Sero had left a letter notice in the bed of his remaining student as she was gone for the time being. He would be patient as he was in no rush to show her another reality she didn't wish to see. So few could play the game he played at a level that allowed them to remain sane. What was sanity but a prayer to take away ones sins here. For him matters of sanity and remorse were but shadows of a distant memory. He could pull it up like anything else he had ever seen or been present for as clear as if it was happening but he was so disconnected from it all now. He understood the concept but he cared nothing for it. His Halo broken from birth and hers placed in his hands. He would darken it the longer she stayed with him, yet she would continue to grow stronger the longer she suffered him. All who could did. Still out of his original three only she remained and he could sense her doubt as she approached the manor. He could sense her wish to be elsewhere and away from his madness. He was a blight upon all things and his student was not excluded from that.

He stood on top of the manor with his grey coat catching the cold breeze but only the bottom flapping as the front of it was buttoned up from the waist to the neck with a shirt underneath. The collar firm and high around his neck with the hem of it just around his knee's. His grey pants tucked into dark boots with a single rapier on his hip as he watched with cold, grey eyes of the grave. She entered the manor and he could sense her moving about within and moving straight to her room. Almost smell the water on her body as she dripped along. He was some distance away but potent enough. Still he would let her sleep as the night dragged on. Never moving from his spot more then to close his eyes and rest there like a statue. He was the head of the hunter nin now....one of its two captains. His squad mate having taken the other position. He wouldn't be able to keep a squad for much longer but for now he could handle a single student until she reached chunnin.

His eyes opened slowly as light pierced his eye lids and he noted morning had come. He would only have to wait an hour before his ears would detect movement from Aozame's room. His breath created steam on the cold morning air as dew had settled all around him with his excessive body heat keeping him dry. The courtyard hung low with a thick mist blanket and still he watched her seem to wade through it. Looking around her for any sign of Sero as she made her way to the center. Interesting enough. Still he would let out a breath and appear to simply fall apart into hundreds of pieces forming into a horde of spiders crawling in unison along the building into the courtyard. Making its way over to Aozame as she would feel that dark presence of a creature stirring that might just consume her to have a taste. As she would feel that she would bear witness to spiders climbing each other in a pile in front of her before peeling away like ashes in the breeze to reveal one grey eye watching her and then after a moment the rest would catch on the breeze and fall apart like ashes in the wind as Sero stood before her. Looking regal and yet terrifying with the undead gaze he had mastered and no expression.

"Are you prepared for a final test child?"

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Sero would slowly begin to circle her. His cold gaze studying her as if he could see her every moment in life. As if a specimen he was experimenting with had taken his interest. The human phsyche was so fascinating for those who had a soul remaining attached. Even her words, however little energy and fortitude they had behind them seemed defiant. She hadn't chosen to give him an honorific but instead had chosen simply his name. One which caused most to shudder and yet she used it freely. Most criminals called him Hakaba now but to be named too simply was almost offputting. Still he could tell she wasn't comfortable. He could hear the pounding of her heart and the shudder in every breath. He had hoped she would have grown accustomed to him and his methods by now with her living within his home and yet here was proof of otherwise. She appeared to be at her wits end. She had lasted the longest which made her the strongest but still, she was not emotionally ready to be alone with him. He could see the strain having visible effects on her. So when he spoke it was cold and with no emotion. His eyes never blinking as he circled her the way a large cat might circle a mouse.

"You have grown, your muscle definition has increased and I can sense chakra on the verge of growing within you. Soon you will be prepared for a promotion to a new rank should you so choose it. However your very being appears to be rejecting this place. If you choose to remain here when you receive a promotion your own mentality may stunt further growth."

It was simple facts to him. Math based on examining her from multiple angles. Short of cutting her open this was the most he could achieve from a study. Still he acknowledged most were incapable of surviving prolongued time around him. He had seen a man kill himself as he hadn't been able to Escape Sero's aura for three days. Driven mad by being hunted for so long he simply thrust a piece of scrap into his own chest and bled out. It had been an entertaining experiment but he had no desire to allow an investment such as a student reach that point. The decision would ultimately be hers but if she chose to stay her mind may benifit from some control allowed. Some foundation to stand upon. Still he would continue on regardless of her reply.

"For this final lesson though, I have one other thing to teach you that it is imperative you learn before you get to comfortable with your position as a shinobi. If you have not yet collected all your gear then do so. Fetch yourself a nutrition bar and a full canteen as well as we will be traveling some distance. This day may be your longest yet so prepare yourself for whats to come. As well as be prepared for what you will soon see as it may break a lesser mind."

He wouldn't hint at anything more beyond that. He just stood there in the grey long coat now to the side of her as his eyes would finally blink. Seeming to gain life ever so breifly before it was gone and that unchanging stare watched her again. His pale hand had fallen to his side at some point and rested on the dark hilt of his rapier. Pale, thin fingers ending in dark, red claws that seemed almost human in nature and yet they were not painted, but permanently stained. How much blood did one have to interact with for his nails to have become permanently colored the dark crimson even after bathing?

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Sero would wait there as she responded to him in understanding and moved to do as told. She may not fear his name but she was nearly ill with this place infecting her. It did that to all things that were not already of it in some way though. She may have been a predator but she was of a natural path. Nothing here was natural. Life didn't move as it should nor did the air taste right. Even if they fixed the property from what Sero had done to it as Yasuo wished they wouldn't be able to eliminate that feeling so long as Sero and anything he infected lived. He had only seen one person have a pure enough chakra to shove his aside and he was gaining on that power. He was the opposite of Ayakashi in Kiri. Yin and Yang creating a balance within the village. However he would always respond to her commands as he should. He was a soldier. Granted if those orders were non specific he made some leeway but she had made it clear. No innocent women or children. Only kill when they had broken the law suiting the punishment or engaged him with intent.

Today they would be going after two people that had done both conditions but he would not be engaging them. He had hoped another would of lasted next to Aozame for this task but only she had managed. She had survived up until this point which made her stronger than the others anyway. With how close she was to ranking up she may be capable of taking them on as she was. However she had an advantage. He had studied these two and they were solo artists up until now. They always engaged opponents one on one in some sort of way to establish dominance. However not only would this test her soul and mind, she would be facing something he doubted she had faced before. One of them used twin hook swords and the other a sword breaker thick enough to snap a bastard sword. It would be interesting for her to face people specializing in disarming an opponent. It would be good experience for her this early in her career as a swordswoman to know how to deal with those kinds of opponents. Especially with a guardian watching over her. Sword breakers and hook weapons were no joke and Sero was going to study them himself. Learn how they move and how to counter them based on her fight so he can use them better. A user of all weapons was generally a master of none.

Still as she would approach with her gear Sero would turn and begin walking along the path towards the west. Casually letting the growth before him fade away to nothing as it seemed to peel away as he absorbed the life of it like a meal. He would only do this on his island though as he didn't care to be tracked elsewhere. Regaining what little chakra he had used at the cost of plant life around them. If Aozame caught up in time she might feel a tad little bit of life fading from her...as if she was growing cold before Sero would stop so as not to take from her too. Moving through the woods and towards the ferry before launching from the beach to casually land on it in the center were he left it and using it as a platform to launch to the other side. Something Aozame should be able to mimic but the spiders on the island could not. As they found the more normal walking path he would keep his grey eyes watching around them as he spoke to her idly.

"Do you recall your first test or have you surpressed it? During that test two of the men that were supposed to be cut into for keys were allowed to flee instead. Now they have returned to their original ways. It is our responsibility to stop this now and end them. Know that I am forbidden from needlessly killing innocents. If I provide you someone to kill, they are already judged for death."

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