Newcomer? What to do. [NK]

Lucien had been walking for quite some time now. He was still surprised that after passing out in the wild, he didn't get killed in any way or form. After escaping the crazy genocide, he pondered as he walked, taking each step slowly as if it pained him. "Where am I even heading?..." Lucien thought within the normally silenced area of his mind. His people were left behind, but he hopefully had a new future ahead of him. That is, if he could make it to civilization. 


"At this rate, I'll run out of water and end of dying for real... Though I have no doubt that's how my village would have wanted it. Me, a ninja, to vanish without a single trace like a crack in history never to be fixed sending chills only down the backs of those most determined to look.... Wait." Lucien stopped dragging himself along for a moment, the sun beat down heavily but something strange peered over him. "Could it be? Civilization? A village?... Just when I thought la fin was near."

Going against all that he was taught, all that he was trained to do, only for once, Lucien ran, ran to people. Naturally, he was told to be in the shadow, hidden, always. But, this time was different, in fact, he was nearly starved and needed to move. He didn't care if the ninja there just killed him on the spot, he'd have to play with his luck now. 

Like tunnel vision of a battle-ridden soldier, Lucien viewed only what was forward. Pressing down into the ground first and thrusting with a roar of force, he practically threw himself into motion. The wind picked up along his face and his eyes felt heavy, mind, tired. No, onward. 

His clothes were tattered, holes in many locations, he could feel the wind fly through them as he moved with final strength. The type of strength where one can't feel how extremely he is exerting himself. Strength of will. 

It was a mere 40 meters away as he ran arms shifting back and forth. His tunnel vision would quickly disrupt his flow however. Lucien collapsed in his run from stepping incorrectly into the side of a thick rock along the ground. 

Like a corpse, he dropped. "There's no returning. Don't you understand that by now, Me?.... It's simple and I know this. Move or die. Wait and die. Onward and live." Lucien echoed lowly like a dying flame biting onto the last of its ember. Grunt and all, he barb-wire crawled his body the last 15 meters until at the village gate. 

Once there, he lied simply. His situation was urgent, but he'd never willingly disclose his position by yelling. His clan had instilled that in him. Lucien dragged himself farther until within the gate's opening. There, he would wait and hope for someone to find him. 

"Surely... Someone has to be on patrol. Ughh, my chest is aching.... But that aside, I will prevail. I will show the people of this village what I can do for them.. and hopefully, they accept me." Lucien, too tired to even continue thinking simply lied there, waiting, obvious, noticable.

[532 WC]

How unlucky. Kozai just happened to be on patrol that day outside the village, not because he had been assigned there, but on his own volition. After all, it simply wouldn't do to just sit around on one of his days off, now would it? He wasn't really in the mood to train either. Since when had he let himself be affected by such sentiments? Still, he had to do something for Hoshi. It would help a lot to alleviate those looks of fear he always got from the guards and Queensguard around the village. Having a bad relationship with one's coworkers was bound to result in chaos.

At any rate, there he was, speeding along, when he sensed something at the edge of his vision. Stopping for a bit, he realized that it was a person, and his mouth was moving. Not hard to lip read, he thought to himself, as he activated his sharingan. Wow, this guy really was a drama queen. It also seemed that he didn't have a headband on him. 

KILL.

At least, that was Kozai's first initiative. Normally, he would have gotten over to whoever this random male was and put him out of his misery, but he had come to realize just how precious information and tissue could be. If anything, no matter how weak this guy was, he would almost certainly be of use to Kozai. Plans within plans. 

With this in mind, Kozai would walk over to the kid, looking down on him from the kid's anterior end. Skinny guy, with dark green hair. Why had such a conspicuous person risked it out in the wild? Well, there was no sense in asking that now.

Bending down and placing his hand on the kid's head at a speed of 120, Kozai would perform a mind reading technique. Ah, well, that explained a lot. Still, he had a pretty good idea of stealth maneuvers, and that made Kozai suspicious. Everything from his experience told him to kill this one, but he held himself back.

"Do you truly wish salvation?" He'd ask the kid only once. As he did so, he would keep a firm grip on the kid's head, preventing him from raising it any further than it already was at a power of 71, though the hold itself would be at a much weaker power, enough to keep a grip but not crush the kid's skull, which was something he could easily do.

[412 WC, NK tag invalidated due to the fact that you're a missing-nin]

[Oh shit, not used to being a missing-nin lmao, and sup Kozai.] 

Barely, Lucien could see an entity walking to him. It was a person. His mind lingered as it moved closer. "Will he be my disposer or savior or neither? Hmm..." Lucien heard only one thing. "Do you truly wish salvation?" Said the ninja. It was as if a shot of light illuminated into a room of pure darkness. "Yes. That's all I've ever wanted... To escape that madness of hiding... I'll do anything." 

Lucien focused into his ears, wishing for a response, dying for a response. It was strange to have his life in the hands of another. Let alone, a stranger. Only time could tell. A story of what mood?

[643 Total]

As the kid was talking, Kozai would already have tapped him lightly with the Seed, and put it back into his coat after mark sealing Lucien. Hmm, very good. It looked like the kid had something interesting within him after all. In that case, he would become a tool for Hoshigakure. At least, if the other two S-ranks in the village so desi-

Wait. As a master of Hoshi, did he really need their approval to go through with this? It wasn't like it was illegal or anything, and all this kid had to do was get registered. After all, that was what Akihana had done for him. 

"Very well then, child. I'll administer medical care to you, then bring you in to register as a ninja of Hoshigakure. You will join my squad, and your loyalties will be first to Hoshigakure, and then to me."

Since Kozai was the one in power here, he already basically had tacit consent. With this being said, Kozai would promptly absorb Lucien using Genesis Surgery, placing him in stasis. The kid's metabolic functions, his thought processes, his perception of time, and even his chakra would stop until such a point as Kozai would allow it to move again. 

"Hmph. It's not often that someone comes around here." Thus saying, he would apply the mystical palm to the absorbed child, healing him and restoring his strength as best he could. Good. VERY good. It was almost time for him to put some of his plans into motion. This kid was lucky enough to be included in them. 

Heading back into the village, he would dump the kid out at the registration center and head off silently, mulling about what would happen next. He had already put a mark seal on the kid, so he would be able to keep him in restraint. Very good.

[EXIT
TWC 722
6 AP]