The Underworld.

Senko felt consciousness slowly falling over him, haziness gave way to clarity and numbness gave way to the sensation of cold. Around him a thick fog of onyx skewed his sight. His fingers wiggled and his mind began to hum as he tried to remember what happened. "Lets see.... shit I can't remember anything." His mind ran a blank. Amnesia? His mind ran over some simple facts. "I am Senko, I am a shinobi, I am male, I am from..... where am I from? What village am I with...... do I have friends?" He remembered most of his jutsu..... he could remember the positive negative technique, but he couldn't remember who taught it to him. "So where the hell am I?" His hands pushed down as if to push off the ground, yet nothing, he simply remained, his body wasn't paralyzed.... he could move.... there was just nothing below him. He was floating in the mist, there were no solid surfaces that he could see. "Jeez this is weird."

Yeah, you're telling me.

" Senko blinked several times and looked at his arm, the sleeve had been torn clean off by something, and on his arm a dragon tattoo looked back at him. "When the hell did I get this?"

When you were fighting, you summoned me, I could sense the great evil of the being you were fighting and so I came to aid you. Yet his dark corrupted power was too great for me, and so after sustaining significant damage I merged with you on the most basic level and gave you ass much power as your body could physically handle.... and you might have won too if it weren't for that monsters ability to manipulate gravity. So.... now we are both dead.

Senko blinked a couple times.... he had a fucking talking tattoo on his arm telling him that he had the dragon god ryujin merge with him... and now they were both dead. "Oh.... okay, well that explains everything huh?" Senko thought for several more seconds, "Eh screw this we are going to get out of here." His hands sliding together to form three familiar seals, but nothing happened. Senko stared blankly at the tattoo waiting for an explanation.

Oh well there is no chakra here. Doesn't exist, so both of us are completely powerless. Err well you are, I wouldn't be if I hadn't merged with you. Anyway just wait awhile, eventually Lord Yama will want to speak to us.

"Lord Llama, what in the hell is a Lord Llama?" Senko was feeling irritable, probably something to do with being so cold, and hungry.

Hmmm aye you probably know him as Enma Dai-Ō.

Senko suddenly felt faint of heart, "Great I'm going to be damned to punishment in Jigoku... I'm a shinobi do you know how many people I have killed?" Senko's head sunk down as he slammed his right palm into his face. "I'm so fucked."

It was then that the silence was broken by a mighty voice that cut through the darkness, this sound which reminded Senko so much of thunder, also sounded like laughter. Senko blinked and looked at the tattoo, who simply looked back, Senko imagining the dragon shrugging at him as if to say, hell if I know.

Awhahahahaha The mighty Ryujin slain because he tried to save some weak mortal. Surely you were intoxicated at the time. HAHAHAHA! How pathetic, some god you are.

Yama, you know very well that I believe evil should be punished and vanquished from the world, and you know that it was only right of me to assist him.

Yes well you would have been just fine had you not merged with him, we both know he could have dropped hundreds of mountains on you and you'd of been unscathed, so what if his chakra beams were disrupting your powers, you should have gone in full force right from the get go.... so stupid, AHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Enough, so what do you plan to do?

Senko could see two red eyes glowing in the shadows, one eye alone was easily has a 40 foot radius, he also thought he could make out the outlines of two massive horns but he wasn't positive.

Well Ryujin, I suppose I shall return you to the world of the living. We need someone to rule over the seas, as for this mortal, his heart is dark, he has done many good deeds, but not for the right reasons.

It was while Yama was talking that a light blue orb slid from Senko's chest and the outline of a man emerged from it. "Surely you can make an exception for me Lord Yama."

Akechi Mitsuhide? Well now this is truly interesting, what brings you here mighty samurai?

"Lord Yama, this individual is the closest thing I have to a son, and he and I are one, please return him to the realm of the living. Though corruption grasps his heart, there is much potential for him. Please my lord, as a favor for me?" The orb vanished and with it the man who had appeared.

-Yama looked at Senko and as he did the upper portion of Senko's garb suddenly disappeared- Hmm lets see here, Yasha has sunk her fangs into you that's a very powerful seal. And of course you now have Ryujin's..... at least until I break him from you.... unfortunately I cannot return you from where you came as is, not until you have been purified. You have committed many sins, but that is also a bi-product of your culture. - The two red eyes vanished for a second before reappearing.- What do you think Ryujin?

I think that he can master the corruption, and I think that he should be returned. There is something different about him, and I believe he is a wise investment.

A beam of light sudden shot from the two massive eyes and as it hit Senko he could feel his body ignite into a blaze. The dragon tattoo vanished from his body and from the corner of his eye he could see the massive serpent hovering off. The dragon's forearm moved out and a single massive talon was brought onto the seal on Senko's neck, the talon slid down and back and the seal moved with it, coming to settle up in the upper portion of his back in the center between the shoulder blades. Ryujin's talon then piercing his Skin.

I shall bless you with my seal and merge it with Yasha's.

As shall I do the same.

Senko's body hurt so much that he could barely understand Yama or Ryujin, the blaze on his body suddenly moved and concentrated over the seal merging into it.

((The new seal))


The blinding light faded and Senko suddenly felt himself hit the ground hard.... there was a solid surface evidently. He was out of breath and felt extremely heavy.

Little one, you are now a shinigami, with this title comes many great powers, but you have yet to earn them. For now your strength is sealed, and when the time comes it shall be released. -A bright ring of light formed around both ankles and wrists, a beam of light then shot between the rings connecting them, pulling them together. Suddenly they vanished but Senko could still feel the pull.- Your normal chakra levels have been cut into 1/8th, your strength and speed has been dramatically reduced too, those shackles that you are bound with are for training, they will make you heavier and slower, they will weaken your endurance. Train well with them. -Senko's arms felt like they each weighed a hundred pounds, his legs nearly 450 a piece..... he felt completely immobile and exhausted.- I will also allow you to train here for 7 days.... or at least 7 days in your world. Here time moves amazingly slow and one day in the human world is equivalent to 2 years here. So make use of it, for you shall be revived in very little time.

Senko's eyes opened, he had blacked out after the restraints had been placed on him, his body wasn't use to this. His gaze shifted as he found ever motion nearly impossible to make. "What the hell... why is it so hard to breath?"

"Probably because this particular area that you are in sports a hefty 5.5 time higher gravity level than what you are use to."

Senko's head moved over as he found his gaze falling upon a little girl who couldn't be older than 7 or 8. She seemed to be standing just fine which left several questions in his mind. "How are you still standing child?"

She frowned at him before shaking her head, "First of all I'm not a child, I am a shinigami as are you, or you will be. You have the first of your seals, you still need the one on your hand. But once you've obtained that you will not age either. Secondly I've lived here for thousands of years so I am use to it. And to answer the question which I am sure you are about to ask, here is the wasteland. It is here that was Shinigami are born, it is here we train, and it is here that we find our companion weapon."

Senko blinked, he didn't remember signing up for any of this. He just wanted to be returned to the world of the living. "Great, so why are you here?"

The girl smiled, "I am here to be your training partner, your guide, and your protector until you are fit to defend yourself. Oh and I'm name is Reni. Remember, okay? Good. Now stand up lazy, we don't have all day."

Senko groaned as he slowly rolled himself over, his hands pushing into the dirt, his knees digging into the ground, his elbows creaking with strain as he tried to push himself up. Slowly his form shifted higher and higher until he was kneeling. Then with several careful motions he came to a stand." Happy?"

The little girl smiled and then without any warning punched Senko in the gut sending him flying back and into a small rock which shattered around him. "Any damage you take I will immediately heal, you will become stronger faster, through trial in error, the speed you once enjoyed on either you must obtain here. There will be no rest, you don't need to sleep, only training. Now... prepare to defend yourself, LETS DO THIS!" The little girl then charged at him, and Senko found himself fucked.

Senko's form hit the ground, both of his elbows bending and then straightening as he launched himself up and over Reni, her form sliding only inches below him. Almost immediately he shifted bringing his left heel out towards her face, only for her form to vanish. As Senko finished the sweep with his leg he felt two small feet plant into his back, sending him flying into the ground again. His form hit hard and rolled, his figure coming to a stand. He swayed a little, it felt like he'd been fighting for a month straight, but he wasn't really sure. In fact he wasn't sure of anything other than the fact that Reni was still far more powerful then he could ever hope to be. He watched her land on the ground, and without hesitation darted forward, his left hand chambered to deliver an off hand straight punch. Yet as he closed the distance he found the child twisting to face him, her palm open, two fingers curled down, two fingers pointing straight up and the thumb out to the side. Not knowing what to make of it Senko sped up closing in the distance.

Suddenly a bright orange fireball shot from Reni's palm slamming into Senko's form. The explosion generated by it sending him flying several hundred feet into the air, his form ablaze. He could feel his skin and bones melting, and the pain was something that he didn't know if he'd be able to tolerate much longer. Again he felt two feet slam into his back, and as his eyes blurred up from tears and wind, his figure slammed into the ground once more, only to bounce back up twenty feet, another kick being delivered to his face sending him flying hundreds of yards back. His form hitting the ground and rolling several more yards until he came to a stop. Senko coughed up a cloud of dirt, chills ran down his spine. His gaze shifted to his arms to see the damage done by the flames, only to find that his body appeared to be unharmed. His figure slowly pushed up from the ground as he readied himself for another of intense round of combat. He could already see Reni's form darting towards him.

Senko darted to the left as a fireball shot past him, missing by only an inch. His form suddenly jolted forward as he made his way to Reni, his form leaping up and over another fireball. As he reached the peak of flight he found another one heading right at him, rotating his body he slammed his left heel into it knocking the core of the fireball away from him. The flames engulfed his body and passed by, leaving no explosion to ruin his flight path. As he landed a few inches from Reni, he could see a look of worry in the girl's eyes, and capitalizing on the brief moment of weakness brought his right knee up to her gut. With out hesitation Reni darted around the knee and moved her right hand to Senko's side. Senko's left hand shot down slamming into her wrist, his fingers wrapping around it as he then moved into a spin, with one and half rotations he released he tossing her towards a rock.

Reni didn't miss a beat and as Senko released her hand, Reni formed her fireball symbol again, sending the largest fireball at flying at Senko, from almost point blank range. Her form rolling through the air as she dug her heals into the rock and rebounded off moving back towards Senko, who at this point had just been hit by a massive fireball and was burning on the ground in pain several hundred yards from where he had been. As she landed on the ground next to the flaming pile of rubbish, Reni then proceeded to kick Senko several times in the ribs.

Senko lay there as the kick continued to come, all he could do was think.... this would be different if I could use chakra. Suddenly Reni kicked him in the gut, digging her toes into his stomach and launching him several feet into the air. The air was forced from his lungs, but this was the opportunity that he needed. As Reni jumped up and thrust out another kick, Senko brought his right hand shooting out and into her face, knocking her back to the ground. His form hit hard, and after a second, still coughing, Senko forced himself to a stand. "Jeez you're tough."

Senko's form darted to the left of Reni, as she tossed a wild fist towards his face. As the hand moved inches from him he brought his right knee up driving it into her gut, lifting her from the ground and forcing her to float for a second. Utilizing the brief bit of floating time, Senko grasped his hands together and drove them down onto Reni's back launching her to the ground. Her form bouncing up as he spun to the left, his right heel sweeping out as he slammed it into her side and launched her a few yards away. Reni's figure came to a stand just in time to see Senko materialize in front of her and drive a fist into her nose. Her head jerked back and in the brief second that she was stunned she felt a sudden pain in her chest. Her gaze shifting down in time to see Senko driving his left shin into her chest pushing her further back. With her weight completely off center, Senko shifted into another spin and brought the back of his hand slamming into her cheek causing her to fall over.

There was no remorse for in Senko's heart, not after the shit she had put him through, and as she hit the ground he drove his foot up under her and into her stomach launching her into the air, where she would then be met by another punch that sent her flying. His form darting over and under her before she could land, his form sliding along the ground, his eyes focused on her face which faced the ground, he waited and once her eyes opened Senko drove both feet up and into her face sending her flying even higher into the air. Senko's body shifting as he then jumped moving up to meet her.

Reni glared at him and then a flash. Senko's form suddenly became paralyzed and he came crashing down to the ground, unable to move. It was as if the world around him had just gotten ten times heavier. His left ear twitched as he heard Reni land on the ground, his gaze shifting over to find that the little girl he had been battling appeared to have gotten several feet taller and several years older. She now looked to be at least twenty six. "Wtf."

Reni only smiled while looking at his crippled form. "I've been holding back. This is my true and strongest form. I had to hold back before because my spiritual pressure most likely would have crushed you before. You see, chakra does not exist here, instead there is a different type of energy, a spiritual energy, and the greater the spiritual energy the greater the spiritual pressure which is what you are feeling right now. People who have weak spiritual energy or low spiritual energy are temporarily rendered immobilized. You'll adjust to it in a moment, of course you'll be much weaker now, since your body will be using more energy to cope with the increased pressure on your body. Of course I don't plan on going easy on, you'll just have to get use to it." She smiled walking closer to Senko who still seemed to be unable to move. Her right leg sliding back as she readied to slam her leg into his stomach.

Suddenly Senko's head shifted as he brought his left hand out, grasping Reni's other leg, his form twisting to the left as he suddenly tossed her. "FOOLED YOU!" Senko's form bounced up from the ground. His gaze following Reni as she landed, both of her hands then extending towards him. The next thing he knew Senko found himself dancing between fireballs, bolts of lightning, and sonic blasts. "Jeez I'mma have to learn some of these."

Senko's eyes shifted as he followed Reni's movements, the constant bombardment of fireballs, lightning bolts, and sonic blasts prevented him from remaining in any given spot too long, and he couldn't get close enough to attack, but he was effectively dodge all of her attacks. Even the ones he couldn't dodge he was able to effectively redirect, now if only he could figure out how to redirect them back at her. His form darted in moving from side to side, ducking, dodging, and weaving between each attack. His form coming within inches of her when suddenly she transitioned into a spin summoning a massive outwards blast of wind that sent Senko flying hundreds of feet back. Suddenly Reni stopped, her face consumed with fear. Senko had taken a knee to stop his backwards moment and now stood confused. "Hey... Reni what's up?"

Reni didn't move, she only stood there filled with fear. His gaze suddenly breaking free as she looked down at Senko, "RUN!" Her hands came together as she began to channel her spiritual energy into a single attack, it'd take several moments, but it was their only hope at this point.

Senko's form shifted across the ground as he moved next to Reni, his eyes shifting as he found that only a few feet behind where he stood a massive disc shaped beast with ten enormous legs had appeared. He wasn't sure when it got there, he wasn't sure how something that big had snuck up on them, but all he knew was that it was fucking huge. His gaze shifted over to Reni, "What the hell is that?"

Reni was still charging her spiritual energy, her gaze shifted to Senko. "That is the Marquise, in this world there are evil spirits that roam freely, they are here to punish the wicked. The Marquise is the biggest and largest of all of these, while he is no threat to a being like Lord Yama, he is capable to destroying both of us. He is..... the manifestation of everything that is vile, wicked, evil, and wrong. I don't think both of us are going to be able to escape, but I might be able to hold him off long enough for you to escape." Reni's hands suddenly lurched forward as she released a massive blast of light the slammed into the enormous creature. When the light hit a massive explosion followed causing an even greater light to cascade around them, blinding both. Yet in this short moment of blindness Senko could feel Reni vanish. As his eyesight returned he found a large black limb horizontal to the ground only a few inches from him extending through and past where Reni had been. his head shifted as he followed the limb back to see Reni pinned to a massive bolder, several tendrils coming from the limb and drilling through her body. Senko's head shook, his form leaping up as he landed upon the beasts arm. He then darted up the limb moving on top of the titan. His right hand extended up and then thrust down slamming into the beasts back and pushing through its hard outer shell. As he breached the shell he felt his palm slam into something rounded and hard. His digits wrapped around. With a firm grasp he jerked his arm back pulling on the object. Immediately the beast released Reni and then lunged back onto it's two hind legs. Senko's feet planted firmly against the beasts back as he pushed with his knees and pulled with his arm, the shell cracking as he felt the object that he was holding bend and ark.

Suddenly the Marquise fell, it's legs flattening as it's outer shell completely crumbled, from the shell came a scythe. Senko blinked as he studied the object it appeared to be composed of muscle and bone all the way through. Senko jumped from the back of the beast and landed a couple feet in front of it. His gaze shifting as as he scanned over the object. A rustle of motion caught his attention and spinning around he found several tendrils heading towards him. The scythe was brought down and the blade cut clear through them. Suddenly the Marquise seemed to come back to life, and leaping back onto it's legs proceeded to thrust it's limbs at senko. Senko side stepped each limb, and as it passed by brought the scythe down cleaving through it, severing it from the body. Senko then spun up under the beast and shifted the scythe up, as he did so the blade rotated to point up so that it had the image of a glaive, The blade pierced through the beasts hide again, the muscles in the shaft of the staff suddenly contracting as senko was pulled up, the staff shortening. Twisting upside down Senko pushed both of his feet off of the beast belly as he pulled the blade out and to the left leaving a massive gash in it. His form spiraled back as he landed behind the beast. His arms lashing out as he swung the scythe, the muscles releasing as the blade swung out forty feet and slammed into the side of the monster. Senko's heels dug into the ground as he rotated with the swing tossing the beasts to the ground. The blade retracted and shifted forming a kama and chain. Swinging it about Senko shifted into a spin and released the kama, which swung into the beast and cut it clean in half. As the blade returned back to him the weapon turned back into a scythe and returned to it's normal size. The Marquise ignited and as it's form condensed into ashes, the blade began to glow. suddenly the ashes rose up and danced about moving into the scythe and merging with it. Senko exhauled, his gaze shifting over to the wounded Reni who had fallen to the ground and still seemed unable to move. "What the hell is this thing?"

Senko stood there staring down Reni, in her left hand a chinese styled sword, in her right a japanese katana. Senko's left hand shifted back to grasp the shaft of the scythe, which had adhered to his back. He brought it forward, the shaft sunk down so that there was only a blade, the blade adhering to his forearm, the tip extended a good foot and a half past his knuckles. "So those are your companion weapons Reni?"

Reni smiled, "Actually these are the two halves to my companion weapon, but I see that you've found yours, so what are you going to name it?"

Senko thought a moment before smiling. "I believe it already has a name, Marquis."

Reni shook her head, "You're a dork. Anyway, lets go." Her form darted forward as she brought both swords into a thrust. Senko moved the bladed forearm in front of the attack letting the swords slam into the weapon, his forearm shooting forward as he pushed them away. His form then slid forward as he brought his hand across Reni's face slamming the dull edge of the blade into her cheek and knocking her to the ground. Reni came to stand, her hands coming together as the two sword merged together into a whip like object. It sort of resembled a sword in the sense that it was a double sided metal bladed weapon, yet it was not stiff, it was obviously designed to lash.

Reni darted at him swinging the blade out for Senko's face. Senko's left arm shot out as the shaft of the scythe reappeared and slammed into the blade. Reni's blade wrapping around the scythe. Senko shifted his weight and moved the scythe into the air and backwards pulling reni towards him. Reni shifted out her foot to kick Senko in the face, Senko countering by bringing the hilt of scythe up and extending it so that the butt slammed into Reni's face. Senko then manuevered into a rotation and brought the blade of the scythe swinging out, the tip just barely catching Reni's side as she jumped back to distance herself. Immediately she fell to the ground and coughed. Senko stopped, once more confused. "You okay?"

Reni took a knee as she held her side, blood pouring from the small wound. "Not really... that's a dangerous weapon. I can feel it still draining my life force.... such a small wound and yet so much blood. Senko.... I think that you have surpassed me.... I think......... that." Suddenly Reni's form fell to the ground. Her body ignited, and as the beast before she turned to ash. And just like before the ash danced into the air and merged with the blade. Senko stood there stunned for a moment, his mind raced. "I killed her?" His gaze shifted down. His thoughts churning. "I suppose I should feel bad... but honestly I didn't know here, she simply kicked my ass a lot..... but she was a complete stranger.... now what?"

It was as soon as he finished that statement that everything went black and Senko found himself staring into the two massive eyes of Lord Yama.

"Senko, do you know how long it has been?"

Senko blinked and shook his head. "No, I have no idea."

"It has been 6 days and 23 hours in your world. You have little time left with us. I have a few pieces of wisdom to bestow on you before you leave. That weapon you hold it is death incarnate much like yourself. It absorbs life force, chakra, mana, blood, matter, and energy. All of these things which it absorbs are stored in a pocket dimension known as Oblivion. Here everything is converted into zero point energy, the blade can call on this energy later. For every soul you kill with this weapon, the weapon becomes stronger.... with it's current strength you it has the ability to cut through dimensions, this ability will get much stronger and develope into a far greater form later. So make sure you train well. Now Senko, look at your hand."

Senko brought up his left hand as his gaze fell upon the palm, a new symbol forming on it.



"That is the gift of all Shinigami. This symbol will allow you to absorb the life force of anyone you touch with that hand. As long as he absorb their life force you will never age. Now, take the remainder of your time here to rest and regain your strength. Oh.... by the way, if you ever need it, the release for your spirit shackles is, henjou, say that while holding the seal tori and you will be released from the shackles and your true power shall run rampant. I advise you keep them on as long as possible though, the longer you keep them on the stronger you will become." Senko nodded and suddenly the eyes vanished and he found himself alone in the desert once more.

"I can't believe that I've been here fighting for fourteen years straight...... god... and only seven days will have passed. What do I do when I get back?"

Senko yawned, his eyes opening as he sat up. Awareness grasped him, and as he came to a level of full alertness, he found his gaze shifting up to pair of massive red eyes staring down at him. "Lord Yama?"

"It is time Senko."

Senko nodded, and as he sat there, his pupils beheld a massive leathery hand materialize over him, a white light cascading down over his figure. Senko's eyes closed and he could feel the warm of the world around........ as the white light faded Senko peered from under the lids of his eyes to see a world of green grass. "So.... I'm a live again?"