Meeting of the Minds [P, Solo, NK]

"out of the frying pan, and..."  Kenjiro began as he was drug before a very different version of Gisei than what he had known.  It seemed as though Kenjiro was not the only one to train since his apparent death.

Gisei motioned for his men to leave without saying a word.  Each of them sporting different markings, but also noticeable was the distinct Konohagure headband that each wore on their belt loops like a street gang or something.  If Kenjiro was not in his current predicament it might have been funny, he probably would have even laughed.  Instead, he now face to face with the man he had his eyes on killing for a few months now.

"So It looks like you didn't die that day after all...Now I am told that you have been amassing a group to try and take me down instead of just letting us leave like we wanted.  Bad move Kenji...bad move."  Gisei said as Kenjiro stood up and they finally face to face as Kenjiro laughed.
"Well, when you threatened my family how was I supposed to let that slide, I mean people are obviously confused as to who Gisei is, but that will be clear all too soon.  For now though how about a talk since I assume you are not going to let me leave here alive?"  Kenjiro said putting the ball in his court.  Gisei smirked before finally leaning against a wall.
"Yeah, I guess we can do that."  He said as Kenjiro stood opposite of him in the room.

WC:260

The two of them standing there across the room from each other like old friends, the air between them tinged with malice and calm. It was like a storm was brewing where one force would attempt to destroy the other, but it was also different. This was something that Kenjiro wished happened under different circumstances. He would have never thought to have it due to being thrown into the river.

The events that lead to this meeting were still being processed in the back of his mind in slow motion even though the pair only had a few seconds of dead air before they spoke.
Kenjiro had just informed his group that their failed attempt to gather weapons was his fault due to not contacting Kozachi beforehand, and of course, he left her name out of this so that the group did not feel tempted to take revenge for their feelings. Regardless Kenjiro told the group that he would be going to meet with Gisei that day and that the trap was to be as follows; Allow Kenjiro to be taken in by revealing who he was, though not telling the group his real name as of yet. As this was being done the group would place explosive tags at various positions around the meeting place for Gisei, it was not going to be pretty, but the means of escape were justifiable due to the lack of physical training that Kenjiro had at the time. There was no signal, Kenjiro's plan hinged on the fact that he would have a total of ten minutes after entering to get Gisei to spill the bean about his group and their plans. If Kenjiro could, he would try to apprehend Gisei for the authorities...otherwise, he would either escape or try to hinder any further movements of the rival group.

Back to the present, however, Kenjiro spoke with purpose as he put his plan in motion.
"Why try to create discord if you just wanted your family gone and you to escape...why go through the trouble of creating a televised torture program?" He asked as Gisei responded quickly.
"You know my reasons for wanting to do this shit Kenji, don't play the victim here because you got burned. I told you that you should have kept your nose out of this shit, and I also told you to die quietly at the river. It doesn't matter though seeing how I will finish the job myself soon." He said with a sigh before continuing.
"Let me indulge you though...About three months back some remaining Kiri ninja offered me a chance out of this dump so I can actually learn some real skills, all I have to do is cause some chaos and after "paying" for my ticket they would get me an escort out of here and with the main forces of Kiri. The fucking kicker here is that the ones that offered me the opportunity are now officials in different branches of the Konoha government, not saying it goes to the damn top here...but enough so that they got some pull with the ninja forces and police force. So as you saw in the basement of the academy it was easy to set up a kill room that nobody would find...except you and your sister did. I have had her tailed since I threw you in the river, she has shown progress, I might just offer her a place in my group before we leave." Gisei said, sort of dodging the question, but also giving Kenjiro some information for use at a later date.

Three minutes had passed since they began their little verbal dance. Kenjiro lead as Gisei followed along without realizing it, or maybe he knew the plan the entire time. Regardless he had to continue at this point as he needed more info to make this something he could use to find the real monsters hidden in the village.

“So going on, you seem to be stuck now or at least you have been set back by the blow that me and my sister struck upon you. Good, sick bastards like you deserve to be locked away and forgotten about. I know you have been gathering people of like minds to just leave the village entirely without even wasting time becoming apart of something else. You have to be a special kind of dumb to think you would not be found out...It’s like you live in some fantasy world.” Kenjiro said as he felt for Gisei, knowing he had been abused physically and mentally, thinking that the only way out is to become the evil you originally set out to stop. Kenjiro had thoughts like that, but not from abuse. He was jealous of his sister’s strength, angry at his clan for not trying to take care of their people more before him was someone that Kenjiro considered to be his first real friend, and now his greatest enemy.

Gisei looked at Kenjiro like he had just killed his dog at first, then it turned into a sneer that even Kenjiro took for as insanity before he spoke.
“Whether I am found out or not, people will take me as a harmless kid that just has daddy issues, the fights will resolve themselves...I have many more friends now that can take care of issues for me...I am the brain here, and I thought that you would be able to see it from my angle here Kenji...I can tell you that you do not even have a chance in hell in stopping men due to the numbers that I have, but that would be adding insult to injury...” Gisei pauses for a moment as he spoke, it had been 9 minutes and 45 seconds since Kenjiro was brought into this place, the time was almost upon him now.
“I don’t want you to die, you show a lot of promise. And I realize now that killing you would just be a waste. Join me and help me kill these Kiri fucks, then we can get out of the village...find someplace that accepts outcasts and start over." The offer was weird coming from him, but just as he finished and stepped towards Kenjiro the area around them exploded as the tags went off that were attached to the building.

Pieces of the building began to fall and explode outward and inward as Kenjiro rolled to the side to avoid any damage as Gisei flipped back to do the same. Burning metal between them now as they looked at each other. It was obvious that this was not their final encounter.

WC:1,105/1,365

Kenjiro looked at Gisei as he made his exit, the cat was out of the bag...his plans were now in the shitter, and he would have to come up with an expedited solution to this new problem. First thing was first though, he had to escape this building. A rafter fell in front of him, and a wall to his right causing embers and dirt to fill the room as well as his lungs as he made a leap towards the same exit as Gisei. As he rolled across the ground, he could feel various pieces of trash poke his back as he did not bother to look back as smoke billowed out into the hallway above him.

He heard the door slam open as Gisei made his escape, telling his cronies to follow. Kenjiro needed to move fast or he was going to get caught by his sister again, or worse. As he made it into the main room of the building, however, a figure entered the doorway to the outside. Standing before him was a typical ninja, dressed in all black with his face covered, holding a kunai in his hand.

There was no speaking between the two as they launched at each other. Kenjiro used his taijutsu training and the aid of the Inside-Out blocking technique as the ninja made a movement to stab him, using the momentum he was able to trip up his enemy as the two swapped places for a moment. There was still not a clear exit, and as such, he knew that the only way out was through this ninja. As the ninja went to attack again, another wall fell behind him as he moved with more purpose this time. It was hard for him to follow, but not impossible as he used the Chain fist technique open-handed movement as soon as the ninja stabbed his right shoulder he dug the palm of his left arm into the solar plexus of his enemy, feeling the air being knocked out of his enemy he followed up with a quick right palm thrust into the side of the head of the enemy ninja.

As the flames spread into the room, Kenjiro watched the ninja wander back as he pulled the kunai from his shoulder, yelling in pain before throwing it into the foot of his enemy, but he missed as his aim was affected by the smoke. Once the throw was finished the ninja had already regained footing before following up with his own Chain Fist strikes, causing Kenjiro to be forced back onto a burning wall.

"Shit!" He seethed before ripping off his shirt and throwing it to the side before rushing his opponent in anger. Though he did not have a lot of strength he did manage to tackle and push his opponent back before dropping to the ground and sliding out of the building, catching a glimpse of the sun as the smoke billowed out of the doorway.

Kenjiro did not have time to think as he ran in a dead sprint towards the slums as he had to prepare now for the worst.

Gisei however, was already in the house of his family with his cronies as they made plans to move...that night under the new moon when all was dark, they would kill the village guards and become MN with village secrets and backers behind them, funding what they do. It was all going according to his plans, even if Kenjiro was alive. A simple-minded Genin out for revenge could do nothing to stop him at this point.

Kenjiro arrived in the slums unsure f what to do next. He was made, his plans had failed...or rather they came to light too soon. With a sigh, he was now at his hideout with his comrades as he walked over to the mirror to look at himself. He thought about what his sister said earlier, he thought about all the sit that he went through until now, he had people hurt that were once expendable, but now they were friends...even if they were thugs. So as he looked at them tending to their wounds, he grabbed a kunai and cut his hair into a more suitable style of someone from the upper class, showing his burns like a badge of honor.

"I have something to tell you all..." He began as the group looked up to him in confusion.

WC:740/2,105

“And so...that brings us here...”. Kenjiro said as he looked at his group, whose expressions really just conveyed disbelief of what they just heard, however, there were no looks of anger. Kenjiro was really not the man he said he was, that was what hurt him the most about the lie he lived in for the past few months. Kenjiro wanted to say sorry, he looked choked up, but before he could do anything they just smiled at him and told him to shut his trap. They actually were not mad that he was an actual ninja...more mad that he lead them to believe in a false identity rather than creating a force around a nobler goal.

He was happy that he was accepted, his sister was wrong about this group...they were his friends after-all. So when Kenjiro told them about what happened in the burning building, they all agreed that it was now or never with capturing Gisei come hell or high water. It was then that Miyamoto had a flashback to his days at the ninja academy. Thinking back on it now he remembered something buried and forgotten, and that was the fact that Gisei was actually in his class at one point. He was actually friendly and not standoffish as he was when Kenjiro had met him at the tree. They trained together and even had the same goals of eventually becoming Hokage one day. He quickly snapped out of his flashback as he knew that those times were long gone, he had to capture that bastard and bring him to justice.

“So here is the plan...” Kenjiro said with renewed strength as he walked over to the group.
“We wait for nightfall at the village gates, take whatever weapons we have and when they come to do their thing. We reveal ourselves to the guards and stand in their way until the guards can alert their backup. We won’t kill these people. Though we won’t go in the fight without intent to do so. We have to win, Plain and simple. Losing means we go to jail or we die. So defend yourselves and only fight one on one till you can subdue your enemy. Then once the police force arrives we turn ourselves in with intent to give them info on Gisei for our freedom and a ticket out of the slums.” Kenjiro finished as he looked at them with hopeful eyes. They stared back with a renewed vigor just like his, but something was different. They had a look as if they were unsure of their own power to be able to be reliable, the defeat at the hands of his sister was still fresh in their minds. Kenjiro had to fix this.

"Listen, you all have enough power to stop a small army if you work together, the synergy between us all is not bad. We just have to go about working together a bit differently." He started in on the speech as he was becoming unsure of himself.
"We need to train together, we do not have much time, but a few well placed combos and finishers and we can do this quickly. If I can manage to use a quick Genjutsu we have an even greater chance of beating them. Let's use our time wisely guys, we ARE the will of fire." He said as he gave them another quick smile. They finally nodded in agreement.

A few hours later, Kenjiro was alone as he walked back to the Uchiha side of Konoha. He came clean to his parents about his disappearance, except he changed a few lines to make it seem as if the person that tried to kill him was already in custody and has been punished. He had no reason to lie to his parents, but it was a good thing he did...they were furious and relieved at the same time. He changed into his usual Uchiha attire before going out to the garden to meditate on the power of his bloodline. He would be vigilant to make sure he went to the village gates each night to make sure that he would catch Gisei until he showed up.

His mental training kept him busy as he focused on mastering control over his eyes and using his mind to create vivid environments and scenarios where he could take control. Gisei was there as well, even if he was just a figment of his imagination, the presence was ever so annoying as Gisei's copy walked around Kenjiro as he meditated there. A few times he would ask why Kenjiro did not just accept his offer, other times he would pose an ethical question on whether ninja should even be allowed in villages as they are just instruments of war. Kenjiro did his best to ignore him, but just like every nightmare, he has experiences Gisei eventually lost his cool and attacked Kenjiro with hidden weapons in his sleeves.

Kenjiro would do his best, but time after time he would wind up cut in half, pinned to a tree with a kunai in his heart, or even his throat slashed. Was this a premonition...or was his mind trying to break him and make him numb to everything. It was about the 40th scenario before Kenjiro finally stood up at the questions asked of him, and with his Sharingan active he would look at Gisei as he changed the landscape into one of a cell with Gisei trapped and chained as he sat there, even as a vision Gisei tried to fight it, but Kenjiro roared in anger as he placed his hands on the bars and finally let himself answer.

"You have always been there, watching me...helping me train, making sure that nobody that would hurt me came near me...you even helped out my sister. yet all you have done as of late is lock our memories away and proceed to go along with some forced narrative plot like some sort of character from a game. Your place is here for what you have done. You never had plans to become Hokage...you probably played me during that time and only locked my mind because you were scared. It is OVER, you are done, your group is done...your all going to be locked away in some deep dark hole for the rest of your life." Kenjiro said as Gisei looked at him angered until he finally spoke.

"I will NEVER remain restrained! I will escape or die before I am kept from my goals. You are just a fucking stepping stone, a fly on the window of life. You will be dead before the week is over anyway, this fake ass world of yours will crumble just like you did when I threw you into the river." Gisei said as Kenjiro just laughed. His mind then wiped the slate clean as everything vanished like a thin black smoke as it hung in the air before finally fading away. Kenjiro was back to being alone and as such he sat down and began to meditate over what had been said...his confirmation of getting past the revenge.

WC: 1,195/3,300

The first night was a bust in Kenjiro's eyes as they waited at the village gates for a little over three hours for Gisei and crew, but nobody ever showed. The group returned to their hideout in the slums for the late night as Kenjiro paced back and forth trying to search for an answer to what happened...he was so sure that they would try to make their move that night that he trained all day in the hopes of showing Gisei that there is power inside the village before they got him arrested. Not too long after however, a knock came upon the hideout as the group looked at the door.

"What the hell?" Kenjiro said as he stopped pacing enough to walk towards the door. As he got close, however, there was an explosion at the door was pushed inward by a great force from the outside. A moment later Gisei and his group walked in, as everyone around Kenjiro looked stunned the enemy made their move. Mau and Mai were both struck by several kunai to their necks and chest area that they just collapsed from the attack. Kenjiro was able to come out of his stupor quickly as he rolled away from an attack with an ax. Just as the blade was brought up Roach and Muscles brought up their own attacks as Roach launched a barrage of insects that caught three of Gisei's men in a swarm as they screamed in terror. Meanwhile, as Kenjiro stood up, Gisei was right there to kick at him with a frontal kick to try and push him back down.
"Not today fucker," Gisei seethed as he continued to push Kenjiro away. Kenjiro fought back using the inside to outside blocking maneuvers to even grabbing a piece of wood and knocking Gisei away.

The whole thing lasted just a few seconds as Gisei's men were taken down one by one. Roach fell to the man with the ax as Kenjiro watched blood splatter across the room and floor. One of the ninjas set the shack ablaze as Kenjiro backed up into a corner unsure of what to do. In his head, he was reminded of when he was in the basement, alone and beaten to a pulp before his sister saved his sorry ass. He has not gotten any better since then. He snapped back to reality as Muscles barreled through him and the wall into the street outside. There was a commotion as people were starting to make their way to the shack to try and put out the blaze that about engulfed the shack now. Kenjiro looked up at Muscles who was weeping as he looked at Kenjiro. It clicked then that all of his friends were now dead except this big man. The shock did not deter him from looking as he saw Gisei inside the burning shack as he held Choju in his right hand as Shizu was pleading with Gisei to let the dog go a quick throw into the flames as another man brought his hand down and slammed it into the face of Shizu and that was the end of 3/4 of his team. Muscles roared before running back into the flamming shack, but before he did he told Kenjiro one last thing.

"Survive."

Kenjiro was left there in the light of the burning house as Muscles took down the final henchman as Gisei survived yet again. He finished off Muscles by shoving a kunai into his temple as he was winded. Then he walked out onto the street, looking at Kenjiro as if he was garbage before finally scoffing and walking away. As the crowd gathered, Kenjiro stood up and began to walk after Gisei with no purpose but revenge. His Sharingan was activated as he dripped with anger, the feeling of warmth left him as he wanted...no he NEEDED to kill him, this fucker needed to die and tonight was the night he was going to do it with his bare fucking hands.

He followed Gisei, to his parent's house where he walked in, leaving the door open as Kenjiro followed behind, the inside was fine until he saw Gisei's parents sitting in the sofa...they had been dead for days. Their bodies preserved as if frozen. Gisei walked back into the living room soon after as he looked at Kenjiro.

"I told you that you could not stop me. I do not have time to kill your family now that everything has happened however, you should have chosen a better spot to hide at the gates...maybe this shit could have at least been avoided. Oh well, we are the only ones left. This is your last chance my friend...and I do mean that. Join me and let's go to Kiri." Gisei said as he finally revealed his end goal to go to the village that subjugated the village that they now lived in.

WC:825/4,125

Kenjiro followed Gisei without a word from his parent's house. Come the morning, the village will know what happened in the slums and in the Uchiha district. Will Kenjiro be implicated in this...most likely, but the thoughts inside Kenjiro's head were not of regret or sorrow but of hatred and a strong desire to kill the man he walked behind. As they arrived at the village gates, the guards looked up from their post and asked for papers as Gisei held up his hands in a confused motion. The guards took this as odd behavior and began to approach, but as they did Gisei made a quick couple of hand signs before he let out his fire ninjutsu attack the demon lanterns as he obliterated the guards in an instant.

"Let's go Kenjiro," Gisei said as he walked for the gate.
That is when Kenjiro finally took a step before calling out to the bastard. "No, I think it is time that we settle this Gisei," Kenjiro said as he popped his knuckles, waiting for him to turn around.

Gisei did turn around, still smiling as he looked at Kenjiro. He had no look of sanity as that grin showed just how twisted he was.
"So I protect you through the academy...I help you and your sister grow strong, and then let you forget it all. You seek me out again as if it were fate and you think I am just going to let you...the RUNT of your family stop me from joining a village that will conquer the world. Long live the Mizukage Xyxer Gyojin." Gisei said as he began to walk towards Kenjiro, the 1-meter gap was closing fast, locking eyes with the crimson eyed Kenjiro.
"No I expect you to die for what you have done to me and my friends and family, long live ME, motherfucker." Kenjiro retorted as he made the handseals; Tiger, Ram, Dog as white feathers began to fall as the genjutsu, Temple of Nirvana, began to take hold. The guards were hopefully left alone if there were any left, but Gisei...Gisei saw the feathers as he laughed.
"You think thi...this can't stop a ninja of the...Mist..." He began to trail off as he stumbled and tried to initiate the genjutsu release, but he was stuck in Kenjiro's gaze.
"That is enough, once you fall asleep I will finally put the kunai you stabbed me with back in its rightful place, your fucking skull," Kenjiro said as Gisei fell to his knees, all of a sudden he felt the fear that he had not felt since the first time he was abused by his father. He soon fell asleep peacefully, the darkness wrapped him tightly like a blanket.

Kenjiro rushed to finish the job, but as soon as he was bringing the kunai down onto the head of his enemy his wrist was grabbed by a powerful hand. He was caught off guard as he canceled the genjutsu and looked up to see a guard in Konoha uniform.

"Kenjiro and Gisei Uchiha, you are under arrest by order of the village government. The crimes placed upon the both of you are murder, arson, robbery, and attempted defection in addition to killing village guards." The man said before punching Kenjiro before he could protest.

When Kenjiro awoke, he saw that he was now in a small cell...the cot he was given was uncomfortable and hard as he sat up he heard a familiar voice as his eyes adjusted to the dim light. He was now sharing a cell with Gisei Uchiha...

WC: 600/4,725

[EXIT]
Claiming: 23 Stats
Medical Ninjutsu 500/500
Sharingan Genjutsu
Up to Rank A 4000/4000

Approved Kenjiro <3