['Wars do that to people', he wants to parrot back.

Instead the ninja holds a breath and looks again to the spear. One thing that Neji had learned was to not engage if he wasn't confident he could walk away in one piece, if not the victor. It either meant he had grown to be a good judge of strength, or he was still an unforgivably cocky bastard. No use wasting chakra on a jutsu- the boy hops on down to the base of the tree, now in the man's sight. His hands are empty of weapons, but they're not raised in that universal sign of surrender or appeasement, they're just hanging at his sides.]

I'm not looking for a fight. If that was what I wanted, I would have had the upper hand without ever revealing myself to you at all.

[Because that was one way to put warriors at ease. Right.]

Instead of letting yourself be a target, why won't you fight back against the ones who've staged this?