Spoiler:

The journey they had taken together truly made Xiao feel connected to Yoshihiro. The two had that similar light personality that in turn allowed the travel into the deeper Land of Hotsprings to be quite pleasant, Xiao quite openly sharing his history and ambitions to become something of a shinobi who united the countries and creating a safer place for children as well as failsafes to ensure they weren't merely used as human weapons or fodder for the canons of the Kage. Not that he disliked Kage at all, but rather the system of shinobi in the first place. The travel through the land of hotsprings had certainly lived up to the name with it's humid setting and mist that hung at the feet of the wanderers that felt as if it was walking through a sauna rather than the cold mists of Kirigakure. The land was notorious for it's constant sweltering heats but so too the way that the heat though possibly causing swooning and overheating so too refreshed the body making the shinobis who ventured through the land feel quite refreshed through their time within the land.

Xiao and Yojo were making there way down a dusted path, one well traveled but loosely maintained, a light dusted path without any stone or cobble in place to mark the territory but rather the thousands of boots that had traversed the land had simply ensured that any vegetation would not grow in that selected area. It was evident as the abundance of trees, flora and soft lush grass held a deep and luscious green color that showed a promotion of nitrogen and well satiated appetites of the vegetation all about them. An assortment of tropical flowers, trees and strangely designed insect that served as their guardians and residents seemed to permeate throughout the land giving it a feeling of a rainforest or tropical island. On the horizon was the Land of Hotsprings main 'village', though far different from Konohagakure or Kumogakaure this hidden village barely managed to be seen as much of a small gathering of town houses and markets than the enormous villages of the big five cities.

As the spider-nin made his way to the grand gates that unlike many of the hidden villages remained opened, and unguarded, the site of scattered weaponry and guards uniforms being torn in ways that made them look abandoned caused the small spider to question as to what had happened. Had Komodo really taken over an entire village of rather peaceful civilians that scarcely even counted as shinobi? The uniforms seemed to be torn only around the armpits or joints of movement proving that perhaps it wasn't from a slaughter but rather the transformation into the lizard like creatures themselves. Xiao was on guard standing outside the bamboo gates that were made of loosely intertwined trees rather than that of any real defensive structures as his eyes saw that the streets were laid with similar clothing ranging from children to adults, to market owners to shinobi. The village, could it be that they were all under Komodos command? It was hard to tell, but Xiao was glad to have Yojo at his side to take on any issues that may arise.

"Looks like Komodo has been busy...That's going to be a lot of lizards...What should we do?"

Yoshihiro couldn't quite believe how this side quest of his had developed into a fully blown anime filler arc. What he had thought to be a simple meeting with a fellow shinobi to learn more about the devious Komodo had grown into a dual mission to stop an evil lizard madman from creating a legion of strong lizard people whom would obey his every call and command. Xiao had been more than helpful in interrogating the captive they had caught during their meeting place along the border of Kirigakure and Konohagakure. Much to their chagrin, they had moved far from the heavily watched borders to more secluded lands, namely the land of hotsprings. It was a place that the young Genin knew little of save for the reputation it held as a place of great relaxation and socializing. Come to think of it, this was the first time that he had ever traveled outside of Konohagakure! A fact that was starting to dawn on him as he followed the superior tracking and sensory abilities of Xiao, their forms low as the crept up on what they thought to be the old lizard's hideout.

The bamboo gates were swung open. From the way Xiao kept walking, apparently that was something he had expected to be present. Yoshi couldn't help but look up and down at the 'walls' surrounding the village. It all looked so... simple, compared to the mighty walls of Konoha that he had known all his life. Sure, he knew the basics of the ninja world and that not all villages were anywhere near as strong as the great shinobi villages, but hey, he had been expecting something more than this at least! Some of the trees that were being used as walls even looked like they were rotting and hadn't been replaced in years. Just from first impressions, YoJo deduced that this place wasn't the kind that spent a whole lot of its budget on defense as it did on maintaining its hot springs. Regardless, he stayed alert as he mirrored Xiao once they came to a stop in front of the bamboo gates. He looked inward, noting the ripped clothes scattered all along the ground of the village, as well as the eerie silence that seemed to have long since fallen over it. The whole sight was unnerving to say the least, it was a ghost town.

"You don't think... That he transformed ALL the people in the village, do you?" YoJo asked, putting the question and speculation out there that the Komodo may have actually completely converted a village into his personal zoo. It was a sickening thought, one that made Yoshi feel that they should've gone to a Jonin or a higher rank ninja instead of facing this themselves. This guy meant business! If he could transform so many people into his mindless lizard thralls, then what was stopping him from continuing to do so? This was the dilema that he and Xiao had grappled with as they had interrogated their captive from the bar. They were in agreement, if they waited any longer, or went to go back and get help, Komodo would just rampage to the point where he and his brood couldn't be stopped. The two couldn't let that happen, even if they were of different villages. They might've only been Genin, but they had hearts that would rival the Kage! "We need to get Komodo to show us an antidote, if there is one. We have to help these people" Yoshi stated, trying to take charge somehow.

He looked around the main street leading from the bamboo gates. "It's not safe on the streets. They'll see us coming before we ever get close to seeing them" Yoshi stated, recognizing the type of opponent they were against. He recited the plan he had been thinking over as they had traveled. "First, we have to find any survivors and figure out what happened. Second, we find Komodo and where he's holed up in. Once we do those two things we can move onto part Three: taking him down and finding an antidote to his corrupted jutsu" the teen said, looking up at the roofs of the buildings nearby. He might've been fairly mobile, but not even he could hold a candle to the stuff his partner could do. "I'll go along the streets while you mirror me along the rooftops. Hopefully we'll see more that way, as well as cover each other's backs" Yoshi resolved, looking to make sure Xiao was on board with theirbasic plan. It was all they had for now, they'd have to make it work. With that, Yoshi would start walking down the main street of the village, head on a swivel and his body on high alert.

817/817

As the young spider and yojo stood outside of the walls thoughts of horror rushed through Xiao's mind. Could it be possible to utterly wipe out a village? Was there a possibility that a single person could do just this or was this simply an illusion or mistake? Maybe the villagers had got up and left. Maybe they had gone underground in hiding but at the present time there was no true way to confirm or deny such actions. It was here that Yojo spoke out, causing Xiao to slowly look over the land "I'm not sure...Considering the amount of clothes and silence, it could be true...But that's insane." Xiao remarked looking through the doors of the grand hot spring bamboo thicket as he contemplated the possibility that indeed an entire village was overtaken by one Lizard Sage with a tendency for chemical formulas.


The truth was that this creature, this Komodo, was far above their paygrade and far more than either of them could possibly muster against someone of that weight class. Xiao, in his lack of social understanding, opted to simply state as such outloud "We're two genin...I mean, don't get me wrong, we work well together but this could be big." Xiao remarked with some fear ringing true to his voice as he swallowed his spit that built up due to nervousness. As Xiao looked over the barren street through the gates Yojo spoke of an antidote much to Xiao's agreement "Definitely. Remember any of these lizards are just folk, who knows if they even consented..." Xiao remarked as he opted to start assessing an entrance point. Yojo was proving to be something of a masterful strategist much to Xiao's approval, he adored the very concept that the clanless shinobi had a great mind and imagined of it's possibilities as time went on. Perhaps he would be a grand master of the leaf who would clash with Kirigakure's own? Regardless at this time the beauty of the situation was that the mist and the leaf were strong allies and through that came strong friendships. As Yojo opted to take the mainstreet Xiao gave a thumbs up creating a quick webline to the tip of the wall "I'll keep my eyes open for you Yojo, I got you're back." Xiao stated as he clambered up the strengthened silken rope on high, using the momentum to leap over the bamboo wall and a top a nearby rooftop landing in a near prone position as he kept his eye on Yojo giving a thumbs up as he began to slowly crawl along the rooftops.

Spoiler:

With a thumbs up, and the sight of Xiao scrambling up onto the nearby rooftops, they were off to the races.

YoJo opened and closed his sweaty palms a few times as he looked at the empty main street. He had a peace of mind a bit now about having a friend give him a birds eye view, hopefully nobody would get the drop on them now, but that didn't exactly comfort his nerves anyways. This was a big deal, and frankly, now that they were learning more and more about this monster's abilities, YoJo was beginning to think that this whole affair was more suited to the villages than the two of them. Still, now that they were here, having come all this way, they were seemingly past the point of return. Who knew what would happen if they just left the mad shinobi to wander around and do as he pleased? For all they knew, more villages could get depopulated overnight. That was something that neither Kiri nor Konoha could let happen.

The first couple blocks were fairly uneventful from both the ground and from Xiao's vantage point. The empty streets were ominous in just how quiet they were. Every small creaking sound of splintered wood sent a chill up YoJo's spine. At reaching what looked like a central courtyard, there was at last a sign of life: three large lizard folk were laying down on top of large wooden crates, much like how a lizard would nap on a rock in the desert to let the heat of the sun warm them up. They seemed relaxed, having not yet smelled the two intruders. As YoJo crept closer, hiding behind a large stone fountain, he could hear the goons talking.

"Tell you what man, like, being a lizard is part great and all- but don't you think it's a bit weird that your dick slides into you through that little hole? Like, is it just me who thinks thats creepy? Chicks don't like weird holes man, like, for real bro" one of the goons said, seemingly recently turned into a lizard after allying himself with their leader, Komodo. The next voice that spoke, a large and burly fellow with dark gray scales and a scarred snout, replied with a dismissing tone, "Cut that crap, when boss is done, everyone'll be like us. That's how, like, equality and shit works" the big brute postulated. Typical, even as disgusting abomindations of creature, masculinity never faltered.

The third lizard it seemed was truly asleep, napping contently while his comrades were arguing about the finer points of whether hating humans counted as racism or speciesism. It was deep, too deep for YoJo to think about. Instead, the Genin perked up an ear at a particular tidbit of information, "How long do you think those villagers have before boss makes a new batch of scalesippers? That hot spring might be steaming them for now, but I want them out of there so I can find a good rock to lay on, you feel me man?" the youngster asked. It seemed that there were still some survivors! It sparked some hope in YoJo as he crouched there. "Boss said he'll be ready to force 'em pretty soon once his next batch is done. Pretty sure we'll be hitting the big times after, just let the feral ones run wild over the village walls while we sip on tequila. Who knows what the old man is doing cooped up in that hospital" the grunt replied.

With that, they had to places to check. YoJo wrote the words, 'survivors in hot springs, you see where it is?' on a piece of paper and threw it up to where Xiao was perched, letting a small current of Futon let it flicker upwards to where the boy sat. Where were they going?

655/1472

[EXIT due to Inactivity :(]

Total WC: 1472

• Training C-rank jutsu, 'Illusionary Technique: Taibyō': 1000/1000