The Fourth Member - Aphrodite

“There are three of them that I know of so far.” Reo was telling Tsukasa in his bedroom. It wasn’t strange – as they were practically siblings at this point. Tsukasa was still living with Reo – though Reo was hardly home – afterall. “Their names are Apollo, Hephaestus, and Ares. I don’t think they are all, though. Have you ever heard the stories of The Olympians? They were twelve gods in an ancient religion. Zeus, Poseidon, Dionysus, Demeter, Apollo, Ares, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Artemis, Hera, Hermes, and Athena. There was also a thirteenth god who wasn’t on Olympus known as Hades. I’m not sure which of them are part of this group but the name seems too much of a coincidence. I’m calling them the Olympians…I don’t know why they want this scroll, but it can’t be good if they are going to enough lengths to try to kill me.”

Reo was explaining the real reason he had been travelling so much lately. Apparently everyone back home thought he was just ashamed because he failed the Chuunin Exams. He was beginning to garner a reputation as a failed ninja for being abroad so much and not doing missions. Still, it was worth it if he was going to stop this group. “The scroll can summon a creature known as a Dragon. I don’t know much about them. I dreamt of them once. Large scaly beasts that had wings and could breathe fire. I don’t know how accurate the dream was, though. I do know that not even the Kazekage knew very much…the Hokage knew a little bit more. They were sealed away long ago by someone known as the Rikudo Sage. I’m trying to find out two things. First, how were they sealed. Second, where is the lake I need to take the scroll to in order to summon the dragons? I don’t think the scroll would take kindly to being burnt if it contains powerful enough chakra to break this seal. So, I want to use it to summon the dragon and then reseal them. I have my own sealing jutsu, but I’m not sure if it will be enough.”

They were sitting on the floor of Tsukasa’s room, small though it may be.


[375 Words]

Tsukasa would just nod for a few moments as he digested this information. So… Reo had been traveling to fight some sort of evil organization, huh? That was… quite the thing. He had just sorta went with the rumors, wasn’t that hard to believe. Chuunin Exams were a stressful time for anyone involved. Reo had been off doing missions or training for most of that time. And he ended up not making the cut? Anyone would want to crash after something like that.

Apparently that wasn’t the case though. So good on Reo, keeping it together. He just had some people wanting to kill him. Sounds great.
Plus… something about these strange creatures called Dragons. They were sealed away, and Reo wanted to… unseal them? And then seal them again? Tsukasa didn’t really get that part, so he wouldn’t ask. Not now anyways.

“So… With all of this in mind. What’s your current plan?”

[154 Words.]

“Currently, I have three main goals. First, find more information out about this group. Second, learn how the Rikudo Sage sealed the dragons originally. I’m scared to just destroy the scroll, but you always hear legends of items like this. Powerful magical artifacts and all…they’re always one time use, right? So, if I use it and seal the dragon back immediately. No need to worry. If I destroyed the scroll…well, what then? It’s powerful ninjutsu for sure if it contains the key to breaking this seal. So, it’s probably got some defensive ninjutsu built in. It did summon a spirit dragon head to talk to me, after-all. Third, there is another group of people that I am currently worried about. On my way back this last time, I had a little run in with a man named Broly. He was monstrously strong and just as he was pushed back, this strange purple cat-man showed up. I couldn’t do anything to him, but this Broly character was bad news. I’m talking, chakra radiation that would decimate an entire town bad news. I don’t think they’re connected, but I’m keeping my ears open for that group as well.”

Reo stopped talking as he heard a knock on the door. “Hey, time for another mission you two. We’re guarding a training ground for some priests.”

---

Unbeknownst to Tsukasa and the Jounin, Reo had a cadre of Shadow Clones working nonstop to develop new jutsu. The real Reo had no knowledge currently of what they were developing as he just sent them into the depths of his clan home to do research. Two of them were currently conversing in hushed tones about a possible Taijutsu move.

“The deities come whenever they are called and assist for a short period.” One reo was saying as he pored over a manuscript. The writing was archaic and the large covering of dust on the back of the scroll gave the impression that it hadn’t been cleaned in some time. Or opened. “So, what if we could manage to use this power to generate an attack that exceeds our normal limits.”

“Like a Taijutsu move?” The other Reo said. This one, too, was poring over a scroll. Unlike the other scroll which detailed information regarding the deities that the clan summoned for a short period of time – though called for help was a more accurate way of expressing what they did – this one detailed Taijutsu moves. “This taijutsu move is pretty simple. All you do is clap your hands with someone’s head between them. While it’s simple and probably impractical, those very same qualities make it seem as if it may be the perfect taijutsu for testing your theory about the deities.”

“It’s not theory. It’s written right here.” The first reo exclaimed as he pointed to an obscure piece of text in the scroll. It was tiny and hard to read, but it really was there. The second Reo merely laughed as he stood up.

“Okay, okay. So, how do I call upon the divinity? Is it the same as the method we used to create that seal?” The Reo paused and pointed to a spot on his chest. It contained a seal which actually sealed a small portion of a divinity within Reo. It would trigger whenever he fell under particularly powerful Genjutsu. Then, it would free him from the Genjutsu – though he would need to replace the seal after it was used.

“Similar. So, you have to say this chant.” The Reo said as he pointed at a spot in the scroll. “This chant will attract the deities to you. Repeat it after me. Y succ aben dho toydyom de onhunso li bhimysuc uddrypadom. Ucme, Dmagumu mheact bemd lero ezdon unt umaru ym joug muaso.”

The second Reo sighed as the first chanted some nonsense. Then, he repeated it.” Y succ aben dho toydyom de onhunso li bhimysuc uddrypadom. Ucme, Dmagumu mheact bemd lero ezdon unt umaru ym joug muaso.”.

The second Reo felt his power beginning to raise, but it felt different than his normal power. It was almost as if he had the power to do anything. The clone placed his hands over the first clone’s head and clapped.

[700 Words: Learned My ? rank Taijutsu]

Tsukasa just sorta nodded, now Reo had included a new faction. Some freakish man named Broly and a… purple cat of all things. For a moment the boy doubted whether or not Reo was on a clean path while he was away from the village, but he quickly dismissed the idea. He didn’t even know the basics of where you can obtain such products, plus they were like twelve. No sane dealer would sell to a child, unless they really needed the money.

Tsukasa would be taken from this train of thought by their team leader. He looked at Reo “Well, it definitely sounds complicated. Let me know if I can help later.” That said, the boy stood up and grabbed his tanto. And then left the door and started to walk down the hallway.

[135 Words.]

Reo stopped walking suddenly as the memories of the clone came back to him. Well, that was quite a handy move that he had invented. Well, the other him which was technically still him but not him at the same time. Whatever, it was nifty. Reo walked to the door and opened it up to see the two familiar faces. The silent but seemingly ever present [s]NPC[/s] Saniou clan member with which they were on a team and their Jounin – of whom Reo forgot the name. It was interesting how quickly Reo could forget these two people who were seemingly unimportant when he was gone doing other things for a long time.

“Priests? I’m a monk. Are we guarding members of my clan?” Reo asked calmly as he walked out the door – hoping that Tsukasa was following behind.

“Yeah, a woman by the name of Cytherea specifically requested that we guard her sect of the temple while they perform some rites.” The Jounin explained casually as he began to walk down the roadway. The ever present heat emanated from the blazing sun above them as they walked and Reo – who was now used to the temperatures of the other countries he has been visiting – had to wipe a bead of sweat off his forehead. He would need to get used to Sunagakure weather once again. Still, the name Cytherea rang only a minor bell in Reo’s head. She was part of a sub-portion of the Gojisou clan that wasn’t very large. He thought they focused on relationships? Love? Something like that. They really were a very small cult branch of the group and Reo couldn’t fathom why they would need a bodyguard while performing some rites.

The temple for the Acidalia branch of the Gojisou clan lay just ahead and the most stunning woman Reo had ever seen stood there to wait for them. Her long blonde hair flowed to her waist and somehow didn’t have any split ends in it. She wore a red dress that seemed to hug every curve, though it technically followed all precepts of the order by not physically showing anything off – though it didn’t leave much to the imagination.

“Welcome, my dears. I am Cytherea. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

---

One small group of Reos watched as the two hit each other and one burst. It seemed that they had perfected whatever they had been working on. These Reo’s though, were working on something specific. They were working on a healing seal. It was an idea Reo had a few weeks prior. He was mediocre at healing jutsu, but he was excellent at Seals and sealing theory. The idea behind a seal was that you could trap the chakra and its direction – it’s jutsu – within the symbol. In fact, the symbol could replace the hand signs used to make the jutsu. So, Reo wondered what would happen if he tried to do the same for Medical Ninjutsu. Of course, the small Reo group’s first attempt failed miserably. They weren’t sure if it was possible to simply seal medical ninjutsu in a basic seal – as the results essentially just drained Reo’s body of stamina while simultaneously not healing any injuries in the slightest. Somehow, Medical Ninjutsu functioned slightly differently than normal ninjutsu. The basic idea that Reo had is that it had something to do with the symbol that was being used. Healing Ninjutsu simply required a more powerful type of seal. A type of seal that he had never used – perhaps no one in the world had ever used it before. So, Reo did what he could and sent clones to begin digging into the scrolls. The different types of seals was easy enough to find – but what was harder was finding information on medical ninjutsu. No one had successfully managed to integrate the two but the young monk was determined and eventually found the missing link that he had been looking for. The missing link was small mark that needed to be added to the medical seal to regulate it. The problem that the others had created was the seal would either be too weak due to the type of seal used – or it would be too strong. A seal that activated whenever the wind blew too strong and the user got dust in their eyes would quickly drain them of all their chakra. And it would keep activating. That seal had ended up killing its user. Wanting to avoid that fate, Reo found a symbol – or more precisely two symbols – that could regulate the flow. The first symbol was there to create a limit on the number of times the seal can activate within an hour or so. Three times is what Reo decided on to preserve his chakra reserves and not have the seal run rampant, killing him in the process. The second symbol focused more on the nuance of activating the seal. Reo managed to create the seal so that it would only trigger when he was stumbling around and in serious condition (50% of his total HP) and whenever he received a broken bone. It hadn’t happened to Reo yet but he had always been told that Taijutsu specialists suffered from broken bones later in their career. That would be important to circumvent.

The clones punched each other in the face, leaving only one bewildered clone standing there as the others poofed out of existence.

---

Reo suddenlyt was overwhelmed with the knowledge of the medical ninjutsu. He discreetly reached under his shirt and placed his palm against his back, placing the seal.

[Placing my healing seal and learning it; 936 Words]

Tsukasa would just blankly stare at this… Cyntherea. So this was the client. She was dressed rather nicely, all things considered. Though the boy had to wonder if it was appropriate attire for a shrine maiden. Maybe the customs were different in Suna. “I’m Tsukasa.” He also nodded before he started to walk into the temple. For now, he decided that he’d go ahead and scope out the area. Find a nice place to sit for the mission.

Preferably, the boy wanted a place that would be close to the action. He had something new that he wanted to show.

[100 Words.]

Reo’s clones were hard at work. Most of them had travelled back to his house and were training with staves, the training dummy, and weights. About a hundred of the original one hundred and twenty he had created.

---

Reo himself walked to the front steps and sat down, staring ever forward. This guard duty mission would be quite dull by his estimation.

Meanwhile, Cyntharea would flash a smile at Tsukasa capable of knocking any boy or man off their feet. None could resist her charm – of course it helped that she used Genjutsu. Her branch of the clan had developed specialized scent based genjutsu. As soon as she activated it, as she just did, it could disarm someone and make them instantly attracted to her. It would also make them talk freely. She looked at the Jounin and the other Genin – the girl – who smelled her perfume. This time she used a commanding Genjutsu on them. Their eyes turned blank and Cyntharea waved them on. They were unimportant.

This one, Tsukasa was the important one. Of course, Reo had his own role to play but the others were prepping him. They had expected Tsukasa to get further along in his preparation but he was moving slower than anticipated.

“Tsukasa, my darling.” The woman said, placing a hand on his knee. She flashed another smile and wave of genjutsu at him. “Why haven’t you begun to search for your own Ryu Caller yet?”

[TRN: BRW X 8; Clones, Weights, Dummy, staff, abilities]
[146 BRW]

The member 'Archaea' has done the following action : Destiny Roll

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'Dice 10' : 2, 5, 10, 8, 7, 8, 3, 9