Shiro-Akuma Taizen

Taizen with the Spirit of Death following.

Summary

Alias: The Poltergeist

Gender: Male

Age: 22

Rank: Sennin

Village: Konohagakure no Sato

Clan: Shiro-Akuma

Specialty: Dark Ninjutsu & Spirit Ninjutsu

Allegiance: Kumogakure Empire

Location: Sealed in Pearl & Onyx Tiger Teeth

Military Rank: Replacement Captain of Ho no Kuni

Sensei: Hohken Ryuichi

Appearance

Taizen is wrapped in a ravenous cloak, concealing his figure from even the cabinets in which work with him. His face had rarely been seen, but truth be told- his face is in the steps between young and old. His hair dressed in dark hues of orange, along with his relatively slim figure. His eyes retain a golden hue that pierce the shadowy veil of his cloak. Underneath the midnight garb, he’s dressed in tarnished sandy robes, form fitting and yet loose. His hands are clad in thin gloves to mask the curse mark breathing on his palm. The exquisite clan tattoo has been carved square on his back.

Personality

Taizen is moderate clam, his deep and powerful voice can induce shivers. However with little words to speak, he is reserved and his words do count when said. The curse mark had tunneled his thoughts to particular dread and negativity, along with the scars of his past. His thoughts now are focused on dark and deep ideas. It doesn’t appear that he holds weight for depriving life from an individual, but perhaps it’s because he believes he could find them in the afterlife agan. In that respect, life is eternal in his brain, most of it occurring out of sight. Taizen is concerned with the destruction of the resistance and passing along Ryuichi’s creed as his own. Although the definition of the ultimate ambitions are locked away in his own mental prison. Heck, with all that he's been through, he might as well have a touch of schizophrenia.

History

Taizen infused with his ghost.

The story of this boy starts even before he was born in to this world of mice and men. His father, Shiro-Akuma Tokegero was the assistant to the head shaman of their clan and there was a certain event that transpired in the pages of history where the villagers and shinobi alike in the village of Juyri broke away from the Konohagakure no Sato hub of ninja life and struck against the Shiro-Akuma clan. This was truly a bad wince of fate on the clan, as it was during this time that several spirits were restless among the clan members. The druids were not powerful enough to contain all of the miraculous souls that haunted their family grounds. It was a civil war of types, the leak in to the spirit realm was so hazardous in fact, that half of the family needed to concentrate on sealing the rip in the dimensions, leaving only a small amount of able bodied humans to defend their home. Then, when the attack of Juyri was waged on their settlement, Tokegero performed a brash ritual, passed down in the black arts of the druids. They even feared this ritual, as it never did turn out without flaw. However, it was the only answer he could come up with while put under such vast amounts of stress and anxiety. He would even be attested to have lost touches with reality. His brain couldn’t take it, so it created an environment that it could continue living. He went crazy. He summoned the Shinigami to the druid grounds, pleading for their assistances, trying to persuade them with talks revolving around keeping spirits in bane and check. Though that wouldn’t settle the thirst of the Shinigami, they demanded the child his wife-Aina-was bearing. This came as a surprise to the couple, but Tokegero obliged, believing it was their only choice to save the family. The rest of that night was unclear, as many accounts tell different stories, some conflict, some match but history does say one thing clearly.

Juyri no longer exists.

Months fly by, the rip in the spiritual realm was knit and everything seemed to be in working order. There wasn’t peace, but there was nothing catastrophic or worth mentioning. Until the clock struck three in the morning, the newest baby born to the monks of night passed in to the clan. Taizen was born and Tokegero had regained his sense of reality, so he was able to properly father his child. He was a healthy child and despite some strange personality twinges, he was fairly normal. In fact, he developed a connection with natural born spirits at quite a young age. His parents forbade him from taking part of the family ‘Earth Bound’ ritual because they didn’t want him to hurt himself. He was only four when many other kids were seven. They didn’t wish to hinder his ability so they taught him various other shinobi skills. They home schooled him.

Everything seemed to go just fine, until a day when a cloaked figure suddenly appeared in to the Shiro-Akuma family grounds. No one had seen him enter, nor seen his exotic robes before. He introduced himself in a deep and disturbing voice as the Shinigami Vanguard. His voice carried a chill that convinced the grass he was his title. The parents of course did not wish to give up their child and the spirits of nature Taizen’s parents called their own appeared before them, taking assault to the masked man. He wasn’t told to kill these people, nor did he have any intention to. Some of them still held significance, but in an act to enforce his demands, the Shinigami Vangaurd performed a miracle blessed by the dark deities. He passed Aina’s spirit to the final state of a spirit, sending her back in to the spirit realm. This didn’t stop the parents, as their bond with Taizen was too strong, but they were never really prepared for this man. From his clocks he pulled out a creepy looking scroll, activating is fearsome power. It released illusions around the house, spreading and gliding infecting every soul-human and spirit-until they were under its control. Taizen’s forbidden fruit had been the search of knowledge of the spirits. He had seen several and wished to know more, it fascinated him. When he came out of the trance, his brain was still lulled in to the imaginative state he was developing. He signed the scroll, after encouraging words fell from the Shinigami Vanguard. The next ritual began, while the house was encrypted with seals and characters, engraving the symbol in to his palm, the Shinigami Vanguard left, as silently as he came. It wouldn’t be the last time they would see the reaper.

They boy awakens in deathly pain, but that eventually pass in time. Aina was left without a spirit, which had never happened in the clan’s history again. They figured they would try their hand and reuniting her or finding a new spirit partner. Taizen recovered and he seemed perfectly happy and healthy with the exception that he could no longer see spirits, or feel their presence. Tokegero had lost many nights of sleep over this fact and eight years later, the boy was at the age most children were when they became ‘adults’ in the clan. He still wasn’t able to sense spirits and the clan hoped the ritual would help. It didn’t. Beyond a miracle, Aina had found a new spirit partner and the clan was quite surprised. Whenever they would try the ritual, his right hand would burn, glowing a pale green showing the fatal mark of the fallen angel. They would try every day for three weeks straight and then eventually it became only every birthday. Six years passed and he was eighteen- now a man by the definition of society. Still, nothing in the field of spirits. He was a proficient shinobi by this point, a Chuunin, but he was still a child in his family. He had mixed feelings about this and was unsure of what to do quite often. He had chronic depression that would seem to come and go, no one knew how it started. Simply because they didn’t know the Shinigami pulled his brain’s strings and influenced this depression every so often.

As it happened-as it was meant to happen-the Shinigami Vanguard appeared without rhyme or reason to the Shiro-Akuma clan one eve’s dusk. Tokegero had fell in to his own form of anxiety and anger, he had a cocktail of repressed and terrible feelings. He was angry at the sight of this man, for doing this to his son. He was angry at the spirits for hiding themselves from Taizen and he was angry at his family for not finding the answer. The Shinigami Vanguard unearthed these deep dark feelings by releasing the inner Id inside of his conscious. The emotions caught up with him and the insanity returned. Rehashed and fortified, his brain was now mush and reflected reality to his own desires. He lashed out against his family, who fought back against him. Caught up in the battle, Taizen had struck down his father in a fit of respect. He didn’t want anyone putting him through anymore suffering. But the seeds of darkness were sprouting, the patricide freed him of the depression swings, but he began seeing the world differently. Later that night, Aina committed suicide because she couldn’t take anything more. She was touched with a bit of mental sickness too.

The very next day, the Kumogakaure invasion occurred. Konohagakure had been taken and with the loss of a valued clan’s member, the Shiro-Akuma clan decided to ally itself with the Empire for fear of their own destruction. It’s not to say that they didn’t aid the citizens, because they did- but their surrender was without a fight. Taizen was taken to Kumogakure and enlisted in to their army. He was a Chuunin and didn’t need to go straight to Nigiyakashufu, but was enlisted in to the Raikage’s army. After working with the Empire for a few months, Taizen was relocated under the command of General Hōhken Ryuichi, one of the highest ranking members of the Empire’s army. Ryuichi took his platoon on a mission up north, in to Yukigakure no Sato in order to deal with a pesky threat of snow ninja destroying patrol ships in the Northern Sea. The group was ambushed and struck hard with the force of several exceptionally trained shinobi. After and gruesome battle, Ryuichi claimed victory that day and on top of that, hired a band of Yukigakure mercenaries to make periodic attacks on Iwagakure no Sato as there were some trouble brewing there.

There were only three survivors to that mission. Ryuichi, Taizen and another student named Yoruu Himei, from the peaks of Kumogakure no Sato. He had an exceptional control of the sand and had devilish thoughts bouncing in his brain. Upon returning to Kumogakure no Sato, Ryuichi requested time to train his two students in his own accord. He was allowed and the band of three disappeared in to the Kumogakure Mountains for about two years. During this time, the genius Ryuichi was, allowed him to pass on innovative techniques to his students. Himei had learned a bit of necromancy, allowing him to control various skeletons, both human and animal. The black arts Ryuichi would tap into were phenomenal, including the ritual he took Taizen in to. The Kumogakure general knew Taizen was a part of the Shiro-Akuma clan but wasn’t blessed with the ability to see spirits Ryuichi had read in ancient texts about the ‘Celestial Bound’ ritual. So Ryuichi began this ritual, in the same formation of the ‘Earth Bound’ ritual, by carving the tattoo on to Taizen of the Yin-Yang fish followed by eight black fish streaming out from the single tattoo and at the heads of the fish, a separate kanji of emotions were burned to the tattoo. Joy, sadness, acceptance, disgust, fear, anger, surprise, anticipation.

Taizen ready for battle.

Followed by this, Taizen was instilled in to the familiar trance that his family attempted so many times before. At first, he saw nothing, it was all too familiar. He expected nothing it was a true surprise when a flicker of a spirit came before his eyes. Through it was no spirit he could ever remember seeing before. It was different, awe inspiring and just so delicious. Eijin. That was the name that flew in to his mind and sprouted from his mouth when he was knocked out of the trance. Taizen stumbled as he tried to stand, his heart was pounding, his pupils were dilated so far due to the blackness of the mountains that when he was the light of the spirit, he was thrown in to temporary blindness. When his eyes were operable again, Taizen saw the image of Tokegero floating in front of him, soon to be morphed back in to the hollow humanoid form of Eijin. Eijin was cursed, an evil spirit that was bound to purgatory but he was set free when Taizen entered the realm. The ‘Celestial Bound’ ritual was locked away from known eyes for several reasons. Those spirits bound to purgatory were never to be seen, nor freed. They allowed great destruction to follow in their path and there were several things about Eijin that were rather off. The trickery he bore in imitating Taizen’s father spoke enough for the hell bound spirit. Taizen had finally become an adult to his clan, but he wouldn’t be returning.

Those two years passed and other than a great deal of training, only the recent past has any relevance. Himei was taken directly in to the army to further his skills as a leader. Himei would be shipped to Nigiyakashufu as a colonel in charge of a set of three students in order to crush the Resistance forces that were building. His direct orders were to hamper the medical force. Himei was a powerful shinobi, but he did not advance as quickly as Taizen. Taizen and Ryuichi would split, Taizen would become to the Captain of the Konohagakure division and Ryuichi would travel to Nigiyakashufu under direct orders of the Raikage and dabble his own hands in order to preserve the dream of the Empire. And more time goes on, leading to the modern day. Himei’s death by the result of Hyuuga Takumi was revealed to Taizen through Eijin. It was one of his deceitful tricks, showing the faces of the dead to people, fueling off their reactions. The cold dark seed of the curse had made Taizen look upon Himei’s death as a necessary thing, though he held remorse for him. The curse mark, in actuality, was a vlid reason why Eijin had met with Taizen. As Eijin had one while he was alive too. Taizen effectively rules the remaining forces at Konohagakure, yet remains hid from public eye. The rest of the NCIA had fallen and without proper knowledge of this dark horse, there are many people doubting his ability.

In the battle against Hohken Soujiro he was sealed into two tiger teeth.

Eiji

Eiji in mask form.

• Appearance: Eijin has a humanoid complexion, but his skin is painted with a lush teal color. His shape changes every so often, never keeping one true form and adding equivocation to his many talents. His eye sockets breathe crimson and his scalp is bald. The average appearance he takes is usually a young man in the middle of his twenties. The mask he morphs into fades to a ghastly pale reflection with many sharp points and edges. It reflects that of a man, one stern and judgmental. It could be speculated that this was Eijin’s true face. That of course would mean he was aged at the time of death.

• Personality: A devilish spirit with tricks and illusions. He feeds off of the pain and torment of others, trying to instill upon them helplessness by dealing with the subject of death. One quick jump through the mind of this dangerous spirit would assure even a child there’s no reason he should not have been chained to Purgatory. Reflecting voices and images of known passed souls he finds pleasure on tainting libido.

• Background: Eijin was wed to the grave not too long ago, as he died with a curse mark born to his palm. In fact, it was the curse mark that killed him, transcending in to the seedling stage, it was the reason for his death. It claimed his brain and destroyed his nervous systems. That’s not to say that Eijin was a young man, nor was he a man of this time. He was born in the ancient days of shinobi, following in the steps of Jashin. He had always been a negative force on society, but once he was contacted by the Shinigami the curse was engraved to his soul. The blackened hearted shinobi became a powerful force, leading many through the path of destruction. For his sins and crimes, he was thrown in to purgatory for an undetermined time. This time has come that his chains were broken. Brought back on to the mortal plane to haunt Taizen, perhaps willed by Jashin himself in foreshadowing the bleak future he invisions.

Quotes

• “The time is ripe for humanity’s eyes to open.”
• "But you must open your eyes, see just how transitory life is. Do not take it for granted.”
• “How is life defined? Is it fragile? Or does it transcend our bodies? If it’s taken, can it be given back? Does it end with the body, or begin with the spirit?”
• “The threads separating this world from the next are thinner than you think. Death isn’t always the end. Sometimes, it’s a release of reality.”
• “Tricks are only what you believe them to be, but you cannot ignore the truth. Let me show you what I have seen, just how transient these bodies are.”
• “You’re closing in on your own apocalypse, by means of your own two hands."