He had a little bit of time off from his escort mission to wander the village for himself, so he decided to go on a quite stroll throughout the wilderness. Really, the Land of Earth was nice, although he definitely missed the smell of thick pine residue, the sound of chirping birds, the sight of all the wood, the feel of the damp air, and the taste of the sweet air in the Land of Fire. Really, the name of the place was inappropriate. It wasn't fiery at all. It was a pleasant woods, although if you got on its bad side you were sure to die by poison, wild animals, criminal, or just simply by getting lost. After all, that's why Konohagakure was hidden from invasion.

Really, this was a time to reflect upon how he got to his position at the mere age of 12. It was through ambition, creativity, and independence; he just knew that those qualities were what made him rise up so quickly. However, did natural talent play a part? If so, did that mean that these values were not a universal tool for achieving success? That would mean that only certain people, born with the natural gifts to succeed whether it be through kekkei genkai or enhanced intelligence, would be essentially fated to be accomplished while the others were not. Destiny? Kashizudoto usually didn't believe in that bullshit, but he couldn't shake off this notion that perhaps his values weren't a panacea for all, only a tool for the few. And as such, life would never be fair. There would never be equality of opportunity in the shinobi world. If there was anything Kashizudoto was known for, it was for breaking through barriers when he had a bone to pick with something that was established. And thus, his decision on the matter was obvious and immediate. This thought of the disparity in the shinobi world only reinforced his desire to reform the entire continent into one where liberty, equality, and intellectualism were valued and encouraged by the village, rather than simply war and distrust.

He continued his walk, again at peace with nature now that he had resolved that internal struggle, which only added to his confidence and strength in the end. With his ace eye, he picked up a big indentation in the ground. He ran over to it and started inspecting it. What was this? It was HUUUGEEE! What thing could have made this? Judging from the characteristics, it had to be the footprint of something. But of what? It seemed like nothing Kashizudoto had seen before. Perhaps the Land of Earth had some crazy monsters that Konoha shinobi wouldn't be used to.

WC: 461

Fukai needed a day off. He had been on the go for the past couple of months and rarely ever had time to wind down and smell the roses. But today he would get a break, not a proper break as he still had a mission quota to fulfill, but it would do. He had chosen to take a mission that would require him to travel far out beyond the village walls to some isolated corner of the country. This would give him an excuse to take his time and go for a leisurely stroll through the countryside. He would enjoy the time by himself and wouldn’t be in any rush to return to the city.


The task that he had taken was some sort of wild animal threat. Apparently a group of local kids had been out exploring when they had come across it. What they had described ‘it’ to be was something about a monster. Of course, they had just been scared kids that had let their imaginations run away with them. Glowing red eyes and long talon claws, these were spaces in the picture that their overactive mind had filled in and turned the beast into a terror. No, it was most likely that they had wandered into some oversized beast’s territory. Fukai had dealt with animal extermination before, things like boars and snakes that were harmful to humans had to be shifted elsewhere or destroyed so that citizens could live danger free. It wasn’t an abnormal call to get in the slightest. Sending down a jounin to clear it out was a bit of overkill but hey, it would prove a nice little distraction for Fukai.


He took his time getting down to the region in question, spending a little over half a day to trek over the hills and valleys. The vegetation was beginning to thicken, providing some much appreciated shelter from the early afternoon sun. There was a lot of brackeny bushes and spindly trees growing from the hard earth. The rock country had quite a large area of thick tundra around here, making it hard to live off the land. Fukai doubted there would have been anyone here if it weren’t for the combination of freshwater stream and plentiful rare and valuable earth metals that could be found beneath the ground. Fukai met up with the stream and began to follow it around the hills and down into a valley. This was apparently the area of interest, somewhere there had been an animal around.


It wouldn’t be too long before Fukai would stumble upon his first lead. Along the side of the river there was a big indent. It looked like the bank of the river had collapsed. All the shrubbery had been uprooted and ploughed to the side. It looked like a herd of something had passed through here… Or something very big. His eyes darted up and followed the track back into the bush. He moved along it, noticing the chunks taken out of bark and the cracked earth below where it had tread. What was this thing. There, a twitch of movement in the corner of his eye. He spun around on the balls of his feet to see a kid there beside a massive indent in the ground. Fukai would call out to him while slowly approaching.

Hey you! Do you know what’s going on here? Have you seen what made this?


[579]

"Hey you! Do you know what’s going on here? Have you seen what made this?" asked an unfamiliar voice from behind him. Kashizudoto would turn around to see an older man, likely much stronger than him. The man would see a boy of thirteen in a black swordsman's robe, a gift from Master Piandao after he had finished his apprenticeship. He had a Konoha hitae-ate on his forehead to represent his village pride. On Kashizudoto's left hip was a bamboo sheath holding the Tentetsutou or the "Sword of Heaven", a blade that he had forged himself out of a four billion year old meteorite. Next to it was a coil of wire totaling to about fifty meters. Below it was a holster holding three shuriken and one kunai. He hadn't really come to this walk expecting a fight, but with this giant footprint in the ground, he couldn't be so sure.

"Nope," said Kashizudoto, "Is this normal in your nation by any chance?" If there was something which could cause a footprint like that within the Land of Earth, Kashizudoto considered the forest that enshrouded his homeland as a relatively safe place in the shinobi world, even with the poisonous plants, rabid animals, and criminals scattered around that inhibited an invasion and made travel hard or even fatal for the inexperienced.

WC: 688

"What’s your name? What are you doing out here in this wilderness?" said the older person, who Kashizudoto could infer was a high ranking shinobi of Iwa from his looks and demeanor.

"The name's Kashizudoto Sarutobi. I'm a chuunin of the Hidden Leaf who came here on a diplomatic mission," said the boy, while not revealing the exact details of the Hokage's visit to the stranger, "Just finished the first part with the Tsuchikage, so now I'm on a bit of a break." Just bringing up the name of the Tsuchikage should have probably given some authority to Kashizudoto's words. At least enough so that this guy would most likely not think suspiciously of Kashizudoto.

"So ya, just messing around for a bit, 'till I saw this giant footprint, said Kashizudoto, "Now it's your turn. Who are you? I also see you have the Tsuchikage's purple eyes, some kind of special dojutsu he told me about. I assume that you're from the same clan?" He remembered the scene. Him delivering the letter, inquiring with the Tsuchikage about the war. While Iwa's Kage was more than happy to fill in the foreign shinobi on the details of the conflict that he had not yet learned, he seemed extremely secretive of those eyes - only revealing their abilities through one hint: "you won't notice unless you're carrying something or running away." Expectedly, this was still confusing Kashizudoto. Hmmm... How were carrying and running linked? They had... something to do with motor skills, he supposed. But... what specifically? He really needed to find out about these, not doing any intel for Konoha - he simply wanted to satisfy his own curiosity. His natural inquisitiveness had gotten him this far, and he knew he could push it further to go beyond.

"Raaaaaaa- Raaaa! Raawrrr!" A loud screech. Maybe... a roar. Definitely a real jump scare, although shinobi were specially trained to expect anything. Perhaps the thing that created this was the crafter of the footprint. If so, it clearly was a giant of great proportion. However, Kashizudoto had the Tentetsutou. That blade colored like that of a shining onyx, crafted solely out of rock from a four billion year old meteor. Yes, he was feeling ready for anything after that apprenticeship under Piandao.

"On second thought, said Kashizudoto as he began taking off in the direction of the piercing sound, "Explain that to me on the way." He would listen to the story behind this man - or not - as they sprinted through the rocks towards certain danger.

WC: 1121

After a few seconds of contemplation, the older man rushed after Kashizudoto as they both made their way to the direction of the sound. The chuunin would take his time maneuvering through the unfamiliar terrain - going at a bit of a slower pace than he usually would when he was chasing after something but still at a running speed. The Land of Earth's natural protections were just as good as those of the Land of Fire. While the latter had rabid animals, poisonous plants, and dangerous criminals, the former had just as many pitfalls, giant crevices, and unstable rock surfaces.

"Be careful and take your time," said the older man in a mature tone, "These lands are deadly to those who do not know them." Something about this guy seemed very... wise. It was indeed a great thing that a ninja from Iwagakure was interested in the safety of a foreign shinobi; granted, Kashizudoto was a diplomat and all, but he liked to think that there was at least some element of peace and cooperation between the Five Great Nations that wasn't just for show. Then again, with the total power play on Kumo that Kiri was doing, that perhaps was a false hope. Anyway, as a show of his heeding the warning, he slowed down to a light jog. Besides, this beast probably wasn't moving.

Running. Running. Running. His feet started running through air. Oh... shit... He looked down, noticing a giant gaping chasm right below him. If he did not respond appropriately, he'd plummet to his death. Damn. Damn. Damn. He was usually perceptive, but this place was damn treacherous. There was a hill that completely covered up the chasm; how was he supposed to see? As if instinctively, he channeled katon through his feet, the flames coming out like boosters, pushing him upwards and back to the edge, landing right next to the Iwa shinobi dude.

"Holy, holy crap," said Kashizudoto, "Now I see what you mean." Seriously, this place was crazy.

"Alright, you can walk across," said the older man, "Trust me, I’ve got you. Ya. He wasn't just about to walk off a ledge without proof that there was something he could walk on. He gave a look at the Iwa shinobi. As if responsively, the older man walked on thin air. Some kind of jutsu. But what if he released this jutsu... as some kind of cruel joke or spiteful attack on a foreign shinobi? Would he basically have to take a leap of faith, quite literally if this man was meant to deceive him?

"In case you release that jutsu," yelled Kashizudoto as he pulled a kunai out of his holster. He took out his wire as he tied the end around the loop on the knife. This way, if he ended up plummeting, Kashizudoto would be able to use the wire + kunai combo to throw the knife up into a piece of ground so that the wire would hold him up.

"If you want to see whatever that thing is before nightfall then you need to come with me this way," said the older shinobi.

One step. This was some kind of fuuton jutsu. His hand was firmly gripped on the kunai. Two steps. He continued very warily. Three steps. A shinobi never stops being cautious. Four steps. Not gonna stop being paranoid. With that kind of concern for his safety, he continued until he reached the end. He was still gonna be cautious. The guy could still push him off the edge.

"Thanks for the help, if you don't mind, can you tell me who you are on the way? I prefer to work with someone when I at least know their name," said Kashizudoto as he started running again towards the direction of the sound.

Kashizudoto Chakra:

WC: 1763

The young man sure was full of surprises. No sooner had he fallen off the edge, flames began to spit from the bottoms of his feet. It almost looked like some sort of firework had been strapped to his shoes. Fukai’s eyes bulged slightly at the display, the kid jetting his way back onto the lip of the chasm just as fast as he had fallen. It was almost comical.


As was expected of a shinobi with good sense, he wasn’t about to trust a stranger with his life. After fashioning  up a device with a kunai and wire, he seemed to feel more at home with joining Fukai on the invisible platform. The Iwa jounin resisted the urge to release the portion that was under his feet. A prank like that would be funny on another day but it was probably a bit inappropriate for this situation. “The kid does look a bit ‘on edge’” Fukai would have mused to himself as he watched the konoha shinobi inch forward.


About halfway over, a small gust of wind had grabbed his loose clothing and wavered it about. Fukai guessed that they were further than fifty metres up. On the other side, Kashizudoto thanked him for his help and inquired about who he was. Seeing nothing wrong with telling him, Fukai set off once more beside his new acquaintance, matching whichever speed was most comfortable for him.


“You were right in guessing that the kage and I have the same eyes. "My name is Fukai Fantomusodo, nice to meetcha”. It was quite unusual to find someone who didn’t recognise him by sight within the borders of Tsuchi no Kuni these days, but he guessed that it wasn’t that strange that a young foreigner wouldn’t. “I was out here to investigate what was going on… Looks like I’m gonna get more than I bargained for.” He ‘ha’ed a laugh. What exactly was this thing that they were running towards? Fukai was both curious and offput by the unknown.

They neared a steep ridge, angling up of over 60 degrees. Fukai would bound ahead and begin to scale the almost sheer wall by leaping from one foot to the other. This was his kind of territory, he had been raised on this kind of landscape. Straight up without the use of his hands or chakra, he looked much like a mountain goat. He wasn’t too worried about the young Konoha nin behind him, if he was a chuunin then there was no doubt that he knew the supernatural walking practice. Finally when he got to the top of the ridge, he would wait for Kashizudoto. Because down there… There it was. It was a monster, alright.

[461] /2332

go ahead and describe that thang

"You were right in guessing that the Kage and I have the same eyes," said the man as they ran towards a steep ridge in the distance, "My name is Fukai Fantomusodo, nice to meetcha." At least this guy was being transparent; unlike the Tsuchikage, he revealed the clan name. Of course, Kashizudoto had no nefarious purposes in gathering information - he was just a genuinely curious individual.

"I was out here to investigate what was going on…" continued the man, "Looks like I’m gonna get more than I bargained for." Interesting. So Iwa's administration was aware of this monster and sent this dude to deal with it.

They reached the ridge, and the man climbed up with ease rather than taking the easy way and using chakra. Wow, this guy must have been experienced with these wilds if he was able to trek them so easily. Kashizudoto channeled chakra to his soles and started running up the ridge. With a little difficulty, he finally made it up - with the man waiting for him there.

He looked down. Oh. Oh. Oh, damn. Down below was some kind of... rock lizard? It looked like a giant salamander, towering twenty feet tall. The catch? Instead of scales, this thing was literally covered in armor of rock! The body also had lots of moss filling the cracks in between the rock, and something which appeared to be a giant vine, at least ten feet in length, was hanging out of the mouth of this grotesque beast. He glanced at the older man and waited for him to give the signal based on his experience of the wilds of the Land of Earth.

WC: 2043

"Well? What do you want to do?" he asked to the chuunin. Well... There was like... A gigantic rock lizard thing. He might as well get some kicks and giggles fighting that thing, although he'd hate to kill any life form. Not that he had qualms about actually performing a murder, but the unfairness of ending someone else's life would be something that would keep him averse to killing.

"Well, I want to fight it, of course!" he said as he leaped off the ridge and began sliding down, his feet skidding along the rugged terrain, churning through lots and lots of rock, before he would appear right behind the monster along with the man - who would end up reaching there before him due to his superior speed. Who was this guy anyway? He seemed way too skilled to be the average shinobi, that was for sure.

"ROOOAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWW!!!!!" cried the beast. Shit, even its roar was frighteningly loud.

"Let's do this," he said to the man without making any eye contact, confident that he'd understand Kashizudoto anyway.

Kashizudoto was a particularly focused individual, so he was just right for a 2v1 situation where he could lock on to one target and implement one strategy at a time. So he would get his thinking cap on. So... this beast's back was covered entirely in rock. Well, his Tearing Earth Turning Palm could easily destroy that, but he wasn't ready to leap onto this thing's back just quite yet. He'd need to immobilize it... Ah, that was it!

"Please," said Kashizudoto, "Get about six meters away from me. Shouldn't be too hard with your physical prowess and all." If the older man refused to move, the chuunin would get pissed. However, if he complied, Kashizudoto would immediately channel chakra to his feet, stomping on the ground with a force that would create countless spikes, from a six meter radius around him, that would extend out one foot from the ground and pierce the monster's entire underside up to one inch into its skin from all angles. This would be the first part of his plan. The next would be to somehow get on top of the monster and destroy its rock armor through the Tearing Earth Turning Palm.

Kashizudoto Chakra:

WC: 2429

The monster began crying in pain, attempting to roll around when it was clearly trapped for the time being. Its tail went out and was about to lash at Kashizudoto, who would have made a jump for it if it wasn't for the older man throwing his scarf of some sort that was surrounded by some kind of strong gale that blocked the attack with a wall of fuuton chakra and made the tail rebound. Well that was a close call. It was good that the man was supporting Kashizudoto, even from afar. He was very grateful for it, thinking about the help that the man had offered him even while in the heat of battle for a second until he returned to his focus.

"You’re welcome to tell me your plan," said the older man, "Maybe I can be of assistance." That was right, Kashizudoto did need to communicate with his team effectively if he was going to fight successfully. However, he didn't have much time to get his point across, so he had to be concise.

"I'm gonna destroy that thing's rock armor by getting on its back" Kashizudoto would say while drawing out his Tentetsutou from its bamboo sheath - the fine blade, black as an onyx, that Kashizudoto had crafted out of rock from a four billion year meteorite - and inflaming it with katon chakra using the Sarutobi's Sword of the Will technique, which would make his strikes much more potent, "I'm relying on you to defend me while I do this. Feel free to land an attack on him once I've destroyed its defense. The large lizard would raise its foot and launch another attack Kashizudoto; thankfully, the older man would already be ready and block it with his scarf as Kashizudoto would make a huge leap on top of the monster's legs.

Damn, damn, this thing was unsta - Woah, woaaaahhh!!! He would be slipping a little, so he would quickly redirect chakra to his soles so that he could stick onto the surface no matter what. He then would begin running up the monster until he would reach the center of its back. Now he was just at the right position to destroy this thing's armor. He would channel chakra to his left hand as he would pound on the creature's back, splitting the rock that defended it into multiple fragments that would begin to fall out and expose the soft skin of the beast. As the armor would start falling apart, Kashizudoto would jump onto the hypersensitive upper skin of the monster on its back, which would cause it to let out a great roar of pain. No, no, he wouldn't be finished. He would then stab it with his meteor-forged katana, which would stab in as far as three inches due to his kekkei genkai, as the Will of Fire would guide his blade to be even more painful due to his use of a katon jutsu, and, meanwhile, the Sword of the Will would rub salt in the wounds - almost literally - by causing a third degree burn running one inch into the wound, a second degree burn running up until two inches, and a first degree burn for the next inch. This would would cause the creature to let out a scream so devastatingly loud that the ground around them would literally shake.

Kashizudoto Chakra:

WC: 3003

The man encapsulated himself in tons of chakra - it seemed to be a truly powerful jutsu that brought up the dust into the air. He really, really needed to make sure not to screw with this guy, since he could've really killed Kashizudoto if he wanted to. Raiton chakra  encapsulated him as he raced through Kashizudoto's giant field of spikes (damn, that was impressive). Meanwhile, the scarf seemed to lose the wind all around it, going down and getting put away. Meanwhile, the young chuunin took his katon enhanced katana out of the beast's back and made one more slash through its back, causing the monster to yell and shake once more.

The man took out a giant staff, slid it into his dominant hand, and slammed it into the beast's cheek extremely hard. He then took out the scarf again, throwing it out in an attempt to wrap it around the beast's head. The beast gave no response, only shrugging off the man's blow and then opening up its great jaws and biting down on the guy's staff. Woah. Such a strong person was having trouble fighting the monster. Damn.

The man immediately released the staff from his grip to allow the monster to flail it around and eventually throw it out far away (luckily for the man, the weapon took no damage), understanding that he'd get thrown around himself if he kept his hold on it. Meanwhile, the young chuunin continued his hacking and slashing at the back of the beast with his enflamed sword of shimmering black onyx.

The scarf on the shoulder of the man could do nothing to the monster except for a few scratches. The monster took a step towards the older man, who was now basically weaponless. The "ground" below Kashizudoto (the monster's bare back) shook violently; however, the chakra at his soles kept him solidly on the surface as he continued stabbing and slashing all over. The man proceeded to jump back a bit to avoid contact with the monster, almost tripping as he stepped on some rough ground. The man looked down and noticed what seemed to be a piece of smoky glass at the bottom as the beast advanced, causing the young chuunin, who was on its back, to feel almost like there was an earthquake.

The man looked back up at the great monster. All of a sudden, he looked so much stronger, all of his power seeming to stem from his... eyes? What was going on? Could this have been the power of the Tsuchikage's eyes? The man picked up the black glass that he found earlier, charging at the monsters head with it, striking multiple times while dodging the beast's attacks intermittently. Meanwhile, Kashizudoto observed the sharp scarf tying itself around the beast's neck and tightening.

To distract the beast from possibly doing something to break the scarf, Kashizudoto made a huge flash with his enflamed meteor blade, causing it to yell out a scream. It didn't notice the scarf enclosing on it. The man twisted the scarf as it fully constricted the monster. It shook a bit, equal to the feeling of a tremor to Kashizudoto. Now. Now was a good time to jump off. He released the chakra from his soles and did a backflip off the monster's back while it fell down to the ground entirely, now a dead, rotting corpse. Damn, that was a rather simple solution.

He observed the dead body of the great beast, rocks that Kashizudoto had earlier separated from the back now spread all across the ground. The bare body of the lizard rested on top of it, the scarf leaving a huge, bloody dent on the neck. On its naked back, the burn scars and slash marks that Kashizudoto made could be seen throughout. It'd be funny to see some random person walk in on this dead corpse. Or maybe even a skeleton of this beast, as there were probably scavengers in this land who could eat down to the bone together.

"Alright, good work, said the older man to the kid, "Let’s head back to Iwa and grab some food." That sounded good, actually. Kashizudoto was damn near starving. Not just that, he also needed to check for whether Kenta and his entourage were here yet, though he had his doubts.

This really was an exciting story that he could tell back in the Land of Fire to his friends back home. Think about it: he was out exploring the rocky, barren wilds of the Land of Earth, only to see a giant footprint in the ground and then fight off a huge lizard monster! Then again, he was hoping to spend a healthy amount of time over at Iwagakure, doing short term missions for them, exploring, and training in foreign lands. Sure, this place wasn't exactly as humane as Kentatopia: almost all the Iwagakure missions in the public dossier involved killing any criminal that got in the way of the task while Konoha missions seemed to at least allow the prospect of beating them up and jailing them. Of course, Kashizudoto hadn't seen a lot of Iwa's mission board yet, but this definitely seemed like the case at first glance. That wasn't to say that Iwa was anywhere near savage Kiri, which took no prisoners - it was known to only execute those who did not comply with their laws. It really did piss him off that his village was allied with such a violent village, but unfortunately, that was a case of realpolitik which seemed to him to be an unavoidable necessity at the time.

WC: 3962

[Exit]

Strength: C-2 -> C-3: 700/700
Speed: C-2 -> C-3: 700/700
Endurance: C-2 -> C-3: 700/700
Bukijutsu: A -> S: 1862/4000