Let's Make A Deal! [Teaching Contract] [Private]

[Midori Futotta]

The beautiful and undeveloped parts of the nation are called the heartland was a perfect place to come up with his next plan. Not a lot of people came out to these parts so no one heard this ‘villain’ of sorts practicing his introduction to the people he would probably meet. “I am the watcher in the shades. From the stars I came, to the stars I shall conquer. Alone I shall stand, alone I shall prosper. Out of darkness I bring light, and always in for a glorious fight. Maru known as the princess of heart and protector of light. And his ultimate weapon Kawaii, gun of heart and protector of love!” Maru stuck a pose before finishing his awesome sounding introduction. “Kashima! Our golden rule is to remain defiant and free! With the fire of our hearts, we shall always succeed!” He exclaimed, then placed both hands on his hips to give a satisfied nod to himself on a great introduction for himself

He wasn't exactly sure if he would be getting into cloud, perhaps he should just hang around the spine of the world since that's where his new clan lived anyways. Besides he setted up a super secret hideout in the mountains, plus if he wasn't let in this time his next destination was going to be Moon Country so he could get some ANBU training in… Or maybe medical training so he could bring back the dead but he'll get to that part later. Now was time to come up with his new master plan for when he goes back to Tea Country and hopefully Kaori wouldn't be around for what he had planned. Maru withdrew from his coat, three wooden spheres and tossed them at the ground.

Poof!

Three masked Puppet Clones appeared, each one wearing a mask and each one having the same smug expression. They clicked as they stood straight to hear out the plan that Maru had. “Alright, for our latest plan on our to do list. We are going to rob the local jewelry stores around Tea Country.” He said before using a stick to draw out a map of Tea country, and guard positions. “You see we are all going to scatter here, I will take the well guarded looking museum while you guys hit up the small stores. When you take the goods make sure you store them inside of your stomach and well meet up at the docks. If none of you are back by 3:00 am, welp. Self destruct?” Each masked puppet clone said at the same time.

“Understood!”

Maru smirked. “Perfect, we need to get going by tomorrow. Let's go get us some bling!” Maru exclaimed, while him and his Maru Clones laughed. If all goes well, he could have a lot of material to make his special bullets. However, he was shouting his plans and anyone in earshot could hear him tell his plan to the world.

[Teaching Youkai Contract]

 

[Kagetsu Miyako]

The heartlands held very little value to Miyako personally. It was dull to look that, uncomfortable to travel, the type of people who lived or frequented here were often uncouth and difficult to communicate with. There was only one reason she'd ever bring herself all the way out here: herbs. Poison was a natural compliment to her nature as a puppet master and stealth expert and the heartlands were abundant with all sorts of toxins - if you knew where to look. Bloodrot, lullaby powder, black lotus. She could make all of these poisons herself with what was out there, refining them more purely than the shops back home over could.

She carefully plucked her fifteenth bright purple flower by the stem and put it in her basket when she heard a voice in the distance. Strange, this wasn't a place where people stumbled into each other like this. And the way the person was talking was just a bit bizzare even if she couldn't make out all the words. It almost sounded like... a performance? A speech? Unable to hide her curiosity she she began to slink through the shaded trees, careful to not cause too much rustling as she got closer to the source.

She heard the tail end of what she was convinced was some kind of speech rehearsal and immediately wondered what this was all about. She managed to peek through some bushes and found someone who stood out just as much as she did in this sort of place. The clothes, the mask. Who in the world was this man? She stayed perfectly silent as he pulled out the trio of wooden spheres and used them to bring up... clones? No. She made out the distinct clinks of some sort of mechanisms. Puppets? The Puppet Clone technique. How egotistical. Not to mention he was clearly insane. They were inanimate constructs, unable to do anything without the owner's control. Telling them plans was pointless.

What was interesting were the plans in question. She hadn't stumbled across just some strange Kumo ninja, she'd come across a criminal. A rogue ninja? There was a fleeting moment of worry that was quickly replaced with a steadfast conviction. A shinobi criminal. He might be dangerous but rumor had it these types had all sort of special techniques hidden up their sleeves. Jutsu frowned upon by their nation or the world at large. That kind of power could be valuable.

She took in all the factors before she made a move. He was 8 meters away. The time of day and environment were producing plenty of shadows, more than enough to reach him through. There was no sign he was with anyone else but his puppet clones. Mask meant reduced peripheral vision and locking down his movements would mean the puppets would no longer be a threat. External variables in this environment were unlikely save for wildlife. Weather looked stable, no cloud in the immediate path of the sun. All these factors were calculated swiftly before she brought her hands together and set her golden gaze firmly on her mark.

'Ninja Art: Shadow Possession Jutsu!'

The shadow she cast grew darker and more defined before shooting out like a harpoon, meeting the next shadow a few feet away. Then the next. Then the next. It began to connect from one point to the next, weaving like an intricate black spider's web as she aimed to grab onto his shadow from behind. Closer and closer she got it until finally her shadow shot from one last hiding place in his blindspot, piercing and merging with his own as she felt the connection establish. Success.

She wasted little time as she stood up out of her hiding place, letting out a boisterous laugh as she placed a hand over her mouth. "Hehehehe. Criminals like you shouldn't go around saying such bad things unless you want to get caught. Of course given how easy you made this maybe that was the case. Or perhaps you're just that incompetent~." ​

 

[Midori Futotta]

With Maru distracted in telling his plans that he has for Tea Country, the puppet clones didn't seem to be actually alive… they only spoke because Maru could control their voice boxes via chakra threads so he was pretty much telling his plan to himself. He was so drunk off hearing himself talk that he hadn't noticed the young Genin creeping around, nor did he expect that there would be anyone around here that would hear him besides the animal life around. He would soon find out that he was very wrong.. He would soon find that when he went to began to strut away, that he couldn't move. “Wait what the–?” His brain was telling his body to move, but his body felt like he was stuck. He was in a full paralysis, he looked down to see a shadow that seemingly merged with his to keep him there. Neither his puppets moved nor could he break from the bind. Then the person who had him captured revealed herself from the hiding place she was in.

He expected that his capture would be an ANBU, a Chunin, perhaps a medical ninja. But his capture was a little girl who looked fresh out of the academy, man he needed to find a new line of work if he was going to be caught by children now. Naturally he decided to lie to the girl in hopes that she would just let him go. “Criminal? Me? Oh no, no, no you got it all wrong sweetheart. You see, what I WAS doing was reversing for a role in a play I'm gonna be in. My character I'm playing as is a thief, I'm just coming out here to practice my script.” he said, it was an obvious lie and he knew that. Lucky for her, she captured a rogue that had a strict rule on attacking children or girls for that matter so there wasn't a real danger in her capturing this well known thief. If he had too, he'd just try to run for it when he got the opportunity.

“Alright, you got me. You caught the Prince Of Thieves.” He said, deciding to come clean. “Look how about we make a deal right quick, since I can't hurt you because of your… um… Overwhelming power, how about instead of taking me to the cops I give you something to make this all disappear?” He said, hoping that the kid would just hear him out, after all he was known to be pretty cool with the young people so perhaps smooth talking would get him out of this. “I mean I am known for giving people things, especially young people like yourself so just name it. You want a gun? I supposed you want a cool looking puppet maybe? Training? A curse seal? Helpful advice? Jewelry? A guardian demon servant? More darkness?” He went through mostly all the things he was could give out but the giving out a demon servant he hasn't really done before. Come to think of it, he should've gave a favorite student of his a Youkai creature but that's besides the point since he was trying to weasel out of this situation again.

 

[Kagetsu Miyako]

She adored the chance to lord over a piece of trash like this. At first it seemed like an obvious trap of some kind but she was confident that he truly had no back up or help. It was pathetic! He deserved to be caught off guard with his lack of discipline. And the lies! A madman standing out in the middle of nowhere, loudly declaring plans to rob stores in another nation and then trying to shrug it off as stage acting? He was clearly a shinobi of some kind; no doubt he'd been thrown out of his village for incompetence alone!

She laughed at him as he finished his story, a high pitched, distinct chortle that had a dangerous habit of getting stuck in one's head. "Really, I can't believe someone like you is considered a ninja in some places. No way someone like you graduated from a real village! Or maybe you're just playing ninja." This was her first real moment of not as a genin. The capture of a proper criminal. Oooh, it was wonderfully devilish. She wondered what the capture of a rogue criminal in their lands would land her. Quite a bit of recognition... or not. He was rather pathetic. perhaps it wasn't even a joke that he was a self taught ninja using what he'd learn for petty cause.

It didn't even take much probing for him to start spilling his coward's guts. Of course she also noted his hesitation at one point. It sounded like mockery. A length of shadow crept up his body like an onyx serpent, quick to reach his neck and start squeezing. Not even to properly choke him but certainly enough to be uncomfortable and get the point across as she tapped her chin in thought.

"The tricks of a hack are of no use to a refined lady such as myself. And what do you take me for, an idiot? The moment I release this jutsu a coward like you would just run for the hills. No, no, no." From out of her hand slipped three tan slips of paper coated in red markings. Anyone with even basic shinobi training would recognize them as explosive notes on sight. There was a fiendish twinkle in her eye as she fanned herself with them. "No, better to put you down like the disgraceful dog you are~."

She was playing with him of course. She wasn't that blood thirsty. More just fun to have someone's life in the palm of your hand and letting them know it. Of course despite her best efforts she couldn't help but catch one thing he said and found it struck her fancy. She didn't believe for a minute it was for real but it was just too odd to ignore either. She narrowed her eyes and tapping the seals against the palm of her hand as she asked, "What was that about a demonic servant?"​

 

[Midori Futotta]

Maru gasped in surprise when the young Genin told him that there was no way someone like him graduated the academy. Truth be told, he actually DIDN’T graduated from the academy and it wasn't his fault neither. “Hey it wasn't my fault I didn't graduated from the academy. The education in my village wasn't so good plus my Kage literally dragged me out of my Genin exam to throw me out of the damn village before I could even get a headband! Not to mention I failed the genin exam like three times before I got a chance to take it a fourth time.”He pouted, a bit embarrassed at his failure to become a Genin. Truth be told when he dropped out of the academy when he was around nine years old, mostly focusing on polishing up on his pickpocket skills but came back due to his encounter with his first mentor. He was quickly advancing in the ranks but got demoted then booted back into the academy where he attended a few classes while on the side he joined a gang of bandits to get some extra money. His Kage wouldn't of found out about his side job as a thief if he wasn't trying to show off and got caught by a konoha ANBU. But still, he was technically a dropout who was mostly taught by crooks which could probably explain how… sloppy he was.

Before he knew it, a shadow noose began to wrap around his neck and although not properly strangling him he had a feeling he wasn't going to be let off the hook that easy. Maru of course was pretty strong, he could've broken the bind if he struggled hard enough. However, Maru still acted as if he couldn't break the bind getting a little nervous. “Common pumpkin, I've already broken my neck and got burned alive. Hear a guy out.” He chuckled nervously, not sure if the girl would make good on her threats. Of course one thing did stuck out to the young Genin, and that was the demonic servant. Some time ago, Maru made a pact with the Youkai lord so now he was able to summon demons and he was a master of summoning these creatures. Surely it wouldn't be hard to get this girl to actually summon one.

“Weeeeeeell… I kinda made a deal with some demon lord to be able to summon some lesser demons. I am a master in the art of Youkai since I am naturally drawn to mischief.” The masked man smirked, still unable to move. “The process of summoning one is pretty easy, I could show you how if you let me. You could even throw in a little condition for letting me go. What do ya say?" He said, hopefully the girl would drop the bind if she wanted her demon, after all Maru was an agent of chaos so he didn't mind giving away a creature of darkness to the girl. Besides, she seems worthy enough for taking on an S Rank rogue without a hint of fear. But then again, Maru wasn't that scary.

 

[Kagetsu Miyako]

The laughter at his expense only got worse when he straight up admitted to being the academy reject she'd only teased him as being. Now he'd really proven he wasn't a ninja of much worth. What a shame for him. Now she really did have half a mind to blow him to pieces. What use could someone so foolish even be? She continued to fiddle with her paper bombs, wondering if it'd even be worth using them. Someone like this could be taken out easily from a single strike from her puppet's hidden mechanisms. He wouldn't even see it coming...

Still the offer of such a unique contract was tempting. She stepped closer to him as she thought about it, looking him in the face -- the best she could with his current face mask on -- and beamed at him as she chimed, "Deal~." However she just as quickly raised her hand up to slap his forehead, leaving a paper bomb attached to his mask as she began to step back to give him space. "But you're going to teach me under the conditions I wish. And don't call me pumpkin." These last few works were in stark contrast to her normal tone, not a bit of sweetness to be found as she made it clear she had no problem ending his life if she was willing and able.

The shadow possession dropped as she began to explain everything to him again, sounding like a perfectly normal, non-threatening girl again. Well, relatively speaking. "You're going to teach me what you know. For the sake of insurance and my own safety you'll be wearing that explosive note as you do so. You're not allowed to touch it or remove it. If this technique you're going to teach me is for real I'll gladly let you run off and rob foreigners to your heart's content! If you have more to give or I particularly like what you do offer, I might be oh so generous and give you an opportunity to be even more useful. Deal?"​

 

[Midori Futotta]

Well, this went a little better than he thought… besides him having an explosive tag on his forehead that he couldn't remove without the risk of having his head blown off. “Alright what are your conditions, and my bad about calling you pumpkin.” He said before hearing out the demands that she had. Pretty much just what he expected, he was going to teach her how to summon demons in exchange for his freedom. If he tried to run or go back on their deal than the explosive tag will go off, it was also not a good idea to take it off himself. The mercenary now regaining control of his body shrugged his shoulders. “Fine, but first need to actually call one to give you a contract. Hold on a second.” He said patting himself trying to find something, it took him a bit to find the three Ofuda slips he needed but he had them in his hand at least. Maru threw the three Ofuda slips on the ground, then magical seals began to appear from all three as a rift from the dark world began to open. Maru raised his hand then began to recite a magical incantation “Darkness, Blackness, Gloom, and shades! Evil guardians come to me, float around and feel free!” After the chant was done, purple and black clouds appeared from the three tags… forming the monsters that he was talking about

The shadowy looking demon was darkness. Literal darkness! He is shadowy specter, wearing various degree of armored on his muscular upper body ranging from dark blue to red from the blood of the innocent. His shadowed face and or any breathing means seem to also be hidden by his dark armor, his legs non existent because he'd rather float so he can look down at those whom meet him. The blue eyes glared at the girl, his bloodstained blades already ready to slice the girl in two. He was named Yami.

Then there was another demon. This one like most Youkai looks more like a monster than it does human because it loves to see the terror in the eyes of people that meets this nightmare. Its mouth is huge with sharp jagged teeth that are always revealed. Its face is almost skull like in appearance, with three horns on its head although it's head seems to float on his shoulders because it doesn't show any signs of having a neck along with the lack of any eyes at all. Where its neck and shoulders he had a violet and black smoke that looked to be shaped as a hooded cloaked, wearing a various degree of armor from head to toe with a long flowing black cape. Within one hand the creature held a rod in one hand, the creature already growling. This one was named Ma.

Then there was the less violent looking one of Maru's team of demons named Kura. This being looks to be entirely made of negative energy, it looks more like a dark comic shadow. Kura’s head is in the shape of a lit candle flame given a purplish pink eyes with a glowing marking on her forehead. Her head too doesn't seem to be attached to any kind of neck, the dark matter which holds this being together is formed into the shape of a woman with long sharp claws and she appears to be legless. Using negative energy as a skirt that looks more like a tornado of shades that looked almost like a huge dark solar system being absorbed by a black hole.

Ma took a step forth, narrowing his eyes on the explosive tag on Maru's forehead. "So you went from removing your head to trying to blow it off or are we here to drag the girl to hell” it said in a growling voice, the Shadow specter made a handseal to summon forth an ebony dragon like creation that came straight from the nightmare realm. ”...Let's feed her to my pet, I'm sure she is afraid of the dark....” Maru turned then held up his hands to try to keep his creatures from doing anything he didn't want. “No No No. This isn't a fight, she wants to make a deal, just gimme a scroll to give to her.” Maru commanded. Yami and Ma dropped there aggressive stance, disappointed but they didn't disobeyed Maru. Kura reached inside of the purplish marking on her forehead, then pulled out a summoning scrolling that she seemingly stored inside of her forehead. Kura simply went through the two other demons almost like a ghost would to give Maru a Youkai contract in which Maru was glad to take. "One Youkai contract for the little one.” she said in a sweet voice.

He turned around to the girl, opening the contract and sat down. His demonic servants still looming behind him as Maru beckoned for the girl to come to him. “Alright, so if you want you actually summon a demon. You gotta sign this contact, don't worry you'll keep your soul they just gotta know who is calling them in Youkai land. That's all.” He said pointing at certain spots on the scroll. “Just sign your name in blood here, put bloody fingerprints here, draw a pentagram in blood in the center than Presto! We can summon a Youkai. Of course I need to show you how to properly call it and train it so it can be useful.” He shrugged waiting on her to sign the contract already.

 

[Kagetsu Miyako]

"Fine, fine, just get it," she demanded, not thinking much of what this might mean. At this point she was simply impatient. She was still waiting for a trick and was ready for a counter attack if necessary -- what other practical reason did she have to keep her parasol on her at all times? Nobody expected the hidden mechanism within. Of course she hoped she wouldn't need it. One wrong move and she could likely take him out with the tag. He was playing along with that part of the deal better than expected. It was better for both of them this way.

When he began chanting she had half a mind to unleash the explosive note then and there. If he needed the scroll then he needed the scroll but any given action from this rogue could easily be an attack in disguise. She held off on any 'counter-attack' for the time being even as she got an incredible chill up her spine. There was something off about the energy he gave off as he commenced the summoning. She squinted, trying to protect her face with her parasol from the smoke the jutsu created. When it settled and she could finally get a look she froze on the spot.

Not one but three monsters had been summoned, every last one an uncanny beast in their own right. She stayed tensed up, eyes wide as saucers as she looked from one to the next. These... were youkai? Demons? When they spoke they didn't even attempt to hide their threats, thirsty for blood the moment they appeared on this side. Was this really what she was looking for?

As the so called 'prince of thieves' began to set out the scroll and explain the process to her there was a sudden shift in a girl. All that pent up tension suddenly exploded as she let out another laugh, a genuinely sweet sound that came from the heart accompanied by a big, happy smile. As if unable to help herself she dropped her parasol and ran up to Yami, reaching out to pinch the shadow monster's cheeks as starts sparkled in her eyes. "You're so cool~! Oh my gosh, I just want a whole legion of you~! He's a big shadowy grump, I just want to put a bow on him and keep him around as a pet~!" If Miyako had any concept of 'normal' she'd be able to tell herself that this was weird. That nobody should fawn over such a hellspawn and that she should be worried about touching it, much less speaking to it in such a belittling way. Of course she was anything but normal so the thought didn't even occur to her.

As if she'd been distracted by a particularly cute puppy it took a moment to draw herself back in again, clearing her throat and picking back her parasol before she looked to Maru with a semi-straight face. "Excuse me... where were we? Blood contract, right." She came back over and looked down at the scroll, quick to notice it was mostly blank save for what seemed to be Maru's own signature. She carefully took a needle from seemingly nowhere, pricking her thumb before ever so carefully writing down her own name next to his. After that she carefully smeared blood on each finger before placing her prints upon the paper at the bottom. Once it was over she pulled out a handkerchief and started to clean off her hand as she looked to Maru.

"Alright. Now show me."​

 

[Midori Futotta]

“Huh?” When Maru was explaining, it would seem that the little girl had taken a liking to one of his creatures. Yami’s glowing blue eyes narrowed in irritation while the girl pinched its cheeks which felt icy to the touch and the skin that was covered in a inky smoke felt like leather. Clearly Yami was not happy with being treated as if it was some sort of pet but since he couldn't attack the girl all he really could do was just shoo her away.”I am not wearing any bow, nor am I anyone's pet. Please… buzz off.” it said, feeling relieved that the girl finally turned her attention to Maru. Sitting there, Maru waited on Miyako to sign the Youkai contract, then once that was all done the contract went up in a huge ball of fire before disappearing for good.

Clapping his hands together, it was time to actually get the girl to summon something. “Great, now lord Enma knows that its okay for you to contact a demon. Now it's time for the fun part.” He said, before going on to the process on how to summon a Youkai. “So now that you made a pact, you can do the summoning justu now. So how it works is that you make a seal anywhere around you using your chakra and channel your negative chakra into it so you can cause a rift to open. Since you got a pact now with the Youkai you can just summon them just like that." Maru shrugged his shoulders. “Personally I use my Talismans and say a cool sounding chant to get me into the spirit of darkness. You're a Nara so I guess it shouldn't be a problem for you to summon at least one or five if you really mastered it. " Maru said, just sitting there so he could make himself comfortable then waved his hand as if he was expecting her to summon one here and now.

“Alright, let's see what you can summon up." He explained enough, now all she need to do was call up a demon then they could train it since Youkai creatures are really fast learners. Hopefully she didn't summon one of those little werido devil things that can't even fight, otherwise this would be a pretty long process. But if she was good enough, he could show her how she could summon 5 lesser demons at her disposal or just call on one huge demon lord. Either way, this should be fun to watch.