The Steward approached the site of his task. The edge of Project Rebirth. There were reports of corruption. He did not take it in a literal sense, but here it was. The diamond sands were being affected. While the worst of it was the storm, this was something most strange. The colour of sand would turn from white to a pinkish colour to a red. The Steward and his team of Mako, Blade, Destroyer, Gunslinger, Treeborn would head out and into this devilment. As the approached the corruption the heat was rising rapidly. Sousuke had grown used to the surface, but this in itself was not pleasant by any stretch of the imagination. As the approached the corruption they would find men and women in chains tearing away at the land, harvesting what seemed to be diamond sand ... or perhaps more aptly now ruby sand?
"Slaves."<i></i> Mako muttered to herself. The chains and the sounds of whips being cracked were unsettling. Under the reign of the Kazekage Hiro, slavery was a punishable offense. Unfortunately it had seemed this rule had seemed to have vanished entirely. Seemingly the owners of the whips were not quite men, but were seemingly fiendish of those in nature. Ancients? No. These entities carried with themselves a different sense of power very different of that from Mikaboshi. The maestro of the Steward had a particular old feeling of power something that felt ... well, it was not sickly or fiendish like this.
"Keep down grandmother."<i></i> Sousuke warned. The Steward rubbed his temples. He observed the qualities of the whipmasters. Beast-like in nature. Somewhat bullish? It was something akin to what Kuro had brought to the table in the feel of that power. Something animalistic, but not quite tamed. The Steward watched as the whipmasters brought down living flames upon the poor individuals. Demanding them to work harder and faster to harvest this experimental ruby sand? Sousuke motioned for his team to move forward. He had seen enough of this. The time to strike had come. The Steward with blade in hand led the attack. Cutting down foes who bled not red but violet strangely and relieving men and women of their chains.
The attack at first was strategic. The furred Gunslinger shooting down foes with dual elemental pistols, and Blade slicing through them while continually cloaking back into the surroundings. Treeborn covering the escape of the men and women. Sousuke and Destroyer took to the frontlines of dealing with the Masters of animalistic qualities. Destroyer tore into them literally with Axe and hand. The heat of battle was consuming, and was very increasing to unbearable levels. An inferno began to rage as fire seemingly began to fill their surroundings turning ruby sand to glass. With a mighty stomp a forerunner of these vile masters made his presence known. Sousuke and the Destroyer stood back to back. The size difference between the two was great. The Destroyer a man of great muscular size, and the Steward a small but tested man. The Destroyer let loose a guffing laugh as he charged without thought he took to the Grand Master with axe in hand cutting and hacking. Sousuke took after his ally seeing as how Destroyer's pride in the past had gotten the best of him. The smell of their foe changed as his features grew more and more bestial. The Steward began to grow mindful that their foe was maybe demonic in origin.
As the battle raged on with whips and blades, the heat continued to rise and rage on. In time Sousuke grew mindful of his surroundings realizing he was battling in a ring of fire. The heat of which was beginning to sap his strength and seemingly that of the Destroyer. Sousuke and the Destroyer were seperated from their allies who continued to clear out lesser ... fiends now was it? This heat was making the Steward delirious. Horns? Hooves? No. Demons were... was it possible? He had considered it earlier, but here it was now. A resounding crack was heard as the Destroyer fell, his axe ringing as it hit the ground. The Steward was on the defensive now. He kicked off the ground and formed hand seals. He entombed the Destroyer in a case of Takahashi steel, more hand seals later and a metallic golem was formed. The created entity grabbed the tomb enclosing the Destroyer and made a run for it. Seemingly the Grand Master seemed to grow most interested in what was before him. Not the tomb or the golem that was retreating, but the creator. With that he made his focused assault on the Steward and had brought his whips down upon him. The Steward was subjected to hellish heat and lost consciousness.
***
The Steward would awake to himself being surrounded by ghoulish creatures in shadows seemingly. Not the Shadows of Mikaboshi. Darkness of a simpler sort. Most of these ghoulish creatures were rubbing their hands together. The Steward took note that his arm was missing, and his eyes only widened as he realized his arm was broken apart. Most disturbing was the fact that the fingers were being used as toothpick by the monstrosity before him. Large and bloated he was, perhaps a creature that delighted in the sins of the old religion. "Curious." The bloated demonic (or so Sousuke would describe him as) spoke. "Slaves are one thing, but a man of resources are even better. Takahashi Steel. Took Grandmaster several hours to work down on breaking down the arm and removing it section by section. Can't seem to destroy it though. The purple hair is a giveaway. A Masashi of Sungakure... Curious. The Steel is only of the House of the Steward. I had heard of a great battle there. Sunagakure seemingly have won. A good penny of ransom is what you're worth. Though I suspect your metal is worth more once we figure out how it ticks." For all intents and purposes Sousuke cared not for what this sinful creature was, or how he was named.
Sinworth for what Sousuke would refer to him as would have the Steward brought before him. The demonic entity would reach forward and lift Sousuke by the throat. A sickening feeling came over him as he felt something being taken from him, and not by his own permission. Sinworth held his hand above the Steward's face and began to pull on something. His soul? No. Sinworth smiled as he claimed his prize. Silver in colour it was as it was being drained from the Steward. "Metal in your bones. Always a good place to hide the secrets. The soul is far too common. The bones though, most ingenious." Sousuke screamed not physically but mentally as he was being drained of his family's greatest asset. The fiend was right though. Sousuke had his metal in his flesh, but deeper again in the utmost truth being his bones. A silver orb consisting of liquid Takahashi Fire Forged Steel was being held high above Sousuke a sense of weakness coming forward. "Excellent." Sinworth spoke as he held his two prizes. His grasp burned the Steward as he could feel his skin char. With a malice Sinworth dropped Sousuke with a sickening thud. The Steward was most certain he broken something. Sinworth's attention was elsewhere now, the eyes were now exhanged with the Grand Master from before. The two speaking in a dialect Sousuke having some difficulty in understanding. What he overheard was they were being attacked again. This time there was a woman leading the team with a flaming skull cursing as she set their legions aflame in black. Sousuke did not doubt this was his grandmother as her worst.
Sinworth merely shook his head and then washed himself in the orb. He allowed his prize to coat his body, but with it was something Sousuke had kept mum on. The fact that ultimately the Takahashi steel was his body was host to was corroding due to sandworm acid. He observed as his foe began to take on his attributes of a finer defense, but with it there were flaws that were known by the Steward. Grandmaster had left the room to attend to this mess while Sinworth had to attend to his new boon.
Sousuke breathed deeply trying to catch himself. Sinworth would have to be stopped here naturally. Takahashi fire-forged steel had its weaknesses during the cooling process. Luckily for him, Sinworth was a being of fire. Sousuke gathered what chakra he could and blasted Sinworth with a palm blast. The heat was not hellish but it was enough to tamper with Sinworth's design melting it. He had blasted Sinworth in the face and in that moment the fiend was blinded. Sousuke would find himself on his feet it was his ever critical mind hellbent on pushing the foe's weakness. Sousuke's vision would turn red as all sorts of weak points became available to him. While humanoid in appearance, Sousuke would assume that this body very much obeyed the functions of one as well. Awkwardly he found himself with the Black Blade in hand and the weapon in its transformed state. Sousuke's mind raced about as he watched Sinworth stumble for a moment, the great fiend did not seem to take well to this attack. He was heavy set, his legs were a weak point, one which Sousuke readily took advantage of relieving the fiend of his stubby legs. More and more was he pushing himself to cut down this fiend with blade and plasma. He cut down the body, removed limbs, and did so with a surgical mind. This was a cancer not only to himself, but to the realm. Slavery under Hiro was punishable by death. The law of the Kazekage would stand. His mind moving forward and pushing his body to move despite the pain. The harder he pushed the attack, the more and more he saw the weaknesses and the more he pursued them... until of course Sinworth was a head in the Steward's now bloodied hands.
The mind ever so sharp, and the flesh while weak obeyed. That was all that was needed. Again a darkness took hold of Sousuke. He had pushed himself to his limits, and finally the rest he had been owed since the Cabal invasion was forced upon him. It was a blur but Sousuke awoke from time to time and found himself being carried by the Destroyer and by other times Treeborn. The laughter of Destroyer in the air, and boasts about how a little man had bested the flames of the devil? Gunslinger and Mako arguing back and forth. Words about how the slaves were freed and some of them residing in Sungakure until they reached their feet again. There were murmurs too of a lack of hair and how very much Sousuke began to look like his father.