For all the fuss and crying, the wounded warrior didn't put up much of a fight relinquishing his arm to her. A good thing since arguing would be needlessly annoying after a tedious battle. Perhaps Yohei knew that she'd feel that way as well so she'd attempt to reciprocate and not rub in the embarrassment that came with needing medical treatment. Not one glance was spared to the flopped décor that was left to rot on the unsteady stones. Instead the focus was fixated upon gathering chakra into her hand for cleansing the lacerations. The order of priorities was not to be mistaken. "I think you have the wrong idea of how dissection works..." Stated calmly as she gently grazed over the open wounds. The smaller ones didn't need much to mend but the larger ones could only be tended to so far. A hint disappointing considering it was due to her current level of experience. [break][break] The needless concern that followed merely earned a judgmental glance away from the injuries at best. "Oh? And what happened to letting me tangle with the Uchiha next time?" There was a teasing tone, but it was no joke. It'd be a fight she'd willingly seek if the alternative was being treated as a helpless damsel. That had it's own place elsewhere. "I'm fine. Didn't even come close." As usual, Sumire prided herself in making her work appear as effortless as always, inspecting the remaining injuries momentarily as she stepped back into a thoughtful stance. "And you? Did you see death flash before your eyes? Maybe a bit of wooziness? Don't be shy." [break][break]
Grinning despite his injuries, Yohei seemed rather relieved to hear his partner got out of the conflict unscathed. He may not have been a very good ninja, but he could be a pretty decent diversion. At least enough to keep Sumire away from harm. Between her aim with a bow and her skill at healing, she was much more capable anyway.
"Heh. I dunno about death, but my ears are still ring--" the zealot's words trailed off as he came to a slow realization. How did Sumire put it? A flash of death? It got him thinking for a second. Then his grin faded and he slapped his forehead amid a lamenting groan. "Aw, dammit." The look in his eyes was one of sadness, like he'd been caught making a huge mistake. "How could I forget?!"
Pulling away from Sumire in a hurry, the silverette returned his attention to their prize and crouched down with some sense of urgency. Dipping his fingers into a blotch of blood that seeped from the Uchiha's chest, Yohei brought his reddened digits to the ninja's forehead and traced a crude symbol on the forehead - an encircled triangle pointed downward. Following that marking, he clasped his hands together and closed his eyes for a short prayer.
"Lord Jashin, please accept this meager sacrifice in your honor."
The words were practiced but not as fervent as one would expect from a 'true believer'. Yohei seemed satisfied with it either way, rising to his feet and wiping bloody fingertips on his sleeve. "Sorry," he remarked softly, unsure how Sumire would take it all. "Don't wanna piss off God."
"Ringing...?" An attempt to finish the sentence was made, head slightly tilted in questioning as the same amethyst eyes surveyed the shifting features. Considering what he claimed his condition to be, there was no way he could currently hear anything more than herself, so the cursory reaction appeared misplaced. Sumire herself had some level of pride when it came to being rather meticulous in both plans and actions. What could they have possibly- [break][break] The answer was quickly delivered and flummoxing with each passing moment. Reflecting such a sentiment was the reflexive hand placed on the forehead with a moderate exhale. "My... I'm not sure what else I should have expected." A statement to herself, but in no manner hidden to anyone else in the cavern. As ironic as it was the lady in miko clothing had no vested interest in religion and so the supposed significant importance of Yohei's act evaded her. Nevertheless she wouldn't stop him if it was that important over the completed treatment of his injuries... even if it seemed like nonsense to her. That said she did not make much of a remark towards the silverette's apology. As long as he didn't force her to do anything similar then it didn't matter. [break][break] That said, if he was more worried about a corpse then he couldn't have been in any dire trouble. Therefore she opted to move on with this whole ordeal with a brief wave. "If you're about done, I'll start getting to work before the stench starts settling in. If that's quite alright with you and your god." In the absence of the usual lighthearted chuckle or tone, Sumire motioned to move past Yohei towards the dead body regardless of what that answer might have been. It wasn't as if she were angry... that would be quite obvious had that been the case. She was refocusing - a fact she didn't feel the need to voice as she deftly jerked on one of the limbs to tumble the body squarely on the floor. "I'll need some more light though. If you think you can manage somehow."
For some reason he felt like apologizing a second time. Not for the act he committed but because he'd ignored Sumire to do so. The exchange left him with an awkward feeling in his chest, like he should've explained why the prayer was so important. Then again, he was just going through the motions and wasn't even confident he knew how to explain the finer points. What little of Jashinism Yohei knew had some weird rules behind it, but he meant to follow them as best as he could.
"Yeah uhh. I'll start a fire." The zealot rubbed at his neck in an uneasy fashion, glancing around the mouth of the cave for anything flammable. "Nothing too big though. We can't draw attention to ourselves." He was only stating the obvious to detract from an anxious mindset. Quietly hoping to himself that the awkwardness of his ritual would go forgotten, Yohei marched off to find some firewood.
Shortly afterward, the promised blaze began to crackle at the mouth of the cave. Kindling was added here and there until a decent flame could be kept going, the smoke looking faint enough to go unnoticed. Once he was satisfied with that, Yohei took a branch and wrapped it in a bundle of old cloth, quickly assembling a tool to assist with the lighting issues.
"Here." Walking over to Sumire's space, he wedged the makeshift torch between some overhead stones and cast the flickering light across the corpse. "What's it look like so far? Figure we can pry anything useful out of this thing?" the silverette asked curiously. And yes, the use of 'thing' instead of 'him' was very intentional. At this point he didn't even see the Uchiha as resembling anything human. More importantly, he wondered if Sumire could rip those eyes out and find some of their weak points despite the corpse's battered condition.
By the time that Yohei was awkwardly shuffling around and mumbling words to who knows who, the falsely dressed miko had already plunged herself into her work. Sleeves up, of course. Couldn't risk getting those silky whites stained with blood. Therefore she wasn't insulted with the statement of the obvious. What she was insulted by, however, was how annoying this cockroach was being even in death. Thus with a single twirl of a kunai, it took less than a second to slice open the flesh of the fresh carcass and expose the crimson and pale pink organs that laid within. Yes, she could have used what medical skills she had to be more delicate and precise. No, it wasn't as if she was too concerned about how much chakra could have been expended. It was more about efficiency and what better way was there than optimizing the use of physical tools versus using chakra. [break][break] It wasn't the cleanest operation with a kunai. Admittedly with the lack of light and working with something as large as a kunai, the work was tedious. Hence why Sumire got momentarily distracted the second that first spark cracked. Glancing over to where the fire had begun burning, she hummed in thought as the torchbearer granted what she asked for. "Well I can at the least. Some of the organs got bruised up and damaged, but I can still mess around with them." By now the cavern floor around the corpse was drenched in blood. While it was mostly to one side, there was still some bleed over that marred the former sand kunoichi's hands and knees. Truly a benefit to not wearing long trousers... less clean up needed. [break][break] "Haven't gotten to its eyes. Figured I'd let you watch as a gift for all your hard work~" As quaint as the words may have sounded, the scene was anything but. If you thought that the exposed organ trails were bad, then it was probably best not to look up and realize that the Uchiha was also quite defaced. Small intricate facial muscles and even part of the skull were readily on display. A true horror... like it truly was. Anyway, back to the topic at hand, Sumire was confident in being able to remove the eyes and everything else she needed from this carcass easily. So much so that instead of proceeding with the process, she instead raised her hands above her head in a motion that deceived how lithe the pinkette actually was. "I could always take a break instead though. My back and legs are getting quite stiff from crouching and sitting all day." [break][break]
Gruesome. There wasn't a better way to describe it, what with those innards scooped out and so much blood seeping into the stone. Thankfully Sumire hadn't lost her touch. Anyone less experienced would've been unsettled by having to dig through all that pink and red, but not her. And certainly not Yohei for that matter.
What's more, after hearing that the eyes hadn't been plucked out yet the silverette donned a gleeful grin. "How thoughtful." His knowledge of the Uchiha was nothing special though, like most in the ninja world, he knew the fame of their precious eyes. He'd been anticipating this moment since they chose their prey, the only regret being that Sumire couldn't wrench those orbs out of his skull while the traitor was still breathing. "There'll be plenty of time for a shoulder massage after we've got what we came for," he insisted, shooting his partner a look that bordered on pleading.
Yohei needed this. On the one hand he wanted to assure himself that their efforts hadn't been in vain and that there was something of value to learn here that could further their cause. On the other, Jashin wouldn't be very pleased with a half-done job. All the blood in the air was like a good omen anyways, so there was no reason to let it spoil.
"Harukage Uchiha." The name was uttered in a spiteful tone, marking the first time Yohei had addressed the victim face-to-face. Well, minus some of the face parts on the Uchiha's end, but the sentiment was what really mattered. There was a sense of hope - or maybe more of a curse - in the way the zealot addressed the dead, like he intended their names to never be spoken again. "What a waste of breath," he lamented with a sigh. "Can't believe this thing was ranked higher than us back in the village. So much for the Uchiha being elites."
It was of little shock that was the response that she had gotten. Still it wasn't necessarily the response that she was looking for as she peeked over mid stretch to be met with sad doe eyes... or at least some attempt at it. "Oh, you poor thing. You know that look doesn't look good on you," she stated touting a hint of a pout. Despite what she said, whether or not the look or the words were effective would be left up in the air as the pinkette lowered her arms to refocused on the task at hand. Taking a familiar poise, a flicker of blue chakra manifested around and between the makeshift medic's bloody fingers. Within the span of a few seconds the complex membrane of facial muscle was torn asunder. Unnecessary but made the next phase easier. [break][break] Taking her opposite hand to reach for the exposed iris, she was fairly careful in pulling the optic away from its seat in its former home while listening to her partner continue on. "Who?" By the time the single word question was asked, the veins protecting the optic nerve were exposed only to be cleanly cut. One Uchiha eye now casually held out to the death fanatic akin to halloween candy. Their target must be rolling in their deathbed. Not that it truly mattered. "Why not? You know why," asked absentmindedly and almost indifferently as she worked on the second socket. "All the help that ended up being. It will be awhile before anyone tries to go out an find it. Not that I'm going to leave much to find." [break][break] Yes, the process didn't take very long. It was just tedious and to some extent tiring as evident with Sumire attempting to wipe her forehead with the rolled up sleeve. That might have been because of the heat and having to work on the floor though. "Anything left we can feed to the wolves or hang up near the village. Give back and all, you know."
Yohei stared with morbid interest as the dissection reached its climatic stage, the eyes of their prey looking ripe for the picking. He was tense the whole time, clenching his in concentration and holding a small breath. Every slice of flesh and snip of muscle that Sumire undertook was part of an intricate puzzle he had no knowledge of. Had Yohei been the one holding the knife (so to speak), he was sure that his hand would've slipped by now and ruined those ruby eyes for good.
Only daring to speak up again when both eyes were freed, the zealot finally exhaled. "Don't worry about the leftovers. I'll make sure it's disposed of, down to the last bit of bone." His stare shifted from one piece of the Uchiha to the next, each pile of blood-soaked refuse looking no more distinct than the rest. "Lord Jashin is sort of...picky about how we deal with heretics." An uneasy chuckle slipped from the zealot's lips and he shook his head with uncertainty, knowing full well the grim work he needed to perform. Sumire would be spared the finer details for now, but Yohei's reaction alone was a clear enough message.
There wouldn't be anything left. Not even for the crows.
That was for later though. First things first. Yohei was more interested in those peculiar eyeballs, leaning closer to his bloodstained partner in the process. "So these're the Sharingan, huh? Doesn't seem so great now that I get a closer look." The zealot almost reached out to grab one, but recoiled when he considered the danger of spoiling a good specimen. Of course those eyes deserved to be destroyed anyway, but he and Sumire still needed to do some poking around. For instance, there was one glaring detail Yohei thought worth investigating. "Aren't they supposed to be more...red than this?"
Upon closer inspection the orbs appeared totally inert.
Should the pinkette been more perturbed by that statement? Probably. However, all Sumire did was raise a brow and scoff. "Ha. Then I won't ask." The end result mattered little at the end of the day. She got what she wanted from the corpse and what was left of it could be ground to dust for all she cared. Whatever picky ritual this god had in mind was likely significantly more gruesome than that if the reaction was anything to judge on, but again it wasn't her business. What was her business was storing what was harvested. Thus with a swift motion did she retrieve a scroll from her hip and toss it directly at Yohei with no regard for whether or not he was prepared for such an action in the midst of the staring. "But at least help me seal up the goods first." [break][break] With the pair of eyes secured in her grasp, Sumire rose to her feet and once again attempted to offer them back to her partner. She didn't know him to be squeamish considering the whole ordeal moments before, not to mention the implied grisly disposal at that, so she had no idea why he was acting so squeamish. Was it a guy thing? Well, whatever. "Mm... I don't think its activated. With what the body being dead and all," she responded coolly as she raised the bloodless orbs closer to the burning flames. Twas true that the irises lacked the familiar yet aberrant hue that most knew. It wasn't because she had just yanked them out of a dead socket either so it must have had something to do with the factor of living. Purely speculation with the facts from the dissection considered."It probably just needs chakra or something. Want to test it?"
Catching the scroll when it was tossed his way, Yohei barely flinched from the move. Despite how prepared he seemed for that instant, his expression had shifted to something resembling hesitation. The thought crossed his mind that this Uchiha's eyes could've been defective. It wasn't like he remembered seeing a lot of the red glare during the fight, so it was a distinct possibility.
Maybe he should've prayed sooner?
At least where sealing was concerned, there was some tiny sense of relief to be had in the realization that ink wouldn't hard to come by. The blood which had pooled all around the desecrated body would supply more than enough material to inscribe with. So the zealot got to work without another moment to waste, unfurling the paper on the floor and wetting his digits in the blood again.
"We have two, don't we? May as well give it a shot."
It may not have been a good idea to act rashly with such precious resources, but they had a backup eye in case things went wrong. Worst case scenario? They just find another Uchiha, stage another ambush, and rid the world of another rat.
"Here. Aaaaand...done." Yohei's fingers finished their tireless scribbling upon the scroll, his bloody handiwork smeared in a diverse pattern of symbols. Crude in form but efficient in practice. A simple handwave to Sumire then signaled that she could drop one of the eyes for safekeeping whenever she pleased. "Chakra might do the trick, but we shouldn't push our luck. If those eyes are as dangerous as everyone says they are, it could be cursed." He was smirking when he made that assertion, though it didn't seem like a joke. In a way, it made sense to him that the trick behind the Uchiha eyes was some evil jutsu.
Grabbing one of his own scrolls and rolling it onto the floor, the zealot appeared to have a plan of action. "Let me take a crack at it first. You can wash all that blood off while I get the fun started, eh?"
"Your calligraphy skills could use some work." The critique had come with a smile, a tilt of the head, and a subsequent giggle after watching over his shoulder. It was true, but it was all in jest! The scrawl had accomplished that which was required and that's what mattered. A single toss was all it took without another thought. In moments one of the two orbs landed with a soft squishy thud onto its target and activated the magic spell that sealed it away from sight. Meanwhile the other remained between Sumire's middle and index finger oh so casually. [break][break] It was rather surprising to hear Yohei sounding so interested in potentially destroying perfectly good test subjects though, even if he was touting some level of cautiousness. With how shy he was being before, it was an amusing change of heart. Nevertheless she did raise a brow at his assertion to try first. Wasn't she supposed to be the medic here? Or was he truly so worried about the dangers of an already dead and harvested Uchiha. That seemed silly, as well as unlikely, but she wasn't going to turn away the suggestion of washing up. Being covered in privileged blood was quite a disgusting feeling that she couldn't quite describe. "Oh? Will you be okay all alone~?" She asked despite having already turned away and made strides towards the cavern entrance. [break][break] Did she forget that she had the eye pinched between two fingers? Not at all. Yet she'd make her partner wait until the last moment before tossing the lychee sized optic at his direction with full expectation he catch it despite the force behind the throw. "I think I'll take you up on that then. Try not to miss me too much." The same hand that held the organs waved a toodle loo before the miko's garb figure vanished in a cloud of dust. The only thing left behind was... an obi?
Shortly after the first orb was sealed away in a puff of smoke, Yohei took a moment to examine the formula as he slowly rolled the scroll up. He'd barely finished the process when Sumire tossed the other eye over, catching him by surprise. Good thing his reflexes were trained, because despite making a light fumble as the prize bounced off his palm, he managed to catch it with a second grasp.
Relief riddled his features for a brief flash as Yohei unfurled his fingers to see the eye undamaged. "Hmph. No promises," came the zealot's belated response as he shot his partner a joking grin. But she was already gone by the time the last word left his mouth, apparently quite eager to get some fresh air and wash her hands of all that guck.
Left to his own devices for the meanwhile, it was finally time for some fun. The Jashin sort, that is. Yohei rolled the Uchiha's eye around between his fingers like some plaything, pondering what method to use first. Given the abundance of blood still at his disposal, the zealot concluded it would be a shame to let it soak into the rocks without a use. So, standing up and striding back over to the body, Yohei grabbed a fresh scroll and draped it across the corpse.
"This better be worth it." He chuckled under his breath.
And so began another spree of grisly work, courtesy of his dark master's blessings.
