Arc 1: Canon 3: World's Strongest [Complete]

[Zou ۞]

White smoke was everywhere from Jin's tear gas attack, but it seemed like Danzo was utterly unaffected. He burst forth from within the white smoke, following up as he moved towards Jin. He cracked back his fist, aiming yet another punch at Jin. Simultaneously, he completely ignored the yoyo that was coming towards him. It was shocking that he would do such a thing. He paid absolutely no heed to any of Jin's attacks. Not only would this trigger suspicions, but it had to make Jin wonder if this guy was powerful, if it had something to do with his technique, or if he was simply overconfident. Being cocky was possible, but Hitze hadn't had any effect on this man either. Whatever ability Danzo was using, it seemed to be ridiculously effective when it came to battles like this. Just what was he doing?

When his right fist snapped back, it made an audible, powerful popping sound. No, rather, it made a crackling sound. It was a loud boom, like thunder, a thunderous roar of a lion. It was like the sky tore open and the world suddenly collapsed. This was how loud that sound was. Did this guy just pack a powerful punch or something? Or perhaps he was simply good at cinematic effects. Regardless, this was what happened simply as he drew back his fist to punch at Jin. And, meanwhile, the air blade and yoyo both failed to impact him. Danzo had just run straight, and gotten out of the field of gas. Meanwhile, the yoyo and its attack had zero effect. When they got near Danzo, they suddenly skidded to the side, blasting far away to his left.

In fact, the yoyo was yanked or blown by such massive force that it was torn completely free of Jin's grasp, and the string even snapped. Jin's finger which kept the loop was pulled into dislocation, and the yoyo flew away. What on earth had that been?! Regardless, it was at that time that the punch was flying towards Jin. Would he dodge it again? The fact that he was being given such massive trouble by Danzo was not going to be good for him. And he still had yet to figure out what Danzo's technique was. So far, nothing had been even remotely effective against Danzo. So to begin with, Jin was going to have trouble in this battle. This guy seemed to have some kind of very, ridiculously effective power.

And yet, even when he punched, he suddenly dropped into a swooping follow-up attack. Regardless of whether or not his punch hit, Danzo dropped into a vicious sweep kick towards Jin's legs. No massive sound occurred for this one like it had for the punch. And, assumably, that had just been some sort of cinematic effect back at the punch. Regardless, Jin would most certainly lose his footing or worse if he was swept by Danzo. Danzo's fast movements made him difficult to dodge. Not to mention, it seemed that he had another trick up his sleeve as well. Jin might have been trying to defend himself against his enemy, but he would soon find that there was another attack which he was not quite so familiar with defending against.

Danzo's left hand was suddenly holding a pistol. It was some sort of glock, and it wasn't small like the earlier man's gun. He had it aimed at Jin. It was not a spiritual weapon, but a regular one, and it was aimed at the chest. It was at super close range, as they were within a meter or two of each other. Danzo simply squeezed the trigger at that point. Jin was not used to dealing with these basic, physical human weapons, more than likely. However, considering where he was, it was obvious that he'd have to get used to it. This was not a friendly place. Rather, it was a place where all sorts of dangerous technologies and weapons existed. Whatever could be taken advantage of in this place had to be taken advantage of.

[Seikatsu Raito]

OOC: OH SHIT! I didn't know it was my post, I thought you guys hadn't posted yet. Fuck. My bad, someone should've told me.

[Jin Yamada]

OOC: My bad dude. I thought you knew but got busy or something.

[Seikatsu Raito]

Seikatsu Raito looked at Jin who told him that it was possible to heal his arm. That was all that he needed to hear from the Bount for him to turn his attention back to Kanzaki. He knew that Kanzaki was a risk for him, since he could just say fuck it to the deal and simply blow his body to bits and pieces. Raito gripped his blade tightly as he knocked Kanzaki's arm away from his stump. The blade swiftly cut towards Kanzaki's neck as he knocked away his arm. He was much faster than Kanzaki and the mod soul was already damaged. Raito would kill him quickly then proceed to help Jin in order to have his arm back.

Raito didn't care about the mod soul's threats. He wasn't worried about people coming after him. He knew he could handle himself pretty well. He was more focused on getting his stump to be an arm again. He had forgotten about the reason why he came to this town in the first place. It was to retrieve some kind of artifact he caught wind of. He would return to his mission after gaining his arm back.

Reiatsu: 2850/3000

OOC: Brain dead. Don't know much to post, next one will be longer.

[Zou ۞]

An instinctive release of energy blasted Raito away the moment his blade began to move. Kanzaki, as it turned out, had expected Raito to betray him. The blade missed quite easily as Raito's vision filled with red. The moment Raito moved Kanzaki's hand away, he'd released reiatsu in front of himself, blowing Raito far, far away, blasted back into a building. Kanzaki didn't make a cheap attack, either. He'd used a lot of reiatsu for that attack, guaranteeing maximum possible burn damage (third or worse degree on Raito's upper body), and a thrust force which sent Raito so far away that he wouldn't be able to just show up and run back to Kanzaki so easily.

However, after he was blasted back, Raito would find something quite odd. The odd couple were still watching him, even then. His vision would probably be smoggy and blurred. Regardless, if he looked around, Kanzaki was no longer in view. At the same time, it seemed that the old couple was getting closer. They were walking towards Raito, almost as if they were going to attempt to devour him. Whatever he did then, Raito had best be careful, of course. There was no telling what could happen. He'd already encountered quite some powerful adversaries. He'd gotten hurt against Kanzaki, who may have been weaker than him, but who still had the strength to hurt him.

The old couple had glowing, beady blue eyes as they approached Raito. This could be seen from beneath their cloaks. Forked tongues flickered out of their mouths. It was evident that they were extremely pale. Their faces had visible veins beneath the pale skin, blue and menacing. They looked very much disturbing. They didn't particularly look like they were friendly. However, given that they had yet to attack Raito in any way, they might not be hostile either. If they wanted to attack, that moment would be their chance, seeing as Raito was missing an arm, and was also burned.

Kanzaki's Remaining Reiatsu: 900 Reiatsu

[Zou ۞]

OOC: Consider Jin skipped.

[Seikatsu Raito]

Seikatsu Raito felt himself get blasted away as red came into view in his eyes. He suddenly felt himself having burns all over his body. He felt weak for the moment, Kanzaki's ability was starting to get annoying. The Vizard was tired of dealing with the nuisance this mod soul was providing to be. The Bount wasn't doing much and he was hoping that his arm could be intact again soon. Seikatsu slowly got up dusting himself with his only arm. His blade was on the floor and he picked it up slowly, as he staggered slightly from the explosion. He felt himself slightly disorientated from the previous attack from Kanzaki.

Raito's vision was blurred slightly, but he could still make out the figures of people. He couldn't see Kanzaki at all, it seemed he had disappeared after using hsi ability. Well that was annoying, he would have to end up tracking that man down to the ends of the realms if he couldn't manage to get his arm back from Jin. It was then he noticed two familiar figures approaching him again. They were the two hooded old couple he saw when he first arrived in this town. They looked threatening, but they didn't seem to be attacking right away. The couple seemed to want something out of the Vizard.

"What the fuck you guys want?! You've been following me for a while, now that I think about it..." he said, scratching his head while holding his blade in his hand. Raito stared at their cold blue eyes and their tongues resembled a snake's tongue. Were they Arrancars? They seemed to have the aura of creatures from Hueco Mundo. But at the same time he couldn't see any mask fragments. He was on his toes, but they didn't attack him right away as he was expecting. Maybe they could help with the artifact.


Reiatsu: 2850/3000

[Zou ۞]

"Glad...to finally...ssssspeak to you." The old male said, a forked tongue flicking from his mouth as he spoke. It was at that moment that Raito would see it on the tongue, certainly. It was a number. Black and tattooed, it was the number "281." It meant that this guy was a Privaron Espada. However, if he saw the tongue flick out the second time, with the second time the old male spoke, he'd probably notice something new about it again. There was a large black X across the number. It indicated that this guy had gone rogue. He was no longer a member of the forces of Las Noches, which meant that he was either independent, or he simply worked for someone else now. Someone new was his boss, perhaps. Regardless, it seemed like he did not intend to fight Raito.

"We...came to give you sssssomething." The fork tongued Arrancar said to Raito. The old woman still did not speak. Her face remained stoic, and she herself remained silent. The male reached into his robes and handed Raito some sort of a letter. It was on old yellow parchment, written in a very fine cursive, and in a blood red ink. It did not look welcoming, however it did not look ominous or foreboding either. The letter itself was quite easy to read. It was a very good font. "The man whom I sssserve...hassss requested that you take up his demandsssss..." the one with the forked tongue said. His snake-like grin suddenly lit up in Raito's face. It was visible then that his teeth glowed red as well. It was quite terrifying to see, of course. "Sssshhhould you take his demandssss, you will be...rewarded. And Ssssoul Ssssociety, who casssst you out, will fall."

It was a generous offer. As for the letter itself?

Dear Sekaitsu Raito,

Who I am I will not disclose as of yet. However, I wish to be your partner for the moment. I wish to undergo a transaction of business. Enclosed underneath this letter of mine is a map which will lead you directly to the artifact which is desired. I know right now that you work to gain the artifact for someone that is not I. However, there is something which I will tell you now. If you obtain the artifact, I wish for you to turn it over not to me, but to the younger sister of the great hero, Arashi Manako. Shortly, you will meet her yourself. Within the month, this I guarantee. Turn this artifact to her when you meet her, and then gather the Vizards. I will meet you then.

Sincerely, Chaos

[Seikatsu Raito]

OOC: Are we going to end this canon with ease, or is there going to be trials through the map?? I kind of want to end thsi canon, since im moving and its getting tad boring.

Raito saw the number of the ex Privaron Espada on his tongue as it came in and out of his mouth. It was then when the Arrancar spoke that he saw that there was no hostility towards him. It seemed he wanted to assist Raito in what he had to do. He simply listened to Arrrancar as he started to speak out to him. The snake-like creature said some interesting things. It made him much interested in what he had to give him. It was some type of letter, a yellow parchment.

It contained a letter from some anonymous person. Attached to the back of the letter contained a map. "Soul Society will fall huh?" he said with a smirk on his face. It sounded very interesting. He quickly tore the letter open and read handwriting. It was in blood red ink, with a very neat penmanship. He read it quickly, turning to the map to see where the artifact was located. The Vizard did not waste any time. "Thanks, stay here, I'll be back quick, I need to get this item, I want you to stay here in case I run into some trouble," Raito said.

Raito wasn't the one to be paranoid and worry much about traps and what not. He was reckless and simply dived into troubles, that was why he probably missing an arm. "Arashi Manako?"[/i][/color] he thought to himself as he remembered his fallen comrade.Raito wondered who his younger sister was, why was she so important in this matter? This he would find out within a month according to the letter. This man seemed to know a lot about himself and the Vizards. Who was he exactly? This Raito speculated for a small amount of time, as he went full speed towards the direction the map pointed towards.

[Zou ۞]

OOC: Consider this canon on hold. Really, the last thing needed is Jin to heal Raito, and Jin to figure out what's going on. Whenever he can post.

[Jin Yamada]

OOC: Jin failed the mission? I suppose its fair since I've been gone. I apologize for the holdup. I've been going through some things. Sasuke, I think it might be what you said it was. I can't think of what else caused it. After this canon, you can put my characters on hold until I get better.

IC: It failed! Jin's eyes widened when Danzo burst forth from the smoke. He wasn't coughing or gagging! He could still see! What was going on here?! Not once, but twice had Jin's efforts been ineffective against this man. Hitze's heat had failed to transfer to him and now, despite not covering his nose or eyes, he was still unaffected by the tear gas. It couldn't be because he was a mod soul. He was in a body. Unless he was in pill form, something like tear gas or heat could affect him like it did normal people. Just what...was this guy?!

"Bloody hell..." Jin cursed as the yoyo was ripped from his grasp and dislocated his left middle finger. It wouldn't be too much of a bother, but he sure as heck couldn't use his yoyo with that hand anymore. With his finger dislocated, he'd be unable to aim properly, even if he looped the string on another finger. Danzo was coming in so fast and so unexpectedly too now. Jin couldn't dodge again. He had only been three feet from him. He couldn't prepare another attack in time either, so he had to take the punch.

Jin stopped spinning the yoyo in his right hand and caught it as it came back. He lifted his arms in front of him, crossing them in front of his face instinctively as his reiatsu gathered over his whole body. Jin noted the thunderous roar that sounded as Danzo's fist pulled back. It wasn't going to be a normal punch. As Danzo's fist made contact with Jin, there was a resounding burst of sound that preceded the resulting shockwave that burst out. Jin was thrust back into the rubble left behind from a building after the explosion, due to whatever power may have lay behind that punch. The Sprengstoff had only been to reduce whatever power was behind the punch, for Jin had no idea what that thunderous roar had been. The resulting shockwave from the Sprengstoff created a sturdy wall between Jin and Danzo's fist, preventing serious injury from the punch due to superior reiatsu strength.

Depending on just what kind of power lay behind that punch, Danzo himself would be thrust back a short distance as well due to the shockwave. This would disrupt his following kick and also throw off his aim with the gun, causing the bullet to fly past Jin, grazing his arm instead of hitting square in his chest. While that went on, Hitze was already forming behind Danzo, preparing its own attack. The good thing about sharing minds between the clones was that through shared experiences, they could also make battle strategies on the fly. The original Jin who had been watching from behind the wall of the alley nearby mentally commanded the Hitze clone to attack while the clone of Jin took the attack. Afterall, despite being a clone of his doll, it was still a part of his reiatsu.

A cloud of orange gas suddenly rushed forward from Hitze's body, threatening to swallow Danzo. It was massive as it moved towards him, almost like a tidal wave bearing down. At a stat speed of 400, Danzo would be pressed hard to try and dodge it with his speed of 300, mainly due to the size but also because it was near point blank and unexpected. He couldn't exactly react to it on time though seeing as he had just been stunned by the shockwave pushing him back...and into the mist. His comrade probably wouldn't really be able to help either as he was talking with Raito. Jin watched from the alley to see how he was going to deal with a mist of super concentrated heat. It was much hotter than what Hitze had been heating the area to earlier. As soon as it touched him, he was going to turn to ash. If Hitzewelle proved ineffective against Danzo as well, then Jin was in more trouble than he thought. He needed to finish this guy and go back to searching for his comrades.

Jin #1 Remaining Reiatsu: 1150/1700

Jin #2 Remaining Reiatsu: 715/1700 (-150 for Sprengstoff)

Hitze #2 Remaining Reiatsu: 1500/1700 (-200 for Hitzewelle)

[Zou ۞]

The punch, once it neared Jin, stopped. Rather, Jin was blown away regardless, sent flying into that building. The kick had been doomed to miss regardless from the beginning, assuming the punch had worked. In fact, it should be evident that Danzo had done this because Jin would be blasted back no matter what happened. If he guarded against the punch in some way, that kick was insurance. Jin had still been sent flying by Danzo. It was a bit terrifying of course. Jin hadn't been able to understand just what it was that Danzo's power was. Soon, he might have figured it out on his own. This power that Danzo used was incredible. It was simple, and yet powerful. Jin had found out at that moment that his attacks, the way that they were, seemed to be rather useless against Danzo. Even with the bullet scraping his arm, it was painful. It was shocking because of the speed. It was blood drawing.

But, regardless of that too, the shockwave diverged to the sides instantly. His body was completely unaffected, untouched. Nothing at all was hitting Danzo! Even the wave of heat did nothing. He was pushed out of sight because of it, but if Jin could see it, he'd see that the wave also diverged to the sides, as if purposely diverging away to miss Danzo. And that of course was his power. "I'm untouchable." Danzo said. "You only waste your reiatsu." It should be evident by that point that Danzo's power prevented him from being touched. It blasted away whatever tried to touch him. His technique probably had other levels that he had yet to show. However, for that moment, it was obvious that everything Jin tried would simply leave Danzo. Even a temperature and a gas couldn't touch him as long as they were foreign to him.

In this case, Danzo's attack range became blasting. By sending Jin flying, he inflicted such things as broken ribs, sprained ankles, and bruises. This was how he fought. He didn't have very much in terms of damage capability, but he had a lot of power in terms of defense. His defensive ability was top notch, and as a result he was definitely someone who had a level of power similar to Kanzaki, who was able to break down objects into reiatsu for himself or for releasing, or simply release his own energy to attack. In that case, if there were others in their group, who were they? Certainly, there must be more. Whoever they were, it didn't matter. Danzo turned away from Jin, and began walking away. It looked like things were done. The mod souls were leaving after inflicting this humiliation. They weren't strong like Raito or Jin. Raito could probably have beaten Kanzaki, and Jin could probably have beaten Danzo. But in both cases, they'd underestimated their adversaries, and these ones could injure them anyway. Regardless, it was left to Jin to heal Raito's arm, as they were technically comrades.

[Jin Yamada]

Jin was blasted back by the power of the punch, spitting up blood as his body crashed into the broken down building. Bricks, wooden pieces, sand, dust and other debris fell onto his body after he landed. Jin coughed up more blood as he lay there. He had broken ribs, sprained ankles and bruises all over his body. He was battered, and from only one punch. His opponent had been powerful indeed. What?! Impossible! Not even Hitzewelle affects him?! The other clone, who had been watching from the alleyway noted how the Hitzewelle simply split away from Danzo as it passed over him. It was like Danzo was Moses and the wave of orange gas was the Red Sea. It was almost as though Danzo had some kind of forcefield constantly around him. Jin also heard what Danzo said about being untouchable through his clone's senses and noted this.

Danzo had an incredible power. Whatever it was, it allowed for nothing to reach him. The heat transferred from Hitze couldn't reach him, the tear gas couldn't reach him, and even the yoyo as well. Everything that got near him was pushed away...similar to as if Danzo was using a constant Sprengstoff. Next time, Jin would be able to handle him. For now, he had to help that old Bount and then heal Raito. The clone hiding in the alley watched as Danzo walked away, believing that he had finished Jin off. Jin's clone had indeed lost that battle, but there were two Jin. Rather than risk ending up like the clone, the second Jin was going to let Danzo think that he was down for the count. So, he waited until Danzo and that other mod soul walked far enough away before coming out of hiding.

Jin wasn't going to recall the clone since he needed to head in two separate directions right now. The clone could heal itself with Vok Sheit, so he wasn't too worried about it dying. Right now, he was going to had after Raito to keep his promise and heal his arm. Jin moved out of the alley and headed in the direction that he saw Raito blasted towards. When he got there, he only saw an old man and woman. Luckily, they had their backs to him and so he was able to duck behind some debris. Had those guys ambushed Raito or something? No, they couldn't have. Raito was a former Captain and Vizard. He couldn't have been defeated so easily by those guys. Jin could still sense Raito's reiatsu, though it was faint. It seemed Raito was on the move. Jin knew Raito was alot faster than him, so he had to move quickly if he wanted to catch up with him. But why was Raito on the move? Didn't Jin say he was going to heal his arm?

Jin stepped out from the debris and then his body rocketed forward. As he moved, he suddenly disappeared. In the next second, he had moved past the old man and woman and was about 15 feet away from them to their left. He disappeared again, becoming nothing but a blur and was soon seen even further away from them. He continued moving at his top speed after those two boosted steps. He could sense Raito up ahead, though his reiatsu still felt faint. "He's moving too fast. I can't catch up with him like this." he spoke out loud to himself. He took another step while running at his top speed and was gone, using Schiene to move even faster after boosting himself with Movement. Since all he had to do was continue on the track he made, his speed would remain boosted by 10x until he stopped using Schiene. He was on a straight shot to where he felt Raito's reiatsu, and at a stat speed more than double that of Raito's, he would be able to reach him in a matter of seconds. Hopefully Raito would sense him coming and stop so that he could catch up.

Meanwhile, a hand reached out from the debris of that destroyed building and pulled the rest of the body upwards. The hand was noticeably glowing with a bluish aura, as was the body. The clone pulled itself from the debris, breathing hard as it did so. The aura surrounding it was healing it's wounds, but it was still painful. The ribs were repairing themselves, as were the sprained ankles. Even the bruises were disappearing as new cells came to replace those destroyed ones. Finally, when all was healed, the clone pushed more debris off of himself before standing up fully. He headed outside of the building and began walking over to the old Bount, picking up his yoyo while on the way. For some reason, the man hadn't woken up yet. Hopefully he hadn't died. The clone placed a hand on the man's cheek and began transferring his bluish aura to the old Bount. If he had been injured by the explosion earlier, Vok Sheit would surely heal him. Then when he awoke, he would be able to help Jin. "Hey, you awake?" Jin asked the man if and when he awoke.


Jin #1 Remaining Reiatsu: 950/1700 ( -50 for 2x Movement, -150 for Schiene)

Jin #2 Remaining Reiatsu: 565/1700 (-150 for Vok Sheit)

Hitze #2 Remaining Reiatsu: 1500/1700

[Zou ۞]

Let's end this thread.

For Jin, let's say this old man joined his group. His name is Otto Guillotine. Yeah, odd name. Anyway, his past is quite simple. This guy was like any other Bount. He was persecuted by Shinigami in the past. Not only does he hate Shinigami however, but typically he has hated Bount too. A previous Bount leader's regime saw this old man, Otto, persecuted as well, for his sinister powers. His old age is a result of an attack on him which forced him to lose control over his own reiatsu output for a while, and age. He's from an old age of Bount, where only one doll was used.

His doll is called "Dolch." His sealed doll form is a long chain wound around his arm, with a hunting knife at the very end. The knife is very sharp, and hooked in by keychain links with the end of the chain. He's able to swing this around to attack other people, and cut them without releasing his doll. He's able to release reiatsu from the very end of it by giving up 200 reiatsu with a special technique, making a one meter long blade from the very end, giving more cutting power. He has one S-grade coating ring, which makes his cutting power (once activated) formidable enough to cut anything that isn't at least double his reiatsu strength.

His doll, when released, creates a series of black locusts, about a thousand in total, which are in such formation that they actually shape a sad face. By default, they are in this formation, but can disperse and move around. If they disperse, a sad face made of purple reiatsu remains glowing and floating in front of Otto. Each locust, if it touches someone, will "infect" that person. The goal is infection. His power allows him to infect anyone with reiatsu strength up to 100 above his. After that, it's ineffective. Anyone touched by his locusts will suffer infection to the afflicted body part. If reiatsu is touched, it is instantly infected. Infection results in dissolving, and then regrowing. Touched reiatsu, if touched by enough locusts to cover the reiatsu, is just destroyed. Body parts dissolve into dust, but then regrow as grotesque, deformed growths, which are similar to Nakabakki growth limbs or Saika body growths. Regrowth is instant, torso included. A person will not die from torso or head dissolving. In fact, there is no effect if a locust touches the head. Other than that, Otto has full control over the movement of any growth body parts on a victim.

Let's also say Raito was healed, and the thread is over, and Jin has a new comrade. You can put a post of interaction if you want to show how they got together, and how Jin convinced this guy to join him.

Regardless, the thread's done.

+400 TP that you can use in any way that you want/can.

[Jin Yamada]

It had been a few minutes since the clone had tried healing the old Bount; yet still, he wouldn't wake. The clone was about to give up on the man when his eyes suddenly flew open. The old man, disoriented as he awoke, stared at Jin with a confused look on his face. Then, he suddenly lashed out at Jin. The clone leapt back just in time as something silver flashed across where he had just been standing. "Get away from me! You were one of the ones following me before!" the old man shouted while retracting his arm. "Come to kill me have you?!" the old Bount asked. Fury and hatred were burning in his eyes. For some reason, he believed that Jin was after him.

"Hey relax! Wait, what are you talking about?" Jin asked in shock. He didn't understand what this old Bount was talking about. Did he assume that Jin was a human? What had he experienced? Jin just stared at the man in shock, which prompted more anger from the old man. "Don't just stare at me like that! I know you're a Bount! He sent you here to kill me didn't he?" was the man's response. He swung his arm forward and the silver flashed once more. Jin had to use Movement to boost his speed in order to avoid whatever the man was attacking him with. As he moved back however, he felt something cut across his chest. It was a shallow cut but nonetheless, Jin had been cut by something despite having moved. This guy had range with whatever that silver thing was.

"Listen to me! I'm not trying to kill you!" Jin shouted while having to dodge once more. This time however, Jin used Schiene to move into the air and then used Movement in the middle of it to get behind the old man. From there, he grabbed the old man's arms and locked them above his head. The old man was used to the speed techniques of Shinigami and Arrancar, but he had never seen a Bount move as fast as Jin had. Of course, this was because no other Bount outside of those Jin knew had any knowledge of the technique Schiene, which Jin had invented to keep up with Shinigami and Arrancar. It had caught the man off guard. He growled in fury and began struggling to get out of the hold. "Stop attacking! I don't want to kill a fellow Bount." Jin said to the old Bount. Despite his urging, the old Bount continued struggling.

"I guess we're gonna do this the hard way..." The air around Jin and the old Bount suddenly grew incredibly hot. The air itself began shifting and wavering as though mirages were forming within the air. "What are you doing?!" the old man questioned. His struggling began lessening as the heat started to get to him. A puddle of sweat was already forming at his feet. Jin continued to hold the man until he stopped struggling. When he did so, Jin let him go and pushed him forward. "Now will you listen to me? There has obviously been a misunderstanding. I'm not here to kill you." Jin said to the man. It was noticeable that the air began cooling after Jin let the man go.

"Lies! All of it! I'm sure the Bount Leader sent you after me." the old man spoke. He spun around to face Jin and Jin was finally able to see what it was that he had been attacked with. It was a hunting knife, but there was a visible blade of reiatsu extending from the actual blade. It hung down from the man's arm by a long chain. The old man noticed Jin gazing at it and retracted the blade into his cloak's sleeve. "Wait what? Bount Leader? That can't be...I'm the Bount Leader." came Jin's response in a tone mixed with confusion and surprise. A former Bount Leader giving the order for this man to be killed shocked the current Bount Leader. What Leader would order the death of someone from his race? Now, it was the old Bount's turn to be shocked at the statement Jin had made. "You're...the Bount...Leader?" he questioned. The fury and hatred that had been visible in his eyes lessened. Those feelings were replaced with curiosity and caution.

Jin smiled at the man as he answered him. "Yes, I am the Bount Leader. I am also the Bount Executive for our race within the organization led by Death-sama, Redemption." was his answer. The old Bount could only stare in shock at what he was hearing. When had this man taken over as Bount Leader? Had he killed the former leader, the one who had ordered his death? So many questions ran through this old man's mind, but he was still unsure of the man before him. Jin continued speaking, but his smile left his face as a serious expression replaced it. "I was following you earlier because I wanted to ask you to join us within Redemption. It is an organization that accepts all races. It's goal is for peace. I also wanted to request your help in finding my comrades..."

"Redemption? Death-sama? Bount Executive? How much has changed since I went into hiding?" the old man mumbled to himself. At first, he remained silent after Jin was done speaking, but then he finally raised his head and stared Jin right in the eye. "Is everything truly as you say? Are you really the Bount Leader?" he asked, caution still present in his every word. He stared at Jin with a hopeful expression in his eyes. "Yes, I tell you the truth. If you come with me, I can introduce you to Death-sama, but first I need your help in rescuing my comrades. It wasn't until we started following you that they were kidnapped." Jin stated. At this the old man hung his head in shame. As to why he did this Jin would soon find out. "I shouldn't have made that deal with them. I apologize. I just assumed you all were here to kill me." the old man spoke in a soft tone, one full of regret and remorse.

"What?! You had them kidnap my comrades?" Jin asked. Slight anger could be seen in his face at that moment. Mixed in with that anger was a slight hope. Jin realized that if this man had been working with the men who took Don, Padrone, and Richard, he would know where they were. "I apologize. I will take you to them...." he began before stopping himself. "What did you say your name was?" the old man asked. "I am Jin Yamada. I would greatly appreciate it if you could lead me to my comrades stranger." Jin stated. The old man bowed slightly as he also introduced himself. "It is my pleasure. I am Otto Guillotine. Follow me Jin Yamada, and we will rescue your friends." the old man said. He turned and Jin followed. They were off to rescue Don, Padrone, and Richard.