Kirinito wandered the mist village wilderness aimlessly. He’s been hunting for a decent fight for months. Everyone he had been fighting has been weak and their weapons to frail to take. He could hear and feel Umioni’s restlessness. The sheer bloodlust and chaotic destruction urges were so overwhelming. His body ached from all the nonstop combat and very little sleep. He was surprised that his sanity remained in check. He has not seen his rival or his sensei in so long he felt forgotten. He had been having spurts of depression looking for them. His hunt for the mysterious masked man had grown cold no one has seen him. He began to wonder if he was just seeing things. He ached for some excitement has been taking down so many low tier criminals that Umioni was getting more vicious and hungry. The weaklings didn’t excite any of them. He had rarely been on land. For months he was deep in the water since he began loathe humanity.

WC:167

Today I really didn't have much to do. I had just finished some training early in the morning, and I'll have a mission later tonight, but right now I was just wandering. At first, I just walked around the village, peering into shop windows and thinking of new ideas for seals, but my brain was still kinda fried from concentrating on training that morning, so my thinking wasn't too productive. Eventually, I decided to let my mind just relax, and ended up getting a writ of permission to take a stroll outside the village walls, nodding absentmindedly to the guards as I walked out. I just wandered through the woods, alone with my thoughts until I heard the noise of someone else walking up ahead. I climbed to the top of a tree and quickly hopped over.

From a spot perched in a tree, I spotted a tired, haggard looking person with an interesting-looking sword dragging himself through the forest. I considered getting the attention of someone on patrol, but we were well inside the patrol zone. If he wasn't of Kiri, the guards would've already gotten to him by now.

He couldn't be THAT dangerous then...

Could he?

"Hey! You okay there?"

WC: 210

Kirinto looked up hearing a voice but couldn’t make it out from where. “Who and where in the hell is that vocal tone coming from?” He looked all around as quickly as he could scanning each of the area around him. “Show yourself.” His grip on Umioni got tighter. “We are in no mood for games.” His voice remained calm as he assessed everything with logic. He tried to listen in on his surroundings. “Now show yourself or get broken.” “We are busy with our goals.”
WC:86

"We are busy with our goals." Now what's that supposed to mean? First off: 'What goals?', and second: 'Who's we?'

I cautiously jumped down from the tree, somewhat warily introducing myself to the stranger in the forest.

"Sorry, 'bout that, the name's Nobuya Yomechiro of the Mist. Just out of curiosity, what exactly are you doing out here? I haven't seen you around, but given the way you're gripping that sword I don't doubt that you could be another shinobi I just haven't met. So tell me, what's your story?"

I wouldn't get any closer to the swordsman for now. He had a sword, which meant that he was probably a good close combat fighter, which wasn't exactly the best for me given that I had no back-up right now. If things turned south, I needed to come up with an escape plan.

Depending on how fast he is, I might be able to burrow underground. Or I could try to bind him up just to delay an advance. I could just try to fight him with close-combat sealing, but he'd definitely have an advantage over me in terms of reach and damage. So, I guess just hope things stay relatively peaceful? Or maybe we could spar without him having the goal of "Kill Nobuya?"

For now though, I just wanted to know why he was wandering out here by himself. It was strange, but not totally improbable. After all, I was basically doing the same thing.

WC: 260
Total WC: 470

Kirinito watched as the stranger came down cautiously but showed no emotion. “Interesting name you have.” “So you are of the mist you say.” “Then I guess no hospital bill for you.” He moved to a defensive stance. Then he quickly pointed Umioni at Nobuya. “We are one and we are collective.” “We are hunting for a mysterious masked man. “ His mannerisms began vengenful. “He slaughtered my family and left me survive.” “His mistake clearly and he shall pay for it with his worthless life.” “Once I acquired Umioni we became as one instantly.” “We must first collect more blades for our hunt to get interesting.” His eyes grew cold. “We have been protecting the weak n poor from the rich.” “All invaders were even fed to us.” “Now will you join us or be our exercise for the day.” Kirinto could feel Umioni’s hunger even with it wrapped up. His head hurt a bit from the overwhelming feeling.

WC:161

Wow. I...I didn't realize...For someone out here wandering alone to be on such a mission. Apparently, he's "become as one" with the sword he's pointing at me, and apparently the sword's name is Umioni. I wonder what he means by that. Can he share its chakra or something? Maybe he's bonded with it and can communicate telepathically. Swords can do that, right? Or maybe he means it more in a metaphorical sense, and is just using "we" to emphasize that his prowess with blade is so great he considers it a part of himself.

Which probably makes the most sense. Rather than it being a talking sword.

Anyways, he's trying to collect a greater arsenal to fight a masked man, and he's been helping people along the way. A masked man who killed his family, and left him to avenge them. Why? Why cause so much pain, slaughtering so many people? What possible reason could he have? But as to the survivor in front of me, what about him? He could just be insane, which is another reason he might be using the term "we," but he could also be telling the truth. I mean, there's nothing saying he couldn't be doing both.

Whatever the case may be, I should probably at least follow him to see what he's up to. If he really is helping people, then it would be a good use of my time to help him out. And if he isn't...well, hopefully he is.

After a brief pause in which I considered the best course of action, I responded, "Sure. If you're helping people and defending them, I'd be happy to help for the day. Plus, I don't have a mission until later, and this could be good training even if we don't find anybody, if nothing else."

"So, where do you wanna start?"

WC: 326
Total WC: 796

Kirinito sized up Nobuya. What could he possibly help him with as slow as he looked and human. His body was tired from his last brawl that seemed to have lasted several months. He remained in his defensive stance. He was analyzing all possible outcomes looking for the one that was the swiftest. He saw no weapons on Nobuya so he viewed him as boring and nothing to take from him. “How could you possible help us with your lack of blades?” “We require no help from anyone who does not fight with a blade of any kind.” As his method which was self taught since the slaughter of him family of being head on and swift. A bladeless shinobi would be inefficient toward his strategies. He could feel Umionis animosity pulsating in his brain. It was so overwhelming but so intriguing. “It is we who keep the waters safe from invaders. “Our time is spent hunting the foreigners and either seeing them in or sending them packing to the hospital.” His eyes grew cold and more thoughtful. “Anyone not of our clan is inferior and anyone of non mist is trash.” His mind remained calm though as he did not bother showing emotions as he was also self taught to do.
WC:212

Inferior!?! Trash!?! I mean, the second one doesn't apply to me technically, but by the almost monotone voice he used, expressing absolutely no emotion, it might as well have been directed towards me! Ok, that's it. I'm still gonna help him if I have time, but we gotta get this settled first.

"Okay. If I'm so inferior then, I don't think it'd be any trouble for you to beat me in a friendly sparring match!"

My tone probably conveyed that there might've been a better term than "friendly," but honestly, I was kinda getting excited. This would be the first spar I'd have since I got beat up my first day with Team Kenshin, and I'd learned so much since then. I still wasn't exactly great at combat, filling more of a supportive role, but I wasn't anywhere near as bad as I used to be. Since then, I'd gotten faster, learned more jutsu, and toughened up a bit. Even if I lost again, I needed a chance to test myself, and fighting was a favorite pastime of Kiri.

I smiled at him, my eyes displaying an excited competitiveness.

"So how 'bout it?"

WC: 205
Total WC: 1001

Kirinto took a deep breath shifting his stance slightly. He raised his hood with his free hand. “It is up to us who we fight.” His body was tired but his mind was still going. He took another deep breath and exhaled. “You don’t not appease to us.” “Not strong enough.” He then gripped the cloth covering Umioni. “You don’t want to see us.” “You won’t like your hospital bill.” His grip was tight but ready to unravel the cloth and wrap it around his arm. He kept his eyes on Nobuya. “Maybe we will force you into the water and feast on your blood.” His scars were showing and he did not care. His flesh had grown paler. He stiffened his body. “You cannot play with us.” His emotions still didn’t change. But his last challenge seemed like months ago. Everyone was incredibly too slow and weak. His boredom seemed like months. The weapons he took from his foes were too frail and broke too easily.
W C:167