Private one last gig (swapsies)

[Kureji]

In the plains of Greater Fire Country, Kureji found himself doing one last odd job before setting out. Apparently, there was some type of demon summoning happening in the area, scaring the locals. He didn't really care much about it, but they had paid him good up front to come and listen to them and more yen on the way if he is successful. He travelled to the location during the day and found the small town where people rushed to meet him.

"Sir, is it true that you can fight the demons?" One kid asked. Another was eyeing him suspiciously. Why? Well because of his whole get up. It gives off an eerie vibe to some people, not to mention the way that he seems to handle himself. In reality, if anyone had seen him before, they would have probably thought twice before asking for his help. But their request for help was left on a bulletin board at Leaf, and Kureji was the only one available to grab it. Heck, Kureji isn't even a Leaf ninja, even more so, not a mercenary, though he has that as his alibi for any ninja villagers that get too curious about him.

He shrugged, "Possibly." He said in a nonchalant way. In reality, he most definitely could, however, he is known to go overboard in his tactics to overwhelm his enemies. Heck, he made a new crater in Crater City just to destroy a rogue creation technique. The problem is what would come after. Damage repairs and costs. Nao had made it clear that he has to pay back the damages or else face consequences. Not that the consequences part really matters, but he does has some respect for him.

Despite his destructive nature, he has to either pull back on his explosions, or... well he doesn't know. Soon, he had gotten the run down of what has been happening by the hot shot who runs the town. Turns out, some individuals have been seen gathering in a small wooded area with an assortment of things. Chalk, salt, candles. Kureji would yawn, this is kinda standard stuff, most likely anything that would be summoned shouldn't really be that much of an issue. At least, that's what he thinks.

The rocker would wait until the cover of night and make his move. He would station himself high up in the trees as he would get comfortable waiting for something exciting to happen. And then he seen it. Some figures, about five or six people, wearing these creepy metal masks, all of which were of different emotions and dried blood down the face of the masks to look like tears. "Very cringe." Kureji would say under his breath.

He would jump down from his hiding spot right in front of them. All the masked people were surprised and dropped some of their ritual items. Some grabbed for weapons. While one dropped their weapons and seemingly was about to throw a candle at Kureji. They all stared and waited for him to make the first move. "Are you all cosplaying as Anbu? First off, ew. Very cringe, they have no personality. And secondly, did one of you forget the garlic?" Five of the masked men turned to look at one, who looked down in shame, seemingly the one in charge of keeping vampires away. Kureji isn't a vampire, but it is funny to see that these people are fully on the cuckoo train. It also help him get an idea, somewhat, of what type of people he has to deal with. It at least, cued to him that these are the ritualists that he is looking for. Who else would be worried about not grabbing the garlic in the middle of the night in some random wooded area?

He heard heavy footsteps rush towards him, and as soon as he turned, he felt a cold metal bat hit him right in the face. And then darkness.

 

[Kureji]

Waking up, he smelled smoke, he coughed and tried to bat the smoke away only to realize that he is tied up to a wooden stake. Blinking through the pain of smoke in his eyes, his vision focused on the ritualists that looked like they're about done setting up for something. "Oh word? Are we having a barbecue? Is there going to be a potluck? I'm more of a mashed potatoes kind of guy, I could have brought that if you all asked nicely."

"Shut it!" Barked one of the ritualists. "We're summoning a demon here and it needs the blood of a ninja burned in fires in order to summon it."

Kureji yawned. "Evil bad guy monologue yada yada yada. A truly evil person just does what they want without going into a whole stupid backstory on it. By the way." Chakra surrounded Kureji and hardened to slice through the rope bindings. He rolled off away from the fire. "You all reminded me of why I'm here. Now kindly die so that I can get paid. I'm really looking forward to having a feast or something when I'm done here." He let out a small explosion point blank in one of the bad guy's face, crippling the person as they fell flat on their face. Disappointment came on the rocker's face as he realized the person was still alive.

"Please don't tell me I'm going too soft." Kureji quipped as he seen two more ritualists run at him brandishing swords. Dodging out of the way of the first guy. Kureji kicked the guy away from him and used his temporal powers to grab the second guy and rapidly age his face before headbutting the now aged man. He fell down and was unmoving. "Geez, why can't you all just not do shady things? Like I wouldn't be here beating you all up if, wha- Hey!" Again, it was that big brute of a guy that is surprisingly fast for a person of their size, assumedly possibly a rogue shinobi, tackled Kureji to the ground near the fire pit. The brute forced one of Kureji's arm's into the fire where he felt an instant searing pain.

Here's the thing about Kureji. He's more of a powerful through chakra than he is strong via physical strength. So the next best thing he could do is just blast an explosive jutsu straight through the brute's chest, killing him instantly. Now Kureji was pissed. He could kill the rest of the ritualists right now. However... He felt a presence, dark and powerful. Not nearly as powerful as his own father, but still up there. A demonic entity, unfit to be seen by human eyes. Something only to be partially visible out at the corner of one's own eyes but never able to fully look at it.

"Hey you. Fuck outta here. I'm trying to get paid!" The missing ninja yelled at the demon.

It made a low thrumming noise, possibly close to a laugh, "A mere mortal? Trying to order me around? Tell me, why should I? I am free to traverse this realm and do as I please."

"No you're not." Kureji said in a matter of fact voice. He may have disowned his father, but he still remembered reading the book his father had given him, along with other occult scrolls he had read throughout the years, the many times of actual body swapping or using forbidden techniques to preserve bodies to use as weapons, the knowledge still was with him, even though he hasn't really done that type of practice in a very long time.

But that is going off on a tangent. He looked down at the ritual area, surveying it. "What's stopping me?" The demon asked.

Kureji pointed at the ritual artefacts, "Ya see the formation of all these things? See where you're at? They're trying to hold you here and just use your power for their own sake. If I'm seeing this correctly, the way the barrier is built, the moment you try to leave the circle you're in, you will combust and most likely go back to your realm." Which is a fact. Kureji has read enough about the occult and the forbidden to know well enough that would end that way. The people here were seeking to use the demon's powers and once they were done with it, they probably were going to send it back anyways. "However, I do have a proposal." An idea, a crazy idea.

"And what would that be?" The demon grumbled at its own predicament, forced to now just listen to what Kureji has to say.

"It's easy really. I can break the barrier, something that only effects beings like yourself. Just enough for you to squeeze on through. Just maybe think skinny thoughts. But, if I were to do that, then you must work with me, and give me say... all of your powers."

"All!!! Are you kidding me?! That would leave me powerless. How about fifty-fifty?" The demon is trying to haggle him down. The remaining two cultists looked between the demon and Kureji, realizing that they're now in way over their heads as they are slowly understanding the situation more and more.

Kureji shook his head. "Nah. nintey-ten. In my favor." Kureji had caught on that the demon didn't protest about having to work for him, which worked in his favor. Knowing about demons and how they care so much about their own powers, means that they sometimes look over the finer details of a deal.

There was a long pause from the demon. And then it gave him an answer. "Sixty-forty."

Kureji smiled, "How about fifty-fifty, and I send you back to your realm."

The demon instantly said, "Yeah." But as soon as it said that, it realized it's mistake. See, once both parties of the deal come to an agreement, the deal takes place immediately. Kureji crossed his hand past the border and shook what seemed to be the demon's clawed hand. "Nice doing business with you, Bye!" The smell of sulfur filled the air and the demon screeched out in anger, scaring all wildlife away and soon leaving the wooded area an eerie kind of silence where even the crickets are wary of making any sounds.

Funny thing about messing with demons. Sure you can get their powers. But if you piss one off enough, they might have enough strength to curse you as well. He could feel his hands become more claw like, more unnatural, inhuman like. He's been around long enough, done the song and dance enough times to realize what is going on. But to be on the safe side, he turned on to face one of the cultists who was staring at him dumbfounded and he flipped through hand seals. What he was trying to do was see if his dragon flame bomb would be a clay like version of itself, when he had toujikou powers, he tried his best to will it to happen. But instead, poor cultist got a face full of flames in the image of a dragon crashing into him. Okay, well no poor cultist, he got what he deserved. Removing his gloves, he looked at his monstrosities of hands before looking at the last remaining cultist. But before he could do anything, he had a searing headache, enough to darken his vision.

When his vision cleared, he was no longer in the woods, but somewhere else... He could feel it. He was under the effects of a genjutsu. As for where he is now... "Well shit..." The tricky demon got its payback after all. He's now stuck in an illusion of a psyche ward.

 

[Kureji]

The demon may have been on the slow side, but what Kureji is seeing is merely a testament of its power. As said before, if a demon really has it out for someone, it will do its damndest to punish them how they see fit. The effects of this genjutsu is strong to say the very least, making everything seem real... Too real....

Kureji's footsteps would echo as he walked in the psyche ward. Occasionally, he would hear incoherent yelling or uncontrollable laughter. He scoffed to himself, as he thought about the meaning of it all. This demon, whilst it wasn't able to see all into his memories knows of the very strong connection Kureji has to, well, being insane. It doesn't really matter much to him, this is merely just background noise to him as he has done much worse.

Well... That is, until he stumbled across himself. And no, not his alter ego that he had gotten rid of some days ago. No, every body that he has inhabited. From his original body. To all the hito puppets that he has made. That one Yamanaka body, and a few others. "You know, there were times that I just knew style. And others where, now looking back, I could have done better." He said aloud. After he said that, the other versions of him moved in unison, taking slow deliberate steps towards him. "What, am I now in some corny horror movie now? Though..." They slowly start to close in on him, "I have to admit, there is something unnerving about being hunted down by previous bodies that I inhabited."

He backed up and felt a closed door on his back, opening it, he looked back on previous versions of himself, "I'd love to chat and catch up but I have a demon to find to escape this illusion."

Slamming the door behind him as soon as he heard previous Kureji's started running towards him, he locked the door and immediately there was banging. The rocker backed up from it and turned around. "Really? You're making me go down memory lane?" He was home, or rather, an illusion version of his home. But instead of looking at it, he merely walked past it to another door that he assumes lead somewhere else. "I've seen this way too many times demon. You don't know my mind as much as I do." Truth be told, yes he has. During the initial time that he first ever awaken to powers, to when an Uchiha tried to 'help' him understand himself, to a more recent him showing his history to Nao. It was all the same.

The rocker walked through the door and was met with a padded room with someone in the middle with a straight jacket. The person was unrecognizable from anyone he has ever met, nor wore any of the faces he has worn before, but he does feel that it is a loose representation of himself. A representation of what he could have been if he never unlocked chakra. But because he did, and his own maturing of living a near solitude life as a rogue ninja, made him able to, at times hide his craziness and seem almost normal, though to some he may appear sadistic or more appropriately, a loose cannon. His works in Crater City is a big enough testament of how his mindset works.

The person in the straight jacket rocked back and forth and muttered to himself. It honestly made him sick. If Sand Village didn't step in, this would probably been his future. But also because they stepped in, he is the way he is now, having no proper mental health care. Either way he looks at it now, it seemed that he was given the short end of the stick since the very beginning. But there is one thing he knows. His gnarled claws reached out towards the man in the straight jacket and tore off the bindings restricting the man's movements. "Be free. You control yourself now." He knows that this is just an illusion, but it felt like he needed to do it. The man looked up to him, "Thank you.." And walked off as the scenery around Kureji changed.

"You say that I don't know as much as you? The way I see it, I see parts of you that you choose to not recognize." The demon's voice boomed as Kureji's surroundings finally came into view. He was on stage with thousands of people cheering, although not a single voice can be heard. "You seek attention. You cry out and call foul to a broken system but you've done nothing yet to fix it."

Kureji's fists clenched, drawing blood from his hands. He scoffed and looked out to the crowd before walking up to grab the microphone, "You got me there. And maybe I don't have as much bravado as I make out to have. What I do know more than you is that I never know when to quit. Quitting is too easy to do. So when I get out of here, I'm going to keep doing what I do."

He dropped the mic and jumped into the crowd, hoping that he could do a crowd surf in this illusion, only to be met with concrete. "Don't you get it? I have enough strength to trap you in a genjutsu while I'm in my own realm, what can you do?"

The crowd was gone, Kureji was now in a concrete room where the walls started moving towards him. "Geez you're so slow." Kureji started to chuckle, an innate power that he had thought he had lost. Normally things like bloodlines, core abilities, and kinjutsu don't transfer over if someone just up and transfers their soul to another body. But there are times where, if someone has enough skill, or in Kureji's case, crazy enough, they might be able to reignite an old flame. "Do you have rocks for ears? I said that I never know when to quit." His chuckles starting to turn to fits of laughter. "You're too busy trying to act like a damn deranged therapist that you forgot about my name. I am Kureji!!!! The name meaning crazy!" He started to perform hand seals, for a genjutsu. Once he completed the last hand seal, he made the genjutsu target himself. Yes, himself.

The genjutsu goes by the name Blank State. Normally, it is used to render a person's ability to be able to be aware of the surroundings around them. But in Kureji's case... He let out full blown laughter as it seems he can't contain it anymore. And right now... everything seemed so clear to him. For once in a long time his body was shaking with excitement. Adrenaline rushed into him, as he let out a type of aura that even tore through the demon's illusions, uncontrollable laughter can now be heard every which way, however it seemed that Kureji was now in control of the illusions now. "What?! You drove yourself insane?!"

"It is a fun power to have. It brings out the best of me." Reality, or rather, the world of illusion that the demon so carefully crafted is now falling apart at the seams, clashing with a genjutsu world that Kureji is currently thinking up, which is mainly overwhelming laughter to cause any normal person to start to panic. Eventually, it all broke. Like glass shattering, Kureji was left standing in a pitch black area. But even so, thanks to driving himself insane with the Blank Slate genjutsu, he was fully aware of the demon's location, or at least an illusory representation of the demon's location, as the demon was in another realm entirely. "Eye see youuuuu." Kureji smiled as he said that. Suddenly giant eyes started popping up everywhere in this dark place. All of them looking at a very specific spot. Kureji chuckled to himself before speaking once more, "I think we both have had our fun here don't you think? Let me go back to the real world and I'll pretend to forget this all happened. And you get to keep on living." He knows that he now has the upper hand on the demon. Him unlocking such a power was not part of the demon's plans after all. There was silence, and then a begrudgingly, "Fine..."

And suddenly, when Kureji opened his eyes, he was back in the woods. It seemed not much time has passed by as he seen everything was in the exact same place as it all has been. Even that one ritualist that he hasn't knocked out or killed is still right there. "Wow you made my job easier thanks." He casted Crush Depth on the last ritualist and decided to make it a reality on the guy. The cultist fell down immediately and screamed out in pain. "Calm down, you'll be fine." The screaming stopped and the man fell down face forward. "Oh wait... He ain't a ninja, Oh well, he shouldn't have been trying to summon demons and the like." Kureji shrugged his shoulders and picked up the one only living ritualist, that he had knocked out, and brought him back to the small town.

When the guy came to, he even seemed thankful to be thrown in prison rather than go about his summoning of demons again. Though... if he even knew what Kureji is now capable of doing, he would most likely want to deal with the demon rather than the rogue ninja. The leader of the small town paid him quite a lot for stopping the summoning of a demon, still not enough to pay off his debt, but still a good amount to keep him going.