And on the third day... (P, nk, IO)

Haru stood in the open plains, his robes blowing dramatically in the wind. He had recently reached the next step in his quest for the Rinnegan, mastery over wood release. From what he could find in the books in the libraries at the training towers, one with both the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan and control over the Senju element; Wood Release. And, well, he didn’t remember much of the technique he was trying to preform. He had seen it at least twice, in his fights with his former Sensei. He remembered the simple set of hand seals Rin had preformed, first a tiger, then a snake. As for the actual technique, he needed more help from the libraries for this. After extensive research, he had finally found the general idea of how to preform the technique. Now, all that was left was a test.
 
He placed his hands together. Tiger, snake. He then felt a strong feeling of solidarity, as if he were one with the earth. Taking a deep breath, he held the snake seal tightly, his knuckles turning white from his clenched fingers, as a forest began to grow around him at an incredibly fast rate. Trees surrounded him, sticking out quite majorly from the flat plains of Tengakure. The forest was massive, stretching 65 meters from Haru in all directions, with him at the center. The canopy was set at 50 meters high. From where he stood at the forest floor, Haru looked around. Impressive. A tree sprouted out at his feet, stretching up towards the canopy. As it moved upwards, Haru placed his feet on the tree, running up it as it grew. The tree broke through the canopy, stretching to 55 meters high, and granting him a full view of the forest he had created. He released the hand seal as he reached the top, holding himself to the tree with one hand, hanging off the branch with his feet placed on the trunk.
”This is soooo badass…” He muttered under his breath. He now saw why Rin had been so fond of this technique. It felt powerful beyond all belief.
 

Then, a pang of guilt hit him. He had, after all, used Rin’s corpse to acquire the ability to do this. That would pass with time, hopefully. He had a better cause in mind, not just a lust for power. He activated his byakugan, which was currently covered with a headband. He surveyed the land, looking at the finer details of the forest.

Altar walked through the dark, idly using his Meigan to see better, letting his eyes adjust before turning it off. He didn't know why he was out here, he just felt like wandering off and being alone tonight. He found what seemed to be a comfortable place and sat down. He had found himself on a hill, overlooking the drop into a slight valley, practically glowing with the strange light of the flowers he had found here. He had asked around, and it turns out they were called 'Moon Flowers'. He smirked inwardly at the name, the lack of creativity was astonishing. Still, he enjoyed the sight of them dancing in the slight breeze, the glow shifting with them. As he picked a flower, he couldn't help but think of his sister. He knew she'd love it here. She had always loved flowers. He felt that strange pull at the back of his mind again, this time knowing well what it was. So, she wanted to talk again, eh? He laid back and let himself drift away...

"So, what is it this time, Nekoda? Getting bored and wanna chat, or just wanna see me again?" Altar asked the girl, looking at her as her face flushed rose pink. He laughed to himself. It was so much fun to tease the shy girl. It was obvious she liked him, but she was just a part of himself. It conused him sometimes. "Altar, you need to stop thinking about your family. They're gone now, it's no use trying to bring them back. I know your sister was the only person that actually cared about you, but there are others now. Lots of people care about you now." Nekoda said, her gaze dropping at the last part. Altar's face dropped. Suddenly, the dark walls surrounding them came alive. They twisted and turned, and he could hear pounding, like someone was trying to get in. Altar stood and readied himself for a fight, but calmed at Nekoda's hand on him. "It's okay. They're just trying to get to you. They want to fill your head with lies and deceit."    she said, gesturing to the walls. Altar strained his ears, hearing voices among the noise. They told him that she lied, that nobody cared. They said he should just off himself and get ot over with. These were his demons, he thought. They want nothing more than to rip him apart. He looked down to Nekoda to catch her looking up at him. Immediatly she looked away, her face turning pink again. "Don't worry, Nekoda. I won't listen to them. I won't let them tell me you lie. You're too...good to lie." Altar said, noting that her face turned a deeper red at that comment. He smirked again, letting himself fade back to the real world.

Altar sat back up, his mind spinning. It seemed to always do that when she talked to him. In his mind, he started preparing more taunting commentd for her when he noticed sharp movement to his right. He rolled left, jolting upright and preparing to fight, when he saw the movement was a ways away from him. Down in the valley, a vast forest had appeared. Altar stood, dumbfounded. Well, that certainly hadn't been there before. Altar decided to investigate. He ran towards the forest, eventually finsing himself just outside of it. He decided it'd be nice to climb up, so he jumped up, starting to run up the base of the tree...

The sky was dark, as Mekishiko was walking around in the plains. He hadn't the time to explore the village fully, as he was still settling in. Mekishiko was enjoying himself, he liked the silence, which was calming to him. He could feel the gentle breeze on his skin, this combined with the silence, relaxed Mekishiko. He sat down, wishing that he had friends to share this experience with. Mekishiko cleared his head not wanting to think like that, he knew he could have friends but in reality he was afraid that he would lose them, as he had before.

Mekishiko stood up, continuing with his stroll through the darkness. In the distance, he could see a lone animal, though he had no idea what species. Mekishiko chose not to go closer, in fear that whatever it was may twist and mangle his legs if it spotted him, he turned to continue walking. It was then that Mekishiko thought he seen a forest. He thought about how strange it was that the trees were there, he decided to get a closer look. As he approached the forest, Mekishiko was astounded, the trees looked as though they'd been there for many years. Curiously, Mekishiko walked forward, unaware of what would happen next.

It was then that he noticed the trespassers in his forest. His byakugan pierced the trees and allowed him to see all that went on, and their chakra stood out like a sore thumb. One of the two he recognized as Altar, and the other was unknown to him. Perhaps he was some sort of illegal alien. Whatever the case, they should know better then to waltz into a random forest like this, without any precautions whatsoever. He would show them the error of their ways. His hands moved quickly, as he inaudibly muttered the names of the hand signs he made under his breath.
”Dog, boar, ram…”
 
He then changed his shape, taking on a much more sinister form. It was then that he realized that he needed to push them towards each other, force them together. Perhaps they’d attack each other if he scared them well enough. He climbed across the trees silently, careful to keep himself out of their line of sight. His first target would be Mekishiko.
 
At this point, Mekishiko would be a few meters inside of the forest, and Haru would be hiding behind the trees, the boy’s back turned to him. He would then round the corner, revealing his rather disturbing appearance.

”Uuugh…” He muttered as his grey hair, now blackened with ash and falling out in some places, was revealed. His hair and clothes were matted with blood, huge chunks of flesh were missing from this fake body, and signs of decay were present on him. Both of Haru’s eyes were now active, giving a mismatched appearance of blood red and snow white, veins popping out of his face on the side that his byakugan was located on. All in all, he looked scary enough to make any normal person turn and run.

Altar wandered the forest, sticking high up in the branches, hidden in the leaves. He hopped silently from branch to branch, until coming to the opposite side. His face turned to one of confusion. Normally, forests span a much larger range than this, which meant only one thing. This couldn't be a natural forest. He silently sighed, having known that the entire time. He had nearly watched the damned thing rise from the ground for god's sake. He decided it would be a decent enough time to leave, he was feeling a bit woozy anway. Maybe it had been something he ate. As he was about to descend, Altar heard a noise from below him.

Looking down, he saw a boy wandering aimlessly in the forest, and saw what appeared to be another humanoid shape dash in behind him. As Altar dropped down for a closer look, he saw that the second person was missing flesh, blood all over, and decay of the body was evident. It looked like a dead body walking, but how? The body let out a sound, a low groan, as Altar dropped further, looking for more detail. As he looked closer, he saw that both eyes were colored, one being white, the other red with some sort of design on it...it looked like a sharingan. That, combined with the grayish hair, black in some parts and falling out in others...could that be Haru? It was possible, it was the only person Altar knew with both eyes and gray hair. Still, what had happened to him?

Altar decided to try and help the boy, as he would drop down from above, aiming to knock down the body. As he dropped, he'd shout out to the boy.

"RUN! GO AS FAR AS YOUR LEGS WILL TAKE YOU!"

Mekishiko was only a few meters into the forest, when he heard a voice telling someone to run. He could not see whoever yelled however, turning around he seen a horrid looking figure, he thought that it was some sort of demon. Mekishiko turned to run, however he tripped, causing right ankle to twist. He stood up, his right foot now pointing inward toward his left. He ran as fast as he possibly could, he decided to run through the forest, he would use the trees to hide from the figure that had scared him. He ran for only about five minutes, when he realized the forest had ended. Mekishiko turned looking back at the forest, he thought it was strange that it was so small. 

Mekishiko looked around, checking to see whether or not the ominous figure was still chasing him. He seen nothing, sitting down, he looked at his ankle, saying to himself, "My father left bruises worse than this" he laughed at his remark. Mekishiko wondered about the person who had helped him. Letting his curiosity get the best of him, Mekishiko made his way back to the strange forest. Once again upon it's edge, Mekishiko entered this time he was cautiously. He searched for the faceless voice, but he could not find it.

Haru watched Altar’s approach with the byakugan, his heightened senses hearing every step across the treetops he made. As the boy dropped down, he shouted something to the other boy, who turned, saw him, and ran. Haru, whom was still set on impersonating a zombie, looked straight up at Altar with an evil glare, as his battle aura activated. Incredible power would radiate from his body as the aura extended, taking the form of a dark, spectral wolf, teeth barred and blood dripping from its mouth. The raw energy radiating from him now would be enough to make most people cringe, would completely render Mekishiko unable to act out of fear.
 
Then, Haru would jump upwards, towards Altar, attempting to collide with him in the air, barring his own teeth as he closed in. As he slammed into Altar, his hands would attempt to grip the boy’s shoulders, as Haru attempted to bite down on the boy’s throat. However, he let his own grip slip, the entire measure was to instill some fear into the both of them. As the boy fell to the ground, Haru would reach up and grab a nearby tree branch, pulling himself up and sitting on the branch on all fours, glaring at the two boys ferally. He took off to the right, running on al fours until he was out of sight again.
 
He needed to corral them deeper into the forest. He used to know a jutsu just for this kind of thing, the shadow clone jutsu. Of course, it had been forever since he’d used that jutsu… How did the hand signs go again? Oh yes, nothing fancy, just one simple seal. As he clapped his hands together and attempted to use the jutsu, he was not surprised to find that nothing happened. Oh well, he’d get there eventually.
 
For the time being, he couldn’t leave these two alone for too long, they might try to escape. To ensure that such a thing did NOT happen, he set about trapping them in the perimeter. A snake seal would be followed with more trees sprouting from the ground, at the edges of the forest, surrounding the edges of Haru’s personal grove. Flowers would sprout from the trees quickly, and from those flowers would float a pink, fluffy dust, which drifted slowly towards them. Pollen. If said pollen managed to come into contact with them, well, it was nap time. As the pollen drifted closer, small animals, such as the one Mekishiko observed as he neared the forest, would be exposed to the pollen, causing them to pass out. That should give them a good enough idea of what happened if they got too close.
 

Satisfied with his work, Haru decided to watch and wait to see what the two of them did next, idly trying to make his clone jutsu work as he watched from his concealed position in the trees.

Altar's body slammed to the ground with a very audible thud, his head slamming in a rock. He sat up, his vision blurry and demented. What had just happened? Some form of...aura it seemed. First thing it was going to bite him, next it was gone, throwing him to the ground. It should've been scary, but Altar had seen worse. MUCH worse. He thought it was more cool than frightening, and decided that omce his vision cleared he'd hunt down whatever or whoever that was, and either ask them or demand them to teach him how to do that.

As he stood, his vision now normal, he put a hand to the back of his head, only to oull it back sticky and covered in blood. Well, that was bad. He supposed he should try to get help, but what was the point? All wounds healed eventually, and he'd had worse than this. MUCH worse. As Altar walked through the forest, he activated his Meigan, trying to distinguish chakra from the dense forest. After a bit of walking, he noticed something leeching out of the trees. It looked like pollen. Nearby a tree was an animal, laying on the ground. Unconcious, as it was still breathing. So, it seemed if the pollen came in contact with you, it'd knock you out.

Altar looked ahead of him, finding a source of chakra. He decided against calling out to it, not knowing yet what it was. Instead, he once again rose to the high branches of the trees, hopefully out of sight of whatever was on the ground, and moved to a position above it. It looked human, but...you never know. Altar decided to bide his time, deciding whether or not this figure was hostile.

Mekishiko was in a daze, this was all so strange, he had never seen any of this before, he went walking through the forest, looking for the other boy. He suspected that the voice that had saved him before had belonged to the boy. As he limped, he looked at his foot and ankle. Mekishiko had forgotten about his injury, which now caused his entire right leg to ache. He was astonished that he was still able to walk on the leg at all, in truth however, the injury looked worse than it felt. After walking a few meters further, Mekishiko noticed small particles of what looked to be dust. He recognized the particles to be pollen.

Not wanting to sneeze constantly and give up his position in the forest, which seemed to be expanding further, Mekishiko avoided the pollen. As his search for the boy continued, Mekishiko thought of all of the places for one to hide in a forest. It was at this moment that Mekishiko noticed movement in a tree to his left he quickly looked, hoping it was the boy. It was however, a mere squirrel "Damn squirrels" Mekishiko was growing impatient. As another five minutes passed, he came upon an imprint in the ground, it looked like a human body. Mekishiko stopped and scanned the area, he seen nothing, he went over and studied the body imprint on the ground.

Haru watched the two boys react. Altar reacted tactically, searching for a chakra signature with some kind of dojutsu he hadn’t noticed before… Those eyes… he had seen them before. Those eyes were like Yozora’s, his former ANBU captain. Perhaps Altar was a relative of hers? And the other boy seemed dazed and confused, wandering around with a limp… it appeared he had twisted his ankle.
 
Now, for the task at hand. Altar was approaching. After yet another failed clone seal, Haru quickly skirted around the tree, making his way up the side and finding himself over top of the boy. The two of them were not very far away from each other, simply lost. He would help them find their way. The pollen would close in on the forest, causing the range they were safe inside to decrease to about 50 meters. He would climb through the trees, until he was at the center of the safety zone. His hands would clap together, forming a tiger seal as he breathed out heavily, forming a thick mist that would heavily obscure their vision. Altar’s chakra vision would be rendered ineffective in this thick mist, since it was a huge mass of chakra. His own byakugan would remain effective, though he was forced to turn off his sharingan to help himself see.
 
Now, knowing that neither of the boys could see him, Haru repeated a set of seals he had not long ago preformed.
”Dog, boar, ram...” He muttered as he made the appropriate hand signs, activating the transformation technique once more. This time, he took on the form of someone else Altar knew, Youta, in a far more gruesome state of decay then he had been. Her hair was matted with mud and blood, the patches of red and brown mixing in places, with a huge section of hair missing across her head, a huge scar covering the majority of her head. Her clothes were tattered, and the undersides of her fingernails were coated with blood. All across her body, wicked scratch marks adorned her. Then finally came her eyes. They were bloodshot, with scratches surrounding them like a pair of glasses, scars covering them, as if she had tried to scratch her own eyes out.
 
Another attempted clone seal finally yielded success, creating a rather fragile looking clone of the girl Haru had just transformed himself into. Not fragile in the sense of appearance, but more in the density of the chakra. It felt like anything could make that clone go poof. He would have to be careful. The clone made another set of hand signs, transforming into the first person who popped into Haru’s head, that person being Kenchi. His appearance was just as gruesome as the others Haru had tried creating.
 
The clone impersonating of Kenchi would move through the mist towards Mekishiko, moving on the canopy to avoid detection, before leaping down at him from the trees. The clone would attempt to grab Mekishiko, pulling him in and attempting to bite him tearing out his throat. Unfortunately for Mekishiko, this clone moved at over five times the speed he could move at, which made dodging unlikely, especially with that twisted ankle. Additionally, the strength at which Meki was being gripped at was over 15 times his own, which made escape almost impossible.
 
For Altar, Haru had special plans. He would appear from the mist directly in front of the boy as Youta, dragging a katana sword with a limp arm that hung at her side. She would dash towards him suddenly, the sword held behind her as she ran. The blade would be swung at Altar’s neck at well over twice his speed, which made dodging unlikely. If he failed to stop the attack, his head would come clean off.
 

Luckily for both of them, Haru realized at the last moment that he was taking this way too seriously. So, the clone of Kenchi, upon grabbing Meki, would disperse before biting him, and the real him (Copying Youta) would use his taijutsu shunshin to move back into the mist at speeds too high for Altar to track, just before the swing connected. It was fun, toying with them like this.