Walking with Gods [Contract Search]

[Hitsugaya Ryoku]

This was Ryoku’s first time really exploring the Greater Fire country. There was a lot to it. Many different biomes that he could experience for the first time, but he opted to stick with what he knew for now. He decided to explore the forested areas this time. He would save the other areas for another time. After all, just because he was familiar with the forest biome doesn’t mean that he had seen everything that the forest had to offer.

As he walked the path through the forest, he absorbed every aspect of nature. The melodic chirping of the birds. The gentle caress of the breeze. The vibrant hues of the flora. The soft crunching of his every step in the dirt beneath his feet. Nature was truly beautiful, and he felt like he didn’t appreciate it enough.

This was how he decided to spend his day off. It seemed to be a recurring trend for Ryoku to try to ”slow down” on his days off. Give his mind a break from all of the constant thinking.

How does this work? How can I get better at this? What’s the best way to go about doing this? How did they figure this out?

It got exhausting after a while. It was almost as if his mind were supposed to be running a marathon during all of his training, but instead he had it running at a full sprint the entire time. He couldn’t control it, but when he reduced the amount of things he had to think about in his environment, it helped to dial his mind back from 100.

After walking for a while, a sliver a sunlight made its way through the canopy and shined directly in Ryoku’s eyes. This caused him to divert the direction of his gaze to a small opening in the thick of the trees. Through it, he could see what looked like a lake. He ran off of the path and through the trees to get a better view.

It was enormous.

This lake was larger than any body of water Ryoku had ever seen. It was magnificent. He wanted to see more of it but the angle he was observing it from was greatly restricting his view. He glanced up and saw the perfect branch on an impressively tall tree. He focused his chakra to his feet and began to scale the side of the tree.

As he walked up the side of the tree, Ryoku noticed even more aspects of the forest that he had never experienced. He saw bird nests with chicks chirping, awaiting their mother’s return. He saw arboreal creatures, hiding among the leaves from predators. He saw insects, flying in some strange pattern that seemed to be part of some mating ritual. Nature was truly wonderous.

Upon reaching the branch, Ryoku pulled himself onto it and sat down on it, his weight shifted forward to get the best possible view of the lake. Ryoku beamed at the sight. Sometimes he doesn’t even realize how blue water can truly be. The way the sun reflected off of the water made it even more beautiful. The surface was calm and would only be disrupted by the occasional fish pecking the insects off of the surface. Almost too subtle to even notice from so high up.

This was the perfect spot to spend the day. Perfect view. Optimal shade. Convenient weather. Ryoku leaned back against the tree and rested his legs on the branch, one folded over the other, and allowed himself to fully relax. Could this day get better?

WC: 600

[Using Discovery of Choice (Kami) Card purchased Here]

 

[Midori Futotta]

This was bad, very bad. When the gateway to fire country opened, she didn't think that her lance would've ended up here in the human world. She took repeated visits to countries around the world looking for her lance that fell from the Exalted Sanctuary which was a realm that was everywhere yet nowhere at the same time. Since the war between Youkai and Kami started, there had been a many of ancient God's and Goddesses that ended up being corrupted, her sister blamed humans for the evils of the universe because of their selfish nature and advocating for one solution to cleanse the world of darkness… Genocide. Her sister was here on Earth looking for the lance she dropped somewhere around in the human world, plotting to use it for her twisted desire of purging the world of the very people that she once sought to protect.

The Goddess moved along the planes swiftly, floating a couple inches above ground as she desperately tried to find what she had lost. Although having many forms, in the human realm she appeared to be a young lady with glowing golden eyes and dark grey sclera. Her hair was mostly white with blood red tips, a golden crown decorated with chained blue gems sat upon the Kami's head, wearing a fancy navy blue and gold coat along with a matching dress to complete her outfit. Orbs containing the five elements of Earth, lighting, fire, wind, and water chakra nature's floating around her as though she had her own orbit as her golden hues spastically looked around to see where on Earth had her lance gone. Her wings of pure chakra fluttering as she moved through the woodlands with a calming aura of holy chakra coating everything she moved over causing a line of flowers to grow behind her as she searched for her lance. She moved right until the Kami got to a opening where she found a lake, she moved the blue gem at her side in front of her then pressed her index finger on the large glass orb to begin manipulating the water to rise. Literally! The entire lank began to move up as though an unseen force had lifted the lake causing come confused fish to flop around in the now mud filled crater that once had water inside of it, the water stayed above the crater while the Kami looked to see if she dropped her lance at the bottom of the lake but there was nothing for the except of a few fishes, bones, and wooden torso from someone's puppet that had probably been lost inside of the lake. The Kami sighed.”It isn't here either.” she said, then moved her finger down slowly to let to water down gently so she didn't get wet from dropping the water too fast until she spotted a boy. A young white haired Genin, who watched the whole thing.

The Kami tilted her head, moving a yellow orb in front of her to press her index finger against the glassy surface to coat Ryoku in a golden chakra, then moved her finger up to make the boy begin to float off the ground then slowly pressed her index finger on one side to slowly move the boy over the lake to pull him slowly to her. At this point the boy would probably be either confused or scared as to what was going on and why he was floating to some stranger. But the fate of mankind depended on whether or not she gets her damn lance back! Once the boy was closed enough, the Kami allowed the boy to float in front of her for a moment taking on a 'no time for games’ attitude.”You don't happen to have my lance do you, Mortal Child?” she asked in a flat tone, resting her hand on her cheek.”Don't think about lying, I can sense when you are telling me a lie boy. If you care what happens to your kind you should return my lance and undo any miracles or curses you caused.” She had some strange feeling that this kid had her lance, the boy seemed like the type who would abuse her miracles if he had it.

 

[Hitsugaya Ryoku]

It could.

While Ryoku enjoyed the view, the lake somehow seemed to get bigger. A couple of seconds passed before he realized that the lake wasn’t getting bigger, the water levels were rising. The strange part was that the water wasn’t spilling onto land as it rose above ground level. And the water kept rising continually until the body of water was now suspended over a giant crater in the ground.

“How the..” he mumbled to himself. Then he noticed what had caused it. It was a fancily dressed woman, floating around looking for something under the water. “How is she.. whoa” Ryoku noticed that this was no ordinary lady. She had glowing golden eyes, wings of pure chakra, and multiple gems floating around her. This was no human. Was this one of the Kami that Tinīsutā-sensei was talking about? So they were real? Magnificent.

Ryoku leaned forward off of the tree to get a better look, and the movement must have caught her attention. The fairy-like woman did something with one of the orbs and Ryoku was coated in her chakra. His eyes widened. His butt lifted off of the tree and he found himself suspended in midair. What was happening? The looks of complete surprise and confusion covered his face. He started moving towards her. She was pulling him in. What kind of power was this? Ryoku felt his heart rate increasing. He was literally floating above water. When he got close to the Kami, he stopped moving. He was up close and personal with a Kami. When she asked him the question, he was too busy looking around at the new view of the environment that he didn’t immediately answer her.

“This is…” Ryoku muttered as he found himself trembling and his voice slightly shaking. “So. Freaking. Cool.” His excitement and wonder was becoming difficult to contain at this point. He started trying to play with around in this zero-gravity situation he found himself in. “Umm.. your lance?” Ryoku repeated back as he spun around. “I haven’t seen any lance. What does it look like? I can help you find it,” he said with a huge smile, trying to move from the spot he was suspended in with zero luck. “I’m Hitsugaya Ryoku! Nice to meet you! Are you a Kami? I wasn’t sure your kind existed until just now. How dangerous is this lance anyway? You’re talking about curses and miracles. We should probably find it before someone else does. What are those orbs flying around.. Oh. Sorry I’ve been told I’m a bit too hyperactive. I’ve been working on it,” he said with a chuckle, rubbing the back of his head and finding himself upside down. “What kind of Ninjutsu is this anyway?”

 

[Midori Futotta]

‘Hmm’ most Kami's had a keen sense in telling if a person is telling the truth or not. Especially with children, they could easily give themselves away in front of a being they know is from a higher power but unfortunately as she allowed the child to explain himself it was clear that the boy didn't have her lance. She didn't really have a lot of time to explain everything to the child but just why she had to get her lance before her rogue sister got to it first. ”I cannot answer all your questions right now, but if my lance falls into the wrong hands your whole race would be wiped out in a instant.” she said, how she spoke it sounded urgent. In truth she preferred that a holy person or person who was attuned with the supernatural to aid her on the quest to find her lance but this child would probably listen to her. Besides being pretty desperate she needed all the help she could get in order to aid her in stopping the genocidal rampage that her sister would surely go on once she got her lance.

The goddess trailed her finger on the yellow orb to turn the boy right side up before gently lowering him on his feet, since the boy said that he would aid her she decided to tell him the reason as to why she wanted her lance and who to keep the lance from. “Listen to me child, and listen carefully to my tale because you might would be the only one who could save this realm….”She spoke, pushing the yellow orb to her side to pull forth a green orb in front of her. Placing her hand on top of the orb so the world around them began to fade away around them into blackness, creating a image of her tale while she spoke…

From generation to generation, Kami's had been among humans for a while now whether it be to guide them through harsh times or defend humanity from the evils that it has been plagued with. Each Kami has a separate job, mine is to create life and on occasion to destroy life to so that world can be reborn with a newer better future. Basically giving something else a chance if the world shows no signs of improvement. My sister, Hope, is a Kami who is in charge of keeping the forces of evil at bay and purging evil from all worlds give balance to the world since there had been futures were monsters had hunted humans to extinction and those monsters began cannibalizing other monsters or just died from starvation.. Now for awhile things with her were going great, however she asked eliminate the human population, Hope was denied because we couldn't expect all humans to be perfect and there were some half breeds down on Earth.

Years past, my sisters disgust for humanity slowly increasing she decided to take matters to herself and begin her genocide herself. Attacking villages, causing floods, summoning creatures, even resorting to killing other Kami's that stood in the way. My lance is able to gives me most of my Godly powers, miracles and curses, creation and destruction, wishes and protection. Hope wanted my lance for her plan to eliminate the human race. We battled and I tore open a rift into the human world throw my lance somewhere in this realm after making sure my sister was sealed. Unfortunately the magical seal that held her didn't last and she ended up escaping and coming here so she could get the lance to erase mankind and get her revenge on all of the Kami's that wanted to stop her from unleashing an Armageddon upon the world.”​

The image of what her spear looked like was the last thing that the boy saw before everything went black again then they were back in the human world. The Kami clasped both of her hands together, although floating above the boy the goddess seemed to be begging. “I know it's probably too much to ask for a young human do do but will you aid me in savings your species? You would be rewarded greatly if you aid me….”Surely no human would turn down a reward from a Kami, after all they usually are great things like allowing him to bypass hell despite any wrongdoings he's done in his lives or a pact with the gods that would bless him for the rest of his days. All he needed to do was help her find her lance.

 

[Hitsugaya Ryoku]

The female Kami's abilities were astonishing. Ryoku marveled at the images surrounding him with his mouth agape as he listened to her story. He thought that powerful shinobi had amazing abilities, but now Ryoku was exposed to an entirely new world of power. Ryoku could somewhat empathize with the lady floating before him. He had differences with his brother, Jun. However, Jun never tried to kill anyone. In fact, the furthest extent of one of their fights was probably centered around who would get the last roll at dinner. The more Ryoku thought about it the more he realized that this was nothing like him and his brother.

"Of course, silly! I already said I'd help," he chuckled with a stupid grin spread across his face. He didn't really need a reward to want to help out. He was content with spending more time with a Kami in an attempt to learn more about them and see what else they are capable of. However, he was curious what kind of reward she would offer him. Kamis were basically gods, so that meant she could grant him pretty much anything, right? If she decided to ask him what he wanted, he wouldn't even know what to ask for. He decided not to dwell on that too much and to focus on the task at hand.

"Lucky for you, I'm a Leaf shinobi! I'm a Genin studying directly under the former Main Branch Sennin and the leader of the Ishi Clan of Konoha, the Great Yuu Kenshin!" Ryoku said with a laugh. He had more fun introducing himself that way than he should have. It was a good thing Kenshin-sensei wasn't here to see that. "Sooo.. where should we start the search?" he inquired, looking around at the surrounding for places the lance could have landed. From the way Ryoku spoke, it almost seemed as if he did not fully understand the gravity of the situation that he was in. All humans could potentially be wiped out from, yet he maintained his goofy demeanor. The fact of the matter was that he didn't truly have a sense of danger. He was too young and early in his ninja career to really understand what it meant to be in danger. There was that time he and his brother were kidnapped, but the only part of that day that truly stood out to him was seeing Kenshin-sama, or any shinobi for that matter, fight for the first time.

Ryoku walked over to a thick brush and began to search through it. Unfortunately, he didn't see any Kami weaponry, but he did manage to see two squirrels wrestling. Fighting over a nut maybe? Whatever the reason, it was a strange position to wrestle in, but that was not the focus of the search so he diverted his attention. He looked back over to the floating Kami woman and asked, "Is this definitely the area you threw it in?"

MFT: 501

 

[Midori Futotta]

Excellent! Though the boy did say he would help she had to make sure that he would, a sort of making sure what he was getting into since getting between two Kami's who are at odds could be somewhat… scary for some people. Luckily the boy was brave, ignorant but had a bit more courage than some people after talking about her lance that could pretty much destroy.. everything. The boy asked her where should they begin their search, she honestly figured that it wasn't inside of the inner village because someone would've probably been using it by now and it would be pretty obvious if her lance had been used for anything. Besides she had a good idea of where she probably threw her lance since there was indeed a place around that had a strange supernatural chakra around, why she didn't check their first was to scan the entire area to make sure that no humans had gotten ahold of her lance or she hadn't thrown it where it was heavily populated by humans. “Hmmm… well I haven't checked the area where The Tree Of The World is located.” the Kami explained. ”Personally I had been trying to keep away from going there since there are beast lurking around there and getting there is a bit of a hassle since the path is always changing.

Though she had been searching for her lance for a while she did come up with a places her lance may had landed, one of those places being near The Tree Of The World since the place did attracted a lot of supernatural phenomenon whether it be good or evil. The Kami watching the boy walking over to a bush to only to find two squirrels wrestl– wait WERE THEY ACTUALLY WRESTLING? The odd position that they were in probably were fighting over a nut or at least that's what she hoped they were doing in the bushes. She bought her floating yellow orb around to surround the boy again in a gold chakra to lift him off of the ground to move him over to the side then gave another glance to make sure that her lance wasn't no where near the squirrels before answering the boy ”Yes I'm sure my lance is nowhere near their, thank heavens.” she said before letting the boy down, before beginning to float off somewhere. ”Come child, I think I have a idea of where we need to start looking. And don't check in those any random bushes again but keep an eye out for my lance.” she waved her hand for the boy to fallow. Though she didn't rule out that her lance had fallen somewhere random she had a feeling that they should head to the Dreamswork Planes first.

….

Lying for miles around the Great World Tree are large roots that created a twisting and turning maze leading to the base of the tree. There is always a feeling of being under a genjutsu, hence the name of the area. Only the strongest shinobi are advised to travel through this zone as the maze of roots is ever changing and always claiming lives. The Kami looked at the beginning of the maze of roots, a bird landing on the large root wall to sing only to be trapped into a wooden cocoon then sucked down into the root to become food for the tree. The Kami closed her eyes, then sighed as she tried to use her skills in chakra sensing to see if her lance was around. ”Hmmmmm a faint holy chakra is around here, I don't know if it's from a being or my lance but it's unmistakably divine energy.” she said reopening her eyes. They had been traveling, and she hadn't once told him her real name or anything. Could be that it slipped her mind, maybe because the boy didn't ask after all saving humanity seemed to be her main concern so introducing herself was the least of her concerns

 

[Hitsugaya Ryoku]

Upon being placed back onto the ground, Ryoku began to think about the Kami's power again while he followed her, as instructed. It was a power that he had never seen nor heard of before. It wasn't a surprise that he hadn't seen it, since he hadn't been a shinobi for very long, but he had been reading a lot on different types of jutsu and he didn't see any "orb ninjutsu" or whatever one would call it. She seemed to have multiple orbs that circled around her like a satellite in orbit. They were different colors and seemed to have different purposes. She had used the blue one earlier to separate the body of water from the earth beneath it, and she used the gold one soon after to lift Ryoku from the tree and again just then to move him out of the way so that she could observe the squirrels. Was this just Water and Gravity style ninjutsu but with a fancy, Kami alternative to hand seals? He began to wonder what the other orbs were capable of.

As the pair approached a thick forest grown into a green labyrinth, Ryoku began to feel strange. It almost felt as if he were in a dream. It almost seemed real, but it didn't feel quite right. The Kami had mentioned that there could be dangerous beasts lurking in the forest, but she hadn't said anything about this strange, dreamlike side effect of the forest. Was this the power of the Tree of the World? It almost seemed as if these things were here for the purpose of protecting it. The ever changing maze of roots, the strange dreamlike aura, and dangerous beasts that lived within. "Talk about a triple threat," Ryoku thought to himself.

Then a bird attempted to land on a root wall and was immediately encased in wood and pulled into the roots.

"Make that.. quadruple.. threat?"

In a situation where most would likely feel uneasy or frightened, Ryoku became excited. This would be quite the adventure. He wasn't afraid because he was confident in his training. Even without that, he was literally walking beside a goddess. Jun was going to be so jealous when he heard about this one. A huge goofy grin covered Ryoku's face, but even that felt weird.

The female Kami appeared to have located a source of holy energy. Hopefully the lance. "Yeah! Let's do it!" Ryoku said getting pumped up for the adventure ahead through the forest. "Lead the way... Kami-san!"

Ryoku had realized that she had never introduced herself when he attempted to address her. She seemed too stressed about finding her lance to answer any of Ryoku's questions earlier, so he decided to not ask anymore questions in an effort to not bother her. He was very curious about who this was though.

MFT: 483

 

[Midori Futotta]

The Kami chuckled, floating a few feet away from before stopping. ”Be careful what you touch here. Don't bump into anything and keep your ears peeled in case something shows up.” with that the Kami began to make her way into the maze roots, to the world tree they went! Now upon the first part of the maze, everything seemed normal. Occasional thing blindly landing on to the huge root only to be swallowed then fed to the tree and flocks of birds being snatched down by vines to be encased in the bone like wood of the world tree for it didn't allow nothing but the wind to rule the sky. The bone like roots occasionally moved a bit behind the two as they went deeper into this weird maze making it a bit harder to tell where to go if they even wanted to go back. Then the world around them upon the first mile started to get a little... weird. Strange was the best word describe what the two was seeing next because how they were seeing the world for now seemed to be detached from reality like they entered a dream world. Like as they walked, the world turned into a bright cartoonish world, then a couple moments the world looked like a black and white drawing, then a painting, then a comic, then back to reality and repeated. There was the kinda odd feeling of being under genjustu, as though the maze was trying to trick them into trying to touch the roots but of course the Kami wasn't easily tricked by things like this.

Kami's are blessed with extraordinary focus and a calm aura that allows them to be able to resist illusions. This aura is also capable of giving their allies a burst of willpower when they need it most and since Ryoku was an ally he also be blessed with this will power. They walked until they came upon a fork in the middle of the maze leading to two paths, one path looked like a sketch, the other path looked like an old black and white horror movie scenery. Now the Kami could sense the power of her lance radiating from both paths but she wasn't sure if both paths lead to the base of the tree.. ”Hmm.. personally I think this sketch looking path seems more.. safe? But I don't trust either so which one you think we should go on. Both more or less leads to the same place.”

 

[Hitsugaya Ryoku]

Ryoku followed the Kami into the forest and watched in pity as several birds were devoured by the sentient wood. It was a shame that he couldn't do something to help them, but this dreamlike aura that was plaguing him left him somewhat disoriented. And it was only getting worse. Was this what genjutsu felt like? Ryoku wouldn't know because he had never been placed under a genjutsu, but it was quite unpleasant. He tried to focus but it was becoming increasingly difficult as he was getting thrown in between several different.. resolutions? Art styles? What was even happening to him?

Eventually they came to a fork in the path, both ways seemed to potentially leading to their end goal of the lance. "Well," Ryoku started, pausing for a second to think about the decision. "The entire time we've been in this forest, it's been trying to trick us into letting our guard down so that it could devour us. The sketch path seems less threatening than the spooky path so, assuming this forest is as intelligent as I'm giving it credit for, it would expect us to choose the less threatening path. I say we take the spooky path. If I'm wrong, worst case scenario we probably have to fight off a couple monsters or something." Ryoku's overconfidence has yet to lead to his downfall.

"Plus! That path is a little too sketchy for me," he said with a huge, stupid grin and a quick, goofy chuckle. He ignored any backlash he might have gotten for such a stupid joke and continued speaking while he began to walk down the horror movie path. "I'm not afraid of anything this forest has to throw at us anyway. You're a Kami. Which basically means you're a god! uhh.. goddess.. Can't you just.. smite anything that attacks us or something? Or did you lose that power with your lance?" he teased.

 

[Midori Futotta]

The Kami chuckled at the child, though she had lost most of her power due to her lance being gone she could protect the boy from the earthy and dark threats that this maze would throw at them. ”Well I didn't lose all my power, like how you humans use 10% of your brain without my lance I'm using about… 50% of what I could normally do. she floated to enter the dark forest then the dreamlike planes made the Kami loose all of her color making her look as dull and gray as the environment around them. ”So this path it is I guess…” and with that.. deeper into the maze they went.

Now the different types of resolutions stopped, only this reality remained. Threes were pitch black but there were white trees forming into a path for them which meant only one thing, this forest that they were in was just a trick of genjustu. The illusion wanted them to get curious then explore in this tricky open world from what it seemed like to lead them to actually run into the wooden roots that would snatched you up to devour. This would be hard to move in so the Kami brought her green orb in front of her touched it so she would be able to see past the illusion, unfortunately she couldn't help the boys point of view but she could at least lead him through the fake forest, maybe the Genjustu would just wear off. She took hold of the Genin's wrist then pulled him along to slowly advanced through what the boy was seeing as a evil looking forest, as they walked the black trees off in the distance opened their glowing red eyes to watch them as they walked by, the Kami seemingly ignored them as they went since she no longer saw a Evil Forest. As they got far enough in the maze the boy saw what looked to be…. THE KAMI'S LANCE! It was deeper into the the forest but it looked like it was there on a black rock, shining a white aura.

You would think the Kami would've been excited to see it but she just ignored it like she didn't see it at all, was it real or was it a obvious trick of genjustu playing with the boy in order for him to face plant into a hungryroot? The answer was pretty clear but it was his choice to act on impulse or simply ask if that was her lance.

 

[Hitsugaya Ryoku]

The scenery changed again. This time all of the trees turned black with only a path of white trees, seemingly leading them to something. An obvious trick. Unfortunately, it was all Ryoku could see. He looked up to the Kami to ask what they should do, but it seemed like she was already acting. She touched her green orb and began to look around as if she saw something different than Ryoku. Her green orb must be capable of dispelling illusions. Without saying a word, she grabbed him by the wrist and began leading him through the forest. "Handy trick," he thought to himself. "I'm going to have to look into a way to dispel genjutsu on my own when I return to the village."

As the pair traveled off the path presented to them, the trees morphed into angry tree creatures with glowing, red eyes. They didn't seem happy that the two were following their own path. The Kami seemed unphased, however. She clearly didn't see anything that Ryoku was seeing. He wondered why she hadn't used her green orb before. It seemed very handy.

Then he saw it. The lance, glowing with a shiny white aura, standing out against the pitch black rock that it rested on. Or a lance, rather. Ryoku's excitement plateaued before it got too high. He looked up at the Kami, who did not seem excited at all. In fact, there was no reaction. Considering how worked up she had gotten over this lance and how long she had been searching for it, for her to give no reaction at all, that meant one of two things.

One. She forgot that she was immune to illusions at the moment and wrote it off as one. This option seemed very unlikely so Ryoku ignored it mostly. Especially since it would be emanating the holy chakra that she had been searching for, so she would at least be looking in its direction for the source.

Two. The lance was an illusion so the Kami didn't see it at all. If this were the case, the Forest knew that the two of them were looking for it. Not only that, but if it happened to be unaware that the Kami was immune to illusions at the time, it wouldn't risk guessing the appearance of the lance and being exposed as an illusion immediately. Which would mean that the lance was definitely somewhere in the forest. However, it was possible that it was aware of her temporary immunity and targeted Ryoku specifically, knowing that he had never seen the lance before. If the forest knew what they were searching for, there was no telling what else it could possibly know.

If Ryoku could draw the Kami's attention to what he was seeing, they would definitely gain information on the lance. If the Kami could see it without dropping the orb's effects, then they had found the lance and could go home. If the Kami dropped the orb's effects and recognized the lance as her own, then they could keep searching because that meant that the lance was definitely somewhere in the forest. If she dropped the orb's effects and didn't recognize the lance as her own, then that meant the forest didn't know what the lance looked like. It wouldn't intentionally show them a lance with the incorrect appearance because then the pair would leave the forest and it would be unable to consume them, so these three options were more or less absolute. It may not have been the forest's intentions, but it was indirectly helping them on their quest.

"Kami-san. Does that illusion look like your lance?" he asked pointing in its direction. "If so, that means that your lance is definitely somewhere in here."

 

[Midori Futotta]

The young one asked the Kami if the illusion that he was looking at was her Lance that she was looking for, figuring the forest or the tree rather is trying to trick the boy into straying from the path. However the child did indeed bring up a good point that if this forest was causing him to see her Lance then the weapon had to be around somewhere. Still, if this forest literally knew what her lance had looked like that meant that this place had intelligence. She released her green orb to be able to see the whatever the boy was seeing so she could analyze what the fake weapon looked like and sure enough it fit the bill for her lance. The moonsilver metal, the magic carvings on the grip of it, even the way the point was shaped seemed real. Not to mention how it mimicked the glow that would usually would be radiating from it. ”Yes.. that is exactly how my Lance looks like.”<i></i> she said, pretty sure of it. ’Unless this forest is able to read my mind, which I highly doubt that's the case, my Lance has to be somewhere around here. It just has to.’<i></i> Well although they hadn't exactly found the weapon yet, she was about 90% sure that they would be able to find it in no time. The remaining 10% was that the forest could pull information from her mind to create that image but Kami's minds were like a fortress so it was nearly impossible to get in her head like that. Still she couldn't rule it out…

When she confirmed that the illusionary lance was the one that they were searching for she placed her hand back into the green orb to begin to cut through the veil of genjustu then grabbed the boy's hand the then started to float towards their destination when suddenly a crow cawed at them which caused the Kami to nearly jump out of her skin! A crow landed on a root, the wood rose up to grab the bird… then stopped… then went back down. A feeling of dread was welling up in the pit of the Kami's stomach as more ravens began to land near them while a sinister presence was slowly making it's way behind them. Black feathers began dance in the wind, the shadows looked like they were getting darker and the crows began to swarm overhead. The Kami gripped the boys wrist then began pulling so he could hurry up, hoping to escape the looming doom that was following them within the same maze. In the distance they began to hear a voice, it started off low but then slowly became more audible as the dark presence behind then began to close in. The voice seemingly saying a prayer of some kind mindlessly as it slowly gained on the Kami and the boy....

’...The cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might. Throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Ahmen…<i></i>​

The Kami pulled the boy hard, trying to get him to haul ass. Whatever was behind them was not happy that there was a human around and won't stop at nothing to get rid of the 'evil’ it believed humanity were.

 

[Hitsugaya Ryoku]

That was it. That was the lance. In appearance at least. Which meant that they were on the right track. Ryoku smiled triumphantly. Small victories like that one would lead to the ultimate victory. The kami used her orb to lift the veil from her eyes once again, and she grabbed Ryoku by the hand and began to guide him.

A loud cawing seemed to startle the Kami, so Ryoku looked towards the source of the noise. A crow perched on the wood was allowed to survive. It was very peculiar. It wasn’t simply ignored by the wood, but it seemed to allow it to live. Ryoku couldn’t help but wonder why. It didn’t startle him or make him feel uneasy, it simply made him wonder what determines the actions of the forest. They had already more or less established that the forest had intelligence, but this was physical proof that it wasn’t operating on instinct or reflex like a Venus Flytrap would. But it did seem like it may have been a bad sign about this crow. Or its origin.

More birds began to land around them and even more circled above them. Ryoku felt a sort of aura approaching them from behind that caused a sense of dread within him. He could feel his heart rate rising. The kami gripped tighter and began to pull Ryoku along faster. He must not have been moving fast enough for him, which didn’t surprise him because he was fixated on whatever that was behind them. It didn’t help that it started talking to them. Or maybe it was something else speaking, or praying. It was hard to tell in all of the ruckus surrounding them.

“This is so exciting.”

Ryoku listened and attempted to make sense of the words he heard. “The cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters, and all liars?” Ryoku repeated in his head as he contemplated the words. “Who --or what-- is this thing so angry at?” He turned around to try and get a look at whatever it was that was pursuing them, only to be hurriedly pulled along by the Kami.

“Kami-san. What is that thing that’s following us and what is it so mad at?” Ryoku asked as they rushed through the maze. Even as a shinobi, Ryoku was surprisingly and innocently ignorant to the evil of the human race. After all, he was just a child who had never experienced any emotional pain or suffering, and the only reason he became a shinobi was because it seemed like it would be fun.

MFT: 439

 

[Midori Futotta]

Hurrying the child, she checked behind her to see the looming dark getting closer, the boy must not be moving fast enough for her so the Kami snatched the boy onto her lap then cradled the child like a lioness shielding her cub then bolted fast through the air down the path attempting to lose the dark presence behind them. ”Its my sister, she must have found us! She is furious at you child, we have to escape.”<i></i> the Kami seemed panicked, looking behind her still feeling a feeling of dread as ravens swaked then moved out of the the way when a unseen force pursued them! The sound of thunderous footsteps and the fluttering of huge wings grew louder making the Kami dash faster though the maze. As a trail of flowers bloomed as the Kami dashed around the corner, when the evil presence dashed by them the flowers caught on fire. When the Kami looked looked up to see that there was a large field of chakra above them and knowing that this chase was quickly escalating to violence she deployed wings from her back made of of pure chakra and to act as a barrier to at least minimize the damage they might take.

The field above them focused the light and heat from the Sun above to create a viscous, deadly beam of heat and destruction that fired down upon them! Exploding, sending the Kami and the child skirting on to the ground when the blast broke through the barrier. Though they were hurt, where the blast was had been a crater burnt black as charcoal with intense flames that scorched the roots and vaporised through most of the plantlife. The Kami was on the ground, the orbs that were floating around her were scattered however she couldn't allow herself to just lay there defeated… At least not when she heard the footsteps and the dragging sound of something metallic dragging against the ground.'Guess I got no choice.'<i></i> the Kami pushed herself up to meet the cold eyes of her sister. You could tell that she was her sister because she had white hair too with a hit of red at the end, but unlike her much kinder looking siblings her eyes were black orbs. Her face twisted into a look of fury, with black lips just as dark and empty as her eyes. Ebony armor with a flowing black tattered long skirt with a spear clutched tightly in her fist.

 

[Hitsugaya Ryoku]

As Ryoku was pulled into the kami’s clutches, he couldn’t help but admire her speed. She was definitely much faster when she wasn’t dragging him by the arm, but he couldn’t help but realize that she’d be faster still if she weren’t carrying him. Not to mention the fact that it was slightly humiliating to be carried like an infant, however it was still somewhat comforting at the same time. It must have been the holy chakra emanating from the kami. The closer proximity allowed him to feel the warmth of her chakra even better.

And the presence. It was the Kami’s psychotic sister that she had mentioned before. The one who believed that all humankind should be killed. It all made sense why she was so mad and why she was pursuing them so relentlessly. “I’m humankind..” Ryoku mumbled to himself. It was Hope.

Unexpectedly, it became brighter and hotter. Ryoku looked up and saw what looked like the end of his days. Without hesitation, the kami that had been transporting Ryoku through the wood extended the chakra wings on her back to protect him and herself from the huge explosion of light and destruction that fell upon them. The force of the blast still knocked him from the Kami’s grasp and sent him rolling across the ground. When he came to a stop, he pulled himself to his feet. “Whew, good thing I wore my flame retardant kami today,” he said, attempting to dust the black, charred dirt from his clothes. He looked around and noticed that all of the area surrounding him was reduced to cinders and the ground had been depressed below the surrounding forest. The blast created a crater. At least the forest wouldn’t be as much of an issue to them for the time being.

“That Kami’s barrier was much stronger than I realized,” Ryoku said to himself. “I should be dead.” Then he looked over to her and saw her pulling herself up to her feet, her orbs scattered and a look of determination in her face. He shifted his gaze towards whatever she was looking at and he saw her. It was Hope. He could see some resemblance between the two Kami, but she was far too different. Her eyes were somehow both empty and full of hate, her body language was far more aggressive, and the wrath in her face sent a shiver down Ryoku’s spine.

Ryoku pushed down on his knuckles, causing a loud and obnoxious cracking sound. “Kami-san, I’m really glad I met you today,” he said as he allowed a smirk to crawl across his face. “If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be able to brag to my brother about kicking a Kami’s butt on my day off!” He did a few quick stretches as he talked, intentionally being cocky because it made the entire situation way more enjoyable.

“Just remember,” he said dropping into a Taijutsu stance and taking a deep breath to center his focus. “Hope shot first.” Ryoku leapt forward towards the malicious Kami at his top speed, zigzagging in an attempt to keep his movements unpredictable. When he got close enough to her, he attempted to position himself in one of her blind spots and deliver a quick roundhouse kick. Then he did a quick dash to the side and placed himself in a new position, anticipating her reaction to the first attack and attempted to deliver a quick jab. He repeated a similar pattern of repositioning and delivering a quick blow as fast as he possibly could until he had delivered sixteen blows over the course of almost four seconds. Then, he prepared for a potential counter attack. If the attack was slow enough, he would attempt to put some distance between himself and Hope, but if she was too quick, he was prepared to try to block the attack to the best of his abilities.

MFT: 654

[Used 16-Hit Combo]

 

[Midori Futotta]

The sinister Kami smirked, speaking in a voice that seemed to be layered with three voices. ’How unfortunate.’ the sadistic sister of the lgoddess spoke. ’I was hoping that the mortal would have perished in the blaze. It would've been a lot easier for him if he died here and be reborn into another life after living in Jigoku for a while. Such troublesome creatures.’ Unlike Ryoku's Kami who gave an protective aura, this Kami gave off an aura of dread that let the boy know that her days off being the protector of humans were done. Not only did the boy made the sin of even being born but his belief that he was somehow strong disgusted her. The pride this boy had was another sin and with fire as her sword she would smite the child of a already corrupted world in the name of there overlord Ina. She was Hope the Purifier and the sword of God.

'Wait… what are you planning to?...’ Kami originally wanted the boy to run so she could deal with Hope alone but from the stance he took Ryoku was about to actually attack her! She was about to tell him to run.. that she would take care of her… but he was already attacking and the Kami charged in to help the boy. Hope didn't feel a need to block the attack, she didn't have to defend herself against a low level being so she simply charged in allowing the boy to give her his best shot. However, what she didn't know was that although she was tough as nails she could be hurt so when the first round house kick came, it honestly felt like a mosquito bite and the second time when he came he unfortunately missed but this lead Hope to get a little cocky so when the third hit came it landed a rather critical blow that caught the god off guard although he missed about 5 of his 16 hit 10 at least landed and at least 2 had of those attacks landed a blow that Hope actually had to recover from.

Possibly in fit of rage, she pushed out her palm at the boy as if she was attempting to hit him but he backed away then he suddenly feel as if one of his arms were smashed and broken instantly, causing great pain to the the child. She cast a illusion to make the boy feel as if his arm was broken before Hope coated her arm with intense blue flames to rush at the boy in an attempt at trying to end the child quickly. But right as Hope was about to stab the boy, her metallic flaming hand was blocked by the barrier of chakra created wings by her sister! 'KEK!’ The Kami screamed then the wings of protection turned into a rift in the air, showing a deep, seemingly infinite cosmic dimension as if gazing into the heart of a galaxy. Through this distorted air, intensely bright balls of energy are launched upon hope, each blazing like a comet with holy chakra rained down upon the Kami's sister before she attempted to cancel the wicked illusion casted by her sister. It was pretty low level enough to where she could cancel it but the battle was not yet over… Hope was through the hellfire of comets was coming at the duo at full speed.

 

[Hitsugaya Ryoku]

The barrage of attacks may not be as effective as he had hoped, but a slight smirk appeared on Ryoku’s face when he stepped out of the evil Kami’s range just in time for her reprisal. That expression almost immediately shifted to one of anguish as one of his arms felt like it was under a great deal of pressure, followed quickly by a sharp pain running through it. As a result of this abrupt and surprising pain during his evasion maneuver, Ryoku lost his footing and fell onto back, grasping at his arm. He looked down at it and saw that it was bent in a direction that it shouldn’t have been. “How is that even possible?” he wondered to himself. “She never even touched me!”

Ryoku looked back up at his opponent and saw her charging at him with a flaming fist and a murderous intent. She was moving too quickly and Ryoku’s window for recovery was long gone. That didn’t mean he was going to give up and let her kill him. He quickly leapt back up to his feet, but the distance between them was too small for him to effectively dodge in any direction. He couldn’t say that this was a disappointing way to go, but he was disappointed that he never got a chance to challenge Kenshin-sama to a battle. To test out everything he had learned. He didn’t feel ready at the time, but if he knew it would be the last chance he would have anyways.

Oh well.

”KEK!”

It was the friendly Kami’s wings again, forming a barrier to block Hope’s attack. “Wow, you sure are nice to have around,“ Ryoku said with an uneasy smile, his heart beating against the inside of his chest so hard that he could swear it was on the evil Kami’s side. With wide eyes, he watched as the friendly Kami conjured huge balls of light that she hurled at her sister. He almost let himself be distracted by the marvel, but he realized that he couldn’t sit back and remain dead weight. He realized that the corrupted Kami never made physical contact with him, yet his arm was somehow broken. That meant one of two things. Either this Kami had some powerful chakra control and crushed his arm with the sheer force of her ninjutsu, or she cast a genjutsu on him. Luckily, he knew a ninjutsu that would help him find out. “Kai!” he exclaimed somewhat softly to himself as he attempted to cancel whatever genjutsu might have been affecting him. Worst case scenario, nothing happened.

Luckily, the pain was immediately relieved and his arm now appeared normal. He let out a small sigh of relief that his shot in the dark paid off, but when he looked back up, he saw that Hope had avoided the barrage of holy comets and was now heading straight for them. He needed to contribute to the fight, but the demonic goddess had shrugged off a large majority of his last barrage of attacks. He needed to use a move that packed more of a punch. A move that he wasn’t 100% comfortable with using yet, but one that could leave even the biggest and baddest of shinobi reeling. Especially if he could catch her off guard.

“Kami-san,” Ryoku said, just loud enough for his ally next to him to hear. He was careful not to speak loud enough for her evil sister to eavesdrop. He had to speak quickly because she was closing the distance on them quickly. “I have a move that can hurt her. The problem with it is that it is very obvious to see coming. It’s hard not to illustrate this attack for the enemy, so I’ll have to catch her off guard for it to stand a chance of landing. I just need for you to keep her attention for a little while.”

He looked at her for just a second to see her response, but regardless of whether her words were of protest or encouragement, he would just give her a smile and do a hand sign, creating two basic clones beside him. The three Ryokus all took off back into the forest in separate directions. He knew that the evil kami specifically wanted him dead, so if she were going to pursue him, she had to guess the right one or risk being blindsided by her sister. He just hoped that she wouldn’t target him. It would make this a lot harder. He also hoped that she would assume that he was retreating from battle, like her sister wanted him to, because that would keep her from expecting his attack.

The next problem came from the threat of the forest. He had to go deep enough into it so that he could effectively hide from Hope, but he couldn’t go deep enough to where he was at risk of falling prey to the forest’s genjutsu again. He had to find a sweet spot. There was a lot to consider and the stakes were high.

This was the reason that Ryoku became a shinobi.

If his attempt at stealth was successful, Ryoku would lie in wait silently, observing the Kami sisters and waiting for his chance to strike.

 

[Midori Futotta]

The Kami, despite being in the hellfire of battle, had smiled at the child's complement. 'Always happy to help.’ she kept her response short for the bitter Hope had already recovered from her sisters attack, the hateful Hope coated her right hand in blue flames to attempt to pierce her sister's heart but the Kami avoided being impaled by her sister by coating her arms in holy chakra to block the force of the blow since Hope was a bit difficult to keep up with. While hopes fiery fist didn't impale the Kami she did landed a pretty good punch to the Kami's arms causing the Kami to wince from realizing her mortal body was more fragile than she originally thought. The blow pushing her a foot backwards, but the Kami then opened her palm to channel her holy chakra into a giant threatening spiraling sphere of sacred chakra then pushed her hand to her sisters solar plexus but Hope responded with creating a barrier of her own by covering herself I'm her own wings of pitch black shadows to minimize the damage.

The Kami didn't know exactly what the child would he trying to do, but she needed to protect him then pray that whatever the boy did would actually work. She had to put her trust in the child. 'I’ll take care of her, whatever you have planned do it fast.’ the Kami said. When the boy produced clones of himself to try to confuse Hope she came up with an idea of her own, she weaved handseals of her own then made three elemental clones of herself as well, then on command the clones transformed into Ryoku through the transformation technique to add to Ryoku clone scatter. Hope was pretty furious that the child was resorting to hiding. . 'Hide all you want, you weak mortal. I will just have to vaporize my sister that YOU corrupted.’ the bitter goddess growled before coming at her own sister relentlessly since he seemed quite connected to her. Perhaps the walls and the dying breath of a Kami that put her trust in him would bring him out of hiding, or if he was running away then it just means that her sister will die for his sins. For all Hope knew her sister had helped the boy escape, that mistake would be pricey.

Without mercy, Hope attacked her sister with intent to kill. Clasping both of her hands together, flames swarmed around the area that they were standing in a giant ball of fire hovered above Hope and the Kami preparing herself hand used her chakra wings yo cover herself before everything was bathed in a red light followed by an explosion from a deadly beam of heat. The Kami was okay from that attack but Hope didn't allow her sister to recover from the attack and followed up with another blast of heat that could've easily had vaporized a normal human and from what it looked like it hit the Kami head on followed by another red explosion! Dust, rocks, and Ash fell from the sky while smoke rose. A strange calm was over the battlefield but Ryoku was still see the shadow of his Kami in the smoke, but she didn't look too good… at all. But she still had the drive to fight.

 

[Hitsugaya Ryoku]

A smile of triumph made its way across Ryoku’s face as he discovered that his attempt at stealth was a success. He admired the Kami’s quick thinking of adding to his escape. She was clever. However, Hope was very displeased at this turn of events, spouting hypocritical words about her sister being corrupted. Her next actions made it clear that she was prepared to murder her own sibling.

Ryoku marveled at what looked like a miniature sun that the corrupted Kami created, and at the miniature supernova that followed. He stood at a safe distance from the explosion, but he still had to guard his face from the sheer heat of it that reached him. The sleeves on his shirt were singed from it, but besides that he was unharmed. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said about his new friend. Through the dust kicked up from the explosions, Ryoku could see her silhouette. She was still standing, but her stance was not as powerful as before. She was hurt, but she hadn’t given up.

This was the perfect time. Through the smoke, he could also see Hope’s silhouette. If he played this correctly, he could use the dust as a smoke screen to launch his surprise attack. Plus, if he didn’t act at that moment, his new friend’s life would be in danger. Hope did not seem quick to relent her assault, so he quickly moved through the wooded area surrounding the crater-made-battlefield to position himself in her blind spot. Then he launched himself towards her, quickly but quietly. As he approached her, he cocked his fist back and clenched it tightly enough that the veins on it began to protrude. As he channeled his chakra and everything he could muster into it, it started to glow a bright red and emanated a decent amount of heat. With all of his might, he launched his fist at Hope with the aim of her never becoming aware of his presence until the moment of contact. That way, she would be unable to defend against it or brace for impact, causing massive damage and knocking her off balance, allowing for Ryoku and the friendly Kami to follow up with more attacks before she was able to recover.

”You’re the one who’s corrupted,” he said to her, whether his attack was successful or not, a serious look replacing his typical goofy expression.

[Used Falcon Punch]

 

[Midori Futotta]

The Kami was having a hard time with the high level justu that Hope was throwing at her, not even her barriers could block the assault from the constant blast but then she began to notice that Hope wasn't exactly recovering from the high leveled justu that she had thrown at her, the fire although very damaging didn't seem to burn through her barriers neither. This could only mean that Hope was not aligned with the forces of good anymore, no. Her hatred for the human race had changed the once great protector Hope allegiance from a holy spirit to Cursed simulator to how Ina's twin sister became a demon. A sad fate that most Kami end up becoming cursed themselves when they allow the darkness cloud over their minds. Now Hope had dropped to the ranks of being a Youkai and hadn't even realized it yet. Regardless, the Kami fought on for the sake of the humans.

Hope began to make a hand seals then flames began swirl around her hand before she curled her fingers into a fist then punched at her sister sending a vaporizing beam at the Kami. Hope responded by casting a barrier which still wasn't strong enough to block it but it did minimize the damage, instead of keeping on the defensive the Kami raised both her hands to cause a small rift in reality to tear then white hands made of pure holy chakra extended towards Hope then the hands binded the corrupted Kami in place. Luck must have been on the Kami's side because the boy had returned landing a devistanting blow to the corrupted Kami which sent hope backwards at a respectable speed. Not want to waste another second, the Kami once the boy was safe began to fire another barrage of comets hoping that would be enough to finish Hope…. But as the smoke cleared and although Hope was injured she was still in good enough shape to fight. ”AHHHHHH-” Hopes battle cry was cut short when a lighting bolt seemingly ripped through the sky out of nowhere then struck hope down! The corrupted Kami fell on her stomach, wondering where or who the attack came from.

”You know.” a childish voice boomed from the clouds, a gold light glowing brighter and dimmer with each word. ”I wasn’t going to get involved but you were going to meet a terrible end so be thankful I saved you from non existence.” the clouds began to part, a light as bright as the sun blinding Hope and the Kami couldn't believe who came to the human realm which was a real suprised. ”Is that Ina?”