Stitches and Seals

Thus far, the visit to the village had been more pleasant than he had expected. Although Joski wasn't particularly educated on the nature of such a large settlement, he had heard plenty of recounting experiences from within the major villages that dot the nation. Stories of peace, and chaos. Of heartfelt dedication, and backstabbing betrayal. Perhaps these stories had been a little exaggerated as Joski had only had a rather mundane experience. With nothing identifying Joski as anything more than an average citizen, he had very few issues roaming the city and even having taken a trip to the Archive. While the library was impressive, he had been informed that the more detailed information he had sought was locked behind privileged access within the village. Despite this setback, it had offered Joski a small insight into what he was searching for: evidently, the recognition of these strange manifestations were not the same for everyone and were called "bloodlines". There were a fair few number of them as well and while Joski managed to learn the names of some of the more prolific clans attached to the bloodlines, everything in greater detail was only accessible by ranking members of the village shinobi. This meant, if he was to learn anything about his own bloodlines, he was either going to have to cozy up to someone with the appropriate rank and get them to access the information for him or he was going to have to seek out a third source willing to get the information for him. Perhaps even with a fee attached. Thankfully, Joski had no shortage of Ryo thanks to all the work he had done not long ago.

Luckily, there was a well-known clinic through which a man simply known as "Dr. T" ran an independent practice that sold information on medical practices, as well as placable seals called Fuinjutsu- another facet of information that had been learned in his trip to the library. Granted, he knew very little about the particulars, but it seemed heavily emphasized as a tool that shinobi use to protect themselves. The revelation of the usefulness of these tools and the potential availability of information had prompted Joski to linger outside of the sizable clinic for near an hour, his mask having been removed and placed within his pack while Joski enjoyed a bit of lunch as he mulled over his approach. "There would be little reason for this Doctor to take much interest in me- as such, no real reason to start off the bat with a lie. Still, best to be as transient as possible."

Crumpling the wrapper to his burger, he'd toss the refuse in an open bin that rested on the same wall he had been leaning against and kicked up from his spot to cross the street and push his way into the clinic, a small chime sounding when he pushed open the door to alert whoever might be working there that someone had entered the building. Given the size of the place, most anyone within would be caught with the unique sense of the spirit that Joski seemed to have found himself with. Nonetheless, he'd step inside the waiting room with the tanned couches and flicked his eyes over to the radio that would be speaking on some sort of local event; a tournament of some sort. The caster would mention a few names that Joski had no way to recognize, but it still would provide a nice idle background to the clinic that didn't exactly seem slammed for business. "Hey doc, you home?" Joski would call out as he moved into the waiting room, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he cast his eyes on the furniture in the room.

WC - 625

The body of the Senju was layed out on the table as Akabayashi began generating black recievers to shove into the corpse. He made about six inserting the rods into places people would not see under the clothing the path or "doll"  wore as the Terumi coined it. The outfit was identical to his own the man's features were entirely different from the Nova's but that would be fixed upon a future date. The ring of the front door and voice asking if he was in, gave the doctor a sense of dread as he would have to wait to attempt his experiment. He sealed the body back into the corpse storage scroll from whence it came and opened the door to his lab to greet his customer.


"Hello, sir I am Doctor Terumi please let me know if you see anything of interest to you." The man would not look directly at the person, but instead observe the whole enviroment around him which included this individual. If the person took a look around he would see cased books titled Sorrow and Sightless as well as its sequal Sorrow and Sightless: The Wayward Wood. On the clear case was an open book which listed various seals for sale and their prices. There were a good bit of them and each offered a description of its own abilities.


The doctor wished he could get a hold of more corpses to animate. However at present it was a simple pipe dream as he had no intention of killing random folk for his studies. Dead warriors slain by them in the near past however was perfectly fair game.

WC:276

Jojo would have milled about the room as he waited for a response, wandering here and there and letting his eyes glaze over the various text of the books that had been put up on display. When the doctor appeared, Joski would glance in their direction and offer them a nod of greeting. "Good to meet you, doc. Name is Jojo." His tone was nonchalant, having no real idea that the doctor was a trained shinobi let alone a member of the Nova Corp. "Sort of just passing through when I heard of the nifty clinic you got here that offers fuinjutsu seals..." the man would trail off, wandering over to the case of books and letting his eyes pass over each of the titles before moving to the counter that had a catalog of the various services offered by the Terumi. With one hand flipping through the pages, Joski would skim over the explanation of the seals that were available. There were even more than he had anticipated, but even just the explanation offered on these was valuable. What other sorts of seals could be out there?

"This one, the Ghost Lake Breaking seal-" he said, his finger plunking down on the page of the book even though the Doc likely had no need to familiarize himself with the seal in question. "-And this one. Seal of Absorption. And the Chakra Storage seal as well; I'm not really sure what the difference in the strength of each of them is so just...make them as strong as possible if you can. Oh, and one last thing." Ducking a hand into his stylish pirate jacket, Joski would retrieve a pair of scrolls and set them both on the counter by the catalog he had been, both of them sizable compared to a normal scroll and carrying a strange, indistinct look that might make someone believe they were a prop. "If you can manage it, a pair of your strongest seal breaking." Joski would glance to the Doctor at the request; when he had purchased the scrolls, he had been told that he might get some funny looks when he went to get the seals placed on the scrolls. Apparently, it wasn't a particularly common thing. Still, he had the dosh if this Doctor had the skills.

TWC - 1,010

There seemed to be a few things this customer wanted which was fine with him. Them being as strong as possible would be impossible however perhaps clarification was required. "Fuin applied to other people is difficult it will be weakened because of how each persons chakra network differs and will not allow full access to the seal. Fuin used by oneself is always stronger than those placed on others." If Jojo still wished to get the three seals it would be fine with Akabayashi. The price of each seal was listed Chakra Storage 1500 ryo, Ghost Lake Breaking and Seal of Absorption 2500 each, then finally Fuinjutsu Breaking 5000 ryo per use. 

The request was odd however as the Doctor couldn't absorb any fuinjutsu to break upon the paper. His curiosity overcame his greed however as normally he would charge extra for amplifiers and having to use sage mode. This one time however he would use his True Sage Transformation make seals for fuinjutsu amp and fuinjutsu breaking and place his hand on the paper attempting to break an invisible seal. But nothing would happen except it seemed like the energy in the breaking transferred to the paper. "Where did you get these papers?" The doctor would ask repeating the process on the other paper. This time holding it in front of his face to hide his eyes as he activated Rinnegan and watched the transfer before returning his eyes to normal then placing the paper back down.

"I am going to assume the breaking was transferred into the scrolls and you can use the scrolls in the same way a seal on the body works. However, I can tell that the full power of the technique resides within the paper. But there is something odd. Why fuinjutsu breaking of all things to store into such an item? I could have placed a stronger absorption seal or Ghost Lake Breaking. Curious." He would say finishing his thought. Together the price would come to 16,500 ryo but the Doctor had an interest in getting his hands on some of those scrolls. Perhaps something could be worked out.

"If you have more of those papers I'd be willing to give you store credit on your current purchase." The Doctor would then apply Ghost Lake Breaking, Chakra Storage, and Absorption seal to Jojo if he still wanted them.

WC: 395

Dice had been rolled, and they came up favorable. Not as though Joski was hurting for the money- his time at the beach had actually filled his coffers to the point where he could still afford to do a fair bit of shopping and still have enough to hit the roadside inns with a bit of comfort. Still, with the revelation that the doctor was interested in the scrolls, it gave the traveler an opportunity to make a move at what he had initially come to the village for. "Apparently they were designed with specific purposes in mind. I picked up a couple in case I find myself in a bind I wasn't prepared for and needed to alleviate myself of the situation." An honest answer for the most part. Joski wasn't inclined to lie to the guy who made himself appear to be out to help others by sharing his skills and knowledge even if both of the commodities came at a price. Given their lack of familiarity, however, probably best not to mention that Joski might need some means to break a few locks that were proving troublesome.

Shifting his jacket and shirt enough to allow access to his skin and letting the doctor go about his seal placements, having taken the scrolls and putting them back in his jacket. "Truth be told, Doc, there was a reason I came to Hoshi aside from the good food and view of the night sky. That massive library that you have is quite impressive. Where I am from, there isn't anything even close to that. Hell, there isn't even a formal defense force like the village has. Small, I guess is what I'm getting at. Not really the kind of place you can stick around when you have a lot of questions or when something strange starts happening." Given a moment of pause, Joski deliberates on how best to work around what he was trying to achieve. "I found some information on a peculiar bloodline that has the capacity to see spirits. Which I understand to be unique, even among the great clans of shinobi. Certainly, it must be. Upon attempting to learn more, the attendant at the library told me I required a certain rank within the village in order to acquire more information. Needless to say, I have no such rank."

Resettling his clothes once the seals had been placed, Joski would turn and look to the doctor more formally, folding his hands together in front of him before speaking. "I don't suppose you could point me in the direction of someone who could tell me more about the Kamigawa clan, could you?"

TWC - 1,455

Ahh, the real reason Jojo was in the village. He wanted something within the library and was looking for someone with access. Akabayashi had access, but he had no clue who this person was. Sure, he was looking for something specific probably related to a bloodline he was interested in the Kamigawa. Truthfully, the doctor had no idea what that clan was meaning it wasn't in the library last he looked, wasn't in the library period, or was for masters of the village making the information only accessible to those who would need to know.


"Never heard of it." The doctor would say finishing his seal placement, yet keeping his hands on the individual. "If it is restricted by rank within the village library it is not in your best interest ask anyone here. Especially, to a Nova of the village. I admire curiousity, so I won't ask you to leave the village, but I do want to know who told you what was within the library with enough detail you traveled all the way here. Our country was only announced recently to the world, but ever since we have had attack after attack. Now, I learn that someone is leaking information and I would like to know by whom."


Maybe, he was making assumptions but for someone from a small village he was quite informed. Too informed for Jojo's statements to be true unless someone was going around spreading information they should not. There was nothing threatening about the Doctor's voice or demeanor, yet his hand of the man was still present where the last seal had been placed.

WC: 272

"Nova? What the heck is a Nova?" he questioned mentally, feeling that hand remaining on his right shoulder blade where the last seal had been placed. There didn't need to be a threat in his tone or his words; the lack of that hand moving from his back spoke all it needed to. This guy- Doctor Terumi- must be a village ninja. To the credit of Joski, he managed to keep himself from tensing under the touch of the elite shinobi, instead turning his head to look out of the corner of his eye over his shoulder. Probably best to keep the answer honest here.

"No one. That is to say, I didn't travel all the way here with any manner of certainty that I would find what I was seeking. Recent as the knowledge of your existence might be, the word of one of the largest repositories of knowledge in the world is a hard thing to keep concealed. It would be foolish to have questions, and not seek answers. But given that you have displayed a wealth of knowledge even here in this clinic and still haven't heard of what I am talking about, it seems I have made the journey for nothing." At the conclusion of his explanation, Joski would make an attempt to shrug off the placed hand and fix his jacket back up over his shoulders, turning around to face the doctor once more. His expression hadn't changed, but the revelation of who this man was and what he was likely capable of was enough to put a weary gleam in the traveler's eye.

"Naturally, I didn't mean any offense by poking around for information, but it also wasn't my intention to circumvent your village laws by asking to be directed to someone that is more knowledgeable on the subject. If no such person exists within Hoshigakure then it seems my journey is not yet over." His hands folded in front of himself as he patiently waited for what the doctor might have had to say next concerning the matter with an expression resting on his face that would ask an unspoken question: Are we good?

TWC - 1,816

"Well that is quite hard to believe. You came all the way from your small town with little knowledge of what you would find here. Unsure, of how you would be greeted at the gates. I don't buy it, but you haven't done anything wrong." Akabayashi would say taking his hands off Jojo and walking to face him. "For the remainder of your stay I advise against seeking any further information about our library or its contents. Unless, you join us as a member of Hoshi.

The look of are we good? Was, also given an unspoken phrase. A hand held out asking for money. Once, the price of the seals was payed, they were of course good.[b]"If you need another set, a new kidney, or a story to read feel free to stop by again. No one ever buys the books, unfortunately. I even wrote a sequel to my wildly unsuccessful first book."

"If you wish to join the village I believe you will have to speak to the kage. Might also be better to ask him about the Kamigawa. I know the abilities of many clans, but of that one I have no knowledge." He would add, waiting what the next part of this transaction might become if he could convince Jojo to join Hoshi.

"I envy the sort of life that offers no questions so burning that you must make a journey for answers, not knowing if you will find any." The notion of traveling all this way with no assurances might have sounded strange to some, but in this case, the two of them had revealed a difference in their upbringing that Joski would acknowledge with these last few words; there was no intention to cause friction between him and this Nova, but the revelation of their difference became as night and day in that moment. Next came the matter of payment, which the doctor would signal by holding out a hand with expectancy. Then the Terumi did something strange and brought up the matter of citizenship within the village. For a moment Joski had to consider, and then reconsider what had been said in order to realize that this was a form of an offer being made. The revelation brought a curious glance to the traveler's eye.

"Become a citizen of Hoshigakure?" Joski asked, his brows pushing upwards to betray his surprise at the direct nature of addressing the notion. "I wasn't aware that joining a village was just that easy. I'm sure there is more to it than just a handshake but I'm from a place that is very far away from here. There is no certainty that I share any of the values that you hold aside from perhaps curiosity. What would make you extend something like that to a guy you hardly know? Are most villages interested in taking in the strays that wander the road?" In truth, more questions came to mind, but the warning not to inquire about the contents of what Joski had believed to be a public resource now had him second guessing what all he should be questioning, lest he finds himself removed from the village- forcibly or otherwise.

Despite the questioning, Joski would withdraw the band that held his Ryo together and would take a solid potion, count it out in his mind, then places the payment in the outstretched hand of the Doctor. If Joski had been aware that citizenship was offered in place of payment, he didn't seem to take the offer into any great consideration though he did seem interested in conversing for as long as the Terumi would spare him the time. A great deal of curiosity dwelled in the Kamigawa, and this had been his first opportunity to satiate it.

TWC - 2,228

Taking the money the Doctor would place it in the register. "I believe you misunderstand me. I was not offering you a place within Hoshi. I do not have that authority. I was giving you the option to seek out who does." If he wanted to know more on the subject Jirou merely had to ask.

Added 16,500 from Jirou