Book One: The Rise of the Blue-Haired Devil.

      The next day, after the fateful events, I woke up earlier than usual. My brain was demanding answers that just weren't there. I didn't know what to do until the ninja arrived, so I just lay on my unloved 'bed', staring blankly at the ceiling. I pondered over everything that was going on. I would have liked to help Riko, but my common sense was fairly objective about my chances of saving him. Just getting to the room where he was was already an impossible task. I didn't have outstanding espionage skills, which meant that the chances of getting to Sensei's room undetected were nil, because the room was on the opposite side of the arena, and I would have to pass by a hundred ninja in a narrow space in a short period of time completely undetected.       I hadn't even considered the combat option, where I go through all the ninjas alone. That's just insane. Going at an entire army of trained shinobi alone. Of course, if I were a kid, that's what I'd do. most likely. I doubt the Baron would forgive me for something like that. He'd just pull out my eyes and sell me as a blind man. I doubt he'd want to waste his nerve on me. At that moment, I began to remember yesterday's events. I quickly recalled Izuna's words about the dojutsu. I had awakened the Byakugan. I wish I hadn't. The price is too great. No amount of power is worth the life of a loved one....       I was interrupted by a knock at the door. Apparently the ninja knocked for decency, for he entered my abode without waiting for my answer. I held my right hand up, so he wouldn't have to explain his appearance. In a minute he and I were walking through the corridors of the arena. The whole way was in absolute silence, and we had nothing to talk about. As soon as I stepped out into the open, the streetlight hit my eyes. I had to squint for a dozen seconds while my eyes got used to the brightness of the sun. When the black and white spots began to fade, I was able to look around: all the children prisoners had changed dramatically over the six months. Their calm gaze and bodies that had been transformed beyond recognition spoke volumes.       - Michiko? - I heard a voice behind me. I turned around. Standing in front of me was the girl whose image often appeared in my dreams. Yumiko hadn't changed much in that time. Her two emerald eyes looked at me with genuine happiness. Her blonde hair was blowing calmly in the wind. However, with all that, she managed to surprise me. - So it really is you..." she continued, already running up to me. I smiled, as I was glad to see her, but the girl had her own plans. She came close to me and gave me a swift and strong blow with her chakra-infused hand. This was something I clearly hadn't expected. I flew up on the spot, folding myself into an accordion. The unpleasant taste of iron appeared in my mouth. Yumiko quickly hugged me. - That's for disappearing without telling me... Without telling me what's wrong or where you are," she said with joy in her voice.       I'll never understand these girls: first they hit you, then they make you look guilty... Damn... Did she even think about the position we're in? We're to be sold like things in a shop, and she's worried that I didn't warn her that I'm alive... I feel like I'm going to have a hard time if we get out of here together. We've got to get out of here first. The flow of my thoughts was interrupted by the words of Baron, who came on the improvised stage.       - Greetings, everyone! - announced the ruler of the arena loud and clear. - Today, a traitor will be executed. This man has disguised himself well among my subjects, pretending to be one of them. He has been deceiving all of us for many years, each time swearing allegiance to me, while passing secret information about us to our enemies... - the Baron continued to speak his fiery speech, but I was no longer listening to him. I faced Rico, who already had a rope hanging from a high pole over his head. He started to move his lips to say goodbye, but I didn't even realise that it wasn't me my mentor was saying goodbye to. For a minute I just dumbly stared at him for a moment, before turning back to the blonde girl I had spoken to a few minutes ago.       Yumiko was hard to look at: tears were rolling down her face; her gaze was sad, filled with the bitterness of loss. She glanced at me, trying to find a shred of hope for a favourable outcome. I just shook my head in response, letting her know that I was powerless now. My face was sullen, and I tried to express sympathy for my friend with a look.       When Bogatey had finished speaking in front of everyone, one of the guards simply hanged our good mentor Rico. He wasn't even allowed to speak before he died. They're just monsters... Bastards who need to be punished. I'm not capable of it now, but someday I'll come back for this Baron, and then he'll know the nine circles of hell... No mercy. He only wants me because of my genome. He doesn't think of me as a human being, let alone me... He doesn't think of all the people here as human beings. He spoke to me only to manipulate me or to get rid of his conscience, if he has one. Even at the first meeting I realised that Baron is one of those people who do everything only for their own benefit. He's clever, of course, but his moves can be predicted. Greed will destroy this man sooner or later. It is desirable that sooner...       You know, it's a very unpleasant sight for children to watch a grown man die while thrashing about on a rope. You can see the hopelessness in his eyes, but his body reflexively tries to save itself... To prolong life at least for a moment longer... Rico didn't die with a smile on his face... No... It was much worse... He was suffocating for ages, according to my sensations... He tried to smile before dying to us, but his body refused to fulfil the will of reason, acting on a different level.... I know that something strange happened next, because it shouldn't have happened... Foam flowed from his mouth... a lot of foam... Apparently during the torture those scum used drugs, drugs or something worse to untie his tongue. I reacted quickly. To keep Yumiko from seeing this, I closed her eyes and pulled her against me, trying to calm her down. She tried to get out of my grip, but I held her tightly.       A child's psyche begins to collapse after something like this and I knew that as well as anyone. It pained me too to watch the death of someone I owed a lot to. I don't know how the two are related, but I think she might take some rash action after seeing it, or worse, just break down as a person. Somehow I didn't want that kind of fate for her. Rico just choked in that froth.       His eyes I will remember for a long time... Only one word can describe the way they look at you - emptiness... That's the worst, because that's why we are afraid of death. Uncertainty scares and frightens even the bravest people. It's easier to know and believe that there is something behind the curtain of life. Heaven or hell - it doesn't matter anymore... The main thing is that there is.....       The ninjas gave us a few minutes for a break, more moral than physical, after which the training began... At some point I lost track of time... Every day was the same: training, training and more training....       The Baron gave me the senbons that Riko had ordered. It's not a waste. I trained with them in my den. It was uncomfortable, but better that than nothing. No one's gonna let me go free now. And humiliating myself in front of one of the ninjas to vouch for me was unpleasant and against my principles.       As for Yumiko, things had become average. Not perfect, but not bad either... She didn't nut up and shut herself off, but she didn't forget about everything either. She immersed herself in her training, and when I wanted to help her, she kept dismissing it, just like my questions about Rico, saying it wasn't my problem. Well, she's right on some level, so I quickly gave it up, just staying close to her.       All this time I was just improving the skills I already had from training with Riko. I think I'm currently unrivalled at throwing edged weapons, at least in this godforsaken place. My level in that regard has reached some incredible heights. I was able to develop my chakra threads to a decent level, so they were invisible to ninjas who had no special techniques. Though it's worth noting that I needed a good amount of concentration to control a senbon flight of over ten pieces. I had carefully prepared myself for the use of this type of weapon by studying human anatomy from several books. I drew a model of a human from memory on the wall in my cell, marking the most vulnerable places, of which there were many, but there were many more places where senbon hits were harmless. As Sensei had said, this required the kind of precision I'd been working on for a long time.       The fateful day came unexpectedly for everyone. We were warned a couple of hours before the fighting started. I didn't care about the fate of most of those kids. Yes, it was a pity that they would die, but now I had to think about how to survive. I wasn't too worried about Yumiko either, as I planned to shield her in battle with chakra threads. Yeah, I know I might get a kick out of her after this, but better alive and angry than dead and empty.....       My fight was left for last, to excite the audience, which was quite a lot: all the seats in the arena were full, even to the point of being crowded... There was also a separate box for the most influential people, which was also used for bidding. The Baron was selling all of us personally, charging the highest prices. He'd give those upstarts all kinds of bullshit to suck up to. When I heard my name, I was pushed into the arena by one of the guards, but something went wrong. Apparently the long tongue of the head of this place played a cruel trick on me this time, because he....