PIN 6

Chapter 5

Slowly and methodically, Aaron peeled back the layers of what made Hayato. His fears, mannerisms, ridiculous pride, his history, and, most important of all, the source of his strength. It took most of the night, but by morning, Aaron was Hayato, and the kid was hanging on by a thread.

He, surprisingly, found his backbone at some point, and Aaron had to get more physical.

He would never admit it to anyone, but he enjoyed letting his dark side out the slightest bit. In fact, he found himself feeling more ambivalent about the extreme methods he'd used in the past when he was an operative of the Air Nation.

Murder, poisoning, honey pots, deception—nothing was off the table in pursuit of the mission except the suffering of the innocent. That was his line, even if it was largely for the greater good.

Although he treated his healer like she was property, inhuman even, Hayato had some redeeming qualities.

He was loyal, impressively so. He refused to go into the details of how his breathing style worked, even after hours of torture. He succumbed in the end, though.

Everybody did.

He confirmed Aaron's theories and revealed so much more.

Total Concentration breathing was what the strange breathing pattern was called, and it worked by largely drawing in ambient Energy or Chakra from the air and saturating their blood, bones, muscles, and organs with it. Over time, the breathing method drastically enhanced their overall physical parameters, making each new breath that much more valuable.

Masters reportedly could replace their natural breathing pattern with Total Concentration Breathing and could pull off some outlandish physical feats like forcing wounds close and even shifting around physical organs to dodge lethal blows.

According to the kid, it took a special bloodline and a lifetime of practice to reap the real benefits of the breathing method. But if you didn't die a young death because you were targeted by enemy ninjas, great villages, or dumb luck, you'd rank high among the most powerful ninjas in the world and become what they call a Hashira.

There were currently about 13 Hashiras in the world right now, and the only way to become one was to beat the former one.

As for the sword techniques themselves, they were something else altogether. Firebreathing, which Hayato and his father, Zasui, practiced, was one of the more popular and effective styles and it had nine official forms and dozens of potent unofficial forms.

Official forms were the play-by-play moves passed down from the original users of the technique, and the unofficial forms were the additions that new practitioners had made over the centuries.

Some are codified and passed down, but most are kept secret to maintain strategic advantage.

Aaron understood the sentiment and looked forward to gathering forms from the fire and wind-breathing schools and incorporating them into a style that builds off Total Concentration breathing once he had the space to figure it out.

It seemed uniquely suited for him and granted an alternative to fire bending. As much as he recognized the benefit of the bending style, he'd rather master the element some other way.

"You'll never know much you've helped me," Aaron said to the bloody kid, who was a gibbering mess.

"Kami take your soul," he scowled.

"I'll live your life well, Hayato," Aaron said as he placed his hand on Hayato's head. His eyes flashed white. "Just one last thing. I have to be completely certain."

The boy shrieked.

"W-What are you doing!"

"Practicing."

Aaron had failed the first time he tried to use Energy bending on Hayato, but now he had nothing to lose. He hoped he'd get something out of the boy's mind before he broke down.

If everything he'd said about his father Zasui were true, he'd see through his disguise in minutes. Aaron would rather not face an Expert-level Elemental Swordsman and his village of dangerous shinobi without every advantage he could find.

Besides, Aaron was just as interested in understanding how his Energy interacted with Chakra and differed from it.

Who knew? It could be the secret to replicating the strange breathing style Hayato used.

Just like before, Hayato's defenses crumbled under Aaron's overbearing spirit.

The boy let out a scream as Aaron attempted to slowly untangle the physical and mental energies that made up his Chakra.

The experience felt far different from the only time he'd used energy bending. The connection had been direct, automatic. In fact, the biggest thing he'd had to worry about was the spiritual tug of war to establish dominance.

Aaron moved as slowly and carefully as he could, but it was grisly unnerving work. Hayato howled at the top of his lungs as Aaron rooted around in his head for memories.

The closest he came was a flash of emotion Hayato experienced just before his body gave out. It was pure, unbridled hatred.

His Energy started to disperse, and Aaron was forced to retreat. He was sweating when the entire ordeal was over and looked down at Hayato's body, visibly horrified. He was bleeding from every orifice.

Aaron wondered how many Hayatos he'd have to go through before this was done.

He carried Hayato's body and deposited it in front of the open lair of an oversized bear oozing with natural Energy. The thing started gobbling Hayato's body down before he left the clearing to clean out the scene of the torture and summary execution. He scorched the ground with fire bending to hide the blood and cut marks and left kunai wreathed in soot to give the impression that Hayato had been training with explosive tags in case somebody ever asked.

Then, he stealthily made his way back to town. He was in Hayato's former room before he looked at his status and took in the skill growth he'd experienced that night.

He also finally activated Nocturne's gift.

Kenjutsu 70

Shurikenjutsu 12

Bukijustsu 58

Taijutsu 70

Mask of a Million Faces

Aaron's face and skin shimmered as a fog of starlight and black smoke poured out. The smoke warped him, shifting his features to match the dead Hayato's--Black Hair, green eyes, and a fairly muscular body.

He exited his room before dawn break, passing by a group of servants who bowed to him and arrived at the courtyard where Zasui, Hayato's father, was hiding in the branches of a large tree. Aaron sensed him there with a combination of his Chi and spiritual sense, and it gave him a fairly accurate gauge of his Chakra.

It was ravenous and vast like the sea, but it came nowhere close to the sheer volume of Karin.

Without facing the man, he used one of his Parallel minds to trigger his Identify skill.

Zasui, the Blue Dragon Head ninja, and Jounin of the Hidden Grass

Estimated Level: 190 High Jounin

STR: 800

VIT: 900

DEX:920

CHR: 800

HP: 90,000

CHR: 80,000

Aaron's eyes widened.

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