The air around them began to twist and become denser, darker. Kirinji’s eyes shifted toward Izanagi immediately. There it was. The shift was in character was apparent to him because he had witnessed it so many times. From the sly grin pocketed away in the corner of his mouth, you could tell that it was what he wanted to see. A wave of nostalgia washed over him as he spectated. More times than not what followed next after this change was pure, nondiscriminatory slaughter in the most glorious fashion. And while many would find that terrifying, it brought back some great memories of the war. The tiny hair on his skin raised in excitement. That was the Izanagi he was accustomed to. Yes, he was quirky, he had mostly always been. But behind that—was a Demon many feared. Could they also feel the weight of death looming over their head? Assessing threat levels was an important trait to have and it would be problematic if they did not know any better. As he thought this he glanced over at the others to see their reactions. It was no surprise that Ko had picked up on it. The new member, Misaho, recognized the intent as well.
He was reminded of the words delivered by the Old Man at Lucky Dragon Casino.
“To be able to end a battle without the need of weapons shows great strength.” Oddly enough, that sentence has stuck with him from the moment he had heard it. For most of his life, Kirinji has had the mindset of a warrior. To him, the quickest way to end a battle was with a weapon so powerful that it could not be trifled with. Yet, with his eyes fixated upon Izanagi as he spoke, he realized that there was a flaw in his logic. What could potentially have more strength than what this man before him has? That monstrous strength displayed numerous times war and war as his mere presence ceased any and all conflict. An example of what could occur was not even necessary. Everyone knew. Was this the strength the Old Man had spoken of? Yet even then there seems to be a foe.
It was fascinating to see the reactions of everyone, but what was even more interesting was the catalyst that caused it. It seemed the man had some contempt, or some sort of negative feeling, toward Izanagi. How could he not? Kirinji couldn’t blame him. The rollercoaster of emotions Sentou had experienced, in a short amount of time, could not be understood but it could be empathized with. Perhaps a conversation with him at a later time would be beneficial. Just to see where his mindset was and if Kirinji could be of any assistance. More importantly, at the moment, there was a greater task that required their collective attention. With that thought in mind, and Izanagi showing his true colors momentarily, Kirinji would tie the necklace band around the belt loop and position the jade stone so it was right over his right pocket. Soon after they’d move forward as Izanagi would remove his red gloves. Under it? Several fuinjutsu formulas Kirinji tried to decipher before Izanagi clapped his hands together. From it released a bit of distortion as Kirinji prepared his body and mind for what was to come next. As Izanagi came to the end of his sentence, Kirinji breathed in deeply and closed his eyes before he heard the words of the technique. A bright blue chakra engulfed the group and then suddenly they had dispersed in a manner similar to the
Flying Thunder God Technique.
They had been dropped just on the border of
Ouka Prefecture just as Izanagi had stated. Kirinji swiftly walked out from the group and began to glance around their immediate surroundings. While Misaho took in the beauty of the Ouka Prefecture, Kirinji was scoping out their surroundings for any immediate potential threats. He even extended the range of his chakra sensory to see if he could pick up anything. Only after ensuring there was no threat would he relax momentarily as he glanced around. His attention mainly gravitated toward the kanji symbol on the tori gate —
“Wisdom”, the blue-haired man whispered to himself. He would then turn and look at the rest of the group as he took a knee removing his backpack and putting it down in front of his knee. Kirinji then began speaking in response to Misaho as he dug out the map that had been given to them.
“Before we go in, it’s probably best I tell you all that I found on the Ouka Prefecture in the library. Supposedly, this area is one of the most primitive areas in comparison to the rest of Naraka. During the time of Mikaboshi’s reign,” he glanced over at Kasami’s Rinnegan.
“He decided to not modernize Ouka Village because it had some of the best agricultural resources in Naraka and wasn’t militant. However,” he sighed,
“The path we are about to embark on is potentially plagued with some of the most savage bandits known as the Black Powder Bandits. They were originally a part of the village, but when the animal life started to become too savage, something happened between them and the Senpu Monks. These bandits can’t use chakra in a weaponized fashion, but they are known for their innovative incorporation of Black Powder explosions in their combat and defenses, hence the name. So let's make sure we keep an eye out for that. I know this place is beautiful, but we need to remain focused and asses out any potential dangers before they come too close.” When he said those last few words his eyes drifted toward Misaho and Eiji. The man wasn’t done yet. He had a lot more to say and the more he spoke, the more anxious he became. Not for himself or Ko, but the others. They were inexperienced, young.
“There’s more. The Ouka Monastery is home to some of the most vicious wildlife in Naraka. I didn’t have time to research all that we may encounter, but I found out that the most common wildlife here is known as Soshiki. They are hounds that resemble wolves and run in pacts. These ‘hounds’” he said with a distinctive tone, “are covered in a living cell tissue which is a ravenous parasite feeding off the wolf it has been attached to. Their goal is to infect and spread and when the wolf is killed the flesh will explode and try to attach itself to any living organism in the area. So remember to keep your distance at all cost or else it’ll attach itself to you and feed off you in order to regenerate. It’s a tissue so the most optimal method would be electrifying it with lighting causing it to become paralyzed and numb. After that,” Kirinji gestured over toward Ko with an open palm,
”We follow-up with a powerful fire attack that would complete the removal and purging process. We can bait the hounds to us and hit them with some lighting when they get close, but if I do that, you guys can’t make any sudden or swift movements or it’ll fry your brains. After that, we move out the way so Ko can clean up.” Kirinji glanced over at the others to see if they had any response or questions regarding all that he had said. Had they not he’d stand up and roll open the map and look past the tori gate and into the forest.
”We should get going. I don’t know how long this will take, but it’ll be better to travel during the day. It also might be best for Eiji to lead us.” He glanced over at the young boy with feminine features.
”That puppet of yours—it’s gargonite, right? I think you should have it walk in front of us for potential traps.” The whole time he’d be making eye contact with the boy, waiting for his response. If they were all aboard, he’d wait for Eiji to lead the way and the rest of them follow. Kirinji would position himself behind the group with clear visibility of everyone. As he stepped through the gate, he’d run his hand across the pillar etching a Flying Thunder God Seal into the gate. Had anyone been watching, they’d see a light golden kanji glowing that would gradually fade away in brightness before camouflaging with the gate.
