Are you watching over us, my old friend?

[Takahashi Aki]

Judori awaited the arrival of the son of an old friend. Given what he was told of this young man, he had to manage his expectations. What surprised the former steward was the young man's lack of will to become what his father was. Still though. Hiro regardless of the fact he was the Kazekage or not was a good man. Perhaps he was the best man of his generation. His death was truly a loss for Sungakure, and it was perhaps one of the many deaths that took Judori several years to get over.

Judori had knowledge that he married a Masashi, like himself. He heard that she was with child. That is unfortunately where it ended as communication died down. Judori was upset with himself for letting that happened. A grieving woman needed her time, but she needed to be tended to. Inara was an independent woman. A powerful woman at that. A master of martial combat, and one to be greatly feared within her own right.

Judori had worked his home forge to restore the famed blade Tatsumasa. No extra bells or whistles. It was a restoration project that took time. Judori adhered to the old ways. When weapons were made for the Sunahoshi, there was some ceremony to it. Judori relied upon a psionic control to fashion back the blade as touching it to him was simply put: heresy. Only a Sunahoshi could wield Tatsumasa. All in all it was perhaps his finest work. Memories of Hiro filled Judori's mind as he worked. It was almost like talking to an old friend who although absent still somehow filled the room with a presence.

What bothered Judori was how the sword broke. His listened to his wife's explanation. He played the scenario out in his head. It was hard to believe, but his son had dealt with powers that were on the same level. The Djinn was one such entity. The strange xenomorphic entity in the hospital. These Cabal while human were certainly of a higher power. Suna had been outplayed, his son was locked out. Judori worried over his son. He trusted in the fact that Sousuke was on the surface with Okibi, Tama, and Seven. Alive somehow. The surface was a dangerous place of Sousuke. Still though, he had that black blade with him. That weapon was still a mystery to the Steward, but it always kept his son safe. Hopefully that foreboding weapon was still doing its job.

 

[Mikaboshi]

As he traveled, Katsuo's mind was consumed by one thing: the coming battle.

In his travels, Katsuo had trained under many masters and studied many styles of combat but the one that was most special to him was the teachings of Ansatsuken-ryu and it's last living grandmaster Garyou. Ansatsuken-ryu was an ancient style of fighting which found it's roots in the original clans of men that opposed the rise of Sunagakure. Calling themselves the Setting Sun Clan, they honed their minds and bodies to be able to battle against the potent ninj arts that the fledgling Sunagakure wielded. Proud hunters of shinobi, the Setting Sun Clan was eventually eradicated by Sunagakure but it's teachings of Ansatsuken-ryu and the pursuit of personal growth through the rites of battle and conflict survived their demise. Ansatsuken-ryu became more than a simple martial art -- it was a philosophy to live by. After having met Garyou and proving himself to be a worthy student of the school, Katsuo had become the first student of Ansatsuken-ryu in almost three decades.

In his mind, Katsuo was transported back to the days when he studied with his teacher in the caves of the Wind Country, moving from place to place to find food and water where ever they could. Garyou had taught him of the two spirits of Ansatsuken-ryu; Setsuninken and Katsujinken and how they affected each and every student to walk the path. Setsuninken was the "life-taking sword" and the spirit which commonly came to rule most students of Ansatsuken-ryu. The life of a martial artist was one of conflict and battle and sometimes death. It demanded that the one walking that path be ready to fact battle whenever and especially in the case of Ansatsuken-ryu students for the teachings of their school demanded that they seek out strong opponents and constantly test themselves against them. Setsuninken represented the spirit of ruthlessness and conviction; the power to face an opponent and battle them without restraint and to, if necessary, take their life. In contrast, Katsujinken existed as the fundamental balance to Setsuninken. As the "life-giving sword", Katsujinken was the spirit that encouraged students of Ansatsuken-ryu to reflect upon their power and to not misuse it or do undue harm to others. After all, the Setting Sun Clan had been founded to do away with the shinobi village that they viewed as selfish and dangerous. The unfortunate truth was that many who walked the path of Ansatsuken-ryu commonly forgot about the spirit of Katsujinken and submerged themselves entirely within the spirit of Setsuninken and became monsters in their own right. Villains who leveraged their power in pursuit of simply the next opponent to destroy. That lesson well in mind, Katsuo did his best to remind himself of that as he tread the path to the ruined Kazekage Tower.

The Cabal had brought vicious destruction down upon Sunagakure and murdered many innocent people. The anger that burned in Katsuo's gut was something that he could no longer ignore and he feared the looming spirit of Setsuninken that lurked in the back of his mind. Garyou had once taught him that for a martial artist to be truly just then he cannot allow himself to act out of revenge but he struggled with that teaching now. Was the message he'd sent to the leader of the Cabal one that he'd sent out of revenge or justice? Did he seek this battle to visit his anger upon the Cabal or did he seek it only to bring an end to the conflict? What if it were both?

What would you do in my place, master?

Finally arriving at the Kazekage Tower at the ruins of Kingshelm, Katsuo looked up and beheld a man waiting for him that he did not recognize. Was this the leader of the Cabal? It seemed... unlikely, if only because he sensed no menace from the man but that did not always mean anything. The truly terrifying of humanity's monsters could hide their murderous intent implicitly. But still, Katsuo could not afford to take chances.

"Strange place to be waiting for someone else, friend. Are you the man I've been looking for?"

 

[Takahashi Aki]

There he was. Sunahoshi Katuso, or better known as Masashi Katuso. Not quite what Judori expected. Then again Judori was not quite sure what to expect. He saw elements in Hiro in him, but he saw more elements of his mother. Judori rose up from his perch of rubble. "I am inclined to think not, but long have I tried to find you Masashi Katsuo." The more Judori saw Katuso the more he was starting to see Hiro truthfully. "Your father was amongst the best of my friends. He was very good to me during a time of crisis in my life." Judori paused, "Even if he was a simple man of no titles he still would have been a very good man." The small man had to look up. Like his son did. Katuso merely towered over him. He reached into his pocket and removed the seal scroll Chiyoko had give him. He held it out for Katuso to take. "My finest work ... although my magnum opus though would be my boy." Judori's mood would continue to be sober.

Business had to continue. "He is trapped on the surface. Likely dead due to a severe weakness to Diamond Sands, but ... my son has surprised many people. Even me." He paused. "Chiyoko told me you wanted to know what happened to my son. I have a theory... in which I will explain to you. Some time ago his ward Okibi had gone missing from the village. She returned but critically injured. Tortured. We helped her to get better... but during that time a series of murders and strange occurrences were happening in our village. My son was able to connect a series of webs, and find that the organization behind both the murders and Okibi's torture were in Soon's Sanctuary." Judori's tone was quite grim. Unlike his son he showed his emotion and disdain for the topic very easily. "He attended to dealing with these ... miscreants. Even though he had kept mum about the subject, I suspect the Cabal had an insider who was keeping tabs on him. Thus when he went to deal with this issue for the village's sake and for family honour, the trap was sprung ... thus the Cabal anarchy was unleashed and here we are." Like his son, there was a certain tiredness about Judori. Overly dedicated to the village. The Takahashi line were King's Men. In the absence of the King, there was the realm.

"I want you to know Katuso. I am very sorry for what happened to your father. Things have never been the same without him. I have done what I can for the village. All my work. All my son's work. Undone at the hands of these Cabal." Judori seemed to grow choked up. Katuso was a stranger to him. He was Hiro's son though. This was the man who was owed an apology. Judori cleared his throat. "I know now is not the time for such things, but some things must be said and done. I would very much like to aid you in what ways I can. I may be old, but we Takahashi are King's Men."

 

[Mikaboshi]

"You're Judori." Katsuo reasoned outloud as Sousuke's father handed the sealing scroll containing Tatsumasa back to him. With an open grin, he held the sealing scroll out in front of himself and poured his chakra into it causing the sacred blade to reveal itself. Furnished with a new scabbard, the leather-wrapped hilt of Tatsumasa at once felt familiar to him as he wrapped his fingers around it and pulled it free of the scroll entirely, letting the scroll of paper fall to the ground as he marveled at the restored blade. With just a hint of trepidation as if the blade were going to shatter the moment he unsheathed it, Katsuo grabbed the scabbard and took a breath before drawing the sword and setting it's gleaming blade free. "I can't thank you enough, you know. This sword is all I have of my dad."

Still marveling at the restored Tatsumasa, Katsuo listened to what Judori had to say about where Sousuke was. So the Steward was locked out of the village. That explained a lot about why he wasn't involved with the battle going on within the village but at least he wasn't dead. The fact that he was outside of the village likely put him out of the Cabal's direct line of fire and definitely outside of the range of the explosives that the Cabal claimed they had the village wired with. It sounded like Sousuke had left originally to handle some extremely personal business and the Cabal took advantage of that by attacking when his back was turned. He wondered at once how they knew that he would be outside of the village but a thought like that could wait until later. Judori then went on to apologize for the death of Katsuo's father and to that Katsuo's expression grew sympathetic.

"What happened to my dad isn't your fault. When I was younger... I used to blame my mom like it was her fault for running away. Like we could have fought together if she hadn't agreed to hide." Katsuo confided, his voice quiet. "But there's no way to know if that would have changed anything. There are men who are at fault for what happened and some day I will hold them accountable for their actions but today is not that day."

Sliding Tatsumasa back into it's sheath, Katsuo returned a smile to his face and clapped Judori on the shoulder with a reassuring nod.

"In service of the One King's legacy, we are all king's men Judori. The important thing is that we never forget that." Katsuo had always been a deeply spiritual man even if he wouldn't describe himself as 'religious'. Some men followed the memory of Primus in a dogmatic, religion-like fashion but that was not how Katsuo preferred to live. The memory of the One King was a standard to strive for. Combined with his following of the spirit of Katsujinken, Katsuo lived each day in pursuit of the standard that Primus had set for his descendants even before he'd found out that he was quite literally an inheritor of that legacy.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

"Quite right Katuso." Judori gathered himself. He spoke like Hiro. "Mother, Suna. You are ever so your father's boy. Hoh. It's like as if I'm talking to him here and now." The former Steward made note to himself to assist this lad in what ways he could. "I have had my spider puppets keep the hospital safe, along with my Moon and Stars. Word has it that the enemy has been told that the Kazekage is waiting for them at his tower. I am here to give you what information I can of your enemy. I will paint the portrait of your foe, or at least give you a sketch." Judori nodded his head. "Kaito is his name. He is a veteran from the Plague Wars. Your great-aunt Mako ran into him during the initial outset of this. Unlike her, he has aged quite well. He is older in age, but he is about thirty-five in appearance if I were to guess. He has an eye patch, and brown hair. His smell is never the same." Judori spoke describing the enemy to Katuso. "I do not know what his power set is, merely that it must be tremendous given that he survived the Plague War. I do not know if he is of a house that in ancient history is from Uchiha or Hyuuga clans." Judori paused to allow the information to enter Katuso's mind. If anything Kaito was a man who was more cunning or just as cunning as Judori when he was back in his prime.

"Your father was a man who knew mercy, and when to spare people. What we have here is an enemy who has readily destroyed our home, and will give no quarter. We Suna nin have always had blood in our history, for good or for ill." Judori would now focus in on the tricks that might be played upon him. "When the moment that things crystallize and when your enemy is at the end of Tatsumasa, you must stand firm and judge him accordingly. It is not for me to tell you how to judge your foe, only you can do that. It is your choice whether you let him live and threaten him to never return or face the consequences, or you may simply kill him and bring closure to this." Judori paused for a moment. He sighed and let out a laugh. "There were several men who returned to do harm to us once again even when your father issued that ultimatum. Hiro did not lie though. They did in fact face the consequences of their return, which was inevitably their demise. Hiro spoke firmly and wisely. It was unfortunate his foes could not see his wisdom. I counseled him to be in all things neutral. I told him to take a medium between thinking with his head, and thinking with his heart. He was a warm man. Not cold and logical, but not emotionally heated. He was balanced."

Judori nodded his head. "Hiro and I had our disagreements, but when we disagreed we saw the merits of the other's argument and point of view." Judori managed a chuckle. "Prior to your mother there was one lady who had the eyes for him. I told him she was not his type, and that your mother was far more ... of his type." A smile formed on the old man's face. "Sunahoshi. Masashi. Takahashi. These three clans have always looked after Sungakure. These three clans have always looked after each other. They will continue to do so no?"

 

[Mikaboshi]

Katsuo said nothing as Judori gave words to the internal conflict that still raged within his heart. He regretted having to kill Oroku greatly but the Cabal agent had made his stance clear. If Katsuo had let him live, more people were going to die. It was as simple as that. Perhaps he could have made more of an attempt to reason with the terrorist but to what end? Time was perhaps the greatest resource available to those that were fighting on Sunagakure's side in this conflict -- something that they could never get enough of -- and ever moment he spent trying to sway a man who was resolute in his desire to victimize others was time he would not be able to spend actually helping other people. At what point did his mercy simply become a burden on others? But at the same time, choosing to forego it entirely would be a complete betrayal of the spirit of Katsujinken which Katsuo revered. Perhaps this was the destination that all those who walked the path of Ansatsuken-ryu arrived at, ultimately. Garyou had taught Katsuo that as he studied and followed the teachings of their school he would be faced with many choices to reflect upon the nature of Setsuninken and Katsujinken and in the same breath had advised him not to judge those who became consumed by Setsuninken too harshly for their weakness.

For perhaps the first time in his life, Katsuo fully understood why Garyou had advocated pity for those who fell to Setsuninken rather than spite. As a young man, Katsuo could never understand why a man who Garyu who had destroyed every other living master of his school to purge it of the corruption that Setsuninken had become could speak so softly towards those that he had destroyed but that was in truth a true demonstration of balancing the two spirits. Garyou had wielded Setsuninken to destroy those that he knew to be eating away at the heart of his school which he loved so much but tempered that killing instinct with the empathy of Katsujinken to understand how they came to suffer so. His understanding did not change the nature of the situation: those that were corrupted by Setsuninken were abominations that visited harm and suffering on others with reckless abandon and they needed to be put down for there could be no going back from the lines they had crossed.

Perhaps his answer was staring him in the face the whole time. The question he'd rhetorically asked himself of what his master would have done was already answered by the past. Garyou had already faced a situation similar to this. The Cabal needed to be stopped. They allowed their hatred of the Sunagakure government to rain misery and death upon the innocents that lived in the city and that could no longer go on. If they would not see reason then they would need to face justice.

"One way or another, yes." Katsuo concluded, responding to Judori at last as Sousuke's father came to his own conclusion about the nature of their collective clan heritages. "Their leader's name is Kaito then. He sounds like a rough customer."

If Kaito was a veteran of the Plague Wars then Judori's assertion that he was powerful was almost certainly spot on. The Plague Wars had heavily involved Sunagakure and several rival shinobi groups within the country so that meant even if Kaito were not a shinobi he very likely was similar to Katsuo in the sense that he would be able to battle with one on an even playing field. This was not an enemy he could afford to assume would crumble before him the way Oroku had. Oroku had been a skilled manipulator and in possession of a cunning plan but when faced directly with Katsuo he had gone down with very little resistance. A dangerous man to be sure but not a warrior of any consideration for someone like Katsuo. Kaito on the other hand... he presented a coming battle that would almost certainly require all of his facilities. The spirit of Tatsumasa within him was silent for the time being, dormant in recovery after having repaired his wounds following the battle at the Bakery and giving him a once-through of some of his new found powers. He hoped she would awaken soon as he did not relish the idea of battling Kaito without her. It was strange but he had in some ways come to rely on the strange knowledge spirit that he'd invited to live inside his head.

Of course...

Looking down for a moment, Katsuo rested his hands upon the hilt of Tatsumasa with the end of the sheath resting on the ground not unlike a large walking stick or cane. Now that he had the sword back he could restore the spirit back to where it had come from. He'd sort of become accustomed to having the spirit in his mind but it was right for her to return to the blade. If he died they would need her to be able to pass on information to whoever the blade chose next as there would be no more Sunahoshi to wield it.

"I'm not worried though. Primus is with me, Judori. We'll make it through this, somehow." Katsuo beamed at the older Takahashi. Even though it was a turn of phrase, there was some truth to Katsuo's statement. With the spark of Primus beating through his chest as surely as his blood thundered through his veins, Katsuo was the closest thing to the Old King which had lived in centuries even if he did not wield the diamond sands in the same way that the Sunahoshi of old did. Still... with a smirk on his lips, Katsuo reflected on that thought. No, he could not wield the diamond sands but Kaito was in for a nasty surprise if things between them came to blows.

 

[Takahashi Aki]

"We will indeed make it through this." Judori agreed with Katuso. The small man told Katuso what he needed to know. Whether or not it would aid him in this battle was another thing entirely. Kaito was very much an ever changing man. Some things would stick. Some would not. The former Steward nodded his head. "When all this is said and done, and should we all make it through this we will all need to sit down and get caught up. A family dinner is in order, not prepared by my son of course." Judori would crack a grin. This was something worth sharing. "Sousuke has met many people, but there was this particular foreigner. Kendori Shuu, I think her name is. He's spoken to me of trying to match her up with a friend he would only refer to as K. It must be you of course." Judori let out a laugh. Sousuke was ever the planner. He would have plans within plans. "It was strange, he didn't speak of you much, but I would think he was trying to protect you in his own way. Sousuke doesn't look it, but he is highly capable . People have underestimated him... ever since he was born and those have come to regret doing so." Judori paused. Yes. Keeping Katuso a secret was something that his son had done well. He did not call court. He did not reveal Katuso. A secret well kept. The Cabal despite raiding his structures, and information could not reveal this one powerful secret. The single existence of a Sunahoshi.

Judori had quickly gathered logically that Katuso could not use the diamond sands. Another mystery for another day. "Primus is with you, but so are your ancestors. Nori Kai. Akina. Just to name a few. Go with the good will of suna nin past and present. " Judori would look skyward up into the darkness of caverns. "I wish you luck, and I wish you the best. Even if my son is not here, Chiyoko and I are here to aid you as best we can."