Anyone Get the Number of that Truck? [Mituso only.]

How long had he been laying there? Minutes? Days? Weeks? He couldn't tell. Time and Ranmaru had never been good friends, and right now Time was so far gone that the male could barely remember the concept. He did know this: his head was pounding, his body burned with pain, and he was... thoroughly trashed.

For the first time since he was 18 and ended the madman's life... he'd been beaten so badly that he could barely move. It was... thrilling. In more ways than one. He hadn't been this close to death in ages, and he felt about as alive as he possible could without using some sort of hallucinogenic drug. At the same time, he felt a sort of... peace, within his mind. For the moment, the raging voices and blur of red was gone; his blood lust had been sated for the first time in years. He'd long since given up on trying to sate it; merely enjoying the thrill of the kill. This was... different. This was what it felt like to be completely dominated in combat, and a part of him was responding to that in... animalistic ways.

Oh, he wasn't even about to hide the fact that he got off on the entire fight; but that wasn't it. It was something a bit higher on the evolutionary chain; a sense of submission that had washed over him. He couldn't fight this man, this stranger from another place that had challenged him. Something about him... it wasn't power per say; they where overall evenly matched in that department. No, it was an attitude, a presence about him... it overwhelmed and subdued the animal.

He... he needed more of that. Not the fighting, he'd go wrestle a bear for a dose of that; or find some village and slaughter it.

Shit, he wasn't even sure what he was thinking anymore; he knew he'd taken a few dozen blows to the head; it was amazing he even had one left; so he wasn't even on the same page he normally was. He wasn't even in the same book.

" 'eeeeey.~ 'eeeeeeey.~ Ya' 'live, stranger?"

The hell was he calling out for him? Shit, prolly get himself killed doing that, but then again, he'd never cared if he lived or died. Why bother now? "Ya there, eh? I ken smell ya man; answer meh."

Why?

His head was throbbing and he thought there was a chance his skull may have been cracked. There was a seering pain in his left ankle, though that was just what hurt slightly more than everything else on his body. He could barely move, barely even sit up, but he knew he had to. He rested one of his hands on the ground and, not to any surprise of his, felt as though his wrist had been sprained.

Why?

He pushed up so he could take a look around the battlefield, at least that’s what the place looked like. Nobody would suspect there were only two shinobi and a chakra beast here beforehand before all the dust had settled. He tried to stand but only confirmed what he already knew about his ankle and instead decided not to apply more force than necessary to it. His everything hurt, he knew that fighting that thing was a bad idea…

So why did you do it?

Shut up, Nii-san…

He heard someone calling…somewhere…he wasn’t entirely sure what direction it was coming from. He heard the voice and allowed it to sink into his head, which all of a sudden began to have memories flooding back into it. He remembered why he had fought that thing. It wasn’t some kind of idiot ploy to end his own life; it had nothing to do with revenge either. No, he had fought the thing to save someone who he could now hear calling to him. He looked over to where Ranmaru, who looked just as bad if not worse than he did, was laying and smirked painfully.

“Well, looks like you made it through…” He said, feeling a bit of strength come back to his body. The middle-aged former head of the Uchiha clan sat up and shook his head, his silver mane of hair flowing in front of his eyes. He could feel his swords laying by his side, picking them up and placing them back on his back, the strength flowing quicker into him as he was reunited with his old friends. There was nobody on this earth that meant more to Mitsuo than his blades, and he treasured them above all else, besides the eyes that he wore now. He had taken them from his daughter, and he used them so that she may live life looking through him.

Why did you save this idiot?
I said shut up.. He needed help, and he seemed useful…

Mitsuo stood to his feet and slowly walked towards the injured shinobi. “Not sure if you’re in one piece but oh well, the effect is similar…My name is Mitsuo…and you are?” He extended a hand to help the injured shinobi to his feet as well. He wasn’t sure who this man was but he liked his spirit, and he had fought like an animal and also didn’t attack Mitsuo, which he thought was a good sign.

Hopefully he doesn’t kill you in your sleep…
Damnit Nii-san!

“Well, looks like you made it through…”

No shit, Sherlock. Takes more than that to take me down. Wild animals are strongest when cornered and fighting for their life. Not that he much cared if he'd lived or not; that was one hell of a fun fight and he would have been happy to go out with that kind of a bang. Fingers began twitching, then toes, then slow twitches of the long muscles in the arms and legs and mid-body; he was attempting to find out what, if anything, hurt worse than anything else.

Eyes opened next, or properly so; they'd been slitted just enough to know that he could see, and that he was facing the sky. Seeing the other male tower over him should have sent him into fits of rage; oh, not the offer of help, just that the position when taken into animalistic body language was one of domination, and normally he would reject that. But... given the state he was in, and the clarity of his mind; he was more human than normal. A shift of his neck to make sure it wasn't broken, and then he was reaching for the offered hand; starting to pull himself up by it until his muscles gave out about half way to being upright. Yep... he'd gone overboard. Oh well. "Seems like ya did be'er than me, eh." He was able to change the momentum of his body so that he landed on a knee, and not on his back. From here, he just had to wait out the vertigo before he could get to his feet properly.

"Tha' thing's dead, then. Anythin' salvageable? Would'a made fer some good hide armor, 'er somethin'." A relic of his human life; when he was a tanner and clothing maker, never fully lost cause he had to make his own clothes; when he did wear them; and he could trade trapped furs for the small bits of stuff he couldn't make on his own; steel blades and the like. "Ranmaru... or so they used to call me." Late answer was late; but he barely remembered his own name half the time, so not as bad as it could have been. "The hell's a ninja doin' this far out, eh? Ya'll don't come through here, much. Usually a good place ta hide out an' get some furs 'fore I head north 're somethin'. Dun usually find other people here; 'cept for those wolf tamers sometimes; bu' they leave me be, an' I avoid their land. Beast hunter, maybe?"

He’s clearly hurt, this would be a good time to strike and be rid of this moron.
Shut up Nii-san, this isn’t up for discussion.

Mitsuo decided that instead of bringing the injured man to his feet, he would instead help him back to the ground, not knowing enough about the healing arts to truly be any help to him. He looked around for the beast that the two of them had decided to fight and realized that he wasn’t able to spot a corpse anywhere. The thought of the massive thing vanishing disturbed the young man, but he had to imagine that it hadn’t just gotten up and walked away. He was dead sure that the two of them had managed to kill it before they had both passed out from being drained of chakra.

He probably woke up and chopped it up, like he’s going to do to you if you’re not careful, baka… You’re going to end up as minced meat if you don’t do something.
You know Nii-san, I’ve had about enough out of you…

“I’m not sure what happened, but it doesn’t look like it’s still here… Maybe someone came along once we were already incapacitated…”

Unlikely..

He sat down beside the injured man and took out some bandages, tending to his wounds. “You fought like an animal back there, probably the only person I’ve seen besides my daughter who managed to keep up with me in a fight. I was pretty impressed by you… It’s always good to find someone that you can fight beside, especially with a style like mine where if people don’t work well with me they tend to become dead quite quickly.” He meant it as a compliment, though he wasn’t sure how the injured man would take it. However he did, though, Mitsuo would continue tending to his wounds as best he could as he waited for the man to regain his strength.

You should slit his throat now…
BACK OFF NII-SAN!

"“You fought like an animal back there, ..."

Thank you, Captain Obvious. He was nothing but an animal wearing a human skin by now; maybe one or two sparks of humanity left that refused to die. "Hard ta' kill, eh. Ya move like a devil; bu' I fight chakra beasts fer fun. Yer good, bu' yer no Bijuu." The male works on setting joins and waking up muscles more; cracks and crackles sounds off in relation to the movements he was making. After a few moments, he began shaking his head like a dog; a shiver racing down his spine and pulling the movement down his body with it. With that finished; he was able to stand properly; if slightly wobbly overall.

"Hnnn... beasty be gone, then? Musta burned up when it died; happens if ya dun get ta it fast enough. Those big ones, they turn ta ash when ya kill 'um; too much chakra in one body, s'why they rampage an' destroy. Can't help it, some 'a 'um. If they stop movin' fer too long, they start burnin' alive. Eh, whatever. Always another one ta be found."

He has no idea just how powerful you are...He is insulting you and you should kill him for it.
Shut it Nii-san, he's not insulting me.

The truth was Mitsuo had no doubt in his abilities. He imagined that were he to cross paths with another Bijuu he could take it down, and should he face the conduits of such a beast he would destroy the host and the beast. He also knew, however, that he had no way of sealing such a beast inside of himself to make himself more frightening than any other, which is something that he had observed this man was quite adept at. He looked the odd man up and down before placing his forehead between his index finger and thumb and beginning to laugh, not able to control himself as he had an interesting thought.

Ever since watching the murder of his daughter, the Sword Saint had been out to destroy any and all people who could have been involved in her murder. He wouldn't simply stop at killing them though. No, Mitsuo had much larger goals and he had intended to bring the entire shinobi world to their knees so that they would know a fraction of the pain that he felt every single day whenever he thought of the death of his beautiful daughter. He looked at the world in a different light these days, one tinted red with the blood of his enemies. He looked towards the man who he had just survived this encounter with and a plan began to form in his mind.

You're not seriously thinking of doing that are you? That's more insane than simply letting him live.
Can it, you're not in control here. You're simply a figment of my imagination that refuses to shut the hell up.

"You know, I believe we worked quite well together back there. Our combination of pinpoint precision and animalistic rage is a unique combination that I'm sure is not often seen. I don't know about you, but I was hoping to capture that beast to seal inside of a vessel...What do you want most in life, Ranmaru? Power? Infamy?" He smiled a wicked grin, eyes flashing red as a interwoven star pattern crossed over his eyes, black dots specked in several places around his pupils. This was the ultimate weapon of the Uchiha clan, one that very few ever managed to obtain because of the amount of pain and sacrifice it took. Mitsuo had unlocked it much earlier than most, and he was itching to find a chance to use the powers locked inside. "What is it you crave?"

"What do you want most in life, Ranmaru? Power? Infamy?" ... "What is it you crave?"

Oh? That was a new one, or rather, the delivery was new. Plenty of... less than honorable people, had asked him the same, in a round about fashion; usually via offering him power, or wealth, or some sort of treasure they assumed he wanted. Pathetic. Short-sighted. Survival was enough for him; a good hunt made him happy. Wrestle a bear when bored; hunt a chakra beast when the lust for struggle and a real challenge got to be overwhelming. He was most at peace when he was staring death in the face; whether it be his own or that of his target. The realization of death approaching made for the greatest art, the highest form of beauty. Delicious.

"Power? Infamy? Ain't got time fer tha' shit; life be short, neh. Shorter, when yer a beast hunter, and a beast yerself. I wrestle chakra beasts fer a thrill; ya thin' I give a shit what people think 'a me? Nah; survival. Good hunts. Thrill a' tha' chase. Simple. Easy. Hunter's aspirations; beastly soul. Ain't human, not really. No reason fer human wants. Gimme a cave and some furs over a house any day. Forest and a raging beast over a city. Meh, I want fer nothin' I can't get myself. An' if I can't; I dun need it. Simple, yeah."

"That is fair. I am looking for someone to help me on my hunt. The game is relics, though I imagine there will be some fantastical beasts to run into along the way. I seek items scattered throughout the world and I am looking for a powerful beast that I believe you would be the best hope for me to track. I think that if we were to work together we could achieve anything." Mitsuo was still smiling though he was having more trouble dealing with this individual than he had thought he would have. There was something about the strange man and the way he interacted just made him that much more strange. He had never encountered anyone quite like this man but he knew that he had a nack for running into chakra beasts, which was exactly what Mitsuo needed.

"I don't know exactly what you would want or need from me to get you to come along, but I can be most accommodating..."

Pffft. Told ya; wan an' need thin's I don't. I take care a' myself, eh; have fer a lon' time. Buuuuu'... yer expectin' ta run in'a more beasties then, nah? Tha'... I might be able ta' get inn'a tha', yeah. Damn near wiped this place clean, hn; tha' one was prolly the last fer... 5 days any direction. Sad, kin'a liked it here, some; but meh. Hnnn... no' against travellin' with someone fer a bit... maybe we ken work somethin' out, eh. Ye seem... entertainin, an' I ken use a good bit a' tha' righ' now. Ye migh' even get lucky an' get a beastie outta me, if ya' play yer cards right, hn."

Which was about as good as anyone could get from the psychopath; given his mostly lucid state, he was pretty accommodating; and he wasn't lying about anything he said. He wasn't against traveling partners so long as they weren't boring or stupid, which this man had proven well and above that he wasn't. With any luck, he'd get a few days of entertainment before his brain went back to insanity and he wandered off into the deep forests again, or something of that variety.

The Sword Saint smiled as his new ally spoke. “Excellent. I look forward to working with you. Now I must apologize, but I need to go to Kumogakure no Sato and set a message. I hope you will join me, this will be the first step in our hunt.” With that he waited for Ranmaru’s answer and then made his way towards his camp to gather up the essential things that he would need for his trip. Everything was falling into place and he couldn’t think of a better way for his mission to begin. He would go to Kumo and send a message and put the world on alert that the Sword Saint was back and he meant business.

Cloud Village, eh? That was somewhere he hadn't been in a while; and was a well known hotspot for chakra beasts of all types. Yummy. "Sure, yeah. Get yer stuff, 'll follow ya. Got nothan' ta take with me anyway, carry my tools in scrolls, so no worries 'bout packin'."

And now was the time to wander off for a bit; there was a stream nearby he could rinse some fo the crap off himself while the other packed. That sounded like a good plan.

-Exit-