The Run [Leaving Country]

[Nakata Dai]

Uchiha Anatsu was officially on the run again. After word of his disappearance had occurred almost a decade ago, this was the first time he was on the absolute run again. Three villages were now aware of him and he had made his first move in the Lightning Country. He was already not welcome in Sunagakure. What was the move? He needed to reach Konohagakure before Kumogakure was able to get in touch with them about Anatsu's status. The terrible weather made life difficult for Anatsu. He should have listened to Kaji after all.

[Leaving Country]
[S-Rank: 30 minutes]
[Country and topic left if not stopped]

 

[Enomoto Satoshi]

"Halt, who goes there?" yelled Satoshi as he saw a suspicious looking individual hustling away. Satoshi enjoyed taking long, leisurely walks around the Village border, ensuring the safety of his people and his country. Admittedly life was pretty slow-paced in Cloud Village, and seldom did truly exciting things happen.

"Hey!" exclaimed Satoshi with a friendly smile, as he finally caught up with the unusual stranger. "I'm just a resident Chuunin out for a stroll in the countryside. You don't look like anyone I recognize from around town but Cloud is a big place...what exactly are you doing here?"

[Stopping]
[A Rank - Catch Time 1 hour]

 

[Nakata Dai]

Anatsu was intercepted once again. The outskirts of Kumogakure were troublesome indeed. The punishing winds of the mountains within the night were taking their toll on Anatsu and he had no time to spare. He was panting as he stopped in his tracks for a second. He would then stand up straight, with his back turned towards the Kumogakure shinobi. He had to think. A fight with another shinobi would only stall his departure and ultimately allow Okada Kaji and his troops to catch up with him.

Anatsu stood at about average height. He was dressed in black, with a black traveling cloak covering him from his toes to his nose. His beige traditional Japanese hat known as a Kasa was wide and covered his eyes when he tilted his head slightly down which he almost always did. Anatsu needed to make a decision, either attempt to kill these shinobi quickly, or talk his way out of it.

"I'm just a resident Chuunin out for a stroll in the countryside. You don't look like anyone I recognize from around town but Cloud is a big place...what exactly are you doing here?" He sounded young. Was he a genin? There were a lot of differences between this kid and the warden. Anatsu responded with emotion for the first time years. He needed to talk his way out of it, or at least try to.

"I'm just a merchant! I received word that my wife is giving birth in the outskirts of the Hidden Sand village! May I be on my way? yelled back in excitement Anatsu.

 

[Enomoto Satoshi]

Satoshi stood upon the rock face for several seconds gazing at the eclectically-dressed stranger. His thoughts raced through his head with such celerity that he felt as though an hour had elapsed under the dim moonlight; the rest of their surroundings cloaked with a foreboding shadow of pitch black. The conditions were rather treacherous up in the mountains, and for a brief interval Satoshi regretted taking his evening stroll in the midst of a snowstorm. However, he quickly resolved that his homeland was seldom at risk when the sky was filled with sunshine and happiness, and enduring the elements was a necessary sacrifice to fulfilling his duties of defending Cloud Village.

The wide-brimmed visitor called back in friendly tones to Satoshi, though the young Chuunin could scarcely discern his appearance through the thick flurry of snow whirling in the wind. The stranger claimed to be a merchant, and he was certainly dressed for the part. A resident of the periphery of Sunagakure supposedly, and he had to hasten back home for to witness the birth of his child. All very reasonable, believable requests.

However, Satoshi’s years of training had taught him always to scrutinize even the most innocuous of situations. Satoshi knew exactly why he was trudging through a snowstorm across the peaks of Kumogakure’s tallest, most dangerous mountains in the middle of the night – he was patrolling the outskirts of his Village for miscreants and intruders. But why would a wandering merchant, cloaked from head-to-toe in garments that effectively concealed his appearance, just so happen to be gallivanting in that same location? Satoshi was 99% sure that this situation was routine and harmless, but was ignoring that 1% risk really worth endangering the lives of the countless women, children and even fellow shinobi whom he had sworn to protect?

“Congratulations, Mr. Merchant, I cannot imagine the rapture which must be inspiring your hasty peregrinations in the midst of this perilous weather,” bellowed Satoshi cheerfully in an attempt to elevate his voice above the vociferous blizzard. “However, I cannot morally justify allowing a defenseless merchant to wander in such inclement weather. You don’t have the training and experience that I do as a shinobi, and allowing you to continue this futile journey would be tantamount to a death sentence.”

Satoshi strode up to the dark-cloaked stranger, and paused to continue speaking. Satoshi’s visage was furrowed with incredulity, but he earnestly wished to find a middle-ground and ideally help out this wanderer if he could unequivocally verify that what he claimed was the truth. “There is shelter, warmth and food back at the Village Gates, and plenty of security personnel who can help escort you safely to your destination. It has gotten late so we both should be returning now, but if you’d like me to carry your belongings I would be happy to assist.”

 

[Nakata Dai]

Was it time for Anatsu to begin his hand seals and finish Satoshi off? Perhaps Anatsu could utilize Dojutsu to escape.This was a scenario which he could not escape at the time being. The man behind him was rather persistent. Would one more lie assist? Could he use a genjutsu to change the terrain? There was a lot to consider.How long would it take Anatsu to eliminate this threat? He wasn't what worried Anatsu. What worried Anatsu was Okada Kaji and his back up. Under normal circumstances, Anatsu would have no difficulty taking on dozens of shinobi. This weather however, was not in his favor.

"Oh, no worries shinobi-san! I am of the Ice clan! This weather favors us!" yelled back Anatsu.

His back was turned towards the shinobi still, as he was able to slip a smokebomb without it being visible to the shinobi behind. Anatsu's excellence as a shinobi would now be put on display. During his time in the Hidden Leaf, he was popular among ANBU because of his hand seals, they were the quickest in all of Konohagakure.

Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram" began the handseals immediately after pricking his finger, with his back still turned to the shinobi and the aid of the smokebomb Anatsu immediately slammed his palm on the floor, ultimately performing the sacred summoning (shokan) jutsu.

The smoke instantly cleared out and what was present before the Kumogakure shinobi, was now another Kumogakure shinobi.

Anatsu has summoned an old acquaintance in Zangyaku of the Youkai.

Zangyaku, above all, is the embodiment of Chaos. As such, he has no permanent form. He can take any appearance he wishes, even that of other contract leaders should he so wish, so that he could fool those seeking his kin's aid. Because of their innocence--and thus something pure he can taint and pervert--he frequently prefers the form of children, usually at least as young if not younger then those seeking his power if only so that he can flaunt that power more effectively, to humiliate those seeking him.

Zangyaku is brutal in his love of mind games, and enjoys making those that seek him panic and break down. He thrives off of humiliating mortals, as doing so makes clear how much more powerful he is then them. No one knows what they'll get when they meet him, just that it will probably not be in their favor.

Zangkayu had taken the form of a Kumogakure ANBU Captain who stood facing Satoshi. He wore a face mask, like any ANBU would. With Zangkayu's presence, the already freezing temperatures became even colder. They sent chills down both present shinobi's spines. Zangkayu had taken the form of a Kumogakure ANBU captain and had a loud voice, even behind the mask. He was not pleased with Anatsu one bit. However, he would deal with that later.

"Yoh- Return to the village. This merchant always crosses these lands and is cleared with us. He's made for this weather." said the Captain to Satoshi.

Anatsu would then proceed to take slow steps away. Would the Chunin still attempt to stop him? Would he see through his deceit? He did not use genjutsu or a transformation jutsu because he didn't want to test the Chunin. He chose the shokan jutsu, a far more advanced technique.

---
ooc:
[Topic and Country Left Unless Stopped]
[Obviously you have full permission to see through any technique or action used in this post. RP it as you wish pending on the skill of your character.]

 

[Enomoto Satoshi]

Satoshi stood intently in eager anticipation of the merchant’s reply. His psyche was plunged in a turmoil of apprehension and distrust. This was assuredly not your typical traveling salesman, traversing a treacherous blizzard tundra under the menacing auspices of the jet black sky. Yet even if the traveler was not entirely as he claimed, does that justify making the logical leap to assume he’s wicked or a threat to Cloud Village? Was there really a reward to be reaped from sticking your nose in matters well beyond your comprehension, let alone pay grade?

Satoshi’s steadfast façade was abruptly interrupted by a smoke bomb which detonated seemingly from nowhere. Startled, Satoshi took a brisk step backwards and sheets of snow that had condensed on his shoulders cascaded down in heavy droves. A high-ranking Anbu, clad in official attire and concealed by a white mask, emerged from the impenetrable darkness of his black cloud of smoke. The Anbu Captain professed authoritatively the honesty of this merchant, and the legitimacy of his travels. Satoshi was ordered by a superior officer to leave the source of his suspicions alone and obediently return home, and despite his skepticism regarding the situation, the message was quite unambiguous.

“This wandering merchant has an Anbu chaperone who arrives at his beck-and-call…? What sort of shenanigans could possibly be at play here? And why the hell is there an Ice Clan in sweltering Sand Village?” All of these troubled thoughts were spiraling furiously in Satoshi’s head as his previously confident demeanor shifted to one of unease. Ostensibly the masked man standing before him was an Anbu of distinguished rank, yet Satoshi had never known his Village’s most elite and notorious tactical force to occupy their time babysitting ordinary ware peddlers in the middle of a blizzard.

“Understood sir, thank you for explaining the situation. I will return to the Gate immediately,” declared Satoshi as forcefully as he could muster, though trepidation shook his voice and an inexplicable chill suddenly overcame him which permeated straight to his bones. There remained no more work to attend to atop this frigid mountain peak, and Satoshi suspected this was his final opportunity to remove himself from a disconcerting circumstance before it escalated irreversibly. Satoshi politely bowed in the direction of the Anbu Captain and the merchant (though Satoshi had lost sight of him in the snowstorm), and hurried off expeditiously to report this incident to the Village Gate. Optimistically he hoped to learn that his worries had all been for naught, but as he hastened down the mountain Satoshi began mentally organizing a slew of questions he planned to ask regarding the enigmatic salesman who traveled with official Anbu protection.

[Topic Left]