Wibbley-Wobbley Timey-Wimey Stuff (Private, NK)

(Continuation from: An Experiment Gone Wrong)


'Dammit!' Kotetsu thought to himself 'And I have no idea how I even did that...' Kotetsu could very well have doomed himself. All he could do at this time was take stock of his surroundings and see how dire his situation was. It looked like he was in the training grounds in Hoshi still, but something was wrong...The grounds looked different, It was not as warm as it normally was. It also didn't help that there was a couple bodies on the ground, one near the entrance of the training grounds. Kotetsu cursed and immediately suppressed his chakra and moved towards the body, checking it for vitals. There were none. "My god..." Kotetsu said to himself, "What happened here?.. Where am I?.." He immediately got up and left the training ground, since there was nothing he could do for the corpse in front of him.
The Water Gardens that connected the training grounds to the rest of Hoshigakure was in shambles. It looked like a battle had gone on here some time ago. ‘That’s what’s wrong…’ Kotetsu realised. The training ground was in a similar state, but that was normal, since that’s where the shinobi of the village worked on their skills without fear of damaging the village as a whole. After looking at the Water Gardens extensively, he found some more bodies, but they were in differing states of decomposition, and most of the damage did not appear to have been recent. ‘Am I in the future?..’ Kotetsu thought to himself as he looked around in shock. ‘This can’t be my home…’ He couldn’t really see the rest of the village from where he was, but the little he could see looked to be in similar disarray. Kotetsu moved on quickly, but carefully. His katana was now drawn, in case whatever caused this destruction was still around. He would need to be on his toes if he wanted to survive whatever had happened here. The village…was in shambles. That was the best way to describe it. It wasn’t really a village anymore. It appeared to be deserted, and most of the buildings had all been damaged to some degree. Some buildings had collapsed entirely, leaving their interiors exposed to the elements. Luckily for Kotetsu, he had acquired the ability to sense out chakra signatures, so unless there were other shinobi that were suppressing their chakra, Kotetsu could not detect any other shinobi within his sensory radius. ‘It’s a good thing I have the Rain Tiger technique too…’ Kotetsu thought to himself. ‘It will make a good early warning system if I need it…’
 
Kotetsu was planning ahead for one reason and one reason only. He was not sure how he ended up at this point in time, nor if it was possible to get back to where he came from. Of course he would try to get back “Home”, but for all he knew of space-time, it might not be possible. In any event, making sure he could survive here long enough until he could figure out how to get back was the first priority. Second priority was finding out where he was in time, and what the bloody hell happened. For that to happen, he would need to find someone that wasn’t dead… ‘Easier said than done…’ Kotetsu thought to himself as he looked around the ruins of his adoptive village. It did not look like there was any supplies to be found, so Kotetsu would likely have to forage, assuming there was anything edible in the surrounding area. It looked like there was some wild animals that were roaming the ruins of Hoshigakure, which meant Kotetsu could hunt if he needed to. Creating a fire would not be overly difficult since he could use fire style to set some wood on fire.
 
It was going to take him some time to fully explore the village, so the first Kotetsu did was look for a suitable building to live in while he explored. He found a partially collapsed shop on the outskirt of the market district. What parts of it survived offered good shelter from the weather; a solid roof over his head, and at least 2 walls that would block wind. The open sides he could set up some rubble to act as a break of some kind from any weather that wanted to get in. The effort took him the rest of the day. He would not set a fire, on the off chance that there was someone out there. He did not want to alert anyone to his presence. Going to sleep, he left his Katana within reach of his hand, in case he needed to fend off any attackers.
 
The next morning came quickly and Kotetsu went right to work exploring. Since he was already in the market district, he started there. His chakra sensory telling him there was no active chakra signatures in the immediate area around him. Helpful because no real hostiles around, but it also meant that there would be no one around that could tell him what happened. Most of the buildings in the market district were collapsed or destroyed. And next to nothing was salvageable. Kotetsu grabbed what little there was and brought it back to his shelter. There was no food that remained to collect, which meant that the destruction of the village happened some time ago. ‘If only I could find someone to tell me what happened and when…’ Kotetsu thought to himself as he moved on from the market district to the city square and the palace.
 
The city square was also in a state of ruin, even worse than the market district. It was almost like there was heavier fighting in this area of the village, which would make sense since the main road from the gates led here. There weren't as many bodies here, which surprised Kotetsu. And the ones he did come across were nothing more than bones. 'This must have happened a long time ago then...' He thought to himself. 'Those corpses I saw in the training ground and the Water Gardens must have been some of the survivors who just couldn't hold out any longer... What the hell happened here...' As he walked around, it was becoming more and more apparent that there was nothing in the square either. No people  to gather information from and nothing worth salvaging, most likely long since looted by whomever caused the destruction in the first place. Kotetsu decided to move onto the palace next, to see if it survived any better than the rest of the city.
 
It had not. If anything, the Palace of Hoshigakure was even worse off than everything else that Kotetsu had seen so far. There was nothing left of the once majestic structure. It was nothing but rubble and craters. Kotetsu knew it was probably fruitless, but he decided to try searching the rubble. You never know what will be found inside of it. Plus he still had some time before the sun went down. His search was fruitless though, there was nothing to be found. Kotetsu shrugged and made his way back to where he had set up camp. 'I need to get some food...' Kotetsu thought to himself. He would need the energy to be able to keep going. He knew there were wild animals that roamed these ruins now, which meant it would be easy for him to collect meat and cook it, he was just not a fan of killing animals. He did what he had to do to survive though, so he made some spears out of some wood from a destroyed building, making sure to shape the wood so that there would be no splinters when he stabbed something with it. He also collected a stockpile of wood. He would have preferred not to use a fire, but he needed to cook any meat he got to make sure that he didn’t get sick from eating it. With his preparations complete, he went out in search of meat.
 
It didn’t take the young Chuunin time to find some deer on the outskirts of the market district, he quickly killed a smaller buck and dragged the body away, quickly collecting the meat he needed and burying the offal to prevent most scavengers from investigating. He had managed to acquire enough meat from that deer to last him several days, assuming Kotetsu would be able to preserve it. Since he had not anticipated being pulled into a tear in space-time Kotetsu had not brought anything to help him preserve the meat, and Kotetsu was loath to use his Ice Style to freeze the meat, since that would attract shinobi. There were very few other options. Luckily for Kotetsu, his father had gone over survival skills with him should he ever be on his own for an extended period of time. They hadn’t spent much time on it, but they had covered some important areas; primarily building shelter, preserving food, and ensuring you have a source of clean water. The only thing Kotetsu could try doing was smoking the meat. That would dry it out and make it tougher, but it would let it keep longer than just having it raw. The only danger with that was that smoking required a fire with lots of smoke. That smoke would definitely give him away if someone sees it. It was a risk that needed to be taken though, since he needed to make sure that he had food to last him a little while, until he could restock with either another kill or by finding a village or some other settlement. Kotetsu built a small smoke room out of the ruins of another building nearby. He set up the meat to hang, and set up a fire to burn overnight, making sure there was plenty of material to keep the fire smoking. Luckily for him it appears that his smoke hut was undisturbed overnight, so now he had at least some food to last him should he leave the village. It seemed like that was going to be what he would need to do, since it did not appear that there was anyone or anything left in the village other than wild animals, ruins, and dead people. With his village essentially explored to completion. There was no reason for Kotetsu to remain here, so in order to find out where or when the hell he was, he set out to explore until he got the answers he sought. And So began Kotetsu's journey to find his way back home. It would be some time before that solution was revealed to him.
 
WC:  1783
TWC: 3809
(WC combined between the two threads since the last post of this thread will be return Kotetsu to the original thread, these were broken up because this thread will not be strictly taking place in the area that the thread began)

Kotetsu had once spent some time in the library looking over the map of the world, so since it seemed he was in the world that he knew, it would make sense that the overall geography hadn't  really changed. For starters, he would spend his time combing the rest of Haven Country to see if he could find anything that would help him figured out what exactly happened. It could possibly give him some clues as to where he was in terms of whether this was the future of his current time line, or if he was in another timeline altogether. Either option was not a pleasant subject of thought, so Kotetsu put it out of his mind for now in order to focus on locating other people. It was a risk, but Kotetsu stopped suppressing his chakra, just so that if someone was out there also looking, it would be easy to spot him, since his chakra signature was extremely powerful. It might also deter those with more nefarious purposes from trying to harm him, since he was a powerful shinobi in his own right.
 
Most of Haven Country was a desert, so it would not be likely that there were other settlements other than Hoshigakure, but Kotetsu continued his search anyways. He had to be careful in the deserts Haven. They were very warm, taxing in terms of energy. As well as making sure he had a source of water, since the sun constantly baked it out of him, Kotetsu also had to search for opportunities to hunt. The desert had small game mainly, but most of them were asleep during the day. As such, Kotetsu often spend his days in Haven country sheltering from the sun during the day, and doing his searching and hunting at night, where the bitter cold of the desert didn't bother him, and he could move without worrying about without fear of heat stroke. It was long work and slowly the days turned into weeks, the weeks turned into two months of coming the endless deserts of Haven Country with nothing to show for it. Kotetsu had realised that there was not likely going to be any chance of coming across anyone outside of Hoshigakure itself, but he'd needed to look just on the off chance that he could find someone. His search essentially completed, Kotetsu would make his way east, towards where Earth Country lay.
 
Earth Country was nothing but mountains essentially. In some ways it was even more desolate than Haven Country. The mountain paths, whenever there was one, were treacherous at the best of times. Luckily for Kotetsu he had surface walking, so he could work around most of the pathways with relative ease. Since the country was mostly mountains, it would be unlikely that there would be much in the way of villages or settlements out in the open. The only village that Kotetsu knew of that was in Earth Country was Iwagakure, and unless things were different at this point in time, the village had been in ruins for quite some time. Kotetsu also did not know where Iwagakure would be in Earth Country, so it would take some time to locate that too. There was also the potential for villages or settlements inside any cavern structures that Kotetsu would come across. The mountains weren't completely devoid of life though. There were birds that made their roosts among the mountains, and what appeared to be some form of goat. 'Well at least I won't go hungry...' Kotetsu thought to himself as he slowly looked around his surroundings. It did not look like there was any signs of human habitation in this area, so Kotetsu would need to move on. It was going to be slower moving here than it was in Haven Country on account of the difference in terrain; Haven country was desert,  and while sand could slow you down, it was mostly flat or in shallow dunes. The mountains of Earth Country were anything but shallow. Most of them rose majestically several hundreds of feet in the air. The tallest of them easily thousands of feet tall. There was no way Kotetsu would be climbing them anytime soon so the young Chuunin didn't bother trying. His primary goal at this time was to try to find the ruins of Iwagakure to see if there was anyone living there at this time.
 
It took Kotetsu several weeks of searching before he had found even a trace of where the village might be. 'Hidden in the stones is right...' Kotetsu thought to himself as he spent another day in fruitless search. 'It has to be around here somewhere...' He had expected the village ruins to be hard to find, especially for one that did not know where it already was, but it could very well take him a year in order to do so, and Kotetsu did not have that kind of time to search for a village that was likely still in ruins. The next day he came across a spot where it  looked like a massive rockslide had happened. It was not uncommon, especially in Earth Country where almost everything was made of rock. Kotetsu decided to climb the rock pile to see  if there was anything on the other side, and he discovered a path that went deeper into the mountains. 'Maybe I've finally found it...' Kotetsu thought to himself as he made his way along the path. It turned out that his hunch was right. After walking for perhaps an hour, the  path curved sharply, and he was met with giant stone gates. 'For a ruined city, the gates look to be more or less in one piece...' He thought. Luckily for him though, the gates were open slightly. 'Perhaps someone had repaired them and there are people living here again...'
 
Once through the Gates, Kotetsu had a shorter walk along a covered path. 15 minutes later, he was back out in the open. It would appear that he had indeed found Iwagakure. 'Hmm…Not as ruined as I had expected…' He thought as he looked around. There were definitely plenty of collapsed buildings, but it looked like there was some activity here. 'Thank goodness, there are people here…I wonder if they will have any useful information...' Walking down towards the village proper, he would realised that only a small portion of the village was lived in at this time. As soon as he made it down to what looked like the village square, he noticed that two of the pathways were mostly blocked up with rubble, making it more defensible. And there were 4 men with spears and basic armour seemingly guarding the entrances to both. They all jumped to action as soon as they had noticed Kotetsu. Unless they were suppressing their chakra and not a single one was a shinobi, so Kotetsu wasn't overly concerned. Besides, he wasn't there to start a fight. "It's alright." Kotetsu said calmly to the guards, who now had their spears pointed at him. "I'm not here to fight. I'm looking for information." The guards paused for a minute, likely because they were pointing spears at a 7-year old boy. Not that Kotetsu blamed them, because this was clearly a hard time for many, but He had to find out more about where he was in order to get back to where he was supposed to be. One of the guards turned to another and the other one ran into one of the paths they were guarding. "Stay right there..." The first guard said. Kotetsu nodded, he didn't want to cause any issues with the first group of people he met. It didn’t take long for the one guard to return, and he was not alone. Three more guards had arrived, one of them wearing somewhat fancier armour. ‘Most likely an officer or commander…’ Kotetsu thought to himself as the guards spoke to each other quietly. None of the newcomers had any chakra presence, which meant that he should be able to avoid any serious attempt to detain or kill him.


“You there, child. Come with me.” The leader of the guards said to Kotetsu. ‘But my parents told me never to go anywhere with strangers…’ Kotetsu thought to himself. Kotetsu would say “Very well. I am here with peaceful intent, however I am not afraid to defend myself if I am attacked by you or yours.” To the man, hoping that it would not resort to that. The lead guard shook his head. “That will not be necessary. Our leader wishes to speak with you. You will not be harmed by one of ours while you are here.” Kotetsu nodded and followed the leader and the two guards that came with him. The other four guards remained where they were.


As they travelled towards where Kotetsu assumed would be the leader’s residence, Kotetsu asked the guards. “Forgive me, but I seem to have lost track of the days. Can you tell me the date?” Kotetsu had not in fact lost track of the days, but he was using the question to help him determine what exactly had happened to him. From what he could gather, he had been wandering for around 4 months now, and the date the guard gave him was almost identical to the time it would theoretically be if he was still in the Hoshi that he knew. ‘So that must mean I’m not in the future…Am I in a different possibility of what this world could have been?..’ Kotetsu thanked the man as they continued walking. So now he knew more or less when he was. And he theoretically knew where he was. Now it was a matter of finding out how to get back to where he had come from. No small feat for someone who was only just learning the intricacies of Space-Time jutsu. ‘I wonder if there is anyone here that would know more about it…’


There were more people here than Kotetsu thought. They didn’t seem like were living poorly, but life was still hard compared to what Kotetsu was used to. They didn’t seem to mind. ‘I guess life has been hard here lately…’ Kotetsu thought to himself as they walked. Several of the people stopped what they were doing to stare at him. ‘They must not get many newcomers here…’ It wasn’t long before they were in front of a partially re-constructed building, whose entrance was also guarded by a pair of well-armed guards. They saluted the lead guard and opened the door. Inside was a hallway with several doorways, and a flight of stairs at the end. Kotetsu was led up the stairs into another hallway. On the right was a pair of double doors that were also guarded. The doors were opened and they were let inside. Kotetsu found himself in a decent-sized room with a man sitting behind a desk. There were two others in the room with him, one man and one woman. 


The man sitting at the desk looked up at the group as they entered. “Thank you Oashi.” The man said, presumably to the one who had led him here. The man nodded in response. "You may remain if you wish, the others can return to their duties.” “Of course, sir.” Oashi responded and dismissed the other two guards that he had brought with him. They left and closed the doors behind them. Oashi moved over to one wall and stood there watching the room in general. ‘Likely to make sure I don’t try anything…’ Kotetsu thought to himself. His attention was returned to the man behind the desk, who had started talking to him. “Welcome, young man. We do not get any newcomers to our village. Not that it really bothers us, since most are determined to destroy what is not theirs.” The man said with a mirthless chuckle. “I am Zenshi, the leader of this village, or what’s left of it.” Kotetsu bowed slightly. “I am Kotetsu Shinogami, of Hoshigakure.” Zenshi stared at him in confusion. “How can that be? The Star Village was destroyed quite some time ago, and Haven Country was all but abandoned.” Kotetsu shrugged. There was no reason to lie to these people, there was nothing they would be able to do anyways. “Believe it or not, but I am from Hoshigakure. Quite possibly not the Hoshigakure of this world though. I believe I am from a different version of this world, where things have happened differently from the course of events in this one.” Everyone looked at him in confusion and disbelief at that point. “How is that possible…” The man on the left of Zenshi said. “That’s a very good question.” Kotetsu responded with a laugh. “I was trying to work on a new jutsu, and it did not work out the way I was hoping, and next thing I knew, I was in the ruins of Hoshigakure here.” “That would make you a shinobi…” The women said suspiciously. 


Kotetsu nodded in agreement with the woman. “That is correct. I am indeed a shinobi. I actually just graduated to Chuunin before I ended up here.” “The term is known to us.” Zenshi said to Kotetsu, “but it is rare to see a shinobi these days, especially one as young as yourself. Being from a different version of our world would explain both. Most shinobi died during the war that happened over thirty years ago. Those that remain are in hiding, since there are groups of people that have been looking to exterminate anyone calling themselves a shinobi.” Zenshi looked at the two beside him and had a quick whispered conversation with them. Kotetsu waited patiently for them to finish. He didn’t have to wait long, as Zenshi would turn to face him again and say “We have no problem with shinobi in this village, as long as you do not cause trouble. You are welcome to help if you plan on staying for any period of time, we will make sure there are accommodations for you should you require it.” Kotetsu again bowed to Zenshi. “Thank you.” He said simply. “I appreciate the offer. I have been travelling and I would not mind spending some time recuperating before I continue my travels. I intend on trying to find a way back to where I came from.” Zenshi nodded, seemingly satisfied with the young Chuunin’s response. “Very well.” Zenshi said. “I will have Oashi show you to where you can stay for now. Please wait outside a moment while I speak with Oashi.”
 
It was a couple minutes later before Oashi left the room and Kotetsu fell in line behind him. Kotetsu followed Oashi out of Zenshi's office and down another path until they reached what looked like an open square of sorts. There were several people sitting around a fire, who all looked over at him as he walked by. Oashi led him to a low-lying building. The inside had 3 rooms. There was a washroom, a bedroom, and a sitting room with an area for preparing meals. As Kotetsu looked around, Oashi said "Zenshi said you can stay here as long as you want. You are free to come and go as you please, and this building will always be available to you." With that, Oashi left, leaving Kotetsu alone in the house. There was a small fireplace in one corner of the sitting area, so Kotetsu grabbed some wood  from outside and used fire style to create a fire, which would warm up the inside of the small building which was to be his temporary home.
 


This was where Kotetsu would spend most of the rest of that year. He would help out the village where he could, healing the injured with the limited medical ninjutsu he knew, guard duty, foraging or farming the little area they had managed to convert for agriculture. For the most part he did spent most of his time underground in the  multitude of cave systems, looking to see if he could find some trace of another shinobi. Someone that could potentially help him with figuring out what he needed to do to get back to his timeline. His eighth birthday  came and went. He hadn't really paid much attention to it as he had bigger things to deal with. He'd combed every part of Earth Country above and below that he could reach. It was time to move on to another country to see if he could find something somewhere else. He had already spent the better part of 5 months living in Iwagakure and exploring the caverns in and around the village. 'At least I know I can come back here to rest if I need to...' Kotetsu thought to himself as he made his way out the front gates. It would take him some time to make his way across Earth Country back towards Forest Country, which was his next destination.
 
WC: 2844
TWC: 6653

Kotetsu's journey out of Earth Country was very uneventful. Once he had left Iwagakure's ruins, he did not come across another person. He didn't mind though. While he was searching for someone to help him figure out how to get home, he doubted that they would be found in Earth Country. He travelled in as straight a line as possible to get to the first destination on this part of his journey; Forest Country.
 
Forest Country was a small country on the border of Haven Country and Earth Country.  As the name suggested, it was essentially nothing but forest. It was not an overly large country, but the entirety of it is nothing but forest. There were some small hamlets hidden in the vast canopies but they would take a lot of work to find. 'At least the forests here will have a lot of game, and materials to help me survive...' He thought to himself as he moved from tree to tree, scanning the surroundings for signs of life. His chakra sensory showed no chakra signatures of any kind in the surrounding area, so he would move as fast as he could while conserving energy so that he did not tire himself out quickly. He would need his stamina to hold. particularly during these trying times when he was more likely to not run into anyone. He had come across some signs of life, a couple of tree houses that were hidden really well, but they were long since abandoned. 'Only Shinobi would be able to do well in these environs...' He thought to himself as he moved on.
 
His search pattern was simple. He had started at the border of Forest country where it meets both Earth Country and Haven country and worked his way West, towards Shadow Country. Once he had reached the border, he would turn around and make his way back East towards the Earth Country border until he had reached the border of Swamp Country, which was to the South of Forest Country. Once he had made his way to the border he would press on right into Swamp Country and continue his search there. The search of Forest Country took about two and a half months, during which time Kotetsu found around a half-dozen different settlements of various sizes. The largest had 7 tree houses, all of them occupied by some of Forest Country's more peaceful inhabitants. With no results in Forest Country, Kotetsu went further South into Swamp country to see if any secrets were held there.
 
Swamp Country sits between Forest Country to the North, Shadow Country to the West, Tornado Country to the South, Earth Country to the North West, and Bird Country to the South West. As its name suggests, it is almost entirely swamp. The weather for the most part consists of rain because it is almost completely surrounded by mountains, with the exceptions of the forests on the borders of Forest Country and Bird Country. Because of the rain, the in most areas has become marshy. There were very few areas with any cover, so it made for a miserable period of time. Luckily for Kotetsu, the constant rain did not bother him because he preferred colder climates. He was more concerned for his gear, since it being constantly wet would not be a benefit to him at all. Whenever he found an opportunity, he would take off his gear and dry it out. He did not get many opportunities to do this though, because it appeared that Swamp Country was even less inhabited than Forest Country. It could be because of the almost constant rain, which could be depressing in the best case. More likely though, was because of the large crocodiles that lived in the waterways of the country. Kotetsu had several encounters with these beasts, and while they always ended in Kotetsu's favour, they took some effort to achieve. Not only were they twice to three times his size, but they were masters of the water. They were quick for their size, and could swim even faster. It also didn't help that their hides were thick and hard to penetrate, even for him. Each victory was one to be savoured. Not only because it was a tough opponent, but it meant he did not have to hunt another creature for food.
 
The only real positive about the rain water, was that it was fresh, and clear of contaminants, so Kotetsu had an almost limitless supply of drinking water. 'It would be good to refill while I can...' He thought to himself. He had those scrolls he inscribed with the water sealing Fuinjutsu, so they could hold a large volume of water. That would be handy for later, when the rain and other sources of fresh water were harder to come by.
 
Just like in Forest country, he came across signs of basic civilisation, but not much, and nothing that would convince him that there was recent activity here other than himself. Most of the houses he had found were in some degree of ruin; Their owners long-since abandoning them, or killed by the various predators that also shared this macabre locale. His search pattern was the exact same as that in Forest Country. Except this time he started at the northwestern corner of the country, where it bordered with  Shadow Country and Forest Country. From there the young Chuunin made his way East towards the borders of Earth Country and Bird Country. Once there he would turn around and sweep back again. Since Swamp Country was roughly the same size as Forest country, it took him around two and a half months as well to completely explore the country. And just like Forest Country, nothing of note was discovered. 'Perhaps my luck will change in Tornado Country...' Kotetsu thought to himself. In possibility it was true, since Tornado Country was home to Tatsumakigakure, another village in ruins. 'Perhaps  there will be others living there, just like in Iwagakure...' With nothing left to discover in swamp Country, Kotetsu  made his way further South, into Tornado Country.
 
Tornado Country was similar to Earth Country. It was nothing but mountains for the most part. The biggest difference  was the weather patterns. For some reason, the wind seemed to be much more vicious in this country. As a result, tornados were a very common occurrence. They varied in size and speed. They also seemed to materialise with very little warning. It was lucky that Tornado Country had a good deal of caves in the mountains as well, it would be slow going as some times, he just needed to sit out the tornados, rather than risk getting caught and being torn limb from limb by the deadly cyclones. It was a nerve-racking process, all the more so because once again, Kotetsu had no idea where Tatsumakigakure was located in Tornado Country. It also didn't help that Tornado Country was larger than both Forest Country and Swamp Country. It took the young Chuunin a little over three and a half months to explore his way through the parts of Tornado Country that he could navigate, all the while avoiding the tornados that the country was famous for. He did eventually manage to find the hidden village of Tornado Country, Tatsumakigakure.
 
In his timeline, there's nothing left of the village but a large crater. Tatsumakigakure in this timeline however, was not a crater, but it was still a village in ruins. More so than Iwagakure, so it was highly unlikely that there were people living here. It would be worthwhile to explore what was still standing. 'There could be valuable information that's still here, looked over...'  Kotetsu thought to himself. As he looked around, he noticed that there was a number of buildings that were still standing, to a degree. There was an even larger number of buildings that were not still standing though. Likely the results of some battle that took place a while ago. The village here was not completely picked clean though. 'Likely because of all the damn tornados...' Kotetsu thought to himself as he examined the ruins of one building. Since it was likely going to take some time to explore the village completely, Kotetsu found a building that was still structurally sound and proceeded to set up a base camp of sorts. There was plenty of wood around that could be used for a fire, and there  was a few wild animals roaming around that he could tell. He could survive here for a little while at least without upsetting the local ecosystem that had no doubt sprung up in the absence of human habitation.
 
It took Kotetsu roughly two and a half weeks to completely explore Tatsumakigakure, which included digging into ruins to find out if anything lay below some of the collapsed structures. His ninth birthday had passed without celebration. In fact, Kotetsu hadn't even noticed, focused as he was on the task at hand. In the end, the search however did not turn up anything that he would consider useful information. He had not come anything so far that would help him in figuring out how the hell he had gotten to this particular version of the world, nor did he find anything to help him get back home. It seems that Tatsumakigakure is of no help in this situation...' Kotetsu thought to himself as he collected his things and prepared to leave the ruins of the village. It was a dangerous trek to leave Tornado Country. However it would be short, as he was closed to the border of his current destination, Shadow Country.
 
Shadow Country was not entirely like its name suggested. It was bordered by Haven Country to the North, Wind Country to the South, and Forest Country, Swamp Country, and Tornado Country along is Eastern border. It was essentially an arid plains. Almost a desert, but not quite. There was some grassland, but the country was predominantly covered with sand, like it's Northern and Southern brothers. There was some water that made its way to the heart of Shadow country, via the marsh system in Swamp Country. Because of its remoteness though, it did not seem like there would be much to find here either.
 
Since he was near the Southern border of Shadow Country, he would start his search at the edge of Shadow Country, Wind Country, and Tornado Country, and make his way north, to the border of Shadow Country that is shared with Forest Country and Haven Country. He would make his way up and down the length of Shadow Country until he ended up at the Southwestern corner, where it bordered with Wind Country. The entire process took him another 3 months to travel and explore Shadow Country, but it was all for naught. 'I was expecting not to come across anything out here...' Kotetsu thought to himself as he finished preparations for the next stage of his search. 'I was expecting more out of Tatsumakigakure, but oh well. Can't win them all...'
 
The next part of his search was likely to be the most arduous, especially for the young Chuunin. Searching Wind Country. There was nothing else he could do other than square his shoulders and start that leg of his quest.
 
WC: 1889
TWC: 8542

Wind Country was essentially one big desert. It was also the largest country in the world, bordering Shadow Country, Tornado Country, Stone Country, and River country. It was also the first country Kotetsu would be searching that had access to the sea. However, he would need to cross the entire expanse of Wind Country's dessert to do so. The only lucky thing about this desert, was that there was a goodly number of oases. They were very difficult to find when one did not know where to look however. Kotetsu was hoping that there would be some shinobi in the area so he could home into them using his chakra sensory. They would likely be gathered around those sources of water. 'It's just a matter of finding them...' Kotetsu thought to himself as he started searching. He would make his way from East to West, moving back and forth, steadily making his way South. As with Haven Country, he would attempt to seek shelter during the day, and move around at night to avoid risking the harsh heat of the day, for which he was not really suited for.
 
Along Wind Country's border he had found several forts or watch posts, all of which were abandoned, and many of them were in ruins. 'Just like everywhere else so far...' Kotetsu thought to himself as he looked over one crumbling testament to the hidden village in Wind Country; Sunagakure. The forts appeared to have been abandoned some time ago, and there were the remains of what looked like a battle at some of them, since Kotetsu had found the odd skeleton. 'Nothing worth claiming for my own though...' He thought to himself as he moved on. Since the forts held nothing of interest other than the scars of battle, Kotetsu made his way further south, into the heart of Sunagakure.
 
It was almost as if the country itself did not want him searching here, as he was caught in a sandstorm three days out from the forts. All Kotetsu could do was try to find shelter and wait out the storm. It was not a long storm thankfully. It blew itself out in two days, which was still enough to almost bury Kotetsu and his makeshift shelter completely. Luckily for the young Chuunin, not long after the sandstorm he had come across his first oasis. It was not a particularly large one. A few trees, a pond of clean drinking water, and a few patches of grass. It didn’t look like this particular oasis had been visited at any point recently, and his chakra sensory hadn’t picked up anything chakra signatures so far. The trees had some kind of fruit that he could harvest to supplement the food he’d managed to acquire. He couldn’t stay long where he was, since there was so much ground to cover. He spent two days at the oasis to recover before moving on. He would find a good number of them as he travelled through Wind Country. They all varied in size. Some of them had signs that people once lived there, more of them were like the first one he had encountered. The largest of the oases definitely supported a decent sized village at one point. There was 30 houses arranged around it. Most of them had collapsed due to disrepair though. It was here that Kotetsu turned 10, with no one around to celebrate with him. It didn't particularly bother him, since he had other things to worry about.
 
The young Chuunin would spend a couple days at every oasis he came across, simply because it was a logical resting point, where he could restock his supplies. Near the end of his search, he came across what looked like a mountain in the middle of the desert. Except the mountain had no peak, like it was chopped off. ‘Is this Sunagakure?..’ Kotetsu thought to himself as he stared at the outcropping. Shaking his head, he walked around it until he found an opening. It was on the opposite side from where he was standing, naturally. it took him 10 minutes to walk through the path that was carved through the wall of what he assumed to be Sunagakure. When he emerged on the other side, it would appear that he was correct. He looked out on a basin full of buildings. Well, what used to be buildings actually since it appeared that a good chunk were destroyed. 'Likely more battles that happened here...' Kotetsu thought to himself as he surveyed what had happened. Since he couldn't really get a good view from his current vantage point, he had no choice but to make his way into the village itself to see what it looked like up close. Surprisingly, a lot of the buildings were in better shape than Kotetsu had expected. So much so that at least one of the village's wells was still working properly, and the water was untainted as well. A very good sign. 'I wonder what else I can find in here...' Kotetsu mused as he moved on. He would make his temporary lodgings in that area so he could be close to the water source. Kotetsu did not have high hopes for finding anything to help him here, since Sunagakure was known more for its puppetry jutsu. Therefore it was unlikely that there would be much on the subject of Space Time, even if there were documents that had survived.
 
Somehow, Kotetsu was able to stumble across what had been the library of Sunagakure. It was in disrepair, and many of the scrolls had long since faded into obscurity. There were a couple that had some legibility. One of them was a chronicle of sorts. It was faded in many places, but it detailed some form of world war that involved the shinobi, as well as other factions, vying for supremacy over the others. most of the details were rather hazy, and the chronicle ended abruptly, almost as if the author had not had the chance to pick up where he had last left off. 'It looks like most of the shinobi were likely wiped out by that war...' Kotetsu thought to himself. 'That would definitely explain why I have come across very few people, and no shinobi so far...' Not find anything else of note in the library, Kotetsu would continue to search the rest of the village for anything else that he could possibly use or learn from.
 
About a week into his stay in Sunagakure, he happened upon what appeared to be a blacksmith's shop. Surprisingly, it was still almost entirely intact, with any structural damage not affecting the efficacy of the forge  in any way.  There even happened to be some material to get the forge running, along with tools to practice the craft. Kotetsu had always been curious about blacksmithing; Making weapons and armor was a noble profession and he was curious to try it out. There was no one to learn from, so he just decided to play around with the material that was there to see how well it would go. It took a while for the fire to build up.  Less than it would take for a normal man since Kotetsu had Fire style jutsu at his disposal, but it  was still roughly an hour before the coals in the forge were hot enough to shape the bars of metal that were stacked nearby. Kotetsu grabbed a pair of tongs and picked up an ingot, placing it into the fire. Immediately the fire started to change the colour of the metal, from a dark shiny grey to orange, eventually to red. Once it reached that point, Kotetsu used the tongs to grab the bar and pull it out of the forge. He then placed it on an anvil and started bashing it with a hammer, since that's what blacksmiths did, right?
 
As the metal cooled it became harder for Kotetsu to shape with the hammer, so  he needed to put it back in the fire, to heat it again. 'This is a lot more time-consuming than I thought...' Kotetsu thought as he waited for the metal to heat up to that bright red colour again. It took a couple more passes before he had flattened the bar out. Not really sure where to go from there, Kotetsu  put the metal back in the forge and looked around at the other tools. He spotted a chisel, with its sharp edge for cutting. 'I could cut the metal into some kind of extra armor...' Kotetsu thought to himself. He had no  idea how he'd go about it, but what the hell, he would give it a try. Pulling the metal out of the fire, he placed  it on the anvil. Taking the chisel in one hand, and the hammer in the other, he would smash the hammer on the back end of the chisel, forcing it through the hot, malleable metal until it separated. He continued down the length of the glowing sheet until there was a length about 2 feet long, and the width of his forearm. The then cut that into shorter sections so that they were flat pieces of metal that would cover the top of his forearm, from his wrist to just below the elbow. The only problem now was that he had no way to bend the metal so that it would better fit his arms. Disappointed, Kotetsu would douse the fire and return the tools to their place. He would take the metal he had been working with and stacked it in a corner before grabbing the rest of his things and leaving the forge. 'At least it gives me some ideas...' He thought to himself as he thought back on those armor drawings he was working on the morning before all of this happened. 'I think it's time to move on...' He thought to himself.
 
It had taken Kotetsu almost the entire year to explore Wind Country, and he was no closer to finding a way how than he was when he started this journey. Luckily for him, his next destination was fairly close to Sunagakure it seemed. With that in mind, he made sure he had all of his things, and began his trip to River Country.
 
WC: 1723
TWC: 10265

River Country was essentially what separated Wind Country from Fire Country. Its Eastern border was covered by Wind Country and Stone Country. Iron Country was to the North, River Country's Western was wholly dominated by Fire Country, and its Southern border faced the sea. It was a relatively narrow country, which was taken up mainly by deltas from the sea, becoming the multitude of rivers that the country got its name from. Because of all the moving water in the country, there was lots of grass and trees. It was a very different contrast compared to the other locations that Kotetsu had been to so far. 'A rather nice change of scenery...' He thought to himself as he looked around. 'Lots of plants and animals, and the water looks really fresh too. Should be a good place to restock my supplies before I head into more inhospitable terrain...' And he would have plenty of opportunity while he searched River Country. For a verdant area, you'd think that there would be some signs of human life, but this country seemed to be run by the animals at this time.
 
Kotetsu started his search of the country from the Southwestern corner of the country, where Wind Country and River Country bordered with the sea. He would then make his way east towards Fire country, and move back and forth, slowly moving North. Every so often he would come across the remains of a village. These villages were different though. As it seemed like some of them were recently destroyed. 'So there are still people living in this area...' Kotetsu thought to himself as he looked at one such settlement. There were no bodies, but one of the structures was still smoking from being burned down. 'Well, there were... I wonder what happened here...' Kotetsu could sense any chakra signatures, so there was no shinobi in the area. Still, he should keep on his toes and move on as quickly as possible. Almost as if he answered his own question, he saw something moving in the distance towards the border of Iron Country. 'I'll have to get closer to see what the hell that is...' Luckily for Kotetsu, whatever it was, was heading the same direction he was. It was still too far for him to sense what it was, so he could do nothing more but get as close to them as possible.
 
Getting closer, Kotetsu realises that it was a group of people, moving in a block formation. 'Soldiers?..' Kotetsu thought to himself. They wore some kind of blue uniform with silver trim and gold piping. They also appeared to be carrying spears, swords, and a few carried bows. There looked to be about 40 of them with one person in the lead. Based on his Chakra Sensory, none of the troops had a chakra signature. ‘Good…’ He thought as he shadowed the group of soldiers. ‘I can track them without them knowing I’m here…’ As they got to the Northern border of River Country, he noticed the soldiers were making their way towards the land of Iron, where it appeared there was a border post. A fairly significant one at that. ‘Well, it seems that I’ve found where all the people have gone…’ He thought to himself. There was no point trying to make his way through the border post to continue following the troops. ‘I’ll find another way in…’ As the young Chuunin turned and made his way west into Stone Country.
 
Stone Country, as the name suggested, was mostly rock. However instead of the massive mountains that he found in Tornado Country and Earth Country, Rock Country was low hills. But most of the landscape was nothing but boulders. There was the occasional patch of grass, and the odd tree, but the rest was nothing but solid rock. It was the smallest of the countries that Kotetsu had visited so far, which suited Kotetsu fine. He was getting tired of rocks all the time. Since he was planning on heading towards Bird Country before taking a chance in Iron Country He would use the time he was in Stone Country to observe the Iron Country Border while he searched for others. He had to be careful though, because it seemed that Iron Country sent patrols into the countries surrounding their territory. ‘Doesn’t seem like anyone can stop them from doing so…’ Kotetsu thought to himself as he avoided a 5-man patrol. Not that it was particularly difficult as they were on foot, and none of them seemed to be shinobi either. Kotetsu could likely attack them to gather the information he needed, but that wasn’t his style. He was not one to attack unless defending himself. For the time being he left the soldiers alone, and they were not even aware that they were being watched. From a closer distance, he could tell that on top of the blue uniform, they also wore a breastplate, bracers, but no greaves.
 
Once the young Chuunin had felt he learned enough from the soldiers he continued heading North, towards the border of Bird Country. He still made every attempt to search the entire country, but that required additional caution in order to avoid the patrols. That slowed his progress slightly, which Kotetsu expected, but still chaffed at the delay. Eventually he managed to reach the border between Stone Country and Bird Country. As it looked like there was a manned border post where Stone Country, Bird Country, and Iron Country met, Kotetsu decided to cross over into Bird Country at the Northern-most point of Stone Country.
 
Bird Country was a surprise to Kotetsu. For a country where three of the countries bordering it were nothing but rocks and bigger rocks, finding the grassy plains and forests here threw him off a little. That’s not to say that it was all lush and green. There was some rocky areas and a couple mountains, but not as much as Kotetsu would have thought. ‘It would explain why it’s called Bird Country…’ Kotetsu thought to himself. ‘There’s a place for all kinds of birds…’ Bird Country was roughly the same size as Stone Country, so it would likely take him about as much time to search it for anyone other than those blue-garbed soldiers. It didn’t seem like he would find anyone here either though, since it looked like the Iron Country soldiers were patrolling the areas closest to Iron Country. The only difference is that these soldiers were mounted. That didn’t really affect Kotetsu much, since he was still significantly faster than those horses. But it was something to note, that Iron Country had mounted troops. It was a definite change from what he was used to in his travels thus far. Going from seeing no one for months on end, to seeing armed troops, who could possibly be very unfriendly. He would need to learn more about Iron Country before he could make a decision on how to actually interact with them, if at all.
 
Kotetsu had finished searching Bird Country in short order. Again, he had not found anything helpful, other than the scouting parties the young Chuunin noticed from time to time in the Southern parts of the country. There was no way to avoid it now. He needed to make his way into Iron Country. He'd already decided that he was not going to announce his presence by entering their territory via their Border posts. It was likely going to take some time, but he would need to find a way into Iron Country along the border. He made his way back down to the border area between the two countries. To see if he could observe specific patterns in their patrol routes, and when border guards changed shifts. It might also allow him to see if there were other guards stationed in areas that might not be noticed by just a cursory glance.
 
Iron Country was not a large country, roughly the same size as Bird Country and Stone Country. That meant since there was at least some population living here, that there would be settlements and villages around, and they should be fairly close to each other. Likely with one large village to be the capital. Kotetsu spent a week along the border of Iron Country and Bird Country, trying to determine the best way in without being detected.  Luckily for the young Chuunin it did not seem that there was any watchers along the border in general, just at the major crossing points where there were roads leading into the country. 'This may be easier than I thought...' Kotetsu thought to himself as he slipped across the border into Iron Country.
 
Iron Country was a combination of plains and forests primarily. The border between Earth Country and Iron Country was a small mountain range. Normally it would be easy enough to navigate, but now that he was in Iron Country itself, the numbers and frequency of patrols was significantly higher, which meant that travelling around was more of a waiting game to make sure he wasn’t spotted by patrols. While he wanted to explore the villages and settlements in Iron Country, it would not likely be a smart idea to try to do so at this time. He didn’t see any children that were wandering around by themselves, and he didn’t want to attract any attention. Plus it likely wouldn’t be smart to try using any jutsu just yet. Not until he had a better idea of how their military operated.
 
He would gain some a little insight though. While he was moving through Iron Country, he did come across a detachment of soldiers that were making their way East, towards the border of Fire Country. Intrigued, Kotetsu decided to follow them from a distance to see what their intended destination was. It took them a couple days, but it seemed like they were heading into Fire Country itself. It just looked like another large patrol, so Kotetsu didn't bother following them past the border. Instead he made a mental note of all the settlements and villages he came across in Iron Country for when he returned. For now, he made his way North towards Grass Country.
 
With the border between Grass Country and Iron Country patrolled as well, Kotetsu had to be very careful where he crossed at. It also didn't help that Grass Country was nothing but plains of grass, so there was little to no cover of any kind. 'I hope I don't come across any more soldiers...' He  thought to himself as he made his way away from Iron Country. Of course it was not to be. A couple days away from the border, he came across what looked like a skirmish between two groups. One side was comprised of the Iron Countries troops, their blue uniform very distinguishable in the green grass. The other side was comprised of soldiers as well, they looked to be wearing uniforms that were grey and purple in colour. They looked to be about even in number. However, Kotetsu actually detected a chakra signature in the battle, but it was faint, just on the edge of his sensory. ‘That must mean they don’t have very potent chakra…’ Kotetsu thought to himself. Still, it was the first chakra signature he had picked up,, and he'd like to learn more about them. 'I need to find out who it is before I can do anything...' Kotetsu thought to himself. That meant getting closer to the fight. It looked like the Iron Country soldiers were winning the fight currently.
 
By the time Kotetsu got close enough to the fight to determine who the chakra signature was emanating from, there was only about five of the grey and purple soldiers and roughly 10 of the  blue soldiers. Unfortunately for Kotetsu, it would appear that the signature was one of  the soldiers in grey and purple. 'I'll need to act fast...' He thought to himself. 'Those soldiers are going to get slaughtered in a minute...'The Young Chuunin did not like killing, but he had no choice if  he wanted some answers. Kotetsu would draw his katana as he moved closer, as quietly as he could. It wouldn't be long before he was noticed anyways, so he attacked without warning. His swinging katana beheaded two Iron Country soldiers before they had even realised they were dead. The rest took a moment to realise that there were two less of them for no reason. Kotetsu then stabbed another through the back, where his heart was, and he dropped to the ground, blood pooling underneath him. That left 7 soldiers. 6 regular soldiers, and one that looked liked the leader of the group. Without skipping a beat, Kotetsu decided all pretenses were off, and speared all but the leader with spears of ice. while the remaining Iron Country soldiers died, he moved behind their leader, kicked him behind the knees so he was level with Kotetsu, and held a kunai at his throat. "Drop your weapon, now..." He said to the man, who took a moment, before letting go of his sword. "Curse you Shinobi!" The officer exclaimed. "I'd thought we killed all of you heathens years ago."
 
The remaining grey and purple soldiers simply stood there and amazement. Unable to comprehend how a young 11-year old boy was able to kill 9 soldiers with barely any effort. Kotetsu ignored them for the time being. He had questions for the one with a chakra signature, which looked like it was the leader of the remaining three soldiers from the grey and purple group. He returned his attention to the officer under his kunai and decided to play along. "Well you haven't. I have questions for you, and you're going to answer them if you want to live..." He said quietly to the man. He responded by laughing. "I'll never tell you anything, you may as well kill me!" Kotetsu shrugged, he took the words at face value and didn't bother beating around the bush, for all he knew there could be another force coming any minute now, so he snapped the man's neck, ending his life quickly. Looking over to the other 3 that still lived, he said "I have no plans on killing you as well. Pick up their weapons and armour, since you will likely find better use for them than I will. Be quick, for we will need to leave here, and I have questions that need answers." The soldiers looked at him briefly before taking the three breastplates that didn't have puncture marks. "Who are you?" The leader asked Kotetsu. "I am a drifter looking for answers to a question I have. I was going to head to Waterfall Country to search for an answer to that question." The man looked a little surprised. "We're from the Waterfall Country. We can escort you to our village, as thanks for saving us today." 'That's quite the stroke of luck...' Kotetsu thought as he nodded in agreement. "Very well, let us move on before more soldiers show up."
 
The journey to the border of Grass Country and Waterfall Country was tense, as they had to move quickly, while avoiding any potential troops they came across. Luckily for them, they encountered no other Iron Country soldiers in the week it took them to get to the border. It would seem that Kotetsu may very well find the answers he sought. 'Here's hoping...' Kotetsu thought as the border guards for Waterfall country waved them through.
 
WC: 2604
TWC: 12869

Waterfall Country is a smaller country, with dense jungles and a number of very large waterfalls, the largest being several waterfalls combined, forming a layered effect. Waterfall country was also home to what was once known as Takigakure. In Kotetsu's timeline, this village had long since been laid to waste by another village. It was Takigakure, hidden behind the largest waterfall which was their destination apparently. None of the soldiers that Kotetsu had rescued had said much to him on their rush to get back to safe borders. Well, safe for them at least. There was no safe borders for Kotetsu at this point, since he was unfamiliar with the current political situation. However, he was likely going to be best off acquiring information from those that he just recently saved. Once they were across the border, Kotetsu said to the leader. "You have chakra, and not a small amount of it." The man stiffened slightly at that. "Is that why you didn't kill me?" He shot back in return. "That is part of it..." Kotetsu said with a soft laugh. "I figured since I need information, you may be in the best position to assist me. I'm not from these parts, so I'm trying to find out what's going on." Almost as an afterthought he said "I'm also looking for another shinobi that has some skill with Space Time ninjutsu." The man nodded his head as they walked. "I'll try to help with any information we have. However there are very few who can manipulate chakra, and even less of them are here. Most are scattered and in hiding. They are not welcome in most populated areas." 

‘That is rather unfortunate…’ Kotetsu thought to himself as they made their way towards Takigakure. “How many shinobi are here?” He asks the man. “And what’s the situation around here?” “Very few, and I’ll let our leader explain what’s been going on.” And with that he didn’t speak another word until they reached the base of the massive tiered waterfall in the middle of Waterfall Country. The roar of the water was deafening, Kotetsu almost needed to cover his ears from the noise. There was a small path to one side of the waterfall that they walked under, so Kotetsu followed. Behind the waterfall was a tunnel bored into the wall of the cliff. It was fifteen feet high and about twenty feet wide. The tunnel went on for about 250 meters before opening up into what Kotetsu thought was a clearing. The exit was guarded by a company of 20 soldiers, all wearing the same uniform as Kotetsu's travelling companions. None of them had a chakra signature either. It was actually a large lake, with a series of islands forming a chain. 'So this is what Takigakure looks like...' Kotetsu thought to himself as he followed the Waterfall Country soldiers that originally brought him here. The entrance guardians waved them through, and they made their way down to the shoreline where there was a number of boats connected to a series of docks. Kotetsu was lead to a decent-sized boat. Lines were cast off and they made their way towards the island chain. It took them a few hours to get there, so Kotetsu spent the time meditating in the bow of the boat. The boat arrived at what looked like the second island in the chain. It wasn't the smallest island, nor was it the biggest. It looked like it was set aside mainly for living quarters. Kotetsu followed his guides to a two storey house that was also guarded. 'This must be where the village leader lives...' Kotetsu thought to himself. There was another chakra signature that he could detect in here too. Stronger than the man in front of him, but not as strong as his own chakra signature. Inside there were guards stationed along the walls of the main hallway leading to a pair of double doors. It would seem that was their destination.

The doors were opened to reveal fairly large room. There was a table with what looked like a map on top of it and several chairs around it. On the far side of the room was a man in a chair, and a guard on either side of him. It was the man on the chair that had the other chakra signature he detected, which didn't surprise the young Chuunin. He was an older man, who looked to be in his mid-fifties. He wore loose robes and no other identifying marks. The man had introduced himself, but Kotetsu was not really paying attention so he didn't pick up his name. "I was told you came here seeking information and answers to questions that you have." The village leader said to Kotetsu. The 12 year-old Chuunin nodded. "That's correct. I would like to know about the current state of affairs in this particular part of the world. I will likely be doing some travelling in the area for the next while and I'd like to know what I'm getting myself into. Clearly Iron Country is not going to be a good place for me to be asking these questions, but since I've come across two shinobi now here, I figured it would be potentially easier to gather the information I need here. It also seems pretty obvious that Iron Country and Waterfall Country do not get along at this time, so I'd like to know what started that." Kotetsu paused for a moment before continuing. "Oh, and I'm looking for any information on jutsu that work with Space-Time."

The old man seemed surprised that a young boy, not even a teenager, would be so casual about travelling alone. "I will provide whatever information I can, as thanks for saving my son." 'Ah, so that's his son...' Kotetsu thought as the man started talking 'That would explain why they both have chakra signatures...' The village leader explained that there was a war going on, with Iron Country being the main instigator of the war. They were looking to expand their territory and already include parts of some surrounding countries. The only Countries to fight back so far are Waterfall Country and Fire Country. The rest don't really seem to have anyone living in them because of the previous world war that happened 10 years ago. Iron Country was the main instigator of that war too. However it was more of a religious war, to kill all shinobi. 'That would explain the lack of chakra signatures...and people in general...' Kotetsu thought to himself. "That almost sounds like the religious fanatics that are in Hoshi..." He said more out loud than to anyone in particular. The leader looked at him confusedly. "There was never a religious faction that was based in Haven Country, even before it was destroyed." He looked at Kotetsu with a frown. "Where are you from?" He asked suspiciously.

Kotetsu chuckled. "Not from here..." He said cryptically. "No offence, but I do not think you have earned the right to learn my history." The leader's son growled. "Impudent whelp." He said as he spun around to look at Kotetsu. "You dare to speak to my father li..." Kotetsu cut him off mid-sentence. "If I'd really wanted to, I could have easily killed you and all of the others in this village." he scowled at them as they shrunk back slightly. "My life's story up until this point is none of your business because I've decided I don't want to share. If you can't accept that, that's too bad for you." The village leader held up his hands in a gesture of appeasement. "I apologise if I or my son were overstepping boundaries. We are grateful for your assistance earlier and do not want to cause offence. There was no religious factions in Hoshigakure. At least none before or after the great war from ten years ago." 'Very curious indeed...' Kotetsu thought to himself with a frown 'It seems that the timeline is very different from the one that I am used to...' Kotetsu nods in understanding. "Interesting...I'm guessing that there are little to no shinobi remaining in any inhabited areas?" The village leader nodded his head. "Sadly, my son and I are the only that I know of here. There was one that spent some time here before heading to Yukigakure. For what reason I have no idea, because there is nothing there other than the ruins of the village." 'That will be my next stop then...' Kotetsu thought. 'I was going to go to either Snow Country or Moon Country next... Guess my mind has been made up for me...' Kotetsu nods in acknowledgement. "I will stay for some time to read your library, to see if I can find anything that will assist me. After that I will need to continue on, as I have my own journey to finish." The leader nodded in understanding. "Very well. You may have access to our wealth of scrolls and books. They're found in the library on the next island. You're welcome to stay as long as you like, I will have accommodations set aside for you, however once you leave I may not be able to allow you back into the village as we are in the middle of a war." "I understand completely." Kotetsu said with a small bow. 'If I find what I need, I won't be coming back, so it will be moot...' He thought to himself as he turned to leave.

It was a short boat ride over to the main island. It seemed that everything except for the housing was on this island. Not that Kotetsu really cared. He was only on that island for one reason, the library. It was not a particularly large structure, but again Kotetsu didn't care as long as the information he was after was there. Small thought it was, it was still going to take Kotetsu some time to go through all the information that was here. Kotetsu ended up spending two weeks in constant study. All the time was for naught, because he found nothing that would help him. Kotetsu was disgusted, but he had a feeling this would happen. 'Oh well. Time to move on it would seem...' He thought to himself as he made his way to the village entrance after his last day of study. He'd already been to the village leader to let him know that his research was completed and he was leaving. It didn't take him long to get through the tunnel and out from under the waterfall. With there being no reason for him to remain in Waterfall country, Kotetsu immediately made for Snow Country. Hopefully his luck would change there.

Snow Country Is A fairly large country to the North of Waterfall Country. It also borders Earth Country to the West, Lightning Country to the East, with its Southern border being shared by Moon Country, Bear Country, and Waterfall Country. It is exactly as the name describes; a frozen wasteland. Nothing but snow and Ice covering almost every inch of ground. It was constantly bombarded by blizzards and freezing temperatures. Thankfully because of his Yuki physiology, the cold did not bother the young Chuunin in the slightest. What did bother him, was that he was about as likely to find the ruins of Yukigakure in this god-forsaken land as he was trying to find a warm place in Snow Country. Since there were very few that could deal with the cold like those of his clan, who had long since all been killed in this timeline, no one had wanted to repopulate the freezing tundra of Snow Country. They all preferred to stay in the Southern countries rather than risk freezing to death in these parts. Kotetsu however was on a hunt for something out here. Something that the books he read in Takigakure hinted might be out here. He just had to find the village ruins and see if any of its knowledge had survived.

While nothing seemed to grow in this desolate landscape, there was still plenty of wildlife. Polar bears were a common sighting for the young Chuunin, who looked at the small shinobi as a potential meal. That’s not to say that Kotetsu was as small as he was. The twelve-year old was just about to reach puberty, so he had already grown some, and with all the hard work and exploring he had done, he was building up a little as well. A couple of the large white beasts found out the hard way that trying to take a bite out of Kotetsu would not end up the way they had expected. Kotetsu did not want for food because of the Polar Bear meat he had that he could cook. What with it being so cold, he didn’t need to try to preserve it, just fire style to cook it when he was ready to eat. Even with his skill with surface walking it was slow going. Since the snow was almost nothing but powder for at least a foot on top of the harder packed snow, it took all he had in order to not constantly sink to his armpits. The only good thing about the snow, was that it was relatively easy to bunker down for the night. He would just need to dig out an igloo like shape in the ground. It was easy enough to make sure that he could get out in the morning, and he didn’t need a fire overnight since the cold did not bother him, and he would not die from the cold unlike some others.

Even though it was not the largest country Kotetsu had visited, it definitely was the hardest to traverse through to date, and it definitely took an extremely long time to explore. Almost as long as it took to explore Wind Country. The traveling was extremely disheartening, as the landscape rarely changed. Kotetsu had nothing else to do but try to persevere and find Yukigakure, as that was the only reason he was in this area. He eventually came across a small mountain range. ‘It has to be in here somewhere…’ Kotetsu thought to himself. He almost didn’t see it, since the path was hidden behind a veritable wall of snow. His Great Breakthrough jutsu carved a hole though the snow that allowed him to make his way through the drift so that he could access the road that lead deeper into the mountain range, where the ruins of Yukigakure lay under a blanket of even more snow.

The Ruins of Yukigakure were hard to see, because snow covered most of the buildings to some degree. It was going to take some time to dig through what was there. The young Chuunin did not hold much hope that there would be something here worth salvaging, but you never know what you’ll find. His wind jutsu came in handy here because he could use them to blow the snow off the ruins to make them easier to access. The more he worked, the more he realised that there was nothing here. 'That individual must not be here anymore...'Kotetsu thought to himself. 'Either that or he's dead...' Kotetsu shrugged and continued his search. He was better off not bothering though, since it did not appear that there was anything worth recovering. "Ah well, another wasted venture..." Kotetsu said out loud to no one in particular. It was time to move on again. So Kotetsu gathered his things and left Yukigakure, heading south towards the border of Snow Country and Moon Country.

Just like his trek to Yukigakure, Kotetsu's walk down to the border of Moon Country and Snow Country was long and slow because of the constantly being at least knee deep in snow. It took him a couple weeks to finally cross over into Moon Country. While Kotetsu enjoyed snow, spending that much time surrounded by it was more than he needed for the time being. Perhaps had it been a more enjoyable situation it would have not been such a detractor.

Moon Country was a complete reversal of where he was. Snow Country was a harsh country, where only the strong and resourceful could survive. Moon Country was nothing but rolling plains and forests. It was easy travelling, and the twelve-year old Chuunin made short work of exploring the Norther portions of Tengakure. Even with the forests in the lower portions of the country, nothing could hide the massive buildings that made up Tengakure though. With such an obvious guidepost, Kotetsu decided to make his way directly to Tengakure, to see if there was anything that remained that could point him in the right direction. If not, it would still likely be an educational experience. The size of the spires belied how far away they actually were. It took Kotetsu a little over a week to make his way to the border of the forests that shrouded all but the tallest towers of the proud village. Kotetsu would need to be careful as he made his way through the trees, the main path long-since overgrown with other vegetation. ‘I guess this means that this village is still in ruins as well…’ Kotetsu thought to himself as he made his way towards the center of the forest. It was slow going, mainly because the forest did have some traps, and Kotetsu had to be careful not to set any off. He had not come all this way to get killed by a paper bomb. Due to the slow progress, Kotetsu had to spend one night beneath the canopy of leaves. That didn’t bother him, since it did not seem like there was anyone or anything but him in the forest itself. The night passed without incident and Kotetsu woke up the next morning refreshed. He spent the rest of that day making his way to the entrance of the ruins of Tengakure.

Tengakure was unlike any village that Kotetsu had visited to date. What little he had read on the village from Takigakure’s library, and the information he had read in Hoshigakure’s library from his timeline had mentioned some advancements that set it apart from other villages. What he was not prepared for though, was how far off this information was. The fact that Tengakure was more advanced than any village was an understatement. In some cases, it was almost as if the building designs themselves belonged in a fairy tale. What surprised Kotetsu the most was that even though the village had been ruined a long time ago, the buildings themselves showed next to no wear. Compared to the other villages he’d been to, it looked like these buildings had recently been damaged and destroyed, which did not make any sense. ‘At least I won’t have an issue finding shelter…’ Kotetsu thought to himself with a smirk. ‘Perhaps this means I may find some useful information here, since it seems like most of the buildings seem intact…’

The structural integrity of the buildings was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because nothing was liable to collapse on him while he was exploring, and it provided a reasonable shelter while he was in the village. On the other hand though, because so many of the buildings were still standing, it was going to take much longer than Kotetsu had anticipated to actually explore everything. For all the buildings that were still standing, there was very little in them that would help Kotetsu. What little he did find was not helpful in the way he was hoping. It seemed that Tengakure was just as victim to scavengers as any other village. Over the course of a month, Kotetsu had explored every building in the village, with the exception of the largest one, in the middle of the village. It was absolutely massive, and the young Chuunin couldn’t believe that it was still standing. The main floor was deserted and barren like the rest of the village. Luckily for him, it seemed there was a stairwell off to one side that would lead all the way to the top. It also had stairs leading down for a few floors. Kotetsu resolved to visit those first, since there were less of them. There were three floors below the main floor, and they had all turned up nothing, which Kotetsu had expected, but had hoped for at least some form of clue. ‘Maybe I’ll have some luck with the rest of the building…’ Kotetsu thought to himself as he made his way upwards towards the floor above the main floor.
There was a total of 100 floors in the structure. Each one took the young Chuunin anywhere between one to two hours to search completely. It took him a week to completely examine the building from bottom to top. Almost every floor was completely devoid of anything that Kotetsu would be able to benefit from. He wasn’t looking for material goods, just information on how he could get back home. In the end, he had come across a couple scrolls, but they were written in a language he did not understand. ‘Not completely useless I hope…’ Kotetsu thought to himself as he made his way down the stairs. ‘Now to find someone who can understand the language…’ It was a dry thought, because the likelihood that he would find anyone that could read the likely dead language was slim to none. “Guess all I can do is keep searching.” He says to himself as he leaves the village.

Having explored the rest of Moon Country in fairly short order, the young Chuunin makes his way further East towards the border of Moon Country and Rain Country, his next destination.

WC: 3644
TWC: 16513

Rain Country was one of the continent’s coastal countries. It was bordered by Moon Country to the West, Fire Country to the South, Bear Country to the North, and the sea to the East. It was quite the contrast to its neighbouring countries. It was similar to Swamp Country in the sense that it rained incessantly. The ground in most areas had been transformed into bogs and swamps, which Kotetsu had no intent on trying to traverse. Unlike Swamp Country though, Rain Country had several small expanses of Jungle, which provided some small relief from the rain. If anything was buried in this death trap of a country, it was going to be beyond Kotetsu’s ability to retrieve, unless it happened to be in plain view. He wasn’t expecting to find anything in the general countryside, since the constant rain would ruin almost anything with enough exposure. He was more hoping to come across Amegakure, or the ruins of it. There would hopefully be something helpful in the village named after this country. The problem was finding the damn village in the first place. The rain not only was demoralising, but it also hampered visibility, making anything more than 100 meters away difficult to see. It was not an enjoyable experience, so Kotetsu strived to get through this hellhole country as quickly as he possibly could. Easier said than done though, considering the treacherousness of the terrain. It was incredibly slow going even on the flattest of terrain because a good deal of the marshland was difficult to make out.

Luckily for Kotetsu, Rain Country was a narrow country, so there was only so much area he could search before he came across what he sought. Amegakure eventually came into view, a few tall spires, similar to what he had seen in Tengakure. The architectural similarities stopped there though. While Tengakure's structures had a certain uniformity to them, the buildings and towers of Amegakure were all different shapes and sizes, a large number of them metal and rusting from the constant rain. Kotetsu had no doubt in his mind that he would not be so fortunate in these ruins. 'It's a wonder that those towers are still standing if they're all rusted...' He thought to himself as he entered one of the gates to the village, or rather, what was left of the gates. Most of it had crumbled away. 'At least it looks like the village itself is relatively small, so this shouldn't take long...' He thought as he began his search. He need not have bothered though. The week he spent combing the village turned up nothing that would help him in the slightest. 'I expected as much...' Kotetsu thought with a disgusted shake of his head. 'This country is worthless...' And to make matters worse, in order to head to his next destination, Bear Country, he needed to trek all the way back across the entire expanse of Rain Country. Kotetsu hated backtracking, but there was no help for it, another few weeks-worth of travel, and the thirteen-year old Chuunin made his way across the border between Rain Country and Bear Country.

Bear Country was one of the smallest countries in the continent, bordered by Rain Country, Moon Country, Snow Country, and Lightning Country, with the sea being to the East. Kotetsu really couldn't figure out why it was called Bear Country. There was not a large number of bears roaming around the country. The country had the biomes that would support bears adequately, other than the obvious lack of size for a country when most bears are rather large creatures. 'Perhaps they're all dead...' Kotetsu thought as he made his way through the country. It didn't seem like there was any form of human habitation in the country either from what Kotetsu could find. He wasn't really expecting to find anything in Bear Country. It was more of a stepping stone to get to his current destination, Lightning Country and Kumogakure. The couple weeks it took Kotetsu to travel across Bear Country resulted in nothing more than a sightseeing trip, since there was literally nothing worth discovering in the small country. It was with renewed hope that he had reached the border between Bear Country and Lightning Country.

Lightning Country was the Eastern-most country on the continent, not including the few islands in the sea nearby. It borders Snow Country to the West, and Bear Country to the South. The rest of the country is surrounded by the sea. Lightning Country was probably the most balanced country that Kotetsu had visited so far. The many rivers in Lightning Country created many grassy plains and forests. There were also quite a large number of hot springs, which definitely encouraged the young 13 year-old Chuunin to stop briefly and rest while he could. His body was going through some interesting changes as a part of growing older, and the hot water would likely help him with the growing pains he was experiencing. ‘Oh the joys of getting older…’ Kotetsu thought to himself with a grumble as he found a sheltered hot spring and decided to camp there for the night. A long soak in the hot spring was definitely called for, and it certainly helped with all the stiffness Kotetsu felt from the constant moving that he had been doing for the last several years. ‘Perhaps I will have to come back here at some point…’ The young Chuunin thought as he relaxed in the water. He was not always a fan of the heat, but it was helpful, so he didn’t mind it as much. He spent a couple days recuperating at the hot spring before making his way North, towards the centre of Lightning Country.

The mountain regions that covered the middle of the country had some snow, but most was dominated by the thunderstorms that the country was famous for. The mountain formed the natural shield for the hidden village of Lightning Country, Kumogakure. In Kotetsu’s timeline, was a thriving village and had a strong military presence. Kotetsu wouldn’t be able to compare until he arrived in the village itself, but so far it seemed that Lightning Country was as empty as the rest of the continent. It took some time to get to the base of the mountain range from the border of Bear Country. The trip was uneventful, which was probably a good thing. The biggest challenge was finding the way through the mountain range to get into Kumogakure. Hopefully he would find the information he was looking for. He was running out of places to look. It was entirely possible that he would remain stuck here. Of course that was something Kotetsu did not want to dwell on. He wanted to get back to his friends and family, and he wouldn’t be able to do that if he lost hope now. Luckily for the young Chuunin, Kumogakure had a few entrances, and they weren’t very hard to find. The biggest issue was making sure he didn’t get struck by lightning. That would be a very unfortunate end for the thirteen year-old shinobi. There was a small side path that Kotetsu decided to try his luck with. It had several overhang which made the walk somewhat sheltered. Even still, Kotetsu had to keep his guard up to make sure that he didn’t get fried by a stray bolt. 

Kumogakure, or what was left of it, was like the eye of the storm. The village was not subject to the same thunderstorms that plagued the mountains around the village. It was almost as if nature provided its own barrier, preventing many from getting access to the village and any secrets it contained. It appeared that the hidden village of Lightning Country had not escaped the destruction that had been wrought among the other villages as a result of the war either. It did appear though that a good portion of the village itself, including what looked like the Raikage’s offices remained intact for the most part. Kotetsu wasted no time with his search. He went straight to the Raikage’s offices to search for anything that could help him figure out the layout of the city. Once he had that information he would be in a better position to figure out the best locations to search first before exploring the rest of the village. The Raikage’s office had some holes in the exterior walls, but otherwise it was still standing. Coincidentally in one of the larger rooms of the upper floors had exactly what Kotetsu was looking for; a map referencing Kumogakure’s districts. He was looking for libraries or any other locations that may contain information that Kotetsu could benefit from.

The Library that Kotetsu was able to locate on the map was half-crumbled. There was the possibility that there would be something amid the ruins, but it was not likely to have survived in this condition. Kotetsu searched the areas of the library that survived. He found one scroll relating to Space-Time Jutsu, but it was instructions for the jutsu he had already learned. Nothing that could really help him in this current situation. ‘Doesn’t look like I’m going to find anything here that will help me…’ Kotetsu thought to himself as he finished up his search of the library. He hadn’t seen any other location on the map that he would have considered to be of significant importance in terms of information storage. He scoured the rest of the surviving buildings in the village, but didn’t find any other information. ‘Nothing here…’ Kotetsu thought to himself. ‘I think it’s time to move on…’

Everywhere the young Chuunin had been had shown no leads of any kind, and he was running out of places to look. He would have to check the islands around the continent to see if they were so far-removed to be holding secrets that avoided the common looting of other areas. In order to get to those islands though, he was going to need a boat, and acquire supplies to make the trip. Travelling by boat was going to be a long and arduous journey. Especially because since there are virtually no people around, it would reduce the options he would have to boats that he could pilot alone. He didn’t have the control in order to summon shadow clones that could help him. As he made his way to the coast, he had managed to find a small boat that he could manage by himself. With the boat situation figured out, he gathered as many supplies as he could. Fresh water, food that he preserved. He had also gathered some wood just in case he needed to make repairs at some point. With everything ready, Kotetsu got on the boat and made his way out to sea, towards the island closest to Lightning Country, Fang Island.

WC: 1817
TWC: 18330

It didn’t take long for Fang Island to come into view. It hadn’t taken as long as Kotetsu had thought. ‘The island must be closer to the shore than the map makes it seem…’ He thought to himself as the island slowly came into focus. ‘Suits me just fine. It means I don’t need to spend a lot of time on the boat right now…’ He hadn’t realised how big Fang Island was. It was big for an island, almost as large as some of the countries on the mainland. As Kotetsu got closer, it appeared that the island itself was nothing more than a large outcropping of rocks. Jagged spires rising out of the water. It looked to be a very inhospitable place, but you never knew what you would find in the unlikeliest of locations. ‘Perhaps there’s a series of caves with someone living there…’ Kotetsu thought to himself as he got reach to beach his borrowed boat. That would be a difficult task, since it did not seem that there was any sand to be found. Kotetsu was not easily dissuaded, and did a circuit of the island to find the best place to land.

There was a gravelly beach on the opposite side of the island, which ended up being Kotetsu's best bet at having a somewhat safe location to land the boat without destroying it in the process. 'That would be bad indeed if the boat sprung a leak due to my carelessness...' He tied the boat to a larger rock on the shore and made his way towards the center of the island. It was easy enough to do, since the rocks provided natural stairs and platforms for him to move around the island. It was almost as if someone had shaped the island to be the way it was with chakra. It was subtle though, in a way that you wouldn't put it together if you didn't think about it. That fact brought a small amount of hope to Kotetsu. It was possible that people were living on the island.

Even with paths and walkways to make exploring easier, the search was still going to take some time. Mainly because there were caves to explore, and the island itself as roughly the size of Grass Country. There was plenty of places to explore, and Kotetsu had to return to the boat every so often to make sure that it did not float away. The first week of exploring showed nothing of promise. Nothing but rock and potential sites where one could live periodically. It didn't get much better as he explored the rest of the rocky surface. On the off chance that Kotetsu found something of use hidden amount the rocks, he could leave no stone unturned, and yes the pun was intended. Unsurprisingly, the surface of the island contained no secrets, so Kotetsu would need to move his search underground.

Luckily for the young 14 year-old Chuunin, there were a few different cave entrances that he had noticed on the island. He did not know however, how big each cave was or how extensive they all are. 'Oh well, time to start exploring some caves...' Kotetsu thought to himself as he started with the caves closest to his boat, which was still where he had left it. The first cave was little more than a foyer, which works, since it meant that weather wouldn't really get past it into the next cave behind it. However it didn't seem that this particular system of caves was especially extensive, and it didn't look like there was anything living there now or ever. At least there were other cave systems to explore.

None of them were turning up any results. It was as if the entire island was sculpted by a shinobi, just for the sake of making their own island. The last cave system he came across though... Finally it seemed that there was some form of life here. Well, there used to be. It was clear that at least one person had lived in this system of caves. For good reason, it was fairly extensive and there was a couple areas that didn't make sense to be underground, but there they were. There was a room that had indentations in the walls that looked like a person could lay down. There was also a small cave that had a skylight, with tables and some plants and herbs. 'A greenhouse? Underground?..' Kotetsu thought to himself as he looked around. 'Very clever use of space... It would make sense since it doesn't look like there is much in regards of sustainable food sources out here other than fish...' He shrugged and continued exploring the cave system. While it looked like there had been people living here for some time, it didn't look like they were there anymore, and have not been here for a long time. 'I guess it's time to move on...' Kotetsu thought to himself as he made his way back to the boat. It was still in perfect shape, and exactly where he had left it. It was time to move on to the other island off of Lightning Country's coast, Claw Island.

Rather than make the straight  trip from Fang Island to Claw Island, Kotetsu kept the boat close to Lightning Country's shoreline to replenish supplies as he got to the shortest distance between the island and the mainland. It made the trip longer by about a week or so, but being a little more prepared was always worth the extra time. He spent some of the time fishing or foraging along the coastline, as well as ensuring that the boat was still in top shape. The overall trip took Kotetsu just under a month to make his way to Claw Island.

Claw Island was a much larger island compared to Fang Island, at least twice the size. Claw Island was not what Kotetsu had expected the island to look like in terms of topography. He thought it  was going to be like Fang Island, nothing but jagged rocks and caves. It was more forests and grassland. With the exception of a mountain range that ran along the middle of the island, looking like claws. It also looked like there was a fair number of beaches, which would make it easier for the young Chuunin to get his boat to shore without tearing out its bottom on a rough patch. Once beached, Kotetsu tied the boat to a nearby rock to act as an anchor. Now that he had secured the boat, it was time to begin exploring the island to see what secrets it held.

The beach he had landed on was relatively small, so there wasn't anything worth noting here. The beach immediately lead into a forest though, which Kotetsu examined extensively. There were quite a few creatures living among the trees, but no humans were to be found. Kotetsu would continue his methodical search of the island, slowly making his way further inland towards the mountain chain in the middle of the island, where it had most likely gotten its name from. Every area he had passed so far held no clues for him to follow. 'Still nothing with so much ground covered already...' Kotetsu thought to himself after another day's exploration. 'I'm running out of places to search, not just on this island, but the mainland as well...' He had hoped that there would still be some people living on these islands. Claw Island seemed to be the best option potentially based on the remoteness and the fact that it could sustain life. 'Unless people never got the chance to make it out here...' But that didn't seem plausible. Of course Kotetsu was basing this off what he knew of his own timeline. It could very well be that no one had bothered to come out to this island yet. With a shrug, the young Chuunin kept searching, it was the only thing he could do in the current situation.

He neared the base of the mountains, they were large, larger than Kotetsu had thought when he first saw them. That would be a blessing and a curse. A curse because they were so large that it would take time to search them. A Blessing because it meant there was a lot of area where there could be someone hiding. There were four mountains in total. The middle two were slightly larger than the outer ones. The mountains were surrounded by hills, getting larger until they merged with the feet of the mountain.  The Young Chuunin ended up spending the longest time exploring the mountains. Naturally the mountains also had caves dotted throughout. It didn't seem like there was anything on the surface of the rocky spires, so Kotetsu would need to start exploring the cave systems that he had discovered during his search.

The caves did not have anything that would benefit Kotetsu getting back to his timeline. It seemed that his original thought that the island was deserted was correct. That was confirmed with him exploring the remaining half of the island. The entire search took him several months and he had nothing to show for it. It seemed that it was time to move on to another area that he had not travelled to yet. That list was getting smaller and smaller the longer he stayed in this timeline. There was still other islands to explore, so it was back on the boat and heading off to Island Country.

Because Kotetsu did not want to travel straight to Island Country because of the distance between Claw Island and Island Country was quite a large distance, with nothing in between but water. The young Chuunin decided that the safest option was to backtrack along the coast of Lightning Country, past Claw Island, and around Flower Country in order to get as close as possible to island Country before making the journey across the water to the cluster of islands. The trip was definitely going to take significantly longer than Kotetsu had planned, but it was the safest option as he would easily be within sight of the shoreline for the longest amount of time in case there was a problem with his boat.

The first leg of the trip covered his return from Claw Island to the coast of Lightning Country. It was one of two legs that he would be going straight across the body of water. It was uneventful; the weather was clear and the wind was helping him along, so it made the trip a little faster back to the mainland at least. The next leg of the trip was going along Lightning Country's coast, past Fang Island. As soon as he was around the island, Kotetsu cut across the inlet over to the tip of Rain Country. He then skirted around the small island off the cost of Rain Country and Fire Country on his way to the tip of Flower Country.

Overall, travelling by boat to the tip of Flower Country took Kotetsu around four months. During that time, the young Chuunin celebrated his fifteenth birthday, and underwent another growth spurt. He was five foot, six inches tall now, and it didn’t seem like he was going to stop growing there. To take his mind off of the growing pains, he would focus on improving his chakra’s potency, and the amount of chakra he could use. With his getting older, and his body growing, his natural reserves of chakra would also increase. That would be a big benefit to the Chuunin as it meant that he would be able to perform more jutsu than he could before. He would also make sure to stretch often so as to ensure that his muscles didn't tear as badly as they accommodated his growing bones.

From Flower country he would make his way as quickly as possible to Island Country. Island Country was a collection of ten islands of varying sizes. From the maps that Kotetsu read, there was there was one very small island, six larger islands of approximately the same size, one island that was roughly twice the size of the smaller islands, and two main islands of roughly equal size. One of the larger islands was where Kirigakure, the hidden village of Island Country was located. In Kotetsu's timeline, it was originally called Shimagakure. It was also home to some rough tropical storms and whirlpools that Kotetsu was going to have to navigate if he wanted to reach the islands alive. It looked like he would be lucky as he approached. The whirlpools were easy to see and avoid. And it didn't look like there was a hurricane currently going on, which was a relief. Kotetsu was not an extremely skilled sailor, so trying to brave a hurricane would not have been a good idea for him.

It would seem that his luck would run out as soon as he got within range of the first of the islands. Clouds started moving in from the north, from the look of them, they were big, and they were moving fast. There was very little that Kotetsu would be able to do other than beach his boat, get it secured, find shelter, and hope that nothing bad happens. He wasn't going to have much time. It would potentially be safer to hole up on the closest island and wait for the storm to blow over. It just so happened that as Kotetsu was sailing around the island looking for a spot to land, he found a large cavern-like opening in the side of a cliff on the coastline of the island. It looked like he would be able to get his boat inside, and secure it down where it would be relatively well protected from the elements. The waves would still be rough, but as long as Kotetsu was smart about how he secured the boat, it should be alright. At the back of the cavern, it appeared that there was a rocky shelf that  he could tie up to. The shelf also had a passageway leading off to one side, possibly leading into other caves. Something he could potentially explore while waiting out the hurricane that was bearing down on Island Country. It looked like people had lived in this particular cavern, as the passage definitely looked mined. There were several rooms that had been hollowed out. There wasn't any food or water in the caves, but there was a supply of wood, some blankets, and the odd piece of furniture. It even looked like a spot was set up to be able to have a fire going, which Kotetsu did after making sure the "chimney" was not blocked by debris. The wood was dry so it caught fire quickly. It would give the young Chuunin a way to keep warm and dry should the water get into the caves from where his boat was docked.

It wasn't long after he had gotten the fire going that the hurricane hit the island. The wind was ferocious, the sounds of trees being felled or pulled out of the ground being extremely common. It was not a kind of storm that Kotetsu was used to. The rain he could live with, as he'd walked for months in nothing but rain, but the sheer destruction that the wind caused with the rain was too much. Had Kotetsu not found cover, he would not likely have survived that encounter, shinobi or no shinobi. Since hurricanes took some time to either move on or rain itself out, Kotetsu had no option other than to explore the area he was in. It did appear that the rooms were part of an existing cavern system where it looked like a decent number of people had lived at one point, but did not live there any further. It also appeared that there were at least two ways to get back to the surface of the island other than the water cavern that Kotetsu had entered from.

It took a few days for the hurricane to move on so that Kotetsu could start exploring the rest of the island he was on. Before he did, he went to check on his boat, which somehow had survived the hurricane unscathed. The island had also fared better than the fifteen year-old Chuunin had expected. Not that it really mattered, since it didn't look like anyone was living on this island. That meant it was time for Kotetsu to move on to the next island. He only needed to hunker down once more while searching the smaller islands. None of them turned up anything of value that would help him in his quest to get back home. So he moved on to the largest island in Island Country, saving Kirigakure for last. This island had the remains of a couple villages, which spoke volumes. 'There were people living here at one point as well...' Kotetsu thought to himself as he searched the various ruined buildings. There wasn't much left, likely because of the hurricanes, but you never know what would survive in the unlikeliest of situations if one did not look. With nothing to show for the effort he invested, Kotetsu turned his attention to the last island he had to visit in Island Country. The second largest island that also was the home of Kirigakure. If the rest of the islands were any indication, the Hidden Mist Village was likely to be in ruins as well.

Kirigakure itself was a series of smaller islands inside the shell of a larger island. All of the islands appeared to have been connected by bridges at one point or another. Several of the bridges had long since fallen away. It would make travelling among them a little harder, but it would not dissuade the young Chuunin from searching for the answers he sought. Kirigakure it seemed, had other ideas in mind. The mist in the village made it harder to see things, even for Kotetsu's sharp eyes. On top of that as well, it didn't even seem like there was much left of the village itself. It took Kotetsu a week to thoroughly search the remains of this once proud village, and turned up nothing. 'Just like the rest...' Kotetsu thought, with a twinge of disappointment. Nothing left to do but move on it would seem. There was only one more cluster of islands that he could search before making his way back inland; Volcano Country, and Funkagakure. 'I really hope that all this travelling wasn't done in vain...'

WC: 3114
TWC: 21444

Kotetsu decided it would be safest to make his way to Volcano country in the same manner he did when he traveled from Claw Island to Island Country. The young Chuunin would backtrack from island Country over to the tip of Flower Country. From there, he would travel South, following the coast of Flower Counter, down along Fire Country and Tea Country until he had reached the tip of Tea Country, where he would have the least amount of water to cross between Tea Country and Volcano Country. The amount of time spent travelling was around the same amount of time it took Kotetsu to get from Claw Island to Island Country originally, but it was time well spent. At least this way, Kotetsu had ensured a much safer trip. It was a slightly greater distance from Tea Country to Volcano Country, but he couldn't help that. It only took a few days for the primary island in Volcano Country to appear on the horizon.

Volcano Country was a wasteland. Likely a result of the almost constant volcano activity. 'It's surprising that it isn't bigger...' Kotetsu thought to himself as he observed the black mass of rock as he approached. With all the active volcanoes here, the lava should be expanding the land borders considerably...' For some reason though, it would appear that the islands don't seem to get bigger. With a shrug Kotetsu makes his way around the islands that make up Volcano country. It didn't seem like there was a point to examining the smaller islands, that appeared just be two very large volcanoes, and sailing around each one seemed to show that there was nothing but the volcanoes themselves. 'If there was anything there, it's likely buried under the newly-formed rock caused by the lava that each of those monsters are creating...' He thought to himself. 'Oh well, only one thing left to do then...' And with that he made his way around the island to a beach of black sand. There were no volcanoes in the close vicinity, so Kotetsu was hoping that the boat would survive long enough for him to search the island and leave.

The main island was the ultimate natural survival test. Nothing could really live here because of all the ash and dust and volcanic activity. As a result, plant life and animal life was non-existent. Kotetsu wasn't going to have much he could explore because of the fact that there were active volcanoes everywhere. The volcanoes also didn't really give warning when they were going to erupt, so Kotetsu had to stay on his guard at all times.  Everywhere that Kotetsu had searched had shown no life or signs of habitation. For the size of the island, there was not many places that could be searched. The only place Kotetsu had left to visit was the hidden village of Volcano Country, Funkagakure. Funkagakure was surrounded by a ring of volcanoes, most of them were still active. One thing that Kotetsu noticed as different though, was he caught a faint chakra signature on the edge of his chakra sensory's range. He almost moved on before realising what he’d stumbled upon. ‘Someone else is here…’ Kotetsu thought to himself. It bothered him, because the chakra felt familiar somehow. Which didn’t make any sense, because he hadn’t had time to get attuned to anyone else’s chakra. Unfortunately, the entrance to the village wasn’t anywhere near where he felt the chakra signature, so he would need to find the way in and make his way over. Of course it turns out that the entrance to Funkagakure was almost on the other side of the ring of volcanoes that surrounded the village. The village gates were wide open, one of the massive basalt doors was on the ground, blown off of its hinges. Warily, Kotetsu walked through the gate and into the village itself.

Funkagakure was almost exactly like other villages, a desolate ruins. The only lucky thing is it seemed that the volcanoes had not erupted in a way to spill their deadly blood into the village itself. That will make the search easier as he wouldn’t have to worry about dodging lava flows. It also helped that Funkagakure was a relatively small village so he wouldn’t have many places to search for the chakra signature he had noticed before. It looked like it was coming from the mansion situated near the largest of the volcanoes. Of all the buildings in the village, for some reason the mansion seemed to be the least affected. Kotetsu shrugged, ‘It would make sense that the chakra signature is in the most structurally sound building in the village…’ the young Chuunin thought as he made his way closer. The closer he got, the stronger the chakra signature became. It also seemed that his earlier feeling was right. The chakra signature was not unknown to him. But there’s only one chakra signature he had memorized right now, his own. It wasn’t exactly what his own chakra felt like, it was slightly different, but the casual observer wouldn’t likely be able to tell them apart. That only meant one thing.

As Kotetsu approached the front doors, the opened and a man stood in the threshold. He wore green and grey robes that were open at the front, revealing some form of armour underneath. Kotetsu wasn’t able to get a good look at it. The robes the man wore had a hood that he was not wearing currently, so Kotetsu got a good look at his face. He was old, much older than he would have thought. His hair was black shot through with grey, as was the short beard that covered his face. ‘So that’s what I’m going to look like when I get older…’ Kotetsu thought to himself as they studied each other for a few moments. He then spoke his next thought out loud. “Is this your timeline?” he asked the older Kotetsu, who responded by chuckling. His voice was deeper, and had gravelly overtones that made him sound much gruffer than Kotetsu had thought. “It is now.” The older Kotetsu said to his younger self. “I was not originally from this timeline, but it’s a better home than the timeline I’m from. That caused the young Chuunin to raise his eyebrow in surprise. The older shinobi continued. “Where I’m from, the continent has changed drastically. Most of the landmass is gone, either underwater or in a state like this hell hole.” He said, gesturing to Funkagakure in general. “This is paradise compared to where I came from."

Kotetsu was surprised. This particular timeline was pretty hellish already compared to what he was used to though, so the concept that there was a timeline that was worse than here was hard to believe at first, but the more he thought about it, the more he realised that with different timelines, there can be almost any possible series of events. There was likely timelines that were even worse off than where this older version of himself came from. "I'm sorry to hear that." He said to the older Kotetsu. "I've been trying to make my way back to my own timeline, as this is a hellhole compared to where I'm from. Do you know how I'd be able to make that happen?" The older shinobi laughed at his first comment. "Naturally the younger me is spoiled." He says with a smile. "I do have an idea as to how we can get you back to where you came from, but we won't be able to do it from here. it has to be done from where you had crossed over originally. Where was that by the way?" The young Chuunin chuckles. "I was living in Haven Country, in Hoshigakure when I got sent here." He had almost missed when his older self said we. "Oh, will you be joining me?" He asked the older shinobi.

The older Kotetsu winced. "That's going to be quite the trek, but that's alright." He nodded in response to the younger's question. "Yes, you will likely need me to be there to help you, plus I need to grab a couple things along the way to improve the chances that this will work. What I need may or may not be in hostile hands at the moment, so it will be nice to have the backup while I attempt to retrieve it." The fifteen year-old nodded eagerly. "Sounds good. When did you want to head out? I have a boat on the beaches south of here that we can use." The elder nodded. "We can leave in the morning. I would imagine that your travel here was exhausting. And the boat would likely be faster to travel with if we are to remain together. I have jutsu that will allow me to move large distance quickly, but it won't allow me to move more than myself." The young Chuunin nods in understanding. "That's fine. I've been travelling the mainland and surrounding islands for the last 8 years. I think I can survive a trip back to Haven Country without taking shortcuts." he said with a chuckle. The older shinobi claps his hands together. "Perfect. We shall get some rest and head out in the morning."

With that, the two versions of Kotetsu enter the mansion. The younger Kotetsu found a room to rest in and  immediately went to sleep while the older shinobi gathered his things in preparation for the journey. The next morning arrived quickly, and the two made their way quickly down to the boat, which was right where Kotetsu had left it. They got the boat in the water and headed around the island back towards the mainland. Kotetsu looked at the older incarnation of himself. "What's our first stop?" The older Kotetsu didn't answer right away. "Would probably make most sense to head to Tea Country." He said "There are four things I need to acquire. They are in Tea Country, Fire Country, Flower Country, and Iron Country respectively. Hopefully they are still where I left them." The young Chuunin smiled. "Only one way to find out..." He says with a chuckle as he steers the boat across the open water towards Tea Country, and the first stop on the journey to get him back home.

WC: 1726
TWC: 23170

The trip across the sea to Tea Country was relatively uneventful, however it did seem as tedious for Kotetsu. Most likely due to the new travelling companion he had acquired. The older Kotetsu had a wealth of knowledge, and he had been around in this timeline for quite some time. He had first arrived in this timeline when he was fifteen years old. It seemed that Iron Country had been a warmongering country at the very least for the last thirty five years, and the surrounding countries had slowly been losing the war of attrition due to Iron Country having superior gear and numbers. The older Shinobi had been trying to help the forces from Fire Country whenever he could, but he preferred to stay out of the fighting, since he had fought a lot in his original timeline before ending up here.
 
"So what are we going to pick up?" Kotetsu asks his older counterpart. The older shinobi scratches his chin as he responds, "What you're looking to do is not a very precise art, and it's hard to explain since we're not even supposed to be able to head to another timeline, even with Space-Time jutsu. I have a set of scrolls hidden among Tea Country, Flower Country, and Fire Country that when used together with the right power source, they can possibly make a tear in Space Time. The conditions have to be perfect. The slightest deviation will either result in the scrolls being destroyed, or a backlash that could kill us." The young Chuunin was taken aback by the risks involved, but it made sense that there would be some since what they were going to try and do was something Kotetsu had only done by accident, and it shouldn't have even happened in the first place apparently.

He nods in understanding. "Do we know where the scrolls are in each country?" He asks, hoping that they can cut down travelling by going straight to them. "Yes and no." Was the response. "I separated them and placed them in specific locations that only I knew of. It's very likely that they could have been discovered. They mean nothing by themselves though. I can track them within a certain distance because of a seal that's on the scrolls. The scroll also acts as a potent lock that only I can unlock."
 
'That must make him skilled at Fuinjutsu...' The young Chuunin thought to himself as he listened to the older Kotetsu explain the scrolls. 'He had gone a different path than I plan on going, but that only makes sense. We're not going to be exactly the same...' "Alright. Where's the scroll located that's in Tea Country?" Kotetsu asked. "I left it in an old temple that was abandoned at the time. Hopefully it's still there. If it's not, we'll need to do some searching." he said with a shrug. "Tea Country isn't an overly large country, so it shouldn't be too hard to track down." The fifteen year-old nods. "It's not like we're in a huge rush. I'd just like the chance to be able to get back to where I'm from. I appreciate the help." The older Kotetsu waves his hand dismissively. "It's nothing. I have no intention of going back to my own timeline, and I'd rather not take the chance that I would end up in a different timeline that's worse than this one. At least here I can live in somewhat tranquility, or I lend my power to shape the world for the better." It made sense. The younger shinobi knew exactly what lay in store for him, assuming he ended up back where he was from. Not just the location, but the time where he first came from as well.
 
The shoreline of Tea Country approached rapidly for the two shinobi. Kotetsu had only seen part of the country's shoreline and none of the country's mainland because he had wanted to make the trip to Volcano Country quickly. They would need to sail around part of the coast as the tip of Tea Country was a sheer cliff. They found a sandy beach not far along the northern coast and made landfall there. "We won't need the boat anymore as it will be easier to just cross borders overland instead." The older Kotetsu said to the young Chuunin as they backtracked towards the tip of Tea Country. "The Temple is a little ways back this way." He said as he lead the way.
 
The temple is situated on a hill near the top of the cliff, as stereotypical that it is. It was a fairly large temple, and despite all odds, it appeared that the temple was still intact. As they got closer though, the older Kotetsu frowned. "I'm not feeling the seal on my scroll. There's no reason that it would have come undone. Come on, let's check out the temple anyways, just in case." "What does the scroll look like?" The young Chuunin asked his older contemporary. "It's about six inches long and two inches in diameter. The one here has blue backing, and it has our clan symbol on the outside." 'Shouldn't be too hard to find if it's here...' Kotetsu thought to himself. 'From what he said though it doesn't seem like it is here...' "Alright. I'll take a look upstairs." He said to the older shinobi, who responded with a nod. "Sounds good, I'll examine the main floor here" was the response the fifteen year-old Chuunin received.
 
The top floor was as intact as the rest of the structure. It consisted of a walkway that wrapped around the upper floor, connecting to each doorway. The middle of the floor was open so that one could look down onto the main floor without interference. As the older Kotetsu went to where he had originally stored the scroll, the younger one started opening doors upstairs. most of them appeared to be rooms where the original users of the temple would go to rest. There were two rooms that did not serve this purpose. The first one was a library of sorts, with scrolls and books stacked on shelves,, most of them appearing to be in good shape still. Kotetsu would look at the last room before searching the library more thoroughly. The last room appeared to be a private meditation room. There was a raised pedestal in the center of the room with a rug for someone to sit on. There were censors and candlesticks around the edge of the room as well. None of it had seen recent use, as evident from the dust. After doing a quick search of the room, he returned to the library to search the books and scrolls that were stored within. It appeared that the books and scrolls were largely related to religious doctrine and meditation. 'Doesn't seem like what we're looking for is going to be here...' Kotetsu thought as he left the library and made his way back downstairs. The older Kotetsu was waiting at the bottom of the stairs. "It's not here." He said shortly. "We need to find who took and where they went." The young Chuunin nods in agreement. "I didn't see it upstairs either. Guess all we can do is head further inland and see if it's in one of the villages closer to Fire Country." "If it's even still in Tea Country..." The older shinobi said with a twinge of annoyance in his voice.
 
They left the temple and headed North towards Fire Country's border. Since they did not know where the scroll had been taken, they had no choice but to comb the entire country first, on the off chance that it was still located in Tea Country, just not where it had been left by the older Kotetsu. There were a couple small villages in Tea Country currently, most of them being abandoned due to previous conflict. They were all empty and none of them had the scroll they were looking for. As they approached the last village, it didn't seem like there any trace of the scroll there either. There was still a couple parts of the country left to search, so they continued on, with the older Kotetsu's mood darkening slightly the more area they searched with no results. As they were closing in on the border between Tea Country and Fire Country, it seemed that the older shinobi felt something. "Hold up here." he said abruptly, causing Kotetsu to stop moving and wait while the older one cocked his head to the side, almost like a dog listening for a sound. "Found it. It's over this way." He says and moves off to the East, with the younger Kotetsu right on his heels.
 
They entered a clearing, which had a few wooden shacks along one side of the clearing. There was a fire pit in the middle with a couple of chairs and benches. It looked like a fire had recently been put out. 'Possibly the camp of some scavengers or looters...' Kotetsu thought to himself as he looked around. According to his older contemporary, the scroll was in the middle shack, which appeared to be the larger of the four structures that were in the clearing. As they approached it they heard other voices making their way towards the clearing as well. They quickly made their way to the door of the shack, which was locked. "Hell..." the older Kotetsu muttered under his breath. "No helping it..." and he broke the door with a punch near the doorknob, breaking the mechanism and opening the door. There was a bunch of things lying on the floor, with the scroll apparently mixed in there. The older Kotetsu quickly moved over to the pile and fished the scroll out, placing it in one of his pouches. They left the shack just as a group of 8 people entered the clearing. Obviously none of them had a chakra signature otherwise they would have noticed them much sooner than that. The group stopped when they saw the two Yuki. One of the men, quite possibly the leader spoke out to the rest of them. "Well boys, it looks like someone found our hideout and thought they could steal from us. Lets teach 'em a lesson." They didn't get a chance to. Before any of them could move, the pair of shinobi had ran at them and quickly incapacitated them. They couldn't afford to waste time playing with bandits. Once they were all down, The two Kotetsu's made their way to the border of Fire Country and Tea Country.
 
This border wasn't guarded like the borders were in Iron Country. Likely because Fire Country didn't have the manpower to watch all of their borders for the entire country. 'They have likely shortened their area of influence for now...' Kotetsu thought to himself. He looked at the older shinobi. "Are we getting the scroll in Fire Country or in Flower Country next?" He asked. "We'll head to Flower Country first." was the response he got. "The scroll that's in Fire Country is likely still in Konohagakure, so that's further away than Flower Country is. Not to mention Konoha is on our way back to Haven." Kotetsu nods in understanding. 'It makes sense...' the young Chuunin thought. Flower Country would be easy to search because it was so small.
 
It took them about as long as it did for them to cross Fire Country to the border of Flower Country as it did for them to cross Tea Country to reach the border of Fire Country. That particular area was not populated in any way, so they had come across no other life other than wild animals. When they actually reached the border of Flower Country, once again, the border was not manned, which didn't surprised Kotetsu at all by this point. 'We're likely going to come across people when we get to Konohagakure itself...' He thought to himself as they crossed into Flower Country.
 
Flower Country was by far the most beautiful of the countries the young Chuunin had come across. For a place that was essentially abandoned, it would seem it was flourishing nicely. The land was primarily rolling hills, with streams and rivers that lead to the sea. Its geographical location giving it a warmer climate, which was perfect for the multitude of flowers that grew on the grassy plains. if his mission wasn't so pressing, he'd be inclined to spend some time here admiring the beauty that the land had to offer. However that was not to be the case this time. He turned to his travelling companion. "Please don't tell me you left this one in another temple..." he said jokingly. The older shinobi laughed. "I see we share a similar sense of humour. There's a village near the eastern end of Flower Country. I left the scroll inside one of the buildings there. It's more secure than the temple that I'd left the first scroll in, so it should still be there." He said to Kotetsu. "We should be able to grab it and head on to Konohagakure right away without having to run around searching for it." "That's a relief." Kotetsu said to the older version of himself. "Don't get me wrong, I don't want to come off as ungrateful, I just want to get back to where I belong." The older shinobi nodded in understanding. "No need to apologise." He replied. "If I had the same situation as yourself, I would be doing the same."
 
They quickly made their way across Flower Country, only needing a week to arrive at the ruined village that the older Kotetsu was referring to. It was almost immediately upon reaching the village that the older Kotetsu grunted in apparent satisfaction. "Good. It's here." He said. Kotetsu smiled. "Perfect. No wild goose chase this time." It turned out there would be a problem with the retrieval though, since nothing could ever go according to plan. The building that the scroll was stored in, a large two-storey home, had succumbed to the degradation that most buildings suffered when neglected for extended periods of time. The entire structure had collapsed in on itself, burying everything inside under broken, rotten timber and stone and tiles. Because they didn't want to potentially damage the scroll, they needed to carefully move the debris. It was a good thing that they were both shinobi, so they were able to make the task faster on account of their enhanced speed and strength. As such, it only took them a few days to clear the debris to a degree where the older Kotetsu was able to retrieve the scroll from the reinforced container it had been stored in. This particular scroll was identical to the last one in terms of size and shape. The only difference is that the backing for the scroll was red instead of blue. The older shinobi placed the scroll in the same pouch as the first, and the pair made their week-long trip back through Flower Country, back to the border of Flower Country and Fire Country, their current destination as the last of the three scrolls is located somewhere in the large country.
 
WC: 2548
TWC: 25718