Kaen had never anticipated that this particular mission would lead him on a chase towards the borders, it'd been years since he last crossed it having only been a child with Kasen. It was rare that missions might take him this far away from the village, but not everything was cut and dry like some easier missions. In truth Kaen was eager to take up another mission, idle hands and all. Kasen was off doing another medical mission of sorts, Shiori was still nowhere to be found, even Akkuma seemed to drop off the face of the earth. And what better way to take his new apprentice out into the field, he was curious to see just how this kid handled himself.
The sprightly red head leaned up against one of the two standards that rose high above the Toraono Dojo as he waited for his apprentice to arrive. Pulling out a scroll from within his pockets and unraveling it to re-read its contents, Kaen exhaled. "First off, it's broad daylight. And secondly, if you intend to be sneaking around, make sure you use the camo jutsu you were supposed to be practicing." Kaen lectured Kanmuri as his stealthy attempt was a dud. "Come closer so we can read these notes, it's important you read the dossier before we head out." Kaen would motion the exposed Kanmuri over towards him.
Inside the scroll was a piece of parchment with strange symbols etched upon its surface, they rose just above the surface of the paper as if the words were not written in ink but simply sprung to life atop the pages. The fragment, a term given by the Oracles that brought about this mission, was from a tome of sorts called the 'Spellbook Arcanum'. The Oracles were very vague as to what exactly the book was, what it was for and the origins of such a mythical work of literature. Apparently the book gifted the user abilities akin to that of a trained shinobi, heightening their senses, unlocking internal potentials within these users. Apparently even the mundane humans that possessed no skill or chakra what so ever would be able to perform complicated ninjutsu with relative ease. This in itself sounded like a mission for the Main branch, initially. But scroll would go on to explain further that should the book be utilized by someone already trained in the shinobi arts or similar, the end results would be catastrophic.
The Oracles explained, in the scroll, that there was only a limited amount of attempts made at controlling the book before it was locked away in their vaults. The last test, their first shinobi trials, was a complete failure, unfortunately, as the test subject was a shinobi, another member of their order. When they attempted to use the book, he found himself with a plethora of new abilities, an influx of chakra and regenerative abilities on top of their own unique bloodline powers. But something went wrong during their trials and the individual appeared to overflow with energy before violently exploding. They believe the book to be sentient as the resulting energy from the explosion mysteriously was consumed by the faceted gem embedded on its cover. The Oracles had many theories as to the nature of this artifact, but their tests were limited and inconclusive. But there is on thing for sure, Suna cannot afford to have this artifact fall into the wrong hands, or any hands other than their own for that matter.
Kaen held the fragment of the book in front of him as he attempted to read the strange markings. "Apparently only with the book in hand can you decipher the strange text, essentially rendering this page useless. Or at least to the Oracles." This fact alone is the reason they allowed him to take it with him, which was fortunate because for whatever reason, the page emitted a strong chakra signature. This wasn't your typical signature you might pick up normally, like an article of clothing, or perhaps something of great personal value to a shinobi, no. This was much stronger, almost as if he was holding something more tangible and real, like a lock of hair. This made it invaluable and utterly essential that Kaen kept it so that he could track it using his skills as an Anbu. And so here he was, atop this marvel of ninja magic and ninja technology, the Dojo.
Suddenly a strange energy lightly pulsated off of and around the artifact, almost as if it was calling out to its long lost body, longing to be reunited, to be complete again. This truly was no ordinary piece of paper and that book was clearly more that meets the eye. Kaen stood at the precipice of the unknown where anything was possible. He and Kanmuri needed to get that book back at any cost, no matter how long it took. One might call it dedication or loyalty as the reasons that fueled Kaen's driving force to find the artifact, but in truth it was his curiosity and insatiable thirst for battle that caused him to take up this mission so readily. After all, it wasn't everyday you might get the chance to test your mettle against something so mystical and profound. "I hope you have everything you need, because we're not turning around. Masks on..." And with that Kaen threw himself off the top of the dojo towards the ground below. Making contact with the soft sand below, he took off at a fast pace towards infinity.
The sprightly red head leaned up against one of the two standards that rose high above the Toraono Dojo as he waited for his apprentice to arrive. Pulling out a scroll from within his pockets and unraveling it to re-read its contents, Kaen exhaled. "First off, it's broad daylight. And secondly, if you intend to be sneaking around, make sure you use the camo jutsu you were supposed to be practicing." Kaen lectured Kanmuri as his stealthy attempt was a dud. "Come closer so we can read these notes, it's important you read the dossier before we head out." Kaen would motion the exposed Kanmuri over towards him.
Inside the scroll was a piece of parchment with strange symbols etched upon its surface, they rose just above the surface of the paper as if the words were not written in ink but simply sprung to life atop the pages. The fragment, a term given by the Oracles that brought about this mission, was from a tome of sorts called the 'Spellbook Arcanum'. The Oracles were very vague as to what exactly the book was, what it was for and the origins of such a mythical work of literature. Apparently the book gifted the user abilities akin to that of a trained shinobi, heightening their senses, unlocking internal potentials within these users. Apparently even the mundane humans that possessed no skill or chakra what so ever would be able to perform complicated ninjutsu with relative ease. This in itself sounded like a mission for the Main branch, initially. But scroll would go on to explain further that should the book be utilized by someone already trained in the shinobi arts or similar, the end results would be catastrophic.
The Oracles explained, in the scroll, that there was only a limited amount of attempts made at controlling the book before it was locked away in their vaults. The last test, their first shinobi trials, was a complete failure, unfortunately, as the test subject was a shinobi, another member of their order. When they attempted to use the book, he found himself with a plethora of new abilities, an influx of chakra and regenerative abilities on top of their own unique bloodline powers. But something went wrong during their trials and the individual appeared to overflow with energy before violently exploding. They believe the book to be sentient as the resulting energy from the explosion mysteriously was consumed by the faceted gem embedded on its cover. The Oracles had many theories as to the nature of this artifact, but their tests were limited and inconclusive. But there is on thing for sure, Suna cannot afford to have this artifact fall into the wrong hands, or any hands other than their own for that matter.
Kaen held the fragment of the book in front of him as he attempted to read the strange markings. "Apparently only with the book in hand can you decipher the strange text, essentially rendering this page useless. Or at least to the Oracles." This fact alone is the reason they allowed him to take it with him, which was fortunate because for whatever reason, the page emitted a strong chakra signature. This wasn't your typical signature you might pick up normally, like an article of clothing, or perhaps something of great personal value to a shinobi, no. This was much stronger, almost as if he was holding something more tangible and real, like a lock of hair. This made it invaluable and utterly essential that Kaen kept it so that he could track it using his skills as an Anbu. And so here he was, atop this marvel of ninja magic and ninja technology, the Dojo.
Suddenly a strange energy lightly pulsated off of and around the artifact, almost as if it was calling out to its long lost body, longing to be reunited, to be complete again. This truly was no ordinary piece of paper and that book was clearly more that meets the eye. Kaen stood at the precipice of the unknown where anything was possible. He and Kanmuri needed to get that book back at any cost, no matter how long it took. One might call it dedication or loyalty as the reasons that fueled Kaen's driving force to find the artifact, but in truth it was his curiosity and insatiable thirst for battle that caused him to take up this mission so readily. After all, it wasn't everyday you might get the chance to test your mettle against something so mystical and profound. "I hope you have everything you need, because we're not turning around. Masks on..." And with that Kaen threw himself off the top of the dojo towards the ground below. Making contact with the soft sand below, he took off at a fast pace towards infinity.
Silence overtook the pair as Kanmuri’s words deeply cut against the warm atmosphere. The young boy would take a gulp as he regretted speaking up. That was until he got a response. Not knowing what to expect, Kanmuri’s eyes opened wide and his heart dropped upon hearing Kaen mention a secret.
After taking a few sips, the icey water would give relief to the dry throat of the mummy looking boy. Although he wasn’t unnnaturally tired, it felt nice to take a break for a moment. However, Kanmuri’s eyes would slightly open in confusion as Kaen said that their target had unnaturally stopped moving. The young prince would close his eyes and think about the potential reasons for his opponent stopping. He needed to think of one and quickly if he wanted to show and prove his worth to the Sunan ANBU--a necessity in order to reach his goal.
This thing was playing with fire, fortunately Kaen needed this boy and Akkuma would surely have words if he were to eat his son. A sly and impish smile overtook his face, his eyes focusing with intent on the possessed boy. The fear was still there, for now, but Kaen pressed forward, somehow managing to laugh out loud. 
Kaen would retract his fiery essence and conceal his linage once again. He would have already arrived near Kanmuri and gave a closed eye smile, revealing his strange, sharpened teeth. At the same time he would place a single hand upon Kanmuri's young shoulders. 
As the dynamic duo sped across the desert, they eventually crested over a rather large dune. Once they reached the peak they would see a grand visage of metal, rust and void. A rundown and abandoned factory lay before them, and just as Kaen predicted, standing atop the factory was a figure appearing as if he was waiting for someone, them... Kaen stopped suddenly and laid down on the desert floor to further conceal his body and examined the target from afar. His chakra signature was unstable and erratic, as if he was reaching the limits of his power and slowly tapping into his life force. Just what the hell was he up to? And then he felt it, upon closer inspection and careful observation, a swarm of alien looking creatures buzzed around him and the building. 
The low thrum of creepy, mysterious bugs was heavy upon the air waves, filling your ears nearly to the point of madness. They were more concentrated up here seeing as how their origin caster was up here as well, they would be the strongest up here. Between the rapid flapping of a plethora of wings, a faint voice could be heard speaking, or was it arguing? It was really hard to tell. But it mattered not as there was nobody around to hear him with the exception of his winged creations. So exactly who was he talking to...