"Hmm..." that had been about what Naruto expected Chishimo to say. The older man was quite obviously a devote follower of this Mōsō character. Well, whatever, it could be as he said, but it could also just as easily be a ploy designed to make people let their down guard. Naruto would just have to prepare for either possibility. He looked around the room once more, his nose twitching. "So just where is this Mōsō guy?"
"Right here," a voice spoke up from behind the Shoji screen door. Chishimo turned his torso around so that he could place both hands on the door and slide it open, and upon doing so revealed a very large man wearing a white robe with long sleeves that flared out and hid his hands from view. Over his robe the man was wearing a strange two piece cloth that covered the lower right half of his torso down to his legs, and upper left shoulder like some kind of half cape. The unusual looking clothing was attached in the center of his chest with by a ring, and over all that he was wearing what looked like a strap made up of green and purple.
Beyond his clothing, Naruto also noticed that he was bald, with only a pair of sideburns to signify he once had hair. Other than that, the only noticeable traits about this man was his Fu Manchu mustache and the way his eyes seemed to be constantly closed. To be honest, Naruto didn't think the guy looked like an official to a Daimyo, and more like an old magician like the ones he had heard about traveling with the circus.
Not that he would actually say that out loud.
"I am Mōsō," the man introduced himself. "And you must be the young ninja that Konoha sent to help us deal with this Cursed Warrior. I hear you even managed to confront it last night when it attacked Kōmei-sama."
"Erm," Naruto took a deep breath, restraining both his gulp and the shudder that threatened to run down his spine. He wasn't about to make himself look like some kind of fool in front of the Daimyo's adviser by freaking out. When he was sufficiently calm, the blond Uzumaki continued. "Yes, I did."
"Well?" Mōsō made no gesture, but Naruto got the distinct impression that the man was asking for more information. These suspicions were confirmed a second later when the much larger male asked, "did you manage to uncover anything as to the identity of the Cursed Warrior?"
"Unfortunately not," Naruto answered, pausing for a moment as he tried to decide just what he should tell the man. "The Cursed Warrior that I fought last night was nothing but an empty suit of armor. It's possible that whoever is behind the Cursed Warrior's appearance may be versed in puppetry. If that's the case than the ghost you're dealing with is nothing more than a puppet that's dancing to the tune of someone who wishes to cause unrest amongst your people."
"A puppeteer you say?" Mōsō murmured, sounding troubled. Not that Naruto could quite blame the man, while puppets wouldn't be much of a problem for Naruto due to the fact that most relied on poisons and he was immune to such, puppeteers were still tricky opponents.
"It's just a possibility," Naruto told him. "I have no proof whether what I said is true or not, but it's a plausible theory, one that only needs me to find further evidence to back it up."
'Naruto,' Kyuubi interrupted. 'You know as well as I do that the suit of armor you fought was not being controlled by any puppeteer. Even you should have been able to sense that there were no chakra strings attached to the armor, and if even if you couldn't, than I would have.'
'Yes, well, you can't expect me to tell him that. What am I supposed to say? 'Oh sorry, but the Cursed Warrior was actually just an empty husk with nothing living inside of it, not even chakra. There's a good possibility that you're actually dealing with a real life ghost'. I think not. At least with this I sound more competent than admitting that we might actually be dealing with the super natural.' That, and Naruto refused to admit that what he fought last night was a ghost, because so long as he thought about things logically, without any of that supernatural nonsense, he could function at full capacity.
Denial was such a wonderful thing.
"Rest assured however, that I will eventually get to the bottom of this."
"Your resolve is encouraging," Mōsō said. "We have just installed a new Daimyo, this is no time for unrest. Please eliminate these harmful rulers of the Cursed Warrior as soon as possible." The man paused, but only for long enough to surprise Naruto by bending over while sitting in a low bow, hands placed on either side of his head, and his head nearly touching the floor. "You are our only hope. I beg of you."
Ugh, this was just great, how could he possibly say no when the man was quite literally begging him, stupid jerk. Now he had to stick around and get to the bottom of this Cursed Warrior business. Stupid Cursed Warrior.
Well, there was nothing to it. Naruto's job was clear and his task was set. He would need to gather information on all of the sightings of the Cursed Warrior, as well as more knowledge on anybody who stood to gain from the Cursed Warrior's existence. Naruto could only hope that this mission wouldn't get him killed...
...Or worse, cursed.
It wasn't long after the meeting with Mōsō that Naruto and Chishimo found themselves sitting in a small open door stand. The tiny place reminded Naruto a lot of the Ichiraku Ramen stand he always ate at back home, only without the mouthwatering smell of ramen or the cute waitress in Ayame-nee-chan. The walls were slightly dirty, though judging from the cracks it had more to do with age than improper upkeep. Currently, he and Chishimo were sitting on a pair of stools in front of the bar table after ordering a set of bird wings, a specialty dish of Tori no Kuni.
"Here are your bird wings, enjoy."
The balding male behind the counter set a plate of wings down on the table in front of Naruto, along with a bowl of dipping sauce and some miso soup. They wings were kind of small, and there was very little meat on them. Truth be told they didn't look very filling, but they certainly smelled delicious.
Grabbing one of the wings, Naruto dipped it in some of the sauce and took a tentative bite.
"Hey," he murmured in surprise after swallowing his food. He took another bite, chewed, then swallowed again, before a smile crossed his face. "These are pretty good."
"I'm glad you like them," Chishimo said from where he sat on Naruto's left, the same pleasant smile he always wore plastered on his face. Unlike the blond, the older male had just ordered some tea and miso soup. These are a delicacy of Tori no Kuni, they come from a type of bird found only in our country, which is how our country got its name."
"You don't say," Naruto said, only paying the words passing attention. He finished his first wing and quickly grabbed a second, taking one bite out of it and swallowing before deciding they should probably get down to business. "As interesting as your countries history sounds, we should probably begin correlating what we know about the Cursed Warrior situation so far."
"Yes," Chishimo agreed, "I do believe you are right."
"Ok," Naruto sighed as he finished his second chicken wing and set the bones back on the plate. He looked at the other wings he had left, his fingers twitching in ache to grab another. However, he held himself back for the moment; his food would still be there when he finished this conversation. "So from what I've seen the situation here actually seems quite stable, Cursed Warrior aside. Your friend, Sagi, has just assumed the throne after the death of his father, the previous Daimyo. He is young, and therefore inexperienced, so he has Mōsō, a man who is much wiser and has experience in dealing with country politics, acting as his adviser. There doesn't really seem to be anything wrong there, the set up looks and feels like a perfectly stable form of government, the wiser adviser guiding the hands of the young Daimyo and teaching him until he can take the reins of the country himself."
"Yes, that is exactly how it is," Chishimo said. "That's why Mōsō-sama was chosen to be the adviser over Kōmei-sama, because Mōsō-sama is both wise and kind. In fact, he was the reason I am where I am today. You see, Mōsō-sama made me a Paige, saving me from poverty." Naruto nodded but didn't really pay attention to Chishimo's words. To him, it just sounded like the older male was trying to proclaim the greatness of his master, rather than actually adding any useful information that Naruto could use.
"However, it's clear that someone does not like what is going on in this country, hence the Cursed Warrior," the blond continued. "The rumors that are floating around are claiming it's the ghost of the previous Daimyo who has come back from the grave, and it's caused the country a lot of unrest."
Naruto furrowed his brow as he tried to think of a logical reason for the Cursed Warrior's existence. He had gotten much smarter during his tenor as a shinobi of Konoha, but that didn't mean thinking was his strongest point. Naruto was, and always would be, someone who preferred simply confronting his problems with his fists.
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