Tempting Fate [Travel]

”Right.. focus… mold chakra… visualize the illusion and imprint on the opponent’s mind…”

Yazui sat in a lotus position in the open back of the horse wagon. A closed barrel of liquid to his right, several bales of hay on his left and behind him. The wagon rode along a small dirt road at the outskirts of Fire Country at a leisurely pace. The farmer riding it, who had been kind enough to pick up Yazui and give him a lift to his farm close by the border, was obviously in no hurry.

This was fine for Yazui. He wasn’t necessarily in a hurry either. On the contrary: being able to sit and clear his mind made this a perfect opportunity to practice his chakra control and try out some of the genjutsu he had recently learned.

After some hours, Yazui decided to take a break. He opened his eyes slowly, coming out of his state of deep focus. Although his eyes were invisible, courtesy of his sunglasses, the fact that he slipped into a more comfortable slouch against the bale of hay behind him was a dead giveaway. From his position, Yazui looked at the sky. Today’s weather forecast was a pleasant blue with a soft, mild breeze and a few lost clouds drifting through the air like sheep who had been separated from their flock.

”Oburi-san, where did you say your farm was located?”

The farmer had paid Yazui no mind for some time. For a moment, he almost seemed startled at the missing-nin’s presence (although considerably less startled than he would have been if he’d known about some of the stuff Yazui had pulled during the war).

”About half an hours walk from the border to Hot Springs Country.”, he replied.

”Hot Springs, huh….”, Yazui repeated to himself. ”Ever been there?”

”Can’t say I have. Can’t say I’m very keen on visiting it, either. Vile place, it is. They say that ever since that cursed temple appeared, the only thing anyone is going to find over there is death.”

Now Yazui was curious. He’d pipe up and began sitting more upright. ”What’s this about some temple?”

The farmer spat on the ground. ”I don’t know the details, but a long time ago some sort of cult o’ devil worshippers established a temple in the countryside. Then, they began roaming the land, preying on the populace for their evil rituals. Not sure what sort of thing you’d hope to find there, stranger….”

Yazui slinked back into his seat. Devil worshippers and an evil temple. Could it be as dangerous as they’d say. Or… could Yazui strike some deal with these worshippers in exchange for powers. He already had blood on his hands, what measure was a few more lives taken if it meant getting access to more power?

As he slinked back into his previous position, Yazui began mulling it over. Was it worth the risk? Evil bloodthirsty cultists sounded dangerous, but so were hunter-nin. If Kumogakure no Sato was still the same old village it had been when he’d left, whatever its ninja had in store for Yazui was as bad as anything some devil worshippers could do.

”Might as well check it out, then…”

[Starting 12hr travel timer from Fire Country to Temple of Jashin, time now is 13 PM]

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WC: 538

After another few hours, the horse wagon arrived at a large farmhouse tucked away among slightly forested hills. The farm in question came with a stable, field for animals to graze and an enormous vineyard. ”Wine, huh?”, Yazui said as he hopped out of the wagon. Now that he thought of it, he never did ask what kind of produce the farmer Oburi traded in.

”Best wine you’ll find in any of the Fire Country. We used to ship our wine to Kage’s and Diamyo’s alike!”, Oburi replied proudly. He had a broad smile on his face, no doubt thinking of better times and of greater accomplishments. Yazui couldn’t help but notice Oburi talking about his wine in past tense.

Now that Yazui looked at the farm more closely, he saw that it appeared somewhat decrepit despite its size. While it seemed to have been a fine, comfortable and luxurious building in the past, the pain had started to flake on most of the building. There were several broken windows that hadn’t been fixed, weed had started to encroach on the paved walkways and some of the nearby equipment was covered in a generous layer of cobweb and dust.

”I take it business has seen better days?”

The farmer’s smile faded as he bitterly shook his head.

”Can’t find the staff. No one wants to work so closely to the border, what with the nasty tales going on about the place. This farm used to be in our family’s ownership for generations, but well…” The man hung his shoulders. He had been a large, strongly built man who had towered over the (admittedly somewhat short) Yazui, yet the way he stood made him seem small and insignificant.

”Looks like I’m gonna be the last. No worth selling it either. So I’m gonna take what money I have left and move closer to Konoha. At least I’ll be safer so closely to the shinobi.”, the man lamented.
Yazui crossed his arms and looked at Oburi over his sunglasses. He sucked on his teeth while he nodded understandingly. Outwardly, he seemed to empathize wholly with poor Oburi’s plicht. Inwardly, he mostly felt annoyance. If anything, he just wanted to be done here and check this so called “cursed place” out for himself.
What was stopping him?

”Well, I’d best be on my way then. Best of luck to you, Oburi-san.” He gave the man a final nod, turned towards the border and began walking away from the farmer and his farm.

”So you’re actually going over there, huh?”

”It’s cool!”, Yazui yelled while giving a thumbs-up over his shoulder. ”I’m a shinobi, after all!”


Oburi-san shook his head. He’d began liking Yazui, but anyone going across those borders would most likely only come back in a body bag.

[12 hrs expired, Yazui exits the topic and enters Temple of Jashin. Topic closed]

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Topic claims

Spoiler:

Approved