[Muramasa Uemon]

in the quiet rain

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Staying in Amegakure had been... interesting, to say the least. A run-in with the Rokudaime, meeting Squeakers, trying to figure out Aikawa Mikazuki while she did the same. Both of them closer and further away than either would like.

Though his short time in the village was drawing to a close, there was still much he had to do. Mikazuki had offered he and Kota a place to lodge while they were here and before he left he had to find some way to pay her back for it.

Doubtless, she would protest if he told her, so he chose not to. Instead quietly going about his business as he tended to do. Most of his day had been spent putting in time at the forge, then purchasing materials to fix Mika's place up and installing them. He was no handyman per se, but he was a craftsman by trade so he figured it out.

A new cupboard door for the one that had been cracked and a replacement mirror for the shattered one in the bathroom. Nothing too complex, and so after a few hours' time he finished. Kota, his ward, was safe at the house...

...for now. It was that thought that brought him to his next endeavor. "If we're going to be traveling again... I need something stronger than even Yamata to keep him safe." He thought. The wanderer's dalliance with Fūinjutsu had yielded fruit— resulting in him managing to seal his multi-headed serpent within his own arm. An effective contingency.

But for someone who hated leaving anything to chance, still not enough for his purposes. Once his smithing was done and the housework taken care of... he went about seeking out other materials. Lumber, high-quality tamahagane, a large object hidden fully in cloth that he had been crafting in his free time at the forge, and most importantly of all a quiet place to work. Some long-abandoned building located near the outskirts of the village proper. Time in Kuwana made him used to scrutiny by ninja, but now his sensory and growing stealth capabilities made it easier to evade surveillance. A suspicious course of action perhaps, but in truth there was no ill will.

At least... not towards shinobi. All of his ire had been cultivated and allowed to fester for another group. Finding himself on the bottom floor of the structure, he set to work in the dim light of the afternoon. Placing down the large bundled object, erecting some sort of stand to help support the weight of what he intended to build, and gathering his tools in hand. Armor crafted in modular sections were first, the wanderer starting from the floor-up.

Hammering each piece home, fitting them together with various small flexile straps, adjusting them as he went along. It took only minutes for the beginnings of what looked to be a pair of legs to take shape. All the while his face growing into more and more of a scowl. He worked diligently and silently, intending to build the rough 'skeleton' of the creation first. A towering creature made of steel. "To keep him safe..." The words echoed in his head.

It was a nice thought, but even now he knew it to be false. This would be a beast of sheer destruction meant to bring ruin to his enemies. Just as his serpent was, just as he had always planned them to be. Kota's safety was important to him but he still had a mission to do. To see through no matter the personal cost. To die for, if need be.

---

[Yuie Tsuki]

As hammer bang against heavy steel and vibration shook from the man's craftsmanship. The lights in the seemingly abandoned building would suddenly and momentarily flicker above him. As though his banging might of jostled a loose wire and though it'd seem coincidental it was something much farther from the truth. In Amegakure every building served a purpose there was too many people and too much that needed to happen for any single building to be abandoned. These buildings seemingly forsaken or cursed, they're were shadows congregate and horrors happen.

Uemon could of been the master of stealth, an invisible ghost traveling through walls and he'd of not escaped her eyes. Tsuki was every urban legend in the village, she was every dark alleys dead end. Uemon's host was this village's bijuu host, so whether he felt it was earned. He had earned her attention, she'd watched him through windows from across streets. She'd seen him pass through every hall and down every street. She didn't need to move a muscle and all the more comical, she didn't have to drag him in for questioning. Instead he'd come to her and take residence at the first floor of her trap house.

She was wired into every camera and she'd put a camera in the villages every inch. This building he'd chosen was one of the most rigged and dangerous places he could be in the village. At least when it came to crossing her. For him though he couldn't of picked a safer place, as she'd have no worries about him in this building. There were no real secrets to be found here, only an untimely demise for those who'd gone too far astray or risked the security of her favorite village.

Moments after the light had flicked above him, a sound like a teapot reaching boil would call out short and quick. Seemingly like the hiss of a snake, it came from outside and looking towards it. There'd be an armored figured standing back turned to Uemon, it seemed completely unconcerned and unaware of the shinobi. The armor though hard to see from his positioning and the lighting would seem familiar. Likely stir disdain, as it seemed to be that of a Samurai. He'd not have long to look at the armor outside though.

As once the younger puppeteer had taken noticed, the light from the windows would all go out with a loud metal slam. As every thick metal grates came down over every single window on the bottom floor. An equally loud clanking coming from the doors in the building, as they'd lock themselves shut too. The light flickering over him, then briefly in a corner of the room. A figure stood there that'd seemingly not been their prior. The lights flickering off again leaving the wannin in pitch black for a second. Then all the lights in the room would come on showing nothing was standing in the bottom floor of the building.

A sound of power surging through the building, as an elevator would begin coming down to the bottom floor. Just as it'd hit the bottom, the light closest to Uemon would intensify greatly before exploding in a bright flash of sparks. All the other lights going out in tangent, as the elevator door opened. A light in it flickering and for the briefest moment. A cloaked figure stood in there, it'd speak out in an eerie voice identical to Squeakers. "You're expected upstairs." Between the flickers of the light, the figure would seemingly vanish. As it did the light stopped flickering, it remained on the sole light in the now otherwise pitch black first level.

SPOILER: Click to show

Words. -- Tags Muramasa Uemon Notes.

Template by Kuroya of THQ & GS.

[Muramasa Uemon]

something lurks in the shadows

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Stealthy and with all the finesse in the world or not, he was still not on his home turf. So of course...

Avoiding being watched completely was never an option. If he truly wanted full secrecy, doing this sort of thing in the wilds of Arashi no Kuni would have been the best option. This place was more so for convenience's sake.

Lugging all of those materials far away would be impractical... and for this specific construction, he needed ready access to a forge. While he worked, a pang entered his head. Chakra, and with it an unfamiliar presence of some sort. Lights above him flickered, the feeling of being watched flooded his senses, and he turned on his heel.

Only to find an imposing figure standing with its back turned to him. "No chakra." He thought to himself, at least none that he could feel coming from it directly. "...a puppet, then?" A guess, but a safe one from what he could tell. 

Armed, armored, and seemingly unconcerned with him. Its immaculate make contrasting the still-in-progress metallic behemoth that he had been working on. The wanderer stood alert, but made no moves. Even as the windows in the building were shuttered tight and the lights began to waver again. A figure at the corner of his vision, the closing off of exit routes... it was like something from a horror novel. Yet as always he remained stoic.

If he was fazed by the showing, his face did not show it. By now his mind was racing as it usually did when faced with a questionable circumstance. Could he escape from here? Likely. But not quietly and probably not without a fight of some sort. Not to mention that he did not know who he would be running from. And beyond that, his puppet was here. Too much time and effort had been spent piecing this thing together, forging its sword, and planning for its creation. Whatever else happened he could not leave the unfinished thing behind. And so...

The young man waited and watched, wondering who could be behind this. "Someone with authority, no doubt." He thought to himself. Though having met the Rokudaime... this did not seem like his style. It was at once too covert and entirely too theatrical for a man who approached him and simply asked what his business was. "Hm..."

Before he could ponder it much further the hum of a lift being activated sounded out and a voice called to him, drawing his attention away from the armored figure. Squeakers, or what looked like him stood in the opened elevator. Speaking more seriously than he had ever heard him. "Expected by whom?" He asked, but with another flicker the figure was gone. "If this is a trap it's already sprung." The thought occurred. "Might as well play this out."

So he approached and entered the lift. Pausing for just a moment to look for the armored figure once more. It was gone. The wanderer remained silent as he pressed a button and the elevator moved. Whoever was pulling the strings here seemed to want to meet. And with his only other option being a hectic retreat... he decided to oblige. 

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