[Yaseyama] Border Patrol before Further Expansion

[Texas]

The pink haired boy received orders to welcome the next batch of soldiers being sent to Yaseyama. After his introductions, he would take Ishiguro Damon and do a border patrol before they expand past Yaseyama. The child himself could not believe how long he has been in the cold tundra, his body even started to get used to the blistering cold. With great excitement, the child put on his white snow pants and white jacket with fur around the hood as he left the base. The child would run as fast as he could in his military issued boots. What a great day! Not only does he get to greet his newfound friend, but they get to go on a mission that was pivotal to their next wave of expansion.

The boy sprinted through the snowy tundra to eventually get to the freezing water line where boats could be seen over the horizon. It took around 15 minutes before they arrived on the land and after they laid anchor; soldiers, ninja, and scientists began to exit out of the boat. Aki squinted his eyes and focused heavily on the boat, waiting for someone who was similar to Damon's build would step down. After a couple of people, the boy would see a similarly build teenager step down on the snow. Almost seconds after he hit the snow, Aki would wave his hand like a lunatic and even jump up in the air. The comically obnoxious child could be seen for miles, but unfortunately for everyone getting off the boat, they were around 20 meters away. "DAMON DAMON OVER HERE IT IS ME AKI, AKIHIKO! YOUR FRIEND IT IS ME ISHIGURO CLAN! YOUR BOY AKI LOOK LOOK OVER HERE DO YOU SEE ME DO YOU HEAR ME?!?!??!"

To Aki’s surprise the boy was in fact not Damon. Instead just a random genin. The boy knew he had to wait for another shinobi to join him on a mission, so the child waited and watched as a platoon of shinobi exited the boat.

[Zao]

A tall, well-built older man casually walked down the gang plank from the recently docked ship and onto the partially snow-covered dock, a number of soldiers, ninja, and even scientists exited with him off the boat. His long snow-white beard that stretched down to a point around the retired man's chest already showed some signs of catching particles of snow within its twisted hair, while his mostly bald head was revealed as he was one of very few people who was not walking around with their hood up or some type of scarf or other face and neck covers. It almost looked like the cold truly held no sway over the older shinobi now, perhaps this was just an amazing level of strict discipline that the man contained within his own body, but the truth was starkly different in that he actually wasn't able to 'feel' the temperature thank to his elemental body. The cool whipping air caused his ponytail of hair to be pushed around back and forth as his most defining feature, black on black eyes, scanned slowly across the numerous individuals before him.

'Hm, is that the one?' How could the older Rakurai not take notice of the pink haired Kumo chuunin with the young man's antics, it caused the former bannin to shake his head slightly from one side of the other before he shoved his large hands into each of the coat pockets and finish his descent from the ramp to the actual wooden planks of the snowy dock. Many had questioned why the old, retired shinobi had taken up on the offer of journeying to Yaseyama. Something that should have been a younger man's game as most of the old and/or retired ninja spent most of their time in the village bickering about different things and how the world was changing around them, mostly how they didn't like it. The old bannin was different in that for the last near decade he had removed himself from everything, becoming a mere hermit as he was seemingly awaiting his fated end, but fate had something different in mind it seemed.

"Boy, can I assume that you are Akihiko?" His voice sounded like that of someone grandfather, a mature and aged tone left the lips of the dark skinned Arashiyama elder as he gave the rather energetic boy a half smile. Hopefully the kid wasn't going to act like this the entire time, right?

[Texas]

The pink haired young man watched as the scientists, archaeologists, engineers, samurai, and some ninja got off the boat and headed towards the welcoming party. Which consisted of Akihiko in the front with a dozen men and women in the back. All of which had their legs shoulder width apart and their arms crossed behind their back. In truth, it looked like a military operation which this expedition was slowly turning into. Aki gazed upon this extremely old man as he addressed him as "Boy". The pink haired shinobi couldn't help but crack a smile before getting a little more serious. Even one of the shinobi in the back behind Rakurai noted "Is that really Akihiko". It had been a year or two since Kumo had seen Aki, he had grown a bit and had a few scars on his face from several encounters.

"To you old man, I am Sir. You may be my senior in both age and ninja rank, but here I am your equal. So you will address me with a little more respect!" Aki was shocked himself, but he wanted to establish that he is taking things more seriously since his latest bear encounter that almost left him dead in the middle of the frozen wilderness.

The boy would look back at the rest of the new recruits who came from Kumo. "All of you but Rakurai will go with the 12 ninja behind me. They will bring you to our temporary outpost near the border of Yaseyama. Rakurai and I are going to cross the border and secure it before we desend to the next country. So while you rest, please prepare for the next conquest." Aki was close to sounding official, but he does mess up words from time to time. With the finish of his sentence, the boy would raise his right hand and motion his arm forward than backwards; signaling for everyone to follow along.

The group would split up as if there was a fork in the road. They would go left and Aki would motion to Rakurai to go to the right with him. Once they got a little bit away from the group the pink haired delinquent would try to make small talk with Rakurai. "Sorry about that Rakurai, I just needed to establish that I was an equal. I've taken on more responsibility since I have been here and I wanted it to show. How was your boat trip? What do you specialize in? How come I have never heard of you yet you are so old? How do you live that long? What's your secret?"

The two would continue forward into the deep snow towards the established bordering territory, with nothin more than a thousand questions from the #1 ADHD shinobi.

[Zao]

At the boy's words the older looking man couldn't help but lift an eyebrow, he didn't remember the youth of Kumo being so bold as this one. Perhaps this would be entertaining after all, a smile formed on the old man's aged face before he let out a loud laugh directed towards the kid's words at him. "Hahaha. My, my, how bold the young ones are these days..." Instead of upsetting Rakurai the old man seemed to enjoy the banter, many only remembered the man as a hermit type figure who had left behind the village after retirement, many others had thought him dead due to no contact with him being made for a handful of years up until just recently when he just showed back up in the village. Several of the elders were a bit suspicious of his actions, even some saying that he was different in many ways, but no one truly confronted the old man who was well known in his younger days for his brazen actions and temper. "Your courage has garnered a bit of respect from this old man."

But only a bit, wither it was Toushi or Rakurai, both men only gave respect to those whose actions shown the need. That would have to come latter as the white-haired man with his long beard stepped forward and the remaining group of shinobi ran off to move to their assignment at the nearby out post while the former bannin was left with the young chuunin. 'This conquest, how unexpected of the Kumo...or I should say the Lightning Empire. How things have changed in the years that I was gone. Still with his hands inside the pockets of the heavy looking jacket he casually advanced forward with a gentle smile still on his face, as though he was simply there to vacation or something of the like. Soon enough the pair was off by their selves as the others went a different direction. "Boldness and leadership are two traits that are difficult to teach, yet it seems you've managed to touch on them from being here." His voice was deep, but his words flowed from one to the next as expected from someone who was already almost three quarters of a century.

As they continued to walk the old man was bombarded in a rapid-fire style by the youth, but it didn't seem to bother him despite the numerous questions that shot from Akihito's mouth, some might say at a mile a minute. "The trip was uneventful, perhaps things will be more exciting here." The older man stroked his beard that hung down to his mid chest, seemed to contemplate his words. "This old man has been retired for a long time, but my bones still have some use left in them. As for how to live this long, simply luck I'm afraid." The ending of his words seemed almost like a bad thing, but from the old man's perspective, if you managed to live this long it was probably from being luckier than others as he'd participated in at least two wars were those of his peer group perished. You could probably count on a single hand the number of his generation that were still alive at this point. "As for my prowess, I have a different style that mixed taijutsu and my clan's storm nature chakra. You could say it's quite the show. " A half smirk on the man's almost covered lips from the grey beard formed, "What are you able to offer on this mission, my friend?"

[Texas]

"Your courage has garnered a bit of respect from this old man."

Although those words might have felt fleeting to the geezer walking with Aki, those words actually echoed throughout the child's empty mind. Those words alone were just further validation that the boy was starting to become a man. No longer was he the child that would steal underwear or prank shop owners to tears. No, he could have his fun, be serious, but most importantly be himself. Part of becoming an adult is learning not to 110% be fully yourself. Even the moment of being complimented on his progressioned skills of boldness and leadership gave Aki the most confidence in the world. Seriously his head was growing so large, it might have to be dragged behind him in the snow. Would it leave a trail??

Aki was not shocked that the trip to the Eastern Continent was univentful. The only reason his own trip was somewhat entertaining was because he couldn't help but bother some of the other passengers on the trip. He also had to study throughout the whole time about what they knew of Yaseyama. What was really shocking was that this old man was an ex-retired ninja. Something was slightly off, but Aki didn't really pick up on it. The situation was odd though, maybe it would have to be something to look a little into in the future. However, right now it was CONQUEST TIME.

During their conversation, the question of what Aki's capabilities were came into the air. The coldness of the wind combined with the atmosphere forced Aki to keep his hands deep in his white winter coat jacket. The hood was surrounded by bear fur and it covered his pink headed noggin. The boy never truly knew how to answer this question. Although it did remind him to set a tag on his teammate while he explained it. "Well that's a good question. I can negate chakra and utilize puppets." The child would get a little bit closer to his senior and place his hand on his back following with a smile that could only be described as a shit eating grin. "I can also make stuff disappear too" which also followed with a little laugh as he lifted his hand off of the man's back and the boy shuffled his feet to his place next to the old man.

After the boy giggled, they were getting close to their destination. The child would relax a little bit before talking about where they were headed. "So you will see a camp that was set up. It's borderline a mobile base being set up where we have been in contact with some nomadic people for a couple of days. It was mostly nomads and some shinobi to hold down the fort until we got back. This shouldn't be...."

Before the boy could finish, he saw a slight light near their base. Something was off.... Aki would stop his sentence and turn to his new teammate. All the fun and joking ended with Aki having an extremely concerned face. "There should be no light right now, we need to go now." The pink haired child covered in a white winter jacket picked up his pace and began to run, in hopes that Rakurai would follow close. The worst case scenario, a nightmare turned reality, a failure was bestowed upon them. The camp site had dead bodies and destroyed camps... what the hell was here?

Jutsu UsedShow

Limbo • Passive Touch - Tagging
E-Rank Ninjutsu
Due to extreme exposure within the Limbo Realm, Akihiko as a slight bit of chakra located on his hands and feet. When touching an inanimate object (or inorganic) or a person, Akihiko leaves a slight chakra signature on it. By tagging an item and willfully leaving a slight bit of his chakra, it gives the selected organic or inorganic object/being the capability of entering and exiting the Limbo Realm.

[Zao]

"What a unique combination." The older man's long stride remained the same, his eyes canting to the side as the youth beside him fell behind, feeling the gentle touch of the child's hand upon his back but for now the man didn't man mention or even seem to notice. Perhaps the kid was trying to pull a fast one on him, but he still didn't have a full understanding of the youth and simply would let things play out for now. 'Was there someone that used puppets in Kumo?' Toushi tried to quickly search through not only his own but also the old man's as he debated the words, having only known those of the Sand village to truly understand the utilization of puppets with their unique chakra thread technique. By this time the boy had rejoined him at his side, lifting his left grey-haired eyebrow into a slight arch at the words of making stuff disappear. "Perhaps I am partnered with a magician?"

Rakurai verbally poked at his young companion, but there was some strange sense of confidence behind the words of the kid which held the older man's interest as the pair continued to trudge through the snow filled landscape. Aki spoke about the nomadic people of this region, but the retired shinobi couldn't help but ponder who would really want to struggle through the harshness and hardships that had to come with trying to survive in such terrain, why would they do that? Was there some kind of natural resources here or was it something else? His interest in these so-called nomadic tribesmen grew and he was looking forward to being able to converse with them in order to better understand the situation here in Yaseyama. "Hm!? He was alerted to the sudden change in body posture and tone, something he was sadly all too familiar with living a long life as a shinobi.

"Yes..." Toushi shook his head, the long white beard of his swaying in the cold wind as he replied with a simple word and the chakra within his inhuman body circulated increasing his speed but holding back from exceeding that of the boy's for now. For whatever had happened was already over most likely, racing to danger was never a good thing to do. But as they quickly arrived the man's dull grey eyes narrowed, a hint of repressed emotion harbored in them as he took in the remnants of the camp site and the bodies of those who were left, an obvious message for the chuunin beside him as the old man didn't understand the full story or situation of things happening in this country. His sharp eyes started from right to left and moved from near too far, quickly conducting a hasty visual search of the destroyed camp site. "How many men were here?"

As the bannin continued to look above his words slipped through the thin lips concealed by the scraggly white hairs of his beard that were trapping pieces of snow and ice within it. His hands had already escaped the pockets of the wool like jacket he appeared to be wearing but surprisingly there were not gloved on the hands to protect his skin from the harsh environment of snow and wind. Instead, if one was observant enough, they could visibly see the trepidation in his finger but one would also see the sparks of ranton style chakra flicking within the half fist of each hand. The shinobi here belonged to his homeland, someone who dared to harm them and offend the face of Kumo must have been seeking their own deaths.

[Texas]

The child clenched his fist and furiously released some of his chakra from his body. Unfortunately, since he has become a host, his chakra has taken a natural aura to it that doesn't resemble any type of feeling or overwhelming sense of power. In fact, his chakra gives off the feeling of ease and even makes other's feel more comfortable around him. Ryeunso, his genma sealed within him, utilized this chakra feeling to make people comfortable before tricking them. Tomfoolery wasn't in the cards at the moment. With dead bodies and destroyed camp set ups starting to get covered in snow it was clear something happened and it was recently. Aki turned to his elder when he asked about the amount of people. As the boy answered, he lifted up his left hand and activated the puppets he left at the job site. His chakra connected to the metal components of the frames and they rose from the ground almost like dead bodies themselves. "There were around 12 nomads and 4 shinobi, based on the clear destruction of the area... there was a surprise attack. Let's split up and look for tracks. Keep weary, if they are surprise attacking in the wasteland, they know the area very well."

Aki would move to the right side of the camp with his puppets and slowly walk around the perimeter of the camp. It was a sad site to be seen.... He had worked so hard to make contact and it felt as though all of his hard work went down the gutter. As the boy was going through the camp, he kept both of his puppets on either side of him. He would make sure that his attention was at peak to see if A. Anyone survived and B. If any enemies remained.

---

On the left side there was one woman who was sitting upright barely alive at the end of the camp. Snow would have started to build up on her shoulders and if Rakurai found her, she would speak up barely. "Are you one of them?" Her timid and battered voice would barely be able to come out. However, with her last few moments alive she was ready to answer any questions that he would have for her.

[Zao]

"Twelve, I see." The words were almost mumbled, his dull eyes scanning over the area around them as the snow drifted down at a steady pace, attempting to erase what had happened if given enough time, shaking his head lightly the old man circulated the chakra in his body and then turned to the youth as his puppets were called to him. 'This body is an interesting one for sure.' Under other circumstances he would have speak about these puppets of the boy's but there were other things a foot that required his attention. "Agree, I'll go to the right side." Already being on the right side of the two he nodded and turned beginning to circle the edge of the camp looking for tracks that led into and out of the former makeshift fort area and secondly for survivors.

Though wherever he looked he only saw debris from a ambush and the bodies of others, but due to the size of the camp and the constant snow it was difficult to tell if all of the bodies were present or if some of them managed to flee the situation. He looked under the pieces of wood and cloth that made up a few of the tents that had been ripped apart during the attack and then drifted further along the right side of the camp. At this point he hadn't spotted anything but the deceased bodies of two shinobi and a handful of who appeared to be the nomads that Aki had spoken off. But he couldn't be for sure as he had never seen any of the occupants so the identification of the bodies and potentially those of any of the attacking force would be left up to the child. What a harsh world they lived in as shinobi.

Just as he had been about to give up and turn to link back up with the pink haired kid, a sudden shifting sound could be heard and out of instinct the man turned with his hand raised into a fist, storm chakra immediately flaring up around him almost like an electrical flame with water-like lightning twisted around the man but his eyes widened as they fell upon the partially snow covered woman. In what seemed like the blink of an eye the old man appeared at her side, his right hand now absents of the fury of his storm chakra reached out to touch the woman's face as she spoke, his eyes scanning her body for injuries. After doing so they lifted onto her face, he was no medic and with her current injuries she didn't appear to have long. "Can you tell me who they were?"

The old man felt some empathy for the woman, but in the end, he didn't know here or have any sort of relationship with the female thus there were not feeling based questioned, and he simply asked her straightforwardly if she could tell him who had attacked the fort site. These kinds of feeling seemed to also tie into his current form, this elemental body had left him feeling somewhat numb, it was something he currently wasn't able to explain fully and was unsure if would remain or if he would bring forth the feelings from his old self into now.

[Texas]

Upon walking along the camp, Aki found some of bodies that were laying somewhat hidden in the snow. He knelt down slowly and saw that two of the bodies had headbands. The child would reach down and dig a little bit before he inevitably lifted up the bodies out of the snow. Since they were on their back, the child would turn them only to see strike marks on their backs. It had seemed like the enemy attacked them from behind. But how?! The child looked up and around. They were borderline in the middle of a snowy abyss. There would only be two ways that the enemy could attack.. from above or below. But which was it? The boy wasn't too good with forensic analysis and couldn't fully tell. The child decided to pick up one of the bodies and hand it to one of his puppets to hold on to. Maybe his senior would have the knowledge and experience to fully tell what direction the strike could have started from.

---

The woman gazed up upon the older man and she let a small smile of relief. Her jacket and body didn't seem to be damaged, in fact if anything she seemed tired and fatigued. She spoke up after the kind looking older man spoke. However, since he showed some of his weird magic, she couldn't help but place her gloved hands in the snow in prep to jump backwards. "I... I.. don't know. It seemed to happen so fast." She continued to look into his eyes with her own gray eyes. "Who are you?...... are you alone?" A weird follow up question but maybe she was just in shock.

---

As Aki walked through the camp to get to his partner, he couldn't help but look around the camp site. Something was off and something just didn't make sense. Why and how did this camp get attacked. There were 2 jounin and chuunin that were helping with guarding the place. There was also nomads here who have been living in the lands for generations... they would have known of something that could travel under the ground or above in the sky. The more the child thought about it, the more his brain hurt. It wasn't until he got to the middle of the camp, he saw a breath slow and infrequent lift into the air from the snow. The boy quickly jumped to the ground and dug a little bit of the snow to reveal a shinobi. The shinobi was holding on for life and had a slight sigh of relief when he saw Aki.

The man had his kumo headband over his head and began to speak the second he saw his commander. "Sir, it was so sudden. Watch.... out.... for the... tenta...." . Aki couldn't help but speak back immediately, "The what?! What happened!?" However, it was clearly too late as the last bit of light that sparked in his eyes dissipated and his soul was sent to the gods above.

The confusion and frustration caused his chakra to spike a little, causing his puppets to shake a little bit. What frustrating madness was this?! The boy continued on to Rakurai.

[Zao]

The man's eyes had scanned the woman for injuries, but to his surprise there weren't any obvious one that you might expect from an attack or ambush such as weapon cuts or burn marks from fire or explosions used from either natural or chakra sources. As she spoke it seemed that she was more fatigued than hurt, but he wasn't able to assess if she any type of internal injuries either. But for sure this place wasn't safe and if his young friend managed to find any survivors then it would be best to retreat for now and take them back to the next echelon of town for treatment.

Toushi listened to her speak, his head shifted from one side to the other, looking carefully around at his surroundings as beneath the long beard was finally revealed for the woman to see if she kept looking at the old man was his Kumo headband tied loosely around his next. "I'm Rakurai, can you still walk? It would be best for us to move from this place as soon as possible." In a half-knelt position on her left side, the man was down on his right knee as he assessed the woman and her surroundings. Understanding that the 'kill zone' was not a place to stay, especially when it was just the two of them, three if you counted the injured woman.

Looking off to his left seeing the shape of his young friend in the flurry of snowflakes he called out to him, "LIttle Aki, I have one over here." He wanted to let the young man know that he'd found someone that was still alive and to also see how things were on the other side of the camp. Just what had happened here? Once they were able to get on the move, he would try to ask the woman again about her experience here to hopefully reveal the events that had transpired.

[Texas]

The woman would look at him with a warm smile. His kidness radiated from his electric body, however her smile seemed slightly off. It looked as though it took effort to smile, with the right side of her face smiling first with the left side slightly following. She would speak up to him as softly as possible. "I cannot get up, could you come down here and pick me up?"

Unfortunately for her, Rakurai reached out to his teammate...

---

What a pain, an unknown assailant? No it had to be a group of people? Aki's inner dialog was combating each other trying to figure out what could have possibly happened. His mind was deep in thought with the snow and wind not seeming to affect him during his trance. As the child continued to walk with both puppets near him and one carrying a dead body, a call out snapped him out of his deep thought. "LIttle Aki, I have one over here." ...

....

....

....

The child looked up in total confusion. WAS HE JUST CALLED LITTLE? The boy angrily walked over with the puppets just behind him. The child lifted up his right arm and pointed with his pointer finger. "Listen Old Man, I don't know what you think of me, BUT you cannot call me Little Aki! At least not in a formal setting on a mission. ITS SIR! We are on a mission, there has been mass murder, how do you think this would......"

The child would ramble on for at least 5 more minutes before stopping and taking a deep breath. With a flick of his finger, the puppet would come forward and hand him the dead body. "Could you take a look at this, the injury doesn't make sense. We are in an open snowy land. Yet the strike is directly in the back... At first I thought someone could have fallen from the sky or come up from the snow, but then the strike would be angled. Maybe with all of this life you have lived you might be able to look at it." The child gave a little devilish smirk after that. All this time, he didn't realize the girl was sitting right there. He briefly saw her with his peripherals. "I see you found a survivor and," the boy would begin to turn his head towards her as he started to finish his sentence, "didn't t..." Upon gazing of the woman he tilted his head slightly. He would look back at the old man then back at her. To the boy's surprise.. he didn't recognize her. She wasn't a shinobi and she wasn't part of the male nomads that they made contact with.

With a puzzled look, the child would focus on Rakurai. "Ummm who is this Rakurai?"

[Zao]

The man nodded and without thought was about to go to help up the young woman but his words to his partner seemed to have stirred the kid to anger, not completely the old man's intent but speaking to such a young junior like Aki it had just came out as casual as speaking to any other person. Perhaps it was just his own train of thought and age or perhaps even in such a situation the older man was still testing the youth. His attention lifted from the woman, becoming mostly placed on the talkative comrade he'd acquired for this mission and could only shake his head. Talking to much was a small pet peeve of the old man as he let out a quiet hum to himself allowing the boy time to get whatever was in his mind and on his chest out.

It was also at this time that he was able to take notice of the puppet, rather intrigued by shinobi tool that one would normally associate with the Sand village. The image of it caused for a faint memory within the recess of his own mind to surface just briefly, the figure was a white-haired man with two powerful puppets from his previous life, but what was his name...? Shaking the thought, he turned to the body that it was carrying and judged the wound. "This angle..." From his already knelt position near the woman he focused on the wound and the instincts in the man were telling him something wasn't just right.

"Wounds like this are normally from striking a person running away from you or..." As he was mumbling about the strike there was a sudden thought, wounds in the back such as this one normally came from striking down an opponent from behind, which typically meant they were running away but there was another reasoning. That reasoning was something he'd seen on victims that had been 'stabbed in the back' from a comrade or friend, attacked from within the camp. There were no signs of tracks leading to or from the camp except the route they took to the camp and then this was compounded with the words from Aki towards the woman.

'Only one left alive...could it be...?' The pieces were starting to fall into place, the woman didn't have the same wounds on her as the other bodies he'd passed and none of them appeared to be struck through lethal intent. One's suspicious couldn't help but grow as the young man with him didn't recognize her, perhaps this was from her condition or the most dangerous thing for them would be because she wasn't in the camp when he left it. Though he didn't jump to conclusions yet he turned his dull eyes back onto the woman, waiting for her response.

[Texas]

Moments passed as the old man gazed upon the dead body. Aki appreciated that he stood there and took his verbal rambling even though odds are he wasn't listening. Aki figured as much due to if the roles were in reverse he wouldn't listen really either which caused him to smile a little bit. As he looked at it and explained what kind of wound it would be, that would confirm his suspicions.

After Aki's comment, Rakurai would direct his eyes towards the woman as well. Both of their attention was fitted towards the foreign woman. It took Aki a moment before he realized something was off. A lightbulb popped in his head and his eyes sparkled a little bit. The woman who had been seen as tired saw this look in Aki and then focused her attention to Rakurai. The boy noticed this and turned his head to Rakurai in a slow manor, only to see a black tentacle from the ground lifted up and aimed towards his back.

The child yelled as he twitched his finger for the puppet holding the dead body to let go of it and move towards Rakurai as fast as possible. The puppet would attempt to push Rakurai out of the way as the tentacle would swing forward trying to stab him in the back. Aki would jump backwards and shout. "Rakurai, SHE DID IT!" As the boy jumped back, the woman's body would lift up from the ground.

A monster that had a black body and 16 tentacles in the ground, lifted up from it's spot. It had seemed to dug itself in the ground and the woman on the top of it's body was nothing more than a puppet. Similar to an angler fish. Once the creature lifted up a little bit to expose itself and it's intentions, 4 Tentacles went in the direction of Rakurai and Aki's puppet. Another 4 Tentacles came up from the ground and started to go towards Aki and his other puppet.

Based on the massive frame of the monster of what was exposed, they could be dealing with a large problem. So escaping was not going to be an option.

[Zao]

Perhaps the old man's senses for combat were a bit dull after transitioning into this body, but the puppet and the boy's words were enough to make him aware of the situation that for some reason he was doubting in his mind. Had he grown soft? The puppet arrived pushing him out of the way causing him to roll through the snow coming back up on his feet as he pushed off one hand in order to turn the roll into a partial flip as he now was sliding back through the slick icy powder. "I see..." Chakra flowed through his body without reserve, a powerful flaming field of storm chakra swirled around him as what looking like liquid lightning sparked in and out of reality rapidly curling around his body.

'No need to hold back anymore.' The old man had instantly transitioned into his Breath of Susanoo stance, controlling the chakra in his body it swirled down around the right hand which gave a casual thrust forward as the arm and knife hand twisted as it struck. It seemed odd given that he was still about ten to fifteen meters away from the strange black creature as it emerged from the snow. 'Contain... Cyclone Thrust!' The storm chakra swirled outward like a horizonal cyclone about ten meters in width and pushing out for over fifty meters as the man attempted to trap the strange beast inside the nintai that moved at 40 speed and 25 strength.

It was just a probing attack to verify the strength of this monstrous beast. Plus, he was attempting to tie down the other tentacles of the beast that were wiggling out towards the puppet and Aki, though if the boy didn't control the puppet out of the way it too might get caught up in the swirling storm tornado.

UsedShow

Ranton Style - Breath of Susanoo (25 control)
D-Rank Nintaijutsu Stance
Utilizing a special form of breathing while constantly channeling Ranton chakra, the use is able to force their body into a state where chakra is constantly being channeled and primed emit Ranton chakra. The Ranton chakra forms as a flowing layer of Storm chakra around the user's body at [Control] Speed and [Control] Strength which creates a defensively layer of rank and can be used to enhance the user's attacks and movements with Ranton chakra. As long as they remain in this Stance, they are able to reflexively emit a constant stream of Ranton chakra from their body and in turn their strikes in order to enhance their attacks. If this effect is used to enhance an attack(s), the enhanced attack is treated as a double attack, the second attack hitting with a Speed equal to the user's Speed and a Strength of [Control]. Nintaijutsu maneuvers in the Breath of Susanoo style executed while in this stance are granted a Strength value of [Control]. The user can exit this stance reflexively to conserve chakra. The higher the [Control] used with the stance the more intense the Ranton display becomes


Breath of Susanoo • Cyclone Thrust
C-Rank Nintaijutsu Maneuver
Prerequisite(s): Breath of Susanoo Stance
Using the Ranton chakra currently channeled into their body or weapon(s), the user strikes out with their next attack motion. When the attack strikes a target or reaches the end of it's motion a spiraling column of Ranton five meters in diameter in the direction of attack that extends outwards to a range of thirty meters. The stream of Ranton travels at a Speed equal to the user's Speed and a Strength equal to the [Control] offered by the current active Stance, lasting for up to three posts. This is a wrapping style of attack.

[Texas]

Aki's first puppet was successful in pushing the decrepid old man out of the way, however, between jumping back with one of his puppets and utilizing another puppet to push the old man.... He wasn't quick enough to move the puppet near Rakurai. A black tentacle that was originally going to pierce the puppet, pierced right through the puppet. The creature seemed to have 35 speed and 40 strength. When the tentacle went through the puppet, it had other tentacles grow out like spikes. This caused the puppet to explode in front of both Rakurai and Aki... What was this thing?! This derailed their tangential mission of simply conversing with the local tribe.

What felt like years spanning between seconds, Aki witnessed the old man change completely. His power was immense and the boy realized he had actually never interacted with anyone from this clan. The old man was truly a marvel and Aki only wanted to impress him.

So with the man changing form, Aki did the same. He would quickly shift and transform his entire body. White chakra flowing throughout the host's body gives off a comforting feel. The shoulders and upper arms are covered in white crystals that go to his neck. The host's skin is completely white with his hands and feet becoming completely black. His tails become 5' in length and are 14 inches in diameter. The tails would simply be wrapped around his different limbs. So the top right and left tails would loosely wrap around his arms and the bottom left/right would loosely wrap around his legs. The user's eyes would also turn into a Pure Black color.

It was clear from the start, Aki was at a disadvantage. So he needed to up the ante and perform at his peak. The boy used his puppet to block a couple of the tentacles, an the boy as a whole used the puppet getting impaled to jump to the side closer to Rakurai. This wasn't good, he lost both of his puppets, but to the boy's surprise Rakurai's technique struck the beast! The beast roared and went underground.

Aki would turn to Rakurai oddly as everything went underground. The boy would use this opportunity to reach down to touch two different Kunai's with either hand. The kunai's would float up and hang around Aki. With one minute passing, the monster broke through the ground 10m away from them and raised 8 tentacles from the ground in the air. It was clear that Rakurai and Aki had to fight, not just to get rid of the beast, but to ensure their safety. The boy looked at the monster and slightly turned to Rakurai. "I'll follow your lead". As he finished up that sentence, the boy would weave a few hand signs and create an invisible Silhouette. Before them was an onerous task of fighting an incredibly difficult monster. How would the two overcome this?

Jutsu usedShow

*Jikiton • Stasis Sling
D-Ranked Jikiton Jutsu
After performing the required hand seals, the user will place their hands on a kunai, shuriken, senbon or some other metallic object of a similar size. After coating it in Jikiton chakra, the projectile will be able to hover in place for up to 3 posts. During this time the projectile is magnetized, and able to be fired in a single direction for 10m at up to [Control] speed and strength at the user's will. If it has not been used at the end of the 3rd post, it will fall to the ground.

*Jikiton • Stasis Sling
D-Ranked Jikiton Jutsu
After performing the required hand seals, the user will place their hands on a kunai, shuriken, senbon or some other metallic object of a similar size. After coating it in Jikiton chakra, the projectile will be able to hover in place for up to 3 posts. During this time the projectile is magnetized, and able to be fired in a single direction for 10m at up to [Control] speed and strength at the user's will. If it has not been used at the end of the 3rd post, it will fall to the ground.

1st Layer • Akihiko Silhouette
C-Rank Ninjutsu
Create a Limbo Realm being, not to be mistaken as a clone, although it does share size and features. This is a silhouette that attacks and defends based on commands given mentally upon creation. The silhouette's speed and strength stats are dictated by the [Control] stat.

[Zao]

The old man took note of the puppet being shatter, even his technique and its explosive secondary impact didn't really seem to do too much damage to the strange black tentacled creature. But that was of course not the full extend to his power, but just the amount he could rapidly build up on such short notice to help put something between himself and the monstrosity that had risen from the ground. Yet, the attack sent the creature back underground, 'It must be an ambush style predator.' Though it was simply a guess, there were many predators that preferred to use the terrain to their advantage. Take a trap door spider, it literally like to hide itself behind a 'false door' that it could move when prey wandered to close and quickly attack and drag them inside its den to devour.

"Damn..." He couldn't help but curse a bit out loud, not only had it not seemingly been injured but had also regained the advantage by being able to move about under the ground and attack them from any direction if it so desired. As the creature burrowed down the man's aura continued to climb until it hit its peak state, his hair stood up in all directions as the flickering storm chakra could clearly be seen as it was almost constantly swirling around his body with the layer of almost flame like chakra that extended around him and up to a point a few meters above his own straightened hair spikes. Turning to his comrade the man couldn't help but almost drop his jaw open, thankfully his thick beard helped to hide the surprise on his face as he witnessed the oddity that was Aki's transformation.

"What a strange kiddo you are, boy." Such a strange transformation, was this kid a genma? Rakurai second guessed his instincts, as this boy should be a chuunin and normally the village would have some jounin tasked to guard the growing spirit weapon, but this kid didn't appear to have one and had supposedly been on his own out here leading the charge on this snowy front. Did the village have that much faith in him or was this place not supposed to be that dangerous that they allowed for him to come and test his personal strength and leadership capabilities? So many questions and no time to really ask them as he simply nodded and turned a bit so that his back was facing the transformed boy's back, so they were able to protect the other for the moment. "Let me create an opening for you, kid!"

The creature had given the man time to focus his storm chakra and channel his current aura, which he says as a mistake on the beast's part as he drew back a fist but strangely didn't advance to engage it in close combat. His attack shot out as part of his aura and storm chakra swirled around the movement of the arm and shot out forming into a ten-meter-wide head of a storm dragon, its mouth filled with teeth that were open wide as it rushed forward capable of pushed outwards up to sixty meters. His attack was not meant to just blast the creature but also wrap it in storm chakra to hold it in place. Hopefully his young friend had some of those cool genma powers to help out.

UsedShow

Breath of Susanoo • Dancing of the Storm Dragons (at 40 strength and speed)
B-Rank Nintaijutsu Maneuver
Prerequisite(s): Breath of Susanoo Stance
The user builds up a mass of Ranton chakra around the body, then for the next two posts the user's attacks are able to release a body of Ranton chakra from the attack forward in the direction of the attack, the Ranton chakra taking on the form of a large flood dragon ten meters in diameter and sixty meters long. This dragon-like body of Ranton is able to move up to sixty meters away with a Speed equal to the user's Speed and a Strength equal to the [Control] offered by the currently active Stance. If the user chooses, they can change the direction of the dragon(s) by swinging again along with extending the range by up to an additional 60 meters, but each additional swing will require additional chakra equal to the technique (follows the rule for creating multiple projectiles for each additional dragon created). This is a wrapping style of attack.

[Texas]

The overwhelming presence of the monster almost made Aki a bit timid. It was this giant black beast with tentacles and a fake human body on it's head. What a scary sight indeed. The beast itself left a mawkish taste in his mouth. It was clear to both of them. In order to ensure the safety of future visitors, the natives, and themselves, they had to dispose of the retched creature.

The boy turned slightly to Rakurai and nodded at his remark. He would follow up with "Very will Rakurai, give me an opening. But when I go full in and it changes it's attention to me, I hope you can give it the final blow. Just make sure you can keep up." The boy giggled like a child hearing an inappropriate joke and sprinted forward.

As the child ran forward, being a truculent child, the boy couldn't help but rush forward. It wasn't just thick headed-ness, or courage, or even some third thing. It was just his personality to jump head in first. As the boy ran forward, he kept his two kunai floating above him. There was also his silhouette that was running with him on the side. To the child's surprise, a large matter of storm jutsu flew past him and attempted to restrict the monster. This was great! However, even in his full form, Aki could tell that the beast was stronger than him.

The beast had more tentacles hidden and they rose from the ground. Two were sent Aki's way, but the boy could see it coming and jumped on the arms of his Silhouette. The Silhouette launched Aki in the air forward to merely be missed by tentacles. With Aki leading and the silhouette behind him, the boy was able to make some way forward, getting closer to the beast. The child utilized all of his control in his new form and launched both kunai, that were coated in purple lighting (magnetism), forward at the beast aiming for the middle.

The kunai were much stronger and faster than what he could ever throw and they did more damage than expected. Although, at the end of the day, they were kunai. The kunai themselves went into the beast which caused it to roar in anger and pain. This roar gave it a temporary boost and it destroyed the binds that Rakurai had created. The boy stood there with his Silhouette in hopes that he gave the monster enough trouble to alter it's focus for Rakurai to give it a strike or two.

However, the monster was capable of multiple actions. It glared at Aki with presumable anger? Although it was tough to tell. It sent 3 tentacles at Aki, but also sent 2 tentacles at Rakurai. What would he do?!

[Zao]

'Dang this kid!' The kid was even able to slip a quick joke in even at this time, but the man would have normally found it funny but didn't have the time as his focus was on ensuring the path of his storm dragon wasn't too close to the body as it arched out to the right slightly to prevent it from entangling the kid as well as the beast before slamming into the creature. Twenty ribbons of storm chakra also were released after the initial impact as they rained down on the large black form of the beast. Yet, the beast still had the force to attack his young friend but seemed to jump in the direction of nothing before being caught and thrown again by something invisible. 'What was that?'

Even Rakurai found himself in a moment of shock, blinking his eyes a couple times to see if he missed something. The strange movement of the boy and the actions just then suggested there was something there, invisible perhaps? This kid really did have a very trick as he shifted his focus back onto the creature that released additional tentacles from underneath the ground that shot towards them both again. 'Not enough...' It was words directed at himself, he would need to turn up the strength of his next technique in order to deal with something that was this durable, it even seemed to be resistant to the partial paralysis effect of his storm chakra.

With his body surrounded by the flames of storm chakra, the man had to shift his power, increasing the strength of the barrier around him and as a result his next attack. 'No choice, I have to use that technique already...' The strength of the creature was already forcing the old man to pull out on of his trump card attacks, but it was a costly one that he didn't normally use in a fight unless he found himself struggling. He didn't move as the two tentacles approached and instead used that time to focus a portion of his swirling storm chakra into the right hand. 'Thundering Snap!' A powerful snap of his fingers was heard, it resembled the sound of thunder as three ribbons of chakra each around ten meters in size rocketed outwards emanating an intense aura about them.

They arched outwards, one arching left and one to the right as the other shot forward arching upwards. Then all at ones they began converging right onto the body of the beast as it would be struck from both sides and the top near the false human body, the size of the ribbons perhaps enough to cover all of its body at once as they impacted with all the strength the old man could muster from his body currently.

UsedShow

Breath of Susanoo • Thundering Snap (40 speed/50 Strength)
A-Rank Nintaijutsu Maneuver
Prerequisite(s): Breath of Susanoo Stance
Using the Ranton's chakra currently channeled into their body focusing it into one hand, the user will 'snap' their fingers to release up to [5] strands of Ranton Chakra (following the rules for creating multiple projectiles). The streams of Ranton are each five meters in diameter and can be controlled by the user's 'snap' to strike against a target from as close as the tip their finger out to [100] meters away, fully controlling the movement of the streams through the motion of the hand's finger movements, then when the impact a target or the user snaps their fingers for a second time the streams to release their splashing passive all at one time. The streams of Ranton travel with a Speed equal to the user's Speed and a Strength equal to the [Control] of being used with the stance. This is a cutting/piercing style of attack and a controlled technique, cannot use other techniques while using it.

[Texas]

Moment of truth. The tentacles were getting more sporadic, the monster was getting more angry, and the two were slowly running out of time for openings. The boy was hoping that Rakurai was a pugnacious individual, but it was clear that he was the opposite. He even let Aki vent and berate him for seemingly no reason. Maybe the man respected him or maybe he was just treating him like a child. Regardless, one thing was clear, this monster needed to go and the two Kumo shinobi had to do it.

Upon hitting the monster, it changed it's main focus to Aki. This would give Rakurai enough time and needed focus to release a powerful attack, the boy couldn't otherwise. However, to Aki's surprise, he wasn't fast enough to dodge one of the tentacles. To the point where his silhouette had to jump towards him and physically push him. The optics would be weird since invisibly Aki would be sent to the right without actually moving himself.

When the Silhouette pushed him, the tentacle would bash through the chakra creation. This allowed Aki a moment to strike as well. While in the air, the boy would weave a few hand signs. Upon completing it, he would fall to the ground, landing on his feet... barely. The child would then point to the giant beast as the silhouette would shatter like glass and then be sent forward. Since it was invisible, Aki would supplement speed for strength and make sure the aim was precise down the middle of the monster.

During all of this, massive waves of ranton would fly over the boy and strike the monster. The strike alone nearly killed it as it squealed with pain and started to retract it's tentacles back. However, the monster was not able to retreat in time. The jutsu Rakurai used did 95% of it's damage to the point where it was a little bit wobbly. The shattered glass would easily rip through the monster and cut through the other side. The effects of the ranton would cause the monster to fill up a little bit, but then explode! Leaving a rain of black blood in the air, falling on both Rakurai and Akihiko. This battle alone proved Aki's accretion to more power and he couldn't have been more excited after seeing what he was capable of. Most importantly, he was extremely excited to meet his new comrade and get a full view of his power as well.

Jutsu usedShow

[11 Speed / 50 strength]
1st Layer • Shatter
D-Rank Ninjutsu
After weaving the necessary hand signs or channeling chakra, Akihiko will destroy selected existing 1st Layer jutsu's that reside within the Present Realm. This shatter effect destroys a portal, armor, etc. and turns it into pieces like glass. These glass components are shot out at an opponent at a speed and strength determined by the [Control] Stat.

[Zao]

Most of the time, Rakurai wouldn't have been the pugnacious type, but this situation had caused him to strike out of hatred and anger for whatever this strange creature was and what it had done to his fellow shinobi. Having already died once before the old man wouldn't take any unnecessary chances this time around, only dealing lethal strikes to his enemies without reserve. Controlling the three ribbons of ranton to enclose and inevitably pincer attack the strange tentacle beast, he was well aware of his surroundings and those of the boy as he watched the kick once more be 'thrown' out of the way as shallow footsteps appeared in the snow that were very similar to the kid's body had not been created by his physical body.

'These powers are...intriguing to say the least.' Like an accretion, the host was slowly revealing the layers of his unique powers. Something that had even sparked the interest of an old man who had seen many strange and interesting things in his double lifetimes with the memories of the old man and his previous life as Toushi. But his immediate focus was upon the creature as the three storm ribbons danced in the air before stabbing down into each side and direction on its top where the false human body had been. Three large explosions of power gave way to waves of smaller ribbons that slowly consumed the beast.

Yet, the sturdiness of the beast wasn't to be underestimated as the retired shinobi could only narrow his dull grey eyes towards the barely wobbling beast. "Still not death? Then...!" Just as the older ninja was about to take a step forward to personally deal with the beast that looked to be upon death's doorstep, his eyes caught the tentacle that had missed the youth earlier still in place, as though it had struck something. Then with the activation of the chuunin's shatter technique the tentacle was blasted into pieces as the invisible glass-like shards pushed aside the falling snow revealing them faintly to the regular world. 'My goodness.' The sharp pieces of the limbo realm sliced into the core of the beast that had been broken down by the rain of ranton ribbons and caused the beast to explode as black blood and flesh rained down.

The sticky liquid and pieces of the creature were voided out as they came into contact with the flaming aura of ranton that surrounded Rakurai, with a slightly exhausted look the man seemed to exhale while closing his eyes. This caused the cracking storm chakra and lightning to slowly decrease as the aura began thinner before disappearing. His powerful stance was truly an expensive one, not trying to maintain it longer than needed as he looked over to the kid. "Little Aki, you okay?" His old voice directed at the kiddo, checking his status before they would proceed to investigate this strange corpse.

[Texas]

Aki was annoyed by the gross black rain, he was annoyed that he has to repair his puppets, but a vein bulged from his forehead like he was constipated when he heard Rakurai call him little Aki again. The short king turned to Rakurai, who at this point both were being covered in black liquid, and pointed his finger at him. The child would not say a word and then weave a few hand signs. The destroyed puppets would almost levitate and get closer to him. "Rakurai, I am going to ignore the beginning." The child would fold his arms and look at the mess they made. "I am alright, but I don't really understand what has happened." The child rarely got serious, but for a moment, he couldn't help but try to figure out what was going on. "Part of me feels like this is just the tip of the iceberg." The boy realized he made a pun and giggled a little bit, snapping him out of the seriousness that he started to get stuck in.

He turned to Rakurai with a smile as if all was put behind them. "Well, We better report this to the upper brass. I am sure the research and development department would love to get their hands on this thing. Maybe we can have them study enough about it to help us better prepare for the future." Before the child turned to get moving. "Oh Rakurai, I forgot to ask, is your old ass alright? You didn't kink your back or crack your hips right?" With the seriousness out of the way, Aki would roll with any joking punches that Rakurai would send his way and then move on to reporting this.

What will the future hold?

[Zao]

The child like actions of Aki made the man only smile wider behind the long, scraggly white beard and fold his arms over his chest as if playfully mocking his actions from the standing of an old adult. "Neither do I kid, I've never even heard of such a beast like this." Rakurai was also at a loss for the situation, despite the knowledge of two lives he'd never heard of such a beast and the fact that it didn't escape back to the spirit world when damaged seemed to tell them that it wasn't just a spirit intruding on their land. What kind of beast was it and why was it here. So many questions. 'Did he just make a joke?' The comment about the tip of the iceberg made the man shake his head, was that some kind of joke that they were in the middle of what could have been called the artic.

"Sadly, there is nothing else we can do here but have some men come clean up the bodies and bring them back for proper burials." His face had a true abject, sunken in frown upon his face, could only nod in agreement about the R&D team, those bunch of nerds would love to come check on this kind of thing as long as they didn't have to fight it themselves. Turning to leave he was hit with a verbal jab from his younger comrade, despite his normal Magnanimous stature, "Oh, you know, there so-so. Make sure you check your diaper when we get back. after those close calls." With that he broke out into a loud laugh as the pair journeyed back towards the port town letting Aki take the lead.