Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Like this?" asked Nagamichi. In the span of a few minutes he had managed to improve the blob he had started with to a small roughly-shaped orb of awareness around himself.
"Good job Nagamichi. You can rest now." said Notwen, content with the genin's advancement with the Crown Chakra. "Want to see how the technique really works?" he asked.
"That'd be cool!" said the white-haired boy, collapsing his awareness dome. The chuunin did the same and connected himself to Nagamichi using the web of intrigue.
"Alright, i'll only be able to hold this for a few seconds." With that said Notwen expanded his Crown chakra for several yards in every direction, causing their fields of vision to ignite in an array of lights that represented the consciousness of all living things in every direction. As a result, the rough topography of the area was revealed.
"Sensei... This is amazing. I can see everything, even the moles." the Uchiha smiled, sensing that his student's awe was legitimate.
"This effect works at its best when it's dark out. Maybe you can show this to Rissa when you've mastered it." Nagamichi rolled his eyes jokingly at the comment, then noticed something strange in the awareness dome.
"What is that?" he asked. Notwen had spotted it too.
"I'm not entirely sure." he said. Whatever was moving towards them seemed to have a two consciousnesses residing within the same body and glowed a slightly different shade than everything else. "It might be coincidental that it's moving towards us, but i'm not going to rule out the possibility that it knows where we are." Withdrawing the dome so that it was only projecting at a twenty foot radius in every direction, the Uchiha began herding Nagamichi in a direction away from the village. We're going to give it the slip, then circle back home. Be prepared for anything.

Not long after they had begun walking away from the entity did it reappear within the area of the awareness dome. Due to the shared vision gained by the still active web of intrigue, Nagamichi was able to see the trajectory which the enemy approached and instinctively drew his sword while getting in front of the Chuunin.
He must be some sort of tracker to have found us so easily. Be careful. The swordsman nodded.
Right. Normally all that would be visible would have been the being's eyes, which glowed red, but the awareness dome caused the body's outline to be revealed. The hostile being spoke, declaring that they were trespassing on his land. Notwen scoffed.
"Me and my student here have been walking around this area for the past year and a half. This is the first time i'm seeing you here so i guess i could say this is our land, and you're trespassing. I suggest you put your little blade away. I'd hate to have you sent to the hospital."

It appeared that the being was on the verge of throwing a tantrum. Its eyes seemed to get redder, which affected the blade coming from one of its hands similarly. Notwen sighed. Judging by the thing's size he guessed it to be younger than he was.
"Go home. If you attack the two of us things will just end badly for you." Nagamichi tensed and stood in a ready stance as the boy's other hand became a spike.
"Hey, creep, i suggest you listen to what he says. If you decide to be hostile, it's over for you."

Suddenly a weighted chain struck out at Nagamichi from behind the being's body. The genin masterfully redirected the chain by kicking a pebble into one of the links closer to the beginning of it, then striking the weight attached to the end with Hagia du Albae. At that moment the thing screamed in two distinct voices, one human and the other metallic. The noise was so loud that Nagamichi was sure his eardrums would have popped if it hadn't been for Notwen using his green flames to cover both their ears.
Thanks sensei, said the sword-wielding genin to the Uchiha via their mental link.
Don't mention it. answered the chuunin, Your skill with the sword has advance to the point that it's now better than mine. I think i'll let you take this guy on your own. Just be careful. Nagamichi nodded and put his full concentration on the armored being. The armor moved in a surreal way, almost as if it were alive. Then chains resumed their attack on him. The genin sprinted away from his teacher to allow himself some room to counter-attack.
"Offensive Soul..." muttered the swordsman as he began to dash towards the armored being, dodging most of the barrage of chains and getting cut by the ones he was too slow to avoid completely. "Ragnarok!!" cried Nagamichi as he reached the midway point of the chains' range. A warped version of Hagia du Albae appeared in his other hand and with it he severed the chains in three slashes.

Notwen cocked his head to the side as he witnessed the being's reaction to having the chains cut by Nagamichi's technique. He was intrigued that the armor truly did seem to have a life of its own due to the fact that blue liquid was oozing from the severed links, much like how one would bleed from a similar injury. Nagamichi himself was on the verge of losing his dinner. The last thing he expected to do when he walked out of the village gates was to be having a bout with this freakshow.
How on earth is he feeling pain from me cutting the chains?! he wondered, never taking his eyes off of the now kneeling being.
Because it seems that the armor and whoever is beneath it are sharing the same body. replied the chuunin, folding his arms as he watched the spike on the being's left arm splint into two serpentine blades. I think it's time you began combining the Hued Flames with your swordsmanship, Nagamichi. The genin nodded and dispelled Ragnarok so he was now using both hands to wield Hagia du Albae.
"Shura..." he muttered, and instantly the blade was enveloped in blue flames. With two swift slashes the genin sent an X shaped flame attack at the armored being. If it didn't dodge it would be struck and catch with a fire that was hotter than usual orange flames.

As the being stumbled backwards and narrowly missed being hit by the flames, the mask it was wearing slipped off and broke upon hitting the ground. Behind the mask was a horribly burnt and disfigured face. It was unsettling to see, and the child covered it as fast as he could with his cloak. It seemed that without his mask the disfigured boy was no longer able to fight, telling them to leave him as he crept back into the shadows.
"Wait-" started Nagamichi as he began to move forward in an attempt to pursue him, but Notwen placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him.
"Let him go." he said. Nagamichi turned to face his teacher, a dumbstruck look on his face.
"Sensei, that kid needs help! Are you just going to stand there and let him keep living like this?" The Uchiha closed his eyes and sighed.
"Nagamichi, some day you'll understand why you can't just try to help everyone you come across. Aside from being maimed he seemed to be healthy, just a little cuckoo." He turned and began walking back to the village. "Come on, it has been one long night. You must be tired, and you also need to tend to your wounds." The genin stood still for a moment, looked back at where the boy had disappeared in the darkness, then followed the dark-skinned Uchiha back to the village.

Once the duo had reached the village gates Notwen hailed for the guards to let them through. As the gates swung open to admit the cloud-nins, the Chuunin walked over to one of the guards and briefed them about the events that had just occurred.
"If you decide to retrieve him make sure to take two more shinobi with you. The kid's unpredictable as well as unstable." The guard nodded and proceeded to radio the others for their take on the situation while Notwen and Nagamichi went back on their original course to their separate homes.
"See you tomorrow, Sensei. Rest well." said the Genin, raising his hand in farewell as he headed to the Irikura manor.
"You too, Nagamichi." replied the dark-skinned Uchiha, waving back at his student before heading off to his apartment.

The walk was a short one owing to the fact that over the time he'd spent in Kumogakure. The purity and thinness of the mountain air had improved his breathing and stamina. Notwen could now walk at a fast gait without getting tired, something that was more difficult to do in Sunagakure due to the sandy desert air and the heat. In a matter of minutes he was at the apartment complex. He climbed a couple of flights of stairs until he had reached his floor and proceeded to walk to his door. There wasn't anything on the side so he opened the door and stepped through the threshold. The apartment was just the same as he had left it, not a single piece of furniture had moved. The dark-skinned blonde moved toward the window, and a few seconds after he opened it he noticed four figures trying to move stealthily in the night. They were obviously not Kumo ninja, so Notwen wasted no time in hopping out of his window and breaking into hot pursuit of the shady strangers as fast as his body would allow.

Rissa nodded at Cruxis' suggestion. It made sense to her at least to focus on the less difficult task first. It would prove to be a nice warm up, and it would give them time to think of ideas for later. In this way they could ensure maximum success. Smiling a bit, Rissa looked down over the map with the other two. She had made the market trip countless times from her own house, and it usually didn't take her all that long to reach it. She knew a couple of short cuts from here to the market anyways, and usually made use of them to be in and out quickly so as to avoid an argument with her farther.

“Here.” she pointed to a general path which appeared to be blocked by something on the map. “There's an alley way here. It makes for a more direct route. I use it all the time when I go shopping.” She smiled a bit, turning from the two. “Well, let's go.”

She smiled at the two, before she leapt off, picking up speed to an easy pace so as to not initially lose the boys, before she sped up. Rissa was perfectly fine to stay ahead of the other two, and lead the way to the market. She suspected that later on she would need their help and support when trapping the thugs. She doubted they wouldn't be too much trouble, but one never really knew.