Tomohiro stood in the middle of one of Kumo’s markets. He wore his now usual black boots and now long overcoat. Also, he adorned a pair of charcoal jeans and a v-neck shirt. His kasa has placed smugly over his head. Tomohiro’s blades were place promptly by his side. He waited as his mother talked to the blacksmith. The woman was very stern and radiant. It was weird watching her communicate with other people. She had a sense of strictness in her voice, but also a hint of sweetness. Tomohiro could see how his father had fallen in love with her. Even without her right arm, she was a known force to be reckoned with. She had made it to the rank of special jounin, but didn’t make it higher than that. The woman before him, Kari, was said to have killed many that opposed the village and even prevented the clan from breaking out in a civil war. That was his mother.

The blacksmith handed her a straight bladed sword that she sheathed on her right hip. The sword was quite magnificent. It rivaled that of his own Kenmei. The blade had ruins that had been inscribed within the blades dark metal. Though, he wasn’t sure if the ruins were cosmetic or actually had any latent abilities. The weapon was special and he knew that she would never part with it. Kari nodded toward her son as Tomohiro walked with her. There was mostly silence between the two. Their personalities were similar, but his mother was more outgoing. The silence ended when his mother started to speak to him as they exited a mass of people from the market.

“Tomohiro, what are you thinking?” Kari questioned.

“I’m thinking about the clan meeting,” he quickly looked around making sure no one was in ear shot, “The clan needs to talk about...that problem. It seems like we’re not taking anything seriously.”

The two continued outside of the village gates. The guards let them through as they headed toward the Nakir mines. Tomohiro’s mind was quite engrossed in a problem that seem to split the village. Lord Hastur. The raikage’s actions at the kage summit were a deep concern for many citizens. The clan had always been neutral when it came to things like this, but Tomohiro felt this was something that they shouldn’t tread lightly. In the past, they would just let things happen. They didn’t even participate in the fourth shinobi war. If they wanted to, they could make a huge different and not just in the village, but the country as a whole. Their tradition had started to stagnate them and he just didn’t want to sit back and let things happen.

The clan’s stagnation was one of many reasons why clansmen defected from the village. Not just the clan itself. He had even been told by one of his uncles that some of them even started to flock to Iwagakure. There were quite a few times where the clan almost had become a shadow of what they formally were. This would be his chance to change that. They would become more than just a shadow of their former selves. The Nakir clan had been through many years of trials and tribulations. They survived even during the time of feudal conquest during the Warring States era. They have evolved and had become stronger, but not many even knew they existed. Most of them were just considered a miner clan that harvested raw ore to support the village. The underground community that used to house them had basically been abandoned as more members moved into the inner village or within a compound within the village. Some lived outside the walls, but a lot of the younger members lived inside the walls of Kumo.

As the two made their way in front of one of their clan’s mines, Tomohiro looked up above the entrance. A worn black flag with the red Nakir emblem hanging in it’s absolute glory. Their were no guards ever at the entrance. Posting guards would also draw unwanted attention. Not many were brave enough venture into the labyrinth of the Nakir mines. They were taught at a young age to find their way through it. Using a weapon was the first major thing they were taught, the second was usually ninjutsu, the third was navigating their mines. The task was almost second nature to them. Some genin or academy students would occasionally come into the mines, but the Nakir members would find them and get them out of harm’s way. The two Nakir stood in front of the mine as the area had been surrounded in complete silence.

“Mother, the clan needs to formulate a plan on the way we go about the raikage.” Tomohiro stated with a firm, but respectful tone.

“What makes you certain that the elders will agree to do anything? They have been holding the will of our ancestors above their own,” Kari responded with a calm tone.

“We just have to make our case. I’ll probably spend some time training before I try and convince them to think reasonably. It may be the time for the clan to change our ways,” Tomohiro responded.

“I’m not saying that I disagree with you. There are many clan laws that need to be revised. Do you have anything that would be willing to change their mind?” Kari answered trying not to be overly assertive.

“Yes, I have evidence that some of our younger members have been have been colluding with Jashinist and other cultist that think Hastur has done nothing worth concerning. What we as shinobi did in Suna after its destruction. The fact that Hastur literally alluded to war on the world will get many of us killed.” Tomohiro stated as he crossed his arms.

“I see what you’re going with this. You don’t want to seem like you’re on a witch hunt. The clan doesn’t need that. Clear your mind and think things through, Tomo. You’ll need to address multiple problems not just dealing with Hastur. You also need to find a way to not cause bloodshed. The last thing Kumo needs is to be fractured and littered with corpses because the Nakir decided to declare war. If one of us is blamed, all of us may take the wrath of the village elders.” Kari replied to Tomohiro’s aggression.

Tomohiro thought about what his mother had said. She was definitely right. The village and the Nakir didn’t need their blood spilled. This would need to be done with less violence as possible. Tomohiro was all for an all out battle, but there was definitely a place and time for that. There were definitely too many possibilities that weren’t in the clan’s favor. The confrontation of the clan. He would need to wait until they opened the meeting for remarks. This whole thing was complicated. He wondered what could happen and he hoped that this whole thing just didn’t get blown out of proportion. He wondered what the other members of his clan would say when he would stand up in front of everyone.

“I’ll figure something out,” he stated though not really convincing.

The two of them traveled through the maze of hallways underground as they went deeper and deeper. There were torches that were burning on the walls that lit their path as they made their way to the a giant hall. The hall was dimly lit as a large chandelier lit with candles provided the only light. The hall was designed to look like a giant senate hall. Rows of stone benches were spread in a semicircle descending down to a group of finely crafted stone chairs that were filled with warm bodies. The amount of stone seats that were filled changed over time, but an empty space was in the middle of the two chairs. The others would be filled by elders. The clan hadn’t had a clan heir or leader in years. What happened to the last one seemed to remain shrouded in mystery. The elders and the older generation wouldn’t ever talk about it. He wondered what could have been so bad that it was a secret.

As him and his mother sat down. The clan elders had already been fighting with each other. One of them was his father. Though, his father seemed really calm and collected. He also hadn’t been wearing his traditional sour face that he usually carried. The sounds of the hall were loud and full of multiple individuals talking at one time. Tomohiro just looked to his mother who had a simple, but elegant smile on her face. They waited a few minutes before everyone started to settle down. The hall was only partially filled with clansmember. A lot of the younger Nakir didn’t care for clan politics. Some members were out doing other things and a quite a few were doing missions.

The hall then fell into complete silence. A last member of the elders showed up and Tomohiro’s eyes shot open as he noticed his brother. “Ishino?!” The words just escaped him as a couple of Nakir clansmen chuckled. Tomohiro had missed the past few meetings due to training or other things, but his brother hadn’t even bothered to tell him that he been made an elder. Tomohiro wasn’t sure what to think. Ishino did fit the qualifications outside of his age. The jonin had a few years on him. Other than that, his brother was strong capable and someone that could probably wipe out the clan out if he wanted. He thought that his brother would joke around too much. Tonight, he seemed very serious. His face didn’t have the joyous Ishino smile on it. It looked like he had been through a lot. The missions he had been doing must have been running him ragged.

The meeting continued as they went over various issues that had been quite normal. The first was about getting new genin training of their Netsugans and setting dates for that. The others consisted of trainings business opportunities and trade. Most of that stuff he didn’t care too much about outside of the Netsugan training. He knew that he may end up helping out his fellow clansmen progres their doujutsu. It was tradition that kept a lot of the clansmen going, but was it worth letting their village fall apart? He wondered how many issues that were presented would actually affect them as a community. Tomohiro just sat there and mulled through his own personal thoughts until his father brought up the topic of Hastur. The young Nakir raised his head slightly as he waited for his father to speak. He wasn’t used to hearing his father engage a crowd. It wasn’t like his father was to openly talk to people from what he knew. Though, he would listen intently.

“We need to talk about the issue of our village leader. The clan needs to come to a motion to decide what we should do concerning the village issues. We can either back Lord Hastur or mind our business,” Ryuu started with a firm voice.

“We should just mind our business. The clan has done so for centuries. Why start now?” Anoi, the elder, complained.

“That’s preposterous. We should back Hastur!” Takoi went on.

The clan started to get really rowdy as Ishino took a deep breath and released a mighty kiai toward the crowd. The crowd stopped as most of them were rubbing their ears. This meeting was a lot more interesting than what he bargained for. If that was a reason why he became an elder, he understood why the choose him. It was a good thing there was some crowd control. Everyone seemed a bit on edge for whatever reason. Getting your ears blasted out also didn’t help that either.

“Thanks, Ishino,” Takoi said.

“You’re welcome. I may be new in this seat, but do we really want to back Hastur? We have done well so far to keep to ourselves. Though, I say we should dethrone him.”

The crowd started to get rowdy again, then stopped as they noticed the look on Ishino’s face. They muffled their voices as another elder finally spoke up.

“I see what you’re saying, Ishino. We don’t want to deal with a total war. A civil war would be just as bad. We’ll send spies out into the village to see what some of the other clans are thinking. More than likely, we’re not the only ones who are having the same thoughts. It wasn’t the Nakir who put him in power,” the elder named Chung.

“Thank you, Chung. That would be the first step. The next step we could take is to form a resistance. The cultist are a problem that is sort of getting out of hand. It will be hard to tell the ones who are cultist by name and the ones that are to some really gruely stuff. Most of this is based on rumor, but we can infiltrate and find out if it’s true. If we can work something out and convince others to join, that’s when we can demolish Hastur’s supporters,” Ishino said to the crowd.

“We’re getting ahead of ourselves, Ishino. We still need to make a motion to see what we will do. I say let’s get the motion started,” said Takoi with a loud boisterous voice.

“No, we need to open the floor first. I’m hereby opening the floor to suggestions,” Ryuu stated.

Tomohiro noticed that no one else bothered to stand up at first and he decided to take the stand himself. He was a bit nervous as he walked to down to the table of elders. The walk to the stage seemed like a long road to hell. The eyes of the clan stared at him as he walked down. Tomohiro knew that he was one of the many shinobi that believed in the strength and opportunity within the village. Others new that as well. This wasn’t the first time he had spoken in front of the clan. There was only one other, but that had been years ago. He just had to clear his mind and calm himself. He stopped as he looked upward to the council and then to his clansmen.

“We have spent many years sitting on the sideline. Our tradition has kept us in the shadows for too long. What happens if Hastur decides to remove anyone that doesn’t support him? That is the reason why we must choose a side. We are better off forming a resistance and help clean up our village. If we are able to get support of higher ranking shinobi, we can fight him. We have shinobi in the clan that rival the best. We also have strong members that have exiled themselves because of tradition. We will become like the other clans that have dissipated into nothing. There’s a way we can resist. The Nakir will start from the bottom and then we cut the head off the snake. What kind of warrior monks are we if we’re running from any conflict? How many of us have already joined with the cultist. There could be people in this very room. We need to survive together as a clan. Together we can win.”

Tomohiro ended his speech with a strong resolve. The elders looked at each other and Ishino and Ryuu seemed to have smirks on their face. It was a face of pride they had for their immediate family. The elders were stunned at the words that came from Tomohiro’s mouth. They had never heard so many words come from him. The fact that Tomohiro stood up when others didn’t seemed to concern them. What concerned them, he knew not.

“Elders, we recess.” Ryuu stated as the elders walked away to convene with themselves.

The hall started erupting into small voices as the elders walked away into a back room. A few minutes went by as they returned. Tomoihro would remain waiting in front of his clan for the elders to return. The recess for a total of fifteen minutes before returning to their chairs. Some of their looks were disconcerting to him and others were actually seemed in decent moods.

Ishino looked to the crowd of Nakir and began speaking, “We came to a conclusion. I motion that we reach out to other clans and request support to build some sort of resistance. I already have higher ranking shinobi allies that think that Hastur needs to be stopped. They are willing to die to protect the village from collapsing within. We’ll start with limiting our shares of iron ore and use it to forge weapons. It would be easy to lie about how much we have been harvesting. We’ll call it a dry season. We also came to the conclusion that we need to send ambassadors to the Hidden Leaves for the Chunin Exams as well as find our exiled brothers and sisters. All in favor, say I.”

The group of Nakir were speechless. The fact that they would send clansmen to Hi no Kuni, of all places, was a bit of a shock. The Nakir had spent years avoiding them if they were held in Konoha. The group hesitantly said I sporadically. There were no nays. The elders then looked to Tomohiro as the young Nakir hid his head underneath his leather kasa. Ishino sort of chuckled. A deep slow voice then followed his chuckled.

“Tomohiro, my son, you will be one our clan's ambassadors. You will not go alone, but you will first head to Konohagakure. We will send three other shinobi with you. You are free to leave Kumogakure and come back at your leisure. If you’re called to duty in Kumogakure, we will cover for you at the kage’s office. The kage's office does have some understanding of our traditions. They should be understanding. Though, we're not sure if Hastur will be. Since your sensei and squad mate were both Raiu, you may try to bid their clan for assistance. We will send others to other clans. This meeting is adjourned,” Ryuu ended.

The meeting ended with all of the clansmen standing up. A lot of them were concerned and they had a right to be. This whole meeting had not gone as they expected. He was expecting to have to fight them tooth and nail. Maybe with the possibility of defecting from Kumo temporarily. This was quite inspirational and nauseating at the same time. Outside of having to take someone’s life, this had to be one of the boldest things he has done. His heart felt like it was about burst out of his chest. His brother hopped down from the platform and grabbed him by the shoulder. Tomohiro wasn’t sure if he would punch him in the gut or congratulate him. It was something that Ishino would do. Though, he did neither he looked at him and told him to follow. Tomohiro wouldn’t refuse, he wondered what his brother wanted to get off his chest as they moved to a training cavern closeby. The two stared at each other before they decided to break their silence.

“Really Ishino. The Hidden Leaf? Konoha?!” Tomohiro yelled.

“It wasn’t my choice, brother. If it was up to me, I would have sent someone else in your stead. The clan elders think you are going to bring honor to the clan. The way you talked in there was amazing. I thought that the elders’ eyes were going to pop out of their socket. They agreed that you would be the best person to be an ambassador. It may take some work, but we think that you will be able to convince the exiles to come back. Most of them left Kumo in good standing at least. They shouldn’t give you too many problems. The clan will be counting on you. I will be counting on you. You should be honored. Usually only retired shinobi of the clan become ambassadors, this is a great opportunity.”

Tomoiro grunted heavily as he rubbed his temples in slight disgust. The way he react was if he was going to go alone. He wondered who would go with him to Konoha. The Chunin Exams were quite a while. It would give him plenty of time to at least hunt down a couple of his Nakir clansmen. He knew that Konoha would be one of the last places to look for them. It may be their that he find some of his distant family. Tomohiro tried to look on the bright side of this, but it became hard to think of anything that would calm him. He would definitely need to meditate. Out of all his frustration he was glad that his clan had been able to see reason to an extent. It would just take some time to get more of them on board with their plan of resistance.

3576

Tomohiro was sitting at his breakfast table in his apartment. A drip broth rolled down his face as he wiped it off with a napkin. His ramen bowl had been empty of the pork and noodles that previously occupied the massive space. The chopsticks that he used were placed gently inside of the bowl as he took them over to the sink. After washing the bowl and the steel chopsticks off, he place them on the drying rack. The bowl was very tasty. It was good that his cooking skills hadn’t gotten rusty. He was wondering if losing your skill to cook was even possible. A delicious meal was a good one to start off the day off. Today he would hunt down the first of his clansman. He needed all the energy he could get.

A white scroll sat at the opposite side of his breakfast table. Tomohiro would pass it on the way to his bedroom. The scroll contained the information where Ishino had tracked down a couple of the exiles. The young Nakir dressed himself in a crimson tunic with his clan emblem on the front. Over it, he had placed a black trenchcoat. He placed his forehead protector around his neck. Covered his head with a leather kasa, he tipped it forward a bit covering his face. Tomohiro would walk over to a locker his purchased for his apartment. He opened it revealing two katana and a few smaller assortment of weapons and items. The smaller items went into their pouches first. His Kenmei and the rusty katana, that he needed to sell, went next as he attached them to his left hip.

Walking out of his bedroom, he moved up to his table as he picked up the scroll and went over it again.

Nakir T.,

I’m not saying you have to do these first, but these are the ones I already were able to find. You weren’t alone in wanting to do something about the clan being idle. There are a lot more us that have the same thoughts as you. The biggest reason we haven’t acted on our own was because we weren’t sure if the elders would back. Being made an elder helped my sway the balance of their vote. Though, I digress. The information below isn’t from just me, but the ones who were going to act on our own. We tried making contact with or locating as many exiles as possible. I see you already met up with Uncle Kaimei. He’s a pretty formidable opponent. Don’t let his size fool you. He’s faster than I am.


The first one on the list is those who are within the Kaminari no Kuni. The first three are priorities. Once you make contact do as you see fit to bring them back. Not all of them will be friendly. The clan hasn’t always done right by some of their members. Be successful.

Nakir I.

Tomohiro opened up the scroll and saw five names that were on it. Their last known location was most definitely spread out across the country. Though, he knew where was going to go first. There was a port on the coast. A bit further north than Kumogakure was on the map. That would be the first one. “Nakir Levan.” The name wasn’t familiar to him. The clan made sure they didn’t talk too much about any of the exiles openly. From what he read, Levan exiled himself do after a failed mission where his blood brothers died in combat on a mission. Tomohiro read through the additional information that was presented in the scroll. He nodded his head as he would grab his prepared pack. The pack had food, first aid, and other supplies that he needed for his trip. He made sure that everything was secure in his apartment before heading out. Tomohiro would return to the village after he met with the first individual. He would need to talk to Ishino about the others on the list. Their backgrounds concerned him a bit. Plus, he needed to make some progress on his training before heading down to Konohagakure.

As he started moving toward Kumo’s main gate, he started to think about the meeting. Throughout the night, he started to have mixed feelings about what he was doing. It wasn’t betrayal that he was feeling. The feelings he had were from anxiety. Tomohiro took deep breaths as he calmed himself down. He knew in his heart that he was doing what he considered right. The willpower he had would have to overcome and make a solid decision. This was what he was meant to do. There was nothing that would be able to prevent him from accomplishing his mission. Though, he wasn’t getting paid for it. He would need to do the best he could with what he had access to. Tomohiro started to smile as he found the confidence he needed. He felt that he would be successful in his venture. It was time for him to unite his clan.

After he passed through the village gates, he started traveling northwest. The road was long and seemed endless as he wasn’t use to traveling this far from the village. There wasn’t much to look at. Not even bandits. He did pass through a couple of villages and they noted that they had problems, but they were too far out to be provided assistance. Tomohiro unfortunately couldn’t solve either of their problems and wasn’t sure about how to. Each village seemed to suffer from bandits and what may have seemed like rogue shinobi. He knew that he wasn’t going to get himself involved in something he didn’t have great details about. There was literally nothing he could viably do to set them at ease. Though, he did promise that he would take his concerns up with his hidden village once he returned. Taking on shinobi was at least a B-Rank mission. He knew that death may have been imminent if he decided to intervene. Somethings you had to have a certain level of wisdom and maturity to deal with. If he wasn't alone, he would have been more than willing. Though, he had other things that he needed to accomplish.

A few days had now passed. Tomohiro finally made it near the coast. This was closest he had ever been to the ocean. The air around him started to smell salty. It was hard for him to describe. The scent was unique in its own way. The smell of the ocean had a certain calming sensation that caused him to want to take a break. Tomo would keep moving. He needed to find his cousin as quickly as possible. Maybe his cousin would be able to help him with the villages on the way back. Though, he didn’t know this man and he wouldn’t even be sure if the man would be willing to come back to the village. It may not have even been worth the risk. Getting involved in village affairs could make things worse. Tomohiro hated the idea of bandits causing strife. For the time being, he would not get involved. The risk would outweigh the potential for success.

Eventually, he arrived at a large port town. There was a sign that said “Hiromitsu.” The town seemed to be filled with tall buildings. They had been the tallest that he had ever seen. It seemed like he could take ages making it to the top. The sky here was clear and the sun felt hot against his yellowish skin. The wind blew strongly through his hair with the scent of salt water. He wondered if this was what he was missing back in Kumogakure. He wish he had time to sit and take in everything, but he had to get to it. Taking a break during his mission wasn’t the brightest of ideas. There wasn’t much time that he could waste.

---

Tomohiro spent most of the day trying to get clues about his relative. Between the description that was given to him by his brother and the locals, he was able to track the man to the port. There was a clan of merchants that used the port and apparently actually had rights to a dock. The clan name, Shinkai. There weren’t many that he knew by that name. He did know that not many of them came up through the academy at Kumogakure. From what he heard from speaking to one, they were trained by their own clan. Tomohiro understood the clan’s actions. His clan had spent centuries training their own in the shinobi arts. Not all of the Nakir were shinobi, but most of them were familiar with the shinobi way.

Evening started to creep in on the port. As he walked, there were many individuals that were a lot thicker than him. It was probably due to all of the heavy lifting. These men didn’t have the look of warriors at first sight. That was until the heard a loud yell near one of the docks. It seemed like a fight had broken out. Tomohiro rushed to see what the fuss was all about. He climbed up on a bunch of crates as a large group of men and women had created a large circle. As he reached the top of the crates, there were two men fighting in hand to hand combat. A voice rung out “Show’em Levan, you can beat him this time.!” Tomohiro’s eyebrows raised as he watched the two men dance in what seemed to be a weird hand to hand style. He watched carefully, as he caught a glimpse of both men’s faces. One had rings around his eyes much similar to him, but his eyes were...red? It was his clan’s Netsugan. It was the man he was looking for. The man’s hair was long and matted. He had a long beard to match. It looked like he had been growing it for years. The man he fought had a high and tight haircut that stretched was flipped into a high ponytail.

There was a bit of shuffling next to him as he looked to the right of him as a boy a lot shorter than him cheered the men on. The boy seemed to be about twelve or thirteen years old. Tomohiro was a bit confused as the lad didn’t seem to pick a side in the matter. The Kumo-nin did a double take as the boy seemed to have a short sword on his back. He squinted as he noticed two different emblems. It was instantly then that he realized that this boy was also a Nakir. He wanted to ask the boy a question, but before he could speak, the crowd started revving up the two men more. Tomohiro would wait awhile as the fight started to get interesting. Levan seemed to get the better of his opponent. The fight was very intriguing. He hadn’t known any Nakir to actively practice taijutsu like that. Tomohiro wasn’t much for hand to hand combat, but combat was combat nonetheless. Watching it was very inspiring. The men were absolutely passionate about their combat styles. There was no way that he was going to get in the way of that.

Levan continued to get ahead in the fighting as his opponent started stumbling. His opponent did something that he didn’t expect though. The other man clapped his hands and a claymore appeared. Tomohiro almost leapt forward, but resisted as someone through a odachi toward Levan. Well, he thought he resisted, but it seemed like the boy had pulled on his poncho and shook his head. This must have been something personal the two of them had to battle out themselves. Tomohiro returned the nod as he would kneel down to rest on one knee. He would continue to watch the men fight it out. The fight was truly well fought. The two men almost seemed like they were on equal footing. The fighting intrigued Tomohiro to the point that he wanted to get involved himself. Though at the request of the boy next to him, he would continue to monitor things.

The fight seemed to have ended after awhile as the area was now lit with dock lights. Levan had sheathed his weapon as he fell on his back. The other male walked over and helped him up. The two men chuckled as they helped each other get to a nearby bench. The men seemed to be quite fond of each other. Before he hopped off the crate, the boy grabbed him by the arm as the two would lock eyes. There was a brief moment of silence before either one of them would tried to break it. There was understanding between the two as it was almost like their thoughts were connected. Tomohiro sighed as he started to speak.

“The name is Nakir Tomohiro. Chuunin of Kumogakure. Who might you be?”

“I’m Egil Nakir. Nice to meet you clansmen. I didn’t one of father’s family to come visit.”

“Levan’s your father? I needed to speak with him.”

“Sure thing, Tomohiro. I’ll introduce you to him. Maybe you can even stay for dinner. Mother’s cooking shrimp and pork ramen.”

The boy that called himself Egil brought him closer to the two men. Tomohiro already knew what he wanted to ask the man. It was dire need that he he ask the man to come home. The man seemed to be quite happy in his current position. The man had a family of his own and he wasn’t sure of what the man would think about helping the clan even if temporarily. Tomohiro was a bit anxious to meet him, but he would need to get it over with.

“Papa, Uncle, this is Nakir Tomohiro. He’s a chuunin of Kumogakure no Sato. He came to speak to you.”

The man met eyes with Tomohiro’s before speaking sharply. It was like he was offended to even see him.

“What brings a Nakir to these far reaches? Let me guess, the clan wants me to return due to the current events is that it?”

“Aye. I was sent as an ambassador to convince you to return,” Tomohiro responded.

“I already know your brother already sent me a letter saying that you were coming,”

“Wait. Nani?! He said that I was coming.”

“Of course, he was probably testing how well you were at tracking. We’ve been in contact with him for the past few years. Don’t look so serious. I’m just need a break. Oh yeah, this is Ulgon Shinkai. He’s been stationed here a few days. This is my brother in law. We tend to go at it from time to time.”

“I see,” Tomohiro responded in a firm tone.

A couple of hours passed as they arrived to a villa outside of the city. It was built on the side of a cliff that overlooked the ocean. A few Shinkai walked around the villa with spears and other variety of weapons. Once they entered, a young man took them to a large open courtyard that had a that had enough for maybe twenty people. Ulgon sat down at the head of the table that was crafted out of marble. The table was inscribed with various ruins that he didn’t understand. Once they were seated, Egil left to go run around on his own. There weren’t many kids here. Tomohiro wondered what the boy would do with his free time.

Ulgon and Levan spent time talking with Tomohiro. Tomohiro caught the two men up the two men as much as he could on what was going on from his perspective. The two men eagerly listened to what he had to say. Tomohiro was able to ask quite a few questions that he had and he learned a hefty amount about what was going on from the city. It seemed like cults had somewhat of a hold in various villages on the coast. They even tried to convert a settlement that the Shinkai was building up to train sailors. Tomohiro was able to take the information and formulate what he needed. It seemed like the Shinkai would help them, but they couldn’t do it directly. Ulgon said that he would have to take it up with their clan head to make a firm decision on how to deal with it. The Shinkai clan generally kept to their own affairs from what he could tell. The conversation between them was promising. Though, he was a bit upset that Levan wouldn’t return to Kumogakure. The man stated that he would need to help the Shinkai with their efforts before he could make a firm decision. He learned that the Shinkai were more inclined to send more sell more mercenaries to Kaminari no Kuni’s daimyo. It was something that they often did to keep his army stocked with soldiers. Tomohiro probably thought that was how they could afford to live such a lavish lifestyle here.

A few maids brought the men food to the table. Levan and Ulgon were fine with him staying at the villa as long as he liked. Ulgon would mention that he would sail north to the Shinkai’s base. There were things that required his assistance that he didn’t want to get too much involved with. Tomohiro broke bread with the men and actually learned some interesting stories. Levan wasn’t as bad as he first perceived the man to be. He eased up around him as time went on. Levan stated that he would teach Tomohiro to use taijutsu, but he respectfully declined the man’s offer. There wouldn’t be much time for him to pick up a new fighting style. A blade in hand was good enough for him. Fighting with his hands was fine, but he really didn’t feel like it at the moment. He was still a bit conflicted about everything that was going on, but he felt better as he would need to return back to Kumogakure. Tomohiro made sure to let Levan know that he would probably return sometime after the chuunin exams were over. Before he forgot, he handed Levan the list his brother had given him. Levan wasn’t sure who a couple were and at least one of them was rumored to be dead or was at least faking it. Levan stated that he would go out on his own to help Tomohiro as much as possible.

The young Nakir was more than grateful that Levan would assist him. The trip was well worth it. In the morning, he would travel back to Kumogakure and hand in the village’s request to handle the bandits. Though, he started to wonder if he could get an audience with the Raikage. He wasn’t sure why he wanted to do this, but he figured that he may learn something from the man. It wasn’t that Tomohiro’s mind wasn’t made up on how he felt about him, but he did have some doubts. He wondered if Hastur was even as diabolical as he thought. Tomohiro knew that what was going on behind the shadows was probably more than he could handle. Though, he wondered if he could use this to fit even more to his advantage. It was crazy, but maybe he could slip into the cult unnoticed. The task wouldn’t be simple, but it would allow him to see what was going on.

Tomohiro thought that if he could infiltrate one of the cults, he would know of a better way to fight them. The plan would definitely be taken up with Ishino. The art of subterfuge wasn’t one he was quite familiar with on a large scale. He would need to be trained to figure out how to blend in with the groups. It also would be nice to know how they handled their meetings and how they gathered. There was a lot to learn that he figured wasn’t the best time to ask. Getting information would be key. Tomohiro also figured that he could take them out from the inside and bring them to their knees without them totally knowing what happened. The idea may have been suited for some else. Though, he had to admit that the idea wasn’t as bad as he would make it out to be. What come next for him he wondered? There would be a lot more questions that he had now. Questions that needed the right people to answer them. This whole quest was riddled with questions and where some ended new ones began. Would his curiosity ever go away or would it get the better of him. He was hopeful that his mission wouldn't be in vain. There was a lot for him to do with so little time left. Would fate decide for him.

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