Lee Jinki was one of the best ninjas of their generation. He was skilled with precision, decisive and quick as lightning. He was great; almost perfect. However, nobody’s truly perfect. He had a tainted past. The young man didn’t like to think about it, but still, he remembered it clearly, down to every last minute detail.

As a child, Jinki had always been the golden son. He was talented, kind and generous. Everyone loved him. Almost everyone anyway. Jinki never spoke openly about having a half-brother – particularly one who hated him more than life itself.

Jonghyun had always been jealous of Jinki. Despite being the older one, it was Jinki who got showered with praises, while Jonghyun had often been cast aside, forgotten; or so it seemed to the older of the two. Their father taught them both everything he knew about Ninjitsu, but in Jonghyun’s mind, Jinki always received better treatment. Jinki was his rival.

Ninjitsu – the one thing that Jonghyun loved. It made him feel powerful, courageous, made him feel like he could take on anything. But it was this high that made Jonghyun reckless, always wanting more power. It turned him into a monster.

Jinki shuddered. He remembered the day in the cemetery all too well.

Their father would often tell the two half-brothers tales of a power, a special essence of Ninjitsu that would make the holder more powerful than any ninja ever known. When Jonghyun heard of it, he immediately became obsessed. Just thinking about having the ultimate power of Ninjitsu in his palm made Jonghyun feel ecstatic. However, their father never told them how to obtain this other-worldly power. The old master took it to his grave, leaving his sons in the dark.

Jinki never really minded not knowing about the power, after all, he was more than satisfied with the knowledge that his father had passed on to him. In Jonghyun’s case however, it was a much different story. The boy was driven insane by his desire to become the most powerful ninja, and he desperately sought the power their father had told them so many times about. He had gone to his late father’s grave, planning to look for any clues to where he might get the special power. But Jinki knew his half-brother’s intentions, and was already there as Jonghyun approached the grave.

“There’s a reason father didn’t tell us how to obtain the power,” Jinki had said, “just give it a rest.”

Jonghyun refused to hear anything from his self-proclaimed rival. Instead, he opted for an offensive. Jonghyun had raw talent, but it could not match up to Jinki’s refined skills. All his attacks proved futile against the younger boy. Jonghyun couldn’t hold up to Jinki, and lost the fight eventually.

“I’ll make you pay,”    Jonghyun had snarled as he walked away from their father’s grave,    “you’ll pay for everything you’ve done to me, for everything you’ve taken away. Just you watch out Jinki, I’ll get you.”    

It was a memory Jinki did not like to talk about, and only a few of his close friends knew about his past. Even though he was still young, he taught his students everything he knew, and brought out the best in each and every one of them. Jinki often pretended that his past didn’t exist, that he had a normal life, and he had been succeeding so far.

Little did Jinki know, the world he had worked so hard to build was about to be shattered.