Tales of a Ninja Magician: Of Where We Come From

Clef

It was a mystery how the village was still standing, they had very few notable ninja who have made a name for themselves. It wasn't because of how young the place was, it couldn't have been more than a hundred years old, by that time Konoha had produced multiple Hokage and Sannin level ninja. One would think that in this world of violence and war the village would have been swept aside like an unsuccessful experiment but, strangely enough, it wasn't even raided once. Maybe it was that even the meanest soul enjoyed the soothing melodies and recorded sounds of music hailing from the village, more likely it was the close distance from the powerhouse of the Ninja World – Konohagakure that prevented more significant raids.

This strangely devoid of violence environment allowed the Sound Village to amass great financial stability and riches, by the time the members of the first Otogakure council died out and the generations shifted the village was an economic powerhouse if nothing else. Producing millions of ryo per single record produced by a single of thousands practicing musicians of the place, even Mana was slightly jealous of the fame and great admiration as well as the rich celebrity culture of the place.

Such peaceful and prosperous environment attracted one great man to foster his dreams in that place – Guru Ayushi. The spokesman of peace and perseverance, Guru Ayushi hosted multiple fund raisers and publically spoke about how close Otogakure was to his dream of a perfect land – a land that grew ninja just as a symbolic notion and for respect of the ancient tradition. If anything else. A village that could've paid off any assailant harboring as much as an ill thought, a village that took more pride in its rich culture than physical and military power or a sleeping time bomb in the form of a Jinchuuriki carrying inside them a bomb of mass destruction capable of decimating the planet if they as much as sneezed the wrong way.

Guru's approval of the place only made its respect among the other villages and countries skyrocket. Even the more bloody Kirigakure would have never made moves inside the village walls, not publically, and any spies of Kirigakure caught in Otogakure would've been instantly disowned and declared working as rogues and under no orders from the village whereas usually Kirigakure would've taken great pride in such men and women who have worked inside the walls of a village for so long that they've amassed a fortune of information by the time they were captured and any loss of face or a treasured spy would've been inconsequential compared to the wealth of data amassed by these highly trained agents of deceit.

Finally, the dark evening sky was lit up by neon lights, a familiar crunch and sweet softness of home soil met Mana's sandals, gentle cold evening grass playfully tickled her feet as the coaly surfaces of the Mountain Graveyard were no more. It was strange how the team haven't met a single bandit in the place – usually, the reputation of the place was that it fostered endless squabbles and power struggles between gangs and served as a shelter for the most dangerous rogue ninja hiding in the Fire Country. Usually one couldn't have taken two steps in the place without encountering a half-dead starving bandit trying to rob them with a knife made of hardened toothbrushes or fishbone.

"We're here..." Meiko shrieked out like a schoolgirl, Mana looked at her with gently glowing eyes, it must've been nothing short of miraculous for the blacksmith to finally place her foot in the sanctuary of the musical arts. Mana had to admit that despite the recent events making her insides bitter and making her feel half-dead she also had a certain flare of excitement to see the place of such rich celebrity culture. The magician wanted to see the place for quite some time, there was so much she could've learned from Otogakure as a rising fame of stage magic... Or has-been rising fame... She's been away for so long that the girl wondered if at least one child who walked into her shows with eyes of fire-cracking glee would've even remembered the young lady they've idolized in their youth, then again, it was just several months that she's been gone... Felt like forever, honestly.