The crowd cheered loudly in the courtyard as they gathered, clapping for the trio and admiring their impressive performance.
Ryu, walking towards the twins, also praised them both in voice and with handsigns so that both Kaia and Akihiro could receive his words. "You two were amazing."
"I was also an orphan once," he told them. "I know the conditions in the orphanages are not great. How did you manage to create something so beautiful, despite the challenges you both face?"
Kaia responded, "The orphanage we live in trains musicians for the courts and nobles. We tried very hard to learn on our own, and in the end, we learned to play even with all that difficulty."
Ryu smiled at them and said, "You are living proof that hard work always pays off."
A playful glint entered his eye. "I am so impressed that I propose we play another song together. A musical battle between the three of us."
Kaia again expressed her uncertainty, "I don't know if I can compete with someone of your status, Lord Ryu."
"I will lead the tunes and lay the groundwork for you to follow," Ryu reassured them. "It will not be a battle, but a collaboration."
Ryu then looked at the woman in charge of the performance, the head of the orphanage. She was standing to the side, and he addressed her with a polite but firm tone. "Lord Hamura, I have no problem with your request," she said, "but perhaps a more trained player is suitable to compete with your Lordship."
Ryu declined and stated, "I am only interested in competing with the twins."
Kaia, looking at him with newfound curiosity, asked, "How did you know we were twins?"
Ryu smiled and explained, "It's in the details. The way you mirror each other, the shape of your ears, and your similar physiques. There's no mistaking it."
The orphanage head nodded and agreed that they were indeed twins. As if on cue, Yuki took the orphanage head aside to talk to her, one orphanage head to another. She understood Ryu's intention better than anyone and already took it as her responsibility to ensure the twins' well-being.
Akihiro agreed to the musical battle by handsign, and seeing her brother's decision, Kaia also agreed.
Ryu then asked them to choose the instruments they were most confident with. Kaia indicated the piano, and Akihiro the cello. Then Kaia asked, "What will you play?"
Ryu smiled and told them, "I could play every instrument with confidence. But for my size, a violin would be better."
A noble whispered to his companion, "Did he just say he can play every instrument?" followed by another, "He is 8 – or maybe 9 – years old … Is it a joke?"
Before the performance began, Ryu executed some fake hand signs and then gently placed his hands on Kaia and Akihiro.
-[Genjutsu- World of Symphonics]
Ryu had placed genjutsu as a medium for them to connect and pass notes and tunes to follow.
"This will help you two," he said. Ryu adjusted his hand on the violin and then on the twins.
Ryu began first, initiating the tempo. He began playing a recreation, a version of Vivaldi's Winter by Antonio Vivaldi.
The genjutsu took hold immediately, and Kaia, who had been deaf since birth, began seeing the sound as a visualisation of colours. The song resonated with the aura of Ryu that she was seeing. The song was vibrant, like a rainbow of colours in her eyes.
Akihiro began to follow Ryu first as he played the cello. Like Kaia, in his mind too, he saw for the first time in his life not darkness but a fire in the form of a human playing the violin. The song took hold in their hearts in a few seconds, and their synchronisation began to form a deeper bond. As Ryu's pace with the violin deepened, all three were now playing as one.
The chakra of the twins flared and began to rise, trying to match Ryu's. Something was going on. Something like an awakening.
The secretary, Kaori, who was a sensor, noticed the chakra of all three resonating and burning like a fire. Others also noticed this phenomenon, including Tsunade, Dan, and the royal guards outside.
The performance was unlike anything they had heard before. It was as if Ryu was trying to kill the violin. Out of instinct, Ryu covered both the violin and the stick in his chakra to reinforce them, a move that surprised everyone.
Tsunade looked at Dan and whispered, "What is he trying to do?"
Suddenly, the hands of civilians started shaking in response to the unusual events and the pressure Ryu was emitting. Something was touching their souls.
Years ago, the Sage of Six Paths said that chakra can be used to connect people to their wishes, desires, and dreams, but no one has tried after him.
However, many years into the future, a boy with blue eyes and fox whiskers would eventually emerge at the peak of the Fourth Ninja War, during which his memories, pain, and life would flood into the hearts of ninjas fighting for a free future through chakra.
At present, the chakra was resonating like it would in the future but not like in the future, as everyone only felt a strange pull towards the centre of this phenomenon.
Deep within the world of chakra, a wave of disturbance was generated. It was similar to the effect of someone dropping a stone into a pond. But it was not just a pond but the representation of the entire pool of chakra on the planet. Those with strong chakra were reacting more than others. Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Akatsuki, everyone with a big name in the world.
The Third Hokage was sitting at his desk in the Leaf Village. He suddenly stopped and looked at the sky. What he felt was a strange pull.
In a nursery, a three-year-old baby with fox-like whiskers, blue eyes, and blond hair was playing. He suddenly felt something, too, and looked up. Inside his mindscape, a big fox opened his eye as he felt the ripples in the chakra flow of the planet. This flow connects all beasts like him, causing them to experience the same sensation.
In the Cloud Village, the Fourth Raikage was seen training with his brother, Killer Bee. Both Raikage and Killer Bee experienced the strange pull. They all looked up at the sky. The clouds of Cloud Village were moving strangely. Other Kages and Jinchuriki felt the same way. All the S-rank ninjas felt an unusual sensation when they looked in the direction of the Land of Rivers.
In Rain Village, two ninjas in black outfits with bloody red clouds were standing in front of a giant building with a monstrous face. The two ninjas felt something unusual, looked up, noticed the rain beginning to slow down, saw a cloud shift, and were illuminated by a ray of sunlight. For the first time in many years, they experienced and felt the sunlight.
The Fourth Kazekage was watching little Gaara play with Yashmaru in the sand. Kazekage and Gaara looked up at thunderclouds.
Back in the Land of Rivers, Ryu was killing it. The previously clear sky began to darken as clouds from the Rain Village moved in over the Land of Wind and the Land of Rivers. The attendees looked up at the clouds, where lightning illuminated the sky above and revealed the silhouettes of two giant figures within it.
Both Mr Beginning and Mr End were watching the event more closely than before—so much closer that their presence behind exerted some pressure on the world itself and began shaking it. The people noticed it but ignored it as if they saw nothing.
The trio's performance reached its peak, captivating the audience with unparalleled intensity. At that moment, Ryu's chakra flared again to new heights, and he was covered in burning blue chakra and a lightning current flowing through him.
Suddenly a shockwave of chakra was released along with a wind from him. The twins were somehow not affected, as both of them were resonating alongside Ryu.
The wave of chakra was intense but not like the killing intent he released in battle when he almost died; it was like soul-touching intense. Kaori turned to a nearby attendant in awe. "His chakra... it's not hostile, but it's touching something deep inside me."
Now after the sudden burst of chakra, everyone who came close to Ryu's chakra directly or indirectly, like Dan, Yuki, Tsunade and his guards, was now experiencing the resonance.
The rock statues at the event began to crack. Suddenly, lightning fell behind the stage some distance away, but there was only a flash with no sound, no thunder. The only thing that could be heard was the trio's performance.
It was as if two cosmic powers had warned the local god of thunder, the Flying Raijin, to 'Shut the F up' so that they could listen to this performance.
Ryu was again at the peak of his performance, and the earth shook. There was shaking all over the earth, from the east in the Land of Wind to the west in the Land of Waves. This made people all over the world wonder what the hell was going on. "Is this the end of the world?"
Lightning fell in the Land of Wind as if the heavens were angry. Mountains in the Land of Clouds started shaking, and cracks appeared in the Land of Earth as if hell were also about to open its mouth.
Then the music stopped, and so did the shaking and thunder, and the world calmed.
There was one sentence in the minds of people in the audience: "What in the hell just happened?"
Ryu looked at the other two, and then the other two, who were drenched in sweat and breathing heavily, also turned their heads towards Ryu.
Ryu said, "You two...join my clan. Become part of my family."
##PoWeR StOnEs##
A/N: I hope you like the last two musical chapters.
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