Before the Rains

The tower was no longer at its former glory, though all but the highest levels of the building were left largely in tact since the fight with the Tailed Beast, one of whom he had defeated while the other was beaten by some young girl knowing of the Gates Taijutsu, and the dirty Hoshigaki that his one friend who now hated him had killed.Voltaire brought with him both of his puppets and the body that was soon to be one. There was the Body Cart, a four or so foot tall, purple, metalic monstrosity with claws for hands and feet. A permanent smile was plastered on its face as it hung from Voltaire's shoulders. Sitting on the flat skull of the beast was a smaller puppet made of wood with eight steel legs. It was about a foot wide, purple, and looked like a spider. In a bundle of white bandages soaked with red blood he had the body of the Hoshigaki. He had brought it here to make it into a puppet in the place where its life had ended. He had found this sort of spirituality when he was in the desert for so long.

"Puppets," he said casually as he walked in behind the Samurai, "Though I understand the misconception. It is a part of the ninja art known as Kugujutsu that we be able to, to the best of our varying abilities, make them move with the illusion that they are separate from us. I could teach you a good deal about this and the rest of the ninja world. You're a Samurai, no?" he asked. Voltaire smiled calmly. He had been all over the world known to them many times in his youth travelling with his merchant parents. "The Shinobi world is riddled with complexities that I have had the joy to learn." He tightened his grip on the corpse and started to walk up to the highest office. "There is no longer a Kazekage, but let's just say there is no issue with me using the office." Voltaire disregarded anybody else in the room as he walked up to the Kazekage's office which now had an enormous hole right where the ledge from which the village was addressed still stood.

Chakra: 730/730

Voltaire threw the wrapped corpse into the throne of the Kazekage to represent a placeholder, as well as to scare others from trying to sit in it with the stench. There was also some sort of a joke about this being the corpse of the man who had killed the Kazekage, but humor all too often escaped Voltaire's grasp. Showmanship however was something that no degree of solitude could ever remove from his wheel house. "To laugh at a man's puppets," Voltaire said with a calm smile, "is to egg them on. A true master of puppets does far more than just pull some strings, he gives them characters and egos that one can harm."

He started to pace around the office, looking out the gaping hole in the wall over all that would soon be his. He continued to talk to the confirmed Samurai, but he only rarely glanced at him to make sure that he was listening. Voltaire knew all too well that he'd got himself a captive audience, so the eye contact thing would not be entirely needed. "The Kazekage died from a bad case of failing to protect the village. What this makes me, for now, is somebody who fought against the two Bijuu who did this. A Bijuu, if you are not aware, if a giant monster made of pure Chakra. They can level entire villages and are entirely immortal. The only way to defeat one is to seal it, and to seal it in somebody is to give them the power of the monster."

Volt saw that the smell was going to be bothering the newfound swordsman friend, however there were much bigger problems at the time. This was going to fill his office with the stench of the Hoshigaki. Normally he loved the idea of people instantly knowing that somebody who had infuriated the Village Hidden in the Sand, however this was not his kill and he wanted his office to smell of lavender and cream, or perhaps some nice incense from the local towns out in the countryside. The desert flora had provided the last generation with a lot of scents to explore. What was really important here was that the room should not smell like a Hoshigaki corpse when he had other dignitaries over.

Voltaire slapped the bladed hand of the Body Cart, gashing his palm open and then forming a line of hand signs to summon 75, a dinner plate sized tarantula who was very skilled in Sealing techniques. Voltaire then pointed at the Hoshigaki's corpse. 75 ran onto the back of the puppet, grabbing the end of the scroll with its fangs, and then ran down to the corpse. It got under the body of the Hoshigaki, using the strength of its legs to lift up the body, taking it to drop it on the blank scroll. It then sealed the body before vanishing back to the real from whence it came.

"The Kazekage has failed desperately in fighting off the threats that came to us. And yes, to contain the beasts makes one very powerful. Chakra can be multiplied several fold, new elemental releases such as lava and steam can be attained, new powers can be found like manipulating the sands or breathing underwater, and for those who are willing to really fight for power, they can become the beast and use its might to bring Hell to the doors of those who oppose them. The Black Sun brought those monsters here, and now I will use that against them. That bundle of death was a Black Sun member killed by another Jinchuriki, the Jinchuriki being somebody with one of the giant monsters stored inside of them. That blue scum killed my Kage, and once I have the funds gathered up to get enough resources to replace all to squishy bits, with metal and wood. His punishment for attacking Suna is to serve it forever as my weapon! Volt growled a little with pleasure as he spun the now bloody scroll back up.

Voltaire thought long and hard about the implications of other villages having been attacked by the Black Sun, because that prevented him from being able to as easily mobilize the people to attack the other villages under the pretense that the Black Sun had been formed specifically as a force to denigrate the standing of Sunagakure no Sato among the other great five villages. Either way, he would find the words the push his people into a war that would bring the nation back to the glory that Voltaire knew that it was once known as. In his time in the desert Volt had come to know beyond any shadow of a doubt that this land had once been more great than one could imagine, and that the Kazekage had made it rough and hard to live on in hopes of inspiring somebody greater than himself, perhaps an entire generation greater than himself, as he would grow weak from the many luxuries of being the Kazekage. Voltaire was the one to lead this new, superior generation to gain the power over the world that rightfully belonged to them, and them alone. But the years of struggling for every meal had also taught Voltaire to be more accepting of compromise, because while rightfully the shinobi of Suna deserved to own the whole world, that would be difficult without some strategically placed help. And Voltaire's knowledge of geography told him that if he had the villages of Sand and Iron he would hold either side of the map, and that was not the kind of chance that could be ignored. The Samurai seemed to have his qualms with the Shinobi, but Voltaire's casual use of Ninjutsu and burning hatred for other villages seemed to have snagged him, so this was going to be his only chance.

"These arms are humble," Voltaire mumbled in what was almost a low growl, "compared to that which I will have once I make the other villages pay for their refusal to provide tribute to the superior nation. Right now, nine beasts exist, I know of only three to be sealed, and all three of which are in this nation. That means that between the other four it is nearly impossible that one has more than we do. Five great nations, one of them already has a third of them. All of those who would try to end the true warrior spirit, all of those who would supplant the will to fight with some fancy eye-balls, they will be killed if they are lucky, and if I am angry enough they will have to live their lives as slaves until the end of time, or until I no longer see them as useful. We start with the Black Sun, and then we take the Earth."