“You are a heretic. And you spew heresy. Give me a reason why I shouldn’t kill you where you stand.” The short scrawny man in front of Maikumaru appeared to be a Kumo Ninja on a mission outside of his country. He made the Mistake of traveling through the mountains, the same mountains Maikumaru had declared to be his, and the same mountains he had decided to stalk around. It was a late night. A very late night. And Maikumaru was feeling particularly malicious. It wasn’t long before he had to meet up with Daremo. He had some time to kill. He had planned to catch bandits off guard, and make their lives miserable. But he had found a wandering Cloud Ninja instead. Considering his distastes towards Kumo at the time, he had decided to do a bit of bullying.

He had called Hastur some colorful names, offending the small brown man. His features were young. But not much younger than Maikumaru’s. “Are you sure you can even handle me, shrimp?”

“I have taken down foes far more larger and meaner than you.”

“HA! Underestimating me will be the last mistake you make.” The Kumo Ninja held out his hands, and created hand seals very quickly. He was fast. A ball of fire released from his hands, and slammed into him, sending him flying backwards, and rolling into the stony mountain ground. “Oh boy you are sure going to pay for tha-”

Before he can finish, his enemy had shot a line of lightning at Maikumaru. It was a thin line, so all he had to do was roll out of the way. The string of lightning had pierced right into the ground. “What was that? I shouldn’t underestimate you? Hm. Well you aren’t giving me much of a reason to not do so.”

Maikumaru stood up, waiting for his next attack. He had decided to fein weakness, and pretend to stumble to his feet. Just as expected, the Kumo Ninja had launched another projectile attack. It was a spinning blade of wind. Maikumaru smirked. He had fell for the ruse. Utilizing his Deflector Stance, he held out his hand, and once the blade made contact, it started to spin on his hand, trying to cut at him. Maikumaru pushed the wind chakra forward. The Kumo Ninja had a shocked expression on his face. But his reaction was fast enough to yield his body backward while remaining on his feet. He was the type of jutsu to prefer ranged attacks. Maikumaru had to close the distance. He got into a sprinting stance, and sped forward. While he was using his jutsu deflector Sprint Burst Jutsu, his body engulfed into lightning. But the Kumo Ninja, held out his hand and waved it, creating a large gust of wind that shut down Maikumaru’s surge of chakra. The Kumo Ninja smiled, breathing in, while using hand signs. He was fast. Really fast. Maikumaru had been a fooled. He had underestimated his enemy. And then...Maikumaru felt a pain. A sudden sharp needle in the center of his body. It made him flince. And then there was a giant explosion around his body. The largest Explosion Maikumaru had ever produced. The pain had spread throughout his body and formed into the explosion. After the Explosion had ended, there was nothing but silence. Maikumaru knelt down on the ground. He didn’t notice the destruction around him, or the destroyed body of the Kumo Ninja. The pain had subsided. But the mere idea of it was enough to have him kneel on the ground, clutching his chest. He couldn’t comprehend what had happened. His eyes were wide. His body was tensed. He felt drained. “Wh-...what the h-hell.” His voice was shaky. And for the first time in a long time he was scared.

647

“Anbu?”, The Iwa-nin thought, barely being able to make out the mask associated with the secret organization. The image was blurry at best. Blood pouring from his eyes, obscuring his vision of the monster that had a hand wrapped around his throat. Why was Iwa Anbu attacking, and killing, for there was no mistake he was dying, one of their own!? Shouldn’t they be on the same side? He did not do anything wrong. He was just going to have some fun with a geisha in the alley. There was nothing wrong with that, right? There was nothing wrong with having some fun during the night patrol, yeah?

The masked Anbu stared impassively at the Iwa-nin. Their struggles were slowly waning as the reaper of death approached them. To many, the sight was a gruesome one. The black ops member had, in some fashion, having completely degloved of flesh. The process was hellish, nightmarish, and something a sane individual would not have done. Yet, the Anbu did so without an ounce of remorse, or flinch at the pain inflicted. It does make one question what type of person the Anbu was? There was no way the man could have screamed, his tongue was ripped out to prevent such nuisance before the degloving started. He did not need anyone to wonder why screams were coming from behind the Okiya.

As the body began to cool, the masked individual looked at the geisha, some being slightly green from the horror they witness, but, all of them showing appreciation for what was done. Citrine eyes looked towards a red-hair geisha, noticing the harden look, a far cry from her tears when the Iwa-nin started to force himself on her and understood what she wanted. “Is it done?”, An elderly lady asked, walking to the forefront with a cane, eyeing the deceased body, and poking it. “Good. Take it back to the shed. It will make good chow for the animals.”, For the next two hours, the masked Anbu, under watchful eyes of the matriarch turned the deceased body into the ground up meat for the local wildlife.  

Moving across the terrain, Daremo, dressed in a light brown Kimono, allowed his senses to spread out to his surrounding. Making his way back to the hotel he was staying at with his wife and kids, he paused at two signatures was picked up. Knowing he had some time to kill before returning home, Amaya knowing that what was tasked of him would have taken some time, he shifted towards the direction of where the combat was taken place. It could have been one of the many Iwa-nin patrols that he had stopped once on his way home. But, something about the two signatures, caused him to want to investigate.

Coming to a stop, far enough to not be noticed by the fighting parties, Daremo noted a Kumo-nin fighting, what he presumed, was an Iwa-nin. Apart of him questioned if he should help his comrade out. He was apart of Kumogakure no Sato, thus, have some obligations to help. On the other hand, he was a big believer in letting others handle their own fights unless they were close to him then he would step in on their behalf. So, instead of helping out the Kumo-nin, Daremo watched the conclusion of the battle, a massive explosion occurring that carved the ground.

Wondering if anyone survived, Daremo made his way towards the last known location of the fighting combatants. Seeing no sight of the Kumo-nin, he presumed the explosion disintegrated the male. Spotting the other male kneeling, Daremo silently walked up behind the male, pulling out a black two-foot long senbons keeping his hair bun in place. Even though it was dark, he could still make out somethings about the male, but, nothing of familiarity. “You know.”, If the man moved his head back, he would feel the tip of the senbon pressed against his flesh, needing only the slightest of touches from Daremo to send it penetrating through his neck,  “I should kill you for killing a comrade of mine.” Casually he spoke about the act of killing as if it was boring. Like, the life of another did not matter. To him, the killing was just like taking a piss, you do it when you need to and forget out it.


“Do you have a reason for me not to? Why I shouldn’t send you along to the shinigami?”, Glancing at the back of the man, he waited for his reply. Was he really going to kill the male? Who actually knows. It is all up to the man having a good enough.

---

790

Maikumaru stood before Daremo, with a sudden stab of pain going in his chest. Before he could answer, he let out a weary scream. He knew what was happening. He learned of it only months before. A rare disease only members of the Otsuka could contract. When he was finally able to get in a word, he spoke. “Oh please, that comrade of yours was a Hastur loving Dog, who worshiped the very ground he stepped. Not only did he attack me first, but he had me dead to rights and, AH-” He clutched his chest again. The acute stabbing pain made him fall back down to his back. After the pain had once again subsided, his condition became an afterthought. He was in the presence of Daremo. “I was going to talk to you anyway. Listen...I have a contact in Kumogakure. She told me that there was something going on. Hastur had called on a group of Individual Bounty Hunters and Assassins . We don’t exactly know what for, but it's definitely a job. I’m going to disguise myself as one of the Bounty Hunters, and take their place. It's the only way I can get close to Hastur. Well as of right now.”

“Hastur needs to be stopped from the inside out, his powerbase needs to be topped within, and all of his secrets needs to be learned. And...this goes against my nature, but what must be done, must be done.” Maikumaru’s Pupils dilated. He clutched his chest, and screamed again. This time the pain was more focused. He felt the chakra in his hand. He felt how fast it was rushing, how violently. It was moving quickly. He raised his palm, away from Daremo, and a huge explosion released from it. The blast rushed from his hand, creating a large explosive cone, destroying even more of the mountain. On the other side, there was a large landslide, rocks and boulders rolling off the mountain.

“I think I have the Explosion Disease. Look, you are the best Medical Ninja I know. You have to-”

He felt the pain again. He didn't expect the disease would get this violent so quickly. He was told of the only way of getting it out of him. It was through removal of the Explosion Release. As he felt another rush of Bakuton, Maikumaru looked down. It had finally started to settle in. He was going to have to remove explosion release from his body. He ft like he was going to have to give up a big part of himself. He was going to have to give up something that made him unique. He got on his knees. “I need you to get the Bakuton Chakra out of me. If not it's going to kill me and along with everyone else around me.” Be took a deep breath, still clutching his chest. He felt the Chakra rush from his mouth. He opened his mouth, turning away from Daremo once again. A large explosion released from his mouth. It wasn't as big as the first too. “I have no idea how long I have before I go boom.”

1181 WC

Daremo did not blink nor care for the screams of the Iwa-nin before. The person was not someone apart of his inner circle. They were not someone who he had a relationship with. They were just someone who he accidentally stumbled over. Their pains, or whatever is causing them to scream out, meant nothing to him. Looking at the unknown male, Daremo removed the senbon from his neck, less the Iwa-nin accidentally stabbed himself, he didn’t feel like having to dispose of another body, though, the canines at the Okiya might be hungrier for more,  it would still be a hassle.  

Unblinkingly, the silver-haired male listened to the strain male words. “How do I know the man you killed was a support of Hastur. You could just be saying that to cover up the incident. Hastur has become a convenient truth for people to use to hide behind their own atrocity acts. So, again, why should I believe you?”, He asked, cutting the male off from speaking. The Iwa-nin failed to give him a reason not to kill him. There was justification for the male’s death, he did kill a comrade of his. He was positive the Iwa council wouldn’t be too mad at the death unless they wanted to face the wrath of Hastur.  Yes, he was using the Raikage as a buffer for his own agenda, even if he disliked the Kage.

Stepping back, Daremo watched as the male experience pain, tilting his head to the side, a hint of curiosity shining in his reptilian orbs.  An eyebrow was raised when the male talked about what Hastur was doing in Kumogakure no Sato, and how the information was given to him by a contact within Lightning Country. Furthermore, he mentally shook his head at the man spilled his plan out. How trustful have Iwa-nins become to the point that they trust outsiders with plans? How bad had the village fallen that their shinobi willing talk about against a village from the said village? What the hell happened!?

“I don’t think this goes against your nature. You seem to be the stereotypical shinobi who wants to be the hero, to topple to opposed evil and expose their secrets. You seem to be the type who seeks the fame. Reckless. Idiotic. And selfish. So, no, just by your words, this seems like something you would do. You will jeopardize the lives of others for your own selfish desires, and ideas of what is wrong or right.” Briefly glancing at the large explosion aimed away from him. He did not care about the man’s plight. No, the darker and more territorial aspect of him was wanting to rip the male apart. The man did not know that he had unknowingly threatened Daremo’s by his so-called plan.

The silver-haired male children resided in Kumogakure. He did not know this man, nor trust him, to be cautious with this plan of his. What if the plan goes awry? What if something happens? His children might be caught up in this mess, and, if that happens, Daremo had no problem in killing everyone of this male family before killing him. The silver-haired male was territorial almost to an animalistic level. While he cares for friends, all bets are off when his children, wife, and family are involved.

“Explosion disease?”, He said, looking at the male curiously. He wonders were something similar to people who tolerance for certain foods weaken to the point that they developed a reaction to it. This was an interesting development for the male, and it calmed the animal within him. . . for now. “Iwagakure no Sato doesn’t have any good medics anymore? What happened to the one Tsuchikage who led Diamond University?”, Of course, he knew happened to Tsuyo, but, that was not here or now.

As another explosion went off, Daremo thought about helping the male, “What do I get out of this? My services are not free. I don’t help people out of good-will. What are you willing to give me to help you out? After all, at the end of the day, healing people is just a business.” Even as he said that medical chakra was being prepped within him as he waited for an answer.

---

1515

The Iwa-nin was in discomfort and pain, that much was for certain. The male needed help in dealing with whatever he was going through. Yet, Daremo could not find it within himself to care. Sure, if he was younger, he would have felt a sliver of sympathy for the male’s plight. But, now? The sight of another one suffering did not stir up the foreign emotion. Ignoring the male’s outburst, citrine eyes, bore into the man with disinterest, “First it was because the male was a supporter of Hastur, and now you saying it was an accident, along with implying more of my comrades will die if I don’t help you? I really don’t have a reason to help you now.”

Some people might have been startled by the outburst, moved by the passion within the words, but not Daremo. The words did not move him in any way sense of the word. A delicate eyebrow was raised, ,“A secret mission, you say? Can’t be that secret it if you willing to spill the context of it without caution, and in the opening where anyone could have walked by and heard. How do you know the shinobi you killed wasn’t working with others? That his comrades could be around. I doubt you had a chance to check considering how much pain you are in. So, this secret mission of yours could all be for naught thanks to you mentioning it out in the opening. If that how shinobi works in this generation, I fear the state of the Elemental Nations for fools will be running it.” the words being spoken in a casual manner, with Daremo’s opinion of the male lowering by the second.

,“Ah yes, the ever-loyal dog of Earth country.”, there was no bite to his words, more like a generalization that would have been said to any passionate shinobi,, “You are right, I do not know your intentions, but, as you pointed out, you are an Iwa-nin. Thus, I can assume any secret mission within Lightning Country is for Earth’s Country benefits. You not caring for anyone, asides from those in Earth Country. After all, you do love Earth Country, but damn the rest right?”  he did not bother in letting the male answering, “Duty? I guess so. Us shinobi do have a duty to assassinate, sabotage, kidnapped, and employ ever nasty-trick in the book for our Nation or for those who we love. We play the game with death, so the others don’t. Yes, this is our duty, until we break and replaced. But alas, we can talk about that later.” The conversation was somewhat of a bore, thus, he wanted to get it over with.

Stepping back, Daremo watched as explosions rocked across the Iwa-nin’s body. The condition was a fascinating one, and he half-tempted to see how far it would progress. This was the chance of a lifetime to witness a body rejecting a KKG that is natural to it. The medical side of him was enjoying the show immensely for this was something he never witnessed, on the other hand.  Daremo placed a hand on Malk’s shoulder, allowing his medical chakra to flow through the male’s body. His unique chakra afforded him the ability to destroy what made a shinobi unique. The energy targetted the DNA strand which resulted in the mutation of a Kekkai Genkai, and replaced it with a strand that most normal people have. The process was anything but pleasant, as it would feel like lava was flowing through the veins, melting the person from the inside out. Could he have done it differently? Considering he did the same thing for his wife? Then, yes, but, only his family gets that type of treatment., “Let’s just say you owe me one favor in the future. That can be called in at any time. To make it fair, the favor cannot be anything that would be a detriment to your life, or impossible for you to obtain.” He said, removing his hand from the male’s shoulder, having treated him to the best of his abilities. If the male would face him, Daremo would outstretch his hand offering a handshake to seal the deal between the two,, “Deal?”

Allowing his hand to fall to the waist side, Daremo glanced in the direction fo Lightning Country. The place where he had brought his family to, unknowing of the chaotic mess that they would be caught in. Dismissing such troubling thoughts, he glanced back at the male, ,“Whatever secret mission you have in Lightning Country. Be mindful of your steps and actions. For shinobis are unforgiven to those who indirectly or directly cause the deaths of their loved ones. You love this country, but, can you withstand the wrath of a parent who loses their child because of your actions?  Take my warning as whatever, but remember even the hardness stone can break.”

---

839[2354]

An eyebrow was raised at how readily the male before him accepted his terms. Apart of Daremo thought it would have been more difficult to convince the Iwa-nin to grant him a favor in return from helping him with his illness. The silver-haired male was prepared to play a game similar to one Lamya did to him back in Kaze no Kuni, intimidation, yet, none of that was needed in this case. What he sought was readily given to him, and while it might seem like it was not much, considering the restrictions placed on it, what he got was exactly what he wanted. He now had insurance for the near future. What more could he ask for?

”You could have asked for a lot more.”, the ever-present companion within his mind finally spoke and told him something which he already knew about. Yes, he could have asked for more. He could have denied the treatment until the man gave him what he wanted. If the male did not give him what he had asked, he could have walked away from the conversation, and continued on his merry way. Yes, there were ways he could have gotten what he wanted for the male, but, he chose not to. Only the foolish waste something which still has some use to it.

With the deal sealed, Daremo upheld his part of the bargain, healing the male of whatever was ailing him. Having down his job, the silver-haired male was about to walk away from the scene, but, paused when the male started talking. Help? Didn’t he just helped the guy moments ago with his problem, and now he was asking for more help? Apart of him told him to leave, that he had done enough for the male before him, yet, such thoughts were stopped the moment Jashin was mentioned. What on earth was Jashin doing in Tsuchi no Kuni? Wasn’t the cult supposed to only be in Lightning Country, or, so the rumors say, so why were they near?

Although exhibiting a face of indifference, Daremo did not find himself trusting the male before him. It was just convenient that he had information regarding the Jashins operations within Tsuchi no Kuni. Where did he get the information from? How did he obtain it? Why wasn’t the information handed over to the higher up authorities? Why weren’t other Iwa shinobis handling the issue? A lot did not add up with the silver-haired male, and as the male spoke, his distrust for him grew. Call it paranoia, but, any shinobi worth their salt would be a skeptic of the information presented.

Not saying anything, Daremo wordless grabbed the map. Glancing down, he memorized the information on the paper before pocketing it. Although he no longer was apart of Tsuchi no Kuni’s military force, he still knew a way around the country. His time as a geisha and then a shinobi of Iwa, along with being the former Tsuchikage, was more than enough to know the place like the back of his hand. “The same go for you. Good luck.”, Daremo spoke, watching as the other male leave to complete his objective. The silver-haired male did not move right away, instead, his thoughts drifted to his family.

If the other male’s words were true, the enemies were not powerful and would be easy for someone of his caliber. How did the man know his strength? Asides from showing minor medical knowledge this time around, and helping him in their first encounter, there was no indication of his strength. Of course, the answer could come in the form of sensor, but that was the only way, he made sure not to show anything for his safety. Nevertheless, what is the male’s words were a ly? What if this was a trap by the male to get him killed? He was from Kumo, and thus, one could assume he approved of Hastur’s treatment, something he did not confirm or deny, yet. So, going to an underground cave based on the words of a stranger just seemed risky.

”We have a family to worry about. You can’t be making the restless decisions of your youth. You already died one because of that, and next time you won’t have the Komodo’s Boss summon to bring you back. So, think carefully.”, the beast within him growled. Animalistic the side of him was, it gave his human side some perspective of the situation. He should not be following the whims of someone who he did not trust. This could very well end up as a trap. But on the other hand, Jashins could actually be making strongholds in Tsuchi no Kuni. He should help them, right?

Against his better judgment, Daremo walked away from the area and headed towards the entrance of the underground cave, knowing a particular short-cut from his youth. It did not take him long to find the entrance of the underground cave set beneath a mountain. Upon landing at the entrance of the cave, Daremo caught the arrow that was fired at him, snapping it in half as he glared at the archer at the entrance of the cave as the alarms were sounded. With being stealthy was not apart of his gameplan, Daremo unsheathed his Garanto, allowing the blades to separate and move in front of him like a mass of serpents.

“What ar - - -” Whatever the cult member was about to be said was ended with Daremo wrapping the central blade around the male’s neck, and removing it from his shoulders in a shower of blood. Why did people find the need to talk in combat? It just left so many openings to exploit. Wanting to end this as soon as possible, Daremo released the restraints on his chakra, allowing it to freely flow out around him. For fifty meters in every direction, the world shudder, animals scurried away, and humans struggled with the decision of fleeing or staying in place as Daremo’s chakra assaulted nature at its core. Vile, malicious, sickly and pungent, the pale green energy rolling off him made humans sick,  caused goosebumps to form on their body, and urged them to empty up their stomach contents.

Citrine eyes looked impassively at the frozen men and women, unable to move underneath the weight of his chakra. Walking towards them, Daremo used Garanto to remove each of their heads from their shoulders. Bodies dropped like flies as the men and women were paralyzed from doing anything as they watched their comrades die in front of them. Once those outsides of the cave was taken care of, Daremo moved inside, killing the others in similar manners as his chakra was felt by them as well. Once done, Daremo left the cave, not caring for the stolen weapons, and made his way back to where the Iwa-nin told him to wait.

---

1167[3521]

Jutsu Used:

Daremo did not have to wait long for the Iwa-nin to show up, telling him that the other base was destroyed with there being no survivors. The silver-haired male would tell the other about his mission, telling him all threats were neutralized with the stolen goods being left behind to be ceased by Iwa-nins. He did not go into detail on how the members were killed, just that they were. For the Iwa-nins who went to retrieve the stolen goods, they would be met with countless of severed heads. Their faces froze in complete terror from what they had witnessed. With everything said and done, Daremo left the area, returning back to the Okiya which he stayed at.

 

---

127[3648]

Strength A-2 -> A-3 | 1300 

Endurance A-2 -> A-3 | 1300 

Total WC Used: 2600
Unused WC: 1000