Decent Food: Yurei meets Sakana (IO)

Yurei smiled at Sakana’s interest. “His name’s Damon. He’s a pretty cool guy, but he’s in a similar situation as you.” The Uchiha stepped off of his stool, walking onward to the exit of the shop. He laughed at Sakana’s paranoia, fanning it away dismissively with his hand, but then he chuckled again. “Well, we’ll just have to see how you compare to Komon then! There’s a jutsu I was wanting to test out, too, so let’s go see whatcha got, ok?”
Yurei exited the ramen shop, presumably with Sakana trailing him closely behind. He’d go on to talk about the village, providing tips that Sakana probably already knew. “Welcome to Hoshigakure!” Yurei would say, stretching his arms up to the sky. He’d smile brightly as he walked on, allowing the hot sun to bathe his body. “The City Blessed by the Stars. And abused by one really big one twelve hours a day,” Yurei laughed. The pale genin pointed to the various paths leading out from the marketplace in the city square. “That leads to the water gardens, very beautiful; you should check them out. Over there is the housing district. That’s where I live. Palace is that way. I’ve never actually seen it, but I’ve heard it’s beautiful.”
Yurei walked through the sandy streets as they entered the ‘shinobi district’ as he had called it, the seemingly lifeless area of Hoshigakure where the Shinobi Academy and the training grounds were located. “The training grounds are just through here,” Yurei said, walking about somewhat playfully. “Be careful. The villagers throw a lot of trash here, and even the most experienced shinobi can trip over an elusive can,” he chuckled, prowling about. Yurei had tried to keep a playful demeanor about him. The past weeks had been rough, but he found it easier to get by if you focused on the good rather than the bad, and, now, his dreams and goals were the perfect fuel to push him forward.

WC: 1363

Sakana would nod as Yurei told him of the other shinobi named Damon. The Meijin would follow in the other boy’s footsteps. As the Uchiha said he wanted to learn a new jutsu Sakana’s mind began to wander, what kind of jutsu? Would it be harmful? After all the albino kid never verbally dismissed the belief that he wasn’t trying to spy on him.   “Yeah, it’s all good with me. Do you mind me asking what you specialize in?” Even if this kid was bad he had to play along for now, learning small bits of information along the way.
 
Together the two would walk through the village, with Yurei acting as a tour guide. Most of the stuff Sakana already did know but it was better to let the kid have his moments. At the mention that he had never seen the palace, the genin’s eyebrows would go up. If he had never seen one of the focal points in the city he obviously had no interest in exploration. The Meijin would reply, “Not much of an adventurer, are you?”  
 
He would grow tired as they walked in the blazing heat. Yurei would continue to speak, eventually telling him to be careful where he stepped because they were walking through, a dirty area. The Uchiha tried to sound happy as spoke but it seemed to Sakana he was just trying to mask another expression. Normally he would try and play amateur psychiatrist but since he didn’t really know the kid that well he would leave it be for now. He would just respond with a plain, “Thanks for the heads up.”  
 

WC: 1661

Sakana had asked about Yurei’s specializations, to which Yurei replied with a sly smile. “Genjutsu,” Yurei said, looking around the empty shinobi district. “I want to be able to put the radical villagers in an illusion that makes them understand what us shinobi have to go through,” Yurei replied somberly. “You see, Hoshigakure’s really different. At least from what I’ve heard. A lot of the villagers hate us, and it’s our job to protect them. There’s a lot of hate and fighting, but I think I can finally put an end to it, ya’know?”


Yurei took a deep breath. “It’s my goal to become the Hogokage of the village. That’s a more recent thing, but, well, what better way to reach people than to be amongst them as their leader. I really believe that I can bring both people together and be a great leader for the village. Well, at least a more personal leader. I’ve never actually seen the Hogokage, but I definitely think I can bring hope and understanding to everyone in the village. Maybe then I can stop all this needless fighting and death. I want to be a true, real leader. For everyone.” Yurei smiled, exhaling. “But yeah. I didn’t mean to drag it on, but that’s why I specialize in genjutsu. It has a way of changing people, ya’know? More than any fancy ninjutsu.”


The Meijin then commented on his never seeing the palace, to which Yurei replied with a small shrug. “The Hogokage’s not as active in the village as I’d like. And with my focus on the people and my training, I don’t really have any reason to go looking around. It’s a waste of time.”

WC: 1045

When asked in what field he specialized in Yurei would respond with genjutsu. That was an rather odd one. Sakana did not personally know anyone who specialized in the visual arts, meaning it would be interesting to see the guys skills. But then he started going off on how he wanted to put all of the villagers who didn’t agree with the shinobi into a gen to make them understand what they went though. The Meijin would let out a small laugh as he said, “Little much don’t ya think? If you want my advice, don’t try and force people to see your point of view, never works, heck it’ll probably even make it worse. No, if you want people to agree with you, maybe try more civil methods, form a committee, start peaceful rallies, I don’t know…. His voice trailed off for a moment, when he recollected his thoughts he would end with, “But yeah power to you if you succeed.”
 
Now it was time for the genin to be further surprised as the Uchiha talked about wanting to become Kage of the village. Very big goals, the best part of it was Yurei had never even seen the current Hogokage, he obviously had a log way to go if he was to ever get where he wanted. Sakana would open his mouth surprised and say “Big ambitions huh? Not saying you cant do it, you seem to have a plan, it’s just way more than I hope to aspire to. I’m more of a side character than a protagonist if you get what I mean. But yeah genjutsu is cool, just don’t abuse your abilities as a ninja.”  
 
Hopefully the kid didn’t take offence to any of those statements. He was just being honest, but maybe the kid would prove him wrong, heck Sakana was hoping he did. But what he said next offended the Meijin a bit. Yurei had never seen the palace because the Hogokage wasn’t around and looking around would be a waste of his time. A waste of his time! To this the genin would said, “Exploration is never wasted time, you say you want to be Hogokage right? And you want to relate to the people? Well then you should learn everything you can about the village, the location of every shop, the best places for training, and especially you should get to know everything you can about the most important place in the village.” Once again Sakana was hoping he wouldn’t take offense to that, he was just giving his opinion on the matter.
 
Hopefully  they were nearing Yurei’s desired location, it would probably be better if the conversation shifted to training and not talks of politics.
 

WC: 2124

Yurei stopped dead in his tracks after Sakana’s remarks and turned to face the Meijin, clearly dissatisfied with his response. “You have no idea what the people in this village can do or what they’re like, so I don’t think you should offer any advice until you do,” Yurei snapped, his face becoming a light shade of pink. The Uchiha was rarely angry, but what Sakana had said lit him on fire.

“These people don’t understand peaceful rallies. They hate us. Our job is to protect Hoshigakure and everyone in it, but everyday a shinobi dies to one of those people. I’m going to fix that in a way not protest or conversation ever will. I’m going to make them know what we have to go through, then they’ll understand. There won’t be any more fighting. Any more martyrs for the shinobi cause. You have no idea what I’ve had to give up and go through to keep the people I care about safe.”


Yurei turned, venom dripping from his mouth. “I know every shop. I know every sight to see. I know every tree, rock, person, and grain of sand. But I don’t know that palace because that palace doesn’t do anything to help the shinobi.”

Yurei walked on without saying anything else. His cheeks and face were hot with anger. He eventually came to the training grounds, barren and lifeless as they always were. The Uchiha quickly signed the handseals for the phoenix fire jutsu, and, kneading his chakra within his lungs, he released the fire built up from within his lungs, launching them at the sand and producing targets made out of sandstone spires.

The Uchiha took a deep breath before speaking to Sakana once more. “There’s some targets for you,” he said flatly. The typically bright smile had faded from the Uchiha face and was instead replaced with an indifferent expression, perhaps disinterest.

WC: 1962

When Yurei stopped dead in his tracks Sakana knew he had messed up, he didn’t mean that but now it was time to deal with the sequences. He started to yell at him that he didn’t know what it was like to live in the villages, but in his short time in the village he was pretty sure he did get it. But he was going to let the kid have his rant, he obviously needed it.

 

He took a short pause, and just keep going. He went on and on about how the villager didn’t see peace, how force was the only answer. There was so much hate in his eyes, almost like he wanted to burn the village to the ground. The Meijin didn’t understand why he was so harsh about all of it. So he would try to reason one last time, either it would work or it wouldn’t.   “I’m not going to pretend I’ve dealt with what you have, I can’t even imagine it. In my time here I’ve seen all the terrible terrible people in this village. But look, you can’t force everyone to agree with you, it’s just not going to happen. You’ll drive yourself mad if you make that your goal. Take it slow, earn their trusts, you have the driving force behind you, get what you want the right way.”

 

Sakana was expecting a harsh respond from that. To Yurei it probably seemed like the Meijin was trashing a plan he had worked hard on, but to Sakana he was trying to prevent the Uchiha  from hurting all the civilians. Sure they probably sucked by they didn’t deserve to be persecuted.

 

As they reached the training grounds and he would immediately started doing handseals, then a burst of fire flew from his mouth. He was a fire style user, it was a nice trick. Then he told Sakana there was some targets. Now the Meijin wasn’t sure what he wanted him to do, it was painfully obvious he didn’t want to be there anymore. So the genin would say, “So… anything specific you want to see? I can do a cool water style more or two, or show you some party tricks. Just say the word.” At this point Sakana was just trying to save the day.

 

WC: 2,512

The Uchiha had cooled down a tad, but was still obviously frustrated with Sakana’s remarks. “I’m not forcing anything. I giving them a push. Words can’t make these people change their minds. They won’t listen. But if they experience what we’re going through, without actually being harmed physically, then we’ll both come to an understanding. This is the only way to unite them. And no one’s going to stop me from ending all the fighting that leads to so many deaths. No one will have to die to make a point. I don’t want there to be any martyrs for this cause. This is the best answer.”

Yurei took a deep breath and sat down in the sand as the Meijin talked on about what he was capable of, mostly water jutsu. “Do whatever you feel like showing me. I’m sure it’s more spectacle than whatever I have. Genjutsu is subtle and not very showy. That sandstone is pretty tough, though, so make sure whatever you throw at it packs a punch."

WC: 2134

Ok, so this time Yurei’s voice had a little less rage behind it, which was better because it meant he would get over this conversation soon enough. The Meijin didn’t agree with the Hoshi nin at all but he wasn’t going to keep arguing, they needed to train now. He would let out a sigh and say,   “Agree to disagree. Fair?” His face would have a sorry looking smile, that way neither of them would feel angered over the outcome of the situation.
 
The Uchiha would then go on to say he didn’t reLly care what jutsu Sakana performed but it needed to be strong enough to break the sandstone. Now the genin started to think, for any of his water style jutsu he could use rain tiger at will but he wasn’t sure that would be the best option currently. No instead he would go with a jutsu he learned a while back, a normal ninjutsu technique. The rasengan. “Ok got it” The Meijin would take a few steps to the right as he prepped for the technique, he would start to swirl his left hand over his right in a circular motion in order to try and make the chakra ball. It would get bigger and bigger until he was ready to strike.
 
Sakana would start his dash towards the target with the ball in his hand, and upon coming close he would start to bring his arm around read to make contact. He aimed right in the middle, and pushed all his energy all at once into the technique. Needless to say he kicked up a lot of sand, it was hard to see for a few moments. But once the sand cleared the sandstone target would be pretty much gone, except for some remains.   “Cool, right?” There he would see if Yurei was a fan of strong powerful move or if he just like the finer art of genjutsu.
 
WC: 2842

Sakana finally ended with a neutral comment, ending the dispute, at least on the outside. The Uchiha rose his folded index finger and them to his chin, pondering the morality of his theoretical genjutsu. Was it really morally right to place them under such an effect? To back them feel that much pain? It was what he felt. It was what others felt. Perhaps it was a sort of eye for an eye situation. However, with Yurei, revenge or even vengeance was not the goal. This was not vindictive, but, in actuality, a means to a peaceful end. True peace and understanding. Subjecting them to the torture they caused, as well as enabling them to empathize with the shinobi through genjutsu wasn’t wrong. And it certainly wasn’t ineffective. Yurei had seen with his own eyes the effects genjutsu could have on the mind and the emotions. Merely generating fire had given Damon a mental breakdown. But that wasn’t what Yurei wanted to do. Not by any means. “Fair enough.”
The Meijin rose, studying the sandstone. He seemed unsure of what to do, but Yurei watched with his keen eyes. Sharingan. The Uchiha’s pale Sharingan stared out at Sakana, watching his every move, twitch, and impulse. His chakra mass shifted into his hand, forming what appeared to be a spinning ball of pure, compressed chakra. The albino raised his eyebrows inquisitively, watching carefully. It was an advanced ninjutsu, one he had never seen, but his sharingan made quick work of dissecting it. If only he possessed the natural affinity for ninjutsu to replicate it. It certainly seemed powerful enough.
And then there was the display the jutsu provided. It was so powerful for what it lacked in range. The pale shinobi had erased the sandstone spire seemingly from existence. The Uchiha lowered the corners of his lips and raised his eyebrows, thoroughly impressed. “You have a lot of talent with ninjutsu,” Yurei said, walking in front of the Meijin. Upon making eye contact, should he be successful, the Uchiha weaved his Sharingan, generating the subtle genjutsu with the same name. Therein lied the deadliest attribute of the genjutsu illusionary arts: subtlety.
Yurei stepped in the center of the spires, 5 surrounding him at different depths. His eyes widened, revealing his sharingan in whole. The Uchiha raised his hands, forming the handseals for flicker movement, greater improving his speed at that less than the Soul Expulsion technique, but with no drawbacks.
In a flash, the Uchiha withdrew his kunai, focusing on both Sakana and his targets. Should the Meijin be in his grasp, Yurei would magnify the sun’s scorching rays by manipulating Sakana’s chakra and the way his brain responded to it. While doing such, Yurei scanned the targets with his white Sharingan, now withdrawing his kunai. In a flashy blur, the Uchiha launched the kunai, sticking all of the targets with keen precision.
“I have a few ways of increasing my speed, but, other than that, nothing too flashy other than a few, small, fire jutsu,” the boy finished, maneuvering around the grounds to collect his kunai.


WC: 2650

Sakana would acknowledge the compliment from Yurei and say “Thanks.” Then the Meijin would stand there and wonder what was going to happen next. He wasn’t interested in taking the lead of this meeting so he would wait to see what the kid had in mind.
 
The Uchiha would start to walk in front of him and then his white eyes would start to go wide, almost like the Komon’s eyes. “Do you have magic eyes like the Hyuuga?” They were both white, but the only difference was there were no enlarged veins on his head when they activated. Hopefully he would be honest with whatever his answer was, the genin hated being lied to.
 
It was then that Yurei would make eye contact with him, placing him in a genjutsu. At first Sakana would start to feel hotter, but this place just sucked so he didn’t think much of it. After that Yurei would activate some type of jutsu that made himself faster as he would throw 5 kunai at targets. It was kind of cool, but the knives would just be stuck in the targets, if the Uchiha wanted to win in a fight he needed it to go through them. So the Meijin would turn to Yurei and say, “Does it feel way hotter all of a sudden or is it just me? Anyway techniques don’t have to be flashy, just effective. Throwing those knives like you did was cool but watch this.” Sakana would then pull a kunai from his own bag, surge his chakra to infuse it with the knife and throw it at the target. Instead of sticking out, the blade would go straight through, leaving a hole in its place.
 

WC: 3135