A New Era

[Tsedas]

The bright sun beat down upon the sands of Wind Country. The brilliant light glistening off the sand, making it look like thousands if not millions of diamonds were sparkling amidst the grains stretching out as far as the eye could see. While most would find navigating this sea of sand a chore or a challenge, to people that inhabit the area it was little more than a trek for those who knew what was required to cross the vast ocean before them.

Cresting a dune, a tan poncho was draped across the form of a man who held some solid stature to his height. The hood pulled up to protect his head from the blistering sun also obscured the white mask donning his features, the animal like quality obscured by shadows. Hanging from his back was a large bundle wrapped in cloth, something the man adjusted as his eyes scanned the horizon. Ignoring the mirage of what looked like water to the west, his scanned to the south and then to the east until he spotted his target. While he wasn't a fan of desert patrol or having to spend prolonged periods of time in the desert, it was a nice change of pace to get out of Suna for even a little while. The invasion never sat well in his mind but he knew he wasn't going to be the one to stop it. He was skilled at his craft but he wasn't a master let alone strong enough to contend with the people that wrested control of Sunagakure away from the old Kazekage.

Ryousei Genkaku gave a brief grunt of annoyance that things turned out like they had. Still, if he got to have some piece and quiet along with some peace of mind then he wouldn't complain. Stepping forward, he let the sands shift and carry him down, gliding along the downpour until he reached the bottom of the dune. Continuing on, he headed for a small village that he needed to get a report from to make sure things were progressing smoothly to a degree.

Entering the village, the hooded man scanned his surroundings as he moved. Everything seemed fine in that moment. He couldn't see signs of bandits coming through and attacking, no clear indicators of wild beasts or natural disaster hindering their lives. However his original preconceptions of things being fine started to crack when he heard raised voices. Shifting his body, he moved out of the street and into the shadows between the buildings, navigating with silent movements until he was near the town's square were a large canopy of cloth covered the well and a watering hole next to it that tapped into the same underground wellspring. From behind the porcelain mask, his beady green eyes scanned the gathered people and he saw a number of individuals that clearly didn't belong.

What appeared to be brigands were harassing the people of the town, about five men in total all armed with weapons. Shouts of protection payment and a new era were being thrown about by the man who was clearly the leader of the armed thugs that were confronting the towns people. "Well this is good. I can deal with the problem now and this can send a message to anyone who comes after attempting to harass the village. As long as no one tries to play hero and gets hurt, then this is a golden long term opportunity." He stated quietly to himself as he pulled the large bundle from his back and let it softly thud into the sand and started to undo the wrappings.

Of course.... he couldn't foresee someone else with combat prowess being there.... wherever they might be.

[Shizue]

The relentless sun hung high over the Wind Country's vast desert, its unyielding rays casting a shimmering veil over the endless expanse of sand. Each grain seemed to sparkle like a precious gem, creating an illusion of beauty that belied the harshness of the terrain. For Shizue, the desert was both a familiar adversary, having spent the last month in amongst it, and a constant reminder of the resilience required to navigate its treacherous paths, some of which she still couldn’t comprehend.

Draped in a lightweight, tan cloak that shielded her from the sun's oppressive glare, Shizue's rainbow colored cascade eyes scanned the horizon, their colors shifting subtly with the changing light. Her long hair was tied back, tucked beneath her hood to prevent it from becoming a nuisance in the desert wind. The loose-fitting garments concealed her lithe frame, allowing for ease of movement while protecting her skin from the abrasive sands.

As she topped a particularly steep dune, the village she sought came into view—a modest cluster of adobe structures, their exteriors bleached by years under the relentless sun. The sight was a welcome reprieve from the monotonous landscape, but Shizue remained vigilant. Her mission was straightforward: assess the village's needs and provide medical assistance as required. The village had seen better days and the doctor that had been there had been killed in the recent Iwagakure war. However, the recent reports of bandit activity in the area added an element of unpredictability to her task.

Descending the dune with practiced ease, Shizue approached the village's outskirts. The air was thick with the scent of dry earth and the faint aroma of cooking fires. Villagers moved about their daily routines, but an underlying tension was palpable. Conversations were hushed, and wary glances were cast toward the main square.

Following the direction of their gazes, Shizue observed a group of five men, their demeanor and attire marking them as outsiders. They brandished weapons openly, their voices raised as they demanded payment from the assembled villagers. The leader, a burly man, red headed, with a scar running down his left cheek, shouted about "protection fees" and proclaimed the onset of a "new era."

Positioning herself discreetly behind a nearby building, Shizue assessed the situation. Engaging directly was not her forte; her strengths lay in healing and medical assistance. Yet, the desperation etched on the villagers' faces stirred a resolve within her, and she had been trained by wandering shinobi and the samurai of her village. She couldn't stand by while innocents suffered.

A shift in movement nearby caught her attention. Someone else was watching, hidden within the shadows, but she couldn't make out their full form. Instead of drawing immediate conclusions, she turned her focus back to the confrontation at hand.

The leader of the brigands stepped forward, his voice dripping with malevolence. "Listen up! This is how it's gonna be from now on. Pay up, and we might let you keep what's left. If you don’t pay, then something unfortunate might happen to you. Those who pay get our protection, especially from Iwagakure Shinobi, those who don’t- Well, you’ve heard the stories."

A murmur of fear rippled through the crowd. An elderly man, perhaps the village elder, stepped forward, his hands trembling. "Please, we have little to give. The harvest has been poor, and our children are hungry, the Oasis just doesn’t give the way it used to and the monsoon hasn’t been here the last couple years. We used to get supplies from Sunagakure, but now we are on our own.."

The scarred man sneered. "Not my problem, old man. Maybe you should've thought of that before settling in this wasteland." He raised his hand over his shoulder, clear in his intent to backhand the old man.

Tension thickened in the air, the villagers paralyzed between fear and defiance. Shizue felt her fingers twitch slightly as she considered her options. She had no illusions about her capabilities in a straight fight, but she could be useful in other ways. Perhaps she could create a distraction or a momentary advantage.
Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward from the shadows, hands raised in a non-threatening gesture. "Excuse me sirs, surely there's a more amicable solution to this predicament." She had been taught how to speak in legalese and during business meetings. This seemed like the time to pull out all of the stops and fancy words.

The leader's gaze snapped toward her, eyes narrowing. His hand stayed, and the old man shrank back into the crowd. The diversion had worked for now, the language she was using threw him off his guard, "Stay out of this, girl. This doesn't concern you."

Shizue maintained her composure, drawing a breath and keeping her eyes locked on the man. "On the contrary, it concerns all of us. Violence will only lead to unnecessary suffering."

The brigands regarded her with varying degrees of annoyance and amusement, but their leader's expression darkened. "You think you can stop us? With what, words?"

Shizue took another measured step forward. "Perhaps there's a different arrangement that can be made. Surely we can find common ground that doesn't involve bloodshed." She looked around for something that could be more amicable and noticed that one of the bandits was leaning heavily on one leg, his other one twisted at an awkward angle, a new break that wasn’t set correctly.

One of the brigands snorted to the man’s left. "Look at this one, thinking she can talk her way out of everything." A cocky smile raced across the woman’s features as she spit in the sand in front of her, the spittle drying almost the instant it touched the sun-scorched earth.

The leader, however, seemed to consider her words, if only for a fleeting moment. The pause was enough to confirm her suspicion—they weren't here for a true battle, just an easy shakedown. If the situation were disrupted enough, they might decide the trouble wasn't worth it. Perhaps they had problems with the last time they had done this, the broken leg of one of them suggested that they probably had.

As she took another breath to speak, movement from the periphery of her vision made her pause. Someone else was stepping into the scene, but she kept her attention on the brigands, keenly aware that the situation was shifting. Whether that change worked in her favor remained to be seen.

[Tsedas]

While is hands worked in the shadows to pull the wrappings from his parcel, Genkaku's gaze kept tight watch of the situation. The movements silent only slowing near objects to avoid smacking something or causing a clatter. As he finished unwrapping the parcel, the Sunagakure shinobi's eyes and ears remained trained, taking in the exchange of words even as the leader of the bandits looked to be ready to make a move to back hand the village elder, the shadow clad shinobi kept calm.

His fingers shifted and glowed with a hue of blue, the parcel next to him rising it's feet as it joined him in standing in the shadows. At first blush it looked like another person to any layman, but anyone trained in the ways of shinobi or any knowledge of that world it was the iconic kugutsu technique of Sunagakure. He was about to thrust the puppet into action when a voice called out and his hand stopped. Shifting his gaze, the man's green eyes watched another tan cloak clad figure appear.

Watching them, their appearance and words bought to village elder time to retreat into the group to avoid getting walloped in the face by the brigand leader. 'I wasn't told someone else had been assigned this area for patrol. Then again, if it's an Iwa ninja then I wouldn't have been told. I should probably settle this and identify them quickly.' With a silent hop onto a nearby crate followed by a skip up onto the roof of the building he'd been hiding in the shadow of, Genkaku dropped into a slow squat to keep himself out of sight more readily as he shifted some fingers and his puppet began to move.

The girl in the cloak seemingly put the bandit leader in a quandary with her attempts at a negotiation. As the lot seemed to be sneering at the girl for attempting to be a reasonable and sound minded adult, Genkaku was going to make it clear that negotiations breaking down was bad for ne'er-do-wells.

Emerging from the shadow of the building and raising itself up to it's full height of 7ft, Sabimaru was Genkaku's first and so far only combat ready creation. It was clearly a humanoid puppet with short black hair that is held up with a sash around the forehead to give it a swept back and spiked up look. The eyes stared straight ahead at the bandits, dead and lifeless, the mouth was shut but a pair of lines on either side of it ran down to the jaw to look like face paint but they were really seams to allow the mouth to open. It's body was clad in a maroon colored cloak, white fur ringing around the color as it walked slowly from the shadows on wooden yet human looking feet.

As the seven feet tall machination appeared, a voice filled the air in a very monotone fashion. "It's either talk with her or deal with me. Citizens please back away from the town square, best not get caught up in all this. Vagabonds, try hearing the little lady in the cloak out before you turn her down. Might be the healthier option when trying to extort a village in the patrol lines of Sunagakure."

[Shizue]

The leader of the brigands visibly tensed as the imposing figure of Sabimaru emerged from the shadows. His sneer wavered for a brief moment, his instincts screaming at him that something was very wrong. The puppet's lifeless eyes locked onto him, and the monotone voice that filled the air sent a shiver down his spine. This was no ordinary village defender. Shizue could tell that this was some sort of ninja weapon, that, or some sort of automaton that she had never heard of.

The rest of the bandits took an uneasy step back, hands shifting to their weapons, but none eager to make the first move. The one with the broken leg let out a curse under his breath, clearly remembering a past encounter that had not gone in his favor. Shizue, for her part, kept her gaze steady on the leader, watching the interplay of emotions cross his scarred face.

A bead of sweat trickled down the man's temple before he finally growled, attempting to regain his composure. "Sunagakure’s patrol lines, huh?" He spat to the side, his bravado still intact but clearly shaken. "Tch. Didn't think Suna still had dogs watching these parts."

Shizue seized the moment of hesitation, her voice calm but firm. "You came here looking for an easy target, but you’ve found anything but. The village has nothing to offer you except trouble. If you leave now, you walk away with your lives. If you stay, well..." She gestured subtly toward Sabimaru, the towering puppet standing motionless yet radiating a menacing aura.

The brigands exchanged uncertain glances. They had come expecting helpless farmers and scared villagers, not an unknown shinobi and a puppet-wielding Suna operative. The leader’s fingers twitched toward the hilt of his sword, his pride warring with his self-preservation.

The villagers, sensing a shift in momentum, began pulling back, giving the confrontation a wide berth.

The leader clenched his jaw, his scowl deepening before his frustration boiled over. With a sharp growl, he lunged forward, drawing his sword in a swift, practiced motion. His blade arced through the air, aiming directly for Shizue, his pride demanding he reassert control through force. He swung with full intent, his frustration boiling over into raw aggression. Shizue barely had a moment to react, her instincts screaming at her to move as the steel edge rushed toward her.

The blade hummed through the air, the tip whistling past her as she fell to get out of the way of the blade. It still dug into her right hip, but it had aimed to bisect her from shoulder to hip. The force of the blade knocking against her hip bone drove her to the ground and as she hit she bounced once, jarring her. The blade had notched the hipbone.

Shizue blinked back tears as pain roared through her body from the blow and she tried to regain her footing. She was completely out of her league with these bandits, having severely overestimated their bravado.

The other bandits started to move toward their weapons, and the villagers started to panic, running away from anyone who was an outsider, trying to find cover from the assault that erupted in an instant. The leader was not all bluff and bark. He swung his sword again, this time a ribbon of high-pressure air screamed from the tip, hurtling itself toward Shizue, her eyes wide with terror and shock.

[Tsedas]

Watching the villages shift and begin to scuttle away, Genkaku's eyes shifted to the bandits. Observing their body language, he needed to find the best way to approach the situation. His first step of presenting opposition pulled the attention to his puppet and the other person who was talking to the bandits. The second step was to use that attention catching behavior to create a minimal loss scenario by having the villagers clear the area which was already in motion. Next would be a show of power to make it clear the bandits wouldn't stand a chance against the pair, or at least that was the plan until the leader lost his patience.

Leaping from the roof and pulling strings for Sabimaru, the pair moved as one toward the woman. Sabimaru's cloak shifted and a pair of arms appeared, clad in steel and reinforced to do some heavy damage if given the chance, the puppet and it's master rushed towards the woman being attacked. Shifting on arm out, the masked shinobi curled and flicked different fingers as a pair of arms fell out from under Sabimaru's cloak and took flight towards the other bandits.

Genkaku clicked his tongue in frustration as he watched the blade connect with the cloaked girls' body. As she went to the ground, the other bandits were reaching for weapons as the villagers rapidly dispersed. With a flick of his fingers, the two detached arms broke apart into segments and released hidden blades as they flew through the air, a glow faintly attaching to the flying weapons. Aiming the six blades at the other brigands, Genkaku sought to wound or kill them as he moved towards the leader and the girl.

Landing beside he, Genkaku's hands shifted under her and scooped her up while Sabimaru shifted between the pair and the bandit leader. Metal arms raised in a defense stance as the wind blade collided with them, etching a gash into the reinforced steel. Genkaku didn't hesitate to leap up and away, getting the wounded girl onto a nearby roof, his fingers shifting and dancing as he controlled his puppet and it's detached arm blades. The result as his fingers tapping and rubbing against the girl's body where he was holding her until he could put her down.

"Really hope you have some kind of ability for mid to long range combat, otherwise you'll wanna stay out of the fight and let me handle this." Genkaku stated, shifting his fingers some more to make Sabimaru shift form side to side before dashing forward to deliver a couple of jabs at the leader with it's metal fists, following up with a haymaker punch in a 1-2-3 combo to keep the man occupied. Glancing at the other bandits, he shifted his fingers some more, watching the flying blades move and zip around, trying to cut into the bandits and circle around them, essentially using his flying blades as a means of wounding and corralling the other bandits.