On the Hunt!

[Takeo]

Zutsumi🗲Kazuha

Kazuha was chasing an overweight man throughout a patch of forest in Hi no Kuni. It was less of a chase and more of a brisk walk behind an unhealthy man running for his life. Kazuha casually closed in on the man from behind. "Stop right fucking there, give me that chocolate swirly pop you had in your hands earlier," announced the kid from behind the wall of a man. There was a thunderous chuckle as the overweight slob turned to face Kazuha. With said chocolate swirly pop in his mouth he muttered a short response, "fuck you kid." Before the man could gobble down the candy Kazuha had used Denkou Akuryoku and struck at the man's right kneecap. With raiton chakra coating all of Kazuha's right hand he easily cut through the man's right knee. The man's screams were drowned out by the loud thud when he hit the ground. Kazuha also used Kirate on his right hand. The large slob of a man began cursing at the child, but before he could finish Kazuha jabbed his hand through the man's skull. With both the piercing power of his raiton chakra and his elongated nails Kazuha drilled a child's hand-sized hole through the slob's skull. Kazuha ended both of his jutsu as he removed his hand from the fat man's face. After wiping his hand off Kazuha walked away with his hands in his pockets. The child didn't bother to move the corpse or hide it; he know that no one would be able to trace it back to him. Plan B for candy, find the nearest town, pondered Kazuha as he moved throughout the forest.

Cheeky Little Shit

[Takeo]

Zutsumi🗲Kazuha

The tree Kazuha had spent the night in wasn't serving him well at the current moment. Damn, my neck really hurts, worried the kid as he attempted to roll his neck. Kazuha walked most places, but it never really took him that long to get from point a to b. His walking speed was equivalent to most peoples' running speed. The boys stomach grumbled as he continued to walk throughout the forest. Kazuha approached a sign that lead him to a lengthy dirt road; he walked east along the road occasionally passing by tradesmen and small families. It didn't take Kazuha long to make it to a quaint fishing village. The town sat around a lake and seemed to be filled with plenty of drifters. It was around midday when Kazuha made his way into the fishing village. The boy began mindlessly following a scent that wafted into his nose. After a few moments, Kazuha found himself standing before a small ramen stand. The teen stepped through the blinds and entered the aromatic shop. There was a single elderly man who greeted the boy with a question, "There are drifters as young as you squirt?" Kazuha scratched his head and sat up onto one of the bar stools. "I'm no squirt old man! About the drifter status, I have home. I'm simply on some official, sweets, business, now mind yours," replied the boy with a harsh but playful tone. The geezer looked stunned as Kazuha's words hit his ears. "Alrighty then, well I'm sure you want my usual. It's 500 ryo," uttered the older man in a reserved tone. Kazuha dropped the money on the bar and waited for his ramen. While at the bar the boy rocked back and forth on the stool.

Cheeky Little Shit

[Takeo]

Zutsumi🗲Kazuha

His stomach continued to grumble furiously as the old man took his sweet time making Kazuha's ramen. He almost stepped outside of the ramen bar for a moment because his stomach couldn't handle to smells. This hunger is making me a little crazy, considered Kazuha in thought as he zoned out. The elderly man turned around and sat a large bowl of ramen down saying, "Here's my signature fish broth ramen!" As if it was one motion, Kazuha immediately picked up the bowl and began to drink it down. He did not thank the man for the food nor did he bother using any utensils. After a few large gulps Kazuha's stomach was filled with delight! The boy turned around on the bar stool and hopped off without saying anything. Despite this, before he could leave the ramen obsessed man grabbed the boy by his shoulder. "Even though you have a home, be careful in those forests round' here. There's some rumor goin' bout that there's a killer on the loose," murmured the man in a hushed tone. Kazuha took a much lighter tone in his voice when he replied saying, "w-what, how many have died?" The old man released the boy and crossed his arms before replying. "Hmph, apparently only two. But they say their connected, one was in the forest to the west of here. That was apparently a young girl around your age. The other was in that same forest but north of here much past the lake. The body of a young man was found. The only thing connecting the murders is both had some sort of candy partially eaten at the scene. I guess the killer uses candy as a token or somethin'," explained the old man like some sort of police chief. Kazuha didn't bother to turn to face the man before he left only saying, "Thanks, I'll be careful." The teen strolled through the fishing village searching for somewhere he could buy any sort of sweets. Candy as a token? No way! That's so lame, and I fucking love candy. Those people simply had candy I wanted. Well, if I was skilled enough I could kill them leaving the candy intact. Man, if only. Then I could have actually eaten that candy! These people deserved to die, they were so selfish. Choosing to eat some candy over living, ruminated Kazuha as he walked along.

Cheeky Little Shit

[Takeo]

Zutsumi🗲Kazuha

A storm was brewing in Hi no Kuni, and they were soon to be gripped by terror. Kazuha did not recognize the gravity of his actions; moreover, taking life had become incredibly casual to the boy. Kazuha didn't even bother to recognize that people would connect who killed both of those people together until it was being quite literally explained to him. Continually, it was at this moment that the boy realized the man he murdered earlier for a chocolate swirly pop would soon be connected to the other two. Oddly enough this satisfied Kazuha and made him want to continue stringing people along. Despite initially finding the concept of marking his kills with candy unappealing the fervor that it seemed to cause excited the teen. From this moment on Kazuha would continue killing in Hi no Kuni, but now he would also be purposely marking each kill with a small candy. The time Kazuha had spent in Hi no Kuni was farily fruitless up until this point. He had not found or even heard of Shinichi's whereabouts, so he had been acting aimlessly. After minutes of thinking and planning ahead Kazuha located a small confectionary store. When he entered a small bell rung by the door. Kazuha approached the counter and posed a question, "Do you have any hard candy?" The slender lady at the counter nodded and replied with a question of her own, "Lychee, Papaya, or Brown Sugar?" Kazuha replied with glee exclaiming, "I want 50 of EACH!" The woman chuckled before replying, "Is this what you do with your allowance?" The clerk then left the counter and went into a room behind much of the shop. She soon returned with three separately colored bags; each bag was no bigger than Kazuha's hand. She placed the three bags on the counter and attempted to speak but was interrupted. "Actually can I have another fifty of the lychee, it's my favorite," announced Kazuha softly. The clerk didn't bother saying anything she simply left for the back room. Before she could return Kazuha swiped the three bags of candy and fled the store. All she would return to would be the ring of the door's bell and no candy or Kazuha. The boy quickly ran away from the confectionary store stuffing the candy in his pant's pockets. Kazuha stole down an alleyway between two decrepit buildings and jumped between the facing walls reaching one of the roofs. Kazuha looked out around the fishing village and behind him into the surrounding forest. Where should I let my whims take me next, wondered the boy as he sat cross legged on the roof of some abandoned shack. Kazuha's attention shifted when he noticed the lady at the confectionary store talking to two men in uniforms. Following this, he stood up and lifted his shirt up slightly. On his stomach was a small seal drawn in what looked to be blood. Kazuha pressed his thumb to it using Kuchyose: Raikou Kenka. From his stomach Kazuha retrieved a plum ceramic cat mask. He quickly put it over his face and tied it tight around his head. Kazuha then turned around and leapt off of the abandoned shack's roof. The boy fled from the outside of the fishing village into the western part of the forest.

Cheeky Little Shit

[Takeo]

Zutsumi🗲Kazuha

This time of year the sun began setting earlier and earlier each passing day, but Kazuha still had roughly four more hours before the sun would even begin to set. The boy calmly ran throughout the forest with his hands in his pockets. He doubted he would get in any actual trouble, but he didn't want to bother with losing his candy. Kazuha truthfully didn't have the money for that candy, but regardless of whether or not he did Kazuha didn't believe in paying for candy. The boy was a thief at heart, and he found great pride in stealing, i.e. acquiring what he wants his way. The ground became more and more difficult to traverse with ease so Kazuha took to the tree's. He began moving through the canopy above the forest, still with his hands in his pockets. After traveling a significant distance into the forest Kazuha stopped on a branch at least four times his size. He sat cross legged up against the trunk of the tree and pushed his mask up off of his face. The teen closed his eyes and began to nap sitting upwards. Kazuha easily lulled himself to sleep and only planned to nap for no more than three hours. He was used to sleeping for brief periods and not sleeping any hours at all!

Cheeky Little Shit

[Takeo]

Zutsumi🗲Kazuha

After three hours and thirty minutes Kazuha's eyes shot open. The forest surrounding him was teeming with life at this time and the sun was starting to set before him. Within the next thirty minutes night would fall upon Hi no Kuni. Kazuha removed a few leaves from his silky white hair and stood up on the branch he napped upon. The boy pulled his plum cat mask back over his face and set out. Kazuha had no particular goal, but he decided to head in the direction of Tenkaigakure. This large village could provide a few opportunities for the boy, one being possible clues surrounding Shinichi. This time of night was filled with people setting up their camps and roving bandits. Not many people traveled throughout the forests in the night for obvious reasons. The farther Kazuha traveled the darker the sky above him got. Tenkaigakure was filled with beautiful stars, but the forest canopy didn't allow much of that light in. Kazuha continued to move through the tree canopy until he momentarily smelt smoke. This caused the boy to stop and listen. In the distance Kazuha could hear faint voices, so he snuck atop the tree canopy in search of the sounds. When the voices got louder and the smell got more potent Kazuha activated his Hiramekugan. This allowed him to not only better see in the dark but also to see the nervous systems of people in his vision. Kazuha scanned the forest and moved in closer to the voices. The boy crouched on a branch high above a small tent sat by a fire that had just recently been put out. Kazuha's Hiramekugan trained in on the two people conversing. "I'm glad we could get away from that hustle and bustle for one night," said the woman as she grabbed at the man's hand. He quickly replied by saying, "anything for you baby," before kissing her on the cheek. Kazuha flipped forwards off of the tree onto the ground below. The couple was surprised when a kid landed in front of them; continually, the boy landed with his back facing the two. After forming the rat hand sign Kazuha used Kirate. Following this, the masked boy turned around and jabbed his pointed hand through the woman's skull. His hand moved inside of her cranium with ease, and he used Tekikaku Denkou Dokuhebi Dageki in his other hand. Before the man could even process what had conspired before him Kazuha pressed his two fingers on one of the man's spinal nerves in his neck. This created a spark of lightning that partially tore off the man's head from his neck. Kazuha quickly moved away from the mass amounts of blood spewing from the man's neck and wiped off his hands. The masked Kazuha then pulled two lychee candy out of his pocket and dropped one on each corpse. I deserve one too for my hard work, thought the boy as he slid a lychee hard candy into his mouth. Kazuha merrily fled the scene, and he continued to use the forest canopy to travel towards Tenkaigakure.

Cheeky Little Shit

[Takeo]

Zutsumi🗲Kazuha

The boy was nearing Tenkaigakure as he finished his lychee hard candy. Kazuha crunched loudly on his candy and swallowed the remaining pieces. The dropping temperature made the boy's spine dance with sorrow. Kazuha was wearing a long sleeve black turtle neck and a large purple sweater overtop it. His pants were black and somewhat baggy as well. Because of the weather Kazuha wore shoes instead of ninja tabi, and it was in this moment that he felt fulfilled with his shoe choice. Kazuha felt like a moth approaching the light, Tenkaigakure lit up the forest at night. From the surrounding forest Kazuha scanned the village's exterior. After moving near the backside of the village near the Kokuun sector Kazuha decide to sneak in. He could have most likely entered the village like anyone else, but this would be much more satisfying for the boy. With his Hiramekugan activated Kazuha scanned who was standing atop the village wall. There was only one guard where Kazuha wanted to enter. The man was leaned up against a small structure that seemed to be a bit of a sitting area. Kazuha quietly scaled the wall and climbed up and over the small structure. The teen snuck by the guard and lept down into the farside of the Kokuun sector. This sector of the village was poorly lit and fairly empty at this time, especially in this season.

Cheeky Little Shit

[LmnDrp]

Shinichi and Mizuka had been walking and camping out in the woods for 3 days now, since we had left her village. They made camp in the woods twice, but they had found an abandoned building for one night which made bearing cold nights much easier, not that either of them couldn't handle it. They also got to know each other more as they travelled, finding that they had a good amount of commonalities between each other, which Shinichi found reassuring as it was important for a leader to have common ground with his allies as well as it being necessary for an efficient team. Though, their camping streak would end tonight as they neared the gates of Tenkaigakure. Engaging the guards, they both passed through without issue, perks of keeping a low profile... he thought to himself. As they got within the walls of the village he turned to his new ally and spoke, "how would you like to proceed? Getting our rooms for the night first, or killing time and surveying around the village. Cities are bustling with information and opportunities for everyone, you just have to know how and where to look."

[Takeo]

After a few days roughing it in the forests of Hi no Kun the duo had made it to Tenkaigakure. They were apparently searching for the next member of Manjushage. What kind of other seedy characters are going to join this group of his, wondered Mizuka as the two moved through Tenkaigakure. Shinichi asked the woman what she wanted to do next; Mizuka was quite tired but wasn't ready to head to bed just yet. "I know of a small cafe near here, it's just outside of the Kokuun sector here," replied the woman as she began walking down a side street. Mizuka stopped in the empty street muttering, "Give me a moment, ninja crawl all over the place here." The lady opened up her disguise briefcase and removed a small brown wig. Mizuka tied her hair back and placed the bob wig over her head. After straightening her new hair the woman spoke saying, "Alright follow me." After living in Hi no Kuni for a few years Mizuka had only been to Tenkaigakure a handful of times. She found the place to be all too busy and overrated. Mizuka exited the small side street and began walking towards the Kokuun sector.

[Takeo]

Zutsumi🗲Kazuha

Kazuha walked around aimlessly through the Kokuun sector. He couldn't help but look around like a kid discovering the world for the first time. Kazuha had never been to Tenkaigakure, and he was surprised how dense it was. I bet it's hard to keep an eye on everyone that comes in and out of here huh, considered the teen as he moved through the dimly let neighborhood. Kazuha began to get frustrated walking around the maze-like streets within the Kokuun sector, so he scaled up someone's home. On top of the roof, the boy scanned the surrounding area. His eyes followed the wall separating the Kokuun sector from the rest of the village and found an exit. Kazuha traversed along the rooftops until he made it to the wall surrounding the neighborhood. He subsequently flipped over the wall and landed on the other side. Kazuha continued walking along the wall. He was nearing the entrance, of the Kokuun sector, when he spotted a familiar face; Kazuha silently hid behind a tree on the sidewalk. He proceeded to activate his Hiramekugan and examine the man's nervous system. Kazuha identified his target Shinichi, but he was with someone else, someone strange. That oaf, with an old hag huh, considered the boy as he spied on Mizuka and Shininichi.

Cheeky Little Shit

[LmnDrp]

stay sharp, stand tall, don't go down without a fight

228# ♦ Shinichi no Kotonashi

Shinichi had never visited Tenkaigakure before, he tried to avoid Hi no Kuni as a general rule, it always seemed to have the most going on. Not really Shinichi's scene. However, now that he was here he found the city captivating, as there was so much culture packed into such a concentrated area. I imagine there is much to learn within these walls, maybe one day when I have down time I will have to visit each hidden village before I start getting notoriety... starting with the village hidden in the stars, he thought to himself as he and Mizuka walked together. She guided him to this sector dedicated entirely to the Kokuun clan, whom Shinichi had heard of though he'd never engaged in combat with this apparently intimidating Sharingan. The two entered a cafe, it's decorations were rustic in a way, but there was certainly an eye for design nonetheless. It was composed mostly of wood, but stone additionally, with a crow overhead of the sign stating 'The Mourning Murder'. The two entered and grabbed a seat in a booth, obviously one with the most optimal view of the surroundings as well as access to exits, as any respectable mercenary knows to do. As a server approached them with menus and questions, Shinichi retrieved his and scanned the drinks section before requesting simply for "green tea, please."

► kaigra ◄

[Takeo]

Both Shinichi and Mizuka entered "The Mourning Murder". The two sat in a booth and Shinichi ordered a green tea. "Chamomile, for me please," announced Mizuka to the café staff. Mizuka always enjoyed sitting in this café due to how aromatic it always was. Moments after requesting their teas they were delivered to their table. Mizuka pushed the green tea towards Shinichi and said, "here." The woman simply held her drink close to her face taking in the warmth of the tea. It was nice to sit inside of a cold winter night drinking a hot drink. Mizuka starred out the window next to their booth. Small flakes of snow began to litter the sky. The woman continued to sip her tea looking at the window. The Kokuun sector was much more desolate now then when Mizuka had previously been. Comparatively this time the sector looked like a ghost town.

[Takeo]

Zutsumi🗲Kazuha

The boy watched Shinichi and his lady friend enter what looked to be a café. The duo sat next to a window which allowed Kazuha to easily peer inside of the establishment. The two were simply sitting across from one another at a booth. Ew, is he on a date, questioned Kazuha in thought as he neared closer to the café. The boy was still peering through the window watching Shinichi. I need to speak to him, but I don't know that I can do it with whoever that lady is around, worried Kazuha as he hid himself behind a trashcan. It was cold outside, but Kazuha didn't notice how cold it was. He was too focused on watching Shinichi. He was waiting for them to exit the café before he decided what to do next. Kazuha might trail after Shinichi for an hour or he might just approach him as soon as possible.

Cheeky Little Shit

[LmnDrp]

stay sharp, stand tall, don't go down without a fight

181# ♦ Shinichi no Kotonashi

Shinichi thanked the woman as she delivered the pair their respective teas, retrieving his as Mizuka pushed it closer towards him. As he sipped from his cup, he was shocked by the green tea's abrasive flavor and what seemed like amateurish preparations. This is nothing like the monk's green tea... though maybe I'm just spoiled, he thought to himself, continuing to sip. He peered around the room to take note; 9 people in total, a cook in the kitchen, the waitress walking around checking on tables, a group of 3 that could be a family, a single young man, a single middle aged woman, and an old couple. Then, he turned back to Mizuka and began a conversation, "so, you've been to this village before? How was that, and what were you doing here anyway?" As he asked this, the waitress circled back around to their table inquiring if the pair would be needing any food this evening, to which he hungrily nodded his head. "Hm... I'd like to try your 'Unagiri', the rice balls stuffed with grilled eel. Sounds delicious."

► kaigra ◄

[Takeo]

Mizuka's tea calmed her nerves and warmed her stomach. After a short moment passed, Shinichi began to speak to the woman, but before she could reply the waitress circled back around. "I'd like your takoyaki please," requested the woman. Mizuka wet her mouth before replying to Shinichi, "It's always such a pain here. Tekaigakure shinobi aren't all that impressive, despite this they are tight knit. It's hard to get away with more unsightly behavior here. I only come here if I need something, never to visit." The lady sipped at her tea again tapping her fingers on the table. Something felt off, the reason Mizuka took the two to the Kokuun sector is because it seemed the most desolate to her from previous visits. Yet for some reason Mizuka couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched. Everyone in the café was attending to their own things and paid no mind to Mizuka and Shinichi. The woman continued to peer out the window searching for anything that caught her eye. She couldn't see much past the falling snow in the dimly lit streets. Mizuka turned back to face Shinichi when their food arrived. Both of the meals steamed with heat that warmed the woman's face. There were three sticks each with five takoyaki balls on them. The skewered fried octopus was easy to eat and tasted great. "You can have one of the takoyaki sticks if you'd like. I wouldn't really be able to get down more than two, uttered Mizuka as he picked up one of the three sticks. Mizuka pulled one of the fried balls off and plopped it into her mouth.