Fandom Song of Rage

[RoninN7]

Eizo Tanaka
New team, new tests
​

Everything felt so odd to Eizo; he was still adjusting to the rollercoaster of emotions he'd gone through over the previous five minutes or so. Before he could dwell on anything too long, he was interrupted by the voice of a girl that called his name. He turned to see a somewhat older girl who bared some resemblance with Shibata, which made sense as she called herself Fubuki Yamamoto. So Fubuki... she must be Shibata's sister. Maybe I- Once more, his thoughts were cut short when Fubuki offered to spill some dirt on Shibata, which forced a chuckle out of Eizo. Moreover, her brother's rather alarmed, yet outwardly calm, reaction added to the comedy of the situation. "Maybe another time. It's a pleasure to meet you, Fubuki." Eizo spoke with a smile and a slight nod toward his teammate's sister before turning to face Shibata.

"I suppose we are a new team," Eizo began with an inquisitive look on his face, "though a little warning might've been nice." His head still hurt a little from all the confusion and the unusual teleportation. When Hayate sensei spoke to Eizo, it gave the boy some comfort; it was calming to know that he wasn't the only one left utterly lost after encountering Isamu. "Yeah, first time," Eizo started with a comfortable smile, "I hope I don't have to get used to that so soon if I'm being honest." The boy let out a sigh with a smile, looking back toward his new teammates. His head slowly stopped spinning and he was able to better focus on his surroundings and the people around him. Hayate sensei's comment toward Fubuki almost made Eizo start laughing, but he contained himself in an effort to avoid getting on anyone's bad side. Finally, he nodded toward Akane when she introduced herself and her cousin. "He might not be here but thanks for introducing Tonsuke as well."

This was when Hayate sensei mentioned how the new team needed some introductions and led everyone into the courtyard. Eizo followed somewhat nervously, unsure of what was about to happen. Are we going to fight each other? But we just met... No, maybe this is just target practice and we need some open space. Eizo's thoughts were confirmed when Hayate sensei spawned three crystal clones and requested demonstrations from the boy and his new teammates. Before Eizo could step forward, Akane began moving toward a clone, which gave the boy a chance to think of how much he should show. Eizo's eyes went wide with surprise as Akane sliced her flesh open and flung her blood at the clone. He was even more surprised when the clone's skin began hissing and melting away where the blood had made contact. Before Eizo could think of anything, Akane seemed to spawn two extra arms and proceeded to rip the clone apart with all her limbs. So her body is somehow changed or mutated. Not sure if that's genetic or if it's some sort of jutsu, but that's an amazing set of traits and abilities to possess.

Once Akane had finished her demonstration of power, Eizo realized that it was his turn. Damnit, I don't know what to do. Should I just approach the clone and attempt to fight with taijutsu alone? Would genjutsu even make a difference on a clone? These seem weak so it's probably not worth the effort. But this is a demonstration of our abilities, so maybe I have to go into the Gates to show Hayate sensei what I'm capable of... Once Eizo was done overthinking the situation (as usual), he finally took a deep breath in and closed his eyes, squaring his body up with the second clone. "Second Gate of Healing: open!" Eizo's muscles tensed up and a rush of energy began flowing through his body faster than ever. It felt as though his arms and legs had become feathers with how fast he felt his movements. There was a noticeable change in Eizo; his veins popped more and his skin turned a little red. Eizo lowered his stance and centered his sight on the clone before him. Here goes nothing.

In a flash, Eizo's legs pushed his body forward with blinding speed. When the boy was within arm's length of the clone, he outstretched both of his arms to punch it simultaneously. One fist planted itself where the clone's spleen would be and the other struck at the stomach. Using the force of his strikes, Eizo pushed off the body of the clone and flew backward a few feet. Once he landed, he planted himself and lowered his body before springing forward once more, targeting the lungs this time. Over and over again, Eizo attacked the clone and flung himself away before rushing in for more until the clone's organs would've been ruptured or outright turned to mush. After a number of blitzes, Eizo finally stood straight and breathed heavily, watching the clone crumble before him. The boy placed his hands on his knees and took a moment to recover his strength, realizing he exerted himself quite a bit once his gates closed. I hope that was enough of a demonstration, he thought as he turned his head to look at Hayate sensei with a tired smile.

KageYuuki IG42 AtlannianSpy

 

[Ganryu]

Sachiko's Training
​

Spoiler

'Ting'

A small bell echoed in the small cave, an immediate thud answering it as a bo shuriken landed less than an inch away from it.

'Ting' 'Ting' 'Ting'
'Thud' 'Thud' 'Thud'

Sachiko nodded. She hadn't missed so far. That was good. She wasn't losing her touch.

A 'thwoop' sounded, and she paused, listening, before leaping to the side, a kunai grazing her shoulder. Another 'thwoop', and she stayed still as a kunai passed inches behind her, before splashing into the water she was standing in. It was sort of nerve wracking, but there was a point if it wasn't.

Another 'thwoop', immediately followed by a 'ting'. Sachiko reached out, trying to grab the incoming kunai. Her fingers closed around it a moment too soon, stinging setting in at once as she could feel warmness run between them. With a side flip, she threw it back, the bloody kunai thudding in the distance. She started to reach into her medical kit, before several more 'thwoop's echoed in mass succession.

"Guess we're doing this!"

Sachiko leaned back, touching the water's surface with her head, before cartwheeling away from another, and side stepping to the left of another kunai. A fourth and firth grazed her, but she managed to to jump forward, superhero landing with her bloody fingers splayed out on the water's surface below. A dark red cloud weaved out under Sachiko, lines and clouds painting the clear surface red. She flinched, but one taijutsu style of hers kept her going: Steady Hand. As long as Sachiko started an action, she would finish it. Granted, it was also the reason she had managed to grab onto a blade midflight instead of just... y'know... letting go.

Another 'ting' and 'thwoop' sounded at the same, and Sachiko had a decision to make. Reaching into her bag, another bo shuriken appeared, flying at the the distance, before Sachiko dived to the side. Another red line apparated across her back, straigh down her shoulder blade. Grunting, she took a defensive position, but no more came. Sighing, Sachiko began to walk across the water once more, cracking her neck as she rolled her her head and looked up.

Suddenly, another whistling echoed in the cavern. This time there was no 'thwoop', and Sachiko looked visibly scared as she snapped towards it. With desperate timing, she clapped her hands together as forcefully as she could, stopping the projectile inches away from her face.

"Don't drop your guard. Even for a second. Even after training. You're a ninja from a great clan."

A deep voice echoed in the room. Sachiko gulped.

"D-dad? What are you doing here? How did you find this place? Why aren't you training Koki? He keeps asking me about our kekkei genkai, and I don't know anything..."

A click sounded in the small cavern as he lit a lantern, ignoring Sachiko's question, as he studied the machines set up in the area. Several targets with bells set up to them and a timer with a randomized start, and several kunai launchers, cranked up, and modified to be more lethal, no doubt Shio's work. Keiji Kounna stroked his pepper colored goatee. He stroked his hands over the bo shurikens embedded like nails in the targets. Not one of them had hit the bull's eye, yet he seemed oddly impressed.

"Sachiko, how many times have you run this drill?"

"Three..." Sachiko said, not bothering to lie. She pulled out medical cream, inhaling sharply as she applied it to her cuts on her hand. A sizzling could be heard, but it began to mend.

"And yet only one hole each. Ton 80... on every board, every time. Isn't it telling, daughter, that you never go for the flashiest show, but always end up with the most points...? You don't really use kunai as weapons, but have specialized projectiles..." Keiji walked over, and scooped a fingerful of the salve, and began to run it across Sachiko's back where she couldn't reach that cut. He looked down, surprised at how shallow the pool of water was, less than inch thick. Despite that, Sachiko didn't leave a single foot print as she had danced across it.

"Yeah, yeah, real impressive, I can throw things... Again, why aren't you with Koki. I'm doing fine. The true heir ought being taught lessons."

Keiji Kounna turned to meet her with a sharp stare. "And yet, when I try to grab him, he set off fireworks in the dynamite tray, sealing off mine #11. And he disappeared afterwards. I could have found him, but it was very... Devilish the way he hid, so I decided to not see him."

"Hey, that's the trick I pulled to avoid that taijutsu exam once."

"I noticed." Keiji said dryly.

"Hey, I got enough problems. I can't be responsible for Koki too."

"I never said I expected you to be. I merely wanted you to remember he looks up to you."

Sachiko blanched, and shook her head. "Why can't he just gloat instead. He was born with genius. He shouldn't be looking up to an idiot... And there sure as all get out ain't a better ninja for him to be proud of. Why isn't the little guy full of himself. He should be."

Keiji sighed, and headed towards a large stalagmite. Slapping it, it exploded, making a seat. He grabbed Sachiko, and sat her down.

"You know, Sachiko, you're not a very good host at your own pity party. You're trying so hard to sound jealous that you forget to hide the part where you sound relieved."

"W-wha-"

A slice cut through the air, and the bandages around Sachiko's eyes began to fall. Sachiko shrieked, and tried to hide her eyes. Keiji just stared.

"Your mother did some digging, and we couldn't find a single doctor who said your eyes were damaged so bad as to be bandaged for months. The viper's venom should probably have blinded you, but do you know what they found...? These."

Sachiko glanced between her fingers as her father presented two melted contact lenses.

"They saved your eyes, didn't they? From Mu, the Cobra. Who mysteriously went missing around the time your team did. His body was recovered after an explosion, and several bo shuriken at the scene. You took him on. Didn't you? On a duel to the death."

Sachiko gulped. "W-we told people that that was probably Bisha-"

"And right afterwards, my daughter ended up Chunnin. Isn't it strange?"

Sachiko shifted away.

"And the same daughter has been guiltily training away after that. Harder than ever. And she's never asked for help. She's never asked for help. Nobody knows what she can do, so she feels like she can never disappoint them. Long as you don't But she didn't say no to the promotion. You could have, you know. But if you were the only genin on your team, you couldn't help them out. Almost like you made a promise to them."

Sachiko gulped.

"Your father's not an idiot, you know. Show me your eyes. What have you done?"

Sachiko took a trembling breath, steadying herself, then lowered her eyes, glistening like gems of ruby and saphire. "Sanryōkyōgan. It's... incomplete."

Keiji stared for a moment at it, his expression unreadable. His expression started to soften out to a smooth smile.

"Have you tried it out?"

"No... I keep botching the formula. Light hurt it before, and I'm not sure if it works, and I have a headache if I keep it up too long."

His smile turned as devilish as Sachiko's. "Do you want to?"

"I'm... uh, not sure these would be much use against it." Sachiko motioned to the machines. Keiji unveiled his hand like he was revealing a hand of cards. Instead several Shuriken unveiled themselves.

"I AM a ninja. I think I can throw a little bit harder than that machine."

Sachiko scoffed. "With all due respect, Shio's reeeeally good at what she doe- do- what!?" A shiro shuriken embedded itself halfway through the cave wall. One of Keiji's fingers was now shurikenless and smoking after an explosion. Keiji got in a throwing position, and Sachiko laughed. It wasn't her high pitched laugh she used sarcastically like a cudgel, or the grating one when she was listing off puns. It was a melodic, pretty laugh, echoing off the cave walls. It seemed... unnaturally natural for Sachiko. It was happy.

"I'm game."

 

[KageYuuki]

Lost Legacy
As Wakanaka leapt out of the way, Taichi's sword smashed into the earth where he'd been standing. Dirt and grass launched upwards as the entire section of the courtyard suddenly dropped by over a foot. The nearby wall collapsed as soil compacted into solid stone.

Flat Zone

It seemed the moniker of Mountain Crusher had been fitting. Resting his weapon on his shoulder, Taichi quirked an eyebrow at the offered drink. "Ain't you a little young for that?" Shrugging, he plunged his sword into the stone at his feet. The ground would rumble beneath Wakanaka's feet before a geyser of rock threatened to launch him skyward and batter him with the spray of stones.

Erupting Earth


The Nendo kunoichi silently regarded Okimi before vanishing in a body flicker. It seemed the jounin would prefer to observe from a distance. Akane huffed, looking back at the dragon duo as he sheathed his sword. "Awfully confident words from someone that could hardly touch me in our last fight." Seeing as she was undeterred, he watched Feurey shoot into the air before divebombing him. The samurai watched the dragon for a moment before simply sidestepping.

Seeing a second dragon racing towards him, Akane lowered his stance and drew his sword, spinning as he did so. A glowing arc followed the swing of his blade before erupting in a concussive cylinder that would send Okimi flying back if she touched it. Feurey too if he'd doubled back after missing. "You're not the only one that's been training."

Ganryu Orikanyo InsaneAsylum

 

[IG42]

Shibata Yamamoto
Ignoring a snicker from Shibata's direction Fubuki scoffed without losing her smile and took a smooth sip of her tea. "The wall may have started the fight but I won in the end." As the others got up to leave she sighed and waved away a helping hand her brother offered, getting up on her own she followed behind them at her own pace.

Out in the courtyard Shibata smirked slightly as Hayate designated his own clones as targets to show their stuff on. "I hope you aren't expecting me to feel bad about going at something wearing your appearance." Allowing the other two to go before him he watched as Akane first throw her own blood on the clone and partially dissolve it before revealing an extra pair of arms that she used to pull the clone apart, Shibata felt that he'd only just gotten used to Aya's slightly off-putting dojutsu and now he had to deal with this instead, he also had no idea what he'd do if Akane ended up bleeding and needed first aid.

Next up Eizo went in with a more conventional taijutsu assault though it was enhanced considerably by his use of released chakra gates. It was certainly a flashy technique but not one Shibata would use himself, the risks of self-inflicted injury didn't seem worth it to him. By first impressions it seemed his new teammates were even more taijutsu focused than his previous ones.

Now the only one left to go Shibata remained standing where he was with a confident smile and began a lengthy series of handsigns, around him a sinuous dragon of emerald green crystal formed growing to over a dozen meters from nose to tip, once it was complete he dispatched the construct with an almost lazy hand gesture. Rushing forward the dragon grabbed the clone in it's jaws and swept it up into the air, circling a few times to build up speed the dragon abruptly flipped over and drilled straight down smashing the already half-crushed clone into the ground shattering both into sparkling fragments. "Will that suffice as a demonstration sensei?" He asked smugly. "You're a smarmy brat Shichan!" Fubuki's laughing voice called from where she had seated herself on a raised deck running along the side of the building.

KageYuuki RoninN7 AtlannianSpy

 

[Spiderverse]

Aragi OnigakeSquad Ichiro​

Aragi looked over at Ichiro, slightly confused as to the nature of his comment. Was that... supposed to be a compliment? He felt another sharp pain as he had been zapped once again by the metronome, his face crunching up as he bore the pain of his mistakes in balancing the yin and yang chakra equally. While he continued, he listened closely to his squad leader's words, trying to figure out some form of logical conclusion he could make based off of the information given. I never played an instrument but there being a pattern could be something to look out for. The young shinobi nodded along with the Feral's advice until he had left his side, thinking of a way to put his odd analogy to work. For a while he had decided to take a different approach, rather than simply futilely attempting to mold the right combination over and over again, he would watch the metronome hit the sides, analyzing the timing in the metronome's swing, as something had come to his mind. Mom used to play a shamisen sometimes at the gatherings... how did that tune go?

The chuunin closed his eyes as he began to think, keeping that nostalgic melody in his head and opening his eyes to watch the timing of the metronome once again. Though it was hard to find, there was certainly a connection, a small one, where the strums nearly matched the strikes of the metronome at its sides. Maybe if I compare it to something else... maybe how some of my jutsu are formed and maintained? Aragi stopped for a moment, thinking of what would be the best jutsu to compare, something that required concentration no doubt, and one that required harnessing chakra of two different forms at once, not necessarily different natures, just in the way he "held" them. As he was lost in thought, the ninja slowly began to perform the handseals for the his Remote Seal jutsu, merely mimicking the concentrated chakra on one of his fingers, rather than focusing on triggering a seal itself. Then, he performed the handseals for Paper Style: Scatter, as the hand that he had held the concentrated chakra for his remote seal on began to break apart into multiple pieces.

Just as suddenly as that began to occur however, he immediately jumped to his feet, his face gleaming with excitement as he realized something. Quietly chuckling to himself, he began to focus once again on balancing the yin and yang chakra. This metronome wouldn't get the best of him yet!

 

[Ganryu]

Nine Tails of Kyubei ​

Spoiler

“More letters?” Ema asked, looking up from the report in her hands as her assistant stepped into her office.

“And a few bearing Arashigakure’s seal besides.”

“I see…” Accepting the stack, the Tsumikage set them aside for the time being. They could wait a few more minutes.

The droll of monotony ended, however, as a sudden mew quietly filled the room. It was ghostly enough that it could be just a passing wind. However, a pawing at the window came next.

Tsumigakure’s local annoyance had come to play…

At the window, a single padded paw was trying to act cute as it gently tapped the window. The effect was somewhat lessened by the fact that Kyubei was now panther sized.

Ema raised an eyebrow, putting away the report she had been reading. Seems the cat’s absence had been a temporary reprieve.

Her assistant shifted, “should . . . should I let it in?”

“I’d prefer not to have broken glass in my office.” Repairs in this part of the village tended to be a particular nightmare.

He sighed and nodded, moving over to the window to coax it open and allow the large cat inside. Though it didn’t fit as well as it used to.

Almost instantly, the cat leaped in, passing past the desk, and knocking over a glass onto the group from the leap.

“Whoops.” The cat didn’t seem too apologetic, snuggling into a nearby office chair. It didn’t fit anymore.

Still, the giant cat purred. “Greetings, Kiyohime. Greetings, er…” It cocked its head. “Shimizu?” It finally settled on, confidently. It swished its tail at the assistant. The end of the tail was now split in two. “Greetings, average human.”

Purring still, the cat looked at Ema, its eyes flicking at the assistant, and back to Ema again. It nudged at the assistant several times more.

“Kyubei,” Ema’s tone was polite, though her lack of enthusiasm at the visit was still apparent. She turned towards the jounin beside her, passing him a stack of folders, “these can be filed away.”

He stopped glaring at the cat long enough to take the stack and give a quick bow. “I’ll be back shortly.”

The Tsumikage waited for the door to close before looking back at the Akuma. “I see the rumors on your change were true.”

“So I’ve gotten a little bit bigger. I could say you look a little meowre full too. Too much office work is nyat good for you. ” The cat said with one eye lazily open. Yawning, it stretched on the seat.

Sleepily, the cat licked its nose a few times.

"Which, what do you call those smaller humans...? Children? That's it. Which children did you send out to Arashigakure to that rumor, by the way? Why, I'm hurt you just didn't ask me about it."

Kyubei petted its nose a few time with a paw.

"You didn't send a Shimizu, right...? Because while you humans are always daft, Kiyohime actually likes you. I don't think she'd like a daft human... Hmm... do you feel it I wonder...? Nyaaaah... Kiyohime isn't Kaminari's, is she... But Raiko is."

Ema raised an eyebrow at it, “are you now? Because if someone had asked you about it, you would’ve just told us to figure it out for ourselves and left.”

She shook her head, mild annoyance giving way to a deeper frown as the akuma continued. The pieces clicked into place, “resonance…” Akuma used the harmony and discord of their chakra to sense each other’s presence, one of the only feats jinchuuriki naturally gained. Beasts of the same element could be felt from further away. The archives kept by the Shimizu listed more than one instance of akuma using that resonance to instead call others to its side. Only minor akuma had ever been seen answering such summons. Kaminari was anything but a normal akuma though.

Kyubei raised its eye in surprise at Ema getting it so fast.

Another black shadow leaped in through the window, a second Kyubei… It had been rumored Kyubei had 9 tails, but ever since being sealed in Kuroneko 50 years ago, the ‘tails’ rarely met together. It had been said that the second had spent two whole weeks hunting Kyubei to make the pest disappear. A note in the archives written by the 2nd noted it was less a matter of security, and more ‘to settle a matter of annoyance’.

[2]”You are bright. Suppose it comes with being Tsumikage…

The first stood up from the chair, the two cats prowling around Ema, circling her like a predator.

[1]: “You’re not wrong. That probably would have been my response normally. But you could at least ask... “

[2]”But I’m in a good mood… so I’m willing to share information. Just let me know who was sent on that mission....”

[1]”And I will let you know who’s been called…”

[2]”And I’m even feeling generous. I’ll let you ask me any one question.”

Ema glanced back at the second cat as it leapt inside. Kyubei was normally bold, yes. But not so much as to have multiple tails in one place. Especially not in the heart of Tsumigakure, and not in the same building as a certain dog.

She kept her hands folded on her desk, watching the pair of akuma stalk around. “No Shimizu were sent, if that is what you’re hoping for. Nor were any jinchuuriki.” Though one clearly had oni’s blood given his recent transformation. “Wakanaka, Shioreta, and Akane were the ones sent to look into the matter.” Aito was likely still watching nearby as well.

Both cats stopped, tilting their heads at the news.

[1&2] “Nope. Don’t know any of them. They’re probably dead though”

[1]: “Unless someone very important interferes… Good that no jinchuuriki were sent. We don’t want Kaminari getting MORE powerful. Oh, right, I promised details.”
[2]:” Big brother’s just really hungry. That’s all it is. So it sent out an SoS. The only ones who could hear it though are its descendents. But when big brother sends out an SoS, it’s a command. Everyone feels it. Everyone feels what he feels. It’s probably a feeding frenzy out there. They want to come close, and they want to eat. Of course, all of Big Bro’s kids are going to feel this, so it’s going to be a really strong feeling for all his kids too. Kurio’s probably going to ask to go to Arashigakure. ♪ I don’t think you should.♪”
[1]” Wakanaka… Shioreta… Akane... “
[2]”You should probably figure out what you're doing. Not that I care, but I’m not sure you’d feel comfortable in that frenzy, and you're the Tsumikage. I wonder what those poor little huma-children, are thinking right now…”
[1]”Probably not much of anything honestly.”
[2]”Faaaaair… Oh… by the way. I think Katsuhito’s probably hitting Jingakure right now… I wouldn’t worry about it. But he’s going to be reeeeeally nyat happy when he’s done… Maybe you should get some better defenses after that. There's this rock by the well that I like to nap on.. It’d be a pity to see it nyat there.”

A third cat appeared on the windowsill.

[3]”It’s been fun playing with you lil sis Kiyohime. Oh, and Em… Em … Shimizu. Find me when you want your question!”

All three scattered out of Ema’s office, as quick as they had come, splitting into three different directions as they ran… except for one which jumped onto a rock in the far distance… and curled up to sleep.

Ema frowned as the cats scattered, closing her eyes once they had left the office. Her chakra reached out into the miasma, feeling everything within the village’s borders. Four tails all in the village . . . it’s like you’re daring me to attack you. What’s your game this time?

Miasma Search Part II ​

Spoiler

Reunite
====================================

Wakanaka rushes back to the conjoining room, newly made weapon in hand. “OI! You two here!?” he calls out into the room roughly, he had been polite to an old lady for some time, guess he got tired of it.

“Holler out if you’re dead!”

“Are you admitting you went the safer way on purpose, because you were afraid it might be too much for you? Doesn’t seem very like you though... “ Shio commented venturing out looking towards Waka glancing at him over leaning in as if to observe how he was noticing the new weapon he was holding.

“You didn’t just go that way to go weapon searching again did you? You know the last time you went chasing a weapon it was a real pain in my side.” She spoke tapping upon the side of her face.

"Hey sod off I actually met an old lady. Oni. Person.

She called herself Granny Oni, she was ripping off akuma heads and eatting what she could. Taught me a trick that makes weapons out of blood." Waka states as he unfurls the shuriken, neat looking thing, he wished he saw more people use it.

Akane trailed in after Shio, still partially occupied by her thoughts about the previous encounter.

"Can we put a pin in this please? I don't want to think about Grandmothers anymore today," Akane said with a mild shudder. "I'm sure she was very nice though, we met a terrorist who… well I suppose he was also surprisingly nice all things considered. But he didn't seem to be responsible for the miasma either so that leaves us with door number three," Akane lifted her chin meaningfully towards the last path. Akane had decided just now that she wasn't going to bring up that the terrorist had seemed to know Shioreta. Akane's day had gotten complicated enough already and now she was of a mind to punch a big monster and then go home.

Shio looked towards Akane hearing her speak up about their encounter… in a rather brief manner. That bit about her grandmother really bothered her huh? She couldn’t lie that it was a little humorous to her that it might bother someone so much. Though Shio had her suspicion the man wasn’t quite what he seemed, outside the whole being part of Bishamonten bit and his ‘strange’ reason being there. After all who said her grandmother had to be necessarily elderly when they had been together? Even though the idea was quite entertaining to think about.

“Well our old friend Inaba at least gave a little useful info that it seems all these Akuma are all related to Lightning beasts. So I suppose you going after the grandmother Oni wasn’t a terrible idea even though I’d assume she isn’t likely the eldest in this quagmire of rotting flesh.” She spoke casually dropping Inaba’s name in, and purposely throwing in the word grandmother again.

“Holler out if you’re dead!”

A few moments later, a beast acquiesced his request, a boom of thunder echoing through the area like a shockwave, the literal shell of air incoming at the group visible in a wave, tearing across the landscape, blowing away the dissipating gore, and leaving a ringing sound. A few seconds later, columns around the group began to collapse and fall down, each of the nin in danger of the falling rocks.

The earth rumbled as a new Akuma began to crawl towards them. A horrendous chimera that would have done Dr. Ryuu proud. Two ape like arms reached forward, and dug into the earth with each ‘step’. Behind, it dragged a long, thick serpentine tail that dug into the ground as it wished back and forth. A demonic torso with clawed arms stood on top, with angelic like wings scattering feathers behind it.

Pieces of meat fell from it’s fangs, a shark like head spilling part of it’s recent meal. The chimera akuma beast had been recently well fed. Lightning cracked around it’s throat as it began to inhale sharply, it’s chest swelling unnaturally wide. It eyed the group menacingly. It had eyed the group, and although they weren’t akuma, the beast was still in a frenzy.



Akane was awestruck and repulsed by the massive creature, so much so that she was nearly crushed by some falling debris, remembering to dive out of the way at the last second. That gave Akane an idea however and as she tumbled clear of the falling she called to Shioreta and Wakanaka
“If we can bring down some of these pillars down on this thing we might have a chance!” Akane said, reaching into her pouch for all of her explosive tags and tying them to a kunai, which allowed her to accurately lob the bundle to Shio. “Take those and find a pillar that’s been weakened! I’ll keep it busy!”

Shio had avoided the falling material, eyeing upon the creature finding it...about as horrific as she expected. The girl blinked as her focus was suddenly tossed the bundle, the girl shuffling a bit as to not get stabbed by the kunai though it seemed it was a pointless gesture with it landing just in reach. Chore duty for her huh?

“Ah… if you say so I guess. Not much a runner but I guess I could manage.” She spoke, shrugging a bit. Her hand fumbling briefly to take hold of one of her puppet scrolls once again. She quickly unraveled the scroll quickly releasing it as a puff of smoke erupted out exposing her ‘totallynotacopyofwaka’ puppet. The puppet itself having a crudely drawn horn on its head with what appeared to be crayon. Completely the most half assed of works on her part.

Shio swung herself onto the back gripping onto the puppet slinging the pouch over to make sure it was secure as she held on with her one hand as the other manipulated the strings. A rather awkward way to use the puppet she still wasn’t quite used to. The puppets clubbed arm lifting up as the pressurized gas quickly was released propelling the arm out rapidly towards one of the nearby still standing pillars before the chains connecting the puppet to the clubbed arm suddenly yanked the puppet and its master flying forward with Shio jolting as she held on tight for dear life.

Wakanaka was taken aback by the roar, but the falling rock was more of an opportunity than a hazard as his instinct caught the large stone before he fully got a good look at it. Perhaps it was due to the fact it was slated for his head, ie horn, that he caught it without thought.

However, with equally no thought, after seeing the beast, he did the next thing without much care for the beast’s terrifying demeanor and appearance. “Shut up damn it!” he tossed the boulder with a one handed toss right at the part that started to inflate on its body.

The flying boulder struck true, a sudden explosion of air around the creature forcing it back several steps, its head bouncing back and forth.

A voice like thunder echoed from it, echoing from all directions and deafening, yet weirdly crisp and clear to each person there.

“Why are you here!? You are not invited to Kaminari’s reunion!!! The originator of the storm DID NOT CALL YOU!”

The wings branching off its head started to curl upwards, and a sudden pulse of chakra bathed the area in a negative light, flashing as all black and white switched.

Just as quickly as it had gone dark, it switched back to light, the creature trying a new attack as Waka had seemingly damaged its throat. Blasted air shot out of torn muscle strips of flesh seen from its otherwise ivory skin. Droplets of black and white started to join between its wings. As they touched each other, they started to be transparent, but the air vibrated around them so harshly as to still be quite visible.

Akane sucked in a sharp breath. Whatever this creature was preparing it looked easily capable of totally annihilating them and most of the surrounding landscape. Their only hope was if Shio could collapse a pillar on top of the creature before it finished charging it’s attack.

“Wakanaka! We have to keep it distracted so Shio can get into position!”Akane said urgently. “Throw me towards it just like you did that boulder!”

The chains clanked as Shio was pulled forward by her puppet towards the pillar. Her eyes shifted over to the beast, its voice rather uneasy to her ears. A reunion? Well too late now anyways. Her eyes taking in the detail even as the light faded and it was clear it was preparing to unleash some sort of attack. She didn’t have much time at all to react.

Alright the beast is there... I just need to place the explosive tags in just the right spots to ensure it falls directly on it while possessing enough mass. Alright… got it.

Shio gave a tug on her puppeting hand as she adjusted its movements using it to quickly propel herself over her back to the beast. Her legs squeezing tight around the puppet as to keep herself upon it as she dug through the pouch starting to apply the tags into place quite vulnerable given her position though hoping both her allies and the beast seeming to rear up some vicious attack giving enough of a distraction to finish setting it up as swiftly as she could.

"Reunion…? Must be like what Granny was talking about. Originator must've called these akuma, must have power over lightning stuff…" Waka's brain worked for a moment, before it was pushed back behind the wall of "don't think do" that pushed him this far.

He rushed up, grabbed Akane by the scruff of her neck, or rather the equivalent of her clothes, and leapt into the air.

"Have another! Yeet!" The young man, with chakra flowing into his muscles to stimulate and enhance, put no mercy into tossing the young lady who told him to.

The creature turned, bending over menacingly as it stared at Akane as she barked orders. Slowly, it blinked. The thundering voice again shook the area, coming from many different directions in a crisp, but loud voice. It’s pitch seemed slightly distorted and eldritch.

“Fleas named Wakanaka, Shio, and… Granny? Your are like fleas on a dog! Your plans mean nothing, but your mere presence is an annoyance. Thankfully, I, Kiyomori, the Grandiose Thunder, will rid this gathering of you vermin!”

The growing chakra on the creature’s back began to spin wildly, a sphere of what looked like vibrating wind making a terrible screeching sound to the area as it compressed more and more.

The chakra in the air was palpable, feeling like a heavy dread. The screeching being near the ball was causing everyone’s body to feel like their very bones were shaking and cracking. Everything vibrated, and stones began to lift into the air from the pressure, floating in the air. The air slightly distorted near the creature, and everything seemed curved. It felt like their bodies themselves were bending, everyone’s arms visible at weird angles and stretching into a horrible spaghettification, the attack not even release yet.

However, a slight annoyance knocked the creature back as Akane was thrown in its face at high speeds. While the Akuma had expected it to go like a insect on a window, instead it was more like a rock, ivory skin cracking at the collision, and under the rock like skin, muscle showing.

A very ungodly “Fuck” ran through the area in the same eldritch voice, for a moment the gathering chakra faltering as Akane went to town on the bizarre creature’s face. The screeching sound lessened, and the distortions in the air started to turn back to normal as the sonic ball grew bigger, less condensed, the akuma struggling to maintain concentration on it’s attack.

It was much less painful for everyone without the warping.

"Hhrrr.. Grrr… Fucken… You little shit I'll tear your worthless ass off!" Wakanaka continued to approach, if Akane was above, so would he attack from below. His muscles tensed, body stiffening as his chakra flowed around his body like the blood in his veins.

His eye turned for a second to his hand, the fuuma shuriken with it's deadly curve… He folded it into a singular folded talon, and knew where he would strike.

A long time ago, he loved balloons, every kid did really, but the thing was, sooner or later a balloon would pop or simply deflate. This creature's body… like any other it requires to breath to speak, thus this noise… It was time to give it one of the worst wounds known to man.

He grasped the shuriken tight, handle creaking in distress at the grip, he went under the orb, weathering it's proximity, but then with an up pointed blade leapt and thrust upwards into the expanding chest cavity.

He would puncture this thing's lung!

“STOP! BRINGING UP! MY GRANDMA!” Akane screamed, her voice muffled by the akuma flesh she was partially embedded in. Wakanaka had thrown her a lot harder than she had expected and the impact had knocked the wind out of her, if she hadn’t penetrated the creature’s stony skin and gotten herself stuck she might have simply fallen off but now she was secure enough to start thrashing around with her claws, aiming to be as painful a distraction as possible.

Shioreta had clutched to the puppet, the distortion even briefly being rather unpleasant though fortunately for her far from the worst thing she experienced. It paid to be an utter mess of a barely living person sometimes! The frail girl used the chance she had to work on finishing setting up the explosives carefully positioning them on the Pillar. Her hand tugging as the puppet worked to keep her lifted up on the pillar.

The last set of tags were placed her quick ‘math’ sorted as she was satisfied with the placement doing one last final check on the very loud and grumpy creature Akane, oh and also the Akuma. She was quite good at calculating things on a whim… and calculating more so meaning some very rough estimation… but it all should hopefully work out in the end! She gripped onto the puppet tight as ‘Nakawaka’ aimed its spiked club, firing it off hooking onto a distant rock as to pull Shio away, the girl adjusting herself to keep her hand free.

“It’s go time! Best scatter” She shouted out loudly as she was flying through the air on the puppet. Her hand gestured to make the snake symbol. With it the explosive tags started to go off, each seeming to fire off in sequential order timed to control its trajectory towards the big loud beast. The pillar noticeably tilting and falling. A successful demolition! Though being the schemer she was she naturally had more to ensure the hit.

She held her hand up several tags still left up on the opposite side of the pillar away from the Akuma. Her eyes focusing on each makeshift ‘row’ and the target. The puppet reached the destination as she held on tight finally at a stop lifting her hand up creating a makeshift ‘square’ port with her fingers eyeing it up Her hand ready to activate the extra explosive tags set up to explode to help adjust the path to make sure the pillar would hit head on.

Kiyomori roared in annoyance, Waka’s strike deflating it’s chest slightly as the blade dug into stone like skin, flakes the size of Waka falling off to the ground below. The sheer force of the strike forced air out of the chest, deflating it to prevent any more booms of air.

Pressed against it’s skin, the fuma shuriken started to corrode and rust. With a snap, the fuuma blade snapped, and spider webs across the entire creature’s chest cavity broke at once, large sections of chest rock falling down.

The floating rocks from this creature’s power began to tumble as well, hailing stone.

The creature flinched again due to Akane’s struggling, closing it’s left eye in fear of injury as the four armed bug scratched, clawed, and bled across it all. The ‘Gradiose Thunder’, Kiyomori, was straight up not having a good time as all the power in the world didn’t seem to mean much if you couldn’t hit your target.

The Bijuu ball forming on it’s back finally stopped drawing in chakra, finally primed. Annoyed, the Akuma reached forward, grabbing the ball with it’s hand, holding it up as the air distorted once more. The crystals on all three chunnin started to burn a deep crimson red.

“ENOUGH!” It screamed, thunder echoing in the valley at the sound of his voice. His voice’s power overwhelmed the sounds of tags going off, turning his face just in time to see Shioreta’s column of stone flying at his face, though unfortunately for Akane, Kiyomori’s face happened to be where she was doing some of her best work.

CRACK

Tumbling backwards, the bijuu ball fired into the sky, the distorting ending once more as Kiyomori screamed in pain, grabbing it’s head with four different sets of arms, two demon like, two ape like. Twisting and writhing, it smashed into a wall in the valley, still screaming in pain.

Above, the bomb detonated. A sudden shockwave blew through the area, crumbling the rest of the columns, and embedding Kiyomori himself into the wall, but giving reprieve to the group as no more attacks were charging up at the moment.

Above, a single cloud caught in the explosion was dispersed, fragments of the cloud now jumbled all across the sky, filling the expanse with small specs of white across the entire blue veil above.

Panting hard, the young man rolled back up to his feet after being knocked straight onto his ass. The last few seconds were a blur in the end, the big ball thing, the whole fact the beast was kinda made out of stone was surprising… Wait wasit stone? Didn’t matter, all he knew it, it was pinned under several stone columns and all but crushed. Or so he hoped anyways.

At a somewhat stable area, he looked back up at the.. Forcibly cleared sky, then back down, then back upwards. “...had that thing gone off on us we’d be dead.. Guess we are at least somewhat lucky huh?” he cracked his neck, giving his head a lackadaisical scratch. “So, anyone wana make sure it’s dead? Deserves that much…

Ah who am I kidding, i’ll do it, Shio look for Akane she probably got hit by the rock.” Wakanaka waved a hand before trotting off to the crash site, aiming to do a final check if this thing was truely down.

Akane awoke to darkness and a vicious ringing in her ears, she groaned and flexed her muscles experimentally, feeling pain and wet, organic resistance around her.

Oh right, I had someone throw me at a giant monster. That was silly. The last thing I remember was tearing into that thing and then… Did I black out? Does that mean we got hit by Shio’s pillar?

Uncertain which direction was up exactly Akane began weakly pushing in all directions and was relieved to touch something that felt like stone that she was able to dislodge and wiggle slightly.

Shioreta had taken cover behind her puppet, the limbs shifted and distorted in a rather unnatural looking way to protect her from any potential rubble. Fortunately her decision to create some distance working wonders in keeping her well out of harm’s way. She heard Waka’s voice as she shifted the puppet away, propping herself up stretching a bit.

“Oh… Akane was there? Thought it would have been you… I mean I did give a warning…’” She spoke tapping her chin looking on as if in thought. The masked shinobi ventured over to look for their new companion as Waka went to go make tea or something. Probably to take abite out of the beast or whatever weird things Waka did.

Her eyes had caught sight of the rubble moving as she ventured over towards where it was. Her eyes fixating down, not seeming particularly interested in moving it… not that she really had much physical strength to do it, at least on her own. The girl crouched down a bit tugging on the chakra threads as she slowly walked her puppet towards her.

“That you Akane? Or is it another of the beasts? I guess I’m asking ifI can just use explosive tags to clear it out quickly or not?” She questioned her companion, seeming stuck underneath the rubble though fortunately not a pancake at the very least.



Waka would find Kiyomori very much alive, though currently embedded in a stone wall, the cliff side they had had to climb down to get in the chasm in the first place. The ivory skin where it was cracked and broken was slowly starting to sheen over, and the entire hole in the side of it’s throat was beginning to reweave together, though the creature was still reeling, it’s eyes shut, and slow grunting sounds made around it. Unconscious, but not dead. It was now part of the cliffside. At least for the moment. If Waka wanted to try and wake it, that was between Waka and the Sage of Six Paths, and was no one else's business.

All around them, no more pillars stood. Taken down by Shioreta, the rampaging beast, other fights, and the bijuu bomb's detonation. It almost looked like a flat plane now. Fighting was dying down, and in the distance, an old woman oni could be seen flying unhappily away from the center, her arms folded angrily at the sudden air travel.

The rain of gore slowed. Most of the fighting had ended. And crawling between piles of rubble, a black cat could be seen looking excited.

As Shio tried to tug at the slab of stone to help Akane, a hand reached down, and shoved the boulder up, a gloved hand offering help. A hooded man, Inaba gave a helpful smile. Inaba looked worse for wear himself, his coat shredded more than earlier, despite his goofy demeanor, and a lot of bruises and cuts covering him. Blood dripped from him, but how much of it was his blood was a good question...

He seemed surprisingly strong, throwing the boulder with about the same ease as Waka, and trying to pick up Akane. He screamed like a little girl as acid sizzled on his hand, the man making a 'hot hot hot' motion as he flicked his hand back and forth. He then settled on a friendly smile.

"Holy shit. You guys took down ol' Kiyomori? I wouldn't want to mess with that freak. I don't think I want to mess with you freaks! No offense to current nearby freaks intended. That oni dude was like 'kapow', puppet girl was like, 'boom, boom, boom', and four arms there was like the world's scariest tick!"

He energetic narrated unhelpfully with hand motions at the explosions. As he bent down to try and help Akane up, he looked at her crystal, now red and swirling with chakra. It looked like a mini milky way inside, red lightning shooting from one side to the other.

Inaba's face turned serious.

"Kid, I will trade you 100,000 Ryo and a spare crystal for yours, right now."

He gripped his side in pain, evidently thinking of more violent paths to the crystal, but didn't seem to be in a condition to carry them out, in fact, Inaba seemed in a pretty poor state overall despite his overall cheeriness. The boulder might have been something he could throw, but afterwards, he seemed barely able to move.

“I….am not sure I should do that,” Akane said as she shakily got to her feet, her expression tense. The man looked nearly exhausted, but she was just as, if not even more exhausted herself and the ease with which he had tossed that boulder made Akane feel confident about her initial assessment of the man when they had met earlier. Despite his odd mannerisms he wasn’t someone to be trifled with. “I already have a lot of questions that are going to be difficult to answer waiting for me when I return to the village. A shiny new crystal would present an especially challenging point to explain away,”a

Shioreta glanced over to Inaba a bit surprised to be honest of his aid with getting Akane out. The puppet user blinked, noticing the state he was in. She noticed as well his mouth running quite a bit telling a bit more clearly exposing he knew quite a bit more than he let on. Not really a shock at all to her.

“I appreciate the help, though did you really want to wear yourself down. You know you make it much easier to capture you right now.” She spoke gesturing as she lifted her finger as if holding a weapon and pulling the trigger dramatically before giving a sweet smile. Clearly playing a bit of the same sort of game he did.

“Must be some reason you decided to stick around? Need us to carry you off to safety?” She questioned him a bit before ‘teasing’ him a bit back, finding it almost like a little game while perhaps being a bit less cautious then she ought to be.

For a moment, Inaba stared at Akane, motionless at the denial at his request. His muscles tensed as locked eyes with her, focusing on the crystal on her, and unblinking. And then he sighed dramatically slumping his shoulders.

“Crapbaskets, now boss is going to name Mizuki employee of the month, and she’s going to real mean lady about it all month. Going to look real smug, then my family will never love me, I’ll get fired, and have to live in a cardboard box!”

At Shio’s jest, he flung up his arms. “Wah! I can’t go to prison! I’m too pretty.” His voice then dropped to a more serious tone as his eyes settled on Shio, his smile fading. “Though… I suppose you very well could right now, couldn’t you…? Your friend from the Kabenari clan isn’t able to fight, but you’re not out of steam at all, are you? Hardly taken any damage at all, and your puppets are in perfect condition. I wonder if what I’ve got a profile on you is correct though, would you fight without backup…?”

He then laughed again at the finger guns. Reaching out, he moved to ruffle Shio’s hair.

“Believe it or not, I’m a sentimental rogue nin. I had all the samples I needed. I miss my village sometimes. Take care of your teammates, Ms. Koino.”

Inaba then turned his back, turning to limp off, and leave the two be.

Shio wasn’t really that shocked by him mentioning her profile and talking about her state of being. LIkely his usually act. She was however a bit surprised by his gesture, in truth not quite sure how to react to it. She watched him turn away to venture off. The young shinobi pondered a bit before speaking once more.

“Though… Oh, that makes it a little awkward… I would have taken you back to the village I would have carried you… well maybe not me exactly... over to your little group and see if I might be able to take your spot from you.” She shrugged a bit before giving a light wave goodbye.

Wakanaka would stare at the immense creature, fully now able to see its sheer size and strength, even if they had all worked together to even reduce it to this defeated state, it was not dead. Very much not, the injuries were fading quickly and…

And…

….

Oh hey a kitty.

He wasn't about to leave a cat here, nor really think it was a normal cat in the slighest. But of it was that cat that Ichiro sensei hates so much it meant it was the akuma one. And for awhile hes been wondering if it could speak…

So, with a nonchalent few steps he walked towards it, rose a hand and then plucked it up by the scruff of the neck. "Hello hello there kitty, what brings you here?"

The cat cocked its head, confused at Waka's… general existence.

"My big brother is throwing a dinner. Why wouldn't I be here…? What brings you here? You certainly look like an Akuma, but you're more human, aren’t you?"

The cat wipes it's face. "Bro Kaminari has been asleep for a very long time. Of course he's hungry. And all his kids feel what he feels. Perhaps it's nyat the parental bond you humans appreciate, but I find it gorgeous. Just keep any Jinchuuriki away from here until he finishes, got it? And you…."

He poked Waka’s leg with padded foot "I don't know what you are…? But don't stay too long either. Probably not related to Kaminari if you're not in a frenzy though. Mmnnprrr…"

The cat nuzzle Waka while purring, before poking at his crystal. "Red? Curious…"

Looking up at Kiyomori, it purred again. "N'yawwww… he's all tuckered out. Musta had to break out his own seal to get here. After all, thunder follows lightning."

"Thunder huh… Makes sense…" Waka began to cradle the cat despite his best thoughts on cuddling a talking demon cat. "So, Fuugin to the Raigin huh? I guess I wouldn't be able to destroy him if I tried, with that healing, it'd be pointless without a good way to damage him permanently…" he stared down the massive monster, before shaking his head.

"...Really, its times like these I only think that i need to get stronger… If monsters like these live and throw such power around… I'll need to get as powerful as I can…

If I can get like that, i'll be able to destroy anything in my path… Not like this beast, hideous, revolting… I'll become something people look up to, be in awe of…" he paysed to look down at the sound of jingling. His crystal was… Red…?

"Red… Right the explosion.

Ah…

Kitty, you know a way to get stronger?" He asked, hands at it's sides, holding it up and facing it face to face. "Surely you must have lots of secrets eh?"

Kyubei’s first reaction to being picked up was purely to be stunned, a thousand yard stare. N-nobody picked up Kyubei! Especially since Kyubei had grown to near panther sizes, Waka having to use both hands. Though… with Waka’s strength, that was hardly a problem.

“Foolish human! I am nearly a god! You will place me down now! I’m no mere ‘kitty’, I am Kyubei, of 9 tails! Wujei to the Orginators!”

The cat struggled briefly, but for all it’s fancy titles, escaping Waka seemed one feat too many for it. The cat started to bare it’s claws when Waka asked it a very serious question. About how to get stronger. The claws sheathed, and the cat paused, even letting itself be ‘snuggled’ as it thought. It’s ears folded as it thought, staring off into the sky.

The cat claws came out, and scratched Waka, but this time only on his arm, with the cat licking at the wound. “Wind.” It said absent mindedly.

“There are many ways to power. Many are secret. Many are forgotten. I remember many though. Perhaps I may be of assistance. I merely need you to meet me in a month on a shrine in one of Hanegakure’s floating islands. For you, your belly might perhaps be a secret to strength. There is a crystal there. DIgest it, and you will become powerful. Now, as recompense fo giving you information, little monster, please set me down, I don’t like this. I am not ‘kitty’, nor ‘snookums’, nor ‘sazzlefrazzle’, no matter what the 2nd Tsumikage may have led you to believe. “

"A month? Man you really are trying to play the paitence card huh, hoping i'd forget and leave you alone right?" His eyes narrowed as he looked into the, big, cat's. "What would you say if we headed there now huh?

Bring my big ol' kitty friend along eh? I got time now that the job is done." His smile grew bigger and bigger… Hehehe… Secrets, multiple, he'd wringe this cat out of em if he could.

And he will, only a matter of time and cuddling.

Kyubei unscathed it's claws… then sighed.

"Three are vulnerable...can't risk four… this is just a … smaller human? Mini man?? Child?"

Kyubei cocked its head, unsure if the word. He refused to elaborate what he was counting.

"Yes… I have secrets…"

===============================================

 

[KageYuuki]

Hayate Yamamoto
As the chuunin began to spread out, Hayate watched each of them intently. They'd likely feel his gaze studying their form and techniques as they gave their demonstrations. It was true, to be an effective team you needed to know what one another was capable of doing. But this also served to give him an idea of what he could work on with each of them. If they'd be receptive to his teaching. Old Ryuuga had been . . . weird about him teaching his granddaughter after their last argument on genjutsu and that Ryuuka had picked up breaking out of the techniques.

Oh well.

First up was Akane. The members of her clan that became shinobi were always well known for their unusual fighting style. Akane proved no different as she partially dissolved one of the clones before ripping it to pieces. The chunks of crystals dissolved into powder before even hitting the ground, leaving a fine dust on her hands that would fade with time. Hayate just quietly nodded. Her style was very reminiscent of Ichiro's, perhaps he should try asking him for another spar down the road? Granted, the last time they'd put each other in the hospital.

Eizo seemed to take to the stage next.

"Second Gate of Healing: open!"

Hayate quietly hummed in thought, watching the barrage of attacks launched at the clone. High speed, high power, it wasn't too far off from his own approach to combat. Though the Gates have a lot more backlash than my own techniques... How to help mitigate that? Much like Akane, Eizo would find himself temporarily coated in crystalline dust. He gave the tired chuunin a nod when Eizo looked back for approval.

"I hope you aren't expecting me to feel bad about going at something wearing your appearance."

Hayate just raised an eyebrow at his nephew. Saying nothing as he waited for Shibata's addition to the demonstrations. The crystal dragon made sense, given it was the newest technique added to the chuunin's arsenal.

"Will that suffice as a demonstration sensei?"

Hayate was silent for a long moment, resting his chin in his hand as he thought. Finally nodding, "Good, good, you three. Guess it's my turn, huh?" A short series of handsigns he flicked his wrist, and a sword of blue crystal formed in his grasp. "Goes without saying, but I use Crystal Release a lot like Shibata over there. Though my style's a lot more up close and personal."

More clones emerged from the mirror, each armed with weapons of their own. They leapt for him with little warning, devolving into a dance of quick dodges and powerful, cleaving swings. Occasionally, Hayate would swap weapons in the same swift movement or throw the one he was holding, only to appear wherever the weapon landed. The final clone flew through the same handsigns Shibata had, a massive dragon of blue crystal coiling around it.

The real Hayate formed a pair of crystal blades, driving them into the ground. One in front of him, the other behind. As the dragon rushed him, the swords shifted into thin walls of crystal that seemed to ripple as the massive crystal creature slammed into the first and emerged from the second behind him. Hayate let out a breath, letting the crystals all fall away. "I also specialize in space-time techniques. Though unlike Isamu from earlier, I'm more focused on redirecting attacks to defend others."

He stretched, looking back to the trio. "Now then, what to do with you three...? Akane, you have a lot of raw power, let's see about refining that. We'll need to look into a way to neutralize your blood if it gets on your teammates too, else sparring might be interesting down the road. Eizo, your clan specializes in the Eight Gates, so I'll leave that training to them. But I think I've got a few tricks for that staff of yours that you might be interested in." He looked at Shibata last, "We'll see how long that smarminess lasts, Shintaro wanted me to help him put those crystals through their paces tonight."

He nodded, "Speaking of my brother, he'll probably be mad if I keep you three tied up for too much longer. I'd like to get some more one on one time with each of you down the road. My door's always open if you three need anything." He withdrew a scroll, tossing it at Shibata, "That's for after lunch. What I promised when you entered the exams." Hayate winced, "Which reminds me I need to try and catch Aya to give her hers." A handsign, "Enjoy lunch, Reiji's been going on all morning about it." With that, the jounin vanished in a cloud of crystal shards.


IG42 AtlannianSpy RoninN7

 

[Orikanyo]

Wakanaka
Lost legacy
Path of the Oni- Drink deep, get in a fight.

"Tsk, missing out! Come on- Oh Shiit!" A dive, he flipped before the technique could send him skyward, his horn sending sparks fly as the young nin rolled back to his feet, body much more limber at the moment, skin flushing red and eyes narrowing at the target.

"Right, think I got whatchyer about now! Come on! Hit me with that sword again! I'll show yea what true strength is instead of that stupid ninjutsu crap!

I'll take the sword snap it in tow and shove it right up yer arse yea boring one trick pony! Mountain crusher! Ooooh I'm sooo very scared! has to rely on pissy ninja magic!

Be a real man and FIGHT me!

FIIIIIIIGHT MMMMMEEEEEE!!!!

Or yea rely on the sword to make up for somewhere else too? Have to use yer damn ninjutsu just to do anything there eh?" he only got worse as he approachedthe large sword wielding fellow, his mouth ran a mile a minute.

"Come on princess!!! Lets go already!"

 

[Ganryu]

A Lesson in Trickery
(Sachiko & Miho)

​

Spoiler

Sachiko sighed as she paced outside her sensei’s door. Asking for training? Was she insane? It was Miho. She was just going to be told to go ‘fuck off’. That, and Sachiko liked her secrets. If someone knew everything she did… what did she have really? Sachiko wasn’t the smartest, or strongest. Keeping a secret was the only thing she really had.

That, and she was still mad about her diary being stolen. Not, like, prank level mad, but like she currently brought a cloth, a bottle, a lighter, and a jug of alcohol in her various bags.

Grunting, she, mumbled to herself.

“Do you want to be a ninja or not, Sachiko…?”

“No, not really.”

“But do you want access to higher intel…?”

With a groan, she went to knock.

“Oh God what are you doing in front of my house?” said Miho from behind Sachiko. Miho looked even worse than she usually did, the circles under her eyes were darker than normal, her hair looked frazzled and her usual blue sweater was covered in dark, reddish brown stains that were clearly blood. “Whatever it is I need a drink and a shower and a drink first,”

Sachiko nodded… surprisingly graciously, waiting outside as she continued to pace. She didn’t explain what she was doing, but waited for Miho.

Sighing, she was sitted against a frame of the porch when Miho came back, still looking like she’d been told she had a job of shoveling shit.

“It’s a stupid idea… but I’ve never actually taken genjutsu training seriously in my life. But, well… I need lessons. I’ve just been going on instinct with it. Granted, want to tell me to get lost, more than understandable. I still kinda hate you, but, well… Gotta be a ninja sometimes I guess.”

MIho more or less ignored her student as she produced a ring of keys to unlock several different locks on her doors, some of which were concealed behind sliding panels or other mechanisms, but she did leave the door to the apartment open behind her as she disappeared deeper in, calling over her shoulder.

“Step over the first tripwire, duck under the second, the cat bites,”

---

Despite Miho’s warning the cat seemed more interested in snoozing on the couch than biting but it did crack one eye open lazily to peer at Sachiko for a while.It was about twenty minutes later when Miho returned, scrubbed clean and holding an unmarked bottle that smelled faintly of floor cleaner, to listen to Sachiko’s request.

Miho crinkled her nose suspiciously. “Wait you know genjutsu? When the fuck did that happen?” she asked, taking a swig from the bottle while Sachiko answered.

“Got any neighbors you particularly like… cause I don’t know to really aim this. I’d say less “I know genjutsu”, and more, just can get people to feel what I’m feeling, and I thiiiink that’s genjutsu? Guess I’ll just show you.”

Sachiko nodded her bandaged eyes forward, concentrating, holding her hands together in a ram hand seal. Chakra began to visibly flow off of her body in dark tendrils that lifted into the sky, like paint dripping in the wrong direction. It seemed toxic and sludge like.

Somehow, concentrating on the one emotion “To Kill” was easier with Miho around. Still, the effort and chakra was making veins in her forehead visibly bulge.

Her hands tightened together, and the chakra around her exploded outward in the area, a killing intent piercing through in a concentrated wave. For one minute, a stunning amount travelled. The next… everything was calm again. Sachiko dropped to the ground.

“Death Bunny’s Scythe…”

- just can get people to feel what I’m feeling,-

It seemed Sachiko had a fair bit of hidden blood lust if it was just comparable to what she was feeling.

“P-please don’t tell me that’s what you fucking called your technique,” Miho said as the cat hissed and darted out of the room in a blur of orange. Despite her quip the jonin had a tense expression and she was casually tucking a kunai she had flipped out of her sleeve back into its hiding place as she continued.

“I more or less understand what you mean by going on instinct now though. That was very crude. Not ineffective, but crude. And not formally a genjutsu either, though it's close enough and using most of the same principles,” Miho stood up suddenly and walked over to a bookshelf against one wall, rifling through dusty, battered looking books as she continued speaking to Sachiko.

“Typically a traditional genjutsu requires two main components to be classified as such,” Miho said, her words were oddly formal, as though she was reciting from memory rather than improvising. “The use of yin chakra as a medium for information, and the manipulation of the target’s chakra pathway system such that that information is interpreted as sensory data. It’s kind of like sending over a cypher to someone before you send them a coded message, if they have the cypher already then the message itself doesn’t need to contain as much information so it’s easier to send, harder to disrupt and a few other things.” Miho bent down to pull an old cardboard box out from the bottom shelf. “Your… I’m not fucking saying that name- your technique Is doing the first part without the second but it kind of broadcasts so loudly and across so many frequencies that its impossible not to receive if that makes sense. It’s probably what some of the very earliest genjutsu looked like,”

Sachiko couldn’t help, despite her sour mood, on smiling at her sensei’s reaction. “You could just say ‘killing intent scythe’. Far as death bunny…”

She gave her cutest smile as she posed for someone who’s genjutsu just broadcast the fact she was probably a serial killer. “It me.”

Sachiko then slumped against a wall. “Yeah… I’ve always had a hesitancy against any jutsu that required handsigns. My chakra natura is… none. So bit bitter about that, despite coming from a clan with an awesome explosion release. Prefer to throw things. Much simpler. But, well, when I first used genjutsu, it just seemed… so natural. Figured I might want to look more into it. And you ARE a jonin, even if I’m not sure about ‘functional person’. So… What would be my next step if I wanted to keep learning here…? What’s the cardboard box for. Doing a puppet show? I can get the sock puppets.”

Sachiko pulled out a pair from her bag.

“I was helping at the academy later. You’d be surprised what you can teach people with sock puppets!”

“Nah sock puppets might be a little bit too sophisticated for you three little goblins,” Miho shot back, suddenly tossing something at Sachiko over her shoulder. From the way the projectile opened and fluttered in mid air, it was a book, an old tattered book with a faded, pale blue cover, its design restrained and formal.

Theory and Practical Applications of Genjutsu read the cover.

“It hasn’t got any puns in it and if you try and hollow it out and hide weapons inside it I will hunt you down, hollow you out and hide weapons inside you, but that won’t be a bad place to start. It’s where I started back when I was learning genjutsu. But I’m guessing you won’t leave me alone without something more immediately practical so question time. Why do you think shinobi primarily use throwing weapons like the ones you like anyway?”

“Fair.” She said at the ‘hollow out’ threat.

Sachiko picked it up, flipping through it. On one hand, the passages seemed deep, and annoying to read. On the other hand… they sort of just made sense. Sachiko paused at Miho’s question. She pulled out one of her bo shurikens.

“To be fair, most ninja don’t use throwing weapons like mine. Mine are designed to pierce. Most pick hiro shurikens, which are easy to throw, or kunai, which are versatile. But neither really has stopping power. Originally they were supposed to be distractions, but as they became more and more signature part of the ninja kit, people got fancy, and wanted to kill, so they threw them harder, despite their being better throwing weapons.

I can’t speak for other ninja, but I use them because they don’t need chakra, no complicated theory, no special clan advantages. Just practice. Lots and lots of practice. Even someone with ‘no known chakra nature’ can use them if they practice enough. ”

“Mmm that’s all true more or less, but it’s not quite what I mean,” said Miho, vaulting over the back of her sofa to reclaim her seat and her drink. “Think broader: for what reason would shinobi bother with weapons that are mostly distractions? If you look at other groups like samurai for example there’s little interest in something like that, their weapons were developed for lethality not distraction. Shinobi are more, not less interested in killing people than any other group so what makes us different?”

Sachiko did a few handsigns, transforming into the Tsumikage… then Nobuyuki… then Miho.

“Because we can be anyone. They can’t.” Miho’s dopple said to her, mimicking her voice and tired expression. “A weapon that’s concealable is a big plus.”

She transformed into Waka.

“And Shinobi really shouldn’t be into fighting.”

Into Shio.

“If I carry a big bow into battle, everyone knows my intent. But if your best friend pulls a knife out of nowhere, you’re going to be surprised.”

Back into Sachiko. “What I think anyways. What’s your answer?”

“That’s not wrong either, but even shinobi who don’t need to conceal their intentions or identity still tend to carry shuriken and kunai. As for my answer well you were just doing it,” Miho out her hands together and began flicking through hand seals at random with practiced, easy motions. “The split second of time you can buy by throwing something at your opponent that they have to respond too can become fire, illusions, lighting, poison, almost anything in the world. The more powerful your hand seals are, the more powerful your shurikenjutsu become through the time they can buy,” Miho smiled thinly and slightly bitterly. “Which ironically means tool specialists like us have a difficult time fully unlocking the potential of the weapons we use,”

“Handsigns. And only handsigns I got are for genjutsu really. So my distractions can buy time for… more distractions. Great.” Sachiko flipped a bo shuriken in her hands, the rain bouncing up and down between her fingers, Sticky Fingers jutsu letting her juggle it with a single finger at points, chakra grabbing the edges.

“So, what do weapons have to do with buying time for genjutsu? Thought genjutsu was all about buying time too. What’s a ninja like me supposed to be doing?

To be honest, I’m a coward, and don’t feel that’s a bad thing. FIght breaks out, I don’t want to be involved. Don’t think I should be it’s not related to the mission. Waka and Okimi, for example, like to smash things. Doesn’t really seem to fit my M.O. I miiiight have just left them behind last mission. What’s a ninja like me supposed to be doing? What’s the point of buying time for handsigns?”

Miho quirked an eyebrow. “You’re telling me the single most chaotic, unpredictable, irritating, difficult person in my entire life has recently discovered the ability to manipulate people’s perception of reality and the only thing she can think to do with it is buy time? That’s kind of disappointing,” Miiho took another sip from her bottle and then held it at eye level to see how much was left. The answer did not appear to please her.

“I can’t believe I’m the one telling you this but you might need to think outside the box a little. What will the seconds your shurikenjutsu buy for you become? They can be opportunities for teammates like Wakanaka or other people to unleash their raw power. That’s a good answer but it’s not the only one you're capable of and it’s not one you’ll always have access to. THe more of those answers you have, the better a shinob you’ll be. That’s what we are in the end, answers to questions other people ask,”

Sachiko blinked. How'd they get on the subject of weaponry and delaying anyways? Sachiko thought it related to openings for using genjutsu, but well... didn't seem to be what Miho was looking for. There was a lesson in here somewhere. But...

A mischevious smile came to her face. That's what she got for following anyone else's path. Sachiko's path had always been... a little more chaotic.

"Suppose I'm just slow, Sensei. Why don't we have a bit of a demonstration. Just a bit of a duel. Nothing but genjutsu. Does that sound fair? If I'm making space for genjutsu, let's see what it can't do! Sides, making room for Waka or Shio just doesn't seem my style. That'd infer I trust anybody. I like secrets, but here's my biggest one. I don't trust anyone. Not my teammates, not myself, not my superiors.

Still, tangent. Let's see what one can do!"

Sachiko began to undo her bandages, duel eyes of saphire and ruby staring at Miho as Sachiko began a few handsigns of her own, the air around her distorting slightly as a gust of wind started to blow past.

“Cocky little shit,” Miho grumbled as she performed a genjutsu release, purging herself of foreign chakra and revealing an empty seat where Sachiko had been moments ago. Now then, how should I respond exactly?” Idly Miho picked up the text book she’d been showing Sachiko and flicked through some of the pages, stopping on one in particular that brought a thin smile to her face. “Oh that could be fun,” Miho said, standing up to track down her errant student somewhere within the apartment.

“A ninja sees underneath the underneath.” Sachiko whispered to herself happily, hoping she could buy a little time, and underestimating her sensei, just a bit.

She closed her left blue eye, letting her red eye glow, a thermal vision extending as she scanned for traps as she went. Thin cooler lines would be trip wires, and small boxes of air could indicate pressure switches. The rest… Well, that depended on how creative Miho was. And how creative could a drunk who hated the world be?

Sachiko quickly scanned the bedroom, looking for a bookcase, or a night stand. Knowing her sensei, she’d probably have a false bottom somewhere, and that would be a pain in a half.

Miho’s bedroom was absent a bookcase, it seemed the one in the living room was suitable for her needs in that regard. There was a night stand, though it was mostly loaded up with half drunk glasses of water and half consumed packets of over the counter painkillers. The drawers of the night stand contained cold, cylindrical shapes that might very well be senbon launchers and there was indeed a slender prism of air beneath the top one that might a hidden compartment beneath a false bottom, but it looked too thin to contain Sachiko’s diary, probably having been designed to hold a few important documents. The real prize unveiled by Sachiko’s dojutsu was a rectangle of colder air in the back of a closet set into the opposite wall, a draft from a hidden door perhaps?

Sachiko drooped her head. This place was just… kinda sad. Miho would be expecting a prank. The best one Sachiko could think of would be to tidy it up and just… let her think something in here was waiting. But, the draft of a cooler air? That was irresistible.

“So, this is how I die? Like a moth on a lightbulb. That genjutsu’s not buying me more than a few seconds, even if she were the most gullible ninja on earth. Even if where were Waka!. And, she’s not, so I’m on borrowed time...”

Sachiko shrugged, and dived into the closet, closing it as a precaution, and feeling around for a switch to it. Afterall, Sachiko spent most of her time blind these days anyways, what was a little darkness? She was already going to have one heck of a headache after this, she’d never actually used her thermal vision so thoroughly.

Sachiko’s hands would eventually stumble onto a press plate worked into the surface of the door at around waist height and it swung open silently.

“Step over the first tripwire, duck under the second, the cat bites,”

---

Despite Miho’s warning the cat was absent from the living room and It was about twenty, solitary minutes later when Miho returned, holding an unmarked bottle that smelled faintly of floor cleaner, to listen to Sachiko’s request.

Miho crinkled her nose suspiciously. “Wait you know genjutsu? When the fuck did that happen?” she asked, taking a swig from the bottle while Sachiko answered.

“Got any neighbors you particularly like… cause I don’t know to really aim this. I’d say less “I know genjutsu”, and more, just can get people to feel what I’m feeling, and I thiiiink that’s genjutsu? Guess I’ll just show you.”

Sachiko nodded her bandaged eyes forward, concentrating, holding her hands together in a ram hand seal, then she blacked out.

Sachiko would awake lying horizontal on what felt like carpet, relatively soft and comfortable carpet, although it did smell faintly of cat hair.

“Okay wow that really is crude, looks like twice is your limit for that technique,” said Miho with wry amusement. She was seated on the coach nearby, reading the textbook that had been the focus of their earlier discussion.

“Well killing intent based techniques drop off rapidly in effectiveness if you try to use them multiple times on the same opponent anyway so it's not a huge flaw. Oh don’t try and get up for a little bit,”

It was about the time Sachiko had slammed the last handsign that the sense of Deja Vu hit, and she realized she couldn’t stop the jutsu.

I don’t have the chakra reserves for this! Death Bunny’s Scythe takes too much out of me, AND I used Inaba’s Hare too! When did she get the jutsu off?!

Sachiko began to undo her bandages, duel eyes of saphire and ruby staring at Miho as Sachiko began a few handsigns of her own, the air around her distorting slightly as a gust of wind started to blow past.

My eyes were open…!

It was about that time that Sachiko finished the blast of chakra, insufficient for the jutsu, but unable to stop. Everything went black.

A few minutes later, Sachiko found herself on the floor, covered in cat hair.

At least she didn’t throw me in the litterbox.

A groan of pain came from the bubblegum on the ground. Everything burned. With Sachiko’s kit, she’d never run out of chakra before. She felt a dry, pulsing pain, like a dry mouth pain, but over every part of her body. At once. It was more than a little bit agonizing. Was this what exerting one’s self was like?

“Roger… Point proven...” She said to the command to not get up. “Did I ever make it to the back room, or was that too an illusion… Also… can you pass me those bandages, my head’s starting to hurt.”

“Depends on if you fell forward or backwards after the genjutsu kicked in,” Miho said as she tossed Sachiko’s bandages over so that they drifted down onto the chunin’s face. “Does your face hurt more than your back? Then you probably made it over the threshold.We need to talk about those bandages by the way, what the fuck did you do to your eyes? I leave you brats alone for… well actually I guess its been a couple of months or something? At home experimental eye surgery is probably the least I could expect,”

Sachiko just smiled, and decided it was time to stand.

Her body instantly hated her, pulling her to the floor, every muscle in her body screaming. But one little jutsu kept her moving, despite the agony. She was pretty sure she blacked out for a second, even as she grabbed her bandages. She tried tying them, but while her body would obey her… fine motor skills were completely shot. She just let them drape over her shoulders instead.

“Right now… my everything hurts, so can’t quite rate the pain higher anything. What comes after 11 on a scale of 1-10.

Guess that is something I can do with genjutsu… I think I get the principles of that technique. You said genjutsu is encoded messages to the brain. That genjutsu I think’s a bit special. You arne’t implanting anything new. You’re pulling up old information. The opponent’s brain isn’t getting a new command, it’s just getting the command of what it had, again, and again. If I hadn’t used such an expensive jutsu, it would have kept going, wouldn’t it? And because genjutsu release is a handsign, that genjutsu is particularly difficult to breka out of. You can’t even cut your hand, because the hands in motion.

You hit me when I took of the blindfold, it made me vulnerable to it, so I’m guessing it’s occular. From the chakra I can see in my system, I’d say it’s probably ⅘ yin, ⅕ yang, classifying it as a yin release, like most genjutsu. The amount of chakra required would be about probably half of my normal reserves if I tried it. I don’t quite understand how you triggered it on your end, but guess this book will tell me, and you’ve kept the pages warm for me.”

{Gan bullshit his ass off}

Sachiko was really straining as she went to pick up the book from Miho. Her eyes were really unfocused as she sweated.

“Normally, I’d huff off, I don’t like giving out secrets for free, but, well, think I figured out that technique, so I’m considering that payment. Far as my eyes… well, there might be a jutsu for forcing your body to act, even when it REALLY doesn’t want to… I might have used it in… ways I don’t want to talk about. Currently using jutsu… to… move… My eyes were pretty badly damaged after a certain brawl I had near Arashigakure. Tooootally unrelated to where we went during the chunnin exams.

Some guy spat venom into my eyes. I’d love to joke about it being radioactive, and gave me the eyesight of an eagle… but it just nearly blinding me. While working on healing them, I may have added a few effects. Those contacts I had earlier are gone. Or rather...they’re not so much contacts anymore as additional film over my eyes, along with a few injections to improve the aqueous humor, making the fluid cleaner and sharper… and often replaced. I don’t wanna talk about how.

It’s been a painful few months. But… getting there. Far as what my eyes do… that costs another secret. But right now… they just hurt a lot.”

Sachiko tried making her way to the door, but ended up fainting against the side of it, a thud heard as her face travelled down the side of it. She now had an answer that her face hurt more now though.

Oh don’t try and get up for a little bit

Probably solid advice. Probably advice Sachiko should have listened to. Chakra exhaustion was something…

“Can’t listen to me even when it’s for your own damn good,” Miho grumbled, uncurling herself from the coach and walking over to where Sachiko was slumped, picking up the chunin and dumping her unceremoniously on the coach, leaning one the back of the sofa to rest. From the hallway leading to Miho’s bedroom her cat finally reappeared, fixing Miho with a venomous expression before jumping up to curl up on Sachiko’s stomach.

“Yeah I coulda been talking about you too,” Miho grumbled, reluctantly reaching down to scratch between the cat’s ears. “Too stubborn and too curious for your own good, that’s how cat’s die you know,”

“Mrow,” siad the cat, unphased by Miho’s warning.

“Cats and shinobi,” Miho muttered, wandering off to her own bed.

 

[IG42]

Shibata Yamamoto
Catching the scroll Shibata clutched it possessively clearly far more interested in the new ability it contained than Hayate's light scolding. "Always on the move." A new voice sighed as Hayate vanished then spoke more clearly. "In any case he is correct, I have no intention of letting that attitude pass." Shibata's self-satisfied expression instantly evaporated replaced with a mix of excitement and dismay as he turned to see two men had joined Fubuki in watching the exercise. "Father! Dad! You...saw that?" He was fairly surprised that at least of one of his parents hadn't been delayed or called away on some urgent business again.

Coming closer Reiji lightly bopped his son on the head. "Yeah we were kiddo, you're good but you're a long way from earning that smug look and it wouldn't be a good look on you if you had. When you're on the job Hayate ain't your fun uncle for you to tease, he's the commander of your team and you'd better treat him like one, got it?" Looking properly chastised for once Shibata nodded and Reiji's seriousness instantly vanished as he patted the chuunin's head with a grin, with a more restrained smile Shintaro nodded approvingly then looked to the other two chuunin. "Good, now I believe the intention was to meet your teammates regardless of the changes."

All remorse gone Shibata smiled brightly and turned to his team then abruptly stopped for moment to recompose himself. "Ahem, this is Eizo Tanaka and Akane Kabenari." He said indicating each of them in turn. "Akane, Eizo these are my parents Shintaro and Reiji Yamamoto." Joining them Fubuki waved. "And you met me already so that's everyone, try to get along with Shichan I know he makes it hard sometimes."

AtlannianSpy RoninN7 KageYuuki

 

[KageYuuki]

Kurio Shimizu

What Makes Us Strong​

Spoiler

Kurio sighed, sealing up the scroll he had been reading. Theoretical differences between the healing and mystical palm techniques were all well and good, but actually putting it into practice was another matter entirely. He was so close to getting it down, but there was something missing still. That final push needed to actually break through. He rubbed his eyes, it was past time for a break anyway. A short walk would do him some good.

The sun was beginning to set when he stepped outside, already dipping behind the crater ridge and blanketing the village in shadow. Less daylight was just one of the disadvantages to living where they did. Rainstorms could be a particular nightmare. Kurio raised an eyebrow at the tar-like substance dripping from an open window across the street. Seemed Isamu was home.

“Taking a break from your studies?” The voice nearby was soft.

Kurio spun towards it. “Lady Tsumikage.”

Ema waved him off, “None of that at home, you know that.”

Kurio hesitated, nodding. “How are you feeling?” The multitude of bandages were gone, leaving no traces of scars in their wake.

She gave him a playful smile. “Did Dr. Michizoe send you to spy on me?”

Kurio spluttered, “W-well, he was grumbling earlier today…”

“Oh no doubt, but my job means I don’t have the luxury of lying around healing. And Ichiro isn’t the only one that knows about those springs.”

Ah, well that explained the lack of scarring then. “That couldn’t have been--”

“Pleasant?” The Tsumikage snorted, “no, it wasn’t. Your sensei’s probably the only one that actually likes that place. But I’m on my feet and that’s what I needed.”

Kurio nodded. He hesitated, shifting.

“Something on your mind?”

“When . . . we were training the other day, sensei called you the world’s strongest jinchuuriki.”

Ema raised an eyebrow. “Did he now? Someone trying to suck up for another rematch?”

“You’ve fought before?”

“Should ask him how he became a sensei at some point.”

“Huh . . .” Kurio had never really given it much thought. He shook his head, that wasn’t important right now. “What . . . how are you so strong?”

Ema blinked at the question. “Hm?” A mischievous smile crossed her lips as she leaned closer to the chuunin. “Curious about my secret, huh?”

“I . . . uh . . .” he shifted.

She laughed, lightly tousling his hair. “Before I answer that, I have a question for you. Why do you fight?”

Kurio blinked, “what?”

“Why do you fight? What is it that drives you to go on missions and face impossible odds? Your nindo.”

He frowned, looking at the ground as he thought. Why did he fight? Sure, he couldn’t deny the sheer rush that could come with an encounter. But was that the reason? “I guess I’ve never really thought about it before… I’m a ninja, those things just come with the job.”

She gave a low hum in response to his answer. “You just see yourself as a tool to be wielded as the village sees fit then? For some people, that answer’s enough.” A sly, knowing smile. “But those people never become kage.” Ema motioned towards the gate with her head, “come walk with me.”

Stepping out of the compound and into the street, the pair was met with the usual nightlife that made up Tsumigakure. Miners and shinobi alike walking home from work, a ripple of laughter from academy students playing nearby, the smell of cooking fires filling the air. Despite the miasma blanketing the village like a thin veil of fog, it was peaceful.

The evening bustle of the village died down as they walked further away. The pair soon reached the remains of a grove, the densely packed trees now dead and grey. All throughout the branches, lights twinkled like small stars.

A small shrine sat at the heart of the grove, offerings laid out in front of the slab of polished granite inside. Etched names filled its surface. Looking closer, Kurio saw that each of the lights was a crystal pendant, so dark they were nearly black. Miasma vented from the cracked crystals as they floated and glistened.

“Do you know where we are?”

Kurio slowly nodded, “The Memorial of Tears.” Despite knowing its importance to the village, he’d never really visited here.

Ema reached up, gently plucking one of the crystals from the air and bringing it close. “I know so many of these crystals. The names and faces of the shinobi that wore them. Each one precious, all of them gone too soon.” Her eyes misted over as she gently cradled the black crystal in her hands. “I once thought that by becoming Tsumikage, it wouldn’t hurt anymore. That I could prevent more people from dying.” Ema gave a quiet, bitter chuckle. “I was wrong, of course. It hurts like hell, Kurio. And with every family I see break, every crystal I place here, every prayer and offering left, it never gets any easier.”

He hesitated, shifting. “Whose . . . pendant is that?”

“Kenshin Yoneda’s.”

“The Second Tsumikage?”

She nodded. “He’d been my mentor after he retired and Kinnosuke took over as Third. This memorial was his creation.” Ema eased herself onto the steps of the shrine, nodding for Kurio to do the same. “He saw everyone in this village as his family, shinobi or not, and would do anything to protect them. Even if it meant facing impossible odds time and again.”

Kurio sat down beside her, studying the darkened crystal that was cradled in Ema’s hands. Most of the crystals floating in the grove all had a purplish hue, like the one hanging around his neck currently. The late Tsumikage’s pendent, however, had swirls of red running through the black, a speckling of dim stars against an inky sky.

“He stood alone against Jingakure’s army twice. First when the village was founded, then again after he had retired.”

“I . . . knew about the first one. He bought Lord First time to undo his seal.” The founding of the village was a story everyone heard at least once while at the academy. Though Ichiro’s recent . . . lesson had left him with a lot to think about when it came to that story.

Ema nodded. “The second time . . . there had been an ambush. Reizo the Ifrit and his forces cut a path straight through a small farming village to cut off Arashigakure’s army. They found a group of our shinobi instead.” She lightly brushed her thumb against the crystal despite the seething chakra emanating from it. “Kinnosuke didn’t think there was anything we could do for them, but Kenshin wouldn’t hear it. He grabbed me and stormed out of the village.”

Sensing Kurio’s question, she added, “A sensor would have a better chance at avoiding any further ambushes. I could guide the survivors back safely. He didn’t waste any time jumping into the fray when we got there, told everyone else to run.” Ema let out a slow breath. “I went back there a few days later when he didn’t come home. This crystal was the only thing I could find among the bodies. We learned from scouts later on that only one of Reizo’s men had survived. The Ifrit himself hadn’t.”

Shaking her head, Ema released the crystal, watching it float back up with the others. “You asked what it was that made me strong. I inherited the Second Tsumikage’s outlook, this village is like a family to me. It’s precious, and I’ll do what it takes to protect it. You’ll have to find something similar if you want to become stronger. Something precious you’ll do anything to protect, a reason to face those impossible odds and come home alive.”

She smiled at Kurio, “being Tsumikage means carrying the hopes and dreams of everyone in this village. It’s so much more than just being the strongest ninja here. Find that thing to fight for, you’ll start to understand.”

He shifted, watching the crystal take its place back among the others. “How . . . am I supposed to do that?”

Ema tousled his hair again, “that’s something you’re going to have to find out for yourself I’m afraid. Kinda like the Well of Absolutes, I could tell you but that would defeat the purpose.” She smiled, “I’m confident you’ll figure it out though.”

 

[RoninN7]

Eizo Tanaka
Introductions are in order
​

Eizo took a step back and decided to watch Shibata's demonstration carefully. Being of the Yamamoto clan, he was sure to deliver something interesting. As expected, the Yamamoto's crystal release showed itself quite nicely as Shibata summoned a crystal dragon that made quick work of Hayate sensei's clone. It was quite amusing to see how confident Shibata acted toward his uncle after his demonstration, and Eizo could tell that he was very proud of his abilities. Confidence is always good, though it can be dangerous in the heat of battle when caution might be the best option. Hayate sensei quickly took center stage, ignoring Shibata's comment, and decided to introduce his own demonstration of power. Eizo grinned and took a few steps back to give his new sensei all the space he needed. Leaning on the wall to finish regaining his strength, Eizo watched intently as Hayate sensei summoned several crystal clones and armed himself with a crystal blade.

It looked like a whirlwind of crystals as Hayate sensei battled against the clones he'd just summoned. Being a jonin, Hayate sensei's skills were clearly above Eizo and the rest of his team, and there was a certain beauty to his technique. Once most of the clones had been dealt with, the last one summoned a dragon like the one Shibata had, which made Eizo raise an eyebrow. Hayate sensei then plunged his blades into the ground, turning them into mirrors that served as portals for the dragon to fly straight through, which he quickly explained to be space-time ninjutsu. Now this is quite the jonin, isn't it? Space-time techniques are no joke in the right hands. It seems as though this team is very well protected with Hayate sensei at the helm. What I can say is that a lot of our strength is concentrated on close-quarters combat, which should be interesting... Eizo's train of thought was interrupted when Hayate sensei approached the three chuunin and started assessing their abilities one by one.

"I'd love to learn any staff techniques you can teach me sensei, thank you," Eizo spoke cordially and with a hint of excitement at the prospect of learning new fighting techniques with his new sensei. When Hayate sensei bid them farewell, Eizo bowed courteously before watching the man vanish into a cloud of crystals. "Looks like we have some time off for now," he started, more to himself than to anyone around him. He quickly turned to face his teammates with a smile. "Very impressive techniques, both of you. I think we'll make a great team together," Eizo finished with a grin. The boy's light-hearted demeanor quickly turned attentive when Shibata's parents appeared, scolding their son for his smug behavior before turning to greet Akane and Eizo. "It is a pleasure to meet you both," Eizo spoke up, with a courteous bow, "as Shibata said, I am Eizo Tanaka and I promise to be the best teammate I can be for this squad. Don't worry, Fubuki, your brother and I will get along great!"

KageYuuki AtlannianSpy IG42

 

[Ganryu]

Pt 1
Mission with Shibata ( IG42 ) & Eizo( RoninN7 )
Mission
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Spoiler

Diamond in the Rough

Rank: C

"The Yamamoto clan keeps VERY precise counts of the crystals in the village that are refined. Occassionaly ninja break theirs, the crystals wear out, new ninjas graduate the academy, or important guests enter the village. No more crystals are given out than neccessary. However, recently, the numbers don't add up. The foreman says don't worry about it. I have the feeling if we push him, no good will come of it. I want you to discretely find out why we have missing crystals."

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Spoiler

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‘‘Ting’ ‘Ting’ ‘Crash’ ‘Bang’

A melodious symphony of pickaxes, hammers, and explosions played in the background, the sounds so rhythmic that it was hard to believe it was a workday. All across assembly lines of workers could be seen, emblems of the great clans of the village seen everywhere. Miners of Kounna, processors of the gems from Yamamoto.

The mines continued their eternal song.

In the distance a figure with dark lines under his eyes motioned at Eizo and Shibata to a dark corner. He had the emblem of Yamamoto on his back, but had no headband identifying him as a ninja.

“I’m glad you two came. I’m Sato. I’m, uh, assuming you read the mission description about a rat problem. Probably Dr. Ryu or something.”

He rubbed the back of his head nervously. It was obvious he was a bad liar, but Sato was the one who had contacted the mission office about the missing crystals. Still, despite his bad acting, most of the miners and processors kept their minds to their tasks, far too busy to actually care.

After giving the workers a sweeping glance Shibata fixed Sato with an especially imperious look. “If rats could be so discerning this would have been an issue long before now.” Normally if Shibata was going to flaunt anything it would’ve been his abilities rather than his social standing but in this case the latter would likely be more helpful. “However I hope anyone here will take my presence and any questions I may ask as merely part of my preparation for my future role rather than any sort of accusation.” He smiled slyly. “I wouldn’t want to cause undue alarm to anyone before it’s necessary after all.”

Eizo stepped into the mine alongside his teammate, Shibata. He wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this mission, but it seemed like a promising opportunity to get to know one of his new teammates. Looking around, Eizo could tell that there was a lot of heavy labor going on in the mine and that many of the people down there would have reason to want something more for their services. Since Shibata was a Yamamoto himself, Eizo was more than happy to let him do most of the talking. There’s a good chance that finding the thief won’t be easy. It seems so obvious that it’s someone from the inside that maybe it could be someone from the outside? Or maybe it’s just a disgruntled worker and it’ll be a piece of cake... Eizo’s head worked overtime producing thought after thought as per the usual before he decided to chime in along with his comrade. “Alarm? We’re here to get to the bottom of the little problem going on here. I’d say that’s the opposite of alarm, wouldn't you agree?”

The smell of chalk entered the mines.

Sato nodded nervously. In the background, a woman with a clipboard, and purple gothic hair stopped at one of the conveyor belts, looking at the inventory, tapping the clipboard, and looking increasingly frustrated. She had scratch marks on her arm, hidden by her sleeves.

Above, a shouting voice yelled “Kounna Corps, pick up the slack! We’re falling behind, we need more ore from deep within.” Above, a fat man with a mustache twirling it could be seen. He looked perpetually angry, and his voice sounded it as well.

“R-right. Let me take you to the r-rats.” Sato said.

Sato began to take them to lower levels, where a series of doors could be seen, like a safe after each one. He knew the code to each and every one. As they entered them, new tasks could be seen, such as several water ninja working together, creating a single stream of water. It looked pathetic… until a crystal moved under it, and was instantly severed cleanly in half. The high pressure was cutting into the ground as well.

“This is where we process the crystals from raw into the correct shapes. The next room is where we refine their ability to absorb akuma chakra. The room after that…”

Leading them through the rooms, Sato took them to a vault, where a collection of strings to cylinders could be seen, each high strung wire connecting the cylinder across the wall to a plug in the wall. They were near invisible, and went from one end of the hallway to the other.

“E-everything looks fine. B-but, well… E-either of you two good at taijutsu…? I-if so, follow me. I’m not so good, but lots of practice… lots of being yelled at, and I got it memorized. O-oh, and be quiet.”

Sato motioned for them to follow, the meek man moving in a surprisingly dexterous way to avoid touching the near invisible strings, until he made his way to a small section. He whispered to them.

“Crystal 3246, 3247, then 3249. T-there are a lot of small mistakes in here. I-if any of the strings snap, an alarm goes off. And only the forman has a code to disable them. I brought it up, and he got angry at me, saying I was just trying to get “his ass murdered by ANBU”. T-that’s not all. I noticed empty cylinders. It’s not possible to reach in them normally without removing the string to the lids. 3324 was filled just yesterday. I know it was. Foreman said it’s always been empty, that I’m paranoid. I know what I saw!

S-so… That brings me to the next part I need help with. These are high tension strings, they are connected to plugs in the alarms. When they are pulled, the plug comes loose, and a flashbang is revealed, which then goes off. This is a sound chamber, if that goes off, the whole mine will hear it. I shouldn’t tell you all this, but I want to see the container for 3324. W-would you guys have any idea how I can get it out? O-or perhaps you’d like a better investigation.

I don’t know how anyone would make it this far deep in the mine without extremely high access.

Only a few of us even know the access code to the vault. Myself, the foreman, his new secretary who counts them, the Tsumikage, Y-your father, Lord Shibata.” Sato bowed respectfully. “and Rin, head of ANBU. I think Miho might, but I’m not sure how or why. S-still, 99% of the village has never even seen the vault.”

Following Sato quietly Shibata observed the work with interest until they came to the vault, while he was agile enough to follow Sato through the tripwires he was sure that Eizo would do better at reaching a container than he would. “The one with the purple hair, that’s the secretary? How long ago did she arrive here?” She was either an obvious suspect or someone he ought to question about the discrepancies.

Thinking a bit more about how one would obtain the crystal without alerting everyone he spoke up again. “I could contain the sound of the detonation by opening the capsule while it’s phased inside a larger crystal though there would still be a flash, a ninja with Earth Release might be able to handle it by taking it into the surrounding rock for a moment. ”

Eizo studied Sato as he led them through the mine, explaining the situation with more clarity. He looked at the inner workings of the mines and the pressurized water being manipulated by several shinobi, smiling a little at the ingenuity of it all. Once they arrived at the section with the strings, Eizo easily made his way through and followed along. The task seemed relatively simple: walk through the strings and get the container. Sato mentioned one rather annoying problem, however, which was the flashbangs encased within each container and set to go off if the strings break.

Shibata began asking questions and theorizing about a way to stop the effects of the flashbang, which made sense except for the part that Eizo didn’t use ninjutsu at all. “I can’t help with Earth Release, I’m afraid. But I might have a plan.” Eizo turned to Sato with curious intensity in his eyes. “These flashbangs must have some sort of mechanism… So would it be possible, if one were fast enough, to open the container and instantly reach in to hold the device in a locked position until we can get to a safe place to let it detonate? I can get through easily enough and speed isn’t an issue, but I need to know how the mechanism works.” Eizo had a plan, but before he could execute it he needed to understand the explosive devices within the containers.

Sato stopped for a moment, thinking about the possibilities, Eizo’s in particular giving him pause.

Nodding he slowly reached into his pockets. “I suppose in theory, th-that might work. We did have a few new containers to set up, so, I have a spare tag you can look at.”

Reaching out of his pocket, he gave Eizo a tag to study. The tag seemed to be concentrated in the center, a certain well timed ripped very well might render it moot. It required extreme speed.

Meanwhile, the smell of chalk was quite strong in the chamber as well.

Sato then turned to Shibata.

“You mean Ms. Hima Honoji? She’s a rather recent hire I guess. About six months ago…? But she’s really dependable. Like freakishly so. She can count faster than I can with a glance. And she’s really nice. There’s just something about her that makes you trust her. And every time she pulls through. I-if I can be more honest than I should, I think I’m probably going to lose my job because she’s just better at it than me.

But she does get sick alot. Poor thing has a skin condition. Makes her arm super sensitive, and itchy. Means she bleeds a lot, and has to leave early. She replaced a Matsumoto who went on vacation for a while, think Matsumoto just went crazy because it’s so hectic down here.

Oh, boss’s name is Ryuunosuke Yamamoto, though he’s not a ninja. Just a relative of your clan I guess. He’s strict, and I’m a little suspicious of him, but it wasn’t til this year he got super bad.

There’s me, I’m kinda the logistics guy. I’m Sato Kounna. No, I’m not a ninja either. Best I can do is some fireworks. There are few people with ninjutsu, but, I guess if your going to be a ninja, you don’t end up in a mine for twelve hours a day. Uh, few shift super visors I guess we could talk to, but drawing a blank what would cause this. That’s the main people I guess who ‘run’ the operations mine here.”

Sparing only a quick glance at the tag Shibata was more interested in his questioning, Honoji was managing to sound increasingly suspicious though the foreman would be someone else who could easily cover up stock going missing and also had a recent change in his behaviour. “How regular are Honoji’s absences? Did the person she replaced quit in person or did he send a letter? If there are unknown health hazards here I would like to know about them. ” Before it became too obvious that his attention was on a woman Sato seemed to be at least friendly with he changed tracks. “You say the foreman was ‘strict’ yet you also told us that he appears to be trying to cover up discrepancies, in what way did his behaviour change? Was he more irritable than usual when we saw him earlier?”

Eizo raised an eyebrow as Sato handed him the spare tag. He knew that there was a very good chance that he was fast enough to disarm it before it went off, but it was a matter of how accurate he could be. Deciding it would be best to leave the questions to Shibata, he stepped away from both of his companions and carefully looked at the tag. It seemed simple enough, but the problem was that the trigger was in a very small portion of the tag itself. Standing there calmly, there was no doubt in Eizo’s mind that he could tear it off with his eyes practically closed. The problem, however, was that going through those strings wouldn’t allow him the calm nor the time to do it so easily, which was a factor that needed to be considered.

He held the tag away from him and quickly reached out and tore off its trigger, smirking a little with how easily he could do it. Still, he needed to be sure that he could do it under pressure and without knowing what position the explosive tag would be in when he opened the container. Eizo shot his hand out a few more times, striking with precision where he’d torn off the trigger, but he still wasn’t convinced. It’s too risky, and we haven’t even gotten a chance to question these people. Who knows? Maybe one of them will crack and give us the information we need without taking such a risk. I’ll have to keep this option in mind, in case we’re left with no choice... Once Eizo had made up his mind, he put the small tag in one of his pockets and proceeded toward the strings.

He was able to navigate through them easily enough, dodging and weaving in all directions and passing his legs and arms in awkward positions to avoid tripping any of them. It wasn’t difficult so much as it was annoying to have to do it. The only way anyone ever trips these things is if they fall asleep passing through or if they’re totally inept, I guess. He looked through the container numbers until he reached the one Sato had asked for: 3324. Making sure to keep his limbs between the strings, Eizo stretched his neck out toward the wall while his eyes scanned every nook and cranny around the container. There wasn’t too much to see, but some things were quite peculiar. Eizo could barely see into the container, as he had to strain his muscles and tendons heavily to get a look inside without tripping any strings, but he managed to do it eventually.

Once Eizo was finished inspecting the container, he navigated through the strings and back to Sato and Shibata. “I think trying to rip the trigger is too risky so I decided not to go for it unless we have no other option. I did, however, make my way through and find a few interesting things with this container of yours. 3324 is dripping some kind of liquid, which may or may not be normal but it seemed worthy of note as I didn’t see any other container dripping. Not only that, but some glass is missing from the container; I couldn’t get a good look at it without opening it but it also appears that there is no crystal in there.” Eizo spoke quietly and urgently, making sure to relay all of the information he’d gathered without anyone else hearing. “I think your suspicions are correct, Sato.”

"Hima? Every few days she has an 'outbreak', but guess only once a week or so she has to leave early. She takes blood pills on a regular basis. I know that's stuff ninja regularly use, so it's gotta be high end disease. Poor thing. Person she replaced left to travel. Seemed really out of it the day they came in to turn in their resignation though. Recommended Hima highly though.

Far as Ryuunosuke, I mean, he's always been irritable, but he'd at least listen to me beforehand. Now it seems like he doesn't listen to nobody. His mood's even worse mostly lately. Earlier was a GOOD mood for him. He can get quite screamy when he wants to. We joke he's secretly a ninja because his lung capacities inhuman. I bring up the count being off, and he berated me in his office for 15 minutes, and sent me home early. Can't fire me though. I'm a Kounna. Keiji would come in person if he tried, and ain't none of us want nobility actually in the mine, it gunks up work for d-d-d-"

He stared at Shibata, realizing his mistake, and clearing his throat.

"O-of course the Yamamoto clan is welcome at any time, and it is an honor to have you inside." He backtracked... unsuccessfully.

As Eizo returned, Sato turned, giving him fully attention.

"H-huh?" He ran off to the container, doing a high speed limbo contest as he avoided the wires. Looking at the container, he cupped his hand under it. "That's not right. This place is climate controlled. We don't want anything that could have contaminated chakra touching these until we give them to the village. They need to be a precise blue. If water had chakra in it, it could change it's color. It shouldn't be able to get any water in here." He looked at the ceiling, and couldn't make out a leak either. Sato looked more and more concerned.

"It's like someone just.... flooded this one container. But... how's the crystal missing... The tag's still there. Like it just disappeared."

Sato gulped, looking disturbed.

"You're the experts. W-who do we interrogate...? Or what do we do...?"

Despite the seriousness of the situation Shibata felt himself getting a little exhilarated by the mystery. While Hima’s predecessor hadn’t immediately disappeared it was possible they could have been under a genjutsu to control their actions and had vanished afterwards. “Blood pills are meant to be used as battlefield medicine for people who’ve bled out too much, using them in the long term surely would not end well even for a ninja let alone a civilian.”

He was midway through musing about the attitude of Ryuunosuke when Sato made his gaffe earning a sharp look from Shibata. “I’m sure…” He said in an icy tone then turned his attention to Eizo’s discovery. “Hmm, injecting water into the capsule through a small opening may be able to damage the seal on the tag enough to disable it while leaving it mostly undamaged.”

Looking further irritated by Sato’s fretting, Shibata rolled his eyes. “I’d like to speak to Hima, her condition concerns me and I’d like to hear more about how she came to work here.”

Eizo listened closely to the way that Sato spoke; he seemed panicked as if something was terribly wrong. At the very least, this confirmed that there had been some foul play with the containers and that something was off. Shibata’s contribution also proved to be quite insightful, as it was surely a possibility that the water was designed to disable the tag entirely without needing to open the container or risk the flashbang going off. “I’ll leave you to do the talking since you seem to be the best equipped to deal with these people, but I have to try something out first.”

Eizo looked around, paying close attention to a peculiar smell that entered his nostrils in the mines. It didn’t seem natural, almost as if it was fabricated by a genjutsu of some kind. Even though it seemed like a longshot, any leads that they could get in this case would be careful. “Something here doesn’t sit right with me. It almost seems… familiar, the way that the chalk scent covers the area. Almost as if…” Without saying another word, Eizo concentrated and put his hands together in a tiger hand sign. “Genjutsu: release!”

The moment Eizo dispersed the genjutsu, a horrid, strong smell of iron filled his nose, almost instant, the switch was strong and sudden. It began to dissipate, the more normal earthen smell filling the area. For Shibata and Sato as well, the smell of chalk began to retreat. Though with genjutsu, it was impossible for Eizo to have broken it over everyone. The jutsu was being cancelled, at expert timing.

“Who’s wanting to speak with me?” A voice sounded as clicking heals seemed to apparate in the small little vault. A purple haired woman stood with clipboard and pen in tow, Hima Honoji. Her hair seemed a little less pristine than earlier. The edges of her sleeves were frayed, and reddened. Flinching, Hima reached to her side to a small canister, dispensing a small red pill and taking it.

She cocked her head, and stopped at the edge of the trip wires.

“Sato, what are you doing in here…? Inventory isn’t scheduled for another two hours, and Boss Ryuunosuke really doesn’t like the vault door open. Are you scheming something…?”

As she talked, she noticed Shibata, and something seemed to click as she eyed the small emblem on Shibata’s back. Gears visibly clicked in her head.

“Oh! My lord, I didn’t know the main house had deigned to visit this humble mining operation. Sorry for being so stand off’ish Sato. I take it your usual duties are well taken care of.”

She curtsied for the group…. Though she seemed to have a slight gaze that lingered on Eizo of all people.

Quietly purging the genjutsu from his own system Shibata flared his nostrils at the pungent smell then subtly placed a hand on Sato and did the same for him. Turning to the new arrival he smiled pleasantly. “You must be Ms Hima Honji. Sato was kind enough to help me and my associate learn more about this facility, he’s also told me a lot about how diligent you are in your work in spite of your hardships.” His eyes flicked to the pill container at her side then back to her. “You mentioned taking inventory, yes? I would be very interested in hearing about how you go about doing that.”

Eizo wasn’t too surprised when the scent began to fade and the scent of iron filled his nostrils. He wrinkled his nose a little at this as that scent dissipated as well, leaving only an earthy smell in its wake. Then came the sound of heels clicking against the ground and a woman’s voice, which made Eizo turn to face it immediately. Something seemed very off about this woman, especially because her entrance coincided with the dissipation of the genjutsu almost impeccably. Eizo could feel that she was probably responsible for it and might’ve ended it to cover it up and make it seem like nothing was off. She spoke with a confident tone and immediately recognized Shibata’s emblem, which seemed to have an effect on her. Eizo had a hard time discerning what she was saying because he was too busy pondering her motives and studying her movements, focusing particularly on the way her gaze lingered on him.

Shibata called her Hima Honji, which allowed Eizo to put a name to the face of the woman who he now considered the prime suspect in this investigation. He took a step forward, following Shibata’s lead. “I agree with my comrade, here, with such tight security taking inventory must be a complex process.” Despite the friendly tone of Eizo’s voice, his eyes locked with Hima’s refusing to lose sight of her as if she were to vanish if he did. There was definitely some foul play going on in this mine, and Hima could be the key to uncovering everything.

Hima's smile twitched at both comments from Shibata, and Eizo. She scratched her arm, strips of crimson falling, though with the medicine she had taken, it healed quick enough. It almost seemed like a habitual tick.

"Naturally, if the main house wishes to observe they may. I'll need one of the water casters to dispel anything on me, however. They may not be full ninjas, but they are all former, and it would be untowards to lose inventory to a simple genjutsu, would it not.

But I see little harm in telling how the process works. Ryunnosuke Yamamoto is the only with the seal to disable certain traps within this room, for 15 minutes. Once he has disabled it, Sato here is to open each container, and I check it off. Notes about purity are taken, and about which ones are to be shipped off. We've gotten quite good at it, haven't we, Sato."

Sato blinked absentmindedly at the compliment, something off as he shook his head the moment he was released from the genjutsu.

"I've gotten good at it. You were naturally good at it. Almost as if you didn't even need that paper. Very unnatural memory." He faked a smile, and Hima's return almost sent sparks between the two.

The tension was broken by more tension, a voice booming

"Who the FUCK left the door open!? Inventories not for another two hours. Shintaro's going to want my ass if he sees that, then I'm haunting your asses if he does!" The volume of the screaming seemed to shake the mine.

A more muscular, bearded man towered in the entrance of the vault. He looked side to side at the group assembled before facepalming.

"What is this? A shitty tea party? What, we breaking out crumpets next? W-O-R-K! Tch, I'd ask what the hell two kids are doing here, but you know what? Fuck it. Either one of you thinks they're getting special attention, or SOMEONE called ninja into MY mine! Either way, I'm expecting a notice to the higher ups why my two assistants are twiddling around here with their thumbs up their asses, and if they're expecting same amount of work done while sniffing around, they got another thing coming. We ain't machines here."

He tossed a key to Sato.

"You two want to do inventory early, then we're DOING IT EARLY! Sato, 3301."

Sato instantly gulped at the torrent of abuse, and near sprinted over to the first crystal as Ryunnosuke threw a cloth over his hands, and made a few handsigns in secret. Dozens of pings could be heard. Sato would pull out the crystal, and remarked on it's state, and Hima would jot down a note. The entire time, Ryunnosuke's gaze was absolutely glaring at Eizo and Shibata, almost daring them to make a move.

The foreman... did not seem to be a pleasant man.

As they got to 3324, Sato would pull it out, and to the surprise of none of the ninja, a hole could be seen in the side of it, in great detail. The cut looked completely clean, not even a fracture of glass to the side of it, nor any ridges. A perfect circle. In the bottom of the container had a soapy water pooled under it, glowing a rainbow hue on top from the oil.

Sato reported "3324. Missing."

The foreman, Ryunnosuke did a double take, finally taking his eyes off the ninjas. "The hell you talking about? It's right there. I don't take to jokes, Sato. You pull this shit again, I don't care which house you come from, your ass is fired. Tch, being a Kouna, maybe they'll shoot you out one of their fireworks cannons."

Sato held up the container, looking displeased as if this had been a reoccurring problem. All emotion was gone out of his face. Hima for her part, scratched herself a bit more nervously. "Deep blue. Stage 1. Just like it was this morning."

"The fuck!?" The foreman rushed over, holding the container, and opening it. "Look, I can see it right there!" He was looking angrier and angrier as he turned over the glass container, not able to see anything.

Watching Hima bleed onto the floor Shibata hid a look of distaste feeling quite sure that bleeding all over one’s workplace was far from sanitary, a moment later he recalled the foul scent that had assailed them as soon as the genjutsu was dispelled, was it possible that it was cast by the scent of her blood?

Once the foreman arrived he smouldered with fury ready to let him know just what he would happily do to the man even before his father got involved until Ryuunosuke declared that inventory would be taken there and then.

Remaining silent he waited until the foreman’s attention was drawn by the missing crystal then quietly sidled over to the door. “I think we can end this farce there.” He interrupted and blocked the entrance with an emerald green crystal. “I’m sure my father will find other parts of this operation more concerning than any loss in production caused by my being here.”

With a body flicker he vanished and reappeared in front of the foreman and roughly placed a hand on his forehead. “Release!” Ignoring the shouty man, Shibata turned back to Hima. “Now Ms Honji I have a few things I would like to ask you without having to call on an ANBU interrogator. How well did you know your predecessor here? Well enough to know just where he is ‘travelling’ I expect, especially since he gave you such a glowing recommendation? Also just what manner of medical condition requires that you carry such a large supply of medicine that is supplied to ninja for use on the battlefield?”

Eizo took a good look at the woman as she cut herself in a way that seemed almost purposeful. She was very good at whatever she was doing, and Eizo could recognize her mastery of genjutsu. Even though she wasn’t a traditional shinobi, Eizo knew better than to underestimate her. Before he could interject, a booming voice came rushing at them with blazing fury. It was hard to make out anything he was saying, except for the fact that he wanted inventory handled right at that moment, which gave Eizo some room to breathe.

As soon as Sato reached the container Eizo had inspected and declared it empty, the foreman went wild and swore that it wasn’t actually empty. Whatever genjutsu this woman was using, it was good and it was very quick. Before Eizo had a chance to intervene, Shibata took matters into his own hands and released the genjutsu from the foreman’s mind. “You are right about one thing, Ms. Honji,” Eizo began, his voice sounding a little too sincere, “taking the crystals during inspection would be too obvious, even with genjutsu, especially because of the brief deactivation of the tags which is too perfect of an opportunity.” Eizo swiftly made his way through the wires and met up with Sato next to the slot where container 3324 was placed.

He calmly collected some of the liquid that had seeped out from the container and let it rest on his index finger. “That doesn’t mean, however, that this crystal’s disappearance can’t be concealed during inspection, since tricking one person into seeing these containers as full isn’t too difficult.” Eizo held up the liquid for everyone, especially Hima, to see. “It appears that our thief found a way to crack open the container just enough to disable the tag, which might have something to do with this liquid. I think Shibata’s questions are an excellent place to start if we want to get to the bottom of this.” Eizo’s smile was sincere, but anyone who paid close attention could tell it was fake.

Hima turned quiet, walking towards the green crystal structure, putting her hand on it in almost awe. "Sturdy walls of crystal. This is the first time I've ever seen the Yamamoto's legendary crystal release in person. It's honestly impressive in how much skill the user must have..."

However, what did get a reaction out of Hima, was the moment Shibata appeared infront of Ryuunosuke, with a genjutsu release. Like Sato, Ryunnosuke shook as he was released, but to a much greater magnitude, the loud foreman crying out as a visible red aura broke around him. Shibata would feel the pressure from the chakra, like a small shockwave. Hima seemed to feel it too, lookign like she'd been struck with a hammer as she collapsed to one knee. She gritted her teeth as she looked at Shibata this time, far more disheveled. Her clothes seemed tattered, bags hung under here eyes. Glasses clattered to the floor, and cold, dead eyes stared over the group.

They seemed blackened, unmoving, hateful, and unblinking. They were not the eyes of a secretary. They were the eyes of a killer.

"I wish you wouldn't do that. Do you know how hard it is to put a hardass like Ryunnosuke under...? Rules this, production that. Best flirting fell off him like water off a ducks back. Genjutsu subtle enough to invade the bloodstream, but strong enough to last months, and crafty enough to cause them to believe they should trust you on nothing more than a gut feeling... All genjutsu of that level has a backlash involved."

She started to stand back up, looking like a feral animal hunched over. As Eizo leveled his theory, she laughed, and cracked a smile. Though her eyes didn't look myrthful.

"Correct! I've carefully been letting in a nin skilled in water time/space ninjutsu to teleport crystals away, one by one, then using genjutsu to hide the missing ones during inspection. Seems this village is particularly annoying about the security of it's crystals, it's been difficult to sneak them out. We tried multiple, but it ruined the crystals to use too much chakra when they're so immature, so we've had to carefully sneak out one by one.

Seems I got careless, didn't I? Both of you are genjutsu users it looks like. I must admit, that was outside my calculations. Even among nin to be well versed in genjutsu is not common."

Hima's eyes darted to Shibata. She calmly and slowly answered his questions.

"Well enough in a bar called the Silverleaf for an night of cocktails. Bottom of mineshaft 5-A being interrogated for every last drop of knowledge, enough genjutsu and anyone will give you a recommendation. And a certain Hiden of the Kamimizu clan of Sangogakure (Hidden Coral).

But you're making one mistake... You. In everything you said and do, you seem to think you're important. You impressively block off my escape route, you shout as you release genjutsu. You talk down to your opponent as you take the frontline. Everything you say and do is about you. I know ninja like you. I've murdered ninja like you. Nobility who thinks their blood makes them something special.

Rapid breathing...
Lightheaded...
Drowsy...
Coldness...
Clammy...
Unresponsive...

In the end, we all bleed out the same."

Hima slowly began to unbutton her coat, tossing it to the side. She wore a backless top made of wool underneath her lab like coat. All across her forearms, scratches and rakes could be seen. The blood that was on her arms no longer dripped, but seemed to mist with the same chalky smell.

On her upper arm, an armband with the symbol for Sangogakure was scratched out. A missing nin. What's more, on the underside of the armband, a symbol for 'Bishamonten' could be seen.

Her face turned back to stone... but she didn't attack. If anything, Hima looked tired.

​

​

 

[Orikanyo]

Wakanaka Tsube:
You are what you eat.

​

Spoiler: Mission

Kyubei, the black cat, currently about panther sized, trotted infront of Waka, occasionally giving a glance backwards, and always staying just out of reach of the arms reach. If Waka sped it, so did the cat.

Around them, the mountains finally ended, descending to a plains below, a golden wave of wild wheat bristling in the wind, a calming sound the brustling brush sounding around them. The path continued for what seemed an eternity. With a smarmy tone, the cat began to speak.

“Kujaku. That’s the town we’re headed to. It’s in the outskirts of The Land of Wind. It’s nyat a ninja village persay. It should be easy for an oni such as yourself to find the shrine. I hear it’s quite nice this time of year. The most difficult part…. Will be getting there.”

As Kyubei spoke, a massive shadow blocked out the sun, darkness seeming to swallow the entire land around them. Above them, a floating island, easily the size of Tsumi drifted in the sky. Kyubei yawned. “It’s windy too. In about a month it would have been by a mountain, why I suggested that. But, seeing as you’re impatient, I’ll let you figure it out.”

Kyubei rolled up, unhelpfully into a ball on the ground. It smiled mockingly, thinking that was the end of it. A few errant boulders could be seen in the fields, having fallen from above with small craters around them, and a few sparse trees, and one helluva a problem.

“Guess you weren’t talking shit then.. Hmm…” his eyes skyward, he watched the floating island, well, float. How was he supposed to get up there..? How did people normally get up there?

His thoughts began to smash together, attempting to form a coherent plan like a monkey attempts to make music by destroying plates.

What does he have right now… Abit of rope, a cat, boulders, trees….

...Hmm….

….

Maybe….

“...Alright, maybe this will work… Saw it in a cartoon so...” Eyeing a nearby tree, he climbed up to the top, grasping the top, he let his weight pull the tree downwards, once the tree was bent, but not quite broken, desperately trying to right it’s self he let it go to test the strength.

“..Hmm…”

He eyed a nearby boulder, not too heavy, but enough to heft. He tied this boulder to himself with a good bit of slack.

With one hand he grabbed the boulder, the other, he grabbed the cat, flopping him over his shoulder like a wet sack of potatoes.

“Hold on.”

He quickly rushed forward and leapt upon the tree’s top, causing it to bend dramatically towards the ground, and with neck snapping speed it snapped back straight, launching the duo, and boulder, with great speed into the air.

For the second part of this attempted Shinobi rocket launch Wakanaka put his minimal and horribly wrong knowledge of real world physics to work.

And threw the boulder with all his might, that was tied to him, in an arc to go over the island, hopefully.

Naturally this caused him to be yanked forward but HOPEFULLY it would work!

This however did not fully, as he planted the stone right into the bottom of the island, and thus, planted hard against it himself. But he stuck, like a tick on a deer he had managed to prove god wrong by spitting in his face and did it his way…

“HAHAHAHAHAH! Got it!!!”

True Oni ingenuity.

“Hnn? What are you doing…?” The cat said opening one eye, seemingly a bit annoyed at being picked up, but then increasingly worried as it saw the plan, the boulder, the tree, the rope.

“This is nyat a good idea. I’ll go splat, but at least cats have nya-ine lives. Human’s don’t. Why aren’t you stopping. Nyo nyo nyo!”

Kyubei hissed, flailing it’s paws in the air as they flew through the air, smashing into the side of the island, spiderwebs cracking outwards, before chunks of the bottom of the island rained down on the field below, like a dangerous comet storm.

“Hate you… hate you… hate you… Aren’t you ninjas all about teamwork… how is your team not dead…?” Kyubei crawled out of crater, walking upside down across the bottom of the floating island.

Waka would find out the island was fairly far away, his insane strength allowing the plan to work in the first place, but it would put in perspective how large the floating island was as he walked along it’s bottom. It was taller than many of the mountain around Tsumi, though not as impressive as Arashigakure’s. As Waka made it topside, he would see a beautiful array of greenery infront of him, the island that floated through the clouds, and was close to the sun having plants found nowhere else in the world. Large and vibrant, flowers that dwarfed him were all around. Nectar from one dropped next to him, and large flower petals Waka could wear as a dress fell from nearby plants.

Inward, the island dipped, towards the center, a large sprawling town seen, busying people all around, and stalls selling all manner of food and… fireworks? It looked like the town was preparing for a large festival. Pagoda style wooden buildings in every direction, and in the streets, several Torii gates led towards the center of town.

No one seemed to give Waka a second glance, other than to try and sell him food.

"Huh, would yea look at that, they threw out the welcoming mat for me." He smirked towards the cat, letting it be for now. "So? Lets get some food eh? And that wasn't clever world play for what we're here for, you want anything?" He asked the akuma, eyeing a couple dango, he tossed money at the guy manning it and took tree, the dango didn't stand a chance as he stuff the three sticks into his mouth lengthwise, closed his teeth and pulled the sticks out… Which came out as sharp prongs due to the fresh carving from his maw.

"Good, festivale food is the best! Think I can get some liquor here? I look old enough right?" He smirked once more, continuing down the line and sampling ever more food, with each stall he ate from, he barely felt satisfied at all, sticky rice? Gone. Dried meats? Down the hatch. Mochi? Eaten slowly to savor cause mochi is really damn good and hes no savage, somebody worked hard on that!

He was half way through a meat bun, or rather his fifth, when he stopped on a bench. "All you had to say is there woulda been food like this and I woulda come runnin', you really are a lucky charm cat." He laughed. "But, hey, you questioned my teamworking skills, lemme tell yea, I was a damn good teammate. At the start I was willing to do anything.

But you know what went wrong?

Everyone else in my squad didn't and weren't willing to do that.

Shio is a smart girl sure, but shes stupid where it counts, she ruins most things by opening her mouth.

Sachiko? Tsk, she didn't care for the longest time, acting all cute and pretending to not give a damn about anything. In the most infuriating way as well.

She promised to care recently, but, it don't change whats happened, and I can't really trust her.

And don't get me started on sensei, she was as much of a sensei as I have a father who wants to see me again. So yea I don't got much skill in teamwork, but you know what I do do?

My fucking job.

And my job is to get stronger to make up for the fact people around me decide to ruin everything.

I gotta get stronger so we don't lose. I gotta find otherways than whats given to me to be so. I all but ditched Miho for Ichirou Sensei, learned how to be my own damn teacher after that!" He clentched a fist, chakra running through his muscles with a spark of life. "So yea, fuck the system that tossed me in the trash i'll show em whats a man gotta do to get tuely strong.

Now i'm done bitchin, lets go ruin somebody's day." It was at this point the cat would see a change, Wakanaka didn't notice the blood running down from the left side of his face, but the newly forming horn, was definitely there…

Kyubei absentmindedly pointed to a fish, chewing on it all throughout Waka's therapy session as they made their way down the street towards the temple, excited whispers and talking all abounding as fireworks started to be set up for the night. Kyubei ate through the fish with speed that was also fairly unnatural... and chewed through the bones, swallowing the spine of the fish with a slurp and a happy meow.

It finally looked at Waka, eyeing his new horn curiously, but said nothing. "You do know I don't know who any of those people are, right? Human affairs are sooo annya-oying for me. Human's are always fickle. They lie, they change their moods constantly, they never know what they want to be. Akuma just ARE. I am Kyubei. I've always been Kyubei. I don't lie, but humans never say what they mean, so I just let them hear just enough of the truth to keep things interesting. You don't lie, do you...?

You said you're jobs to be stronger, right...? That's what you care about...? That's what makes a Wakanaka a Wakanaka, right? To get get stronger...? You're not like those other humans...? Like this Shio, like this Sachiko, like this Miho, or ... wait, I do vaguely think I know Ichiro. Uhuhuhu..." The cat shuddered.

"But they all sound so fickle. Deciding to better one's self is such a human goal. Why not be what you already are...? You seem to be an Oni. Smash stuff. Drink. Eat. A good life. Close enough to an Akuma."

As the two made their way to the shrine, several men in bird like masks, and feathered capes stopped them, holding down jittes to block their path with an X. (Sword breaker batons)

"Halt. Little too early to be giving your respect to the shrine. Are you lost?"

The other bird man nodded appreciatively as he looked at Waka's horns. "Dude, nice mask though. Those horns look really authentic."

Wakanaka examined the bird masked men, and considered Kyubei's words for a moment. "To be an Akuma… Is to desire, but have no reason. You simply are, there in, you have a purpose. But you do not do as you wish, you do as you do because are Kyubei.

Humans have desires as well, but they have them because they want them, their lives are unbound by what they are.

They have choice.

Akuma do not, but akuma have power to truely fufill their destiny…

While humans…" he reaches out and grabs the cross jitte, with widened eyes he bends the metal, and twists them together.

"Are weak…

...But what happens if…

You mix those two together?

And give it a fucking reason?

What happens Kyubei?"

Kyubei yawned as at the sound of bending metal. “Generally either a human who’s lost his ‘humanity’, or a very confused Akuma. Lil Rin was very confused when they fused her with a human. Think you folks called her a Yukionna? Her little tantrum was the talk of Akuma for weeks after that.

Sounds like all your problems are caused by humans, so why bother with humanity. You’d just end up another one like them. Another miserable little pile of secrets. How boring. How annoying. You’re ‘free will’ will just end up being you being proud of being indecisive.

How did you put it... ? Doesn’t change what happened? You can always trust an akuma to do what they do. Kiyohime’s container knows that about me. She doesn’t tell me anything. But its humans you have to watch out for. They promise to do good. They promise to change. But only they can stab you in the back.

I’m always honest. You want power? Look. Power. ”

The guards screamed, and ran inside flailing, apparently their jitte being made of bronze. Or cardboard. Obviously mooks who weren’t worth Waka’s time. The sounds of fortifications being made on the other end could be heard.

"Hah, why bother being human? Way I see it, the whole world is made by the humans, the things even you enjoy. Yea, humans probably didn't make the whole world, but what they've done with it, wasn't done by Akuma, they didn't make this floating island but they damn well made the shrine and everything else." The young man continued his approach, step by step up the way, he continued to think.

"No, what I think, it's humans who are the ones who actually do worthy things in this world, but the ones who actually do anything are too few and far between. That willingness to do what you need to, to take the final step, to truly seize what they wish for.

I guess in a sense, they are somewhat like akuma, doing what they need to do.

There in… I'm pretty damn well set to be a legend huh?" He reach the large doors, planting both hands upon it he pushed lightly… Hmm… Locked… How long had these doors stood for? Somebody, just like him, made this place with the fervor that he spoke of not too long ago.

It was almost a shame he needed to get inside, despite it.

"Kyubei, who is Kiyohime? Do you know every akuma, surely you get around well enough."

Kyubei simply smiled smugly at Waka’s comment of human’s making everything. The cat had an annoying habit of showing up when it wasn’t wanted… and not talking when it was.

However, as Waka asked about Kiyohime, the cat purred. Waka would find the doors made of fine oak, old in age, but firm and strong.

“Kiyohime is an old drinking buddy. But then she got sealed in that horrible woman. Eta… eka… enma… Ema. That’s it. Ema Shimizu. The Tsumikage of your village. She’s sooo mean… So untrustworthy. She says what she knows little old Kyubei likes, then she backstabs him… She also never lets me drink with her. I bring a drink older than humankind, but noooo, it makes her ‘violent’.” The cat complained. “But yes. I know every Akuma. Well, everything above ‘Minor’. It’s not that they’re unimportant, all Akuma are friends to Kyubei, but the minor ones are made so easily, and die even easier.”

The wood would crack and tear, finally exploding into large panels. To the guard’s credit, the small little fortification held better than the door did, chairs, tables, and desks holding. Sadly, there was no longer any door. One of them started to get in a fighting stance, lunging bare knuckled at Waka. The other dove at him, tackling him into a nearby room instead.

The inside of the shrine was ornate, but simple. Everything as barricade had come from side offices, the halls themselves were empty. But the ceiling had carving after carving in it, depicting some story of wind, the islands, and a gem.

In the center of the shrine, a single pedestal stood, with a green gem in the middle, glowing a faint green as a cool wind blew from it. The gem was held down with steel ribbons, and a glass dome held it.

“...Hmm, regular old social butterfly.. Or nosey old lady…” Wakanaka smirked abit but continued his approach. “You sound like Miho with your affixation of drinking, you sure you’re not her in disguise? You make about the same style of teaching… And whining…” he cracked his neck, looking up at the crystal sitting on it’s little pedestal.

“...Feels too easy really… barely any guards for something like this? Or maybe cause I literally threw myself up here nobody expected it.” he contemplated it all for a moment as he came upon the gem, eyeing it with curiosity. “...I’m sure somebody damn well cares about all this storytelling on the walls, somebody worked hard on all this no doubt.

To bad I don’t give a shit.” he brought a fist down on the glass case, shattering it and wincing from the sudden gust from the exposed crystal. “Hell.. This thing like the Tsumi crystals…? Absorbed a shit ton of wind chakra..?

Guess I shoulda looked at the backstory of this place before breaking it…” he reached for the crystal,hands tentatively stopping just short of it…

Somethin’... Wasn’t right here…. How did he end up here? Bursting into a temple full of noncombatants to steal a gem…?

Had.. He been really thinking about what hes been doing?

He… just invaded a damn minor village and aimed to steal something obviously precious!?

Did he know how much trouble he was in!?

Did… it really matter?

Why does everything feel so damn annoyingly clouded? His head felt so damn painful, where did this splitting headache even come from!?

“Tsk… Kyubei! What is this thing, you said it’s a way to power, but this is way too damn easy! No way this is real.”

Kyubei curled up on the floor of the temple.

“Kyubei is Kyubei, and always has been. Kyubei does not lie. Eat it, get powerful. Don’t, don’t. Not a whole lot of complication to it. I was bored, got abducted, and decided to give human’s a chance. I was told you want power. ”

He yawned, his head rising up from his body, before settling snugly over his paws. I believe you said.

And my job is to get stronger to make up for the fact people around me decide to ruin everything.

I gotta get stronger so we don't lose

Kyubei imitated Waka exactly in voice and tone. Pawing at the ground as he got more comfortable, Kyubei opened one eye. “Unless that isn’t “your job”. In which case, what is…? What is Wakanaka Tsube’s number one priority…?”

“...Tsk… Fucking cat... “ His eyes turned to the crystal… It could feel the power from it...It… Was something…. But if he were to do this… There… Hes got a feeling theres no way back… Like a horrid sense of foreboding…

Is… Is he really gonna do this…?

After all he said… Was he lying..? To who then, Kyubei? Himself..?

...No even that shitty cat doesn’t lie… He at least has to be better than that.

He reached forward and grasped the crystal, taking it in his hand he twirled it around in his fingers contemplatively… Then.. With a body and instinct telling him no, he did it… He crushed the crystal, and swallowed, like a child quickly taking medicine.

The moment Waka’s hand touched the pedestal, a massive pull on his chakra started to near devour it. It felt like the world’s strongest vacuum had just fucked the strongest magnet, and Waka was made of iron and meeting their child. Still, in the pull, it ripped completely off the metal. The green glow turning dull, and the beautifully ornate green pedestal turned gray, and started to crack.

All wind stopped.

All of it. Not just in the shrine. Everwhere around the island, it began to grow quite, the melody of air disappearing as a chilling quiet began to take over the island. And a sinking feeling began to take over. Looking outside, Waka would see clouds rising from the sides, slowly at first, but quickly picking up speed.

Kyubei yawned, bored to the side. “I’d say about 15 minutes before you should brace. But it shouldn’t be much of a problem.”

Meanwhile, Waka would begin to feel an incredible power well up inside him. The strongest he ever felt… being crushed by the sheer magnitude of his new power. The air around his shook, each breath he took caused the shrine to shake, and if he moved, he felt like he just might blow it up.

“I- What!? Gods above I feel… I feel LIKE a damn god here and you’re still acting like- Hrr…” He stepped once, the ground practically splittered beneath the step.

“Brace…? Brace for what?” he asked, before looking at the… Clouds… Going past…? This feeling of sinking… No…

Oh god no no no!

“Kyubei you little shit!!! You didn’t say it was the thing holding up this rock!” it was but a brief blink before he was before the cat, his sudden appearance blasting a hurricane gale in the direction he went, the walls cracked with the sudden test against it’s foundation.

“AND DON’T YOU BEGIN TO SAY I DIDN’T ASK OR I’LL SHOW YOU HAVE MANY WAYS I CAN SKIN YOU!” he held it up by the throat, shaking it like one would get the dust and dirt from a carpet.

Kyubei smacked it's lips.

"Well then, I suppose I don't have much to say if that's not an option. I told you I don’t lie. And I haven’t so far, have I? I asked multiple times what defines a Wakanaka Tsube. Not my fault you don't know. How boring. If it's not just wanting more power, what is it? You could have clarified, and been a bit more helpful when I’m actively trying to help you, hmm? No other being could have absorbed that crystal. Oni are too basic to try, and the sheer mass of chakra would kill a regular human.

At the very least, this answers your question. What happens when you mix an Akuma and a human together, and give it 'fucking reason'? This. You give a perfectly good monkey anxiety. That's what happens. *Yawn*. In any case, I'll reform shortly, so hardly a concern for me. Enjoy your limitless power, or whatever."

As gravity took more and more a toll, screams could be heard as hundred of people grabbed onto something outside. Waka... weirdly, wouldn't. He would find himself floating, perfectly find as air cushioned underneath him at his command. Foot steps could be heard from the roof, and Waka would see an old priest, with a beard down to his hips running.

"You! What have you done!? You've got to stop it, or we're all doomed! W-where's the crystal! You haven't stolen it, have you? Put it back, is a little bit of money worth destroying a town!?"

"Oh for the love of- FUCK OFF!" He tossed the cat out the window with all the force he could muster, which at this point was… Quite abit.

He may have broke the sound barrier on the way out.

"Fucking gods damn this shit, somebody ALWAYS pisses in my ramen, every, single, ducking day!

...BUT i'm the one who fixes it.

Old guy! Brace yourself! Cause were going in for a landing." He yells towards the man, he imagines he only has one chance to do this… And if he fails, well, hes killed a whole village of people… Hes ruined their lives for selfish gain, least he can do is stop them from damn well dieing due to it.

He'll think of repercussions for this later.

In a blink he was to the side of the island looking down, not much time left, cat didn't lie, but he had to stop this rock now lest it go so fast most folks fly off from it before the landing kills them.

Another flicker of movement, and he was at the bottom of the stone meteor…

The precipice of a disaster of his own making.

Nothing for it… Time to force this thing to stop. He planted both hands upon the stone above him, his muscles pulsated with near limitless chakra, and, braced against the cushion of air, he pushed back against gravity with all of his might.

"What, I don't even get a thanks? I thought it was quite clever to tailor this method of powe- Nyaaaaaa!!!"

Waka quickly learned the simple joy in life of yeeting the small devil, a black blur seen where Kyubei flew into the distance... and flew... and flew. A small cone of flame burst behind Kyubei in the distance as a boom could be heard. That was one tail down...

The old man, for his part, was quite quick to grab onto the nearest pillar. "What do you mean landing? J-just put the crystal back!"

Then Waka was gone. The entire island was falling relatively slowly as it lost power, but it was sickeningly picking up speed as it fell.

Waka would find the stone unbelievably heavy as he tried to push his entire body against it A crunch could be heard as he started to be pushed into it, a wall of stone enveloping him, unforgivingly. His body began to burn from the effort, his own wind chakra behind him grinding against him as it pushed him up, with the weight of the rock bearing down on him.

A snap could be heard above him, large sections of underside collapsing, and crashing below. Plumes of dirt exploded like a warzone, spraying dirt high enough up that Waka was beginning to become grimey in his own meteor swarm.

Still the island plummetting, snapping and cracking heard all around him, and the ground getting closer and closer below.

"Aon of a bastard stop. MOVING!" He did the only thing he could, push harder, and harder. But it felt like pressing up against the earth to stop it from spinning. All this power and he couldn't hold up a damn stone!?

No, he could do this, he was no master at jutsu or really, really understood all there was about chakra.

But where there was fire, if you tossed a gas can atop of it, it tended to get bigger.

So focusing all his might, he forced his body not to the brink but past it, the chakra flew to his muscles not as a steady flow but as a tsunami, his body glew with the newly stolen power began welling up joining in the chakra already enhancing the muscles. His arms pulsed, the pain immeasurable, but with each pulsing beluge of chakra his strength doubled, tripled, he felt his body be pushed to the damn brink of exploding but it held on by the last fetters of his being, forcing this chakra not to vent uncontrollably but DO WHAT HE WANTS.

Behind him, in the flurry of destruction raining down he thought of the cushion below him, keeping him afloat. He was no master of ninjutsu, nor did he really know enough on how he could, but the hows didn't matter.

Chakra pressed forwards, seeping forth like a heavenly aura as it held but one command from the one it is bound to.

The wind had to obey.

"Push!"

The air pressure below Waka dropped, his hair standing on edge. For a moment, it seemed like nothing was happening despite his command. His muscles bulged, veins showing. A very concerning ‘pop’ sounded, before crinkling from all across his body, bones cracking, cartilage tearing. The chakra itself seemed to be giving out, Waka feeling the massive wildfire within his body shrink again and again. It seemed if he kept it up, that gem’s increase would not be his to keep.

Then a well sprint of wind began to emerge from below, slamming into the island like a wall, sheet after sheet of wind passing by, the roaring deafening as the wild wheat from below began to throw upwards in a golden hurricane, a large ring forming the size of Tsumigakure, let alone this small floating village.

The burst of wind managed to not only stop the village, but raise it slightly in the air from the turbulence.

A few more minutes, and it began to die down, Waka slowly lowering down with it.

As Waka held up the island about 30 feet, Another loud snap sounded as half the island gave way, a slurry of rock falling to the plains below for the small distance.

A second snap, another large section, a quarter falling away.

A third… and only the village itself was above Waka. With a gentle ‘snap’, the streets above him crashed around him the last 5 feet or so, Waka finding himself back at the now collapsed temple. All around, the place looked like it had seem the world’s worst earthquake. Building torn, roads with cracks in them, and a very disheveled and confused populace… but confused as they were, at least they were alive.

The priest from earlier pushed a large wooden board off himself, panting as he looked at Waka… then the plains below. The village had never touched the ground, and most of it’s inhabitant’s nad never seen it before except from on high.

A general muttering began to spread through the village, hundreds of people pointing and whispering about Waka, but no one daring to approach.

"Fucking...Hell…" the young man panted, his body was drained and more… His arms… Oh how did didn't want to look at them, bloody and red, he felt pain pulse throughout every muscle… But that meant they were still there right?

Good.

Yea…

His hands and forearms were red, red as blood but it didn't seem to drip away, the reddness streaked up his arm like veins of magma racing backwards up a volcano. He wouldn't see the back, but the crack-like lines stretched from his arms, to the shoulders, and went downward, conjoining at the belly, where the mass of chakra once was…

It was gone, all this for nothing, the people's home destroyed and he even gave it all up to save their lives… If not their homes.

From a thing he caused.

He guessed, it was time to leave, luckily even if his arms felt, well, likely much worse than the adrenaline was allowing him to feel right now, his legs were fine. And with those legs, he began his limp away. Arms hanging loose at his sides, swaying lightly with each step.

Uncertain of what he people would do if they caught up, he wondered if any had the balls to kill him, he wouldn't blame em if they did… Though… If it was that easy to drop em from the sky, really they should have a plan right?

...Right…

"...Killing that cat next I see it… Even if it can't die I can make it wish it could… Fucken bullshit… Sooner eat an akuma next time…"

As Waka limped away, his muttering to himself was nearly as a loud as yelling it seemed like. Despite hundreds of people gathered, not one person talked, or said a single word. It was like a gathering of ghost.

They watched as he limped, the sun setting in the distance, and the first sound started. A single grass hopper in the distance. The another, and another. It looked, and felt surreal. The wheat fields, though momentarily tattered, promised food and resources for them.

As Waka made his way away from the village, he was now on his own. A strong breeze could be felt as he nearly walked into a wall of wind. If he stubbornly continued and looked back, he could see a large ring in the sky where he had fallen from, and a visible torrent of wind rushing into it like a bladeless fan. It kicked up dust and hid the village itself completely, though the ring itself was visible for miles past as a white circle in the sky.

Whether he meant to or not, whether he wanted to or not, it seemed Waka had changed part of the world itself.

The moon rose gently behind the ring in the sky.

​

​

 

[InsaneAsylum]

Okimi Bajirisuku​

Spoiler: The Blue Dragon

There were few clouds in the sky today, leaving the sky as a blank blue canvas. Feurey let out happy grunts as he carried Okimi high above the Land of Wind like a green streak in the sky. Without a doubt, flying was a liberating experience. It helped Okimi forget about all her problems, responsibilities, and most importantly, grudges. She felt free to be herself. Nothing up here could tell her what to do, what to feel, or what to be. Flying was a great way to get over the painful defeat during her last mission.

Lately, Okimi had been collecting maps of the Land of Wind and its regions. She hopes to find locations related to her clan marked on the map, but she had been mostly unsuccessful until yesterday. She had found a shrine marked on the map, named Dragon’s Shrine. It was such a simple name and was potentially unrelated to her clan, but Okimi couldn’t help but check it out. Her mother said that her curiosity was going to get her in trouble someday. Of course, trouble was irrelevant, and Okimi was gone minutes after they were said.

Opening her map, Okimi checked to see where they were, gazing down towards the ground to look for landmarks. As she did so, the map slipped out of her hands.

“Damnit!” Okimi yelled, watching the paper disappear. Feurey let out a snort. “Shut your mouth… why don’t you navigate the rest of the way if you’re so cool!”

Feurey rolled his eyes, before beginning a gradual descent. He already knew where he was going. He circled towards a patch of trees. The ocean was nearby now. Okimi had never been this close to it before. Her eyes wandered out towards the horizon, looking upon the endless body of water with awe. To Okimi, it was like she was gazing up at the sky, only, she wasn’t looking up. Only now did she remember how large this world she lived in really was. Would she ever travel it all? With Feurey, she definitely could.

Okimi’s eyes slowly came back towards the shore. Her eyes settled on a small structure on a cliff overlooking the ocean. As Feurey descended further and further, she made it out to be a shrine. “You see it too, Feurey? Let’s hurry.”

With a powerful beat of his wings, Feurey changed course, picking up speed as he dove straight towards the shrine. It wasn’t long before Feurey landed near the shrine, allowing Okimi to hop off. The girl stretched her arms up into the air, standing on the tips of her toes as she felt her back, knees, ankles, and even feet crack. “Ah, alright let’s check this place out!” She turned to look at Feurey, but his eyes were fixed on the shrine. Confused, Okimi turned to see what had him so hypnotized.

Standing next to the shrine was a sky blue haired woman wearing a matching kimono. In her arms she held an infant child with a darker shade of blue for hair. The woman looked incredibly elegant, standing there with that baby. For some reason, she gave off a familiar aura. It seemed Feurey sensed something similar.

“Stay here,” Okimi commanded, patting Feurey on the nose before approaching the shrine. “Who are you?” Okimi asked politely. Cracked and battered stone steps led to the shrine, and Okimi stood near the middle of them. The woman took a few steps closer to Okimi, her eyes glancing over her for a few moments, before looking over Okimi at Feurey. The woman’s eyes rested on him for several moments.

“I’m Nami,” the woman replied. Okimi nodded, hoping for a little more of an answer than that.

“I’m Okimi. Do you live around here?” Okimi asked, probing for more information.

“No. I live in Hanegakure.”

“Well what are you doing all the way out here?”

“The same thing you are doing.”

Okimi was starting to get frustrated. However, she looked behind the lady at the shrine, noticing the faded symbol of her clan painted on it. “Look lady, who are you really? Who brings their baby all the way out here just to sightsee?”

Nami’s gaze turned back to Feurey, her eyes narrowing. “What is your mother’s name?” She asked suddenly.

“Huh? Why do you need to know that?”

“What is your mother’s name?” Nami asked again, this time with more force. It was enough to startle Okimi.

“... Ayaka.”

Nami’s eyes turned to the sky now. Inhaling deeply, Nami simply pulled her kimono’s collar aside slightly, revealing the marking over her heart. The mark of the Bajirisuku Clan.

“What?” Okimi asked aloud. “How… how are you alive? Who the hell are you!” As Okimi spoke, she started up the steps approaching Nami. Before she could take her second step however, the temperature suddenly dropped. This instantly forced a reaction out of Feurey, who rose to his feet, readying his wings. Smoke slowly bullowed out of his nose. Then, everything went dark, Okimi looked up but something was blocking out the sun. Her eyes quickly adjusted. Crashing down in front of Nami was an enormous dark blue dragon. It towered over both Okimi and Feurey. Spikes of ice covered its legs, and the very area it stood upon froze over. It’s underbelly was a lighter shade of blue, like Nami’s hair.

Okimi fell backwards into the now frozen grass below. Feurey rushed over to her, standing near her protectively.

By the time Okimi had time to look up, Nami was already sitting atop the dragon with the baby still in her arms. “I would love to give you a tour of Hanegakure sometime,” Nami said politely.

Okimi snarled. “I’d rather burn the whole place down!”

Nami shook her head. “I wouldn’t advise you to try. I would hate to have to kill my own sister.”

With that said, Nami’s dragon took off into the air with an enormous beat of their wings. It was enough to send Okimi sprawling back into Feurey, who had to dig his claws into the ground to keep a foothold. Once Okimi had recovered, Nami was already flying away. Her eyes watched the ice dragon as it flew away, rage and confusion in her heart.

Snowflakes gently fluttered down around her as she turned back to the shrine. Once again, Okimi began towards the shrine. Ice still covered the steps, cracking beneath her feet.

The shrine housed a single statue, portraying a dragon sitting and gazing out at the ocean. In front of it sat a single pink flower, laid on its side. An offering. Okimi sat down next to the statue and gazed out to sea.

“That was a big ass dragon…”


——————————

“When the fuck were you going to tell me I had a sister!” Okimi yelled after kicking in the door of her home. Her mother, Ayaka, was sitting at the table eating. A look of shock came over her face, as she was unable to respond for several moments. Okimi took the chance to flip the table her mother was eating at, sending the food and plate flying into the wall with a crash.

“Why does she live in Hanegakure? Why didn’t you tell me about her? Tell me!” Okimi demanded.

Ayaka rose to her feet and adjusted her hair.

“Your sister is a traitor to our clan,” she began.

Okimi interrupted. “What? Why does that mean you couldn’t tell me about her?”

“Because she’s the one who killed your father and grandfather,” Ayaka stated bluntly.

“Wh-what?” This was all Okimi could get out.

“She betrayed our clan by not only warning Hanegakure of our intention to overthrow them, but she also spilled the blood of many of our clanmates. She is a traitor, and she is no longer one of us. She gave up the Bajirisuku name when she picked that village over us.”

Okimi stared down at the ground, her fists clenching. Without another word she turned and left. Feurey was waiting outside calmly. She hopped on his back, and he took off into the air, flying off once again.

 

[KageYuuki]

Kurio Shimizu
Kurio groaned as the world came back into focus. Cool water lapped at his ears and a waterfall rumbled nearby. Failed again. "Dammit!" He growled, bringing his fist down in the shallow pool with a splash.

Ema tousled his hair again, “that’s something you’re going to have to find out for yourself I’m afraid. Kinda like the Well of Absolutes, I could tell you but that would defeat the purpose.” She smiled, “I’m confident you’ll figure it out though.”

Pushing himself to his feet, he sloshed through the water and back towards the compound.

"Back again?" His copy laughed, "When are you going to learn?” The laughter stopped abruptly, its expression growing somber. “You just don’t get it, do you? You’re never going to beat me.”

Gritting his teeth, Kurio lunged at the clone. A glow enveloped his hands.

Rolling its eyes, the doppelganger dodged. Sharp claws tore Kurio’s side open. “So predictable. Still the same boring and forgettable Kurio.” It flicked blood and cloth scraps from its fingers. “Actually, I think you’ve gotten even weaker. Hahahaha! Wonder how far behind you’ve fallen from your peers? Maybe Shibata will become Tsumikage? Oh! Oh! Maybe it’ll be Okimi! She’s way stronger than you.”

Their fight had been brief. Ending when the clone’s chakra scalpel struck Kurio’s heart. Mad laughter was the last thing he heard before everything went dark.

A frustrated sigh as Kurio hung up his soaked clothes to dry. The clatter of tools filled the space as he emptied his shinobi pouches onto his desk to dry everything. He wasn’t much of a tool user, it was his weakest skill if he was being honest. But that didn’t mean he wanted to draw a kunai to find it rusted, or have mold taking hold inside his pouches.

Thunder rumbled in the distance, dark clouds overtaking the hues of sundown. Kurio frowned up at the sky, that same nagging feeling creeping into the back of his mind. He could feel Raiko stirring. Kurio shook his head. Every night, his dreams were plagued with the sounds of thunder and flashes of distant lightning.

Kaminari… the name had been lodged in his mind since the chuunin exams. Asking other clans members about it would just earn him an “I don’t know.” But whispers of it could be heard late at night.

Equipment cleaned and put away, he got up from his desk and wandered the halls. Kurio could hear the gentle patter of rain by the time he reached the doors leading to the basement. The Shimizu archives were deep below ground, the walls covered in seals and glinting with crystals to protect the books and scrolls from the miasma’s decaying effects. Here is where their research on akuma was stored, some of the scrolls were far older than the village itself. Though Kurio suspected the more classified information was stored in the Tsumikage’s office. “It’s a start,” he sighed. Lighting some candles and setting to work. If the clan had info on Kaminari, this was going to be his best chance at finding it.

Hours passed as he searched through every book and scroll lining the shelves. Detailed write ups on the effects of akuma chakra on the body and environment. The cold, clinical reports on how chakra burns and miasma poisoning progressed outnumbered any research on countering the effects. Kurio shook his head, returning the book to its place on the shelf. Scrolls of sealing formulas were glanced through but quickly rolled up, the information entirely over the chuunin’s head.

Kurio almost wished there was a clock in the archives as he reached forward to light a new candle. Though another part of him didn’t want to know how long he’d been down there, searching through every tome for even a scrap of information. He blinked down at the page in front of him, willing the blurred text and drawing to come back into focus.

Ixion: the Racing Bolt - One-Tailed Kirin
Rank: Common
Element: Lightning

He shook his head and turned to the last page without reading more.

Kiyomori: the Grandiose Thunder - One-Tailed Beast
Rank: Noble
Element: Lightning

Even in an illustration, the twisted creature sent a chill through the young Shimizu. He closed the book with a tired sigh. It had been one of the closer names he’d found that night, but it still wasn’t the right one. A frown tugged at Kurio’s lips. Raiko hadn’t been listed in any of the books he’d read through. Nor had Tengu, Kiyohime, In, or any other akuma he knew was sealed in another clan member. “Why is that?” What were the odds he’d even get an answer if he asked? He rubbed his eyes, “do I need to be a jounin just to have a shot at getting any answers?”

Kurio stood with a tired groan, putting the last book away and shuffling back upstairs. The sun was starting to come up, painting the sky in reds and pinks. Had he really been reading all night? “Crap, I need to be at the clinic today too…” No rest for the wicked.

Nor the curious, it seems.

 

[Orikanyo]

Wakanaka
Never go Spelunking alone.

Spoiler: Story

"...Not saying its one of my best ideas, but, well, can't also say it was the worst." The young oni sat, or rather laid, flat upon the ground, a large and incredibly dirty laying atop of him. It was a odachi, 35 inch long blade, or so Waka guessed given the fact he was just barely able to keep the blade from crushing him, or splitting him in two with just sheer weight.

Okay, lets start at the beginning.

Sensei Ichirou recommended this old mine a long time ago, felt like ages really, to help him come along with his training. It was a dangerous place but the more you sweat and in practice the less you bleed in battle, so, if thats the case, if you bleed in practice, battles will be no sweat! Lovely, so he decided to go play in the obviously dangerous abandoned mines nobody goes to for good fucking reason.

Hold on, he paused the retelling to swat at a fly on his face.

Where was he? Ah right.

So, he had been here a couple times, found some old tools and what not, sometimes things that looked like fossils or bones, and he occasionally brought them out to see them in good light. He only kept the one fossil though, had a wiggly look to it, maybe a super old eel? There was this one skull that had two horns and a… No it also had a horn up front? Triceratops, he wasn't a dinosaur guy, but a falling rock smashed it to pieces so really he couldn't get anything from it.

The mine giveth, the mine taketh away.

But this time he had gotten a new route! Small bit of digging required but thats why he left his good clothes at home when going into the dangerous mine that could collapse on his head, at any moment, smart thinking Waka, wouldn't want those clothes ruined…

But, well, he went along, digging through, smashing a rock or two, when he found this big circular cave! Fancy! Lovely! It looked like it was formed by something smashing down and causing an explosion or something… And in the center? This sword! That was now currently laying atop of Waka as he tries to bench press it up and fail with each push. Luckily it doesn't crush him, or turn on the kinda dull blade edge to chop him up like a fish who accidentally knocked a knife off the hanging rack above it. He just had to check out the cool sword, had to, anybody would really, hes surprised there weren't 15 skeletons littered around this heavy thing.

Well if he can't get it off him, hes going to end up as such. Somebody will come in here, find his corpse and laugh. Try and pick up the sword, and have it fall on them, and the cycle of incredibly stupid deaths continues.

His eyes turn to his gourd nearby, he reaches, but it lay just out of his grip. Even if the brew doesn't help, he can at least die a happy oni… His eyes look down at the sword pinning him down, it was… God damn he has no clue what it was made of… Rock? Didn't feel like rock. felt like metal but… Not quite rusty, more like… Like a vein of iron popped out of the earth into a sword shape. Maybe it was an akuma? If so, it was very rude cause he had been trying to negotiate his release from confinement for an hour now…

Maybe if he just sorta wiggled abit… get it to sllliiide off hi- Oh shit the blades going towards his neck fuuuu- The young man hurriedly grasps the blade, feeling it bite into the calloused red hands that grabbed it, thankfully it needs sharpening so it doesn't cut off his fingers… Well… Here he was again… With it hanging over him like a guillotine and the only thing keeping it away are his strained arms…

Okay… Hes gotta twist and turn, do it in a hurry. On three, one… two… three!

...Three!

THREEEEEEE WHY DOES THIS THING FEEL LIKE IT'S BEING PUSHED DOWN ON HIIIIIM!

He pushed, pushed, and pushed as hard as he could, his chakra finally flowing through to aid but even as he grew in strength so did his opposition! Slowly, he gained, inch, by inch, drop of blood by drop his was finally getting it over his head! And with a sigh he dropped it, just beyond his head to the sound of a… Light clatter…

His body ached, his hands hurt, his pride was shattered like a clay pot hit by a sledge… But he was alive. And not killed by a weird magic sword.

Heavily panting, he stood up, wiping his hands off on his clothes he eyed the sword then the hole he got here from. "No, not dealing with that, you can go screw yourself!" The young man stated to the discarded blade, he turned to leave and be done with the worthless killer treasure he found…

A treasure that is his… And hes leaving… Behind…

….

By midnight he had surfaced from the mine, caked in mud and sweat with a long line stretching from the hole he found the sword in aaaaalllll the way to the entrance. He dragged it behind him like a child who found a huge stick and was determined to at LEAST bring it home.

It was his treasure damn it! Now all he… Wait shit he forgot his gourd!

And back down he went, sweaty, tired, minorly bloody, cursing all the while...

 

[RoninN7]

Pt 2
Mission with Shibata ( IG42 ) and Hima/various NPCs ( Ganryu )​

Spoiler: Part 2

With a scowl Shibata took a step towards Hima, he’d dealt with many people questioning his blood relationship with his parents often enough over the years to be very tired of the subject. “My bloodline provides me with my Crystal Release and my standing was a useful tool to get my foot in the door here nothing more.” Picking up on the chalky smell again he dispelled the expected genjutsu and glanced at the other three people in the room to see if they were adversely affected.

Making a series of handsigns his existence appeared to waver for a moment then he was joined by a pair phantoms flanking him, meanwhile two clones quietly slipped out of the crystal then attempted to tackle Hima from behind.

Eizo quickly moved to stand between Sato and Hima when she started to talk. At first, it seemed like she was talking crazy, but Eizo quickly realized that everything she was saying was as honest as could be. When she finally confirmed Eizo’s theory, he knew what they were in for and he knew that his suspicions about her were correct. When the chalky scent entered his nostrils again, Eizo quickly released the genjutsu and pulled out his bo staff and held it in one hand. He then spotted Shibata’s clones appearing behind Hima and knew that he needed to act if he wanted to ensure his comrade’s attack was successful.

Her confidence gives away her ability; it’s clear that she’s good and she knows it, so we have to make every attack count and stay on our toes. A well-placed genjutsu could throw her off just enough to create an opening, even if it’s only for a split second; it’ll have to be enough… Eizo made a few handsigns quite overtly, as if trying to draw Hima’s attention to them, before dramatically raising his staff and slamming it into the ground. Those unaffected by the genjutsu would see absolutely nothing, but, if Hima fell for it, she would see the ground in front of her begin to crack open and rumble violently. I hope this works…

As both released the genjutsu, the smell turned from chalk to iron once more as the bloody mist revealed itself... However, it quickly began to return. Hima smiled. The moment it was gone, Hima seemed in better health, but as it returned, she looked sickly once again.

"You're strong. Either one of you is stronger than I am. But the way you both use jutsu speak of amateurs."

She let Shibata continue his handsigns. The moment his handsign repeated crystal release, marking his kekkei genkai, she leapt forward away from the wall, kicking off the incoming clone without even looking at it, her gaze purely on Shibata and his handmovements.

"Too reliant. You will never hit me like that. I am the door that will take your foot clean off."

However, Eizo's handsigns caught Hima off guard, Hima suddenly playing a game of 'the floor is lava', leaping from from wall to wall as if escaping some invisible chasm. Taking another blood pill, she gingerly put it in her mouth, and started her own handsigns, before ripping down her arms in a flow of blood. The blood started to pool, and from each finger, began to condense skyward, trailing after Hima like a crimson scythe. Her focus seemed to switch to Eizo as she tried to decipher his fighting style.

She slashed forward, and each scythe shot off wildly, 8 crimson blades coming from various angles, curving in the air. Three each at the nin, and one each for the non nin. They wildly shot from behind at the neck like a guillotine, at the belly from in front, and straight down from the sky in that order.

Bloody Mist: Izanami's Offering

A gulp sounded as Hima swallowed, still focusing on Eizo.

"And you... do you know the price of connecting your chakra network with your opponent...?"

Despite her claim, she waited, bouncing between the walls of the vault, clearly under Eizo's genjutsu... but not willing to disappate it.

While one clone fell backward when it was kicked the other latched onto Hima’s back trying to tangle itself in her limbs as she hopped around.

Watching the blades arc around Shibata ducked low and rolled backward under the one approaching from behind then threw himself at Sato using a rotating prism shield to deflect the other incoming blades into the walls and floor, meanwhile the clone that had been struck earlier threw itself between Ryuunosuke and the attack meant for him dropping it to the ground with a deep gouge taken out of it’s back.

Dragging Sato with him he hooked his arms through the civilian’s and body flickered them both over to the crystal that blocked the entrance and pushed both men through it out of the fight sending another genjutsu purge through them as he did it.

Now freed of the obligation to protect non-combatants Shibata unleashed a barrage of crystal needles that swirled around Hima before striking for multiple angles as if imitating her earlier attack, at the same time the two phantoms charged in to add to the general confusion.

Eizo heard Hima’s words, but refused to let them get to him, rather choosing to analyze her movements and tone. It’s obvious that she’s still under my genjutsu, but the question is why? Being a genjutsu user herself, and a seemingly experienced one, she should’ve noticed the illusion, unless she’s actively trying to stay under it to maintain some sort of connection between our chakra networks. This would mean she might use my genjutsu to her advantage to put me under a genjutsu of her own… Before Eizo could process that notion, Hima launched savage attacks at everyone present, including Sato and Ryuunosuke.

Luckily, it seemed as though Shibata had them covered, which gave Eizo the time to focus on Hima herself. Ducking under the incoming blades, Eizo used his bo staff and pressed it against the wall to push himself out of the way of the third, which was coming down directly toward him. Once he was clear of danger, Eizo took a deep breath, keeping his eyes locked on Hima as he dissipated the genjutsu he put her under. “First Gate of Opening: Open!” A surge of energy and power coursed through Eizo’s veins and he felt the rush of adrenaline pumping through his body as a result. I can’t go all out just yet, so I’ll conserve my energy in case I need to open more gates. With his enhanced speed and power, Eizo plunged his staff into the ground hard enough to cause a ringing sound and used it to vault toward Hima, spinning in the air rapidly before throwing a spinning push kick toward her midsection, aiming to knock her into Shibata’s crystals and phantoms.

Hima was surprised by the clone latching onto her, never having confirmed the complete jutsu. However, as she fell, she made a single handsign as Shibata deflected the blood scythes. One that flew towards a wall flew back up, curving only slightly, letting Hima bend, slashing across the clone on her back and freeing her.

She held up another sign, and the blood at Shibata's feet shook for a minute. Eizo undoing his jutsu made Hima seem actually worried for the first time, her focus dropping off of Shibata, and the blood on the ground stopping mid movement. "Tch." She watched carefully as Eizo flew, crashing into Hima full force. A sickening crack could be heard as she Eizo's foot connected, and Hima's body seemed to fold like a pretzel. She flew off the blow, ricocheting off wall after wall, like skipping stones, before bouncing off Shibata's crystal wall with a crack. Blood splattered across the entire wall.

It was enough force that Hima defintely seemed to be dead. But like a zombie, she began to rise, a red fountain under her now.

Meanwhile both Eizo and Shibata would feel an intense kickback. Eizo would feel like he had just kicked a steel beam, his foot in excrusiating pain as drawback. It felt like every nerve in his leg was screaming at once.

Shibata would suddenly feel his chakra levels plummetting, as if his few jutsu had all been him spamming his crystal dragon, again and again.

Hima's back crackled and realigned as she stood straighter and straighter.

"Those who live by the sword always need to be prepared to die by the sword." She stared at Eizo, now trying to figure him out. "Physical fighter... and not bad of one. You definitely hit me... you shouldn't be able to hit me at all and deal damage. I suppose props for that.”

Crystal needles started to pepper Hima, who recoiled on each hit, but continued to stand, and began a series of handsigns as her sclera reddened. An iron like taste started to enter every one's mouths as the blood fog turned deeper red.

"With those two gone, I suppose that puts me on a time limit. Nearest house would be the Yamamoto clan house, which is fifteen minutes away for a civilian. Ryuunosuke, being a Yamamoto, would go there first. I'd rather not fight the daughter of the house, or the clan head, though their names escape me. ANBU are likely forty minutes away. Nearest ANBU lives in the Shimuzu clan. Meaning that's your win condition, 15 minutes. Hold out that long."

Eizo felt quite proud of himself for landing that kick onto Hima and dealing what seemed like considerable damage. His pride wore off quickly, when, upon landing, Eizo’s leg felt like hell. It was incredible pain that made it seem as though the one who got hit with that force was him. For a few moments, Eizo struggled to place his aching foot back on the ground, but he managed to stand on both feet soon enough. Luckily for him, training under the Tanaka clan and attempting to master the Eight Gates sometimes resulted in broken bones and torn muscles all over due to overexertion, so the pain wasn’t new to him. Even with how used to the pain he was, Eizo knew that he needed to be careful to not get any more of whatever that was done to him. Mixing this pain with the physical damage that comes from opening the Eight Gates wouldn’t be a wise idea.

He watched with a little irritation as Hima seemed to come back from the dead after that hit, her body slowly cracking into place, which shouldn’t be possible for someone who took a hit like that directly. There’s something off about her, she’s almost too durable and her blood just keeps coming even though so much of it has already been expended with her jutsu. What if this is all a genjutsu… As soon as the taste of blood entered Eizo’s mouth, he immediately released genjutsu, his eyes still trained on Hima. “I appreciate the compliment, and I also appreciate you giving us 15 minutes of your time, we’ll make it worth your while.” Eizo smirked, hiding how much his leg’s nerves were screaming in pain as well as the fact that he had no intention to spend 15 minutes fighting Hima. This fight needed to end as quickly as possible because it was clear to Eizo that extended fighting only helps Hima.

Eizo split his bo staff into two escrima sticks and held one in each hand, keeping his eyes on Hima. “Let’s go again, shall we?” He said as he slammed both into the ground, making sure that the escrima sticks crash into each other on impact, creating a ringing sound. Eizo quickly scowled and held his leg, pretending that his “Crashing Earth” genjutsu had failed, but that wasn’t the genjutsu he intended to use. He’d crashed both sticks together on impact to create a ringing which would suddenly start to appear again and again all around whoever was caught in the genjutsu. Eizo then jumped toward Hima with blinding speed and attempted to sweep her leg with one of his escrima sticks, deciding that hitting her with the weapon might prevent his limbs from taking more damage.

Feeling a precipitous drop in his chakra levels Shibata stumbled slightly and grimaced in distaste as he splashed in the blood under his feet. Both seeing and tasting the haze in the air he suspected it was a genjutsu carried through the scent like he encountered in the chuunin exam or something similar and pulled up his scarf to cover the lower part of his face again, unlike the last time however there wasn’t a giant flower emitting it he could destroy and he was stuck in an enclosed space with it.

While Eizo went on the attack again Shibata went to his bloodied crystal and found a fairly clear spot to place his hand on it, with a slight shudder the crystal crumbled away in a few places near the top opening holes that would allow the mist to leak out but were too small for a person to escape through.

Inwardly lamenting their lack of any wind element to forcibly dissipate the mist he took a deep breath and still tried dispelling the genjutsu he expected he was under and felt his chakra levels abruptly normalise. Smirking beneath his improvised mask he swiftly went through a longer series of handsigns conjuring a crystal dragon keeping it slightly smaller than normal for the enclosed space, feeling his lungs begin to ache for air he dispatched the dragon aiming to first smash against the container of pills at Hima’s side then coiled around her trying to slam her against the walls or choke the breath from her body. Finally taking another breath he watched her closely for any effects of her mist.

As Eizo charged, Hima's eyes seemed to flicker in every direction, looking for an attack that wasn't there. His attack, to Eizo, seemed to hit dead on, a sudden crack echoing as Hima toppled over, bone showing from the hit. Hima, fell to the ground, catching herself with one hand, then kicking off the crystal wall, making a quick series of handsigns.

To Shibata, as the genjutsu wasn't yet to restart on him, he would see a glancing blow as Hima premptively tripped herself, the metal rod only tapping her mid fall.

Suddenly, the blood pooling beneath both of them coagulated, turning hard as steel as it caught their shoes/boots/sandals/crocs {Gan doesn't know}, welding them to the spot.

Hima continued to another quick jutsu, before the blood on the crystal wall quickly turned to spikes, raining down and threatening to pierce them.

Hima was already on another round when Shibata's dragon appeared. Hima's eyes turned for half a second as she heard another clang from an invisible foe thanks to Eizo's genjutsu. She scoffed at the dragon, not even thinking much of it. She, infact was already half turned at impact, a glancing blow sending her flying back with no real damage.

However... a sudden 'crack' sounded, the dispenser of her blood pills shattering into dust as plasma like fluid started to drip down her leg.

For the first time, Hima's eyes widened, a look of horror on her face.

"NO!" she screamed, a terrified voice resounding in the small echo chamber that was the hall.

Skirting to one leg, she quickly made two handseals. The blood fog coming off her body began to disappate, and her eyes started to turn from red back to white. She was undoing her jutsu in a panick.

As the dragon circled back to try and coil around her, she screamed bloody murder, before grabbing the head, and hurling it to the side of the vault. Glass container after glass container shattered at the impact.

Hima panted, still looking terrified as the blood cascading down her body wasn't stopping. She moaned as she looked upwards, obviously in flashback.

"They asked me.. if I'd be willing to help save the world. Hehehe. Funny..."

Her eyes fell back down to the two, locking onto them, though she continued to talk to herself.

"Me a selfish murderer... would I be willing to die for other people? I’ve killed people because I wanted a few extra dollars. I’ve listened to their screams as I thought about the new extension of my house. But they asked me anyways… Let's give this one last go, shall we...? Just remember… shaft 5-A after all this."

With that, Hima started to run towards the two, her fingers bend outwards like claws, and a fierce look on her face. However… she seemed to be stumbling, and no more fog emanated from her body.

Grunting in annoyance as his feet were seized Shibata made the crystal behind him spit out another clone to bodyblock the spikes though a few got past forcing him to weave around them as best he could on the spot. Down but not out the clone formed a blade and frantically chipped around his feet until he was free.

Stamping his feet to shake off a few bits of solidified blood still clinging on, he thought back to Hima’s earlier taunts about connecting chakra networks and decided this was a good opportunity to make use of a technique he had been working on that would avoid such risks.

Creating a single needle he poured his chakra into the crystal and focused it into a specific form. Making half a dozen normal needles he shot them at Hima hiding the infused needle among them. If the needle were to stab into Hima she would fall under a genjutsu causing her to see both Shintaro and Fubuki phase through the crystal blocking the entrance and attack before imprisoning her within an oubliette.

Eizo cursed as the blood beneath his feet started hardening, holding him in place. He then looked up to see several blood spikes raining down menacingly toward him. Without any time to think, Eizo began parrying as many as he could, though some still made it through his attacks and damaged him. Enraged, Eizo had had enough of this and decided he was going to put her down even if he had to fight through her genjutsu to do it. When he’d dispersed the genjutsu earlier, the pain in his leg vanished and Hima seemed to be barely injured, despite what he’d clearly seen and done. Now, while under fire from the spikes, Eizo was realizing that she probably tricked them into thinking they were damaging her when, in reality, they were barely grazing her. He did gain some satisfaction, however, from seeing Hima turn her head every once in a while, fooled by the genjutsu he put her under.

If I can’t escape this genjutsu and she’s fast enough to dodge me, but not fast enough to completely avoid me with the First Gate open, I doubt she’ll be able to dodge me with a couple more opened up… With the spikes raining down on him, Eizo angrily focused his energy, his eyes locked onto Hima. “Third Gate of Life: Open!” Suddenly, a violent rush of chakra and power surged within Eizo’s body as his skin began turning red due to the insane amount of strain his muscles were under. With his newfound power, Eizo was able to easily dodge the remaining spikes and break free from Hima’s blood. He quickly noticed how Shibata had attacked her and somehow her jutsu was beginning to fade. When he noticed Shibata’s needle flurry, Eizo decided that it was his time to strike.

He gripped both of his escrima sticks and lunged forward with insane speed, aiming to plunge his escrima sticks into Hima’s vital organs. He knew that if he was still under her genjutsu somehow, she’d try to dodge, so Eizo made an effort to drive through so that, even if he doesn’t hit an organ, his sticks will deal maximum damage. If he made contact, Eizo would push off of her after impact and then dive forward again, aiming for a different set of organs, repeating the action until either Hima or Eizo was unconscious.

Hima continued her course, even as she was peppered with needles, making no effort to dodge them, letting them roll into non vital areas.

As Eizo rushed her, even at his insane speeds, HIma had already begun to roll against the attack, looking like even at third gate, she was still skilled enough to read him. However, mid roll her eyes widened as she froze to the spot, unable to move right at the moment that Eizo made impact.

Another sickening crack could be heard as his escrima sticks, blunt as they were, drove into her. Another fatal injury…. To the seeming dozens that Hima had endured.

Hima’s face tilted to the side as a slight smile came to her face, even as blood dripped out her mouth. She rasped something inaudible, before collapsing in a heap on the ground, the haunting smile still on her face. She almost looked proud.

This time, Hima, The Zombie of Sangogakure, rose no more.

In the distance, footsteps could be heard rapidly approaching. “This way! She’s a madwoman I tell you! Your son’s holding her off, but hurry. Saved my life against her. Sato’s getting the Kounna and ANBU!”

The crystal wall shattered as Shintaro Yamamoto would appear on the scene, a near collapsed Ryuunosuke gasping for breath as he had… at least tried to keep up with a Shinobi. “Shibata, are you alright?”

Watching Hima fall Shibata felt a twinge of regret, aside from causing the death of another human being sadomasochistic psycho or not he was sure she would have had useful information if they had captured her.

Turning to his father he bowed slightly and winced, touching a sore spot on his back he found a small amount of blood on his fingers, apparently he hadn’t been quite as successful at avoiding the last attack as he thought. “Father, we’ve...subdued an enemy ninja who was part of a scheme to steal our crystals.”

Appearing at his son’s side without missing a beat, Shintaro placed a hand on his shoulder and examined the wound. “We can talk about that in a moment, let me see to this first.” After a moment he nodded approvingly. “Good it doesn’t appear too bad.” He looked over at the other chuunin in the room. “Eizo, how are your wounds?”

Grasping his father’s wrist for attention, Shibata spoke up again. “Shaft 5-A, send the ANBU to investigate when they arrive, she said she stashed a body there.”

Eizo watched triumphantly as Hima finally went down, seemingly having run out of options to keep the fight going. You were a very worthy opponent and it was an honor to fight you. Finally, he heard the sound of footsteps and voices approaching, and Eizo knew that their work there was done for the time being. With a smile on his face, Eizo fell to the ground and breathed heavily as he struggled to pick himself up to a sitting position. The overexertion caused by opening three gates coupled with the damage he took during the fight finally caught up to him and his body was screaming at him to stop moving.

He watched Shibata approach his father and the other men that arrived and decided it’d be best to let him do the talking since Eizo didn’t have much energy left to answer too many questions. Upon being asked how his wounds were, Eizo turned with a tired smile and responded with an upbeat, but exhausted voice. “No need to worry Mr. Yamamoto, I will be alright after a little while of sitting here to catch my breath.” He heard Shibata mention Shaft 5-A and immediately agreed with his comrade. “‘Remember shaft 5-A’ was the last thing she said before, well… you know,” Eizo replied tiredly and glanced over at Hima’s body. He then closed his eyes and took a deep breath with a smile on his face, finding comfort in how well he and his new teammate dispatched the threat.

 

[Ganryu]

"Friendship is Two Pals Munching on a Well Cooked Face Together"

Wakanaka & Sachiko collab​

Spoiler

Sachiko slumped as she walked into the slummier parts of towns.

“This is going to be super awkward. Bet he says no.” She looked to the apartment, paint peeling from the side and rust growing on the railings. She swore she could hear yelling in the alleyway next to her.

“What are you going to do? Stab me? Ow! My kidney!”

Sachiko blinked. She’d never really been to this part of town. Waka lived here…? Wait… did she really know anything about Waka…? He like to go ‘bonk’, and was easily duped, but, well, that was about it. She shrugged, and approached, knocking on the door. She thought about calling out, but that probably would have just gotten the door locked. She’d also admittedly thought about picking the lock, and seeing if she could sneak in, maybe transformed as a large cat. But if she was going to ask for a favor, it had actually be on nice terms!

Wakanaka was fiddling with the brewing stand, occasionally swatting at the houseplant nearby when it was getting abit testy… Sure it kept the flies away but it kept trying to gnaw on him.. Maybe he should move it from the stand? Get a new one? He DID get this off the street…

“...Eh..? Someone… If your here to rob me I gotta tell yea, the last guy who tried had his arm shoved up his ass.

Took abit of doing to get it up there, so if your gonna try better clear your schedule.” Wakanaka walked towards the door and undid a few locks, pulling it open slightly at first, then noticed who it was…

His eyes met hers.

And he slowly closed the door without a word.

Sachiko blinked at the closed door. “Yeah. I figured.” About as well as she’d expected. Actually, the locks didn’t sound yet, so better than she figured!

The sounds of a lock clasping back in place could be heard from within.

A devilish smile then started to crawl on her lips. “But, Waka, do you really want to leave me out here… all alone… near your neighbors...unsupervised…? I mean… the rumors that could fly! At least hear me out!”

The young man paused for abit, thought about it.. REALLY thought about it… REALLLY REALLY thought about it…

He sighed, unclasped the lock and opened it up. He looked… Well… Bulkier? He had bags under hsi eyes, probably from a late night, his arms were bandaged up in places but the part Sachiko would see were a distinct red… Not like a reddened skin but crimson red like he dunked his hands in paint. It stretched up to the end of his forearms, but only cracked upwards from there. Pon his face, on his right side, was the second horn, turning his head very much unsymmetrical.

“Come in.” he stated, turning to let herself come inside. “Close the door behind you, and mind the vines Koro is grabby.”


"Wait, what?" Sachiko stood in disbelief. She didn't actually expect that to work. "Are you sure this is Waka? Did I come to the right house?" She poked him on the horn... then zipped around him, poking at him, dispelling a genjutsu, and generally being an nuisance.

“Definitely Waka. Even smells like him. Hard to replicate that.

So, uh, I, uh, was hoping, I mean, er, needing a f-f-fav-

-what do you mean… grabby?”

Sachiko poked the plant, apparently breaking out of her request mid sentence.

The plant wiggled abit before what was initially thought to be just two big leaves opened up to reveal a venus flytrap mouth, it snapped at the pink haired young lady, but before it could bite, Waka smacked it with the Oni equivalent of a rolled up newspaper, a bent metal pipe.,

“Settle down you!” the plant *hissed* before curling up back to a dormant state.

“I’d get rid of it if it didn’t keep the bugs and pests away…

“Seems to like me! It’s great at getting rid of pests then!” Sachiko said, deliberately putting her head like a in a lion’s mouth. She then body flickered to the couch. She thought she felt a spring impaling her left leg. With a winced smile, she continued.

“Soooo, Waka, if, uh, by chance, you, uh… had a free moment…” She gave a seated bow surprisingly respectfully, her demeanor turning to her more formal mood. “Would you, Wakanake Tsube, instruct me, Sachiko Kounna, in the ways of Taijutsu…?”

And, I, Sachiko, lost three levels of pride that day. I don’t like it… but guess I never would…

Wakanaka…. Stared at the young woman… His eyes burrowed into hers, trying to figure out just what she was playing at… Was she trying to screw with him again? Was she playing a prank? No.. NO she was… Even HE could feel the all consuming pit of swallowed pride burning her soul in two.

He tossed the pipe at the plant, who caught it in it’s jaws and began chewing on it happily(?), he stood tall and crossed his arms. “No.”

Sachiko gave a confused look as she put a finger to her chin thoughtfully. “Really. Weird. I thought Waka would juuuump at the chance to punch me in the face. No consequences. Or, you know, show off he’s hot stuff. I heard rumor’s recently about how a terrifying ‘oni’ had come from Tsumi. But guess just rumors. Not like I’ve ever actually seen you do anything with it. Did you just forget to remove an icecream cone from your head after it stuck, and the look stuck, and now you’re just too embarrassed to remove it…? Cause that sounds about right.

Sachiko stood up, and tossed him her joke book:
The Man Who Cried Paper, and His Tearable Life.

“I could show you how to throw my super secret weapon in return…”

Wakanaka sighed “You ain’t gonna get me that easy Sachiko, we’ve been through all this before, and yea don’t know half the hell i’ve gone through the last while.” Wakanaka scratched behind his head, his eyes looked to the book and…

By the gods as Sachiko’s witness, he actually smiled at the book’s title.

“...Don’t know if yea notice, but I got kicked outta my home, I bought this place, been keeping myself afloat. And keeping it to myself by in large.

Largely cause who the hell I gonna ask for help, Miho? We both know her. Rest of the damn village folk here are as insane as that, almost feels like i’m going crazy to.

I’m thirteen and living on my own… Tossed out cause of something I didn’t know I had…

So now you’re here, you want me to help you? Well, even in the loosest of terms of teammates we’ve ever been, I can, and have abit of an obligation to help you get stronger.

But you gotta help me too.” he tossed the book back to her. “I ain’t gonna tell you how, but you gotta do it.

It’s on you to repay me and help.

Call it good will or good karma added in.

But for that, I will help you, it wont be easy, msot the crap i’ve learned has been through trial and error, error, error. I’ll teach you how to make use of what you got, hell, if yea got a weapon we’ll do that.

But you gotta promise me, to help me as well. Ain’t sayin’ become a messiah, just how you can.
If not for this… Cause we’re…” he pauses… HARD on that last word… he considered it. Rolled it around on his tongue, it hurt to even THINK of speaking it towards this pink devil.

But thats the thing.

She ain’t just the devil.

She is HIS devil, and he is her oni.

And unfortunately, thats just how it is… And also possibly the title of a shitty dollar store romance novel..

God he better not be thinking of that stuff… With this one? Ugh…

“We’re….

Friends…”

The world outside ever became quiet as the word cut through the air.

"Pffft... Friends?" Sachiko seemed to laugh... but her voice was much... huskier than normal. It was more like a dry series of barks than a laugh, and hardly seemed happy. The sides of her face dampened. "Waka. I'm not a good person. I don't like people. In fact, I really don't like people. In fact, I kinda hate people. Shio gets almost a pass, but, almost as a joke. She likes herself about as much as I do.

You want to know what my speciality is...? You want to know how I survived that ANBU? It was a new talent I figured out. It's making people feel what I feel."

An intense killing intent filled the room as Sachiko glanced at Waka. A heavy air that gave vision after vision of murder in it.

"I already hate doing this. You want a deal? Fine. You want to get paid? Fine. But don't make it weird and lie to me. We're ninja. We’re supposed to see underneath the underneath."

Sachiko clapped her hands together, and the intensity all faded away as she giggled cutely once more.

"♥So♥, what do you say to some money, punching me in the face, and maybe me not even pranking you for a week or two! Aaand in return I learn the art of 'bonk'. Just a little bit! 'course, you can say no, but then, well, status quo, exceeeept, now I know where you liiiive, 'lil silly."

"And I ain't no damn liar." The young man stepped forward through the intent that filled the air like a fog. "I named my price, the underneath is the same as the surface, under that is the same as above.

"I ain't gonna claim to be some great ninja, hell most the time I just crush whats between me and my goal.

I lied to you once Sachiko, long ago at that damn temple.

I ain't liein to you now.

I ain't treatin you like some god damn rich bitch snot nosed brat others may suck up to.

I'm talking to the Sachiko right here right now, the little devil who damn well caused me no end of trouble, and swore a damn oath with me on that mountain top.

You swore to try.

Now lets try this friend shit out.

Cause honestly I don't got a damn clue how it goes either. But if theres anyone i'd want to be my friend, its the devil I know damn well." He was inches from Sachiko now, eyes right to hers.

"Thats my price.

Be my damn friend Sachiko.

And in return i'll be a good one to."

Sachiko stood speechless for a moment. Her hands still clapped together with a faux smile on her face. As Waka spoke, the corners of her lips twitched. Despite keeping a relatively perfect poker face… her bandages still grew wetter. Sachiko shook her head in a slurry of mixed emotions, refusing to talk.

Finally, she stuttered and pointed at Waka. She was trying to look commanding, her feet planted, one hand on her hips, but… a growing flush and a stutter was giving away her ‘command’. “T-training field #6. Half an hour. I-if you don’t lie, I-I expect you to be there. Afterall, you said you don’t lie.”

Sachiko made a quick handsign… then seemed to fade away like a ghost, a version of body flicker. The front door being opened showed she was sprinting out of there. The problem was Sachiko wasn’t the fastest ninja… but she was definitely in a hurry.

"...Watch out for the trash bins!" He called out to the open door, though he still heard the telltale sound of them crashing to the ground… He sighed, scratching his arm with a red hand. "...Think she gets it now Koro?" The plant hiss softly in return, still chewing on the metal pipe.

"...Yea… Yea...Alright, time to go buy some equipment for this…"




Training field #6 was effectively a large flattened plane, but with several intersperced large heavy stone pillars around the area. It was meant for dealing with large patches of cover, jumping training, or simply as a place to work on hiding from patrols with limited cover.

Wakanaka had been here a few times, back at the academy days when he had to get down how to jump, which may seem simple but its a basic thing as a ninja to be able to long jump from as minimal a distance as possible. For now, he had little to not equipment on him, save for a tank top, sweatpants and, hanging from a string in his right hand, two large boxing gloves… actually they were like those giant novelty ones, rather than true gloves.

He had hopes with these he wouldn't kill her if he hit…

"Hey! Sachiko! You here?"

One of the rocks suddenly unfolded collapsing to a sheet of fabric as Sachiko revealed herself underneath.

Cloak of Invisibility

“Yup! Wait… that squeaking sound…? Ugh… Well, guess I’m not going to learn much like this, am I?”

Sachiko pulled out a kunai, and tugged at one of the rolls of bandages. With a ‘snip’, it fell away, ribbons of cloth unfolding and falling around her feet. Waka would first see a red glow out of her right eye, followed by a glowing blue eye. As more bandages unfolded ,he would see each eye sparkled like a gem. Sachiko gave her best fake giggle.

“I’ve been busy. Can’t keep these out for long, but at least the sun doesn’t hurt this time. Oooh! Boxing gloves! Nice touch. Don’t hit me too hard now. ”

Sachiko started to lower herself into a low stance, one hand in a fist by her waist, the other in an open palm outstretched, both feet wide and away from eachother.

Wakanaka watched Sachiko’s new eyes… Interesting… He actually couldn’t wait to see what they do.

“These..? Are for if you chicken out. Now…” Wakanaka dropped the pair to the ground and crouched low, he clasped some dirt into his palms and rubbed them together, clutching both fists with an audible crack of his knuckles.

“Alright…” he puts both fists onto the ground, his body tensing up, he readies… And…

“DEFEND YOURSELF!” he leaps upwards like a tiger pouncing towards it’s target.

Break a Spell

Sachiko gulped, watching as various muscles and chakra tensed throughout Waka’s body. When on earth had he gotten so powerful!? She didn’t even have to see an impact to know that it would be bad news if it hit. Sachiko wasn’t particularly fast however. “J-just go!? No instruction?!” She yelped as she dropped the practiced stance, and started to flail. Her hand passed over the ground.

“Kounna ultimate technique! Pocket sand no jutsu!”

She threw a handful of sand straight at Waka, before launching forward in a surprisingly well formed punch. Nothing like Waka’s insane strength, but Sachiko was far stronger than most of her classmates. Most… But not that behemoth.

Steady Hand

Sachiko locked herself into the forward motion of the jab, no matter what came at her.

Wakanak closed his eyes, causing the sand to brush past his eyes, somewhat, and his attack fell short of the target. The impact upon the ground caused the earth to crack, splinter and spread out in a spray of small stones. But nonetheless, Sachiko’s fist did his Wakanaka right on the forehead, the base of the horn… Unfortunately, It did not quite stop him in his tracks, and might’ve hurt her hand abit. “Good hit, follow it up!” he began to rush forwards into the fist and Sachiko, aiming to bowl her over with a bullrush.

“Redirect the force!” Sure he was telling her as he was doing it, but she did ask him to do so.

Sachiko panicked as Waka not only took the hit, but continued to run forward. It was like trying to wrestle a bull! Heck, she was sure her arm was currently hurting more than his head was at the impact. And he was still coming, bowling into her. Sachiko stumbled backward, near losing her balance. Sachiko had to think fast.

Her hand suddenly gripped the base of his horn, chakra flowing to her finger tips. Her other hand reached forward, grabbing Waka by the robe, similar Sticky Fingers grabbing on. If she couldn't counter the force, she could try and what he suggested! Attempting to lift him up, Sachiko attempted to piledrive Waka straight into the ground.

“I could… have… asked… a bull… Would have been… gentler…”

"Tsk." Wakanaka allowed the strike to follow through, he, before impact, softened his body and allowed himself to bounce off the ground, rather than smashing into it. Following the momentum he rolled, and got back to a crouching stance, facing Sachiko.

"Good, you know the basics of redirecting force." He whipped a hand across his brow, a hand lightly touching around the base of his horn.

"Keep in mind, folks may have obvious points to grab, but that means they expect it. The horn of an oni is enticing to strike, but its also a ruse…" he emphasized by litterally smashed his forehead into a nearby boulder.

The boulder looked definitely worse for wear… Especially as it crumbled.

"Head kept getting tougher since I got it, finally realized after abit that was why it was so tender at the start…" he paused to clean his face of dirt.

"To keep somebody down is more than just pushing harder than them. Controll the points of their movement. If you bar their arm, pain will keep them down if they aren't used to it, if they are, keep a leg locked or keep them focused on protecting their neck.

Kunai work, but if your attempting to take a ninja alive, they may prefer stabbing themself to death on your own kunai than let the info out or capture.

For akuma, close to the same, but bigger, find the focal point of their movement or attacks and smash it, break it, bind it. How I survived a thunder akuma up close… Redirecting force.." he paws his oddly colored crystal, before looking at Sachiko.

"Thats how you deal with attacks outside of simply absorbing the blow.

But another way i've found if something I did to you earlier… Offensive defense.

Instead of a redirect, or simply bracing.

You attack the enemy, parrying their strike with your own.

Come to me, strike as you want." He assumes a horse stance, legs apart, lower body stable, hands coiled into fists at his side.

Sachiko, meanwhile, collapsed flinching from the maneuver. “Fighting Waka headon would be a mistake… but guess that’s why I’m here….”

She tapped her biceps with her front two fingers, flinching as she identified something wrong. Without explaining herself, Sachiko reached into her bag for a couple of red pills.

Plasma pills

Standing back up, Sachiko got into a fighting stance, nodding at the lesson. It made sense, though coming from Waka, a little less so. Is this what knowing a savant was like? Sachiko didn’t feel like the best at anything, and certainly the worst at a few things, but she kept several tricks up her sleeves at all times.

Waka invited her to punch him, and for once, Sachiko stopped to think. Sachiko worked hard, she practiced, and moving her body was just part of how she trained. But she never really put a lot of thought in how to hit someone. Generally, her blades did that. But how to hit someone hard. Really hard…?

Sachiko shook her head. “Guess I don’t know how to. What I wanted help with. Just throwing a punch. Guess you ARE the sensei here though. How would Koshiro do it… Landmine fist.

Kounna Style: Landmine Fist”

Sachiko didn’t have the kekkei genkai to do the actual blow, but she remembered how her brother would throw a punch. She planted both feet firmly in the ground, before twisting her hip forward, and punching at Waka straight, the feeling like she was attempting to topple a mountain with a pebble. She stepped forward into it, her wrist rotating as the punch flew forward, aimed past Waka with everything she had. “HYAH!”

It was a good imitation, but it almost didn’t seem like Sachiko who was throwing it. It seemed a bit stiff and unnatural.

Wakanaka stared at the girl, first, he was happy he could see abit of that explosive style the Kounna had… But… Given his tajutsu expertise… He could see she was… Kinda flowing through the motions in a odd manner…

"Aight… Lightly Waka… Lightly…" He said that but… Well…

"Clashing Giants: Blade breaker!" Like a viper the young man suddenly lashed out and punched the incoming strike, aiming for the forearm he foiled in not so incoming strike and grasped her arm as if to complete the technique of turning wrists into dust. But it in the end became more or less a awkward holding hand thing, if you consider some guy who is mostly muscle holding your wrist like that holding hands.

"If you focus your strength at pivoting points against incoming attacks, you can force it to fail. This works against blades as well, even incoming techniques… As long as you put chakra into it to.. actually mess with the technique instead of punching wind…

..Don't punch a fireball is all i'm gonna say.

Its simple but alot of stuff is, yea just gotta keep it in mind as an option… Which is.. Kind of the whole secret about taijutsu…"

Sachiko’s iris’s suddenly narrowed as she took a hiss of breath, a completely motionless expression on her face, betrayed by a single tear as her arm was placed directly into a vice. Was Waka even human anymore?! Was she asking some sport of crazed monster to teach her how to fight…? Hell, how would she even damage him if they did get into a confrontation…?! They were teammates, true, but they were also ninja. And part of being an ninja was having a plan to kill everyone you met. And apparently friends too, but that was new and awkward.

Tensing up, she poked at his wrist. “Mind loosening up… I’m losing feeling past my wrist… Wait, no, one second.”

She pulled out a bo shuriken and poked the back of her hand.

“Deeefinitely past ‘losing’ feeling.”

As soon as it was free, she shook a few times, before reaching through her medical supplies. She nodded in throught, sitting against a rock. “Man, Shio and I tease you a lot, but lots of thought has to go into taijutsu, doesn’t it? Every punch is practiced, but well thought out at some point. Always thought taijutsu was just get stronger and hit stuff.

I don’t generally like to let people watch me workout. But, well,I think I’m in good shape. I do upside down crunches, handstand pushups, cabers, and a waterfall salmon climb every day to get stronger. Well.. every night. Sometimes til the sun starts to rise… I like to pretend I’m a ditz, but, honestly, I try super hard… I made an important promise once, and I just don’t have the natural ability like he did to back it up… But I can try.”

Sachiko wrapped her wrist again and again with a bit of cream applied.

“Still, I never really learned how to throw a punch like that. My brother was great at taijutsu, one of the best in the village, but well, I kept getting mad because he would use our Kekkei Genkai, Explosion Release. I don’t, uh, have Explosion Release. Just plain old me.”

Sachiko sighed, and got back up, ready to continue.

“And I’m only sharing that as part of our bargain! You hear me Wakanake Tsube!? Anyways, my turn, you punch, I’ll try to block this time.”

Wakanaka watched her work on her hand, hmm… When did people get to become so fragile…?

"Right, i'm going to go for a haymaker, right inwards punch…. But… Uhh… I'm the dumb one so you didn't hear it from me, but for every super speacial whatever genjutsu, theres a taijutsi that requires deep knolwedge of just how much power each part of you body can take and use, for every thung that Okimi does, theres a singular punch thats been thrown out so many times it may as well be as simple as breathing to the body.

How do you improve on the body? Faster, stronger, harder.

Thats basics, everyone gets that.

But if everything is like a different sword, its how you use it that matters right?" He steps away and rubs his right arm, getting abit of dirt off.

"And ah… Sachiko…

I've stopped seeing you as a Kouna since the day in the temple.

You showed me you were a different beast than some flighty special clan girl." He kicks up dirt, he was going to make good on his promised punch.

"You were Sachiko, something So MUCH Worse! Hoorah!" He launched himself forward, spider webbing the stone ground with cracks from the force. His fist was high, to be brought across horizontal, he did little to aim it since it was practice, but if she didn't do something… Well…

The more you bleed in practice…

The less you bleed in battle…

Sachiko groaned, her knees buckling at the comment. “Geez, come on, almost sounds like you’d prefer some flighty special clan girl. ♪Teehee.♪” She immediately rose up into a more serious stance, her hands forward.

Sachiko’s eyes widened as ruby and sapphire eyes locked onto Waka, observing every single movement in his body. The heat radiating off his muscles, the chakra channelling through his limbs in short burst… perfectly timed bursts, the amount of chakra control that must take was insane. He was over exaggerating. It was training, but still hurt to be left behind.

Sachiko snarled, a bit of toxic chakra coming off of her, before she moved, punching at Waka’s forearm, right above his elbow. She tried to push into her tricep, so that the own force of his punch would drive it into the joint. Force for force.

“Come ooooon, don’t wreck a perfectly good face!”

The punch was stopped, more or less because he planned to, but also because… Well… That really hurt. But… He then did something mean. And closed both arms around her.

"Gottchyea." He lifted her up, arms locked around her mid section. "Hahahahahahhaa Second thing! Always follow up! Or you'll be caught in the counter!" He placed her back down.

"But yea got the basics of it. Don't try it against somethin yea know yea can't take. Or a fireball… Actually most elemental stuff yea can't punch.

Save rock, rock is easy.

...So!

I gotta bad question to ask.

Like, a stupid one that I worry about alot.

Should I shut my mouth or just say it?

Well I talked about it I should just say it…"

He stepped back abit and scratched behind his head. "...Do you really think, with all the bullshit tied to it… We need… To stay with the village?

I get the point and stuff, i've known the benefits… But…" he looks at the village nearby, situated in a literal no man's land of Akuma chakra…

"...Am I crazy for thinking I don't got much here for me? My family tossed me out, Miho was about as helpful as a toothache and I really only got a few friends… If I can call anybody but you that… And I forced that title with you, can't get away from it either so don't try…

But… Really…? Beyond easy ways of getting jobs… What else has it given me? Or will give?

I'm… Not even a Tsube anymore…" he kicks a small rock nearby. "Not allowed near my old home… I've done my crying about it… But is this really all there is for me?

Working shitty work for a village that barely can look at me?"

"Gack!!" Sachiko suddenly found herself in a hug of an oni... and not a pleasant one at that! It felt like a mountain had descended to bear hug her.

Spine! Status report!?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

That's not good. Legs?

...

LEEEEEEGS!!!!?

Luckily, the hug was quick, and she was deposited back on the ground... where she swooned before falling over to one side. Waka was definitely someone she didn't want to fight. The conversation didn't seem to go much better.

Sachiko stared at the sky, watching the clouds through the purple haze that was the village. No where else did they look purple from the ground. If stared carefully, you could see the steam rising from the ground. If you were Sachiko, you could see a unique bubbling that no one else oculd see, perpetually floating up. It started to get hazy, and a sudden pulse throbbed through Sachiko's head. She grabbed her bandages, and quickly covered them.

A few more minutes passed by as a breeze blew, kicking up sand and dust over the prone girl.

Finally, she spoke.

"No. No we don't."

She said plainly.

"I hate this village. My brother died for this village, and I can't even get into the intelligence of what mission he was on.

We're overlooked, and spread thin. Half the injuries in the village are being next to the well in the middle of it. We don't have to stay here, but the village refuses to move, but won't tell us what's so important about it either.

I've never met the Tsumikage. Never been to her office. Yet she's over all of us.

But..."

Sachiko held up her crystal, still able to see it even through her bandages."I'm a ninja... I have a nindo, a ninja way. There's something I promised to do. If I break that, I don't know who I'd be. I have a hard enough time with that as is." she said quietly.

"Sides, if you're done crying about it, you'd change your name. I somehow doubt anyone in your family could hurt you if you wanted to throw them through a wall... or into outerspace. People disappear all the time in the village. No one would question it. But you haven't. You're way too nice. You just took it and moved out, because that was the nice thing to do. Who says you aren't allowed back? Not anybody who could hurl the entire house into the well, that's who.

You feel you have a few friends, so you're just taking it and decided 'well if I'm unwanted, don't want to impose'. Waaaay too sensitive to be an Oni. More like a giant teddy bear. And what's wrong with that? Bears are awesome. Bears have caves. If you didn't have a cave, you'd probably just wander around smashing stuff, feeling bad, then moving on.

Don't think anyone's making you stay, but think we'd be better off if you did. Why don't you help me smash stuff here? ♥Afterall, I know a niiiiice Tsumikage's office we can see from here I thiiiink you could hit with a rock from this distance.♥"

Sachiko smirked... before unwrapping just her right eye, she pulled out her bo shuriken. "Target's center of the window, loser buys winner dinner once we've shaken off ANBU. Ready...? 3... 2..."

“...Heh…” he shook his head, looking at the girl. “Hey, Sachiko.” he picks up a… Fair sized… “Rock.”

“You’re a good friend.”

And fucking god damn tosses it.

“H-hey! No fair! I didn’t hit ooooone! Crapbaskets! Where’s the window!?" Sachiko shrugged, then threw her bo shuriken straight at the center of the rock.

“Meet you at the Ramen place on 3rd assuming ANBU doesn’t catch us!”

Sachiko began to body flicker away as smoke began to rise from the Tsumikage’s office and yelling could be heard below…

Wakanaka sighed, a distant crash could be heard, a smile upon his face as he made himself scarce.

 

[Ganryu]

Anxious Beasts and Disaster

Ichiro, the Feral
​

Spoiler

Tzz…
Zzzz….


The low hissing of the village ambience and a gentle snoring were the only sounds in the small homely room. Several minutes of the ambience passed by, before Ichiro threw off his sheets, more… gently than he was accustomed to. He grunted as he carefully opened the sliding glass door, and walked out on the outdoor patio, staring at the moon.

A gentle autumn breeze passed by, a slight shock of cold with it, though Ichiro routinely refused shirts, even in the winter. He hated how they chaffed against his skin. For all the toughness the man had, some parts of him were… relatively sensitive.

He shook his head, and snarled. It was a beautiful night, as had the last few, but he couldn’t sleep. Imitating a crow, one landed next to him, hopping on the railing.

“Shit on my new railing, and I’ll make you fly higher than you ever thought possible.” He hissed in a whisper. “Bring me files 3-A, 3-B, and 3-Q. Jonin access.” He tossed the bird his crystal, and it flew off.

A slight groan could be heard behind him. “Come back to bed…” Sweet and gentle. Things Ichiro definitely were not.

“Can’t, babe.” Was all he said. More grumbling, then the sounds of dressing in the background. Ichiro groaned. “No need for both of us to have a sleepless night.”

“I’ve seen you say ‘nap time’, and pass out before you hit the ground on a crag. Then get hit by lightning. If you’re not sleeping, you’ve got a reason. Always had good instinct. What are you thinking about…?”

Ichiro grunted. “Can’t say.”

“Because I’m a spy, different village, or because you can’t put your finger on it.”

“Babe… say you wanted to know where a noble was hiding a gem, but had no idea where to start. What would you do…?”

“Spread rumors that someone else wanted to steal it, and if I’m lucky, get hired as security detail… or if no such luck, watch where he starts putting the most security so he reveals it to me. If there’s too much security, I’ll hire some mercenaries to attack, and see what’s most defended. During the battle, sneak in and steal it.Not sure why that would keep you up at night.”

“Typical ninja response. Kuroneko-sensei once had me be the bait while she nabbed a ruby. I got shot 37 times by archers. Good times. Why’s it keeping me up..? Grr… Because, I’m the noble here.”

“You…? Noble…? Isn’t your last name ‘Feral’...?”

“It’s actually Tanaka, but that’s besides the point.”

“Oh my kami… On the paperwork I put - you know what, I’ll fix that later… Why did you tell me that earlier!?”

“But that’s besides the point..”

“Right, so what is the point at you not sleeping at 4 am and being a noble.”

A crow landed on the railing, dropping documents and Ichiro’s crystal. He opened the packets, scanning it so that he couldn’t be seen.

“Tch. Been errata’d… I knew it.”

“Knew what…?”

“The village has ‘hired guards’ to protect the gem. I just… I just got a bad feeling.”

“Is it the Song of Rage…? Are the Shimizu thinking about using it?”

“How the FUCK do you know about that!?”

“I’m a spy, remember? Allied village or not, we’re not stupid. It’s the number one reason for our alliance. Why I’m allowed here, dear. If it helps, you, personally, haven’t leaked anything… Though, there is a blabbermouth in the mission office who wears a crow mask.”

“Doesn’t really make me feel secure… No….” Ichiro took a deep breath, and leaned back against the railing, staring off at the moon. He tried dismissing the crow, but it pecked him, and held out it’s claw for the paperwork.

A snarl as his claws extended… then he handed it off to the crow, who fluttered away. Ichiro grabbed his chest, flinching. A pair of feminine hands reached over to catch the extremely tall man. “Are you alright?”

“Just stress. I’m not the smartest guy in the village, but feels like everyone else is missing the bigger picture… I think we’re being played…”

The woman stopped, dropping him as she picked up on the hints. Ichiro crashed onto the patio with a grunt.

“You think Bishamonten’s goal at the moment is to steal Song of Rage… And you think they’re staying relatively quiet because they’re staking out the village before trying to steal it?”

“Thanks for the support, babe… help me up.”

She stared down at him. “If there’s anyone I don’t have to worry about having a heart attack, it’s the immortal who can start and stop his own at will. That’s what, your 5th one this year…?”

“Seventh…” He croaked, before getting up against the railing. He tapped his chest a few times quizzically looking up. “Shit, eighth. Dr. Michizoe is noooot going to be pleased. Tells me they don't grow on trees, but then gets creeped out when I bring him presents...”

Unconcerned, the woman tapped the railing. “So… if they’re trying to scope out where the knowledge is hidden by putting the village on high alert. I hear the one place they were active was the mines, trying to steal a ton of crystals, though they only got a few.”

“Which they will then give to ‘mercenaries’. Someone who doesn’t like us, and could do a lot of damage in a short amount of time. Then… then they’ll strike where they see us guarding the most. It’s what’s been keeping me up. I’m not sure my brats will do well in a sudden attack. And I got things to take care of now..”

“Aw… he does want kids. Going to admit, didn’t think you’d fit into this teaching gig so easily. If you meant me though, I AM a jonin you know...”

“Didn’t think I’d enjoy it either, almost fun sometimes. And hehe, I’ve put you in the hospital myself. Chunnin exams, chucked a rock at you. Twice.” He groaned as he stretched his back, and let another cool breeze blow over them. Several floating blades suddenly pointed down at him. Ichiro merely raised an eyebrow as if to say ‘really’? He then continued. “Other thing that’s bugged me. I’ve not seen Kyubei lately.”

“Don’t you hate that cat…? Not seeing a problem. Should be less stress for you, not more.”

“Everybody hates Kyubei. Nothing special. But he likes to torture me, due to being sealed in my sensei. But if he’s not harassing me, it means he’s busy. And I don’t know doing what. Kurio’s not seen him either, and Kyubei LOVES tormenting Kurio. Kurio’s just too much a daft bastard to realize that’s what he’s doing.”

“So… a cat going off doing cat things is bothering you.”

“You know that things the devil. He’d kill an entire city if he thought it mildly amusing. If he’s busy, no good can come of it.”

“So, look out for terrorist causing a terrorist attack, and a cat bringing across a ‘catastrophe…’”

Ichiro audibly groaned at the pun. “That hurt more than the heart stopping… But yeah… If you’re spying on me, those are probably some good thoughts to be spied on. Arashigakure’s terrifying, enemy or ally. Lord Jin’s just scary.”

“You’ve told me things I shouldn’t hear, would you like one you shouldn’t…?”

“Sure…?”

“Jin’s just a kid, Ichiro. He’s not taking the village being destroyed well. I’m not sure we CAN help you if anything happens here. At least not in time…. And not in the village if they’ve stolen crystals.”

“I know…. I know… It’s what’s keeping me up at night… what comes next.”

“Hey… hey, want to know another scary fact…?”

“What…?”

“So…. your squad, defending the village…” She teased.

Ichiro slammed his head into a wall as he realized, destroying a section of wood. “Okimi… shiiiiit.”

 

[AtlannianSpy]

A brief Debriefing

A dim lamp swung annoyingly in the dark room, occasionally flickering. An ANBU interrogation chamber, though Akane wasn’t in any trouble. It was more that, the mission report, was… unusual.

Standing in the dark, leaning against a wall, a long haired Shimizu crackled his knuckles by streching them, pops heard repeatedly. He wore a simple white mask, with a few crossed lances on it. Behind him, an entire armory stood it seemed like. Six lances and two towershields, all hanging off his back like a turtles shell.

“Akane Kabenari. We would like to ask you a few questions on what your squad saw on your recent expedition to Arashigakure… The report’s most… unusual. Lord Tsumikage asked for an extraction after additional details emerged, yet you seemed to have finished with no casualties. It is impressive. Normally we would call in the whole team, but Wakanaka Tsube seems to be missing and Shioreta Koina is...” The man trailed off, readjusting his robes around his neck. “Anyways, thank you for your assistance.”

“No it’s really no trouble,” insisted Akane, fidgeting nervously in her seat. “I had some uh, concerns about how things resolved themselves so I had been meaning to talk to someone about it anyway…” It was true Akane had been picturing a chat with a less foreboding setting and conversation partner, but the mission had been weighing on her. It would be good to to get the whole thing off her chest Akane told herself, even as the ominously swinging lightbulb nearly brushed the top of her head. “So should I start at the beginning or-actually-” Akane broke off her question and stood up, delicately catching the light bulb and halting its momentum, gently releasing her grip so that it stopped swinging. “Sorry, sorry that was driving me nuts,” Akane said, sitting back down quickly with an embarrassed expression. “Where were we?”

The masked man nodded at the light bulb swinging. “Apologies. ANBU doesn’t tend to have… comfier quarters. This is the interrogation room, but rest assured, we’re not actually planning on interrogating you. Just ask a few questions, and get a few clarifications. Would a plate of cookies help?”

The man turned to the side. “Miyu, would you mind getting some cookies for our guest, I think the interrogation room’s a bit much.”

“Fuck you, Kenshin, I kill people, does it look like I know how to make cookies?”

“... yes?”

A feral scream followed by a table flipping could be heard in the background. Kenshin, the ANBU, slumped his shoulders. “You, uh, have to understand, ANBU, it ,uh, does things to a person. In any case, I would like to hear a summarized version. I don’t have to know all the details, I did read the report, but, well, you mentioned several high level akuma. That concerns us. And this… Bishamonten member, that’s another concern.

Anyways, cliff notes version if you would.”

The man then held up a ‘one sec’ sign. A hand of chakra extended out, and rested on Akane’s shoulder.

“Sorry. Basic procedure. Begin.”

In the distance, the smell of cookies began to fill the room.

“Oh you don’t have to… I mean I don’t even really like...oh nevermind,” akane trailed off timidly as the smell of baking confection wafted over. “Let me see.. Well the journey over was unremarkable and our contact with the Arashigakure representative went smoothly as well, though thye had little additional information to grant us. We decided to cut directly through the centre of the miasma cloud, as near as we could tell, to maximise our chances of finding the source of it as quickly as possible. Once we descended into the chasms in the area we started to encounter akuma or…” Akane made a grimace “Bits of them anyway, most of the akuma we encountered were already dead and being dissolved by the miasma but we eventually found several sets of tracks, akuma, human and um...Oni, I think. Wakanaka split off from us to track down the Oni, as he has a kind of kinship with them he felt he could gain some useful intelligence from the encounter. Shioreta and I followed the human tracks as they seemed suspicious, humans shouldn’t have been able to weather the miasma without Tsumi crystals so whoever this person was they were suspicious, so we followed after them. That’s when we met him, Inaba,”

Akane furrowed her brow, concentrating to ensure she remembered every important detail before continuing. “His cape identified him as a member of Bishamonten,he also had a Tsumigakure protector with the symbol crossed out, as well as a crystal of his own. The obvious conclusion would be that he was some kind of deserter or traitor but he wasn’t hostile…” Akane trailed off, hesitating for a moment as though reluctant to continue. “He seemed to know Shioreta and Wakanaka, not just know of, he seemed to imply they had met before and I couldn’t get a straight answer out of either of them. The way Shioreta spoke to him… I don’t know it was like I was missing a part of the conversation, possibly she was playing along with him to learn what she could or...I don’t know. In any case we confirmed later that he hadn’t cause the miasma and his purpose for being there seemed to be unrelated to us, he was collecting samples from several dead akuma and we parted ways peacefully,”

Kenshin went oddly quiet as he listened to Akane's tail, an occasional 'pinging' come from his arm. Finally he spoke, his posture tense.

"Dear heavens, it's all true... and not getting any genjutsu signals from your brain, nor do I detect any foreign seals on your body. Hmm... I knew members of squad Miho were known as, well, let's say 'rappscalions'. But consorting with an enemy nin is a little past 'trouble maker status'. Junpei, if I'm in charge of this one, mind bringing in Wakanaka for questioning."

The ANBU paused, unsure for a moment which thread to pull.

"Not hostile is... interesting choice for a rogue nin. Either those that feel they were forced into that life style, or so arrogant they feel as if their own village is hardly a threat. What description can you give of him. Any jutsu? After that, we'll move onto those Akuma corpses. I may know a thing or two about Akuma. I'm a jinchuuriki myself. Though... that does seem strange. Oh, and feel free to ask me any questions. Think of this like a discussion, not an interrogation. Or can think of me as good cop. I got the unhinged cop baking and out the way."

“He missed his village,” Akane said softly, after Kenshin went into detail on rogue nin, then seemed to shake herself out of the mood that had caught her and added quickly: “Well that’s what he said anyway and I could never tell when he was being serious or not,”

At the mention of Akane felt a twinge of guilt, then a twinge of paranoia as she wondered if whatever monitoring technique Kenjin was using on her would detect her feelings. Akane didn’t like going behind team Miho’s back like this, but it didn’t feel right to keep what had happened to herself either. Steeling herself, Akane continued.

“Let me see, we didn’t witness him in any direct combatant but there were some indications of his handiwork along the trail,” Akane said, searching her memories. “He was strong physically, after I was buried in rubble he lifted a large boulder that was trapping me quite easily. I think he would be formidable in terms of taijutsu. Oh right he came back after- well I’m getting ahead of myself I suppose- anyway we also saw some knife marks on one of the akuma corpses we passed but I think that was just him taking samples so he might not rely on them in combat. Another corpse we think was his handiwork had evidence of an explosion, maybe from a tag although it looked like a larger wound than I would expect from a regular tag. He could have used multiple tags, or one of a custom design I suppose, or some kind of technique maybe,”

Akane trailed off, thinking about something, she might not have brought it up if Kenshin hadn’t explicitly asked her is she had questions. “When you mentioned genjutsu or foreign seals, could something like that make me lie or interfere with my memory? Could something like that have happened to team Miho? How would that work exactly?”

The man took notes. “Taijutsu specialist, male, overly friendly. Possibly a Kounna, or expert in explosive tags. Involve Lord Keiji on the matter…”

He then pivoted his head to the question. “Oh, it’s part of my skillset. Matching chakra’s is hard, but if I have a tail beast focus on nothing but it, he is able to dominate your network briefly. Genjutsu and seals both tend to linger in the chakra network. If it flows freely through you, you are free of either. If I feel blowback, or pressure, it’s a sign that something is impeding the network. It’s not always 100% sure that the presence of either is detected if I do feel that, but if I feel none, it is confirmation you are free of them.

Side note, you should feel great after this. Though, I must say, this is the first time I’ve felt the flow of chakra… go to as many limbs as this. Meanwhile, my sealed beast is listening to your heartbeat. When people lie, or are shocked, he can tell by the difference in the rhythm. Unskilled liars get nervous. Extremely skilled liars tend to calm themselves before a lie. Either way he can catch them. Far as Team Miho, we’ll investigate them separately. Don’t you worry. The ANBU are extremely skilled in what we do, despite rumors to the contrary.”

The man shook his head, his expression still hidden by mask, though a slight air of annoyance could be felt.

“Well, let’s continue with the rest of the story. You said that you saw shredded Akuma…? That’s a bit of a feat. Not many things in nature are able to take those down. You said there was one rogue nin there, but, the mission call specifically called for Tsumi as most nin couldn’t survive in an atmosphere like that. One missing nin is a blight, but I don’t suppose we have a whole legion going around ripping apart Akuma… so do you have any idea what was blenderizing them so efficiently…?

In fact, multiple Akuma together as a whole is strange. They tend to just fight if they run into one another. The Oni, that makes sense, but, well, there aren’t many of those. They don’t breed by mating, so they don’t even tend to - Oh, wait, forgot you’re, uh, a kid… Uh, well, you, uh, you know in nature when a daddy and a mommy animal, I mean, uh… In any case, rare for them to be together.”

In the distance more cursing could be heard. “Where the shit are the chocolate chips!?”

“Well… I think most of them killed each other, all of the living ones we encountered we’re in some kind of a feeding frenzy, fighting and eating instinctually ” Akane said thoughtfully, turning apart some of the pieces she hadn’t really considered yet. During the mission itself Akane had been more concerned with making it out alive, she hadn’t given much thought to the bigger picture or how the little scattered pieces of intelligence the three of them had haphazardly gathered.

“The one we fought, Kiyomori it said it’s name was, had definitely been eating some smaller akuma and most of the dead ones we saw before they dissolved had wounds like bite or claw marks. It also said they, the akuma, had been called by the ‘originator of the storm’ for ‘Kaminari’s reunion’. According to Wakanaka, the oni he spoke to said that if the akuma are eaten quickly enough they don’t dissolve, they turn to chakra and that Oni that enough akuma this way go through an “Awakening” becoming larger and stronger. So… So If the big akuma ate the small akuma and then this Kaminari came along and ate all the big Akuman then they would be one entity in a sense. I think that might be the ‘reunion’ that Kiyomori spoke about,”

Akane looked uneasy again, although this time it had nothing to do with complicated feelings like guilt or responsibility, it was more a manifestation of pure survival instinct as her memories of the desperate battle with Kiyomori resurfaced. “I know we’re only chunin and all, but we threw everything we had at Kiyomori and we only barely managed to knock it out for a while. I don’t really want to think about what a creature that could eat that would look like...or what it would look like after it had been fed in such a way,”


The masked ANBU paused. For a moment, it looked like he was being polite, but Akane might notice he stopped taking notes, and a few beads of sweat dripping down his neck. He stayed quite for a moment, taking a seat himself, and pressing his fingers against eachother again and again.

"Kiyomori's not been seen for nearly a century..." He finally said, still processing himself. He let time tick on, literally as the clock continued. "Your theory, if correct, would plunge the ninja world into chaos, and cause a panick. It would threaten our very way of life, and limit our ability to travel between countries. It's dangerous. And worse than that, I believe it's correct."

The smell of burnt confections filled the room. Kenshin wasn't the only one distracted by Akane's story.

Kenshin gave a prolonged sigh. "Alright. Everything you have told me is classified. Other ninja may know on a 'need to know basis', but do not reveal it to civilians, or lightly. Then again, after seeing something nightmarish like that, you likely don't want to, do you. Seeing as you know that much classified information, here's what we've put together on our side.

Kaminari is an ancient sealed beast. It broke free during the Chunnin exam. We call it an akuma, but it's closer to a god. The everstorm around Arashigakure was produced by it being sealed. And that was just a small sliver of it's chakra. We have no plan to contain it, because no village believes we're able to anymore.

Our village has been entrusted to research as way to remove it, as we are Akuma specialists, but... well, we're weighing pros and cons of using our villages little secret.

Dr. Ryu noted that Kaminari seemed injured as it emerged. With what you said, it seemed like it was eating to restore it's health. Which is... troubling."

Kenshin again hung his head. Then raised it cocking his head.

"Wait... you said you knocked out Kiyomori? How? Myth says like Thunder follows Lightning, he appeared shortly after Kaminari's first appearance. Did he, like, choke eating something and kept choking it?"

Truthfully Akane struggled to fully digest the scale of what Kenshin was telling her, more than the facts of Kaminari’s existence and recent escape it was the tension and concern in the face of a seasoned anbu veteran told her more about how serious the situation was. When the conversation shifted back to Kiyomori, Akane tried to conceal it, but she puffed up with a little bit of pride at Kenshin’s surprise at their accomplishment.

“We collapsed one of the pillars in the area onto the creature using explosive tags. Thinking back on it now though it probably had more to do with the strange technique it tried to use. It seemed to be trying to generate some kind of...ball, of destructive energy,” Akane explained, helpfully demonstrating the concept of a ball with a vague spherical gesture of her hands. “The pillar we collapsed struck the creature just as it seemed to be getting ready to release this energy and it fired it off into the sky, possibly some of that force was redirected back towards the creature itself,” Akane shrugged apologetically. “When we realized it was still alive and merely unconscious we decided it would be better to retreat so we didn’t conduct thorough examination- Oh before we left though we encountered Inaba again,”

Akane began fishing around in her pocket for something and then placed her crystal on the table in front of Kenshin, where it flashed angrily with sinister, crimson chakra.

“It got that way after I...umm...had Wakana throw me at the creature and sort of...embedded myself in its flesh, as a distraction you understand. When Inaba saw it in this condition he tried to buy it from me, when I declined it looked like he thought about fighting it for me but he was injured himself so he calmed down. That was when he said the part about missing his village and he told Shioreta to ‘look after her teammates’ then he left,”

Kenshin took the crystal, inspecting it quietly for several moments, letting another lull in the conversation roll over them. The silence was broken by Miyu screaming ‘shit’ in the background, then a orange flicker lighting up a backroom, despite the supposedly one way mirrors looking in. A beeping started to sound, before sprinklers began to engage. Kenshin held up the giant tower shields above both of them with arms made of chakra like umbrellas as he continued to inspect the crystal.

“You’ll need a new one. This one’s near it’s limit. Still, it looks like the oldest crystal in the village… What sort of beast can age crystals…? It contains Kiyomori’s chakra in a concentrated form. Kiyomori tended to focus on sonic attacks according to lore. I suppose Bishamonten would want to research it. A mere rock pillar shouldn’t have knocked him out… unless….”

Kenshin took out a map, looking at the area, even as sprinklers died down, and the sound of an extinguisher, and more vulgarity could be heard in the background.

“Hmm… This is an important clue as to why Kaminari was sealed in the Land of Lightning. The chakra repulsing rocks likely are damaging to these beasts. Still, I hope you appreciate what you did. You, and your teammates basically knocked out an elephant with a pebble.”

The Anbu scratched his neck.

“I am concerned about Team Miho’s friendliness with this terrorist. No, you didn’t do anything wrong by telling me this, but we can say this. There is some connection that has allowed them to infiltrate this village. They’ve done it twice recorded with impunity. Our village is generally seen as one of the more secure ones as it’s a health hazard to enter.

What’s confusing me about whatever possible connection they have, none of squad Miho is recorded as being skilled enough to enter the center of the village. And they were all accounted for during your graduation. We didn’t let it be public knowledge, but they were there during that graduation. A water user skilled in temporal ninjutsu hid them. She engaged the Tsumikage, before being forced to flee. During that time, her partner broke into the Tsumikage’s mansion, and stole several documents. It takes a village jonin to enter that mansion. AND he knew what he was looking for. This was likely the same Inaba.

Miho herself brought in a diary that identified the woman as one Mizuki Homura, a rogue of Sangogakure.

Inaba’s identity is still unknown, but I suspect he’s a village traitor.

Nobuyuki is a legendary swordsman with an extensive task broken out of the prison village.

And their leader is named Katsuhito, also from Sangogakure. We’ve identified a few minor members, but thsi seems to be the major force of Bishamonten. I think you’ve given us a few gems to look into ourself. But I find… sometimes out of ANBU, sometimes the best intelligence is just… stumbled upon. Keep an eye out.”

As Kenshin finished, a masked woman walked in, covered in soot and burn marks across her ANBU outfit. Her mask had a strange spiderweb pattern across it, likely an Ogomu (Aya’s clan) and she was missing one arm, though that injury seemed older than the kitchen incident. What little was visible of her skin was covered in scars. She presented a tin of store bought cookies to Akane, looking… triumphant.

“These look delicious,” Akane said, with the gentle tone of a kindergarten teacher complimenting the finger painting of one of her students. Akane delicately took a cookie from the tin and nibbled on it as she considered Kenshin’s words. “So Inaba is, or was a jonin? There can’t be more than a handful of them that have gone missing or have deserted and are still unaccounted for can there? If none of those match what we know about Inaba then maybe he’s someone who’s been mistakenly classified as dead or otherwise indisposed?” Akane shook her head softly “Sorry I’m just speculating now, I doubt that’s of any use. Thank you for today, I feel better...well, I feel better about the things I was worried about before; nearly everything you’ve shared with me has been deeply, deeply concerning and stressful but at least they are exciting, new things to worry about,” Akane stood up and bowed gently. “Oh and thank you for the cookie, you um… clearly tried very hard,”

Ganryu

 

[InsaneAsylum]

Okimi Bajirisuku
The Well of Absolutes​

The Well of Absolutes was something Okimi never heard much about. She remembered Kurio mentioning it once. Only once. It was a trial of some sort, and curiosity was getting the better of Okimi. Not only that, a deep desire to prove herself had built up recently.

Standing outside the gate to the well, Okimi could already feel bad vibes coming from the place. Feurey stood beside her, his tail swaying back and forth anxiously. It seemed they were on the same page about this place. With a solid shove, the gate swung open. Okimi and Feurey entered.

Inside, they descended the stone steps leading below. At the bottom was a huge hollowed out cave room, with a layer of water at the bottom. It reached Okimi’s ankles. There was a thin mist in the room too. Whoever built this place sure knew how to set a scene. It was too quiet though.

Turning quickly, Okimi realized Feurey had disappeared.

“Feurey?” Okimi called out, her gaze scanning the room for him. She knew damn well Feurey wasn’t sneaky enough to hide, even with all this mist.

“Who are you looking for?”

A female voice suddenly called out, sounding eerily familiar. Turning to the source, Okimi found herself looking back at the steps. Water began to seep down from above them, flowing faster and faster. It wasn’t long before it was a waterfall barring the way to the steps.

“Who the hell are you? Where is Feurey?” Okimi asked, glancing around again in search of the voice she had heard. Just as she finished speaking, Okimi saw herself step through the waterfall.

“I hate it when people respond to my questions with more questions. I guess that makes us hypocrites then.”

Okimi frowned as she examined the clone. It looked just like her. The only difference was that it’s eyes were pitch black, and it had the most arrogant grin Okimi had ever seen.

“Answer the question,” Okimi demanded.

“Or what? You’ll beat me up? You’re all talk.”

“You’ll be begging to talk once I’m through with you.”

“Oh? Then show me what the future head of the Bajirisuku Clan can do.” The clone said this with a chuckle, motioning with her hand for Okimi to come at it.

Okimi began walking towards her clone, her fists clenched. Slowly, her pace changed, her walk becoming a jog, before becoming a full on sprint as she kicked up water behind her with each powerful stride.

“A frontal assault? Wow, how unexpected…”

The clone crouched down, bringing its hand to its face as it yawned.

Okimi brought her leg around for an upwards roundhouse kick just as she got into range of her clone. Her toe dragged along the water as she kicked, aiming up towards her clone’s head.

The clone was more than ready. It used its crouching position to propel itself up and forwards into Okimi, planting a vicious uppercut into her jaw.

The kunoichi felt her feet lift up out of the water before she felt a foot crash into her gut, sending her flying. She skidded across the water tumbling over and over before coming to a stop. With a struggling groan, Okimi lifted herself out of the water. She was soaked from head to toe now. Green streaks hung in front of her eyes, and a throbbing pain radiated throughout her head.

“Aren’t you going to destroy an entire village? You think you can avenge your clan looking like that?”

“Fuck off,” Okimi responded, wiping her hair from her eyes. Before drawing one of her sticks from behind her back. In a flash it transformed into her trusted yari spear.

“No, you fuck off. Did you ever think about that? Maybe you’re the bad guy. You think Hanegakure was going to just let your clan take over? Our shitty clan brought this upon themselves. You know it too. I know you do because I AM you.”

The clone drew her spear as well, giving it a rapid spin above her before slamming it down into the water beside her.

“My clan did not deserve to be wiped out,” Okimi growled, walking towards her clone with deliberate steps. Her body was heavy with the weight of water now that she’d been fallen into.

“If they’re anything like us… they got exactly what they deserved. There’s a reason we don’t tell anyone about our goals.”

The clone approached Okimi as well, mirroring her gait and posture. Okimi herself had begun to understand what kind of training this was. She had to face a clone that represented everything within her that she had yet to accept. No wonder Kurio didn’t talk about this place.

In sync, the two ninja swung their spears at one another clashing before them. The prongs of the yari were intertwined, and both girls fought for superior positioning in the clash.

“Do you really think you’ll ever be strong enough to destroy an entire village? If your entire clan couldn't do it, what makes you think one little girl can?”

With a grunt, Okimi forced her clone’s spear up into the air, freeing her own. She thrusted her spear directly towards the clone’s face.

“If you’re supposed to be me, then you’d know exactly how far I’m willing to go!” Okimi yelled.

The clone laughed as she leaned back, nearly touching the ground as she did so. One of her legs kicked Okimi’s spear to the side from her acrobatic position, giving the clone a moment to recover and swing her spear down towards Okimi’s shoulder.

Okimi ducked down and to the side, avoiding the swing, but the clone kept on the offensive, keeping momentum by spinning the spear in her hands to swing at Okimi again and again, giving her no room to breathe.

Barely weaving through the swings, and occasionally receiving light cuts, Okimi found a brief moment to form a hand sign with her left hand, sending a small fire ball into the clone’s chest. Okimi herself was quick to hop backwards out of the blast range. The clone smirked as the ball exploded between the two. Okimi brought her arm in front of her face, shielding herself from the wet dirt splattering at her. When she brought it down, she found herself staring at what appeared to be… Feurey! But it wasn’t her comrade, the dragon’s eyes were red like the clone’s.

“The path you’ve chosen won’t lead to the restoration of your clan. Your desperate little urge for purpose is pathetic. Your goals aren’t even your own. Your will is dictated by your mother’s. You just internalized and morphed it into your own.”

The clone of Feurey began to pace around Okimi, circling her. The water boiled around the dragon as it spoke.

“How can you live with yourself, wanting to kill an entire village of innocent people all because of your own personal grudge. What would your friends think? Do you think anyone would ever support you again knowing what you intend to do?”

Okimi cracked her knuckles, before taking a deep breath. “I don’t need friends. I don’t need anyone on my side. All I need is to die knowing my clan is avenged. I don’t care about anything else. Nothing else matters. Absolutely nothing.”

“You’re excellent at lying to yourself.”

“You’re excellent at being a pain in the ass.”

With that said, the clone charged, all four legs sprinting at full speed. WIth a couple hand signs, Okimi responded by transforming into Feurey herself, and sprinting in the opposite direction. The chase was on.

The clone was hot on Okimi’s heels, quite literally, as flames were occasionally spit at Okimi’s hindlegs. While she was naturally resistant to flames in this form, it still hurt. Taking up along the side of a wall, Okimi hoped to make some distance between her and the clone, but it continued up with her.

With a sudden beat of its wings, the clone was upon Okimi. But Okimi pulled away as they fell, kicking the clone away with her forelegs and blasting a wave of flames at it. She managed to stay in the air, but so did the clone. It swooped down below her, and curved up behind her, trying to bite at her neck. Okimi swooped up and over the attempt, and blasted more fire at the clone. But through the flames, the clone came spiraling through, coated in flames of its own! Okimi felt her underbelly take the brunt of the attack, sending her crashing into a wall and tumbling down to the pool below where she returned to her human form.

The clone landed before her returning to its human form as well. It drew its spear. “Abandon these silly little dreams of revenge you have. Whether you achieve them or not, you will not find fulfillment. You know this. We know this. Do not live in denial. It doesn’t matter how many people die. Your clan will never come back.”

On shaky legs, Okimi rose to her feet, bracing herself on the wall behind her. She didn’t respond, as she stared hopelessly at the ground. Her hair hung over her eyes, concealing the look of despair on her face.

“Your uncle accepted it, and now he lives a happy life. Your mother didn’t accept it and created a monster like you. Your sister accepted it, and is probably out making a good name for your clan as we speak. She’s done a better job of restoring the clan than you have, and all you want to do is destroy every little ounce of respect the world might still have for the Bajirisuku name. You’re blind and selfish. There is no hope for you.”

The clone thrusted her yari spear at Okimi’s chest, looking to deal the finishing blow. But the spear stopped just shy of hitting its mark. The spear’s two outer prongs were firmly grasped in Okimi’s hands. The middle blade only slightly pierced into her chest. Okimi’s hands shook as she held the spear back. Blood trailed from her palms down to her arms. Her gaze peered between the strands of hair hanging before her at the clone, meeting its gaze.

“Why are you still fighting? It’s pointless.”

“I don’t need a reason to fight. I know what I want, and I won’t stop until I have it!” Okimi yelled as her knuckles turned white. Blood gushed from her palms as her grip tightened. A moment later, the spear was broken in two, the head of the spear sent flying away. The clone’s eyes widened in shock as Okimi rushed in once more, landing an uppercut of her own to the clone’s jaw. Okimi followed it up with another punch to the stomach, then another straight punch to the nose. Blood spewed from the clone’s face as it tried to bring its arms up to defend itself, but Okimi kept on the offensive.

“Nothing will stop me!”

A strike to the kidney made the clone gasp and drop its guard, allowing Okimi to land another punch to the side of the clone’s head. This hit made the clone drop down to one knee.

“I’ll throw away everything if I have to!”

Okimi punched the clone in the exact same spot, dropping them down to both knees.

“I’ll throw away my friends,”

Another punch. The clone was forced to hold itself up with its hands.

“I’ll throw away my village,”

The next punch knocked the clone face down into the water.

“I’ll even abandon my clan if it means showing Hanegakure that they can’t get away with what they did!”

Breathing heavily, Okimi gazed down at the clone. It slowly rolled over onto its back, proppering itself up on its elbows. Okimi gazed at her own bruised and broken face, and it smirked at her.

“Then what will you have left?”

Okimi’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t need anything.”

“Then you will achieve nothing.”

It only took one stomp to silence the clone for good. However, it wasn’t enough to satisfy Okimi. She didn’t stop until the clone had disappeared, and the illusion had ended. All her wounds disappeared, but the pain of them was still fresh in her memory. Feurey sat calmly near the exit, watching her. Without uttering a single word, Okimi began towards the exit with new heaviness in her heart.

 

[KageYuuki]

Kurio Shimizu
Son of Thunder

Spoiler: Long Ass Mission

The pressure was so low, Kurio could feel his skin prickle, and every hair on his body stand on end. A slight drip fell as rain fell from the thick, circulating clouds overhead.

Dark shadows, almost indistinguishable from the black billows overhead were the mountains nearby. Lightning flashed, illuminating fangs as large as Kurio was tall, and terrifying blue eyes locked onto him… fading back to black once it had faded. A booming thunder echoed.

“My son… Why do you resist…? I need you…”

Kurio stood, rooted in place, as he stared up at the massive figure looming over him. It had to have been an akuma, but its voice was unlike any he had heard before. Kyubei’s voice was silken, subtly pulling on his chakra with its presence. When Raiko spoke, it felt like burning shards of glass raking through his mind, angry and bitter.

But this . . . this was sheer, overwhelming power that resounded to his very core.

“You…” Kurio finally found his own voice, weak and nonexistent in comparison. “Are you . . . Kaminari?”

“Hahahaha!” The beast roared in laughter, lightning falling like raindrops in the distance, lighting up the beast from dozens of different angles, showing more and more of the beast. Suddenly, Kurio felt tingling through his body as static crackled between the hairs on his head. Then everything went white all at once.

The next moment, he was up in his bed in a cold sweat. The sounds of people busy in the kitchen below, and the early risers in the clan quietly discussing topics below.

Kurio rubbed his eyes with a shaky breath. Almost every night, lightning and thunder dominated his dreams. The silhouette of the Arashi mountain range was all but burned into his mind’s eye. Shaking his head he climbed out of bed, trying to ignore the phantom tingling across his body. Dr. Michizoe wanted me to come in today if I didn’t have any missions… He idly listened to the voices drifting upstairs while getting dressed.

As Kurio walked the halls, the next hallway over, he could hear hushed voices.

"Isamu's not been seen in weeks. Isamu doesn't 'do' missions. Don't you think it's weird? We keep trying to send a few clan members to look for him, but Ema's keeping a tight lip."

"Kenshin, I want to tell you, I do, but it's classified."

"It's my brother, Junpei. Why can't I go after him...?"

A hushed silence followed. "Alright. I can't tell you why, but we Shimizu aren't allowed near Arashigakure right now. Lady Ema won't tell me either, but she's told me to enforce it, especially lightning release users. After Kaminari escaped, Lord Jin asked for someone to investigate the seal that had been holding it. It was a slow day, Isamu volunteered. No one really wanted him to go, but, we couldn't really stop him either. Slippery little devil. It was only after he'd left we got the ban from Lady Ema."

"Someone's got to go after him! Isamu's strong, sure, but he's, he's just not got the right mentality to be a ninja. He's way better in the office."

"I know, Kenshin... I know... We're working with the other clans, but, well... There's been some trouble in the mines that have stopped Yamamoto and Kounna from helping, and the smaller clans we can't trust with a secret like this. It's... it's tough. Isamu's also tough though, I'm sure he's fine."

Kurio frowned, slowing slightly as the familiar voices drifted over. Isamu was missing. While the . . . admittedly strange Shimizu usually kept to himself, Kurio could usually spot signs that he was nearby. There hadn’t been any for weeks. Guess I know why now…

Shuffling downstairs, the chuunin found breakfast already set out. Hitomi smiled at him, ruffling his hair with a “good morning” as she grabbed her pack and headed for the door. He straightened his hair back out with a huff, watching her leave before sitting at the table.

Minutes passed with only a few small bites taken from his meal. Kurio found himself unable to focus on it as his mind wandered. Isamu was missing… and Ema had forbidden any clan member from setting foot in the Land of Lightning. He pulled off his pendant, turning the darkened crystal in his fingers.

“He saw everyone in this village as his family, shinobi or not, and would do anything to protect them.”

Kurio remembered how Ema spoke of the Second Tsumikage. Isamu’s brother had even been named after him. He loved everyone in the village and would do anything to protect them… He even disobeyed the Third Tsumikage’s orders to stay in the village… Kurio closed his fist around the crystal pendant. I’m not strong like he was though. His grip tightened, but I can’t sit around and do nothing either. The chair scraped across the floor as he stood and started for the door, slipping his necklace back on.

As Kurio would start to head out the door, a young man leaned against the clan gates. He had long, shoulder length hair, and six different lances, and two large tower shields hanging off his back. Kenshin Shimizu. His fingers splayed and bent at weird angles, popping his knuckles rhythmically.

“I thought Dr. Michizoe was the other way, dearest nephew. Going out and about are we? Mind picking me up some tar if you happen to go anywhere strange?”

Kurio bit back a sigh at Kenshin’s appearance. How did I end up related to so many ANBU? He shrugged, working to keep his usual soft expression. “I only have to go into the clinic if the mission office doesn’t have anything for me today. So fingers crossed?” He blinked at his uncle’s words, giving a slight nod. “The vermillion market’s open today, I’ll be sure to take a look for you.”

“Ah. So you’re going to the mission office. Mind delivering this to them then? I was going to go, but it seems I got a sudden case of ‘your Dad’s ire’. I hear it can be fatal, so I’ll be sure to take the rest of the day nice and slow. Funniest thing. Ol’ Junpei swears he heard someone eavesdropping, but can’t figure out who. His ears must be failing him if he can’t recognize the footsteps. That, or the last mission of him being paired with a Kounna is still giving him a bit of ringing. Did you happen to see Aunt Yoko nearby? You know how gossipy she is. Probably her snooping, right?”

Kenshin passed Kurio a folded sheet of paper.

“I don’t think it’s possible to have a conversation here without her trying to listen in.” Kurio took the paper, pocketing it for the time being. He could look at it once he was well out of line of sight from the clan grounds. “I’ll be sure to take care of this while I’m at the office.” He shifted, “Just . . . try to stay out of dad’s throwing range. Those needles aren’t fun.”

Kenshin patted Kurio’s shoulder. “That’s the scary thing… there ISN’T a range, because your dad, when he wants to be, doesn’t let himself be known. He could be watching us right… NOW!”

Kenshin turned, grabbing a lance, and rammed it through a pillar. An older woman fell out of it, a nearby urn untransforming to reveal Yoko Shimizu. She coughed, standing up, before scurrying away. Kenshin just facepalmed. A finger tapped him from behind, and he flailed as Junpei seemed to apparate. Junpei just blinked.

“Guess it was Yoko. Anyways, have fun at the clinic, Kurio. I have to go… hunt down your aunt. Maybe have Old Man Kei use a few memory jutsu... Man, Ema’s going to be so pissed if she finds out I lea- anyways, clan’s fine, go have fun.”

A few senbon appeared in his hands for a moment, before disappearing just as quick. A cruel smile momentarily passed over the normally amiable Junpei’s face, before fading it to general friendliness as he walked away… grabbing the back of Kenshin’s collar, and literally dragging him with.

Kurio let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding as Junpei and Kenshin left. His father could be terrifying when he wanted to be. Both of his parents could be, actually. And I’m going to be more than in for it after this. Assuming I even make it out of the village. Shaking his head, he left the clan compound and started making his way in the direction of the missions office. Starting to regret not paying closer to clone techniques. Being two places at once would be really helpful about now.

He was nearly at the office when he finally dared to look at the note his uncle had passed him.

“Ema. There’s a cavern under Kaminari’s prison. Sis went. Got sick. Send Tsumi nin to check it out? Also, Village is hidden again, moved. Prison’s same place though. Just buried.

PS: Know where I can get a new hat?”

~Jin, The Raiju, Sixth Arashikage

The short description was obviously written by Lord Jin himself with how it was styled.

This was the mission Isamu picked up then. Kurio folded the paper back up and returned it to his pocket. It gave him a starting point at least. He continued on, passing the office and heading towards the south gate. While the caravans weren’t in town today, the Vermillion Market was still in full swing.

The harsh sun would continue to glare over what had once been Arashigakure. Petitions had been made to call it now ‘Village Hidden in Scorched Earth’ after the incidents of the chunnin exam. The only thing that could be said of it now, however, was now, now it was truly hidden. No one knew where the village had moved to, seemingly overnight.

Kurio would see over where the village had been brown clay in every direction, with only a few shreds of evidence of civilization. The chunnin exams arena was now a large rock plateau. A few buried power lines could be dug up. But most powerful of all… his ability to sense Akuma was currently going haywire. A dark cloud could be seen in the distance, with an unnaturally powerful pull… but something seemed to be directly under him. A bit of digging, and Kurio would find a cellar door… and a large, large spiraling staircase… or half of one at least. Half of it seemed like a giant beast had just climbed up it.

Kurio looked out at the barren landscape that had once been Arashigakure in disbelief. How much of this had been the result of the Akuma’s attack, and how much from Lord Jin’s mention of moving his village? He rubbed his temples. Ever since setting foot in the Land of Lightning, there had been a powerful pull on his chakra, devolving into an incessant buzzing in the chunnin’s skull. There were many times on his way to the erased village he found himself unconsciously moving towards the dark cloud before correcting his path.

Finally, at the heart of a massive patch of blackened and scorched earth, something else pulled on his chakra. Kurio stared down the dark and crumbling stairway for a long moment. Is this it? He shook his head, starting his descent. Isamu’s jutsu would have meant he didn’t need to do any digging. So there was only one way to find out.

Kurio would have to jump down between flights of stairs, half the staircase missing. Annoyingly, he would find the sides of the vault to be made of the same rock material he had found during the chunin exams, the kind that repelled chakra, and preventing him from simply wall climbing down.

The staircase, though rickety, and blackened from burns, did hold. Only once did a piece of lumber fall, a massive plank of wood several times larger than Kurio crashing downwards… then bouncing, echoes screeching around the area before it crashed finally on the floor below.

The long trip down the corridor, which seemed deeper by the minute, continued for some time eventually. However, Kurio would see something odd. A patch of clothing stuck to a broken beam of wood. Just a small scrap, it seemed completely ordinary… but it was torn, and it was NOT burnt black, like everything else down the stairway.

He frowned, pausing to pluck the scrap of fabric from the jagged wood. Soot rubbed off on his fingers revealing the gold trim around the piece of black fabric. There were trace amounts of blood flaking away too. This isn’t Uncle Isamu’s… Kurio started back down the hall, But that means I’m probably not alone.

Kurio suddenly felt a burning across his chakra network, a ringing feeling, followed immediately by what felt like embers slapped against his skin. A voice deep within him grumbled.

“Bastards…”

Akuma's Song: Resonance: Fire

“Tch, ah…” Kurio quietly hissed at the wave of chakra. He’d felt the presence of a fire akuma before when training with the clan, but something about this set him on edge. Raiko snarling in the back of his mind did little to help. “You recognize it?”

Just as quickly as the chakra appeared… it disappeared. Either an akuma could teleport… or it wasn’t an akuma. Isamu’s Akuma, Iwato, was closer to earth than fire.

Raiko billowed, a thundering voice rumbling through Kurio’s body, feeling like it was shaking him apart. Raiko didn’t feel like communicating in a nice manner. “Hmmph. You earn knowledge. Just know this, your branch isn’t the worst abusers of Akuma.

I’d rather be visiting my father right now than down here though. He was calling. But this place is filled with so many nasty seals I can’t hear him.”

Unhelpful, the beast went back dormant.

Kurio huffed at Raiko’s lack of insight, though he was surprised to get an answer in the first place. Angry as it may have been. That Akuma from my dream then . . . that’s what I’ve been feeling since getting here. Shaking his head, he pressed on, wary of another wave of fire chakra.

Several more flights later, and Kurio would finally reach the bottom, touching stone earth once more. All around the bottom of the well, seals could be seen layered across the wall. Dozens and dozens, written on top of each other in a complex weave that only the most brilliant of ninja would be able to fathom. Only two ninja in Kurio’s bingo book would even come close to being able to read the first layer, let alone the 12th. They had intricately formed a barrier… until a certain swordsman had simply overpowered the barrier in a single cut.

Someone had not wanted Kaminari to escape. Someone who was a genius of generations.

Several large spikes could be seen driven into the ground, with large chains, the length of the iron larger than Kurio’s entire body, lain across the ground, broken and now useless.

The floor itself had dozens of scratch marks, from a beast that had raged for millennia, unable to reach the walls. They grew more and more concentrated, til the center of the seal, several burrows into the ground, in the shape of Kaminari’s claws could be seen, digging through rock to a black void.

Still, no sign of Isamu could yet be found.

“Whoa,” Kurio breathed, slowing to a stop. The intricacy of the seals made his head spin. Nothing he had seen in the clan’s archives even came close to this in terms of complexity. He couldn’t even begin to comprehend the kind of power Kaminari must have held to necessitate this kind of prison. He knelt by one of the claw marks. “It’s little wonder it destroyed Arashigakure after getting free . . . I probably would’ve done the same.”

Shaking his head, Kurio stood and looked around. Was this the chamber mentioned in the note? Or was there more? And did Isamu even make it here in the first place? He frowned, I haven’t seen the source of that fire chakra from earlier yet either. Another glance at one of the walls. Fuuinjutsu was far outside of Kurio’s wheelhouse, but he got the impression that blast of fire chakra from before hadn’t just been residual.

He moved further towards the center, where the claw marks were deepest.

As Kurio stared down the clawmark, from a claw as large as his body, a sudden stream of static hit his senses so hard that he’d have a hard time even making sense of it. It was as if a TV was turned on with no service. Then blasted on a megaphone… through a loudspeaker.

However, the deep claw mark dug deep, far deeper than it should have, a tunnel starting to form and even open up. Black tar hung from the sides of the tunnel.

As Kurio continued down the tunnel, his sharp sense would hear several footsteps below, and several people talking.

“How far does it go… we need to get more supplies for the next run. My ballad can’t be “And then Kira went down a hole and died of starvation.’ ” A young adult man

“We could have gotten farther if bird mask didn’t rip up our map. Side’s Kira, we’re fine. We ran out of supplies, we’d just have to eat you.” A small girl

“Now, now. ‘Birdmask’ might have more useful things to say. Perhaps it’s not a bane, but a boon. Also, Kira’s too fat. Now Hide? Hide has some muscle on him. ” An old woman

“Mother!” A man.

It sounded like they were coming up… but they veered at the last moment, echoing footsteps going down a different tunnel… which meant there were multiple tunnels down below. The single claw mark sized opening up more and more as side tunnels and entire caverns could be seen.

Kurio’s crystal began to glow red.

Kurio had to pause when the sudden, overwhelming wave of noise slammed into him. He held his head for a moment, a sharp breath over his teeth. He shook his head to try and clear it before pressing on. I’m probably not going to be able to feel that Akuma again thanks to this.

The momentary pause let him catch sight of the traces of tar along the walls. Finally, a sign he was on the right track.

His feeling of luck was short lived, however, as the sound of footsteps and voices made their way to him. At least four people. And they could resist Akuma chakra no less. Bishamonten? Kurio adjusted his pendant, moving the heating crystal from his skin to in between layers of clothing. The color made him pause, it was near its limit.

Kurio chewed his lip as he listened to the retreating footsteps. “Birdmask . . .? Shit…” He started down the tunnels, trying to keep his steps light as he strained to hear which tunnel they could’ve taken. If they have a camp of some kind here, chances are that’s where they’re keeping him. That’s going to be my best bet. I’m really outnumbered here.

The cavern system opened up almost immediately. It continued to wind downward, but quickly became a large system where Kurio could stand comfortably. The crystal continued to burn red, almost hissing as he went, slight char marks appearing over his clothing.

Across the stalactites of the new cavern, a different sort of fluid dripped. It was thick and greasy, yet much more water-like than Isamu’s tar. It slightly misted with each drip. The cavern itself was surprisingly not dark. With some investigation, Kurio would find it was actually the dripping fluid from above which was keeping it bright.

The cavern branched off in a few different directions, one headed seemingly back towards Tsumi, more and more dripping fluid lighting it up like a Christmas tree. Another headed Northeast, and another directly west.

The shinobi group from earlier had gone up the Tsumi path from the sounds of things. And that’s likely where Isamu was as well. Mad laughter coming from that direction showed they were still entertaining themselves.

He winced as the crystal’s heat grew more intense. This place was even worse than the Rhythm of Rage. Kurio had a feeling he was going to be needing a lot of nimloth root and aglokis after all of this. Assuming I even make it home… He wasn’t going to deny this wasn’t one of his brightest ideas. But it was far too late to try and back out now.

These tunnels are insane though… Does this go all the way to Tsumi? Did the village know about this?

Kurio drew a kunai, dipping it in the strange liquid and bringing it closer to inspect. [blurb here] He looked up. Does this mean all this Akuma chakra’s leaking to the surface too? The light filtering in was appreciated, however.

Sounds like all four of them are still together. Really don’t want to have to fight them all. Can I even separate them? Are they even headed towards where they’re keeping Isamu? Kurio winced, his head was throbbing. The start of chakra poisoning. He pressed onward, trying to keep his steps light as he followed after the group. If I could just get a look at them, they might be in my bingo book already.

In the distance, 3 footsteps continued… one did not. One of the four was waiting for him.

A slight pulse could be felt with resonance. An earth chakra felt. It was weak, a failed attempt to use a jutsu, but enough that Kurio could tell a jinchuuriki was ahead. The slightest ragged breaths could be heard to a cave offshoot.

However, standing in front of the branching paths, a muscular man leaned against a rock, with a pleasant smile on his face. A headband belonging to Jingakure could be seen wrapped around his neck. He had two shoulder guards that looked like snake fangs wrapped over him, descending down to his ribs from both sides, and several strips of cloth trailing his pants and sleeves. The man also had a large straw hat. His face didn’t falter for a moment, but a strange sweet, honeyed smell filled the area as chakra boiled off his skin.

“Well, hello there. What brings you here? I’m Hidemaru Yoshida. Some folks call me ‘the Habushu’. What’s your name? I’m surprised you’re fine down here, most nin would have withered up by now. What makes you able to stand it down here.”

As Hidemaru talked, he showed no signs of actually intending to fight, not drawing a weapon, nor handsigns, nor getting into a fighting stance. Just a pleasant, trustable smile.

Kurio slowed as one of the sets of footsteps seemingly stopped. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to feel thankful for it or not. The chuunin didn’t have long to ponder the matter as he felt a pulse of an earth Akuma’s chakra pulling on his own. Isamu? Rounding a bend, he stopped in his tracks at the sight of the other nin blocking his path.

Dark eyes quickly took in the man’s face and the Jingakure emblem he wore. Kurio recognized him from the bingo book before he introduced himself. Infamous as a con man, information on his combat abilities was frustratingly lacking. Though the name Yoshida told him enough to be wary. The Shimizu had once been a branch of the clan, before breaking off and taking on a new name.

“I’m Kurio Shimizu,” he frowned slightly as he found himself answering. “And I’m from Tsumigakure, we have to be able to withstand an Akuma’s chakra to live there.” There really wasn’t any harm in answering him, right? After all, it wasn’t like Kurio had taken off his headband, and he was pretty sure his crystal had all but burned through his shirt by this point. “I’m looking for someone . . . though I’m curious how you’ve been able to travel down here. You don’t seem to have a crystal or anything.”

The man perked up at the mention of coming down to rescue someone. The smile continued. “Find someone? Who could that be? Like you said, most people can’t come down here! Why, anyone else in Jingakure would have died on impact! How is it a Tsumi nin found his way down here… Hmm…”

He scratched his chin in thought.

“Far as how I’m down here, why, a Shimizu should know! We’re practically family! A bit of training and…”

He cracked his neck as two snakes began to sprout out his body like tails, hissing and spitting, chakra overwhelming his body in a cloak. “A bit of practice goes a long way!” The cloak then dissipated, and the man started to pant. “Though, only a few of the clan are well trained enough to make it down here. Rest probably would have similar effects to the rest of the village. Where did you come in from?”

The man shuffled his shoulder. “I find it more impressive you made it down here with a broken leg though.”

Snake Venom: Hypochondria

Kurio would hear a sudden snap, and pain shot through his leg as he would look down, and find it seemed to have been suddenly mangled and bashed.

“Think your friends called him ‘bird mask’.” Kurio warily eyed him, he didn’t like the cloying scent of honey that seemed to emanate from the man. He frowned as a wave of chakra from a fire akuma washed over him. Could this be the same chakra he’d felt earlier? “These tunnels seem to go everywhere. You already caught someone else down here. Meaning there’s more than one entrance.”

At the man’s suggestion, Kurio dropped to his seemingly good knee. He drew a sharp hiss over clenched teeth at the sudden, hot pain radiating from his leg and filling his body. “The . . . hell?” He pressed his palm to the mangled limb, sending a pulse of chakra into it.

Diagnosis

The bone had cleanly snapped, muscles torn and ragged from using the damaged limb. The bruising’s more from an impact, but the break’s so clean it could’ve been cut instead of snapped. A different glow covered his hand as he flowed numbing chakra into the injury, ebbing the pain.

Numbing Palm

The man watched with interest as Kurio’s hand glowed. “A medical ninja, eh? More curious. And these tunnels DO seem to go everywhere. I don’t think any village knows about them, otherwise, the village that did would have a significant advantage...

I think we may have run into a strange man, can’t remember. Think it was a few tunnels behind me.

Careful with using too much chakra down here. It will begin to let outside chakra into your system, burning away at your chakra points. It will feel like your whole body is on fire. Almost like you want to die. Screaming on the ground.”

As the man spoke, Kurio would feel it. A burning pain from his palm, scorching up his arm and across his body, flooding into him. The hot crystal almost felt like it had been swallowed, and that Kurio was burning from the inside out.

Slowly, the snake tail began to be summoned from Hidemaru’s back, slowly crawling on the ground towards Kurio.

Kurio remained on the ground as Hidemaru spoke. His jutsu had dulled the pain in his leg to a workable level. “Well, it would seem Jingakure knows about it.” He shifted, eyes sparing a glance towards the path the ragged breaths had seeped from earlier.

At the next suggestion from the man, Kurio grimaced. A pained growl worked its way out of his throat as the pain brought him lower to the ground. Nails sharpening into crawls raked across the earth. This didn’t make sense. He burned through loads of chakra in the Rhythm of Rage, Okimi even more so, and they didn’t suffer any ill effects from being immersed in the Akuma’s chakra. Shaking hands formed a handsign as his chakra flared in a genjutsu release.

In a moment, Kurio would feel the burning pushing outwards, undoing as his body relaxed, his leg straightening, and the painful bruising removing itself as it straightened. He would also notice a snake lunging at him, its fangs extended from the venomous man.

“To be fair, Jingakure doesn’t know yet, we’re not done surveying… or finding the hole we fell in. Also, nice broken finger you’re defending yourself with from the snake biting, did you grip too hard on release? Happens sometimes to the best of us. It’s alright, champ. Path to being ninja is difficult.”

On the man’s words… Kurio would find his finger in pain as if on command. Hidemaru’s strength wasn’t the power of his genjutsu… it was the ease at which he cast them. A rather unusual genjutsu specialist, he didn’t worry about being conservative with the chakra he pumped into them, a broken genjutsu was just another one to be cast. Being a jinchuuriki, he was more than fine on chakra reserves.

So it is genjutsu… Kurio pulled his legs under himself, muscles tensing. “Tch,” He poured chakra into his hands at the sight of the snake, forming it into small needles that he thrust at the chakra creation.

Chakra Dilutant Blast

Another pained growl as he felt his finger snap and deform. This genjutsu was way above his level. And it was beginning to wear on his fraying nerves.

The needle stabbed straight into the snake just as its fangs sunk down, piercing into Kurio’s hand. A cold stream started to move up Kurio’s vein.

Right before the snake exploded, a large pop as the wave of backlash rode up the rest of the snake, lumps of flesh bulging as they made their way back to Hidemaru.

“Huh?”

With a burst, he went flying backwards, slamming into a wall as his own chakra reserve pushed against him, continual techniques continually make him grunt. Kurio’s fingers started to return normal feeling in them. Hidemaru shook his head.

“Can’t give advice to the young anymore, can I?” He spoke with sharp breaths through clenched teeth… and then began to retreat away.

Spoiler: bingo entree

Hidemaru Yoshida
Rank: B
5th son of Chiyome Yoshida. Known as a con artist, extremely dangerous. Often suggests alliances with other nations, before backstabbing them at the most opportune times. Acts friendly, and rarely engages in combat. Will often flee when combat starts, or danger is evident.
Jutsu: Largely Unknown. Often favors poisoning allies. Possible medical knowledge and poisonous jutsu, or could be opportune times during meals.

Extremely amiable, to a dangerous degree.

Kill on sight. Has been captured multiple times. Each time he was able to escape, even with hands sealed.

Akuma: Tsuchinoko, twin tails viper: Fire Akuma of Jingakure.
Favorite Line: “Life is good. But it could be better. Why shouldn’t it be? All you need, is to want it.”

“Dammit!” Kurio growled as the fangs still managed to latch onto him. The needle at least had an effect as Hidemaru was thrown back, far more effective than he’d been banking on. He watched the Jingakure nin turn tail and flee. Kurio started to get to his feet to give chase, but stopped himself. This venom needed to be dealt with.

“I don’t have a safe way to extract this…” Not even bothering to push his sleeve out of the way, Kurio slashed into his arm with the chakra scalpel. He drew a sharp breath as the blood ran down his hand onto the ground. It was stupid. And it wouldn’t even get all of it out. A green glow enveloped his hand--

Amateur. Don’t seal it up yet. You’re not even looking for the venom. If my host is going to die, it’d better not be to a third rate Akuma like Tsuchinoko. Try looking for what’s different about your blood before you close it up. Otherwise you’ll have to open it back up, and scar tissue will accumulate, preventing steady hand movements in the future. Each cut a surgeon makes should be as precise as possible, and only allow for him to access what he needs. Didn’t you JUST have a lesson on this? And I slept through it.

Tsuchinoko’s not even a proud beast, just a snake on the ground. Not like I. His host seems even slimier.

“Tch,” Kurio ignored the way his face and ears burned as he pulled the fabric away from the wound and took a closer look. He should’ve known better than to rush into it. Had it been a teammate… He shook his head, now wasn’t the time. He could scold himself later.

Pulses of chakra flowed from his hand into the wound and through his arm, searching for anomalies.

Anomalies were found, Kurio able to sense a foreign chakra spreading through his bloodstream, heading up his arm, each second enveloping a bit more. Kurio could feel it, even with his eyes closed.

You see the vein it is heading down. Your chakra scalpel could reach it. You could modify it perhaps to make a tourniquet on the vein itself. Or… maybe if you begged, I might… possibly, once, be able to help you. I don’t particularly like you. You’re so… forgettable. But I am a noble beast, a son of the storm. And what sort of nobility could ignore a peasant pleading in his palace?

A chuckle echoed through Kurio’s body.

Kurio gritted his teeth, gathering chakra at the tips of his fingers as though he was going to make another cut. “I’m not begging to you, Raiko… Give you something else to lord over me.” He felt the foreign chakra pulse as his own changed shape, switching from a blade to a needle. “Maybe I am the most forgettable ninja in Tsumi,” he pushed the needle in a beat ahead of the venom. “But I’m not as helpless as you think.”

Interesting! Hahahaha! Good. A king should never beg. The beast within Kurio laughed as the needle pushed against the foreign chakra, heading it off… before bursting, pushing back in a wave. The blood coming out of Kurio’s arm started to change colors, turning a deep purple as Tsuchinoko’s venom began to push out. Of course, the blood loss became more of a problem, but the venom seemed to be extracted.

A shaky chuckle escaped his lips as the venom was forced from his veins. The hand of Kurio’s injured arm shook slightly from pain and adrenaline. “Would now be a bad time to admit I wasn’t sure that would actually work?” Sighing, he set to staunching the bleeding with his healing technique before wrapping a bandage around his arm.

Yes. Do not explain yourself to me.

Kurio shrugged, “Not like my thoughts and feelings are all that private anyway.” Finishing bandaging his arm, he started back down the path towards where he had heard breathing.

Do not explain yourself to me! Raiko roared.

As Kurio continued his journey towards a side cavern, black threads could be seen running against the sides of the cave. If Kurio inspected the ends, they seemed to burrow into the rock itself. On the ground itself, signs of battle could be seen, slashes into the ground, scorched earth, pierced corners.

A low moan could be heard. Hanging from threads, Isamu hung, held by his wrists above, like a giant Y.

Scratched and bloodied, crucified to the threads, and scorched across his body, Isamu had seen better days… Looking up he gave a low gravelly growl.

“Oh… if it isn’t Kurio Shimizu… Didn’t you have lessons with Dr. Takuya Michizoe today… it won’t do to fall behind… “

His voice was weak.

Kurio slowed as the threads came into view, taking a moment to study them and the signs of battle surrounding them. He didn’t get to study them for long when a pained moan drew his attention. The chuunin froze at the sight, letting out an unsteady breath. He shook himself out of it. “Missions take precedence over lessons, and Kenshin gave me a very important one. I think Dr. Michizoe will forgive me.”

He moved closer, wary of the threads, trying to discern if he could cut Isamu down safely. Kurio flowed chakra into his hands, “Let me get you down and I’ll look at those wounds. I don’t think we have a lot of time before Hidemaru shows up with help.”

“That’s… nice… A nice lie at least… My time has come… to be rescued.”

The threads proved to be extremely tough, a single kunai unable to cut through them, but bone cutter proved to be sharp enough that they would sever the threads with a snap, Isamu collapsing into a mess of black rags with a bird mask onto the ground. Panting, he pointed to the corner of the cavern, where a nodachi hung.

“My… sword… Chunchunmaru, if you will. A complete set would be troublesome. I would rank Hidemaru Yoshida’s power as second...of four. As there are four of them in this cavern. They are related to us, but as I struggle to attend to the Tsumikage’s mansion, and you, Kurio Shimizu, are yet unable to, it seems as if most of their clan is unable to take advantage of these caverns, even with the clan’s benefits against Miasma.

This place is most troubling. They seem lost, as they continually asked me, Isamu Shimizu, where we are. We will escape, before they are able to tell. I have no markers to escape to, so we will do so on foot.”

Kurio winced at Isamu’s less than graceful landing, the small chuunin unable to catch him while trying to cut through the threads. He moved to grab his uncle’s sword before returning and kneeling beside him. While Isamu spoke, he set about taking stock of injuries and giving first aid where he could.

“Hidemaru made it sound like they fell in by accident. Though I’m not sure how truthful he was being…”

“I do not trust him. For he said my arm was broken. My arm was, in fact, not broken, but whole. I then punched him. It did not feel any injury. Other than the impact. Of punching him.”

Kurio paused, “...huh. Wonder why his genjutsu didn’t have an effect on you. It wasn’t fun.”

Isamu overly explained as was his hobby, pointing out the various injuries he had. None of them were life threatening, but the multitude of them did solidify his stamina as a Shimizu. Cuts scathing across his body, his robes in tatters, holes in his wrists from what looked like spikes, burns across much of his body, frostbite, and internal damage as if from a shockwave.

“I have come to the conclusion, Kurio Shimizu, that you are not stealthy. Therefore, a fight, between us, and the Yoshida clan, seems inevitable. What tricks do you possess…?
I noted that Hidemaru Yoshida is, in fact, a liar. He had much chakra, used much, but I did not notice.
Chiyome Yoshida is the matriarch, and controls thread. She has two large sewing needles.
Kira Yoshida has many instruments. I took him down early, so I did not see his kit.
Momo Yoshida was the one who felled me. She is young, yet strong. And very wild. Her chakra was double the rest. Combined. She caused a cave collapse. Then laughed. Then melted the collapsed rock. Then set me on fire. Then laughed again. I believe therapy would be helpful for her, as I worry about her progression as a ninja with the delight she takes with fire. In my opinion, ninja overly fond of fire are troublesome.
I, Isamu Shimizu, have had a very disconcerting day.”

Kurio chuckled, “Yeah . . . it’s definitely not a strong suit of mine. You’d think dad would’ve emphasized that a bit more.” He shrugged, “I don’t . . . really have anything too special. Raiko and I . . . don’t really work together all that well yet. So I have my medical ninjutsu, a decent chakra scalpel as you saw, and can make jutsu backfire.”

He carefully bandaged one of Isamu’s wrists. “I’ve read about all of them except Momo in my bingo book. I don’t remember ever seeing her name listed in it. Not that their entries gave away their entire kit.”

“Junpei Shimizu… is a wonderful ANBU, but a poor teacher. So says Kenshin Shimizu. Followed by “But don’t tell anyone, Isamu” Shimizu. After being poisoned by corrosive senbon during a practice. Your jutsu selection is nothing like his.

Raiko, Akuma with no title, seems to approve at least. Or at least not correct. Your Akuma will change what he needs to exist. Iwato, the three-tailed bat of the abyss, dislikes light, so he has shifted my jutsu preference to the darkness, where he can thrive. He also has a strong opinion on my clothing. And sleep schedule. And poetry.

If Raiko had an objection, he would speak up. Whatever his objection is, solve it. Otherwise, you are not my savior in this situation. I say this because we will die. After they catch us. And then fight us. And then are able to triumph over us. Losing will not feel so bad though. As we will be dead.

Which is also why I declared it a nice lie earlier when you declared to me that you had received a mission. The clan, they like you. You are not an oddity to them, nor do you cause a stir. They would not allow you to take on a dangerous mission such as this, on your own. Therefore, I am led to the belief that you stole the mission, and are, as of now, technically rogue, for either the next hour, or next 35 hours. The next hour would mean we get killed. 35 hours would mean we walk back to the village.”

I HAVE A TITLE! IT’S MENDING STORM, the six-tailed tiger. Raiko objected loudly within.

“Raiko certainly objected to you saying he had no title.” Kurio attempted, before sighing as Isamu continued. “It wasn’t really a lie though… Uncle Kenshin did ask for me to look for you, he would have come, but dad’s watching him like a hawk. It’s also not a real mission. No Shimizu is allowed in the Land of Lightning. Why you’ve had to wait so long…” He rummaged through his bag for more bandages. “I might not be considered an oddity, but I also never stood out. Plain and forgettable Kurio.”

Tying the last bandage, he sat back on his heels. “So while I didn’t steal a mission, I still disobeyed the Tsumikage’s orders. If we get out of this, and that still makes me a rogue, then at least I was able to save someone and get important information back to the village.”

“Forgettable is good. Forgettable means no one is offended. No one sees you odd, and tells you to ‘quit hoarding all the peach jam in your room!’ At the very least, I, Isamu Shimizu, am in your debt. As I have said, you are liked in the clan.”

Isamu strained as the last bandage was applied, but he stood with blade held tight in one hand. “We move now. For now if we linger, they will come looking in this section of caverns. And then we are disadvantaged, for Chiyome Yoshida’s jutsu is already set up in this room. She is a proponent of using threads.”

Isamu would follow Kurio full speed. He was surprisingly quick and agile, but occasionally limped from his injuries, and was slightly off balance.

As the two ran, Kurio would spot sand, softer than other areas of the underlying rock, and various threads worked into the stone like a spiderweb. Along with sudden heat waves following earthquakes, usually followed by a haunting giggle.

“Two seem to be sensors. One is not a sensor, but is trying to find us through brute force. Likely to collapse a tunnel. That leaves one whose jutsu to track is either so good I have yet to notice, or his jutsu is ill suited to tracking, and he is wise enough not to try and collapse a tunnel in a search.”

Another rumbling as the temperature in the room spiked for a moment, before collapsing back down.

“With these threads everywhere, one of them might’ve already found us.” Kurio muttered as they ran. The spikes in temperature brought the same burning in his chakra and unease from when he’d first entered the prison. He wasn’t sure he wanted to face Momo if he could avoid it. “Even if we could rig a trap to collapse a tunnel on them, I’m not sure how much help it would be. Might even put us at risk of getting caught in it.”

“I would seem to concur. We must retreat hastily. I feared triggering traps, but perhaps I should be the one to trigger them. Give me but a moment. I am already injured, and you, Kurio Shimizu, are of great value to the clan.”

Isamu held out his hand, before slowly crouching, turning to an iaido stance.

“I require assistance, my senses are not as sharp as yours. Point to me the chakras you feel.”

Isamu waited for a response, before halfway drawing his sword. He then presented it in front of himself, the blade glowing with shadow like tar. He slammed it back down into the sheath. Dozens of blades popped out the shadows, severing string, disrupting sand, and clearing the path all the way down the corridor.

“Whoa,” Kurio breathed at the display. Shaking off the amazement he pushed forward, careful not to let Isamu fall behind.

The corridor began to narrow above, and the two would find the claw mark into the tunnels, leading to Kaminari’s prison above.

A sizzling sound could be heard, and to Kurio’s right, a bright red pool of magma could be seen, uneven and recent.

“You made it!”

Sitting on a wood step, much larger than she was, a small little girl could be seen, giggling. “I realized that rocks falling on me hurt, and magma is REALLY hard to swim through. Then I realized we’re in caves. So I swam up! And I found you! Do you want to play?”

The air temperature was already spiking. Kurio’s senses would go haywire as he sensed two beasts… but only Isamu, himself, and the girl were in the room. Isamu was panting for breath, so his beast wasn’t active. The girl continued to laugh with a hand in front of her face, while brushing slag off of herself.

Isamu looked nervous, gripping his sword, then shook his head. “I, Isamu Shimizu, would be a hindrance right now. Kurio Shimizu, what is it you dream to be again…? I hear hopeful conversation between Junpei and my brother about it.”

“Should’ve known this was going too well,” Kurio sighed. He winced at the sudden wave of akuma chakra slamming into his senses and held a hand to his head. The chakra of two different akuma was present, like embers across his skin and burning at his own chakra. Dark eyes searched the chamber for any signs of the other Yoshida clansmen.

A shuddering breath. The chakra pulled only in Momo’s direction. “But that’s… impossible.” A body shouldn’t have been able to handle having three different akuma sealed inside it, let alone the mind. Though first impressions said a lot about the girl’s current mental state.

Kurio blinked when Isamu spoke up. He glanced over at his uncle, watching the way he swayed with no small amount of concern. “I…” he sighed, “want to be Tsumikage one day.”

“Then I, Isamu Shimizu will support you from the shadows.” Isamu said vaguely, though whether he meant presently, or in the future.

The girl cackled again. “What shouldn’t be possible? I hear an awful lot of ninja say that all the time when they just don’t understand a thing. But that’s boring! That’s boring! That’s boring! Let’s play!

♪ We're so happy we won, a flower is one monme♪”

The girl sang happily… before erupting into flame, a cloak of chakra erupting as it covered her. Hairy goat like legs, with a snake following her, and a mane around her body. The chimera girl began to rush between Kurio and Isamu, a red cone following her like a sonic boom. She started to run to the side of Kurio, it looked like she would miss completely, but the cone behind her started to scorch the earth itself.

“Ah… crap. This is gonna be like dealing with a worse Okimi, isn’t it?” Kurio muttered, quickly moving through a series of handsigns when the cloak of flames appeared. His skin and clothes quickly became wet.

Flashsweat

He wasn’t sure how much protection it could actually offer against someone that melted their way through a massive layer of stone, but it had to be better than nothing. Right? As the girl drew close, he rooted himself in place with chakra and moved to catch and toss the smaller opponent back. Gotta keep her away from Isamu… he’s already too injured.

Instantly, the sweat flash steamed, protecting Kurio from the ambient heat around Momo, but as he directly touched her, his hands sizzled. It was akin to throwing molten lava barehanded.

The bright side, she was light, and flew back easily, bouncing as she left several red spots in her wake, screaming ‘weee’! As she went. Standing up, she jumped up and down excitedly! “Yay! Finally, someone who knows how to play!”

Isamu thankfully was spared by the attack, and unsheathed his blade, before resheathing in a pool of tar beneath him. Instantly the blade traveled behind Momo’s shadow, and made straight for her leg from behind.

A sizzling could be heard as it made direct contact with a chakra cloak, and hissing steal shot deafening through the area, the blade turning bright red, and began to melt into slag. Isamu grunted.

The girl jumping up and down then started to jump up in the air, bouncing off the stairs, higher and higher as she started to gain altitude, starting a series of handsigns “Kagome! Kagome!

♪ The bird in the basket!
♪ When will it come out
♪ In the night of dawn
♪ The crane and turtle slipped
♪ Who is behind you now?”

A voice sounded in Kurio’s head. They won’t shut up . . . neither of them. They’re SINGING with her. It’s infuriating. We’re noble akuma… not some nursery rhyme children…

Kurio winced, shaking his blistering hands for a second. Definitely like fighting a worse Okimi. Hope she never learns how to make a fire cloak…

He warily eyed Momo as she cheered after being thrown, completely unfazed. They needed to disable her somehow if they wanted to escape. Those steps were wooden and the walls repelled chakra making escape difficult.

That cloak was going to be an issue though, as Isamu’s sword melted on contact with it. Kurio frowned at the voice complaining in his mind. “Her akuma are… singing with her?” As if this entire thing wasn’t odd already.

Shaking his head, Kurio watched her bounce before starting on handsigns. He flinched slightly at the pain in his hands. Lightning crackled in his palm for a second before erupting into a brilliant flash that filled the cave. When it faded, he was behind Momo, a kunai at her throat.

Lightning Release: Reap

Fire billowed from momo in a protective cloak as the kunai was held to her throat. The girl just blinked, and continued her handsigns. 103...104... “Huh. Is it… lightning boy? Let’s see if I win!!!”

Momo turned behind her, looking straight up in the shaft, away from Kurio and Isamu. She finished in ‘tiger’, and took a deep breath, it echoed twice as the form of a goat and a snake formed on her shoulder, and the air started to crackle under the pressure of chakra from her. In a large exhale, a cone of fire started to torrent out of her mouth, spiraling in an ocean as it licked the wood steps above, and lashed against the walls. The fire began a dull yellow, but started to warm through orange and blue as it continued in a storm above

Kackhrrrrrrrrr

The sound of the fire itself reverberated in the small chamber as small drips of molten magma began to drip down the sides of the walls, the torrent continuing for nearly a full minute.

A moment later, Momo fell out of the sky, blinking as nothing seemed to come from her attack, disappointed as she saw both Kurio and Isamu behind her.

As the flames ended, seals across the walls sizzled, before going cold, long before the stone around them did. Fire seemed to be absorbed into them. The area around the chains on the ground was almost completely the same as before, keeping the room almost air conditioned, despite the literal raining magma storm above. A few drips of slag from above fell on the chains, only to instantly cool into rock, and fall to the sides. As other slags drips fell around them, the chains shifted slightly towards them, rolling over towards the large chakra filled lakes of fire chakra.

The parts of the walls not covered in seals up the wall continued to glow a hot white.

“Aw… did I lose?! I thought for sure sparky was behind me… Aw… Sparky, what game are we playing next!?”

Meanwhile, in the shadow of the great fire, Isamu himself began a few handsigns, tar beginning to form over the lengthened shadows more easily before the blaze burned out.

“My technique is set for this area, Kurio Shimizu. I, Isamu Shimizu, will support you from the shadows as you wish.” He whispered to Kurio.

Another voice sounded in him.

Hmmph. She’s got a lot of chakra, but she’s not very GOOD with it. You don’t see your girlfriend’s fire change color midblast, do you…?

Kurio winced, holding up a hand slightly to help shield his eyes from the bright flames. Feeling cold air nearby, he glanced over at the seals, studying the chains intently for a moment. We’d be dead if she did have control. Not that it matters at-- His ears burned slightly, she’s not my girlfriend!

Isamu’s voice echoed in Kurio’s head, the fellow Jinchuriki entering his inner seal.

She’s not? Oh, I must inform Junpei Shimizu, he has the wrong idea. As does Hitomi Shimizu. And Ema Shimizu. And Kenshin Shimizu. And many other Shimizu

Kurio blinked, casting a quick glance at the other Shimizu. How the--? WHY DOES EVERYONE THINK THAT!? He stifled a groan, that was a problem for later. As was Isamu being able to eavesdrop. Nevermind. Look, I’m going to try and bait her over to these chains. Can you pull me out of the way when she comes over here?

Mostly due to an incident wh-- Not important right now I suppose. Very well, I shall do so. You shall have my full support. Simply stand in the shadows, and I shall link two together. Also, your inner world/prison’s a lot nice than Iwato’s…He says he’s jealous and wants tea with Raiko.

No.

Kurio nodded before looking back at the other jinchuuriki. “I’ve got a new game we can play! It’s called Oni. You two,” he pointed to Momo and Isamu, “are the oni and you have to catch me, the villager. Fireballs are cheating though, you have to grab me.”

Momo saluted, before closing her eyes. “It’s alright, I haven’t made a ball of fire since I got here! Sphere’s are reeeeally hard to make… I can make a fire trapezoid though!”

Isamu blinked. “Verily, I have never played this with two oni befo-- Ooooh, Yes, yes, I shall assist the small girl, Momo Yoshida. We shall be the Oni.”

Momo closed her eyes and began counting, though Isamu’s plague mask made it… difficult to tell how far along he was going with it. Momo’s voice ran out clearly. “Are you ready?”

As she counted, Kurio leapt over towards the chains. Lightning sparked in his palm, as if he was getting ready to use Lightning Release: Reap. Though the jutsu never went off. He hoped it would cast enough light to form a shadow for Isamu to use. He crouched in front of one of the massive chains, hiding slightly in one of the deep gouges in the stone. “Ready! Remember, no fire!”

"Hey, you said no fireballs! No changing the rules!" Momo crossed her arms angrily. Meanwhile, Isamu took the chance to infuse the shadows with his tar.

Fire did begin to rise from Momo's cloak. "Fire's good! Fire keeps all the bad people away! Fire means no more pokes from needles, no more funny gas in buildings, no more tests. Means clan looks at Momo like a genius, cause she's totes smart! Fire's the solution to ALL of Momo's problems!!! Fire makes me happy!!!"

She screeched like a banshee, the room rattling. Momo started to crouch, the ground turning yellow and beginning to melt under her. Then Momo started to race towards Kurio, pools of yellow outlining each and every footstep. The temperature skyrocketed as a cone of heat once more began to form around her, much like when she had played her first game with Kurio.

Isamu's voice echoed in his head. The shadow behind you is set. I can't touch that chain directly with my shadows, so you'll have to dodge last minute. This seems more like a game of chicken than Oni if I am to be completely honest. Those chains are broken, but they did hold an originator, they should hold this girl at least for a while. That will give myself time to set up a shadow all the way to the surface.

Kurio winced at the shriek. Welp, now he’s done it. His trick from earlier likely wasn’t going to save him this time around if he missed. Maybe buy the slightest fraction of a second. But speed had never really been Kurio’s strong suit.

His muscles grew tense, water dripping from his clothes as he watched her race towards him. He had to wait until the last possible second so she couldn’t stop. Burns were inevitable. So he waited, bracing against the intense heat until stepping back at the last possible second.

As Momo ran, her cloak grew and grew, sets of bones starting to form around her, and vague animal outlines. A snake for a tail, goat legs, and the mane of a lion, and wings beginning to sprout. The only ones with the skeletal structure were the goat and legs though, the rest seemed to be formed via a series of complex seals stretching across her skin, expanding as she called upon more and more power.

The footprints turned from a small girl’s to a goat’s hooves of molten magma, bursts of steam hissing with each footstep now, exploding with a burst of steam.

To say it was an intense heat would be a little bit of an understatement as before she was even close, Kurio would find the sweat literally boiling around him. At the last second, the shadows pulled against him, a batwing wrapping around and yanking him back, flinging him against the stone wall, standing next to a very much sweating Isamu… who was slightly smoldering…. And his cape was on fire.

Momo, however, couldn’t stop, looking confused at the shadows claiming Kurio. “Is that the crow guy’s-” The moment she hit the chain, a sudden bang echoed in the chamber, and everything in the room was pulled in a sudden implosion towards the center.

Molten magma from the footsteps pulled, debris, and several flights of steps all smashed together in the center. A moment later, all the heat withdrew from the room, the molten magma turning to rock mid flight. Momo found herself ensnared by the chains, and in an instant her cloak was gone.

“H-hey! What gives!” She complained, struggling against chains holding her in the middle. She grunted and made handsigns again and again, her cloak flaring and dissipating in flicker after flicker. She shuddered. “I-It’s s-so cold!” The ever burning girl complained without her flames. Thankfully, none of the debris seemed to hurt her more than a few bruises from the implosion itself. Momo was tough, despite being so young.

She was also no longer trying to kill everything. Isamu took a sigh of relief, beginning another set of handsigns as a whirlpool of shadows formed in front of him, which would lead to the surface above.

Kurio grimaced. He turned his head away slightly as Momo drew closer, holding up an arm to try and shield his face from the heat. His one defense did little, boiling away faster than he could replace it. Flesh burned and darkened. Everything screamed for him to jump away sooner. But if he did, Momo might have enough time to react to the trap. And they likely wouldn’t have another chance.

Whenever he finally did jump back, even the shadows grabbing him hurt. Kurio’s landing next to his uncle was far from graceful. He barely managed to root himself to the ground at the sudden implosion. Spots obscured his vision from the intense light moments ago. Or were they burned too? Everything hurt too bad for him to tell.

A prison made to hold an originator… the seals were no joke even after being broken.

“Let’s… let’s get out of here before anyone else shows up…” Kurio wheezed, grabbing onto Isamu’s cloak for some kind of guide until his vision cleared.

A hand rested on a more unburnt part of Kurio’s shoulder, Isamu quiet for a moment. A moment of pride. Then he nodded. “Agreed. I, Isamu Shimizu, would very much like to not be on fire.”

Around them, tar-like substance clung to Kurio, pulling him down to an abyss. Thankfully, the thick tar was cooling against the flames. Unfortunately, it was only brief, before throwing him out into the bright beating sun. Isamu quickly threw his cloak over Kurio, then untying could be heard, before Kurio would feel a mask slide over his face. It smelled fragrantly of wildflowers inside.

“This will protect you from the sun, those burns look pretty bad. As I have promised, I will continue to protect you from the shadows, Kurio Shimizu. Your dreams are impressive, and almost make me remember mine. Just say the word, and I shall render aid.”

The real pity was there was an ongoing contest in the Shimizu clan to see Isamu’s real face, Kenshin offering 5000 Ryo to any who managed it… and Kurio’s eyes as they were wouldn’t be able to see it as he walked without cloak or mask in the desert. Though, he did seem plenty pale…

“What I’d give for it to be raining. Or just cloudy right now,” Kurio lamented at the intense sunlight. He quietly thanked Isamu for the cloak and mask, the shelter making it slightly more bearable. If Shimizu were known for anything outside of akuma, it was their endurance. That either shinobi stood despite their injuries acting as proof of that.

Slow, agonizing handsigns before numbing relief flowed into his hands. Kurio numbed the more painful of his injuries. Though the fact many of them didn’t hurt was concerning. He swayed slightly, shivering even despite the heat of the sun. But would follow Isamu when he started walking.

“What . . . what was your dream?”

The sounds of footsteps stopped as Isamu stared off into the distance.

“To be in the shadow of an excellent ninja, and to be of service. Verily, I have been behind a desk for over a decade due to my strangeness. I can do naught about that, as it is natural for a Jinchuuriki to take after his akuma somewhat, and love him though I do, Iwato is perhaps a bit antiquated.

Still, I do believe this has given me reason to regain my skills, as my lack thereof near cost me my life tonight. Yet you, Kurio Shimizu, saved me despite your age. I have great hopes for you, nephew. Though I fear for your children.”

Isamu continued his footsteps once more.

“Also, I, myself, would be careful of wishing for rain. If this Yoshida clan were to make such a fuss over a game of tag, of knitting, of giving advice, or of music, I fear what they would do for the weather… Perhaps a deluge of brimstone? Nay, I’ll merely be content with, as the kids say ‘getting the fuck out of here’. It is time… for us to do so.”

Kurio stopped beside him as he spoke. An excellent ninja, huh? I’ve still got a ways to go there. But maybe… He smiled slightly, despite himself. “Heh, don’t think we would’ve gotten away from Momo without your help. You’re pretty strong even if you say your skills are rusty. You and Iwato seem to work pretty well together.”

He started after Isamu, his shorter strides falling slightly behind. “Maybe once I’m recovered, you’d let me train with you?” Kurio hesitated, glancing in the direction of the sky at his uncle’s next point. “Agreed.”

 

[Ganryu]

- 2 Years Later -​

==================
The Ninja Academy
==================

Delicately, Sachiko held her hand out as she sat on the roof, a single flake fell into her hand, freezing cold as her warm hands slightly turned pink. Rather than melt, it crumbled away, ash rather than snow. A slight grin turned; more and more flakes raining like snow around the village, scattering across the ground, and making footsteps crunch as people walked. Scarfs were in fashion more for utility than for warmth, though as a cold breeze whipped through, Sachiko kinda wished she’d brought one for that too.

Sachiko tucked her arm behind her now long hair, and swept it out, flakes of gray raining around her. It’d taken her two years to grow it out, the pink dye now accentuating her black hair more than overrunning it. Her hair wasn’t the only difference, her body now more toned, a bit muscular to anyone observant, and her clothing was far less ‘cute’. A purple flak jacket the central part of the style, with light hues accenting it. She honest to goodness looked like a ninja.

She grinned.
“It’s almost time…”
Humming, she began to undo her bandages, watching for what felt the first time as the sleet of ash drifted around the village, the white and gray flecks blending with the steam rising from the homes below the rooftop, sloped downwards, with a straight view of the Ninja academy infront of her.
In the far distance, she could see a large stand, with a dozen kids on stage, giggling around, and messing with eachother as they talked, one shoving another. An older ninja stared daggers at the class. It shut most of them up.
“Come on, lil’ dudes, it’s totally your time to shine! Hardest class I’ve ever had to help out with. Maybe cause I was too busy bullying this one.”
Sachiko’s eyes wandered from one of the kids clearly failing to discretely pick his nose to a sudden flicker in the corner of her eyes. She looked again to see the air warp… but by the time she focused her eyes, she couldn’t tell where exactly it had been. She began to focus in, but couldn’t see anything. “Huh…?”
A voice boomed below, snapping her attention back to the ceremony the instructor’s harsh words making the academy students straighten their back at attention.

“You’ve done well so far. Each and every one of you has done well to make this far. I expected no less from any. You have all met my expectations. I’m light on praise and high on expectations, but, well, suppose it wouldn’t hurt to say I’m proud of you. You’re a good batch. The village needs you, and I’m somewhat relieved that you’re the next generation. Hopefully, you can avoid the mistakes my generation has made.”

Sachiko smiled absentmindly as the graduation ceremony began. Jikan sensei was just the same as when she’d started it seemed like. Sachiko’s eyes started to dart back and forth unnaturally across the rooftops, looking for the warping once more. She still couldn’t see anything. “Time to turn it up a notch.” She closed her red right eyes, her blue sapphire eyes pulsing against the falling soot, the blue glow beautifully reflecting off of it, making it look like a rain of blue crystal, almost as if the Yamato were putting on a dance.
Focus: Sanryōkyōgan: Left Eye - Blue
The chakra of a dozen small genin barely flickered below, while Jikan’s looked like a smoldering fire. She could identify a few new sights in the houses, a few nin meditating with their chakra, a few more powerful ones shaking their houses, a few creative nin doing home repair with earth release. Below, behind Jikan’s campfire like chakra, hidden by the stage curtains, a pillar of chakra enveloped the stage, shooting into the sky in a thick flare upwards. It was less like chakra, and more like an ocean.
“Huh, so Tsumikage’s here. Does she listen in on all of these…?”
Her blue eyes turned in their scan, piercing building after building, but Sachiko couldn’t see much. Jikan-sensei continued, adding a new part.

“I have seen many of my former students grow and prosper. I’ve attended a few of their funerals… and seen many of their graduations. A few made ANBU. One even made Tsumikage. I cheer when they do well, I cry when they fail. It is one great joy in life. And it does me good to see another group advance. We will now read off the lists of outgoing genin.…”

Sachiko closed her left eye, bobbing her head forward as she gripped it tightly, a dull throb of pain shooting through her. She’d taken in way too much information. She switched, opening her red eye, a glowing red ruby suddenly reflecting off the snow-like soot, like a demon piercing through the gates of hell, crimson lighting every flake as it fell like brimstone, illuminated by the dojutsu.
Focus: Sanryōkyōgan: Right Eye - Red
The cold scene made every flake of ash stand out against the warm houses, several warm bodies flickering across rooftops as well. Sachiko wasn’t alone. She gripped a bo shuriken from her vest, before calming as she saw the masks on these figures. Sachiko recognized a larger man among them. ANBU.
“Huh, Kurio’s dad. Wonder how he stays in ANBU with it being so obvious who he is. Wonder if they've noticed that flicker…”

“... Koki Kounna, Ase Yuki, Ichinose Shimizu, Squad Toyotomi…”

Sachiko’s head snapped back to the stand as she pumped her fist, yelling out a loud ‘whoop’. For a moment, she began to tie a purple ribbon with 1,000 yen bill on it. A few more bills followed. A moment later, five projections pierced through air, followed by five thuds as the bo-shurikens nailed a certain Koki Kounna to stage by his robes. Laughter could be heard below. Then a large *boom* echoed like thunder as the shurikens clattered to the ground. Sachiko giggled as a few more blasts exploded to the side of her. Koki had only a guess where she actually was.

As one wave of heat enveloped a nearby roof, Sachiko watched the heat flicker outwards… and then… just for a fraction of a second, a small empty dome appeared inside the explosion. Sachiko immediately tensed up, watching fire lick at it, disappearing again and again, but never touching the void bubble. Sachiko switched eyes, but she couldn’t see any chakra. She sighed, and began to pull her hair back, grabbing ribbon as she set it in a pony tail, taking a guess.
“It’s reflecting light so well that I can’t even notice the technique, the reflections hiding any chakra signature, and is the same temperature as ambient atmosphere. I’m assuming it also reflects sound, making conversation and heartbeat soundless, but is likely one way. A sensor wouldn’t normally pick it up… Thanks, Koki, your big sister owes you for that explosive temper… Imma spoil you so hard when I get back!”
Sachiko sighed, reaching for another bo shuriken, this one from her book, so heavy it made her slump.
Taking a deep breath, Sachiko’s leg circled back in a wide stance, her entire body leaning forward against the opposite leg as her knee bent low in a wide stance. She crossed her arms, her muscles tensed, a most unladylike vein popping in her forearm.
Then the bo-shuriken disappeared. Sachiko’s arms already uncrossed. Through the raining soot, a blank vacuum opened up at massive speeds, followed by a loud ‘CRACK’ like thunder. The vacuum continued in a straight line, and to an observant ninja, a well thrown bo-shuriken took the lead.
With a ‘pop’, water exploded as two cloaked figured apparated, diving out the wave of the projective. With a smile, Sachiko noted a line of red following after the projectile, pinning against a wall with a small splatter
A blue haired man and woman could be seen in the distance. The man made several exaggerated movements, screaming and flailing as the woman just facepalmed, before rubbing a small cut to the side of her face. She began a series of handsigns, before both began to retreat away.
Sachiko saw just a glimpse of the man’s face, freezing in her tracks. He looked… familiar to her.
“Was that…? N-no, just focus!”
Sachiko reached into her bag, and pulled out a flare gun, firing it in the air, a line of pink trailing into the sky, before exploding brilliantly above.
“Last time I offer to be security detail at one of these! I wanna go back to being a loser!!!”


All around, ANBU mobilized, and Sachiko began to rush forward after them. Her enhanced hearing could hear several pops below, like bubbles bursting.

“See, I told you coming was a bad idea. I told you last time it was a bad idea. Yet I’m the one who has to clean up! I’m NOT fighting that monster again!”

Sachiko rounded the corner, drawing another bo shuriken. She leapt across the rooftop, gaining enough altitude she was sure she could make the shot, crossing her arms once more midair. Then suddenly a force pulled her straight down, like a hammer shot straight across her, Sachiko falling a straight 20 feet into the ground with a crash. She tried to get up, only to be pulled forward, smashing straight into a wall. Then with a crack, through it. A nin approached her, wearing an Inochigakure headband. Sachiko gasped.
“What are Inochi Ninja doing inside the village!?”

She was answered by the man thrusting his hand at her, and Sachiko went flying again, blasted a hundred feet away, and smashing into the stage with the newly minted genin, her body skipping like a pebble across a lake… only instead of ripples, she left smashed wood.

Sachiko stood up, drawing a small silver bar from her jacket. “We’re under attack! Everyone get back!” She could see the ninja approaching her calmly in the distance.

Explosions began to ring out across the village…
==================
The Market Place.
==================

The marketplace was bustling as normal. It was the start to the weekend, and with the academy graduation, many proud parents were out and about. The downtown market was like a bazaar, with many outdoor vendors in stalls. Many… aggressive vendors.

As Okimi walked down it, several vendors tried shoving their wares in her face.

“Takoyaki, fresh off the grill!”

“Lovely pearls for a lovely lady!”

“Explosive tags! Get your explosive tags!”

Expert shoppers could be seen weaving between the crowds, women with bags, and no nonsense attitude with the vendors, only going straight to stalls they needed. It was weekend shopping, a holiday, and some of the best deals were on.

A few ne’erdo-well’s could be seen in the crowds, kids, and shady gang members, looking at wallets and purses, but the cold weather, and raining snow like ash deterred the worst of it, despite the profits to be made. Cold meant thick clothing, and freezing hands. It didn’t stop one man in particular in a bandana trying to body flicker behind the dragon girl, aiming at her wallet.

The moment he was behind her, he stopped… petrified. At first, he merely stood in place, his facial expression confused.

“What the fu--- uuuugh!!! UHHH!”

His face suddenly began to swell grotesquely, one side of his head bursting into a strange frog like appearance, his tongue swirling out his mouth as he mutated quite involuntarily, the only movement being convulsing and morphing, his hand still held up as if to still snatch something… before webbing between his fingers took over.

Slowly, his skin started to turn to darken, turning gray, and petrifying, as a half frog statue was left behind in his wake.

Screams erupted, and people began to run away. Then… the contagion began to spread, dozens of civilians… and one ninja began to suddenly freeze, morph, burst, and petrify all around Okimi, some unknown enemy assailant in the crowd of civilians.

Against a nearby wall, the symbol for Inochigakure began to etch itself.

In the cacophony of screams, in the distance, explosions could be heard.


“Mrrhmm, as was to be expected this village and its sinful denizens are in great disharmony with nature,” said a gravelly voice. The speaker was an old looking man dressed in ragged, brown robes and a conical, straw hat. “Did you know? The creations and ideals of man are petty and fleeting, therefore the only justice in this world is to be in harmony with nature,” The old man stroked his neat, pointed beard thoughtfully as he walked towards Okimi, his pace slow but with the balance of a skilled taijutsu practitioner. “As a guardian of the natural order it is my duty to erase this twisted and disharmonious land,”


==================
The Residential Area
==================


Outside, the freezing soot continued to gently fall and coat the roads, much like a demented snow. A gentle warm haze came from the city, however, as many chimneys were lit easily by fire nin, and much of the populace as inside.
Inside the Shimizu clan, it was relatively barren, Junpei and Kenshin running ANBU tasks, and the Tsumikage quietly watching the ceremony in the distance. Most were out, leaving Kurio to tend to his own injuries, and have quiet reign of the house.
However, as he was about the house, the air started to feel heavy. The pressure was dropping. Slowly at first, but as the hair on his arms would begin to prickle, he could see in the distance a red flare firing in the sky, glistening against the soot in the distance, before exploding like a firework.
In the house, a curious taste begin to fill the air. Iron-like. Something burning touched his nose. On the ground, the symbol began to burn into the ground. ‘Ring 1’. Another symbol ‘35.6762’. Another symbol. ‘’139.6503”
A voice within him shouted.
MOVE!!!

-----------

Across the residential area area, a massive column of light pierced upwards from the Shimizu home, the blast of energy from the beam piercing above the miasma of the village, bursting the dome of the village like a bubble. For several moments, bright blue skies over head could be seen, direct sunlight filling the area, before the fog began to roll back in. Ironically, those least likely to see the blast were the Yamamoto and Kounna, being close enough that it was simply a blinding flash, though the hole in the miasma cloud was proof enough that someone had just been attacked.

Bits of roof and charred support beams rained down, a section of the compound now missing. In the middle of it, a man in a coat and mask removed a large tank off his back, tossing it empty to the side. He had white hair and red eyes, the black leather mask hiding everything under his ears.

He had no monologue, simply a mission to do. He walked calmly down a hidden staircase that had been revealed by the blast. In one hand, he carried a small metal rod, crackling with chakra, attached via a small wire to a smaller tank on his back. He had an emotionless stare as he moved. Despite his professionalism, and leather clothes, his coolness was somewhat ruined by the fact he was currently smoldering, being a bit closer to ground zero than he would have liked, and not havine enough chakra to defend himself fully from the blast. Still, he seemed uncaring, simply patting out the flames on his coat.

The debris from the blast rained down for miles, not just on the rich clans, but even poor clans, and simple individuals in apartments had to deal with raining support beams, wood, concrete floor, and roof tiles, all singed.

 

[Orikanyo]

Wakanaka Tsube

"Zz......Zz"



The oni snored silently in his home, all was right in the world. The birds were chirping, the sun... Okay the sun was covered by the ash cloud. But it was nice, he was content, and dreaming about what hr would do with some upcoming vacation time. Koro, the carnivorous demonic venus fly trap was asleep as well, the plant having grown... Immense over the last two years, it had taken over the wall, and draped downwards out the window into the world below. It also seeped into the ceiling above, burrowing tiny holes and likely into the apartment proper.

But the one thing it wouldn't touh was the sleeping Oni, perhaps out of respect, perhaps because he was the one who fed it, or maybe because Wakanaka could uproot it at any time. And it didn't want to risk getting sheared again.

His room stayed roughly the same, the brewing stand expanded, in one corner sat a handful of armor pieces he wears while out and about on important calls. And the rest was... Limited. Aside from the TV.

It was the best he could afford, and the best money could buy. Gigantic, had great sound built in, hell he could swear the power running it alone dimmed the street lights outside. It was hos most recent and biggest prize... And he slept happily near it, having watched some saucy shows far into the night... Nothing could break this peaceful moment...

Nothing but a support beam crashing through the ceiling and detroying his most expensive and prized possession.

"Wha- What the- What in the-!?" He was blasted awake, and straight out into the street, landing softened by the long vines of Koro, who let out his own roar as it attacked the intruder within the room.

"My... My TV!!! MY FUCKING TV!!!! THAT COST ME 4 MISSIONS PAY!!!!

I'LL...

I'LL...."

Chakra began to burst from his form, the anger burting from the seems. He punched a fist into the wall of the building, causing his sword to fall from the hole he made just a second ago. Grasping it in one hand, the ground impacted with a crater upon it's landing, and was forced into a deeper creater when the behemoth leapt into the sky, eyeing the falling debris from the Shimizu home... With each rooftop he tread upon in his march, it crumpled and heaved...

He would find who did this.

And they.

Would pay.