PIN 3

Projection's POV

The projection sunk into the earth and wormed his way into the town with his mind agitated.

Aaron was compartmentalizing again, and it wasn't going to end well.

Aaron was as unbalanced as they came.

The fundamental nature of accumulating Chi and transforming the human body was antithetical to balance. And now that he's become a spiritual being, its side effects were bound to be more pronounced. Luckily, he had a powerful spiritual side to temper out his Chi and anger, but the Projection wasn't certain Aaron had as much control as he liked to think.

Aaron had been taking shit all of his life.

His distant father, uncles, aunt, and grandfather all dehumanized him—made him into an unfeeling soldier.

Time and time again, he'd been forced to let go of old grudges, slights, and grievances, all for the greater good.

But this time with Mark---it was different, pure, all-consuming.

He might try to fight the rage for a while, but the Projection knew it was only a matter of time. Someone would push him over the edge, and he would finally stop holding back.

With his new Spirit powers in the mix, he was unsure if Aaron's psyche would survive the break. What emerged might be altogether different.

"At the very least it will be a hell of a ride," The Projection mused as it emerged from the town in its invisible form.

It was strangely familiar yet completely alien in certain ways.

Homes were made rustic and made from paper sheets and wood, yet were lit with bulbs of bottled lightning. They wore clothes that looked strange but not dissimilar from what you would find in an Earth Nation village. Most strange of all, however, was their military, and their distinct lack of armor. Airbenders and Waterbenders were known for their preferences for freeing garments, but armor was fairly standard amongst the other organized military factions of Aaron's old world.

Why would the fighters of this new world forgo that?

Were their techniques so powerful?

After observing them for some time, the Projection realized that the only thing the military had in common was their headbands and fairly developed frames. Save from that, you couldn't tell them apart from a particularly industrious logger or farmer, on the surface at least.

After identifying the tenth ninja, the projection began to spot the differences in spiritual and physical energies.

Ninjas typically had far more than civilians, but he could not tell just how much from just using his senses.

The Projection spent a great deal of time wandering the town with no direction until he heard chatter about Hayato being the son of some important figure in the village. It wasn't that hard to track him down after that.

Hayato was in the backyard of an affluent house, drilling martial art forms in the moonlight. Fascinated by the new power system, the projection simply watched and drank in the information.

The boy stood in a strange martial stance before suddenly zipping ahead with startling ferocity and unloading into a wooden practice post.

He had a lot of power and precision for somebody of his age and size, not that Aaron was much older. He couldn't have been older than fourteen of fifteen by the Projection's count.

He was a flurry of punches, high kicks, flips, stance changes, and clever footwork.

He finished with a resounding punch that split the post in half, and in the next instant, he was onto the next post. The cycle repeated itself several more times before the kid finally walked toward the pond at the edge of the property.

He sucked in air and quickly cycled through a series of hand signs in a few seconds before breathing out.

Blue fire surged from his mouth like he was a Dragon. The fireball was only the size of his torso, but the blue fire meant it was doubly potent. It turned a chunk of the pond to steam the moment it hit.

The display had the projection raising a brow.

The execution was a bit slow, in his opinion, but the child had a lot of power.

There were two dozen firebenders alive, powerful enough to do that by his count.

'How did he not burn his throat? And how does he have blue fire? Was that common in the elemental Nations?'

The projection thought it probably wasn't.

Maybe that was why the Night God wanted Aaron to take this child's identity. Their powersets matched at least topically.

"What else can you do?" the Projection muttered as he watched the boy cycle through the same hand signs and spat out another fireball. The cycle continued ten more times before he switched signs.

A handful of fist-sized fireballs burst out of his mouth, blanketing the surface of the pond.

The display left Hayato a raggedy, panting mess, but he pressed on with a determined look, cycling through the hand signs again. Even before he launched the technique, the Projection could tell he would fail.

His energy was tangled—knotted—around his chest.

Only two fireballs emerged as he breathed before he was reduced into a hacking mess.

He coughed blood and roared, calling for somebody in his cracked voice.

"Karin!"

Silence.

He called out twice more before the Projection noticed movement inside the mansion. A girl came running. She had striking red hair and eyes and looked about Hayato's age. However, what drew the Projection's attention the most was her energy signature.

It was so vast that even the ambient energy couldn't cloud it. She was like a bonfire in a forest of candles.

'She likely has the most energy in the village and likely had power to back it up,' the projection mused.

What happened next all but confirmed his suspicion.

Karin's eyes shot up suddenly, meeting the projection's own. Time ground to a halt as they took in each other.

Karin was about to say something when Hayato finally moved. He slapped her so hard he threw her into the grass.

The projection floated there, stunned for a moment before the rage came. It had him bunching his ethereal fists and contemplating throttling the little tyrant.

"Do you have a death wish! You made me call out for you twice with my wounded throat, and had the guts to space out in front of me!" Hayato hissed venom.

Karin started to weep. "I—I…thought I sensed someone floating above us, Hayato-Sama."

Hayato looked up in the air skeptically before he scoffed and slapped her again.

"The second one is for being such a terrible liar."

He grabbed her by the hand and bit into the flesh, drawing blood. He sucked on it for a second or two before shoving her back and gasping in relief.

"I don't know what you hoped you achieve by pissing me off, but you're lucky that you have more chakra than your useless other," Hayato said, clearing his throat. "What kind of Medic-nin dies from doing her job."

He had the beginnings of a smile on his face, and predictably, Karin took the bait.

"Don't you dare talk about her like that!" she yelled, and Hayato smacked her again, sending her flying into the pond.

"There's that Uzumaki fire your people are famous for," he laughed. "Your mother didn't have it. I suppose that's why she died as quickly as she did. You should be grateful, Karin. My father is kind unlike the heads of the Major villages. They would've turned you into a broodmare by now. But we've allowed you to train and learn to properly heal. I don't know how long that kindness will last if you make this a habit."

'There goes any reservation I had about killing him,' the Projection said, his face warping into a deep scowl.

"Now pick yourself up and heal your face before you turn in for the night. I want you healthy and strong for tomorrow's training," he barked. "I have to be ready for the Chunnin Exams."

Hayato turned around with a huff and disappeared into the depths of the mansion.

The Projection floated down from the sky, turning tangible in front of a shivering Karin who'd dragged herself out of the pond.

"That looks like it hurts," he said. "I'd offer to heal you, but you look like you need it."

Her wounds had already clotted and started to diminish.

Karin's eyes widened as she took several wary steps back. She went down as she tripped on a rock. The Projection clamped down on her mouth before the panic bubbling inside of her turned into a scream.

"Don't," he whispered to the panicked girl. "You'll only get yourself in more trouble if you do. I'll vanish, leaving you to explain yourself, and Hayato doesn't strike me as the merciful sort. So, try to calm down. I promise I won't hurt you."

"Are you a ghost?" she asked in a shaky voice.

"No such thing," the projection said with a hint of amusement.

"Then why can no one else see you?" she muttered. "I must be going crazy."

"No," he said as he floated closer. "Not yet anyways, but you're not that far off if you let that boy keep putting his hands on you."

"I can't fight back," she clenched her fists, looking down. "He's too strong."

"You're just untrained," The Projection said. "He's a chump at best."

Karin looked at him incredulously. "He's the strongest Genin in the village. You can't--you're a Jounin, aren't you?"

The Projection didn't answer.

"Work with me, and I promise, Hayato will never lay a finger on you, again," he said.

"You're not going to kill him, are you?"

"Don't worry, you won't get in any trouble," he said. "I'm just going to teach him manners. Come morning, he'll be a new man."

"Why help me?" Karin asked.

"I have my reasons," The Projection said with an enigmatic smile. "So, will you seize your destiny or spend the rest of your life as the play thing of a cruel boy?"

Karin quivered nervously before a look of determination shone through her red eyes. "What do you want me to do?"

The projection grinned.

---

How do you like the new story so far? I have a lot planned for this fic. I hope you like it. I plan to upload three times a week in the beginning and as I grow my stockpile, it should get more frequent.