Tencho let out a sigh of relief as he made his way back to Shichiyou's Monarch. The snow made a soft crunching sound after each step he took. The sound rang nostalgically in his ears, sending a warm feeling to the pit of his stomach. It reminded him of the times he spent playing in the snow as a child. The memories aren't too vivid. They're hazy, and often make his head hurt if he focuses on them for too long. But the sound of the snow beneath his feet has always remained freshly vibrant in his mind. It has always managed to embrace his body, and makes him feel as long as he has this, nobody can hurt him. This snow...it'll never trap me. It will encompass me; shielding me in it's illustrious fortress. It will never abandon me, and I, it. As he was thinking this, a faint, but familiar voice echoed through his mind.


It was light and harmonious. He had never heard his name spoken so beautifully. The voice teetered weightlessly through his mind, and he could almost feel himself being lifted by it. But suddenly, a sharp pain shot across his skull and the voice was replaced with a blood curdling screech. Tencho suddenly stopped in his tracks as the snow in front of him turned into a blurry, white haze. His knees tightly locked and a sickly feeling slivered through his body. He felt weightless only seconds ago, and now he was anchored to the ground. "Nghh." Tencho let out a small grunt, and he could feel himself beginning to lose balance. The screeching was growing louder, and his vision was quickly failing him. There would be nothing worse than for him to collapse out here in the open. Failure is not only unacceptable, it is improbable in the eyes of the Shadow Men. There is no failure, and if Tencho couldn't abide by that standard, then a burial beneath the snow would be his only chance at clemency. Tencho fell to one knee, gasping for air.

In an abandoned library, illuminated only by the light of candles, we find Isais reading through the files of shinobi of Hyougagakure’s past and present.  Every person who has ever worn a Glacieran headband was here in the stack of files that lay on the floor. Along side Isais was no one that could be seen, but to him it was the image of his brother.  Isais sits there on the ground indian style, speaking with Ei who came forth in the form of his older brother, “ So if we were to war with every nation; would we make it?” Just as quickly he asked the question, Ei would respond, “ Not a chance.” Isais remained silent and unsatisfied with the answer that he received. “What if I found a way to extend the duration of the Lost Lord Transformation? Could we win, then?” Isais would ask hoping that Ei would get behind the idea and give reassurance that they’d win. Ei would reply, “ your Lost Lord Transformation could last an entire week, and it still would not change the outcome.”   Isais appears confused, “ Why? I think you’re seriously underestimating the power of that form. I nearly killed Tenzou on my own, and I would have if he wasn’t immune to my final attack.” Ei would now explain, “ I don’t doubt that LLT is strong, I know for a fact that a monster like Tenzou would’ve taken out every village if he knew that he could, but he couldn’t. Just as like this village, other villages have their monsters, we simply don’t have a resolve big enough right to take on the world. “ Isais becomes a bit bothered, he started to let his imaginations run wild with him until Ei would bring up a possibility. “ Right now, it’s just the way it seems, but we both know, war is unpredictable. If by any scenario the world would rise against us, the chances of us losing is near definite unless we find a way to tip the power scale a bit more in our favor.” Isais breaks a smile and extend his right hand towards Ei as if he just presented a point, “ That’s what I was saying, LLT would do just that for us. I highly doubt that there is anything out there stronger than our three combined forces.” Ei would shake his head,” Dude, LLT wont cut it, just let it go, man. I’m trying to smooth my way into my point but you keep coming up with this self-centered ludicrousness. “ Isais would quint at Ei as if what he just described made no grammatical sense. “ You forget that, I’m the five-tailed beast. That makes me just five of nine beasts out there with incredible chakra and the more tails the beast possesses the more powerful they are. More to the point, I have brothers that can blow wholes into LLT in a heartbeat and we wouldn’t be capable of stopping them. “  

Isais would hold his head and then begin to rub his temple as if a headache was forming. “ Here’s how I think we should go about getting ready. Some of my brothers are nice peaceful, and some are dicks, like the eight tails, a total dick, like he’s seriously a dick in a box.  But if we can get them on our side, if we can get them to agree to our terms, the whole world couldn’t stop us.” Isais would think about the words Ei just shared and respond, “ Well lets get started, let’s see if Tenzou had captured anyone of your brothers as well. “ Isais would continue digging through files. After four hours he would finally find his own file, as well as a file for Tencho Nariwagame.  “ Tencho huh? I would’ve never known that such a beast existed so close to me. I wonder how far along is he?” Isais would contemplate these things as he goes through his file. “ Not far at all, it’s been years since I sensed my brother’s presence meaning that he’s either sealed or dead. In this case, he’s sealed inside that man. He just won’t cooperate with him, so his chakra is suppressed. “ Isais would hear, Ei’s words and find this as an opportunity to add one more beast to his campaign and to his luck this one is already a shinobi of this village. Only problem is that based off of Isais’ experience with secret organization members; they tend to be very secluded and unpleasant with others. Isais would rise to his feet and then blow out the candles, as he would take off to go find, Tencho.

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