The road to clarity begins. [Part 2. Jinchuuriki Removal/ Ridoku Sennin aquisition app]

[Hashigaki Kurokawa]

[Continued from The road to clarity begins. Part 1]

With Tama in tow Kurokawa now made her way to the clan housing where she lived for a while until she moved to the barracks designated for working shinobi who wanted a place to live but without two much rent. She hadn't been here since her and Hemorian got acquainted. Back then it was definitely a 'he'. Male voice, possibly the voice of her father reaching out to her even though he was a rapist son of a bitch. But now Hemorian had morphed, evolved. The spirit now had a female voice. Maybe it was time for a new name. All that for another time. The two would walk through her old house. It showed signs of having been lived in after Kurokawa moved out. Then again she didn't live there for the last 3 years of her stay in Stone. Going to her old address didn't yield much result but she didn't think it would. She had travelled a long time. She was hungry and needed a place to hold up for a while.

"We'll rest here. After that we can go to the clan housing for the Hachiashi. They are the ones with that many arms. He may not be there but at least there should be a clue. I just need to eat something first."

Kurokawa would unpack some of her trail rations and start eating.

"I'll meditate for a while then. If we are to catch that one alive I need to focus."

While Tama centred herself Kurokawa would re-energize. Her inner spirits would use this time to converse.

Ask her.

Sure that isn't creepy at all. Hey I have this spirit inside me from the wind country. It wants to know more about you.

Honest, straight forwards and to the point. Yeah like that.

Have you learned nothing about communication? You need to ease into stuff like that.

As both Tama and Kurokawa was getting ready, Kuro would try to strike up a conversation.

"So you became a Samurai. How did that happen if you don't mind me asking?"

Tama would wringle her nose at Kurokawa before talking. A gesture wasted on most blind people.

"You all left for the fire country. Well most of you since you are wearing a Suna headband. The Samurai left and came here. In the transition looters came to my home town. When I found out that I had the opportunity to be trained as a Samurai I jumped at it. All technique, no need to have a talent for Chakra manipulation. Although that helps I suppose."

"And now you are all that remains here. Evacuation to safe zones I take it?"

"Yes some left to safer areas while it was all cleared out. Some parts of town were abandoned. The hospital is only temporary under lock down due to the six armed man and he has been seen in the clan housing as well. The only place all shut down for now is the Spartan Quarters for obvious reasons."

Kurokawa would nod at the information and let Tama finish before talking.

"After the clan grounds, the Spartan quarters might be a good place to go next if it's abandoned. Lets head out"

I like her even more.

The two would head out the door and make their way towards the Hachiashi clan area. It was a small one since there was only one or two families from that clan even in stone back in the day.

[WC: 578]

 

[Hashigaki Kurokawa]

Kurokawa had felt uneasy coming back to the place where her former guardians had lived. This feeling was now growing the closer they drew to the Hachiashi clan housing but whether the feeling came because they were getting closer or because they were getting further from her old home she did not know. They would stop before raching the actual grounds, searching for traps that would alert anyone inside. Strings of fine spider silk would be stretched out everywhere, almost invisible to the naked eye and not something you would see if you weren't looking for it. Luckily both knew what the spider clan was capable of and Kurokawa had seen this system in action before and knew it would be there. To get past it without alerting anyone was almost impossible. Just a slight touch of the string would send vibrations flying through the system directly towards the creator immediately giving away their position. Cutting it was also not an option. Not only was the string strong enough to hold an elephant, but a string loosening was just as informative as a string tightening.

Tama would do reconnaissance from afar using the fact that her eyes could actually see, while Kurokawa would circle the area much closer to the string looking for a way in. While Tama would confirm that the net was stretched over the house as well to prevent anyone from getting in from above, Kurokawa would find the entrance point they needed. Only problem was that it was in a forty five degree angle from the ground up towards the second floor. To use it one would have to launch oneself through it without hitting the string on the way in. Due to gravity it was too far to simply jump. she found evidence that some string had been used to slingshot someone through but that string touched the web network and would not be useful to them. The space was also too narrow to accommodate 2 people at the same time so Kurokawa gave Tama a scroll holding a Kawarimi target dummy. Kurokawa would then use Gravity jutsu to lower Tamas weight significantly and throw her through the pasage towards the wall which Tama would be able to land on relatively silently. the low weight meant less force needed to send her through and therefor less impact noise. Once through Tama would enter via an open window while the gravity effects worse off and then summon the Kawarimi target so that Kurokawa could swap places with it.

The would both attempt to speak in a lower register to not be heard.

"Neat trick. Now what? This place is probably still full of alarm strings."

"One obstacle at the time. He is here. I can sense him at the ground floor. Follow me and we wont trip any strings."

They would make their way into the next room which had a hole in the wall. Rather than go through the door with the stairs visible on the other side they had to crawl through the hole avoiding any strings there and then jump from the hole to the railing above the stairs. From there it was a straight drop from the second floor to the first floor so Kurokawa used Gravity jutsu again to lessen the noise from landing. One more floor to do.

"Do you have any Ninjutsu in your repertoire by chance?"

"Sadly I don't have the talent for it. I have some physical ability but I would need some form of conduit to manipulate the elements."

"I am a vessel for two spirits at the moment. If possible one of them has taken a liking to you. if you receive it you will be able to use some Ninjutsu. 3 elements. Would you..."

Kurokawa didn't get to finish before being cut off by Tama.

"I have gotten by without that kind of power. Now is not the time nor place to start relying on it."

They would both make their way through the labyrinth of string slowly moving towards a hole in the ground that would lead them further down. The stairs would be too booby trapped to provide safe passage onward.

[WC: 699]

 

[Hashigaki Kurokawa]

Somehow the duo had made it to the hole seemingly unnoticed. At least from what Kurokawa could tell from the heartbeat and blood flow of the person downstairs. No change in pattern meant that the person was either so indifferent to people sneaking up on him that he ignored it or he simply didn't know. They would soon find out which as they made themselves ready to drop down into a fight. Kurokawa had decided it would be best not to cover the battlefield in mist even though that would give her an advantage, since her current teammate would be left blind and might stumble into webs rather than be useful in a fight.

As they dropped the fight began immediately, with Tama rushing towards the six armed man with her sword ready in hand. Kurokawa decided it would be best to support from the back and formed seals to use Sound jutsu. She fired six sound bullets over Tama's shoulder into their opponent causing him to be nauseated and take damage. Unfortunately it was not enough for him not to parry the oncoming attack but it distorted is aim enough for him to miss his counter attack, so instead of sending a spear of lighting through Tama it hit slightly to her left and instead ignited the web on the back wall of the room. As it hit it also exploded which made Kurokawa identify the jutsu as the Zeus Flash, a C-Rank Jutsu with a lot of punch behind it.

Kurokawa would then try to close the distance while Tama would use the position her sword had been left in from the first strike to cut downwards from above. This time she would hit a blocking arm but rather than blood something white had oozed out and created a shield that the sword did not penetrate. What more was that the sword was now stuck to one of the enemy's arms and ripped away from Tama as she was kicked backwards towards Kurokawa while spewing blood. The kick was powerful enough to penetrate the abdomen of most people so Kurokawa figured it would be a variation of the Spear Punch as ninja techniques could be swapped from hand to leg when needed as she herself did with her steel tipped combat shoes. Kurokawa didn't have time to dodge in this narrow space with webs on either side so she instead elected to catch Tama in the air. While she did that the six armed man would pull the sword from his armour and make a run for it out of one of the windows. He would remove the webbing obstructing the way on his way out and then disappear into the streets while Kurokawa was checking up on Tama.

Tama was unconscious but seemed to hang in there for now. Kurokawa could feel a thin and light chain mail when she did her initial exam which explained how Tama wasn't skewered, but Kurokawa did not have the time to do much more because of the fire in the back needing her attention. She would quickly utilize the anti fire properties of Rinse off to put out the fire, and then pick Tama up to relocate to a different nearby empty house where she could apply some medical jutsu to get Tama back to consciousness. As she woke up she would speak.

"Tch. Seems it is impossible for me to do anything here."

Kurokawa knew that with the last Jutsu, their opponent had displayed the ability to use at least B-Rank Jutsu so taking him down was no small task.

"With the level of Jutsu he used on you, I am amazed that you are alive, let along hit him with your sword. That is more than normal people would be able to."

"Normal. Yeah we normal people can't hold a candle to those with Ninja arts."

"The offer still stands if you want to get stronger"

Tama would lie silent for a little bit. Possibly to recover some of her strength, but most definitely to think the proposal over once again. They would rest for about an hour before she was back on her feet, which might seem like a quick recovery but with Medical care from a ninja that much was a given. Tama would not be all good but at least she could move unhindered again. When she had confirmed that she was able to go on Tama would accept Kurokawas offer and Kurokawa would start making preparations for the ritual. A safe Circle made with Ink Jutsu and some candles she found in the house just to set the mood. The would both strip themselves of gear that was not needed for this and get real close for the connection to become the strongest. Kurokawa would then embrace Tama.

"Don't be afraid."

That is your queue Hontou.

On it!

As the two would lie in the circle embracing each other in the candle light black ink would start poring from various places on Kurokawas body. Eyes, mouth and every other orifice, would form a black river for a few seconds which would then enclose both the girls until nothing was visible. Just as the ink had pored out of Kurokawa it would enter Tama and as the transfer was complete they would let go of each other and roll over on their backs.

"Soooo, that just happened."

"Yeah. You alright?"

"Feels nice actually. Buzzing a bit. Is hearing voices part of it by the way?"

"That's Hontou. That is the spirit you are now the host of. It works with Ink so you should have access to The lightning element and some Wind element as well."

"Can I put my clothes back on now?"

"Yeah. We better gear up and head out soon."

Both would get their equipment back in order. Kurokawa would snuff out the candles and remove the circle so that the place didn't look like some kind of satanic ritual had taken place here when others would eventually come to the house. Tama put her Chain Mail back on and noted that it felt a bit lighter than it usually would. When both where fit for fight they would set their sights on the Spartan Quarters.

[MFT]
[WC: 1044]
[Topic Left. Continues here]