Syekren sat in his chair within his quarters in the ANBU facility underneath the administration building, reading over a letter. He'd recently been promoted to Jounin and had been rather lax in doing much other than patrols and the odd mission or two. Which is why he was surprised he'd received a letter addressed not to him, but to his ANBU name. As an ANBU, his name was basically completely wiped from all public records and as such it was unlikely that anyone other than the administration building would know who he was.  Sometimes he'd be asked for personally to take on missions, other times, he'd simply be mentioned in passing, as he was an Uchiha. Otherwise, nothing was known about him and no one knew how to contact him. But the letter he was holding showed that some people did. Not people he could say no to, either. As he read the letter he sighed, making a mental note of it. The letter read as such:



Syekren glared angrily at the page of the scroll for a few long minutes after he'd finished reading. He was quite angry that the Elder Council had the gall to call upon him as though he were their own personal tool. He had no allegiance to them, only to his village and to his Kazekage. The problem being that while he felt that way, he knew in his mind that he was at their disposal as well. The elders had just as much power over him as the Kazekage did. With a few exceptions as to how he was utilized and promotions and such. Still, he was bound by his oath to his village to seek them out and see what they wanted with him, following their orders for the time being. It was all he could do to not go in there and slaughter the lot of them. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place, remembering his meeting with Daraku just days before.

Following the instructions on the scroll, Syekren set the scroll upon his desk and touched his thumb to the seal. With his chakra, he activated the seal upon the scroll, setting it aflame. With that done, he shook his head and looked around the room, deciding to get ready. He was in his boxers, as he'd just been woken up to the message so he had to actually pull on clothes. He started first with black tight socks and his black shinobi tight bottoms. Instead of his sandals he slipped into soft step slippers that were supposed to be designed to make less noise, but he stepped carefully even with them on to reduce noise. Once this was done, he ignored his netted shirt and usual gi top, instead slipping on a tight-fit shinobi long sleeve which was also black, matching his outfit. Then came the ANBU standard armor. He quietly slipped the leg guards on, fastening them tightly. It'd been a while since he had to put this on, but appearances and all that. after which, he slipped the chest piece over his head and fastened everything down, completing his ensemble which protected his legs, torso, and shoulders. Once this was done, he grabbed his mask and exited the room, cinders of the scroll burning out.

Syekren made it into the hallway and shook his head, turning to the normal path out, noting the direction he'd need to take. As he walked, the man slipped his mask on over his face, the string holding up the mask on the back of his head. Hizencho silently stepped through the hallways, his movements making no sound, thanks to his armour. It took him but ten minutes to find the correct passages and end up at a hatch in the floor, pushing it open to climb out. He ended up in the back of the administration building within a room that was hidden behind a false wall that was parallel to the room he was to meet the elders in. Hizencho silently closed the hatch behind him and moved to the false wall, pressing a sunagakure no sato symbol, activating a mechanism that would slowly open where he was as a door. When it was open, he stepped through into a hallway, the wall closing once more behind him, becoming nothing.

Once he was in the hallway, the ANBU made his way across the hall to the sliding door of the elder's meeting room. With a deep breath, he slid it open to the right and got down to one knee. He was on his left knee, his right one still up to support his right arm resting upon it. His left hand was in a fist, pushed to the ground on the left of his left leg. He looked down to the ground, as was customary, waiting for a few minutes before he spoke. He activated the mask's voice changing function to have his voice mimic that of an Uchiha from Kumogakure no Sato whom had been killed at his hands. It was soft, and childlike. More boyish than his own real voice.

"I am here to answer a summons."

Five heads sat at a 'U' shaped table. Two on the left, two on the right, and one at the center, behind it. Hizencho was waved inside and he stood, walking into the room. He turned as he entered, closing the sliding door behind him before he went to sit in the middle of the table's gap in front of ten watchful eyes. There was a cushion upon the floor that he sat on, looking quietly at the ground. Much as he seethed with rage, Hizencho would observe the laws and traditions of the village, no matter how he felt. The first of the five heads had waved him in. An elderly woman of fifty, clad in violet robes. The second head of them was a portly gentleman of fifty-five, clad in deep blue robes. The third and fourth seemed to be twins of sixty, both male and both rather wiry, clad in stone grey and dirt brown robes. The final head was the leader, a wizened man of about fifty, but with hawklike eyes and an expensive looking golden robe.

They looked over the ANBU before them, silently judging him. The Elder within the golden robe nodded to violet and she quietly procured three scrolls from within her robe. This would be what they were waiting for and she would set each scroll upon the table in front of her, lining them up perfectly straight, two inches apart. With a large hand, gold would sweep over the direction of the scrolls, causing Hizencho to look up and turn his head to acknowledge them. He made a note of the three and the symbols upon them. There was Romaji for "Slum", "Outpost", and "Gate". He assumed each one had a mission for him to carry out at the designated areas. Hizencho turned his attention back to the man in gold, awaiting his orders.

"You are to take one scroll at a time and follow the orders written within them down to the very letter. Upon completion, you are to dispose of the scrolls in the same way you did to the letter that was sent to you. These missions are of vital importance to the village, and you are expected to be quick and discreet. We chose to bring you here in the middle of the night so that these missions would be under cover of darkness. No one can know what you do or where you go. You are a shadow of the village, nothing more and nothing less. Complete these tasks we have for you with the utmost diligence. That is all."

Nodding quietly, the ANBU stood and made his way over to the table, eyeing the scrolls. "Outpost" would take the longest, so that would have to be saved for last. "Slum" was probably the closest, and this was all just going off of name alone. Nodding once more, the ANBU took the "Slum" scroll from the table and slipped it into the space between his armor and clothing, an effective pocket. With a low bow to those present, he turned on the spot and walked back to the door, pulling it open. Before he left, there was a cough, a throat clear from the man in gold and he turned his head silently to look back at the elder. He awaited what further instruction might come.

"Not even the Kazekage may know of these missions. Do not disappoint us."

With a curt nod from the elder, the ANBU left the room, closing the door behind him. With anger burning underneath the surface, Hizencho walked down the hall to a window at the end of the walkway and opened it. He couldn't figure out why they wanted him to take one scroll at a time, but figured that they may be trying to keep their tracks covered. More evidence meant more of a chance that they could be implicated instead of this being the work of one lone ANBU operative. Shaking his head, Hizencho jumped out of the window, into the night. He landed with a soft 'kss' in the sand, and made his way down the darkened, empty streets, sticking close to the sides of the buildings so that his form was bathed in shadow. He would not be seen, and would not be found. His missions had officially gotten underway and he would do everything he could to follow his orders, while trying to gather intel on these five heads as he could. There was little else he could do other than follow their orders and wait for the time being. Should he find their acts to be evil and take matters into his own hands, He would most certainly be ostracized and possibly be made a criminal, if not killed. That was something he could not afford at this point in time and would have to force himself to do what they asked against his better judgement. The ANBU named Hizencho allowed himself to work through the night, under the cover of shadows, to do what must be done.

It would take him a while using stealth and shadow to reach his objective. This was his point. Hizencho was doing his best to take his time while he formulated a plot to deal with the treasonous elder council. They had specifically told him the Kazekage was not allowed to know. If he could not turn to the leader of Sunagakure no Sato, who could he turn to? He was needed in the village, he was their protector. He had to bide his time and attempt to find evidence of this treachery before he'd mention anything to the Kazekage. Knowing the elder council's reputation, they would stop at nothing to make sure he was discredited and dishonored, possibly discharged as a lunatic. The anger that had seethed in him before was stronger now, but he'd have to control it to the best of his abilities, lest he do something rash and stupid.  This was his first mission of three for the night. He hadn't even begun and was already swelling with rage at the thought of the treasonous acts he felt were being committed in the name of 'the village's safety.' Hizencho felt as though they said such to make what they were doing seem innocent. There was no time to think on this now, however, as he'd reached the entrance to the slums, a sandstone archway in a long wall that separated it from the rest of the village.



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Hizencho stood quietly, staring at the archway, analyzing the dirty sandstone. He noted the fine grains that clung to it, the winds the country was known for unable to blow them completely away. There was no door, only a small entrance so that no more than one or two could fit through at a time. Though the poor and downtrodden were separated from the rest of the village by a wall and a few archways, there were no guards to keep them from coming in and out. They were only partially alienated. Hizencho shook his head at the thought of forcing citizens of the same village to the worst part of it, simply because they were down on their luck. Somehow, he'd be sure to do something to change this. For now, he'd have to open up his first task scroll and find out exactly what he'd be doing once he stepped inside the sand dune slums. With a cautious once around to ensure no one was watching, the ANBU slipped into the archway, concealed in shadows. He then reached into the space between his armor and clothing, procuring the first task scroll from before. Without hesitation, he broke the seal and opened it, to read what was written within.



Below this were three locations with names next to them: Disgruntled Snake, Kaze. Drunken Boar, Kami. And finally: Mary's Menage de Trois, Illian. Three names, likely aliases, but each one a contact for Hizencho to meet with and collect a parcel from. It sounded completely simple from the scroll he was looking over, but if the ANBU knew anything, it wouldn't be. With a repressed sigh, the seal was touched with his thumb, activating the chakra within it to cause the scroll to become aflame, just as before. The ANBU dropped the burning paper to the ground and watched it for a moment, the flickering blaze casting light upon his mask, obscuring half in shadow. If any thing was seen, it was an eye shining behind the slits in the mask, dark blue and burning with rage. Without waiting for the flame to finish, Hizencho left the archway and made his way into the slums to continue towards his destination. His first stop would be the Disgruntled Snake and to meet with a contact named Kaze. What would the night have in store?

The flames died out not long after the ANBU had left them, leaving no trace of what had been burned. Out of shadow stepped another figure, clad entirely in black, even continuing to their armour they wore. Their eyes watched the figure of the ANBU walking away, a face hidden behind a porcelain mask resembling a coyote. Without a word or any sound, the figure would disappear, as if they were never even real. Something else was happening within the village at night, and not only was Hizencho working to complete his mission, someone was following his steps to their own ends. If anything could go wrong, it was being followed by a mysterious figure and being none the wiser. Or was Hizencho allowing this mystery figure to only think that? Time would tell.

Hizencho had felt the eyes on his back, and had known something was going on. The elders didn't seem to think he would be up to snuff when it came down to it. As they'd sent someone else to follow him along. This was just as well, for after the figure had departed, the form of Hizencho had left the shadows of the archway once more. He'd used the shadows' cover to conceal himself as he made a clone and sent it on its' way. By positioning himself just right next to the clone, he had made it seem as though the clone had burned the scroll and walked off, leaving it to burn. While one would be distracted watching the burning paper fall to the ground, they wouldn't see the highly trained operative slip back into the shadows next to his mimicry, eyeing the place the figure had come from. You don't get as far as Hizencho did by being oblivious to what was around you. Not long after he'd stepped from the shadows, the clone had reached its' range limit and disappeared into nothingness. It was time to move and continue the mission, keeping a wary eye on the shadows as he did so, to be assured no one would follow.

Instead of taking the streets as his clone had, Hizencho moved close to a building next to the archway, concealing himself in the shadows there. After a few seconds he'd concentrated chakra into the soles of his feet, climbing stealthily upwards. The ANBU scaled the building quickly and stood up in a crouched position upon the roof, scanning the area. Seeing the sign of a rattlesnake in the distance, he would move towards it on the roof's side opposite of the position of the moon. While everything else would be bathed in the light, his body would be consumed and enveloped by shadow. This was the way of a shinobi and of the ANBU. To see without being seen. A rookie in the ninja world may not have noticed they were being tailed, but not this jounin. He never once trusted the elders and knew they'd have a trick or two up their sleeves. Too bad for them that so did he. With his agility, he easily crossed the first roof and leaped to the second, landing without a sound. On the third roof in line, crouched just behind a low wall was the figure from before, clad in black. They seemed to be waiting, to see if he had simply used a stealth ninjutsu to disappear from sight and was still in the street. While they watched below, Hizencho moved across the second roof silently and unseen, leaping to the next.

Upon the third roof, he continued to crouch, moving around a few objects such as barrels and crates to mask his presence. Even with the ANBU sensory jutsu his armour kept him from being detected. At this range, there would be no helping this poor interloper. With the silence of death and speed of a snake striking, the ANBU moved around the last crate and approached the crouched individual. At one meter behind the figure he could see that this was no typical ANBU and was probably a secret task force member for the elder council themselves. No matter, as he couldn't afford to be tailed the entire way to complete his missions. Ally or no, Hizencho could not allow such a thing to pass and with a quiet quickness, he reached out and wrapped his arm around the throat of the individual. Just as quickly as that happened, near simultaneous, his other hand pushed the back of the figure's head forward, the first hand linking into the inner part of his elbow. Five seconds passed of this choke and the figure was unconscious. Never knew what had happened, and would be none the wiser.  Hizencho laid the figure upon the roof, looking over their body for any indication of who they worked for, finding only a scroll with the elder council's seal upon it. The scroll had the kanji for "Hizencho." The ANBU nodded curtly to the figure and pushed the scroll into the space between his armor and clothing, filling a pocket.

With that taken care of, the ANBU slinked back to the shadows and continued his crouch run along the rooftop, jumping to the next. It was only another one hundred and twenty seconds until he reached the final rooftop, over looking the street in front of his directive. Drunkards and whores littered about. The latter calling out to passersby and the former, promising a 'good time' for petty cash. The ANBU observed the all silently, shaking his head. He listened to voices of those about and picked his target: a drunken man, slightly over weight, stumbling into an alley to relieve himself. He mumbled about women and expenses while from the shadows of a building, a figure slipped down from a rooftop, landing without a sound.  Dark blue eyes stared from between slits in a porcelain mask, waiting for the man to finish what he was doing before striking. Hizencho reached out after the zipper was heard, pulling on the shirt of the drunkard to slip him into the shadows. A "whu tha.. urgh" later and he was unconscious, put in the same hold as the figure from the rooftop.  Once the drunk was unconscious, Hizencho quietly activated another jutsu, his form poofing in a small cloud of smoke, replaced by a replica of the drunk unconscious in the shadows. The eyes were still a sharp blue, glaring down at the victim quietly. With a shake of his head, Hizencho quietly stepped away from the sleeping form and walked out of the alley.

Stumble, fall, laugh. He mimicked what he had seen near perfectly, burping as he stood. With his mask's ability he was able to mimic the drunkard's voice perfectly. He approached a bouncer at the door, laying a hand on his shoulder, and leaning, chuckling. "Hey derr men.. am.. hic.. Am lookin' fer Kazer. Kazur? Kam? Noo.. it was er.. hic.. Kaze! Das righ' dat guy!" The bouncer glared at the drunkard for a moment, before nodding him inside. With a wave and a burp, the drunk sauntered towards the door nodded to, a side entrance to the pub. He stumbled over his own feet, leaning against a wall for balance as he walled, chuckling to himself and waving at a few prostitutes as he walked by them. Once he was out of sight at the door, the act was dropped and he stood straight, looking around. With the same glare and fire in his eyes, Hizencho opened the door, stepping into it to be greeted with heat and muffled music.

This was separated from the pub on the other side by near sound proof walls. While at first it seemed a pub though, it turned out to be some sort of dance club. Shaking his head again, Hizencho walked down the hallway, towards a door at the end. As the ANBU passed through an area devoid of light, covered only in shadow, his form had reverted somehow in the midst of walking through the darkness. On the outside of the door he stood silently, before a hand raised to knock with three solid raps. 'Come in' was heard from a gruff voice and the door opened to show a tall bald man, mountain of muscle he was. He glared down at the grinning feline mask, which stared back at him. The man moved to the side to show the figure to a guy behind a desk, waving the ANBU inside. When Hizencho entered, the door was closed behind him, muscle guy blocking it and crossing his arms over his chest.

Kaze, the man behind the desk, was surrounded by four beautiful woman clad scantily. There were three other muscle bound men in this room, all standing and wearing a uniform of black shirts and blue jeans, arms crossed and watching the armoured, masked fellow. Without a word, Kaze motioned to a package on his desk, roughly the size of a thick and large printed book. It was an orange shipping envelope and looked packed fully.  Quietly, Hizencho grabbed the parcel and stuffed it in the space between his armor and clothing, with the scroll in a sort of pocket that was formed there. After which, the ANBU bowed to the other male behind the desk and turned to leave, looking at the guy blocking the door. Kaze coughed a bit and spoke from behind the man, while Hizencho waited to leave.

"You tell those elders of yours that there is more to come should they take care of my little problem."

With a nod and a wave, the muscle mountain moved from Hizencho's path, opening the door for him. Bowing once more, the ANBU made his way from the room and walked once more down the hallway of the establishment. Upon hearing the door close again, the ANBU reached in to procure the scroll from before, acquired from the other figure. The parcel he was sent to collect was definitely money, a lot of it, so what did this scroll have to do with it? Stopping in the darkened part of the hallway, the ANBU stopped to crouch and sit against the wall, breaking the seal holding the scroll closed. With a small movement, he unrolled the scroll to open it and expose the words to his deep blue eyes. Anger flashed behind his mask as he read.



Barely able to contain his anger, Hizencho activated the seal with his thumb and caused it to become alight with flame. He was being played this entire time. They knew he would find the tail and take care of them, they were counting on it in fact. He'd have to play his cards carefully if he wanted to make it out of this alive and protect the village. For now, he'd have to move onto his next objective: Kami of the Drunken Boar. With a silent sigh, Hizencho stood and left the shadows, walking quickly down the hallway. He tried to piece everything together in his head, but so far all he had was a large parcel of money and two more parcels to collect, after which he'd have two more tasks to complete. It was too early to be sure what was going on. But rest assured, the ANBU would not quit until he figured out what was going on. There was a disturbance outside the door as he reached it, his hand coming to find the handle hesitantly.


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Hizencho stopped in his tracks, gripping the handle still. The noise outside was about the drunk guy from before claiming he'd been attacked outside his club. That didn't make sense though, Kaze owned the club that the ANBU was currently in. So why... wait! The ANBU turned back towards the now closed door. There was something very wrong here. He was supposed to have answered a question that was asked of him. The problem was that the question was never asked and the code phrase was never given.  Letting go of the door handle, the ANBU made his way back through the hallway, glaring through the slits in his mask. Upon reaching the door once more, he knocked and was greeted with the wall of meat again. He pushed his way into the room quietly, the door being slammed behind him by the thug, who stood in front of it once more. The other thugs in the room stood up again, now on edge at the return of the masked man. 'Kaze' sat behind the desk with the women, pushing them away to lean forward and put his hands upon the desk, standing.

"I thought our business was concluded? What are you doing back so soon, Mask?"

"When is the sand ever forgotten?" Was all he said.

"What? What the hell are you talking about?"

That was all he needed. When the man didn't know the code phrase or why the question was asked, the ANBU made his move. With a swift kick, his heel collided with the jaw of the thug behind him at the door, knocking him from his feet. The others began to move and Hizencho pulled from his tool pouch three shuriken and a kunai. With one sweep of his hand, one shuriken was tossed to the throats of the other muscle bound men in the room. They fell almost in unison, before their bodies had touched the ground the ANBU had crossed the room, kunai out, pushing towards the throat of the impostor, hatred in his eyes. To impersonate someone during a mission like this was a horrible mistake for someone to commit. Movement from behind the ANBU told him that doorman got up and was shaking off the feelings that associated being previously knocked out, such as dizziness. When he was charged, the ANBU jumped up, flipping over the man who then ran into the desk, turning to try and attack again. When the turn was completed, the ANBU quickly moved the kunai across the thug's exposed throat, slitting his jugular and moving away from the blood as well as the falling body.

When no more obstacles stood, the ANBU quietly moved around to collect his shuriken, replacing them into his tool pouch. Without skipping a beat, Hizencho pulled the envelope from his armour pocket bit and placed it upon the desk, pointing his kunai at the man behind it "Open it." The fraud behind the desk shook his head and looked incredibly fearful. This was all the ANBU needed to know that this was dangerous. Seconds later, the drunk from before opened the door, looking around and glared angrily in the direction of the two, the four scantily clad women hiding and whimpering in a mass within a corner of the room. The drunk man looked between the two and the envelope, storming over to grab it and shoving it to the man behind the desk's chest. "Out, Kokiro. Out. You.. Mask. When is the sand ever forgotten?" Hizencho watched the other man leave and turned back to the new arrival, contemplating silently.

"When it lies in shadows."

A nod and the man reached into the desk, procuring another envelope, identical to the last. Hizencho watched him and placed his kunai back into his tool pouch. He handed it off to the ANBU, waving him out. With a nod, Hizencho placed the envelope between his armour and clothing, walking to the door. There was cursing behind him but he disregarded it and opened the door, exiting and closing it behind him. Hizencho had completed the first part of the mission, and made his way down the long hallway once more. He had two more stops to make and would have to hurry if he wanted to get all three tasks done in a timely matter tonight. He'd make sure to take down everything in mind, pulling a notepad and pencil from his gi pants pockets. He clicked the pen and exposed the tip to write down a few things, then clicked again and replaced both items, the page he wrote on reading a new piece.



With that, the ANBU made his way the rest of the way down the hall and reached the door, opening it. He stared over at an angered Kokiro and quietly jumped up to a wall, bouncing off to hit the rooftop and run off into the night. There was a single witness to what he'd done other than who he was supposed to meet, but it was not his prerogative to deal with everyone. He was sure that Kaze would have his own methods for the treacherous man. It took him only a few minutes of rooftop jumping to reach his next location: The Drunken Boar. Here he was to meet someone named Kami. Hizencho silently jumped a few more rooftops to reach the top of the Drunken Boar, looking down to the entrance. A rather large man walked round the side of the building, turning his head back and forth, checking a watch as though he was expecting someone.

The guy patted his belly as he waited, a rather rotund thing and Hizencho sighed, moving his form to jump down from the building, kicking off the opposite wall to land beside the man silently, leaning against the wall next to him.  The ANBU crossed his arms, coughing. The large man seemed rather unsurprised and checked his watch, shaking his head. "When is the sand ever forgotten?" With a yawn, the ANBU responded. "When it lies in shadows." With that, the rotund man handed off an envelope, just like the first and waddled back around the side of the building to go back to his business. With a shake of his head, Hizencho placed this with the first envelope and jumped back against the wall, flipping to the opposite wall, kicking off to land upon the rooftop.  It was time to go to the final meeting spot and get this first task over with so that he could move on to the next one. With a sigh, Hizencho moved across the rooftops once more, trying to speed up.

It would be twenty minutes before the ANBU reached his final destination in the slums. He was ready for it to be over. From the rooftop he landed on, Hizencho watched across the street quietly. The business in question had quite a few scantily clad women outside of it, all looking for someone to get into trouble with. It seemed that Mary's Menage de Trois was a type of whorehouse, made for the sinners and users to come to to 'relieve' themselves of the stress they must have accrued during their day to day business. It was but one of many brothels that littered the slums of sunagakure no sato, Hizencho shook his head quietly. He understood trying to make money, but selling yourself for the pleasure of others was never the way to go. He wasn't here for dealing with people and their need to sell themselves or pay for sex, though. He was here for Illian to get the final package.

There was an open skylight on the roof of the building in question and the ANBU jumped over a few rooftops to reach the building, looking into the skylight. It was a small room, above the others in the brothel. By the look of the sheets and bedspread, whoever was in here was very important. This had to be where Illian was. With a quiet sigh, Hizencho slipped down into the room from the skylight, landing without a sound. His eyes scanned the room as he turned, finding that no one was in the room with him. Standing up from a crouched landing position, Hizencho walked around the room, looking for clues of his target's whereabouts as well a the package he was sent to recover. There was a note on a vanity that said to 'Sit down and wait, times are busy.' The ANBU quietly turned towards the door and remained standing, waiting.

It was nearly ten minutes before the door opened, a woman with a curvaceous and pleasing shape, standing there. She wore a dress of fine silk, dyed magenta, coupling it with white elbow high silk gloves. The click of her high heels echoed about the room as she stepped inside, closing the door behind her, smiling that delicate and innocent way. The ANBU silently watched her, waiting for the code question, so that he could finish his job. The woman slithered across the room to him, and continued smiling, placing a hand to his chest. Hizencho watched her quietly, his arms tensing slightly to be ready to take her out if need be. She was walking around him, hands never leaving his body with a smile on her face. Finally she spoke and it wasn't what the ANBU expected.

"Oh come now, big guy. Why don't you relax and sit down? We can get to know each other better before you have to go back to your little mission..."

She chuckled softly as she whispered the last part into his ear. Hizencho shook his head, activating the special characteristic of his mask, allowing him to change his voice. "I am here for one thing and one thing only." He'd used the voice of the Kazekage, which took the woman aback for a second and she sighed. Huffing and running out of the room, her heels clicking as she did so, slamming the door. The ANBU stood there silently, contemplating his next move. He still had his kunai and shuriken should the woman come back with guards to assault him. Much to his surprise, a sound of softer footsteps came down the hallway towards his location, moving at a bit of a hurried pace.

When the door opened next, it was not the woman from before, but a moderately dressed girl, clad in nice clothing but far less so than the first encounter. She brushed the dark brown hair from her face, looking quietly at the man in the mask. When she entered, she closed the door behind her, and envelope in her left hand. She moved it up, holding it in front of her chest with two hand, while she took a final once over of the man in front of her. After a moment she spoke, in a delicate tone. "When is sand ever forgotten?" The ANBU almost breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed the first woman was something else, while this girl was the real contact he was supposed to be meeting. It was probably a test of some sort. He spoke again, with the Kazekage's voice still.

"When it lies in shadows."

Quickly and confidently, the girl moved forward, holding out the envelope, which was taken by Hizencho and pushed into the space between his armour and clothing to sit with the others. They nodded to each other, with the ANBU crouching and then pushing upwards to jump up, catching a hand on the skylight he entered through. With a heave ho, he pulled himself through it once more and came back onto the roof. It was time to go to the southwestern exit and get the next task done so that he could finish everything up. The ANBU looked around, scanning the horizon. It was still rather dark and he had plenty of time to get this mission done during the night. If the other tasks took about this long, he would find out what game they were up to by morning.

With a soft sigh, the ANBU jumped across the buildings, heading towards the southwestern exit at a breakneck pace. It would be five uneventful minutes of moving through shadows on the roof tops and avoiding the detection of others until he'd finally reach where he needed to be. With a soft 'skss' in the sand, barely audible even to his high trained ears, the ANBU landed on the ground near the sandstone archway to his next location. There was already a figure in black with a mask resembling a salamander there. The scroll in the black figure's hand had the Romaji for 'gate.' He held it out to Hizencho and the ANBU took it, pushing it between his armor and clothing, bringing out the three packages. The black figure took two and pushed the other back towards him. Without a word from either, the black figure then disappeared from sight as suddenly as a blink. The ANBU stood there alone, looking up at the archway that he knew let out near the gate.

When he was sure he was alone, Hizencho pushed the envelope back into the space between armour and clothing. He then reached into his gi pockets, procuring  the notepad and pen once more. Flipping to a page he had written on earlier, the ANBU began to jot down notes, quick succinct descriptions of the night's events. He'd have to remember what happened and get back to the Kazekage with it. There wasn't much that happened that was all that suspicious, other than the places visited that night. They all seemed like strange things for an ANBU to be sent to for the collection of packages that were obviously money. The corruption of the Elder Council was becoming more apparent as time went on. When his notes were finished, the notepad was closed and the pen clicked to hide the tip. He then sighed, looking back up at the archway.




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Pen and notepad replaced within his gi pockets and started forward. His idea was to wait until he got within eyesight of the village's gates and then open the scroll in an alley or something so that he would not be spotted when he had to dispose of the evidence. If he did dispose of the evidence. If he didn't, he would have to make sure it went into the hands of the Kazekage herself. For that, Hizencho would have to play this just right. There was no more time to waste, the ANBU broke out into a bit of a run, pushing his body forward at a faster speed than before.  He'd need to get to his destination quickly and make sure that what needed done got done before they started to suspect his motives. When he made it into the village's road leading towards the gates, Hizencho moved to the right, jumping up. His feet met the side of the building to his right, pushing along as he ran to wall run, then he pushed himself to jump from the wall to a flag pole folded over half mast. His hands gripped the pole, legs kicking forward to swing. A couple of swings around the object and at the fulcrum point his body was released from the construct and flung into the air. He did a back flip while in the air, landing quietly upon a roof top, in a crouching position to absorb the shock of the impact. When he was sure that he hadn't been noticed, the ANBU operative began his journey again, sprinting and jumping across roof tops, the gate coming into sight clearer and clearer, traced by the light of the moon.

When he reached the final building about thirty meters from his target destination, the ANBU crouched down and looked about the area. Hardly anyone would come to this area at this time of night, and even fewer would think to look upon the buildings. The ANBU, however, knew that he was already being watched. So he'd have to play this right if he wanted to get the mission completed and keep the evidence for the Kazekage of the Village Elders' treason. Spotting a small alcove on the roof, he noticed there were numerous scrolls in a pile, mostly matted and filthy, as though they'd been forgotten for a long time. An idea formed in his head and the ANBU moved quickly to this alcove to read his mission, pulling the scroll that was labeled 'gate' in romaji from the area between his armor and clothing. Breaking the seal on it, Hizencho read over the scroll in its entirety, having set it upon the ground to read. While he'd set it down, he'd used sleight of hand to roll a trash scroll over, it subsequently opening up in front of his mission scroll, the action concealed by his body in the small space. One would only see the ANBU bent over, hunched as though he was opening something and reading the contents. None would know exactly what was going on, as he then used sleight of hand to push the mission scroll closed. His hand burned with fire as he pushed it to the trash scroll, causing it to come alight with flames. Standing up, the ANBU slipped the mission scroll back into the space between his armor and clothing, underneath the package he was to deliver. He turned back towards the gate, his glaring eyes staring through the mask slits.



Hizencho had his mission, and while he didn't agree with it necessarily, he knew that he'd have to play along until he was able to get the information into the hands of the Kazekage. All he had to do was continue playing along. Hopefully the little show he put on would be enough to convince whoever was watching him that he was following orders. So far, this evidence was substantial and would implicate the elders in treason. Not only that, but the scroll bore their seal. So there would be no mistaking it when it came down to it. The only thing Hizencho worried about was the 'any means' necessary part of the mission directive. He didn't want to kill his fellow sand shinobi. He was afraid that is what the elders meant by their orders. He'd do everything he could to ensure that wouldn't happen as he made his way to the edge of the roof, jumping down to the sand. A soft 'skss' and he was moving forwards after crouching with the impact. It was time to get this under way, and get it over with.

When he approached the gate, he saw a rather small, weasel looking man, eyes darting back and forth as he trembled. He was obviously waiting for someone, and it didn't seem who he expected, friend or foe. When the ANBU approached, clad in armor and mask, the weasel looked frightened for his life and almost flinched. Hizencho looked on quietly, contemplating what he should do, and then he spoke, in a soft, feminine voice like that of the past Kazekage, Suzume. "Uragirimono?" He seemed to relax at the sound of such a soft voice coming from the masked operative and lightened up, letting out a sigh of relief. He looked around and moved closer, to which Hizencho took as a sign and reached into the space between his armor and clothing. Another flinch from the weasel, but the envelope was procured and handed off, the weasel clutching it desperately and running off without word, into the shadows of an alley not far from where Hizencho had come from. He seemed to be having quite the existential crisis if his behavior was anything to go on. But that wasn't the business of the ANBU. His attention turned to the gates as they began to open, chuunin up on the wall taking notice, only two to be seen.

When the gate had fully opened, a group of what had to be twenty to thirty migrants was waiting outside the gates with no real belongings other than questionable luggage the smelled rather... foul. There was definitely something at play here if they had to bribe the gate guard to allow them passage. As they began to enter, the chuunin looked at each other as if they were going to come down and stop it. Hizencho wouldn't be able to allow that, however, and he jumped up to the wall, grabbing a spot on it to pull up and rocket himself up higher. He'd reach the top of the wall with a soft 'thunk' and sneak up on the first chuunin. He was caught unaware as the ANBU put him in a sleeper hold, keeping him there until he went limp, unconscious. The other chuunin made for a weapon  on his side, but wouldn't get the chance to draw it. Two quick strikes to the diaphragm and one to the side of the throat caused a shortness of breath, then black out. He'd passed out, falling into a clump on top of his partner, allowing the migrants free entry into the village. Syekren glared at the bodies and then the immigrants, jumping down to meet the head of the group. He looked back towards  the south western, now north western, arch into the slums and they all began to make their way there.

There was nothing else stopping them and when they were finally out of eyesight, the weasel peaked around from his position, slowly emerging from the shadows. A few more minutes passed and the chuunin sat up, rubbing their heads and looking around confused. They had no idea what had happened to them, and were looking quizzically and the masked and armored man who was being approached by the weasel, their overseer. "You louts fell asleep! Get up and shut that gate will ya? We can't have people thinking they can just come and go freely! Who knows how many people would have come or gone without this dedicated operative right here! Hurry up!" As the two set about the tax from the weasel, the weasel in question gave the ANBU a look over, as if he just noticed him.

It wasn't long before another form, much taller and broader than the weasel appeared, clapping a hand to the weasel's back. "Ura, what's going on here? I got a report the gate was left open during the wee hours of the night? Did you know about this?" The weasel shook his head and pointed at the chuunin. "No sir, I just came back from a latrine break to find these two louts sleeping on the job with the gate wide open. I'd recommend a hearty punishment." The taller man looked up at the chuunin with hawk like eyes and then back at the ANBU, who stood in front of the gates, which hadn't closed yet. The ANBU turned his attention to the chuunin who were rushing to their positions to close the gates back once more. It took several minutes, with which was met by the gaze of disdain from the newcomer who was obviously in charge, but the gates were finally closed and the chuunin saluted, going back to their watch. The large man turned his full attention to the masked and armored person in front of him, crossing his arms. "And who are you supposed to be?"

Once more, the soft feminine voice came from the mask, the eye slits staring back into the eyes of the man who was indignantly glaring. "I am but a humble shinobi, sir. I came to check out what was going on when I saw the open gates. I didn't see anyone come or go, but it was awfully suspicious to me. As a patriot of this beautiful village, I took it upon myself to make sure there were no suspicious persons about. I think we can both agree that it is within any sand shinobi's best interests to ensure that security of our entrances are kept in check." The large man rubbed his chin in thought as he stared down at the ANBU, seeming to contemplate something. Sensing this, Ura turned to his superior and tapped his shoulder, wringing his little weasel hands together, as though anxious. "Sir, shouldn't we do a walk through of our defenses, to make sure that no one has breached the village?" The large man nodded and walked off with the weasel, taking his eyes off of Hizencho only when they turned a corner.

The ANBU sighed and pulled his pen and notepad from his gi pockets, jotting a few things down. It was clear now what was going on in the slums. The elders were facilitating the immigration of drugs smugglers and criminals to the slums. They were taking money from the crime rings within the slums and in turn, giving more product and suppliers to the people to keep the trade strong. While it was ruining the village itself, it was lining their pockets incredibly well, so why should they care? The look of those people told Hizencho all he needed to know about their origin. They had definitely not come from the village hidden in the sand, nor anywhere in the Kaze no kuni. Their skin was too far, and they seemed unaccustomed to the sand's ways. The sand being the immense amounts of the loose granular substance between the village and every where else. Hell, even within the village itself. With how their faces looked and the luggage they were carrying, they'd come from a far off land that was near large amounts of water, nor shielded from the sky by the clouds. It could only mean either Konohagakure no Sato or Iwagakure no sato. Given the daimyo and council's past transgressions, Hizencho was vying for Konohagakure. The pen was clicked to hide the tip and this and the notepad were replaced in the gi pockets.



There was still another part of the task to be done before he could move on to his final mission. The only problem is that the weasel hadn't given him the next mission so he had no idea what he was to do. Shaking his head, Hizencho went in the direction the two had gone to do their rounds, as they'd gone where he had to go: the guard building. He was to sneak into that place and release two prisoners that were supposed to be heading to the slums as well as the migrants. They seemed to be rather important to whatever scheme the treacherous elders had concocted. Hizencho lamented it, but he'd have to follow orders if he wanted to catch the council in the act of treason and have a good case for the Kazekage. The two had their differences upon their meeting but he knew that for the betterment of the village, he'd need to make sure the highest authority he could trust was notified. Whether or not she actually believed anything he told her would have to be seen. For now, he'd follow the mission directives as well as possible and do everything to the letter, saving what evidence he had the opportunity to. It all rested on the last task after this bit. He'd make his way around the corner the two had gone down and shift his body into the shadows, watching from there quietly. They'd only gone around the corner and it seemed to Hizencho they were arguing. He was close enough to make out what they were discussing and rage was within the ANBU as he listened. This was going to get bad, incredibly fast.



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They were speaking in quiet voices, but Hizencho's highly trained ears could pick up what they were saying. They meant to send a message to the elders of the ANBU's progress and ask when to spring the trap. What sort of trap could they mean? "But are you sure five men will be enough for him? I barely saw a blur when he moved!" The gruff voice of the other man spoke, in a hushed tone. "Fah! Fast as a blur? Well that won't help him against five highly trained special jounin rank elder council guards. They're trained alongside ANBU for crying out loud! They will be able to deal with him quicker than he will be able to keep up with. Just you wait and mark my words. This upstart ANBU will be dead by morning." The ANBU had heard all he needed to at this moment in time. As they continued along their way, he stuck to the shadows, following them to the guard's station. Hizencho tried to decide if he should kill the traitorous louts now, or simply allow them to believe they had one over on the ANBU. It would be hard to restrain himself, but as he reached the station where the two parted ways, he calmed down. Weasel mcgee went back towards the gates, oblivious to the spectre watching him from the shadows. While the other man went on his way towards the shopping district, possibly to meet with another traitor, or the men he was speaking of. Either way, Hizencho shook his head and slipped into the guard station.

It was empty, save for a cell at the back containing what could possibly have been a set of twin women. They looked up at the masked and armoured man with disdain as he approached. Looking between the both of them, he sighed behind his mask and withdrew a kunai from his pouch of tools. With a bit of jiggling and fiddling of the lock with the kunai, it was popped open, broken. The ANBU stood aside, holding the door as the two prisoners exited the cell and departed the guard station without a word of thanks. What was it with these criminals and being rude anyway? Would a show of gratitude be too much for someone who just saved you from a life in prison or possible death at the hands of an executioner. Closing the cell door, the ANBU made his way out of the guard tower and towards the gates. He had other plans in mind now that the treasonous louts were trying to stage a death for him. They would not get the best of this ANBU, not tonight. Not ever. They would all die before he would, as he had to protect his home and his country.

When he arrived at the gates, the weasel acted again as though he didn't know the armored and masked individual. He walked off after a blank stare, 'dropping' a scroll into the sand as he turned. It was to look as though he accidentally dropped it and the sketchy person who he'd been seen with had stolen it from the ground? Whatever, the ANBU had to finish these tasks so he could move on with what he needed to do. Getting information to the Kazekage about the events taking place on this night. Hizencho leaned down and took the scroll, walking towards the gates. The weasel called for them to be opened just enough to allow the ANBU passage. Once he was outside of the gates, they were closed once more and even had an extra two or three guards patrolling their wall. It seemed that some sort of security measures were taking place since the last twenty minutes and it didn't bode well for Hizencho. He tried not to think the worst, but he knew in this type of business, the worst was all you really could expect. Clutching the scroll in his fist, the ANBU continued on his way, aiming for a point as yet unknown out in the sands outside of his home village.

There was a long way of sand, and Hizencho would be able to tell at this point if anyone was following him by the sounds of the desert. Taking this time as he walked, the ANBU broke the seal on the scroll and opened it up, to read the message within. What he read made him stop in his tracks, glaring at the page with trembling hands. What was written was nothing short of detrimental and destructive to the village. There is no way that anyone could expect a Sunagakure no Sato ninja, let alone an ANBU of the village to do such a thing. Yet here it was, plain as day, in black and white. The light of the moon shone down upon the page, illuminating the words in their treasonous verbiage.  The very nerve of the elders! At least Hizencho would have this for evidence as well. He rolled the scroll back up and stuffed it into the place between his armour and clothing once more, trekking on through the sands.



A few hours though? It would definitely be sun up before he returned to the village, even if he wasted the energy to run about. So, he supposed, why waste the energy? He didn't plan on taking the documents to the ninja waiting for him at the border in any case. He planned to take them and the evidence he had gathered straight to the Kazekage's office and ensure she got them with his notes. He would just have to make it back in one piece after stealing away with the documents he was on his way to receive. It seemed like the treason of the village elders was surely coming to a head. Hizencho wondered to himself as he ran if he would make it back in one piece after defying the will of the shadowy heads of a council. There was no way that he could allow this to continue on though. They wanted him to just hand over his village's troop movements to a ninja possibly from an enemy village? That would spell the death of them and Sunagakure no Sato as he knew it.

There was still a lot of time before he reached the outpost in question, the ANBU began to consider what he was going to do once he delivered the evidence. The elder council was sure to learn of his betraying them and turning the evidence over to the Kazekage. How would they react though? Would they send their little private army after him to try and eliminate him or would they send someone to poison him? Find the people he loved and kill them?   There were too many factors to think of now and Hizencho couldn't really figure out what would happen to him if he did this. When he did this. The only thing that he was certain on is that he would have to leave Sunagakure no Sato for a while to ensure the safety of his village and the people. He'd already gotten a travel request approved, he just hadn't done anything with it as of yet. It seemed as though after this all started to reach its climax, he would have to utilize that travel request until everything was settled out or until he found allies to aid his village.

Hizencho sighed at the thought of having to leave his home to protect those within. He knew though, if the treachery was deep enough that they'd try to have him eliminated, they would go after any close to him or even the Kazekage herself. He couldn't put his students, his leader, his best friend in danger simply because he wanted to stick around and be the hero. Him disappearing for a while would probably be best for the village as a whole. Noting that he would have to explain at least to Daraku what was going on, Hizencho made the decision that he would follow through after his mission was completed. Midori would obviously have to know, as she was the leader of Sunagakure no Sato. But outside of her, the only one strong enough to be given this knowledge and expected to have ample defense against the treason was Daraku. Letting the emotions of such a thing subside, the ANBU continued his seemingly endless trek through the sands.

Even in the dark, the winds of the sands in the wilderness of Kaze no kuni were harsh. Somewhat more so, given that at night the desert got much colder than one would expect of such terrain. No beasts were out at night, for the sheer cold of the destitute ecosystem was apparent. Wind whipped at his clothing and armour, making slight 'tink' noises off of his porcelain mask. Still he continued, feeling the sand even on his uncovered flesh, the whipping sand feeling like razors drawn upon skin. He hated being out here during the winds, especially hated being out here at night. It was not for fear that he hated it, but for the desolate landscape that surrounded his home. Miles and leagues of sand and nothingness were all around them, only somewhat dotted with outposts and other landmarks. Hizencho had personally been to most of them on missions or to deliver letters of missions directives, or sometimes he went there on patrols. The one he was heading to now was one that he hadn't actually visited, given the distance it was. It would have been easier and faster if he'd ridden a camel, but that posed more of a risk of being spotted and as such he couldn't afford that.

His feet hit the sand and sunk with each step, but with willpower alone he wrenched his legs up and then down in the steps. He was closer and closer to his goal with each footprint left in the sand, the wind cleaning it up after him as though a mother following her child with a broom. His existence out here was almost nothing more than a mirage, as he was leaving no trace of his movements. He cursed himself for not bringing his cloak, feeling the whipping winds upon his bare skin once more, the sting of the grains hitting his flesh. A large dune stood in his path, of which he started to scale it. It took a few minutes to reach the summit, but once he had, he saw the outpost but a meager thirty meters away. This mission was nearing its end, finally. The ANBU sighed in relief and slid down the dune gracefully, stopping at the bottom of the other side. He then broke into a bit of a run, trying to make his way quickly to the outpost so that he could get what he was doing over with. Thinking of who he would pretend to be was taxing, but with a little coaxing to his brain, he thought of the perfect person.

A poof of smoke as he ran and the ANBU was no more. Instead, running through the sand was the figure of a hunched over weasel of a man. This weasel reached the outpost, huffing and out of breath, wringing his tiny little hands.  When he approached the guard post at the entrance of the outpost, they looked at him with a rather queer disdain. He waved and bowed to each of them in turn before he spoke in his nasally and treacherous voice. "G-Good evening! I bring news from the Lady Kazekage's office! I need to speak to your superior immediately. It is of the utmost urgency and has to do with the security of our nation." An easy enough formulated lie, which seemed to convince these two as they looked between each other. They shrugged and allowed the weasel past, who immediately ran to the largest tent he could find.

He peeked into the tent sheepishly, looking around. No one was in sight, but his eyes went to slits warily. It was too easy, too suspicious. Sure enough when he stepped inside, the back of his shirt was grabbed and a kunai was pointed to spine. The weasel screeched a bit, though on the inside he knew he could take this unknown assailant. His head turned to meet the cold eye of an eye patch wearing older man who glared at him as though he were the devil. "What is it, Ura? What have you come here for that was so important?!" Feeling the kunai in his back, Ura gulped and stammered out the same lie he'd told to the guards at the entrance, with more details as he was speaking to the leader of the outpost. "Th-The lady Kazekage sent me! She needs the documents on troop movements and anything else on our troops around the wilderness of the village or the ninja at stations in other nations. It's a matter of national security! She believes someone is trying to abscond with these files and take them to the enemy!"

The older man eyed him quiet, that cold, grey eye of his fixed with a permanent glare. The kunai arm slowly fell and the grip upon his shirt was released. The older man said nothing and walked across the tent to a desk in the middle, procuring three different scrolls, all sealed with the symbol of Sunagakure no Sato. After a few moments of staring from them to Ura, he picked them up and placed them into a knapsack. This sack was given to the weasel and with a wave of his hand, he was expected to leave. It seemed that Ura was trustworthy enough for such a task without much question. But perhaps he'd done this before? Hizencho would have to inquire about this at a later date and he placed the knapsack upon his back, the straps over his shoulders. Without a second thought, he ran out of the outpost, running past the entrance and heading straight back the way he came. There was no way that he could allow these to fall into the hands of another land. He'd die before he gave them up.

There was no question about it anymore. He was not going to continue on with the dirty work of the elder council. Running around and doing treasonous acts for them! It was deplorable and against everything he stood for! Hizencho glared ahead as he ran, pacing himself so that he would not run out of breath or pass out in the desert from over exertion. He'd need to make it back to the village as quickly as possible so that he would still have time to save the village if he could. This was in no way a small feat, as it seemed that all of this had been going on for a while. These tasks he was asked to do tonight seemed to be part of a large scale operation to break Sunagakure no sato more and more as time went on. But for what purpose? What was the endgame of those behind this treasonous plot and what would they gain from destroying their own village, their own nation? Too many questions and by far not enough answers.

The ANBU was completely unhappy with how everything was going. Every once in a while, he'd swear he heard something following him or see something to the side. But he couldn't be sure. It wasn't long before he allowed his transformation jutsu to expire, having his form become the original it had been. He just felt dirty being in the same form as such a treasonous lout, and felt as though he needed a shower after that. Back on task, he noticed that the trip was taking a bit longer than he initially thought it would. He figured the reason it would take so long was because he was going to have to go to the border and then the village originally. But it seemed as though he was barely making progress, for all his running. That had to be in his mind though, for as Hizencho stopped to catch his breath and stretch, he noticed the sun peaking over the horizon. In the distance of the direction he was headed, he could make out the walls that surrounded and protected the village hidden in the sand.

Perhaps though, 'protected', was a bad choice of words. As it only kept the dangerous of the outside at bay, it did nothing to combat the evils within. In fact, it actually protected those evils as well so that they would be able to continue their misdeeds without worry of outside interference. The ANBU clenched his fists and began to jog once more, his eyes on the sight of the village. He would need to hurry so that this would no longer be a reality. He would expose the council for their treason and eradicate them. The village would be saved and they would no longer have the protection of the walls and the village to hide behind to continue on with their treasonous and atrocious acts. This all resided on the point of whether or not the Kazekage actually believed him. This made him stop in his tracks and shake his head. She wasn't really too happy with him, especially from their last encounter. It would be hard to convince her that he was telling the truth if she didn't trust him due to a single occurrence.  This was going to be much more difficult than he had originally thought. Syekren weighed his options as he stood there, a mere one hundred meters from the gates.

He'd have to do something soon, the sun was coming up and he would not be in a good place if he was seen around in his ANBU attire. Shadows of the village were not supposed to be seen or heard of. He was supposed to be something people 'knew a bit about' but had not actually seen. This existential crisis he was going through would have to wait. He started off again in a run, heading in a beeline for his village. He was starting to feel the effects of exerting so much effort in meeting a time frame. He could feel the sweat coming from his pores underneath his armour and mask,  sighing at the thought of it. As he ran he'd reach into his space between armor and clothing, grabbing the evidence he'd collected earlier: the two task scrolls bearing the instructions from the elder council and the seal of their seats. He reached back and stuffed these into the mouth of the knapsack with the other bits of evidence so that they would not become soiled by the salty fluid that his body was producing currently.

It was not much longer and he was nearing the village itself. Instead of using the gates, he'd need to find another way into the village to get to the kage manse. The sun had been rising, but it was still relatively dark. So, as he approached the gates, he turned and ran towards the wall, pooling chakra into the soles of his feet. He jumped into the air, his first foot touching the wall, followed by another in front of that one. Due to the chakra he'd put into his feet, he was able to hold onto the wall and 'walk' up it. Though in this particular instance he was using supernatural walking practice to run straight up the wall face. It wasn't until he reached the top that he remembered that there were tunnels for the ANBU to use all over the village so that they would remain out of sight. Turning to his left, he'd spot what he was looking for: a slightly different colored slab of stone on the far reaches of the wall. The ANBU ran to it, crouching down to push upon a button that was in the shape of suna's symbol, which caused a mechanism to push the stone to the right. This opened up a passage way in the wall itself that Hizencho slipped down into, using another button inside to close off the entrance.

It was dark and dank, but the ANBU knew the way through these tunnels as though he himself had dug them. He went straight ahead, turning right and ignoring symbols on the walls that suggested the other was was right. At the end he found a square hole that he slipped down into, being put into a stone chute that went down to the base of the wall. Upon reaching the base on the inside, he crouched and pulled up a trapdoor, climbing into the hole and shutting the door behind him. In this hole were stairs that seemed to go down endlessly into the earth. This was the normal way for ANBU to make it around the village and the country, so it was nothing new that it seemed a daunting journey to one such as Hizencho. These tunnels were built so that one without the trained mind of an ANBU would be unable to find their way out, possibly going mad and dying of starvation or other traps within this expansive maze of sandstone and dirt.

This was where the real trials began. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he turned right, running along a corridor that seemed to stretch into infinity. The lighting gave it the look of being an unending, winding corridor. When in fact, this was a residual effect of charms and such placed around the area to make the user think they were advancing when they were not. Hizencho stopped and turned to the right, pressing on the wall of the corridor to open a panel and place his hand to a button, which would shut off the chakra flow and allow him to continue undeterred. After reaching the end of the corridor, which took a mere five minutes, the ANBU opened a second panel on his left and pressed that button, re-activating the security measures that were in place. With this done, he continued on his way, finding the path he needed to take through a maze of wrong turns and traps. Most of the traps were on the wrong paths, to make intruders believe they were heading the right way, which couldn't be further from the truth.

It would take twenty minutes to navigate the tunnels before the ANBU reached his final destination: a wall with no handles, buttons or anything. Just smooth sandstone. Hizencho pushed his hand to three different spots, finding what he was looking for, he ran his finger along the stone in the shape of a gourd, watching his trail come alight with blue chakra. Soon a door to his left opened, part of  the wall sinking into the ground to do so. When he passed through, it closed once more, leaving him in a lone, four walled ten by ten room. In the middle of this room was a solitary ladder, which he proceeded to climb. After ten minutes of steady climbing, the ANBU reached the top and pushed a secret hatch open. He ended up in the office of the Kazekage, who had not seemed to have made it here just yet. Worrying not about this,  the ANBU placed the knapsack from his back onto the floor underneath her desk where here legs would go. He'd then pull the notepad and pen from his gi pockets, flipping to the page his notes on the tasks were, only up to the second.  He didn't write anything else on the tasks, but instead filled the rest of the bottom of the page with large lettering. After which, he'd click the pen and hide the tip, ripping out the page and setting it on the desk, with the pen on top of it. The pen was pointed up so if she looked down at it, she'd see the symbol of a fan with black flames in front of it. A play on the Uchiha clan symbol, and a certain uchiha's signature. It was of course a reference to Syekren. With that, he crossed the room, replacing the notepad in his pocket and exiting the office through the window.




The sun was now higher in the sky and the ANBU could see that the day was starting. It was almost considered early morning at this point and while some darkness remained, most of it was light. Hizencho sighed and walked along the balcony, hefting himself over the railing to jump down onto another balcony. He had considered going to his quarters to collect his things, but he knew one ANBU he could trust would get them for him when the time was right. They'd arranged for a secret meeting place should anything happen. The ANBU, Janumba, would be doing his rounds soon and he'd always check this balcony for signs of trouble left by Hizencho. Hizencho, knowing this, would crouch down and arrange  a pile of scrolls placed on a table for this reason into a specific order. There were five total, but two were set up above three others in a pyramid formation. These two had romaji for the words "Hung" and "Death", but they were of no consequence. The ANBU arranged the other three so the order would be "Never", "Ordain", and "Wit". The romaji was not what to focus on, instead it was the first letter of each that would be important. Spelling out the word "NOW", to tell Janumba that the worst had happened. His friend would see this on his route and collect Hizencho's belongings and take them to a specific cactus going towards the border of the land of wind. Hizencho would need to make it there quickly, should he wish to be ready for his friend and be free of any who might be pursuing before Janumba showed.

Instead of the tunnels this time, Hizencho took the roofs of the village buildings to reach his destination. He'd run and jump to get to where he was going, focused only on his destination and not on the journey. His mind was on the fact that he had delivered what he needed to and now he needed to get out so that he could figure out a plan to help his home.  The ANBU's figure moved at great speed, making sure to stay in the shadows that still remained so the he could still have some semblance of anonymity. Something uneasy in his stomach told him he was being watched and every time he looked around, he could find nothing to justify this. Was it just paranoia getting to him? Or were those watching him more adept at hiding in plain sight than he gave them credit for? No, no time to think of that. For now he'd need to get to where he was going and then sort everything else out later. It would be a good ten minutes before his path finally brought him to the walls again. This time, on the opposite end of the village from the gates. The ninja jumped up from the roof to run up the wall using his supernatural walking practice once more. When he got near the top he leaped up, turning his body around mid-jump to look for signs of being followed. He could swear he saw the white of porcelain masks not far off, collecting in the shadows of a building's high rise before his feet hit the other side of the wall, stopping his fall. So they were tailing him. He'd need to lead them towards his destination wihtout actually  giving it up to them. Then he'd take care of them as quickly as possible. With no witnesses, hopefully.

Hizencho ran down the wall to then jump off at ten feet into the sand, rolling with the landing to not injure himself. He would deactivate his supernatural walking practice jutsu and make a beeline for the cactus towards the border. It would only take him twenty or so minutes to reach where he was going and from the sounds of the area around him, his pursuers were still on his tail. He was surprised they were not attacking just yet, as though they planned something else. It would not do him any good to worry about that right now, he'd have to concentrate and form a plan. He knew Janumba was capable, but he didn't want to force the ally of his into a battle that did not involve him in the slightest. It was safer for them both if Hizencho dealt with them by himself. Whether he do so without injury or death would be on him.

He'd turn his head back every so often to ensure that he was still being followed, and as he could see, he was. There were four of them, not the five he expected. All dressed in black, without the armor of ANBU but similar masks. They each had a tanto strapped to their backs behind the right shoulder, save for the one in the lead who had one to each shoulder. These were most likely the personal guards of the elder council and as such, soldiers of Sunagakure no sato. Hizencho was almost positive they were coming to end him and he knew that his Kazekage would be angry if he killed them, even should they not feel the same about killing him. It wasn't until he neared the cactus, the border in sight that he realized what was going on: they were following him until they reached the ninja who was now standing by the cactus,  holding an peculiar looking sword from another land. Possibly a Khopesh? In any case, Hizencho stopped and looked from him to those who stopped behind him. The new adversary also had a mask on, but this looked more of an ancient sort, with a rebreather built in. Just what was going on?

Hizencho looked around, getting into an uechi ryu karate stance, placing his feet square with his body and raising his hands in fists. He knew that this was going to be the climax of the following and the encounter. This was going to be where everything came to a fulmination.  The ANBU looked back and forth between his adversaries, he had placed his body in  such a way that he could see both sides, one on the right, four on the left. They all came forward and fanned out around him, in a bit of a circle, the others drawing their blades. The leader of the masked stalkers was in front of him, looking as though he was testing the weight of his blades in his hands, bouncing them up and down. A desert wind blew, and yet none of them moved just yet. It seemed as though each in turn was waiting for someone else to take the first attack before things popped off. Hizencho knew that he may have to make the first strike and the last so that he could have this finished up by the time his supplies reached the cactus. How to go about this though? They each had weapons and whatever else, while all he had was jutsu and his fists. He was sure they were able to use most of the jutsu he was taught as ANBU and if they had Suiton, most of what he could do was useless. This was a problem.

Hizencho quietly activated the two tomoe sharingan behind his mask, his eyes darting back and forth between the players of this perilous game. He moved his body in a circle, looking around him at the five who had trapped him in a corner to fight for his life. Any normal ninja would be unable to resist such highly trained and skilled shinobi in combat like this when it started. Hizencho was no mere shinobi, he was an ANBU and an Uchiha, one of the strongest and proudest ninja to have the luck of being affiliated with the sand. There was one thing that bothered him above all other things though, and that was why he was supposed to deliver the military intel to a ninja from some foreign land that was indistinguishable on attire and weaponry alone.

He spoke in the voice of the kazekage through his mask, spite and anger in the otherwise angelic feminine voice. "Why are you doing this? Why betray the sand to whoever this is? What do you have to gain? What do the elders have to gain?" He was angry and it was obvious why. But he was met with silence from the faces hidden by masks. They seemed to have made up their mind and would not be swayed. They would not speak to him and would not give him the time of day other than with the end of their blades. Soon, Hizencho thought, soon would be the time to strike and to take them all down. He would restrain himself to not kill them, but he knew he could not expect the same from such treasonous rats and their deplorable affiliate. Hizencho clenched his fists tighter and turned his body back to the obvious leader of the masks that followed him from the village, the affiliate mask on the leader's right. The leader had two tanto, one for each hand. Those did not require any mastery over a bukijutsu type to use and as such were incredibly useful for ANBU and quite versatile. If Hizencho could pry one or  both from that villainous scum's hands, he would have a fighting chance. With his focus on the leader, he was sure he would sustain injuries from the rest. He'd have to deal with it though, as it was his only chance of evening the playing field. He'd need to traverse the flames to come out reborn. Well, really he'd just need to put himself in danger to have a fighting chance. This was it. He had his plan. Now it was time to put it to work.


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Hizencho silently pulled his form forth after what seemed like ages of just staring at each other. Five ninja versus the one who would do what he could to protect his home. Hizencho darted forward, aimed towards the leader with two tanto: one to each hand. Before he could reach the figure in front of him, however, he was accosted by the mystery enemy who held the strange khopesh-esque sword. It was all he could do to pull back, ducking away from the swinging hand and a half sword. He would have no respite, however. Just as he was able to back off, the other three took their chance to swing towards him in multiple places. Hizencho wasn't able to immediately dodge again as he was mid-jump, so he to slashes and wound to the arms and his chest. His armor was doing just well enough to keep him from being seriously injured, but it would do nothing to protect him forever.  The battle had only just begun and he was already having problems. With a shake of his head, the ANBU moved his body from the group that would be circling in on him, jumping over their heads. He'd land a few meters from them, getting into his fighting stance while glaring behind his mask.

It was then he felt it happening: the chakra in his body fulminating towards his eyes, burning within him. He felt rage at such traitors being allowed the same reign an ANBU would be allowed. Not only being let to be walk the village, free of conviction: they were treated as ANBU and more important than most soldiers. Yet here they stood supporting an enemy ninja who would see their home in ruins. This would not stand, not if the ANBU had anything to say about it. His body was tensing, crouching low and ready to leap once more. His fists would ball up then clench into the tightest form of a fist he could manage. With anger in his eyes and his body burning with the unbridled rage of a home betrayed, a man forsaken, he pushed forward. The once blue eyes behind the mask turned crimson, as though the very blood of the man in the outfit was pouring into them, causing their pigment to drastically alter. There was a moment between the change of his eye colour and the leap that the eye slits would shine slightly. Then, it was time. He landed in the middle of two who'd jumped towards him to attack with their weapons while the others leaped to position.

It happened fast: the Uchiha behind the mask had his two tomoe sharingan activated already but the crimson grew deeper, as though the next stage was closer and closer to realization. He felt himself acting as if on instinct when they swung. His eyes picked up the most minute details of their attacks, and their movements, then his body reacted by twisting away from one swing, his foot coming out to catch the stomach of one who leaped towards him with their tanto swinging. This figure was kicked away into the oncoming body of another, knocking them to the sand. There were two with explosive tags attached to kunai, which were thrown towards the ANBU, and he barely had time to jump over the thrown tools, dropping his body into the sand to roll between the two who'd thrown the projectiles. The explosions blew sand up everywhere into clouds around the six who were having their bout.

Hizencho huffed as his roll brought his body to flip up into the air, landing upon his feet. Before he could gather his bearings, a flash of swinging metal caught his eyes: the khopesh blade. He leaned back away from the swing, catching a cut across the left of his ribs, while suffering no more serious damage. A wind jutsu cleared the cloud of dust: showing each of the agents close together, converging on the lone ANBU. They were to the point of using jutsu and since they could use wind jutsu, he'd be better off  using some flame jutsu or wind jutsu of his own. Perhaps even raiton based techniques would help if he could move fast enough? It would seem that his opponents would afford him no such reprieve to consider his next move. It was but a moment before the khopesh swung: releasing chakra waves towards him that he had to roll to dodge away from.

When he stopped his roll, he looked up into the mouth of a torrent-styled water technique taking the form of a serpent. With quick hand seals and a breath in, Hizencho expelled his own jutsu; a flaming dragon pushed forward, spinning around as it flew to meet the water serpent. A dense mist sprung about the battlefield from the heat of the flames meeting and evaporating the waters. When the jutsu were done, Hizencho used the confusing to slip through the mist to catch the landing figure. Before any knew what had hit them, Hizencho had grabbed the tanto the figure held, pulling it away. When his body pushed forward again, the mist was cleared with a second wind style technique putting his deeds in full view of the others: he'd run the blade through the throat of one adversary. It was now four against one, and Hizencho had a weapon in hand.

His form turned towards the encroaching group, hand gripped  the tanto in a reverse hold. The hilt's pommel was pointing towards his enemies, while the blade pointed to his back. Blood dripped from the weapon into the sand, and as the last drop fell, every form on the battle field went up into the air. The weapon in his hand swung thrice, parrying the blades that came his way on his ascent towards the khopesh wielding enemy. Hizencho roared in anger as he swung the blade forward a fourth time, meeting with the wicked steel of the khopesh, sending sparks about them. They pushed off of each other, Hizencho flipping backwards in the air, looking down to see the others having landed. They'd already started preparing jutsu and projectiles, launching them to where he'd land.

Upon instinct, Hizencho pushed raiton energy around his body, concentrating it around his form and forming a large dome around himself as he landed. The projectiles and jutsu were broken away from his volt shield. Soon the shield fell and he stood there, huffing behind his mask. Throughout this time he'd used quite a bit of chakra and energy to defend himself. While he had taken down one of their number he was still outnumbered and hadn't had a moment's respite to replenish his energy and chakra from last night's events. Not being one to allow his weakness to show, Hizencho ran forward, swinging his blade to contact the blade of another, his chakra coursing through his limbs to activate into more raiton energy.  With this type of chakra coursing through his body, he felt a surge of energy that improved the speed at which his body could move.

It was then that he kicked off from the ground, foot coming to contact the side of the previous enemy's head, turning to have his blade meet the two of the leader. His free fist came to swing upon the mask of the traitor with blinding speed. Crackling thunder upon the strike, causing burns to the mask and a slight crack, giving Hizencho the much needed opportunity to kick away a second time, meeting the two remaining adversaries while the others dealt with the burns and paralyzing nature of electricity. Khopesh swung as did Hizencho's tanto to meet the weapon, pushing against it and kicking towards the other member of the group leaping. While he did kick this figure away, blood flew and pain shot through the appending as two blades met the extended limb. The leader had found his footing once more, cutting deep into the leg. During this momentary lapse of attention, the khopesh was swung, finding a mark against the stomach of the ANBU and he was kicked away into the sand, clenching his tanto.

Hizencho coughed from the force of the kick, slowly standing as the four gathered, staring at him, holding their weapons tightly. He'd grown over confident having mainly fought easier challengers. While he'd taken out one of their number this had gotten no easier, in fact it seemed that it had gotten harder. He stood gingerly upon his injured leg, free hand held over his wound upon his stomach. Hizencho stared forward, glaring through the mask slits as he huffed. They were enjoying this more than they let on it seemed, and they planned for the ninja from sunagakure no sato to suffer before they killed him off. He wouldn't give them satisfaction of him going down so easily to such traitorous louts. This may be his last battle, but he wouldn't allow so many of them to survive. If it took everything of his being he would take as many of them with him as he descended into the depths of hell.


Standing straight once more, Hizencho held tightly around his stomach to staunch the bleeding as much as he could, prepared for the coming onslaught. One came then another, then two more. He swung his tanto as he could, keeping up with the first few strikes, taking more damage as time went on. The sun shone down on the battle in the sands, so far from any form of civilization or outpost. There would be no help to come for he who fought four agents of darkness, of evil and treason. Shoulder, thigh, forearm. The wounds kept coming and he traded such with the two weaker enemies but could barely keep going. It was beginning to look bleak for the Uchiha behind the mask. It wasn't long before he fell to his knees, coughing and hacking, his blood dotting the sands and causing it to become wet like the sands of a faraway beach. It was nearing its end and he couldn't even take one of them down with him. There was so much he wanted to do and so much he'd tried but it seemed that his time was about over, this would be the final time any had heard of Hizencho or Syekren. The two would end here in the sands.


It was then that he knew it, he felt it. The splitting of the tomoe in his sharingan came again, finally reaching the maturity of those who hadn't reached Mangekyou. His iris were holding the spinning black tomoe and when the spinning finally stopped, it was with three tomoe in each eye. The anger in the Uchiha was renewed, and his resolve was doubly more so. His body jumped up from his position to avoid the swing of the khopesh. His form twisted in mid-air to bring his lightning infused kick upon the back of the head of one of the figures, followed by a second kick, being a spin kick of sorts. This sort of follow through did enough damage to crack the back of the skull of his adversary. They were dead before they hit the sand face first, Hizencho landing upon the sand.

Three left and they seemed to be surprised at the sudden influx of energy from the Uchiha behind the mask. He seemed to have found his will to fight for his home once more and his hand dropped from his wound. The sparks of his raiton may have faded but he still felt the flames inside of him just burning to be let out. This would not be his end, nor the end of his home. These traitors would fall to his blade and beg to be released from the torments of the hell he would send them to. There would be no mercy for them, it was time for them to realize exactly how badly they'd messed up. Who better to teach them than a staunch protector of Sunagakure no Sato? Hizencho's eyes picked up the twitches of the muscles and bodies of those he was fighting, moving along with them.

The leader and his crony were still left alongside the ninja from an enemy country. This would be the moment that defined Hizencho as a ninja and an ANBU. When he took down those who would see his home destroyed. With a move to the left, his tanto came up to push the tip of the blade in between armor to pierce clothing and flesh of the last crony. The tanto slide easily between the ribs of his adversary, piercing lung and heart on the way inside, causing massive internal bleeding and shortness of breath. Hizencho left the traitor to drown in his own blood for the few seconds before his heart stopped from the piercing. It would not even be a moment before the crony's blade was taken to be used by Hizencho, parrying away khopesh and dual tantos.

They would need to be taken out quickly, if Hizencho was to succeed in what he was doing. He already was feeling the adrenaline wear off to have him feel the wounds he had suffered just as much if not more than he had before. The blood was still coming out and he felt as though his body was going to give out in the middle of this battle. It was through sheer force of will that he was still standing and fighting against those that meant his home harm. Otherwise he'd be dead at this point for he surely would have passed out for them to finish the job they had started not long ago. Hizencho breathed in deeply and prepared for the coming onslaught of slashes and slicing, bringing himself to a defensive position, while switching his tanto hold to a reverse grip once more, the blade pointing to his right as he held it in front of his body.

It was then that the two ran forth, and Hizencho ran to meet them. Instead of going straight for a kill, and probably screwing himself over in the process, Hizencho moved his free hand to the wrist of the figure with two tantos. In the middle of their attacks, his body ducked down under the Khopesh and into the area between them, twisting the wrist to have the secondary tanto be freed from his grip. It was then that Hizencho caught the second tanto in mid-air. He swung each to parry Khopesh and tanto of his enemies, sliding back in the sand from the momentum of his movements, huffing and smirking to himself behind his mask. It had been a while since he'd been excited by a battle and had nearly keeled over during one. This would be the battle to decide it all and finally it was nearing the close.

Against what would be tactical, the leader of the traitors ran towards Hizencho on his own, swinging his only tanto. With his two in hand, Hizencho easily slipped between his open guard and swung each tanto. They'd contact the arms holding the tanto in his hand, causing it to be dropped from the arm being cut open. Flesh rent from bone, but Hizencho did not stop there, with each tanto held in a reverse grip, he spun, his leg kicking out to catch the hilt of the fallen tanto in the space behind his knee. When the hilt was felt, the leg clenched to hold it in place, the spin continuing. Two reverse grip tantos slicing the chest of the traitors' leader, while a handstand spin following to have the knee held tanto slash across the throat of the figure. Spinning again, Hizencho pushed against the ground to flip over the enemy of his, who turned to meet him as he landed. Hizencho wasted no time to switch the tanto to a regular grip in each hand, slicing in an 'x' shape across the chest of the leader, watching him fall to the ground after. He gurgled and choked on his own blood, enemy of the sand he was.

Hizencho looked to the khopesh holder who watched silently, then raised his blade as if he was ready to finish what they'd started. This would be the defining moment for the ANBU and the enemy. It had been a long battle and they were both getting tired. The only difference was that Hizencho was far more wounded than the other. Without much though, Hizencho set his foot upon the ground, allowing the tanto to fall into the sand, switching his weapons to the reverse grip once again, his most comfortable way to hold them it seemed. Sand blew as the wind picked up once more, a tumbleweed rolling in the space between the two while they stared each other down. Blood stained the sand around them, four bodies upon the ground. This would be it. After this final bout, there would be one last body on the ground and there would be one clear winner. It would be one of the two who stood there now, glaring each other down.

I will not allow him to escape.

It was once the tumbleweed was gone that the two jumped towards each other, weapons swung. The khopesh met one tanto, the other coming to slash the chest of the enemy. Hizencho pushed off then jumped upwards. He came down towards the enemy, swinging his body around in a spin, slicing outwards with each tanto. Khopesh was raised to block the first tanto, sparks flying as the blades came into contact. The whine of metal on metal was deafening to the ears, but the enemy pushed Hizencho off, who flipped backwards. When he landed the khopesh was swinging to meet him, putting him on the defensive this time. With his reaction time, he was able to parry the khopesh and defend himself. This battle was close, with no clear winner.

It wasn't until the Khopesh swung slightly slower that Hizencho realized his opponent was just as tired as he was. There would be no reprieve from the ANBU, who blocked the weapon with his tanto, pushing it down the length of the khopesh. Guards met together, with the free tanto coming to stab towards the ribs of the enemy. The enemy caught the wrist of Hizencho and chuckled as though he'd won this bout of theirs. But Hizencho had one trick left up his sleeve: he focused his chakra inwardly and pushed it outwards. There was a poof of smoke from behind the enemy ninja and an identical copy of the ANBU appeared, his arms wrapping around the neck of the enemy in a headlock. Then the clone wrapped its legs around the enemy's waist, holding tightly. This was what Hizencho was waiting for. "I win. Sunagakure no Sato wins." With that, he pulled his tanto from the khopesh to slice the arm of the man holding his wrist, freeing him up and sustaining a final slice to the arm. That was it as he jumped away, falling over a dune.

There was a few seconds before an explosion sounded, signifying that the body of the enemy ninja was blown apart from the concussive force of the dynamic doppleganger's explosion. A huff of relief and Hizencho laid there, waiting for any more sound. There was none and his hands finally dropped the weapons he held. He was bleeding from multiple points on his body, namely his stomach and arms, as well as his chest. The worst being his stomach, Hizencho folded his hands over the wound, holding it tightly. It wasn't long before he passed out from the loss of blood and over-exertion. He was drained and he could no longer hold himself awake. The sharingan faded as he too faded, from consciousness.

It was night when he awoke, with a masked man sitting beside his bed. The mask was familiar. Janumba had come and found him, Syekren laid there without his armor or mask on, covered in bandages. The man looked him over quietly, nodding then over to the corner where a multitude of items lay. It was all of what Syekren owned, brought to a cave near the outskirts of the land of wind, hidden from the world.  From the sand leaking in through the walls and the artificial light of a lantern, Syekren guessed it was a jutsu that made such a cave. He nodded in thanks to his friend, too weak to speak. "The bodies and weapons were disposed of. Worry not, but you should make your peace and head out when you're able." Nodding to each other, Janumba exited the cave, and promised to return a few days later to check how the advanced salve healed him up. Then Syekren would be leaving. Syekren closed his eyes and resigned to this fate, knowing this is how it was meant to be.


[END]

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I'll likely be adding onto this as time goes on, in different threads to fully explore the story of treason and one rising to the title of "Hero." I appreciate all of you who read this, now let's get on to what the person modding this needs: Word count allocation and ryo costs!

Stats:

3,015 WC Left

Jutsu Training:

Total WC Needed: 20,250/20,250
Total Ryo Cost: 6,125

15 Words discarded.