[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world @--

Toru was not one that had often celebrated his birthday in the past. He had been given gifts on rare occasion, and the last few years had been a bit of a blur. This year the council members had drafted an idea for celebration. Nationwide celebration. Toru was not keen on the concept, it seemed pompous and not at all how he preferred to present himself, but it seemed that everyone was in opposition to him.

It would be a day to relax for everyone, to drink, eat and be merry. It would invite important diplomats from other towns and villages around Mizu no Kuni to Kirigakure so that they could see and dine with their leader. So for the sake of some diplomacy, Toru caved, if only because he did not wish to hear about the plan over and over again. After all, it was a small affordance to allow people to unwind and enjoy the nation's slowly growing wealth and influence.

Even if it was at the expense of his own comfort on his birthday.

So, there he was. In a large banquet room, front and center. He had settled as comfortably as he could in a nice seat, his legs crossed. There were a few gifts in a space behind him brought by some nobles from out of town. There were many individuals who had wealth and influence sitting around, but at the same time there were many important shinobi representatives. Elders and leaders from clans, the entire war council and shinobi council. Individuals from out of the nation too.

They were all dining and drinking. Toru was staring into space, occasionally nodding to those that spoke to him or responding where it was necessary. He was supposed to make a speech at some point to those here and later make an appearance outside of this space with those celebrating in the rest of the village.

SPOILER: Click to show

You are free to join if you are in the shinobi council, war council, are in a high position in the village or in a clan

OWL

[Shouki Kumori]

What a marvelous idea, indeed. Kumori was among those who doubled down on the brilliant idea to hold a nation-wide celebration of Lord Toru’s birthday. It was because of many factors, too! Such things couldn’t just be thought up and realized on the go, that ought to have been too reckless for the Councilor to enact.

But the climate was going to be a classical, thin fog today. The very namesake of their village, a veil of protection from outside threats and a constant reminder of their growing strength. The temperature was just right, too – and the echoing cries of owls in the distance was the icing on top.

On top of that, Kumori was in a good mood. Despite the clock of his life working against him in these old years, he’d managed to get his hands on a peculiar school of weapon techniques in the form of a scroll- but we’ll get to that later.

Many a noble were invited to the banquet, and Kumori didn’t want to embarrass the Mizukage- then again, had he ever done such a thing? Had he?

… Had he? Nay, no memory of doing so.

Either way, Kumori adorned a deep-blue kimono with only a pair of owl feathers strutting out from the collar. His huge size made him easy to recognize among the masses, but at the same time, he didn’t want to stand out too much… today was Toru’s birthday, after all! Therefore, as a token of respect and dedication to the young leader-

Kumori likely did something to make him eat his previous words… and had transformed into his younger self. From when he was around… say, 18-19 years old? Nay, a bit older than that, but somewhere in that range. Certainly, Toru would be intrigued by the look of a man from a time that the Mizukage would’ve had no business being conceived during. Henceforth, Kumori had a seat next to the village’s leader as his seasoned Councilor, a joyous grin on his young-looking face.

"Here, Lord Toru,” he quickly informed the growing, white-haired lad as a simple scroll was held towards him, "My gift to you. Oh, and… what do you think?” To reiterate what Kumori meant, the old man in a young man’s image would try and flex a bicep – due to the façade, it would ironically be significantly smaller than the one he could flex in his 69-year old physique. "The fragrant memory of my bursting youth from times far in the past of our diamond village. It must be like looking directly into the past itself, don't you agree? The nostalgia’s intoxicating, really…”

In this form, unless Toru had already caught on to the 'disguise', the pair of owl feathers would be a dead giveaway.

SPOILER: Click to show

Scroll's content:
fallenblades.proboards.com/thread/22760/universal-bukijutsu-techniques