Chapter 19: In Preparation for War
The entire village of the hidden cloud is in an uproar as all of the villages shinobi have returned prematurely from missions and patrols to gather in the Raikage's main hall.Nothing is known for sure, but the rumors have been flying around the entire village ever since the first few shinobi returned home before their missions were finished. Some say that the Raikage is planning on ordering a large scale examination, or that he plans to name a successor after planning to abdicate, but only a select number of the shinobi attending the massive meeting, are actually aware that the Raikage is planning on sending his subordinates off to war.
All of the shinobi have gathered in the massive main hall of the Raikage's palace, all standing up straight and in perfect formation that has come to be expected of the hidden clouds expertly trained military force of more than two hundred men and women. As the ranks finish taking their formation, the Raikage steps forward to address his military as the massive doors to the palace close behind the ranks leaving hundreds of anxious villagers outside wondering what is behind said inside. Number young academy students and the younger genin all do what they can to try and sneak a peak through some of the hall's windows, but the curtains are all soon pulled over the windows, giving the Raikage absolute secrecy for what he is about to discuss.
The Raikage steps forward and addresses his soldiers. "At ease everyone." The Ranks then take a relaxed formation as they listen to their leader. "I will not try and sugarcoat anything for all of you. We are going to war."
The Raikage's words send shivers up some of the shinobi's spines and a large number of the shinobi all begin gossiping quietly amongst one another. "And our enemy is the hidden village of the leaf."
The preceding announcement only increases the gossip, as many of the shinobi in the crowd are old enough to remember the war the two villages fought only ten years earlier. Many of the other shinobi, lost family members in the conflict and are unsure as to why they too are being asked to fight against their former enemy.
Near the front of the ranks, the Raikage's adopted son Seshen Raiken, stands with a concerned and confused look on his face. "Why are we going to war with the leaf? There has been no declaration of war sent out. And the leafs have not attacked us . . . we would be the aggressors in this conflict, and I doubt that fact would sit well with all of the neighboring nations."
One of the shinobi in the crowd raises his hand with a question that is soon acknowledged by the Raikage. "Raikage-sama, why is it that we are going to war with the leaf village?"
"The leaf village is harboring a criminal formerly from our village. This criminal is responsible for the deaths of many of our shinobi. He is also responsible for the assassination of my former commander and three of his subordinates, and recently took part in an assassination attempt on my life as well!" The Raikage looks to crowd which only minutes ago was in serious doubt about the Raikage's plan, now have their eyes filled with a zealous desire to bring this criminal to justice.
Meanwhile, Seshen remains uncertain about the whole idea. "That doesn't make any sense, I know that Shin was killed . . . but we found his subordinates alive . . ."
"And furthermore, I have learned that the leaf village not only has been harboring this criminal, but that have also been aiding in his actions." The Raikage's words send an uproar through the now ravenous crowd. "And the criminal that they have been harboring is none other then the Butcher of Tarawa Creek!" The crowd then continues chatting amongst itself as the words "Akira Toshida" pop up all over the crowd, and many of the shinobi old enough to remember the cloud and leaf's last conflict, remember the aftermath of what is now called, "The Battle at Blood river."
"I want all of you to be ready for combat and travel in six hours. You are to pack for a heavy siege and be ready for anything. We will be heading to the rendezvous point in just more than six hours where we will meet up with our new allies, and prepare for battle." The Raikage says, opening up the floor to a new question.
"Who are our new allies Raikage-sama?" A miscellaneous ninja asks.
"Our new ally . . . Is Orochimaru, and the village of hidden sound." The Raikage answers, getting only an overwhelming gasp from the crowd.
"Orochimaru? Are you serious Raikage-sama? Can he really be trusted?"
"I heard he was responsible for the deaths of the sand's Kazekage and the Hokage of the leaf. How can we be allied with such a person?"
"I heard he is nothing more than a treacherous snake."
"That is enough!" The Raikage shouts, bringing the crowd to an abrupt silence. "Whatever Orochimaru has done with other villages is none of our concern. He has not shown any hostility to our village or our country. He has offered to help with our effort against the leaf village. In return, all that he asks is that Akira Toshida been brought into his custody to answer for the crimes committed against the sound village. This is not negotiable. We will ally ourselves with Orochimaru and bring Akira Toshida to justice no matter what. And we will also make the leaf village pay for harboring and encourage such criminal activity."
"After our arrival in the sound village, our preparations will be made for the siege. All of our shinobi will be dressed in sound village uniforms, so that if the leaf were to counter attack, there will be no evidence that we were involved in the conflict, and the attack will go to the sound village, where there are no innocent lives to be lost. You can remain content in the thought that none of your loved ones will face any retaliation from the leaf village. After the preparations are made, we will attack in approximately two days from now."
"All right, I want everyone out of this room and ready to leave in less then six hours. We will disband into twenty groups that will then be separated into five sub groups each. Allowing everyone to move in teams of two with the exception of my caravan and several other small convoys all under the disguise of merchant carriages. This way we will be able to travel from the cloud village, through the thunder country in small groups and smaller pairings, so we do not gather any unwanted attention. When we meet later in the day, everyone will be divided into their groups and given a departure time from the village, so that everyone does not leave in one solid mass, as to worry the other villagers." The Raikage continues laying down the plans as all of his shinobi watch attentively, anxious to get underway. "And lastly . . . no one in this room is to discuss what has been talked about here today, and what will happen in two days time. As far as you are all concerned, this meeting never took place and the war will have never taken place." And with a wave of his hand the Raikage sends everyone off to prepare for the coming battle. "Dismissed!"
All of the shinobi then begin to file out of the massive hall, and all talking amongst one another about what is going to happen to them shortly. When the shinobi make it outside the hall, they are instantly silent, not telling anyone outside the palace what has just been discussed. Demonstrating their true loyalty to their leader.
The Raikage's son however, does not leave the palace hall right away and Seshen's face then fills with an angry and determined look as he remembers the young man he knew long ago. "Toshida . . . it's been a long time hasn't it? I find out that not only have you been hiding in the village of our former allies . . . but you have tried to assassinate my father . . . again!" Seshen's eyes then change from their standard color to the blistering glare of the Raigan eye, as his emotions begin to get the best of him. "The last time we met, I graduated . . . and you went home beaten and bruised. When we meet again . . . I will send you home . . . in a coffin!"
Meanwhile, in the hidden leaf village Tsunade has been looking around the Hokage building and around the village for the last few days, searching for Keinea who was engrossed in the third Hokage's journal for quite some time searching for the secrets of the death god technique without any success. When Tsunade had searched the office in which Keinea was working in, she found only a number of scrolls knocked to the ground and the light was left on as if Keinea had left abruptly. When Tsunade's search turned up no answers and no findings in the villages main center, Tsunade decides to personally search the outskirts of the village for the missing sin shinobi. After an hour or so of searching, she finds the shinobi.
Keinea is standing with his feet roughly a meter apart and his knees bent, with his back facing Tsunade. She approaches quietly, but making no real effort to keep her presence a secret. She notices that Keinea's right arm has its sleeve rolled up all the way to his shoulder and she can see the scared mark of the sealing technique that is used to tranquillize the dragon when it gets too strong for Toshida to control. As she moves closer, she can see from behind that Keinea has begun a seal sequence. Although she cannot make it out, the seals made are, snake, boar, ram, hare, dog, rat, bird, horse, snake and ending with a hand clap.
As Tsunade draws closer, a concerned look begins to form on her face and she slows her walking pace down substantially as she gets closer to Keinea. The technique he is performing as begun to disturb the surrounding air around the two and both Tsunade and Keinea's hair begins to blow violently in the wind. As Tsunade moves closer, she begins to see the outlines of something forming behind Keinea. From behind Tsunade can see a bright shock of long but spikey white hair forming and a figure beginning to form around the hair. She can then see a long white robe with only the white hair covered head and now dark greyish blue hands visible out of each arm of the robe. In one hand Tsunade can see a strand of bright red beads wrapped around the dark skin of the ominous figure forming behind Keinea. When the figure's head begins to turn around, Tsunade can see a large dagger being held in the strange creature's mouth and large red horns that protrude out of the large mound of white hair. A deep and evil laugh can then be heard echoing through area emanating from the strange figure as if straight out of a nightmare. The finished figure stands more then three times Keinea's size and looks onto him with a sinister look on its face, as six large white candle-like flames suspended in mid air appear around the large figure, and a translucent light blue outline of Keinea then appears as if crucified, in front of the large figure. Tsunade can only look on in horror as she then realizes . . . that this is Shinigami . . . the death god.
"Fuinjutsu: Shiki Fuujin! (Sealing Technique: Demonic Soul Seal) Keinea shouts out loud drawing Tsunade to move in front of the boy in order to get his attention.
"Stop it, are you insane! What are you trying to do?" Tsunade yells angrily at Keinea who does not answer. "Are you listening to me? There is no way that you can summon the death god and survive! Why are you are doing this!" Tsunade desperately tries to reason with shinobi who is no concentrating intensely on what he is doing with the sealing technique.
Beads of sweat roll down Keinea's face as he tries to maintain the technique. "Just leave me alone and let . . . me . . . try this. I think I can adjust the death god's technique to help my brother."
"That doesn't matter, you will kill yourself if you keep this up. Do you think that is what your brother wants?" Tsunade screams as she tries to plead with the zealous boy.
"I will do whatever it takes to help free my brother . . . whether or not I survive is irrelevant so don't interfere!" Keinea shouts and sheer chakra and the force of the death god's power hits Tsunade like a sledgehammer sending her tumbling into the air and hitting the ground hard.
Keinea then begins to start another seal sequence while still maintaining the death god's presence. Ox, Tiger, Snake, Boar, Monkey, Ram, Rat, Snake, Hare, Horse, Rooster, Tiger, Dragon, Dog, Keinea recites the seals out loud as he concentrates all of his chakra for this technique. Tsunade watches on in horror as the death god reaches out his hand and lines it up along the astral image of Keinea's soul lining up its own arm with Keinea's right arm. The seal on Keinea's right arm then activates and the arcane symbols begin to flood outward toward the palm of Keinea's hand. Keinea grimaces in pain and tries hard not to scream out as the seal then begins to change from the one used to seal the dragon before, and the seals flowing out of the seal itself begin to change as well into the same pattern that runs along the arms and hands of the death god itself. Keinea can no longer hold the pain in and he screams out loud as the death god begins morphing Keinea's entire arm to match its own.
"KEINEA! STOP IT OR YOU WILL KILL YOURSELF AND YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO HELP YOUR BROTHER!" Tsunade screams, desperate to knock some sense into the boy.
"GGGRRRRAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!" Keinea can only scream out in agony as tears roll down his cheeks. He looks at his changing arm and can see the seals beginning to finish their transformation as they return back to the initial seal in which the original seals came from. But it seems to be too late as Keinea begins to go limp and loses his concentration on the technique. The seals begin to change back into their original state and the death god begins to fade away.
"Dammit this has got to end here!" Tsunade then leaps to her feet and runs at full speed toward Keinea, determined to save his life. As she finally reaches the almost unconscious shinobi she tackles him to the ground completely destroying Keinea's concentration and dispelling the technique, causing the death god to disappear completely. She begins checking Keinea's vital signs just before the young shinobi passes out.
"You . . . had . . . no right to . . . interfere." Keinea mutters just before he loses consciousness.
Tsunade picks the boy up and slings him over her shoulders in a fireman's carry and begins muttering to herself, "Stupid boy . . . you stupid . . . stupid little boy!" Tsunade then moves as fast as she can back to the village and to the hospital where she would later successfully treat Keinea's injuries.
In the northern regions of the cloud village Kakashi and Toshida are nearing their destination, having found an eery feeling lingering all around the area as it has been completely void of all troop movements.
"This is strange Kakashi. I haven't felt a single patrol or even a stray shinobi in the area ever since our encounter with Seshen last night. And he left the area in a hurray and was headed back to the village. I am not sure but I think something is up." Toshida says as he continues leaping through the air and trees on his way to his birthplace.
"I am inclined to agree with you. I don't think that all of the shinobi of this village would just return home all at once unless there was something big planned. Perhaps there is some kind of operation in the works."
"Perhaps you're right." Toshida says, as he leaps through the trees before suddenly grimacing in pain as he clutches at his chest. He loses his concentration and his leg clips a tree branch instead of landing firmly on it, and he trips and tumbles to the ground before landing hard in a large snow drift. "Dammit . . . not now . . . shit this is not good." Toshida mutters to himself as he continues clutching at his chest.
Kakashi lands in front of Toshida with a kunai at the ready as he knows that Toshida's pain is caused by the dragon. "We have to keep moving. You are going to need a treatment soon."
"How did you know Kakashi?" Toshida continues clutching at his chest as he rises to his feet, out of breath and slightly bruised from his fall.
"I was able to sense a quick impulse of immense chakra coming from you just before you fell. I figured it was most likely the dragon beginning to stir. You do realize that I have orders to eliminate you if you become too much of a threat to contain." Kakashi says as he readies his kunai in front of him.
"Don't worry Kakashi. I understand your commitments. But it isn't all that bad right now, we are just getting close to the village and the beast knows it. It is starting to react . . . considering that I am bringing it home. It knows what I know."
The two then continue on their way to the village moving through the trees and the snow drifts until they notice at one point, all the snow on the ground just discontinues and cannot be seen on the ground. The trees then stop growing and a large mountain top appears in front of the two, rising high into the sky and above the clouds. The two make their way up the steep mountain moving faster then any other shinobi could hope to. The two reach the top of the mountain and begin sliding down the smothered southern face of the mountain. When the clouds and fog and mist begin to clear a large open and barren wasteland becomes visible to both Kakashi and Toshida with the sky above the wasteland is riddled by ferocious and rolling storms with lightning rumbling and stalking across the sky that is as black as night in the middle of the day time. Kakashi looks on in disbelief while Toshida is branded by a humbled look of sadness.
He looks around the area before moving into it and says out loud, "Well then . . . welcome home I suppose."
(Continued in The Toshida Gaiden Chapter 8: "Night Of The Weeping Sins" To be posted soon.)
It has been six hours, and the cloud army has gathered just outside the walls of the hidden cloud village, ready to set off on their journey to the sound village before making their final preparations for the invasion of Konoha. Seshen Raiken finishes strapping on the remainder of his equipment as he makes his way to the Raikage who is at the front of the massive group.
"Father!" Seshen shouts as he closes in on his adopted parent.
"Ah, Seshen!" The Raikage says as a smile strikes across his face as he embraces his son. "I apologize for not greeting you as soon as you returned from your scouting mission, but this . . . undertaking has really kept me busy. I trust that everything went smoothly and that you finished up your rounds before I you had to return here?"
"Yes father, my team and I managed to cover more then a third of the northern countryside before we returned home. We made our sweep without incident . . . with the exception of . . ."
"I'm sorry Seshen, hold on a minute I am afraid I must address our forces here." The Raikage makes his way to the front of the grouping once again, leaving Seshen to fall back into the ranks.
The Raikage takes a quick stroll along the front of the ranks, followed by his personal bodyguards. "You have all been given your orders, and you have been giving your departure time and route. We have less then 24 hours to arrive in the sound village where the final planning phase of the attack will take place. I expect nothing more than what you have all given to me in the past . . . perfection! This mission is of the utmost secrecy and importance . . . execute it well. I want no mistakes in this campaign. Now, let us go!"
The Raikage's words send a cheer throughout the crowd of shinobi who all then take off at high speed, all in different directions, following their respective routes and departure times. The Raikage makes his way to the carriage that will take him to their destination as the rest of his caravan loads up and readies to depart. Seshen makes his way through the remnants of the large crowd as he tries to get his father's attention. He meets up with his father at the back of the carriage to the surprise and humiliation of the cloud leader.
"Oh Seshen I am sorry, I forgot. What did you need to talk to me about? And please be quick. We must be going."
"I wanted your permission father to finish up the last run of my patrol. We encountered something strange just before we had to leave and I just want to be sure that it was nothing to worry about."
"Although your commitment to your duties is commendable, I cannot permit one of my best soldiers to go off in search of something that may not even be a problem. I am sorry but I need you with my caravan. I want you to lead the second wave of our troops into the village. I need you to take part in this invasion. I cannot pull this off smoothly without your assistance Seshen. You know that!" The Raikage says sternly as he tries to understand the reasoning behind his son's request.
"I understand father, I have never broken a promise to you before and I swear that I shall return and meet up with your caravan within twenty-four hours." Seshen pleads.
The Raikage lets out a sigh as he looks around the area and tries to figure out what to say next. "Where is the last section of your patrol Seshen?"
"It is along the northern border and into the Raikou colony." Seshen says with a look of the utmost in determination.
"You mean the village of sin!" The Raikage exclaims, almost outraged by the request put before him. "That alone will take you almost twenty-four hours just to reach! How do you expect to make it back here in time, let alone meet up with my caravan?"
"Father, you know that with my jutsu I can make it there in less then half the time. And if I find no threats to deal with I can double back at twice the speed, and reach your caravan by tomorrow night. Please father. I just have a bad feeling about the area that I did not get to survey. I wish only to complete my duties."
The Raikage takes a deep breath as he looks into the young shinobi's eyes, filled with pride for his home land and dedication to his father. "Seshen, sometimes I wish that I had more shinobi like you. Your dedication is something that any leader would only dream of. I will grant you this request, but you must be back to rendezvous with our caravan by tomorrow night. At that point we will need all of our key players to be present for the final preparations to be made."
"Yes Father!" Seshen takes a bow before his father before turning around and quickly running north to get a head start on his father's caravan. When he reaches the northern border of the village. He slams his hands together in the seal of the tiger and readies his jutsu.
"Raikou Doutai" (Lightning movement) Seshen's body once again quickly disperses into sheer electricity and moves at incredible speed as he heads north toward the area of the previous nights disturbance.
Meanwhile, Keinea has fully recovered from his incident with the death god, with no real adverse side effects. However, with the Hokage and his teammates present, he must no explain his attentions to all of them.
"Well I suppose I have some explaining to do." Keinea says as he lets out a chuckle. He soon becomes unable to remain amused when no one else in the room is laughing and he finds himself on the receiving end of three unhappy glares.
"Just what the hell were you doing?" Maea erupts, "Tsunade-sama filled us in on your little experience with the death god, you know that you could have been killed? And if that were to happen, what would we do then? There would be no third person to help seal Toshida-sama if the dragon were to begin to take control, and how in the hell would I explain to him that while he was out of the village his little brother killed himself!"
"Toshida isn't back yet?" Toragai says in a surprised tone. "I thought he was supposed to be back yesterday?"
"He was supposed to be back yesterday." Tsunade interjects, "but the patrols along the thunder countries borders have been really tight as of late, likely do to what happened back in the wave country. Toshida and Kakashi then planned to change their route so that they would avoid most of the patrols and take a safe route to their destination. They should still be at least another day. Most likely two or three if they have to really search around for what they are looking for."
"Oh . . . well then. I guess that's understandable." Toragai says in a slightly nervous tone that is quickly dismissed as the interrogation of Keinea continues.
"Well Keinea, we're waiting. What do you have to say for yourself?" Tsunade says.
"My research into the third's journal's eventually led me to read about how the technique was designed, how it worked . . . even the hand seals were all in there. So I took the scroll to the outskirts of the village so I could study them without interruption and without distraction. After the first day I had a full understanding of how to use the technique. The only problem was that the technique steals and then seals the soul of the person it is being used on. When it is all finished, the seal is left on the user's body just before he dies. I don't want to kill my brother . . . and I don't want to die alongside him . . . I figured since the seal on that Naruto kid is so much stronger then the one on my brother, it might be possible to seal the dragon in my brother permanently but also tranquilize it in a way to the point that it will never wake up. And when my brother dies when he is an old man, then the dragon will die to." Keinea takes a solemn glance out the window as the thought of his brother even eventually dying is hard for him to think about.
"But how did you plan to do that without killing the two of you?" Maea asks.
"I was channeling the death god's ability through my arm and into the seal that we all bare. If I was able to mix and combine the power of the two of them, I may be able to simply lock my brother's seal using the death seal, sealing the dragon in him completely without having to remove his soul from him the process."
Tsunade looks on in awe and curiosity as the boy's knowledge of sealing jutsu is magnificent for any shinobi. "This boy . . . is incredible. To be able to understand the effects and processes involved in such a complicated line of jutsu as sealing techniques, and let alone the dangerous technique he has been delving into is unfathomable . . . especially for someone his age." Tsunade looks onto Keinea as he continues explaining his intentions. "This child, may be one of the most promising young shinobi in all of the five countries . . . it is his love for his brother that makes him so strong."
"So I just need to do a little more research and training and I am sure that I can make this work. It just hurts like hell . . ." Keinea looks to his arm that is still red and very tender, as if covered by a severe sunburn. "I had almost completed the technique and merged the two seals perfectly before I passed out. I just . . . I just need a little more time."
"Well Keinea," Tsunade says grabbing the attention of all in the room. "I can't allow you to risk your life for this plan of yours. You and I will continue to do our research into this technique, and now that you have a plan set out and you know how it has been working, let us find a way to make the technique work without putting your life and that of your brothers in jeopardy."
"All right!" Keinea shouts as he leaps up from his hospital bed. He starts getting dressed as the other three leave the room.
"Well I am off!" Toragai shouts as he heads down the hall with a boyish smile on his face.
"And where the hell are you going?" Maea asks sternly.
"Just going on one of my little strolls. I thought Toshida was gonna be back and me and him could do some training, but I guess I gotta find something else to do to kill the time!"
"Fine. But quit disappearing on us for so long, let us know what you are up to!" Maea shouts as Toragai disappears down the stairs.
"Well I should be checking in on another patient of mine." Tsunade says as she smiles from ear to ear. "Ino is being released today!"
"The girl that Toshida injured?" Maea asks.
"Yes. Her wounds on the outside of healed, but she will need to undergo some more therapy in order to heal the mental wounds that she suffered. I thought that her being allowed to do it around her friends and family back at home might make things go a little more smoothly for her. After all, I can't imagine that being cooped up in a hospital bed for a long period of time is the most mentally stable thing for someone to experience."
As Keinea finishes getting dressed, he leaves his hospital room behind him and begins following Maea, and Tsunade down the hallway. As they approach Ino's room, they can see Sakura, Shikamaru, Naruto and Chouji all leaving the room as Ino slowly makes her way out of her intensive care unit for the first time since the wave country. She moves slow and deliberate, her face still uncertain about all that is going on around her, and her eyes still remain slightly filled with tears as the nervousness she feels is still weighing heavily on her mind.
As the Tsunade, Maea, and Keinea keep walking down the hall way, they remain quiet so they do not startle Ino in anyway and they do not speak, as her recovery has been slow and deliberate. Chouji is surprise that she has begun to cower in a corner at the mere sight of someone unfamiliar. As the two groups acknowledge one, another Ino walks by Keinea who is at the back of the group. As she walks alongside him her shoulder brushes against his ever so slightly sending a shock up through her body and she stops immediately in her tracks. Her eyes are wide open with a shocking and horrified glare as something frightening is stirring in her mind.
In Ino's mind she can hear the echoing of voices crying out for help, full of sorrow and weeping, but no screams of pain as she has been accustom to hearing. Instead of the screaming and moaning, she can hear two phrases repeated over and over again by dozens of different voices. "Don't let go . . . set them free . . ." are the words echoing in Ino's mind. Chouji is quick to notice Ino's distress and comes to her aid embracing her firmly in arms that Ino has come to trust.
"Ino! What's the matter? Are you ok?" Chouji then turns his attention around to Keinea, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt as he stares angrily into his eyes. "What the hell did you do to her you son of a . . ."
"I-I-I didn't say anything to her. I didn't do anything!" Keinea pleads, worried about his own safety yet remaining sensitive to Ino's unfortunate disposition.
Ino drops to her knees and vomits on the floor as tears flow from her eyes yet again. The scene is too much for Chouji to bare and he readies his fist and sends it toward Keinea at a thunderous speed. Before the fist connects with what would be left of Keinea's head, Tsunade blocks the punch easily with her fist, bringing and end to the quick skirmish.
"That's enough Chouji! Keinea did nothing!"
"Then why is she like this again!" Chouji demands.
"Stop yelling! Your scaring her!" Shikamaru says sternly in an effort to end the quarrel.
Eventually all parties involved except for Keinea and Ino begin arguing amongst each other. Keinea reaches down to try and help Ino to her feet, but as soon as his hand touches her arm the thoughts and voices return louder then before, recycling their message over and over again faster and faster until Ino cannot take the psychic torment anymore and screams out loud bringing everyone to a dead silence. As Keinea tries to pull away and keep from touching the poor girl, Ino reaches out with both hands and grasps on to Keinea's wrist, pulling him to the floor in one jerk of her arms. She then looks down to Keinea, now back straight against the cold hospital hallway floor, her eyes still trembling with a terrified look in her face, she leans down quickly until her mouth is just an inch away from Keinea's ear . . . Now Keinea is the one that is frightened.
"Don't . . . let go . . . set . . . them . . . free . . ." Ino whispers into Keinea's ear sending chills up and down his spine. "Don't . . . let go . . . set them free." Ino continues whispering the haunting words into Keinea's ear getting louder and louder with every recycling of the phrase, until she is screaming at the top of her lungs.
Naruto and Chouji then grab a hold of Ino and return her to her hospital room, kicking and still screaming incoherently where unfortunately she must stay until her mental state stabilizes. Tsunade and Sakura help Keinea to his feet where he is shaken up but otherwise uninjured.
"What the hell was that!" Keinea asks, still panicking from the emotionally intense event.
"I-I don't know. She was doing so much better . . ." Tsunade says, finding herself at a loss for words. "Don't let go, set them free? What does that mean?"
"How the hell am I suppose to know? All I did was brush alongside her and she freaked out!" Keinea tries to calm down as the encounter with the delusional Ino has left him shaken and extremely agitated.
Sakura looks on quietly and concerned as she looks into Ino's hospital room where she has once again fallen unconscious. As she looks in the room, she can see Shikamaru and Naruto shaking their heads in confusion as neither know what to make of the situation. Meanwhile, she can see Chouji storming toward the door swinging it open in a rage as he looks on angrily to Keinea.
"Where is your brother?" Chouji asks angrily.
"He isn't in the village Chouji, him and Kakashi-sensei are out on a mission for the time being. There is no need to start anything here." Sakura says as she places a hand on Chouji's shoulder in what would be a vein attempt to restrain the angry behemoth.
"When he returns to the village . . . you make sure that he knows I am looking for him." With that being said, Chouji storms off down the hallway punching over a garbage can as he walks away.
"This is not a healthy situation." Maea says as she watches the scorned leaf shinobi walking away.
Meanwhile, Seshen Raiken has been traveling for two hours at his top speed through the area that his team was unable to finish searching through. He quickly notices tracks along the ground, and the snow on the branches has been disturbed in numerous places.
"So there was someone here. And they are heading west from here."
Seshen reaches the same mountain that Kakashi and Toshida reached only a few hours before, and begins to survey along the mountain side. He quickly activates his Raigan eye and begins to search the area with greater detail, looking for any possible energy along the ground. It is the first time that Seshen has ever seen the Village of Sin and he does not know of the difficulty inherent when searching through the Raikou colony, and he continues visually surveying the landscape. His view however, is easily distorted by the raging storms above him, making it hard for him to focus in on any one point of energy. With the continuous lightning strikes covering the terrain, Seshen's job only becomes harder and he begins to considers deactivating the eye. Before turning the eye off he notices to faint energy signatures radiating from roughly three kilometers into the colony. They appear only as small red dots amongst a sea of black, purple and blue, indicating to Seshen that the dots are radiating body heat and not energy from some other outside source.
"Well . . . well . . . well. What do we have here? Two little insects seem to want to move in uninvited into my home. Hmpf, cowards didn't even have the courage to use the front door, they had to sneak around the back!" Seshen broods quickly in his anger before raising his left hand into the air while making the seal of a half ram with his right hand.
"Raiton: Doudentai! (Lightning Element: Conductor) The sky above Seshen begins to swirl around and the storm begins to culminate heavier in a single point before a bolt of lightning strikes down from the sky and into Seshen's hand as it surges along his body electrocuting him momentarily before he focuses his concentration into the Raigan eye.
"If I can just use the Raigan to harness this energy, I should be at 100 for when I have to fight with them." The electricity begins to stop surging through Seshen's body as the Raigan eye has allowed Seshen to transform the energy of the lightning bolt into a tremendous amount of chakra to be used as reserves for Seshen. Seshen then leaps into the air as he speeds his way toward the two energy signatures.
"If it is you Toshida . . . there will be no one to stop me this time . . ."