an all new sword.

If they told this to people, they'll be called nothing but braggarts; It would come out just that much exaggerated.

They also caught the modifications of the kenjutsu, which made it even deadlier, stronger, more precise and powerful.

As Karna finished his demonstration, Kyo approached him with a serious face.

"I had my suspicions before when I saw you practicing with the wooden swords, but now, I'm pretty sure that you're born with a gift for kenjutsu, Karna. It was a fascinating display of a precise and deadly set of movements. There were no waste movements, at least, none that I was aware of."

"Thank you, dad."

"I'm very proud of you, Karna kun. Every day, you make me proud with a new thing. Your kenjutsu, though not at the level of a master level swordsman, it is still the most natural swordsmanship I've ever seen. I've also noticed some different movements which are not a part of the kenjutsu you've learned from us. Where did you learn them from?"

Kazuya standing behind Kyo, asked Karma as her eyes were sparkling with curiosity.

"Well, um they're some modifications I did to the kenjutsu. I've superior physical strength and speed when compared to my peers, so I shifted the kenjutsu's focal point to speed, strength and precision."

Karna, as he couldn't tell them the truth, lied while scratching his head sheepishly. This gesture of his, coupled with his little appearance made him appear extremely adorable.

"Kya! MY KARNA CHAN IS SO CUTEEEEE!"

Kazuya tackled Karna for a hug and kept pinching his cheeks.

After Karna's impressive display of kenjutsu, everyone went to sleep since tomorrow they'll have to leave early for their new home.

Karna was glad that his father ended the conversation without further questions; even though his father suspected him in regards to the new kenjutsu, he shrugged it off thinking Karna was a kenjutsu prodigy.

One could say Karna took a great risk by exposing his kenjutsu this early—potentially exposing his identity—but it was important to Karna that his parents trust him.

If in the future Karna did something similar against a foe, his parents might assume that he never showed his talent before because he didn't trust them.

So, to not have to deal with such a troubling situation in the future, he decided to steadily showcase his talents.

Karna went to his room and thought about how to proceed for the next day. He had this lingering uneasy feeling about tomorrow's trip, which made him feel like it would precipitate a dangerous predicament for their family.

Although Karna was anxious about tomorrow he couldn't do anything about it. So, without frying his brain further he decided to doze off for the rest of the night.

The Yagami family set off towards their destination in the early morning. They have to journey for an entire day to reach Konoha, and they didn't want to end up there at midnight; thus, in a simple carriage from the late medieval era, Karna along with his parents set off for Konoha.

Inside the carriage, Karna sat in a corner separate from his parents. He was deeply focused in his right palm.

Even though it looked empty one can occasionally see a ball made up of wind rotating in the left direction in his palm.

'I should at least master the first step of the Rasengan in this trip. Since my chakra control is already at a considerable level I should be able to finish this within today. My natural chakra rotation is to the right, so now, I have to rotate it in the opposite direction.'

Karna took out a water balloon from his bag and kept performing the previous actions. His parents did notice him but thought that he finally started to act like a kid of his age.

They travelled without any breaks or delays and only stopped in the evening after Kazuya conveyed her wish of eating barbeque.

Karna also finished the first step of the Rasengan by bursting the water balloon, and after using his chakra repeatedly he too was quite hungry.

They exited from the caravan and went to an inn nearby, but unbeknownst to them, a group of people were glaring at them with extremely cold eyes.

5 hours ago,

In an underground facility.

Eight people wearing black clothing, a grey flak jacket, metal arm guards, gloves, ninja sandals and different animal masks were kneeling in front of a man.

He was a man of quite the bizarre features: his right eye and hand, both were wrapped in a white bandage. His black hair was sticking up because of the stiffly wrapped bandage and there was a cross shaped scar on his chin.

He was sitting on a chair with a cane in his hand. He kept staring at the only source of light in that underground room—a half-lit candle—as if to show his displeasure with the very little light the room was illuminated with.

"We have finally tracked the Yagami family, Danzo sama. They're on their way towards what I believe to be 'Konoha'. They now have a child—presumably their own—accompanying them. What should I do about them, my lord?"

One of the kneeling figures moved slightly forward and delivered his discovery, but it didn't even slightly budge the man.

Danzo kept looking at the candle, and suddenly, the candle blew out, leaving the entire underground bunker enshrouded in bitter darkness.

Danzo's slightly opened left eye unfolded completely as if he has emerged into a new light. He then focused his sight on the seven kneeling figures as he ordered in his crooked voice.

"Yagami family, hmmm, If I let them enter the village they may become a hindrance to my plans, and I cannot afford to face a setback when everything I've dreamed of is finally coming true. Even though the Yagami bloodline is nothing special I heard that they can produce flames while using taijutsu; if we can research a pureblood maybe we'll find something interesting. Get rid of the parents and bring me the child. He shall serve in the greater cause of ensuring world peace."

"Hai! Danzo sama."(7)

The seven kneeling figures consented with a determined voice, but the expressionless faces beneath the masks betrayed their intention. They then disappeared without making a single sound.

Danzo rose from his seat and advanced towards the unlit candle. Out of nowhere, his index finger was lit with a speck of fire. He used it to light the candle again.

"The splendour and the beauty of light owe its existence to the darkness, but the light is as ungrateful and deceitful as it ever was. It takes away the glory and majesty of darkness and claims it for itself. But no more, no more shall light take away what are rightfully others. No more shall light drive out darkness. It is time that darkness swallows the light and claims what is rightfully it's own."

He muttered while he vanished, but his voice was reverberating in the underground room illuminated by a half-lit candle on its way to the end.