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In the distance he could see remnants of a village that had once stood upon the mountain. It was a wonder that the buildings were still partially in tact given its location, but where did the inhabitants go? Perhaps they were still around or was he just fooling himself? Though why would a village stay ontop of a volcano unless they were entirely sure that it wouldn't erupt? Either they were really stupid or they had some secret that had been lost with them. So many questions, yet no answers.

The ground began to stick to his feet as he walked further, the heat melting the bottoms of his boots, "....Great." Annoyance at the ground at which he walked began to fill his inner being as he stared downwards. There had to be a way to go around without losing ones shoes everytime they walked out of the house. Obviously the locals knew the trick, because they all seemed to have shoes that were perfectly intact.

Sighing, Damian let his boot fall back upon the ground as he tried to pick places to walk that were less hot. He'd have to buy a new pair of boots most likely once he got back home. Either that or kill a man, then take his boots, though that would be entirely too much work given he'd have to kill him to find out if his shoe was a big enough size, "....heh..." He grunted to himself, lurching forward.

The trouble of walking on the cooler ground had taken him quite out of the way of reaching his father, whom had used his Genjutsu skills to make himself look like a man that was knealing rather close to the lava as if he was inspecting it for something. This person surely would have a technique or two that he could learn, though he wasn't sure how much he could do if his boots ran down. As Damian's thoughts wandered, his father continued the Genjutsu. It would be easier to teach his son if his son didn't know it was him. Figuratively, he could just pretend to be various people and achieve the goal without harming the boy.

Sooner or later, he'd have to make up a jutsu that allowed him to repair his clothing or shoes; Damian thought as he continued forth. He ran through many outfits and alot more money just buying the outfits.

The man noticed Damian walking towards him from the corner of his eye, ".....ehh....What is a foreigner doing here?" said the man, staring down at the lava as if he'd not noticed him. It would be best to not stare, as to not start a confrontation.

It took several minutes to reach the man, or what distance he could come without his shoes melting from his boots. The man had seen him some while back, from what he had seen. Why now was he ignoring his presence? Slight flecks of magma popped into the air, Damian moving agily out of the way. His feet beginning to feel the heat from the magma chamber below.

Abruptly, the man turned, facing Damian, "What business do you have here? We are a peaceful people and we don't really take well to outsiders. So state your business so you can be gone." His face was stern as he said this, his skin a bright reddish color, which Damian guessed was because of the frequent hours near the magma. So some of the people still do live near here.... Hmn.... Why then had the word not spread throughout the country, so others may partake in the magnificence of the palace of magma.

This man wasn't as friendly as his father had been, although it would matter less as the oncoming events unraveled. With a shrug, Damian spoke in a low tone, "....I've came here to learn jutsu. I'm studying to become a great shinobi like my father, though I don't feel myself worthy of the name just yet. I've traveled far in search of every technique I could lay my hands upon and my search has lead me here.... Can you be of any assistance?"

The man stood for a moment, staring Damian down as if searching for some unwholesome part of him that would label him as a hostile. Finally, whether satisfied or just deciding to resume his work, the man turned, "...I don't take to teaching my techniques to just everyone I see."

More apt to his job then to paying attention to Damian, the man put a singular hand seal together, holding his hands out over a particularly rocky part of the crust at which they stood upon. A hole broke loose, sending a shower of magma into the air. This was what Damian had been waiting for, though it hadn't been suspected so soon.

The seal was rather easy to recreate as he forced a hole within the crust next to the mans. Another shower of magma flew into the air, depositing itself upon the banks, creating more area where Damian couldn't stand. Once completed, Damian stared at the back of the mans head, which was staring at what he'd just done, ".....I'm a fast learner.... I wouldn't take too much of your time."

The man turned towards Damian, staring him down, ".....I am not sure how you did that technique without me teaching you..... However, I will take it into account that you knew something similar, or maybe even knew the technique from some other person who created it... Sure I'll teach you... though you'll have to help me with my work for now... What is your name boy?"

Damian shuffled his feet upon the ground, staring at the ground infront of the man instead of him, "Uchiha Damian, and thank you for agreeing to help me." The bottoms of his feet were beginning to smart quite bad. He wondered if it was just because the man had lived here for so long that he could withstand the heat of standing so close.

Smiling, the man watched as Damian shuffled his feet. It appeared that the boy didn't know how to fend off the heat, which was quite amusing, even if he was an outsider, "...My name is Zouri Suzaku. So long as you are working, I'll show you techniques, maybe you can copy them as fast as the first, though maybe not. The faster you do the work, the faster you learn what I have to offer you."

Sighing, Damian skipped back and forth between feet, staring at the landscape. What possibly could he do for work around here? Working, however, most likely would free the person of a few more of his techniques. Hopefully he was more helpful the last, because his father hadn't helped out too much.

The shuffling of feet continued as Damian began to sweat profusely. The man whom had declared his name Ichi was apparently amused at the situation. He figured he'd be the same way if he knew how to keep the heat from getting to himself, but he didn't, so the joke was upon him, "....So what work will you have me do?" The rubber on the bottoms of his boots was all but gone now as he moved back and forth.

Ichi smirked, watching the footwork of his newly found worker, "....Hmn.... What could I have you do? How about breaking loose some of that already hardened lava so that it can rejoin the magma chamber below. We try to keep it equal so that the land doesn't build up." As he said this, he demonstrated the hole technique, watching as the broken bits sunk down in the magma.

With muttled jestures, Damian began the work. The technique had been taught to him only about an hour ago, though it was going to help him gain more techniques. Hopefully something that would help with his heat problem. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to wear black clothes ontop of a volcano. Afterall black did absorb heat, which made his perdicament twice its load.

Sweat drained down through his clothes, heating up within them as the sweat went down. The temperatures were boiling high and getting worst with every movement of lava he'd moved. He'd already took apart a 20 yard area in both directions, however the work didn't seem enough for Zouri to stop him and teach him just yet. So he slaved onward, taking the heat for what time he could.

After what seemed like an eternity of work, Ichi halted Damian's work, "Well well. You are quite the worker. Thanks to you, I've completed most of my days work in just a mere thirty minutes.... So I see you're having problems with your temperature, that I can't help, BUT I can help with your shoe problem." At this he simply gestured to the molten lava oozing throughout their territory.

With slow steps, the shinobi took a step backward onto the lava.

Damian was about to leap forward to grab the shinobi, thinking he was making a suicidal attempt, though the shinobi showed no signs of pain. His eyes perceived the chakra flashing about his feet, holding him upward without being harmed by the heat. This was going to be helpful.

The observance of this technique was what helped ultimately with completing the task. Slowly, his chakra began to flow through his feet even before reaching the molten lava. His aching feet began to ease up, the feeling of blisters that had formed setting in. The technique used less chakra then that of the Water walking, just because of the fact that the lava moved less then water, however you had to use the proper amount as to not get burned from the lava. Smirking, Damian realized how useful this would be when he'd utilize his demon to its fullest extent, "Possibilities...."

Ichi clapped his hands together at the brilliant show. This boy was quite different then any he'd ever seen. When he'd learned that technique, it had taken him four tries to complete it, but he was always a hard headed learner anyways.

The time had passed by doing the work for Zouri quite fast. A night within the village wouldn't be too bad, afterall, he was getting a decent amount of techniques from the people. Ichi had gave him accomidations on the promise that Damian would be there in the morning, able and early to start his laborous tasks once more. A small hut upon the edge of the village, that apparently Zouri owned, was to be his shelter for the night.

It was odd, having the heat around him in a long period of time, especially since when he gazed over at the bed, it had a decent bedding to it, "....These people are machines... There is no possible way they could need blankets when it is this hot around here!?!" A sigh parted his lips as he unclasped the cloak from around his neck.

The groggy form of Damian stood silently upon the floor boards, staring at the various ornaments around the room. He'd deposited his cloak ontop of a chair that sat near a decently sized bookshelf. Titles that Damian had never seen before perked his interest as he knelt, looking upon the lowest of the shelves for anything that might give him information upon the village. These people had to have came from somewhere, just as everyone else had from some time or place.

It was but a few moments later as he stood searching that he found a small scroll that held some of the past information for the village. His hand gropped from his cloak, pushing it to the side as he sat, staring at the outside of the scroll.

Within the confines of the age-old parchment, there were small riddles. Whomever had written the information had been trying to keep its contents secret, though not unbreakable. It could even be that the person was just bored, wanting to place his own piece of the village stories within a format that the others hadn't. One could even go as far as to believe that maybe, the entire village wrote in these riddles. So little was known about the people and so much knowledge was stored within their peaceful culture.

How could he have left, when there was still so much potential to be awoken? The Uchiha specialized in fire techniques, so the techniques within this village were right down his alley.

The moon's light filtered through the clouded window, reminding Damian of his work for tomorrow. This was no time to be learning about the village, for this was his time to be resting. If the man was true to his word, he'd be learning some rather interesting jutsu within the next day, some eve, Damian presumed, that may be used within a battle.

So far everything he'd learned wasn't really too useful within a battle situation. However, they did open his mind to a new set of skills that he'd begin creating. Sighing, he laid back upon the bed that had been set aside for him. The night lurched from his mind as he was thrown into a night of dreams, some good others horrible, though not frightening. Nothing could frighten him, not death or anything else. So tomorrow would come, tonight would end, opportunity would rise with the sun.

A damp sweat covered Damian as he stood. The night had seemed to fly by as fast as his training the day before. The bathroom was built in equipment Damian hadn't seen before, though a rag and wash bucket were all he needed at the moment. Several minutes passed as he stood, shaving the whiskers that had occumulated within his travels. It was hard to feel completely refreshed, because as soon as he'd gotten clean, his body issued more sweat from the heat.

".....God.... I don't know how much more I can take of this... but I must learn what this village has to offer...." said Damian, grabbing his cloak, though not putting it upon himself. Today, he dressed in a more intelligent manner, donning a tight fitting tank top, along with his pants that were tied up about his knees.

It didn't take long to reach his destination since he'd been taught the art of walking on fire in the previous day. It was quite helpful, especially since his boots were already ruined. Ichi stood, smirking as Damian finally reached him.

"...It certainly took you long enough..." said Zouri, staring at Damian's attire for the day, "I see that you've decided bulky black clothing isn't the best Idea while you are here eh? Smart move." Stretching, he glanced over his shoulder, staring at the magma for a moment before turning back to Damian, "....So I was thinking last night upon how good of a worker you were, So I've decided that I might as well teach you a move to start your day off nicely."

Damian's eyes began working in their normal fashion, intertwining data sets into probable solutions within his mind. The man evidentally would be true to his word, which was a good thing, because after doing all of the work he'd been doing, a harsh conciquence would be paid for a mistake. However, he merely stared, watching as the man began his technique near the molten lava.

Ichi's hands put together an intrecate set of hand seals as he stood his feet firmly planted into the hot soil. At first, nothing happened, though within the moment of this thought a dragon leapt forth from the magma, soaring into a large stone. The stone melted upon impact, leaving a empty space in what was already a desolate landscape.

Damian's eyes held tight to the hand seals, focusing upon the technique as he stood. The dragon was an overwhelming sight to see leap from the magma, which was why Damian was already smirking. This technique would be useful, very useful. Stretching his arms out, Damian let loose a yawn, sucking in some air as he stood, readying himself. Zouri took a step back, watching the Jounin with added interest.

The hand seals came as if he'd known them all of his life, dividing amongst the zodiac. Chakra consumption for this technique hadn't been much, though its effects were death should the attack meet its enemy. Once more a similar dragon leapt from the blazing heat, soaring into the air. It fell towards the ground nearly one hundred yards from them. Damian didn't want to give any added heat to his already scorching environment.

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