A Meeting of the Blasphemous:

The Night was dark. The mountains that that etched across the Land of Lightning made up the horizon of the sky. Within a small canyon, a large manor resided. Maikumaru was anxious about the situation. It was what he wanted. This is exactly what he wanted. Everything was going so smoothly that he had started to get paranoid. He had started to get nervous. He had faith in his plan and confidence within himself, but he didn't expect this much of a payoff. He had a mission. To guard what was inside. Inside the mansion 2ere prominent Shinobi, Diplomats, Ambassadors, Nobels, members of royal families, all of which had one objective that they shared: Dispose of Hastur. His rule needs to end. All Maikumaru knew was that they were discussing possible Coup. His mouth lavished at the fact…Maikumaru getting his hands on that book really did the trick. He looked upstairs to see the lights on, see men walking around, talking. He could feel the passionate fire radiate out of the window.

Maikumaru’s mind was moving at a mile a minute. He had so much to think about. If all goes well, this rebellion would be able to draw itself out long enough to give Iwagakure the upper hand once it goes to war with Kumo. He remembered before he left Iwa. The Land of Earth. He could feel the tension, everytime he would leave his mountains and enter the village. He could hear the whispers about the Jounin Council and the Earth Daimyo. About the delay to put a new Tsuchikage in place. During his time in Kumogakure he had time to think. Despite Hastur being a threat to his country, he could see the advantage he had acquired by being the single ruler in power. By eliminating bureaucracy, both Kirigakure and Kumogakure's nations respectively became stronger and more efficient for it. His mind thought about the Shinobi. The true heroes of Earth Country. Those who who are willing to sacrifice all aspects of their health to protect the country. The Hidden Stone…no…ALL of Earth Country needed to follow behind this model. But Maikumaru had his own spin on it.

All of Earth Country should learn to be warriors.
They should learn to fight. Everyone should learn to take up arms and defend themselves, to be prepared to fight. “Hey…you alright?” Maikumaru turned to one of the Shinobi who was tasked to guarding the mansion just as he was. The Shinobi had a healthy looking body. He was lean, and had a handsome looking face. “You know it was lucky for you to get your hands on that book. Big shots are in there ya know? Chatting it up, talking about going into something we like to call war. What you think about that?” He patted Maikumaru's shoulder. “Hastur needs to be gone. One way or another, someone needs to place his foot up his ass. Either directly or indirectly.”
“Better make that indirectly. I don't think anyone is strong enough to take out the Big Guy. He may not be an actual God, but damn he's sure powerful.”

“Guys…”

Maikumaru turned to the girl with blonde hair. She was short, but from what he was told of her, the way she fought was rather unorthodox. But the place she found herself enjoying the most was in her sensory. “What is it?”

“ANBU. Five of them. Coming from all directions.” Maikumaru kept note of her Sensory Abilities, as it even surpassed that of Gaia’s Eyes. Maikumaru stood up and cracked his neck from back and forth. “We’ll give them hell.” Maikumaru looked around him. The terrain reminded him of earth country. He was in his element. No matter the cost, he wasn’t going to let them get in the Canyon. He was smart for not letting his guard down. “Now I have something to release all this tension on. Let’s go.”

Maikumaru saw that them coming from all directions. His first response was to just hit one. One of them had a windmill shuriken. He threw it at Maikumaru at blinding speed. But The Champion of Iwagakure had been doing a lot of training. He was quicker than before, being able to duck under the the thrown weapon. But the masked Black OPs member lifted up his hand, palm facing up, and his fingers moving back, moving in a “come” motion. Maikumaru didn’t need rocket science to know that meant either evade, or defend himself. He hardened up his body, stopping the attack from the behind. But that didn’t stop him from continuing to attack. The shinobi rushed forward to engage Maikumaru in hand to hand combat. Maikumaru opened up with a punch to his shoulder. The ANBU had braced himself, and was shoved back by the attack. But he instantly recovered, and took out his Kunai Knife. He held it in a backhanded position, and ducked down low to try to slash at Maikumaru. But Maikumaru was faster, and he was able to knee him in the mask, leaving a crack across the it. Maikumaru raised his fists and made an attack. His fists hit low, into the ANBU’s side. Maikumaru comboed it into a shoulder tackle. He rushed forward, and listened to the dragging of his feet across the stone ground, as Maikumaru continued to rush his shoulder into him. Maikumaru felt the sudden lost of the feeling of an arm. It was a notification that he was going to counterattack. Likely stab Maikumaru in the back. He raised his body in the air to delay it, and slammed him down on the ground. Maikumaru heard the clink of the Kunai dropping to the ground. He started to move closer towards him, but was kicked in the leg. Maikumaru fell on his knee. The ANBU got up from his position, and statd to put Maikumaru into a chokehold. The Champion of Iwa punched at his head. When he felt that the ANBU’s grip was getting type, he went for a desperate measure, and punched him in the groin. The Kumo ANBU fell to the ground. He held himself, unsuspecting of Maikumaru’s dirty tactic. Maikumaru threw a downward punch at the ANBU. The attack would never land, by using the substitution jutsu, a rock would take the ANBU’s place. The rock would crumble into pieces under the weight of Maikumaru’s fist. He stood up and looked at the ANBU, who had recovered himself. Maikumaru, once again, cracked his neck and then his knuckles. Took a karate stance, and his fists ignited in cobalt blue lightning. This was the power of Kumogakure Nintaijutsu. Maikumaru smirked. And he would do the same. The two rushed at each other, the ANBU gaining the first attack by aiming for a fist, but right before reaching Maikumaru, he would jump backward, kicking him in the chest. The Champion of Iwagakure would fall back on his back. When he got up, the ANBU would kick himself up to try to forward dropkick Maikumaru. But he was able to catch him, grab him by the ankles and swing him around, throwing him to the side. Normally, Maikumaru would follow up with the pursuit. But he decided to catch his breath, and be more conservative with his energy.

He decided to wait for him to recover and see what he will do. He started to create hand seals, six of them to be exact. The lightning and wind chakra through his body surged together. Maikumaru was not impressed. He quickly made a few hand seals of his own, and used Sparkport to appear behind him. Maikumaru’s hand already had doton covering it. He kept it straight, five fingers out, and then he stabbed it through the ANBU.

“WE HAVE ONE DOWN!” Maikumaru had thought it was the ANBU who was talking to his fellow ANBU about the ANBU that had just died. In fact, it was someone from his squad. The pretty boy. He was on the ground covered in blood, and standing over him was a tall built shinobi with a large sword. He reminded Maikumaru of the Shinobi he faced when he helped poisoned the Kumogakure food supply. This one, however, looked far more dangerous. He turned towards Maikumaru. He pointed his oversized sword at the Iwa Shinobi. Maikumaru smirked. He could feel the energy in the air. He could feel the tenseness. This was no ordinary ANBU. No. He was a warrior. Maikumaru took a fighting stance. It was his favored fighting stance. Feet and body squared, hands down to the side. But then he reached behind his back. And he revealed his gauntlets. He punched the metal together. The ANBU nodded his head. This was going to be a fight to the death. Maikumaru rushed at his adversary. Wind Chakra Surged through the blade, creating a light green hue on that swire around it. Maikumaru had seen that Technique before, known as the Hurricane Blade. Maikumaru applied it’s Chakra Transferring abilities to his Gauntlets, which became harder as earth doton covered it.

The two weapons clashed. Maikumaru punched at the blade with each attack that was made. The range disparity was painfully apparent. Maikumaru was finding it difficult to close the distance between the two. The blade offered that defensive capability, as well as a clear offensive one. Maikumaru was finding it even more difficult to recover with the clashes made from the sword. Summoning as much strength as he could, Maikumaru made one powerful strike, knocking the sweapon aside. He had left the ANBU weaponless. He had left him at a disadvantage. But The Champion of Iwagakure had threw his gauntlets to the ground, and once again, took up his Brawling stance. The ANBU did the same. His stance was very similar to Maikumaru’s. The two approached each other. Maikumaru was much larger than the ANBU, but his muscles were well more defined. The ANBU was the first to make a move, punching Maikumaru in the face. But the Iwa Ninja came back, and gave him one as well, his head knocking back to the side. And from there a slugfest would commence. The two would go into a firefight. They traded blow for blow, their power and lust for power building exponentially. Maikumaru placed a well timed hit to the gut, which made him jerk back. But then the ANBU jerked forward, and placed a headbutt on Maikumaur, placing him down on the ground. He would then fall on him, in attempt to ground and pound the Champion of Iwagakure. Maikumaru would maintain a grasp on his forearm and shoulders, before moving up with a headbutt of his own. He used the opportunity to wrestle on the top mount position, and give him a well placed punch to the side of the head. But the position Maikumaru had gained was not due to his superior positioning, but because of his strike. The ANBU placed a foot on Maikumaru’s stomach and kicked him off. The two would get up once more. They looked at each other. Both of them had blood pouring from their mouths. The ANBU’s mask had been cracked off. They rushed at each other again, throwing slow and heavy hooks at each other. Finally frustrated with the stalemate, Maikumaru would unpin his foot and twist his fist into a hook, while leaning forward. All of this forced all of Maikumaru’s weight into his fist, and once it connected to the jaw, the ANBU’s head cocked back. It staggered him severely, giving Maikumaru another opportunity to end the fight. He grabbed the Black OPs Ninja by the throat and lifted him up, slamming him down on his back. He never let up his grip from the throat, and used it to start dragging him across the ground, the small rocks and pebbles cutting at his back. He threw him into the ground once more, stepping back. The ANBU stumped to his feet, but then Maikumaru rushed forward. He picked up the Shinobi. This was it. He slammed him down on his knee. Stone. Press. Backbreaker. He felt the life escape the Ninja. It was over. He rolled him off his knee. Looking around the other guards were capable of taking out their foes. Maikumaru nodded at them all. “You guys just stay here, I have to bring it up with the bosses.”

Before Maikumaru started walking, he collapsed to his knee. He had to face two different shinobi on two different occasions. He was drained. The blonde looked at Maikumaru. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah. I’m fine. Just a bit winded. Just give me a sec.” When he stood to his feet, he made his way into the canyon, and into the manor.

Maikumaru ignored the decor of the Manor. He only saw flashes of things that were gold. The Land of Lightning seemed to have a fetish for Gold. He raced upstairs. He kicked the door open. They all looked at him. “How rude, to barge in like…”

They all saw his face. His condition. It was clear he had been in a fight. “What...what is this...what happened!?” There was panic upon the room. Everyone started to whisper frantically and loudly, as if someone told an offensive joke. “ANBU...Kumo ANBU…”

A higher status shinobi looked back and forth at the room. “This is bad. If he knows about this...we’re all dead. All of us.”

“Look it was only five of them. If they truly understood how big of a deal this was he would have sent more.” One of the royal diplomats slammed his hand on the table. “DAMMIT...I have to go into hiding. My entire bloodline is in jeopardy. My wealth. If Hastur is after me, I’ll be done for if I stick around, and I can’t support this.” He stood up from his seat. “The situation will be worst a thousand fold if I align with revolution.”

“I second that motion.” Maikumaru looked around the room. These were cowards. His head and eyes darted in all of their directions. They were willing to give up. To lie down and take it. They rambled amongst each other. Maikumaru spoke up. “HEY! What are you? Cowards? You are just going to let this happen? Let this madman have his way? Tuck your legs between your legs and just hide underneath the bed, and wait until he finds you? This was formed so a stand could be taken, dammit!”

“Listen. Before you came in here we were confidant. But seeing that this is going to become a reality, I just don’t know. It made us wake up and realize that we have something to lose. We have lots of things to lose and not just our lives. We just...we need more than this.” The Royal Pompous waved his hand around the room. An outburst of more arguing engulfed the room. He had offended his compatriots with that remark. Maikumaru would shove his fist through the wall, regaining everyone’s attention. “Listen. My name isn’t Gouman. It’s Maikumaru of the Hidden Stone. I’m one of the most powerful Ninja in that Village. The Shinobi in my village? The sentiment in my entire nation? War is about to erupt. One way, or the other. And one way or the other, ALL of you are going to be caught in it. I can help you. I can convince the Daimyo and the Jounin Council to aid you. All of you should go into hiding. Before it’s said and done, you’ll have enough to start Civil War.”

“And what if you fail?”

Maikumaru shrugged. “Then stay in hiding.” They all looked at each other. The room was filled with uncertainty.
“Go to Iwa. Now. We’ll send a contact to you for any updates. But before you do, we need to discuss how are we going to do this.”

“The plan is simple. I’m going to even take this a step forward…”

Maikumaru’s heart was pounding. The idea had danced around his head from time to time, but he had never fully considered it. Perhaps he was feeding off the charismatic momentum he had seem to be on. Perhaps this was his impulsive nature in it’s ultimate form.

“I am going to become Tsuchikage…”

Everyone looked at each other. “Like I said, I am one of the most powerful Shinobi in my village right now, if not the most. If anyone has a chance to become Tsuchikage, it's me. Also like I said, there is already a lot of sentiment to go to war. I’ll handle it.”

“I suppose. The worst case scenario we stay in hiding as much as we can. We already don’t have a choice on that matter, Hastur is already after us anyway.”

The Jounin stood up and looked at Maikumaru, dead in the eyes. “Are you sure about this? Are you positive this will work? There is a lot riding on this. A LOT. We need to know you are up to this. To us you are just a lowly guard.”

Maikumaru walked closer to the Jounin and looked down towards him. His face was filled with determination. “Yes.”

“Alright then. Just get us the supplies and some Shinobi when you do. When you've settled into power, we’ll get everything ready.” The Land of Lightning Ambassador stood up. “I don’t trust you. I have no reason to trust you, and I have little faith in this naive plan of yours. But I have no choice. You are lucky to be considered-”

Maikumaru moved at an extreme speed. He flew across the room, grabbing him by the shirt and lifting him up. Maikumaru could feel the air in the room as this man began to give his little speech. He was making it difficult for them to have reassurance. Which is something that everyone was low on. Which is why no one would come to his aid, or speak out against this clear use of intimidation. “Are you doubting me? Huh? You know something? I don’t think I like you very much. How about I show me what kind of power I have.” He waved the diplomat around in his hand. He didn’t say a word, only whimpered. Maikumaru slowly put him down. He nodded to everyone else and left the room. As he walked down the stairs, a smirk crept up on his face.

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