Hot Wind Blowing [Open]

[Uchiha Kouhei]

"One, two, three!" Nobu said through clenched teeth, returning to a relaxed stance on top of the little brick wall. On one side was was a packed dirt road, small and out of the way. On the other side was what he could only assume was someone's vegetable garden - a small, miserable plot of land. But a plot of land in the open air nonetheless. Nobu's balance came to him naturally as he turned his eyes to the sky, bright sunlight peering down between the buildings. The sky. He'd heard all about how the village was trapped beneath the sand for years, taking shelter from its primordial wrath.

Nobu had been too young for it to be something affecting his day-to-day life. He lived underground because it was all he'd ever known. He remembered the stark terror of the Cabal attacks, though, back when he was even smaller. Even with the Cabal defeated, the village apparently still had a bunch of enemies. Nobu wasn't worried. One day, he'd be the person to beat all of them in the name of Sunagakure.

Enough thinking. Back to his training. Nobu took a breath and changed his footing on the wall a bit. "One." he muttered, and his left leg swung up into a sweeping kick. "Two." he said, pulling his leg back and repeating the kick. "Three--eep!" As Nobu pulled his leg back again, he lost his balance. Attempts to flail his arms or catch himself did nothing, and the Academy student slipped. With a thud, Nobu landed face-down on the dusty road. The drop was low enough that it didn't cause him much harm, but he was nonetheless left groaning in pain for a few moments.

---

MFT

 

[Mikaboshi]

"Hey, not too bad kid."

It wasn't totally unheard of to see the Kazekage out and about this time of the day but typically he spent most of his daylight hours at the Kazekage Tower at the mercy of stacks of paperwork or endless meetings. He'd become somewhat infamous among his staff for sneaking off for an hour or so of personal time, absconding into the city to who knows where without saying a word about where he was going or what he intended to do. In truth he usually made his way into the Residential District and just... helped out during those sojourns. Katsuo could earnestly say that he despised the type of public service which was defined by the red tape and bureaucracy but there was a certain satisfaction in going out and doing things like just helping an old lady carrying too many bags or picking a cat out of a tree for a little boy.

"Gotta work on that landing though." He said with hints of an amused chuckle in the smile that graced his countenance.

He didn't recognize Nobu as one of the village's students but to Katsuo who had grown up in a clan that was outside of the purview of Sunagakure and it's organized structure of teaching a kid didn't need to be a budding shinobi to be interested in the martial arts. Katsuo had been fascinated by them long before he'd ever known what a shinobi was and certainly long before he knew about his lineage as a Sunahoshi and what that meant about his connection to Sunagakure.

Katsuo held his hand forward towards the student that had fallen from atop the wall and come to a sudden stop just about half a pace from where he'd been walking. If Nobu took his hand, Katsuo would effortlessly pull Nobu up from the ground and help him find his footing again.

"You alright?"

 

[Senju Makoto]

Makoto flinched at the sound of another shinobi's voice. From being underground from since she was born, it had been taking awhile for her to get used to the environment above ground. There was a lot of space, and the dirt road she had been cautiously walking on seemed to go on forever - much unlike the tunnels she once lived in. There wasn't a whole lot of places to hide, though she could run. That is, if she ever learned not to freeze up when in a state of fear such as the night a Cabal attack ended the lives of her parents and she couldn't do anything but watch.

It seemed as though this would not be a situation it would be necessary to run or fight in, though. Very much to her relief. Ever since her parents' deaths, Makoto grew uncomfortable with the thought of battle. Though, she sworn to herself to end the tyranny enemies cause such as of what took away her family. Eventually, she would have to overcome her fears and learn to fight if she was ever to even begin to do any of that. It could all start with training here, just as this kid was doing.

She had seen pictures of the Kazekage before, being an academy student, but it took a couple of blinks to recognize that was really him. Because of his position, Makoto didn't think he'd be so kind as to help a kid up. And just from that, she took a admiration for the leader of her village. By this moment, she had been staring at them for some time. She looked around for somewhere else to go, not wanting to be so intrusive, but there was only more dirt.

 

[Rakujo Yumeko]

He searched and searched and searched some more and he still couldn't find his weapon. The white haired main had to have combed over where he had access to a good half dozen times over with a fine tooth comb and still couldn't find his weapon. The frustration was growing within him. Having gone from a slow pace to a fair bit faster one, he'd move around to search yet again, this time planning to go and search where he hadn't. If this resulted in nothing then he'd have to assume that someone had taken it at some point and is either using it or has gotten rid of it and so on.

After some time had passed after he had quickened his pace, Naikishin's red eyes would eventually spot a man offering to help a kid up and another one not too far away from them just seemingly... watching the two. Walking up the the man, perhaps he'd know, but even if not, it wouldn't hurt. "You, whatever your name is, have you perhaps seen a sword about yea long having a couple etches on the handle." He'd say, having given a couple of hand gestures to indicate how long the sword was. At this point, he didn't have any hope that he'd have a positive answer from the man and even less hope that either of the kids had an answer.

The man was wearing a white yukata with a blue swirl pattern on the bottom and ends of the sleeves, worn so that his arm only goes through the left sleeve, and the right half droops down over an obi. Over this, he would wearing a black belt buckled so that there is leftover dangling from the buckle, though it could easily be told that there was something missing from his attire, where a sword would be. He was wearing knee-high black boots, buckled at the top and above his foot, which would appear to add about half an inch to his height. There was a bit of dried and aged blood on his clothes as well, considering his focus was solely on his weapon and not on much else.

 

[Uchiha Kouhei]

Nobu had been languishing face-down on the floor for just a few moments when he heard someone talking. Some adult coming to stick their nose in his training again, no doubt. He'd been chased off by folks for walking on their fences or climbing their homes before, but he always just came back later. Nobu got up into a sitting position, patting the dust off his face and clothes. He had a few scrapes here and there, and there was a faint hint of moisture in the corners of his eyes like one might expect from a child getting hurt. Once he'd wiped them clean, he finally turned his eyes up at the stranger.

It took a few seconds for Nobu to parse the sight of the man currently offering a hand. "You're the Kazekage!" he exclaimed before taking the hand he was offered and letting the Kazekage pull him to his feet. "I'm fine! Nothing to worry about. Just lost my balance." Nobu added, almost sounding defensive. It was rare for Nobu to meet someone he actually gave more than the barest modicum of respect. The Kazekage, however, was definitely someone in that very small group. Nobu snapped into a bow once the Kazekage let his hand go again. "Domen Nobu, of the Domen family, at your service." he said with the wooden cadence of a practiced introduction. The name was probably at least vaguely familiar to Katsuo - a small but wealthy merchant family. Infamously reclusive, scions of nearly every major clan in Sunagakure had at some point in time married into the Domen family, their hands bought with impressive dowries for their their blood-connection to the First Men.

A slightly sour look played across Nobu's face when his unexpected meeting with the Kazekage was suddenly interrupted by the appearance of some new fellow. He was asking about a sword, but Nobu could only shake his head. "Haven't seen it." the boy chirped up, even though the man had addressed the Kazekage. Looking down, it was hard for Nobu to miss the blood on the man's clothes. Nobu shifted his weight from one foot to the other in agitation. There was the off chance he was a medic or butcher, but... Was this fellow some kind of criminal?

 

[Mikaboshi]

"You're the Kazekage!"

It was always the same. The same surprised tone of voice and change in demeanor that happened with everyone he met these days. It used to be that people didn't know him from any other shmuck on the street and as a result treated him more or less the same as they would anybody else. These days everyone was all respect and reverence. Katsuo resisted the urge to blow a sigh as he released Nobu after pulling him up from the ground and instead maintained his optimistic expression as Nobu went into a bow and introduced himself.

"The Domen family. Pretty sure I've heard the name before." He mused, crossing his arms across his chest. Katsuo had never been particularly great with names and in the last few months after having become the Kazekage that had become a significant stumbling block for him given the amount of different people he met on a daily basis that all expected him to remember them with perfect clarity. "Either way, glad to meet you Nobu. I'm Sunahoshi Katsuo but it seems like you already know who I am."

Katsuo inclined his head instead of a bow. Being raised out on the frontier of Wind Country, Katsuo had never been big on formal manners which, like his sometimes inability to remember names, had also become a bit of a sticking point for his advisers. His personal adjutant Kobayashi Shizune had spent a significant amount of time educating him on the finer points of noble society's endless rules and etiquette which Katsuo had found extremely frustrating. Not only were there a laundry list of rules for how nobles interacted with each other but there were rules for how they interacted with him and expectations for how he interacted with them. For example he had quickly embarrassed himself early on during a meeting with some of the leaders of the water trade out on the frontier by returning a bow that apparently he wasn't supposed to return because of his station as a leader of a nation. Still, he was expected to play this game and if he wanted to do right by his father who had held the position before him he needed to learn it's rules.

"You, whatever your name is, have you perhaps seen a sword about yea long having a couple etches on the handle."

Turning his attention to Naikishin as the man addressed him, Katsuo arched an eyebrow at him. It was extremely uncommon to find anyone these days that didn't recognize him as the Kazekage, especially given the symbol of the Sunahoshi Clan that he often wore on his back and upon a tether that hung from the sword that dangled at his waist from a strap slung over his shoulder and it was even more so to find someone who would be so forward to address him as "You". Katsuo didn't particularly mind, he often disliked the way people replaced his name and personal identity with his title and position but it certainly struck him as odd. Noticing the blood caked on Naikishin's clothes, Katuso took a subconscious step between Nobu and the stranger before folding his hands into the sleeves of the long haori he wore.

"Not that I can think of." He remarked in response to Naikishin's question, his tone even and nonthreatening but certainly lacking the warmth that had been present when he'd been talking to Nobu. "You'd probably have better luck at a pawn shop."

The blood on his person could certainly be entirely coincidental but the fact that Naikishin hadn't recognized who he was told him that he was likely a foreigner and there weren't a lot of good reasons for a foreigner to be walking around looking for a sword while wearing blood stained clothing. Under normal circumstances Katsuo would be looking to find out if he was alright but recent events had taught him to be more wary of foreigners who showed up under mysterious circumstances in Sunagakure and if this situation turned dangerous he couldn't afford to have a fight break out so close to residential homes and with a kid standing so close to them. It would be better if Naikishin moved on and Katsuo advised a squad of ANBU to pick him up and bring him to the medical center to be checked out.

 

[Rakujo Yumeko]

The first one to answer his question was the boy who had chirped up stating that he hadn't seen the blade. His gaze slowly shifted from the man to the boy before returning to the man. The man followed up with a familiar answer that he'd heard more times than he'd like over the past couple of weeks its taken him to search through the village. He could tell it was somewhere in the village, but he couldn't tell exactly where it was. Every time he'd thought he'd think he found it, it always seemed to be just out of his reach. "Do you not think I've tried that? Don't you think I've done that with every goddamned pawn shop that I've found in this village?" He'd say, having noticed how cold the mans reply had been to him and just some anger surfacing from his frustration of his search for his weapon.

Naikishin would slowly raise his left hand to cover his left eye, even with it consistently closed from, ya'know, missing said eye. He'd continue to watch the man with his actually working eye as he tried to think of anything before he had woken up. Wincing slightly as memories slowly returned he remembered a large fight and a single name which he had remembered the event that had caused him to lose his eye. Moving his left hand away from his face, he'd clench it into a fist before shouting out to the man. "Do you know of anyone by the name of... Shouki?" He'd ask, hoping that would give him some clues as to where his sword was. But so far, either people just really didn't pay any damned attention to things around them or whoever had his sword just really knew where he was and how to avoid him. Or even they were watching him, but these were things that hadn't crossed his mind quite yet.

 

[Uchiha Kouhei]

Nobu was perceptive enough to notice the change in atmosphere that passed between the two men. If the Kazekage himself figured the wise course of action was to get in between Nobu and the man, then the young academy student wasn't going to waste his breath complaining. At the academy he'd been taught to stay back and run away if a foreign threat showed up, as the Cabal was still fresh in everyone's mind. Still, if ever there was a time to show off his guts and abilities to someone important, this was it. Who else to show off to than the Kazekage, after all? Nobu wasn't even a genin yet, but he figured he might as well start early with getting in folks' good graces.

Still, Nobu wasn't dumb enough to throw the first punch. Instead, he just squinted at the odd fellow. His left eye was closed, and winced a moment after touching it. Some kind of dojutsu taking its toll, perhaps, or maybe it was damaged or hurt somehow. Not Nobu's business, but the kid was still curious and had little in terms of impulse control. "There's probably dozens of people called Shouki out here in town. Doesn't sound too uncommon." Nobu replied. He definitely didn't sound like he cared much for the stranger's problem. The forced wooden politeness the Domen boy had put up for the Kazekage had disappeared as fast as it had come. Nobu looked the guy over again, lingering on the closed eye and the bloodstains. "I'd ask why a shady guy like you's looking for a sword, but I can make a guess or two..." he added, clearly suspicious.

[MFT]

 

[Mikaboshi]

Narrowing his eyes as the stranger that had bumbled up them covered in blood and apparently still injured barked back at his suggestion to try the local pawn shops, Katsuo mentally maneuvered back to his theory that the person that had approached them was very potentially unstable and in the kind of world that they lived in that also made him potentially very dangerous as well. He wasn't particularly interested in breaking out into a fight here in the Residential District but if things escalated to violence then Katsuo would be forced to put a stop to it with any means available to him.

It wasn't until Naikishin decided to name-drop Shouki that Katsuo became critically concerned. Nobu was right that there were probably dozens of individuals in Sunagakure named Shouki given that it wasn't a particularly unique or noteworthy name but there certainly was one particular individual that bore the name which stood out in Katsuo's memory. Ishii Shouki had been part of the Cabal forces that had infiltrated Sunagakure and then later they'd discovered his connection to the Sovereign Academy agents and the fact that he was the son of Ishii Shiro, the daimyo of Wind Country.

Oh and on top of all of that he'd been a psychopathic Jashin cultist that was in love with death and violence.

"Nobu, take a step backwards." He quietly said to the academy student standing behind him, the gravity in his voice clear as he positioned his right hand to rest on the hilt of his sword and let his other hand dangle to the side. He made no move to actually draw Tatsumasa but it was easily within reach if the stranger standing in front of him suddenly decided to become hostile or aggressive. "If things start to escalate, I want you to run as fast as you can to the Kazekage Tower and report what's going on."

And with that Katsuo took a step forward of his own, his hand still on his sword but otherwise made no obviously hostile movements other than his expression a mask of calmness for someone that was walking into a situation that could very easily be another assassination attempt or at the very least one of Shouki's subordinates looking to pick a fight in retaliation for their leader's death. Shouki didn't seem like the type to immerse himself in friends or allies but given what he knew of the man it wasn't entirely impossible that he'd had a pack of brainwashed cultists following in his footsteps.

"If you mean Ishii Shouki then yeah, I know the name. If you're one of his allies looking to get revenge for his death, I'll give you the courtesy of re-thinking the choices that brought you here because I gotta tell you... " Katsuo responded, a crackle of gilded Natural Energy unconsciously playing across his shoulders and forearms in tune with his heightened emotional state.

"... this ends badly for you."

 

[Rakujo Yumeko]

It didn't take long for the kid to chime in with stating there probably being dozens of people who went by the name of Shouki and then went on to calling him shady for looking for a sword. "I'm not looking for just any old sword, brat, I'm looking for mine." He'd say, releasing his clenched hand as the man spoke to the kid. He couldn't hear what it was that he said but he knew that it was something. The man took a step forward towards him with his hand on his sword.

Ishii Shouki. So that was the mans name. With the man speaking his name and soon stating that is he was one of allies looking for revenge, he was going to have a bad time. "Ally? Not in the slightest. He's the one that my eye... but if you say that he's dead..." He'd trail off a bit as he noticed a crackle from the mans direction, and his demeanor would change a little. Only ever so slightly. Going from generally mad to almost exuding the rage he felt. "Where the hell is my sword!? It and I are one and I can't fucking find it! If he's dead then where was he killed at?! Because I was in a fight against him and then I wasn't and I had my sword back then!" He had only one volume now, and that was just loud. Everything he had said after trailing off was just shouted.

Without waiting for an answer he'd shout again, just as how he was feeling at this point. "WHERE?!" At this point it'd echo a bit as his movements while standing still seemed to become less restricted with his injuries as he watched the man who had accused him of being an ally of the man that had apparently been the cause to him losing his weapon. "Just let me find my sword! I don't fucking care what happens after that! But if you're gonna stand in my way, I don't care who or what you are!" He'd continue to shout towards the man. He had no clue who the man was nor did he care.

At this point though, his aura should barely begin to become visible for those without even the ability to use chakra. All of a sudden he'd swing his fist towards a nearby building and without missing a beat he'd turn back to the man as if everything was a fluid movement. The force of the punch through the air had sent enough of a gust of air towards the building enough to cause it to crack and somewhat spiderweb out a couple meters from the impact point where his punch would have landed had he been close enough to actually hit it. "Do you know what it's like to have something that's part of you to be lost and shit?!" He'd shout once more. The man could probably notice that while his aura surrounded him, it wasn't complete. It should cover his entire body at this point but there were just parts missing of the aura.

 

[Uchiha Kouhei]

Even if he had a tendency to live in his own little world a lot, Nobu was still a decently sharp lad. Interactions between the Kazekage and this strange man seemed to be deteriorating at a breakneck pace. It was almost as if the temperature around them dropped when the Kazekage spoke to the boy. There was a tension in the air, like everything was carrying an electrical charge. Like the air before a heavy dry thunderstorm, a regular occurrence out here in the Wind Country deserts.

Between the Kazekage's words and the motion of placing a hand on his sword, it was pretty clear to Nobu this was serious business. A direct order from the Kazekage... But Nobu had no desire to just walk away from this while leaving the Kazekage alone. Disobeying direct orders was a cardinal sin for a Shinobi, but this was also a chance to prove himself to the Kazekage. Nobu did take a few steps backwards, as if ready to bolt at any moment... But he kept his eyes firmly on the two men.

The conversation continued. Apparently the Kazekage knew which Shouki this shady fellow was looking for, information which set the stranger off like a firework. Nobu took another step back without meaning to after the man's show of force, an instinctive survival reaction. Yeah, he was severely outclassed here. "Kazekage-sama, you can sense it too, can't you?" Nobu managed to croak after the man's angry ranting, before looking back at the fellow's oddly-flickering aura. Something was off here. Really off. Upon looking down, Nobu noticed he'd also drawn his tanto instinctively. The blade was shivering. Looking back up at strange and upset man, Nobu realized he would've probably already fled if it hadn't been for the Kazekage standing between him and the guy.

Taking a deep breath, Nobu lowered his weapon. Somehow he had the feeling like it wasn't going to help him anyway. The Kazekage apparently considered this stranger enough of a threat to notify the people at the Kazekage Tower if things turned violent. For Nobu, it was hard to guess. He could easily pick their different chakras apart, but Nobu was simply too overwhelmed to correctly gauge the difference between the two.

 

[Mikaboshi]

Katsuo's challenge to the man's hostility seem to send him over the edge into a frenzy and along with the maniac tantrum that seemed to overtake him emotionally his chakra raged out of control alongside him. The winds around them gusted and blew with great force but the Tenth Kazekage remained unmoved by the forces which lashed all around them which were created by Naikishin's indiscriminate anger.

He heard Nobu ask him a question a pace or two behind him still and Katsuo silently cursed that the student was standing his ground despite the order he'd been given. Katsuo didn't really need Nobu to go and get help-- if he needed to contact Roku or Kazuki they were simply a call away using his radio or worse case scenario he could just send up a signal flare which would call any Sand shinobi that saw it to his position. No, the reason he'd given that order to Nobu was to get him out of the way so that if this erupted further into a battle Katsuo wouldn't need to split his focus between defeating Naikishin and also protecting an academy student. Still, perhaps it was his fault for assuming that a student would willingly withdraw from a situation like this where the Kazekage was potentially walking into danger. If the kid was at all a patriot then he'd almost certainly want to stand and fight. Katsuo had to give the kid credit for his guts but still he preferred that Nobu just follow instructions. Failing that though...

"Yeah, I feel it." Katsuo responded, his voice just barely audible over the howling wind. "If you're not going to follow my order then at least go for cover. I don't want you to get caught in the crossfire if this turns ugly."

Naikishin demanded to know if Katsuo had ever lost something important to him and been unable to find it and even though Katsuo didn't respond at first, his grip tightened slightly on the pommel of Tatsumasa. When the group he'd been part of that journeyed to the center of the Diamond Maelstrom had faced the source of that unnatural disaster he'd unlocked his first steps towards ascending to the position of Kazekage, even if he hadn't realized it at the time, and it had cost him his friend and ally Caliburn. With a single step forward, Katsuo's own chakra asserted itself and the winds that had been assaulting them halted immediately. Naikishin was powerful but Katsuo was a Sunahoshi and a powerful sage to boot and his command over the environment around them was absolute.

The desert did not dare defy it's king.

"I know more about losing a part of yourself than maybe you'll ever understand." Katsuo told Naikishin as he slowly approached, Natural Energy playing about his body in the form of crackling microbursts of lightning as his chakra pushed back the crushing wave of Naikishin's own hostile spiritual presence. "You don't get to be where I am by never losing anything. But what else I know is that if you don't calm down then you're going to force me to have to stop you and that isn't going to be fun for anybody."

Katsuo was only a few paces away from where Naikishin was standing now, his right hand still resting on the pommel of Tatsumasa and his other arm hanging casually at his side. There was no indication in his physical stance that he was holding a threatening posture but for a skilled swordsman such a posture could easily turn into a hostile action in the blink of an eye and Katsuo certainly fit that description if there were any in Sunagakure who could. And through it all, Katsuo's expression never once wavered. There was never a moment of fear or hesitation that crossed his features. There wasn't necessarily any hostility in the expression that he wore but there was certainly resolve reflected in his eyes and the set of his jaw. This was no novice that Naikishin was staring down but rather an experienced fighter that had seen many battles before this one and had every intention of seeing many more after it if Naikishin decided to push his luck.

"So what's it gonna be, big guy? You said yourself you're missing a piece of yourself. You really want to pick this fight knowing you're down your sword or do you want to calm down and talk about this like adults?"

 

[Rakujo Yumeko]

Naikishin's mind wasn't completely there at this point considering how long he'd gone without even knowing where his sword actually was. He felt so frustrated because it always felt near him but just out of reach, no matter where he looked or how long he looked for. This man had information about the man that tortured him and the news that the man was dead and no news on his sword just sent him over the edge. If no one could help him find his sword they were useless! Useless useless useless!!

The man paid no mind to the wind that started to gust around them and the area but as the man told him that he had known more about losing part of himself that he'd probably ever understand. He was probably right, but he didn't care about semantics, considering it wasn't just physically that it meant for him. The man continued stating that one doesn't get to where he was without losing anything, and that if he'd have to force him to calm down then no one was going to have any fun. He didn't know who this man was or what position he held and he really didn't care. "I don't know who or what you think you are, but unless you have information about my sword then you're only one this to me! Useless!" He'd shout again. He'd soon notice the energy the man had was pushing his aura back. It wasn't a concern to him at the moment but as he shouted in anger as the man had stopped just a few steps away from him.

His aura was being pushed back by the man's own energy but rather than just forcing it back at Naikishin, it'd help it spread in the area opposite where the man stood. He wasn't entirely in control of it so it just spread though thanks to the man, something had happened for the two to hear, and even the child who was around that Naikishin was paying almost no mind at this point. "Is that you? Where..." A feminine voice could be heard as if it were from spoken just next to those that heard the voice. Almost at the flip of a switch, Naiksihin's behavior seemed to change at the flip of a switch, though his aura hadn't as he looked around desperately. The voice was so familiar to him that tears had formed in his eyes before his aura seemed to pull towards him and he'd look back at the man who had stopped a few feet away from him again. The tears that formed had quickly disappeared before he his body just seemed to stop moving with his aura acted as if it were wind and only brought a small gust around the man. The ground directly around him started to become effected by the violently spinning aura.

Seemingly out of nowhere, a scream almost entirely filled with despair and rage echoed through the area. "You say you wanted to talk but the only lead you'd have been able to give me is dead, so how else are you able to show you aren't useless?!"

 

[Uchiha Kouhei]

"Yes--Yes sir." was all Nobu managed to stammer at Katsuo's order, still overwhelmed by the raw presence of these two men. Nobu forced himself to sheathe his weapon again, even though, for the first time in his life, he felt naked without a weapon in his hand. Exposed, like facing down a predator without anything in his hand. It took him a second to remember the Kazekage's words. Cover. Yeah, cover was probably smart.

Nobu tore his eyes away from the interaction between the two men before turning to the wall he'd been standing on just a few minutes before. With a single leap, the young shinobi cleared the wall, before flipping over into the garden behind it. There was a small side table on the other end, no doubt meant to hold small gardening tools and the like. It was exactly tall enough for Nobu to continue peeking over the wall. Even though Katsuo had quieted the winds kicked up by the strange man's raw presence, it still felt like he was staring into the eye of a hurricane.

If he was a nail biter he would've been devouring his fingers right about now. There was a lot of talk going on that Nobu was far too young to completely comprehend. Losing parts of yourself... People sometimes talked about it, but it was something that meant nothing to Nobu. He was himself, with no extraneous pieces. Neither of the men were really noticeably missing pieces of themselves, with the exception of Naikishin's closed eye. Maybe that was part of it? His chakra aura was flickering oddly, so that might've been part of it. Did losing his eye damage his chakra?

Nobu was ripped out of his musing by the strange voice that suddenly sounded. A woman's? Wildly confused, Nobu looked around, trying to find the source. He did notice the reaction the white-haired man gave - teary eyes and another change to his strange aura. The man started shouting again, and Nobu had a feeling that whatever positive the voice might've had would disappear if they just let him rage. Nobu took a deep breath, and his first attempt at talking just came out hoarse. He closed his mouth, swallowed, cleared his throat... and tried again. "Hey! Guy! What was that voice? Is that something to do with you?" Nobu shouted at the top of his lungs from behind the wall, little more than his face and fingertips sticking out above it.

[MFT]

 

[Mikaboshi]

"My name is Sunahoshi Katsuo and I am the tenth Kazekage of Sunagakure." Katsuo said simply. He didn't demand that Naikishin bow or apologize; if Naikishin did those things of his own volition that was his choice.

Katsuo had made the decision when he'd taken the title that he would never force another man to kneel in front of him out of reverence. Some still did, believing him to be a prophesied king come sent from antiquity to deliver them out of darkness but that entire concept seemed preposterous to Katsuo. Of fate and destiny, Katsuo refused to believe in a thing like destiny. There was no unseen hand of a cosmic force guiding his life to where it wanted him to be. He did however believe in fate. That a man's fate was made up of the choices he made and the actions that accompanied them. There were some that might call that concept karma but whatever some chose to call it, that was axiom was a simple enough guiding star for the man that currently held the title of Kazekage.

"Is that you? Where..."

The voice wafted over the winds that raged around them, cutting through the zephyr and reaching Katsuo's ears clearly enough to momentarily draw his attention away from the tantrum in front of him. It reminded him of the way that he could feel Caliburn talking to him but in those words he sensed... what? A loneliness? It was only a tenuous sensation, a brief moment of connection like ships passing each other in the dark of night, but Katsuo was certain of the emotion that he felt. If Katsuo were any other man, Naikishin might have been right about Katsuo being useless to his quest to locate his lost sword but the Kazekage possessed his own connection to a blade that only those with a certain brand of bond with their weapon could recognize. Sliding the strap for Tatsumasa's sheath from his shoulder, Katsuo grabbed his sword just below the hilt and held it out in front of him at a horizontal level in front of him with his arm straight before he uttered a single word.

"Caliburn."

The word was as much a statement of power as it was the name of the spirit that Katsuo had bonded with to become an archsage. He still struggled with the word because of the connotation that it carried for him but it was accurate enough to describe the skillset that he wielded. Natural Energy flooded the air around them as his transformation into Sage Mode transpired. The winds around them came to a dead stop, bring to heel by Katsuo's expulsion of Nautral Energy (Breath of the Wild (Master Rank)). In a flash, Katsuo's red hair was gone and replaced with the golden blonde of his transformed state that had once almost caused him to kill Sousuke in a blind rage and in the same moment had almost physically destroyed him. Katsuo's casual clothing burned away in the blitz of lightning that formed around him, replaced by golden finery of a more bygone age.

"You happen to be speaking to the one person in this entire village who might be able to help you."

Is this a wise decision, my king? If he is this unstable now... he could be considerably more dangerous with his weapon.

You're not wrong Caliburn but ...

Katsuo had made the mistake of jumping to violence before in the past when dealing with someone who was seemingly out of their mind... and he'd sworn that if ever faced with a similar situation again that he would make every effort to find a different outcome than standing over a mangled corpse.

You know why.

And she did. Caliburn's silence told him that she understood, even if she disagreed.

"But I really do need you to calm down if we're gonna sort this out. If you can do that for me, I give you my word I'll help you figure this out."

[Just a bit of OOC information since I didn't want to bore y'all with a bunch of expository flashbacking in the middle of my post: Katsuo's appearance changes when in Sage Mode which evokes elements of Primus as seen HERE during the battle with the creature that created the Diamond Maelstrom.]

 

[Rakujo Yumeko]

The man spoke to him, saying that he was the tenth Kazekage and that his name was Sunahoshi Katsuo. His title didn't mean much to him right now and his name even less. Though he'd hear the kid speak, he didn't have the time to respond as he watched the man grab his sword and sheath, holding it horizontal after holding it just below the hilt. While knowing that the man spoke a single word but couldn't tell what it was as the weird energy the man had flooded the air, causing the wind to come to a dead stop. His aura seemed to just cover the ground as if it were acting like a fog, holding a steady distance between both him and Katsuo but also spreading behind him past the buildings and anywhere even a rat could fit.

After a bit of a transformation by the man, he'd speak up, telling him that he was speaking to the one person in the entire village who could probably help him. Even with such a transformation that he just underwent, he wasn't entirely convinced. Every fiber of his being told him to go at him but having heard a voice he hadn't heard in quite some time, he couldn't even if he wanted to. The anger that fueled him was less proper anger and just a mixture of different emotions and he just showed them as such.

The man would soon tell him that he needed to calm down before he could help him. "Answer me two things first. First thing is, how long ago was Shouki killed?" He'd ask, his body language showing that he hadn't calmed down much, and his voice was being heavily restrained to just not yelling. "Second thing, there was a woman with me when he tortured me. What fate became of her?"

As the moments passed, Naikishin's aura continued to spread as if the fog was spreading, it got to the point where it was somewhat dense and as tall as a small child. And then second verse, same as the first.

"It is! Even without an answer, I know..." The same voice as before echoed to those close enough to Naikishin as his Aura spread out as if he were a smoke generator. "I know you can tell too. We're not far from each other but... where..." The voice rang out again. Pain and hopelessness were what ran him ever since he woke up without his weapon. Only a couple seconds after the voice rang out in the area again, a couple streaks of blood ran from his closed eye along with a large bruise appearing on one of his arms. If either of the two could just feel emotions, those words were laced with loneliness still. The secondary factor was that of Naikishin, who had blood running down his face along with an obviously injured arm and didn't seem to be bothered by either really. It didn't take much to noticed that the air around the man seemed to be... almost stale. As if how he was feeling wasn't just emanating from him.

Despair. Such a strong hopelessness was what fueled his rage just minutes ago but with the voice that had cut through the area twice now, seemed to just subdue most of the rage that was part of him. Even a small child could tell that the mans body language just... ticked every now and again, for the lack of a better word. He was panting, blood continued to slowly drip from his closed eye with nothing in the socket, and even his aura that had been combative moments ago just seemed to flood the area as a somewhat dense fog, or... mist.

 

[Uchiha Kouhei]

To a low-powered sensor like Nobu, the explosion of Natural Energy was like a physical blow. Even if Katsuo stopped the winds that were whipping up in the area, Nobu still clung to the wall like a shipwrecked man might cling to a plank in a storm. The sudden release made him feel like he was about to be blown away. Everything happening here was just completely overwhelming to his chakra-attuned senses. It was comparable to having a floodlight shining into his eyes, or a power drill pounding away right next to his ears. If Naikishin was going to pull out some power-up next it would probably just put Nobu completely out cold due to the total sensory overload.

Other than a pair of scrawny hands, wide blue eyes, and frazzled white hair, no part of Nobu was visible over the wall that was currently serving as his personal little hidey-hole. The eyes wildly darted between the two men, simultaneously curious, eager, frightened and anxious for the culmination of this thus far non-violent confrontation. His only worry was that the confrontation might not stay non-violent. Katsuo's sudden transformation and surge of power could easily be seen as a threat. Still, the strange swordless swordsman seemed willing to talk, at least for the time being.

The voice came again, ethereal and ghostly. Nobu could see that it had at least some effect on the man's chakra. It flickered like a flame in the wind, like the man's intense hostility seemed to waver under the words. This entire situation was worrisome and disturbing to Nobu. A man like this was just wandering through Sunagakure, no one to keep watch of him and no one to stop him should he decide to vent his apparent anger on the locals. The Kazekage hadn't known of his presence - did the village ANBU? And was it complete coincidence that he had run into the Kazekage like this?

At the same time, Naikishin did not appear to be in fighting condition, no matter how much chakra he radiated. The man would have a hard time using handseals with an injured arm, he was apparently not in possession of his weapon of choice, and he was now bleeding from an eye socket that Nobu was becoming increasingly certain was either injured or empty. Upon closer inspection Nobu's suspicion dropped. This was not a sneaky hunter finding his prey, but an injured, cornered animal separated from its partner, lashing out in anger and fear.

Regaining some of his composure, Nobu looked at the Kazekage, hoping to make eye contact. The boy's expression had gone from bewilderment bordering on panic, to a mixture of pity and concern for Naikishin. Going by the man's wounds, which seemed to be getting worse as the situation went on, Nobu felt like the man should be at the hospital instead of wandering some back alley.

 

[Mikaboshi]

It seemed like Katsuo's appeals for Naikishin to calm down were finally starting to get someplace. The other man was no longer hysterically ranting even if he was still clearly agitated. Despite the chakra that poured outwards from his body in the sage mode, there was a calmness to Katsuo's expression and the way he moved that could only be described as serene. In it's incomplete states in the past, the evoking of his ancestor's image in the way that he was had caused a rise in aggression and a dramatic shift in personality as Katsuo's inhibitions were pushed beneath a rising wave of power and conviction. Since becoming more aware of it, Katsuo had learned to wield the transformation in a way which allowed for him to keep a clear head and a pure state of mind. It could not last forever but the briefest display of his power seemed like it was enough for the moment as it had seemingly broken Naikishin's needless aggression against him.

"Probably been about a year and a half now. We finally caught up to him and put him to rest as much as anyone can put a Jashinist down." Katsuo explained, the golden particles of natural energy fading from his form and returning his form back to the clothing and hair color that he'd worn only minutes before. His eyes still gleamed with the same power as they had during his transformed state but that too would fade with time. "I don't have any information the woman you were with but if you wanna get those wounds looked at, I'd be more than happy to look into it for you."

Ultimately Shouki was "dead" but there was only so much they could do to keep it that way. Worshipers of the dark force that was commonly attributed the name Jashin in Wind Country were resilient forces of malevolence in their corner of the world and it wouldn't be the first time that Katsuo had seen one of them return from death. The way Shouki had passed into the next world had seemed pretty final and Katsuo wanted to believe that he was gone for good but at this point he wasn't taking anything for granted. As for the woman... well. There was no way for Katsuo to know that the woman who had been alongside Naikishin had been Takahashi Shiori... or as Katsuo knew her-- Suna the Desert Queen. With the aggression ramping down and the friction caused between the two powerful men's spiritual presences slowing to a more passively eerie and out of place fog, Katsuo's mind jumped over to Nobu who was still present on the scene. It no longer looked like Naikishin was looking for a brawl and with that threat dismissed Katsuo's mind turned to the young man that had been with him just to make sure he was doing okay. For younger shinobi who were just coming into their powers an event like what had transpired for him could prove to be overwhelming and cause anything from panic to shortness of breath and even knock those of weaker constitutions out entirely.

"You okay son?" He called over his shoulder to Nobu who, for his part, seemed to have weathered the storm of Naikishin and Katsuo's clashing auras no real worse for the wear.

Then came another verse of strange words over the breeze and Katsuo was sure he'd heard it this time. The voice was pained and distant but still reaching for a connection even if Katsuo could tell that it wasn't reaching for him.

"Feels like you're not the only one who's looking for their partner my friend." Katsuo called forward to Naikishin, his hand casually still resting on Tatsumasa's hilt but no longer in a manner that carried with it any implicit violence. "What do you say you let me put your face back together a bit and we go looking for where that voice is coming from? Doesn't seem like it's too far from here."

 

[Rakujo Yumeko]

A year and a half? That answer was less than ideal for him. Being isolated and gods only know what was done to him in a year and a half during his disappearance. And as for the woman that had been with him during the torture, he didn't have any information on her. Well, that part seemed to just be so great. He'd shake his head as the man offered to look at his wounds for him if he wished. Slowly standing up, he'd take a moment as Katsuo took a moment to check up on the kid and the chakra that engulfed the area behind him had made a connection with the spirit that resided in his weapon.

"You're right, but I'm the only one who can properly move though. As for putting my face back together, unless you can make something from nothing, then that's a 'no' from me, Katsuo." He'd say as several sounds could be heard a distance away. The fog surrounding them allowing more visibility but started to cover more of the area around the three than it had a moment prior. It seemed that the connection decided to draw the two together though after another set of sounds, a wave of unease had washed over Naikishin.

The sounds, now that they were getting closer as well as a couple people shouting in anger or screams of fear, seemed to be as if the weapon was just crashing through the buildings that surrounded the vicinity. Looking in the direction where the sounds were coming from and following the path he could feel the weapon going, the white haired man looked upwards as the sword had crashed through the roof of a nearby house before spinning in the air for a bit, almost as if it had just been knocked out of someones hand by a strike. Lingering in the air, it'd move towards the group. Naikishin quickly moved as the blade had moved less towards him and more towards the kid. Naikishin reached his destination before the sword had and soon the mist the encompassed the place and quickly become dense enough around him that.

Within the mist, a crackling sound as if electricity had been conducted had happened for a second before something wet his the ground as the mist slowly dissipated. As visibility became better, Katsuo and the kid could see the white haired man standing with the tip of the wooden sword in the ground with his right hand set on the pommel of the sword. Fresh blood could be seen seeping into his clothes at his abdominal area and the sword itself seemed to be cracked severely in several spots. Just how was the sword... not in pieces at this point? Several of the cracks seen on the sword seemed to go through the entirety of the weapon itself. Naikishin, though, could be seen panting as his left arm wiped, what he could, of the blood that was on his face with a slight wince.

Moving his hand from the pommel and onto the hilt itself, picking up the weapon, he'd slowly make his way towards where he'd been before. As he passed by Katsuo, he'd stop and speak up. "Next time we meet, we'll talk again." He said, before leaving the area, the mist disappearing along with him.

[Topic left unless stopped]

 

[Uchiha Kouhei]

Nobu listened with great interest to the short exchange of words between Katsuo and the stranger with great interest. They were discussing relatively recent events, but Nobu had been a fairly fresh student at the time. His knowledge of what had truly happened during those days was limited. He knew the big idea, the attack on Sunagakure, but the details and the people were unknown to him. Katsuo mentioned the word Jashinist; some type of creature or shinobi going by the context. Nobu carefully stored the knowledge in his head - if such a person was hard to put down, it meant they were strong. To the kid, that was important information.

"I'm fine!" Nobu replied to Katsuo, though his voice broke halfway through the sentence. The boy swallowed, then cleared his throat, before repeating: "I'm fine," more to himself than to the Kazekage. He felt a little embarrassed at showing a sign of mental weakness like that. The feeling soon passed, followed by surprise and confusion at the crashing noises and shouting nearby. Some kind of problem? Another stranger causing trouble, maybe? Nobu breathed in deep, puffing up his chest like an overconfident rooster. He had just watched what felt like two Carnasaurs facing each other down with him in the middle. While he tensed up for a second when Naikishin suddenly moved his way, it only took a second for Nobu to realize that the stranger was going for the sword.

Nobu was speechless as the man caught his tool, spoke a goodbye and then walked off. He needed medical attention, but didn't seem too worried about his injuries. "I dunno about going after him. He probably wouldn't listen to anything else you have to say, anyway." he said, loud enough for the Kazekage to hear as the boy clambered back over the wall. This time, he did manage to land on his feet. The air still felt charged, like right before a thunderstorm. It made the hairs on the back of his head stand up. Only a moment later did he realize he'd spoken his opinion like that to the most important person in the village. Nobu froze in place with an embarrassed look, expecting to get scolded.

[MFT]