There was something poetic about the scene that the young man was surveying.
Rubble everywhere from the obliterated buildings, smoke pouring from every artificially made aperture due to the small fires which were still raging.
Yes...poetic is the right word for it.
The destruction of this place was necessary, even if it was a little bit more difficult than he imagined...with this, his old allies would be weakened enough to stay out of his way.
It helped that he got some new recruits as well...
Coal-black eyes continued to regard the smoldering ruins, his old home...when he called these people 'heroes'.
What a foolish idealist he was back then.
Their idealistic world view allowed for the world to be divvied up between the many supernatural factions across the planet, all because they were too afraid to move past their obsolete tendencies...
He would change that, their time in the sun was over. He would show them what a true hero was.
"Cao Cao, the preparations are almost done. You alright?"
The young man slowly turned to regard his comrade, another young man with handsome features and silver-white hair. "Good, we are leaving immediately, have you gathered all of the artifacts, information, and Sacred Gears in this branch?"
The other hero nodded. "Of course. Though...I must question why we are prematurely going to Japan, is this about that potential recruit that you heard about?"
Cao Cao's eyes shifted downward, remembering the information he has received from the leader of the Old Maou Faction...
Uzumaki Naruto...huh?
"Partially." the young leader admitted readily. "But that information was simply the straw that broke the camel's back. There have been troubling reports about what's been going on in Japan...and we have special interests there. It's imperative that we complete our objectives in Japan before we lose our opportunity. Especially since the Japanese branch is more well-developed than their Chinese counterpart..."
The young man leaned back, laying his back on the warm rubble that he was occupying to stare at the sky. "Especially since Toujou Jin is at the Japanese branch..."
He could hear rather than see the other man's astonishment. "...He's alive? Really? I thought he was just a legend..."
A somewhat self-depreciating grin grew on Cao Cao's face. "No...he's alive alright, he was my mentor while I was in the Hero Tribe."
Now the hero leader could practically feel the other man's shock. "...I didn't know about any of this. You were never very willing to divulge information about your time as one of...them."
Black eyes shone with slight amusement at the thought. "Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I'm sitting on the smoldering ruins of my first home, the Chinese branch of the Hero Tribe was where I was initially posted. Before I was transferred to the Japanese branch to be personally tutored by the 'Great Hero'...it was an honor back then. I was a prodigy, growing through the ranks quickly, even getting my own apprentices at age thirteen."
"Apprentices?" Siegfried parroted, too engrossed in his boss' past to shift the topic away into more something more practical. "At age thirteen? You must have been quite the powerful hero, huh Cao Cao? I rarely hear of such talent...though that wouldn't really surprise me to be honest. What ever happened to them after you...left?"
Cao Cao closed his eyes, a serene smile on his face. "I had two of them, a boy and a girl. I...did what I had to do with the boy, he was simply too dangerous. As for the girl, she survived, but I doubt that she will amount to much after what happened. A shame too, if things were different..."
The hero leader shrugged. "Oh well, it happened. I think I've bored you enough with story time, is the plane ready for take off?"
The silver-haired man nodded. "Yes sir, so then we're going to Kyoto? To capture the kyuubi?"
Cao Cao nodded, standing up from the rubble he was sitting on. "That's right. First we will make sure that we can utilize the leylines in Kyoto to our advantage, control of such a resource could be invaluable. No one will be the wiser due to the yokai's penchant of neutrality. After we've established control over Kyoto...we go after Uzumaki."
Siegfried saluted and turned, about to give his comrades the go-ahead to start the plane's engines.
The hero leader watched him go, before turning around to regard his first ever home.
He cut ties with the Hero Tribe long ago, but while he destroyed his ties to this branch...he had more loose ends to cut.
The Japanese branch, Toujou Jin.
...And if necessary, his old apprentice too.
"I wonder if you've become a real hero after all of this time..." Cao Cao wondered, before turning to join his comrades.
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