A Plan Set in Motion: Journey to the South

After packing, in my pack underneath my black robes, I had brought my kunai and shuriken. At either side of my waist hung The Key to Oblivion, and the Oathkeeper, making me ready for any surprises while on the road. I turned to the gates of Huoshangakure at my back, leaving behind the lair I had created only a few days prior to my departure. Taking my first step on the road, many thoughts rushed through my head.

This road, for one, caused some thoughts to arise in my head. This road, traveled by many caravans and traders, but never by the feet of hundreds of soldiers. That would change in the future, and I would make sure of that. This nation would see war, and it would be because of me. Secretly.

Today would begin my secret alias. I would need a new name, a name worthy of my superior stature. My name would be the same as the founder of my great clan, of the mighty Uchiha. Kaishi Uchiha would be my name now, the son of the great Sage of Six Paths. It would only create an aura of mystery surrounding me. Because that would make me hundreds of years old, but yet here I was, bearing the Sharingan like him before me.

Placing the mask over my face, I set on the path that I had prepared for countless months, years even. The mask that the world would come to fear, the mask no man would ever see beneath, except for those knowing my true name. I would begin my story today, with this step, on the way to the other side of the world.

I was now, Kaishi Uchiha.

I began to walk down the path before me, taking each small step as a sentimental value. They were the first steps on my road to infamy as the masked man. After discarding those thoughts, and focusing on the journey before me, I quickened my pace to a run. I was able to run miles upon miles without stopping, due to the intense training I had put my body through as a young child. I was ready for this journey; I had been getting ready for such a long time. I had put myself through so much preparation, through so much planning, that this had become a destiny that I was meant to embark on.

I was traveling to the distant land of Tsundoragakure, the village in the southern most point of the ninja world. The journey would take several weeks, as I was leaving from one of most northern villages in the land of volcanoes.

The first week went without a hitch, luckily. I would travel in increments of running 30 miles, resting 2 hours, walking 5 miles, and then repeating the process until dusk, when I would sleep until the next morning at sunrise. The process became monotonous, the beating of my feet beneath me becoming imprinted on my mind, as I would often dream of hearing the same sound in my sleep. After the first week, a storm came overhead. I ran through it until the rain become too hard to see through, and then I stopped at the nearest roadside inn.

The air around me grew colder as the days drug on, standing my hair on end and sending shivers down my spine. My throat began to sting as the freezing air filled it, cutting at the dried skin in my neck. My hands grew numb, so I pulled out the black leather gloves I had stored in my pack, and fit them over my hands. I rested for a few hours to adapt to the cold, and built a small fire a mile or two from the main road. I sat on a log and rubbed my hands together over the flames to attempt to warm my body up to a sustainable temperature. I was used to the heat of the volcanic village, and this was obviously not somewhere I would want to re-visit. This would mean that I would have to gather as much information as possible while here, so as to not have to return any time soon.

After warming myself up for a bit and resting my legs, I began my pursuit of the village once again, hoping to get there by sunrise. The dusk around me made the air particularly colder, but I kept running through the waning hours of the night, my destination the only thing in mind at the moment. After several hours of running, the sun shot out from behind the wall of earth it was hidden behind throughout the nighttime. The sun blazed elegantly across the white snow of the Southern Frost, sending rays of light dancing off in every direction. It was blinding to my eyes, my eyes that were accustomed to darkness.

The village appeared over the horizon; it would only be a few more miles before arriving at my destination. As I drew near, I checked my bag to make sure I hadn't lost anything, and made a check of the supplies I would have to restock on on my journey here. I approached the gate several moments later, and strolled into the village. Or, what was left of the village. A huge portion of the village had been destroyed, and citizens and ANBU alike were still in a panic trying to rebuild and repair. My hunch from weeks before was correct, something had occurred here, and I was going to get to the bottom of it. Hopefully, he could find the creator of such destruction and possibly join causes. Perhaps in his searching for clues, he would come across a new disciple to recruit. His forces needed to expand. The time was coming to make his first move, and he already had a target in mind.

[Exit]