Talking to Myself (Travel Topic)

It was a long journey ahead, but ultimately Max didn't care. There were far too many things that he needed to do. The familiar landscape of rot, death and decay would quickly fade into the background as he made his way towards the homeland of his adopted mother. He really didn’t know how to feel about everything that he had learned. He was nearly out of the swamps of Kumo.
 
"Why, Komori? And Komon, too? Why are you doing this to me? Why keep me out of the loop?", he would ask aloud. Honestly this all was a bit much for the boy, and his heart ached at the thought that his closest remaining friends hid things from him. Tears would fall from his eyes, dripping to the ground in wet spots that merged with the marshlands he happened to be in at the moment, making his tears have the same effect on the landscape as they had in this grim reality... None whatsoever.
 
How have things not changed? The twins were in charge. They had the power to issue a simple command and remove the rot plaguing Kumo… but they took no action…
 
The landscape would finally shift, the land of Kumo now behind him. Max would look back, his mind full of turbulent thoughts regarding his homeland. He’s not been so angry at his own village for a very long time.
 
“You know, it would have been a simple thing to tell you, Max,” Napa would whisper telepathically, his little voice wrapping around the insecurities of Max and allowing more control over the boy’s actions. “Why is it that you weren’t informed, boy? I can think of a reason…” Napa would say, his voice nearing a silence before picking up again. “You weren’t brought in because you weren’t capable of making a difference.” Max would shake his head in disbelief.
 
“No, they are my friends! They think highly of me! I’m a Chuunin of Kumogakure!” Max would retort, his voice speaking aloud for all to hear, though nobody was near to hear him other than Napa.

 
“You were left behind during the war… and you were left out of the village takeover… what else could they have been hiding? Any number of things…” The clone held within would cackle, his voice piercing into the mind of Max like daggers. “Who can you honestly trust anymore, boy? How many of your friends can you try to hide the truth behind now? This place is far different than that fool Akihana would have wanted you to believe. What good did you see in those people?”
 
“There was plenty of good in them. They wanted to see Kumo grow to greatness. They wanted the village to grow beyond being simply the village hidden in the rot.” But Max’s mind would then immediately return to his findings of the twins. They had the power to bring it up from its depths, to cure what plagues it and return the village to glory…

“You see, boy, what you saw as good in them was simply a façade. When placed in a position to actually make changes in the right direction, they chose not to act. And by the way, have you seen them?”
 
“Who, the twins? No, but Komon left for the exams…” Max would state as rebuttal, though Napa and Max were telepathically bonded, and it being an extension of Max’s own mind and his oldest friend, it knew exactly how to poke at his weaknesses.
 
“And what about our glorious new Raikage? Have you seen Komori in the village? Or has he perhaps spoken with you through your seal?”
 
“No,” Max would say, but before he could say anything else Napa would chime in.
 
“Of course you have not. You see, you were but a tool to be used on the ascent of another. You were… a puppet.” This statement would send chills down Max’s spine and launch Napa into maniacal laughter. “The puppet master wasn’t the one pulling the strings. Never has been, and honestly at this pace never will be.” The disembodied voice would draw close, the volume increasing in the mind of Max. “You were but a useful asset, and once they no longer had use for you then what? You were discarded like some sort of broken plaything. They were Raikage now, and you were no longer needed. And you weren’t even NEEDED all that much to begin with, hence why you were so late to be informed.” The clone would continue to laugh at the young boy, his words striking at Max in all the right ways to set him off.
 
Max was honestly starting to grow angry, a fury bubbling up from within like nothing he’s ever felt before. It was not sadness, only rage. Max was seething with a white hot rage as his own mind worked him up.
 
“Kumogakure is my homeland! MY VILLAGE! I WILL REMOVE THE ROT MY DAMNED SELF!” Max would scream, his voice echoing through the mountainous region he was in. Napa grew quiet, knowing that he had succeeded.
 
Max in his rage had nearly turned around right then and there. He wanted nothing more than to cleanse Kumogakure of the putrid filth it had amassed, but he was already a great deal into his travel, and he wanted to see Akihana at least one more time before he would turn down this path. In all reality it would likely be the death of the boy, but he couldn’t stop now. No, it was time to face his destiny, for better or worse. Of course, should he find resistance to his plans to purge the decay… well, he would need powerful allies. Max would recall the sand worms he had met on his last trip to Hoshi. They seemed to be located in the desert, and it there was any place in this realm that would house a giant sand worm it would be the vast deserts of Suna.


WC: 1000

---Instant Travel to the vast deserts of Sunagakure's Borders---