Covering the Tracks [P,IO,NK]

Kozai would consider for a couple of second, then move his knight as well, nf6. Yasaki had wasted a move in advancing his pawn on the side of the board, but that wasn't going to affect his own game plan all that much. Even if your opponent plays poorly, that doesn't mean you have to adapt to it. This went much the same in life, as well. People around him would always try to influence him with inferior plans and designs, but this didn't change what he wanted and how he was going to achieve it in the slightest. He couldn't imagine debasing himself to that extent.

"Unique method? Hardly." Kozai was somewhat concerned that Yasaki had activated his sharingan. Had he misjudged the man? This kage now seemed to be the upstanding kind, the sort that cared about the masses. Sentimental, Kozai had to admit, but hardly any way to rule a village, from his point of view. "Forcing the people to their knees, metaphorically, IS what I want. You've seen what the civilian Council and the Church are doing here. The village languishes because of their belief in self rule. When I arrived here, the aristocracy and royalty kept things in hand. Now, however, things are different. To be blunt, I fully intend to reinstate the old order." The presumption of the masses to believe that they were *good* enough to manage their own affairs was simply incomprehensible to Kozai. Besides, why should Yasaki be worried? Unless his moral character was simply that strong, unless he was the hero type, why would he care about Kozai's activities? He realized he had stepped into dangerous territory here.

"Surely, you don't expect me to believe that these people deserve the level of autonomy they have now." He waved his hand, indicating the rabble around them. "At best, they mistrust us and our ways. At worst, they want us gone. I've received obstructions of all kinds in my day from the Church and Council, and I'll see an end to it for all of us shinobi, even if it means I have to destroy the order, faith, and freedom that the people of this village seem to love so much."

Kozai noted the chessboard. He could be playing a bit more aggressively, but he had decided to hold back. Just like him, he supposed. He would see whether his actions had consequences in time.

[TWC 2087]

Again, Yasaki yielded the tempo to Kozai. Was the kage insulting him? Kozai resisted the urge to frown. The man was treating this game as if it was some kind of symbolism. So, a fool then. Fortunate that Kozai was up against someone who he could easily outwit, but unfortunate for the fact that the kage was probably stubborn. So, it turned out that the leader would be an obstacle, then. Kozai had dealt with leaders like this before. Echo had been one, though their goals had ostensibly aligned. Now, however, he was butting heads with one. Better to try and solve this with words than with fists first.

"A god? You know me better than that by now." Or his reputation, anyway. It had been well known when he entered the village that he and the Church had been at odds almost immediately. "If my own worship or happiness was the goal, why would I have need of all this subterfuge? No, if everything goes according to plan, the commoners won't even know I was involved in the first place." He gave Yasaki a sincere look. "My lifespan compared to their is, as they say, 'comparing heaven-and-earth'. Over the course of not just tens, but perhaps a couple hundred years, I can.... *adjust* the attitude of the population to be completely subservient to the shinobi cause." The implication here, of course, was that the free will of the citizens mattered little to Kozai. They would believe that their ideologies would come from their own minds, but in reality, it would be the subtle influence of Kozai's gentle hand that would guide the course of public opinion.

"As for bloodshed.... well, I certainly don't intend on killing anyone. If I have to, though, the lives of religious dissidents and populist meatheads mean little to me." His tone turned sour and scornful, now. "If that's what is required to secure the shinobi position internally within Hoshigakure, then that is what I will do."

[TWC 2419]

It seemed his comrade failed to understand what the old man was talking about. The Uchiha seemed discouraged to hear the speeches of his own kind talking gibberish. He filled himself with the eagerness to do something with the man in presence of him. But that would establish him as a killer, something which he always evaded. He recognized there were other explanations to go with to solve this matter peacefully. The distance between him and Kozai was only 3 meters apart. In-front of him, the chess table is somehow closer to both of them. Yasaki pulled out a Kunai marked with the seal of confrontation as he slowly pushed himself forward, placing the kunai on the table next to the chess wooden box. The table was nineteen in height, eighteen in width, and about thirty-seven in length. Size of a coffee table, the average table with a colorful small deck of flowers placed next to it.

At that moment, listening to what was being presented, shaking his head immediately as he went along with it. He let out a stiff grin, smiling, acknowledging the moment. Nothing was going to advance, nor his words as he stood by what he said and meant it. Yasaki wasn’t stubborn as an Uchiha, he disliked this nonsense Kozai spoke about. But it would not change. Either way, his words to him meant nothing, and so neither did Yasaki care. Yasaki then heard him out. He couldn’t take what was being said often, something he disagreed on. He casually shifted his eyes downward to his feet, away from Kozai’s presence. He then uses his immense left hand, gripping onto his white shirt’s chest. As the speech proceeded, he discovered the most vital part.  then that is what I will do If that was the case, then he surely met the wrong person to acknowledge such beliefs in his hometown village. He lost his interest and at this point in listening to him; he had his occasion as the Uchiha eyed Kozai momentarily. He shook his head multiple times, biting on his lips. It was sincerely going to be a good night for once, a beloved man of this village.

Yasaki at that moment pulled out his favorite sword known as Dark Sister, a sword which he loved at all costs. He looked at Kozai as he finished his last sentence, nodding. "that is what I will do you say huh, let me present to you my lovely sword known as Dark Sister. She's you know thirsty and hungry for guys like you who loves talking nonsense."

Kozai had met with many adversaries and rivals in his life. The various people in Iwa, the missing nin and village guardians that he had fought along the way, he remembered them all. Yet, none of them were as confounding as the man sitting before him now. Kozai could only consider the possibility that there was a fool in charge of the village, which was a disturbing thought. Going from open, crude boredom to threats? Who had trained this guy? Yasaki reflected poorly on those who had come before him, at least from Kozai's point of view. It wasn't a concern he could pass up.

"Nonsense?" Kozai's frown deepened, in response to Yasaki's frozen grin. "I give you an intricate plan, and you call it nonsense?" Also, who the fuck names a sword? Just hearing the name made Kozai cringe a little bit on the inside. Imagine forming sentiment with a hunk of metal. Kozai had had just about enough of this nonsense. Insults, threats, and just overall poor behavior from someone who had been placed in a ruling position. His eye shifted from their normal color to the red of the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan as the man unsheathed his blade.

"Wake up, Yasaki. Akihana and the ones who preceded you failed to secure our position here in the village. If you won't do it, then I will." His determination was unshakable. If it should come to blows, Kozai knew his life would be in danger. He was facing someone with the same doujutsu as himself, as well as a far more unstable personality, at least from his own point of view. SUre, Kozai could heal himself and keep himself out of danger, but his body was atrophied after such a long period of dormancy, and he felt a great sense of ennui. As such, the outcome of this situation was unclear to him.

[TWC 2733

-10 AP EMS
646 remaining]

Yasaki had enough of understanding the man in front of him who continually stated many unimportant reasons. The Uchiha had enough to hear from his own comrade. He inspected him up and down as he stimulated his eyes into the darker state of it. The disrespect of his own sword suspected should he be even alive. With the chess table in front of him, he lifts it with ease, throwing it up into the air. A dark mean look eyeing the man in front of him known as Kozai. The distance between Yasaki and Kozai was only 1 meter and since Yasaki who was the faster man, he would grip his comrade by his throat using his right hand, squeezing gently as he could. The eyes focusing on the man in front of him, it would have been easier if he placed him inside a genjutsu. But knowing he had the same eyes as him, surely it wouldn’t work. He then launched multiple punches with his left hand at Kozai’s face, non-stop pounding as he would beat the living hell out of him. The Uchiha's fist would be covered with blood as the anger poured on him into more. He didn’t let go of his throat whilst gripping him tightly as he could. Yasaki had enough of what was being stated to him as he had no other choice but to place him to the ground where he would be on his stomach and next to his sword. He easily picked up his sword where he sent the final blow to the back of Kozai, thrusting the sword in deeply as he could. Yasaki left the scene notifying Jakosaki if he was still alive to finish him, either way.

Spoiler:

The power of the sharingan allowed him to see the attacks coming, but with his body in the atrophied and sickly state that it was, it would be difficult if not impossible for Kozai to dodge them all. Instead, he made the mistake of defending. This was a deliberate mistake of course, one that cost him valuable energy and time. However, he couldn't risk it. For all he knew, this could be a plot by Yasaki or by a third party to incriminate him in order to destroy the Archives. As such, Kozai knew that one of the rules of this unique predicament was that unless he was completely hidden from public view, he could not hit back, *not even if his life was in jeopardy*.

As such, Kozai flooded his face with chakra, easily negating any damage the man would have dealt to him there. However, having the man's fist in his face interfered with his vision, which as he soon found out was not a great idea.

He gasped and choked as the blade went through his back *and through his fucking heart*. As soon as the blade entered his flesh, he seized as firm a hold on the timestream as he could, and began to tug on it, winding it backward and healing himself, even as the blade exited his body. Since Kozai was, obviously, wearing clothes, the man wouldn't be able to tell that he was healing in all likelihood.

As the man turned away, with a quick and sudden flip of his wrist, Kozai simply fell as he opened a sliding hatch into the dark maintenance access tunnels below the village. These corridors were approximately 10 meters wide, and turned in tight corners, creating a maze that only the custodians, technicians.... and library personnel knew. Hopefully, Yasaki and his ANBU hadn't been down here either. Kozai picked himself up and ran, taking a path to the right toward the Archives.

[TWC 3058
-10 AP EMS
- 100 AP Akna
- 40 AP Regen
- 40 AP Yin Healing Wound Destruction
466 remaining
P.S. For any passing readers and mods, I was given permission by my opponent to mess with the environment a little.]

[OOC: 48 hours; before I do any kind of posting, requesting Rinnegan for the previous near-death situation from receiving a stab through the heart.]

Kozai crawled his way back to the Archives, enclosing himself within his hidden, private chambers. The kage wasn't just a fool, he was an idealistic fool. Those were the most dangerous kind of all. Kozai knew that he wasn't stupid enough to send people to kill him, but accidents could happen. "Accidents", sure. Kozai couldn't afford to take any risks. He had to play a perfect game. No loss would be tolerated. Kozai made sure that all of his tissues were repaired before he got up again. He was hoping for more time, but in truth, he didn't really need it. It was time to put things into motion. He removed a sheet of paper from a stack and began to pen a missive. This would push things in his favor and allow him to use Yasaki's force against him. Sooner or later, he'd find the people he needed.

The stress of the fight had exhausted him. His atrophied body could not keep up with the stress of battle as it used to. This would be his most daunting challenge since keeping a hold over Iwa. And this time, he would not fail as badly as he had before.

[TWC 3257
32 stats
2500/2500 toward Black Receivers
EXIT]