Taiki Nakano, the Healing Hammer

VILLAGE:

Yukigakure

RANK:

D-Rank Ninja

+25 Points, 1 Perk

PERK:

Enhanced Body.

+10 Points, +1 Drawback

DRAWBACKS:

Old Wounds (Missing Eye)
Sentimental Treasure (Necklace)
Distinct Look (No Bonus)

+12 Points

CHAKRA NATURE:

Earth

BASIC SKILLS:

Unarmed Combat Rank 2
Utility Jutsu Rank 2
Weapon Art Rank 2
Body Flicker Rank 2
Chakra Flow Rank 2

-10 Points

ADVANCED JUTSU:

Advanced Taijutsu Rank 2
Medical Arts Rank 2

-10 Points

HIDDEN TECHNIQUES:

Muscle Enhancement Rank 2
Autonomous Regeneration Rank 2
Earth Weapon Rank 2
Earth Animal Familiar Rank 1
Earth Bullet Rank 1
Earth Armor Rank 1
Earth Flicker Rank 1

-27 Points

BACKSTORY:

Sometimes, even though a man and a woman love each other very much, a child is beyond their bodies to produce. So it was for a young couple in the mountain village of Yukigakure. They prayed night and day, standing firm in their hopes and dreams for the future, certain that a higher power would bring them the child they so desired. And their prayers were answered!

An old priestess came to the town, her chakra of surpassing strength and her skills honed with age and wisdom. She spoke to the woman in secret, granting her certain sacred herbs and ritual techniques certain to bring success. And so they did! It wasn't long before the couple was pregnant, joyous in the life they hoped to build together. A boy was born, and they named him Taiki. The child was robust and healthy from birth, growing quickly and strong.

When the boy was three, his eyesight began to falter, but only in the left eye. This puzzled his parents, and doctors could do nothing to help. They grieved, but did not despair. Taiki was already showing signs of becoming a promising warrior, lean but strong, hardly ever ill like his peers. He was already assisting his mother with household chores, even! But why was his hair starting to turn white?

Things got worse and worse as Taiki reached age eight. His eye had grown white and pale, then... withered away altogether. His right eye seemed to be... compensating somehow. Growing larger. Pushing outward in a horrifying manner to begin occupying the space his left had vacated. His hair was snow white. And to top it all off, small hornlike nubs were erupting from his forehead. The villagers whispered of a curse, of demonic forces, of treachery. His parents grew terrified, worrying that the village might harm their boy. Nothing seemed wrong with him physically. Nor was his chakra damaged. Taiki just looked... wrong. Mutated.

By the age of 10, Taiki was a horned cyclops, a true mutant. He rarely got to play with the village children. He was nearly as strong as a full grown man, and showed no signs of slowing down. The village elders came to his parents with a "suggestion". They had done their research. Whoever that old woman was that had given them the herbs and such to improve reproduction, she hadn't been truthful with the desperate couple. Something unnatural had been introduced into the mother, and it was now manifesting in the son. They feared demonic influence, though they all prayed otherwise. Taiki's parents protested strenuously, but to no avail. It was true that the priestess, or sorceress, or witch, or whatever she was, had never been seen again in their province.

It was just too suspicious. Too dangerous. Taiki had to leave and find his own way in the world.

It was a hard departure. The boy had never hurt a soul. He was a good kid, and a hard worker, always eager to please. Taiki of course didn't want to leave his family. He was 12. Nowhere near ready to become a man so soon. The village elders had not been unsympathetic. They'd given Taiki a crash course covering many useful skills and abilities. Someday, they told Taiki he'd be ready to learn amazing techniques like the Body Revival Technique, or maybe the Seven Breaths Technique, using his unnaturally strong body as a foundation. He knew how to fight. He knew how to heal. His affinity for Earth techniques was unparalleled among the snowy mountain tribe.

His mother and father gave him their heirloom treasure the night before Taiki left. A large prayer necklace, bound together with a carved lump of jade. Taiki's ancestors had mined the jade from their mountains, and every generation since had added a single copper bead, an eternal prayer for their descendants to follow. A dozen generations of well wishes, now laid upon Taiki's shoulders. Taiki tried to be brave, but there were tears nonetheless. He turned his back on the village with a heart both heavier than lead and lighter than air. Joy and sorrow in equal measure.

As Taiki vanished from view, his parents' last glimpse of him was the white hair atop his head, blowing in the breeze.

It looked so strangely like the drifting snow, blowing off their mountain peaks.