Enter Stage Left [IO, NK]

The Nova corps? Well, this was news. Most likely, it was a similar organization to every other village's covert operations program, but Kozai didn't see what was so special about that. In the end, it seemed that Hoshi was no more prepared for some kind of international conflict than Iwagakure had been, and, well, everyone knew how that turned out. He wasn't exactly eager to repeat the mistakes of the past, but neither was he quite ready to show his whole hand to the Hogokage as of yet. It was possible, he considered, that the frequent changes in leadership had bureaucratically weakened the village after all, and he wasn't the type to take big risks.

"Any potential threats? Are you sure?" Kozai sneered at Ayato. Was this overconfidence, bravado, or just plain inexperience? Either way, Kozai needed to get across to him the precipice that the shinobi world was approaching. 

Kozai released a sliver of killing intent in a minuscule area, encompassing only the Master's box. Within this intent was a split-second vision of a skeletal, red, tengu-like entity, rising out of the theater as it crumbled to rubble as the sky above Hoshigakure turned a bright orange, as if it were on fire, and *something* cast a shadow over the village as it descended from the heavens.

"We're not prepared." Kozai spoke in an oddly calm fashion, now, as if the goings-on abroad were not, in fact, hurtling their consequences toward them. "I am, in all likelihood, the least among the threats extant in the shinobi world." He shrugged casually, reaching out for a glass of water one of his paths handed him. "It's always been that way, so I see no reason why we should treat the current situation any differently. This 'Nova corps' that you're talking about, what's unique about it? What's so special about it that I should have confidence in its efficacy relative to any other special operations division?"

[wc 324]

Kozai had a different stage play meant exclusively for Kage's eyes. A massive Tengu entity was breaking through the theater's roof, the wings casting a shadow over the Spiral of Hoshigakure. Perfect Susano'o. Ayato recognized; he had heard about it from his predecessor a thousand times. The sixth Hogokage considered that to be the heirloom of his Uchiha legacy. Yasaki’s Susano'o burned a dark purple in the stories, but Kozai's was orange. The mightiest shadow in the vision came from something else. Something dark resided in the heavens, something that wanted him. 

"Indeed, I am certain. The Kage hat is cold and heavy on the head, but I must wear it as long as I am. Every shinobi shall reap what they have sown. From the lowest gutter rat to the last true S-rank missing Nin, the Menace of Konoha. The man who terrorized the shinobi world for four decades—died with a whimper."

A vein flexed underneath Ayato’s eye, the air exploding with his killing intent. It was time for his vision to play in the master's box— a  grey wolf running in the summer snows. A tree seemed to sprout from solid stone, its pale roots twisting up from a myriad of fissures and hairline cracks. The tree was slender, no more than a sapling, yet it was growing as he watched, its limbs thickening as they reached for the sky. Wary, the wolf circled the smooth white trunk until he came to the face. Red eyes looked at him. Fierce eyes they were, yet glad to see him.

The wood was pale as milk glass and had Stein’s face. Did Stein always have three eyes?

"Not always." The silent voice answered, "Not before Hoshi." The wolf sniffed at the bark, smelled tree and man, but behind that; there were other scents, the rich brown smell of warm earth and the hard grey smell of rock and something else, something terrible. That was death, he knew. He was smelling death. He edged back, his hair bristling, and bared his fangs. “Don’t be afraid. I like it in the dark," He said. "No one can see you, but you can see them." But first, you have to open your eyes, see, like this. And the tree reached down and touched him. 

The vision ended then. The master's room went silent for minutes, or perhaps they were just seconds that felt like a veritable eternity.  

"The main purpose of a secret service unit is you not hearing about them." The Hyuuga scion finally said. "But the False Kage Valen and his cronies had heard about them. The Nova put all stragglers that remained behind to the sword. And Yasaki knew about them as well. Since they completed his impossible task, they broke the seal to the Archives and made the knowledge within accessible to Hoshi again. Now is the time to use our resources and take the Nova Corps to the next stage."

WC: 471

Ah, so that was what that disturbance had been. That missing nin, with his strange relationship to Konoha... what a waste. Kozai had expected so much more from the man, as their talents had been remarkably similar. Well, life was filled with disappointments, and with every lost potential came an opportunity. The man had probably had resources of all kinds, things that Ayato would probably be using to arm himself or the village. Good, but still not enough for him. He wanted to be certain. There was no game worth playing that his side didn't have overwhelming odds in, after all.

The vision of Ayato's killing intent, certainly, was less literal than Kozai's had been. Was his will weaker? Was Ayato simply a sentimental kind of person? Or had he not quite completed the refinement of his admittedly substantial power? Kozai wasn't willing to bet on any of these yet. Still, that kind of display wasn't really his jam. He preferred to show others something well-defined, something that they could expect to see. A realistic outcome that they could be afraid of. Oh, well. It was still too early for him to be using things like these to make judgements about the Hogokage's character. As to the last bit, however...

"Bah!" Kozai waved his hand dismissively. "Every village has one. My sole concern is ensuring that ours is the most efficacious." He didn't comment on strangers in his archives, or on Valen. As far as he had read, this Valen seemed like someone who had the initiative of a true kage, if not the subtlety. As far as he was concerned, that made him no less qualified than the many other mediocre village leaders he'd seen come and go over the years. Still, it was a little disappointing that he had never been able to meet the fellow himself. He'd have to guide someone who had known him into gaining the Outer Path, perhaps, though that prospect was risky on its own. Now, however, it seemed that Ayato was finally going to get into the meat of the matter.

"To the matter of resources, however," he began, "I think we are of one accord. The Archives have always been ready and willing to provide both new information and information security to Hoshigakure's shinobi forces." Down below the act had moved on, and the hustle and bustle of hidden stagehands were setting up hastily for the night's next programme. In the crowd, one of his path bodies looked down at the brochure: a new industrial music act. Splendid! Kozai had a fairly high opinion of this kind of music.

"Now that I am, ahem, active once more, we have restarted our primary initiative, that being to collect various resources and jutsu from as many sources as possible. While thus far, most contributions have been blessedly voluntary, we hope to begin a more... proactive measure soon. What about your end?"

[488]

“Resources that will serve as a weapon for our village." There was also another reason. If some ill were to befall Ayato, he meant to secure his jutsu for the next generation of village shinobi. In theory, there was no better place to safeguard it than the archives. And so far, Ayato was more than pleased from what he had seen of the man who had quietly guarded the archives.

"Speaking of..." Before moving forward with the arrangement, Ayato needed to be sure of this man's loyalties. “Your personal guard here truly looks hard to kill.” The Hyuuga said, his white eyes shifting to the Path that had handed him a glass of water a minute ago. Kozai was an excellent shinobi to be able to use a technique so casually. He was a horrible showman, and he didn’t know how to dress it up. Ayato found the art of corpse puppetry distasteful. But these creatures had certainly more use for Hoshi in death than they ever did alive. 

“Protocol dictates I ask that if you have bodies not currently in use, you forfeit them to our village. If you ever lose any of your fine soldiers in battle, Hoshi will provide for a replacement.”

Many people hid skeletons in their closets. For their mutual associate Stein, it was his own. When the autopsy took place in his body, Natsuki had found things that someone should see with an empty stomach. The Menace of Konoha carried the body parts of the people he had killed like trophies. The Kage was willing to give that man a second chance in life, and at the first chance he got, the missing-nin broke guest right and attacked his hosts. Keep your friends closer but your enemies closer - whoever said that didn't have many enemies.

“And I shall deliver a unique resource to the archives on the condition that is gated behind the Nova Corps rank. A unique resource that exists within our village would be enough to shake the foundation of the shinobi world.” The Kage smiled. The music playing on the stage underneath and fills in the air of the master’s box.

“Are you familiar with the legend of Konoha's Yellow Flash?” If that man didn’t know about Minato Namikaze, then Ayato was a secret Uchiha. Kozai was the guardian of the most extensive library in the known world, after all.

WC: 400

Potential Exit.

TWC: 3,848

Claims with 25% discount
3750 to Disruption Field no seals mastery, half seal mastery trained here
98 words towards Talented [ 98 + 562 from here = 660/ 3750]

After Finding the Previous Master training completion Here Ayato's Claims and Exit Approved.