The Fire is Gone

How long had it been since he last went to see her since the incident? He didn't know nor did he want to think about it, but it was high time and Chikamatsu Hyuga was on bis way to the hospital to go see his teammate, one Ari Dokuma. Ever since the fight at Mejing, he hadn't been able to bring himself to go and visit. He could stand to look at those missing sockets, and given his paranoia as of late and forcing his Byakugan to it's limits every day as he went from place to place inside his Yuru puppet didn't help. But he and his team,team 10 that is, agreed to go and visit her for a sort of 'team meeting'.

The idea was shit in his opinion given the last team meeting they had, but he had agreed to it out of respect for Ari. It didn't help that ever so often he debated on given her one of his own eues to try to correct the mistake, but until she had woken up he'd hold off on the idea. For now, as he went to the hospital inside Yuru and eyes on, he'd scan the place, getting an idea of everyone there. Sure he'd recognize his teammates when he caught sigbt of them, but right now he was more concerned with finding ways to calm his nerves. Escape exits, potential hidden infiltrators, just about anything that he could to do to keep his mind off of having to look at his failure.

---

135/135 CP
Byakugan stage 5; -0.2 CP (post 1/30)
134.8/135 CP

Ashitaka was brought into the designated room in a wheelchair, about as calm as you'd expect from someone who'd been injected with enough sedatives to kill a small horse. His eyes were open, but he was clearly not "present" as most people would say about someone who was only here physically. Per the hospital's recommendations given his aggressively growing power and temperament, plus the provocative nature of the situation, he was not to be "awakened" to full lucidity without the Hokage's explicit direction. Of course, that also meant that he had to be strapped to his given mode of transportation to prevent him from falling out of it, and had a cloth wrapped around the lower half of his face to catch the drool and offer him a miniscule semblance of dignity in his stupor.

His voice was muffled, but he wasn't completely silent. If someone bothered to listen, they might make out his regaling no one in particular with a story about going on a journey into a forest to meet some giant slugs who were going to teach him about a super secret "slug-fu". Of course, he also went on a bit about a butterfly stealing his nose, so maybe paying too much attention to him at this point wasn't the best idea. His brown eyes dully washed over his two teammates, but didn't even pause on their faces as would be normal for a person recognizing another human face, let alone show any signs of recognizing them as individuals.

As far as team meetings go, this one was shaping up to be as generally pathetic as the previous one among members of this team was ballistic.

Nyguyen had not been avoiding his students prior to the Battle of Meijing. He was just busy. That was the truth of the matter. He had intended to reconvene the team after their disastrous first meeting. They'd have a chat and then decide where to continue from there. Unfortunately when Lady Akari fell into a coma, Nyguyen was compelled to take up the mantle of village leader. The never-ending sea of woes and responsibilities had thus prevented him from holding a formal squad meeting. He had hoped that the Battle of Meijing would serve as a sort of "de-facto" second meeting. He was confident that the Earth Province shinobi were inept pushovers. He hadn't taken Ashitaka due to the boy's traumatic experience at the hands of one Seid Ōtsutsuki. Chika and Ari, however, could use the exercise. It wasn't until the battle had begun that Nyguyen had realized the depth of his mistake.

Ari had ended up paying for this mistake with her eyes.

It was from that point on that Nyguyen truly began avoiding his students. If Kimiko had not salvaged the mission and brought victory to the village, then it was likely he'd have resigned or even ousted from his position. The shame of his defeat hung over him like a cloud. The fact that his subordinates could have died haunted him. Nyguyen had always been somewhat timid in certain situations, but facing the children he had failed had turned him into a total coward. He put on a brave and confident face when it was time to talk about Iwa's capitulation but internally he regretted ever putting Ari in such danger.

Eventually, Nyguyen knew that he could not hide from them any longer. He needed to face them. He needed to apologize. A second meeting was thus called. He decided not to wear his Kage robes for today instead opting for a traditional black kimono. Nyguyen's beard was now studded with streaks of grey. The corners of the man's head were of like aged character. There were bags under his eyes (far more prominent than depicted in his avatar) and his Sharingan was perpetually active. It was a testament to his emotional state and heightened sense of tactical awareness given the advent of world war. He made his way through the hospital, up the stairs to the second floor, and finally arrived at the intensive care unit.

Ari Dokuma was placed in a special glass unit. The horrendous burns were subject to infection and so her healing environment needed to be kept sterile at all times. Nyguyen turned his head and saw the sorry shape his tenure had left her in. Where there were once beautiful stormy grey eyes, there was nothing but sunken and burnt flesh. He turned his head and blinked back the tears. He couldn't afford to be weak, not now. He was joined by Chika and a heavily sedated Ashitaka. Nyguyen had allowed Konoha's medical establishment to make the necessary decisions concerning his mental health. He had recused himself after the "Konoha" incident. He was too attached to his pupil and though he was aware that the boy's skill had progressed remarkably, Ashitaka's propensity for emotional outbursts had concerned more than just himself. He had been persuaded to relinquish his decision-making power on the matter on the condition that there be no more talk of "taking his organs." When Nyguyen saw the state that the doctors had left him in, his heart grew still.

The Senju was a drooling mess. He pretended to not be shocked as it would only show his ignorance but he couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the moment. Nyguyen turned to see Chika and looked away. He opened his mouth to speak but no words came out.

"....A..."

After having teleported to Mockingbird's base from Kirigakure no Sato, Akihiro took Ikomiki out for lunch. It was a sort of reward for the successful completion of her task in the Land of Swamps, and since he had to rest a little after having their journey it served as the perfect opportunity to restore depleted chakra reserves. And he knew he would need his chakra very soon for the completion of his duties.

His next duties were at the hospital. The first waves of wounded shinobi and kunoichi had arrived from the war front, and things weren't looking pretty. Konoha wasn't necessarily losing the war but the truth was that war was ugly for both the winner and the losers. Dismembered ninja and post-traumatic stress syndrome disorders were just a couple among the many problems that soldiers faced. While Akihiro wasn't directly responsible for the medical unit in Konoha, he was certainly the very best doctor the ninja had at the moment. So he made a point of going to the hospital and visit as many patients as he could, giving instructions to medical ninja on how to treat patients. Despite the horrors of war, treatment procedures were rather standard most of the time. Limb amputations were horrible, but the procedure was standard. A certain coldness was required to make these sort of decisions, but they weren't the worst he had to make.

The trench war was terrible. There were thousands of casualties and not an infinite amount of resources to take care of all the wounded. The battlefront was hell, but being lucky enough to be transported home didn't necessarily mean one was lucky enough to survive. The sheer amount of wounded men and women meant they had to prioritize. Priority...it was such a simple word, an obvious implication too. But to Akihiro, that meant he had to decide who got to live or die based on the probability of survival. More than once did he need to give out a death sentence to a ninja in order to prioritize the treatment of another patient with better odds. It was never an easy decision and it required a certain degree of psychological maturity. He could not look at these people as humans. The Sparrow instead treated them as numbers. 67%, 78%, 23%. The calculations of a survival chance were easy, done with little more than a glance. But every time he added the numbers and compared, a ninja died and another might live through to fight another day.

Throughout this process the young Uchiha had brought Ikomiki alongside. As the due toured the hospital Akihiro had hopes of instilling a certain sense of compassion and humanity in Ikomiki...although he couldn't be quite sure she'd understand the message. Any regular human would have easily felt compassion for these poor souls, but Ikomiki was no regular human. She was different, thought differently. One could only wonder what sort of thoughts echoed in her mind as they visited the wounded.

The next name on the list was a special one. Nyg's student. He wasn't entirely sure what he could do for her, but he was willing to give her special attention considering who she studied under. Perhaps it was selfish to treat her specially, but Akihiro didn't really care. No one had the authority to tell him how to treat his patients or how much time he dedicated to each one. So as he turned towards the corridor where the entrance to Ari's room was located he activated his sensory and his sharingan. Both were formidable battle tools, but they also made the examination of a patient much more thorough and accurate. If indeed there was nothing he could do for her Akihiro wouldn't hesitate in stating so. But he needed to be sure and so the Sparrow used every tool at his disposal. He was surprised to find three other chakra signatures in the room. One of which he knew quite well. "Great timing..." the thought echoed in his own mind as gestured at Ikomiki to accompany him. Could Ari be the one to instil humanity on the Otsutsuki? Or would she just be considered someone else's prey? Who knew. He'd draw a seal on the back of his head with chakra ink, and activate it.

Akihiro would then enter the room without delay or ceremony. "Afternoon." would be the only word to leave his lips before the examination for her wasn't sure it would be a good one.

The power of Nirvana was esplendid. The neural network of his brain was immensely boosted allowing him to make calculations beyond the comprehension of a regular human mind. In that moment he was nigh omniscient. With a glance at everyone in the room he was capable of  nigh omniscient. With a simple glance at anyone in the room he was able to deconstruct their entire personhood. Their story, their fears, their joys. Who they loved and who they hated, and all the actions they'd taken from the moment they were born up until this point.  Their existence became...simple. Math in the shape of probabilities turned to certainties in his mind. Nyguyen Uchiha, Ashitaka Senju, Chikamatsu Hyuuga but most importantly: Ari Dokuma. He knew them all now, perhaps better than they even knew themselves.

"My resources are limited, Lord Hokage. I have many patients to attend to and it'd be impossible to give the best care to them all. As a special favour to you however, I'll see what I can do for this child." Akihiro's words were cold, distant even. It was surprisingly easy to become distant once the principles of existence and all laws that ruled the universe became known. It was even simpler to do so once he'd learned everything there was to know about everyone in the room. The removal of mystery made it tempting to look at them as subjects, probabilities, or experiments...instead of people. But Akihiro was also aware of this as he was aware of everything else, and so he was able to keep his indifference to a minimum.

His red gaze focused on Ari, but he was able to keep everyone in sight since they were near the child about 5 meters in front of him. This was good because he could measure their reactions to his words, and perhaps allow him to avoid any sort of stress caused violence. It wouldn't be the first time a patient bursted out in anger at the doctor unlucky enough to be the bearer of bad news.

"I cannot bring her eyes back." He would bluntly state, in the same manner one would state the sky was blue. Because to him, it was obvious."Regrowing entirely removed organs is beyond my capability. Especially one as complex as the human eye." He'd make a pause. His mind was going at full power, calculating possible options and their likely outcome.

"However... There's a small chance I might be able to recover her vision." The words were uttered with the same indifference. The indifference which shielded him from the weight of his decisions. "It is theoretically possible to apply an immensely complex Ijutsu and Fuuinjutsu formula to gather light and transmit it to the brain through undamaged nerves roughly the same way the human eyes do. Perhaps even better than the eye does... Of course, this would never match the ability of a Sharingan or Byakugan but... It could be an actual improvement.

I've never done it, and granted it would run on her chakra which means she likely would only be able to see for as long as she could keep the seal active but... in theory, it is possible. "

Akihiro would turn his gaze to Nyguyen, looking the man in the eyes.

"Would you like me to do it?"

The question seemed trivial. He already knew the answer. And yet it seemed important that Nyguyen gave it.

Active:
Sharingan 3rd tomoe
Chakra Sensing
Nirvana S->X-rank Int

Ikomiki was here purely on the request of Akihiro, which luckily for the Konohagakure hospital meant that she wasn’t going to be sneaking around trying to steal painkillers as she did on her last visit here. Although the sight before her, mostly Ashitaka, did make that a tempting possibility. She was in a good mood though. Having just finished her job in the Land of Swamps and being praised by Akihiro by him taking her out to lunch, Ikomiki was practically on cloud nine. She had been largely removed from the war itself other than her initial assistance in the assault on Moonspire, and her attack on the Land of Swamps was her own personal project, so she only really was able to see the effects this war had on Konoha now as she visited those who were crippled by its influence. Not that she particularly had much sympathy. With her past deeds in mind it was hard to expect Ikomiki to have any but a scowl to offer to the weak. The smells that assaulted her as she traveled through the hospital, path of blood, rotting and burnt flesh, and all sorts of other injuries, made for a stark difference from the usual scent of sterilized chemicals. It was odd, and in a sense brought up uncomfortable memories of the past. If she had ever been injured to these extents in the wild she would have become prey, feasted upon by the wild animals who were always watching. It made her view everyone here with a mixture of pity and hunger, even though she had just ate. If Akihiro was trying to teach her a lesson in empathy here by showing her the aftermath of the war he was barking up the wrong tree. At least, that was how it was initially. While in a good mood, Ikomiki’s heart was still cold, not too different from the wild animal she had started as. While Akihiro was domesticating her, there was a long distance between domesticated animal and a human being.

Once she had been gestured to follow, Ikomiki would appear behind Akihiro in the room, acting as a sort of bodyguard for the Uchiha despite him obviously not needing one. She was decked out in the gear she had just plundered from Kirigakure, trying to get used to wearing it. The main outfit was the uniformed body armor and combat pants, both a sheer black with sewn in titanium armor in various spots, ending with a thick set of practical leather combat boots. Overtop that was another titanium mail shirt to add extra protection, along with her other gear. Lightly armored gloves, oshin guards, waist and hip guards, upper arm guards - Although most of it was hidden beneath the hooded silk cloak she covered herself in, tied shut in the front so that only her boots on the bottom were showing. It obscured everything from the neck down to where her boots began, and a good deal of equipment was stashed in its interior pockets. Beyond that she wore a variety of holsters and a hip pouch under her cloak, but other than the silk kerchief she had tied around her neck beneath a shiny titanium Konohagakure headband, that would be the limit of her gear.

Beyond her cloak would run her long, recently brushed silver hair. She had made sure to bathe after returning from Swamps, the disgusting atmosphere warranting an overzealous approach to cleanliness, and so when she approached those who were more perceptive would be able to catch the scent of shampoo. The most notable aspects of her appearance, her cat ears, were something she made no attempt to hide, and would be pointed curiously towards the occupants of the room. Her tail would be hidden by her cloak, but there was nothing that could be done about her ears, and she had no shame that would justify hiding them either.

She followed close to Akihiro, not wanting to stray too far from the man. Although she did glance over the occupants of the room - Nyg Uchiha, Ashitaka Senju, Chikamatsu Hyuga, and Ari Dokuma. The last of them, the girl who was grievously wounded and under a special glass unit, was enough to provoke a cringe response from Ikomiki. Seeing her wounds was enough to make her face scrunch up, especially the lack of eyes. Seeing those sockets clearly empty touched upon Ikomiki’s own insecurities, and quickly she made sure to avert her eyes.

As he made his way to Ari's room, he had let Yuru's auto-movement take over so he could focus more on not focusing on what was going to occur. So many weak chakra signatures, outside of his own team, he could find only two others that had a stronger presence then his own that were currently awake and moving, and he made sure to keep special track of them. The first one was that of Akihiro Uchiha, and his presence in the hospital was understandable, but annoying. His frustration for most Uchiha had been growing ever since the war, and just seeing him here was another reminder of the cobbled together mess of a system of government that they had. The other though, well they were a lot more interesting. And worrying. He had heard the name once or twice, Ikomiki, and the appearance matched the description. But what was bothering him wasn't that she was following the Uchiha, no. It was that she was showing the exact same affinities of that Otsusuki he had seen in Mejing as well as having a different internal biology compared to everyone else in the hospital. The connection wasn't that hard to make, and the thought of having another trigger to his paranoia near him wasn't going to be good.

After getting the visitor pass and actually entering the room, he'd see that Ashitaka had entered first, having used him as a beacon to find where the room was. He couldn't help but feel bad for the kid, seeing as he was almost as bad as Ai in terms of just 'being there'. After their explosive battle, his only interaction with the Senju were two letters to him, one explaining he wasn't banned from the Clan compound, and another a small gift of a Karakuri spider to try and mend some of the rift, but overall he hadn't gone out of fear of a loss of friendship. His thoughts on his best friend could wait though, there was one more important chakra signature that needed to be addressed, and as it opened the door the Kage would find that Chika was standing and looking at Ashitaka, though he'd make a small 'Hmph.' to at least acknowledge his team leader's presence. Until the dumbass decided to open his mouth.

"Don't. Don't you fucking try to make an excuse until Ashitaka is awake. You have a lot of explaining to do and he should be conscious enough to make his own interpretation of the mess that you made. "

And then, there was just...her. Ari Dokuma. He could see her with his byakugan, sure, but he didn't want to. So he distracted himself again. He'd look over whatever items were on Ashitaka, then Nyg (and noting another one of those fucking water bottles). He'd then look at the staff, those who were in intensive care, those that their list had stated they were taking care of, and those who were casually meeting with friends and family. It...it was nice to see others have the Will of Fire burn in them so brightly, but this room was dark, the embers barely holding on. The Fire was Gone, and it felt like once again it was up to him to try and hold things together again, or at least that's what was going through his mind before they began walking over to intensive care. Chika could see the presence of Akihiro and Ikomiki before they had entered the room, and before the red-eyed annoyance had spoken his greeting Chikamatsu would interrupt him, the armor turning to mimic looking at him.

"Unless you're here to bring Ashitaka back to the waking world or to explain why you have a fucking Otsusuki of all things following you, then you can get the fuck out of here Uchiha. Your presence is not welcome right now, and whatever it is you plan on doing can be put on hold until the team meeting of Team Ten is completed. I will not repeat myself."

He didn't care how smart or famous Akihiro Uchiha or his assistant Ikomiki Otsusuki were, they were interrupting an overdue meeting and was already pointing to the door as he stood between the red-eyed annoyance and Ari's tank, indicating for the two of them to get the fuck out. He may not of had the will power to look at her, but he'd be damned to let something get in the way of this.

---

134.8/135 CP
Byakugan stage 5; -0.2 CP (post 2/30)
134.6/135 CP

Since the Hokage had entered the room but not seen fit to act on his authority to elucidate the young Senju, he remained oblivious to the events of his surroundings. On the surface, he was trying to shake off his gag so he could blow bubbles with his saliva. Deep down inside though, he was having a very serious talk with a handful of beings that had added themselves to the roster of super-entities that tried to control his life. One of them was a very old man who looked like an Otsusuki but was in fact what every member of that Clan aspired to be. The rest of them were giant slugs with the smallest among them being about the size of a golden retriever and the largest being comparable to the Mori no Kyojin. They were in a meadow within the depths of a forest that looked very much haunted. It didn't occur to Ashitaka that he was within the depths of his own mind and soul, experiencing existence at the accelerated state of the land of dreams. The old man spoke with Nyg-sensei's voice:

"Boy... come. Sit! Have some tea. You are fast approaching a very important turning point in your life. One which will determine who you are for the entire remainder of your time on this Earth."

"What, you mean like puberty?" Ashitaka snapped back as he approached the cushion opposite the old man at the short tea table and sat down, although he was half-serious. He'd heard that was a pretty big deal and he knew that it was coming up soon. He'd be 12 by next summer and it was most likely to start around then.

"What? No! I mean, yes that too. But I was referring to your reaching the amount of power necessary to train under the Sage Beasts, one particular family of which is here with us." The elder gestured with his staff to the slugs who all cheerfully gurgled in greeting. He set the weapon down and picked up his own tea, blowing on it and taking a sip before continuing. "Truth be told, it's come up much sooner than I expected. However, there is one more trial you need to complete before you may begin your journey to their domain. And it will be the most difficult challenge you have ever faced in your entire life. A position it might very well hold until you die."

"What else is new?" Ashitaka griped. It seemed as though he was faced with death every time he left the confines of Konoha and didn't do so by heading into the Heavenly Emporium. And every weapon he forged was more difficult than the last, although he felt he was nearing a plateau in his development in that field.

"What's new is that this time you'll be facing a choice. You will finally realize the full burden of the power you wield. And what you choose will show you, me, and the entire world just who and what you are."

"Okay? And who are you?" the child asked, although he suspected he knew the answer. "And who am I, for that matter?"

"I... am Hagoromo Otsusuki. Your ancestor by... frankly quite a few generations." he said with the mellow, laid-back demeanor which the Senju, save Ashitaka, were known for. "As to the latter question, well that remains to be seen. Only you can create the truth of who you are. That's what life is all about, after all."

It might have been the drugs, but Ashitaka was taking these bombshells fairly placidly. He took a sip of the tea. Despite looking like ordinary green tea, it tasted like a slightly-too-sweet fusion of cherry and plum. Luckily, he was in the mood for something sweet right now, so he didn't mind the flavor much. He sat and thought about his insane situation: the weight of his body, the fog in his mind, the Sage himself and some of his pets nearby, and the alluring yet haunting whispers from the woods beyond talking about limited resources and the waking world.

"Well, that answers some questions and raises more. So what is this trial then?" he asked quietly as he stared down at the tea in the cup as it changed colors to match the irii of everyone he'd ever met in turn. "What is this choice I will have to make?"

"Why, only the most important one of all, naturally." Hagoromo said with a chuckle before turning serious. "You must decide whether the fire inside you is for burning or cooking."

"That's ridiculous," Ashitaka retorted with all the authority of a kid who was slightly too clever for his own good. "Any fire I wield is obviously for forging."

"Indeed..." the old man responded as he stroked his beard in a fashion that was familiar for reasons that Ashi couldn't quite place. "Let's make this clearer. Tell me, if you had to choose between vengeance and absolution, which do you believe the right answer to be?"

When the preteen opened his mouth to reply, the elder held up a hand to silence him.

"Don't try to tell me what you think I would prefer, young Prince of the Forest. I have already lived my life, and done so quite well, I should think. This is all about you, and what you think the right thing to do would be, if the power to dictate the world's morals rested in your own hands. But that is a question for you to mull over from now until then. For now, you should wake up."

And with a gasp and darting eyes, Ashitaka did.

He recognized the members of his Team, but he did not recognize the room's other two occupants. He reflexively activated his Field, learning from it what sight alone could not tell him. Another Uchiha, no surprise, and... some kind of Otsu/Senju hybrid, maybe? Where normally he would have greeted the individual with immense suspicion, instead he wondered if she too was plagued by visions of their shared ancestor. Then he took in the present conditions of Ari, Chika, and of course himself, and slowly fixed Nyg-sensei with a stare that could best be described as "withering". As it happened, his facial muscles were still extremely relaxed by the drugs, and he was really just trying to maintain his focus.

"Sensei? What's going on? Why am I strapped to this...wheelchair?" he shifted experimentally and found that he moved slightly more than he was able to given his condition. He directed his last question to the strangers. "And who are you two?"

It wasn't exactly hard to find the ninja in question he was l looking for. Already finding out the room to Nygs squad. He had moved quickly up to the room housing all the people he needed to see.

His Sensory was active so which allowed him to be privy to the extra occupants. Also he suppressed his chakra as well. Akihiro and his assistant. This assistant was no ordinary assistant. He could tell she was one of the ilk that revived him. Coming at the same moment one of the Genin was angrily berating them all.

Satomi walked into it room. He was displeased by the lack of decorum shown by the Chuunin. "I'm here on business. If you are done yelling." The Professor said too Chika. "Your presence along with the other squad mates at the battle of Meijing City, is required at the Defense Coordination Center. I've already gotten Kimiko so you lot are next. It's sudden but we are at war, all information you have will be useful."

Looking to see the status of Ashitaka and Ari. "Ari will be brought after she returns to consciousness. Nyg can relay to me his personal events with the Sharingan. " They had won but barely, if it wasn't for the efforts of Kimiko he was sure none of them would've returned. He had to find out what happened.

----------
Used: Sensory

When Chika shut down his attempt to communicate, the man averted his eyes in shame. Chika had every right to be angry with him. They had won the Mountain Wars but it had come at an unfair cost. One that his students had no business paying. Nyguyen remained silent as Chika insisted that Ashitaka be cognizant before they spoke. He wasn't sure it'd be a good idea to wake up the emotionally compromised Senju. Bringing him face to face with a disfigured Ari would retard any progress that had been made since the Konoha Incident. Nevertheless, Nyguyen didn't feel as though he was in a position to refuse the Hyuuga's request. Any apologies, explanations, or arguments that he made ought to be heard by more than just one member of the squad. Ari wasn't awake and there'd be no changing that, but the same was not true for Ashi.

The Hokage nodded and moved closer to Ashi. Before he could lay a hand on the young man though, they were joined by two surprise visitors: Akihiro Uchiha and Ikomiki Ōtsutsuki. The Sparrow was making his rounds in the hospital and he brought his protégé with him. Nyguyen knew little about the stranger but vaguely recalled that she was affiliated with Akihiro and his secret intelligence agency. Akihiro offered to treat Ari personally. Regrowing her eyes was out of the question but apparently he could restore her eyesight through Fuuinjutsu. Nyg found himself nodding vigorously when Akihiro asked permission to perform the procedure.

"Yes! Yes! Whatever it takes Akihiro...thank you. I tru-"

Nyguyen was grateful to the Uchiha and he was about to say more when he was cut off by Chika. The Hyuuga was not pleased at Akihiro's arrival and made it clear that he was not welcome. It was true that the Hokage had intended for this to be a private meeting for Team 10, but he would seize any and every opportunity to make Ari better. Akihiro was the best doctor that Konoha had to offer and if Nyguyen had known he was making his rounds, he'd have called off the meeting anyways. Fortuitously, it allowed him to dodge facing Ashitaka and Chika, but even more importantly, it was what was best for Ari Dokuma. It was in that moment that the slumped over and defeated Hokage found a fire spark within himself. He looked at Ari's state and his willpower slowly regenerated. Just like in their first fateful meeting, she had reminded him of his own daughters. No matter what guilt or shame he was feeling, he would not allow anything to come between them and recovery.  

"No!" Nyguyen said with a deep and authoritative voice. He was the Kage here. He had stared down death at Meijing and had found the courage to not yield to the opposition. He had made mistakes sure, but he had taken this role for a reason. The Fire was smoldering but it was not gone. Chika's threat to Ari's sight had caused it to stir.

"Ari's health comes first! You can curse my name at a later date but we must prioritize her recovery. Akihiro is here to help and as Head Strategist and a doctor of distinction you will address him with respect. The meeting will wait and if necessary we can speak outside while he operates. Ashitaka wil-"

Nyguyen turned to his youngest pupil just in time to see the boy wake up. He had fought off the drugs on his own and was now asking what was going on. Nyguyen muttered a response:

"You've been sedated and restrained for your own safety and that of others. The Konoha Entity Incident...."

Nyguyen didn't have the strength to elaborate. He also figured that Ashitaka would know what he was referencing without him having to spell it out. The doctors at the hospital were nervous about him being in the building after he almost killed a fair amount of people in the aftermath of his previous stay. The fact that he was able to wake up without assistance is concerning....I'll need to speak to the acting Chief Scientist about that but first.... Nyguyen turned back to Chika and glared at him.

Chika had every right to be mad. He understood that. He accepted it. He embraced it. That didn't give Chika the right to disrespect others. The statement about the Ōtsutsuki was also disturbing. It was either fate or a stroke of ridiculously bad luck that all of Nyguyen's experiences with Ōtsutsuki were positive whereas his students had had rather negative interactions. Kaguya's kin were arriving on Earth in greater and greater numbers. With this interstellar immigration came nativism and bigotry. They were a powerful lot and pursuant to the Uchiha Clan Meeting of 936 A.S., Nyg decided that he would rather have them as allies than enemies. He had broken bread with Arisu and he was pleased that Akihiro was apparently doing the same with Ikomiki. Chika's statement jeopardized all of that and he was quick to shut it down. The Hokage eyed the pale and quiet cat-girl. His Eye of Insight would predict any aggression before it manifested.

"That's enough! Every shinobi registered in this village is a member of the Konoha military. They have been vetted and trained in accordance with our principles. You will treat Ikomiki with respect unless you have direct evidence that she is guilty of misfeasance....do not ever refer to her as a 'thing'."

The situation could escalate and Nyg was prepared to act if it did. The arrival of the Second Hokage would hopefully cool tensions before they exploded. Nyguyen turned to his brother-in-law with a look of surprise. He had been expecting to hear from him but not this soon. Satomi was gathering information about the combatants they had faced in Meijing. It was a smart move considering that they were now formally at war with Kumogakure no Sato. Any information they could get on the enemy's capabilities was extremely valuable. He nodded and considered postponing Chika's debriefing. He had promised them a meeting but it was clear that the situation was about to go critical.

Chika lashing out at Nyg was expected but his crass insults to others were troubling. Akihiro had done nothing to earn his ire nor Ikomiki. If Chika stayed, then Nyg might have to break up a fight between him and the Ōtsutsuki he had just outed. He made a split second decision to force Chika to go with Satomi. He wasn't about to risk a major fight in the hospital.

"Chika...I think you should go with Satomi. We will talk later. I cannot risk you speaking or acting out of turn when Ari's condition is so unstable. You need some time to cool off and this is probably the best way to do it. Captain Satomi please escort Chika off the premises for his debriefing. I'll join you shortly to give you my play of the events and to discuss your findings"

It was a bold play but Nyguyen had forced himself to make it. The whole situation reminded him of how he had acted on impulse to break up a fight between his students. Back then, he had frozen, he had mis-stepped, and he had acted too late, but that didn't mean he could afford to give up.

Better late than never.... the Hokage thought as he found his courage returning.

Akihiro blinked twice when he heard the words directed at him, and his gaze would shift to Chika. Despite whatever grievances the boy might be feeling at the moment with both his team mates defeated and in an injured condition, the words he'd spoken were not acceptable at all. Two mistakes had been made: The first one was to insult Akihiro and Ikomiki. The Sparrow wasn't keen on directly punishing the Hyuuga for this, especially not in a hospital. So he was willing to let that slide and instead allow his consideration for the Hokage to fall a bit lower than it'd been before considering this was his student.

The second mistake however, was a more serious one. The Hyuuga had loudly revealed the Kekkei Genkai which inhabited Ikomiki's body. The Rinnegan was a very coveted boodline, hunted by many especially by those who already wielded it. As such, it was extremely common for Rinnegan users to want to hide their abilities for as long as possible and their Dõjutsu was often kept a close guarded secret. Akihiro was already on the fence about whether or not Ikomiki would make a move on the insults alone. He knew she could be a bit sensitive at times, and her reactions were often unpredictable. But the moment Chika revealed and spoke of her Kekkei Genkai like that Akihiro gained absolute certainty that his student would not hesitate in at the very least breaking the boy's limbs.

Thus the Uchiha's immediate reaction was to place a hand upon Ikomiki's hand, patting it. He'd personally witnessed the fact that Ikomiki was by herself a force of nature, capable of changing landscapes and releasing a tremendous amount of power at will. He couldn't possibly hope to stop her without destroying the environment and risking many other lives in the process. Thus his only option was to pat her and hope the familiar gesture would calm her down and prevent her from crushing the kid. Despite his attempt to deal with Ikomiki's anger however, one shouldn't make the assumption that Akihiro was calm. He was angry as well but he was less drawn to act on instinct than Ikomiki was and perhaps that was why he didn't immediately try to punish the boy. No, Akihiro had his methods.


"I will not repeat myself."

"No, you will not." The Uchiha answered in return. That was a threat more than it was a warning and his tone made that clear.

"Instead... why don't you tell us something new? You do love talking more than you're entitled to." Chika had made himself a target and while Akihiro wouldn't physically punish the boy, that didn't mean he was out of his sights. And Akihiro's sight was backed by X-rank Intelligence. "Perhaps you can tell us why you used your Dõjutsu to gain unauthorized access to the contents of the scrolls inside Konohagakure's Vault.

Even better, perhaps you can tell me and your team mates here why you betrayed them. Go on, tell us why you willingly gave away the precise location of the Hokage to the man who did this to Ari. Betraying your comrades during a mission...while at war nonetheless. "

What Akihiro had found after merely glancing at Chikamatsu was... at the very least hard to believe. Despite that, it was the truth and Akihiro was intent on proving it. His gaze was still focused on Chika's daring eyes.

"I know this the same way I know a nightmare is the reason why the Hokage dislikes metallic beatles, or how Ashitaka has been developing encyclopedia with information on everyone he's ever met and everywhere he's ever been, with extensive notes...perhaps surprisingly so given his impulsive recklessness." Surprisingly this would be enough to let Nyguyen and Ashitaka know Akihiro wasn't bullshitting. The Sparrow expected Satomi and Ikomiki to believe his word, but since these were Nyg's students  and Ashitaka's comrades there was a chance Akihiro's word wasn't enough. But by stating something hidden deep within the mind of the two, Akihiro sent a clear sign that his state of nigh-omniscience was to be taken seriously.

"But none of you need to take my word for it. Satomi, Nyguyen...read his mind. Here. It's a simple and completely safe process with a Sharingan after all, and I'm certain he won't resist if he's innocent." There was cleverness to wanting the deed done here. With such pending accusations hanging above his students Akihiro supposed Nyguyen would want to know the answers as soon as possible. And if Chikamatsu cared about Ari's life at all (and Akihiro knew he did), he wouldn't start a fight in the hospital. If they risked bringing him elsewhere there was a chance he might try to escape or assault his guards. He expected Nyguyen to understand this. If Chikamatsu was innocent then he could have his mind read here and then go onto his regular business but if not...then he needed to be properly punished.

Uchiha Akihiro did not take kindly to attacks on his student and as such used his own intellect to mercilessly drive Chikamatsu into a corner. He wouldn't be interrupted either unless the boy was stupid enough to physically try to prevent him from speaking.

"Every shinobi registered in this village is a member of the Konoha military...and you betrayed them all, more than once. Including the girl in the tank. And you dare demand explanations from the Hokage, or insult my student?"


Used:
Nirvana upkeep ->X-rank Int:

Stat Rules wrote:X = Your character is nigh omniscient. You can glance at a person and surmise their entire personhood via induction as though you were glimpsing at their character sheet. You are able to deconstruct all the principles of existence from the natural to the supernatural giving you general information on every technique in existence. Tactically you gain 5 precognition saves in a topic which allow you to bend the rules of metagaming on the site and predict an enemy's action and attempt to defend against it preemptively.

Sharingan

All things considered Ikomiki had entered the room in an exceptionally good mood. She had just sated an impressive amount of bloodlust in her attacks on the Moonspire and the Land of Swamps, and Akihiro had rewarded her with a meal and praise for both victories. She was a simple girl. Having her belly full and her head patted was enough to keep her passive and domesticated, and she had killed enough people to likely keep her from acting up out of boredom for a good while. Just from these factors alone there was every indication that she would be a good cat, following behind Akihiro and not getting into any trouble in this hospital. She probably wouldn’t have even gone around stealing medication or picking the pockets of patients and nurses, an activity she had gotten into the last time she had entered one of Konoha’s hospitals.

For obvious reasons that didn’t last very long. She had entered the room without having expected this sort of response, and for that reason she was immediately taken off guard as Chika began yelling. Some strange looking woman who managed to produce sound without her mouth moving… Ikomiki wasn’t familiar with puppets per say, but it was clear by the appearance of the puppet and Chika’s voice not matching up that some trickery was being used. Then there was the contents of what he said. It took a moment for it to sink in due to how utterly unprepared she had been.

"Unless you're here to bring Ashitaka back to the waking world or to explain why you have a fucking Otsusuki of all things following you, then you can get the fuck out of here Uchiha. Your presence is not welcome right now, and whatever it is you plan on doing can be put on hold until the team meeting of Team Ten is completed. I will not repeat myself."

It was a combination of things. The amount of disrespect he had displayed towards Akihiro was the first thing that she got angry about, and that alone would have earned the threat of violence as far as Ikomiki was concerned. She nearly idolized the Uchiha, and due to his influence in saving her life she did maybe put him on too high of a pedestal. Some smallfry who she had never met insulting him like this was an utterly outrageous thing to hear, like some stranger insulting your mother. Then the word ‘Ōtsutsuki’ was finally processed by her mind. For some reason it had been the last part of that to sink in, Ikomiki failing to understand exactly what was being said until it had already been uttered.

She had spent years hiding her bloodline, her Rinnegan. Years living on the edge of society, among the animals in the Senju Forests limiting any interaction with society to a minimum. The lengths she took with Akihiro to ensure that nobody would find out… She wasn’t even sure how Chika had made that assumption to her heritage. It didn’t particularly matter. All these years of keeping her secret in abject fear of being hunted down by her own kind or any human who wanted to take the power of the Rinnegan for themself… and all it took was some punk with a sensory jutsu to make it all for nothing?

Her chakra flared. In a room full of sensors it would be immediately noticeable. She had more chakra than any one of the Tailed Beasts, even the legendary Nine-Tailed Fox. It swelled and burgened inside of her, straining her chakra coils and struggling to be released. The sheer amount of chakra she had, and the fact that she was letting it swell in anticipation of using a technique, should be enough to catch the attention of anyone using the sensory jutsu in the area and nearly make them cry from the sheer sensory overload. Her body language would take a moment to catch up with what her chakra was doing, eyes narrowing and lips twisting into a scowl. Under her cloak her hands twould twitch, tensing up and about to form a hand seal.

The hand that patted down on her head flattened it all, calming her outrage before she even knew why. The swelling and swirling maelstrom of chakra that she had become would be calmed down, and that twisted and ugly face she had been making in Chika’s direction would be wiped off her face, returning back to neutral. For a moment she would turn, looking up at Akihiro as he pet her head.

This had been something Ikomiki had been thinking about for a long time. She had been hiding for her entire life, living in fear that she would be hunted in the same way that she hunted those who were weaker. At some point it had turned pathologic rather than a reasonable fear. No longer was she a weak little kitten who needed to be afraid. No, she had shown several times now that even on her own that she was a force to be reckoned with, who should inspire fear rather than being consumed by it.

And she wasn’t alone. Akihiro was here with her.

He wasn’t the only one who seemed to be outraged with Chika’s reaction. Nyg Uchiha, who was apparently the Hokage (something she only found out because Akihiro just mentioned it), spoke in her defense as well.  She was a member of the Konoha military too. It was true, even if she sometimes forgot this herself. The fact that there were others who seemed at least willing to treat her with a basic amount of respect was a comforting thought though, even if perhaps it wasn’t entirely deserved for the reasons he mentioned. She had never met the man before, but if even he, a complete and total stranger, was willing to speak in her defense, perhaps she didn’t have as much to be afraid of as she once thought.

Maybe it’s time to stop hiding.

The Rinnegan flashed on. The color of her eyes shifted immediately, from that previous shade of green to a deep, royal purple. A single ring appeared in the Rinnegan, signifying the single path that she currently had. Staring down the enraged Hyuga across the room, Ikomiki would adopt an almost smug expression. Half narrowed eyes and a sly grin.

“My name is Ikomiki, of the Ōtsutsuki Clan. Tokubetsu Jōnin of Konohagakure no Sato. It’s nice to meet you all, and a word of advice to Chika: You should watch your tongue unless you want it to be torn out. Small fries like you who have a big mouth never last long in this world. A lesson that you’re going to learn too late.”

She finally introduced herself once Akihiro had finished speaking, laying out the boy’s likely death sentence. While she hadn’t come into this room expecting this outcome, even Ikomiki was smart enough to understand what was going to happen now after what Akihiro had just said. She would get what she wanted here, even if it wasn’t immediate. Originally she was going to break the boy’s legs immediately to teach him a lesson, but now she had a different idea. With her Rinnegan on now and the cat out of the bag, there was no reason not to have a little fun. Since Chika had some ability that apparently let him immediately tell that she was an Ōtsutsuki… Her chakra would flare, but she wouldn’t make any hand seals. None were necessary when relying on the Rinnegan’s power.

On the outside of the building a massive creature would be summoned. The hospital room they were in was separated from the outside by the wall close to where Ikomiki and Akihiro had entered, and from that small distance she had summoned her Giant Snake-Tailed Chameleon. Immediately it would turn invisible, but that was just a formality. After taking a step forward it would watch the inside of the room through a closed window, the only one in the room. Those who had chakra sensory would be able to notice its presence immediately even if they couldn’t see it, and those who could visually see chakra would be able to notice the massive Rinnegan peering in through the window, so large that it was greater in size than the window itself. The summon wasn’t here for any offensive reason, but rather just sheer intimidation. She knew that at the very least Chika could use sensory, and even if she wasn’t going to break his legs like she originally wanted to, scaring him with this summon that he would surely be aware of would be enough for her to feel satisfied with the situation. Of course, she had no way of knowing that literally everyone in the room had some method of chakra sensory, so more than just Chika would likely become aware of what she had just done.

She would just continue to smile, smugly grinning with narrowed eyes at the boy who had drawn her ire. It was his move.

---

Ikomiki:
-Rinnegan Chakra Visualization
-Summoning Rinnegan: Giant Snake-Tailed Chameleon [w/ Black Receivers]

Giant Snake-Tailed Chameleon:
-Silent Killing
-Hiding with Camouflage
-Chameleon Style
-Sensory Technique

A lot happened extremely fast, and it took some time for Chikamatsu to process it all. The Second Hokage, one Satomi Uchiha had managed to slip through his Byakugan sight and asked him to go down to the Defense Coordination Center to turn in his report, which he had already done, so that was strange. Then there was the slowly recovering Ashitaka, who was finally coming to his senses. Those two were the least of his concerns though, as while yet another Uchiha in his rapidly-cramping room was not making things easier.

Nyguyen wasn't any help. He had expected the Uchiha to understand seeing as he was the one who had decided the location. Did he invite Akari and Ikomiki without informing them? Why would he do that when this was meant to be a meeting between team members? it didn't make sense, but he should have expected the Uchiha to take sides with another one of his kin. And for him to insult his work on stabilizing Ari, that was just painful. He had to learn on the spot how to heal her, and managed to do just that, and yet he said she was unstable? What did the hospital do to her to put in in an unstable fucking condition?

The Otsutsuki was the next thing he was concerned about. They had the gall to imply he was going to die this day, and from how they said it, it was going to be them doing the deed and making his assessment of their danger even more substantiated. They also had something he wasn't expecting, a veritable ocean of Chakra flowing through them, which meant if they did fight he wouldn't be able to outpace her unless he had help, and seeing as when their Dojutsu activated (Of course it was a Rinnegan, and he hoped that Ashitaka wouldn't immediately attack if he spotted it) a large chameleon-thing was summoned. If he had to guess the eyes were the contract, so if it really came down to it the eyes were his best target.

Finally, Akihiro Uchiha. Somehow, he had managed to find out information he shouldn't have. He shouldn't of had knowledge of the battle of Mejing, nor should he have known that he had seen the village's exclusives and attempted to learn them. Unless the man...no. He didn't want to believe it, but to think he had talked with Kumo, it had to be why. How else would he know about Nyg's nightmare or Ashi's encyclopedia? Maybe he had found the man and used the sharingan on him, but that reason was even worse! Did he use the sharingan on Nyg and Ashi willingly, or did he take it and wipe their memories of the incident? He already had an Otsustuki by his side, and they were a danger to to village, so either reason was a valid interpretation.

All of it should have sent him panicking beyond all belief, but it just...didn't. He was in a strange sense of bliss. The best way he could describe it was that so much shit was happening around him, it was like he was in the eye of the storm. He may be safe, but if he tried to get out without knowing the way he was sure to perish. There were too many unknowns. Could he trust Ashitaka? Was he already under their control? If so, how much? If he was it was doubtful it was 100% since he was sedated, but  he needed more time to know.

More time. That was it. The more time he could make for himself, the better chance he had at removing the threats to Konoha's stability.

"Apologies Hokage, but it seems I'll be doing my debriefing here then, and you can use your sharingan after I have given said debrief. You say it's safe, but the sharingan is known for more then just seeing a person's history as you yourself have done to the team without our permission." Genjutsu, tracking, and the fact that they kept evolving. He didn't know what they could do completely, but he would not risk them erasing or altering his memories. If a sharingan could force him to experience another person's viewpoint, what was the likelihood of them being able to replace his experiences with a lie?

The puppet armor would turn to face Akihiro it's crystal eyes looking at the man. "If you know those facts already, then you should already know why I did all of it; to protect Konohagakure from the Seventh Hokage, who has betrayed the village's trust without the village even knowing it and thereby trampling on the very flame he vowed to keep lit, the Will of Fire itself." He would let the statement sit in the air for a moment before continuing. He was going up against something he couldn't comprehend, something that looked like an Uchiha but didn't feel like one, and it was cherry-picking information to put him in a bad light. He was at a disadvantage, so much so he wasn't sure he could get out of this alive. But he needed to make clear he knew how much weight behind his statement there was.

"It started back when Team Ten was founded, and Ashitaka informed me to not treat people like my puppets and Nyguyen request for me to learn how to handle people like puppets. They were odd and conflicting requests, but I complied, as one of the many faults of the Hyuga is not listening to the advice of the others clans, though I can see now why it's tricky to do so. It was there that I learned Nyguyen was a historian for the clan. Nothing unusual at first, but it provides the groundwork for what and why I have done what I did." Now that he was recalling that event, Nyguyen had used the sharingan on Ari, but she was hit with a different effect then what he was hit with. The Uchiha had talked for several minutes about the eye's history, perhaps he found some secret effect the sharingan had and tested it on her?

"Then came the Konohagakure Mentorship Program made by the recently promoted Nyguyen Uchiha. At the time, I didn't think much of it as it made sense. Teamwork and camaraderie were important to fostering the Will of Fire, and I was curious to see how it went. Imagine my surprise when not only did it fail, but I was excluded from the team building missions. At the time, I brushed it off, sometimes people get caught up in things they can't control, and with him becoming Hokage, it seemed reasonable to give him the benifit of the doubt. I myself had a rough month when I became the Clan Head of the Hyuga, " It would have been nice to have received a letter at least explaining why, but at the time he was more concerned with fixing Hyuga personal laws. It was only now being able to look back that things were clear.

"Then comes the mission you wish for me to debrief to you right now. Before the mission had truly started I had asked Nyguyen for a reminder as to why the war with Iwa was happening, and he gave me a strange answer. He had said that the Fifth Hokage gave back the land for unknown reasons, but the timeline didn't add up, as Iwagakure had reformed under the Sixth's Hokage's reign. We will come back to this later." The freshness of the event made it easier to recall what had happened, so he could take a more general focus on the Uchiha and Otsu in the room. He didn't like it, but the wood release on the Otsusuki was bothering him. Wood release was a Senju specific bloodline, so why were they showing up as having it?

"When we arrived on-site, both me and Ari had split off to act as a tag-team, with Ari as bait and me picking off the attackers with my puppets. But then we met the Kumo nin who fri-who frie-. Who did this to her. After the attack was finished, they ceased combat immediately and began attempting medical treatment in her, regretting what he had done immediately. I knew I could not take them on in combat given how quickly they dispatched my ally, so it became making sure to save her life, to keep her fire alive. When I approached, prepared to fight if it came to it, he did not attack and instead signaled for a medic. One came and taught me how to stabilize her." He probably should have been more careful back then, but his eyes didn't lie, and his vitals hadn't shown any reason to believe he was being decietful.

"Now as for the coordinates, your accusation is incorrect and defamatory. I never gave that Kumogakure shinobi the Hokage's coordinates and in fact Nyg had given his general location away by sending several clones to check on our fight, then having the clone recklessly rush in and reaching their maximum limit, thereby giving away his distance and location through triangulation. I considered giving it up, sure, but they were never given to him. Instead, with Ari incapacitated and in my care, I prepared to negotiate for the retrieval of Nyguyen, who was incapacitated by the Tsuchikage. As such I made the decision to deal with the closer threat, by proxy making sure that Kimiko's battle with the other Otsutsuki was uninterrupted by the enemy." He'd continue to think about Iko. If it were Dojutsu specific, then he would've seen it as the source of the elemental affinity. Unless he was truly unlucky, he had only one thing he could use, but it was a bold thing to claim without proper evidence. But he had to try.

"As we made our way over to the two kages that's when I found out about the agreement Akari Uchiha and Masaru Tetsudashi made together. It was a difficult thing to believe, but the timeline matched up and he had spared the Hokage specifically because of it, so I figured I'd put the issue to rest once and for all after the battle was over. It was then that I attempted to negotiate for the Hokage, but to no avail. Instead, the best I could do was to continue stabilizing Ari and slowly mending her body. Eventually they located Kimiko, and then I was knocked out by the Kumo shinobi, my assessment about me not being able to win in direct combat correct as I had no time to defend against his attack. If it weren't for my armor, I surly would have perished. It was also thanks to his attack that I was paralyzed, but that was thankfully fixed quickly once we returned to Konoha." Being paralyzed was the worst, but his ability to make chakra strings from anywhere on his body made the process quick to fix. Getting the shard out of his neck hurt like hell though.

"Afterwards once I was able to move again I decided to do some investigating, and instead of finding that the Tsuchikage had lied, I found that the document he had talked about was real. It was in the exact location the Tsuchikage had said, so I had to wonder; did Nyguyen know about the agreement? Did Akari inform him of the treaty? Either answer had grave implications, so the safety of Konoha, I could not take the chance. I saw that no one had bothered to put up a barrier to protect the exclusives of Konoha, and prepared for the worst." Not that it helped much. Outside of the Strong Fist Style, which was open for any Konoha shinobi to learn, he was only able to make use of one exclusive, the Eight Gates, something that was strange to see not under the care of the Hyuga.

"There you go, my debriefing of the Mejing battle and why I have done all that I have. As for my 'misfeasance' regarding the Otsusuki, I have just one question. Is that Senju blood running through your veins truly yours? Or are you going to try and silence me with that large Chameleon threatening to rip off the entire side of this hospital's walls?"

---

134.8/135 CP
Byakugan stage 5; -0.2 CP (post 3/30)
134.6/135 CP
Edit permission was given to fix the byakugan upkeep

Ashitaka watched and listened as the adults leveled heated accusations at each other, making the atmosphere of the room heated and toxic. For his part, he did little, save for working his fingers so that the muscles in his forearm flexed at varying arrangements until the needle running the sedative into his bloodstream popped out. It tinged quietly against the floor where it spilled its contents as his wound closed. Now, at last, he could begin recovering fully. That was important, because he clearly had a lot to think about at the moment.

Yet another person had arrived on the scene: one Satomi Uchiha, the very same 2nd Hokage in whose name this entire debacle of an invasion had been declared. He rounded out the group consisting of Nyguyen Uchiha the current Hokage, and Akari Uchiha one of Konoha's most feared warriors, and Ikomiki Otsutsuki, who apparently barely contained godlike power within herself. And for their parts, Chikamatsu Hyuuga and himself were hardly irrelevant, given that they were the Heads of their respective Clans.

"There are... a lot of very important people in this room," he commented dully, as though the words thrown about held little meaning to him. It was like sitting in the middle of a stage drama where an assorted collection of nobles bellowed at and threatened each other. Except he was ostensibly one of the nobles, save that it was pretty obvious that as usual, his opinion was irrelevant. Ashitaka knew that he was effectively a spectator that was just a little too close to the action. He rotated slightly in his chair, disengaging buckles that only operated by the maintenance of opposing tension, using the brief metamorphosis of his fingers into wooden prying bars to pop them the rest of the way open. Gingerly, he returned each one to its proper place on the opposing side of his seat. He remained sitting so as not to alarm anyone present, given how high tensions currently were.

His Sensing field wasn't active, so there was a lot he didn't know about the situation until Chika's final series of inquisitive demands. And, well, that changed a lot of things. He had been taking slow and steady breaths this time to force his mind to focus on the present reality, and as a consequence of both the medication and his efforts to battle it, he was still inordinately relaxed up until that point. He activated his field. What it revealed to him made him jump, startled, slightly away from the outer wall as he locked onto the thing stuck to it. Great Sage... how long has that been there? Wait. Wait... it has the girl's chakra signature.

On that note, he shifted his focus to the individual in question, noting that she did indeed have Senju chakra amid her Otsu variant, and they were much more similar than he would've liked to admit. But then again, after having seen the Sage, he knew at least why the latter of the two details was the case. Having had quite enough of this entire matter, he clapped his hands, once. For anyone with even a passing knowledge of his Clan, this meager action was as subtle a threat as cocking a shotgun. However, it was also clear to everyone present that he didn't start hurling jutsu around like certain other individuals nearby.

"All right. Sparrow, Sister, Ibanme Hokage, I will have to ask all of you to leave. Please. This was supposed to be a private matter for our Team. I am a child, and I shouldn't have to tell you adults that barging into a hospital room and starting a fight is just rude. Not to mention dangerous to the patient. All of what has been mentioned here today is important and therefore will have to be discussed at an appropriate time and place. Which this room is absolutely not."

Whether or not his request was adhered to, he would turn to fix an icy gaze on his nominal sensei. The man had a lot more explaining to do than he'd initially believed. Not least was the betrayal regarding his abduction. He buried untold magnitudes of pain in chilling stoicism.

"What, you wanted to make sure that the next one had an easier time taking me? Do you really find my presence so abhorrent, Uchiha-dono? I will keep that in mind, then. Should I be taken again, I will not bother you by returning."





___________________


Techs Used-
Mokuton: Hand Tool Manipulation Technique -1 CP (UA)
Sensory: Sensing Technique -0.5 CP

Remaining 233.5/235 CP

The amount of information thrown around the next minutes was astounding. He had only been here to gain the knowledge of their enemies for the war at hand. Akihiro and his assistant had replied to the heated words of Chika. Akihiro though responded with a bombshell.

With his ability of Minds Eye of Kagura. He was sure he'd be able to tell the truth to Uchihas accusations. Ikomiki however responded terribly. The banter he could ignore, they were all a bunch of highly trained ninja. However the Summoning of a giant angered him.

He could feel the giant and sense it on the side of the building. Satomi looked towards her giving a scathing look. The audacity  to summon such a large creature on hospital grounds. "If you wouldn't mind sending the summon back." Sato said to her trying to ignore his irritation.

Though the Chuunin Chika would only add to it by opening his mouth and basically admitting that he was guilty. Satomi cared not for his long winded explanation. He had already signed his fate away by that simple admittance. Whatever meeting they had, as another commented his displeasure at their appearance. It would have to wait.

"Save your story Chika. For it means nothing in my presence. Committing such a high treason there is nothing for me to respond too. Lord Hokage what is your order?" If left to Satomi it would be a brutal punishment. Betrayal was high on his list of offenses.

------------
Used: Sensory Upkeep

Time was lost to Ari as it felt almost an eternity of being wrapped in the cold abyss. The very depths of her mind so to speak. She isn't aware of how long she had been unconscious, but Ari was certain of how close to death she really was. Ultimately, she was defeated before the fight even started. A sorry sort for a genin, but that's all she was. That was her skill level compared to the others.

Her own weakness made herself angry as this wasn't the first time she had lost. First it was Nyguyen who stopped her via genjutsu, then she lost against the unknown figure who somehow could fly and wield all five elements. Now she had lost before the fight began. It was one losing streak after another for her, and frankly she was getting tired of it. However, so far she can't seem to break out of that streak. Like no amount of training would get her to break that streak. To be useful so to speak. Seeds of doubt continued to fester inside of her as she stubbornly refused to give up.

---

There was a rhythmic beep that continued to echo in her mind, or was she back to reality? Ari honestly wasn't too sure as she couldn't even open her eyes. Now that the thought crossed her mind, Ari realized she simply cannot move her eyes for they're no longer there. There was pressure around her face as well, almost like something clung to her face as Ari breathed in something that was cool yet refreshing to not just her throat, but to her lungs as well. Scars of lightning could be found in every inch of Ari's body. Much like she was made out of glass that had been shattered and pieced back together.

She groaned as Ari struggled to make her fingers curl into a fist. A test of whether or not her neural systems had been fried, or maybe she had recovered enough to move her limbs. For some reason, Ari's mind broke down every step to test how her body was functioning. As she started to flex her fingers before she raised her arm. Where her searching hand came into contact with something hard yet oddly hollow. A mask of sorts, and her mind raced back to her grandfather who often needed a breathing mask on him when he slept. She remembered the steps as she had to help him to bed several times beforehand. Ari simply copied those steps with her memory both in body and mind to guide her into removing the mask. There was a series of beeps that had followed afterwards before Ari took her time to sit up. Her other hand searched for the handle, or lever actually that allowed the back half of the bed to be pulled up. Allowing her to sit up in comfort as she took a deep breath.

"Is anybody here?" Ari had to ask, although her ears picked up some raised voices, they were muffled so Ari assumed they weren't in the same room as she was.

Nyguyen had hoped his attempt to reassert control over the situation would cool things down. He was wrong. The Hokage watched as Akihiro proceeded to dissect his student in ways he didn't even think were possible. He began to spout the gravest of accusations as though they were passing commentaries on Chika's diet. Nyguyen's Sharingan turned to Chika and he stared at the young man incredulously. Akihiro was smart, perhaps the best intelligence officer Konoha had ever produced, and yet, he was saying things that could not possibly be true. Chika was angry sure but he would never betray the village. He had fought tooth and nail to keep Nyguyen from quitting the profession. He was a loyal member of his squad, clan, and village. Nyguyen refused to believe what Aki was saying. The Head Strategist had never broached this subject before and he was talking as though he had known this information for some time.

Nyguyen would have been utterly frozen if not for Ikomiki's flaring of chakra. The girl was a bright blue ball of energy, it was as if she was a Tailed Beast. Not content with enduring Chika's insult, she summoned a creature near the room. Nyguyen's lips were already moving before it could turn invisible.

"Unsummon that creature this instant! I will not tolerate a single act of provocation while my student is recovering!" He had no clue where that energy had come from but he desperately needed more of it. The urge to protect Ari from being a casualty of Ikomiki's anger had caused him to lash out at the cat-girl. Satomi echoed his concerns so it would sound less like the ravings of a man out of his element. Hopefully Ikomiki would listen and de-escalate. The Rinnegan was proof of Chika's words which meant she probably had the pride of a lion. One of the things that made Arisu stand out to him was how calm and regal she seemed even when under pressure. She had endured an entire room full of Uchiha hurling insults at her and was not moved in the slightest. This cat was more erratic but no less prideful. When Chika started speaking Nyguyen turned back towards him. He trusted his brother-in-law to handle the cat if she continued to be unruly. What his dear pupil had to say about the accusations was much more important.

Nyguyen blinked when Chika boldly admitted to the charges leveled at him. Part of him had known them to be true. When Akihiro mentioned his hatred of the infernal metal beetles, something he had not told his own wife about, he knew that Akihiro was capable of some kind of telepathy. He knew things that no one else could know. This alone made him more dangerous than any other individual than Nyg had ever encountered or even heard of.

This must be a newly acquired ability...he never displayed this talent before at the Uchiha Clan Meeting.

When Chika stated his reasons, Nyguyen wobbled. He felt light-headed and uneasy on his feet. Chika was protecting the village from him? Did he truly think so low of the man who had tried to teach him? As the Hyuuga continued to speak, Nyg realized that the answer was indeed in the affirmative, perhaps worse. The weight of Chika's words crushed him. He had failed him completely. Nyguyen had reasons for doing what he was doing. Granted, he was unaware that Akari had struck a secret deal with the Tsuchikage to allow for their independence. The document had been signed and then placed in a random corner of the desk to rot. Perhaps he should have thoroughly examined every aspect of the furniture before beginning his tenure. It probably wouldn't have made a difference. The treaty had never been executed and was not never made public or published to the ANBU or the Office of Strategic Affairs. Given how strongly Nyguyen felt about protected Satomi's legacy, he probably would have burned it or at the very least engaged in subterfuge against Iwa.

The reality of Chika's actions on the battlefield hurt him as well. He had foolishly thought the Meijing expedition would be a cake walk. How many times had the shinobi of Iwa been regarded as irrelevant children playing a grown man's game? Regardless of the intent behind this war, he had underestimated the enemy and allowed them both to suffer greatly. Chika was wrong to have betrayed him but could he say in good conscience that he had acted in Konoha's best interest? Nyg's shoulders felt heavy and slumped. The Kage walked over to a lone chair in the corner and sat down as if he were an old man. His eyes glued to the floor and his breathing shallow.

I had taken them on to inspire them....to show them a better way....and not only have I destroyed their trust in me....I've destroyed their trust in Konoha...

Nyguyen could defend himself. He could say that he had his reasons for going to war. He could even argue that the war as a whole had been a net positive for the village. But what good would it do? It would not change Akihiro and Satomi's opinion of him. He was blood and he was sure they had his back no matter what just as he had theirs's. Chika would not be moved nor would Ashitaka. They had seen how out of his depth he had been wrangling genin. Any attempt to defend his competency as a Kage would come across as yammering excuses. Nyguyen remained silent but only perked up when Chika mentioned the Senju blood running through Iko's veins. He looked at cat creature as though she were a monster.

Why does she have Senju blood...My god she didn't....

Nyguyen assumed that Aki wouldn't traffic in the organs of his fellow Konoha-Nin but he couldn't be sure. The Kage said nothing but he expected a rebuttal to this disturbing revelation. Ashitaka for his part only piled onto the situation. The prepubescent soldier insisted that everyone leave but he must have still been under the influence of the drugs if he seriously thought anyone would listen to him. Even Nyguyen, who was down in the dumps, could not bring himself to comply with his student's wishes. When Ashitaka accused him of abandonment, the Kage looked down at the ground again. He was so caught up in his own emotions, he didn't notice that Ari was waking up.

Satomi asked what his order was it was like a distant voice in a sea of despair. It would appear as though the Hokage was muttering something to himself. He looked up at Satomi like a lost child. The horror of failing someone so young so deeply was clear in his features. He knew what he had to do but he could not bring himself to say it. He opened his mouth but no words came out.

Akihiro uttered the word, not loudly but firmly. The tone had been harsh, perhaps harsher than he'd originally wanted to. But he had been left with little choice: Not because of what Ikomiki actually did, but because of the situation they were in. The Hokage had displayed a complete and utter inability to keep his students under control. He could not afford to do the same, neither in front of Satomi nor Nyg's students. It had to be clear to everyone how Akihiro supposedly felt about this. He would not speak more or harsher words than he had to, however. There had to be discipline on both the student and the sensei side. Undoubtly Ikomiki's gaze would eventually turn to him, at which point she'd find the friendliest of smiles on Akihiro's expression as he patted her head a couple of more times.

"We do not use cannons to swat mosquitos, remember?" He referenced their recent road trip to the Land of mosquitos Swamps. Akihiro was still smiling since he had long realized how important it was that Ikomiki could have a friendly face to rely on. "And the good hunter kills prey without disturbing the forest, does he not?" Akihiro would wink at her. In the short time that had passed since Ikomiki'd promised to take Akihiro out to hunt he'd made sure to read up on the subject. Not just because he didn't want to look like a complete fool, but also because he figured that perhaps there would be some use for that knowledge in regards to teaching Ikomiki. There was certainly a lesson to be learned here

Akihiro's gaze would then shift to Ashitaka and his reckless hand-seal. It did not worry the Sparrow too much because he knew fully well that any of the higher ranked ninjas in this room could take out the Senju boy before he attempted something. But his threat was nowhere near subtle enough to simply let slide. "That's your team mate in there, right?" He'd gesture at the glass container in which Ari was recovering. "It seems she's awakening...It'd be unwise for any of us to keep up such provocations. Surely you must be aware of the destructive potential of the Senju bloodline...and the lengths we'd have to go to stop it. " He was implying Ari would likely die if a fight broke off.

"Perhaps one day will come, sage be willing, when you'll have the authority to do and command as you please. Today however, is not that day. Yet, while you have no authority to make such requests from us, do believe I've considered it. Unfortunately, the matter at hand cannot be delayed, and as such I must refuse to leave. "

His gaze would then shift to Chika. Why was he bothering giving answers to everyone today? Seemed like a pointless effort at first glance, yet Akihiro felt the kids needed answers of some sort and Nyguyen was currently incapable of providing any. "Her blood was mine before it was hers. I neither harmed nor killed anyone for it, if that's what you're implying. It was a gift. Surely you mustn't think divination is the limit of my ability? " He'd raise an eyebrow as if what he was implying was obvious. He was subtly hinting at the synthetis of Kekkei Genkai organs. Under normal circumstances one would be hard pressed to believe this was possible, but considering Akihiro's genius and the abilities he displayed earlier, synthetic organ creation was certainly not beyond omniscience and thus there was good reason to believe him. Not that he was lying, tho. He'd chosen every single one of his words very careful. The organ he'd implanted on Iko had been in his possession before it was in Iko's, and he truly had killed no one to obtain it.

"Pull yourself together." Akihiro was now addressing Nyguyen. His tone wasn't as harsh as the one he'd used to admonish Ikomiki, but it was harsh nonetheless. "You're the Hokage. You're responsible for these children. For all of us really. " Akihiro was very much inclined to agree with the position of his own sensei in the sense that he believed treason to be a very serious offense. But he also noticed Satomi's self-control. It mattered little what either of them thought. Neither Akihiro nor Satomi had the actual authority to decide on a punishment. Nyguyen Uchiha was the Hokage and the Hokage was the one who had the power to decide on a proper punishment. "We're at war, I'm not sure you noticed but Ari isn't the only one who got hurt. Did you walk into this hospital blindfolded? We can't afford your indecisiveness in the face of casualties. Decide what you will but by the love of Sage, make a decision."

Regardless of how Akihiro, Satomi or even Ikomiki or Ashitaka felt about this... it was ultimately Nyg's decision. He was the only one with actual power to decide what to do about Chikamatsu, within the laws of Konoha. Akihiro directed his words at Nyguyen but he managed to keep everyone within his field of vision...just in case.

Used:
Sharingan
Int back at natty S-rank

Safe to say, Ikomiki had expected things to go differently. Having finally revealed her Rinnegan to the world, she was riding a high of confidence. Even though it was really just revealing it to one hospital room. In part, it was being honest with herself. That was more liberating than anything else, even if her audience here was small. It didn’t matter. The chameleon that had come next was a natural continuation of that feeling. The desire for respect, glory, worship - Ikomiki possessed it just as any others did. Not necessarily in the sort of imperialist way that some might prescribe to the Ōtsutsuki Clan, but instead something similar to the average teenager. She had imagined the result of her chameleon - Chika being intimidated and afraid, and perhaps any other that had sensory being awed in amazement of her power. She would smirk in victory, and then everyone in the room would praise her for her strength and pat her on the head-

The smirk that she had been wearing before evaporated the moment that Satomi scolded her, and her face was one of stoic indifference when Nyguyen raised his voice in her direction. Neither were very convincing. She hadn’t expected them to be able to see it, but perhaps with their active Sharingan that only made her a fool. Still, their reactions weren’t at all what she had been expecting. Ikomiki had drastically misread the situation here, and her place in it. She had been considering whether or not to comply when it was just Satomi and Nyguyen, preparing to roll her eyes in a very stereotypical teenage girl way. But when Aki spoke her name she would freeze, her eyes widening. Her reaction would be immediate, cat ears flattening down against her head. The beast disappeared in a poof of smoke almost instantaneously.

She almost flinched when he brought his hand down to her head, but after the first pat that initial fear was gone. There wasn’t any reason that she should really be afraid of him, but after the harshness in his voice just then she didn’t know what to expect. Akihiro was the only person she felt truly safe around, so if he was displeased or upset with her that threw her entire state of existence into question. Relaxing now, but only slightly, her eyes turned up to his. The entire time Akihiro would still be smiling, despite everything. Her posture slumped, shoulders lowering from the tense, prepared stance that she had been in this entire time. All of it, the wink and smile and the way he patted her head …

Somewhere along the line of their journey together Akihiro had taken on something like a parental role in her eyes, and she was just beginning to notice it now. Was this what a sensei was supposed to be like? Or was she just projecting this all on him now since she never knew her real parents? It was hard to say. Complex thoughts and Ikomiki didn’t go well together. Emotion and instinct were the things that normally fueled and drove her, but now that it was blowing up in her face she wasn’t sure what else to do.

“... I’m sorry. The summon is gone.”

Her voice was unsteady, quiet. She was looking down now, hiding the fact that there was a bit of liquid welling up in the corners of her eyes, and the fact that her expression had turned almost into a scowl directed down at the floor. Angry at herself, mostly. Confused. Failing to read the room. She willed that liquid back into her eyes before she could embarrass herself even further. At some point Akihiro would move on, turning to the next order of business in the room, and Ikomiki would focus on own mess of thoughts during that time.

At least, until Akihiro went and gave a response to her blood situation. Originally she wasn’t going to bother responding to Chika’s baseless accusations, but it seemed that Akihiro had the intent to explain and defend her. Whether or not people knew was meaningless to her, along with how much they knew. If Akihiro felt it was necessary to reveal it she felt confident in his decision, for whatever reason it was made for. He was smart enough to run mental laps around Ikomiki, and likely most of the others in the room, so attempting to understand it from her end was pointless. Just that now she truthfully didn’t have to hide anything.

- Rinnegan: Chakra Visualization

"You aren't even going to try and deny it, are you Nyguyen?"

Despite Satomi's protest, as he nor any other person in the room had made any movement to stop Chika from talking, he continued t do just that. At least everyone was in agreement that the Otsu was out of line with what amounted to them summoning a large monster. But everyone's reactions were...well what mattered is that things were more in his favor then before, and that was better then nothing. Sure it was clear that Satomi wanted his head by the tone of his voice and Akihiro just referred to him as a mosquito (and doing so by threatening him with death no less!), but it was progress. But, something had happened, something he should have expected but it still caught him a little off-guard.

Ari was waking up, and he didn't want to subject her to all of this. Heck, while it wasn't directed at him, Ashitaka's general warning and Akihiro's threat to Ashitaka about Ari and her possible demise because of said warning just made things worse. Sure he knew he could get her out of there if things really got dire, but the fact that now the Uchiha were openly threatening the Senju clan head? Things were more serious then he had figured. Considering Ari wasn't originally from Konoha, he assumed that Akihiro didn't see her as family; as part of Konoha's own. It was like the Amandi, once a part of Iwa, coming to Konoha yet never truly fitting in. It only made his opinion of the man worsen.

"Call it what you will Akihiro, but I know very well it isn't the only ability in your arsenal." The hint had fallen very short, as Chika had constructed a different image as to how he gained the organ, building upon his original assumption behind how Akihiro knew what he did. After all, genjutsu was known to make illusions, and if one were to be under an illusion where they trusted the caster, anything could be possible. And in Konoha, the Sharingan had, at least as far as he knew, no limit in terms of the kind of genjutsu it could pull off. Combine that with taking Occam's razor to all of it made all of it even worse, as while the Otsu still being there was an issue, the fact that Akihiro was defending said Otsu implemented him as the proper wrongdoer, not Iko. Which made things...frustrating. It proved that his assumption that Senju blood was involved was correct, but an innocent Otsu was an oxymoron he wasn't used to. It would have to be something to figure out later or as time went on. "But that doesn't mean you didn't have someone else kill a Senju for it, nor does it mean you used your eyes to have a Senju give it to you under the false pretense of a gift. While you may have cleared Ikomiki's name if what you say is true, then that makes it worse since now you've given ill-gotten senju blood to an Otsusuki instead of returning it to the Senju clan where it belongs! Or is it because it was a Senju, someone outside the clan and not, say, an Uchiha's Sharingan the reason you gave it to them?"

Still, while the conflict of the Senju Blood was important, there was still the matter of why he was being put on the spot. "But you know what frustrates me the most about all of this though? It's that I pity you Nyguyen. I want to hate you as much as Tatsu Kotoshura or to call you worse then the Yondaime, yet I cannot help but pity you. How would your daughters think of you, knowing what has been revealed about your actions today? That their Father willingly sent his own clansmen and extended family to their death, just because they wanted to impress their mentor! Even now, you cannot act without your brother-in-law's guidance, just like when I had to pull Team Ten back together! It's insulting! It's shameful! It's just so...so...so..."

"So immature."

The passion in his voice died out, the final two words feeling like they were crawling out. Were it not for the graveness of the situation, he wouldn't turn the words he was about to reference against the man who spoke them. But he had to do this. He would speak in a much calmer voice. "You told us back then that we were all ill-prepared for the battles to come. That in order to be given your due respect one must offer the same respect. Yet here we are, a Kage and Team Leader who spat in the name of trust and honesty for a legacy of death and hatred. I will not be like you and fail to intervene before conflict begins again. So do what you said back then; remove yourself from the equation to have another replace you before your family finds out, before Konoha finds out. Because if not, I have prepared for the worst and will do everything it takes to make sure Konoha and it's Will do not fall to ruin.

---

134.6/135 CP
Byakugan stage 5; -0.2 CP (post 4/30)
134.4/135 CP

"Chikamatsu Momo Hyuuga. Shut. The fuck. Up."

Ashitaka's head was still spinning from the drugs. It's not like they just miraculously worked themselves out of his system as soon as he cut off the flow. There was too much to take in at once right now. The mere thought of standing up made him nauseous. He just wanted to go back to sleep and forget that he lived in a world as completely insane as the one he was dealing with. With any luck, he might stay in a coma for his entire teenage years and maybe wake up to something with a passing semblance of respect, since age seemed to be people's primary motivating factor in it.

"Akihiro Uchiha. You've given me a lot to think about. But the Hokage's decision on the matter is pretty clear: he has chosen to withhold judgment for now, which I appreciate. Not every misdemeanor warrants cutting someone's head off. Please show him some respect and stop harassing and threatening his students. You're supposed to be better than all of us, but frankly your behavior is identical to Chika's."

It seemed that the village's most powerful warrior was the kind of man who was willing to threaten the life of an injured girl just to get at Ashitaka. So he was clearly devoid of empathy, but at least he was still pretending to respect the authority of Nyguyen's position, as if anyone would believe he really did for a second. Dismissing that train of thought, he looked again at the Otsutsuki girl, who he'd once believed to have gained her Senju blood the legitimate and natural way. Instead, she had become everything he hated and feared, but against her own will. Akihiro Uchiha was to blame, and between his bloodline piracy and the way he threatened Ari, he could find no end to his hatred for the man. But emotions were a luxury he couldn't afford at the moment. He got up and moved over to Ari's bed.

"I am here." he said to her as he took her hand. With his Sensory chakra still active, he formed a small amount of it in the spiral pattern she had shown him before when she taught him how to take another person's chakra. "Your Team is here. We have not and will not abandon you. Here, take my chakra and learn how to see as I do. You're alive and the War is still on, so we'll need you on your feet and ready to fight ASAP."



__________________



[Teaching Ari Sensing Technique.]
233/235 CP remaining. 228 if Ari uses Chakra Absorption.

The Ghost listened to the rooms occupants, throughout the entire time he was growing increasingly irate. The insults thrown around, Nyg becoming mute. The revelations of a great treachery. Satomis eyebrows narrowed with a displeased look as he felt an unfamiliar feeling. Rage. These two individuals were speaking freely and without prejudice. However there was always consequences for ones actions. He had been on the receiving end of that before. Though he was angry he still had his own job to do. Despite the Hokage's relation to the offender, the Captain needed to still make that call.

Satomi was even fair enough to even let Chika continue his mad rant. Though something happened when Chika turned that ire and anger onto Nyg. Off principle alone, he would not allow an admitted traitor to speak so freely against the Hokage. However he dared mention his daughter. Someone Juniper dearly loved as did he. Attempting to get rid of the Hokage would have separated his family in an embarrassing way.

The Ghost had had enough. "Enough!" He said with force, cutting Chika off after mentioning Nyg's daughter. Satomi's eyes flashed with red pinwheels, activating his eyes, they glared at Chika. A first for others, too see his Mangekyo Sharingan. "You seem to have forgotten your place. Let me remind you. Chikamatsu you are now branded traitor. For high treason against Lord Hokage and the village. Speak again and you will speak no more." The last threat was one Satomi intended to keep. With graceful quickness, he unsheathed the White Light Chakra Sabre. A faint glowing light followed it slightly as it moved through the air, to where it pointed at the Hyuuga.

Satomi no longer cared for this meeting, there was traitor among them. This took higher priority over, he especially didn't care for Nyg's students one bit. They had shown nothing but disrespect towards them since they walked into the room. And treated this very real and dangerous revelation as a 'misdemeanor'.  Though they were his students, they barely respected him if not at all. Times had changed indeed. But not for him. "Nyg. This traitor is not sorry. Filled with contempt, even now. You know what must be done." Sato certainly hoped his brother in law would recognize this treachery as what it was. The highest crime, from a Hyuuga no less.

------------
Used: Mangekyo Sharingan
Sensory Upkeep

With there being no definitive answer aside from the muffled voices, Ari assumed either she was ignored or they simply couldn't hear her. So Ari took the small bit of time of testing her head against the pillow. The cool air was pleasant to feel, and it was at that moment how cold her body temperature really was. It wasn't dangerously low to suspect hyperthermia, but her fingers felt stiff. In fact her entire body felt stiff as she stretched her hands and arms. Ari had only felt this stiff when she accidentally exerted herself too much during training in the past, and that came with all sorts of aches and bruises. However it was back when Ari didn’t care much about the pain and pressed on anyways.

Something muddled her thoughts to where she couldn’t focus on something for too long. Not being able to see was a detriment to the information processed to her brain, and so her mind sought after the voices as primal curiosity got the better of her. Even so the miracle patient couldn’t discern what was being said, but some of the voices sounded familiar to her. One of them Ari was certain belonged to Chika, but the others that spoke Ari didn’t recognize. Or so she had thought before the glass door that separated her room from the rest slid open. She turned her face to the general direction of the sound as a voice roared with command and authority.

Treason? Traitor? Who was the traitor? Tension was thick in the air as Ari heard someone approaching her. At first Ari didn't recognize Ashitaka's voice for it was a bit different from before. However Ari pieced it together before she just smiled.

"I can see that, but before I get back onto the field I must retrain myself." Ari spoke to Ashitaka before she proceeded to get up from her bed. She was a bit groggy from the drugs, but even so Ari wanted to stand for this occasion. Unfortunately she did not know what was transpiring, but whatever it was it certainly was sure.

"I believe this dispute is better suited elsewhere. A hospital is not an interrogation center, nor is it an execution site." Ari addressed to the one who shouted, Satomi Uchiha, but frankly Ari did not know him nor has she ever heard from him. So to her, Satomi was a complete stranger. Either way, she politely folded both of her hands behind her back while Ari sought strength from the custom. Even through sensing in the room and the area all around. Ari picked out how many were here, and several of them had strong presences.

"Speaking of. Please put away your weapon sir. I know not of the situation, but we can solve this matter diplomatically with less anger in play." Which was funny considering that Ari was a bundle of rage herself. Yet she must remain calm. Even with her inability to see, Ari kept an mental note of everyone in the room. There certainly was a lot, but this method of sense was still new to the girl. So she wasn't familiar with everyone's signature, their brand so to speak.

"If anything, I like to apologize for my incompetence in Meijing City. I do not recall what had transpired, but my absence of memory meant that I had lost. To what I do not know, but no Nyguyen-sensei. It is not your fault for what had transpired." If there was anything Ari could safely assume, it was that everyone in the team would either be depressed or anxious. Or even afraid for what had happened. Her thumb subconsciously traced one of many lines of lightning scars that covered her entire body. Ari knows she had been severely injured, but she doesn't know the true extent of it.

Used Sensing Technique

Nyguyen had troubled keeping up with the various conversations happening at once. Ikomiki had banished the summon. Ari was waking up. Chika had accused Akihiro of DNA theft and he seemingly admitted to it. Satomi was growing impatient. Chika was cutting into him deeper. It was all too much. He wanted to throw the proverbial crown at his feet and march out of the hospital. He wanted to come home to his wife's pork chops, to Yui's exquisite Shu-Mai, to Mercedes's exasperated sighs, and Innocence's non-stop tinkering. It was chaotic but it was his kind of chaotic. He could manage and deal with that kind of warfare, but this was something else entirely.

Heavy is the head that wears the crown

He snapped to attention at Akihiro's demand for justice. Nyguyen was their leader. They all looked to him for guidance and they wanted an answer. He was indeed responsible for them but how could he act so decisively against someone that he himself had failed? Chika continued to spew venom until his lips spoke of Nyguyen's progeny.

How would your daughters think of you, knowing what has been revealed about your actions today?

Nyguyen flinched at that. Every word he had said hurt but none made him angry. The comparisons to Tatsu-sama, the thought that he was responsible for Ari's mutilation, for Chika's treason, the notion that he was an unfit sensei and Kage. All of it only caused him to retreat inwards and question himself. But when Chika opened his mouth and brought his children into this, Nyguyen couldn't help but look him in the eye. A hatred crept into his heart as he glared at the Hyuuga. Satomi silenced Chika from speaking further and it was a good thing too. The Hokage might not have been able to control himself if Chika continued down that path. Up until that point, he wasn't sure what he was going to do, but he did know that he didn't want a decision being made based off of emotion. He slowly stood up from the chair he had sat in and tried to center himself. He was so fond of his legacy, of protecting it and nurturing it. He had gone to war with Iwa because that is what he expected his successors to do for him when he left office. To not let all of the hard work and sacrifices go to waste even if it meant risking it all. Nyguyen was a man governed by the past. He respected it, he worshiped it, and he had allowed it to consume him. But he now saw that the past was just that: the past. He could no longer be weighed down by the promises and idealizations that had brought him out of retirement.

He needed to look to the village's future and he needed to start now.

"Akihiro Uchiha. You've given me a lot to think about. But the Hokage's decision on the matter is pretty clear: he has chosen to withhold judgment for now, which I appreciate. "
"No" Nyguyen said.


He had cut off Ashitaka in a way that was most unlike him. The single word was the most authoritative utterance he had made since he had entered the building. It was less passionate than his command towards Ikomiki, but the gravity of it could be felt. There was a strength and determination in it that none in the room had known before.

Nyguyen took a breath and looked Chika in the eye. Sharingan to Byakugan. Sensei to Student. Kage to Subordinate. But above all else, Man to Man.

"The answer is no." Nyguyen looked at Satomi and then Akihiro. They were his family. They would see him through this even when he felt his strength fading. They had not abandoned him, they had not struck down Chika without his blessing, they had not relieved him of his command, they had patiently waited for him to respond. Both his Head Strategist and his ANBU Captain had counseled on a certain course of action but they had left it to him. That was true respect. He had failed Chika but he would not fail them.

"Chika...I've failed you. You needed a sensei and I wasn't there. You needed a strong leader that would keep you out of harm's way and I failed. I won't make any excuses for the things I've done or the way I've done them. I am the Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato. I don't owe you an explanation for my actions and frankly....it wouldn't make a difference. The truth is that it was I who had the burden of leading you......and it was I who failed to bear it responsibly"

Nyguyen looked to Ari and sighed. He turned back to Chika.

"But for all of my sins, the Office of the Hokage remains pure as does its authority. You have confessed to betraying me in the heat of battle, you have confessed to unlawfully obtaining our most treasured secrets, and you have disrespected me in front of my subordinates....your own teammates. That simply cannot stand. Not for my ego's sake but for Konoha's. Maybe you're right....maybe I am immature. Maybe I was not ready for this job. Maybe I should just resign quietly and let someone else take the position. I may yet do that but you won't be alive to see it. Goodbye Chikamatsu."

Nyguyen turned to Satomi. He noticed the bizarre character of his brother-in-law's Sharingan. The three tomoe had blended into something new, something unique yet somehow familiar. Nyguyen thought back to the day he shared a bottle of cordial with Akihiro. It was a different pattern than the flicker of what he had seen with Akihiro. There were secrets to the clan's power that had not yet been fully revealed to him. That would end today, but for now he had a traitor to deal with.  

"Take him out of here and do it in an isolated part of the hospital. I don't want Ari to see this and rest assured she will see again. Preserve his eyes."

Nyguyen got in Ashitaka's way when the boy moved to Ari's bedside.

"Ashitaka...I'm sorry but I cannot let you be near her at this time. Please wait outside, Akihiro and I have business to discuss."

Nyguyen turned his Sharingan to the Sparrow. The allegations that Chika had leveled were serious and Akihiro had done an awful job of denying them. He was speaking in code, Nyguyen didn't remember exactly what he had said, but he did remember that much. He trusted Aki implicitly but there was so much the intelligence officer had done and was doing that troubled him. They needed to talk about healing Ari, about where this Senju DNA had come from, and about how to deal with the Hyuuga Clan. Ashitaka was growing irate and none of these discussions could occur with him in the room. He still believed that the kid had made progress which is why he hadn't asked for him to be removed from the building, or worse yet, sedated. Ari was now getting up and talking but Nyguyen would have none of it. He interrupted her by making a soft hush sound and whispered.

"Lie back down little one. We will get you well soon enough."

A life of a ninja could be grim. Even more so, the life of a ninja on whose back depended entire nations. Truly what they were witnessing here was one of the saddest events Akihiro had ever seen. It was never lightly that he considered taking the life of his own village comrades. Even when he killed Tats the Hokage who had branded him a missing ninja he'd tried his best to give her a death worthy of a Kage. He'd hated the woman with every fibber of his being and even so he'd tried to make her death mean something. Chikamatsu? He didn't hate Chikamatsu. As far as he knew he was just a boy with either poor judgment or poor guidance. Looking at team 10 Akihiro couldn't help but wonder what he'd do if he were in their place. Could he too have been poorly guided and influenced to such a pitiful state? Perhaps. Perhaps he'd simply been luckier than most, born with the right attributes and at the right time to be guided by people like Satomi or Masuyo into shinobi adulthood. So seeing the events unfold before his eyes truly made the Uchiha sad.

Nevertheless, the Hidden Leaf Village was a military organisation. Its hierarchy, its purpose and its secrets were to be respected...as well as its laws. The path of a ninja is often one of discipline, self control and better judgement. Chikamatsu displayed none of these. Truth to be told Akihiro was perhaps judging him under too harsh of a light, setting the boy to a high standard. Most shinobi in the village struggled with at least one of these aspects...and yet most shinobi in the village didn't commit treason. Satomi's assessment of the situation was correct, he knew. The sad part of this wasn't what they were about to do, the sad part was the events that led up to this very moment. Every decision, every accident, every chance- and yet Satomi's words echoed in his mind. They did know what needed to be done.


"Akihiro Uchiha. You've given me a lot to think about."

"If only you'd actually *think*." Akihiro almost rolled his eyes at Ashitaka's first words, but his reply remained inside his mind and inside his mind only because Nyguyen was finally waking up.

The hand Akihiro kept on top of Ikomiki's head tensed up a bit as Nyguyen spoke his first word. Akihiro was about to interrupt Ashitaka, but the Hokage intervened before he did. Immediately Akihiro's own Sharingan shifted, spinning lazily into a Mangekyou Sharingan. He knew what was about to come. And he suspected some people might not....react too well to it. He tensed up, and the activation of the later stage of his eyes happened naturally.

During the life of most shinobi there would come a time when they were forced to make hard decisions.What these decisions meant varied wildly from ninja to ninja as well as the consequences. The common factor for all them was the fact that the decision would weight heavily in their conscience for the rest of their lives, however long that may be. For Akihiro that decision had happened 6 years ago, leading to the awakening of his Mangekyou Sharingan. But for Nyg, that decision was happening today. "It's unfortunate that it has come to this." He spoke softly, but firmly. His gaze was focused on Ashitaka. Akihiro had a feeling the boy would try to do something stupid, something he'd end up regretting later. Something that would force the hand of every senior ninja in the room. Something that would put Ari in immediate danger. Chikamatsu was well within his gaze as well however, for he knew it was unlikely that the boy would just accept his death.

Silently, Akihiro tapped Ikomiko's head with his fingers. It wasn't a pat, it was tap. Used to being patted by Akihiro, Ikomiki would hopefully be able to tell the difference. The signal was clear: "Heads up", "be on your guard", or whatever was equivalent to that in alien meows.

As for the Sparrow's other hand, it made a quiet hand-seal hidden by the long sleeve of his cloak which covered the arm that rest by his side, activating the sensing technique and preparing another. There should be no doubt, Akihiro would spare no effort to utterly and completely annihilate any possible resistance to Nyguyen's command. He'd be swift, precise and effective to the full extent of his abilities in the neutralization of any threats. Truth to be told he'd not hesitate to kill if his better judgement told him it was better to take 2 lives than risking the many wounded from the war present in this hospital. The Sparrow would take any jutsu cast or attempted by any member of Team 10 as an immediate threat and take appropriate action, as well as suspicious physical moves.

As for what would happen next, only Satomi knew. He'd been the one tasked with getting the deed done. If needed Akihiro would provide support, but Satomi was incredibly strong and Akihiro doubted either Ashitaka or Chikamatsu could put up any resistance against him.

Used:
Mangekyou Sharingan
Sensing Technique
Prepared a technique

While Ikomiki was mainly concerned with herself and her immediate circle, that being Akihiro, the events in this room were interesting and fast paced enough for her to follow intently. Not that she understood most of it anyway. She had been so caught off guard earlier with anger at her Otsutsuki genetic being revealed that she had failed to actually pay attention to what was happening. Now she was playing catch up. Akihiro’s accusations of treason were still in her mind… She had at least been paying attention to that. Now there was the mess of her Senju blood being taken into account, and Chika’s long, long rants… Honestly she had a hard time paying attention to it all.

The tap on her head brought her back to awareness. She was cognizant enough to know what it meant from Akihiro. Pay attention. It's happening. Her posture returned upright, fixing itself from the moment she had relaxed after being scolded mere moments ago, and her expression would return to a stoic neutral. Under the sleeve of her cloak she immediately made a single half-Snake hand seal with her left hand, and her vision would scan the room. Mokuton chakra would swell inside her once again, that beautiful engine of chakra inside of her glowing bright once more. She made sure to keep aware of the entire room with her Rinnegan, but the main target of her focus was the young boy in the wheelchair. Satomi seemed focused on Chika, waving his glowing white sword around. That left just Ashitaka for the rest of them, Ikomiki and Akihiro, to deal with. She had no doubt that the Hokage wouldn’t do anything here, judging by his body language and all that he’s said previously. With the way that these two were walking all over him, not showing a modicum of respect, it seemed like they had whipped him to the point where he couldn’t even do the deed himself. Not that this was any of her concern, really. Being that Ashitaka was right next to Ari’s bed, Ikomiki honestly doubted that he would try anything, but it was good just to be safe rather than sorry.

She took a few steps forward, away from Akihiro, until she was positioned between the hospital bed with Ashitaka and Ari and the rest of the room, blocking off access. With her left hand still held in that half-seal, she would peer down at the two. Only two steps away, she was close enough to respond to any misbehavior they might get up to.

“Do not interfere.” She made her intent clear. No ‘if you value your life’ or any other threat was tacked on to the end. Ikomiki was beginning to adopt a bit of professionalism, enough so that she could manage situations like this.

---

Technique Prepped
Rinnegan: Chakra Visualization