[Hatake Toshizō]

"a rising tide lifts all boats". "A man who can't uphold his beliefs is pathetic, dead or alive." A HINT OF EVIDENCE The Land of Rivers. Toshizou had placed a squad from Root in charge of finding any intel regarding the whereabouts of two Missing-nins from the Hidden Leaf Village: the Uchiha siblings Hotaru and Kazui. It took many months for any information to arise; the siblings were quite the elusive duo, and it didn't help the fact that Kazui was rather skilled in the use of Kagura Mind's Eye. Still, there was some light at the end of the tunnel, and eventually the operatives found evidence that they would be somewhere in the Land of Rivers. That was a good enough lead for a capable sensor and tracker like Toshizou. With that information on his hands, Toshizou approached the Hokage and suggested that they should reach out to them. Criminals as they may be, they could be useful to the Leaf, and although he hated those who turned their back to their village and country, when war is lurking around the corner, a real leader needs to know to back down and compromise. Fortunately, Keisuke was likeminded in that regard, and even offered to tag along with the Hatake in his quest to find the siblings. He protested a little, but he knew how stubborn the Hokage was, and ultimately, he was a strong individual, and if the two of them were together, they had very little to fear; attacking two of the strongest Leaf shinobis was a fool's errand. Once they arrived in the Land of Rivers, Toshizou opened his Mind's Eye to scan the area, his range was quite respectful, being able to sense chakra in an area of 25 kilometres. On top of that, he had all of his Ninken out as well, sniffing for any trace of their scent. It was a matter of time until they came across either their sent or their chakra signature. As they searched for them in this foreign land, the Hatake gazed at the Hokage with his scarlet eyes. "Despite my reservations, I do believe reaching out to them is the right choice. If they decline, we can agree to let them go this time, to show our good faith. Worst comes to worst, I'm pretty confident in ourselves, the risk level is acceptable." his tone was quite serious, but deep inside he was hoping they could come to an agreement of sorts. The siblings were strong, smart, and extremely useful. "You can train a dog with food. You can buy a person with money. But there isn't a man alive that can put down the Will of Fire. Some things will never change. The Will of Fire will never be extinguished" Land of Rivers Searching for Hotaru and Kazui's scent with the Ninken, and their chakra signature with KME [Uzumaki Keisuke Uchiha Hotaru Lady Kazui Nue Benjiro] [426 words]

SA used:

SPOILER: Click to show

Kagura Mind's Eye
Born with a natural affinity towards sensing chakra, Toshi trained himself to become a capable sensor ninja. With his training, he managed to unlock his Mind's Eye, and with that, the ability to passively sense chakra signatures in the distance (when using the technique), thus allowing him to not only track, but also memorize a person's chakra signature, even if barely any chakra is being used. Due to his proficiency with this technique, Toshi can passively sense chakra up to 400 metres, but when he focus on opening his Mind's Eye, his sensing capabilities increase to incredible 25 km.

[Uzumaki Keisuke]

DON'T YOU WANNA BE A

SUPERHERO

Things for Konoha were not going exactly the way that Keisuke had envisioned when he got chosen to take over from the previous Hokage, he had been faced with tough decisions in his early career as Hokage, while the decisions taken may or may not have been the right ones things can't exactly get any worse unless the village faced war which was still a possibility, then he had this threat of a nuke-nin organisation on his doorstep as well while it wasn't super threatening the village or anything of the kind and the views they expressed Keisuke could understand them and agreed with them in principle that the use of child soldiers was a bad image for the shinobi villages as a whole, but what Keisuke could do is try to work with them to start to make small changes as he believed in what they were aiming for but he had to do it in a way that pleased the Daimyo at the same time as the leaf still had to follow the Daimyo's instructions to a degree even though they had free reign for the most part.

Toshi then came to Keisuke's office as he had a lead on the two Uchiha siblings the village had been tracking for a while now and since the organization had been formed in the land of fire news of it obviously would reach Konoha first. Toshi had information that the siblings had been sighted in the Land Of Rivers and Toshi had mentioned that he would take up change in going after the siblings, but Keisuke being the man that he was insisted that he went along with Toshi on his trip after the siblings. While the trip took a little while to get to the Land Of Rivers Toshi and Keisuke soon find themselves within the lands. Toshi then doubled his efforts in using KME and Ninken to find them. The goal here wasn't to trap the the siblings or anything of the sort, maybe the two sides could come to an agreement about who they went about operating and maybe the two sides could work together in a capacity at the end of the day an alliance of sorts with a growing powerful group of shinobi like the SINK would prove to be useful in a world that seemed to be against Konoha all the time and the growing threats that were certainly coming.

" Yeah our goal here is just to talk with them in a friendly manner we will mean them no harm Toshizo. While I get they are missing ninja they have shown no ill intentions towards our village and while they are missing-nin they should be given the benefit of the doubt. Our purpose here is to try and work together as there are bigger threats coming sooner rather than later. " Keisuke remained positive dispite this being against them as well knowing fine well the siblings could simply refuse and Keisuke and Toshizo could have wasted there time for nothing, but they had to try at least.

ITEMS: the hero's glasses [Active]
the hero's cape [Active]
TAGS: Hatake Toshizō Lady Kazui Uchiha Hotaru Nue Benjiro
JUTSU: None
SPECIAL ABILITIES:

SPOILER: Click to show

Hero’s "Presence”

This Hero’s presence is an ability that stems right from Keisuke’s own chakra and with how the man is around others. The man believes that he is a real hero, even though a lot of that is self-proclaimed. His belief that he is a real hero has created something truly special for Keisuke. He has developed a special aura, that stems from his hero "energy” [chakra levels]. This aura can be seen by others, though it can only really be seen clearly when he is in the thrill of battle believing he is a true hero. Out of battle his aura is faint but is sometimes present if he speaks of his hero-like desires. Those who witness his aura ‘might’ believe in him for just a second, whilst they will often deny they believed anything. The doubt is in there minds. In the presence of friends and allies, his aura will truly be seen. His aura to friends and allies will give them a slight boost in confidence and will give them the belief they can win even if they are against it. As a Uzumaki Keisuke's will is yet strengthened by his will and determination even more he will keep going until until he drops dead if he has to.

TEMPLATE MADE BY SIFR OF GANGNAM STYLE © 2015

[Uchiha Hotaru]

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Thanks to his sister’s jutsu, Sai no Kawara had advanced warning that powerful people approached from the east. Benjiro, and himself split up from the others. When the pursuit continued towards them, Hotaru’s suspicion of Konohagakure shinobi must have been correct. Prior to this, SinK worked in a small town making a favorable impression, so everyone dressed in uniform. Dark zip up cloaks with pale wave and floral patterns on the sleeves. Hotaru’s was zippped halfway to show his bare upper torso, and he carried a second identical outfit on his shoulder.

Inside was Benjiro’s presence. An indescribable sensation to the uninitiated. It was as if his body was not his own alone. These days, his thoughts had little privacy. His sister knew his emotion and now the Nue’s voice lived within his head.

With what time they had, he led the group into the highlands northward. His usual evasive maneuver for Konohagakure was to run their teams into enemy territory to use other countries as unwitting diversions. Benjro’s senses started picking things up and he realized that at their pace they’d not make it to Arashi no Kuni before whoever was pursuing them arrived.

There was a lake near Arashi in the distance bleeding into river rapids. The currents had carved out a canyon above the riverbed. Hotaru led them there and they crossed a hanging wooden bridge.

"We can’t outrun them. I’ll hold them off so you can escape.”

He used a kunai to cut the ropes of the bridge to send it tumbling to the rocks, leaving the gap of the gorge between themselves and their pursuers. Afterwards, he pulled a scroll, and a quiver of arrows and bow appeared in his hand. He dipped the tip of the projectile into a vial of Doku Poison.

Awaiting the hunter’s approach, he held the weapon ready, but did not yet knock the poisoned arrow.

He spoke internally to the Nue, "Please take care of Kazui.”

As he had a means to read his emotions, they’d sense fear coursing through Hotaru’s essence.

Genjutsu Intolerance Seal [x], Doku Poison [x]

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[Nue Benjiro]

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[attr="class","LilacTag"]Hatake Toshizō

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I lent every fiber of my being to hasten Hotaru’s escape but I knew it wouldn’t be enough. It was that cornered animal feeling as adrenaline coursed through our veins and heart pounding we stumbled across the bridge. He was terrified and although he knew we couldn’t outrun them I’d held back any warnings of just how wretched our situation had become. There were two distinct chakra signatures following us and I could sense both were well beyond standard hunter-nin but one was especially alarming. There was no sense in stoking a fire that was already burning bright. [break][break]

Hotaru turned at the end of the bridge and I knew without words that this was where he planned to make his stand. That’s when the leader of SinK released me from his service. This is exactly why I promised myself I would never merge with anyone after what happened to Her. I was already losing Myself in the Us and the We. I knew I wouldn’t be able to make that terrible choice again. I couldn’t abandon Hotaru even if it meant that this would be the end. [break][break]

I steadied my thoughts and he would hear my voice quiet in his head, "I’ll stay with you until we’re both safe. Kazui can take care of herself.” Out of respect, I hadn't fully merged our minds so I would only overhear his surface thoughts. He maintained full control of his body while I reached out with my sensory abilities and continued to monitor the situation.

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[attr="class","LilacName"]Nue Benjiro

[attr="class","LilacNotes"]Notes: Skip my turn unless someone initiates combat.

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[Hatake Toshizō]

"a rising tide lifts all boats". "A man who can't uphold his beliefs is pathetic, dead or alive." CANYON As he continued to approach Hotaru's chakra signature, Toshizou realized that the second chakra signature was likely not that of Kazui. Yes, she could hide her presence even from him due to her Kagura Mind's Eye, but something was rather odd. "The other chakra presence seems to be inside of him..." he thought to himself, narrowing his scarlet eyes. His presence moved towards the highlands northward of where they were, potentially in an attempt to escape to an enemy nation, but they wouldn't make it in time. "They noticed us. And they are trying to run away. Not unaccounted for, but let's increase our pace, Keisuke." he warned the Hokage, since he was the acting tracker at this point. The Ninken had caught up with them, and Pakkun turned to Toshizou. "No signs of Uchiha Kazui. I take it you can handle it by yourself from here?" the miniature pug asked and Toshizou nodded. "Thank you for the help, Pakkun. You and the others may leave." and with a firm nod from the dogs, they disappeared in a puff of smoke. Toshizou and Keisuke reached a canyon above a river bed. There was a bridge there, but Hotaru took care of destroying it in order to delay them. But that would work out for him; Toshizou didn't want to capture the man, or engage him in battle. Rather, he wanted to be able to talk to him. On the other side, Hotaru stood strong, with his bow ready and pointing at them. With his sharp eyes he could see the poison tainted the tip of the metal; he was ready to take a stand, even if a final one, and that was something the Hatake could respect. Toshizou made a sign for Keisuke to stay behind him, not because he thought the Hokage was vulnerable, but if Hotaru did shot, it was preferable for the village if Toshizou took the hit rather than their Hokage. Then, he lifted both his hands up, showing he didn't intend on causing any harm, and his words followed. "We are not here to fight you, Uchiha Hotaru. I will grab my sword now and place it on the ground." he said in a loud tone so that the man could hear him. Following that, he did grab his Kanesada blade slowly, so the man could easily follow his movements, kneeled down on just one knee and carefully rested the blade on the ground, before standing up once again, hands still raised and separated. "We are here to talk. I can give you my word that, regardless of the outcome of this conversation, we will not try to harm you." his tone was cautious and his expression was serious, if they could sense any of his feelings, they could see there was no deceit in his words. "You can train a dog with food. You can buy a person with money. But there isn't a man alive that can put down the Will of Fire. Some things will never change. The Will of Fire will never be extinguished" Land of Rivers Dismissed the Ninken, cautiously approached the canyon and placed his sword on the ground to show he had no ill intentions [Uzumaki Keisuke Honō Hotaru Nue Benjiro] [500 words]

[Uzumaki Keisuke]

DON'T YOU WANNA BE A

SUPERHERO

Keisuke continued to follow Toshizo in tracking the movements of the Uchiha siblings he relied on his sensing abilities as well as his tracker dogs following there movements as Keisuke followed behind Toshizo. When Toshizo mentioned to Keisuke that they had noticed that the two of them had been noticed Keisuke upped the pace in order to close in on what he thought was both Kazui and Hotaru but one of Toshizo's trackers dogs confirmed there was no signs of the sister Kazui and it was just the older brother Hotaru, which was fine. The goal of Keisuke wasn't to capture them it was just to talk with Hotaru. The two of them then kept on pushing forward till they reached a canyon above a river bed, the bridge had been sabotaged by what looked like to be Hotaru as he stood on the gap between the void divide between the two of them now Toshizo and Keisuke on one side and Hotaru on the other side who at this time seemed to have readied himself a bow with arrows as he aimed it at Keisuke and Toshizo.

Toshizo signalled for Keisuke to stand behind him as he laid down his sword in front of him as a sign of surrender and that he only wanted to talk to Hotaru. This was even confirmed with Toshizo's own words as he spoke them loud and clear about Keisuke and Toshizo's intentions. While Toshizo would like to think that Keisuke would take up shelter behind Toshiz, he should know better than that if Keisuke was to hide behind another like that. Keisuke wasn't a man to hide in fear or to let others take the hits for him. The choice had been made as Keisuke basically ignored Toshizo and moved so he was at the side of him now and in range so he could be shot if Hotaru choose to do so. Keisuke only wanted to face the Uchiha face to face as the Hokage of the village and tried to talk with him and not hide like a coward that wasn't Keisuke's way and hiding was not the hero's way either. Keisuke didn't even put his hands in the air and left them by his side acting pretty much normal. He didn't fear death nor would he sway from it either.

" We mean you no harm Hotaru. We have only followed you like this so we can talk with you. If you don't know already I am Uzumaki Keisuke I am the Hokage of the leaf village. If we had wanted to capture you I wouldn't have risked coming in the open like this before you. Plus you have all the cards in play right at this moment. You can take the shot I'm right here Hotaru and be done with it all, but if you do you won't be able to hear us out." Keisuke had given Hotaru a choice right now he could take the shot and end the chance at hearing them out or listen to them about what they offered.

ITEMS: the hero's glasses [Active]
the hero's cape [Active]
TAGS: Hatake Toshizō Uchiha Hotaru Nue Benjiro
JUTSU: None
SPECIAL ABILITIES:

SPOILER: Click to show

Hero’s "Presence”

This Hero’s presence is an ability that stems right from Keisuke’s own chakra and with how the man is around others. The man believes that he is a real hero, even though a lot of that is self-proclaimed. His belief that he is a real hero has created something truly special for Keisuke. He has developed a special aura, that stems from his hero "energy” [chakra levels]. This aura can be seen by others, though it can only really be seen clearly when he is in the thrill of battle believing he is a true hero. Out of battle his aura is faint but is sometimes present if he speaks of his hero-like desires. Those who witness his aura ‘might’ believe in him for just a second, whilst they will often deny they believed anything. The doubt is in there minds. In the presence of friends and allies, his aura will truly be seen. His aura to friends and allies will give them a slight boost in confidence and will give them the belief they can win even if they are against it. As a Uzumaki Keisuke's will is yet strengthened by his will and determination even more he will keep going until until he drops dead if he has to.

TEMPLATE MADE BY SIFR OF GANGNAM STYLE © 2015

[Uchiha Hotaru]

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[attr="class","tearText13"]When the pale-haired man appeared, he knocked the arrow immediately.

Captain Toshizo. Hotaru suspected he put in the extermination order all those years ago. They must have come along to ensure his assassination.

But their approach was odd. Toshizo revealed themselves openly and disarmed themselves. For many shinobi, weapons were ornamental so he would not reciprocate. The Hatake had likely widened the gap between them while Hotaru lived peacefully,

He expected a trap. The rogue didn’t show fear, but adrenaline coursed through his veins. Many might take the shot. When they announced their intent, he kept the arrow notched but pointed it to the ground. He’d only need to pull and aim.

With the approach of the second man, Hotaru got a strange sense of familiarity. He’d heard mention of Keisuke being the Hokage, but only seeing him in person jogged his memory. Back when he became a Gattai informant, he used ANBU files to keep tabs on gate guards. Having been so long ago, he couldn’t remember details about them beyond those odd glasses.

Benjiro didn’t report others in sensory range, but Hotaru still scanned for hidden skirmishers. This was a no-win situation. His purpose now was just buying Kazui time. He still tried to figure out his mistake.

The letters. He’d sent encrypted letters to potential candidates, and then later sent ciphers. It was likely they intercepted both and decoded a message.

"What do you want?”

Benjiro has agreed to skip unless we fight.

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[Hatake Toshizō]

"a rising tide lifts all boats". "A man who can't uphold his beliefs is pathetic, dead or alive." FROM YOUR FATHER Keisuke didn't stay behind Toshizou and although the man didn't show any sign of emotion regarding that action, a vein discreetly bulged on his temple, caused by stress. He had failed to protect a Hokage during his time as ANBU captain, and he definitely didn't need another Hokage falling under his watch, but he knew that there was no arguing with Keisuke in that regard, and in the end, he hoped that the fact that the Hokage was as exposed as he was would give Hotaru the indication that they were indeed not looking to capture him or harm him in any way. Finally, despite the obvious tension, Hotaru spoke to them, asking what they wanted with him. "Good." the Hatake thought to himself. "We understand why you left the village, and your organization, Sai no Kawara, it is the idealization of your goal, am I right? You really want to change the world, and in a way..." he paused, glancing over towards Keisuke, knowing all too well how the Hokage felt about the children soldier in the ninja world. Personally, Toshizou didn't see a problem with that; ever since he was a child, he was a shinobi and he was proud of that, but compromise is something real leaders need to consider, especially with the changing tides in the ninja world. "That's not far from what the Leaf wants. I know you have reasons to suspect us, but Keisuke is a different Hokage from Niko, a quite different one at that. And we believe we can work together, for our mutual benefit." he said, pausing for a moment in order to let the man consider those words. "I also have something for you, so you can truly believe our intentions." he paused. "I have a scroll with your father's gloves. They are yours, if you will accept them. My only condition is that you listen to us and consider what we have to offer." he added. "You can train a dog with food. You can buy a person with money. But there isn't a man alive that can put down the Will of Fire. Some things will never change. The Will of Fire will never be extinguished" Land of Rivers -- [Uzumaki Keisuke Uchiha Hotaru Nue Benjiro] [334 words]

[Uchiha Hotaru]

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[attr="class","tearText13"]Hotaru took a deep breath and settled himself. There was a pause from the other side, and he took more time to think.

"I’m intrigued to hear what you have to say, but my people will likely arrive soon and be confused about the situation and I want to avoid unnecessary casualties. If you go through Kazui’s records you’ll find she received a parcel from this region containing a book she had purchased. It contained no modifications and wouldn’t have been picked up as anything suspicious without knowing the context of the poem inside. If you send mail back to that location, I will receive it.”

He looked at what was brought for him, and while he did covet his father’s weaponry he didn’t yet have the trust to accept a gift.

"I mean no disrespect, and I wouldn’t have believed any second hand word that you would want to speak with me if you hadn't come yourself, so you're time is not wasted. Please write to me more details of your intentions.”

Dropping the bow, the rogue performed a hand seal and flickered off of the cliff into mid air above the water, and gravity did the rest to plunge him into the depths of the river. Unless they moved to intercept he’d hold his breath as long as he could in hopes that the waters would help protect him and carry him to safety.

I'm still interested in the talks, but due to the nature of what being a nuke entails I am uncomfortable sitting in a thread with a high value target like a kage indeffinitly. We can work out a new thread when you have time or through a delegate.

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[Hatake Toshizō]

"a rising tide lifts all boats". "A man who can't uphold his beliefs is pathetic, dead or alive." UNTIL ANOTHER TIME He was expecting this first meeting to be rather tense, so the fact that Hotaru was aiming to flee rather than talk was expected and reasonable. The Uchiha had opened a channel of communication, and Toshizou didn't fail to take note of that and he nodded to the man. If anything, he hoped that the memento from his father would have changed his mind, but even that was sort of a bargain, so he would save it for later. With a quick motion, he resealed the item in a scroll and put it back in his pouch. "Very well. You will be hearing from us. You terms are reasonable. We won't pursue you, like we promised. You have my word, and you know that has some weight." he tried to reasure the fleeing missing-nin. Once he dropped and his body was covered by the water, Toshizou sighed deeply and turned to face Keisuke. "It's in motion. I can handle this from now, based on what you decided, Hokage-sama. If it doesn't work, it's better that the blame is placed on me rather than you. The people need to trust and look up to the Hokage. I'm but a village council member." he said to Keisuke with his cold, yet polite tone. The man known as Hakuouki would then grab his sword, Kanesada, and place it back into his obi, feeling much better now that his lifelong companion was once again with him. With that being said, they retreated to the Hidden Leaf Village once again, but Toshizou was already working on getting a letter prepared. He wanted it to be a secret to everybody, and to make it harder to track, so he decided that the best way to do that, was through Root. "You can train a dog with food. You can buy a person with money. But there isn't a man alive that can put down the Will of Fire. Some things will never change. The Will of Fire will never be extinguished" Land of Rivers Exit post [Uchiha Hotaru @jian4] [303 words]