A Dead Man Makes A Visit

[Raizo]

His teeth gritted as chakra began to flood throughout his body. His muscles would begin to tense and flex as his eyes would start to burn with a fire inside of them. Without hesitation, he would slam his hands down upon the desk causing it to shatter beneath the impact.

"Rai--" Yukina would say before quickly silencing herself.

"I TOLD YOU TO STOP BULLSHITTING WITH ME!" he would growl as the intense surge of chakra would begin to gradually fade away. "This nonsense of 'I hope you never have to experience...' ENOUGH! I am the leader of not only a village, a shinobi military, but a future head of my own clan. Don't you dare spout some idealic nonsense to me. I am going to lose people I care about, I am going to lose friends and family, I am going to shed my own blood and bleed for these people and for my family... you aren't the only one who is allowed to deal with loss and hardship."

By now, his chakra would have subdued and his appearance would have returned to normal. "You tossing darkness onto yourself isn't a benefit, that isn't strength. Akkuma, I am not going to judge you for how you have lived nor will I judge you for how you look at the world. I also won't sit here and tell you I am right and you are wrong, you and I both know the world isn't that simple. But I will state this, you covering yourself in darkness isn't a benefit of this village... it's a benefit for yourself. If your concern is taking care of your family, of the people you have collected from misery and misfortune, I will gladly accept them into this village and under my own care. But don't sit here and keep trying to sell me that you acting like a snake is for our sake or their sake... if you want a home we can provide it. If you want a cover and a get out of jail free card to act on your impulse and desires, then you and I aren't seeing eye-to-eye at all."
He would let out a sigh as he looked down at his broken desk. Thankfully, he hated the desk. He wanted his own anyways. "Akkuma, I am hosting an assembly tomorrow with prominent members of the shinobi ranks and the greater village community. We will be discussing our actions moving forward. I would like you to be there, please bring members of you clan that you feel would benefit from this meeting, but do keep your numbers limited."

Rubbing the back of his neck he would once more look over the demon before him. "Allow me from now until then to mull over your offer. In the same token, I urge you to take that time to determine what it is you truly want as well. You as Akkuma, not you as the demon, the plague, the monster or even the leader of a clan. I want you to think about what you the individual want."

With that, he would nod and cross his arms in front of his chest. "Yukina, please escort the head of the Miroku clan out."

"About that..." Yukina would say with uncertainty as she would point to the black energy covering the threshold that exited the office.

"Oh...huh..."
------------- Meanwhile, outside of the barrier -----------------

Approaching the barrier, Koori would pause for a moment as his head would tilt one way and then the other. "Is it typical for your Kazekage to be taken hostage in his own tower? I imagine such a thing would become a rather cumbersome chore if that was the case."

"I do agree, this energy emanating from the construct feels uncomfortable. I have heard demons roam this village openly, or that even An--" Pausing, he would refrain from finishing his thought. Ancients and their sort were rumored to be in Suna, something Isshi Shiro made good well to have leaked out in his propaganda against the village. Yet, for Koori, it was still too far-fetched for him to believe such a ridiculous story of creations of that sort of lore to be truly alive in the current world. He would extend his hand out before pausing. "It is only Ryuzaki Raizo in there, correct?"

Koori, for the most part, had stayed rather calm, almost overly relaxed during all of this exchange thus far. Yet, this last question, tension could be felt within it that was lacking previously. For him, the answer to this question might change his approach to what he planned to do next. He still had not fully taken in the green-haired young man with him, that was still something he was completely missing at the moment. Maybe had he paid more attention, this situation would have already gone down a more complicated path.

 

[Mikaboshi]

PC: Sunahoshi Suzaku

"Is it typical for your Kazekage to be taken hostage in his own tower? I imagine such a thing would become a rather cumbersome chore if that was the case."

Suzaku folded his arms over his chest as Koori stepped forward and examined the barrier. There was no attack or attempt to penetrate the barrier on his end as and as Koori ran his hand over the surface of the barrier, Suzaku rapidly tapped the fingers of his right hand against his left bicep in an unconscious gesture of impatience. Koori seemed like he was the exact opposite from Suzaku in terms of personality-- where as Suzaku's first instinct had been to strike the barrier to test its durability, Koori instead used his sense and his mind to probe the best way of navigating the dark carapace that had been erected seemingly to keep outsiders from getting into the office.

"I guess so? I mean, I'm pretty new in town but I've heard stories." Suzaku responded a bit quicker than he'd intended to. Among the stories that his mother had told him about the former Kazekage were numerous recantings of various attempts on Katsuo's life from all sorts of sources. Assassins sent by the daimyo, vengeful creatures from the man's past as a wanderer, individuals just looking to take advantage of the war and cause trouble... the position of Kazekage seemed like it had no end to the waiting list of people that were looking to pick fights with whoever held it.

"I do agree, this energy emanating from the construct feels uncomfortable. I have heard demons roam this village openly, or that even An--"

Demons?

It clicked in Suzaku's head as Koori brought it up. The rancid chi, the sense of foreboding danger. Akkuma had alluded to having led a life of misadventures and had even mentioned that once he'd tangled with Suzaku's father. He'd been distracted by his own frustration and the upcoming meeting with the Kazekage that he had to look forward to explaining but if Akkuma had clashed with his dad then there was no denying that he'd almost certainly been up to no good to some level. And then Suzaku had just... let him walk into the office with Lord Raizo and... Yukina.

"It is only Ryuzaki Raizo in there, correct?"

[Scene BGM]​

"You should stand back. You're in the splash zone."

If Koori bothered to look back at Suzaku, he'd see that the young man had already shifted the way he'd been standing with his arms outstretched in front of him, mirrored on both sides as he held them at a downward angle in front of him with his palms tilted slightly forward but still mostly facing the ground and his thumbs outstretched and facing each other. Taking sharp breaths in through his nose and exhaling out through his mouth, Suzaku worked his respiratory system like a bellows with each inhale pulling in both the air necessary to keep breathing but also concentrating the power of his body and chakra circulatory system.

Each beat of the concentration mantra taught to him by Mikaboshi thundered in his mind as each exhale of his breath brought with it a puff of green-white fire, small clouds of smokeless fire gathering around Suzaku's mouth and eyes and chakra poured into his body. His summoned spiritual force manifested in curtains of green light and energy that fell from his shoulders and raced down the length of his body into the floor leaving small scoring marks across the flooring of the lobby where they went scattered into the surface of the carpet. Drawing his arms in close to his sides with his fingers curled into fists, Suzaku took one last deep breath and in the same moment dove forward.

Stopping a hair short of the barrier's featureless black surface, Suzaku threw both of his fists forward with all of the conjured spiritual force behind them at the barrier which created a burst of superheated air, spiraling around him in a whirlwind of heat and numbing sparks as he matched his will against that of the barrier's creator. His knuckles a few inches apart from the barrier, Akkuma's construct pushed back against Suzaku with an equal amount of resistance as he attempted to brute force his way through it. He could feel the creeping numbness of the barrier's rancid energy crawling closer to his fists but as that pain hit his mind he used it to focus his will and extend his fingers forward into the web of energy that was actively resisting him.

"Stupid... bastard... let... me... through..." He gritted through clenched teeth, his feet sliding backwards a small bit beneath him as he pushed against the resistance from the barrier.

Getting his fingers into the mesh of energy that had formed between him and the door, Suzaku's eyes flashed for a moment with another sharp exhale and this time instead of pushing against the will of the barrier he curled his fingers against the semi-tangible force of the construct and pulled in opposite directions with every inch of strength that his body could muster. The surface of the barrier rippled violently as Suzaku tore at its essence and responded by throwing a renewed wave of force back at the young man, blowing the fabric of the hoodie he'd been wearing to shreds and sending it spiraling back into the lobby behind him as he focused on pushing his way through the barrier.

The frigid numbing of the barrier's aura had been replaced with an electric agony that felt like Suzaku were holding on to a wire fence that had thousands of volts of current running through it but he refused to get pushed back again after coming this far. His fingers blackened and sizzled as he pulled against the powers that battled, the contact points where he'd grasped the barrier's mesh of resistance spitting green and black sparks in equal fervor but as he slowly made headway there was a loud, deafeningly sharp tearing noise and suddenly the barrier came undone. Though the barrier had stretched like bubblegum under the weight of Suzaku's exertion, it's surface suddenly went rigid and then shattered into a million glittering fragments of jet-colored crystal and glass all round him.

Fingertips still smoking from the battle with the black barricade that Akkuma had erected and fragments of that very barrier evaporating into dark smoke around his feet and shoulders, Suzaku took a confident step forward into the office of the Kazekage-- his eyes a brightly glowing eyes focused solely on Akkuma and full of challenging bravado as if to say "I broke your thing and now you're next".

 

[Miroku Akkuma]

The Sage was taken by surprise as Raizo slammed his hands upon the desk before him. His chakra flaring to life & his form beginning to change. Yukina the Kazekage's attendant seemed taken aback by the display & went to say something before deciding against it. This told Akkuma that she was unaccustomed to such displays from the man she served. Once more the Kazekage declared his words bullshit & went on to proclaim he would make the same decisions. Whether it was their difference in ideals or the flare of emotions in response to the half-demons words he was unsure. But one thing was certain Raizo had missed his entire point. Chaotic energy would lick at the heels of Akkuma's feet, the low hum of the unnatural energy as he did his best to listen to the Kazekage's words.

Though he understood what Lord Raizo was saying it was impossible for him to take such risks. Clearly he did not understand the half-demon before him. If he did then he was a fool if he truly believed such things were so easily done. That a whole life's worth of choices could be overcome in an instant. As if those behaviors, defenses & unchecked urges could be tempered with mere words. Akkuma knew it would take time & even then he would still need to atone for who he'd been in the past. It surprised him when Raizo went on from his offer to more revelations onto the type of being he suspected the Sage of being. Only to go on inviting him & his kin to some assembly. No doubt there was another village calamity, they would be there as requested. Although he wondered if such an invitation would remain by the time he departed. Nonetheless they would be there, playing their part with their Lord. With Raizo saying his farewell Yukina would point out that the blockade was sill in place.

A snarl of frustration would escape the Sage, knowing his time was running out after the recent attempts to enter his blockade. Suspecting they would not give up so easily on entering. "Forgive me Lord Raizo, but I must make you understand." the words were snarled out as the Sage took a step towards the eleventh Kazekage. Those emerald eyes of his a maelstrom of emotion. "Will you take joy from their deaths?! Do you revel in these decisions Raizo?! To see break them & make forge them into the necessary tools...does this bring you an indescribable ecstasy?" more snarled words from the Sage as his gaze shifted to Raizo's attendant. "When you find yourself bored does the urge to slice open Yukina & experiment on her overcome you? A desire to see what she can become & what the depths of her loyalty truly are..." he would say in a cold manner as his gaze took her in. All manner of control would appear to be gone from the Sage, when in truth he was being controlled enough to restrain himself. They needed to glimpse the monster he was & understand the darkness within himself that needed to be overcome. To understand he was a danger to those he cared about, because of who he was.

That insidious gaze of his sliding once more to Raizo as he spoke his next words. "To suffer the duality of wanting to be better for those you love...yet having to overcome such monstrous urges & thoughts. That is what I need you to Understand Ryuzaki Raizo." with those words he would sigh as he felt an attack against his black blockade. There would be no stopping this assault he would think to himself as the chaotic energies around him subsided. Cracks would begin to spread along his blockade as it's structure was moments away from being torn apart by sheer force. When he spoke next his voice would be much warmed & he would run a hand through his hair revealing an apologetic smile. Grumbled cursing could faintly be heard from the point where Suzaku's hands crackled with energy, struggling to free those within. No doubt the words he'd spoken had affected the two before him. "I meant what I said..." he would cut himself short as the black blockade shattered around them. In stepped the Sunahoshi youth & his eyes burned with a victorious glare focused intently on the Sage.

Akkuma turned to face the youth, of course Suzaku had been the cause of the earlier attempts to breach his barrier. There was another individual behind him outside the door frame one that he did not know. An unknown variable, something that always displeased the Sage. Particularly in these scenarios, having seen first hand the type of prejudices leaders faced for dealing with his kind. The blockade had not only been for his own privacy but to provide Raizo with some protection for the prejudices he would face. No doubt the mild destruction of the office around them would make it seem as if this meeting or at least its persistence had not been consented to by the Kazekage. "I'm surprised you would be so foolish. Given the events that brought you here & the conversation we had. I expected better..." the Sage said in a tone one might expect to hear from a scolding teacher, tilting his head slightly as he took in the situation before him. Taking the pendant in which he had sealed part of his soul & tossing it to Yukina. "Please make sure Raizo doesn't do anything foolish with that." he would casually say before a wide devilish grin formed upon his face.

"It would seem our time is up Lord Raizo..." his gaze stayed upon Suzaku as he spoke his next words. "It would seem something has changed...I wonder if your new friend has anything to do with that?" his tone was calm, yet curious. There was a time when such insolence would have been met with swift consequences. Who was this newcomer & why had Suzaku's behavior changed so much. Little did Akkuma know that Suzaku had finally worked out he was a Demon. Such news would easily explain the sudden change in look but for now the only thing he could put it down to was the newcomer who stood behind the youth.

MFT