Rise of the Hunter

Prologue
Masa Nakamura could have waited for this moment for an eternity. He raised his metallic left arm, a heavily modified reminder of what had been taken away from him almost thirty years ago. By that man, at that time only a boy. The vicious eternal flames of Amaterasu had burned through Masa's arm painfully, excruciatingly. Not a single kunai, blade or sharp object had been with him at the moment, the flames inextinguishable even as he dived into water fruitlessly. And so he had torn through the flesh of his upper arm agonisingly with his teeth, munching desperately before the slow flames spread to his upper arm and body, as tears flowed down his face, marking the hatred he possessed for Densetsu Uchiha more than he actual gruelling pain he felt as every nerve screamed at him. He had chosen to survive. He had chosen to live for vengeance, and now he'd get it. He'd hurt his enemy so badly, yes. Psychological torture was the only thing worse than killing, and Masa loved it. He would make sure Densetsu's greatest failure haunted him forever.

Masa was targeting Densetsu's son—Juro Uchiha, the maverick of the Hidden Leaf. A ferocious warrior and powerful ninja by all measure, albeit he lacked that brutal edge his father could possess, Masa was especially interested in his powerful visual ability, rating it much higher than his father's black flames. Uchiha senior could kill a man if fate forced his hand. Uchiha junior was idiotically adamant to spare all life—and Masa knew that too well. A weakness he would exploit, before he gouged out the powerful Mangekyō Sharingan of Juro Uchiha, and delivered the boy's mutilated body to his father; crushing the man mentally. The time was now, Densetsu would feel true pain now, pain beyond most measure. Masa walked through the forest, chuckling and whistling an eerie tune.

"Oh man, you reveal too much in your body movements..." Densetsu groaned as he blocked each of Juro's punches quickly. It was their weekly sparring session, conducted early in the fresh Saturday mornings. Juro stepped forward and launched a few quick jabs at his father, who merely had to glance at his son's knees to tell when a punch would be launched. Their Sharingan weren't active, as both father and son preferred to hone their natural abilities more than their augmentations. Quickly Juro's jabs were met by a few quick dodges from Densetsu, before the man grabbed his son's hand and pulled forward, while preying on his son's momentary loss of balance by gently sweeping Juro's exposed calf with a mild kick. "Gotcha," Densetsu thought, but he was quickly disappointed as what seemed to be his son, transformed into a log with a puff of smoke. "Substitution," Densetsu muttered as he whirled around and intercepted a kick aimed at his head from behind with his right arm. Juro chuckled at his father as his momentum carried him forward, as Densetsu whirled to the side. "No jutsu, remember?" Densetsu sighed, frowning at Juro. Juro's face widened into a grin, "Is that what you'd tell an enemy, dad?" He retorted sarcastically. Their bout was interrupted by sudden clapping as Kazuo, Densetsu's brother laughed out. He was seated under a tree, chewing on an apple while observing his younger brother's and nephew's antics. "Well, no doubt where he got that attitude from." Kazuo called, smiling. Densetsu snickered, "Asshole." He muttered. Densetsu stopped dead in his tracks, sensing it too late.

His Sharingan blazed to life as he instinctively lashed out at Juro, kicking his son out of the way as he flipped in the air, a long stream of lightning smashing into the ground where both Juro and Densetsu had just been standing. The second blow caught Densetsu offguard as he landed—a kick to the nose. The Uchiha was sent flying backwards, crashing into a tree as he spectacles landed on the ground, broken in half. The stream of lightning was now headed towards a shocked Juro, still dumbfounded by the action in the past three seconds, but in an instant, he disappeared and the lightning smashed into the ground. Kazuo had stepped into the fray on time, as he held Juro in his arms, having moved him out of the way thanks to his usage of the Lightning Release Chakra Mode. Kazuo's eyes had also formed the Sharingan now, as he glared at the new opponent frighteningly. "Juro, you alright?" He asked, his eyes never leaving the newly arrived opponent. As he let Juro down, the boy nodded, as his own eyes turned crimson, signifying his activation of the Sharingan. There was a rustle behind them and Densetsu reappeared, panting heavily as his nose leaked a stream of blood. "Dad, you ok–" Juro started, but he was cut off by Densetsu's sudden interjection. "Who are you?" He demanded to the man ahead of them, dressed in a long coat, a tail-like appendage seemingly crafted by lightning hanging from behind his spine.

Masa Nakamura smiled, "It's good to see you too..." He trailed off as his head suddenly jerked upwards, one eye bulging out so hard that it seemed to be about to blast out of its socket, "DENSETSUUUUU!" He bellowed the name as he thundered forward again at incredible speed, the lightning tail jerking forward straight toward Juro in the centre—but both Densetsu and Kazuo had moved even faster to intercept the attack. Getting in the way, Kazuo clapped his hands around the tail, grabbing it tightly with his incredible strength as his lightning armour cackled and fizzled as it made contact with the lightning tail of Masa.

Densetsu had also made his move equally quickly, as he blasted a wide blade of wind after a few quick hand signs! straight towards the pinned lightning tail. The blade cut the tail in half as Kazuo disappeared again, only to reappear instantaneously ahead of Masa as he aimed a punch straight at the older man's neck, aiming to neutralise him with one vicious, lightning fast hit. Kazuo smiled, he knew his speed was virtually unmatchable unless he was up against his brother. But a millisecond later, Kazuo's eyes bulged in shock. The man dodged his attack. The shock barely registered as another tail materialised from the man's back, swiping viciously at Kazuo, who dodged by retreating backwards. As Densetsu prepared hand signs, the man read his motives. The tail pointed at Densetsu, as it transformed into a projectile firing nightmare. Hundreds of miniature lightning projectiles blasted forth from the tip of the tail of the man, countered only by Densetsu's own immense speed as he dashed out of the firing line. Juro propelled himself forward and inhaled, exhaling a powerful gust of air immediately after, neutralising the projectiles that were headed for them.

Densetsu and Kazuo again resumed their positions ahead of Juro. "You haven't answered the question." Densetsu called out, panting. Kazuo's armour cackled as his hair stood up spiked, "He dodged my attack, how the hell's that possible?" Densetsu raised a brow at his brother's statement, but kept his eyes fixed on the now smiling, seemingly old man ahead of them. "Juro, he's aimed two attacks at you now," Densetsu whispered, "I wouldn't be called stupid if I assumed that he's targeting you for some reason. You stay out of this, let your uncle and I handle this. Stay out of the firing line." Densetsu whispered commandingly. He had noticed the patterns of this man's attacks. It was logical to assume that Kazuo and he weren't targets, based on the varying intensities of the witnessed attacks. Juro stood his ground first, but backed away at the sight of his father's and uncle's insistence. He remained close by, adamant to help in anyway possible. The man smiled from a distance. "Densetsu, Densetsu...your son reminds me so much of you at that age," he held up his arm, "Maybe I should cleave off his best friend's head to make him more like you." Densetsu's eyes widened at this statement. "You...you're that...you killed..." The words trailed away as Densetsu recognised his opponent, almost thirty years later. Masa smiled at them menacingly as his electric tail grew longer.