First Foothold.

Tendo then absorbed Ranmaru's body and soul, erasing the boy from existence. As soon as he finished, he could feel his eyes burning profusely. It was as if something was being burned into his very sockets. The veins on the sides of his eyes popped up larger than ever before and if one were to take a closer look at it, they would see black chakra surging wildly through it.

Tendo closed his eyes and fell down on one knee clutching his head. He felt as if his eyes wanted to fall out of their sockets but his regeneration was preventing them from doing so. Raiga, who suddenly awoke from all the commotion, immediately found his bearings and found his two swords. He started to look for Ranmaru but he was distraught when he realized that he couldn't find him. The fact that the cloth he tied Ranmaru on his back with was on the ground made this feeling even worse. When he looked at Tendo and saw he was in pain, Raiga stabbed him with his sword in the heart, causing a large amount of blood to spew out of the wound.

Raiga: "You! You killed Ranmaru, didn't you! What did you even do to his body?! No....no, it can't be! I'll avenge him and show you my wrath by striking you with the full power of my swords, Kiba!"

Raiga had one sword in Tendo's heart and the other sword aimed towards the sky. He was surprised that Tendo didn't even bother to try and take the sword out but he thought that Tendo had just given up instead. Lightning came down from the sky and started striking the sword, causing an absurd amount of the element to congregate over it. Raiga continued powering up the sword until he started to struggle with it, indicating that he had reached his limit.

Raiga: "Die you dog. Ranmaru, knowing how you were, I know you died giving your life for mine. Even if you didn't and this animal gave you an early death, I will make sure he follows you into the afterlife. Rest in peace, Ranmaru."

With a powerful swing of his sword, Raiga brought a barrage of lightning down on Tendo's body. BOOOMMM!! A massive explosion occurred as the lightning hit the ground, destroying the mansion and everything around it in a wide range. At this point, many townspeople had gathered together at a safe distance, watching the fight ensue. They couldn't believe someone was actually fighting against the oppressive Kurosuki family.

Raiga jumped out from the smoke the explosion caused, falling back on one knee to recuperate. Both his stamina and chakra were extremely exhausted to the point where he was falling unconscious once again.

Raiga: "R...ranmaru, I...i....did..it. Y...you c..can rest n...now."

Raiga sat down and kept staring at the smoke, hoping for it to clear before he falls unconscious so that he could see Tendo's disfigured body. Just even glancing at it would make him smile with the utmost glee in his heart. But unfortunately, the next thing that happened caused all his hopes to dashed away in the wind.

Tendo: "Even with all of that power, all of that lightning, you only managed to destroy my clothing. If that is your way of avenging that boy then he must be rolling in his grave at your pathetic attempt."

Tendo's voice rang out of the smoke, giving off a slightly excited tone to it. The smoke cleared and Tendo's shirtless body was revealed. Other than his cloak and shirt being destroyed, Tendo had no visible damage on him, even the stab wound through his heart had healed completely. But what Raiga was the most confused about was the fact that the young man with white hair that he was fighting against earlier had transformed into a completely different person.

He now had short black hair, his byakugan's pupils now had a dark grey color to them, signifying the unity of his two dojutsu. Even Tendo didn't know why they turned grey but he imagined it was probably the matured version of the Dojutsu Ranmaru had. One specifically tailored to his body's special kind of chakra.

Raiga: "H...how...W..who-"

Tendo: "Your attempt at killing me was laughable. Now, sleep, I'll just use you for a certain experiment. After all, I told that boy I wouldn't kill you."

Raiga fell unconscious once again on the spot right away. Tendo was getting adjusted to his new eyes as they still had some pain in them. He decided that he would need to rest a bit before making his next move. As he went towards Raiga's body, he heard some shouting behind him. Turning around, he saw all of the villagers running towards him with glee and absolute happiness on their faces. Most of them were still in chains but that wasn't on their minds right now, they had finally been freed from Raiga's tyranny.

A young man ran to the front of the crowd and threw himself down at Tendo's feet, crying profusely while looking into Tendo's eyes as he spoke.

???: "M..mister! T..thank you f....for freeing us! H..how c...could we repay you?!"

Tendo: "With your souls."

???: "Huh? Mister, what did you say?"

Tendo outstretched his hand as the flames started to burn around it when he suddenly realized something. Putting down his hand, he stared intently at the young man whose face had been slightly turning to fear. Since this town was a mine, he decided to claim it for the Senju clan he was rebuilding instead of claiming their souls. This would be a good way for them to gain income. Of course, he wouldn't use the Senju name though as he would be discovered right away.

Tendo: "How good is this town's gold mine?"

???: "M-mister, it's still thriving! If you want some gold, that wouldn't be an issue! Just p-please don't t-take our souls!"

Tendo: "Kill you? I think you misheard me earlier. I said I will take some gold. Actually, since you're here, do you have a place for me to rest? And what's your name?"

???: "Haha, my bad mister! My name is Hiro Araki and you can rest at the house of my family mister...funny eyes? What should I call you.....?"

Tendo knew he couldn't use his real name as he knew that he was being hunted by the leaf. That was the reason he used the transformation jutsu in the first place, to hide all of his features. At this point, anyone who saw his real appearance had to die or be controlled.

Tendo: "Thank you. You can call me...Yama."

Hiro: "Nice to meet you, Mister Yama sir!"