Rikimaru was bent over the anvil, driving the hammer he gripped firmly in his right hand into the glowing steel at the base of the blade. Holding it up in-front of himself, he examined the blade for a moment before placing it back inside the coals. As he left the blade to heat up for a moment, Rikimaru turned to face the Quenching trench. His reflection revealed just how badly the battle had treated him. Rikimaru's right ear was missing, and his entire face was covered in bandages. His eyelids were covered in patchy skin where they had begun to heal. Every strip of skin had been torn from Rikimaru's bones during his battle with Hao. Quite frankly, it was a miracle he didn't die. The only part of his body that was uncovered was his left arm. He was forced to remove it during the battle, but had since found a replacement. The Sarif Clan of Iwagakure no Sato was kind enough to combine Rikimaru's steel technology with their prosthetic limbs, creating a steel arm that moved and functioned like a regular arm. It wasn't as fast as Rikimaru's old arm, but it did the job.

Pulling the blade out of the fire, Rikimaru held it above the water trench before plunging it in, smiling as the water hissed and steam bellowed out. He could tell from the sound that the blade had quenched properly. "Lord Rikimaru!" a voice called, followed by the door of the forge sliding open. An Iwagakure no sato Jounin entered, bowing briefly before rising to face Rikimaru. "It's time." Rikimaru nodded silently and the man quickly left. Placing the blade on top of the anvil, Rikimaru examined his handiwork for a moment. His reforge of Izayoi was going slowly, but it was to be expected. He had recovered enough fragments of the legendary blade to rebuild it, but it would take time for this new steel to take on the required properties. Still, all he could do was wait and see.

Stepping out from the darkness of the forge into the light of the Iwagakure morning, Rikimaru found that two honour guards had been left to escort him to the event. It seemed that given his injured state, the council running Iwagakure felt he needed protection. Still, it didn't offend him. If anything, Rikimaru found it convenient. He didn't know his way around Iwagakure, and if he tried to find his own way to the Coliseum he would probably just get lost in the maze that was this city. The guards made a brief stop at Rikimaru's temporary accommodation so that he could get changed out of his forging gear into something more appropriate. Admittedly, he didn't bring anything with him, but it seemed that Councillor Arata had a sense of humour. When Rikimaru entered his room, he found that there was a suit of armour laid out for him, an ancient, outdated ornamental Samurai design, probably several hundred years old. It was well polished and there were small signs of reforging, probably to remove dents and imperfections. Something this high quality must have been taken out of some ancient vault or museum. Rikimaru took a few minutes to slide into the old armour, as it wasn't built for his frame, and he found it to be a bit of a tight squeeze with the thick bandages he had to wear. Eventually he managed to force on the dark red armour, and took a moment to admire it's beautiful gold trim before sliding on the final piece; an oni helmet. How... appropriate. Turning to the sword stand on the door, Rikimaru removed a basic Katana and Wakizashi pairing he had been given and slid them into place, letting them rest gently on his left hip.

The walk to the Coliseum was a sombre one. Civilians, Academy students and Shinobi all marched in silence towards the arena where the event would take place. It wasn't the most tasteful place imaginable, but it was the only one large enough to house the grotesquely large amount of people they had to fit in. Rikimaru and his guard quickly split off from the rest of the group, however, as they made their way to a side entrance. The off limit section of the arena was full of VIPs and people preparing for the event. Everyone Rikimaru passed smiled at him and gave a small bow, but it was clear that their respect was forced and their smiles were plastic. Eventually, Rikimaru reached the private lounge, where the Iwagakure no Sato council was gathered. Even without Rikimaru's presence, the heads in this room were worth enough gold to buy the earth country and still have enough left to build a nice castle. Every member of the Iwagakure council, as well as the Earth Country council sat in silence as they waited for everyone to arrive. In the most lush of the chairs that filled the room, the Daiymo sat, in full gold leafed attire. When Rikimaru entered, he rose from his chair and bowed slightly, before gesturing towards a free seat to his right.

Rikimaru took his place at the right side of the Daimyo, waiting a moment before asking the question that had been consuming his thoughts the entire walk over. "Have you reached a decision yet?" All eyes in the room rose in unison, and every single pair locked onto Rikimaru. The silence hung for a few moments before the Daimyo spoke. "Indeed we have. They should be arriving any second now, then we can get the proceedings underway." As the Daimyo finished his sentence, the door to the hall swung open once again, and a single figure stepped through.....

The folded black fabric sat on the edge of the bed pristine and untouched, but Etsuo still looked at it as if it were a viper about to strike. She had placed the fabric there when she had woken up nearly four hours ago and still she had not touched it. She felt as if a cold venom of despair  would sink into her  very bones if she were to wear the clothes that were traditional for all funerals to this, particularly this one though, the funeral of the ninth Tsuchikage who had only just been fourteen years of age. She felt like it would happen just as she had seen it happen to many of her peers already despite her attempts to motivate them rather than just letting them stew in their dark thoughts about the death of their leader. When the news of the Tsuchikage's death had arrived in Iwagakure it had come as a horrible blow to not only the political aspects of the village, but the social aspects of the village. Shock had been the main factor in the sudden depression that seemed to overwhelm the village.

To many shinobi and civilians alike, Arashi  had still been a child despite his high rank in their social constructs. But, what was age in a world such as this? Old age and death no longer went hand in hand with each other, and that was something that people often had a hard time comprehending, and it had taken Etsuo a while come to terms with it herself. Life was a game of survival of the fittest, and if you weren't fit as a shinobi, the horrible fact was that you would die no matter what age you were in real battle.  However, that didn't stop deaths of important figures to hurt the morale of the people. She had watched it cause Iwagakure to crumble slowly with a pained look on her face. Motivating the others was a hard thing to do when they had no present leader. However, they had to keep going even if the others didn't realize it, which was why she persisted. After all, they couldn't just let Iwagakure crumble into disrepair.

With a sigh, Etsuo moved forward and reached out to it the fabric. It wrinkled in protest under her touch and she frowned, wrinkling her nose like a mirror of the fabric in distaste. Sure, shinobi would wear black on stealth missions sometimes, but this was different. This black was to represent the death of one who had been loved by the people many people of not only their village, but their county. But, she had to wear it as much as she did not want to;  she was going to be surrounded by those who had known him personally and not at all and she was not going to alienate the people of her own village by not wearing the traditional garb. Civilians and shinobi alike would be at the funeral and she would simply be one of the masses dressed in black to send of the ninth Tsuchikage. At least when the funeral was over they would hopefully have a kage to put their faith in once again.

Just as she was about to slip on the offending outfit a rather unexpected knock came at her door, and quickly making herself presentable she rushed to answer it. Anything to procrastinate putting on the funeral clothes. When she opened the door, standing there was a jounin that she had seen once or twice in passing but never out of her male guise, so it was a good thing that she had tossed on her cloak before going to the door. It his the fact that she had not tightened her binding just yet. she had been intending to go to the funeral as herself. "What is it?" She queried curiously as she took in the man's slightly harried appearance. It was quite evident that he had rushed to her home as soon as he had been able to and that made her slightly anxious. What would someone hurry about on the day of Arashi's funeral for? The jounin took a breath as he studied her before letting our a burst of words though attempting badly to keep his words calm. "You have been summoned by the Daimyo to the hall at the Coliseum. You are to come immediately."

Etsuo blinked at that information, looking at the jounin with a new light, her brow creasing. Had something worse come up? Possibly something worse than the events at the summit that had cost them there kage? Whatever it was, it was probably something of great impotances if the Daimyo himself was the one summoning her, and like usual, Etsuo would go to them without a simple question. It was likely that this jounin didn't know the specifics anyway. "Thank you for letting me know. I shall go immediately, you may go." She said and closed the door quickly as the man sped off again to tighten her binding and complete her look as Tomio before rushing to the hall, all thoughts of proper funeral attire forgotten. Remaining in her usual shinobi attire was more practical in case they had a mission for her.

Tomio pushed the heavy door open and stepped into the hall with a few purposeful strides. She looked around purposefully, attempting to get the glimpses of the faces that were there before her, her brow creased with determination and mild puzzlement though the puzzlement was masked more by the determination to do whatever she could for her village. There were quite a few in the room that she looked at, but one caught her gaze. A man dressed in an old armor with an oni mask. It was an interesting armor, evidently old and probably simply used for times like this, but the man himself was more interesting than the armor itself. He must be the gallient samurai who had brought Arashi back to the village after the horrid events at the summit. But why was he here? Surely he didn't need to be there for a simple mission... there had to be more. Perhaps more information? Tomio frowned lightly and took a deep breath before stopping and she, or rather, he, bent in the middle with a polite flourish before straightening and giving them a stare that Tomio hoped to be calm and collected though there was a bubble of nervousness in her gut.  "My Lord daimyo, why have you summoned me?"

A young, red haired girl stepped through the door. Rikimaru was relieved, to say the least. He half expected another fucking fourteen year old. At least this woman looked to be beyond her teenage years. Sure, she was still an infant compared to Rikimaru, but at least she had got beyond puberty. "My Lord Daimyo, why have you summoned me?" "You have been selected to hold the position of Jyuudaime Tsuchikage of Iwagakure no Sato." the Daimyo spoke with a clearly nonchalant attitude, as though he were picking his breakfast. Still, it made sense. This was the fourth Tsuchikage this Daimyo had selected; more than any Daimyo in the Earth countries history. Hell, only one man had a record larger than this at six, and that was over three hundred years ago in Kirigakure. "You are to remain in the booth with myself and the other lords, and once the funeral proceedings have been dealt with, Lord Rikimaru here will present to you your robes and official title in the Coliseum." Rikimaru nodded, ensuring that the girl knew that he was the individual being referred to.

The events that transpired were irrelevant from that point in in Rikimaru's mind. He had stayed for the segment he was supposed to, and now he had to travel to the Coliseum's heart. Rising from his seat, Rikimaru gave a brief bow to the Daimyo and another to the new Tsuchikage before stepping out of the room. The walk to the coffin room was a short one, and soon Rikimaru found himself in a small, dark room with an open coffin. The young Tsuchikage was laid out in his ceremonial robes, his wounds having been dressed up as cleanly as possible. The slit throat that Rikimaru had delivered to him to ease his pain was still clearly visible, however, and the wound had been stitched up in an attempt to conceal the damage. Three Jounin of high standing stood in the room, waiting for Rikimaru's arrival. As he entered, they snapped off a salute in unison. Rikimaru bowed in respect before approaching the coffin. He had already seen the boy's last moments, he didn't need to see his body. Reaching up, Rikimaru pulled the lid shut. One Jounin stepped up to the front of the now shut coffin, while one stood at the tail. They formed the dog hand seal in unison before laying their hands on it. A sudden burst of light filled the room, and kanji wrapped itself around the lip of the coffin, sealing it permanently. It would take a fuuinjutsu master to open this coffin now. Taking his place on the front right side, two jounin took the front and back left side, and another stepped in behind Rikimaru. There they stood, facing a stone door in the wall of the Coliseum. Soon, the music would start and they would carry it out, allowing mourners to place flowers at it's feet and briefly pay their respects.

ooc: Click here to hear the song playing in the below paragraph

Two large Jounin entered the room, each one locking their hands around a winch. A small bell rang softly and the two men began to crank as fast as they could. As they operated the winches, the stone door began to slide to the left, slowly revealing the courtyard. As soon as the doorway opened completely, Rikimaru took a moment to examine the sight in-front of them. The center of the Coliseum had a large stand for the coffin, with a red carpet leading from the main entrance to the Coliseum straight to the platform. On either side of this carpet stood rows of mourners, probably family and friends, as they were the only ones allowed to stay in the grounds. Rikimaru could see that the side of the Coliseum he was facing was overflowing with people, all clad in black. The sky was dark, even though it was mid afternoon. Thick black storm clouds had gathered, and a light shower had started. The sudden hum of a bow being dragged across a taut string rang long and slow, and Rikimaru and the Jounin reacted instinctively, Lifting the Coffin off the ground and resting it on their shoulders. As the coffin bearers slowly walked out of the side entrance, the ring of a chorus started rolling through the arena. Looking to his right, Rikimaru saw that there stood a choir above the main entrance to the Coliseum, and on the other three sides were people with Violins, horns and instruments Rikimaru had never seen before. Behind the Choir stood a conductor, which the eyes of the musicians sat locked on.

The coffin eventually reached the center platform, and in a beautiful case of serendipity, the song stopped as soon a the coffin was placed on the podium. Rikimaru and the Jounin stood in pairs of two on either side of the coffin, acting as an honor guard. The Choir and the band began another, slow crawling tune as the mourners in black stepped forward one by one, laying a single flower on the ground before the casket. Some said a few short words of remembrance, but for the most part they were silent. Once the main mourners had placed their flowers, members of the public were invited down. One by one in straight file, almost every citizen of the village walked down the red carpet, placed a flower or a flower petal, then turned and left. The entire affair took an hour, until finally the casket had so many flowers laid before it that they formed a small mound almost as tall as the casket itself.

It had stopped raining inside the Coliseum, though everything and everyone was damp from the rain. Finally, the train of people placing flowers had stopped, and everyone had returned to their seats in the Coliseum. The Shinobi to Rikimaru's left formed the tiger hand seal and began to address the crowd, his voice now booming, more than loud enough for the crowd to hear. "Ladies and gentlemen. The Honorable Lord Rikimaru Himeji, Lord Protector of Tetsu no Kuni, Commander of the Iron Legion and head of House Himeji, who faught beside Lord Arashi Nekomotze during his final hour and brought his body back home to the stone walls of Iwagakure has an announcement to make." The already silent and sombre atmosphere of the Coliseum seemed to drop several degrees as the Jounin finished speaking, and finally, Rikimaru stepped forward. As he did so, he removed his helmet and mask, laying them on the ground at his feet before grasping his bandages. Giving them a firm tug, the covering hiding Rikimaru's face fell off, and the crowd let out an audible gasp. Rikimaru's face was much like the night he had lost his skin; his muscles were clearly showing, and only tiny patches of skin had begun to return. The inside of the bandages were clearly covered in blood.

"My friends," Rikimaru started to address the crowd. He did not need a voice amplifying jutsu; his years of war command had taught him to address an entire legion in the heat of combat with nothing but a roar. "What you see before you is what happened to me during the battle that claimed young master Arashi's life. In a desparate bid to remove the unquenchable flames of Amaterasu, I was forced to peel my very flesh from my bones. While I am scared and will remain so for the rest of my days, I escaped the hands of death. Others were not so lucky. Sero Osada, the Jyuurokudaime Mizukage, and Arashi Nekomotze, the Kyuudaime Tsuchikage, died facing perhaps the greatest evil this world has ever seen. A band of six of the strongest shinobi the world has ever seen banded together under the banner of Uchiha Hao. Men so powerful that they managed to kill not only the Mizukage and the Tsuchikage, but the Kusakage and Yukikage too! Reports from scouts that have ventured to Yuki no Kuni and Kusa no Kuni have reported that the entire countryside has been reduced to ashes. Not a single fort or town remains standing." Rikimaru paused for a moment, and he could feel the emotions rolling through the crowd. Terror, shock, horror. Even veteran Shinobi looked terrified. Still, these people had to know what was coming. They had to be made aware. There was no other way.

"However, I am here to tell you that hope is not lost. The Hokage, Raikage and Kazekage still stand. In times of great peril, the Shinobi world has banded together and formed a united front against evil. Brothers and sisters, I am here to tell you that we must do exactly that if we wish to survive. We Samurai have hid in the shadows for far too long. My castle was destroyed. My army was scattered. Yet they still have hope. Together, my Samurai brothers and I shall rebuild the Iron Country, and, together with our brothers from Iwagakure, Konohagakure, Kirigakure, Kumogakure and Sunagakure, we shall eliminate those that lord themselves above the common man. Those that fight for injustice and mayhem. Together, Shinobi and Samurai united, we shall show that no organization, no matter how powerful, has any chance of destroying us! To that end, the Lord Daimyo of Tsuchi no Kuni has given me the honor of announcing to you all the individual that has been selected to lead your nation in this time of peril. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my great honor to announce to you that the Jyuudaime Tsuchikage has been selected." As he paused, Rikimaru turned his attention to the Shinobi to his left, who handed him the traditional Tsuchikage garb; A folded white robe with the traditional Kage hat resting on top of it. Taking the garbs and holding them, Rikimaru turned to face the Main entrance where she would enter.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. The Jyuudaime Tsuchikage is Etsuo Amida!"

The critical looks that she was getting from those in the hall were the first thing to tip of Etsuo that there was something more going on than what she had initially thought, but there was no real reason for her to be suspicious about what was going on at all. These were the people that controlled the country after all, and she was loyal as ever. However as soon as the Daimyo spoke those words as if it were in the most casual of settings, Etsuo was shocked in a way that she hadn’t been since she was quite a few years younger and had still been quite an inexperienced shinobi. Jyuudaime Tsuchikage. That had certainly not been what she had expecting to hear coming from the mouth of the Daimyo. Etsuo had expected him to give her a mission of some sort, probably relating to what had happened at the summit even if it was an extremely dangerous sort of mission to be doing on her own. She had not been expecting this honor of becoming Tsuchikage. Particularly not in the nonchalant way that he said the words that would not only give her a solid fate, but would lead to effecting the fate of so many others in their great country.

Etsuo’s normal calm practically vanished though she clawed at it desperately to keep at least a semblance of it on her face in front of such influential members of their society. Etsuo blinked to prevent her eyes from going wide, attempting to keep herself calm and she nodded slowly, letting the news sink in. The words rang in her ears. "You have been selected to hold the position of Jyuudaime Tsuchikage of Iwagakure no Sato." Sure, Etsuo had shown her knowledge and ability in politics and missions revolving around Iwagakure time and time again but she had never really expected to be named Tsuchikage. She had always thought that there was surely a better choice to be the kage of their village than herself. Then again, the last Tsuchikage had only been fourteen years of age and hadn’t had as much experience as she had had, and she was only twenty three. However, modesty and thinking about things too much had always been one of her downfalls. Even with her modesty, this had been her dream since she had been a child even if she had been mostly quiet about it and excitement blossomed in her conflicting with her confused feelings about being thrust into the position at such a time as this. Once she had managed to regain her composure she again bowed her head in respect, her brow creased. "Thank you for this honor, my Lord."

When she straightened Etsuo nodded to Rikimaru grim lipped with a small look of admiration and thanks when she was who of who he was and what he had indeed done for them.  Staying behind when he left to complete the ceremony of the funeral wasn’t really what Etsuo had wanted to do, even in the new set of circumstances and at the order of the Daimyo. She had wanted to pay her respects to Arashi properly within the masses of black cloaked figures that would each leave a flower before him. However, perhaps remaining with them wasn’t such a bad thing. She had decided to not put her black garb on after all and she didn’t want to stick out like a sore thumb in her green and gold clothes that she wore normally.  So, she anxiously awaited making her first appearance to the people of Iwagakure no Sato until her queue that seemed to come faster than what she had expected:

"Ladies and Gentlemen. The Jyuudaime Tsuchikage is Etsuo Amida!"

Etsuo frowned a little bit as she was announced to the world as Tsuchikage Etsuo Amida, rather than Tomio, but she was going to have to deal with it. There weren’t many who still knew who she was anymore truly, as who she was normally had practically slipped through the cracks as a being because of her cross-dressing. There were very few who still knew her given name rather than Tomio. Pursing her lips a little conflicted, Etsuo loosened her binding a bit, deciding to present herself in her regular female form rather than her cross-dressing form. As she stepped through the door that she had standing behind at the announcement of those words, just like many of the people in the crowd, Etsuo could not help but shudder internally a little at the current state of Rikimaru's wounds though she kept her thoughts of them hidden behind her determined eyes that had a new fire in them that came with her new position. The wounds that he had received from the Uchiha who had become an enemy of every village, Hao, were grave, even though they had been treated by the best medics that Iwagakure had to offer. The words he spoke were true. He had indeed been lucky to make it out alive with the wounds that he had received from the rogue Uchiha. She had seen many injuries in her time, and even more so, deaths, but to sustain such injures and continue on, Rikimaru was admirable even if he was using his wounds now for the shock factor. There were probably many that would say that they had had enough at that point if they had gone through the same thing.

It made her heart swell a little in pride that the man was determined to rebuild just like she was; determined to continue on and defeat the shichiouza despite what the cost may be to their own lives. They would do what was the best for their people and the others. Rikimaru would certainly be a good ally to have in the hardships that were to come. "Thank you, Lord Rikimaru." She stepped towards the man, determined and took the robes from him with a nod before turning to look out at the crowd. Looking at them, seeing the faces of the people that she was now the leader of was vaguely heartbreaking, but it only served to strengthen her resolve to help them. To protect them for as long as she could. Taking a deep breath, Etsuo spoke. "It is just as Lord Rikimaru has told you. Times, as they are currently, are hard, but we will make the best of it and align against those who would like to see us fall! Lives have been lost, but we must not lose hope. As always, we must always continue on despite what losses we may suffer. Tsuchikage Arashi's life will not have been lost in vain against our enemy! As long as we continue on against them, our will shall not be tossed aside!"