Shindou and Sena found themselves far outside of Iwagakure’s walls, close to the Iwa-Konoha border. Sena, his green-haired sister, had insisted that they not waste their little money on replenishing the supply of Jofuku flower petals when she could easily pick them up close to the border. While a part of Shindou - the more logical part - was aware that there would be Iwa patrols nearby in case anything were to befall his sister, another part of him wanted to protect his sister, and that part was the one that won out, explaining why he was now here, walking beside his sister close to the border of Konoha in an attempt to search for the Jofuku flowers.

It had been worrying to hear that his sister had done this multiple times. Picking the Jofuku flowers was a dangerous task in itself, much less coupled with the fact that it was so close to foreign territory. There were rumours that improper handling of Jofuku flowers would cause them to release a dangerous pollen - a very powerful hallucinogen - that made you believe you were fighting your worst enemy. It was a very powerful defense mechanism reminiscent of the uses of Genjutsu, only that there was no known way to break out of it.

Granted, all this was merely conjecture. There was no proof that it truly happened.

Then again, there was no proof it didn’t.

Shindou scanned their surroundings as they walked while his sister tried to keep an eye out for the Jofuku flowers. As always outside of their home, Shindou had dressed in his enigmatic ninja uniform, covering all but his eyes, and even obscuring his mouth. The landscape they were in had given way to the more lush green grass reminiscent of the Land of Fire, even if they weren’t exactly there yet. Shindou could sense the presence of several patrols around the border, some moving quickly, others completely stationary.

“Over here!” Sena called out from a short distance away. She was standing in front of a bunch of Jofuku flowers, roughly five or six. “I’ve found them!”

“That’s not too many flowers,” Shindou pointed out as he approached.

“Well, they’re normally found on Konoha’s side of the border, so finding even a small batch like this is good enough!”

“Are you sure Iwa will be okay with us taking it then?”

Sena giggled. “The Iwa merchants get their supplies from more sophisticated sources. They don’t come out all the way here to pick Jofuku flowers unless they’re really desperate for some.”

“Okay then, come on. Let’s pick ‘em.”

Sena stopped him, however, with an urgent and comical spread of her hands. “No! If you uproot the Jofuku flowers, they’ll release a hallucinogen! I thought you knew this!”

“I did. I wasn’t planning to pick them. I was planning to dig them out,” Shindou pointed out. “You can neutralise the effect of the pollen at home, right?”

“Oh, um, yeah,” Sena replied, scratching her head abashed. “But still, I want to do it! I’ve been doing it very often! I know how to do this!”

Shindou relented, stopping in his tracks and shaking his head in amusement as his sister reached into her ninja belt and took out a kunai. It was ironic, how she was the one asking him for permission, even though everything he had was technically a result of the girl he had before him. His training, his (temporary) family… and now she was asking for his permission for something as simple as uprooting a flower. It was a dangerous flower, but nonetheless the knowledge she had done this before yet was now asking for his permission held a tint of irony in it.

Also ironic, though the more factual one, was that she was digging up the flowers with a kunai. The kunai was modeled after trowels long ago when farmers needed to defend themselves from animals or bandits, and had always resorted to using their trowels to do so, since they were often attacked while in the fields, or such equipment was all they had that was sharp enough to pose a threat. Taking inspiration from this, they fashioned tools which were more adept at fighting off unwanted people from their lands, thus leading to the birth of the kunai, which had been in use in fighting for centuries now. It was ironic to Shindou that they were now using kunai to do the work of trowels, when their ancestors had used trowels to do the work of the would-be kunai.

“It will only take a few minutes,” Sena said. “I can carry these around in my scrolls. You just wait, I’ll be done in a moment!”

“I suppose not letting me help doesn’t tie into your plan of not getting me to come around the next time you try to sneak out for some Jofuku flowers, does it?”

“Uh, of course not!”

Liar.

Even still, she was his lovable sister who couldn’t fib through her teeth if she had to. He stood a few feet behind her, watching her work while keeping watch on their surroundings in the green meadow as his sister got to work, hunched over the group of flowers.

WC: 887

It was already ten minutes into this weeks stand up meeting and Fukai was already getting ants in his pants. These weekly stand up meetings were the formal distribution of information to shinobi of chuunin and higher rank from the villages network of receptors. This allowed for an open and on the job appointment of upcoming tasks and issues that they would have to deal with. At first, Fukai had been excited to attend, finally getting to see a piece of the action, but he quickly found that this was more of a chore than anything. The captains rattled off reports to their troops for almost the whole morning before Fukai was released and able to get onto something productive. Very rarely was he referred any work from these meetings, usually the people with the best reputation took on the most vital tasks, and this put the young man low on the list. Today was a different story, however probably only because there was a bulky role of patrols on the south eastern border.

"This morning, our agents within the land of fire have noticed an increase in activity around the outlying provinces." An elderly jounin spoke in a gruff voice with himself bent over the table he was leaning on. "We need someone to deliver supplies and orders to them. Usually this would be a task for genin but they may also need someone to bolster their defenses should trouble come. We need our fastest agent on this job." He looked up at Fukai and a couple of others turned to him. His back throbbed in anticipation of the trip.

He stood at the gates, next to the checkpoint leaving the village. He was handed the hefty crate as well as signed orders and the location of the patrols. It seemed he would be intercepting them tomorrow morning if he ran forced march, throughout the night. He internally groaned at the thought, moving himself was not such a big deal as it was with the crate. He could use his scarf, but his strength would no doubt run out fast. He had only made it five minutes down the track before he ducked around the corner and set the box down. There had to be a better way of doing this. His boss had put him up to this because he apparently had the reputation of being fast. This was because of his style of chakra expulsion jutsu that propelled him at speeds faster than his peers. This was not so much help outside of battle, although. As his mind ran, he thought about how a long distance travelling jutsu would be useful on days like these. He may as well give it a shot, how hard could it be?

He thought about his old jutsus, and how he forced chakra out of his pores to accelerate himself forwards. Surely there was a way he could control this better. He took one step and pushed chakra out of his front foot. Instead of making contact with the ground, he trod air and fell off balance. Now, this was something. He did it again but this time taking care with his balance. He forced chakra out of his back and gave himself a push. The effect was like that of an ice skater except a foot off the ground. A smile sprang to Fukai's lips. He released the chakra and went over and picked up the box. This time he forced chakra out of his arms. This pushed the crate up and made it hover. He added a little controlled lift to it, letting it float next to him. This would be much easier. He then resumed the fuuton release from beneath him and pushed himself up and forwards. The white haired chuunin slowly slid over the mountain side. Now, to speed it up. He had plenty of raw power when it came to explosive chakra release, and with his control in place, he reckoned he could slash the upcoming travel time down to size. He exerted himself. The shinobi flew forwards at tremendous speeds straight away. He no sooner did that then he teetered on one foot and fell over into a heap with the crate landing on top.

After a few more minutes of feeling sorry for himself, he stood. He had determined that this technique was just too complex for longterm use. He would eventually lose focus and crash. Then he had a thought. He summoned the chakra to surround him once more, this time giving it a deep purple tinge and shaping it into the form of a ghostly horse. He held onto the imaginary saddle and placed the crate on it's back. This would make it easier to focus on what he was doing while he traveled the countryside. He checked his direction once more and then he was off. Fukai slowly increased the speed over time and before long, the surrounding landscape flashed by with a blur. He was still able to navigate around obstacles unimpeded. The rugged road did not stop him as he was hovering a foot off the ground. He simply glided at top speed.

It only seemed a few minutes before he noticed a couple of specs in the distance that quickly turned into human figures. He tried to stop slowly but it was just too late. He had to drop the jutsu all together and crash land. For the pair of witnesses, they would see a large purple and white ghostly steed charge forwards and then vanish, leaving a large figure to shoot over them. Fukai was diving face first but managed to make it over the two people. He outstretched his hands and tucked his head down into a forward roll. It would be too fast for a natural landing, his body would break apart on landing. With a quick reaction, Fukai shot fuuton out his wrists that coiled around his hands and connected with the ground. The chakra cushioned his fall and let him into a soft tumble. He rolled three times head over heels and then came to a stop, stepping up and turning around to see the male and female behind him and the bright flowers that he had narrowly avoided.

[1048]

Shindou remained four feet behind his sister, watching her hunched over form slowly dig up the delicate Jofuku flowers, making sure not to touch their roots whatsoever, before sealing them into one of the many sealing scrolls that she had brought along with her.

The area was, for now, clear. There wasn’t anyone nearby, unless you counted the few Iwa patrols that Shindou sensed along the border, one patrol in either direction. Both patrols were completely unmoving, but their chakra was still active, so Shindou only concluded that they weren’t attacked and left for dead, but rather the few outposts that Iwa had along its border, to act as deterrent to foreign forces as well as rest stops for its own ninja whenever they went on patrols or went on long-term, out-of-the-village missions. Either way, it seemed as if the coast was clear for now.

Wait…

Shindou felt it before he saw it.

A large concentration of chakra - not too much chakra to be fatalistic, but enough that it convinced Shindou the chakra came in the form of a person, rather than a jutsu being thrown at them. He turned his head to look at the incoming person and saw a dark figure approaching at a worryingly high speed.

His eyes darted between the figure and his sister, who still sat there without a care in the world, her focus purely on the flowers in front of her and making sure that her movements didn’t seem too threatening (even if she was practically digging them up). The figure was coming straight at them was… a horse?

No, someone riding a horse. He could see the faint outline of a person on the back of a horse, both still careening at speeds nearly unbelievable towards the two of them. Once again, he let his eyes dart towards his sister, though he made no gesture that alerted the incoming person that he had already noticed him.

Shindou did a check first. Was he heading towards them? It seemed that way. But why? Why would someone target him and his sister? The only and most likely explanation was that their father had come looking for them, demanding that his investments return to him. But their father couldn’t possibly have located them out here, and if he could, why not just get them when they were back in the village? Unless he had known about their location all this while, and was only waiting for both of them to be outside the village before he struck? That wouldn’t make sense. Shindou had been out of the village plenty of times. It would have been easy to take Shindou alone, rather than when he was with his sister, and it was also an easier task to take her within the village than outside, since it wouldn’t seem suspicious bringing an unconscious girl from outside back into the village.

Shindou backed up. What if the person wasn’t targeting him? They were on the border, and on the southeastern border, too. While a little off the beaten path, they were still on a path which was often frequented by Iwa couriers who had important packages to deliver to places that weren’t Konoha. That seemed like a reasonable explanation. The lack of activity by the nearby outposts also indicated that this person wasn’t a thread. If he was able to sense them, he was sure they were able to sense his presence, and to an extension, the incoming person, since no speeding ball of chakra would go undocumented for long. That meant this person was likely not a hostile threat - yet - but why was he careening towards them so quickly? Did he not see them?

Shindou calculated his trajectory. Was he going to crash into them? It seemed like it, and he almost got ready to evacuate his sister, by force if need be, Jofuku flowers be damned, only to realise that at the last moment the person also seemed to notice them, and began to rapidly slow down. Shindou rested his hand, satisfied that the person wouldn’t crash directly into them, and watched as the horse disappeared from view - a summon, perhaps? - and a lone boy was sent flying face-first into the dirt. Shindou watched the man cushion his fall with the predictable yet inventive use of wind jutsu, rolling three times before coming to a stop, before turning to regard Shindou and Sena.

Sena, by now, had already noticed the man who shot by, particularly because of the large gust of wind that had blown when he had shot past, and had used her body to shield the Jofuku flowers from the remainder of the strong gust. Both she and Shindou were no short of gratitude that Mother Nature had deemed such a wind not strong enough to trigger the Jofuku flowers’ defensive mechanisms, and Sena let out of a breath of relief before turning to look at the newcomer.

She made to stand, but Shindou, whose breath was still caught in case of danger, raised his hand slightly, motioning for her to stop.

“Keep digging,” he said. “I’ll talk to him. In case it’s danger, stay back. If it’s that danger, run.”

Neither of them needed to ask to know what that danger had meant. Throughout their lives they had lived with the possibility of being found out by their father, and if such a thing ever did come to pass, Shindou had convinced Sena to run and get backup, though what backup a girl like her could bring was lost on him, as he fought off whatever forces their father sent after them. While he had already determined this person to not be a messenger from their father, and not even a threat at that, he was still prepared as he walked towards the man.

“Are you sure, Shindou?” Sena asked, concern evident in her voice.

“Yes,” he replied. “You need the Jofuku flowers, don’t you? Keep digging then. I’ll talk to him, and if he has time and isn’t a threat, I’ll invite him down here if he wants.”

Seeing his sister nod in consensus, and making sure that his makeshift mask was still on, with the only part of his body visible his eyes and small tufts of cobalt blue hair dropping down his forehead, a few strands noticeable between his eyes, he walked to the stranger and greeted him.

“Hello. Can I help you?”

WC: 1095

He should have learned by now to field test all of his abilities thoroughly before use. Nothing more than lethargy for his task mixed with a dash of cheeky adventure had compelled him into something so dangerous. He had to start managing the ways he used his chakra, he was getting strong to the point where he could do irreparable damage to himself if he fooled around too much. The means by which he experimented with his jutsu was not a new thing, as he had always been on his own when it came to chakra manipulation training. He had never had a teacher or mentor and had to brave this world himself. In fact, he had discovered his elemental affinities himself, through an experience he had while he was meeting a young man by the name of Suutei. They had met amidst a storm on top of one of the peaks, the natural forces battering each other. That is where he had felt his body respond to the wind and the lightning. The elements of the storm and sky, they represented freedom and energy and contrasted with the signature earth of his country.

Thinking about the guy, he had heard rumors about him joining the Monoliths, the most prestigeous taijutsu regiment in the world. Here in the Land of Stone, he would receive much adoration for simply holding the title. He must be moving up in the world, a path that could lead to great power through the institution. This was something that Fukai thought he wanted too, to have some sort of weight meaning when influencing other people. He had always been a nobody, but now he was a slightly famous nobody that happened to do well in the exams.

All he could do was try to keep moving forward. And at the moment that was what he was doing. In fact, he was moving forward at such a pace that he was about to crash into to figures. He came hurtling towards them while cloaked in purple chakra. Fukai had a split second to make up his mind as to how he would react to the situation. He chose to try to jump over them. He took one last push off from his chakra suspension and leapt over the pair and cancelled his jutsu. He then tucked and rolled, spinning over himself a few times before standing. He was a little disoriented but still turned to face the pair of strangers. It was a man and a woman. The woman was crouched down and digging out flowers, seemingly quite unphased by the commotion, the male walked towards him. He was on the shorter side and his hair was blue. A red tattoo lined his right eye. A strange looking individual in a strange place.

“Hello. Can I help you?”
A mannered question, he seemed nice enough. Fukai faced him and dusted himself off.
"I am here on official business" He pointed to his forehead protector that held up the long silver fringe from his face. "This area had become a place of interest for Iwagakure". By the surrounding landscape, his meeting point was still a little east of here. "State your names and business". His meticulous attention to dusting of the red scarf around his neck detracted a little from his authoritative presence. The pair did not look like they meant any harm, they were probably out on a date or something but he needed to check regardless.

[581] /1629

“I am here on official business,” the man said, pointing to the familiar headpiece he wore on his forehead. It held up a small but long silver fringe, with it still ultimately draping down his face as a result of gravity, and looking rather comical after having been buffeted by the wind from his doubtlessly adventurous speedy journey. “This area had become a place of interest for Iwagakure. State your names and business.”

Shindou frowned underneath his black scarf, tied around his mouth to further keep his identity secret during his hours as a shinobi. ‘State your name and business’ were not normally words used to address one’s comrades. In fact, they were often words that held a tone of aggression and authority to them. Ignoring the tone that the man had set, those words alone had been slightly worrying, since Shindou couldn’t afford to start a fight here, not that close to his sister. They didn’t need to, though, since the two of them were fellow ninja of Iwagakure. Perhaps he didn’t know? But that couldn’t be, considering Shindou’s forehead bore his own forehead protector engraved with the symbol of Iwa.

Shindou took a small look behind him at his sister, who was still digging up flowers. He caught a slight movement as she moved one of them over a piece of flat land, with a layer of yellow - sealing parchment. She then drew on the paper and made a small seal, and with a small shimmer the flower and part of the dirt had disappeared into the seal, safe until they were back home. Satisfied that his younger sister had yet to set off the plants’ dangerous defenses, Shindou returned his attention to the man in front of him after a second’s delay, which he only afforded due to the man’s identity as an Iwagakure ninja.

“Don’t worry,” he said placatingly.

He realised his words would’ve held more weight had his entire face not been shrouded almost entirely in mystery. However, as a fellow ninja, not even needing to isolate them as those of Iwagakure, the man in front of him should understand the need for secrecy. Shindou was merely taking it a notch above the other ninja, with covering even his identity from most people.

“We’re from Iwagakure as well,” Shindou explained. “My sister, Sena, and I are simply on a small expedition. You can consider it a sibling excursion. She has a tendency to pick flowers. I have a tendency to not let her wander off alone. It’s not against the rules for Iwa shinobi to wander outside the village’s borders at times at their own leisure.”

That last bit Shindou felt the need to point out, since he didn’t want to be mistaken for having tried to escape Iwagakure. Betrayal of the village was one of the highest offences that anyone could commit, especially after they had sworn oaths to protect the village before they were allowed to wear the headband signifying themselves as the sword and shield of the village.

Shindou then noted the man’s uniform. A Chuunin. And with a package. Considering the speed he was going, he must’ve been trying to get somewhere quickly, and the package indicated that he was on a courier mission before Shindou and Sena had unwittingly gotten into the way of his mission. The mission must’ve been time-sensitive as well, of utmost urgency, considering he were travelling at top speed. Though, Shindou wondered if the contents of the box were able to withstand such high-speed journey, and if they would be able to survive such an accident at such a speed.

The man’s words returned to him. ‘This area had become a place of interest for Iwagakure’, he had said. They were currently located on the eastern stretch of the Land of Earth, bordering the Land of Fire and the Land of Waterfalls, though the border with the Land of Fire was much more relevant than that of the Land of Waterfalls, especially since that small piece of land no longer held much value for political parties, not to mention the Land of Fire also housed another of the five superpowers that dotted the continent.

“What interest would Iwagakure have in a place like this?” Shindou asked, not wanting to shoot in the dark.

He then met the other man’s eyes, and noted that they were a familiar hue of purple. In fact, they were the same shade of purple that he himself had gotten used to seeing after all these years, in the reflection in his mirror every morning before putting on his contact lenses.

Shindou, ever the curious child, had read up on his condition, hoping to find some medical answer or explanation as to why his eyes were like that since his birth. The answer had not been a disease, but rather a genetic mutation that he should have been proud of. The Fantomusodo Clan was a clan that held some influence to their name in Iwagakure and the Land of Earth, with the distinct characteristic of members of the clan being the purple eyes that each member bore.

At least, that was the most likely answer. He could only hope that awakening his dojutsu confirmed it.

“I see you have purple eyes,” Shindou pointed out. “Odd, even amongst shinobi and clans. Are you from the Fantomusodo Clan? What’s your name?”

WC: 919 + 1095 + 887 = 2901

The two young men stood across from each other in the middle of the field. The mountain landscape had leveled out a while ago and there was not much more than grassy pastures around them. Fukai had a job to do but he wasn't expected there for another few hours yet so it wouldn't be an issue if he was held up here. That being said, it would be best if he carried on to the meeting point. He also didn't want to hang around with these two for too much longer. Out here in the field it was a tense atmosphere, especially when there was potential conflict around the corner.

The masked man spoke of him and his sister picking flowers out here. A strange answer, why would they pick flowers out this far when there were places that they could do it that were much closer to the village? The man looked conspicuous, with cloth over his face, although that wasn't unusual for shinobi. Fukai had seen his forehead protector but that wouldn't change how he would react as it was easy for those outside the village to obtain one and even simpler to make one. A strange pair, in a strange place. Fukai wasn't sure whether he bought their story or not. But it didn't really matter if he did or not, the outcome would be the same. He had no reason to persecute them further. If they were an invading force or a spy, there was nothing he could do to distinguish them that the village defenses couldn't handle. If they were running away, that again was none of his business, if the state wanted to track them down then they would, Fukai had no particular care if someone wanted to leave unless they carried information that could prove harmful. All the same, the male hadn't provided his name.

“What interest would Iwagakure have in-"
Fukai would interrupt him, a little astonished that he would have the nerve to ask for information that he was not privy too. "That is none of your concern." If this man was indeed a shinobi of the state then he should know better than to inquire into such matters. At this point, Fukai was ready to turn around and leave again but the boy asked about his clan, noticing the purple eyes with the black vertical line through it. This peculiar interest that came out of the blue surprised the young man. It was not often that people knew of his clan, even in the village it wasn't too famous. After all, his entrance into the chuunin exams was the first time that his clan was shown to the world, the first time his doujutsu was broadcast out. Despite this, the use of the eye had still remained shrouded in mystery. He made a mental note to acquire some contacts to hide himself in future. Such an obvious eye would make him easily identifiable. Especially when the rest of himself had such a recognisable look, what with the white hair and red scarf, that he wasn't much of a hidden shinobi.

"Yes... I am of the Fantomusodo, but before that, I am a ninja of the Hidden Rock. My name if Fukai and I believe that you didn't give yours."

[562] /2191

“What interest would Iwagakure have in-”

Of course, before Shindou had finished his question, he got abruptly cut off.

“That is none of your concern,” the man had snapped.

It had been a little harsh, and very, very rude. Far too rude for Shindou to let it slide unnoticed. Though, he supposed he couldn’t fault the man. After all, here he was at Iwagakure’s border picking flowers. Even he would have been suspicious if he had seen another pair acting like this, and he supposed that his presence - a combat ready shinobi, Genin or otherwise - didn’t help diffuse the situation much.

Was this the type of greeting that his sister always received whenever she came out here on her own to pick flowers? Shindou’s blood almost boiled at the very thought of rough men verbally or physically preying on his sister, using their authority or size as a way to push the younger girl around. However, it was also possible that, because it was only her and she wasn’t an officially registered ninja of Iwagakure, that no one found fault with a young girl picking flowers at the border before returning to Iwagakure.

In essence, this was also mostly his fault for worrying. If the tension hadn’t been so high in the air, Shindou may have laughed at the entire thing. As it was, though, Shindou kept his eyes transfixed on the ninja before him, even with the knowledge that this man was part of the Fantomusodo clan, a clan whose eyes were rumoured to be able to lock you down with just a single look. Such rudeness accompanied by looking away only cemented guilt and subservience, and Shindou was feeling neither of those emotions today, even though one would be justified by Iwagakure’s chain of command.

“I see you have purple eyes,” Shindou had pointed out before. “Odd, even amongst shinobi and clans. Are you from the Fantomusodo Clan? What’s your name?”

To this, the man in front of him had replied, “Yes… I am of the Fantomusodo, but before that, I am a ninja of the Hidden Rock. My name is Fukai and I believe that you didn’t give yours.”

From that, Shindou’s eyes narrowed again and his mouth twitched upwards in a smile, hidden underneath the scarf which hid his lower face.

“So you are of the Fantomusodo clan,” Shindou said. “Well then, Fukai, my name is Shindou Genzou, and I do believe that you have not only proven unnecessarily rude to a fellow member of your village, but also to a fellow defunct member of your clan, absent as I may have been the past two decades. It is interesting that we would be to meet though, but I understand your dissatisfaction with our presence here. As such, I will leave.”

He turned around and walked back to his sister, who had only finished sealing the third of the Jofuku flowers, considering the two rolled up scrolls by her side, and the one more that she was currently rolling up. She looked up at him from her position on the ground, and she could tell from the look on his eyes that they were to leave. Sena would send one look behind him at the man who had seemed to cause her brother such distress, before packing up the three scrolls and placing them in her pockets, before standing up and nodding to him silently and subtly.

The two of them would then begin to walk away, but Shindou would turn his head to face Fukai one more time, whether the man was looking at him or not. “It was nice meeting you, Fukai of the Fantomusodo, and I again apologise for our presence. But trust is the bond that holds us shinobi together, even above rules and regulations. Treat your fellow ninja with distrust, and the thin fabric holding our society together,” with that, Shindou turned back to face the front, away from the man, “tears. And it may then be too late to pick up the pieces.”

With that, he left the vicinity, walking straight back towards Iwagakure with Sena following him by his side. His thoughts were racing. A confrontation with the man at this juncture would be very unwise, and there was no doubt that Shindou was in no position to fight Fukai, both from the perspectives of authority and in the difference in their skill and experience. No, he would back off here, but he knew that the next few days would not be filled with tranquil thoughts.

If a Chuunin could get as political as Fukai had, claiming to be first and foremost a ninja of Iwagakure rather than a ninja of his clan, then politics were worse and more pervasive than Shindou had thought. There was nothing wrong being a ninja first and foremost of a hidden village before your loyalty to your clan, but to be fanatical about it to the point of declaring it prior to requesting someone’s identity held a small, subtle jab to it, as if he had been expecting Shindou to proclaim the same thing.

And Shindou was not happy with that.

Just like with many things that fell under the realm or touch of politics, he was unhappy. He seldom got unhappy; in fact, most of the times he just got displeased. But this time, he was strongly aware of his rooted discontent at the entire issue, and he would fix it.

There would be a lot of work to be done, and he wouldn’t be as foolish as to desert Iwagakure or make an enemy out of any one of the five nations, but he would need to do something about the growing perversion that politics made of their trust, of their bonds, and of their loyalty. If anyone were to remain safe in this world in all forms - body, mind, heart, and soul - then they would have to find a place where politics didn’t threaten to tear them apart.

If only such a place existed. If only.

[Exit]

WC: 1019 + 2901 = 3920

Training Speed from E-3 to D-0: 300 words
Training Strength from E-0 to D-0: 750 words
Training everything from D-0 to D-1: 1625 words, 125 ryo
Training Endurance, Perception, and Reaction Time from D-1 to D-2: 1200 words, 150 ryo

Remaining WC: 3920 - 300 - 750 - 1625 - 1200 = 45

Total ryo = 275 ryo

Fukai watched the man release words at him in a wave of angst. His name was Shindou Genzou and apparently he was what he called a defunct member of the Fantomusodo clan, whatever that meant in his case. Fukai certainly didn't have any clue as to who the guy was, he was sure that if he had met such a unique personality. Shindou reminded him of the young Hyuuga boy he had met in the village hidden in the clouds named Satsuji. The boy was a strange one, he had a background that contrasted greatly with Fukai's own and a demeanor to match. Fukai stood there without budging while the male said his part and then left. Such a peculiar reaction to what Fukai considered a routine checkup. Did he forget his place as a part of the military base that was Iwagakure? It wasn't personal, just necessary as part of the current events. Some people were just like that though, the indignity was obviously too much to bare. To be fair, he had just crashed their date, quite literally.

Fukai watched as they walked off, picking up his crate and gathering himself for the last part of his journey. Shindou.. He would have to find out more about the guy. But for now, he would turn his attention back to the task he had originally come out for. He had to get these supplies and orders out to the patrol team. Such was life these days, a growing demand of his attention and ability. It was slowly getting closer to the point that the villages' problems were his personal problems. He summoned the fuuton to surround him once more. Lets see if we can go for a smoother ride this time. He was slowly lifted into the air, hovering a foot off the ground. A purple ghostly horse materialised between his thighs, lifting up and off. A slow trot and then canter and after that a gallop...

[331] /2522
~exit~

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