Fandom The Village Hidden in the Leaves

[Ganryu]

Squad 4​

As Squad 4 made their way towards the hospital, the occasional atrocity would greet them. The worst of these scenes was a pile of about 20 corpses, both Leaf and Mist, muddled together. Atop the pile, a mist ninja sat, looking gravely out at the area, looking around like a hungry dog smelling snake.

Nagisa's sneaking would be interupted by a kunai landing in a post near her. The mist ninja started to juggle a kunai in his hands. He didn't look at them, but addressed Nagisa.

"The hell are you three doing? You still have your headbands on? I'm willing to bet dumbass is behind you wearing his Uchiha emblem, isn't he? Get those off, right now. Hell, give those girls some fan service if you have to there. Here, take these."

The ninja ruffled through the pile, viscera covering his hands as he did. Finding three Mist Headbands, he threw them at the three.

"Decide when to wear these, and when to be civilians, but DON'T wear your Leaf Headbands while in combat. That paints you as combatants, and none of you are talented enough to be that. I'm guessing you're headed to the hospital? Good idea. I'm going to try and make a distraction for you all. The Mizukage is down there. So are alot of his jonin and the commanders for this little scheme. Mitsunari down here, under me, was one of them."

The ninja pointed to another ninja underneath him that looked exactly the same.

"Make it through here, and Sensei will pay you for an A-ranked mission. All of you. The situation is the Mizukage destroyed the hospital with a large scale attack. Don't expect any of the patients to be alive, but med nin are usually skilled with Yang release, several should be alive, though I doubt any are in good shape. Do not fight anyone stronger than you, lie constantly, and convince yourself you are Mist nin on the way there. Leave the talking to Nagisa, she's the brightest at that. Sensory leave to Yuuki. Also, boy, find some shades or something, don't ask why. I'm sure some corpse in this pile has some. Katsumi, keep anyone you find alive, you're getting an A-rank pay for each med ninja you save. And don't worry, you'll be surrounded by the most dangerous forces, they are going to be using the ruins as a headquarters, they won't notice you if you get past them."

 

[KageYuuki]

Akira
Akira's face twisted in disgust at the sudden swarm of moths headed her direction, "Ick, you're one of those- those Aburame aren't you?" Her darkened hues glanced around for a moment before noticing their relatively slow flight. Moth girl had also vanished as soon as the swarm started for her. "Now where'd you go?" Akira began quickly weaving signs and building her own chakra, one of them was bound to strike, she may as well be ready.

"And what about you, white hair? Gonna gawk all night? Thought you wanted to play!" She raced for him, far faster than she'd been playing keep away from the moths. Once the gap had been closed, she swung her leg in a roundhouse kick for Kuren's head.

loyalwolf AtlannianSpy Hanarei

 

[shadowdude505]

Misumi Sarutobi
​

Misumi hadn't agreed to make Yukari the group's strategist. It seemed more like Sei and herself were asking her to be their guide. Since Yukari was of Hyuuga blood, she'd be able to lead them to where her Byakugan eyes spotted the other genin. Not wanting to cause an argument during a critical situation, Misumi kept her opinions to herself as she followed Squad 5.

As the group got ready for their next move, Misumi grabbed the one of the vials Sei was offering and laced her fans with the purple liquid. Events seemed to move quickly after that. Yukari blew a hole in a wall and Sei created a bunch of genjutsu clones. Thinking fast, Misumi walked through the hole with her weapons ready and began to sneak through the streets using the clones for cover. She spotted a figure on the roof and assumed it was a mist jonin. Misumi knew it wasn't going to be an easy fight and didn't want to start it prematurely. For now she'd look for the other genin squad; they'd need all the help they could get if they were going to fight the jonin.

Misumi hunkered down behind some crates near a building and spotted Squad 6 a couple feet away. "Psssst," she said in a low tone, trying to get Squad 6's attention without alerting the enemy jonin. "I'm Misumi Sarutobi. Squad 5 and myself are here to help."

KageYuuki Kimiwriter Orikanyo Ganryu InsaneAsylum

 

[Ganryu]

Mai Sanada - Squad Six (&& Five)

Mai's excitement seemed to shatter as another genin squad burst into the sceen. A little dramatic for even her taste. Mai cursed under her breath.

"Son of a bitch... More people here to help us 'stall', less glory. I just want a fight! I mean, we were going to stall, but, damnit! I'm never going to get better crawling like a worm!"

The genjutsu clones and being outdone with the show of force were enough for Mai. Mai was disgusted by the suggestion of poison as well. Six on one, and still needing poisons? Still needing coordination beyond that? This man had just had to sneak into a village to attack it. A coward. If they needed all this, they were admitting the coward's way was the correct way.

"Thanks Aiko. Well, there's something I've got to do. We might be stopping him til someone better comes, but I still have my pride. Watch his movements. You're clan's supposed to be famous for their eyes, right? I mean, its Aiko UCHIHA, right?"

She looked at Hideki.

"Hey, Hideki, heads up, Imma be dumb for a minute. You're the smart one, figure crap out with the three stooges."

The fact Misumi was right there didn't really stop Mai.

Mai walked forward proudly, not an inch of guile in her as she almost swept through the ground. It was an elegance Mai never normally displayed. It was her pride. It was a far cry from her flicking him off a second ago.

"You, swordsman. Introduce yourself. That's the proper way to acknowledge someone. I am Mai, of the Sanada clan, daughter of Yukishide and Nohime Sanada. I challenge you to a duel. Me, and you. Surely you don't need any trickery to fight a mere genin, do you?"

Mai formed the handsign to acknowledge a duel. Her form then faded to shadow as she flickered at the swordsman, a right hook with her right wheel aimed the swordsman's hammer to try catch it. No use saving the tech now.

Shadow Strike

Mai was invincible! None of the genin were as fast as her! And yet Mai was at least being defensive, aiming completely at catching his weapons. Not that losing really registered. If this man was a jonin, she wanted to see damn close what exactly made him so deadly. She NEEDED to see what jonin actually meant. Takara's endless tirades never told Mai what a jonin exactly was.

 

[KageYuuki]

Shosuke Onishi

Yukari Hyuuga: Squad 5​

Yukari rolled her eyes, "Couldn't let him get the first move, bitch at me later." She called, stepping outside.

Shosuke frowned as the new genin came into view. Those white eyes the first one had... Genin or not, even a glancing blow from a Hyuuga could spell trouble. The loudmouth with the wheels quickly recaptured his attention with her posturing. "Introduce myself? We're ninja, not Samurai. If you want a duel, then go to the Land of Iron."

Mai ignored him as she flickered to where he stood. His brown eyes narrowed into a glare as her wheel caught hold of Kabutowari's hammer. Though it seemed the genin missed or even neglected catching his own blade. "Tch," before any of her teammates could react his axe struck the genin, sending her crashing into a nearby building.

When the dust cleared, Mai hadn't reappeared.

The Jounin's gaze shifted to Misumi, who tried to sneak through the open space with no cover to hide her. His hand snapped to a pouch on his leg, sending a barrage of senbon her way.

Ganryu Orikanyo InsaneAsylum shadowdude505 Kimiwriter

 

[Orikanyo]

Hideki ukita
Squad 6 & Squad 5

​

"EH!?" Hideki watched as suddenly the world changed once again, an explosion and more people showed up. First a rather striking young lady exploded out of the nearby wall, and yet another cutie apparently introducing herself down a nearby alley. Were this any other situation he'd call himself a lucky man, however however it seemed Mai decided to be stupid and rush forwards! "Shit! Aiko, get Mai!" he ordered, leaping towards the alleyway and shifting once the jonin started his next movement, placing himself in the way of the senbon the small needles landed against his shield, collecting like thin spikes upon it's wood and metal surface.

"Introductions can be done later. Kill this fuck."

He would waste no time here, even if this man was playing with them he had to give people room and time, he had little in the way of hard hitting jutsu, definitely not enough to take down a jonin, but maybe, just maybe, as he deals with him somebody else can get a shot in. Jabbing his sword into the ground once more he immediately sent a spray of debris from the road towards the man, kicking up a large amount of dust as the stones and bricks from the road hurtled his way.

Spoiler: Misumi and Yukari's POV

The young man then produces a clone of himself that rushes through the cloud of debris as the real young man seems to dive into the ground.

From the dust cloud came the young man again, shield and sword raised and ready to strike at the jonin.

Ganryu InsaneAsylum shadowdude505 Kimiwriter KageYuuki

 

[AtlannianSpy]

Nagisa Kanazawa
-Squad 4-
​

Nagisa sighed and forced the tension out of her shoulders. Nobushige, of course. Then the smell hit her up until now she had been unconsciously holding her breath and then all at once the smell of blood washed over her like a wave. The bodies were still fresh and it was night so there was no trace of rot, just a vague, fleshy smell that was equally horrifying.

Nevertheless Nagisa managed to catch the forehead protector thrown her way and, after wiping away an unfortunate red smear with her pantleg tied to around her head. When she was small her parents used to loot dead bodies, they were looking for valuables but would take clothes if they were decent, normally shoes. Shoes can last a long time and could be expensive so it was possible to get a few years of use out of even second hand shoes, Nagisa's favorite pair as a child had been 'donated' in this manner. This was obviously different in some ways it wasn't, but in both cases it was just a question of doing what was necessary to survive.

Why would Yuuki need sunglasses though?.. Nagisa wondered, turning around to her teammates and then immediately realized what the problem was. "Yeah they're gonna notice that," she said, rubbing her temples and walking over to the pile of bodies, sifting through them with the tip of the kunai Nobushige had thrown near her. She found a pair of thick rimmed, wide sunglasses and a non nondescript, grey jacket for Yuuki, but she also picked out a black knit cap and a sweat for herself and dark cloak that would roughly fit Katsumi.

"Wear this stuff as well," she said matter of factly, balling up the clothes and throwing them over her shoulder at her squadmates. "Then transform into leaf ninja. We'll try to sneak in undetected but if we get spotted we break the transformation and act like we were mist people impersonating the enemy the whole time. The easiest way to fool someone is to let them figure out one trick and let them think it's the only one. Our story should be something like, 'our unit was ambushed but we escaped and decided to sneak back to the hospital in disguise to join up with reinforcements'

InsaneAsylum
Ganryu
KageYuuki

Hotaru Hagano
-Squad 7-
​

"Hey don't lump me in with them!" said Hotaru, popping up from the ground off to the side and a little behind Kuren. Only her torso was visible, the rest of her still buried and ready to retreat below ground but that was enough to throw a couple of shuriken at the other girl's back She had carefully chosen her position relative to Kuren to minimize the chance of hitting him instead but just in case she had a few strands of thin silk attached to the shuriken and was ready to adjust them if a sudden change of position endangered him.

Hotaru wasn't much help in a direct melee but by harassing and distracting Kuren's opponent she could put them on more of an even footing. The shurikens were also partially a distraction from her other move, a small stream of moths were exiting her bag behind her back, using her, then the building behind her to move out of sight and up over the battlefield. Unusually, these moths also bore larvae on their back, Hotaru wanted to try something new, although whether her opponent would hold still long enough to let her pull it off was another question.

"Don't get me wrong I respect 'em a lot," Hotaru said, continuing to speak in the hopes of further distracting her opponent "But I think the problem with big clans like that is a certain lack of curiousity, I'm attracted to innovation. Speaking of, I hope you have something more interesting then taijutsu to show us? After your flashy entrance I was expecting big things,"

loyalwolf
Hanarei

 

[loyalwolf]

Kuren was still focused on the man that just left, more so than the summoning he had conjured. The man interested him and his jutsu was something that kuren needed to know about. Even with his mind distracted, he heard what Hotaru had said about the trap she set. That man… who was he? Kuren then looked at the summon coming at him with quick speed. I bet if I capture this summoning… I can get more information on that man.

Kuren prepared himself for the kick. Normally he would absorb the damage by blocking, but he didn’t want to rick getting injured this early in the fight. Luckily for kuren, he had the support of Hotaru so he could be a little more reckless than usual. He ducked down to avoid the kick and then used his tessen to attack. While ducking under the attacking leg, he sprung himself forward, using the force to increase the power behind his attack. Using his tessen, kuren aimed for the back of the knee and the Achilles heel of the none attacking leg. These are the most sensitive and vital point in the leg. Let's see how well you can kick when you don’t have a leg to stand on.

Kuren hit the ground with a thud and did get minor damage from the impact but nothing he couldn’t handle. He stayed low to avoid Hotaru’s attack and bear crawled forward. Once he reached Hotaru he flipped forward to stand next to her. “Hotaru, how do you feel about capturing her? I want to get more information about her master. Then after I'm done, you can experiment on her and then ashi can have her as a chew toy.” Kuren had a coldness in his voice that would send shivers down anyone’s back. KageYuuki AtlannianSpy Hanarei

 

[Hanarei]

​

Ashi quickly ran through the streets, carried away on all fours using her high mobility to carry her forward. The smell filled her nose as she could pick up the scent of her teammates nearby. There was no doubt something fishy was going on as she made her way forward. She felt antsy to have been left behind to take care of rescuing the family, but at the same time she couldn't help but feel some satisfaction in doing so. As feisty as Ashi could be she did have a soft side to her, even if she rarely seemed to allow herself to show it.

The young genin slipped free, peeking out as she glanced down from the building. Her eyes quickly locked upon the strange woman. It was no doubt it was her smell she was picking up. She watched her teammates as Kuren got back. up. Her eyes fixated on her. The temptation for Ashi to shout out and act tough was there, her lips parted as if about to find words to use. She bit back on her tongue keeping quiet realizing how foolish it would be to announce her presence. She had to be much more tactful. Just shouting out she was there wasn't a good strategy. She needed to think and act like a Shinobi....

Passing Fang. She pushed off from the ground, darting forward quickly. She began to spin, her body quickly being engulfed in a vicious spiral. She ziped forward, her incredible speed helping to propell her froward striking at the woman's blind spot (more out of hapenstance then done purposely by Ashi) as the enemy focused upon her teammates. She directed herself directly towards her not hesitating in the least bit seeking to strike her and take her down in one hit if possible by surprise.

KageYuuki loyalwolf AtlannianSpy

 

[InsaneAsylum]

Aiko Uchiha​

Whoever these damn genin were, they almost got a wave of water sent their way after making such an explosive entrance. The only reason Aiko didn't attack them, was because of the piercing white eyes of the hyuuga glaring from a gaping hole in a wall.

Before the Uchiha girl had a chance to scold them, Mai's idioticness took center stage. Aiko couldn't quite hear her correctly, but she was telling at the swordsman, who had kept atop a building. From this distance he was a little blurry... odd. A trail of blood gently flowed from Aiko's forehead, as it had been for awhile.

Suddenly, Mai struck, catching the jonin hammer with one of her wheels. Before Aiko could even bring her hands to form a handsign, or simply call out to her teammate, Mai was launched into a building.

For a moment, Aiko froze. Mai hadn't hopped out of the rubble and back into action. Hideki brought her out of her trance, telling her to get Mai. He didn't have to tell her twice. Aiko sprinted towards Mai as fast as she could, taking the most direct route. A thick trail of water trailed behind her, before she jumped onto the rubble, looking for any indication of Mai being there. She prayed the girl was in one piece. Literally.

"Mai! Where are you?!" Aiko called out, the desperation on full display.

Orikanyo Ganryu KageYuuki shadowdude505 Kimiwriter

 

[KageYuuki]

Akira
"No?" Akira kept her gaze focused on Kuren as he ducked and tried to attack her other leg. "Tch, idiot." Before either tessen could make contact, sharp spikes of bone grew from her standing leg towards him. Similar spikes appeared all over her form, blocking the thrown shuriken and offering a nasty surprise for the Inuzuka barreling her way.

Dance of the Larch

"Attracted to innovation?" Akira finally looked over at Hotaru, "You and Master Daisuke would get along rather well then." Snorting, she gestured to the macabre display her body had become, "Is this not interesting enough for you? I could do more," With a flick of her wrist, five small bullets of bone were flying towards Hotaru. At the rate they were spinning, the bones would end up buried deep in whatever they struck.

Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets

AtlannianSpy Hanarei loyalwolf

 

[Ganryu]

Mai Sanada - Squad Six (&& Five)

...​

 

[AtlannianSpy]

Hotaru Hagano
-Squad 7-
​

Hotaru's eyes widened as she caught the motion of Akira's wrist and the white flash of something moving incredibly fast towards her. The genin sunk into the ground and leaned backwards out of the path of the projectiles, not quickly enough to stop the lowest of the five skimming across her cheek and leaving a bright red gash.

Hotaru would have loved to speak up, to tell her opponent that this was certainly interesting enough to warrant her attention and that she couldn't wait to explore this fascinating ability of hers. Of course if Hotaru opened her mouth right now she'd get a mouthful of dirt and besides she had more important things to worry about. For instance the fact that Ashi was about to impale herself on a bristling array of bone spikes.

Ashi would need something to kick off in order to change directions and avoid the trap but there wasn't anything like that close enough. Unless Hotaru provided it. Quickly she began to weave the handseals for an insect clone, but instead of using the moths inside her bag to form the clone like she normally would, she focused on the cluster of moths she had directed to fly over the battlefield, using the larvae they were carrying to supply them the necessary chakra. The clone appeared suddenly in midair and began plummeting downwards, putting it on an intercept course with Ashi.

"Ashi! Use me to change direction!" the clone shouted urgently as it fell, the impact would destroy the clone but hopefully it would be enough for Ashi to divert her course, after it was destroyed the moths inside of the clone could go harass Akira anyway. Meanwhile the larvae that the moths had been carrying up until now no longer had anything supporting them and they began to fall as well, raining over the battlefield like fleshy, white hailstones. Inevitably some of them would fall where Akira was standing and if they managed to land on her they had been instructed to attempt to bury into her flesh and drain her chakra. This wouldn't be nearly as effective as Hotaru had originally hoped, for starters far fewer of the laravae would actually end up on Akira and she would likely be aware of them before they had a chance to land and start burrowing but it was something to contend with at least.

Underneath the ground the real Hotaru swam to a new position to pop her head up from. She was anxious to see what was going on but also equally anxious to ensure she didn't end up with a face full of those nasty bone shards.

Hanarei
loyalwolf
KageYuuki

 

[InsaneAsylum]

Katsumi Nonoba​

Just before the kunai struck the post, Katsumi let out sudden gasp. Her head jerked towards the source, a Mist Ninja sitting atop a bloody pile of bodies. It wasn't the blood or the bodies that unnerved her, but the predator-like expression on the ninja's face. They didn't look at the trio, but he spoke, giving them... orders? They'd be paid? A-Rank mission? It didn't compute for the poor frightened girl. Not only that, Nagisa spoke like she knew the ninja, and proceeded to add onto the plan.

Katsumi accepted the coat from Nagisa. "W-why is the e-enemy helping us?" Katsumi asked her, as she put it on. The coat was slightly too large for her. Katsumi took off her Konoha headband, and dropped it on the ground. She gave it one last look before she tied the Kiri headband around her head. She felt uncomfortable, as if she was doing something against the rules.

If Nagisa and Yuuki weren't freaking out, then neither would she. Katsumi formed a handsign, transforming into a taller young male adult. She still wore the same trench-coat, and her mist headband gleamed on her forehead.

Whomever this Mist Ninja was, he told her to save as many med-nin as she could. It sounded like the smartest plan, so that'd be the plan she'd go with. The transformed Katsumi wiped her eyes one last time, the redness hidden by the Jutsu. No more crying, Katsumi had people to save.

KageYuuki AtlannianSpy

 

[Kimiwriter]

Sei Teshima, Squad 5 (observing Squad Six)

Sei groaned. Why did everyone think loud and bombastic entrances and exclamations before a fight was a good idea? Even the enemy Jounin pointed it out; they were supposed to be ninja. Ninja! Faceless beings who struck from the shadows. Why was it so hard for people to understand that?

Shaking her head, she focused on her genjutsu. It didn't seem to be working. Either the enemy knew the jutsu or wasn't concerned by clones. Possibly both. Okay, it doesn't seem like he's noticed me yet. Maybe I can--

Mai attacked the man and failed. Then the Jounin released senbon at Misumi.

No! Raising her kunai, she manipulated her clones to do the same. As one, the clones released their kunai and Sei threw hers. She pulled back behind the wall as soon as the kunai left her hand. She didn't think he'd seen her.

Think. Think! What do we do? What can I do? Pulling out two more kunai, she laced them with poison. There's Poison Mist but I'd have to be close to him in order for it to be the most potent and even then the cloud might hurt my friends. I could summon Kuro and have him bite the ninja, but how would I do that without drawing too much attention to myself. I could do another genjutsu but he's not even paying attention to this one. Is it too weak? She peered out at the jounin. If everyone would just work together to retreat, this would be so much easier. Why is everyone so keen on fighting this out?

Coward. She could imagine Kuro hissing the word in her ear. It's your job to fight and defend. That's what they're doing. That's what you should be doing, not hiding behind this rubble like a child.

Sei looked around, just to make sure the snake hadn't appeared on his own.

Convincing herself the jounin hadn't noticed her yet, Sei made her clones move around, some faster than others, just various paths and approaches. She waited for one to pass her before moving out into the crowd of her mimics, cautiously moving to another position. The best bet at the moment would be to continue using her clones to hide her poisoned kunai attacks. If an opportunity arouse, she might be able to get close enough to actually strike. Or, better yet, she'd be in a better position to assist the others with their attacks. She hoped.

Orikanyo Ganryu KageYuuki shadowdude505 InsaneAsylum

 

[shadowdude505]

Misumi Sarutobi​

Misumi readied herself as she prepared to deflect or dodge the incoming senbons. She had tried to be stealthy by using the clones created by Sei, but it looked like the enemy jonin had spotted her anyway. She would have been angry at herself if the opponent had been a genin like herself. She appreciated it as Hideki blocked the senbons. She wanted to verbally think him, but then realized that she could give her thanks trough actions instead.

Misumi wanted to help fight the jonin, but the heavy blow he delivered to Mai reminded her that they were on different levels when it came to ninja skill and power. The genins would need to be smart to be able to stall the jonin long enough for help to arrive and to survive the whole ordeal. "Sei, call for your sensei," Misumi said in a serious tone. Koma did say to call him if they ran into an enemy jonin. She wasn't quite sure how, but Sei or Yukari might know of a way. She decided to ask Sei to do this because she had said she's better at support than close combat fighting and figured Yukari would try to get closer to the action.

Misumi began to leap and climb her way up to the roof tops and started to run in the general direction of the jonin, not directly at him, but trying to get close enough to be in throwing range. As she ran she attached wires to her shurikens. If she can manage to wrap one around the jonin's arm or leg, then she could roast him using the Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique. She wasn't sure how Hideki was going to try to fight the jonin, but she was planning on using his attack as a distraction. If Hideki was going to initiate close combat with the jonin, she'd have to give her fellow genin a little heads up before sending fire down the wire.

KageYuuki Kimiwriter Orikanyo Ganryu InsaneAsylum

 

[loyalwolf]

Seeing several bones pop out all at once from the woman's body shocked kuren but he had to recover quickly. He forced himself backward to create some distance from the armored women, throwing one of his fans on the ground in the process. He then reached into his ninja pouch for a smoke bomb and quickly throw it to cover his movements and to cause more of a distraction for his dodge. He then jumped and move to the left to not only avoid any follow up attack, but continue to create distance from the women. “Seems as if close-range attacks aren’t going to work with you.” Kuren inspected his arm and saw he had a few gashes and realized he might not have reacted fast enough to completely avoid the attack. Either way he avoids the worst and that’s all that matters. he still prepared himself for any other attack that could be directed his way.

He looks over at Hotaru and begin to speak to her. “Looks like Ashi and I are at a natural disadvantage against her, Hotaru. Our Taijutsu is easily countered by her strong bone's ability." As he was speaking, he began to spread his spore through the area around him. He wanted to follow up Hotaru’s larva with an infection of his own. By infecting the inside and outside of her body, they could easily win this battle. Luckily, he didn’t need an open wound to infect the inside thanks to the natural opening of the body. The ears, mouth, nose and eyes are all variable area for his spores to begin growing and spreading. Although kuren could no longer attack from close range, the bones where still organic matter so his fungi could grow and begin decomposing them once they take root. AtlannianSpy Hanarei KageYuuki

 

[KageYuuki]

Yuuki Uchiha: Squad 4
Yuuki tensed as he saw the kunai barely missing Nagisa, he instantly reached for his sword. Though once he heard their supposed attacker talk and start juggling a kunai between his hands, the genin sighed and forced most of the tension from his form. He was still on edge, however. It was hard not to be. Not with all the battles raging throughout the village.

The Uchiha couldn't help but frown at Nobushige's little comment on him still wearing his jacket. Sure the thought never occurred to him, but unlike some squads of genin at least they hadn't taken off in a blind panic. With a low grumble and a moment of fussing with pouches, he pulled his jacket off and tossed it through a broken window. His headband was next, though the genin was more hesitant to discard it like he had the jacket.

Glancing over at Katsumi, he lightly nudged her, "It's Sensei..." His attention returned to Nobushige as the jounin filled them in on the details, "The Mizukage...?" Well, that just made their little mission that much more dangerous. It also explained how the hospital was seemingly level with a single jutsu. Yuuki's eyes narrowed at the Mist headband he'd been given. If only he were strong enough to get some answers from them...

He looked up at Nagisa as she muttered her frustration, it was strange how one of her arms looked like it was glowing. Why were they all seemingly frustrated by him? It's not like he was wearing the clan emblem anymore. Plenty of shinobi carried swords. Snatching the tossed sunglasses, he took a moment to glance at his reflection.

Oh.

Well, that explained a lot of things. The colors around everyone, the sudden clarity in some of Nobu and Nagisa's more subtle movements. He should have been able to put two and two together on his own. Though hell literally breaking loose around him kind of made it difficult to pause and think for a moment.

Pulling the clothes on, he wove a few signs and transformed into a rather nondescript Leaf shinobi. Looking over at Katsumi, he sighed before poking her on the headband. "Wrong village."

 

[Hanarei]

​

Ashi darted forward towards Akira, her spin at full speed set to crash right into her. It was at that moment she witnessed the bones shooting out through her skin acting like spikes. As brash as she could be, even Ashi knew better then to strike directly into it. Unfortunately for her, changing direction to such a large degree was difficult to do. No matter how much she diverted her body, she would end up being grazed by the bone moving to either the left or right side. She began to steer a bit left, preparing for the worst when Hotaru's clone suddenly appeared, falling forward speaking up directed to her. She growled a bit in frusteration, more directed towards the weird smelling woman then Hotaru. She wasn't fond of having her attack disrupted. It was bad enough she couldn't go calling her attack out.

"I got it, I got it!" She shouted out, a bit of her frusteration noted in her voice as she suddenly shot her leg off, kicking off the clone suddenly changing her direction much more to the left still continuing partly forward. She reached over, grabbing quickly at two kunai. It was far from the most ideal ways but she planned on trying to get at least some sort of attack off. She tossed the kunai, timing it as best she could. The one zipped up, just missing striking her head by a few centimeters. The other Kunai however seemed to hit the mark. It flew directly towards her, set to strike just between her arm and her chest a few inches below her shoulder in height.

Ashi landed, getting quickly onto all fours standing alert. Her eyes darting on her as if growling in response staring at the woman. She wasn't fond of her bones being in the way, seeking desperately for some way to bypass them. Her attacks were far from precise. While she could attempt a normal punch, it was far from something her general hit and run techniques were very good at delivering and she would be put in a dangerous close range situation with the woman.

loyalwolf KageYuuki AtlannianSpy

 

[KageYuuki]

Gou Uchiha
Sage of Shadows
Gou sighed, setting aside the last piece of paperwork for the day. The Chuunin Exams always brought so much extra work in with them. Between coordinating with the other villages and the exam itself, not even a byakugan user could find his desk. Hosting the exams did little to help.

“Yuuki’s probably still out with his team,” the Kage mused, glancing at the clock. “I’ll have to try and catch him later.” According to Ago’s reports, all of that year’s graduating class had passed the first portion of the exam. But it was only going to get harder from there.

Reaching over to a small side table, he picked up the cast iron teapot that sat beside the desk. Seemed there was still one more cup’s worth inside it. Before Gou had a chance to pour it, numerous explosions began tearing through the village, sending the small ceramic cup to shatter on the floor. “The hell?” The blasts were far too numerous and scattered to be another one of the Sanada’s celebrations.

From the large windows at the back of the office, he could see everything clearly. The pillars of smoke rising from the explosions, mist overtaking the center of town, the large wave that took out the hospital… The village was under attack and there was little time to stand around and watch. Grabbing his sword, Gou leapt out from the window to the streets below. He was soon flanked by Jounin and Anbu alike, each with updates on what little information there was at the moment.

If it really was an all-out attack from the Mist… “Find and neutralize the Seven Swordsmen, they cannot be allowed free roam of the village.” It was time to find the Mizukage and get to the bottom of things.

A voice called out from a building near the Hokage. A man who was elegantly dressed, and who stood out against the rubble around him with his odd presence. The most notable oddity? His calmness. He held a book in his hands. He was waiting for the Hokage, and for the ANBU. He motioned for the group to stop.

“Dear Lord Hokage? Would you like information on what’s going on before you move? I have a plethora of information you might find useful. Such as the Mist is intruding through summoning circles, all seven swordsmen are here, and the Mizukage himself just attacked the hospital. One of the swordsman is missing his blade, Kubikiribouchou, and blames the Leaf. The Mizukage’s child was recently murdered by a relative of yours. In addition, they have hired a terrorist group called the Yoake. If you ask anything specific, I might be able to help you.”

The moment he spoke up, the man was quickly surrounded by four ANBU, weapons drawn. “Who are you?” One demanded.

“You seem to know a little too much of what’s going on,” another added warily.

Gou frowned, blade already unlocked from its sheath. Yoake was a name that had been coming up more and more as of late, though it wasn’t the first time one of the Great Villages hired rogue shinobi. “Who are you stalling for?” Behind him, small beetles left the sleeve of one of the Jounin.

“Counter question. Who trained you, Aburame? Think about your relative positions. Please reposition yourself before you try to restrain or attack me. Might I suggest you atop, the one with a kunai should take behind me. The one with a blade should attempt to get my attention, and the last I’m assuming is a ninjutsu specialist or genjutsu. He should stay by the Hokage.

The Hokage is a busy man. I will answer his questions. I’m stalling for my friends, who will be destroying a different village in approximately 54 minutes. And an enemy of mine. The Stingray. I’m not exactly fond of him, but he did ask. It might help if I were to give a hint to who I am though. Oh, and if any of you move as I draw my headband out my bag, I’ll down the four ANBU in an instant.”

Kurou reached into his bag, his book held somehow menacingly, and pulled out a headband.

The ANBU remained silent, they would have struck had Gou not motioned for them to hold. While everything the man had said could easily be a lie, information was still valuable with so little to go on. The Hokage frowned as he studied the familiar swirling pattern on the withdrawn headband, despite the deep cut marring it he recognized the emblem.

“What would a former shinobi from the Hidden Whirlpool have to gain from helping attack two different villages? Revenge?” Even if he didn’t resemble any Uzumaki Gou had met over the years, chances were high he specialized in seals then.

“I can see why you are the Hokage. You seem to be the smart one. I’ve been nothing but honest, I can’t imagine for the life of me why the ANBU thought I was lying about repositioning.”

Kurou opened his book. An explosion of papers engulfed the four ANBU and Kurou. A second later a flurry of them shot a little higher up on the roof, reforming into a man holding a book cover. The rest of the pages quickly returned from below into the book. The ANBU were gone, sealed inside his book.

“Forgive me, they were retarding the conversation. I’ll return them afterward. I mean, this is the part where I break into a villainous monologue of why I want to attack the villages, why you all are the evil ones, and so on and so forth. But I don’t think you care. What you care about is your village. And right now the Mizukage is destroying it. And if you leave me, then I’ll be destroying it. I do hate to play the cliche. Let’s just do our roles. ”

Kurou let go of the book. Instead of falling, it floated around him, a few loose pages floating as well.

“Lord Hokage,” one of the Jounin stepped forward, brandishing a staff. “We’ll hold him off, you should continue to the Mizukage.”

Kurou raised an eyebrow. The pages in his book began to turn very quickly, and air around them began to get very heavy. It felt like a tailed beast was staring straight at the group.

Out of the book, orbs of chakra dispersed. 8/10’s were black, 2/10ths were white. They started to regather in a single black orb.

Gou’s eyes widened slightly, he recognized the feeling in the air, the sight of the gathering chakra. It was just like that night with Sadao and the Ninetails. His own chakra surged and his Sharingan changed, three tomoe becoming one spiral. The orb itself began to twist and distort, soon disappearing altogether.

“Get out of here,” the Hokage’s voice was strained ever so slightly. “Take this information back to the Jounin commanders and have it relayed. Now!” The Jounin hesitated, taking a few shaky steps back before finally leaving.

“Are you sure? I mean, now is the time generally suicidal mooks would rush me for some dumb honor, or because they could obviously impact this power struggle. Or the small little detail nobody knows where we are. We are a forgotten realm. Oh, and before you lot leave, for the slow among you, I am the new Sage of Six Paths. You could call me… the Sage of Shadows. Or, for the REALLY slow among you, I’m the jerk who’s been befriending all the Bijuu that you keep enslaving.”

Kurou began yelling as they left the area. His Tailed Beast Bomb suddenly disappeared in a flash at the Hokage’s… something or other. Some ocular jutsu, Kurou was sure. He took a deep breath. It was good to see that jutsu of the Hokage’s. On one hand, Kurou wasn’t any worse for wear. On the other hand, it was borrowed chakra. He had a limited supply of what his friends had given him. Well, it’d be selfish to depend completely on their power. Kurou began his first series of jutsu, his hand passing by pages in his books, seals appearing across pages.

“Well, that explains a lot,” Gou reached for his sword, “You’re looking to get one of the last Jinchuuriki out of this then, aren’t you.”

“Not particularly. More a staff. The other bijuu assure me Kurama’s a dick. His time’ll come, but I suppose I’ll wait as a penance to him.”

“Can’t say that conflicts with the stories I’ve heard over the years,” in a flash, Gou was on the roof with Kurou, channeling wind chakra into his blade as he drew it. “Kurama though… No one’s ever gotten his name.”

“Have you ever asked?”

Kurou’s book was about as alive as ever. As the blade flashed, a poof appeared from the book, dumping the ANBU sealed from earlier in front of it. If the Hokage’s blade was as sharp as acclaimed, it would meet almost no resistance from his subordinates. Kurou just needed some to give himself a moment to dodge. The Hokage was much faster than him. As he lept back, four sheets of paper fired straight down onto the roof.

Just as Kurou thought, the blade hardly slowed as it cut down the dazed ANBU. Gou cursed under his breath, there wasn’t any stopping a swing like that before it struck. Perhaps the only solace was that they would have been dead before the pain hit. A gust of wind followed the Hokage’s attack, forming a blade of its own as it tore through the air, tearing the hem of Kurou’s robe as it passed under him.

Gou wasted little time in joining Kurou in the air as he moved to bring his sword down on the man’s head in a vertical slash. Another blade of wind following the sword’s point.

At Gou’s dive, the four tags on the ground shone, a barrier rising up as soon as he was between the points. The sword strike would hit the side and yet wouldn’t break it.

Jade Books of Heaven: Yomi

Kurou honestly looked a bit unnerved. The Hokage was fast. Far faster than anything Kurou had had to deal with beforehand.

“I should likely thank Daisuke later for the training simulations…”

Still, Kurou just had to hold him off an hour. It suddenly dawned on him it was a little harder said than done. Still, his friends were about to get hurt in their efforts. It’d be unfair if Kurou wasn’t putting in at least a little.

The barrier was one of Kurou’s proudest jutsu. It was a barrier as strong as the one it contained. Precisely because of this Kurou was readying himself. The Hokage would find a way out. He’d shown himself no slouch when it came to thinking. Which is why annoying him might prove to be an advantageous attempt. He stroked a finger across his book creating more seals.

“I hear tell your wife worked at the hospital. My condolences, Lord Hokage. I was honestly surprised the Mizukage would choose to be so vicious. And from what the Jade Books of Heaven tell me, he’s still there. If there’s a bright side, from what you showed me with your subordinates, it's probably good for her health that you’re not there. Even the Hokage’s crueler than I thought. Is there a kage you could recommend to me who wouldn’t murder those with faith in them?”

The blade recoiled off the barrier, forcing Gou to regain his balance as he landed back on the roof. Crimson eyes looked between the tags creating the barrier. A specialist in both seals and barriers… very troublesome. He glared up at Kurou, “Accusing me of cruelty when you used them as a shield without a second thought.”

“Because I would obviously have second thoughts about defending myself with those that did try to murder me. You seem to mistake me for a scoundrel, and after the honesty I’ve shown you. Well, Lord Hokage, I’m here to delay you, not kill you. How will you get out of my Jade Books of Heaven: Yomi? I suppose this is the easy part for me. Oh, and good news on your end. 49 minutes until the invasion ends. You could also ask me questions, I’m more than happy to chat to delay. In fact, I would prefer it.”

Despite the happy words, Kurou was flipping through his book, paper after paper flying from it across the roof area. Half said Kumo(spider), the other half said Bakuretsu(explosion). It did seem he was fighting defensively.

“Delay me to allow another you hate to continue unhindered?” Gou questioned, returning his blade to its sheath. Far from a sign of surrender, the Uchiha’s style revolved around iaijutsu. It wasn't uncommon to see one draw and sheathe their blade multiple times in a battle. “You seem like you've played a rather major role in sparking this war.” While talking, he looked back at the tags forming the barrier, trying to form some idea on how it functioned.

“War? Someone thinks rather highly of themselves, though I suppose that’s natural of your office. And unhindered? Are you admitting you are the sole pillar of the Leaf? That without you there’s not anyone worthy to be your successor and stand up to a kage? That’s just sad. I might just keep you as Hokage. You’re honestly telling me more than I’m telling you with those questions. Still, I swore I’d be honest. The answers to your questions are no and yes respectively. Is there anything specific you’d like to ask? I mean, I’m a font of knowledge. Be specific Lord Hokage. It's not often you’ll meet an enemy like me.”

To Gou’s sharingan, he would notice the cage around him would ebb and flow in strength of chakra. As he used more chakra, the cage strengthened. As his chakra waned, so did the cage’s strength. A possible explanation would come if he watched carefully the center of the cage. The four seals aligned with him in the middle, drawing out his chakra.

Gou clicked his tongue, “If you think this is going to be the only attack, then you don’t know the Mizukage too well.” Noting that the barrier had dimmed when he stopped flowing chakra into his blade he let chakra build in his hand, watching as the seals greedily lapped it up and the barrier grew brighter. “You certainly seem to enjoy twisting my words around.” It was only a hunch, but it was far better than just standing around. Suppressing his chakra as much as possible, he drew his sword and struck one of the tags.

Kurou watched as Gou cut through the barrier. The barrier was as strong as the one it held. Many ninja would flail in it throwing more and more power at it. But, one advantage to the sharingan was watching the flow of chakra, such as how it had been sapping his strength for this exact purpose. No chakra? No barrier. One could literally walk through the barrier if they’d noticed the weakness.

“My, my, it does seem you are smarter than the average nin. If it weren’t for the artifacts of the sage or the help from my friends, I might be shaking. Heh, I still might have some trembles. Well, I certainly hope I’m as skilled at twisting your chakra as I am your words.”

Kurou activated several of the explosive tags around the roof, debris covering it. Also, the structure of the roof would start to collapse, threatening to drag the Hokage with it. The explosions had one last effect, in the collapse of the roof, the Kumo (spider) seals were kicked up, threatening to tag the Hokage. In the dust, Kurou started a series of handsigns, and fell backward off the side. By the time the dust cleared, Kurou once again standing on the roof. His chakra seemed to be nearly gone.

“By the way, I’m not sure I introduced myself. I am Kurou Akechi, the Sage of Shadows. If anything were to go wrong, it would be nice to have a tombstone. If it goes right, it’s only polite to let those you kill know your name.”

“Tch,” The roof suddenly beginning to give way force Gou to sheathe his sword once more. With the help of chakra in his feet, he moved across the collapsing structure in search of something stable. All of the dust being kicked up was making it nearly impossible to watch Kurou’s actions even with the sharingan.

It wasn’t long before the fluttering tags began clinging to his haori, quickly making clinging to the crumbling structure a more difficult endeavor. Should have figured from that barrier his style would revolve around something like this. Finally, the smoke cleared to reveal Kurou once more. Gou’s eyes narrowed slightly, for having such little chakra in his body he didn’t seem the slightest bit winded.

“Kurou Akechi, I’ll be sure to remember that.” He lunged at Kurou, ripping off his haori and throwing it at the shinobi. Momentarily hidden from view, Gou dropped below his opponent before leaping straight up, blade drawn and poised to catch just under Kurou’s jaw. If the self-proclaimed sage left a clone behind, then he was clearly trying to buy time for something.

Kurou didn’t react, or rather was unable to react. Gou’s sheer speed was levels higher than anything Kurou could even begin to compete with. The bright side was, as the sword cut through him, no blood sprayed. In fact, the sound of paper tearing was heard, and the clone faded into sheets of paper… which quickly ignited. A moment later, a large blast rocked the area.

Beneath the awning, and then thrown to the ground, the Sage of Shadows lay under the force of his own attack's blast.

“He killed the clone that fast? My, my. I’d like to say I should stop underestimating him, but the truth is, I wasn’t aware that speed existed. Well, I suppose I should give him my best as well.”

Kurou flinched as he stood, his book floating in front of him. Kurou began a long series of intense handsigns. The area started to shake.

A paper clone? It wasn’t the first time the Hokage had seen a technique like that. Rather reminiscent of a certain Jounin, actually. He’d already sheathed his blade, intending to use a fire release technique to flush out the real Kurou. Though the moment the pages ignited, that plan was quickly discarded in favor of a different jutsu.

Water Release: Wild Water Wave

If anything, the large gout of water would push the tags further away from him. Not that it stopped him from being singed or knocked away by the blast. Gou winced as he pushed himself back up, none of the injuries seemed serious. Didn’t stopping it from hurting like hell, however.

 

[KageYuuki]

Shosuke Onishi
Yukari Hyuuga: Squad 5
Sei Teshima: Squad 5
Hideki Ukita: Squad 6
Yukari gritted her teeth, watching Mai get knocked away effortlessly. The white haired genin was much faster than she could move and still didn’t come close to landing a hit. This is bad… From what her byakugan could make out, the girl was still physically in one piece. But she had no way of seeing any internal injuries of the like. All they really needed to do was get him off balance long enough the group could get away. But at the moment, even that was beginning to look like an impossible feat between the six of them.

They all needed to hit him at once if they even wanted a chance at getting away alive. Something at least a few of the others seemed to be realizing. Hideki launched a barrage of small stones up at the jounin while kicking up enough dust to hide them from view for a brief moment. Misumi took to the rooftops, hopefully to try and divert his attention from the incorporeal clone and tunneling genin.

The Hyuuga turned slightly towards Sei, quickly weaving a series of hand seals. Her teammate would recognize the technique, it wasn’t one Yukari was capable of casting but the more genjutsu oriented of the two could.

Sei nodded. Ducking behind cover again, she gathered her chakra, sacrificing a few of her clones in order to have enough. She wove the hand signs.

Hazy Genjutsu.

Shosuke frowned at the chaos on the street below him. Clones ran all around seemingly aimlessly, one of the genin kicked up a large plume of dirt, dust, and small stones, yet another was on the roof running for him. Hadn’t they learned anything from the loudmouthed Sanada’s attempt? Kabutowari returned to his back, he knocked the shuriken away with a volley of his own.

“Tch,” the world around him seemed to ripple and blur, not unlike that night Himawari dragged him out to the bar with the other swordsmen. “Genjutsu?” Figured out of the six of them, one would have some level of proficiency in the art. It made keeping track of the incoming clone with sight impossible. While he should have sidestepped it, he never felt it pass. Had it changed course or was it another part of the illusion?

Once she cast the genjutsu, Sei ducked down. Already, she felt her energy draining. “Sensei,” reaching up to her earring, she touched the stone and lowered her voice to a shallow whisper. “Sensei, we need you.” Sei pulled the soldier pill from her pocket and popped it into her mouth. It tasted terrible, but she already felt her strength returning. She gathered her courage and peered around the rubble.

Hideki wasn’t fully certain what to do at this point, sure, he's underground now, relatively safe and ready to continue the whole “Protect the others” thing he planned to do… But just how was he supposed to do anything with this whole being underground thing if the person was on top of a building?

Should he… Come out? No, that’d ruin this advantage. Should he send another clone? No, it wouldn’t work twice... If he could call the first one a success at all. Wait a second, he did have that jutsu…

But.. would he be paying for damages?

It’s wartime so likely not. But…

After a bit of underground swimming to get into a proper position, the young man began his handseals, bursting a hand out from the earth as if he were grabbing the air, and turned.

Earth Release: Tearing Earth, Turning palm

Suddenly, beneath the house Shosuke stood upon the earth began to churl and roll, the sounds of creaking and splintering wood, glass and stone echoed throughout the area as the earth beneath the house turned into what could be best described as a meat grinder set on turning the very building and the man atop of it into a mess of debris and whatever lay within.

He had to come down now, surely!

With a hand seal, Shosuke forced the foreign chakra from his system. All of the scurrying clones below vanished along with the dizzying effect of the genjutsu. However, the building he stood on still shook, threatening to collapse at either moment. Either someone far more skilled in genjutsu had cast another illusion, or there was something else going on. The Jounin wasn’t too inclined to stick around and find out.

Yukari watched him return to the somewhat more stable ground, seemed she was right in reading Hideki’s plan. She was already waiting for Shosuke in a stance Sei would no doubt recognize. They just needed to keep him off balance here and they could retreat.

Eight Trigrams: Sixteen Palms

The instant his boots touched the ground, she lunged. Even if only a couple of the blows landed it would block off the struck tenketsu, making jutsu harder to cast. She was just inches from landing the first two palms when a sickening crack rang out. Shosuke’s hammer collided with her side, sending the Hyuuga to the ground a few feet away.

Yukari’s vision blurred, she couldn’t even start to think straight between the pain and the rough landing. She wanted to scream but only a pained, bloodied wheeze left her.

“You Hyuuga are too dangerous to be left running around,” Shosuke muttered, stalking forward.

“No!” Sei darted out, throwing a kunai as she tried to get to her teammate. Three strides in, she realized she’d made a mistake. Hiding would have been better. But Yukari was in danger. The next thought was . . . what could she possibly do?

“Shhiiiiiiiiiit!” the young man groaned as he made his way over to the injured young lady, quickly popping up to the surface and facing the jounin, standing between him and his target once again.

“So much concern for some noble that’d throw you away without a second thought.” Shosuke lunged, threatening to bring his blade down on the downed genin. Even if it meant cutting through the stubborn shieldbearer to do so.

In truth, the young genin didn’t fully think it through, senbon were one thing, an axe was another. Bringing up the shield he had worked so long with, he hoped it would hold up for this strike. In his attempt to deflect the blow with a bit of a thrust with the shield did not prove too effective, as instead the axe bit deep into the iron and wooden shield and sunk directly into the young man’s arm, bringing intense pain as blood sprayed from the wound.

Yelping from the pain and the force of the strike, the young man staggered backwards, hardly daring to look down at his sliced arm, twitching and bleeding heavily, he could barely feel the tips of his fingers.

He took only slight solace in the fact it wasn’t completely taken from his body… But he wasn’t sure how much longer that would last.

He stared at the man before him, taking another step back as the back of his foot was next to the hurt kunoichi behind him. What could he do? He couldn’t perform jutsu like this, and one more strike like that will cut right through him, hell he was lucky enough to take that blow.

What should he do?

What could he do!?

….A noble that would toss him away? Why was he doing this for one such as that? The words hit him at that point, did he really know this girl at all? Why was he doing this at all? Why was this guy just assuming he knows everything about a person he hasn’t met? Well, sure, she's a Hyuuga and dresses kinda weird, and sorta just made an entrance only Mai would’ve done...

Why was he thinking of this now!?!

Weird thoughts before impending doom?

WAS HE REALLY GOING TO MAKE THIS HIS LAST THOUGHTS!?

...Was this like one of those life flashes before your eyes things? Rather lackluster if he asked himself, seriously brain is this all you can do for a final moments thing? Not even a faint memory of mother? Dad? Sensei? Training together with your friends?

Lovely.

“Why are you Leaf ninja always so damn stubborn?” Shosuke growled, bringing the hammer back. Used like a hammer and wedge, Kabutowari got its reputation from being able to break through any defense. Movement flashed out of the corner of his eye followed by an angry hiss. A fireball almost as big as he was tall threatened to overtake him. Wrenching his blade free, the Jounin retreated back out of the way, already weaving a long series of hand seals.

Ganryu shadowdude505 InsaneAsylum

 

[KageYuuki]

Akira
Watching Kuren’s hasty, if not overdramatic, retreat Akira only rolled her eyes. “Do you ever stop talking?” She ignored Ashi bounding off the clone as she stooped to grab the discarded tessen, opening it to examine the blades and silk. Spotting movement out of the corner of her eye, Akira gave a low growl and swatted at the returning moths with the tessen. She either didn’t feel or didn’t care about the lone larva that managed to hit a patch of flesh that wasn’t protected by a bone.

A low clang caught her attention as one of Ashi’s kunai bounced off a bone spike. Her blackened eyes narrowed in annoyance as she discarded the tessen. “And now there’s a mongrel pup.” Quickly weaving hand seals, Akira responded to the tossed kunai with a barrage of drilling finger bullets. Far more numerous than the attack she used on Hotaru just a brief moment ago. All she needed was for at least one to hit its mark, even a graze would be enough to allow her jutsu to take root.

Without another word, Akira lunged for Kuren, sharp spikes bursting through her knuckles. Even bristling with spikes, she moved faster than with her initial strike. Delivering numerous punches and kicks, it seemed she was intent on pummeling the genin into submission. The sharp bones only made the attacks more brutal while discouraging any kind of counter.

Hanarei loyalwolf AtlannianSpy

 

[InsaneAsylum]

Aiko Uchiha
Squad 6​

Fear drove Aiko along, as she struggled to pull heavy chunks of debris from the massive pile Mai was hidden beneath. Her head spun, the beating the other genin were receiving had become white noise to the young girl. Aiko quickly found her efforts were hopeless. There was no chance she'd be able to dig Mai out of there. Aiko turned around, ready to ask Hideki to help with his earth-style.

"Hideki! I need your he-"

She was interrupted by his scream as the Mist Jounin's axe sliced into his arm. Aiko gasped, momentarily shocked. Fortunately, her desperation overrode her emotions.

Aiko's hands went to work, forming a series of handsigns. A pool of water had begun to pool up beneath her while she was trying to search for Mai. From this pool, two large tendrils of water emerged, staying low to the ground, the water tendrils began stretching their way towards Shosuke. It took the majority of Aiko's concentration to maintain those strands, leaving her wide open. Preferably, she'd have the cover of Mist to hide her, but the mist would only be her death in this battle.

Grunting, Aiko formed another handsign. She realized that this jounin probably wouldn't be taken down too easily. He'd more than likely be upon her before she could act. Out of the pool, a clone stood directly in front of her, and formed the same handsign Aiko's standing in the exact same stance. Aiko crouched down, covered by her Clone and the debris surround her. She'd only be spotted if he came close! She wobbled slightly, as she held a handsign, watching the jounin from behind debris.

The best case scanario of this situation was Aiko creating a hide opening for others to strike, and maybe even striking herself.

The worst case scenario involved being cut down before she knew what hit her. It was the more likely scenario, but she did not let herself think about it, she had to do her best to focus, which was proving difficult. She knew she should be able to handle controlling water with an active Clone without a problem. Perhaps the fear was getting to her...

KageYuuki Ganryu shadowdude505 Orikanyo Kimiwriter

 

[AtlannianSpy]

Nagisa Kanazawa
-Squad Four-​

Nagisa watched passively as one of her teammates disguised themselves as a ninja from the wrong village while the other only realized his kekkei genkai was active after being able to literally see chakra for nearly an hour.

I have a bad feeling about this Nagisa mused, deciding to keep the thought to herself in case Katsumi started to cry again. Nagisa was about to transform herself as well when something occurred to her and she decided to add another layer to their deception, it wouldn't be pleasant but it was a damn sight better than dying. Nagisa walked back over to the pile of dead bodies with a reluctant expression and, choosing the freshest, made a long incision down the dead man's arm. Then, probably to the alarm of her teammates, Nagisa used the cut to soak the bandages covering her puppet arm in the man's blood until they were dyed a bright red. Finally Nagisa unwrapped the bandages on her other arm and used them to fashion a rough sling. When she was finished Nagisa's puppet arm was heavily wrapped in blood soaked bandages and cradled against her stomach in the sling, appearing to have suffered some grievous injury to it. Once this was done, Nagisa transformed herself as well, choosing an average looking leaf girl with mousy brown hair pulled back in a ponytail and of course, one arm injured.

"Let's go over this one more time," said Nagisa through her disguise, looking carefully at Katsumi. "We are mist genin, we were traveling in a group of three squads moving up to support taking place in the downtown district but we were ambushed and most of us, including the jonin who was leading us were wiped out. We escaped but I was injured so we decided to sneak back to hospital disguised as leaf ninja and find a surviving Leaf medical nin to trick or force into healing me. We aren't from the same squad, we're just the survivors, I'm from Squad 11, Yuuki you're from squad 8 and Katsumi... Just go ahead and say you're from squad 4, there's probably a mist squad 4 as well.

Like Nobushige said let me do the talking, but be prepared to answer in case they address you directly, it's fine to be nervous, the mist genin we're playing as would be confused and scared as well. Finally... if they get suspicious, we have to be ready to strike first, we can't throw away that kind of advantage,"

Having said her peace Nagisa drew in a deep breath and nodded at Nobushige. "We're going to go then. We should be at the hospital in about twenty minutes if that matters," With that she gestured for the others to follow her and headed for the Hospital, moving in the same stealthy, methodical manner she had been using before they encountered Nobushige,"

KageYuuki
InsaneAsylum
Ganryu

Hotaru Hagano
-Squad Seven-
​

Hotaru bit her lip as her teammates came under withering assault, watching anxiously with just her eyes above groundlevel. Their enemy's ability to attack and defend from multiple angles simultaneously was fascinating and extremely difficult to counter. Ashi and Kuren had been extremely limited in what they could do and she herself was starting to run out of options. Her throwing weapons were ineffective, her moths were thinning out and had incredible trouble keeping up with the more agile girl they were fighting. Hotaru was running out of chakra too, she realized as a sudden wave of exhaustion washed over her. How many clones had she created in the last few hours?

Hotaru directed the few moths that had survived Akira's tessen to try and catch up with her and Kuren and obscure the other girl's vision while the solitary larvae that had managed to land on her began burrowing into her flesh. One larvae would only be able to leech a negligible amount of chakra alone but once the numbing powder wore off the sensation would be painful and distracting. Meanwhile Hotaru herself moved back behind an empty house and pulled herself out of the ground. She might be running out of options herself but maybe there was something in the environment she could use. While the battle raged Hotaru slipped into the empty house and headed hurriedly for the kitchen, sliding onto her knees to check beneath the sink where she found exactly what she was looking for- an ammonia based cleaning solution and a nice big bottle of bleach.

Hotaru summoned another moth clone and then steadied herself against the bench as her legs wobbled under her. That was probably going to be the last clone she could pull of tonight. While Hotaru started rooting through the kitchen for a glass bottle and a funnel the clone left to track down some duct tape. She emptied the glass bottle of its contents (iced tea) and filled it halfway with bleach then removed her forehead protector and tied it over her mouth and nose, hoping it would provide some scant protection for the next phase. When hotaru's clone returned with the duct tape ready she began pouring in the ammonia as well, as much as she dared before the mixture began to hiss and steam, then she withdrew the funnel and bleach and her clone swiftly covered the top of the bottle with duct tape, sealing in the poisonous gas. For the last step, Hotaru used some of the duct tape to attach the bottle of gas to the clone's back then had it transform into a leaf genin Hotaru remembered from the exam. Sanada something? The important thing was that that girl had seemed as reckless and taijutsu-ey as Ashi so it wouldn't seem suspicious when the clone rushed headlong into danger.

"Have I ever told you that sometimes your plans make us clones uncomfortable?" asked the clone, flexing her shoulders to get used to the unfamiliar lump on her back.

Hotaru rolled her eyes. "I guess I'm my own toughest critic huh? Listen just act like I went go get help then make sure that bottle smashes on or near her, you'll be moths by then anyway," Hotaru turned warily back to where she had left her teammates, hoping they had been able to keep themselves alive while she prepared this strategy

loyalwolf
Hanarei
KageYuuki

 

[yoshua171]

Nisekuru, KoutakuTeam 3
Konoha​

Leading on, the three got to high ground only to find someone...someone that Koutaku was not terribly happy to see. On the upside it was fairly clear where Umichi was, which was its own blessing.

Flicking the fingers of his right hand, Koutaku strung chakra threads from his fingers along his arm and side—within his shirt—to his kunai belt where they arranged wire and kunai, connecting the former to his fingers. He was armed in a mere 2 seconds, though one wouldn't notice unless they knew the practiced motion.

Staring down the drunken man as he offered them the opportunity to join their mercenary company, before approaching them with clear malicious intent.

Koutaku channeled chakra through his hands, and executed a series of rapid handseals at least as fast as the drunken shinobi, if not faster. He had really practiced for the upcoming exams, but given this attack it looked like he'd be putting that practice to a different purpose.

Noting that the man's skin was turning black, Koutaku felt his kunai finish their prep and, in a flash, drew one to his hand—it took only .2 seconds to occur. He was getting faster.

He begun spinning the kunai on his finger even as he drew another onto a finger. In the same moment he threw the first kunai and it erupted forwards in a tremendous burst of movement.

With the man a short distance from them, certainly less than 10 meters, well he was going to be out of luck in one way or another.

“Team, fan out. Disable, not kill.” He said those words aloud, before whispering, his lips not even moving as he did so, speaking loud enough only for his team to hear. “Go for lethal blows. He's going to use Earth Spear. If we see an opportunity, we bolt for Umichi's location. I'll work on a strategy in the mean time.”

He kept spinning the remaining kunai on his hand, though he'd already armed four more at his waist, though they remained out of sight. This time, this time they wouldn't try to escape from this man.

This time...they were ready.

Retro-Grey Ganryu