I am actually a bit concerned that there are a few too many rough areas in the earlier chapters now, but it's even more problematic that - if I were to got back and knock each segment until it were 'just so' - I could end up undermining the entirety of the plot structure thus far. It's actually impossible to keep the entirety of a story on the forefront of its development. Going back once I've built the story several regions ahead has ended up being the best way to fuse insight with the old flaws.

I will always open the door to provide some troubleshooting for challenging - and potentially incongruent chapters (Looking at you now chapter four demographic.). I'm still new to this 'helm' that is writing stories, and I'm discovering many new and sometimes distracting mechanics for getting this stuff charted.

Ah well, didn't hurt to write off the author's notes at first. One step as it fares at a time.

===Preparation II / Supplementary arc===

(Land of the lingering souls - IMA: Era of fallout)

There is a creature of our land. A demon in other words. A sleeping tyrant. The last line of defense. A dream eater, devourer of seals, one which tears spirits from other worlds and casts them into the underworld where they are received as nothing less than the ultimate conflict.

Tarnisher, defiant, titan, draconian. A creature that forced out the very notion of tempting fate. For years lorded over our lands, stirred conflict, instigated wars and insurgence, wracked the balance of wealth and power and brought disaster upon the misfortunate.

As years became decades, It brought in it's wake a shadow of malevolence. An era of darkness was upon us. The gates to the realms of spirits closed, their influence brought to a standstill.

The ultimate law in our world, "One cannot kill / one cannot die." Became our living tomb. Those beyond us who could not curb the beast built up a mountain. A toxic rock that answered to no god. A noose that gave way to no end. A shroud to no avail. The beast… Its roar, it's strength did fade, but then it's cries resounded with each ray of light cast into our world. A wolf at the hint of moonlight. A heartless silence fell upon the land. A deadzone forged to bring about resignation.

Perhaps this creature of utter spite was not the ultimate foe after all. Something, truly beyond death ruled as our overlord. We fought, we raised our voices to breach the armor, to pry loose the shadow. In the end, none of us were strong enough to reach that world beyond. Our hero's vanished from the streets. The few actions of compassion were fit from the mouth of paupers. Our kinsman shifted like dust in the wind.

Festivals were held honoring the light. We felt them, and held our own, but they were not heeded by the shadow, and in the end, it was not our light.

The beast's roar is a reminder of all that we had lossed. That which we had hoped for. Gradually, we began to echo it's cries as well. The makers beyond the veil noticed this rebellion. They would tighten the reins and change the clout over the veil. The beast would suffer.

But. It would never. Stop.

Something man cannot hope to tamper with. Something to fear worse than death, for death could not become the beasts mourning. Torture, war crimes, black sheep, tragedy. These things became a mantra. Again we cursed our binding. Few had any qualms to who our enemy was now. Several generations had worked their hardest to secure a foothold. The land was too damn shallow, and the stone would not yield.

They threw another cage to contain the beast's musings. It had become too much of a hemorrhaging circus, and fewer and fewer were buying in. Against the sky of sludge, that prison no longer seemed a hell on earth. It was a poor joke. A paper cell, and it crashed a weaker footnote than any humiliation before it. Robbed of it's prisoner as much as we were.

By then, the era was almost over. When at last it ended, the murk continued for three years, and through that, one last play at honor was reduced to a crumbled ruin, crushed beneath the weight of the walking dead. There was nothing left work defending out there.

Challenging rumor alone we finally managed to overturn the cauldron. Swearing off the vile stain on our history, and resolved to the terms laid before us.

The gauntlet fell. We waited. The supposed darkside to the miasma never showed its face. As the shadows thinned, the wail of the demon went unheard, and from then on we washed our hands of the creature. Little did we know then the true scope of our sacrifices.

"Airwave: Hawking spears!"

Wind howled past her ear like a gunshot as Tracy rolled forward. Black markings fanned from various canisters on her right. Over her cloak, she now bore the dust canisters that once resided on my hip. Her specialty, Elemental resources. She can summon them similar to jade release, although what element and how quickly is dependent on the environment and or the chakra nature being deployed.

Weaving as S, she drifted to the side and set her palm to the ground, "Terraform: Shard flow vortex!" The affected ground darkened like shadow thin spurts rushed along it's berth before a conical spear lurched forward.

It wasn't low, nor a simple task to deflect. I almost managed to fight one off when another blocked my vision. By back pressed against the underside of another spear. I'd been… surrounded. Vortex, right."

Tracy bit out a curse bringing a foot down on the shadow before her, 'Avalanche: Iron fist!' "Too easy for you huh?"

I could hear the earth shifting. The cones were already edging to pounce. I focused energy to my fist and thrust them toward the ground, 'Projection: Lock object.'

The crimson earth rolled with me inside The four spear forming a wave as their tips rolled about to pin themselves down.

"Tch, Cheater."

The binding held for a few seconds. Only giving any sign of change when she wove through a few half seals. The gaps in the structure widened but before they could be tightened they were wrenched apart.

I landed in a crouch a few feet away. A backlash of air condensing the ground as I rose to my full height. The medallion hung over my chest, and in the same place on my back, my crest in it's three colored parts, "Well you could just miss. I'm beginning to think you'd be perfectly fine with a cheat you could put in their place."

Tracy raised one more eyebrow than usual. Behind in the treeline, a sputter sounded before being met with a thumb and thrashed bushes, "Shut up."

"HEY! Back off the venting!"

I cracked knuckle sets twice on both hands before the thump of air rustled my clothing in turn, "Just an inkling. You could impress me instead."

Shade bled across the field as black writing… equipped with spikes, circled around like vultures. Inwardly I sighed, 'Well that will do…' while defending with all but my tongue in play.

Not long after my body was recovered from that (keep your bets), the three of us were making our way toward yet another of the leaf's training grounds. It helps when you're a passable sensor, but we really couldn't be super choosy when it came to cutting loose. Each of us had a part to play in covering our tracks.

Ago ran ahead to match pace with me. His right forearm and hand were dominated by a gauntlet. A metal box and pulley system that linked to chains, one to each finger, and linked to plated rings between the first and second knuckle. On his back… it was never safe for me to assume what exactly he's packing, but there's regularly a 'blade' of sorts in the mix. A hilt and leather wrapped steel. That much I can attest, "Are you going to address the elephant you left up in the shoulder strap? Some greenhorn could find themselves answering for that."

I gave a sideways look to answer, "I should hope someone hasn't, But I have a pretty good idea that this is a mess I will have to deal with sooner than later."

Tracy snarled out, "If you let that get anywhere near your poster child, I will wring you out until there's something I can share with the sannin. Each. Of. Them."

I faced back and looked ahead, "Duly noted. Note to self: build a wall around the country."

Tracy overshot, he chest plowed by a branch. She glared up, "You… Troll? Scuse me if you think that's funny."

Ago sent me a look.

I shrugged, "Hey, it takes a special kind of idiot to invoke a stonewall in this era. There are capable people out there, and equally effective methods. That…" 'Just wasn't.'

We took off again and Ago shook his head, "I forbid you to refer to any more politics. Be it this world or the next."

… I did check his face, but only for the novelty. I'm really beginning to think those fair terms, "I reserve the right to perspective, but I will take that under heavy advisement."

We stayed in formation for some time, blurring through the treetops. Not long after the village border loomed overhead.

"Oi, kid. How are we getting past this thing?"

The barrier kept track of any unauthorized access. No matter how many eyes we managed to settle, eventually there would be a string of notices regarding our visitations. For the time being, we couldn't afford to be crossing the threshold frequently.

"We don't. Hunker down and get your medium on. For now, we treat this as a jar of beans."

"The more I think about it, the less I like the idea of what you'd be doing with these cheat powers of yours."

'Tracy, would you really want to go over the ominous scenario now?' "I'll take care of firewood. Ago, you're on security detail. Tracy, You'll be on essentials, but focus on establishing our position for the time being. This close to home, we're using a proxy. If they have platoons crawling over it like ants, I want this to be the one stone they needn't read into."

Tracy's raised a single eyebrow, "We're going full espionage on this place? The wonderworks?"

I've set my sights on this place, and I'm not letting go. Root will stand out like a fanclub by comparison, "Oh yeah. By the next era phase, I want to be ready to smuggle a rocket if the need arises."

The two shared a look and Ago grunted, "You're serious?"

"As the threat in tea country."

Tracy scoffed, but there was a knowing smile. As she spoke it became sinister, "Alright then. Hold your breath fellas. A ticket to the infinite city is not cheap nor easy to comeby."

"Arigato. Ago, everything needed to keep this place secure and immune to the outside world, you will have it."

"Alright. Just don't expect us to lock ourselves in a concrete bunker."

"I trust you both. Just stave off an impromptu reckoning."

Ago lowered his head as we alighted on the ground, fastening his bootstraps and checking the fiber on the ground, "You're gonna take a hike in the near future?"

I looked to Tracy as she surveyed the area. She held my gaze for a moment and nodded sternly, "Alright. Do what you need to do, and stay out of trouble. You're a piece of work if you have to drag us into it."

I softened at her assent and turned to form a running start, 'Dang. Either you really love your boring, or I just won the mood lottery.' "Stay safe you two."

"Godspeed."

The grin almost spit my face. A thump and a breeze wafted across the forest floor. Accurate in the very sense of the word. Hills and bluffs stitched past like heartbeats. In moments, half of the land of fire had vanished in stride. A felt a familiar sensation of prickling in my legs during the last moments of the trip. My foot was placed in a shallow puddle.

The scalding water flashed into the sky in an instant, pulled there by a power vacuum, and at the same moment, hardened into half seed of frost. Supposedly objects stripped from time have some frigid quality to them. Personally, I think there's something in the water.

I took note to look into it later before striding into the shore. The shallow extended well into the distance as it were fed by a series of springs. My target kept well away from such luxuries. Time to see how much damage I had caused.

It was bad. As bad as I had ever imagined, and no less realized, except that the situation was not content to remain speculation. As a baseline, shinobi were taken prisoner. In a single camp I could see more than one hidden affiliation, and yet never enough to constitute a full deployment.

My right hand shook. Dismay and anger wagering on a temper that was entirely inadequate. Rage would not bring back those who were killed in the line of duty. I felt the snake delusion making it's promises. Not all held comradery in as high regard as the leaf. There may have been a retreat.

That same snake was squashed by those same two. I harbored that notion, but it made no less treacherous the acts that brought this on as an end. These people, these scum, had gained enough skill and tactic to wrest ninja from the line of duty.

I stowed my rage. Reciting the same promise I asked of my comrades. All of a sudden, the calm of a predator swept over me with the excitement of a pure challenge. My lord, these phases are fickle, and I feel for the poor sap I confront next.

A shinobi force would not save these prisoners. Only change hands. It would take time to gauge the structure of the monster I left behind. That's not to say I couldn't become a grain of hope. This time, I would introduce my ace. And this time, when I struck, I would not let go.

This meant war, and I would own up to that to the fullest. I would need help. And not just the ally under my command. But this mistake… No. It's far too soon to bring that kind of power to bear. I would do more with less. But I wouldn't let myself succumb to folly on my part. Shifting the cloth over my arms, I set a ringed strap over my wrist and said a silent prayer.

Time to stalk the hell out of these… these…

Invaders

===Chapter end===

Oh boy. This promised to become a fourth chapter. Preparation is still a ways to go before the next arc, and… considering that the current holiday snuck up on me, I'm not sure it's safe to say when the next major arc comes up.

Ah, who am I kidding. I've just resolved to make this mission a whole thing haven't I? Ah… Well… We'll see. The… ehem, "Red" arc will have to wait. Here's hoping I don't get too carried away, but… I guess you are here for a story.

So let it begin.