Whispers from the Flame

Hard Mode:

The day before...

As the sun sank into the valley and the new moon rose silently in the cloudy night sky Saturn was sat firmly on the chest of a rotting corpse, his legs folded in a meditative Full Lotus pose. The body had been carefully prepared, laid out on its back atop a blanket of skinned deer fur as instructed in the black book. They were on the roof of the fortuneteller's newly acquired villa - his business was booming and his new home was nested high atop a mountain that looked over most of the other buildings in the Hidden Cloud village. His ring and index fingers - both the flesh digits and the metal ones - touched his thumbs as the backs of his palms rested on the insides of his folded knees. His cold blue eyes gazed into the distance as deafening thunder boomed from behind the Kage's tower. It was one of the few structures in the village that rose higher than the businessman's villa. The sudden boom caused a nervous Mimas to shudder, its gooey form rippling like the sea before the sticky pink blob nervously leaped onto Saturn's head, wrapping its slimy tentacles around his blonde hair. "Mimas! Mima mima..." It could not understand what its caretaker sought to do with the corpse. It had no reason to.

Before beginning his meditation, Saturn had carefully cleansed the corpse, or what was left of it, with sacred water and recited dark mantras. It was a misfortune that the body was not completely intact - its guts had spilled out when it transitioned from human to corpse. The fortuneteller had wrapped the corpse with white bandages to try and preserve what was left. He had drawn a circle around himself and the body, an inverted triangle circumscribed within. The symbol was created by scattering sesame seeds in all directions to ward off spirits. A 'yantra' was etched into the skin of the corpse, transforming it into an altar, a connection between life and death.

Garland Flames had been placed over the chest and mouth of the corpse as offerings. A few betel nuts were inserted between the corpse’s crusty lips, a gesture meant to appease that thing. As he sat in stillness, meditating, his breathing synchronized with the violent howls of the storm above, and the boundary between himself and the corpse began to blur. 

"Come...." Saturn chanted, making his nervous familiar coil its tentacles around him tighter in its fright, "Come....." He held in a frown as he chanted again, resisting the distractive blob that sought to knock him out of his trance. "Come..."

The first rays of sunlight caressed Saturn's tanned cheek. The ritual had failed. It was too late.

---

Cut to the present...

Saturn and Mimas walked at a lax pace, strolling through the night market that had set up in light of the festivities. Much to the relief of Mimas, the fortuneteller had sealed the corpse that he had brought back from his travels into a Corpse Sealing Scroll and stashed it away in his space-time inventory.  

The village was bustling, even though dusk had long set in. Kumogakure had always been like this, for as long as Saturn could remember. It was a village that never slept. He took a large swig from his metal flask, the one he had filled up with dark rum from the Drunken Kage Bar. He had dearly missed the local spirits during his time away. However, it was a different kind of spirit that Saturn had made up his mind to tame. He had spent a large amount of his time living vicariously through the bodies of animals and other humans. It was a closely guarded secret, a skill that he took care to reveal not even to his closest allies, even when he was in the middle of using it. He often used his mind transferring abilities to carry out covert scouting missions and to confuse the subjects of his missions. He used them more often to entertain himself - the altered senses of various creatures gave him a potent high.

After experimenting thoroughly with the spectrum of senses that the living possessed, the fortuneteller had set his sights on his next trip. He wondered what it would be like to possess the dead. He was still testing the limits of his powers, but this he could feel within his grasp, like a calling that echoed in the marrows of his every bone. His fascination with death was no secret. It had first revealed itself in a burst of manic laughter when he claimed his first kill in Warmonger’s Arena. That same day, he had doubled down, erupting into another fit of deranged bliss as he took a second life immediately after. The rabbit hole had led him to the Temple of Jashin, where he was bitterly disappointed by the Jashinists. He did not come back empty handed from his travels. The corpse that followed him had become the subject of his obsession - its ruby eyes possessed strange powers that Saturn longed to understand. However, after the failed ritual.....  







"Mimas? You hear that, buddy?" Saturn checked in with the blob. It had shrunken to its smallest configuration - barely six inches in length - and slipped into the fortuneteller's pocket. It shivered and throbbed, and Saturn reached in and grasped it with his metal hand, causing its extremities to bulge and inflate like a water balloon squeezed in the middle. "What are you, scared? You're making me look weird!" He complained, whipping Mimas out of his pants. He gripped it with his flesh hand as he followed the sound of the eldritch voice.

S̶̡̢̢̧͉̪͙̞̺̗͑͒̔̒ͅͅͅą̶̰̤͎̂͛̕͝͝͠v̷̨̪̦͔̬̙̜̳̝̮̊̅̍̂̔͛͗̑̚͝͝ȇ̷̞̹̭̯̰͉ ̶͕̳̪̹̗͙̩̳̯͕̱̳͖͒̽̆́m̶͇͓̩̰̠͚̦̤̻̉͆͊̃̓̈́͌̌͊͊̈́̕͠͝͝ͅe̶̢̨͍͈̮̭̳̻͓̩͍̣̥̣̺͂!





The voice grew louder as Saturn approached its source. It sounded as if words were being spoken forwards and backwards at the same time, each letter folding into itself with every syllable. He had never heard anything like it.



I̵̧̝̋͒͘̚ẗ̶̫͎͇͉̯̲̞̝̇'̴̥̬̙̻͐͛͋̃̍̈́͠ş̵̳͕͙̐͐̔̑̀͐̋͘͠͝ ̶̼̻̻̻̞̜͎͗̇d̷̦̫͕̘̰̜̘̪̺͈̀̔̒ạ̷̡̦̰̰͇̽͒̈́̓̉̂̕͝r̴̡͕̼͇̫͔̘̳̣͖̫̐́̌͜͜ͅk̴̙͉̳͊̆̓̓̓̇̓̿̐͝!̶̪̞͎͌̊̑̆̉͝!





Saturn grinned when he finally located the source of the strange sound. His piercing blue eyes locked onto an antique lantern hanging in a small tent shop. The flickering flame danced in tandem with the haunting voice, glowing brighter with its every wail and dimming on cue with every echo. He reached out with his metal hand, and touched the base of the lantern when......

---

WC: 1075

The sky above Jun’s head was a color he had never seen in his whole life—a deep, bruised purple streaked with trails of fiery red clouds that seemed to pulse with their own malevolent energy. Despite his warrior instincts, an unnerving chill slid down his spine. He was completely alone, surrounded by rows upon rows of pumpkins stretching into the distance, each more warped and twisted than the last.

As he ventured further into the field, Jun realized the ground was soft, muddy, and unnaturally warm, like something breathing just beneath the surface. The pumpkins seemed to watch him with hollow, carved eyes, their grins leering wide and wicked in the unnatural twilight. Suddenly, a low, rumbling whisper snaked through the air, curling around his ears in tendrils of cold dread.

"Jun... Shibasaki..."

The voice was hollow and echoing, like wind coursing through a cavern. Jun's hands instinctively moved to his side where his kunai would be, but there was nothing—he was unarmed and vulnerable. Taking a deep, grounding breath, he focused, allowing his chakra to flow through him as he prepared to use his bloodline Sun Release techniques. But something felt off. His chakra—usually warm and bright—felt dim and distant, as though something were sapping his energy.

The earth shuddered beneath him, and before he could react, the largest pumpkin he'd ever seen burst from the ground, splitting open the earth with a crackling, bone-like sound. This monstrous pumpkin was no ordinary fruit; it stood taller than him, its grotesque face carved into a sneer of jagged, razor-like teeth and deep-set eyes that burned with an unholy, sickly green light. Vines twisted and coiled around it like skeletal fingers, cracking as they reached out toward him.

In that instant, he knew he was no longer alone. The pumpkin's face contorted, and it let out a ghastly laugh that reverberated through the field, its booming voice filled with a centuries-old malice.

"You... dare walk through my domain?"

Jun clenched his fists, trying to raise his chakra and focus into his Tengan, hoping to ignite his famous Laser Eyes technique, but his chakra seemed to be consumed by the very ground. The muddy soil underfoot pulsed with dark energy, sapping him of strength. He stumbled backward as the pumpkin lunged forward, vines lashing out, whipping around his ankles and wrists like chains. He struggled, feeling the vines tightening, pulling him toward the monstrous gourd, whose gaping maw glowed with a terrible green flame that seemed to lick the air with hunger.
Panicking, Jun closed his eyes and reached deep within himself, summoning every last drop of his chakra. With a guttural shout, he released a flickering Sun Release blast— Nikko Basuto. It was weaker than usual, but it was enough to scorch the vines binding his wrists, and he broke free.

The monstrous pumpkin roared, its green flame intensifying, and for a moment, Jun feared he’d be consumed by it. He once again focused all his chakra into his eyes and release his mighty Laser Eyes technique towards the monster. But as his Sun Release beam clashed with the pumpkin’s eerie glow, the two forces swirled together in a violent burst, illuminating the field in a chaotic dance of light and dark. Then, in a final blinding flash, the creature exploded, scattering charred pumpkin flesh and smoldering vines in all directions.

Jun collapsed to his knees, exhausted, as the field around him fell silent. The fiery sky faded, replaced by a cool, starless black. The pumpkins were gone, the field nothing more than empty soil stretching infinitely in all directions. Breathing heavily, he stood and looked around, trying to shake off the feeling of dread lingering in his chest.

Just as he felt his heart rate slow, he heard that chilling whisper once more, echoing from nowhere and everywhere.

"This isn’t over... I’ll be waiting… Jun Shibasaki..."

---

With a jolt, Jun awoke, drenched in sweat, his eyes still warm from where he had conjured his jutsu in his dream. The first light of dawn crept through the window, casting his room in an eerie orange glow that made him shiver. He exhaled, relieved but uneasy, certain that whatever he’d faced wasn’t merely a figment of his imagination. It felt just so… real.

The young Shibasaki clansman dressed in his traditional attire, got all of his equipment and went for his patrolling duties. Since becoming a Chuunin a few monts ago, Jun’s responsibilities within the village increased immensely, but once in a while he still had to do some “genin” tasks such as patrolling and gate duty.

After a pretty uneventful day, Jun’s shift was over and he decided to pass by the Halloween festivities. Night had just arrived, and the city was beginning to light up for the festivities, with Halloween props and paraphernalia appearing everywhere and the smell of street food filling the air throughout the village.

Jun really loved that time of the year, with all the costumes, food and the supernatural and inexplicable stuff that was attracted to that time of the year. Jun had to deal with monsters and spirits of all kinds during the past two Halloweens, and after last night’s nightmare, he was pretty sure that it would be no different this year.

After having some delicious Takoyaki, Jun was now looking for something with more “substance”, like some Ramen. As he was looking for the perfect one among many food stalls, he started hearing something… weird.

The sound or voice was pretty ethereal and Jun could not comprehend what it was saying. It was like somehow the words were being spoken in many languages, rhythms and tones at the same time. Although he could not understand it, the ominous voice gave Jun the same chills the monstruous pumpkin’s voice gave during last night’s nightmare. Could it be? - he wondered.

The Shibasaki clansman started following the voice, trying to identify it’s source. It started getting louder and weirder as he seemed to be approaching it, walking through the crowded festivities area. Little by little it intensified, echoing in Jun’s head as he finally arrived at a small tent shop, that appeared to be the epicenter of that supernatural noise. As he got closer to it, he realized there was another man standing in front of the tent. Not any man, but it was his old friend Saturn, the man that left the village many months ago, seeking power and glory. Before Jun could greet his friend, he noticed that he was about to touch a pumpking lantern hanging in the tent. The flickering flame danced in communion with the haunting noise, making it clear that such lantern was the source of the ethereal voice.

- Saturn, don’t touch that pumpk… – it was too late

Just as the flamboyant shinobi placed his metal hand on it, The lantern's mouth unnaturally opened wide and the dancing flames transformed into a swirling, dark portal, and from within, he glimpsed what lay beyond: a terrifying, twisted landscape stretching infinitely, just like his dreams. The portal pulled at him with a magnetic force, his feet inching forward against his will. He braced himself, digging his heels into the ground, feeling the cold, otherworldly power of the portal gripping him. Faint whispers filled his ears, the same voice from his dream echoing within the howling winds, calling him into the dark portal. Weirdly, it appeared that both Jun and Saturn were the only ones affected by the portal’s pulling force, as it appeared everyone else around were just unaffected, and it even seemed that they were not witnessing that supernatural situation experienced by the two ninjas, being dragged into a a portal in the middle of the festivities.

- HOLD ON! – Jun would screamed towards his fellow chuunin, trying to resist as much as he could the portal’s magnetism. He and Saturn wouldn’t endure much such power, and unless something or someone intervened, they would probably be sucked into that same nightmare land Jun traveled to in his dreams.

---

WC: 1340

Benjiro exited the Drunken Kage Bar with some satisfaction, he had spent the day interviewing its hardy people, and he felt as if he had learned a lot about this village in the mountains. He even made some friends, who offered to let him sleep at their house that night, but he declined. Benjiro always enjoyed sleeping on his unassuming matt outside under the stars, he felt closer to the bare essentials of life that way.

And so, it was with that philosophy in mind that he found an unassuming rock outcropping and laid down on the thin bamboo mat, using his large bamboo hat as a makeshift pillow. He stared up at the rapidly darkening sky as he fell asleep.

---

---

Benjiro shot up with a jolt and a gasp for air as he awoke from his dream. His sudden movement knocked any dew off of his hair that had formed that night, he looked around, was it really still night? Did he not get any sleep at all? He wiped his hair and then his face to wake himself up, rubbing his eyes in discomfort from his dream. He immediately went to his journal and documented the event.

Strange dream, perhaps it is nothing, or perhaps it is something. Time will tell, these lands have a certain…

He scratched out one line before beginning again

The air is thick with the supernatural this time of year, perhaps Kumogakure has more

He scratched the line out again and gave a sigh of frustration. The dream was still getting to him. He decided to take a walk around the village to clear his mind, the night life of the village would help take his mind off things, and Benjiro always enjoyed seeing the culture of every place he visited.

He strolled through the town aimlessly, watching the festivities. Hallows Eve was a holiday that he had always enjoyed, while Benjiro was far from superstitious… he was a little stitious. He felt the world take on a more supernatural feel around this time of the year, and he enjoyed the sense of unknown that came with that.

He didn’t notice it, but gradually Benjiro was being pulled through the village and to a specific market. Benjiro of course thought he was just meandering, but eventually even he could not ignore the strange feeling that pulled at him. Then, he heard it, the same sickly demonic laugh. He began to quickly walk through the crowds in search of its source. As he came upon the source of the noise he had trouble believing what he was seeing. He briefly entertained the idea that he was still in a dream.

He saw two Shinobi, struggling against the pull of an otherworldly portal. Stranger still, the crowds around the two men seemed to flow around them as if nothing was happening. Benjiro however seemed to be clearly able to see what was going on. He walked closer, the two shinobi seemed to be in their own bubble of reality. As he crossed over the threshold he could hear the laugh clearly now, to his bones. Unlike the other two however, he did not seem to feel any pull. He calmly looked at the shinobi as they struggled against the force of the portal. His mind flashed back to the dream.

“Dial on the bottom” He said outloud as if struck by the memory suddenly. He deftly launched himself forward before moving around behind the portal, the Lantern still visible from this vantage point. He turned the dial, the portal became stronger and larger as if adding more gas to a fire. The shinobi began to be pulled even faster into the portal and one of them shouted at him in a roar of unintelligible anger. He gave a sheepish grin, still calm as a cucumber.

“Sorry about that fellas” He said nonchalantly as he turned the dial the other way, the portal and flames began to shrink and be contained once more within the lantern, until finally all that remained was a singular green flame, more of a pillar of light really, that shot up into the Lantern unnaturally.

He was about to address the shinobi as they recovered from being pulled by the portal. “Nice to meet you I’m-” He was interrupted by a strange whispering. He looked at the lantern now, it drew him closer and as he leaned in the whispering became more clear. He decided to try something, turning the dial on the bottom of the lantern ever so slightly to allow for more energy or power or whatever this Lantern was using.

The whisper became a full blown bellow, “Shinobi of Kumogakure. Heed my call!” It said in an undulating and ethereal voice. The voice began to beckon to them and explain his tale, as it did so the ethereal flickering flame solidified into a general human shape, it reached his arm out to what Benjiro thought was them, only for him to look behind and realize the spirit was reaching out to a 4th shinobi that now entered into their small circle that had been created.

WC: 1179
TMWC: 3594

"These guys won't easily give up
You won't be able to compete with them even if you gang up
Kuwabara, kuwabara, kuwabara
While I pray for safety, they move at a blinding speed, ay"

The lyrics flowed from his lips as he tapped his feet to the beat blasting from a boombox in his lai- i mean his office nestled in the hospital. No shirt, a pair of white pants and a ballcap that had been turned backwards.. Adorning his back had been a winged tree with the letters M.U.K.U.R.O spread out between the tree. The blonde haired doctor, the Mad Medic himself had been having a blast sliding and moving to the enka styled beat and nothing had been throwing him off his grove. He had just finished a few medical procedures in the waning hours and with the festivities going on. He had heard of people dressing up as all sorts of ghouls, goblins and all manner of other creatures which sounded silly to the medic, but it made the kids happy and that was cool with him. The other implications of the day were what made the medic a little weary as many could see this as a day to wreak some havoc within the village and while he did not want to deal with it, as a shinobi of the village well...he would be obligated to do so. As the beat continued to progress so too would his movements, mouthing the words so effortlessly to the point it felt like second nature to him.

They're immortal, never silent, won't back down
Pushing us with selfish greed, hey
Get out of my way, you're in my way
I'm the other you indeed
Packed with ghosts like Sada-chan and Kaya-chan
This land of the dead is a wonderland, hey

The next flow of words escaped his lips as he bobbed his head and put a couple of his instruments in their cleaning containers and finally finished getting the sanguine colors of crimson off of his table and lastly off of himself. His work had finally been done as he tiptoed to the beat of the music. Grabbing the musically inclined box, the red eyed male would make his way up the stairs from the basement of the hospital to its upper floors, the music finally spewing outward into the halls of the establishment. Many knew that the "head" doctor was now leaving for the night and gave him a small bow and a wave as he went out. Ever the charismatic one, Mukuro would give a small wave and a the brightest smile as he walked past them using his free hand to push any of the doors open while sliding and moving as he walked. The smooth bass of the song continued outward into the air of the village as he went on a stroll to see the festivities at play. While he was always in a jovial mood and it was evident in everything he did, even walking, the events of today had made him keep his head on a swivel. From what he had been told today was also a day where the veil of the mortal world and spirit world were the most thin, and that in turn could mean a lot of ghostly shenanigans. Could he even punch a ghost with his handsome fis- shit of course he could! Lace it with some chakra and a flurry of blows would ensue. Nothing would get past him though as a child tried to run past and bumped into his bare chest, he would look down toward the child and smile. Using his right hand he would lift the child up and dust them off as he shooed them along their way, giving them a small smile as he continued on his way.

No harm no foul. Unknown to him, the light steps of his feet would bring him to the market stall area where a variety of items would be peddled and sold. Masks, costumes, figurines would be advertised to the masses especially the kids as they went wide eyed with joy trying to get their mothers or fathers to get them for them. Though everything had been going well, something else would catch his ears. Was that trouble he heard? Turning on his heels, he would begin to listen intently as something had been going on and when he had pinpointed the source, he would begin to bound toward it, bobbing and weaving through the tight crowd until he came upon the scene. Two people had been getting into it with a nasty portal, though what caused this had been unknown to him. He would watch for a moment, music still going off, as he tapped his foot to the beat to see if he would be needed. Watching as a third did something with a wheel, Mukuro would come closer to the group, up to a meter as he heard a voice coming from the lantern. Whether or not it was addressing him was the point, but the music would be turned down as the boombox was set to his right, the somewhat serious features of the medic taking over as he slid his hands into the pockets of his pants and listened. He would not speak directly but observe. The Jounin's eyes would take in the situation in earnest as he looked from each person. Counting in his mind, two of them he could pin as shinobi of the village. how? Medical records duh. The third however....was an outlier to him. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing would be decided later. Either way back to the magical lantern who would have suddenly decided to speak to the quartet and interrupt his musical appreciation. As the lantern spoke, Mukuro would still be humming the song that he was listening to in his mind. Not necessarily tuning out the lantern, even if it was interesting, it was just his way of getting through the monologue while not getting bored of it.

1,014 WC

Saturn's light blue eyes shimmered with a restless joy as the ominous black flame from the lantern flicked to illuminate the spiralling path into a dark labirynth of twisted troves. A mischievous wide grinned smile cracked on his tanned face, stretching from one pointy ear to the other. "Hold on? No, Shibasaki.. You have it upside down. This is it.. This is exactly what I've been looking for... Let go!" He tried to stretch his arms wide to make himself vulnerable to the pull of the flames, but his metal hand would not be able to let go of the lantern as the fabric of his black cloak swirled towards the entrance of the portal. The suction cups of the octopus latched tightly onto Saturn's arm, Mimas' slimy, glistening purple tentacles wrapped around his elbow as tears from its eye sockets got sucked into the void as soon as they exited its tear ducts. The merchant, hunched over in front of the duo, cracked a snide grin on his face to expose two sets of rotten teeth. The locals stopped and stared at the bizarre scene. 


 "What are you waiting for, demon? Are you scared? Take us, pussy!" Saturn taunted the lantern and let out a hearty, diabolical laugh much to the dismay of his familiar. Before the duo could finally be sucked in, a stranger placed his hand on the bottom of the lantern and turned a dial, amplifying its pull. Saturn's pulse quickened as he watched with excitement, "Sick!" he exclaimed with joy and fascination, before the stranger turned the knob the other way, reducing the lantern's otherworldly portal to a singular green hued flame. 


 "Oi. You brat, why'd you do that?!" Saturn frowned and gritted his teeth as he swung his arm to try and grab the stranger by his collar to scold him. Before his hands could grab the visitor, the lantern spoke again and caught his attention. "Are you trying to do play a joke on us, old man?" Saturn questioned the suspicious merchant, scowling at him before snatching the lantern from his hands to inspect it more closely, as the other hand rested on the merchant's shoulder in a threatening fashion.

"Not at all sir. Please, feel free to look at it as closely as your heart desires. Perhaps it will make a fine addition to your collection at Orbital Oddities..."


The merchant pleaded, his voice as smooth as a clean-shaven snake as a smug grin widened on his cryptic, wrinkled face. 


"Hmph, so you know who I am." The fortuneteller grimaced, a strong hint of irritation in his voice. " If you know me, then you must know my friend here as well. You don't want to mess with us, old man. This lantern better be the real deal!"


Satur's gaze returned to the pumpkin lantern, drawn irresistibly to the dial at the base as he inspected it closely. 


"Was it this way to make it stronger?" He asked the visitor who had turned the knob before. He pinched the dial, and with a decisive twist he turned it all the way up to its strongest configuration sounding a sharp click.

Just as the click sounded, the green flame turned crimson red and expanded to swallow the whole tent shop in its flames. The heat from its fire could be felt, but the flames did not stick around to burn them. Instead, the whole marketplace seemed enveloped in the same dark hued crimson light. Saturn peered out from the tent, the moon was red. The villagers meandered around the marketplace, oblivious to the subjugation of the Moon, unbothered by the strange red light around them. A wailing screech ruptured the silence. It came from the distance.

"You hear that, Shibasaki?" Saturn smirked, his gaze fixed on his old friend before he glanced at the newcomer, "I think it's time for a Halloween adventure."

---

WC: 649
TWC: 1724

Jun was holding tight to not get dragged into the dark portal that just materialized in front of his eyes, even stabbing his Katana into the ground to gain extra adhesion. In the meantime, his old friend was laughing, stretching his arms wide and almost begging for the portal to take him. He really lost it this time… Jun thought, as Saturn’s antics intensified to a point that now his laughter was actually scarier than the portal itself. As things intensified and Jun was pretty sure he would be dragged into the shadowlands, a stranger simply appeared behind the lantern and turned a dial, first intensifying the pull, which almost made Jun loose his footing, but quickly turning it completely the other way around, reducing the lantern's dark portal to a singular and weak green hued flame.

Oof, that was close… – before Jun could check on Saturn, the erratic Shinobi tried to grab the stranger by his collar as he seemed unhappy to be saved from the portal – Baka, the boy saved you! Well done lad, my name is J…

But just as Jun was about to greet the stranger boy, the lantern spoke, gaining everyone’s attention once again. The voice was now pretty low, but would get stronger as the vagabond shinobi turned the dial button slightly, making it obvious how to amplify or diminish the pumpkin’s powers. Saturn would quickly gain interest for the object, snatching It from the vendor’s hand as he scolded the weird old man.

You look rather familiar, old man… where do I remember you from… – Indeed the merchant did resemble someone’s from Jun’s past, and the fact that he seemed to know Saturn but making a reference to his friend’s business, made the Shibasaki clansman even more suspicious – You don’t wanna mess with us, and you better start talking about you and this cursed lantern of yours…

I’m a simple merchant, my lord… I just love to give people what they desire, just like I just did to your friend… – he replied with a sarcastic smile on his face, pointing towards Saturn, who was examining the lantern from up close.

The flamboyant shinobi would simply pinch the dial, and with a swift twist he turned it all the way up to its strongest configuration sounding a sharp click as the dial reached its limit. Before Jun could react, the green flame turned crimson red and expanded to swallow the whole tent shop in its flames. Not only the tent, but the whole marketplace seemed enveloped in the same dark hued crimson light, as if the whole area was instantly teleported into that dark dimension from the portal. The weird merchant vanished was they were transported, but the lantern was still in Saturn’s hand, the flames coming out from its mouth now emitting a bright, crimson beam of crimson light pointing towards east. Then a screen was heard. It was twisted, diabolical and echoed throughout Jun’s and everyone else ears. The villagers that were pretty much oblivious to what was happening now turned their attention into that screech, as one by one they started realizing they were no longer inside the village hidden in the clouds. Screams of fear and panic echoed as chaos erupted among the civillians.

Tiger - Horse - Ram - Clone seal – Jun swiftly made the handseals for the Shadow Clone Technique, spawning two clones of himself in a pop of smoke. Clone 1 and 2 quickly went towards the panicked crowd, trying to restore order and safeguard the civilians, stranded into this shadowlands. Jun realized that near him, Saturn and the newcomer, there was a forth shinobi: Mukuro. The Jounin that Jun met on the gated, when the Otokage visited. I wonder what happened to that guy… I never heard of him actually leaving Kumo… . But there wasn’t must time to think, as another sinister screech could be heard from afar.

- Good to have you here with us, Mukuro. And you, newcomer… we’ll leave the introductions for later, as we gotta act, and you are coming with us! – Jun now turned his attention towards Saturn – Yo, you know I’m always down for some Halloween adventure, but was it necessary to drag all this people here with us? I’ve actually visited this place, yes it was only in my dreams, but it is a pretty dangerous realm, and now I will have to leave two clones babysitting this people, baka! – Jun was indeed “scolding” his old friend, but he had a little smile in the corned of his mouth, something that Saturn would obviously detect and that showed Jun’s exactment for what they were about to face – Now, we must act and kill/destroy whatever is bonded to that lantern so we can leave the hell out of here and take the civilians to safety… by the way, I think our old friend is showing us the way – Jun pointed towards the lantern’s beam of crimson light, pointing unnaturally to east, although it was facing the west – So, shall we, fellas?

---

WC: 840
TWC: 2180

Benjiro would bow his head slightly in deference, hiding the smirk with his hat as the two shinobi briefly argued. One seemed much more reasonable than the other, but perhaps being reasonable wasn’t a useful skill in a situation like this. He looked up and nodded at the fourth shinobi, cocking his head slightly at his music before turning back to the lantern.

In the brief span one of the shinobi, the one who seemed to have a death wish, was suddenly accosting the merchant and tinkering with the lantern. While Benjiro had no problem with the merchant he had to admit he gave some sleazy vibes. He did however wince as the shinobi messed with this seemingly powerful object.

The merchant began to speak at the questioning of the two shinobi that Benjiro had yet to properly meet.

“I’m a simple merchant, my lord… I just love to give people what they desire, just like I just did to your friend…” The sleazy merchant said, his voice gave Benjiro the creeps and he moved away so he was no longer standing close to him.

"Was it this way to make it stronger?" The eccentric shinobi asked, before Benjiro could fully answer he had turned the dial up, Benjiro winced again.

His fears were confirmed with the subtle yet terrifying click of the lantern, interrupting the merchant as Saturn turned the dial to full. A sickly red flame began pouring out and expanding around them, the market, seemingly the world. By instinct Benjiro turned, covering his book with his body to shield it from any burning. Luckily, or unluckily, the flame seemed to have no effect. He paused and looked up, the world covered in a sickly red filter, and the very spirit of the village had a sinister feel to it. Benjiro shuddered. Whatever this place was, it was not natural for any of them to be here. He looked around, suddenly realizing that not only were they here, the entire market was here. This could be bad, he thought.

He began to address the four shinobi

“It seems we’ve been, transpor-” He was again cut off by a blood curdling scream. It was at this scream that the villagers of the market were finally made aware of their surroundings, and their panic began to create chaos among the market. Benjiro cursed to himself, panic was a killer, it often made everything 10x worse. But, could he really blame them?

Benjiro simply watched, too unsure of what to do, as one of the Shinobi deftly created shadow clones and began to act. And, as crazy as he seemed, the other Shinobi seemed just as capable and skilled. He looked at the humming shinobi who entered last, glad to see that he seemed equally as unperturbed. Lucky group to fall into for something like this, count your blessing Benji. He thought to himself. He tucked away his notebook and rolled his sleeves up to provide for more freedom with his hands. He tightened his linen wrappings.

His thoughts were broken as Jun addressed him, “Good to have you here with us, Mukuro. And you, newcomer… we’ll leave the introductions for later, as we gotta act, and you are coming with us!”

He bowed his head in agreement but otherwise remained silent, He breathed a sigh of relief as Jun explained that he was familiar with this realm.

He was ill prepared to fight anything at this moment, so he kept his eyes out, noticing a singular red beam pointing unnaturally to the east. As he noticed it the shinobi Jun spoke up again, referencing the red beam. “Now, we must act and kill/destroy whatever is bonded to that lantern so we can leave the hell out of here and take the civilians to safety… by the way, I think our old friend is showing us the way”

Benjiro would glance down the length of the beam, following it as it pointed down one of the many streets of the village. Shadows flickered and moved, almost breathing like a living thing as they expanded further than shadows should naturally, then receded. Repeating the process. All the pleasant firelight from peoples' fireplaces inside now shined a sinister dark red. Benjiro shuddered at the sight and lamented getting involved. No time for complaining now, he thought to himself.

Benjiro gulped, then put on a brave face. “Agreed, lead the way” Benjiro said calmly as he bowed his head slightly and waited for the group to move forward.

WC: 755
TWC: 1934
TMWC:6852

Well... Here we were.

The events that had played out in front of him was for a lack of a better word...interesting. Still remaining silent, his hands would remain in his pockets as he watched the landscape changed around him. At first he had thought a simple space-time technique, but then he had thought about it. If it was then there would be a subtle shift in the air, a shimmering if you would. Then his red eyes slowly came to the lantern that the old man of the shop had been trying to pawn off on one of the other males. Could they have been in a genjutsu? Well the Doctor had been one step ahead. Allowing his chakra to slip into the atmosphere he would not detect any fluctuations in anyone's chakra so that was out of the question. Yeah something else was at play so what would come of this he would wonder. Remaining silent, Mukuro would watch as they were goaded into becoming more and more interested in the lantern and that was almost when he had spoken. Jun, one of the males that had been at the gate when the delegation of Otogakure had came to the village had greeted him. With a two finger salute, he would look to the others and shrug," Doctor Mukuro actually, but since I know ya you are good I guess. Also did anyone teach any of ya not to touch strange metallic objects peddled by strange old men?," a brow would be raised as he motioned his now freed right hand at the old man and then to the lantern. Looking around at the surroundings now, it would have appeared they were in some sort of alternate world, and overhead he did not mind the change of the sky. Either way he would begin to follow the path of the beam.

"The passerby's are the least of our problems," his index and middle finger would trail along the path of the sky and the beam as he continued," they may be in the veil of this technique or displacement if you will, but they exist on a separate layer. You can imagine it as a three layered cake. One one layer, our natural home. The second, the layer the civilians are in. The third where we are. They are safer than we are currently so don't worry too much. Whoever or whatever elaborated this... did a fine job admittedly. I'm going to have to remember this for later," he would muse to himself as he shoved his hand back into his pocket and went back into silence and observing the situation. Once the quartet arrived to the house, the first thing Mukuro would do is observe the surroundings, standing in front of the group to assess the situation and triage as he would see nothing out of the ordinary and nothing was coming up within his sensory range. Shrugging he would walk forward and look at the door in earnest seeing that it was locked and with no key and no one living here well...anything was fair game. His right hand would free itself from its container and with a subtle flick and strength he would blow the door back and walk in as the dust began to lift into the air and wave his hand in his face," Kumogakure Police come out with your hands up?," it was of course said in a jokingly manner, but as he walked in he could see exactly what they were going to deal with. Sighing he would poke his head back out and alert the others to come on in.

Once the group had been in the house, Mukuro would take a full look around to figure out what they needed to do. He would ask the lantern, but that was no fun so instead he would shrug and do what he usually did- wander. Looking to the other three he would point to the lantern and then make a circling motion with his right index finger," Probe that lantern for any clues as to why it made us come here besides trying to free it. I'm just gonna go meander around and see what i find. Have fun," and off he went into the darkness of the house. Looking around he was not quite sure what to make of the situation and he quite honestly was not sure what to think. He was a man of medicine. Of science. While he was a believer of the afterlife and all that came with it, haunted lanterns were a tad out of his paygrade. Either way he did not want to be stuck in this situation any longer than he wanted to be and would prefer getting back to his tunes and relaxing. His small journey in the house would slowly lead him up a flight of stairs to the second floor, where he would soon find himself going from room to room. Each room had been corroded by time and the unkemptness of the house itself. With it, he found items that while still touched by time were...oddly clean. Running his index and middle finger across one of the items he found that it wasn't clean, it just had the appearance of it. Deceiving. Whoever put this here it had been intentional in their motives and methods, but if everything else had been as if no one had been here....why?

Shaking his head he would leave out of the room and head toward the end of the hall when he began to hear a voice. At first he thought he had been hallucinating, but he had not taken any experimental drugs lately and he was not drunk. Shrugging he continued on his path until he had heard the voice again, this time from his right. Turning he looked around and observed his surroundings, only seeing a painting and bench. Tilting his head, Mukuro would begin to scratch his head through his ballcap and mumbled to himself," What the fug?" the word would be cut short as once again he heard the voice, this time heh had heard it through the painting. Slowly he would step closer as he heard the voice more and more.


"Free...me....Free....meeee."

The voice continued on repeat as he got closer until that was all that he heard. It had been a soft, feminine voice with anguish being a very abundant undertone. His right hand cupped his chin lightly as he inspected the painting, looking for any sign of deceit, but when he could not find any all logic went out the window. Sighing he would move forward to take the painting down, and place it under his arms as he walked back down to meet the others. As he did he asked one singular question to the painting that had still been speaking the same two words," How did you end up like this?," the painting at first continued the same sentence before snapping into an uncanny display of self-awareness. For a moment she mumbled the words under her breathe, uneasiness filled the void between the words though he could tell that she was scared of something. Finally before he could get down the stairs she would reveal that she was trapped in this painting by someone, her soul taken and body discarded long ago. She was about to say more until the house started to stir, and to him it sounded like it was simply settling, but for her it was something much more sinister.

Mukuro would return to the trio if they had been in the same area and if not he would use his free left hand, bringing his index and thumb finger to his lips to let out a shrill whistle to gather their attention and call them back to the living room. Once they had returned he would sit the painting down in front of him, standing up on the frames legs and motion to it," Seems like that lantern is not the only cursed object in this home. What ever is going on here there are probably more...unless you all found something?," the inflection in his voice would be an indicator for the other to present their findings if they had found anything, and if so to connect the pieces together.

1,391 WC /// TWC 2,405

Jun and the other 3 members of the party walked towards the house where the old and possessed Jack O’Boom lantern was unnaturally pointing. They traveled among the empty streets of this twisted version of Kumogakure they were taken to by the lantern. As Mukuro explained using a three-layered cake as a reference, they were on the bottom layer of the dimensions, while the civilians were on the middle layer, thus in theory safe from the perils of this dark dimension. Just to be extra sure about it, Jun left behind two of his Shadow Clones, to keep order and calmness among the people.

During the whole time, the young Shibasaki clansman was expecting to the party to be jumped by a bunch of monster pumpkins, just like in his dream. He was ready for action and all alert at all times, but nothing apart from some weird, sinister noises coming from nowhere and everywhere at the same time happened during their walk. Finally, they arrive at the place the lantern was pointing towards. It was a very old, abandoned, almost crumbling house. What the hell… Jun thought. He never saw any house during his dream, only ferocious pumpkins attacking, but the house gave Jun the same chills that he felt during the nightmare. He would quickly activate his Perfect Tengan to scan the building, and after a quick look, he could not detect any living presence or any movement inside the estate as it appeared to be just… empty.

Mukuro was the first to enter the house, and Jun would soon follow after scanning the area. The Doctor seemed intrigued by the whole situation, asked the group to probe the lantern fo the reasons of why they were brought to this world and to this house specifically, and started wandering the house, looking for clues by himself. Jun was about to start interrogating the old lantern when he heard a faint and distorted whisper coming from the west side of the house.

"Free...me....Free....meeee." – It was kind of the same message Jun heard coming from the lantern before they were teleported to the dark dimension, but with a different tone, still sinister, but definitely a different voice.  "Free...me....Free....meeee." – Jun heard it once more the ethereal scream, but it seemed that only he actually heard it as Saturn and the stranger seemed unfazed by it. “Perhaps there are more trapped souls within this house… this voice… it sounds like a old man…”

- Yo, newcomer… you stay here and do as the Doc instructed, probe this lantern and find out more about all of this… the house, the portal, this dimension… and you, old friend – Jun now turned his head towards Saturn – You just be you, and things will work out in some chaotic way, as usual… and by the way, we have so much to catch on after this madness is over! I will check something and return here really quick – Jun would finish with a smile, before turning his back to the duo and heading after the mysterious voice in the west side of the house.
Jun walked to the corridor that led to the west side of the house. I seemed unnaturally long, as the house definitely didn’t seem that big from the outside.

The corridor stretched long and narrow, its walls cloaked in peeling wallpaper, patterned with faded, ghostly vines and pumpkins. Dim, flickering light bulbs hung from the ceiling, casting erratic shadows that danced with unsettling movements. A frigid draft flowed through the space, carrying with it a faint smell of mildew and something metallic, like blood.

On either side, rows of heavy, ancient doors lined the hallway, each one unique but equally foreboding. Some were cracked ajar, revealing glimpses of pitch-black voids or eerie, flickering lights beyond. Others were tightly shut, their brass handles tarnished and speckled with rust, as though they hadn’t been touched in decades. Deep scratch marks marred a few of the wooden surfaces, while others bore faint symbols carved into the grain—arcane runes you dared not study too closely.

The air was alive with sound: creaking floorboards, low groans that seemed to come from the walls themselves, and the occasional high-pitched scream for help Jun heard before, though no one was in sight, and no heat could be detected by Jun’s doujutsu. The young shinobi kept walking as it got stronger and clearer… he was getting close to its source. He stood beside one of the ancient doors, and the scream was loud and clearly coming from inside it. He analyzed the room with his Tengan, but there was nothing inside it before unalive objects. He entered the room, with the door crackling and almost screaming upon being moved after such a long time. The wasn’t much inside, besides a few bookshelves. The room looked like an old, small library, full of dusty, worm-eaten books and it smelled like mold. In the center of it, there was a small red-covered book, with a printed white cross on it. “Freee meeeee”

Yes, the book! The scream was coming from the damn book. Jun picket it up, the leather felt unnervingly warm, almost as if it were alive. He hesitated, then opened it. Blank. Every page he flipped through was void of ink, yellowed with age but devoid of meaning.
And then, as if summoned by his touch, the pages began to shift, their texture softening, pulsing. Ink seeped out like spilled blood, forming into letters that wrote themselves across the blank pages before his eyes. The words formed slowly, deliberately, as though the book had been waiting for someone to witness its tale.

"My name is Ayanokoji Hiro. Once, I was a scholar. Now, I am a prisoner."

Jun’s heart thudded in his chest as the story unfolded with unnerving clarity. The book recounted a grim tale: Ayanokoji, lured by forbidden knowledge, had dared to summon along some fellow scholars something they could not control. The entity—neither beast nor god—offered them power and insight in exchange for an oath. But when they failed to fulfill their end of the bargain, their punishment was swift and eternal. Their souls were ripped from their body and sealed within this book and other objects around the house with a powerful and forbidden jutsu, doomed to being imprisoned into an inanimate object for all eternity. But he also knew how to break the curse and free their spirits: reuniting the objects and using a powerful Fuinjutsu Breaking technique upon all of it at the same time.

The ink quivered, as though the book itself were trembling. Not only the book, the whole house actually was trembling and somehow shifting, stirring and rearranging itself. The bookshelves, once firmly rooted, groaned as they began to shift. They scraped against the floor with an ear-splitting screech, rearranging themselves like massive, creaking puzzle pieces. Some shelves stretched impossibly high, disappearing into the shadows above, while others twisted sideways, creating strange, narrow pathways. The windows, once fixed in their frames, vanished entirely, leaving the room sealed in darkness save for the eerie blue glow that now emanated from the book in Jun’s hands.

Jun quickly left the room and, using his doujutsu to navigate thought the shadows and the shifting floor and walls, swiftly returned to the living room, the party’s rendezvous point.

Upon arriving, he noticed that Mukuro just arrived as well, carrying with him a painting, pretty much confirming Ayanokoji’s tale. Jun would wait and hope for the other’s return, preferably with a cursed object in hand, so they could break the forbidden jutsu and free the trapped spirits. Mukuro would soon talk with Jun and the group, and the Chunin would explain to the party what the book told him, showing the written pages with the soul’s tales and explaining how to break it via Fuinjutsu Breaking, something Jun could perform, hoping they had the other objects as well.

---

WC: 1320
TWC: 3500

Oda would listen intently to the shinobi as he explained the concept of the dimensions they and the citizens were in, relieved that the citizens were safe while simultaneously unnerved at his own predicament. Still, the shinobi around him were competent and seemed to be handling the change in scenery well. Benjiro put on a stoic blank face, hiding his nervousness at the situation. His mind kept flashing back to the dream he had that sent him on this path, the pumpkin and its sinister laugh, the smell of pumpkin pulp as it engulfed him. In this dimension it all seemed so real and he could think back to that dream as if it happened mere seconds ago. He shuddered, feeling the presence of the sinister spirit grow stronger as they neared the house, the red beam hitting its door with finality.

The doctor shinobi, who Benjiro had learned was named Mukuro, entered in with ease and the group followed in after. Being in the house was an exercise in endurance, it seemed to exude a sinister energy, and that energy clung to Benjiros shoulders almost weighing him down, it was hard to describe, but the air felt thick with sadness. Benjiro hated being in this house and couldn’t wait to leave, but they were brought here for a reason, and they needed to find out why. Almost as if reading his mind, the doctor gave some brief orders before exploring further in. The other shinobi, a blonde haired blue eyed man who seemed to have an air of authority, gave some orders to Benjiro. He was happy to receive them and gain some guidance, and as the other shinobi spread out through the house, he remained behind and began to fiddle with the lantern.

Turning the dial slightly, he could see the green flame begin to form, the voice emanating like a whisper at first until Benjiro turned the dial more. “... You have made it” The voice echoed, it was a mixture of a whisper and a shout, a wail and a cry, it made Benjiro shudder again, something he had been doing a lot in this dimension.

“What is going on here?” Benjiro asked the lantern, his calm voice belying the fear he felt.

“Trapped. Trapped in objects…forced to suffer.” The lantern wailed

Benjiro began to ask more questions when the eerie sound of thudding started to rise from a nearby door. Benjiro shakily approached the door, forgetting about his orders. The door thudded three more times, and Benjiro gripped the handle, unsure of why he felt compelled to take this course of action. He opened the door and peered in, the door opened up into a staircase that led down into a basement. As he peered into the basement he could hear familiar wailing that the lantern produced. “Freee meeee….Freeee Meeeee” It wailed from further down in the basement.

Benjiro went down the stairs slowly and gingerly as if at any moment the whole house would collapse. As he got deeper into the basement, it was almost as if the house itself was angry at his intrusion. It rumbled, and the door behind him slammed shut, encasing Benjiro in darkness. He remained calm, no stranger to being unable to see, he calmly searched around his various pockets before producing a small rag and a match. He lit the rag for some lighting, jolting back from the sudden change in scenery. The walls and floors were covered in the pulp of a pumpkin, as if the entire room had been carved into some enormous jack-o-lantern. The squelching of the pulp made Benjiro shudder and he looked at the walls with a gross fascination. Suddenly, the walls began to rumble, and breathe, and worse yet: close in.

Benjiro heard the wailing again and looked further in, on a pedestal was a gleaming katana, shaking slightly and emanating a ghostly wail. He looked to the door and then to the sword. It’s now or never Benji, He thought as he darted towards the sword. Unfortunately for Benjiro he had hesitated a little too long, and before he could completely get to the sword the pulp came tumbling inwards, trapping him against its weight and beginning to flood the room. The pulp was up to his waist and every step took enormous effort, and it was quickly rising. He struggled forward, determined to grab the sword and make an escape.

The pulp rose more, now covering his chest as Benjiro inched forward with enormous strain, as he reached his hand out the pulp began to reach his neck, he took a deep breath and dove into the pulp to reach the last few feet. As he grasped the sword he fell to the floor, no longer being suffocated by pumpkin pulp, he shook his head in confusion looking around at the now normal basement, sword in hand.

The sword vibrated in his hand with ghostly energy, it was faint, but almost as if from very far away he could hear the wailing and pleading for freedom, but only faintly as he held onto the sword. When he let go, it yelled loudly and vibrated through the basement. He shook his head and got up, ready to leave this cursed house.

He figured the other shinobi would know what to do with this strange katana, and he returned to the living room with sword in hand just as the other shinobi were arriving as well. He nodded to them “I found this sword in the basement” He held it to display it before setting it on the table with the lantern. “The basement tried to drown me in pumpkin pulp, so I would very much like to leave soon. Do you know how we might set about freeing these spirits?” Benjiro would ask politely. He would listen intently to their plan, offering to do whatever was required to make it work. Otherwise he would remain quiet and listen intently, constantly on the lookout for danger while the team was in this house of horrors.

WC:1013
TWC: 2947
TMWC: 10576