Etsuo Yukimura's Life began on July 31st, he was born to a Uchiha and a Yukimura. Both sides of his blood were not on good terms with the rest of the world. While the Uchiha were practically killed to extinction, his mother's intermediate family found itself outside of the Konaha village at the time, where the main place resided. This was as if luck had decided to smile upon Etsuo's ancestors as they made their way to Kumo and stayed there. It would be because of this that his mother and the Uchihas would go on to meet the Yukimura Clan that resided there as well, from there, his mother and father would meet. When they finally decided after becoming a couple to raise a family, that they would separate themselves from the main branch of the Yukimura Clan, to give their children a more enjoyable life. However, there was little that could be done to prevent what would happen down the road ahead of them. The reason that they wanted to raise Etsuo and his brother away from the main branch dealt with the problems that Yukimura side of their family was facing. In the world of puppetry, they had high skill in their own style of it, and weren't willing to share any of it with those that would go on to ask about it. In doing such, they earned hatred and envy from others, to the point that it caused their individual lives to be ruined, if they didn't protect themselves properly.

Etsuo's parents wanted a life free of that protection, and so they split off, much to the clan's dismay on the matter and they made a separate home for themselves within the village. His mother and father were indeed in fact shinobi for the village, and as such were able to afford a nice home for themselves to live in as a family. Going forward, Etsuo loved his home as he grew up, exploring every corner of it as he grew older and older, with each aging step, making him more capable of a new journey. The rest of his family, however, did their best to make sure that he didn't end up getting himself hurt on these little journeys of his own. For the most part, they did a pretty good job of making sure that Etsuo was staying safe, there were exception though, that made through the cracks that were made, no matter what they decided to do. On that day, Etsuo had decided to begin his journey all alone on the upper level of the house, his mission, make his way on his own, from the home's upstairs area to the home's downstairs area. Typically, this would be considered an easy or simple task for Etsuo during his days of crawling, but now he had grown up just enough to start up and walking around the house on his own.

Yes, his objective was to walk down the steps on his own, so he took notice to his best opportunity, a moment when his brother and mother were not looking after him, focused on something else to begin. It was quite an exciting moment, when the baby finally reached the steps, he was pretty much rejoicing upon the opportunity again within his head. After that very moment, he would begin his descent on the steps of his home, the first one went very well in his opinion. But, he hadn't realize that the actual challenge would begin on the second step, where he had to take off his foot from the upper floor and place it upon the second step of the stairs. During that which would be considered a simple motion later on in life, Etsuo would go on to lose his balance on the stair and begin to tumble down them with a loud thump at the end, when he reached the ground. The good new was that for the most part, Etsuo didn't roll on his neck or head as was on his way down, the bad news was, that he was still very much in pain none the less. His screaming and crying at the main floor of their home, would tell his family of the failure and pain that he now faced, they would eventually race to find him and attempt everything that they knew to help him feel better and recover as well. From then on, they began to keep an even more observant eye on Etsuo's little adventures, from then on.

Etsuo recalled such moments as he was waiting once more in the center of the village, he sat on a bench near the crossroads of the village, sometimes the place was busy as it ever could be, he wanted to see all the the familiar and unfamiliar faces of the people of the village that he was away from. He sat with his puppets beside the bench wrapped up, all dressed up in his shinobi outfit. To the shinobi of the village, he would look like a stranger to most of them, he didn't like that fact, but what was he to expect from he hadn't seen in a long while, or people that he hadn't seen ever? It also wouldn't be any different for the citizens of the village either, very few, or none would notice him for who he was, Etsuo Yukimura.


Total WC: 900
Training:
All Stats E1-E2 750/750
Remaining: 150

Day by day, night by night, seconds by seconds, minutes by minutes. A mere traveler that had come into the village sometime ago had earned a place amongst the ranks of kumogakure shinobis. Anyone that considered him as ‘mere’ was making their greatest mistakes because he was a specialist that moved his pieces across the board without anyone noticing. Dray dropped the chisel and picked up the screw driver, he had been working on this particular piece all night and the feel of sleep did not even bother him. Countless number of times, he had managed to perfectly cheat nature by refusing to sleep but seeing as nature was supreme, it always had minor effects on him sooner or later. The modification he was fixing on Temp was an interesting one and it was sure to come in handy anytime so it was better done now rather than later. Dray successfully installed the new modification as he added finishing touches to the puppet’s arm. He wore the puppet’s green and black robes on and sealed him back in a scroll. Dray yawned a bit as he sat at the edge of the bed. He had been staying far too long in this inn and the room was getting more uncomfortable day by day. He was procrastinating the search for a perfect piece of land to make his building on. He did not need any builders or more so lots of materials. A few hand signs and some imagination and his wooden abilities would do the rest of the work. He would go around the village today and see what he could find. There weren’t any missions for him so he could not just sit in the inn and do nothing.

Dray stood up from the edge of the bird and walked towards the windows. He opened them up so some fresh air could breeze in. He walked into the bathroom and had a quick bath though he made sure that he washed himself clean. He practiced personal hygiene a lot so he was hardly dirty and smelly. He proceeded to dress himself in another set of his usual attire consisting of a black and green cloak like wear and black shinobi trousers to go with his sandals. Dray looked at the mirror in the room not for anything else but to check if his hair was appropriate. He picked up the two scrolls contraining Temp and Wrath as he hung them on his back like back packs due to them being medium sized scrolls that were fairly large. Dray looked to his left and breathed life into Chi so they could leave quickly. The young dwarf that was hardly sealed in a scroll strutted behind his master as they walked out of the room with both being calm. They went through the hall way and down the stairs as they exited the giant sleeping inn.

The weather of the village was moderate today. No extreme sunlight and no dark clouds too but Dray had gotten used to the unexpected weather conditions of his new found home. It was the beauty of kumogakure no sato. As Dray stepped out of the inn, he thought of where to start looking. The areas around the abandoned mines were perfect and they were closer to the mines so Dray could visit them often and gather resources but that area was outside of the village, something that Dray did not like. He walked the street going where his instinct would lead him. he had trusted them for a longer time and now wasn’t the time to stop trusting them. Dray walked calmly down the streets with the young puppet that would be mistaken for a child or a young dwarf following behind him. Dray walked for a while without meeting anyone to talk to. The village was not as active today as it usually was, it wasn’t a big deal since everyone might just have a reason to rest. Dray found himself walking the cross roads of kumogakure soon enough, he had no intentions of coming here but if his instincts had let him here, then there was a reason to be here. Dray adjusted the scrolls on his back as Chi walked closer to Dray like a child trying not to leave it’s father.
WC:726

Indeed, within Etsuo's life, time kept moving right on a long its proper path, never taking the consideration to stop, or even just a little, slow down. As Etsuo took in his surroundings, he too took notice of the nice weather with clear skies, that they seemed to be having in this hidden village, today. Time, however straight and constant that it ran however, could not seem to save this day in the center's deadness, there didn't seem to be very much of any people in sight at all, and this was meant to be the crossroads of the village themselves. In fact, Etsuo was almost ready to leave, when finally there was an individual or a small group of individuals that caught his attention as they were merely just walking by. At that moment, Etsuo was placing the two puppets that he had, upon his back, they were not large or even human sized puppets, they tended to be on his back, because it wasn't that much of a bother with just them, his father often made the comment that it would make him, boost his strength jokingly. More likely, however it did help Etsuo in some shape or form, as he always had them on his back when he traveled around and outside of the village, in fact, pretty much where ever, he went to.

Shifting back to the two that were passing him by, he took notice of them as no many had passed by for a long while. He was also very much interested as he noted that the taller guy appeared to be a shinobi, one that he has not had the time to meet before, currently Etsuo had plenty of time on his hands as he would go on to approach the guy. He immediately took notice of the color of the robes that he wore, which were green and black, compared to the blue that Etsuo wore, they each had their advantages. The black and green, however was far more easier to utilize in most environment as you could use it to blend in with the dark and trees or bushes within a forest area. On the other hand, Etsuo's blue blended into wintry surroundings and could on a very dark occasion blend into darkness and the night. It was right about then, that the young Yukimura started to notice the other that was following shortly behind the larger one, if not for he himself taking his father's clan interests in puppets he could have been fooled by the likes of the puppet playing off as a small child in appearance, he would have to say though that this man did some great work from the way that the puppet was set up.

"Hello there." Etsuo would say to the fellow shinobi. "I don't believe I've ever gotten the chance to meet you." He would go on to add, by now hopefully getting the guy's attention. Once he felt that he was close enough for the guy to hear him, Etsuo would go on to introduce himself to the fellow shinobi and puppeteer. "I am Etsuo, Yukimura Etsuo, Special Jounin and puppeteer practitioner." He decided to now listen and hear if the other shinobi would introduce himself, whether or not he would add anything else along with that. "I took notice of you passing by here, and decided to introduce myself to you as fellow shinobi, but your puppet has caught my interest now as well." He would go on to explain. "If you can understand, I don't see too many puppeteers outside of my Clan, and I'm fairly certain you weren't one, but I must say that your craft looks very impressive, from a distance, I didn't recognize it as what it truly was." He would go on to finish with. Etsuo would go on to hope that everything was turning out alright, that he didn't appear to be intruding or in the way of this other shinobi.

Etsuo remember another experience however that now came to his mind, it reminded him of the few time that he actually met a large majority of the Yukimura Clan, it was one of his father's few visits to the clan grounds that everyone was suppose to live in for the time being. During this time, he had met many of the other Yukimura children that were around his age or even a little older. It was a time that reminded him of the childhood that only passed him by shortly before hand, the childhood that he could never return to or change even a little, it was the childhood that he lost his mother and his older brother. Had he not stood up for himself in the end and intervene in the fight, he could have very well of lost his father as well. These were the few memories that shaped him to be who he was in this world, he intended to protect what was his for the time being, this village, his home, he had spent a good amount of time on his own personal goal of exploring the world outside this village. But that did not mean that he could not explore what was unexplored within this village, just like with his home, when he was only a very little one. Etsuo also knew there were many people to be met within these unexplored areas, he intended to meet as many of them as he possible could, until he felt it was right to step outside of the village again.

WC: 929
E2-E3 = 1125 words
- 331 extra words
= 794 words
794/794
Extra WC: 135
E3-D 135/1500

The cross roads that were meant to be filled with people walking from here to there were not at all swarming with people, both shinobi and civialians. Everyone seemed to want to take a rest on this particular day and it made it a more beautiful day for Dray to find a perfect piece of land to build his home on since there would be no disturbance and he would be able to see most places that he could not see if the village was crowded. Dray’s feet hit the road once more and he was so focused that only in the last minute did he notice the young male that was approaching him. He wore a blue cloth as that was the thing that Dray could quickly take in before the young man started speaking. “Hello there.” He would say politely as Dray would pause to listen to what he had to say to him. Since he had gotten to the village, he had done most of the approaching so someone approaching him was indeed a nice thing or so he was hoping. “I don’t believe I’ve ever gotten a chance to meet you” the young man would go on and he was right about that. Neither he nor Dray had met each other before until now but Dray did not bother as to why it was so because there were numerous reasons that could be generated as to why the two hadn’t met ranging from one of them travelling out of the village for a while, one of them just coming into the village for the first time or after a while, one of them not being out of their homes too often, there was just too many a reason so Dray would simply hear the young man out since he seemed to be getting at something.

Getting closer to Dray for a more confident conversation, the young man would continue to give his name as Etsuo Yukimura, a special jounin of kumogakure no sato- the village hidden in the clouds and a practitioner of the kagutsu no jutsu- the puppet technique. As of now, Dray hadn’t seen anything much in a name or rank since a title spoke better than those but he could not help but listen to what the young man had to say from here on. Him being a puppeteer had definitely given him unlimited access to speak to Dray. It was nice finding someone skilled in the field of puppetry since not every one possessed the extreme skills to perfect this technique which made it rare and feared too. At this moment, Dray would then notice the wrapped up items that rested on the young man’s back. Perhaps they were puppets, of course they were, there was no doubt about it because before Dray started sealing his puppets in scrolls, he used to wrap chi up and carry it on his back. Those were the early stages of a puppeteer, from cloth wrapping to scroll sealing.

“I took notice of you passing here and decided to introduce myself to you as a fellow shinobi, but your puppet has caught my interest now as well.” It was nice of him to come over and meet with Dray and him finding out that Chi was a puppet did not surprise Dray after Dray had found out that this person himself practiced the kagutsu arts. It took some sort of skill to actually realize that Chi was a puppet but not only Chi, all of Dray’s puppets. That was his best skill in this art, concealing the true nature of puppets and giving them real human appearances. The only ones that had been able to fully identify this puppet based on their first look was this Etsuo person and Ameryuu that tried to detect electrical signals from Chi but found none since all humans possessed electrical signals. “If you can understand, I don’t seetoo many puppeteers outside of my clan, and I’m fairly certain you weren’t one, but I must say that your craft looks impressive, from a distance, I didn’t recognize it for what it truly was.” So this Etsuo person was from a clan of puppeteers, he must truly have some good arts Dray thought and he must be good with them too. Dray imagined living with a clan full of puppeteers, making new puppets and new modifications everyday. It was truly a life worth living and Dray could not ask for something more than it but still he liked the life that he was living, working as a shinobi of the cloud. It was something to be proud of, to wear the village’s head band confidently and face all odds on behalf of the very village that took him in. What more could he do to show his gratitude other than work for the village. Seeing as Etsuo was, Dray could say that he did not seem to have a perfect life himself because if he did, what would he be doing alone at the cross roads of kumogakure no sato with nobody around.

If he was living in isolation, what could have been the reason for that. Dray dropped the many questions that spammed his brain and brought his mind back to the conversation. This Etsuo person had not allowed him to say a thing since the beginning of the conversation but Dray had no problem with it since he had a good retentive memory and all he had to do was review all that Etsuo Yukimura had said and produce a reply for him. “Hello for the first time and yes, I would say that we have not met until now for so many reason that there might be.” Dray would pause and then continue. “I am Zennyo Ryuo, a special jounin of the village hidden in cloud’s shinobi system and I need not tell you that I am also a practitioner of the puppetry art since you already figured that out. I would not deny the fact that Chi catches the eyes of so many people and it takes someone with some sort of skill to fully determine that this little buddy of mine is a puppet since I don’t even treat him as such.” Dray would say while looking at Chi and looking at Etsuo once more. “I would say it is nice to grow up with a bunch of people that are skilled in this art of puppetry since I don’t know too many people who utilize the skill and for all I know, this skill is rare and I have only seen myself use it in the whole of the hidden clouds village.” Dray would look at the items that were wrapped up on Etsuo’s back and being eager as to what type of puppets they would be, Dray would go on. “What have you over there and any particular reason you were sitting alone at the cross roads?”. Dray would ask while awaiting an answer.
WC:1185

It would seem that Etsuo's introduction for himself was going over quite well, with the other shinobi, that would go on to introduce himself to Etsuo. Things seemed to be going quite well, as they indeed, have never met before in their lives, the shinobi that was known as Zennyo Ryou, was a fellow special jounin, and a puppeteer, just like him. Zennyo would go on to explain that his puppet, named Chi, does catch many people's attention due to how he treats the puppet, Etsuo thought that was a very good trait to have developed, it shows that he has put a lot of work into what he has crafted, as should all puppeteers, be they novices, or even masters of the art.

Zennyo would mention about how he really hadn't seen other puppeteers, which would sadly be something that Etsuo didn't like to say but he agreed with but it was true, that there weren't many of the Yukimura clan that were actually active shinobi that could be found and noted, he was one of the few exceptions to this very statement. On the other hand, it was nice to grow up as a Yukimura, his family, while strict to protect themselves, they were very much a clan, and a family first off. "Yes, I must say even with my Clan, there aren't many of us that are active shinobi, in all honesty, my family faces quite a bit of troubles being a puppeteer clan of the village, as a whole the Yukimura Clan doesn't want to share it's techniques with the rest of the world. So, we receive the unneeded anger, envy, and jealousy of those that want such knowledge." He would go on to explain his expression becoming a little more depressed looking, due to having to remember that his brother died due to such reasons.

Afterwards, his fellow shinobi would point out Etsuo's own puppets and ask for the reason that he found himself in the crossroads of the villages, in response Etsuo would show a small smile, recovering from the depressing thoughts that he had previously, as he would go on to take each of the puppets off of his back, placing them on to the ground, unwrapping them, from what seemed to be concealing most of what they were.

Once they were unwrapped, they could be clearly seen as two puppets that were of a shape like that of a bug, from first sight, one could notice the wings that covered most of their body for someone looking above, on these wings appeared to be 4 kunai, these could be used to make the wings weapons themselves, or if Zennyo noted, they were attached to a launching mechanism. "They are the puppets that I've practiced with the most at this point in my life, they are called the "Fireflies"." Etsuo would explain as the chakra string known to all puppeteer would flow out from his hands. Zennyo could most likely tell that with the numbers of puppet strings that he was going for a very precise control of the two, meaning that he wasn't going to be facing any drawbacks while using them. At the moment that the chakra string would reach the two puppets, by Etsuo's command it be as if the two were truly coming to life as their wings opened up and the hoisted themselves up into the air as Etsuo moved them around for the other shinobi to see.

On the under body, another mechanism could be noticed, but it really didn't give too much hint as to what exactly what it did, however it could be noted that there was in fact two of the same mechanism or the puppet, meaning that it could be utilized multiple times at once, or at separate occurrences. In all honesty though, these mechanisms were in fact the reason that they were called the fireflies, for the fact that each of them were capable of shooting out a long flamethrower, capable of dealing quite a bit of damage to it's target, if it actually landed on target. Based on how they have been made as well, they moved very well and had decent durability themselves, Etsuo was very proud of what they are, and what they are capable of. "As for why I am in the crossroads of this village, is because I figured that it would be a good spot to come across people, I was interested in meeting the people that I haven't seen within this village, I was in fact traveling and outside of the village, so it has been quite a while since I came to crossroads of this village, if you can understand." He would go on to explain, for the second part of Zennyo's question.

Etsuo would go on to ask as his puppets were still moving around the area for anyone that passed by to see. "What do you think of them, as a puppeteer?" The young Yukimura was very curious as to what kind of answer he would receive from the shinobi that showed that he had great skill in crafting of puppets, and was probably even more skilled in the use of them. Today was turning out to be quite interesting, as Etsuo met this fellow puppeteer, that he hoped that he could go on to become good friends with in the end. That was one of the few things that Etsuo looked forward to while he pursued his goals of protecting his clan and village from within, making friends, and exploring the places that he already knew, having new experiences along the way. It would appear as if it was a rather childish goal and desire, but the young Yukimura, just wanted to make sure that he didn't lose any more than he already has, he has already lost his mother and his older brother, the people that were looking out for him, when he was much younger, in those early days.

WC: 1,000
All stats:
D1-D2 1,000/2,000

Being able to pull strings is a brilliant achievement but being able to pull these strings without them being seen was truly a work of extreme mastery. As Dray liked to view it, the world was just but a board with pieces scattered all over it. Some sections of the board represents a village or an organization and on the same board, there are pieces surrounding each section and these pieces are shinobis and whatever is able to be used to attack or defend by the sections which are the villages or organizations. These pieces are further classified such that there are head pieces and other ranks of pieces before finally coming down to the pieces that are the very pawns themselves, the sacrificial lambs. Even when he knew that he was a piece to a section that was the village hidden in the clouds, he still had his own rank and by himself he was beginning to pull strings that are only visible to few that possess not the eyes to see but the mind to feel. Not only through the pyhsical eyes could one see the whole of the world as it is but with the inner eye that resides in the mind can one truly take every thing in.

When he first came to the large gates of the village hidden in the clouds, he was but a blank sheet of paper and he was taken in and kept between other pieces of paper that the raikage kept in a common folder because that only meant that he was just a sacrificial piece that could either be used as a distraction or even a treaty or any blame of the village could be put on him if need be. That was what he needed to endure to survive but now, now, he had risen from being a common sacrificial piece to a ranking piece on the board that was called the shinobi system and even if the section referred to as the village still had the ability to use him as a sacrificial lamb because he belonged to them, he still had his own invisible strings to pull and individual pieces to rally to his cause to keep himself alive and attain a certain aim. He was a whole different person now such that he knew when to sacrifice a piece and when not to. Before sacrificing a piece, he must have evaluated the other ways and seen that taking those paths weren’t possible and even when he finally decided to sacrifice a piece, he did it for a worthy cause and while sacrificing this piece, he made sure that the goal for which the piece was sacrificed is achieved. A perfect example was when he went after the jounin crime boss in the abandoned mines. Even as he battled the jounin, he managed to keep his puppets out of harm’s way but after forming a plan to take down the opponent, he had to put his puppet’s safety in harm’s way again and he did so to achieve his aim of defeating the jounin crime boss. The world was just a board, whoever could see over the whole board could as well control it if he or she possessed the mastery required to do so.

Etsuo would then explain to Dray about his clan that was not all that friendly when it came to giving up their knowledge about puppetry and the hatred that this brought. The special jounin standing before Dray then took the bandaged item off his back and placed them on the ground as he began unwrapping them to show what they truly are. Dray could clearly see the likeness in which the puppets were made, they were like flies and he could also see that their wings happened to be kunais and these were attached to a launching mechanism. It was a brilliant idea indeed and Dray could not say that the fella had great skill but Dray on his own part did not like showing his puppets mechanism and he preferred to keep them hidden, making them true elements of surprise. Etsuo would go on and latch his chakra strings unto the two puppets that he called the fire flies and seeing from the number of strings he generated and put on each puppet, it showed that he was going for a more focused control on both puppets. The puppet’s wings opened up as they lifted off the ground and took to the skies and in that moment, Dray would see underneath the two puppets what happened to be flame throwers making him to understand why they were called fire flies.

The young man had actually come to the cross roads to meet with most people that passed by since he had been out of the village for a while. “What do you think of them as a puppeteer?” Etsuo would ask Dray. Now that was a relevant question to be asked and Dray hoped that once he gave his answer, it would mean something to the special jounin. He was going to say exactly what he thought and his thoughts were simple. “The structure of your puppets are brilliant such that they give you the chance to launch airborne attacks which are mainly useful to you and dangerous to the opponent in battle but there is only one thing that I find not quite appropriate and that is the wings mechanism which is fully visible but I’ll try and believe that the launching mechanism that actually allows the kunais to be shot out of their place is actually the element of surprise.” Dray would say with a little smile. He had spoken exactly what he was thinking, he did not say anything to make the ninja feel glad about his work or sad about it, he was just being himself and saying what he needed to say.

Dray would look to the skies at the fire flies that were flying gracefully, it was truly a pleasant sight but Dray could not deny that this person still had a lot to learn in the field of puppetry because sooner or later, he would need to control more than these two puppets and then, the basic chakra strings that he was using would not help the situation at all. “So, how about a walk down the cross roads?” Dray would ask Etsuo.
WC:1076

The puppets continued to fly around the area as Etsuo spoke to Zennyo about the various things that the young Yukimura was currently doing in the crossroads of the village, and about his two puppets, the fireflies. It was without a doubt within this hidden village to receive some form of an honest and educated opinion on the art of puppetry outside of the Yukumura Clan. Between the two, it was quite clear from a neutral perspective, that Zennyo was much more skilled in the art than the likes of Etsuo, however that was in fact, only one side of themselves. Indeed, each had not only puppetry, but other ninja arts to utilize for giving themselves even more of an edge in combat. Some could consider the puppets were the most dangerous parts of a puppeteer's formation, but sometimes, it could very well in fact be that shinobi that pulls all of the various strings. Sometimes, they might be those literal puppet strings that they utilize to manipulate the puppets that they breath life in to, on other occasions, it could be the invisible and unphased strings that can control and manipulate the living allies and enemies that they meet on the very same battlefields.

Etsuo was quite glad that the fellow puppeteer was pleased with some of the design, put in to his puppets, known as the "fireflies". Those two puppets would go on with their strings being pulled by the young Yukimura, come to resting point at either side of the two, might it be to the left or the right, all the while, he listened to what was being said about them. Specifically, he could come to an understanding on why the fully visible weapons were not favored, he was however ready to present the reasoning made in that design choice. "Ah, yes the kunai are visible for truly two reason, if it could be say that without a doubt, it is easily the first thing that catches your eyes no? It can cause attention be drawn to whether they will be utilized or not." He would explain first, showing a small smirk on his face.

"For those that are unfortunate to not be able to notice what the device implanted within them, or even the fact that such a device even exists, then it will be quite ugly, for those that rush into close distance against me or the puppets. My family devised techniques of puppetry formation that benefits their build. They can also do alright on their own, so long as they are operated in a pair, I would have to comment on myself by saying that this isn't good for a singe or stand alone puppet." Etsuo would say to finish his explanation with.

Next, the fellow shinobi, would go on to ask if the young Yukimura would join him for a walk in the crossroads of the hidden village, Etsuo did not really see any problem at all in giving this question a yes, over a no. Much more likely, Etsuo would love to solve any problem or concern that interfered with him having a longer conversation with the shinobi that stood before him. "Certainly, I would be glad to join you, just give me a moment to gather the wrappings for my puppets." He would answer with, and go on with what he said and gather they wrappings of the puppets as he would put them on each of his arms, then he would be ready to join Zennyo. Etsuo was not quite sure, where this shinobi would be heading, but he was at the crossroads of the village, so it must at least, been somewhere of interest to the puppeteer shinobi, just maybe, it was that the puppeteer was just wandering across the village. Where they were heading, if it was anywhere specific, was beyond the young Yukimura, but he had little cares of that, given that he was just tagging along at the moment to talk longer.

WC: 667
Total WC: 3,496

The fireflies as they were called kept  on flying above as the two puppeteers talked beneath. Dray would have loved to show off his own art but he had remembered what he said to the raikage in the exact words that he had said them. “.. A life where I would live for a cause and not  an applause. One where I would use my arts for the glory of the nation and not to impress or oppress other people with  it. One where I would offer my best not for others to feel my presence but for  them to feel my absence when I am gone. Such  a life is what I have chosen.” So trying to show  his arts just for the fun of it was a no. he was aware that he had violated that rule once but he was hardly going to  do it again. The  young man’s reply  on Dray’s view of his puppets was brilliant and even though Dray was not fully satisfied, he did not want to draw the matter too long after all a puppet master knows his puppets and if Etsuo said he had his reason for making  them so, what say did Dray have in the matter. Etsuo would then accept Dray’s offer to walk as he  would wrap up his puppets- fireflies, place them on his back  and walk the cross roads with Dray and Chi.

The two special jounins of the cloud village walked the cross roads without  meeting a single soul  out there.  It was a really  quiet day and most of the villagers seemed to be indoors. Dray had no specific reason for telling Etsuo to walk down the cross roads with him but like it always happened, he thought that a reason would pop up sooner or later. “You really  should get some scrolls and stuff those fireflies in it, you know. That way, it would be easier to  carry but I see you’ll might be building some stamina with carrying them  around.” Dray would say to Etsuo. As Etsuo would reply to Dray, the would keep walking down the cross roads as it seemed to have no end. Nowhere had no end but when the time comes, an end would be created for nowhere. Dray never believed in taking a fixed route to somewhere because he belived that tons of roads led to wherever one wanted to go. One just needs to be in the right circumstances to figure  out this roads. The great clouds of the village would clear a bit as the sun would shine brightly  unto the earth. It was probably noon and Dray was about  to have his regular check ups. The raikage had assigned medical shinobis  to check him at intervals so he had to leave Etsuo. “Etsuo, I have to leave now seeing as I would have an appointment soon. I heard the chunin exams are around the corner so see you there or maybe later.” Dray would say with a slight smile escaping  his lips before  he would cut to the left and triple his speed taking another route towards the village leaving Etsuo to wonder if there truly  was a way where Dray taken.

WC:541
Total wc: 3528
EXIT

Training: