A Roll of The Die

Sero would watch the woman before him. She was confident even in front of him. He supposed this was just common for a Kage. Even one he had heard questionable reports on. Still that she would mention that she was friends with the princess...His cold purple eyes would glance to Arisu to see her void of response. Still he would not interfere if she was not concerned. She was clearly strong enough to handle herself. Still he would be cautious. Those glowing purple orbs returning to Ryuko even as she disarmed herself. His hands still at his sides. It was a show of peace and she wasn't an enemy directly. If her arrival was simply fortunate that would have to do for now. Still others began to arrive and Arisu would no longer be alone. Perhaps in due time he would have time to question this woman directly. However the water that was no longer being controlled dispersed and left a pool nearly ankle deep around them. Gradually settling into the ground bit by bit. However Sero would consume the water as it touched him. So that massive quantity swirled into him and soon the ground around them was little more than wet.

Still Sero would step forward to Ryuko. His cold eyes matching hers as he seemed void of expression. Dignitary or no she was on a battlefield. She was where he flourished. So he would speak up with the confidence he always had. No hostile movements but his words virtually dripped with hostility. Still low enough that it was clearly meant to be a private statement. " I have a report about you. Allowing human sacrifices in that so called church of yours. The innocent having disappeared under your watch. You may not fear me....But know this. I am watching. If you step wrong here...in my home....I will BURN you. I don't care what kind of shield or defense you have. No summon...no jutsu....no equipment will stop me from tearing you apart. However if you do not disturb the peace of this village, You will have nothing to fear of me Ryuko. I will be watching." With that he would turn his attention to Blitz. Nodding to him quietly as he had addressed him directly. With that Sero felt nearly half of his chakra reserves depleted. This battle had been beyond him. He would need to strive for something greater.

With that in mind he would walk away from the scene. Intent on checking on the village proper to make sure there were no other disturbances on the off chance this had been a distraction. His eyes would shift to the man he had not known. Burned and dead on the ground nearby. It was unfortunate to see another Kiri loyalist die like that. However he had no connection to the man. He felt nothing to mourn and would continue walking. His form fading from sight into the mist as it filled the air from all the moisture and the explosions having dispersed it temporarily. Fading like a phantom of the mist.

attempted exit

Raika watches Blitz walking away, towards some kind of massive crater, and then when she sees what's near its center, her eyes widen, and her fists clench hard as she follows the scent of Raphael all the way to the body that had been left to the ground. Her entire body shakes at the sight of him, having only received the scroll containing his Taijutsu techniques, and thus unable to learn any further from him, but even more, leaving herself without one of the greatest mentors for the dual-natured Ryuutei. instead of dwelling on it right away, however, she's quick to retrieve his body as well, and although she can tell from holding him over her shoulder that there's no pulse left in his body, she carries him away to the hospital anyway. With nobody around to see her anymore, she does finally allow a tear to fall from her eye, but she suppresses her emotions once more.

In fact, by the time she reaches the hospital, Raika is back to her own stony face, and she's managed to harden herself once more as she allows Raphael to be placed in a bed, just for a doctor to mention that there's nothing more they can really do with him. She stares down at his unmoving body until the doctor leaves, and then she shakes her head. She's not sure if she wants to call him useless and foolish for rushing in and dying, or to say that he was more deserving of being treated as a hero than anyone else. And so, Raika says nothing, puts her hand on Raphael's own as a show of affection, then leaving, despite the custom of the Ryuutei to eat their own dead. Raphael deserved a grave to show respect to.

OOC: THREAD EXIT

Maybe it was the stress of the situation or the fact that part of her concentration was on healing Arisu but Ryuko was finding it hard to pay much proper attention to the new arrivals.  Part of her noted that two people had arrived.  She noted that given their age and equipment they were likely members of the 7 swordsmen of the mist… or perhaps potential members in training.    

Normally she’d be able to tell which it was better but right now she just didn’t have the extra brain power to make the proper determination.  This was hardly the place to have a conversation with them about how she’d tried to set up a similar thing in Kumo using the artifacts she had on hand at the time.   That could be a talk for another time, when she wasn’t partly soaked in her own blood from her wreckless teleportation antics.

Ryuko tilted her head, feeling confused about what Sero had said to her about a report he had gotten.  Yes she did allow the Jashinist to sacrifice people but it was supposed to be only death row prisoners, not random people off the streets.  You know the kind of people that deserved such a cruel fate like drug dealers or human traffickers.   Certainly not Innocent people.

She wanted to tell him he was wrong about her, but a seed of doubt remained.  The Hard core Jashinists were supposed to have been dealt with but had authorities somehow missed some during the last purge?  Or perhaps some of the moderate faction weren’t as moderator as they claimed and had pulled something nasty behind her back.   Either way it was something that could bear investigating into even if it might be a bit moot at this point since the church had been banned from all the lands Kiri controlled.    

Yet another thing to add to her long long list, but it wasn’t like she could simply do nothing and allow such slanderous rumors to stand.  As a former Kage  she’d done her fair share of pretty nasty stuff but she’d always tried her best to avoid dragging innocent people into it even during the height of the war.

Well whatever for now.  She couldn’t exactly blame Sero for not trusting her on the spot.  She’d probably be saying something similar to what he had just said to her if the shoes had been on the other foot.  

“By all means watch away until you are satisfied.” She replied to him as he walked away.  As long as nobody started any trouble with her she had zero intentions of causing problems.  After all, being in Kiri’s good graces was essentially for the future she wanted to build for herself.

“You should be all better now.”  she said to Arisu.  The burns the princess had suffered hadn’t been that bad so it wasn’t anything the Mystical Palm Ryuko had used couldn’t take care of fairly quickly.   “Feel free to mourn for now, We can always talk another day….” trying her best to be tactful Ryuko gave a wave.  It was high time to find a hotel so that she could get herself cleaned up and recharge her spent chakra.

[5]

-Attempted Exit-

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