[Deleted]

music

"You did not think... to do this somewhere else? Closer?" Akira spoke tersely, removing some of the weaponry from his body. Bodies were writhing, ugly - masses of flesh. Moans pulsated throughout the crowds as one sat atop one of the few remaining, non-toppled seats in a dimly sweated hall in the bum fuck middle of nowhere. In Bird country - of all places. "I had to pass through three other countries to get here." The journey was long and it had been treacherous enough, and he didn't like leaving Akatsuki in Kusagakure alone: but his part of the journey had finished there. He had to trust that she would not abandon him - she would keep his secret safe, and that on his return to Kusagakure (of which, he would be keeping himself heavily guarded this time; if any Shinobi dared be behind him, they would find their heads parted from their shoulders. He would be able to relax after a few months.. he hoped. But still - Akira was on edge. Being in the middle of a cesspit did not help.

"Get these disgusting humans out of my sight," Akira venomously spat. It smelled in there: though it was an expansive area and they'd chosen to coalesce together in one mass of different colors: dark browns, pales and pinks. All a mass of sweat, and stench, and it made his nose rise his mouth into a sneer. None of the faces he recognised, save for one. "Don't forget your place, Arm." The Brain spoke as they sat - watching Akira carefully since their last interaction had been less than savoury. But they attempted to assert all the same.

Akira leant down, between some of the groupings of people to pick up someone's cloths: and he looked at them. "Who are these... things?" Akira enquired. They were rich - the cloth was too nice. "Important donors, young man. Fellow denizens of the light." Akira didn't need to look at their face to know that there was a slick grin plastered to the Brain's face. "Hm." A more pleasing grunt from Akira. They had given in to their baser instincts, if the floor stained with people-juice hadn't give it enough forewarning. They were under the spell of the enhancement their religion provided, which proved it had always been there... it just needed... motivation, to come about.

"Are you sure you don't want to join in?" The Brain enquired. Their tone seemed to be innocent, but even the other Herald wouldn't buy that. "There's room," their voice quipped lightly. Akira flung the cloth from his person, landing haphazardly over another couple. For being a Shinobi, he was able to choose his placement carefully moving through the floor-crowd.

^{"Come now, don't be shy..."} A voice boomed inside Akira's head - as it would have across everybody in the room. A double entendre, because the internal noise only served to fuel the fire: and the volume grew a decibel. The Brain was the shy voice in the back of one's mind that hid in the corners, waiting to be pried out. Mix that with the ability to enhance, and it was unsurprising that Akira was standing in the middle of... well - this. ^{"we're just having fun..."} and Akira watched around him as the movement intensified, the writhing mass only seemed to be speeding up. This wasn't really doing it for him. "You're safe to talk, Arm. You think they're listening? Look at them, giving way to their base desires..." The Brain watched them with intrigue: the noble and followers mixing and becoming that much more indistinguishable.

"I'd rather not," Akira would put his hands to his hips, unimpressed. People still had ears - and he wouldn't trust them. Three countries away or not. "Well, let's go..." the Brain would stand from their seated position and began moving across the crowd: only, unlike Akira they would stand on people as they moved - disregard for their life. Now, it wasn't as though Akira held affinity to them either, but it did make Akira wonder in their approaches as he danced through the crowd and out of the doors and back into sweet, cold midnight light and crisp air.

The Herald of God took a breath, trying to evacuate the musk and sweat from his face. In terms of affinities though, the Country of Birds did live up to the name: the architecture seemed magnificently 'hole-like' - providing all sorts of nooks and crannies for birds to make their homes into. They were integrated, not shunned, as a part of the architecture of the land. "What are we doing here, Brain?" Eager to put the noise behind him, they would move out further into the darkness, only lit by a candle that the Brain had taken from the door's external frame. "The same thing we will do everywhere. But there are tasks to be done. Come." The Brain switched their communication to the eternal void: inside the two minds as they walked alongside each other, wordlessly and where they couldn't be heard.

"You've done well, you know? With Kusagakure. The children are coming along well: those fake documents from Kumogakure helped as well." Akira would nod, not responding with his own words. "For Akui? Anything." Akira thought back. His own activities had been nothing short of impressive - adding value wherever he went. Kumogakure had been so helpful in that regard. "We're getting closer to the Daimyo in Bird Country. We'll want your help." Akira did note the use of 'we' - and he wondered if that meant their leader or The Tongue: whom he had not seen since their fight. "The intelligence you've been feeding back to us has been the most helpful. Of course, no less without my powers you'd have been caught by now, but - it's all you, you know?" Akira knew that it was an underhanded gloat, but the man wouldn't bite at the attempt to goad him into another fight of some sort so that it could be relayed back to their Leader at how ... uncooperative he was being. "So long as you keep taking my notes, we'll continue to learn how to best rip it apart. There could have been better lands to start with." Akira did find it strange that they had chosen a land which was best known for its secularity: in fact, Akira had tried introducing a talk on religion once in a lesson - and found himself at the watch of four teachers for it.

They were extremely on top of any sort of talk, and that was hindering his progress immensely. "You'll watch your tone with that treachery. Our Lord was birthed there, and from there it shall stay." Akira's nostrils flared. "You know that's not what I meant."

---

A story post. Only able to join via invite

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}Add any jutsu, relevant information here

[Hachisuka Ahma]

[googlefont="Bitter"]
[googlefont="Butcherman"]

I wish you would die

Walking throughout the orphanage, Ahma quietly assured that each child was sleeping. Moving gracefully, and quietly, throughout the rooms and halls. Silent snores, random utterances indicating deep sleep. The woman wasn't sure how many rooms and halls she checked, she lost count 18 rooms and three hallways ago. The Nuke continued making her rounds before passing a doorway, hearing silent cries come from the room she just passed. Stopping in her tracks, the woman came around back and stood in the doorway, pushing the cracked door open. It was one of the more older kids at age of 9, he was crying as quietly as can be, yet he was also really bad at it. Ahma crept her way in before approaching the laying boy, gently touching his shoulder. "Hey champ... You okay?" The woman whispered as she brushed the child's shoulder and he stopped crying. The boy slowly shift onto his side to see who was addressing him. "Ah... AHM-" The woman let out a small chuckle before placing a hand over his mouth, nodding with a smile.

"Don't wake the others, promise?" She stated softly before tilting her head as if she needed an answer. The boy nodded slowly and Ahma made another warm smile before moving her hands and sitting on the edge of the bed. "What's up?" The woman inquired the boy again. She was answered by him quietly sitting up and moving to sit next to her. "Nobody wants me... I'm never going to be taken to a new home, I'm too old." Ahma let out a quiet sigh and moved one of her arms, placing it on his shoulders prior to pulling him closer. "Hidehiko, I'm not going to lie, yes the younger ones get adopted more. But, that doesn't mean you're unwanted. It just means the perfect family isn't ready to come get you. We only let the best families adopt our kids but if they don't adopt them, we do. Here, if no one comes for you in a year, I'll adopt you as my son... 'Kay?" Ahma stated with eyes shut and a warm smile at the boy. A few seconds later, Ahma felt arms wrap around her sides as a face dug in her shoulder. "Do you promise?" Ahma just looked at him with a cant of her head before hugging the boy, petting the back of his head. "With all my heart... It's very late... Come on, you need a good night's sleep." Ahma stated as she helped tuck in the kid. Kissing his forehead before walking out and closing the door to a crack, just how he likes it.

Finishing her rounds, Ahma grabbed her equipment from her room. "Again? You know those kids want you around." Another feminine voice crept from behind Ahma as she adorned a grey tracksuit with yellow accents. "Until Hotaru or Kazui can be bothered to do shit, I have no choice, Yume." Ahma stated as she turned to face her. "Sorry... I forgot they are slacking." The ruby-eyed woman side as she started the journey through halls to leave the Orphanage. "Keep an eye on the kids for me." The Hachisuka woman went out the doors before walking forward and leaping to the trees. Moving fast, even at night, the woman kept an eye out for any disturbances that could indicate a threat. Ahma looked as she sped away, only slowing down when she started to notice an odd smell permeating the air. The woman narrowed her eyes as even in the dark, she could see what was going on to cause such scent. Better be gone when I circle back or god so help me... Ahma thought before only moving slightly forward, catching the sight of a very small light and what looked to be two silhouettes. She stopped again and crouched low, trying to observe and pick up as much details as she could. All she could pick up was simply the word 'brain' before they quietly just stood there. To her, it looked like they were in a trance.

Ahma just watched for some time, noting that it was strange. She wouldn't dare to interfere with them, she had no idea what they were capable of. But perhaps this group would be more troublesome than she anticipated. A mental note where she was was made before she quietly went to finish her patrol. Something definitely seemed... off. She had to assure that they wouldn't be trouble, but for now, she had to finish the rest of her patrol for legitimate threats.

@akira

SPOILER: Click to show

SA(S) USED:
Onyx Nuke
Ahma is considered one of the generational lucky few who has access to the clan's most cherished ability. The Kekkai Tota, Shōton. Having access to crystal release sets up a wide array of possibilities of possible jutsu to learn and utilize. As with many advanced release abilities, having keys to the vault is only half the battle. Unlike the classic violet Amethyst of other Shōton users, Ahma's Crystals (unless specifically indicated by the jutsu) appear like Onyx in coloration.

天国の贈り物 | Tengoku no okurimono
Ahma learned her 'Heavenly Gift' from the clan's teachings. Her gift affects her Ninjutsu, allowing her to wield unique, powerful, neigh-impossible to replicate elemental enhancements to her elemental ninjutsu. Her Heavenly Gift also deviates from enhancing all her basic elements to focusing on two, Fūton and Doton. What this means is that inherently, Ahma's doton jutsus can act as a minuscule seismic sense when in active use. Her Fūton becomes harder to see, while it still has a translucent color when applicable, the jutsu overall comes out faster compared to other non-SA-enhanced ninjutsu specialists.

SPOILER: Click to show

Ahma's Seismic Sense is not a true dedicated sensing ability but instead, a passive effect/bonus of a Doton Jutsu, thus, each Doton Jutsu has this added benefit only when the Doton jutsu is in active use. Not being dedicated nor is it is it fully powerful, the ranges are extremely weak, only serving more as accuracy than true sensing.

Each range* is divided by rank of the Jutsu and behaves conversely than expected. This is due to the concentration of higher ranking jutsus require. This Seismic Sense reads vibrations on the ground and thus cannot sense those above ground or on water.

E-Rank Sensing Range: 90 Meters

D-Rank Sensing Range: 75 Meters

C-Rank Sensing Range: 60 Meters

B-Rank Sensing Range: 45 Meters

A-Rank Sensing Range: 30 Meters

S-Rank Sensing Range: 15 Meters

*These ranges are capped regardless of Shinobi rank due to relying on concentration and not natural ability.

Unique Seal Adaptation
Every Tenchi clan member is taught unique handseals and instead, prayer gestures and sutras for Jutsu, Ahma is no different to this. As such she is considered an advanced level sealist [re: Handseals] in the art. This does not grant her speed in the hand seals of common ninjutsu, rather she has an edge in the delivery of her clan's specialized jutsu.

Fine like Jade
Through extraneous training in chakra usage, Ahma has developed an unnatural level of chakra control. While it still isn't perfected, she has learned to efficiently mitigate excess exhaust from the jutsus she casts and how to give the proper input for the desired output, rather than pouring as much as she can and hoping for the best.

JUTSU(S) USED:
N/A
EQUIPMENT USED:
01 | Masterwork Claws (Continuous)

[Deleted]

The crack of thunder let Akira know that there was rain incoming. And it did: slowly. A little drip on his forehead: another on his forearm. It was coming, but how much he didn't know. "Tell me about your plans?" The Brain enquired - and it had been a fair question, since Akira hadn't really divulged much to the other two: with the Harbinger being the notable exception. "Right... I've been ensuring I have the right information first: learning what I can and I'm focused on having our light shine more than any other potential ... competitors." "Yes. There are too many voices in Nohara no Kuni." Akira nodded, even though no verbal words had been exchanged. That was correct. A secular country which invited far too many voices, when the only one the people should have been able to hear was the light of their own Lord.

"Once voices have been silenced, I will give us opportunities to provide. Our churches are in the position and primed to offer support." He wordlessly gave the plan to the Brain, who didn't make any noise barring the squelch of mud and rock as rain began to pour, growing louder. In fact - the lack of response on the Brain's part would only make Akira continue talking, and they came to a stop when the rain extinguished their flame. "I will cause them to riot. To take up a cause larger than themselves, and they won't even know that it's us who will rally them - to bend our ear." And the Brain chuckled as the conversation took place, indicating some sort of conversation between the two people. "How exciting." The Brain responded. Akira nodded. "The Religious Affairs will come by as our activities ramp up - and we will intercept them. When the time is right: so nobody but a poor soul is to blame." "Oh how the nest will stir when you kick it." The Brain was on to the same sort of line of thinking that Akira had been. Listening to the noise of the rain as it pattered down, staring to cast against his skin - and he would look around, with only vague lights to guide them in the darkness.

"And we will respond in kind. Our land is fraught with so many voices... which means that the hornets which come buzzing out of their nests will have their wings cut - their noises muted. And eventually - the nest itself." Akira finished his plans - or at least, going into the more granular detail throughout the night as they stood there getting colder in the rain. "It's... a lot of details. A lot of steps that could go wrong. Failure will end in your death, you understand?" Akira nodded at the thought. "The same goes for you, Brain."

Of course, the conversation went on wordlessly and they were standing there aimlessly looking into the town around them: of course it looks suspicious given the circumstances. But, Ahma's presence had not been noticed by the two Heralds yet. Akira faced the Brain and they would face one another - staring. "And why am I needed here?"

"This land has no military: but it is full of Ashigaru. Look at those nobles back there: they need a higher cause. They need us. It's a matter of time before we can get audience with the Daimyo," and Akira looked around, one field overlooking the rain and the path and other buildings they stood on - and his eyes cast down onto a pigeon that was puffed up, keeping out of the rain. Of course with his own body there was no such luck. "They are rich enough to call help from Sunagakure." Akira responded back, wiping away the water from his eyes and pulling his hair back from under the rain, hopefully that would keep it out of his eyes. In history, the annexation attempt by Iwagakure had not helped. "Yes- but think if there was a new Daimyo." And Akira would turn back to the Brain, seeing in the dark light their expressions briefly. "You intend on replacing one of these...?" His arm pointed back to where they had come from, under the den of noise emanating from the building they had left.

A crunch would have Akira shift his eyesight very sharply to a singular direction: and it took no more than a moment for him to withdraw one of his kunai, deeply cold to the touch. But - nothing come of it. He kept his cool and his distance, and the Brain didn't respond immediately as they also wondered. "You have your voice," "Of course I wouldn't use that immediately you foolish child, we're just strangers in the dark right now." they chided Akira again, just as they had so many times before. But it made sense: it wasn't proportionate and it was otherworldly, so best not to cause a scene.

"We're not going to replace the Daimyo with them.... we're going to replace the Daimyo with me." Even in the darkness, the white of their teeth was so clear to Akira. "Your forging documents have helped us create backstories. We need to fabricate a claim on the leadership - forge a familial connection." And it caused Akira to cross his arms together in thought. Akira in past, had taken documents he shouldn't have from Kumogakure under the guise of a mission with Daisuke, who had been stupid enough to allow him free access to documents that were clearly not being used for intended use. And from his own persons in Kusagakure, he had access to information there as well. So - it wouldn't be difficult to apply the same logic, he supposed.

"What we haven't got is an audience with the Daimyo. Forge the connection: take the helm by force." "Daimyo tend to have Shinobi protection: this might not be a military nation but the world is infested with the chakra using kind." Akira thought of a plan. "We'll eliminate them all in one fell swoop. Once they're done, the same will go for any offspring - and from there, we'll have control of the narrative. A lie told often enough becomes the truth, and after all, I am my Daimyo's sibling." They grinned maliciously.

"It sounds good." Akira spoke out loud now - his volume returning to some semblance of humanity. "Have you got someone to get an audience? Someone to set the records into history?" "We've got someone who will write the books and set them into libraries across the nation. But ... mass producing a book takes time." Akira nodded.

Good, good.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}Add any jutsu, relevant information here

[Hachisuka Ahma]

[googlefont="Bitter"]
[googlefont="Butcherman"]

I wish you would die

Ahma made a slow, quiet exit. It wouldn't take long, she just needed to search up to a mile outwards of the Orphanage. The organization at the moment didn't have the tools for long proactive searches. They had to fly more on reactive defense. They had low numbers but that didn't mean they were exactly weak. Each member of the organization had an extremely unique niche that made Sai no Karawa so respected. They had power, they knew how to use it, they weren't exactly bloodthirsty, some including Ahma, were more inclined to kill but it was out of necessity or circumstance. Never of joy or wanton destruction. The nukenin made her way in a large circular perimeter around the orphanage. Usually, things hardly went wrong but ever since Ishigakure shinobi tried to kidnap a child, things were incredibly tense. Ahma didn't enjoy it, she was quite frankly pissed that someone even tried, she was even more irritated when once they retrieved the kid, Kazui stated to leave the remainder alive. It might have appeared Ahma had a bloodlust, but in truth, with an insanely strong opponent who tanked their blows, it was a haphazard risk to leave at least the Jōnin alive. Ahma did what she had to, if she didn't, well, that girl may have been a little more than hooked.

The crackling of thunder and the patter of rain made it infinitely harder to stay searching for long. Almost finished with her patrol, the woman pondered if she should finish for the night and say she finished her patrol. It was quite tempting, however doing that may introduce a serious risk, especially with those figures abound. Infinitely harder to see further than she was already limited to with the present overcast, Ahma made sure to pay the house a visit. Hearing the noises still coming, the woman simply sneered as she approached the closed doorway. She touched the locks and the doorframe, crystalizing them and necessitating the door be broken for entry or exit. She took out a tag that only had the characters '離れる' (Leave) written on it. She gave it no chakra properties, she simply placed it on the door before moving back to the trees. She moved near to where she last saw the individuals, using the noise of the storm to mask her approach, still trying her best to stay hidden.

The men were starting to speak again by the time she was within hearing proximity, but again, she missed more important info. Only hearing they were going to record history and that they had someone at the ready to mass-produce them. What is your game? The woman thought as she clung close to the tree's main trunk. Things were definitely getting more curious, and she wasn't a fan of it. Whoever they were could possibly be trouble. Trouble this close needed observation, but with her inaccessibility to the manpower, summons, or even clones, she was practically a one-woman army. She noted what she might have to do at this point and what she was capable of. She hoped nothing serious would come from this group. She didn't want to fight to keep the children safe constantly, this isn't the world she wanted them to grow up in. After three slow, calming breaths, Ahma made her way back to the orphanage, she was going to call it a night before she caught some cold being out in the rain.

@ Some Tags Here @

SPOILER: Click to show

SA(S) USED:
Onyx Nuke
Ahma is considered one of the generational lucky few who has access to the clan's most cherished ability. The Kekkai Tota, Shōton. Having access to crystal release sets up a wide array of possibilities of possible jutsu to learn and utilize. As with many advanced release abilities, having keys to the vault is only half the battle. Unlike the classic violet Amethyst of other Shōton users, Ahma's Crystals (unless specifically indicated by the jutsu) appear like Onyx in coloration.

天国の贈り物 | Tengoku no okurimono
Ahma learned her 'Heavenly Gift' from the clan's teachings. Her gift affects her Ninjutsu, allowing her to wield unique, powerful, neigh-impossible to replicate elemental enhancements to her elemental ninjutsu. Her Heavenly Gift also deviates from enhancing all her basic elements to focusing on two, Fūton and Doton. What this means is that inherently, Ahma's doton jutsus can act as a minuscule seismic sense when in active use. Her Fūton becomes harder to see, while it still has a translucent color when applicable, the jutsu overall comes out faster compared to other non-SA-enhanced ninjutsu specialists.

SPOILER: Click to show

Ahma's Seismic Sense is not a true dedicated sensing ability but instead, a passive effect/bonus of a Doton Jutsu, thus, each Doton Jutsu has this added benefit only when the Doton jutsu is in active use. Not being dedicated nor is it is it fully powerful, the ranges are extremely weak, only serving more as accuracy than true sensing.

Each range* is divided by rank of the Jutsu and behaves conversely than expected. This is due to the concentration of higher ranking jutsus require. This Seismic Sense reads vibrations on the ground and thus cannot sense those above ground or on water.

E-Rank Sensing Range: 90 Meters

D-Rank Sensing Range: 75 Meters

C-Rank Sensing Range: 60 Meters

B-Rank Sensing Range: 45 Meters

A-Rank Sensing Range: 30 Meters

S-Rank Sensing Range: 15 Meters

*These ranges are capped regardless of Shinobi rank due to relying on concentration and not natural ability.

Unique Seal Adaptation
Every Tenchi clan member is taught unique handseals and instead, prayer gestures and sutras for Jutsu, Ahma is no different to this. As such she is considered an advanced level sealist [re: Handseals] in the art. This does not grant her speed in the hand seals of common ninjutsu, rather she has an edge in the delivery of her clan's specialized jutsu.

Fine like Jade
Through extraneous training in chakra usage, Ahma has developed an unnatural level of chakra control. While it still isn't perfected, she has learned to efficiently mitigate excess exhaust from the jutsus she casts and how to give the proper input for the desired output, rather than pouring as much as she can and hoping for the best.

JUTSU(S) USED:
NAME: Shōton: Sesshokushō [Crystal Release: Crystal Touch]
RANK: B
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu
ELEMENT: Shōton
DESCRIPTION:
This technique doesn't require the use of hand seals, instead, the user places their hand outward or on any surface and focus their chakra to their hand. The user is capable of crystallizing any physical material into crystal. This extends to other physical natures, to which the user can use in combination with other crystal techniques, rendering earth, water, and wood useless against it. However much like all the other crystal techniques the user cannot crystallize raw energy or chakra, as they have no physical mass to crystallize.

EQUIPMENT USED:
01 | Masterwork Claws (Continuous)
01 | Fūinjutsu Brush
0.1 | Blank Sealing Tag

[Deleted]

They had continued talking about it for a little while longer - about how it would be put into place. What things that could go wrong, and they still didn't notice Ahma: for what it had been worth, Akira and the Brain of God had gone outside in circumstances that were not useful to their position. It was dark, it was raining: noises were hidden. Any self-serving Shinobi would have been able to do it, and they didn't expect any trained assassins laying in wait in the country of Birds - so they did not check. On the other hand, the Rain was also obscuring their own conversation as it grew wetter.

"Have you not thought of sinning yourself?" The Brain asked as they began to go back to the den of sin. "What do you mean?" Akira spoke back. Wondering what it was - did they forget who they were? "I think you know what I'm talking about. Enjoy yourself - you travelled so far..." their words were tantalising: though Akira felt nothing for the Brain, more due to their power dynamic, he was still a herald - it was definitely within his purview.

It brought up feelings of the self - who he was, and if he was the same person after being born into the servitude of Akui. "I guess I'm not the same person anymore." Akira would state bluntly. "Of course not... so come back, let's spoil these humans with ourselves." And they returned - Akira saw it first, a gemstone around the door. A tag - it did not deter him, though he definitely held onto the weapon in his hand. In the rain, and being further away he couldn't see what it was. "-Trouble up ahead." Akira pointed it out first. Akira stood still - he didn't want to be the one bound by it. The Brain on the other hand sauntered up to it, and read it out loud. Looked down at the crystal - and studied it. Nothing appeared to happen, so Akira would release from his position and join the Brain. "Leave?" Akira repeated it back.

It was a warning, was it?

Any thought that Akira had of joining back into the den of sin had been eliminated. He touched the crystal - smooth. It covered the door - like a sort of glaze. "It's gem-like. It can't be precious, right? It's... glass? Glass isn't normally this strong. Or looks like this... as far as I know." Akira looked at it. Held it. Around the door knob - he tried to crush it in his hand - and he couldn't. So he applied more pressure in his hand - and crushed it. It did not crush, but it did crack after a few seconds of effort, and Akira would draw a sharp intake of breath as crushing it splintered the material and some of the shards went into his hand - drawing blood in several places. In a fit of anger, Akira would kick the door - it would break the door open, causing the 'activity' to come to a quick halt.

They had given them both a warning - or expected those inside... one couldn't correlate with the other. Unless they expected those from inside to get out using a window and to see the warning that way - so there were reasons why it could have been so. "Nothing to see here. Just a old doorframe." The brain was quick to put it into action. But - standing astride the door did Akira watch out into the rain. Just what were they up to? Whoever it had been...

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}Add any jutsu, relevant information here