No better learnin' than book learnin' (Solo)

The door shut behind Kurado, his hand raising to wipe the sweat from his brow. Despite it being early dawn, the humidity alone was enough to cause the young man to sweat on the short walk from his quaint apartment. Sweat, or maybe just condensation? Either way... gross.

His cloak swayed gently with every step as Kurado made his way through the Grand Kirigakure Academy. He had spent a lot of time here in the past, the host of knowledge here was incredible. A lot of learning when he still an academy student came from his home, both his parents were very knowledgeable shinobi, and it was hard not to gain a passion for learning from them. After losing his mother, however, learning felt more like a necessity than something to love with no ulterior motive.

Growing up with just his father, Kurai Akido, he learned a lot from the man. He had a collection of notes and scrolls of valuable information that he had accumulated over the years, and some Kurai had even inherited from his father. The Akido family was trained in the ways of hunting demons and spirits and all things supernatural. Kurado had really only just begun to learn the techniques, mostly sealing jutsu in nature, to allow him to combat the wicked things that lurk in the dark. With his father having recently abandoned him, and the village, Kurado found himself lost. Lost metaphorically, in terms of where to had next in his life, and lost in a sea of darkness. He had no access to information granted by his father. Not only did Kurai up and leave, but he took the majority of his notes with him. What was the young man to do? He wanted to follow after his father, but he had no way to track him, there seemed to be no clue as to where he had gone. So all Kurado had left was to learn on his own. He had a fire lit inside him, not out of a passion for learning, however, but out of spite. What else was he did to do with his father gone? He was not about to sit idly by and give up on his family's legacy of dealing with spirits and the like. Moreover, perhaps there was something, anything, that may lead Kurado to know where his father had gone. From the best Kurado could tell, Kurai had also used the Grand Kirigakure Academy to find information on the Dark Spirit— the thing that took Kurado's mother from this world nearly a decade prior. After finding this information, Kurai left. That was one theory Kurado had, anyway. It was possible, maybe even more likely, that Kurai had obtained information while he was out on a mission. Or, literally anywhere else other than the Grand Academy. If that was the case, Kurado had no hopes of finding where Kurai had gone. The more the genin ruminated on it, the more hopeless it seemed he would find information here. But, he wouldn't let that stop him from trying. Spite was a powerful thing when harnessed appropriately.

Kurado had several books and scrolls in his arms, and a nice table in the back of this particular portion of the Grand Academy. He planted himself down, and began his work. An open, blank, book by his side and the appropriate writing tools, Kurado leafed through his small stack of potential knowledge. A lot of the books dealt with spirits, demons, and techniques related to them— both on how to combat them, and how to seal them away. With titles such as, "Lesser Tome of Island Country Spirits", "Critical Techniques in Defense Against Demons", and "Flames to Combat the Haunt of the Dark". These seemed a good a place as any to start.

"Pardon." Kurado nearly jumped out of his seat, he was so deep in thought he didn't notice the robed man who had approached his side. A thin beard coating his chin, the man raised an eyebrow to the startled genin. "Apologies young sir. You had requested the other day to know if someone by the name of Kurai Akido had made his way through the library in the past month."

Sitting up straight, Kurado's eyes narrowed. "Oh. Yes, yes. Were you able to find anything?" Kurado asked.

The man removed a hand from his sleeve, revealing a simple note that he slid across the table to the cloaked genin. "It seems he did. And... I presume it is to you he left this note." Kurado quickly grabbed the note, but the man didn't release his grip on it. "We found this note tucked away in a section on... well... trees."

Annoyed the scholar wouldn't let the note go, Kurado's face showed genuine curiosity. "Trees? Are you sure?"

"Yes," the man nodded. "Specifically, on the concept of grafting. Awfully mundane for someone you claimed to be a 'defender against devilish beings'." The scholar let the note go into Kurado's hand. "I thought you'd find the note's location curious. Best of luck."

Kurado watched the scholar turn and leave back into the recesses of the library. He then glanced down at the note, flipping it over to see what text was left behind.

"I told you not to follow after me. If you've found this note, you've already wasted more than enough time trying to pursue me. Find a better use of your time. Don't waste your life in pursuit of this thing like I have.

-Kurai"

His teeth clenched together without thinking. "Cryptic bastard..." he hissed. He found himself thinking this more and more recently. Kurai seemed to be several steps ahead of Kurado. It was very intentional that he didn't leave any clues to his whereabouts, and more importantly he likely destroyed anything that could be used to trace him. It seemed he was running out of options for where to look.

He stuffed the note in his cloak, and went back to the books he was already pursuing. They were dense, written by people with an inflated ego no doubt. It made it tough to absorb the knowledge in a meaningful way. It made Kurado long for the days he could read his father's abridged notes, they were always to precise and compact with information.

Kurado closed the book he was working on, his eyes glancing back to his own notes, pages and pages filled with scrawling of ink. Was this information good enough? Was this even worth his time? His father said not to waste time... was this exactly what he was doing? What would be a better use of his time? But then again, maybe Kurai's note was just to dissuade his son from continuing to look, because he would find something.

Suddenly, Kurado's eyes lit up. What if... what if Kurai meant the opposite of what he had been saying in his notes? After all, as far as Kiri was concerned, Kurai was a missing ninja now, a criminal. If Kurai was leaving notes directing Kurado where to go, they would undoubtedly be confiscated. If that scholar had pulled out a note from Kurai that had said "go here, son," it would have been given right to hunter-nin who would pursue Kurai and drag him back to Kiri. Perhaps Kurado had given his father enough credit for being as cryptic as he was. It was then that Kurado remembered what his father had last said to him— "You've never been a good reader."

Tying up his scroll with the relevant information, he stuffed it into his cloak and made his way back toward the vast amount of information that the library held. Kurado bypassed sections regarding demons and spirits, and found his way to a more green section. Trees. So mundane, so... well... pointless given the craft of the Akido family. Practically the last place Kurado would look in his quest for knowledge. And exactly the place Kurai might hide a more telling note, or a clue, or anything. It would have to be cleverly hidden, not something obvious. The scholars, or at least someone who gave it to them, were able to find Kurai's dismissive note. So if Kurai had hidden a clue somewhere in the library, somewhere in this section, it would have be very difficult to find.

Kurado sighed, blowing the black strands of hair away from his brown eyes, bags underneath them from hours and hours of tired reading. He glanced around at the countless number of books on all things arbor. If Kurado thought books on spirits were boring, how was he going to handle leafing through books on trees? This would take a lot longer than the young man had thought. Another sigh left his mouth as he went to the section on grafting, at the suggestion of the scholar, and began picking up every book that caught his eye. The genin, a bit less spite in his body now, made his way back to his table, brushed aside the books on spirits and demons, and replaced them with the wonderful world of trees. Who knows? Maybe he'd pick up some useful information. Or at the very least, he'd have some useful trivia that would make small talk more bearable.

[TWC: 1545]

[Exit]

10 points to Vigor
5 points to Chakra

50% off WC for C-Rank Jutsu and below:

500 words to C-Rank for Fuuinjutsu Breaking
250 words to Water Sealing
500 words to C-Rank for Great Fireball
125 Words to Candlelight Method
125 words to Generic Sealing Technique

Approved!