Fandom Naruto: Last of the Fallen Blossoms

[Spoiled Bread]

Ringo Nakano
__Turf War : The Beggining__


"Thank you for the purchase~"

Ringo stepped out of the store and stared at the paper bag on her hand. Inside it was various foods like celeries, carrots, mushrooms and potatoes. Ingredients for ramens probably. Ichigo, the baby she saved during the caravan ambush was tied on her back. Occasionally he would pull her hair or hit her head, which at first greatly annoys her but at this point she was so used by it she didn't even react anymore. Still, even if she had gotten used to her new life there's still a big question knocking inside her mind.

The hell she's doing??

She's supposed to be a fearsome heir to a powerful clan and inheritor of a massive company. How could she ended up becoming an errand girl and a babysitter?? Heck, she barely had enough money to do anything worthwhile. For some unknown reasons she wasn't allowed to help with the cooking or serving the customers in the izakaya so her allowance was rather limited, and the money she got from the mission office drained very quickly just to fund her custom explosives. She needs another gigs, a new source of income that's more reliable than Fujimoto or the office.

"Nyeh,, nyeh." Ichigo once again pulled her hair, though this time he seemed to pull it to a certain direction. There, in an abandoned dumping ground where debris filled almost every inches of it was a scene that Ringo wasn't unfamiliar with. Three boys kicking another boy who had been kneeling on the ground.

"Eww... ganging up. If they want to beat him so badly they should do it one on one." Ringo said to Ichigo with disgusted tone, clearly unamused by the scene she was watching.

"Nyehh!" The baby seemed to agree.

"That boy also should stop being pathetic and stands for himself."

"Nyeh!"

"This kind of thing is really not worthy of my attention."

"Nyeh! Nyeh!"

"...."

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

"Subaru... Don't think you can just wander here and come back safely." One of the trio, the biggest one, loomed over the keeling boy. "Now stop resisting and hand over your mo-"

The boy's threat was cut short when suddenly his face distorted from the unexpected force he just received before he was sent flying across the field and landed on a bunch of soggy cardboards. Next to his original spot was a newcomer that none of the boys had ever see, a girl with fierce eyes and a baby that seemed to be very excited.

"Looks fun. Let me join to even the number. You three fat boys against this loser boy, this baby, and me." The girl had an ear to ear grin as she challenged the boys with a barely disguised insult. The boy had lose his will to fight and the baby can't fight, she's clearly challenging all three of them against her alone.

"You bastard! You will pay for hitting our captain!" The two boys yelled loudly as they charged towards the challenger... and the fight was finished in two second after the girl smashed their head against each other.

"Geee, can't you guys be a little more entertaining to fight?" Ringo kneeled and ruffled through their pockets, her eyes widen when she pulled a decently-sized roll of money from each of them. She definitely didn't expect to find this much as these boys didn't looks like fancy sons of billionaires or something like that. She giddily took all the money for herself.

"Give it back... give back the money..." The so called 'captain' of the trio forced himself to stand and blocked Ringo's path out of the dumping ground.

"No." The victor takes everything. She knew that kind of thinking was likely considered twisted by others but that's what her family had been drilling into her head all this time. Her firm answer seemed to shock the captain as he staggered backward like he was pushed by an unseen force.

"Yo-you will regret it. That money belong to one of King of The Street."

Ringo noticed the face he was making. It's the face of a goon that would get punished by his boss because he returned empty handed, and she didn't care, that's not her problem. She was more interested in this so called King of The Street thing. This was her first time hearing anything about it.

"Oh? and which king are you talking about?"

"King of the ronin, The Obsidian Finch. He would cut down anyone who insults him with the cursed sword. Please give the money back."

King of ronin? obsidian finch? king of street? How many titles did this guy have? He must have a big ego and poor naming taste, probably the young son of a high-ranked official or the likes. Those type of people have a tendency to try dipping their hand into the underworld, without understanding the responsibility and impact of their actions.

"Well, good luck to you then." Ringo ignored his plea and shoved him away, a thought suddenly crossed her mind. She's bored, she needs money and she needs influence. Maybe...

"Oh, feel free to tell your boss about me. I am, umm... err..." Ringo mentally facepalmed as she didn't thought this far. Should she introduced herself as just Ringo? But this king of street guy was the type to call himself the king of ronin. She needs a fancy name to fully draw their attention!

"Nyeeehhhhh..." Ichigo impatiently pulled her hair. He was very excited whenever he sees violence but then become impulsive the moment after. Oh,

"Call me Mother Bear. I am the new ruler of this area. Now scrams and never show your ugly face here again!" Ringo could feel adrenaline rushing through her veins. She's practically declaring a war to a gang she never met before. This would be very exciting. With a renewed confidence she walked out of the dumping ground, though her eyes met with the eyes of the bullied boy on the ground. He said nothing and his eyes lacked any fire on it. She wasn't sure how to handle this kind of people actually.

"At least buy a brass knuckle. It would probably safe you in the future." Ringo dropped some of the money she just got in front of the boy before resuming her trip back home.

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

.....

"AHHHHHHHHHH,,,,,,,, THAT'S TERRIBLE!" Back in her small room, Ringo was rolling on her futon while biting her pillow in frustation. What kind of name was Mother Bear? Cringe! She should pick a better one, like Terminator of Doom or Harbringer of Apocalypse. If the street king really visit her she would try to convince them that her real title wasn't mother bear.

That night, Ringo had a nightmare about getting yelled by her mother and received an exploding slipper on her face.

 

[KageYuuki]

Dragonskin Armor

Izumi Takahashi, Enkai Kaji, Ringo Nakano​

Spoiler: Long Mission

The passenger section of the train was sparsely packed today. Casually dressed passengers dotted the five passenger coaches, and the sun shined brightly through the windows. Many used the light to read, others were simply staring out the window.

Outside the coaches, vast plains were quickly being replaced by rocky terrain. The train was chugging towards the mountains at high speeds. The route would take the train on a brief journey through the mountains and pass through a tunnel. After that, it would be a smooth ride through the Land of Iron.

Behind the passenger coaches were two cargo coaches. The furthest back of the two being where the Dragon-Skin Armor was being held. The armor itself was secured in a chained up cargo-box, but was discreetly labeled.

The Mokunoha were told to hide amongst the civilians as they waited for the thieves. However the possibility of the thieves already being on the train was mentioned.

In the backmost passenger coach, a narrow-eyed woman with a tight black bun rose to her feet. She slowly began to stride through the coach, humming a soft song as she went. Coach by coach she went, humming her little song.

Oddly enough, the song seemed to make everyone she passed by feel an overpowering urge to yawn.

Sitting two coaches ahead of the cargo and with his back facing the direction of travel, Enkai had found himself sat amidst a large group of civilian families; the rambunctious sound of a child crying in discomfort echoed by the noise of two children ‘ooohing and aaahing’ at the passing sights reaffirmed the Mokunoha’s hopes of a peaceful mission without a hitch. The alternative being pure chaos… especially with her as part of the team. Enkai sighed.


While Enkai had little issue with Ringo as a fellow Mokunoha, he did have to question the decision to allow for an explosive hazard to come aboard the train. There was little doubt that she was perhaps the most physically strong out of the trio and best suited to close combat, but the risk of her explosion release causing a potential hitch was a risk that could quite easily turn a smooth train ride into a bumpy roller coaster of pure chaos. God forbid something kicked off before the train came to a halt. That being said, he had to trust the higher ups decision and he knew from recent experience, Ringo was dam well handy in a fight. He would trust in her ability.

Shifting in his seat to get into a more comfortable position, Enkai contemplated making his way into the cargo carriage on his own. At the very least’ he could cover the room in his steam; that way anyone untoward that came in would almost immediately be sensed by him. That being said, if these seats were already proving to be uncomfortable, he highly doubted he’d fair any better in a carriage full of luggage.


A sudden tug of his long ponytail would pull Enkai from his thoughts; the child in the seat behind him deciding that the sights outside the window were no longer interesting.

“Oh my god… I am so sorry… “ came the voice of the boys mother, the woman grabbing her child and forcing him to release his grip on Enkai’s hair. “Tatsuo.. You shouldn't disturb the other passengers… apologize to the nice man now.. Say you’re sorry”

“.. Don’t worry about it…” replied Enkai, turning to face the flustered woman. “I’m sure he was just a bit bored… this train journey has been quite long… “ continued Enkai, glancing down at little Tatsuo; the boy almost in tears as he feared his mothers awaiting wrath. Something told Enkai, that Tatsuo was no stranger to trouble, much less to the fury of a mother fully intent on disciplining their misbehaving boy.

The sound of a door at the other end of the carriage opening caught Enkai’s attention, as well as the woman coming through.

Meanwhile, next to the cargo box where the armor was lies a rather large cargo box with a big 'COLLECTION ITEM, PLEASE HANDLE WITH CAUTION' painted in red on it. This was part of Ringo's big brained strategy, so big brained she felt like her head was going to explode from sheer geniusness of it. While the others would keep the lookout from the passenger seats, she would hide in the box and punch the hell out of the thief the moment they try to steal what they think was the armor box.

Fufufu, so terrifyingly cunning, fitting for a future ruler of the underworld such as me.

There's just one major problem with her plan though... It's incredibly boring. Maybe she should have Enkai be the one waiting here, but then she wouldn't have the opportunity to sucker punch the thief. What a dilemma.

Come on, you dirty thief. Do something interesting. Explode the train, slaughter people or whatever.

Having stuffed herself inside a box, Ringo was completely oblivious to the event that was happening in the passenger section.

Izumi settled back into her seat with a sigh, taking a bite out of one of the onigiri she’d bought in the dining car. She was supposed to fry and blend in with the other travelers and nothing said she couldn’t enjoy a snack while she watched the crowd from her spot. If she was being honest, Izumi wasn’t entirely sure why she’d been selected for the mission in the first place. She was an archer first and foremost, making the tight confines of the train car and several civilians . . . less than ideal if a fight were to break out. Sure, nothing was technically stopping her from forming other weapons out of her ice. I’d likely just get in the way if it came down to something like that though… She brushed her fingers against the dagger in her belt, feeling its reassuring chill.

Situated in the middle of the cart, footsteps approaching from behind wasn’t anything too unusual. People - often kids - wanted to get up and stretch or maybe get themselves a bite to eat as they traveled. The humming also didn’t immediately strike her as odd. What did was the sudden wave of drowsiness that crashed over her system. Her eyelids grew heavy, begging for the mokunoha to just settle back and take a nap. A little rest wasn’t going to hurt anything, right? The warm sunlight filtering in through the window was just perfect for a short rest.

Izumi almost gave in to its siren song before a jolt of warning sounded in the back of her mind. She’d been training with Roku over the last month, looking to better steel herself for her next battle. While most of that amounted to dodging arrows dripping with killing intent, seeing her last moments play out over and over. There had been a few lessons in genjutsu proper. Even if those lessons were just as much baptism by fire as learning to sense and stand up to someone looking to end your life.

She formed a handsign and felt her chakra flare throughout her body in response.

As the woman continued on, passengers in her wake drifted off into a peaceful sleep. The once energetic and bustling train cars were silenced one by one. When Enkai looked back at Tatsuo and his mother, he’d see him slumbering in her mother’s arms as she too snored in her seat.

Moments after she passed by, a pair of men entered the car Izumi was in. Both were casually dressed, like passengers. However they moved with haste and purpose. One with scruffy brown hair spoke as he walked. “Poor sods wouldn’t even know if we rifled through their pockets,” he said with a chuckle. He reached into his shirt, and slipped out a kunai. “Too bad we’re in a rush today. It won’t be long before Kokoro gets to the front and…” the man didn’t finish his sentence, instead opting to head into the next car.

Left behind, the other of the two hurried after him, passing by Izumi and entering the next car where Enaki was situated.

“You idiot, we need to make sure everyone in each train is asleep before we move on!”

“Pfft, what’re you worried about? Samurai? It won’t matter soon. Let’s just hurry to the back and help secure the armor! We might not get a chance to see it otherwise!

Meanwhile, Ringo would hear the sound of metal scraping across the ground as the rusty metal door to the cargo area was opened. Several pairs of footsteps were audible.

“Yo boss! Look at this!” A pair of footsteps rapidly approached Ringo’s box.

“Think it’s the armor? Either way it has to be expensive. Whaddya say we grab it too?”

Another voice, raspier replied. “Sure, crack it open. If we bring something extra back we might not need to do another heist for a real long time,” the man said, letting out a groan. “My damn knee can’t take all this back to back thievery.”

“Ha, maybe you should try and retire after this. Finally relax. Buy a nice shack near the hotsprings!” The first voice said, fiddling with Ringo’s box. After a couple curses and some straining, the box swung open… and the man’s face was greeted by a punch to the face.

“Good Lord, I almost die from boredom inside. Be a little faster next time.” Numerous sounds of bone cracking could be heard as Ringo stretched her neck and stepped out of the box. She looked between the two thieves and wasn’t really impressed by what she saw, neither of them seemed like the boss of the group. Here she thought she would be able to punch a local mob boss or something. All those waiting for nothing.

“Oh, well, whatever. Let’s do this quick. I shouldn’t waste my time for you goons.” Scoffing at the thieves, Ringo untied her bat from her back and quickly swung it in a wide arc that would hit both the thieves.

A solid thud signaled the swing connected. Ringo’s bat slammed into both thieves, sending them tumbling headfirst into the side of a nearby crate with a sharp crack. A gaping hole had been formed in the crate, and a bunch of assorted ninja tools began to spill out of it. Kunai, shuriken of various sizes, and even some senbon were seen in small tied up bundles.

Unfortunately, Ringo didn’t have much time to bask in her victory. As the door to the car was opened once again. With one foot through the door, a gray hood leaned in, concealing the upper half face of his face. The lower half revealed a grin. Peering just under the hood was a ninja headband with the mark of the Hidden Cloud. However, a deep gash had been carved through the symbol.

“Shoot, and here I thought this mission was gonna be a bore,” he began as he stepped inside. Two katanas were at his hips, one on each side. “How much did the collector buy you for?”

———————

The faint humming of the cart’s female interloper had not gone amiss as Enkai glanced over to his side; his peripheral vision at its limits as he studied the woman’s casual approach; each and every step she took a phantasmal sheep to the men, women and children slowly drifting off to slumber. ‘Genjutsu…’ thought Enkai as he fidgeted in his seat; casually slumping off to one side as he rested his head against the seat’s adjacent window.

One eye closed and another on the precipice of shutting, the blue haired Mokunoha would study the nearby passengers; one after another succumbing to the manipulative lullaby that reverberated through the carriage; oddly drowning out the sound of the locomotive as it continued forward; unperturbed by the growing chaos within its chambers.

Hands pressed together to form the required Tiger and Ram handsigns, the boy would feign slumber as the woman passed his seat; a barely audible ‘zZzZzZ’ just about heard as he committed himself to this oscar winning performance.

Despite the circumstances surrounding his debut mission, the experience of that ill-fated day had proven handy in present circumstances, the training and effort he had afforded towards ‘genjutsu’ now coming to the fore. Had the sandman visited him when unprepared, no doubt he’d have found himself in a world of dreams; unaware of the present chaos taking place.

As the woman left towards the carriage Izumi was in, Enkai would quickly take the opportunity to rouse himself to his feet; quickly making his way towards two women the seat over; two hands pressed against the pressure point on their necks, confirming that they were indeed only asleep and not worse off.

Glancing towards Tatsuo and his mother, Enkai would have gone and done the same had it not been for the sudden sound of conversation coming from the car ahead. A quick glance in the direction would cause Enkai to notice two approaching figures through the small glass window on the carriage door. ‘Shit’ mumbled Enkai to himself, as he quickly twisted around; his foot catching another mans outstretched leg and causing the mokunoha to fall forward; face nestling between two voluptuous pillows of one of the woman he had just been checking a pulse for.

With little time to adjust himself; the blue haired boy would remain in his precarious position; feigning slumber once more as the two man passed; their conversation a dead giveaway to their intentions. Sweat forming along Enkai’s brows as he remained as calm as he could in this situation, he would wait for the sound of the carriage door shutting before he made his move.

Apologizing profusely to the slumbering woman as he began making his way to the back.

Given the nature of the mission as well as the fact that there were two men heading towards where Ringo was; Enkai had made the decision to head over to where the armor was. The duo did not appear to be the brightest, so eliminating the two of them shouldn’t be too much of a hassle…. And… There was also the risk of Ringo… getting carried away. The last thing they needed was an explosion causing the train to derail.

Izumi remained still, listening as first the woman’s siren song first faded into the next train car and then next the duo hurried past her. They were here and on the move it seemed. I don’t know what she’s planning to do when she makes it all the way up front, but I’m not sure I want to find out. She listened for another moment before lifting a hand to her radio. “Enkai, are you good?” Izumi was careful to keep her voice low, having learned her lesson from the first of Roku’s little exercises. She could only hope her teammate was capable of breaking the genjutsu. “One of them’s trying to get to the front of the train, I’m going to try and stop her.”

She slid from her seat as she waited for a response, easing through a familiar set of handsigns before pulling the dagger from its sheath. Ice spread across the weapon and stretched out until it formed a bow. It was smaller than what she was accustomed to, but her options were limited in the train’s tight confines.

The radio piece within Enkai’s ear would soon buzz to life as Izumi’s whispered voice came through, causing Enkai to feel a slight wave of relief as it suggested she wasn’t yet in any danger. “No issues here” he replied, pressing a finger to the ear piece as he continued to make his way towards the back carriage after the two men. “I’m on my way to check on Ringo” he continued as he approached the carriage door; other ear pressed against it as he attempted to hear any sound from within the other carriage. “Two men have made their way to the luggage car, while I have faith in Ringo being able to handle herself… I’d prefer it if she didn’t do so by putting all of us at risk with a miss-timed explosion… “ he paused, free hand slowly reaching for the handle of the door as he began to pry it open slowly. “Do not do anything too rash…once the two men are dealt with, we will make our way to you. Stay safe” he continued, before sneaking into the other cart, his kiseru pipe slowly being drawn from his waist as he prepared for an ambush.

“You too,” Izumi nodded to herself as she slipped her bow over her shoulder. With Enkai awake and on the move, she could focus on chasing her own target. Moving down the hall, she worked through another set of handsigns, three arrows of ice forming between her hands. If she could manage a sneak attack, then she could encase the thief in ice and bring an end to it before the fight even started. The archer stayed low as she approached the doors, listening for singing as she moved to each cart. Izumi built chakra in her arm as she went, preparing her attack. The technique wasn’t quite finished but it’d give her the edge she needed in an ambush. As soon as she’d see the woman - Kokoro, if she’d heard the men correctly before - three arrows would be sent flying in the blink of an eye.

Hachiman’s Swiftness

Izumi winced at the twinge of pain through her arm. Three full power shots so fast was strenuous to say the least. She watched, hoping her arrows would hit their mark or the door ahead. Anything they struck, ice would begin encasing.

Ice Release: Tsurara Onna’s Embrace

All while still singing, Kokoro turned at the last moment, sensing something was wrong. She tried to step to the side upon seeing a bow aimed at her but it was too late. Two of the arrows struck Kokoro, while the last one hit the door dead center.

Immediately, ice began to encase Kokoro and the door. Now immobilized in ice, Kokoro rolled her eyes. “That’s a really rude way to greet someone you just met…” she let out a ragged cough and winced as the ice continued spreading.

Izumi frowned and straightened, another arrow forming between her fingers nocked and ready. “Funny coming from the one putting the whole train to sleep. Aside from the pair more interested in picking pockets than helping anyone. She tried to keep an eye on the passenger car around her, watching for anything strange. Genjutsu need some kind of trigger… Izumi recalled from Roku’s . . . unorthodox lessons. His seemed to focus more on sparks and flames and the movements of his blade. Though even knowing that she still struggled to tell where the illusion began and reality ended.

“Still wary? Jeez, most of you samurai type just charge in to finish the job. Guess you lot can in fact learn new things!”

Kokoro’s pained expression turned to a smile, as the clone began to slowly fade away. With it’s free hand, the clone pointed at Izumi. “The conductor is already dead!” With that said, the clone cackled with laughter as it fully disappeared, leaving an empty case of ice behind.

Moments later the train lurched violently, and a painful screeching sound was heard. The emergency brake had been pulled, and the train was slowing down.

Suddenly a voice familiar to Izumi would play over the intercom. “A-ahem. Good morning everyone! Looks like we’ll be coming to an early stop. To ensure everyone’s cooperation, I’ll be performing a beautiful lullaby for everyone!”

Kokoro began to sing over the intercom, while similar to the tune she was humming before, this time she was truly singing. Everyone’s urge to sleep would no doubt be stronger than before. The only cars with no intercom system were the cargo ones.

“Huh? When did…?” Izumi blinked as the clone faded away. A frustrated whine worked its way from her throat, “crap! It’s Roku Sensei all over again!” She shook her head, she needed to focus, the bandit was still on the loose and was up at the engine.

The train’s sudden lurch sent the mokunoha stumbling along the floor, barely catching herself. Didn’t ninja have a technique that let them stick to walls and stuff? Could really use that about now. Sneak around from the outside of the train for an attack.

The speakers crackling to life presented a new issue on top of the slowing train. The melody, louder and stronger than before, swept over her in a heavy wave. It was hard to focus, hard to think, and that damned singing. Izumi fell to her knees, shaking her head in an attempt to clear her muddled thoughts. She brought her hands together and pulsed chakra through her system once again in a genjutsu release. Though whether it’d work or for how long against the song she wasn’t sure. If I could just block out that song…

She didn’t have long to act on the sudden idea. “Hope this works.” Drawing the arrow she’d already prepared, Izumi fired at one of the speakers. The arrow would quickly encase it in ice. She formed and fired more at any remaining speakers.

The ice seemed to do the trick as each frozen over speaker immediately stopped functioning, and the genjutsu laced song ceased in this car. Izumi would find it much easier to wake herself up now. However the train was moving slower and slower by the second. Not only that, the tunnel was coming up soon in the distance.

Another pulse of chakra, Izumi shook the remaining sleep from her mind as she got back to her feet. Running out of time. Stopping the flow of chakra to the first volley of arrows, the ice encasing the door fell away into diamond dust. She hesitated. The moment that door opened, she would just be snared in the genjutsu all over again. Unless… She just needed to block out the sound, right?

Snapping an arrow in half, Izumi pressed the pieces to her ears, letting the ice grow and encase them. With any luck it would muffle the sound and prevent her from getting caught again. Or she’d just end up asleep with frostbitten ears. The possibility didn’t escape her.

With the tunnel rapidly approaching, there wasn’t time to worry about that. Izumi pressed forward, moving through handsigns to form a new arrow. One that would fly through the air with a sharp whistle.

Kokoro’s song continued in the other cars, and had only intensified. The conductor of the train lie unconscious next to the controls where she stood, facing towards the door. She knew Izumi was coming, but she was stuck in this spot until the operation was complete. Hell, she considered bailing early at this point as Kenji hadn’t shot off the signal yet. Something had to be going wrong.

So far so good, I think. Izumi paused near the final door, her makeshift earplugs seemed to be able to ward off the lullaby through the speakers. Though there was no telling how well it’d hold up to the real thing. She brushed her fingers against her scarf and took a steadying breath. She only had one shot at this.

Wrenching the door open, Izumi fired. The arrow of ice whistled loudly through the air. As it soared way off mark, missing Kokoro entirely despite being nearly point blank. Her opponent wouldn’t have long to mock the poor aim before Izumi would vanish in a cloud of powdered snow, the arrow clattering to the floor where she once stood.

Behind Kokoro, the young Mokunoha reappeared, perched on the train’s controls as she swung a blade of ice towards her neck.

Ice Release: Winter’s Foreshadow

The clang of steel against ice rang out within the locomotive, followed by a haughty cackle.

“Come on now… you were so impressive moments ago! Did you think I’d believe you’d miss an even easier shot than before?”

Kokoro had drawn a wakizashi just in time to block and deflect Izumi’s slash. After her snide remark she made a quick lunging stab at Izumi’s knee. Her dagger plunged into her knee, just under the kneecap before being swiftly retracted.

Kokoro hopped away and laughed. She pressed her finger to her right ear with a grin before speaking into the air.

“Yo, Kenji? You got the armor yet? We’re about to stop. I don’t wanna have to come back there because you were incompetent.”

There was no response.

“Kenji? Kenji?” Kokoro repeated. Her once snide grin turned into a sour expression as she turned to start running out the door back into the train.

Kokoro’s blade met no resistance and no blood followed in its wake, only a few flakes of snow as the illusionary clone fell away into nothing. The shattered remains of the ice arrow lay scattered across the train’s controls. As soon as the woman hopped back, a length of silk would attempt to coil around her neck, Izumi’s foot briefly planting against her back. The silk scarf would sharply constrict as the shorter mokunoha dropped back to the floor.

Many samurai would likely consider genjutsu and sneak attacks dishonorable, tools for the cowardly ninja. But her sensei’s style had never been one for honorable duels and head on fights. It was to survive to see another day.

Izumi kept the silk scarf pulled tight, looking more to knock her opponent out rather than kill.

Raspy gasps were all that escaped Kokoro’s lips as she desperately grasped at the scarf. Panic overtook her face as she felt the world going dark. She tried to scream, but nothing came but pitiful gasps. With her last gasp, she tried to flail her body backwards into Izumi. But Kokoro would be unconscious and falling limp before she knew it.

By this point, the front of the train had come to a complete stop halfway inside the tunnel. The only thing illuminating the room was the interior lighting as the tunnel itself was pitch black.

On the ground, the communicator that had been in Kokoro’s ear buzzed. The voices of Ringo and Enkai came through, tearing into the group of thieves’ honor.

Izumi let out an unsteady breath, her makeshift earmuffs crumbling away. She loosened up the scarf from Kokoro’s throat and moved it up, turning the silk into a gag instead. Lacking in any rope, she pulled the spool of wire from her pouch and used it to bind the thief in place.

The sound of her teammates’ voices over the radio was faint, Izumi almost didn’t hear them. She plucked the earpiece off Kokoro and brought it up to her own aching ear. “I took care of it. Hopefully there aren’t any other thieves hiding in here. Let’s get out of here before anything else happens.” The young samurai pushed herself to her feet and shuffled over to the conductor. It was hard to see in the dim lighting, but his breaths were slow and even. Oh thank the Kami. I really didn’t want to figure out how to get the train going again. She lightly gripped his shoulder, sending a pulse of chakra through his system like she’d been taught. “Maaaaybe it’s a good thing I’m up here to explain things and not Ringo,” Izumi quietly mused to herself.

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

Ringo let out an annoyed sigh as she tapped the head of the thieves with the tip of her boots. She did expect her to steamroll these goons but she didn't expect for them to just go down like this. Maybe she should just tie them up hanging on the side of the train to lure out the rest of the thieves out. There's no way these guys were the ones who stole the previous armors, right? Fortunately she didn't need to wait for long before another figure entered the cargo room. Ringo raised an eyebrow when she saw the crossed headband worn by the man.

"Buy? Nah, my loyalty has no price tag. I'm just doing this for the fun." Ringo eyed the man's swords resting on his hips and pointed at it. "I hope you are better than those useless goons of yours though."

Without any warning, Ringo threw three shurikens towards the man while leaping backward onto the wooden box she was in before. Performing a quick hand seals, Ringo leapt towards the man with her bat raised high above her, ready to deliver a powerful overhead smacking.

In a flash, the rogue nin drew one of his blades and slashed the shurikens out of the air before they struck him.

“Just for fun? We’ll see how long this is fun for you,” he said with a smirk. Then with a powerful leap, the man launched himself onto a collision course with Ringo, aiming to plant a powerful kick into her torso.

The two figures clashed midair and the man managed to land his kick. Though rather than getting her ribcage broken, Ringo bursted into a puff of smoke and in her stead was a large wooden box with big red 'COLLECTION ITEM, PLEASE HANDLE WITH CAUTION' on its surface, which easily shatters from the force of the kick.

--Substitution Jutsu : Wooden Crate–

Ringo herself wasn't finished though. From her new position in the place where the box was placed, she immediately leapt into the air, bursting through the box's shattered remains and screamed 'DIIIEEEEEE!!!' while launching an upwards bat swing towards the man's crotch.

–Forbidden Jutsu : Future Crusher!!--

The bat struck true, eliciting a blood curdling scream from the rogue nin. He fell from the air in a heap, clutching between his legs.

“D-damn. Fooled by something so simple…” he gasped. His agonizing gaze turned to Ringo as he silently cursed at her in his mind.

“Ngyahahaha. That was quite a fun 5 seconds. Try harder next time.” Ringo enjoyed putting salt on her enemies’ wounds. For her, it’s the privilege of the victor.

The unmistakable sound of combat could be heard emanating from the carriage ahead; Enkai’s ear pressed against the door’s exterior as he listened in on the discussion just about audible against the sound of the train’s movements. One hand reaching for the kiseru pipe sheathed against his waist, Enkai would slowly pull the weapon from its restraint, the flow of chakra cascading down his inner network as it funneled its way into his weapon; heat pulsating through the entirety of the shaft as he slowly pushed the door open.


Ready to strike from behind; the adrenaline fueled ambush would inevitably be extinguished and in turn be overwhelmed by a terror that all men instinctively cowered from. It didn’t matter if you were friend, foe or complete stranger… all men across the globe shared this fear; an instinctual urge to want to coil up and protect their most vulnerable treasure.

The sight of the man’s crown jewels being mercilessly crushed under the sheer explosive impact of the strike would cause Enkai’s judgment to falter momentarily; his weapon turned gun slowly pointed towards Ringo as he felt pity for the man’s future that had just been unceremoniously executed.

“That… that's too… far… even if he is… an enemy..” mumbled Enkai, feeling his own stomach twist and turn at the sheer thought of what kind of pain the man must be experiencing… physically and emotionally.

“Hm? Oh, Enkai, you’re here!” Noticing her teammate entering the cargo, Ringo waved excitedly at him while pointing towards the fallen ninja like she’s showing off a hunting trophy.

“Look what I have caught! Turns out there’s more than one thief! Let’s go on the offense and hunt them all!”

“W-wait…” the man slowly rose to his feet, supporting his weight on one of his blades. With shaky legs he grimaced, dramatically drawing his second katana. He held them far from the sides of his body, and gradually raised them upwards until they were above his head.

“My name… is Kenji Matawura, and now you’ll face the wrath of a thousand tigers!”

With a sudden burst of speed, Kenji dashed straight at Ringo, aiming to slice a deep x across her chest.


It was made abundantly clear to Enkai, that Ringo was blissfully unawares to the trauma she had inflicted upon the man known as Kenji, the potential genocide of his future bloodline going completely ignored as she excitedly waved towards him. It was only now that Enkai would see the present condition of the other two thieves, each rendered immobile.

Enkai’s attention would however be drawn back towards the nutcracked man, the stubborn man forcing his way upon his feet with the aid of one of his blades; a second soon coming to the fore as he held it with his other hand.

“Ringo!, Watch out!” shouted Enkai, his kiseru pipe twirling in his grasp before sheathing the weapon. Taking the stance for his quickdraw technique, Enkai would arch his body forward; hand gripped tightly around his pipe as he channeled the chakra through it.

“Boil Release: Sea Dragon’s Boiling Kettle Strike” , the blue haired Mokunoha would dash forward, his kiseru pipe quickly drawn from his side; the metallic pipe making direct contact with the swinging blades of Kenji, the weapons making contact as Kenji’s blades formed the ‘X’ mark. Had it not been for the force of the boil release, Enkai’s power output would have paled in comparison.


“I’m not done yet!” he said through gritted teeth, twisting the Kiseru pipe around so that the bowl was now facing Kenji straight on. “Boil Release: Sea Dragon Geyser” he spat, a torrent of heated steam bursting forth from the bowl of Enkai’s Kiseru pipe, the sheer intensity of the heat enough to scald the man’s face.

Kenji let out a pained curse as the burning steam started to do its agonizing work on his face. He twisted his left arm, turning his blade and with a powerful shove pushed Enkai’s pipe upward, diverting the blast of steam into the ceiling. “You kids don’t know what you’re getting into! Even if you do stop this robbery, that collector will never get his grubby hands on the armor!” With his right hand now freed, he aimed a horizontal slash across Enkai’s stomach.

A loud clanking sound as steel met steel vibrated through the cargo room as Ringo jumped between Enkai and the cloud ninja, her left hand blocked the slash using the bracer hidden beneath her sleeve while her right hand delivered a straight jab towards the ninja's face.

"Now, we're even, all right..." Ringo said as she grinned and pointed at Enkai. "We both attacked him twice! The first one who lands the third attack is the winner!"

Cracking her knuckles half a dozen times, she was ready to launch another attack when she suddenly staggered forward. She looked at both Enkai and Kenji with puzzled expressions before asking.

"Is the train slowing down?"

Kenji fumbled backwards for a moment, nearly regaining his balance before nearly being thrown off his feet once again by the train lurching.

Frustration was plastered all over his face, and his knuckles turned white. Half of his face was burned, and his scalded eye twitched in pain, yet his determination hadn’t been put away.

As soon as he recovered his balance and his feet were firmly planted he dashed forward and thrust his right katana forward at Ringo. However, his backfoot was outstretched far behind him. Placing his weight on that foot, he swiftly pulled himself back out of range of any close quarter strikes before dashing in again, this time fully committing to an upward slash at Enkai.


“Shit!” cursed Enkai as his attack was diverted upward, eyes following the movement of his enemy's blade as Kenji maneuvered himself to perform a horizontal slash. There wasn’t enough time for Enkai to react as he attempted to take a few steps back. Eyes closed awaiting the cold touch if metal against flesh, he was instead greeted with the sound of metal clashing against steel. Eyes opening in response to the sound, he would soon bare witness to Ringo standing between himself and Kenji, her hidden bracer stopping the slash as she countered with a jab to the face.

”For now…” he laughed nervously in response to her quip. “.... thanks” he finished, as he looked beyond the competitive Ringo and towards Kenji. It was clear as day that she was eager and keen to finish this off quick; the no nonsense cracking of her knuckles a clear indication that she was enjoying the fight. Nonetheless, it seemed that things would soon begin to change as the sudden change in motion caught both of their attention.

“That must be Izumi…” he stated, momentarily glancing towards the carriage door behind himself. She was by herself against the Genjutsu user and who knew how many other operatives were in play. There was no guarantee that she was fighting in single combat. “Let’s finish this quick” he stated matter of factly, returning his attention back to the fight; hand spinning the Kiseru pipe around till it was held firmly in his hand much like a gun.

Evidently, it seemed that Kenji too was in a rush as he attempted to strike at Ringo, only to draw back and alter his target. This moment in hesitation was enough time for Enkai to counter on his own; opting for a mid-range assault, allowing for Ringo to follow up with a finishing blow if needed.


Closing his left eye and focusing with his right, the blue haired mokunoha would take aim as he stretched his right arm forward, nozzle aimed at the intended target.

“Boil Release: Sea Dragon’s Bullet” spat Enkai, as a condensed globule of water was shot from his Kiseru Pipe, the watery projectile flying straight for the center of the mans forehead; rushing past Ringo who still stood between the two.

“Shitt!” Ringo cursed as he blocked Kenji’s sudden lunge with both of her arms and was shoved backward slightly. Though the ninja backed away and changed his target before she could punch him back.

As Enkai’s dragon bullet flew past her, she immediately moved her legs and dashed forward following the projectile. Though while the projectile travels high toward the ninja’s head, Ringo ran with her body hunched and both of her arms raised forward in a boxing stance. The moment the bullet hit she would follow up with a single uppercut aimed right towards his liver.

Kenji was quick to change the angle of his slice, and his blade meeting the high pressure bullet of water. But with a sudden snap! the top half of the blade flew into the air as the bullet shot through Kenji’s eye and out the side of his head. At the same time, a powerful uppercut rammed deep into his liver, sending a shockwave of pain throughout his body in the last couple seconds he was conscious.

Limp, Kenji fell backwards onto the ground. His katanas dropped to the floor.


Enkai watched the scene unfold with his very eyes; the sudden shattering of Kenji’s blade soon followed by the sudden head flick backwards; a spray of gore, brain and blood splashing against the other side of the carriage as one side of Kenji’s head was given a new opening. Even Enkai felt uneasy at what he had just done, tearing his gaze away at the sight; though not enough to not see Ringo deal an overkill final blow to the man's liver.


“It’s done…” mumbled Enkai, sheathing his weapon to his side as he walked over to where Kenji lay; doing his best to avoid the ‘mess’ that was beginning to stain the cabin floor. Though despite his best effort to avert his gaze; the sudden whirring and faint sound of a voice could be heard ringing from the ‘remodeled’ side of Kenji’s head.

“Oh for f*** sake…” cursed the blue haired Mokunoha as he kneeled down and looted the corpse for its earpiece; hearing the sound of a woman's voice come from the other end; an obvious look of displeasure printed across Enkai’s face.


“Kenji ain’t here… your attempt to steal the armor has failed. I suggest you give up… resisting will only leave you joining your friend…” replied the blue haired Mokunoha, as he awaited a reply from the other end.

“Euw..” Ringo wasn’t pleased with the fact that she got blood splatter on her arms and face. Definitely wasn’t how she imagined how things would end, she didn’t dwell on it much though. Things happened. In the world of ninja, everyone must be ready to put their life on the line.

As Enkai was fiddling with the earpieces. Ringo picked up Kenji’s remaining katana that hadn’t been broken and fixed it on her back. She heard samurai would only take the weapon of their dead opponent’s if they want to show respect and consider them a worthy foe, but she had no such intention. She simply needs extra money, fast.

“Do you think she’s the boss of this thieves group?” She asked Enkai and joined him in listening to the device.

Enkai watched as Ringo took the mans katana; subtly surprised that she would go out of her way to show honor for the fallen samurai; the mokunoha clearly unaware of her true intentions to profit off of the deceased mans blade.

Taken aback by her deceivingly honorable actions, he had failed to realize just how close she had gotten as she listened in on the device; the blue haired samurai, fidgeting to the side slightly.

“I… I don’t know..” he replied, as he listened in on the earpiece… a faint sound of gagging just about audible through the intercoms. Without any visual access to see what was occurring; he could not determine exactly what was causing the gagging noise on the other end.

“Oi” he would begin to speak, pulling the microphone portion to his mouth. “Are you ready to give up? Answer me you coward. Cat got your tongue now that your accomplices are dead?” he began to taunt.

“I will give your thief group a rating of 2/10, and that’s just me being generous.” Ringo chimed in, she didn’t want to miss the opportunity to verbally slap someone. “Better resign while you still can now, ngyahahaha.”

The ensuing silence from the other end of the intercoms would begin to worry Enkai; the lack of a reply to both his and Ringo’s remarks potentially hinting towards an unfavorable outcome. “Moshi Moshi” he mumbled, tapping at the earpiece with one finger to see if the device was still in working order whilst getting Increasingly worried about the lack of response. “Helloooo…. Anyone there…?” he continued, glancing at Ringo then back at the device.

It would be a few moments before a response finally came through; the pent up energy washing away as Enkai heard Izumi’s voice come through finally. “... finally…” remarked Enkai, falling back on his arse and sitting up right. “... guess we can call this job done..?” he asked rhetorically, glancing towards Ringo.

InsaneAsylum Phayne Spoiled Bread

 

[Spoiled Bread]

WHISPERING PUPPETS
Location : Gallery

The gentle fist hit the maid's body and blown her away, though she unexpectedly spun midair and landed smoothly on the floor, killing the momentum with her body movement and her unnaturally light weight. Kakego still laid quite some distance from her.

"I see you are indeed full of surprise." Yue said as wiped the blood that just trickled out of the corner of the mouth, the two blows from before likely damaged her inside. "Never thought I would see a Hyuuga using puppet techniques."

"I have been fighting you with the wrong method then." Shaking the chakra thread off her legs, the former shinobi leapt back to her original position: on the shoulder's of the Buddha statue in the middle. Chakra threads came out of her hands and started usurping the massive figure she was standing on. The Buddha creaked and groaned as Yue planted her control inside it, forcing the mechanism inside to abide by her commands.

"Brown Secret Technique: Root Takeover." Gradually each and every arms of the Buddha started pointing at Koyome.

"Pssst..." While Yue was taking over the Buddha, someone approached Koyome and tried to get her attention. It was Yue, or at least one of her clone, this was the one that had been hung on the ceiling and it seemed kakego's explosion from before knock her off the ceiling. Although she's still wrapped in the yarn cocoon and couldn't do anything except dragging herself forward like a caterpillar.

"O dear guest, please let me help you. I too want to stop her, or stop the other me I guess." The clone pleaded to Koyome while rising her tied hips up, asking to be freed. This was the same clone that supposedly cleans the gallery with bells, the same clone that didn't gather in the dining room and the same clone that kicked Akari down the shaft.

AtlannianSpy


Location : Basement

The sounds of an odd screech echoed throughout the basement, it sounded like a the noise a wounded animal would make. Their last attempt to scare predator away. Enkai's sensory mist would tell him that the creature was currently walking upside down at the ceiling. However, he could also senses numerous tendrils made of blood veins quickly growing out of the creature and climbed down the walls. These tendril still had tendency to avoid light but it seemed to be surrounding Akari specifically, just a shy away from the lit up area.

For a moment everything was in a standstill as the creature's tendrils couldn't advance, then the heart crawled towards the spot above Akari. A loud gurgling noise reverberates inside the basement before the creature dropped a large amount of blood right onto the lantern, extinguishing the light. Then hell break loose as the tendrils charged straight up towards Akari, their tips transformed into something solid and sharp, needles made of crystallized blood.

Ganryu Phayne

 

[Phayne]

Team Yukari

Enkai Kaji

Mokunoha

Whispering Puppets - Wtf is that thing?!

Relying on his sixth sense amidst the growing darkness of the basement, Enkai's eyes would glance upward towards the ceiling; the disturbance within the body of steam telling him exactly where the morbid creature was residing; scurrying about like some vermin born to lurk in the shadows. However despite knowing the location of this monstrosity, Enkai had yet to unleash his counter offensive, he had yet to administer the final blow upon whatever the fuck that creature was. Rather, he couldn't.

Lagging, Enkai had remained rooted to the spot, his mind battling against the looming sense of confusion that threatened to overcome him. Unlike any creature known to mankind, this vestigial remnant of the deceased man had began to grow even more tendrils, its anatomy unlike anything that Enkai had ever witnessed before; thus its movements were taking a bit longer to comprehend. Given its present state, the sudden movement of these tendrils had momentarily overloaded Enkai's ability to process all the information; the mokunoha needing the additional second or two that was required to process everything his sensory jutsu was relaying to him.

Yet it was only upon noticing the common trajectory of these appendages as well as the movement of the main body that Enkai would finally act; more out of instinct rather than planned action. Almost instantly his grip around his Kiseru pipe would tighten as he simultaneously spun himself around, mouth whispering the jutsu he had activated whilst in mid spin. A tendril of water would begin to grow from his Kiseru pipe; the thin body of water extending to a length of 4ft , more than enough for what he was about to do.

"Above you! Watch out!" shouted Enkai, as he spun the water whip towards the direction of Akari though there wasn't much time... especially if he wanted to be careful about this., "Sorry! but I'm gonna be a bit rough! Forgive me!" he continued, finally lashing the watery construct towards Akari with near pin point precision. With the whip in mid flight, Enkai would offer a quick glance upward once more; the creature visible in all its morbid ugliness; a gaping hole now visible, as if farting out a gruesome gurgle. Yet it wasn't the gurgle that had caused Enkai to worry, rather it was the vomit of blood that had began to rain down upon Akari.

"My mother always told me to treat women delicately... but I think she won't mind me making an exception today!" "he shouted, as the whip wrapped itself around the body of Akari; instantly tightening around her before Enkai pulled back with all his strength, yanking her back towards him with such force that she would be lifted off the ground, just in time to avoid becoming fresh meat upon several blood skewers; the sound of the crystalized blood chiming against each other reverberating around the room. "Just in time.." sighed Enkai, as he moved onto the next step. He needed to end this fight quickly...

As Akari flew towards him, Enkai would cease the water whip jutsu and in quick succession take one step forward so that his right side was pointed ahead of himself, all the while spinning the Kiseru pipe several times in hand like a drummer with his drum stick before eventually catching it in reverse so that the mouth was now pointed at the spot above where Akari previously was, where he wasted no time unleashing several bullets of compressed water at the thing; his sensory mist still giving him the location of the creature.

That being said, he could only fire off a few shots before being forced to readjust his stance, now holding both hands ahead of himself as he caught the oncoming Akari; left hand supporting her back whilst his right caught her just below her thighs.

"S... Sorry.. for being rough!" stammered Enkai, realizing how he was currently holding her. "I didn't have... much of a choice..." he continued, lowering his right hand so that she could stand on her own; his left still supporting her back until she was able to stand fully. "... I.. I'll make it up somehow... maybe.. a discount... at my pops store.." he continued, tearing his gaze away from her the moment she no longer needed her support.

"We can decide on that later though... we have more pressing matters..." his tone reverting back to how it was prior; his guard still raised. "Stay behind me" he commanded, taking a step forward so that he was now standing between Akari and the last known position of that thing.Hopefully his bullets had been enough to kill the damn thing...

Ganryu Spoiled Bread AtlannianSpy

Code by Serobliss

 

[KageYuuki]

Search for the Four Tails' Fang

At the brandished weapon, the massive centipede seemed to tilt its head. Its antennae twitched inquisitively at the trio before being pelted with senbon. The needles bounced off, falling to the ground and into the water with a quiet splash. The sharp beak also didn't cause any visible harm, though the centipede still recoiled. It backed away a few steps, shaking its head but didn't move to attack. Before chunori had another opportunity to dive at it, chakra pulsed through its antennae once again.

"Peace, little ones."

The cavern was silent, save for the sounds of their own breaths and the flap of Chunori's wings. No words had been spoken, no sound emitted from the great creature, yet the meaning was understood all the same.

"It's been so long . . . since anyone followed in the wanderer's footsteps." Each word was another pulse of chakra. Every one of them felt like insects crawling beneath their skin, digging into their very minds. While it wasn't painful, it was far from a pleasant sensation. "Come . . . come, inheritors of his will." It gestured to the water and the statues surrounding the pool. "Prove your worth."

With that, it turned and dipped a leg into the clear waters. Koyome would see the way its chakra surged, flowing from where it touched the water and flooding its entire body.

"Soak in the waters . . . and be reborn!"


AtlannianSpy InsaneAsylum godjacob

 

[InsaneAsylum]

Izanami KutsukiSearch for the Four Tails’ Fang​

After her embarrassing fall, Izanami took to the back of the group. She gently rubbed her no doubt bruised forehead, and tried to ignore the stinging that prickled on her elbows. A haze of embarrassment hung over her, knowing it was silly of her to run in before the torches were made. However, what the trio came upon shook her out of her self-loathing.


“Woaaahhh! Look at all these mushrooms! How do they glow?” Izanami bent down, about to grab one before suddenly pulling her hand back. “D-don’t touch them though! Never know what a fungus will do to ya!” Despite saying this while looking at Tokita and Koyome, she was more telling herself. Her mother had drilled this into her from a young age, despite the rare appearances of her any mushroom besides the familiar Blight growths.

Noticing Koyome and Tokita’s gaze go seemingly go elsewhere, Izzy took the chance to nab a couple of the glowing mushrooms and shove them in a pocket. She hadn’t noticed the oncoming overgrown centipedes. By the time she had, one drew near her. Izzy only noticed out of her peripheral, causing her to jerk her head towards it.

A high-pitched squeal shot from her lungs as she scrambled back towards her comrades. She drew her blade, Sesshu-ki. “Oh lord please tell me this is one of those genjitsu things again. No way bugs get this big…” Izzy pleaded, knowing full well the reality before her.

Even as Koyome and one of her puppets sprung into action. Izanami struggled to take action. How the hell do you fight a giant bug? While the largest of them seemed unfazed by Koyome’s attacks it wasn’t moving to attack at all.

Then suddenly words cut into Izzy’s mind. Seemingly from nowhere. Bringing a hand to her head, she quickly glanced around the cavern for someone hiding. However the voice returned. This time going on about some Wanderer and a Will. The centipede put its leg in the water, wanting them to enter the pool as well.

“No way we’re really talking to a giant bug now… please tell me you guys have a plan.”

KageYuuki AtlannianSpy godjacob

 

[KageYuuki]

A Fair Trade

Akari Tone, Izumi Takahashi​

Spoiler

The smell of sulfur hung in the air as Akari paced back and forth, biting her lip. She… needed to ask a favor. And she hated it. Sure, she acted a bit cold towards Izumi, but she was her best friend it felt like. At the same time, she was also a rival. Asking for help hurt her pride. It wasn’t like Izumi would say no, but it made Akari feel weak, and Izumi deserved a better rival than that.

Then again, maybe Izumi did. She’d heard of her missions, how well they’d gone. Akari’s… hadn’t. Izumi was learning new things, like genjutsu. Akari… didn’t feel like she was doing anything but shooting a bow. Izumi’s team was probably going great. Akari… found herself without a team.

Sighing, she looked at her bandages. Hot spring was a good excuse for her injuries from the mansion. She also had food to bribe Izumi. A pot of motsunabe, parts of beef simmered in a stew all night made into a stock, with soy sauce and garlic, topped with miso. Akari had just put in the cabbage and chives before she left, they should have wilted in the stew and absorbed the flavor. Some people found the dish offal, but Akari was at least proud in the kitchen.

With a final sigh, Akari entered the front. “Is Izumi there, Mrs Takahashi?” She wondered briefly if anyone noticed her pacing outside for about 30 minutes beforehand. Or if they’d comment.

The reception area for the onsen was warm and inviting, air heated with aid from the hot springs chased away the wintery chill without hearths to worry about. Plenty of shelves and pegs to stow boots and coats greeted her as she walked in, hinting at a slow day if the abundance of empty spaces were anything to go by. Scrolls with calligraphy and a shrine for prosperity hung behind the desk. Izumi’s mother Yumiko stood up as Akari stepped inside. “Well, now there’s a face I haven’t seen in a while.” She smiled, no stranger to the girl’s small answers. “How have you been, Akari? Izumi should be finishing up some chores if you don’t mind waiting for a bit.” Yumiko tilted her head, her smile faltering ever so slightly. “Or are you here on orders?”

Akari just shook her head and sat down, mentally racking her brain.

How to ask… how to ask!?!!!

Most people probably would have been a bit more… talkative. Akari wasn’t. Simple as that.

Still, she reached into her stash of food, offering Yumiko a red bean mochi wordlessly, before resuming her seat, and pulling out her fidget spinner as she waited. A thousand-yard stare bored into the nearby wall, as if it could physically pull out one of the pegs.

Yumiko accepted the offered mochi with a nod of thanks, her smile returning in its entirety. Her hands were cold to the touch much like Izumi’s, like she’d just stepped in from the cold herself. Deep scars pockmarked her hands in mirroring patterns that disappeared under the sleeves of her kimono. “No mission then, I’m glad. Only just graduated and already there’s no end to the work they’re handing out.” The retired samurai took a moment to enjoy the mochi before moving towards the staircase. “I’ll let her know you’re here. You’re welcome to the hearth in the kitchen if you need it, whatever else you have in your bag smells lovely.”

Akari nodded at the endless missions, it felt like she'd not stopped working since she graduated... and even her boastful brother had mostly only come home to pass out. While that had been an upside, Akari had never been far behind him. She'd hardly even really ventured far into the woods. Both her parents had been worried sick, and she noted Yumiko didn't seem that different. The thought made her smile. "Yeah. Always more missions."

But, the small missions of the Mokunoha were better than the Haganenoha; often they were sent out to repel ninja. She could smell blood on Nadeshiko Sensei more than once.

At the offer of the kitchen, a small whoop came, and a 'thwump' echoed as Akari body flickered as only Akari could, instantly gone from sitting to, being next to the hearth, wafting her hand at the edge of the fire, judging how warm it was, before unpacking a small pot that was... excessively tied down.

One of Izumi’s cousins stood in the kitchen, preparing tea and sweets for a guest. He jumped at Akari’s sudden entrance, fumbling with the lid to the tea canister as it comically bounced just off his fingertips several times in his attempt to catch it. The metal lid bounced and rattled on the stone floor, punctuated by a defeated sigh. “Least it was just the lid,” he mumbled, picking it up and dusting it off. The flowery smell of sakurayu wafted from the open tea canister. He finished his work, sparing a glance at the very well secured pot before hurrying off with the tray of tea.

Akari would have the space to herself for a good several minutes before a new set of footsteps approached. “Get chased out of your own kitchen?” Izumi asked from the doorway. The sleeves of her kimono were tied back, and her hakama was wet in several spots. A downside to running an onsen was the sheer number of towels that needed to be kept clean, an endless pile of laundry.

Akari smiled as Izumi appeared, flickering around grabbing bowls she already knew where they were. “Well, people actually cook in mine. It was busy.”

She rapidly set up some of the motsunabe for both of them, not even asking if Izumi wanted any, before Akari’s own stomach grumbled, Akari blushing slightly. Her seals kept her nearly constantly hungry… The skill in cooking was less a hobby, and more a necessity. Akari took a deep breath before digging in though, not sure how to ask for a favor.

“Your Mom says you’ve had a lot of missions and trainings lately. What’s it like…?”

Akari stared at her stew, somewhat shocked she’d managed so many sentences. But, well, for once, it was easier than just one.

Izumi hummed at the response, “conveniently busy the moment ours isn’t? What, looking for another cooking win?” Some days it seemed their rivalry extended beyond just their archery, contests and clashes cropping up nearly every time they saw one another. Izumi considered herself a passable cook, though begrudgingly she had to admit Akari far outpaced her in that department.

The offered bowl and question caused Izumi to pause for a moment. Their conversations were usually brief, merely sparks to ignite another contest between the two. But . . . an actual conversation could be nice, right? Izumi had been trying to find a way to rope Akari into lunch of something outside of their normal, endless competitions. Even if her last attempt ended with a bear being delivered to her doorstep.

She accepted the bowl of stew and sat across from Akari, taking a moment to dig in as well. “Uh . . . missions have been pretty boring for the most part. Delivering packages all over town, finding missing pets, getting unlucky and having to clear the snow from the main road after a storm. Nothing like . . . like my first mission thankfully.” She shook her head, taking another few bites. “Training’s a whole other thing though. Like, having my chakra flow blocked off and having to try and find where Sensei’s hiding and shooting these bolts that left craters in the mountainside!” Craters she later learned were an illusion, but, well, Akari didn’t need to know that. “How about you?”

Akari stared at her food, a spoon idly moving the meat around the cabbages. “Not well.” She winced, admitting that. Granted, the bandages probably spoke of that. She sighed, and finally lifted the spoon, and almost the sounds of a vacuum filled the hall as the bowl’s contents disappeared almost as fast as Akari’s flickering about. It was a nice snack…

Training with Nadeshiko sensei wasn’t too bad, it was mostly bodily training, which Akari didn’t do too badly on, and she had all the attention, with Shaoko and Hibari leaving. Supposedly new ones coming soon.

Akari raised an eyebrow tilting her head as if she was forgetting something. Then remembered people didn’t like long awkward silences. Their loss.

“I, uh, wanted to…”

She shook her head.

“Wait, Roku’s bowgun’s not nearly strong enough to leave a crater? Dad always laughs at his sniping.” Akari tried shifting the subject to avoid asking, turning to see if she had more in the pot, finding it empty as well. Just like her conversation!

Izumi gave an understanding hum at the mention of “not well.” She was quietly thankful that so far really only one mission so far had turned truly deadly. But the rough introduction had been eye opening, to say the least. Judging by the bandages, Akari had seen her own share of missions turning dangerous. She used the silence to finish off her own bowl of stew. It really was good. Motsunabe seemed hard to make without leaving any lingering unpleasant flavors from what many considered to be scraps to be discarded.

As Akari spoke up again, Izumi’s head canted to the side. “You wanted to . . .?” It seemed like, for once, she wasn’t there to call for another test of skill. But what she could possibly be looking for instead, Izumi couldn’t even begin to guess.

Ah, crap, of course he’d know about the stupid blowgun. Izumi shrugged, collecting the empty bowls to take to the sink. “Well, with some poisoned tea, a little genjutsu, and a bunch of killing intent, you’d think he could take out half of Hanamachi in a single shot!”

“So… you were just high…?” Akari blinked.

A moment passed, and she sighed. She wasn’t a conversationalist. “Izumi, I… I want to be a real samurai. I…” She gulped, like swallowing bitter medicine. “N-n-need… some help.” Akari gulped, looking vulnerable as she put herself on display.

She reached behind her, reaching for her massive oversized bow, putting it somewhat in her lap, running her fingers down the fine red hair on the bowstring. “This bow gets tighter with more chakra. I don’t know how to give it more chakra.”

At the shift in tone, Izumi stopped scrubbing the bowls. Akari was . . . asking for help? Not just any help but her help? Akari, who’d always seemed too proud to ask for help in anything. Who often took snipes at Izumi’s techniques and how they seemed more shinobi than samurai.

“O-oh! Um…” Izumi dried her hands, twisting the towel slightly before turning back towards Akari. She smiled, hopefully looking more confident than she felt. “I don’t know how good of a teacher I’ll be, but I can definitely try. Let’s head out back. You know where the small spring is? I have some targets set up out there.”

Akari nodded, before a ‘thwump’ signaled she was gone, already in ‘the small spring’. Sure, many could have been ‘the small spring’, but Akari knew which one was used by the family privately, and had the targets.

Standing in the middle of the water with water walking, she paced looking at the targets, trying to find a more difficult shot. Her ‘curved shots’ would make cover useless already, but, she didn’t want to practice evading cover. She wanted to pierce it.

Lacking any kind of body flicker, it was a few moments before Izumi caught up to her. She’d stopped long enough to collect her tanto from her room. Almost all of your techniques are about flowing chakra into your weapon, you can handle teaching this . . . right? Seeing Akari standing in the middle of the spring snapped her out of her train of thought. “Whoa, how are you doing that?”

Akari blinked. “Notching an arrow is easy?”

“No, the whole standing on the water thing.”

Akari turned a bit red, looking down. Almost all of her techniques were movement based, and ever since the bridge incident with Mr. Kannoji, she’d tried correcting her inability to cross that river. In truth, she’d tried running fast enough to cross water enough that she accidentally started pushing off with chakra, first one step, then full on walking til it was natural as the ground. Granted, the one day she’d failed and run out of chakra, she had to be fished out by a local fisherman and heated back up, but… she wasn’t going to get into THAT story. Nadeshiko Sensei had then helped her refine it.

She rubbed the make of her neck, seeing the way Akari’s ears turned red with embarrassment. “Maybe you can show me later? Make it more of an even trade then.” Izumi could only hope making it an exchange of techniques would help put Akari more at ease with seeking her help. Plus being able to stand and walk on water just seemed cool.

Akari nodded happily, the exchange was fair, and no one was in each other's debt then. Fair was fair.

Flickering over, she handed her bow to Izumi, before sitting criss cross on the ground, head rocking side to side as she waited for explanation.

Izumi accepted the bow, feeling the weight in her hand. It was lighter than she was expecting for something of this size, but still far heavier than her own weapon of choice. I don’t even know if I can draw it without adding chakra to it. How does she make it look so easy!? She shook the thought away for now. “Flowing chakra into weapons is kind of weird, but it seems to be easier with a weapon you’re already familiar with.” Izumi touched the string, letting her chakra flow into the weapon as she tested the draw. “Something you use all the time--”

A feeling of dread rose from the bow. Something sinister lashing out against her chakra and clawing into her mind. Massive, blood soaked fangs; glowing eyes seething with hate. The air left Izumi’s lungs in a strangled gasp as she dropped to a knee. “What . . . ?”

“Two weeks ‘fore I could hold it.” Akari admitted flatly. Why? She couldn't explain why, but the bow definitely felt evil, and someone had used odd Bijuu bits to make it. Still, if it was easier to use a weapon you were familiar with, Akari had used nothing else since she’d graduated the academy. It was her father’s bow, and that was reason enough.

She reached out for it, motioning for Izumi to use her dagger instead for demonstration.

Akari stopped for a second. She used chakra with her feet all the time. But hands. Oddly, she never really did. Only technique she had that did was her curved shots, and that had taken an embarrassingly long time to learn. Well… path of the samurai was difficult.

Akari tried for a moment, feeling the bow stiffen for a moment, before suddenly falling to her feet. It wasn’t supposed to take that much… right?

“Least it isn’t just me,” Izumi gasped as she returned the weapon and pushed herself to her feet. Something was in that bow, and whatever it was it made her skin crawl. “Anyway, uh, what was I trying to say?” She drew her dagger, feeling the familiar chill seep into her fingers. “Oh, right, a familiar weapon’s a lot easier to see as an extension of yourself.” A few handsigns and her chakra flowed over the dagger, limbs of ice stretching and forming her own bow. “I’ve heard some people say the more you use a single weapon and put your chakra in it, the more receptive it gets as time goes on. Like… it’s becoming more and more a part of you or something. Guess that’s why ancestral weapons are so scary, you’ve literally got pieces of an entire clan in ‘em.”

She rubbed the back of her neck, “sorry, I’m really not good at this whole teaching thing.” Turning back to Akari, she blinked. “So, uh . . . just how much chakra are you putting into it?”

Akari stared innocently at the question. “As much as I can? Is that wrong?” Sure, Akari was competitive, but brain cells was a competition that had sailed a looooong time ago. The ancestral weapon thing made sense though; maybe it’s easier because her father’s chakra was inside. And why Izumi loved that one dagger, despite Akari thinking it looked a bit plain. She shook her head.

...Ah. Izumi held out her own bow, “Objects don’t really like having a bunch of chakra just shoved into them at once.” She poured hers into her weapon, spikes and branches of ice growing wildly before the entire thing shattered under the strain. “Like when you’re climbing trees or walls, put too much in and it shatters. Not enough and nothing happens.” Sheathing the dagger, she motioned for Akari to nock an arrow. “I don’t know if this will work, but maybe it’ll help you get a feel for it.” Izumi rested her hands on Akari’s and the bow, they were ice cold to the touch despite the warmth radiating from the nearby spring. She shivered at the sensation emanating from the weapon but pushed it away with an unsteady breath. “I’m gonna see if I can flow my chakra into it as you draw. A gentle stream, not a raging river.”

Izumi’s chakra was as cold as her hands, spreading along the bow, arrow, and Akari’s fingers.

Akari grew a bit red at her naivety, but it made sense. She notched an arrow, waiting for the feeling of Izumi’s chakra, which, unfortunately, was cold and dangerous even in and of itself.

I’m best friends with a Yuki-onna…. Note to self, do not take Izumi on my next mountain trip

As the cold grew, Akari tried to pull back, a practiced motion she had done a 1,000 times before, and, for once, found her bow resisting. “H-huh?”

It did increase draw weight. A mischievous smile started to grow across Akari’s face, sheer delight oozing like venom. Across her body, her seals started to burn, making her flinch slightly, but quickly replaced by a mad laugh. Both of Akari’s feet planted firm in the ground, chakra clinging hard.

“Ha…hahaha….. Hahahaha!!!”

Her back stiffened as the muscles rippled, veins popping across her triceps. Akari did not appear very muscular at a glance, having a very condensed form, but her lean form started to scream with power as she did flex, pulling with her all against the bow, the string slowly sliding back with manic glee.

THWUMP!

Akari didn’t even see her own arrow, only a small blur, and a hole straight through the target… and a dust cloud as rock exploded, water weeping down a new exit in the spring down a wall. Akari blinked. “That… wasn’t important, was it?”

“Ahaha it worked!” Izumi punched the air, a grin spreading across her features. Akari’s excitement had been infectious as drawing her bow became a challenge once more. The excitement was short lived as she saw the results of their combined efforts. Izumi paled slightly, rubbing the back of her neck with a nervous chuckle. “Maybe we uh . . . don’t tell Pops?”

She cleared her throat, “But holy crap! I knew that bow had to be powerful, but I wasn’t expecting that! Could you feel it at all?”

Akari nodded, flicking her wrist up and down. Amano-Iwato's Hidden Sunlight. Her seals were pretty effective, and it had been a long time since she’d had to use so many muscles. She had a feeling she could draw even stronger, but it might hurt her to do it. That caliber of weight was far higher than anything she regularly used. The cold though, of Izumi felt so controlled, so precise, not like Akari’s rough blasting of chakra. That was the downside of the seals, the condensed chakra under the surface, binding her muscles at the same time vitalizing them, making them dense and powerful. Apparently the next step was supposed to be painful, and would make her quite heavy, literally, but she didn’t mind if it meant she was stronger. She had to be stronger… Akari felt a shadow looming over her, far scarier than the bow, one she didn’t feel she’d ever get out of.

Daughter of the Flying General

Not even he thought she could do it, but… Akari was stubborn.

Speaking of stubborn, Akari started to walk towards Izumi, suddenly picking her up in a half hug across the shoulders. “We start now. Chakra in feet, spread outward. Go.”

It was that day Izumi would learn how to fly too…. Pitched at high speeds towards the spring.

Izumi beamed at the nod, “Awesome! Now we just need to- eh?” In a blink, Akari had vanished. Strong arms wrapped around her shoulders in a grip Izumi had no hope of wiggling out of. “Wait, wha-?”

She was given no time before being launched at the hot spring with the grace of a flung boulder. “Uwa~~h!” She hit the water with about as much grace as one too, sending hot water everywhere. A decent splash headed right for Akari.

Izumi surfaced after a moment, coughing and sputtering, her skin already tinged red from the heat. “I don’t think when people say ‘sink or swim’ they mean it literally.” Izumi pulled herself out of the water, made all the more difficult by the added weight of her soaked kimono. “Chakra in feet . . . like that tree climbing trick?”

Izumi didn’t even make it out before feeling the familiar dread of being lifted up, Akari standing behind her.

“Yes. But water moves. Need to adjust with water. Water hardens when going fast, so easier to practice like this, to keep the … hardness?”

Akari shrugged, before pulling Izumi back by her obi, as if about to pitch a baseball. And she did.

“Wouldn’t running work better than thi~~~sss!?” Izumi was once again sent rocketing through the cold air. Though instead of landing in the other side of the small spring, she found herself soaring up and over the fence walling it off from the others. Izumi flailed, struggling to right herself as she prayed the public spring would still be devoid of patrons.

She hit the water hard, sending another wave on impact as she skidded across the surface. It felt like sliding on ice as her chakra kept her afloat. Though Izumi failed to keep the momentum going and found herself sinking once again. Crap. Crap. Crap! She struggled to adjust the flow of her chakra to match the water, barely stopping herself from sinking any further than knee deep.

Though that brought the problem of trying to run in knee deep water in soaked clothes.

Akari could be seen in the distance, the familiar ‘boing’ of her double jump just over the fence Izumi had come from. The answer was obviously ‘yes’, running would be better, but, Akari was actually starting to have fun with it. She eyed a sign saying ‘out of order’, thankfully she’d remembered the right one. That, and if Izumi was nervous, she wouldn’t go nearly as fast as she could. Akari was… a little more reckless in her trainings. Bandages from the last mission proof of that. Izumi was nearly as fast as Akari was, and had won the last archery contest… and had all those tricky shots. The thought made her shoulders slump, but she shook it off.

She saw Izumi halfway starting to get it, not sinking past her knees, though, it would probably be an uphill battle past that. Casually walking on water, Akari helped her up again, but this time, rather than throw her like a rag doll, slowly lowered her back towards the water. Whenever she’d sink, she lifted her back up so she could remember the feeling. Now that she had the first instance, second would come, bit by bit, a little easier.

Izumi flailed for a second, on instinct, at the feeling of Akari grabbing the back of her kimono again. She breathed a sigh of relief at being lightly set back down this time, though Akari would still be able to feel the tension in her muscles as she anticipated another flying lesson.

She always considered herself good with chakra control, forming a functioning bow out of ice and chakra demanded it. But constantly adjusting the flow of her chakra to match the shifting, rippling water was an entirely new challenge. Progress was slow, a laborious process of being hauled up and starting over time and again.

But finally, Izumi found herself standing on the water’s surface. “I think I got it!” She whooped, punching the air before momentarily losing her balance. Izumi’s arms waved wildly for a moment before she managed to stop herself from falling back into the spring. “Sorta.”

Akari blinked, letting go fully. “That… took me 3 weeks…” She admitted, a bit amazed. Her seals would forever lock most ninja skills for her, but she was a proud samurai. That said, watching Izumi’s progress was both awe inspiring, and a bit disheartening. Still, she opted to smile, giving a small clap at her rival’s progress. Akari would just have to train harder to catch up, just like always. Without a word, she gave a thumbs up, turning to leave. Izumi had this, and Akari knew what she needed to work on.

Izumi rubbed the back of her neck, “I had a lot of help. And I’ve heard some people say the springs can be good for chakra flow too.” Chakra flow came easily enough to Izumi, but the raw power of that bow her rival could now tap into . . . there probably wasn’t any catching up to that. She smiled. Maybe I could ask her for some help in strength training at some point?

As Akari turned to leave, Izumi clapped her shoulder with a grin. “This was fun, we should train together again at some point.”

Akari shook her head, before turning, pulling down on one eye and sticking her tongue out. “Don’t fall behind!” You deserve a better rival, we wouldn’t keep up, by training together. And with a body flicker, Akari left.

 

[godjacob]

~~Search for the Four Tails' Fang~~

There always had to be complications towards things.​

Seemed that this centipede was gonna make some problems, Koyome seemed to suspect its antennas seemed to be laced with genjutsu capabilities; great, the illusion tricks that ninja were infamous for. Either way the point was clear that they only needed to get the berries and just had to distract this thing long enough in order to meet the goal which Tokita seemed comfortable with.

To make things odder, rather than attack when senbon had been fired at them, the creature....began to talk. A sort of seal air was felt which offered no discomfort and yet that only seemed to cause more worry. This seemed unnatural as it invited them towards the pool and that alone seemed to be a bad recipe much as anything as even Izzy seemed to be confused by this.

"You are not alone. I also hear it, far as what to do..." Tokia mused, as she decided first and foremost to test whether this invitation towards the pool had been an illusion or seemed to be as real as they all had seen. Tokita naturally lacked the current knowledge of releasing herself if trapped in a genjutsu, but there was more than one way to discern reality from delusion. She had pulled what seemed to be a short needle and worked to poke her palm with it as she had a slight wince but the pain should confirm what was real or not.

"In the event this IS real, I am testing that, perhaps one of you can produce a clone? I admittedly lack knowledge of your abilities but least testing this water in the event we have little choice but to play alone seems wise." Tokita suggested but she seemed opened to all ideas.


AtlannianSpy KageYuuki InsaneAsylum

 

[Ganryu]

Akari Tone - Whispering Puppets
Spoiled Bread Phayne


A simple nod came from Akari as she slowly stumbled to, and took the torch. She had asked Enkai to deal with the creature for a moment, so she leaned against a table, drawing out gause and ointment, running the healing salve down the bleeding cut, a few bandages starting to hold it in place. A noticiable flinch on her face answered the unasked question of 'did the salve sting'. Yes. Yes it did. But from the lack of blood now streaming, it also coagulated pretty quickly.

Before she could finish wrapping bandages, or get to the rest of her injuries, she saw Enkai tense up. Akari couldn't see anything though, and raised an eyebrow questioningly. She didn't hear any movement, but her senses were hardly advanced. Akari saw something, she shot it. With extreme prejudice {if she couldn't sympathize with it.}

This entire fight was one weakness of hers after another. Enkai shouted at her, and Akari crossed her hands defensively above her head, feeling sludge rain on her, the urge to vomit again rising. However, she felt a tendril wrap around her, cold and strong. He'd said above, hadn't he!? She looked down to see it was Enkai himself before yanking her back. Akari proved surprisingly heavy, though nevertheless it pulled her, Akari falling backwards in front of him as she saw several crystalized tendrils stabbing through where she just had been.

Doki-doki

Daaaaaang it! Not again!

Quickly, Akari reached into her bag at her side, pulling up a bag, and dumping her head in it with a quick sniff. Using lemon pepper as a smelling salt wasn't the most orthodox thing to do in a fight, but Akari needed it.

So you forget your bow, but remembered to bring cooking supplies? Way to go Akari... way to go...

She began to shuffle through her things, before ignoring Enkai's request for safety, and stepping in front of him, watching the direction of the bullets. She just needed a general idea. Akari didn't want to do this because of property damage, but... she was a little past that at this point.

"I once won a paper airplane contest in the academy. They disqualified me though for the shape... but it went much, much farther than anyone else's I broke a window. I didn't think it was fair..." She seemed to ramble on, as the sound of crumbling paper echoed, Akari pulling three paper bombs mashed together in a clump, before adding a rock to the middle of it. She watched where Enkai fired his water bullets at. There was a saying her mother always said laughingly when poisoning pests in the house.

There is no kill... like overkill.

And right now, of everything Akari had ever met, this heart deserved overkill, therapy to repress the memory, and never to be discussed again. She stared at where the bullets had been. "Shower. I need a shower. I live outside of town. And clothes. I'm burning these." Pulling her hand back in a pitcher stance, Akari yeeted the paper baseball following Enkai's bullets, before making a single handsign.

EXPLODE YOU MOTHERF-

 

[AtlannianSpy]

Koyome Omozukai- Whispering Puppets
With her control of Kurago temporarily severed Koyome hit the ground hard, breaking her fall with her forearm and hearing her legs thug heavily against the wooden floor behind her. Urghhh this sucks Koyome thought dully, wiping ineffectually at the sheen of sweat on her forehead with the back of her hand, outside of Kurago the sweat she'd worked up was being chilled by the draft in the room. Koyome felt cold and rather small as she reattached her threads to kurago and had the badly damaged puppet scoop her up in its arms, like a princess, how mortifying. Koyome had contemplated circumstances under which she might be forced out of her puppet of course, Kurago had features designed for this very eventuality. Most of those daydreams had involved someone a little higher grade than a maid though, like maybe a squad of Hyuuga hunter nin perhaps, that would be suitably dramatic. Instead the freaking help had pushed her to the brink. Unacceptable!

"It's a little much no," Koyome said, sneering...up at her opponent. That was annoying, it was hard to sneer up at someone, it just didn't convey the same level of disdain and Koyome had to twist her neck around quite a bit to even look in the right direction with Kurago carrying her like this. "Just kind of over the top, not to mention painfully derivative- I bet Hashirama Senju is turning in his grave, or maybe you stole his corpse too and you're going to send that out next? I heard Suna puppeteers could puppet dead bodies but I didn't know they did it because they had no original ideas. How sad~,"

With Kurago gripping her firmly in its arms Koyome haad the puppet circle warily around the massive statue, testing its ability to track her with those hands. Also this was to keep Yue's attention away from her tied up clone, where a senbon on the end of a chakra thread was silently cutting through the threads keeping the clone tied up, weakening them so that the clone could escape with a flex of it muscles but not completely severing the bonds to avoid alerting Yue prematurely. Koyome didn't even want to know what was going on there, what kind of shitty clone technique tried to betray the user? Maybe the clone had been active long enough to go mad or develop its own personality? Or maybe iit was just down to the personality of the caster? If that was the case Koyome decided she would never learn one, she was definitely twisted enough that her clones would try to kill her too. Besides puppets were much cooler.

"I mean what kind of puppeteer are you anyway," Koyome called up tauntingly. "You can't even control your clones! That one over their just tried to switch sides but I guess even rats know when a ship is sinking~" Koyome was in a dire enough situation that she couldn't turn her nose up at help, even if it was from a rogue clone, but that didn't mean she couldn't forcibly cast her temporary ally in the role of bait and distraction, Koyome was only marginally more annoyed at the original than she was at the clones about this whole mess after all.

While Yue's attention hopefully pivoted towards the clone, whose bonds were weakened enough that she should be able to escape and serve as a useful distraction for a while, Koyome sent a new bundle of threads snaking over to Kakegoe, who had been left alone since her last gambit had failed. Because of that failure though Koyome still had the subtle threads around Yue's ankle attached, if she could leverage that and deploy kakegoe at the right moment maybe she could still swing something here.

Spoiled Bread

 

[AtlannianSpy]

Koyome Omozukai- Search for the Four Tail's Fang
Oh what fresh fucking hell is this? Koyome wondered silently as the centipede spoke, THE CENTIPEDE - SPOKE. The disgusting feeling of bugs on her skin wasn't even an intentional attack it turned out that was just what it felt like when the alien mind of A GIANT INSECT TRIED TO COMMUNICATE VIA SOME KIND OF WEIRD CHAKRA TELEPATHY.

Oh and it wanted to baptize them in some kind of weird cave pond full of weird bug chakra. Lovely. Awesome. Wasn't this mission supposed to be a straightforward gathering request? Something about chillis? This morning felt like it had been years ago.

Mechanically, because she was too frazzled too smoothly pilot kurago at the moment, Koyome turned to her teammates, who had not really done anything useful yet.

"Sure Izanami, I'll just did out the plan I had on standby for this exact situation," Koyome said with a thin, brittle smile. "As soon as I remember whether I filed it under 'G' for giant, telepathic centipede or 'T' for telepathic, giant centi- NO I DON'T HAVE A FUCKING PLAN ARE YOU INSANE!? WHO WOULD HAVE A PLAN FOR THIS!?" Koyome hissed, rounding on Tokita "And I don't have a clone technique either cause I'm pretty sure they'll try and kill me!" Koyome snapped, before abruptly sighing. "But I agree we probably need to play along. My body is... not entirely organic, so I'll probably be okay for a while, I'll try to string this thing along for a while and one of you try to casually move over to where the chillis are." As Koyome spoke one her many pouches rustled and a spider shaped puppet jumped from the pouch to the ground and scuttled off silently down the tunnel the mokunoha had entered from, their bodies obscuring the puppet from the centipede's line of sight... if it even saw like that. "My puppet will plant some explosive tags along the route we came here through," Koyome said, in a much lower whisper. "When we get an opening somebody grab the chillis and we'll make a run for it and collapse the tunnel behind us, nice and simple."

WIth that Koyome spun around and started walking towards the centipede with a cheery, utterly false smile plastered on Kurago's face.

"Hello...siiiiir?" Koyome said brightly, walking towards the pond at a pace intended to look confident but that was rather drawn out. "I can't speak for my friends behind me but I for one am super interested in this um, opportunity. I am actually all about inheriting wills and being reborn, it's all I talk about during my time off in fact," Koyome said, having no reached the edge of the pool she peered into it with her byakugan, trying to ascertain what exactly it would do to her if she let it touch her. "Maybe you could expound a bit on the process? Really get into the nitty gritty details that would be really interesting I think. And this Wanderer guy sounds really interesting as well! Maybe you could tell me a little bit about him? Or his whole life story even, y'know if I'm gonna be inheriting his will and all,"

KageYuuki InsaneAsylum godjacob

 

[KageYuuki]

Izumi Takahashi

A Lesson on Intent​

Spoiler

“Thank you!” Izumi accepted the carefully wrapped package, tucking it safely into her bag before heading out onto Hanamachi’s snow covered streets. The winter night had done its due diligence in burying the city and surrounding area in a fresh layer of snow, leaving its inhabitants to dig their way out as part of their morning routines. It wasn’t terribly uncommon to see teams of Mokunoha being tasked with clearing major routes. Team Roku had found themselves among the unlucky ranks more than once already, up and working well before dawn. Roku had never been particularly shy in voicing his disdain for the early hours as they worked, at the same time agreeing it was a far more suitable task than the heat of battle their inaugural mission found them thrown into.

Despite the snow and the cold, the sun had deigned to make a rare appearance in the late morning sky. Though the warmth it brought to the cold winter air was debatable at best. What it did bring with it, however, was turning everything near blinding. Even Izumi was forced to squint as she made her way to the city’s outskirts. She was going to have spots in her vision for the next hour by the time she made it inside. Or the sun disappeared back behind its wall of clouds. Whichever came first.

A kunoichi ran past her on top of the deep snow, never sinking in or leaving so much as a footprint in her wake. It was a fairly common sight from the older shinobi making their way around the snow, but Izumi always found herself impressed. I wonder if Mrs. Tone uses the same trick? The woman never seemed to leave footprints in her wake during Izumi’s few visits. Or at least, if she had, the girl was too distracted butting heads with her rival Akari. Wonder if I could learn how to do it? It was an entertaining thought, gliding across the snow like a Tsurara Onna from legend, leaving ice in her wake that would let her sense approaching enemies. At least until the snow melted away, as brief as spring and summer seemed to be in the Land of Iron.

Izumi entertained these thoughts until her destination came into view. A modest looking cottage nestled near the outskirts of Hanamachi. Nestled among snowy pines, it seemed warm and inviting. Despite that, Izumi found herself slowing down. Any time Roku spoke about Nadeshiko, there seemed to be an air of hesitation. Mentions on how she was a terrifying enough woman to potentially make even the likes of the Lord Taisho hesitate in his strikes drifted up more than once during their mountain training sessions. Someone who could exude such powerful killing intent it would dwarf even what Roku threw at her. Izumi shivered, absentmindedly adjusting the strap of her bag. Maybe I should’ve brought a different gift…

Standing in front of the door, she hesitated. Was this really a good idea? Would Nadeshiko even have the time or interest to bother helping someone that wasn’t even one of her students? Would Izumi even manage to bring up the question in the first place in front of someone apparently so terrifying? Swallowing past the lump in her throat, she knocked. “Nadeshiko Sensei? Are you home?”

“I’m around the back dear,” called a voice, light and high on the winter wind. “Take the side gate and, if you wouldn’t mind, could you bring that sack of potting mix with you?”
Sure enough next to the front door was a burlap sack that emitted a faint, earthy smell despite a lack of any visible leaking. The sack was dense and heavy and might have presented a challenge to a regular child of Izumi’s age but to a samurai it was probably just slightly awkward.

The side gate was easily visible on the eastern side of the property, a quaint little wooden construction that swung open quietly on well greased hinges to lead down a paved sideway to the backyard of the property.

Nadeshiko’s cottage was mostly of a traditional design, but at the back a more modern sort of sunroom had been added onto the property to extend it, with wide, plentiful windows built into the walls and roof. Nadeshiko was visible roughly in the center of the room, surrounded by a small forest of potted plants of various species. Nadeshiko knelt next to a juvenile camellia tree, delicately pruning away some of its lower branches but she seemed to notice when Izumi arrived and waved her over with a gloved hand.

Izumi blinked at the voice, gentle and welcoming despite the reputation. Well, I wasn’t told to go away at least. With a grunt of effort, she slung the heavy bag over her shoulder and started along the path to the back of the house. Raw strength had never been one of her strong suits. The draw weight on her bow didn’t come close to Akari’s, and that was without chakra being flowed through the massive weapon. What she lacked in strength, she at least made up in speed.

Speed that did not translate into her delivery of the potting mix, the mokunoha slowing to take in the care that had been taken with property. Is . . . is that her? Izumi studied the woman for a moment before hurrying forward once she was waved to. “Are . . . you Nadeshiko Sensei?” She carefully eased the bag to the ground, “did you need this here or someplace else?”

”Right there is fine,” said Nadeshiko agreeably. “I am Nadeshiko Toyotomi yes, and you are-” Nadeshiko looked up from her work for the first time to study Izumi with a soft smile, though her eyes remained as fox like slits. “Izumi chan yes? One of Roku’s students. I hope your presence here is not evidence of him neglecting his teaching duties? I shall have to be quite cross with him if that is the case,”

“Yes, I am.” Izumi offered a small bow, “it’s nice to meet you, Nadeshiko Sensei.” Has sensei just been messing with me? She doesn’t seem terrifying at all! At the mention of Roku avoiding his job, she held up her hands waving them slightly. “Oh, no, training with Roku Sensei’s been going pretty well.” Izumi rubbed the back of her neck, a sheepish smile crossing her features. “But, uh, he did mention talking to you to help with some of the lessons, that uh you might be able to explain things a little better than he can. He’s probably already talked to you about it.”

“Ah yes he might have mentioned something like that in passing,” said Nadeshiko, turning back to her tree and holding up her pruning shears as if carefully considering the next cut to make.”Well I’m always happy to help a student but Roku can be a little vague about this kind of thing. What exactly are you hoping to learn?”

“I should probably start from the beginning.” Izumi bent to gather the pruned branches, feeling her bag shift. She blinked, suddenly remembering its contents. “Oh! Before I forget,” opening the bag, she pulled out a carefully wrapped box. The paper and wax seal were clearly from one of the local shops. Anko’s Haven, a small shop that specialized in all sorts of dishes using red bean paste. It was nearly as old as Hahamachi itself. “I brought some manju.” Izumi offered the box to Nadeshiko. “I wasn’t sure what you liked, but I was also coming by kinda unexpectedly, so…” Also a bribe never hurt, right?

“Oh how lovely,” Nadeshiko said with a smile, standing up and accepting the box formally, with both hands. “Well why don’t you put those branches in the sack over there, that’s for mulch. Then we can go inside and I’ll get us some drinks to have with these? I have apple or orange juice- oh, or I suppose you might prefer tea?” As she spoke Nadeshiko crossed the sunroom and opened the door, beckoning Izumi further in.

The inside of Nadeshiko’s cottage was cozy, a merry fire crackling away in the hearth to ward away the winter chill. The decor was a surprisingly cohesive mix of austere, traditional furnishings and more modern, comfortable furniture: the centerpiece of the room was a wall given over to calligraphy scrolls, albeit ones all done in differing, distinctly childish scripts.

“Take a seat by the fire, I’ll be over shortly,” Nadeshiko called from her tidy little kitchen as she transferred the manju to a tray and prepared drinks.

As Nadeshiko crossed the sunroom, Izumi dipped around gathering up the trimmed branches. There weren’t too many, so it was a fairly quick task. A hesitant, sheepish smile tugged at her features. “Tea is always nice. Though it’s ah . . . been a little while since I last had apple juice.” She lightly scratched at her cheek, hoping to hide the faint blush.

Settling by the warm fire, she took a moment to take in her surroundings. It felt more like she was at the home of a kindergarten teacher instead of a feared haganenoha. Which . . . made the entire reason for the visit somewhat awkward. How am I supposed to ask her how to use killing intent!? If she didn’t know Roku Sensei I’d assume he was messing with me again. Izumi cast another glance at the wall of scrolls. Maybe he is and she’s in on it.]

“Life is too short to deny ourselves small pleasures for no good reason,” said Nadeshiko with a knowing smile, walking over shortly thereafter with a tray bearing the manju and two glasses of apple juice. Nadeshiko set down the tray on a coffee table and nestled herself in an armchair opposite Izumi. “Now then, where were we?”

Izumi picked up one of the glasses, taking a sip with a contented hum. It was a struggle not to down it all in one go. “I guess . . . it would help to start from my first mission.” She rubbed her thumb on the side of the glass. It had been a few months and the memory still scared her. “It was supposed to just be a little scouting mission. Walk a set path at sunrise and come home. There was a group of refugees making their way in at the same time. So . . . what should’ve just been walking around in the snow turned into fending off hunters from the Mist. A jounin hunter.”

She shook her head, taking another sip of the sweet drink to try and collect her thoughts, stemming the panic at the recollection. “I’d call him more of a monster than anything. I . . . froze up, for a moment. But the three of us managed to hold him off until help showed up. Only because he was messing around to start with. We got lucky.” Izumi let out a breath, setting the glass down when she noticed it growing cloudy from the cold. “Roku Sensei says being afraid isn’t a bad thing, it can keep you alive out there. So he’s been helping me learn to feel out killing intent, to react to it and keep my teammates safe.”

She finally looked back up at Nadeshiko. “He’s a lot better at practical lessons than explanations. Said you may be better at explaining things like . . . killing intent and, uh, using it.”

Nadeshiko smiled at Izumi, her expression soft and sad. “It sounds like you did very well in a difficult situation, I’m sure Roku told you the same thing, or something similar,” Nadeshiko said, shifting in her seat so that her gaze drifted past Izumi to somewhere in the distance. “Truthfully speaking I was hoping your interest in killing intent was coming from a more frivolous place. The phenomenon is subject to a certain amount of… mythologizing and mokunoha and even tetsunoha who should really no better become a bit infatuated with the idea. The ability to impose your will like that with merely a thought is rather attractive to some I suppose. In cases such as those I usually redirect their efforts back towards their fundamentals, killing intent will always place a very distant second to killing ability after all. I can see that’s not the case here though and I suppose I trust Roku not to let you get astray on this matter. Still I will emphasize that point, do not invest overly much in the study of killing intent to the point that you let it overtake your efforts in more practical areas. Whether you’re sensing it or projecting it killing intent is a fickle thing that depends as much upon your opponent’s psychology as yours, so it will never be something you can entirely rely on,”

Nadeshiko turned back to meet Izumi’s eyes, her expression still distant. “Steel that has been well maintained; techniques that you have honed over months or years: these are things you can rely on. You will find killing intent comes easier to you if you have the means to act upon it well in hand anyway,”

Nadeshiko blinked suddenly and she seemed to refocus on Izumi, as though remembering she was there. “Still some understanding of intent can be worthwhile, both in terms of harnessing it and contending with it. Where to begin though?.. You use a bow is that correct Izumi chan? Have you done much hunting with it?”

“Sorry, Sensei.” Izumi looked back down at her plate of manju. “Being able to paralyze with a glance, I can definitely see the appeal. I don’t know if that’s something I’ll ever be able to really use out there like that. But . . .” She wrung her hands slightly. “I fight more on the back lines. Being able to sense the intent of someone that can sneak all the way to me and react to it, I can protect people better.” Her voice grew small and hesitant, “maybe even fulfill my dream…”

Shaking her head, she looked back up at Nadeshiko. “I do use a bow, yes. I might not hunt as much as Akari does, but I’ve done my share.” Izumi rubbed the back of her neck, a sheepish smile reappearing. “My arrows kinda, uh, leave the meat a bit frostbitten sometimes and it’s not very good.”

Nadeshiko winced very lightly. “You should perhaps consider sourcing some more conventional arrows specifically for hunting, it’s a bit disrespectful to hunt in such a way that you degrade the quality of your catch. Or at least, that's what I was taught. Gosh that was some time ago though so it might be considered old fashioned nowadays.

In any case I’m allowing myself to get distracted. When you’ve hunted in the past, especially when you were just starting out perhaps you’ve noticed your target being startled even when you didn’t particularly make any noise or even move. What do you suppose is happening in cases like that?”

“It can happen with regular arrows sometimes too.” Izumi let her chakra flow, small flakes of snow falling from her fingertips. “I guess mom had the same problem a lot too before her injury. Just something with our chakra I guess.” She shrugged, picking up her glass of juice once again. Izumi took a sip, humming in thought as she considered the question. “I usually figured they were smelling me somehow, or I wasn’t being as quiet as I thought.”

“Ah that does seem like something of a challenge,” Nadeshiko said thoughtfully. “Those are good answers though and probably true in a lot of cases. In some circumstances however animals are capable of sensing killing intent, especially prey animals. Probably you haven’t gone around being chased by wolves enough times to experience the opposite phenomenon, but predators sometimes exude killing intent too, otherwise why would their natural prey evolve to be able to sense it? The entire phenomenon is actually something that occurs at a subconscious, very primal level. Now that being the case, killing intent should be fairly trivial to harness: If a wolf or a deer can do something then a bright young mokunoha should have no trouble with it. And yet you’ve doubtlessly already discovered that it’s not quite that simple in practice. Why might that be?”

Nadeshiko leaned forward slightly, she was more animated now, enthused by the prospect of leading a student towards the correct answer.

“I mean there was that one time with Akari…” Izumi rested her chin on her knuckles, brows punched together in thought. “Prey animals can sense killing intent…” It made sense, in a way. To fly, to fight, to freeze, it was all a response to danger, an attempt to survive. If it was something instinctual, then why couldn’t she do it too? She closed her eyes, trying to remember how she felt against the Mist nin, how it felt fleeing from Roku’s bolts. In those instants her mind had become like static, panic chasing its own tail. Her thoughts refused to fall into any sensible order. “We . . . have a lot more going on in our heads than they do?” She offered, hesitantly. “It drowns a lot of things out. Especially when afraid.”

“Correct~” Nadeshiko said, reveling triumphantly in her student’s success. “We have all sorts of complicated thoughts regarding other people. Traditions, laws, personal convictions all of which clash with our more primal instincts when we try to determine how to respond to our life being threatened or to someone we intend to do harm to for whatever reason. Animals, of course, have only their instincts so there’s no conflict and their reactions to killing intent are very pure.

Some people on the other hand… well there’s an absence where those complicated higher order impulses are supposed to be. It’s usually temporary: you teach yourself to…put those parts of yourself to sleep for a while, perhaps even only a moment and that allows your instincts to shine through like moonlight from behind a cloud. In some people that void is permanent, it's the presence of civilisation and empathy that requires conscious effort on their part to manifest. Those people are almost always extremely dangerous but they are thankfully rare. But in both cases the principle holds true: When you are seeking killing intent, you aren’t searching for a thing or a feeling, but the lack of something, a void. Whether you hope to project it or detect it coming for you, seek the void and there you will find killing intent.”

“A void…” So her problem was just overthinking the whole thing then? “Pops is always trying to get me to meditate with him… maybe I should take him up on that.” It wasn’t exactly a fast way, but there never really was such a thing as a fast way on the samurai’s path. Izumi hummed, “putting that part of you to sleep… wonder if you could put your killing intent to sleep too.” She wondered aloud. It didn’t seem impossible at least. Izumi nodded to herself, “either way I think I’m finally on the right track.” She beamed up at Nadeshiko. “Thank you for the help, sensei!”

“You are quite welcome dear,” said Nadeshiko with another gentle smile. “I think you will find meditation to be a very productive avenue of study. Do be careful though,” Nadeshiko added, looking distant again. “Some things, once put to sleep can be difficult to reawaken,”

 

[Nilionis]

Niko did little more than scoff at Amari’s rebuttal. Did she really view that as something to boast about? His clan had done unimaginable things with the power he’d been granted. In his eyes, she didn’t make much of a point.
But when Akari’s seals began burning with power, the young Hokori-nin paused, now a somewhat surprised expression washing across his face.

“Hm…I’ve been wrong before. Use this mission as a chance to prove I am.” While Niko was no sensory-nin, his clans history meant the boy was all too familiar with yang seals. He could sense a familiar energy within Akari- an energy that seemed somewhat akin to the power wielded by his own people. If that really was the case… Akari might actually be more capable than he’d initially thought.

Before the topic could go any further, the group was interrupted with a somewhat surprising announcement; Daisuke was was being called away and the mission ranking had gone up. While many might view this as a cause for concern, Niko was actually rather excited by the prospect. It seemed as though it was finally time for things to get serious.

After a relatively long trek, the pair finally came up on what appeared to be a border checkpoint. Before the Hokori could even begin to question what they should do, he found himself being ushered off the road by Sensei Nadeshiko.
The pair had already slipped into disguises, leaving Niko as the only one still obvious. Unlike them, this was an easy fix for someone skilled with transformation.

“Transform!” Niko’s appearance would suddenly shift into that of a random, civilian in farmhand attire. The now disguised Hokori looked on at his teammate and Sensei with a knowing grin, slightly amused that they were both incapable of such a basic technique.
As for the new arrival to the team? Niko couldn’t even be bothered to acknowledge him. It seemed at though every team was required to have a clown amongst them…

Ganryu
AtlannianSpy
Orikanyo

 

[Spoiled Bread]

WHISPERING PUPPETS
Location : Central room

"Oh, look at you. Barking while being carried by your own puppet." Yue seethed back at Koyome's words. The lower part of her body seemed to gradually fusing with the wooden Buddha she was mounting.

"My master saw puppets for what it truly are, piece of woods bind by chakra threads. Hence we abandon the attachment to our puppet and claimed the ability to take any puppet under our control. We even loosened our understanding of what puppet actually is and in turn broaden our influence." As if to demonstrate her words, a chakra thread was shot from one of the buddha's arms into the wooden floor. Another loud creaking and groaning could be heard, this time from somewhere underneath the floor as if the house itself was screaming in pain. Then the floor was ripped open and a 10 feet serpent-like figure made of wooden planks emerged. Koyome could see a single chakra thread in the middle of it, acting as some sort of skeleton that binds the materials.

The plank serpent lunged forward and opened its mouth, ready to crush Koyome with its weight. Tough before it can reach her, another figure stood in front of Koyome and Yue immediately yanked the serpent away from its direction, making it crash into the floor and disintegrate into wooden debris. The figure was the last clone, she didn't do anything except standing there and Koyome would know the clone had little to no chakra left.

"You've already done enough damage for the day." Yue hissed at her own clone.

"I know. How about taking me back to your head? I mean, OUR head."

"No." The reply was short and cold. The maid then tried to launch several other attacks by launching one of the buddha's arms towards Koyome, but each time the clone would jump in front of the attack and Yue would cancel it. Yue gritted her teeth in anger and now Koyome's words hurt her more as she realized she did lose control of half of the things happening tonight.

"Unexpected things keeps happening on top of another unexpected things. I will just... I will just end it all here!!" The entire house trembled as the massive buddha started moving.

...

The heart creature screamed in pain as it got pelted by a few water bullets. It tried to run alongside the ceiling only to get by another bullet and even some explosion. It let out another wild shriek as it expanded its veins deep into the wall in an attempt to prevent itself from falling.

The creature's aggressive rooting and Akari's explosions seemed to create several dents in the supporting pillars, and the sudden loud noise coming from the upper floor as the massive statue was forcefully being moved across the floor didn't sounds good either.

...

The massive buddha shoots its arms all over the room. All 100 of them were embedded in the wall sporadically, though they still had thin chakra threads connecting it to the main body. Yue really spread herself way too much to pull this and it was evident in how inaccurate her attacks had become, but accuracy wasn't her goal anyway. Another loud creak, and the buddha spun in its place, forcing all of its connected arms to spin along and created a deadly vortex of chakra thread, wooden arms, and the debris it created from destroying its surrounding.

"DIE YOU ALLL!!!!" Amidst Yue's indiscriminate attacks the clone threw herself into one of the thread and dissipate into a puff of smoke, immediately after that Yue seemed to lose even more control of the attacks. Koyome she could see Yue talking and screaming to herself.

Another creaks happening, this time it was accompanied by a horrifying noise of something big breaking underneath them. Then it all happened in just the span of a few seconds: The pillar in the basement crumbled and the floor collapsed, sending everything in the gallery freefalling into the room below them. Yue was still screaming while sending some of the buddha arms towards Koyome even as she was falling into the darkness of the basement. Meanwhile in the basement the heart creature was the first one crushed by the collapse as it was sticking itself at the ceiling, but now a massive amount of woods and concretes threatened to crush Akari and Enkai.

AtlannianSpy Ganryu Phayne

 

[Phayne]

Team Yukari

Enkai Kaji

Mokunoha

Whispering Puppets - Didn't your parents tell you not to use explosives indoors?!

The sound of shuffling would cause Enkai to glance towards the general direction of Akari, expression hinting towards a look of curiosity as she stepped ahead of him. "Akari?" mumbled Enkai, noting how she was still injured yet forcing herself to move. Though given her current state of rambling, Enkai had to consider the possibility that she may not have been in the best condition; given the fact that as far as Enkai was aware; her present remarks had very little to do with the precarious situation they both found themselves in. What did a paper airplane contest have to do with anything?

Alas, his eyes would soon widen as the dots connected; the crumpled paper in her hand coupled with her war cry. "God.. why!" cursed Enkai, watching powerlessly as the crumbled assortment of paper bombs flew towards the direction of the creature. One bomb would have been enough... but several... surely the foundations in the building would not support such an excessive blast. Ominous thoughts considering the shaking coming from above.

As soon as the explosion occurred, the ceiling above would begin to rain dust and debris before the audible cracking and resulting break echoed through the room. "Shit shit shit... didn't anyone tell you not to use explosive tags indoors!" shouted Enkai, grabbing her free hand and yanking her with him as he began to run towards the skeletal remains of Minomaru. "I hope this works!, I don't have any jutsu that can save us from a falling ceiling!" he shouted, panic in his voice as he slid underneath the ribcage of Minomaru. Hopefully the skeletal construct would be hard enough to stop the bigger pieces from squashing them.

Ganryu Spoiled Bread AtlannianSpy

Code by Serobliss

 

[Orikanyo]

Yoshisune Watanuki



Hrmm... This was the described location... The young man gazed at the gate, looking serious as he contemplated breeching the outter barriers himself. But, he did not know the mission. Thus his efforts would be in vain.... No... It was best to avoid entry just yet... Hold fast and...

Hmm...?

He swatted the back of his neck.

"Must be a bug..." he continued his inner thoughts, concerned mostly about his mission. "My lord had mentioned to come here... But... Not what the mission was... Perhaps it had slipped his mind? No, his Lord was infallable, it is HE that failed him. It must have been a secret communications he missed, ah.. Punishment for foolishness... He shall have to conduct the punishment himself!! Hrmm.. these flies are sure stubborn...

Tossing aside the corndog sticks, which planted into the ground like wood senbon, which evidently sound worse than normal ones, Yoshi started his attonement workouts. First he start with crunches, the flies pattered his back each crunch but he succeeded in his quick fifty.

Next, one handed push ups, the flies were incessant, and... larger?

HE WILL NOT FALL TO INSECTS!!

Keep going, up, down, up, down...

Hmm...?

What was that noise? Its like something heavy flying through the air very quickly towards his head-


*CRACK*

The large stone smacked his clear in the back of the head, splitting in two after a secons of lingering atop his head. Yoshi lay in a light puddle of blood, flat on his face. It looked abit like a murder scene... Or something that would remain Caine of a certain brotherly tomfoolery moment before god.

But, unlike Able, Yoshi rose back up, rubbing the back of his head. "Hmm... Big bugs here..." was all he said, before looking around once more. "Ah, Akari, so you were the one I was to meet. That is good, to have a fellow here is good fortune." The young man states as blood begins to run down his face. "Are these also our squad?"

@ Squad Nadeshiko

 

[Ganryu]

Akari - Whispering Puppets- Parents never told her not to use explosives indoors.

A look of madness glowed in Akari's eyes as her breath and body trembled, a vacant look on her face and a feeling of anticipation, as a single thought repeated in her mind.

Die! Die! Die!

For all Akari's bluster of what was, and wasn't scary, that heart had definitely categorized as 'scary', and even her normally kind heart disappeared in desperation. It made her skin crawl, as long as it was in the house, it would make her question her sanity, always in the corner of her vision.

Is that what her mother described being arachnophobic, like when a wolf spider snuck into the house? Akari felt like she understood more fully.

However, the explosion rocked her back to reality, the blast knocking Akari on her ass, her body weeeell past tired, and the shockwave far too close. Enkai said something, but Akari was far too shaken to hear it. Thankfully, his mind was still sharp, dragging them into the ribcage of that strange minotaur. Akari was glad for someone smart looking out for her! Granted... she did kind of cause it. But... bright side, the heart was definitely dead now.

She winced, closing her eyes, hoping she wasn't soon to follow.

May I be born as a scholar in the next life so I can get some brains!

 

[AtlannianSpy]

Koyome Omozukai - Whispering Puppets
Koyome only had a split second's warning ahead of Yue as her Byakugan witnessed the floor beneath them begin to splinter and tear itself apart as force erupted up from the darkness below.

"What the FUCK is going on down there!? Koyome hissed under her breath as she skipped away from her previous position just before the floorboards crumbled away beneath her feet and dodged backwards again to avoid a flailing, tree like limb from the berserking buddha statue.

For a beat Koyome was tempted to keep backing up, to back up all the way out of this crazy deathtrap of a mansion and let whichever idiot had triggered that explosion deal with the shitstorm they had literally brought down on their own head... It had definitely been Akari hadn't it? Enkai didn't even normally carry that many tags. Koyome was going to bully the shit out of that girl when this was over.

With a curt sigh, Koyome had Kurago take a running start and then spin around to launch Koyome with the maximum force directly at Yue's wood fused body, turning herself into an extremely irritated missile. As Koyome flew one hand lightly traced the chakra thread she had planted on Yue's ankle earlier, which had gotten pulled down into the wood of the statue along with the woman's leg when Yue had merged with her puppet. With the thread in play Koyome could subtly tweak her flight path while in motion to avoid the whirling, wooden limbs of death thrashing around madly and close in to finish this once and for all. Koyome's free hand twitched into a a claw like gentle fist position, ready to strike out as soon as she was in range. Then again maybe Koyome would just throttle the woman the old fashioned way, that would certainly be more cathartic...

Spoiled Bread Phayne Ganryu

 

[AtlannianSpy]

Team Nadeshiko-Shizunamori
"Akari chan don't throw rocks at your teammates," Nadeshiko said, a bit more absently than she might have normally, walking up to Yoshitsune and producing a neatly embroidered, pink cotton handkerchief that she pressed gently to the boy's forehead to staunch the bleeding there, even as minor as it was. "Here hold that there dear," Nadeshiko instructed, straightening up to peer over her students' heads.

There was more activity here than Nadeshiko would have expected and some of the people moving in and out of the gate moved with the sort of grace and alertness that was out of place on labourers or bandits. Nadeshiko pursed her lips, the city had already been infiltrated beyond her worst expectations. A full detachment of Tetsunoha would probably be needed to properly root them out bit for the time being they would have to settle for disrupting whatever operation was going on here.

"Hello Yoshitsune Kun I'm your instructor Nadeshiko Toyotomi, you can call me Nadeshiko Sensei," Nadeshiko said, her voice low to mitigate eavesdropping as her eyes returned to her students. "It sounds like you're already acquainted with Akari so I'll just introduce you to your other teammate, Niko Hokori, a shinobi from the resident Hokori clan. I hope all three of you can get along and work well with each other. I'm not sure how thoroughly you were briefed before leaving Hanamachi, but we're here to apprehend a cloud shinobi we believe has been directing bandit activities in the region to maximise their economic impact on the nation. However there's too many shinobi present for that to be all that's going on here,"

NAdeshiko fell silent as the team approached the gates, offering a pleasant smile to the guard manning the checkpoint as she passed over papers for the four of them that had been pre arranged. Actually one set of papers had been for Daisuke, not Yoshitsune but they were false names anyway and didn't come with pictures so it would likely be fine.

Once Nadeshiko and her students had entered the city properly and their conversation could be safely obscured by the buzz of crowds and horse carts that were typical to Shizunamori or any large city she continued with her explanation. "If they're being this blatant it's likely that the Cloud are planning to use their forces here to support large scale, overt action elsewhere with logistics and other support, Any of our major cities could be in imminent danger, even Hanamachi. Fortunately in this scenario our course of action remains largely the same. We track down the shinobi operating as "the dealer' and strike him down, decapitating local leadership and impeding this unit's ability to provide effective support to other cloud operations. We should also destroy as much war material as is feasible in the process. I want you three to move around the outer camps here and question some of the refugees. See if you can learn about any recent influxes of goods or people and where they might be located in the city. I don't want to ask myself in case I attract too much attention, stay within sight of me and try not to attract unnecessary attention-" Abruptly, Nadeshiko folded herself into a neat, crouching posture in front of Akari so that they were at eye level with each other. "Akari chan do you understand?" Nadeshiko asked seriously. "Stay within sight of me and try not to attract unnecessary attention-"

Orikanyo
Ganryu
Nilionis

 

[Ganryu]

Akari Tone - Squad Nadeshiko - Shizunamori
AtlannianSpy - Nilionis - Orikanyo

A withering sigh came from Akari as her eyes darted between the broken rocks on the floor, and the flawless transformation of Niko. "I miss Shaoko and Hibari..."

A nagging question etched at the back of her mind. She refused to take up the offer to go back, but Akari knew this was the worst mission for her, and that her performance was already bad.

Why do you want to be a samurai?

She hated the prospect of killing. She hated talking to people. She could get by just living off the land and having a quaint life. Her father even WANTED her to do that. But Akari said she was going to be a samurai. Steeling herself, she bowed politely at the gate, following behind Nadeshiko as if she'd been her mother.

Inside the camp, Akari's eyes scanned the refugees, a ping of pity welling up. She was complaining that her job sucked, but she was far better off than these people. Her family was rich; she'd never really known hardship, just what screwing up felt like. These people didn't even have that luxury. They screwed up, they were dead.

Bandits were a possibility, and trusting as Akari was, getting mugged was more than a nonzero possibility. Not that she was afraid of that, she was afraid of the attention of shoulder throwing a mugger through three walls would get her. Nadeshiko must have thought the same thing as she crouched in front of the girl, a pang of guilt making her flinch. She eyed to the side to Niko. What that must have seemed to him... Affirming any suspicions about her.

Akari just gave a curt nod.

She looked at Yoshi next, curious how HE'D handle it. Sure, Akari gave him crap about it, but, there was one thing about Yoshi, that the smashed rocks had proved. He was indestructible. Not only that, he was the only person in the academy who could beat Akari in arm wrestling, though the sensei there had asked them to stop after 3 broken desks. If someone mugged him, a dagger was more likely to bend than hurt him. Akari envied that, he was BUILT to be a samurai. Unlike Akari, he didn't have seals strewn across his body to bring out unnatural strength. He just... was unnatural.

Still, as Akari returned to scanning, she noticed one refugee, limping, dirty bandages around his feet. She gave a quick wave to Nadeshiko to dismiss herself, with her feet tensing before she remembered the word 'discreet'.

Wait, if I have a hard time not passively using my jutsu, more skilled ninja must be killing themselves over the ease of it. Look for water heated with no source, look for healthy items not stolen, look for people not depressed.

Simply walking like a plebe, Akari made her way to the old man, patting a nearby abandoned barrel asking him to sit.

"Bandages are dirty" She said simply, before pulling out her own medical supplies. She didn't say a word, but it would promote healing quicker, and hopefully restore the skin of any scarring.

"Anyone weird around?" She followed up. Wait, she should add a reason. Lies. Lies. Lies. Ninjas had courses on it, Akari couldn't say she'd ever had a lesson on subterfuge. "M-my... sister went missing. Looking." On the bright side, Akari was near tears already. That made it more believable.

Her eyes scanned to the wound on the old man's leg as fingers traced over with ointment. The wound was bloody and recent. The ointment was her own making, and highly effective, it'd help clot and increase the speed of the flesh mending back together. It would stand out a little to medic nin, but, even if nin were undercover, she doubted it'd be a medic nin in particular. A patchwork of aloe vera with alcohol, chakra treated over night for a week straight. It was precious to Akari because it was so hard to make. And... Akari went through it so regularly.

"What happened?" Legitimate concern in her voice.

As she continued, her eyes darted, still looking for basic things wrong out in the open. Her eyes briefly darted to Niko. How would an actual ninja handle it. Akari, don't worry about your teammates! YOU want to be a samurai, act like it. ||... but I'm acting like a filthy shadow hopper... || I wonder if it's a bad sign for mental health that I had mental discussions with myself...

 

[Spoiled Bread]

WHISPERING PUPPETS
~Conclusion~
Ganryu AtlannianSpy Phayne

Loud crashing noise roared throughout the hill as the gallery crumbled onto the level below. Koyome witnessed as Yue who was still stuck on the Buddha disappeared into the darkness. For Akari and enkai, things get quite scary as they decided to trust the cultist's creation to protect them from the incoming collapse. Wooden beam splintered and concretes block cracked around them as numerous debris fell into the basement. Fortunately for them the skeletal ribs turned out to be strong enough to protect them from the worst biggest debris, though it wasn't able to filter all those dust that showered them inside the ribs.

As the dust settled, the aftermath of the battle was definitely not pretty. Yue laid unconscious in the Buddha while the cultist's body was nowhere to be seen, completely buried beneath the rubble. Mr. Ouzen was already out of the house before the battle start but to say that he was horrified was an understatement. He bawled and cried at the sight of his gallery, not because the damage would cost him a lot but because lots of his memorable pieces were now destroyed. Still, he surprisingly didn't file any complain towards the office.

"The collateral was far above what we expected, but then again the situation was also far worse that the stated mission rank. You definitely can do better, but at this point I'm just glad you kids are safe. Good job on surviving." The officer stamped the mission documents while giving the trio mokunohas their last debriefing.

"We uncovered the skeletal remains of 14 individuals buried under that ritual circle, all of them are unregistered refugees. Be proud that your struggle had saved many future victims of these two. Now shoo, I have more documents to stamp."

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

Yue
"Hmmmpphhhh..... Hmmmpphhh!!!" Yue struggled fruitlessly as she was thrown into a padded room. Her hand and legs were tied, and her mouth was gagged. On one side of the room was what looks like a mirror but she knows well that was a one sided window.

"Soo... is she really that dangerous to warrant being hold in the rubber room like this?" On the other side of the window two figure watched Yue struggling while discussing the situation. One was the staff of the prison facility while the other was a detective.

"Not really, but her abilities can be quite annoying so I'm keeping her here until I can extract all information. Be careful when handling her." The detective flipped through a red book in his hand. The same red book that was carried by the cultist in the basement. The words 'suffering', 'corrupted heart' and 'rebirth' were mentioned a lot in it but what piqued his interest was the paper used to make the book. It has a thin layer of water-resistant coating, and the only place that use this kind of materials for their paper was the village with constant rain, Amegakure.

Ouzen / MADAO

It was frustrating for him to lose decades worth of his works. Seeing the Buddha's cracked face in the basement reminded him that his friend was long gone and no matter how hard he hold onto his memory of him, time would robs it all away. With his gallery destroyed, the old man decided to leave the manor and moved with one of his grandson in the city proper. He decided to focus his effort more on shaping the future rather than preserving his past. So once again he picked up his pen and continue with Maitantei Mateo.

The incident seemed to give MADAO fresh perspective and the rumor circulating about the incident actually gave him quite some attention for a while. His manga would soon climbed back into the top 10 ranking with an overall very positive review. It's now grittier and more emotional while keeping the core of the series intact, said one of the fan. Also, he's now a regular at Azure Dragon. Occasionally come to the store to buy some exotic goods for his manga inspiration.

--------
MISSION COMPLETED

​

 

[Ganryu]

An Explosive Start to An Arc:
Hanamachi - Mid Day - Spring

6 months later...
​

=====================
The midday sun shone on Hanamachi, cherry blossoms drifting gently on the breeze, giving the city its name. Most of the snow had melted away, giving rise to muddy and miserable roads, but inside the city, a gentle, if still cold, spring breeze made it gorgeous.

Roku sat atop a large house on a slanted tile over the road, pouring sake into a dish. He lifted it to drink, then paused, and poured water in with the mix as well to dilute it.

“I reeeeally did not like the red dawn this morning. Tch. Don’t like that I saw dawn neither. Ain’t a superstitious fellow, but my gut tells me things ain’t good, just means my brain got it, just ain’t caught up with why it got it. Glad I sent my kinfolk away. Hear Nadeshiko ain’t even in town. Could reeeeeeally use that crazy bitch if I'm right.”

He tilted his head back for the shot, before standing up and turning back towards the balcony, a small station and table with his blade held across, the cold steel glinting a bright flash. Roku poured oil across it, before pausing at the glint.

“Sun ain’t that direction. What in tarnation…?”

The glare grew brighter and brighter, and suddenly, Roku dived off the balcony.

Not a moment later, A massive beam of energy shot through Roku’s house like it was toilet paper, so close a few of his whiskers burned away, his straw hat bisected by the beam on one half, and the other half currently smoldering. The sound of glass shattering echoed next to a FWUUUUMP pulsing in his ears as inches away.

Roku landed in a crouched position, wheezing. He looked in the beam's direction and saw a perfectly circular path of destruction, burning through one building after another. The sides of stone glowed magma red, while nearly created glass on the ground glistened in the sun. It continued uninterrupted through house after house, through walls, across a stream, and through the city gates. In the distance, what looked like glass had shattered mid air, pieces of the barrier around Hanamachi crackling, and rugged panes of hardened chakra fell uselessly to the ground in the distance. Even Roku’s keen eyes couldn’t begin to make out the starting point of the beam.

Slowly, and with a horrified expression, he turned his head, following the same line, cutting a perfect circle out of the nearby mountain.

Roku’s mouth gaped as his half destroyed hat fell off his head, still smoldering, onto the ground.

Hanamachi was under attack.

=========

A loud battle cry echoed from the city gates as one ninja after another swiftly entered, crouching briefly before dashing ahead on the scorched ground. Cloud headbands, and large cleavers abounded. Several hand signs being woven as sparks of electricity burst out, cutting down and electrocuting civilian and samurai alike.

=========================
Ringo && Tokita - Beer, Lasers, and Swords
godjacob Spoiled Bread

In the middle of the streets of Hanamachi, a lightning bolt struck down an outdoor bar, the awning crumbling as advertising banners burned. A ‘CRASH’ splitting the counter in two. Blue plasma quickly reformed into an armored man, the symbol of the cloud across his chest plate. A respirator led to heavy breathing as blue energy lit through his visor. Not a word did he say as he drew a chain from his back, coiled wires connecting it to a large tank strapped to his back. A ‘fwuuum-fwuuuum-fwuuuum’ echoing from his heavy chain, which started to glow a bright blue.

Patrons screamed running away as he loosened the chain, extending it, air warping across it. Swinging it, the chains slashed through the fleeing crowd of people and nearby building as if it was butter with the general sounds of chaos.

A bored woman with a similar headband flickered behind him, slowly sheathing a katana.

“Do you always have to be so freakin’ dramatic, Koichi? Yes, yes, storm release, very scary. But have you considered using a sharp object to cut somebody instead?” A ‘click’ sounded as guard met sheath, and three of the fleeing patrons who had escaped the chain cried out as the top half of their bodies suddenly slid onto the ground. A ‘tut’ came from the woman, as the third one wasn’t a complete sever.

An extremely gruff and deep voice answered. “Do you, Asa? Shut the fuck up and work.”

He snapped his chains like a whip with a large ‘crack’ echoing in the area.

Nearby, the building he had cut through shifted dangerously to one corner, while the wood ignited.
=================================
Izumi - Volcanic Springs
KageYuuki

Less than a block away, a large hole currently ran through the hot springs owned by the Takahashi family, a perfect circular going straight through the first floor, and part of the second.

A man with a large regent hairstyle peeked his head through the opening, chewing on a tobacco leaf with hands in the pockets of a jacket. “Man, I knew old man’s new canon was strong, but woooooow. Month’s worth of chakra of the entire village ain’t messing around. Olly olly oxen free! Here to kick ass and chew bubblegum, and all out of… something.”

Despite his carefree demeanor, the air warped around the delinquent, chakra literally humming as he walked. Each footstep he made left a burning puddle behind.

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

Izanami - SWAT party
InsaneAsylum

Around the Kutsuki complex, ninja flickered onto the rooftop, with significantly less chaos than was going on across the rest of the village. They didn’t seem to want to actually cause damage to the compound, and seemed weary of the clan.

However, as one of the older clan members stepped outside to observe the situation, a sudden fishing hook landed into the back of his clothing, yanking him into the air with a scream, a portal opening up to swallow him, and disappear just as fast.

A voice sounded. “No one is to leave the compound until we’ve finished scanning it! Where is the corpse!?”

(Handing to Kage, buuut, surprise, IS the plot point. Also, ninjas everywhere.)


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

Koyome - Free Samples
AtlannianSpy

Koyome’s basement would feel the vibrations and earthquake of the attack, mad laughter outside as a ninja faaaaar too prone to using explosive tags could be heard literally carpet bombing the street.

Wearing a jester’s motley, colored garish red and blue with the Cloud’s symbol running across the entire outfit, she rode a giant falcon, reaching into a sack, and pulling out stacks of tags, like they were free advertisements, and throwing fistfuls with glee. The sack never seemed to run empty.

“Free samples! Come see Natsuko’s Store of Mayhem outside the Cloud! Gwhahaha!”

Somehow… her voice was audible, despite the cacophony of bombs. The kunoichi was using a jutsu to cast it directly into the mind’s of everyone she passed, literally wasting chakra on it.

However, by the time Koyome would make it out of the house, the strange jester had flown past.

(Go see Yukari, handing to Kage)



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

Enkai - Bad Time for Guests
Phayne

As the chaos around the village continued, a section of the wall exploded as a foot kicked through it… despite the door being a foot to the left and wide open. A cloud ninja wielding a katana with both hands and an angry face bellowed inside. Young, eager to prove himself, and probably would not survive the day.

“Yo, I am here to show you samurai dogs who the real top dog i-”

HSSSSSSSSSS!

A fog wrapped around the store, almost protectively. The ninja looked confused, before a pillar of the steam erupted around him, flash boiling him in an instant, with fairly gory results, all over a rug with a price tag on it.

A voice, ethereal and floaty, rang through the store. Every sentence seemed like a question.

“I believe your little village is under attack…? Someone should really tell one of your Jonin… oh wait, you don’t have Jonin, do you? Haganenoha?”

From the mist, a woman solidified. She wore a kimono, loose and open at the top, and puffing on a pipe as a very strong sweet scent drifted off, pungently so.

“Ah, Mr. Kaji, isn’t this place so cozy? And where is my dear cousin? I have things I want to talk about, but I’m not sure I could have made it past that barrier. Convenient that it’s down, isn't it…? Well, I suppose not for you, attack and all... Don’t worry, I can’t remember having anything wrong or against your setup. Mmm… I sometimes think the most disloyal rogues of my village live inside it, don’t they? So, maybe this makes us friends.”

The mysterious woman’s eyes darted down to Enkai.

“You’re the only one with a brand of a samurai… right? I don’t think I’m a member of the Cloud, so I’m not an enemy, right? Though…. don’t you think you should get a head start on finding your… Haganenoha is it?”

As the woman turned towards Enkai’s mother, Enkai could see strapped across her back, a white, with a blue tip on the front, the word ‘5th’ written across it. She paused, then turned back to Enkai.

“Oh… I suppose that’s not very convincing. Well…”

She took a very calculated puff of her pipe, as if measuring both the exact amount to inhale, and the exact amount to disclose. As she let go, the pink mist floated around her mouth.

“Useful information from an anonymous source, you see. I believe Lord Kentaro, Raikage, was testing out a chakra cannon. That’s got a little bit of a hole in your city. Buuuut, if he wants another shot, he’ll need a large amount of chakra. He’ll need one of those… what do you call them…” She tapped her chin with her pipe, trying to remember the word. “Tailed beasts…? Yeah, one of those. Whatever happened to the fox after this city defeated it…? Oh well. Now, shoo, shoo.”

She waved her hand to dismiss Enkai… despite standing in his house. Behind her, in the steam, a passageway parted into the streets. A fog wall continued to protect the store otherwise.


(Go see Yukari, handing to Kage)
=================

 

[Orikanyo]

Yoshi

Squad Nadeshiko
(No picture due to at work)

"I shall be as silent as the mountainamd close as one's hand." The young man spoke with purpose, but... something within those around him knrw... This young man was as discrete and subtle as a deer in a china shop. As a bull had been proven to be pretty calm about the whole thing on tests.

A deer doesn't care.

A deer wants out and will get out, sacrificing anything in it's way.

Yoshi was more like a boar, his destruction was intentional and likely in search of food.

But for searching for cloud ninja... He had to be certain of his findings. He could not walk up to people and ask. He had to use what he knrw about cloud ninja...

...

.....

He knew very little about Cloud ninja.

What were they called cloud ninja anyways? Did they use clouds? Are they made of clouds? Do they make weapons from clouds?

Hmm... He did know of their... Hmm...? A... light... sweet... Airy scent... It carried on the wind...

Hmm... Yes... Cloudberries... A known quantity in their cooking... Small bulbous berries that grow in yellow clumps on stalks, with a scent that catries since their express desire to be eaten. They are a light peachy yellow... Hmm...

Sniffing the air, Yoshi continued to track his target... Aiming to follow the scent... It seemed to be... Upon a fellow... Within a zippered bag but it was opened abit... enough for Yoshi to smell...

He had a possible target...

 

[Phayne]

Team Yukari

Enkai Kaji

Mokunoha

Under attack! Scantily clad Woman Appears!

Roughly six months had now passed since Enkai's admission into the rank of Mokunoha, the young and budding samurai having endured a rough start as he walked his first few steps into the world ravaged by war. A rocky beginning alongside his fellow squad mates had become the foundation for the present path he travelled and the journey he would undergo over the half year that had just passed. His experiences alongside those he called his team mates as well as those of other like minded squads had already begun to sculpt him into a fine warrior of the village; an avid warrior whose dedication to the job had seen him excel; albeit in a manner that seemed to stray away from the ideal visage of what a Samurai tended to be.

Whilst still committed to the lessons taught by his samurai father, it had become abundantly clear over those six months that he had inherited more of his mothers affinity for the ninja ways; his quick uptake on learning new jutsu being a clear sign of which parent he seemed to take after more. Of course this had caused a minor rife within the family home; his mother relishing this discovery and using every possible moment to remind his father of the fact, the resulting consequence being that the kenjutsu sessions with his father had become ever more intense. Alas, that was the initial plan. In recent months, his father had found less and less time to oversee these sessions with Enkai; whether that be due to the missions Enkai had found himself assigned to or because of the sudden boom in business that had seemingly risen out of nowhere and taking more of his time than before.

It had become almost common knowledge by now that Enkai had been 'promoting' the family business during missions, a fact that some of the other merchants had been quick to chastise given the positive effect it has had on the 'Azure Dragon' store. Several of the customers had either been directly invited by Enkai or at the very least been made aware via word of mouth by those that Enkai had spoken to. However, one particular client had become quite the V.I.P over the last few months. Mr Ouzen from the whispering puppets mission had become a frequent customer to their establishment, initially procuring replacement furnishment and essentials from the store with the promised discount that Enkai had offered him; a minor compensation provided due to the immeasurable damage that he had done to his living room; albeit still nowhere near the amount of destruction caused by a certain bow slinging ditz. The events that had taken place within that dark and decrepit basement had been the cause of several sleepless nights for Enkai; visions of a dark room collapsing all around him giving him cause to wake up in a cold sweat and if it wasn't a nightmare about a dark enclosed room crumbling around him, it was a nightmare involving Ringo's 'future crusher' that would cause him to wake in fear. Having undergone two missions with that explosive woman, Enkai had learned first hand that she was not exactly someone he wanted to get on the wrong side of; given he still had future aspirations.

Alas by the time all the repairs and replacement essentials had been taken care of for Mr Ouzen, the man had become a regular and a close friend to Enkai's father. Whether that was due to the guilt his father may have felt towards the actions of his son or his business habit of 'coddling' up to a wealthy individual, it was an undeniable fact that the two had grown close. Since then, it had become almost normal to receive a particularly odd 'request' from Mr Ouzen, the man having a particular taste that not many merchants had the connections to accommodate for. All that being said, it had become a win-win situation for almost everyone involved. Enkai's father had a new wealthy customer, Ouzen got his discount and a merchant capable of finding and acquiring the target of his particular requests and Enkai had weaselled his way out of his father's spartan kenjutsu training.

That being said, this had given more time for him to undergo Jutsu training from his mother; the former Kunoichi of the land of mist using whatever free time she had to instil her prodigal son with some higher ranked jutsu. Though whether the intentions were to simply bolster his strength for his own benefit or an attempt to maintain this 'lead' she had over his father was debateable, given she was very quick to make him aware of the various jutsu's Enkai had learned or was in the process of learning. Either way, he could not deny the fact that he was enjoying this almost 'spoilt' treatment he was receiving; the best aspect of such treatment being the dinners she was making on a more regular basis. 'A growing boy needs to eat well', was her proclamation and Enkai had zero counter arguments towards such a claim.

Over the prior 3 months, there had been three particular jutsu that his mother had been almost hell bent on passing down to him; jutsu that she had relied on during her times as a Kunoichi to get her out of trouble whatever the predicament was. Since then, Enkai had managed to learn and utilize two of those three Jutsu, the boy capable of using both of them with enough mastery that he could effectively use them in combat. The first had been the 'Sea Dragon's Charge'. As his mother had initially described it, this particular Jutsu was effective at generating distance between himself and his foe whilst still doing enough damage to potentially end a fight. Having grown into a fighter that primarily excelled in 'Mid-range' combat, the jutsu had become a 'must have' technique that could easily stem the flow of combat in his favor. The last thing that fighters who struggled at close range needed was to fight in such close proximity to a foe that was superior to them.

The second of the three jutsu had been described to be a 'defensive' style technique that worked best against multiple opponents. 'Dragon Guardian, Blue-Ring Dance'. Unlike the prior jutsu, this jutsu focused on defending against several assailants, the jutsu itself calling forth 8 tendrils of water from beneath the caster. Formed of scalding water, these tendrils would act as a barrier of sorts, assaulting those that came to close to Enkai and inflicting a scald like burn upon those that are struck by the whip like tendril. Much like the first Jutsu, Enkai had managed to gain sufficient mastery over this technique.

With two out of the three techniques under his belt, it had come as a shock having realized how hard the third technique was proving to be; the jutsu being offensive in nature and one that took on a completely different property to what he had come to master over the recent months. While he still needed to focus on shaping the jutsu like he had done previously, Enkai had found himself hitting a brick wall. Unlike 'Sea Dragon's Charge' or 'Dragon Guardian, Blue ring dance', where Enkai was using liquid as a conduit for the jutsu, Enkai was now attempting to shape and maintain the shape of a gas; steam to be precise.

Incorporating this heated water vapour into his jutsu in the past had been rather easy, considering his primary objective on every other occasion was to expand the range of the heated vapor; whether to extend the range of his sensory jutsu or in a heated, pressurized blast. This jutsu however required the complete opposite. The objective now wasn't to expand the range of the heated steam, rather it was to 'restrict its freedom' and give the gas a distinct form that he would then manipulate. Given the properties of gasses, he had found it rather difficult to envision the jutsu in his mind, to give shape to a matter that by definition has no fixed shape or volume. The Jutsu in question was called 'Sea Dragon's, Guardian Spectre'. A jutsu that shaped heated water vapor into the form of a large serpentine dragon. While Enkai had proven to be surprised at the difficulty of the technique, his mother had already suspected that this would be the hardest obstacle to overcome.

For the last few weeks, Enkai whenever he had the opportunity had taken it upon himself to practice this jutsu. Fortunately enough, today he had managed to detract his mother from her original plans in favour of assisting him.

"No that's not it... not like that" spoke his mother as she leaned against the wall of their home, a hand raised to her face as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "I keep telling you, the initial process for this jutsu is the same as your Sea Dragon's Pearl bomb technique" she expressed, lowering the hand from her face whilst simultaneously raising her other hand so that both were now at chest level; palms facing each other as if she were holding an invisible ball in her hands. "You need to give form and shape to the technique, compressing and holding the steam within so that the gas does not naturally spread outwards" she began, tensing up both of her hands as she seemingly tried to compress this invisible ball in her hands. "It's the same as your pearl bomb, where you add an exterior shell of water to encapsulate the gas... however rather than using water to compress the gas and build up the pressure... you need to instead channel your chakra so that it becomes the shell that holds the gas in place. This way, you do not increase the explosive pressure of the steam, but you retain its body and heat in order to manipulate the jutsu's scalding properties. Do you understand?" she asked rhetorically as she began to walk over to Enkai, the boy presently plastered on his back as he laid against the garden floor; hands extended on either side of himself as his chest heaved.

"I... I understand... what... your.. saying" he replied between breaths. "its... its just hard.. to picture..." he continued, rolling over to his side as he attempted to pick himself up. "... Trying... to find that balance...I.. I just.. can't picture it... yet.." he continued, as he glanced up to see an outstretched hand extended before him, his mother standing there with a smile upon her face. She knew full well that this technique was a difficult one to learn, she herself had struggled to master the jutsu back when she was living within the land of mist and had it not been for her talented cousin, she may never have had the determination to learn such a difficult technique.

Raised in the land of mist and within a household of talented shinobi, she had found her surroundings to be suffocating and unbearable; the constant need to prove herself capable being a burden that she almost completely lost to. Had it not been for one of her cousins; Isuzu, she may have completely given up on becoming a Kunoichi. A talented individual, Isuzu had shown far superior growth in mastering their shared jutsu style and had become akin to a 'goal' for her mother to try and surpass. Eyes lit with the fire of envy, she would watch from afar as Isuzu trained; take what little information she could get in order to adapt her own way of training. While she knew that talent was a gift that not everyone was blessed with, she also knew that taking down those deemed as being naturally gifted would bring about a level of elation and accomplishment that she had yet to experience.

Eyes set on proving herself to the household as well as overcoming the wall that was Isuzu, she had set her eyes on a jutsu deemed to be far above her -at the time- capabilities. A jutsu she had only been made aware of thanks to a scroll her family had kept within their manor. For months, this would be the focal point her training; the fuel for the fire that drove her to dare challenge Isuzu who was her better in almost every shape and form. While Isuzu showed great promise over a variety of techniques, his mother would show promise in quality over quantity. She would defeat her with a single superior jutsu. The Sea Dragon's Guardian Spectre.

Alas, before her defection from the land of mist and desire for a life away from their strife; she would come to be known as the 'Dragon of the Mist'. A Kunoichi known for the dragonic serpents she was able to call forth and feared for the scalded trail of flesh that she left in her wake.

"Alright... take a few minutes to rest up. I'll prepare some ginseng tea in the meanti..." his mother would pause, eyes agape as a large bright flash blossomed in the distance; the roar of chaos ensuing soon following the initial explosion of light. "Wh.. what's that.." she stammered, hands shaking from the sheer sight of what had just occurred. "En.. enkai... check on your father..." she managed to stammer, as she yanked her son towards herself, before pushing him into their home. Her eyes would soon turn towards the shed in the corner; a large chest that had been stored away inside had come to her mind; the contents of the chest being her old kunoichi attire and tools that she had prayed she would never need again.

Meanwhile, despite having momentarily been attending to two customers perusing through some wares; Enkai's father alongside the customers had found themselves standing out front; each of them facing the direction of where the chaos had begun with their mouths agape. While the present relations between their village and the Shinobi was no secret, the mere thought of war greeting them at their front door was one that many of the citizens hadn't really come to fully accept; at least the gravitas and all too real plausibility of such an event. Yet, given what had just occurred it was highly doubtful that they would be that naïve ever again.

"We're under attack!, The village is under attack!" came a cry from a nearby road. The source of the voice soon revealed as a person ran along the adjacent street; soon followed by others as panic began to set in".

"Quickly... get to somewhere safe" spoke Enkai's father, the first of the three to snap out of it; the man quickly turning to the two customers and bringing them back to reality. "I don't know whats going on, but standing around here isn't going to do us any good" he continued, just as the faint sound of combat began to echo across the village. "Go!, Quickly now!" he commanded, giving them a slight push before the pair of them would soon begin to make their way to somewhere safer.

"Enkai!, where is your mother, is she safe?" questioned his father as he turned to walk back into the store front. "She's outside... I saw her go into the shed" replied Enkai, Kiseru pipe in hand from the training session. "Good. I'm sure you are well aware, but the village is appears to be under attack. As a mokunoha of the village, it is your duty to rendezvous with your squad and await orders" his father tone was stern and to the point; an expression that Enkai rarely saw present upon his fathers face as he walked over to a nearby wall; pulling down a large portrait that hid a small mechanical switch. As he flicked it, a portion of the nearby wall would begin to rotate clockwise; the shelf of wares disappearing into a hidden chamber as a large frame containing a crimson red traditional samurai outfit appeared; an obsidian sheathed blade held in place at the base. "Your mother and I will head towards the village centre. I am sure a voluntary force will be assembled to deal with this" he continued to speak as he reached for the sheathed weapon; right hand grasping the hilt of the hidden weapon and his other upon the sheath. Slowly, he would unsheathe the weapon slightly, revealing several inches of tempered tamahagane steel that reflected his resolved gaze.

"Enkai.. this is...wa.." his father attempted to speak, before the sound of the front wall could be heard caving in; fragments of wood and splinter flying through the interior of the store as several fragile wares crashed to the floor.

“Yo, I am here to show you samurai dogs who the real top dog i-”

"You bastard" replied Enkai's father, unsheathing the blade fully and holding it towards the cloud ninja. As Enkai's father observed their foe, the sound of metal clanging against one another could be heard from the direction of the back garden. "Enkai.. check on your mother. I'll deal with him" he spoke through gritted teeth as he faced his foe head on.

As this was going on, his mother had found herself engaged in combat with another cloud shinobi. The pair of them engaging in close quarter combat. Perhaps the partner of the man who had kicked the front wall down, or simply another blood hungry warrior from the cloud, the pair would soon find themselves engaged in battle. Despite the cloud ninja being prepared for combat, it was Enkai's mother that had the advantage in their fight.

"Okay!" replied Enkai, though his movement would remain rooted to the spot as his eyes caught sight of movement from the front; mist encircling the cloud ninja from behind and engulfing the entire outside of the store in its entirely. The sight would not go unnoticed by his mother either as she began to apply more force into her attacks against her current foe.

"Father what is that..?" questioned Enkai, tightening his grip upon his kiseru pipe and preparing for the worse. Was there another opponent out there? the thought crossed his mind as he stared forward; though he would wish he had looked away or blinked at the right moment as the sight that presented itself was something he didn't really want to see again. Without giving the cloud ninja a moment to fathom the danger; the man would be flash cooked in an instant; his steaming pink flesh collapsing upon a one of a kind rolled up hand stitched carpet woven by the artisans from the land of fibers. Despite remaining stoic in his stance, Enkai knew full well that his father had felt the pain from watching that occur, that wasn't an easy carpet to come by.

"What is going on..." he mumbled confused, glancing towards Enkai to reaffirm his belief that it had not been Enkai who had done that, nor was it his mother who could still be heard fighting in the back.

“I believe your little village is under attack…? Someone should really tell one of your Jonin… oh wait, you don’t have Jonin, do you? Haganenoha?”

As he asked the question, a scantily clad woman in a kimono would soon make herself known as she stepped into sight; a kiseru pipe smaller than Enkai's held in her hand as she puffed away; the scent quickly permeating the open space of the store. Both Enkai and his father could only look in confusion; their eyes quickly averting from the obvious distraction and back towards the face of the new interloper. Not only did she get rid of the cloud ninja, but her jutsu was strikingly similar to that of Enkai's and his mothers. That being said, it wasn't enough cause for them to lower their guard around her given her unfamiliarity with their villages terminology.

The sound coming from outside would soon die down, signalling the end of the fight between Enkai's mother and her foe; though despite wanting to see if she was alright; neither father or son could move away from the mysterious woman at the front entrance. It was evidently clear to both of them that the woman wasn't your average ninja; nor was she someone that would give them the opportunity to escape had her intentions been antagonistic towards them.

“Ah, Mr. Kaji, isn’t this place so cozy? And where is my dear cousin? I have things I want to talk about, but I’m not sure I could have made it past that barrier. Convenient that it’s down, isn't it…? Well, I suppose not for you, attack and all... Don’t worry, I can’t remember having anything wrong or against your setup. Mmm… I sometimes think the most disloyal rogues of my village live inside it, don’t they? So, maybe this makes us friends. You’re the only one with a brand of a samurai… right? I don’t think I’m a member of the Cloud, so I’m not an enemy, right? Though…. don’t you think you should get a head start on finding your… Haganenoha is it?”

"Friends?" replied Enkai's father, while Enkai did his best to not avert his gaze as he was directly addressed by the woman. "Who exactly are you and what do you mean by cousin?" he inquired, pointing his katana towards her. Though before she would be allowed to reply, the voice of Enkai's mother would come from behind. "She mean's me" she sighed, using one hand to wipe away the blood stains that had made their way upon her face. "... and she is right Enkai, find your sensei and your squad mates. The village is under attack and it is your duty to protect the village. Me and your father will handle our uninvited guest"

"But..." interjected Enkai, fully intending to stay behind and help his parents. His mind knew full well that he was obligated to do as they said; not only because they were his parents but because it was his duty as a mokunoha. However his heart was forcing him to stay. He couldn't just leave his parents behind when there was an obvious threat.

“Oh… I suppose that’s not very convincing. Well…Useful information from an anonymous source, you see. I believe Lord Kentaro, Raikage, was testing out a chakra cannon. That’s got a little bit of a hole in your city. Buuuut, if he wants another shot, he’ll need a large amount of chakra. He’ll need one of those… what do you call them…” She tapped her chin with her pipe, trying to remember the word. “Tailed beasts…? Yeah, one of those. Whatever happened to the fox after this city defeated it…? Oh well. Now, shoo, shoo.”

"You bitch!" cursed Enkai under his breath, he didn't like being treated like a pest, especially from some scantily clad bimbo that just sauntered into his home.

"Enkai go!, Do as I command and do what your duty demands!" shouted his father, placing a firm hand upon her sons shoulders. "You are a samurai" he added, as another hand was placed upon his other shoulder "Your father and I will be alright. If she really wanted to kill us, she would have done so by now" reaffirmed his mother, "You have a duty to now inform your Sensei about this anonymous tip. Only you can do this job" she added, offering a faint smile.

Despite his desire to stay, the strange woman had ultimately left him no real choice but to go and find his sensei. With that information she had divulged, it would be tantamount to treason if he failed to inform the superiors. "Fuck!" he simply replied, sheathing his Kiseru pipe and beginning to run forward, taking one long gaze at the woman as he passed her; ensuring that he permanently fixed her face in his mind. Should something happen to his parents, he would know exactly who to hunt down. He had also taken note of the word '5th' written upon her attire.

"So... Isuzu-san. To what do I owe the pleasure of having you enter my home uninvited?" questioned Enkai's mom, placing herself level with her husband; kunai still in hand. "Had I known, maybe I could have prepared us something to drink... yet I also don't seem to recall telling anyone from the village that I would be here" she added, fixing a glare towards the woman she had formerly considered to be a rival.

~~~~

Running through the streets, it had become even more obvious that the village was under attack. The sound of combat could be heard in almost every direction as skirmishes began to take place; the attackers having the upper hand largely due to their surprise attack as well as the confusion that had naturally taken place after the large cannon beam shattered their peace. "Fuck fuck fuck!" cursed Enkai, as he continued down the streets, fully intent on heading towards the Lord's headquarters. If he couldn't find Yukari sensei, then at the very least he could go straight to the top brass to inform him of the knowledge he had attained.

A loud scream would however echo from his right hand side, a mother holding her young daughter in hand had found herself up against a nearby building; the woman shielding the young girl away from their assailant; a large muscular man with a cleaver in hand. "Now now you Samurai bitch!, I'll make this real quick , so stop your squirming!" he growled, raising the weapon; the cries of the young defenceless girl doing very little to dissuade him from such a heinous crime. "Please... Please don't hurt my daughter!... I'll.. I'll do anything... just please let her go!" the mother pleaded, to little avail. "Shut up!" he simply replied, as he readied his swing.

"Sea Dragon's Charge!" came the battle cry from Enkai, as he thrusted his left palm forward; the watery visage of a large dragon head quickly rushing forward towards the man; maw opened hungrily as teeth grabbed flesh. The man would soon find himself being thrust backwards; body crashing into the side of the building opposite as the watery teeth of the dragon carried him backwards before slowly crumbling to a puddle of water. "Back away from them!" shouted Enkai as he placed himself between attacker and victims. "Are you both okay?" he inquired, keeping his eyes ahead of himself. "If you can walk, I suggest you find somewhere safe to hide...I'll take care of things here" he added, watching as the dust settled. "Th.. thank you" stuttered the woman, before she picked her daughter up and began running in the opposite direction.

For a few moments, Enkai would remain in this spot. Unwilling to just leave, in case he exposed his back to the cloud Ninja. However it was quickly becoming clear that his worries would be for naught as once the dust finally settled, he would see the cloud Ninja slumped against the floor, his eyes lifeless. Without intending to, it had seemed like Enkai had impaled the man against the sharp end of an anvil, the exposed interior of the store revealing itself to be a small workhouse for a craftsman.

Code by Serobliss

 

[Spoiled Bread]

Ringo Nakano
Location: Street

Six month had passed ever since she entered the Land of Iron. She crawled out of the slum area, established herself within the samurai rank, feeds a baby that she decided to adopt in a whim and claimed a little turf by beating local thugs. Her journey to get absolute power so she can punch her brother was still a long way but she wasn't in a rush. Every once in a while she needs to slow down and enjoy life.

"Here's your order: Le Gargantua Parfait with Extra Deluxe Choco topping." A waitress slided onto her table a large cup of monstrousity dessert, an abominable mixture of a dozen flavors of ice cream, numerous slices of exotic fruits and generous amount of glistening premium chocolate melting down from the top. Definitely not a cheap treat but Ringo didn't work hard for months just so could eat pickled radish as snack. Eyes glimmering with anticipation, Ringo's raised her luxurious spoon and slowly going to take her first scoop. Unfortunately, disaster struck.

A sudden violent roar shakes the entire building as a beam of light ripped and burned the ceiling of the building. People screams in panic, the restaurant staffs tried their best to evacuate the customers before getting out themself. Meanwhile Ringo? She looked in despair at one of the victim of this attack. Her parfait had become a sloppy mess on the floor, turned into amalgamation of sugar and shattered glass shards. To hell with enjoying life, she's going to make whoever cause this MISERABLE.

Kicking the door of the restaurant, Ringo strides into the street and was shocked by the sight of destruction that welcomed her. She expected the attack of a group of thugs at most but it seemed the situation was much more dire. Regardless, she's still going to see who caused this and punch them in the face. She followed the sight of burning building and the lingering smell of blood until she saw a couple of unfamiliar figures on the street. A man and a woman, the man was swinging his weapon wildly and just cuts several fleeing civilians nearby. Ringo stared at the face of the chopped man before approaching the attackers.

"Oy, how dare you make a mess in my turf?!" Ringo barked at them, pulling out her pink bat and pointing it at them. Honestly, she wasn't fully prepared for a fight right now as she was supposed to have a day off. She did bring her explosives but she didn't have most of her ninja tools, and she wasn't wearing her bracers. Still, she's too stubborn and too angry to back down.

"First and last warning for you. Go back to the dumpster you came from or die in my hand." Without lowering her bat, she pulled a regular coin and hold it with her left hand. A flow of electricity crackled briefly on her hand before she flicked the coin, quickly sent it right towards the direction of the man's forehead with enough force to punch a hole through a wall.

Ganryu