In the days of old the art of skulning had been utilized to call in the herds to their respective farmers and to ensure that the echoing high pitch notes could be heard even by the most wayward animal. It was through this use of high pitch notes that echoed across the plains that would cause these great herds to be lead and cared for by their owners. Some had been able to replicate the effect with instruments or high notes from horns and Xiao Guan was one of these innovators. Rather than opt to wail and screech like a banshee the young shinobi instead offered his stringed instrument lain across his lap, plucking the high strings that caused an echoing hollow blue note that reached far and wide to call in the passing animals towards the shinobi in to his presence.

He had arrived on the island, admittedly, to train and prepare himself for the coming war against reality his life would be. Not that he had any plans for domination nor any plans for subterfuge but rather his life was that of a shinobi, a child soldier, and one that was instructed to do combat with other children. It was the cold reality of the shinobi world often forgotten. The shinobi were not trained men and women, nor veterans, they were kids given weapons and told to wage war. It was a curious thing that the Kage of old ever found it odd that this created such dramatic outcomes in those with latent potential. If one thought of it logically, most of his peers and those who would be deemed his enemy must have some deep and harsh emotional scarring from this reality and so for this moment Xiao Guan was not a shinobi. He was not a child honed into an instrument of death, he simply was.

The island was rather small, more of a mound than anything substantial perhaps able to hold a small selection of homes if so chosen to be placed there. There were slight ruins of terracotta tied loosely together with weaved steel that held the remaining foundations loosely together. It was here that Xiao Guan sat in this small spattering of where a house once may have stood with his guqin across his lap plucking away. He played a small song he had been taught in his youth to lure animals called 'Come Hither' in which the production was primarily blue high notes to increase the range. As birds flocked about the short genin he pondered how it would be once he was truly initiated. Would it be that he would never have a moment like this again or would it be that his life would be mediocre just like his parents and he would then find a constant flow of modest work that would tide him over as years passed.

Giving a deepened sigh as if to lament the future that laid out before him, Xiao Guan attempted to coax a small seagull closer to him so he might stroke it. Unfortunately so, the bird twitched and sputtered as most sea birds do with their darting eyes before jolting back causing the young shinobi to smile.

"Huh...Not today then. Maybe another time little friend." he stated in his own disjointed way. His voice something of a soft echo rather than something brash and loud. His parents coming from far off had caused him to somewhat speak through the back of the throat that caused his voice to be quite high in comparison to others with a tendency to hold inflection on vowels that wavered up and down instead of remaining flat.

Spoiler:

Mizu no Kuni. The land that held the village formerly known as the Blood Mist. That was definitely ancient history. Mist shinobi were still renown for their powerful shinobi. Their kage was rumored to be one of the strongest shinobi that currently exist. Well, so he heard anyway. Samuru was pretty skeptical of any rumors he heard. He was one to judge with his own eyes. Giving in to one’s curiosity was something he occasionally did. Whatever would help him learning something new or find a deeper meaning was worth investigating. That was the kind of man he was. Though, he figured that he would try and meet the Mizukage some day, if they had time.

Samuru had been walking along a road that led into the countryside. He walked through open plains filled with grass that had been spread with houses scantily built throughout the plains. There were people minding their day to day lives. It was a very beautiful sight if he were to care for such trivial matters. The land would give off a vibe of a place to retire away from everything else. This must of been what people were talking about. Having land and privacy. He wondered what pleasure could be felt by having your own land. It was something that he would never understand or comprehend. It was his fate as being cursed to never gain the experience of feeling secluded.

He continued to walk through the feel as a man he assumed to be a shepherd watch him with presumptuous eyes. The man looked to be scared out of his wits. Samuru figured that bandits or something possibly gave him trouble from time to time. It could have also that he looked suspicious. The redhead wondered what kind of villains did this land have. Were they sadistic? Were they like they were back in the Land of Demons? It was just a couple of questions that rummaged through his head. Being in deep thought, helped him pass the time. It had been quite a while that was able to see a new country. If he based his assumptions on the first person he saw, he figured that the people in this country were very wary of outsiders. Though, he knew not to judge a whole nation based on one or two people.

As he walked, he could hear birds chirping and the sound of music? If you could call it that. Samuru walked toward the sound and noticed a small boy who seemed like he was half of his size. Samuru’s hood slightly slumped over his eyes a bit. He didn’t say anything or even speak. He just stood and watched the young boy. From what he could tell, the boy was very young, but he couldn’t put an age on him. Samuru to stood and listened. He was curious about what the boy had been playing. Listening to music was a past time of his, but it did seem to unknowingly draw him in. Samuru just had an interest in the sound. It was a bit different than what he was used to hearing. Most of what he heard were sea shanties. Singing wasn’t his strong suit, but he did now a couple of shanties to pass the time.

Are you supposed to call that music? he asked with a disrespectful tone. The tone wasn't intentional, but it just came out that way.

577

Upon the horizon stepped gently a figure that Xiao Guan had deemed quite strange, not in any particular sense but rather that the aura of the individual exhumed a standing most of the rather jumpy villagers and civilians held and instead replaced it with the calm confident steps of a manager or someone well acustomed to the land. As the figure grew closer Xiao Guan continued to pluck at his Guqin playing a gentle medley soft and somber that enticed birds to come hither and so too hopefully draw in the stranger. Though Xiao Guan lived up to his namesake of being a quite small individual he was still that of a shinobi of Kirigakure with the ambition of becoming a shield for his humble village. Gently strumming along the strings at random intervals and focusing in on the blue notes as the man began to step he began to try and match the steps of each with a hard low note with each foot step of the stranger.

"Are you supposed to call that music?" the hooded man stated outward as he grew closer his words holding a grit to them as he spoke, something like a dog that had been mistreated and was used to biting first and barking second. Strumming his Guqin he gave a smile as he began to size up the stranger with a twinkle in his eye. The comment amused him, not harming him but rather it was nice to see somebody speak so openly and firmly rather than the softness and subterfuge usually held by the human weapons that were shinobi.

"Hey it works for the birds, y'know" he chuckled as he continued to strum. Smiling to the man he cocked his head to the side "I guess not so much for people from this land" he stated with a short exhale of wind form his nose in the form of a brief laugh as he stated. "You look a little lost, y'know, new around town?" he asked being straight to the point as always, it was in his nature and his culture to cut through the pleasantries and though certain societal aspects had restricted him with gift giving and pleasantries he had never favoured such trivialities instead holding the old world spirit closer than those of a modern flavor.

Spoiler:

“Works for the birds?” Samuru repeated under his breath.

He wasn’t sure what to think of it. Samuru had only heard of music that was able to bring in animals, but he wasn’t sure how it worked. Was there something in the tonality that brought it in? Was there a specific chord that caused the birds flock in? There were multiple questions that started to flood in his head that became broken with, “new around town?”. Samuru wasn’t sure if he should respond to the stranger’s final question or just let it hang in suspense. Samuru obviously wasn’t sure where he was headed. The reaction of the shepherd wasn’t all that great either. So, he decided to respond to this guy’s question.

“Yeah kid, I’m new. Which way is Kirigakure?” he asked sternly.

Samuru would first wait for a response. He knew that the country was made up of multiple islands. Samuru wasn’t even sure which island he was on. It would be a real nuisance to just be stuck on a random island for long periods of time. It could help to be nice to the kid, but he knew he could just torture the shepherd out of his mind to get him to tell him how to get to Kirigakure. One way or another, he was going to get there. Though, he knew that he would need to find food or hunt. These open plains were probably terrible for hunting. The only animals he had seen were either birds or domesticated animals. He didn’t want to go back to committing crimes. Samuru had done a good job staying off of the radar in these lands.

“The name’s Perun, by the way.”

Samuru cocked his head to the side as he crossed his arms. There wasn’t much else he wanted to say. He didn’t know how the guy would react or what he knew. There was also a good chance that the stranger could lead him into a trap. Something he learned getting to this point in his life was that you couldn’t trust everyone. Though, you couldn’t just be an island your whole life. Samuru also learned that there were generally two types of people. One that was a stepping stone, and another who would soon be a stepping stone to get him to his goal. Which one would this guy be?

WC: 409/986

"Yeah kid, I'm new" the stranger stated sternly "Which way is Kirigakure?" the question asked also came with a large amount of weight. If he was in fact a shinobi of the hidden mist surely he would already be aware of it's location but to ask so casually and calmly also indicated that he must hold some familiarity with the village itself. Could he be an envoy? Perhaps an assassin? Admittedly the young shinobi couldn't know but he did hold within himself the ambition to become the great shield of Kirigakure thus perhaps this was his first test. Looking the man up and down he decided to play along for a moment. The young shinobi proceeded roll his neck somewhat as he pondered.

"The shinobi village right? You're not one of those are ya?" he stated in a way that brought through his rather low classed accent in his words that stressed and elongated his vowels as he proceeded to play a role. It was the least he could do, he was nothing but a standard shinobi fresh from the Academy how could he take on what he assumed may be a legendary assassin? What if he was an envoy, could he show him the entrance and then be met with a punishment for revealing the secrets of the village? It was a difficult choice but the little crow decided to err on the side of caution.

"The name's Perun, by the way" the wandering hooded shinobi stated. The guy was cool, the young shinobi knew that. Most shinobi were in fact, calm cool and collected no matter the situation which worried Xiao Guan who almost bore his heart outside his chest when it came down to it.

He was young and naive so he didn't think too far ahead, as his mouth began to utter his response he felt as if time had slowed to a crawl "Xiao Guan, y'know, nice to meet ya Perun." Xiao Guan stated though realising that he probably should have given a false name but perhaps his honesty would be worth something in the long run. He decided to press harder, not too hard but hard enough that he might discover atleast something basic about the man who stood before him.

"It's off the islands, who knows where they go when they disappear in the mist..." he trailed off somewhat considering what he would actually do. If this was a legendary warrior, then showing him the village could lead to utter destruction and yet if he was an envoy this could bring down the wrath of the Mizukage on the little crows head. He decided it was time to push forward, trying to interrogate the shinobi.
"whatcha want to do with those folk anyway?" the little crow said with something of a sinister tone as a smile crept across his face "Got someone ya wanna kill?" the little crow stated placing his thumb up to his left canine tooth with a devilish grin.

Spoiler:

Samuru was a bit confused. Was he one of what? Samuru just asked a question and couldn’t figure out why this guy wouldn’t answer it. His first reaction would normally be to reach for his axe, but he figured to try and hold off a bit. It couldn’t truly be that hard to answer a simple question. If Samuru could get mad, this would probably be the time to appropriately do it. There seemed to be no end to this madness. What kind of guy was this kid anyway? Samuru thought to himself that he would try and bide his time some. Maybe there was something to find in the things people called “patience.”

Xiao Guan. FInally, he was getting somewhere or so he thought. At least he was able to get a name. Samuru stood and looked down at the kid with a straight face. He wasn’t going to get anywhere at this rate. Samuru just grunted slightly. He wasn’t one for games. After Xiao’s comment that it was off one of the islands, it finally clicked that this guy was you would call an asshole. Samuru wouldn’t put up with these antics for so long before he just left. He was generally an attack first ask questions later kind of guy. It didn’t take long in his background to find out that was probably one of the worst ideas you could engage in. This is especially true when you accidentally kill someone that had valuable information.

“I need to feed this thing called a body. If I don’t, then it dies. Then I die. Kirigakure has missions that pay ryo. I need missions to purchase supplies. If I really wanted to assassinate someone, I would have planned that out weeks ago. Just send me on my way, Xiao. I can’t say that it’s nice to meet you. Not sure how hard is it to answer simple question?”

Samuru’s words were stern and slow. He wasn’t showing any signs that he was in a rush. The words that came from his mouth seemed like it may have had more meaning if he said it with aggression. Though, he hadn’t really practiced talking aggressively to sound convincing. Samuru stroked his peach fuzz stricken face. The Natake didn’t care too much for pleasantries. Not that he knew how to be pleasant. Samuru knew that people had told him that he came off kind of strong, but he didn’t see reason to change. It was easier to be direct than beat around the bush.

WC: 438/1374

Xiao Guan was playing with fire that was for certain, he was under powered fresh academy student and yet here he stood trying his best to balance subterfuge as well as ensuring that he saved face as a kirigakure shinobi. The furrowed brow of his opponent indicated he was pressing too hard, the stance of aggression and aura of annoyance emanating forth caused Xiao Guan to worry somewhat. He had no real combat presence but whatever would happen would truly be an impact on his life regardless.

As the man spoke with an authority and an aura of 'coolness' about him “I need to feed this thing called a body. If I don’t, then it dies. Then I die. Kirigakure has missions that pay ryo. I need missions to purchase supplies. If I really wanted to assassinate someone, I would have planned that out weeks ago. Just send me on my way, Xiao. I can’t say that it’s nice to meet you. Not sure how hard is it to answer simple question?” as he spoke Xiao Guan's eyes began to light up. This wasn't the words of a shinobi forced into a makeshift role nor was it that of an assassin. These were pure words, honest words that came directly from the man's heart without any pleasantry surrounding it. His words were carefully chosen and his temperament stone ward and strong much to the delight of the little crow who harked on a little too much for those around him.

Using his knee to press the guqin upwards and flipping it skyward allowing him to catch it in his left hand as he then grasped the strap and slinged it over his shoulder allowing it to rest firmly against the small of his back the little crow's eyes sharpened and his crooked grin began to grow as he stood to his full height which wasn't much to gawk at. Standing only about to the waist of the man and even then barely so the little shinobi gave a grin as he stared directly into the eyes of the shinobi, taking his thumb and pressing it against his left canine as he was often want to do. His heart began to beat as he attempted to give off an aura of aggression and strength, purposely attempting to make the situation's air grow thick with the iron scented aura of war.

This was for but a moment before the young child began to laugh "Damn!" he stated slapping his forehead and brushing one of his bangs back as he gazed at the man "THAT was cool. Really cool. Most folk just use the whole..." he began to then immitate a typical shinobi, drawing his chin low and covering one eye with a bang as he gazed up speaking in a mockingly cold tone "Hrmph. Move child." he immitated before returning back to his normal relaxed position pointing to the man "But not you, you got guts, I like you. Xiao Guan's my name, Future Swordsman of the Hidden Mist, Kirigakure No Sato's my home and if you got balls like that I'm betting we need you."  the little shinobi stated before leaping back upon the small broken rock wall as he looked to the shinobi.

"I'm at an impass you see, If I show you where our hidden village is...well I could be in deep trouble." he grinned his eyes locking on to Samuru "So...How's this as a precaution. I give you a bit of a test, me and you right here and now, just a friendly spar no blood letting or anything of the like but just to see what you can do. If you can beat me then we'll head to Kirigakure and I'll even take you into my home for a nice meal. If I win though....well I'll take you anyway" the little crow stated chuckling slightly, he had no way of winning and he knew it but this was a chance to get some training in and a chance to test himself. He expected the guy to win, of course, but it was worth a shot to see how this guy was. There was an old shinobi philosophy that said you see a persons true humanity when you fight and Xiao had adopted these ancient words as his own, if the man could beat the small genin without killing him then he had an honest heart, if he killed Xiao Guan though unfortunate he would never know the way to Kirigakure. It was a devil's gambit, but one that Xiao Guan whole heartedly felt worthy of the wandering shinobi.

Spoiler:

Samuru forcefully raised an eyebrow to attempt to show shock, but it just ended up with both of his eyebrows slightly raised. He definitely needed to work on his facial expressions. This boy truly wanted to fight him. He could see it as much. Though, what he didn’t care for too much was having to waste time. Not drawing blood would be a little challenging. He was no taijutsu specialist. Though, he didn’t need to draw his weapons to put a hurting on someone who really wanted to waste his time. Who was he to turn someone down to a duel.

“Fine, a duel it is. Not gonna make any promises about drawing any blood,” he stated calmly.

Samuru forced sigh as he closed his eyes for a brief moment and then opened them. The Natake unfolded his arms and lunged toward his opponent. He focused chakra into his hands while lunging to form a large amount of lightning from his hands. He was aiming at Xiao’s mid section. It was just a 'wave of inspiration' to get things going. It was a technique that was very basic and he figured that it wouldn’t do that much damage if the guy was strong enough. It wasn’t like Samuru could register pain. It had been a long time since he fought any one of decent ability.

It wasn’t the best opening Samuru had to offer, but he was sure that he could win the battle without actually killing the guy. Samuru didn’t really have the utmost meaning of holding back. When one couldn’t necessarily understand how to pull your punches, it made things a lot more difficult than they had to be. Samuru was quite interested to see how his opponent would handle his attack. Would he attempt to dodge or would he counter with a little something of his own? This kid looked like he may know what he was doing. It was no surprise that he was a shinobi. This made things a bit better. At least he was not fighting good for nothing bandits that could barely hold a sword. This day was seeming to peak his interest.

WC: 365/1742

Jutsu: 240/250:

Smiling cheekily the little crow began to slowly bite the tip of his thumb as the man's eyes turned to surprise or was it shock? It was hard to truly determine but certainly something that made the little crow feel a rush of excitement, that familiar feeling in his chest that felt as if waves of vibrations about his chest. A sense of both fear and delight that made his blood rush and his breathe grow short. He hadn't been around for too long but the excitement was enough to cause his eyes to bulge and his brows to raise as if a child who had just been given candy. This was the face of the hidden miss village, the face of a child who had been created purely to kill, because to those children honed into weapons themselves life and death was a mere game to play and Xiao Guan played to win.

"Fine, a duel it is. Not gonna make any promises about drawing any blood" the wandering shinobi stated in his utterly badass way that made Xiao Guan feel like he was already gaining a rival in his soon to be opponent. Xiao Guan proceeded to give a brief nod as he watched in anticipation, shifting the soles of his feet ever so slightly so that he might prepare a leap if so needed. In a moment, a great flash was seen as his newly found opponent leaped forward. As if instinctively
he proceeded to grasp one of the bricks from the wall he stood upon and in a large puff of smoke with the tiger symbol there in place of where the little crow once was floated a brick.

As the brick hovered in place Xiao Guan proceeded to leap upwards and positioning himself above the arms of his opponent, bringing his knees upwards to his chest to form a small ball as his opponents body passed forward the little crow slammed his feet downward hoping to 'kick' off his opponents back lightly. "What a shock! This battle's gonna be electrifying, y'know!" he quipped like a whedonspawn as he proceeded to lower said legs in an attempt to spring board backwards off of his opponent Coming through! he exclaimed like the love child of a hobbit and peter parker.

Spoiler:

It seemed that Samuru made the wrong call as he missed his opponent entirely. Samuru continued to use the momentum he had attained and continued moving forward. He continued a couple of meters into the destroyed building before quickly turning around to see his opponent. This was a bit more troublesome than he thought. There was an unchanging look on his face as he moved on to his next move. He quickly unsheathed his axe as he leaned it against his shoulder as he moved forward toward his opponent.

“Sneaky sneaky, little bird,” he stated under his breath.

The Natake swung Drobilka from his right to left with the flat side of his weapon as he neared his opponent. Samuru was aiming for his opponent’s torso he did say that he wasn’t trying to draw blood. Using the brood side of his weapon would accomplish that. It was probably what he should have started with, but this would do for the time being.

Samuru enjoyed fighting. It was the closest thing that made him feel alive, but it wouldn’t be something that he would share with others. Though, he did occasionally wonder what pain felt like. It was something that he didn’t spend all of his time dreaming about. It’s hard not to wonder something you didn’t have. To some people it was a type of food, but his was a totally different scenario all together. You would think that it would be hard to be passionate without emotions, but it wasn’t like that. His passion was whatever he had set his mind to. Samuru wanted to get stronger. There was nothing that was going to stop him. All he needed to do was keep pushing forward and squashing anything that got in his way.

WC: 302/2044

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

As the wandering shinobi lunged forward the little crow's eyes bulged outward, he wasn't exactly a master of jutsu nor was he a mystical shinobi and thus would have to rely on the most basic of movements he knew. Taking a moment he attempted to maneuver under the blade as it soared cutting through the air towards him. As he stared straight at the blade he twisted his body into something of a 'limbo' move but unfortunately due to not only his inexperience with combat in general but so too his lack of taijutsu prowess the little crow mistook the distance having the flat side of the blade slap against his chest firmly causing him to fall backwards into a back-roll as he felt the air in his lungs spill outwards and evaporate into the cold mist air a trail of steam coming from his lips. "Heh...I guess I was axing for that one..." he quipped. It was his way of dealing with fear, to make light of it as much as he possibly could.

Being so small and so prone to disaster meant that the little crow had learned to curb his anxiety into a tool. "That's...a cool weapon" he stuttered as he skid into a runners lunge pressing firmly off the ball of his heel as he neared his opponent he pressed on his legs to make it appear that he would leap forward but instead fell directly onto his back then arching onto his shoulder blade and pressing his finger tips then palms to hold him up as he attempted to perform a kick to the groin of the wandering shinobi as he flipped backwards. "K-Keep your eye on the ball" he jested as he tried to regain his breathe and his composure.

Spoiler:

Samuru’s weapon connected to his opponent as it knock the boy to the side. Then Xiao decided to make a poor joke. He understood it, but he couldn’t find the joke amusing. Samuru just wanted to go the village. This started to seem rather pointless. When would the madness end. The Natake looked down on Xiao and rested the giant weapon on his right shoulder holding onto it with his right hand. It wasn’t that he was posing, he just generally stood that way during a fight or after a battle. The kid was decent to say the least. Samuru figured that he would get better over time. It was either sink or swim in the shinobi world, but it was more like getting chased by school of puranas at times. One day you had rise up and say that you no longer wanted to be a seal and become a shark.

Xiao at least had a good taste in Samuru’s weapon. It was one of the few things that he carried like his life depended on it. Samuru just stared at him. Then the kid had the audacity, to kick him in his loins. It was a good thing that he couldn’t feel anything. Samuru just looked at him with uninspiring eyes. He had half a mind to hit him a again, but while charging his weapon with raiton chakra. Samuru faked a sigh as he let a brief moment past hoping that the kid may feel... that thing people call... “stupid.” He wasn’t quite sure how that actually work, but there was no harm in trying.

“Kid, are you done yet? I need to know the way to Kirigakure. Stop dicking around,” he said with a cold impersonation.

“The next thing I’ll do is separate your head from your neck if you do that again.”

Samuru would wait for a response. He was just a kid. Not a very bright one so it seems. The redhead stood there until he gained the response he wanted. The fight was obviously over. There wasn’t anything else he wanted to say. It was him and a boy. He just wanted the boy to hold up his end of the bargain. Samuru wasn’t the one to toy with for breaking promises. He had killed for less.

WC: 393/2437

Chakra 240/240:

The little crow lay flat on his back with his toes placed firmly against the balls of Samuru. Xiao Guan's eyes bulged as the man was unaffected, not even shifting slightly in his demeanor but this had ruffled the little crows feathers with surprise "You...wow...You don't have a penis?" he stated as he lowered his foot and stood to his lackluster full height "I've never...well known anyone like that. Yeah don't sweat it you beat me." the little crow stated scratching the back of his neck gently as he eyed the wandering shinobi.

As the threat was met the little crow smiled "Don't worry, I don't really have a habit of grabbing people's junk." he calmly stated as he then proceeded to start walking towards the great gates hoping his accomplice would soon follow. "This way. Sweet Axe by the way, never seen anything as beautiful as that before. You make it yourself?"

Exit

Spoiler:

The Natake watched as the kid landed on his back. Samuru shook his head at the boy. Did he really think that he didn’t have below the waistline. Well, there were some guys who didn’t. He wasn’t one of them. Not that it matter. It wasn’t like he could use anything down there or have a kid without help from science. It wasn’t like he wanted another person to look after anyway. Samuru was only in the game for himself. There was no need to have to worry about anyone else unless they were going to help keep him alive. That’s the way he lived his life and that was the what he truly believed.

“More like, I can’t feel pain kid. No, I didn’t make it and it’s none of your business how I got it.”

Samuru didn’t really like random chatter. He just need to be on his way. His stomach growled as he glanced down. This was a weird start to a day. Samuru tried to be ready as possible for random possibilities, but today had been truly random. There wasn’t much he could do about it. This seemed like something that would come straight out of a television show. It would be hard to believe, but it wasn’t the first time someone randomly challenged him to a fight and lost. This wasn’t going to be the last time he imagined. It was definitely time to get this show on the road.

“Just lead the way, kid.”

[Thread Exit]
WC: 263/2700

Chakra 240/250:

Training Completed:

Jutsu Training:
[-10% Raiton (Clan); -10% (Combat/PVP)] (800/800) Eternal Prominence
[-10% Raiton (Clan); -10% (Combat/PVP)] (800/800) White Raiton: Allfather’s Swift Rage
[-10% Raiton (Clan); -10% (Combat/PVP)] (800/800) White Raiton: Perun’s Divine Breath

300 words unused

PVP Victory: +5 Chakra