00172. The leader behind The Hand.

    Theo was seated at his computer as he went over the information his clone found. His cellphone project just provided him with the first of what would be many people he was looking for. On the screen before him was a picture of an old woman of asian descent. Along with her pictures was some basic information about her and everything her cellphone recorded. While her legal name was displayed on the screen, Theo knew her by a different name. She was Madame Gao, one of the five fingers of The Hand.

    Apparently she was one of the people who purchased a new cell phone from Tony. She also had a very interesting contact list filled with people Theo would need to look into. Unfortunately most of those people either didn''t have the new type of cell phone with his software installed on it. Or in some cases the people didn''t have a cell phone at all and just a landline or a pager.

    That didn''t stop Theo from trying to triangulate their locations and dig up information on each person he could. It took Theo and his clones a few months to basically figure out The Hand''s organizational structure.

    There were still some blind spots and they needed to send people to investigate in person. But through electronic surveillance using cell phones, cameras, computers and other devices Theo had a decent idea how they operated.

    With that in mind he sent out a handful of ninjas to scout out their bases and properties throughout the world. He also had a few sorcerers help out and scout out places from the mirror dimension. It took over a week of on the ground scouting before something was found that surprised even Theo.

    Hidden deep underground, beneath a temple structure in Japan was a demon. It was apparently a demon that helped control The Hand from behind the scenes. Or at least that''s what it seemed like, since they only sent shadow clones to gather information.

    It was a precaution Theo used in case someone became trapped and couldn''t get out, they could just dispel instead. It was also harder to detect shadow clones which was an added bonus and helped immensely with the demon they discovered. As soon as the clone found the demon it dispelled itself and Theo went to Tao for advice.

    Tao was seated in the library area of Theo''s training room at the time reading a book. Right after Theo received the information from his clone, he stopped his training in fuinjutsu and urgently moved towards Tao. Once he was close he said, “Master, one of my clones found a demon in Japan.”

    Tao glanced up from her book as she asked, “Was it detected by it?”

    “It''s possible, but it was a shadow clone without a soul and the clone dispelled as soon as it found the demon.”

    Tao placed her book down and stood up as she said, “Then let''s go see what we are up against.”

    Theo immediately henged into Ezekiel before he opened a portal to a mountain top in Japan. It was a little chilly on top of the snow covered mountain even with the late afternoon sun high overhead. About five miles away and nestled in the shade of the valley below was a beautiful but eerie looking temple. The temple was like most others found throughout Japan and even the buildings looked well maintained compared to most. But the vegetation inside the temple grounds and around the surrounding area was in the process of decaying.

    As they stood on the mountain peak and looked at the temple, Ezekiel said, “It''s hidden beneath the temple inside a chamber that looks like something straight out of a horror movie.”

    Tao nodded as she raised her hands and started to chant under her breath. Theo watched her movements and felt power slowlying surging around her. After a few minutes the power spiked and a golden colored barrier snapped into place around the whole valley below before it disappeared from view.

    A moment later Tao opened a portal to the front of the temple and gestured for Ezekiel to go first as she said, “Let''s go see what we''re dealing with.”

    After they exited the portal, Tao said in a happy tone, “I''ll let you take the lead since you could use the experience.”

    Ezekiel glanced towards Tao only to find her missing and asked, “Why do I have a feeling I''m not going to like this?”

    “You won''t.” Tao''s voice said from everywhere and nowhere at once.

    Ezekiel unconsciously shivered at her words before he said, “Aren’t you supposed to reassure me... That you''ll protect me and everything will be fine?”

    After he was met with silence, Ezekiel frowned slightly as he glanced around. After a few moments he smirked to himself and raised his hands. He spun one arm in a circle as he said, “I''ll just go find Agatha to help me out.”

    The portal he attempted to open never appeared and made him frown again. After he attempted to open another portal Tao''s ghostly voice said, “I''ve sealed the space around the valley. I''m the only person who can enter and exit it.”

    Tao went quiet as Ezekiel entered into the tunnel leading deeper underground with a slight curve to the left. He walked slowly as he scanned the area ahead of him in case his clone missed anything along the slightly spiraled pathway. After half an hour or so the tunnel ended and a large chamber opened up before Ezekiel. It was dimly lit by torches hung on the walls and a few brazier arranged around the room.

    Most of the floor was covered in gore with hundreds of corpses in different states of decay. At the other end of the chamber seated on a raised platform was the demon. The creature was overly large, comically so with its massive midsection on full display. Honestly if it wasn''t for the charcoal colored skin, long rail thin legs and massive clawed hands. Ezekiel would have thought he was looking at Jabba the Hutt without a tail from the way it was currently seated.

    The creature was laid back on the stone seat and in the process of eating a rotten human leg like it was a chicken wing when it finally noticed Ezekiel. It studied him as it practically sucked most of the meat from the bone. Once the leg was completely picked clean, it tossed the bone into a large pile in the back corner of the room.

    “Someone new... Did the last one finally break?” The creature questioned with a disgusting smile as it lifted up four human skulls shaped together into a cup before it drank its contents.

    Ezekiel shrugged as he said, “No idea.”

    What Ezekiel could only assume was blood, spilled out of the creature''s mouth and onto its exposed stomach as it sloppily finished its drink. Afterwards it let out a satisfied belch before it said, “Pity, I like it best when they break in front of me. It adds to the flavor...Though the fact you haven''t tried to run away yet is a good sign. Maybe you''ll last longer than the others. The strong willed ones always taste the best.”

    After it set its cup down the creature watched Ezekiel for a while as it waited for him to do something. As time slowly passed it frowned and after almost a minute the creature finally snarled, “Are you just going to keep standing there? Did those fools I have running The Hand not teach you anything?”

    “No, not really... Just where to find you.”

    The creature slammed its fist down on its stone chair as it said, “For your sake, you better have brought this month''s sacrifices...”

    “Sacrifices?” Ezekiel asked.

    The demon slowly stood up from its seat as it said in a menacing tone, “That''s your only job... To collect sacrifices and bring them to me.”

    Once it stood up to its full height, Ezekiel could only think one thing. The demon looked a lot like a deranged version of humpty dumpty now that it stood up. Ezekiel studied the demon for a moment before he asked, “You really skipped leg day uh?”

    The demon''s eyes narrowed into slits as it studied Ezekiel for a while before it said, “You''re not from The Hand.”

    Ezekiel gave a slow golf clap as he said, “Looks like you''re almost not as stupid as you look.”

    “You insignificant little worm! You dare insult me?!” The demon growled out before it disappeared from its spot and reappeared in front of Ezekiel as its clawed hand attempted to grab him.

    A puff of smoke appeared where Ezekiel was and when it cleared away, the rotten upper half of a body was in its place. The demon squished the body into paste as it turned around to find Ezekiel. Ezekiel stood on top of the demon''s seat with a relaxed smile on his face as he said, “You''re pretty fast for someone who definitely doesn''t do cardio.”

    The demon disappeared again but this time Ezekiel also moved. In a few moments over a dozen attacks were traded between the two as they tested each other. Body parts, gore and other unpleasant things were thrown around the room as they fought in the underground chamber before they finally separated from their probing attacks.

    The demon licked its lips before it said, “It''s been a while since I''ve eaten one of you mutant cattle.”

    Ezekiel started to move through hand signs as he said, “I''m neither a mutant nor cattle...”

    As Ezekiel sucked in a large amount of air the demon charged forward again. Ezekiel instantly moved backwards away from the demon as he brought his hands to the front of his mouth as he said, “Katon, Gouka Mekkyaku!”

    A jet of fire streamed out of his mouth and engulfed the body of the demon a moment later before it started to scream in agony. Ezekiel only held the technique for a few seconds as the temperature skyrocketed in the confined space and he had no shield in place. He then weaved hand signs together and said, “Futon: Daitoppa!”

    A portion of the heat dissipated while the smoke. soot and other stuff in the air was forced out of the chamber. A lot of the gore on the ground was tossed against the far wall while the demon itself stood out as it looked like a giant piece of charcoal. Ezekiel studied it for a few moments before he clicked his tongue and said, “Of course it wouldn’t be that easy.”