Literally his commanding officer got the drop on him, his initial reaction was to create as much distance as possible first and foremost, but 3 meters was all he could conceive. Slightly spooked, the Homura was not in a bad situation against a genjutsu or ninjustsu user, depending on who it is of course. However it was a terrible set up against a tai specialist or those who prefer close quarters, so the first hole in his game nevertheless was exposed.
‘Tch. Shit. I need to develop some kind of infrared jutsu, or heat signature sensing jutsu, or like EMP field of vision, there’s no way I’m that bad at scouting...’
Although something could be seen like a silhouette, it still seemed as though the very shadows were speaking themselves and now this guy built one hell of an enigmatic figure in the head of the genin, the AiT’s unrestrained imagination was deeper and broader than most. Keiji unbeknownst to him in the mind’s eye of the AiT had built up this personality that was like the seen unseen, the mysterious veil, the darkness that watches…the ultimate shadow.
Eventually the voice that prowled out from the darkness you could tell held experience, grim in it’s tone. This probably is not the first time he’s snuck up on somebody, and this was probably the rare occasion someone lives though.
Keiji said:
"Y'know, while I appreciate the gesture.." His slumped position was in the side of the gates, hidden in the depths of shadows of the building next to the gate by the forest. He had been there all along, controlling his breathing the second his Hyuuga eyes had caught the chakra energies shifting and seeing his form from above. He slumped forward and pulled a small cardboard box out of his pocket and continued "There's a lot of ways to get to places, alternate and weird paths have the edge of being surprising to even the most skilled of shinobi." he pulled out a small herb rolled up in paper, put it in house and lit it with a smalll flame igniting from his finger tips.
Taking a deep drag from it, he exhaled the smoke. "Never mind all that though, I do appreciate you coming. I needed a hand and I wanted to get the rundown on our latest and brightest little starlings." He stood up with a light grunt and turned his gaze to the young man and assessed him closely. "I mean you by the way, it if wasn't obvious.. Keiji btw. Suzaku Keiji, but you can just call me sensei if you'd like."
In spite of the atmosphere being tense the climate somehow had a casual temperature, clearly what stood before Akuma was his superior, but yet there was a tranquil vibe that turned down the aura on the powerful being before him, that sense of humilty people speak so much about but could never give context to…well here it stood before him…you could feel he was strong but the way he played his demeanor hid his true strength very well.
*sniff* *sniff*
or was that the herb smell casting an illusion on the situation.
‘Thank god, he’s not weird…so the latest and brightest starlings huh?’
Well not everybody can be Anbu after all, and what Anbu joins to be average? What Anbu joins to live the good life? The neet life? Akuma knew this path of the shinobi was more treacherous than most, off top Akuma couldn’t give you the specifics but the discouraging statistics were laid before them. So even as an AiT they had to start shaping their mind to handle certain demanding, disturbing, and grievous conditions. Conditions that could possibly lead to experiences and choices that could cause some different forms of neurosis.
And difficult decisions were ultimately something EVERY person was going to make, but the levels of these decision and how you had to live with them is what Akuma is starting to realize what separates your everyday shinobi and the Anbu, he hasn’t experienced anything hardcore yet but some of the stories he’s heard made his mind wonder just how much suffering could his mind take and how much could is his soul willingly burden.
Keiji said:
Turning towards the Forest of Death. He took another drag, stretching his back and exhaling while stretching his arms and shoulders. "Inside there" he said as he finished his stretch looking towards the Forest with a serious gaze. "Is our prize. One annoying little Shinobi that tried to infiltrate the village, dumb idiot tried to blow up the Boyin, but was caught mid act and in his dumb attempt at trying to run away he decided to stupibly enough go straight into there."
"Bet you, he regreted that pretty quickly. We had the Forest surrounded with our sentries within seconds, so now he's just stuck in there." He took another drag and exhaled again. "Problem is though, we already sent in some Main Branch Shinobi, but we haven't heard back from them. That was over 2 hours ago, should have only taken them a few minutes if it's a regular Shinobi. So!" He left his herbal cigar on his lips and reached out and patted Akuma on the back. "That's where we come in!"
The pat caused Akuma’s body to reluctantly shift and lose it’s balance, mostly because the informal gesture caught him off guard and not due to the strength of the action itself. Still Keiji was pretty damn heavy-handed if the bodily memory of Akuma is accurately gauging from some of his more memorable mild blunt force trauma, let’s just say it was one of those situations when you can read when someone is heavyhanded as fxck.
He looked at him with a smile and lowered his arm again to the herbal cigar that sat on his lips, took another drag looked back towards the Forest and exhaled with a slight tinge of excitement. "Any questions?"
The four figures to suddenly show were certainly a surprise to the genin, however he held his nerves. It was embarrassing enough he got snuck up on once, and that was already enough.
“I'm Homura Akuma sir, but "Hinokami" for professional reasons, but not necessarily questions sensei, but I won’t always have the luxury of calling you by your formal name...so with that...Have you not developed a call-sign sir?
This...this is a tragedy, in the pain of your adulthood you have lost the spark of your youth...THE FIRE! *clinches fist* *slowly closes his eyelids*
...fear not sir. You shall be reborn as….
AHRIMAN!
..OR!
EREBUS!
...OR!
….I can still just call you sensei...but those were some of my fav alternatives, you have my permission to use if you want…”, Akuma’s tone was playful as much as his body language and very shakspearean in his deliverance, the black haired young man took life lightly, he’s one of those smile through the pain types, but he knows when to take a situation serious as his next actions confirmed the latter.
His cloak whooshed, as he laid out a map,
“...Well I do have questions in all seriousness...Sir, do we have any Sensor shinobi that can pinpoint the targets location or general area? Also any known information on our ‘guest’ abilities? Did the target act alone in infiltrating? And what were the combat levels of the 2 who entered before me? It would be cool to know somewhat of what I'm dealing with here.”
Akuma tone got wasn’t going to blindly rush in, 2 hours had went by after they sent in the initial squadron and no enemy movement? This easily was now a hostage situation for sure, but a foreign situation that could be dealt with nonetheless. First things first though he needed to gather intel that he could leverage to his advantage.
