1 Furthering his Mastery [Training] Tue Oct 01, 2013 3:06 pm
Sabaku Genzai
D-rank
He had only been here for around a week at this point, having arrived through the badlands on Saturday and now it was Tuesday. He had been doing a lot of missions however, so it seemed a lot longer than it actually had been. Still, with as long as it seems, it seemed way too soon since he'd last had to do this. Once again Gen was having to boost his doton chakra levels, knowing all too well what was coming his way. See, since he had arrived in Iwagakure, he had seen more and more criminals within the city, and whilst that was kind of expected in the kind of city that he was in, he kept hearing the same name everywhere that he went. "Blue Rose". Of course, even with his meager connections he had managed to hear about it before he'd actually entered Iwagakure, but that didn't seem to matter one single jot when it came to the fact that he had never really understood what they were. See, normally it was the job of the kage to take out criminal organizations, or at least to organize people who would go out of their way to wipe out said criminal organization. Normally they were shinobi or they were ANBU members, since they had a lot more loyalty to the village than a foreigner ever could. However, that seemed to be different with this kage, something that had become increasing obvious the longer and longer that he remained inside Iwa.
Despite the amount of importance that most people put on getting rid of criminals, Iwa had somehow become infected by their disgusting presence anyway. The kage had apparently been sending people against the criminals more and more, although unfortunately there was very little proof about what was happening, despite it being almost common knowledge that there was a seedy underworld going on beneath the village. Everyone knew about it, but he couldn't make a move against them for fear of angering the people of the earth country. This was why Gen had never been a fan of politics, people were in danger every single day because people refused to pay attention to these crimes, but the moment that someone actively went out of his way to protect people he was instantly classed as a criminal simply because there was no proof. He was no psychopath like Set, but they both agreed that that little political situation was full of so much bullshit that it could be used as a reliable farm. However, the kage had been given an opportunity that most people would never have even considered possible. The kage... was working with mercenaries.
What people frequently forgot about Akatsuki when they were looking back at history was that that group was not originally a terrorist organization. For many years, they were simply just mercenaries. They were the group that villages worked with when they wanted something done off the record books, they had worked for almost every single village at one point or another, whether the kages would willingly admit that or not. It was, after all, the easiest way to get what they wanted without having to start a war. If they found a squad of Iwa ninja trying to ambush and torture a group of Kiri ninja to try and get information out of them, then it was clear who sent them and a war between the villages would break out, something that no village wanted no matter how much they disliked the other villages. However, by using an impartial organization that all villages would have to come to rely on sooner or later, they were able to attack another village without fear of retribution until they were hired against them. It was only when Akatsuki started working under it's own agenda that they were widely hated and hunted. They might have been hated beforehand, but that was merely villages putting a tactical slant on things again. It was how politics worked, if you didn't want to get in trouble you had to be a two-faced villain. That was the only way, it seemed, to survive in the world of politics.
So, now that he was openly working with mercenaries again, that was probably a bad sign of what was to come. See, the Blue Rose was made up of missing nin from all over the world, rumors had it that even the elite Hyuga of Konoha were among the ranks of the soldiers in Blue Rose, or rather that he was one of the ones leading it. Konoha, Kiri, Kumo, Suna, the only place that that group didn't allegedly have members from was Iwagakure, and that was because criminals from Iwa would have to be suicidal to still remain inside the village. Though it was truly only a contract for now, they had already made their base within the city, and whenever Set had the chance to get information from people within the underground, he found some interesting things that most people would find really rather interesting.
See, there were many contradicting factors. Some of the members of Blue Rose took over and run already active slave gangs within the cities, other destroyed the slave gangs, some worked legitimately for the kage and did nothing that could possibly hurt him, whereas others did stuff that seemed to be written in a bad book about how to spot a conspiracy. This made it impossible for Set to get a lock on what they were looking for, and since Gen had very little understanding of the criminal mind, having been raised in very selective circumstances and preferring to stick to his holy books than to go into the darker corner of the world, they had no idea what was going on, and quite frankly he didn't truly want to know. But, there was one thing that was absolutely hideously clear. Sooner rather than later, there was going to be a civil war, and he was not going to let it catch him off guard even if he was not an active participant.
The group were becoming more and more powerful with each passing day, and from rumors that he'd heard, the ninja who had killed the leader of the hidden leaf village had actually joined their group, so they were now joined with a known kage killer. For a group of supposed neutral-party soldiers, there was a large amount of anti konoha sentiment within that group it seemed, with the guy who killed a kage and one of the strongest clan's member joining that group, and that was only the ones that he knew about. There were also rumors that there was a denounced kage among their ranks, although with the amount of switch-over of power that had been going on recently, he couldn't be sure who or what that would have been, even if it happened to be true. Criminals had an annoying way of exaggerating the facts to try and make their information seem all the more appealing to those who they were selling it to. Thankfully, since he had been unable to confirm the information for sure and was really just giving out rumors, Set had refused to pay the man until he had something more concrete.
Still, with that information (or rather, whatever part of it actually happened to be true, if any), it was very stupid to believe that the ANBU forces of every village apart from Iwa was not about to come down like a hammer upon the village, trying to exterminate this clear and present danger from the world. Taking out a group that Iwa relied on for it's own protection was going to bring the ire of the Tsuchikage, and most likely he would try to stop them, which would almost certainly forge a divide in the ninja world between those who believed that all Private Military Cores should be wiped out before they had the chance to become like Akatsuki, and those who believed that everyone should have a chance to live. He wasn't sure that was how it was going to work, but there was enough confidence about it in his mind that he was not going to sit back and take a chance simply because he can.
It was this reason that he was currently standing in the Koudo Sutajiamu underground stadium, waiting for his turn. The Koudo Sutajiamu was an illegal underground arena that, ironically, was most often attended by the soldiers of the village, either so they could settle scores with their squad mates or so that they could pick up new techniques simply by watching. It was a really dirty place, filled with hypocrisy and self serving arrogance that made Gen almost wish that he hadn't come here at all. He was not normally a brawler type, which was why he was going to allow Set to use their body during this little game. He still didn't like the man, but it seemed like he would be best to use in this situation.
If he was able to continue his concentration in a dangerous situation like this, then it was almost definite that he would be able to master his chakra styles better. Besides, it seemed more and more that he was allowing his fighting style to rely on Horus. They were partners, but partners needed to be able to hold their own even if they were working together. Their clan had given them minor bone deterioration, so he was all the more dangerous when it came to close combat, he could break his arm simply from being punched. It was this very reason that he had taken to riding on Horus during battles, but what if Horus was made out of action during a mission? He couldn't just go on and force Horus to continue fighting when injured. He had to be able to fight on his own, in case Horus ever got put into a position where continuing to have a presence on the battlefield was dangerous to his continued existence.
The current fight that was going on was a fight between two members of the same village, although that was almost obvious from the area that they were currently. The more important thing about one of the combatants was that he was able to see his eyes, and they were blank and vacant. It was rude of him to see, but this guy was clearly blind. However, he was able to keep up with his opinion's movements and even go so far as to be able to put the other man on the defense, every time that the man moved the blind guy was able to see what happened, and even move to counter it, until the unbelievable happened. He had kicked the other guy's ass. Moving his foot up the moment the man had tried to move his head backwards from a headbutt, the foot connected and knocked him right into the air, where he fell with a heavy thud against the stone floor.
That was interesting, this guy was extremely talented, but what was even more interesting was that he had seen that style of tracking before. That style of tracking was done most often by the tunnel snakes, it was the exact same vibration sensing, he was sure of it. How they had managed to pick that up from an animal that would kill you as soon as look at you (not that they ever knowingly looked at you, with their redundant eyes and all) was unknown, but he liked that clan. Someone along their line had been brave and strong enough to keep paces with a tunnel snake for long enough to pick up their technique. Or, alternatively, it was just a massive coincidence. Though, Set thought with a face of pure determination, Gen always was so adamant about there being no such thing as coincidence. Maybe, just maybe, he was right. Or maybe he was just saying pseudo-religious bullshit like he almost was.
2000/2000 Improving Doton Proficiency (C->B) Completed
0009/2000 Improving Futon Proficiency (C->B) In Progress
Despite the amount of importance that most people put on getting rid of criminals, Iwa had somehow become infected by their disgusting presence anyway. The kage had apparently been sending people against the criminals more and more, although unfortunately there was very little proof about what was happening, despite it being almost common knowledge that there was a seedy underworld going on beneath the village. Everyone knew about it, but he couldn't make a move against them for fear of angering the people of the earth country. This was why Gen had never been a fan of politics, people were in danger every single day because people refused to pay attention to these crimes, but the moment that someone actively went out of his way to protect people he was instantly classed as a criminal simply because there was no proof. He was no psychopath like Set, but they both agreed that that little political situation was full of so much bullshit that it could be used as a reliable farm. However, the kage had been given an opportunity that most people would never have even considered possible. The kage... was working with mercenaries.
What people frequently forgot about Akatsuki when they were looking back at history was that that group was not originally a terrorist organization. For many years, they were simply just mercenaries. They were the group that villages worked with when they wanted something done off the record books, they had worked for almost every single village at one point or another, whether the kages would willingly admit that or not. It was, after all, the easiest way to get what they wanted without having to start a war. If they found a squad of Iwa ninja trying to ambush and torture a group of Kiri ninja to try and get information out of them, then it was clear who sent them and a war between the villages would break out, something that no village wanted no matter how much they disliked the other villages. However, by using an impartial organization that all villages would have to come to rely on sooner or later, they were able to attack another village without fear of retribution until they were hired against them. It was only when Akatsuki started working under it's own agenda that they were widely hated and hunted. They might have been hated beforehand, but that was merely villages putting a tactical slant on things again. It was how politics worked, if you didn't want to get in trouble you had to be a two-faced villain. That was the only way, it seemed, to survive in the world of politics.
So, now that he was openly working with mercenaries again, that was probably a bad sign of what was to come. See, the Blue Rose was made up of missing nin from all over the world, rumors had it that even the elite Hyuga of Konoha were among the ranks of the soldiers in Blue Rose, or rather that he was one of the ones leading it. Konoha, Kiri, Kumo, Suna, the only place that that group didn't allegedly have members from was Iwagakure, and that was because criminals from Iwa would have to be suicidal to still remain inside the village. Though it was truly only a contract for now, they had already made their base within the city, and whenever Set had the chance to get information from people within the underground, he found some interesting things that most people would find really rather interesting.
See, there were many contradicting factors. Some of the members of Blue Rose took over and run already active slave gangs within the cities, other destroyed the slave gangs, some worked legitimately for the kage and did nothing that could possibly hurt him, whereas others did stuff that seemed to be written in a bad book about how to spot a conspiracy. This made it impossible for Set to get a lock on what they were looking for, and since Gen had very little understanding of the criminal mind, having been raised in very selective circumstances and preferring to stick to his holy books than to go into the darker corner of the world, they had no idea what was going on, and quite frankly he didn't truly want to know. But, there was one thing that was absolutely hideously clear. Sooner rather than later, there was going to be a civil war, and he was not going to let it catch him off guard even if he was not an active participant.
The group were becoming more and more powerful with each passing day, and from rumors that he'd heard, the ninja who had killed the leader of the hidden leaf village had actually joined their group, so they were now joined with a known kage killer. For a group of supposed neutral-party soldiers, there was a large amount of anti konoha sentiment within that group it seemed, with the guy who killed a kage and one of the strongest clan's member joining that group, and that was only the ones that he knew about. There were also rumors that there was a denounced kage among their ranks, although with the amount of switch-over of power that had been going on recently, he couldn't be sure who or what that would have been, even if it happened to be true. Criminals had an annoying way of exaggerating the facts to try and make their information seem all the more appealing to those who they were selling it to. Thankfully, since he had been unable to confirm the information for sure and was really just giving out rumors, Set had refused to pay the man until he had something more concrete.
Still, with that information (or rather, whatever part of it actually happened to be true, if any), it was very stupid to believe that the ANBU forces of every village apart from Iwa was not about to come down like a hammer upon the village, trying to exterminate this clear and present danger from the world. Taking out a group that Iwa relied on for it's own protection was going to bring the ire of the Tsuchikage, and most likely he would try to stop them, which would almost certainly forge a divide in the ninja world between those who believed that all Private Military Cores should be wiped out before they had the chance to become like Akatsuki, and those who believed that everyone should have a chance to live. He wasn't sure that was how it was going to work, but there was enough confidence about it in his mind that he was not going to sit back and take a chance simply because he can.
It was this reason that he was currently standing in the Koudo Sutajiamu underground stadium, waiting for his turn. The Koudo Sutajiamu was an illegal underground arena that, ironically, was most often attended by the soldiers of the village, either so they could settle scores with their squad mates or so that they could pick up new techniques simply by watching. It was a really dirty place, filled with hypocrisy and self serving arrogance that made Gen almost wish that he hadn't come here at all. He was not normally a brawler type, which was why he was going to allow Set to use their body during this little game. He still didn't like the man, but it seemed like he would be best to use in this situation.
If he was able to continue his concentration in a dangerous situation like this, then it was almost definite that he would be able to master his chakra styles better. Besides, it seemed more and more that he was allowing his fighting style to rely on Horus. They were partners, but partners needed to be able to hold their own even if they were working together. Their clan had given them minor bone deterioration, so he was all the more dangerous when it came to close combat, he could break his arm simply from being punched. It was this very reason that he had taken to riding on Horus during battles, but what if Horus was made out of action during a mission? He couldn't just go on and force Horus to continue fighting when injured. He had to be able to fight on his own, in case Horus ever got put into a position where continuing to have a presence on the battlefield was dangerous to his continued existence.
The current fight that was going on was a fight between two members of the same village, although that was almost obvious from the area that they were currently. The more important thing about one of the combatants was that he was able to see his eyes, and they were blank and vacant. It was rude of him to see, but this guy was clearly blind. However, he was able to keep up with his opinion's movements and even go so far as to be able to put the other man on the defense, every time that the man moved the blind guy was able to see what happened, and even move to counter it, until the unbelievable happened. He had kicked the other guy's ass. Moving his foot up the moment the man had tried to move his head backwards from a headbutt, the foot connected and knocked him right into the air, where he fell with a heavy thud against the stone floor.
That was interesting, this guy was extremely talented, but what was even more interesting was that he had seen that style of tracking before. That style of tracking was done most often by the tunnel snakes, it was the exact same vibration sensing, he was sure of it. How they had managed to pick that up from an animal that would kill you as soon as look at you (not that they ever knowingly looked at you, with their redundant eyes and all) was unknown, but he liked that clan. Someone along their line had been brave and strong enough to keep paces with a tunnel snake for long enough to pick up their technique. Or, alternatively, it was just a massive coincidence. Though, Set thought with a face of pure determination, Gen always was so adamant about there being no such thing as coincidence. Maybe, just maybe, he was right. Or maybe he was just saying pseudo-religious bullshit like he almost was.
2000/2000 Improving Doton Proficiency (C->B) Completed
0009/2000 Improving Futon Proficiency (C->B) In Progress