Looking for Clues

[Suitonic]

Fire Country…Not somewhere Airon had ever expected to set foot in. But the brief but poignant letter he received simply said “We have your sister, Aiko. If you want her to keep breathing, you’re going to need to need to meet our boss directly and allow him to kill you. That’s the only way this goes down.” How someone in Fire Country managed to abduct his sister in Sunagakure was a mystery he needed to solve. It might mean his genin brother was unsafe as well. First, he’d have to save Aiko, and then he’d worry about Aidou.

His investigation into his disappearance brought him to a small bar in Fire Country. Not too far from the Hidden Leaf village, but certainly not very close. As soon as he entered the bar, he noticed that only the bartender was present. This was particularly strange, because this particular bar was regularly attended by rogue-nin and the occasional dirty shinobi from Konoha. There was a weird it at the back of the neck of the Jashinist and he had a bad feeling as he turned around, ready to leave the place. A group of five shinobi entered the bar and closed the door behind themselves.

From their appearances, two seemed to be related to the leaf village, and the other three were either unaffiliated or hid their allegiances well. The ringleader of the group spoke up “So you're the piece of shit brother of the girl we abducted. The Drifter, right? Isn’t that what they call you? You know, you've left a lot of bodies in your wake over the last few years." Airon remained silent as the men began to take out a different assortment of weapons. "Nothing personal, but with your reputation, the boss didn’t want to take any chances of you getting to him…So we’ve gotten to you first. And don’t worry, we’re gonna take real good care of your sister." Airon took in a deep breath, stepping into a stance that was probably unfamiliar to his opponents before releasing a loud Kiai. "I don't want to hurt you guys, you seem nice. Just tell me where my sister is and I’ll let you all go home to your crime and double lives." The ringleader started to laugh, followed by the rest of the shinobi. “You let us go? You’re full of yourself aren’t you?” Airon smiled behind his mask and shrugged.

The men started to creep in closer armed with tanto and kunai. Airon took a step back and got ready. Two men charged directly at Airon with their weapons held out. Airon side stepped and dodged the first attack while tripping and elbowing the guy in the back of his neck. The guy would trip and land face first into a bunch of glasses on the bar. Airon would deliver a roundhouse kick and connect with the second nin in the face, causing him to stumble over and hit the wall. Airon turned around and glanced back at the thug he knocked into the bar. With lightning quick speed, he unsheathed one of his Katana’s before his opponent had the chance to get up and stabbed it into his hand, pinning him to the bar.

The remaining three nin looked on and then at each other, not expecting Airon to be as vicious as he was. He turned back to the last three and saw that the second shinobi he had kicked had recovered and was running back towards him. Airon's reached forward and grabbed the man by his collar with his left hand before unsheathing his second blade with his right and sending it through the man's chin. Blood gushed from his mouth as his now dying brain caught up to the damage that had been done to him. Airon shot a cold look in the man's eye as he quickly pulled the sword from the shinobi allowed the man to fall on the ground.

He turned his attention the last three nin once more, focusing on the last remaining leaf shinobi. Airon remained calm and simply said. "Where is she?" The leaf nin, with an obvious fear in his voice responded, "We have her at our hideout nearby.” He fumbled a small map marking the direction of the hideout. “Look man we can-" Airon would cut the guy's sentence short as Airon through his blade towards the leaf nin. The blade flew forward with extraordinary speed and Airon watched as it impaled right into the shinobi’s head, killing him instantly. It had happened so fast, the remaining two rogue shinobi looked on in disbelief. "Let the rest of your people know I'm coming." The Jashinist said calmly right before the two men fled the scene. Airon looked back at the bartender. "Sorry for the mess." "Not your fault, you were trying to avoid the fight after all." Airon turned to leave the bar, saying a brief prayer for the sacrifices he offered up to Lord Jashin, slightly wincing while doing so.

Jutsu Used:Show

[Zantou • Winter Solstice]
D-Rank Taijutsu Stance
The basic Stance of Zantou, the practitioner holds one blade forward, parallel to the ground, and holds the other high over the head, pointing toward the opponent. The low blade grants the practitioner the ability to quickly defend against an opponent's attack while the blade raised overhead allows the practitioner to either quickly attack or counterattack with a powerful downward swing or thrust. This pairing of defense and offense serves as one of the cores of Zantou's swordsmanship. Drawing in a deep breath, the practitioner also gathers up their energy and releases a kiai. This Stance allows the practitioner to ignore non-critical distractions and minor environmental factors, such as small amounts of excess heat, small amounts of excess cold, small amounts of fatigue, and even small amounts of pain, allowing them to focus entirely on their opponents' movements and the tasks at hand. While in this Stance, the practitioner is conferred with a +2 increase to Strength and +1 increase to Will Power but suffers a -2 penalty to Chakra Pool and -1 penalty to Control. The practitioner may end this Stance whenever they so wish.

[Ottozeo]

Fire Country…home. Or...was it really home? Ugh...how long had Benjizen been living here now? It felt longer than a decade even though it was not quite there yet. Eight, eight long years living in a place that reeked of blood of his mom and dad. The pleasant all too common fertile smell of leaf mold and rotting twigs in a woodland, a rich, damp, vegetative odor. The clean, silty smell of flowing water at a brookside, the misty smell of wet stones, the damp, almost green smell of moss. All of that was numb to him. If anything, it made him anger, sick, reviled up. How could, how dare, everything around him be so beautiful and cheerful when he was in so much pain and numb inside. The beautiful of the land held within it the deep scares and toxic of its land and people. For the land of Fire was just like any other nation. Even as a gennin still at the age of 18 he knew that fully well easily. The shadows that haunted dreams and corners of darkness, the knifes that cut in the night at the light of peace, the ever present suspense of comfort, peace, and ease being threaten. It was all there under the green vail that was the country's ideology and bright people.

Or maybe he was just bitter...

Maybe too bitter if being brought into the village of Konoha and living among its people for eight years had not softened him or this pain, maybe he had some problems to deal with. The way how was decided by him already but there was no truth if it, revenge, was what he needed or just what he wanted. Clung to as he pushed forward day to day to day, hour to hour. But, was it weakness or strength?

Oh the random thoughts Benjizen had when he was on his way back to Konoha from missions sometimes. After doing a C rank mission in a further out region in the Fire Country, Benjiken was making his way back home. Most likely to take up another mission given that there was nothing else for the man to do. But before that he would stop by a bar. Have a refill of water and maybe even grab some food. It was a place he had never heard of before or been to but it was right there so...it was better to try and maybe dislike it than go hungry.

He arrived after the fact of events walking towards the bar shop as the two unknown unaffiliated rogue nin ran out of the bar. Benjizen continued to walk with a raised left eyebrow. Well, either there was a fight going on or...they were skipping out on a tab. He half thought about stopping them and dragging them back into the shop just in case, but in honesty, he was not in enough of a mood to care. He would make sure to check their outfits and the direction they were mvoing in though as he prepared to enter the bar. But before that another man exited, one calm and slow moving. After letting them pass he would enter.

And see the scene. Blood and dead bodies, and from the headband and appearance fellow leaf nin.

"Hey....", he began to turn towards the man. "Care to explain this? Either way....I think you are going to have an annoying day stranger".

[Suitonic]

After Airon finished his prayer he would be interrupted by at what first glance, was a ninja. Though this one had a different air about him. Airon raised his guard and both katana's in any case. He quickly surveyed the man. Dark hair, elbow & knee pads, with a vest that probably held weapons and was used for protection. Protection most likely from the elements & from someone like him. A leaf headband adorned the shinobi's head. Perhaps he was sent here, perhaps happenstance. Either way, Airon didn't have time for this, he needed to find his sister and he need to find her fast. Continuing to fight so close to the village hidden in the leaves would only bring more trouble his way. Trouble that he'd rather not deal with.

The door that the ninja walked in from was flapping with the wind outside. "Listen man, I don't have time to explain myself to you. Just do me a favor and get out of my way." Airon needed to get to his sister, and this man was just another obstacle from achieving that. Airon reached both arms back to sheath both of his weapons and while doing so cut his left hand on one of the blades before it slipped into the scabbard, he weaved several handsigns and with what appeared to be magic, starting sliding across the floor of the bar. A more accurate word would be, floating. With a speed of (40+3) he would glide forward appearing that he would be attempting to move past the shinobi. However, from his training in Zantou, he was able to hide his movement's until just before it seemed like he was moving past the shinobi. If his sleight of hand was successful, he would burn a Jashin seal onto this newcomer, placing him in a genjutsu. This jutsu would make the man hallucinate that the dead bodies Airon just killed suddenly rose and were surrounding the leaf-nin. This would be enough of a distraction for him to atleast get outside and hopefully get away. To further facilitate an escape he quickly reached into his jacket, while walking on the air to make his escape, to grab a seal tag and held his bleeding hand over it. "Your will, my hand Lord Jashin." The second a drop of blood fell from his hand and onto his seal tag he would toss it in the direction of ninja he left behind. As the seal tag bubbled with his blood, a gurgling sound would emanate through the air as a clone of the Jashinist sprang forward and would face the shinobi.

Hoping that he would be distracted by the genjutsu, his clone would serve as a strong distraction. Hopefully the man would think the clone was him and that would allow him to get some distance. He would have his clone engage the man with a flurry of kenjutsu strikes, not particularly looking to wound or maim, just to keep the man busy for Airon to make his escape. He would press on towards the hideout and through a forest near the bar. After gaining some distance, assuming all of the previous moves were successful he would burn one final Jashin seal into the ground. This one, he made about as small as an ant, making it difficult to find. This seal would activate one more genjutsu assuming the ninja continued to pursue Airon. It was one that he used to keep someone off your trail. He extended the seal distance to a 25m radius, to make sure the shinobi would be caught in the genjutsu upon arriving to the forest.

Techniques Used:Show

Fuuton • Wind Skating
D-Ranked Ninjutsu
After performing the needed hand seals, the user is able to glide on air as if they were skating on ice. This allows them to move faster (+3 speed) but lowers their ability to translate force (-3 Strength). This doesn't allow them to fly, but rather to travel over things like land, water, and ice with greater ease. The user is only held several inches off of the ground. This Jutsu does not expire until the user’s chakra supply runs out or the user shuts it off. The fuuton passive is not applied in this technique.

[Jashin Rite • Visions of Jashin]
D-Rank Jashin Rite/Genjutsu
Prerequisite(s): [Touch Initiated Genjutsu] & [Charge Fuuinjutsu]
The user activates the technique by placing a seal with the Jashin symbol onto the victim. The victim has a vision of the world of the dead and believe themselves surrounded by spirits of the dead for one post.

[Jashin Rite • Blood Clone]
C-Rank Jashin Rite
After bleeding over a seal tag and reciting a prayer, they throw the seal tag and it will create a clone. The clone is modeled after whoever's blood was used on the seal.This clone will have the users stats. It lasts for [Control/5] posts.

Jashin Rite • Jashin's Deception
C-Ranked Jashin Rite Genjutsu
A wall or area is marked with a Jashin Seal which is bled on by the caster and a prayer is recited, that is activated upon touch, releasing a genjutsu over the small area. The person whom walked over the Seal becomes entangled in a genjutsu that misdirects them, leading their sense of direction and body mildly astray, directing them into a similar but incorrect path. The seal when placed will cover a radius of 25 meters. This genjutsu is devious for how subtle it is, a useful technique for avoiding hunters. Once caught in this genjutsu it lasts for 2 posts.

Disciplines Using:Show

[Zantou • Frost Dragon's Flight]
A-Rank Taijutsu Discipline
Prerequisite(s): *[Zantou • Winter Maelstrom].
The practitioner has learned to strike and defend with movements that shift suddenly and ferociously. This Discipline represents the practitioner's knowledge and mastery of movement and muscle control, to the point that their movements, attacks, and techniques have no telegraphing signs until they are already in motion. This makes it much more difficult for opponents to properly react to the practitioner's actions in combat. Opponents must have a sight-based or sound-based Perception technique of equal or higher rank than this technique to adequately read the practitioner's movements, attacks, and techniques.

Jashin Rite • Burning Seal
D-Ranked Jashin Rite
The user simply recites a brief prayer before placing a hand on a surface and a glowing blue Jashin seal will "burn" into that surface. This seal can be used for the "Rites" performed within Jashinism. The seal can be as small as an ant or as large as a five meter diameter and will only last for up to five posts before it dissipates or if the user decides to use the technique again in order to make a new seal else where. Only one seal can be active at a time.

Jashin Rite • Jashin’s Influence
C-Ranked Jashin Rite Discipline
Through extensive training within the Jashin Rite, the user has learned to extend the range of influence that the seals they place can effect. This discipline allows the user to extend the radius of Jashin seal effects by up to 25m at the time of casting.