Lost in a forest of thoughts [Contract search]

[Kishiko Nagisa]

Kenshin hated this. As he schlepped through the seemingly infinite forest that surrounded Leaf, he could not think that this was a perfect way to describe himself. Kenshin was lost in Leaf, metaphorically and literally. Being assigned a command within the ranks of Leaf was one thing. Being told to pack your bags and head on over regardless of opinion was another beast entirely.

"Should i go North? Maybe follow the sun." he mused as he tried to make sense of the map a local had drawn for him. It made no sense. The only thing he somewhat recognized was a small badly drawn picture of 2 statues. This was apparently the famous Valley of the End and "He would know where to go from there."

Kenshin grunted at nothing as he shoved the map back into his pocket.

So he kept up his trek, feeling melancholy. He had left his entire family behind in Stone. Some of the best military leaders in Stone came form his family, non shinobi of course. His family tree was littered with positions from samurai to tactician. His grandfather loved to teach him shogi and always took great pleasure to explaining how if, in a real battle, he would use various formations to confuse his enemies. His aunt was one of the people who trained him in the way of the fist. It was expected that he would serve Stone in some way. After failing his grandfather's shogi tests, it was presumed he would either be a samurai or a solider. Regardless, he was to serve stone dutifully in such a way. The fact he showed an inclination to chakra meant that he was to be one of the few members of the Yuu family to be a shinobi.

"You will be the first shinobi in at least 3 generations to be a shinobi! This is an honor!" he was told time and time again.

Now look at him. He was expected to be a great shinobi, the best accoridng to his parents, and now his talents would be used to serve another country. A foreign country. It would be unlikely that they would declare war on Stone. Should the worst happen, he would be fighting the shinobi and armies of Stone. How many strategies would he recognize? How many cousins with familiar looking traits such as eyes would he see as he was forced to kill them?

Would he?

Could he?

Should he?

A branch smacked him in the face and it brought him to to more immediate concerns. He swore so loudly that some birds took flight. He felt that they deserved it for whatever petty reason. A foul mood leads to many enemies often times they are imaginary. But in the silence, he heard the sound of rushing water. So faint. The villager said that he would see a river.

It took him a few tries to go the way that the water was louder, probably longer than his nana would have liked. Nana was a skilled ranger and tracker. She would be scolding him if she knew he was lost in a forest. He did find his way to a a river and, more importantly, the giant statues. They were enormous and he was shocked he could not find them earlier. Still, the giant waterfall helped accentuate the landscape. The forest had receded a little and it was mostly craggy rock slopes that made up this valley.

He noticed that the sun was going down. Traveling the forest at night was never a wise idea, this much he remembered. As such, he stretched an made his camp at the nearest set of trees on top of the valley. Camping in the open made him uneasy even though he was in friendly territory... well... now home territory. He should memorize the surroundings.

That sounded logical. His mind, however, was abuzz with doubt and he decided to just train a little to get rid of access thought. He found a decent sized tree and began to work on it with his punches. With the gauntlets on ,it was not too bad and he felt the impact of each punch. He stopped short of breaking the tree and gave his opponent a breaks as he did so himself.

The sun was down truly before he gave out and many trees in the area now had indents in them from the fists of Kenshin. His camp was cozy but he felt like being awake. He kept his back up straight, looked over the valley, and then looked up at the two giant statues. Surely they had answers to something. They had made a village. So they had come from somewhere else and now they were legendary.

Maybe this was what he needed. Maybe this change was for the best. Or maybe something else.

Kenshin blinked and found himself in a light sleep.

WC 818
MFT

 

[Junan]

Congratulations.

You found Squirtle. I mean Turtle!

Do you accept this offer?​

 

[Kishiko Nagisa]

I accept!

 

[Junan]

The sound of the undergrowth crashing would wake the traveling shinobi.

But whatever it was... it was slow.

First came one thud, the sound of bushes being crushed under foot.

Then an almost silence, there was still some kind of movement going on, almost like a scraping.

Then after a while another thud and crashing of undergrowth.

It was sure to confuse and yet captivate the young shinobi.

And then he could see it.

It was brown coloured, had spikes jutting up from the front section of shell, some bags which seemed to contain stuff, though quite what the shinobi wouldn't be able to make out in this light.

And on the back half of the shell were more spikes, then attached to the end of the tail was tied some kind of mace, again with spikes. This tortoise liked spikes.

It was about man sized in height, so very large, and stopped directly in front of Kenshin.

 

[Kishiko Nagisa]

Years of training, including the 2 am midnight attacks by his aunt, caused his eyes to fly open and for him to jump up in a full ready attack stance stance almost involuntarily. Nana did not raise any fools in the House of Yuu.

It was still nighttime and something was creeping in the undergrowth. Well, not so much creeping but lumbering. What in the world.

CRASH

The turtle appeared but not just any turtle. With one look he knew that his uncle in law would have fainted from excitement to see something like this. He specialized in using animals in warfare. He would coat weapons with poison from snakes local to Stone and would even throw some smaller animals at the enemy cavalry to spook their horses. This turtle, or rather humanoid turtle, looked like he could take on 10 soldiers at once and come out with barely a scratch. This was astondounding.

And terrifying.

It was standing in front of him. There were so many options. He could feint attack it and aim for a non spiky bit, which looked to be rare on this creature. If he was fast enough, he could try a genjutsu on it first and see if he could put it to sleep. Of course, he could just run away, which seemed like a rational choice. It was, however, not his way. However, as much training as he had, he knew that he should never provoke a fight.

'Never start a fight, but always be ready to end it.'

It was one of the Yuu family traditional statements. Stone was enduring. It endured and if moved, like a landslide, would cover all. Diplomacy first, then war. He was, however, unsure, if the creature could talk. It could stand on 2 legs. Maybe it... he?...she? could communicate.

"My name is Yuu Kenshin, new transfer to the Leaf village. I was lost on my way there and do not mean to intrude. May I ask your name and intentions? If these are your lands I will leave in the morning." Kenshin said, his voice far steadier than what he was feeling. This was someone who he would rather not fight. Those spikes look deadly. However, this did not cause him to loose faith. His gauntlets were still on and that was all he needed to fight. Granted, they were lowered at the meoment to try to ease tensions but they were ready for a punch or two all the same.

MFT 415

 

[Junan]

The human before him had stood, his knees slightly bent, ready to take action.

The war tortoise turned its head to the side, looking at the man. Its eye stared straight into his own, unblinking, watching. It was clear that the tortoise was unafraid of the human, but quite what was it thinking would be unable to be discerned.

It seemed to be staring into his soul. The man stood more upright, seemingly decided on not looking like he was ready to take actions against the creature.

Then Yuu spoke. Asking the tortoise a question.

Silence was the tortoises answer.

 

[Kishiko Nagisa]

So that got him no where.

Well this was creepy. Standing in the darkness across from a giant battle ready turtle who seemed to be staring him down and did not speak conventionally.

'Damn it. I was just in the middle of thinking about who I really was and this thing shows up. If course if could could read minds.... Well sorry if you can. Please be friendly otherwise i will have to take drastic measures. Or if you have some place to lead me that would be great.' Kenshin thought to himself and projected? to the beast/worthy foe/ please don't kill me.

If nothing happened, Kenshin would have to act. This stalemate was going on for far too long.

So it would begin simple enough. Assuming an offensive stance, he would allow his training in genjutsu to take the forefront. He would focus his will, his aura to some, to force his opponents to feel the wrath of his Kinetic based ninjutsu. In a flurry of handsigns, Kenshin would use Tree Binding (Master rank) to attempt to restrain the beast.

Instead of attacking, he decided to make the best use to prepare himself. He began focusing and his gauntlets began to infuse with his chakra and little crystals could be seem forming around his knuckles. Then they would would crystallize and appear to look like diamonds. Another ninjutsu surge and from his body Amethyst spikes would erupt. They were heavier than he remembered but they provided a layer of protection. Who knows, maybe his foe would respect the use of spikes?

This was going to be a day to remember, presuming he survived first.

 

[Junan]

Nothing happened, the tortoise simply looking at the man before him.

Who apparently then let his nerves get the best of him.

The tortoise found itself bound in a tree, unable to escape.

It watched the man before he begin to sprout crystalline spikes, but it seemed to do nothing about it... though then it was restrained by a genjutsu.

Watching, and waiting. The tortoise was unable to act or react.

 

[Kishiko Nagisa]

The turtle beast was obviously stuck. His genjutsu had stuck. His crystalline powers were maxed out. His gauntlets were coated in diamond and his body was spouting purple spikes. It was time to begin. No mercy.

'For Sto.. Leaf.' he thought as he began his punches.

It was nothing special. Some simple jabs to start off with but it was nothing like the internal battle within. As the punches hit, his thoughts switched.

'Punch.'

'I fight for Stone still in a way.'

'Punch'

'But if called upon, duty comes first and that duty is to Leaf now.'

'Punch'

'What if it is family?'

'Punch'

'They would still try to kill you. No mercy.'

A dozen punches of diamond punches would attempt to find its mark on his opponent. Each punch would cause his thoughts to shift but his over all goal was firm. He would fight this opponent and he would not back down even if he was doubting.



(ooc: Sorry for delay. Final Fantasy)

 

[Junan]

As the first blow landed, so broke the genjutsu that held the beast.

Yet instead of fighting back it vanished in the second strike, hitting nothing but a log of wood the creature seemed to have used a dodge technique. Yet despite its size it could no longer be seen.

If he tried to search for it he would not find it. It had used the moment of confusion to get to where it wanted to go, and when it wanted to it could be sneaky.

[Contract search failed.]

 

[Kishiko Nagisa]

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