The news, following the craziness at the bakery, began to spread forth to the reaches of those that wished to fight and return Suna back to its sanity. One of those pieces of information circulating was of bombs that were littered about high priority locations. It was not out of the stretch of the imagination to believe that one of those bombs could be found within the Desert Crown. This place was one of the prime targets, within Roku's mind, as it signified what these anarchist wanted to punish. The people within the Crown were viewed as the aristocrats, the ones of wealth and luxury, and those comfortable in the current arrangements. If the Cabal wished to shake Suna back into its harsh mindset, this Crown had to be torn down. Those that lived off the livelihood of others, and benefited with profits, had to be flipped out of their luxury and into the harsh world the Cabal wanted.
If there were bombs, like originally stated, then this would be one of the targets. It had to be. The problem would be finding the bomb, or bombs. In order to do this, Roku, in his Kasha guise, had to take to the streets. The more of the news of the Suna shinobi were fighting back, the more allies seemed to emerge on the streets. Roku planned to use this turning in the tide to catch a glimpse of anything that might be suspicious. If the bombs were to be the Cabal's trump card then they had to be somewhere effective and somewhere guarded. Had someone stumbled upon one and set it off, the explosion would still play in their favor, however, should someone stumble upon it and disarm it then it would be a large disadvantage for them. They had to have it guarded, so it wasn't so much finding the bomb as it was finding the guard.
The Kasha began to make contact with his street informants, a random assortment of different kinds of Sunan he had either helped or spared over the course of his adventure thus far. Yes, some were individuals that had turned to embrace this madness, but showed their intentions could be swayed back to good with the proper motivation (breaking bones). These people would listen to his request and then set out to find information for him. Their mission was much easier then his; his appearance was known and would scare away the filth within this world, but they were faceless individuals wondering around in the maddening scene. They could see, talk to and visit people and places he just could not. So he would wait.
His hounds, while taking some time, would eventually return with enough clues that everything would become clear. There was a bomb, or at least something important, hidden away in a portion of the Crown. Within the Diamond District, the residential district of this luxurious area, was building that stood in the centered of living areas. This central building is where the small peace keepers force was maintained, a force of trained individuals that helped maintain the Diamond District, both from criminals and from those undeserving to be within these confines. This police force, unsurprisingly, was some of the first killed or some of the first to escape within the Crown. Their building, however, seemed to still have someone within it. The person, wearing a cloak, routinely, almost at an exact interval of times, would walk the perimeter of the building before disappearing back within. If people got close the building the figure would not emerge; he would only leave at those nearly scheduled times.
The building was in the heart of the Diamond District, which in turn was the heart of the Desert Crown. A bomb of a small scale would cause damage to a majority of the property within the district, a bomb of large scale would assure the eradication of the Diamond District. This bomb, or at least the suspicion of the bomb, had to be investigated and handled if necessary.
He would cautiously, under the guise of night, make his way towards the center. He did not know the location of the bomb that might lie within this building so he was going to need to scout all of it, disarm the guard and then disarm the bomb. That simple, right?
His body maneuvered through the darkness with all the skills he had learned as a member of the ANBU, but a few feet away from the wall he would be greeted. Crashing out of the window would come a miniature bomb that would quickly erupted in a fiery blast. The force of the blast would knock the Kasha back, who had luckily managed to get his arms up to shield from the explosion.
How the hell? His patrol should have ended five minutes ago and should not have returned outside until three hours from now. How did he know?
The thoughts began to process through his mind as he scrambled back up to his feet. Without hesitation his frame would dart upwards, using his full strength to push him to the roof. Upon landing on the roof a sharp blade would protrude upwards, aimed at his manhood, causing him to roll his body, landing on the ground away from the blade. This reprieve would not last as another blade would emerge, causing his body to roll on the ground. The more he rolled the more blades would pop up, which meant he could not stop. Was this a booby trap already in place or was the guard down below trying to impale him, it was hard to tell.
Pushing off the ground, Kasha would snap back to his feet and his eyes would begin to scan around the rooftop. The holes made by the swords, which passed through the stone with disturbing ease, would quickly bring forth a new challenge. From each hole would rise an explosive note. Letting out a frustrated sigh, Kasha would take off at full sprint and leap from the rooftop, or at least that was the plan. As he began to run a hold was punched from under him catching his foot. He would now be stranded as the roof was consumed by a series of small explosions. The roof would give way and the body of the masked fighter would go tumbling down inside the building. With a thud he would his the floor as debris rained down upon him.
He was buried and his mind was jarred. He tried to get a grasp on everything so he could pull himself out, but this was interrupted by a hand that would grasp and pull him out, so sort of what he was hoping to have accomplished. The hand clenched his throat, ripped him from the pile of rubble and sent him flying across the air and into the nearest wall. Once more his body would drop and ring forth another thud. His eyes would glance up from his prone position and catch a glimpse of the one who had freed him from his burial. The man was cloaked, like the info said he was. He was tall but not as tall as Kasha. His physique was lean but from all his displays thus far it was easy to discern he was stronger than his appeared.
"You must be the one that has sent those rats wondering about this area."
It seemed he hounds were not as unnoticed as he had originally thought.
"I was waiting for someone, whoever was leading them, to make their move. Finally, you've appeared."
The figure would ripped the cloak from him. The appearance before him was a man with long black hair, constricted in a tight ponytail. His features were lean and muscular. His attire was solid white with some symbols he had not seen before and his face was cold. The only other thing to not about this man was his eyes, which were as white as his attire.
"I am a mercenary, and I was beginning to think my talents were being wasted on this job. I have waited a long time for someone to come here and try to disarm the bomb."
Verification that Kasha needed. It was good, and troubling, that this man so carelessly opened up about this information. It was like it didn't matter that Kasha knew there was a bomb there or not. It was then that he realized why.
"You are that confident you will kill me that you will openly admit you are here with a bomb?"
"I do not see the harm in a dead man knowing any secret. They are the only ones who tend to hold those secrets anyways."
He did seem to have Kasha figured out at this moment. Every time he tried to do something this man was ready to attack, or already attacking.
"I will also do you one better... this bomb is not the only one. There are small bombs, connected to this 'heart', that will detonate if this bomb is disarmed before them."
Well that was not promising news. It was at least good to know this info, and if it were true it would mean that there were something that would connect these bombs to this hub, so all he had to do was take this location and then he could shut down all the bombs in this area.
"I hope you don't regret that later..."
Kasha pushed himself up off the ground and darted forward at a blinding speed, unleashing a volley of punches. The man before him began to dodge that volley with the same amount of impressive speed. The veins around the eyes of this man were constricted and emerged from the skin, a detail about his face he had missed from his previous scan of the figure. It was a rather nasty looking appearance, but despite his unpleasant eyes he seemed to dodge the attack fairly easily. Kasha pulled off on his offense, but the man would open up his own charge. It was like the man noticed his body relax momentarily and quickly kicked into attack mode. Without hesitation the figure struck him eight times, each strike feeling like a needle piercing into his body, and at the final strike his body would be pushed backwards with great force. The style of this man was flawless, he was a taijutsu user.
Outwardly there were no real identifying marks from that last attack, just the signs of the explosions earlier, but within Kasha he could feel the pain of being stabbed repeatedly. Just what the hell was his man?
"You don't seem very skilled in chakra, your reserve appears very low within your body. Your muslces, on the other hand, have been trained at great lengths. You have a beautiful body, one of a man that has devoted much of his life to the craft of taijutsu. I can support that, and even admire what you've built. It is a shame you are the one to come to my location. A tai fighter, a close range specialist, stands no chance against me."
Well that was pretty ego deflating. His words seemed to be very well supported by his actions. The man once more slid into a very distinct stance, one he had not seen before, and prepared to unleash his next wave of attacks. Before Kasha could catch his breath, the man would quickly appear before him once more and unleash another series of strikes, this time just five, that seemed to hit much harder than the first set. The first wave were meant to feel like needles but this attack was meant to feel like being bludgeon by iron. His skin did not show the damage that had been done within his body, but he could feel the tearing, the breaking and bleeding. This was growing more dim by the minute. He needed to buy some time.
He began to kneed chakra within his body as he prepared to summon a mud clone to help give him some cover.
"Making a clone is not very effective against me."
Kasha would freeze in terror as he had been read. Before he could process this moment accurately, the figure would appear before him once more and send his open palm up to his face. The palm did not connect but a great force would slam into the face of Kasha and send his body flying backwards. This man was skilled, his attacks didn't need to land to cause damage. Things were not looking good.
"I can read chakra. I can see your muscles. My eyes are the divine gift of god. I can read you, regardless of what you choose to do. You cannot make a move without me being prepared in advance."
Once more this man's words would prove to be deflating, but Kasha had not lost hope yet. Letting out a sigh he pulled himself up of the ground. His masked face, which was now exposed partially thanks to the last attack, would glare towards his opponent. His one visible eye would emphasis the focus and anger boiling up in him at this time.
"You are a rather tough person, you are bleeding pretty bad internally and several ribs have been broken. For you to even stand up is a miracle. I am glad you were the one to appear before me. I can use my best attack against you without regret."
The figure began to ready himself, entering a new stance that held some similarities from the first two. Kasha knew it was time to not hold anything back. This man was fast and could see his chakra and muscle movements, it probably was tied into his eyes, so he had to wait before he made his move. Once the man launched forward Kasha would begin his counterattack. He had to attempt something he had not done before in an actual battle, the opening of one of the gates. Right before his opponent struck his first blow, Kasha would open the Gate of Wonder, a pit of chakra within the lowest portion of his body would be released sending a massive flood of chakra upwards, and send and aura of chakra bursting out from his body. The aura (Aura Burst) would act to halt the charging figure and push him back momentarily. In this opening another two gates would snap open within his body; the Gate of Viewing and the Gate of Healing. His body, now burning with the glow of chakra, would flicker out of sight and appear behind the Hyuuga. His fists would dart forward, slamming a series of punches into the back of the man. These punches, riding off the moment the gates afforded him, were also amplified by the natural talents of Roku, these punches would feel like steel bars slamming into the back of this individual.
The punches would abruptly stop as Kasha rared his arm back. Within this tiny moment the air within the building would seemed to be sucked out. Everything with completely silent as Kasha launched his right first forward. As the fist launched forward, a large amount of chakra would be released and would shape the air pressure of this attack into the form of a Tiger's head that seemed to engulf the Hyuuga. The stunned figure, who had been attack from behind this entire time, could still see the attack but was unable to react thanks to the enhancements the gates provided Kasha. The Afternoon Tiger would pierce through the back of the man, sending him hurdling forward. The impact of this single punch would send an impact shock wave booming forward, along with the crumbled body of the Hyuuga mercenary.
The man could read his moves so Kasha had to be faster, and his arrogance allowed him to believe he could finish this fight with ease, so all Kasha had to do was provide just a single opening for him to perform the attack necessary. The gates acted like a steroid, giving him the doping effect to push his body at a higher level, a level that even a man blessed with the eyes of a god would have trouble keeping up with. With the guard down Kasha was able to find the heart of the bomb in this area, which had vines stretching out from it to the other bombs within this area. Thanks to his enhanced state, his body would flicker about the Crown towards these bombs and with a surging of his own chakra he would overtake the structures and make them obsolete.
The Crown was now safe... hopefully.
WC - 2784