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| - The sand wished through the air as a rough wind passed through the sparely populated Oasis within the blistering desert. A lone man stood before the water as he bent to drink from the spring. His body was lean and tall but youthful, showing only 23 years of aging. As he lifted his head he let out a small sigh as he rested his body upon a rock. He began to shake his head from side to sited remove the dirt and sand from unusually green hair, shining like moss in the sunlight. His yellow eyes caught the sunlight as well, giving them a luminescent glow as they blinked to focus in the light. He rested on the rock within the oasis watching birds fly by and lizards scurry through the sand, laughing a little as he thought back to when he used to chase those little guys. He removed his shoes and shook the sand from them, as the wind made his coat flap in the breeze. As the wind moved through the oasis, gently moving through the lush foliage that surrounded Shigai, a faint cry could be heard. The noise sounded distinctively human, but seemed to be carried away by the breeze, making it impossible to understand. The wind halted, as if waiting to hear to noise again. That is when the sound finally reached Shigai's ear, the unmistakable cry of a distressed woman from somewhere in the Oasis, one that was screaming "Help me!" "What the hell is someone doing out in the desert in the middle of the day." Shigai muttered to himself as he swiftly placed his boots on and began to run towards the location of the voice. As he reached the crest of the dune he heard the voice coming from he was surprised to see nothing. "What the heck?" he questioned as he scanned the dunes. The wind once again suddenly picked up, blowing a handful of sand particles all around Shigai. Over the ocean of dunes, a wave of moving sand could be seen passing over the bare landscape. The world seemed to fall silent again, as it had just before the mysterious scream. "Hello Shigai." a male voice greeted from directly behind Shigai. Before the voice had even finished saying his name, Shigai found himself with two shard kunai blades pressed against his body. One of the blades was tucked under his chin, the shard edge a hair's length away from his throat. The second kunai was pointed tip first directly at his left kidney, without a doubt meant to prevent his from distancing himself from the kunai against his neck. "I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time." "Well this is a fine how do you do." Shigai replied in a calm voice. He had been attacked before but he was quite interested on how this man had sneaked up on him so easily. However Shigai was full of surprises as well. His puppet had been following him under the sand and now it surfaced behind the strange man and slipped one of its syringe-like fingers into his thigh, injecting a small amount of a hallucinogen that would make the man see his deepest fears. The surprise of this shocked the man allowing Shigai to swiftly moved his arms and flip away, landing a good twenty feet away. His puppet floated over to him as he watched the man. It didn't take much for Seitoshi to deduce that he had just been given a dose of some sort of poison. As to the type of poison, Seitoshi was sure he'd know soon enough. If he was going to win this battle, he had to do so relatively quickly. At this exact moment, he seemed fine. Something he could likely attribute to Kirā exposing him to all sorts of toxins as a child, helping him build resistance. "So I guess I found the right man. The Bloody Puppeteer. Nice to meet you." There was malice in Seitoshi's voice, his eyes filled with killing intent. "So I'm assuming your an assassin of sorts." The bloody puppeteer spoke as he ran his hands through his displaced hair, noting the man's unpleasant presence. "I suppose I have no choice but to fight you then." He replied with a sigh. His hands then flew through seals as the winds around him whipped themselves into a sandstorm. He then bent to the ground before charging sideways and firing off many bullets of wind at the man. Seitoshi moved quickly, evading the wind bullets one by one with flawless reflexes. The wind bullets tore through the foliage of the oasis, taking circles and semicircles out of tree trunks and leaves. Seitoshi retaliated with a volley of shuriken, each one enhanced with his Wind Release chakra, magnifying the speed and penetration of each projectile. As Shigai ran his eyes blinked to see many shurikens flying towards him. He instinctively fell to the ground as the blades flew over his head. Hmm the effects of that poison should be kicking in soon. He thought to himself as he stood looking at the man through the flying grains of sand. His hands flew through more seals as he stamped his foot into the ground, sending jagged rocks shooting up from many different angles around the fellow wind user, hoping to impale or at least immobilize him. Leaping up and away from the spikes that rose from the sand, Seitoshi attempted to evade impalement. The spikes advanced, closing the distance to Seitoshi faster than it seemed the young man would be able to evade them. Seitoshi had no intention of falling to such a simple technique. Grabbing one of the spikes as it finished forming and threw his entire body over the spike. Got a moment, Seitoshi was performing a single hand stand before pushing off to the side and landing on his feet. Both having evaded their enemies initial attacks, the two shinobi stud idle, seemingly in anticipation for one another's next attack. Seitoshi was the first to move once again reaching into his cloak, though this time pulling out a short sword, the blade no more than twelve inches. The warrior had a malicious smile on his face, a look of almost sadistic enjoyment. "I take it that puppet of yours poisoned me back there. I was warned that you may try such a tactic to put me away early. How annoying." Seitoshi turned the blade in his hand, now holding it out to his side in a reverse grip. "I likely have that toxin flowing all throughout by bloodstream now, though a vast majority of it should be limited to my leg. I guess I should do something about that." Without another word, Seitoshi drove the dagger down into his leg, severing his femoral artery. Blood began spurting from the wound, staining the sand before Seitoshi crimson. Making the scene all the more disturbing was the face that Seitoshi's expression hadn't changed, still bearing a fiendish smile. "Though this won't stop your toxin completely, I have no doubt reduced its effectiveness by letting out all of this tainted blood." The blood continued to fly from Seitoshi's would, even more so once he shifted the blade forward. With his free hand, Seitoshi once again reached into his cloak, pulling out a single sheet of paper. Removing the dagger form his leg, Seitoshi slapped the paper over his wound. A brief moment passed, the paper quickly turning red as it soak up blood before bursting into flames, cauterizing the wound in Seitoshi's leg. "Now, then." Seitoshi flipped the short sword in his hand, returning it to a regular grip and pointing the bloodied blade at Shigai. "Shall we continue?" Shigai's muscles tensed up at the sight, his eyes blinked profusely and his mind stuttered for a second. Shigai had seen many ninja cut themselves or even amputate limbs and he understood the man's reason behind what he was doing. Shigai however had never seen anyone show no emotion while doing so, not even a wince or show of the briefest bit of pain had appeared on the man's face. Shigai knew that even if you don't mind the pain the human body still reacts but this man, no thing's didn't. "Well I'm assuming you aren't a pure human then." Shigai spoke as he eyed the man. "I don't know exactly how the hell you can simply not feel pain, but I intend to end this game of ours." He spoke coldly as he ran through a couple signs and slammed his hands into the ground, creating large fissure that ran towards the thing and either side of it, if all went according to plan the man would he caught in the many holes opening in the ground. Tossing his blade up into the air, Seitoshi made a quick step towards the stone spikes Shigai had employed against him earlier. Hopping up onto the nearest spike, Seitoshi leaped into the air, maintaining an impressive height, especially considering the wound in his leg. Forming his hand seals as he rose, Seitoshi rotated to face away from Shigai. Huffing in as much air as he could, Seitoshi expelled a stream of chakra infused wind, propelling him back towards Shigai like a crude human bullet. As Seitoshi soared through the air, his path crossed with the sword he had discarded earlier, with had just begun to descend. snatched the weapon from the air by its handle, Seitoshi had a clear path the Shigai, the blade reared back in preparation for attack. Shigai stood his ground as the man shot towards him from the sky, a smile on his face as the sword passed his face delivering a medium sized cut into his right cheek. He achieved this by moving at the very last second, allowing the man to believe his current trajectory would stay the same. His whole body shivered as the sword and the man implanted themselves into the sand, the sword behind him and the man at his right side. From his body around twenty five green snakes shot from his right side, aiming their venomous jaws at the man. "Your a fun opponent, I'll give you that." The man spoke as his slithering companions bared down on the man. "Don't get cocky." Seitoshi shouted as he pushed himself to a vertical base. Wasting no time, Seitoshi tossed his sword straight into the air, the blade reflecting the harsh sun's rays across the Shigai's eyes as it spun. Slamming his hands together, Seitoshi formed the Tori seal, one often associated with Wind Release techniques. Sure enough, an unnaturally powerful gust of wind encircled Seitoshi as the snakes emerging form Shigai's body began to approach, causing the sand around him to lift into an isolated sandstorm, obstructing the shinobi from view. When the sand cleared, Seitoshi was nowhere to be found, the blade he had tossed into the air landing directly where he had been standing seconds ago, Shigai's reflection perfectly visible on the cold steel's surface. Seitoshi didn't leave his target with much time to wonder where he had gone. Seitoshi zigzagged through the damaged foliage, kicking up small clouds of sand with every sharp turn. Seitoshi was once again carrying a weapon, this time his fingers were wrapped around the shaft of a long spear, once nearly matching Seitoshi's height in length. With his wind nature chakra once again augmenting the weapon, Seitoshi threw the spear with all his might, aiming it directly at Shigai's chest. Shigai looked at himself in there mirror seeing his own sand covered reflection. And I just washed this too. He mentally complained. As he contemplated his dusty jacket his snakes stood alert, feeling the many vibrations coming from Setoshi's erratic movement. Shigai jumped to his feet to see a spear hurtling towards him. He quickly jumped to his right, evading the deadly blade. "I'm not getting cocky I'm saying your a fun opponent." He shouted back at the man as he lifted his hand into the air on either side of him. He then ran his hands through many seals and finally finished by slamming them into the ground. This caused a massive amount of sediment and sand to fly into the air in a concentrated sandstorm. The sand making up the storm was coated in his chakra allowing him to sense when something disturbed it. He now knew Setoshi's place and chuckled as he threw his voice. From all around Setoshi a voice of a deeper tone rang out. "Welcome to the world of sand my friend." The sudden sandstorm certainly posed a hazard for Seitoshi,obscuring his vision and making it difficult to breath. Further complicating things was the obvious fact this was no ordinary sandstorm, evident by the amplified voice bellowing at Seitoshi. Seitoshi at first inferred that he had been hit with some type of genjutsu, but it was rare for those that choose to follow the discipline of puppet mastery to utilize such techniques. More than likely Seitoshi was being assaulted with some type of specialized Ninjutsu. Regardless, he remained calm, a smug grin stretching across his face. "A neat little magic trick you have here." Seitoshi called out, slipping both his hands inside his cloak. "But unfortunately I still have a few tricks of my own. Throwing his hands up, Seitoshi launched his cloak up over his head, the fabric whipped away by the sandstorm. As the cloak was thrown about by the violent winds, a massive puff of white smoke engulfed emitted from the insie. The white cloud was quickly whipped away by the sandstorm, as nearly a dozen weapons were thrown into the wind. Several kunai, a few shuriken two full length swords and a naganata all were harshly guided into the sand by the winds. However, still flying about among the sand was a single scroll, which began unwinding in the wind, the material streaming behind like a long tail. Much like the cloak, the scroll disappeared in a massive puff of smoke, sending dozens of weapons down into the sand, several of which only barely missed Seitoshi. Swords, staffs, arrows, explosives, spikes and scythes littered the area, the metal of Seitoshi's arsenal clattering about in the wind. This guy.. Shigai thought to himself as he sensed the massive amounts foreign objects entering his sand. As he attempted to identify them a large amount of them came towards him as he blamed his whole body into the ground, reaching up to attempt to grab one his arm was pierced by a kunai. Reeling his hand back in shock he realized that the man had thrown weapons into the whirling sandstorm. "He's a clever one." He muttered as he yanked the kunai out of his arm in one swift motion before slamming his hands together in an array of seals. The wind howled as the current soon outwards and spiraled away from the epicenter, carrying the weapons with it as it send most things to the perimeter of the storm. No more playing around he thought to himself as he charged at the man through the storm with his snakes extended, ready to bite." Seitoshi extended his arms out to either side before slamming the palms of his hands together, his mouth twisting into a devilish grin. "I hope you can hear me puppet boy." Seitoshi shouted into the sandstorm, ignoring the sand filling his mouth. "You may think we're in your playground, but you couldn't be more wrong." The mass collection of weapons began rattling more violently in the wind, the sound beginning to sound like metallic chuckles. The weapons slowly began lifting out of the ground, hovering just above the sand they had been buried in. The orchestra of weapons began moving in a circle, Seitoshi at the epicenter. The movement was slow at first, but gradually gained speed. Within moments, the weapons were rapidly flying about, using the rotation of the sandstorm to increase their speed. Dozens of blades clattered about, glancing off one another as they wildly spun in all directions, looking for any unfortunate soul foolish enough to wander into their path. "Welcome to my word, a world of steel." Seitoshi shouted. Shigai noticed the objects coming back through the storm and cursed under his breath as he created an earth wall around him. He knew it wouldn't hold or long against the onslaught of steel so he weave a few seals and dove beneath the ground. before making his way well away from the epicenter of the sandstorm and surfacing to a part of the storm near the edge and not coated in blades. He surface and quickly jumped out of the storm before looking back at the man. "Your world of steel will be your downfall." He muttered to himself as he turned the focal point of all the wind and sand onto the man within the sandstorm. The man would soon be assaulted by the entire sandstorm and his weapons all collapsing on him. Seitoshi had to admit, he hadn't expected for his opponent to turn the tides on him by turning his own attack into a counter. He was just now thinking that perhaps Kirā hadn't been mistaking when she sent him to test the Bloody Puppeteer. But the time for fun had come to an end. Seitoshi had finished his task, and he had unfortunately been specifically told not to kill his opponent. Removing a scroll form his back pouch, Seitoshi spun in several quick circles, unraveling the scroll as he did. The rapid winds caused the scroll to quickly wrap around his body, leaving only his head and right arm exposed. With the scroll now surrounding his body like a thin cocoon, one final puff of white smoke appeared. The wind caused the smoke to flow around Seitoshi like a wispy tornado before dissipating, the then blank scroll now completely covered in the markings of the tools Seitoshi had resealed. The world of steel was no more. Shoving the scroll back into his back pouch, Seitoshi sat down, cross legged on the sand. "That's enough." Seitoshi called out. "You've done well Shigai." Shigai eyed the man suspiciously as he managed to dodge the deadly storm he had sent at him. His face then turned to bewilderment as he stared at the man sitting on the ground that had called off his battle and told him "well done". "Well done?" He questioned. "WELL DONE! What the hell do you mean well done?" He snapped as he stared at the man. impatiently, awaiting some sort of explanation for this man's deeds. Either the man was testing him for some reason or he just had a fucked up sense of humor, maybe both. He sighed as he dropped the genjutsu he had previously cast on him and awaited a response. "He means you've met my expectations Shigai." a female voice stated from behind Shigai. Before the young shinobi even had time to turn around, he suddenly found himself surrounded on all sides by slanted transparent walls, the blue colors coming into the point of a pyramid directly above his head. "Don't be alarmed, this barrier is just to ensure we can actually have a nice chat without getting too bold for our own good." Well apparently it was the second option then. Shigai thought to himself as he eyed the new arrival, her face looked very youthful despite her grey hair. Her hazel green eyes caused Shigai to shield his eyes from their brightness and beauty. As he looked over her he saw she was wearing a grey cloak that covered most of her body, save for a glimpse of grey pants and her heeled shoes. Damn this girl really likes gray." He thought to himself as he found himself surrounded by a barrier. "Wow security really is tight in these parts." He muttered before final becoming serious. "So I assume you have a proposition for me or your a yandere fan of mine, I've been in this situation for both." He spoke as twirled a senbon in his left hand. Kirā admired the young man's confidence. Even in such an unfavorable situation he found room to joke. "What did you think of his performance Seitoshi?" Kirā asked, looked past the imprisoned Shigai. Seitoshi, who had been frantically looking around as if following some fast moving figures, refocused and looked back at Kirā. "He was pretty good. A little flashy though. Puppeteers always seem to have some misguided sense of showmanship about them." Seitoshi swatted at his flank as if he was shewing away an insect. "It was about what I expected." "Are you alight?" Kirā asked, noticing Seitoshi's strange twitches and convulsions. "I must have not gotten all of the poison out of my system." Seitoshi admitted. "I doubt it is a lethal dose, not to me. I'll be fine once its effects wear off." "Well I'm glad you two are such big fans, it's nice to have sane ones." Shigai spoke aloud as he twirled around in the barrier. As he began to stop spinning he eyed the man looking very woozy and assumed it was his poison, it was cemented when the man stated it himself. "Yeah that may not be a lethal dose but it could definitely leave you in a coma for quite a while." Shigai spoke to the man, speaking seriously now he turned to the woman."You should probably let me out to heal him before the poison reaches the center of his brain, based on how he is now though it's almost there." Shigai spoke to the woman. "Fair enough." With a wave of her hand, Kirā's barrier faded into nonexistence, all that remained were the four tags half buried in the sand she had used to erect the barrier. "I really would hate to have to carry poor Seitoshi. He's heavier than one may initially think. The downside of that muscle mass." "Thanks." Shigai replied in a dry tone as he walked over to the man and extended his arm outwards as a snake appeared he then commanded the snake to bite to man and suck to poison out. As the snake sucked Shigai stood patiently in deep thought, only the sound of a satisfied hiss from his friend awoke him from the daze. "Well that's over now." He sighed as he looked back to the woman. "Now can you please get to the point and tell me what you are here for." The snake charmer spoke in a rather bored voice. "Such impatience." Kirā spoke as she moved a long strand of silver hair from her face. "Normally men at least try to make small talk with me. Ask me my name, where I'm form, my hobbies." Kirā began walking towards Shigai, her emerald eyes locked on his as she made her long strides towards him. "I don't usually go for the brash ones, but there is certainly something special about you Shigai. I've heard some stories of the infamous Bloody Puppeteer, but seeing him in action first hand was truly something." "Well no offense but you tried to kill me and I'd like to know why." He spoke with a stern face. "I've had lots of fangirls in my time so that shit won't work on me." The man spoke getting in a slowly raising voice. "Look either tell me the reason or I'm leaving." He finished as he closed his eyes and hummed as he waited. As Shigai stud, glaring at her and humming his generic tune, Kirā only looked back at him with a confused expression. Kirā's face slowly curled into am amused grin before she began laughing, doubling over as she tried to get a grip on herself. "Oh dear boy." Kirā said, still trying to contain herself. "Kill you? You think my dear Seitoshi was trying to kill you? How amusing." Kirā brought a hand up to her mouth as she held back another chuckle. "If we wanted you dead we would have already killed you." Seitoshi chimed in. "Think about it, there were two of us here, why would we attack one at a time if we simply wanted you dead? I was the only one to attack and I didn't even go all out. It would have been much simpler to use the barrier technique. I would have even been able to kill you slowly with that if I wanted. But no, I just attacked you with ninja tools." "Seitoshi is absolutely right." Kirā agreed, finally having suppressed her fit of laughter. "We merely needed to see if you were everything we heard you were. It would be quite the disappointment if you were all hype and no substance." "Annoying as they are their words are true, the two of them could have definitely got me, though I really didn't use my ace." Shigai thought to himself as he stared at the two. "Way to boost your ego you two." Shigai spoke with a genuine smile. It was not everyday two strangers made him laugh at their own egos. "So could you two please tell me the purpose of your appearance." He spoke with a happier voice. He was getting tired of waiting on the two and not to mention his stomach had started growling. He pulled out a homage energy bar and began snacking on it as he waited. "Yes, I suppose that is enough small talk." Kirā folder her arms in front of her ample chest. "Quite simply, dear Shigai, I am coming to you with an offer. An offer to help shape the future of the shinobi world. To the East, through the Land of Rivers there is a small port town by the name of Zako. Go there if you wish to take me up on my offer. For now Seitoshi and I must get going." Well I suppose I'll see you around then." Shigai spoke between crunches of his energy bar. He turned in the opposite direction of them and began walking. "Hmm change the whole world huh, could be a good way to spend summer." Shigai thought as he tugged on his shirt to let some sweat roll by. Kirā and Seitoshi each watched Shigai as he began walking further and further away. After a few minutes the man was little more than a silhouette among the sand, a trail of fading footprints behind him. With Shigai now well out of earshot, Seitoshi rose to his feet, still wobbly from the minute remnants of the toxin and loss of blood he had suffered during the confrontation. "Are you sure he's a good choice?" Seitoshi asked as he found his balance. "There are other options you know." "I won't deny that is true." Kirā admitted, her tone turning gravely serious. "But this one suits our needs just fine. Besides, should he refuse to go with our plans, it's best to have backups. Success can never be certain dealing with these eccentric types." "Even if Shigai does go along with our plans, do you intend to introduce him to the Uchiha woman or Raido?" Kirā remained silent for a moment, silently pondering the question. "I don't see the need. For now, Shigai will just be our bloody little secret." With no more words spoken between the two, Kirā turned and began walking towards the sunset, Seitoshi limping alongside her.
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