Soragakure: Genin in Interim

[ZeroNumerous]

Momo

The Scarlet Devil Mansion lay nestled in a ravine, and protected by a deep river. For someone aiming to attack it they would first need to find it, then scale down the cliff side, swim across the river afterward, and only at the end of their trek would they ever meet anyone from the mansion. The first line of opposition would be the Mansion's gatekeeper, Suzunabu. The wind dragon had been bound within a human form by the Euryale clan some time ago, but she was now free. Well, she was as free as a dragon could be in human form. Beyond Suzunabu lay the vast legion of winged sprites who obeyed Satoko's every command. But, as anyone who had ever spent any time within the Scarlet Devil Mansion known, the fairies were useless for practically anything. They even managed to screw up manual labor, somehow.

The final line of defense was the Lady of the Mansion herself: Satoko Scarlet (http://i.imgur.com/eanf7.jpg). And, suffice to say, she was not a lady who enjoyed feminine things like dancing. Or, at least, what passed for dancing when your lower half was a giant snake. Satoko didn't speak of what turned her into the naga she was now, nor did she entertain questions about it. Satoko's daughter, Remilia, simply stated that her father--Satoko's husband--was responsible. Suzunabu, of course, respected her Mistress' wishes and spoke nothing of the event.

What could she be so secretive about?

Well, regardless of her reasoning, Momo had come to the Scarlet Devil Mansion to meet up with Amon and anyone else who was there. Unfortunately, Amon was busy. In fact, it seemed like nearly half the mansion was away on business or busy with preparations outside the mansion. Half the massive army of fairies were missing, and the mansion seemed slightly less crowded than normal. The nearly empty mansion carries a peaceful and somber air to it. Almost as if it actually were a hermitage for some wise sage...

Or, at least, it would be if the remaining half weren't also completely incompetent. The loud crash of plates hitting the ground shatters any peace the mansion and built, and Momo is reminded that it's business as usual even with half the fairies gone.

When questioned about Amon's disappearance, Satoko merely offers up that she's on an errand for the dragon sage, and says nothing more on the subject. Well, without Amon to talk to there was still the issue of Camille; Cybele's artifical "daughter" created by the renegade Euryale doctor known as Setsuna. Or Momo could bother Suzunabu, Remilia, or Satoko about whatever was going on with them at the time.

Yousuke

Of the many places Yousuke and Toramaru had visited the worst was probably Kukoku City. The place took the idea of a steel jungle to heart, and predators of all types roamed the jungle floor while the weak and cowardly huddled together in the metallic treetops. Skyscrapers in various states of disrepair decorated the city's dreary skyline, while gangs of thugs roamed the dingy streets looking for easy marks or people dumb enough to not keep their heads down. Kukoku had no mayor, police force, or lord. Rather, the only law was that of the jungle: The weak paid tribute to the mighty, or died for their insolence. If there was any place in the Fire Country that Toramaru called home; it would be Kukoku. She did not truly live there, but it was as much her home as the sky was to birds.

She belonged there.

It was simply natural.

But of course, none of the rules of the jungle applied to either Yousuke or Toramaru. The first time Yousuke had walked the steel jungle with his "Nee-san" had been an eye-opener. Everyone, from the emaciated to the poor, from gangsters openly wielding knives and wearing swords, to thugs with forearms as thick as Yousuke's waist; All of them would stop whatever they were doing and get out of Toramaru's way. Many would bow, knuckle their heads, and be thankful they did not earn her attention. Some brave and foolish souls would tempt her with petty cash, illicit materials, or other items to curry favor with the de-facto empress of their petty home. But none of it affected Nee-san. She gave no help to the poor and destitute, offered no protection to the hungry, and she gave not a single glance to the strong and mighty. Anyone foolish or brave enough to approach her were brushed off with a fang-bearing smile.

The woman's arbitrary nature potentially held some great secret within, but the truth of the matter was simple.

Those who knelt--regardless of whether they knelt out of fear or to curry her favor--were so far below Toramaru as to not exist in her sight.

She ruled the steel jungles of Kukoku so thoroughly that even the Fire Daimyo recognized it as a lawless territory. In all the time Yousuke spent with Toramaru not a single tax collector ever came to Kukoku, and neither hide nor hair of soldiers or government officials had been seen in the city. But despite ruling her city like a petty kingdom she did not take tribute from her subjects. She did not enforce law, nor did she promise any protection. She ruled, because she wished to. And they obeyed, because they did not have the strength of heart and soul to oppose her.

That wasn't to say some didn't oppose her. Many tried in Yousuke's time with the Tiger Sage, and she dealt with them in the same manner Yousuke had seen many times before. Opposition without conviction was utterly and thoroughly crushed, down to the last man if need be. There was no surrender, no begging for mercy, nor the slightest bit of pity from Toramaru. She completely destroyed anyone who dared raise their sword or fist without putting their lives on the line. But those who opposed her with strong hearts and earnest beliefs? She treated them in a manner very familiar to Yousuke; She teased them, played with them, and ultimately let them have their way.

But today was different.

Yousuke walked the streets of Toramaru's city alone, heading toward the apartment complex whose roof was practically Toramaru's apartment. Nothing was official, of course, but who would tell her that she couldn't sleep there? Since Yousuke had gotten into the city he hadn't seen any of the gangs gathered together. He occasionally saw a local gangster, but most of them gave the former sky-nin a wide berth. Rather, the city seemed completely depopulated. It wasn't until he got to Main Street that he realized why: Groups of people wearing a gang sign that he didn't recognize were roaming the streets. All of them were armed, and none of them seemed to be respecting the "law" of the jungle. At least, judging by the loudspeaker blaring, they didn't seem to care.

"Listen up! Ezomaru owns Kukoku now! And the Axes are here to make sure you punks understand that!" The loud idiot on the loudspeaker kept yapping on about how the Axe would be taking tribute, and that ten percent of everyone's income--legal or not--would be going to the Axe. They kept hyping up this Ezomaru, whoever that was.

Oddly, none of those loud-mouthed gangsters were maimed, crying for their mothers, or dying yet. Which meant Toramaru was somewhere else--or busy. Where could she be?

Masaru

To call Konohagakure a "Hidden Village" would be a great disservice to the city. It dwarfed the Sky by an order of magnitude, and made the flying city look like a tiny village. The mixture of traditional housing and more modern brick and mortar homes gave the city an air of a place on the cusp of a cultural revolution. On one side stood the traditionalists, who favored the aesthetic of ancient ninja villages. On the other side stood the modernists, who were trying to drag the city into the future even if it was kicking and screaming. Above it all loomed the great stone monument featuring the last six Hokage. The Seventh would be added when the Eighth was selected, but until then her visage would not grace the mountain.

Masaru had lived in the Leaf Village for two years already, but he still wasn't trusted with much more than genin's work. The Leaf fought its wars with its jounin, proving its might with its elites alone, so many genin and chuunin were left in the city to defend it. And, of course, perform menial labor.

Which was, unfortunately, precisely what Masaru had been tasked to do.

An older gentlemen requested assistance with cleaning an old and forgotten shrine. The dusty temple could be accurately compared to a ruin... An the ruin would likely be insulted to be lumped together with it. The old man, bent with age and grey in beard, called the temple the old "Shrine of the Six". Supposedly the First Sage had built it, and his legends say his tomb lay behind a forgotten secret entrance. But that was all hearsay and urban legends... Right?

Keita

The Greatmother still looked to be a young woman. She couldn't be older than 19, yet she was looked up to as an honorable and venerable elder among the Euryale clan. But her skill with ninjutsu was obviously undeniable. Before she was Celestine, she had been a jounin in the Grass Village. The woman she had been was capable of summoning immensely powerful snakes, teleporting herself and others, as well as fighting using a unique mixture of taijutsu and teleportation proved her abilities. Of course, the Greatmother had little reason to fight now and those skills atrophied a little, but they were still sharp and dangerous.

Nonetheless, there are things that require more low-key people than the defacto "kage" of the Grass village. And it is for one of those things that Celestine called for Keita.

Keita now sits in a large room, or at least one large relative to the average apartment size. Eleven tatami mats lay side-by-side to cover the floor, and on the center most mat rests the young-looking Greatmother. In front of her sits a small table, and to either side stand a pair of snake-masked ANBU. Slightly behind the Greatmother sits her successor, the ever-smiling ever pleasant Chisato (http://i.imgur.com/XlLL1.jpg). Chisato's bowing down behind the Greatmother very properly; She's resting gently on her knees with her hands on the floor, her finger-tips together just inches under her head--which is practically touching the floor. Celestine had told her many times before not to do that, but Chisato was surprisingly a stickler for things like honor and respect for ones elders.

"Oi. Little brother. I called you here because there's something going on that I can't just send a Grass ninja out to investigate. I don't trust anyone but family to deal with this problem, but..." Celestine turns her head slightly, looking to each side with her uncovered purple eye. Everyone present except Keita bore bright purple hair, and Chisato had purple crystalline eyes that radiated a deep malice. The young man had come to understand that the malice in a Euryale's eyes were not her true emotions, but rather the nature of her chakra. Nonetheless, it would be rather hard for a Euryale to hide her nature. "Euryale don't exactly disguise well."

Celestine sighs, then shakes her head. "So, little brother, there's a Leaf ninja poking around in Meisungi City--three clicks south of the Grass Village. He's been asking around about purple-haired assassins. I want you to go there, find out what he's about--quietly--and then decide what you want to do with him. If he's dangerous, then disappear him quietly somewhere. If he's not, then feel free to bring him back and let me talk to him."

Celestine looks at Keita with her one eye, but the malicious nature of the Euryale chakra doesn't radiate from that eye. Keita can feel it pouring out of the eyepatch covering her other eye. "Your judgment is being trusted little brother, so don't screw this up."

Takuya

The Red Turtle wasn't a lot to look at. Hot sand covered the Turtle's back, and the rim of its shell kept the sand from disappearing into the ocean. A small wooden shack, painted an eye-popping shade of pink, stood in the middle of the turtle's back. Nothing marked it as unique or special, and one wouldn't think it was the hideaway of a turtle hermit.

At least, one wouldn't think that if it weren't built on the back of a colossal turtle.

The Turtle Sage in question sat on the edge of the great Red Turtle's shell. His tiny feet dangle off into the water below, and his small bamboo rod bobs slightly. The old man frequently sat about fishing, and didn't do much other than that. Even getting the old man to get up and train was a chore. But there was no denying that he was skilled, and well deserving of the title of Kame-sennin. In all their sparring sessions Takuya had never once made the old man even breathe hard, let alone get him serious about the fight. Nonetheless, when Takuya could rouse Genbu to actually get involved in his training sessions, the young man's martial arts would grow by leaps and bounds.

Unfortunately, today didn't seem like a training day.

Genbu remained at the turtle's edge, his line trailing water, and his back turned to Takuya. In the distance the Red Turtle swam toward a familiar looking dock; a scummy fishing village called Mukotsu that Genbu disliked with a passion. The last time they had visited Mukotsu the day ended in violence when three young men tried to mug the elderly turtle hermit. So going to Mukotsu meant that Genbu needed something done. Or worse, he'd thought up some training involving the miserable den of thieves.

Mukotsu was fairly prosperous for a fishing village, but only because of its prime export: Tennokennen carp. The special fish only grew in the shallow reefs near Mukotsu, and was considered a delicacy by many affluent individuals on the mainland. This, of course, created an industry of fishermen seeking out the prized carp to sell to rich idiots. And where there was a legitimate business, there were shady businessmen looking to make a quick buck. Poachers fished the reefs as well, and armed themselves in response to the Water Country's attempts to properly police the area. Mukotsu was so thick with poachers and thieves that the city's law enforcement had been completely overwhelmed.

Even the Mist's ninjas avoided the place, because it was frequented by missing-nin looking to travel the Countries by boat.

Why would Genbu willingly go to a place like that?

[Togath]

Keita;

"I will not disappoint you, Greatmother" responds Keita, taking nearly as deep a bow as Chisato.
"If there are no other pressing matters, I'll try to be on my way today".


if there aren't;
------
After packing supplies, mostly rations, and water(about half again as much as he'd likely need, as he's always been wary since the incident a few months back...), Keita begins his journey to Meisungi, taking care to try to seem inconspicuous on the journey.
Shortly before arrival he removes his Grass headband, hoping to make it less obvious he's working for the village when he starts his search.
Once inside, he starts his search, trying to find any establishments which are known to sometimes cater mercenaries or assassins, or those looking to employ them.

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke walked the streets of Kukoku with a deadly grace, stalking through the 'jungle' in what he knew was a poor imitation of his sens- his nee-san. There was a quiet power to her movements and he would stop at nothing to embrace that power for his own. At times like this he was reminded of his grandfather. "There is training in all things..." Even if the intricacies of the woman's stance were lost on the ill-minded fools of the city, he would not soon forget the way she carried herself. It was strange how she could seem so dignified and strong while walking through the filth of the city but somehow she managed it.

He had always wondered how villages functioned without the support of a shinobi force and now he was regretting every bit of his curiosity. Agitatedly, he pulls his scarf up high to keep the stench of the city from entering his nostrils. Mouth obscured, he nods at the gangsters who clear from his path as they passed. Toramaru would never waste her time with those kinds of courtesies but the years his grandfather spent on teaching him lessons on civility were quite lasting.

Besides that, few people would touch him anyway, knowing his connection to Toramaru and even then the weapon he carried at his side was more than enough to deter any would-be troublemakers. That is, if there were any troublemakers around to make trouble.

His eyes dart around the city in muted confusion until he reaches Main Street proper.

Frowning at the sight of the commotion, Yousuke grabs a thug standing on the outskirts of the crowd and slams him against the wall, angling his gaze down on the much smaller man. He presses down on the man, silvery locks framing his none too pleased glare, and signifying him as Toramaru's not-apprentice-little brother. It still alarmed him how small the other people in the world tended to be in comparison to him. People living in especially poor areas like Kukoku were often short, malnourished, and uncomfortably dirty. "I'll have to clean my gloves after this..."

"Oi, tell me what's going on here. Who is this 'Ezomaru' and why does he have a death sentence?" His height coupled with his intimidating glare and deepening voice was usually enough to get what he wanted from the cowardly types often encountered in Kukoku. Every lowly thug thought they were some big shot until they came across real power. Which reminded him, where exactly was Toramaru?

[Eurus]

Despite himself, Masaru had never quite been able to accept the Leaf Village as a true home. He tried, certainly, but somewhere in the back of his mind hid the persistent idea that it was somehow temporary, a refuge rather than a future. Even two years later, that thought remained, especially when he looked up at the massive Hokage monument.

The fact that the Leaf was so slow to trust him didn't help, of course. Everyone was perfectly polite and professional, but seemed to subtly broadcast the idea that he was seen as a kid at best or an outright liability at worst. But perhaps it was just his own paranoia, or some kind of internalized resentment at being passed up for promotion again. One had to be careful not to read false motives into people.

Reading the assignment, Masaru made the deliberate choice not to sigh. Acting petulant would just embarrass him. Rather, he nodded and politely thanked the bored-looking woman handing out mission files, and moved on. He wasted little time; this mission didn't sound remotely dangerous, and he'd been in the habit of keeping his supplies on his person anyway. For a shinobi like him, worthless without his tools, it was just sense.

So, minutes after reading it, he was trekking out in the direction of the shrine.

[Cespenar]

Hmph.

It was a disappointment to find none of his companions in the Mansion, but it wasn't that surprising either. Amon, Yousuke, Takuya, all of them kept busy as much as Momo herself did, and between all of their personal business, it was a miracle if they did meet up with one another. Amon was probably sent to somewhere as some kind of training - anything more serious and she would have mentioned it.

Nevertheless, Momo finds herself wandering the halls of the mansion as she tries to decide on her next course of action. Well, she might as well talk to Camille while she was here, even though it would be easier with Yousuke to break the ice. She hardly knew the girl after all.

Still, she finds her feet dragging herself to her room, with only a couple seconds to think about what to say.

"Hey. Camille-san, right?"

[ZeroNumerous]

Momo

Momo finds herself in the girl's "room", but it's more accurately called a library. In fact, it is a library. Camille (http://i.imgur.com/vJAKd.png) sits on a small table, a discarded book beside her, drinking from a cup of coffee. Behind her stands the red-haired and pale skinned girl that always attended to her every need. What was her name again? Little demon?

When Momo enters Camille looks up. "Hm? Oh. Uchiha-san." Camille uses Momo's last name to remind the girl of the distance between the two of them. "Ko", she says while turning to the red-haired girl behind her, "would you be so kind as to get my guest something to drink?" She turns back to Momo. "Would you like some tea or coffee?"

Keita

Meisungi City wasn't really deserving of the moniker. It was a small collection of paved streets, squat buildings, and a mess of shops and things. Easy enough to find someone here. Keita could investigate Colden Corner, a small cafe that was a front for the local yakuza. They would likely know of any ninja--missing or not--that came into their territory. Or he could investigate the shop run by Sunaku, the old mercenary from the Land of Iron. Sunaku had grown old, and compounded with the loss of his left eye in the war he couldn't exactly keep fighting. So he set up a small tea shop to operate as a front for his mercenary company. Sure, Sunaku didn't deal in ninja, but he might know something.

Masaru

The young man finds the shrine with little effort. It's been nearly completely reduced to rubble, and only a few red wooden pillars remain to prove that anything important had once been there. The former temple grounds are dusty, overgrown with weeds, and were practically completely abandoned. Masaru's client is no where to be seen, but that was to be expected. After all, if the old man could make it out to the shrine then he'd be cleaning it up wouldn't he?

Yousuke

The thug Yousuke grabs is surprisingly light for a teenager. Even Yousuke is able to throw the boy around like a sack of potatoes. The thug didn't resist before he even saw Yousuke's face. After all, anyone capable of throwing him around like that was just as easily capable of killing him. He gives the former sky-nin a surprised look. "Yo-you don't know?! He's a real ninja! We showed up a couple of days ago, there wasn't anyone in charge, so we took over. The locals ain't putting up any fight, so we run this town now, ya know?"

[Bad Situation]

"Oh? A real ninja, hm?" The silver-haired swordsman has the courtesy to look impressed by the teenager's statement though the smirk obscured beneath his scarf obviously said otherwise. Without removing his arms from the other boy, Yousuke sneaks a surreptitious glance at the apartment building he presumed Toramaru was staying in. Or rather, on. Turning back to his 'informant' he presses in close and whispers, "Since you've been so helpful to me I'll say this to you once. Get out of the city while you still can." Without waiting for a response, the former Sky-nin disappears from the thug's sight and reappears before Toramaru's apartment complex hoping that he'd driven his point in through the other teenager's head.

Probably not. This was Kukoku after all. Once the scum settled into your skin there never really was a way to get it out. Not really.

Though, he did have to wonder. What exactly did Toramaru think about this nonsense?

[Cespenar]

Momo pauses for a second, suddenly reminiscing about all the times when Cybele prepared her and Kaede tea.

"Oh, coffee is fine, thanks."

She glances around the library for a moment, taking the details in, and finally settles her eyes on the Euryale. She lets out a lighthearted chuckle.

"I'm sorry. Were you busy? It seems both Amon and Yousuke-kun stood me up and I remembered Yousuke talking about you (probably only mentioned it once, off-hand, but never mind), so I thought I might pop by."

The open book catches her attention. Might as well break the ice.

She pauses for a moment. "What are you reading?" she inquires amiably, glancing at the book.

[Togath]

Keita:
"Sunaku's seems like a better place to start.. after all, Celestine said to keep it 'quiet'" he thinks to himself, heading to investigate Sunaku's tea-house in hopes of finding something useful.

[ZeroNumerous]

Momo

Koakuma bows slightly, then leaves immediately. The red-haired young lady walks with the casual grace of an office worker so utterly familiar with her job that she's long since stopped thinking consciously about her actions.

Camille smiles in return and waves off Momo's question. "I'm always busy, Uchiha-san. Don't worry about it. I heard you're a rather divisive figure in the "real" world." Camille smiles as she comments on the surreal otherworldly nature of her current home. "Or, at least, Konpaku-san tells me as much."

When Momo brings up the book the purple-haired Euryale slides it along the table to rest in front of Momo. The front cover reads: Treatise on the Treatment and Care of Medical Conditions of the Water Tribe, written by one "S. Genbu". "Medical text. Rather dry and to the point, but it's necessary research."

Yousuke

The boy runs as fast and as far as he can, but wretches like him are easily forgotten. If Yousuke knocks a familiar older woman opens the door. A blast of acrid air assaults the young boy as the smell of her cigarette wafts out of the building. She's wearing a spotted and dirty apron, and a pair of slick boots to protect her feet. The floor behind her shines with water, and the mop in her hand tells the whole story.

The woman frowns deeply, then breathes out a plume of smoke at Yousuke. "You're that idiot boy that hangs out with the airhead." She steps forward and points to the roof. "Upstairs. And don't drag your dirty feet inside." With that said she slams the front door, and obviously has no intention of letting Yousuke inside the building.

Above him Yousuke can see the side of the apartment complex is decorated with a variety of windows, ledges, and pipes that he could use to climb up. Or he could just walk up, but that'd take some of his chakra. Regardless of how the young man scales the wall he finds his "Nee-san" on the roof.

The blue-haired Toramaru (http://i.imgur.com/uXZBMF2.jpg) lay on a small lawn chair. A pair of dark black sunglasses cover her eyes, and puffy white earmuffs cover her ears. Her long blue hair is pinned up into a bun, and she seems to be using it as a pillow. Upon closer inspection Yousuke notices that his "Nee-san" is wearing nothing but a towel wrapped firmly around her mid-section. Her arms are lightly crossed over the towel, and she seems to be asleep. Or potentially just intensely sunning herself.

If Yousuke approaches, then Toramaru speaks without saying anything. "That's far enough." The woman removes her earmuffs, then throws them straight at Yousuke. She doesn't remove her sunglasses nor does she look at the young man. "Bold to approach me like this, aniki." Toramaru throws an odd slang term for brother at Yousuke rather than using his real name. "Did someone make fun of you? Did you come crying to Nee-san? I can go beat them up if you want~"

Keita

Sunaku's tea shop was obviously not the kind of business that stayed open due to foot traffic. When Keita arrives there are no customers in the open air cafe, and the only person working is a slightly overweight barista. She doesn't look like a mercenary, but who can really know? Regardless, when the young man steps into the obvious front for some organization the barista greets him. "Hello valued customer", she says with a deadpan tone, "I am here to serve."

[Togath]

Keita

Settling himself on a rickety chair near the counter, he asks "I heard something about Old Sunaku having worked as a soldier of fortune once.. DO you know if he's still 'interested' in that sort of deal? I happen to be looking after a few folk who've ended up without jobs, and have been trying to find a decent place of employment for them.."

[ZeroNumerous]

Keita

The barista shakes her head. "I'm afraid Sunaku-sama is not in today. He injured himself this morning, and went home to recuperate. He should still be there however."

[Cespenar]

Momo smiles faintly at the cover of the book. "Some of my friends might have understood that kind of a text, but not me, I guess."

When commented on her actions throughout the "real world", Momo sighs. "You must have heard it, but Cybele-san herself took my brother's side. Or, rather she never left it." She stops for a while, and then adds with a soft voice. "I was a fool to expect anything else, really."

[ZeroNumerous]

Momo

The red-haired woman returns shortly with a cup and saucer for Momo. The light brown coffee smells of hazel and cinnamon. "Your coffee, honored guest." With that she bows, presents the cup, and moves away once Momo takes it.

Camille says nothing for a time after Momo reveals that Cybele abandoned her. Then, after a minute of silence, Camille simply nods. "That is something Cybele-nee-san would do. There is little room in her heart for anything but that man."

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke approaches the towel wearing woman with a frown already playing at his lips. It was funny, really. A few years ago, a woman wearing nothing but a towel would have turned him into a blushing, stuttering mess but now the only the only thing that stung at his cheeks was the general weariness of being that typically resulted from being around Toramaru for extended periods of time. She was a force of nature, like a storm blowing through a countryside. You either got dragged along at her pace or you were left ravaged and left bleeding in a ditch somewhere. He still wasn't quite sure where he stood on that spectrum, really.

He barely reacts when she throws the earmuffs his way, deftly snatching them from the air with a very trained hand, draping the item over his arm as a butler would a towel. Decided to play along, he rolls his eyes and speaks his case in a dull, unamused monotone, "Ah, yes that's right. There is this man named Uchiha Kaede from the Sky Village who hurt my feelings so long ago. I would very much appreciate it if you went and dealt with him for me, nee-san."

[Overlord Rion]

Takuya sighed, a habit even three years of training hadn't been able to get rid of. Like Genbu, he really hated this place. Genbu had decided to make fighting off the thugs training for Takuya, and he hadn't fared as well as he liked. Takuya adjusted his hat, now that it fit correctly. "Genbu, why are we visiting this horrible place again? Don't tell me we actually have to do something here, I was looking forward to fishing." This was the truth, Takuya had acquired a love of fishing, even though he was completely horrible at it and rarely caught anything.

Spending most of his time with Genbu had turned Takuya into a much more relaxed individual....or maybe it was the concoctions Genbu liked to make him gather ingredients for. He had been hoping to take a break from Genbu and head to the River Country, finally sure enough of his strength to travel in the area alone.

[Cespenar]

"Thank you."

Momo promptly takes a sip from the coffee and hums contentedly, surprised of its quality.

"This is good," she exclaims. She takes another sip, and only then replies.

"What of you, then, if I may ask? Do I seem on the right path from where you're standing?"

[Togath]

Keita

"bother.. I'll return in the morning then"..
with that he wanders out of the shop, pausing for a moment on the road to ponder his next course of actions and watch the clouds go by..
"Yakuza or..?" he mumbles.. "Yakuza I suppose.." he continues after a brief moment, before heading off to try to find the Golden Corner

[ZeroNumerous]

Momo

Koakuma bows deeply. "Thank you for your kind words, honored guest."

Camille says nothing for a time again, but responds in just thirty seconds this time. "I have no stake in it. So I cannot say. If you win, nothing changes. If you lose, I will not notice. So I am more concerned about things closer to home. However, I will say that I do not agree with your brother's methods. Fighting to enforce peace is a fool's errand. Not that fighting to protect peace is any different, Uchiha-san." Camille sips her coffee.

"But, as I said before, it doesn't matter to me. Win or lose, nothing changes."

Takuya

The old man frowns. "When did you get so familiar as to use my name freely? No respect for your elders..." With that said, the Kame-sennin shrugs.

"Training. Like every day with you." The tiny man gets up, balances his fishing pole on one shoulder, and waddles toward Takuya. "You see, I received a messenger bird last night. It said that an old friend of mine was in trouble, and asked for my help. But I'm an old man you know. So... I'll be sending you instead."

Genbu watched the village gradually grow in size as the turtle came closer to it. Once the turtle docks with the rickety wooden docks built along the shoreline, Genbu motions for his student to step off the turtle. "Your task is simple. Find Sunsun Liu-Chen. Help her with whatever problem she has, then return here. But first, take this." Genbu reaches into his pocket, and holds out his tightly balled fist toward Takuya.

If the young man approaches to take whatever is being offered, Genbu suddenly steps forward and strikes the young man's abdomen. The punch is surprisingly painless, but it sends tingles of electricity running throughout Takuya's body. Genbu nods, then turns around and heads back toward his home. "With that punch, you won't be able to perform any of your ninjutsu or genjutsu. Solve this problem with your mind, or your fists if you need them. Good luck."

Takuya takes a -18 penalty to Ninjutsu and Genjutsu checks for 24 hours, and is unable to use his skill threshold to automatically perform any Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, or Fuinjutsu techniques.

Yousuke

Toramaru stretches lazily; arching her back and extending her arms high above her head in the process. If it weren't for the immense danger involved in being around her, one would think Toramaru was some sensual tease. Not that she wasn't, but those who knew her knew better than to say that aloud. "Nyaaaaa~" Her blue hair bounces as she leans back to look at Yousuke. The lawn chair folds backwards, and she's soon laying flat on her back looking at the young man upside down. Of course that gives him a great view down the front of her towel.

"Hm. No. Uchiha are too much work to hunt for not enough fun." She smiles, and playfully beckons Yousuke closer.

She doesn't offer him a seat or anything, nor does she move from her completely relaxed position. "But no matter. I hear people in my city. What's going on out there?"

Keita

The yakuza office is fairly non-descript. It's a squat two-story building with a cafe on the first floor and the illicit dealings on the second. The cafe is much more busy than Sunaku's place had been, as it's filled with regulars. Of course, the cafe wasn't just a place to eat. Several hostesses sat at the bar, watching the men and waiting for a chance to entertain their guests. The bartender would likely know where to go to ask about some ninja.

[Togath]

Keita

Heading to bar, assuming no one pesters him about his age(why would they? It's a front for a yakuza), Keita tries to get the barkeeper's attention, while hoping he doesn't stand out too much.

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke simply blinks at his Toramaru's antics, having desensitized himself to her form long ago. "Ah well, it was worth a shot I suppose." He was grateful to her for that at least. His run-ins in women and other such 'girl problems' had all but multiplied over the years after that talk with his grandfather. Though, calling them 'girl problems' was perhaps making light of the situation. Rather, a more accurately phrased term would be 'girl calamities'. There was trouble enough without him spluttering and making a fool of himself in front of them.

When she beckons him closer, Yousuke immediately complies, knowing better than to leave her waiting. Without really looking at her he peers off over the edge of the building where he could see the crowd below. "Some man named Ezomaru has laid claim to the city with his gang, the 'Axes.' They are trying to enact some sort of taxation system though I do wonder what the point of that is. Ten percent of zero is still zero."

Elevating himself onto the raised edge of the building, Yousuke seats himself in a leisurely position halfway between sitting and lying down. Turning back to look at Toramaru he adds, "Ah, and according to the wretch I waylaid, this Ezomaru fancies himself a 'real' ninja. Imagine that."

[Eurus]

Now at last, completely alone, Masaru indulges a sigh. It seemed that he had his work cut out for him, but at least it would be peaceful. It'd almost be easier at this point to just knock it down and build a new one, at this point, but he supposed that'd rather go against the point.

Rather than immediately beginning, he decides to take a quick look around and within the shrine, getting a feel for what kind of workload was ahead of him. It'd give him time to form a plan of approach. If he was lucky, he could get most of the heavy lifting and weeding out of the way today and spend tomorrow on sweeping and repairs.

[ZeroNumerous]

Yousuke

Toramaru smiles as Yousuke gets closer, but frowns at his back when he turns away from her. She pouts a little, then rolls over and stands up. The young man can hear the sound of her towel hitting the ground as she changes clothes right there, without a care in the world for anyone watching nor concerned at all with the fact that Yousuke is within arm's reach. She signals the end of her changing session by slipping her arms around the young sky-nin and whispering into his ear in a low and sultry voice. "Then... Would you like to do something for me?"

The tiger sage laughs, then pushes the sky-nin away. "Bwahaha! This guy thinks he can take over my city, huh? Well, he's got another thing coming. Alright aniki. As my second, you are charged with bringing the fight to this Axe gang of theirs."

When Yousuke turns around he sees his "Nee-san" in her more normal outfit. A red cheongsam decorated with intertwining imperial dragons. The dragons are fighting, and every moment of Toramaru's body is another clash of the dragon's teeth and claws. "I want you to go down there, and fight them. Kill 'em, let 'em run, doesn't matter to me. Just go down there and start trouble until this Ezomaru guy shows up. Then wreck him too if you want."

Masaru

There's not a whole lot of heavy lifting to do. The place is covered in leaves, dust, and weeds. There's no roof or walls, and the only thing that remains are a few red pillars. Masaru cannot see the floor of the former temple at all due to the leaves and weeds. If the young man attempts to walk on the temple itself, then he's stopped by a shout. "Hey! Be careful." If Masaru looks for the source of the sound, then he doesn't see any humans about.

But he does see a small black cat standing in the leaves. It couldn't be much bigger than Masaru's ankles, and looked to be either a kitten or severely malnourished. The black cat watches him with shining eyes. Oddly, he can't tell what color its eyes are as the sun reflects off them to make them seem like little lamps embedded in the kitten's skull. It twitches a torn ear, then opens its mouth. "Hey, you, kid. Get out of here."

The kitten yells at Masaru like he's some kind of hoodlum.

Keita

The bartender raises his eyebrow and gives the kid a look. "What do you want kid?"

[Eurus]

Freezing in the act of taking his first step onto the temple proper, Masaru is silent for a moment as he processes this development, then decides whether or not to be irritated by the rude address. The decision, in the end, is a pragmatic one; it's impossible to tell how old, wise, or powerful such a creature might be, so prudence is probably a good idea.

"...My name is Minami Masaru, genin of Hidden Leaf. I've been hired to clean up this shrine. Do you live here?"

He bows politely, vaguely wondering whether crouching down to speak closer to eye-level would be polite or patronizing.

[Togath]

Keita

"I'm looking for a friend of mine, Leaf ninja, heard he came 'round this place inquiring about some village of purple haired warriors up north"

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke irritably pulls down the scarf when Toramaru hugs him from behind, if only to show his disdain. She was always like this. What she requests of him however, is enough to distract him from his agitation. His lips curl into an amused smirk, "Oh? I'm your second now, am I? You say that to all your 'little brothers' I'm sure."

Peering down the ledge he adds, "Alright. Anything I should know before I go down there and tell them that I act on your behalf or would you rather I make it up as I go along?" So it seemed that Toramaru wouldn't be dealing with the gang after all. On one hand he was honored that his nee-san would entrust him with this kind of responsibility. On the other, she was probably proposing it to see him get maimed or otherwise injured. That or she was just feeling lazy and vindictive. Probably some inane combination of all three.

Regardless, he wanted to do this. Kukoku was a bad enough place as it was under Toramaru's 'rule' and the idea of criminal garbage coming in to to lord over the other criminal garbage struck him as vaguely irreverent.

[ZeroNumerous]

Masaru

The cat doesn't look amused. But it's a cat? How can you really tell?

"Did I ask for your name? Listen, you're trespassing. This place is important you know? It's a temple. The ashes of thousands of our honored ancestors are buried here. Get lost okay?"

That cat just stares at Masaru with its reflective eyes.

"Shoo."

Keita

The bartender narrows his eyes. "I dunno what you're talking about kid. You could check upstairs, maybe they can find your friend or something. But information ain't cheap ya know? Now go on, get outta here. I got actual customers to attend."

If Keita goes upstairs, then he's greeted by a single hallway with a single door. A knock on the door summons up a gruff looking middle-aged man. He nods, then motions for the young man to come in. If Keita goes inside then he's greeted by the sight of a tiny 10 by 10 room. Six men are sitting on two three-seat couches, and the couches in turn surround a small table covered in playing cards. All of them are middle-aged rough characters, and two of them are missing their pinkies. One of the pinkie-less men places his cards face-down on the table, then stands up.

"You need some information? We'll need to see some money. Talk ain't cheap."

Yousuke

The woman shoots Yousuke a coy smile. "Oh? You're gonna tell all those big strong men that you're obedient to a little girl like me? Haha!" The blue-haired empress of Kukoku just laughs at her own joke.

"Tell them whatever you want. Do whatever you want. Kill them without saying a thing if that's your fancy: Just get rid of them." Toramaru waves Yousuke off. "If you come back with a scratch on you, then you'll have to work off my debt to the old hag that owns this place."

Once Yousuke leaps off the roof Toramaru immediately falls back onto the lawn chair with an audible sigh. "Ah~ This is the life. A roof all to myself, a big ole shining sun, and a minion to deal with all of my problems. Why haven't I done something like this earlier?"

[Bad Situation]

Part of him wanted to accuse Toramaru of being neither 'little' nor 'a girl' but thankfully he still valued his life. Instead he settles on sighing aloud, "Of course." There was always some condition or another with nee-san. Nothing could ever be easy with her. But then, that's what he was here for wasn't it?

Standing up to his full height on the top of the ledge, the swordsman works out the cricks in his neck and makes a little show of stretching before drawing his sword proper and leaping off the side of the building. A drop from this kind of height would kill any ordinary man, but luckily for him he was no ordinary man, youkai-blood notwithstanding. Instead he smiles as the wind bears up against him, stretching his arms out to better feel the sensation. It wasn't quite the same as Rail Grinding back in Soragakure but it was the closest thing one could get in the terrestrial world. Sometimes he wondered if his allies missed the feeling as much as he did.

After passing by the second story however he snaps to attention, kicking himself up from his horizontal position and somehow snaps into a proper fighting stance in spite of his freefall. Raising his sword up high, he channels his elemental chakra and swings it down upon the densest cluster of gangsters, releasing the stored chakra from its material focus and kicking up a localized windstorm at the feet of the crowd. A short distance away from the ground he channels chakra into his feet and throws himself into a roll to absorb the impact of the fall.

When the dust settles he points his sword at the remaining gangsters and speaks in an almost bored tone, "Sorry, but due to certain circumstances I'm not allowed to hold back. Bring me the one called Ezomaru and I'll make this as painless as possible."

Status
Hit Points: 84/84
Chakra Pool: 60/68
Chakra Reserve: 31/36
Armour Class: 38
Ongoing Effects: Spd Rank 4 (1/5), Str Rank 3 (1/5), Raking Tiger Stance

Actions
Attack Action~!
Use Elemental Beatdown Rank Three
Wind Damage: [roll0]
Chakra Cost: 5

Swift Action~!
Use Minor Harmless Fall
Chakra Cost: 1

Move Action~!
Tap Chakra: 5
Chakra Control: Auto-Success

Free Action~!
Tumble to Reduce Fall Damage (Auto-Pass)
Unleash Rank 3 Strength.
Unleash Rank 4 Speed.

[Eurus]

Everyone always had to make things difficult. Apparently this was such a universal law that it even transcended the bounds of species. Regardless, he had a job to do, and he attempts to explain that as diplomatically as possible.

"This shrine must be significant to many people, then. A man paid the village to send someone out to get it cleaned up, which is my assignment. I will attempt to treat it with the proper respect, of course..."

[Overlord Rion]

Takuya grunts slightly at the punch, more out of habit than anything else. At the explanation he assumes the ever-so-familiar movement of his hand into his face. "Oh you have GOT to be kidding me, old man my ass. That's low even for you. Oh well, it's done now. I'll see you later." Takuya heads towards the docks, intent on his...well, grunt work would be the best way of putting it.

Takuya begins by asking around for this...Sunsun Liu-Chen. Hopefully this task wouldn't be too difficult. He had been hoping to venture into the River Country to find out more about his bloodline. Maybe he had some more relatives, who knows?

[Cespenar]

"So, we are two fools fighting one another?" Momo replies, reflective. She ponders on it for a moment or two. "No, that sounds about right."

"Though I wouldn't go far to say that I'm trying to 'protect the peace'. That'd be too boastful, if anything. I'm just fighting a smaller war to prevent a bigger war."

She blinks at the girl for a second. "That's not very noble neither, right?" she says, chortling briefly.

[ZeroNumerous]

Momo

Camille just shakes her head. "In the end, you're both fighting to stop more fighting. It just happens to be that your methods put you at odds."

Camille has nothing more to say on the subject, and simply quietly sips her coffee. The little demon scampers away, and returns quickly with a steaming kettle smelling strongly of coffee. She fills her mistress' cup, then turns to Momo. "Would you like some more coffee, honored guest?"

Koakuma readies the kettle to pour some coffee if Momo wants some, but otherwise returns it to wherever she got it from.

Yousuke

Yousuke's windstorm scatters a great deal of the thugs; sending ten flying and outright killing seven others. The mass of thugs break apart immediately, and start fleeing in random directions. A small group of them remain behind, but they're not a coherent group. A few of them have fallen, others are trying to crawl away, and still a few remain standing. Those still standing point toward the big mobile loudspeaker.

On top of the loudspeaker sits a bald man with sunken features. He looks toward Yousuke with a mix of fear and admiration. He speaks, but seems to have forgotten that the loudspeaker is still on. It blares out his voice at twice the volume. "H-Hey! L-Listen kid. Y-You don't w-want t-to mess with me, ya know? I-I know some serious people. R-Real mean people w-who don't like b-being screwed with. A-And screwing with me is like screwing with them, get me? S-So just w-walk away. I-I'll even ignore all of my dead subordinates. J-Just start walking, ya?"

Masaru

The cat scoffs.

Or, at least, it sounds like a scoff. The low sounding cough could be mistaken for a sickness, or the cat could just be incredulous at the latest thing Masaru has said. "No human takes care of this shrine kid. And no one comes here. Just leave, and don't worry about what's going on here." The cat remains where it is. But, in the end, it was just a cat--and a thin and malnourished one at that. What could it do to stop a human from doing whatever he wished?

Takuya

Kame-sennin doesn't turn around. "Maybe if you were more respectful of your elders, then things like this wouldn't happen to you." The old man doesn't make any effort to stop Takuya or help him any further.

Inside the village Takuya gets a whole lot of nothing. People avoid him, or make up excuses to avoid answering questions. He'd made a name for himself by fighting in the village, and that meant people really didn't want to be associated with him. If he was going to find Liu-Chen, then he'd need to do it on his own.

[Togath]

Keita

Keita draws out what he views as a fair amount of Koku*, "as you can see I am a paying customer, assuming you have something to buy anyway" he says, taking a seat, "I'm looking for a 'friend' of mine, a Leaf nin that I had heard came around asking about some purple haired assassins up north of here, know where I could find him?"




*that's what the in-setting currency is called, correct?

[Cespenar]

"Maybe you're right," Momo says, not believing it but finding it imprudent to argue any further at this point. Philosophizing was one thing, but when it boiled down to increasing or decreasing the number of corpses you will find lying down in a battlefield, such abstractions mattered little. Or so Momo thinks.

She politely declines the little demon's offer, though.

"No, thank you." She never liked coffee much, or at least its aftereffects, which ironically was not unlike what she felt using her Sharingan. Some calming tea always fared better with her, though she could do an exception for a brew this good.

Turning back to the Euryale, she realizes the folly in requesting her to join her side, so she turns to a secondary point.

"So, I was wondering, might you have any idea to the whereabouts of Sune-san? She pretty much disappeared completely after our... dealings with the Garouhime, and truth be told, I'm a little worried about her."

[Eurus]

Masaru is silent for a few long moments, watching the cat. He considered himself, by now, to be a relatively patient person. Certainly he'd had plenty of practice, over the past few months. But patience, like all things, is limited. And somehow, attitude was harder to put up with when it came from a creature smaller than your own head.

So, with an almost challenging expression, he wordlessly pulls out his broom and begins to slowly sweep off the steps of the shrine.

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke winces throughout the bald man's very loud attempt to intimidate him, barely resisting the urge to clamp his ears shut with his hands. It wouldn't do to look weak in front of the thugs though, however small that concession might have been. Cowardly types like them took vindication in any sort of harm they inflicted upon another person, substituting it for actual confidence.

When the man's voice finally falls silent he decides he will walk, striding toward the crowd of gangsters very casually before disappearing from their sight and reappearing directly in front of the bald man. Then he begins speaking as though this feat were nothing out of the ordinary. "Ah, that is the thing, you see? Specifically, my task is to draw out those 'mean' friends of yours. So if harming you will expedite the process I will gladly comply with your wishes."

And then, without any warning, Yousuke lashes out against the man with the flat of the blade. "And just so you know, telling a man that he can just get away with killing your subordinates reflects very poorly on your character. If I'm not careful I might just kill you before this Ezomaru can make an appearance. It doesn't please me to kill people like you but I will say this. The lives of the people of Kukoku, of the people who work beneath you even, would be better off if you were to suddenly disappear. I may despise this city and a good deal of its inhabitants but even they don't deserve to suffer somebody like you anywhere near the top."

A pause, then.

"In case my words were lost on that pea-sized brain of yours, let me rephrase my statement in terms you will better understand. Leave. Now. Before my disgust takes hold of my professionalism and what remains of my compassion. Bring me Ezomaru and then leave behind this life of crime to repent on your sins." Glancing at the rest of the gang members he raises his voice for them to hear, "The same goes to all of you."

[Overlord Rion]

I hate Genbu sometimes.

This probably happened because I keep calling him that.

Well, it's training, right? I mean, you gotta take what you can get, right?

I suppose.

"It figures that I get a bad rep for defending myself. Not my fault the old man gives me the weirdest training sessions." Takuya scratches the back of his head and pulls out his old forehead protector.

I still can't believe you went back for it. Why?

Because I can never go back to being weak and ineffectual. Not again.

He stuffs it back in his pocket and smiles. Well, if the normal, upstanding people of the town didn't want to associate with him, maybe the less savory ones would hear him out. Takuya begins his attempts at finding some of the seedier members of the town.

[ZeroNumerous]

Momo

Camille just shrugs. "I haven't left the mansion, so I can't say one way or another. But if someone hasn't appeared in three years... Well. I hope she's okay."

Masaru

The cat just watches Masaru as he walks toward the shrine. "I'm warning you kid, you need to head back home."

He doesn't move, but just watches as Masaru starts sweeping what little remains of the ruined temple steps.

Takuya

Takuya wanders around looking for seedy people, and he finds them. Specifically, he finds seven young men with knives surround a young lady. The seven of them are holding the young woman up against the wall with their knives pointing toward her.

Yousuke

The man grovels in front of Yousuke, and the young man's threats have reduced him to nothing but a terrified wreck crying and begging for his life. He promises Yousuke riches, money, women, men?, whatever it takes to get Yousuke to let him leave in peace. But the petty mewling of the weak isn't worth paying any attention to. However, all of Yousuke's words were picked up by the loudspeaker, and he had broadcast himself across the entire city. Fortunately for Yousuke, the results of his broadcast were quite close behind.

A mob--well, they would be more accurately described as an army--of men in ratty coats wielding handaxes descend down Main Street. The forty foot wide street has Axe members walking down it shoulder-to-shoulder. They number at least two hundred, and could very easily have more than that. Their front runners are a couple of very muscular looking men wearing black suits and wielding much larger two-handed axes. Between those two muscular men stands a fairly small black-haired man. The man points toward Yousuke.

"'ey! You wanted Ezomaru? Here I am kid! Ready to get killed?"

Keita

The yakuza looks at the money, then motions toward one of his associates. "Take it." One of the men on the couch stands up, then extends his hands toward Keita. Once Keita turns his money over the yakuza nods.

"There was a leaf ninja around here a couple of days ago. Trying to find the Grass Village. She paid us a good chunk of change, so we pointed her toward it. I don't know where she went afterward."

[Cespenar]

"I see," Momo replies. Not much to go through here, I guess. "I hope that as well."

She seems of a mind to get up, but then gestures to her back thoughtfully.

"Oh, by the way. Is anything wrong with the Mansion? It seems extra empty today."

[ZeroNumerous]

Momo

Camille shrugs. "I don't know. Perhaps Satoko-sama is sending out fairies for something or the other. Have you talked to her lately?"

[Bad Situation]

"Not as such, no."

Leaving it at that, Yousuke points the Roukanken at the shorter man and says nothing else as he molds a dragon constructed of wind down the length of his blade. He holds the chakra in his blade for a time, looking down at his creation as though impressed by his own abilities, appreciating the detail imbued in the chakra construct while ignoring the 'threat' posed by Ezomaru and his gang. But then he looks up and smirks at the 'real ninja' before taking an almost lazy swipe at the air, cutting loose the now snarling wind dragon that rips itself free from the katana and soars toward Ezomaru's lungs.

Wind Damage: [roll0]
Constitution Damage: [roll1]

[Cespenar]

"Good point, I'll ask her." She gets up, and smiles at the Euryale.

"Thank you for the coffee, it was lovely." If the servant is still there, Momo directs her praise to her as well.

She takes a couple of strides to the door, but then, again, stops for one last thing. She thoughtfully puts a finger on her lips.

"Hm. While I was here... you wouldn't happen to have any books about the Sharingan, would you? Specifically the Mangekyou? Or, failing that, anything about Aoi Naki?"

[Overlord Rion]

Oh joy. This is what you were expecting, right?

Eeeeyep. Blunt or finnesse approach?

Blunt. Thugs understand it better.

"Excuse me gentlemen, if you be so kind as to stop attacking the lady and answer a few of my questions, I'll be happy to let you live unharmed. Otherwise everybody but me dies." To punctuate the point, he makes sure some of the thugs are looking as he adopts his stance.

Remember, open palm.

Right, I remember.

[Togath]

Keita hands over the money calmly.

"Thank you fro your time sir, You've been more useful than you know, I'll keep this place in mind in the future", with that he heads outside again, pausing outside the door to sigh softly and mumble quietly, "Of course she's already heading there... May very well have lost some time trying to find the ninja... Hopefully it's not to late to locate her before she reaches the Grass...".
He then heads off, trying to rush back to the Grass in case the Leaf ninja has already reached it, using the Air Walking Technique if needed to reduce his travel time.

[ZeroNumerous]

Momo

Camille just nods, and Koakuma practically beams with pride when she's thanked for her coffee. When Momo asks about the Sharingan, then Camille looks a little surprised. "The Sharingan? Why is that important? And what's the Mangekyou? Well... I suppose it doesn't matter. No, Satoko-sama doesn't have anything on the various ninja bloodlines. Most of these books are very old, and most of the information from that age was passed down by word of mouth. I think you'll have to ask your clan, Uchiha-san."

Takuya

The thugs look at one another with confused glances. One of them steps foward. "Don't you mean "everyone but me and the lady?""

Another thug sharply elbows his companion in the side. "Don't be stupid. He knows what he said."

The lady takes the moment of confusion to bolt for it, and the thugs turn around just in time to watch her running away. "Damnit. Now I'll never get my boat fixed at this rate."

The group of thugs start dispersing. "Ain't worth the hassle. Come on, we can go rob a liquor store or something."

Soon enough Takuya is left completely on his own, ignored by both the thugs and his damsel in distress.

Yousuke

Yousuke's wind dragon attacks Ezomaru, and the "ninja" is soon coughing up his own blood. The massive gang behind him are stunned that Ezomaru was hurt, and at first no one moves. Then their leader points his hand at Yousuke, and the huge gang rushes forward like a human tide.

Keita

Keita leaves the city quickly, but realizes he can't possibly catch up to the leaf ninja before she arrives in the Grass. He gets back to the Grass Village, and finds two grass-nin standing guard at the gate. If asked, the gate guards recount that they met a leaf-nin, and she filled out the paperwork to enter the village. They don't know where she's went, but wherever she's going she's inside the village legitimately.

[Overlord Rion]

That didn't turn out as I hoped.

That's because you misspoke and included the woman. That's why she ran away.

Wow, I feel dumb now. So...what next?

Harass the thugs?

what, just find thugs and beat them up until somebody tells you something?

Yeah, sounds about right.

I think I'll go and ask the woman instead.

Takuya attempts to follow the woman's trail, meandering along the path and asking along the way about Sunsun Liu-chen. If this needed to be done in a hurry, the old man would have told him so.

He hoped.

[Cespenar]

Momo nods back. "Anyway, thanks again."

With that, she leaves, and makes way to Satoko.

[ZeroNumerous]

Momo

Camille looks to Koakuma. "Would you guide my friend to Satoko-sama?"

The little demon nods, and starts heading back to the main part of the mansion. Unfortunately for the duo, finding Satoko proves to be more work than they first expected. After walking all over the mansion, asking several fairies for useless directions, and ultimately getting lost in the garden the duo finally find the half-dragon woman. Her lower half is curled up in a pile like a snake, and she sits in the center of one of the few sunshafts capable of making it into the ravine. The sun highlights her dark blue hair and glitters off the green scales of her lower body. Her human-half wears a loose-fitting shawl that clings tightly to her body, but does little to block out the sun for obvious reasons. Neither fairies nor Suzunabu are near the giant dragon sage, yet the solitude does nothing but cultivate an unapproachable distance between her and the duo.

The red-headed girl bows to Momo, then starts going back to her mistress. The Uchiha and the Dragon are left to their own devices.

Takuya

Takuya unfortunately doesn't have the skills necessary to follow the woman, as he'd forgotten how to track people after spending so long on the turtle with the Kame-sennin. Everyone he asks avoids giving an answer, and many avoid talking to him at all.

[Overlord Rion]

"Right then, screw it. I'm hungry." Takuya heads towards a place, hoping he can remember anybody who would actually give him some information.

Wow, we got baaaaaad at this.

That's what I get for being on an island for so long. I forgot how to talk to people.

Well, screw talking, pretend to be somebody else.

I don't know if I can. Genbu's punch did something...funny.

[Cespenar]

Momo examines the half-serpentine sage for a while, and then audibly clears her throat.

"Satoko-sama?" she starts politely. "I just wanted to ask a couple of questions, but I could come later if it's an inappropriate time."

[ZeroNumerous]

Momo

The sounds of scales on dirt announces Satoko's acknowledgement as the snake woman thumps her tail against the ground. It was not a dismissal, as Momo had learned in her time at the mansion, but simply a courtesy. It took Satoko some time to turn around, so she used that to remind the person behind her that she was moving. Her serpentine body unwinds, twists, and rolls until the snake-woman is finally looking at Momo. She smiles, and the gold and precious metal in her multiple rings and necklaces jingle loudly when she motions for the Uchiha to come and sit with her.

"Well then", the boisterous dragon sage starts, "I didn't expect to see this little troublemaker in my realm for much longer. What did you come to ask about dear?"

[Eurus]

Masaru doesn't pause in his sweeping, or even look up. It seemed unlikely that a kitten could do anything to stop him right now, let alone a sick kitten. Then again, knowing his luck it would turn out to be some sort of powerful guardian spirit and devour him whole or turn him into a statue for his trespass. With the way this day was going so far, it didn't seem unlikely.

Still focused on his sweeping, Masaru replies without looking. "When my job is done, I will leave, if you wish. But not sooner."

[Togath]

Keita

"bother bother bother.." he mumbles to himself as he heads for Celestine's place, hoping to contact her about the arrival of the ninja he failed to catch, or at least warn her in case she's dangerous.

[Overlord Rion]

So, now that you're full, shall we try the thugs again?

I suppose, this time I need to pay attention to what I'm doing.

And so, his belly full of fish and his finger in his mouth trying to pick at fish, Takuya attempts to find more talkative thugs.

[Bad Situation]

Smiling serenly, Yousuke dips his blade low and once again seems to disappear from sight but this time, blurs in an out of existence to cut down the hordes of gangsters who stand in his, weaving in and out out of their grasp before re-emerging a few feet away from Ezmaru to sheathe his sword, "However, by that point you'll have been torn to pieces."

[ZeroNumerous]

Keita

A tall wall guarded by purple-haired and purple-eyed ninja separates the majority of the Grass Village from the Euryale compound. The guards allow Keita to pass, as Celestine was expecting him. When Keita returns to the Greatmother's home he finds Chisato and the ANBU inside the home. Chisato is sitting in the Greatmother's former place.

"Greatmother Celestine retired to her bedchamber", Chisato explains, "because a grand summoning tired her out. I am excited to hear about your mission."

Masaru

The cat just watches the young boy, and says nothing in response.

Eventually, Masaru finishes sweeping what few steps remain. There was still the matter of the mess inside the main temple itself, as well as the weeding of the grounds around the ruin.

Takuya

Where does a man go to find thugs? If Takuya could answer that question, then he'd finally know where all those supervillains in cartoons got their goons. Regardless, the young man proves more than capable enough to root out the seedier elements in the city. Unfortunately, no one really wants to talk.

Meanwhile, he doesn't find any of the thugs he had scared off before.

Yousuke

Yousuke successfully slices through every gangster in his way, and stops in front of Ezomaru. The black haired gangster looks to each of his dead bodyguards, then rapidly shakes his head. "Okay okay! Please don't kill me! I'm just doing a job, okay? Some guy paid the gang a bunch of money and told us to move into the city. He was looking for the tiger lady! H-he called himself Toragoroshi!"

"Tiger-killer"? Whoever it was obviously had some weird sense of humor.

[Togath]

Keita:

"I am sorry Chisato-san.. I failed to apprehend the ninja, and found out from the gate guards when I'd returned that she'd already reached and entered Kusagakure.." he says, a bit glum that he failed such a big mission(compared to his usual ones at least), "When I heard, I rushed here in hopes of warning you, in case the Leaf-nin is dangerous.."

[Eurus]

Masaru tries to let himself relax into the peace and quiet as he sweeps, but doesn't last long. As he finishes up the steps and starts moving to sweel out the shrine proper, he glances over to speak to the cat again.

"I heard this shrine was built by the Sage of Six Paths. Is that true? I imagine it'd have to be even older than it looks."

[Overlord Rion]

Takuya was beginning to get annoyed. So he decided to add payments and promises of service to his questions.

Short of just standing on top of a building and threatening people until he got information, Takuya was quickly running out of ideas

I think all the sun you got just fried your brain so you're stupid.

[Cespenar]

Momo smiles back at the woman and moves to sit where she beckons.

"It's nothing, really," she waves her hand horizontally in a slow manner, dismissing her own importance, "but I realized that the mansion was especially empty today. Is anything wrong? Anything I might help with?"

[ZeroNumerous]

Momo

Satoko closes her eyes, purses her lips, then seems to deeply consider what she should say next. Several seconds pass, and as the seconds drag into a minute Satoko finally speaks. "Perhaps. I sent the fairies out into the forest to find someone that's entered my territory. I don't recognize the chakra signature, so I wanted the fairies to find this person first. But they're not... Well, they're not very bright. I've been getting flooded with images of squirrels, deer, and all other kinds of things the fairies find cute."

Satoko points across the river to the east. "The person entered from that direction, and seem to be moving directly toward the mansion. I do not worry about sending Suzunabu out on her own, but I feel that things would go better if I sent you along as well. I would like to do this on my own, but I cannot leave this mansion."

The snake lady lowers herself as far as she can, so as to look Momo in the eye rather than tower over her and give orders from on-high. "Would you accompany Suzunabu to investigate this person for me?"

Masaru

The cat doesn't respond until Masaru starts moving into the shrine. "Wa--"

Masaru's first step into the shrine collapses the floor under him. The young man slides down a rough-hewn rock chute until he slams into a stone floor at high speed. Wherever Masaru has stopped at is obviously underground. A small pool of light gathers under Masaru as the sun shines down the chute. The young man can hear a soft buzzing north of him, but cannot see anything but shadows.

Keita

Chisato sighs, then covers her face with her hand. "You were looking for a woman? Greatmother-sama specified a male leaf ninja."

[Togath]

Keita

"With all respect Chisato-sama, the only Leaf ninja that, according to the local yakuza at least, has been anywhere near Meisungi was female, and according to them she was asking the same sorts of questions as the man Greatmother sent me to find"

[ZeroNumerous]

Keita

Chisato raises an eyebrow. "There was another leaf-nin asking yakuza about purple haired assassins?"

[Togath]

Keita

"That is correct"

[ZeroNumerous]

Keita

Chisato sighs. "Well, in that case, we'll have her arrested. I can't believe our information was so off though. Perhaps she used some spy technique to change her appearance...? Or maybe she's a man?"

Chisato shrugs, then bows to Keita. 'No matter. Thank you for your efforts, Goyou-san."

[Bad Situation]

Hardening his gaze, he looks around at the remaining thugs and raises his voice when he swivels back to Ezomaru. "If they know what's good for them, they will leave. You on the other hand..."

Without missing a beat, Yousuke kicks the man in the chest and throws him on his back, leveling the point of his sword against the man's throat. "Tell me everything you know about this 'Toragoroshi' and what he wants with this town. If you cooperate with me on this I won't kill you. Simple as that." What kind of idiot called themselves 'Tiger Killer' in a town like Kukoku? No, even an idiot would know better than to do that. Anyone with enough knowledge about the city to pumps thugs into it undoubtedly knew about the rules of the jungle and its sovereign.

He just wondered if the suicidal freak realized what he was getting himself into like this. Growing impatient with the short man, Yousuke applies the tiniest amount of pressure to the man's throat. "Well? Out with it."

[Togath]

Keita

"Thank you Chisato.. one thing I want to check though.. Greatmother did mean the leaf-nin was sighted a few days ago, correct?"

[Eurus]

...It really would have been nice, Masaru reflected, if the cat had simply warned him in more specific terms. But one supposes that would have had the drawback of preventing this delightfully ironic moment.

Slowly, he brushes himself off and rises, checking for injuries. Thankfully, nothing seems broken. The chemist retrieves one of his storage scrolls and makes a quick hand seal, releasing a flashlight. Armed with a weapon against the darkness, he carefully surveys his surroundings, and tries to look for the source of the buzzing.

[ZeroNumerous]

Keita

Chisato shakes her head. "No. The leaf-nin we were looking for was sighted yesterday."

Yousuke

Ezomaru swallows, cutting himself on the edge of Yousuke's sword. "L-L-Listen I-I don't-t k-know anything! H-He's just so-some ba-bald guy w-with t-t-tats! R-real w-weird lo-lookin'! U-Uh... He had a sword! A big sword all wrapped up in bandages! B-B-But he only paid us to take over. I don't know why!"

Masaru

The flashlight's beam reveals little of the room at one time. It seems to be about ten feet wide, and forty feet long. On the left side of the room are a few scattered bones, but no full skeletons of whatever had died in here. At the other end of the room is a raised stone dais, and a five-foot-tall three-foot-wide stone tablet stands atop the dais. Unintelligible text has been carved across the tablet. There doesn't seem to be anything else in the room.

[Togath]

Keita:

Keita pauses for a moment... realizing his mistake..
"I-I.." he stutters, "I may have made a mistake.. I Mean.. well.. I may have left before finding the right ninja then.. I'd just assumed the local yakuza would have a good idea of goings-on in meisungi"
"Please forgive my mistake, alright? I-I'll get right back on the case"

[Bad Situation]

At the mention of a sword, Yousuke's smirk widens. His interest now piqued he begins speaking to the groveling thug with very deliberate language, "One of your men seemed to think you were a...how should I call it, 'real' ninja. Obviously that is not the case but why pray tell, did he seem to believe something like that, hm?"

He releases some of the pressure and considers something before asking, "Where did you come into contact with this man? Where were you 'operating' before he paid you to come here to cause trouble for him?

[ZeroNumerous]

Keita

Chisato raises an eyebrow. "So you gave us incomplete information, and returned without doing your due diligence? That seems reckless. Particularly when being trusted with a mission of such import."

Yousuke

Ezomaru faints when Yousuke gets more serious. Unfortunately, Yousuke can't get anymore information from the gangster. The mass of gangsters are still around, but they're around ten to fifteen feet away from Yousuke by this point.

[Cespenar]

Momo gazes into the Sage's eyes for a moment, and then smiles.

"Why not? I'd be glad to," she replies. For a moment she thinks about asking how she wants the situation to be handled, but then decides against it. If she's sending her alongside Suzunabu, chances are it's not her battle prowess she wants, but people skills.

"Maybe it's someone I know," she japes good-heartedly.

She gets up and gives a slight bow, pausing for an additional moment if there were anything she wanted to add, but then leaves for Suzunabu.

[Eurus]

Faintly grimacing, as much from the bruises as from the situation itself, Masaru briefly examines the bones, morbidly curious as to if any of them are human, before turning to the main attraction.

Cautiously, he approaches the tablet, examining it closely and listening for that odd sound. When the script proves to be entirely incomprehensible, he retrieves a pen and paper and sets about carefully tracing a copy of the text.

[Overlord Rion]

Frustrated and having a significantly lighter wallet, Takuya dejectedly heads back to the sage. "Okay, so I'm having a slight issue here, Sensei. Nobody wants to talk to me so I can find out where your friend is. If you would be so kind as to guide me in the right direction, it would be greatly appreciated."

[Togath]

Keita:

"I assure you, I just made a minor mistake.. I'm sure I still have time to return, even more if you don't mind me 'handling' those goons who took money for--less than useful--information, some other time"

[ZeroNumerous]

Momo

Satoko breathes a sigh of relief, then raises back up to a more natural height for her massive body. She looks across the river. "Wonderful. Suzunabu should be getting ready to leave from the dock. If you move quickly, then you might be able to catch up to her."

Satoko goes back to sunning herself when Momo leaves.

The young Uchiha finds Suzunabu at the boat docks. The red-headed woman is wearing a battle vest and a more conventional shirt and slacks combo relative to her normal green qipao. Suzunabu takes a moment to mold her chakra and performs the water-walking technique. "Well, we'll need to sweep the area and try to find this intruder. Are you ready to go?"

Masaru

Masaru attempts to trace the text, but when he finishes and looks at the tracing he notices something very strange. The tracing he took looks nothing like the actual text.

Any attempt to replicate the tracing causes Masaru to get text that looks different compared to either the tablet, his original tracing, or any subsequent tracings. Each copy is completely unique, and none of them replicate the tablet.

Takuya

The Kame-sennin looks at Takuya. Between his hat and the beard it's impossible to tell what his facial expression looks like. "So you're giving up trying to find her on your own?"

Keita

Chisato crosses her arms over her chest. "A mistake? Do you realize that your mistake might have dragged the Grass into the war? If we had arrested that ninja, then we would be in a state of war with the Leaf. That is not minor."

[Overlord Rion]

It really depends on the time table. If this needs to be done NOW, then yes I give up because I don't know where she lives and nobody in the village is being helpful. If we have plenty of time, then I'll just go and ask every single person in the village if they're Sunsun Liu-chen. I'll find her eventually that way." Takuya shrugs as he says this.

[Bad Situation]

Grumbling frustratedly, Yousuke lets the black-haired man slump against the ground and kicks Ezomaru away from him. Sneering now, he turns his attention to the other gangsters. "Oi, I believe I asked you lot some questions. And after this waste of time you've put me through I'd like to think your gang owes me. Now, before I become impatient: Where did you meet this 'Tiger Killer' and why did he ask you to infest this city with your special brand of filth?" If he didn't know any better, he would think that Toragoroshi was sending something of a challenge to his sens-his nee-san. What a poor, poor fool.

[Cespenar]

Momo mimics the dragon's jutsu and applies it to her feet as well. She nods.

"So, judging from the general reactions, this is unlikely to be just a straddler, isn't it?" she asks, mostly to converse than to actually get any useful information.

She follows the woman across the water.

[Togath]

Keita:

"I realize that, Chisato-sama.. I've.. messed up.. Please, if there's anything I could do to regain the Grass' trust.. I've served well until now, right?" he says, pausing nervously to wait for Chisato's response.

[Eurus]

Defeated by a stone tablet... Masaru sighs, discarding the useless tracings. Whatever was on this altar probably wasn't intended for him. Supposedly, there were clans that could encode their secrets into text, words that could only be read by the right eyes... perhaps that was what he was dealing with. If that's the case, there wasn't much he could do with it.

Returning to the spot he'd fallen from, Masaru focuses chakra to his feet in the familiar pattern, and begins walking up the wall to return to the surface.

[ZeroNumerous]

Momo

Suzunabu shrugs, and simply carries on. Satoko wouldn't send out her gate guard unless she felt the intruder was serious enough to warrant such a response. Generally the fairies alone could ward off the average human, but someone making a bee-line for the ravine would need more direct intervention.

When the dragon and Uchiha arrive at the forest, they're greeted by an odd sight. A woman (http://i.imgur.com/tNnAe.png) wearing a black overcoat, stripped skirt, and an blouse casually strolls through the forest walking straight toward the Mansion. She's wearing a pair of knee-high boots that really shouldn't be in a forest, yet she moves as if she were walking on air. However, the most obvious part of her appear is the single red horn growing straight out of her forehead. The red horn is adorned with a golden star, and reminds Momo of the horns on most oni.

Suzunabu stops, and hides herself near a tree. She motions toward the woman, then slightly extends one hand before tapping it with her other hand--like a mother slapping the hand of a child reaching out for something. She obviously says nothing, because the approaching intruder would likely hear it.

Masaru

Masaru is able to climb out of the room with some effort, and when he finally does climb out he finds himself completely alone. The cat is gone, but the leaves and mess is still there.

Keita

Chisato nods. "You have done well. However, there is no retries on this mission. This was a test to see how much you could be trusted with. You failed. I'm sorry Goyou-san, but you are not the kind of person we can rely on." She motions toward the door. "I trust that you can see yourself out without any trouble."

Takuya

The old man just shakes his head. "Three years and you're still a damned fool. Liu-Chen is my friend, Takuya. Where do you think a friend of a hermit lives? Think about things before you run off to waste my time."

Yousuke

The gang obviously doesn't respond. They immediately start running the moment Yousuke turns his attention to them.

[Eurus]

Masaru looks around curiously as he brushes dust off himself, wondering where the cat got off to. Wherever it went, though, it didn't seem to be here now. Turning back to the shrine, he grimaces. So far he'd only succeeded in damaging it even more, it seemed, and he lacked both the tools and the skills to fix the harm done.

Nothing for it, really. If the old man wanted to get the shrine properly repaired, it'd be more than a one-genin job. For now, his mission was to clean it up.

Masaru carefully prods and tests at the shrine floor, trying to figure out what, if anything, was stable enough to walk on. If it seems possible, he gingerly steps back out and re-starts his work.

[Cespenar]

An oni? What would one be doing here?

It didn't look like the three Princesses Momo has seen before, which was a relief, albeit small.

Hoping that she got Suzunabu's gesture right, Momo starts walking casually to the oni, with the air of one strolling through a forest and just encountering a friendly traveller.

"Hello there!" she calls almost exactly after making eye contact, approaching with open hands and a friendly smile on her face.

Though her facade is casual, she takes the dragon's warning to heart, her Sharingan digging deep into the oni's chakra signature, and her reflexes primed to react to any hostile action.

See Chakra, and ready action to blast her with a Heightened Overwhelming Emotions on any direct hostile acts on her part.

[Bad Situation]

Growing more and more weary of the gangsters by the second, Yousuke molds chakra around his feet dashes after one of the slower thugs, grabbing him by the collar and dragging him kicking and screaming up the side of Toramaru's apartment complex. "I have to do something about the noise, lest the landlady complain..." Stopping halfway up the building, the white-haired ninja goes into an abrupt kneel and pulls the thug along with the movement, grounding the man's face on the face of the apartment. Hopefully shutting the man up, Yousuke continues the rest of the way up and throws his carry-on item onto the top of the building.

[Togath]

Keita:

Keita wanders to the door, rather disheartened, "Will I still be trusted as a genin at least?" he asks, pausing at the doorway for an answer before leaving

[ZeroNumerous]

Momo

The oni stops when Momo makes herself known. Suzunabu remains where she was, and it's not hard for Momo to figure out that she's probably waiting in the wings.

The blond-haired oni makes eye contact with Momo, then her eyes go down to the missing-nin's hands. A defensive maneuver against doujutsu? Either way Momo's chakra sense sees the oni just like every oni she's seen before: A humanoid void. Regardless, the oni speaks plainly. "A human? That's surprising. Do you know where I can find a house nearby? Real big mansion-type place?"

The oni smiles as she speaks.

Yousuke

Yousuke is able to capture and drag one of the gangsters up to Toramaru's rooftop. Yousuke finds his Nee-san in the same place she'd been when he first arrived, but this time she's dressed normally. When he throws the whimpering coward on the rooftop Toramaru sits up. Her eyes drift from the gangster back to Yousuke, then back to the gangster once more before she finally speaks. "Why do you have this garbage on my roof? Throw it off."

Masaru

Masaru's careful testing of the floors proves more than enough to avoid falling through. Parts of the floor are still weak, and the young man avoids standing on those parts. He proves capable enough to sweep up the rest of the shrine. The cat never shows its face, and Masaru works alone and in silence.

Keita

Chisato shrugs. "Perhaps. The Greatmother will be the one to decide on that."

[Bad Situation]

"I feel the same way as you onee-san, but I think what he has to say will pique your curiosity as much as mine," he says as he shrugs. Sighing, he traces the man's quivering form and slowly walks toward him. "However, if you insist..."

Carefully, Yousuke lifts the man by the collar with both arms and holds him out over the edge of the building so that the man has a view of the city proper. "Onee-san does not wish for you to be on the building so I'm afraid this will have to do. If you do what I tell you to do quickly and in good faith, I won't let go of you. So, would you mind telling my 'big sis' what Ezomaru had to say, down there?"

[Togath]

Keita:

"we'll see in the morning then, I suppose" he says, heading off to his apartment to sleep, though rather restlessly and with his sword nearby, just in case.

--
if nothing awakes him in the night, he returns to Celestine's place early in the morning to hear the Greatmother's verdict.

[ZeroNumerous]

Yousuke

The man spills everything, about how Ezomaru wasn't really a ninja and how they were hired by some guy called Toragoroshi. All the while the gangster sobs and begs for his life. The acrid smell of urine combined with a growing wet stain on the man's pants tell Yousuke that he's pissed himself in fear.

Toramaru watches and listens to the whole thing, but eventually the man runs out of the new things to say. Toramaru just waves him off. "Throw him. If he's lucky he'll only break both legs."

Keita

During the night no one interrupts him, but when Keita tries to enter the Euryale compound the guards stop him. The purple-haired male guard shakes his head when Keita requests entry. "Sorry, but the Greatmother is not seeing visitors today. She's meeting with the Leaf representative about the war between the Leaf and the Sand."

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke looks taken aback by Toramaru's words and raises his eyebrows at her. "Whatever you and I feel about this piece of trash, you shouldn't forget that I am a man of my word."Sniffing as though affronted, he climbs down the side of the building once again and begins his descent but this time, stops only halfway down. Stooping over the alleyway, he lets the thug drop into an open dumpster, careful not to get any of the urine on himself. Finished with his chore he returns to Toramaru's side.

[Eurus]

It's a dull job, made slightly more interesting by the constant (if exceedingly unlikely) possibility that he might fall and break his neck. Not a difficult one, though, and he successfully cleans off the empty shrine without too much trouble. It seems vaguely pointless, with as open to the elements as it is, but for now at least the stone floor is relatively clear.

Sighing in relief, Masaru takes a few moments to inspect the now-visible stone and pillars of the shrine. Any sign of the forgotten structure's origin or intended purpose seems long since worn away, but his curiosity compels him to at least take one more look.

[ZeroNumerous]

Yousuke

When Yousuke refuses to throw the thug he gets the same stare that he's seen many times before. The stare of death. She says nothing, but her eyes say everything they need to: This is my realm. And what I want goes. Then she closes her eyes and the stare vanishes into the ether. "Don't forget aniki. Things like morals and words in this city are worthless."

A cold smile plasters itself onto her face, and Toramaru crosses her arms over her chest. "So then..."

Before Toramaru can say anything else, a loud explosion echoes out of the main square where the Axes had set up the loudspeaker. Toramaru casually turns around to look at what's going on.

If Yousuke investgiates, then he sees a bald man (http://i.imgur.com/chCKzAz.jpg) in a black cape that covers his body fairly well. When the wind picks up Yousuke can pick out a vaguely familiar uniform between the flutters of the man's cape. It looks to be from the Stone Village, but it's very hard to see in the short glimpses that Yousuke gets. A long sword-like bundle of bandages rests at the man's feet. It appears to be six feet long, and has a leather-bound handle befitting the massive blade. Behind him stands what remains of the loudspeaker, as well as the bodies of several gangsters. Whatever he did to the loudspeaker set it on fire, and he's staring at the apartment complex Yousuke and Toramaru are standing on top of. He obviously knows where the duo are at, and is sending some kind of message.

Toramaru looks at Yousuke. "So that's him then, huh. Well, go deal with him. Cut off his head and bring it back here."

Masaru

The stone floor seems to be been arrayed in a specific pattern. A large circle dominates the center of the shrine, but parts of it have been broken or worn away due to time. A symbol that Masaru can't quite make out seems to rest in the center. It looks like the kanji (http://i.imgur.com/jnsDsIp.png) for "do not", but that's only the top part of whatever symbol is there. The rest has been destroyed by time.

[Overlord Rion]

Uh...

Well, now I feel stupid.

Friend of a hermit, lives like a hermit. In the surrounding area. We should probably read some more books.

The familiar facepalm motion happens again. It was so simple. Then again, most things with Sensei were simple. "Right, I'll be searching the outlying area. Thanks for the reminder, sensei." Takuya would stop only one person to asking about any hermits nearby besides the Kame-sennin. If that doesn't lead him anywhere, he simply searches the surrounding area.

[Togath]

Keita:

"Any ideas when she will be free? I have a matter to discuss with her as well"

[ZeroNumerous]

Keita

The boy who spoke earlier shakes his head. "I am not the Greatmother's successor, so I do not presume to know her schedule."

Takuya

The Kame-sennin just sighs and covers his face with his hand. "I'll be here when you get back..." The old man sounds surprisingly dejected.

Anyone Takuya asks only remarks that Kame-sennin is the only hermit that visits this area, and searching the surrounding countryside proves completely fruitless. With the fishing boats from the village trawling up and down the coast, no one could survive nearby unless they ran a farm, and Takuya sees no farms within the vicinity of the city.

[Eurus]

"...Hm."

There was something kind of melancholy about the place, ignored by the village and ravaged by time. Not that it was really any of his business, but... well, maybe he could visit every once in a while.

Masaru only surveys it for a few moments before sighing, shaking his head to clear it. The job was done, at any rate. He'd have to remember to check up on the old man who'd requested it, though. Something seemed odd about that, especially since no human had likely set foot on the floor here in years.

If nothing else presents itself, Masaru returns to Konoha to conclude his mission.

[Togath]

Keita:

"Do you know where I could find her successor then?" asks Keita, half wondering if this entire thing was some sort of trick, given the number of loose ends.

[ZeroNumerous]

Keita

The guard looks at his friend, then back to Keita. "Inside the compound. Chisato is not taking visitors either."

[Overlord Rion]

Takuya dejectedly heads back to the sennin. "All right, a few options. One, hermits don't have friends, so there is no Sunsun Liu-chen. Alternatively, it could be you. Or me, because you're making fun of me. The last two options are that Liu-chen is a woman from your past who died and lives only in your memories." He sighs and fiddles in his pockets. "The last one is that she's under the dock. If any of those are right, which one is it?"

[ZeroNumerous]

Takuya

The Kame-sennin shakes his head once more. "Did your wits get soft in this city? I won't just tell you. That defeats the point. Use that soft noggin of yours and think. Who is a hermit's friend?"

[Overlord Rion]

Takuya sighs. "All right. A hermit's friend is himself, because he doesn't need anybody else."

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke knew that look very well but he also knew that the consequences of not standing his ground against her would be even worse. Returning the gaze as best he can he says, "Not in this city, no. But I wouldn't be able to call myself a man worth being if I didn't hold myself to a higher standard still."

The swordsman only blinks at the sound of the explosion however, having expected something along the lines. When Toramaru tells him to deal with it however, he raises an eyebrow and looks at her cautiously. "He's obviously after you and it looks like he has some sort of past. What is it this time? A spurned lover? Too clingy?" Looking at the destruction below he adds, "Too psychotic?" Of course, the day he met a man 'too psychotic' for Toramaru was probably the day hell froze over.

"I wonder if Yuyuko-sama likes hand-knit shawls..."

[Togath]

Keita:

Wandering away from the compound Keita tries to think of a new plan..
"I guess it's settled then.. back to Meisungi, maybe Sunaku will be there this time" he mumbles after a few minutes, shortly before heading off once more to Meisungi, heading to the tea shop once he arrives.

[ZeroNumerous]

Masaru

The Leaf Village isn't far away, and the manager on duty takes Masaru's statement and doles out the young man's pay. The old man isn't anywhere to be found, and when asked the manager just shrugs.

Keita

The tea shop is closed with a sign on the front door apologizing to potential customers. The sign reads: "I am sorry for closing shop early, but things have come up. I profusely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause."

Takuya

The Kame-sennin shakes his head. "No man is an island. A friend is someone who supports you. Come back when you've figured things out."

Yousuke

Toramaru has produced a fan from somewhere, and is gently fanning herself. When Yousuke questions her Toramaru responds plainly. "I'll tell you after you kill him." Suddenly Toramaru gives him a cold stare. "Or are you saying you're not strong enough to deal with this problem?" Refusing her orders before already put him on thin ice, and how he responds here may or may not be the end for the Konpaku swordsman.

[Overlord Rion]

Takyua begins to step away, and stops. No man is an island? A friend is someone who supports you? "Quick thing before I go. Is Sunsun Liu-chen a crab?"

[Bad Situation]

Grumbling, Yousuke turns away from Toramaru's stare and pulls the Roukanken free from its sheathe as he settles onto the side of the building. Without looking back at Toramaru, he stares down at the bald man below and says, "I'm more than enough for the likes of this psychopath..."

"I deal with you everyday, after all."

[ZeroNumerous]

Takuya

The Kame-sennin's fishing pole lashes out quickly and slaps Takuya across the face. "Come back when you've stopped guessing."

Yousuke

"Then deal with my problems. I'll be watching. If you falter or fail, then do not think for a moment that I will hesitate when I kill you." Toramaru remains where she's sat, gradually fanning herself, as Yousuke climbs down. She gazes down at both men like some gladiatorial manager watching the last two greats get ready to fight to the death.

The bald man makes no movements, and waits right where he was at.

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke leaps down from the height of the building, sword poised to assault the bald man, glaring all the while. There were times when he genuinely enjoyed Toramaru's company. This however, was not one of them. Landing softly on his feet he directs his gaze at his opponents and says nothing as he dashes forward to begin his attack.

[Overlord Rion]

Well, that didn't work.

If you could feel the pain of a fishing pole swat, just once. That thing bends and gets way too much momentum. Takuya throws up his hands. "Fine, I'm out of here. Sorry I'm not as wise as you are."

Takuya wandered past the village and into the surrounding area, trying to find a quiet spot to sit down and meditate. He was thinking too hard again. He needed to just calm down and...well, not think, just feel.

[Togath]

Keita:

"of course.." he mumbles in a frustrated tone..
"now what?" he thinks aloud, "look around to see if I missed any other mercenary hangouts?" he continues with a sigh,as he gets to work trying to scour the village.

Gather Information:[roll0]
Knowledge(Streetwise):[roll1]

If he doesn't find anything else, he heads over to look around the yakuza front again.

[Cespenar]

"Yes, I know where the mansion is," Momo replies, taking notice of the oni's measures against doujutsu. She tilts her head slightly to the left, curious.

"May I ask what you are looking for in there?"

[Overlord Rion]

Takuya's eyes slowly open as the realization he should have instantly come across finally dawns on him. He stretches to make sure he didn't hurt himself and heads toward the island. Once there, he bows towards Genbu. "You're right, I am indeed a fool. I'm still relying on my brain and overthinking things when I should be relying on what comes naturally." Whether or not Genbu acknowledges him, Takuya walks towards the head of the turtle.

"So, what can I do for you, miss Sunsun Liu-chen?"

[ZeroNumerous]

Momo

The oni smiles. "So, you know where the mansion is... I suppose then you know what mansion I was talking about, and that means you've met the Dragon lady, ya?"

A pair of hands emerge from her greatcoat, and she upturns her palms to show that she's unarmed--for what little that matters for a monster like an oni. "I'm... a wandering peddler, one could say. I was hoping to meet the Dragon lady, and maybe wrestle a deal out of her, ya? Nothing personal, and nothing to be worried about."

Keita

Keita looks around the city, but he doesn't find any other mercenary hangouts. He goes to the yakuza front, but the place looks to be just a cafe again. There's no one upstairs, and the bartender doesn't know what Keita is talking about. When Keita leaves the cafe he spots a purple-haired beggar girl sitting on the dirty street. Her eyes are closed, yet she looks at the former sky-nin as if she were watching him the whole time.

If Keita moves toward the girl, then she smiles. "You're looking for the men who were in that room yesterday, aren't you? Heh. You're not gonna find them. They set up shop in that room the day before you showed up, and cleared out an hour after you left. Whoever sent you there set you up kiddo." She speaks without looking at Keita--or at least without opening her eyes. It's not hard to guess that she's blind.

Takuya

The kame-sennin scoffs. "I suppose even a child learns to walk one day."

The giant red-shelled turtle shifts slightly, providing unsteady footing for the humans riding her shell, and raises her head out of the water. She speaks in a deep rumbling voice reminiscent of the sea crashing against the shore. "Once every hundred years I return to this shore to lay eggs. I did that two years ago, and just received word from a friend of mine that one of my children is still here on this island. I would like for you to find him, and bring him home."

Yousuke

Yousuke's dash causes the bald man to bring up his sword to defend himself. The Roukanken hits the bandaged greatsword. Both blades clash, then the bald man shoves Yousuke back to break distance. Immediately the former sky-nin realizes that his opponent has some sort of inhuman strength behind him. Nonetheless, Yousuke knows he pressured his enemy with that attack. The bald man smiles.

"Are you the Tiger's new apprentice? Heh. I should be less surprised at how quick she got over me!"

The bald man's muscles expand as he pours chakra into them. His bandage-wrapped sword swings downward, coming down on Yousuke like an avalanche!

Initiative:
Yousuke hits, dealing full damage.

Blade-nin counters with his own attack:
Attack: [roll1]
Damage: [roll]2d6+3d6+10
If it hits, Yousuke needs a DC 15 Fort Save or he'll be pushed back [roll2]x5 feet.

[Overlord Rion]

Reuniting a mother with her child? That was quite possibly the most heroic thing Takuya had ever been asked to do. He was totally the wrong guy for this job. "I'm honored. Your children would also be large red turtles like you? If they are, around what size would they be?"

[ZeroNumerous]

Takuya

Liu-Chen sighs. Or, at least, Takuya thinks it's a sigh. "Thank you, Kuroda-sama. My children are also red turtles, but they should be about the size of a large dog or small horse by this point."

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke frowns when the blade comes up to block his attack. He had expected it really. It was not as if the man was just going to lie down and die for him, but the fact remained that he had blocked his opening strike. How many people had he met in his travels who could manage that? Though curious before, the bald man now had his full attention. "I would have your na-"

What the man says next however comes as quite the shock. 'New' apprentice? "I suppose that 'spurned lover' comment was not be as far off as I had expected..." Yousuke widens his stance as the other swordsman approaches, bringing up the Roukanken to guard but realizes at the last second just how much pressure was behind the man's weighty blow.

"****..! What kind of training did this guy put himself through, exactly?"

With a sharp, well-timed exhalation of breath he fades away from the blow and reappears behind the man, driving in through the swordsman's guard with the Roukanken coated in an ethereal haze. "You know, on second thought I think it might be better if I just kill you now."

The Konpaku swordsman chooses not to let up on his assault and forces through once more with a phantasmal feint.

Status
Hit Points: 84/84
Chakra Pool: 37/68
Chakra Reserve: 31/36
Armour Class: 38
Ongoing Effects: Spd Rank 4 (1/5), Str Rank 4 (1/5), Raking Tiger Stance

Actions
Attack Action~!
Use Fasting of the Young Gaki.
Attack: [roll0]
-- Damage: [roll1]
-- Fort DC 26: -3 penalty to attack rolls, skill checks, and saving throws
-- Chakra Cost: 8

Move->Swift Action~!
Use Heroic Surge.

Attack Action~!
Use Mirage Slash
Attack: [roll2]
-- Damage: [roll3]
-- Reflex DC 26: Blinded for [roll4] rounds.
-- Chakra Cost: 7

Free Action~!
Unleash Rank 4 Strength.
Unleash Rank 4 Speed.

[Cespenar]

"If you are true to your words and really come in peace, then I don't think there's anything to worry about," she guesses, and implies a question to Suzunabu if that was indeed okay.

When it comes to leading the oni to the mansion, however, Momo makes no movement, just standing there and watching the horned woman with an annoying smile on her face. She doesn't trust her after all, and is unclear on what she exactly had to do.

[ZeroNumerous]

Momo

Suzunabu doesn't make herself known when Momo poses her question, but does make herself known when Momo elects to help the Oni.

The oni bows to Momo and the gatekeeper. "My name is Hisako. You have nothing to fear from me young human. I am simply a peddler of wares." The oni follows Momo back to the mansion, while Suzunabu remains behind them both to ensure the oni made no move to attack Momo or retreat.

As the trio make their way through the forest the oni attempts some small talk. "I notice that you are a human bearing the blood of your Sage. Is the Dragon lady keeping you here, or do you simply choose to stay?"

Yousuke

The man's face betrays his surprise for a second, then he sniffs and smiles. He whirls around to face Yousuke as soon as the young man reappears. The bandaged blade goes up in defense, but Yousuke's sword snake around it. However, rather than blood and fesh the Roukanken's blade finds nothing but air. The man uses familiar and intense high speed movement to break the distance between himself and Yousuke, and stands fifteen feet away from the former sky-nin.

"Going right for the killing blow...? You really are Chie's apprentice. You wanted my name? For survi--"

Yousuke cuts him off with his Earthquake Step, and the man is knocked prone by the sudden burst of wind. The cracked earth around Yousuke forms a wide circle of difficult terrain. The man smiles, then hops up in an instant. Immediately afterward he man lowers his blade slightly. Yousuke immediately recognizes it as the opening stance for the Kenjutsu technique called Thrust and Throw. "Alright. Then I don't need to hold back!"

The man's high speed movement puts him within range of Yousuke immediately, and the giant blade swings horizontally toward the former sky-nin. His monstrous strength threatens to shove Yousuke around like a rag doll regardless of whether his technique works or not.

He Shundou's Yousuke's initial hit. Yousuke subs in an Earthquake Step instead of Mirage Slash. He fails his save vs Earthquake step and falls prone.

He Tumbles to stand up from prone as part of his five-foot step. He makes the DC 20 on a 1, so I'm not gonna bother rolling. His modifier is +19.

He uses Hirameku afterward to appear within five feet of Yousuke. Yousuke is unable to identify it as he is unable to see it.

He then perform Kenjutsu: Thrust and Throw in melee. Yousuke immediately identifies it.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] + [roll2] + [roll3] + 10 = 41

If it hits, then Yousuke is shoved back [roll4]x5 feet.

If it hits, then Yousuke also needs a DC 15 Fort Save to not be pushed back another [roll5]x5 feet.

[Bad Situation]

"Chie...? I didn't realize she had a name." Breathing harder now, Yousuke settles into a more defensive stance. The second he'd experienced the man's strength firsthand he'd thought to end the fight immediately but as was quickly becoming apparent, the other swordsman wasn't making that easy. If this kept up he'd be the one out of the fight. Mentally, he curses his low chakra reserves and the wasteful ninjutsu he'd displayed on the thugs from earlier. No, he would have to be a little more careful with his expenditure from this point on. He watches the bald swordsman's movements carefully and thanks to that, is able to slip away from the attack by utilizing his ghostly double.

He'd practiced extensively with his family's bloodline technique but he hadn't expected to use it so soon, or twice in a single day for that matter...

It would seem that this battle would require a whole new set of tactics then. Close, melee combat was out of the question, not while his opponent was as jacked up on chakra as he was.

While molding wind chakra around the Roukanken, he slams the blade into the ground around the other swordsman and immediately uses the risen dust to jump back a long ways, keeping an eye out on how the man responds. There had to be some kind of weakness for a low chakra type like himself to exploit.

Status
Hit Points: 84/84
Chakra Pool: 25/68
Chakra Reserve: 31/36
Armour Class: 38
Ongoing Effects: Spd Rank 4 (2/5), Str Rank 4 (2/5), Raking Tiger Stance

Actions
Attack Action~!
Use Elemental Beatdown Rank Three
-- Wind Damage: [roll0] DC 20 Ref Halves
-- Chakra Cost: 7

Move Action~!
Tumble back 30 ft.
Auto-succeeds on the disengage check.

Spot Check: [roll1]
Knowledge (Earth and Life Sciences: [roll2]

[Eurus]

So the job was done, and he still had a bit of free time left. Might as well try to follow up on his curiosity, then. He'd never had much reason to try and get access to the village's libraries and archives, since most of his studies could be handled perfectly well by Yasuro's personal library, so he wasn't sure how hard it would be.

Quietly contemplating the day's events, Masaru makes his way toward the city's most promising source of information.

[Cespenar]

Blood of the Sage. I wonder what she would say to Amon's eyes?

"Well met Hisako-san," Momo replies, bowing curtly in return. "I'm Uchiha Momo, and yes, I'm staying here on my own volition."

She stays silent for a few strides, but then speaks again.

"So. What kind of wares do you peddle, Hisako-san?"

[Togath]

Keita:

"So how'd you end up here?" he asks he girl in response, "Unless I'm mistaken, you're one of the Euryale" he continues sitting down across from her, cross-legged and trying to appear friendly in case she can somehow see him.
after a short sigh he says, "Their current leader--"Greatmother Celestine"--sent me here in fact, though I don't think she was the one who set up those people, since their information would have led to a war between the Grass and the Leaf, if I hadn't realized my mistake before they imprisoned whoever the Leaf envoy that is visiting is"

"Changing subject, what happened to your eyes? Have you always been blind, or was it due to a Doujutsu of some sort? I'm sorry if it's a sore subject, but I am a rather curious person"

[ZeroNumerous]

Momo

Hisako doesn't mask her surprise well when faced with Momo's answer. "Truly? You would remain here, hidden, than show the world your power? Hm... Humans will always amaze me."

When Momo moves on to talk about Hisako's wares, the merchant just smiles. "Power. I make many things with my skills, and I grant humans and youkai alike my services. I also collect rarities, oddities, and things that interest me. Some of those things can even grant great power to mortals willing to use them."

Keita

The girl sits still, and keeps her eyes closed. "Well that's a bit rude, isn't it? Hasn't anyone ever taught you that a girl never divulges her secrets?" The Euryale smiles, then shrugs. "I am the way I am. Nothing more. Regardless, you're not thinking properly. You're a kid. Why would they send you on such an important mission?"

Masaru

Masaru makes his way to the city's library. The library is built for mundane individuals, and carries very little information about ninjas. Nonetheless, Masaru could attempt to research the shrine, and perhaps find out what purpose it originally served.

Yousuke

The man swings his bandaged blade at the incoming wind blast, and... he seems to cleave it completely in two. The wind digs furrows into the ground where it flies around the man as his blade redirects Yousuke's ninjutsu. At the end of it, he smiles and showcases his mouth full of fang-like teeth.

"Hm! Chie found a gem like you hidden in this city...? I don't believe it for a second. But, no matter. Chie won't come down to fight me herself, so I'm done here."

The man hefts his colossal sword and brings it down to rest on his shoulder. "My name is Yoshikita of the Hidden Stone Village. When I see you again, I hope we can fight honestly." The man smiles once more, and turns to leave. Unless stopped, he walks away without any further altercation.

The Blade-nin uses Monster Style: Fireball Blocking Sword. He needs a Taijutsu check against a DC equal to Ref Save + 2/rank minimum of 30. Beatdown Rank 3 is a Rank 5 tech, so it'd have a DC of 30.

Avoidance: [roll0]
Backlash: [roll1]

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke's eyes widen as the man brushes aside the gust of wind with only a sweep of his large blade. He'd seen people escape from his ninjutsu before and in one case, seen it neutralized with equally potent chakra but to simply bat it out of existence. No had ever done that before. "H-how..."

This was no ordinary swordsman if he clearly had some sort of past with Toramaru. "I interrupted you before but allow me to respond. I am Konpaku Yousuke, born of Konpaku Youki's line. It is true that she did not find me in the city. Rather, I am the one who sought her out. Now, as one swordsman to another tell me, what is your relationship to sens-to onee-san?"

Regardless of the answer, Yousuke blinks for a whole five seconds before he remembers something very critical. He takes a half-step forward and raises his arm. "Ah! wait! You can't go. She said she'd kill me if I didn't bring her your head! Come back and fight me!"

[Togath]

Keita:

"I was sent to earn the village's trust as a genin, since I only joined a few months back, after I nearly died from having made a mistake on a journey back from the land of stone", he answers, "I don't think they trust me very much, to be frank" he continues, after a moment, adding, "If you don't mind me asking, what is your name? I'm Goyou"

[ZeroNumerous]

Keita

The girl shakes her head when Keita mentions being sent out to earn their trust. "Is that what they told you, or is that just what you choose to believe?"

She carries on. "Humans can't trust without actions or proof, but why would you be trusted with something that could potentially cause a war if you weren't trusted? You shouldn't think so hard."

Yousuke

Yousuke's question meets silence for a time, and the man keeps walking away. When Yousuke steps forward demanding a fight the man turns back around. "Hmm. Sounds like Chie. Sorry, but I'm not interested. Someday you'll realize that Chie cannot be trusted, and you'll abandon her tutelage like I did. Or you'll die."

The man turns back around. "Goodbye Konpaku Yousuke. Hopefully you don't get caught up in the tiger's claws, or you may end up dead." The man continues walking away unless Yousuke does something to stop him.

[Togath]

Keita:

"Because, I missed part of the mission. I was told to track down and "deal with" a male ninja, and mistook a rumor I heard from the men who were in this building about a female Leaf nin, heading toward the Grass as being the same target.." he says, trying to think of anything he may have missed, "when I went back to the Greatmother, her successor--as she herself was busy-- blamed me for this mistake.. how was I supposed to know someone would set up a fake yaku-" he stops, figuring out one loose end, "but how would they have known I was even going to be here?"
"Do you think anyone in the village could have done this? The only people in the room when I was told to do this were the Greatmother, her successor, Chisato, and two ANBU"

[Overlord Rion]

Takuya sets out in search of a large red turtle that wasn't Miss Liu-chen. As per usual, he asks around to see if any rumors pop up that might give him some sort of direction. If he learns anything, he asks for directions to the town mentioned in the rumors.

Otherwise, he just heads to the next town. It can't be that hard to find a red turtle the size of a small horse.

Right?

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke's face goes grim at the man's statement but he does nothing to reject the claim, only closing his eyes in response.. "Sorry to say, but I've already come to that conclusion myself Yoshikita-san. However, I've long since discarded the part of me that cares. She has power enough to change this world and can teach me but until I've grasped this strength with my own two hands I'll resign myself to continuing down this path of mine."

Angling his head up he calls out once more, "Yoshikita of the Hidden Stone. Face me. I would rather break myself against a fellow swordsman than die at her hands. As she says, if I fail to take your head I will be losing my own by day's end. But I will not return to her, tail between my legs until I have truly ascertained the gap between you and I. Until I have carved my greatest technique onto your form I cannot truthfully admit to failure. With my pride as well as my life on the line I cannot accept defeat until I have this through to the end."

Pointing his the tip of the Roukanken at the man's retreating form he asks, "Will you receive it?"

[ZeroNumerous]

Yousuke

The bald man smiles. "You sound like you're straight out of some sort of shounen manga. But... I suppose Chie still has her claws in me. Alright! One more time! You give it your all, and I'll give everything I have!"

The man unwraps his greatsword, revealing a long pillar of dark iron. The sword is double-edged, and the blade alone is at least six feet long and a foot wide. The edge stands out from the black metal of its core, and seems lined with silver or some other highly reflective and well-polished metal. There is no guard for the hands, because the metal of the blade extends so far out from the handle that is is effectively its own guard. The sword could be accurately described as a club due to its size and weight.

"Try not to die...!"

The man assumes a familiar stance, the Jigen Ryu, then moves closer using his high speed movement. In one instance he's holding the sword out parallel to the ground, and in the next he's swinging down at Yousuke's head while hurling his entire body and all his monstrous strength into the blow! The gigantic dark iron greatsword comes down at Yousuke like a bolt of lightning. Even if it missed, the young man would likely have some risk from the shrapnel created by hitting the ground.

Blade uses Jigen Ryu, then uses Heroic Surge to get a standard action. He uses Shundou to get within melee range of Yousuke using his Heroic Surge action.

He then attacks with a single strike using the Jigen Ryu full-attack action. This increases his attack and damage by +4 and grants his attack a Kawarimi Defense of 1.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] + [roll2] + 14 = 35
Backlash: [roll3]

Takuya

Takuya wanders around and asks about, but he doesn't get anything. Perhaps greasing some palms might work out for him?

Takuya needs a Gather Info check to actually learn anything.

Keita

The girl just sighs. "You're still thinking too hard." The girl turns away from Keita, and looks toward the sky. "How can four people fool you with the same lie at the same time?"

[Togath]

Keita:

"I suppose I may be.. I've just never been very trusting.. then again, the last time I went renegade ended up causing this war, so perhaps it would be a good change.." he says, calming down a bit, "I suppose it would be best to head back and at least report that someone was purposefully trying to mislead us"
he continues standing up with a stretch, "I'll be off for now..?" he pauses waiting to see if the girl gives a name so he can ask Celestine about her when he gets back.

[ZeroNumerous]

Keita

"Maybe one day you'll learn what you were intended to be taught."

When Keita stands up and looks down to where she's sitting he sees nothing. The girl is gone, there's no blanket nor sign of her presence.

[Togath]

Keita:

"I wonder if we shall meet again?" he says to himself and he journeys once more to the Grass.
Once he arrives he head's to the Greatmother's compound to see if he can enter yet.

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke smirks, "So I've been told..."

Breathing in and out to ease himself of the unnecessary tension tugging at his limbs, he readies himself for the ensuing fight. Unbeknownst to him however, the very winds seem to snap and shudder in time with his breath. Recognizing his opponents stance, he mentally takes note of it. "He'll be focusing his attacks on single strikes from this point on...Good. I can use this..." When the attack comes however, he does something very different from all the responses previous, choosing instead to throw himself towards the blade's path, bracing himself with the Roukanken and using the momentum of his forward charge and the blade's overly wide swing to pierce through his opponent's guard. "I've only ever seen this technique used twice in my life. I hope it does not disappoint."

He assumes a low-legged stance, similar to his mother's all those years ago, unleashing a wave of attacks as the Roukanken fades into intangibility, each stroke tracing out five signs of imminent death.

When the series of attacks is complete however, he leaps back with a blade already coated in Wind Element Chakra and slams it down into the ground before him.


Elemental Fury - Free Action

Five Signs of the Dying Deva - Full Round Action
Attack: [roll0]
-- Damage: [roll1] + [roll2] + [roll3]
Attack: [roll4]
-- Damage: [roll5] + [roll6] + [roll7]
Attack: [roll8]
-- Damage: [roll9] + [roll10] + [roll11]
Attack: [roll12]
-- Damage: [roll13] + [roll14] + [roll15]
Attack: [roll16]
-- Damage: [roll17] + [roll18] + [roll19]

Heroic Surge - Swift Action
Elemental Beatdown - Attack Action
[roll20]
Reflex DC 22 Halves

[Eurus]

After a few days of research, Masaru isn't quite sure whether to be satisfied by the discovery or disappointed. It's less impressive than he'd hoped, admittedly. Still, if what the cat had said about people being buried there was true, he was surprised it didn't get some visitors. One would imagine the clan would pay it some respect, at least. And he still didn't know why someone had suddenly taken enough of an interest to pay for it to get straightened up.

So perhaps a week later, Masaru decides to head out that way again. Something about the whole thing still seemed a little odd. If nothing else, he could use the fresh air anyway.

[ZeroNumerous]

Masaru

Masaru heads toward where he remembers the temple being, and finds the structure still there but now empty. It's still clean from when Masaru cleaned it up, but there's no one there.

Keita

Of course Keita isn't able to get inside, because it's still the same day as before and the Greatmother is still not allowing visitors.

Yousuke

The stone-nin evades the first two of Yousuke's attacks, but the third, fourth, and fifth make it past his guard to cut his flesh. When Yousuke follows it up with his wind technique the Roukanken meets the man's black sword. Once again the monstrous blade cleaves right through the whirlwind, and Yoshikita emerges unscathed.

The bald man stands up, bleeding slightly from Yousuke's wounds, and puts his sword away. "You've gotten strong. In this world you can go far with that strength. But in time Chie will turn on you and destroy you. That is the way of the tiger. Don't get yourself killed, and I hope you aren't here when I come back."

With that said, Yoshikita leaps away.

Yousuke misses with #1 and #2. He deals 65 damage with #3 - #5.

Yoshikita uses Monster Style: Fireball Blocking Sword to cleave through Yousuke's technique. [roll0].

He takes [roll1] backlash.

[Eurus]

Pretty much as expected. Masaru sits down on the steps of the shrine, and pulls out the lunch he'd packed. If anyone, feline or otherwise, frequented this shrine, he'd wait for them.

[ZeroNumerous]

Masaru

No one, human or otherwise, arrives at the shrine for the whole day.

[Bad Situation]

Breathing heavily, Yousuke slumps down to a knee in exhaustion, watching Yoshikita leap away unchecked. He sees him off with a smile and a grimace, unable to summon the strength to pursue. Just one more person out there in the world who was capable of reminding him of just how weak he was in the grand scheme of things. No matter, Toramaru would be by soon to finish him off. He wasn't capable of fighting her off at his best, much less in his current state. Hopefully, she would make it quick and painless.

She was capable of the former, though whether or not he could expected the latter was very much in the air. From his position on the ground he looks up into the smog-filled air of Kukoku and breathes out a long suffering sigh. "He's right...but I won't be able to help Momo challenge her brother if I'm stuck like this, weak as I am. Until then I need Toramaru..."

Struggling to his feet, Yousuke stumbles his way back to Toramaru's apartment building and prepares himself for the worst of it.

[Togath]

Keita;

As a precaution--just in case they see through his genjutsu-- Keita uses Henge to transform into Chisato, before heading inside, or trying to at least, using Method of False Invisibility to hide himself from guard.. hopefully..

Once inside, if he makes it, he tries to find Chisato or Celestine, to warn them, or at least eavesdrop on the visiting Leaf nin.

[ZeroNumerous]

Keita

The guards stop Keita at the gate. "No one can come in while transformed. Though you chose poorly in your transformation target."

Yousuke

When Yousuke makes it back to the apartment building Toramaru is nowhere to be seen. If he climbs the building, then he finds Toramaru asleep on her lawn chair.

[Togath]

Keita:

"you saw through my gen.. I mean, you saw through the transformation.. damn.." he says, hoping that using a genin level ninjutsu has lesser retribu5ion than using a higher rank genjutsu.. and failing..

with that, he heads off.
he decides to just wait out the day, reading and at one point visiting a local tea-house for about an hour.
In the morning, if nothing happens to him in the night, he now returns to the compound.. hoping things aren't more awkward than last time..

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke simply blinks at the sight and lets his head drop dejectedly. Somehow, he should have expected this. Body now moving on auto-pilot, he plucks his coat from off his shoulders and drapes it atop the sleeping woman. When the deed is done, he gets up and silently practices his swordplay, going through various forms, his mind still stuck on the way Yoshikita had been able to sweep aside his ninjutsu. It reminded him vaguely of his grandfather, with all his quiet unassuming strength.

Smiling at the memory, he finds a place in the corner of the building to sit down and meditate. The day was not yet over until he practiced his breathing exercises and completed his daily chakra circulation training.

[Eurus]

By the time he's eaten, finished reading the last few chapters of "Disorders of the Chakra Coil System", and jotted down an idea for a new experiment to try, the sun is setting and he hasn't seen a thing. Sighing, Masaru finally rises and shakes his head.

"Guess that cat wasn't kidding about nobody coming around here... I was hoping someone might be around to chat."

On a whim, Masaru focuses for a moment to sense for any sign of chakra nearby. If that comes up empty, he wall-walks his way back down to the underground chamber, curious if anyone's been here since his last visit. If this tablet had Uchiha secrets, it's possible that someone else might be interested. He also pays attention, this time, for anywhere that might have been used to bury or entomb those mentioned ashes.

Finally, he searches for the room's original intended enterance. It seems unlikely that crashing through the ceiling would be the only way in. Perhaps it was bricked off when the occupants left, but then, why leave the tablet? It seemed... forgotten.

[ZeroNumerous]

Masaru

When Masaru senses chakra he finds nothing, and when he goes to the hole he made yesterday he also finds nothing. Testing the temple grounds shows that there's no damage, and it's as solid as it had ever been. There's nothing to prove one way or another that there's any kind of structure underneath the temple.

Yousuke

Toramaru makes no movements as Yousuke trains, though several times the young man can sense a powerful killing intent radiating out from his teacher. Nothing happens until the young man starts his circulation training. Several minutes pass from the first moment Yousuke closes his eyes, but his meditation is interrupted by a sudden and intense killing intent. That's followed by a quickly thrown apple.

If Yousuke looks around then he finds Toramaru sitting on her lawn chair with a brown bag beside her. Her left hand is empty, and her right holds a ripe apple. She takes a loud bite out of the apple, then motions toward the bag. After several seconds of chewing Toramaru swallows her apple then speaks. "I see you didn't die. I'm glad. I didn't want to wake up to find that my second had gotten beheaded while I was asleep."

Keita

The guards give Keita the same spiel, though this time the Greatmother is refusing visitors simply because she's unwell.

[Togath]

Keita;

"you've got to be kidding.." be mumbles to himself angrily, and beginning to think this must be some sort of test.

He returns once more to Meisungi, heading to check the tea shop again..
If there is nothing useful; there, he asks around town to try to find out who hired the fake yakuza.
gather information;[roll0]

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke cracks open an eye to investigate and smiles playfully, "Did you expect me to die, then? Or should I feel flattered that you even considered my safety for the barest of moments?"

[ZeroNumerous]

Yousuke

Toramaru responds plainly. "If you die, then I don't have a minion to go out and deal with thugs for me."

Keita

Keita doesn't find any information about anyone hiring fake yakuza.

[Eurus]

So, this was perplexing on several levels. Either someone had simply repaired the floor over the past few days, or something far stranger was going on. He spends a few moments searching the grounds around the shrine for footprints or traces of human passage besides his own.

What he really wanted was to see if the tablet -- or the basement, for that matter -- was still there, but short of hammering through the floor, that didn't seem possible. And, well. Just because he wasn't particularly superstitious didn't mean he went around vandalizing temples. That was just tempting fate.

Grumbling, he retrieves a flask of wine (plum, Yasuro's specialty) from his belt and takes a long drink. After wasting yet another day beating his head against an increasingly baffling puzzle, he needed it.

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke simply hums, settling back into his meditation. "This can't go on forever can it?"

Unless bothered again, Yousuke goes back into deep meditation and tries to get some last measures of training in before settling into sleep or something.

[Eurus]

By the time Masaru gets back to town, he's not in a great mood. It seemed like his last option was to figure out who'd bought the mission in the first place. Asking questions this late seemed like a poor idea, though. Better to wait for morning.

One night of moderate intoxication and a morning of tea and asprin later, he's returning to mission central. Hopefully whoever was working the office today was in a good mood, because sweet-talking was not Masaru's forte...

[Togath]

Keita;

Keita heads back to the Grass, heading to the guards to ask a new question, "I get that Greatmother is.. ill, but would you mind relaying a message?"

[Cespenar]

Momo merely smirks at the oni's mentality. I wonder if all oni hold power at such high regard, she muses for a moment.

"If you're a collector, have you heard of an item such as this?" she asks all of a sudden, remembering something. "A white oni mask, full with horns and fangs. Has your kind's chakra signature all over it. Ever heard or seen something like that?"

[ZeroNumerous]

Momo

The oni nods sagely. "The white void mask. One of my finest works in quite some time. It is not something for mortals, but many could use it to help their skill at sneaking. And a mortal such as yourself would be able to use it to keep your blood from tiring you out."

Hisako points to herself. "But, when worn by an oni, it grants the wearer the power to pass undetected by mortals. A great tool. Where did you hear of the mask?"

Keita

The guards refuse, citing that Keita should mail her if he wishes to get a message across.

Masaru

The office has a name on record, and a house. But when Masaru goes to the address he finds it empty. No one lives there now, and investigating with the neighbors reveals that the house has been for sale for quite some time.

Yousuke

Nothing more interrupts Yousuke, and the young man is able to do his training and leave. Nothing happens during the night, and the young man wakes up wherever he's staying. The city has returned to normal by the time Yousuke wakes up, and the jungle's rhythm has been restored.

[Togath]

Keita:

having gotten a bit annoyed by the guards, Keita does still manage to contain himself.. "I suppose I might as well try to track down the visiting Leaf nin.." he thinks to himself, asking around the Grass for any information about where she went, as well as if there are any groups who might want to bring about a war between the Grass and the Leaf.

[Cespenar]

Momo nods thoughtfully, wondering why it would be a gift to Amon. Didn't the White know that we "mortals" have the means to craft doujutsu inhibitors on our own? Maybe she didn't, though even then, it seemed too thoughtful a gift. Momo wonders if the mask had some secondary, corrupting effects, or if she was just being paranoid.

"Oh, I heard it from a friend of mine. Had dealings with an oni, probably." she says.

"Sounds like a fine tool, though. You made it yourself? Any other gems in your... inventory?"

"I believe I had some 'mortal' cash to spare, if you're accepting that currency. Or do you only deal in barter or favors?"

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke stifles a yawn as he drops a key onto the front desk of the hotel he's staying at. The beds were lumpy, the service was poor, and the building on the whole smelled like sex and cheap perfume wherever he went but on the plus side it was free. Nobody would dare charge him for a stay, given his ties to Toramaru after all. Speaking of which, it was probably time to go see her for the morning. The woman had a way of just up and leaving at odds hours of the day. He's lost track of her at least a dozen times during his training, being forced to track her down all over again. Though, if she was gone again today perhaps it was time he headed back to Scarlet Devil Mansion... He missed the company of people who weren't out to get him.

[Overlord Rion]

Abysmal Gather Info go! [roll0]

It appeared Takuya would have to dig into his pockets yet again. Oh joy.

[ZeroNumerous]

Momo

The oni shakes her head. "Mortal money does me little good. I am, however, willing to trade my wares or services for goods and services you might provide. But if you're bound here to the mansion, then there isn't much you can offer me."

Yousuke

Getting to the apartment building Toramaru stayed at is easy enough, but when Yousuke arrives he finds the roof empty. If he checks downstairs, the old smoking woman answers the door. She just shakes her head when asked if she knows where Toramaru went, and then closes the door in Yousuke's face.

Keita

Keita is unable to find any trace of visiting Leaf ninja. When asked, many people point out that the Leaf would not send someone to the Grass, and the Grass would not accept anyone from the Leaf in order to maintain its neutrality.

Takuya

Takuya's able to find out that some rich guy living in the mansion near town recently bragged about acquiring a large turtle. He's been talking about using it to drag his boat around.

[Togath]

Keita;

slumping down against a wall for a moment, Keita ponders this new piece of information.. and tries to think if he did anything that could've messed with his brain enough for him to imagine these things..
"I guess there's not that many options left" he thinks to himself, as he heads to the compound wall, "if I'm hallucinating, then I'm not here.. and if I'm not.. maybe someone inside will still remember yesterday" he mumbles as he prepares to leap over the wall.


actually going to try it this time.
jump(with air walking bonus):[roll0]
Chakra remaining: 73

[ZeroNumerous]

Keita

As soon as Keita crosses the wall he feels a tingling sensation overcome his entire body.

A shout comes from the front gate. "Intruder!"

Immediately the young man can see movement from the nearest buildings, and it's not hard to guess that at least one of the guards are also coming off the gate.

Attempting to move too quickly brings that tingling sensation back, and it turns into the feeling of cramping in his muscles.

Keita needs a DC 15 Fort Save if he tries to move after passing through the barrier. If he fails, he takes 2d6 lightning damage and is unable to move for a round.

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke lands atop the apartment building and blinks at the emptiness of it all, frowning slightly as the wind swirls about the structure. "Well...this was a sign if there ever was any..." Still, it wouldn't do to just up and leave without making some effort to find out where she'd gone. He rolls a sleeve up and gets to work searching the area for any clues but goes about it half-heartedly, not really expecting much for his labors.

Take 20 on Search for 23.

[ZeroNumerous]

Yousuke

Toramaru doesn't leave anything behind pointing to where she's gone next. Unfortunately, that means Yousuke will need to track her down again.

[Togath]

Keita;

Keita tries to free himself from the ward, straining against the tingling feeling.
fort save:[roll0]

Despite his efforts, he somehow falls victim to the snare.

"dammit.." he mutters, as he throws one of his smoke bombs, centered on himself, to hopefully buy enough time to escape.

chakra remaining;
74

[ZeroNumerous]

Keita

The guards arrive, notice the smoke bomb, then immediately hurl several ninjutsu into the smoke.

Keita needs three Reflex Saves at DC 21, 20, and 19. If he fails, he takes full damage. If he succeeds, then he takes half damage unless he has evasion. All of it is Earth damage.

DC 21: [roll0].
DC 20: [roll1].
DC 19: [roll2].

[Togath]

Keita:

Saves:
[roll0] fail
[roll1] fail
[roll2] fail
41 damage after saves+resists

"W-wait I-ack" I'm On Y-, "Your side!" he tries to shout in hopes of at least buying a moment to use a technique.
After nearly dying, he realizes that trying to flee would undoubtedly make things worse and shouts; "P-please no more, I-I surrender!, I Don't want to die here.." while waiting for a response he moves out of the smoke, trying to make himself seem non threatening..

HP: 26, Chakra: 66

[Bad Situation]

Sighing irritably, Yousuke seats himself on the edges of the apartment and peers down at the street that the apartment overlooks. Toramaru never stayed in once place very long so at least he'd expected this. It wasn't as if he didn't have ways to track her down after all. "I wonder what she'll ask of me this time..."

Stretching out leisurely he molds a certain amount of chakra and bites down and tears off the skin his thumb before slamming slamming his series of handseals down onto the top of the apartment. He smiles as the smoke wafts away, waiting for a response. As a ninja born with generally low reserves he'd always been forced to limit his chakra expenditures meaning summoning, as useful as it was, could never be a part of his general skill set. As such it was always something of a treat to bring Kisaragi out into the material world.

[ZeroNumerous]

Keita

The guards frown when Keita makes himself known. They hold him there until Chisato arrives. She crosses her arms and stares down at Keita. "You're a damnable idiot. Do not return to this village." Chisato looks at the guards. "Throw him out of the village. If he returns, then kill him."

The guards obey Chisato's orders, and throw Keita out.

Yousuke

The smoke vanishes to reveal a muscular white tiger in its place. The black-and-white animal glares at Yousuke, but its red eyes soften when it recognizes the young man. Kisaragi sniffs to advance her disdain at being summoned, and then looks around the empty rooftop. "So you've called me to look for Onee-sama?" Kisaragi wouldn't dare refer to the Tiger Sage in any tone less than respectfully. Even if she was human her strength provided her with the respect and authority that rivaled even Kisaragi's father.

She sniffs loudly once more. Then another explosion of smoke obscures her tiger form. In its place stands the lithe humanoid form of the former tigress. She moves over to the abandoned lawn chair, lays down, and kicks off her shoes. "Very well. I'll find her if you can give me a good foot rub."

[Eurus]

Dead ends branching off of dead ends. It had him well and truly stumped. Arguably, the whole exercise was pointless anyway; it wasn't really any of his business. But feeling clueless was a very frustrating thing.

Later that night, when he's at Yasuro's house after work as usual, he decides to bring up the conundrum with the older shinobi. The old man liked a puzzle as much as Masaru did, and perhaps he'd think of some obvious route that Masaru had missed. So in one of the brief moments when neither of them is handling something face-melting, he brings up the subject.

"Do you know much about the Uchiha clan, sensei? I had an... unusual mission, the other day, regarding a shrine."

[Togath]

Keita:

"B-but Chisato-sama, I thought you were in danger, no-one in town remembered the Leaf nin from yesterday, and the information I was given was planted by soemone!" he tries to shout as he's dragged away.

[ZeroNumerous]

Keita

"It was a test you idiot! We wanted to see what we could trust you with. You've proven that you're too paranoid, stupid, or crazy to remain in our village. Just count yourself lucky that we don't kill you."

Masaru

Masaru's mentor looks at him with some confusion. "Everyone knows of the Uchiha, but I've never heard of a shrine tied to them."

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke struggles to keep a straight face at Kisaragi's antics knowing just how haughty the 'princess' tended to be. On one hand it was rather demeaning for him to prostrate himself before her but then, given what he knew of the other summons, giving a foot rub every once in a while was infinitely more preferable to sacrificing virgin blood and the like. Before he gets to the task however he shakes his head and crosses his arms, holding out two fingers for her to see.

"Two, actually. There's a man I met yesterday that's piqued my interest. I don't know if his scent is still strong enough to be tracked but it would please me greatly if you made the attempt at least. It seems we may have to renegotiate those terms, Kisa-kun."

[Togath]

Keita:

Keita is quiet as he's escorted out of the village.
He takes a moment to try to treat his wounds before wandering off, "so I guess it's back to being a sell sword once more.." he murmurs, as he heads off towards Meisungi, to rest for the night and recover from his injuries slight. if he can find a decent inn there anyway.
The next morning, he decides to try to find some sort of employment, in whatever the next largest city in the land of Grass is, after Kusagakure and Meisungi.
If there aren't many other largish cities, he starts journeying towards the land of Fire, planning to try to reach the closest city there.

[Eurus]

"Neither had I. The mission I was assigned was to go clean up a shrine, but nobody seemed to know much about it. There were even rumors that it had been built by the First Sage, as unlikely as that sounds."

"But everything about that mission, and that place, seems... odd. When I got there, a talking cat told me to leave. It said something about the ashes of ancestors being buried there. I would have asked if it meant cats or humans, but that seemed a bit rude."

"The place looked completely abandoned, it was literally crumbling. When I was trying to sweep it out, I fell through the floor and into some kind of secret chamber with an inscribed tablet. I tried to take a tracing of it, but it, er, didn't work. I've heard stories about the great ninja clans hiding their secrets in writings that only their eyes could read, so that's what I assumed I was dealing with."

"So I did some research. I spent every night for a week in the library, and it turns out that the place was apparently part of the village once. A temple that acted as the former home of the Uchiha clan. Which would explain what the cat said... but it seems odd that such an important place would be abandoned."

"When I went back, the hole in the floor was completely fixed. I couldn't find the cat anywhere, and there was no way to get back to that chamber or any sign that it even existed. I'd almost think I dreamed the whole thing."

"Finally, I tried looking into the man who paid for the job in the first place. Since it was just a D mission, I assume the village didn't have much reason to look into him. The address he gave seems to have been fake, and I haven't seen him since."

"So I'm not sure where to go from here. It seems like something's going on, but I can't find the cat, or the man, or the tablet. And I really hate feeling like I'm not getting the whole picture."

[Overlord Rion]

Takuya wasn't really sure what to think of the information, but he figured it wouldn't hurt to check it out. He figured what's the worst that could happen?

You really need to stop thinking that. Something horrible always happens.

Well, then I blast them, dummy.

[Cespenar]

Momo looks at the woman skeptically.

"As I said, I'm staying here under my own free will." She dismisses that with a wave of her hand, though.

"So, do you have anything that could interest me?"

[ZeroNumerous]

Momo

The oni smiles. "Right, right. I apologize for insinuating that the blood of the Sage can be held anywhere."

When Momo requests to see her wares, the oni shakes her head. "I am sorry, but there is little that you can offer me. Though the Dragon lady has much that I would like to trade for."

Yousuke

The tiger woman sighs, then sits up. "So you want to find Onee-sama and this other man? What do you intend to do if they go in different directions? Who do you want to pursue the most?"

Suddenly Kisaragi stops, and sniffs loudly. "It smells like blood. Did you an Onee-sama have a fight?"

Masaru

Masaru's mentor nods and listens intently while the young man tells his story. Then, at the end, he poses an important question to his young charge. "What did you intend to do if you found the man or the cat?"

Keita

Keita's able to find all sorts of jobs in various blue collar positions, but none of them revolve around needing to be a ninja or anything.

Takuya

Takuya is able to track down the mansion where the turtle was supposedly seen. It's a squat two-story building. No one makes themselves known, and the area around the house is gated off. There's no doorman at the gatehouse, so if Takuya wants to get inside then he'll have to do some trespassing.

[Cespenar]

Momo smirks yet another time.

"I'm not sure I'd like your prices anyway," she japes. She otherwise stays silent until they reach Satoko, unless being talked to.

[Overlord Rion]

Welp, this is going to be fun.

Breaking and entering?

Aw yeah. It's a good day to be a Shinobi.

Takuya walks up the nearest wall he can and looks out into the yard of the mansion, trying to see where he could safely drop without being seen. And if he was seen going up to the fence...well, then things would get more fun.

[Eurus]

Masaru opens his mouth to reply, then stops, and sighs. "...I suppose just asking them what's going on would be a bit too far on the optimistic side. I was hoping I could get some answers if I found them, but if the man lied the first time around, he presumably wants to keep his secrets. And the cat just doesn't seem to like me."

Masaru's social skills weren't spectacular either, but that went without saying. Maybe a more competent shinobi could sniff out lies or subtly extract the truth, or simply befriend a damn cat, but if it didn't come in a vial, it wasn't really his area of expertise.

"I just... don't understand any of this. It's odd enough for temple that's been abandoned for years to be suddenly getting interest, even without all this oddness. If it was about the tablet, why not just go get it himself? It wasn't exactly well hidden, I literally fell through the floor with the first step. It was practically presented to me on a silver platter. Which... is an interesting thought, if a little self-indulgent, but seems unlikely on several levels."

"But if it's about something else, then I can't imagine what. I don't know, maybe I should let it go before the whole thing drives me as insane as those Uchihas."

[Togath]

Keita;

Keita journeys toward the Leaf, since even he's heard that it's a large village, and ought to have something interesting..
When he reaches the gate, he does his best to seem inconspicuous and non-threatening, and makes sure none of his headbands are visible.

[Bad Situation]

Yousuke is caught off-guard by the question and is silent for a long time before answering. "Well, we had a minor disagreement yesterday but she didn't seem very interested in punishing me for it. There was a man though, by the name of Yoshikita who called himself the 'Tiger Killer'. He left the city on relatively peaceful terms when it appeared that Onee-san would not meet him but I suppose he could have come back...or it could be that sensei tracked him down herself..."

Shaking his head at the thought he asks, "Can you tell who has been up here then? Is it onee-san's blood you smell?"

[ZeroNumerous]

Momo

The oni just smiles back at Momo.

Returning to Satoko takes some time, but eventually the trio arrive at the front of the mansion. The snake woman stands at the dock with any entrance into the mansion blocked by her imposing visage. The blue-haired woman glares at the oni as it approaches, but eventually she looks at Momo. "I am glad you brought this thing to me to be disposed of. To fight a creature like that would have put you and Suzunabu in danger."

The oni raises her hands in a defensive posture. "Oh, please, do not think I am here to cause trouble. I simply wished to trade. I am a craftsman and peddler by nature, and I do not approach with a naked sword. Please, allow me to speak my piece."

Satoko frowns at the oni deeply, then turns back to Momo. "Has she tried anything funny?"

Keita

The guards refuse Keita entry at first. They ask that he wait beside the gate so that someone can come and ask Keita the standard questions for shinobi entering the Leaf village. The guards also remind Keita that he'll need a pass in order to get into the village.

Masaru

Yasuro nods. "Well... If you didn't think you'd get answers, and you have no leads... Then why let it consume you like this? There's no way to force the old man or the cat to reveal their secrets, and it's not like you're going to go back and desecrate a gravesite just to satisfy your curiosity, right? So don't think too hard on it."

Takuya

The wall, being a fence and not a wall at all, does nothing to block the sight of anyone watching from the mansion. If someone were looking, then they would have seen Takuya approach long before he decided to break in. But regardless, no one makes themselves known if Takuya jumps the wall.

Yousuke

Kisaragi practically bears her teeth when Yousuke calls Toramaru "onee-san". Sure, she'd heard it plenty of times before, but it would likely never sit well with her. Nonetheless, she does respond to Yousuke's question. "It smells like something other than Onee-sama, but it's definitely not a human. I only smell Onee-sama around this chair", She points to the lawn chair, "but I smell the thing all over the roof."

[Cespenar]

Momo shakes her head.

"No, and I think she really is who she says she is, a craftsman and a peddler. But of dangerously strong wares. Artifacts even," she adds with a foreboding tone. "She aims to wrestle a deal from you, Satoko-sama."

[Overlord Rion]

Takuya lands on the ground on the other side of the fence. There didn't seem to be anyone around, which was interesting. The rich guy wasn't so rich after all. You'd think he could afford a guard or two at least.

In any case, Takuya looks around the outside of the house, and then tries the back door if there is one.

[Togath]

Keita:

he waits for the questioning, and asks about where to get a pass..
He does his best not to let on that he was banned from the Grass, and tries to make it seem more like he's just a traveling mercenary or some-such.

[Eurus]

Sighing, Masaru nods. "Yeah. Not all questions get answers, I suppose. I'm sure nothing will come of it, but I'll file a follow-up report anyway so they can't blame me if anything pops up."