"Time has only been passing me by..." Kyogi reasoned, "for far too long now have I been stagnant while my peers keep passing me by. This time, I will be the one doing the passing."
His resolve deepened, the crimson eyed Senju set forth on his journey; headed for the great gates of the village. Immediately Kyogi noticed the contrast between the Senju family compound and the rest of the village and oddly enough, it was this contrast that filled him with a youthful flame. From the smell of varying meals being prepped as he passed along the dirt roads to the sound of steel banging while workers built even newer buildings - Kyogi loved it all. In fact, he loved the smell of a particular dish so much that he'd wound up sitting down on the raised up stool of a Ramen shop chair while the cook, a burly old man who sported an all white ensemble with glasses, prepared what he called Spicy Ramen.
With nothing to do but wait Kyogi began thinking about what sort of exercise he would do once he'd arrived at the training grounds. After his spar with Nikuya and Yozei a while back Kyogi realized just how lacking his Taijutsu capabilities were and a part of him wanted to explore ways to improve there. However, he also realized that when it came down to Ninjutsu, an aspect of his talents that up until that point he'd excelled in - had also been lacking. As he walked, the concerned Senju clan member thought back to how he'd just barely managed to pull off a suprise assault against Yozei using a Bakuhatsu nut and an Earthen Wall; of course, the damage that had been done was minimal at best, the tactic probably wouldn't have worked at all against a Chunin or Kami forbid a Jounin level Shinobi. Now more than ever Kyogi cursed the fact that his Sensei had been missing in action and that he could not find any of his other Teammates...if they were even still a Team at this point.
A sigh left him and at that exact moment, the man who'd been silently preparing Ramen approached. "Hey kid, somethin' got you down?" Asked the Ramen cook, setting Kyogi's bowl down in the process. "Eh...yeah, I'm alright." Kyogi gave a half-hearted answer. To his surprise the man frowned and then smiled. "Well, I may not be the best at reading people but one thing I do know - that there Ramen will perk you right up! Here, have another on the house!" Kyogi couldn't help but smile as a sudden warmth surged through him aided by the sweet spicy tasting broth of his noodles. Taking to enjoying his meal, he simply nodded and through chews managed a "Thanks Mister!"
Never hearing the approach of a figure behind him.
It all began with the stench of what would one day in the future become the stable of the underworld drug business. Somewhere well beyond the walls of Konoha inside of a small shoddy hut - the best peasant money could buy, a young man stood over a 4 Qt pot. Inside was water brought to a boil and a makeshift measuring cup with no more than 2qts of water and other ingredients necessary to create the product. In just a few moments the man would have enough to go out and make a small fortune but first...
Elsewhere in the Hidden Leaf - a Kyogi Senju would not return to the Senju compound.