[Graded] It's Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door

[Valkier]

After a long night of watching the fire Aizen was pretty tired. He couldn't let the ember go out with rain coming in just a few days. He needed that ember to last and it was windy so all of his time was spent that night feeding the flame. He felt exhausted and Aizen was yawning by the time morning reared it's ugly head. Fortunately though the wind died down and Aizen could safely store the ember in his storage seal. Aizen did so and then packed up the rest of his belongings. He didn't have much but it was enough to all fit in a single scroll with multiple seals inscribed on it. Aizen was fortunate to be a gifted shinobi and he had a lot of pleasures available to him as a ninja. Storing his campsite was one such amenity.

For the whole day Aizen slept like a rock. When evening came around he woke up sweating. It was hot in the summertime of Sakura Country but he managed to get some much needed rest in. Heading off to the next town Aizen had no idea what was in store for him that night. The ninja felt completely rested but there was a certain sense of foreboding lurking around the corner. Aizen wasn't on edge, but he certainly had a creeping feeling behind his shadow. Aizen felt like he was being followed.

As it was there was a powerful spirit creeping in the shadows of the woods. Aizen was being stalked like prey at the watering hole. The ninja had no idea that something was lurking just inches behind him, and when it struck Aizen he thought to himself, "The Lurian!" Aizen was referring to the chakra barrier he could produce. Had he been using it he would have been alerted to the presence of a body behind him, but instead he took a mean right cross to the back of the head. Aizen stumbled forward and immediately entered his Flames of Hate: Walking Stance. He knew his opponent was dangerous the way they had creeped up on him without a sound. The attacker was a burly man of large stature. He looked ill with some kind of disease and covering his face was a black mask with solid white eyes. Aizen didn't know what was going on but he was prepared for a fight.

Still in his fighting stance Aizen put together several hand seals and then stomped his foot into the ground. A tremor shook towards the enemies foot but they jumped back dodging it. With space between them Aizen had time to think of a strategy. He was hoping his Binding Formation jutsu would hit, someone this physically strong was certainly a danger up close and Aizen was already seeing stars from the first strike. The man suddenly flung his arm forward and from it black webbing sprayed forward from his wrist. Aizen was thrown completely off guard and the black sludge bound him up right away. Aizen began struggling but the webbing completely wrapped around the ninja and he fell to the ground. The black masked man walked over to Aizen and leaned over him. The man groaned lustfully and then opened up a huge jaw filled with sharp teeth and a long slimy tongue. The monster bit into Aizen's exposed neck. Aizen let out a wicked howl and began shaking in tremendous pain.

As soon as the creature tasted Aizen's blood something changed about the attack. The man let go of Aizen and began violently shaking himself, falling to the ground. As he shook the man began retching out a thick black ooze like the webbing he had shot. The mask disappeared revealing a sickly countenance and then the worst thing possible happened. The black ooze crept closer to Aizen's body and entered from the wound on his neck. As the black ooze began seeping into Aizen's body he screamed a bloodcurdling shriek. It was truly horrible to experience and Aizen felt the worst pain ever being inflicted on him. The humans blood began to warm up as the spirit invaded his body and possessed the iron in Aizen's blood. It was truly an amazing sight to behold but as the spirit left the burly man he was instantly killed and no one would be there to witness Aizen's possession.

The burly man was not a compatible body for the spirit and after just 4 years the spirit began to dissolve the mans flesh. While he appeared big and strong it was actually the spirits black sludge swelling his muscles. The man hit the floor dead and the spirit finished overtaking Aizen's body at the same time. It happened in a flash.

As the spirit flooded Aizen's bloodstream he felt a most miserable leeching occur between the spirit and the iron in his blood. Aizen began screaming out loud in pain and thrashing on the ground. From Aizen's cheek a bunch of the black sludge began leaking out. Aizen could feel the weight of the spirit forming something on his cheek and he tried to calm down. Aizen could feel with the Lurian he had activated that it was lips forming and he knew he was going to get an explanation. Aizen felt a very distinct sense of fear. Pure terror was in his young eyes.

The spirit spoke in a loud screaming tone of voice. "I am Tenpu. Grand Spirit of the Null and your new partner." The spirit laughed maniacally. "I know how you humans love working together, so now you and I will. When i tasted your blood I knew that you were special. Tell me human, what is your name?" Tenpu pushed the lips it was talking from away from Aizens skin and toward his eye. Since it stopped talking and for the first time since he was attacked Aizen realized what had happened. He had been posessed by a spirit. It's last host must have been dying. Aizen was filled with rage. To have his own body repurposed by a spirit reminded him of the slave contract that binded his master in Iwagakure. Aizen struggled to speak but he said to the spirit, "I am Aizen Fukusha. Missing ninja of Iwagakure. I'm... glad you like my body." His voice was weak but he spoke with a certain sarcastic venom that only Aizen Fukusha was capable of.

Aizen suddenly tried to force the spirit from his body using his willpower but it was not a success. Instead Aizen only felt fatigue and the horrible ripping of iron from his blood. The spirit opened it's mouth again. "Forget the struggle Aizen. We are partners now, and forever. I'm never leaving this body."

[King of Cats]

For a few days Aizen laid hungry on the forest floor writhing in pain but eventually he was granted the willpower by God to stand up on two feet and find the roadside. He hobbled down the street, hunched over in intense agony. As he walked to a nearby town Tenpu manifested on his palm and the two spoke freely while traveling down the roads of Sakura Country. The spirit was a curious one and asked Aizen his entire life story, to which Aizen obliged. He saw no harm in it, and he typically didn't wish to hide things from others. Even spirits. Considering their forced close bond Aizen man felt obligated to share his past with the spirit, as he quickly accepted the fact that the two were bound together for eternity. Aizen wasn't one to fight destiny and resolved within himself to become friends with Tenpu. The spirit and human got to know each other pretty well over the next few days.

From what Aizen could tell Tenpu was a very old spirit, and while it definitely had an intimidating aura the spirit wasn't cruel to him. It simply watched what he did, and notably it talked with him for much of the time it was watching him. When Tenpu was watching an all white eye shaped rubber protrusion would form over Aizen's forehead where his third eye would rest. It was an unusual being, but Tenpu seemed to be very interested in what Aizen was doing. The spirit would watch what he was doing and make comments, mostly of a passive nature. Aizen saw how it would get annoying to have a peanut gallery attached to ones forehead, but he didn't show any sign of irritation to Tenpu. Aizen was leery of what kind of hold Tenpu had on his body so he tried to talk the spirit up and get to know it. Aizen was a ninja after all, and extracting information was second nature to the nukenin.

For a week the two talked in depth of their pasts. Tenpu told Aizen proud stories of it's past hosts. Aizen could tell by the level of fondness the symbiote spoke with that Tenpu's favorite host was it's current one. The fact unsettled Aizen but he tried not to let it bother him too much. Being possessed by the spirit wasn't going to change Aizen's purpose. Aizen sought to free humanity from the shackles of suffering by introducing the world to true freedom and Tenpu would not serve as a barrier. Fortunately for Aizen Tenpu had no desires to block him, in fact he even offered to work with Aizen. According to Tenpu the only way he could experience the same thrill as a human did from exercising, sex, eating or smoking was to have his host physically work their body and mold chakra simultaneously. Extreme action like combat brought Tenpu true thrill and it was something the spirit yearned for. When Aizen told the spirit he often found himself in dangerous situations, like the exploding brother and the caravan with sisters inside, Tenpu laughed in a surprising way. "Bring it on Aizen." Tenpu said to it's host with a wicked smile plastered over Aizens neck.

As Tenpu revealed it's off brand expression of emotion Aizen felt something unusual occur in his body. Suddenly it felt like his blood was being boiled to the surface. Aizen started choking on his spit out of nervousness with the new sensation coursing through his veins. From the eye on Aizen's palm Tenpu saw his exasperation and whispered, "That, my friend, is just a taste of my power." Aizen was tearing up from the pain he was enduring but his attention was focused on the white eye in his hand. Aizen stared into it and said, "What did you do? What do you mean Tenpu?" Aizen was weezing as Tenpu flexed it's spiritual muscles around Aizen's body and drew chakra out of his chakra pools and into his tenketsu vessels.

Before Aizen passed out Tenpu relaxed it's hold on Aizen's body and explained itself. According to the spirit it's host was blessed with the ability to manipulate the very body Tenpu created out of it's hosts blood. This black slime was stored in his veins, and with practice Aizen was told he could mold chakra into the black sludge to be used as a weapon. Aizen was intrigued, but the pain it seemed he would endure to use such a technique was obviously not worth it. Tenpu assured him he would get used to it.

The next day, with some coaxing from Tenpu, Aizen decided he would test out the powers that Tenpu bestowed upon him. Truth be told Aizen had high hopes. In recollection he remembered that the man who attacked him had a wicked cool black webbing that he used against Aizen. That webbing had bound Aizen up and was the cause for Tenpu possessing his body. Thinking about it kind of angered Aizen, but the promise of mastering such a power was intriguing to him.

Hopeful as always Aizen stood in a forest of Cherry Blossom trees. The leaves swayed in the wind as Tenpu explained the properties of his "body" to Aizen. Sticky and dense were the highlight features of Aizen's new powers. Aizen was increasingly excited as Tenpu told him from a black mouth on his throat. "Now here's what you need to know. Listen good. By manipulating chakra through your third chakra pool you will feel the pull of chakra to your blood that has been saturated by my spirit. All you have to do is focus your chakra flow from your throat to your wrist and then release it FORWARD. Make sure it's forward or your arm might explode. Or at best you will find yourself covered in ooze." Tenpu watched from Aizen's forehead as the ninja practiced the shooting motion with his hand. The ninja settled on an "I love you" confugiration of his fingers, leaving his middle and ring finger curled to his pal and the other three extended. "Go ahead ninja." Tenpu playfully snickered.

Standing in front of a tree Aizen began focusing chakra into the chakra pool located at the throat. As his chakra began spiraling through the focal point Aizen could feel his blood pulling in all directions. It was incredibly painful, something Tenpu had left out but Aizen was aware of. He was certainly surprised by the level of pain however and released his focus. Tenpu began screaming at him and calling him obscenities and after a moments rest Aizen tried again to the same effect. The spirit was mad as hell at his host. "You're the perfect host! Don't let some pain stop you!" Tenpu couldn't believe Aizen.

After a few more attempts Aizen got up the courage to shoot his first web. He fired his wrist FORWARD and from the center of his wrist black webbing shot out and hit the tree he was aiming at. Aizen was impressed but he fell to the ground in pain. It would take a lot of training for the ninja to master this skill, and with his aversion to pain it seemed it would take a long time before he did. However like Tenpu told him Aizen slowly developed an immunity to the pain of firing webs. The months passed by and the two bonded over their practice and with time Aizen became fairly adept at firing the webs. He couldn't do anything too fancy but he could shoot webs for a few seconds at a time and cover a tree up. According to Tenpu he was a natural and much better than the previous host. The pain killed him but Aizen was interested in the potential of this webbing in combat and he pushed on every day trying to better his skill.

It seemed the two would get along just fine and with a little encouragement Aizen was proving to be a fine shinobi in Tenpu's eyes. The symbiote was thankful to have met Aizen but would never let the human know. As they traveled around Sakura Country the two began to build a relationship that would last a lifetime. They talked all the while walking. Aizen was actually thankful to have some company on the road. Since he had left Iwagakure no Sato the ninja had only had a few encounters with others. Aizen sometimes woke up with an absent voice, a byproduct of not talking for so many weeks in a row. With Tenpu Aizen could talk about whatever. The spirit didn't judge him in most cases and it was freeing to express the thoughts of a traveling ninja.

Walking along the roadside Aizen and Tenpu were free together. The sudden closeness Aizen felt with Tenpu seemed so fresh and new that Aizen felt like anything was possible. He knew that something beautiful would spring forward from his relationship with Tenpu and Aizen walked with new confidence. After one particular night staying at an inn Aizen heard tale of the Crescent Coalitions most recent movings in Sakura. It was told that the government was going from village to village in order to organize laws and such. Aizen was surely interested and with Tenpu the two decided to investigate further. Aizen was a staunch defender of freedom and if he had the chance to free civillians from an oppressive government he certainly intended to do so. The duo left the village the next day to find a closer lead on the movements of Sakura Countries new government.