Mission Unmasking The Enigma

[Akira Kazan]

Closing her eyes for a few precious moments, Sora would take a deep breathe only for it to be swiftly followed with a long, stressful, sigh. Upon opening her eyes, her gaze would fall to the floor. Once again, she had been assigned a new mission; though, it was kind of expected. She had made some interesting reports regarding her last mission and now, it was time to follow up. With her mission clear, and her supplies freshly restocked, Sora once more set out into the wilderness of the land; temporarily leaving the village behind. In all honesty, she was actually curious and intrigued about this mysterious group that had could very well be behind all of the recent weather anomalies. Did they do it? If so, what were their motives? What do they stand to gain? These three questions lingered on her mind, though there were many others.

Following the same path she had previously taken, she found that her journey through the country side seemed much easier. Minutes would turn into hours, and hours would turn into days before she had finally made it through the mountain range. In her mind, the best place to start her investigation into this group would be the settlement she had previously visited before dispersing the storm a couple weeks back. While the mountain range was covered in the storms, the coastline appeared to be rather calm in comparison as she walked across the field she had previously visited. Looking out into the horizon, and then down the cliff sides, she paid close attention to the ravaged landscape. The Cursed Storm had previously destroyed a smaller settlement, on the waters edge, and it's wreckage stilled littered the coastline. It was an unfortunate sight, but there was honestly nothing she could do about it, for the time being at least. Looking in the direction of the other nearby settlement she had previously visited, her eyes widened as she soon noticed a large amount of black smoke filling the sky above it.

Without a moments hesitation, or a second thought, Sora would take off in the same direction as the smoke. Her mind, once calm and collected, was now congested with concern and anxiety. At the moment, this settlement was her only lead and if it were in peril, she had no idea on how to find another lead. Not only that, but the settlements chief and his family were kind enough to share a meal with her, so in her mind, there was a debt to be repaid. Rushing across the rocky terrain, and over a hill, she stopped just before reaching the outskirts of the settlement. What was once a muddy excuse of a farmland, now appeared to be nothing more than a charred and barren land scorned by fire. It was obvious that the flames of destruction had danced mercilessly throughout this settlement, with several buildings being reduced to nothing but ash and rubble. From what she could tell, the smoke in the air was from what was left of the smoldering homes throughout the settlement.

Running down the pathway into the heart of this settlement, her eyes glanced to an all to familiar home. It was the first house she had visited the last time she was here, only to be rudely dismissed and told to leave. Sad to say, that home was now burned to the ground; leaving nothing more than the scent of scorched wood and flesh. At least the flames had already dispersed, though the damage had already been done.


[Wc: 590]
[Part 1]
[Mission Approval Link]

 

[Akira Kazan]

Pushing further, and picking up speed, Sora continued down the main pathway throughout the settlement. Eventually coming to the long house, where she previously met the settlements chief, she stopped and realized that it was relatively fine. It's straw roof tops were slightly charred, but workers were already well on their way to repairing the damage. With a slight sigh of relief, she approached the long house and called out. "HEY CHIEF SAITORI! ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?" She shouted, plenty loud enough for everyone around to hear. For a few seconds, Sora was met with nothing but a few odd stares, but it wasn't long for the chief to make his apperance. Walking out of the long house, with one arm in a sling wrapped in bloodied bandages. "Yes, Yes. I'm alive!" He called out.

"What happened to you and this place?" Asked Sora, with a concerned look on her face. "We were attacked. They set the settlement ablaze and I nearly lost an arm trying to fight them off." He replied. Raising a hand behind her head, she looked around once more. "Who's they? And why would they attack you guys?" She franticly asked. "That group I told you about last we met. They said we did something to their storm." Said Saitori, as Sora's eye's widened. She had disrupted a tropical storm, that had formed due to a large influx of cursed chakra, and these people paid an unimaginable price. Taking a few moments to gather her thoughts, a stern yet determined look formed upon her face.

Sora wasn't really the type to lash out in anger, but this time was different. She felt that she was responsible for all the damage these people had suffered and felt like if she had sent word back to her village, rather than handling the storm on her own, then perhaps this could've been prevented. Or at the very least, maybe more shinobi from the village would've been up this way looking for the group earlier. "I'm.... sorry. This is my fault... I should've asked for bac.." Before finishing her sentence, Sora noticed Saitori reach out towards her with his other arm and place his hand upon her shoulder. "You have nothing to apologize for." He told her, before patting her shoulder. "We're all just thankful that our old friend Eizou, and his children, were able to give us a heads up and help fight them off. Things could've been much worse if we weren't prepared." He told her, with a reassuring voice.

Thankfully the chief didn't blame her, but that didn't stop Sora from blaming herself; it just helped ease the burden a little. Not only that, but the settlement apparently had a friend that both warned them and help fight off their attackers. It wasn't odd for someone to have friends, but to have friends that would go out of their way and risk their lives for you was something entirely different. Sora didn't have anyone like that, but she sure was glad someone else did. "Have I met Eizou and his kids? They weren't in the long house with us eating dinner, were they?" She asked, thinking back to the day just moments before she challenged the storm. "No, that was my family. Eizou and his kids are wanderers we met a long time ago, and the three of them are pretty strong at that. Kyoko.. Um Eizou's daughter is in the long house, tending to our wounded. Eizou and his son, Isamu, are still looking for any surviving members of the settlement." He told her, as he turned toward the long house. "Come meet her." He said, inviting Sora in with him.


Upon entering into the long house, Shun Sora was greeted by a young woman with dark, mossy green, flowing hair. "And who might this be, Saitori?" She would ask the chief. "This is a friend named Shun Sora. She's a Chuunin from The Hidden Cloud Village." He told her, before turning to Sora. "Sora, this is Kyoko." He said, introducing the two. "It's nice to meet you." Said Sora, while taking note of the all the make shift beds and injured settlers all around. With a brief pause, Sora watched as Kyoko seemed to hesitate in reply. "What... ahhhh what brings someone from the cloud up this way?" Asked Kyoko, with somewhat of a nervous tone. Sora was a little caught off guard by her reaction, though now she had an odd sense of suspicion because of it. "I don't think anyone back in the village knew about the state of this settlement, but I'm up here on a mission. I'm investigating the group that apparently attacked this place." She said, before focusing in on Kyoko. Sora was trying to see if this girl would give off any indications or react in an odd way.

"That group is dangerous.... You should just go back to your village!" Shouted Kyoko. Appearing to be a little startled, and momentarily glancing towards Saitori, Sora replied. "I can't do that, and I'm not worried. I've been ordered not to engage that group, just to investigate them." She said, reassuringly. Almost immediately after finishing that sentence, another person walked through the front door dragging a makeshift stretcher, with an injured person laid out upon it. "Oi! Kyoko, who's this little girl talking about orders?" The man asked, in a rather rude tone of voice before laying another injured settler down.

[Word Count: 905]
[Part 2]

 

[Akira Kazan]

Glancing over towards him, Sora quickly took note of his rugged apperance and crude attitude. Though, before she could say anything, Saitori would interject. "Eizou, meet Shun Sora. She's a Chuunin from The Hidden Cloud." Immediately after Saitori finished speaking, and before Sora could give any kind of greeting, Eizou would reply. "So why the hell would the Cloud sent a brat to out here?" He stated, with a slight laugh, just before sitting down on the floor, against a wall, and leaning back onto it. His rude attitude was starting to get on her nerves, though she held back. Right now wasn't the time for a confrontation, especially not with some random jackass. "Dad, be kind. She was sent to investigate Raiu and his followers." Stated Kyoko, before quickly going to render aid of the settler Eizou had brought in. At about the same time as she did that, something clicked in Sora's head. Kyoko had just given her a name, and mentioned that that person had followers in reference towards the group she was sent to investigate. "So you guys know who these people are?" Asked Sora, as she tried to commit the name to memory.

"Kyoko, be careful about what you say in front outsiders!" Eizou shouted. There was a slight tension in the air, as Saitori closed his eyes and lowered his head. Sora now knew that there was something else going on here and that maybe Saitori knew a little more than he was willing to tell. With a little hesitation, and an assumption, she dared ask her question again, but this time provided a little more information. "I'm not here to fight or cause any problems for anyone. I'm just trying to find out some information about that group so I can determine if they're a threat to my village." She stated towards Eizou, hoping to reassure him that she wasn't trying to dig into any personal business.

Though after saying that, the room got quiet as she watched Eizou pull out a small drinking gourd, pop it's cork off, and take a drink. A moment of two would pass before Saitori would interject. "Eizou, your daughter just named one of them. I've known you for a long time, so please tell her what you can. With whatever information you have, maybe her village can help out my people." Pleaded Saitori. With a scoff, Eizou slammed down his gourd. "That fucking village doesn't care about anyone outside of it's walls. I should know, I was once a puppet tasked with handling their bullshit." He'd say, just before picking his gourd up and begin drinking again.

Sora was stunned for a moment, and seemingly caught off guard by his statements. Right now she was in a room, filled with injured people, and a rude drunk who might be a missing ninja. Not only that, but he was clearly defensive about something. Things were a little tense, but Sora held her composure and tried to ignore his words about her village. Inhaling, even if only to find the nerve, she spoke up. "I don't care about your past, or you're grievances with my village. I've got a job to do and right now, you people seem to be the best bet at figuring out this whole mess." Pausing for a moment, her hand instinctively reached down to her hip and gripped the hilt of her Katana. There was a sudden rush of pressure, as if gravity had instantly increased all around her; not only that, but once again she felt an overwhelming demonic presence. This time, it was entirely directed at her and coming from Eizou himself. In fact, she could sense an enormous amount of Cursed Chakra emanating from him.

"What.... are you?" She asked, both in fear and shock. Glaring at Eizou, she watched as he raised his right hand and pointed at her before lowering his drinking gourd. "People have called people like me different things throughout the ages." He stated, bluntly before standing up and walking towards Sora. With each step, the pressure of his cursed chakra seemed to increase and progressively irritate Sora's nervous system. "But to answer your question, I'm part Demon and if this is how your body reacts to my presence, then you're in over your head." He stated, with a fierce look of intimidation in his eyes. Sora hadn't insulted him, attacked, or done anything she could think to provoke him.

Realizing what he had just said, and thinking back to what Saitori told her about holy chakra disrupting the effects of cursed chakra, a thought crossed her mine. Chakra began to pour through each and every pore, all throughout her body. As the Leviathans holy chakra flooded throughout her system, and merged with her own chakra, Eizou's presence slowly began to fade. A look of shock suddenly crossed his face, and was soon quickly followed with a smile. This jerk seemed to not only notice what she was doing, but be happy about it. "Stop with your mind games, I can handle whatever comes my way!" She shouted, only for Eizou to turn and head back over to where he was previously sitting.

"Dad, she might actually able to help...." Said Kyoko, as Sora glanced at her before looking back towards Eizou. The Entire time, Saitori just bore witness to everything going on around him. With a menacing laugh, Eizou sat down against the wall once again. "I guess I underestimated you. Fine, I'll tell you a little bit about them. But don't expect me to be transparent. I still have no faith in you or your village." He would say, giving Sora the go ahead to ask a few questions. This all just seemed like a stupid game to Sora, but for whatever reason it would seem like Sora was about to get a few answers. She just had to ask the right questions first. "From speaking with Saitori, that group attacked this settlement because they thought they messed with 'their storm'. Why would they call it that? And who are they?" Asked Sora, as the leviathans chakra slowly began to dissipate.

Eizou would immediately answer. "They called it their storm because they created it. In fact, it took those idiots years to gather enough cursed chakra to make one that large. As for who they are, they're remnants of an old clan." He paused for a second, only to scoff under his breathe. "They abandoned their old clan name decades ago and took on another. They call themselves the Ishikin Clan and much like myself, they're all descendants of demons. Their leaders name is Ishikin Raiu." He said, as he glared into Sora's eyes waiting for another question. Eizou seemed to speak about them as if he knew them personally. It was beginning to become evident that he could probably tell her everything she needed to know. "How do you know all this information about them? And do you believe they're a threat to my village." She asked, without hesitation.

"I know because they were once my clansmen. Raiu was even my rival until he attacked and banished my grandfather, took over our clan, and tried to force my fathers hand. Along the way, he even killed my sister, as well as my wife. Now we're nothing more than mortal enemies. And yes, he's a threat to anyone that gets in his way." He would explain. These last few words from him were a little hard comprehend. It was Eizou's former clansmen who did all this damage to Saitori's settlement. Glancing over towards him, Sora wondered how he felt hearing all this. Eizou and him were supposedly friends, and yet Eizou's former clansmen had caused so much destruction and chaos within their lives.

[Wc: 1291]
[Part 3]

 

[Akira Kazan]

Saitori stayed quiet, as Kyoko appeared to be saddened at the mention of them killing Eizou's wife. That was probably a story for another time, as Sora still had a lot more questions to ask. As for them being a threat, she had already suspected that to be the case. This wasn't really shocking in the least. Still, there were some loose ends that needed tied together. "A few weeks back, there was a strange weather issue within the thunder mountain range. Lighting was vanishing, causing storms within the area to dissipate. I investigated the problem and found a trapped thunder bird, that was eating the lighting to survive, alongside another than had been slain. Do you think the Ishikin might be connected to that? Also, why did they gather cursed energy to create a tropical storm? Did they have a reason or were they just sowing chaos?" She questioned, wanting to know. Eventually, these questions would lead to others, but for now she was biding her time and trying to work her way to them.

"The Ishikin survive off hunting and trading exotic animals, so probably. That's how they gather resources other than shaking down settlements for supplies or to bolster their forces." After saying that, Eizou would pause for a moment. Sora's question was treading on somethings that he didn't want to reveal, so his he'd begin to try and answer her questions without providing full truths. "Raiu wouldn't waste time and effort creating a storm like that unless it was for a reason." He'd tell her, specifically avoiding what that reason might have been. Pausing for a moment, and once again glancing at Saitori and then Kyoko, Sora continued with her questioning. "Do you know what his reason was?" She asked, bluntly. "No. It's not like I'm friends with the bastard." He said, rather defensively.

His reaction made it pretty obvious that he knew more than he was willing to admit. Sora was a little annoyed at this, but before she could speak another word Kyoko would speak up. "He's looking for my grandpa and what he stole from them." She would say, while glaring at her father. Kyoko didn't appear to be anything like her father, personality wise at least. "They don't need to know about all that. So shut up about it!" He'd say to Kyoko, scolding her like a child. "No! We've been running and dealing with this crap my entire life. Isamu and I are tired of constantly being on the move. Maybe by letting a Shinobi village get involved we can finally put the past behind us!" She shouted at her father. Sora wasn't one to really judge someone else family life, but she could tell that theirs was definitely strained. Saitori finally sat down, quiet and to himself. To Sora, he appeared to be processing just as much as she was though he didn't seem too troubled by it all. She guessed that was probably he had this current situation to deal with first.

"Tread carefully Kyoko. Tell her whatever you want, but don't be surprised if it causes more problems for us and the people here. She's probably the reason they attacked this settlement in the first place." He said, giving her the go ahead. His words cut deep, even though Saitori had previously told her not to blame herself. Still, he was right; she had gotten involved, dispersed the storm, and Saitori and his people paid the price. Sora looked down in shame, but raised her head back up and looked towards Kyoko. "How would a storm help them find your grandpa and whatever he stole? Actually, what could your grandpa have even stolen from them that's important enough to warrant such a drastic measure." Sora asked, not really understanding her own thoughts.

Things were starting to get interesting, but who really knew if she could trust these people to begin with. Regardless of what they would tell her, she'd have to follow up and investigate this information for herself. "It all happened before I was born, but my grandpa apparently stole some artifacts from them. They wanted to use those artifacts to somehow restart some war. My grandpa hid them and..... kind of disappeared." Answered Kyoko, as she finished tending to the injuries of the settler Eizou had previously brought in. At this point, she showed a little bit of hesitation but for some reason decided to continue explaining. "He used Fuinjutsu to seal the artifacts and himself away. We believe they found one and were using that storm to somehow obtain it."

Things were starting to make sense, kind of. The group were apparently descendants of demons, who for some reason wanted to start a war. For whatever reason, they needed some artifacts to do so, and were apparently using cursed chakra to manipulate storms to find those artifacts. It sounded simple, but it really made no sense and Sora now had a lot more questions. Pausing before asking, and thinking carefully about how to word her questions, she continued. "Help me understand why they need artifacts to start a war and how a storm created from cursed energy could help them find them. Also, why would your grandpa seal himself away? How does that even work?" She questioned. Sora wasn't an expert on seals, artifacts, or even aligned chakra; this was a little difficult to wrap her head around. Kyoko, on the other hand, seemed a little uncomfortable with the question. Perhaps she was having second thoughts? Maybe her fathers words had gotten to her.

Waiting, silently for a reply, her brow would raise as Kyoko answered. "The artifacts that my grandpa stole were soaked with an enormous amount of demonic energy. The old elders and my grandpa apparently use to believe that when all three were used in a specific ritual, they could summon actual demons." She said, as she walked over to her father sand sat down beside him. "Raiu apparently wanted to use them to do that and take over the country, but my grandpa and the clans elders were against him. Well Raiu killed the elders, but my grandpa managed to steal the artifacts and escape." She explained, before pausing to take a deep breathe. "He hide those artifacts and sealed them away, and then sealed himself away because he was the only one left alive that knew how to perform the ritual." Grabbing her fathers arm, and wrapping hers within his, she continued.


"As for why a storm made of cursed energy might help them find the artifacts, its because the seals are three layered alignment seals. One Spiritual, one Holy, and one Cursed. Spiritual can be weakened by Cursed, Cursed can be weakened by Holy, and Holy can be weakened by Spiritual." She would say, as Eizou began to shake his head.

[Wc: 1141]
[Part 4]

 

[Akira Kazan]

Lifting his shoulder, and bushing Kyoko off, Eizou got back up and took a few steps away. Eizou's daughter had sat next to him while answers Sora's question, perhaps trying to feel comfortable while doing so. Perhaps even just to calm him down, while doing so. "I'm going to go find your brother and head back to camp." He said, dismissing his daughters attempts at comfort. As Sora watched Eizou leave, she quickly focused her attention back to Kyoko. Sora was still quiet, but now she was wondering how realistic all this might actually be. Reaching into a pouch at her waste, she pulled out a note pad and pen, only before writing down some key points. She recorded the groups name, the leaders name, how they were connected to the weather anomalies, and that they were a threat. For the most part, she had everything she needed to report back to home to the village.

All this extra information just seemed a little pointless to her, but it was intriguing. Turning the page, she began to write down a quick summary of everything else she had learned so far. 'Some clan wanted to start a war buy using cursed artifacts to summon demons, but they were stopped by a thief. That Thief than sealed away the artifacts and himself because he was the only one left alive that knew how to use them.' After Sora finished writing that in her notepad, she looked back towards Kyoko. "But why a storm specifically? That's kind of out there." She asked, wondering if there might be any other reason. "Probably because Raiu also posses a Santaru bloodline." Said Kyoko, taking a wild guess. "I thought you were all descended from demons, is he not?" Sora said with a confused expression. "Well he is. It's hard to explain.... I guess the best way to explain it might be that one of his parents came from a clan of Santaru, like how my grandma came from a clan of Kaguya. My Aunt and I inherited those traits, as to where my dad and brother inherited the demonic traits from my grandpa. There's not really a lot of Ishikin clan members that have actually inherited the demonic trait, but all natural members are descended from demons. That's part of why they took another name." She told.

Sora began to write this down in her note pads as well. She didn't know really anything about a Kaguya clan, but she knew enough about the Santaru clan for it to make sense to her. The leader of the group was a Santaru and could naturally manipulate storms, so doing that was probably just the easiest way for him to go about doing whatever he was doing. "I don't really know what to say about all that, but i'm curious about what their old clan name was?" Asked Sora, still trying to process everything she was hearing. At this point, there seemed to be a lot more to the story that originally met the eye. And of course, she was worried this clan might do something else sometime soon. Perhaps knowing what it's current name and it's old name was, she could check the villages archives when she got home and learn more.

"Oh, the old clans name is Sude. My father, brother, and I are the only ones who still carry the name... I guess you could say my grandpa does too." The name Sude sounded familiar to Sora, but she couldn't place where she had heard it from before. Still, she wrote it down in her notepad as well, only before realizing Koyko said her grandfather still carried the name. That made no sense to her, considering the guy sealed himself away. They made it sound like he was gone, or maybe Sora just misunderstood. "How would your grandfather still carry the name? I thought he was sealed away. I'm kind of just assuming he's no longer... with us. If you know what I mean." She said, hinting at the fact she believed he might have passed away since he sealed himself away. Again, Sora was no expert when it came to seals, let alone demons and things of that nature. Her experience was very limited. "No, he's alive. I mean, we can't communicate with him but he's alive. Those seals he placed on himself.... I don't really know how to explain it. I wish I could show you, but my dad and brother wouldn't be to happy about that."

Sora would write that down in her note pad as well. But with that, she had almost immediately pieced together a worse case situation. If these artifacts were capable of doing what some people thought they could, and there was someone alive that might know how to use them, then things could get crazy. Sora was a little concerned, but at the same time still a little skeptic. Still, there was a Santaru somewhere out there who could use cursed chakra to create storms capable of causing a significant amount of destruction. Even if this mess about demons wasn't true, something had to be done about this group. "Kyoko, I appreciate your help. I need to go home and make an official report about everything you've told me. Just in case, is there any way to get in contact with you? I might be sent on another mission about all of this and Saitori has already told me that you guys were wanderers." This was Sora's final question. She would make an official report when she got back home, though she would leave out all these extra crazy details. She didn't want anyone thinking she had gone crazy with all this talk about demons and wars.

"My family and I will be here for a while. We plan on helping it rebuild and making sure everything's in better condition than before the Ishikin attacked. Other than just hoping we're still here, there's probably not any other way to find us." Said Kyoko, not trying to be rude. They wandered for a reason; Eizou didn't want anyone to bother them while they focused on their own personal missions against Eizou and his clan. "I understand. Hey, Saitori. I'm gonna make my leave. Expect to see me again soon. I'll try to bring some seeds and stuff next time I come." She said, nodding towards him and darting out the door of the long house.

Sora's journey home would be a long one, spanning over the course of a few days. During this time, she would think long and hard about what to put into her report, and what not to. She would leave out specific information, and only provide details about what the village needed to know about this group. Hopefully this would be more than enough to warrant some attention. While this mission may not have been one filled with excitement, combat, or even adventure, it had been enlightening to say the least.

- The name of the Mysterious group: The Ishikin Clan.
- It's Leader: Ishikin Raiu
* Decedent of the Santaru
* Storm Manipulator

- The Ishikin Clan Raiu are connected to both previous weather anomalies.
- The Ishikin Clan's main source of income is from illegal trade of Exotic wildlife.
- They pose a risk to the safety of Lighting Countries Civilians as evident from an attack of a northern Settlement.
- Their clans includes different types of bloodline limit ability users.
- Their motives are unclear, but they are searching for some Artifacts.

- Current Location: Unknown, suspected to be within the Northern Regions of the country.

[Wc: 1270]
[Part 5]
[Mission Complete]
[Topic Left]

 

[Akane Kiseki]

[ Cleared off by council, feel free to claim this in your Training now for (x2 from VFU) 90000 Yen. ]