Open Who hasn't partaken in a little bit of Black Market?

Okay, so Kyōki may have had other plans here in Sunagakure other than meeting with his other half's old man. And precisely, it is here, in the Black Bazaar. He had a nefarious idea, a way to fix this body. The mind part is unfixable, as he and Kureji are one now. But for what can be done... He would let out a fit of laughter before composing himself and thinking on what he'll need to do.

Even among the dirt and the criminals Kyōki stood out like a sore thumb. His plan was to cure him and Kureji of this crystal problem along with blending in with society. But he wasn't going to stop there, oh no. Even the powers of the Chaos witch has its limitations. What he is going for will make him stronger, more powerful. And even more crazier than ever before.

A creepy smile crept onto his face at the thought of such chaos he can sow. But in the meantime, he would carefully make his way through the Black Bazaar until he found himself at a place no sane person would want to be at. A dead body market. Usually their top paying customers are those who are either dark sages or human puppets. Kyōki is neither. But that isn't going to stop him from finding the best one to use. His other half, Kureji, is no stranger to the occult and cursed or dark chakra and forbidden arts. All Kyōki will need to do is dig into the memories of his other half to get rid of this body.

Even in dark dealings, money is everything. Yen was exchanged as he found the one suitable for what he thinks will be a suitable replacement, and then would store in in a forbidden type of scroll that allows for the carry and preservation of bodies.

First step, complete. Second step. He decided to get his hands on another dark book. But this one will be different from the one Akkuma had gifted Kureji before the great betrayal. The madman would grin as he would finally come across the type of book he was looking for. "How to get Possessed by a demon for idiots." He was no idiot, but he preferred the faster, easier way to get things done. And if it means following a step by step instruction from a book that has a title meant to insult the reader, then so be it. The book even came with a list of demon names, such would be bad if fell into the wrong hands. Oops, it already did. Kyōki's hands.

The madman would realize than once everything is done and over with, he won't be as musically inclined as he once was, but that is a sacrifice that is going to have to be made.

“You call this a corpse!? I’ve seen stuff run over by trains that were glued back together better than this sham. I’m not paying a single Yen more than what I asked!”

An eight-foot tall, long and loose haired blond in a beat up labcoat was arguing with a corpse merchant. His eyes were mostly covered by rose-colored round shades that altered the colors of his heterochromiatic irises. Despite the argumentative tone Tama had used on the merchant, a playful grin of fuckery was glued to his mouth. The scientist knew full well he could argue anyone down here to chump change, no matter what they were selling, because no one could stop him. It was there that laid the distinct difference between the two local mad scientists:

Akkuma was a devil who honored his deals. Tama, did not.

The number of times he had screwed someone out of a lot of money was a lot. The more recent venture tied to Sunagakure which had him popping into Medical to flirt with his old flame paid a hefty sum; and he continued to make dividends off of it. With Shin gone, his chakra signature no longer in the world, the contract that bound Tama spiritually was null; well, at least the bad parts were. He could act freely and go as far as blow up Suna without anything beyond the normal consequences if he so desired now. Of course, that would be stupid, so he simply just leeched off the money promised to him monthly to pop up once every couple of weeks and preform some miracle surgery. It had been six weeks since he had given a child the ability to walk again, and he was flush with Yen and free time.

“Your asking price, dammit, I might as well just give it to you! I have to make a profit somewhere, you amoral crackpot!”
“Puh-lease! As if Wei taking over didn’t just make it exponentially easier to dig up graves - you can’t fool me! I mean, I’m a free traveling man ya know. I could, just go hit up the bigger black market in Soon…”
“Fine! Fine…just…take it. Dammit, I swear you’re going to run me out of business,” the merchant relented finally knowing damn well how right Tama was.
“Hey, at least you don’t have the Uzu Tax anymore,” he said, flicking a 100¥ at the merchant who caught it and grunted with agreement as he lit up a cigarette.
“No shit there. Made paying off my protection a lot easier. If it wasn’t for your ass, specifically yours, I’d be making a profit this year too.”
“Eh, can’t have it all. Well you can’t. I can, but, that’s cuz I’m not some lame body merchant NPC.”

The man threw a spare body part at the scientist as he cackled and vanished with a strong breeze; the corpse he was buying went with him. About thirty yards away, Tama reformed with his corpse in tow, hanging over his shoulder in a black body bag as he followed along the normal path he took to get in and out of Suna. Along his way, he caught the eye of something neat - someone else had a corpse. And they were pretty! The gears in his head wondered what was causing the blue crystals on their skin, and curiosity begged him to understand.

The Ryuu instantly appeared near Kureji, with a chipper tone,
“Eeeey, that’s a nice smelling one you got there! Rare. Planning on something a little…crazy?”

"Hm...?" Kyōki raised his eyebrow as a stranger appeared next to him. He pondered on what he had said and then would let out a small fit of laughter. "How interesting... Even the criminals and filth of society choose to avoid me like the plague, my own physical appearance and maniacal type of aura drives even the most harden criminal away. Yet here you are. You are not like the boring criminals that litter this place. And I feel as if you're not like the tools that call themselves shinobi working with the Village. To even take in some small talk with me..." He would laugh once more. "You are no normal person, I can tell." He would say with a wicked grin. Though behind that grin, he would think things through carefully.

Whilst this man carries himself differently, he reminds Kyōki of memories within Kureji's mind. Specifically when it comes to both Migoya and Akkuma. This guy definitely carries an aura about him that could very well mean that he is a big player. How big of a player, Kyōki doesn't know. "You could say that." He would finally answer the man's question. "So tell me. Who do I have the pleasure of meeting today? I am Kota." A lie, or rather... A twisted truth. Kureji was once Kota, a long time ago, before he had the promise of being a ninja, but that information is behind old files of a mental institution. That and there's probably a thousand other Kota's in this great big world. The words of lies would go out of his mouth as smoothly as a quiet night out on the ocean. And even so, the name for the body of the original Kota is lost somewhere on a different country of the many times that he has... what to call it? Switched bodies? Took over new residence? Eh, it was sometimes a little confusing for Kyōki to keep track of, Kureji, his other half, is more adept at the whole body switching, body snatcher or whatever you want to call it thing.

He would stare at the other man, wondering if his presence at all seemed to have any effect on the man in terms of unnerving him. Did he expect the other man to give him a real name or a fake name? Kyōki thinks of the latter as that is better to keep identities a secret for some who make their lives using the dead for however they wish.

There was little catches in the air. Like tiny bombs going off atomically. There was an air to the man carrying a body like Tama was that attracted the giant towards the psycho; not the opposite. What most would avoid rattled the mad scientist’s curiosity. The look of crystal encrusting his flesh, and the unseen manipulations of space drew him like a moth. Besides, every time a bit of reality tried to transform itself near the Hybrid, he simply commanded time to reverse and remained unhindered by the oddity he walked alongside.

“Tama, Doctor, Ryuu Tama. I have…way, too many other titles,” he said having no problems dropping his own name. After all, he didn’t bust ass across the desert reversing death itself to not have his name whispered among the lower castes.
“And of course I’m not trying to avoid you! Those that do live their lives by fear and prejudiced! I,” he punctuated this by placing his free hand over his heart, “on the other hand find you quite fascinating! Do they have a name for the disease afflicting you? Looks kinda like, Tetrashock with a blue variant. You handle Chakra Crystals raw? I mean, I’ve met crazier than people who enjoyed rubbing chakra crystals on their…,” he cleared his throat, “…selves. Not that I’m judging,” he finished with a coy wink.

“But I would assume that since your carrying a corpse, you’re perhaps either looking for a cure or another body? As it so happens, I am known for being able to cure anything…ya know, for a price.”

You never knew who your next customer could be, was Tama’s motto. Always the snake oil salesman who actually sold miracle cures, he enjoyed playing the field wherever he could find money.

[MFT]

Kyōki would laugh as the other man would explain himself. "Fear. Something that governs much of the common man's lives. As for this?" He motioned to all the crystals all over his body, "I think it's called Azure crystal pustules. Totally contagious and everyone here probably will be sprouting blue crystals here in a couple of days." A fancy way of saying that he doesn't know. Whilst Kyōki himself never met the other two bandmates of the Devil's Advocates, he can see the memories of his other half and somewhat adopt their kind of sarcasm and rebellious nature. "Some strange ass crystal was tossed my way and I reactively grabbed it. Taught me not to be so trusting of others as I missed like two or three years. So in a sense, I'm a time traveler. Though I'd recommend other ways if there are."

He would listen as Tama would talk to him, more like a salesman, to try and cure him, for a price. The idea seemed enticing, however, Kyōki knew that there probably will be more to this 'price' than just a hefty amount of yen. Something that he could quickly, and illegally obtain in his free time. "Ya know. You almost had me there. But then I remembered I already bought a whole body. And while I'm interested in seeing this cure anything type of thing you're selling, I'm also looking to spice up my life, and the capabilities of this body can only go so far compared to what I have in mind."

“Yikes,” Tama said with a chuckle upon hearing the disease and how the man caught its viral hands, “Talk about bad timing. Ironic for a time traveler, yeah?” The scientist wondered if the man was actually being honest about any of it. Oh, sure, he could probably concentrate on ‘Kota’, listen to his heartbeat and monitor their blood-pressure to the second while conversing. It would take a lick of chakra and a gentle flow that would be nearly untraceable with the exception of the most astute chakra sensitive nerds in the world.

Thing was, he was just as lazy as he was pretty.

“Well if I can’t sell ya nothing, how’s about me just, iunno, hanging on? Oh! Even better! I’ll ante up my corpse on the pile and you can have two bodies! If whatever you’re working out ends up using both, I’ll just call it entertainment. Seriously, I’m so damn bored. There are three clones of me out there, working around the clock, and I’m still got nothin’ to do!" He tossed a spare hand up in mock exasperation, "Also, whoever said war was profitable is an ass. All of my investments sunk the moment the Twins started buying out Soon! I mean, yeah, I got like, a cool ten million yen from the buyout; but that’s a one time thing! Ten mil just, doesn’t take you as far as it used to when it comes to the field I work in. Or at least, it’s way more expensive to produce the end product. Gotta super shinobi serum that can turn even the weakest fly into a buzzard; can’t manufacture it. One syringe? 250 mil yen, minimum. Price just keeps going up with all the supply network disruptions from the war, and, yada yada…”

If there was one thing Tama was good at, it was ranting.

“So whatya say? Hell, I’ll even throw in some advice real cheap if you run across a hitch in your formula.”

[MFT]

"Hm... Just maybe..." He thought to himself. "Do you by any chance know any forbidden jutsus to fuse two bodies together then? Or some doctor scientist skill or sum such? And would it be safe to assume to cure your boredom? Or, would you expect something from me in return? Any clauses, 'buts' and others we can talk about before if you have a price in mind." Kyōki knew that not everyone does things out of the goodness of their hearts. And this talk of business, makes Kyōki think Tama as a businessman despite that he is no normal person. As long as Tama is a reasonable man Kyōki will oblige.

"Also... Wassup with this war thing? And these twins? Are they at least some cute girls?" And just like that, Kureji had taken over. Maybe the talk of twins may have him excited, hoping for them to be some cute girls. "If so, I might just have to look my best for when I transfer my soul into another body." Yes, Kureji has been aware of the whole conversation that Kyōki was having with Tama. Hell, he even was aware of what was going on with his other self attacking the Sand Gates and talking to his father. And whilst, he probably would have gone and done differently at the Gates, he would have to agree with his other self for the talk that he had with Akkuma.

He would wonder if Tama would pick up on the personality switch. No doubt someone of his caliber might have noticed such a thing happen.

“Brother! Oh, man, you really have no idea who you’re talking to do you? My guy, I once fused a carnosuar - you know those big fuck-all thunder lizards? Yeah that, and a girl together, for the Toraono Clan. And seriously - no payment! Call me a cat who has had their curiosity aroused. You, sir, intrigue me. I only take money from rubes, suckers, and people who bore me. Call me psychic, but I have a feeling you’re not gonna be any three of those things.”

Sure enough, that cut from a boring conversation to something more Tama’s swing came out fast. There were two sides to that coin it seemed. This other self immediately had a more…personal, feel. Like that of someone really full of themselves to a point it wasn’t ego; it was a trait. A successful artist of some kind, not unlike himself no doubt. While he didn’t dabble in whatever this personality did, to say Tama’s science was anything but an art-form was insulting.

“Oh, you want beauty?” he smirked and put a hand under his chin as if in mocking deep thought, “Could I manage such a feat!?” the fingers resting under his chin suddenly to back to the long golden hair, throwing it up with flair and passion.
“I could make you so hot, even the Devil Himself would cat call you,” he threw his head back and laughed, continuing to keep pace at the other pyscho’s side.
“Also,” he noted looking into the man’s eyes, “The Twins are a bunch of idiots trying to bite off more than they can chew. They pay really well, though, I cannot deny that. Pfft, hell, to be honest if I didn’t owe Sunagakure a hundred different favors I might have ended up siding with them - they play right into my avarice without hesitation. ‘Tis how life is, ya know?” He was talking to Kureji, but it was clear he also wasn’t. Tama wasn’t sure if it reached the one he was talking to before, but he continued to speak to fellow as if both personalities were on display and could hear.

After all, it wasn’t his first rodeo with someone having a split personality issue.

[MFT]

Though Kureji had only just reawaken as the main personality of the body, he was able to follow the conversation well enough. He gave Tama an award winning smile and then said, "Well we have one thing in common. Boring people are the worst!" Believe it or not, it was him being bored one day that made him become a missing ninja. Trying to cure his boredom led him to start a rock band, captain a pirate ship, have pirates be part of his band and accidentally summoned a giant Sand worm only for it to die by his sheer awesomeness.

He smiled and said "Bet!" when Tama went on to talk about making him hot. He would then fall silent as the man would talk about the Twins and Tama's relationship with Suna. Even though Kureji is more laid back than Kyōki, he knows about the plan. To hear that Tama would work against Sand if he didn't owe them any favors made him grit his teeth, though he tried his best not to show it. "So is Sand basically forcing you to have allegiance with them because they feel like you owe them that?" Whichever his answer is, Kureji would then say, "I was going to find some random abandoned building to do the body switch thing unless you got a different place in mind."

“No, no, no,” Tama said trying to correct his cool factor, “Not a forced thing just…it’s weird. For one, this is home. Well, the Underground is, anyways. For two, I have a binding contract and, considering my weird genetics, I can’t break contracts; even if I wanted to. I signed away my freedom with my own hand to get a nice 1 billion yen cash injection straight into the research funds! Blew all of it like, overnight basically. My allegiances is also weird because, you ever heard of Sousuke? Legendary Steward and “Robokage”, Sousuke? Guy was like my older brother, and he was constantly getting me out of crap. By all means, I should have been executed by the Sunan Government six times over by now, but the old robot keeps stepping up for me. So…ya know, aside from the soul binding contract that basically just keeps me from blowing up this place - I kinda feel obligated to defend it.”

Kureji suggested an abandoned building, but Tama could do him one better since they were still in the Underground, around the Black Market.
“Oh? I mean, that’d work but, I have a facility near by; or three. Or four….maybe, five? I lose track of them.”

Without another word Tama would hold his hand up and motion for Kureji, laden with corpse, follow him. The mad scientist would lead the duo into what looked like a crack in cavern’s natural wall, but after a moment of pushing through the narrow entrance would reveal the classic brick layout of a building, as the hole lead into a old office that had been buried by the explosions that rocked the Underground decades ago. Yet, despite the weighted earth on top, the building itself was still structurally secure. A quick eye towards the corner would catch Earth Seals written in blood that had stained the ground a disgusting brown color; the true method Tama had used to keep the building intact. Moments after crossing a certain spot in the dark room he had lead them to, the scientist tossed his hand into air to throw a ball of electricity into a light fixture hanging above. The power absorbed, and lit up the glass bulb before slowly powering the rest of the building.
“See,” he said without turning as he dumped his body on a random gurney, “just like a battery.”

As the lights illuminated the space it became super clear what kind of scientist Tama was; the hack-n-slash body parts kind. Blood spattered the wall where rotting severed limbs he had deemed useless decayed without a stink as some strange yellow powder seemed to absorb any foul oder within the lab except a noted mildewy one.
“Slap your body up anywhere. I’ll get the Big Magic Circle up to analyze our corpses, see what they have we can use, and splice up whatever I have in storage. Anything you’re looking for in particular?"

[MFT]

Kureji would listen as Tama would speak his piece about his situation with Sand Village. It seems that despite their similarities, there is still a wide margin between the two of them. Whilst Kureji is also one to honor his words, despite going down the path he has chosen, he just recently lost the one person to really care about not want to raise hell over a place. Akkuma... His father... That betrayal a couple years ago still fresh on his mind as he looked down at his crystalline body. The only other people who he has loyalty to are the other two people that are part of his band. Heck... He doesn't even know how they are even doing...

He knew only a little bit about their situation, and he won't blame them if they chose a peaceful life. He wondered what it is like to fight for something that one feels obligated to defend. Ever since he became a missing ninja, he was only about himself for the longest time until he found Monika and Shinjo. Now that he's alone again... He wonders what his purpose really is. He told himself that he wants to make Akkuma hurt, and free the ninja from their forced bonds that the Villages place on them.

Lost in thought, he merely followed the mad scientist until they finally stopped in some place, Kureji wasn't really paying much attention up until now. He regarded the body parts as if they were just forgotten trash to be taken out before his eyes settled on Tama as the man told him to set the body anywhere. Kureji, naturally propped the body up against the wall and made it do a pose as if waiting to be on the cover of the next Celebrity Shinobi magazine. "I'd say be powerful, but not look like I'm overcompensating for something. Kinda brooding and mysterious, but also make me have all the women come running after me. And I'm.... Mid-twenties now, I think? So probably the youngest I wanna look is like twenty or something.

“Pfft, mid-twenties,” he said with a smirk. “Early thirties is where it’s at in my opinion, but I’ll defer to you. I have a bit of…an acquire taste for the Sturdy 30’s, so I a bit biased. Let’s see…”

The giant blond moved towards the back of the lab, leaning against a wall and pulling out from his coat a small black handbook. The moment he withdrew it from whatever protective pocket it resided in, the room went cold. The book was bound in a black leather that was stretched over two golden plates. Within the book was pages of scrawl, pentagrams, and the words of forbidden jutsu he had collected over a vast lifetime of exponentiation and discovery. The pages were mostly different, denoting they likely existed in another hand-written book first; like it was a collage of his best work all rolled into one easy-to-keep diary. From what Kureji could tell, it was all in the same handwriting, the “ink” used was clearly blood of some kind, and that the blackened leather was cured human flesh. The latter was an odd choice due to how fragile human skin was, even cured, but whatever Tama had done to it made it appear far stronger than any other leather would give at a glance.

“Ah, here we go,” he stated before marking the book with his index finger and closing it while holding the book with his other digits as he raised the spare hand up into the air, palm facing the ceiling. A mighty gust blew in from the outside, lifting the corpse posed on the wall onto a table, Tama’s corpse onto another table, and both bags were unzipped to reveal the morbid treasures within. With a few skips forward he ran a finger down the chest of one male, and then down another. Both were left with what appeared to be a kind of Cursed Seal. Snapping the finger he had used to mark them, the seals would activate. One glowed a soft green color while the other was a deep red.

“Well shit, I do believe I’ve been gypped. Good thing I got it basically for free, but, I knew it wasn’t the best offer anyways - I was mostly after something fresh. You, on the other hand, have something full of power. So here’s what I’m thinkin’.
“We use freshy here as the base. Stable genetics, only been dead for…” he kicked the table to watch the body jiggle-physics, “half a day, three-quarters tops. It’ll have way more for me to work with as far as good looks go. That said, the other one has way more power. The chakra resonating in that one which has been dead…” another kick, “Oooh! At least a day…anyways, it’s way more powerful. Now, weird idea, since I got a feelin’ you ain’t here to lose power - what say we combine them? I can pull the chakra coil off of’ ol Red here, and slap it onto Green. Then we manipulate the genetic code sauce from that to graft on to yours and see what happens! Worst case scenario, you turn into a puddle of goo, best case you get to look like me.”

He nodded with confidence, assuming everyone wanted to look like him. Who wouldn’t?!

“Personal body tweaks for image aside though, I think we have a really good probable outcome. Within the 63rd percentile, at least. Still feeling it?”

Kureji shrugged, "From what I heard from non chakra people, they say that thirty is usually the start of decline of their health and sum type of stuff like that. Bones creak. You sleep the wrong way and you wake up with a charlie horse. Though, how does one suddenly wake up to a horse named Charlie in their room? These are answers that need to be explained. And as for chakra people who are thirty or up, I have not heard about their health or horse problems. Though folks like us might just be built different. But either way, I'm kind of a party-er and a rave guy, so twenties are good for me."

Once the room grew unnaturally cold, Kureji would take deep breaths and exhale to see his own breath before it would disappear to make it look like he had just exhaled some smoke from a cigarette. He would listen as Tama would speak, going on about how to splice the best of the two bodies together. The one that Tama has was more fresh and had better looks, the one that Kureji had brought had immense chakra power. He did remember the guy he bought it off said something about the body was a Nara, or something along those lines.

Tama would then tell him of worst case possible he might turn into a puddle of goo. "Ya, know, that'd be interesting, if I could still be sentient and then be able to shape shift with Goo Powers. But ya know what? You only live once! Well, unless you're one of the few people that change bodies every now and then. I say send it."

“As the kids say, bet!” was Tama’s only reply before snapping his fingers.

The cold air in the room, the movement of air, the smell of corpse - all of it - ceased. For Kureji time froze in a little bubble of the mad scientist’s creation. He would be unable to do little more than watch helplessly as Tama saundered over to the time-locked child of Akkuma with a very long needle filled with a glowing purple fluid; procured from within his coat. Normally when a Temporal Strider freezes the concept of “time”, everything gets frozen except for themselves. The Ryuu before the rogue had a control over spatial ninjutsu that would make most village leadership salivate at the chance to use it in war. Tama didn’t just stop the concept. He could stop the very fabric, the weave of the universe and Fate with his lil’ pockets of frozen dimension. This wasn’t just a bubble of time, freezing all within for three seconds…

This was his domain.

So Kureji was frozen in everything but conscious. He would feel that needle stick, the madman’s face watching curiously if the humanoid before him would try to make a face against the piling weight of time. Down went the plunger, filling his veins with a fluid that burned, and once it reached the brain everything would black out like being shocked into unconsciousness. Unable to see, but able to feel, Kureji’s body would be lifted effortlessly and placed laying on his back on the floor between the two prepaid bodies.

Tama started to hum a little song. It became somewhat garbled when he bit down on his wrist to procure a large amount of blood that floated around him suspended in that time bubble despite flowing quite freely from his fresh wound; an injury that healed completely a second later. With a flick of his wrist the blood flew out on command and formed a magic circle that hung over Kureji’s semiconscious form. Twisting his wrist from palm down to up, the bloody circle wiggled and separated part of itself to write ninjutsu script around the circle in a slow careful manner as the scientist went to cut up the chests of both bodies down to their groin with a simple chakra blade. The humming grew somewhat louder as if to fruitlessly tone down the squelching noise of him digging around inside; flinging behind him bad organs and tossing good ones to his left onto a steel tray; the patient didn’t need all of these. His own organs were probably still okay, and if not? Well, that was a repeating customer!

“Okay, isolated the chakra coil cores…tweaking for fusion…uh, does the other guy spiral left or right? Wait, does the patient spiral left or right?” The sound of his shoes scooting to look behind him was all Kureji could hear before, “Ah, spins left. Of course, of course…”

Stepping out of the circle the scientist flopped down just right above his patient’s head with a happy sigh before clapping his hands together. The time bubble collapsed, however, it did so in a unique way that most Temporal Striders would have never considered. Instead of “restarting” the concept of time, the bubble caught the edges of his blood circle and shuddered before pulling in the two corpses off the table towards Kureji. As they hit his arms, bolts of red, green, and blue erupted as the chakra coils battled for supremacy.

“Mmhmm, figured. I thought you were stronger than that, okay…guess I gotta do some personal tweaking. Lets see…”

The hands clasped together pulled apart slowly and reached out towards the bubble/circle with energy flying from it and began to turn his wrists as if tuning radio dials. The power of the green side nearly blinked out entirely, coinciding with an ‘oh shit!’ coming from the doctor before it began zapping back out with a quick correction. He continued to tune the coils slowly now, beading each one until they were all placid and collapsing down on the patient’s body which had began to glow so hard, Kureji’s features were now quite literally a blur.

“Welp, now the rest is up to you. Gotta will your way outta that maze and into a new body. Don’t worry, you have at least a week before the time bubble pops and you goo-out! Good luck! Oh! And thanks for the spare organs, seriously. I was running out of hearts and you only need one, right? Not to mention the extra spleen, replacement kidneys, and about five feet of small intestine. If you need a tune up, I’ll leave my card on the table; I’m always willing to work with those outside the village ranks for the right price.”

Tama slapped down a golden card embossed with his name, services, and basic prices along with payment plans embossed on the back (it was a rather thick sheet of gold). Sacking up the good spare parts, his image flickered and then vanished as he manipulated his own time to speed up his exit.

What would Kureji become?

[Topic Left]

As soon as Kureji froze, his thoughts went back to the time that his father encased him in crystal candy looking stuff that made the rocker lose two years of his life. He wanted to yell out in anguish, the scene replaying in his head. He almost didn't notice the prick of a needle piercing his flesh. Soon his vision blurred but he was able to feel what was happening around him. The pain from whatever he was stuck with was nigh unimaginable. A close second to when he swapped out a puppet body back with a real body.

Since he couldn't really do anything, Kureji thought to just keep his mind busy to ignore the pain. Thinking on it all, there is no doubt that he will lose all powers tied to this body. It never fails. Every time that he changed bodies, he hasn't been able to use core abilities, bloodline techniques, or kinjutsu techniques in the new body. Which makes sense, considering how each individual has their own potential waiting to be unlocked. Some were just not lucky enough to be able to get it before they bit the dust.

Hearing the scientist go to work using their own abilities, Kureji could only wait as it would soon unfold. Finally, he would hear Tama say the rest is up to him to do. Supposedly, he has only a week to pull his consciousness into the new body. Should be pretty easy, he's done it a total of... three other times at the least? He doesn't really remember much. But back then he only had to go from one body, then into another. There was always only two bodies. Now there are three and he's gotta be careful not to end up in a dissected body. Even though he's yet to experience it, he'd bet that it would suck, like, a lot. So he focused on what had the strongest chakra signature. That one would be the one that has the chakra of the two bodies and his own mixed together to make a completely new type of chakra system unique for each individual.

The only problem with trying to find out which one having a strong chakra signature, is that he was never one of them fancy sensor type of ninjas. Even then, right now, he is just a thought, maybe at best a spirit. So eventually, he done it the ol fashioned way. Eenie meenie mienie mo! Yes, he's leaving something as important as this up to a little kids song to decide on something. Finally, he landed on one body, hopefully it was a body and not something embarrassing such as a lamp, and willed his being into the body. He gasped out and opened his new eyes and sat up. Immediately, he checked to see if this body has all of its insides on the inside.

Next thing he did was search through the memories of this body's brain. Something he learned when body switching is that memories sometimes stick to the body. And such memories flashed through Kureji's mind as he sifted through this body's mind. This was a man that was part of the Yamanaka Clan. He even had the powers of a True Yamanaka. Well, that would explain the good looks. Looking back to how this body had died.... This guy was betrayed by his best friend. Supposedly left for dead when the going got tough on a mission. So... This time around, Kureji has found himself in the body of a sand shinobi. A now dead man walking. This'll prove interesting should he get caught by gate guards. He groaned as he moved around, trying to get used with the new body.

Now he'll have to get used to this body and its powers. And also get some clothes. Kureji would assume that Tama wouldn't mind if Kureji took some clothes for himself. Like, he still has some common decency to be fully clothed at least. This time, he wore a white button up shirt with brown suspenders and brown pants. Almost like what those people in old times wore when going off to work in factories or construction. He topped it off with one of those weird little flat hats that just seem to go right with the drip that he has going on. Stuffing his hands in his pocket, he would exit out of Tama's little hideaway and into the busy streets of the Black Bazar. Maybe on impulse, maybe on his own intuition, or maybe even on some last remnants of the original mind of this body, Kureji went and bought himself a nice magnum gun. His feet would lead him to a place that looks like dark dealing happen.

The guards got up, startled. Kureji would feel a surge of power run through him. Something other than just the powers of the Yamanaka. His own shadow crept far beyond any reasonable way and connected to the two guards' shadows. "What's the matter?" Kureji would say, "You guys are acting like you've seen a ghost." With that said, he would shoot them executioner style before heading in. It would be in the matter of a few minutes that this place tied to doing dark dealings would looks like something similar to a slaughter. Eventually, Kureji would be face to face with the man that had killed the original owner of this body.

"Im.... Impossible! You should be dead!" He cried out.

"I guess we're both disappointed in each other than now, aren't we? This time, he effortlessly switched to his Yamanaka powers, forcing his mind into that of the traitors thoughts, searching for why he decided to betray him. Once he was done searching through the man's mind, he would kill him as he did all the others.

After all of what had happened, Kureji decided to lay low for a while, using this time to fully understand his powers. He could seamlessly switch from using shadow techniques in favor of using intel gathering of that of the Yamanaka. At least for the Nara powers, it is straightforward, he can control the very shadows of his own, but more so the environment. For the Yamanaka part, he is able to enter into the minds of other people and perceive the world from their point of view. Be aware of what they are aware of. That, and he finds casting all of his genjutsu easier to do rather than when he was a cadency and only his audial genjutsu came easily.

He would smile to himself. Now this... This is something that he can work with. He feels very powerful and can't wait to actually see his own powers in action. And when he's not out causing trouble, he can go out and party and probably pick up some cuties, now that he is a solid fifty out of ten. But... He let out a sigh, first things first, get more used to this body, and then see about trying to find some allies, people who he can trust.

He thought about getting the band back together, but if they are content with the peaceful lives they had made for themselves, then he won't pressure them. As for any other allies, well he just hopes he can come across any. But even before that, there is someone that he would want to talk to, someone that had piqued his curiosity for quite a while.

(topic left)