[Info Thread] On the Border of Moon and Sun

[Ace Trainer]

Word has reached the rebellion about a boy in the crescent coalition that may be connected to a former Suna Missing Ninja in some way. Highly skilled for his age, if he were to be tapped by Iwagakure to act against the rebellion, it would be cause for concern. Indra has been dispatched to the western border of Wind Country to a small town that regularly engages in trade with the Crescent Coalition to see if they have any additional information about this boy.

The tan cloaks didn't blend so well this far west, the desert have melted away into grasslands. Indra had never traveled this far west before - typically his parents hadn't had business this far out. In his youngest days, these lands had only been recently acquired by Wind Country, and there was still a lot of hesitation about tourist coming into the area. Now the years had long passed, and it wasn't even 'technically' Wind Country anymore, not that any of the locals really cared one way or another which fat noble their taxes went to. "Sooo, just to keep it straight, we've come all this way on account of some rumors?, the young woman said as he lifted her boots high with each step.

"Yeah, thats kind of the deal, Hikari. Our networks pick up on rumors and hints, and we expand on it to see if there is anything to it. If there isn't, that's a win. If there is, that's also a win. It's called espionage.", he explained.

The girl made a loud HUM noise, clearly putting little stock into what Indra was saying, "And they needed to send you, our Lucent, to investigate becaaaaaaause?", she retorted.

Indra sighed, this was the third time they had had this conversation on the 2-day long journey it'd taken to travel this far. "If word is correct, this kid Ziv is something special. Strong, And allegedly connected to Suna in some way. Sending me is to be safe."

"Great, so you brought a sweet, innocent little girl along to put her in danger with some prodigy assassin!?", she complained.

"You ASKED - no, you BEGGED, to come along! And I never said assassin."

Indra was acutely aware that being around his young disciple made him feel about 20 years older. Was this how Ikinari felt dealing with him so many years ago? He sighed, "Look, this town Miyaki only has about a hundred or so people in it. Its in Wind Country still, but they do trade with Crescent Coalition. All we're doing is asking some questions. First sign of trouble, you bail out into the surrounding area, I'll track you down once it's clear.", he instructed. Hikari would roll her eyes, but nod dutifully, it was clear Indra wasn't going to budge on this.

It would only take about thirty more minutes for them to reach the town, when they did, he'd pull the hood of his cloak up over his head and pull his cover up, avoiding anyone seeing any of his features but his eyes. Normal hazel eyes now, they would raise any alarm - it was much easier to be Teishi with his new blessing. Approaching a small fruit stand, he'd give a deep bow. "Good morning Ojii-san, we--"

"Ojii-san! Have you seen this boy from Crescent thats supposed to be like super strong!? I wanna train under him!", Hikari would suddenly interject. Well - this was one way to start this.

[Zao]

The man's information network wasn't too shabby, as in fact the blue-eyed, white-haired Crescent shinobi was indeed known to frequently visit this area on the northern border of Wind Country. Usually, it for was a combination of two reason with the first being to do some trading as the man was often searching out rarer metals for the school's crafting needs and even his own depending on the kinds of materials that he managed to run across. Secondly, at the request of the Head Mistress, he would also be on the outlook for those who had been orphaned from the war and see if he could bring them back to Sky Reach to be taken care of and taught at the academy. Killing two birds with one stone, one might say.

Today he was on the northern edge of the small village, a horse pulled cart with boxes of different supplies and materials were loaded into the back as a couple men worked to strap down and organize the contents inside the cart while large figure that had a hood over their face and layers of clothing that slide down past their fingertips set on the driver's bench without moving. Off to the left side of the cart and horse was a decent sized building that served as a small religious building and doctor's office, the building was two stories and head a front and back entrance on the bottom floor and a handful of windows that could be found on each floor allowing the bright sunlight from outside to light up the interior.

Inside the village doctor, elderly looking figure with round glasses and balding grey hair atop his head seemed to be conversing with a young looking many who appeared to be in his late teens. The pair spoke in tandem with one another, not in the normal manner that a youth would speak with an elder, but more so as if the two were on the same social status with one another, peers in a field perhaps. Behind the two men, another hooded figure stood a few meters back closer to the door only this one seemed about the same height of Ziv being a little under the two-meter mark in height and held a slender build. The figure stood almost like a watchful statue as the two men spoke before the white-haired teenager looked over at the row of medical beds that held a few sleeping patients.

"Sorry I'm not around more often to help out." The youthful voice of the young man could be heard as he peered at the two patients that were resting, one was a young kid probably only around the age of eleven or twelve while the other was an older man that looked to be in his thirties. "You aren't from here, but any help we get is a blessing." The doctor known as Abi by the town folks also glanced at the two off to his right, "That venom is a dangerous one, I wouldn't have been able to help them." Though it pained the doctor a bit to admit it, because of how long the pair had been poisoned by the vicious desert scorpion he didn't think they'd live. Ziv had only been passing through on his normal trade route when he had stopped by, demonstrating his advanced medical ninjutsu as he helped to remove the toxin from each and create an antidote soon after.

Ziv had been to the village on multiple occasions, always seeking to build a positive relationship with the towns people as that was his nature. Having been orphaned himself by the Iwa-Suna wore, the boy had eventually been turned onto the medical field in his third year as a student at the Sky Reach academy and had found a certain calling. Often times helping out in the villages he passed through because he could, not just because he needed to. He had never been a spiteful or evil person; his two brothers had made sure to keep him on the right track as they grew up and grew stronger side-by-side with one another. Even now as he looked at the pair in the beds, he couldn't help but wonder what those two were getting into without him.

"How long will you be staying?" Abi spoke to Ziv as his bright blue eyes, that were oddly colored to the point that they seemed to lack any of the normal white the human eye possessed, turned from the patients to the doctor. "I figured we'd stay here tonight and then try to get an early start in the morning back to the academy. " The pair began to speak with one another, the old man reminding him off his teachers back at the academy as he began to talk the young man's ear off about the art of medicine as the pair took a seat in the front room. The young man enjoying himself as the pair spoke about different things, the Sky Reach physician very interested in the knowledge of the old man, unaware that another was seeking him out in that very same village.



WC: 860

[Ace Trainer]

The old man laughed at Hikari's outburst, and held a feeble arm up, pointing down the small road in the village. "The uh...white haired boy right?", he asked, not waiting for an answer, G-good kid. If that's who you're asking ab-about. I dunno if he t-trains anyone. I think he's from some schoo-ool, so he might just be a stu-dent. Hes staying in an inn down the way", he said kindly. Indra would take another deep bow. White hair? A school? Were they talking about the Academy he'd been hearing rumors about in Crescent? The Hokori didn't reach out that far, so anything they heard about Crescent Coalition was second hand information, just like this info on Ziv.

"Thank you, Ojii-san.", Indra said with another deep bow before grabbing Hikari's arm and power walking away. When they were out of sight of anyone, Indra would close his eyes and briefly channel chakra, activating a sensory technique as his senses expanded out from him and into the farther reahes of the village. He'd never heard of Ziv before, so he wouldn't necessarily be able to parse out the boy's soul, but Indra was confident he would feel quite different from anyone else in the area. Hikari would watch him closely without word, then follow as Indra continued down the road.

As he approached the northern side of town, he'd suddenly be overwhelmed with the feeling. So many of the souls here in the village were soft and quiet, but suddenly they'd be overtaken by another one. It felt like a waterfall in comparison to single droplets of rain. This kid was strong. His face spreading into a smile, he'd turn to Hikari, "Come on!", he'd say excitedly. He'd deftly turn through a few streets and then approach the small clinic-church, and Indra would turn to look at her curiously. "Remember, this goes south. We bail.", he instructed. His eyes scanned the men loading up the cart, someone was definitely visiting.

The young girl would nod, nerves suddenly taking over her. Indra looked excited, that was good - but it could easily end up being bad. Caution to the wind, Indra would quickly rap on the door, waiting to see if someone would answer.

SpoilerShow

[To Sense the Spirit]
A-rank Shijutsu Technique
By performing a series of hand seals, Indra is able to expand his ability to sense souls out to [Control]x2 meters from himself. This lasts for up to [Chakra Pool]/5 posts before needing to be cast again.

[Zao]

The pair of medical professionals, one young and one old, had continued their spirited debate with one another just as the young white-haired man seemed to pause for a moment, closing his eyes as through his shared vision with the puppet outside and the one directly inside the building near him something out of the ordinary caught his eye. It was a pair moving with tan cloaks, something that seemed to suggest they had traveled from the south of the village where the edges of the sandy desert that Wind country was known for began. While he didn't know everyone in the village, he did have a decent grasp on its populace due to his efforts to aid the local doctor here whenever he passed through but these two, the young man and younger girl didn't bring back any memories for him.

"It seems we have two guests." Before Indra had knocked, Ziv's bright blue eyes opened as they swept towards the door casually and he spoke in turn to the older man who had a slightly puzzled look on his face at first before four or five seconds later the knocks came at the door. Indra would have probably noticed that as he passed by the cart, he was able to sense the souls of those helping to load it but not the thicker figure that set on the driver's bench with their hood up over their head to cast a long shadow over their now hidden face. One of Ziv's puppet's, Tako, set motionless but one could see that its head turned slightly as the duo passed and moved towards the door. Inside the room was another puppet that would have gone unsensed as well, this one was the slender fox faced Toushi whose foxlike masked face allowed for the nose of the fox mask to protrude just out of the shadow cast by the hood.

As the old man rose to walk towards the door, the white haired youth placed his palms down on the arm rests of the chair and lifted himself into a standing position, unsure of the reason for the pairs visit now and as soon as the man turned his back one of his hands formed into a seal as he took over full control of his puppets through his [Puppet Animation] (level 3) technique now as a precautionary measure. A few moments after the pair had knocked the older grey-haired man who only had a little hair left upon the balding top of his head opened the door with a friendly smile. "Hello, my friends, I'm Doctor Abi. How can I help you?" He voice was gentle but deep as he spoke standing in the doorway with the hand of the door in his right hand.


WC: 464