The hornet user watched the interaction between Izari and Yakoul. The scorpion tailed hornet settled on her head, nestled carefully amongst her hair. The fire starter, called the Inferno Wasp--a gross misunderstanding between the wasp and hornet notwithstanding. Ah well, she didn't name the species--settled on her right shoulder, awaiting directions. The Mantis Hornet landed on the table, seemingly satisfied with its handiwork on Yakoul's person. Remi leaned her head on her hand, elbow perched on the table to keep her upright. "Mm, that is true. What attracts you to dead bodies, Yakoul? Why not live ones? You don't even rape living captives unless it is to just...hear them scream." she taps her fingers on the table.

"I was not aware that the idea of sleeping with me was...disgusting." her tone was as dry as ever. "Is it the hornets? Or, is it that I am not as quick witted as you?" she asked in curiosity. While body language was mostly on the girl, voice tones, pitch and volume usually told her all she needed to know. She wasn't the interrogator that Ra was, but her experiments and breeding did require test subjects. She wasn't malicious by nature, but her life experiences and lack of empathy often made her come across as jaded and uncaring. This was one of those times: a rare look at the rumored prodigy of genetic research. While the Empire had its resident expert on flora of various sorts, Remi was the same for most fauna. "Mm...speaking of which, Izari." she looked at the man, eyes oddly intense as she stared him in his eyes. "I request a sample of your summon. I seek to harness that bloodthirst found within its genetic structure. At the very least, I'd like to test for elevated aggression. Have you heard of the Sunafied (Read: Africanized) Honey Bees?"

Izari glared even harder at the creature replied, "That is non of your business and even it was I still have these bad boys"

He had a large tentacle grow out of his shoulder and scratch the top of his head.

"How big are you Furball?" he asked with sneer in his voice. When he heard Remi ask if the idea of sleeping with her was disgusting, Izari's face turned red with embarrassment, he ha realized his mistake.

"Didn't mean that the idea of sleeping with you is disgusting, it was just him talking about it in the way that he did was what was disgusting. Of course I'm not saying that we should, I just don't want you get the wrong idea of me, that's is of course not to say that you're not beautiful, because you are I-" he stopped talking because he realized that he had put himself in a very embarrassing position, and was somewhat glad when Remi asked about his summoning.

"Are you referring to the creatures that I summon called Ragulhi?" he asked, he wouldn't mind summoning them but he would have to warn her about how annoying their antics could be.

Conference room

The creature smirked when Izari had went complete "over-compensation mode" with his apparent boast regarding his tentacles' length and mass. Not only that but he also turned red out of embarrassment, this only maintained the flagrant RED flag in the air when Izari's sex life was put into question. The creature had then snickered rather hard when he tried his best to explain himself like a inexperienced teen who received a slightly too naughty remark for him to handle. Yakoul would take advantage of that moment to hop off the table, half its body covered in white goo composed of the finest damp paper in the area, and walk up to Izari.

"Yeah yeah shut up big boy. You're not getting away that easy. You and your over-compensating tentacles behaviors have some explaining to do."

The creature walked up closer and closer to him in a rather suggestive yet hostile manner, as if it were taking the role of some seductive femme fatal. It didn't really go too bad with Yakoul either, it had a feminine body structure with large thighs and what would seem to be small lumps on its chest, but no one was very sure. It would slowy approach the of its index's nail toward the male's cheek with a rather curious expression on its face.

"Look erm, you're totally making a joke out of yourself and your dick, my friend. If you won't do that sexy lady over there, then how about I fuck you?"

The creature was now about thirty centimeters from the young man, and kept a rather intimidating body stance. Its voice was quieter and exhaled more hot air, as if it were trying to seduce Izari while keeping the intimidating rape-like appearance. It suddenly began to hump the air while not moving a inch from its position, its eyes only narrowing down to Izari's face, or more precisely his eyes. After all, a potential prey that who cowers away by not confronting the beast directly were just as fun to pick on.

"Remi says I'm not doing enough living things, and I gotta fuck something sooner or later. Got a better offer? You're saving yourself like those limp-dick virgins? Or are you just too much of a shit wagon for this?"

Remi tapped on the table again as she listened to Izari backtrack, "I see." she hummed before muttered something to one of her hornets. "'Ragulhi' huh? And yes one of those." she hummed a little bit before she turned her attention towards a hornet. When she looked back, she didn't hold back the snort of laughter at, Yakoul.
"Ha. I said nothing of the sort, only asked a question." she wondered what Izari was going to do. Would he follow her example and just take Yakoul's insults and gestures with a grain of salt, or would he just get more riled up and feed Yakoul what it wanted.

"When you give Yakoul some attention, it engages. When you give it too much attention, it focuses and attacks." she said by way of warning.

Katsu debated whether or not he should follow the man who'd announced the retreat. If he did, he knew he would just be asking for it, though perhaps if he used that technique to catch up and use it to pierce the man's heart... No. It would be too risky. He turned to the others, looking at them to see what they would do. He didn't have much experience working with a team so he decided he would simply follow what the leader would do, who in this case was probably Kaede.

Perhaps they would meet up with the main forces or perhaps, though less likely, they would choose to follow this enemy who had retreated and given them a much better chance of survival.

"What's our next move?" he asked. He still had his sharingan active in case he would need it. He was scanning the nearby vicinity for the slightest movements that could suggest an enemy hiding.

Karela muttered under her breath for a moment as Kenta decided to flee the battle with his remaining solders. She could almost feel the heat radiating from the one known as Natsumi and to be truly honest, it frightened her for a moment. But fear was an enemy. And any enemy could eventually be overcome with the right amount of planning and the right amount of force.

"What's our next move?"

"I think our next move should be to either retreat or try and stop Natsumi." Karela said. "Right now I would assume that she's a threat to both Imperial solders and Resistance Shinobi. We should try and stop her. She's the main threat now." She looked over at Natsumi and looked at her fans and the aura of chakra surrounding her. She looked over at Dren. "You're a member of the Hyuga clan which means you know the Gentle Fist style, right?"

Dren nodded.

"Maybe you can block her Chakra pathways. But this would be a big risk. If she was able to drive off Kenta Akimichi than we would have to be extremely careful fighting her." Karela said thoughtfully.

"The collection is going smoothly, I assume?" Shoko asked, standing in a rather dimly lit room. Countless wax candles adorned the walls and floor, the only space to walk was a path from the entrance to an altar in the back. Wispy, almost ethereal blue flames waved slowly from the wicks of the candles, giving the room an azure tint.

"As it always is, Empress." A clear, deep voice answered, it came from a man seated in the center of the room. This man almost appeared to be a pile of darkness in the dark room, He wore a dark robe, had long, obsidian hair, and eyes that seemed to drag in light like a black hole. His pale hands were held together, keeping a handsign stable as he manipulated a jutsu.

"They may have been cutthroat mercenaries, but you will give them a proper burial after you take a sample from them, understood?" Shoko said. The man let out a derisive scoff.

"But of course, you would not want their corpses to defile your land with their stench."

"Not exactly. Even though it was according to how I have foreseen, the death of so many is nothing I can take pride in. It was my campaign that drew rabble like them to become so desperate, after all." Shoko turned to leave, but the man called to her. "What is it, Honjo?" She asked, turning back to him.

"I heard the rebels have taken back Konoha, yet you will continue this plan? The villages may not welcome your peace treaty with such welcome arms." The man spoke in an indifferent tone, as if he hardly cared of the issue he spoke of, and only wished to see her reaction.

"The rebels have complicated the matter, but I will have them stand down. If not for their actions, this world would be but a step away from peace." Shoko said, turning and leaving, not choosing to entertain Honjo's shallow curiosity any longer.

Heading to her private quarters, Shoko opened the door to her room. Her room was oddly bland, containing only the bare essentials. The floor was stone, the windows covered by drab curtains. In a corner was her wardrobe, only a few feet away from her king sized bed. She walked to the back of the room, where another door was placed. Placing her hand upon it, the iron door shimmered with a ripple of light before sliding open, walking inside, it closed behind her. What she had entered was another room, this one in stark contrast to her own bedroom. The walls were painted a vibrant blue, and soft carpeting hugged the floor. There was no window, yet light radiated from the ceiling via a chandler made of glowing crystals. A bookshelf in the back of the room covered nearly the entire wall, it was full of books of all kinds, from children's coloring books to medical texts explaining human biology. A large canopy bed with silken sheets and pillows sat at the back of the wall. Next to the bed was a desk, where a young girl was sitting, reading a thick book detailing alchemy. The young girl was around fourteen years old, she had long pale hair and red eyes very much similar to Shoko's. Her legs didn't quite reach the floor from her elevated seat, so she swung them back and forth as she hummed a cheery tune to herself. "Yukiko." Shoko called out to the girl. She turned her head to see the Empress, and smiled.

"M-mother!" She put the book down, and hurried to Shoko. A gentle hand was placed on the girl's head.

"How are you feeling, dear?" Shoko asked. Yukiko's eyes wandered, appearing anxious and contemplative. She cupped her small chin with her hands.

"Um, my chakra system is stable at the moment, however, every now and then I can feel disruptions..." Yukiko said, biting the nail of her thumb as she thought. Yukiko was a young girl that had hardly seen the outside world, yet she knew more than most adults did. Shoko had made sure that her time spent in isolation would not go to waste, and began teaching her as much as possible. As a result, it was fair to say the girl possessed a genius intellect. Her social skills however, suffered as a result of her only speaking to a few people in her life. The room she lived in had cost a great sum of money, and took great effort to seal. It was nearly impervious to all forms of sight and sound, no sense or jutsu could penetrate it. Her daughter's existence was a secret known only by a select sparse few. She could not let the world know about her, lest she become endangered.

Shoko patted her daughter's head, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Do not worry dear, I will find a way to heal you, and soon, the world will be a peaceful enough place for you to leave this room in safety." She said. Yukiko nodded her head in understanding, but was silent for a moment. Yukiko didn't look like it, but she was suffering from a strange illness that caused her chakra system to flux in odd ways, causing various negative effects to her health. Shoko had studied every similar case she could, but found nothing like it, if she were to heal her daughter, she needed something extraordinary.

"Departing already?" She asked, looking up at her mother with worried eyes. The girl was awfully sharp.

"Yes, be strong while I'm away, alright?"

Yes, mother." Yukiko's head turned down as if a weight had been placed on it. She tried to hide her disappointment, but acting was not something she was good at. Shoko leaned down, and embraced her in a tight hug.

"I will be back, I promise."

"Don't say that, the characters in books that say that always die." Yukiko didn't want to let her mother go, every time she left she feared that she might not return. But she could not hold on to her forever, she had to let her go, she had to watch her leave her room and head into the world once more...

___

Contrary to the suggestions of the medic-nin that had tended to her, Nikuya was up and about, walking through the castle. She had found a change of clothes, and her hair was back to it's ankle long length. Her new scars ached, but she was hardly bothered by them. The thought that she had let Kenji wound her so gravely did not bother her much either. She could hardly blame him for being so upset, more than half a year ago she had helped defeat him in Konoha alongside the Empress. It was a petty reason for revenge in her eyes.

Nikuya walked by the conference hall, and heard a commotion. Opening the door she stared blankly at the sight before her. Wet paper balls had been thrown all across the room, and Yakoul was standing on the center table, acting like.... a Yakoul. It seemed to be bored, that was the easiest explanation as to why it was teasing Izari and throwing spit balls everywhere. Nikuya walked up to Yakoul. "Yakoul, if you wanna party so bad you can just come get wasted with me, you don't have to threaten to sexually assault your comrades." Nikuya reached into a pocket and tossed a jug of sake to Yakoul. Getting the creature drunk was probably a bad idea, but frankly Nikuya was simply curious to see the results.

Hyakune su Jikankizami, Ra

As Namine's body fell to the ground, unconscious, Ra's form briefly moved through the air to catch her and prevent her from hitting the ground. Though she was by far from the strongest person in the world, her agility was quite good, and her strength was more than passable enough to carry Namine's unconscious frame with little effort. No words of surprise were emitted, nor were did any sounds emanate from Ra but those that were the result of her actions - none were needed. It was not the first time that an intense situation had arisen and Namine had found herself less able to cope than she normally was - and while it would have come as a shock to most, Ra had already long-since thought of a variety of scenarios in which this very event happened and had prepared from them long in advance. It was something that she had found a particular knack for - expecting the unexpected, even in the most dire of times, and it was a skill that had proven itself useful a great many times.

With strides that could look practiced to an onlooker, Ra carried the unconscious Namine through the halls of the castle, twisting and turning unpredictably in a series of routes very few of its inhabitants knew about. It was both quicker and safer to travel the unseen paths, for prying eyes lurked in every nook and around every corner, and the fewer prying eyes that caught glimpses of the Empress' advisor, the better - regardless of affiliation, anybody who knew what Ra was doing inadvertedly held information that was of great value to Ra, and attributing any form of value to anyone other than Shoko herself, if she could help it, was typically a prudent course of action. It did not take long before Ra surreptitiously slipped Namine into the care of those in the infirmary before slinking off into the shadows again.

There were some people who Ra could not hide from without the assistance of jutsu or specific items - and in this case, that being was Yakoul. It did not give the advisor any comfort to know that Yakoul would sense her approach long before she actually arrived, but it was hardly a pressing issue. It was not like she was without power over the creature, and it was not likely that it would give anything particularly important away. Without prior preparation, she would have to simply allow Yakoul to take whatever actions it so chose. Thankfully, while crass, Yakoul's actions were typically predictable due to its lack of advanced cerebral processes.

"My my, Nikuya... Giving alcohol to Yakoul is certainly a brave course of action." The sultry voice of Ra would echo around the corner and through the doorway as she followed shortly thereafter, placing herself in the doorframe with a smirk on her face. Her posture gave off a feeling of authority - smooth, but sensual, as if wrapped in the embrace of silk. Gentle, but demanding, and utterly infallible - the art of the presence was one that her more combat-inclined comrades had little time to perfect, but she had all of that time to study and grow in the arts that they could not. It would perhaps have been better for her to fight, but if the Empire was to succeed in its goal, her talents would become necessary in the future - perhaps moreso than those of the combatants. Only time could tell.

"I would tell Yakoul to stop teasing you, sweet thing, but I do find myself in the precarious position of having an interest in the topics it is warbling about..." She nodded towards Izari, letting out a small laugh, almost musical, and as dripping with the carnal tones of sensuality as the rest of her - she had often found that the men (and often the women also) had found her quite captivating, easy to listen to and obey, but there were those in the castle whose interests were more primal than anything related to lust or admiration. Izari had not firmly placed himself in any such category, but the situation unfolding before those in the room would soon tell exactly what camp he played for, so to speak.

Remi opened her mouth to speak up against giving Yakoul--of all things--alcohol. But she stopped when she heard the captivating voice of Ra. To most, it was no secret that the girl found Ra interesting at the very least. While she couldn't grasp the finer details of a well placed look or a subtle shift of the feet and their meanings, Ra was perfect at it. She was convinced that the advisor could probably send an army into a suicidal frenzy with just a look and a few words.

Her focus shifted from the banter to the woman as she attempted to take in every movement, look, and gesture. She tried to match them to the ones in the books she'd read a few days ago, but most of the woman's indicators were just missing to her. Not hidden, just gone. She hastily busied herself with her hornets when her pheromones whipped them into a frenzy. She hoped Yakoul wasn't paying much attention to her...the monster wouldn't let her live this down...ever.

Izari glared at Yakoul and then his dark side came out and he gave a twisted smile as large green tentacles with extremely sharp edges began to come out of his body. They pointed threateningly at the sick creature before him, "I do not care about your sick obsession with carnal pleasure, all I care about his my god and lord Ragulhu who will one day awaken and purge this world of the pretenders and order. If you continue any further then I will give tribute to Ragulhu with your blood."

He then turned back to Remi and when she answered his question, he sighed, "Okay but I will warn you, they are very annoying and incredibly childish."

He made the hand signs and then spoke, "Summoning technique: Evil God Spawns."

There was a loud puff and clouds of smoke appeared and when it disappeared the Ragulhi were in its place. There were five of them and they looked around curiously and started to chatter amongst themselves. The Ragulhi looked almost exactly like Ragulhu just that they were rather small, about the same size as dwarfs.

"So boss what you want us to do? rip someone to pieces? tear their limbs off?" one asked.

"Oh how about we eat their flesh?" another said eagerly.

"Ew brother you should already know that human flesh doesn't taste very good" a third one said in odd grossed out voice.

The one that suggested eating a person's flesh looked at Yakoul and quickly flew over to him and landed on his shoulder and clung to him. It then started to gnaw curiously on the furry creature's head to get some idea of what it might taste like if it wanted to eat Yakoul.

"All of you stop bickering and listen to me" Izari ordered them and all them except the one that was curious with the taste of Yakoul, turned to look at him.

"You see what I mean by very annoying?" he asked Remi with a frown, his summons were hard to control and they were pretty powerful and fast but they seemed to lack focus.

The girl watched the summons with a neutral face. They were...chatty but enthusiastic.

"Let them have their personalities." she looked at Izari. "As long as they listen long enough to receive and carry out your orders, they are good summons." she leans back in her chair to get a good look at all of them. "Hm. Tell me more of your god, please?" she asked Izari though she didn't look at him.
"Lithal, if you'd please?" she held out her hand. The scorpion hornet settled there, about the size of her palm, tail not included. She shifted the insect towards the summons and looked at them, "May I have a sample of your blood and tissue?" she asked with a tiny smile.

The Conference Room of Death

Yakoul appeared completely unfazed by Izari's sudden change in appearances and behavior, it actually made the creature appear slightly less hostile and a little more passive with its eyes closing off slightly as of course it awaited an answer. Upon catching the jug of sake thrown by the beat up Jinchuuriki with its tail, the member wrapping its end around the item. Because Yakoul was more focused on Izari, it only gave a thumbs up to Nikuya without actually turning to face her and thank her. Though all those around Yakoul knew how easily it could be captivated with things it was curious about, so the two kitty cats could probably understand each other here. Yakoul actually raised en eyebrow when the "dark side" of Izari began speaking of how much it didn't care about stuff and was ready to kill off Yakoul for something it didn't even retain out of sheer lack of interest in his ideas. All it wanted was to intimidate, and being unfazed was just as good. It even took a sip off the sake as the tentacle redhead finished his somewhat zealot rant, only to burp on his face when he started to turn away as if he was convinced this was over.

"So... If you don't care, then that means you're cool with a little forced entry in da' booty? I mean you sure made yourself look pretty for the occasion."

Said the sassy Yakoul as it then took another drink before one of those repugnant summons started to take interest in it. Ra's presence was already something it was forced to take account of and have to deal with considering all the trust issues it would have with her for some reason, but now it had an uncanny fan acting all feisty toward what taste Yakoul could have. When it set itself on Yakoul, the creature had froze for a second. The alcohol merged with a high absorption of natural energy had finally done it. The monster was finally released. Yakoul's left eye had its sclera turn black and its pupil turn yellow while keeping its cat-like features. As the creature plunged its teeth on Yakoul's head, the now out of control cat had snagged the being from the neck with its nearest hand, plunging its claws into its flesh and pulled it upwards as a mother cat would carry her children with its mouth by the neck's flesh. If the creature had begun to resist or try to attach, the claws would dig into the muscles, allowing Yakoul to forcibly neutralize the monster's head movements. Though this carrying was actually really short lived. As soon as it was picked up, the monster had used its Kekkei Genkai's Sage transformation to multiply its strength by at least ten folds, its muscle mass turning much large on its corresponding arm, the poor summoning would be thrown to the ground with immense brute force. Having it crash down into the concrete right next to Yakoul with tremendous strength, an impact crater was left on the ground with many fissures branching out of the central hole. Yakoul would then swiftly turn toward the impact, expecting a stunned summoning from such an impact, it lifted its foot in the air only to crash it back down on the tentacle monster's head. This would go on and on for about five time, enough to completely squish the head into nothing.

"The fuck do you think YOU ARE TOUGH GUY?! HUH?!! CUNT CUNT CUNT CUNT CUNT! Do NOT GET BACK UUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!!!!!"

Shouted the monster as it beat down to the the oblivious creature who was a bit too curious for its own good. Finishing with one last stomp, it kept its orange shoe on the destroy head splatter and turn its head to the other summonings. Its stare was filled with nothing but malice, anyone or anything that could witness this kind of glare could see how easily the creature could act without reason. They could see how easily it could kill just because it could, like it was as common as saying hello and just as courteous too. The cat creature was panting slightly, not out of extensive effort but out of pure, senseless rage for whatever looked at it funny. It was release steam that it generated pretty much itself or originated from something no one could really prevent. Many low level soldiers were frightened of Yakoul for this, as it could easily beat them down to near death for breathing at a bad rate it did not like. Of course it wouldn't kill them out of respect for the empress, however such vile summonings were easily replaceable and not direct soldiers or citizens anyway. Even so, it could just blame it for assaulting an official Empire officer.

"Yeah well screw you guys too."

It randomly said, thinking it was being judged for something. Perhaps this was a sign of Yakoul's conscience, a hope for those who believed it was a lost cause. the monster turned to Nikuya and tossed the jug of sake onto the hand it preciously used to grab the monster so it could use its tail to pick up a seat for Nikuya to sit on. It had set the object right behind her while the creature entered a somewhat meditation-like sitting stance, legs crossed, on the ground as if it were pouting. It would then quite frequently take sips from the jug filled with sake, bringing forth the empire's staff's nightmare faster and faster with every drink. Of course, its focus was lost an probably forgot what it was doing with Izari in the first place.

Izari was surprised by how violently Yakoul reacted to Nazu partially chewing on its head, he himself would most certainly not want some creature trying to take a bite out of him but killing the creature with that much savagery seemed a little bit extreme.

"I really must object to your killing of our brother, Nazu may have thought with his stomach more than his mind but bashing his head in was really not the proper response" the Ragulhi named Ozo said to Yakoul with a glare. The other summons just looked at the creature with angry eyes and weren't going to be intimidated by the cat creatures show of strength. The corpse of Nazu soon dissolved into the ground and then vanished.

"Nazu will be back eventually, when the Ragulhi die their essence is sent back to the realm from whence they came and they begin to reform, it may take few days or maybe even a few weeks but they will eventually comeback from death and then wait to be summoned again" Izari told Remi. He was use to the Ragulhi dying on several occasions which is why he didn't become incredibly angry at Yakoul, but he did know now that not only was the creature a necrophiliac sex fiend, it was also a sadistic psychopath. But Izari wasn't really scared of the creature since there were far worse horrors in the world.

When Izari heard Remi ask about his god and if she get a sample of DNA from one the Ragulhi he'd let Ozo volunteer even though the Ragulhi didn't really understand what was going on. Izari then went into detail about his god, "Ragulhu is the god of chaos, fear and the oceans. He was alive long before this world existed and he reigned over the world during the time of chaos many eons ago. His rule lasted until his enemies had grown jealous of his incredible power and a war that nearly destroyed the world took place and Ragulhu came out victorious but he was severely weakened by the battle. In order to regain his strength he went into a deep sleep at the bottom of the deepest ocean and to this day he is still sleeping waiting to be rejuvenated and arise to plunge this world back into chaos. You're probably wondering why my clan would side with the empire when we worship a god who is the exact opposite of the empress's ideals. My clan joined the empire to avoid possible destruction and in the empire we can still practice our sacrificed to Ragulhu, but we do not agree with the empress's ideology. Ragulhu is the only being in existence that is worthy to rule the world and only he has he right to grant immortality. World domination, and Immortality that is not received from Ragulhu are both heresy and those who do ether of those things will have their body and soul devoured by Ragulhu when he awakes."

Izari's god was certainly not a loving one but that didn't matter to him, all that really mattered was serving Ragulhu and his clan with as much loyalty and dedication as he could give.

"Ideals and ideologies both of their merits in the world we live in." She reached out gently to grasp the creature's tentacles and murmured softly to her hornet mix. She didn't look at Izari, too focused on her work in extracting what she needed with as little pain to her subject as possible. "2 MMCC, Lithal. Numb only the immediate area before extracting." the scorpion hornet hummed in acknowledgement before injecting the proper amount of numbing agent. One done the scorpion took the blood sample she needed with its tail.

"Chaos, order. Even if your god comes back to rule, others would rise to combat him in any way possible to preserve their lives. Then they cycle will start all over again." She said. "Just as our Empress seeks absolute peace...your god seeks absolute chaos. The problem with chaos is that it has a nasty habit of never bending to anyone's will. For that would go against its very nature. Consider this: Should your god rule this world, why would he be an avatar of chaos? Which, by definition, means that order has no place in his realm? He lords over chaos, but is it true chaos if it is able to be controlled?" she asked him. The stinger was removed, together with a small sample of the creature's tissue.

"Excellent work. Go to my room and catalogue the samples under experiment 1-7-A-L." she instructed. The creature bowed then flew off to follow her command. She examined Lithal's work. "Hm. I do believe they are fit to be sent to the medical corps now. This is excellent work. Might weaponize a few of them. They'll be useful for Special Ops." she spoke to herself.

"Ragulhu's reign will not be like how the empress or any mortal tyrant would rule, there will be no laws, no order or governance. Ragulhu will rule through his power and chaos being everywhere in the world and all things will be helpless before his terrible might, he will be chaos and in a sense will rule the world by being the sole power in it. The empress may seek peace but she is not the first mortal to attempt world domination and all have failed. Even if she succeeds, then unless she commits complete genocide, she will always have enemies that will see her destroyed, mark my words she will be consumed by the madness and misfortune that all who seek absolute power fall to. I am simply waiting to see how long this empire last until it falls to ruin like the ones before, after all humans refuse to be controlled and many times desire a little chaos in their lives. Chaos can bring absolute freedom to some, and the empress will eventually learn that it is futile for a mere mortal to become like a god and seek to control the world" Izari replied to Remi.

"You seem like a good person Remi, tell me why do you support the empire and the empress's vision?" he asked her out of curiosity. To him it seemed like the woman would be more in support of free nations instead of the rule of a vast empire with idealistic notions of peace through conquest.

"I see." she says quietly. Her hands still and she doesn't say anything after his last question.

"I follow my Empress because freedom allowed my clan to classify me as less than a human due to my...diminished conventional intelligence." she taps on the table anxiously. "When the Empress sent an avatar to inquire during the Empire's annual census, I was forcibly married to a man from a more prominent clan to improve relations. Clan laws can circumvent empirical laws as long as they are restricted to the clan." she looked at Izari.

"He was free to do as he wished, and he did so." her jaw clenched. "I fight for the Empress that unknowingly saved me. Her call for troops allowed me to run. I...am still his wife. But as long as I fight for my Empress, I won't be forced to continue my...wifely duties by my clan." she says quietly.

Hyakune su Jikankizami, Ra

"Interesting, that you would speak such heresies in front of me, Izari... Do you not fear reprisal?" Ra's voice called out, the sense of easy authority she typically gave off wavering and shattering in an instant as her footsteps loudly padded along the ground, heading directly towards Izari. With the sense of calmness gone, Ra's presence was more intimidating, darker, like the tentacle user's so-called evil side, and unlike before it was not something that could be easily ignored without repercussions. Each step forwards towards Izari made the her seem more dominating and less pleasantly aloof, and by the time she had reached halfway towards his location she would have come across as legitimately terrifying to any of the Empire's footsoldiers. Izari was, naturally, possessed of a tougher psyche than the footsoldiers, but there was a chance that even he would tremble before her. If not, she could easily discipline him.

"I would appreciate it if you kept your... More subjective pieces of information to yourself. Remi is a seeker of knowledge, of experience, and you should not taint her perception by stating opinions as truth." She spoke, the tone darker than before but still laced with the quintessential sultry undertones that her voice naturally seemed to possess - she was clearly not angry or even considering a serious course of disciplinary action, but her requests were only thinly veiled as such - it was quite clear that these little favours were orders, and that there would be various consequences should they be disobeyed.

"Remi, sweet thing, is there anything I can do for you? The battle must have been tiring for your Mother - would you like me to tell you a story? I have one in mind that I have not told for a very long time, and your ears are certainly worthy to hear it, should it interest you?" Ra offered, tilting her head ever-so-slightly towards Remi as she did so. The smile on her face was warm, inviting - genuine, even - and her posture seemed to remain in the position of radiating an easy authority, even when she had just berated a member of the Empire for his misgivings. Remi perhaps could not understand the finer details, but Ra knew that she saw things and learned from them. It was hardly a mystery to her how the autistic savant's mind worked - but she had glimpsed the insides of a great many minds. Others were not so lucky.

The young girl looked up at Ra with a small blush. The graceful woman was amazing to her, how easy it had been for her to manipulate others. It had crossed her mind that maybe she could be manipulated so easily, but she felt as though that Ra was always genuine to her.

"Mother was very tired. She will be resting and caring for my siblings while they continue on with their work." she licks her lips quietly. "I...like your stories. I'd like to hear another." she answered honestly. "Oh! I've managed to cross that Mantis you showed me!" she says in obvious excitement. "Your books have greatly helped me with cross-breeding my hornets and other insects. The spider cross is still incubating, but I've noted some favorable results from the last brood." she stood carefully, seemingly lost in Ra's presence. She couldn't help it, Ra was the only one that seemed to understand her.

Izari looked at Ra with absolutely no fear or worry in his eyes and stood firm when she came up to him. She didn't know that Turimora were a clan that have seen all sorts of horror, death or torture was a thankful release compared to what he has seen.

"I do not speak heresies to mere mortals, only gods have the right to claim heresy. I am not speaking of treachery, I merely speaking about truth and you know that all empires fall to ruin, only incredibly naive people can think that empires last for an eternity. I am loyal to the empire because my clan is loyal, deep down I am a bloodthirsty murdering bastard and I accept that. If the empress asks me to kill women and children I'll do it, if she asks me to wipe entire people from the face of the earth then I'll do, but I do not believe in the naivety that an empire can last forever, you and I both know that people can never truly be controlled. Chaos came before order so chaos is the natural state of things, and many men have gone mad in their foolish attempts to tame that chaos and brought about their own destruction. So I would talk with your fellow citizens and see if they agree with the empress's ideals, because I bet that many of them do not but just won't fight back out of fear. Fear, that is what makes an empire, the fear of authority, the fear of torture and the fear of death. My clan worships fear and considers it sacred, so I do not have problems with the empire's methods but I will not be fooled into thinking that it'll last forever, nothing lasts forever" he said to Ra.

He wasn't trying to taint Remi's believe, it didn't really care if she believed his words or not, he was just speaking his opinion on truths that he believed and he believed that it is better for your allies to tell the truth and be honest instead of lie and speak only of half truths.

Kaede had moved to rejoin the others with the battle now coming to a rushed end; Kenta had enough power within him now to cause a considerable shift in how things would go, but based on how he was defending his comrades now it was apparent that he didn’t have the will to kill those he had called his friends once. He intercepted all the jutsu he could in a timely fashion, using enlarged fists and feet to deflect what he could and halt all pursuers that would follow them. Many of his subordinates were surprised at the lengths he went to see them safe, to which he would bellow out to get a move on. The sole efforts of a single person could often change the opinions of an entire group of people. With Nikuya being dealt with by the Hokage, Kenta was the only leading officer to help instruct them, and though they ran away Kaede was certain most of which had felt guilty about it in the end regardless of the will to live.

Reuniting with the others as most of the pursuers of the retreating Imperial force came at Kenta, Kaede’s Byakugan had picked up a specific detail nestled away in the trees further behind, particularly close to Natsumi’s mother, Chizuma. Coming to a quick conclusion she was certain of, the Hyuga had been perplexed at Karela’s conclusion of Natsumi becoming an enemy. Letting Kenta run away was a particular error of judgment amongst all involved, but Kaede was thankful that they were able to see otherwise. Despite any anger they might’ve held towards him, Kenta was enduring all of the hate he could in order to see others flee alive, knowing they may never forgive him. However, to suggest attacking Natsumi was pretty much suicide considering the limited capabilities of the entire group shown. Other than perhaps Natsumi, Katsu might’ve been the only one who could do anything. Dren had been slow to act in many cases even though he was older and shared the rank of Jounin with her, and Karela’s anger was clouding her judgment to the point she might bring the others down.

“No,” Kaede started, her tone adopting more maturity than innocence. She had placed hope that the others could work together without her being there, but that was a mistake; organizing an attack on Natsumi was not going to solve anything, nor was running. “Attacking Natsumi is out of the question. Out of all the people she could have gone against, it was Kenta specifically, not any of us. There’s some level of control with her, and attacking her now might change that if we aren’t careful. Her body is also capable of being shrouded in flame, you might get Dren killed trying to touch her.” Not even Kenta could hold onto Natsumi for long, and as much as she didn’t enjoy thinking less of others, Dren hadn’t proved very capable in combat. As of now if he were to fight anyone present, he might die without his comrades beside him. The options Karela presented were reckless and careless, but no one had questioned them whatsoever. This was a bad sign. “Kenta isn’t running away. Those pills he took give him incredible power, but he’ll die shortly after taking just one. I don’t want to see him die, just look what he’s doing!”

Kenta, in spite of all the power within his body, refused to kill anyone that found their way in his range. He knocked one shinobi into a group of others, reached behind himself without even looking to grab another, and tossed him into that very same group. Established as an enemy of the rebellion but still going to great lengths to ensure no one else died but himself, all to buy the fleeing Imperials time to get away …he was still a good man, and it seemed like the only people capable of seeing that were the girls who had grown up to know a gentle side to this ferocious enemy.

“If he wanted to kill any of us, he would have. He hasn’t done so because he doesn’t want to, he’s still a shinobi of the Leaf to the day he dies, and I won’t see it happen today.” Organizing this group was going to prove impossible in the midst of battle, especially knowing that Kenta was likely triple the strength of all of them combined. The only saving grace they had was that Kenta obviously left them alive because he had no desire to win. As long as they were mindful of the obvious patterns he was following, they could defeat him. Kenta Akimichi, as strong as he was, couldn’t defeat the inevitable, nor was he prepared to. “For now, back Natsumi and myself up if we need it.”

Beginning to accelerate towards Kenta as he proceeded to catch the blades of two opponents and snap them in half with his bare hands before taking their heads and smashing them together, surely knocking the pair out and causing one major headache, Kaede tensed as he sensed her approach and drew back a fist.

Whatever happened next, she couldn’t miss.