Maikumaru looked up into the night time sky. He had found something. Something he hadn't thought he had found before
His body...it hurt. His father had brought pain on him. But with that pain he had gave him strength. Resolve. Purpose. He looked down at his hand. It was bruised. Had cuts. It was hardier. He clenched his fist. And looked up at the sky again. He needed to do something. He needed to eliminate a threat. The threat of Hastur. The threat to his home. Maikumaru had never felt the feeling so strong than this. He sat in his tent. Continue to look at his rolled up fist. The fist was a powerful tool. It had punched many enemies before. And now it was filled with purpose. Now the punches would be stronger. And Maikumaru just knew where to aim it. In Kumo. Maikumaru was intelligent. He was resourceful. Always had been. And now he no longer needed to flaunt such a gift.

The plan was simple. He needed to gather people. A group of people. And infiltrate Kumogakure. He knew of people who didn't like Hastur. People in Kumo. But they could never speak up against him. He needed to give them a voice. And more importantly he needed to get to as close to Hastur as possible. It would be a difficult task. A very difficult task. He rolled out of his tent. Maikumaru would use the information. A small village in the land of lighting. They HATED Hastur. But Kumo was too powerful to attack. And Hastur was far too powerful alone. Maikumaru began to pace left and right. He needed a platform. He needed to create whispers and unrest among the people. He needed a spark. A spark to light the burning flames of war. To ignite something that will burn Hastur to a beautiful crisp
Maikumaru clenched his fist again. Someone was in the camp. Someone who he knew who would help him. Taeru. Maikumaru marched to her tent. Completely unphased to what she might be doing inside it, he flung open the tent door. “Hey. I need your help.” Just them, Maikeru heard the sounds coming from outside the camp. He sighed
It was a raid. One of the bandit gangs had decided to hit this camp. “I'll tell you later. Let's get these guys first.”

398

She had, for a while now pondered why those with a nervous disposition chose to pursue a career in medical practices yet even as the sweat beaded along his brow the doctor remained professional. Surely he had seen worse? Yet each time he entered her tent, his medical case gripped tightly as he clutched it to his chest his determination to see throughout with a patient was admirable. She would watch him, his body language, his facial features right down to the twinge his lips gave as he peeled back the cloth that covered the stumped section of her hand where her pinky finger used to reside. His hands though slightly shaking would be careful and slow, precise with each movement’s as he unbound right the way to her elbow before dropping the old bandage into a paper bag. The shiver along his flesh evident as goosebumps raised the finer hairs of his arms. She would remain still her gaze shifting to her own hand and arm as he prepared to work. Following each instruction he gave as to open and close her fingers, watching the movement of the muscle, though chunks were missing the movement she retained could easily be classed as a miracle. Her arm scarred to the point in some areas the melted flesh still held a pink colour whilst others sunk in deeply, pasty in an alabaster tone yet some wounds fresh enough to still hold scabs; evidence so clearly of not only knife and fire but electrocution vibrant along the flesh of her forearm, just a small statement to the level of torture her form had endured during her time captive. Her hand, though its palm held similar evident to her forearm it was the stumped area of her missing digit of where all too recently the doctor had needed to remove more flesh and a section of the bone to help the healing process so that the bone itself would no longer protrude past healed flesh. The bruising of the minor surgery, deep purple in colour encompassing most of the back of her hand and palm, along with her ring finger. Decomposing would be one of the nicer ways to explain what her hand and arm looked like, yet she was healing. The scent of it almost stickily sweet, without the bandages.  

She had, after the first check up the doctor had done, requested that from then on it would be him that would watch over her recovery. Though it did not damage her pride he was the most gentle, careful and ruthless with her damaged flesh. Whilst others feared taking more, an attempt to save face with her, a victim or something monstrous to them, but with him, he stuck to that which he knew, removing more where the need called. Past agreeing that he would aid her wounds he had yet to look her in the eyes save for checking her left and the mutilation around that side of her face. He would come, check her wounds, ask the occasional personal question about the wounds and their origins as he worked before leaving in as much of a hurry as he always arrived. This evening, he was almost as silent as the grave as he worked, turning her hand over in his own gloved hands, pressing at the flesh and stub, he had asked only once what had happened to the missing digit. “you can feel here?” mumbling as he pressed different area’s, her brow would crease each time, nodding when his touch was felt of shaking her head the few times she felt nothing aside from the tight sensation the surrounding flesh felt of area’s where the nerves had been damaged to the point of being unrepairable.  As the doctor lightly placed the pad of his index finger against the end of the stump where her knuckle had once sat, a quick sting of pain would force her miss-matched hues to close, thankful that the left side of her face was still covered as she struggled to right her features as her waking mind revisited the cell...


The look that crossed her visible features must have been a sight, to say the least as she refocused finding the doctor watching her intently sitting as far back in his seat as were safe before flickering his gaze back to her hand. Hesitantly he would reach out for her arm once more, his gaze flickering to her right hand. Only then would she realise that she held her blade, the very same that her captors had used to mark and mutilated her body. Placing the blade down on the table her lips would part, her accent thick upon her tongue, “I’m sorry.”  shaking his head to almost wave off her apology he would as he always did mutter, “It’s expected after everything.” Nodding for a moment before pausing, her gaze would flicker to the opening of her roomy tent, someone was coming. Yet as quick as her blade returned to her hand, the tent flap would burst open allowing a familiar face to enter. The doctor's shock at the sudden, unexpected entry would pass as quickly before causing him to scramble to move the bloody towel to cover over her arm that had up until the doctor's actions, been exposed. Her gaze would settle on Maikeru before flickering to the doctor for a split second, quickly returning her attention to Maikeru as he spoke in a quick succession, disappearing as quickly as he had come. The attacks upon the camp had been becoming more and more frequent. With a sigh, her attention would return to the doctor. “I need to go and assist.” The doctors featured twisted in distaste and with this she knew what was coming, his voice no longer so mumbled or shaken, “You are in no state right now I need to redress and finish...” yet the look on her face stumped him  back into a mumble “Isn't there anyone else that can go?” Withdrawing her hand she would place one of the thick patches over the stumped area before tugging on her glove “You heard him, my assistance is required.” With that, she would slip from the tent far more quiet than Maikeru, leaving the doctor to either clean-up or wait for her return.  

Clad in her usual pale attire of clothing to match the variations of the sand, along with her usual weapons; both tessen, her senbon, Ripa tsume and her mothers kuni. Her gaze would seek out Maikeru, still tugging her glove into the right position on her hand and up along her arm, the squelch sensation ensuring she would feel it later when the time came to remove the glove. “Maikeru.”

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Word count: 1363.

Maikumaru had apparently walked in on a rather delicate matter. He saw that Taeru had been scarred and mutilated to a high degree. Maikumaru shrugged off what he saw and looked at Tearu as they walked. “Something eventful happened. I won't go too much into detail, but my name isn't Maikumaru. It's Maikumaru. I met my father. He told me everything. But don't worry about it. Long story short as you may know, we need to do something about Kumo. And I mean something soon.” Maikumaru walked to the entrance of the camp where there were a large number of low rank Shinobi waiting for him. They were….teenagers…Maikumaru cracked his neck and head. He really wasn’t for breaking weaker ninja, but what had to be done had to be done.

With Taeru next to him, he kept talking. “So here is the plan.” Maikumaru used the momentum on one of the charging bandits against him, grabbing him by the leg and suspending him into the air, slamming him down on incoming enemies. “We go to Kumo, and we take pretend to be Kumo Ninja and get close to Hastur.” Maik grabbed another Ninja by the neck, and put his leg behind the two of his. The Iwa Champion kicked backwards, and shoved downwards to have the Bandit fall on his neck. Maikumaru took out a kunai, and stabbed the boy through the eye, and into his head. The others Continued to charge at him but he held his ground, and continued to fight and talk. “I heard Harichimo stepped down as Tsuchikage. We can rely on the Jounin council for help.” Maik created hand seals, and held his hands out. A burst of lightning shot from his hands, and electrocuted all everyone in its path. Maikeru created more hands seals, and four pillars made from earth bursted from the ground each one connected to one another, creating a cage of lightning, trapping them in. Maikumaru felt the volatile charge of chakra in his leg. It was Bakuton. He raised his foot and slammed it on the ground, creating a tremor, a path of energy heading towards the prison. When the Jutsu reached them, he used the one handed tiger seal and detonated the Jutsu, causing an explosion, forcing them to be thrown into the electric fence. Maikumaru saw that one was attempting to sneak attack Taeru. In response he threw his Kunai at him. “I have contacts in the Land of Lighting that a village despises Hastur. We can use that to our advantage.” When another started to run towards him, Maikumaru simply jumped backwards and throw three Kunai at him, hitting the chest. “All we need is a few more people and the plan will be set. Not a lot to it. We go in pretend to be Kumo Nin, gain some allies to join our cause, and then reach the end goal, give people the courage to defy him.” Maikumaru yielded his fist back and pushed it forward, causing an explosion and throwing an enemy back. “Okay so there's a lot to it. But all doable.”

526/924 WC

With her right hand's palm cupping at the side of her left hand, her fingers curled over the back of her hand whilst her thumb stroked her palm softly. Yet her attention would remain on Maikeru as he strode towards the conflict on the outer edge of the encampment. Weaving in and out of the crowd moving away from the violence she too would exit the camp. Her gaze would wander from him to pass over those attacking. Children for the most part. A sad sight. Yet her heavy sigh would be interrupted as Maikeru began to speak, already engaging with their enemy. Stepping out of the way as he hoisted one of the youngsters into the air her brow would arch yet as soon as infiltration and Kumogakure were mentioned. Was he really speaking of such delicate matters amidst an enemy?  had she not spoke about doing such with him previously? And to mention Iwagakures losses in the process.  

As the raiton turned the air to static around him, for but a moment distracting most of the enemy, her right hand would shift to loop her index finger through the handle of Ripa tsume slipping it with ease from its sheath before dipping past him, her movement smooth and fluid, far quicker than the boy before her had anticipated, her arms still raised in an attack that had been aimed for her comrade. Now face to face with him, her lade slipping like a knife through butter deep into his gut to would watch the light of life leave him, making him choke with surprise as she tugged the blade upwards at an angle to tear him further. The shock on his face as he dropped his ax to place his hand atop her shoulder in an attempt to keep himself up before crumpling to the ground. Pivoting she would shift to rest her chest to Maikumaru’s back before placing her blood-soaked hands over his ears, a layer of her chakra coating over him as it flooded outwards from her, the sensation of sickness thick within it like a creeping disease. “SILENCE!”  Her command barked in a harsh tone, yet the sound laced heavily with her sickening chakra would not only silence the enemy but Maikumaru too. He would have to wait as his words fell silent just as the rest of them had. Removing her hands from him, leaving in their ward bloody prints against his skin she would remain close. “They know too much. Kill them.” With that, she would step away watching the unexpected fear filter through the group of youngsters. “We will continue this conversation once they are all dealt with.” With that, she would step into the fray. As realization tore through them as she herself did.  Only when a scream erupted from one in which she had taken to the ground, her own form atop the young girl, her voice a screech as she dragged herself from the genjutsu. Yet it was too late, her pleaded word processing a second too late as Taeru’s blade stuck deep in her chest. Did the girl really expect her not to kill her? Taeru’s gaze would focus on the females face, her attention only shifting as the air moving past her shifted un-naturally. cutting her gaze away she would watch one of the last enemy fall, a kuni protruding from them. Her gaze would return to Maikumaru once more, she would incline her head in thanks before slowly drawing her form upwards to standing again.  whether her thanking gesture was saw or not she would watch Maikumaru dispatch of the last of the enemy, she would, however, wait until sure that there were no more before placing her left hand against his forearm as she spoke. “We shall speak in private of such matters.” her touch and the extinguishing of her chakra would break the genjutsu that had remained past the enemies lives.  

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340/350:

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Word count: 663.
Total word count: 2026.

Maikumaru lazily  rolled his eyes at her order, annoyed by her barking attitude. But for now he had decided to let it go. He had looked over the horizon and saw a lot more of them coming. A whole lot more. But Maikumaru knew that he would outclass them. He took a deep breathe, a bit agitated by the current situation. They were still younger shinobi, but a lot more were around his age than before. He cracked his knuckles again, and cracked his neck to the side, happily anticipating to bring the pain to them. His wrath would be brought on anyone who dare threat Iwa. What had to be done had to be done. Exiting the camp from behind them were a bunch of other Iwagakure Shinobi. That was when Maikumaru would head the words of Taeru, and keep quiet. For now.

But until he could fully explain his plan to get revenge for his father, Iwagakure he had to deal with the miscreants, punish them for daring to step to an Iwa Camp with bad intentions. Maikumaru had activated Herculean Power Technique, a jutsu he had created to increase his overall strength. His muscle mass grew larger, and he grew even taller than his normal height. He grabbed an oncoming enemy by the face and squeezed, before lifting him up and threw him aside. Maikumaru spat a bigger glob of mud on the ground. It was bigger than usual. It turned into a large, three headed Mud Wolf. IT was another jutsu he had created, obviously a stronger variant of the mud wolves. It ran around, getting hit from different attacks, but, it kept regenerating, as they were weak one’s. Maikumaru grimaced. They couldn’t even take down a jutsu.  They weren’t at all worthy fighters. But he continued anyway. He grabbed a random enemy from behind, a very unlucky person indeed. “SUPLEX!!” Maikumaru arched his back, and begin to fall backward and slam him onto his neck, with a disgusting crack. He noticed that when he decided to yell Suplex, the word never came out, but the damage had been done. Maikumaru had realized something had been done to him, and it was likely that Taeru was the culprit. When she yelled silence, it must have casted a genjutsu of sorts.

He had almost forgotten she was a Trickster, a user of the shaded arts. It wasn’t long before he had realized that he could suddenly speak again. “I really wish you wouldn’t do that.”

423/1347

As her gaze shifted over the perimeter, the sight of more ever looking filled her vision, her body shifting so that her right eye could perceive more. Biting back the anger as it seemed to rise with ease like a beast into her throat, the taste of venom on her tongue. Yet her anger was not settled only upon the hoard that approached but on those that had sent mere youngsters to do their dirty work. Heartless enough to send a pang through her own, they were using the children not only as cannon fodder, as though their lives meant nothing and could never have a meaning nor cause, yet they were also using the youngsters to manipulate those they faced. Horrific, monstrous, saddening. There were truly monsters within this world and in times such as these, where the innocents of the world suffered the most, would they arise in strength to show how brutal and ugly the world truly was.  For who else would send in a child in hopes that their foe would falter instead of killing mercilously or accept outright the young would be snuffed out. Yet for all the hatred that boiled up within her, like a driving force of fire burning her up, she couldn't disagree that such a strategy would work whether the fodder died or not, they simply bided time for others to slip past. Vermin. Yet what would that make her? Didn't all of the large nations do this in times of war? an army of children to rise or fall amidst the chaos and death, so why should it seem so wrong now? Had she herself not started her service as a shinobi of Iwagakure as a mere child?  

Her voice a simple mutter bearly in an audible language as her lip curled slightly into something close to a snarl, enough to crease the scars of her lips in the process, “All shinobi are murderers even the young.” Stepping aside she would watch Maikumaru’s size shift and change, the muscles shift and enlarge crafting his physique a new. Her steps nimble in part as she hung back watching Maikumaru practically plow through those that came close enough, yet her gaze would shift the comrades drawing forth from behind to lend aid weather such were needed or not. And in her mind, why waste energy that may be needed or serve a greater requirement. so, for now, she would preserve both her chakra and her energy, occasionally dodging when required. Biding her time as she kept an eye on Maikumaru, watching for the steam of his rage to blow over before reaching to place a hand against his forearm, her gaze remaining out upon the thinning enemy. “Come. Our comrades have this under control and we must speak must we not?” With that she would turn stepping away allowing her fingertips to brush past him, an imprint of fiber fine chakra left upon him in the process as she walked away from the scene, expecting him to either continue to fight and find her after or to follow along with her.  

She would pass from one end of the large Iwagakure no Sato campground to the other before exiting, weaving through the sides of two tents before continuing a little ways off towards one of the many erected mud huts used as a border guard post outlet for the guards.  This one unoccupied. Grasping the handle and twisting she would press her side against the door to force it open, the scrape along the ground screaming out that though erected nearing the beginning of the war the hut had bearly been used. A simple table sat in the middle of the room with a dusty candle at its center, a bedroll, rolled tight and propped up against the hut wall and little else save for the stairs leading to the archway for surveillance. Dim, would be the right word to describe the room itself with just slits for windows, not only a guard against the many sandstorms the land endured but against any archery, not best effective but it helped. Stepping in she would opt to settle her rump in the rickety chair facing the door. As she sat a flood of energy would flow like an invisible fog along the ground before crawling the walls. Simple but safe. She would, for a moment wait, for the door to close before giving a light nod towards the chair facing her on the other side of the table. "I’m listening.”

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Word count: 761.
Total word count: 2787.

Maikumaru stayed focused on the battlefield. He ran over towards Taeru, throwing the adversaries that were in his way aside. Maikumaru looked around him to see that people were being defeated. Very easily. It wouldn’t be long before the battle was over. It felt uncoordinated. He activated his Tactical Chakra Mode. It always felt strange going into this mode. He felt as if he was omnipresent. It was like Gaia’s Eyes, but pushed to the nth degree. And activating it while in combat was something of an unpleasant experience, too busy multitasking while Maikumaru had to deal with enemies, and not giving himself a time to adjust to it. Sensing the Chakra around him, he noticed something rather off. He sneezed Chakra of a bit of a greater distance away. Two signatures of Chakra. He activated Gaia’s eyes. There were two men behind the dunes from afar, watching the battle. From what he could tell, they were wearing something similar to the clothing that the attackers were wearing, except more pristine and formal. Maikumaru could only guess that they were the string pullers of the operation. And they needed to be dealt with. He yelled at Taeru.“I’m going to charge through, you stay here and I’ll be right back.” She didn’t need to know what was going on. After all, he could stand for a little bit of fun. Once again, Sand began to cover his body, and once again it created the hulking Minotaur. It barged through the wave of enemies, crushing them. These bandits were coming from somewhere. This attack was definitely planned, but it was planned in some of the most disgustingly hastey fashion. The wave of enemies had stopped. There were all getting defeated from the outside of the camp.

Maikumaru spotted the two men. They were talking to each other, so they didn’t spot him, until the last second they jumped out of the way, saving themselves from and impending impact of the statue. The Minotaur stopped, and the sand dissolved, causing it to get smaller and smaller, until it was only Maikumaru. He turned to them. “I presume you two are the uh...administrators of this operation?” They both drew kunai, ready to do battle. They weren’t much for talking. Maikumaru respected that. One of them took the kunai, and bled raiton into it, causing it to sputter electricity. The other took out Shuriken. Maikumaru shook his head. He shoved his fist into the sand, molding it from beneath. He felt the sand morph in his hand. When he was sure it was ready, he poured lightning chakra of his own into the object. And then he pulled it out, revealing it to be a gargantuan sword, made of earth and etched with lightning. The two looked at each other and back at Maikumaru. From the looks of it they were almost no older than Maikumaru. The man with the Shurikens blew onto one while the other charged at The Explosion Champion of Earth. The lightning on his kunai formed into a longer blade, turning the dagger into a one handed kenjutsu weapon. He slashed a him, but Maikumaru was able to easily block the attacks, his larger sword being able to cover a larger surface area of his body. But the man with the Shuriken had launched his wind enhanced weapons, cutting Maikumaru in the arms. He winced in pain, which agitated him enough to attack the man. For anyone who didn’t have the raw strength and power he did, the weapon would have been amazingly slow. Of course, Maikumaru slammed the flat of the sword into the man, throwing him a good distance away. The Shuriken enemy continued to throw his wind weapons. But Maikumaru blocked with his sword, using it to cover the majority of his body, deflecting each of them. The man just continued to throw them frantically, causing literal insanity. When Maikumaru was close to the enemy, he slammed the butt of the weapon into the man’s face twice, causing a loud crunch at the nose, and a fountain of blood pour out. He fell to the ground, clutched his bleeding nose and mouth. His ally attempted to take the pressure off of him. He was equally sloppy and frantic in his Kenjutsu attacks as the other one was with his shuriken. Maikumaru kept effortlessly blocked his attacks with the flat of his weapon. Until his patience was far gone, and he took his hand and shoved it against the blade, causing it to be pushed into the man, knocking him down. Maikumaru raised the blade over his head, and brought it down, ending his life. He shoved the blade out of the man’s body, and turned it towards the other one, ending in the same result. Maikumaru probably should have interrogated then first. It didn't matter. He was done interrogating. He needed to go back to being a warrior.

Maikumaru had returned to the battlefield. He continued to take out enemies until it was clear that there wasn't any point for him anymore. Their sheer numbers had ran out, and were left with a thin layer of forces. He felt a touch on his arm, one that almost had him attack until he had realized it was Taeru. She instructed him that the other Ninja were handling themselves fine, and that they could go and continue their discussion in private. The two had walked through the camp, passing the tents and entering the mudhutts that were built by Earth Jutsu.

The two walked in the, and his companion settled herself in a chair at a table. Maikumaru would sit across from her. “Okay here is the plan. We need a group of people to help me. We need to infiltrate Kumo, and take Hastur down. Take down his resources. I feel something dangerous about to happen. Things between us and Kumo have been less than stable. Something is going to blow up, and we need to be ready more than they do. And it's a bit personal for me. I met my father. He was a mercenary like how I used to be until I joined Iwa. But his longest employer was Kumogakure, and he had worked with them for a long time. But after Hastur became Raikage, things became rather volatile. When he noticed that people started following him like a God, he spoke out against it. Naturally he wasn’t met with the best reception. He was almost killed. But I met him and trained. He’s dead now, unfortunately, but on his own will. Look, I just need to find a few people, and I need some help from the Jounin Council. The plan is solid. You have to trust me on this. We are going to war, and we need to prep for it. We need to take Hastur out of power. No one is defeating him alone. He’s too powerful for that. We can’t take out the head, but we can cripple the body. I have been working with some Suna Factions, and I found out a lot of things about Kumo, a lot of key places, all of that. I need your help with this.”


1214/2561

She would remain still like a living stature save for the long, drawn-out pauses as her chest rose and fell with steady breaths as she listened to each and every one of his words, etching them into her memory for the possibility of later use. Inhaling deeply at the end of her comrades speech, she would lean forwards placing her forearms against the rickety table causing it to shift and creek slightly under the pressure of her weight against it before placing her right hand atop her left, in order to both shield the sight of her missing digit from view and to, subconsciously, protect the damaged area. As her head tilted a touch to the left allowing the beaded section of her snow white, pin straight hair to brush and rest against the gaunt features of her right cheek. Her lips would peel apart to speak, “This war, I too feel will not end here in this land, something much more is coming and such may spawn from this land as a base between the lands that surround it. For your loss, I am truly sorry.”  

Biting down on her pale dusty pink bottom lip, causing the indentation of scaring on her upper and lower lip to crease further, chewing it as though chewing her next words over as her gaze shifted to the table for a moment. She would sigh before looking back up at Maikumaru setting her piercing yellow orb on him. “Before I can be of any help I must know what this... Haster has done. I have heard whispers about our encampment but that is all.” She would inhale before continuing, “I do not know exactly how long I have been gone for nor do I know how long this war has been ongoing for. I was a part of a squad bound for a political visit to Sunagakure no Sato, we were attacked on our way here. I do not know the fate of my squad but, I was taken. The doctor that you interrupted treating my wounds,” she would raise her left hand from under her right, simply showing her hand almost as evidence, “Was one of the shinobi that found where I was kept. My injuries are not from this war.”  

Her hand would lower to the table once again, this time placing the left atop her right as her posture righted once again, her back rigidly straight as though ready to be judged, yet she would continue to speak “The last Raikage that I knew of was a female by the name, Katonrai, Lin of the Guanyin clan. Tell me of this Haster and that which he has done. Tell me everything.” the heavy set of her accent, that screamed of her origins, would cause her request of the information to come almost like a command yet her features would remain set like stone as she watched Maikumaru carefully. Not only would his words live within her memory but his expression and the way in which he would hold himself, each minute detail would reside with her, for how else could she see her way to the truths through hearsay?

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Word count: 530.
Total word count: 3317.

Maikumaru shifted in his seat. She had a point. “I can see your concern. That's part of the reason I want to do this. To confirm that everything that we heard about Hastur is true or not. But from what I have seen, while this ordeal in Suna was happening, people have been doing horrible things under Hastur's name, you saw it for yourself when we rescued that man from the Kumo camp, who only spoke out against him. He has started to conquer lands in Kumo. One of them, the one that will be helping us, has been ordered under Kumo to give them Shinobi. They are basically letting them do this because they don't to get crushed. That's not all. At the Iwa . And all of the hushes and whispers are not from our camp or even our village alone. It's all too damning. But the infiltration also confirms everything. And if it turns out to be nothing but rumors, then it will be called off. But I think that's too unlikely.”

Maikumaru stood up from his chair. He paced. Just talking about this was making him think hard. “I know I can’t trust what people say, and I might be going on maniacal, revenge fueled babble, so I have to see for myself. But the more damning thing that is true, is that he attacked our Tsuchikage. Granted, he wasn’t a Tsuchikage at the time, and he provoked the attack but still. He attacked a fellow Iwa Ninja. And that is something that one just doesn’t do.”

His pacing began to get slower. His mind was heavy. He realized the weight of what he was doing. If he fail, he would sure die. . “So I need to find a small group of ninja. Mercenaries, ninja from other villages, hell I’ll even take rogues!” Maikumaru felt a disgusting taste in his mouth. He hated missing ninja. Felt as though they were the scum of the earth. However, there was a greater threat that needed to be dealt with. A threat not entirely confirmed but one that needed to be dealt with regardless. “My plan is to tell the jounin council that I am leaving Iwagakure to do this, and act as a spy. I go in, we gather information about Kumo. Once again, if there is nothing going on we leave. But if there is, we need to go and deal with it. As as possible.” Maikumaru sat down again, and looked at Taeru with a serious look in his face. It was tern and earnest, and he looked right into her eyes. “You are one of the most loyal members of the village I have met. And I trust you the most. You are the only one I’d ask for help with this. Which is why you are the only Iwa ninja I’d offer to help.”


491/3025

She would listen intently, drawing in each word as her stern gaze rested solely with him, taking in each and every change within not only his facial features with his movements, right down to the rise of agitation that shone through him, even within the pleading tone of his voice. She would refrain from interjecting, allowing him to struggle through his words, seeking and telling truth along with disclosing information was supposed to be trained from a shinobi making such often hard to do, so in part, she was obliged to understand the struggle that his words brought him.

She had not become totally cold to the feelings of others as a small part of her mind pondered upon the mention of Maikumaru’s father and his usual name change. Yet as the topic turned to the mention of the Tsuchikage a pang of pain struck like lighting through her chest as the thought of the seventeenth Tsuchikkage Karumo, the Tsuchikage she knew, rattled into her mind like a train sending a wave of lightheadedness into her mind. Yet a dull thrum of pain in her left hand would draw her mind back to the present as she re-evaluated the information presented. This Haster couldn't have been involved in the ambush of the seventeenth Tsuchikage and the rest of her squad, at that time the Guanyin Raikage Katonrai, Lin still held power within Kumogakure no Sato at the time, leading her to deduce that the attack must have been upon Lord eighteenth, of who started to ruckus that lead to her freedom now yet had never gained the honour of meeting. Yet the light-headed sensation would remain.  

The fingertips of her right hand would stroke over the boney stub of her left hand, causing a squelching sound to follow their movement, the metallic scent of fresh blood seeping into the air like a vial reminder, yet she would refuse to look towards her hand as the sensation of thick warm liquid would begin to slowly pool around and beneath her hands as she waited for him to finish and as he did a sigh would pass through her lips before allowing them to part, voice holding a commanding tone, “I shall speak in order to that which you have shared, I shall say these things only once so listen closely. This Raikage, Haster, within the lands of Kumogakure no Sato, are classed as his domain therefore can-not conquer the lands he already holds title to, yet he can reclaim and reimage them, such is the right of a kage of any lands.” As she rose from her seat, its feet would scrape slowly along the floor raising the sound within the pause as her hands left behind the thick sickly sweet smelling pool of blood along the table, trailing it as her fingers traced along the table top, her gaze still upon Maikumaru. “Tell me of this attack upon the Eighteenth Tsuchikage Sama. In detail. And then I shall continue.” She would pause giving her fellow Iwagakure ninja all the time he required to explain in detail that which he knew of the attack upon their last leader.  

Only once her fellow Iwagakure no Sato ninja had completed his accounts of the heinous attack upon their Eighteenth Sama would she continue to speak addressing the last of his original speech. “As for your plans to invade kumogakure as a spy. They are, at the present time foolish and will fail, and failure would not only result in your own death or torture and those working with you but would cause an all-out war between Iwagakure no Sato and Kumogakure no Sato.  for one step out of line, one sloppy mistake from a half-baked plan could result in the death of too many, both shinobi and civilian. Could you bare the weight of the death of Iwagakure children upon your shoulders for a simple mistake? If you truly wish to go ahead with such a plan you need to refine it. every detail must be planned and as many weak points as possible must be covered.” She would remain stood as her gaze born into his, holding within the moment. “Iwagakure became my mother, my father, my teacher and gave me back a family and a reason to live not just survive. For this, my life belongs to Iwagakure. At the moment your plans are a danger to Iwagakure. Refine them.” As always she would speak bluntly, yet it was advise given with reason that she spoke in such a way.  

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Word count:766.
Total word count:4083.

Maikumaru stood up once again. His face grew harder, and sterner, fully showing his seriousness and focus. He took a deep sigh. She was going to be hard to convince. And she seemed to lack faith in him. Which was understandable. He had only gain this much power and experience in a short amount time. It was fair. Coming from Maikumaru it would have seemed over his head. He thought about the first comment she made. It seemed that Taeru wasn't very familiar with politics, and who ruled what. “You aren't quite understanding. This village doesn't belong to the Kumogakure no Sato. It belongs to Kaminari no Kuni as a whole. Hastur doesn't have that right or that authority. That right goes to the Daimyo. And even then the village is still left with no defenses. He said he wanted to dominate the world. That this world was his. That everywhere he walks is his kingdom. Well something along those lines, but you get the point. And what he did to Harichimo...well he aimed a powerful jutsu attack at him. Our Tsuchikage. He narrowly missed and completely destroyed a mountain. Blew it up. Destroyed. That could have been our Kage.” Maikumaru shuddered at the thought. He liked Harichimo. He taught him how to use Chakra to use Detonator Jutsu. He seemed so nice and leveled headed, and so logical. “We shouldn’t stand for that. None of us should. That is a direct spit on the name of Iwagakure no Sato.”

And this plan will succeed. I assure you that this plan will succeed. And there is no need to worry about the plan. Have faith. The plan, at this stage, of course will fail, because its not fully developed or in full fruition. That’s just the basic blueprints of everything. I can find powerful ninja. It isn’t hard. I assure you, I have the means to do so.” Maikumaru’s skin crawled at that thought. He was going to have to go through the bingo book and look for missing ninja. Missing Ninja he had to get join. “And don’t worry. As as I said, there will be no Iwa Ninja involved, at least none of them who don’t fully recognize what I am doing. And in the unlikely chance we are caught, they won’t have anything to link us to Iwagakure. You have nothing to worry about.” Maikumaru clenched his fists. “And you will not find sympathy with anyone in Iwa more than I. Iwa gave me the chance too. The chance to make something of myself after my mentor died. It made me stronger, mind body and soul, far beyond I could have thought long ago. And you must recognize the situation. Your mother, father, and teacher is being threatened. They are being disrespected. And you know the tension is rising. You know things are going to explode worse than any Explosion Release than I can ever muster. And I will do everything I can do to protect it. everything. And that includes doing this. And I assure you…”

His determined eyes looked into the very black pupils of Taeru. “This plan: it’s going to work.”

[exit]

540/3565

Strength C~2-C~3 700 WC
Endurance C-C~3 1875 WC
Perception C-C~1 575 WC

Her stern and rather piercing gaze would remain set on him, watching him stand She herself remain in place listening as always, close to each and every one of his chosen words. Patient and silent bar the dripping sound of the thick crimson liquid that spilled from her hand would travel along her ring finger before dripping from it tip to pitter patter against the ground and rising the evidence of her sickeningly sweet ominous scented essence, like the thick smog of scent from the room of those losing their grip on life, falling prey to age.  

Throughout Maikumaru’s speech, her expression that was visible would not change, not at the insult of her understanding nor at the short explanation of what had happened between the eighteenth Tsuchikage and the Raikage Haster.  Her features stern, cold even. Like a true shinobi, her emotions would be well hidden from sight. Even the slights against the Eighteenth Sama, Harichimo though a great crime and a direct attack upon Iwagakure itself, she had learnt to condition her features and words. Though, if a chance did ever arise to repay the debt owed she would step up to take on such a task, for Iwagakure no Sato, she would do anything, be anything, and endure all for the sake of the village that had taken her in and gave her, once again, reason and meaning.

“He has started to conquer lands in Kumo." Her brow would arch as she spoke his exact words back to him, her accent replaced by his own as her tone took to his deeper setting. “Your words, and ow you correct yourself and have nerve enough to state it to be my mistake. If you are wanting to infiltrate Kumogakure no Sato with the intent of passing information back to Iwagakure no Sato then your words must be precise, each word important. And miss-communication of information could bode ill for all involved. Learning such lessons now will only aid you later within your life and if you do make it to Kumogakure no Sato. Always think before you speak and act, one miss placed step, one word out of line and it could mean more than just your downfall.” She would pause as though choosing her own words now, a slow intake of breath before continuing, “From both what I have heard about the camp of whispers and your words, Haster is a dangerous problem. It is for those above our ranks to decide, yet pose your suggestions of infiltration to them, maybe they will listen. Maybe they already have a plan in progress.”  

With a light sigh, her head would tilt a touch to one side as she continued, “Like I said previously, your plan needs refining, without such your plan shall fail and cause ruin, if you head along such a path intervention may well occur.” Though she could see within him a burning desire to complete the endeavors to which he stated she could see a lot, many too much, rested on his grief and lust for revenge rather than what would be best for the village they had both sworn to protect with their life. Yet grief did this to people and his plan needed fine tuning yet she could not deny the information on Kumogakure no Sato would be valuable, only  ‘if’ he could both retrieve and relay with accuracy. With that, she would incline her head and speak “Maikumaru.” signaling the end of their conversation, before turning on her heels to step to the door. She would either listen to her advise or he wouldn’t. She would exit from the mud hut leaving him behind with his thoughts as she closed the door behind her.

Her mind would wander away with itself, searching through the information obtained, storing it safely within her mind for closer examination and use at a later date, for such she would not forget.  Drawing her bottom lip into the clutches of her teeth, she would chew at the pale trapped flesh as she strode back through the camp yet the sensation of fading would crawl into her head, attempting to blur her vision as little white spots entered her vision. The heaviness of her limbs dawning in her mind as a rush of lightheadedness flooded her senses. Though she would feel her body sway her left hand would rise to snatch a grasp at one of the posts, taking a firm grip to steady herself, only then when looking to her hand would she realize what had caused such a turn as blood now dripped from her elbow. Taking a deep breath she would release the post leaving behind a bloody handprint as though marking her bloody path within the camp, cupping her right hand over the stumped section of her left hand to apply pressure enough to force her to grit her teeth. As she neared her tent she would pause, an attempt to collect herself in case the doctor had remained. Her right hand would shift from the stubbed section of her left hand to her gloved end at her elbow. Giving a slow, steady tug until her wrist was exposed she would again grit her teeth knowing of the sting of pain that was to come from the much-needed action. Taking a deep breath she would bite back the whimper as she whipped the glove off as quickly as she could manage, causing her body to sway, the sight of the ragged flesh exposing bone would easily be enough to unsettle those of a weak stomach yet the blood continued to flow from the tarnished flesh. Pushing aside the flap of the door with her right hand the would enter, her glove now bloody and sodden again still gripped tightly in her right hand. Stepping in her gaze would lock with the doctors.  

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Word count: 982
Total word count: 5065.

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Training towards Iryojutsu: 5000/5000