Fandom The Village Hidden in the Leaves

[loyalwolf]

Kurēn listened to everything that was said and internalized the information. When Hotaru gave her explanation about her actions, Kurēn had to admit it made both logical and practical sense. Yet something about it still didn’t sit well with him. He didn’t know the girl very well and wanted to trust that his teammate had his best interest at heart, but Kurēn was not easily trusting. He accepted her reasoning, but he still didn’t like her in-action. Turning back to sensei and his lessons, which didn’t impress Kurēn at all. Mako didn’t come across as wise, rather he came across and trying to scare his students into respecting and believing in him and that didn’t sit well with Kurēn. Then all of a sudden, he flicked into a nearby tree and began leaving his student behind with his great speed.

Kurēn was left stunned at his speed and knew he could not keep up with their sensei. The only person that seemed to even be able to slightly keep up was Ashi and that alone impressed Kurēn. She was hot-headed and seemed a bit unpredictable, but she was physically strong. He also agreed with her shouting and reprimanding him. Overall, it seemed that the whole team had a way to quickly and effectively navigate right behind Mako.

Kuren knew he would never be the most agile or fastest on a team, but he never expected to be the slowest of the group. As kuren ran along below them, he began to lose sight of them. Alright, I have to at least keep track of them. That leaves me one choice, but it's such a waste of chakra. As kuren began running to pick up speed, he waved his hand signs. “Ninja art: fungal release: giant toadstool.” All of a sudden a giant mushroom sprouted from the ground and was able to lift kuren off the ground to a nearby branch. Kuren then began to jump and swing across the branches, although he seemed a bit uncomfortable and had no grace with his movements. Every so often he would slip and have to use his jutsu to catch himself. He soon picks up a decent rhythm and was able to keep a pace only slightly behind Hotaru.
Retro-Grey Hanarei AtlannianSpy

 

[Ganryu]

Umichi Kamimizu && Ko Amatsu
Squad 3​

Umichi groaned.

"Of course you guys want to do the hard route. Well, I guess we've got a week with nothing better to do. Let's see if there's a waterfall nearby, or if I have to make one. Either way, I have the perfect idea for training."

Something was wrong though. Kiyoshi hadn't been the first to take it up, he'd sprinted off pretty quickly. The rest of her students took it as a race, but HIM not challenging her? She wondered outloud.

"Wonder what the deal is with him and Tsushima? Did he know anyone there? I really should probably read and update their profiles more often. Oh well."

The rest of her genin had taken off after him. As long as they were information, didn't matter. It was suppose to be a good easy mission anyways. Still, best for her to lead them before they ran into something. Genin were always bad luck. Umichi yawned, suddenly stopping behind the group. She tapped her sake jars, water pouring from them forming a sphere. Sitting on it, Umichi stretched, and pointed forward, shooting like a bullet forward, overtaking all three easily.

"I thought this was a race? Why so slow?"

She slowed down ever so slightly, but kept it enough to make sure she was winning.

The group would travel for quite some time, finally making it to where the tree line ended as the sun started to set. A rocky terrain led slowly down to the coast. Tsushima was a coastal city. Was being an operative term. It was still several miles out, but they were for all intensive purposes there. Umichi spaced out on her little magic carpet. Yawning again, she glanced back at her little monsters.

"We might want to stop before we get there. Trust me it's a better night sleep here.”

It was at that moment, a harsh female voice called from nearby. “Now!” the voice echoed in the air like a general ordering her men. The sound of a large object searing past Umichi’s body and crashing into a boulder, all but obliterating it as a code immediately brought the tossed object back at breakneck speeds.

The sheathed sword sped past Umichi for the second time, splitting the air as it was caught in the hands of a woman hiding nearby.

“Aww shit, I missed…” said the woman as she came out of her hiding place. She was tall, covered neck to toe in thick black armor and seemingly quite unhappy that she had missed her strike.

“OI! I don’t hear any bombs goin off!”

She yelled once more, before the sound of sizzling wicks filled the air. Flying the young genin’s way were several explosives, tossed from behind various places in the landscape, in the rush, they weren’t placeable but all could tell they had just walked directly into an ambush.

Umichi cursed as her water sphere was popped, and she just barely made it out the way of the second attack, regrouping with her brats. She was a jonin, she should be able to take out a bandit or two in her sleep. That, and what stupid bandit would attack as shinobi wearing their headband, that was suicide.

She then noted the crushed boulder, and a massive sweat drop fell. This was going to be a pain. Umichi cursed, old man Gou had trusted her with the squad…

“Damnit, I knew he was going to be trouble. I don’t wanna play hero, so much work. Brats, get out of here, find somewhere safe, like maybe a ruined town, or the Hidden Leaf, or a random tree. I got this.”

Umichi reversed her tessen, and moved to stab herself with it. Before she could ‘play hero’, bombs started getting thrown around her. A few of them were easy, the genin would be an embarrassment not to dodge them, Umichi rolled her eyes, before jumping in surprise as she saw some flying from shadows. Way too good for normal bandits. One bomb landed by her, and a splatter of blood left in the explosion.

Bombs still rained on the genin

(The Bandit)

rooke yoshua171 Retro-Grey
-----------------

 

[Ganryu]

Nobushige Toyotomi
​

Nobushige chuckled as he took the newspaper clipping.

"Hehe, 'outside influences'. Man is oddly attached to his hamsters."

He stuffed it in his bag, and pulled out a sheet of paper from his bag, it had a map with many marking on it.

"Now, Dotou, being in charge means you probably out look this over. This is a scouting of their camp from last time. I wouldn't send you all in blindly afterall. Take it kid."

"You'll be in charge of making plans on the way there. Study this map here. The tent is where the scroll is kept. Your job is steal it. Yuuki's job is making sure no one is in there. Hitomi's job is making sure no one can find Yuuki by lying. This should be a quick mission, but it ain't dull. You get caught, I don't care how strong you kids are, those bandits will be trouble. They are well fortified, and do have some weapons. I mean, I'll probably save your asses or something, but.... best work like that's not going to happen. Alright, lets start on the instruction til we get there."

Nobushige formed two clones along the way.

"Well, time to fill you in on your jobs. "

--------------

One of the clones approached Yuuki.

"Alright, let's go over what a distraction is. Your job is not to get caught first off.
Your second job is to be loud and annoying. If only you had a long range blast of some sort. Oh wait. Huh. Too bad you need to be accurate. Oh wait. A blast will wake anyone up. That would annoy and distract anyone. When we get there, I want you to just start raining brimstone and fire on them. Let's talk about aiming real quick. I talked with someone for tips to give you on it. Where are you looking when you aim?"

----------------

One approached Hitomi.

"You have the fun job. Having high chakra control does have its perks, why I bother with those papers. Might want to practice with one the way with one. Your first job is always eye an escape route of your own. Your second is to look like you belong. The bandits will be panicking too much to pay too much attention to you. We need you to lie about where the fireballs are coming from and act scared. Let's talk about acting real quick. What's your backstory? Who are you? Why did you turn to banditry? What do you spend your money on?"

----------------

The last, the real Nobushige, approached Dotou.

"Alright. What do you think of this map? You are incharge of overall rules. When we get there, tell people where you want them. That's on you. Let's talk about sneaking real quick. Sneaking is less about being in a dark area, and more about knowing where people will be looking from. As long as you keep their view in mind, you'll do well."

------------The group traveled until evening, where they set up the operation, seeing the bandit camp in the distance. They were dressed like merchants, claiming to be a caravan of merchants who had set up an outpost. Their 'trading outpost' was oddly well fortified, and not very friendly to travelers----------------------

KageYuuki CactusJuice General_warNpeace

 

[CactusJuice]

Dotou Hayashi- Squad 4
​

Dotou gratefully accepted some sort of leaves from Hitomi. He had no idea what they were or their affect, but he trusted her. After they began their journey, he studied the map intently while he chewed nodding as he listened to his sensei's advice. It wasn't easy to see due to the bandages, but a puzzled expression formed on his face. "...are you sure these guard positionings are right, sensei? I mean they stole the scroll from us, so why do they seemed more concerned about an attack from the Cloud Village?" It could mean we have some competition. Or He gulped nervously. The Jonin could be on that road. Dotou shook his head removing the thought. There was no point in worrying about that now. They would have no way to figure that out until they arrived.

Now that he'd thought about it a bit more. Dotou quickly realized that his chances of meeting the Jonin were the highest among the group; he was stealing the scroll the Jonin was supposed to be guarding after all. Judging from the map, its probably a ninja from Sunagakure. He deduced from the fact the road to that village was unguarded. The Leaf was too, but of course they wouldn't be trying to steal what they'd been hired to protect. Not that knowing that helps much. Dotou still had no way to guess just what kind of opponent the Jonin would be. One thing was for sure; unless the standards were sigifigantly lower in the other villages, he didn't stand a chance. He probably wouldn't even be able to make it by the Jonin let alone defeat him or her in a fair fight. He thought on this hard. How exactly am I supposed to deal with that? It made him think of times he had to deal with bullies as a child. He was a Hayashi after all, so their were plenty of people stronger than him. Dotou only ever seemed to be able to win through tricks. He recalled a time where he'd used the Substitution Justu, but, instead of using wood, he'd replaced himself with a rather large rock. His attacker's punch ended up hurting himself more than anyone else. I doubt rocks will stop a Jonin though. He sighed. It would be easier if I had more thing to work with, but all I have are kunai, a few smoke bombs, and... His eyes widen as an idea struck him. ...explosive tags. While he doubted it would actually take out a Jonin, it might give him a chance to escape should his back be to the wall.

When they arrived, Dotou stood in front of his comrades a bit nervously holding the map to better illiterate his idea. "So I was thinking that uh, maybe we should attack at uh sunset or sunrise. No offense Yuuki, you're really good at just about everything else, but stealth isn't really your strong suit, so taking a position with the sun at your back might make it easier. The combination of your fire attacks and the sun could make you difficult to locate. But...uh..." He fidgeted with his fingers. "If you're more comfortable in the dark, that's ok too. It's just important that no ones actually able to pinpoint you, ya know? The exact location can be up to you; just make sure you tell Hitomi, so she can point them in every direction but the right one. I would prefer you avoid attacking from the South. As for me" He pointed an drew a semi circle from their location to the water. "I think it'd be best if I approached from down here. I can use my Hiding in Mist technique to, well, hide. My mist should just look like fog rolling off the lake; no reason for alarm especially when they're being attacked." He looked toward Nobushige and smiled. "I can't be in their view, if they don't have one, right?" Dotou turned back to the rest of his team. "...so, uh, any questions or suggestions? I'd love some input." Dotou hoped they didn't call his plan stupid immediately, but he'd rather that then someone be injured or killed due to his oversight.
Ganryu General_warNpeace KageYuuki

 

[Retro-Grey]

Ao, Kiyoshi
Team 3
​

"I bet they're all dead...", A voice resonated from the depths of Kiyoshi's mind

"They're alive...", Kiyoshi mumbled to himself softly, but still hearable.

"Every single one of them."

"No... they can't be.",

"You could've saved them if you had just stayed."

"Shut up! Shut up!"

"But who would want you"

"Please... Stop."

"Who would want a beast?", The words instilled themselves in his forethought.

It's a surreal moment. When the place from which you hail is seemingly wiped off the face of the Earth. It's a surreal moment when mentality wavers, and darkness begins to consume the mind. It's surreal. It's sad.

There had been ramblings from each of his teammates, Kotaku saying something about racing, Shikakazu yelling to slow down. None of those words mattered right now. Kiyoshi was too self absorbed to even give them any recognition. When Umichi's kimono-cladden frame pulled ahead of him, he'd normally take up her challenge but this moment was different. It was too important.

So when a loud enough noise was able to knock Kiyoshi out of his thoughts, there more than a lot to take in. Doesn't mean it was worth taking in. Bombs were falling towards him, towards his team. No. Bombs were blocking him. Blocking him from reaching his destination. Those explosives were keeping him from home.

In that instance, there was no thought, just anger. Maybe it was anger that had boiling for years, maybe it was sudden. It was anger nonetheless and it wasn't a pleasant feeling. That intense emotion took control of Kiyoshi's body, utilizing the swift and acrobatic movements the boy was renown for. Except, what used to be an effortless grace, was now a hasty assumption of agility.

With every bomb that Kiyoshi dodged, his anger grew as more began to fall before him. He kept moving. In a lapse of this aggressive behavior, Kiyoshi looked back.

The figure of Umichi-Sensei left as the smoke of a detonation soon dissipated. While she was in no way near kind to him in any situation, it stirred an interaction between him and only what he could call 'Conscience'.

"She hates you the most." "She never even liked you." "She tried to drown you.", The voice in his head was all but benevolent.

"She wouldn't train me otherwise." "She cares about me." "She was training me.", The platinum haired Genin spoke to himself in choppy sentences aloud, having pulled ahead.

"Then why aren't you any better than before? You're a monster. You'll never be who you want to be."

"Why don't you shut up!", Kiyoshi shouted loudly.

"You killed your mom. You're dad. Tsushima. And Umichi. You're weak!"

"I'm not weak! I'm not weak!", He continued to cry out, louder than before.

"Then why are they dead?!"

Kiyoshi stopped. Standing in the tall grass of the field he had arrived in. The wind seemed to pick up as waves of heat started to roll off of his body. His hands clammed up while his nails began to dig into his palm. Soon enough, the grass near him began to wilt from the heat. Except now, an orange flow of chakra emanated from his body ever so slightly. It was as if they were the wisps of smoke of flames before they grew larger.

Tears pooled in the boy's eyes as he yelled in rage, "I am stronger than you all, so don't look down on me!"

With that, he took off towards Tsushima. Bandits in his path and rage in his eyes.

yoshua171 Ganryu rooke

 

[KageYuuki]

Yuuki Uchiha: Squad 4

Slipping in the earpiece, Yuuki glanced over Dotou's shoulder for a peek at the map. Though he quirked an eyebrow at his teammate's question, "I don't think this is something the Hidden Cloud would be too set on getting. Not like shinobi stole it in the first place or anything." He doubted anyone else even knew about the scroll, let alone that it had been stolen from the museum.

Shrugging, Yuuki continued to walk, casting a glance over at the clone that approached him. "If it's more than a meter away, then a little above where I want to hit." Sure his aim wasn't perfect yet, but hitting the bullseye nine out of ten times wasn't horrible. He was definitely going to need to train more on that when he got back...

...

After the garden was taken care of.

Takara Himura: Squad 6

Takara quirked an eyebrow at Mai as she promptly dropped to the ground and fell asleep. She didn't exactly have a nap in mind when she said they should rest a little before continuing to the mine. Bah, whatever. The Jounin's attention moved to her other two students as she pulled off her backpack and sat in the grass. "Once you've eaten, we'll discuss how things are going to work." The genin had been instructed to pack for multiple days on the road. Time to see just how well prepared they were.

Following the meal, Takara rather roughly nudged Mai awake. The girl was rather known to be a heavy sleeper. "As I said this morning, we have roughly fifteen bandits roaming around the area. The reason we can't just charge in and announce our presence is that they've taken a few of the village's children hostage. A few of the villagers have already tried to rescue them once, only getting themselves killed. That's why our help was requested."

She shifted to get more comfortable. "There are a few different ways we could go about this, but I want to hear your thoughts. And no, Mai, we're not just rushing inside and knocking them out."

 

[Ganryu]

Mai Sanada - Squad Six
​

Mai may have been a hard to wake, but she sprung with all the energy of eternal youth, practically leaping into a boxing pose, punching the air infront of her. There was only so much training in a day, it was almost a natural reaction at that point. Also why waking her occasionally could go wrong. Seeing her sensei, she shook her head, recalling what it was they were doing. Mission. Right. She was ready.

Listening to the orders, Mai turned rather quiet. Her facial movements were slow, but her grin turned to a neutral face. Hostages made it less fun. Why would bandits do that? It just made it more likely they would get killed, or, as what had happened, someone would call in a team of ninjas to take care of them. They didn't have practice at using jutsu, they were screwed anyways.

"There are a few different ways we could go about this, but I want to hear your thoughts."

"We could- "

"And no, Mai, we're not just rushing inside and knocking them out."

Mai whimpered quiet. Well, if they couldn't rush inside, they'd have to force the bandits out. For a minute, she tapped her chin and foot, thinking about how to do it. If only she had a few materials.

"Eh, easiest way would be to trade places with the hostages with some sort of substitution jutsu or something. But I suck at stealth. I.like.to.punch.things. Hmm.... I know! We could scare'em out. They just took over a creepy ol' mine they don't know well....

If only I had some talcum powder, copper salts, ethanol, methanol, alcohol, pig intestines, a cross, 12 nails, and a twinkie, I could scare them out the mines. They did just take over some creepy old mine they aren't familiar with, and they aren't expecting us. We didn't go in the village after all. I know!

We kidnap one bandit, and have his ghost haunt the mines! I can make someone ghostly. And on fire. If I set the hostages on fire, no one will want to go near them. We can rescue them then! And then beat the crap out of the bandits.

Oh yeah.... might be good to mention it'd be a cool fire... I think. They'll be fine! Probably. I dunno, any other ideas?"

 

[General_warNpeace]

Hitomi squad 4
"What's your backstory? Who are you? Why did you turn to banditry? What do you spend your money on?"
"...so, uh, any questions or suggestions? I'd love some input."

" I figured I could be an orphan who steals for survival. It's not an uncommon story. Though does need work. I was hiding in a merchants cart from sand when he discovered me. I ran. Ending up stumbling onto the group. Or something like that. I may have to improvise a bit. " Hitomi mused mind spinning her story. It's one that can backfire on her if the group refuses to listen to her or doesn't believe her. The most important factor is lulling the group into a sense of safety. Making them believe that she doesn't know what they were doing there.

"I could circle around and approach them from the direction of the hidden sand. This way they don't think I'm connected to leaf or cloud. Which would make them wary. "​

 

[Retro-Grey]

Makorama Senju
Team 7/Mako​

"Alright children, we're here," Makorama said after he grabbed onto a tree branch over head and swung his body to land on top of it. His body was kept a bit crouched as he watched the caravan and its owners, a noticeably scrawny man and his horse. There was a stillness in his gaze as he looked on.

"You three stay close, tell me if you spot anything out of the ordinary," Mako spoke softly as if he were trying to keep his cover intact. The jonin jumped down from the branch and approached the caravan. A thin white cloth veil was all that protected the caravan, that is until Team Mako had arrived. It didn't take long before the white haired Senju grinned cheekily and waved his hand over at the scrawny man sitting at the reigns.

"You're Leaf Shinobi assistance has arrived! And yes before you ask, I am the marvelous Makorama Senju," The Jonin had a cocky look upon his face as he spoke to the caravan handler. The scrawny man didn't seem the slightest bit knowledgable of Mako's name.

"Uh hello Mr. Senju, my name is Kawake Ichigawa, now can we get a move on?!", The scrawny man replied a little hastily. He peered over his shoulder quickly after speaking. It was obvious Kawake was paranoid.

"By all means lets get going!", Makorama placed his hands behind his head as Kawake flicked the reigns. The Caravan began on a slow trot towards the Hidden Grass.

Hanarei loyalwolf AtlannianSpy

 

[yoshua171]

Nisekuru, KōtakuTeam 3
Presumably Tsushima​

Their journey was a bit tiring, but he'd trained every day for this sort of thing for years, so it was more that it was boring and rather dull than it was about the physical exertion. Though he had to give it to Umichi, even though they called her Lazy-sensei, she was the best at being lazy. She was the most supremely effective lazy person he'd ever encountered, and he'd actually looked around the village to see if he could find someone else. If only for the sake of then nettling Umichi-san with truth rather than lies, which tended to be far less effective than cold hard facts.

As they ran, Koutaku managed to use a mixture of small bursts of Dexterous manipulation on his legs, toes, ankles, and feet to help make every movement count, along with shunshin, and minor alterations to his body using his Advanced Transformation technique. It made him almost catch up to Kiyoshi. In fact, the effective combination he'd found and the fact that he'd almost caught up to Kiyoshi when Umichi said they should stop meant that he was rather disappointed. Plus, even with the length of time they'd been running, he'd managed to conserve practically all of his chakra. Still, he was a bit more tired than the others probably were.

Stopping and stretching—as well as letting his body slip back into a normal state—Koutaku relaxed for the first time in hours, and damn did it feel bad. As he did so, the physical exertion no longer messing with his thoughts, he continued on the theoretical creation of a sensory technique that he'd been pondering much earlier in the day. Branching paths of chakra that could be tripped much like chakra threads or a tripwire, to notify him of someone's location maybe? He could expand them far, making them incredibly thin, maybe find some way to connect them with his chakra system directly—hmm, he'd probably need seals to maintain that sort of thing.

While he pondered however, things quickly went from peaceful and relaxed, to chaotic and dire. His attention—at the sound of things being thrown, not to mention the authoritative female voice—brought him out of his brief reverie. He spun, having already drawn a kunai and thread by using a chakra thread to do so and tie the two together in two deft movements. His spin pulled the wire into a circle around him, and as it did the kunai lengthened, widened, and became a solid cylinder around his form.

Any and all bombs that struck near his vicinity were repulsed by a cylindrical metal wall, in which he stood, one hand still on it while he thought.

Umichi spoke up over the din, giving them orders to retreat. He chewed the inside of his cheek lightly and swallowed hard, his heart oddly not beating at a feverish pace. There was no fear, only brief indecision before he decided to trust his sensei's skills.

Taking in a deep breath he crouched down, the cylinder widening to accommodate, before he braced himself against the ground and the back of the cylinder where the kunai would be when he deactivated his technique. Utilizing dexterous manipulation, a bit of his advanced transformation technique, and a burst of chakra, he pushed forwards. As he did so the cylinder “poofed,” briefly concealing him in smoke. A kunai was stabbed into the ground, having braced his foot to act as a better point to push off of. Koutaku erupted forwards due to his manuever, muscles enhanced by his use of chakra, the ATT(advanced transformation technique), and of course shunshin no jutsu.

Exuding a tiny amount of wind affinity to utilize Kazeho(Windstep), he further amplified his speed and also released a blast of wind chakra, that jostled anyone who might have stepped into his path. He was a blur as he moved, using brief bursts of chakra after he'd jumped into the trees again, so as to reestablish and thus maintain his tremendous speed. Several times he almost collided with a tree branch, resulting in him slowing somewhat. Nonetheless, he quickly caught up to Kiyoshi. Having done so he ceased his ministrations and kept at his normal pace so as to conserve chakra. He was sure that Kazu would also wisely retreat.

He had faith that his teammate would be fine, plus, if Umichi had told them to go it was because she didn't want to defend them AND herself. It meant that the enemy was too much for them to handle by themselves. It meant she'd be inconvenienced by their presence and so he had listened to her for as much trouble he sometimes gave her, he was not about to endanger his sensei or his team just to get on her nerves. He was smarter than that...much smarter.

When Kiyoshi reached their destination and finally stopped, Koutaku wasn't far behind, and so slowed down, stretching and hoping that Umichi would be fine. He wasn't a worrier, and she was damned strong—or so he read—but it was the thought that counted. After all, once he'd had some time to think properly he'd noticed that they weren't normal bandits. If they had been she wouldn't have told them to leave.

Turning his attention to his teammate he was stopped in his tracks—his form still in the shade of the forest's canopy—as he noticed the chakra rolling off of Kiyoshi. 'What the,' he thought, and then Kiyoshi had an outburst, yelling out at no one. Koutaku had inadvertently taken a step back, but the surprise quickly wore off. He wasn't sure if he should approach and try to figure out what was going on, or if he should keep his distance.

His senses and sense of reason were pretty conflicted about the whole thing. When Kazu, if he hadn't already, he'd say to him, though quietly, “Any idea what this is about?” Koutaku, only belatedly, noticed that one of his hands had instinctively drawn a kunai via chakra thread when he'd been surprised. He would've smiled if the situation hadn't put him on edge. Plus, if that was his instinct...then surely something was very very wrong.

He decided to venture forth, taking a few steps towards Kiyoshi, closing the distance from 10 meters to about 7 before he spoke up, his voice gentle. “Hey, um, Kiyoshi...what's going on?”

 

[AtlannianSpy]

Hotaru Hagano
-Team Mako-
​

Before jumping down to join Mako and the caravan Hotaru took a moment to catch her breath. She also took the time to subtly open her bag and release some moths into the area. The moths would be able to keep up a loose perimeter around the caravan while they traveled, detecting any nearby chakra signals but it was probably best not to trouble the client with this information. Hotaru's tend to confuse civilians and they always asked a lot of annoying questions. Honestly it was like some people had never met a girl with a bag full of insects before.

The moths fluttered out from the bag in a dappled, brown and red stream and dispersed, rapidly disappearing into the nearby trees. the moths were capable of navigating based on their proximity to Hotaru's chakra so as long as she stuck with the caravan they would keep up as well. Meanwhile Hotaru jumped down from her branch and hurried over to the caravan.

This feels like a good opportunity to test out smile #8 Hotaru thought, adjusting her expression accordingly. #8 was modeled after the smile displayed by a door to door salesmen, wide, high energy but still professional, Hotaru had been impressed by how intact it remained even after her Mother had threatened to use the man as a test subject. Wakaba Hagano was not terribly fond of salespeople.

"Mr Ichigawa it's a pleasure to be working with you," Hotaru said brightly, taking the old man's hand in between hers and shaking it vigorously. "I'm sure I speak for all of us when I tell you much I am looking forward to watching over your valuables and your life and ensuring both remain firmly within your possession," Finally Hotaru withdrew her hands to cover her mouth as she cleared her throat. "Now in pursuit of that goal which, I assure is absolutely our number one priority, I think it would be best if I remain directly with the cargo, perhaps on our within this charmingly rustic wagon of yours." Hotaru patted the side of the wagon affectionately to illustrate her point. "Not only would this ensure the best possible coverage for your goods, it would have the beneficial side effect of better conserving my energy for any critical situations."

Like most of what Hotaru said, her spiel was true, or at least, truth adjacent. Mostly she was just concerned that Makorama would expect her to do something silly like walk all the way to the Land of Grass. Which would be a waste of a perfectly wagon obviously, but Hotaru suspected her Sensei wouldn't see it like that, so far he seemed like the type who would spout something about character building or some other nonsense.

Retro-Grey loyalwolf Hanarei

 

[Ganryu]

Nobushige Toyotomi - Squad 4
​

Nobushige stood silent, returning his clones as Dotou planned the operation. He didn't object or interupt once until he was sure everyone was done.

"Well, this is your operation, I'm just a client.

Though I suppose I should probably throw in one more thing. Uchiha boy, do not EVER dismiss a suspicion, like the guards pointing to the Hidden Cloud meaning nothing. I'd rather you be paranoid and alive than dead and peaceful.In this mission, he's your leader, this goes double. Granted, the real reason is I forgot to tell you something, the scroll was being transported from there to the Leaf when it was robbed. But points still there, he is your leader here, you share his paranoia, do I make myself clear? When I ask you to be incharge of a mission, they will share yours."

Nobushige stretched out his neck.

"As a professional though, I suppose I can give my opinion. Hitomi, it sounds like a fine plan. Dotou, stop the damn stuttering. Those are your orders, sound damn pleased about it. Well, you said sunset, lets go."

-------------

As the group got closer, they would occassionally feel a tremor in the ground. Nobushige narrowed his eyes at them, but told them to proceed at all times. The group finally arrived in the afternoon, and had a whole 4 hours to prepare for sunset. The thieves didn't seem to notice their presence in the woods to the north, and their guard, while moving, stayed much the same as the diagram Nobushige had drawn out. Officially, they had dressed as merchants, but once during the wait, a brawl could be heard breaking out inside the tents. Nobushige watched as his genin seperated to their roles. To the West, Yuuki was prepared as the distraction, with Hitomi also preparing to enter that way. To the South, Dotou was sent to be prepared as the gatherer of mist, and to infiltrate the camp. Nobushige made himself scarce, watching over the genin, but seeing how they would do.

 

[InsaneAsylum]

Aiko Uchiha
Squad 6

Aiko sat cross legged with her bag in her lap. She retrieved a sandwich wrapped in some sort of paper. As she unwrapped it, Aiko silelently resented herself for having only brought boring and bland sandwiches. She let out a soft sigh. The only person to blame was herself for almost forgetting to pack food in the first place. If she had better control over fire, than she could at least warm up the sandwich. Oh well, all that mattered right now was making sure she ate well so she could have energy for the upcoming task. Mai was already fast asleep, and Ukita was probably sensible enough to bring his own food. As long as Mai ate when she awoke, her teammates should be ready for the mission. It'd be a shame if someone were to make a mistake because of an empty stomach.

After the meal, Takara began explaining the situation. From the sound of things, getting overwhelmed by there numbers was a possibility. Fifteen was more than Aiko was expecting. Hostages would make this a pain in the ass as well. Keeping them alive would be a top priority. Of course right away Takara shut down Mai's usual plan of punching everything to death. However, Mai wasn't defeated yet. She began spouting on about how burning the bandits out of the mine would work. She also mentioned something called a "Twinkie"? "Your ideas just seem to keep getting dumber, Mai." Aiko stated bluntly. "However, that idea about kidnapping one of them and making them a ghost sounds interesting. I don't know if we can pull it off though."

"Anyway, you said they were spread out right, Takara? Then we can stealthily take them out one by one. If we let one of them call out or sound an alarm, we'd be in trouble." Aiko paused, and thought for a moment. She knew she wasn't the best at battle strategy, but she was sensible enough to make something that at least sounded worthwhile. "I think we just need be to sure we dispose of each bandit quickly and silently, preferably while they're alone." Aiko finished her idea, and crossed her arms. She looked over to Ukita for his input. Suprisingly, he actually had some good ideas every now and then. Besides, if Takara didn't like their plan, hopefully she'd say so. Then again, this was their mission, and they were the ones who needed the experience, whether it be bad or good.

 

[Spemout]

Kaida- Squad 5

Kaida was having a rather interesting day.

First, a nekomata shows up and tells her that her squad was to meet at certain building and to follow them. Given she was trained and taught to be a ninja, she knew of summons, not a lot about them, but that they were a thing and came in all shapes and sizes. Thus while she was surprised, she wasn't scared.

Then her sensei, the jonin known as Koma, tells her and her squad that they were to enter the building through a tiny window on the top floor.

It was only once she entered the room that she realized where she was, and sighed.

Once the ANBU showed up, she didn't freeze up, she just had her eyes closed and was trying to ignore the oncoming headache. She listened to what was going on but was just ignoring it for the most part.

It was only after the ANBU left and her sensei was walking towards her and the squad that she opened her eyes.

"Hokage-sama, I request your forgiveness for the outburst I'm about to have."

With that said, she lifted her right hand in a fist, with the back facing her sensei.

"Koma-sensei, I know your a Jonin. From what my father has told me, practically every jonin has some sort of quirk. I also know that your a force to be reckoned with and that nobody should take you lightly. I'm also willing to bet you've endured things that would break many other ninja. With all that said, and with all due respect..."

Her middle finger was raised.

"Fuck you."

Kimiwriter , Orikanyo , KageYuuki

 

[Orikanyo]

Hideki Ukita

Squad Six​

"Not sure if exploding the place would be a good idea, the mine itself is worth while keeping intact." he thought it through, feeling like he was the only one listening to Mai at this point, which was admittedly quite the dangerous as not listening to mai tended to let her go only further into the realms of explodyness. "if we can get them out without destroying the mine or having to get all bloody, thats best. Though, if we need to drag them out kicking and screaming, that's fine to. I just want us to treat this mission like we are our job title. As ninja." he made his point before looking towards their leader and sensei.

"We'll need to do most of our planning when we find out about the mine it'self, like a map or something. With that we'd be able to find out where to go and where might be some spots to watch for ambush. Not to mention, traps and other hazards. if we can capture them, they'd likely be worth more than dead, We have rope and such for tieing them up, and we know ways to incapacitate. Which we can mostly leave to Mai." he nodded towards said team mate before continuing. "When you strike, remember what we talked about the war cry? Don't do them. it'll make certain nobody hears you are you knock their skull in."

He reminded the young woman, but knew his words weren't going to get through...

"We should always be observant of our surroundings, while bandits, while they may be separate, always assume there is another coming, even when the coast is clear. the more we prepare for, the less we have to think when the time comes. There may be mining equipment laying around to, so what your step, or use them to distract or as weapons if needed. If you feel you are surrounded, retreat. Don't leave a fellow behind unless you have a way to release them from being captured or it is part of the plan. We're going to get outa this alive..." he scratched behind his head for a moment.

"..Man.. I'm getting way to serious. See what your doing to me Rose(Aiko) you making this idiot turn serious!" he poked some fun at the resident Uchiha. "Man, it's like you're forcing me to actually try for once, not good Rose, not cool." he sent a wink her way.

KageYuuki Ganryu InsaneAsylum

 

[Orikanyo]

KOMA!

Guest starring,

A very tired Gou Uchiha

​

Gou gave each genin some time to process what all had happened in the last few minutes. It gave him some time to put the gathered files where they belonged.

Yukari shot Koma a venomous look as he moved to stand with the team. Apparent friend of the Hokage or not, that wasn’t the nicest thing to pull on your students.

“Now then,” Gou’s low voice drew the genin’s attention back to him. “A rather interesting report came across my desk from the police force the other day.” The old shinobi picked up a piece of paper off his desk and skimmed over it once more. “A young man, Akihiro Tsubasha was found nearly beaten to death by his own brother.” He returned the sheet to his desk, “while the event in itself isn’t all that unusual, Akihiro mentioned his brother had been acting unusual ever since an acquaintance had gifted him an antique teapot. Things got out of hand when he tried to get his brother to sell or get rid of it.”

“Ah yes, that tea pot. I had been wondering where it had gone to.” Koma scratched his chin, ignoring the distaste of his students. “It must be a very important teapot, which I assure you i don’t say often. Largely because there really is no teapot that important enough to nearly kill your brother over…” he mused.

Gou cleared his throat, “Anyway, the unusual circumstances that led up to the attack may likely require your specialities. Squad 5’s mission will be to track down the suspect, Kenji Tsubasha, and bring him into custody. Koma will handle the likely enchanted teapot once you find Kenji.” He held out a folder to the Jounin. “This will have Kenji’s description and his last known location. His home has been deserted ever since the incident, but his address is listed should you need to investigate it. For this to have only happened yesterday, the house was noted to have a rather large amount of spider webs inside.”

“Oh dear.. It seems the poor cursed fool opened it. Such a shame.” the man spoke once again in his mysterious yet jovial tone. “Yep, I know exactly what's going on~ My dear wonderful little genin, I hope you all aren’t afraid of some spiders~! Because we gotta go get my pot back~!” the man fully admitted to having his teapot stolen, in a way that would make most teens snicker as he took up the folder and gave a cursory glance towards the insides of it.. Plucking out what seemed to be a post-it note and feeding it to the small flame in his staff's lantern. Before handing the folder to his genin to read.

At a cursory look, one can see it is clear that the person who had proposed the mission, and is naturally paying for their services, was in fact...

Their own damn sensei..

KageYuuki Kimiwriter Spemout

 

[loyalwolf]

kuren Kinoko
team Mako​

After what seemed like an eternity to Kurēn they finally arrived at their destination. Kurēn’s gaze stayed on his sensei and couldn’t help but think of him as a show off. Either way he followed orders and stayed put and tried to get a read on anything in the area that seemed off. Kurēn noticed the man’s paranoia and found it a bit odd. Considering it was such a low-class mission, he didn’t expect the man to be so concerned about being ambushed. Overall, he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. That was until he caught a glimpse of Hotaru releasing something out of her bag. That peaked Kurēn curiosity, but knew now wasn’t the time to ask what she was up to. He looked toward his other teammate and said “I think its best if we joined them. Sensei seemed to have no issue with leaving his team behind.”

With that last statement, Kurēn jumped off the tree branch and landed with a thud. It wasn’t very graceful but it got the job done. “sensei Mako, we have observed the area and nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. Although I feel standing around just make us easy targets for attack.” With that Kurēn walked next to the caravan so he could easily protect it if trouble comes. Hopefully they would go slow and walk to the destination, so Kurēn wouldn’t have to worry about following behind. Kurēn kept an overall neutral face, but he did greet the client with respect. He then turned to Hotaru “by this point you should know that there is no way that sensei will let you ride on the wagon. If we keep a decent pace, it really won't be much of a hassle to walk. It will also allow us to have better visual over the environment. Plus, it might help you to build your endurance up.” Kurēn had no malice in his voice, he simply was just stating the facts of what he observed. Hanarei AtlannianSpy Retro-Grey

 

[Spemout]

Kaida- Squad 5

Kaida looked at the mission folder. "You know...normally, I'd be angry at Koma-sensei for somehow being robbed...but the thought of someone hurting their own family over a teapot, even if it is cursed or covered in mind-altering seals or something, just really makes me eager to find this guy so I have an excuse to punch him in the face...but, -and I could be wrong here but hear me out first-, we need to find whoever gave our target the teapot, since he'd either be the one who stole it, knows the guy who stole it, or knows a guy who knows a guy. If we try to find him after subduing Tsubasha Kenji, he might try to run, and while it'd likely be easy to catch him, it'd be smarter to save ourselves the trouble."

KageYuuki , Orikanyo , Kimiwriter

 

[Ganryu]

Squad 3​

Clearing from the smoke, Umichi stood battered from the attack, with blood dripping down her arm and head. A shell of water infront of her had protected her from most of the blast, but the problem Umichi had always had was being ambushed. It was rare, it was aggravating, but Umichi literally could not make water, which is why had to take the blast.

Behind her, an orb of water rose into the heaves, the symbol '雨' (Ame/Rain) floating in the middle made of blood. It had seemed Ao had barreled past the bandits with little problem, with Kōtaku shortly behind. Umichi scanned around, she hadn't seen Shikakazu leave. Tch. Shadows were a bad matchup to bombs.

Well, this was going to suck, but there was only one thing to do.

Umichi pointed towards the bandit woman with her fan, a fake smile on her face.

"♪My, my, it looks like you want to dance. I generally don't swing that way, but you'd laid out a party and everything. I guess we can spend a bit of time together.♪ I'm Umichi Kamimizu, The Blood Dancer."

She snapped her fan shut, water dancing around Umichi.
-------------------------------------

As squad 3 made there way east, the bandits seemed to sparce out, all of them strictly avoiding Ao and getting the hell out his way. Other than the little band that had been around their female leader, most of the bandits seemed completely unprepared for combat. They had shovels in hand, and many of them carried a bottle of sake. It looked less like bandits, and more like an excavation site. As they got closer, the sky began to dark, and the clouds rumble, promising rain.

Moving further down the rocky path, Tsushima came into view. It was a rather small fishing village. The outer buildings looked welcoming, a dull brown, and a sign that said welcome. However, a closer look would reveal the paint was old and chipped, it had been a long time since it had seen a fresh paint. Further in the village it got stranger, some of the buildings burnt and collapsed, left only as a black silhouette. The center was the strangest, a large crater spanned a third of the inner village, nothing was in it, except for the steps to what had formerly been a shrine. Whatever had destroyed the village had started there. Holes upon holes were dug around the shrine, it looked like a gopher community there. Infact, one large one extended deep underground.

yoshua171 Retro-Grey Orikanyo

 

[Kimiwriter]

Sei Teshima, Squad 5

Sei frowned at the file. Of course her sensei would be the one to own a cursed teapot. It just made sense. "If it's so dangerous, he should have kept a closer eye on it," she muttered. Raising her eyes from the page to Koma, she asked, "Sensei, what exactly were you keeping in that teapot and is it likely to cause us more trouble during our mission?"
She didn't really expect an answer. Koma was skilled at evading questions while still pretending to answer them. Really, why do I bother asking? Turning her attention to her teammates, she listened to Kaida's plan. It made sense, whoever stole the pot might know their target's location, but that could also take too long. If the tea pot was cursed or something inside it caused people to become murderous, then it would be dangerous letting Tsubasha Kenji wander around while they were searching for the thief.
"Shouldn't be at least try to find Kenji and make sure he isn't going to hurt anyone else? We don't have to engage him right away, just keep an eye on him just in case. I'd hate to find the thief only to hear someone else was killed over the teapot." She looked from Kaida to Yukari. All three of them would need to agree on a plan for this mission to go well.
KageYuuki Orikanyo Spemout

 

[Hanarei]

Ashi (Tsukiashi) Inuzuka
Squad 7
​

Ashi looked back towards Hotaru briefly hearing what she was saying. Truthfully she felt a bit bad, though Ashi was the type to be far to stubborn to admit defeat. She didn't want to come off as weak. She had a sense of pride about her... or at least a desire to make herself out to be tougher then she really was. Proving herself to be strong on her own in her mind was the best way she would find acceptance. She continued to keep up her pace attempting to keep up with their sensei. She wouldn't fall behind!

Ashi jumped down keeping a bit further back in an effort to stand out to be 'the cool one' of sorts. It seemed to work in all those magazines with that 'cool' character standing back acting cool and collective. She couldn't help but awkward stare at Hotaru seeing the completely fake smile. Ashi's attempt to act 'too cool' and emotionless quickly turned to a notable glare in response. She was all to familiar to that look.... even if she was doing it in a much more weird way then what she normally saw. She hated those fake smiles, it was something that always got to her seeing the look upon others in her clan.

She looked to Kuren hearing him speak up looking back and forth between her team members as she started to get a better idea about them. They probably thought little of her as well. She shrugged off the thought attempting to act calm and collective. Come on Ashi, gotta act tough make them realize how awesome you are! She nodded her head crossing her arms trying her best to put on the cool front and act tough. She wasn't going to let herself get angry or act harshly. She would be professional!

"It won't be a big deal either way, we are just escorting someone, anyone can do this easy kind of work." She spoke in an effort to act tough managing to come off arrogant unintentionally as she began to walk forward with the moving caravan. She hadn't quite down the whole being professional bit. At the very least she hadn't attempted to ambush their client.

loyalwolf Retro-Grey AtlannianSpy

 

[Orikanyo]

Koma

Squad 5

​

Koma debatably stared at his student for a second through his constantly halfway(?) closed eyes. was he looking at them? Was he looking at the wall behind them? It mattered little. "...He was the one that stole the teapot, of that it is certain, best you keep your conjecture until you know all parts of the mission and known information about it." a simple wiggle of a finger accentuated this.

"Now then, to answer Sei's very important question." he paused as if in the middle of remembering.. But in truth was more for dramatic silence before he let out the answer.

"Not fully certain." he answered in utmost truthfulness.

"Largely because I am simply not foolish enough to go about opening up cursed tea pots! Though, I do know it has a something to do with spiders. So, when it comes down to it, I'll deal with the big.. spider related... thing, you all shall aide in the capture and possible subjugation of a creepy spooky spider tea pot and We'll be home just in time for dinner." he announced quite happily, but nonetheless the information known about this job was.. Iffy at most.

"In the end, whatever we have to do to get that pot back is acceptable, beyond killing the man of course. though you never know with these whole possession things, maybe hes already dead for all we know!" he continued his chatter before walking towards the door.

"Now, come along kiddies, we're heading to the man's place first, time for you to learn some tracking~!"

And with that, the group's newest destination was set.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Wow, when he mentioned spider webs, didn't think he meant this much."

The lackadaisical jonin stared at the nearly covered house, webs, from the rafters to the floor, on the outside and inside, the place was covered in them. One could barely see the floor through them, each step would be a sticky mess and quite the hassle. the house was not to big, a single story and none to large, enough to fit maybe one person and it showed signs of recent use.. despite all of the webs.

The man brushed aside a couple dangling webs above the small patio entrance and pushed open the door with the tip of his staff... Resulting from many little 8 legged arachnids to crawl out and scamper off into the various corners of the outside world they could find.

Spoiler: Complementary Arachnophobia sensoring

"...So... Who wants to go inside first hmm?" he asked the girls. "We may find clues inside that will lead us onwards! Plus, every moment we waste, is another mile of running we have to do to find this fool!"

KageYuuki Kimiwriter Spemout

 

[KageYuuki]

Yuuki Uchiha: Squad 4

Yuuki flinched slightly at Nobushige's scolding, "Yes, sensei..." the genin murmured in response. As they paused to listen to Dotou's plan, he shrugged slightly. Eh, I suck at stealth and we all know it. Nothing to apologize for." He crossed his arms, "Sensei does have a point though, no one's going to listen to you if you don't sound confident in your own plan." If it wasn't for Nobushige's backing and help should things go south, Yuuki likely wouldn't have been too comfortable with the whole thing.

Or maybe it was the ground occasionally shaking that had him on edge... Earthquakes weren't exactly commonplace in the Land of Fire. Earth release users aside.

Nestled deep in the underbrush with the sun at his back, Yuuki peered out at the camp. This was definitely going to test the range of his Flame Mortars. So long as he didn't hit the camp - or Dotou - they should be fine. He cast one last glance back at the sinking sun, knowing Hitomi would start her run the moment he started. The genin's chakra surged as he wove handseals, taking a deep breath.

Guess it's time to raise some hell.

Yukari Hyuuga: Squad 5
Yukari fought to roll her eyes, whether it was the discovery that Koma was behind the whole mission (in more ways than one) or Kaida focusing on the wrong target, was hard to tell. At least Sei seemed to be focusing. Knowing what the hell was in that teapot in the first place would do the three some good. Given Koma's knowledge in the otherworldly, he likely knew just what he was keeping.

Or not.

....

.......

"Let's... let's just go..." She groaned into her hand, following the jounin out the door. Despite being his student for nearly a month, Yukari had yet to form an opinion on the man aside from 'what the fuck?' How the Hokage had been able to put up with his antics while they were teammates was beyond her.

The Hyuuga heiress stopped and tried not to obviously stare at the house as they arrived. When the Hokage had mentioned a 'large amount of spider webs' this was far more than she'd imagined. There didn't seem to be anywhere one of them could step without quickly being covered in a sticky blob.

"...So... Who wants to go inside first hmm?"

Yukari shifted before holding up her hand in the sign of confrontation. "I... think I have a better idea." Veins along her temples leading to her eyes bulged as her featureless eyes became more defined.

Byakugan: the all-seeing white eye.

Not like anyone could blame her for not wanting to dive into spider web land for potentially no reason. There were definitely plenty more spider webs strewn everything in the small building. "There's blood on the tatami in the main room..." Yukari's eyes narrowed, "It's faint, but all of these webs are pulsing with chakra... The hell?" A frown tugged at her thin lips, looks like they were going inside after all."There's a tunnel dug in the back room, I can't make out how deep it goes."

Takara Himura: Squad 6
The blue haired jounin sat with her eyes closed as she quietly listened to each student's ideas. Though she did have to arch an eyebrow at whatever it was Mai was trying to explain to the group. Finally, her violet hues opened, "You each have parts of a good plan, but you're not taking the team as a whole into account. Hideki does bring up a good point however, it's hard to act or form a plan without much info. Fortunately, we've been given a map."

She spread out a map of the mine and nearby area along with a blank scroll. "Fighting in the mine is something we're going to want to avoid. Even with a map, they'll still be far more familiar with the area than we are. Our priority first and foremost will be rescuing the hostages. After that, we can deal with the bandits." A brush and small reservoir of ink were pulled out next, "So our first move will be gathering more intel. I'll scout out the mine and locate the missing children,"

She formed a handsign and a pile of small, seed-like formed in the center of the group. "While I'm doing that, you're going to plant these seeds in these locations. I'll place the last few while I'm inside the mine." Xs were placed on the map outside of the mine, all of them were a ways from the entrance. "Hideki, I'm guessing you remember my crystal labyrinth, this is how it's set up. Though instead of a maze, we're going to create a barrier."

Another mark on the map, a small triangle. "You three will wait for me here once you finished planting the seeds. When I've returned I'll have a more accurate count of the bandits and their locations. We'll be able to better plan our next step then. If you have any questions, ask them now. Otherwise, let's move out."

 

[Ganryu]

Mai Sanada - Squad Six​

Mai let the others talk, almost looking into space as she retreated with her thoughts, to whatever bizarre plane her mind normally dwelt. It didn't seem like her teammates like her idea very much. Aiko even called her dumb over it. Takara's plan didn't win Mai over either, though Mai, unenthusiastically took a seed, and shuffled towards the mine. Soon as she thought she was away from the rest, she sighed.

"Dangit! How am I suppose to live up to my ninja way like this? I ain't stupid, just enthusiastic! I wanna be the clan head! I gotta be the strongest! How can I get my clan members to recognize me if I have to sneak around bandits. Don't wanna hurt any innocents though, that'd be bad... What to do... what to do?"

Mai walked away from the main entrance, she'd seen a more 'fun' entrance on the map! It was marked with a 'danger' mark. She found a natural sinkhole into the mine, anyone could fall into and be hurt. It was a more adventurous entrance. Mai laughed before leaping down it, her voice echoing throughout the mine like a possessed demon, the normal madness made creepier by the echoes. Mai had warned them she sucked at stealth.

Mai landed gracefully as she could, jumping off the shaft wall and rolling into an area. That hole went down quite some distance. She looked around to realize it was dark here outside of the single pillar of light that shone from the shaft. Didn't look like a very occupied area, weren't even normal torches around. Still, Mai closed her eyes remembering the map. She'd naturally chosen the furthest option Takara had given.

"Too dark, too dark... how to light this up?"

A blue fire burned around Mai, who laughed gleefully at the fire in the mine, not even bothering to check if there were things she shouldn't touch. It was mostly abandoned section anyways(not that she knew that before barreling in), what did she have to watch out for? She trotted off to the seed location. Mai still had no idea what she was going to do. She didn't like the plan, but didn't see any other option for the moment.

 

[Ganryu]

Umichi vs Ko
Squad 3
The Dance​

Clearing from the smoke, Umichi stood battered from the attack, with blood dripping down her arm and head. A shell of water infront of her had protected her from most of the blast, but the problem Umichi had always had was being ambushed. It was rare, it was aggravating, but Umichi literally could not make water, which is why had to take the blast.

Behind her, an orb of water rose into the heaves, the symbol '雨' (Ame/Rain) floating in the middle made of blood. It had seemed Ao had barreled past the bandits with little problem, with Kōtaku shortly behind. Umichi scanned around, she hadn't seen Shikakazu leave. Tch. Shadows were a bad matchup to bombs.

Well, this was going to suck, but there was only one thing to do.

Umichi pointed towards the bandit woman with her fan, a fake smile on her face.

"♪My, my, it looks like you want to dance. I generally don't swing that way, but you'd laid out a party and everything. I guess we can spend a bit of time together.♪ I'm Umichi Kamimizu, The Blood Dancer."

She snapped her fan shut, water dancing around Umichi.

“Eyyy? Are you coming onto me? Well I do gotta say you are pretty cute. But I’ll have you know that a big girl like me don’t play nicely with sweet little things like you.” the woman began strutting in a circle around Umichi, all but ready to crush this cute little tart into paste at any moment.

“My name is Ko Amatsu, surely you’ve heard of me hmm?”

Spoiler

Ko Amatsu

"Let's hope the roof doesn't fall of us this time. " Ko Amatsu

Organization: Owns the Akai Kyōdai, a “famous”(underground famous mind you) mercenary band composed of various types, known to take any all all into their ranks and willing to dedicate men to any job given. Rogue nin, aimless swordsmen, all those who wish to can swear the oath to become a brother(or sister). The guild is very serious about its cash and the contract made by all clients, big or small, all newbies are drilled on the importance of both and punishment for betrayal of the guild is often swift and messy.

Criminal Record
54 counts of murder.
17 counts of dine and dash.
34 counts of Petty theft.
35 counts of resisting arrest.
128 counts of trespassing.
346 counts of property damage.
23 counts of kidnapping.
Uncounted counts of assault and battery.
12 counts of public indecency.
15 counts of Bribery.
4 counts of Manufacture and/or sale of an unauthorized recording of a performance.
74 counts of assault on a peace officer, police officer, fireman and/or emergency medical services.
7 counts of Arson.
31 counts of Disseminating indecent material to minors.
78 counts of Aggravated unpermitted use of indoor pyrotechnics.
1 count of Obstructing governmental administration by means of a explosive device.
4 count of Misrepresentation as a child day care provider.
1 count of Misrepresentation as a bartender.
2 count of Misrepresentation as a registered building safety inspector.
1 count of Misrepresentation as the Mizukage.

Reward: 50,000,000 Ryo​

“Now, run along, and take this. Autographed and everything, surely you’ll love to put it up on your bedroom wall, so you can see my gorgeous face every day.” a quick toss revealed a flurry of papers towards Umichi. Each a wanted posted, each autographed and planted with a big red lipsticked kiss.

Umichi glanced down at the 'autograph'. It was a wanted poster... Ko Amatsu, leader of the

Akai Kyōdai. That explained the bombs. Most mercenaries and bandits were trash, people she was honestly surprised even tried in the ninja world. They made good training fodder though.

Akai kyōdai, however... It meant Umichi job was even more important.

“♫Aw, don't be like that.♫ Why get a cheap autograph when I have the real thing infront of me. ♫Come on, let's play a bit.♫ Tell your boys though to stand a bit back, I like it a bit rough, I don't want them crying."

Umichi slammed her fan into the ground, her water following, becoming a puddle. A stream shot off across the ground, snaking towards Ko, trying to grab the ankles.

Water Release: Tide Jewel Ripcurrent

“Oh? Well I guess I can oblige a cutie like you~!” her cheer never faltered as she took a powerful leap into the air, closing distance fast between the two. “Come now, let’s see if you can even possibly deal with ALL of me a once!” with a hefty swing downward she swung the sheathed sword down towards Umichi, her poised and motherly smile not quite leaving her face all this time.

The banter was not the only thing in the air, for not to far away was the sounds of… Cheering?

“Go boss! Kick that wierdo’s ass!”

“Wooooo!! Go boss!”

“Dude I thought the boss was hanging back this mission?”

“Does the boss really swing that way? Should.. I be careful from now on?”

The words of her mercenaries rang from beyond a small stone barricade set up in the path, showing support, while hiding away from any incoming carnage.

Umichi rushed forward at her partner, looking for a weakspot. She looked so open, just one tap, all it’d take. One tap, and she would dance with blood. Her body seemed to react without her knowing why, suddenly Umichi stabbed herself with a fan, flying back from the incoming strike as her blood rushed to her back. Why was she she afraid enough to use her own blood to escape?

She looked down at the crater from the single swing, her eyes widening. That, that might be why. Umichi shook her head. She just had to hold this hulk of a woman off long enough for her genin to escape. But if it was the Akai Kyōdai, wouldn’t they be every where? Honestly, Umichi was starting to tremble a bit. This was suppose to be a C-ranked mission! Nice and easy. Now one step wrong, and she was dead. Taking a deep, she catted back to Ko.

“♪I don’t think you’re that experienced. ♪Pulling it all out at once. You got to tease your partner. ♪You.gotta.make.them.want.it.♪”

Umichi tapped a nearby tree, ripping water out of it, giving herself a fresh supply. She again slammed her fan into the ground, this time with the fan open.

“Let’s try that again. Come and get me.”

Umichi almost purred. She hurt.

“Oh my love, I’ll have you know I’m more experienced than you ever could be with that collar around your trim waist.” once again she launched herself forwards, each step in the dirt heaving up chunks of the terrain beneath them, with her sword held in a upper stance, ready for another crushing blow she readied herself to evade what the other woman was about to toss her way…

Ko had a plan…

Quite a devious one at that.

She only needed to get close...

“So who is this chick anyways?”

“WHOA! Dude she took all the water from that tree! Totally killed it!”

“Dude calm down, not like the boss can’t handle it.”

“Guys seriously does the boss swing that way!?”

Umichi flashed a look of annoyance at the cheering crowd, and shot a single amount of water out of the pool infront of her at the idiot amazed at her stunts with a tree. The blast of water would leave a hole in the tree next to him, but would miss him.

“♪Hun, if you are impressed with that, then wait til you see this.♪”

She blew a kiss, before turning back to Ko. She began to dance in the small puddle, the water dancing around her.

“Now, are you going to make me wait, or are you going to jump in?”

A yelp could be heard from beyond the barracade was Ko all but obliged her request, rushing forwards he made her own set of signs, letting her chakra flow into her armor. The earth chakra covering and lacing her very form with the strength and fortitude to withstand whatever may come..

Atleast..

Until she got what she wanted from this.

With a sudden shift she slid to a halt not far from the other woman and planted the end of the sheathed sword into the ground, tossing up a large spray of debris in the area and raising a large stone wall behind herself, blocking Umichi’s view from her compatriots.

“Nuhuh my little fishie, no playing with my kiddies now. This kitty just wants to play with you alone~!”

She was ready for what this woman was going to pull… She only needed to get closer…

“Oh come on boss we can’t see shit!”

Umichi kept dancing, spraying up more and more water, it appeared she was reading for a massive jutsu. As she did dance, she occasionally tapped a tree or two, adding more water.

Come on, come on, fall for it, stop my obviously massive jutsu, my arms are getting tired.

Thunder could be heard in the background. Just a minute or two more, and it would start to rain. Once that happened, Umichi was guaranteed to win. She just needed rain. If this woman was just as stupid as she appeared….

“I’m sorry, but he should learn not to scream, not til it’s time to scream.. ♫Well, kitty, if you want to play, let’s hear you purr.♫”

Umichi prayed for the advance.

Ko sighed, just how obvious of a trap could this be?

“Alright sweetie, here I come~!” she grinned, but mentally she lamented the thought of having to dry out her hair after this.

Reluctantly, she stepped forwards, leaving her sword planted a bit into the ground and cracking her fists. Her armor still resonating with the earth chakra, whatever happens, she was ready for it.

Hopefully.

And, as obvious as could be, the water prison erupted up from under her, forming a shell of water as hard as steel.

Umichi teared up laughing.

“Come on, I knew making it too obvious would make doubts, but this is too rich. Prison’s as hard as steel. Well, guess I can go collect my kiddies then. I was hoping for an amazing night, but you left me wanting. Guess I can at least give you a goodnight kiss.”

Umichi leaned in, leaving lipstick marks on the-

It was the moment she started to lean in that a sudden jerk brought in forwards and into the water sphere, unheld by the prison she had be given ko reached up with one hand and grasped her opponent’s.

While the other reached out behind Umichi’s head and brought her inside, bringing her in for a surprise kiss right on the lips she so was about to tease.

While sneaking away one of her beloved hair accessories.

It was then, she kneed the woman directly in the stomach, only slightly happy that she hid that kiss from her kiddies.

Umichi struggled against the embrace, half shock, half her life flashing before her eyes. Did this woman not only rip through the water prison, but did it with one hand? Suddenly Umichi realized she wasn’t dealing with an ordinary mercenary. Also, was she seriously turned on? Umichi had been teasing her, a joke, a joke!

Amidst her flailing, a knee to the stomach sent her back, the prison collapsing around her. Umichi coughed, red splotching her pool of water.

“You’re not normal hun, you know that.”

She hoped for once for no follow up catty comment she knew would come anyways. Umichi felt a drop of water hit her face, then another, than another. Umichi would have smiled if she wasn’t so freaked out right now. Forget protect the genin, she had to protect herself from this bear of a woman!

“You’re right, I’m one of a kind sweetie.”

It was then Umichi noted a golden object in Ko’s hand. It was one of her hair ornaments! Specifically a golden butterfly Old Man Gou had given her.

“That’s mine!”

Umichi’s eyes narrowed, and she stood up glaring. She swept her fan to the right, open, a wave of water violently splashing into the trees.

“Bite the pillow, I’m going in.”

She slammed both fans together at Ko.

Water Release: Great Waterfall Jutsu

A torrent of water slammed forward, engulfing the forest and pushing the whole crew out towards the rocky road outside, Umichi using her Waterfallwalking jutsu to stay atop the mass of spiraling water.

Ko rose an eyebrow at Umichi’s sudden change, she slipped the golden hair pin away up her sleeve before smirking once more. She was serious! And god damn she was gorgeous! Not as gorgeous as Ko was mind.

“You forgot the last part!” she called as her sword, whipping towards as the weapon cord was pulled, flying into her hand like it never even left her presence for a second.

“I”M GOING IN DRY!”

A quick charge of earth chakra, a swift spin and she tossed the weapon once more towards Umichi, The swung weapon splitting the air in a ear piercing screech at it Crushed through wave after wave of the torrential destruction breaking down the save and crashing through the other end of the jutsu and planting itself deep into a boulder behind it down half the sheath.

We’re it only done with that.

A swift tug at the cord once again, instead of bringing the weapon to her, the woman was pulled forwards at break neck speeds towards Umichi fist raised to deliver a crushing blow.

“Think fast!”

Umichi snarled as her opponent as the weapon came at her, pointing upwards, and pluming her fans, a geyser erupted sending her high into the air. Honestly, the spray of her attack was likely all that had saved her from directly being impaled, let alone punched.

Umichi looked down and yelled.

"Virgin!"

Being skyward she held out both fans fully open, before slowly clutching them downward slowly constricting them shut. It was almost as if she was squeezing down on an can. On one hand, the rain was still light, and she was likely wasting massive amount of chakra. On the other hand

Water Release: Wrath of Suijin

Needles rained instead of water, the area being flooded with death. It was lucky her henchman had been flooded away. The needles were pushed down from the sky with great force, it was Umichi’s trump card, the only problem being how much bloody chakra it took. Trees were being shredded below as if by columns of sandpaper.

“....What..?” Ko was more… Utterly confused than insulted… Of course, the fact she was now using one mean looking jutsu meant she had to do whatever she could to get in cover. As such, she sacrificed the very last of her hair’s chances of getting out of this not covered in dirt and decided to hide underground.

[Subterranean voyage]

She hated using this technique, especially in sand, it just got everywhere whenever she used it.

But she didn’t want to rely on taking that attack face first.

She liked her face.

She wouldn’t dare risk it during this.

Hiding deep under the earth, she waited…

And hoped whatever she was doing didn’t penetrate TO deep- A needle came but a inch away from her face as she thought so, and silently, she thanked whatever god was watching over her today.

Umichi panted from the air, now riding upon a little sphere of water. Every few minutes the sphere would falter from her chakra burn, but she watched carefully. This woman wasn’t dead. She couldn’t be, Umichi hadn’t given her enough of a lesson. Below her, a deluge continued, and streams of water slowly started to set into the ground. There was still a small pool of knee deep water from the rain and from the water of the now dead series of trees beneath her. Umichi called out in a harsh voice.

“Alle alle auch sind frei"

The sphere of water she rode once again buckled, and Umichi leapt from her falling sphere onto a nearby dead tree, on one of the few surviving base limbs. Nearly all its limbs had been stripped except for the largest at the base, and Umichi leaned heavily against the trunk, panting as the water rushed around her.

“Y-you can run, but you can’t hide!”

A sudden rumble shook through the tree, as if something hard just hit it from below. And then slowly, the sound of a loud creak and groan of wood as the tree began to… Rise? “Whoopsiee daisies, up you go~!” a voice called from below, before the tree suddenly launched into the air.

“My word! You're destroying the place more than I do! Honestly I’m surprised, usually I’M the klutz! Hahaha!” her boisterous laughter seemed to echo in the silent patter of the rain. A loud crash as the tree made it’s landing nearby, with or without Umichi.

Umichi had a sudden rising sensation as she was launched into the air. Ko had gotten wood up before she saw. She snarled, could nothing put this woman down? Her attacks had flooded the forest, washed out the bums, stripped the trees, and the woman didn’t have a scratch on her. She did seem to have a nice mud treatment though.

Umichi leapt from the tree, floating on her water sphere for just a minute before it sputtered out. Well, it seemed like she was running out of options. This woman could take her hits all day, Umichi was near out of chakra, and she couldn’t run away. That just meant she’d have to end this in one blow, at close range. Umichi sighed.

“Old man Gou, I so hate you right now. Tch, I ain’t going before you do. Or that idiot Mako.”

She leapt off her sphere onto another tree, making her way down.

“♪Well love, it has been a fantastic night. I think it’s time for us to climax, I have things to do, places to be. Shall we end this on a high note?♪”


“Oh? Done so soon? You have no stamina love, I can go for atleast 3 more times!”

“Oh, it's better to make love, not lust. Stamina’s not the game, it’s how beautifully you end it.”

“Love, lust, as long as in the end of the day we’re both satisfied, it doesn’t matter.”

Umichi drew both of her fans into a combat stance, and rushed forward at Ko, the last of her water chakra flooding her fans. Everything in one blow!

Shit, she was serious. Ko planted both feet into the earth, sliding the mud away and finding hard stone beneath. She wasn’t playing around… But ko wasn’t about to give up, this woman wanted to engage in close combat? She would get it with gusto!!

Channeling her chakra into her fist she focused herself into this one strike. She loved her sword, but this witty tart was no worth her blade. This wasn’t a battle, just them both playing for abit. If she was to be worthy of her blade she had to come at her like a true warrior.

Not like this.

Channeling her strength into her fist she brought it back, readying to strike the moment the woman came upon her.

[Chakra enhanced Strength]

“Come on… Come on…” she gritted her teeth, she was getting closer..

Closer…

And then…

The two jonin’s clash ended within the breadth of a lightning strike, Ko’s punch cleaved straight through Umichi’s fan and impacted her upper body, sending her hurtling through the air as the enhanced strength caused her considerable strength punch to only multiply. Puncturing through steel and jutsu easily, but not without repercussions, her arm lays torn in many places, blood oozing out, but not to a fatal degree… Branches were heard snapping as Umichi flew through the forest, disappearing in a almost a flash from the impact of the punch.

But her armor was indeed going to need repair, and likely she was going to need some time to recover…

“Oi! Kiddos! Come give momma a drink! Kids? Bah… Water all around me and not a drop to drink…” disgruntled and hurt, she set off to recollect her little mercs.