Idle No More

Suiseimushi

It was four characters. One of those idioms made up of four characters. If written out in kanji it appeared as the following: 酔生夢死

The meaning was simple. Suiseimushi could be translated to ‘idling your life away’. Spending your life dreaming while accomplishing nothing. Without any action there could be nothing of significance. achieved. Each character had its own meaning though. Split into four parts it could also be read like this.

Sui - Drunken
Sei - Life
Mu - Dreaming
Shi - Death

The meaning becomes a bit more poignant once that is learned. If you live intoxicated with your own thoughts you will end up dying with only dreams. A drunken life dreams only of death. Death, of course, was the end point of uselessness, of idle actions and thoughts that led nowhere and achieved nothing.

Ei Kanagawa did not want to idle anymore. She had, for far too long, been intoxicated. Idle. Without any action, simply living in her own thoughts and mind without any relevance to reality. It had gone on for too long. She had not kept track of the time, and that was a blessing because every moment began to bleed into the next. Life had turned into being lost in nihilistic inactivity. She found no pleasure in anything. All she could do was think and lament, and she was prevented from taking any action due to this. Maybe it could be called ‘analysis-paralysis’. Caught up in miserable fantasies that prevented her from dealing with reality, she had effectively become nothing more than a corpse.

”I’m not afraid.” She whispered to herself. Nobody was around to hear other than herself. The village had turned into a ghost town. Again. All those comforting fantasies that she had about a revival of her home had once again fallen into dust.

The first thing she noticed was the dust. It was everywhere. Sand was natural to spread into every nook and cranny in this village, but dust was something else. Having it here, in the Kazekage’s office, was the unfortunate reality that she had been trying to avoid for so long. It was like walking into an abandoned room of a child who had moved out long ago. The things that remained showed the character of what the room had been used for and the personality that had occupied this space, but there was nothing more. Just what had once been. That was fine. For her purposes it made things simpler. It became easy to take stock.

She would step around the dust. One after another she would pick clean what was left of value here. A collection of scrolls, from three separate villages, had been her real target, but there were other prizes to be found as well. In addition to the village’s collective exclusives she would pick clean each of the remaining artifacts for her own use, taking them with her for her own. They would be useful for the journey ahead of her. Of course, she wouldn't forget the village's cash supplies either. Naturally it would all be emptied into her waiting coffers as well.

Just as she had collected everything, having sealed it all into scrolls, Ei would take one last look back at the room behind her, and then she would shut the door.

[Exit -> Village Gates]

[Canceling Exit]

She hesitated. Just as she was about to leave, Ei would stop.

There was no point to running. Stealing from this village, repossessing all it had of value and taking it somewhere else to create something beautiful… That had been her desire. The door that she had opened now would be slowly edged shut. Inch by inch, until it was closed once again. For a few moments she simply stared, looking at the door. She imagined there was a mirror there, and in her mind’s eye she could see her own reflection against the bare wooden door.

This was ugly.

She had been excited at first. Afraid but excited. Nothing had excited her more than the chance to bring beauty elsewhere. Away from this void husk, even with what it meant giving up. If her past had to be sacrificed for the sake of her future she would accept it. Any sacrifice for aesthetics. If it had meant dying she would have taken that burden as well. So long as she could die a beautiful death, Ei had no fears. Nobody appreciated living artists anyway. The tragic death of a young, beautiful artist would raise the value of her work exponentially. Especially with such a dramatic story behind it, having died committing a grand theft from her village. Whoever might come across her apartment after to find all her paintings, finished or otherwise, would be coming across a goldmine. This was something that had a strange, sick appeal to her. Dying in that romantic way only to be idolized as an artist after her death…

But if she could only create beauty by taking it away, did that make her any better than a common mosquito? She wanted to run, to leave her village and escape its rotting carcass now that reality had set in, but if she did this would she be any better than a grave robber? A vampire? The thought brought a sudden unease to her, and she faltered in her plan. It was disgusting.

Stopped in her tracks, Ei would turn once more. Back to face the desk that she had just moments prior plundered. Steadying her breath, the woman would settle on a new course of action. There was one more thing she needed to steal now.

Each footstep would be slow, bringing her around the back of the desk, and then she would carefully take her new prize. The Kazekage’s cloak and hat. The ornate symbol would be raised up from its resting place, and Ei would take a moment to regard the symbol in its center. Slowly, slowly, it would be raised to her head.

An ugly theft would be turned into a beautiful one in that moment. Ei Kanagawa would steal the entire village for her own purposes. The Land of Wind would become her canvas, and rather than allowing this husk to decay further she would create a beautiful future.

She would create an Avante-Garde Sunagakure.

[Claiming Kazekage]

[Interrupting Ei’s Claiming of Kazekage]

Kara was heading to her office as usual, her daily task of going over yet more paperwork that was far beneath her interest. She’d begun the day as was her ritual, going over piles of ledgers and invoices from both the Stag Emporium and Lunari Enterprises. It wouldn’t be long until she didn’t have to do it in the desert anymore, but for now she would content herself with playing advisor to an absent Kage.

Her parasol protecting her skin from the morning sun would make her way to the Wind Dome, her feet long since practiced in navigating the sandy ground in her heels she would walk confidently and with her usual air of superiority. Her long emerald green gown would make a gentle swishing noise as she walked up the steps and pushed her way through the main doors.

Without the Kage around she found the entire process dull and practically mind-numbing, and so out of habit she would close her parasol and lean it against her desk before she noticed anything was wrong. For a second she thought that perhaps Azuma had returned, but if he had she didn’t think he would just casually leave the door to his office open. She was hardly the type of person to cower in the face of uncertainty and so she would walk towards the office and spy a scene that brought a smirk to her face. She watched as inside the office a young woman was slowly raising the hat that so many had failed to hold on to before onto her beautiful head of brown hair. Leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed just below her chest, and a wry smile on her lips she would call out to the girl. “I’m not sure it goes with your outfit.”

[Btw, the door was closed.]

A visitor. She had been lost in her own internal monologue for a moment. Although her senses were still sharp, more than adequate to pick up the footsteps down the preceding hall long before they reached the door. The click of heels against the floor, the gentle swish of that emerald green gown. Only one woman of such class frequented these halls.The former Kazekage’s assistant, Kara Kazehana. A primal part of Ei would immediately panic. She had been stealing, after all. It wasn’t as if she had fooled herself into thinking this was some act of moral righteousness, but rather a necessary evil. At least, that was her thinking regarding the theft. Her transition to instead claiming the village for herself hadn’t entirely mentally set in with her unconscious yet, and so she would act in a hasty, irrational manner.

Three jutsu were cast in sequence before the door, which had just earlier been closed, could be opened.

Shadow Clone. The imposter would take Ei’s place, holding the hat.

Transparent Escape. The true Ei would turn invisible, light bending around her body with an application of chakra.


Extremely Steaming Murder. Three balls of Shakuton would be formed, sent up immediately to the ceiling directly above the door frame, as high as they could be without colliding into the ceiling. This would obscure them from vision from those who came in through that entrance.

All the hand seals required to use these techniques were formed in less than one second. A benefit of her deft fingers.

The true Ei would be shimmying off to the side of the room, as silently and slowly as was required for that transparency to be convincing. Then, the door would open. Ei’s clone would be there, prepared to address the oncomer.

She broke into laughter the moment that joke came out. The clone did, at least. Ei was wise enough to remain silent, even as relief flooded through her. It was impossible to help. All that panic began to disperse at once. The Shakuton orbs would descend, surrounding the woman who leaned against the doorframe. Like the three points of a triangle, they became a closely kept prison, each only a few inches away. This would become Kara’s restraints. From their proximity she could surely feel their intense heat, perhaps even the edges of her dress would end up scorched.

“You’re right. You’re right.” There were tears in the clone's eyes from her amusement. “It really doesn’t. Green doesn’t suit me. Especially not with the colors I’m wearing right now. It’s an absolute mess. I’ll have to do something about that. I don’t intend to sacrifice any aesthetics, after all. But...”

With Kara imprisoned, Ei’s clone was free to speak from a position of power. With the tears wiped from her eyes the beginnings of a grin would begin to curl up her lips.

“The aesthetics of the robe and hat can wait. There are more important things to do. Cleaning all the stagnant water from the village first. Only once I clear the slate of everything that brought this village to its current state will I be able to have a blank canvas to begin again with. Only then will I be able to start making my home beautiful again… So, take this as my proverbial cutting of the Gordian Knot.”

She sighed, a bit of that tension in her chest leaving with the breath.

“Let me ask you a very important question, then. Will you serve my artistic vision for Sunagakure?”

Spoiler:

[Analysis of Ei {clone} complete - Sorry about the door, was very tired and I messed that up]

Kara had deeply underestimated just how fragile of a psyche the intruder held.

Her joke was sardonic at best, but the tears of laughter running down the thieving girl’s face told Kara of a dangerous instability.  She had watched as three Shakuton orbs had descended around her, hovering just inches away from her form. The heat was uncomfortable, her delicate skin reacting as though she’d gone outside without her parasol and the edges of her silk gown scorching. To say Kara was irritated would be an incredible understatement. Not about the audacity of the young woman in front of her, clearly trying to lay claim to something she had no right to. Not even about her dress slowly being burned from the oppressive heat of Ei’s technique. It was the slight sting of the burns on her nearly perfect skin that caused her annoyance. Assuming the girl didn’t go off the deep end and continue attacking her for no reason, fixing the burns would be a simple matter for Kara. But skin could only be burned once, and then it was imperfect.  

With practiced ease she held her facial features impassively, keeping her gold eyes trained on the impudent child throwing a tantrum. Though this particular child had far more power than she ought to, she’d not seen or heard anything from her in well over a year and it seemed to Kara that perhaps that time had been spent nurturing madness. To casually speak of colour matching while threatening another person was firstly barbaric and secondly was less than classy.

As Ei continued on speaking Kara noticed a grin on the younger woman’s features, and she knew she had to be careful. The woman was unbalanced and Kara was unwilling to push her to do anything reckless just yet. As Ei asked her if she was willing to serve her artistic vision for the village, Kara took a moment to seriously ponder the statement. Kara had only ever yearned for power, total and absolute power. But she was well aware that part of having power meant being able to give it up. She had found herself in a comfortable position as the Advisor to the Kage, in charge of the Stag Emporium, a trusted member of all aspects of Sunagakure’s community. Working for Azuma had been fine, he’d had his own issues, surely working for this woman wouldn’t end up being any different in the end. She wasn’t particularly fond of the word ‘serve’, but that was probably just semantics. Kara would very carefully unfold her arms, making sure to not touch the floating orbs of Shakuton, and fold her hands together demurely in front of her. Her voice was calm and sincere as she answered, she wanted there to be no mistaking her intentions. “My dear, I do not care if you take the hat. You might as well, no one else wants it. I sincerely hope that you cherish it more than those that came before you. As for serving your vision, I could continue in my capacity as advisor if you like, or I can take my leave of Sunagakure and pursue my true interests; my business. To be perfectly clear, I do not intend to stand in your way, and I assume that I may leave peacefully seeing as I am no threat to you.”

Nozomi was experiencing a strange sense of deja vu as she found herself in the administration building of Sunagakure once again. She'd had a weird dream that she was here not that long ago and it had been emptied entirely, but she was here to see the leadership of the nation anyhow. The place was still oddly devoid of life, but there had been no tracks indicating the place had been stolen from.

Nozomi wore her battle kimono, armed with a single Ebony tanto, but she also had her entourage with her. Isobu Himitsu, the living human avatar of Isobu's will, given flesh. Iseri Tanaki, an assassin and assistant of Nozomi's from the Society's ranks. Mako Fujihara, her samurai bodyguard from the Land of Iron. The four of them walked through the building which was empty for the most part, and headed towards the Kage's office.

She'd let Raijin do his thing with the village for a while, but he didn't seem that keen on actually running the nation, so she was going to see if she could instill new leadership in the village, and perhaps work out a deal where they would more actively have Society support and provide some additional pay to her. Mutually beneficial, Nozomi would provide some troops to help protect Sunagakure. Additionally, it would provide a second base for the Society and their allies and loved ones, so that they could rendezvous and hide out with the protection of a major nation while not out doing their duties.

Of course, at the moment, she had walked in at what appeared to be a bit of a tense situation. Nozomi would have let it slide, but she needed to shut it down fairly fast or it'd be problematic. Iseri drew her two tanto, holding them defensively as she realized a jutsu was active, and Mako drew his Wakizashi. The enclosed hallway space was thin enough that it was probably best to use a shorter weapon than a Katana, but he wanted more range than a Tanto. Isobu placed a hand on both of them and activated the Light Weight Rock Technique, increasing their physical speed capabilities. Their strength wasn't fully required, given that they had weaponry, and he himself was fine with his physical abilities, so enhancing himself wasn't fully required.

Nozomi herself tapped into the power of Isobu, activating her Initial Jinchuuriki mode. The vile energy of the demonic chakra rolled off of her, her nails growing to talons and her teeth almost creating fangs, although she kept her emotional state in check. Both Kara and Ei would be able to feel the blood lust rolling from Nozomi though, as she was always keen to fight in situations like this. "What's the problem?"
====
-5 Body Like Steel UA +1 tier Con.
1/7 Initial Jinchuuriki. ++ Str, ++ Con, ++ Spd, ++ Coord

Isobu NPC: 250/260
-5 x2 Light Weight Rock Technique [Doton Affinity]

Iseri and Mako: Speed & Coord +1tier and a plus, Strength -1 Tier and a minus


Nozomi's NPC's:
https://gladiusnarutorp.forumotion.com/t3822-nozomi-s-unique-npc-s
Nozomi's NPC's Gear:
https://gladiusnarutorp.forumotion.com/t381p100-nozomi-s-updates#31623

Ei took Kara’s response in silence. In truth, the blackhaired kunoichi needed a few moments to recompose herself. While she had steeled her resolve to go through with this the truth was that this last decision had been something done in the spur of the moment, and thus her planning was done entirely on the spot. As someone who spent more time painting than working as a shinobi the exhilaration that came from a moment like this wasn’t one she was as numb to as she would have liked. She could feel her heart beating in her chest now, pumping in an accelerated staccato rhythm. Her emotions were set on edge for a second, and she had erupted in a vision display from that question being asked before. Laughing like that was uncharacteristic of the normally much quieter, reserved woman. Ei took a deep breath. A moment of silence hung in the air after Kara spoke. Even as much as this was a spontaneous moment of passion she understood the importance of choosing her words wisely. More than just wisdom was necessary here though. A certain amount of grace was as well, in order to keep true to her quickly forming aesthetic vision.

Before anything further could be said another figure would approach. Or, perhaps it was more correct to say that four were approaching. In a mirror of how the previous encounter played out Ei was able to hear them coming moments before they actually arrived on the scene, but unlike before no further preparations were taken. She was unable to guess who it could have been, and already in the thick of things there was little that could be changed now. The true, still invisible Ei would slowly, silently shuffle to the side. Distance was put between herself and the clone, until she was several feet further to the side, near the left wall. The clone remained in the center of the room, in front of the desk.

There was no predicting that Nozomi Himitsu would show up. Ei’s eyes would visibly widen, clearly surprised. There was only so much you could plan in ahead for. With this newfound plan of her the Society was something she would undoubtedly have to deal with at some point should she become the new Kazekage, but she hadn’t expected it to be here and now that she was forced to deal with it. How awkward. The clear display of force that Nozomi was emitting was easy enough to understand. The various others she had brought with her were unknowns to Ei, but they were hardly in the picture in comparison to the demonic looking woman.

The fact that those four who entered on the scene were stuck in the hallway was an unfortunate element of the positioning. With Ei’s Shakuton orbs being placed as they were, surrounding Kara at the door frame, it would be currently impossible to actually enter the office without walking right through one. It added an awkward element to the entire situation.

“Nozomi Himitsu.”

The words came out slow, with a sweet smile. That earlier excitement was wiped away. If the Sunagakure Jounin was nervous she wouldn't show it.

“I was hoping to have a bit of time to prepare before speaking with you. This is unfortunate.” She had the urge to say that she would have prepared some sake, but for some reason the thought gave her a strange sense of déjà vu. She decided to hold off, for some reason feeling like Nozomi wasn’t the type to appreciate alcohol.

“Although, I suppose in a certain way this makes things more convenient. It allows me to ‘kill two birds with one stone’, if you’ll pardon the proverb.” Her eyes would trail to Kara for a moment, and then back to Nozomi and her posse.

“To put it simply, the current state of Sunagakure no Sato is unacceptable. This land has long suffered from the plague, being disgraced and left to rot. I had high hopes when the Society came, praying that this dismal fate would be reversed. Instead there was a foreign Kazekage who abandoned us when it suited him, passing the title on to another who would let the village rot and decay even further.”

The clone made a small gesture towards one of the several windows in the Wind Dome, pointing outside. Most were open, allowing a slight breeze to come in.

“My home has become a wasteland. There are so few shinobi on active guard that the village’s entire military power may now be located entirely in this building. So grim things have turned that it seems this land has become deserted, and reverted back to nothing more than an extension of the desert that surrounds it. The Society still seems fit to use this rotting husk as a colony, but I desire something more than just that. As I said just moments prior, I’ve decided to cut the proverbial Gordian Knot. The current leadership of this village are unfit, criminals for allowing it to decay to the extent that it has. It’s up to me now to take control by force and wipe away all that stains this village…”

Her attention would shift again, now back from Nozomi to Kara.

“... and to make that possible the blemishes from the past regime must be swept away.”

Ei would turn. Those gold eyes that Kara had trained on the woman would be gleamed back into, contact being made and held. It only took a moment for the chakra to transmit from her eyes to Kara’s. Ei’s proficiency with the Temporary Paralysis Technique was enough that mere eye contact was enough to allow her to use it. It was nothing close to a true dojutsu, but just the mere eye contact would be enough to restrain her target. It would be as though invisible steel ropes would bind around Kara’s entire body.

Instantly the Shakuton orbs would be removed. Paralyzed as she was now there was a significant chance she might lose her balance and simply fall, and the proximity made it incredibly likely it would have just resulted in her death. Instead she would be allowed to collide into the ground freely, or continue standing depending on just how sturdy her stance was. The orbs that had been in the hallway, blocking the entrance of this party, would be moved. Retreating inside they would leave the path unoccupied, each floating now like small suns slightly behind and above Ei's shoulders in an upwards facing triangle.

“Now, Nozomi. Let’s talk.” With that same smile, Ei would turn to look the demonic woman in the eyes. She had made her bed, and now she would lie on it.  “There’s a lot that needs to be said now, from a position of equals, between Sunagakure no Sato and the The Enlightened Society of Rebirth and Reordering ”

---

Spoiler:

It was hard to say how exactly Shiro got himself in these kinds of situations. One could attribute this to bad luck in general, but the fact was that his sheer amount of obliviousness and utter incompetence as a trained ninja played a key role in all of it. Had Sunagakure no Sato's academy failed him? Perhaps. Or perhaps the academy was fine and it was just the lack of support after graduation that was failing. Whatever it was, Shiro was now here.

The day had started quite well for the young boy. He'd been spending nights at his workshop, not because he was working hard but because he'd lost his apartment. The lack of missions and general poor state of the village assured he wasn't getting paid enough to sustain the kind of luxurious life that allowed one to, well, have an apartment. Shiro didn't mind this much, since the high criminal level of the village often meant having his beauty sleep interrupted by the occasional criminal break in at least twice a week. At first it was a bit awkward since he didn't have anything of value to be stolen, but the thieves kept coming and by the end of the month his stock of yogurts in the fridge was starting to run dangerously low. Luckily he hadn't been able to afford the rent so he was kicked out. His workshop had no fridge, so the bright side was his yogurts were no longer being stolen. Plus the fact that his workshop was located near a scrapyard meant less criminal break ins and the occasional rare find.

That morning Shiro had left the workshop clad in full gear: Shorts, an orange t-shirt and a fanny pack. He walked around the scrapyard which was where he found an amazing frying pan some fool had thrown out. It only had three tiny holes in it and Shiro immediately grabbed it. He could use it to make scrambled eggs or perhaps use its metals to strengthen his puppet's armor.

Did you think Shiro was going out for a mission or something? Nah. He did his usual round on the scrapyard, had three boiled eggs for lunch and then headed to one of his favourite napping places:  The balcony of the Kazekage office. The building provided a nice shadow over the balcony during this hour- a rare luxury in the Hidden Sand Village. So he had used the chakra walking technique to simply walk his way up there from ground level. One might consider this an abuse, or that the Kazekage wouldn't be happy if they knew about this. And under normal circumstances they'd be right. But the fact was that Sunagakure no sato was all but abandoned. The government building was incredibly poorly guarded and after weeks of daily naps at the balcony Shiro hadn't seen the Kazekage or gotten in trouble for this not even once.

But today was no ordinary day. Today he'd been awakened by VOICES! The first one he recognized: It was Kara's. He'd met her before. A nice lady, although he wasn't quite sure drinking wine atop of the walls was a nice habit. But who was he to judge? The other voices, he did not know.

Shiro did what he did best at first: Abso-fucking-lutely nothing. He merely opened his eyes and listened. Not because he was afraid of Nozomi-no he wasn't that smart. But because he was afraid he'd get in trouble and be assigned to guard duty again. Luckily the balcony was wider than the window and he had been sleeping not against the glass but the wall so they wouldn't have an angle of vision on him.

A smart shinobi would've realized this advantage and remained hidden from sight. But Shiro was anything but.

The most interesting part of the conversation he heard was about the Kazekage hat. Celarly it must've been a super important object if it was the first thing Kara mentioned. "So whoever gets the hat gets the power huh.... and the previous Kazekage was enough of a fool to leave the hat in an unattended office. Pfffft, what an idiot!" Sometimes the narrator is glad that character thoughts are kept private. Other times he questions his decision to make a career in the narrating business.

Silently, Shiro would peek through the side of the window and make use of his hand dexterity to cast invisible chakra strings, which would find their way through the window and onto the hat on top of Ei's head- Well, what Shiro considered to be Ei. In truth, it was a clone. He was particularly careful with this menuver because in his mind it assured him the kazekage position which meant enough funding to not only get his apartment back (or perhaps a shin new one!) but also to install proper locks on it.

As soon as the threads landed on the cloned hat, they would lose their invisibility at the same time they regained their true form and Shiro would pull hard, taking the hat off Ei's head and victoriously showing up at the window to grab it with his left hand.

He needed to grab it with his left hand because on his right one was his currently most prized possession: The fantastic frying pan. "Yes, both the hat and the pan are mine now! I hold the power! My first command is to absolutely ban guard duty missions at the gate and make noon nap times mandatory!"

That's right. Nozomi Himitsu had a Bijuu and Ei was armed with all the exclusive jutsus Sunagakure had to offer. But my boy? My boy had a frying pan, an uncomfortably bright orange shirt combined with a fanny back and an incredible inability to read the room. The frying pan was raised up in the air, Shiro ready to bring it down on any who dared question his now absolute authority. Make no mistake it wasn't that Shiro was brave or anything. He could see Nozomi, but he didn't recognize her. She seemed to be flashing with some sort of aura but how strong could that possibly be? As for Ei, he'd seen around Sunagakure sometimes and she'd never seemed threatening.

His eyes would shift over to Kara, ignoring the obvious threats and instead focusing on the one person he'd talked to in that room. Just his luck, she seemed to be asleep.

"Oh hai miss Kara, had a bottle too many this time? At least y'didn't fall off the wall huh?"

Kara was surprised when she heard the name ‘Nozomi Himitsu’. It was a name she knew well, everyone did, but she’d never had the opportunity to meet the woman behind the moniker. Even now she knew she wouldn’t get that opportunity, standing as she was she doubted that she’d be able to turn and look behind her without unfortunately colliding with one of the fiery orbs that certainly spelled her death. She was also more than content to not know what the vile and terrifying energy was that she felt behind her. She could see that Ei was contemplating something that wouldn’t end well for her, especially when paired with the phrase ‘kill two birds with one stone’. When she had woken up this morning the last thing she had expected was to be in such a vulnerable and dangerous position. If she had considered it a possibility even for one moment, she would have worn red. Green was a passive and life filled colour. A red gown would have obscured any blood at least. But trivial regrets aside, she was concerned now that not only would she not make it out of this accursed office alive, but that Suna itself was in danger of being sunk back into the forgotten annals of history.

She decided that it was better to allow Ei to speak, perhaps through speaking her thoughts aloud she would come to a more reasonable conclusion than ‘murder the advisor’. She hoped so anyway. And as Ei’s attention made its way back to Kara she would instantly regret her policy on maintaining polite eye contact. Her golden eyes would widen as she felt as though steel cables were wrapped around her entire body, prohibiting her from moving at all. Thankfully Ei had removed the Shakuton orbs, as the next moment Kara would teeter and fall backwards, landing with a fairly hard ‘thud’. It seemed that stilettos did not allow for her to maintain her balance when her ability to balance herself was removed. She knew there would be a few bruises, and she would grimace internally at the thought. She would have grimaced externally, but that was fairly impossible given her current circumstances. From her new vantage point she could at least sort of see what was happening around her. There was Nozomi, well Nozomi’s foot - probably. Unless it was another person she hadn’t been aware of, and behind Ei she could see. . . Shiro? Of all people to walk into that room, the last person she wanted in such a tense situation was the adorable aspiring herbalist. He was a sweet child, and she was fairly fond of him. The thought of him being in the middle of what could potentially turn into a dangerous fight somehow broke her heart. As usual he seemed completely oblivious to the concept of ‘reading the room’, and beyond attempting to obtain the hat for himself was wielding a frying pan. ‘At least he seems fine. About the same as I remember.’ As he addressed her she would try to greet him, but all that came out was a strange muffled noise. It was the least dignified position she had ever found herself in, and were it not for the presence of Shiro she would have been more focused on her anger over that fact. But instead she would try to plead silently with the boy, she tried to force her eyes to convey that he should leave. It was a futile attempt she was sure, but she was completely powerless otherwise. His mention of drinking made her desperately wish that she had some sake, a constant friend that would have made the whole situation more bearable.

Nozomi watched as Kara fell backwards, Mako rushing forward to catch her as she fell, to prevent her from slamming into the ground. He pulled her back into the hallway, with Nozomi's group, and held her up. Iseri assisted, as their strengths had waned a little given the technique applied to the two of them. Nozomi didn't spare Kara a second glace, as she was still alive and okay, but proceeded to walk forward. Ei had attacked someone who posed no threat and had made no threats. Strike one. Nozomi knew the technique in question, knowing what it meant for Ei's level of coordination. She didn't return the stare in the eyes.

"Pull back." she addressed her crew, who were awaiting orders. They'd started to advance with her until given those orders, but moved further down the hallway, about 10 meters from the doorway at this point, dragging Kara with them.

Nozomi hadn't moved very far when the hat on Ei's head was pulled backwards with a suddenly visible chakra string, and Nozomi's patience had ended. Lifting a hand, a long spear extended at rapid speeds, well enough to cut through the string and the hat in a clean blow. To her surprise, the hat didn't simply fall in pieces, it poofed as would a Shadow Clone.

Shadow Clone. If she was correct, the entire Ei in front of her was a clone. She wasn't going to treat with a mere clone, nor did she appreciate the threatening aspect of this all. The mini suns, the attack on a mere assistant, and now this boy at the window.

Nozomi would stare down the boy with the dead pan, mostly neutral expression on her face still, although the most perceptive people could notice perhaps the barest hint of annoyance. Isobu's bijuu chakra was influencing her ever so slightly, even if she was fully in control of it. The look was clear. If the boy didn't leave, he was in danger of never being able to.

"Enough." Nozomi's spear shortened down to the barest of electrical daggers. As long as a Jutsu was present in the room, Nozomi wouldn't dismiss her jutsu, although she stepped into the room, ready for a fast reaction if Ei decided today was the day she wanted to die. As Nozomi entered the room, she noticed in her peripherals, someone attempting to hide. As if invisible. Of course, this wasn't the case, given that she'd fundamentally messed up.

Spoiler:

"Ridiculous. You think us equals?" Strike two. It was at this point that Nozomi looked the clone dead in the eyes, not acknowledging that she'd seen the real Ei. If this clone was going to attempt something, it had mere moments, as Nozomi attacked.

Nozomi extended her spear to encompass to the wall and brought a slash through the clone, which would disperse the thing in an instant, before rounding on Ei's true body, the spear once again shrinking down to the size of a tanto. Nozomi had stepped through the doorway previously, but hadn't entered much further than that. She was only about 5 meters away from Ei, but was gathering chakra for a counter if she needed one. Her spear hand slightly raised, ready to extend to pierce through her if necessary. The extension rate wasn't as fast as the Orbs were, unfortunately, but Nozomi didn't know anything about them or their speed.

Ei wanted to take Suna? Ei wanted to leverage Suna against the Society? She'd better talk fast. What did she have to offer Nozomi that would make it worth keeping her around? She wanted Nozomi to view her as an equal to the Society, but that lip service was wrong. The Society wasn't equal to the nations. It was the only authority that could keep them in check, as they had proven they couldn't do it themselves.

-------
Raiton Affinity [Ninjutsu]
2/7 Initial Jinchuuriki. ++ Str, ++ Con, ++ Spd, ++ Coord
Body Like Steel: Active. + 1 tier Con
Chidori Sharp Spear -10 stamina
Stamina: 280/290

--
Isobu
Doton Affinity [Ninjutsu]
Lightweight Rock Technique maintained x2, Upkeep 1 per
Isobu's Chakra: 248/260

[Recouping chakra for the Transparent Escape Technique, as it basically failed the moment it was cast and thus never worked. An edit would be pointless as it would be impossible to cast under the circumstances.]

It seems as though Ei had made a grave error. Her confidence in her abilities had been much too great, and that field of invisible that she had been relying on as her safety hadn’t been something that she had been able to keep up the concentration of while also using her Shadow Clone and the Extremely Steaming Murder Technique. She knew the limitations of the Transparent Escape Technique, but in her gross overconfidence she assumed that her own superior intellect would allow her to sufficiently concentrate on all these different things successfully. Apparently not the case, and Ei would be taught a lesson in humility as a result. She was left vulnerable, basically just hiding behind a bookshelf as this all took place. Not exactly a very graceful situation to be in.

Especially not as negotiations went sour.

The spear that Nozomi had created to pierce through the hat ended up destroying it, more or less revealing that the Ei she was face to face with was a clone. The jig was up. Especially as she entered the room. The facade basically ended entirely in that moment, and the once calm Ei was sent back into the same panic she had been in earlier. Not a touch of it was on her face, but in that moment all she could feel was her own heartbeat. Shiro had ruined everything. Ei wanted to strangle the kid, even with her usual love for children.

But it seemed luck was still on her side.

“Ridiculous. You think us equals?”

It was a dubiously useful technique. Theoretically it could close all the target's tenketsu if they stood exactly in its center, but rarely did this work out when simply moving a few inches to another direction would render it useless. Of course, Nozomi would presumably be paralyzed. On the floor, with her paralyzed body in standing in the center, the seal would work to catch Ei's target and provide additional insurance. The only reason she could pull off a combo like this was due to how incredibly coordinated she was, casting jutsu incredibly fast and fluidly one after another. If this worked it would seal off that Raiton technique and prevent any foul play from Nozomi's paralyzed body as Ei crossed those five meters to use the Five Element Seal. The center of the seal was created small enough to only catch Nozomi in its area of effect, ensuring that Ei didn't accidentally step in it and shut her own tenketsu off as she approached.

“It’s a shame that we couldn’t see eye to eye. Perhaps next time we can have a more civilized conversation.” The pun came out naturally. Ei would still be wearing that mask, smiling even as fear was clearly in her eyes and body language.

Assuming this all worked, the clone would turn its attention to the crew that remained in the hallway. Still smiling, it would give a small wave to the four.

While this was an opportunity, Ei would immediately decide to cut her losses here. She had huddled up to the wall near a window before for an easy escape, and that escape would be taken. Climbing out the window with the swiftness and grace of a professional limbo player, Ei would duck out into the balcony that Shiro had entered from. With a quick flurry she would take the same way down that Shiro had taken up, using her wall walking ability to scamper down the side of the building and flee into the city itself. Not necessarily to flee from the city, but rather to ensure her own safety should this go south. She would stay close enough to the Wind Dome that her clone wouldn’t pop, at least for now. Her clone would continue to be the main method of agency she had in the building, and once it popped and relayed its memories back to the real Ei then she would choose how to act. The Extremely Steaming Murder orbs would pop around the same time, fading into nothing but idle steam as the chakra that sustained them was cut off.

---

[Observing Shiro - Complete]
Ei: [115/130]

Shadow Clone: [50/130]
A-Rank: Temporary Paralysis Technique
Five Element Seal
Sealing Technique: Lion Closing Roar

"No, my hat! I've been bamboozzled"" Were the first words coming out of Shiro's lips the moment he realized his hand was, in fact, grabbing nothing. Just another moment of incompetence as his chakra strings were cut by a movement he simply could not see due to it being too fast. Not being able to see Nozomi's move actually worked in Shiro's favour however. What he didn't see couldn't scare him shitless.

So instead of being afraid, Shiro stood by the outside of the window with a disappointed look on his face. His plan for absolute authority had failed. Worst of all, the hat was completely gone! Sunagakure no Sato could no longer have a proper ruler, this was terrible! The village ninjas would start deserting it, the land would descend into a chaos of madness and crime would soar as any and all laws would be abol-waaaaait a minute!

Shiro raised an eye brow. He was beginning to suspect the previous Kazekage might have been incompetent.

And it was at this moment that Shiro would find himself in a staring contest with none other than the so called international terrorist, Shinobi World Champion and probably the most dangerous woman alive. Now a sensitive shinobi would likely try to hide, perhaps fail at casting a certain transparency jutsu in the process, or even...actually you all probably know what a sensitive shinobi would do. So anyway, here's what Shiro did: He blushed.

When confronted with one of the most menacing looks in the ninja world, Shiro blushed. Visibly too. The tension was rising in the room, sky rocketing even but all Shiro could hear was the sound of his own beating heart, palpitating in his chest. "by the sage, yerhave such prruty eyeees,.." he could barely get the words out of his own mouth,a whisper spoken so lowly that only he could hear it, as stunned as he was by Nozomi's looks. I mean don't get me wrong, the killing aura she projected and the bijuu cloak seemed incredibly dangerous to your average joe ninja, but Shiro now realized that these things also had their charms, you know?

Of course, Nozomi paid him little mind and turned her head to face the girl instead. Shiro just had no luck with girls. Perhaps all of his luck was invested in somehow managing to stay alive despite darwinism insisting he should've been dead long ago.

Then Ei mentioned something about being able to see eye to eye, and Shiro immediately raised his now free hand. "Oh, oh! Try to see eye to eye with me instead!"

This would be futile because if all went according to Ei's plan to which Shiro was obviously oblivious, Nozomi would fall flat on the ground no differently than Kara did. Somehow, he worried more about Nozomi tho.

Surely the World  Champion wouldn't go down so easily and surely there were a lot of moves about to be pulled most if not all of which Shiro Suzuki simply could not keep up with. But in the middle of all the chaos, with Nozomi suddenly falling and whether she'd hit the ground or not, Shiro would once again open his mouth and contribute absolutely nothing diffuse the tension or to...well, anything other than potential comic relief, really.

"Okay seriously where are you people getting your wine from?! I can't even find water at the market!" For real tho he was beginning to feel left out. First Kara, now Nozomi, it seemed like everyone was having a good time but him. Why were they excluding him?! "Is this like one of those girls only sleepovers I was never invited to? I'll have you know I was sleeping here first!"

Kara was having the worst day ever. She had been held hostage before, but she’d been in a less dangerous situation then. And at least in the other instance she’d been free to move around, unlike now where she was relegated to lying on the ground in a most undignified manner. She heard the exchange between Ei and Nozomi and then she was carried away from the office by. . . someone? She had gathered that the someone’s were companions of Nozomi based on her orders, but she couldn’t see much and once they were safely down the hallway her ability to take stock of the situation was that much more difficult. She assumed Shiro was still in the office since her limited vision didn’t show him anywhere else.

For a moment there she had been concerned she might actually die, she was less concerned now but her thoughts still shifted to the future. In mere days she was supposed to be travelling to meet Damien in Moonspire and she now deeply regretted not travelling with him when he’d left. Always the perfectionist she had stayed to tie up loose ends before moving on to the next beautiful chapter of her life. As they made their way down the hallway she was relieved that the paralysis had worn off and she would stand and face her rescuers. With the arrival of Nozomi and her companions she believed she had a chance now, and that her travel may go through as planned, a few days late but that would just make her fashionably late. She was no idiot and she’d move to place the two men and woman between her and the happenings in the office. “Thank you kindly, it seems you arrived at a most opportune moment.” She was sincerely grateful for the intervention as without it she knew she was not physically strong enough to match Ei. ‘Soon, my love’ she thought as she focused on the future.

Strike three.

As soon as Nozomi's body was assaulted by the Temporary Paralysis jutsu, Nozomi released the chakra she'd been charging internally. Of course, it had been her final mistake to attack Nozomi at all. She'd been generous to give her three chances, but Nozomi's generosity had its bounds, and attempting to control her had been it.

The Ei clone had started to dash forward, but would be met with an expanse of lightning that expelled from Nozomi's body, covering the entire room and consequently the real Ei as well. The problem with Ei's positioning had been that she was in the corner of the room with no exit. The girl wasn't fast enough, strong enough, or prepared enough to get herself out of the room before the entire Kage office would be enveloped by the Chidori Current.

This would interrupt the suicidal charge and the attempt to 5 element Seal and the other seal, as well as obliterate the final two remaining Orbs, the clone, and kill Ei where she stood. If somehow Ei and Ei's clone had managed to avoid the chidori current, and had continued her charge, Nozomi's kimono would seem to grow into a point and pierce the woman before she reached Nozomi, able to shape itself in a range of 4 feet with as high a quality as even the best weaponry. But that was unlikely to be necessary The woman simply didn't have the constitution to hold up to a blast from Chidori Current. From their distance of 5 meters and in the enclosed office, there wouldn't be a single place to hide.

Nozomi's body had been paralyzed, but unlike Kara, she hadn't fallen down. She'd been braced for it, and had intentionally looked Ei's clone in the eyes. Nozomi wasn't as skilled a practitioner of the Temporary Body Paralysis jutsu, but she knew it herself and could use it. She knew the effects it held. Her stare hadn't been an invitation, it had been the chance for Ei to not waste her third strike, and unfortunately for her, she'd chosen to throw it away.

The room they were in was severely scored by her attack, blowing out the doorframe, the desk, and any basic items. If Ei had managed to survive somehow, Nozomi wouldn't relent. Using the fission technique as well, Nozomi formed from herself, fully able to move and a full glow of chakra enveloped her body. One Nozomi was paralyzed, but the other was fully functional and surrounded by a cloak of Bijuu Chakra, a light blue flame covering her. Her body enhanced fully by it, the unparalyzed Nozomi launched into Ei, assuming she wasn't dead and delivered a chop with such speed and power that her entire head would be severed from her body, ending this farce almost as soon as it had begun. The entire process would be over in a mere moment for most.

She didn't know what had happened to Shiro, nor did she care. He was probably fine, but she was ignoring him for the time being. Her focus was primarily on the one who had attacked her.

-

Mako blushed as Kara regained her ability to move, releasing her to let her stand on her own. He and Iseri felt their normal strength and weight return to them as Isobu had dropped the techniques empowering them and had begun to charge himself up for one of his own. "Any time ma'am." Iseri nodded. "As the lady commanded."

Isobu himself was silent, watching the process unfold. The danger of the Chidori current reached them, but they'd been just out of reach of the technique, although the entire hallway in front of them had been scored by countless lightning bolts. The little one who hosted his chakra form was a danger to be sure. Still, due to his bond with her, and her choice to provide him a body, he was supremely loyal and wanted to assure her safety, so he launched himself into the room, to guard the paraylzed form of her body when the Chidori current had halted. He'd lightened himself immensely using the same technique he'd used to enhance his allies speed, although at a much higher level.

-------

Nozomi:
3/7 Initial Jinchuuriki Mode
-10 Chidori Current
-5 Chidori Sharp Spear
===
potentially
-30 Fission
-30 from Bijuu Chakra for Chakra Mode

---------

Isobu Himitsu (NPC)
-20 Ultra Added Light Weight Rock Technique

[Precogging Nozomi]

Ei had been prepared. Before the lightning could be expelled from Nozomi’s body a massive burst of wind slammed in through a window on her left. Luckily it had already been opened, and no glass was sent sprawling in through the room. Paralyzed and locked in place, she wouldn’t be able to move her head to see it coming. In the same process a massive fist of wind closed down on her, swallowing up the lightning before it could leave more than an two millimeters away from her skin. How? Ei, the true Ei, had pushed the technique through her hand immediately, having predicted the use of the technique Nozomi was using before it could be cast. Out through the window Ei had been escaping from, in through the window right across from Nozomi. Her Beast Tearing Gale Palm out sped the Chidori Current in the first place, but with the advantage of the timeline there wouldn’t be a chance for any of the electricity to process into the room. Any electricity that might have traveled through the floor as a medium would be caught as well, the bottoms of the claw making direct contact with the ground in a circle that surrounded the woman. A great deal of care was done with this as to not damage the ground, or disrupt the coming seal. The technique had been cast by the true Ei out of sight of Nozomi before the clone had even progressed a single step forward, the exact moment before the Temporary Paralysis Technique was cast. The subtle movements in Nozomi’s posture was enough for Ei to notice she was charging up chakra, and so she made sure to preempt it. Her arm obscured as she was still half behind the bookshelf. The claws of her Beast Tearing Gale Palm wouldn’t move to hurt or crush Nozomi. Not yet, at least. Instead they served as a cage, an airtight seal around her that acted as a barrier. The hold was tight- Not touching her or the kimono, but just barely. She made sure not to disrupt what would quickly become chakra ink on the ground, or shift the woman out of position.

The claw had another purpose as well. With how big it could grow it served to cut the room off from the goons that Nozomi had still in the hallway. It effectively cut the room in two, making it impossible to move past it without running straight through it. This would protect her clone from any interference, especially as nobody had seen Ei in that corner with the exception of Nozomi. Of course, that wouldn't be the only thing aiming to protect Ei from those soldiers Nozomi had brought with her. A second claw immediately collided through the wall right beside where that group of four was standing in the hallway, bursting through with no warning and aiming to crush the lot of them under its power in an instant. Cast from Ei's other hand, she knew their relative position well enough to aim for them by simply smashing right through to the hallway. The claw came down wide enough to more than double the space they occupied, aiming to allow no escape. The same process was done here, with enough space given from the place crushed ten meters down the hall from the doorway to the position Ei was aiming to make a seal as to not disturb the seal or destroy the room. She had more than enough dexterity for this. Ei wasn't exactly aiming to kill Kara who was a harmless non-combatant, so she would do her best to hold back- But likely she would be left with grievous wounds even if she wasn't killed.

Ei’s clone’s foot came down. The seal would be formed on the ground, shutting off Nozomi’s chakra. Unable to move, she would end up caught in the Sealing Technique: Lion Closing Roar. All it had required was that first step forward, and without the Chidori Current there was little stopping her ascent. Similarly, now there would be no chance for Fission. Of course, she had stopped herself after that first step despite the lack of clear obstacles. It had been a bluff. There wasn’t any need to do anything more than take a single step forward and cast that seal in the process, and that had been all she ever intended to do. With the fingers of her Beast Tearing Gale Palm wrapped around Nozomi’s paralyzed body like a grubby fat kid holding a raw hotdog, the transforming kimonos of hers would be similarly held in place- It simply didn’t have the sort of power to pierce through that massive, demonic claw of wind. And even if it did? Ei had the range advantage here. Far longer than the range of the kimono’s transformation was the length of her arm.

Like a big noodle, Ei’s arm stretched. From their distance of five meters minus a single step forward, it would bridge the gap. Pressing forward, her arm stretched forward at S-Rank Speeds to slam directly into Nozomi's face. Just as her hand came close the Beast Tearing Gale Palm’s thumb moved out of the way, and passed the top of the fist her noodly arm would come forward and slam directly into Nozomi’s face. She didn't have the sort of strength to actually hurt Nozomi with that slap, nor the sort of strength to burst her own clone, but the physical impact wasn't the point. It didn’t matter where on the target’s body this seal was applied anyway, so the face was as valid of a spot to put it as any other. The hold was tight enough to prevent any of the kimono from sneaking up from her neck to above her head as well, still without directly touching her or the kimono itself.

This should have been enough to drop Nozomi to unconsciousness right there and then, at the moment of the seal connecting. Prevented from casting Chidori Current and Fission, having her chakra suppressed, and then the kimono outmaneuvered, there would be little escape from the prison she was stuck in. After contact was made her arm stay in place against Nozomi's face, with Ei's expression a bit tenser than before, and the next targets would be addressed. The true Ei had continued her movement even as she cast that jutsu, already out the window and walking on the side of the building now, still holding Nozomi even after the seal had been placed.

Spoiler:

[Precogging Ei]

Kara was safely away from the tense situation in the office and down the hall behind the three companions of Nozomi, as far away as she could reasonably place herself while still being within view of most of her rescuers. Calling it tense was the understatement of the century, but even from her current position of relative safety she was left with an overwhelming feeling of dread. Her voice rising in pitch she would call out to the three combatants that were sent to guard her, an urgency in her cry that she had not felt before. “Get back!” The words left her mouth and then just seconds later a sweeping claw of wind tore through the hallway. Kara had already turned and begun running down the hall and out towards the front entrance.

She was faster than she had been years ago, all that running in heels had done wonders to improve her physical prowess. But as she reached the door and pressed her left hand on it and pushed it open she felt a strange sensation that she had only ever felt twice before. Pain. Kara was a renowned surgeon and medical practitioner, but she wouldn’t have needed to be to understand what had just happened. Part of her arm was missing, she had felt the sudden lightness in her limb. In her haste to push open the front door she had her right arm trailing slightly behind her body as she ran, leaving it unprotected from the dangerous wind technique. She had always expected that she would scream, at least in horror, if she were cut. But as she felt her right forearm fall away no noise left her mouth. She fell hard against the door and the added force from her forward momentum easily pushed the door open and she tumbled outside into the bright sunlight. Sparing a second while she rose to continue running she would glance down at her injured limb, noting that it was cut cleanly through three inches below her elbow. Quick thinking as always, Kara would use her remaining hand and pull her skirt up to apply pressure and staunch the bleeding as she ran as fast as she could away from the Wind Dome and towards any available medical supplies. There would be time to consider the ramifications of everything that had just happened later, for now she just had to get out.

{Attempted Exit}

[OOC note - the damage is assumed if the Beast Tear Gale Palm hits Kara, and/or shrapnel from the hallway hits Kara.]

[OOC edit - Based on the ruling Kara may only speak the first two words of her sentence - editing to reflect this.]

Isobu's body faded from existence. He was about to protect the group, but instead he vanished. It was an unfortunate thing, but there were bound to be some problematic things in experimenting with him. Nozomi would just have to remake him a body and they'd just fix whatever destabilized him. Of course, Nozomi didn't see him actually disappear, she was busy with her own fight.

Mako and Iseri had tried to rush out of the building with Kara, but they all got caught in the attack as well. Launched out of the building, they were critically injured, but ultimately alive. Ei had held back so as to not kill Kara, who had a similar constitution to them, but unlike Kara, they had been wearing armor, which had helped protect them. Still, it was clear that them being involved was only likely to get them killed, and they'd be better suited finding help elsewhere. Rather than rejoining, they left with Kara.

-

Nozomi, however, had been somewhat countered by the Fuuton technique, which had sufficiently stalled the attack, protecting Ei's clone and herself. The Lion's Closing Seal went down, and Nozomi noted that she was unable to call forth a second Chidori Current while she was standing on the seal, but the Fuuton had disappeared as soon as it blocked the Chidori Current. Ei's clone's arm stretched out towards Nozomi, but this is where several things compounded against her opponent.

As smart as the girl was, she'd made several key mistakes during this fight. It was likely due to the frightening aspect of having to deal with Nozomi, which made her miscalculate. Sometimes Adrenaline in those who hadn't experienced a lot of combat negatively affected them, making them more twitchy and prone to mistakes. The main one had of course been the Invisibility technique, but there were a few others.

Nozomi was quick to notice while the Fuuton was still up that even though she couldn't access her own chakra for another Chidori Current, she was still under the influence of Isobu's chakra, the Initial Jinchuuriki mode having not been shut off. This not only signaled to her that she could use Chakra Access if she wanted to but  also that she was still being amped by her Bijuu. This didn't come from nowhere, of course. Nozomi had at one point been a Fuuinjutsu practitioner, but having neglected the skill, she had shifted her focus elsewhere. Still, she understood the principles of that particular jutsu, but it wasn't something she could utilize too well in combat, given she didn't have the intelligence necessary to form seals without writing them out.

The other mistake that Ei had made was that she'd changed up her actions, trying to keep her distance from Nozomi. A smart thing, sure, but in doing so with the clone, she'd more or less assured that she couldn't touch Nozomi. As Nozomi was 5 meters away from the clone, and the clone made a single small step, they were still about 5 meters distance from each other. When her arm stretched out, it would only reach 3 meters. Nozomi knew the technique herself, the Soft Body Manipulation. She knew the weaknesses of it, the range.

Unfortunately for Ei, she wasn't durable enough to continue to stretch past the initial range. Nozomi on the other hand, was well capable of using it at higher levels. The combination of that, and the fact that the Body Paralysis jutsu had a very short level of affect meant that by the time Ei realized her mistake, Nozomi would have already been able to move, regaining access to her jutsu as she moved backwards into the hallway several meters, keeping out of Ei's clone's reach. Any movement at all was also enough to move her off the center of the jutsu Her speed was above Ei's clone, and her arms were at full extension, so there was no way she'd reach Nozomi. With access back to her jutsu, Nozomi activating her Sage Mode and Kata, as well as shifted from Initial Jinchuuriki mode to the 3 tails Version 2.

The Sage Mode was her preferred method of boosting herself while she was utilizing the power of the V2's explosive entrance. Unless Ei was planning on protecting the building using the same method as before, the entire place would be decimated the Kage building just outright annihilated, although this time, her technique was much faster than Ei and her clone, so they'd have less opportunity to surround Nozomi outright even if she actually tried. Of course, the Bijuu explosion would kill them if it hit them, as well as Shiro if he hadn't decided to vacate the area with any level of haste in the last round, which Nozomi wasn't sure had happened, but he'd been quiet and she didn't care about the collateral. Ei was actively attempting to attack her and steal from Suna, both things that she needed to deal with.

It wasn't like Ei was offering Nozomi another option either. Nozomi wasn't a thinker, she put most of her mental energy into the fight. She couldn't read Ei's body language to infer that she didn't want to fight. To her, an act of attack was declaration that communication wasn't to be had. If Ei had any intention to surrender, she had a limited amount of time to halt any additional attacks and actually make an offer that was worthwhile to Nozomi, because Ei had been the aggressor that started this thing. They were already starting off at a negative disposition. Nozomi had also, throughout the entire thing, started to look lower, keeping her eyes from making direct contact with Ei or her clone, while still making sure to keep Ei's clone in her peripheral. With the Sage Mode active, her ability to figure out where Ei was was greatly enhanced. Her hearing was massively improved, the feel of the air being displaced. She didn't need to rely on her eyes, although they added to it as well.

-----------

NPC's all attempting exit
Isobu forced exit

Body Like Steel still active
Initial Jinchuuriki Mode  4/7, ended
V2 Activated [UQ Boosts NOT applied] 1/7
V2 50 Meter S rank speed A power explosion used.
Sage Mode + Kata Activated [UQ Boosts applied]: 120/130

Stamina: 260/290

Strength: A -> S [Sage Mode]
Constitution: B -> A [Body like steel] -> S [Sage Mode]
Stamina: A+
Speed: A -> S [Sage Mode] -> S++ [Kata]
Coordination: A -> S [Sage Mode] -> S++ [Kata]
Intelligence: D
Perception: A -> S [Sage Mode]

Ei wasn’t so foolish that she had forgotten to take into account range here. Not just did her arm stretch forward, so did her legs. With both extending at the same time, leaning and bending forward towards Nozomi to make sure her legs gave her forward thrust towards her target instead of sending her straight up, she would effectively double her speed and range. She primarily used the leg that she had stepped forward with here, extending the distance that she began from. In the same process as stretching like this she would begin moving forward towards Nozomi again, using her superior coordination to manage pursuing at full speed forward while her limbs stretched in this manner. It was a pretty ridiculous sight, but only through her intense skill was she able to manage something like it to further increase her speed to press her hand closer and closer to Nozomi. In such close quarters combat like this, that advantage in speed and coordination that Ei had was the deciding factor. It seemed that Nozomi had underestimated Ei, either her speed or constitution or intelligence- perhaps all three.

With the speed that Ei was moving at, that being incredibly fast, there would be less than twenty milliseconds before she stretched forward and reached Nozomi. Her hand would collide into the woman’s face before she could even move far enough to leave the seal that had been drawn on the ground, and the seal that Ei had been trying to apply for the last few posts would finally connect and activate. The initial jinchuriki mode would be no barrier. With Nozomi’s backwards momentum she would end up falling backwards the moment it hit, due to her muscles failing her as unconsciousness struck…

Or at least she would have. Instead of making contact with her palm and applying the seal, Ei's clone stopped millimeters away from Nozomi’s face. Close enough for her to feel the radiating heat coming from her hand, and enough for the scent of potpourri she wore to be blasted aggressively into Nozomi’s nostrils with the forward moment Ei had suddenly stopped. The clone had froze in place, coming to a sudden stop, and then it would begin to retract back into its original position as quickly as it had sprung out.

The explosion of the hallway being destroyed rang out in the background, and debris would fly into the Kazekage’s office from the backlash of the incredible power of the attack. Blood stained the ground, both from the severed arm that had been cleaved off Kara Kazehana, but also from the assorted and miscellaneous injuries that had been inflicted onto Nozomi’s thugs. Together with the now powdered sand from the obliterated sandstone walls, it all added together for an interesting, if uniquely disgusting, aroma. The true Ei wrinkled her nose as soon as the first whiffs of it carried down to her in her position behind the bookshelf. She had never quite had the time to jump out and try her escape.

The clone disappeared in a plume of smoke that dispersed together with the sand dust that now flowed throughout the air. In its stead came out the real Ei Kanagawa, as impeccable in appearance as she had been when she entered the building. She had escaped any of the direct combat that had taken place in the room, and with as little physical exertion as she had done while here she hadn’t even broken a sweat. Her hands would both be up, held open and palm outwards in a classic sign of surrender. Not that the gesture was anything but symbolic. Nozomi had already seen she was more than capable of casting what seemed like her favorite jutsu, Beast Tearing Gale Palm, with no hand seals and a moment’s notice.

“Alright, alright. I yield.”

She was quick to speak, when normally she might have held on longer for dramatic effect. While she was more or less in a life or death situation here Ei wasn’t the type to make sacrifices for aesthetics. Just using Soft Body Manipulation to distort her own form was humiliation enough, so she would refuse to compromise any further on her own aesthetics. Even if it resulted in her own death now, it would at least be the beautiful death of an artist rather than the ugly, meaningless death of a shinobi. She sighed, temporarily taking her hands down from the gesture they were held in to fix her hair, and then adjusting her hair pins to fix the cloth flowers she wore as decorations. Keeping those in place was incredibly difficult with all the wind that had been blown around.

“You’ve won, Nozomi Himitsu. I don’t have enough chakra to continue any further. It’d be a losing proposition, so I’d like to cut my losses before things get ugly. It’d be a shame for any beauty to end up tarnished here. Yours or mine. I think we can both agree to that.”

“Since you’re so unwilling to see us as equals, I suppose I have no other choice but to prostrate myself before you. Oh, great and powerful Nozomi, please spare me your wrath. You are a righteous God, and I merely a foolish mortal. If I had been more wise I would have prepared offerings and sacrifice in your name- Well, I suppose I shouldn’t test my luck any further.”

Sometimes Ei truly couldn’t help herself. Pressing an already tense situation was probably a fool’s game, but she felt as though she had righteous grievances with the current state of affairs. While she was fighting for herself, she was also fighting for Sungakure in a roundabout way. The village had decayed into a husk of its former self, barely any better than a corpse.

A long sigh came out of her, and that bitter sarcasm would cease almost immediately afterwards. While probably stupid to even engage in any of this, from the very start of robbing Suna blind to expelling that bitter sarcasm right after surrendering to the strongest woman on Earth, she was frustrated more than anything else.

“Alright. To adopt a more respectable tone. The situation in Sungakure has decayed to an unconscionable extent. No shinobi remain in the village, with the sole exception of perhaps this building. After Raijin left, the man he put in charge of the village seemed to have no interest in ruling. Both abandoned the village. I’ll state my proposition simply. Allow me to take control in this power vacuum, and I’ll turn Sunagakure into something beautiful once again. I hope this exercise has proven to you that I am more than competent enough to have earned the title.”

Spoiler:

Ei was an impressive fighter, despite her looks. Quick witted although inexperienced. Nozomi found herself admitting that she would make an excellent asset, and it was a shame that she would have to-

I yield.

Nozomi stepped back into the room, intrigued. Most people didn't have the sense. Even Nozomi wasn't one to call off a fight, winning or losing. Ei intrigued her, and after her display, perhaps she had underestimated the Suna-nin. They weren't equals by any right, the girl didn't have the power or training, the Senjutsu enhanced form, or the Bijuu, but there was no denying her skill. Several times, Nozomi felt that she could have lost due to arrogance. She'd have to correct that in the future, or perhaps that would cost her more than she was willing to sacrifice. Nozomi couldn't afford to die until after Honiko returned.

Nozomi was silent, but she had dropped her Bijuu mode and decided against using Sage Mode. What followed was a useless and sarcastic bit, to which Nozomi simply interrupted. "Get on with it."

When Ei finally got around to the point, Nozomi simply listened. Ei was correct. The venture in Suna had been a useless one altogether. Raijin had taken it for himself and had let it waste away. It was always his problem, and yet here Nozomi was dealing with an upstart. Why did she even bother with it? This village wasn't being used to its full potential. Crime had been allowed to grow rampant. Not only that, but Raijin had chosen to leave rather than deal with its problems, leaving Nozomi to figure the rest out. Raijin didn't deserve this place.

"Do what you want. Suna's yours if you want it. In exchange, I have an offer and a request. The offer is to join with the Society. We could use someone with your talents. We gather tools, artifacts, people, and techniques of power, in the hopes of keeping them out of unworthy hands and to bring an ultimate end to conflicts and endless wars. I ask that if you accept, you'll allocate some of your funds from here to the Society, as well as present me with copies of Suna's exclusive techniques for our libraries. You can keep the puppets from here, I don't care, as long as they don't fall into someone else's hands."

The offer out of the way, it was time for the request.

"As for the request, you are correct. Raijin did not do his job here as the overseer of the village. He allowed crime to flourish, and let this city fail. His experiment here was a disaster. Not only that, but he abandoned his duty here and left me to clean up his messes. I've decided I can no longer trust him, and when I can't trust a subordinate, they become a liability. Incidentally, he's a stain on the history of this nation. While the lesser administration and assistants are not at fault, it was the actual rulers that let this place fall into disrepair. As such, I would like for you and I to correct that problem."

Of course, there was always an exchange. It wasn't just what Suna could do for her, it was also a quid pro quo.

"In exchange, I offer you the protection of the Society. Should need for aid here arise, I'm willing to protect this nation. I can station troops here and assist in the maintenance of the village you call home. Even if you choose not to join, I am willing to be allies, so long as no moves are made against me or my people. You've shown tremendous skill and it would be a shame to let that slip away."

She frowned, remembering one final thing. "Oh, and of course, I want an end to child soldiers. No more of that."

Despite her ugly moment of bitterness, it seemed Nozomi was willing to accept the initial propositions that Ei made. Good. As much as she focused on attempting to create beauty, Ei wasn’t perfect. She had petty, frustrated moments. Just as her initial attempt to just rob her homeland blind had been. Given the circumstances she had no excuse to not know better, but keeping emotions in check wasn’t always the easiest thing in a high intensity moment like this. She hadn’t exactly planned for any of this, or really started planning until the moment things began happening. Running more on artistic passion than foresight was likely an outrageously stupid idea for this sort of thing though. Perhaps she wasn’t as smart as she thought.

She listened to Nozomi. Ei had no need or desire to interrupt, wanting the woman to speak all she had to say before any response was given. It gave her a moment to calm down the intense beating in her heart as well, and let all that adrenaline slowly be shifted out of her veins. Like wines and sugars it had all coursed through her in that moment and gave her a sort of thrill that she had never felt before. Not one that she was very eager to repeat, mind you, but it was exciting nonetheless.

“I won’t lie and tell you that I particularly care about your ideological goals. Politics and wars were never something I troubled myself with before out of a lack of interest, although I suppose that will very quickly have to change. The idea of gathering tools, artifacts, people, and techniques of power though… That does sound appealing. Something like a living museum. I can see the artistic merit in doing that. I can assent to assisting, if that truly is your goal. At least, as long as it does not majorly conflict in the interests of Sunagakure.”

Her eyes flickered down to her hips. She had stowed the exclusive scrolls, along with Suna’s artifacts, within her kimono earlier. Giving up copies to Nozomi was a much more difficult question for her than joining the Society, ironically enough. There was a pause now. She had to think about exactly how to phrase this.

“As for your other requests. I can agree to handing over copies of some of my village’s exclusive technique scrolls. However, giving over any related to the art of Kugutsu would be unacceptable. While I understand and relate to your desire to hoard and gather powerful techniques to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands, allowing anyone outside those from Sunagakure to know and potentially reproduce the forbidden methodology my village has created for constructing puppets would be an incredibly grave sin. The idea of seeing cheap knockoffs springing up among puppeteers of other villages is enough to make me want to retch.”

The face she made turned into something very obviously displeased. It was a visceral reaction. Perhaps this alone would reveal a bit more about how Ei’s interests and mindset differed so dramatically from that of a normal person.

“Not that anyone in the Society would likely be able to make use of those methods anyway, other than myself. Everything else I can agree with. Copies of all non-puppetry related exclusive techniques, an allocation of funds from Sunagakure in return for manpower from the Society being used to protect the village. No child soldiers. Assisting in correcting the crimes of the previous administrations of Sunagakure and the erasing of stains… There are of course some caveats. With the village in its current state I cannot be sure of exactly how much funding there will be to provide the Society in the immediate future, but a portion of whatever Sunagakure makes will be set aside. No matter how small. Additionally, while I will agree to be your ally, leaving my homeland as the Kazekage now would be something I’d prefer to limit to only when absolutely necessary. Leaving the village without someone of Kage level, or at least of high Jounin level, to protect it would be simply irresponsible.”

Her eyes flickered back, focusing on direct eye contact. It wasn’t something Ei shied away from, even with someone as powerful as Nozomi. Of course, she had no reason to fear eye contact with anyone except an Uchiha, given the skill she so clearly proved with the Temporary Paralysis Technique.

“Additionally, do not presume me to be your lackey, or Sunagakure your vassal. We’ll be allies. While perhaps you still might be reluctant to see us as equals, I hope that this display has convinced you to something closer to that sort of arrangement. Our agreement here hangs upon the knowledge that Sunagakure and myself are free to pursue our own interests as well. Of course, if the Society ends up doing something that recklessly endangers my home, or brings harm to its people, the relationship we have will very rapidly change.”

"Well, I don't necessarily distribute exclusive techniques to just anyone, I want then for a compilation, but not necessarily for anyone to use. Honiko, my mistress, wasn't exactly specific on what all we needed. That's non negotiable. I'm compiling a full list of exclusives. In my time here, I had access to the techniques myself, whether I could use them or not. I don't expect that to change. I will not, however, hand out the puppet techniques to anyone who doesn't meet your criteria."

Nozomi explained. She honestly wouldn't have cared herself, but she wasn't really compiling techniques because it was something she wanted to do. It was because Honiko's goal was to do that for Hizashi. While Nozomi didn't like Hizashi, she had ultimate respect for Honiko, so she was fine with continuing that goal.

"I've already at least glanced over all of them to begin with. I won't be seeing anything I haven't already. Consider it a fair trade for you also having access to Iwagakure and Konohagakure's exclusives. Without the Society, you'd have access to none."

Nozomi thought for a moment. She'd wanted to recruit Ei, but it didn't seem that she was willing to do too much without taking risks. Maybe she didn't think it was important enough to actually punish those who were responsible for Suna being in the position it was. Nozomi didn't know, but she didn't really care either. If Ei wasn't going to be of use to her, then she just wasn't. There wasn't anything else to be done about it. "As for your concern leaving the village unprotected, then don't bother joining me. I'll be tracking Raijin down sooner rather than later. If the protection of my squad and any other troops I send isn't enough then just stay here behind your walls. I'll go out and do the real work that needs to be done."

Nozomi turned an eye to the hallway, before looking back at Ei.  "Enjoy your new seat, Kazekage. Do a better job than your predecessors." With that, Nozomi would exit the room. At some point in the near future, she'd be sending some troops as promised to protect the area, and to collect the copies she was promised, as well as set up a courier to deliver the ryo every month. Their real base was still as of yet undiscovered, so a proxy picking up payments would be necessary. On her way out she would pick up Kara's severed arm. The girl may want it back and Nozomi's attendants were likely with her.

-Attempted Exit-

Ei frowned. Truthfully she was posturing here. Just as important as the agreement they came too here was the method and appearance of how they did so. Whether or not Sunagakure ended up a vassal to Nozomi and the society wasn’t nearly as important as whether or not it appeared as though they were, and whether or not the aesthetics of the situation dried in an unpleasant way. What she truthfully cared the absolute most about was the issue with the puppet techniques, something that Nozomi apparently found to be non-negotiable, and that was enough to throw a minor kink into things.

“... Very well. If you can swear that these techniques will not be taught or given to anyone who doesn’t meet my criteria… I very reluctantly accept.”

This part, more than anything else, displeased her to no end, but nothing could truthfully be done. She didn’t have the power to actually tell Nozomi no to anything she insisted on, and could only posture and posture and posture about the situation.

“As for Raijin, fine. I’ll join you.”

She would muster out before Nozomi left the room, a light sigh in her voice at the fact that Nozomi refused to play her game.

“Sooner rather than later… Send someone to notify me before you leave. I’d like to kill him myself if possible. It’d be ugly of me to pass up the chance to right the wrongs he did her. This criminal state he tried to enact… Fine, fine. If Society Shinobi are in the village, I’ll come if you call upon me.”

The fact that Ei more or less folded at every prospect Nozomi seriously pushed on after Ei’s immediate demands exposed the truth of the situation in a way that she wasn’t exactly fond of, but nothing could be done. The game of appearances wasn’t something she had any reason to expect Nozomi to play along with, especially when only advantage would have been appeasing Ei with it. Truthfully, despite being so infamous around the world, Ei knew very little about Nozomi’s actual personality, and the two already got off to a rather rocky start. She shouldn’t have tested her luck like this in the first place, but it wasn’t something that could be helped. This was in Ei’s nature, just as it likely was in Nozomi’s nature to act this way. Perhaps things would change between them in time, but for now there was a very reasonable tension between the two.

With Nozomi leaving, Ei would be left alone in the office once more, forced to her own thoughts in the silence. The building was impressively damaged, the remnants of a chakra seal were still pressed on the ground, and…

Ei had a lot of work to do.

[Exit- Finally Claiming Kazekage, all Exclusives in Suna, All Artifacts in Suna]

During all this time Shiro sat on the window balcony, watching the conflict first and then the negotiations that followed. It disgusted him, plain and simple. There were several reasons why he didn't like either Nozomi nor Ei. The first and most obvious one was because they had both ignored him completely and while he was used to living alone as a shadow in Sunagakure by now, somehow it still stinged when they blatantly did it like this.

But it mattered little. Shinobi were trained to hide their feelings anyhow, so how could they be relevant in any meaningful way? The reason he had been ignored wasn't because they disliked him, it was because he was weak. There was no point in being sad about people disliking him- he wasn't considered relevant enough for these two fo have any sort of feelings about him. In the same way desert travellers ignored the tiny scorpions in the sand because they were too small to worry about, these two ignored Shiro because he was too weak to be a threat.

What most people ignored however, was that it was the tiniest scorpion hidden within the Land of Wind's sands which held the deadliest of poisons. Shiro smirked. It stung, but he could sting too. Most stronger shinobi would kill for the perk of being irrelevant enough to go unnoticed like Shiro did. "Fucking vultures, the lot of them."

It was almost offensive how the Sand Forge which had once been used to hammer out the strongest ninjas of Sunagakure no Sato was in such a state of decay that criminal gangs had occupied it. The streets were unsafe, businesses were few and those which did thrive had to rely on gangs to protect them from other gangs.

And these two were here, arguing about who would get to claim the empty title of Kazekage and decide where to spend the little money the Sand Village had. Once upon a time, the name and hat of the Kazekage actually commanded respect. The Kazehana Empire had been the strongest and largest the world had ever seen, but it had all fallen to dust and sand yet again.

Shiro looked at the frying pan still in his hand, as Nozomi exited the building. His gaze then shifted to Ei, who happened to also be exiting the office with his back turned on him. Blissfully unaware of his presence it seemed, as if she had completely forgotten he was still there.

Others had left the village, gone to find greener pastures (which technically should be super easy to do because they lived in the desert for some unknown reason).

"Ninpo: Furaingu Hiranabe no Jutsu!" Obviously he wouldn't say this out loud, mostly because he wasn't entirely sure the name of the jutsu he'd just come up with had been translated correctly. But from his right hand and Ei's dead angle, the frying pan he held would be thrown towards the back of the girl's head. Flying at C-rank speed, the metal would collide with her and potentially knock her out if nothing was done about it.

Now one might look at this fancy jutsu name and think "Bruh he's only throwing a frying pan". Well first of all, it's not "a" frying pan, it's the frying pan which will one day be used to topple some of the world's strongest shinobi. Second of all, there was a twist to this jutsu. He had attached chakra strings to the frying pan, invisible ones. Having seen Ei's speed first hand, he sort of didn't expect a simple throw to work.

So right before the pan came within Ei's arm reach, he would move his fingers and activate the chakra string technique, twisting the pan and making an unexpected change in its trajectory, it would still hit Ei in the head, but it would slightly arc above her a little to stay out of her reach for as long as possible.

[INTERRUPTING KAZEKAGE CLAIM]

[Precogging Shiro]

She had a lot of work to do. The first being to deal with that criminal who had just fled from the Kazekage’s office. Kara Kazehana would be brought to justice, one way or another. Hopefully she would be able to stop her before she left the village… Unfortunately, it seemed like Ei had more immediate things to deal with.  

Even with her head turned and facing the opposite direction, she had seen Shiro’s attack coming. Truthfully she had forgotten he was there, but not anymore. She was keenly aware of his attack before it had come. A slight flex of her chakra would send a burst of wind out of her tenketsu, ruffling her kimono slightly in the process, but just as the pan came close to her and Shiro activated his chakra strings the entire thing would be blown hard in the other direction. His strength wasn’t so much that he could throw it at C-Tier speed. Only D+, and so the strength of Wind Release: Passing Typhoon, which threw things at C+ speed, was more than enough to blow the frying pan in a completely different direction, throwing it to the side and into the wall that was right beside the window that Shiro was still peeking his head through. He did not have the strength to overpower it with his chakra strings, and so it impacted with enough force to dig straight into the stone wall, staying in place after making contact.

Turning around now, Ei would stare at the boy. Right in his eyes. Her eyes were narrowed, only purple slits remaining. The anger would subside after a few moments, and she would sigh, letting it all out in a deep exhale.

“Child… There’s no need to fight. The village will be in capable hands from now on. Please trust me. I will ensure that there is a better life for you here in Sunagakure. There isn't any need to worry, or be afraid.”

---

-3, Wind Release: Passing Typhoon

Shiro was far too stupid to have the magical power of precogs, but the ruffling of Ei's kimono gave him enough of a warning that he detached the strings from the pan before activating them. Of course he had still twitched them to arc above Ei, but in an awkward movement that was very Shiro-like, they'd instead spread in an arc above Ei after releasing the pan. By some sort of witchery process, the woman had managed to avoid the wrath of the frying pan throw no jutsu. This didn't sadden Shiro as much as it demoralized him. Not having the frying pan on his side was a huge blow to morale as it was currently the only weapon he carried.

Luckily the gods that somehow kept Shiro alive throughout the extent of his shinobi career would listen to his prayers one more time, and soon the pan would be at his side once again. True, it had been stuck on the wall with such an impact that Shiro would likely not be able to remove it from there without a lot of effort, but it was definitely by his side. Alas, gods work in mysterious ways. He'd prayed to have the morale boost of a kitchen utensil by his side, and they somehow delivered.

The witch's wind jutsu had blown air in all directions, and not only had it blown away the frying pan towards Shiro, but it had also blown the invisible chakra strings above her. Luckily, they were fighting inside the office. Look, I know throwing pans around isn't your typical ninja battle, but for the sake of saving whatever dignity's left to save, the narrator will call this a "fight". And you'll have to accept it because there's no one else willing to take the job of narrating Shiro's life. In fact I only got stuck with it because of an unfortunate bathroom break during an important meeting.

But I digress. As I was saying before, the strings were blown towards the ceiling and were stopped there, but they wouldn't attach to it. They would begin to fall as Ei turned around, which worked perfectly for Shiro because by sheer luck he was able to attack her once again from a dead angle. The unspecified number of strings which I will now conveniently say are twenty because two strings from each finger doesn't sound unreasonable would fall all around Ei in their invisible sate because Shiro hadn't gotten to activate them.

As she turned around and made her speech, Shiro wised up. And by wised up I don't mean he stopped being hostile towards a woman who outclassed him by 4 ranks, I meant he didn't look her in the eyes. He'd seen first hand what happened when you looked the witch in the eyes! The cute blondie had suffered for it, and this red head wouldn't make the same mistake, oh hell naw.

Instead he did with the basic Taijutsu manual indicates: He looked at his opponent's chest. Was this because the chest was the best place to look at during a fight since you had your vision centered on your opponent's body and couldn't be hit by visual jutsu? Not really. Shiro had never even read that damn manual. Hand to hand combat is for savages who can't possibly comprehend the art of fighting with hand-crafted dolls.

The reason Shiro looked at her chest was because the wind jutsu had moved the girl's kimono in a rather interesting way and he was a curious ninja. Once again, he was utterly incompetent as a shinobi but that somehow worked in favour of his survival. It was time for Shiro's own speech!

"Trust you? Capable boo-er, hands? Why should I? Because you worked out the same deal as your predecessor and allowed those foreigners to trample over our proud nation? Because you surrendered the exclusive techniques forged upon our sands by the 1st Kazekage and our other ancestors? Why should I trust you now when you, a Jonin of this village, didn't move a boo-damn, a hand to protect it before?! IYou coward. " Look, I realize one can't expect everyone to have the same complete disregard for basic survival as Shiro does. The truth was he didn't fight the Society either, but that wasn't because he was scared. It was simply because he had trust the village's upper ranks to handle it. He had trusted the Kazekage and the Jonin. But they had all, without exception, failed him. He didn't give two shits about who or how powerful Nozomi was. He didn't know. But to him, that was irrelevant. He didn't like guard duty either, he hated having to get up early, having to obey the basic military rules while the rest of the village was in chaos. He hated not having a squad and training alone, he hated having to share ninja tools with the few poor souls who still did their duties as ninjas. He hated not having an apartment anymore and he hated having to sleep in his workshop. He hated always being outnumbered in crime fighting missions and he hated how many times he came close to dying because he simply had neither the tools nor the training to succeed.

Above all, he hated not knowing whether he was truly incapable or if his lack of skill was due to how little support he got.

But every day he got up from the hardwood floor of his workshop. Every day he'd scavenge for whatever he could turn into more tools for the ninja, and every day he'd do his patrol rounds and guard the gates. Granted he sometimes slept during watch, but he was there anyway. And you know why? Because that was his job. And in his mind, Ei not being a corpse meant she didn't do hers.

"The village is like it is because you didn't do your job in the first place. And now you're trying to take away mine. Afraid?"  Yeah man ending child soldiers wasn't cool.

Shiro was nervous, but he was letting out an anger which he'd bottled up inside for years now. He was stupid most of the time but he wasn't entirely oblivious to the difference of skill between the two of them now that he'd seen Ei in action. But it didn't matter. His legs were trembling, knees weak, palms are sweaty. And very much like mom's spaghetti, the strings all around Ei became visible as they tightened around her body. They wouldn't necessarily hurt her, because Shiro already had a tactic in mind and he didn't assume he could squeeze Ei with chakra strings. But they'd at least try to immobilize Ei.

"I'm a Sunagakure ninja trained upon the Sand Forge. I'm not afraid of cowards. " He lied. Then he'd throw his head back and stare at the blue sky through for just an instant. It might well be the very last opportunity to contemplate it. It momentarily threw him back to the lazy days sleeping on top of the wall. There were clouds in the sky today. What a rare sight.

He pulled the strings as hard as he could, in an attempt to pull Ei towards him. And at the same time he straightened his neck. "FOR SUNAGAKURE!!!"

He'd jump towards Ei as he pulled her. His objective was to headbutt the woman with his headband, in an attempt to imprint Sunagakure no Sato's hourglass symbol upon her forehead. Perhaps that would remind her of her actual job.

Nevermind why it wasn't a good idea to try to headbutt someone who already proved she could sealless wind release jutsu. It wasn't about whether he could win or not. That had never been it. Someone as incapable as Shiro always went into battle assuming he could and likely would die. Always, no matter how weak the target was. Because he too was weak. And that was immensely freeing.

Who gave a shit if Ei was ten time stronger? Or if she could use Fuuton masterfully? It didn't matter. To Shiro, everyone was stronger. Nothing changed. The only thing that changed was how important what he was fighting for was.

Stopping bandits at the wall might have been important.
But reminding a Jonin of their job and oath to the village was worth, truly worth, dying for. Shiro was weak, but Ei wasn't. He couldn't defeat Nozomi, but perhaps one day she could. This was Shiro's only way to make a difference. And by the gods that insisted on saving his ass, he would do it or die trying.

...

Or you know, he would try. Because this is Shiro we're talking about. What, did you think he was going to have a cool moment? Bruh, is this the first Shiro post you're reading or something? Get outta here. Go read another character or something. Maybe a Kumogakure batwoman or some edgelord Uchiha in Konoha. This right here is Shiro's story, and Shiro doesn't do cool moments. At least, not properly.

His intentions were pure, but his execution flawed. Due to how nervous he was, and how shaky his knees were, he actually slipped as he jumped towards Ei, altering his trajectory significantly. And instead of headbutting the woman's forehead with the force of his full body behind him, Shiro would headbutt her chest instead, and with surprisingly little impact due to the loss of footing. The two would collide awkwardly and fall to the ground.

If all went according to this description, Ei would find herself in the middle of the Kazekage office with a very confused Shiro on top of her. A Shiro which had completely forgotten about the need of keeping the chakra strings that bound Ei well tightened.

"Ow ow ow, you devil. What sort of trickery did you use on me?!"