To catch a spider: Part 1

[Zao]

Zao had finally been given full authorization to leave the village, but it was not something given out the kindness of the village councils heart. Oh no, of course there were still some requirements for this tasking. Perhaps it was best called an 'unofficial' mission. One of the prisoners who had escaped during the prison break from the well known Suna imprisonment facility, the Pit, had been a thorn in the village's side since not long after his escape. He was one of the worst in the eyes of the village superiors as the man had wanted to alter his own body to become what the missing-nin considered to be 'more perfect'. This man had been imprisoned because of his desire to become a better weapon, just the manner in which he went about it was to rid himself of his human body and replace it with a artificial one which was seen as a grand crime in the eyes of the village. But their imprisonment of that young man who tarnished the boy's views on the village and when he did manage to escape in the chaos that was the unexpected prison break caused by other shinobi, he took that opportunity to escape himself. No one knew at that time he would hold such a grudge against his homeland that he would find alliances in dark places, even with one of the enemies of Suna.

The name of this man who rose to the ranks of one of top level bounties in the Bingo Book shared between the shinobi villages? It was simply Hyōryū, his family name lost or perhaps scratched from the official records to keep the shame from being passed onto that family. As Zao had reached out to some of his rather unsavory sources from his time before returning to the village, several nicknames about the man were told to him. The Hood, The Black Devil, Red-Eyed Demon...these were among the most popular ones that popped up due to the main puppet body that the former Suna-nin used to complete 'jobs'. From what the white haired man was able to deduce from his contacts was that after escaping from the village and its hunter-nin the boy was injured badly and thought dead before an old man who worked for an organization known only as the Syndicate came across the young man. Giving him aid and a purpose, he was brought into the fold of this black market organization that dealt in all kinds of rather ugly things, even employed secretly by some of the village's to act against other shinobi.

Yet, during the Great War caused by the great shinobi nations the group had grew to bold and overexposed themselves attempting to claim certain lands for themselves that resulted in its downfall at the hands of the Leaf village. This was pretty much all the information he had managed to gather up to this point and while he had not been able to pin down any leads on the prime culprit that was Hyōryū, instead he was currently in the dense forested country of Owl. This country was far north of his homeland of Wind and closer to the nation of Earth which made the man rather weary of this rendezvous with one of his informants. The path that he traveled on was clearly an animal trail by the looks of its with no signs of humans having been in the area, but this was the place of his meeting as chosen by Roshi, one of the former members of the disbanded syndicate organization that he had managed to come into contact with though this would be their first in person meeting. Zao's long white hair that was tied back in a loose pony tail that flowed down just past his waist, his silver and black robes made him look more like a traveling priest or monk than that shinobi that he was...but part of him wondered if he could truly be called a shinobi any more as he didn't even have his title as a bannin of Suna anymore. At least not yet, perhaps it would be restored to him upon tracking down Hyōryū.

Something seemed different as he came to a stop, his quiet steps leading him to press his back against the rough bark of a giant tree that would take three or four people to reach around. An invisible wave of chakra pushed out from his body till it expanded for over a hundred meters in every direction and just on the fringe of his sensory bubble to the north was a single chakra signature near the designated meeting location. At least this was the only human chakra source, as Owl country was one known for its many spiritual dangers as the great Owl King spirit ruled over this area with the help of other feathered spirits. He could not truly understand the reason for meeting here but perhaps the man was so scared of others finding him that he sought out some sort of strange refuge here in this dangerous environment. There were two other chakra sources, but from his vast experience with spirits he could tell that neither were human and it seemed that they were either with the man or potentially stalking the man. 'This figures...' The middle aged man mumbled to himself as he formed the hand seals for the advanced shadow clone technique as a small cloud of chakra smoke formed a duplicate of himself directly to his left side. With a simple nod between the two the newly created clone moved quietly ahead to attempt to scout out the position with the human chakra source.

Meanwhile the real Zao formed a few hand seals and his body seemed to fade from sight through the user of an invisibility technique, giving a short amount of time for his clone to continue wandering forwards along the small pathway towards whom it hoped was his contact. This would allow the original to take a more circumvented route around that would bring him along the far side of the chakra source. It took a few minutes still for the clone to quietly traverse the forest area that hadn't seen much human interaction leading it to be overgrown and disorderly, just as nature had intended it to be. Finally he broke through a set of thick bushes to find a small fifteen meter clearing, somewhat of an oddity to be sure and it caused the clone to stop at the edge of the clearing as its bright blue eyes looked out into the bright space were the unfiltered sunlight flowed down almost like a ray of holy light compared to just inside the thick jungle-like canopy of the forest. An almost eerie quiet swept over the forest as from the opposite side a short, fat man carrying a large traveler's pack seemed to almost appear out of thin air, possibly also using some sort of camouflage technique.

The heavy set fellow wore a thick pair of glasses and a overcoat, but at a glance one could see hints of weapons peaking out from the coat as Zao was reminded that this was one of the former higher ranked members within the syndicate and that even a shinobi like himself needed to stay on guard. "This was a hard place to reach...." Zao led off to break the silence between the two men, waving his left hand slightly and taking one step out into the light as the warm filtered over him and seemed to almost radiate off his already snow white hair. As if following the Suna-nin's lead the figure took a step forward, one could now also see a long, thin wooden walking stick in the left hand that the figure used to walk as if needing its assistance. At first glance the shinobi couldn't tell if it was an act to appear weak or it was actually needed for the criminal to walk...but out of caution he could only assume the first.

"Yes, I honestly didn't think I'd be meeting the demon of Suna." Being referred to as a Demon caused the man's lips to turn in a slight u-shape, even his bright eyes dimmed slightly at the slight thrown at him from the Syndicate member. There really were only a handful of people who knew that Zao was the figure known as the Hegemon that had wreaked havoc over a good portion of the southern countries, even devastating a good portion of the Shrimp Continent. Even his own village had been tight lipped and had even used more subtle means to deal with rumors occurring outside the village. Yet, it only proved to the man that the organization truly had a large information net. "Then you must know how serious I am about the information I'm looking for." A side few saw of the bannin came out, a side born from the trials and tribulations of living with a demon controlling your body for nearly five years...a truly scary side of the monk like man that few ever saw more than once. Even the trained killed felt the sweat bead up on the back of his neck and back, needing a moment to adjust himself before he smiled against as his scruffy face could better be seen in the light now.

From above on the left and right a series of giant feathers rained down, even catching the clone slightly off guard but luckily the feathers weren't meant to kill or maim and instead flowed into a prison like shape around the Bannin himself but not the other man. For now Zao didn't resist and allowed for the cage of feathers to confine him, the criminal spoke again as two giant birds as tall as Zao himself fluttered their wings and descended. "For a little insurance, though I don't work for the syndicate any more you could say that I've made new friends. Seems the owl king has some interest in the human world after all these years, lucky for me. But anyways..." The pudgy man seemed to waddle forward after feeling a bit safer with the bannin stuck within a chakra reinforced cage of feathers as he walked with a limp using the walking stick to apparently help offset his body weight to walk easier. "...you were looking for the right hand of the Vanguard Master. My, my..."

He spoke shaking his head, closing his eyes as if recalling some information before he glanced back up with his dark eyes and disheveled hair that didn't appear to have been washed in weeks. "The former member of your own village, Hyōryū wasn't it?" A sneaking grin formed on the chapped lips of the middle aged man as he reached up with his right hand to gradually rub the scruff on his face. A stern looking Suna-nin, Zao moved closer to the edge of the cage looking through one of the abstract shaped holes about six inches in size to the man and the two spirit birds. He had come here looking for just some hard to acquire information but he would have have ever imagined that the Owl King would strike some sort of working deal with this criminal before him...just what had he used as leverage or bargained with to achieve such a feat? Shaking his head the Bannin attempted to get back on track as he reached into his robe and removed a bag filled with something. Though it was only about the quarter of the way full the action was enough to draw the interest of his new companion. "As requested."

The bag as tossed out another one of the holes around waist height landing a few meters from the cage as the injured looking man limped over to open the bag, a greedy smile that not even the seasoned criminal could hide spread out across the nasty man's face. "I am Jin, formerly the left hand (second in charge) under the Incense Master. But I must say I am surprised you were able to find these rare items..." His mind was drifting back to the rare set of gems that could only be found in the highest of mountains, most human were unable to travel to these types of destinations. Closing the bag tightly he lifted his darkened eyes back to the tall priest looking man currently contained within the spirit birds' prison. "You must know how dangerous your fellow countryman is, correct?" Though he was somewhat afraid of the Demon of Suna, Zao's unofficial title, he was obviously more afraid of Hyōryū. "The Vanguard master was feared even the Dragon Master (main boss) and raised Hyōryū almost like a son. But in the end as the organization was falling apart that boy slaughtered the old Vanguard before leaving, the organizations top assassin...." It seemed like it was something hard to say for the old man as he shook his head, almost as though he still couldn't believe that someone was able to kill the feared Vanguard Master...but in could not be denied that it happened as was the last nail in the coffin for the Syndicate.

'Could he really have ascended to such a level?' Even Zao himself couldn't help but question the words of the less than admirable man standing outside of his current cage. If there was even a half truth to this than the reports that he was receiving held much more validity and had moved the young puppet man to the top of Suna's thread list, even above himself. "Perhaps you'd be willing to let me know where about I can find my young countryman?" The Bannin's right hand reached up allowing his finger tips to stroke at his hairless chin, just how much did this fat little fellow know? Though in response the old man gave a toothy grin revealing a few missing teeth in his half smile. "Oh, I have a few ideas but you don't enough money for that information. After all, I don't need that kid looking for my neck too." A few droplets of sweat could be seen forming on the criminal's forehead, causing the skin on his forehead to glisten a bit in the rays of sun that still fell down from above the two men and the two bird spirits in the clearing. It was clear to see that even the hardened syndicate member held a decent amount of fear in the abilities of the young man who was only in his twenties. "I must insist, I'd rather our arrangement not turn violent..." A simple threat left the lips of the clone that was contained with the cage, this was something that was not exactly normal behavior for the Spirit Saint but the darkness from his time with the Hegemon could never truly be washed away.

Roshi, the man's real name, hardened his gaze up the trapped Suna-nin and without warning let out a loud laugh that echoed out from the clearing and into the dark forest surrounding them at the moment. "What makes you think your in any possession to threaten me within the confines of the Owl King's Territory?!" His voice contained more force in it, obviously attempting to fall back on the relationship he had managed to swindle his way into with the Owl spirit that ruled over the lands of Owl country. In response the clone smirked, causing the laughter to be cut off abruptly in that moment. "Perhaps if I feared the Owl King, that would hold some weight." The man's tone contained an almost mocking feeling as he spoke back, after his experience with the Demon King, he truly held no fear for any other spirit except him. "Ku...Ki....Kill him!" His companion felt the slip of killing intent leak from the clone as he stumbled over his own words, trying to get out the order for the two bird spirits that were acting like his personal body guards to attack and kill the Bannin before he could act on them. 'How fun...' The true Zao, still concealed through his invisibility technique in the edge of the tree line shook his head as it was time for him to act as well forming hand seals as the wings buffeted him from the two spirit birds wings as they launched themselves into the air. A rain of sword like feathers came down onto the cage destroying it and the clone inside as it temporarily hid the effects of the attack as the two birds fly about six meters off the ground and Roshi uncovered his face that had been reflex to protect himself from the aftereffects of the attack.

But his dark eyes widened as nothing was found within the destroyed cage: no body, no scraps of clothing, and no blood. A large poof of chakra smoke appeared from behind the man and the bird spirits before two dark skinned arms burst through the tree line that appeared to belong to some giant demonic creature that couldn't be seen through the thick trees. But its strength shattered the wood like toothpicks as the massive hands that were as large as the bird spirits themselves snatched both out of the sky. Zao has summoned his demonic elephant spirit which only used two of its six arms to subdue the other two spirits, while the blade of a ninjatō style sword appeared millimeters away from the neck of the criminal as Zao's invisibility technique ended now. "Perhaps we could discuss that price again?" A gentle smile was on the lips of the real Zao as his long white haired flowed down off his left should and onto the short, pudgy man that was directly in front of him being held at literal sword point.

Both of the spiritual flying birds were smashed harshly into the ground breaking their wings as the demonic elephant spirit smiled beneath its three long trunks as it broken through the tall trees allowing the others to see its darkened leathery skin face for the first time, its steps causing the ground to tremble. "Let's chat somewhere else..." A kunai fell point first into the ground before the other hand of Zao's fell onto the shoulder of the criminal and spacetime around the pair began to first tremble before it spiraled in on itself sucking the two men away into the void as King (the spirit elephant) poofed away in a cloud of chakra smoke at the same time. When the syndicate member regained his bearings he realized that he was float, yes literally floating in what seemed like space. Zao had pulled the fat little man back to his own personal realm so that they could speak without being bothered by anyone else. "Come here little man." The soft voice of the Suna Bannin drew his attention as he attempted to through his arms about like he was swimming in the strange realm as he managed to finally turn to see a small floating island behind him with Zao seated at a small wooden tea table.

Extending a single finger towards the man a thin rope of pure blue chakra formed slowly and snaked its way over towards the dirty fellow, wrapping itself around the figure's thick waistline and pulling him to the grass covered island that had a small looking living structure built from thick bamboo pieced located directly behind the seated Suna-nin. As he was being pulled back he gazed around only seeing a strange star scape that wasn't from earth and other strange astronomical phenomena that he couldn't wrap his head around, but what caused him to such in cold air was in the corners of this so called realm the environment had been changed in some manner. Each one seemed to belong to a different spirit and the environment was molded to that specific spirit, all these spirits in one place, most likely under the command of his host was enough to scare even the veteran killer stiff as he was pulled down into a seat across from Zao now finally. "Um..um...I can help you find him!" Roshi blurted out as he found the stern gaze upon him from the owner of the realm, his words though caused the gaze to ease and helped for the criminal to relax at least the smallest amount that he could given his current predicament.

"Please go ahead." Zao's smile grew friendly once more, even gesturing with his and towards some tea on the able and for him to continue with whatever it was that Jin was about to start spilling to him at this point. "Ryu, few know this but his main body is that of a silver haired child that appears like a homeless kid and some compare it to a ghost that just appears and disappears at will. But he has strong ties with the current Kage of Iwa, having worked with him several times before and during the war, in some cases directly against Suna openly. Of course very few outside the organization knew that Iwa was actually the ones backing Hyo and his actions." The words continued to tumble from the man's filthy mouth, causing for Zao to fold his hands together as his elbows came to rest on the edges of the table. Their conversation would continue for sometime, after this initial burst of information flooded the conversation. His questions were about how many bodies did the man use, what was known about each, and lastly the location he had been last seen in.

From what he was able to gather from the criminal who seemed to actually be telling the truth at this point in time, perhaps due to the persuasive nature of Zao's interrogation and the numerous hungry spirit creatures that kept staring at what looked like a tasty snake to them. He was able to discover quite a bit of useful information, though the depths of the puppet body that the enemy shinobi possessed were still cloaked in mostly secrecy leaving the white haired man somewhat worried. He didn't like walking into something this blind, all he was able to gather was what the main bodies looked like and some of their basic abilities, but the most notable thing was where he could be found. There was a military outpost on the edge of Earth country, though he wasn't in any sort of permanent residence there is was the place he normally came to obtain tasking sent out to him from the main village. "So he has sided with one of our major enemies...Hyōryū-kun, I can only see this ending one way now. There cannot be redemption for someone like yourself, sadly." Tea time was over and the priest looking figure stood up and walked around placing his hand on the criminal's shoulder before they were warped back to the same open clearing they had met one another within.

Roshi fell to his knees, trying to hold back the urge to vomit from the after effects of breaking through spacetime to return to this place as the slender fingers of the middle aged man reached down retrieving the destination kunai he had dropped earlier and started to walk north. "Let us hope that our paths don't cross again, I should kill you out of principle but because you have been able to actually be useful we'll call it even this time." The soft voice of the man came over his shoulder in a casual manner, as though killing the other man held little regard for him to do, with that he planned to continue moving farther north and out of the Owl country towards Earth country's border in search of that specific village outpost area. Several scenarios were running in the man's analytical mind about how he would need to fight against such a skilled assassin who could be quiet and use the shadows to his advantage or who could swap bodies on the fly to produce a hulk like mass which incredible close combat power. The white clothed figure faded into the darkness of the forest as the criminal just watched for a while in the silence of the forest before falling onto his back and passing out...