Crime Mission:

The sun painted a little dock on a little island in Mizu no Kuni gold as a vessel almost too large was being loaded up with trade goods. A withdrawn Jolly Roger hidden from the scrutinizing gaze of the evening sun, claimed this ship as the property of a local pirate, Hideyuki of the Demon Blade, and his crew. They loaded their ships with crate after crate of trade goods, seemingly more than a small isolated island like this could produce over the course of even a few years. Another vessel would dock in the shadow of the larger one.

"Mr. Hideyuki." A cloaked figure would step off of the strange vessel and onto the water's surface slowly approaching where Hideyuki stood on the docks.  The pale figure, followed by a massive serpent, emerged onto the dock proper. Provoked by the sudden arrival of the two many of the Demon Blade pirates would draw their weapons only to be met with the vicious hissing of the magnificent beast that could easily swallow mere men like them. Hideyuki knew better though the two before him were mere facsimiles of what their appearance projected. Two simple puppets controlled by a ninja that could barely even call himself a chunin.

"Yasubei. There's no formality between friends" The pirate would spread his arms wide as he greeted the chunin. "It's been so very long. Business just hasn't been the same without you, but, if you wouldn't mind, I most go back to tending to it. These crates won't load themselves."

"Of course not." Yasubei would pull back the hood of his cloak. "That's why you hire these fine men. Since that's all they're doing, I'm sure they are competent enough to do such a trivial task without your guidance."

"Business hasn't been as... profitable since you've not been making your visits. I need to manage them, so they can, um, maximize their efficiency." The Demon Blade Pirate would, with a simple tap on his blade send a pulse of chakra out to initiate a genjutsu. A secret pulse within Yasubei would react with it, like destructive interference on sound waves. Maintaining his constant neutral face all the while.

"You may be able to fool the people of this village and your crew mates into moving drugs and people, Demon Blade, but my eyes see you as you are."

"A idiot for trusting you?"

"A smuggler and a criminal. There was a time when I could ignore your business because we were partners."

"You disappeared, and besides who are you to talk."

"You knew what you were supposed to do."

"The information you were looking for what it would cost me in time and men alone. I couldn't afford to hunt that down for a ghost." The slippery man would attempt to deflect. "I found something though. The ninja of Iwa are building things. It's not quite what you were looking for, but I'm sure it's something you might find interesting."

"No. I don't think it will." Yasubei's albino head would turn towards the ship and point at it. "I think that I will see what the cost of our partnership was. What Iwa could give you that you'd so readily throw me out. Show me."

An hour would pass as Yasubei and Hideyuki went through the contents of the ship. For safe measures Hideyuki sent his crew away as they went through the inventory and each of the boxes. Yasu was surprised to find that for the most part everything was exactly as on the ledger: food, soldier pills, medicinal supplies, weapons, and armors. These were all technically things the Demon Blades were licensed to sell and import in most countries. Hideyuki explained that something big was happening in Iwa that the head honchos were keeping under wraps. To Yasu these looked like the ingredients for a large scale invasion, but he quickly dismissed that since Iwa wasn't even one of the big players anymore.

Then they got to the prize jewel. Hideyuki took Yasubei through a wall, or what looked like a wall. "I guess your eyes don't see everything, do they?" The smuggler said pointedly, quite pleased with himself. Yasu was too distracted though as before him there was a girl chained, bound, and unconscious. Maintaining the appearance of perfect calm, the ninja walked to the back wall the malnourished and emaciated. He checked her, noting she was drugged, but the only thing she had besides too old clothes was a simple necklace with a blue gem in the shape of a twisted cylinder dangling from it. "The Aqua Spinel. It is said to have been made by Nine Hundred and Ninety Nine monks who lived offshore of Kiri. They sealed away their souls in this gem. Apparently few generations ago, the last of the monks, a Kiri-nin, stole it and ran away bonded with it using a forbidden technique. According to sources in Iwa this is his great-granddaughter, it's current host."

Yasubei would slowly reach towards it before a sudden burst of acidic, purple chakra would lash out at him causing him to retract his hand. "Oh, and apparently the monks don't tango well with others. That's all I know. I'm not sure where you've been this last year Yasubei, but it would be great to be back in business with you." The merchant-nin would remain silent. He normally couldn't since chakra amounts, but the amount of chakra that thing radiated while its host was this thoroughly drugged was massive. He couldn't even begin to fathom what Iwa might have wanted from this.

"Of course, Hideyuki."

WC= 966

Oh how the mighty nation stood tall. Its rains falling from the heavens most days and when the rain had subsided the fogs as thick as winter blankets rolled in. Even now on a far dock a ship rested. Moored there while its questionable crew began to load its cargo. Few knew of their true nature but it was only a few that knew that was needed for a report to make its way to one manor. A report of mere suspected activities and rumors of a missing girl. Most would not have acted upon such small amount of given information. However this was the house of one who kept eyes on much more than most. His gaze drifting to the occult and the underworld which supported it. His network spoke more than these reports but the reports were the key. A ship name, a time and location. A pale man read the new notices provided to him and a smile painted on these thin lips. Idly he would let the report fall before it erupted into flames before touching the stone floor. His form would raise as if a wraith from the grave. His form with white robes shifting into a set of hunter armor. It had been so long since he last hunted. It would be wonderful to explore these friends.

The men on the docks had little worries for the majority of their cargo was legally paid for and licensed to be shipped. Aside from the charismatic captain though these were hardened men. Men who had seen blood in their day. Who had taken lives for profit and more than one of them were wanted. Bounties on there heads that would make the average farmer gawk and try something foolish if he knew. They had been to sea most their lives and fought for their gold. However even a hardened man would freeze upon feeling the devils breath upon his back. And so they did. Fog around the docks had begun to thicken before they ever felt him. A cold wall of air seemed to push along the crew as the water surged ever so slightly under the ship. Nature fleeing before the beast that approached. He was a dark thing that all life had grown to fear. Death was his oldest mentor and he had grown into an artist. Like Mozart in his time but more so with the taking of men's lives. He was known by many by name but few by face. For even thrill seekers avoided the man known as Osada Sero.

It was quiet when he came. Not the usual kind of peaceful quiet where one wakes up from a long nap in a glade but something a great deal more sinister. All noise seemed to still. The water that had surged a moment before now was at peace. The birds who had quarreled over scraps a moment before were now long gone. Silently flying up through the fog. Even the men who had been jeering at each other now stood silent and still. Eyes looking around filled with fear. They could feel it. Despite any who were hidden behind their cargo either on the ship or yet to be loaded . They dared not move for but one reason. They could feel his gaze upon them. As cold as if death itself had arrived. For a moment all were still but for the fog shifting around them. Suddenly a lone man with one of the before mentioned bounties was ripped out of sight into the fog. A dying scream cut off in a wet sounding gurgle. In response all the stillness evaporated. A call to arms roared through the crew as they drew weapons. They were not just being watched. They were being hunted.

Stillness broken the crew formed into teams watching each others backs. They were not new to this. They had fought for their lives before against those who hid in the shadows. Still a mercy would be shed upon them. A voice seemed to echo through the mist. Calling to them with a faint whispering behind it. Incoherent the whispers were except each man heard them differently. Like the dead come back to haunt them. This voice came from everywhere and no where all at once. It spoke with a coldness void of emotion behind it. "Those of you who have bounties will not be allowed to leave this place. It will be your tomb. Those without, if you stand between myself and those who would be judged, you shall share their tomb. If you raise your weapons, prepare to be buried with them." It was clearly one man but you could sense him. Overwhelming power radiating from everywhere. The finish on the ships wood began to peel and rust began to cover all the metal exposed on the ship. Whoever was here was here with purpose and not to be negotiated with. The screams outside began in earnest as one by one fools began to be dragged into the blanketing fog one after the other.

"I know you don't approve of these kinds of things." Hideyuki would casually motion towards the girl. "It's good money, you know. And somehow even this is less dangerous than what you find yourself doing." The girl would stir as if in a nightmare. Her breathing would speed up and her skin would ever so slightly begin to glisten as she began to sweat, but the room's other two occupants would obliviously keep talking. "Ya see smugglers like me and you. No one's gonna pay us any mind. There are much larger problems in the world now." He would stop to breath and let a smile begin to form across his face. "Even a nation Mizu no kuni has let us operate within there borders without stringent investigation."

With a sudden grunt the unconscious girl would clench her chest. Sensing a change in the water as its ph slowly began to change. The Spinel compelled her to act on its behalf, but she was powerless to do anymore then grunt as the potent poison staved away her consciousness. Yasu's gaze would wander from the pirate back towards the small girl as he began to speak again. "It appears I've been unclear in our previous communications." His eyes would notice that her breathing was labored and that she was beginning to sweat, but he was familiar with Demon Blade's poison. It was incredibly unlikely that this was a reaction to the drug they normally used. "This change that we are under going will only separate us from the peace we've enjoyed for so many years. I need you to see that. To see what suffering will happen if we-"

The two would go dead silent as a the ship would begin rocking violently and the purple miasma would surround the girl once more. The silence would last for a mere moment before a single voice would pierce it. A single scream dopplering into the distance would prompt the two to lock eyes, communicating silently to one another. The sound of the Demon Blade pirates drawing a hundred swords and preparing for battle alleviated the ominous air that had filled the room. "Who gave-" As Hideyuki made his way to inspect the situation, his burly voice would quickly be cut off by surprise. As he looked out the window a thick blanket of fog awaited him obscuring his vision of the port completely. More importantly was that the glass of the porthole would gain a milky white crack as the rest of the window  would fog over from corrosion.

As the mist began to pour in, the Yasubei would pull out a small scroll releasing its contents. Simultaneously a snake too large for the room that would coil in on itself so it could enter the room, swallowing the girl whole, destroying the chains that attached her to the wall. It would launch out of the room like a bat from hell with ninja and pirate bursting out just behind it. Atop the deck the two would stand back to back. A thin line of blue chakra would stretch between Yasu and his puppet. Then the area would go silent once more as an eerie voice would pierce the fog.

A quick glance form Yasubei would allow him to see the composite of worry, fighting spirit, and surprise on Hideyuki's face as he held the Demon Blade in front of him. An all black katana with seemed to eat away at chakra itself, but only negligibly so. Yasubei himself was now holding a large war fan that he'd summoned just a moment prior as his vision sought to pierce the fog, and discern its contents. How many enemies were there? Did they know of the girl? Had he led them here? A thousand questions would swirl through the puppet ninja's head as the waves beneath them began to grow even more restless. "Stay close to me Hideyuki."

"Ha. It should be you sticking to me, boy. This isn't the first time the Demon Blades have tread into rough waters."

WC= 689/1685

Sero would slip through the mist like a wraith. A mere phantom shifting in and out of vision. Men were hardened with battle but even the veterans had begun to slowly panic. They had not fought a being like this before. Great beasts captured or killed for profit or fame certainly. They knew how to work together and bring down beings stronger than their individual selves. However this kind of might was not so simple. An enemy they could not engage in return. A couple of the stronger members attempted a couple of jutsu were different elements erupted from their blades and scraped along the docks. Parting the mists for only a moment until even the wind jutsu seemed to be swallowed up by its ever present nature. They were quickly swallowed up with it as well. Any defiance was met with violence and screams. They had doubted his words. Believing victory to be in their veins only to have them opened. The rodents would and fish would have a meal today. Sero shifted between them with blade in hand as casually as one might walk the market street. Full grown men were hurled bodily like they weighed nothing with a heavy crunch against the ship. Sero was working.

The bursting footsteps on deck had not gone unnoticed or unseen by the demon with them. Three red eyes would look beyond the fog and spot the chakra signatures there. Three of them though one slightly obstructed. How interesting for a puppet user to be within the mist. The last one he had encountered had trained under him. Nova who had taken the position of Kage in her newly restored village. Perhaps that was why for now he ignored the three. Leaving them for the time being. The fog pulling back from them entirely. A column of clarity they stood in about ten meters in diameter. It was clear that it was being manipulated to do this somehow. Now that they could see it would perhaps be more alarming for some. Spiders had begun to crawl over a corpse nearby. Dead eyes staring up at the white fog blocking the sky. Blood leaving his body and staining the deck. Soon he was engulfed in them and then his body began to drag off back into the mist. Leaving behind only the crimson drag marks of his departure. The smell of blood filled the air. Distant dripping could be heard all around them as less and less men shouted and screamed.

Soon all that was left was the sound of their own breathing and words. Erie stillness filled the air. Nothing stirred, nothing shifted. Just their own sounds and that dripping. Almost like a slow rain had begun. Not uncommon in Kiri but still the sound was off. Almost patterned. Suddenly the peace would be broken as rapidly the mist pulled back to reveal the entirety of the ship. Though the horror that remained some might wish it had remained. The entire crew had ignored his warning. Believing in themselves and their allies. Now the flock were together. Hanging from the masts either by their necks, an arm or an ankle they hung like meat to dry. Wires holding the corpses up. Blood pooled on the decks and flowed into each other before running off the sides. That presence that was hidden moments ago could easily direct the eye now. Standing at the helm was a man by appearance at first but the more one focused the more they may doubt it to be more than a false face. Pale skin was as white as the mist where it was exposed. Nails were pointed and crimson as if painted in blood as the hands themselves were clearly stained. The hem of his robes both on his wrists and ankles were stained as well. White robes glistening like spider thread as did his waist length hair. Three red eyes would stare at the two. The third of which held place in the center of his forehead. A single katana in his hand with blood dripping off it as well.

Slowly The man who watched the last two and the puppet would turn and almost seem to glide down the steps. His movements so majestic it flowed like water. One might even wonder if he did not simply glide. First he would glance to the captain and with a shift of his free hand the man would stiffen visibly as if losing control of himself before collapsing. His body paralyzed with this mans chakra. The interaction spreading black veins across him and holding him. Now he would look to the boy. The puppeteer with the snake and the other signature. One like his own...an Osada? They were kidnapping an Osada? A ripple would pulse through the air and it could be felt. Tasted even. There was rage. The temperature picked up almost like a summer heat now as the dock burned beneath this mans bare feet. Blackening and smoldering as he spoke again. Addressing the only remaining threat.

"Do you intend to hold them hostage? against me?"

The cries and screams of the men and women of the crew, the cacophony of falling weapons and shield, and the splashing of the muddied waves lifting and lowering the ship all bled into a dissonant symphony. The choir of fear and chaos dyed what could have been a mundane fog into a thousand translucent sheets of anxiety. Hideyuki, overwhelmed by the sudden loss of control, could only tighten his grip on his namesake blade. Shameful eyes could only trace the sound of dying comrades to the places they last stood. It was easily apparent that the man had relinquished his will to resist.

"Kid, don't they call you the Magician of 1000 Faces? How you plannin' on getting out of this death trap?"

The cold, sleepy eyed ninja would utter two simple words, "I am not." As the dead's crimson tears fell to the ground in the impenetrable fog, a small clearing appeared letting Yasu know that whoever was manipulating this jutsu knew exactly where they stood, and they were in control enough to show it. As Hideyuki got more and more antsy, Yasubei would slowly lower his war fan. "It may be best that we just wait." Normally Yasu would have sent someone else to do this for him, but this particular matter required a delicate touch, and since he couldn't send a liaison to deal with pirates, he ended up here.

As the mist split further, unveiling a silk cloaked figure. It was a simple calculus to figure out that this man took out the population of the ship alone, and if he didn't he could have. The blood that stained the silk of his robes, the near perfect and untouched skin, the calmness with which he stood before two armed men and the emerald serpent. These were all telltale signs that this man believed he could seize absolute control of this situation whenever he pleased. ruby tears of those foolish enough to stand against him trickled down onto the deck. Their fighting spirit just as ephemeral as the rain one could ever so easily mistake them for. In a way it was almost fitting.

"Kid, there is a place whispered about in these parts." The pirate would begin to whisper under his breath. "It's about an island of monsters who wear men's skins. They're a powerful clan that-" Just like that the man's words would come to a sudden halt as his body locked up and he fell face first to the ground. Yasu's expression wouldn't change,  but inside a deep desire to possess the creature before him began to ignite. Very calmly the puppet-nin would completely lower his fan until it was casually resting on the deck.

"Do you intend to hold them hostage? Against me?" Yasu would note the usage of neutral pronouns, denoting that it was very possible that the manshape in front of him, while being able to sense the girl, was unable to tell her identity. That or he was simply unnecessarily polite. Either way the puppet kept his same old cold, sleepy glare.

"No." Yasubei would state quite matter-of-factly. "It is actually quite the opposite. Hideyuki and I will be emancipating this one from this area, and the inside of this snake is currently the safest means of transportation." His gaze would cautiously trace the otherworldly face of the one who stood towering above him. He'd risk a single cautious step towards Hideyuki, checking his pulse as he continued to speak. "A foreign force has infiltrated Hideyuki's the personnel and poisoned their minds, not unlike a virus." Yasu would put the information the now rendered impotent captain gave him into play. "If it turns out you are one of the Stone's forces, I am afraid that I too will have to resist you to save this jewel's life."

WC= 655/1340

Sero would watch with an ever unchanging face. His eyes didn't seem to move normally. Almost a slow shift with the center eye staring ever forward. The blood red gaze shifting slowly, almost painstakingly slow from the boy, to the puppet snake, to the man on the ground. The center eye never leaving the boy as it seemed to peer through him and his cool exterior. To seek out weakness and lies. Yet he made no hostile moves. His stance much like this boys appeared more relaxed than he should. He was confident and likely with good reason. Still the puppeteer would surprise him. He would reveal information easily. Making simple mention indicating the stone would be behind this request. Normally he wouldn't take the boy at his words but the ship was heading around the continent to make this delivery. The village Iwagakure might actually be up to something and receiving its shipments from Kirigakure could be problematic for them. There was much to consider though for now it would simply be put into his report and whoever was running things now could ask him further questions if they wished. For now his eyes would linger on the captain even as he spoke in clear but empty words.

"The world is filled with brave heroes ready to die. Often they do just that quickly enough. You need not be one today though as I am not from the stone. I am Osada Sero, Captain of the seven swords and Lord of the Osada clan. Here within this nation I aid in its survival, not its destruction. If you would do the same you have little to fear from me."

With that Sero would finally seem to take a breath as the mist peeled back to its normal state. Present but distant. His third eye would close slowly and the red would fade from the two that remained. Fading to a colorless grey. Now it was like looking into the eyes of the dead. Almost like they stared at nothing. Yet that feeling of being examined closely remained. Sero would flick his sword as the blood would splatter in a line on the deck. The blood on his clothes and person seemed to peel away like ash in the wind until he stood as a noble looking man in clean white robes with silver trim. The hunter armor fading away into mist as well. Though his sword still remained on his hip he did not seem to pay it much mind.

Still he would shift his right foot to tap his bare foot on the ground. From between them a seal would spread and take up the majority of the space. However no harmful intent seemed to radiate within it. Instead from the seal a large stone table would begin to rise with two chairs on either side. A long table carved by a master hand depicting ancient scenes of war. On top of the table was two plain tea cups on either side that slowly would fill with steaming hot mint tea. Sero would shift like a spectral being once more and settle himself into a chair. Caring nothing for the slaughter around them or the mighty puppet. This was another day to him. Instead he would wait to see if the other sat before picking up his own tea and sipping at it. The heat bringing a tint of red to his lips for a moment. He would set it down as the tint faded to let his thin pale lips return to their normal state. Again he would speak.

"I have not come across another puppet master within these boarders since one named Nova came to me for guidance and strength. The captain will be questioned later by others than myself so as he may be treated more gently. He lives but so long as he remains in my presence my chakra will hold his form still. I hold a curiosity over yourself and this story though. How did you come to know of this poison and why would you personally attend to it? Surely you knew of the risks."