Step into the Light (Kozai, Makussu)

Kasai walked through the streets, staring dead ahead. He did not know where the man would be, but he saw clearly where the boy he thought he had killed was, and made a bee-line for him. He assumed that if the two were not together, then Makussu must at least know where Kozai was. He wondered why such a town would be destroyed. It was a shame, really. 
"Wind, wind, blowing strong, how I thought to have killed you. Wind, wind, fighting on, I give my life to you. Taken it I thought I had, wrong I am, sorry to be. Come out, come out, where ever you are."
He saw a large building in front of him, and his friend was inside.
"Come now, don't be shy. Step into the light."

Okay....so something was really off it seemed today. Maybe it was that shake he had earlier? The bubbles in the bubble tea did look the wrong color...but nevertheless he was very confused. How was it possible Kasai was in Iwa? Unless....Youka has brought him there. Popping his head out of the entrance of the Tsuchikage office he would Notice Kasai and his insane poetry almost instantly. "Well, you kind of blow this wind to the mountains I suppose, but that doesn't matter really. It was nice to see that Kasai was unharmed as well, but the fact that he was probably meant that he too would be playing messenger for the day. "So I'm guessing that your looking for Kozai?," he would begin with a question to Kasai to see if he was correct in the boys intentions. If he truly was than he would beckon him to come as he strode into the office once more requesting a meeting with the godforsaken evil secretary. Meanwhile, he would be on the lookout for any kind of creepy janitors. He honestly didn't want to go through the whole "Process of Kozai" again. Huh, he should get that copyrighted.

(TWC:200)

"And it is such that kindness is rewarded with death, and empathy with mere scorn." Kozai shut his book, sighing. The same philosophies, in and out. The same old chant over and over again. Kozai was more devoted to fact than anything else. It had been ever since he had awoken from his sleep, no, even before the cold had taken him. He had been like this almost all his life, only taken things when he was extremely sure that they were fact, and not merely a whim of fiction or fantasy. And now... now things were about to get moving.
He was on the roof, making his chakra signature completely invisible, when he saw the two boys walking into the office. Well, well, he recognized Makussu. The other boy... ah, Kasai, his team mate. He could use these two... from Makussu's memories, he had a sampling of what they could produce, but it was far from what he had hoped. In that case, he should definitely see what they could do that had not been displayed in the memories he had stolen. Also... where was the third team member? He had yet to see him, and was expecting to find him in the village. If not, well, that was fine too.
Using the transformation jutsu as the boy's approached the office building door, he would toss aside the book and leap off of the roof at maximum speed, landing gently two meters behind Kasai. The form he had chosen would be one he had used before, a red-haired girl with a skull-shaped hairpin. The form would be scantily clad, having some very short denim shorts (hehe) and a flame-patterned bra, among other accessories. His height would be about an inch shorter, but that was all very well and good. He remembered having made fun of Agito and his colleagues with this form, and he looked forward to doing the same to Kasai and Makussu... with slightly different intentions. Youka brought these two through hell, and Kozai would see what that had done to them. Was there still humanity left inside them? Or perhaps, it had been burnt away... Kozai had lost his a while back, but after consuming Avarice (and having it consume him), he had regained some of it. It was, as Agito so aptly put it, "that spark in his heart". However, this was not the time to show such compassion.
As he landed behind them, he would call out in that cheerful, girly voice, "Hi there, boys! You can't just get into the kage building that way. Oh, whoops! Where are my manners? Me name's Yoko, and I'm the new secretary! If you wanna get to the kage, you've gotta get past me!" Kozai would be laughing internally. It had been a while since he had had this much fun with underlings. The girl would put up her fists in a boxing fighting stance, something that had bored Kozai since he had been training his taijutsu. It seemed that he could get some excersize out of these two. Of course, at this point, his chakra signature would be revealed at this point, but there was no point in flaring it. He assumed that neither of the boys had memorized his chakra signature, seeing as neither of them had met him for an extended period of time. If one of them had the capability to analyse his chakra so quickly, then he would have to be impressed. However, he didn't seem to have an observation of such and such an ability in the memories that he had taken before. Well, this would have to do for now.
Internally, however, Kozai was roaring with ambitious laughter.
It seemed to him that Kasai could rhyme well. A poet ninja... he hadn't seen or heard of too many of those. Perhaps one a long time ago...? He wondered if that had any kind of linking to the boy's history or possibly... a bloodline? He had not yet completed the modifications on his mask, so he had not yet gained any kind of DNA scan property. However, the Makussu boy could be interesting. If anything, he could always just use The Seed in order to discover what kind of properties they had.
At this point, the door of the kage office would still be closed. If the boys opened it, he would have to attack them. He was sure that he would be able to get to them quickly, as leaping toward them and grabbing them would be so simple. However... he had to be careful. Makussu's paper was nothing to be scoffed at, and Kasai... well, he was a fire user. How useless against Kozai, seeing as he himself was a dedicated water user, and had been for a very long time... ever since he had turned up in Iwa in the first place.
By the way... the form he used would have no headband, and Hyakkasou, which looked more red and flashy in this form, was buckled by his side. Hehehe.... he would just have to see how this went. Of course, he could always use body flicker or ice mirrors, but those were a bit extreme. Especially the latter, as he had rarely used it before, but he could resort to it if need be. And any chakra he lost could be replenished by merely touching the children... well, that sounded really weird indeed.
[WC 1000, -5 AP from Transformation Tech, 675 remaining]

Kasai watched as the mark of his friend got closer. He wondered why Youka had let him live, but was glad that he had. 
Watching as his friend stepped out, he seemed unaffected by the fact that Kasai had almost killed him, but this too was a good thing.
"Thought to have spilled your blood, almost did, wind, had the demon not intervened. Though the wind would cease to blow, yet here it is before me. Happy sight, a glad thing to know, that it was not to the after life that you did go. Perhaps my foreseeing was off as naught, though gladly I should hope so." 
He listened to his friend speak more.
"Yes, this Kozai I was sent to find, sent to seek, and sent to tell. It seem this whole village will burn in hell, though I know not why. They see us as having strings on our arms, as puppets, sickening. No life left to live but theirs, I see."
He walked with his friend towards the large building, his head tilted slightly to the side, walking loosely, as if a puppeteer had let go of the strings. 
Kasai heard someone land behind them, but did not turn until she started talking. It was a girl, wearing some very strange outfit. Perhaps she thought others would find it attractive. Not Kasai however, the word did not exist to him. He listened to her as she claimed to be the secretary, and then...seemed as if she wanted to fight them?
"What you stop is what he seeks, the man within that house," he said softly, before speaking up more. 
"A message is carried here, within these -we trust her not- hands, one he has heard before. Yet, as a reminder I come, to speak again, to be sent on our -she hides, chakra sign- way. Step aside, I ask of you, I wish not to fight. This -remove her mask- is of importance, or so this one has been told. Let us in -she hides, she hides- to speak with him, do not allow this day to grow old."
While speaking, Kasai would have a spasm of very quick and slurred speech, seeming to only be for himself. He glanced at his friend, seeing if he could speak more clearly. This on set of the fire had been slowly depriving him of any sense, and some other part within him seemed to be talking. It was strange. 
"Speak, friend, your tongue is more common," he would say to Makussu.
There was something strange with the girl, he knew. However, he did not know what. While her appearance seemed that she would be easy enough to beat in a fight, he wanted to avoid killing another who was no threat.

(to 48, or to not? That is the question, and the answer will come pretty soon)

(alrighty, Makussu convinced me, 48ing)
Kasai slowly began to chuckle to himself as the girl seemed to have poofed out of existence.
"Leave -leave- . We will decide the future -ourselves, a future awaits- ." Tilting his head to one side, Kasai heard the voice again, shuddering and cracking its way through his own voice. It lead him on, it showed him the way.
"We will go -where we please- , not to place chosen -but where we choose ourselves-."
Kasai glanced at his friend to see what fate would befall this girl.

(No, simply said it was an option but whatevs)

So apparently Yoko had decided that the exact moment that he had decided to attack was good to space out. Well, maybe not one of the best choices in history. Since no resistance was put up the rasengan hit and sent her through the door behind her and getting her knocked to the floor, because thats kind of what happens when you break doors. He of course would follow her in quickly, going to disarm her of the sword at her belt to at least lessen the danger the secretary was supposed to be before giving the office around him a cursory glance. Strange thing was, there was no Kozai that could be sensed. "Alright lady, I want answers.," he would state while keeping the strange sword aimed at the girl. "Where is Kozai? Why would a secretary lie about his location if he already knows me?" Oh yes he was definitely a bit more than pissed off by now, although it was warranted seeing as the harlot below him had tricked him. If she had given him the answers A.K.A changed back out of her form and into Kozai again he would back off but if not he would remain oblivious and so...a few cuts to the arms for "incentive" wouldn't be that horrible, right?

(300/390 left)

Ah, damn. It was the season of thanksgiving or some such shit in another world, where people go and visit their ailing relatives and have fun with their friends and be generally busy and occupied. However, It seemed that Kozai had spaced out for a second, a valuable second indeed. This was definitely not something he would normally do normally. Oh well, just something else to have to deal with. However, as Kozai went sailing through the air, he regained focus. Ah, these boys were annoying. It appeared that the Makussu boy had a paper form... how interesting THAT would be to dissect indeed.
Now, he had several options. He could use suidanha, but how effective would that be against paper? From what he could tell from Makussu's memories, it was pretty versatile stuff. That too, was annoying as heck. No, using suidanha here was quite out of the question. Unless, that is, he were to use it on the boy Kasai, who had been standing there, doing... well, nothing much. Ah, sneaky child, he would have to be both commended and punished. Commended for his wise tactics (and for his poetry), and punished for thinking he could avoid Kozai by doing this.
As his body collided with the door, his girly lips would twist into a cruel sneer that seemed to be at a dissonance with his current form. He hoped, no, he was certain that this would not give away his identity. Hmmm... he could use the hiding in camouflage jutsu to run and hide... but it was too difficult to pull off and maintain, and would probably blow his cover. Yeah, he would definitely put using that jutsu at the bottom of his list. Well, that left him with only a few other options, only a couple of which were at all pleasant.
He calculated Makussu's power... it had been a mistake to show Kozai the body flicker technique. Using that, and estimating the force of that clearly chakra based attack, Kozai was now able to confirm with a good degree of certainty that Makussu was a bit more than half as powerful as Kozai himself. In that case, if this was a one on one fight, Makussu would already be in checkmate. However, that was not e case. What made this fight even worse was the fact that both of these boys were sent from Youka. That meant that he would not be able to just up and kill them. Well, it looked like this would be a great test for him as well. Combat could be about discipline and restraint as well, Agito had told him. Yes, but as true as it was... he could not be defeated by these mere boys! A bit of pride, perhaps? No... this was duty. Internally, Kozai wondered what the life of a missing ninja would be like. Freedom, no obligations, no ethical bars on research... it felt like a sort of dream to Kozai. But as of right now, none of that mattered.
He could, of course, use his medical ninjutsu, although most were defensive or supplementary in nature. Chairs scalpel, however... that would be good, but it might require the use of some extremely high-speed movements. Movements that he was not prepared to make. Also, he was wary of coming in close contact with Makussu... it would probably result in a lot of pain. He would also, in this period of time, have to collect Makussu's DNA... that stuff could be useful if used correctly. That was redundant, he knew, but no matter. Regardless,medical techniques, at least offensively,were ccurrently out of the question.
Now, he could use taijutsu, but of what use was that to him in the middle of the air, as there was really nothing yet to block or counter, much less anything for him to push up against? No, he could not launch any of these taijutsu attacks effectively... yet. He would have to make it so that he could indeed, sometime soon. But as of the current state of things, he only had a few options left. He could just give up and lose, and let the boys pretend they had won... but as fun as it was, Kozai simply didn't feel like it. Indeed... he had just thought of a way to win. Just before Makussu entered the doorway, which was now wrecked, Kozai would use certain-kill ice spears to generate 9 spears. The first would be created horizontally, growing from the inner side of the doorway on Kozai's right. This properly-timed spear, being at maximum width, the width of the inner door frame edge, would pierce through Makussu's body, skewering his stomach and liver if he had one in his current state. This spear would extend all the way until it pierced the opposite edge of the doorframe. The next six would be 6 inches thick at their base, and be located in two rows of three, 10 inches in front of and behind the doorway each, that way if Makussu were to escape, at least one of those 6 would block or pierce him. These would be grown to 20 meters, and be placed 1 inch apart from the two and tilting upwards and piercing the building so as to trap the boy. The next two would be grown directly beneath Kasai's insteps, coming upwards from the ground and measuring 2 inches at base and 5 feet in height. These would skewer Kasai's feet, preventing him from moving.
At this point, Kozai would be reclining on his back, propped up by his elbows on the ground 5 meters away from the door frame and Makussu, who would be 2 meters in front of Kasai. Assuming his attacks (made at all possible maximum speed, power, and health) were successful, Kozai would stand up and dust off his slim hands and speak.
"Oh, you naughty boys. I don't think Lord Kozai would want to see you in your state, not at all."

(Twc 2000, 635 AP remaining from certain-kill ice spears. Please do not 48hr me again.)

(my apologies, will not happen again)
Kasai, watching his friend charge the girl, sighed to himself.
"Must more bloodshed upon this ground be resolve for all the world? Fall not to the path of demons, friend -remember the light-," Kasai said, stepping behind Makussu as he charged the girl. 
Kasai did not rush into the building after his friend, and the girl that had been knocked in, and he sensed something strange. 
Perhaps it was in the way she fell, or the expression on her face, but something was not correct.
"Fall back friend, the world does not set itself right in this time," Kasai said to Makussu, taking yet another step backwards. 
Kasai, honestly, was very, very sick of fighting and killing, and violence, and wished to have nothing to do with what was about to play out before him.
Glancing one more time as Makussu approached the doorway, Kasai turned and walked to his left side, towards the side of the building. 
This was around the time of when Makussu would cross the door frame, and the ice spears would form. Hearing the strange sound coming from the door way, Kasai knew it would be the retaliation. More violence, of course, as there seemed no other way in the world to resolve things.
Turning, this is when Kasai would feel and hear the spears surging up from under his feet. Of course, not willing to be pierced, Kasai would jump backwards as fast as possible, a millisecond slower than the spears, having only the soles of his feet sliced, before aiming to land a safe distance behind, very painfully on his feet.
If successful, Kasai would simply stare at the ground for a moment, looking at the spears, as the small trickle of blood dripped down them, before looking back to the building, and raising his hands to his chest, pressed together.
"What a world -a sickening one- that such is common. Elements thrown at will. Granted to those, any who wants, be they good or evil. Why oh why -end it soon- must this world be, without its peace or tranquility?"
He growled, watching the spikes launch all over the place in the building, and wondered what had befallen Makussu. He was half tempted to burn the whole place down, but that would make him a hypocrite.
So, instead, hands at the ready for any signs, Kasai sat down on the ground behind the spears that nearly destroyed his feet for good.