Yoshiwara is the epicenter of organized crime in Zaishin. The gangs who run the operations of Yoshiwara are rumored to be secretly funded by the nobility including even the five clans. Yoshiwara is the red light district with brothels teeming with noble and wealthy clientele. Although it is little-known, there are tunnels that lead to the Yoshiwara brothels for maximum discretion.
Keiji Nakamura, son of a peasant farming family, and self-trained samurai of the Hidden Steel found himself in the middle of a ring in the criminal underground pit fighting circuit. The samurai grinned confidently as he lowered his blade into a mid-range stance against the large, burly, opponent that the rest of the rowdy crowd that surrounded the ring seemed to be cheering for. Keiji was a rather unknown force in this dark world of brutal blood sport. In-fact, some of the nobles who lead him might frown on this type of entertainment, but this wasn't about his reputation among the big-shots up top. It was about becoming one of the big-shots that ran things on the local level and commanded absolute respect, from the average working class to the thugs in the underground.
The peasant warrior was not in the least bit phased by the lack of cheering, and even sounds of those betting against him. "These people are in for a treat, they just do not know it.", Keiji said with a confident smirk to the man he stared down. The large brute simply snorted as the bell sounded the start of their bout. His opponent swung first with a heavy katana strike, but against the self-trained Keiji, it was too slow. The peasant hero dodged to the side, and then with one fluid motion lashed out with a strike too fast for his opponent to keep up with in a similar fashion. The beast fell to his knees and then over unable to keep up with how fast and hard he'd been hit. "Winner! Keiji....NAKAMURA~!!", the announcer shouted over the crowd.
Keiji was left alone in the ring for a moment as people seemed to jeer him, and others who had lost money by betting against him shook their fist. With the staff cleaning up, which was not saying much given the filthy state of the squared circle that this sport took place in, the peasant warrior's next opponent stepped through the gates. Another no-name big guy with a large tetsubo was his opponent. "Guess it's time to squish this ant?", his brute of an opponent called out to the crowd. Keiji simply spat to the ground and offered his opponent one of the ultimate insults that seemed to have been passed down through time, a big old middle finger gesture. The exchange lead to a loud cheer of excitement, just what they were here to draw out, plus a nice paycheck and the glory that came with victory.
The crowd could already be heard placing bets up until the ring bell sounded, and this time Keiji acted first and with decisive action. Given the size and scope of his opposition in this instance, he had no plans of letting him get the first move. With a powerful and speedy slash as Keiji charge the man he stabbed the point of his katana forward. At first, it looked like the large man had dodged backward, just out of reach of the weapon until the outline of Keiji's chakra coating the edge of his katana came into view. The Samurai Sabre technique had extended the reach of the stab to the point were there was actually extending through his opponent's back. With a single twist, and a dissipation of the chakra, the peasant samurai left his opponent face down on the ground with a mortal injury. "Winner! Keiji....NAKAMURA~!! Two and oh! Can he keep it up?!", the promoter shouted out as Keiji went back to his corner and prepared for the next bout. He was scheduled to keep going until defeated.
Keiji was granted a brief moment while the staff prepared the ring for his next opponent. He took his time to slow his breathing and do something that would catch the eyes of those now starting to consider placing their bets in his favor. Those watching would see the peasant warrior lift his hand and point straight up, holding it there. Some would look to see what he was pointing at, but there was nothing there. It was then he shouted, adding to his signature identity as an underground gladiator, "Even the lowest can change their stars!" This was an allusion to his past as an impoverished son of a farmer family. This brought a brief roar of approval from those in attendance, but not from the lanky individual who stepped into the ring to be his next opposition. "Talk is cheap, let's see if you can keep your fluke streak up against a true professional?", the scroungy man said as he drew two wicked looking knives and settled into a low crouch.
With their match under way, Keiji found himself on the receiving end of a brutal and quick onslaught of slashes and stabs from the knife-wielding foe. It was clear that this dual dagger style had been honed on the streets, and not in a professional manner. This did not make it any easier for the Samurai to find an opening in which to strike. This definitely was a change of pace from the quick matches against the two before this duelist that was challenging the Okkapiki's reaction timing. Keiji felt the sting of pain erupt on the left side of his face as one of the daggers barely missed his eye, grazing his cheek, but then he had his opportunity. Biting back the pain, Keiji charged forward into the smaller man and shoved him backward with the pure momentum of his own body. The smaller man was thrown to the floor by the impressive shove, only to find Keiji's sword tip at his throat. The duelist simply laid backward, and dropped his knives in a show of surrender. "A true professional would have never underestimated the drive of one with nothing to lose.", Kei said simply. He was the victor, not unscathed as before, but still he had enough to keep the crowd cheering in his favor.
While he used the Bandage Technique to tend to his cut cheek from the last match, Keiji took time to think about everything that had brought him to this point. The nobles of the five houses, which had ruled over not just him, but everyone here in attendance cared nothing for the sacrifices that were made to keep them in power. The point remained that Zaishin had lost a great deal in the recent times, and the fact it was in a state of decline did not seem to even warrant the ruling class's attention. So while Keiji bled and strove for every bit of notoriety in this poverty-ridden hell hole, the sentiment of resentment for those above him in station began to fester and grow, like a cancer. A change was building inside his way of thinking as the night of violence brought him yet another enemy.
The bell rang just as it had three times before now, and this time, Keiji was face to face with a fist fighter wearing two large metal gauntlets. He stared the man down and prepared for the first blow to be struck. His opponent let out a ferocious battle cry before slamming a fist outward at Keiji, who used the Shunshin technique to blur right past his opposition's slow, and heavy strike. In a flashy display of swordsmanship, purple chakra fog pulsed from him as he aimed a high speed triple-tap jab at his opponent's broad back and shoulders. The flash of his blade only seemed to barely dip into the large brute's flesh, but with the hidden power of the phantom blade technique, the strikes actually created exit wounds on the man's torso, causing him to collapse from the sudden shock of such rapid trauma. Kei sheathed his blade before turning his back on his fallen foe and simply pointed a finger skyward, which caused the promoter to shout in elation, "WINNER! KEIJI NAKAMURRRRA~! This total star child in the making is one bout away from securing himself permanent membership among our roster of underground champions! Can he do it?!" The crowd of people simply roared in affirmation.
Keiji sighed softly as he fell back into the stool in a corner of the ring during the brief reprieve he was awarded between matches. These people cheering his name and betting in his favor came from all walks of commoner life. Not a single member of the noble houses could be spotted, at least from his perspective. It only further affirmed his growing belief that the ruling powers were not worthy of their stations. If they were, they'd be down in the dirt and blood of battlefields claiming victory just like Kei was here on a smaller scale. "I don't care if I have to become the bad guy of this story. If I have to break down the walls and rebuild the future for people like me and everyone in the stands. I promise you all a new world were our worth is based on merit, not bloodline.", he muttered to himself with a furrowed brow. It was true resolve, even if it was quite ambitious for one of his station. This was not an oath or promise made in the vanity of his success. It was the manifestation of his own resentment that had finally taken shape. His honor and oath was not sworn to protect the nobles, no, he was to be a champion for the commoner.
The time to simmer and brood on his newfound purpose as a Samurai of Zaishin had come to an end for the moment as the promoter now began to hype up the final bout in Keiji's series for the evening, "In one corner...we have our rising star! A promising talent from only kami knows where bathed in the blood of victory~! Keeeeeeeeijiiiii~.....NAKAMURRRAAA~!!" There was a roar from the modest attendance of those premised to the underground fighting arena. Bets began to exchange hands as his opponent stepped forward for his own introduction. This one was slightly better built than everyone else who had stepped forward this evening. Still, they had the look of an academy wash out. The way they drew their katana, though, did hint at some prior training.
Keiji stood up and snorted before giving everyone in the crowd a cocky grin before pointing a single finger skyward, as had become his signature there this evening. Keiji then held a hand up to pause the promoter before he introduced his opponent. "That's right! I'm Keiji Nakamura! Okkapiki of the Hidden Steel! If any of you are nobles of the ruling caste or belong to the great houses. I've got another finger for you too!", he shouted in what would become an absolute and public display of disdain as he raised his other hand and both of his hands flipped middle fingers skyward, which he rotated around and showed off to the crowd. "That's right! SCREW YOU! I'm not here for you! I'm here for the rest of you who are just like me!" Keiji then stepped back and spit to the ground only adding to the insolence of his declaration.
The promoter of the fighting ring couldn't help but stand there grinning from cheek to cheek, he could not have gotten over those in attendance as well as the upstart samurai. "And just how can you expect to follow that?! Wow, what a champion in the making, but let's see if Nakamura's words can hold a candle to Mitsuru the Candle Cutter!", the promoter called out in introduction of Keiji's challenger. The other swordsman would simply look at Keiji and offer him the same rude hand gesture he had offered any potential nobles in the crowd. "I got your finger right here. You may be a samurai, but you're absolutely nothing in this ring. Here, words will only go so far. Draw and let's give these people what they really came for!", the man identified as 'The Candle Cutter' spat before placing both hands on his katana.
With the ring of the bell, the crowd let loose a furious cheer as suddenly there was a rush of wind, and Keiji stood there stunned for a moment. Mitsuru, his opponent, had utilized the Body Flicker technique, and despite the slight move to the side, blood could be felt dripping beneath Keiji's Hakama, which now had a neat slash in the fabric. "s**t...", he groaned as he bit back the pain. He had been against unskilled and untrained brutes all night that he had not mentally prepared himself to be on the receiving end of the Samurai Sabre technique, or face somebody that might even injure him. His raw grit and determination kept him moving though as Kei prepared his own devastating follow up. He then gathered his chakras to his blade before letting out a deep sigh of concentrated effort before he slashed downward. The speed of his attack was almost a blur to the untrained, but then it wasn't the blade his opponent should have been worried about dodging, as The Candle Cutter was suddenly opened up wide by a wave of pressure that blew them backward with a massive laceration down their torso. The Tetsuishi Ryu, a skill of the Samurai and one of the more refined arts of Bukijutsu was on display now. It seemed like Mitsuru was going to come back for a counter strike, but the trauma inflicted by the decisive move was too much and he crumpled to the ground in critical condition.
Keiji had sustained a rather nasty injury himself, one he was tending to as the promoter had announced his victory. Learning a decent basis of Iryojutsu had kept him alive so far, but the wound to his abdomen would take time to heal up beyond being stabilized by the bandaging technique. He would then leave the ring to collect his winnings from the owner, who also just so happened to own the brothel above the underground pit fighting arena that he had been competing in. For his success he was offered a room, and his choice of one of the owner's 'girls' for the night. A prize he did not decline as the Rising Star of the People spent a night of celebration in carnal pleasures with one of the girls offered. He was not a saint by any means, or the perfect vessel of righteous behavior, and passing up on some free time with a cutie who knew her way around a mattress was completely out of the question...still, being that this is a show meant for the young, everything that happened the rest of the night on is simply left to one's imagination as the author refuses to elaborate further on Keiji's lewd indiscretions.
Back down into the underground, the heroic peasant Samurai, Keiji Nakamura went as he went into the pit fighting ring. The man had become something of a house-hold name in this illegal display of public violence. As he approached the ring, he was given several pats on the back. The usual rabble was cheering and happy that this new, rising, star had saw fit to return and grace them with more displays of gratuitous bloodshed. It was a service he was happy to provide, as this particular evening he had been called out by a particularly lethal opponent. He was not worried, in fact, he had come prepared. The cocky grin on his spirited visage was evident as he took his place in the ring.
Matsuhide of the Kaguya Clan stood on the opposite end of the ring from Keiji. The man was a stocky, muscular, monstrosity built for physical combat. Keiji had also noted that his opponent's ring name, "The Bone Scythe", was also because of his pension for making weapons out of his own bones with his bloodline limit ability. It was a fearsome skill, but the "Rising Star" was not worried about it. It was part of the impending glory to face down something unlike the initial five mooks he had to in order to gain his place in this hidden temple of ritual spectator blood sport. "Let's put on a good show, so don't die too quickly on me, kid.", the elder Kaguya said as bones extended from his palm and he drew them out in a wicked bone katana. Keiji took note of the weapon as he drew forth his own modest blade. There was no contest between the weapons themselves, but the wielders behind them. "I'm not going to give you the satisfaction of a quick match.", Keiji remarked with a dark chuckle.
The ring announcer stepped forward to introduce the two after their initial exchange of remarks had concluded. The sounds of bets exchanging hands and the crowd discussing their preferred fighter as the promoter shouted via his bullhorn, "In -this- corner...", he paused as he gestured to Keiji, "We have our Rising Star Child, The man with the phantom blade, and who's mission is to entertain you all...Keeeeeiiijiii NaKKKKAAAMUUUURRRAAA~!" At his own introduction, Keiji did his signature move of pointing one finger skyward as he stared down Matsuhide with his powerful resolve evident in his eyes. "And in this corner! We have the man with the plan! The deadly reaper of skulls...MAAAAATSUHIIIDEEEE KAguUUUUYA!", The promoter shouted with glee as Matsuhide simply held his bone-sword and aimed it at Keiji. The promoter then gave the two a nod and stepped out of the way, prepared to watch the lethal showdown.
It was the sound of the bell and the roar of the crowd that signaled the start of the bloody match of underground pit fighting. Stepping into the ring, Keiji knew he would be risking his very life and putting at risk his dreams of revolution, but there was a more important prize at stake here. It was the glory and prestige he would need to inspire the thugs, peasants, and rejects of society into respecting him. To believing that he could be the one to help them get a leg up in this world that wanted to take everything from them, that was what the samurai hero needed to do. His dreams would have to wait, as he felt the rush of wind, while the fast opponent lunged and nearly plunged their bone sword into his cheek, though thanks to some quick reaction timing honed by pure grit and determination, Keiji managed to avoid the strike. It was followed up by the fact that Matsuhide had spawned a second sword from his other hand and sought to plunge it into his torso, but Kei was able to block it to the side with his own blade. The sound of bone scraping against metal was harsh, but it was the way this match would flow.
With the blocked strike, Keiji Nakamura found himself an opening, one he quickly seized to gain the offensive ground this time in the gladiatorial match. Spinning his katana to the side gracefully, he sheathed it and brought both hands up to form quick hand seals. He then suddenly shifted his movement at high speeds, only to appear in a puff of toxins but only to take advantage of his opponent's coughing to plant his hand square against their back. "Water Style: Water Prison Jutsu!", Keiji said sternly and with authority. A sphere of water manifested and wrapped around Matsuhide until he was left inside a Water Prison Jutsu with Keiji holding him...poisoned and now in danger of drowning. He had no intention of winning with this combination, even though he could very well just hold him there. Nothing was going to stop him, or so he thought.
Matsuhide knew he was well in his predicament as he choked and coughed and inhaled water involuntarily from the poison that was coursing through his veins and the water that was drowning him. Keiji smirked at him knowing that he was going to die if he did not think of a way out, and that's when the Kaguya unleashed the fury of their cursed mark. The black tattoo expanded along their body and increased their chakra immensely before he caused a small forest of bones to burst forth from the ground. Keiji swore in foul obscenity, not fit for kids observing this program, as he was forced to break the connection with the Water Prison to evade the strike, thus freeing the empowered and slightly pissed off bone user from his watery grave. It was then that things started to go horribly wrong in the match.
Keiji did not know what to do at the moment as Matsuhide had disappeared when the dastardly Kaguya created the bone arena. Unbeknownst to the heroic samurai, his foe had appeared behind him out of one of the spikes of bone and slashed down heavily at his right shoulder. There was a searing hot sensation of absolute pain, and then a flash of blood as Keiji's eyes went wide from the shock of watching a wicked bone-scythe weapon separate his entire right arm in one fell stroke. The power and cutting edge of his opponent's arsenal had disarmed him, quite literally in this instance and he was now in great peril. But, Kei was a Cestus, and durable in his own right. He howled in pain, none the less, but only for a moment as he quickly ducked and dodged a subsequent attack while blood spurted and streamed down his body from the stump that used to be where his arm connected to his body.
"Just bite through the pain...We can fix it later!", Keiji shouted as he grabbed his sword from his dismembered limb and continued to roll and evade strikes from the curse seal empowered foe. All the while, he kept the memories of his ambition and his dreams of his aspirations on the forefront of his mind. The heroic swordsman blocking out the mind-numbing agony that would have brought most to their knees in surrender, but no, not in this instance. He could not afford to lose, not now, not ever...Especially since he was so close to getting the funds to make his own lethal weapon. It was time to bust out one of his most lethal techniques...even if at this juncture it meant that going all out and missing or failing would end up with his death.
Matsuhide strode confidently at the wounded Keiji who had finally stood up in a stance, and planted his sword into the ground. "Just what can you hope to accomplish, you've lost your sword arm. You're bleeding out, and you're going to die, so please...just surrender and I will grant you mercy.", the Bone Scythe said as he brandished the wicked weapon. Keiji held up a single hand-sign and began to manifest a monstrous amount of chakra for an A-Rank bodied Samurai. He was performing one of the Ultimate skills of the Phantom Slayer art, as a Giant Oni projection came into view and left his opponent stunned in disbelief. "No...This cannot be happening?! How can you even...?! No...No no no no...no!!", Matsuhide shouted in pure terror as with the completion of the jutsu, the Oni projection began to swing down it's massive club. His opponent could not move and fell down to the ground as the club smashed into them, or so they thought. This presented the opening Keiji needed and he grabbed up his sword to deliver a swift blow as Matsuhide Kaguya fell down to the illusory strike from the demonic illusion. Keiji's sword sliced right through the Kaguya's right arm, severing it in the same way he had his... and removing the cursed mark with it.
With Keiji removing his opponent's arm in turn, and slicing away the vestige of power that had driven him, Matsuhide was dead. While he was durable and strong, not to mention quick, and lethal...he did not have the ability to withstand the trauma like Keiji did, granted time was a factor and our hero was soon to feel the shock and agony from the sudden blood loss. "The Winner! KEeeeeeeijiii...NAKAMUUUUURRRAAA!!!", the Announcer called as the ring crew came in to confirm that Matsuhide was dead. They had tried to take the arm that had been severed, but Keiji took it and shrugged with a wicked grin. "No no no...This...this is...my..prize. Gnnn...But I need to work fast.", he groaned, slumping down to the ground. The time limit he could sustain such damage was up, and now he would need to rely on his own self-taught medical prowess to save his own life.
A-Rank: Duel to the Death : Dance in the Boneyard [Implant Mission]
Blood...drip, drip, drip. It poured from the wound on Keiji Nakamura's body, the place where not just but moments ago his lethal Kaguya opponent had severed his arm completely and he returned the favor in kind. But there was little time to lament on the killing of a worthy adversary or the fact that if he did not succeed in transplanting this new arm onto his frame, he could very well die. "Arrrrrrrgg....Dammit!", Keiji roared out as the pain of the trauma began to reach even his own nerves. The samurai had been tested, beaten, and bruised to the point were he was normally able to take the pain of being kicked through solid walls. But this injury was more than just a broken body. It was a part that had been taken, and yet at the same time, possibly a new piece to be added.
Keiji then pulled the Kaguya arm up to his own missing stump, and bit down on his lower lip. He was sure that the connection was not going to feel good. Then, bracing himself against a wall for support, he began the process of reattaching the limb with the Bone Healer Skill. Bone, flesh, nerves, tissue...it all began to fuse and connect with the rapid healing process of the jutsu. The sensation was numbing but also super painful at the same time, like a thousand bee stings unloading all at once. Pain caused him to begin dripping sweat, but he still had to focus. Even despite the murmuring of the crowd as he put himself back together with new parts right before their eyes, the samurai could not even entertain what they might be thinking if him.
Being self-taught and having paid under the table for lessons in a variety of fields to make up for his lack of Bloodline Limit was enough, but it was learning how to put people back together that was going to save him now as he worked the jutsu and molded the chakra to stimulate the growth of bones and fusing them to his body. But he was also unknowingly fusing something else into his body, The Cursed Seal of the Blood Orchid. Tainted blood of the Kaguya now flowed into him and began to taint his own with the cursed power of Jashin. He felt a pulse of pain, different than what he had felt as his body began to fuse with, and adapt to the new arm. But, he simply shrugged it off, it was probably just the cells of the Kekkai Genkai integrating with his own body. He could not have been more right, and at the same time more wrong.
With the threat of his life ending from bleeding out over, Keiji began to restore himself on a more internal level by regenerating lost blood cells and energy with the Healing Hands technique. It was not as effective using it on himself as it would have been another person, but the circulation of his chakra through the newly grafted arm and the rest of his body sped up the recovery time from the intense surgical jutsu procedure. It was highly likely he might need to get it looked over by a fully trained medical professional, but for now things were looking good. He could move and flex the arm, softly for now, but it seemed like the operation was a success.
He paused for a moment in internal thought at that moment though, as Keiji could feel the curse of the Curse Mark flowing through him, and into his body. He looked over to the new tattoo that his grafted arm sported. A part of him felt the connection now to his own chakra, and then it became evident that it was his body not only accepting the Dead Bone Pulse, but also the wicked power that Jashin had instilled into his, now dead, enemy's very bloodline. It was highly likely that he would have to face down the evil he had just invited inside him at some point, but what was more troubling was the shock that he had lost a part of his original parts. It was a feeling of loss that really made him think.
"What have I become?"
Sure, Keiji had gained a new weapon, but it was a stolen power taken in greed and now with little consideration for the consequences. It seemed that in death, his enemy saw fit to curse him with a wicked darkness that seeped into him. Cursed spirit energy, and a corrupt nature chakra was the gift given, but it was one not taken knowingly. Still, there was the moral quandary of power being power, and it was now up to him to use everything he had lost and gained here to see his dreams of revolution come to fruition. "Even if I lose all of me, I must be brave. I am a hero, and heroes are courageous...aren't they?", he thought to himself, but those last words spoken mentally were not his own. It was a doubt he had never experienced. A sudden shake in his resolve, and a tinge of fear. It seemed to sink in just how close he had come to losing everything he had been working for. "It could have all been for nothing...", the dark voice in his mind cooed like a soft, silver tongue. "You need more power, and you can never lose any ever again."
The seeds of doubt and a lust for more power had been sewn in the mind of Keiji. The hero, for the first time, felt tainted by a darkness that now had taken and fed upon his own desires. He wanted nothing more, than in that moment to cling tight to everything he had and never let go. This doubt and fear of losing this new arm, a new sword, or potentially anything that empowered him to bring forth the revolution he craved was now becoming a driving force, most likely to the delight of the spiritual deific puppeteers of the cosmos.... in this case, Jashin and O-Inari. One of them was sure to claim his soul and use him as a weapon on the mortal plane, but for now Keiji just stuck to what he knew best. The hero put forth the seeds of doubt and fear from him, and stood tall and confident, despite his weakness... and he lifted a single index finger skyward, from the new right arm.
The act of raising his finger and pointing upward in his signature brought a sigh of relief among the crowd, most whom were concerned that their new favorite fighter was going to die. Keiji then let out a loud bellow of primal fury, and everyone then began to clap and cheer for him. "That's right...I'm doing this for them.", he muttered to himself with his usual confidence back about him. The raven haired samurai trudged forward back to the ring exit were he was met by the brothel owner. The same offer as the last time, and Kei patted the man on the shoulder with his new arm. "I humbly accept.", he said, and he left the man standing there as he walked upward to go to the room he had been afforded to rest. But, even as he entered the room where the lovely courtesans' awaited him and began to tend to his body in only ways they knew how, and were unfit to be described on paper Keiji knew what he felt from the owner just downstairs. It was not the respect he desired, nor the adoration. No, that was fear, and it disgusted him so much. "Nobody should fear their hero...", he thought just before surrendering to the carnal bliss that would carry on into the night and off camera... A hero needed his privacy after all, right? β
[exit to forge]
A-Rank: Implant Surgery : Kaguya Arm Trauma Narrative: Cursed and Feared due to his new arm [S-Rank]
__ Following his informant's instructions, streets turned into tunnels and then tunnels. Along the way, his hand found a corner that lingered more in the shadows than others in this underground. This graffiti marking would linger from his passing, and act as a beacon for his return for as long as it remained undisturbed. Before long he'd resurface to the Yoshiwara district's main streets and ultimately arriving at one of many gambling houses. A haphazard chorus of caws and guttural belting from a nearby murder became muffled as he slid the door closed behind himself. Several eyes shifted from their business while others remained focused on their prospective activities. The building did not fall entirely silent, but he could hear the focus put on him as he removed his hat then ran his fingers through his hair to fix the mess properly. Nabuya met some gazes with a scoff then moved toward the back of the building. A large, well-built bouncer stood interposed between him and reinforced metal door leading to the back of the den. The bouncer studied Nabu all the way till a firm collision occurred between the men's chests. The bouncer stood firm as Nabuya took a step back and he irately barked, "Cur! Who are you to think you can just walk in here as you please?" Once again, he could feel several eyes on him and he heard the hissing of steel being drawn in anticipation to support the bouncer if things got violent. Nabu glanced around again and said, "Look, I see where you think this is going and I'm really just not in the ******** mood." His right hand lifted to rest on the grip of his katana, "You sure have a lot of regulars here. It'd be a shame for this fine establishment if they all died here. Bad for business, right?" Suddenly everything within eighteen feet of him became enveloped in lashing waves of golden chakra manifesting around him. The bouncer, surprised, thrust a jab at Nabuya's chest. The punch was easily caught as Nabuya's chakra inflicted the fatigue on the bouncer and others that were near. He could have caught it easily anyway, but there was no point in defending yourself if anyone around thought they could try again. Nabu torqued the bouncer's hand, gradually increasing the pressure until the other man yielded, "S-s-sorry! Please unhand me!" Nearly successful. Nabuya was okay with this progress as the others fell to their knees or retreated. "You're a smart lug, ain't ya?" He shifted the direction of the torqued arm and tossed him aside with a smirk before dismissing his chakra manifestation. The weight of the room returned to normal as Nabuya closed the door into the back room behind himself.
The den's rear space was more dimly lit, but far more decorative than the front side. Nabuya could immediately discern the present VIPs- ranging anywhere from crime lords to Five House nobles. A waving hand drew him over to a booth veiled by black silks in a corner. When he drew nearer a faintly raspy, lisped male's voice greeted him, "Welcome~! I trust you kept your promise to not kill any of the other patrons or staff today?" Nabuya sat with a short grunt, setting his sword across his lap, "Yeah yeah. All of'em are alive. Remember, that'll cost ya an extra favor." His eyes drew up toward his contact, noting the yokai's reptilian features blending into such a humanoid shape. "So?" The command was met with a pleased hum and compliant nod, "Of course. Here you are." A small scroll was removed from his sleeve and handed over to Nabuya. Nabuya took the scroll and spun it it on his index finger for the heck of it before catching it in palm. "Nice job, scales. See ya." A bag of coins was left on the table as Nabuya vanished in a blur.
_______________ βOut Of Contextβ Β―Β―Β―Β―Β―Β―Β―Β―Β―Β―Β―Β―Β―Β―Β―
Technique(s) Active: β’ Liar's Brand [ X Rank ] _β S+ Rank Cost Paid _β Appears as E-Rank Body stats to (most) sensory effects. _β Only S+ Rank Sensory effects can see through this "mask". β’ [ Rank ] _β ___β [ Rank ] ____β
