"Another day. Another day..." Alpha was at the end of his ropes here. His time in the Sunagakure was fruitless; like the desert of his former home. He had vowed to himself to track down this snake lady, he never was much of a hunter, and she remained out of reach. For now however there was a bigger problem.

Over the past few days dozens of individuals began to pour into the glassy remains of the Hidden Sand Village. Uniforms of Mist, Leaf, Rock, and Cloud became a common sight. All of them vying for the fallen population of Sunagakure refugees, seeking to add them to their ranks. It was logical. However the Kumogakure ninja struck him... Oddly. Their vulgar entrance into the village was enough to draw suspicion, not to mention the acts that followed. Most of it seemed helpful, but there was a fervor in their eyes. It was possessed, religious even. A look he was unfamiliar with, but he had seen too many times. Judging by the screams he would occasionally hear near their camps he couldn't assume they were all peachy.

The Kirigakure ninja have been busy fending off bandits and ruffians while the other villages lingered amongst the populations of refugees. Konoha seemed intent on providing aid and trying to bring people to their village. "For a better life." They said. He couldn't really argue on that point. Strangely Iwa ninja were present but not really doing much. Hm. He may have to check on them later. Meanwhile he had some questions that needed addressing.

Alpha was currently outside of the village watching a small group of Kumogakure ninja with a few refugees, it seems they we're successful in convincing them to leave the Sunagakure. The Ushinatta's dark hair flowed through the wind. Their black jeans and shirt covered partially by a white cloak. His blue eyes scanning the sight from a distance. 'If my hunch about Syekren was correct then he was there the night of the burning. This transformation might lead me to his allies.' Alpha recalled  the Kumogakure headband they bore that night. An uneasy feeling growing in his gut. 'It wouldn't be all that strange if their partners decided to join the same village.'

Theories aside he wasn't here solely for revenge, he reminded himself. The Kumogakure, what is their goal?

Alpha sighed quietly as a stray cloud shadowed overhead. The brief break from the midday sun appreciated. With a grunt he pushed himself off his ass and onto his feet. With a voice not belonging to him he huffed, "Let's just hope they aren't planning another war. God, I've lived through too many of those." Alpha laughed hollowly. He knew that life would disappoint him time and time again which was why he wasn't leaving this to chance. With his own hands Alpha was going to stop this before it got out of hand. With his sword sheathed to his right hip Alpha would move towards the group, waving a lazy hand in greetings. "Hey there, didn't miss much did I?" He asked disinterestedly. Keeping mindful of Syekren's usual tone. "So, what did I miss?"


Transformation Jutsu Active~

Change is inevitable...Even the blind could see that. The world was in a constant state of flux, and it was impossible to stop change, but some men and women in this world became agents of that change, pushing to wield change for the betterment of the world. In his forty plus years of existence, Mitsuo Sarutobi had felt the changes of the world as corruption and sickness tore it apart. He had felt the suffering of the masses for years, and it was something that he wished to do something about. He knew that he had to wield change for the better, and therefore he had become an agent of change. He had given himself to a higher purpose, a path of righteousness. The change that he would bring to this world would eradicate corruption and darkness and evil from the world, but in order to do such a thing a person had to take on aspects of the things that they wished to remove. Mitsuo had taken darkness into himself, and he knew that one day his own reckoning would come. Once his mission was completed, he would finish eradicating the remaining darkness and evil by ending himself...the final change needed to save the world.

As he stood amidst the camp of Kumogakure ninja, an odd feeling overtaking him. The village of Kumogakure had 3 prominent and powerful chakra signatures that didn’t belong to the Raikage, one of those being Mitsuo’s. One of them was a man that Mitsuo had met once before in the village of Iwagakure. He was a tremendously powerful medical ninja, one whom Mitsuo had once sought out for a certain procedure. It was clear from his appearance, though, that he had changed himself for whatever reason, and for that reason Mitsuo would not mention their past encounter. The other was a shadow whom Mitsuo had also met very briefly in the village of Kirigakure during the Seven Bells War. There were very few people in the world who Mitsuo believed to be on his footing as an ANBU agent, but this man was clearly one of them, that being evident by the fact that he, like Mitsuo, had managed to defect from the village as an ANBU, and then return later to regain a high ranking position. The knowledge of these people made a third powerful chakra signature among his people a very odd thing, as he knew exactly where the others were, being a good general.

It was this feeling that caused him to stop with his regular meditation sessions, the dragon inside of him being put to rest as he sought out the source of power that was not under his command. His shadow armour hid beneath the white and gold cloak that he had become accustomed to wearing in recent months, and his fingers flexed as he was prepared to unseal his weapons at a seconds notice. It didn’t take long to see who was out of place in the group, or at least to figure out what was wrong. He saw the shinobi whom he had once saved from Ukiyo Senju, and the man who had fumbled along beside him as he had brought Sunagakure to its corrupt knees. The Uchiha clan member Syekren was a member of the Aoi Bara, and therefore someone Mitsuo had a tremendous amount of experience with. It took him no time at all to see through the disguise, even if he hadn’t been able to feel the difference in his chakra.

He made his way towards the man wearing his friend’s skin like a mask, allowing his chakra to exude its pressure so that when he would be standing next to the individual it would become uncomfortably warm. He didn’t know exactly who this person was, but he was fairly sure that he had felt this presence before. Where was it from exactly? He wasn’t entirely sure and it was bothering him that he couldn’t pinpoint it, but it wasn’t something he would underestimate. As he walked towards the man he frowned and addressed him. “Syekren Uchiha, you know you shouldn’t be here. This is dangerous...” His face feigned concern for his ‘friend’. “We should speak...away from the camp. Somewhere more private.” He would get to the bottom of why this man was here, and were he there to attack the forces of Kumogakure he wouldn’t allow that to happen...

(750)

'Seems my disguise wasn't as fool proof as I had thought.' Not like he was expecting much out of a half baked transformation jutsu. Not to mention the threatening aura this guy was exuding was anything but accidental, this was a warning, a threat. But that wasn't the most surprising part. How can he say it? Well, there was no chance he was going to forget such a, demonic, presence. The difference in temperature as the figure approached was the difference between boiling and evaporation, just like 'that' day. After all this time, you appear before me. He thought bitterly. They showed a sort of false concern, understanding that whoever Alpha was he wasn't Syekren. Likewise the Ushinatta knew perfectly well who he was speaking to and just what they were capable of. Nonetheless their strength wasn't too far in difference from his own based on chakra alone, and he could hold a fight if things went south, though he wouldn't want to risk this civilians in the cross fire.

"Sounds good." He said plainly, a smirk on his grin. He moved his palm to the hilt of his weapon as he moved away from the village. "I know a great spot for talks, or if ya want to be alone. I'll show you."

Keeping his distance, he would move to keep the other ninja to his right side while they walked away from the village. Despite his easy going facade his ears were sharp and the other man was kept in his peripherals the entire time. 'I'm not letting you get away this time.' he swore to himself. Once they we're roughly one hundred meters away from the village. Alpha did a quick scan of the environment. It was semiflat, small bumps of sand scattered across the ground in an almost checkered pattern. Almost interesting, if he really cared for such things. Turning his sights to Mitsuo

"Well. Innit time to get down to business?" He chuckled, the voice of Syekren Uchiha splitting to Alpha's normal one halfway through the sentence. He released the chakra holding his disguise together. While the white cloak remained the rest of his illusion disappeared with a poof. Raven black hair replaced by forest green, a younger more muscled frame now lithe, and his eyes now dark obsidian; a quiet, deadly fury behind them. He sent a half hearted smirk towards the other. Placing roughly five meters between the two of them. Hand still on his blade as insurance. He kept his eyes lowered slightly below their shoulders, watching every twice of muscle.

"So you've been busy, huh? Was the genocide of a third-world village not enough for you?" He asked, not really expecting an answer. Alpha sighed heavily. "Welp, anyways. Let's put that aside for now, and start with a few introductions, maybe some back ground before we get to the real nitty gritty?" If Mitsuo was willing to accept an outlandish request Alpha would oblige with a small summary of his life.

"Us Ushibana, aren't ninja, we're nothing really special really. Just a bunch of people who learned to harness chakra with machines. Though, as I'm sure 'you' know, power like that corrupts. Society broke down and the world was locked in war that knew now end. Civilians murdering each other left and right, pathetic we were." He laughed depricatingly. "To insure my family's safety I sold my services to a group of well off scientists. Long story short they created some space time weapon that ripped apart our world and whatnot, scattering us through dimensions of time and space. Obviously I ended up in this Paleolithic part of history. Still not quite that happy about it. Though as you can tell: I, am the last of my kind." Alpha tilted his head to the right some, pausing for a second. It was a modest, though edited, description of his life, it didn't do justice to the experiences he's lived through or the struggles he's bared. Though, if his plan doesn't go well, then this man, whether he likes it or not, will be the only legacy of his people. Other than, well, the obvious.

"And you?" He'd inquire after his introduction.

Now if they wasn't in the mood to hear him ramble he would adjust it based on how they react. Either way he'd let a small amount of chakra pool into his weapon. Setting a jutsu in place when he needed it.


345/350

Transformation Dissolved~
Substitution Proc-ed~