Uncovering the past (closed to Legion and Battei)

Kiba's feet touched down lightly on the damp ground outside of the village. Sousuke had always said to avoid this village but now that they were in Akatsuki, Sousuke's rule changed for whatever reason. He took a step forward under a tree and pulled out a small scroll laying it out on the ground and biting his thumb. Three handseals and a sharp slamming of his hand to the ground later, Sousuke, Byakko, and Kaze appeared in a puff of smoke as Kiba's wings shattered into dust behind him. “Good to know that worked. Mind telling me why we're here?” Kiba asked.

“You'll see now pull on your cloak and stay close to me.” Sousuke explained flipping his hood up and stepping into the rain. It felt odd being in such a familiar place as this with again. He strode towards the village with Byakko on his shoulder and Kiba and Kaze close behind him. Kiba had shifted to his feral form and it looked as if a dog keeper was walking towards the silent village. They made their way through the empty streets with those inside looking upon them as a newborn would look upon a shiny nickel. Before long they arrived in front of what had been known as the tower of death. It was a massive building with a convoluted exterior adorned with a head that held the Rinnegan pattern. “Here we are.” Sousuke said darkly as he formed a fist and focused his chakra.

The large metallic door groaned and creaked before collapsing into a large steel ball that hovered before them. The canids around him watched intently as the ball lowered and settled on the ground and Sousuke walked in. Shouts were heard from behind and Sousuke's palm jerked towards the ground vaulting rocky spikes up from the ground and skewering the men that were running towards them. “Kiba get inside.” Sousuke murmured turning to face the amassing groups of ninja behind him. A maniacal grin spread across his face as his chakra boiled over in a bubbling red cloak. Kiba stared in horror from the door as Sousuke's hand slammed into the building and withdrew a shifting metal pipe. The form of the pipe flattened and pressed into the shape of a scythe as the gathering group grew.

“You guys should have just kept walking.” Indenki murmured as his body flickered from where it was and reappeared with a spurt of blood from the lead ninja. Other's gasped and still more charged sousuke as flames burst from the tip of his swung scythe. The scent of scorched flesh permeated the air as bodies fell left right and center. Sousuke continued his killing spree laughing madly as his scythe tore through man after man. Each less and less prepared, much less confident, with each blood curdling scream and subtle thudding of a body to the ground. After a moment Indenki turned to face Kiba and strode back towards the building dropping the scythe onto one of his hapless victims.

Sousuke motioned once more inside the building and the sphere floated then exploded into a thin plate to seal the doorway again. “Let's go we have just a few minutes before the black ops get here.” Sousuke strode towards the center of the building and looked at the large central pillar. “We're here.” he muttered pressing his hand to the pillar.

“Where is here exactly?” Kiba's form shifted once more to an anthropic being as he stood behind Sousuke.

“It's been called many things, the lost archives, The great Library, among these names one stands out. Rikudou's Study.” Sousuke said.

Kiba frowned. “I hate to tell you this pup but there is nothing h-” Kiba's words were cut short with a loud clicking sound followed by a stead hum. The pillar's shell rose to reveal a caged platform with a ripple pattern extending out from the center. “What the hell?” Kiba whispered. Behind them a thundering crash was heard as Sousuke entered the elevator.

“Get in.” Sousuke said as Kaze stepped in. Kiba stepped in reluctantly as the pillar's shell lowered once more. The platform shook then lowered as a crash was heard above. Shouting followed footsteps as the building above was searched. Kiba's ears swiveled back in fear before Sousuke hugged him from behind, nuzzling his shoulder. “Relax no one knows about this place but me you and an old man living outside of Kumogakure.” Sousuke whispered.

Kiba nodded as a light flooded upwards from below them. The dusky darkness of the elevator shaft opened abruptly into the large domed room below them. They descended into the large room with Kiba looking on in fascination at the rows upon rows of bookshelves. “Holy shit....” Kiba whispered as he looked down on the various symbols on banners denoting different wings. “Why are we here?” Kiba asked turning to Sousuke. Sousuke didn't reply, he simply stared at a statue below them. The figure below them grew and grew as they descended before finally they were at the bottom before it. A large statue with ten stone tails carved out behind it. A single, covered eye on it's face and a pair of metal coffins at it's feet.

As the elevator settled on the bottom of the library Sousuke stepped out, his stride was deliberate as he neared the statute. Kiba watched from the elevator as Sousuke reached out and gripped the staff sitting at the base of the statue. He lifted the ornate Japanese priest's staff and set it within a small hole between the coffins. As the staff settled towards the bottom of what Kiba now recognized as a keyhole, Sousuke twisted the staff from the top causing a loud click. Above them the statue clicked several times before the large metal shell over the eye and fell away, hitting the ground with a resounding thud. Sousuke looked up admiring the eye of the statue which was adorned with a ripple pattern that had nine tomoe set around the rings.

At the base of the statue a small square section sunk barely an inch before retracting up underneath the statue. In the hidden cove beneath the statue set a small scroll set on a silver spool. The dust cover garlic looked untouched for what seemed to be nearly 100 years, at least. Sousuke reached out gingerly picking up the small scroll and holding it up to the light to examine it. Kiba looked on over his shoulder nervously looking around the library, he wondered why the lights had been on even after Sousuke had said that no one had known of this room. Sousuke however kept his mind on his prize and stuffed the small scroll into a pouch on his hip before turning towards one of the banners. Kiba recognized many of the banners as being some of the older villages symbols that had evolved over time and with passage from generation to generation. One symbol however seemed constant throughout the entire library of six ring ripple pattern extending out from a single solitary black dot.

"Sousuke I don't think we should be here." Kiba said, a worried tone tinting his voice.

"No, there is something I must find here first." Sousuke replied, not bothering to look back at his friend. His strides held purpose as he neared the ornate scarlet banner with a silver Rinnegan pattern stitched onto it. He seemed to know exactly what he was looking for as he crossed the library, leaving between the book shelves and carefully stepping over piles of books that had been set up on the floor.

"And that would be?" Kiba said, increasing his stride to catch up to Sousuke. Before Sousuke a responded the sound of what could only be a confined animal caught their attention. Kiba was so put off by the sound of the cry that he had stopped and Sousuke had simply left him behind striding with a confirmed confidence that his target away with in the room the Rinnegan banner above it.

Kiba followed uncertainly behind Sousuke, his tail ducking between his legs as the cries speaking louder. Sousuke hesitated up only slightly before entering the dark hallway and closing in on the caged animal. The room that opened before him was adorned with several empty cages and many more filled with small skeletons, still one page set in the middle of the room and hung by four chains attached to eyelets on each of the corners. This stage stood up on a pedestal centered in the middle of the room with a snarling, black, nine-tailed fox. As Sousuke it approached the central cage the smaller fox on his shoulder whimpered, jumping off and hiding behind Sousuke.

The interested shinobi neared the cage, extending a hand towards the agitated fox. A quiet churring sound filled the small room as the fox pressed its muzzle between the bars of its cage. Its nose twitched as it caught Sousuke's scent and seemed to calm as the scent's owner neared its cage. Kiba seemed apprehensive as Sousuke neared the smaller cage. Sousuke's hand that the cold iron bars as the fox's nose pressed between them. After several long tension filled seconds, the fox nuzzled Sousuke's hand before rubbing against the bars. Sousuke smiled looking over the fox and through the bars to find the latch that held the cage shut.

Kiba took his mind off of Sousuke by looking through the nearby cages and examining the small skeletons held within a few of them. He recognized several of them to be that of a turtle, a large feline, a lupine, and eight large serpentine skeleton. Still more small cages held the skeletal frame of small birds and rodents the one strikingly odd abnormality of these animals was in the spinal column. The feline skeleton that Kiba had looked over had held twin tail columns. The turtle held elongated structures that resembled three tails while still others displayed even more tails. This seemed especially true for the vulpine that Sousuke had taken a liking to.

Even as Kiba examined the other cages, so escape had walked around the cage and begun to undo the latch that held the fox. Kiba could not help but wonder whine of all the animals that had died the fox had not joined them. Sousuke solve this and responded to it with his own words. "What you see in here is the remnants of Rikudou Sennin work to split a monster's chakra into manageable portions. This was part of his last experiment." Sousuke said as he withdrew the small fox from the cage. "The Kyuubi himself was made from a regular animal that Rikudou himself had imparted his chakras to." Sousuke explained petting the small fox lightly.

"And the scroll?" Kiba asked catching Sousuke's gaze with his own.

"I will explain that later. For now we need to get out of here." Sousuke said as he looked to where Kiba stood examining the cages.

"Sousuke I don't like this, why exactly did we come here?" Kiba said looking over too Sousuke. He crossed the room stepping behind them and as he looked over his shoulder to see the black furred vulpine. He could see by its alliance that this was no regular animal. Within the creatures eyes Kiba could see its sclera, which showed a bright azure framing a bright topaz yellow that was its iris, that this creature had not been born under regular circumstances.

"Kiba I said I would explain this, and the shall in due time... For now, we need to focus on getting out of here." Sousuke said turning towards the door. He left the room followed closely by Byakko as he strode towards the elevator they had come in on. Kiba followed growing more and more concerned with his friend's strange actions. Above him he could see the ceiling held a similar ripple pattern that he could not place. What he could place, however, was a new presence in the library. As they stepped around a row of bookshelves, Battei came into view and Sousuke slowed his stride slightly. "Ah good timing. We need to get out of here, got any ideas?" He asked as he approached the elevator.

Kiba watched as he approached the man. Same as from the mansion, same seemingly blinding mask contrasted by a dull black uniform. They neared him in a few strides with Kaze and Byakko keeping pace on the floor with Zuroi bringing up the rear. they stopped short of the elevator and Kiba once more looked over the statue watching over the large caskets.

"Ah good timing. We need to get out of here, got any ideas?"

"AHHHH!!!!" The startled Mogi dropped the giant pile of books in his arms onto the ground in a loud thud. "Sousuke, what are you doing here? Are you here to check out a book also?" His fake smile, real enough to believe, would have had anyone else thinking that he was serious. However, Mogi was simply being sarcastic. It was this simple tactic that made him seem dumb and witless to many.

Now able to hear the shouts, Mogi moved towards them, nearly tripping over the books he had just dropped. "Sounds to me like you guys were caught in the ladies dressing room again. No? Well, I suppose I can help you out... but it is gonna cost ya..."

Forming a single hand seal, the room itself seemed to turn into a gas-like substance that quickly was pulled to Mogi's mask. Twirling in a clock-wise motion, they all disappeared through his mask until there was nothing left. As they came out, more smoke was there to meet them. Their bodies slowly poured from his Sharingan and onto the ground in a reversed image of before. However, they did not find themselves in a world that they were used to.

The ground was hard and appeared to made out of a black metal that could perhaps shine if there was any light to cast upon it. The air itself smelled of brimstone and was thick. Black smoke covered the area like a thick mist, hiding their location to even themselves. Only Mogi knew where they really were. In a dimension of his own making, the stood upon on of the infinite pillars that covered this world. Should they fall off, a bottomless pit filled with smoke would await them, never to return.

In this world, Battei was god. So easily he had gained their trust and taken them here. Here... a place that held many secrets to Battei's identity, along with another being. The smell of another creature could be unmistakably noted who's presence was ominous and lingered like gravity upon them.

Turning to them, Mogi removed his mask and peered at them through the thick smoke. "I hope your field-trip is now over... Keen may be in need of your service. But before you tell me you are going to go help him... might I ask what it is that you have acquired in your absence?" Battei was not one to be curious... yet the location that he had picked up Sousuke was not unfamiliar to him. Having a direct line to the Sage of Six Paths, there was a reason that Battei's last name was Sennin. And with them all now within a world that they could not escape, they would have to answer and prey that Battei had not been a man of darker intentions from the start.

Sousuke took a look of curiousity as the man before him dropped a pile of books to the floor. He smiled towards Sousuke almost in the same manner a caught child would to their mother if their hand was found in the cookie jar. “You could say that I suppose. Look there are a few people upstairs I would rather not have to deal with and-” Sousuke was cut off once more by the sounds of the men above.

Kiba remained with a worried face as his attention shifted from the coffins to Battei. “Cost? What Co-” He found himself unable to complete his question as the room distorted and he felt his body pressed into painfully small proportions as the space around them swirled into Mogi's mask like water to a drain. As quickly as the pain cam it stopped and the group found themselves in another place entirely.

Sousuke took a second to catch his breath. “I suppose...that works.” he managed between breaths. The pair wrinkled their nose at the horrid smells around them and Sousuke began to question the man's taste in escape routes. He stepped to the edge of the squared pillar and looked over into the abyss that waited below.

Turning to them, Mogi removed his mask and peered at them through the thick smoke. "I hope your field-trip is now over... Keen may be in need of your service. But before you tell me you are going to go help him... might I ask what it is that you have acquired in your absence?" Battei said as his scarlet eyes peered through the smokey atmosphere at them.

Sousuke made a few small motions and a small gust of wind created a slight clearing around them making the polished surface on which they stood visible. He held his hand up afterward making a small flame to illuminate the area. “Well I suppose that explains how you knew where the archives were.” Sousuke muttered catching the man's sharingan with his gaze. “I found a fox and a bit of an interesting read which I left behind.” Sousuke remained a bit serious at the moment. “If that's all I'd like to go help Keen now.” Sousuke said, his tone dropping a bit.