There exists a mysterious land which very few shinobi have ever been seen from. They are rarely sent to Chuunin exams, and when they are they don’t show off spectacularly, often overshadowed by those from the great nations. This was through no fault of their own. It was simply that the traditions of their land were much less advanced than those of the great nations, and as such they didn’t show as well. Certainly they weren’t the worst shinobi ever, but they could have been better.
Twenty years ago a young shinobi was born there. His parents were non-descript folk aside from both being Genin of the land. They weren’t overly skilled and didn’t come from any notable clan that would give them an advantage over others. Their last name was Yasujiro and Jukai was to be their only child. Why? Because they were both killed a week after he was born. He never knew either of them. Sure, he knew OF them because people told him how nice and kind they were, but he was still always told about how brutal and senseless their death had been at the hands of a rogue ninja as well. That was his only knowledge of his parents: they were kind, but savagely murdered for no reason.
Growing up in an orphanage hardened him. He was not the biggest or strongest child that the place had ever seen, and he had strange eyes. Being strange made people resent him. Though his eyes held no power to assist him, they were disparaging to look at for most. He was bullied and mistreated by his fellow orphans, and as a result grew into a resentment towards them, especially when they all joined the academy, same as he did.
Many of them excelled, which only made their bullying worse when he was alone and cornered. What none of them knew was that a quiet dark power was growing inside of him. His mind, a steel trap for insight and knowledge, was growing more powerful while they honed their bodies. They saw weakness, he saw weaknesses. A week before graduation he made sure that none of his fellow orphans would graduate with him. Two disappeared, never to be seen or heard from again. One was found floating in the harbor with no signs of struggle about him and no injuries. Two others went mad and babbled on about the darkness. Jukai was the only orphan to graduate in his class.
He was assigned to a team where he could serve in a support role. He didn’t question this because he was already formulating his plans for his future, even at only ten years old. He’d graduated well ahead of what he should have, but his aptitude was that great. The investigation into the deaths, disappearances, and insanity of his colleagues had centered on him, but no one could ever prove that he’d done anything, and none of the crazies ever came back to sanity, nor did they implicate him in what had been done to them. They all spoke of the strange void man and that was it. Eventually he was cleared, showing no signs of being able to use the abilities that had driven them mad.
Several missions into Genin-hood, he quickly discovered that these people he was training with were nothing more than more of the same. Change would not come from these people, they would simply perpetuate the cycle. More shinobi graduate, and more die. More graduate, and more die. Nobody really wanted peace amongst them. They were all striving to be the best for themselves, with little care for those around them that were affected by the exploits of shinobi. He resented them for that.
Though he appeared to, at times, struggle on his missions, it wasn’t because he was really having a hard time with them. No, he was simply holding back on his real potential because he didn’t want anyone to know what he could do. It would raise too many questions and he didn’t want to deal with them. Regardless, he did well enough that when he was fifteen and the Chuunin exams came up he was sent to participate along with a few others. He didn’t see it as an opportunity for advancement. He saw it as an opportunity to see what the rest of the world was like. As expected, he wasn’t overly impressed by their differences.
When he arrived at the village that was hosting the exams, he did what most other Genin do and explored the place. As he did so, he came across the booth of a young artist. Her work was masterful. So much so that he was certain it was work beyond mere art, but he couldn’t place why he was certain of that. Rather than let the opportunity pass him by, he purchased a scroll of her art, and tucked it into his belongings before he went into the exams.
He studied that scroll long and hard, and was certain that there was some form of jutsu involved with it, but in the end he couldn’t spend the kind of time he wanted to with it. The exams that year were rigorous. The Kiri shinobi were dominating most of the battles for the scrolls, but they hadn’t been able to find him thanks to his genjutsu capabilities.
When he awoke one morning, he found a small creature shaped of fire and ink standing in front of him. It was holding the scroll that he needed, offering it to him. It was then that he figured out what the scroll was that he’d purchased. He smiled, accepted the scroll, and quickly moved off to advance to the next round. Nobody questioned how he did it, he simply advanced on, and the original owner of the scroll did not.
In the final stages of the exams, he allowed himself to be bloodied. He won the exams through simple luck, or so it would seem to the unwary eye. In truth, he held back the entire time and used his most basic of skills in order to defeat his Kirigakure opponent. Still, he’d won. A shinobi from the Land of the Moon had won the exams. That was cause for high celebration in his homeland, though he truly didn’t want any part of any celebration. Such things should be better saved for a time when there was no war or threat of war.
After the exam, he returned to the village, and found the girl again. From across the way, he ensnared her in a genjutsu which teleported her mind into a realm of space and stars. At first she panicked, but he calmed her when he appeared. He explained that he knew she had helped him in the exams, and politely said that he hadn’t needed the help but was grateful for it all the same. He was impressed by her abilities.
The two of them talked, and in the end they formed a pact, and decided to call themselves Shoho Chiyu, or the Healing Wound. He promised to come and find her within a matter of months, and then released her from his genjutsu after assuring her that he still had her scroll.
Upon returning to the Land of the Moon, he received his official promotion, endured the stupidity of the celebration, and then was place in charge of a team. On their second mission, a particularly dangerous one, he killed all three of his charges, and then wounded himself heavily before returning to the village. He placed a genjutsu over himself so that it would appear that, no matter how hard they tried, his legs simply would not heal properly. He was forced to retire, much to the disappointment of the Kage. He assured them that he would still train people.
He didn’t follow through with his promise, however. It was only a few days after his retirement that he vanished entirely. The only thing left behind was his headband. They searched for him around the island, but since he was retired from the corp, he couldn’t be marked as a missing ninja, and as such Anbu wasn’t sent to look for him when he didn’t turn up anywhere around.
In reality, Jukai had left the island, purchasing a specifically tailored set of equipment from a hidden, black market source which he kept tucked away and out of sight. Traveling from village to village, he went in search of the girl as he promised he would. Chou would be difficult to find, merely for the fact that her work showed up almost everywhere, many people enjoying it. He did find her eventually, bringing along a second set of the same gear he’d purchased. At this point he settled in to being her protector and companion for the public’s eye, though the two of them were focused on destroying the Shinobi world in secret. An end to the shinobi would bring an end to war, but the only way to end the shinobi was to destroy them. That was the goal that spawned Shoho Chiyu, and to this day, he still strives to make it happen.
In secret, of course, under the guise of Void, and using the jutsu he’s kept hidden from sight for so long. The best laid plans of mice and men. Show only your weaker side, and your strength will be unquestioned.