Chat [w/ the Sky]

[Ace Trainer]

"Em. Er. Eye. Tis....?"

Indra said with the slowly and intentionally, a word he'd never heard before, "I don't get it.", he said with something of a pout. He walked side by side with his Hizashi guardian as they approached the kage tower. He was dressed as he always was, much to Ikinari's chagrin. Sure, Indra was technically an individual of status as well, and sure the once-Kazekage was not quite as high on the totem pole as his name suggested, but it was important none-the-less, even if he was confident that Hito would treat it quite casually as well. Indra was going to be in many ways a representative of the village, and he would need to understand the nuances and complexities of these meetings, including why dressing nice matters.

"Emeritus. And, its not technically his title.", Ikinari said with a soft laugh, "But, the situation is unprecedented, and I needed an appropriate term given my station. So, for the time being it's the official term and one I am encouraging you to use as a matter not only of respect, but of faith.", good and simple guidance for the young host. Indeed, Hito had asked to meet Indra once Ikinari had informed Hito that he'd be officially assigned as his guardian. It was a sudden change given last time they had spoken Ikinari did not even know Indra's name, but the wheels of fate spun as they always did.

"I thought you had to die no longer be Kazekage.", Indra said in a hushed tone as they entered the tower. Even hushed, though, his voice betrayed his slight disbelief in the situation and likely his hesitation around Hito's legitimacy. "How do you stop being a representative for The Sun?", he insisted. Ikinari continued to guide Indra as they walked down a hall, taking the question in silence as he let the possible answers marinate. In truth, there wasn't a correct answer, that was why Hito needed to make up a term for the situation in the first place. Regardless though, he knew Hito was true to form and would expect Indra to treat him the same, which meant Indra would need an answer he liked.

"It is not for us to question Her will, Indra. Now, quiet.", he commanded. And with a quick rap on the door, the pair would wait to be welcomed in by Ouji, Hito.

[CDF]

Sector W-C-7A cleared, heading to 7B. Next update with findings in 4.578112 hours.

With a bored look, the former Kazekage stood in the dead center of what was a surprisingly drab, chaotic and large room. His hands seemed perfectly still while his head appeared to twitch randomly in every direction while pieces of paper and other miscellaneous supplies zipped throughout the room. From the door, the two newcomers would be able to hear the chaos inside. While muffled, it was clearly not the kind of noise that should be heard in this tower, especially considering they couldn't hear any of the noise until they were directly in front of the door, a tiny layer of fuuton was dampening any sound beyond that.

Sector L-E-1A in sight, arriving in approximately 2 and updating in 10 hours.

As another report came in from one of his extensions, his motionless hands sent another piece of paper flying from the U-shaped desk around him towards a wall that seemed to be at least 400 meters away, despite the impossibility of that within this building. The paper flapped and whizzed through the air at top speed before sticking to the wall beside the last report from that same extension.

Simultaneously, he had been listening to the duo's conversation as they walked into the building. He wasn't normally so invasive nor controlling for a simple interaction, but there was nothing simple about Gekko Indra or the possible futures he would soon have to commit to in one way or another, though not even Hito knew what that really meant beyond a strong intuitive knowing that doom was coming and the pair now at his door were crucial in its prevention.

Sector D-C-3C, attempt 2, cleared. No sign of preceding drone, continuing to 4A and updating in .5 hours.

The corresponding paper generated for this report launched forward just as another string opened the door for them. The combined movement might have been a little jarring, as Sector D-C-3 was in Dungeon Country, the only place he'd lost contact with an extension so far. As such, it was front and center to his vision, directly to the left of the now open door.

The empathy module within him suddenly gave a simulated flash of the sight Ikinari and Indra must have been seeing from the angle, and only now did he realize how strange the whole scenario might seem. It certainly didn't help that they were roughly 100 meters from him in a room that shouldn't even be half that wide, much less this magnitude of distance.

"Apologies," It was the only warning they'd receive before the entire room collapsed into itself... sort of. With a loud "pop", the room suddenly shrank back to its original and logical size and air pressure was funneled through a series of small holes he'd created and selectively covered in the wall to avoid rupturing everyone's eardrums. As it did so, every bit of paper and marking on the wall shrank as well, becoming a minuscule and illegible tapestry that covered almost every inch of the walls and ceiling, like a mad-man was trying to redecorate with tiny notecards.

At the same moment, the door behind them would get closed by another chakra string as two other strings sneaked through the inner walls of the building and connected to the very comfortable and ornate chairs that would be teleported to in front of his desk. Ikinari would likely recognize the chairs as being from one of the rooms reserved for the highest levels of diplomacy. Why not?

"Welcome!" He almost coughed, surprised at the enthusiasm and energy in his voice. That hadn't been intentional and he realized immediately that he was actually about this encounter. Nervous because of Indra? Ah. No, the genma within him. No, the genma within him and the fact the two before him were likely the truest of believers.

"Please ignore the mess and don't take it as a measure of my mental state" with a slight grin and a respectful half bow, he would finally greet the two. "It's my great pleasure to see you again, Ikinari-san, and my honor to finally meet you, Indra-san. Please, sit!" He had forgotten to teleport himself a chair but was squatting down to sit before either of them anyways, knowing they would not do so until he did. Just as he seemed like he was going to fall flat on his ass, another identical chair materialized in the perfect spot through the same mechanism.

This casual mix of formality and respect from somebody in his position was a work in progress. Every leader he'd met and respected so far seemed to have an innate ability to strike that balance in a way the just had not figured out yet, even with his newfound and nearly limitless intellect. At least there were still mental challenges in this world, especially considering none of those leaders have to contend with the concept of being an extension of their people's deity.

"How blessed we are to bask in the same light today, however dim it may seem!" His voice continued its lighthearted tone as he made a conscious effort to work his more religious past of a prophet into his words while gesturing at the less-than-stellar artificial lighting in the now small and usually unremarkable room. A part deep within him almost squirmed with disgust of his pretending to be what he wasn't, but this was all for the grand plan, whatever that was.

He ignored Ikinari for now, looking at Indra like the adult Hito planned on treating him as. "As you know, my name is Ouji, Hito. What you may not know, however, is that you are one of only a handful of people who know I'm alive. While I would have liked to make this introduction more organically, I'm afraid my instincts tell me we no longer have the luxury of such time. He stopped again, conscious of just how much he was talking and how little room for interaction he'd given either of them so far. "Ikinari speaks highly of you, and all I've read indicates he only tells me truth. So if you'll forgive the obnoxious question: Why do you think I've called you here today?"

[Ace Trainer]

The pair was welcomed in, not by a greeting, but instead by the door swinging open. Indra would take a confident step forward only for his guardian's hand to land on his shoulder, causing him to pause his step as he actually took in the giant room. How unusual of a place. Indra took it in for a moment, but before he could really register what he was looking at the once-Kazekage seemed to register it was unusual and zapped the room back to a normal size and design. Indra looked at Ikinari with a suspicious look on his face, and as the hand lifted off his shoulder he would waltz forward into the room until he was opposite Hito from the desk. Ikinari followed close behind, bowing to Hito, "A pleasure to see you again, Kazekage-Emeritus-sama.", he said with a polite smile. Ikinari and Indra were an interesting contrast; Ikinari's eyes were soft, understanding, and discerning, where-as Indra's were colored by the genma, suspicious, and critical. Like many teenagers, Indra was far more confident of his own knowledge and opinions than he deserved to be, and when things felt wrong, he struggled to hide his intuition.

"Blessed indeed", he would return to bow to Hito. As the chair formed behind him, Indra would turn to look at it suspiciously, poking it twice before slowly settling down into it. To an extent, he questioned whether it was really there or if it would just disappear out from under him as easily as it had appeared. Ikinari would sit as well, the polite diplomat keeping his lips tight to allow his steward to talk with Hito. "Got it. Hush hush.", Indra nodded with a sly sort of smile to indicate he was not taking the conversation too seriously.

When Hito asked his question though, Indra cocked his head to the side appearing to want to think about the question before answering. Why did the former Kazekage want to seem him? The answer was probably obvious, the genma was really what he was interested in. His face betrayed his annoyance about this until he finally just said it, "Probably because of the Soul Genma inside of me. You're interested in how things are going with it or something, I'm guessing?", responding with a question of his own. That much seemed obvious, a shame because meeting someone like the Kazekage was a big deal especially for someone like Indra. Sure, Hito wasn't the Kazekage anymore but he was adjacent and it was still pretty significant. So it was disappointing that it was under circumstances like these and not because of Indra himself.

[CDF]

There were often times when watching sentients that Hito could almost see a visual representation of their dynamic. A flow of a conceptual energy between individuals, and the flow between these two was beautiful. He did not know their full story yet, nor how engineered this pairing had been, but it had all the signs of the best mentor-student relationship either could have asked for.

Everything he'd read about Indra and heard from Ikinari was once again confirmed, as it had been in the training session Hito had hosted just a couple of days before. The boy was confident in a way that wasn't just the foolhardiness of youth, it read like an inflated ego, sure, but one that had good reason to. That was before even factoring in the genma within him, which he was clearly tired of having be the very first factor. Even the subtle humor and borderline insubordinate was both on-brand and, in a way, hope-inspiring for his plans.

Respecting the intellect he knew lay behind those interesting eyes, Hito spoke plainly. "In part, yes. There's no denying the almighty power and strength contained within Shishire that is in turn contained in you." He gave the words their due weight, genuinely respecting the strength and power that sat mere centimeters from him, contained behind thin layers of flesh and bone. He did not know the genma personally, but he had read as much as there was to read for verifiable information. Beyond that, his time drifting consciously through spirit dimensions also filled his imagination with rumors, legends and analagous entities to compare to. All of which painted the picture of a very powerful but emotionally immature entity. "That said, Shishire may as well have the power of a household ghost if not wielded by the right person. So no, Gekko Indra, you are not here because of the entity you host. You are here because I learned all I can of you from afar and I'm as certain as I can be that you are not just a convenient host, but a worthy one with the potential to set your mark in history as the most powerful and influential Jinchuriki of all time."

The words hung in the air for a moment and flashes of simulated timelines and potential futures flooded his mind. He could have held them at bay, redirected them as he was redirecting the many incoming pings and updates from his extensions. The same way he had the mental capacity to attend this meeting and receive those updates, he could also shut down these images of what he'd imagined regarding Indra. Yet he felt that in the former case, it would somehow diminish his performance and ability while in the latter, Indra would somehow subconsciously feel and understand that Hito wasn't just stroking his ego. There was a true vision here, and something inside him suggested this way of thinking would transmit a bit of that understanding.

Smiling a wide, warm smile and relaxing his body, he picked the statement back up and leaned back into his chair. "That is, of course, if that's what you want. You've already done your duty to your village, your people and to Her Light, as far as I can deem. You're alive and you're in control, and so long as it looks like you're not going to snap and kill everyone around you, everyone's happy to let you keep on ... well, being." He knew this wasn't getting much clearer, but he assumed that by now he'd have Indra's full interest and attention. It was rare enough for children to be spoken to and treated like adults, much less those that were tools utilized by groups of other humans or that had been isolated from normal society their whole lives.

"But I'm not. There is great calamity coming, " He gestured vaguely at the completely note-plastered wall on the side of the room farthest from them. He did not explain further, but that wall was the most looming and likely potential threats that accounted for the growing sense of doom in Hito's conscience. "But I know you're ready for that, I'm curious what you'll do with the opportunity that comes after. I know that you are a loyal shinobi, a powerful fighter, a bright strategist, a good son, a diligent student, and a devout worshipper. What I don't know, however, is what you want or what you believe. I wish to know these things so that I help you reach your potential and contentment, but also, frankly, so that I may best utilize you in the soon-to-come period of change."

Again, he paused awkwardly, allowing the large amount of words to settle and sink. He was too far removed from Indra's age and situation to truly properly empathize and extrapolate his thoughts or feelings. He could manipulate every variable in his imagination to get close, but it was such a unique life experience that Hito was flying as blind as he could against another sentient being these days. It was hard not to seek comfort in analyzing the much easier-to-read and understand parental figure beside him, but instead, he stayed focused and continued. "I don't need you to tell me all of those things now, and at your age, I wouldn't have been able to even begin to fill in most of those gaps. What I'd like today is to understand how you and The Exalted Shigenma are doing and feeling, to loop you in to what I see coming for our future, to begin to plan for what comes next for you and for our people and finally, to answer any questions you may have left. If that's something you're comfortable with and you see value in, let's start by telling me how you feel about your current battle capabilities in a life-or-death scenario? I know your first attempt at your chuunin exams did not go as intended, but it seems you've recovered magnificently since then."

[Ace Trainer]

As Hito spoke, Indra listened intently, allowing the Kazekage-emeritus (as Ikinari had called him) to drone on and on about ‘Shishire’, the genma some sort of ‘calamity’ that was impending, and then to wax poetic about all of Indra’s strengths and Hito’s curiousities about the things he hadn’t been told yet. To an extent, it felt invasive, like his privacy had been breached. Not that Indra had any reasonable expectation of privacy anyways. Hito would say a lot, and though he would pause periodically none of the pauses truly felt like invitations to talk, which was probably a good assessment from Indra given shortly Hito would resume as he was. Finally, he seemed to get to his point, giving Indra short list of goals and a somewhat simple question, albeit heavy.

”Or my second.”, he muttered under his breath with a slight hint of annoyance. Indeed, Indra had failed not once, but twice before passing. Hito asking about it this was felt a little like rubbing salt in the wound, not that Indra would be able to tell if it was intentional of not. ’I didn’t even realize the Soul Genma had a name, Shishire?', he thought to himself. For a moment, Indra let the name bounce around in his head, curious to how it had never came up before. The mighty beast deep in the recesses of his brain was a secretive being though, maybe it wanted to hide this from him though. He realized he'd been staring down at his feet for a moment and would look up at Hito, making eye contact with him only to see two blackened eyes like his own staring back at him. He'd jump only slightly before Hito's eyes returned to normal.

The dead kage has no right to use my name, chchchchchchch

The words echoed through Indra's brain, who did his best to ignore the echoing laughter that followed and attempt to continue on, hoping that neither Ikinari nor Hito would notice the odd response he’d just had. ”Well thank you.”, he said with a playful smile, ”I guess these guardians have been paying attention a least a little bit!”, there was the confidence, even if it was a little bit of a facade right now. ”For all you’ve said, I’ll tell ya. I feel I’m strong and plenty capable, but I have no goal of being in life-or-death scenarios right now. I’m learning lots, with the Talisman, the Holy Jutsu, puppetry. I’ve met some good puppeteers who have been helping me get better at making my own puppets too. I’ve got two of them now and I’ve been working on a third at home.”, he glanced over at Ikinari for a moment, unsure if Ikinari was aware of this and hoping to catch the jounin by surprise. Unfortunately (and as always) Ikinari simply looked at him unflinchingly and unsurprised, as if he already knew everything. Tch

”I think I’m doing great and could give any chuunin a run for their money. I was just telling Ikinari the other day I don’t even need these genma powers, I’m gonna be fine just on my own.”, the facade of confidence had fallen away to Indra’s natural self-assured personality. ”That being said…I don’t really know what you mean by uh, calamity, and period of change and all that. You aren’t making a lot of sense with that.”

Chchchchchchchch

[CDF]

Every moment was educational, though not exactly a test. His words had been semi-carefully constructed with the intention of measuring Indra's response. The most important question here had to be Hito coming to his own conclusion about the relationship between the Host and Spirit. He was also learning about Indra's personality, seeing how he reacted to everything and comparing that with the model he was currently building of the boy in his mind. Soon he'd have enough data to start simulating his responses and then comparing the actual to it for constant updating.

Important observations so far: He did not hesitate to correct my "error" about how many times he failed the exam. No attempt to downplay it for honor's sake, nor even the slightest hesitation in correcting the former kazekage. Considering his noted religious beliefs, this likely indicated he didn't revere Hito as many in the village inevitably would once they learned he was alive.

Most important to notice, however, was the subtle and seemingly inexplicable responses that flashed through the young ninja's body and face soon after he seemed to be confused. He played it off exceptionally well, but he was sitting across from a man that could not only notice, but even explain every single muscle fiber's movement in a person's face. So Hito noticed the moment Indra wondered a question to himself, and assumed that the question was either "How does he know shishire's name" or "Who's shishire?". Mentioning the ancient powerful being's name seemed to have gotten a reaction out of it, for shortly after this behavioral anomaly flared up in Indra, it almost seemed like he got jump-scared by something. Hito had spent more than enough time expriencing hallucinations to assign a large probability that that's what had just happened. Even if it wasn't, however, the abnormal behavior from the usually composed Indra was a sign the soul genma had done something. Was that out of anger at Hito's insolence as a mortal speaking so casually to a genma? Or was it because he'd just revealed one of the genma's own secrets to its host? Several different potential realities were opening up as he collected more information and he maintained all of them in his mind, hoping more data will eventually start resulting in fewer possibilities rather than the current increase. Of course, there was also the slightly above 0% possibility that it was nothing and Indra just so happened to twitch or have an overactive imagination.

Hito's face reflected none of these observations, of course. Nor did it react to the additional information of how confident and self-reverential the young man was, even regardless of the genma. He was rather satisfied with whoever made the decision of choosing Indra for the sealing, he could count on one hand the other archetypes of personality that would be able to handle Shishire's corrupting influence, and this mixture of confident and happy-go-lucky was one of them. Though it also had a massive potential for creating the greatest villain the world has ever seen, but so did all the other personalities that were likely to be able to resist the influence.

Thus Ikinari's presence was so important. He wasn't sure how to feel about Indra's perception of their relationship, as it seemed to be more like an older friend/mentor dynamic to him than any kind of paternal. He didnt use any honorific and spoke to him casually, but at hte same time, clearly respect his authority over him in a way he likely didnt respect anyone elses, not even Hito's. Interesting and yet another feather in Ikinari's cap.

Part of his mind continued chewing on all this as he began to respond.

"You know, I actually need to spin up some puppets of my own. I've had , well, you could say a lifetime to consider them and it's turning out that I'm a better architect than engineer." A long-forgotten proud part of himself screamed from within the abyss of his massive conscience, clearly miffed at the self-made implication he wasn't an exceptional engineer, which, of course he was. "If we find the time, I'd love your help with that. Especially considering how outdated I am on puppetry now, and seems you've been talking with the best of the best, so that'll be great." Hito smiled warmly to them both, including Ikinari in it like a teacher would include a parent in a conversation about their child's future, though he knew it was very different. There was the potential that increasing the strength of this attachment would increase the risk of Indra losing control when Ikinari inevitably dies before him, but the potential advantages seemed to outweigh that possibility by quite a bit, so Hito would find any subtle ways to help cement Ikinari's almost parental role. "Your self assesment matches perfectly with what I've heard, read and even seen and I'm happy to learn you care more about what's smart than what most your age would consider the quote, unquote "honorable" thing to do, when they'd really just be creating unnecessary risk for themselves and others." Hito did not have much experience with hosts, but he had enough experiences with young humans to know their brash tendencies even without ineffable power locked within them.

Taking a deeper breath now at Indra's final words, he gave a moment to look like he was pondering what to say next while looking off a little distant. "To be honest, it's hard to say. Not because you're incapable of understanding, but because I'm incapable of putting it into words." He rested his right hand against his temple and closed his eyes, this time it wasnt for show. He unleased the barriers he had put on the part of his mind that constantly wants to run simulations on the future and images flooded him as they had been doing before he learned to create those barriers.

Countless possibile futures with varying degrees of misery and fortune all happened at once, flowing through his mind more like a torrent than any kind of line, droplets of imaginated universes coming into and out of existence, splitting off or merging until there was just one main stream left, all of which contained great misery in the very near future.
"Since returning, I can see more than I can even understand. Most likely it will be war, and very soon..." His eyes remained closed, a slight flicker of effort wincing through them as the simulations kept going. For a moment, it seemed to have gotten away from them, images swelling once again in various angles before coalescing into one massive looming shadow. His body had to repress the desire to back up and protect itself, the hair son the back of his neck rose and his fingers tightened with the impulse desire to release protective strings. His simulations had converged on a potential future with Indra becomes that vilain he had considered earlier. It wasn't a likely scenario, but it was arguably the most frightening one Hito had simulated since returning.

The blip of runaway imagination left in a nanosecond and Hito's eyes were back open and staring deep into Indra's. "Very soon, you will be surrounded by death and destruction in a way that you'd only be familiar with in Shishire's memories, if he lets you see any of those" Again, he flippantly mentioned the genma, wondering if something similar would happen again. Well he was already here, so why not? "I'm assuming it doesn't enjoy their name in my mouth,?" His voice was almost amused as it stared into Indra's eyes, seeming to look through and into him, wanting to make eye contact with the beast itself. His eyes softened, his body relaxed and his tone became more respectful than amused. "I apologize for my impertinence, merely a clumsy attempt at a hello." Smiling a knowing and loaded smile, he gave the tiniest flicker of a bowing head movement that could be read as meant for the two mortals in front of him, but he hoped the true message of respect was received by the immortal hidden amongst them. He also watched secretly to see how the two before him would take this action of a supposed extension of the light speaking so respectfully to the genma.

Suddenly transitioning again, as he had clumsily been doing so, he continued as if that tangent never occured. "The calamity I speak of may be vague, but I'm confident it's coming. Likewise, your future is vague to me, but I'm confident it will be important to the world. Soon your people, whomever you deem them to be" Again flashes of simulated futures passed through him, a fractured village and a fractured nation fighting amongst itself to choose a leader between three forces. So much blood... maybe. "Will need you. They will need you for many reasons, but most importantly they will need you for their faith and for your leadership. While I trust you are a very serious young man, I'm telling you this today so that you can prepare yourself emotionally. There will soon be a time where you will not be able to rely on Ikinari-san" He looked gravely at the diplomat, not explaining further if he meant because of death or not. "Soon there will be problems that not even the strongest abilities within your fully actualized battle set will be able to solve. You will need to lead without being led and be prepared to make decisions you never imagined having to make." Almost tilting his head in curiosity while leaning back into his chair, he smiled again, this time playfully. "I imagine it rather sounds like I've gone mad to you, so I just ask you: do you think you could go out on a limb and assume that I'm right? I'd love to tell you this was a clear and unquestionable vision from Her light. That what I'm telling you now is a message beamed straight from our most holy Sun through me and into you; but I cannot. I am still understanding the blessings I was bestowed with my return to reality and I do not make false promises."

[Ace Trainer]

"Mm.", was all Indra would give in response to Hito mentioning he needed to spin up some puppets of his own. It was an odd mix of mild excitement and dismissiveness of the idea. It was evident Indra was rapidly getting used to people in positions of authority being duplicitious and pretending to be interested in him just to glean information. It felt a fair amount like Hito was buttering him up for something, none of it felt real to Indra, though perhaps there was no compliment a person in power could give Indra that would feel sincere at this point.

Hito mentioned war though and Indra's eyes darted over to Ikinari again, this time his face more confused than inquisitive. The fact that Hito was bringing it up made it seem suddenly much more press than Ikinari had made it out to be. Up until this point Indra had heard whisperings and rumors, but nothing substantive. In fact when he was in Pebble for the Iron Banner he had admonished Suzuko for suggesting Suna was in any degree of trouble. Geez, was he going to need to apologize to her? He surveyed Ikinari momentarily to try and sort out of he needed to take what Hito was saying to mean the war was much more serious than Ikinari had led him to believe, but he was left with nothing but a simple gesture from Ikinari to redirect him back to the once-Kazekage. "If its a war I'll fight!", he blurted out passionately, completely undermining what both he and Hito had just said.

He bit his tongue, letting Hito continue. But as Hito called out the Genma's name, Indra would hear the Chchchchchch, once more, and slowly from behind Hito the same red headed boy Indra had seen in the underground training grounds would come from seemingly no where a ffew feet behind him, unmoving once he fully emerged. The bright red eyes of the boy would simply stare of Indra, Indra watching him back, his gaze dispassionately bypassing Hito to keep track of the boy.

He allowed Hito to continue, and while the words didn't quite fall on deaf ears they weren't fully processed either. Up until the last thing Hito said, which caught Indra's attention though his eyes would remain affixed to boy standing behind Hito. He couldn't? That was...as much as he wanted to say odd it was unsurprising. Chchchchchchch.. Hito was no longer her prophet or so Indra thought. It was hard to know. So, maybe he made sense that he couldn't be clear on where it was coming from. Was the war really a threat? Hito seemed to think so, and Ikinari's refusal to speak and reverence towards Hito seemed to suggest Ikinari believed it; which in truth was a bigger endorsement to Indra than Hito's previous title.

"Sunagakure is the great village known. It is the chosen center of Her Light, and is blessed to spread Her Light. There is no war, no assault, no amount of darkness that can penetrate that light. She has a path illuminated for us, Kazekage-Emeritus-sama. We just have to follow it.", his answer sounded almost like he was reciting it, given the flat and unemotional way he said it, his eyes continuing to stare through Hito, afraid to come off the boy the genma had conjured in case it decided to move...or worse. "If you need something from me, you can just tell me!", a little color added to his tone, "I exist to serve her Light. I'll be the strongest I can be for this war then.". There was a pause, a silence hanging between them for a moment and Indra seemed to calculate something before cautiously saying he next thought, "What if I'm not strong enough though?", he asked, the boy behind Hito grinning widely.

Chchchchchchch

[CDF]

He liked this boy more with each moment. He was so simultaneously human and ethereal, he had constructed some kind of deep intellectual interface for his emotions and his situation. What was the central pillar? It wasn't pure ego of skill, more like... righteous authority. It wasn't only that he moved with the confidence of an arrogant boy that believed he was a moral superior, but it felt like it. He had never met one before, but he imagined this is what it felt like to be around a prophet, and what he should have behaved like when he was first Kazekage. He never had this confidence that every conscious decision was blessed and a piece of him reminiscent of his simpler jounin days was envious of the different timelines he could have lived with such confidence.

The boy's outburst was yet more encouraging data. A red-blooded human child underneath all the advanced maturity and divine mission, a boy that loves his mentor, whether he knows to call it that or not. It would be a lie to say Hito couldn't help himself, but he saw no reason to not allow the warm smile on his face as Indra reacted with false bravado. As before, he shamelessly discarded notions of societal respect and even pride, not caring that they had literally just spoken about him being the opposite of this way. This honesty was crucial in what was becoming clearly the important role he was to play, if things went according to plan(s).

He continued speaking, but Indra "heard" the noise and Hito noticed it a nanosecond later and he mimicked the movement. He had no clue what Indra was seeing or hearing, but the same muscle groups shifted as before as well as the same group of smells, at least for a moment. Body chemistry could not lie, at least not inconsistently, and Hito was instantly aware the same thing as earlier was occurring and had a bit of a plan to hopefully gain some respect from both the boy and his genma, but also perhaps make a bit of a dent in the genma's influence on the young and potentially powerful mind.

While he spoke, he changed his demeanor to become uncomfortable. His eyes darted occasionally, as if searching for a ghost and he tracked Indra's face with a concerned look, like an ally would do on a battlefield amongst potential enemies. He continued his speech uninterrupted, as if acknowledging the threat fully would make it spring to life, but he hoped it would convey some sense that he was in the hallucination with him. An instant later, the lack of logic in his outburst confirmed Hito's suspicion and he leaned into it.

He could tell Indra's gaze wasn't truly on him, though he was exceptional at not fully moving his eye contact. It was a look one was more likely to see in a patient who was sedated versus a completely sane and talking child, Hito could not imagine the amount of work the physical mass of his brain did to keep itself functioning in these moments. He sounded like he was just emotional and scared of the threat to Ikinari, but this vocal range and these body signals didn't match with a human scared of the future, it matched with a human scared of now.

The weakness in his words was not a reflection of his thoughts or assessment, it was a reaction to whatever was causing this new immediate fear and whatever triggered the earlier bundle of discomfort. It was an enlightening moment that revealed much about how the genma within him worked, the crooked trauma psychology it used.

Anger welled up within him in a way he didn't know was quite possible anymore. Perhaps because this was the first genuine one-to-one human connection he'd had since his return. The first time he'd been forced to figure out a sentient's mind because it didn't fit any known pattern, which required truly feeling their feelings. This was certainly against the moral code that kept him as more than just a bundle of electric impulses.

Swinging his arm up as high as he could, Hito shot out fuuton covered chakra strings from it and slammed his hand down with his full strength and speed. First there was the pure impact, then a slight slashing sound as his strings cut just the right parts in just the right way so that the desk pancaked perfectly into the floor of the room, making just a slight dent instead of ramming through several floors of the tower. The force dispersal downward was perfect, and then the flattened desk and the chair beneath the three of them was suddenly sliced apart in the same way and sent flying in every direction harmlessly.

A glowing barrier of chakra emanated from him and spread, doing nothing in reality except pushing away every tiny particulate other than breathable air, including the debris he had just created. Nothing was done to soften the landing beneath any of their asses, and if uninterrupted, they would all fall to their butts with a thump.

It was almost instantaneous, a sudden and loud slam, the slicing of wind, the flying of objects, the hum and pushing of a chakra barrier and then suddenly the thump of landing. Clean pure air filled the center of the room and every possible object, impurity and even grain of sand that hade made its way in was now pinned tightly against the wall, creating a layer of filth there.

Hito was smiling and looking at Indra as if none of this had just happened.

"That's part of what I'm trying to tell you, young man. You have been tried, you have been tested, you have been measured. You are unquestionably worthy, and your people will soon need you. You have no time to spend on the genma's games. He does not know you better than you do, the moments where he manages to wrap himself around your mind are not the moments that define you and any instant you find yourself questioning your strength, your humanity, your potential: You must know that it is HIS message and not Hers. If we are to do more than just survive what comes next, YOU need to be that makes HIM feel weak and uncertain. And I know you can." He said all this with his ass on the floor, but as he finished speaking, he got up and raised out a hand to Ikinari and Indra, offering to pull them up. "Your moment for greatness will not come, because there will be no single moment. You will have countless opportunities to do what's right, and you will have countless opportunities to seem to fail, just as you seemed to fail your first two chuunin exams. Those are the moments where you will here him skittering around your mind most because that's what bullies do. They wait until there's a crack of doubt and then they try so crack it open. But you'll remember you have people that trust you, people that believe in you and even people that love you." It was all rather dramatic, he knew, so he leaned further into it and let everything that was pinned against the wall fall to the ground.

The chakra strings that had invisibly cut up the seat and desks was now putting everything back together in perfect order before pulsing Jikukan through it all and undoing the damage with minimal chakra usage. Hito shifted his supporting weight-pulling hand into two simultaneous handshakes while bowing again slightly. "I thank you both for your devotion to your people and to Her Light" Whether it was the last thing he did on his earth, he was going to find a way to ram the concept of "and our people" into their religious canon. Hopefully he could live long enough to expand the concept of our people to all humans, but this was the starting point. He raised his head and left go of Ikinari's hand, shifting to a double handed hold and on Indra's again, staring at him. "I know I've dropped a lot on you, but as I've said, it's because I know you can handle it. You are free to go now and process this with your mentor, but I hope to be seeing you soon. I meant it about the puppets, I have much to learn and very little time to learn it." Mixing his warm smile with yet one final reminder of the urgency of this bizzare interaction, Hito finally let go and plopped himself back into his chair.

The previously shredded tiny papers were now back on his desk and his chakra strings almost seemed to autonomously move as his brain allowed all the backed-up messages from his extensions to start firing back up and get back to work. His focus remained on the two, he had no intention of being rude, but it would be clear this was no longer as urgent and intense a conversation; the former Kazekage was now doing what he would be known for doing ever-forward: Mult-tasking.

"Now if you're ready to ask questions and talk more now, I'd be more than happy to talk about some of the potential futures and plans I see for us and our people that we could get started on now. In fact!" His voice picked up a little speed and volume, almost a manic, excited tone. He was letting that part of him really come out and play in a way that felt healthy and impactful, as he hoped it also overwhelmed indra into realizing he needed this moment to leave for his own ability to process. But also, Hito did find this topic exhilerating. "Your use of the talisman the other day sprung a few ideas that i think could be incorporated really well into our defenses, without needing to use your talisman of course. I've started creating teams of individuals that don't quite yet know they're a team nor that i'm the one that put them into this not-team, but there will be many interesting developments coming soon that i think will interest and benefit you." His rapid rambling was likely to have made his guests even more uncomfortable by now, so he would give a polite chuckle and smile while opening the door with a chakra string. "Thank you so much for your time and attention today gentlemen, I look forward to working with you two soon."

There was something satisfyingly effecient about this manic-energy version of himself. Maybe a note to consider adding to the character profile he had started to write of himself in an effort to encapsulate what was truly him versus... thoughts of him?

[Ace Trainer]

As Indra spoke, he wouldn't notice Hito's apparent attempt to bring him some solace. So Hito's response was swift, sudden, and completely unpredicted. Ikinari and Indra would both collapse to the ground, Indra's shuffling backwards in somewhat of a panic. Ikinari would pick up on it rather quickly, putting a hand on Indra's back, a soft heat radiating from his hand quickly, which seemed to be intended to offer some amount of reassurance to the young chuunin. Ikinari's face was flustered for only a moment, before regaining composure, softness returning to his face as he watched Indra's head move on a practical swivel to regain control of the room before locking his gaze back onto the genma. The red headed boy had not moved at all, seemingly unphased entirely by the little shown the Kazekage had just put on.

CHCHCHCHCHCHCH

Hito would begin talking, the calmness in his voice as if nothing had just happened being ignored by Indra who was instead watching the boy in the back of the room slowly walk forward. He'd place both hands on Hito's shoulders, staring down at the trio, his red eyes locked back on Indra. "Your prophet is lost. An insane old man lost to time. This is what becomes of those chosen by the sun...Chchchchch, his wide- inhuman grin would remain. Indra's eyes unwaivering looking through Hito, partially aiming to dismiss the genma's proxy through ignorance, partially aiming try and forcefully conjure the words of the former Kazekage into the fore of his mind rather than the failed attempt he currently had at gripping the words.

Hito's impassioned speech would fall on deaf ears, even as Hito reached out to take Indra's hand, Indra would take it and rise to his feet, slowly nodding as if he was listening though he was almost certainly not. Ikinari's soft gaze would likely be noticed by Hito, but Indra seemed wholly unaware of how clear it was his guardian was concern about him. Finally, Hito would thank Indra and he would seemingly snap out of his trance, the genma vanishing from behind them now that they'd broken up whatever was happening. For a moment, Indra wondered if Hito had really answered the question, momentarily expending the effort to try and grab the words Hito had said out of the air as they vanished in the periphery of his mind. What little he could remember, it all felt like poetic waxing and little of substance. In truth, Indra was trying to assess how at risk he'd be of losing the Genma if this 'war' went wrong. What little he recalled from Hito's words did little to give him an answer. If Suna was at war, would they want a genma host like him?

"My devotion to Her Light is all I exist to be.", Indra's response was polite enough, disregarding Hito's note about 'people', and the undertone to his voice seemingly betraying the annoyance he had with Hito's stunt.

He watched as Hito half way dismissed them and half way attempted to lure them into further conversation, slowly readjusting the room back to it's previous state. Why had he done that in the first place? Indra would look to Ikinari, seemingly wanting guidance on what he was supposed to do? His talismans? 'Not' teams? Man, what was this guy on about? "Its rare to have an audience with a Kazekage, Indra. If you have questions, you should ask.", Ikinari prompted, seemingly reading Indra's hesitation. Indra looked back at Hito, then back at Ikinari. Despite being a teenager, it was almost as if he was a toddler wanting his parents approval before going to talk to a friend. Hito's previous non-answer to his question left him little faith any further questions would really be answered, but Ikinari's prompting seemed to reassure him.

"I'll have you know my Talismans are something only I can use. I was gifted them by The Sun, and imbued with a blessing that allows me to use them. Its not something anyone else can do. So, don't expect too much from that. But I guess....What will I need to do in order to be named Special Jounin?", he asked. As the question left his lips, he did his best to restrain the cheeky smile as he looked over at Ikinari, curious to see how his mentor would respond to the question.

[CDF]

So rigid and unflappable. He seemed more like himself, but Hito had truly hoped for something like a look of relief and regaining of control, insteaad it was more like he normalized the new state he had noticed into something still ongoing but more... in control? He would love to see what this look in his eye was like when he brought out more of the spirit's power. How much of this was him in control creating personality traits and how much was it coping mechanism fashioned into an adaptation?

Regardless, whatever came next it was certain he would survive. Ikinari was as impressive as always himself, though Hito could not yet understand why the simulations around him were so much darker on average than the very host of the soul genma. Could it be his own bias for human history pattern where a figure most develops from a significant loss? Or perhaps... was there some way the he himself was responsible for something that happens? Anything was possible and his sudden reactivation into everything was leaving him a little too willing to chase every thought.

Local encountered, welcomed as guest reconnecting sometime within 24 hours
Target located, Sector W-C-8-A-4-6-7, initial location. Tracking as of 12,345 seconds since last sync, real-time link activated and minimized
Sector D-C-9, assumption #23, 24, 32 confirmed, plan C commencing with modifiers blue and green. Undetermined sync estimate

Looking up and being just as adaptable as the young man but without any of the emotion that was clearly bubbling under his skin. His smile continued to be warm, but it was slowly becoming clearer what Hito's role itself would be in Indra's life. Perhaps that was the purpose of this meeting. He wasn't too fond of it, and immediately images flooded again.

Years of bickering, defiance and active insubordination. In some timelines, the one where he has to turn himself into a villain, it's often Indra now that's the one killing him and leading Suna to his envisioned utopia. One of many possibilities. Oh well, he could almost feel a deep sign coming as he collected more information to confirm if this was the case.

"Ah, but Her light is everything. That is quite a lot to exist as." His smile was still warm, his tone still respectful as one adult to another, but slowly it was transitioning like that of a senior worker talking to an enthusiastic junior colleague. "Ho ho, that's more like it. Ambition is crucial and I've spent enough time here stroking your ego. The only thing you didn't hear me say is that you have any valuable experience, and as I've emphasized, time is of the essence." As he spoke, his strings grabbed tiny papers and somehow wrote tiny letters on them and were back to moving things to walls, placing them slower and more delicately than before. "And while I have returned, I am not yet or perhaps never will I be the kazekage. That's still uncertain as well. I can only make happen what I'm certain is imperative enough for the grand plan to push to make happen. So for me to push to make sure you become special jounin, which I could snap my fingers and make happen tomorrow though ideally ...... minimum 5, max 10 days with no warning for minimal damage to my network." Smiling innocently, the sounds of his work continued and more messaged relayed, the pins on a tiny map at the far corner being shifted. "So let's marry the two, show me you're worth investing in and help me in my grand plan, regardless of how you and the grand entity within you feel about my sanity. You know," Hito looked up suddenly as if he'd just has a sudden idea, "I'm willing to bet he's told you I'm crazy and that he knows what's true and what's not. Remember that's a common tactic among sentient beings that want to have control over another: they alienate in any way they can and then make you question everything but their logic and expertise. Anyways," suddenly turning back to the conversation, "Dungeon country is a mystery to me and one full of opportunities to test your strength and truly face real danger that nobody but you and your party can control. I want you to conquer the hardest one of these infamous dungeons as you can and attmept to understand what's going on there so that we may form some actual diplomatic relations in a way that prevents war and bloodshed. Alternatively, you can show me you have leadership potential and lead a team on a mission, either combat or diplomatic. Or, you can ask the official Kazekage's office and see what their protocol offers you. Make sure to ask them what's the minimum amount of time until you can get another rank up to Jounin after that, though. I'll pre-emptively let you know that my answer to that question is: 0 days."

[Ace Trainer]

Unsurprisingly, Ikinari's demeanor was unchanged, beyond a slight humored smile. Not the reaction Indra was hoping for, but a reaction nonetheless that Indra knew he'd get a chance to rib the jounin about later on. Indra seemed to choose to ignore Hito's commentary about his experience, not allowing him to diminish the small amounts of joy he was feeling that allowed him to mask the panic he'd been feeling earlier as the genma watched over the back of his mind. The notion that he could be a special jounin in 5 to 10 days was a big one, the grin on Indra's face getting progressively wider. Up until Hito decided it was instead time to bargain! Man. What was with this old guy? 'Worth investing' in? Great. And just like that he sounded just like all the noblemen and government officials that looked at Indra as a temporary holding cell. No need to help Indra if he wasn't worth anything.

No wonder so many hosts die early., he thought defiantly.

Hito's commentary about the genma was met with an acute look of suspicion, the now empty grin on his face slowly fading to straight lips. Hito spoke quite familiarly about the genma, even if it was 'advise' it made it seem like Hito knew something about it Indra didn't it. Or that he had ulterior motives. If he didn't know Ikinari would snatch him back into place, Indra would have turned and walked off right then. This was once a prophet of The Sun? It was not something that was very reassuring. It make matters worse, Hito wanted Indra to go somewhere called Dungeon Country. Yes, that certainly sounded like somewhere Indra wanted to go, and not like somewhere that was unblessed and full of darkness. He glanced at Ikinari to size up the jounin's response, and was treated with nothing but a nod seemingly redirecting Indra's attention back to Hito.

"Got it, got it. Dungeon Country, lead a mission. Ask about protocol. You got it Kazekage-Emeritus-sama.", it seemed Indra was done with the conversation because he would bow deeply to to Hito before looking at Ikinari, indicating he was prepared to go.

"It is always a pleasure, Kazekage-Emeritus-sama, thank you for taking the time to meet with us and provide your guidance.", he too would bow, and then give a soft smile, turning to leave and dismiss himself. Indra would lead Ikinari out of the room, and the pair would wind through the hallways in silence, Indra apparently wanting to get out of the building as quickly as possible. As they exited and made it a fair bit down the street, Ikinari would stop, laughing a little, "Whats the deal??", he said plainly.

Indra inspected Ikinari up and down suspiciously for a moment before frowning and shaking his head, "He wants me to go to Dungeon Country?", though a question it seemed almost rhetorical, as Indra's eyes locked onto Ikinari's seemingly searching for an answer before looking down at the ground and then he said something his tone acknowledging how grave his comment was.

"There is no Light in him."

[CDF]

Hito smiled politely and watched them go, biting the urge to say more to the brash young man. So much potential, stunted only by his arrogance, but perhaps that arrogance was needed for now. It wasn't exactly a clear message, but a resounding sensation from his new layer of conscience was telling him not to be brash or act on first-draft plans. This mind and this entity was not only fickle, but important.

He couldn't be certain, but he felt pretty sure that he had just labeled himself as a form of an enemy in the young prophet's mind. If not an enemy, then simply unworthy. He could see many futures where this was crucial, the former kazekage fallen-from-grace that starts off as a pitiful and confusing thorn in his side, to eventually becoming a begrudging role model to learn from while secretly despising. In a few scenarios, Hito again saw Indra's possessed form drooping over him, a legion of the seemingly damned at his feet, rushing forward to end Hito's life and bring forth the second phase of his grand plan.

For now, however, he was just the boy he saw before him, who knew too much but not enough. His mentor was a master of emotional control and understanding personalities, but Hito suspected he too did not leave with the greatest impression of the former-kazekage, although perhaps he would soon be grateful for the additional role of an adult that could challenge the boy.

Either way, this meeting was done and as far as he could tell, Hito had made no irreversible errors with his testing. He'd learned much, and now he'd sent off the strongest and most dangerous entity in their entire village to what could arguably hell-on-earth in the eyes of his people. This was no mistake and already, every one of his extension constructs within the area were alerted.

Their priorities were shifted to understanding the landscape as well as possible and embedding themselves into the nation in ways that wouldn't be noticed by the young jinchuriki when he came to do his mission. Hito may seem like a crazy and reckless old man, but he would be watching and ready to intervene as needed, but most likely he'd just observe so as to not be surprised by any of the consequences of this potentially disastrous mission. This could be the catlyst that results in the evil beast he knew Indra could become, but it was worth the risk. If this were enough to knock him off his path, they didn't have a chance anyways.

Closing the door behind them, he snapped his fingers and returned the office to its altered state while a strange, wooden bird took flight from the top of the tower. Hitos eyes watched through its glass orbs, monitoring the duo's body language and beginning what would now be an around-the-clock surveillance on them both from afar. With his intellect, he'd never let them notice, and with his apathy, he'd never intervene unless it was a matter of life or death. His constructs were always out of range even for genma, as Hito only ever needed his extensions to get close enough to catch them with any of their senses from any angle. He did not need to hear all they said or use sensory jutsu to track them, just well-planned layered rotational surveillance. until the young shinobi returned from his mission, the former Kazekage had no intention of letting him out of range of this monitoring system.

Things were moving along, and this meeting definitely just accelerated the pace of everything. On the otherside of the world, he was approaching the border into lightning empire just as another of his extensions was continuing its path from Konoha where Hito-proper had only hours before this meeting met with the Hokage himself.

This was still just the beginning