The Corpse Stealer

Naruto: Tales of Ashihara

Prologue – Arc 1: The Soul Robber

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Chapter 9: The Corpse Stealer

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5 days have passed since the dragons attack on Ryuka, the village of Dragon Fire. The leader of the village and Minamoto clan, Riku Minamoto, came back two days ago to discover a village partially destroyed, a hole through the tallest mountain in the country, and most important to him, nothing remaining of his family's mansion. As he learned about what happened before leaving the Land of Fire's capital, the Fire Daimyo kindly offered to send a troop of shinobi to assist him through these events consequences.

2 days ago, he arrived home with a group of 20 shinobis from the Daimyo's personal troops and his young daughter, Saori. There they met a group of 3 high-graded ninjas of Konoha already helping the villagers. These 3, Shikamaru, Hinata and Choji, were simply authorized to leave and the daimyo's troop took on the work from there on. In only two days, they were able to clean up the mess caused by the recent fight and restore at least a place to sleep for every resident. Riku and Saori, who lost their living place, have to stay in a mobile-home for a few days until their mansion is rebuilt.

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Now, at the village's entrance, Tsubai discovers how the village handled this crisis. Looking around he still has one and only thing in mind: He's back, but alone. He thinks about the fact that everybody he knows will obviously ask about her, and that he'll have to say what happened many times over and over. But he doesn't want to. He doesn't feel ready to announce this to everyone she knew, when he himself still can't believe what happened…

Standing before the village, he just looks forward, in fear of getting deeper in and having to face this responsibility. However, his curiosity forces him to take a step in. He noticed a bunch of people with jonin uniforms from Konoha, just like the one that the Nara guy was wearing, but with a slight difference. They were all wearing a scarf with the kanji for Fire on it in some way. "Ninjas from the capital?" he thought. To understand what is now taking place in this village, he decides to find Natsuri.

As he walks through the streets, he sees the villagers working together with these shinobis to prepare the buildings for more serious renovation. The situation's being quickly and efficiently handled. He's glad of it. But the presence of these people mean that someone called them for help. And this someone can only be two persons: Shikamaru Nara, who would have called them to take care of this place so he can get back to Konoha quick, or his father, who would have simply asked for help from the Daimyo, and which would mean that he's, in fact, back in the village.

While he was thinking, he went all the way to where the village's hostel was, only to find some kind of camp and worksite, indicating that the hostel was still being remade. Walking through the camp to find who he's looking for, he suddenly feels hampered by something in his back. No stress. It's just Natsuri, who found him first, hugging him tight from behind. Of course, she must have learned a bit about what happened around Konoha, and was concerned about his well-being. Tsubai holds her hands to put them down. He turns around to face her. Not knowing what to say, he just stays there. She's first to break the silence.

"I heard about what happened in Konoha. The guy who attacked us twice, was it him again?" she asks.

"… Yes…" answers Tsubai with the same depressed voice he had in Konoha.

"Well, So you got rid of him, right? He won't bother us anymore?"

"… Yes…" he says again.

"Isn't that great?" asks Natsuri, who evidently noticed that something was wrong with her friend.

"…" Tsubai doesn't say anything. He still doesn't want to be the one announcing the news to the village.

"What happened?" she asks, now sure that something did.

"… You mean happened here?" he answers to change the subject. "What is all the ninjas?"

"Oh… I know you entrusted the village to me before leaving, but thankfully I only had to carry this burden for a day before your father came back from the capital. Somehow he was aware of what happened and brought a bunch of ninjas sent by the Daimyo. They're now helping to rebuild the village and they're pretty good at it. They're all elite shinobis so it's not surprising. We can be glad that your dad has such good relations with the Daimyo."

"I see… Where is he now? Is Saori back too?"

"Are you okay?" asks Natsuri, rather than answering his question. "You're speaking weirdly." she asks as she noted the lack of damn's and nicknames in his speech.

"Speaking weirdly? You think?"

"Didn't Himari go with you? She wasn't in the village these last days, so I assume she did."

"…" Tsubai just opens his eyelids and tries not to say anything, struggling not to give anything away with his behavior.

"Where is she now? Did she come back with you?"

Tsubai doesn't answer. It's not that he can't think of an excuse. It's rather that he just can't think right now. If he remains silent too long, she'll understand it without him saying anything. He has to say something. "… No" he says. He just better tell what happened now. Acting like nothing happened won't bring her back. It's been four days already, if he keeps lying to his own self, he'll never be able to recover from it. So he looks at Natsuri straight in the eyes, and prepares to finally tell the truth. Unfortunately, he's interrupted before he's even able to say anything by a brutal change of atmosphere.

"TSUBAI LORD!" yells Geiri while falling toward him and hitting him. Lying on the ground after her jump, she gets up real fast. "How are you? How was Konoha? Is the horn-y man defeated?"

"Hey, Hey…" says Natsuri to Geiri. "Could you take it easy. Lord Tsubai seems shaken by something. He isn't really in that mood right now."

"Yeah yeah you're right!" answers the young person. "Whatever I was looking for him because that guy asked me about him. So I thought you, Natsuri, would know where Tsubai was at. Gratefully, it looks like he's there already."

"That guy?" asks Natsuri, who turns to Tsubai slowly getting up, and still looking empty inside. She turns back to Geiri. "Who's That guy?"

"Oh, Him! That guy!" Geiri answers while pointing her finger to a man standing right behind here.

It is an average sized man, with blue mid-short hair and blue eyes. He's wearing a short white vest with fur on the end of each sleeve, only a dark blue tank top under the vest and mesh pants that are the same color as the top. He also has a scratch scar on his left cheek, really close to his mouth.

This last detail is what helped Tsubai to recognize the man. He just makes a shocked face as he remembers the first and only time he met that man. He is the one who tried to kill him before he left the village and met Sasuke. If he remembers it correctly, this guy was extremely talkative and gave away the fact that he was sent by his father to kill him. Tsubai was so bothered by what happened in Konoha that he completely forgot about why he wasn't supposed to come back there.

"Yo, Tsubai!" says the man. "How you been doin' since last week?"

"Shut up!" answers Tsubai who tries to stay on his defenses. "What do you want now? I warn you, it's not gonna go the same way as last time. I'll beat you up and kill you if you try anything, get it dumb-ass?"

"Keep calm bro, I ain't looking for troubles." answers the man. "Also don't call me a dumb-ass. Instead, you can call me Ritoru, It's my name."

"What is happening here?" asks Natsuri worried about who this man maybe.

"Don't worry, m'lady!" answers Ritoru as he gently grabs her shoulder and starts to walk around her. "Lord Tsubai and I are kind of friends. He just remembers me differently than I remember him, visibly."

"Stop this." says Tsubai, angered by the man's behavior.

"…" Ritoru stops behind Natsuri for a short stare down with Tsubai before grabbing the woman by the chin to turn her head to face his. "You can go back to your duty, or obligations, or just go relax somewhere, mademoiselle. Me and Tsubai will just go for a walk while we settle our differences… It's just gonna be a talk, no worries."

"…"

"You can trust me." he adds with a smile on his face, before she even asks.

He lets her go and just waits for her to leave. Geiri, still between Natsuri and Tsubai, just looks at the two men and decides to leave the place. Natsuri gives a trustful look to Tsubai before stepping back.

"Come on, man! Think about it. If I really wanted you dead the last time, it would have taken me less than a minute. Also, I'm not even working for Minamoto anymore, I'm here to talk about something else."

"What do you want to talk about?" asks Tsubai, still distrustful.

"Just relax, man. I can't talk about it here. Would you like walking a bit?"

"No"

"Seriously, dude" says Ritoru, who's starting to get annoyed by Tsubai's mistrust. "Even if I wanted to fight you, there are jonins all around to stop me from killing the Minamoto's heir. What I want to talk about is still your family, but I canceled the contract with your dad."

Tsubai still doesn't give off. He remains suspicious. He turns to Natsuri who just stepped back a bit but is still here. Looking her in the eyes, he tries to guess her feelings about the current situation, to take advice from her in some way.

"Tsubai." says a voice inside his head. "You didn't forget about me did you?"

"Of course not." answers Tsubai. "I just don't need you right now, Daikoku."

"Need?" asks the Tengu upset by this answer. "It isn't about need. I'm not some ghost spirit that will pop in your head when you need it. I'm there for as long as you'll live. I see all that you see. And right now, I'm having a strange feeling about this man. His chakra, I mean. It feels familiar."

"So what? We already met that guy. Nothing new about him"

"That's the thing. He's not like last time." says Daikoku. "I shouldn't be able to feel chakra this well… Unless it's not his chakra that I feel but another chakra that resides inside his body."

"What?" Tsubai turns around in his mind. "You think he has some kind of thing like you?"

Tsubai looks closely at Ritoru who seems to be doing the exact same as him. He looks like he's thinking really hard. As if he was talking with someone in his mind. Tsubai lets his guard down, eager to learn more about what it could be.

"Go for a walk." he says to Ritoru.

"Really?" says Ritoru as if he was brought back to reality by this sentence. "Great!"

Ritoru turns around and goes walking in a direction. Tsubai gets closer to Natsuri to explain a bit of what happened to her, as the other man already is a few meters away

"You can leave. I think it's fine. And if there's a problem, I got help."

"You're sure?" she whispers to him.

"Yes he is." says Ritoru, who could hear them whispering, even from the distance. "No worries, lady. We're fine. Also could you tell me your name, so maybe we could meet again later?"

"No she can't" says Tsubai who walks toward him to follow him. "I'll give you her name if I consider you trustworthy enough."

"… I heard the other girl say this one's called Natsuri anyway. But I'd still like to know her full name if she has one."

The two men walk away from the worksite together and go through and between the building of the village, where they won't be heard. While they're walking, Tsubai lets Daikoku analyze Ritoru's chakra and try to identify what makes it so similar to his. But he doesn't seem to find any correct explanation. This guy behaves as if he had a Tengu in his mind. But from what he knows. The clan's curse is made so the previous Tengu generation dies when a new one is born. Since Tsubai's grandfather's trick to the curse, this law doesn't really apply the same way anymore. But still, Ritoru is not a Minamoto clan member. He should not be able to wield a tengu without being poisoned by its chakra and dying. What could it be?

"We can talk now." says Ritoru, as he feels like they're far away from anyone else now. "So what do you want to know first?"

"Why did you try to kill me last time?" asks Tsubai immediately.

"That's a good one to begin with." answers Ritoru, with a friendly voice. "I'll make it short, but long. I'm a mercenary ninja who's been hired by Riku Minamoto a while ago for personal business. A few days ago, he asked me to go after you, says he needed you dead and quick. So I went to work and fought you, but something kept me back from really getting rid of you: My new employer."

"Who's that?" asks Tsubai before changing his mind and wanting to focus on the important questions. "No, actually, why does my father want me dead?"

"Why don't you ask him? He's there too you know?"

Tsubai just looks around after hearing this answer and thinks. That's true. He now has Daikoku with him. There's no reason for him to be scared of confronting his father. He'll do so, but first he'll get as much answers as possible from this man.

"I'll do so, but I'm not done with you." he says before going on to the next question. "Your chakra…"

"NO!" yells Daikoku to Tsubai only. "Don't ask anything about my questions. Nothing gave away my presence in you until now. Keep it a secret. Just ask about his new boss. This will probably bring him to why he got back to you."

Tsubai stops and tries to remain as natural as possible. Daikoku's right. They should keep as much secrets as they can. They can't trust this guy. Still, this guy's chakra is somewhat special according to him. They should find a tricky way to get these answers But for now, they'll go with obvious questions.

"Your employer. You said you have a new employer. Who is he, and how does he relate to me? If you're back in this village, but not under my father's command, it means someone else asked you to."

"Hm? Well played. That's a good reasoning. Did the tengu help you?"

"Excuse me what?" asks Tsubai who was sure that his tengu's existence was still a secret.

"What?" answers Ritoru. "Earlier you told to this girl that you're accompanied in case you have to fight me. I assumed you were talking about your Tengu."

"I hate that guy." says Daikoku. "Well, no secrets about me then. Go on and ask about his chakra."

"… Uh… How do you know about him? Also he says you have something similar to his chakra. What is it?"

"Bruh what? How do you know that?" asks Ritoru, outraged by this question. "What do you mean he can actually feel you? And you just forgot to mention it? What? Am I thinking out loud right now?" he speaks, like to his own self.

Tsubai just waits for Daikoku to give an explanation for what he just witnessed. Destabilized by what Ritoru's behavior means, the tengu still tries to transmit his thoughts to his host. Ritoru definitely has a tengu inside of him. He doesn't know how that's possible but he has one. Only a Minamoto should be able to become a Yamabushi, and tengus can only appear when a new Minamoto heir is born. Therefore the tengu inside Ritoru's body must be a tengu from a past generation. Daikoku knows about two other tengus that have been kept alive by Tsubai's grandfather's experiments. So it could be one of them. But they have to find out how he got it.

"I'm getting sick of asking questions." says the floating cloak in Tsubai's mind. "Let's just take away his memories. He may know about me, but not about my powers."

"I like that plan." answers Tsubai, also willing to get answers.

"Oh…" says Ritoru. "She smells violent intent emanating from you two."

Ritoru gets in a fight pose, ready to counter Tsubai's attempt to fight him. On his fingers, feline claws grow over his nails. Between his lips, Tsubai could see his canines grow to become as pointy as those of a lion.

"Why do you plan to fight so suddenly." asks Ritoru. "Do you just want some action, or doyou have an easier way to get answers?"

"A tengu that gives feline attributes, optimized hearing and smell. This must be Kasha, the corpse stealer." says Daikoku. "But this shouldn't be possible. Kasha died along with your ancestor 80 years ago when your grandfather was born. These are the memories we have to take from him."

"Is that all he can do?" asks Tsubai, preparing to fight too.

"No, the Yamabushi of Kasha is also gifted the ability to use Deiton (Mud release). A variant of Doton. This is the same Kekkei genkai as Katashiki's bear monster seemed to use against you. She probably has some more tricks up her sleeve that I don't know yet, but you know most of her powers now."

"Okay" says Tsubai to Ritoru. "So you have a tengu that gives you cat-like abilities, super-human senses, and Deiton, is it?"

"So he already guessed it." answers Ritoru. "And yours is quite more interesting. He gives you Darkness release, a powerful jutsu that stops time, and another that allows you to absorb memories. Is it?"

"HOW THE F*CK DOES HE KNOW?" screams Daikoku, frustrated of having all his secrets revealed this easily. "Yes we can fucking stop time. Tsubai show him how it's done, since he's asking for it."

"We'll have this done before he even realizes it." answers Tsubai.

A black chakra hood appears around Tsubai as he joins his two hands to perform the dragon hand sign. Ritoru already knows that this is the single mudra needed to use Jikanteido. As soon as he sees Tsubai join his hands with his fingers in this suspicious position, he leaps from the ground as strongly as he can.

Jikanteido (Time Pause)

By the time Tsubai activates the time pause, Ritoru is already far up in the air. Tsubai looks up to see his opponent out of range. Not knowing what to do, he just stands there waiting for his tengu's advice… Daikoku stays in silence.

"What am I supposed to do?" asks Tsubai, to break the awkward silence that was covering the frozen space. "Do I try to force him down with a jutsu or anything?"

*Sigh "We just need his memories, we shouldn't risk to hurt him too bad." answers the discomforted tengu. "Just get ready to steal his memories when he gets closer by himself."

"… Ok…" just says Tsubai, ashamed of having wasted his time pause like this.

Time resumes. From his point of view, Ritoru sees that Tsubai has instantly moved a bit. Understanding that it means he stopped time, he slightly smiles when he realizes he didn't do any harm with it. In the middle of his jump, he joins his two hands and performs hand signs in his turn.

Deiton – Dororappa (Mud Wave)

He spews a wave of mud that falls down to Tsubai who reacts by simply hiding himself under his dark cloak in defense. When it enters in contact with it, the mud turns to black and is absorbed inside the cloak. While Tsubai turns around to face him again, Ritoru positions his feets as if he was taking support on an invisible surface and bounces toward Tsubai by leaning on the air. Looking in his direction, Tsubai only sees him falling toward him at high speed, and raises his hand to directly grab him when he reaches near the ground.

When close enough, Ritoru elongates his claws on one hand and stabs through Tsubai's hand who was ready to grab him and take his memories. Doing his best to ignore the pain and surprise, Tsubai closes his hand to catch on his enemy's. But Ritoru manages to pull back his hand before Tsubai grabs it. "He's really fast", thinks Tsubai. He still holds tight on the claws to keep him from getting further. To escape, Ritoru pushes himself back by bouncing on Tsubai's torso, who still hold his claws, causing them to break.

He lands on the ground back where he was before they started to fight, and looks at Tsubai.

"Why are we doing this? We're supposed to talk, not to fight." he says.

"You started this." says Tsubai, fully aware that it isn't true.

"Seriously, dude! I have things to say."

"I could just take your memories? Why do you insist on talking." asks Tsubai, eager to make it quick.

"I don't trust you enough to let you do this to me."

"You literally tried to kill me the first time we met. Why would I want to talk?"

"I told you my employer, who isn't even an employer since I don't get paid, needs you alive. I won't kill you."

"What does he need me for? Who even is this guy? Or girl?" asks Tsubai annoyed by the current discussion.

"What's going on here?" asks a shinobi coming to them after noticing the movement.

"Oh Kasha!" says Ritoru. "Could have warned me someone was getting close." He turns to Tsubai and raises a hand to make the tiger hand sign. "We'll meet again."

A ring of mud emerges from the ground around him and hides his movements. When the mud settles back on the soil, Ritoru disappeared. Tsubai is now alone between two building at the border of the village with two ninjas from the Daimyo's army. They both stand next to each other, blocking the way in the village.

"Who are you?" asks one of them.

"I'm Tsubai Minamoto. I'm the leader's son."

"Really?" says the other shinobi. "Then you're the deserting thief he told us to kill on sight?"

"Oh Come on! Did he really say that?"

"We'll have to follow orders, sir. If these accusations are illegitimate, you'll argue them later." says one of them while reaching for his kunai pocket.

Before this one gets to pull out what he wanted to, two hands come to land on both of the shinobis' shoulder. The hands coming from behind them get covered by a black mist that instantly spreads through the ninjas' bodies and makes them fall unconscious to the ground. Tsubai, confused by what just happened, looks at the two bodies lying of the ground and very soon realizes these are now corpses. The single touch from this hands killed them both. Tsubai looks to behind the two dead bodies and only sees a young girl standing in the way, looking at him.

"Saori?" asks Tsubai who recognized his little sister.

"IT'S NOT HER!" yells Daikoku. "Look at her eyes."

Tsubai does as his tengu ordered and sees blue glowing eyes with slitted pupils. He also sees a black mist starting to leak from her whole body.

"Is that the mist from the sealed jar?" asks Tsubai, worried by his sister's state.

"It is." answers his tengu. "This isn't your sister. This is Akashita, the filth in one's mind. The tengu of the previous generation, your father's tengu, who has been freed from his seal and has taken control over his new Yamabushi's body, your sister's."

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End of Chapter 9 – Next Chapter: The Filth in One's Mind