Limitless

The resort wasn't far and Seigi knew the way.

Traveling with the group from the gates, he had positioned himself a few feet behind Raijin, doing his best to keep his gaze on the rogue ninja. He was still coming to terms with all the slight changes in this world from his. Sometimes the differences were so small, Seigi didn't even feel like he was somewhere strange. It also helped that he couldn't remember most of what happened before he came here, but he was able to push that thought into the back of his head pretty easily. Keeping his pace, Seigi would speak up to Raijin, hoping to strike up some conversation and pry some more info out.

"Raijin, right? You were there. At the Blood Prison." Seigi would say. He remembered him very vividly. "You were there during the breakout. You were carried out on a stretcher, but I'm certain it was you. Is it you I owe my freedom to?"

Shimijin kept pace with the group. She did her best to look nonchalant as Seigi fell into step beside her. She watched him through her peripheral vision and it was all she could do to keep from hugging him. He's just like him.... It was almost painful to watch this person interact with the world. It dredged up memories and feelings that she had long ago come to terms with. But all of this psychological hurt had to be concealed. She couldn't blow her cover just yet and so as they walked "Raijin" looked as though he were rather bored. Seigi spoke up and mentioned that Raijin was at the Blood Prison. Shimiko knew that the Society had been involved with the massive jailbreak but she was rather surprised that Raijin managed to participate in any meaningful way. The Ex-Kumo nin's performance during the World Tournament was lackluster and the Blood Prison attack happened shortly thereafter. Perhaps the real Raijin really was holding back his true strength, but given that he was carried out on a stretcher perhaps not. The white girl disguised as a black man shrugged and yawned.

"I suppose so. I probably would have taken you out had I gotten a better look at you. You're part of the reason I left Kumogakure."

This was a lie (or rather Shimiko did not know it to be true of the real Raijin) but Shimiko was walking a tightrope here. Seigi was already asking her about matters she had no personal knowledge of. She didn't know if "Raijin" was at the Blood Prison or what he had did there. Seigi could be asking to entrap her but given his prior statements she figured he was being straight up. The boy appeared to be as confused about the situation as she was. "Raijin" decided that in order to entice the truth from this doppelganger she'd need to mix in lies and truth. If this was Seigi then references to specific events, persons, and people just might trigger him in certain ways. She'd be watching closely for any tells. Changes in body language, breathing, eye movement, gestures, and tone of voice.....all indicators of whether or not someone is telling the truth. Shimiko recalled her ANBU traing perfectly. Seigi, the real Seigi, would have been proud.

Raijin was responsive, but let him know that if he had actually seen him, he probably would have killed him. Seigi was quiet for a moment, processing this, before grinning a bit.
"Who knows, maybe you'll still get your chance." He would reply, keeping his pace. That definitely put things into perspective. Raijin didn't like him, or this universe's version of him. Seigi definitely felt regret during his short stay as Raikage, but couldn't tell for what. He knew that when he dwelt on what few memories he had during that time, he felt intense fatigue and sadness.
His gaze moved forward, slightly off of Raijin. "If you want vengeance for something I've done, we can settle it once this ordeal is over, outside of the village. I won't deny you that. But my past remains a mystery to me." He was genuine in his tone, even though it was a half-lie.

"What did I do that was so bad you had to leave the village?"

Seigi mentioned that Raijin still might get the opportunity. Shimijin laughed noting that this stranger had a similar sense of humor as her brother. It was good to know that she hadn't fallen into any obvious traps although she'd need to be careful about future questions. She may look like Raijin but she didn't have his memories. This new Seigi expressed openess to fighting "Raijin" which meant he either was just as strong as her brother or he had heard the same thing that Kimiko had. That "Raijin" was a pushover and easy to beat. She wasn't sure which was which but given the fact that Seigi appeared to be brushing shoulders with Konoha Jounin and giving orders to people like Kimiko then maybe he was identical to her brother in terms of fighting prowess. He asked Raijin what he had done that was so bad and in response Shimiko-Raijin narrowed her eyes at Seigi and responded:

"You're really don't remember anything do you? This isn't all some kind of act? You either don't remember being leader of one of the biggest villages on Earth or you're somebody who just looks like him and isn't him. So before I waste my breath repeating your failures, let me ask you a question Seigi Douchiwa....Who are you and why are you wearing that face?"

In truth, Seigi hadn't really done anything catastrophic. He hadn't been Raikage for very long before the plague took him, but she knew he was beloved by many in the village. Her ex-boyfriend Sakata had cited him as one of the reasons he became ambitious as a shinobi. It was also one of the reasons he was romantically drawn to her. She had reviewed Seigi's old ANBU reviews and the minutes from Council meetings during his reign as Kage. They were all positive. He was just about as bloodthirsty as she was in battle but beyond that he was well-liked and highly favored amongst the top brass. There was a reason that Shimiko decided to tug on this Raijin resentment thread though. Shimiko also reviewed Raijin's ninja files after he left the village. It confirmed what was already known, that he was a member of the Nature Clan. However, with that confirmation came a realization. The Nature Clan was not looked upon favorably. Their misdeeds in the Earth Country at the behest of the Kazehana Empire was legendary and to this day many discriminated against them for their ancestors crimes. She had seen he had not completed a single mission since becoming a genin and she figured that Raijin's defection was at least in part because of discrimination. For this he probably blamed the Raikage, the village, and the nation as a whole.

This was all speculation of course but it did help ANBU build a psychological profile of the man. It was a profile that she was now trying to emulate and in doing so, it would make her seem more convincing. It might also reveal more information about this stranger and his origins.

He couldn't help but laugh at Raijin's statement, as serious as the moment got.

"I'm not "wearing" a face. This is my face. You can fight that all you want, but it's the truth. If anything, I could ask you the same thing." Seigi would say, flipping the script on Raijin. His question, however, was more aimed at the metaphorical face that all shinobi wear. Every shinobi had their secrets, a mask they wore to cover up their emotions, their pasts, especially Missing-nin. Seigi was no exception, only now the mask that he had worn he now had become one with. There was no distinction between Seig's mask and his true face any longer, the two blending into one the moment he entered into this world, but to everyone else, it was the face of a dead tyrant. He wondered, for a moment, at what kind of man he might have been here.

"I can see right through guys like you." He would say, almost in confidence. Part of it was, and part of it was to rattle Raijin's cage a bit. "Missing-nin tend to often be so self-righteous. So we can stop this pissing contest right now and help each other out, or I can keep my mouth shut and you'll never learn my secrets. So tell me, what did I do?"

Seigi denied "wearing" her brother's face. He insisted that this was his true appearance and instead flung the accusation back at Shimiko. Shimiko's heart stopped for a second because he seemed as though he saw right through her. She fell silent and maintained a poker face. Internally she breathed a sigh of relief as he went on to say that Missing-Ninja tended to put on fronts. She could understand the "masking" metaphor in that context although it was fairly ironic given that she was in fact literally wearing a mask made out of flesh and blood. He threatened to clam up if she didn't tell him what he wanted to know which caused "Raijin" to shake his head.

Shimiko had decided that at the very least, this guy was being sincere. He genuinely did not know who he was or where he had come from. Whether he truly was her brother or some insane clone, this wasn't a farce or if it was a farce it was far beyond her detection capabilities. She decided she'd cautiously trust in his ignorance for now and so she continued:

"Fine. I'll take your word for it. Long story short, I'm from the Nature Clan. I don't know how much you know about them but basically we can absorb natural energy from the world and use it to augment our bodies. Because of some shit my ancestors did a long time ago, we get a pretty bad wrap. Kumogakure is one of those places that didn't take kindly upon my clan and instead of sticking up for us you let your village discriminate against us"

It wasn't entirely true. Discrimination against anyone on the basis of bloodline was banned in Kumogakure. The Lightning Country wasn't like the Earth Country. There wasn't a formal policy of eradication and removal when it came to the Nature Clan. Of course, there was plenty of informal discrimination here or there but to her knowledge her brother had done her best to combat it. However, given Raijin's defection she assumed that those efforts simply weren't good enough. Stamping out ignorance was a hard thing, she could empathize on that level as a Jashinist. She had spun this yarn to gauge Seigi's reaction and to see how he connected with the story.

"I left Kumo because I couldn't put up with the bullshit anymore and yes I blame you because as Raikage you were supposed to protect people like me. You were supposed to stand up for people who couldn't stand up for themselves....now I find you in Konoha wearing a Leaf village headband...so again, either you aren't him or you are some kind of clone or something. Now let me ask you a question: What do you remember? If you aren't Seigi Chinoike then maybe you could tell me who Seigi Douchiwa is."

Much to his surprise, Raijin gave in and told him. How they had discriminated against him for something out of his control and the other Seigi had failed. In his own universe, he was fairly certain that the Nature clan wasn't even a true clan. He had only ever met those who had received that strength through implantation.

"You're right." Seigi would speak up. "I was supposed to protect people like you." He would then sigh, supposing that Raijin had given him something so he would give him info in return. "Truth be told, most of my memory is in shambles. Two years ago, I woke up in the Land of Iron without a clue as to what my name was. I was quickly sent to the Blood Prison, Cell Block C. They told me I was an anomaly. That I fell out of the sky. That I'm from a parallel universe.... I have these memories that come and go. I know that I used to be Raikage, but I wasn't for long. I hated being Kage. I hated the idea of the Kage when I took the job." He would try to think back to more memories, struggling to grasp at most of them. It always seemed like they were on the tip of his tongue, but what was a memory and what was simply his imagination trying to fill in the blanks?

"I remember fighting, a lot. I remember...." Purple eyes flashed inside his brain, forming into a single eye that slowly became the face of a man with white hair. "...I remember my mentor was a man named Kira. He had been one of the Raikage before me. And because of him, I left Kumogakure." It was like an epiphany. A strand of memories that he could follow. "....And I went Missing-nin, to gather strength, but... It was just an excuse. I didn't care about Kira, I just wanted to fight someone. Someone powerful." Those purple eyes blasted into his memory again, flashes of a man dying in front of him, to those powerful words that still etched into a youg Seigi's mind.

"...Do you want to die?"

"... I wanted to kill the reincarnated Sage of the Six Paths."

"Raijin" listened closely as Seigi spoke. He appeared to confirm that he was her Seigi for a moment when he said that he was supposed to protect people like him, thereby implying that he was the former Raikage. But then Seigi went on to admit that most of his memory was in shambles and that it was only two years ago that he had woken up in a completely different country. Shimiko listened as he explained that he had been incarcerated into the Blood Prison and told that he was from another world. He then lamented that he remembered that he used to be Kage and that he hated the job. Raikage of here or the other world? she wondered. He remembered fight a lot which sounded like her brother. He then started naming someone she had no recollection of. Someone whom he claimed to be Raikage. Kumo had never had a Raikage called "Kira" which meant that Seigi was talking about his life in another universe.

Shimijin watched his facial expressions as he spoke. He was genuinely trying to remember. She could see it on his face. He was struggling with his thoughts and eventually he blurted out the strangest thing she had heard so far, that he wanted to kill the reincarnated Sage of Six Paths. Everyone in the ninja world knew the legend of Hagoromo the Progenitor of Ninshuu. He was said to have been the most powerful shinobi to have ever lived. If he had managed to reincarnate himself in Seigi's world then fighting him would have been a death wish. It was the oddest thing she had ever heard but given the Blood Prison's secrets it wasn't entirely implausible. Seid was from another planet (not another universe but still) and death seemed to be something reversible nowadays. The story of a Seigi from another world couldn't have been such an utter impossibility as to dismiss it out of hand.

Shimiko was unsure of how to feel about the situation. She couldn't help but wonder if this was Jashin trying to tell her something. She had recently killed her mother and father. Sacrificed them to the Eight Headed Hydra of the Chinoike Clan in exchange for more power. Perhaps Jashin was trying to tell her something through this bizarre encounter. Maybe he had brought this Seigi from his native universe to her universe to help guide her. A surrogate brother that she could rely on so that she wouldn't be alone. She had cultivated her own family back in Kumo but part of her still longed for her brother and now he was here, or at least a version of him. She needed more information before she could definitively conclude that. She'd need to conduct DNA testing, brain scans, mind-reading, psychological exams. The works. Of course, now that Seigi was a shinobi of Konoha that would be difficult, and now that she was disguised as a international terrorist, it would be impossible. Unless....

"That's one helluva story Seigi....But it does leave me wondering....if you were from Kumogakure back in your home universe just like our Seigi was....then why did you come to Konoha after the Blood Prison fell? I mean why not just stay a Missing-Nin like you did back on the other Earth?"

Shimiko-Raijin was gauge Seigi's loyalty. Maybe he was forced to join the Leaf village as a condition for not being hunted down or perhaps he vaguely knew that returning to Kumo would bring him trouble or responsibility given the nature of his duplicate in this universe. Whatever the answer may be, it would provide a roadmap to how Shimiko could entice him to leave the village with her. If he wasn't loyal or didn't have a good reason for staying then perhaps he could be persuaded to defect.

Raijin asked him how he ended up in Konoha, curious as to why he didn't want to be a missing-nin.
"I did, for awhile. I wandered around, seeing this world. I kind of just wound up here." He recalled the day he wandered through the gates of Konoha.
"I just got tired of being alone. Konoha promised to let me stay here in exchange for servitude. Although, if I am a copy of Seigi Chinoike, it might start raising questions. It might not be safe for Konoha for me to be here." He didn't know how he felt about the idea of traveling again, but he knew he didn't want to put Konoha into danger. He had sworn an oath to protect the village, which meant doing what was ultimately best for it. If Kumogakure found out he was here, they might launch full scale invasion on the Leaf Village. Seigi needed to proceed carfefully in the future. Especially with Raijin. If there was a chance that he might tell Kumogakure about his location, then their meeting might end in a much different outcome. Seigi needed to be sure he could entrust Raijin with this info.

"I don't suppose Kumogakure would be supportive if they found out someone with their Kage's face was living in Konoha, would they?" He would ask, quietly.

Shimiko felt a bit sorry for Seigi. At first she thought it odd that he would chose to go to a random village rather than live free, but then she understood the crux of his dilemma. Loneliness was a painful thing. If she didn't have Ryuko, Natsuru, Miyu, Mora, Nariko and the Twins to help her get through tough times, she wasn't sure she would have had the will to go on. He correctly reasoned that his presence in the village would draw a lot of heat on Konoha. It was doing so right at this very moment. The fact that he acknowledged this problem tipped her off to the possibility that he might be interested in coming with her. He had no real ties to Konoha, he had only come here out of sheer happenstance. In exchange for letting him live in Konoha, he'd become one of their shinobi. Of course, Konoha probably had its own reasons for letting him stay. She was sure Akihiro had something to do with all of this. The young man was deceptively smart for his age and he had a penchant for sniffing out people's issues. He had demonstrated that particular talent as Head Proctor for the previous Chuunin Exams.

He may not take kindly to Seigi leaving, but as his "girlfriend" mentioned, he wasn't really here to stop him. Shimiko-Raijin smirked underneath her disguise. Stealing one of Akihiro's toys would be delicious revenge for him failing the twins. Shimiko's fantasies of revenge where interrupted when Seigi rhetorically asked whether Kumo would be supportive of a potential impostor living in Konoha. "Raijin" laughed a bit and scratched the back of his head.

"No....No I don't suppose they would. Lucky for you, despite my grudge....I care more about myself than what's in Kumo's best interests. If me and your Kage come to an understanding...you have nothing to worry about. Your secret's safe with me. In fact, if you're up for some fun I might need your help on a mission after I leave here. But we'll see what your Kage has to say about that...."

Raijin had dropped a subtle hint that he'd be open to taking Seigi out of Konoha. This would have the benefit of keeping him from being discovered just as easily as he was today. It would also give Shimiko the ability to reveal her true self to this doppelganger. Maybe seeing her would stir some memories or bring more facts to light. Either way, it would give her a chance to persuade him, or if necessary, force him back to Kumo for further testing. She'd need to get in touch with what was left of Kumo's Blood Prison contacts. If there was information on a Seigi from another universe then maybe that information was still within the Warden's clutches. The mega-report had stated that a great deal of files were lost, destroyed, or stolen after the attack on the Blood Prison. She prayed to Jashin that there'd still be some records on Seigi Douchiwa, because if there was, then they would help shed some light on his mysterious origins.

Given what she had said about hating him, she wasn't sure if he'd trust her. He'd be smart to be suspicious of "Raijin" who had already betrayed Kumo and the Society. Then again, there was a degree of honesty in betrayal. It showed that someone was only interested in fighting for themselves. And it would hardly be in "Raijin's" best interest to lure Seigi out of the village and kill outside of Konoha. The backlash would be swift and severe. Raijin had enough on his plate with Kumo and so attacking Seigi would be tantamount to suicide. But then again, you never know with Missing Ninja.

Shimiko continued to watch Seigi out of the corner of her eye as she fell silent. They were getting close to the Resort which meant that soon a series of decisions would be made. Decisions that had the potential to change the course of human history.

Exit to Resort

Seigi considered Raijin's offer carefully. A part of him truly did wish to return to the wandering life, but he didn't want to betray Konoha in the process. But it seemed as if Raijin had a plan for both of them. He wondered if Neko-sama would entertain the idea of him leaving with Rajin but still remaining loyal to Konoha. Nonetheless, Seigi would nod to Raijin. He would just have to wait to see how this played out before he committed to anything, but if he could find out more about his past, then it might be the smart choice.

As they approached the resort, Seigi couldn't help but feel nervous about their conversation and what was about to happen. Missing-nin rarely left villages alive, and it would take some real convincing on Raijin's part. Seigi considered the idea that he might have to take Raijin's side, but didn't want to be a bargaining chip. Neko-sama had surely weighed the consequences of Seigi being in the village. Taking a deep breath, Seigi stepped forward.

[Exit to resort]