Ayakashi had been used to visitors lately, people coming to see that she was okay, she had, had to walk the streets of the village for some time so that the people got used to her being alive again. In the days since the war, Aya had been helping the people rebuild their country, moving from place to place through the city, especially in the residential area which had been hit the hardest. Aya helped people rebuild their homes as much as she could within the first couple of days before her duties as a Kage managed to catch up with her. She would be back there later that night helping people restore their homes, and hopefully their lives. The reconstruction with the people's help, had already repaired most of the minor damaged buildings, though, sadly, there were far more to go, so many that some places, including the park had become more or less a sleeping area for people to live while the steadily decreasing number of homeless people had their shelters rebuilt. Thankfully, the weather had been holding up for the past days. A minor blessing, but Aya was counting every blessing she could get right now.


“It's a pleasure to meet you Mizukage, I'm glad you're doing well, and happy to see that the citizens of Kirigakure are...Smiling without fear, once again.”

Though when the Jounin hero arrived, Aya's chair was turned to face away from him, thus, should she be sitting at her desk, she would be unable to be seen, she was in fact standing at the balcony when she heard someone enter the room. Looking over her shoulder to not be able to see the person calling out ambiently for her, she turned on her heel and moved back into the room. Only, to meet eyes with the ninja standing before her, he was an interesting looking character, and one which she had seen before. At the end of the seven bells war, she remembered handing him an award of sorts for his participation as a more than accomplished hero from another country who had done more than his fair share int he battles that they had waged together. Someone who deserved Aya's time, and attention. So, asking one of the twins for a cup of tea as she moved back to sit at her desk, Aya would be seen as wearing her normal attire. She wore the shroud of the Mizukage, a black cloak, with blue wave trimmings contrary to that of Konoha's white with red flames. MIZUKAGE written down the back of the hooded garb which fell to the backs of her shins. Aya's long sapphire blue hair fell back over the cloak, the silken strands straight and pristine.

Her skin like alabaster shone and almost reflected the sunlight, wounds, long since healed could be seen as textured scars over her taught, fit physique. A smile crept across her face as she leaned backwards against the desk rather than sitting at the chair, other implaments on her person were of course her two golden and platinum etched gloves, which were infamous for their properties to be able to reflect chakra, also her sword 'changeling' as well as her quiver could each be found in the room not too far away from her desk, the Fuuma shuriken which she usually carried on her person was still attached to a belt behind herself however, hidden from view and knowledge from all but herself. Though the one visible thing which the belt did reveal was her mask. The steel mask which bore the symbol of kirigakure upon it like a headband meeting helmet. It was the face and the mask of the Mizukage in combat, and while she wore it she had a name for herself. One which held command, and authority, but, with it hanging at her belt, it served as little more than a reminder of what she could become if pushed into it.

"The pleasure is all mine soldier, I was wondering if I was going to see you in the next couple of days, I heard of your exploits, and it seems the people around the village revere you as a savior and as a protector. Your accomplishments and your reward prove that enough. But, why do i get the feeling that you somewhat fell into that responsibility...? What can I do you for? Name it, and to the best of my ability I will try to make it happen for you, I owe you that much for being a lead instrument in the protection and safety of my city." She spoke lightly, though with the inherent weight of authority, a weight that came from being tempered by negative events and happenings, though she seemed to be an outwardly friendly and polite woman, who, just happened to have the weight of the world on her shoulders. Not to mention plans for the nearby future...

Aya had heard of people like this, villagers from the outskirts of civilizations who wore their hearts out on their sleeves. He spoke what was on his mind to her, no matter how forward and no matter how awkward or potentially how difficult or personal it was to say. His accent was a little thick, but there was a charm to accents, which she could not deny, he sounded like a ninja from the land of rocks, Iwa was some distance away, though, it had been a while since Aya had heard anything from that enigmatic country. She knew the history of their Kage Onoki, the famous fence sitter which Aya had learned about in her history classes when she was young. The country hidden in the mountains was a powerful fortress country, though they seemed to keep to themselves... Aya could relate to that means of thinking, she liked to think that her country was far enough away to be out of sight and out of mind of the rest of the world. But, they were never so lucky, Kiri had proven itself to be a military superpower in the current age, and each of the countries around them in the seven bells war had seen just how string the country was. Though, as the ninja before her spoke, she almost asked a question, only to have it answered moments after without needing to so much as open her mouth.

At the marriage proposal, Aya could not help but laugh out loud, the loud, genuine explosive laughter of surprise cascaded from her as she held her sides, before finally catching her laughter and transforming it into a series of spluttering coughs, she patted her chest and breathed deeply, literally choking on her laughter for a moment as she actually needed to reconstitute herself. Wiping a tear away from her cheek, she hadn't laughed like that in a long time... so, she felt as though she could open her nature to the person before her. Tapping her fingers on the side of the desk behind her, she cocked her head quizzically to the way he spoke... She did not consider herself as rewarding him further, she simply believed that he was here under ulterior motives from his country of origin, or else he would have left by now... He seemed incredibly humbled by the prizes he had been given and that much was fine, but, when people from other countries hung around rather than returning to the places they had come from, flags raised in Ayas mind, political flags. Though, he seemed like a laid back individual, someone Aya didn't need to have her own personal behavioral guard up around, so, she would let loose and perhaps, for once, forget about her duty as the Mizukage and just be... Aya.

It had been so long...

"I'm flattered, but, I'm only looking for someone who could handle me, and I don't think you're up to the task. . " She said with a smile, waving a hand to dismiss the advance as if it were a palpable gas of some kind.

"However, I'm not rewarding you, you sound like a great guy and all, but we both know that when someone come's to fight a war for you, then, kinda, doesn't leave. They're either intending to stay... or they have something they want to use their presence in the war for. A favor, or an offer, or something from their country, You've been in kiri for a while now, and the war ended quite some time ago, and though I am grateful for your help, I want everything to do with that war long behind me so that we can finally move forward. Savvy?" She spoke with a far far less formal tone than she would to someone who was ambassadoring their country, that being said, Aya was a warrior, not a diplomat, she shunned the thought and the very prospect of required formality. She hated it, and it was one of the reasons she hated dealing with her superiors, people like the Daimyo who she could never see eye to eye with. And, although she may offend the person from the other country, if they could not deal with her the way she was, then, more's the pity for the land of Iwa.

Aya looked to the boy, though hiding her face and running away with someone was not something she had hardly ever thought of, when it was finally presented to her and the opportunity presented itself, it seemed all the more childish and unforgivable. She was a fun loving person, but if she could not have fun as who she was, and needed to run away from her responsibility for a day, then what would that say about the Countries' Mizukage? What image would this childish, spoiled, entitled woman paint for herself by doing something as juvenile as that? Aya could only imagine, though in her heart, it was something that one day, when she was newly the Mizukage, that she would have grabbed with both hands, and gripped until her hands bled, she could remember once breaking under the pressure of her own responsibility, when she was nothing but an over glorified Jonin. Cloaked in her newly black robes of the Mizukage. That day, she was terrified, but, it was the resolve of her family and the strength of others which had given her the strength to fulfill this role.

She smiled and shook her head, "I appreciate the concern, and I appreciate the offer, but what kind of person do you take me for? And what kind of people do you take the people of this country for? They do not throw the weight of the world on my shoulders like the people of weaker countries, no, the people of Kirigakure only chose me to be their leader because they asked for for a single person to direct their path. They are more than capable of handling their own troubles. In our country the Mizukage is a person, not simply an Icon, or a figure of authority, I'm able to live, and enjoy life in the light... Perhaps the leaders of other countries should do the same, but from what I have seen, the people of other countries rely on their leaders, they weigh on them and are unable to rely on the strength of their own two hands... You wont find such helpless people in Kirigakure, as a leader, I could not be more proud of my people..."

She said, though not without a large helping of bitterness in her voice. The visitor had struck a nerve without knowing it, and, deep inside, Aya knew that he could not possibly have known that she would have been so highly strung about the strength of her people. In many ways it wasn't his fault, so, with a loud, audible and apologetic sigh she scratched the back of her head and cocked it slightly to the left, she supposed it could just be accounted for the culture barrier between one village and another. So, no matter which way it was spun, he was probably just trying to help her, and to get her to relax a little, which was something quite a lot of people seemed to be attempting to do these days, though, when dealing with ambassadors from other countries, it more often than not just left a bad taste in Solstice's mouth. As she stretched, Solstice trailed over the wounds which had been left on her side, looking to it, she could not help but wince at the stinging sensation that it left. She remembered Tenmei, although she had left, while attempting to persuade her to stay, their confrontation had left Solstice wounded and weakened, something which seemed to be creating a pattern through Aya's term as Mizukage. Her wounds had long since been healed, but the weakening effect from them had taken a massive toll on her physical statistics, requiring training to bring herself once again up to par.

So the training that he was asking for in many ways was something she needed as well, and it would also give her a good amount of time to gauge the strength of other countries in comparison to herself. As selfish and as perhaps dangerous as the thought behind it was, she did not trust the other nations as far as she could physically throw their landmass. So, looking to the new entrant, she found herself nodding and moving to the veranda which overlooked her city. There was a place they could go for training, the Kirigakure monument was the best one, it was usually only used for tests, like the coming of Sannin or the Seven Swordsman, but, lying in the preserved remains of the demolished fusa prison was an arena which was more than capable of sustaining any amount of damage which could be wrought by two people fighting at their hardest to accumulate strength. If this Iwa ninja wanted training, far be it from the Mizukage to dissuade him, but, he would have to fall in line with her style of training. A style which had put Genin in full body casts and critical condition in the past... though, only when she got particularly angry.

"Though alright, I accept your want for training, and I would be more than happy to assist with your swordsmanship, though, I'm functionally unable to use particularly long ninjutsu type attecks, just in case you may have thought me to be able to teach you in the skills of the former Mizukage... My expertise is in the art of combat and chakra flow, particularly in chakra gate control and close quarters combat. If this is the kind of training which interests you, I think we should head to the Fusa prison monument for our training, there we should not be bothered by everybody else, I'm also in need of a little bit of a stretch so this should do my old bones a world of good."

She spoke lightly, smiling at him before she headed for the exit, and, without much of a word or form of hesitation, she dropped from the high story building to land on the ground below it. Bending her knees ever so slightly to soak the shock of landing on the ground as the dirt and the dust which lay at her feet flared up in a small dramatic gust upon her landing, flourishing her cloak and sapphire outwards in perfect arcs. Looking up in the direction of the Iwa jounin, she pointed to the direction of the monument which was in the ruins of the permanently frozen prison complex. Giving him a heading that he would be able to go by, just in case he wanted to scout ahead or perhaps race there and prepare some sort of trap for her in the mean-time. Aya was not above those who used traps, those who innovated were often considered by her to be useful, and intelligent. Far more than herself in most cases, though, there was a void which using traps often created, it didn't get your hands dirty enough, and seemed dishonourable. To her, there was a time and a place for a fair fight, every other time, traps and deception were fine, but, when it came to crushing an army, nothing did it better than a fair duel between her, and the strongest member of the enemy army...

Aya reached the monument, little more than a rubble surrounded arena blanketed in rough, rock-like ice which made the area rather cold passively, in the center of the area stood the monolithic monument of ice in the center, an immovable object made from ice stronger than steel, written upon its surface "NO PRISONERS" was written in Kanji. Aya watched and listened to him, smiling as he called her lucky, but, if only he knew. She was one of the luckiest people in this city, she had risen to the rank of Kage without much aid, she had fought tooth and nail but from that, she had loving family members, she was admired by her city. Her country had become rich and wealthy beyond her wildest dreams as her ninja traveled the land earning revenue for the village. Manpower had always been Kirigakure's largest export. Though, this ninja assumed a combat stance, though, it was not a martial one, but a general one, she could tell simply by his build and the lack of development in his muscles that he was not a physical fighter.

"Your stance is wrong... " The Mizukage spoke looking at him, before walking over to him and standing beside him, so that he would be able to see her tutelage from her stance at a closer, more familiar angle. "When you stand to fight an opponent, there are three ways you can stand. One, is putting the weight on your front foot, which, many do before they run, or before they strike, it is an easy tell, and essential to gather forward power, the other, is to put your weight in your back foot, this grounds your defense, it's safer and better for retreating as you fight. Against an opponent who is stronger, placing your weight on your back foot, and counter-attacking can be a better option, at the very least, defending gives you enough time to gauge an opponent's fighting style enough so that you can make judgement calls, so that you can analyse their speed, strength, endurance, and their mistakes. mmkay?" She finished, making sure that his foot spacing was about a shoulder width apart before moving back to where she was before.

Looking back at him, it would be immediately evident that she placed her weight on her forward foot, she smiled knowing that she had not stated the final method of fighting. Facing him, she would soon reveal it. The final method, involves balance, spacing your weight evenly into attack and defense, however, this method is flawed, giving moderate coverage in both, someone incorporating attacking and defensive stances will always trump you at whatever they're doing. A competent fighter will simply rapidly switch between the two, overwhelming you, while keeping an iron clad defense." Aya concluded, and with that, she tightened her golden gloves, though they were SS rank armour, they were iconic to her, and to her position. She always wore them, unlike the armour of Tobirama. After Yosuke replied to her, she would not allow him to make the first move. Hiding her speed, and moving at A rank, she charged forward, her wounds from Tenmei weakening her significantly, but, Aya was much, much faster than Yosuke when she needed to be...

Darting in for him, her fists bared, Aya fought with closed fisted Tai-Chi, a martial art which was strikingly similar to the martial art employed by the Hyuuga clan, as well as the Fire Temple Monks which were known to live in Konoha. Aya's movements were a combination of swift and graceful, but as she entered close ranged combat, Aya stomped with her opening punch, channeling the force from her blow throughout her entire body, giving her immediate force with the punch for his Kidney. Bridging the gap was always the hardest part of combat, but, if Yosuke was paying close attention, microseconds after Aya had thrown her first punch, her weight was being placed into her back leg, her front heel perched up slightly off the ground. Denoting that her opening attack, while wide, and slow, was meant to insight a counterattack, which Aya would then exploit, Aya wanted to get close, and then coax him into making an attack that she would be able to exploit and overpower with the grappling styles she had learned while visiting abroad.

Her mind was in the heat of this battle, and she was interested to see what the reactions of the ninja from across the sea would be, whether he would be able to hold his own in the fight, or if he would have to rely on his jutsu to enhance himself to even land a strike against Aya... Whose newly awoken goal in this fight was to teach her opponent, while never allowing him to even land a single strike on her body. But, ninja in this world were skilled, it was not abnormal for her to be out-thought in the midst of combat, but, if this opponent attempted to take her head on, without strategy in mind, he would quickly find that Aya was both an immovable object and an unstoppable force when it came to melee combat.

She was the most deadly hand to hand combatant in the world after all... And she oh so loved to test herself against the others that knocked on her door. But this one here seemed interesting, he came with not one proposition, but two, she was going to be more than interested to see what else he could bring to the table. A smile crossed the face of the Mizukage...

This was going to be fun.

WC: 3673/ 3625 Endurance E - C2

Martial arts, body techniques, lack of muscle, the boy was not muscular, fragile yes he was, since birth he was a fragile child, his bone wasn't a helpful asset in close quarter combat, which is why he focused at mid-to-long range, close quarter was always a weakness, which he wanted to void, he found himself lacking from the very start, his very stance was wrong, and yes she was very much correct in every word she spoke, his stance was, when looked at correctly and revised, it was wrong, period. The young child had been focusing on his upper body not manipulating his weight, it was merely a stance, but a martial artist would know, how to make that measly thing, a deadly weapon in the arts of close quarter combat, she stated two way, Tsuneo noticed, he then focused on the third one, was it a stronger one, a smarter one, and his questions were answered as soon as she slipped into her stance, no, slipping into a stance was merely a half-assed positioning, she armed herself with her first weapon, her very own stance, as she stated the third stance, he noticed it was nothing special, but in time, he might be capable of making use of it.

A fourth-kind-of stance, it was a combination of the first and the second, terrifying, indeed terrifying, the fourth stance gave the child a new type of idea, while a normal Ninja manipulates their elements, a physical Ninja, manipulates their own weight, and uses it according to his own accord, manipulating one's weight, in other words, perceiving the opponent very twitches, and judging one's way of manipulating their own weight, and reacting according to the said situation. Fooling around was not an option, the stance armored Kage stood before him as he was still lacking Tsuneo regarded his best option, a defensive one, and so he focused on the back of his foot, throwing his weight to it as he armored himself in a stance as well, crossing his arms covering his upper body, after removing his shirt and sealing a D-ranked technique in his stomach,  using his two techniques, as he prepared himself to use his chakra chains, his perception was far below a honed Ninja of his own rank, which was all the reason he would try to step back as soon as she throws her attack towards him, the seal was also no mere joke, he planned to use it should his attempt of avoiding her attack fail,  he would seal her movements and strike her with a harmless strike, which is why sealed his lightning bullets in his stomach as he glared at her with his silver and red eyes as they spoke to her telling her, he would either get stronger, or die trying.

The past torments him, and the future will, if he is weak that is, how can he avoid a tragedy, by simply increasing his strngth, he would also do his older brother proud, he would prove that he's useful, he would let his brother know, that he can lean and rely on him, the young boy Tsuneo, has the will of fire, his fire never ceases, and will continue to burn for eternity, his ambitions are his resolve, his weaknesses, strengths, loved ones, sadness, pain, despair, happiness, hatred, and love, are all, the backbone of his resolve, the young lad was never the one to give up, and he would stand in his iron clad stance, it's a do or die, either get strong, or die trying, resolve burned in his glare, the young child, tormented by fate, acknowledged his weaknesses, he fought against fate, and denied it, but accepting it gained him power, acknowledging his weakness, hopefully will strengthen him now, the clock is ticking, seconds are passing, the training begins as they both were armed in solid stances.

She was....Solstice, the Mizukage, a one whom held her own against the cursed seven bells, fighting her without a strategy in mind was mere foolishness, while his best bet was letting her go ahead, and try his luck out, if she was a grappling style martial artist, the first blow would be as easy as pie, if she doesn't see it coming that is, after rethinking everything, the youngster dropped the idea of using his chakra chains, simple reason, the chains with no exaggeration, were powerful, and a handy tool the Uzumaki clansmen used against others, but she doesn't know he's an Uzumaki, that could be his trump card, luckily beating her in a contest of physical power was a thought for another day, but Tsuneo was far more of  an idiot to give up, manipulating one's weight, how should he use his surroundings to his advantage, Tsuneo was no physical fighter, she would eventually trump him, unless he sharpens his senses right now, and so he had to carefully observe, her movements, where she drops her weight, and where she dumps it, Tsuneo would take action and slip out of his stance into a lamer one, he looked fragile and weightless in his new stance, no he was not using the third one, second, or the first one, he created this new stance, a lame one, he stood there as if he was a fragile wooden stick, the youngster had a plan. From what appeared she seems to be aiming at his kidney, the youngster anticipated her arrival to attack him, and realized, should he defend against this, she would most likely waste no moments in handing him a counterattack, his best bet was...........:

Conclusion: at the current time his only way of handling her physical power was reduced, her secrecy was also reduced, and no that was not something she did not intent, in fact she did it all on purpose, to determine, perhaps she wanted to determine the mental and physical power, alongside his understanding, the young boy's stance probably pissed her off, he was not taking her lightly, he merely had a plan, in fact, he thought of her more than a lover would, he had to figure out a way to land a solid hit.


His lame stance, it was for merely one reason, to avoid this, and he would manipulate his weight now even better, and as soon as she was a fifty centimeters away from him he knew it was time, he would fall intently on his back while putting his left arm behind his back with his fist closed, and as soon as his closed fist touched the ground he would strike the ground with enough force to push himself aside to the left, as he rolled in high speed to the left he would stand one meter away from her and observe her next actions in mere bits of a second, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me, and no way is the Mizukage going to fall or the same trick , he would now engage, before giving her any time to move. Maximum speed, he began rushing towards her at a speed that surpasses the speed she's cloacking her actual speed with, he would clench his fist and make it obvious that he was going to punch only so that he may 'trick' her assuming he can, as he was mere centimeters away from her, he would turn away from her, and run to reappear from her left side and as her attention darted towards him, he would reposition himself again, as he was infront of her his last moves were to actually fake an upper punch which she would perhaps easily block, but his second attack was punch in the abdomen, an old strategy, she would find it far more easy to block such attacks she after all was, the strongest hand-to-hand combatant, still is now, the young boy would run once again behind her, and pop up a second time infront of her throwing his twp punches, one to the abdomen, the upper to the head.

Lurking...

“Tsu-Tsu, why bother yourself, let me take over, you're gonna lose”
“Sh- Shut up...”
“Awh, don't be so mean, you know you could win if you let me do the fighting, all you have to do is just sit back and enjoy the show”
“Shut up..”
“(Giggle) Just give it up already, you're weak, you will never beat her, or stand on the same ground as her, to her you're just a bug(Hysterical laughter)”
“I SAID SHUT UP!!!”

Awake...

Away from the insanity within him the young boy's head began aching him as his insanity began surfacing, but no he won't give up, and so he spoke to the Mizukage few words, burning with his passion:
“You're strong Mizukage-sama, but I...I never fought because I want to win, I always fought because I need to win, you see like you I, even people like me have people they cherish, I want to protect these people....So no matter how many times I fall I'll stand strong, The reason I stayed in kiri, under normal circumstances...What you said was correct...But kiri has been a home for me, it's amazingly nice when I am here”Pause“Look at me spouting this nonsense, but I want to protect everyone, and that's why please...Make me stronger Mizukage-'Sensei'.”
His honest feelings were all exposed in a flash, his true reason for pursuing power, was none other, than the reason to create a better world, he was a child tortured by fate, that torture built up his power, and for that power he saw a purpose, and seeks it boldly so.


And so they began their training, it was exciting and quite enjoyable so far, but he was ready to grind his bones, he was not scared because it's an ass-kicking he wanted, as long as it will grant hm the power he seeks, he doesn't care, but he won't stoop as low as to kill someone in order to get it, but other than that he couldn't care less,  as long as it doesn't cause others unhappiness he didn't care what happened to him mentally or physically, the training was just getting started, and the tension was already rising up, Tsuneo's prepared for the worst.

---

WC:4600
Speed:B1~>A2(4450/4450)
Words left:150

As Aya engaged her opponent, she watched as his fighting style became more limp than focused, limp relaxed muscles allowed the user to coil with the blows of attackers as they came at you, they also allowed for the ninja to move in erratic ways and soak flows, flowing with the force like water parting for them. It was the foundation of fighting styles seen in konoha, the use of drunken fist and several other martial arts, many of which were dangerous opponents... Aya did not get annoyed, she got excited, thinking her opponent was engaging in a similar martial art that she could not wait to test herself against. Aya increased her speed, planning her movements well in advance as she came to them, taking a swipe with her fist, her opponent began to fall, though Aya had not quite planned for this course of action. Her weight on her back foot, moving with the momentum of her swing Aya quickly twisted her upper body in a spinning round-house kick which could have easily removed the head of a ninja who was in its path, alas, her kick soaring through little but the air over-top of Yosuke as he fell, leaving Aya to smile as she thought of a means to follow it up. Striking an opponent on the ground was not an easy task, and as he was still falling, and Aya was on a single foot she would not relent.

Before her swinging foot reached the ground, Aya kicked off from the dirt, the spin force from her kick sent her spiraling into the air as she came down for her opponent, aiming a powerful stomp to the ground where he once was, but again missing her target by a microsecond as he rolled to the side. The dust flourishing from the impact as she left a small crater in the ground by the force of her landing, turning the area around it into little but bracken disturbed cracks running through the terra firma. Aya, using her peripheral vision to keep an eye on her opponent, she was beginning to tunnel vision on this fight as he rose to face her challenge. Sweeping out a leg, for her opponent in an effort to trip him as he rotated to her side, Aya keeping up with his movements well but it seemed he was pretty quick on his feet. But finally, it seemed that her opponent dashed in for a blow at sprinting speed. Aya vaulting backwards and placing a hand on the ground behind her pushed up as she kicked off the ground, somersaulting backwards in such a manner as her foot would meet the chin of her opponent as she rose to a standing stance. Eyeing him down, and hoping to have intercepted his movements and course of action...

This fight was getting fun.

Aya dashed in coiling her fist for what seemed like would be a punch but instead twisted her upper body for power as she planted her foot, ducking low under both the faint and his intended blow to her gut, aiming a sweeping leg for his knees so hard she could more than possibly break the first limb she came into contact with which would easily throw her opponent horizontally should it meet its mark. Following through instantly, as to predict a jump or contact she would front flip regardless putting her power into her heel as she would slam down for her opponent intending to carry him to the ground, sending out a pulse of air under her movement and strength, which, should she miss, would crack the earth open with another small crater, not pulling her blows unless she had to, and she would only at the last second once she felt the first touch of the impact of her opponent's skin.

Fighting as she attempted to trap an opponents movements in the midst of combat, one after the other, was riveting, like playing a game of cat and mouse as she went on the offensive, never ceasing her endless stream of attacks and counterattacks it was within Aya's style to never relent unless she absolutely had to, whether it be to reply to an opponent's words, give her own, or if avoidance required complete disengagement. Rotating backwards she somersaulted backwards to standing, this time slower and meant more as a disengage as her opponent would then begin to speak, speaking of what he wanted to protect, and that he wanted Aya to be the person to make him stronger, she folded her arms and thought to herself about the meaning off strength, her opponent already seemed strong, whether or not he was martially apt, Aya did not really consider that a show of strength, his conviction seemed to Aya, to make him strong enough, if he was determined, the rest should follow, but there are many different kinds of strength.

Opening her mouth to speak as she opened her eyes with conviction. I can't make you strong, strength is something you have to find for yourself, I can help you on your way to make yourself strong, but I cannot change the person who you are... That's a power is reserved only to you, and perhaps only the greatest genjutsu masters. She said as an afterthought, looking up as she remembered most of her senjutsu training was performed within the deep recesses of her mind through genjutsu. Sadly, that was not a talent Aya possessed, or would ever possessed, she found it hard to control chakra outside of her body at the best of times, to a point a long time ago it was an impossibility until she learned how to use Senjutsu, an event which single handedly changed her life for the better. To me, you seem strong, you fight for a just cause, and that cause so long as you keep the faces of the people you fight for close to your heart, that conviction will always power you to bigger and greater things. For me, I don't only fight for my family, for my friends, but I fight for every villager I have ever met, when I close my eyes I can see their faces, Every Ninja, every mother, every father, every child in this country. Be they Royal, civilian, young, old, foreign...

She remembered Tenmei in that instant, the singular person which she could weigh the entire worth of the nation against the one person and find them equal in measure. It was a cruel thesis, but, Aya while trying to be something more had found herself more human than she would have liked to think she was...

"The greater the cause you fight for, the harder you will push yourself and the stronger you will become until you become truly unstoppable. But you cannot lose sight of those faces, If you do, you will find that your conviction will waver and in that instance, you will lose." Aya spoke with little wisdom, each word crafted mostly from experiences which she had found, losing against Seven Bells one on one, she had lost sight of those faces, one in particular... So, you tell me, how do you wish to become strong?

WC 1237

Seconds. . .
Microseconds. . .

They were both moving at an amazing speed, but what was more amazing, was the speed of their thought process, in the single instant they would see, analyze, and counter each others'  movements, and the young lad had no intentions of falling any time soon, not when the fight just barely started, he would move swiftly, and not pause for  second, it was difficult keeping up with her, her speed was amazing, and her attacks were rapid and while the young boy continued dodging her bullet like attacks, he would continue to look for an opening, they never let up, both of them acted instinctively, Tsuneo would dodge and counterattack, but so would the Mizukage, their moves were rapid, and  even though, six seconds passed, since they've been at it now, neither one of the had landed a single solid hit.

But the Mizukage, looks like she's going in for the kill, she somersaulted backwards, her foot stretched in order to hit the lad's chin, but Tsuneo would protect himself with his hand, relaxing his whole body focusing his weight on his right hand as he placed it under his chin, grabbing her foot and letting it carry him away to were she regained her stance, only thing is , he was behind her, he would throw a kick to her side and prepare for the worst should she aim to catch it, a kick that would cause a bruise or two, and should she duck under his kick he would resettle it as if he was punting the ground and attack likewise, should she jump, he launch himself at her into the air and strike her  midair,  should she dodge to either side he would push himself away from her with his left leg that's still on the ground.

As Tsuneo made distance again between him and the mighty queen of ice, he would rush towards her with his two fists, an old trick, but a nice one, however, it sure as hell won't pass with the Mizukage, the young boy was surprised she appeared to be preparing a punch, and god knows how strong, but it wasn't a punch, nothing similar at all too, she twisted her body, and prepared a kick as he ducked under his fists, her charged kick would surely leave a mark, a mark that would help in stopping his quick movements, and make him an easier target. Tsuneo replied with speed and finesse, not single moment to waste, not a single moment to be surprised by any type of trick or attack his opponent would use, his left fist the one that was aimed to strike her on her stomach, or the punch that he tried to hide in the shadow of a fake direct punch, his fist flipped fingers down to face the Mizukage as she aimed to strike Tsuneo's leg, he would open his fist and aim to use her to push himself  up in the air and through were she attacked, behind her again, by aiming to place his hand on her back or head, his leg was also not wasted should she aim to stop his hand from using her as something to push himself into the air with, he would lift his targeted leg and use his other leg to soar into the air and behind her, after swiftly retracting his hands away from her.

and they stood there facing one another, he would listen to her speak, she spoke of how she was not the  one that will give him the true power he seeks, but she could help him attain a certain level of strength, she spoke saying that he was the one who can break that limit and push forward, however it was dependent on the resolve in his heart, Tsuneo took those words to heart, and her next words were things that were truly astonishing, her resolve, a strong one, one far stronger than his as he is now.

He took a deep breath and looked at the sky, watching a Falcon soar the sky, the Falcon did not hesitate, it soon almost landed only to capture its pray, the resolution of one's heart, that's what can truly make someone the strongest there is out there, and as they were standing, Tsuneo slowly caressed the Falcon with his chakra as he let it out in motivation, he then spoke his words as the falcon rested on his shoulder surprisingly calmly, and in his eyes  the glare of a sage “You're really incredible Mizukage-Sama. . . And I do not stand injustice, my life had always been shrouded in darkness, lust for revenge, self sacrifice, but those are weaknesses of mine, I want to have the strength to mercy my target, I want to have the strength to defeat him and my darkness, alongside this world's rotten side, I'll eliminate all evil, I'll destroy all injustice, and build a world were happiness is all there is to it. I'll become thee falcon, that rushes to the destruction of his enemy, and the falcon that can protect and shield all innocent lives under his wide spread wings, I won't give up. . . And for the sake of my dead companions and my  companions alive, I will fight to my last breath!” Motivation surged through his body as he energetically armed himself in the stance of a falcon intercepting his prey, but who will truly be the pray?

That was a question soon to be answered.

He then rushed towards her with an incredible speed, and as he was half a meter away from her, he would throw his right leg at he feet aiming to sweep her off her feet, should she jump he would retract his leg behind him and aim to punch her to the gut, should she grab his fist  he would relax his whole body focus distribute al of his weight in his fist, and flip with his caught fist and attack her with a dropping heel kick to the head, should this all not appear to be working he would use his left leg to push himself away from her, and as he was away from her re-situate his foot and push himself towards her, spinning mid-air with a leg raised aiming to kick her, he was not fond of attacking a lady, regardless of how strong, but it would be insulting to not do so indeed, women often hate such words, or actions.

“I'll become the falcon sage, master the element of wind and soar the sky like a falcon!” he knew he was at a disadvantage, but still never gave in he forged his path and took it step by step.


The Mizukage was graceful in her moves, her moves were elaborate and crafted finely like the blade of an  unwavering sword, and that is the strength he wants and seeks, the true decisive power.

Aya's combination of attacks went unhindered for a small time until she felt a weight attach to her foot as she somersaulted backwards with swift grace and finesse as Yosuke grabbed her foot and rotated with her, landing and rolling to a standing position. Aya smiled at the move, it was unconventional, he knew she was strong enough to left his weight effortlessly as was he able to lift his own weight just as lightly. Such was the ninja way that he was able to traverse the movement and force of her body, a strength and endurance feat which did not go unnoticed by the Mizukage. Cocking her head slightly so to always have Yosuke in her peripheral vision, she sighted the kick to her side and span with all of her momentum, rounding off the last of her spin force from the vertical backwards somersault into horizontal motion as she span into her opponent placing one of her armored hands in the path of the kick, not to block it, catch it, or us it, but simply as a guard that should the follow through of the kick mark her hand, she would only spin faster as she once again used all the power in her core to twist as she kicked off the ground with an even stronger jumping reverse roundhouse kick aimed for the side of Yosuke's head, more than capable of knocking out a ninja in a single blow should her heel meet with the almost lethal temple location she had aimed it for... however the kick her opponent had attempted had lowered his stance ever so slightly, his foot connecting with her guiding hand pushing her up ever so slightly more that her blow would soar milimeters above the head of the ninja, becoming little more than a dodge and a near miss as Aya would continue with her plotted movements, though, this time, she had the spinning momentum to begin with.

He rushed toward her with coiled fists, and Aya coiled hers in return tightly, tensing her core and continuing to spin with the jump force as she lowered her weight and her stance well below that of his intended strike, sending a leg out like a figure skater as she almost connected with the side of his knee in the first part of her lethal combination. Though Yosuke with all of his skill and talent managed to jump skyward, lowering his hand to plant off her attack and attempt another vault over her head... however, Aya was already in motion. As he leaped to ascend over her and land behind her, Aya began the flip, her superior speed and the built up momentum from the two spinning kicks had picked up her pace as the front-flipping axe kick which she had intended to smash into him once she knocked him horizontal as a finisher, she would meet with him part way through his jump over her. Aya's heel would slam into the back of Yosuke's shoulder, colliding with his trapezoids and shoulder blade as she would follow through, pulling her punch only marginally as she would slam the ninja unceremoniously into the ground with force strong enough to crack the earth under the force. Aya finishing standing over Yosuke, re-assuming her combat stance as she would look down on him. Silently hoping she had not dislocated his arm or something of the like as she watched him get up. His eyes spotted a nearby Falcon as he began to speak of his dreams and aspirations...

The life of a Sage... A hard life, but not one without reward.

Crossed the mind of the Mizukage as she nodded, "Well then, Future Sage of the Falcon School, get up and show me how you intend to soar~ Show me that not only do you have the mettle to throw a blow, but to get knocked down, and stand back up~!"

she coaxed him, knowing full well that should he get back up, there was a very good chance that in his semi weakened state, he would simply be getting back up to once again bite the bitter dust of Kirigakure no sato. But, training meant knowing your limitations, it meant having to persevere and be able to take those crippling blows in order to save yourself and the people you loved. Being stabbed, cut, burned and cast aside were common occurrences in combat, few missions are perfect and few ninja who set out on them return unscathed in some way. Yosuke was a learned ninja, but, with his bright and shining ideals, penned from the ancient books written by great konoha sages, needed more than just words to back them up. Aya had read the stories as a child, had believed in the tales of the great Uzumaki who saved the world three hundred years ago when the rising darkness had come... the tales written by the master sage who trained him in his infancy, made famous around the world in an attempt for peace which had not gone unnoticed. The ninja before her had been raised on those ideals to show that conviction... Or raised in Konoha...

She began to suspect...

As the ninja half rose to his feet, taking a new stance, an open one, much like the tiger stance of the martial art she had very well practiced, open palmed, hands like talons or claws rather than coiled into a fist as he threw a powerful palm strike, raising from the ashes like the Vermillion Suzaku with a burning fire in his eyes. The ninja struck from low, and as Aya did not have the range nor time to step backward from his attack in time. So, she jumped it, not high, but just enough to clear the leg, looking to ground herself once again, unknowingly falling into the trap before her. Finding the ground she saw the open palm like a descending Falcon struck for her gut. Spreading her palm in return she intercepted the strike from the side, sweeping her palm to flank the strike at his wrist rather than prevent and take onto herself the full force of the strike. Locking her fingers around his wrist the ninja before her jumped, leading Aya's guard up as he attempted a similar move as she had to come down on her now exposed shoulder and neck... A strong move, and one which she was almost proud he had attempted, were she any other ninja, and perhaps this may have worked, but Aya was not a normal fighter, her talent in combat was not the simple forms which she had compiled and mastered. It was her body, her level of fitness, and her level of flexibility.

By taking his feet of the ground, he locked in his momentum, and attaching himself to her, he had locked in the result of this combat... ...

Aya pulled her knee right up to her chest effortlessly within the gap between them as she angled her body slightly to one side as the ninja reached the apex of his jump... then before he knew it, Aya's leg was fully extended, as her death grip remained on her opponent's wrist. The speed and straight through force of her kick would attempt to land the prone ninja directly in the kidney-liver area of his torso, which was just as exposed as Aya's shoulder and neck due to their interlocked hands at his wrist. The technique known as the raising leg spear as it followed straight through, basically performing a vertical splits, could not only break bones, but rupture multiple internal organs with the force of the blow, potentially instantly killing an opponent through the shock of being concussively impaled by the force. From here, Aya would normally perform a single spinning shuryoken kick to finish off an opponent by snapping their neck before they hit the ground, but today, she would spare him that fate, as well as pulling the blow of her kick last second to do little more than stun and wind her opponent. Not quite ready to kill the peaceful emissary of another nation.

...

Should he have dropped to the ground, Aya would have offered him the helping hand up, brushing him off and grabbing his unharmed shoulder and smiling softly.

"You have your trade deal, I will put my people to finalizing the agreement as soon as possible, but, should you wish to continue this training. I'm afraid that you're going to need to begin to learn a Martial art, because, It is rather obvious at this point to me that you don't particularly know what you're doing any deeper than what you're taught in the academy basics... Now this is something I can teach you, but, only if you're willing to learn, I want it to be known that the first official exchange between our countries was not tools, weapons and goods, but the kindness and wisdom shared from one ninja to another as friends and newborn allies...~"

She spoke with a generosity, closing her eyes as she smiled, clenching her grip on his shoulder with emphasis moments before breaking contact and stepping back a few steps, folding her arms and awaiting a reply stalwartly...

(WC 2795)

Aya hoisted him up barely shifting her weight as she elevated him from the floor, she had seen the look on his face hesitate as he seemed to undergo an internalized ordeal, something which most ninja seemed to go through at one point or another in their careers, though it seemed that when it was Aya's turn to do so, it turned out that she was in fact being trained by who eventually she would learn to recognize him as the master of the butterfly sage school, a potent member of the Aisu clan who had told her of means to channel her deeply repressed chakra. Looking to him, and hearing his words, Aya could not help but break out in a smile, it seemed to be the way he held himself, so forward, so open, so confident and full of hope. She saw this spark in his eye which she hoped would seed in her own people, though, in the land of the bloody mist, it was a lot more unlikely... Even so, his words spoke about becoming better, stronger, even surpassing the Mizukage in power all in an effort to protect the people he loved. The words of the ninja bought a smile to the visage of the Mizukage, shaking off the words before beginning to formulate her next sentence, before finally being hit by his final comment.

“Also next time, I won't be the one to lose!”

The words echoed through her mind and what was once a smile again exploded into laughter, as the Mizukage of Kirigakure no Sato held her gut as tears began to spring to her eyes. Disbelief and astonishment incarnated into physical form across her hard features forcing them into delicate humanistic personified emotion as she fought for control of her own body. In stitches she managed to gain control, wrestling her emotions back in check she stood up again, no longer looking like the Mizukage, having instantaneously lost her aura of command, standing there was just a woman like any other, stripped of her command and responsibility, beholding in its place, a rare visage of humanity form Aya, like a new shimmering light seething with a new vitality glowing from her skin.

"Ahahahaha~ Wow... Well now, training is something that I can lead you to do, but I want to dispel the illusion that you need to be skilled or powerful to be useful or valued. There are ninja in the world, there are people in the world who protect the people they love without the powerful abilities which we command. Do not believe that you need to be as strong as me, or stronger than me, I had to lose everything to get where I am and overcome the world which fought against me. I would not wish that on anyone yet alone facilitate it. However, that all said and done, I can give you a few pointers for combat... tell you what you did wrong which led to your end in our little spar. You need to really keep an eye on what your opponent is doing and how they're going to follow on with their combinations, your awareness of your environment and the misreading of my movements lead you to jump directly into the path of my incoming heel. It's a hard thing to do, hyper analyze everything down to the smallest detail in combat, but, it's something you're going to have to perform on a regular basis."

Her words came from an amount of experience, in the midst of a fight Aya was constantly using her mind to analyze Yosuke constantly, watching every detail and every twist and movement he made in order to logically deduce his actions. Combat was a tiring practice both mentally and physically, though some people were able to fight as a complex being of pure instinct, Aya could, but, she found that such fighting styles made it hard to hold back, they often allowed the ninja to lose themselves in the conflict, reducing any semblance of self control to but a sliver of its original value. Yosuke would make a fine warrior if he wanted to, but, it was whether or not he had the deep seeded need to be better in order to become as strong as her like he had proclaimed.

But for now, what say we move away from here, and look for something a little better, as much as I enjoy the scenery here, there is more we can accomplish for the both of us in the city, I'll make my own way there and I'll meet you at my place where we can perhaps open up a bottle of something to celebrate what we've done. Meanwhile, you go and make sure that the goods shipment is received by Jounin and meet me at my place, it's not hard to miss, it's the tallest building in the middle of Kirigakure, I'm sure you will find me there, and we can begin to talk about the future oif the country and what we plan to do next.

With that, she smiled and began to leave, listening and nodding to whatever Yosuke had to say afterwards before disappearing from sight with the use of extreme speed, though, as she ran she had a single errand to run. Running to the ANBU corps barracks on the way she ran in, taking a letter from her pocket and handing it over to them with a set of orders:

Spoiler:

After the note was handed over, she ran back to her house, hoping that she would return before her guest. Knowing somewhat full well that she had just ordered a set of over a dozen spies to infiltrate other villages under the guise of non-ninja. Though, her reason being that all countries had a tendency to become hostile toward one another at one point, after the recovery of the village from the most recent war, she finally believed Kiri was almost ready to become an international figure once more... though she had one more errand to run before they would be able to act on any of their intel.

---

WC: 4100

Aya got home, though what she saw when she got there was a little different than she had expected... The house was a mess, and she could see a man dead in her doorway, the first floor of her home was the greeting room and then her mother's Kiln, a blacksmithery and known to make some of the finest armaments in all the country, Aya's mother made her gloves, enchanted her shroud, created changeling and was the express and only smith she allowed to polish and upkeep the legendary seven swords while they were not in use. So, when a man lay dead in her doorstep, Aya's mother wielding the hammer which forged her weapons with a deep gash along her arm, Aya got mad, really, really fast. So mad that the temperature of the room began to decrease sharply within a heartbeat, the breath from the remaining three assailants could be seen exiting their mouths as the frigidity increased far beyond normal parameters. Taking a step into her house, the sound of her footstep, loud, careless, meant to be heard, attracted the attention of the masked and unidentified attackers, none of which wore a mark showing any loyalty to a village. Aya recognized some of their gear as ANBU corps, so it only made sense that they may have been trained from another country, sent to attack her, or, there was another very real chance that they were remnants of the war, looking to assassinate the leader of the people who won those many months ago...

The three remaining ninja seemed surprised that things had gone so south, but, now each of them knew that there was no chance of escaping the Mizukage, even if they attempted to run in different directions, escape out of different windows, Aya would hunt them each down with her superior speed and tracking abilities. The hesitation however, was all that Aya needed. In a flash one of her three swords was already in her hand, changeling slung out from its sheath, extending into its full bo staff as the string was released from its clasps revealing the longbow. Aya knew that she would not be able to take any of these ninja alive, and so they began to run... Chakra flowed from her body, enough to ignite her second sword as she fired the first arrow toward one of her opponents, a fist full of arrows meaning she did not have to reach back to grab another as some archers would. She pulled back and fired, forcing the first ninja to evade, diving to a side, however, Aya's bow-manship was WAY too fast for the aggressor, with her incredible reaction speed she anticipated his direction and had a second arrow in flight to intercept his path, catching the ninja in the neck and forcing him to use his suicide jutsu.

She span to focus on the second of the men who had dived for cover knowing full well what was in her own home, Aya barely needed to look, aiming her bow up slightly she would take a shot at one of the black-smithy's racks, and send an avalanche of stored weapons and tools down on the ninja's head, forcing him once again to roll out of cover into another waiting arrow, three which hung in flight this time, as Aya was not sure to whether the left, above or the right would be the direction which he would manage to escape to. The arrow wedging itself deep within the back of the ninja as he expired, falling, but not before evaporating into flame. Allowing Aya to then turn to the third ninja, who had made it to one of the windows. Diving out of it as Aya reached to her back and thew the weapon she had flown chakra into so hard and on such a potent spin that the weapon looked more like a bladed disc than a sword in mid flight. The Sword Kusanagi penetrated the wall effortlessly, decapitating the ninja before returning to Aya as she controlled the weapon remotely with her chakra. Catching it, the last of the four ninja did not have the chance to kill himself. With his head removed from his body, the head burnt up as it channeled the last of its chakra into the instinctual move in its death throes, but the body, being detached, did not fade away.

Looking to her mother, Aya made sure that she was okay, calling to the twins to send in a medical ninja to ensure her safety and her health, the gash across her chest was nasty looking, and enough blood was being lost for her to consider the treatment urgent... But it was at about that moment that Tsuneo would enter her home, looking at what was going on there, it seemed that similar people which attacked him had also made an attempt on the Mizukage, who stood there with the silver and ruby embedded glowing blade of Kusanagi in her hand while three body shapes scorch marks could be seen in the opening of her house. Aya would walk past him as he entered to exit her house, allowing him to see what had transpired as a medical ninja would race in behind, laying her mother down and beginning to treat her wounds where she lay. Before Aya was able to pick up the body of the ninja who had done the attacking, decapitated as though it may be, she used Kusanagi to dis-robe him, looking for any signs that he might be allied with someone.

Sure enough, she found the mark which showed him to have been a former agent of Seven Bells on his arm, instantly showing where they got their ANBU training from, however, it was the fact the mark had been defaced with another, a symbol the Daimyo of the country had began to incorporate to mark prisoners in the country that caught her eye. This man had been in the service of the Daimyo at some point in recent history, a tie which would need to be investigated. Though the land of Kirigakure no Sato no longer took prisoners as a policy, The Daimyo of Mizu no Kuni still did, and did often if they had not insulted someone enough to have their head removed from their shoulders... though it was likely this man could have simply served his sentence and sworn vengeance after his release, it was something which needed to be investigated.

Looking back to her guest, the serious face Ayakashi wore lingered.

"I'm sorry we're going to have to put that celebration on a hold, I was attacked in my own home by trained men, and I need to get to the bottom of this now, to see how far this goes up. I hope it was simply the act of a few desperate men, but, you never know in this world, and you certainly don't live long if you don't find out. So, I won't ask you to come with me, but... wait... is everything okay Yosuke?"

She said asking to him, finally noticing that he seemed distressed himself.

Analyzing. . .

Corpses in the Mizukage's room, a woman with a gash on her,  enough blood was lost already, the young man would remember the three men that attacked him, their words were quite dismissive  to the idea of the alliance, a thing to wonder about, the scroll, it commands to either capture or murder the Mizukage leader of the Aisu clan, the reward placed on her capture is much higher, someone needed her alive, they were intending to capture the woman, but how would they escape, the gaze she gave the Mizukage, is that of a mother, Tsuneo was still unsure, but one thing he was sure about that it was either one of those three possibilities.

The first possibility was that someone wanted the Mizukage alive for a grand purpose, most likely use her power, or maybe she has an engraved power of some sort, and the person that appears to be behind this whole operation seemed to be the Daimyo. Second one was that someone was trying to frame Daimyo, which is highly unlikely as such scrolls are marked by the Mizukage's thumbs with his blood, DNA signatures can never be faked under any circumstances however, highly skilled medical shinobi  may have the ability to do so... Third possibility was that someone was trying  to force the Mizukage into attacking the Daimyo and creating a war in order to to ruin the country from the inside, also highly unlikely, Kirigakure's worst enemy is Seven bells and its very unlikely he would destroy the village he wants to rule it, not end it.

As I thought, the Daimyo's ass being the stinky one here is the most logical one, I heard rumors about him being a stinky one anyone, he aims to endanger my Ayakashi, bad news for you Dai-chan, I'm not so nice to criminals, what about people that hurt people I care about.


Let me out Tsuneo, let's kill the rotten fool. . .

Tsuneo smiled inside towards the darkness within him as he spoke to it “DEVOUR. ME.” He is willing to do it, he's willing to resort to the dirtiest tricks, as long as it guaranteed the safety of his dear dear friend Ayakashi. The person he had always wanted to meet, ever since they met when they were little, of course she was older than him, and probably is now, he merely hoped that she was the same person he met when he traveled alongside his father, at the time he was a crybaby that enjoyed playing and while blurry he remembers playing with her, assuming she's truly the one.

The young man headed towards her mother  seeing the wound, and then he would reach using a special kind of cloth he bought from the shops of kirigakure, he would give it to her to place it on the wound as it began emitting green chakra healing the wound, and covering the wound, but this cloth was no substitute for true medical care.

If she'd let him, he would grant the woman the safest defense for her.

“Please Ayakashi let me take care of this. Matoriyoshika!!!” He said as he waved a single hand-sign creating a clone and sealing the woman inside it
 He would then talk to the clone “Take her to safety, guard her, use the transformation technique, as these punks are after me too, before you take her to a safe haven make sure she gets the proper medical treatment.”

As he said so, he would hide  his arm and hand her the scroll with his other hand, although it was more apparent he thought the Mizukage was too occupied to even care.

“I'm not letting you go alone, I'm coming with you.” He said demanding so, while his left eye's sclera would be colored in black, and his iris would change to a red color, a sign of his bloodlust subsiding, and emerging from the pits of Tsuneo's darkened heart.

“I may be weak... In close combat its a weakness that will one day sting me back, but the Centipede will never lose again, he will never lose someone he cares about again, I shall fight for you, you're my dear friend after all~” He said so as his serious demeanor cracked a gentle smile as feint as it was, it was a heartwarming one he directed at her.

The centipede, a well known man for his actions in Takigakure, he would murder all gangs and scumbags, killers, rapists, abductors, any type of idiot the created harm for others, and that was the will of the Aoi Bara, The blue rose's will.

Eliminate all enemies of peace, he was quite known throughout the land for the massacres he delivered to all types of criminals, but no one knows the face of the centipede, his name, or anything of anything about him.

This was how much he trusted her, he would reveal his first identity, and soon his true identity, that is how much he trusted her, but first he had to deal with the ordeal at hand, and he will protect the Mizukage, he had no doubt in his mind, nor did his resolve weaver, his eyes, filled with flames of rage and determination, his  target the Daimyo and his goons, the centipede prefers enjoying his victims with bloody torture. It was a wrong move to mess with the Centipede's friends.

---

WC: 5000

''He's such an Uzumaki at heart...

The thought was simple, as she watched him begin to care for her mother and in some sense take charge of himself in the situation, Aya began to have a greater spark of respect for the ninja she had been training with, who appeared to be more than what he seemed on the inside. Within him, in his beating heart he held the courage and determination of the Uzumaki ninja whom fire and valor ran through the veins of, though she had no knowledge of the truth, and she could not see red hair flowing from his head, the spirit of the clan radiated from him like a golden sun, bright, and proud. A light Aya could hold nothing but reverence for... no matter how dangerous such ambition could be. So in response to his words, medical ninja came to the aid of them, and with the help of the clone, her mother was whisked away to the safest location in Kirigakure short of the Kage's vault. In the mean time, Aya paced, her fingers rubbing at her temples as the attempted to discern the patterns and possible causes of the events that had transpired, coming to very much the same mental conclusions as Yosuke... But it was not his demeanor which struck a chord within the Mizukage, it was his eyes which pierced the arrow through her will and forced her to crack a smile, for a moment she felt like everything was going to be okay, a feeling she had not felt in a while, since Tenmei had been here by her side.

'Tenmei... where could you be now?'

'but wherever it is... I hope you're happy.'

Holing out a hand to shake Yosuke's she would be ready for the mission which lay before them, the contagious smile flickering to her lips as she knew they two of them together were going to rip those who dared to cross them a new one. They would all rue the day they crossed the path of Solstice Ayakashi Aisu, Daughter of Iki Aisu and Mizukage of Kirigakure no Sato. "Glad to have you on my side Yosuke, I just hope that the two of us can get to the bottom of this, now, unfortunately, I have no clue where they came from, but, I can bet, somewhere there would have to be a camp of some sort in the outlying area, more than likely somewhere among the forest of suicides, which is where the reach of myself as the KAge begins to fall thin, and where the Daimyo crosses over into power. Although, I suspect that these were definately once the prisoners of the Daimyo, that means very little, they were likely former soldiers of Seven Bells, captured during the war, so, attacking us and the country is very logical for a plot of vengeance, however, I will need to question the Daimyo for this later, I was not aware he held POW's from that war... and as we can see, that lack of information almost harmed my family and friends, so, this threat needs to be dealt with now before I can proceed with any other course of action in follow up... But again, how to discover the location... I managed to kill this one before he was able to use the evidence destruction jutsu, so, maybe I can track him through his chakra trail through sage mode... it would be faint, but, it's all i can think of."

Aya scratched her head and began to focus ont he nature chakra around her before entering her own sage mode. The explosion of colour was immediate as the markings in thin lines appeared under her eyes and patterns of antennae on her forehead in intricate tribal patterns which began to run all over her body, her hair and eyes glimmered brightly as small twinkling dust specks of her nature chakra fell from her person, chilling the ground into small snow-flake patterns as they hit the ground.Her cloak became more vibrant also, patterns appearing withing the blue waves edging the cloak as translucent chakra wings of an almost butterfly like nature expanded from her back as she finished her transformation in a single twirl. In this mode she was able to feel the presence of everything around herself, she could feel the nature chakra fading from the dead body before her, but, there was also a very light residual trail of similar feeling where he had been, caused by simple things like his foot-prints, leaving some organic matter behind which had its own precise composition of natural chakras, combined with other factors of basic tracking, it became quickly evident which direction he had come from.

"I have a trail, let's get going, I won't run too fast but I expect you to be able to keep up, okay? Now, let's go, and destroy these bastards before they can cause any of us any more strife. But I warn you... my temper is... a downside, I would steer clear of me during the fight... I might lose myself a tad."

She spoke apologetically, hoping he would understand before she took off like a bullet, and although she moved at the top speed she was able to handle she had to slow herself as to be observant of the trail that she could only analyze as it came within the sensory radius of her Sage mode Technique. The trail quickly moved to rooftop and down the back alleyways as she motored through the city, weaving and ducking as she parkoured through the backstreets and through market places. The ninja which had attacked them had paid some definite effort into ensuring that he was not followed en route to his destination, though it was all for naught... as those who were not able to perceive the natural flow of the third state of chakra, could not hope to understand it enough to effect it. And so it was not long until the trail exited one of the merchant entrances to the city and out into the wilderness surrounding it. Taking a path down one of the main roads for some minutes of running before the trail broke off into the deep rain forest surrounding the city. Though, from here the trail ran cold, giving way to another trail, the trail of broken branches and scraped moss which Aya knew like the back of her hands as the ninja had lept through her back yard to get to their destination. No matter how fast or nimble you were, you always left a trail if you took your way through the forest of Kirigakure.

It took a couple hours of travel, but eventually they reached a small tree-house villa, high up in some of the rain-forest canopy, not far from the boarder to the forest which many missing ninja were killed.

Stopping at a hidden position, Aya drew the hilt of the blade of Kusanagi as well as the Hilt of the Raijin sword, two legendary swords held in her grip as she prepared for her onslaught. With her sensory abilities she could sense the tracks of about thirty men, take the six which had attempted to kill them within the city, leaving twenty four potential targets still alive within, each of them more than likely unwilling to bend to the will of the Mizukage, each of them more than likely enemies of the state on such a measure that they would die before they talked. But with the sentence of death looming over all of their heads anyway, there was no chance that this small outpost was not going to be reduced to a Popsicle with twenty four bodies within it regardless...

''Yosuke, give me a plan before I just trash the place, please, my temper's already beginning to get the best of me and I can't think straight...''

With herself getting angrier by the second, she found it hard to think, to formulate, she just wanted her body coated in ice like death, and her death like corruption to spread throughout this canopy until there was no member of Seven Bells left alive!

She spoke...And he replied~

“I spoke my words and while those words may be feint in meaning said in an easygoing manner, but my words are no lies, I'll purge this world of all corruption, as it would make the world much safer to my loved ones, and their families” he said pointing his sentence at her, including her, he finished his sentence by smiling at her the noble smile, a gentle one of one that sacrificed himself for his village.  But she too was a woman of kindness and gentleness, but sadly their will forever be scum that trifle with the happiness of others, those scum, are his targets, he whom weapon is his darkness, and he whom light is his shield.

She then entered her sage mode, and it was a sight to behold, only once in his life had he witnessed as similar beauty, and that when he stood infront of the  rose of the Aoi Bara, the royal blue rose that shone greatly and beautifully, he would meet another rose, but this rose was a woman, her beauty held him in the look of an innocent child amused by the scene of his life. He then focused again, and ran at his maximum speed but her speed was of course superior, still he would not fall behind and give up on his decision to protect her.

 
She warned him apologetically, informing him of her rage, and in reply he spoke gently to her “Don't you even worry in the slightest, I want to stand by your side, if I can't do that much how will I protect you?”   he gently spoke again to her with a gentle feint smile, and after trailing her enemies and his, they would stand amongst the bushes of green leaves as they kept an eye on a small tree-house villa, in it were their enemies, and so the Mizukage spoke with her attractive feminine voice of a lady, an attractive voice indeed, she was trembling with rage or was he seeing things? She stated it, and Tsuneo witnessed it, her rage, her boiling blood, but somehow he acted more like an adult or someone older than her, he would pat her head and smile as his hand was on her head: “Hey, ayakashi. . . Calm down, leave things to me, Ill send out a signal for you to come in if help is needed, is that okay? You no longer need to act alone, I'm here for you.”

Having said so, the boy used the transformation technique, transforming his appearance to that of the men that chased him only difference was, his appearance was slightly more wounded. He would enter and speak to the punks, normally, and apologetically, telling them that they failed and that he was the only one to survive and there he saw, a man in fancy clothing, in fact his were far too fancy from normal, he glared at him angrily from within, and ask one of the men as he stood back, he began talking. And one thing he knew, they all had a seven's symbol, Tsuneo was well aware of it as he had fought and spied and stole much against seven bells.

“Why are we serving this old blabbering fool instead of lord seven bells?”
The man replied saying that this was all according to plan, and that they're merely using the old fool to kill the Mizukage, and give reign to 'lord' seven bells, Tsuneo continued asking saying “What do use do we have of him I see no point for him?” The punk replied, that he would be providing them with spirit items, weapons, and so forth.

Aside from the questions before listening to his lecture as he yelled loudly, he was quite pissed off at the fact that they failed, Tsuneo would notice his own poster as one of the wanted people, Tsuneo indeed was one of the few people that pissed off the cute queen, called bells. Tsuneo pissed off at the Daimyo had also wanted aya to see such a view, but it was better to not, the Daimyo was quite the disgusting filthy rich man. But Tsuneo would shock the twenty four man he had visited.

The young boy glared at him after Tsuneo had went ahead and dealt him a blow that would shock him for eternity, with a pen he picked up, he would pierced the man's eye through the eyelids, shocked at him as he laughed his ass off at the screaming pig as he ran away with the help of two shinobi, running outside, he did that bit for the sake of the Mizukage, so that if she wants to deal with him her way, she may.

And while two left three left heavily armed with spirit items, Tsuneo was worried they may trouble the Mizukage, these spirit items are  legendary abhorrent pieces of work, two of them were abhorrent jars one known as the unbreakable jar of solace, a purple jar that restricts physical movement for good by a hand of chakra, no rank can break the jar or destroy the hand of chakra, despite that it is said that it merely ranks as an A-rank jutsu known as the weakest item, but in all honesty, in Tsuneo's head, the whole thing was abhorrent.

Five items were taken away with and none were left in the tree-house, Tsuneo would seriously worry over Ayakashi's safety, even the most formidable shinobi suffered against those items when only one was being used, what about five. Tsuneo was again infront of a severe challenge nineteen  scumbags, these scumbags were sadly skilled or so they looked to be.

First he had to lock on the long rangers which were a total of four bow users, fifteen melee, chained sickles and metal knuckles, and swords. This was going to be a pain in the head, but never the less, the young lad  attacked viciously as four approached them, he intercepted them with finesse, as one threw a sickle towards Tsuneo's waist he would jump in place not higher by a single inch, it was more like raising both of his leg and remaining in the air, but as soon as the sickle was underneath his legs, he shot them towards the ground and let one leg, which was his left hold down the sickle and with the other he twisted the chain around it as the man gripped the end tightly he would be pushed infront of his attacking friend who slashed him accidentally with his sword  as that man was held in a half bowing position, abhorrent as it was the man cut through his waist like butter cutting four inches deep and through, and as the sickle user fell on the ground dying, the swordsman continued by slashing a bit of Tsuneo's hair as he lowered his upper body, Tsuneo with his improved perception would notice a sickle user behind him coming in place of their fallen comrade but Tsuneo in the heat of the moment would place his fingertips on the swordsman's heart as he released a  spear of lightning piercing through the swordsman and through the sickle user's stomach two were beside the two, one beside the sickle user and one beside the swordsman, the two  would get stunned by the jutsu's effect being held in place Tsuneo didn't hesitate for a second, he would avoid to arrows that aimed for his head but the forth and the third would slice an inch deep on his outer thigh and right shoulder as he dodged, he would grab the sword of the swordsman and strike the neck of the one that was next him, break the neck of the fool that had his stomach pierced with the spear as he writhed in pain, dropping the sword and grabbing the sickle striking the other one that was next to the sickle user planting the sickle in his head.

Six down, thirteen left, this time five approached with broadswords, young Tsuneo would have fallen down far easier if it weren't for his beautiful beautiful techniques, he would of been human steak for cannibals to enjoy, but then he would calmly speak as his calm gaze devoured them to fear his strongest offensive technique


Trained: Forbidden Techniques: Artistic creation of the Ultimate Reality~禁術:现実究极の芸術の創造

7181-4000= 3181 WORDS LEFT

He could not hope to keep Aya in place, as she saw the 5 ninja attempt to escape, She was gone, appearing before them in a flurry of wind, exploding from her feet as she drew changeling in its sword form, long and dramatic as she stared them down, flowing chakra into the Raijin sword... it sparked to life, exploding from its hilt in a flurry of lightning and power, the two swords were legendary in Kirigakure, but none as legendary as the third that she drew, power flowed into the scabbard at her back, empowering the sword of Kusanagi the cutting power of it as it drew anonymously from its sheath as if wielded by some ghostly force made the floating weapon seem eerie, Aya stared down the five as they went for their Jars, but it was already too late, and Ayakashi was on top of them, with a single burst of sprinting speed there was no means for any of the B rank ninja to escape her terrifying speed as well as her rage. Slowly but surely, her mind and her senses honed in on the combat, and nothing else, each of the opponents, nothing outside of it, but she could feel a massive surge of chakra from beyond her, from its source was Yosuke fighting with a terrifying jutsu, one which Aya would have never seen the likes of before, but, Aya was about to fight with her own ones...

She had tried these ninja, found them guilty, and the only fitting sentence... was [link= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASj81daun5Q] Death...[/link]

Spinning in the center of the ninja they all scattered, needing to jump away from her to avoid them being cut in two as a group, Aya already had them on the run, but she knew it would be the Jars she needed to watch out for, in her sage mode she could sense the awesome chakra within them. It was ass she sensed them that a blue emanation of chakra ripped from one of the small jars, lashing out for Aya at speed, a large, demonic, clawed arm that was incredibly muscular. Aya vaulted at the end of her spin as the arm crashed into the ground where she once was, as another opened his jar causing Aya to be swept by hurricane winds which began to drag her backwards. Stabbing her two blades into the ground as soon as she could she would watch as that arm came down for another blow, easily strong enough to bash her directly into the jar of holding. It was very evident that Aya was not going to be able to fight these five men like she was. So, she let go, avoiding the arm but throwing herself in the direction of the item which threatened to engulf her entirely.

Using Hyouton Dash Aya would propel herself shaft upward at her full speed, vaulting up and over the ninja, performing a series of handseals before she would hit the ground, with her sage mode active, it was time to show each and every one of these goons the kind of Kage they were dealing with, she was not the kind who was replaced every year, she had been the Mizukage for half a decade, and she was not about to loose now. The temperature fell through the floor as Aya landed, Ice exploding from her feet in every direction creating a sleet strip for each of them to struggle to walk on. Aya's skin turned black as the Yin imbalance in her chakra overflowed, forcing the Hyouton chakra out of her body in long blades as a second pair of black Ice arms extended from her shoulders over her own ones, her teeth became pointed with ice chakra, her eyes shone radiant blue, her own hands covered and clawed, bladed wings from her back, cloth like wings, soft, with patterns across them in shades of ice, and the image of antennae on her forehead as well as several other orb like eyes. The men before her turned in terror as they were faced with the monster of the Mizukage.

"Yukki Oni Technique... Demonic Ice Corruption... ... ... Himiko."

The Ice armour was enough to protect her, the man before her whom turned to see the monster turned and aimed his powerful Jar, and Aya lunged into him, not feeling the pull of the hurricane force winds as much as she once was. The power of her SS ranked technique was too much for the power of their items, she could see them, she could see their weaknesses, she could see their fear, their chakra. With a single swipe of the swords still held tightly in her arms, the first of the ninja was separated from his waist, Aya did not grin with malice, her mind and her senses had given in to the beast which she had become, and each of the other four whom were there were in grave danger. Drawing their own mystical weapons, swords and a pike which all seemed to be variously enchanted with chakra, Aya worried not for their Faux power. Charging head-first with her own swords, she clashed with the first, her strength forcing his guard to buckle, only to be met with the second. Ducking, Aya swept out a leg for his mid torso... Connecting the foe became little more than a brittle icicle, being thrown backward as the ice corruption spread throughout his body until he hit the ground, splintering and shattering into crystal dust with the force of the kick.

Aya trained her focus on the second man she had been fighting, with both of her swords in hand she attacked in a violent flurry, attacking him and his water enhanced blade, the lightning and ice coursing up Aya's own two swords froze the ice as she threatened once again to blatantly overpower her opponent with speed, strength and ferocity... but then came the arm, slamming into Aya's side and freeing her next victim from her assault, the third man had rolled for the other jar, focusing the chakra winds on Aya again, attempting to drag her in once again to the prison which she would be sealed within should he be successful. Aya's additional arms dug into the earth as not a crack appeared in the visage of the armour from the colossal arm, doing little more than bruises and knocking her around, as well as further angering the beast. Turning on her opponents she coiled her arm up as chakra flowed into her fist, smashing it to the ground the pulse from her Yukki Oni technique spread out in a near 20 meter radius, freezing the ninja wielding the winds barrel solid, and allowing Aya to move once again. Standing slowly, she looked back to notice that the other two had used the substitution technique in order to evade her.

"FinE By Me... Now You HaVe No eScaPE..."

Aya spoke with two voices, her own and the voice of the monster which was puppeting her body. The Yukki Oni... Dashing forward at sprint speed once again, she moved to lock blades with the swordsman she had tried twice already to kill. Though as she neared she watched as the arm once again flew toward her at top speed. So, rather than meeting it head on, Aya jumped high, entering a chaotic spin as she vaulted high into the sky, one of her additional arms reaching behind her and drawing her fine fuma shuriken which became quickly laces with ice, Preparing to throw it as last second she unclipped it into its 4 seperate pieces, raining down on the ninja wielding the arm before her had time to retract it to defend himself. Aya aimed for his two shoulders, behind him, and in front of him with the blades, giving him nowhere to run or dodge to, and without the substitution technique, as all four blades came down enchanted with his ice, the enemy ninja exploded into shrapnel, ending his life instantly and leaving only one.

Landing, Aya looked to him, and approached as he knew there was no escape, he begged for his life but was met only by deaf ears as Aya with a single sweep of Kusanagi, ended him, the ninja dropping to the ground lifeless, frostbitten and finished. Returning to where Yosuke was. Aya's jutsu ended, and the form she had taken to fight melted away, restoring her skin colour and making her feel human once again. She opened her eyes and allowed her Sage mode to come to an end also. But it seemed that while she had fought the five, Yosuke had fought far more than she had. Aya smiled, little more than a bruise coming over her arm and shoulder where she had been hit by the arm jar.

"Nice work Yosuke, now all we need to do is find out where they came from and why they don't want you being here, as well as what they wanted with me and my family..."

[8054 words]

 and with that Tsuneo followed the Mizukage “Alright!” he said in response to her, as he followed her. What awaited the two, one would question themselves.

Aya smiled at her friend, giving him a pat on the shoulder, the steel from her gloves still more than ice could to the touch from the user of her technique which had overcome her whole body. It was never a pleasant experience, releasing that much chakra at once had its cost, forcing Aya to take deep breaths in order to regain her energy, though she believed she was in control, or at least, she was more in control than she used to be, there was an air of deception when it came to those beliefs. Aya felt like she knew deep down that something was not right about that technique, like something was growing within her. Looking to Yosuke, he seemed to be unharmed, and with the only living member of the group of missing ninja, it seemed that now they finally had a lead when it came to who ordered the attack. Her eyes catching Yosuke's the subtle tip in her smirk giving him the silent good job when it came to capturing this sole individual, as she did so however, she caught the concern which was being reflected in his own, within his glassy portals which though they could flawlessly hide emotion, Aya distinctively saw a glimpse of doubt, regret, sorrow, anger, desperation, resolve and something else glimmering within the light of his eyes. It was heartbreaking in some ways to see, but every ninja had one promise to themselves or another, and Aya was not about to judge that, or stop on whatever dream he held dear. Though, deep down, in Yosuke though she saw a hero, with grand ideals which would take him far, part of her could never see him becoming an Sannin or higher, she felt that he did not have the steel will to be able to handle that weight on his shoulders alone... and most of a ninja's life was spent alone...

Leaning down to pick up the living witness, she placed him hard against a piece of rubble that jutted out from the ground. Thrusting him against it the man began to groan in pain as Aya was not pulling any punches with him, having almost put him through the support instead of against it. Standing up tall over the ninja Aya asked the most operative question which was on their minds. "Who sent you?" The question was simple, yet the answer would no doubt be complex, the man looked up with fear in his eyes, shaking his head as Aya reached out and grabbed one of his hands. Taking his palm and spreading out his fingers, reaching for the top of one of them, and with the slightest tweak, broke his fingernail off the tip of that finger. The man gave out a cry as the nail was plucked from its roots like a carrot being pulled from the ground. The man looked up at Aya with determination, and with a single word, the man fell into a dust, breaking apart and blowing into the air. Aya reached down for the man's tongue before he was able to speak, but, the former ANBU trained man seemed to have an ace up his sleeve, the technique which was used to hide evidence, he had used on himself fast enough to erase himself from existence. Leaving the two of them nothing to go on when it came to who sent the criminal forces, other than the branding which was on each of the corpses which lay around them in the direct vicinity. Leaving them with another lead...

"Well Yosuke, I believe that is us then... I'll need to arrange a meeting with the Daimyo tomorrow to ensure that all of this blows over, though in the mean time, I hope that we can make our way back to the capitol and we might have to go our seperate ways, I'll need to organize for tomorrow to some time, though, I am glad that I had the chance to meet you in person. It was an honor and a pleasure to make your acquaintance. You have the proud blood of Iwa running through your veins but with a heart of fire... "

Aya smiled, not expecting that her words might inadvertently catch Yosuke off guard, but in the ninja world the land of Konoha were the nation known most for their heroism ever since the patron of the Uzumaki clan heralded the age of peace three centuries ago. Aya, placing her hands in the pockets of her cloak, began to walk away from the mess, picking up any of her items she had launched in the conflict and beginning the long walk home. She needed a bath, as well as some long needed time to herself to contemplate everything that had happened on this particular battlefield. Trying to think of what kind of mercenary forces were so loyal to their clients, Daimyo or not, that they would kill themselves when they were in a bind. The sheer thought of the entire endeavor was insane... There was something deeper here, and Aya could not help shaking that it was deeper than she wanted it to be. Feeling the same churning in her stomach that she did when she met seven bells for the first time, knowing that this would not be something that ended quickly nor something which she was going to be able to ignore. So... Aya needed to prepare herself, more than ever.

Looking back one last time to Yosuke, she waved, before jumping into the Kirigakure forest, leading the way back to the village...

and hopefully...

the beginning of what was to come...

[exit thread - 9001 words]

Training Perception S-> SS 9001/8500