The Kage Summit

Tension was pivotal to the evolution of man - Enough of it and you had ample adrenaline to pull off feats that would later be ushered by parents to their awed children, an idol for them to strive to follow. Yet, the pressure could cause lesser men to buckle beneath the crippling weight of responsibility.. to know that their next action could result in the death of not only themselves, but for everyone they had promised to protect and to cherish. Oaths that bound them like a hangman's noose. Xyxer was no stranger to these childish promises. They were one of the few things that helped him be seen as a respectable human rather than an outright animal. His father had ensured he understood the importance in maintaining a promise once made, a lesson that was not likely to be forgotten. Xyxer managed to live up to his summit as pressure did not disable him in any aspect unlike most others.. when the chips were on the table, and everything was at stake.. that was when the Leviathan excelled. He was uncertain on whether the ambassadors of Hoshigakure were as attuned with remaining calm in the presence of danger as he, yet it made no difference, the result would always be the same.

The Hogokage's response was to stand up and step backwards, scraping the legs of his chair against the flooring. Xyxer followed his movement, rising from the confines of his chair to bring himself to his full size, stepping away from the chair to face the side of Hoshigakure, pacing the shortest route until there was no longer a table protecting them, roughly five meters away from Kotetsu. The Mizukage was becoming more attuned with his surroundings, even going so far as to start listening to the breathing patterns of those in the same room. Light breaths, heavy breaths. Regulated, sharp, shaky. Valen's pacing was an indication for his predisposition under stress, yet his bodyguard remained stoic and perhaps even thoughtful.. Maybe, had he not been a wanted man in Kirigakure's vassal village, he would have been a good choice.

With the wooden sheath held in his left hand, balanced roughly hip level with the hilt of the blade positioned towards Hoshigakure, Xyxer listened to Valen as he spoke. The boy had the audacity to question the Bloody Mizukage.. Had it not been for the will of Gyuki the fight would have started from that very moment. To be questioned by a student of Denkiteki was a dishonour to his legacy.. a dishonour to their once shared home.. yet the eight tailed demon held some semblance of control over the man without mercy. Its words, inaudible to the others outside of murmurs, caused the man to not advance on the position of Hoshigakure, yet they were powerless in stopping his right hand from tenderly wrapping around the hilt of Konohagakure's Katana, soon to be baptised in the blood of a Missing Ninja and perhaps a Kage alike.

Kotetsu's words were ill-practiced and it was clear he had not been expecting this turn of events, despite how stoic he continued to appear. Being a citizen of a village and a shinobi in another was not something one could simply do, not without consequences, as would be learnt by those around the table today. "Your cowardly parents were shinobi and they fled the village they professed to protect. You forgot your home and became a shinobi in a different village, without ever informing Konohagakure of your well-being, nor attempting a negotiation.. You are missing from the village, Kotetsu, and you are now a shinobi." Xyxer's words held no semblance of rage, nor even a hint of sadistic enjoyment as some had come to expect.. they were plain, without a lining of emotion. There was no need to justify the representation of Konohagakure. He refused to follow in the botched footsteps of his predecessors and his sights were set on something much greater than laying claim to smoldering rubble and drowned remnants of villages. Anyone could see the ambition in the dead man's eyes, if they had the nerve to look into them, as Kotetsu did. The urge resurfaced, yet Gyuki held Xyxer back a few moments longer.. but a Bijuu could only do so much.

Should nothing alternatively interesting happen, Xyxer stepped towards the entourage of Hoshigakure while unsheathing his blade, closing the gap between the three so that he was roughly a meter away from the lavender duo, an opportune moment to slash their throats out which he would attempt with a simple horizontal slash to their necks. Although truth be told, he didn't expect to get that far, because that would quite clearly be a death sentence for them, so he'd also be prepared to react to any stimuli in the situation. Perhaps it was time to cull the failed teachings of the treacherous Denkiteki.

[125 speed movement boys, since that's all that really matters. Can do the other calculations for you in the DMs if you need them]

The Mizukage would stand at the same time that he himself would, moving enough from the table to be able to stride directly toward them if he so desired. Valen would be unconcerned outwardly however, his hand resting on his students shoulder, fingers pointing toward the ice users neck as he was standing directly to the left of him. His mind would momentarily race as he considered options and potential solutions. The Mizukage wouldn’t stand for this, that much was certain. Especially given the man’s iron hard resolve when he asked the question. As a matter of fact, there was almost no chance of Kotetsu leaving here alive unless he himself teleported him away from here. The teen was a missing member of Konoha. Whether he was trained there or not his parents most certainly were and the risk any knowledge they might have given Kotetsu posed was too great for any of them to ignore. For clearly Mist had taken Konoha, yet allowed them their autonomy to a degree of course. The circumstances of which the light user couldn’t begin to piece together at this moment. Nor was it important. However any risk to Konoha’s security would pose a risk to Kirigakure’s allies on the mainland. However that ‘friendly’ relationship might have been gained. The village of Konohagakure posed too much of a risk for the Mizukage to play games with a potential security risk now. In their eyes, Kotetsu had to die. 

Valen didn’t really want that to happen. 

The teen next to him was his student, someone he had tried to have brought low and attempted to raise back up. He didn’t have nearly the necessary amount of time required to train him too often. What his being one of the village leaders and all. However he did take a certain amount of pride in the strides the shinobi had made. As a village leader and as a teacher, despite how little he actually did teach the older teen. He could teleport them away, he didn’t really think anyone here could actually stop him. However it would undoubtedly start a war. With the three other major villages moving to destroy Hoshigakure stone by stone. The price in blood for the singular selfish action would be absolutely staggering. Hundreds, thousands would potentially die. It was something the Hogokage was sworn to prevent. Something his predecessors had promised to uphold and though none of them had died in the line of duty he knew any one of them would have. It was something Valen himself would have to live up to, for the role of kage was to choose the village over what an individual wanted. It was a role of constant sacrifice. 

If he allowed Xyxer to kill Kotetsu the teen it would be seen as weakness on him, on his own village. He harbored Konoha shinobi that had fled from the line of battle. It didn’t matter whatsoever that it was actually Kyousuke-sama that had accepted the family. For it was the role of the Hogokage that had accepted them, and that was a role that Valen now played. No, allowing the gray eyed swordsman before them to take the life of the teen next to him would be almost as bad as teleporting him away. War would come, inevitably. That and Kotetsu might suffer horrendously before he died. He didn’t know much about the Mizukage, but he’d heard that he was a psychopath. A man who was absolutely ruthless, and Valen was concerned about any potential suffering his subordinate might deal with if he was simply given to them. That in he was a matter of village security as well. He couldn’t simply give him up, on the off chance they left him alive they could get information about Hoshigakure from the teen. Information that, if Valen gave him to them, he would feel no need to keep secret any longer. 

It seems he simply did not have a choice in the matter. 

It would only take a matter of a few scant heartbeats to run through the scenarios. For a kage’s mind had to consider aspects quickly. During this time the Mizukage would not yet begin his march toward them. Valen's eyes would turn gold in colour. Immediately after, a two foot long blade would spear out from his wrist toward the neck of the bodyguard he had brought along. The sharpness of the blade would be 170, the speed in which it would extend, 157. Should it connect, which the Hogokage doubted it wouldn’t. Considering the blade would fire out silently starting from a mere 6 inches from the bodyguards neck. His mechanical arm not making a single noise as it was launched with deadly precision. The blade would lock into place at the end of the firing apparatus, not fully launching it so as not to risk harm to the Hokage and any of her bodyguards who was sitting not far from Valen’s original position at the table. Should it connect the damage would unquestionably be lethal, for what was a blade so clearly through the neck and throat of a target not? It was the most painless way he could give his student the death that was needed for the sake of the village. For a man who passes the sentence, should hold the blade.

Assuming the assassination was successful Valen would silently push his blade back into it’s firing apparatus carefully, making sure not to cut himself on it.  He would at this point turn toward the Mizukage, his eyes still golden, in case he needed to defend himself. “That solves all problems does it not? Shall we sit down peaceably again Mizukage-dono?” He would ask simply, having returned the blade to it’s “sheathe” to show he no longer meant harm. Of course he was making sure to not point it toward anyone. As now that they all knew about the arm it wouldn’t be hard to assume the teen intended to kill anyone the launcher was pointed at. 

WC: 1024
TWC: 3459

Spoiler:

The first thing that told Kotetsu something was amiss was that Valen had put his hand, his metal hand, on Kotetsu's shoulder when he should be preparing for the inevitable attack from the Mizukage. While he didn't hear anything, he didn't need to, on account of his Mist Sonar.The first thing that told Kotetsu something was amiss was that Valen had put his hand, his metal hand, on Kotetsu's shoulder when he should be preparing for the inevitable attack from the Mizukage. While he didn't hear anything, he didn't need to, on account of his Mist Sonar. He knew immediately when the mechanisms inside released the blade hidden in his arm, causing it to move towards Kotetsu’s neck. As the blade started extending Kotetsu’s exposed skin became pure white, and his eyes started glowing blue. His Winter Knight activating, causing bracers to appear on his arms, these bracers created a pair of shields and blades, the blades attached to the front of each bracer, and the shields on top of each bracer. Everything formed at speed of 190.

As soon as the technique was activated, while the bracers and armaments were still forming, Kotetsu would move backwards and away from Valen at a speed of 195, while exhaling mist at a speed of 280. The chair which until recently was in use by the hogokage did not impede his movement. His Mist Sonar would link into the 50m radius dome of mist that would appear, centered on Kotetsu. His movement would place him immediately in the doorway of the meeting room. At the same time he would interpose the now fully-formed blade and shield on his left arm between him and his former Kage, using it as a shield to deflect any potential follow-up attack. From there, Kotetsu would activate his Adamantine Snow Shield to give him a more effective line of defense as he teleports to Arctis Tor.

Upon successfully teleporting, the mist dissipates.

[Exit to Arctis Tor]

WC: 325
TWC: 2876

Current AP: 741
-5 AP for This
-60 AP for Winter Lnight (Ground Variant)
-100 AP for Adamantine Show Shield (S-Rank)
- 4 AP for mastered Hidden Mist

-50 for Teleport to dimension (There's no AP cost on my dimension for teleporting, but it should be 50
-5 for sensor extention via Mist Sonar

517 AP remaining


Stat Changes:
Chakra: 120 -> 190
Speed: 125 -> 195
RT: 210 -> 280


All actions unless stated otherwise are at their max and happen at max speed.



Chakra constructs have a health of boosted chakra stat (190) and sharpness of Justu power (250)

Health of Adamantine Snow Shield is boosted chakra Stat (190)

(Will provide more numbers if necessary. Will also post claims later if applicable.)

Risako's eyes weren't as keen as Xyxer's, for sure. Hearing was her strong suit, and once Xyxer asked who the man Valen brought with him was, her eyes followed the Mizukage's. She didn't necessarily notice anything peculiar about the lad, noting that he looked rather average in appearance. Kotetsu's name hardly rang a bell, and she couldn't recall associating with any who held his last name. The Hogokage's response was poorly thought as he stood from his chair. Risako followed after Xyxer's lead, but rather than prepare to strike she retreated back to where Hikari and Kots had stood. In her left hand she grasped the sheathe of Mako's sword, and she held it steady by her hip as if it was fastened to her waist. As Valen gave the spotlight to Kotetsu, her right hand reached across to grasp the handle of the weapon, just in case.

Once the boy revealed himself to be a Konoha citizen, Risako knew how this was going to go down more or less. If she had been the one to take charge, she might have negotiated for the boy's parents. After all, were they not the one's to blame for his predicament? Anywho some shit happened and now Valen's trying to kil the kid. Whoop.

Deception was the strongest tool a ninja had in their arsenal. Superior to the sharpened blade, even greater than the nimblest of shadows.. for an illusion that was believed had the greatest threat of all. Valen appeared to know this better than the rest of them as he had approached Kotetsu in a manner that almost reminded Xyxer of how he would act with Kenchi, the person he'd cared most for during his youth. Such a mimicry was almost inspiring, that Xyxer himself had believed it up until the moment where golden coins glinted in the eyes of the Hogokage.

Apt, he thought, as he would have to pay the ferryman soon.

Yet deception had been Valen's goal when his hand tenderly clasped the shoulder of his own student, giving him the freedom to say his piece so that he felt safe and secure with his mentor beside him; impervious to the danger of the Leviathan before them, or so they thought. Yet the the thunderous tsunami before them had been postponed, or perhaps even stopped entirely, as the sheen of deceit made itself known to the crowd while it emerged from the mans sleeve. Its intended target became as pale as a corpse, its death rattle soon filling the room with mist.. or at least it would have. Its speed would be its downfall as it almost swamped the vicinity, yet upon touching Samehada, as it would do almost immediately, the entirety of the last breath was drained into the sentient creature so that the room was no longer polluted. All eyes could now focus on the theatrics before them.

While Xyxer's own dead eyes lingered on the two while the situation spiked, he felt something stir within. A new understanding came to the surface of his stained soul.. one that excused it for any misdeeds others had laid upon it. Slowly, subtly, Xyxer's shoulders rolled backwards and his form straightened out. His breaths inhumanely calm. His head raised itself a little, his posture oozing confidence, all because he finally understood it all.. He was more than these people. More than everyone else he'd encountered.

The emptiness within was no curse as some had tried to force him into believing, it was natural.. to not feel for the lifeforms that are beneath you. This situation proved it all.. the very possibility of facing the Mizukage in combat had caused a Kage to try and execute their own student.. His very movement had caused perhaps the greatest treachery seen by the attendees of the Summit. This type of power was that of a god. He was feared more than any other person in the known world, just like his newly realised peers.

While his vision remained on the conflict before him, Xyxer now started to see new imagery that didn't obscure the play before him. Stairs of stone rose from the ground, ascending towards the heavens where he belonged, yet.. on these stairs bodies were strewn. Some faces familiar and once close, others foreign, yet none were moving. The voice of a beast spoke harmoniously within him, it sounded like Gyuki, yet didn't seem like it.. Climb the steps, claim your apotheosis. It was tempting to abandon the filth and muck of this world, and to rise like a blossom in the new one.. yet he did not take the steps that were needed. Not yet. The voice had revealed something else, one that caused the grand vision to dissipate while he continued to spy the situation unfolding while Kotetsu moved towards the doors.  "Coward." The single, ambiguous word escaped the lips of the Mizukage, one unburdened by hatred, seemingly aimed at nobody as Xyxer's eyes were unfixed on either of the two parties.

Destiny called out to the Leviathan, he need only heed its yearning call for his acceptance.

Of the course the moment Kotetsu’s skin turned white, Valen’s own would begin to transform as well. The dark seal over his heart would spread and overtake him as his transformation took hold, his hair turning long and blonde and horns sprouting from his head. The only part of the transformation that wasn’t immediate were the unfolding of twin, tattered, and demonic like wings that formed slow enough to allow his armor to form around them safely. As his transformation was still taking place his own power would have already had their change. His speed leaping to a total of 225 and his chakra to 180. Without even sparing a glance toward the back pedaling Kotetsu he’d reach out and snap his katana form the table, it was only a foot or so away after all and draw it as he spun, the chair he had left not impeding him whatsoever. He held it in the metal arm as the mist the teen had made seemed to disappear as quickly as it was made. Leaving Valen’s vision completely and utterly unobstructed as the black haired former bodyguard ran for the door 20 meters away. 


Except he simply wasn’t fast enough. 


Valen’s immediate movement after Kotetsu dodged his now locked assassin’s blade would put the teen only 5 meters away from Valen as he drew his katana and began to turn, tossing the sheathe in the other direction, away from the table, for the moment. His golden eyes would easily trace him since the mist that he had attempted to hide his movements in, a fruitless effort since the Hogokage could sense all movement within 15 meters in this form, was dispersed by something. He wasn’t sure what, and at that moment he didn’t care. At this point Kotetsu Shinogami was an enemy to Hoshigakure, an enemy that would not escape this room. Therefore, the blonde haired kage would suddenly appear 1 meter directly behind Kotetsu as if he had been there the entire time. His teleportation technique taking effect as his will demanded. The instant he appeared at the 10 meter mark toward the door, he would activate his blades ability to cover it in a sheath of light, increasing its sharpness by 50. As he did this he would utilize his personal weaponry technique, Bladestorm.



Swinging his blade once horizontally, at the enemies waist, two more slashes would coalesce coming from angles that would  put one from the right side, diagonally down Kotetsu’s chest, and the other vertically, straight from head to toe. The first slash would come from the left side. This would cause the teen to be potentially slaughtered from three different directions. The sharpness of the slashes would be equal, as would the speeds, only the formation of the blades themselves causing a mere instant of delay between the strikes. Far too small of a gap to be utilized. Should any of them hit, the sword  would easily be long and sharp enough to slash completely through his target as if they had been mere air. 

The technique was Valen’s strongest sword technique, although no one would truly know that for certain. He had shown it to absolutely no one before this moment. Therefore there was no real way to have prepared for it, if the teen even saw his death coming at all, what with him backpedaling and all. Of course the kage would be sure to adjust how close he held the blade to his own body to make sure the blade would be able to hit his mark. 


WC: 592
TWC: 4051

Spoiler:

The mist had disappeared almost as soon as he had directed it outward. 'What the hell...' Kotetsu thought to himself as he continued to move towards the door. All of a sudden, Valen was a meter behind him. He didn't need to turn to know that his former sensei had his sword in his right hand. Regardless of whether he could see them or not, there were three sword slashes coming at him from different vectors. They all came at very slightly staggered intervals. The first one being a horizontal slash from left to right, the second was a diagonal slash from right to left, and the last one was a straight vertical slash. All three of the slashes were straight slashes, with no divergence in the blade path. As soon as Valen had appeared behind him, Kotetsu would swivel in mid-stride towards Valen's right arm. The closer he was to the teen's sword arm the better, as it would mean less room for him to work with the weapons on that arm. Coincidentally, that would cause Kotetsu to avoid the second and third slashes. At the same time that the Winter Knight of Hoshi swiveled clockwise towards Valen's right arm, he would swing both of his arms up and out in case Valen decided to try and circle around to Kotetsu's left side. Coincidentally, the blade on his left arm would end up intercepting the first slash, while the blade on his right arm would be slashing at Valen's metal arm. Should both of his swings go as planned, Valen's attack would be foiled, and the Hogokage would be down an arm, severed at the middle of the bicep, and likely a slash through part of his chest as well. His counter-slash happened to connect in such a way to stop the initial slash dead, as opposed to the two blades sliding off each other at different angles.

While the blade on his right arm was swinging towards Valen's metal arm, Kotetsu's right hand would form the monkey, dragon, snake, and dog seals, followed by the seal of confrontation, all at speed 195. He would then proceed to Disperse at a speed of 120, his body simply disappearing, leaving an after-image of the Winter Knight, formerly of Hoshi, to fade away.


Kotetsu was no longer processing what had happened. His sensei and friend had turned on him. All for what, because someone else got angry? He had known this would potentially be an issue from the very beginning of Kotetsu's life as a shinobi, since he was the one that proctored his Genin exam. 'How fickle friendships are...' Kotetsu thought to himself. He would allow no emotion to betray his features for now. He should remain detached and unemotional until he could escape his current predicament.

 
(All actions are performed at max/stats unless otherwise noted)

WC: 467
TWC: 3343

Current AP: 517
+50 AP for refund of Actis Tor Teleport
+100 AP for refund of Adamantine Snow Shield
-5 AP for This
-30 AP for Winter Lnight (Ground Variant) upkeep
-45 AP for Disperse

597 AP Remaining

Stat Changes:
Chakra: 120 -> 190
Speed: 125 -> 195
RT: 210 -> 280

Chakra constructs have a health of boosted chakra stat (190) and sharpness of Justu power (250)
Winter Knight Freeze Charges: 2
Freeze Counters on Valen: 0
Current Sharpness of Blades: 300 (250 +58 swing sharpness boost, capped at 300).

The spray of blood that flew from the body of the shinobi was immense as the horizontal slash struck itself target full on the back. This would happen before the opponent could complete his swivel, which would force him to still be well within range of a lethal strike as the sword would slash him through completely. As it cut through him it would slice through both forearms as well, removing them from the teen’s body, causing the teens bleeding halves to fall to the ground. That was it then. Kotetsu Shinogami would bleed out within seconds. However Valen was not cruel enough to have that painful end be what claimed him. Stepping closer, the kage would slice downward with his blade, intending to decapitate the young man that lay broken and bleeding on the ground below him.

Valen himself would nod his head once that was done, his job complete, before flicking the blood off of his blade and striding over to the sheath which he had tossed aside. Retrieving it and enclosing his sword within it’s covering. His seal would deactivate as he moved toward the tossed aside instrument, the blonde hair turning back to ashen white, shortening in the process. The wings would form back into Valen’s body and the horns would recede.He’d proceed to retract the assassin’s blade, an action that simply required him to allow it to unlock and simply reload the still useable blade. He’d follow the action up with a quick chakra cleanse, to remove any blood and gore that might be on his body before striding over to the table and proceed to sit within his own chair, setting his katana on the table as it had been before and steepling his fingers under his nose (Think Gendo Ikari). Gray eyes watching, and waiting for things to move on.

[spoiler]

AP
Cleanse - 5 
Total stat loss from CM (16) 

Still claiming kill on Kotetsu o.o

(Requested a Battle Mod. Essentially to confirm numbers, as well as mediate the current series of actions. Requesting a void on Valen's kill claim on the grounds that while I may or may not be able to see his sword swings, his Bladestorm tech only boosts his swing speed. Since the rest of him is not moving, he is well within my RT, and thus able to be reacted to, making my actions valid.)