Bird's Eye View - Part 1

[CDF]

Hito watched through the eyes of a distant vulture, his vision augmented tenfold by a jutsu channeled through its mechanical body. It would defy everything he knew about chakra and physics for his monitoring to be detected, but a gnawing feeling of uneasy was growing from within. It wasn't yet urgent nor did it have any kind of objective list that was clear with it, so he merely acknowledged its presence and proceeded with caution.

Like the many little bits of surveillance he'd spread around the village, he patiently watched. Not just Indra, but his people. He had been gone for a long time and he was coming back with grand ideas, but all of them were based on thoughts and simulations. He had to get reacclimated with his people before he could make any meaningful change. Not that he'd wait to do that before enacting his plans.

This particular extension was particularly attention-worthy. He thought he'd understand the young host in their previous meeting, but he had overestimated his bravado and underestimated his faith-to-self. He seemed to have no intention of going off to dungeon country, which eliminated many of the types of religious he could be.

What was a little bothersome currently was the excessive amount of security that he'd registered following them. It was confirming his suspicion this young man was woefully sheltered for the many different versions of him that Hito could forsee being happy with as one of the three+ pillars moving forward. Their previous engagement showed that being forceful was unwise. Indra was sharp, suspicious, and controlled.

Everything told him, even so, that direct and sustained honesty was the way to go. So despite his current vulture form, he would swoop into the city slowly, making his way to an opportune moment to interact with Indra and Ikinari alone. He did not yet feel comfortable sidestepping Ikinari's authority or influence. He knew he was starting this off poorly by coming in the form of a puppet vulture, likely some form of an Omen. They were creatures of the day, but their scavenger natures and the looming shadow they cast on the sand didn't do it any favors.

This was part of it too, however. It wasn't clear how, but the plan called for Indra to see Hito in this way..... What way?

Given the opportunity, the vulture would land peacefully nearby and speak.

"Blessed light, Indra-san, Ikinari-san. Hope I'm not disturbing you, but this is your soon-to-be-friend Ouji, Hito again. Have you decided what you'll be doing to earn that special jounin position?" It was a little pushy.. it had been only a day since they met, but the time he had followed was enough to indicate they weren't in any rush to head out of the village. He could have waited longer, he certainly had the patience, but the gnawing sensation from his inner conscience urged him onward.

"I don't mean to rush, but I've been monitoring you generally while avoiding invading too much of your privacy, of course," His vulture-shaped head gave an interestingly human bow of the head as it spoke, its mannerisms growing more and more human as part of his mind considered what sort of movements would have that optical effect to the greatest degree. "I don't get the sense you're much interested in heading out to dungeon country, and now that I've seen your security detail, I wonder if that's something even my machinations could easily make happen. ..." The vulture looked to the sky pensively as thoughts relayed through and a conclusion was made, its beak clicking back down with confirmation. "I could but it'd certainly be harder than originally calculated.