Inglorious Return [IO]

It was an uncharacteristically quiet morning to which Nero arrived back into the lands of Kirigakure. The ocean air was crisp as it whipped at his face, the rising tide crashing against the natural seawalls that surrounded the island. Nero had taken his time observing its flows as he had walked his way back towards the village, standing on top of the somewhat calm water as he approached closer and closer towards the barrier that surrounded his so-called 'hidden home'. Honestly, it hadn't been that long since he'd left in an effort to pursue the truth behind himself and his clan. But it felt like a decade had passed, despite only being a few months. His hair had grown longer, and his body had lost some of its muscle mass due to inactivity. In his somewhat mindless search, he had neglected his training to a frightening degree. He regretted being so absorbed in something that he now felt had no meaning. His clan had forsaken his family long ago, and truthfully he needed to do the same to that miserable family. Only his immediate relatives who had moved to Kirigakure long ago were the ones that truly mattered now. They were the ones that had cared for him, fed him, raised him, and ultimately trained him to be the man he was today. He owed them the respect of becoming a fine ninja, unhindered by his past who could move forward through any adversity from this point onward. 

With that thought in mind he had ended his search for more info on the Uchiha clan, and with that enlightenment chose to return back to the home that truly valued him.

It wasn’t long before Nero stood before the barrier that protected the Hidden Village, an unseen force meant to repel anyone who was not deemed an ally or resident of the village. It was this barrier that allowed most of Kirigakure to rest and train without worry so long as they resided within it. This barrier however had its own demerit, complacency. To those who had experienced it for too long the idea that it was impenetrable would eventually grow in their mind. The same way peace was believed to soften an experienced warrior, the people of Kirigakure might one day grow complacent behind their ‘high walls’ and forget to fear what lay outside. Nero however was more pragmatic and didn’t hold such ideas. He had seen what people outside of Kirigakure were capable of and he knew that only a few were capable of holding them at bay.
 
Kirigakure was strong, but it could always grow stronger, and Nero wanted to be one of the few who could help make that happen. He chose to better himself every chance he got and that mentality still ran strong within him now. Instead of heading back to his house, he made his way towards a new training area, something he’d heard from one of the village guards on his way in. From what he’d been told it would be a perfect place for him to perfect his body before the Kage returned from his meeting in Suna. With the right facilities and the insight he’d gained from his travels, Nero was sure he could experience explosive growth so long as he put his mind to it.
 
He wasted no time finding the location of the training area, preferring to leap across the rooftops of the village to avoid being slowed down by bystanders below. Before long he came across the building he’d been searching for, a large facility made by the current Kage with the intent of fostering the growth of new blood. Such a place had been unthinkable before to the people of Kirigakure due to issues with funds, and a general like caring towards such places, but the new Kage had made it happen through his determination and connections. Nero smiled as he thought about it, somewhat envious of the position of the man he knew as the Mizukage. He didn’t know much about it, since their first exchange had been rather short, but the impression that was left on him was big. A man, around the same age as himself, had become the de facto ruler of the village and was already inspiring change and revision from the old ways of Kiri.
 
It was an action to be admired by most, with power envied by most, but Nero more so envied his Kage’s bearing. He had no aspirations towards controlling the village, it wasn’t really his style in the first place, but he envied the man's strength and bearing. It was Nero’s goal to one day become strong and capable to that extent. Should he be given the chance he would like to experience that sort of power one day. To that thought, he planned to dedicate the next few months of his life to perfecting his form. Both body, mind, and spirit would be sent to the boiling furnace that was his new regimen with the goal of smelting down his former self and reforging his very being into something new, refined, and worthy of serving the village that he owed so much to.
 
Nero spoke to an attendant regarding how the facility worked and took some time to understand its functions. Within was a room that simulated an environment of your choosing, something easily customizable for the user. He already had a few ideas in mind just from his previous conversation with the Kirigakure guards, but after the explanation from the attendant, he had realized just how versatile this facility was. He sat in contemplation for quite a bit considering what his new routine would need, how best to improve his physique and skill sets. The word might seem vast to those who experienced it for the first time, but he was more of a realist by comparison. There was always a limit to one's potential, and nothing was ever given for free. Knowing that he wanted to carefully plan what would be his life as a ninja from this point on. The techniques he’d need to learn, the skills he’d have to develop, the abilities he needed to be capable of recognizing. All of this was essential to know beforehand if he wanted to survive in such a chaotic world.


With a light chuckle, he muttered to himself. “I guess I was pretty naïve before stepping outside the village. I’m going to have to thank the Kage again for letting me experience what the world is like.”
 

With his plans somewhat organized and his new goals in mind Nero rose from his seated position outside the Simulated room that would essentially be his home for the next few months. He wasn’t sure how long it would take for him to reach the point he desired but he knew that he had the spirit needed to get the job done. The doors slid open as if to greet his arrival, allowing him to pass into the large white room within. Along the walls were mysterious-looking panels that seemed to glisten in the manufactured light. Nero stopped for a moment as he looked around, realizing that in actuality there weren’t any physical lights in the room itself. No fixtures, lamps, or bulbs to speak of. It was as if the walls themselves were generating light and eliminating any sort of darkness around him. The shadows around him seemed confused as well when he chose to look down at his own feet. As most would know light was something that would cast a shadow when an object blocked its path, the angle of the light corresponding with the shadow it cast in return. Everything up to that point followed the natural laws. But this room was different. It still followed the way physics dictated things obviously, but in regards to light, it was as if it was being cast upon him from all around.

After some thought Nero figured the panels themselves were the ones creating the light, casting it around him in all directions in such a way that there was no way for shadows to exist unless objects, or people such as himself interfered by standing within the room. Thinking back to the explanation he’d received from the attendant he drew his own conclusions as to how the room worked. Knowing what he did about Genjutsu and how things like light, steam, and darkness could affect a person's perception regarding the world around them he came to the conclusion these panels might act in very much the same way. Either by way of Genjutsu or a similar concept they could create a world or area where anything could be replicated. Nero began thinking about it further, his mind racing as he thought about the possible applications of such a place. If Space-Time could be manipulated here the room itself might be capable of simulating a small world in and of itself. The extent to it however exceeded Nero’s shallow understanding of these styles. He could only contemplate, and not truly understand the inner working behind it. For all he knew he could even be way off base in regards to how it worked and simply spinning his wheels so to speak.
 
With a light shake of his head, he came back to reality, rising out of the trance that had consumed him for close to 30 minutes. He was already getting absorbed in his thoughts and wasting time, or at least that’s what he thought at first. Every experience was a learning lesson, and it was possible that this thought process of his may help him somewhere along the line in the future. He tried to be optimistic and just consider it a branch of possible insight, something he’d touch upon later if he had the time. But for now he needed to focus on training.
 
Along the wall was a panel that could be called upon at any time, responding to a voice imprint of the current users in the room. It was something that he’d gone over with the attendant earlier, but he still felt somewhat awkward calling out to a machine in an open room.
 
“Command. Room Selection Panel access request.” He said with a bit of an authoritative tone.
 
“Request. Granted.” A smooth female voice responded to his request, albeit in a somewhat stiff fashion as the panel he asked for began to protrude from the wall. “Please. Make. Your. Selection.”
 
With her response to his query the panel lit up softly displaying various images and panels for him to go through to decide what type of area and training he wanted. He smiled as he took the time to carefully go through and make his selection, not wanting to half ass it in any way. He was the type who preferred to do something right the first time if he had the option. After about 5 minutes or so he had finished his selection and confirmed it with the machine in front of him, once again hearing a response from the female voice that seemed to emanate from all around him. He figured it was some sort of artificial intelligence created for the room or something, but he didn’t think too deeply about it. It wasn’t like he could understand how it worked anyway. With a simple thank you he made his way towards the center of the room and waited for the change he knew was going to come.
 
However, it was a change well beyond his expectation. The room seemed to morph around him, as if every detail was manifesting at the behest of a mighty god. Rocks that looked no different that the ones he had seen along the road popped into existence at his feet, and grass seemed to grow at an alarming rate from dirt that literally spawned from god knows where. Nero sighed lightly as he watched it all happen, admiring how well technology had advanced for him to be able to utilize it to this degree. Nero decided that for this to count as training, he would make his way to a simulated war in the older times, when the shinobi world was still fairly new, or at least there would be less ninjutsu than there was now. This would allow Nero to actually test out things related to close combat and actual battle strategy without having to worry too much about the complicated things that chakra brought about with its various techniques and utilizations.The selection had already been placed, and the world morphing around him in real time was still just as mesmerizing as when he got into the room, and soon he would be able to see something off in the distance, shielded partially from sight by the rays of sunshine running through a light layer of mist or fog that shrouded the distant views.


Looking closer at the object, it seemed to be a castle or fortress, as he could not see it clearly from where he was, he decided to have a closer look, as this was where his training was going to most likely commence anyway, might as well get a move on and not waste any more time. The sights and sounds of this new technology was great, but he decided that he was not going to play at being a scientist and simply head towards his destination, although he did wonder how to room swayed or changed to make it so even if he was jogging at a good pace, he never once encountered a wall, as it did not seem like any sort of genjutsu or illusion based technique, Nero could no longer sense that he was in the room that he was in previously, he felt he was really outside, with the cold chill of the morning fog biting at his body, threatening to bore into his bones if he did not find shelter or reprieve soon enough. Nero was quite fast, so jogging along the road towards the fortress took him only a couple of minutes, and the large building that was at the edge of his vision got larger and larger until he was essentially face to face with it. The large fortress had four huge cylindrical towers forming the corners of the structure, while thick walls with walkways and palisades wound around the top of the structure, allowing the soldiers that were placed there to fire their bows with relative safety because of the cover they provided. 

Nero thought that all of this was rather quaint, coming from a world of shinobi, thick walls like these were far too simple to breach with their techniques, but he then attempted to get into the mindset of people of the past, striving to not rely on the jutsu that he currently knew, as he was trying to get battle experience first, he would train his techniques later with another simulation. He had plenty of time inside of the strange simulation building that he was in, so he might as well have some fun and hone his senses and battle tactics while he was at it. As if this sort of thinking was a trigger, someone that was above the thick wooden gate of the fortress looked out from behind some stone cover and called out to Nero, asking if he was the reinforcement from a nearby town that they called Dahla. This was something that was programmed in at the start of his time in the simulation chamber, so Nero simply went with the flow and responded, nodding towards the man that was sitting there, while the man yelled at the lower ranked soldiers to lift the gate so that Nero could get into the fortress. The loud grinding of gears entered Nero’s ears as the large wooden gate slowly lifted, along with the sound of grunting from beyond the wall. The gate lifted up enough that Nero could get through, but the grunting continued until something made an audible click sound, which seemed to lock the gate in an upright position so that it could not just fall. Nero caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a couple of burly men next to a round wheel type device that seemed to be parallel to the ground, which was attached to a winch device and a chain that was obviously used to pull the gate up with leverage instead of pure strength.