Side Mission: Earth, Wind and Fire - Complete

[AllHailDago]

"A Leaf shinobi died near the border to the Land of Earth. His partner and summoning beast, Aviax, was released at the time of his death and has been razing the Land of Earth in grief and rage. Your mission is to subdue and reseal Aviax, while preventing further casualties."

Orikanyo KageYuuki

 

[AllHailDago]

Let's Groove ​

Moku sat casually leaned against the gate of the Leaf Village. In one hand he held a book on volcanoes, which he flipped the pages of every couple minutes. His other hand was casually rested and scratching at the ears of a purring cat. The cat was originally passing by to head out the gate, but decided Moku was more interesting at the moment. Moku appreciated the sentiment.

Casting a glance up from his book he scanned those passing by for his teammates. Today he would be heading out with two teammates to the Land of Earth for a B rank mission. Capturing a wind aligned summon sounded wild and interesting by itself, but Moku wasn't only interested in the mission for that. No, he was also interested because the Land of Earth, and more specifically the Village Hidden in Stone was his grandfather's birthplace. He'd never visited the country before and wondered what it was like. At the same time he wondered who he would be paired with this time around!

Hideki stared into the mirror for some time looking up at his hair, it had been some time since it had been cut, and he just knew that if he didn’t get it cut the damn stuff would grow out of control like usual… It was one of the few things his dad did for him really. A small thing, to be sure, but it still was a family thing nonetheless. The gentle snipping of hair, the occasional feeling of his dad making him turn his head for a better view…

It was the little things.

But… Now he was a grown man, or at least becoming one, best he make his own decision on his hair. And like a grown man, he decided to ignore it for now and get ready for work. The trip out to the gate didn’t take long, it’s almost like every mission starts with a gate party, so he memorized the best way to get there, he remembered from the report he’d be working with Yuuki again and a Moku… he.. Faintly remembers a Moku…

From the academy? It’s been awhile since then, the young man paused on his last jump to examine the area before landing upon the road once more, always look before you leap, that's how you avoid landing in a fruit stand like that one genin he saw a few weeks ago. Man that kid got his ass beat, literally and emotionally.

Nonetheless, the young man neared the gate.

Yuuki skimmed through the mission description again as he approached the gate, his pace relatively brisk. Subdue and seal an enraged summon, and from the looks of the team roster he was the only one that could actually handle the sealing pack. He nodded to Hideki, sealing the briefing away once more before looking over at their third team member. “You Moku then?”

Moku memorized the page number and closed the book. With the arrival of the other two, and the suddenness of this motion, the cat he was petting sauntered off elsewhere. Moku blinked rapidly for a second as he realized he recognized these two. Even if he hadn't been in the Academy at the same time, the son of the Hokage would be recognizable to anyone in the village. “Yup! Moku Ozaki, ninjutsu expert extraordinaire! Nice to finally be working with you Yuuki!”

He turned his attention to the other guy, a more knowing smile on his face than with Yuuki. “Hideki! It's been a long time! Nice sword you got there.” Moku didn't know who to expect, but a sparring partner of his from the Academy wasn't even in his list. “We’ll haveta spar like we used to when we get the chance, yea?” The thought of a good all taijutsu workout made Moku want to bounce in place. N-not that he did. That would look ridiculous!

“Ninjutsu expert…? Bold claim…” Hideki scratched his chin as the guy prattled on, wait… did he know this dude? It's hard to imagine… It’s almost like he's been only with girls for two or so full years…. Wait.. he pretty much has. But this Moku dude definitely knew him, and kinda rang a bell… But he didn’t look like anybody he knew…

Wait… Add a few pounds… maybe a teeth or so lost… Oh shit!

“Holy shit it HAS been awhile. You look well man, glad to see you’re still kicking. Who did you get stuck with? You remember Mai the girl who ran head first into the lockers? Her and the grouchiest girl in class are my squad. Man, Mai knows how to kill a love of sparring outta a dude.”

Yuuki’s expression remained neutral at Moku’s introduction, “Mm, right.” The kid definitely seemed full of energy, almost like a headache waiting to happen. At least Hideki seemed to know him somewhat.

Moku beamed after being complimented. A quick turnaround from what would've been anger had doubt of his Ninjutsu expertise been all that was said. “Yeah, I've really begun to grow the last year or so! It's kinda awesome. Working out hasn't hurt either.” He mock flexed for a second or three before returning to a casual stance.

There was a flicker of sadness when asked about his teammates, but he masked it quickly. “My teammates were originally Choluu Akimichi, the girl who broke into the staff kitchens and ate all their sweets, and Mal Nara. Though recently I got a new team. Ashi and a girl named Sei. They seem mostly alright.”

He patted at the pocket he had the mission paper in hoping to steer the conversation elsewhere. “So. Land of Earth. Never been. We're supposed to seal some summoning beast that got loose. You two ready to head out?” He rolled on his heels with contained excitement.

Yuuki rolled his eyes at the pair. Their mission could easily affect relations between the Hidden Stone and Leaf and yet here they were reminiscing on Academy days and other nonsense. “Sooner we’re on the road, the better.” He started out of the gates, “if Hideki isn’t ready, just leave his ass behind.” He shot Moku a glance over his shoulder, “I’m assuming you’re ready? You are the team leader here.”

Moku's jaw ticked in irritation. “Of course I'm ready. I've been ready and waiting for you to show up for some time. Also, I don't make a habit of leaving teammates behind. You, him, anyone.” He thrust out his jaw stubbornly before turning back to Hideki. “So. Ready?”

“Sei huh…? Real quiet that one… Haven’t seen much of Ashi… And tough talk coming from the dude who kept forgetting his homework back in school!” the young man countered Yuuki’s snap before heading off himself. “Dude’s always been grumpy, likely always will be…” the young man sighed, taking his start a bit easier than the others at least.

He’s used to somebody kicking up a fuss or two at the start, considering Aiko, so this didn’t bother him much… Though.. He did feel Yuuki was a tad bit too sharp… Hmm.. Did he do something…? Was it the party? Probably the party.

Moku nodded to Hideki, making note of the fact Yuuki is apparently a grumpy person in general. They might not get along well if so, but they didn't need to get along to work together effectively. Moku ran his palms along his pants as he headed to leave as well. He supposed as the team leader he should take the…. y’know, lead. You'd think he would be used to it after being the “plan guy” in his original squad. However, Moku was more a battlefield general than a domestic general. His leadership skills in non combat situations were iffy.

He scratched at his chin, which had itched weirdly often lately, and walked past Hideki and Yuuki. He pretended like he wasn't constantly checking over his shoulder to see if they were still following behind as he picked up the pace on the way out of the village. He wasn't about to fool anyone with his poor acting skills though. With that, they were on there way to the Land of Earth.

 

[AllHailDago]

Keep Your Head to the Sky​

The sun rose gently behind the craggy peaks that signified the Land of Earth’s borders. The journey had taken a couple days, and had the group passing through the Land of Grass to reach it. Moku stood upon a tree branch at the edge of the border forest, admiring the sunrise. He had a slight lead on Yuuki and Hideki, but they should be appearing aaaaany-

The tree branch under him snapped suddenly, unable to bear his weight any longer. He flailed in surprise as he fell face first out of the tree and into the dirt below. He faceplanted….. a bit too literally, his face connecting with a tree stump. The sound echoed in the otherwise complete silence of the morning. He groaned as he sat himself up and dusted off his face. It was more surprise than actual pain that elicited this response. “I hope they didn't see that.” he muttered under his breath.

Standing up, he reached into his belt pouches and found a couple fresh bandaids and antibacterial ointment. He rubbed the ointment into a couple burning new scratches and covered them up with the bandaids. As he did he realized suddenly that the silence after his fall might make sense, but before there should have been birds chirping. He threw a glance around at nearby trees, wary of possible predators.

Hideki stared down at his comrade, while he didn’t see the impact he heard it, heard it enough that he could FEEL it happening. He felt like calling out to see if he was okay… But… This was a man’s pride after all.

“Hey, see anything down there?” the young man called down, acting as if he has just gotten there. Knowing full well he will think about this later and laugh, but not now, he would not harm the manly pride of his friends like so.

….

Okay, most of the time.

While Yuuki also didn’t say anything on the matter, his crimson eyes still rolled in annoyance. The silence had the Uchiha on edge, muscles tense, and hands near the seals on his belt. Crimson hues anxiously flickered around their surroundings. There! The faint glow of chakra, it surged as if a jutsu were being cast.

“Shit, scatter!” Yuuki called, leaping back off the branch.

Moku bit his tongue on the response he had ready for Hideki. While his senses were alright, he knew Yuuki’s were likely better and he trusted his comrade. Without responding verbally to the warning, Moku quickly used the hand signs for one of his techniques.

“Earth Style: Subterranean Voyage!”

He found his jutsu was actually seemingly more effective here, due the fertile dirt and soft ground. He sunk swiftly and, when he was completely submerged, he began a second set of hand signs. Flicking through them quickly, his skin began to harden significantly. It darkened as well, but he couldn't see that down under ground.

“Earth Style: Earth Spear!”

With this he sat underground in waiting, extending his senses for those Yuuki had sensed but he hadn't. He wanted to bash their attackers faces in, but he needed to know WHERE they were first. Moku shifted his jaw back and forth in a small self thought. Maybe training his sensing when he got back to the village would be a good idea.

Upon the word scatter, Hideki did indeed do that. Well, more like he took a dive off of his branch and dipped into the ground with Subterranean Voyage. He knew that he was starting to be known for this trick, but to be completely honest, it WAS a really handy technique. Earth becoming water, essentially.

When underneath, he began to use Earth Release: Prideful Stand. At least the material was nearby. Just a matter of Yuuki pointing out their targets or the enemy revealing themselves now… Hopefully that friend of his didn’t get captured, or this was gonna get really stupid really fast.

With a beat of his wings, Yuuki swiftly moved through the canopy. His body was already turning completely to paper and scattering. Suddenly there was a strike from behind. However, the enemy shinobi’s punch passed straight through the Uchiha. The attacker vanished with a curse.

Yuuki would sense the sudden appearance of two others as well. One by where Moku sank, who would be who he felt the chakra from. One was initially near where Hideki sank, but swapped places with the one who had tried to strike him from behind. The new one body flickering to come after Yuuki, a kunai with a tag attached held at the ready.

The one pursuing Yuuki tossed the kunai out past him into a further tree branch. It stuck and ignited suddenly, not with the usual concussion blast, but instead with a whoosh of flame consuming oxygen and cracking wood. A small cloud of fire appearing in Yuuki’s path.

The sheets of paper diverted their path away from the appearing fireball, a few pieces igniting in the process. Yuuki reformed with a wince, the shoulder of his jacket smouldering slightly. The burn wasn’t serious, but dammit it still hurt.

“We’re not here for a fight,” he called, watching his attacker close. Yuuki summoned a handful of shuriken, just in case. The Hidden Stone wasn’t known for its aggression…

As Yuuki looked to his attacker he would see them grin at his pain. There was a faint glimmer around the enemy shinobi’s Stone Village headband. Their face was hard to make out and their clothing made determining their gender and movements difficult. With a flick of their hand the enemy tossed another kunai, completely ignoring Yuuki’s plea. The enemy flicked their hands through several signs and suddenly the kunai flying towards Yuuki expanded dramatically, now the size of a tree trunk. A light tenor voice came from the enemy shinobi. “Weapon Art: Grand Lance Expansion!”

Yuuki raised an eyebrow at the shinobi’s attack. It reminded him of the Akimichi clan’s techniques, though he’d never heard of it being applied to anything other than the user’s body. His step lightened by Dance of the Shikigami, the Uchiha leapt up and ran along the incoming blade already flying through handsigns.

His gaze narrowed at the distortion on the headband, chakra fueling it. “Feh, you should have just stolen headbands from the Hidden Stone.” The shuriken flew from his hands, the air distorting in front of them.

Temporal Shredders

The enemy shinobi grimaced as Yuuki saw through their teammates disguise jutsu. With a flick of the wrist a kunai appeared in the shinobi’s hand. They leapt to one side, dodging all but two shuriken. These they attempted to deflect with their kunai. That went far more poorly than they expected.

As the shimmering shuriken hit the kunai things seemed to distort. The shinobi initially didn't feel any actual contact, assuming the shuriken throw was weak and illusory. Then a sudden wrenching pain kicked in and the tenor voiced let out a pained scream. They looks down to find their arm rotated and bones sting out if the skin entirely in multiple directions. Their wrist held the kunai almost entirely backwards from the original position.

The shinobi clutched the copiously bleeding limb and jumped back and away from Yuuki. They tossed numerous explosive tags with their other hand as they did. As they exploded they filled the air with flames.

“Tch,” Yuuki quickly moved through a series of handsigns as the wall of flame appeared. He took a breath, a sphere of compressed flames leaving his lips and puncturing the attempted deterrent. The orb would explode on contact, whether it was a tree or the enemy shinobi. He likely won’t be conscious for too long with that wound of his…

Fire Release: Flame Mortar

The wall of flames between the two shinobi kept both from seeing each other. The enemy had planned to use this for a surprise attack, and had begun prepping another weapon based jutsu. They brought out a string with dozens of tethered poisoned needles set on it, but stopped momentarily as they realized the difficulty of doing this one handed.

Casting a glance upward, they tried to judge angle and distance. The flames flickered oddly for a moment. Suddenly a ball of flame leapt from the Inferno and shot towards them. They leapt backwards and to one side, but still caught part of the attack on the twisted arm. The pain blinded the shinobi, and they fell from the treetops. As they landed they felt numerous piercing sensations. As their vision came back it was blurred, but they could barely make out their own needles stabbed into their torso. Weakly they said, “W- what a stupid way to die.”

Yuuki landed on a tree above him, “You’re right, it is.” Kunai rained down to end the fight.


The one who had originally attacked Yuuki looked down into the ground where Hideki had submerged. His eyes glittered with aggressive malice as he began pouring chakra into his right leg. “Damn Leaf shinobi never happen to be hand to hand users when they're my targets. Always the annoying ninjutsu types. Damn cowards.” He drew his leg up and brought it down suddenly in a scything kick at the ground. “Megaton Kick!”

The kick shattered the ground, leaving an immense divot in the earth as stone and dirt was flung into the air, and like a bug flung up from the ground Hideki was up in the air as well. His arms crossed, well, his real arms, as he stared off into the distance. His air time was rather spectacular really.

“Huh, guess there must be a lot of people out there like Mai… its weird… I’m overcome with this odd… Calmness… I can almost see home from here...” the young man stated before he came hurtling down from above again. Catching himself with his stone arms, he cartwheeled his body back to a neutral position. His true arms have not yet moved.

“Hey, think we can talk this out? Not exactly feeling up to a fight.” He shrugged, the six other stone arms copying the motion.

The male shinobi rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. His headband glittering as he snorted derisively at Hideki. “Not a chance. My job to kill ya, and I take great pride and enjoyment in my job.” The male shinobi reached down and tore up a chunk of the earthen hole in the ground. With a twist of his body he chucked it, obfuscating Hideki view of him. As the boulder flew headlong at Hideki the male shinobi launched into motion. Body flickering behind Hideki while he was hopefully still distracted by the boulder. The shinobi launched a strike at Hideki's back with his middle finger extended. He aimed between two vertebrae, intending to kill or paralyze. “Instant Death: Grand Strike!”

However, Hideki was more clever than one might realize. Utilizing Subterranean Voyage he “Jumped” through the boulder that was incoming allowing the boulder to continue allow it’s hurtling path, avoiding the strike and possibly harming the target with his own distraction as well.

Hideki tossed a couple kunai around him and activated Manipulated Attack Blades to keep them stationary. This other arms setting up a defensive position to prevent further ambush like the last one…

His true hands were crossed, the six stone ones ready and waiting for the next attack.

The male shinobi didn't fully comprehend what happened as his target passed through the boulder. However, it didn't matter as his fingers connected with the boulder and delivered the strike intended for his target. There was a thunderous crack and the boulder flew apart as the man's chakra entered it.

The man shielded himself best he could, but the shards still pierced and shredded in multiple places. His clothes were torn and his face was marred by the time the last stone hit the ground. He let out an enraged snarl and launched himself directly at Hideki. Chakra shined around the man's arm and fell away in little motes of light as he moved.

The young man smirked slightly as he slammed a fist into the ground, raising up a large eruption of dust and shards of earth he sent towards the man. The dust covering the area and blinding the combatants within. No further sound radiated from the area, however a kunai flew towards the man from the dust towards his left.

The man ground his teeth in anger as the young shinobi caused a smokescreen. He hated moves like this. He turned in circles, hands up and at the ready for an enemy strike. It was unpleasantly silent for several long moments. Suddenly there was a stirring to his left and a blur of motion. His hand snapped up to grab the object, and did so successfully. However, not before the tip of it sank into his lower left eyelid.

He snarled in pain and instinctive fear all seeing beings have when their eyes are threatened. He tossed the kunai angrily back from where it came. He then dived backwards out of the dust cloud. He began running chakra to his arms again, which both glowed with the same shining light with motes flickering off of them. When the shinobi exited the cloud he'd find a nasty surprise waiting.

The dust slowly wafted away from the area, revealing the scenery to be barren and empty. The young man wasn’t to be seen around him, but the kunai still continued to come, one at a time they came flying towards the man, interspersed but not generally enough to kill.

But where was the young man?

The male ninja slapped aside incoming kunai with remarkable speed and precision. At least initially. As his patience and self control thinned he git sloppier, sustaining small injuries that stung him in numerous areas. He couldn't figure where the boy had gone when the dust had cleared. He eyed the ground suspiciously, remembering his initial hiding place when they first spring their attack. Jumping straight up and over the ground the cloud had covered, the male ninja brought his fist down and release the chakra built up in one arm. The chakra landed out from his arm and into the ground in greater explosive force than before.

His attempt was valiant, the crater in the ground would have indeed gotten through to the young man had he been there. It would've broken the boy, but in the end the ninja who put so much effort into the strike struck nothing but dirt.

Hideki slammed down from above, his fist cracking into the back of the man's head with the weight of his fall adding to the impact. Back when the dust came up, he took that time to utilize dragoon jump to leap high into the air and buy the time he needed, keeping his opponent distracted with the manipulating attack blades so that he could strike from above.

A move that could slay a dragon(technically a sea serpent) could take down a man as well.

Hideki leapt off the young man as he fell, landing softly on the ground nearby. “What goes up, must come down, same for one who sits upon a high horse.” He smirked, thinking how that woulda been so cool to watch on T.V.


Meanwhile, by Moku, the chakra user finished their jutsu. Slapping their hand against the ground, they spoke in a feminine voice. “Water Style: Artesian Grand Geyser!” Moku Couldn't make out the words from underground, but he felt the burst of chakra as the shinobi touched the earth. He prepped to burst forth from it, but instead was met with surprise when a great rushing blast of water tossed him up through the earth and into the air. It reminded him somewhat of Umichi-sensei's jutsu, but more… forceful somehow.

As he reached the apex of the geyser, he was tossed off to one side. The sudden return of gravity's effects were great, due to his body's increased weight. He flailed his arms as he moved to tuck and roll upon landing. He… did not succeed. Instead he landed headfirst whilst flailing his arms. With a large think his head sunk into the earth. It didn't hurt so much, but it definitely hurt his pride. Thank goodness his teammates likely hadn't seen that. He braced himself and pulled his head from the earth, looking up at the shinobi he was sure was a female Stone ninja. He'd assumed they'd prefer earth style, but she was using water… interesting.

He stood up, brushing himself off and facing her. Her face was kind of blurry and her headband shimmered oddly. He assumed it was just getting dirt in his eyes though. He took a fighting stance, legs wide and fists raised to guard his face. “We're not here to fight, we just want to pass by peacefully.”

The female shinobi tilted her head in a seemingly impatient gesture. “Well that's too bad. We're here to kill you, peaceful or no. Though it looks like you have some ninjutsu skill, and that's a strong stance. So I doubt it'll be so simple.” She raised a hand towards him almost lazily, while her other moved behind her back.

Suddenly a blast of water shot forth from her hand and hit him in the chest. He was forced a step back, and his shirt gained a nasty looking hole, but his iron skin prevented injury. He looked down in surprise and back up. Had she used hand signs with only one hand? This could be trouble…

His hands flicked through hand signs swiftly. Suddenly it was not just one, but four black skinned Moku’s standing across from the kunoichi. Suddenly three of them body flickered, and she was surrounded in each direction. Each clone flicked through handsigns, and when they finished they simultaneously launched fireball jutsu.

Four large balls of flame rocketed towards the kunoichi. Her eyes widened and she slapped both hands together on the ground. There was a rumbling and she cried out, “Water Style: Four Geysers of Divinity!” As she did four pillars of water burst up, blocking the fireballs a few feet from the woman. However she hadn't accounted for one thing.

The resulting detonation of fire and water led way to a massive hiss in steam. Suddenly the woman was surrounded by a burning steam cloud. She let loose a piercing cry as she ducked backwards from the cloud. Moku looked a bit concerned, but stood his ground at each point. The woman's eyes flashed with hate and her hands flicked through several signs more swiftly than Moku expected. She let out a raspy, enraged cry of, “Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!”

A large, constantly shifting dragon of rushing water formed in front of her and lashed out to strike the Moku in front of her. He tried crossing his arms to block it, and the dragon slammed into him with great force. The black skinned Moku cracked and finally shattered apart under the force, scattering pieces of his clone across the forest floor. The dragon continued forward and dissipated after cutting down several trees.

The two Moku’s to each side of her rushed her suddenly, while the one behind sank into the ground. She decided that must be the real one then. He was likely prepping some other form of attack. She flicked through hand signs swiftly, choosing to deal with each Moku individually before she went for the underground one. Another Water Dragon blasted forward, slamming into and soon shattering one of the remaining Moku's. She spun around just in time to see Moku’s fist before it slammed into her nose. There was no crack from him, but a resounding snapping of cartilage from her nose.

The real Moku followed up with a second punch to the bottom of her jaw. Her vision shook and she took several stumbling steps back. “You…. You think this is enough to stop-” She cut off suddenly as the ground beneath her almost seemed to swallow her. Her body sank straight downward swiftly, before stopping with only her head above ground. The last Moku clone held her beneath the earth, immobilizing her hands more wholly than the ground itself.

Moku squatted down to meet her face and said, “No. But that should do fine.”


Over the next minute or so both Hideki and Yuuki found their way to Moku and the trapped woman. As they passed a large amount of damaged trees, burn marks, and shattered stone from their various fights. They found Moku in a waterlogged clearing with shards of glass and snapped tree branches abound. The woman’s head and an inch or so of her neck were all that was visible.

Her body submerged and tired from her fight, as well as the realization her comrades had died, led to her dispelling the mirage jutsu she had over their headbands. It was doing nothing more than waste chakra now. The image of the Hidden Stone Village headband faded away, revealing the headband of the Hidden Grass Village. She grit her teeth and cast a defiant glare at the three gathered chuunin. “Whatever it is you want, I’ll never tell you. You may as well kill me now.”

“That can be arranged,” Yuuki said cooly as he stopped a few paces from her. “That headband of yours tells me all I need to know.”

“You sure? I'm sure she could be of use somehow.” Hideki shrugged. “It'd be a waste, i'd say.” The boy paused for a moment and turned away from the group.

“...A bit creepy… Sounded really bad there…” he mumbled with quick realization.

Moku stepped forward, passing Yuuki and leaning down to about a foot from the woman’s face. “My comrades and I are willing to kill you if that’s what you’re desperate for. They also seem willing to torture you for information. I have to wonder if maybe you want us to kill you to avoid the latter. Personally I’m not fond of either if I’m being honest. However…”

The woman sank further into the ground with a short cry and a panicked look.

Moku glared at her with burning fury in his eyes. “I don’t care much for those who try killing my comrades when we attempt talking things out. I don’t like cowards who attack from hiding and use tricks to pin attacks on other villages. I especially hate those who would use me or my comrades as a way to threaten my village.” She sank an inch deeper and her mouth stopped an inch or so above the ground. “Now speak, or we’ll see how you like sinking into a pit of molten glass.”

The woman’s eyes widened, her face going through several emotions from anger to panic to controlled fear. She cast her eyes down as she spoke. “Our squad specializes in assassination and covert missions. We killed a Leaf Jonin a short time ago under the guise of the Stone Village. As we were leaving he summoned a large bird creature that chased us into the Land of Earth before we lost it. We figured we’d let it rampage and pin that on the Leaf, while we killed whoever the Leaf sent to deal with it as the Stone.” She did not look back up after speaking, ashamed of her own lack of fortitude in the face of torture.

“Pathetic,” Yuuki spat, “If I made the mistakes you did, my own sensei would put kunai in my back. And as easily as you cracked…” In a flash, a pair of senbon struck her eyes, “You’re either lying through your teeth or really are a fuck up.”

“Holy fuck dude.” Hideki grimace, stepping back . “Really necessary? Fuck dude.” The young man shuddered. “You wanna be a torturer or somethin do that on your own time, infos already given up man…”

As the woman screamed and attempted futilely to writhe in pain, Moku’s previously hard demeanor swapped to disgust instead. His talk of torture was mostly an intimidation tactic, and he had no intention of actually torturing her. He thought being the leader and stepping forward, Hideki and Yuuki would’ve left that to him anyways. Apparently he was mistaken. Sometimes he wished he was better at reading people.

He stepped up behind the woman and grabbed around her head and chin with his arms. She struggled against him, and he closed his eyes and set his jaw as he twisted and snapped the woman’s neck. He wasn’t about to let her suffer and die over hours like that. He gave a withering glance to Yuuki. “Next time, at least allow for me to continue questioning before you decide to brutally torture completely incapacitated and compliant enemies.” He stood and dusted himself off, his skin returning to normal color as Earth Spear was released.

A gaze of crimson met Moku’s glare, Yuuki’s expression carefully neutral, almost calm. “I guess you still have a few things to learn about being a shinobi. Next time, don’t make empty threats.”

“Alright you two, lets fucking deal with this summon and get going. Either the grass nin will come collect them or animals will. Let's get moving before we lose more daylight.” The young man motioned forwards, he should've just worked earlier without prideful stand but you never know with tai nin. He can build up more chakra as they went.

“Come on, not far now.”

Moku rolled his neck and walked past Yuuki and Hideki. He spoke back over his shoulder with less heat and more steel in his voice. “We all have more to learn about being a shinobi, Yuuki. But something you specifically need to learn apparently is that being a shinobi doesn’t mean losing your humanity.” With that he body flickered and was no longer in the clearing. He wouldn’t go so quickly as to leave them behind, but he did start in the direction they were going before.

Hideki sighed “Man… What a bummer. Come on dude, lets get this shit done.”

“She better not have been lying…” Yuuki murmured, trailing behind Hideki. The crimson faded from his eyes momentarily as he let out an unsteady breath.

Orikanyo KageYuuki

 

[AllHailDago]

In The Stone​

Moku moved swiftly, Hideki and Yuuki not too far behind him. They had crossed into the Land of Earth without much incident since the attack from the Grass Village. They had come across one group of Stone nin trying to help a village attacked by the bird. Initially they were ready to fight, assuming the attack to be intentional. However, with a short explanation from Moku and the three member's clearly non-combative body language, mixed with the ninjas pressing need to help their injured villagers, the Stone nin pointed them in the direction the bird had last been seen heading.

To their fear and concern, the direction lead towards the Hidden Stone Village. However, before that it would cross paths with at least two more small villages. Beyond the rare retired shinobi, the villages would be defenseless. Moku grit his teeth in concern and also swallowing his pride for what he was about to do. He turned to Yuuki as he ran, displeased for having to ask him anything at current. “So Yuuki, as our teams sealing specialist what do you need us to do to get you the chance to seal it? Are there any special requirements or location based elements?” Moku had no real knowledge on seals. Perhaps he'd read up on them when he got home.

“We’ll need to weaken it first, otherwise it’ll just break free.” Tapping the seals on his wrists, Yuuki fanned out stacks of tags. Most of them had the word cripple written on them, though two had the word purify scrawled across them instead. “Most of these are paralyzing seals, but these two,” he held up the pair of different tags, “these’ll purge about half of the chakra in whatever they’re touching. Once the bird can’t really move or cast jutsu I’ll be able to seal it in a scroll.”

“Right, so, are we hurting the thing or will this be a completely non-lethal approach? It's a summoned creature, needs to be sent back either way.” Hideki spoke up, cracking his knuckles. “I'm more of a ground based combatant, save for Dragoon Jump, but I focus on the landing and descent more than fighting mid air.”

“These seals don’t injure. Well, the purify ones probably don’t feel that good. I don’t know, never had it used on me before.”

“They hurt, trust me.” Hideki popped in.

Moku rubbed at his chin in fervent thought. “Well I don't have any abilities that would rocket me off the ground aside from raw power, I do have plenty of long range controllable fire jutsus. Fire has a natural affinity against wind chakra too. Though I've never fought a summoned beast that was primarily made from stable chakra. Is there any risk my fire could cause real permanent damage or death? Or would the chakra creature heal and replenish itself?” He eyed either for an answer.

“What do you mean ‘chakra creature’?” Yuuki frowned, “isn’t it just a regular summon? Sure they’re not normal animals, but they’re still mortal.”

Moku blinked suddenly. He removed a scroll from his belt with a drawing of the creature. The shape of an incredibly large falcon was stretched across it. However, unlike a normal bird parts of the wings, the talons, and the head had a blurred quality like a visible breeze. He pointed to those areas. “Are those areas not made of wind chakra?”

The Uchiha groaned, “It’s a painting, how should I know? What did the reports say? What about the mission description? Did you even ask?”

Moku clenched his jaw, the left side ticking in irritation. “The reports say a wind summon that looks like a giant bird. They weren't very specific about whether he used wind or was made of it. I asked.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose.

He looked at the drawing and went over it in his head. “So if they're mortal too much could be lethal. Yet if sealing away a summon by depleting it's chakra is safe, it should be able to heal those areas with time if they are made of chakra. I'll keep from using my largest fire jutsus.” He looked at Hideki questioningly. “How far can you reach with earth techniques? Also, can you change terrain any with them?”

Hideki put his hands behind his back, looking a little bit rather confident. “I can change the earth as I want with moving earth core, and when it comes to my reach it's easy enough to make projectiles, just use half a sandwich and your golden.” He was referring to the sandwich technique.

“Yuuki saw me use it once against a portal asshole, still didn't get a sorry for that seal though. Those purifying things hurt man.” He poked his friend lightly, still smirking.

Yuuki rolled his eyes, lightly smacking Hideki’s arm. “Still didn’t get a thanks for saving your dumb ass either.”

“That said, bird is good as gone for certain. Killed a dragon-” technically a sea/lake serpent “it can take down this bird.” Hideki looked over the picture again. “I mean, it's not a lightning bird so i'm neutral to it.”

Moku nodded, a plan forming in his head as his eyes flicked back and forth between Yuuki and Hideki. “Alright. I've got a plan.” He looked to Hideki first. “To start we need you to distract and anger the bird with earth techniques. Make it think you're a Stone shinobi, and get it to chase you away from the village of its in one when we find it. If not, just get it to fly lower.”

He pointed to himself next. “When he's safely away from innocents and low enough, I'll use clones and fire techniques in a sudden attack to greatly weaken it, as wind is naturally weak to fire.” He turned to Yuuki. “With it low to the ground, and weakness from both our techniques it should be possible for you to seal it, right?”

Yuuki shrugged, “Should be, anyway.”

Moku nodded, pleased. He glanced at Hideki. “That sound good to you? Bonus points if you can trap it at ground level.”

“I can do whatever we need, just gotta hit it, and if you haven't noticed were standing on my ammunition, so, yea, likely gonna hit it hard.” The young man shrugged. “Plus I'm a professional at pissing things off.”

Moku nodded. “Well that's that then. When we come within range of the bird, village or no, Yuuki and I will hide until you've successfully brought it into range Hideki.” With that he kept silent the remainder of their run.

The first village they came through had already been hit before they reached it. Huge gouges of stone and wood were rent from the sides and tops of homes and walls. No dead would be found with the cursory glances they gave on their way by, but plenty were injured. They got looks from the villagers, but little else aside from light murmurs. As Moku had assumed there were no active shinobi in the village. They must be preparing for the bird to reach the Stone Village.

They steadily scaled a mountain pass, and a distant screeching cry could be heard. As the second village came into view so did the summon. It was massive, the size of the Hokage mansion if Moku was judging correctly. Ethereal webs of drifting wind ebbed and flowed around its form. Motes of green and blue light falling away from its wing tips and talons. With a screech, it tore the roof off a home and peered inside.

Moku grimaced and went to make his first hand signs. “Alright, go time everyone!” He flicked through his hand signs, and one extra clone of himself appeared mid-stride alongside him. The both of them flickered through a second pair of hand signs, and began to sink into the ground as if it were water. They sank low enough to not disturb the earth on the surface, but remained high enough to sense the bird when it descended into attack range. Now it was up to Hideki.

“Well damn, you’re a big bastard. So what's wrong? Polly want a cracker?” The young man smirked as he rose a boulder up to the surface with Moving Earth Core, avoiding Moku as he's a polite young man. He put a hand upon it and sized up the distance. “Man… I'm gonna need a vacation..” He sighed as he used half of a Sandwich Technique to launch the stone at it. “Here birdy birdy! Come get me you oversized chicken!

Gonna eat you for dinner!!!”

The large slab of stone sailed through the air, colliding with the doubled over form of the bird. The creature fell further forward, tearing through one wall of the house with its head. It screeched in surprise and turned to eye the source of the attack. As it spotted Hideki its eyes narrowed, and with a billowing cry it took to the sky. As it flew towards Hideki it began to glow brighter, and suddenly it drew back its head before letting loose a jutsu from its mouth. A large condensed sphere of wind chakra blasted towards Hideki, the sound rather frightening to those unaccustomed to heavy ninjutsu combat.

“Figures it wouldn't be done in one.” The young man quipped as he used Moving Earth Core once more to make a triangle shaped barricade pointing towards the chakra to dissipate the wind. Well, deflect it? Aerodynamics weren't his specialty.

Nonetheless, he readied Prideful Stand for the incoming shit fest, the tag Yuuki gave him in his hand.

The blast of wind rimmed into the stone barricade and flowed around it, blowing stone and ground debris on both sides behind it dozens of feet. The fringes of it pulled at Hideki's clothes, but did little to move him even were he not weighed down by stone. The use of such techniques seemed to infuriate the creature however, and led to it stopping it's flight far above Hideki. It eyed him hatefully, it's feathers dimming momentarily before blooming into brilliant light once more.

It breathed in deeply, and when it breathed out two more of the original blasts rocketed towards Hideki. The bird followed this up by diving straight downward, following its own attacks towards Hideki beak first. It seemed rather intent on killing him violently.

“Uhh hey guys, I think I pissed it off. Somehow scarier than the dragon snake thing.” Hideki braced himself and then, with chakra concentrated in his legs, leapt off the ground with impressive force, sending him over the barrage and above the descending bird.

He then, began to fall, following it downwards with stone fists ready to pummel it to the ground, hopefully the others would be ready…

….

Wait weren't they using fire techniques?!? Shiiiiiiiiiiit, Earth spear Earth spear! Don't fumble now hands need to get that armor up!!!

The sudden leap delivered Hideki safely from the shredding blasts of wind. Instead they hit the ground in two thundering impacts, blasting a crater in the ground where he had stood. The bird tried to slow its descent upon being passed midair, but had gained too much velocity. Instead it simply spread its wings and landed forcefully, tearing up great mounds of stone and dirt. It turned, seeking to attack Hideki. Only to have the young man land full on the creatures back. It cried out in surprise and pain, but did not fully fall to the ground, instead turning to bite at Hideki on its back.

Moku had been waiting for the moment the bird touched down, and sprang forth with his clone at the ready. Thankfully his hiding place in the earth had been safe from the attacks and the birds landing as he had stayed a safe distance from Hideki. Moku flicked through hand signs swiftly, opening his mouth to release a plumbing cloud of ash that surrounded Hideki and the bird, blinding them. He did not ignite it right away, instead yelling to Hideki.

“Jump out of the cloud, quickly!” As he did his clone finished weaving his own hand signs, and spit fourth four flaming balls that launched high into the air. “Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!” The clone guided the fireballs, with the intent to give Hideki enough time to evade and to strike from the sky in case the bird flew up out of the cloud.

“Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu- Stop pecking!” He slammed the tag Yuuki gave him on the bird's back then leapt off again as instructed, the force rocking the creature as he did.

The bird let out a piercing screech as it was not only blinded, but slapped with an agonizing seal. It stopped it's movement to try and leave the cloud as it reached back to bite off the tag. However, as it did, the clone led the fireballs back down once Hideki was safely clear. The fireballs hit the ash and lit the whole cloud ablaze in an ear-splitting burst of sound and heat. Likely even the village felt some of that.

The bird collapsed onto its side out of the cloud, tag in its mouth, yes, but its whole body was covered in scorch marks and it's glow had dimmed greatly. It seemed to be struggling to try and rise again and looked like it might be succeeding. Now might be the only chance. If it decides to flee rather than fight it could likely outpace them. “Yuuki, now!”

Kneeling over an open scroll, Yuuki finished a series of hand signs. Tags laid on the ground around him shot forward, the word cripple scrawled on them. Thin wisps of smoke emerged from the scroll and followed after them.

Enclosing Technique

The tags shot forward and hit the creature in numerous locations. It let loose a weaker cry than before and fell completely to its side. The motes of light and swirling winds around it faded as the tags took effect. What was left was a towering falcon looking rather grimly at Yuuki. That is until it realizethe headband adorning the young man's head was the same as its master, and not of the Stone Village. The bird seemed to visibly relax at this, and with a whisper of wind, its body disappeared as it was sealed in the scroll prepared.

Yuuki sighed, rolling the scroll closed and tying a thin cord around it. “Well, that’s that.” The whole mission had been one big headache, but at least they could head home now.

“Big talk from the guy who wasn't the bait.” Hideki finally landed, slightly smouldering with smoke. “So, sealed the bird, get our pay, thus is our ninja way. Heh, maybe I should drop this to be a poet eh?”

“Yeah… no,” Yuuki rummaged through a pouch for a moment before tossing Hideki some water and medicine for what burns he ended up getting.

“Don't be like that, I already got the moves with the ladies, what's one more step eh?”

A pained groan was all he got in response.

Moku dismissed his clone and cast the village a sympathetic glance for what they were going to have to deal with rebuilding wise. He'd dealt with enough of that since the Mist attack. Turning back towards his teammates he gave a smile and a thumbs up. “Seems like that's that. Glad it turned out like that. Seemed a tad too easy mission wise though, huh?” He shrugged. “Welp, it helped people, got rid of some Grass idiots attempt to increase hostilities, and we get paid. Seems good to me. Good job, guys!”

“Another day, another mission… man they are working us to the bone these days.” Hideki was stretching. “So, you think the Stone will let us stop by for food in the village for this?”

“Real food would be a lot better than rations,” the Uchiha mused.

Moku tried to not visibly drool as he thought of delicious meat and fruit and just… food in general. He put in a look of “aloofness” that was transparently obvious on its falsehood. “Yeah, I guess it wouldn't hurt to get some food. And Hideki, nothing’s stopping you from being a ninja AND a poet!” He smiled encouragingly.

“I'm already a chocolatier, I ain't a main character or something. Got too many things on my plate.” The young man huffed with a smirk.

“A chocolatier huh? Sounds interesting.” After a long pause something hit him suddenly. “Wait did you say you killed a DRAGON earlier? You have to tell me that one on our way to eat.” Moku dusted the shirt iffy himself and looked at his companions. “Alright, let's go eat!”

Orikanyo KageYuuki