Traveler's Log wrote:

The Land of Noodles is a rather unremarkable place, all things considered. A small nation nestled atop the northern tip of the Shinwato peninsula, it borders between obscurity and irrelevance with surprising dexterity. It isn't hard to see why when one looks around: there's nothing here save for farmers and rice fields for as far as the eye can see. Above all else, everything here feels perpetually flat. Each small farmhouse looks the same, each cluster of buildings line the modest roads with an innate ability to blend into the background, and the people are suspicious of outsiders.

Despite this, there has always been a common perception that it and the nearby Land of Tea, were always something similar to the 'backyard' of the Land of Fire. They always were sovereign nations, and yet existed on the periphery of their much larger neighbors' sphere of influence. They're protectorate's in everything but name. The perfect kind of place to continue my travels as I craft my map of the known world... Amongst other reasons.

Word has reached Konohagakure that a mysterious famine has swept across the minor nation, decimating the harvests of the previous year and bringing a blight upon the many crops that serve as the backbone of the country's economy. Unemployment has suddenly risen, the daimyo is scrambling to find an answer, and the nation has remained largely at the mercy of imports from Konoha and Kiri. The medical nin have done what they can to analyze the strange blight, yet little progress has been made. The only certainty that is known is that some corrupted chakra is eating away at the natural energy here... something dark.

Suspicion has run rampant in this land. Distrust of one another, of shinobi, have been broiling and simmering. I've had my fair share of stops by some of the local officials wanting to know why a Chunin is wandering the countryside writing furiously in his journals. For once, I am glad to be recognized by my prior victory in the Chunin Exams; I've been let go easily enough by most guards.

I'm heading to the village of Ada, a town near the center of the nation. It was in these hinterlands the blight first appeared, and it is here that I hope to investigate to try and find a possible explanation to all of this.

The nights grow long, the shadows of the grain stalks seem more sinister here, the moon seems further away than before... I feel something in the air as I walk along the old roads. I don't know what it is, and yet, I cannot shake the feeling that something is watching me.

Ever your faithful travelling partner,
ジョーよしひろ

Yojo felt the weight of his traveller's journal in the satchel slung over his back, along with the unfinished maps of the Land of Noodles that he'd been crafting. They were a reminder of why he'd come here, along with an innate curiosity for the strange dearth that had befallen this Konoha protectorate. He'd heard rumors of the famine and crop failures that seemingly appeared overnight, yet to see the results firsthand, was sobering.

Entire crop fields were wilted and black with bile. A smell of decaying vegetation lingered through the air. What healthy fields there were had barbed wire and other fencing lined all along the edges of the ranch. Scavengers looked at him with hungry and curious eyes, giving Yojo the kind of desperate gaze that made him shiver a bit. He kept one eye open when he slept here- and he always slept a ways away from the main roads. He didn't trust some of his fellow travelers, even if he sympathized with their plight.

Thus, his trip had taken a sideways detour. He'd decided to go to one of the inland villages known as Ada, one of the first places the blight struck, and one of the most suspicious and mysterious of all these places. He may not be a medical nin, but he certainly sought to help in what ways he could.

Yojo reached the top of a small hill, looking out form its top at the small village a ways ahead of him. It seemed so innocuous, like the others ones he passed, and yet, there was still a feeling of unease broiling in his stomach.

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An eerie breeze was flowing through the cold night. A wind that would send cold shivers down the spine of many. It had become the common feeling when one would travels across these lands. For whatever reason, these fields that used to be filled with peace and tranquility are now filled with dread and decay. The ever looming feeling of the end. It was as if death itself walked through the streets, waiting around every corner ready to take its next victim. The land of Noodles which was once a peaceful land where not a lot happened was now struck by an unknown disease. Something plagued the fields of this land and for weeks now people have been unable to find the source. Being unable to find the cause of this disease the country has slowly been declining, however it wouldn’t take much longer before it would be thrown into chaos.

The land of Noodles didn’t have much of a military force to speak of and thus relied mostly on the neighboring  countries for things that required military might. That didn’t mean that the population didn’t feel resentment towards the shinobi that roamed the world. While shinobi certainly were of benefit from time to time for them, they have also been the cause for a lot of harm in the past. As a relatively large country positioned between the land of fire and the land of water it has seen its fair share of battlegrounds. Seeing as the major nations would prefer not to damage their own properties when waging wars, the wars often took place in the countries that fell in between them. Thus a grudge has slowly grown over the ages. A nation that is peaceful by nature, fell victim to the gears of war.

However despite that, even with their dislike towards the shinobi, they knew that they couldn’t do without them in these difficult times. For they had no longer the supplies to sustain themselves. Their stockpiles were slowly affected one after the other. The ground became tainted and the yields from harvests have dwindled ever since.

The fire nation and to an extend the hidden leaf itself have become weary of an outbreak from whatever might be plaguing the land of Noodles. Not only that, they’re also afraid that the people within the country might do something. While their military prowess might not be something that either the village or the country would really have to worry about, it’s the cunningness of the people that worries them. Desperate people make for dangerous enemies and thus the nation has decided that the hidden leaf was to help the people that were in the country. Bring food and medical supplies from time to time and investigate the country to try and find the source of whatever might be causing the land harm. Despite that order, the nation nor the village, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of urgency behind it.

But what was she to do? What could Fuyuko as a single individual do about it all? She wasn’t a medical ninja and while she loved nature, she had no clue how to inspect and investigate the health of the plant life. So all she could do was deliver the supplies, this time she was to supply the village of Ada within the land of Noodles.

Fuyuko had become somewhat familiar with the terrain. She had traveled a decent amount of times now through the country to get to the land of water and back. After all she was still a shinobi from the hidden mist village and because of that had to report back their in person. The easiest way from the hidden leaf to the hidden mist was through the land of Noodles. Not only had she traveled through the lands for personal reasons, it wasn’t the first supply drop she was going to make either. And every time she wandered within the lands borders she saw the decay that happened. It made her sad, but what could she possibly do.

While the plague hadn’t caused any illness to the people yet, Fuyuko preferred to be cautious. The rate at which it was spreading and people potentially eating infected food there was always a chance that it was going to infect a person sooner or later. So she had decided that it was time to start wearing a face mask when making these drop-offs or traveling through the country regardless. Fuyuko had arrived in the village of Ada just after dusk and talked with the village head. They moved to a clean warehouse where Fuyuko pulled out a scroll and started to unseal the supplies that she brought along.


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When Yojo reached the small gate at the front of the village, he'd found an uneasy quiet hovering above the scene of the small dirt streets. As he walked down the main road to the town square, he could acutely feel the suspicious eyes watching him, judging him silently from behind almost-closed-doors or shuttered windows. the sensation got him to hold his travelling bag a little bit tighter over his shoulder, keeping his head on a small swivel. He could read the nonverbal messages on the gaunt faces of those who watched him, 'you are not welcome here' they said. Even though the Chunin displayed his Konohagakure headband with pride, tied around his arm, he still felt wary. Konoha and Kiri used this northern tip of the peninsula for trade and travel, so long as the roads remained, what use were the people? No amount of humanitarian aid or supplies could answer that.

After some time walking, the Chunin finally managed to get the tavern keeper to point him in the direction of the village elder's house near the center of town. Thankful that someone had actually spoken to him for a change, Yojo flipped the tavern keeper a few ryo before making his way to the estate in question. It was a somewhat larger house, with a warehouse for grain storage built into its backyard. Seeing the warehouse door slightly ajar, as well as the dark absence of light visible through the main house's windows, Yojo opted to investigate the former for any traces of the village elder.

When the Chunin stepped into the warehouse, his eyebrows rose up in surprise at seeing someone else already present. The elder himself was present, but the young woman close to his own age was a mystery. He thought he might've seen a glimmer of a shinobi headband- but couldn't tell if it was a trick of the light or not. Sensing the moment of tension, the elder was quick to interject and clear up the air.

"Ahh, y-you must be the Konoha-nin we heard was coming! That's very good. I was just beginning to speak with the young Misses here. Come, come and drink some macha to warm your bones! It's one of the only herbs we have anymore to make tea with" the elder said, his warm and faint voice speaking with a liveliness that betrayed the obvious malnourishment he and his fellow kinsmen were in. "In my country, those who drink and eat under the same roof are brothers without blood- it is a very important thing, eating and all that..." he said before the smoldering melancholy of the atmosphere overtook him once again. Yojo moved to sit at the table in-between the stranger and the elder, looking between them both- as well as looking more subtly to see what village she was from.

"I am Yoshihiro Joe, of the Hidden Leaf... I am called Yojo, though, for ease of speaking" he introduced with a small bow of his head to both the elder and his apparent partner, hoping that it would earn an introduction in turn. Once the pleasantries had been done with, the old man would sit back in his chair, close his eyes, and begin his tale.

"Well, it all began nearly 6 months ago. It was the beginning of the Harvest Moon, and we were celebrating the coming of an abundant crop for the coming year. It was the same as any other year, really..." the old man paused to sip some of his green tea, letting the color return to his face a bit. "At the height of the celebration, a terrible thing happened: a demon, an Oni, appeared from the shadows of the Torii gate. It just-just came up out of nowhere! I remember it all so very clearly. Its voice was garbled and guttural, yet still somehow spoke the common tongue. All of the farming families in the village were frozen in place at the sight of the thing!" he said. The elder shivered a bit at his own narration of the event. The revelation piqued Yojo's curiosity. A demon? It sounded ludicrous, as though someone had been hitting the sake too hard during the festivities that night. Still, out of respect, he stayed quiet while the elder continued.

"'The Raijin have grown enraged by your celebrations and disrespect to nature! I have been send by their gracious hand, to torment you and all of the people of this land until you have atoned for your great sins! Every day you shall send me one of your children to sate my great hunter. If you do this, then I shall be merciful on behalf of the rain and the storm... However, if you refuse me, my hunger shall grow, and I will become and eater of livelihoods if not lives', he ordered, before disappearing... We did not know what to think, nor believe, and as such, planned to ignore and hold out against the creature's demands whilst praying for forgiveness. Yet, for every day that we refused, the crops grew more and more putrid and vile. After one month, the strange blight had come to stretch across the country" the elder continued, his head downcast with worry, looking at the scroll on the table placed by the kunoichi.

"So this... thing- wants your children? It wants to eat them?" Yojo asked, still a tad confused. The elder looked up, his hands shaking a tad as he took another sip of green tea.

"Y-Yes. For every day we wait, it demands another child. After so long, its hunger has grown so great that it will ask for 180 children to repay 180 days of Blight" the elder said, looking between the two, pausing briefly. "My eldest son gathered some of the able-bodied-men and sent them off to the nearby canyon where the Oni is said to dwell, but none who have gone have returned. Now, we are sliding into a dark decay... We will not survive through the year if this famine continues" he said, suddenly lowering his head onto the table, prostrating himself.

"Please, help us! I-I know we are a poor country, and I am just one village elder amongst many, but we do not know what to do! If this curse isn't lifted soon, I fear that my grandchildren and many others will soon be given up. Our resolve will break sooner or later!" he cried out, his head still lowered as his wails filled the warehouse.

Yojo looked to the kunoichi briefly, wondering what she was thinking, before looking back down to the man. A slow sigh escaped his lips. "I don't know much about Yokai or Oni... But I cannot deny the destitution that has fallen upon this country. If I can help, then I shall. You have my word as a man, and as a shinobi of the Leaf" he offered, pausing to think the account over...

"Still, you said that this 'Oni' has spoken in the common tongue, yes? That strikes me as strange, surely a spirit or something like that would have its own speechless language. Would it not?" he asked, trying his best to sit there and take the fantastical out of an inherently fantastical story. There had to be more to all of this. There just had to.

He looked toward his partner, waiting to see what she thought.

1257/1996

Fuyuko quickly unsealed all of the content that was stored inside of the scroll once the village elder had shown the place. Whilst she was doing that she could hear footsteps nearing the warehouse in which they were. Shortly after an old boy or perhaps a young man stood between the open doors. It would appear that the village elder was expecting them. Fuyuko didn’t respond and quickly finished off unloading all of the supplies she was given. By the time she had finished retrieving everything out of the scroll, the village elder had insisted she stayed over a bit longer with the boy and had a cup of tea. Seeing as it was not in her nature to decline things when they were offered, she couldn’t do anything but comply for the time being.

They got seated around a table, Fuyuko on one side, the elder opposite of her and the young man in between. As the tea arrived Fuyuko would lower her face mask and reveal the rest of her face. Briefly after the young lad would introduce himself. Fuyuko thought that his nickname was kind of clever. Seeing as he had introduced himself, Fuyuko would return the favor. “Miki, Fuyuko. But please just call me Fuyuko.” She replied. The elder introduced himself as well, to go along with the pleasantries. However once those were done and over with, he began his long story, the story about the lands and why they had become the way they were.

Internally Fuyuko rolled her eyes. While normally she’d be extremely intrigued and more than willing to see if there was anything more she could do to help. However, this was not the first time she had heard the story or a reason or some sort of random explanation of why this became the way they are. All reasons up to this point had just always been a lot of nonsense and fake news. Despite that, she didn’t want to appear uninterested and so did her best to not look like it. Luckily this story, this story wasn’t like the others. It was different, it felt a lot more like there was a truth behind it. Like it was something that was truly experienced. Regardless of that fact, the content of the story still sounded like a load of crap. As if it was possible for demons to exist in this world. While something might appear to look like it, it was more than likely just the creation of someone’s chakra. Fuyuko had made her verdict on the story already, but she wasn’t going to say aloud. It was wiser to investigate herself, then to tell him that it was just a person extorting them.

The boy seemed to be somewhat more captivated by it all then herself. Despite the skepticism Fuyuko held towards the story, she couldn’t help but empathize a little bit as the elder started to cry into his hands. His country was being destroyed by a power that was out of his control. Something so ‘strong’ it caused despair throughout an entire country. She wasn’t sure if, whatever it truly is, was really strong or not. However, she did know that they were at least good in hiding. Konoha has sent forces before to investigate what caused this outbreak, only to come home with no result.

Something the boy said did catch her attention though and made him appear in an ever so slightly better light. He didn’t seem so entranced and captivated by it as she had initially thought. But even that would remain to be seen. The words he spoke of willing to help the village out send a shiver down her spine though. She could feel it happening. She was being lured into another side quest of sorts for which she didn’t sign-up. One day she would really hate herself for this particular side of herself. “Thank you for the tea, however, it’s best we leave as soon as possible, that’ll give us the most time underneath broad daylight.” She said as she beckoned the leaf ninja to join her. She didn’t want to say all of her thoughts in the presence of the old man.

Fuyuko wouldn’t speak until she was sure they were far enough away from the house to speak her mind. It didn’t matter to her if he was talking to her, she was going to full interrupt him and speak her own mind. “I think the story is crap, at least partially. There is no such thing as an Oni or Yokai at work here. I’ve heard a lot of stories from the people of these lands and this one is kind of out there. However, there could also be a truth to it. It is most likely just a person, using his chakra manipulation to create the ‘monster’ that the elder spoke off. The reason why I’m even slightly inclined to believe this man's story is because of the emotion there was behind his words. Those are my thoughts.” She said followed up by a relatively deep sigh. “So I suppose, I’m up for helping you out a bit and investigating into this whole thing. Despite what I just said though, I’m still very skeptical. This won’t be the first investigation that will be done into this case. Further, I’m not much of a tracker, so I doubt I could do better than people that are specialized in it.” She let out another sigh as she let herself get dragged into something once again.


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One minute he was enjoying the old man's tea, the next he was following Fuyuko out of the warehouse and into the street. Yojo, blinking, walked a few paces behind the older shinobi, giving a curious look as she silently led them away. He got a few glances from the locals looking out the window at them, but his gaze was primarily fixed to his newfound companion. It was only once they were further away, however, that she made her thoughts more clear- or rather, her lack of them. She had paid fairly little faith in the story the old man had given, though, like Yojo, she couldn't deny the emotion with which he had been pleading with them. She cut straight to the heart of the matter, and he appreciated that in his own way. He'd stay quiet while she paused, sighing. He didn't need his sharingan to see the amount of thoughts rolling through her mind. It was only after she'd spoken again, offering her help that he was reanimated. He looked down at the ground, thinking as his mind honed in on the small blades of grass growing at his feet. This was quite the conundrum.

"I think..." he started, looking back up at her, and then around, "-that he saw something. I don't know what, but I believe that he saw something that shook him up" he said somewhat softly, painting the picture of the pleading village elder in his head as he offered his at-times-rambling thoughts. "The blight came from here first, from this village. It is possible that the further away people get from here while still suffering from it, the more their stories will change... It's like the old myths. They are fantastical, sure, but there must be some strange kernel of truth in them to be so widespread" he hypothesized, though, he wasn't about to admit the existence of demons or Yokai, or anything like that. He could barely deal with people, let alone the supernatural. "I think it is like you guessed: someone, or something, is using sleight of hand on a nationwide level to keep us looking where they want us to" he said, giving a sudden nod to put a nonverbal period to the end of that statement. He fell silent then, letting her process his own theory.

Then there was the more practical question: where the heck do they start looking? Yojo rubbed his chin in thought, brainstorming. "Hmm, well, the village elder said that the Oni is said to live in the nearby canyon, so that sounds like the right place to start looking. He certainly didn't sound like he was lying about his son or the local men disappearing though, and I'm inclined to believe him on that point" he said, looking around again. He constantly felt like he had to look over his shoulder in this village. "If our enemy is a shinobi, then it's possible that they already know we're here. We could be going into a trap- even if getting caught in one is our only real lead" he said, pointing out the rather precarious catch-22 that they found themselves in. Of course, they could always run the risk that no one was expecting them and see what they find once they turn up- but that was still a risk. Yojo tilted his head, looking to Fuyuko for her thoughts on what they should do. The answer seemed clear to him: go look into the canyon where the Oni is said to live... It's just that determining how to go about that was now their most pressing problem.

It was his turn to sigh now, scratching the back of his head. This whole scenario felt strange- not even frustrating, just strange all around. He wanted to help, but the more he told himself that and others the more he felt like there was this lump in his sotmach dropping deeper and deeper each time he did so. "This isn't your first time getting roped into helping strangers with something like this? Is it?" he asked, curious to try and keep his mind somewhat light without feeling to bogged down by uncertainty. "If we go in there, it'd be helpful to know what each other can do. What type of ninja are you if not a tracker? Are you a sensory type? A medical-nin?..." he asked, inviting her to say a short piece. He didn't expect her to reveal her deepest secret- hell, he didn't expect her to say much of anything really, but just something so tha the could feel good about her having his back would put his mind to rest. "I'm something close to a duelist. I can sense chakra well enough though" he offered, though he wasn't quite ready to say anything about his sharingan yet. He'd found out the hard way what letting that kind of information slip to strangers could mean. Even with One Tomoe, his eyes were still valuable.

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From their brief interactions and observing his movements, Fuyuko could tell that Yojo was out of his element. She wondered what it could be and would inquire about it later on, but first she would listen to the reply he was going to give to the information she had given. Or better said, the answer to the assessment of the situation she had made herself.

It would appear that he didn’t disagree with her hypothesis of the scenario, which would make it kind of simple to work on the case. Despite that, it would still appear that he wasn’t as confident about it as herself, something about it all was bothering him and it started to bother herself that she couldn’t figure out what he could be struggling with. A silence fell between the two, there wasn’t anything really for her to say at this point in time and it also felt like he wasn’t done talking. She wondered why he had taken, what appeared to be, an abrupt pause in his speech.

He continued talking, this time about where they should start their investigation. There was only one place for them to start, like he said himself. The only clue about it that they had gathered up to this point was the nearby canyon. However that would be too straightforward for her. It was also at this point that she started to catch glimpses of what was troubling him. He seemed to be awfully weary of the villagers that were in the town. Before addressing the subject of where they should start, she first wanted to address his nerves. “Tell me Yojo, are you nervous? Do you feel uneasy being in this village? Or is something else going on? I can tell from your behavior that at the very least you’re not at ease. I kind of need to know, for the safety of both of us. So what is going on?” She patiently awaited a reply from him before she would continue the conversation from where he had left it before.

“To address where we should go. There isn’t really any other place to go then the canyon, it’s the only lead we have at the moment and walking aimlessly through these lands won’t get us anywhere either. However, just going for the canyon is also the easiest way for us to get detected or found out. If whoever or whatever is causing this is truly stationed in the canyon and told the villagers to go there, they are definitely monitoring the entrances. So while yes, we should go there, I’m uncertain how to approach the situation.”

He followed it up with a question in similar vain of the one she had asked earlier. It was probably a question to set his mind more at ease, but also to find out how the two of them could possibly complement each other. It was a valid question/concern and so she answered it to her fullest. “I’m more of mid-range support. I have techniques that suite me for any range, but have a primary focus on supporting. Further I also heavily prefer a defensive approach to things than an offensive one.” Her face showed an expression as if she had just thought of something, which she instantly followed up with talking more. “I was about to ask what your rank was, but if I remember correctly, you participated in the Chuunin Exams did you not? So I assume your rank is still only just a Chuunin and therefor I should take you under my wing no matter what really.”


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It was a blunt question she asked him, largely since his body language was anything but that. Yojo looked at his newfound partner, blinking slowly. "I think it's more paranoia than anything else... I've been told it runs in the family" he explained, thinking on what history he'd been able to read and get his hands on in regards to the Uchiha clan. They all seemed strangely neurotic and unstable in their own way. It made him wonder if he'd fallen too far from the tree subconsciously. "These people, this entire country is desperate. Desperation makes people think rashly and act foolishly, especially when strangers enter a small town asking questions. I will feel more at ease when we're on the road. I've always preferred nature to other people" he admitted, hopefully putting his partner's fears at ease somewhat.

Her response to their next steps was a practical one. "Agreed. To start with, we should do recon along the edge of the canyon and look for alternate routes to descend to the bottom. If we find a less obvious place to enter, we may be able to slip under their radar by the virtue of the fact that our enemy is expecting angry villagers rather than shinobi who can scale vertical faces easily" he hypothesized. It was the best option he could think of in the heat of the moment without seeing just what kind of terrain or environment he had to work with. Having someone more focused on defense and support was a nice change of pace. Usually, in the recent past, he'd been more experienced in being attacked viciously by more offensive-focused shinobi. It was her second question though, that finally got him to get moving, looking down the road leading out of the town as he spoke. "That is correct. I may have won those exams, but my rank remains the same" he noted, moving past her.

Breaking into a sprint, he'd wait for his ally to take the lead, making their way toward the canyon in question.

It had begun to get dark by the time the duo would reach what looked like the outskirts of the canyon in question. The sun had begun to set behind them, bringing a pink hue of color over the sky. The shadows of the trees and rocks stretched longer and longer before succumbing to virtual darkness save for the twilight of the daytime. In the past, a night operation would've been somewhat of a hassle. Now though, with his sharingan, he felt more at ease seeing threats coming and other chakra-based shenanigans.

At long last, the duo would break through the treeline.

The first thing one would see, overlooking the canyon ahead of them, was an impenetrable fog that clung to the earth in a way that seemed far from natural. It was a wall of gray that prevented Yojo from looking to the canyon floor, or anything beneath the canopy really. What's more, from what he could tell, the whole thing seemed made out of chakra. The problem, Yojo realized quite quickly, was that even with his sharingan, all he would be able to see would be a wall of chakra hovering a ways beneath him halfway up from the valley floor. That alone was enough to confirm there was something more sinister at work here.

"A Hidden Mist technique? No, it's on a far larger scale than anything I've seen in the Chunin Exams. It must be some sort of improved version of it" he thought aloud, looking to Fuyuko for her thoughts. "Do you have some sort of sensory ability to see through all that?" he asked, hoping that his stronger half would have some sort of trick up her sleeve to use. Unfortuately, the only such ability he had himself, his sharingan, was going to be less than useful in this situation. Once Fuyuko would respond to him, the Chunin would open his mouth to say something, only for a sudden glimmer to catch his eye from nearby.

"Look out!" he shouted, pulling out a sword as a stream of refined water zipped from the bushes nearby, aiming straight for Fuyuko! As if on cue, two more highly pressurized streams of water would launch from opposing angles at the stronger shinobi, one approaching upwards from her left and the other downwards from her right. They were probing for a weak spot in her defenses!

Fully activating his sharingan, Yojo quickly looked around the area, scanning for the source of the surprise attack. They weren't just foolish locals. If these ambushers wanted a fight, then they would have one!

807/3659

[EXIT]

Total WC: 3659

• Training Raiton from B to A rank: 3000/3000
  

Fuyuko listened patiently to the answer that the young shinobi would give regarding her rather straightforward question. There were only three possible answers she could get. The first two scenarios were extremely straight forward. They would either just say there was nothing going or something along those lines. The alternative was that they would tell the truth of what was bothering them. In the final scenario she was told a something that was masked as the truth in which you would fool someone that didn't have that much empathy or understanding of the behavior of the boy. Unfortunately, it would appear that the boy had chosen to go for the last option. He could've perhaps pulled it off on her but there was one mistake in what he said. They weren't really asking questions, at least, she wasn't. They were told a story and they offered their help to the village elder. They didn't really pry into anything, yet he made it seem like they were really digging into things. The answer would still make it clear to her that they weren't ready to talk about it anyway, so for the time being she would ignore it. There was no point in bothering about them any more than she had already done for now. However, she would keep an eye on him, it was suspicious after all, and they were about to head towards potentially hostile ground.

He replied with a rather decent plan for what little intel they had gathered up to this point. She wasn't really opposed to it. It could potentially be a bit riskier if they contained a doton user and were able to manipulate the canyon, but even then, just being around the canyon with a doton user was dangerous. For those reasons, she didn't really have any issues for going along with the plan. However, she doubted that they would expect angry villagers. The village didn't really appear to be in a state to send people like that, and it wouldn't surprise her one bit if whoever is behind all of this was keeping an eye on the surrounding area. They had to know what was going on to influence the villagers the way they were doing it. His response to her questioning about his rank left her somewhat confused though. Did he mean to say he hadn't ranked up since the chuunin exams again, or that despite winning he didn't get promoted? Fuyuko surely hoped it was former and not the latter. With nothing else left to discuss at this moment, the two of them departed.

As the of them made their way over to their destination Fuyuko found herself lost in thought. The ideas and thoughts that floated through her head came from the furthest corners of her mind and wandered just as far away again, there wasn't a single aspect that her mind was, in particular, focused on, and thus the thoughts didn't really connect with her consciousness. She could just feel herself drifting through her filled, yet empty mind. It was as if she was connected, yet disconnected from herself. But it didn't stop her from moving, steadily the muscles in her body kept moving her towards the target. It was a truly strange and unique experience that she had never really felt before and because of it, she wasn't entirely sure what she was to make of it. While her body appeared to be moving on autopilot Fuyuko decided to relax and let herself merge more with the surroundings of the inside of her head. Once fully inside it was a bright and beautiful place, wide fields filled with all kinds of flowers and animals. It was the first time that she found herself so immersed inside of her own mind and it made her wonder what kind of things were going to happen now that she was here, what was the reason that she felt this way, what was the reason for her mind to pull her in like this. There was only really one way to find out and that was by investigating.

Slowly but surely Fuyuko walked through the luscious and rich fields. Animals ranging from insects to small critters roamed through the fields happily. Fuyuko wasn't sure what any of this was supposed to mean, none of it made any sense to her. However it wasn't an unpleasant place to be, it was actually quite a pleasant place to be. Away from the dangers of the outside world, the blighted lands that she was traveling through right while this was happening. Everything here was just green and blue and happy. It was her paradise, it was the forbidden garden that she would look for forever if it were to exist outside of her mind. However, the good wouldn't last. Unfortunately like most things in life, the pleasant had to make way for the unpleasant. The sky darkened within a split second, clouds rushed in at hurricane speeds and rain would almost instantly follow the clouds that now covered the sky. Thunder and lightning roared and soared through the skies.

Fuyuko shot out of her daydream. "What was that all about..." she thought to herself as she stared into the misty depths of the canyon. Her trail of thought was interrupted by the words that were spoken by her partner. While she didn't catch the first part of the words that they spoke, she did register the question that they asked. "Yeah I do have such a technique, although it's range isn't that impressive, definitely not something that would be capable of covering a canyon as fast as this. If anything I feel like it'd be a waste of my chakra. On top of the range not being that big, it's not great a detecting something in such a thick fog. Do you have anything yourself?"

Instead of a normal response, Fuyuko got something completely unexpected in return. A yell from her partner for her to watch out. Without a second thought she jumped to the side whilst quickly twisting her head around to find out what it was that she had to be careful of. I jet of water zipped past her clothing creating a small tear in it. Not waiting for another second Fuyuko quickly waved a couple of seals and threw up a defensive around herself, one that would be capable of defending herself from the water. By the time her defense was up two more streams of water came flying at her, with her defenses up Fuyuko did very little to avoid them and instead focused on organizing with her partner. "We should retreat just a little bit, at least enough to pull them out of this thick fog so we can see what we're doing!" she yelled at him as she made her way back to the woodline.

[EXIT]

wc 1172
twc 3531