Fandom Naruto: Last of the Fallen Blossoms

[KageYuuki]

Izumi Takahashi

Squad Roku​

Watching Roku startle awake and fall from the gate, Izumi cringed and glanced at her teammates. Their sensei falling had been the last thing she meant to cause. "Oops . . ." Seeing the angry and perhaps a bit pained look on Itto's face, a nervous chuckle bubbled out of her throat as she looked away and rubbed the back of her neck. This wasn't exactly how she pictured her first morning as a full fledged samurai going. Not really a great first impression, Izumi.

But, thankfully, Roku at least didn't seem mad at her so it was fine, right? He also didn't seem hurt which was another plus. Why am I even worried about that? He's a Haganenoha, a little fall like that shouldn't be an issue for him. She hoped she was right.

"Whoa," she breathed as Roku drew his sword and it ignited. Her eyes remained fixated on the glowing blade as it illuminated the dark morning. Izumi blinked in confusion as he then slammed the weapon into the road and sat down. "Um . . ." She hesitated at his question on breakfast. "Only a little bit." Izumi finally approached and settled next to the fire, listening to Roku speak. He wanted them to be late for their first mission. A simple scouting job, boring yet vital considering the numerous attacks she'd been hearing about. But their sensei was adamant they were going to be as late as possible for this.

Izumi shifted, but listened to the rest of his introduction and speech. Roku seemed to downplay any abilities he might've had, It almost felt like he wanted them to question whether or not he was worthy of his rank. Another glance at the sword still burning without being in contact with its wielder. Chakra flow was something similar to what she did, wasn't it?

Yusuke was quick to voice his displeasure at the whole situation. Everything about him screamed nobility. That air of superiority as they desperately clung to traditions grated on her nerves.

"Yusuke Satomi, I have been trained in the Chūseigumi's Fuin no Tsurugi style to restrain foes for capture or immediate execution."

And there it was. The Chūseigumi. Upholders of the law and generally a stuck up bunch. Great.

Itto was the next to speak up. Compared to Yusuke, her other teammate seemed to be the polar opposite. His style sounded interesting though, similar to her own it felt like. Introduction finished, he wasted little time tearing into one of the cabbage rolls.

"I uh, guess it's my turn." Izumi hesitated, resting her hand on her dagger. "I'm Izumi Takahashi. According to Makoto who was also from the Land of Water, I have something called Ice Release. Called it a kekkei genkai I think." She pulled out the dagger, the blade glinting in the firelight. "I guess my style's a little bit like Itto's. I can form ice around my dagger here to make weapons, usually a bow. I'm an archer like my mom. Where I got my ice release from even." Izumi turned the weapon over in her hands. "I kinda took to this ice release and ran with it. I'm good at it, but really not much else right now. Sorry." She returned her blade to its sheath and plucked one of the remaining cabbage rolls with a quiet thanks.

Listening to Roku's reasoning for their delay, it made sense. He wanted to avoid a potential ambush. She hesitated, "Uh, sensei, wouldn't that also mean we're just . . . leaving the people trying to cross over to get attacked? Shouldn't we be helping them?" Sure, they had no true obligation to be swooping in and saving what was essentially a group of fleeing criminals. But the notion of leaving them to a likely terrible fate and just cleaning up the aftermath felt . . . wrong. No matter how she tried to rationalize it, it just didn't sit right with her.

Ganryu IG42 Haze-

 

[Ganryu]

Roku Kubo​

Roku sat, licking the liquid fat from his fingers, his tongue running over his lips as he seemed lost for a moment after all three Mokunoha had gone.

He took a long sigh at the questions, looking at the dawning sky.

"Damn it... Ya'll got the right questions, don't ya? I don't have answers ya'll like.

Itto, if we're too early, then we might be ambushed.

Izumi, if we're too late, yup, we just done let a bunch of people die. And we'll be wondering 'what if we left earlier'.There ain't no real good option here."

Roku took out a pipe, lighting it with his fingers, and taking a deep inhale. "Draw ya'll's weapons." Roku sat up, and grabbed his blade, the fire instantly going out. Roku touched a nearby bush, and began a few handsigns, and in a poof, it took on a cartoonish appearance of Roku as a training dummy. For 'authenticity', Roku took off his straw hat, and adorned the transformed doll with it.

"But, an ambush is only as strong as it's surprise factor. Either way, we might have to deal with enemy nin. Suppose now's a good a time as any. Been doing some ponderin'. If there are any combat specialist there, I'll cut them down. End of story. And don't none of you get involved. But, might leave one or two left in the shadows. Those type, I might not notice. But, if they attack, you'll be stuck defending. So... leaves a question, you all got to answer."

Roku too a deep breath, before clicking his teeth together, a visible spark in his mouth. A moment later, he began to exhale a thick ash cloud that obscured the entire area in a black cloud, near darkness covering the area, only the dull silhouettes of each other barely visible.

Fire Release: Hiding in Ash

"How do ya'll defend against an unseen enemy? Ya'll got 15 minutes to prepare, protect Mr Kubo there. He's very important to me. I'd hate to see anything happen to him."

 

[Orikanyo]

Shaoko Hojo - Team Nadeshiko


"...What are the specific qualifications for this bridge to be considered safe to cross? Are their contributing factors that may make the construction of this bridge an issue? Will we be lending a hand in it's construction in the contract? Are there any requirements that prevent a bridge from simply created via ninjutsu? Do workers have benefits in your company? Do they have a working wage?"

He takes a breath.

"Will this bridge be made of wood, stone, or a rope bridge? What are the cost factors between each? Would their be liability problems if the bridge was sabotaged? Who would want to sabotage it? Are they capable of doing so? in what ways can one sabotage the bridge of which we are current going towards?"

He takes another breath.

"How are you today?"

He was ordered to ask questions, he does not want to disappoint his leader.

 

[Haze-]

Ōkami Itto
Team Roku​

- Cherry Blossom Gate. . .​

---

Maybe it was something in the air— some sense of togetherness that came in full flow when around his teammates— or maybe it was in the way the chakra burned around Roku's blade, but he just sat there and ate in one blissful moment of peace. As the fires crackled, Itto's expression softened; he just busied himself with the next bite. Not a care in the world — “Hrn…” — only stopping to grumble and nod at the girl speaking behind him.

After there wasn’t anything else to stuff his face with, Itto leaned back with his elbows pressed on the snow, cranking the head all the way back to trade a quick glance with the girl— looking up, eyes drifting away to her green drape of hair. It was true green, high-top like a knot of seaweed crowning her head.

She looked awfully silly with that hairstyle to be claiming that their styles were similar, was more or less his first thought. But he’d keep those claims of hers in mind for now, wouldn’t chuck it up to talking for the sake of talking. Maybe their styles were similar, maybe he could learn a thing or two from watching her.

He groaned his way back to his seated position, staring at the older man in front of him. The makeshift campfire swordfire fading from his eyes as Roku took the sword, he frowned — “You’re the pro, aren’t ya? Find ta’ sweet spot, then…”

Itto hung on Roku’s words for no longer than a beat, clicking his tongue as his brow furrowed. Arrive early and die young; arrive late and let someone else die for your sake. It was an annoying situation, really. There was no sweet spot.

He quirked a brow as Roku ordered them to draw their arms. Itto gave him an estranged, yet defiant look, double-tapping the wooden sword hard on his shoulder like a quick war-drum. He was ready. But ready for what?

The answer to that question came in with a spark; Itto brought his hands to his face on a kick of instinct, his eyes narrowing to slits as the dark clouds smacked hit across the face. They left this nasty, burnt aftertaste on his nostrils, his face scrunched up as it hit him

It was like being trapped in a dark void. Worse of all, it wasn’t even a quiet void. Roku’s voice was there sounding off somewhere in the dark.

“Like a damn chimney…” — He snarled. Then the coughing came in with a wheezing strain, it was quick, in spurs. It was a bizarre type of asphyxiation. It didn’t feel impossible to breathe within those clouds, but it sure as hell felt annoying.

“Tch…” — He clicked his tongue, his hands immediately moving to prepare the handsigns. His fingers fumbled and slipped uselessly in the near-darkness of the smoke; it took some focus to even see where his hands were.

Finally, his hands danced in sync. Boar. Ox. Dragon. Tiger— and then…

風 Fūton: Yadama Henshin Bakuha 風
(Wind Release: Projectile Deflection Blast)
​

Wincing, the tainted air pulled and gathered through his clenched teeth with a sharp whistle, then it came out with a strong gust that blew his hair up. He aimed it right at his feet, and it’d at least pushed the smoke away from him. A circle of good, clean air formed around him. Now he could see the both of them clearly.

Itto coughed out what little remnants of smoke hung on his lungs, he spat the taste of burnt wood out of his mouth.

“Oi,”— He pointed his sword at Yusuke and Izumi, gesturing them over — “Huddle ta’ hell up. If we’ve got 15 minutes to prepare then he’s got 15 minutes too.”

“Y’said your names were Yasuke and Kasumi, right? Any of ya got a plan?” — He rested a hand inside his kimono, hefting the blade as he pondered over the options, few as they were — “Thinkin’ we’re gonna be needin’ a few tags, maybe some wire, if y’got some.”

KageYuuki Ganryu IG42

 

[IG42]

Yusuke Satomi
Listening to Izumi's objection after finishing his roll Yusuke folded his arms introspectively, the majority of the people of the Land of Iron would say that risking themselves to save outsiders running from their own failings wasn't their business but was it really just to only protect those seeking help after they'd had their citizenship rubber-stamped?

Standing he drew his katana as instructed and raised a critical eyebrow at the silly looking dummy then took his best shot at trying to look calm and unaffected by the cloud of stinging ash, fortunately Itto revealed he was wind natured and blew back the ash before his act broke down. Loudly sneezing his sinuses clear he gave Itto an unimpressed look as the other boy flubbed the names of both himself and Izumi. "It's Yusuke." He said pointedly while ignoring the call to 'huddle up' for the moment as he went over to the dummy and traced a circle around it in the dirt with his sword.

Casting a suspicious gaze over the surroundings he stepped in close to Itto and waved to Izumi to come closer too. "Keep your voices down, he might be nearby listening in on us." He brought a hand up pretending to be brushing ash off his face to conceal his mouth from view as he spoke in case the man could also lip-read. "I can make use of barrier jutsu along lines drawn on the ground, as long as I can touch that circle with my sword I can raise a barrier to protect the dummy for at least a few moments. If we can place wire across the area I can also set up more places to raise barriers to cut him off as he tries to avoid them."

Ganryu Haze- KageYuuki

 

[KageYuuki]

Izumi Takahashi

Squad Roku​

"Damn it... Ya'll got the right questions, don't ya? I don't have answers ya'll like. Itto, if we're too early, then we might be ambushed. Izumi, if we're too late, yup, we just done let a bunch of people die. And we'll be wondering 'what if we left earlier'.There ain't no real good option here."

Izumi couldn't help but frown at her sensei's words. It was a delicate balance they were going to have to strike if they wanted a chance at the best outcome here. A difficult and messy situation all around. In the end, she supposed, finding the option with the highest chance the three of them survived was Roku's main priority. The order to draw their weapons snapped Izumi out of her thoughts. She watched him retrieve his own sword from the ground, darkness quickly swooping in to fill the void left by the fire.

Getting to her feet, she moved through a short series of handsigns and drew her tanto. Ice quickly encased the weapon, growing into the limbs of a bow. A string of chakra connected the limbs.

Yuki Onna's Forge

Izumi tilted her head at the almost comical recreation of their sensei. Does . . . he want a demonstration of our techniques or something? Suddenly, the three of them were engulfed in a cloud of ash that threatened to smother them. She coughed and choked, her eyes watered from the sting of the ash.

"How do ya'll defend against an unseen enemy? Ya'll got 15 minutes to prepare, protect Mr Kubo there. He's very important to me. I'd hate to see anything happen to him."

She nodded in agreement with Itto's comment, though quickly realized he wouldn't be able to see her. Fortunately, it was short lived as a sudden gust of wind cleared some of the ash allowing them to see each other once again. Izumi nodded her thanks. Hopefully it lasts. Roku could probably easily flood the cleared air with more ash if he wanted to. Maybe he would once their time was up, assuming the ash cloud didn't just naturally fill the void.

At Itto's call to huddle up, she moved closer, slinging her bow over a shoulder to free up her hands. Itto was right, if they had time to prepare, then Roku had plenty of time to set up anything he wanted to as well. But would he? She really had no way of knowing.

Izumi lifted a hand slightly as Itto got her and Yusuke's names wrong. "Uh, it's actually--" She sighed, "Never mind, that's not important right now." Correcting names could wait until after the exercise. Kasumi was at least close enough she'd know who he was calling for. Flicking through a short series of handsigns, two ice arrows formed in her grasp. She twirled one of them in her fingers as she thought.

"Don't those Chuuseigumi guys use barriers or some such?" Could they be used for defense? Yusuke was already on the move, drawing a circle around "Mr. Kubo" and explaining his ability. "It's a start." At the request from both of her teammates for wire, she let the ice arrows drop to the ground for the time being, hearing them clink together in the snow. She dug through pouches, withdrawing her spool of wire, tags, and the pouch of kunai Makoto had gifted to her some time ago. Izumi would wait for her teammate's instructions on where they wanted things strung up for whatever techniques or traps they had in mind. Taking a step closer, she felt one of her ice arrows crunch beneath her foot. "Hmmm."

She looked back at her teammates. "Either of you have sharp ears? I can make these arrows pretty brittle and scatter them all around Mr Kubo. It's not much of a defense, but unless sensei's really light on his feet, we'll have just a little extra warning." Izumi passed the other items to whoever would hold them long enough for her to make and spread ice arrows all around. Thin and brittle, they would've shattered the instant she tried to fire them from her bow, but they would work for this purpose.


Ganryu Haze- IG42

 

[InsaneAsylum]

Izanami Kutsuki
So far, the skills her teammates had shown were far from what she had expected. One claimed to be a samurai, but Izanami wasn’t entirely convinced. The other seemed pretty smart or something for putting puppets to use on the battlefield.

Izanami didn’t linger on these thoughts for long. It was her turn to demonstrate her abilities. The young samurai approached one of the clones of her sensei, before scoffing. She shook her head as her mouth twisted in annoyance. This was one of those cowardly ninja techniques, Izanami thought to herself.

Spinning on her heel, Izanami faced her sensei.

“Things must be desperate if a ninja is supposed to be teaching me something.”

Izanami crossed her arms before continuing, glaring at her sensei.

“Ninja have no honor and can’t be trusted. Just because you were made a sensei doesn’t mean I owe you anything.”

With that said, Izanami walked back to where she was before. She turned up her nose and looked away from the group, her arms still crossed.

Internally, Izanami cringed at her sudden outburst. So much for a good first impression. While she stood by her words, she worried what trouble she might be in for now. Maybe she’d get assigned to another team, one with a strong, handsome, and honorable samurai ready to guide her.

Instead she had some cocky ninja who was going to be telling her what to do.

KageYuuki Phayne AtlannianSpy

 

[Spoiled Bread]

Hibari Yozora / Squad Nadeshiko
Location: Minshuku Hidarisou -> Yasaji Bridge

The crow watched carefully as Akari seemingly handed him another grape, after looking back and forth between Hibari and Akari he took the fruit and quickly gulped it down his throat. He lowered his head and let out a brief croak next to Hibari's ear as if he was whispering.

"Your offering shall not be forgotten, mortal." Hibari said to Akari with a much deeper voice than what she usually use.

"That's what he said, it means thank you." She added with her normal voice.

........

The group headed outside to pick up their client, true to what their sensei said the street was much less crowded than usual and it was very easy to spot their bridge repairer because he just stand out like a sore thumb with that attire. As the sensei and their client talk, Hibari couldn't help but keep staring at that conical cloak. She was sure she saw something like this somewhere... ah, she remembers it.

"Mister Endou, why are you dressing like a yuki warashi?" Hibari didn't have any question about bridge as it didn't interest her, but she does have a few questions for the man himself.

"Also, are you from the ninjaland? You know about genin but not about mokunoha."

Ganryu AtlannianSpy Orikanyo

 

[Haze-]

Ōkami Itto
Team Roku​

- Cherry Blossom Gate. . .​

---

“Yeah, yeah, yeah— Yusuke, Yasuke, Keisuke— whatever yer name is.” — Itto pressed a fist to his mouth, feeling that faint, half-hearted yawn he’d then give to Yusuke warm between his fingers. He glared at him through half-lidded, narrow pools of red. A tightness to his eyes, like he was just going through the motions to play-act on how aloof Yusuke seemed about everything— he knew the other boy was trying to keep it cool too.

So, as Yusuke went, sauntered over to the dummy and scribbled a semi-perfect circle around it— like it were some sort of bizarre ritual— Itto slung the wooden sword over his shoulders and ambled back and forth. Pretending to be just as unimpressed, mindlessly turning his gaze over; peering, somewhere through the smog; as if the dark clouds around them looked mighty interesting.

It wasn’t until Izumi approached that he finally realized how dumb he looked — “Chūseigumi?” — He quirked a brow up at her, the name sounded made up — “Barrier, huh…?”

He stepped closer to the dummy, squatted near it and began poking at it with measure, only staggering on the near-edges of the circle when his logic told him to. Itto kept at it for a good second or two, rounding the exterior with the tip of his sword with detached, clinical focus. He didn’t want to ruin the circle; he was trying to get the ideas flowing.

He looked at the fog creeping in, ash smoke lapping closer and almost encasing them— he felt small. Then a lightbulb flickered on above his head, and audible grunt rumbling in his chest.

“Oi,”— He called out to Yusuke — "Whaddabout making ‘em straight lines? Like a buncha corridors or a crossroad leading to the dummy. That way he’s more predictable.”

Itto gave the thought another good whirl in his mind, falling flat from his squat to a cross-leg and running an idle hand through his hair — “A’ mean…we stick close to the dummy…the walls would block ta’ smoke…we’d be coverin’ all blindspots…” — He paused…

“Yeah, dumb plan…”— He rubbed his frown, scoffing. There were things to overthink, factors to consider— Itto didn’t know whether the man would come from above, below, or if he’d just bust right through the walls without so much as breaking a sweat.

Not that it really mattered. The 15 minutes were ticking down as he wasted time going over it.

Itto’s head immediately jerked away at the sharp, ear-wormy crash the ice arrows made under Izumi’s feet as she crushed them. He had an unapologetically annoyed look for a second, then it faded to intrigue and the same thoughtfulness as before once she spoke.

“Hm.” — Words were clipped to a simple grumble; he raised a hand to get her attention — “If y’throw ‘em into the smoke and keep quiet I’ll hear where he’s comin’ from. Might even be enough of an annoyance to slow 'im down, don’t think he’ll be able to watch his step properly in all that darkness.”

With all the ideas brewing, Itto took a handful of tags, kunai and spool-wire off of Izumi’s hand; in his trademark, unashamed bashy fashion. He wrapped thin wire through the loops in the kunai, pairing them up in rows of four and throwing them like darts deep into the ground— a criss-cross, maze of tight wire started to form around the clearing; thinning the circle they stood in.

It wasn’t something to ensnare, necessarily, but it’d be hard to walk through without losing your footing. He added a few flash tags sprinkled in some of the ‘openings’ between the wires for good measure.

“’Ood enuff.” — He spoke over a mouthful of wire; he was wrapping some around his sword and looping it over his hand — “We missing anythin’ else?”

IG42 KageYuuki Ganryu

 

[AtlannianSpy]

Team Nadeshiko
Underneath his conical hood Endo's eyes flashed dangerously and he rounded on Akari with an intense expression, closing the distance between them instantly.

"Why do we have bridgemakers? WHY DO WE HAVE BRIDGEMAKERS!? Isn't that what everything thinks hmm!? Oh shinobi can just run around making piles of magic dirt so why do we need properly trained and dedicated bridge builders? Well let me ask YOU a question Missy! What do you suppose happens to those upjumped pebbles some shinobi call bridges after they get used? Oh just little things like EROSION! SHEAR FORCE! DEFORMATION! All of which lead to flaws that weaken the overall structural integrity of the so called bridge! Within as little as one week the whole bridge is weak enough that as soon as a single merchant caravan looking to save some time on their route crosses it the whole thing comes tumbling down in a hail of rock and squished peasants! Even a shinobi can be killed if a bridge suddenly collapses out from underneath them!"

Endou trailed off, panting heavily, his eyes slightly bloodshot. There was an awkward silence and Nadeshiko coughed delicately.

"Err yes, well," Endou straightened up. "That kind of ignorance is why I left the Land of Earth in the place, no respect for the science of bridge building. They let me form the bridgemakers corp and even design the uniform: I personally designed this cloak to be conical and water resistant so that snow and rain would slide right off and the corp could erect bridges in all weather. But nobody ever joined and I discovered they were all mocking me behind me back! The Fools! That's why I defected to the Land of Iron, much more respect for bridges!"

"Shinobi hidden villages earn most of their funding by performing missions for various clients," Nadeshiko chimed in helpfully. "Whereas in the Land of Iron we rely on taxation, which means we have more of a direct interest in the infrastructure of the country. Free and easy travel means more trade and more trade means more taxes."

"Certainly the roads I have travelled on my way through this land have been of super quality," said Endou, rubbing his beard thoughtfully. "Here in the land of Iron I may find someone worthy of passing my techniques down to." at that he eyed Shaoko, considering the boy's curious line of questions.

"The bridge will be made of stone, as my techniques are derived from Earth release, the key difference being the use of two different consistencies: a highly compressed, hardened stone that will form brick like cells and a softer, mortar like earth that will join the bricks together and help cushion the bridge against gradual deformation due to strain; the bridge will be arch shaped to help evenly distribute force across the entire structure to further alleviate these concerns. In terms of sabotage, the last bridge was likely targeted by fuuinjutsu based high explosives, similar to the explosive tags shinobi carry on them but more powerful. Fire is actually not so popular as even timber bridges, if constructed of properly aged and seasoned timber, can be surprisingly resistant to burning. Even in the case of powerful fire ninjutsu it can take enough time for a bridge to burn down that it attracts attention in the form of civilian witnesses or responding defenders. Explosives on the other hand can be planted and then detonated from a distance, allowing the saboteurs to escape relatively easily while ensuring the destruction if their target. My design is somewhat resistant to explosives, the softer layer of earth allows it to shift instead of cracking in some cases, but it's a matter of degrees, someone can always build a bigger bomb you see, but if they deploy such a weapon against every little bridge it becomes a losing proposition for them, especially when compared to how quickly I can replace them. Long term the greatest threats to the bridge's integrity will likely be rain, which can interact with stone in a number of deleterious ways but this can be mitigated through drainage channels and an outer layer of stone laced with certain minerals which...

three hours later...

And so in conclusion, certain species of moss can actually be beneficial, while other species and most climbing plants, need to be pruned away semi regularly. Now as for-"

"Ah, forgive the interruption Mister Kannabi," said Nadeshiko after quickly stifling a yawn. "It appears as though we've arrived though,"

True to the Nadeshiko's words, as the party crested the gentle slope they were walking over a wide river, swift river came into view, straddled by the sad remains of a wooden bridge. It might have been sturdy at one point, but the middle section of the bridge had been blown away and without support the outer thirds of the bridge had collapsed against the steep embankments of the river, where its flows were slowly spiriting away exposed pieces of timber. Around the near side of what remained of the bridge sprawled a small cluster of people in rough looking civilian clothes and straw hats.

"Ayyup, signs of a classic explosive demolition. Notice the scorching on the underside of the remains? That indicates that they used smaller, secondary explosions to take out the struts, Land of Lightning standard procedure if I recall correctly," Said Endou, nodding and tugging at his beard.

"Perhaps more pressing are the people down there," said Nadeshiko, her mouth forming a thin line for the first time that day, then she smiled again and turned around to her students, clapping her hands together. "Alright then children, before we go any further let's see how observant we can be! what can you deduce about our new friends down there by inspecting them from here?"

Ganryu Spoiled Bread Orikanyo

 

[Ganryu]

Akari Tone​

As the man rounded on her, the instant face of regret was shone as Akari's face went static, an internal scream in her eyes, the hunter girl freezing up more and more in the encounter like a deer in headlights, or rabbit under a bird's shadow. She was saved by Hibari's question, with the moment the bridgebuilder turned around, Akari collapsed to the ground in embarrassment. And a bit of fear.

She was glad though another career actually not destroyed by ninjutsu when you thought about it. She hated the stuff, she just thought it'd be obselete.

Not that the thought made her want to get up, not until sever strides later when Shaoko became the new favorite, Akari getting back up, and running slightly hunched after them. She didn't say a word for the three hours, but kept picking up shiney trash, and discarded coins, offering them as tribute to Hibari's bird, Koga, trying to bend some wire together and wrap a few shiney stones around it as a sort of necklace/ankle bracelet for the bird.

===================


As they arrived, Nadeshiko sensei pointed to a group of civilians.

"Alright then children, before we go any further let's see how observant we can be! what can you deduce about our new friends down there by inspecting them from here?"

Akari squinted, putting her hand over her eyes. There were civilians, yes. They had hats and rough clothing....

"Not much." She said simply, then shrugged, before just walking down towards the group gathered around it.

She readjusted her scarf as she walked up to a man, glancing up at his straw hat, looking to see if any headband was underneath. Maybe it was a ninja. Or maybe actual civilian that need help. "How long have you been waiting here?" She asked simply, and opened Nadeshiko's fruit bento box, and offering a sliced apple, and a small bottle of water. While she did so, she lowered her scarf, sniffing the air for any smell of explosives on the man.

 

[KageYuuki]

Yukari Satou
Yukari folded her arms, her posture relaxed as Enkai introduced himself and his abilities. A samurai with a kekkei genkai, eh? He wasn't the first instance she'd heard of since arriving in the Land of Iron. More than a couple of weary shinobi had introduced kekkei genkai into the samurai long before Lady Chie's arrival. They had just preferred to keep their lineage more under wraps until recently. It was funny how two of the main ones she'd encountered so far had both been from the Hidden Mist. Bloody Mist, indeed . . . She watched with interest as he lashed out with his kiseru pipe like a sword, a violent rupture of steam following in its wake.

The weak clones stood no chance against the blows, only having enough substance to give his strike feedback before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Yukari gave an approving nod at the end of the display. "I've had the misfortune of encountering boil release out on the field before, it can be devastating in the hands of a master. Sensory techniques are a specialty of mine, I can hone you into a fine sensor should you wish." That boil release, though... Elemental techniques had never been a strong suit of hers. Maybe I'll talk to Lady Chie about it, see what her thoughts are on techniques I can offer him.

Koyome was the next to demonstrate her abilities, a small and nimble puppet and skill in shurikenjutsu. All lining up with her initial appearance. Paired with poisons, even the weakest puppet could bring down a powerful shinobi. I can't help much with puppet designs, but chakra control I can. Add in her innate abilities and she had the potential to pull off feats even the masters in Suna would be envious of. Tradition be damned, I'm excited to see where she can take this.

Another approving nod. "Chunori may not be powerful, but it can create valuable openings for you and your teammates to exploit. We'll hone your chakra control nice and fine so even multiple puppets at once is an easy feat."

Izanami was the last, the young samurai's expression turning sour. She turned and lashed out at Yukari, refusing to touch her weapon or speak of her skills. The Haganenoha's lip twitched in an annoyed smile. Kaizo definitely knew about this one. The next time Kyubei decided to steal something from his office, she wasn't going to stop him. Though as Izanami continued her rant, Yukari couldn't help but bark out a laugh. "Only ninja have no honor, eh? I can't wait to introduce you to Roku sometime, you'll love him. A fine and proper samurai if I ever did meet one."

She stepped closer to Izanami, leaning down slightly so they were more face to face. "You'll find nobility only cares about the likes of honor when looking for reasons to punish their soldiers." Her mask may have concealed her eyes, but it'd feel like she was looking into her very soul. "Unfortunately for you, my dear, your Taishou in his wisdom has decided I am trustworthy and placed you in my command. Since you care about honor, yours demands following in his decisions. Of course, you're more than welcome to take the matter up with him after we've finished for today. Or," Her smile twisted, showing the glint of sharp fangs. "You could use this as a chance to get stronger than me, learn counters to shinobi techniques, and prove once and for all the power of the samurai. Your choice."

Yukari lingered only a moment longer before straightening and walking back to the front of the group. "Now then, with that out of the way, we're still on standby. We'll be working on agility in the meanwhile, the ability to not lose your footing in an ever-changing battlefield can be the difference between life and death. So- hm?" She lifted her gaze at the call of a crow. A sharp whistle brought it swooping down to perch on her arm. "They decide to give us a job then?" Yukari's smile was shortlived as she pulled off the message and read through it. A rescue mission. The three of them weren't going to be ready for something like that. But time wasn't on their side, she didn't have the luxury of arguing with the mission office about their decision right then. Dammit.

A small movement of her arm and the crow took off back for its roost. "Listen up, you three." The mirth had left her voice, the shift in tone enough to make Kyubei briefly pause in pawing Enkai's pouches in hopes of food. "A scouting party was ambushed by shinobi from the Hidden Cloud, our mission's to find and rescue the survivors, if any. If I'm being honest, I don't think the three of you are ready for something like this but time isn't on our side. I'll do everything to keep you alive but that means listening to my orders." She raised a sharp finger at Izanami before she could protest at the idea, "I don't care about your opinions on shinobi, I swore to Kaizo I would fight for the Land of Iron. Stand here and argue with me and you leave your comrades to die in the snow. Ignore me in the field and you might just doom yourself and your teammates to the same fate. Make your decision quick, you can swallow your pride and join us or stay here in the village. I don't care."

Yukari looked over the three of them. "If one team was ambushed, it's likely they'll try again to pick off any would be rescuers. I'll be taking the lead. Izanami, if you're joining us you'll be directly behind me. That sword of yours means you're likely a close range fighter and better off closer to the front. Enkai, you'll be behind her. You have more range with your boil release and need a moment to build up before your attacks. Koyome brings up the rear. You've got the longest range out of the three of you. I'm trusting that perception of yours to help watch our backs out there. Unless you have an urgent question, let's move."

Yukari was swift as she made her way out of the park and towards the southern gate, though a sharp eye could tell she was slowing her pace to make it easier for the three of them to keep up.

Phayne AtlannianSpy InsaneAsylum

 

[Phayne]

Team Yukari

Enkai Kaji

Mokunoha

Sun Wukong's Paradise, Hanamachi

"Thank you Sensei" replied Enkai, offering a small respectful bow towards the higher ranked Samurai after her offer to assist him with his abilities. It had come as quite the welcomed surprise for him, that Yukari had witnessed the 'Boil Release' KKG before. Given his mother's reluctance to reveal too much about her bloodline ability, beyond what would be deemed the basics / lower tier techniques, Enkai had inwardly worried that he would be unable to attain the higher skills related to his Nature. It didn't help that his mother had not brought along any Scrolls from her birth village either. Aside from this welcomed surprise, it was also quite reassuring to know that she personally excelled at sensory jutsu as well; an avenue that Enkai could further pursue should he desire.

With his display now over, Enkai took a step back and glanced to his side, gazing as his two team-mates; awaiting their display of prowess. First was the girl that had arrived just after him; introducing herself as 'Koyome Omozukai'. Watching her step forward, her attempt to play down her ability and be humble had gone completely over Enkai's head; the blue haired Mokunoha eager to see what his team mates were capable of. With almost childlike curiosity, Enkai would unconsciously lean forward, trying to sneak a closer gaze towards what she was doing, her hands digging away into one of her many pouches. Initially assuming her to be rummaging for some Senbon or Kunai, Enkai's curiosity was instead teased further by the revelation of a wooden appendage; eyes making out what appeared to be a wing, despite most of its appearance still being obscured from him.

It was only once she revealed the mystery that Enkai's eyes widened, a sparkle dancing across his vision as she revealed herself to be a puppet user. Enkai had only ever heard tales of Shinobi Puppet Masters; the most famous hailing from the Sunagakure. 'Humble techniques?' he thought to himself, inching a step further to get a better look; the wooden creature coming to life as it fluttered its artificial wings before taking flight; Enkai's head raising almost immediately as he tracked the flight Chunori. Enkai could only grow even more impressed as he watched Chunori take action; the control from Koyome, coupled with the two pronged attack from puppet and master sealing the fate of that last clone unfortunate enough to have been caught within the bombing run. The mention of her perceptiveness would drive Enkai's imagination to breaking point.

Losing himself to what he had just witnessed, the inner child of Enkai could only begin to imagine up scenario's where himself and Koyome's puppetry would prove to be a fearsome duo; Enkai already designating himself to a support role in this scenario. With his skillset, Enkai could quite easily obscure the view of his opponent, the steam generated from his boil release acting as an effective smokescreen. Depending on what exactly Koyome meant about her perceptiveness, she could then use her puppetry to attack those caught within the smokescreen. Oh the fear they would strike into those unfortunate enough to wander into the mist.

Eager to break the idea to Koyome, Enkai only stopped himself as he saw their 3rd team mate step forward; the white haired onna-bugeisha almost immediately dampening the excitement within Enkai. Where Enkai seemed eager to showcase his skill set and Koyome eager to remain grounded in her ability; Izanami seemed.... annoyed?.

Biting his tongue and watching, the scoff that had appeared across her face did not go unnoticed, nor did the obvious disdain she apparently had towards Shinobi; an understandable opinion given the history between the two factions and current politics taking place... yet to be so open about it in front of their Sensei. Enkai could only grimace at the potential consequence that was in store for her. Taking a step back and glancing towards Yukari to see how she would react, Enkai had decided to keep his mouth buttoned for now. Without knowing the reasons for Izanami's strong feelings, Enkai would simply be jumping into a lions den if he even attempted to try and get her to cool herself... worst yet if she discovered that his own mother too was a Ninja Refugee and that his own Samurai father had dishonoured the family line and been expelled from his household. Not exactly two facts that would help get her to soften her present opinions. Sighing and placing his left palm to face, Enkai could already tell that any kind of teamwork with the white haired samurai would prove to be a rocky road to travel upon.

Not even an hour into the day... and already... fireworks were sizzling.

Glancing to Yukari as she barked out a laugh, Enkai knew that the laugh itself masked a dangerous threat; veiling a more volatile emotion that many would have found themselves succumbing to in such a situation. Taking a step further, the threat of all hell breaking lose seemed a tad bit more plausible, yet instead of returning Izanami's vitriol with spice of her own, Yukari had instead played the Uno Reverse; using the concept of 'honor' that Izanami had brought up against her. 'Checkmate' thought Enkai, watching the duo with a side eye glance. How would Izanami react now?


Still biting his tongue, he would watch Yukari return to a more central position in front of them, resuming her teacherly duty for the team; the chance of a fight breaking out now seemingly non-existent. Alas... a further hindrance to the days original plan would arrive in the form of a large crow.

'A job?', Enkai's brows raised as he focused more on Yukari and the avian messenger; his heart beat slowly rising as the implications of what was occurring dawned on him. As the details were revealed, Enkai couldn't help but glance towards Izanami. Given her outburst, the idea that they may have to fight shinobi already couldn't have arrived at a worse time. Could he trust her in battle?. The point was only made more real given Yukari's stern warning in her direction.

The time to dwell on that thought would not arrive as Yukari set to issuing their formation; Enkai nodding in silence as he did his best to control the growing rush of adrenaline and nerves welling up inside of him. Beginning to move, he had almost tripped over Kyubei; the feline having apparently attempted to take advantage of his stupor to paw at his pouch for food.


KageYuuki InsaneAsylum AtlannianSpy

Code by Serobliss

 

[Spoiled Bread]

Hibari Yozora / Squad Nadeshiko
Location: Yasaji Bridge

Ohh, land of earth. She never heard anything about that land before so Hibari's attention was definitely piqued here. Although when Mister Endou's rambling trailed off to be exclusively about bridge she quickly lose interest and would rather imagine a group of yuki warashi marching through a raging blizzard to repair a bridge. That might be a good story.

Finally, they arrived at their destination. Hibari never left the city before so the bridge was not something she's familiar with but looking over the collapsed structure reminded her of those fallen buildings during the war. Woods and concretes that got leveled into the ground, the murky air that smelled like dirt and iron, and that bloody squashed body of her mo-

"Ouch!" Hibari winced as Koga repeatedly pecked her forehead. Seemed like she was spacing out for a bit. Fortunately Koga was always there to pull her back into reality, she's a samurai now, her mind should be as sharp as her blade. Moments of weakness like that might cost her life in the future. Hibari patted the crow before focusing back on the task at hand. Their sensei inquired them about a group of civilians nearby and after taking a glance at them Hibari was ready to simply tell Nadeshiko-sensei that they're simply poor people probably trying to do some fishing.

but, wait, if she's a sensei she wouldn't ask her students to analyze something completely mundane. There must be something about them. Hibari racked her brain for ideas but couldn't come out with any.

This sounded like a puzzle, a challenge, a mystery! This would be her opportunity to impress her sensei and teammates. The news of her brilliance would spread and make her famous! Those bullies in the academy would regret calling her bird-brained! The shogun would offer her the position of a royal investigator! She would gather countless wealth and-

"Ouch." Once again Koga pecked her head.

"T-that's right, Koga. The first step of any proper investigation is intelligence gathering. Let's go." Taking her sensei's prompt as a challenge, Hibari kept her eyes on those figure as she sent Koga up into the sky. The bird fly around within the vicinity, seemingly perched several times at different spot to search around it. After some flying he returned to Hibari.

"Ah, I see. That's an interesting observation." Hibari's eyes gleamed as she received the report from Koga in the form of a frantic repeated croaking and head bobbing.

"Sensei," Hibari tugged on Nadeshiko's clothes. "I think I know who they are."

"First, I should lay some base assumption." Hibari got a bit too theatrical with her detective roleplaying, moving her hands around and walking back and forth as she tried to explain her points. There's probably some tense intriguing music playing inside her head at this moment.

"At first glance they looks like regular people. However, their clothes are in too bad of a condition for this kind of weather." Hibari paused and glanced at the white padded jacket she was wearing. There was a time when she didn't have a choice but to trudge through snow with tattered clothes so she knew how unpleasant it can be, but...

"However, we can't cross the possibility of them simply being financially challenged. It can happen to anyone, anytime. That's where Koga's report come." The crow let out some whistles and puffed his chest up, clearly happy being recognized.

"Koga is very good at spotting money, and he can sense that these people have money on them. And also some weapons." The crow once again let out the same frantic croaking, as if trying to emphasize something. Hibari nodded at him.

"Quite a lot of money, it seems. Which mean they're not actually poor." The girl added, before talking in a more cryptic tone. "and thus, the chaos fragments had fell into their places and revealed the truth within..."

"Uhh, I mean. Based on the clues that we have, my best conclusion about their identity: they are a bunch of bandits who tried to mug travelers that know nothing about the bridge collapsing and got stuck here." Hibari concluded her deduction while dramatically pointing at the civilians.

But, if she's right... Didn't that mean Akari's in danger??

Ganryu AtlannianSpy Orikanyo

 

[IG42]

Yusuke Satomi
Sighing to himself at Itto's lack of care at getting his name right Yusuke toyed with the idea of calling him by something else but discarded it not wanting to appear that he wasn't paying due attention, by the same token he elected not to ignore the other boy's suggestion and shook his head. "An entire maze would be too many barriers, while I could likely make that many appear visibly they would be little stronger than paper when spread that thin." Leaving out the part where he expected Kubo could blow through his best barrier with relative ease aside he went around the area drawing out smaller lines seemingly at random though he made sure one was placed by most of the 'gaps' Itto left in the wires.

Satisfied with his spread of ready to go walls Yusuke returned to examine the dummy. "What can you two do in the way of clone techniques? If we can conceal moving the real one we could set up a decoy, or we could transform one of us or another object instead." He glanced at the ice arrows Izumi had created. "Can you create some ice that we could disguise?"

Haze- KageYuuki

 

[KageYuuki]

Izumi Takahashi

Squad Roku​

"You'd probably recognize one of them if you saw one. Their uniforms tend to stick out." Izumi replied when Ittou idly asked about the Chuuseigumi. At his following request, she nodded and set to work scattering the brittle ice arrows out into the dense cloud of ash. All she could hope was that sensei wasn't unnaturally light on his feet. Though that was more of a ninja thing, wasn't it? But I also remember dad mentioning meeting a samurai that seemed to dance more than fight. Wonder if they'd be able to get past all these arrows without breaking any? Not that this was really the time to be wondering such things. Precious seconds were ticking away as they worked.

Finishing with her task, Izumi studied the strings of wires and tags laid out to funnel Roku into more defensible paths. Wordlessly, she made adjustments to Ittou's work. Tightening wires, straightening kunai, and rearranging things to be more of a treacherous pathway for their eventual attacker. A short nod as she shuffled back out of the way to let Yusuke add extra lines for his own barriers.

"Clone techniques?" Izumi hummed and then shook her head. "Only those really basic ones the shinobi taught us. And even then not all that great. Ice though . . ." She moved back to Mr Kubo, pulling the water flask from her belt and removing the cork. In a quick motion, Izumi scattered the water in a wide circle around herself and the scarecrow. She moved through a short series of handsigns, resting her foot on the spilled water.

Ice Rink

Chakra flowed out, freezing the water into a thin and slick sheet of ice. "There, even if he gets past the wires and Ittou, he'll be in for a surprise before he can get a hit in. Sensei's a swordsman, he'll need to get in close for that hit. I think." A few more handsigns and another ice arrow formed, this one stronger than the ones she'd scattered around. Izumi nocked the arrow but didn't draw it, waiting and watching the dense cloud for any sign of their sensei.

Ganryu Haze- IG42

 

[Ganryu]

Roku Kubo​

As the group huddled with final preparations amid the smoke cloud, Itto's dispersal of wind blew away enough for the dummy and themselves to be visible, the smoke held at bay in a ring, cutting off any sight past that.

Roku did not make a sound throughout their planning, as if he'd disappeared, not giving any clue as to what direction he'd eventual come from. Finally, fifteen minutes passed, a 'ching' echoed as a single bell echoed that the exercise had begun.

Still, their invisible attacker did not show himself. Billows of smoke at the edge continued to dance, and a strange silence built with the tension, growing thicker and thicker. The few sounds of the forest seemed inordinarily loud compared to it. A drift of snow falling. A whistle of wind whipping around the valley, down one side, and answered on the other, rattling trees as it went. The tension only grew as another five minutes passed.

In the maddening quiet of winter, the first sound echoed, a faint and subtle 'krr' as a brittle arrow under foot snapped. A moment later, a 'twang', and a voice range out, chakra causing it to echo in the woods, giving it an ethereal feel. "You all have a nice and purdy perimeter. First lesson on invisible opponents. When an opponent who thought they were hidden makes a mistake, they have two options. Step back, or rush forward. They are afraid of the sounds they make. Either their ambush has failed, or they have to take the moment of surprise then and there in the instant. So, their pattern is going to change, so, if you fire at them at the first sound, you'll always A) Miss, B) Tell them you're onto them. Wait for the second sound if you can, so you can get a sense where they are going."

A crunch of snow headed back to the treeline, several moments passing by. A moment later, another 'snap' echoed, this one near Yusuke.

"Now, one critique. I don't know what Yusuke said, but he was the only one to keep his voice down. You other two mentioned "Don't those Chuuseigumi guys use barriers or some such?" and "Chūseigumi? Barrier, huh...?" That, to me, would tell me my target is protected by a barrier, and they're a pain. So I'd kill the barrier user, the only not to speak, so, you effectively just got Yusuke killed. Don't think he'd appreciate that"

His imitations were surprisingly on point. A 'twang' echoed in the wires in the maze, Roku once again forced to back off.

A few minutes later, a sigh came, and suddenly the ash cloud began to disappate, Roku leaning against a nearby tree. "Yeah, you all pass the trial, it would be a real pain to get through all that, good enough. In the field though, I'd see if I couldn't run you out of chakra testing the barrier again and again if I couldn't just kill barrier user. Granted, the wires were a bit of a pain. I can feel an attack coming, one of my specialties, but ain't much emotion on a big ol' bear trap on the ground. Lots of sensors can feel pulse of chakra a mile away, but would just as soon walk into a rake.
Go pick your tools up, might need'em."

He then stared down at the ice on the ground, and raised an eyebrow. "Huh, you didn't mention that one, would have been a real annoying thing if I fell on my ass again. Hmm. Welp, good job, hopefully just useless exercise that we don't have to put into-"

A sudden shockwave suddenly kicked up a wave of snow and ice, the blast enough it to knock most off their feet as white out from kicked up snow occurred. Several trees cracked, half frozen already and their trunks splitting down the middle. A second later, a loud BOOOM! followed, delayed in it's distance. Snow slowly drifted back down as Roku dug himself out of a snow bank, sighing as he did so.

Standing, he suddenly disappeared, a whispey ash cloud left behind. A moment later, he was standing back where he was, his hand securely on the hat now on his head.

Body flicker

"Sonnuva bitch...Remind me why nin are known for subtlety again? Welp, we're gunna be putting those skills into use real quick like here. Don't worry, whoever caused that boom, well, you can leave'em to me. I ain't too bad in a scrap. Any leftovers, I'll leave to ya'll. You guys are just going to protect anyone fleeing."

 

[AtlannianSpy]

Koyome Omozukai
Team Yukari
Oh this could be fun~ Koyome thought silently, a lopsided half smile on her face as she watched Izanami disparage the honour of all shinobi, including her new teacher. Koyome supposed she herself was being disparaged as well but she had never cared all that much about her honour to begin with. More importantly this seemed like an easy button to push to generate entertaining responses. Her other teammate, Enkai, seemed a bit more of the earnest and straightforward type, more or less what Koyome had been expecting to deal with working alongside a bunch of samurai. Easy to deal with but not exactly fun. Ah well, one out of two wasn't bad.

Silently Koyome sidled up behind Izanami and clapped her on the shoulders, leaning over her to smile sweetly at her new teammate.

"Hear that Izanami chan? I'll be right behind you keeping an eye out with all my ninja tricks~ doesn't that make you feel better?" Koyome said, flitting back to a position at the back of the formation with a peal of musical laughter. After that though Koyome followed along properly with her instructions, activating her byakugan shortly after they cleared the city and focusing properly on scouting. She didn't want their Sensei getting worked up and pulling them from the mission for goofing off after all. How long had it been since Koyome had actually been able to fight? To test herself and her techniques against someone out for blood? After being shut away in her room for so long the prospect was almost intoxicating. Hopefully the cloud shinobi hadn't left the area already. Koyome thought there was a decent chance Yukari sensei was right and they would try for a second ambush. Just like Izanami looked down on shinobi, plenty of shinobi would look down on and underestimate samurai and take a higher risk, higher risk approach to their mission. Koyome hoped they would, wiping the smugness off of someone looking down on her would be so sweet. Koyome had had enough of people looking down on her to last for the rest of her life.

KageYuuki InsaneAsylum Phayne

 

[InsaneAsylum]

Izanamai Kutsuki
It certainly didn’t take long for Izanami to regret her words. Looking back she wasn’t even sure what she was trying to achieve. Now a chill coursed through her bones, originating from the concealed eyes of her sensei. Izanami stared at the ground and bit her tongue. Her gaze lifted when Yukari mentioned a mission though.

However after the briefing, Izanami still had nothing else to say besides a brief and quiet squeak when Koyome seemingly materialized behind her.

Izanami yanked her shoulders away from her. “Whatever…” she grumbled to herself, before hurrying after Yukari.

——————

It didn’t take Izanami long to mull over things. Staring at her sensei’s back made it hard not to think about it. She looked over her should at Enkai, and behind him Koyome “Hey uhm… sorry about earlier guys. I want y’all to know you can still count on me. My feelings aren’t so strong that I’ll let them jeopardize our teamwork,” Izanami apologized, before putting her palms together.

“After this, we should all take a dip in those hot springs yea? It’ll help us recover from our first mission together!”

While Izanami’s words were aimed at everyone, her gaze still avoided Yukari subconsciously. The young samurai didn’t want to assume words would so easily repair her image in her sensei’s mind.

Phayne AtlannianSpy KageYuuki

 

[Ganryu]

Team Roku
&& godjacob

As a massive explosion rocked the frozen forest, a masked robe figured fell out of the trees, crumbling to the snow below, his body contorting oddly on impact. The snow hissed as steam rose up from his body, the front of his robes blasted open, and his bare chest obscured only by haze. Despite that, he laughed madly on the ground.

Screams echoed as half a dozen bodies had been blown apart, some civilian, some nin, a caravan fleeing to the the Land of Iron, mostly of the Land of Water, the large surprise explosion toppling man of them over, and the crowd just now getting it's bearings.

A second man also with a hunter's nin mask dropped out of the trees, looking at his downed companion. "We have got to find you a better hobby, Hogai... You didn't even get half of them before self destructing. Granted, that was an impressive blast, I'd even give it a 7 out of 10."

From the crumbled mass, a broken arm contorted upwards, a thumb snapping to an 'okay' thumbs up. Pity it was in the wrong direction. Crackling and snapping echoed below as his feet planted the ground, twisted downwards, and he less stood up, and more snapped back up vertically. "Seven?! Seven!? I put my heart and soul into that blast! But, at least you put thought into your critique, I suppose I could do better."

A few of the refugee nin turned to face them, drawing blades, and weaving handsigns, but a looked of resignation passed over their faces as they shoo'd others off as they tried to hold the line. One of the older men with a cross shaped scar on his chin turned gritting his teeth as he spoke to several younger nin. "JUST GO! We'll need someone with the crowd to protect them! I'll cover us here!"

A third ninja reappeared out of thin air, a ghillie suit twisting as leaves spread apart, his hunter mask becoming visible. "They're getting away." The leaves on his suit began to shift back over his face, the man disappearing once more. The refugee crowd ran in a mad stampede away, a few of the surviving nin in the crowd covering their tracks with various stealth based jutsu such as clouds of smoke, and earth release to cover tracks.

The second laughed, as he splayed his fingers out, yo yo's covered in explosive tags launching out at the old man. The old man weaved several handsigns as a wall of water rose up, but the yo yo's suddenly detonated, veering off into strange patterns, and bouncing off of trees and rocks completely avoiding the wall of water as they crashed into him with a sickening crunch. "None of you are making it! Go on, keep running! It's more fun that way!" The yoyo's bounced back.

Another crack, and the first nin was finally back up, shuffling his shoulders as they popped. "Think I need a chiropractor." He began several handsigns as chakra sizzled and popped around his body, his chest starting to glow as he ran forward at the crowd, offering a free bear hug.

"No, you need a shrink." said the yo yo nin with an exasperated sigh.

"They're getting close to Hanamachi... Master Kojiro told us not to go too close. Raikage's up to something, and need to be on guard." The ghillie suit said.

"Well, Kojiro ain't the Mizukage is he!?"

"He is a swordsman of the mist though... Think that outranks us." The leaves on his ghillie suit folded around him, the man seeming to disappear without a trace.

"Nobody but the Mizukage herself outranks me!"

 

[godjacob]

Tokita Hagami
​

Panic and fear filled the air, it all happened so far...so suddenly, don't think a single individual was caught prepared for this. These mad men came and began to slaughter people left and right, and now what was left of these scattered refugees were trying to flee on a train as they loaded up in a mad panic though it seemed destined that it would not be long till they arrived on the scene.

Even Tokita herself had been nerved, though she dared not to show it.

The young Samurai had aided the refugees who seemed to flee from the ruined village in a hurry, despite her age she stepped up as a leader and helped those in need get to the train. The last of the people inside were loading up, and it had been all too tempting to take the ride with them to safety. Those monsters that caused this chaos, they had years of experience over her, it would be suicide to stand and fight them. However, as she kneeled down and mumbled a prayer with her trusty blade on the ground before her, the young swordswoman had long ago made up her mind.

She'd fight, even if she could only get these people a minute at the most, that was all the difference they'd need.

"I may never become a true Samurai, but I will not dishonor the legacy and run here." Tokita said to herself, her own wrist seemed to be shaking on reflex as she grabbed the handle of her blade to stand, she worked to ease the nerves as she called to the train to flee while she set out moving to a spot where the invading forces would have to cross to get to it, as she seemed to prep the area a bit with what little time she had to work with.

Tokita would advance, if she could even save one life with this, then her sacrifice would be well worth it...

 

[AtlannianSpy]

Team NadeshikoAkari

The man grinned at Akari, ignoring her offering and revealing a row of crooked, yellow teeth in the process. None of the men smelled of explosives but there was a general odour of stale alcohol and unwashed bodies to reward Akari for her trouble. This smell only became more apparent as the man's compatriots stood up and casually moved to surround Akari in a loose circle, except for one scrawny looking man who remained seated on the ground with his conical, straw hat pulled down over his eyes, apparently sleeping.

"Oh we haven't been waiting long at all. See once we noticed the bridge was out, being the upstanding citizens that we are, we decided to offer our services to any fine folk needing to cross the river. Some mates of ours have a boat moored down south a ways and we'd be happy to escort you down there to use it... for a uh 'modest' fee that is," This line brought forth a chorus of low, dark chuckles from the other men, which the apparent leader allowed to die down before continuing. "So howsabout we all wait together for the rest of your friends to get here and then we can all have a nice chat about that fee I mentioned earlier hmm?"

Ganryu



HIbari and Shaoko


Nadeshiko nodded in Hibari's direction. "Good deductions Hibari, oh and good investigating Koga, I suspect you two have arrived at most of the truth. I am bit curious as to how fellows such as these became aware of the bridge collapse in the first place. Bandit groups aren't typically able to position themselves this quickly after all, but I suspect I'll have to ask them a few question directly to get to the bottom of that," then Nadeshiko spotted Hibari's worried expression. "As for Akari, she has put herself in something of a dangerous situation yes, I wouldn't normally recommend that an archer place themselves directly in the middle of the enemy formation far away from their teammates. I am hoping the experience will serve as a lesson to her about rushing in alone. That being said her situation is a bit less dire than it might appear. Bandits are typically motivated by material gain so they'll want to keep her alive to use as a hostage against us. They'll likely allows us to approach up to a feasible speaking distance at which point they will be comfortably within my striking range and I can subdue them without Akari being overly threatened,"

Suudenly Endou coughed, drawing attention to himself. "That's all well and good but do remember that my jutsu, while formidable in the realm of bridge building, are unsuitable for combat,"

Nadeshiko nodded. "Thank you Mr. Kannabi, that's right, children your job will be to keep him safe through this encounter, Akari will be joining you once we make contact with her but if any of these bandits prove uncommonly dangerous than I may need to draw them away and leave you three to deal with the rest of them. Stick together, remember your training and you'll do just fine,"

Nadeshiko withdraw a different scroll from her apron and unfurled it, activating it with a puff of smoke to reveal a weapon sitting in her other hand. It was a naginata, with a long pole of dark, shiny wood and a subtly curved, blood red blade at one end. The whole weapon seemed to radiate a subtle kind of menace, as if it might twist and stretch to strike at anyone nearby all on its own. "Prepare your weapons children, once they see we are samurai they may very well surrender, but be on guard for any tricks,"

With that Nadeshiko lead her party down towards the remains of the bridge and the loose ring of bandits that had surrounded Akari.

Orikanyo Spoiled Bread

 

[Ganryu]

Akari Tone
Squad Nadeshiko​

Panick immediately passed Akari's face. Oh heavens, they were all friends. She wasn't good with large groups of people. What if she was the weird one out...? What if they wanted her to say something funny! Akari didn't know any jokes!!!

She couldn't smell any blasting powder, residude, or the like on them. But what she could smell was alcohol. A flash of anger passed her face. She HATED drunks, and drinking. She wished she had an excuse to ram her fist into each of them.

She was slow, but as they surrounded her, asking her for a fee, it 'clicked'. A knowing look passed her face. "Are you... robbing me?" She said almost in audibly, then nodded. "Oooooooh. Thank goodness... I thought I was just dealing with a drunk social event... this is so much better..."

All of a sudden, she moved, leaping vertically in the air, not quiet enough to clear them, but then a blue outline formed under her feet, and an audible 'boing' echoed as she jumped a second time in the air, turning in the air as she drew an arrow, and slapped an explosive tag on it. She aimed it towards the bandit who had tried to rob her, her vision focusing in on his neck. It would be easy. Just like hunting a deer. Just like... just like...

A deep TWANG echoed as she missed completely, firing at the ground instead, the 4 foot arrow embedding itself in the ground. She started to hold he hand in a 'kai' handsign... but hesitated again.

Instead, she tried to land on a bandit's face, and jump off again, a second 'boing' as she double jumped off that as well, Akari not firing as a look of shame passed her face. She couldn't do it... She couldn't even activate the explosive tag. Training was easy, but...

 

[Spoiled Bread]

Hibari Yozora / Squad Nadeshiko
Location: Yasaji Bridge

Hibari tensed up when her sensei confirmed her deduction. Her first encounter wasn't against evil ninja but these thugs instead. She wanted to rush there and help Akari but Nadeshiko-sensei reminded them about their mission to protect the bridgemaker. For a brief moment she was torn between the two, a dilemma between friend or mission. Fortunately she was far from alone, she had her teammates and she had Koga!

Opening her white jacket, she revealed five scrolls neatly tied inside it. Each scrolls had different color to make sure she wouldn't mistakes its content. She took the black scroll out and unfurled it, a puff of smoke later Hibari was holding her weapon, a katana with its blade painted black. Next she took out a yellow scroll and handed it to Koga.

"Go help Akari." The crow held the scroll in his beak, seemingly tilting his head at Hibari's decision before he flew and landed on Akari's head.

"Don't worry, Mr. Endou. I will cut any enemies before they can cut you." She tried to reassure their client.

AtlannianSpy Ganryu Orikanyo

 

[Orikanyo]

Shaoko Hojo
Team Nadeshiko

"Understood, I am prepared to give my life for the mission." Shaoko slammed a fist against his chest, standing to attention. A classic salute, stiff as a board and looking like he'd been soldiering for most his pitiful 14 years of life. Or was he 13? Really he was starting to forget about birthdays despite his parents insistance he was still a child.

Surely they could see his adulthood! He was old enough to fight and die on the battlefield! Surely he could forget silly things such as birthdays and the Easter bunny!!

Though part of him feels like the fact he could fight, kill, and die for his country but cannot drink or smoke was abit odd. Age restrictions... He got that those things are harmful to a developing young man, but...

...hmm...

Be was starting to feel abit of irony from somewhere...


"I shall protect him with my life." He called taking out his spear, which with a quick shift extended to full length from it's travel form. A good 7 foot long spear, capable of lashing out like a viper...