A day had passed since Rōshi had set out from the village, masquerading his journey to the Tsuchikage as a training session alongside the Four-Tails. Ōnoki was a strong shinobi and a powerful leader, but he was as much of a fool as any other. It took little convincing for him to allow Rōshi to set out on his own; normally he would've placed members of the ANBU in the shadows to follow Rōshi, to report every single thing he did whether it was stopping for rest or bathing. The ANBU didn't know the word privacy, as far as Rōshi was concerned.
But today was different; there were no ANBU in the shadows. They may have been masters of infiltration, stealth, and cunning, but no man or woman rivaled a jinchūriki's sense of awareness. Rōshi wasn't sure what the Tsuchikage was up to, but for the time being, he would ignore it.
"So you're goin'?" a voice called.
"Yes," for some reason, Rōshi wasn't in the mood for conversation. Sadly, the Four-Tails was the type who didn't want to talk when you wanted to talk, but was talkative when you wanted to keep quiet. Rōshi figured he was the only shinobi in the world who had to deal with problems like this, but he kept quiet about it. "I want to see the boy."
"Haha!" the great ape laughed, although it was meant to mock Rōshi. "The second you step foot into that village, they'll have your head. Maybe then I'll be free, you're getting to old for the likes of me, The Great Sage Equal to Heaven-"
"Quiet down," Rōshi said with a stern face. The Four-Tails was boastful, more then Rōshi would ever be able to care for. He was always the quiet type, so the Four Tails fiery personality had become a thorn in Rōshi's side, as if the scorn of his fellow shinobi wasn't painful enough. The Four-Tails didn't speak anymore, and Rōshi wasn't certain how he felt about that.
The winds blew through the trees, whispering to each other the way nature does. He felt alone in the forest, without another human being in sight, or even the ANBU tagging close behind. For all it's worth, he used to enjoy the fact that the ANBU followed him. It made him feel secure, like a big brother watching over him. But Rōshi was older now, and disliked the idea of being "watched" like he was some little boy. He was many things, whether it was a man or a monster, but if one thing was certain it was that he was no boy.
A kunai skid past Rōshi's face, with a white tag tied to it. He was so preoccupied with his thoughts he had no noticed whoever threw the kunai, but before he could do anything, the explosive tag lit on fire and triggered.
BOOM!
The tag exploded, no more then a few feet away from Rōshi. A cloud of smoke enveloped him, and for a brief second he couldn't feel part of his body. It wasn't until the smoke began to part, that he was relieved to see his legs still attached. His clothing was burned, and his arm cut up from the bits of branches that exploded into him. Otherwise, he was alright. He took solace in the fact that a jinchūriki was stronger then the average man.
"You're a strong one, huh?"
Rōshi's eyes met with his attacker. His face was hidden behind a mask, yet he was no ANBU of Iwagakure. He wore a tattered cloak, and carried a katana over his shoulder. He saw a headband, hanging from the man's neck, but it didn't have any emblem. Who is this man?
Another kunai struck the ground in front of Rōshi, this one lacking an explosive tag. The kunai was different then most kunai; its blade was curved and glistened like it was wet. Poison, Rōshi was familiar with shinobi who used poison in the past. A dozen of them had, at one point, used the weapons on Rōshi himself. "You're from Kirigakure?" Rōshi knew the kunai design, having seen it used in the war. Some of the shinobi who were dispatched that far easy brought back kunai like these as trophies, from the shinobi that they killed.
"Observant, aren't we?" his voice was sharp, and it made Rōshi's blood boil. "I was just passing through, when I spotted you a few miles back. I knew right away who you were, Rōshi, and I plan on milking you for what you're worth."
Rōshi brought himself to his feet, ripping the kunai from the ground and holding it towards his masked assailant. He made sure not to touch the wet poison on the blade, keeping his hand tight around the grip. "What is a shinobi from Kirigakure doing all the way out here?"
"A little of this, a little of that," the man leaped down from the trees onto Rōshi's level. His hand was gently wrapped around his sword, and Rōshi could tell that the man was smiling behind his mask. The emblem of Kirigakure was imprinted onto the forehead of the mask, but a thin slash had been drawn across it. "Although these days, I'm more of a collector."
"Collector?" Rōshi asked, although he was sure he knew the answer. "Collector of what, pray tell?"
"Bounties..." the man disappeared instantly, leaving Rōshi alone once more. "And you, my friend, have a pretty damn high bounty on your head!" the man appeared from the shadows, katana in hand, aimed directly at Rōshi's back. The blade nearly tore right through Rōshi's breastplate, but he had jerked his body to the side, letting the blade bounce off the plate.
Rōshi thrust forward the kunai, hoping to catch the man with his own weapon. Just as Rōshi was to quick to get cut by the katana, his attacker was quick enough to grab Rōshi by the wrist befor he could land a hit. They had drawn themselves into a deadlock, Rōshi with one hand open and his attacker with two hands occupied. He folded his hand into a half-tiger seal, and felt his chakra swell in his mouth. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique," Rōshi's lips pursed and flames poured forward. They engulfed the masked man from head to toe, leaving Rōshi only the image of the man's long teal hair burning to ash.
When the flames stopped, Rōshi was holding a limp arm connected to a charred corpse. Was he that weak? Rōshi thought as he let the arm go, but he quickly saw his mistake. The limp had suddenly came back to life, having snatched the kunai from Rōshi's hand, it lunged and caught Rōshi right in the chest. His torso burned for a brief second, he could feel the poison spreading. His eyes looked up, and he could see the man alive and well, despite being burnt to death in Rōshi's arms only a few seconds before. "What are you?" Rōshi asked as his chest went numb.
"A monster..." the man said in a icy voice, before Rōshi blacked out.
Rōshi was alone with his thoughts now, unable to move from the poison. It had acted so fast, only a member of the Kirigakure ANBU could have devised a poison so fast acting and potent. Rōshi was certain that the man had died from the fire, yet he came back to life. A forbidden technique? It had to be... rumors had spread far and wide that the Second Hokage had mastered some forbidden technique that allowed him to bring the dead back to life. An evil practice... yet that man reigned as Hokage, for a second Rōshi forgot about the less than savory studies of his villages own Second Hokage who had created an array of techniques capable of destroying anything with the flick of a wrist. Rōshi never understood how men who did not regard human like as anything but sacred, could attain such powerful positions.
"Because it's the powerful who take control," the Four-Tails spoke. "If the Second Hokage and Second Tsuchikage were weak enough to get brought down by a simple poison, I doubt they'd have led an entire village without an uprising..."
"Must you mock me, even now?"
The Four-Tails laughed, his same mocking laugh. "Yes, because if you don't snap out of it soon you'll be dead in no time. If you die, who knows what's going to happen to me? On one hand, I could die and it will leave your village weaker and subject to the whim of the stronger villages or I can be set free and it would be on your hands that hundreds died and a tailed beast ravaged the country."
"And you find that hilarious."
"Yup!"
Rōshi frowned. "Give me some of your power, and I'll take him out."
The Four-Tails' brow furrowed, almost as if he was uncertain. "Don't think so, boy."
Rōshi wasn't in the mood to argue, but he did know a way to get back at this selfish excuse for a beast who lived inside of him. He looked towards the sea of fire beneath, and motioned his hand. The flames parted, and chains rose up, tightening around the Four-Tails before it could even react. Rōshi could see the rage in the beasts eyes, yet it could not move. "You're so content with being lazy, enjoy a nice relaxing swim." The chains pulled down, retracting into the sea of flames, pulling the Four Tails with it.
He was alone again, with his thoughts.
Then suddenly, Rōshi could move again. He curled his fingers, and then his toes. His arm twitched, and took a deep breathe of air. "Looks like the poison wore off," that same icy voice spoke from the shadows. Rōshi could see a figure step forward, wearing a long charred cloak that was tattered and worn far beyond its years. Rōshi's hands were bound and a sealing tag was placed against his chest. "Good morning, Rōshi."