Stranger in a Strange Land

[Golnax]

The Land of Fire was aptly named to one such as Aimi Kaguya who was visiting it out of sheer whimsy. In truth this had been the first destination in mind when Kasai, the Mizukage, had given him the go ahead and a single years' worth of time to go out into the world unfettered and grow stronger. Since leaving Kirigakure he had certainly gained some strength, travelling to more remote areas of the globe where he could hone his more destructive abilities in peace, but skilled as he was his acquisition of strength hadn't taken much time. Arguably he had already gained enough that, should he chose to, he could return to Kasai at the end of his year, present his results and still keep his rank and freedom as bannin! Naturally he wouldn't stop until the full year was up, but it did leave him with actual free time on his hand to do... whatever he wanted. And something he had always wanted to do was visit - actually visit - the Land of Fire.

He had been there several times before on missions, scouting out this, tailing such and such, assassinating someone who tried to flee Water, the usual fare. But something he'd always really hung on to was the feel of the climate in the Land of Fire. While not technically all that much different from the weather in Kirigakure, both generally being tropical (at least the coasts of Fire were, as they were by and large the furthest he'd been allowed to get into the place), the lack of an oppressive mist that partially blocked the sun every second of every day that the sun was up gave the Land of Fire the impression of being... warm by comparison, ironically enough. As a staunch user of only fire ninjutsu (in one form or another) all his life, naturally Aimi appreciated a bit of warmth on his bare skin. Thus Fire had always held an appeal to him that made him want to explore the continent further.

This, of course, did not mean that he was necessarily a free man to do as he liked even with his new rank of bannin. Aimi was no fool and knew full well that Fire was no friend of Water. If he wanted to do any exploring on his own spare time he would need to do it incognito. That was exactly what he chose to do. Simply by pulling his white cloak up from where it was usually bunched at his belt and wearing it properly, picking up a pair of wooden sandals (perhaps the least inoffensive shoe he could stomach), changing the skeletal structure of his face to be rounder, smoother, and all around more soft and friendly looking and picking up a large straw hat to bunch his long white hair up into, Aimi Kaguya was more or less perfectly disguised to wander the continent as he saw fit! After all if his face didn't match what was in the BINGO book, was he really Aimi Kaguya?

A final and crucial touch to make his disguise perfect, however, was to make his chakra signature like that of an ordinary mans'. There were plenty of wandering ronin and samurai in the world, after all, and he looked the part - but a single glance from a sensory ninjutsu that could measure how much chakra he had would give him away as not your typical samurai in an instant, and if Fire was anything like Water was there was the potential for eyes to be everywhere that belonged to shinobi or kunoichi. Thus it was necessary for Aimi to forcibly close off his tenketsu, sealing the 8 inner gates inside of himself and leaving him with drastically reduced physical abilities and a tiny amount of chakra. Who needed to go places fast, anyways? He was on vacation and the point was the look around! Walking places suited him just fine even if he couldn't fly safely. He'd gone the first handful of years of his life without wings so what was walking to him now anyways?

Thus disguised both physically and in terms of chakra, Aimi Kaguya walked through the Land of Fire. He went from town to town, asking people directions as politely as he could (he was used to simply demanding answers and them being given to him), stopping and getting some rest, food, whatever he needed. He was absorbing the culture of Fire and, honestly? It was kind of nice to be a nobody that no one recognized! In Water he was a celebrity equal in status only by the Mizukage and other bannin. Here? Beyond his entry in the BINGO book? He was no one. Just an ordinary, friendly-faced ronin looking for a place to lay his head and get a good bite to eat. Who didn't like wandering samurai?

This was how Aimi found himself to be in a small city towards the middle of the continent named Tengaryu. A sleepy little town that didn't seem to have a lot of hustle and bustle and, more importantly, very little shinobi activity by the looks of things. Buildings were spaced far enough apart that you could get a cart or two lead by a horse or ox through them, the roads were dirt and the entire place that wasn't a road was surrounded by those ever present trees that were such a rarity in Water (Kiri, more like) and much such a fine noise whenever the wind picked up! Aimi felt absolute confidence that he would remain undetected as he had been for some time now as he went into this place and began to seek out a good place to eat for cheap (or labor, as he had found to be the case in some places!). He had absolutely no expectations of this being any different from anywhere else he'd gone to in his disguise.

How. Wrong. He. Would. Be.

Jutsu ActiveShow

Death Bone Pulse • Master of Disguise
A-Ranked Taijutsu Maneuver
By ossifying bones throughout their entire body, the user is able to change their entire skeletal structure. With this jutsu, the user is able to drastically alter their facial structure, allowing them to change the look of their face. With enough practice, the user can even take on the appearance of others. In addition, the user may also change the skeletal structure of their body, allowing them to grow or shrink by inches. This kind of change is limited, however, as the user must be careful not to loosen their musculature from their bones too much or else cause sever damage due to severed muscles. Because of this, the user may only change their height by 6 inches in either direction. The user is able to make these changes at a speed equal to their [Speed].

[Ignorance Is Bliss]
S-Ranked Taijutsu Stance
Prerequisite: 45 Control, [Heavenly Body Control], [Rigid Structure]
The saying 'ignorance is bliss' is not just an apt name for this stance, but also true in many cases. Using this Stance, the user tenses their body up in such a way that they limit their physical capabilities severely. The user's muscles become tense and rigid, severely hampering physical movement and strength capabilities. More impressive, though, is the restrictions placed upon the tenketsu system. While in this stance, the 8 inner gates are closed off, leaving the user with only a severely limited chakra pool to draw upon. This Stance places a -40 stat debuff on the user's Strength, Speed and Chakra Pool for as long as they maintain the Stance. Once assumed, even a direct look at the user with sensory ninjutsu will be fooled. Once this Stance is broken, the 8 gates are all thrown open at once, resulting in a sudden, massive influx to the user's chakra that is momentarily visible and palpable to anyone within an X meter radius of the user, where X is equal to the user's [Chakra Pool] as chakra bursts out of every tenketsu and forms a 'cloud' around the user. Anyone within this area of effect who's Strength is less than the users’ [Chakra Pool] is afflicted by a tremendous sense of nausea that lasts a number of posts equal to the difference between the users’ [Chakra Pool] and the affected's [Endurance]. If a person's [Strength] is 10 or more less than the users’ [Chakra Pool], they will be unable to prevent themselves from vomiting. If a persons’ [Strength] is 20 or more less than the users’ [Chakra Pool], they will be unable to prevent themselves from passing out for 1 post. The user must maintain this Stance for a minimum of 5 posts before breaking it once assumed to achieve this effect.

[Kaitos10]

This was Haruka first mission she was happily leaving the village, she already was quite familiar with the land of fire. But still was nice to see other places and people again. She was casually walking as soon as she was outside the gates she would start bombarding her mentor with questions like, “ what do we do for this mission? Any idea on where we’re going?” As well as much more, after she was done mentally exhausting them she would then get some energy out a different way by first taking out her ear plugs and storing them away safely and then running towards there destination though her speed compared to his probably wasn’t much. But still she tried her best to either out pace or at least keep up with him.

After some time passed she eventually got tired and started to slow down. After that she would walk for a bit and recovering some energy and after awhile it started to rain and she didn’t like the rain so she quickly said “I know a cave or a town nearby which should we pick!” She was running in place anxiously each second that it took him to reply seemed like forever. The moment he said a option she took off like a bat out of hell and headed straight to the option he picked.

When they finally reached the destination and we’re outside the rain Haruka collapsed from exhaustion and said grumpily “I hate the rain” she then tried to get her hair and body dry and when she was done she would turn to her mentor and say “so any idea when the rain will end? Do you think it’s to early to go to sleep for the night?” She would then wait for his response and if he said they could go to sleep then she definitely would.

[Izanagi]

Yozei was rather relieved to get a seemingly simple escort mission and he was even given a Genin to take along. The teenager didn’t mind kids at all though, but he had never really seen himself as much of a mentor figure except to his younger siblings, a pair of 6-year-old twins as well as an adopted girl only a year younger than himself. The teenager had only been promoted to Special Jounin a few months ago and hadn’t considered that the village might be considering him as a potential Sensei, perhaps this was their way of testing how he worked with fresh Genin, though he still felt too young and inexperienced with teaching to consider such a role for himself.

The handsome, auburn-haired, blue-eyed young man greeted the girl warmly as they met outside the front gates. She seemed rather energetic and enthusiastic which made him smile, that was always preferable to the sullen and pensive types. He laughed lightly as she asked about the mission, “Of course I know where we’re going. Just down to Mizuno village. You’ll find out the rest when we get there” he teased, testing her patience. It was a simple escort mission in truth, bringing in a valuable shipment and ensuring the caravan arrived back to Konoha safely. He would answer her other questions, similarly, giving some details but playfully dodging other questions and leaving some answers vague until gradually he simply smiled and let her keep talking with no real response.

He followed along only a little behind her as she ran, he had no issue with making a good pace toward their destination, it was all the way to the south coast of Fire country and would take most of a day. Their contact was supposed to be there tomorrow and wait for them so they weren’t exactly in a rush but it was still good practice to be able to travel swiftly and build up ones conditioning. [‘Her ears and tail, like a cat version of Aunt Masami’ he mused, watching the energetic girl run ahead. He had noticed when he first met her of course but it was still rather uncommon to see such body modifications or genetic anomalies. Of course, the young man was far to polite to bring any kind of attention to such things.

After traveling for a couple hours, the rain began to pour down, which even Yozei wasn’t very fond of. It wasn’t like he was his dad and could simply command the water to create a barrier around himself or instantly dry. He considered the options as Haruka practically begged to stop somewhere to dry off. He could easily manage to dry them with Katon ninjutsu if they took shelter in a cave but a town was always preferable and he was quite familiar with the land as well. Tengaryu was just a few miles out of the way. “We’ll go to the town” he decided, chuckling lightly as she wasted no time in taking off again. ‘She sure is energetic’ he thought, smiling again as the rain-soaked through his medium length hair and down his forehead protector. His long sleeve deep red shirt and dark grey pants were soaked. As always at the left side of his hip, he carried his family sword, passed down through the royal families of Fire country. As they entered the small town, they took shelter under the overhang of a small restaurant. He wasn’t even sure if there was an inn in a place like this, it was mostly a simple village of farmers with some come and go for trade, a few basic stores and services for locals. “We can dry off inside, get some soup or tea and warm up a little but we’ll have to be on our way again as soon as the rain lets up” he decided. It was only the afternoon; they were a little over halfway to their destination but would have a full day of travel back to Konoha the next day and couldn’t afford to stay the night already.

[Golnax]

Ah, rain. Fire wasn't immune to it after all but it was an uncomfortable reminder of home all the same. As the afternoon shifted towards cloudy skies and the downpour began, Aimi found himself seeking shelter as most people did. Simply standing outside underneath one of the building overhangs wouldn't due because of the dirt roads - he had no desire to make his wrappings any more muddy than they already were. No, he instead headed inside of the small restaurant, likely the newest building in the whole town, unwrapping his feet at the door and asking if they could be washed while he sat inside, had a bite to eat, and waited out the rain. His request was met with begrudging acceptance, if only because he promised to pay money.

So it was that Aimi Kaguya took a seat, barefooted, at a small table out of the way on the floor for there were no chairs. He sat and ordered some food when a waitress came over, passed over a bit of extra ryo because of the hassle of his wrappings, and sat waiting quietly for his food, listening to the rain. As he waited and listened he heard a pair speaking outside, a boy and a girl from the sound of it, debating on whether they should wait out the rain here or not. Ultimately they decided to and in they stepped. Aimi didn't turn to look at them and was content to drip rain water on the floor around him off of his hat. The waitress returned with his food a short time after the pair entered and he quietly thanked her before returning his attention to the pair. He doubted that there was anything special about them, but, to be safe...

[Kaitos10]

After he answered her questions she would reply saying “awwww that’s no fun.....” then start pouting and ran off toward there destination. Until she got tired but when it finally started to rain and he said they would be going to a nearby town to escape the rain so she got another burst of energy and quickly ran full speed till they reached the town. Once they got there and were safely under a roof she would bend over and start panting heavily as she was totally exhausted. When he started talking to her she just nodded still catching her breath and her stomach growled causing her to blush and walked inside with her sensei.

As soon as she headed inside she could hear all the conversations going on inside she was tempted to put her ear plugs in but since she was still on a mission she figured it wasn’t a good idea just in case. So she tried to practice tuning them out and focusing on only useful or interesting noises or relevant conversations. As soon as they sat down at there table she would quickly order one of everything on the menu. Getting some shocked glances from around the area and would wait for her food to arrive before digging in like a ravenous piranha.

After a few minutes she had eaten everything on the table, leaving a sky high stack of plates and bowls next to her. She would then smile and say “ahhhhh that hit the spot im stuffed.” A clearly happy and content look on her face she would then look at her sensei and say “how was your food sensei” it came close but she almost forgot to use her inside voice thankfully she remembered at the last minute. She would then look outside to see if it was still raining.

[Izanagi]

Yozei looked around the restaurant as they entered, it was somewhat busy, at least a dozen customers taking up about half the space available. It seemed like mostly locals enjoying the seemingly newer restaurant, filled with a pleasant aroma and warm food on this rainy day. Though even in a small town such as this in Fire country it wasn’t uncommon to see travelers or shinobi stopping in on their way in on out of the country or during a patrol. As such nobody seemed to pay them much attention as they entered despite Yozei’s leaf emblazoned forehead protector on full display, though Haruka’s ears and tails did get some brief looks and hushed whispers.

The staff of course greeted them warmly and soon a waitress came t take their order after the duo took a seat on the ground at a table at one side of the building. The teenage Special Jounin felt rather relaxed and was not the naturally paranoid sort and felt no reason to be on guard at all. The server came to him first and he simply ordered tea, a large bowl of miso soup and some assorted tempura. A fairly light lunch that would warm him up and give him some extra energy. Yozei’s cerulean blue eyes widened in disbelief as Haruka made her order, and actually, it brought about a sense of awkward embarrassment. Surely, she wouldn’t be able to eat all of that and both he and the waitress realized that. It would be incredibly wasteful and disrespectful to the chef though the one saving grace was at least it would support the small business. Yozei had to wonder though if the Genin could even afford all of that or if she expected him to pay. ‘Do I even have enough Ryo?’ he began to wonder, mentally calculating the cost of it all. He still had to keep enough for the inn when they made it to Mizuno and then any expenses that might come up on the following day. Once the waitress left he asked Haruka in a hushed tone. “Can you really pay for that?” he asked. If they were quick they could cancel some of the orders.

It seemed the girl insisted on her feast however and after a while it all came out a few dishes at a time. Yozei drank his tea and soup slowly, savoring the warmth filling his belly as well as digging in to the hearty pieces of various fried vegetables, blowing out gentle wafts of steam. He didn’t speak while he ate and tried not to stare as the girl devoured plate after plate of food. When she finally finished her assault on the principles of lunch, Yozei simply stared at her straight-faced. “It was good. You know I’m not going to carry you, right? If you can’t keep up I’ll leave you behind” he teased, cupping his tea after the server refilled it and taking a small sip. He didn’t envy them trying to stack and carry all the dishes back at once.

[Golnax]

Shinobi. Not good. A small peek over his shoulder revealed to Aimi the leaf insignia on the headband of the clearly older shinobi, the pair of them taking a seat and ordering a ludicrous amount of food. The restaurant was fairly busy all things considered, the locals probably using this restaurant as a hang out spot as of late, but even so it was easy to hear them speak (and the girl scarf for that matter) over the general noise. They seemed... cheerful enough.

That didn't make them safe, though. As ninja of the Leaf, they were duty bound to attack him on sight if they detected his presence. Thus far he had gone unnoticed and he wanted it to stay that way. He didn't want to draw too much attention to himself so he ate slowly, kept his back to the two, sat relaxed and occasionally gave them a glance like the majority of the people inside, just to give the allusion that he was an ordinary customer, just a travelling ronin. Nothing more. Once he was finished, long before she was, he sat for a while and digested, keeping his ears open and his eyes occasionally on the pair of ninja. When he got the chance he quietly pulled the waitress aside and asked about his wrappings, telling her that he had finished and would like to leave. She hustled back to gather his wrappings and brought them over, clean as new and rolled up. He reached out and took them from her, thanked her, placed some ryo on the table to pay for his food and then started to wrap his feet up.

The moment he was done Aimi stood up and headed for the door after bowing to the waitress who bowed back to him. He didn't rush, he didn't do anything that would overtly draw attention to himself. He just needed to make it outside and far enough away that he could open his tenketsu safely, then he'd be so far away from there that it didn't matter that he'd almost come face to face with some Konoha ninja. He just needed to step out of the door and into the rain...

[Kaitos10]

After they ordered her sensei would asks if she could pay for it and she thought for a bit and said “maybe I could pay for half of it but I thought my nice amazing and generous sensei would pay for it” she would then assume her cute favor face and her eyes seemed to get bigger and cuter as she looked on and waited for his response if he if he agreed she would say “yay! Thanks sensei!” Then get ready for her food and when it came would devour it all. Then after during there after meal conversation she would respond by saying “I’ll be fine, my mom always said I had the appetite of a akamichi what ever that means”

She would then look on sadly staring at her lap as that reminded her of her mom and she remembered she was alone and no longer had her and a bunch of other sad things. After a few minutes passed she realized she had been zoning out looking sadly so she tried to cheer herself up and fake a smile then said “so now that we have eaten what do you want to do till the rain stops? It hasn’t been that long has it? What do you think they have to do around here?”

She would then try to ignore it as she notices yet another person leave the building and wait for her sensei response she hoped he had a idea, on what to do she hated siting still doing nothing more then the rain. In fact there were very few things she hated more, after her sensei answered she would start tapping her foot absent mindedly as she tried to think of what to do. She would then if her sensei was paying she would go outside and look at what everyone was doing.

[Izanagi]

When Haruka pulled out the cute look he knew he couldn’t resist. It reminded him of his little sister, Kaori whenever she wanted him to buy her something or sneak her an extra treat. He rolled his eyes reluctantly, “Alright, fine” he conceded with a slight smile at her gratitude and excitement. He wasn’t sure what to say or do when she started looking sad after talking about her mother. Yozei was perceptive enough to gather that either her mom had died or was otherwise not involved in her life anymore. But Yozei was too polite to intervene in personal matters when he still hardly knew the girl, he would however keep it in mind in case it ever came up again.

While there were a few minutes of awkward silence as the table was cleared and the bill was brought over, Yozei noted the wandering samurai leave the building. It wasn’t an uncommon sight, but the man’s white hair did briefly catch his attention, enough to spare a glance but not be particularly concerned. White hair was typically a sign of old age and certainly, elderly swordsmen were far less common, especially ones that still traveled around though the man seemed well built. Still, there were enough circumstances, explanations, and exceptions that he didn’t think on it too much. The young Konoha shinobi glanced out the rain, it had slowed marginally, it wasn’t a downpour any longer though it wasn’t exactly light sprinkles either. He contemplated time management as Haruka impatiently asked what else they could do. “Likely not much” he admitted, he still didn’t particular like hanging around in small towns like these, everything seemed too simple and barely held together, the people living to work and affording little time toward personal pleasures. “We should get moving again then” he admitted, standing as he took the pill and moved to the owner to pay, carefully counting out the array of bills and coin. While he did so he made sure to keep aware if anyone was watching him a little too closely and sizing up his coin purse. He wasn’t sure why but all of a sudden, he was feeling less at ease and eager to get moving, a gut instinct perhaps.

Following Haruka out of the building he would pull the light hood of his sweater over his head. It was still quite damp and hardly made a difference, but it helped keep him a little warmer. Moving at a walking pace until they left the town, he would lead the Genin under his charge on their way toward their destination near the south coast of Fire country. His demeanor was more serious and purposeful now and he hoped the travel would go smoothly. It was a few hours away at most.

[Kaitos10]

After she had ate everything she sat there digesting for a bit just laying there relaxing she enjoyed the meal and it’s been awhile since she got to eat out like that. She wondered what this mission would be like when she started to get bored and fidgety so about a minute or so after her sensei went to pay the bill. She would then go over and say “I’m going to take a break outside meet you out there!”

If her sensei was fine with that, she would then quickly rush outside and bump into the samurai in the hood knocking off his hood causing her to panic and say “sorry didn’t see you there didn’t mean to bump into you!” She would then notices the bruises on his head and then bow real quick before saying “are you ok? Your forehead is all bruised up?”

She wondered who this person was, why was his forehead bruised, while talking to him she would be listening to his heart beat to try and make it more difficult for him to lie to her just in case since most people’s heart beat increases when they lie. Suddenly all sorts of possibilities of who he could be ran through her head, She wondered if she would be able to beat him or at least stall him till her sensei arrived, if he was a bad person. She got ready to use her chakra enhanced strength jutsu just in case she needed to try to stop him from Leaving.

He didn’t seem like your average wandering samurai so she was getting very curious and wanted to know his name as well as who this person is.

[Golnax]

The rain clattered against Aimis' straw hat as he made his way south down the mud road of Tengaryu, dripping over the brim like a running faucet. His head was tilted forward and his eyes were more or less on the ground as he walked as fast as he was able to without looking like he was fleeing. He needed to get out of town and far enough away that he could relax his body and actually move. Just a little further. It was only a short walk and then he'd be out of harms' way entirely.

Of course it didn't happen, though. Not half a minute after he came out of the restaurant was he followed by none other than the two shinobi, one after the other, the younger one first who came running down the road with reckless abandon. Running - running towards him! He knew this because he had lifted his head and looked back over his shoulder ever so slightly, just as he knew, gradually, that he was trapped in this moment. The world seem to slow down as he considered possibilities. She was running right at him and he could have stepped out of the way, but that might have seemed suspicious as though he were expecting her to do so. He could have released his tenketsu and been out of there in a blink but no, that might give them incentive to try and track him down. He could have turned around to face her as she came barreling towards him but that would have been the same issue as dodging. He'd risk looking like he knew they were coming.

Ultimately there was only one thing he could do to maintain his façade and that was to take the blow as she ran into him clumsily. Her body collided with his and he stopped in his tracks in the mud and the rain, his hat falling off of his head and the cool rain falling on top of his long white hair that came spilling out from underneath the confines of the straw. He stood still for a moment as she apologized and asked about his forehead... which was weird? Did she... did she not immediately understand that he was a Kaguya by the bruising alone? Did Konoha not teach their young shinobi how to spot enemy ninja based on certain key characteristics?

There were plenty of questions but no time to dwell on them. She didn't seem to know that he was a Kaguya by the bruising and the hair so he had to use that to his advantage. As he came to this realization he simply stood there in the rain motionless as a statue before turning away from her and kneeling down to pick his hat up from the mud. He pulled his left arm up and threw his sleeve back with the motion before swiping the mud that had gotten on his hat off and placing it back on his head before holding his left hand out so that the rain could wash it away. "Yes, I'm fine. It's nothing," he said while doing all of this. "Excuse me," he said before turning and trying to walk away again.

She might not have known how to spot a Kaguya, but what about her companion? The white hair alone wasn't enough, he knew that, but if he'd seen the bruises like she had then he could be in serious trouble. He needed to get away from these people!

[Izanagi]

Yozei sighed and shook his head as the energetic girl ran outside while he was paying, she was certainly right about the large meal not slowing her down any. Making haste as to not leave her to get into any trouble without his supervision he followed her out as soon as he was done and took to a moderate jog himself to start to bridge the distance. He was about to scold her as she ran right up to the man that had left before them, but it seemed the thought was futile as she ended up knocking right into him.

It seemed like a harmless enough accident at first, though the young Special Jounin was wary about the strangers’ reaction. Wandering samurai, especially any that might be a bit older could often be very irritable and quick to anger. Though as the man's hat flew off he caught a glimpse of the distinct circular marks on his forehead as well as a better view of the white hair and strong features. This was not an older samurai at all but rather a warrior in his prime, a past or present shinobi of Kirigakure.

As soon as the man turned his back, Yozei flew into a lightning-fast short series of hand seals, reacting instinctively as his mind raced. He had to question this man, capture him if possible and discover the truth of his identity. If it was a misunderstanding, he would be released but if he was a threat to Konoha he would be captured. “Haruka, get back” he ordered as the Doton wall emerged just in front of Aimi. It was a simple barricade jutsu, a deterrent to test his opponent’s commitment to secrecy more than anything. The action would only be a statement to not progress any further. “Don’t move stranger” he said as he advanced closer, left hand at the sheath of his sword while the right hovered above the grip, though this was largely a distraction as his foot surged with a brief glow of chakra before shifting as he tapped it to the ground, resulting in a more powerful and faster formation of Doton that emerged from the ground under Aimi in an attempt to restrain the man’s feet and ankles. “Who are you, and why are you in Fire country?” he questioned, his tone low and even. Despite his youth, when Yozei got serious he was a remarkable force to be reckoned with and he felt confident that he could defeat most opponents.

Jutsu UsedShow

Doton • Blockade
D-Rank Ninjutsu
After performing the correct hand seals the user will form a solid stone wall up to 10 meters away from them at [5] speed. The wall has [5] strength and is 5x5x2 meters large.

*Doton • Binding Formation
D-Rank Ninjutsu
After channeling doton chakra into their foot the user will slam the ground within 5 meters of a target's feet with their heel, causing a formation of rock to shoot upwards at [20] speed binding the target's feet at [20] strength

[Kaitos10]

Haruka would be standing there suspiciously wondering who this guy is and what there like or even if he’s in danger. As she keeps listening to his heart beat get louder as he answers her questions making her even more suspicious she was about to call him out on it when out of no where she hears her sensei and moves backwards as fast as she can. If she’s able she would keep moving until she was behind her sensei, then she would look on curiously at the man then say to her sensei “uhhhh who is that guy? Is he dangerous? Why not just knock him out first then restrain him properly?“

She would then get ready to do what ever her sensei needed her to. Though depending on how dangerous this person is she may just have to run, which would really suck, she hated not being able to help out but she did kind of understand why. At her current strength she wouldn’t be able to do much against bigger threats, but didn’t mean she had to like it. It also didn’t make it hurt any less when people got hurt defending her, but that way a issue for another day. For now they had to just focus on there mission and hope everything would turn out ok in the end.

[Golnax]

Of course the other one had seen as well. Aimi stopped in his tracks as the wall of wet earth popped up in front of him, placing the bannin in a literal position of a rock and a hard place. Behind him he could hear the boy telling him not to move and the wet sound of his foot steps through the mud. He called Aimi 'stranger' which meant that, if nothing else, his cover wasn't completely blown. His face looked nothing like it normally did so he wasn't going to be outed as Aimi Kaguya just yet. It occurred to him in that moment that he still had a chance, however slim, of getting out of this. His eyes focused on the wall in front of him. Even with his body so rigid he could perhaps cut through it with his sword if need be. If it came to that -

No time to consider the possibility further as more wet earth shot up from around his feet and clamped down on his ankles. Hard. He recognized that strength of jutsu as something that he wouldn't be capable of breaking out of in his current state. He'd just had his leg wrappings cleaned, too. Looking down at his restrained legs he knew that his options were running lower and lower. A quick tensing tug of his left leg proved what he already knew; he wasn't going to break out of this. Not without releasing his tenketsu first, and if he did that...

A question was asked of him and his eyes moved back up. There was a moment of silence between them as the rain poured down and made pitter patter noises against the three of them and the ground below, the buildings and his hat. "I'm just passing through, not looking for any trouble, shinobi," he answered partially. "I'm no one of consequence. Why don't you release this mud from around my feet and let me walk out of town, out of your lives forever?" he offered. It was, he feared, the only offer he was going to be able to make. If it was turned down, well.

He'd just have to fight to get away.

[Izanagi]

Yozei could feel the tension in the air. There was something about this man that felt familiar, an unspoken confidence and hidden power. Most commoners would not be nearly so calm and collected having a wall block their path out of nowhere and earthen shackles clamp down on their ankles with great strength. He seemed unable to escape for the time being though Yozei was a cautious and intelligent young man, he had been trained by the best Konoha had to offer and was not nearly as reckless as his father and stepmother. Though he may be more relaxed than either of them in his day-to-day life, once he was on guard, he was far more thorough and careful. “There’s no need to resort to violence, we just want to talk” he assured his subordinate who had suggested knocking him out. However, the teenage Special Jounin was already very prepared for a fight and simply was attempting to gauge the intent of this man and lower his guard.

The young man began forming hand seals, slowly and casually at first, doing his best to not portray any hostile intent. “I just have a few questions and then you’ll be on your way. I appreciate your understanding and patience.” He explained politely, bowing his head slightly, “Let me get those restraints off you” he added as he completed his handseals. If allowed to complete the sequence, surely enough the mans feet would be allowed to break free from the ground, though not entirely unrestrained. Rather than retracting into the ground the earthen restraints broke off from the surface of the earth and shifted further up, forming only around his ankles and calves. They would be heavy enough to slow him and deter him running off without actually holding him in place. A moment after doing so a pair of chunks of earth would fly out from the wall behind Aimi, aiming to fasten around the mans wrists and forearms in a similar manner, moving at about 20 speed. “Now, I’ll ask again. What is a Kaguya of Kirigakure doing in Fire country?” he questioned. Both the restraints on his ankles and the ones on his wrists were under his complete control, hardened with the full strength of his chakra. He had made up his mind to capture this man and bring him back to Konoha the moment he had seen the marks on his forehead that accompanied that white hair, tell-tell signs of the infamous clan from the hidden mist village. His own intuition and familiarity with S-rank targets led him to believe their was a high probability that this man was none other than the legendary Kaguya Aimi, a man he had seen compete in Star Country, a semi-finalist like himself in the same tournament. Each of them had fought a Kage that day and lost but there was no question that both were remarkably powerful shinobi. If he were to get serious from the start it was likely Yozei wouldn’t be able to defeat him, but now the advantage was staggeringly in his favor, or at least that’s what he believed.

Jutsu UsedShow

Doton • Superior Terra Infusion
A-rank Ninjutsu
After performing the needed hand seals the user places any part of their body onto a body of earth this infuses up to a 8m x 8m x 8m volume of earth to be manipulated with terrakinesis, this infusion lasts until the end of the thread

*[Terrakinesis]
A-rank Ninjutsu
Having achieved notable mastery over Doton, the user is capable of shaping, directing, and manipulating existing bodies of the element without the need of hand seals or an existing technique. The range at which the user can manipulate the element is equal to the user's control times 2 metres. While the user can freely manipulate this element, they cannot produce the element naturally.

[Kaitos10]

Haruka looked on suspiously from behind her sensei wondering what is going on even she could feet the tension. She then curiously asked in child like innocence “you never said if he was dangerous or not? If he’s not dangerous why go to such extravagant lengths and just not question him normally? If he is dangerous then why risk him escaping and not just knock him out and take him back to be officially interrogated? “ this was all clearly, way above her head she definitely had no idea why certain steps were being taken and certain steps weren’t.

It was a very confusing and stressful situation plus it was bringing back plenty of bad memories. Haruka really hated being so powerless it even saying it was extremely upsetting would be a understatement. She really hoped this would turn out differently for both selfish and selfless reasons, though sadly it was too soon to tell for sure so far but it was looking pretty good for there side problem is she had this bad feeling that it could spiral out of control at any moment and turn into a worse case scenario. Though hopefully that doesn’t happen but question was if it did what would she do?

[Golnax]

The disparity in experience between the two shinobi was palpable. The younger girl, the genin, questioned why the older boy, a chunin or perhaps a special jounin, was acting the way he was without a clear sign of danger, asking why they didn't just render Aimi unconscious before bringing him in. Her fellow shinobi was experienced enough to know that appearances, especially in the shinobi world, were oft deceiving and it was worth being more careful and cautious with an unknown element and enemy. He was attempting to remain calm and collected, alert, questioning Aimi while making false claims about removing the earth around his legs. In truth he merely moved the earth slightly higher up while also binding his hands. The Kaguya did nothing to stop him from doing this.

He was silent at the questioning and once again the rain filled the silence. Aimi ran through his options while the quiet dominated the air. At this point, he hadn't been identified as Aimi Kaguya, but his clan heritage had been made known. He was bound by a shinobi who used doton ninjutsu accompanied by a naïve genin. He could run, and he would get away, but he couldn't safely wander around Fire country for a while. Not with this face, anyways, and he would have to be far more careful about his disguises. He might even have to wear actual clothing! He could let himself be captured but that option was quickly discarded. What good would it do him to have members of the ANBU interrogate him endlessly in some dark cell in some undisclosed location? They'd probably just imprison him when they figured out he was nigh unkillable. What to do? What to do?

Then, of course, there was the matter of these shinobi to consider. What to do about them? He'd been detained in the street, sure, and he was being questioned, but it occurred to him that that was... different from how he was taught to do. While not necessarily better, Aimi knew that were this situation reversed and they had been caught in Water Country by Kirigakure shinobi, they likely would have been stalked and then assassinated whenever was most convenient. No questions, no hesitation, just a swift, brutal end for the enemies of Kirigakure whatever their purpose might have been. Imprisonment and interrogation (read as torture) by ANBU was little better, but it was different, and that meant something. Something that the bannin couldn't quite put his finger on...

Then it occurred to him! A sudden epiphany like a bolt of lightning! Aimi Kaguya saw an opportunity here.

The ousted ninja stood shackled and in the rain without saying a word for several moments. Honestly it was probably getting a bit awkward, or at the very least tense, to have this captured foreign shinobi just kind of... standing there without saying a word or moving a muscle. All at once though Aimi Kaguya let out a loud, exasperated sigh, rolling his neck from side to side and his shoulders one after the other. "Okay, alright, fine. You caught me. I'm not some wandering ronin," he admitted before doing the deadliest thing he could have done in that moment:

He relaxed.

The sudden relaxation, that release of tension from his entire body all at once after holding it for so long, was as the breaking of a great dam. All at once his tenketsu were opened, the 8 gates within him all simultaneously opened, if only for a moment, as the total amount of his chakra was released at once. The result was an explosion of chakra, so potent that it was visible, gushing out of Aimi's person in a wave that expanded outwards in all directions for some 50 meters, completely engulfing the entire town and beyond in his chakra for an instant or two. So great was the amount and power of his chakra that it could not only be seen but felt by all those who were in range. The ordinary citizens, all of them in the entire town, would simultaneously fall unconscious as what meager amounts of chakra they possessed were overwhelmed by Aimi's mere presence. They would slump, fall, collapse and tip over, spill or even shatter plates, cups, pottery, food and more as as one they all fell inside of their homes and their businesses.

Unfortunately for them, the same would largely be true of the two shinobi behind him. The girl would likely pass out instantly, while the boy, possibly hardier than she was, might vomit first before passing out. It wasn't an uncommon reaction to Aimi's chakra when he released it so. Now unrestrained Aimi Kaguya would flex his arms and legs, letting out a grunt as he pulled them out from the earth that bound him and turned around to face the two shinobi behind him, fully expecting them to either be passed out or in the process of being passed out as he rearranged the bones in his face to make himself look like himself again. After all his cover was blown, why pretend to be someone he's not any longer? As he turned around fully his face would be as it originally was and he would look down on the two shinobi before finishing his sentence. "I am so much more."

Jutsu UsedShow

[Ignorance Is Bliss]
S-Ranked Taijutsu Stance
Prerequisite: 45 Control, [Heavenly Body Control], [Rigid Structure]
The saying 'ignorance is bliss' is not just an apt name for this stance, but also true in many cases. Using this Stance, the user tenses their body up in such a way that they limit their physical capabilities severely. The user's muscles become tense and rigid, severely hampering physical movement and strength capabilities. More impressive, though, is the restrictions placed upon the tenketsu system. While in this stance, the 8 inner gates are closed off, leaving the user with only a severely limited chakra pool to draw upon. This Stance places a -40 stat debuff on the user's Strength, Speed and Chakra Pool for as long as they maintain the Stance. Once assumed, even a direct look at the user with sensory ninjutsu will be fooled. Once this Stance is broken, the 8 gates are all thrown open at once, resulting in a sudden, massive influx to the user's chakra that is momentarily visible and palpable to anyone within an X meter radius of the user, where X is equal to the user's [Chakra Pool] as chakra bursts out of every tenketsu and forms a 'cloud' around the user. Anyone within this area of effect who's Strength is less than the users’ [Chakra Pool] is afflicted by a tremendous sense of nausea that lasts a number of posts equal to the difference between the users’ [Chakra Pool] and the affected's [Endurance]. If a person's [Strength] is 10 or more less than the users’ [Chakra Pool], they will be unable to prevent themselves from vomiting. If a persons’ [Strength] is 20 or more less than the users’ [Chakra Pool], they will be unable to prevent themselves from passing out for 1 post. The user must maintain this Stance for a minimum of 5 posts before breaking it once assumed to achieve this effect.

Death Bone Pulse • Master of Disguise
A-Ranked Taijutsu Maneuver
By ossifying bones throughout their entire body, the user is able to change their entire skeletal structure. With this jutsu, the user is able to drastically alter their facial structure, allowing them to change the look of their face. With enough practice, the user can even take on the appearance of others. In addition, the user may also change the skeletal structure of their body, allowing them to grow or shrink by inches. This kind of change is limited, however, as the user must be careful not to loosen their musculature from their bones too much or else cause sever damage due to severed muscles. Because of this, the user may only change their height by 6 inches in either direction. The user is able to make these changes at a speed equal to their [Speed].

[Izanagi]

Haruka’s concerns were heard but not immediately acknowledged as Yozei’s attention remained firmly affixed on the seemingly frail old man before them. The truth was of course that he was wary precisely because he could not say for certain whether the man was a great threat or a harmless wanderer. He feared making any wrong decision, acting too rashly against an innocent old man and potentially gravely injuring a civilian. Or, worse, underestimating an elite shinobi in disguise, a threat that could pose great risk to the village and more immediately may prove a fatal encounter for himself and his young student. Given the man’s calm, it seemed likely that it was one extreme or the other. An old man reserved to the fact that he could not oppose shinobi and resigned to whatever fate was in store for him, or an individual so powerful and confident that any meager attempts to restrain him were seen as futile and feeble. This massive disparity that their fate hinged on was what nagged at the young Special Jounin’s mind, “That is yet to be determined” he muttered in response. There was a heaviness to his words and a tension to his posture despite his best efforts to poise himself as calm and in control. He hoped she was ready to run and seek the nearest outpost should he need to stall this man. Whatever happened he would not sacrifice a Genin for his sake; the will of fire ran strong in his blood.

As the man before him finally broke the tense silence, Yozei determined that a conflict was inevitable and that this man was strong enough to feel confident even in this situation. “Run!” he exhaled lowly, with a desperate sense of urgency. His chakra flared, if only for a moment as he attempted to will his Doton restraints to gather the full power of his chakra control. He intended to rip the man’s limbs clean off him or at the very least break each of them. His left hand resting on his scabbard would then send his sword pummeling into the opponent’s chest, hilt first. At least that was his conscious intention. Somewhere along the line of flowing his chakra into action the teenager felt a sudden, inescapable fatigue. Like an unrelenting pressure struck upon him his ability to focus and plan left him, and he collapsed forward. His eyes fluttered as he laid sprawled forward, his face in the mud. Despite his struggles he found he could see only blurs of color with no discernable shape. The only sounds he heard were the haunting words of the stranger as his mind faded from consciousness.

[Kaitos10]

Haruka would look on nervously and start to back away as she heard the man and her sensei converse. She really didn’t like the situation the mans heart beat was eerily calm. Usually someone is more excited when there in a situation like this, the good news is that they at least seemed to be in control at the moment. But when he told her to run flashbacks to her early child hood kicked in and the death of her mother. Causing her to panic and tears started to stream down her face, she would break out into a cold sweat. Her expression would be come more manic, and her adrenaline would start activating as she completely shut down. But thankfully she didn’t have to go through that for long as she was soon quickly knocked out.

[Golnax]

The two Konoha ninja fell in the rain, along with everyone else in the tiny village, leaving Aimi Kaguya to stand alone.

He turned and looked down on the two unconscious ninja, debating on what to do with them. He could leave right then and there, sure, and be miles ahead of them by the time they woke up, and by the time they returned to Konoha to report about him he could be long gone from the Land of Fire, leaving his appearance there as only a rumor. He could kill them. It'd be easy, just one quick stick to the back of the neck right under the base of the skull. Quick and painless! They'd never know they were dead, then he could incinerate the corpses and bury the ashes somewhere and they'd never be found. No one else in the town would need to die because no one else saw him. It was the sort of train of thought that, were he a younger ninja, would make complete and logical sense to a Kirigakure jounin. The opportunity to get out of enemy territory unscathed like that was golden, and assuredly almost any other ninja from the Bloody Mist would take that option.

But... Aimi wasn't every other ninja, and he saw an opportunity before him - or at least the shadow of one. As he stepped forward and picked up the two ninja, hauling them over his shoulders, the thought festered and as he leapt away from the tiny village of Tengaryu it began to grow. 'Dare I?' he asked himself as he moved through the rain into the forest. 'Dare I?'

---

A few minutes and several dozens of meters away from Tengaryu later, Aimi Kaguya stood underneath the dripping branches of a large tree wiping the mud off of the faces of his captives. He had the two ninja tied up, in a manner of speaking, with bones. Forearms growing out of palms in a large sequential circle, wrapped around the two captives twice and holding onto themselves at the end of the 'rope'. Not a typical use of Reach, but when one hand a bit of time to get creative with how you restrained someone... That time was running out, though. Aimi knew that someone passing out from the sudden onrush of his chakra was only a temporary thing. At most a person would be out for five minutes and that felt like it had been five minutes ago already. The two ninja would be awake at any moment now and he was trying to at least preserve a bit of their dignity before they woke up. If he could use use the rain water to get the mud off of their faces before they woke up, talking to them might be a bit easier...

Jutsu UsedShow

Used to form a 'rope' or 'chain'

Death Bone Pulse • Reach
B-Ranked Taijutsu Maneuver
Prerequisite: 25 Strength
The user will ossify bone in their arm, holding their arm out and extending from their palm a skeletal hand and arm, segmented by many joints which allow it to bend, turn and curve. This skeletal arm moves at a speed equal to the users’ [Speed] and grabs onto objects with strength equal to the users’ [Strength]. This arm has strength equal to the users’ [Strength]. The distance that this arm can travel is 40 meters.

[Izanagi]

When Yozei had fallen against the cold, wet ground he hadn’t expected to awake. There was a sense of fear, of regret that he wouldn’t be able to see his siblings grow into adulthood. That he would never feel the warmth of an onsen, or the sun on his face again. Had his life been worth it? To have it all come to an end now. Those thoughts fluttered through his mind, and yet as fate had it they were not to be his last. The sound of rain returned to him, the smell of mud and the coldness against his skin, as well as something hard wrapped around him. His training kicked in, lessons his father drilled into him, ‘stay calm, stay still. Think! Observe and think’ he repeated in his mind. If he wasn’t dead yet then he was still of use; information, ransom, maybe both. Or..bait. He could be a trap to lure his father in, he would have to be careful. With his hands behind his back, his palm against the ground he tested whether or not he could utilize chakra, spurring a minuscule amount in his palm and the faintest of whips of chakra around his hand as he molded a pebble. It seemed his network hadn’t been sealed and it was unlikely there were traps set to activate if he utilized chakra though he couldn’t afford to do anything significant. The man could still easily kill him however and was surely counting on that fact should he not cooperate. Still, between the two of the captives Yozei’s life was far more valuable, he wondered in fact if Haruka was even still alive.

He supposed he would need to find out, and get a better grasp of the situation. Slowly opening his eyes without moving his body he assessed that Haruka was tied up next to him. Moving his half open eyes and head only slightly he noticed the length of bone that connected back to the user. There was no use pretending to be unconscious any longer. “Haruka, are you okay?” he whispered. That was is first priority, she was a Genin under his charge, it was his duty to protect her. There was no need to ask the man what he wanted, he would either lie or tell them of his own accord. Though it was likely things would get rough, the boy’s mind raced about how he could get the girl to safety, from an enemy perspective she seemed expendable, though perhaps they didn’t know who he was, in which case they might be seen as equally necessary hostages.

Jutsu UsedShow

[Earth Element • Rock Control]
D-Ranked Ninjutsu
After channeling chakra into the earth, the user can control up to 5 rocks, no more than 1 meter in diameter, breaking them out of the ground or using existing rocks and hardening them to up to his control in strength. Then with hand gestures alone he can launch them as a group at an opponent at a speed of [Control] and strength of [Control] . The user has limited control over the launch of the rocks, being able to send them in an arc or change their direction one time. They can be sent a maximum distance of 15 meters and must be within 10 meters of the user when initiating the technique.

[Kaitos10]

Haruka had never been in this situation before so she didn’t know how to react she started to panic as soon as she woke up having no idea what happened. One moment she was running away next before she knew it she was tied up with what looked like bones. A minute or so after she woke up and started panicking she heard her sensei and would nod yes in response. She really didn’t want to die and she was really scared at this point. It also most likely showed on her face, on top of that unlike her sensei she definitely had no training for this.

She would then start to cry again wondering why did they have to notice the strange man. Was she really going to die so early? Did someone have it out for her? All sorts of bad thoughts ran through her head as this was going on and she would shiver and if possible crawl up into a ball while in the bone cage until her sensei snapped her out of it or until she was given some other reason to move into a different position

[Golnax]

"Ah, good, you're both awake," Aimi commented, balling up the now muddied rag that he'd been holding out under the rain and tossing it to the side. He turned towards his two captives and sniffled, looking down on them and assessing the situation, gathering his thoughts so to speak. The older of the two seemed to have his wits about him, his training serving him well. He was calm and his eyes were sharp, observing things, trying to find a way out. The girl, on the other hand, seemed thoroughly overwhelmed, attempting to curl in on herself against her restraints. Poor child. Aimi hated to see children in distress like that. Too bad it couldn't be helped in this situation.

He got to the point. "So, listen, I'm gonna speak plainly; don't try anything stupid like escaping or attacking me. I'm faster and stronger than either of you so there's no point. I want to make this as painless as possible for all of us. I just want to talk."

Pausing for a moment, Aimi would kneel and sit on his haunches, his white cloak bunching up underneath him on the wet ground. He either didn't mind or didn't notice since he was looking at the two Konoha ninja so intently. He continued. "Having said that... that is to say... that being the case... uhm... this is a bit awkward," he paused, turning his gaze away from the two for a moment and bringing a hand up to ruffle his long white hair, spilling held droplets of rain down onto himself and the ground below.

"Could uh... could one of you give me directions? To Konohagakure?"

After a moment of quiet he just... came out and said it. It was the only way it felt natural, really, given the situation. Of course, having asked that, he immediately began to backpedal and further explain. He understood what sort of situation this was. "Now, it's not what you think! I swear! I just want to, you know, look around, have a visit. Be a tourist like, you know? See I'm kind of on vacation right now... well no, not really, but it's kind of a vacation, and uhm, well, you know, I've never been to Konohagakure - I mean for good reason, we kind of hate each other and stuff! But like, I don't hate you guys! I don't even know who you are, and I tried to leave you alone all quiet like remember? So you see, I wasn't even planning on going to the Hidden Leaf until you guys crossed my path and, well, then it hit me! So... You know... uhm... directions?"

He smiled, trying to be as sincere as possible with the gesture. This was one of those times when his social awkwardness was really shining through; how did he know how to talk to enemy ninja in a non threatening manner and, more over, how to ask them a question as sensitive as this one without coming across as a hostile invader looking for a point of entry? His training of interacting with Konoha ninja ranged from 'don't' to 'kill on sight', so it was safe to say a scenario like this was never before really considered by the higher ups in Kirigakure. All the while he spoke his face was growing slowly redder and redder as embarrassment sank in. After all, what must these two think of him! His own first instinct had been to avoid them at all costs because he wasn't on a mission and didn't want to be detected by what he perceived as the enemy, but now there he was asking said enemy where their home base was! It was an absurd scenario and yet, there he was! Asking!

So how would they reply?

[Izanagi]

Yozei racked his mind. If he didn’t have to worry about Haruka’s safety, he might have had a chance to fight this man and escape. He had a number of skills that could be useful in this situation, though he still didn’t realize quite how powerful the man before him was. Regardless, at this range he was quite outmatched. His priority would be to discern what the man wanted and how to give him the impression of satisfying him without expending their usefulness. The teenage Special Jounin inhaled slowly, testing the strength of his restraints and focusing on calming his mind against the despair of the girl. He couldn’t let her make him panic or lose control of his emotions, he needed to keep a level head if he were going to save her. “Breathe Haruka, trust me” he assured softly, keeping his words short and to the point. He didn’t have the luxury of speaking freely when he didn’t know what the state of mind of their captor was.

The auburn-haired shinobi of Konoha nodded slowly, sensing the truth behind the Kaguya’s words. It seemed in their best interest to hear him out rather than give him a reason to be provoked. The stranger’s awkward aloofness was surprising though he wouldn’t be surprised if it was merely a ruse. At his request, naturally Yozei’s expression darkened. So that’s what he was after, an attack on the village? He could give him a run around, lead him close enough to satisfy him and stall for reinforcements. In fact, that might actually be ideal given the situation he considered. “I can lead you there…or at least close enough to send word to the Hokage. You’ll need his permission if you’re to enter the village” he decided, speaking genuinely. It would be easy enough to reach an outpost and pass word along. From there it was unlikely the man would be granted access but there was no doubt that the Hokage would speak to him. After all, Aimi had unknowingly captured his eldest and most talented child. It was completely bizarre to him but it seemed this man may have actually been genuine in his intentions, though could someone truly be that foolish to think they could simply ask to walk into an enemy village? Whatever the case Yozei was prepared for some deception and to have to fight, though he would make every effort to keep conflict as a last resort.

[Kaitos10]

Haruka would keep panicking in her curled up ball form her mind was racing heavily as she struggled to try and cope with her surroundings and her situation. She wondered if she was going to die, it was definitely a scary thought that she didn’t like. She kept shivering when suddenly she started hearing her sensei and would start to breath deeply like he suggested.

At first it was pretty difficult and she was having a really hard time not just hyperventilating but eventually she managed to start to slowly breath deeply in and out. Slowly starting to calm down after a bunch of deep breaths she starts to look around and listens to her sensei talk to the crazy man who kidnapped them. She really hoped he would be able to get her out of this situation.

Question was how would she avoid things like this in the future as well as would this be a common occurrence. She really hoped this wouldn’t happen more often and she wondered how strong she would have to get? After all her sensei was already amazing but this other guy still beat him without lifting a finger

[Golnax]

So it was going to be like that, huh?

It wasn't that Aimi was surprised necessarily, he was more just disappointed that this was the answer he got. He'd really hoped for a different outcome but, one has to play with the cards they're dealt with. As the older Konoha ninja gave their answer the smile on Aimi's face fell and warped, his expression turning to one of sour indignation. "Right, you'll lead me there. Definitely not to some other location completely different, or right into the hands of the ANBU. You'd even go so far as to warn the Hokage that I was coming," he chuckled, standing up and shaking his head. "How dumb do you think I am?"

He sighed, his hands coming together to form a string of seals. "Alright, I didn't want to have to do it this way but I guess I might have no choice," he said. Standing up, Aimi moved over towards the curled up mess of a kunoichi. Reaching out he would quite gently place his hand on the top of her head as if patting her. He even ruffled her hair a bit. When he withdrew his hand, however, the truth of what he had done was revealed. Placed upon the top of her head, like the flickering flame of a candle, was a small, dull ball of blue flame accented with a pair of bright spots that almost gave it the appearance of eyes. It wouldn't hurt or burn in the slightest and would in fact feel quite warm against the young genin's head, like a small cat snuggling on top of her perhaps.

This would hold true even as he formed yet another string of seals and a tiny flicker of flame appeared in the air directly above that one. Then he turned back to the older of the two and pointed. "Alright, you've got about two minutes to give me some directions or she's going to be burned alive," he warned. "I wasn't lying about just wanting to visit your home. I'm not on a mission, I'm not staging an invasion, I'm not going to bring back any information I happen to see about your village back with me when I return. I have absolutely no obligation to. You on the other hand..."

He paused, moving his arm so that he was pointing towards the flame over the young genin's head. A second tiny flame had appeared a step clockwise to the first. "You have an obligation to her safety. If I'm not mistaken, the two of you were on a mission which is why you're outside of the village. With your mission over with, the only thing left is for the two of you to return safely. If you don't give me directions, though, that'll become quite impossible. Look me in the eyes; tell me if you think I'm lying."

"Of course," he continued. "If you don't believe me, I'll have to do what needs to be done. Kill you, let her burn, and be on my way. No one will be the wiser and no one will know I was ever here." A third flame appeared. Time was marching on.

"Choose wisely."

The ultimatum was issued.

Jutsu UsedShow

Katon • Ghost-Light: Tonberry Curse
C-Ranked Ninjutsu
Prerequisite: Katon • Foxfire
The user performs the hand signs and gathers chakra into their hand, forming a small dull ball of flame. This ball of flame is distinct in that it has two bright spots on it that give it the look of eyes. The user then sticks this ball of flame onto a target, transferring the chakra over so that the fire will stick to the target. This flame does not burn in the slightest and is exactly normal body temperature. The chakra that sticks to the target as well as its temperature draws in various Ghost-Light jutsu which home in on temperature. The flame requires a Strength of equal to the users’ [Control] to remove physically.

Katon • Creeping Ghost-Light: Tonberry Death Curse
B-Ranked Ninjutsu
Prerequisite: Katon • Ghost-Light: Tonberry Curse
After the user has placed the flame of Katon • Ghost-Light: Tonberry Curse on a target, the user forms the handseals and creates a tiny flame directly above the small one. For every post that passes, three tiny balls of flame are created. These balls of flame continue to form in a circle around the central fire until twelve are around it in a circle (four posts). Once this happens, the central flame rapidly begins to grow and spread over the target at a [Speed] equal to the users' [Control], burning them severely with [Strength] equal to the users' [Control].

[Izanagi]

Yozei’s expression hardened, his cerulean blue eyes determined to survive. But more important than his own life was that of his comrade and even more so than that was the sake of the village as a whole. He wasn’t sure exactly what this man expected of him. To write out directions on a piece of paper, shinobi villages were considered hidden for a reason. It wasn’t that easy, one way or another he would need a guide, even Haruka wouldn’t be able to find the village on her own. “I’m not lying! You’ll need a guide” he insisted as the man produced a blue flame and made his threat. “The village is due north of here, a little over 100 kilometers but it is surrounded by a 30-kilometer-wide forest that’s path changes. Normally visitors and traders wait in Tokugashou City and do their business there or are escorted in if their papers check out” he explained, this time there was not a single word of a lie in his statement. There were only a handful of exceptions for certain people that were allowed to teleport directly to the main gates but even Yozei couldn’t do anything like that.

Aimi could attempt to go to the city and kidnap someone else or disguise himself as a Konoha shinobi as part of a convoy if he got lucky and managed to intercept a shipment of some kind. But the city was crawling with Konoha and Suna shinobi alike and it could be days before any groups made their way to the village. Wandering through the forest blind was an even worse option as dozens of sensors and elite scouts patrolled the forest multiple times a day and some even lived out there in various outposts. Like it or not having Yozei guide him was his best option. “I’ll take you through the forest” he insisted. He could get the man to the gates if it was absolutely necessary, from there it would only be a matter of time before other shinobi were alerted to his presence and the kind of reception he got was up to him.

[Kaitos10]

Would be trying to breathe properly when she saw the scary, man coming towards her she started to get scared and her breathing would get irregular then as he continued to approach closer her body would start to shake. Then when he was within reach she would cringe visibly and tighten up her body while closing her eyes only to feel him genteelly touch her. Then see the strange warm flame, she was completely unaware the flame was dangerous. This caused her to slightly start to relax until she heard she would be burned alive. She then started to panic her breathing going out of control and her body on the verge of hyperventilating.

If things continued as they were then she would passout soon. Though she wasn’t able to think rationally at the moments and because of her emotions running high, mostly her fear she was unable to think of that at the moment. So she just continued breathing in a unstable way.

[Golnax]

Haruka was quiet but her body language spoke volumes. Labored breathing, cringing away from her attacker, that look of terror in her eyes that stemmed from a feeling of powerlessness - Aimi had seen it all before. As a Kirigakure shinobi, he'd been trained to draw out these physical reactions and emotions out of people while not feeling any remorse about it. He was supposed to be a weapon, after all, and weapons didn't feel anything. But then again, weapons didn't want to visit an enemy village just to have a look around either, did they? Somewhere inside of him a conflict of interests and training was brewing but for the moment it was a storm far over the horizon, little known and little cared about.

Yozei's response was more genuine to the Kaguya's ears. As the seconds passed in bunches more little flames appeared around the one atop Haruka's head. The clock was ticking and Aimi had only a short amount of time to decide if the Konoha ninja was telling him the truth or not. His blue eyes stared down at him coldly. Yozei had just given away the location of his village technically. If Aimi were so inclined, he could just fly the 100 kilometers and drop in from the village from above at night. It certainly sounded like it would beat being guided through a forest that shifted around and could, for all he knew, keep him lost forever... or until he got frustrated and burned it down, inevitably drawing the attention of Konohagakure and all of it's shinobi forces, and then he'd be right back to square one wouldn't he? Then again, if he did let Yozei lead him through the forest he could pay attention and learn the method for himself so that he wouldn't need a guide in the future. Decisions, decisions...

As the sixth little flame appeared Aimi made his decision. Bringing his hands together into another quick series of seals, the clock over Haruka's head would stop. Turning towards the frightened girl, he would bend over slightly and reach down to grab the flame off of her head, removing it easily and holding it in his hand. Turning back to Yozei, he walked in front of the young shinobi and knelt down in front of him. "Alright, we'll do it your way," he said, closing his fist around the flame and snuffing it out, puffs of fire escaping out of either side of his hand and rising into the air before vanishing completely.

"I'm going to let you two go now, but before I do we need to establish a bit of trust. Tall order, I'm sure, but necessary for what we're about to do. Now I've already made it clear that I'm a more capable ninja than either of you so trying to attack me should be out of the question. I don't think I need to say what will happen if you do again. Never the less, after I break those bones holding you to this tree I'm placing my trust in you to keep your word and lead me through this forest to Konohagakure, and in turn I will keep it's location and anything I see inside a secret that I take with me to my grave. If we can stick to that agreement, we can work with each other."

Slowly Aimi's hand would reach down and grab a hold of the bones that bound the two of them to the tree. With a grunt of effort he would pull on them until they broke, a loud snap ringing out over the rain followed by the Kaguya whipping them away from the tree and the two shinobi and throwing them off into the woods, the boney hands that had been grasping onto the skeletal forearms of each other so tightly loosening up and falling apart into a litter of bones. A fine mystery for someone to solve if ever they were found.

Standing back up and taking three steps back, the bannin would clap his hands together and rub them. "Alright then. Lead the way!"