[RP Location] ??? Bamboo Forest

[Oni Archives]

Within a clear moment the fight had begun and the beast seemed to be prepared to finish them, Eiji himself had dodged the beast wave of lightning that was launched towards himself and Shuji. He would notice after he had launched his senbon towards the beast that Shuji had also dodged the beast attack and spiraling behemoth that was spinning around with club in its hands. The beast did not seem to notice the invisible trail of chakra which was floating behind Eiji's chakra formed senbon. Right when Eiji's senbon were heading towards the beast, he would have noticed that beast legs burst open in a display of awe-inspiring bloodshed.

The beast legs were burst open and pulled into the ground which Eiji found mysterious though he would not take a gift for granted at the same time he noticed Shuji's chakra bursting forth and the change in nature he would have caused around himself. The scorch nature chakra surrounding him gave off such intense flames that even the bamboo would be lit ablaze. While the senbon would be noticed by the beast which would attempt to block the belly part of its body but not any other part which was aimed for, this told Eiji that his attack was either unnoticed or would do no damage to the beast. Sadly the club which the beast attempted to use to block the senbon would fail as Eiji flicked his fingertips causing the senbon made from his own chakra to almost become animated seeming to move like snakes slithering around the club and moving at increasing speed as if aided by the wind itself. If the creature had no way of blocking this assault the senbon would pierce into the thick layer of fat known as its belly. All the senbon now moving to concentrate on this one section of the beast body.

At the same time, the beast legs burst open it would begin roaring abandoning the club throwing it away backward and as it began to cough from roaring instead of coughing up blood, the beast would launch fireballs at Shuji and Eiji though when they split and as this happened some of the fireballs help increase the bamboo being caught on fire. At this time Eiji would sigh a bit looking around the flames spreading through the bamboo. Right when the fireballs and the club had almost reached their intended destinations a blur would fly past Eiji stopping the fireballs and making them disappear into thin air. After which almost in the same amount of time, the blur would whirl in front of the club stopping it. At this time Eiji would have caught a glimpse of the blur which was a mysterious man wearing a red tengu mask. He stopped the club with a single finger before he vanished again, the blur whizzed around the monster before disappearing completely. At the same time, the air would begin to fill with a mysterious blue smoke seemingly caused by Shuji's scorch and the flames of the beast which lit the bamboo on fire.

Eiji was preparing to finish the beast if his senbon would able to strike the beast belly but the smoke itself would be an issue as well. As such Eiji would focus the wind chakra that was beneath his feet and spread it out around his form creating a wind barrier around himself. This circular barrier would push out anything that was not already in the bubble and the smoke itself had not made its way into Eiji's bubble. He would handle the beast first then worry about the mysterious masked figure later.​

 

[Oni Archives]

With his Scorching aura erect, Sentou kept his eyes on the fowl beast who continued its fit of anger; he was looking for a perfect opportunity to strike carefully as the beast itself looked to be capable of making short work of anyone with such a large weapon. It was at that moment that the unexpected happened, a large root would burst out of one of the legs of the beast, it was all so sudden as the beast was soon immobilized by the root digging into the ground and creating more branches to subdue the creature. Was it something the other male did? From his height and angle Sentou would look closer, the glimpse of a woman in white would walk from the bamboo holding a seal, she had to be the other chakra source he felt earlier he thought. The beast roared angrily as it was bound to the ground, was this the opening he was looking for? Wagering what would possibly occur should he jump in, the beast would waste no time in trying to undo itself. The sight of such vast amount of blood being spilled showed Sentou the difference of the situation compared to any of the past he had been involved in, unlike the others, this thing was completely feral and cared not about its own being so long as it caught its hunt.

Before the beast would hurl its weapon, Sentou caught the look given to him from the unknown female as she too gave it to the male he had met earlier. Maybe, just maybe if the three of them worked together they could end this once and for all. That was before the beast threw its club behind him, the target of intent, the unknown lady, however it was within those split moments in which it flew through the air that it would quickly be halted by what seemed to be a figure donning a mask only for that same said individual to whisk away just as quickly as he came. With so many factors at play Sentou hadn't the time to second guess his course of actions and risk loosing his opening. At the exact moment in which the beast fell silent in confusion, Sentou would appear above and behind the monster's head hovering akin to flying however that wasn't the case. But how exactly did the young lotus warrior close such a distance? Having previously started a routine of breathing, Sentou had managed to synchronize his breathing and movement with the creature, mimicking him so to speak to gather information of his actions. Once the connection had been made, Sentou would quickly close the gap using the Shadow of the Dancing Leaf technique in combination with creating smaller and thinner wind panels beneath his feet; should anyone be capable of keeping up with the sudden burst of speed contributed by Sentou could easily confuse it as if he ran on the currents of the wind.

Having dodged and danced around the fireballs that were headed in his direction Sentou would quickly circle around the beast to reach its blindspot, carefully minding his position as to not get too close however not too far out of range for what it was he had in mind. With his right arm cocked and his fist clenched Sentou had began to divert some of the scorching flames surrounding him around his fist, creating a shell of wind chakra around the appendage that would quickly circulate the Scorch and Fire natures around the shell rapidly until it exploded in blazing fist of flames of orange blue flames as he ran. In one fell motion, Sentou would come down and deliver a skull crushing punch from above using his full force as the Wind Nature that enhanced the properties of the Kagutschi Jigoku no Hi flames acted much like a drill with how it rotated at such speeds.

Had the initial impact managed to pierce through the thick skull of the beast, the flames would quickly begin to play their part as the Scorching heat would weaken the molecule structure of the creatures skull allowing the punch to inevitably cave into the cranium crushing and turning what brain the being had to mush from the sheer intense heat. The amount of chakra released in such concentrated amounts of burst would be the equivalent of spending quite a few bars of meter so to speak, ultimately taxing sentou's chakra reserves causing the aura of flames around his body to flicker almost like a dying flame due to the exertion; the amount of concentration needed to uphold the Kagutsuchi Jigoku no Hi was clearly beginning to show, however had his attempt of an attack fail him, he knew not of the horrors that would find him in the grasp of the beast.

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[Oni Archives]

A lot was happening now, all of it becoming a blur of mess together. She hadn't expected the creature to start crawling for the male that it seemed focused on, tearing apart its lower limbs in the process. She'd seen feral creatures before, but none to this extent. Becoming wounded was most times enough to snap them out of it- at least that was the case for wild animals. She was silly to of thought that this beast would be anything like a wild animal. It was something in its own league entirely. and that made her nervous. How many of them were there in this forest?

Her attention had now been split between a million things at once, and while she still maintained some semblance of focus on the situation at hand, she found herself reaching out to search for more chakra as deep into the forest as she could. There was still a factor unaccounted for, and she was sure that he hadn't caught up to them yet. Without being able to detect him though, she wasn't aware of how wrong she was in that until it was too late. Everything happened so quickly that she could have easily missed the odd wisp of blue traversing their small field of combat. Even so distracted though, her eyes nearly snapped to it as soon as it appeared in the corner of her eye.

At the same time as the beast throwing its club, fireballs spewing from its mouth, she was dropping the seal that she had been holding and starting to turn to jump out of its trajectory when this mist, whatever it was, took shape before her. Now that she had turned she could only see it from the corner of her eye, but she saw it nonetheless and it caused her to completely stop in her tracks, half prepped to jump and yet frozen like a statue. She watched in from the corner of her eye, as it stopped the club with little effort and disappeared almost as quickly.

Her brows now furrowed as she stood up straight again, watching its path move to dispel the fire. The smoke was of concern, but not for her own sake. For the sake of the other two around her, she hoped that they were smart enough to know that even if it was harmless without properly knowing what it was- they should be cautious around it. They needed to get out of the area. Kasami pressed her fingers lightly against the mask she wore to create a tighter seal against her skin, so that none of the smoke could slip through it, while she distanced herself from the spreading fire and its smoke by backing up. It seemed rather than leaving though, even though this blue mist would probably take care of the beast by itself as it seemed to sweep all over it, the other two were more focused on attacking. Something she felt completely useless, for all they knew with how fast this thing was moving- it was already dead.​

 

[Oni Archives]

=The first male's senbon would strike the beast in the stomach, but that was about the only thing that it did. It went inside but there was a lot of mass and meat on this hulking beast so a senbon that small of normal proportions wouldnt be much of a consequence unto it...but that mattered not. The beast was toppled and falling over on top of his stomach at this point and just as it fell and the macabre of attacks were unleashed upon its physique there would come the precipice of the onslaught in which the more toned male of the two would have jumped into the air and commenced to reign down on the beast. The moment that he had jumped up - the whispering that had been going around the area would have ceased and the wisp would strike back over the top of the large creature. Its head trying to turn upwards to look at the male and what was now over the top of its back but just as quick as it could turn its head upwards it stopped, laying still as its head slowly, and smoothly started to slide downwards and eventually off of its body. The wisp personified itself into a person, large tan hoodie and tengu mask looking up at the male as he held a katana in hand made of a sapphire blue crystal. It was an odd katana - very thin almost paper-so. The base of it was thick almost the way that a gladius would be crafted and sloped in on itself to a thin blade. The blood upon it was very light, and in signification with that it would be revealed that the only thing bleeding here was the beast as its arms, and head started to slide off and fall to the ground like a fresh cut of pork while he stood upon its back. He had cut the beast so quickly, so deep, and with such precision that the beast itself was not even aware till its body required more demanding muscular fluctuation. In fact most its nerve ending and blood vessels had not even broken their pathway till that weight came down to shift it due to the manner of cut that the blade yielded. It was an entirely different lot of its craft. While this happened the Tengu mask'd male simply raised his free hand in an open palm upwards almost as if to say hello - but he remained looking at the incoming male's attack that was meant for the beast. He could either drop that attack downward as it was intended and see what it was that the masked male would do in return, or he could withdraw his attack as he had sent it down. The choice was up to him - however there was a matter of possible concern transpiring as this occur. There were footsteps, numerous in a manner that could be heard from all around them in the bamboo and at some points between the gaps there were colors and multiple bodies seen closing in. Without a doubt - there was a heavy number of individuals closing upon their position.=​

 

[Oni Archives]

As the battle continued a sudden break in the beast movements happened, it happened fluently in timing with his senbon landing upon the fat of its belly, but Eiji knew his attack could not have done the damage that was now transpiring in front of his eyes as the beast began to fall apart as if sliced by a blade. The blade that sliced him would appear in whisp a man in a tengu mask would be seen standing atop the beast as Sentou would have been charging in for a strong attack on the beast skull. The man in the tengu mask was familiar to Eiji and more than likely the weird woman in the background who was also saved by him.

The man in the tengu mask was the whisp that had been whirling around them earlier which stopped the beast attacks from striking them down, Eiji himself had no intentions of escalating the situation and was more curious as to why this strange man saved them, if he knew why they were here, and if he was truly their ally or friend. All these thoughts flew around in Eiji's head as Sentou's attack was flying down towards the mysterious tengu masked individual. Almost at the same time as the Tengu masked man's hand went up, the sound of several footsteps approaching their location from multiple directions almost as if they were being surrounded.

A long sigh was released from Eiji's mouth as he noticed this, instead of fighting countless foes of unknown strength and ability, Eiji would rather conserve his strength and look for an opportunity to either escape or take them down. As such he would lower himself to the ground keeping his windshield up to avert the smoke but rather compressing it around himself to conserve as much chakra and strength as he could for whatever was abound. He rose his hands up in a manner indicating he had no hostile intention and looked at the Kasami almost as if suspecting her to be part of this tengu masked man's team.​

 

[Oni Archives]

Within mere seconds of Sentou's attempted strike the young kenzai's attention would caught by what seemed to be some sort of blur in his peripherals and before he knew it that same blur would snap into place fixed on the beast and slaying it without effort demonstrated, almost as if this was a normal occasion. The man in the mask completely caught Sentou off guard, just who was this man? His focus wavered and with it, the proper concentration of chakra needed for both the Aura and Burnin Knuckle, the flames coating his body dying down however until he landed beside the stranger he maintained the wind chakra at the soles of his feet that he used to maneuver through the air.

With a light thud, Sentou landed near the stranger on the other side of the beast in where he planned to strike; looking up Sentou noticed the male would raise a hand as if he were greeting him. "Huh?" Sentou focalized as what little bit of confusion he had before hand only grew, what was this place, what was this beast? Sentou felt like his head was spinning, as if he were plucked from his old life and thrown into a movie like an actor he hadn't seen the script. He took a quick look over the beast, how its body was mangled and its head cut off before looking back at the stranger. Out of all of them he looked more prepared for this area out of all of them, perhaps he knew something about this place. "What is going on he-" Sentou began to ask but stopped as the sound of a large group were approaching them. As he looked around to possibly see what was coming their way he quickly noticed the smoke that lingered in the air due to the burning of bamboo; having been so focused on the beast earlier, Sentou had left himself tunnel visioned and hadn't seen it earlier. Wearing only a vest over his bare chest, Sentou grabbed the corner of the collar before yanking it over his face to prevent himself from breathing in a concentrated amount of the tainted air if any should he be able to help it.

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[Oni Archives]

Kasami's posture relaxed if only slightly after she realized that the beast was dead, which she seemed to realize sooner than it had itself. There was something about the man in the mask that she had noticed, even in the brief moments, and that was the same sword that he held in his hand as he appeared on top of its back. It was gorgeous, she had to admit, even if it was that dangerous. Her gaze shifted at that moment to the incoming attack as she watched him try to readjust at the last second to avoid hitting him, and with that settled and out of her mind her attention scanned over the other person. The look he was giving her annoyed her, her eyes narrowing as her hidden lips pursed together. Ignoring it though, since arguing would do nothing for the situation, she turned her focus toward the approaching numbers and the smoke that continued to spread. She turned in a small semi-circle to look around, and it was that moment that she caught the younger male covering his mouth.

Rolling her eyes, she stopped and pointed at him with her finger, her hand turned palm upward. As she spoke, her light voice almost rattled inside the metal mask that covered the lower half of her face. "You both have wind chakra, you were just standing on air. Your first thought is to use a thin piece of cloth from your shirt to try and protect yourself?" She gestured toward the smoke and the fire that was just going to make it worse if it continued to spread- and honestly she cared more about this forest than them at the moment. Nature never deserved to burn. People, on the other hand, she felt always had it in them to have it coming. Even herself. "If anyone can take care of it right now, it's one of you two. Since I don't know what he's capable of." She wagged her thumb at the man in the mask for a moment before looking at him. "Almost scared to ask." Was all she added as she looked over her shoulder toward the people approaching her, as she started to walk closer to the center of the opening- since she was the closest to the bamboo and wanted a little bit of distance between them and herself.​

 

[Oni Archives]

=There was more to the way that the man had appeared and taken care of things then the group of unsuspected visitors could have gotten from this situation. Each of them had their own assessment as to what was going on and how exactly all of this could and would roll out and in a way between the three of them their combined consensus would be pretty accurate. Though there were many things that were missing from the equation. The tengu masked male simply stood there hand up as the incoming male withdrew his attack and landed near the corpse. He was quite right in his thoughts, this was something that was a normal routine for him...in fact beasts like this roamed these grounds on the daily and this was a stray, having ventured away from its family in a mad dash for food; a glutton obviously for the fact that it could not keep a well enough mind to stay close to family and had forsaken them to pursue more a meal then it needed. The tengu masked male had come to keep these creatures in line and spent much of his day doing so. The creature here that he killed was just another notch on the belt if even that at this point. He held his hand up - and in doing so the numerous people that had come around the outsides of the trees seemed to answer and turn their attention only to this. It was a signal and they were waiting to see what his order would be. This was followed only by the male closing his fingers till only two were up and then closing his fist - a signal to cease their preparation to attack, and wrap up the rest of their business here. As he did this they all came in and started to chop apart the wood that was woven in and take up parts of the beast, bagging it and cutting it up more for even further storage. They seemed to not fear the smoke nor did they bother any of the three that had come here, simply moving around them as if they were not here. The masked man weaved seals in his free hand while holding his blade above that very hand and once he was done tightened his grip upon the katana and held it to the sky. The sapphire blade seemed to glow and as it did such it started to create a vacuum like effect - the flame from the after math practically being peeled from the trees and to the blade as it was sealed away inside of it...but he did not bother to do the same to the smoke - it would linger till either of them decided to heed the woman's words and do something about that. This smoke, whether inhaled or simply left in contact with for too long would stunt your chakra and start to paralyze the body slightly; but it was no threat to him for not only did the mask prevent him from inhaling it but he boasted an immunity to it. He spun his blade on hand and sheathed it back behind him in its scabbard properly before he looked about between them hopping down off the body so the rest of the people could do their work. His demeanor was extremely relaxed, loose, he even walked with a lazy tilt in his head as he found a clear spot to stand that he had a view of each of them before he silently looked between them and looked around at the others that had come with him:

"They're not shinobi you know? Just people - making a living. Villagers, most of them hunters here to claim their bounty and tend the forest. Peace loving people with a vocation under their belt. Hm. Not like you three though. Shinobi - human at that I can smell it on you. Well...If you're here, its not by chance. he'll want to know about this. Best come back with us - especially if you dont want to run into one of those actually traveling in its proper numbers."

=His voice was unexpectedly by his mask and the way he diced up the beast - was very soft spoken and sounded very feminine. There was obviously something personal about shinobi with him judging by the way that he emphasized it when he spoke even given the fact that the male had just utilized ninjutsu just before this. Certainly there was a story there, but as he spoke he started to follow out behind the rest of the villager hauling off the remains of the corpse - they all seemed to peel off in one direction in the forest falling into a single file line as they made their way through and headed in a single direction; apparent that they knew exactly how to get back home even from this position in a forest that held almost no landmarks of any kind to guide them back. They had obviously inhabited this area for a very long time. The masked male followed directly behind them in such a non-hesitant manner that it was seen from that point that he probably wouldn't care if they followed or not....he did say "he'll want to know about this" but that didn't imply that he would need them there in order to inform anyone. But at this point if this beast was only one of a numerous type that lived in the forest - would they really want to take their chances out here? That would be left completely to their own discretion.=​

 

[Oni Archives]

As the festivities of the battle were drawing to a close Eiji watched Sentou land behind the masked male upon the beast. A large sigh was released as his wind cloak continued to spin around him blocking out the smoking while his hands began to come down as he sensed no blood lust from anyone approaching them after the male gave a signal of some sort. Eiji's eyes widened a bit as the girl whom he assumed was on the tengu male's side was talking and telling Sentou to use wind chakra instead of part of his shirt. In Eiji's mind, this was obvious earlier though, Eiji usually tried to be more tactical in battle and life.

As the smoke and fire were still running rampant Eiji looked around getting ready to do something about both though, the tengu masked male would handle the fire by drawing his unusual blade seemingly absorbing all the flames from the trees into the blade. As he finished the only thing left to handle was the smoke, "I'll handle the smoke then... don't take this move as hostile though it may be a bit strong so hold your positions tight please" He said in a non-threatening and kind voice as he made two hand seals before lifting his hand upwards.

As Eiji lifted his hand upwards the wind cloak would begin to expand and pushing the smoking outwards before dispersing it both in an outwardly and upward direction removing it from the area completely, this wind would create a strong gust as it passed by anyone and would cause the bamboo to shake rapidly almost like when an oncoming storm was approaching. After that Eiji would finish listening to the Tengu masked person and their soft voice. His words made Eiji wish not to follow but the advent of facing more than one of that thing was scarier than anything he'd faced in his life so far. As the Tengu masked man began to head out Eiji would follow behind him at a safe distance though he doubted he could outrun the man who became a massive blur earlier.​

 

[Oni Archives]

Sentou continued to look around his surroundings as the group in question quickly poured out of the foliage of the bamboo. He was against the idea of jumping into another fight, however should it be the case he would happily oblige although this wasn't the case. The group were fixated on the man with the Tengu masked as he held his hand up, after a moment he would close his hand and they would quickly dispatch the slain beast like some well oiled mafia ring.

The Kenzai was at a lost for words, his jacket still over his face until he heard the voice of the female who had helped them speak. She mocked him about his use of chakra and the best he could do was hide behind the fabric of his clothing. It felt like lightning had struck him as that idea wasn't even on his mind, a well nervous chuckle left his lips before Eiji would volunteer to remove the smoke. A strong gale of wind would seemingly erupt from the midst of his location expelling the smoke and clearing the air, Sentou stood his ground and wouldn't allow himself to budge too much, not wanting to get picked up by the strength of the wind alone.

As the air cleared out, Sentou would drop the cuff of his jacket from his face looking towards the masked female, "Yeah.. well I didn't think of that. My teacher always told me I struggle with reacting before thinking..What was that before? I've never seen anything like that before." He asked her, questioning the Wood Release, despite being born in the Land of Fire, Sentou wasn't a shinobi and lacked the history of those who came before him, he had heard legends here and there, but nothing set in stone about a being manipulating wood. Whether or not Kasami found the time or even felt like sharing information with a stranger like him, he'd look in Eiji's direction giving him a subtle nod, a gesture of thanks for the smoke situation. With the beast slain, Sentou felt at ease finally, however he was still looking for that answer he needed about this very place. The Tengu masked male mentioned someone in particular would want to know about this ordeal and the fact the three of them even being in this forest wasn't a chance encounter.

"Heh, I'm not sure what it is you're going on about. But if this person would want to know what happened here, I'd like to ask them about where this is exactly." Sentou blurted out, quickly tagging along with the mysterious man. If this was a village, perhaps he'd find another person willing to help him practice his art of Taijutsu.

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[Oni Archives]

The gust of wind made her budge only slightly, but it did blast practically all of her hair into her face. The waist length tendrils got tousled around so much that it had nearly knocked the part of her tied up hair out of its bun as well. There was a look of moderate annoyance on her face, since her hair was still mildly wet and now it was clingy to her cheeks, but with a huff she just went about fixing it rather than complaining. She was starting to turn away from them, taking her hair down, when the younger of the two men she had come to help had started talking to her. For a moment she just stopped and stood there, contemplating whether or not she should even bother with answering, but decided she might as well be friendly. They were stuck there for the time being anyway.

Reaching behind her head, she untied the deep red ribbon that kept her mask on her face, grabbing it with her other hand as she let it fall free. Her ruby lips twisted into an awkward smile. "It's just Wood Release. Felt it was probably more appropriate to subdue something like..." she paused as she looked toward the villagers that had dismembered the creature, all of whom were now departing, "whatever that was." Absentmindedly she tied the mask to the sash around her waist, before she started to mind herself with running her fingers through her drying hair to make sure that it didn't knot beyond belief later.

Her attention shifted as she continued to comb through her hair, to the man in the mask. Normally she would tell herself not to follow a stranger, but there was just too much she was curious about to leave it alone. Besides- she had no idea how to get home. Quietly she followed behind him, looking around smiling as the birds that had scattered started to return to their lively chirps. Though, she felt sad about all the forest that had gotten wrecked. It was a shame. So unnecessary too.​

 

[Oni Archives]

=As the male weaved his handseals and pulsed out his wind aura the male in the tengu mask simply stood there unflinching. Though that wouldnt be much of a surprise however the thing that would have been more a surprise would be that all of the villagers in the masks that had been hauling off the pieces of the beast - did not budge at all either; and none of them were shinobi. A tell as to exactly what kind of conditions these villagers lived with for the fact that such techniques and winds were no stranger to them, they simply continued on by their business. It had been a while now traveling through the forest and by now they had come to a path where they were walking through bright red gates. Obviously the village was not too far off and the man in the mask had been silent most the way despite the fact that he was sure that these strangers to this land would have many questions. Perhaps he was just thinking - trying to calculate exactly how this would play out and contemplate why it was even to this point in the first place. They knew nothing - that much was obvious, but in knowing nothing - they should not have ended up here. Someone sent them - otherwise they would at least have a small bit of knowledge if they sought this place out in the first place. The villager up ahead were laughing amongst each other, talking and going about their normal day bringing back their bounty; the man in the mask started to speak - not bothering to turn and look at any of them as he did:

"Naraka. You have come to a place known as Naraka - home of the true Oni blood line. And you have not come here by chance - someone sent you here, rather forcibly I may add. You aren't obligated to stay here at all if you want - no one is going to keep you here. At least not anyone on the proper side of our laws. But this world. It is far different - from the one you come from. The seasons are completely different, the wild life - savage, and the conditions and inclement the land will throw your way will make your suffering legendary if you are unprepared. If you want answers - I suggest you stay here and answer our resident monk's questions and further more see Lord Izanagi. He will certainly have the wisdom to figure your rather peculiar situation out."

=After saying this they would have come along the forest pathway - apparent that they were at a point that the biome of the area changed, the birds were different and far more plentiful. They resembled cranes yet they were bright red in color - vibrantly so as seen in both the males and females of this species. There was a very mountainous valley that the village was built directly at the base of - overlooking a large sea area that it could be seen that many of the villager were fishing in - a very bountiful and rich market economy full of fishing goods, trappers and tradesmen of all different kinds. The village looked very rural - quaint. However among the buildings there was a singular building that looked more modern and smoke was coming from the stack at the very top. This was the village workshop. It was said that a brilliant inventor and an even more brilliant blacksmith lived here, however its been said that the blacksmith's kiln had long since run cold and he had put down his hammer ages ago. After having a gander at the village there were a set of stairs not far from the main gate where a memorial stone sat with various names upon it of people who had died in honor of the village and Naraka or simply of unfortunate tragedies that had transpired. The Tengu mask'd man sat a'top of this monument - delicately running his hand across the stone as he sat there: "Well - less you have any questions for me. Your best bet is that stack of smoke from the center of the village. Go there - ask to see the mechanic. He'll get you sorted. Oh - and welcome to Naraka."​

 

[Oni Archives]

After a while of walking they had started to approach what looked like in the distance a small village, though one that Eiji himself had never seen before. As they got towards the entrance of the village Eiji looked around taking in the sights and everything he could, as he was doing this the man in Tengu mask would begin explaining where they were. Eiji himself had heard legends of people like Lord Izanagi, one of the original Hokage but he'd never seen one before.

While this man continued to speak on the village and guide these three towards this mysterious person he spoke of before, Eiji began to ponder, "Why am I here? Who could have sent me to such a dangerous place? Will I get stronger if I stay here or will I simply die." All these thoughts were spiraling around in his skull while he tried to make things out, though another question popped into his head from hearing part of Sentou and Kasami's earlier conversation, "How does this girl have wood release, I was always told Lord Hashirama was the only one possible of possessing such traits." He finished thinking as they reached the monument.

As they reached the monument the Tengu masked man told them to head for the large smoke stack unless they had questions for him. Eiji himself had many, "What is an Oni, where exactly is this place, how does Lord Izanagi have anything to do with this mysterious place?" He could have continued on but stopped there giving the man time to answer his questions and the other two time to decide what they would do and if they had any questions for the tengu masked man.

[Eiji Sarutobi moving to ----------> Kyotoshiro Village]​

 

[Oni Archives]

Kasami was quiet the rest of the way to the village as the male's attention had directed toward the one in the mask. She continued messing with her hair until it was all combed out, and once it was she parted half of her hair and redid the bun on the top of her head. It was loose and thinner than usual while her hair dried out but it helped maintain her body heat. She hated feeling hot or sweaty.

When they did make it to the town, her attention was completely on the scenery. It was beautiful, a twinkle of awe in her eyes as she scanned every inch of the place. At the moment- she was definitely in no hurry to leave. She wanted to learn all she could about the place, and she wanted to know about those cranes. She'd never seen red cranes before.

The mention of questions and a welcome captured her attention again as she looked at the masked man, who was sitting on top of a shrine now. Her head tilted for a moment, a small and thankful smile touching her lips, before she waved to them and headed into the village. He mentioned where the smoke was coming from, she had heard enough to know where she needed to go.​

 

[Oni Archives]

=The man in the mask - known only at this point as "The Tengu" sat upon the memorial, looking over at the village. Even with the mask on hiding his facial expressions you could tell that as he looked upon the village it was with a sense of longing - yet he would not pass that gate at the very front of the village. He was listening to the males questions and as he did such he looked between the Sarutobi clan male and the woman - none of the questions in particular having anything to do with her but it was almost as if he could sense the intensity of the curiosity about her ability - even within herself. The male known as Shuji had blatantly asked before - he kept the question in mind but first? The backstory that the two males had requested:

"An Oni. Hm thats a complex question but I suppose by chance you just happened upon just the right person to answer it for you. Oni - thats really a name that it was given by the native inhabitants of Naraka, originally meant for the creatures that roam these lands - demons. A long time ago it was said that it started with one man - Mikaboshi , whom came into power along side the sage of six paths. But where as the sage found power from the life tree - Mikaboshi had...other ideas; and found his power elsewhere, emerging back into the shinobi world reborn as the first Oni in creation. During those times he combeded the world tormenting and inflicting hardship to root out the strongest and most unique persons he could find and he took three - and created the founding Oni clan lords: Fujimori, Mebu, Narukagami. These three started the Oni blood line till the time came that Mikaboshi was overthrown by the trio - and even in death his corpse's chakra was so malignant and powerful that it still runs rampant to this day. The trio saw it fit to form the United Oni Alliance and seal away his chakra, putting it to use as a way to create half blood Oni in various different manners if they see fit. So the tradition goes on to this day. So to answer that question shortly - *he shrugged* we're demons. As far as where is this place? Well - as I told you this is KyotoShiro, a village in a land that we call Naraka. It has its villages and such just like your typical world does. Kyotoshiro, Kagetsuchi, Akimachi, different places. But this world exists in its own plain. Kind of how your sage beasts - such as the great Toad Sage has their own world. This one is accessed in various different key rituals that can transpire in your world. Sealing jutsu, space time ninjutsu, most often the sealing technique involves the subject having...hm lets call it a "signal" sealing transcribed on their body - most of us Oni have it inside our body. Then - a body of water has a "receiving" seal transcribed at the very body of it - it projects its forumla to the entire body of water - eh we'll call it chakra water once thats done. Once the chakra water makes contact with a seal - it "receives" the "signal" and transports the Oni. In your cases - you have no "signal" seal - so once the water filled your lungs to a certain extent - integrated with your natural chakra pathway system - it activates and received you regardless.

*He paused a moment, adjusting his mask. For a second it seemed as if he was irritated or burdened by something - perhaps the weight that the next subject matter held was heavy - a lot for him to drag in.*

"As far as who brought you here? Well. It's a bad time to be in Naraka. We've been having a bit of trouble lately with a Mask Salesmen. Spouting some prophetic non-sense. See every once in a while when the balance of power in Naraka needs to be shifted in certain ways - a set of outsiders are forced here into Naraka. Are they chosen for a reason? At random? We dont really know. Up till now we didnt even know how this came to pass - but now we're pretty sure that this salesmen has been the one orchestrating it the entire time for all of these years. It could be believed that perhaps you three - if you are the only three; may be that set this time around. Maybe - he's getting bored and desperate and thought he would just snatch a random group to get something moving. Either way - its best you steer completely clear of him and leave that bit to us. That's not your problem. As for what does Izanagi have to do with this? Well - he is the Leader of The Sacred Oni Alliance and thus - lord of Naraka. If anything occurs under this sun - he'll know about it. If he doesn't? Well then you'll know that you have something to be worried about. As far as her *at this point he pointed over at Kasami - whom by now had waved and was making her way to the village* and why she has the coveted wood release. Well - there has been, not so much a problem but hm....a small inconvenience with one of our more "troubled" prospects. Izanagi and a few more of us are collectors of sorts. Some of us collect and craft blades~ *as he gest to his own upon his back - the vanity in his demeanor and voice as he show off his prize apparent* some of us - antiques, fine artifacts. Izanagi - he collects...traits. Unique alterations, mutations and evidence of biological evolution. He some time ago had a sample of Hashirama's cells go missing and judging by the looks of things - we now know where it went. Funny - they were stolen just to make its way back to us, though I'm sure he wouldnt have thought it would come back to him on two legs and a full head of hair. *he chuckled and swung his legs back and forth while rocking side to side, obviously amused by something as he started to mumble to himself: Looks like things are finally about to get interesting.* With that being said he stopped and looked at the two, staring at one and then altering to the other as he finally started to fan off his hand towards them both: "Well? Go on now - get going. Maybe browse the market a bit. Ah! I almost forgot. I saved you all back there in the forest so why dont you do me a favor for my effort. The girl walked off before I could tell her about it too - but catch up to her and inform her that you each have an expenditure of two items on the house in the market if you so see fit. Just tell the merchant The Tengu gave you a freebie. If you're gonna be here in Naraka you'll need some things - and I dont want to have to go cleaning your bodies up out there at some point. Plus - it gets the market circulating. Maybe if they have to restock some things they'll rotate out to the good stuff, heh."​

[[The Tengu will NOT transition personally IC. However - Posting continued in ----------- Location: Kyotoshiro]]

 

[Oni Archives]

Eiji's look during this post
A long sigh left Eiji's lips as he looked over towards the other man then back to the one in the Tengu mask, "Hm... I see, well that's rather tedious if nothing else." He said before he began to mumble under his own breath deep in his own thought process, "Lord Izanagi is an oni... One of these demon folks and someone that they find annoying brought me here? Am I to amuse them? Do they wish to see if I can become a challenge through training under these people? ...." His mumbling stopped for a moment as the Tengu masked finished his explanation each and every word was cataloged into Eiji's head.

Eiji himself found it very hard to believe that anyone could need him or think he was of value. Maybe not think he was a disappointment that's possible or believe he was less than average but not a failure sure. His family notes this all the time when comparing him to the greater Sarutobi like Asuma, Konohamaru, Hiruzen, etc. But from what Tengu mask was saying, it was likely they someone or something had big plans for Eiji. A weird feeling had been welling up inside of him for a while now but he was not sure what it was. Whatever it was it would be distracting to focus upon it, rather he finished listening to tengu mask was saying.

After finishing listening to the Tengu's explanation of what oni are and why himself and those other two were brought here Eiji looked at the other young man whose name he had not gotten. The young man wasn't of interest but the young woman was and beyond that, the Tengu had given a task to Eiji and the other young man. As such Eiji would rummage around in his pockets before pulling out a damp packet of cigarettes, his dark brown eyes narrowed in a bit of anger and annoyance, "I hope they have smokes, I don't want to have to use the storage seal, only got three packs left in there." He mumbled before heading off into the direction of the young woman adjusting his glasses as he seemed to speed walk a bit to catch up to her.
[[Posting continued in ----------- Location: Kyotoshiro]]
​

 

[Oni Archives]

"Wood Release....huh.." Sentou simply said to himself as Kasami gave him the name of her technique, it completely surprised him how something so common such as wood posed useful in situations like before. During their walk through the forest, Sentou remained quiet, lost in his head thinking about all of the ordeals he had to deal with so far. As they approached the red gates, in the distance Sentou could see the village; he admired the view of the mountain range, it was definitely an upgrade from the bamboo forest of death, or so he called it. Whether he was answering his previous question, or he read Sentou's mind, the Tengu would indulge them about their whereabouts - Naraka. A look of awe peaked his face, a brow lifted as he tried to take in everything he had to say next, going so far as to mention Izanagi.

"Izana- Izanagi!? Wait you're telling me that monster's here, on top of that he's the head chief in charge? ...Tch, and now it all comes full circle..." Sentou blurted out in shock, however he was beginning to understand why both his master and his brother were so damn strong - they were Oni. However, there was something really irking him about everything he had heard so far, he had heard tales of Naraka, but never learned its purpose or true origin from Totsuka - was there a reason he kept something like this hidden? Perhaps it was Sentou's lack of interest or he just wasn't ready for something like this.

Standing there trying to piece what he could together, Sentou's attention would be brought back to reality as the masked male began explaining what an Oni was, how it was they came about, and how their arrival wasn't the first of strangers entering. Listening to the explanation of the water filling their lungs, Sentou clutched his chest but for what reason? It had been quite sometime since he had awakened, he remembered the sensation of his lungs being filled, but now? He could breathe clearly, but what did it mean to have this body of water integrated with his chakra pathway exactly? Sentou wanted to ask more questions pertaining to that detail, but before he could the masked man began explaining how they arrived unwillingly; Some false prophet - or at least that's what his conclusion was before dismissing it and telling them not to get involved.

Looking towards the smoke in which the tengu smoke of, Sentou looked back at Eiji noticing his gaze before he would go on about needing some smokes. Sentou only shook his head, "Don't tell me you're going to use one of your free request for some cigarettes. Tch, you know those thing's will kill you right?" Sentou scoffed with a short chuckle before following behind at a reasonable pace as he continued to scope the lush enviroment.


[Transitioning to Kyotoshiro]
​

 

[Oni Archives]

-Theme: More to this then seems.-

=The Tengu lingered there a bit longer. The entirety of the time that he lingered there he seemed to be watching them disappear into the distance until finally they were gone. Once this was apparent he turned his head to glance over his shoulder at the space directly to his left at the memorial:

"Perhaps. I think desperation has lead him to this bunch though. Are you sure it is him - and not the child of Mikaboshi being snide?"

"No. I'm pretty certain. You don't see it now but there's potential."

=As this was said the space next to him on the monument started to darken, steady and steady it would start to do so until finally the speckles of black started to solidify and mould itself into a discernible form, a human form - but this form was far from human if anything else. Soon before long there stood a male of ashen tone hair in an extremely fine tailored suit - adjusting his red tie gripped from with his similarly red gloves. He lifted his finger to adjust the crimson shaded spectacles upon his face. The second voice accompanying the tengu had come from him and now he had physically manifested. The tengu looked over at him and chuckled a moment before affixing his mask and looking back off at the distance where they had left to:

"They came all at the same time. My eyes were all over the forest the moment that they landed - saw it all.
None of them could care less what happens to the other. They dont realize the moment that they all touch that ground together their survival will depend on each other. You've got the walking petri-dish carrying one of Gengoro's Rinnegan...would like to get my hand on one of them myself. A Sarutobi with more doubt in himself then a Nara under a spotlight, and - that Shuji guy. We've seen him before. Thats the one that survived a run in with Oshirama and your clone - well...clone before all the others, Eien was it? That cant be coincidence and as powerful as the salesman is I doubt he has been able to keep track of you that long. Are you sure it isn't him?

"Positive. For very specific reasons. Trust me on this. Its not him. Takeya is grooming the playing field. He brought them here cause he knows they could be legendary together. Their power will make for a better meal when he decides its time for his harvest. Or so he thinks. He underestimates my resolve - always has. He'll not live long enough to learn from that. Either way. You and I have better things to tend to - at least for now. We have to do some grooming of our own."

"Well said."

=That being said Izanagi took a vajra from his waistline and channeled his chakra unto it. In doing so the two of them would flicker - almost as if glitched images on a screen and before long they would snap away leaving an upheaval of dust behind them. There intentions or whereabouts completely unknown for the moment.=​

 

[Oni Archives]

What was this.. the fifth? sixth? seventh day? that he's had the same dream. He sat up from his slumbering spot that was perched up in the trees, his emerald hues looking out to the distant setting sun...

"Peaceful..." the words were muttered in a cracked tone, the sound of someone just waking up. Though as peaceful as the sunset was, it wasn't enough to pull his mind from the recurring dream. Something was pulling him back to the Valley, the trouble was he couldn't tell if it was something good.. or bad. "It's been awhile... since I've been home" He was referring of course to Konoha, his home, where he had trained and started learning the ways of medical ninjutsu.

He shook off the nostalgic feeling he was beginning to feel and hopped from the tree that he had claimed as his camp for the day. Konoha and the Valley were at the minimum a two day trip from his camp. A trip he wasn't sure that he wanted to make. ..
Two Days Pass..

Here he was, standing at the waters edge of the Valley. staring into his own reflection, the ripples were distorting his reflection giving him an ominous feeling. He wanted to run away, to return to his camp, his safe haven, but his feet were locked in place, holding him still. It felt as if an unknown force was keeping him there as he began his descent into the waters, reaching a knee deep level of water before he was ripped under the cold lake. He jerked and fought against the water - reaching and grasping for air while his lungs filled with the liquid of the lake, it felt as if his insides were being purged.. then darkness

How long has he been in the darkness, and what was this feeling? Was he falling? His eyes fluttered open as he watched the ground come closer to him, that was when reality punched him in the gut and quickly he came to his senses, He formed the proper hand seals for a shadow clone technique and used the clone to launch himself to safety, using the clone as a stepping stone.

Though his landing was far from graceful, he found himself in the middle of a field? No not a field, he began to assess his surroundings. He was.. in a forest? But the clearing he'd landed it was... a chuckle manifested from a place of confusion as he looked onward. He wasn't in a field, no he was laid out in the middle of a clearing that was made by something big. He moved to get to his feet, but winced with pain as he put weight on his left ankle. "A sprain... great" He knelt back down, taking the weight off the ankle.

He would wait here for a bit, once the pain would subside he would then consider looking around.

​

 

[Oni Archives]

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Near the Valley of the End....

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How many days had it been now...? The leaves rustled in the wind. Itsuki's ear twitched as he heard a nearby branch creaking from added weight.

What ever happened to Ninja who just suddenly didn't return to the village? Did people leave them be, or are they classified as missing nin? Deep below the surface, something was tunneling towards him at great speed.

The redhead took a deep breath as he tuned deeper and deeper into his senses, his headband over his eyes so he couldn't see. Judging from the fact that he could hear them coming- stealth was something he'd have to work on. Perhaps there was another way to tunnel through the earth without leaving a sound. This would be his next objective. He felt a pair of eyes on him, the hairs on his neck standing on edge as a great deal of chakra was being summoned. So it began.

The earth around him sprung to life, pillars of stone erupting from the ground and intersecting at 90 degree angles at rapid speed- aiming to trap the young shinobi where he sat. He did his best to remain calm, trying to sense the chakra in the earth rather than relying on his Byakugan as he would in the past. He shifted his head to the side just as a pillar was about to connect with his head, his tongue clicking in frustration. These moves were too predictable as well. He supposed he couldn't exactly rely on clones to come up with complex strategy.

Just as Itsuki began to rise to his feet, the earth below him began to shift and give in, and just as his foot was begining to sink further into the rock, the male strung together three quick handsigns which strengthened the earth connected to his feet. Frustrated, he focused the chakra to his hands and struck the nearest pillar, breaking away the material he didn't need while leaving behind thin needles made of stone. Before they could fall much lower, he spun around and focused a palm strike towards the majority of them, controlling his strength so that they wouldn't crumble while being propelled towards the last place he felt his nearest clone. He heard the needles sink into stone nearby, which made him realize how stupid of a move that was while he was literally surrounded by pillars.

"Can't you guys try any harder!?" he yelled at his clones, and just as he said that he felt the chakra of the one below ground. The clone erupted from the ground with a mean right hook, though itsuki just barely managed to move his head out of the way before it connected. Before the male knew it, he felt an elbow in his ribs which sent him flying towards the nearest pillar, the pillars breaking away from the force of the blow.

He let out a strained cough as his feet found purchase, clutching his rib while struggling to breathe properly. Well, he did ask them to try harder. The nearby pillars started breaking down before Itsuki could really catch his breath, and he sensed multiple projectiles coming his way. A smile finally formed on his lips- finally this was getting interesting. He focused on the faint traces of chakra left in each stone, striking them away in fluid motions while dodging the ones that weren't a threat.

He was being pushed further and further back from the forest, and judging by what his ears were telling him, there was running water nearby. He did his best to stand his ground and press forward rather than being pushed back, but as he dodged one of the rocks, he failed to notice the explosive tag on it until it was already active. It was all he could do to weave a few signs together and coat his skin with the dust in the air, barely protecting him from the blow of the blast which sent him flying back into the valley behind him. The roaring sound of the waterfall deafened any sound of incoming attacks, and just as the male was about to remove his blindfold, a medium sized boulder connected with his stomach, knocking the air out of him just before he collided with the water below.

Water filled his lungs while the male attempted to gasp for air. The large stone which pressed against his stomach along with the thin layer of rock covering his skin was making him sink hard and fast. Panic overtook the male as he used his chakra to destroy the rock on his stomach, not realizing that rock could have been his ticket out of here if he had simply turned it into a pole. With the blindfold covering his eyes, he couldn't tell which way was up, and with his lungs filled with water, he felt his strength starting to leave him.

---

Just as his consciousness started to fade, the male felt as though he wasn't sinking anymore... but falling? Sounds filled his ears, and gravity made his stomach turn. It took him a moment to realize he wasn't drowning anymore, and once he found his strength again, he finally ripped off his headband, seeing an unfamiliar sky above him. That was when he finally realized he really was falling. His stomach churned with the urge to throw up the water he ingested, but the male wouldn't let his instincts screw him over two times in a row. He used a palm strike to force him to turn around, and once facing the ground below, he finally strung together a few signs, and using the water in his stomach along with his chakra, a large amount of mud erupted from his mouth, helping to break his fall as he nearly face planted directly into it.

He gasped desperately for air, the male on his hands and knees while trembling from the near death experience. Even though he forcibly ejected whatever water was in his body, he still felt as though the water remained within him. He thought that was the only thing making him uneasy until he began to wheeze, the air filling his lungs feeling just as wrong as the water did. A shudder coursed through the male as he finally looked up from his vulnerable position... Just where in the world was he?

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