VESSEL OF AN ANCIENT GOD

Chapter 3

Lord Zodiac's dust. A dust that was gotten from Lord Zodiac's body when he got burnt during the battle against Lord Genzen. The dust was placed in a supreme jar that was sealed with high-ranked chaos energy to prevent it from escaping.

But all of a sudden, after thousands of years, the jar cracked open and now the dust escaped, looking for a human or anybody to possess.

"I am finally free." Lord Zodiac voiced, his deep voice echoed throughout the mountain as he glanced at the night sky and sniffed in the relaxing atmosphere.

"Hehe, this is cracking me up." Jiro's chuckle from behind made Lord Zodiac turn around and see a strange man behind him.

"Let me guess, a Godlinker?" Lord Zodiac stated, disgusted by the sight of Jiro. 

"Correct," Jiro responded, moving closer to Lord Zodiac. "You see, a lot has changed since you met your demise. This world is now different from what you once knew. I suggest you perish any idea of you trying to take over Kakashi's body completely, and then take over this world."

Saying those words, Lord Zodiac began to laugh out loud like a maniac, causing a puzzled expression to etch on Jiro's face. 

"This body is mine now. I don't know who set the dust free, but since I now dwell inside this body it now belongs to me." Lord Zodiac remarked, laughing uncontrollably after. "And yes, my agenda remains the same. And this time, no one can stop me. You Godlinkers and even Lord Genzen can try all you want."

Jiro halted his steps meters away from Lord Zodiac. "That's what you think. But let me tell you something good, you are only in control for a duration of time. Lord Zodiac drank blood to live back in the dark ages, and I assumed if I should make Kakashi bleed, you would take control of his body since you also needed to bleed to use your full power. The question now is, how long will you be in control? That's why I needed Kakashi to switch, to know just how long it'll take for him to switch back. Just in case." Jiro explained, a big smile evident on his face while he glanced at his watch to see the time. "One minute so far."

"I guess I have to kill you before you find out!" Lord Zodiac voiced, launching forward at incredible speed with his two fists clenched. "Killing you would send a message to the Godlinkers and also to Lord Genzen himself!"

"I like it when they get mad, hehe." Jiro chuckled, moving his head slightly, making Lord Zodiac's fist miss him by hair length. Lord Zodiac quickly retrieved his outstretched arm and punched it out once more towards Jiro's chest area.

"One of your minions did end my whole clan, you know," Jiro said, swerving his body sideways, and Lord Zodiac ended up punching nothing but thin air. "So I have to vent all my anger out on you since fighting those minions is just a waste of time."

Saying those words, Jiro leaped a few meters into the air, delivering a hammer-like kick toward Lord Zodiac's head. Lord Zodiac managed to lift up his arm and block the strike but wasn't fast enough to dodge the incoming black energy bolt.

The energy sent him flying and crashing into a rock nearby. "Three minutes," Jiro remarked as he watched Lord Zodiac try standing but ended up falling back down to his knees.

'What's happening?' Lord Zodiac pondered in confusion, his vision becoming blurry and his long claws beginning to vanish. 'So he's right, I can't be in total control? Dammit, I have to figure something o...' Unable to hold it anymore, he passed out.

Seconds after he passed out, the red hair on his head began to change back to Kakashi's initial orange hair, and his fierce looks returned back to Kakashi's innocent 15-year-old boy's looks.

"Huh, what the hell happened?" Kakashi questioned, stretching his body and yawning like someone who just woke up from a good night's sleep.

"I just affirmed the truth." Jiro intoned. "If you bleed, Lord Zodiac takes control of your body for a total of three minutes." 

"What?" Kakashi exclaimed in shock. "So you mean he took control? Was that why you scratched me with that stone?"

"Yeah, sorry about that, I just couldn't walk up to you and say 'Hey, stand still while I tear your skin.'" Jiro responded. "But it seems you can't remember anything. What happened after you blacked out?"

"Hum...I can't really remember. I just blacked out, and then woke up now. It felt like I fell asleep. I don't know, it's crazy." Kakashi answered back, rubbing his spiky orange hair.

"It must be Lord Zodiac blocking your memory. He probably doesn't want you to know what he is on to while in control. That way we won't know what he is planning or his next move. Classic Zodiac, I like it." Jiro chuckled and shook his head.

"So what now? I can't just return back home knowing there is a thousand year old dude living inside of me, waiting for me to bleed so he can take control and kill everyone." Kakashi voiced, his expression filled with nervousness and stress.

"Well, you have to choose, Kakashi. Follow me to Godlinkers High, an academy that's filled with Chaos Energy users like me." Jiro responded. "You being merged with Lord Zodiac automatically makes you a target."

"What? A target? Why?!" Kakashi questioned in fear.

"Dude, have you ever been listening?" Jiro facepalmed and sighed. "Like I said before, there are lots of Chaos Energy users who worship Lord Zodiac and their goal is to resurrect him and continue his agenda. Since the dust is out of the supreme Jar, they must have sensed the strong energy of the dust, and they are probably out now to collect the dust or the Merger."

"But if you follow me back to the academy, I can keep you safe and also train you on how to defend yourself just in case," Jiro explained. "It's not like you will be safe in the academy though. Lord Zodiac is a threat to mankind, they won't spare you knowing there is a chance Lord Zodiac could take control. So either way, you are dead."

"Huh? So if I choose to leave, I'm dead, if I follow you, I'm still dead?" Kakashi blurted.

"If you follow me, your chances of living would be high. But only for a duration of time. You don't expect me to keep you safe forever, do you?" Jiro responded.

Kakashi stood there, his two fists clenched in anger. He has always felt extremely useless in this world. Every day he wished he was the one that had died in that car crash instead of his parents.

"No point in saving me." Kakashi started in a low tone, turning around, and began to make his way off the mountain. "Anything that wants to happen let it happen."

Jiro stood on the spot watching Kakashi make his decision and left. 'He can leave, but I will continue to keep an eye on him. Being the Merger makes him very dangerous. Any slight injury could end thousands of lives.' Jiro pondered, vanishing from the spot.