Dreams These Days (Mission, p)

Mission:

It was a dark and chilly night in the Hidden Cloud Village as Moyasu was in the process of eating his evening dinner for the night just before he was about to turn in. It was a simple meal of ramen that he had saved from a trip to the local ramen shop and he was savoring it's silky texture and flavor as well as a nice and cold cup of tea to wash it all down with. He had his heater running as the chilly mountain air outside was slowly turning his room into a refrigerator and while his body's heat usually kept him warm due to his genetics he wasn't in for a possibly terrible night's sleep due to the cold. The ramen would certainly help as he finished his food in a flash, the last tastes of his dinner being washed away by the tea, as he got up and went to his bathroom to prepare for the night. Removing his clothes and switching to his clean night wardrobe he began brushing his teeth as he observed his face in the mirror and it gave a tired expression back to him. He brushed his teeth for a few minutes before rinsing out his mouth and turning his faucet off before turning the light off in his bathroom.

Upon entering his room he heard a loud clacking sound from nearby as he looked over to his heater and saw that it was seemingly malfunctioning before slowly shutting itself off before his eyes. He could see smoke wafting from one of the vents of the heater as Moyasu cursed the damn machine and checked it to see if he could find out what had gone wrong. Not like he was going to be able to pinpoint the problem himself though. He was in no way a mechanic and after giving his surface level observation of his now broken heater he was forced to give up in frustration. It was a newer heater, too, which made him upset about the store having sold him a faulty piece of equipment as he sighed heavily.

"Guess I'm gonna need to take it back to the shop tomorrow." he said. "That'll be fun. They were packed the last time I was there." After a short while of practically insulting the broken heater he got back up to his feet and stretched his neck out before looking at the bed. "The sheets are going to have to do for now." After tucking himself into bed he brought the sheets up and turned out his light as the room was blanketed in darkness save for the moonlight leaking in through his bare window. He laid there for a few seconds, looking up at his ceiling as thoughts of what he was going to do tomorrow in class flittered through his head, as he closed his eyes and allowed sleep to conquer his consciousness.

The night was dark and chilly inside an unknown forest as the sounds of animals that usually never came out except at nighttime filled the sky with their calls. Running and weaving through the trees and tree branched at top speed was a rushing Moyasu as he was rushing towards some unknown goal finally ending up at a bare hilltop with a boulder that he hid behind it in order to look around it at his objective. In the middle of the field he could see a pretty large building that was seemingly made of wood and was several floors high as there was guards in dark cloaks at the front door keeping a lookout as other cloaked figures were coming out of the woods and walking past the guards into the building. It would be here that the watching Moyasu started blinking as he looked around before looking at himself in a state of confusion. It took him a moment to comprehend where he was before whispering to himself.

"How... did I get here?"

He was interrupted as he heard rustling from the trees nearby and he moved fast in order to get out of the way of other cloaked individuals hopping out into the clearing from within the trees. He hid behind a tree as they passed by without noticing him, talking amongst themselves, and he took a bit more time in order to think to himself. 'Okay... I went to bed maybe just a few minutes ago... and now I'm here... Is this a dream?' He bent down and touched the ground with his fingers as the leaves and grassy texture rubbed against his fingertips. He shook his head in deeper confusion as he continued to rub the grass and the tree bark that was behind him as he took a deep breath to gather his thoughts. 'This feels so real though... If this is a dream it's quite a bizarre one.'

He looked back past the tree and saw that the two cloaked figures were gone, having descended towards the building, as he wondered if the purpose of the dream was to follow them into the building. As they neared the entrance he could make out one of them saying to the two guards "Praise be to Lord Jashin, brothers." as though it was some kind of password. He shook his head while chuckling to himself and looking through the woods away from the clearing. 'Yeah I don't think so. If this is a dream then that means I can do whatever I want including leaving.' Thus he started rushing away from the clearing as he made his way past the trees in the opposite direction. He ran for several meters, his legs strongly propelling him forward at great speed, as a mist slowly grew around him the more he ran. Before long the mist became quite thick as he did his best to dodge the trees that he could only just make out through the mist before the fog mysteriously thinned out and he could see once again. He sighed in relief as he continued his run for several meters once again... right back to the clearing that he was just running from. Noticing that he was running back to the clearing he stopped short of it and hid once again behind the same tree as he panted in a small bit of exhaustion as he looked past the tree and saw the exact same boulder that he had left only moments before!

Looking back to where he had just ran he couldn't see any mist as he shook his head in anger. 'Of course this would happen. What a bunch of sh-' He was interrupted from his rant as he heard rustling from the trees from earlier and he noticed two cloaked individuals hopping out from the same spot as the previous two before walking down the hill towards the building. They looked exactly like the other two individuals he had just seen, talking amongst themselves and sounding exactly the same as the previous two, as he ran towards the boulder once again and looked down to see the two walk in past the guards. He blinked a few times in recognition of what had just happened as he sat behind the boulder to think. 'Did time just... reverse?' To test out his theory he got back up to his feet and began running back towards the direction of the mist. As he passed by tree after tree he looked behind him to see the clearing growing smaller and smaller as he was clearly running away from it before focusing back in the direction he was running and noticing the mist once more falling thicker around him.

Once more he was thrust into the thick of it, having to do the best he could do with his limited vision in order to avoid running into any trees, before the mist thinned out and he ran forward in order to find himself once more at the clearing. He hid behind his tree and counted the minutes as he contemplated what was happening. 'So it would appear as though I'm trapped in this dream... I can't leave and everything feels real... Is this some sort of jutsu?' After waiting for a few minutes he saw the two ninja once again hopping out of the trees and walking past the hill to the building while talking to themselves the same subject as before. He looked towards where they were walking, unable to see the building from his position, as he thought about his situation a bit more. 'If this is a jutsu and I'm trapped then I have no choice but to investigate the situation... and I get the feeling I should start my investigation inside that building. Just have to find a way to get in there.'

After waiting for a few more minutes while deciding how to best proceed with things he looked over to see another figure approaching the clearing as he was seemingly holding fire in order to light up his path. Moyasu watched as the man's fire fizzled out of his hand as he reached the clearing and he continued to walk down the path towards the building all as Moyasu was making certain he was out of his line of sight. Moyasu made certain to get his facial features at least as well as he could before thinking about how best to proceed with his plan. If the source of why he was stuck in the dream happened to be inside the building... 'Then I'm going to have to get inside there and investigate. The only problem that I can see right now is those guards. I might have just found my way in though. All I have to do is secure it.' After a moment of thinking to himself he thus looked in the direction of where the mist was and got back up to his feet before running off in it's direction once more.

Like before he ran into the thick and mysterious mist before coming back through in the direction of the clearing and stopping just short of the tree. He looked in the direction that the man who was holding the fire would come by later and hopped up into a tree in order to keep out of sight as best he could. So far he hadn't had much trouble keeping quiet nor keeping himself invisible from prying eyes that were walking about in the forest as he stretched his limbs out a bit before sitting still in order to wait for the man who could control fire. This was his chance as he too had learned to harness flames with his body in such a way and it would make his disguise all the more convincing. Taking this opportunity to meditate before proceeding he looked upwards to the sky and could see tat the mist was covering the stars. He could barely see them twinkling beyond all the smoke as he wondered if there was truly no other way of escape besides what he hoped to find inside the building.

There was one way that he had always encountered to wake him up during nightmares he had as a child and that was when his life was put in danger. Taking out a kunai that he had snuck out from the academy's holding cells, it's edges sharp enough that as he ran his thumb along them he could feel his skin split open to release a tiny trickle of blood running along the blade, as he thought long and hard before bringing the tip of the blade up to his throat and prepared to pierce it in one thrust. He sat there for a few seconds, thinking about whether or not this was the right thing to do, before he started to realize that he had cut his skin in a dream and it had hurt him... Was cutting his throat and killing himself really going to wake him up? And while he was on the subject another thought came to him in his head. 'Wait... Where did I get this knife? I don't remember taking anything from the Academy.' With that thought he brought the blade down and away from his throat as he looked at it in shock and confusion.

Had the thought that he had taken the blade been implanted into his memories? 'This must be another trick of this dream world. I'm going to keep this thing handy just in case though.' As he moved the kunai back into his pocket, however, he felt it evaporate into thin air as he brought his hand back up to see smoke wafting from his palm where the kunai had been. When he went to check his pocket it was no longer there as though it had never existed to begin with. This essentially confirmed his suspicions about the kunai serving only for a suicidal attempt and that whatever was the cause of this dream was only giving him more and more opportunities to help him along a path of death. 'Not today you weird dream.' He then searched his pocket for a packet of his cigarettes and brought one up to his lips before forming a few hand seals and flicking his thumb up as a light burning flame erupted at the end of his thumb. He allowed the flame to burn the end of his cigarette as he took in a deep and quick drag before shaking his hand, blowing the flame out, and he then took the cigarette out in order to blow a waft of smoke from within his throat.

A short moment later his target appeared, walking as slowly as before, with a hand out before him carrying the fire in his palm. Moyasu watched him, his fiery orange eyes observing the man's movements to make certain he could become a good imitation, before he put his cigarette out by crushing it with his hand and putting the remains down onto the branch beside him. He only had one shot at this as he waited atop his branch for the man to walk by before he hopped down and allowed the momentum of his silent fall to be his greatest weapon. With his feet plummeting down onto the top of the man's head he wound up bringing the ninja down before bringing a fist down onto his head knocking him out. Finding that to be surprisingly easy Moyasu ripped the hood off the man's head to get all of his facial features before taking the cloak off and noticing that the man wasn't wearing a shirt. What he saw was quite shocking.

All along the man's pale skin were scars that looked self inflicted all of which looked to be entry ways into vital areas of the body. 'How... is this guy alive?' He checked to make sure that the man was knocked out, the man's eyes rolled into the back of his head showing he was out like a light, as Moyasu then lifted him up and dragged him into a secluded and shady corner of the forest to hide his body out of sight. Using the surrounding leaves as quickly and quietly as he could he covered the body up completely before getting back up to his feet and looking at the body from multiple angles. After a while of making certain the body couldn't be seen he picked up the cloak the man had been wearing, as well as a strange necklace with a symbol he had never seen before, and quickly shuffled it over himself and put the hood up. He found the cloak to be a perfect fit for him as he quickly formed the necessary seals and concentrated his chakra all around his body. He could feel his chakra surround him, forming over his skin in order to morph into a completely different color and form, before a puff of smoke formed all along his body and when he stepped out he was a spitting image of the pale man save for his glowing eyes.

Now having donned his disguise he dragged his hood further down over his head, covering his glowing eyes entirely, before walking past the trees in the direction of the clearing that ultimately lead to the mysterious building. He took deep and quiet breaths in order to calm his nerves, his large quantity of chakra working quite well to keep his disguise up, as he walked down the hill towards the building entrance and to the two guards. As he walked up to the entrance he saw the guards watch him approach as he tried his best to speak in a non shaky voice "Praise be to Lord Jashin, brothers." They nodded to him in response and did nothing to stop his advance through the doorway and into the strange building. He had done it as he continued walking before going around a corner in order to collect his nerves.

'Get yourself together, idiot. You're in this for the long haul now. Think of this as your first ever mission as a ninja.' He looked over to a set of stairs leading both upwards and downwards as he looked up to see lights flickering and he could hear people talking while downstairs he could also hear talking but the path down was dark and rather spooky. Feeling scared still Moyasu continued to psyche himself up in his thoughts as he closed his eyes and focused. 'Ok. Mission: Find a way out of this dream safely. Side mission: Don't get caught for any reason. Keep your wits about you, Moyasu, and you'll be fine. As long as I keep my transformation up I'll be safe... I'll be safe.' Taking in a few short breaths he turned to the stairs leading upwards and started walking up them towards the unknown rooms and conversation. Who knew what would be lying in wait for Moyasu in this crazy dream world? Only the nightmare knew.

WC: 3,008

Claiming: Mission rewards as well as 30 stats (20 to vigor, 5 to chakra, and 5 to speed)

Approved - remember to claim your 8 halloween tickets on stat page

Mission:

Heading up the steps Moyasu could hear the sounds of the conversations growing louder as he looked around and felt the atmosphere had grown intense and he was becoming spooked by the reflections of his shadow bouncing all along the walls due to the soft candlelight leading upwards. He took in a deep breath before making his way through the arch that the stairs were leading up to and he saw a large room filled with other cloaked individuals, all talking among themselves, as Moyasu kept his hood low enough to cover his eyes. He looked around while trying to remain as incognito as possible as he walked about and listened in on passing conversation while looking for anything that might provide him with information as to why such a gathering might be taking place. The only light that was provided throughout the entire room was from the candles and all the windows on the floor were covered up making the room completely devoid of any outside light as Moyasu had to really concentrate on his sight in order to count how many there were in the room with him. He could count at least 12 people immediately in the light of the candles as well as other individuals in the room that were out of the candlelight that he couldn't quite see. This confirmed that there were more than 20 people in the room so it was safe to say that if a fight was to break out and he was caught in the middle he'd be outnumbered.

He looked around the room some more and then noticed at the far end of the room was another stairway as over the entrance to said stairway was the same symbol as on the pendant that he had taken off of the guy he knocked out outside. A good starting point of his investigation would, of course, be in finding out the meaning of this symbol in question as it was clearly something this cult followed. Maybe he would find the answers he sought upstairs as Moyasu made his way slowly through the crowds towards the stairs in question in order to go up. Before he got halfway to the stairs, however, he noticed the shadows of two rather large individuals that were standing near the stairway entrance move in closer to it and he was shocked by what he was seeing. If he had believed he was in a dream before this just confirmed to him that he was in a nightmare.

The figures who appeared out of the shadows were two creatures that looked like large humanoid bats, their heads misshapen from human heads and their teeth enlarged and sharpened into fangs, as their arms were longer than a human's with large bat like wings that sprouted from their wrists up to halfway past their elbows. They were wearing cloaks that had been torn along their arms to allow for the folded wings to freely move and stretch out past their backs even as they were folded which only left to Moyasu's imagination how far they could span out when fully stretched open and ready for flight. Their legs were short and bent allowing for their arms to fully reach the floor when they walked as they would walk with their hands and feet as their black and beady eyes observed the room. Moyasu could see the muscle in their arms which gave him the impression that they were probably stronger and possibly faster than they looked as he looked around the room to see that no one else who was able to see them seemed to care that there were such creatures roaming in their midst. This was definitely going to be a long night for Moyasu.

It was clear that, by their presence by the stairway, they were guarding the entrance and keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings. Every so often Moyasu would hear a clicking come from them as they looked around as he knew that, more than likely, they were using echolocation in order to view what was around them as he had read in multiple books that bats were blind. He guessed the more apt term for these creatures, however, was vampires as they were far and above what a bat was supposed to be. As he watched them observe their surroundings by clicking he walked over to a nearby candle that had no one around it and he noticed one of them watch him in his direction as he moved. He tried to keep calm as he walked as he hypothesized that these bats possibly had a lot of heightened senses including hearing, taste, and even smell. He had always been told that some creatures had so strong a sense of smell they could tell when someone or something was afraid or not and if he gave off a scent of fear than he knew they would probably take him to be an intruder and attacked. Judging from their size he had little doubt he'd probably stand little chance against them weaponless as he was.

After a while of controlling his emotions he watched as the bat that had been watching him started watching another who was moving past the crowd to the stairway in their direction and the two bats moved closer to each other in an intimidating manner like bodyguards. That was until the man flashed something shiny in his hand to them, something that looked like a golden cross of some kind, as the two vampires moved away almost in a panic as he walked past them and ascended the stairwell up to whatever was waiting for him at the top. That was Moyasu's way in and he needed to find another one of those crosses as he looked in the direction where the man had walked from and saw that he had come from the direction of the descending stairway that Moyasu had just walked up. This was a longshot for Moyasu but maybe there were more of those crosses downstairs that was dark and creepy looking. It was better than nothing as he made his way past the crowd while watching the vampires at the stairs keeping watch once more over everyone in the room.

As he made his way downstairs he noticed that there was another person at the bottom who had seemingly just entered the building that was looking rather nervously down the stairs and was clearly contemplating on going downstairs. Moyasu walked down to him as the man, who looked no older than him, noticed that he was coming down and jumped in fright while pointing the symbol of his pendent in his direction. 

"Wh-who's there?!" he yelped out as Moyasu descended the stairs with his hands up. This instantly eased the man as he let go of the pendent and took in deep breaths clearly in relief. "Thank Jashin another human. I've been seeing nothing but those creepy vampires everywhere. They're more annoying than another guy I used to know." Moyasu lowered his hands as he wondered if it was a good idea to respond to this guy as he didn't want to give away anything but then his caution was abated a little when the man looked at him with a smile. "Name's Hidan. Nice to meet you, fellow brother."

The man lowered his hood to reveal a slicked back head of hair as Moyasu could now fully see his face before noticing that he was carrying something large wrapped in bandages behind his back. From what he could see it looked like a scythe with three blades sticking out from it's snath. Moyasu couldn't help but feel he had heard the name Hidan from somewhere before but couldn't pinpoint his memory from where. Maybe in a book or something... Hidan looked at him with a grin before speaking again. "So... You gonna introduce yourself to me or what?" Moyasu could tell that this guy wasn't the cautious type when it came to trust or distrust with people. Of course being that they were in a place that was full of cult members and this guy was clearly a member of the same group that might've been the reason why he wasn't thinking twice about who he was talking about possibly being an imposter even though this was the first time they'd ever met. Moyasu lowered his hood in turn as he spoke calmly in response.

"My name is... Kusane. My friends call me McBurn." Hidan tilted his head as his naturally arrogant looking eyes looked into Moyasu's and he laughed.

"You got some weird looking eyes there, brother. What's your deal?" He knew that he must've been talking about Moyasu's glowing orange eyes though he was still transformed to look like the man he was posing as. The fact Hidan didn't recognize the man he was impersonating was all the better.

"I guess you could say that... I've had them ever since I was born. My powers just made them like this. End of story." He didn't know if the answer was good enough but Hidan just shrugged giving a laugh and a cocky grin.

"Whatever man. I'm not judging. They do look really cool, though. Thought you might've taken them from some guy you sacrificed way back when. Might not have stuck them in my sockets but... whatever floats your boat." Hidan turned to the stairs as Moyasu figured that the subject was closed, hopefully, as he looked down the dark stairs along with Hidan and saw that he was getting the jitters once more.

"So what's down there?" Hidan tried to act tough once more as he turned back to Moyasu before answering.

"A test! For Lord Jashin! Everyone is to take it in order to show their unending faith to our lord and it's a test that is meant to challenge the bravery of our ranks... The thing is... there's more of those things down there... Even if we're immortal... The last time I was surrounded by darkness and cramped spaces it didn't end so well for me." Wait. Immortal? What was he talking about? Moyasu had also heard this guy mention a 'Lord Jashin' multiple times throughout their conversation. He also remembered he had to drop that name on his way into the building as well. Was that the leader of this cult? If all these guys followed this Jashin and were gathered in one place there was a good chance Moyasu would be meeting with this leader soon. Heck that could be who he was looking for being responsible for such a dream. Could he have been what the vampires upstairs were defending? He was interrupted from this line of questioning as he could hear clicking from down below in the same formation as the vampires were doing from upstairs as Hidan instantly grew hesitant and the two of them wondered how best they were to proceed. Hidan was the first to speak up.

"Ok... Here's the plan. There's supposed to be about five of those things down there and the goal is to get to the end of the room without getting ripped to shreds. There's something waiting for us at the end for us to take that's supposed to help us have an easier time with those things. I haven't seen it myself so I have no idea what it looks like so..." Moyasu knew what he was talking about as he nodded before speaking.

"I know what we're looking for. It's a shiny and gold cross. I saw a du-... brother use it in order to get by a couple of vampires upstairs." Hidan gave a frustrated tsk with his tongue as he looked over to Moyasu in fear.

"They're upstairs too?" Moyasu nodded.

"They're guarding the stairway that leads up to the third floor. I'm guessing there's something important up there." Hidan gave another laugh at that.

"Ha! He wishes he was of any importance. The only one important to us is Lord Jashin. If he wasn't a follower himself I'd carve that stupid smirk off his face as an offering." Moyasu could tell that this guy was somewhat of a loose cannon with such words. What had he gotten himself into?

"Ok then... So what do you think we should do then? Sneak by?" Hidan shook his head as he reached behind his back and pulled around his wrapped scythe.

"N-no... Those things use that sensory thing that bats do. Sneaking by them is a no go. We're going to have to either charge through as fast as we can... or r-rip through them..." That last part was said very shakily as Moyasu could tell Hidan wasn't feeling up to this and he sighed.

"Or... We could play this smart and brighten up the place. If these things are just creepy overgrown bats than maybe they react to light the same way that bats do." Moyasu performed a few signs with one hand before flicking up his thumb as a small flame flickered along the tip of his thumb before Hidan. "Bats thrive in dark. Give them light and they'll scatter." Hidan stood there for a few moments before putting his scythe back onto his back and folding his arms in skepticism.

"I think you'll need a bit more light than that, bro. But hey I'm all for it. Whatever keeps those things as far away as possible." Moyasu blew out his light before looking around trying to find something that could possibly make a big enough light to scare away whatever it was waiting for them down in the corridor. Then he realized what they were standing in. Tapping his foot along the ground he heard the satisfying thumps of wood reaching his ears as he looked back up at Hidan and then down to the underground darkness as he looked closely to see that it, too, was made out of wood.

"I think I have an idea." Looking around once more, Hidan looking curious as he watched Moyasu in interest, Moyasu moved quickly over to a wooden barrel that was sitting right underneath a lantern that he could see was an oil lantern. "Perfect." Taking the lantern in his hand, the heat coming off of it completely unaffecting his hand, he motioned to Hidan as the mysterious Jashin loyalist came over still curious. "Give me a hand and take this downstairs. We're gonna give those bats quite the warm welcome." Hidan nodded and lifted the barrel with ease as they both made their way down into the basement of the building and the two stopped just short of the bottom stair. They both looked as they saw a massive and long corridor that lead to a small and well lit room that Moyasu could only guess was where him and Hidan was supposed to get to in order to get their cross. The only problem was that he could hear clicking from every corner of the darkness as he looked over to see his new companion shivering with jitters once more as the disguised Meijin waved his hand in front of his face and pointed to the floor gesturing for Hidan to put the barrel down. He did as suggested, tiptoeing with the barrel moving quietly from off the top of his shoulder, as he set it down onto the ground as gingerly as possible and Moyasu got behind it and prepared himself as he readied the lamp and his foot. He looked back over to Hidan, who was cautiously getting back up his scythe in hand, as Moyasu brought up three fingers and slowly counted down to signal the start of their operation. Hidan watched in hesitation yet his hands were wringing the snath of his scythe in anticipation as he watched Moyasu's fingers go down.

3... 2... 1. As soon as Moyasu laid down his last finger he threw down the lantern on top of the barrel, the oil in the container exploding and spreading all throughout the barrel, as it engulfed in dripping flame and he kicked it with all his strength. He watched as the barrel travelled down the corridor, the fire on the barrel spreading along the ground due to the oil dripping off of it, as the wooden ground ignited in flame everywhere the barrel touched. It didn't take long for the two ninja to hear the angry and agitated sounds of the vampires as some kept to their hiding spots in order to avoid the flames while two of them ran full speed down the corridor in their direction. Moyasu knew he was in danger as they charged at him top speed, his senses going full force into thinking about how to get out of his current situation, but he didn't have to ponder for too long as Hidan was quickly in front of him. He dipped his scythe quickly into the burning flames before them and brought it up to strike, his hands searing from the flames as the bandages burned away, before he brought the scythe around and hit the two vampires in their heads causing the sharp sickles to slice into them and smash them against the wall.

The two vampires quickly caught on fire as the wall they were now stuck on caught on fire, too, and Hidan quickly wrenched his scythe away and watched the two creatures writhe in pain on the floor as he was clearly getting a confidence boost off of what he just did. "Ha ha! These things aren't all that dangerous at all after all! I'll take care of these things in no time! I'll rip them all to shreds for Lord Jashin!!" With that Moyasu watched in horror as Hidan charged ahead further into the corridor, his large red scythe swinging around wildly in the air connected to the Jashin lunatic by some kind of large cord, as Moyasu charged after him screaming the whole way.

"Stop, you idiot! Don't just charge ahead like th-!" Before he could finish his sentence he watched as a vampire came from out of it's hiding spot and with one swipe of one of it's wings decapitated Hidan right in front of Moyasu's eyes. He watched as the head flew into the air as if it was in slow motion, the body slowly crumpling to the ground with the scythe clattering uselessly down along with it, before his head crashed onto the burning wooden surface and rolled along out of sight. Moyasu cursed himself for allowing that to happen as he brought his hands up to form a few seals, his eyes darting all along his surroundings for signs of danger as his shoes were burning along the flaming ground yet his feet remained unaffected by the heat, as he inhaled sharply before exhaling quickly and a stream of fire blew from his mouth and he directed the flames along the walls of the corridor setting them ablaze as well. The vampires were now flying along the corridor in order to avoid the burning floor as Moyasu stopped blowing his flames just to focus on his charge. As long as he could get to the end of the corridor he would be safe and all this would be over. He passed by the barrel and Hidan's body as he looked behind him to see a vampire flying directly at him. He ran as fast as he could, the fire's surrounding them keeping the rest of the vampires at bay, as he neared the end of the corridor and jumped.

His jump wound up saving him as his body leapt up avoiding a pair of wings that tried to grab him or possibly worse as he flew into the room and rolled along it before stopping right next to the pedestal holding the prize of the corridor. He quickly lifted it and held it before him in a panic as he looked back to see that the corridor had suddenly become... normal. The flames were gone, the vampires were gone, the darkness was even gone as lanterns now lit the corridor. The only thing that wasn't gone was Hidan's body as Moyasu cautiously got to his feet and walked over slowly. He then heard a cackling laugh from his left as he looked down to see Hidan's head grinning up at him! "You did it!! Good job, brother!! I knew my sacrifice would be what was necessary to make sure you succeed!" Moyasu stood there frozen in shock, awe, and horror as the talking head continued laughing. "You were awesome, bro! Now come on!! We have what we need! Stick me back on my body and let's head upstairs." Moyasu looked over to Hidan's body and back to the head.

"Um... You mean... Just stick your head... back on?" Hidan looked confused.

"Well yeah... Well normally I would need something to keep my head together but I've grown a lot stronger to where I don't need Kakuzu's stitches anymore. So come on! Let's go!" Kakuzu? This dream was just getting weirder as he reached down and lifted the heavy head and walked back to the body with it. He lifted the body up into a seating position before sticking the head and torso together as told and he watched as the wound quickly closed before his eyes not even leaving a scar behind. He stepped back as Hidan cracked his newly repaired neck, pulling his scythe's cord to where it flew back up into his hand, as he grinned to Moyasu. "See? Good as new." Moyasu was too dazed to say anything in response as his brain tried it's best to process what it had just seen. All the while Hidan placed his scythe onto his back before turning around and raising his arms while looking to the ceiling. "Lord Jashin... Please enjoy these sacrifices that we offer to you." With that short prayer done Hidan turned and walked back towards the stairs as Moyasu silently followed still in disbelief.

As they made their way upstairs, the two of them drawing their hoods back up once again, they walked back into the room that was full of Jashin loyalists that Moyasu had entered earlier as the two looked over to the stairway and saw the two vampires standing guard. Hidan looked at them with a seemingly newfound courage before turning to Moyasu and gestured to the two. "Care to do the honors, brother McBurn?" Upon hearing this Moyasu nodded and took out the cross from within his cloak as they both walked over to the stairway entrance and were confronted by the two vampires. Holding it out before him the glow of the cross caused the two large creatures to scatter away in fear as Hidan brazenly walked past them up the stairs and Moyasu followed behind while stuffing the cross back into his cloak.

The two continued up the stairs as they entered through the another entryway and walked into a large yet much less crowded room that was lit with candles all along it's walls. Upon entering the Jashinists all looked at who had entered into the room as Hidan lowered his hood and grinned at them all. "Brothers! I've returned!" They all huddled around Hidan suddenly, Moyasu quickly getting out of the way, as they all started talking amongst themselves in joy. This gave Moyasu a chance to notice the lone closed door at the far end of the room with the same symbol, the symbol of Jashin, painted along it's wood. This made Moyasu feel uneasy as the final destination of this strange journey was possibly waiting for him behind the door. And it has been a very strange dream indeed: Vampires, this cult, the fact that everyone in it is immortal to the point they can be decapitated and not die... It was turning out to be a strange night indeed as Moyasu waited quietly for the door to open. His thoughts raced in excitement along with his fear and confusion as he prepared himself internally for what was to come. 'No matter what I will end this nightmare. It's showtime.'

WC 4,039

Claiming mission rewards and 40 stats (15 to vigor and speed each and 10 to chakra)

Approved

Mission:

The night had started to take a turn, the moon now hovering high in the sky over the building built to house the loyalists of Jashin, as midnight fell across the mysterious woods and mist began to float around from all corners of the forest closer and closer to the building. Moyasu could hear the sounds of wolves howling outside, the covered windows in his current room hiding the view of the outside from him, as he walked over to one of the windows and moved the cloth out of the way to look. He became shocked and instantly afraid as he looked to the edges of the woods and saw walking out from within them more of the abominable vampires making their way slowly to the building as he closed the window curtain and shook his head in contempt. 'Why did it have to be me?' Looking around he could see that his companion who he had just seen get his head cut off and yet not die was talking amongst his companions still which gave Moyasu plenty of time to think. Taking a walk over to a unoccupied chair in the corner the orange eyed ninja took a seat and folded his arms into himself before closing his eyes and began meditating in his thoughts.

'Stay calm.' he thought to himself. 'This is clearly the end of your mission. Whatever lies beyond that door is your end goal of this strange dream. From what Hidan had said there will be a guy inside that apparently is the most important person in the building... well apart from this Jashin guy... Could Jashin be a deity of some sort? That would explain why there's a whole cult that follows him. Could it really be their devout dedication to worshipping this deity that gives them the strange ability to keep themselves from dying? Or was it all due to just being the strangest nightmare I've ever been in? It can't be that. Everything I've encountered has been too on point or realistic to be a dream. This chair I'm in, the floor we're walking on, the flapping and clicking of the vampires downstairs and outside. Even the moonlight outside looks more real than in any dream I've had... If I die here... Will I wake up in my bed?... Or die in this dream and in reality? From everything I've seen so far anything is possible and I'm not in the mood to test out such a theory.'

He sat there for a few minutes in his meditation, his chakra raging inside him as he concentrated on preparing it for the upcoming battle, as he heard footsteps approaching him and he opened his eyes to see Hidan walking towards him with a curious look on his face. "You look a bit too serious there, brother." he said in his cocky and arrogant voice. "Relax. We got through the hard part. This next part will be a cinch." Hidan swung his scythe quickly against a nearby wall, the sickles slicing clean through the wood and sticking deep in, as Moyasu was stunned at how easily this guy was able to swing around something so unorthodox and big in size. Hidan tested the scythe to see if it was well and truly stuck in the wall as he hopped up and sat along the snath and stretched his body while giving out a bored sounding yawn. "Once we go in there we'll be able to offer so many new sacrifices to Lord Jashin and thrive from their sacrifices. We'll be able to show the world just how great our lord is and there won't be anyone who will be able to stop us." He gave a rather evil laugh upon saying that which only reaffirmed to Moyasu that no one here was a friend but an enemy that he was going to have to defeat eventually. However he couldn't break character as he spoke up in response.

"Where did these things come from anyway? I've never seen anything quite so bizarre as a giant humanoid bat." Hidan shrugged.

"I don't have all the details. Apparently Kazuma summoned them and here they are. I've never heard of them either and I don't really care all that much to find out. They're way too creepy to investigate." Moyasu nodded in agreement as he looked around the room and saw that everyone was talking amongst themselves quietly to the point he couldn't hear any of the conversation which made eavesdropping out of the question. He could hear rustling from within the room they were, Moyasu guessed, waiting to open as he looked over to the scythe seated lunatic.

"How much longer do you think it'll be?" Again Hidan shrugged with a hint of agitation.

"However long Kazuma wants. He doesn't want to start until he's made certain everyone who is meant to be here is here." This confused Moyasu.

"Has he been outside the door to check on how many of us there are? How can he tell if we're all here or not?" Hidan laughed at that as he grinned to Moyasu.

"You must be a newbie if you don't know how he does that. Being that I'm generous I'll go ahead and tell you: It's this building that is his secret. He happens to be a member of the Senju clan and his chakra flows all along the walls of this place which allows him to be able to pinpoint the chakras of everyone whosoever enters the building. That way he can know who all is inside without ever leaving his room... be they a brother or an intruder." This made Moyasu become instantly uncomfortable upon hearing that as he shifted a bit in his chair and scratched his head.

"W-wow... That sounds quite impressive." Hidan gave another laugh at that as he shook his head.

"He THINKS it's impressive. All it's been used for lately is a overblown way of taking roll call. It's not like it's ever worked in picking out any intruders." At least that helped ease Moyasu if even just a little bit and from what he had experienced throughout his time here he hasn't been treated any differently from any other ninja inside. 'Maybe this Kazuma doesn't know that I'm an intruder?' he thought to himself in slight relief.

This thought was interrupted as all the candles in the room flickered as the door opened and a chill washed over the room from it. Hidan hopped down from his seat and yanked his scythe out of the wall as he put it back on his back and rolled his neck in anticipation. "About damn time. Let's get this over with and take over the world already!" Everyone in the room but Moyasu gave a cheer to that sentence as they made their way to the door with Moyasu following behind slowly. He heard the sound of a wolf howling outside once again as he made his way to the door and allowed everyone else to enter before him. As he did he looked at the entryway that him and Hidan had entered through from the stairs not too long ago and saw that vampires were climbing up them by two at a time. He counted four of them making their way up the stairs before he quickly went into the room and shut the door, feeling a strong sense of unease now, as he turned and looked at the room they were now all in.

As he turned to look at the room that everyone had just entered in it was the only room that had the windows open and without curtains as the moonlight leaked into the room and brightened it up a bit more than just regular candles would have been able to. In the center of the room was yet another cloaked individual but he was kneeling and he was inside a symbol that looked a lot like the Jashin symbol everyone had been wearing inside the building. What creeped Moyasu out further was that the symbol looked as though it had been drawn in blood as he walked over to where Hidan was standing which was right be the crouching man. No one said a word which allowed Moyasu to look around the room and notice that they were not alone as he could see more vampires in here as well which was probably why Hidan was trying so hard to avoid eye contact with them. He was clearly shaking and the smile he gave was fake as fake could be.

Kazuma was deep in a trance, Moyasu could tell, as the group all stood by and watched him intently as the vampires were actually standing completely still themselves while watching events of the room unfolding. This was proving to be creepier and creepier to Moyasu as finally Kazuma was taken out of his trance and he looked at everyone present, slowly standing up onto his feet as he did so with a smile, before raising his hands up to us all. "Well met, my brethren. You all have done a most fantastic job in making it to this meeting. Truly your faith and loyalty to our Lord Jashin outshines many other brothers this night. I see many who have been with our order for years and others we have yet to meet. Before we begin with the ritual I would ask of you, our new brothers, your names so as to provide a better place for you into our circle." He thus pointed to one of us who was standing behind him as the man in question looked to be in his mid thirties. "What is your name, brother."

"I am Ryunosuke. I hail from the village hidden in sound." Kazuma nodded as he brought out a long and sharp, black, and metallic looking rod as he handed it to this Ryunosuke.

"Show your devotion to the lord in this initiation, my brother. Step into the circle and show where you would stab our enemies with your body." Ryunosuke took up the rod while nodding, stepping into the circle slowly, as Moyasu watched him twirl the rod around a bit before pointing the sharp tip towards his throat and stabbing himself straight in his adam's apple! Moyasu was stunned from seeing such a scene as Ryunosuke coughed and gagged up his blood while pulling the rod out from his neck! Moyasu watched in horror as he kept to his feet and continued to cough up his blood, the sounds of his breathing a deep and cringing gurgling as he tried to draw breath through his pierced wind pipe, until he started hearing normal breathing coming from him and he stood up straight to show that his injury had healed itself! He was once again floored by what he was seeing as the nightmare was becoming more and more bizarre. Were these people... really immortal?

After a few moments of collecting himself Ryunosuke handed the rod back to Kazuma as he took it in his hands and wiped the blood off from it. "An interesting choice, brother Ryunosuke, and quite frankly a very poor choice in my opinion. Stabbing yourself in a place that would stun you for quite a while can be a very poor way of initiating yourself if you were in combat with multiple enemies. If I may make a suggestion save such theatrics for if you're fighting an enemy to our order one on one. Otherwise, if against an army, a simple stab in the heart will work." Ryunosuke nodded to the suggestion as Kazuma next pointed to someone standing right beside me as this one looked even younger than Moyasu did as he stepped forward. "Now you, brother, what is your name?"

"My name is Kimari. I hail from the village of the hidden mist." So this one was from Kirigakure then? Kazuma stepped forward and handed the rod over to Kimari with a smile.

"Now for you, brother. Once again step into the circle and show us how you would deal a fatal blow to our enemies." Kimari took up the rod and stepped into the circle as Moyasu wondered how Kimari would proceed to break his imagination as well as he pointed the rod towards where his liver was and stabbed at it quick and clean as we all watched. He quickly pulled the rod away from his body as he knelt down and placed a hand on the ground in order to keep himself from falling over before standing up straight again and showing that the hole he had just created was no longer bleeding as profusely as when he had first stabbed it. He handed the rod back to Kazuma who took it with a slight smile. "The liver. A slow and painful death for anyone stabbed there. The problem is just that... death comes slow. Much like brother Ryunosuke's solution all you're doing is giving your enemy more time to attack you. My suggestion to you is to follow the examples of your brother Hidan. He knows exactly where to strike where the enemy is weakest and where he himself won't be crippled for too long to act again afterwards. Right... here." Kazuma pointed towards his heart with his rod as they all nodded and Moyasu felt uncomfortable as to where the conversation was going. Kimari walked out of the circle and stepped back in formation beside me as Moyasu was then pointed to and his heart sank. "And you? What is your name?"

"My name is Kusane. I hail from the Hidden Leaf Village." Everyone looked at him with some impressed looks but Kazuma smirked and shook his head.

"No... I meant what is your real name?" Everyone looked confused towards us as the vampires took steps forward as Moyasu knew this was all too good to last. Hidan was next to speak up with a laugh.

"What do you mean, brother Kazuma? This is brother Kusane. I fought with him down in the basement against these... things in order to get to here. I trust him." Kazuma chuckled at that as he lowered the rod.

"And that's why, even though you're among our most gifted Hidan, you are not at all that bright. This man is not Kusane. He is Hichimaru. He recently joined the order as well but I met him before today and he didn't bear such a name nor a village as his home... nor those eyes." He pointed towards the orange eyes as all of them were becoming suspicious of Moyasu. "Now I will ask again: What is your name?" It was at this point Moyasu's eyes blinked quickly as Kazuma watched in confusion and Moyasu lowered his hood before speaking calmly and in a different tone.

"My name is McBurn. I hail from the Hidden Cloud Village." His body morphed as a puff of smoke filled the space where he was standing and he hopped back and away from within it, trying to gain some distance between himself and them, as the Jashinists and vampires all bared their weapons and looked ready to go until Kazuma brought up his hand stopping them all from making any moves. Moyasu ripped the cloak off of his body, tossing it to the side, as he stood up straight and looked at the odds before him while trying to come up with a plan on how to proceed. Kazuma watched him closely before speaking once again.

"Young man... I don't doubt that you had no intention of stumbling into this little grouping of ours is that not correct? In fact you could probably say you were drawn here for some reason. Allow me to show you what that reason is." Kazuma stepped forward while drawing a box from within his cloak as he opened it up to reveal a small ring that had the symbol of Jashin on it as Moyasu could feel an energy coming from it drawing him towards it. "This is what is trapping you here I imagine. I would offer it to you so that you may leave this place... but..." He closed the box and put it back into his cloak as Moyasu looked at him intently and saw Kazuma raise his rod once more. "I'm not keen on helping out clear enemies to our order... Especially one that hurts one of our own... Where is Hichimaru? Where did you leave him?" Moyasu gulped as he watched everyone become hostile and cautious once again, the vampires stepping forward again, as he heard the sounds of clicking and footsteps beyond the door that was behind him. He tried to collect his thoughts as he looked around the room once again for something, anything, he could use as a possible weapon but he didn't know what he could possibly use as a weapon against people who couldn't die.

"The one you're looking for is out in the woods somewhere hidden under some leaves. I don't know specifically where I left him." Kazuma nodded and put up a hand seal as the window opened and he motioned to one of his vampires as it quickly rushed and flew out of the open window no doubt in search of the body in question. Moyasu in turn removed the cross from within his clothing and got into a fighting stance as the window shut on it's own. "Are you going to let me out of here now?" Kazuma shook his head.

"No young man I'm afraid not. We are a guild of family. We call each other brothers for a reason and you harmed and impersonated one of our own in order to spy on our little order. We can't allow you to leave here now... alive anyway." Kazuma was now showing his true colors as the old man brought out from within his cloak another rod as the other Jashinists got into fighting stances but Hidan stepped forward with his grin placing himself between me and them. His scythe was hanging over his shoulder as he crouched low into a battle stance and faced me while taking off his own cloak to reveal a black robe covered in multiple red clouds all around it.

"No, brothers. Let me handle this one. I thought him like a brother and all he is is a spy. Lord Jashin would want me to be the one to offer his life as sacrifice." Moyasu could tell from how he had seen Hidan fight the vampires that he was very fast and knew how to use his scythe in some dangerous yet unpredictable ways. He sighed as he reached into his pocket and took out a cigarette before lighting it by forming a couple hand seals and flicking his thumb up creating a tiny flame at the tip of it. He took in a quick puff from his cigarette as everyone watched in caution and confusion, Hidan chuckling as he watched, before blowing out a puff of smoke that put out the flame that was flickering and dancing atop his thumb. "You know I once fought a guy that smoked cigarettes that looked just like those. Didn't end too well for him and it certainly won't end well for you, non believer!" With that Hidan threw his scythe straight at Moyasu as he ducked quickly in order to avoid the large weapon as it soared over his head. He heard it crash hard into the wall behind him as it got itself stuck and this proved all the more advantageous for Moyasu to capitalize on. All the while he formed more hand seals and took in a deep breath and puff from his cigarette before blowing out a puff of smoke that grew large and spherical before him blinding him and his targets of his position. The smoke cloud was covered in ash as Moyasu took this opportunity to press a button he had seen resting on the golden cross that he had had in his possession as the bottom of the cross popped off and clattered onto the ground as he was elated to find what he was now holding: A blade had been concealed in the cross as he took it into his hand and swiped upwards in order to cut the cord that was holding the scythe and Hidan together. Having done that he got back up to his feet and put all his strength into his legs as he propelled himself from behind the smoke cloud over to the window, catching Hidan off guard, as he went at it feet first and crashed through the window while grabbing the top windowsill and flipping over in order to plant his heels onto the side of the wooden building.

He concentrated on his chakra into his feet as he ran up the building in order to get to the rooftop, his cross ready to be used, as he looked above him to see multiple vampires circling the building overhead. This distracted him as he soon heard a crash come from in front of him as Hidan sliced his way through the roof of the building and leaped high into the air, scythe high above his head and that creepy and arrogant smile on his face, as he fell fast from the sky and it took everything Moyasu had to jump to the side in order to avoid the scythe as it swiped just inches by his face. In fact it was so close one of the large spikes managed to cut Moyasu's cheek as he rolled out of the way and rubbed it feeling that it was a very shallow scratch but one large enough to draw blood.

He then watched as Hidan licked the tip of his scythe where the blood had been sitting as Moyasu watched in disgust as Hidan drank it in with a evil grin. He then took out his own rod and stabbed himself in one of his thighs as Moyasu watched in confusion as to why he was doing that. With another twirl Hidan had dragged his foot, bleeding from where his wound was dripping, as he had formed a perfect circle in blood before tracing his foot quickly into a triangle. By Moyasu's estimations this was something that Hidan had done multiple times to the point where he had become a master at doing this sort of thing... but why though? What was so important about this symbol that everyone within this order practically obsessed over? He was about to find out in a very unpleasant way as he watched Hidan give a creepy laugh. "Conditions..." Moyasu then watched as his body shifted in color, his skin turning black and white in certain places, as he looked up at Moyasu with the same terrifying grin before speaking in a sinister voice. "... have been met." Preparing his rod once again he stabbed himself in his left hand and before Moyasu could wonder why this crazy man was stabbing himself yet again...

A sharp and piercing pain shot out of his own hand, the cross falling from his now open and pierced hand, as he grunted in pain and fell to his knees as he picked up the cross with his free hand and rushed towards Hidan. Hidan was ready though as he wrenched the rod from his hand and prepared to strike himself again in the leg but Moyasu was prepared for this as he jumped just as Hidan had stabbed his other thigh causing a sharp pain to erupt in Moyasu's own leg as he tackled Hidan out of the circle. He could not walk on his hurt leg but he ground his other foot as much as he could along the ground to move the stronger shinobi away before Hidan quickly pushed Moyasu painfully away with a laugh. "Howzit feel, huh? The pain! It's invigorating isn't it!? Let's you know that in just a few moments you'll be meeting Lord Jashin and begging him for forgiveness for not believing in him!"

As he was laying there on the ground the cross had found it's way underneath his hurt leg and he could feel an energy flowing from it into him as his leg healed itself and he crawled up onto his knees while reaching down in order to grab the cross with his hurt hand. He could feel the healing energy flowing from it again as he looked up to Hidan who had already made his way back into the symbol that he had formed from his own blood. "And now you're going to taste the sweet and glorious pain of death with this last strike... Hope you're prepared to meet your new master in the afterlife." He raised his rod high in the air, pointed in the direction of where his chest was, but with renewed strength Moyasu shot up with all his limbs healed and moved faster than Hidan expected as Moyasu once again tackled him and removed him from the circle while bringing his cross-knife around and stabbing hidan right in his chest. He knew that this was probably not going to amount to anything but what did he have to lose in this bout to the death? What would wind up happening, however, would surprise the both of them as Hidan struggled to breathe and maintain his cocky demeanor as the black and white markings across his body disappeared and Moyasu looked confused at the knife.

Where the knife had been plunged deep and dark veins were erupting throughout the entry point into every corner of Hidan's body as he crumpled to the ground and was quickly dead before Moyasu could even comprehend it all. He laid Hidan down onto the rooftop, the last breath leaving Hidan's body, as he pulled the knife out and saw that the Jashinist was well and truly dead. He looked at the cross to see if there was any kind of poison on it but found that it looked like any regular sort of sharp knife as he knew that he could use this to his advantage and he also knew he would have to act fast as Kazuma would most likely use his abilities to tell that there was now one last chakra in or around his building and it wasn't the chakra he was expecting to disappear. Taking a deep breath Moyasu thus lifted Hidan up and jumped with him through the open hole he had created earlier as the two fell down through the roof and into the room below where everyone was waiting.

He hid himself behind Hidan's falling body, cross knife at the ready, as he quickly took note of his surroundings as the two fell down from the ceiling and he could tell everyone was looking stunned at who it was that was falling clearly not himself instead of who they were expecting. Seizing this opportunity Moyasu struck as he moved Hidan out of the way and fell right onto the chest of a shocked and confused Kazuma, the knife plunging into his heart all the way to it's hilt, as the two crumpled onto the ground and Moyasu quickly reached into the man's inner coat pocket and pulled the box out that he had shown him earlier. Opening up as quick as he could Moyasu pulled out the ring and put it on his finger as the power from the ring encapsulated his body before the time and space shifted in on itself and Moyasu disappeared in a flash of light. Within moments Moyasu was sitting up in his bed, gasping for air and sweat dribbling down his face, as he wiped the sweat off his brow and looked out of his nearby window.

The sun had started to rise over the mountainous horizon, the sun's rays leaking into his room, as he took a few moments to compose himself before moving himself over to the edge of the bed and checking his body for any injuries. Upon touching his cheek he felt a slight tinge of pain as he tapped the spot where he had been cut gingerly and felt that the scratch he had gotten from the dream had made it's way into reality as he got quickly up from the bed, his pillow unbeknownst to him having been drenched in his sweat, as he rushed into the bathroom and cut the light on in order to look at himself in the mirror. He saw the line of red as he took a moment to process everything. 'So that was real?... How is that possible?... Does this mean that I actually killed people last night? Did I seriously... do all that?' He shook his head in incredulous disbelief as he turned the light off and went into the kitchen to pull out a first aid kit and he prepared to bandage up his cheek.

As he applied the necessary medicines to his wound, making certain the bandage covered up the wound completely, he put the first aid kit away and took a moment to collect himself and his thoughts as he looked outside his window at the world below. Everyone was going about their day as though nothing was wrong with the world and he closed his curtains as his room was shrouded in shadow. He remade his bed before sitting on it and wiped his face of all residue sweat remaining on it. It was strange. This was the first time he had ever sweat before and it was due to extreme stress and fear. Was this what was awaiting him were he to take up the mantle of a ninja? He took in a couple deep breaths before getting back up to his feet and going over to his stove in order to prepare his breakfast for the morning. For the time being he could celebrate being able to escape such a crazy nightmare with some good food and worry tomorrow about what the future had in store for him.

WC: 5,025

Claiming: Mission rewards, golden ticket retrieval, and 50 stats (18 to vigor, 20 to chakra, 12 to speed)

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