Freedom [Entering]

[Morishige]

Wind Country.

A place I had even thought I would have gone in my life time. Especially not back as the Gate Captain for Kumogakure. A thankless job really. But what did I expect when joining the military? This world was full of liars, and the government was the worst. A life of grandeur was what promised by recruits. "To be a famous shinobi!" they said. It would be awesome they said. We were simply tools for those in power to use. But! Who am I to complain? It was the life I chose.

Anyways, Hoshikata had left me at camp under some kind of guard. I couldn't see them but I felt their presence. And that kept me wondering. Why was he keeping me here. It was obvious that Kumogakure wasn't coming after me. Why not kill me? Or set me free? What was his play...

 

[Kairyuu]

He steps into the camp, golden eyes looking around before finding his target for the most recent violation of self. The Seer steps past his guards, spirits that were set to guard, and attack if necessary. As his staff stabs into the earth underfoot, Hoshikata begins to draw his focus into himself. With a motion he makes Zaku come to him, golden eyes peering into his own. ”Stand still.” Again that command, the same he gave so long ago when he forcefully restructured the man's face to something more fitting. And as black flames begin to lick up his arm from his outstretched palm he would smile that sickly smile to show the other he had plans today.

The hand comes down onto Zaku's face, the flames pouring in through his ears, eyes, nose and mouth. Burning into his very core. Those golden eyes flicker with excitement as the liquid fire burns through the other, then rises, swimming through veins to his brain. He closes his own eyes as he begins to focus now. Yes, right there. The flames begin to eat away, not at anything physical but instead the mental.

Once it was done he would let his arm drop, noting that the sun had traveled a good hour in his reverie.

”What's your name?”

 

[Morishige]

With obvious worry and thoughts returning to the excruciating time when he last said those words, I wanted to move. But I could not will my legs to do so. Especially when Hoshikata's sadistic smile stretched across his visage and approached me with the black flames. Thankfully, this time instead of the last, I seemed to fade in and out of consciousness as the flames licked the very essence of my mind and soul. While I remembered the feeling of being burnt alive quite vividly, those memories seemed to fade the longer and longer it progressed. Was I getting used to what was happening to me? Wait, what was happening to me?

I seemed to lose track of time as I feel into the darkness of my mind and then it was over. What was over? I came to, wobbly on my legs, reaching out with an arm to steady myself on his shoulder. He asked me what my name was; what a silly question coming from Hoshikata. Why would he ask me such a thing?

"Isaki Kenta; what was I in a coma or something?" I asked, bothered by the question. Hoshikata and I had known each other for a long time now, being the patriarch of the Isaki family. At least, that's what I believed.

 

[Kairyuu]

”Not quite, but you have been under a nasty spell of ill health. I had to make sure it hadn't caused more harm than just the physical.” He reaches around the others shoulders and pats him as an old comrade. ”Come on, let's get you some good hot food and see if we can't have you back to one hundred percent yes?” He smiles and leads his captive to the mess tent, barely able to hold back a mad cackle.

It worked. He'd used a seal to not only imprison the man, but to enter his very mind. He'd mixed the sealing jutsu with his own natural talents in the spiritual, combined them into something wholly new. The ability to enter, and tamper with, the mind of another on a far more complex level than any genjutsu. Truly altering not only their senses, but their very pattern of thinking. It was turning out to be a good day indeed for him.

 

[Morishige]

"Much appreciated." I respond with a nod of the head, looking down at my body to make sure everything seemed all right. Normally one felt some kind of fog after a sickness, but it seemed that Hoshikata had taken that away with his examination as well. And with a promise of good food, I was in high spirits. I did love food. It wasn't like a woman who would satisfy you and break your heart right after. Food was always satisfying and never hurt me!

But for some reason, I felt like I knew everything, and nothing. Perhaps the sickness had taken more of a toll than I thought. I looked about myself with a quizzical frown. "Where are we exactly? And what are we doing here?"

 

[Kairyuu]

”We're in Wind, heading towards Sand. Or I am, at least. What you do is up to you now, cousin.” Hoshikata slips into the mess tent, exiting a moment later with two bowls of steaming stew. One he hands to the man before him, a man who this morning hated his guts and now thought him family. ”I require knowledge of the other lands, or you can accompany me into Sand. Which you do is up to you, but should you decide to learn more of the world, make sure to find me again within a year and let me know what you've learned.”

The memory burn should, as far as he knew, hold for that long. After all, it was no seal, it was a change of the soul itself, of the mind, of their intertwining. Those things healing were almost impossible, but stranger things had happened. He would want to check up on Zaku every so often. He blows on his stew, a slightly spicy concoction made of bear meat of all things, and then takes a bite. ”So which will it be?”

 

[Morishige]

I took the bowl in my hands, smiling as the warmth touched my skin. I was given the option of travelling the world to garner knowledge for the Isaki, or it was to travel to Sunagakure. Naturally I would love to explore and try to learn the answers to life's greatest question. What is the purpose of life?

I smiled and ingested some stew. "I shall bring the Isaki knowledge from other lands. Thank you for your help."I said and then finally let out a deep breath. The future had endless possibilities.

[Topic Left]

 

[Kairyuu]

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