Ascenion [Closed/Bruinetto]

[Kagai]

As time progressed after that whole fiasco with the Djinn attacking the village, Kagai's mind had slowly been deteriorating. This beast, this Djinn, had cast him away as if he was trash, as if he wasn't the chosen paragon of Lord Kojin, as if he was not backed by the one true God of the purifying flames.

Kagai had locked himself away within his apartment, not bothering to leave, even when he had ran out of food almost a week ago, he refused to step outside. His body seemed to be withering away, and he was in a shambles. Ever since that day, something had gave away within the confines of his mind, and in the silence, he could hear a constant drumming....'Da da da da....Da da da da....Da da da da..." over and over again. At first he believed it was just the beat of his heart, as one does tend to become more aware of their heart beat when in dead silence, but it almost sounded like the beat of two hearts within his mind, and it was driving him mad.

He would mimic the sound at the oddest of times, tap it upon the wall or table, tap his feet to it. It was almost as if it was engraved within his subconscious, and was the main reason he had locked himself away and refused to take up any missions, even though he had been warned multiple times by now that his rent was do, and he was going to be evicted...."They can come and try..." Kagai muttered to himself, his voice low and raspy as the eviction notice within his hands became engulfed in flames. He let the paper drift slowly onto the wooden floor as he watched it turned to ash. The flames reflected off his golden-red eyes, which seemed to reflect his current state of mind. He almost wished that somebody tried to come in here and kick him out. They'd be dead before they got two feet of him, and he didn't care who it was either.

"Is this what has become of my harbinger....?" A booming, demonic voice would say, one of the only things that was able to be heard over the sound of the drumming. Kagai's eyes shot up and his eyes fixated directly in front of him, even though nothing was there but the darkness...."Have you lost your will, your pride, your faith, my angel of retribution? Did you believe there was darkness enough to hide you from my sight?!" The voice continued as sweat began to pour from the face of Kagai. His breathing had become quick and shallow, almost like he was hyperventilating. He dared not answer, half hoping that if he ignored the voice it would go away. He preferred the maddening sounds of drums over this voice.

Kagai would back away and sit down upon his couch, clutching at the sides of his head and almost pulling at his hair as he now stared down at the floor. He was trying to will it away, mind over matter, the voices and the drumming weren't real...."What use is a faithless preacher...?" Kagai would say to himself as he tugged at his hair a bit and, out of frustration, pounded his head down upon the coffee table in front of him. Other pain, coupled with the almost childish belief that he could beat the madness out of him, hoped would distract him enough to ignore it, at least for awhile, but to no avail....."A FAITHLESS PREACHER IS EVEN WORSE THAN A HEATHEN!" The voice boomed, sounding like thunder within his mind and felt as if it was echoing off every corner of his psyche.

It could be the alcohol, it could be the lack of food, but Kagai was dangling on the edge of sanity, though it could be debated if he ever was truly sane to begin with. Was he a man, dreaming his was a demon? Or a demon dreaming he was a man? Either way, he needed to find out....."What do you wish of me, my Lord?" Kagai would finally answer the voice, whom returned the sentiment with laughter..."Come to me, my angel of death..." Was all the voice would say as it began to fade, along with the drumming.

Without a second thought, Kagai jumped up from the couch, knocking the coffee table over in the process as he almost ran towards his door, grabbing an old coat of his and charging out of the door. He had no idea where he was going, or how he was going to get there, but he knew he had to get to the bottom of this, and if that meant standing face-to-face with a God, then so be it.

[MFT]

WC: 794

 

[Jenosaido Bruinetto]

There seemed to be a dark cloud hovering over the Seishou branch these days, or at least that seemed to be the case with how some of the elders of the Fujikaru would spoke. While he was taking their words out of context and in snippets it was clear that some sort of discourse was going on. There were worried hearts who were concerned about one of the more prominent up and coming shinobi. It was the son of the proprietor of the Seishou branch, a man named Anku. This was the first time that Bruinetto would come to terms with the fact that Kagai, was the son of the most prominent member of the Seishou branch of the Jenosaido. Was it mere coincidence that the two of them would come to form an alliance while he was the son of the proprietor of the Fujikaru branch? Patterns seemed to repeat through the course of history to those that did not study it. Despite the fact that Bruinetto knew this history perhaps it was Kagai who was not familiar with history. Allowing these events of fighting between two families and an eventual alliance forming to happen during a new age. With the worry surrounding the situation Bruinetto had been called upon. They wanted him to pry into the heart of Kagai to see what had been ailing him. Had he just known that there was something bothering Kagai in the first place he may have sought him out on his own instead of needing to be guided to go and help him.

Arriving just outside of his friends apartment it seems that he did not reside in the clan housing and actually had his own place. This was quite odd for any member of the Jenosaido clan to do this. However as a young man it was often important to own your own housing as a method of becoming independent and developing into ones own. Apparently he recently was appointed a position of, "The voice of Suna", and had taken on new responsibilities. That surely was helping to pay the rent. Although from this vantage point he could see the signs speaking of eviction. Surely his salary as a shinobi would be more than capable of affording such a place? As questions mused through his mind the door would fling open and Kagai would fly like a bat out of hell. There was a sense of purpose in his movements. Just where was he headed? In order to satisfy his curiosity he would leap from the rooftops and quickly catch up with Kagai.

"Nice to see you out and about Preacher man." Looking at Kagai there were signs of distress written in his face and an unkempt appearance. The questions would continue to well up in Bruinetto as he made more observations like this.

 

[Kagai]

Normally he would of noticed someone following him, but he was currently super focused upon the task at hand, almost not even hearing Bruinetto over the sound of the drumming within his ears. His bloodshot eyes would turn and look back to him, slowing his pace down a bit as it seemed the drumming was subsiding for the moment..."Yeah...Still a shithole out here.." He would say, hand brushing through his unkept, greasy hair. A pungent odor of booze emanating from him which Bruinetto would surely be able to notice. He would grasp the side of his head and squeeze his eyes tightly shit as the drumming would begin again..."Can you hear it?" He would ask, opening one eye and looking towards Bruinetto..."The drums, can you hear them? Am I the only one who was called?" He would ask, as he would then grit his teeth. After a moment or two, he would shake his head and continue on his way, picking up his pace to a light run. He knew full well that Bruinetto would have no idea what he was talking about, and that he probably sounded insane, and he most likely was, but there seemed to be another pattern to the drums aside from the beat, that being the frequency and volume.

It seemed whenever he stepped in a certain direction, they would get louder and become almost deafening, but when he stepped in, what he perceived to be the "right" direction, they would come down to a dull roar, allowing him to think and hear clearly, or at least clearer than before...."Follow me." He would call out to Bruinetto, whom most likely would pelt him with psychology bullshit or try to explain what was happening to him with some type of scientific method, but Kagai knew that this was something more than what science could explain, or at least that was his current thought process.

 

[Jenosaido Bruinetto]

Nice to see that his rather pessimistic and negative view of everything but his strong religious tones was still in tact. A rather strange turn was starting to become of this meeting as Kagai would begin to ask him questions concerning the sound of a drum. Of course he would naturally give him this look as if Kagai was crazy or being delusional. More delusional than usually considering he spoke of hearing the voice of his god and actually believing so wholeheartedly into the metaphysical deity that he confided in so openly. "The sound.. of drums? No, I cannot say I hear them." Had he truly gone off of the deep end? Sending a surge of chakra through his eyes it would cause the revelation of his Sharingan. Adjusting the focus of his eyes he would peer into the chakra circulatory system of Kagai. There was a strange flow to his chakra that was abnormal. Being one who had an affinity for genjutsu he could instantly recognize the fact that he was in fact under the influence of one. "So that is it.. he is under the presence of a genjutsu. However, this a strange genjutsu. If he is heading towards the source of the drums that means he is being drawn towards it. The caster of this genjutsu has to be a great distance away. Just how was this genjutsu being cast from such a distance?" Thinking that it would be damn near impossible to cast a genjutsu from such a distance his mind began to work on hypothesis as to how it could be channeled from such a range. "If it was being cast audibly from some far away source, it would have affected much more people. In fact I should have been affected by it as well if that was the case. The only way I know you can cast techniques like this through a signal would have to be some kind of seal placed onto something..."

Suddenly his brain was struck with brilliance as the focus of his eyes shifted back into a normal type of vision as his Sharingan faded away. Looking to Kagai there a piece of jewelry that was on his neck. This accessory that he wore was something extra that he wore every day. That regardless of the scenario he would be wearing it. An item like that, would be perfect for carving an articulate set of seals which could be used to channel a technique. All it would take for the activation would be broadcasting chakra of a specific frequency over a long range. One that was capable of phasing through buildings and the like. It wouldn't even have to be a large amount of chakra either, this would be the perfect kind of set-up for this situation. This would all make sense for a way for somebody to channel a long range jutsu such as this. A multitude of effects could be pre programmed and allow for a multitude of effects. Could it be that all these visions of a god and the voice Kagai has heard this time was all an illusion? If this turned out to be true, it would be a situation where Bruinetto could brazenly tell him, "I told you that you were delusional and that your god wasn't real." Such words though would be a harsh reality and surely if this turned out to be true his psyche would already be damaged by the cognitive dissonance he was facing. He would not be able to prove such a hypthesis at this point in time so he figured he would keep this to himself until something more concrete was revealed.

"Lead the way preacher man. I certainly cannot follow the sound of drums that I do not hear myself. I do hope that you aren't just crazy and this actually leads to something." Whatever it lead them too however, could be something to drive a religious fanatic crazy given the right circumstances. Then again on the other side of the spectrum it could entirely validate his belief and it would be Bruinetto that would have to contemplate the actual existence of deities as opposed to denying them.

 

[Kagai]

It was rather odd to have Bruinetto just accept to follow him, being the type of skeptical and analytic person that he was. Kagai didn't have time to question this rather drastic change of character in his accomplice, but he was really in no mindset to question it either. He would dart in and out of various alleyways and streets, being lead by the drumming in his ears. Each turn they made would be followed by a sudden stop as Kagai listened to the drumming, and then would either continue on his course or rapidly change direction. As they ran, in the right direction anyways, Kagai would have a moment of clarity as he looked back towards Bruinetto...."I know this is completely insane. Do not think me a fool." He would say before the drumming took hold once more, and caused him to rapidly change direction once more...."I'm not completely oblivious...I know how shit works..." He would say, as if he was adding on to his previous sentence before the drumming took hold once more and caused him to go silent and devise which way to go after that.

"But it draws me...I don't know why....I want to know why." He would add within another moment of clarity before he was taken over once more. Eventually they would find themselves by the Great Lift, which would lead them outside of Sunagakure should they have chosen to ride the lift up and out into the Diamond Maelstrom, though that was not the case. As Kagai stepped towards the lift, the drumming became louder, which automatically lead him to the conclusion that this was not the right path to take. A little distressed, he would would look around, chewing on his nails nervously as a way to help him think clearly.

He would notice a discolored rock in the distance, a type of rock not native to Sunagakure, or at least it's underground. It was discolored from the rest that surrounded it, and when Kagai approached it and took it out from its resting place, the surrounding rocks would seem to vanish out of existence, opening up an ancient pathway. The rock, itself, was apparently part of a Fuuinjutsu that made it oblivious to only those that were "lead" to it...."Explain that one, Mr. Skeptic." Kagai would say as he charged into the newly formed opening in the rocks.

 

[Jenosaido Bruinetto]

As he continued to follow his partner in crime he would watch as he would do all he could to follow his leads. Kagai had explicitly told him to not think of him as a fool. With a quick retort Bruinetto would reply to that simply, "If I thought you were a fool I wouldn't bother following you. Who is the bigger fool. The fool? Or the fool who follows him?" Once again, he would be quoting a medium that does not exist in their universe. It could be played off that he thought of such wisdom himself or he read it in a popular novel. Bruinetto was not the type to read into fiction as he preferred to stay within the realm of reality as opposed to fantasy. Regardless of how strange this entire scenario seemed to be, he would follow Kagai. What was troubling him had caught his interest. There was a mystery behind this scenario and he was intrigued by it. Bruinetto wished to seek out the truth as much as Kagai did, however for reasons that were different obviously.

The two of them making their way through the village would finally find themselves at the Great Lift. It was where he pointed out something that seemed to be obvious. A rock that he noticed which was an entirely different color than the rest caught his attention. Being drawn to this rock he pried it from the rock face. Doing so would cause the other rocks to vanish from existence revealing what seemed to be a walk way. Immediately he was asking him, to explain such a thing. "This one is too easy. You have heard of barriers haven't you? There are illusionary barriers that work with a point system. You remove a point of the barrier and you weaken the barrier. Once all points are removed you remove the barrier. This was a simple one point barrier. As soon as you removed the one point, the barrier was dismissed. There are perks to one point barriers, as do to their simplicity they are easy to overlook. Which is probably why nobody has bothered to see through it up to this point." While Kagai was doing all he could to convince himself of something mystical he felt a powerful purpose behind this venture almost as if it was some kind of pilgrimage.

 

[Kagai]

Re: Ascension [Closed/Bruinetto]

"I'm not talking about the barrier, you bastard." Kagai would say, hearing his smart ass comment about the one-point barrier being broken, and about one-point barriers being as simple as they are cunning. Kagai was fully aware of this, but that was hardly the point...."I'm talking about the fact that...I'm being lead somewhere..." He would say, gripping his head once more as he ran along the newly revealed path.

It appeared to have not been used in ages. Cobwebs were scattered all about the ceiling, and the air was quite stale. Rocks littered some of the pathway which had fallen from the ceiling over the years, making the travels all the more difficult as they would have to slow themselves down and attempt to bypass some of the rather large rocks impeding them. It would become darker the further they went into this pathway, with it being hidden, it had not received any means of artificial light as the other paths had, and this was rectified by Kagai setting his hand aflame as a makeshift torch...."Seems that this path has been hidden for quite a long time." Kagai would say, brushing away giant cobwebs with his other arm to clear their path. The further down they got, it seemed the more unstable the path was becoming. Rocks of various sizes impeding their way and slowing them down as they had to climb over them.

Eventually they could come to a completely collapsed area of the tunnel. Rocks had fallen and were lodged together, blocking any further movement forward and threatening further collapse should they try and move it either by hand or by use of Jutsu. That was when the drumming would begin to pick up once again, and Kagai would clutch his head..."Ugh...What the hell do we do now...?" He would ask, not really asking anyone in particular. He would open his eyes again and look around, trying to see if there was another path they could take that would lead them in the right direction to cease the drumming once again.

 

[Jenosaido Bruinetto]

Well excuse him for Bruinetto thinking that he was simply asking him to explain the barrier itself. If he hadn't been so cryptic and open with what he asked for him to explain then he wouldn't have explained the most obvious thing that was in plain sight. If he wanted an answer to a specific question then he should have thought to do so in the question itself. "Well, how do I explain that you feel like you are being lead somewhere? There is a number of things that can explain that. For one, you could just be insane and the drumming is all in your head. All the while you are stumbling upon a series of coincidences that appear to point out that you are indeed being lead somewhere. When you try finding something, you might often stumble upon it even if it really isn't there." Although at this point Bruinetto knew that Anku wasn't crazy and that he was indeed hearing something. If Bruinetto just simply told Anku that he was under the influence of a genjutsu that could incite ire from Anku. He could then prove that he was under a genjutsu by cancelling it. However this would then disrupt their only lead which was taking them to the mysterious source of this genjutsu. Bruinetto was quite curious to where this was going to lead them. "However, we can continue to follow the rabbit hole and see where it leads. If it does prove to show that you are just enamored with madness, I will be the first one to shove you into a therapy session. I am sure we could find you a good doctor." He shouldn't really be teasing despite the knowledge he had that he wasn't sharing but it was all in jest.

Following to the knew path Kagai would create a source of light for them. The eyes of Bruinetto scanning over the immediate area for anything that was out of the ordinary. If this was a place that was actually sanctioned off by Sunagakure there was a chance that it was dangerous for one reason or another. For all he knew they were heading into a closed off training area. All of a sudden his mind eye would imagine the concept of a large boulder dislodging itself and rolling towards them. Pitting the two of them in a perilous situation, or rather something like that shouldn't scare him too much. It is odd that when you are a shinobi that even that scale of trap seems like a minor inconvenience. While there were no traps it seems they would end up stopping abruptly as the path would end. "Well, whatever was leading you should have given you better directions. The sound of drumming isn't exactly the best way to lead somebody. You would think they could just send you directions." Leaning up against the rock face his eyes would begin to analyze the surroundings looking for inconsistencies. "There is a chance this could be similar to the barrier that we saw before. Perhaps a little more advanced this time around."

 

[Kagai]

"Just...shut up..." Kagai would say as he rubbed his forehead, feeling the comings-on of a headache that wasn't from drumming, but the unneeded ramblings of his accomplice. As he moved the flame within his hand around, he would catch something out the corner of his eye. Turning back, and focusing on the area as he brought his hand around. He would take a step forwards and reach out to touch the wall with his fiery hand. The drumming would begin to subside, he was apparently doing something right, and as he felt himself touch the wall, flames would shoot out all around.

Spoiler

They would spider out in a rather intricate design, illuminating the room as the flames turned a crimson red, and slowly the wall would begin to rise up, revealing yet another pathway. This one was quite different, it was well lit with a number of torches. Towards the end, there were two statues, both appearing to be men holding swords above yet another wall with a similar design upon it as the previous one, though instead of it being fire, it was gold emblazoned upon sandstone. It shimmered in the light, and it was obvious much time and care was placed into its creation...."Did I ever tell you the story about how I came to know Kojin?" He would say, the drumming ceasing for the moment as he slowly began walking forward..."I had just recently become ANBU, much to father's dismay, and for my first mission, it was an 'initiation', as my superiors had called it, I had to be taken, blindfolded, out into the Diamond Maelstrom and had to find my way back. I was given no map, and was told that I had better keep track of the pace and time between them taking me outside into the maelstrom. Needless to say, I was nervous." He would say, keeping himself vigiliant for anymore surprises or traps that may be waiting for them...."As they took me out, and I heard the winds pick up and the sand grains hitting the cloak they had given me, I tried my best to judge the speed and time, but I'd constantly lose track of one or the other, and when they finally dropped me off and disappeared, I had no idea where the hell I was. They had dropped me off in a cave and had left some basic supplies, but I was on my own to finding my way back home."

As they would continue to walk, Kagai would take a step forward and feel himself push down a pressure plate. Seconds later, a familiar metal clang would be heard as a blizzard of kunai and shuriken came hurling towards them. Instinctively, Kagai would send both his hands forward and erect an invisible barrier of Kinetic chakra, causing the projectiles to bounce off harmlessly and hit the floor, the others passing by himself and Bruinetto without worry...."...Anyways...After a bit I went out into the maelstrom to attempt to find my way home. It was hopeless. I couldn't see a damn thing, no clear landmarks of any kind in my path, and I couldn't even find my way back to the cave after a bit. So, I was screwed. The sand was starting to eat away at the cloak too, I could feel grains pouring in through holes that were becoming bigger and bigger as time went on, so if I didn't find my way back soon...I was dead."

As he approached the next wall, Kagai would look up on the symbol, a smile forming on his face..."It was then I saw it. A grand pillar of light and flame. It spun around like a tornado and appeared to make a hole within the diamond maelstrom around me, shielding me from the sand. I heard his voice call out to me, saying I was worthy and I was chosen, and a pathway cleared up right before my very eyes, showing me the way home. I ran like a mad-man, excited beyond belief that I was going to get home. I started hearing the voice even after that fiasco, it told me it's name was Kojin, Golden God of the Eternal Flame. He had said, like myself, humanity as a whole had strayed from the path of light and righteousness, and could only be saved by a baptism of fire......Nothing cleanses something so entirely as fire does....After that I dedicated my life to Kojin and the way of the cleansing flame...Even got this tattoo at the request of Lord Kojin..." He would pull down the collar of his shirt a bit as he turned towards Bruinetto, showcasing the tattoo upon his chest. It was the same design as the sun sigil.

He would then turn around, and with his hand still ablaze, he would reach out and touch the sigil as he had the first. Again, it would react to his touch, though this time instead of being set aflame, it would turn like gears. The outer circle would spin clockwise, and the three inner circles would spin counter clockwise. This wall would then begin to rise as well, revealing to the both of them what appeared to be some type of temple or shrine. Images of that same sun sigil littered all over the room, which was going with a Gold and Red theme for the most part, the color of flames.

 

[Jenosaido Bruinetto]

There was just something about the interaction between Kagai and himself that brought out him being a smart ass and having a considerably more "joking" tone. Now, perhaps had he not been holding back the information he had interpreted earlier this may have not been the case. He had to resort to joking around instead of taking a straight forward approach to answering his question. Although this revelation in his character was certainly starting to be some level of annoyance to Kagai. This man was entirely serious about this entire endeavor and putting some serious faith into this matter. However should this not have been something he expected? For him to be the dire hard fanatic that wholeheartedly believes in what is going on while Bruinetto takes on the role of the observant skeptic? That was his role here wasn't it? Or perhaps whatever it was that Kagai was being drawn towards he wasn't looking to handle it alone. "Hmm.. as opposed to being a one point barrier it was a reactionary fuuinjutsu, a kind of variant to barriers." Reactionary fuuinjutsu were ones that you could consider incomplete seals. It wasn't until you satisfied certain conditions where you could actually activate the fuuinjutsu. The presence of fire, or perhaps even a fire attuned chakra was necessary to activate the fuuinjutsu. He could only wonder what would have happened had you tried another type of chakra. Perhaps it would have resulted in some kind of trap activating? Now wasn't the time to be testing such a hypothesis.

"I am surprised I actually haven't heard how you came to be the religious zealot that you are. Then again, it's not something we tend to talk about. The two of us are on a completely different spectrum of understanding when it comes to the metaphysical. It would take something very big for either of us to travel to the opposing side." For Bruinetto, if he actually came face to face with something he could prove to be an actual god and not some high powered human attempting to pass himself off as one. On the other side it would take Kagai having to come face to face with this Kojin again, and to realize that he was some kind of fraud or not what he envisions him being. It was an event like that which could drastically alter ones viewpoint on life if how they perceived their world would change. Something like this brought a tad bit of worry for Kagai from Bruinetto. He was so devout to the belief of this Kojin, that the cognitive dissonance alone and the reality shattering truth would be existentially soul crushing.

Listening closely to the exposition that Kagai was spouting off it seems they managed to activate some "harmless" trap. Something like this was easily warded off by Kagai alone. Low level attacks and traps like that really would only work on low level shinobi who did not have access to reactionary techniques. The method he used however was familiar, it was a technique he also knew how to use. More often he would continue to see similarities to the types of jutsu they were capable of using. At the end of this all, Kagai would start to strip down to Bruinetto's dismay but thankfully it stopped and would only serve the purpose of revealing a tattoo. The skeptic in Bruinetto started to to bubble in his mind even more so. Earlier when he made the note that if there was something on Kagai's body that he always had that it could be reacting with a long range transmission technique. The fact that he had a tattoo on him that Kojin had requested made his mind race once more. Many sealing techniques were written utilizing a special ink, and some type of inks were used to create tattoos on the body. If this was the case then Kagai was never capable of escaping any influence this could have on him if this was the receiver for the long range chakra transmission. The only way to escape it would be to stop the source of the transmission, which may actually be a person. "Interesting how it seems that a god must save somebody and work upon what seems to be guilt or a sense of duty to get a follower to do what is told of them. Perhaps I just think of a more benevolent deity that would be more concerned for the well being of humanity and saving them." Through his years he has heard of many religious figure, the most popular of Sunagakure seemed to be Mother Suna. If gods existed, he hoped it was much like how she was portrayed as opposed to something like Kojin.

The two of them would begin to descend deeper into the earth in some type of elevator contraption. Reaching their destination his eyes would take in the splendor of the rather elaborate shrine that was present before them. Certainly a lot of value could be looted from such a room, but Bruinetto was no petty thief. Not like Kagai would allow him to do something so sacrilegious if he even wanted too. Wherever Kagai's "madness" would lead him Bruinetto would continue to follow.

[MFT]
WC: 872

 

[Kagai]

"Holy doesn't always mean good. Sometimes, one must feel pain in order to change, and sometimes you do need to get a person, or a group of peoples, attention." Kagai would say, though it was somewhat of a forced. There were, of course, times when he questioned his faith and his beliefs, especially now and especially after seeing the Djinn. In the end, as powerful and divine as the Djinn seemed to be, he was still just a man, just an extremely powerful man. It was a strange thing, all men crave power and when they get it, the only thing they want is more power. They become addicted to it, driven mad by it, or perhaps they are merely driven mad by the fact that they reach a point where they perceive they have no equal, and are alone.

Whatever the case may be, power was the root cause, and despite knowing the dangers of it, Kagai craved more of it, and hopefully where ever he was leading would help him achieve that goal. Perhaps once he met Kojin face to face, he would be rewarded some type of blessing, something to amplify his current state of being, bring him closer to Divinity and perfection. As they made their way through this rather large shrine..."This must be the Empyrean...The name given to the ancient dwelling of Lord Kojin. I had read that it had been lost....Destroyed when the Diamond Maelstrom had came into being...Apparently that is not the case." Kagai would look around the room at all the various artworks. Statues and paintings of various kinds, all going along with the "Red and Gold" theme...."Before me, Kojin had other Seraphim, or Apostles if you will...Uriel, Gabriel, Micheal, Raphael, Chamuel, Jophiel, and Raguel. Each representing the different elements of the world...Earth, Wind, Fire, Water, Lightning, Wood and Metal. I only mention this because, along with this shrine, they disappeared. Legend has it that they were to protect the Empyrean and the secrets it holds for the whole of existence, until the day of judgment came and released Kojin's purifying flame onto the lands to burn it to the ground, so that it may rise back up and the cycle of birth, death and rebirth continues. Such is the way the world works."

As they approached another staircase, which seemed to lead up into the main hall of the shrine, the drumming within Kagai's ears would begin to pick up again. He would clutch his head, wondering what he was doing wrong. The drumming, so far, was leading him in the direction that he apparently needed to follow, and there did not seem to be any other direction he could go now but up, so why was it tormenting him now? It was then his eyes would go wide, and he turned his head up ahead of him. The statues they had been passing were now beginning to move, their feet banging loudly upon the floor as they encircled the two of them. There were seven of them, each a different color, and seemed to go along with what Kagai had mentioned earlier about the 7 Lost Seraphim. The crimson colored one would be the first to speak, the voice sounding muffled but still audible..."You." It would say, pointing towards Kagai..."You carry the mark...The Divine Spark..." It would continue, and Kagai could feel a warmth in his chest which caused him to begin to rub it unconsciously. ..."We are the Seraphim, the apostles and guardians of Lord Kojin's secrets...You are to be tested...You will join us."

In the stories that Kagai had heard and read, the Seraphim were men at one point, flesh and blood men that travelled alongside Lord Kojin to spread the word. As time went on, their physical bodies would obviously have deteriorated, making them useless in protecting the Empyrean. To a trained eye, they could see that no physical body existed within these suits of armor. If one had a particularly well-trained eye, they could see that on the inside there was a special seal. This seal acted as a catalyst, keeping the souls of the Seraphim bound to these suits of armor, allowing them access to their full power without the disadvantage of a physical body that would get tired, that would get injured, that would fade away after a very short amount of time. They were the perfect weapon, something Kagai had always wanted to be for Lord Kojin.

But, something felt different inside the mind of Kagai. Looking upon these 'creatures', he did not feel envious of them for having sworn themselves to Kojin and obtained their reward of immortality, this was not the divine power Kagai sought out, this was more like a prison...."I will....not." Kagai would say as he looked up towards the crimson colored statue, whom he figured was Uriel, the Seraphim leader..."Uriel of the Crimson Flame, I refuse your offer. You are no longer men, you are toys....nay....abominations.....and I will never become like you." Kagai said, the drumming in his head beginning to cause him even more pain, though he was fighting it off as best he could...."YOU DARE REFUSE THAT WHICH LORD KOJIN WOULD GIFT TO YOU?! WE ARE PERFECT! WE ARE IMMORTAL!" Uriel would scream in his monstrous voice as the temperature in the room would seem to increase. The other statues, whom had remained silent through this whole ordeal, would begin to draw out their weapons.

From out of Uriel's hand, a sword of fire would spring forwards. From Gabriel, the cobalt blue statue, whose chosen element was Water, a chain weapon would spring into being. Michael, the golden statue, a spear that sparked with electricity. Raphael, the brown statue, would spawn forth a great hammer. Chamuel, the green statue, would bring out a pair of curved daggers . Jophiel, the grey-metallic statue, would spawn forth an Axe, and Raguel, the light green statue, would bring out a whip.

Kagai looked around at their adversaries, backing up so that Bruinetto was directly behind him..."Well...." He would say, a small laugh escaping his lips followed by a smirk..."Seems we are surrounded, and I think I pissed them off..." Smoke would begin to slowly rise up from his body, starting from the corners of his eyes, his forehead, and the rest of his exposed skin before his body became enveloped with golden fire.

[MFT]

WC - 1063

 

[Jenosaido Bruinetto]

Well this was certainly an interesting scenario. The two of them were not outnumbered by what appeared to be suits of armor. While it was easy to perceive that there really were no actual bodies stuck inside of them he would still activate his Sharingan regardless. As his eyes transformed to reveal his blood inheritance he would take a good look at one of the bodies of armor. These beings had a rather strange chakra circulatory system so it made him wonder if he could actually use genjutsu on them at all. Perhaps that was something he could test out at some point in this battle. However there was something else that he was attempting to discern while analyzing their opponents. It seemed that the core of their chakra circulatory system instead of being their “head” was a part of their body which was beneath the armor. It was probably the more armored part of themselves and for a good reason if it was what housed the seal which bound them to the armor. “It's not that they are mad. They are disappointed. I think they want to ground you.. about six feet under ground if I had to guess.”

Now that his quip was out of the way it was time for something more informative. “The seal they have on the inside of their armor. I am going on a limb to say that since it is a visible seal we could use that to our advantage. If we are to separate that part of the armor from the rest I have few theories that works out from that. Firstly, it could destroy the seal and the chakra will be released thus ensuring defeat. Secondly, it could just destroy the bond the chakra has to a physical body as a whole and they would not be able to physically move. My third theory though, is a big risk. If they are released from the body and they can still cast jutsu, I am not sure how we would fight them. It may just need to be the chance we need to take in order to seal a victory.”

Pulling out an item scroll he began rolled it out in front of him and placed his hands into a seal which resulted in a plethora of projectiles emerging. These saw-blade like projectiles would begin to fly up into the air as they would take the form of a large steel dragon. Kagai should remember this creation before from the last time the two of them fought back at the Toraono Dojo. It was now going to be an ally to their cause in this instance. Bruinetto was going to try and do all he could to even the odds in this scenario. He was certain that these “guardians” weren't going to just fight them one on one so he was gonna have to try and attack multiples of them at the same time, however he could also force some of them off into their own section of the battle field.

Pressing his hands together he formed a slew of hand seals he would create a circular motion over the top of his head. Off in the distance fire would begin to materialize out of thin air and would follow the motions of his hand and would create a ring of flame. Spreading out the range of this technique he would enable this technique to trap three of their opponents. It may not keep them out forever, but it would further even the odds in their favor. The three that he decided to place in check was the following: Gabriel who represented water, Michael who represented Lightning, and Raphael who he presumed represented Earth. He figured those elements may be the ones who would give them the most trouble. Especially the water wielding Gabriel as the two of them were primarily fire types. With four of them still around, the odds were not quite in their favor just yet.

Staring on over towards Uriel, he would make “eye contact” with this strange creature as he would begin to make his attempt at conjuring up a genjutsu. While it was hard at first, considering he knew where the conciousness of the these individuals were based on their chakra flow all he had to do was manipulate that in order to get a feel over their senses. They more than likely still had some senses to them, they just had different physical bodies which provided them a form of “immortality”. To the mind of Uriel a strange occurrence would unfold as a cross made of Obsidian would spawn forth from behind him. Chains would lash out and grab ahold of Uriel confining him and binding him to the cross. With him being bound by this illusion the playing field was now down to only three for the time being.

His steel dragon would take flight as it would lunge through the air like a battering ram intending on striking Jophiel. This massive creature quickly clearing the distance in order to reach it's target. While this man had no flesh and no capability to bleed it would still have some sense of pain left behind. The dragon would occupy Jophiel. Just how would this clashing of steel end up? Considering that the element of Jophiel was metal hopefully this did not mean it had the ability to manipulate the element. That could make things quite troublesome for the steel dragon considering what it was made up of. Only time will tell and Bruinetto would adapt his strategies as time went on.

Bruinetto was going to have Kagai deal with Chamuel who was more than likely the wind elemental. Kagai was far better at fire type jutsu than he was and would have the elemental advantage in this situation. It was one who he could take on much easier due to that advantage and if Chamuel relied on that kind of jutsu that should be an easy battle to win. So that would leave with the final target of Raguel. Utilizing another scroll Bruinetto would jump up into the air opening up the scroll as it would cause a large burst of smoke. This large burst of smoke would begin to rain out saw blades which were packed close together forming a large orb of projectiles. With a snap the projectiles would be engulfed with flames as he channeled his natural affinity. What better way to deal with a wood elemental than flame? Only he could start forest fires...

WC: 1134

 

[Kagai]

"Fighting ghosts....Now that would be just a bit much for me.." He would say in response to his accomplices words, watching as he erected a wall of fire to encase Gabriel, Michael and Raphael, the three which would probably offer the most trouble. While the encasement wouldn't last, it would be amped up by the jutsu Kagai had utilized, that being the Heat Wave jutsu. It would increase the effectiveness of the barrier, giving them that much more time, or at least that was the hope. The clang and ringing of metal would echo through the room as Bruinetto also brought that damnable metallic dragon onto the battlefield, memories of when he had gone up against it ringing off in his head.

It was true, these Seraphim were able to be affected by Genjutsu, though they would have to be extremely high ranked and affect multiple senses. With a normal person, in a normal body, you can pick and choose which sense to affect, but seeing as these special seals essentially combined all of these aspects, that would be the only method of attack. Uriel would look down as the small plant would spring up at his feet, and then quickly wrap around his entire body, binding him in place. He would try to move his arms, and legs, believing this to be some type of Wood ninjutsu, or plant ninjutsu, and with him unable to form handseals he would be unable to conjure up any ninjutsu, at least for the moment.

The steel dragon would then take flight towards Jophiel, whom would bring up his Ax to answer the beast as it rammed into him. The blade of his ax would meet the beast head on, and the force of the clash would send Jophiel skidding backwards, his feet digging into the stone ground and kicking up dust and debris as he is forced back. With Jophiel's element being Metal, this allowed him to have incredible strength and endurance in life which carried on into his current form. After a few dozen feet of skidding, he would finally match the beast in strength and halt both of their movements, angling himself just right to essentially deflect the beast away diagonally, allowing himself to roll out of the way as the beast would then crash into the nearby wall.

Kagai would look towards Chamuel, whom was spinning his daggers around within his palms, lowering himself down into a stance..."You will pay for your insolence, Kagai." Chamuel would say in his strange, distorted voice. He would then quickly vanish from sight, leaving behind a gust of wind that would blow towards Kagai. The priests eyes would widen a bit, unable to follow where Chamuel had gone. Either by skill, or blind luck, Kagai caught a glimpse of the edge of his blade coming towards him out of the corner of his eye, causing him to roll away to the side, just barely dodging the slice. As he kicked up to his feet, a sharp pain, followed by a warm liquid sensation would strike down his cheek, which had been shielded by the flames. The wind chakra that Chamuel was placing into his daggers had extended the blade and allowed him to draw first blood against Kagai, whom was smiling as the wound on his face was already healing..."This ought to be fun..." And with that, Kagai would place his hands into a few hand seals, inhaling deeply as he cupped his hand in front of his face and blew all the air out from his lungs through it. The result would be a large, golden dragon of fire to fly towards Chamuel, whom stood there looking rather unimpressed, then again he had no actual facial features to speak of, so there was that. The dragon would strike into the spot where Chamuel had been, taking on the appearance that it had been a direct hit as the resulting explosion left nothing behind but a large, smoldering crater. Thinking it had hit, Kagai laughed and spat upon the ground as he wiped some of the now dried blood off of his cheek, only to feel a sharp stab within his side, just below his ribs. His eyes went wide as he turned to see Chamuel there, dagger buried into him..."You need to be faster than that, boy.." Chamuel would say as he pulled his dagger out from Kagai's side and lept back, putting some distance between them. Kagai would grit his teeth in pain as he fought it back, turning to face Chamuel again..."And that is why they call him Chamuel The Swift..." He would mumble, knowing he had his work cut out for him now.

Raguel would crack his whip within the air a few times, apparently attempting to intimidate Bruinetto, though that was not the case so much, and remained still as he watched the boy bring out his projectiles. It seemed that he thought to use the normal things that were used to take down trees...Saw-like projectiles, and fire. Predictable, but not a dumb move. One should open up with the most obvious of solutions first. Chamuel would then snap his whip forward and proceed to spin it around rapidly before him. The tip of the whip would begin to splinter off, taking on a Cat o'Nine Tails look to it as he spun it around, it acting like a shield as the flames upon the projectiles would be extinguished as they approached the center, it acting like a vacuum and making the center without oxygen, and then the projectiles would be struck by the whip and knocked off course, spreading across the area harmlessly. With that, Chamuel would raise his leg up into the air and dig it down through the stone floor. After a second, it would rise up underneath Bruinetto, aimed towards the bottom of his chin.

[MFT]

WC - 981

 

[Jenosaido Bruinetto]

It seems that Bruinetto's means of keeping four out of these seven individuals out of the battle was working quite well. He was going to do the best he could in order to maintain these techniques. There were ways around an illusionary bind however so long as another one of these Apostles didn't come to his aid it was going to be difficult for him to get out of it on his own accord. With the ring of fire still in tact he needed to make sure that they used this time wisely and at least eradicated one of these foes while they had the ample opportunity to do so.

When Jophiel attempted to strike with his axe against the flying Steel Dragon as if by reflexive the dragon responded. Springing its mouth open it would release an array of projectiles to counter the attack flying towards it. While some of them would be deflected by the strength of his attack what wasn't deflected would be taken head on by Jophiel. Being bombarded by these projectiles it would surely offset him as the Dragon would follow through with a second attack with its mighty tail. Spinning around and gaining momentum with the strike it would aim to smash over the top of Jophiel driving him down into the ground. While the Steel Dragon would more than likely be unable to defeat Jophiel in a one on one battle, he was merely a diversion attempting to nickle and dime him softening him up when it became his turn to become a target to either Bruinetto or Kagai.

The methods of Raguel seemed sound, however he was underestimating the power of his technique. The fire was only an added bit of flare at the end to throw in some extra damage on top of his attack. The Twin Rising Dragon technique allowing the simultaneous use of his projectile techniques while being softened by his defensive measures would surely managed to pierce slightly through his defenses albeit weakened. This wasn't a problem as the projectiles that seemed to be harmlessly laying around him would also serve their own purpose. Hidden within these projectiles there were explosive notes primed and ready for activation. As Raguel made his move to attack Bruinetto, as flora emerged from the ground he would hop backwards evading the range of the attack before placing his hands together making the form of a hand seal. The hand seal would cause the projectiles that were surrounding Raguel to explode surrounding him in a powerful concussive blast. An attack like this was a one two punch, as expected from the forward thinking of Bruinetto. His mind envisioning the battle like that of a game of chess. Each move that he made, was part of an over arcing series of moves that had an ultimate goal in mind.

With the chaos of the explosions going off once again Bruinetto would make use of his Twin Rising Dragon technique, however it was not going to be as much flare behind the attack this time. He was only going to be using two projectiles, but that was all he needed in this situation. Channeling kinetic chakra through this attack he was going to augment the throwing force of the attack far beyond his natural strength as he released it from his grip. These two attacks were both aimed for the seal on Raguel. Each of these had an explosive note attached to them. His motive with the attack was merely to get the projectiles stuck in a relatively close area and upon activating the explosive notes he would be able to blow off that part of the armor separating it from the body. By doing this he could see if his hypothesis on how this sealing technique worked was correct. If this was true, they had a much better chance of dispatching their foes. His Sharingan would help him further calculate the trajectory of such an attack, but it had already transformed into its heightened form. By revealing his Mangekyou Sharingan he was taking this battle absolutely serious.

[MFT]
WC: 683

 

[Kagai]

Was it because of the skill that the other Serephim, these Apostles of Kojin, remained behind the barrier? Or were they simply biding their time and waiting? Whatever the case may be, Uriel remained trapped within the Genjutsu cast by the young Uchiha, and the ring of flame that encased Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael would remain intact with neither making a move.

Raguel did not anticipate such a maneuver, having overlooked the possibility of the projectiles being laced with some other purpose other than their main intention. Perhaps their long years within the shrine had caused them to go 'rusty' to coy a phrase, either way, Raguel would have no time to react as the explosions engulfed them within their fiery, concussion midst. The concussive force of the blasts would cause his 'wooden' body to splinter and crack, pieces flying every which way. Some of the pieces would be burned to ashes as they flew through the fiery cloud, others would scatter across the ground, appearing to be harmless splinters of Raguel's former self. What odd about all this was that the limb Raguel had sent into the floor would remain, set aflame by the explosions but still holding strong.

It was then things took a turn for the strange. The limb would appear to shrink by down to size and take the shape of a thinner, taller version of Raguel, and the splinters which had been scattered around by the explosion, which had not been engulfed in the flames, would appear to take on a life of their own as well. With the shards and splinters varying in size, they would also create smaller versions of Raguel. The smaller splinters would appear to 'meld' with each other, creating larger versions, just as some would meld with the tall, thinner version to 'thicken' him up. By the end of this process, there would stand about four Raguel's before the young Uchiha, slightly smaller of course, but still dangerous. One of the 'clones' would send a punch towards Bruinetto, the limb stretching out towards him rapidly, and the one beside it would do the same with the opposite limb. A third 'clone' would hop up into the air and slam both of its legs down onto the ground, having them pop up under Bruinetto as one massive trunk, as the final 'clone' would begin to form handseals and then slams his hands down onto the ground. The earth beneath Bruinetto would give way and in its wake would form a pit of sharpened wooden spikes, with the idea that the barrage from all angles would take the Uchiha off guard and knock him down into the pit.

Jophiel would be rather staggered by the sudden explosion of projectiles shot out from this dragons mouth. The projectiles would do minimal damage, but would hit with enough force to make Jophiel have to stand his ground and not move, which would not be the best of things as of now seeing as the steel dragon was doubling down with its attacks and striking above with its gigantic tail. Jophiel would notice this, but be unable to dodge, though he wasn't the most agile to be fair, and he most likely would of tanked the blow anyways, but the fact it was hitting him when he was ill-prepared would be the cause of most of the damage. When the tail struck, there would be a shockwave that'd flow across the floor, kicking up dust and small bits of debris from the impact as Jophiel stood there, heavily dented from both the tail and projectiles, but still appearing no worse for the ware. He would then begin to concentrate a massive amount of chakra into his Axe, causing it to glow off-blue in color, and with a mighty swing he would send out a wave of pure chakra towards the dragon in an attempt to tear it asunder.



Kagai was having his own problems Chamuel. While his attacks weren't all that damaging, they were adding up because of his speed, with Kagai barely being able to keep up with him to land a good hit, and using ninjutsu would be a waste of chakra at this point because there was no guarantee that he'd hit him. He would just have to wait for him to make a mistake, and in the mean time, dodge and distract him as much as possible. With a few handseals, Kagai would spawn a few normal clones along the sides of him and they would all dash off in a triangular formation. He knew full-well that they'd get picked off rather quick, assuming the technique even fooled Chamuel, but it was the best he could think of at the moment. And right then, one of the clones would poof from existence, the one that had ran down the center. Both Kage and his remaining clone were keeping an eye out for where Chamuel could be, there had to be some method or pattern to his attacks, no technique was flawless. Kagai would keep his eye fixed on the final clone, hoping that Chamuel went for the bait, and luckily he did and the clone would poof into smoke, but not without first giving Kagai a little bit of insight into what he was doing.

From what Kagai could see, it wasn't so much speed that was causing him to disappear. While he was fast, he wasn't that fast, and apparently it was the use of the basic Transformation jutsu to blend him in with the surroundings, but constantly going on and off so as to match the ever-changing scenery as he ran across the field. While his opponents were distracted by the fact that he had disappeared, and then were cut not long after, gave the illusion that he was travelling faster than the eye could see. And this was vital information for the priest, as he now knew of a way to beat him. His hands would go off in a flurry of handseals as the golden mantle of flame around his body began to slightly fade, due to the amount of chakra he was pumping into this technique, or pair of techniques he should say. When he was ready, Kagai would swipe one hand in one direction of him, forming a cone effect with the Scorced Land jutsu, and would do the same on his opposing side, creating a 360 degree attack around his body, as he had assumed that Chamuel would be coming for him next.

The attacks would work as he had hoped, causing Chamuel to slip up and have to cancel his motions in order to dodge the devastating attack as it surged towards him, giving Kagai the slight window he needed to go on the offensive. When Chamuel had successfully dodged, Kagai would already be upon him with fiery first pulled back to strike, landing it straight in the Seraphim's jaw. With his other arm, he would quickly bring it into his solar plexus, and then lead into another right hook to his face, ending with a spinning backhand that would send Chamuel skidding across the ground...."I know your tricks now, Chamuel. Nothing but smoke and mirrors." Kagai would say proudly, while Chamuel would laugh as he got back to his feet..."Boy, you haven't the slightest inkling of what I am capable of...Just didn't see the point in using my -real- strength if I could take you out like I could any other common cur."

[MFT]

WC - 1,251

 

[Jenosaido Bruinetto]

The Steel Dragon was merely a tool for distraction here in this case as it was attempting to go toe to toe with Jophiel. While it may have managed to do some damage to him, it wasn't going to be enough to take it down in the end. Jophiel looming forth with a mighty attack with his axe would attempt to cleave right through it. As Jophiel struck the body of the dragon it would explode into a volley of projectiles sending an array of concussive orbs against. Individually they often would be a minor inconvenience but in greater numbers they would prove to be very effective. The dragon after exploding would appear looming behind Jophiel was only trying to further bide it's time. It wasn't going to be around much longer with the extent of the damage it had been taking and the power it had been using. It's resources were very limited and within the next strike Jophiel would be ending it's reign.

Meanwhile, Bruinetto was still having trouble with his own opponent. Raguel was proving to be more resourceful than he initially anticipated. He never figured that this was going to be an easy battle, however he didn't expect the resilience that he was facing. Even after managing to do damage against him what he saw next wasn't really expected. As his opponent broke a part and splintered those broken parts would begin to form additional forms of Raguel. Coming together they would form additional versions of him which to what Bruinetto figured would be some sort of damage induced clone based jutsu. Even if his opponent was multiplying, that wasn't going to deter Bruinetto. He figured that each individual creation was weaker than the origin, or in the best case scenario that each creation detracted from the original. Regardless of the case he was more than capable of focusing on multiple foes. It may take him a moment to attack them all, but for now he would be on the defensive.

Two of the Raguel charged him head on and by reflex winds would begin to revolve around his body. A third Raguel focusing his limbs through the ground and looking for an attack from below and the fourth co-ordinating with the attacks with a trapping technique. Despite their co-ordination the powerful winds would alter the trajectory of attacks heading his way giving him further opportunity to dodge them outright. So much visual input was happening at once as his only method of escape he could decipher through it all was to jump upwards. Kicking off from the ground he would manage to evade the attacks of the two charging Raguel but the kicking attacks from the ground managed to partially glance over him. The damage was small but in a battle against an overwhelming amount of opponents any small opportunity they got could quickly snowball out of control. Bruinetto wanted to end all of this as fast as he could.

Glancing towards what he believed to be the original Raguel the swirling Sharingan eyes would project a genjutsu through them. While it's effects would not be sensed initially, they would be channeled through all of the clones as they are extensions of the user. Still high in the air Bruinetto would finish off his hand seals as he uttered the words, “Katon – Karyuu Endance [Fire Release – Dragon Flame Bomb]” Utilizing his specialty over fire style jutsu he would spread out the effect of the technique as four flaming dragon heads would emerge as the form of a hydra. An explosive and paralyzing sound would echo through the underground cavern only heard by Raguel. This would disrupt the perception of Raguel as they were also slightly blinded by the intensity of the burning flames. Each head would choose a separate target and clash against them head on. Bruinetto hoped that only the original would remain as he slowly descended back towards the ground at the ready for defensive measures as he prepared his hands for a follow up support technique.