Totsuka no Tsurugi (Q.4.Genbu)

[The Dude]

A glorious day of days began to set on a small quiet village nestled in the rolling hills of the land of rice. It was a secluded peaceful village in the most illogical places for a village; the middle of no where. The town was inhabited by the very young who would soon grow up and fly from the nest only to return as their parents had looking for a quiet place to settle down after living out their youths.

The citizens have traveled far and wide across the vast world to nearly every corner and returned with their own share of stories to tell. Mostly boring but if the inquisitive ear could be bent, one can find gemstones of stories to be told found in the rough. If he found the right man to tell it, he might find even more than a story.

The land is basking in a lovely low glow with the last light of the setting sun when a closing curtain becomes a mere introduction to a macabre evening...

[King]

"I guess this is it?" Ashura inquired idly as he glanced at the 'x' on his map, then to the village down at the bottom of the hell, and then back to the map. "I mean, we're pretty far from any other settlements. . . This has got to be it."

Folding the paper into a more accommodating size, he then slid it into his satchel and gestured for his partner to follow. "We're here, Ji." Glancing over his shoulder, ensuring the other youngster was still around, he pointed to the small cluster of establishments. "The map says that this is the village."

Casually, he strolled closer. "I hope we can find some information about the sword here. I mean, it really doesn't look like it--" It didn't. The village was hardly astonishing; it looked like nothing more than a farmer's gathering. "--But, maybe we'll be surprised."

[Messatsu!]

Digging deep into his right nostril, Ji blindly followed his new companion Ashura to, well, he didn't know where exactly, all he knew was that the duo needed to find a remote village. Trailing behind with only a handful of meters separating him from Ashura, he overheard the level of doubt in Ashura's voice regarding the location of the village itself, however, the further they ventured into said village, the more it seemed to be true.

"Finally, I was starting to get tired of all this walking, the gravity in Mr. Namyeol's place is more comfortable, I don't like it here. . . "

Having lived in his fathers sage world filled with the purest and most natural flow of chakra, the world in which Ji now lived in seemed so overly foreign that he often wished he stayed 'home' in that alternate dimension. Unfortunately, the responsibilities of his father fell onto his shoulders, robbing him of whatever peace he clung onto for the past fourteen years of his life.

"Hehe, I'm sure we'll find something! I'm pretty good at finding things, even if I have to smell it out!"

Following Ashura as the two continued, Ji tried to keep their spirits lifted about the search, after all, he'd be disappointed if he failed to help out a friend.

[The Dude]

The two proceed casually closer to the town, their advance warranting only friendly smiles and waves from the few locals they pass on their way. The people are dressed in simple clothes that do nothing for their unimpressive looks, but they still have a healthy glow that comes with the simple lives they lead. Even now as the pair approaches an old cobblestone bridge spanning the twenty meters across the lazy river, an elderly couple waves from the other side for them to hurry!

"Hurry up and get across quick then lads. Night's falling soon and you'll need to find a place to stay before then." The old man was bald but had a passionately large beard, light gray with bits of black that gave it a 'peppered' look. He rolled the long hairs between his fingers carefully toying with it. He was of course right to assume they had come for the village, after all there was no where else these travelers could hope to reach before the setting sun. The figure beside him was hooded and considerably shorter than her counter part, but she waved the duo on as well enthusiastically.

Across the bridge and behind the couple, figured moved about with bobbing lights. They were citizens moving through the stale day light, igniting small lanterns along buildings and roads all through out the town before the evening set in. Shopkeeps began to close up small shacks and huts they used. It seemed the whole town was just settling down as the duo arrived.

[/font][/justify]

[King]

Ashura lofted a brow. "Oh?" Then, he glanced back at Ji. "I guess spooky stuff happens during nighttime? Sounds interesting," he added before picking up his pace and turning his attention back to the elderly couple. "Coming, coming!"

Even though Ashura had no idea who they were, he wasn't entirely worried. On guard, sure, but not worried. He was a capable shinobi, and his friend was the self-proclaimed (and by many others, as well) ruler of Amegakure. Together, their eyes could accomplish nearly anything.

As they crossed the bridge, Ashura whispered. "We can take turns being on look out, if we need to get some sleep. I'm sure these folks mean well, but. . . you know what they say about trusting people easily."

Standing before the two elders, Ashura smiled. "Would you happen to know of a place we can sleep for the night? We have ryo to pay."

[Messatsu!]

After having picked his nose endlessly without so much as a care in the world, he soon stopped upon noticing an odd and overly friendly couple in tandem with Ashura's comment. with uncontested enthusiasm, the couple called out to the young duo, strongly suggesting that they find a place to stay for the night. Although their offer seemed a tad bit too sweet, a nice warm place with a fine roof sounded oh so tempting.

Ashura whispered to Ji a second time, proposing that they alternate between looking out for one another, presuming one needed to sleep. Nodding to give acknowledgement to Ashura's words, Ji looked and smiled towards the old couple as Ashura inquired about a place to sleep. While the two exchanged words, Ji leaned over to his side (opposite of Ashura) and noticed the lanterns being lit around the streets one after another. Moving closer to Ashura's ear, Ji whispered, expressing his doubt.

"Y'know, I have a baaaad feeling about this place, that, or our timing is just off the charts. I haven't met that man people but jeez, since when is everyone this friendly."

[The Dude]

The old couple smiled warmly at the pair even exchanging knowing glances to each other while the odd partnership of shinobi whispered back and forth. When they were finished the elderly man hummed shortly to draw attention to himself before he spoke. "You must have come for the festival. We don't always have time off from the hardwork that keeps us an independent village but for the only festival we have all year round, we sure make it count! Just look at all the people in this town!" The old man turned and waved his outstretched arms at the village but it still seemed like an ordinary population.

The older lady chuckled and put a gentle hand on his shoulder, "Oh hush now you old fool, you've never been out of the village to see what a real crowd looks like. These folks are travelers, I'm sure they've seen plenty of large gatherings that would put ours to shame."

The old man wheeled about with dismay on his face, "But we have Kim, Jin, Ekitai, Takumi, and even Akane is back!"

Dead...awkward...silence....

After the long stretch of silence accompanied by the most judgemental face the old lady could muster, she turned to look at the shinobi again. "Even during the festival though you'll want to make your way to the Bottomless Pit, it's the only thing we have to use as an excuse for an inn when we do get visitors. It's really not a lot more than it's name makes it out to be, just look for a hole in the ground near the middle of town and you'll do fine I'm sure."

[King]

Ashura could only glance back at Ji, with a "Did this bitch just say a hole in the ground?" look across his face. But, when he glanced back at the elderly couple, he was all grins and smiles. "Sounds good," he lied while moving on. "Thank you for all the help."

Once they were out of earshot from the couple, Ashura said -- still whispering, "That's nonsense. Lets find a roof or something, drop a few shadow clones to stand watch, and just get a nap if we get tired. No way I'm jumping into a hole in the ground."

Ji was right - no one was that nice, and then just tried to lure children into some hole in the ground. The last thing that the young Uchiha planned to do was get kidnapped and assimilated into some human trafficking ring.

[Messatsu!]

As Ashura looked to Ji, he returned the look, equally if not more surprised and appalled at the woman's words. What seemingly caused her words to sting unlike anything ever felt before had been the fact that the old hag spoke with conviction, truly convinced that the two shinobi (albeit young) was naive enough to fall for such a thing. Although offended on an intellectual level, Ji managed to suppress his frustration & anger and soon channeled it into more nose picking.

"Yeah, a roof would do just fine, I'm actually pretty used to sleeping out in the open."

Finger out of his nose, he flicked what mucus he managed to accumulate upon the tip of his finger and fling it onto the back of the old lady. Its green, slimy texture radiated like a shining beacon, making it more than obvious against the dead of night. Grinning mischievously, Ji's elbow raised up and nudged Ashura's arm to get his attention quietly. Tilting his head over to his left, he suggested that they take matters of their own well being into their own hands.

No more than a second later had Ji leapt off the ground with a muted launch and landed upon rooftop of the nearest building. With the hard feeling of shingles beneath his feet, he looked back to see if Ashura had been willing to follow. Presuming he did, Ji had a plan of his own.

"Hey, how about we let a pair of cool clones to inspect this bottomless pit. Sounds like a scary death trap prison where they cook and eat little kids. This little festival could be a cover up for whatever goes down in that scary place."

Fueling his own childish imagination, his suggestion still remained, adamant in their next course of action.

[The Dude]

The elderly couple walked on towards the hole oblivious to the snot tag Ji left upon the old woman's back, or perhaps simply uncaring. In either way the made their own way through the town and headed towards what the village's 'makeshift pub'. They were well within the vision of Ji from the roof as well as Ashura should he have followed the young boy to the roof top. From here while they discussed what next to do they could see over the entirety of the small town illuminated in the dim white glow of the lanterns that hung all about now.

From this vantage point and with the right eyes it was possible to see a massive cloud looming in the distance for lack of something better to do. Something strange about the cloud didn't seem quite right but it was too far away to make an accurate assumption without staring at it for a while. To the ground, the view showed the elderly couple approaching the 'hole' that actually turned out to be an unnecessarily large well for the size of the town. The elderly couple climbed in a woven basked tied to the crank shaft and a bearded man lowered them down into the dark.

Else where in the city there was no activity to be seen or heard. Total silence if not for the ninjas' conversation and the roaring voices of the drunk and merry down in the hole. It was rather apparent that everyone in the town had gone to the hole for the evening and would likely be there late into the night. Likely a good place for gossip and stories compared to any other place, although the shinobi perhaps just wanted a well rested night sleep far from the pub.

There was a metallic single screech accompanied by a single hollow scream that rang out from behind them. Should they turn they would only be able to see an eerie flare of green flame for a moment before it vanished. To the pair of Uchiha there was something else though if they observed the location with enough concentration. It seemed as if there had been a high spike of chakra used in some advanced form, but neither of the two would be familiar with exactly what the technique had been.

OOC: If you would like to try and determine more about any of this roll a D100 for me. I will not be accepting edits to your post unless you tell me before you edit the post so I can see the original roll. Ty!

[King]

So much to do, and so very little--

Forming a single handseal, Ashura was enshrouded in a veil of smoke that produced a pair of identical copies. "You, check out that well." He pointed to the first Kage Bunshin, who immediately turned and made his way toward the makeshift in. "And you, check out whatever that thing was over here." The second, like the first, hastily made his way off into the distance to where the "chakra spike was.

The Kage Bunshin who's destination was the well didn't bother waiting for the basket. Instead, with a simple padding of chakra along the soles of his feet, walked down the side of the wall's inner tube until he reached the bottom (or whatever it was where the passengers were to be unloaded). From there, he would follow the elderly couple to where they'd expected the boys to stay.

As for the second Kage Bunshin, he raced off into the distance with hopes of finding out whatever it might have been that made that. Curiously searching for the source of that "eerie green flare," he wouldn't rest until he found it.

As for Ashura? Well, with a simple push from both of his legs, he landed atop the roof Ji was currently positioned on. "I'll have them check it out before we make any decisions about where we're staying," he says smoothly as his clones vanish in their respective directions. Taking a light whiff of the air, he closed his eyes for only a moment. "Storm's coming."

SPOILER: Click to show

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu - Shadow Clone Technique - x2. For simplicity's sake, the additional two Highs worth of chakra for being a Ninjutsu\Genjutsu primary have been given to the clones, making the chakra separation:

[Messatsu!]

Ji realized that he loved the way Ashura thought the moment the two gave the after offering the overly large well and spike of chakra in tandem with a quick-second, rising green hue. The sudden appearance of the light (even from behind) shone bright enough to catch his attention as its influence crawled Ashura who his attention, at that time, had been focused on.

Nearly in tandem with Ashura's own display, Ji formed a single hand signature, one that heralded the harmless explosion of smoke that followed and produced a single clone Ji. While sharing the same advanced cloning technique with Ashura, his chakra capacity registered as above average yet still inferior to Ashura's own, meaning that Ji couldn't have afforded to beckon forth a secondary clone to cover twice as much ground.

"Hehee, can't leave all the fun to you now can I! "

Ji's own followed Ashura's own (#2), trailing behind it all but a handful of meter, keeping a considerable and comfortable distance between them. Speaking ahead to the duplicated Ashura, he inquired the origins of the chakra source and what it could've possibly been.

"What do you think that spike of chakra was? Can't recall the last time I've seen a technique with such a color. "

As for Ji himself, he remained by Ashura's side, ready to support him fully in his endeavors.

SPOILER: Click to show

[Kage Bunshin] x1

Clone: x1 Massive, x2 high.
Ji: x1 Massive, x2 high.

[The Dude]

The first of Ashura's clones is the first to arrive at his destination, the well. As he approaches he spies the man with the grey peppered beard who also takes note of the clone with friendly eyes that twinkle even in the night. As he greets the clone his gruff voice carries sincere enthusiasm for his job, "Oh good, I thought everyone was here already and almost went down to join them myself after locking the door. Quick son," spinning about the man wrenched the old worn basket open with a dry scrape before gesturing for the clone to climb inside, "I wanna go join the fun before the start the real drinking games, haha!" It is more than apparent to the clone that this man has been drinking while on the job, judging from the still drying stains down either side of his mouth that clearly flowed to his shirt. This probably explains why he grabs the clone so hastily lifting him by the shoulders before pulling him into a bear hug and jumping backwards into the basket.

"Going Down!" he laughs merrily as the basket suddenly plummets free fall into the darkness. Strange and confusing the ride through the darkness is shocking as the basket strikes the walls of the well ricocheting the basket about as it falls. Fortunately the clone is kept safe in the arms of the large man who still clutches the boy to his chest as the basket falls deeper still. With a sudden gut wrenching stop the rope pulls taught. The man launches himself over the side of the basket and sets the clone down in the middle of the well lit room. "Welcome to the festivities!" All about the clone the people are staring with serious and curious expressions, and then the murmurs began...

Of course... Ashura was not privy to this.



Up on the surface, the pair of clones were swiftly approaching the source area of the mysterious flaring green light from earlier. They are near the edges of the town, noticing no more buildings before them but instead on the center of the road a small billowing cloud of smoke drifts lazily. The smell of burning and searing flesh is smelled but apart from this the mysterious cloud of and strange black stain in the road there is nothing to be seen



After a moment of considering the events, Ashura is able derive only this. The flare was likely to have come from some sort of sealing technique.

[King]

Shadow Clone 1

He was, admittedly, surprised by the old man's energy. He said nothing as they traveled down-- almost recklessly --and even less as he saw the gathering of people at the end of the path, beneath the earth. Instead, he simply smiled and continued on, nodding to those who offered him looks.

Finally within a comfortable region of underground pit, he asked: "So, what's to do?"

Ashura

Still with ample time before the storm hit, or so he presumed, Ashura simply waited upon the roof with Ji. "Presuming things get a little weird with these people," he began. "We could probably just make our own place using your doton-techniques and combining it with my Fuuton to hollow itout." It sounded a lot better than sleeping underground, where he was sure plenty of insects dwelt.

"The chakra should keep it from getting soggy in the rain."

Shadow Clone 2

Ashura's second shadow clone could only loft a suspicious brow at the smoke, and the scene before him. To mundane eyes, there's very little to trace. However, with a mere blink, the clone's Sharingan activated. Whatever might have been hiding, or remaining from the Fuuinjutsu, he'd find out soon enough.

SPOILER: Click to show

Sharingan, Stage 3: x2 Low

[Messatsu!]

As the two waited upon the roof, a feeling deep down in the pit of Ji's stomach soon surfaced, ushering him to believe that whatever they'd gotten themselves into, it would've taken an overly long time. With that in mind, he merely crouched & sat down while hugging a single knee with the other one extended fully.Just after feeling the immediate boredom that slowly crept its way into his very being, Ashura momentarily stimulated Ji's mind by suggesting that, if push came to shove, with their combined abilities a makeshift home could've been made.

"Hah! you're totally right! We don't need those grumpy old folks gettin' in our way."

He paused, shifting his tone to one filled with complete seriousness.

"So, after we find this item of yours, what'll we do after that?"

---

Shadow Clone:

Having trailed Ashura's own clone the entire way over towards the flashing green light, he positioned himself directly to his leftward side (roughly 5m away) just before the ledge where he, with his own blink, called upon the powers of his master's fabled sharingan. While the clouds content and origin's remained unknown, both Ji and Ashura knew that there'd only been a set amount of time before their eyes would've revealed any and all truths regarding the situation at hand.

"Look's like there are no more buildings, only a road ahead. Seems like we'd have to go down there if we plan to pursue whatever that thing is."