Solve the murders: Jiyuu's interesting adventure

Spoiler:

The change from the damp and mild temperatures of Kumogakure and Iron Country to the sleek freezing snow in Snow Country wasn’t the welcome party that Jiyuu had envisioned. The rapid snowfall from the storm had hit Jiyuu’s eyes with merciless intentions of blinding him. It was like the storm had a mind of its own as to delay Jiyuu’s homecoming to one of the villages. If it wasn’t for his Sookato eyes, he would’ve been lost in this weather and he damn sure as hell wasn’t going to survive off the land here. He rather be stranded on an deserted island with little to no chance of survive than stay in the cold.

He was wrapped up and bundled with clothing that was suited for the weather. As much as his body was use to the weather in Kumogakure and lightning country, he was never a fan of the winter months where the snowfall was at times unrewarding. Jiyuu looked up and around the trees; the deep snow had reached its way towards his knees and was increasing in depth. Doesn’t matter whether he has eyes activated, if the rate of this snowfall continued he’ll be outside ready to freeze.

“Fuckin’ snow country. Of all the places this murder had to go on, it had to be fucking snow country” he said underneath his breath. “Couldn’t been earth country? No? Of course not, whoever is running this show is an asshole to begin with. Fucker picked the perfect location of not getting caught. So of course he would kill here” His pace didn’t slow but it wasn’t exactly rushing either. He seem to feel the cold but not as extensive as one might expect. His mind was disassociating itself from the current condition of the weather. Instead, his mind was on how agitated he is at the moment about the village being too far. His eyes ran by a chakra source that appear to him like sonar. It was a neutral base type chakra, non active and recovering at a slow rate. His attention caught on quickly seeing this chakra; he hadn’t seen a decent chakra source for a few miles. He mumbled a quick prayer of gratitude and he quickens his pace to the source. As he approached, he noticed there was a clearing. In the center of this clearing was a small house that could appear in one of those forest magazines displaying old log cabins.

Jiyuu knocked on the door. He was jumping up and down, pumping blood through his system in order to stay warm “Come on, come on” he said as he knocked again. He heard nothing. He was begging to himself, praying that someone would open the door. He leaned his head to the door. Even with the skull cap over his head, he couldn’t seem to hear a thing. There was a sudden click by the door and a latch that was turn. Jiyuu backed away from the door and stood waiting for the door to open.

A man wearing a heavy wool sweater and sweatpants stared at Jiyuu with a look of suspicion and curiosity. He had his hand on the door knob ready to shut the door on this suspecting person.

Jiyuu pulled his scarf down “Hi” he said in the cheeriest voice he could muster “I got stuck in this nasty storm and I was wondering-“

“If you could stay here for the night?” the man finished saying

“Yes. I mean, if you don’t mind. I can walk towards the next village if it’s a problem
”
The man shook his head “You would be a fool to walk to the village. It’s twenty seven miles to the village and in this weather, you’ll freeze”
Jiyuu turn his head to the storm “I think I can make it”

The man went silent for a minute then let out a heavy sigh that carried out how he was mentally defeated by his own self “You might as well come in then. You’re letting the cold in”

“Ah, thank you kind sir” He stepped inside the house and the man closed the door immediately after. Jiyuu took off all of his winter clothing was left with the jounin attire accustom to Kumogakure. The man recognized it immediately but held his tongue. There would be time for them to discuss that. Jiyuu turned his head to the man “I really do appreciate it, uhh, I didn’t quite get your name”

“Do not worry yourself young man and my name is Suuchi” he was still at a distance but his voice was sounding a bit softer than it was when he first asked Jiyuu his business. “You are a delegate from Kumogakure yes?”

Jiyuu looked at the Kumogakure insignia on his headband which was tied around his right shoulder. He taps at it “Yes. I am…” He paused “Do you have anything warm that I could drink? My bones are chillier than a mutha-“he stopped himself from cursing but the man rose his hand up saying that he didn’t mind it. He left the room only to come back a moment later with a cup of tea. The aroma rose in the room and Jiyuu could already feel his body warming up. He walked into the other room and Jiyuu followed.
Jiyuu sat down on a leather couch. The tea was set down on a small wooden table that was away from the crackling fire which smelled of very heavy of oak. Suuchi sat down in a chair beside the couch and sip a bit of the tea. Jiyuu reached over and grabbed his cup and took a of it himself. It was bitter, it didn’t have any additives but it was very warming and Jiyuu took another sip of it.

“I’m amazed young man. You are the first person who didn’t spit out the tea because of its bitterness and asked for something like sugar”

Jiyuu waved his hand at him, embarrassed a little by the jester “Yeah, well my mentor always gave me bitter drinks like this. After while I just got use to it. Oh, I didn’t introduce you myself. Where are my manners” Jiyuu set his cup down “My name is Kyuusho Jiyuu and I am a jounin from Kumogakure who was sent here on-“

“The investigation of the murders of the young women and children?” Suuchi drank a sip of tea “I had a feeling you were here for that”

“Well was it the obvious clothing from Kumo?” Jiyuu asked, not stirred by this

“That and the fact that no one comes up to this village unless someone is dead or dying. Seeing that there are a numerous amounts of death, I’m not surprise the officials of snow country sent out an S.O.S to neighboring villages. Though I am surprised they sent just one person to deal with the situation rather than a group and well-“ Suuchi hesitated just a bit, his expression on his face was that of a thinker wishing to find the right word. Jiyuu caught it on immediately.

“You weren’t expecting anyone this young” Jiyuu shrugged “Not a surprise. Trust me, I’m eager to do missions but not missions that deal with murder.”
Jiyuu saw that expression again on Suuchi’s face; a pre-assessed expression that already had a thing in mind about Jiyuu’s experience, or lack thereof. This common misconception made his lips fold up into a small grin “Do you know anything about these murders Suuchi-san? Any information I can get before I go into the dog pit?”

Suuchi didn’t respond at first, only glanced at Jiyuu with those dark coal eyes. It wasn’t hostile but it didn’t seem friendly either. He was a man in his late fifties and Jiyuu could tell that he was keeping his body in shape. He didn’t appear his age but Jiyuu knew he was much older than he appeared. “I’ve only heard rumors about it. I haven’t been in the village for a very long while, only to go there for supplies. Only thing I know is that the whomever is killing these innocent children and these women is one insane man”

“Or woman” Jiyuu implied “Can’t always assume it’s a man. Otherwise you’ll never catch the killer”

Suuchi sunk back into his chair “Yes, well, I suppose you are right on that. I can only imagine all of the grief that village is going through; all those young women and children just getting murdered. Such a small town, you think it’ll never happen to you.”

While Suuchi was talking, Jiyuu looked past over his salt and pepper hair and over by the library case. This man had a vast amount of books. Amazed by the sudden amount, he couldn’t let this one get “It’s always like that. You may only heard rumors but right now that’s what I’m going off of, you may have some information about this”

Insulted, Suuchi huffed out at him “Do you believe I may know more than what is expected?”

Jiyuu shrugged and in a calm and chilled voice replied “Well, it’s just an assumption. You are hiding some more than what you wish to ask and only limiting the amount of words you say about it. You’re hoping that I don’t ask anymore question as you keep on shifting your legs just a tad bit. Sometimes tells me that you didn’t want me to find that little flaw as to how you are not telling me something; a trick like that is basic teachings in the art of the shinobi. If you must continue this game of hide and seek, then I’ll continue to pester you about this issue. From the words of Madam Raikage, she wishes to “clean this mess up as swiftly as possible” Can I say that this is correct Suuchi-san?”

Suuchi looked down at his legs and notice how they were slightly shifting. Without that glance, one would assume that he was trying to find a comfortable spot in the chair but Jiyuu quickly assessed how it was one of the cues into saying that he is saying things short on the manner. Suuchi stopped moving and smiled, taking another sip of tea “It appears you have the appearance of youth and fight in you but hiding a very intelligent mind behind that brawn” his hand rose in defeat and he sighed; the look on his face was relax now and the muscles around his neck seem to unhinge itself from stress.

“May I assume you expect foul play here? Murders that happen this quick and this sudden in a small town might be expected”
Suuchi gave a slight nod almost unnoticed by Jiyuu. If Jiyuu wasn’t paying attention, he would’ve asked the question again. “Being a former medical examiner in the city, I knew these deaths weren’t normal. They seem too odd for me to take as simple murders by a deranged killer on the loose. It has to be someone close in the village, someone who has some knowledge of cutting”

“From what I understand, you’ve seen the bodies” Jiyuu reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a toothpick placing it in the side of his mouth “Could you give me a fair description on what the victim’s bodies look like”

Suuchi searched in his mind the image of what the women’s corpse displayed. It wasn’t something pleasant to bring up to mind but he has done this countless times before, why was this any different? Suuchi closed his eyes, seeing all of the detail the women he had seen only two weeks ago had appeared on the morgue table. “The women’s body had a deep laceration down her chest, deep enough for someone to open. The chest was open not by precision but it was extremely messy. Whoever did it was either in a rush or was a amateur. It appeared that someone had pried open her chest cavity and abdominal cavity and it stopped towards her pelvic region. The intestines, liver, pancreas, one part of the lung and her heart were all missing. Seems odd to take those particular organs and not the others” Suuchi rubbed his eyes “Another thing that horrified me was the fact that all of her blood had been drained”

Jiyuu looked up and at Suuchi. He tilts his head to the side “Draining of blood? Wouldn’t you have to make a large opening and hang the body upside down?”

Suuchi confirmed by nodding “Once you hang the body upside down, gravity will pull all the blood down to the bottom”

Jiyuu rubbed his chin waving a finger at Suuchi with some knowledge of his own “This reminds me of what my mentor use to teach me about the old tribes of the world. This practice was used by a culture up by Earth Country. This small tribe is nonexistent but when they were spread across, they had many pagan worship and ceremonies. They worshipped a god that required, as they put, a large amount of blood to cease a famine that had come, to bring happiness among the people for a year and so forth and so on”

Jiyuu had lean forward. Suuchi didn’t realize it himself that he lean over as well “A practice that was common was the use of this pagan worship in order to obtain immortality. The tribe would take make a man, a women or a child and sacrifice them to the gods. Then they would hang them upside down and drain all of the person’s blood. They would then cut open the chest and take out the essential organs like the liver, the heart, the lungs, the stomach and the intestines believing that they would stay young and strong forever”

Suuchi leaned back in his chair “Interesting. Crude and horrifying I’m sure but interesting nonetheless. Do you think that this person is trying to perform such a technique?”

Jiyuu made a response with his head that didn’t confirm nor deny the accusation “It’s only a theory and right now I’m just trying to put pieces together in order. Right now, that’s what seems like a genuinely good theory in my mind”

“A person to obtain immortality” Suuchi said which literally made him laugh out humorlessly “Such a thing that humans do in order to live. To fear death is something that mankind seems to have in their genes” his voice trailed off as he yawned, stretching his arms out “Well I believe this is time for me to sleep. Feel free to stay in this room if you wish. Tomorrow, I shall escort you to the village if the storm has passed”

Jiyuu yawned himself, feeling the sloth of sleep flow within his body. It was asking for rest and tonight he would need it all “We’ll need all the energy we can get. I feel as though we can solve the case tomorrow”

Suuchi laughed “To have that enthusiasm and youthful energy. I almost forgot you are a young man and now a old man like myself. Get some rest young Jiyuu if you wish to figure out and solve this case”

Jiyuu nodded. Suuchi left out of the chair and out of the room where he went into his room and shut the door behind him. Jiyuu lay back on the couch, resting his head on a pillow. There was a blanket on the edge of the couch. He grabbed it wrapped it around himself cocooning his body. His mind was taken quickly by sleep and the last thing he heard was the crackling of the wood in the fire.

There was a smell of grease in the air that caught Jiyuu’s sense of smell bringing home old memories of bacon being cooked in at home. He opens up his eyes and stretched out of the blanket. As he threw the blanket back over the edge, he rolled off the couch and onto the floor where he caught himself from slamming his face into the cold floor. He began to do pushups, and then when he was done he stood up on his hands and began to do handstand pushups. The blood was flowing throughout his body and he felt as energetic now as he did when he left the village.

He followed his nose to the kitchen where he saw the able body Suuchi cooking a large helping of bacon in a black cast iron pan. Suuchi heard the creaking on the floor and saw Jiyuu standing between the door “You want some?” he pulled the pan off the small stove he had which looked just as old and just as black as the pan.

Jiyuu shook his head “I’ll be hungry later on tonight. I had a large dinner before I got hit by that storm” he glanced out the window seeing sunrays coming into the small kitchen giving that rustic feeling “Awesome, we can walk to the village. Well, if we can open the door that is”

“That won’t be a problem young Jiyuu. I already made the physical arrangements for us to make it into town” he points over to two pairs of snow shoes leaning against a door “We’ll be walking into town. I’ve already sent a message to the officials that you will be coming along shortly and I shall be escorting you”

Jiyuu put his thumb up “Sweet. Thanks Suuchi-san. You have my gratitude”
“I’m just glad that you have knowledge and the necessary skill to stop these crimes. If what you say is true and if you keep to your word last night of solving this case as quickly as possible then I will help you to the best of my ability and more”

“Well that’s a surprise. Last night you had doubts. What is this sudden change of heart?”

Suuchi took the pan off the stove and placed the strips of crisp bacon on a platter. He let out a small heave “Enthusiasm like that, I envy. As a person in the medical field, you tend to lose that type of emotion after a year or so in it. When you see death constantly come pass those metal doors and you see that it is a young child, or a young women or someone who probably didn’t deserve to die, you tend to have a blacken heart. You, on the other, you have something that many youths lack and that is the ambition. Something about it is making me want to help you and I’m glad that you have that fire within you. That is why I tend to help you with this case”

Jiyuu never heard anyone say that to him. He didn’t think he was much of an inspiration to anyone. He just did things for what he thought was good to him. He thought he lacked that magnetic personality. He shrugged but grin “Well then hurry up and eat your pork. We gotta solve this case, ya know?”

After Suuchi consumed all of the bacon on the platter, both he and Jiyuu got themselves geared up. Jiyuu placed on the snow shoes. He never actually used them before and never had a chance to ever practice but Suuchi reassured him that it would be quick for him to learn. Jiyuu nodded and followed Suuchi upstairs to where they went out onto a door that lead to the outside

“You made a door that lead outside on the second floor? That’s pretty neat”
Suuchi let out a deep laugh “That’s the first time I’ve heard someone say it was neat. Others agreed it was a flaw of design but it was useful just case we wanted to jump onto the snow without shoveling our way through” He open up the door “Let’s move”

Jiyuu and Suuchi spent that hour travelling but also letting Jiyuu get the hang of utilizing the skill of his shinobi and the use of the snow shoes. It was a difficult feat at first and of course Jiyuu fell on his ass a few times but just as quick as he got up, he got the hang of it overall. As they travelled up a large hill, Suuchi informed Jiyuu “The village is over this hill. Once we are over it, we’ll be able to have some safe refuge”

“How many people live in this village you say?”

“It’s a small community. It’s about maybe over 2000 or so. Compared to the other villages around snow country, this is considered the big city” They reached up on the top of the hill. Jiyuu looked down and saw the smoke rise in the air as the village houses were letting out the first morning fire to warm up the housing. Some of the housing did appear modern however as Jiyuu and Suuchi got closer down the hill but it appeared that the roots still hold back to the ways of the old. As they both walked through the streets, they notice how it was desolate; no sign of life had even touched the new white earth this morning. Jiyuu thought it was early but then remembered they woke up by eight o clock and it looking at Suuchi’s watch, it was now closer to nine thirty.

Jiyuu’s eyes caught a glimpse of someone peaking out the window. The curtains were pulled back, away from the window Jiyuu couldn’t see who it was staring back at them walking but he had a feeling the eyes of whoever was in that house did not open up strongly to strangers. They didn’t see the insignia of his village head protector nor his outfit. All they saw was a man with the old Suuchi. Jiyuu leaned his head over to Suuchi’s ear “I have a feeling that this isn’t the welcoming committee” he whispered “I feel as though they are staring through me and into my soul”

“The villagers aren’t so welcoming nowadays. Seeing that whoever comes into this village would be crucified if you made the littlest mistake or even look at them wrong”

“So I’m guessing I shouldn’t ask for anyone of these people if I could borrow a cup of sugar”

“You could, less you want someone to stab you in the eye with a knife”

Jiyuu leaned away from Suuchi “I swear if someone tries to put a Spork in my eye…” cut off by footsteps, both Jiyuu and Suuchi stopped. Coming around the corner of a house was two large men with coats that made them larger than life itself. The two of them stood side by side, closing the pathway any further. One of them said “Can I assume you are the detective from Kumogakure?”

Detective? Jiyuu thought to himself. He never even thought of himself as a detective, just an ordinary shinobi. No, that can’t be right. He wasn’t ordinary at all. That was a lie. Why was he lying to himself? “Yeah” he said though he sounded unsure of himself. He didn’t mean to, it just felt odd being called a detective is all “Are you here to escort us or something”

“No” the other large man said “We are the two officials of this village. We are here to inform you of the situation. Did you suspect that we were escorts?”

Jiyuu mouth was agape, ready to say something but nothing came out. He closed his mouth. He rose a finger with his mouth open then he closed it again speechless “Just…just inform me…”

And so they did. It was everything Suuchi had said last night only they went at it through the months that led to this very moment. It started actually six months ago, where a young woman had been missing for the past few days. The natural response was to search for the woman and they did. They found her corpse only three miles away from the village. When the person who found her saw the body, he immediately dumped all of his contents out of his stomach. When the other villagers saw this, they were terrified to see the woman was hanged upside down by the ankles, blood gone and much of her organs were missing. Throughout the six months, the attacks were getting more frequent and becoming more and more violent. Many people stayed home, refusing to let their children to play outside. Business has been extremely slow and travelling has been limited to nearby villages.

“Have there been any recent attacks?” Jiyuu asked the first man who talked, who was a bald man with round cheeks and a wide neck.

“Not lately. Ever since the village shut down a month ago, the only events that occurred were that wolves were in the area. Other than that, there hasn’t been anything that would be considered out of the ordinary and no one has gone missing”

“Hmm” Suuchi rubbed his beard “Who is the one who deals with the victims?”

“That would be Doctor Miki. Her building is down the street from here”

“Doctor Miki?” Jiyuu thought he heard the name before but nothing came to mind after that.

“Do you know her?” asked the second man

“No, it just sounds familiar is all. Please, can you tell us if she is in or not? She may help us with this case”

The first man nods his head “She is always in. She loves her patients much that no matter what kind of condition the weather is, she’ll do whatever it takes to get to the village to help the people. With these deaths, she is appalled by it but still one of kindest people around. I’m sure she can help you”

“I thank you” Jiyuu bowed slightly. He snapped his fingers when an idea struck him “Ah, I also forgot to mention. Do you have a place where I could do some informative research? A library perhaps”

The second man pointed to his left “Over there is our library. I’m sure you’ll find what you need. Is there anything else you wish to ask?”

“No, I thank you again” Jiyuu motioned Suuchi to follow and Suuchi followed suit. The two men stared at them both as they walked toward the direction east. Suuchi looked at Jiyuu “Don’t say anything” his eyes said. Suuchi had an odd feeling about the sudden change in emotion with Jiyuu, how he gotten so quiet. When they were far enough from them, Jiyuu said “We aren’t going to talk to them again”

“Why prey tail not?” Suuchi asked, wondering what this was all about.

“There chakra was that like yours last night. They were definitely hiding something from us and they definitely knew more than they perceive to know”

“It seems more of paranoia then actual hiding. You maybe the delegate but you still are an outsider. I do see a reason to hide from you. That’s why I was reluctant to tell you things last night till you open up”

“Still” Jiyuu continued “I believe it’ll be best to watch ourselves. Whoever set them up to meet us had made sure they told us just enough. It can be safe to say that this Doctor Miki also will tell us little as well”

“The appetizer” Suuchi rubbed his beard once more “But I doubt whoever set them will give us the main course”

“Nope, they want to play that way” Jiyuu smashed his fist into his palm “We’ll play. Come on, let’s go meet the doctor”

It didn’t take long to find the place where this Doctor Miki stayed. Just like the two officials said, it was east down this street. On the top of the building, the sign read “Family Practice” and the sign proclaimed it was open. Jiyuu open the door into the family practice where they were in greeted by the sound of bells from the door. They lobby was empty of course but the place was well kept. Jiyuu and Suuchi went up to the receptionist desk.

“They have a receptionist desk without a receptionist. Wow, that’s smart. That is real smart” he rolled his eyes. They both heard the clicking of heels hitting the tile floor. A woman with auburn hair and purple eyes came over to the receptionist desk. “Yes, may I help you?” her voice was soothing, almost sensual to hear. It didn’t help that she was fairly attractive. She had a tempting smile on her face that asked what the problem was in more ways than one

Jiyuu had to focus; he couldn’t lose it now regardless of how attractive she is “Are you Doctor Miki?”

“Yes, I am Doctor Miki. Are you here for an appointment?”

“No ma’am” Jiyuu replied “I am here to meet you on the account of the murders that have been happening over the last six months. I am a delegate from Kumogakure no sato. I was told that you were the ones that received the bodies of the victims”

Her face had turned pale and her eyes shifted from one side to the other. She said in a faint voice “Tragic, very much so. This town is too peaceful to be attack by something so vicious. Please, come in” she went around the receptionist desk and opens the door.

As the two walked in, Jiyuu took a glance around the place. He saw a lot of vials right by the doors to the examining room; a lot of clear fluids that Jiyuu couldn’t recognize off the spot. He also notices how there were a lot of pictures of butterflies around the office area. It wouldn’t be caught naturally if one wasn’t paying attention but his awareness of this was something that he would take in. “Nice pictures” Jiyuu said “Are these from the same artist?”

Her mood change instantly “Why yes! I’m surprise you were able to tell. The artist did different versions of the butterfly with different artistic styles. It’s simply lovely. Are you an artist or an artist lover like myself?”

Jiyuu shook his head “I’m simply a man with many talents. Art is one that takes my interest from time to time. Please, is it all right if we discuss more matters on the murders? I didn’t mean to distract, it was just some nice paintings is all” he touched one of the paintings, his had a tingling sensation and he back away immediately. The hell?

“Yes, of course. My apologizes. I guess you can say that I try to distract myself from this catastrophe. You’re right, my apologizes” she bowed her head.

Suuchi waved his hand “You don’t need to apologize, it is all right”

“That’s kind of you-“she was ready to say mister but Suuchi cut her off

“Suuchi. Just Suuchi please.” Suuchi smiled. There was warmth in that smile of hers that made her even more attractive when they first glanced at her.
“Seeing that you are the doctor here, it must be hard on you seeing all those patients you managed and grew up are dying. You have my regards”

“Thank you Suuchi-san. I’m glad there are those who are still sympathetic.”

“Those who are not sympathetic to this cause wouldn’t even be considered human if my book” Suuchi said placing a hand on his chest proclaiming this as the statement of the ages.

There was something odd about the place that they were in. Suuchi didn’t see it, he had the skills to be a ninja but from what Jiyuu could tell he didn’t seem to have that awareness of something odd happening. Jiyuu was feeling a bit light headed; there was a sense of vertigo within him and he didn’t want to fall over in this place. The colors begin to mesh together, folding in each other and painting new pictures within the pictures. He continued to hear Miki and Suuchi talking but it was becoming distant and muffled in his ear. He closed his eyes, holding his head with his free hand. Something was up with this place and he walked right into it.

“Ain’t this some bullshit” he muttered Jiyuu tighten his fist and punched himself hard in the head. The impact of his fist contorted his face in and sends him into a wall. The loud sound made Suuchi and Miki jump and turn instantly

“Are you ok?!” Miki exclaimed that general concern in her face made her too attractive.

Jiyuu pushed off from the wall with his hand and wiped the blood off of his face “Yeah, I’m fine. I have this thing where I sudden punch myself for no apparent reason.”

The odd statement led both Miki and Suuchi in a state of confusion and wonderment. Jiyuu scratched his head nervously and laughed just as nervously but started to speak as if nothing happen “So, the officials say you are the one that did the autopsy of the bodies. Did you find anything suspicious about the bodies?”

Her brows had lowered finally and she sighed shaking her head dismissing this crazy man from Kumo “Nothing out of the ordinary. What the officials told you was everything that I recorded into my records. I cannot give it to you without the consent of the family. I hope you understand”

“I do” Jiyuu said wiping the blood off his face again “But out of the concern of the people, and the village of Kumogakure, I would like to see the recent autopsy report or pictures of the said autopsy”

She looked at him expressionlessly “As I said-“she started

“As you said, you wish for me to find information about the whereabouts of this murderer but it seems you are becoming quite reluctant
”
“That is personal information that I cannot give without the consent of the families. Giving this information to a stranger is something that I’m not inclined to do”

Jiyuu stared at her. She wasn’t giving ground and there was no point of forcing the issue. He didn’t see Suuchi getting involved in this as he was back away from the two of them showing no signs of backing Jiyuu up. He smiled and reached into his pocket to pull out a toothpick. “Thank you for your help. Please, if you have any other information about this, see us out”
She didn’t reply back, she only turn around and went the other way into a room where the door closed and the sound of a latch turned. Jiyuu pulled Suuchi by the collar outside into the snow “Hey, what the hell was-“the rest of the sentence was gurgled into his mouth as Jiyuu punched him. It was a light punch but it was enough to push Suuchi back on the ground “AH, what the hell!?”

“Sorry.” Jiyuu shrugged “It was the only way to get out you that place without you getting overcome with that damn place”

“Overcome? What are you gettin-“

“We’re going to the library. I’ll explain there. Right now, we need to get out of this area pronto”

Suuchi cleaned himself off by wiping the blood off his nose, mouth and chin. Light as Jiyuu punched, it still caused quite a bit of damage to his face. They left the area and walked towards the library. Jiyuu turned around and notice that the shutters of the office had completely covered the window. No one could see in or out. Jiyuu had his doubts that no one could see out because he had that feeling of someone watching him from a distance. His sapphire eyes faded and the eternal black appeared. Everything almost seems liked a negative in his eyes, seeing the white snow whiter than it could be, the sky went black but everything else seem to radiate like a mesh of beautiful colors. He looked at the building again. He had to double check that he wasn’t seeing things so he blinked once. Twice. Three times and saw the same thing. The place was radiating off a light blue chakra that had a extreme lust for blood. Its blue aura was stretching up high into the sky He knew he was walking into something fierce but his imagination didn’t perceive this.

He blinked and his eyes turn back. He continued to walk with Suuchi who was still rubbing his face.

They reached the library without any hassle, Jiyuu expected there to be more life walking around the place but all he saw was piles of snow, clear blue skies and an endless amount of trees. Jiyuu notice that there was no one here in the library as well. It seemed odd that no one was out and about. The silence was just as eerie as it was outside only there was silence rather that hearing the cool wind brush past them. He knew there were some dangers but that didn’t mean they couldn’t live their lives normally.

“Suuchi, find books that deal with old folklore. I’m going to be searching for some history books on the surrounding countries”

“Mmm, all right” he said rubbing his cheek. It was flushed red and swelling up quickly. Jiyuu wasn’t feeling bad as he should. He just saved this man’s life from being overwhelmed by that women’s power. He would be sour for now but he would thank him-hopefully. Jiyuu went over to a shelf and drew out a few books that dealt with tribes and religion around the neighboring countries. He began to scan through them, hoping he would find the one he was looking for.

“Hey Suuchi” he called out “Did you find the books?”
“Yeah, I did. Where are you?”

“I’m in the last row of in the second column”

He heard Suuchi walk and then he saw him. He had four books in his arms. He walked over to Jiyuu and set them down by his feet. Jiyuu opened up another book

“Now can you explain to me why the hell you punched me back there?”

“Butterflies.” Jiyuu sounded distracted as he was flipping through the pages

“Butterflies?” Suuchi repeated “Do you have some fetish with butterflies?”

Jiyuu flipped through more pages “The butterflies’ paintings. When we were walking down the hallway, the paintings that I commented on were emitting a type of chakra that certain genjutsu artist use in order to cause triggers. These triggers react differently in the central nervous system” He closes the book and pulls out another but continued to speak “Like have you ever seen a picture that you just have it looks terrible from a distance but when you get close, it looks absolutely amazing?”

Suuchi turned his head in thought then he pointed at him “Yeah, I have before. It looked odd at first but then when I look at it long enough, it look amazing”

“Some artists have profound knowledge with genjutsu, optical illusions and psychology. The great artist with expert skill could influence the art so well that it can have the same effect as a hallucinogen. This artist was one of them in which the effects could ultimately. There were so many of those butterfly paintings that it began to warp my mind. I had to punch myself hard in order to get out of the effect. If I didn’t, we wouldn’t be here right now”

Suuchi appeared surprise by this, not in the matter of speechlessness but in the manner of realization “It was affecting you? Why wasn’t it affecting me?”

“You are a normal person with shinobi. With me, I am extremely sensitive to genjutsu which makes it easier for me to detect but also a lot more difficult for me to release. If I didn’t punch myself, I would’ve been in the full effect. You were slowly going into this genjutsu but I punched you when we got outside so the effect would be an immediate shock”

“Wow, I guess I should thank you”

“No need. A friend assists another friend when it is needed. What is more important-“his eyes caught something in a book “Aha. Eureka, found it.” He motions Suuchi to follow.

He laid the book down on the table and pointed to one of the figures “This is what my mentor was speaking about. The god of endless nights. This god apparently gave those who worshiped him the ability to live forever. Such practices have stretched from wind country, to parts of fire country and earth country. The practice was usually to sacrifice a young female or child to the god in order to receive his blessing. What the god didn’t mention was that the immortality would last for so long. Usually for a month or so before the body begins to decay. They would have to do continuously in order to achieve this ‘immortality’. However, what it says here is that when they ran out of women and children, they would go and steal from other neighboring tribes. For centuries, these tribes began to die off because of the countless between them”

“So…this has something to do with the occult” Suuchi sounded unconvinced
Jiyuu continued “Partly. Half it would be the occult philosophy of obtaining immortality. However, the other half has to do with a technique similar to ninjutsu. This technique was the precursor to ninjutsu with the use of an energy source, a source for the energy to burn, an action and reaction. The energy source was the spirit energy. The energy source to burn was the blood of the victims. The action was that there cells regenerated and the reaction was said to be that “immortality””

“H-How did you come with this? It almost seems ludicrous enough to make sense”

“I was taught a lot of this stuff when I was younger. Really, it was just adding two and two together. I had the knowledge with that, my mentor taught me the old teachings of the powers people had back when ninjutsu didn’t exist. Now, the reason why people in this village are dying is because that certain someone is luring those women and children towards their deaths. It’s also the same woman that is putting the village is fear so that we couldn’t get any information. The women really wanted us to give up. I know small villages have hostility but no village is that dumb enough to ask for assistance and give nothing out to those are willing to help them”

The lights in the library were turned completely off. Jiyuu’s eyes immediately turned black only a moment after seeing the world like it was in sonar, Suuchi had a hard time in seeing. “Jiyuu, what happ-“his mouth was covered by a Jiyuu’s hand. He got the message with that. Jiyuu whispered in his ear to move to the table. Suuchi obeyed immediately and moved underneath the table and hoped they would get out alive.
Jiyuu moved away from the desk slowly and moved down the aisle at a rapid pace. He couldn’t hear anything move, only the sound of his light breathing and parts of his light footsteps. His eyes looked back and forth slowly, trying to find a chakra source of any kind. So far he saw none but his other senses were flaring up red signs saying that there was someone in there and they were getting closer. The opponent is a sensor I believe. He wouldn’t use the dark as a disadvantage for the both of us. He’s moving slow. Jiyuu could feel his heartbeat press up against his chest, lup dup, lup dup, lup dup. The beat was surprisingly calm and he was glad his heart was moving like that. He could only imagine it to be more rapid at this point. He stopped moving down the aisle and just stood there. He made not a sound. He made a whisper. The only thing he felt was the silence around him.

Silence.

There was the sound of something fettering in the air. Like something was dropping from the ceiling. Jiyuu looked and saw a large man who was ready to pounce on him. Jiyuu sidestepped while the man landed on all fours gracefully. It was the official from this morning. He stood up on his legs and looked at him with hazy pale green eyes. Jiyuu turned around and saw that other official had jump down from the bookcase top and down on the ground making the ground shake a bit. His fist went into his palm and he cracked it, sounding like someone was crunching on chicken bones. The other official had cracked his neck and got into a fighting stance.

Jiyuu looked at them both. He raised both arms and motion them to come on and party. Both of the officials looked at each other and then moved quickly at Jiyuu. The first official roundhouse kicked but Jiyuu ducked underneath it. The second official sent down a downward punch into the ground. Jiyuu quickly maneuvered himself to be in a handstand and dodge the incoming fist. As he was in a handstand, he began to spin his body with his legs out in a split twisting rapidly. His feet made contact with both officials in the face. They were stunned, stumbling back on their feet. They wiped their faces and saw that Jiyuu wasn’t there. They looked to the side seeing that there was no escape so there was only up. The second official looked up and saw the heel of Jiyuu’s foot land on the top of his head sending the larger than life man down on the ground. Jiyuu jumped up again and smashed both of his feet down on the second official’s head where his neck cracked instantly.

The first official saw this, his eye widen and his face enraged by this “Brother!” he cried out. He charged at Jiyuu, attempting to grab him. Jiyuu jumped up over the first official and jumped off the officials head, pushing himself forward. The official stumbled and tripped over the body of the second official. Jiyuu landed on his feet and he made a leap forward that was too quick for one to see. His knee ram into the first official’s head. This sent the man up off the ground, just a few inches up but he was flying down the aisle and into the next one where he skipped off the floor and then landed in a position that no body of that size could ever be moved. There, the official’s body went lifeless.

Jiyuu jogged down the aisle. He looked underneath the table saw Suuchi still underneath it “Are they gone?” he asked

“Yeah, I took care of them. Seeing that we compromise this, I’m assuming the next attack is either going to from her or from the villagers. Let’s just pray it’s her.” Suuchi got up from the table and Jiyuu grabbed his arm so he could guide him out of the library

“Why the hell do you wanna fight her? I rather handle the villagers.”

“I’m insane good sir not stupid. You take out the head honcho first before you fight the lackeys otherwise you’re just wasting time and energy with it. It’s shinobi 101 man. Get with the program.”

“I’m a medical examiner not a damn shinobi”

“This is not the time debate about the issue!”

“You’re the one who brought the issue up"

Jiyuu reached the door and opened it. Both Jiyuu and Suuchi were rewarded with something that didn’t really want. Who they saw was a woman of auburn hair with two scalpels in her head and a black cloak to cover her body. Needless to say, Jiyuu had an interesting thought about the bacon that Suuchi had cooked. He was regretting that he didn’t get a chance to have a strip or two.

“Boy, did you really have to kill my two lackeys?” she said in an odd and ferocious voice. That soft appearance she gave had only moments ago changed instantaneously. She didn’t sound too disappointed in the fact that Jiyuu had killed the both of them. She seems as if she board on the subject “They were weak anyways. I was sure they could handle you because of your youth. But I suppose you aren’t a jounin from Kumogakure no reason. Seeing how young you are, you aren’t a typical young man”

“Tch. And you aint the typical bitch.” He snickered “How long has it been since you got your last fix? A month or so? That’s how long that technique last right?” He turned to Suuchi “When was the last a corpse popped up again? You it was a month ago?”

Suuchi nodded “Exactly one month to the day”

Jiyuu grinned “So tell me lady, why haven’t you killed again? Is it because you ran out of young women and children to murder? There is so plenty of children and women around here that pretty much have a small life time supply”

She let out a howl, her teeth showed canines all around and her face contorted like a enraged mongrel who gotten sand in its eye. The purple eyes had now turned a sinister yellow and the auburn hair was becoming the color of ravens

Jiyuu laughed again “Oh no, that’s not it. It’s because the technique is flawed. At first, it was a month. Then it was twenty nine days. Then twenty-eight. Finally, it got to point where you used that technique and sacrificed those poor women and children and the effects were extremely short”

“Fuck off kid, you know nothing” her voice became hoarse, low and become a bit more masculine than ever. “You understand nothing boy. I’ve been alive for too long and now you come along and try to prevent this? You fool. This place is MINE. ALL MINE!”

“Tch” unfettered, Jiyuu cracked his hands together “The technique is flawed, the entire concept of immortality through this means will only lead to death. It’s over Miki. You can’t win against me”

She looked at him with a surprised glance “Me? Lose to a boy like yourself? You should be a comedian; you have good taste in humor. I have killed many in my line of work and you think you have the potential in defeating me?”

“Potential?” he points to himself and that coy smile rose on his lips “Bitch, I got more than that. I got the universe. That shit keeps on going and going. You and me, we are in different leagues. And you just so happen to be at the lowest”

Miki had enough. His words had affected her too deep and she was now enraged that some child would speak to her as such. She rushed forward. Jiyuu eyes could see the chakra flow out of it and a sharp red chakra spurting out of her hands. He had a feeling that touching that would cause some serious damage on his body. Jiyuu pulled out a smoke bomb and threw it at her while simultaneously throwing a kunai. Miki blocked the kunai but the smoke bomb still exploded.

She jumped back and out of the smoke bomb. Coming out of the smoke bomb was Jiyuu with his hand in a fist. He made cuts to the left, right, left, right, left. He seems to found some leverage with the snow now and had adapted quickly. She stabbed at him but Jiyuu jumped in the air and was reading to roundhouse kick

“Too slow boy!” her other hand took the scalpel a sliced horizontally at him. It sliced at his coat and any further than that would’ve done further damage. He landed on the snow but lost balance and slipped rolling towards a house.

“Fuck” he said. He looked up and saw her charge at him, the maniacal laughter just echoing out across the town. Jiyuu jumped up off the ground but slipped again. He had no leverage and he wasn’t going to be able to get up; she was already here. She stabbed deep in the shoulder and Miki could feel the twisting of muscle as she moved the scalpel around. Jiyuu let out a yell of extreme pain. Miki took the other scalpel and drove it into the other shoulder.

“I’m in another league? I’m in another league?” she repeated this over and over again “I’m in another league, I’m in another league, I’m in another league!” she took out two more scalpels and stabbed them into his chest. He coughed up a lump of blood from his mouth. In the distance Suuchi had screamed his name.

“I’m going to kill you slowly. You would welcome death and bask in it as I take away our life” her hand began to change into a solid crimson color. The color of which blood had drenched into her for the many years she had killed to obtain such power and immortality. “I like to be a bit cliché in the matter. So, do you have any final words?”

Jiyuu eyes were fading, losing life as she was speaking. He saw her lips move and her eyes twinkled with joy and bloodlust. Oh God, everything was fading away. This life that he was living was fading away. Ha, what a life he live and what bullshit he was preaching earlier about her being underneath him.

He could only hear the part of her asking what his last words were. There was a slow, creeping smile rising from his lips. He said “Resquicat in pace you fucking bitch” the body of Jiyuu poof into a cloud of smoke. Her eyes widen. Her body turning to find that Jiyuu was right behind her with his fist cocked back, covered in snow. There was something surrounding that fist too. Yes, there was something. What was this thing she was seeing? The last thing she saw was Jiyuu’s fist ramming itself into Miki’s body. Her body went flying off the ground, soaring into the forest where her body crashed into a tree making a dent. Her blood was pouring out every opening out of her body and her eyes were staring out at nothing. Her face was in total shock but it showed the true age of her body. The life she once obtained had been taken away. How did this happen? How could someone like him beat me…her mind began to trail and in the darkness. Before the ghost left the body, the last thing she had was a simple regret. It was-

Suuchi stared at Jiyuu as he was walking towards her. Suuchi shook his head and had his mouth ajar. “H-Ho-How” He couldn’t even speak out the sentence

“When I threw that smoke bomb and kunai, I knew she would jump back. The smoke wasn’t going to disperse anytime soon so I decided to pull a shadow clone while I dig myself underground. All I really did was wait until she had me cornered and had a sense of false sense of victory and wa la.
“I pissed her off because I saw her chakra levels. They were extremely low. She was exerting so much energy to control the people that it was almost impossible for her to perform any other technique besides those scalpels. She was exerting so much energy because of her anger that she didn’t realize that I pulled that rick off. If she was at full power, that trick wouldn’t have worked as well. It was essentially probability.”

“My god…” Suuchi said “If that was all by luck then you are one lucky man”

Jiyuu scratched his head nervously and laughed “Nah, I think it has nothing to do with luck. Just probability” he let out a sigh and sat down on the steps leading to the library. He searched through his pocket to see if he had any toothpicks. He felt not a sharp prick on his skin. “Awesome” he said “Solved the murders, killed the bad guy and can’t even end it off with a toothpick…” he let out a heavy sigh and dropped his head. “What a way to end it”

Jutsu(s) used

Spoiler:

Official Report of Snow Country

Delegate: Kyuusho, Jiyuu.

Date: 2/18/XXXX

Madam Raikage, you know how I really don’t like writing reports about this. It’s really a hassle and all. But you say its protocols and I say it’s nothing but a waste of time. All right, my apologizes, shouldn’t of start off this way. This will be my official report on murders in snow country.

When I first arrived with a guide, I got the usual hostility from the villages. But it was that silent hostility that could make a person nervous from entering. Of course, as the mission stated, I talked to the two ‘officials’ who informed me of the murders, how many women and children had been murdered and how there have been no leads at all.

I naturally had a suspicion that there was something much more sinister going on in the village. No one was talking and I didn’t even attempt to talk to anyone besides the doctor of the village. She was the one willing to speak to me. To what I am surprise about is the fact that she utilize the ability of genjutsu art. I found out how it could cause a mild sense of vertigo to legitimate A-class Hallucinations which could distort the many aspects of a shinobi. A genjutsu expert or master could’ve seen through it but it was the general area and not a source.

My discovery upon it was that the doctor was controlling the people of the village. She had use an extensive chakra network through the village in order to gain control of the minds and bodies of the villagers. They were willing and able to sacrifice themselves for the gains of this deranged and senseless woman. As requested, I put the person to justice and the village is now free from the control of the vile woman.

The village, after I left, is picking up the pace and thankfully there is no need for any alarm for that village. The man who accompanied me, Suuchi, is a medical examiner and was willing to work out the rest of the symptoms the people were suffering at the time. You will receive a report from him in a months’ time. Hopefully, this will gain up more trust towards Snow Country, allowing us to have more peace among that nation.