Gathering the Allies of the North - part 2
Asami Sanosuke
Raikage Assistant |Lightning Country, far north.




Listening to Masano, Asami subtly nodded. She shouldn't be too surprised. The idea that the Sato would attempt to learn some of the ways of those who they traded with wasn't strange. It secured better business when they would travel far north, into the borders of the Sanosuke jarldoms. If anything, Asami wondered silently how much more Masano knew. But this wasn't the time to indulge into such curiosities.
"Lord Sato," she began and speaking in Taika, figuring it would be easier for both, "I will just cut to the chase. I am not here to exchange many pleasantries but I have been in search of you for a specific reason."

"To seek an alliance." Masano calmly stated as he took a sip of his drink.

"Indeed. It is no secret that many of my clansmen are a tad hotheaded." Asami banned the thoughts of Miu out of her head. "And with the current idiotic demands of the regency council, many northerners are quite in... disagreement." Asami opted to take a sip, waiting to see how Masano would react.
It stayed silent for a few seconds before the man spoke up. His tone was polite and quite respectful but a certain caution remained present as he replied.

"I understand the situation completely. The demands of the regency council have sowed a lot of discontent and confusion among my people. However, unlike the great clans like yours," a polite smile found its way on the man's lips, "You won't find a large quantity among my people that are eager for a military career. We aren't defenceless but we are far from militant."

She nodded. In truth, Asami had expected this. The Sato wasn't renowned to be overeager to prove their martial worth. If she remembered correctly, they had tried to avoid the conflict zones and moved far north during the Great War as well. The ironic fact that the Sato clan was actually the origin of two jinchuriki who had apparently tamed their bijuu didn't seem to inspire many other Sato to take up a path in any military organisation.
"I understand that you are trying to find the best for your people. But I hope you understand that if the regency council press their demands that many of your kin and clan will be bounded to serve in the military. One way or another." Asami paused. "Besides, I fear that there is nowhere to move to this time. In the north, we Sanosuke are preparing for the worst. In the south, the Raikage is mobilising its remaining resources. It will be a matter of time before the Hojo and Alaricus make their move."

For a brief moment, Masano's polite smile vanished. He had his eyes locked with Asami's. A bitterness seemed to surface but it was only briefly, vanishing as the man replied in turn. "Very true. Only way out seems to go to the Empire if we want to avoid any conflict. But I doubt that it will be any easier to find a place in a realm that has a bad experience with nomads." Masano paused as he seemed to consider something. "I take it that you're free to negotiate terms for a supposed alliance between mine and your people?"

Asami indeed wondered how easily the Sato would be welcomed. If the rumours were correct, the Kusanagi had left quite the bad taste when they were cautiously admitted to trying to find their place within the borders of the Akenian empire. Not that she much cared for either the empire to their south or the Kusanagi. "I am indeed allowed to conduct some negotiations in regards for alliances between the Sanosuke and those willing to form a pact against the regency council. However," Asami continued, "the purpose isn't to dismantle or attack the regency council. The purpose of the alliances is to simply secure our rights and freedom. If the regency council desires to take it away, we will band together."

"A defensive pact, I see." Masano paused and took a sip of his drink. "But a defensive pact won't help much if my people are caught outside and just have to hope that newfound allies will come to our aid. Outside of their favourable mountain borders." The man slightly leaned forward. "If you want the Sato to side with the Sanosuke, there have to be some requirements that grant my people more than the promise of military aid."

Asami waited two seconds, wondering if Masano would suggest some requirements. But he waited and Asami could appreciate the clever trick. Leaning slightly forward as well, she nodded. "Fair. I suppose I can run the idea by that the Sato can stay for a prolonged time within the borders of the jarldom. I don't think there has been any cause for distrust between our clans."

"A prolonged stay? I think that if it is clear that we side with the Sanosuke that some will become quite vexed with us. Much like I imagine you would trust us less if we would openly side with the Hojo in this turbulent time." Masano replied, slightly frowning. "If we want to make this defensive alliance work properly, I would like to see that my people have free passage to travel and stay into the Sanosuke jarldoms. Or a certain area where we can stay without being threatened or any other danger."

If anything, Asami would have rather prevented to agree to such terms. Tensions were already running high and she wasn't entirely sure on how every jarl would react to such requirements to establish an alliance with the Sato. It could be likely that they would face fierce opposition due to the Sato's culture being the same from those that the jarls considered their oppressors. There wasn't, however, any other compromise that Masano would likely agree with.
"Very well. The Sato can move and stay safe within our borders. But we do expect that when conflict comes to us, that the Sato will move with us. And not just a small force but everything that can ensure that both our clans will not be subjugated to the demands of the regency council."

No smile formed on Masano's lips after Asami's words. No indication that he was content with that he got what for his clan. A firm and yet short nod was made before he spoke up. "Understood. Your people can count on mine. May this alliance see to it that our freedoms shall be guaranteed." He paused for a second, clearly considering something else. "I shall send riders to direct my people further north. If it would please your own folk, I can send some riders over a day or two. Presenting the information that we have acquired on our own, during our trek northwards."

She did hope that the freedom of her people would be guaranteed by this alliance. And that none of the jarls would be foolish enough to destroy this alliance by acts of distrust or frustration. Asami didn't need much time to consider the suggestion that Masano made. "That would be quite profitable. I am ongoing to try to ride forth to another clan that I desire to rally to our cause. But I shall send some of my own escorts to make sure that the jarls won't be suspecting that your people are part of the regency council's side."

Making a small bow with his head, Asami noticed a change in the Sato clan leader. The lines in his face became softer as his shoulders starting to hang more, what Asami examined as the man experiencing a load of stress flowing off him.
"Thanks, lady Sanosuke. I am truly grateful that you're willing to give my people a chance. We may not be renowned warriors but you can count on us."

Flashing a polite smile, Asami would wait a second. "Good. I shall not burden you any further. I take it that you know the fast routes through the passes?" She asked, deciding to add something. "Else the few of my escort shall be capable to guide your people through the mountain passes."

"We know of some routes. But I am sure that your warriors can know of better routes." As Masano spotted that Asami rose up, he followed as well. "I wish you good luck on your quest to gain more allies, Lady Sanosuke. Would you perhaps else desire to have some of my riders to escort you?"

The offer was tempting but Asami shook her head as they would exit the tent, entering the cold air outside. Small white flakes started to descend from above, attempting to keep the land covered in a blanket of snow. "No, I imagine that they would come quite handy. But I prefer that you and your people move north as quick as possible. I doubt we will have much time before the regency council or an ally of theirs will respond to our new alliance."
 

►Kukiko Yuki and Yukimi Yuki◄
►Team: Team 17 Jounin & Team 11 Chuunin
►Location: Kirigakure Training Fields
►Interactions: Kukiko Yuki & Yukimi Yuki
►Writer(s): A collab by FrostedCaramel and Jason

Making her way to the training the fields, the chuunin was in a tad bit better mood than usual when it came to doing training. The reasoning behind that surprising change was rather simple, she was training with her Aunt today. Rather than having to deal with the genin and her irritating team leader, it was somebody she much liked. She was dressed simply, as one would expect to go train. Although not nearly warm enough for the weather, but she truly was not bothered. Making her way to the center of the field, the girl looked around for her Aunt and wondered if perhaps she was early to their meeting. Surely her aunt wouldn't mind if Yukimi had gotten a little warmed up before she arrived? The girl shrugged and got to work stretching, as judging by the genin she had met she felt it safe to assume her aunt would not go easy.

”Yukimi.” Kukiko said as she rose from a puddle in the field, ”Is now really the time to stretch? Shouldn’t you have done that already?” she asked as she’d pull a kunai from her pouch and begin to toss it into the air spinning it end over end and catching it by the handle before repeating it as she spoke, ”I have a simple training for you.” she’d begin as she’d slowly walk around her niece, the kunai twirling as she did. ”A little birdie told me you rely too much on your ice… I think that’s a bad thing. So…” she caught the kunai and flipped it around in her hand, ”You’re going to knock me off my feet using everything you know. But no ice allowed.” she said as she’d throw the kunai and it would embed itself in the ground at the girls feet.

The girl was unable to stifle a yelp of surprise as her aunt suddenly rose from a puddle. Hiding in a puddle the entire time? That just seemed a tad bit unnecessary. Turning to face her aunt, the girl went to greet her but was cut off by the woman talking. Her eyes went a bit wide as Kukiko mentioned a little birdie, and immediately wondered who had been the little rat. She stood in silence before her aunt after the kunai had been thrown, not doing much of anything for a few moments. ”So who exactly thought it more important to tell you that, than me?” Yukimi said, any hint of the usual kindness in her tone around her aunt completely vanished into a flat, emotionless tone. Clearly already irritated by the situation, the girl’s arm suddenly extended as she released a torrent of water from her hand towards her aunt. She was hoping to immediately knock the woman off her feet to show she was fully capable. Though she honestly doubted her aunt would be caught by such a move, having much more experience in the field.

Kukiko could already see the hurt little girl in front of her the moment that she demanded to know who had told her that information, ”Not really important.” she would say with a shrug as she’d wait to see if her hot headed niece would make a move without thinking. She smirked as the girls arm rose up and a jet of water would roar out at her. She rose her own hand and used the same technique to counter the Chuunin’s torrent of water. The two streams hitting each other and spraying off harmlessly as they met. ”A good first try!” Kukiko would yell over the water before raising her second hand and adding another torrent of water to her own, the combined force pushing back Yukimi’s single one quickly.

Yukimi watched as her own torrent was being pushed back quickly, and instead of stopping it, she raised her arm to instead change the torrent’s path for her aunt’s face. The slight movement hopefully being hidden behind their combined attacks, although Yukimi wouldn’t get to see the results of her change. As both of Kukiko’s torrents hit her squarely in the chest and sent the girl off her feet, landing a bit away from where she had been standing rather ungracefully. Though she immediately clamped her hands into a single handsign, as a clone of herself would rise from the water near Kukiko. Making a grab for her ankles as it stood, should she not be down.
As the force of Kukiko’s water quickly won against Yukimi’s own water she’d not yet allow herself to smile as she’d side step the brief spray of water that a desperate Yukimi had no doubt redirected to try and salvage a quick victory. She took a breath and was about to speak as she noticed the disturbance in the water at her feet. She rolled her eyes and quickly froze the puddle at her feet before the clone of Yukimi could fully emerge. She gave it a smile and kicked it hard enough to disperse it before moving her gaze back to Yukimi.

”Is that it?” she said loud enough for the girl to hear her, ”Is that all you surmount to without your ice?” she shook her head and would begin to move forward toward her niece, ”No better than a genin without your fancy release huh?” she taunted her.

As she got to her feet, Yukimi glared at her aunt. ”Our release.” She corrected her aunt, crossing her arms as she looked towards the woman. ”I am better than any genin, and our release lasted me longer than my first team, didn’t it?” She hissed back. ”What’s the point of this? To show me that you can beat me without my ice? Why don’t we skip to the part where you teach me something I can do without it then?” She said cooly, still clearly upset with the whole situation. She then waited to see how her aunt would respond, already knowing full well she would not be able to knock the woman off her feet.

Kukiko kept her gaze on Yukimi as she slowly closed the distance between them, listening to her as she spoke. She didn’t let the displeasure she had about her nieces comment about being better than any genin show on her face but it left a bad taste in her mouth as she neared. ”I guess you could give up. But there has to be something in that stuck-up brain of yours that can knock me off my feet.” she said as she’d raise a hand to her chin as if thinking for her niece.

”Or are you truly so reliant on your release that it’s all you can really do?” she said as she’d drop a hand to her side and pull a kunai. Giving it a quick twirl she’d move forward, sending a lazy slash at Yukimi’s chest as she closed with her.

”I know when I am bested, Kukiko.” She said simply, before continuing as she moved out of the way of the slash. ”I am but a chuunin, and we both know full well I only made it this far off my release. You on the other hand, a Jounin and one who has survived multiple conflicts. So I would appreciate if you stopped talking down to me, and we did something productive.” As she said this the girl took another step back. She knew full well that engaging in hand to hand would be nothing but an embarrassment for herself, and at this point would it really provide any benefit? Her techniques were easily enough countered, and she didn’t know much else than her release. It had been one of the few things she was ever good at.

Her niece stepping out of the way of her slash Kukiko would come again with the kunai, ”Then try Yukimi.” she’d say as she slashed in again, ”You have a kunai don’t you? Or do you not bring them with you on missions because of your ice?” she asked as she’d stop her slash and step away from the girl, ”You do bring weapons on mission right? Or do I need to get you some?” she asked as she’d begin to toy with her kunai again.

”Why won’t you just spar me? What’s wrong with it? Afraid to lose? To be bested in something you’re not good at? How do you expect to get better if you refuse to even try simply because you know the outcome won’t be in your favor?” she asked seriously as she’d stop spinning the kunai, ”And what’s to say I won’t lose? I’ve lost to genin before. They just had more of a want to try then you it seems.” she spun the kunai to face back and rolled her shoulders.

Yukimi rolled her eyes at her aunt once she stopped. ”Why would I bother using my kunai? Or sparring you? There is no benefit to me being beat up, as I have said before. We both know my release is the only thing that got me this far. I barely know how to fight up close. I’m not particularly strong. I’m not particularly fast. But I do bring weapons, Kukiko, and I am fully capable of getting them myself even if I needed to.” Yukimi said with an irritated tone. ”Or did you forget all that?” She added, giving an annoyed sigh as she finally grabbed her kunai from her pouch. She took a step in towards Kukiko and gave a slash, though the form of her attack was… lackluster at best.

”I figured maybe your father would have someone fetch them for you.” she said, her tone icey as she waited for her niece to strike back at her.

She raised her own kunai and readied herself as Yukimi came forward, but her technique left much to be sought after and Kukiko found herself with time to talk as she went about the motions, ”Maybe because you won’t always be able to use your release in every situation you encounter?” Kukiko countered as she easily brushed her nieces strike to the side, ”Try not to make it so clear what you’re doing before you do it. Strike quickly without telegraphing your movement.” she said as she stepped back and allowed her niece another chance to strike.

”Father wants me to quit the shinobi corps so I don’t end up like you. Why would he have somebody fetch them for me?” Yukimi countered, not even taking into account how it might affect her aunt. Yukimi wordlessly stepped forward and lashed out again, trying to be less obvious in her attack. Though the strike was noticeably quicker as per Kukiko’s instructions. The girl followed up the first strike with a second one, sloppy still and a hint of aggression behind the strike. ”And you don’t think I know I can’t use my release in every situation?” She practically growled as her thoughts drifted back to that horrid occupation.

”Ever stop to think maybe you should?” Kukiko pressed her niece as the girl struck out again, ”Ever think that maybe, just maybe, this isn’t where you should be?” she continued, trying to enrage the girl further. The clang of metal on metal sounded out as Kukiko deflected the second strike. She knew of what had happened to her niece during the occupation, though she couldn’t quite fully understand it she could at least use it to her advantage now.

”Never once did you think to try and expand what you know?” she struck out, a stab aimed for the girls arm, ”You never thought of what might have been had you not been useless while they executed Tsukuda-sensei? Has that never pushed you to want to learn?” she continued, leaving her side exposed to see how the girl would react. She gave her niece a disapproving look even as she struck out, ”Or do you think yourself above it all?”

Yukimi practically froze up as Kukiko taunted her about her former sensei. Any response to the mentioning of whether or not she should be in the corps forgotten. A dagger struck home as she stared at the woman who had been her aunt, and wondered what suddenly possessed her to turn cruel. The temperature around them plummeted so fast that the grass started to crunch under their feet. Yukimi didn’t say a word, instead lashing out violently towards Kukiko. First a strike towards her exposed side, then a punch with her free hand towards her aunt’s stomach. The Yuki continuing alternating between attacks in a blind rage towards the woman. In the middle of her attacks, Yukimi’s free hand flung open as it neared her aunt, releasing another torrent of water as close to the woman as she could get in hopes of knocking her off her feet.

Kukiko couldn’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment as her niece lost control before her eyes. The prim and proper asshole of a child reverting to exactly what she was on the inside. A girl with no sense of direction, nothing driving her, nothing to push her forward. Just anger and rage for Nanami knows what. She winced as the kunai sliced into her side and felt the warmth of her own blood flowing down her side as her niece didn’t waste anytime in following up with a punch aimed for her gut. She brought up a hand and caught the punch long enough to stop it from hitting before taking a step back and pressing a hand into the deep gash at her side. She continued to deflect the girls wild attacks as she pressed hard and sucked in air as pain shot out from the gash and barely noticed as Yukimi raised her hand. She knew exactly what the girl was trying to do.

As the hand rose Kukiko would drop into the water at their feet, a swirl of red apparent where she had once been in the puddle directly in front of Yukimi. She rose quickly from behind her niece and struck out with the handle of her kunai at the girls side. ”Did I strike a cord? Did I say something I shouldn’t have?” she taunted as she’d step back from the girl and place some space inbetween them again.

”What? Tsukuda-sensei didn’t deserve to die did he? We both know that. But you let him down.” she yelled as she pointed the kunai at her student, ”And you’ve not even tried to make up for that have you?”

Wheeling around Yukimi glared at Kukiko, the sense of betrayal mixed with anger obvious in her eyes. ”Father was right about you.” Was all Yukimi could say as she desperately tried to reign herself in. Her hands shaking with rage even as she forced herself to appear calm otherwise. ”I didn’t try, you’re right. I was scared of failing, and proving myself right. Is that what you want?” She replied in a shaky tone that desperately tried to be even and mask her inner turmoil. ”Why did you even bother all these years if you hated me?” Yukimi asked, feeling certain in her observation after the way Kukiko had so brazenly betrayed the trust she had when confiding the incident with her aunt.

Kukiko stopped where she was and just watched her niece as she stopped and spoke. It was obvious she wasn’t in her normal state as she tried to keep herself together in front of her aunt. Kukiko watched curiously as the girl attempted to reign her anger in and bring out her facade once more. She shrugged with the kunai, ”Maybe he was right. That’s for you to decide not me to prove or disprove to you.” she said as if uninterested in the comment.

She found herself smirking as Yukimi admitted she hadn’t been trying for fear of failing. ”So try, who gives a shit if you fail? Your father? What has he ever done for you except shut down your dreams and put you down where you stand?” she asked as she would then just watch her niece for a moment. ”Maybe I do hate you.” she said quietly as she’d point at her again with the kunai, ”Maybe your father is too evident in you for me to ever love you.” she continued as she lowered the kunai again, ”Or maybe you’re just a brat that doesn’t know when things aren’t about her anymore and you’re looking too deep into this.”

Yukimi simply glared at Kukiko as she spoke, wanting to tell her that she was wrong and to leave. But yet, she couldn’t. Yukimi simply couldn’t act on what she wanted. Whether it came from seeing truth in those words, or something else the girl was not sure about. ”I care when I fail. If I am anything except perfect, then I’ll upset father and hurt the family. I can’t do that, and I don’t like it when he’s angry.” She said simply, being silent for a moment before adding. ”And when I fail, people that I care about get hurt.” She added before looking at Kukiko once more, her eyes locking on the woman’s injury.

She stood silently for a few moments, unsure of how she even wanted to proceed. ”I don’t know if you hate me or not anymore. But you are right that I am too dependent.” She said at last, finally managing to regain her composure for the most part. ”What do I need to do? Though you can explain that part on the way to get your wound checked on.” Yukimi said, looking at her aunt and almost pleading with the woman to go get the wound looked at.

Kukiko sighed as her niece seemed to explain herself. She smiled, but there was frost on it. “Your obsession with your father is absurd. It’s unhealthy. Why don’t you obsess over not letting your team down? Your allies? Not some rich father that hides away in his study behind work and social outings.” she began as she raised her kunai and spun it so she was holding it by the point, “You’re so obsessed with failing that you allow people to get hurt just to not have to admit that you would have failed? Is that not a failure on its own?” she began as ice would form around the kunai, turning it into a solid block. She tossed it lazily in the direction of Yukimi, “Your mind is beyond me Yukimi.” she said as the ice encased kunai landed at the girls feet, “And how to fix it is on you. Not me. Nanami only knows what you need to do to fix yourself.” she finished as she pressed gingerly at her side bringing back a slightly bloodied hand.

She sneered at her niece as she brought up the fact that she didn’t know if she hated her or not and didn’t even give Yukimi the satisfaction of an answer to it before brushing her offer of help off, “I don’t need some stuck-up niece to walk me to medical, I can do that myself.” she said as she began to walk toward her niece and in the direction of the city, “Maybe take a long hard time to think about who you should be afraid of failing, and why it’s them and not your team.” she stated with a wave as she passed Yukimi by.

Yukimi physically recoiled at Kukiko’s harsh words, wanting to say something but utterly unable to find any words. A mix of emotions clear in her mind even as one seemed to win out about the others. ”At least my father doesn’t lie to his family about how he feels!” She shouted behind her in a blind attempt to lash out at her aunt. It wasn’t fair. That somebody she looked up to and trusted got to just lie and then turn her back whenever it so pleased her. Unsure of what else to do, the Yuki leaned down to pick up the frozen kunai. Staring at it for a long moment she threw the block in the direction her aunt went, crying out as she did so. After what felt like an eternity of staring at where it landed, the girl left a frustrated huff as she left the field as well. Though for some reason she picked up the newly melted out kunai, deciding to take it with her.

Making her way back home, her mood was anything but pleasant. As she stormed into her home, a servant tried to welcome her and received nothing but a glare that just about could have frozen her solid. The Yuki then stormed past her up to her room, throwing the kunai into a corner collapsing face first onto her bed. Then screaming into her pillow, Yukimi felt the tears slowly start to come forward as she thought back on the events of the day. Yukimi only having one question as Kukiko’s words echoed through her mind.

”Why?”


 
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Taking it back! - Part 1
Empire of Akino | The Rain Province | Amegakure, the provincial capital.
Team Mitsunari - 19

A collab between Jason, Talent, Oblivion and Oetje.

Summary:
Mitsunari Riojin, acting Jounin commander of the Rain province, rallies his team together for another strike against the insurgents and zealots! The team get their instructions as they are required to work together to make another step to rid this western Imperial province of the zealots and their insurgent allies.




Sitting at a table at a tea parlor he would rub his forehead, it had been done for a day now. Kona Omari’s execution, informing the public about the deaths being shinobi related. Yet also demonstrating that he was serious about what he meant, that things would change regarding the shinobi. He was sure that some shinobi wouldn’t like this new change, yet at this point he didn’t care, their job wasn’t meant to be fun. He also had to add a former ANBU demoted to Chuunin to his team after a failure. Yet this was a headache that would pass, he could now focus on more important matters. Clearing this city out of those Suzu insurgents.

The team would be given the instructions on where to meet up and what to expect. So they were allowed to bring their gear but only to be used in self defense situations. These men were to be captured alive, and civilians were not to be harmed. This was much of a task for him and a test for them.

Heading to the meeting place, Yone made good effort to hide any sign that could affiliate her with the shinobi. She was well aware that the public opinion was hitting a low with shinobi. It was as if people hadn’t learned from the previous riots and what damage it had caused. What was to be expected was caused Yone to be further cautious and wary. Certainly seeing that the last mission had been similar but the Uchiha had managed to wound a young boy. Something that Yone found just outstanding. She didn’t know all the details, or well not if they were entirely true. But she hoped that this mission wouldn’t end in a similar fashion.
Arriving at the establishment, Yone quickly spotted Mitsunari. Seemed that she was the first of the team.

”Lord Commander, sir,” Yone said with a soft tone as she made a quick salute, placing her right fist against her chest for a moment. ”Yone, reporting for duty.”

Ryu arrived not long after Yone did, having run a little bit late for the day than she had intended due to arguing with Naomi about needing to use the summon scroll. With the current climate after the identity of the murderer had come to light… Ryu was not overly keen to stand out as shinobi. Though she feared that much of her appearance still led others to that conclusion. As she made her way through the streets, she could feel the looks being tossed her way and was vaguely aware of whispers among the common man, something which made her feel uneasy. Arriving at the establishment, Ryu was able to recognize Mitsunari quickly enough and approached him and Yone. Bowing her head slightly when she arrived, then offering a quick salute towards Mitsunari.

”Reporting for duty, Riojin-sensei.” The girl said softly, seeming a bit more subdued and uncomfortable than she had before. Her actions last time still clear in her mind as she worried how it affected the other’s opinion of her, and the way the citizens of Amegakure looked at her now combining to make Ryu feel a bit uneasy in this new climate. Turning towards Yone, she once more bowed her head before speaking. ”Hello, Tsuji-san.” She said by way of polite greeting, though not expecting one in return.
Kali was the last of the bunch to arrive at the establishment, today was the first time meeting anyone from team 19. It had been a long couple of days for her since the demotion, something that held heavy shame on her shoulders, and to her, showing her face after such event made her stomach churn. She wanted nothing more than redemption, either that or death, But for now she had to roll with the punches and bite the bullet, and wait for her moment.

From what she was informed, the assignment seemed easy enough, taking in Suzu insurgents, they needed them alive for intel from what she could gather. Avoiding any harm to civilians, that was the only tricky part, seeing as how the insurgents could lash out and be unpredictable when being hunted, as prey do when they want to survive.

The former Anbu member made her way to who she assumed was Mitsunari, stopping at the table with a bow she spoke “ Pleased to meet you, Riojin-sensei ” She spoke with a steely tone.

One by one the team would assemble, with Yone arriving first followed by Ryu and most disappointingly of all arriving last was a former ANBU. He would have thought they would have been first or even second to arrive. Yet now that they were all here they could begin.
”Okay ladies, good morning to you all. I don’t intend to dwindle on greetings today so I’ll introduce you all then we will proceed on today’s matter. Yone and Ryu as you know about Kona, her place on the team has been taken by Kali. A former ANBU and if you want to know more you can talk after the mission. So Yone and Ryu, Kali. Kali, Yone and Ryu.”

Having said that he would get into today’s matters. ”As I explained in the letter we will be hunting more insurgents that lurk in the city. Their numbers have dwindled in the past few weeks, yet they still have some left lurking. Today we will be striking a hideout that has quite a few insurgents in it. Maybe ten at most unlike the last mission where they would easily surrender….” Mitsunari said as his gaze rested on Ryu for a moment.
”This time we are expecting a fight, this is why I don’t want civilians injured. We are to keep any confrontation contained to the hideout. If some do escape and head for civilian crowded areas, we do not engage until they away from them. Understood everyone?”

Kali nodded her head. “ Understood, Sir ” She gave each member a glance, they were young, not much younger than her, but still they felt very young. Both of them was even a Genin, it took her back to when she was a genin, her mindset had been a lot more different back then, different goals and aspirations, maybe she would’ve been a different person, if he hadn’t of died.

Where exactly is this hideout, if you don’t mind me asking Sir ” The girl added after a moment of thought.

Ryu’s face colored slightly as she looked away for a moment as Mitsunari focused on her before turning her attention back on the man. ”Sensei, I could have Naomi patrol the outside of the compound? That way if somebody tries to escape she can stop them before they get away?” The girl suggested softly before piping up to add. ”I'll make sure she knows not to pursue them into area with civilians.” She added before falling silent, she thought it might be useful. Having somebody on the outside helping them felt like it was a good idea to her.

Yone simply nodded with Mitsunari asking if everything was understood. She didn’t see much technicalities that could make the mission hard to understand. Perhaps not that hard to screw it up though, she thought to herself as she glanced at the other members of the team. A former ANBU? That couldn’t spell much good, Yone thought more to herself.
”Don’t mind me saying but,” Yone crossed her arms out front of her chest as she gave a sideways glance to the Uchiha, ”You expect that a panther won’t raise any suspicion? If we are even operating inside the city, that is basically a red flag shoved in their faces.”

Well they weren’t complaining which was good so far and the first one came about the location of this hideout. ”A local bar, apparently the bartender has done some remodeling to his cellar. Tonight’s one of the nights it’s closed, yet we have intel some friends are coming over to talk. I just hope that one that escaped didn’t report to these guys.” Mitsunari would answer her question before Ryu offered up a suggestion that caused him to frown and shake his head.
”As I said, if they escape the building do not pursue or confront, wait until a more secluded location. So no cat. As Yone said too suspicious. We don’t need people freaking out more.”
As no more questions were being asked he made sure to look at them all with an expression that wasn’t a happy nor motivated but a serious one.

”Now I want this to be known to you three now. I’m no longer fucking around. If you fuck up, you will be punished for it. You listen well, you follow well and this will be no problem. So no huge ninjutsus am I clear? Simple ones that won’t cause friendly fire will be allowed, yet if you have to wonder if it will then answer is simple. No. You will be made to fight, you will not run away, and you three won’t do anything stupid. Anymore questions? If not then we will scope the place out, then wait until nightfall when they gather.”

Seeing none speak up he would nod his head and stand up. ”Alright then children follow along, we have work to do before tonight.”
-----
They would travel in silence to the location which did indeed have a sign on the front door that stated it was closed. Nothing seemed off about the building at first glance. Yet that’s what they were going to find out. Looking at the three women he would briefly wonder if this would be a mistake on his part, yet they had to learn to deal with these situations on their own someday. He couldn’t hold their hand forever.
”So here is the plan, Yone I want you to examine the outside building. Remember possible entrances and exits of said building that may be used. Kali I want you to quietly and I mean quietly sneak inside. I sure hope I don’t need to tell you to not sneak in with people around. I want you to get me a detailed report on what the inside looks like, along with anything suspicious. Ryu, you will be on lookout for Kali. To cue her when she can get in and out,” Mitsunari directed as he held out two communicators to Ryu and Kali. ”Channel nine only. Any questions? If not get to work ladies, report back here when you finish.”

When first glancing at the building, where their targets would likely be in, Yone frowned. She knew that expecting any big signs pointing out that their enemies were there was stupid, she couldn’t see anything pointing out that could be described as suspicious. Trying to calm herself, Yone did desire to head in soon. Not because she was looking forward to the imminent clash but so because of the cold. The raincoat she wore, protected her quite well against the rain but the cold was still an issue.
Then Mitsunari gave the orders. Looking sideways at their leader, the young woman felt her stomach twisting slightly. Slowly nodding, Yone didn’t stick around for long. She had no questions. It did slightly sting her that she wasn’t given a communicator but if all went well, she didn’t need one.

Moving away from the place, she tried to keep herself to the dark. People in Amegakure were used to the sight of shinobi. Even despite their animosity, it wouldn’t be strange to see shinobi venturing over the rooftops. However, it would still raise suspicion of both commoners and their targets. There were a few ropes that connected the buildings. Being on top of a higher roof, Yone briefly pulled a nearby rope. It was somewhat sturdy and it brought up an idea.
Pulling out some wire, Yone was happy that she was wearing gloves. Moving the wire over the rope, she would grab both ends of the wire. Tugging again, she was sure that the rope could hold her. With a small skip, she would hold tight to the wire as she started to descend over the rope. The pace picking up as she started to close to the other side of the street, to the lower rooftop.
Landing on her feet as she released the wire, Yone would wind the wire around her left hand as she walked to the edge of the rooftop. Casting a glance at the building, she made various notes in her mind.

There was the public entrance, what she could consider as the front. An alley to the right of the building existed where she saw another door. Possibly where the staff came in? Or where they moved out to throw water or trash outside, into the alley?
Licking her lips, Yone’s eyes narrowed. She reminded herself that doors weren’t the only access or escape routes that could exist. There were some windows but nothing too large. Likely designed to keep much of the warmth inside, certainly during the cold like the winter. Once she was certain she had memorised the details, Yone decided to venture to another point to where she could perhaps spot more possible routes in and out of the building.

Ryu gave a simple nod as affirmative before accepting the communicator and locking it into the designated channel. For a moment she briefly wondered why Mitsunari had decided the girl missing an eye should be a lookout, but decided against voicing it. She would make it work, she had to. ”Let me know where you're thinking about entering, I will move if I need to tell whether you're clear or not.” She said quickly to the former ANBU, hoping her plan wasn't too bad. Once ready, she moved quickly to find a position where she remained mostly hidden in the shadows of an alley, but maintained a clear view of the inside of the building, and could move slightly to change what she could see. She also scanned her gaze along the exterior she could see, just in case they sent somebody to be outside as well.

Kali nodded her head firmly and took the device before placing it in her ear, and then switching to the required chanel. Giving it a quick test, She turned to the young girl “ I’m trusting you ” The former ANBU said with serious tone, hoping that she knew the safety of herself was laying in the hands of Ryu. After that she made her way to the ‘closed bar’, there were a few large crates that were surrounding the front of the building, she used them to her advantage, staying out of sight from prying eyes. Silently she spoke through the device “ do you see any other entrances from your point of view, I don’t want to have to use the front unless need be She peered around the crate to see if things were still silent.

Silently watching the trio from an alley where he could be within range in case something bad went down. He would watch and judge them on what he witnessed. Yone was a genin he saw some minor errors but overall from what he witnessed she was doing a good job. Ryu might need a refresher on what being a lookout meant, but she wasn’t utterly messing it up. Then he looked at Kali, he stared for an extended period of time at the woman crouching in front of some crates in front of a bar, on the street. He stared for another moment before switching to the channel those two were on.
”If you don’t stop looking like a criminal in the middle of the street Kali, so help me I will demote you to Genin right the fuck away. The objective is to get in unnoticed. Not plant your ass in front where people walk. Now move it before anyone shows up.” Mitsunari said over the communicator, not wanting the police to be arresting them instead of the actual criminals. This was still the day where people who happen to pass by would notice anyone crouching in front of a building.

Keeping a careful watch to ensure that nobody was coming by or seemed to be in a position to notice the former ANBU’s entrance, Ryu listened to the question over the comlink. Although she recoiled slightly at hearing Mitsunari tear right into Kali over her current hiding position. Given what had happened last mission, Ryu was more than willing that he fully intended on following through with that threat. ”Just the windows I’m looking through, not sure about the opposite side. I can try to move if you need.” The girl said quickly, and softly into the communicator. ”Looks like you’re clear at the moment.” Ryu added, in case the former ANBU wanted to try to infiltrate the bar already.
 
”A Climatic Battle!”
Empire of Akino
Hon clan lands

Operation:
Obsidian Blood

A collab between Alice and Oblivion

Summary: Dagrun and Madoc square off with a rather annoying opponent that seemingly counters them at every move they make. The fight for survival begins.

Being instructed to wait in the room for the other two on their operation, while also stopping whoever was coming. Madoc would sigh as he folded his arms behind his head and looked at Dagrun, before looking towards the figure who came closer to them raising a torch while saying that things were going according to plan. Lowering his arms he would snicker a bit.
[color=00cdcd]”Well I mean it’s pretty obvious were going to kill you all, wouldn’t much so call that a plan. Yet if it makes you feel better then yes. You know what the plan is.”[/color] Madoc said as he pat his pack and glanced at Dagrun before looking back at the messy haired woman.

[color=00cdcd]”Telepathic bond, mind stuff, ask later. Got a plan then think it. Otherwise I recommend you get her to hold her ground long enough for me to control her.”[/color] Madoc said before weaving some handseals, reaching into his pack and threw some shuriken at the woman. Madoc then slammed his hand forward sending a gust stream from his palm propelling the shuriken through the air towards the woman at a faster speed.

Dagrún placed her fists against her hips. Turning to the direction they came from, she did throw a look over her shoulder. The fact that Astrid and Meilin vanished behind a large obstacle didn’t do much to calm her nerves. Their attention would soon be demanded by a newcomer. Observing the smaller woman with her rather messy looking hair as atire, Dagrún threw a sideways look at Madoc.

”Eh,” the eyes of Dagrún would half close as she raised her right hand to scratch her cheek. Turning her attention back at the unknown figure, Dagrún decided to not say what she wanted to say. Hearing Madoc’s voice in her mind, Dagrún was about to reply.

”Oh please, yes. I am most curious.”

The voice of the smaller woman resonated through their mind as she would skid to the side to avoid the shuriken. In a fluid movement she followed the manoeuvre with pulling out a few senbon, throwing a few with both hands in a widespread throw towards Madoc and Dagrún.

When a voice other than Dagrun’s spoke up his eyes widened as he cut the telepathic link right away. This woman read their minds? She inserted herself into the link like it was nothing, so she either knew the same techniques as him or something he wasn’t aware of. [color=00cdcd]”Okay new plan, don’t think it anymore.”[/color] Madoc stated as he dodge the senbon the woman tossed at them, kind of chuckling to himself. A fellow mind invader though, he was somewhat entertained but sadly he didn't have to time to chat with her about it.

Pondering a bit on how to go about this, he still wanted to do his plan but how to get her to fall for it was the question. Pulling out some more shuriken he to would throw them in a wide spread manner towards the woman.

Evading the senbon, Dagrún scoffed. Letting chakra moulding and run from her core through her arms, to her fingertips, the young woman enjoyed the sensation. The sound of lightning crackling and jumping between her fingertips was quite soothing, in her opinion. Spotting Madoc throwing more shuriken, the blonde Hon decided to stay on the defensive and ready if the woman would try to advance towards them.

”Stop thinking? Is that really smart?”
The voice resonated through both their minds as the woman simply smirked. Bringing her hands together, the clap would whip up a gust that would deflect and halt the shuriken of Madoc.
”Sounds really boring. Come now, don’t be shy.”
Suddenly a piercing ring would move through the room. It was loud enough to cause some discomfort and drown away other sounds. Worse, it seemed to make the world seem hazy for both Madoc and Dagrún.
”You both seem troubled, hahahaha!”
The woman’s voice once more resonated through their mind, though faintly as the loud rings echoed. Pulling out some senbon, the smile of the woman would grow into a large grin.

And her voice was back which cause him to chuckle as it was silly for him to think he could just cut the link off, although he had some guesses now about what this woman could truly do. To make some matters worse a loud ringing sound pierced the air causing his vision to become a bit hazy. A genjutsu perhaps? Well things were certainly escalating faster than he would have liked. Seeing the woman pull out some senbon, he placed his hand on the ground and tried using his sensory on the area around them.

He picked up the source of the sound, turning his head slightly to the senbon which were radiating waves to fill the entire room. [color=00cdcd]”She did something to the senbon. They are radiating chakra. That would be my guess on the sound, that or she is just really fucking noisy.”[/color] Madoc said as he would pull out a kunai and tossed it at one of the senbons to see if breaking one would shut off whatever she was doing.

”Annoying little,” Dagrún mumbled in Chonobi as her eyes narrowed. The fact that this woman could pierce their minds was frustrating. Did that mean that they couldn’t think of anything? Or could she pry into their memories to learn what they knew? If anything, the woman did reveal she was capable of wind release. Which was pesky but not entirely impossible to work around.
Then the loud sound came up and Dagrún’s thoughts came to a crashing halt. Trying to keep focus on their enemy, she wanted to make the sound stop. Was it what the woman had produced before, that gust? Unable to hear what Madoc said, Dagrún would start to gather chakra into her left hand. It seemed small but the sharp blue revealed the density of the small mass. Aiming, Dagrún would lash out as if she was wielding a blade. A crescent of chakra whipped out of the movement, slicing through the air towards the woman.

”Tsk tsk,” the voice of the woman resonated faintly into their minds as the loud rings continued on. The woman did nothing to stop the action of Madoc. The contact of the kunai upon the senbon briefly seemed to break the loud ring but it was for a mere split second as it then continued. Even louder than it did before.
The sweep of chakra forced the woman to move aside. But her movement showcased she had little trouble to avoid an attack from the other side of the room.
”Now, now. Just give up. Just sleep.”

A slight pause in the sound when his kunai came in contact led him to believe that was what they needed to do, only for it to come back louder than the last time. Gritting his teeth as he glared at her through the pain, watching as she dodged Dagruns attempt at attacking her. Making it look as if it was child play, even telling them to go to sleep. [color=00cdcd]”Tempting but I must insist you go to sleep first.”[/color] Madoc thought to her as he pulled out two daggers blowing some wind chakra onto them, embedding them with a green hue as he swung both of them horizontally at her sending two arcs of wind towards her.

”I am going to crush that throat,” Dagrun sneered in the Chonobi tongue as she noticed that her attacked missed. Trying to focus through the pain of the loud ringing in her ears, Dagrún considered something. Pulling two smoke bombs out of a pouch, she tried to catch Madoc’s attention by pointing at him before throwing the bombs to cover them both up in dense smoke.

Almost playfully did the woman dodge the two arcs, landing on her feet as a kitten that just hopped from a fence. Seeing the other side of the room covered in smoke, the woman placed her fists against her hips. ”Now, that isn’t very fun. Come now.” She said as she produced an explosive tag from a pouch, while pulling some more senbon with her other hand. Throwing the tag away from her, the woman was about to throw the senbon at the smoke in a widespread fashion. Only to be halted as two large hound-like beasts of lightning sprinted out of the smoke, racing towards the unknown woman.

The sound just kept pounding into his eardrums, the pain only increasing as time progressed. He heard something come from Dagrun, which was quiet at most but also what he did hear made no sense to him. What he did understand was what she was going to do with the smoke bombs. With the dense smoke covering them, it did prevent her from seeing them which was good. The sound however wouldn’t be blocked by the smoke. So while that annoyance was still a factor, he could still keep a tab on this woman.

Sensing where she was, he saw two masses of chakra running towards the woman. A move performed by Dagrun no less. Yet he saw the woman throw a tag which had chakra traces into it. Gripping his knives he sent two arcs of wind. One to cut through the paper. And one to the side of the woman just to aid Dagruns lighting beast rip her apart.

Faced with the multiple of attacks, the unknown woman evaded one of the lightning beasts that lunged towards her. Forming a seal, she seemed to expect something. Only to throw a glance at the direction of her tag. Which had been cut in half.
Another arc of pressured air soared towards her, whipping up dust and pebbles in its wake. Blue chakra started to radiate and surround a long knife that the woman decided to brandish. But instead of facing the pending attack, she would skid to the side as the lightning hounds moved in on her.

Slipping through the attacks, a smirk started to flow on the woman as she was about to comment on something. With the smoke dwindling down, she got sight of the two combatants of Team 4.
”Nice try.~”

”Choke on that!” Dagrún grumbled as she would direct her lightning hounds forward, not towards the woman that was about to try to distance herself. Instead, they collided against the strong arc of pressured air from Madoc. A sizzling sound only lasted for a split second, being the herald of a massive explosion as the two violent nature jutsu clashed.
The gust that was produced by the explosion whipped up dust and pebbles, almost blowing Madoc and Dagrún off their feet. Holding her arms out front of her face to protect her from the flying debris, the blonde Hon scoffed loudly as the dust would settle down. No longer were either Madoc or Dagrún tormented by the loud ring from the unknown technique of their opponent.
”I think I got it,” Dagrún mumbled. She shot a sideways glance at Madoc. ”She needs visual to be present in our head.”

As the dust settled down, they would see the result of the explosion. Panting slightly, the unknown woman was injured. There were various crimson coloured stains, particularly at her right side. Her right arm dangled at her side, while the confident attitude was swapped for what could be described as a mixture between anger, pain and frustration.

The tag was rendered useless, yet this woman was very freaking nimble. Managing to dodge their combined attacks yet again, he already pondered the next move when Dagrun suddenly blurted something out. Shortly after that her hounds would ram into his wind arc causing the force to explode violently. Brining his arms up to shield his face from the whipped up debris. The sound that would torment them would vanish as well, leaving him to wonder if the woman was dead. Dagrun brought up that she may need visuals to be in their heads which caused him to groan a bit. [color=00cdcd]”Well that’s rather annoying.”[/color] Madoc mumbled as that was rather difficult in the present situation.

When the dust settled down, the woman wouldn’t be dead but appeared rather injured on her right side. Doing a scan of the area, this seemed to be the correct woman. No other chakra mass was found anywhere. [color=00cdcd]”Should be her. Wouldn’t put tricks past her though. Genjutsu maybe?”[/color] Madoc said rather unsure but this was a chance to find out. Weaving some hand signs, a clone would pop up beside Madoc, shoulder to shoulder. Slipping his hand into his pouch he passed an explosive tag behind his back to his other hand which he place on the clone. In another motion he threw his hand forward, sending a kunai towards the woman as his clone brandishing a kunai of it’s own took off towards the woman. He knew Dagrun could see the tag, so hopefully she got the gist of what he was planning.

”You mean, cowardice,” Dagrún snorted as she was quite content with the result of the last attack. Though, she was aware that it had been rather lucky that the woman hadn’t figured out the manoeuvre at the last moment. Glancing at Madoc as he made a clone and drew her sword in a quick motion. Keeping her eyes fixated on the woman, the blade of Dagrún’s weapon started to light up with a blue hue. The density of the chakra became so tight that a hissing sound would be produced.

The woman spat in the direction of the two but remained silent, instead of mocking them in their minds. She seemed to be more on guard. As Madoc’s clone moved forward and the real Yamanaka threw a kunai, the woman would pivot to dodge the kunai as her hands together. Weaving various handsignals, she would take another nimble step to the left and fininsh in a crouch. Holding the bird handsignal, a strong current started to become present. Essentially creating a tornado that started to sweep around the woman and expand towards the two blondes.

[color=00cdcd]”That works too.”[/color] Madoc replied as Dagrun would prepare herself for her own attack whatever it may be. However the woman so far did seem to be injured as far as he could tell. Yet before his clone could get close enough to do anymore damage, the brunette created a tornado which now posed a huge problem as it grew larger and larger. The clone backed off right away, while Madoc whistled. [color=00cdcd]”I have a joke for this but now is not the time I feel.”[/color] Madoc stated as he weaved handseals and grabbed his dagger. A green hue glew along it as he swung it and sent an arc of wind towards the growing spiral of wind.

The attack of Madoc seemed to be absorbed by the increasing wind that started to sweep more dust and debris up, growing stronger with each passing second.
Grunting, Dagrún squinted her eyes and tried to keep her footing. She tried to open her left hand, sparking lightning. But the strong current seemed to disable any attempt to gather a strong enough lightning mass. Holding tight on to her sword with her hand, Dagrún tried to launch an attack, unleashing an arc of chakra. But the chakra formed arc didn’t travel far before it was absorbed by the sweeping wind that started to push both Madoc and Dagrún backwards.

”I am going to smash you both to pulp against the walls.” The voice of the woman resonated in their minds as the wind started to grow even faster in strength, almost seemingly wanting to pick them up and smash them against the walls.

He had some hopes for his attack but it was simply nullified at the power of the tornado she was making. Keeping his footing the best he could, Dagrun tried her own attack but it was nullified as well. So trying to slice in wasn’t going to work, he had one idea up his sleeve then so if that didn’t work then this would become a rather shitty situation. She must have felt cocky again as she was back to tormenting them in their heads. An audible groan came from him he used his sensory to see she was still inside near the middle.

Weaving some handseals, his clone would move towards the tornado where upon getting closer got sucked in towards it. Only before it could get shredded, the tag on its back would activate exploding alongside the tornado. Madoc then grabbed a kunai and tossed it, only to then use gale palm shooting pressurized wind from his palm to propel the kunai faster towards the tornado. Hoping the sudden explosion maybe disrupted the tornado enough for the kunai to pierce through and find its target.

Feeling how the strong wind started to push her back and close of lifting her up, Dagrún would mould and keep some chakra at her boots. Thus solidifying herself to the ground. Holding her left arm to protect her face against the strong winds, she tried to figure out on her own how to deal with the situation.
The explosion that was set off by Madoc’s clone would explode. The warm wind together with more debris caused the Hon to groan as she briefly tried to shield her face from the annoying rocks and dust.

The thrown kunai would soar straight and fast through, the explosion giving some relief before the wind started to pick up. Just before the kunai could reach the eye of the storm, it would be slightly off course due to the winds picking rapidly up again. Resulting into the kunai grazing the woman’s left shoulder.

”Nice try but this is the end for you damned heathens.” The winds started to expand further as the strength started to increase faster. Feeling how she was being pushed back, Dagrún would try to signal with her left hand waving at Madoc.
Due to the winds, she was sure that she couldn’t make herself audible to the Yamanaka. Instead she tried to point at the direction of their foe and rotate the opposite way that the tornado’s wind was sweeping.

Covering his face as he applied chakra to his feet to keep still, debris would get thrown about which he expected from his explosion. Yet as he sensed her, he could see his kunai pierce through the tornado, but the winds set it off course by a bit only grazing her left shoulder which caused him to chuckle. Well his idea worked but at the same time didn’t work as well as he wanted it to. As the woman’s voice rang out again, he couldn’t help but feel this would be a shitty way to die. Not being torn apart by a tornado but by being harrassed inside his own mind.

Seeing some movement from Dagrun he glanced at her and saw her point at the woman inside the tornado, then made gestures that took him a few seconds to get. He wasn’t quite sure what she had in mind but at this point, any idea would be good. Doing his best to keep himself stable, he started weaving handseals, concentrating the chakra in his palms he began shooting gusts of wind in the opposite direction that the tornado was spinning. Wasn’t sure how this would stop it but either he ran out of chakra or got mutilated by a spiral of wind.

Glad that Madoc picked up her non-verbal suggestion, the pressure of the tornado was less. Grasping the hilt of her blade with both hands, Dagrún started to fuel more chakra into the steel blade.
The action of Madoc caused some confusion at first with their opponent.

”Pitiful attempt,” the voice resonated in a snarky fashion in their minds before the tornade started to sweep harder, attempting to regain the same strength as before.
Experiencing the return of their enemy’s jutsu picking back up, Dagrún gritted her teeth. But she needed just a bit more time to channel enough chakra through her blade as well hoping that Madoc could provide enough force to reduce the strength of the enemy’s tornado.

Well pitiful wasn’t far off from the truth as he kept sending burst of wind, only to feel the pressure starting to overtake him again. Glancing at Dagrun too see what she was doing, he mentally groaned as he weaved some more handseals with two clones appearing, then all three of them began to send gust of wind from their palms in the opposite direction. He could feel himself getting more and more exhausted with each gale palm being used. He certainly didn’t have enough chakra to sustain two clones using gale palm for prolonged amount of time either.

The battle of the Yamanaka and their opponent started to cause the tornado’s strength to wane and return, almost flowing back and forth. Waiting as she started to channel more chakra into her weapon, Dagrún knew that it would be a matter of time before they would be overwhelmed if the situation wouldn’t change. Spotting a chance as Madoc and his clones pushed the sweeping winds of the tornado back, weakening it, Dagrún would execute a sweep with her blade. The bright chakra that flowed from the steel started its horizontal arc towards its target. The hissing sound of the chakra, held in a dense formation, sliced through the weakened wind before exploding as it would reach their target. Effectively halting the tornado.

Nearly collapsing after her move, Dagrún panted heavily. Leaning forward, she fought against the burning sensation of using a lot of chakra in a quick succession. Her arms seemed to be on fire and holding on to her sword was quite the effort.
Trying to straighten her back, the Hon seemed rather content as the dust seemed to settle down. Revealing their opponent on her back. The outfit of the woman was painted with a crimson liquid, flowing out of various wounds.
”Heh,” escaped Dagrún’s lips as she would roll with her shoulders, in attempt to work out the burning sensation and hide her fatigue.

Dagrun would launch her attack at just the right time, as his clones would poof from existence after expending their allotted chakra. Seeing the arc of chakra slice through the tornado followed by an explosion and the halting of the tornado itself, caused Madoc to halt his own chakra usage. Panting heavily he kept staring at the dust only too see the woman on her back with a new red color covering her and the ground. Exhaling in relief he would take a few wobbly steps before sitting on the ground.

[color=00cdcd]”Well that was fucking annoying…. I so need to learn that tornado shit.”[/color] Madoc mumbled as he wiped his forehead and stood back up, he was kind of hoping she forgot what he said about the spooky mind shit earlier. That was the first time someone ever countered him in that regard.

Overhearing what Madoc said, Dagrún simply scoffed audibly instead of phrasing a response. She watched the barely moving opponent, laying on her back. Some of the blood started to colour the ground in the crimson colour. Raising her sword with great effort, Dagrún would let the blade rest on her shoulder as she stayed on the same spot. Rather keeping a distance with their opponent.
”Seems she is done for.” Frowning slightly, the Hon waited a moment. ”A worthy kill. Do you want the honours?” She asked, throwing a sideways glance at Madoc as a loud groan escaped the bleeding opponent.

Hearing a groan his attention turned towards the bleeding woman who he was shocked was still alive now. Dagrun asked if he wanted the honours of killing what she deemed worthy and rubbed the back of his head. [color=00cdcd]”I guess. Ain’t that big on honor though.”[/color] madoc mumbled as he pulled out Thief his curved black dagger and walked over to the woman, projecting a link to her mind his voice would speak up in her head.

[color=00cdcd]”So I’m curious. Did you learn Mind Reader, or is your last name more close to mine?”[/color] Madoc said as he crouched over the woman’s body putting thief up to her throat.

Dagrún frowned as Madoc replied. But she didn’t reply back to the Yamanaka, holding her thoughts to herself. Watching as the young man approached their foe, she tried to endure the burning sensation through her arms that didn’t seem to want to vanish.
As Madoc approached the wounded woman, it was clear that she was at her end. The various wounds from the last attack and large consumption of chakra were now demanding its toll on the woman’s body. Her eyes focused a hazy stare on Madoc but there was no sign of fear with death closing on in.

Madoc’s question was met with the woman spitting a salvo of mixed saliva and blood at the young man’s face. In his mind, he would get a more verbal response. ”The Maker curse you, heathen.”

Wiping the saliva and blood off with his left hand, he simply nodded his head and with a swift motion with his right hand, brought Thief’s edge slicing through the woman’s neck. Standing up he would started to walk back to Dagrun, glancing back as he shook his head. [color=00cdcd]”Well ain’t that great. Another god people wanna shove down others throats.”[/color] he mumbled to himself before rejoining Dagrun as he sheathed Thief.
[color=00cdcd]”Well she’s dead, we should probably leave. We aren’t up to fighting with the others in our state.”[/color] Madoc said as they were both basically drained from this fight itself. If anything they would be a hindrance to the others.

Watching Madoc finishing the woman off, Dagrún muttered something in Chonobi as the Yamanaka would then walk back to join her. The comment about a god being shoved down a throat earned Madoc a frown from the young woman but she didn’t comment on it. The suggestion to leave was earned with some hestiation. Throwing a look at the obstacle, it seemed for a moment that Dagrún wanted to summon some more strength to try to get to Astrid and Meilin. But the fatigue and chakra burning were enough to persuade her to give into Madoc’s suggestion.

”Fair enough. Somebody has to escort you out of these caves. Hopefully will they be fine. Not sure about you, but I would find it a sad place to lose our Cho captain. Not to mention this is my first mission with you lot.” She replied, not yet sheathing her weapon. Gesturing Madoc to head out with her, she remained silent for a moment. ”We seem to be a good team. Perhaps I won’t be needed to babysit your arse as much as I feared, heh.”

Seeing the frown caused him to raise an eyebrow wondering what caused her to give him that look, yet choose not to dwell on that. He wanted to simply get out of this place and rest before they had to fight anything else. The first part of the comment earned a chuckle, while the second part earned more silence. It would be a sad place to lose only Meilin and not Aoi? This earned her a stare as he choose to keep walking instead of commenting on that. It wouldn’t result in anything pleasant besides bickering.

When she stated that they seemed to be a good team, he shrugged. [color=00cdcd]”Well that’s always a good thing. I however feel I will need to babysit all three of you as I feared.”[/color] Madoc said stretching his arms above his head before resting them behind his head. He tried sensing for everyone, but couldn’t find them. Either they were alive and well, or they ended up dying.​
 
Team 14 of Kirigakure Training
Team 14 Training,
A collab of Jason, Celestial, Oblivion and Aliceee.

Summary:
Mika calls her team for a training. With low expectations, Mika gives her team the instructions to prepare for the training to come. During the training, Mika tries to pass on some knowledge and begins combat training. Only to be interrupted.




It was early in the morning. But Mika didn’t determine that it was an important factor whether the genin would like it or not. Once more they would be gathering at the training field where they had met before. The present winter cold made the light fog that troubled the streets, hanging low at the ground, having something ominous. Or was it because she was thinking back to the more or less recent developments? Tension regarding the public assassination of the previous jounin commander hadn’t dissipated yet. And Mika wouldn’t find it odd if a lot of theories were going around. A political assassination from a rival or an ex lover. A possible plot from the Empire to curb in the Republican’s military potential. Not that it would concern her team any time soon. First, they had to be better trained and readied for the dangers that awaited them in the future. Including each other, Mika thought with a soft sigh.
Waiting, the woman would have a hood up as a small means of protection against the gentle breezes that had a cold bite to them.

Taishiro had made sure everything was in order even earlier than before, not wanting to upset Mika by being late once more. As a result of this, the boy was already arriving at the field where they would meet pretty early. He silently thanked the Gods that he was a morning person, finding it rather easy to deal with such an early hour. He wore a thick coat, though unfortunately it was a bit worn and not quite good enough at keeping out the cold. Yet it was all he could really afford in the wake of everything going on. The rest of his funds being spent on medicine for his father, and desperate attempts to try to see if he could help the man recover from the illness which took his mother. Arriving at the training field, Taishiro paused for a second as he noticed Mika standing on the field. How early does she get to these places!? He thought, having half expected to the first one arriving at the field. Approaching casually, he stopped and gave a polite bow towards the woman. ”Goodmorning Sensei.” He said quietly before falling silent, unsure of what else to really say at the moment, and being fairly certain there wasn’t a need for small talk.

Another morning another early day to meet with the team, well more so she was going at this point cause of their sensei. Taishiro wasn’t horrible but he wasn’t great from what she seen, too linear in what he would do. Aya had forgotten the other person quite quickly which surprised even her as you would think a temper tantrum followed by bush hiding would be memorable. She just hoped they arrived early and didn’t mess around and get her punished for their mistakes.
Bringing her usual gear, her sword and ninja tools Aya would also bundle up in a warmer jacket as winter was a cold mistress. She would arrive at the field with time to spare to see Taishiro had already arrived early. This was a good sign so far as she gave both of them a smile and wave. ”Morning you two.” Aya would state to them while now she just hoped whoever their name was arrived early.

That night Aito had gotten little to no sleep. When he was told to meet so early he groaned as he rolled out of bed. His eyes dark and heavy as he rubbed them and looked out the window. Why did they want to meet so early anyway? Getting dressed he made his way to the field, slow but he made it nonetheless. Glancing up to see the other’s he yawned and once more rubbed his eyes. ”Morning.” For now he was too tired to even say much else, his brain still half asleep as he stood there waiting for whatever today would hold. His body slouching some as he eyes closed half way.
The first to arrive was Taishiro. Mika would grace the boy with a nod back. The second was Aya and once more the woman would just return the morning with a nod. Aito then showed up, not too late either. Slightly better than the first time, Mika thought to herself. Though she wasn’t entirely content. If she had to rely on them to be ready and able at any time or place, she knew that she would be in some deep trouble if they couldn’t get up early without trying to be awake.
”Good. You are all on time. Warming up is three laps around the field and give me fifteen push ups. No talking. Save your breath and focus on the warming up. After that, I want you each to answer a question.”

Her gaze moved to Aito first. ”Why do you think you can become a shinobi?” Her gaze moved to Aya. ”What do you think is your best attribute to become a decent shinobi?” Then her gaze moved to Taishiro. ”What is your worst fear of becoming a shinobi?” Gesturing that they should get a move on, the jounin wouldn’t tolerate any belly aching. Already she was moulding some chakra at her right hand if any of them considered it a smart move to offer some back talk.

Taishiro wondered if he should now start expecting a warmup of running laps followed by push ups with each training. Not that he would have any issue with said warmup, as he set his mind to the task at hand and didn’t speak a word as he went about the task. He didn’t want to experience the joy of another lashing from sensei as they had last time, and as such upped his pace from before to keep distance between himself and Aito. Once finished with the warm up, he returned to his place before Mika. He went ahead and decided to answer her question, not having had to think very long about his answer. ”Sensei, my worst fear in becoming a shinobi is failing. I fear that I won’t be strong, smart, fast, whatever enough and then that will come back to hurt those I care about.” He reported simply, diverting his gaze slightly in embarrassment, worried she might be able to tell how much said fear ate away at him. Once finished, he fell silent once more as he waited to see what would come next.

More exercise huh? Well at least this time she wasn’t being given a numerous amount of laps due to two tardy people. So three laps and fifteen push ups would be easy enough to accomplish, with that on her mind she took it a bit more relaxed than last time. Not trying to exert more energy to get away from those who got her whipped. Something Taishiro seemed to remember as he stayed far away from both her and Aito. Taishiro would finish before her and would answer the question that Mika asked him, kind of a cliche answer really. Failure was something they had to go through, hell they failed numerous times already. Yet to each their own, as she finished her pushups and returned before Mika, Aya had an answer but she wasn’t sure if this was a right or wrong kind of question.
”Honestly I don’t really have a best attribute. Many others excel in anything I could say I have talent in. I’d say my ability to learn from what I did wrong. We can’t grow without fumbling right?”

Listening to the days warm up he nodded. The question did make him ponder some as he ran the laps, slowly but surely and did the push ups at the same slow pace. He was the last to finish and he listened to the others give their answers to their questions. When it was his turn he thought for a moment. ”Well I think I could become a shinobi because no matter the odds I keep going. Well except for yesterday but uhm.. that's in the past right?” Aito scratched the back of his head and glanced at the ground. ”I just wasn’t expecting everyone to be so.. cold.” The genin admitted as he looked back up to Mika. ”Aside from that I guess my want to become a shinobi will help me continue this path.”

One by one the genin would return to her. They spend more focus and effort at their warming up. Little did they know that Mika wasn’t actually going to punish any slacking, her reasons for it not being pity but simply to keep them all on edge. The first to return was Taishiro. Receiving his answer, Mika replied back.
”That is understandable but stupid as naive. You are a genin. If you won’t make mistakes then you’re at the wrong rank or a prodigy. And I don’t believe either applies with you. People will get hurt one way or another. The world will give not a shit if it is you or the enemy. Or your loved ones.” The phrasing was harsh but she saw no good in sugarcoating the truth. ”Best what you can do is your just best. You are here to learn. Succeeding comes when you have learned something. Ask questions during training, train and learn from your mistakes.”

The next that received a response was Aya. Her response caused Mika to frown.
”I asked about you. Comparing yourself to others will not get you anywhere. I want to know what you think is your best attribute. There is always somebody with more experience, more luck or whatever. Don’t let yourself be blinded by the success of others. Make your own.”

Then it was Aito that returned and provided a response. His comment on that they were all so cold caused Mika to scoff.
”We are in the military, boy. Not at kindergarten. Keep that in mind. I am mentoring you three to become capable operatives and soldiers of the Republic. Nothing else or more. If you want camaraderie and all that friendly stuff, then I suggest a different vocation.” Pausing for a moment, she would then continue to reply back to Aito.
”Determination is a good thing. But like many other attributes and matters, it is just the question of how much is good? The stigma that giving up is a bit overdone. Sometimes you need to give up. Sometimes you can’t progress further without giving up. Pushing yourself further isn’t always going to help you in a positive manner. Keep that in mind.”

Now that they had their words of ‘wisdom’, as Mika thought in a mocking fashion, they would progress to more training. She would speak up again.
”You all have to think of one technique that you can do. Think about it and be careful about it. Cause you only can use one technique in this training. Once you have it, you just nod. I will then put each of you against another. One will use the technique and the other will attempt to counter it with their own technique, evade it or just try to deal with it. Got that?”

Taishiro gave a simple affirmative to show that he had understood the details of their next task. Although he was admittedly a little distracted by Mika’s words from earlier. He had figured she wouldn't sugarcoat anything, but it still had almost felt a bit harsh. She did however, have a point. He needed to do his best if he wanted to eventually succeed, and only then could he have even a chance at protecting those he cared about.

Shaking his head slightly to clear his mind of these thoughts, Taishiro found himself in a bit of a rough position here. He had one technique which would work beautifully in defending against other techniques, but if he had to use it against the others wouldn't exactly do much. Whereas another he had was nearly the opposite of that. After a few moments the boy finally nodded, deciding on a technique that could work for both situations. He hoped.

She bite her tongue as she was lectured about not comparing herself to others. It was up to her to define herself and comparing wouldn’t get her very far in life. Giving a subtle nod she would let Aito answer his question which was also meet with the same attitude as all of their answers. Yet what kind of success could she define as her own? With the six tails in her the odds played against her more than anything.

As she spoke again the next task was for them to think of only one technique, they would use it against the other while also countering the other’s technique. This seemed rather dangerous… Aya would look at the other two who seemed to be thinking, wondering what kind of technique they would think bested the other. Yet she had her pick so she gave a thumbs up to inform she was done.

Why couldn’t they be friendly? After all they were a team and you needed to rely on the others for missions. You had to understand each other and get along, earn trust, which meant being friendly. Huffing he looked away a bit annoyed and listened to the next task. Though he felt a bit at a loss. Most of his techniques were just illusions and well the previous training gave away both of his jutsus. If he had to choose then he would only choose the one that could actually be used effectively. Yet he felt it also would just be over seen and ignored. Looking back at Mika he nodded. Glancing over at the other two he hadn’t seen any of their techniques so he wasn’t sure what to expect. Both seemed to look more combat oriented than him.

”Okay, first up are Taishiro in the offense. And Aya in the defense.” Pointing where both should stand, keeping a decent amount of distance between them that should give the ‘defending’ party enough time to react or move away if they had to, Mika continued. ”Obviously, I don’t trust none of you with throwing a technique at each other. I will be here to jump in if I don’t think things are going to end well. Now, you two. Start.”

The boy wasn't sure if his gamble would really work out, but quickly wove the handsigns for the technique he had chosen. Not long afterwards, a heavy mist rolled onto the field and obscured the boy from view. Keeping an eye on Aya, he slowly started to make his way to his left, hoping to circle around behind her and catch her off guard in this mist.

Keeping her eyes on Taishiro as he weaved his handsigns, she got prepared to counter what would come at her. However when a mist rolled in she paused for a second. He was trying to do what now? Moving backwards and keeping his silhouette in her sights, she would weave her own handsigns. Taking a deep breath in she would pause for a second as her exhale sent a widespread of flames towards Taishiro. Heating his mist up within seconds.

First up was Aya and Taishiro. Aito stood back out of the way as he watched the pair begin their task. The boy was a bit confused when mist began to roll onto the field and obscure vision. He knew that it was to get an upperhand via surprise attack but could it be done with only one jutsu? Seconds rolled by and he looked at Aya to see her technique. Flames spread from her mouth moving towards her teammate. So she knew fire techniques? And Taishiro water? At least with opposing natures things wouldn’t be boring as he watched.

As the mist started to evaporate from Aya’s techniques, Taishiro swore for a moment. He could have sworn the technique completely obscured where he was. Either way, he had to adapt. Quickly he focused more chakra into the technique, aiming to spread the mist towards one side and become thicker at the cost of additional chakra. Moving towards the location he was focusing on, he hoped to once more disappear.

If his plan worked, he figured it might do him some good. Afterall, Aya had used her single technique. This… wasn't him using something new.

Right before Taishiro could move again, he would feel a hard smack against the back of his head. A scoff following afterwards. ”Back in line,” the harsh voice of Mika made it clear that she was anything but pleased. The instructions had been very simple. But Taishiro had apparently deigned it important to run about, trying to mimic as if he was already part of the ANBU. ”You were supposed to do just a technique or move aside, not using a technique at all. Not test my patience.”
Once the mist would be dispelled, Mika seemed to be more than willing to give a few kicks against Taishiros bottom to motivate him to move back. Then she gestured to Aito to take Taishiro’s place. ”Seems that you idiots can listen as good as a dead fish. So I will show how this training works.”

Taking Aya’s place, Mika would nod towards Aito. ”You simply perform the technique. I either move away or try to use a technique that I picked before as a defense. That simple. Go ahead, Aito.”

Watching as Mika scolded Taishiro he listened to her words as he spoke to her. Then he was gestured to take Taishiro’s place for his turn. Though he didn’t know he would be facing Mika which made him more nervous now. It was a simple task but she could easily just dodge his technique, or use something against it. Taking the spot and watching the woman nod he began to weave hand signs. His hands moved as he stood still, the jutsu taking a second to work. Just like before petals formed and went flying towards Mika. The dense barrage thinning out but getting bigger in area the closer it got to her.

Watching how Aito weaving the handseals, Mika considered once more how she would apply the technique she had in mind. Moulding her chakra, Mika would focus it towards her hands. Without weaving handsigns, she would simply raise her right hand and seemed to ‘aim’ her palm towards the petals.
A strong jet of water would be emitted from the jounin’s handpalm, the chakra rapidly being converted into water chakra. Mika aimed to just drive the petals backwards, not to try to hit Aito in between the petals.

What was this idiots plan? He made it too obvious where he was heading and she wasn’t just going to allow it. As she prepared to launch her flames again, a smack resonated from Taishiro as Mika had struck him. Followed by a lecture as she said she would demonstrate how it was supposed to be done. Having Aito take Taishiro’s place, Mika would take hers causing Aya to move off to the side and watch as Aito used what she figured he would use as his technique. Which Mika blew away with a stream of water rather easily, such was expected though.

Taishiro stumbled forwards for a moment as he turned to see what had hit him in the back of the head. Although he was quickly instead made aware of Mika’s annoyance when she spoke up. The boy had thought that using the same technique was technically within the rules, but evidently not. Still, he decided it was much more so in his interest to simply accept that he was in the wrong. Moving quietly to the side, the boy watched the other two and how Mika easily stop Aito’s technique. Not that he was overly surprised, he figured in a situation as simple as this none of them would be able to do much against Mika. Instead, he just watched silently and waited for what came next, halfway expecting some form of punishment.

This punishment wouldn't, however, come to pass. For a messenger arrived on the field and disturbed the training. Team 14 would be assigned on a new mission. Whether they liked it or not.
 
Tricking the Senses, Part 1
Konohagakure, Capital of the Empire of Akino
Training Field C
Yiko Uchiha and Karma Minami

A Collab between Talentless and Nim


Summary:
Karma gives Yiko Uchiha a training session she feels is right for the genin, following the orders of Hiron Hon and the failure of the genin to pass a test.


Standing at the middle of a training field, with her Naginata at hand and wearing her shinobi attire, Karma looked over the things she had brought with her. There were several logs laying on the ground, a couple of targets, and some basic medical supplies in a bag that sat by the training field entrance. She wasn’t an expert in taking care of injuries, but she figured that she could at the very least wrap a bandage around a bleeding area, should it come to that. But for the time being, she just had to wait for her trainee, being Yiko Uchiha, to arrive. She had sent a message the previous day to the genin, after hearing from Hiron Hon a couple of days ago that she will be training Yiko. The file on the genin made it relatively easy for Karma to decide on a training for the young Uchiha, and she hoped the genin will pay attention, as she took Hiron’s warning quite seriously.

Casually making his way to the battlefield, Yiko kept thinking back to what Hiron had told him. Running from battle to save yourself, as long as it isn’t abandoning teammates, is the smartest thing anyone could do. more useful alive than dead . He stared at the ground as this thought rang within his head, he wore his usual shinobi attire, and brought along his bag full of everything he could’ve predicted he needed for the day. It was interesting to think Karma Minami was his mentor for the day for some combat training. Hopefully this time it would involve some learning of combative skills and tactics, Yiko didn’t want to knock the advice he was given, but he wanted to learn something he could use so he wouldn’t need to flee from a fight.

Slowly approaching the training field, noting the bag by the entrance and figured it was Karma’s, he slowly rose his head to make eye contact with karma as he drew closer, keeping his hands in his pockets to keep them warm from the cool air. Once close enough he stopped and gave a slight bow “Goodmorning He spoke softly.

Watching the genin arrive, Karma would nod lightly ”Good morning. As you are most likely aware by now, I will be training you today, and I have no intentions of beating around the bush with small talk or the such. I am leading this training, and you will do as I say.” She told him, before taking out a piece of cloth out of her pocket, one big enough to serve as a bandana and handing it over to him ”Take this and wrap it around your eyes. Make sure you cannot see anything.” Karma instructed him, before taking a step back and putting one of her foot on a log that was still laying on the ground besides them.

”We will start with something simple. I will setup these logs around you, and I want you to use anything you can, except for the shinobi tools, to note where the logs are being placed. You can use techniques for this, but you must use perform any hand seals behind your back, as though your hands have been tied.” Karma told him, keeping her voice loud and clear ”Once I will give you the word, I want you to hit every log at least once. If even one log has not been hit, then you have failed. Understood?” She asked, waiting to hear the Uchiha’s response before beginning to set everything up.

Yiko looked down at the cloth that she had presented to him, then back to her and blinked a few times. “ I don’t really know such techniques… how on earth do you expect me to do that? ” The young lad asked while taking the cloth and holding it in his hands, it was rather rough, felt like it was from some old piece of clothing that was decided to better off as a rag.

Yiko gave his first question, while still not wrapping the cloth around his eyes ”The methods of counting targets can go beyond just using techniques. Just because those were the words I said, doesn’t mean the only way of going at the task at hand are by what you heard me say.” Karma told him, and while it sounded odd, she did leave him a rather strong hint as to what she expected him to do.

The young genin let out a sigh before wrapping the cloth around his eyes, it covered the upper portion of his face. Once it was tied up nice and comfortable he placed both his hands behind his back, both wrists on each other as if he was actually bound up. “ Alright, I’m ready ” the tone of his voice gave away, that he wasn’t a hundred percent sure of his capabilities.

Nodding after hearing the genin’s statement, Karma took her leg off the logs before beginning to set them up, each one in a standing position. Each one she set up was also accompanied by a thumping sound, indicating they were not the lightest of logs. A total of six logs were set up around Yiko, with the first three standing in front of the genin, each one a couple of steps from the other, but all within what used to be the line of sight of Yiko. Two other were standing alongside a tree to Yiko’s right, in close proximity to each other. The last one stood a few steps directly behind Yiko.

After setting up all the logs, Karma went and stood a couple of steps to the left of the log behind Yiko, and mimicked the thumping sound the logs made using her feet. She then made a few more steps sounds that faded away before calling out loud ”Go! At least one on each one!”

Listening to her movements, and the sounds of each log being placed on the ground, he made a mental map of what he could assume was where the logs were placed. He counted that there was seven logs in total, each log that was placed was followed by a loud thumping sound, which he could slightly feel under his feet. The genin slowly spread his feet apart to in an attempt to ready himself just gotta hit seven, each one isn’t too far off from me, but judging distance just purely by sound doesn’t help me all too much. I don’t have anything in my arsenal to really use, so i gotta rely solely on my senses, and hope lady luck is on my side Once all the logs were placed he heard her walk away from the last log she dropped, then she gave him the go.

Once Yiko was given the go, he slowly slipped off his tabi boots and kicked them to the side. He could feel the icy cold dirt under his feet, he exhaled slowly as he start to dig both of his feet into the soil, leaving a deep impression in the earth. I will use this as a reference point. He then slowly made his way to where the three logs stood in front of him, extending his foot out with each movement to feel around. He moved very slowly and cautiously, once his toes had touched the base of one of the logs, he delivered a high kick, knocking the log down. “ one…’ he muttered and felt out to his left shuffling over a little, and stopped once his toes hit another log, and did the same kick again, knocking it right over. Once he felt the thud of it kissing the earth he would move on. “ Two…” Ko then moved to his left again, and searched around with his left foot. After a good few seconds, he shuffled to the right, and felt around before touching yet again the base of the third log.” three ” he then shuffled his way backwards to the imprint he had made at the starting point, facing the same way he did from before Karma had given him the go.

Hoping his Intentive listening would pay off, he recalled there being two distincted thumps to his right, so strafing sideways to his right he starting to feel around with his right foot as he moved doing exactly what he had done previously. Once he had felt both of the logs and got a mental picture of where they stood, he delivered a kick to one, before moving over and elbowed the other, toppling them both down onto ground. “ Four, five ” And with that he shuffled his way back to the beginning for the last time.

He placed both his feet into the little divots in the dirt he had previously made, standing in the same direction as he did when he started. “ Last two He said softly and confidently. He then pivoted a hundred and eighty degrees, and shuffled his way over. Feeling around with his foot, he felt the tough base of a log, and without hesitation he delivered a kick to the middle of the log, feeling the bottom of his foot hitting the log was very satisfying for him, and with that loud slap of his foot on the log, it fell over. “Six, last one ” And without much time he start feeling around with his other foot. He hit something that was hard, yet smooth, he just figured that it had been worn down a bit, and decided to just go for the blow. He began to spin around on his right heel, his shoulders leading the way in the movement, he hopped onto his left foot, and used the momentum to bring right foot up as he spun around to deliver tornado roundhouse kick to the seventh log.

Watching as Yiko marked the spot he started at before going at each log with a kick to knock it down. It was done as instructed, and he clearly paid attention to the loud thumps of each log. And yet, it seemed she had also managed to trick him, as after hitting the sixth log, he moved his other leg around until he slightly hit her own leg. After he did so, Karma took two quick and silent steps backwards, allowing his roundhouse to pass in front of her harmlessly. Deciding that was enough, Karma started walking away from Yiko and grabbed her Naginata, which she leaned on a tree besides the two targets ”That’s enough. Take off the mask and look around. I want you to tell me what you see.” She instructed him as she turned to Yiko and waited to hear the Genin’s observations.

When the kick didn’t hit anything solid, the young genin fell to the ground, not expecting to not hit anything. Landing on his back, he removed the rag from his face as instructed and looked around blinking a few times as he did, allowing his eyes to re-adjust to the light. He saw that he had hit every log in sight, which brought him some satisfaction, but he counted exactly six logs on the ground. “ there are six logs… when I originally heard there to be s….seven…” right then and there he had realized what had happened, Karma had mimicked the sound of the log being placed down to trick the genin. “...right, I see

As the genin understood one thing she wanted to him to see, Karma walked towards him ”That isn’t the only thing I wanted you to see. Look at the ground, and if being more specific, the markings made by your feet. They have a pattern, even if it is not the most obvious one. That was how I was able to dodge your kick without any effort.” She told him, pointing with the blade of the Naginata to the ground ”Now, I am going to ask you to cover your eyes once more. This time, your hands dont need to be behind your back, and you can grab your tools, but you cannot use any taijutsu. Knocking any of the logs with chakra will count as a failure. Think of the logs as if they were all Taijutsu experts, rendering that approach pointless for you.” She told him, waiting for him to cover his eyes before moving from where she stood.

Ko followed what she was pointing out, It was hard to tell what impact he had on the dirt below him while blind. He sighed, and gave a nod in reply. He knew that his aim wasn’t the best, and now to be blinded, would only make it worse. The young boy got up and grabbed his boots, and slid them back on, finding comfort in the warmth they brought to his feet. He wrapped his face in the rag and stood very still. “ alright...I’m as ready as I’ll ever be

Once Yiko covered his eyes once more, Karma went ahead and begin setting up the logs one more, each one making a thumping sound just as before. Two in front of him, just as before, one to his left, one behind him, and one to his right. Having surrounded him with at least one log in each side, she went to the one that stood on Yiko’s left and mimicked the thumping sound once more, before walking away from the spot, her steps being properly audible, and then climbing up a tree. Once she was standing on a strong branch that gave her a good visual of the genin and the logs, Karma decided it was time to see how he would fare this time ”Go!” she called out to him, and then watched in silent.

It was the same as before, yiko listened for the loud sound of each log being dropped down. Making a mental map of where he stood in comparison to where the logs were. Once he was given the go, he inhaled deeply, and exhaled slowly. just hitting one is a victory He then reached for his back pouch and pulled out a kunai, running his finger across the cold hard steel, he felt almost unsure of himself, even knowing the general location didn’t bring him enough comfort. He pulled his right arm around to his left, and whipped his arm towards the left, throwing the kunai, and almost broke out into a smile when he heard the ‘thwump’ of the kunai piercing the log, sticking into the wood. “ I guess lady luck is on my side….” he mumbled to himself. He then pulled out another kunai, and aimed for the log to his left. This time facing the direction of the log, he drew back his arm and launched it forward, this time, not hearing the connection of the weapon. Instead hearing it landed on the ground a distance away. “....rats….

Seeing Yiko have a decent start, with his kunai hitting the sole log that stood to his left, Karma didn’t have long to wait before he went for the log that never stood. This was the second time she had fooled him with a sound, and she hoped he would learn something from it. ”That’s enough.” She called out to him, dropping from the tree branch she stood on to the ground ”Take off the eye cover and tell me both what you see, and what the situation shares with the previous one.” Karma gave him the instructions, hoping to see he was smart enough to figure out such a simple matter.

Yiko slipped off the mask, and turned to where he had previously thrown his kunai, and blinked a few times, before turning to karma. “There’s nothing there...again....” He grew quiet and looked off to where his kunai had dropped. He slowly become frustrated with the turn of events. “ Look, how am I supposed to pass this test if you keep tricking me? I really don’t see the point here ” he spoke a little bit of annoyance in his tone.

”How are you supposed to pass an impossible test? The simple answer is that you aren’t supposed to be able to pass it. You are supposed to learn something else from it.” Karma told him, moving around the field and knocking all the logs on their side with her Naginata and rolling them a bit away, clearing the field and making a line of logs to the right side of the field ”Tricking one’s senses is a tool in the shinobi toolkit. Be it with a blinding tag, creating a noisy distraction, a stink bomb. Anything that fools a sense, be it convincingly or forcingly, is a tool. And I want you to understand and learn, as part of today’s lesson, how to use it as a tool in combat.”
 
A plan of war
Eastern Continent, the Wolf Country.
At the allied camps.

A collaboration between Oblivion, Gerontis and Chromehound.

Summary:

The commanders of the allied hosts come together to discuss and formulate a battle strategy against the enemy force that has been a large trouble. As winter continues, the situation becomes less pleasant with each passing day.

The tent that had been set up was guarded by three diverse groups. Each commander had brought their own small retinue of guards to the large tent where the tactics would be discussed for the impending battle. With supplies running low and confirmation that the enemy had a semblance of a supply route, the commanders had come together for a more decisive plan. For else the majority of the allied force wouldn’t survive winter.

On a large and simple wooden table, various sketched maps were laid out. Information on enemy troop movement and locations were marked as the scouts of the allied force had shared information with each other.

Satoshi sat in one of the chairs, his gaze locked on to the maps. The enemy force was easily double their size. Perhaps not triple but they had the clear advantage in numbers. And while the enemy couldn’t direct attack them due to the river, the same applied for the allied force. Now their advantage had become their disadvantage.
Leaning forward, Satoshi placed his elbows on the table as he glanced at the two other commanders.
”So, the situation is a tad grim. Our enemy now can sit back and wait for us to make a mistake. Thus if we indeed try to rout their forces with a battle, we got only one chance.” Turning his attention to the maps, Satoshi pointed at one in the middle, the most detailed map that made the terrain clear.

”The enemy has a camp that is flanked by mountainous ridges. But in front is a large plain. Meaning that we can attempt to deploy some means of cavalry. However, the limited space means that the numbers of cavalry will be limited as well. Perhaps we can see if we can’t else use this limited space to prevent them from enveloping us with a wider line?”

Sitting in one of the chairs looking at the maps, he would glance at the other commanders that he would be discussing their next course of actions with. Before their plan was going fine as the enemy threw themselves at them in poor fashion. Yet now with supplies running low and the enemy being able to receive supplies themselves, they were slowly getting into a battle of attrition. Something that wouldn’t bode well for them in the slightest, not with the enemies superior numbers. Trying to engage them with no supplies was the same as being routed at that point.

Which Satoshi pointed out was quite the unfavorable situation for them, so they needed to rout their forces in one battle as they wouldn’t get a second shot at it. Yet how was the question. They still had far more numbers than them, no real escape route but a lot of number to rout in one battle. Cavalry was helpful but not ideal for their situation, yet it would be a good start to make their line less wide and overwhelm them.

”The biggest problem though is routing them in one battle. They still have far superior troop numbers, which means what we plan has to go without complications or failure. Preventing them from making a wider line to overwhelm us is a good start, yet as you said we have one shot at this. We mess up and we kissed our one golden opportunity goodbye. A lot of risk to any plan we come up with… We could try using the river to our advantage more than we have been if that makes sense? Keep a majority of them locked down by the freezing water.”

Running a hand through his hair, Hayate sighed inwardly. It seemed that, despite their best efforts, it was still going to come down to one large scale battle. Not ideal in any situation, let alone one wherein they had the smaller force. Scanning the maps as both commanders spoke, Hayate tried to look for some way to gain an advantage.

It wasn’t looking good.

”Cavalry may give us an advantage when it comes to routing them, but we don’t want to show our cards too early.” Scratching his chin, the Hyuzu looked up. ”If we can find another way to draw them into a choke point and then spring the cavalry against them, it gives us a much better shot of catching them off guard and doing the most damage possible.”

He was still piecing things together in his mind while he spoke, but Hayate wanted to make sure his suggestion came across. ”We have proven before that they can be provoked. If we can do that again, to a larger degree, perhaps we can force them into a position that is more favourable to us. We may be able to use the river as well, but I do not know that freezing it would be the best option. If we can have our forces divert the water, or even stem the flow temporarily, we may be able to expose their flanks and attack from more than just head on.”

Listening to the other two, Satoshi pondered further over the situation. Watching the map, he responded first back to Hayate. ”I believe that what he meant was to use the river to disable them from moving to a particular point.” He then pointed to a map detailing the situation, placing his finger at the south. ”We could alternatively try to oppose the enemy from one side first. North or south. The river will provide a means that they can’t deploy and envelop one side if we use it wisely. Even if the enemy has superior troops, we could then use another force on the opposite direction to launch a quick attack when they least expect it. The trouble that comes with a pincer movement is that the enemy will fight longer. A trapped foe becomes desperate to fight for their life. If we want to start a rout, we need to give them an escape route.”

Pausing, Satoshi spoke again as he grabbed two small blocks that resembled allied forces. ”If we deploy a force in the south, that will attract their attention. The night before, we can send out some forces to wipe out any outposts and patrols. Then the next morning, we will have a force deployed south to attract their attention. As the enemy will be drawn to it, we will prepare to cross at the center. Perhaps prepare a makeshift bridge for quick movement and without risking that our troops suffer from the cold. This means that the enemy will be fighting on two fronts without effectively enveloping us with their larger number. That and they can try to move to the north. If we break their morale, they will flee up north. Allowing perhaps a cavalry force to run down routed forces and prevent them from mobilising any resistance in a short while.” Becoming silent for another second, Satoshi threw a look at the other two commanders. ”But if they manage to breach one attacking direction, we will risk losing a lot of valuable troops. And might become routed instead.”

As the youngest one of them spoke about what he thought might work best in their situation, it was a good idea but creating a choke point on their numbers would be rather difficult to achieve. When he mentioned freezing the water a confused look grew on Kiro’s face as he looked at the young commander. It seems that perhaps he misunderstood his idea to which Satoshi would explain what he meant. ”That is correct, more so looking to hinder a majority of their forces from moving than trapping them in it.”

Satoshi would suggest something next which also would work as well, capture their attention of their force to draw them in then outright cross the river easily to attack on another front. While giving them room to retreat north which then their cavalry would run them down. It would indeed work well if they made no errors. ”It’s certainly a good idea, one that I like. Yet we also have to take into consideration that they don’t seem willing to run. In our first battle against them, no matter how many died they seemed more terrified of running than dying.” Kiro voiced before speaking again.
”So it’s certainly a good plan, one I’m not opposed too. Yet how sure are we that they will do what we want?”

Raising an eyebrow as Satoshi attempted to correct what he believed to be Hayate’s misunderstanding, the Hyuzu shook his head. ”I did not misunderstand Commander Yuuki’s suggestion. Freezing a section of the river would not do much to keep them from moving, however. All it would do is provide a solid platform for them to cross, which may end up making it even easier for them to move and outflank us.” While he did not need to clarify, Hayate did not wish for the others to think he was not capable of following along. His age already put him at a disadvantage at this table and Hayate had no intention of giving them any more reason to think he didn’t belong.

After the other commanders had finished speaking, Hayate took another look at the map before he would chip in. ”We would have two options then,” he responded to Kiro, ”Either find out what is keeping them so scared that they won’t run and get them to fear us more, or...” Pausing, Hayate scratched the back of his neck. ”Or we make them press forward in the direction we want. Lead them to believe they have pushed through our forces in one direction and then close them off and eliminate them.” Gesturing to the North and South on the map, Hayate continued. ”If they are so focused on advancing, we can give them more reason to do so, while remaining in control of wherever we want them to push. If we have our cavalry waiting on the other side, they can sweep through the enemy force that pushes past our line.”

Satoshi internally cursed. He had taken that the enemy’s morale was backed by their numbers. And why they hadn’t ran during the first confrontation. People usually didn’t tend to be eager to fight to the death, regardless of their beliefs. It was in their nature to try to preserve themselves, after all. So finding out what caused this enemy to refuse to turn back would be indeed a good point to hit later. ”We will need people who perhaps interrogate the enemy well. If we could capture a good ranked member of their force, we could attempt to figure it out and add that to our plans.” He stated, continuing on to their deployment plans.

”First, the bait has to be good enough that they will bite. We can perhaps deploy some long ranged attackers. I got various small siege engines that can lure them out. If we have archers or such that can send a volley or two, it will perhaps force them to meet us in the field. Unless they will let us just pelt them down, which I think we all wouldn’t mind. Once they get outside, we should have a strong deployment of forces that can withstand both the physical as mental shock of their forces as numbers. If we prepare a bridge or so, we can then mobilise and transport troops over the river and rapidly deploy at their sides. Regardless of their numbers, if we encircle them, they can’t use their numbers against us. While we can pack them together. Making it very easy for our skirmishers to barrage the enemy troops stuck in the middle with volleys.”

Frowning, Satoshi shot a glance at the other two commanders. ”My only concern is that we will need thus to capture a captain or such of their forces. I have nobody in my force that is capable of conducting high stealth operations and as well performing interrogations to crack a higher ranked member of their force. Who will likely not crack as easily as their ranking and file. Of course, there is also the language barrier. So unless either of you have a solution to that, I fear we already are having to risk to not spend an effort on that.”

The young one said he didn’t misunderstand yet from how he was speaking it seemed he had entirely. ”You did but that’s fine, were here to discuss plans after all.” Kiro said as they now addressed a new issue. Getting them to retreat when they showed to fear that more, he had ANBU that could interrogate them but the language barrier was an issue as well.
”I think it be best not to waste time on that, a higher ranked officer would provide good intel. As you said though, the language they speak is different than anything we heard. Mix in the fact that they probably know once they are captured they won’t be allowed to roam free. It seems like a loss of time and a risk to try such.” Kiro said knowing that torture was effective yet in such a scenario who would actually think that the enemy would let them off free in a war?
”So how long would it take to get this bridge built? Clearing out outpost on the sides and luring them in should be easy enough. Baiting them in is also possible. Yet to make bridges for the forces that aren’t being bait will take some time I assume.”

Ignoring Yuuki’s initial response, Hayate was still considering the option of capturing and interrogating one of their higher ranked officials. It was true that they could not speak the language, but that did not stop them from getting inside the minds of their enemies. Taking a moment to pause before he spoke, Hayate looked at both Commanders. ”We have teams that specialize in stealth operations and interrogation. I will speak with them and determine if an operation like this would be plausible. We won’t need to speak to the enemy in order to get information out of them so this might be our best shot at gaining some valuable intel. Even if we cannot launch an operation before the main assault, we should consider capturing their officers or… whatever they call their leaders, after the dust settles, in order to find out more about where they are from and what their goal is.”

”To build a bridge wide and strong enough to support troop movement for this plan, I can use some of my troops. It will require some time but I can already dispatch some forces to make preparations and assemble parts. Then when the enemy is baited, it might be just a few hours work to establish the bridge. Then a few more to have sufficient troops moving over to form a flanking force to attack the enemy.” Satoshi said, to answer the question of Yuuki, the commander of the Republican forces.

The response of Hayate caused Satoshi to think. He had no unit within his force that could perform any mind-intrusion. To know that the Akenians had such unit present was great. But also caused Satoshi to grow slightly wary. ”Good. Then we will bring the captured officers and commanders to your interrogation unit. The more information we can pull out of this enemy, the better.”

Glancing at the map, Satoshi pondered if they were missing anything. The plan was quite simple. A large portion of their forces would cross the river at the south and pose as large bait to demand the enemy’s attention. Then they would establish a bridge to cross the river at the middle ground to pincer the enemy. With in the north their cavalry waiting for the signal to mow down any forces that would try to position themselves elsewhere.

”Well, seems this is it. Anything you two want to bring in?” Satoshi asked, throwing a glance at the other commanders.

A few hours to build the bridge parts and set it up and a few to get troops of sufficient size to cross over it. Basically the force drawing the attention of that death army would be locked down for several hours until the flanking force got there. A gamble if anything for the distrating force, they will surely suffer the greatest casualties of the bunch. A simple nod of confirmation was given to Satoshi while Kiro looked at the map once more and the plan they were most likely using.

Yet Hayate was dead set on capturing some officers from the enemy stating they had people who didn’t need to speak to get the information. He knew such ways existed and sure it was handy, but getting the intel then deciphering it was going to be the main problem there. Satoshi however went along and agreed to bringing the captured officers and commanders to Hayate in that case. Mentally cursing that they seemed to be going through with it, it by no means was stupid but unless they got the exact battle plans they planned on using every single day. Then he simply saw it as a waste of time, it was clear that with the numbers they were using that if they lost to these invaders, their place in this world was over.

As silence rang through the air Satoshi would ask if there was anything either of them wanted to bring in. Kiro simply shook his head, he was outvoted anyway, He sure wasn’t telling his men to capture anyone though.

Things were going to have to be close to perfect if they wanted to pull this off. Otherwise, whoever was left facing the enemy on the other side of the river would be wiped out mercilessly. Pondering for a moment, Hayate finally nodded. “I will inform my troops of the plan.” With that, he inclined his head slightly towards both commanders in a show of respect before taking his leave.

There was work to do.
 
The Preparations
Satoshi Jun,

Jounin | Kumogakure Team 3 |Wolf country, near the coast | Commander of the host, at the camp.



The meeting with the other commanders had come to a conclusion. Together with the few men that had escorted him to the meeting, Satoshi headed back to his own camp. The activities of before were still ongoing. Troops were being trained and drilled together in the makeshift yards. There were several people in the pens, sparring together with blunt weaponry under the watchful eyes of their veterans and superiors.
There was little that Satoshi could detect how the morale of the troops was. If one asked him, he would admit that he felt tense. The battle plan for the upcoming clash would determine if they would freeze in this hellish cold or manage to crush this opposition.

Reaching the comfort of the large tent that belonged to him, Satoshi sends out messengers. Calling for a meeting with some of his own officers. In preparation for the meeting, Satoshi would pass several more instructions. Soon within a dozen minutes, the first officers joined him.


It was completely silent in the large tent. Satoshi had just explained the results of the meeting with the other commanders but he made it clear that they would follow the plan. He could see some being displeased but they wouldn't speak up. Nor would they hopefully steer from the plan when it was time to execute it.

"So, we will split the forces into three sections. The cavalry will deploy north of the enemy. They will move swiftly and ready themselves for the signal." The commander shot a look up, to the respective officers which nodded. He then continued, gesturing to the map in front of them all. "The second detachment will exist out of some of our infantry and skirmishers. They will be the anvil for the allied force, upon which the enemy will be slammed."

Pausing for a second, wanting to make sure that they knew their positions, Satoshi continued. "The last detachment will be readying themselves at the centre. As the enemy is too busy with dealing with the second detachment, we will quickly lay the pontoon bridge to allow troop movement over the river. This does mean that I want all that we can spare on constructing the parts of the bridge." Satoshi frowned slightly as he looked up, throwing a look at each officer.

"Prepare your units to the best you can. I want a full detailed report on their morale, their arms and armour, how many have gotten sick due to the cold and how many are still wounded. As soon as possible. Make sure that each and every of your troop is properly trained and readied."


OOC information:
The names of the detachments and the player characters among each detachment!

Commanding Captain Takashi (m) Hishima, leading 1.500 cavalry skirmishers.
Captain Aiko (f) Hojo, leading 2.000 cavalry
Captain Kaede (f) Hojo, leading 2.000 cavalry

Heavy Infantry:
Captain Jitarou (m) Otashi, leading 1.000 heavy infantry

Medium Infantry:
Commander Satoshi (m) Jun, leading 1.500 Medium infantry.
Skirmishers:
Captain Mahiru (m) Madama, leading 1.000 skirmishers.
Captain Nakiko (f) Rinji, leading 1.000 skirmishers.

Heavy Infantry:
Commanding Captain Isao (m) Jakobe, leading 1.000 heavy infantry

Medium Infantry:
Captain Genji (m) Hojo, leading 1.500 Medium infantry.
Captain Jen (f) Otashi, leading 1.500 light infantry.
Captain Kotoba (m) Jomei, leading 1.000 light infantry.
 
A Struggle in the Dark - part 1
Empire of Akino
Hon clan lands

Operation:
Obsidian Blood


A collab between Alice and Oetje

Summary:
Astrid and Meilin move into the large room, only finding out that the route behind them closes. Finding themselves in a room with a mysterious man, that introduces himself as the Priest of Threads, a short exchange of words occurs between Astrid and the Priest. Then the struggle takes place.



"Visitors, as expected. Though, you aren't whom I expected to come to me. But I am sure you will make do. Please, do join me."[/center]

The closing of the passage behind them did worry Meilin but she didn’t shot a look over her shoulder. Being alone in a spacious room with just Astrid and an unknown figure, the Cho hoped that she didn’t need to worry much about her team. Frowning as the man welcomed them almost as if they weren’t having the intention to kill him. Throwing a sideways glance at Astrid, Meilin was sure that she shouldn’t act on her own. Focusing her attention on the unknown figure, she couldn’t see anything that pointed out what they were dealing with.

Entering the hall with Meilin, Astrid seemed more than calm about tasking Dagrún and Madoc to hold off whatever could follow them. If the blockade that prevented them from escaping or aiding their allies bothered Astrid, she didn’t show it. All of her attention was on the man that resided in the room with them.
”Stay on guard. He is a lot more than he seems to like,” Astrid instructed Meilin with a soft voice. Taking a step forward, Astrid didn’t seem to reach for any weapons. Yet, the air seemed to grow heavier in the room as a smile grew on the woman’s lips.
”I am sorry, were you expecting any help? I am sorry to state but it is just going to be us for now. Your accomplices will be receiving a visit from others, don’t worry.”

”Ah, I see. I suppose then that you two are what I should consider dangerous operatives of the Empire. And here I was beginning to think that the Empire would send a more numerical force to retrieve the host of the Kyuubi.” The man calmly replied. He was sitting in the middle of the room but still have a distance from the two women. Slowly getting up, he would stretch his arms as he continued speaking. ”I once faced the Empress and almost overwhelmed her. I hope you two can provide a fun challenge.”

At this point, Meilin’s body froze. She had nodded, at first, to Astrid. Placing a hand on the hilt of her short sword, she tried to be ready for anything that could start the confrontation. But upon listening that the exchange of the two, questions started to run rampant in her mind. The jinchuriki of the Kyuubi? Wasn’t that Koike Hon? But he was on the eastern continent? Or had he been captured when he had been summoned to Magnhild? Then there was the fact that this man had faced the Empress and almost beaten her. If anything, Meilin couldn’t think of anybody that was perhaps capable of facing a jinchuriki that had tamed her bijuu and able to flaunt such a thing.
Swallowing, Meilin tried to ignore the growing sensation of anxiety and doubt. Moulding chakra, she started to devise a plan on how she could perhaps aid Astrid to face this troublesome foe.

”Bold claim, regarding the Kyuubi's host. The jinchuriki of the Kyuubi hasn't really gone missing. If you would surrender now, you shall be taken captive and be judged. A less painful fashion to leave this life, believe me.” Astrid replied, her tone becoming colder. Lightning started to crack and jump between the fingers of the woman's right hand.
”Meilin,” Astrid began with a softer and warmer tone, ”Don't worry. Try to attack from a range. No need to worry about harming me when I close in, okay?”

The man frowned as he simply shrugged. ”No need to believe me. There is little point in believing me, I guess. Though I will decline the proposal of surrendering. My oath to the Maker would else be compromised. Something unfitting for the Priest of Threads, I believe. However,” he flashed a warm smile to the two Chonobi. ”I shall be kind enough to return the same offer to you. Surrender and I shall be merciful. Else, I fear that we will be at an impasse.”

”Yes ma'am,” Meilin replied, trying to sound confident. Once more she focused her attention on the man. There was little that she could spot. He seemed to be muscular enough to pack a punch. But there was no evident weapon insight that he would likely utilise in the following fight. Releasing the handle of her blade, Meilin's gloved hands moved closer to each other. She had already a technique in mind that she could use to attack their foe at a range with.

”No thanks but thanks anyway,” Astrid replied. Without awaiting any response from their opponent, the Hon would sprint forwards. The pressure in the air became heavier but this seemed to hinder Astrid little as she attempted to close in the distance with their opponent. Pulling a knife, the blade would be quickly enveloped in lightning chakra.
The self-proclaimed priest's smile vanished as the heavy pressure seemed to bother him slightly. He wouldn't brandish a weapon, flexing only his hand dressed in gloves. Awaiting Astrid to come in close.

Watching how the Grey Guard moved in to close the distance, Meilin didn't waver as she moved to the right. Her hands started the streak of hand signs, an attempt to perform the sequence of signs as quick as she could while her heart started to beat faster Inhaling, she would attempt to focus on her task.
Skidding to a halt, Meilin would breath out a large ball of fire - pouring much more chakra into the jutsu than she usually committed to.

The impending danger from the right briefly caught the attention of the priest before he looked back at Astrid. The woman lashed out with her blade but the priest managed to pivot and thus avoid the slash. Instead of counter-attacking, he was forced to move away.
Attempting to move backwards, the priest's eyes widened. Lightning cracked and expanded at a rapid rate as Astrid once more moved her weapon. Before the priest could do something, it caught up with him and pierced his right side, effectively pinning him as the electricity halted his body's movement.

The fierce ball of fire slammed into the two figures, whipping up dust into the air. As the dust started to settle, lightning still cracked and resonated through the air. Faintly, the blue hue of the violent force shined through the dust. A barrier emitted from Astrid's body as she still held the priest pinned. Her left arm was raised, showing to be the source of the lightning that protected her against the fire.
”Son of a...”

Meilin tried to peer through the dust cloud, wary of anything that could come out. But as she saw the lightning, she was relieved. For a moment, she had doubted Astrid's capability. But as she looked at the priest, Meilin wasn't sure what to say. Lightning sourced through the priest's body and had effectively repelled her fireball technique.
Quickly, Meilin would move her hands together as she inhaled. Forming various hand signals, she saw how the priest moved forwards towards Astrid. Exhaling, the chuunin spit various small fireballs that soared faster through the air towards the priest and Astrid.

Surprised by the fact that the man had been able to free himself with using lightning chakra, thus performing it at the same capability as her, Astrid narrowed her eyes. Various small balls of fire slammed in between her and the priest. The dust that swept up by the projectiles allowed Astrid to quickly move backwards.
”Mmm,” coming to a halt, Astrid frowned. She hadn't been able to pierce the man's vital organs with her attack but it should have been quite the pain to burden.

”You two have tried it. Now, it is my turn.” The priest's voice moved through the air as some unnatural sounds would follow. The dust prevented either Astrid or Meilin to understand what was going on but soon enough, three figures were standing where the priest stood.
”What was your offer again, heathen? End my life?”
The two new shadows moved at a rapid pace. Exiting the dust cloud, their forms would be revealed. Black threads forming a grotesque image of some creatures as two mask would be the only distinguishing feature among the threads.
Another large mass of black threads in the form of some creature rushed out of the dust towards Astrid, only sporting one mask.

Spotting that Astrid had managed to make use of her jutsu to get to a safer distance, Meilin shifted her attention back to their opponent. The hair on Meilin's neck started to rise as she saw how the silhouette started to shift and essentially produce two more.
Before Meilin could ask Astrid what their approach was going to be, she was faced with an opponent that seemed out of this world.
”Fuck,” Meilin cursed as she quickly pulled out her short sword. The soft blue hue of chakra quickly flowed over the steel as the chuunin attempted to lash out.
A noise of steel attempting to cut through iron resonated powerfully in Meilin's ears. Seeing how the threads attempted to envelop her, the chuunin focused chakra at her boots to boost her skid backwards.
The threaded creature didn't pursue her. Instead, the masks opened their mouth. A strange glow following.



Astrid was about to give an instruction to Meilin. But before she was able, the enemy was already upon her. Hopefully, Meilin knew how to fight on her own, Astrid thought to herself.
Quickly, the Grey Guard evaded the charge of the creature with a dash of her own to the left. Wanting to grab something out of her pouch, Astrid was forced to bring her hands up.
A heavy vibration moved down her hands and arms to her shoulder. The priest had surged forwards and unleashed a barrage of punches at her. Managing to keep up with her foe, Astrid heard something stirring from behind.
Blocking a punch, Astrid would kick the priest's right knee. Causing the man to briefly drop and unable to continue his assault. Giving Astrid the window of time to perform another dodge as the creature made of threads charged into her former position.

Spotting lightning coursing faintly over the surface, moving to the mask of the threaded creature, Astrid's eyes half closed.
”Just great,” the woman mumbled as the creature started to gather lightning at a rapid pace.



The two masks opened, one with a glow of their own. Then without a warning, the masks unleashed a torrent of build up chakra. Fire and wind, amplifying each other and thus whipping up a destructive force. The heat of the combined natures reached Meilin way before the torrent was halfway.
Turning to the left, Meilin would fling her weapon away as she moved her hands together. Desperately, she would perform a sequence of hand signals as the lethal force approached her rapidly.
Trying to move away, the chuunin gasped as the violent force still caught her. Leaving only a trail of fire behind.

The creature of threads observed with its two masks at the havoc it created. Slowly it started to turn to where the priest and the other abnormality formed by threads were facing Astrid.
Before it could move to aid its allies, the threaded freak's attention would be caught by the sound of various small balls of fire heading its direction.
 
An Introduction
Neime Hayashi
| Kirigakure Genin, of Team 17/ Kukiko | Kirigakure, Hayashi Compound - Arisuke's Residence |



"And so, I will be assigned to the team, number 17. Under the leadership of Yuki Kukiko. From this day till further notice, I am to expected to follow the orders of Yuki Kukiko."

She finished in a calm tone, slowly lowering the small parchment on the low coffee table in front of her. Keeping her eyes locked on the piece of paper, she listened to his deep breathing. He didn't say anything, likely taking in the information.
His eyes weren't focused on her. They seemed to stare at the ceiling. As if she wasn't there. But she knew that his eyes had lost sight for many, many years. They had lost some of their spark of life. Simply being there as a reminder that the old man once had been able to see the wonders of life. But no more.
Ever since Hayashi Arisuke had fought and failed to die like many of his kin and comrades, to repel the invaders in the Great War, he had lost his sight. A curious event that physicians couldn't either explain or cure. Some people contributed it to the fact that the old man hadn't been able to gain an honourable death, defending clan and country against foreign invaders. Thus living with the shame of failure, staining his reputation and legacy. Despite all of that, the old man was highly respected and coveted for his advice. His wisdom and experience regarding military and political affairs weren't the only reasons why he was held in such regards. Some members of the clan even considered the man to be something else. He had seen almost ninety-three winters. A feat that barely anybody in or out of the clan had achieved.

"Yuki. Kukiko."
The name was slowly pronounced by the old man. A frown started to form on his brow as his weathered hands moved to the coffee table. Without any word, Neime rose up and silently moved to the other side of the table. Picking without much ceremony, the young girl would pour tea into a nearby small cup. She didn't need to say or warn the man about the warmth. Putting the teapot down on its place, Neime would return on her spot. Sitting down on the soft pillow, she waited as Arisuke picked the cup. The wrinkled hands seeking the warmth, slowly closing around the cup to let the warmth flow through his fingertips.
"And what rank is this Yuki Kukiko?"

"Jounin, sir," Neime replied without hesitation. "I haven't met her yet. Nor any of the team, sir." The young girl added, her eyes lowering. Once more, silence came back to plague the room as the old man seemed to think and let the information sink in.

"Do you remember your oath? Your duty?" He asked her, his eyes half closing as if he wanted to peer at her. The visual effect was lost but the mere shift of his tone was enough to just cause Neime to nod. Even if he couldn't see it, she was more than aware that he would know somehow.
"Yes, sir. I do. Word by word."

"Good. I am sure you will make the clan proud." He mumbled, his arms trembling as he would attempt to lift the cup. Slowly but surely he brought it towards his lips. The gentle steam that emitted from the liquid, heralding the warning that it was still very warm, was lost on the blind man.
Neime said nothing for the man took a sip. His lips afterwards smacking, his eyes further closing. There seemed nothing that bothered the man about the warmth.

"Jasmin," Arisuke slowly said, his tone giving away that he was delighted. Taking another small sip, he would keep smacking his lips. A sound that usually would irritate Neime. She couldn't stand it when people smacked their lips. It was a habit that she despised when people would do that during or after eating, drinking and talking. But she wouldn't mind Arisuke doing it. He was her great-great-grandfather, after all. The only direct relative she had in the city of Kirigakure. He could smack his lips all day and she wouldn't be bothered.

"Spoiling an old man, you are just like her." He said, in his slow fashion of talking. The corners of his lips curled slightly up as he kept his eyes closed. "I don't dare to ask but," he started. But he stopped as Neime would get up without making much of a sound. She would once more head to the side where the teapot was sitting on a heater. Next, to the small heater, there was a porcelain plate. On it, there were several delights. Picking one of the delights up with two chopsticks, Neime would guide it towards Arisuke's lips. As the delight gently touched Arisuke's lips, they parted. Smacking, the old man chewed on the bite.
"Oh, this reminds me of her. She used to make these." The old man mumbled, slightly rocking with his head as he kept his eyes closed.

Neime remained silent. She knew who he was talking about. She had never had the honour of meeting her great-great-grandmother. But Neime knew all about her. What her favourite colour was. What her favourite activity had been.
"With her short blonde hair. Her blue eyes. I could drown in those eyes, as much as I can now in the sea."

It remained briefly silent until Neime decided to ask the question. "Can you tell me about her?" She asked. The answer was something she could dream. This wasn't the first time that she had asked it but she was aware that nothing more could cheer the old man up than to talk about the love of his life.
"I remember her so clearly. The shape of her nose, those thin lips," he said, his eyes slowly opening. The smile became more present as he placed the small cup down. His left hand briefly and slowly reached up, trembling as it did.
"I can see her. Right in front of me. I can hear her. Can you, Neime? Can you?"

A soft smile dawned on Neime's lips. Of course, she couldn't hear the voice or laughter from the past. She hadn't ever met the woman.
"Yes, sir. I can."
"Ooooh, how I miss her."

The smile stayed present as the old man brought his hands together. Rubbing slowly. Neime picked another delight up and brought it to the old man's lips. His eyes closed again.



Inspecting her pouches, Neime would stall them out. Laying all of her tools and items on the table, the young girl started the 'ritual' of starting to inspect each and single one of them. It was a process that didn't require much thinking or effect. Any senbon, kunai or shuriken that wasn't sharp or sturdy enough would be set aside. The bits of wire would be checked on length and if they had a sense of durability. The explosive and flash tags would be checked if they were still dry.
Once that was done, Neime would move on to her ninjato. The sharp blade shined the light of the candle, allowing Neime to see her reflection in the blade. Cleaning the blade nonetheless, Neime would oil it and sheath it. Thus proceeding to the last piece of her equipment; her armour.
It was a rather simple piece. A piece of equipment granted by her clan. There were several small marks and scratches on it. Subtle betraying the fact that the armour had seen some action.

The inspection only saw that Neime decided that she would need to replace three senbon, two shuriken and kunai, dry and later inspect five explosive tags.
Finished with the 'ritual', Neime would prepare to move to her bed. The fact that she was assigned to a team didn't make her feel that excited. Laying on her back, she stared at the ceiling. If anything, what had piqued her curiosity was the fact that her team leader was a Yuki.

A Yuki, a foreigner basically. They came from the cold north. A place that seemed mythical to Neime. What was interesting was if this Yuki had that particular release. To create and morph existing ice into ninjutsu. A release that seemed to be the polar opposite of hers.
Closing her eyes, Neime would remind herself of the instructions she had received prior going to Kirigakure.

She wouldn't forget them.
 
On the steets
Empire of Akino,
Amegakure, the capital of the Rain province.


Rini Yoto | Genin of Team Etsu | Streets of southern Amegakure.




She had everything. Three times she had checked her pouches, bag and then inspected her other gear. There was something panicky about her movements, betraying her inner thoughts and feelings regarding the whole situation. Few glances were shot now and then at the door as if she was expecting that the door would be kicked in.
Knowing that she was stressing too much, Rini couldn't calm herself with just trying to tell herself that things would be all right. The news of the commander of the city's guard and police was spreading. The man had been killed in his own office. There were already some people arrested as suspects but the genin knew better. Those were to calm down the public. An attempt to buy themselves more time to figure out who it could have been.

Making sure that she had only necessities with her and nothing else that could drag her down, the genin quickly checked if her two windows were locked. Once she was done, the teen started to ready herself to move out. Donning on the raincoat, Rini picked up her bag and proceeded towards the door. Opening it, she shot a look over her shoulder. Then she moved through and closed as locked it behind herself.



There wasn't much difference of atmosphere on the streets. People were concerned but nothing major, so far Rini could detect. The occasional whispering that raised the present doubt about the province's government and what kind of horrid event would follow soon. Yet, the air wasn't electric as it had been with the riots and protests before.
"I wonder how things would have been if Ryoku hadn't stepped down." Rini thought to herself as she remembered the Third Amekage. The man had nice dreams but so far, they hadn't helped the city or province that much. This new Amekage didn't seem to manage to accomplish a lot either. Raising only concern if it wasn't smarter to request to be transferred to another place. Wasn't that a thing? To be requested to serve at another region or unit?
Pondering, Rini kept walking through the streets. Nobody paid much mind to her and she would like to keep it that way.

Moving over a large plaza, she heard a herald announcing some news. Nothing too terribly interesting. About the opening of some establishments, asking for strong and young men to sign up for the guard and what not. The usual shouting, Rini told herself.
Yet, a large number of people were gathering around the Herald. It caught Rini's attention, enough to cause her to wonder why. A lot of people couldn't read or simply had enough time to wander to a nearby place where a herald would announce the news.

Deciding to linger around, she was hoping to figure out something. Perhaps she could bring Etsu-sensei some information?
Overhearing the loud shouting of the herald, Rini couldn't pick out any information or news that was really noteworthy to pass on to her team leader. Until the man spoke of the murder of the commander of the guard.

"There is good news! Evidence has been found and soon enough, the culprits of the heinous murder on the good Yoriari, latest commander of the guard and police, shall be arrested! These criminals will have a final chance to surrender themselves or else their fate shall be sealed!"

Without any hesitation, Rini started to walk. Her eyes were wide open of shock, her breath was irregular and her heart was pounding so hard, so loud that she was afraid it would alert anybody next to her. Flexing her gloved hands, the genin tried to figure out how to contact Etsu-sensei.
Perhaps she should seek out Kitana?
Perhaps.
 
Tricking the Senses, Part 2
Konohagakure, Capital of the Empire of Akino
Training Field
Yiko Uchiha and Karma Minami

A Collab between Talentless and Nim

Summary:
Karma gives Yiko Uchiha a training session she feels is right for the genin, following the orders of Hiron Hon and the failure of the genin to pass a test.

Part 1


As Karma finished pushing the logs, she turned to look at Yiko ”With that being said, I have here these for you.” She said, stepping closer to him and handing him a few Blinding tags, stink bombs and smoke bombs ”Our next step of the training will be a more direct one on one sparring match. Just like in Hiron’s match and like the previous exercises, a single hit is all that will be required to successfully pass this test. There is one condition that must be met in order to pass, however.” Karma said and pointed to the tools Yiko was just given ”You must utilize at least one of those. Think of your approaches, choose your tactic, and aside from that condition, you may use whichever approach you desire. Again, one hit is all that is required.” She said, walking away a few steps from Yiko before turning to look at him, Naginata at hands and appearing prepared to fight.

Yiko raised an eyebrow, another trick? What is it with these guys and making tests only for you to fail? the young genin sighed, and took the equipment he was given, giving them all a quick glance before stuffing them into one of his back pouches. Listening intentively to karma’s explanation for his current test, he walked over to where his kunai laid in the dirt and pocketed that as well before turning to the girl. “ One hit?....got itBetter not be another trick. He took a long look at her weapon, it would be hard getting close to her with that blade, that he knew, either range or closer than comfort combat...or maybe even getting rid of that weapon could put her at a disadvantage. Then again he did not know her fighting style, and was only making assumptions based on the choice of her weapon.

He activated his sharingan, his eyes going from black, to crimson with only one tomoe. His eyes stayed glued on the chuunin as he placed his hands behind his back, he was clearly shuffling through his tools and clearly was setting something up from behind his back. Without any hesitation he threw a single kunai heading straight for Karma.

Watching the genin activate his sharingan made Karma begin to suppress her Chakra. She had hoped the Uchiha wouldn’t immediately resort to relying on that, but hoped that he will soon see that the sharingan would be futile in this scenario. Keeping a tight grasp on her Naginata, she watched him rummage behind his back before taking out a kunai and throwing it directly towards her. All she would do is take a single step to the right to dodge it, keeping her eyes on the genin. She hoped he would think things over once he would realize his sharingan wasn’t going to aid him.

Yiko noticed the chakra fading away inside the girl, almost like it was covered by a shroud. Regardless the activation of his sharingan was to help develop his ability to predict movements, it wasn’t a fully developed sharingan, but the only way to evolve it was to use it. She took a step to the side, it wasn’t he expected her to do, but it didn’t matter too much, learn to adapt, it only has less than a second left on it .

The sunlight revealed that there was metal wire tied to the kunai,and the other end was wrapped around his right wrist. Quickly as the kunai passed her, he pulled his hand back while intertwining the wire around his fingers for extra support. The action stopped the kunai short causing it to bounce back, coming into view of Karma, only less than a foot away from her. With a free hand, yiko performed the hand sign to activate the seal on the blinding tag, that, with a loud pop and flash, went off. Yiko had looked away, turning his upper body back when he had pulled the kunai back, protecting his eyes from the flash, yet the sound still rung in his ears.

Seeing the genin pull his hand back was a fair indicator that the kunai was strung, Karma could spot that his movements were not to hit her, but rather to bring the kunai in front of her. With this in mind, the chuunin made a jump backwards, to avoid being in close proximity to whatever it was Yiko had planned. Upon spotting him turn away and form the activation seal, Karma had barely a moment to shield her eyes with her arms, holding the Naginata high as she did. She couldn’t completely block out the blinding light, and the ringing from the explosion was ever present, making it appear as though she was rather open.

Once the whole ordeal was over, the young genin turned around, noting that his move left him a slight window of opportunity, he moved without hesitation. Giving it his all, he ran full speed at her, his crimson red eyes fixed on karma, trying to get a read on her next move while he executed his. Hopping up a few feet away from her, extending both of his feet outward, making it look as if he was going for her upper body with a drop kick. Only to hit the ground sliding a bit as he went in for a sliding kick with both his feet, aiming right for her shins to knock karma off her feet.

Lowering the hand that didn’t hold the Naginata, Karma had a blurry vision of a shadow that begun moving. Taking yet another step back, she started spinning the Naginata in front of her, allowing the weapon to cover her front as she allowed her vision and hearing to slowly recover. It was a decent cover for a blinding tag, but now Karma had tried ensuring any hits from the front would not be possible, and if Yiko’s sliding kick would soon encounter the Naginata’s pole, pushing the feet aside while indicating to the Chunnin that he was in front of her. Keeping the pole steady on the ground, Karma used the Naginata to give her a small boost to her jump, allowing her to just go over the genin, who was now on the ground, before taking a few more quick steps forward, which were quickly followed by a spin on the spot, with the Naginata pointed in the direction of Yiko.

Yiko brought his arms up to protect his his face and chest while karma jumped over him, once she landed, he rolled onto his feet and quickly spun around to face Karma, only to meet her naginata. He sighed noticeably my luck ...plan B it is then… quickly he used one hand to perform a confrontation seal, and focused chakra at his feet and released it as he jumped back to give it a bit more force as he jumped back to get distance from her. Using his other hand he reached from behind and threw a smoke bomb in her direction, while landed a good feet away from her.

With her vision clearing up further, Karma watched as Yiko jumped to his feet, using some chakra to help get more distance, while throwing a smoke bomb towards her. Not doing anything, the chuunin kept standing still with the Naginata aimed towards the genin. The only focus she had in her mind was seeing what kind of plan Yiko had next, while the ringing in her ears slowly faded away.

Yiko watched as she stood still, almost as if she was frozen in place but eyes were still on her. The smoke grenade hit the ground near her feet, and exploded enveloping her in the smoke and the area around her, the boy quickly kneeled down. Pulling back the kunai that was still wrapped around his hand, Yiko took this sudden moment to quickly pull out kunai, and wire to tie up all of his kunai on completely separate wires, which were tied to his around the palms of his hands. Three kunai for each hand as he held the punch, he then placed his hands behind his back to continue setting everything up while watched the smoke start to clear away from where he assumed she still stood. His eyes were trained on the smoke, watching to see if Karma had moved, or was still in place.

As the smoke covered her, Karma silently turned around and begun walking away, until she reached a tree that stood behind her. Walking to the other side of the tree, she moved to lean on it with her back, holding her Naginata in front of her and ensuring both her and her weapon were concealed by the tree from Yiko’s view as the smoke cleared away. Even if she didn’t say it out loud yet, the genin had failed the spar in her mind with his last move.

When the smoke cleared to show that karma wasn’t where she once was, the young genin blankly stared at the now vacant ground. He let out an very audible sigh. “...well I didn’t expect that…” his voice just loud enough to be heard. His hands were still behind his back, his eyes darting around to see if there was a trace of her. He knew she couldn’t have gone far, probably behind a tree or up in one. “ alright… I give up… ” his voice full of disappointment and annoyance.

Hearing Yiko call out that he gave up, Karma stepped back into view and looked at the genin ”It is important to know when to back away. You have failed, and I’ll explain to you why.” She walked towards him, leaning the Naginata’s pole against her shoulder ”You created the chance for me to escape with the smoke bomb. Those are often good to use as a cover for escaping, so by using it and then not immediately following with another attack, you created the opening for me to hide away and vanish.”

”That being said, your tactic with the blinding tag was a decent one. It did catch me off guard, and it may catch others off guard too. But I will advise you to think of other methods of attacking blinded targets who hold a weapon, instead of going directly at them. It can still be dangerous, as they can start try and attack blindly around.” Karma said ”So, tell me what did you learn.” She then asked him.

Yiko let out an audible sigh seeing her step right out from behind a tree, the young genin fell back onto his behind and started to disassemble what he had created, listening as he did so. Thinking back on the smoke trick, it would’ve been more successful if he had used the wired kunai he had before the bomb, swinging it into the smoke and hopefully wrapping her with the said wire. Once his contraption was dismantled he placed it all back into his pouches, and his eyes looked up meet her gaze. “ well for starters, Don’t give your enemies an opening… he said looking away disappointedly. He really felt as if he could’ve won that spar if he hadn’t of been so arrogant. He then slowly rose up to his feet before continuing “ Tools can be extremely useful if in the right hands, We rely heavily on our senses, and that is something I can take advantage of, and lastly, know when you’re beat ” His eyes fell back onto hers.

Without showing any indications if that was what she had expected Yiko to say or not, Karma walked the genin ”The training session is now over, but I can advise you to continue training further.” She told him, giving him a final glance before turning away to begin arranging everything in the field back to how it was before she arrived.

Yiko blinked a few times at her words. That was it? What am I supposed to do with that? the young boy watched as Karma set everything up the way it was before the session, and then she left. With a loud sigh he looked around the field, a cold breeze rushed in. He walked over to the logs, and without much thought, and picked them up, placing them around a center point in various ranges from the center.

He stood in the middle and took out the cloth Karma had given him, and wrapped it around his face before taking out numerous kunai. I still have the whole day to do this, let’s not waste time and from them on, the day was full of nothing but blind target practice.
 
Introductions Redux
Shion Kobayashi and Saito Shiori | Republic of the Water Country, Kirigakure - Luna's Home |

After their meeting at the park, Shion headed over to Shiori's home to gain a better understanding of the new member.

Walter Swan and Ultra Paradox

A collab between the Walter Swan, and Ultra Paradox

Shion read the paper in her hand as she came to a stop in front of a small house, “Yep, that’s the place.”

The genin was pleasantly surprised that Kukiko actually took her time to answer her questions, although preceded by an exasperated sigh. However when it came to questions about Shiori, the jonin merely wrote her directions to the girl’s home and told her to go ask her herself. While it would be best to get the answers from the horse’s mouth, she still had doubts about interrupting the girl on her preparation for the tonight’s mission, “Well it’s not like she would mind, right?”

Clearing her throat, the genin knocked on the door thrice and called out, “Hello? Anybody home?”

“Coming!” A voice, unfamiliar to Shion, called out from somewhere in the cozy little home. The footsteps were faint at first, up until they came rattling up to the door in a set of hurried steps. The door swung open and Shion was greeted to a lady much older than herself, perhaps in her late twenties to early thirties. Her hair was shoulder length and she was dressed in professional clothing, still struggling to put an earring in her ear as she glared at the girl on the other side of the door.

She had an annoyed look on her face, not because of Shion but because of the hassel it was to get the damn earring in her ear. Forcing a smile she giggled nervously, “I’m sorry about that, I-I’m a little late for work-,” realizing she was rambling she stopped herself, “You must be one of Shiori’s little friends! Come in, come in!”

Shifting over against the wall so the girl could come in, she pointed up to the steps that greeted her. “Just take these steps up and sit in the parlor, I’ll go get Shiori.”

Once she got Shion through the door and situated on the couch, she rushed off into a hallway leaving the pink haired girl alone for a couple minutes in a neatly decorated sitting area. Everything was almost meticulous in its placement. The room had a red and gold color scheme, pillows sat elegantly on the loveseats, paintings were perfectly aligned, and little sculptures seemed to have the perfect amount of space between them. In fact, the room was so clean and so perfectly kept, it was indistinguishable to a war room.

Shiori came from the hallway in which the older lady went searching for her, and shortly after the lady came out with a suitcase at hand. “Okay, I’m off. Be good now Shiori,” she waved at Shion, “Sorry I couldn’t properly meet you! I hope to meet you soon!” and she rushed off, the once hurried footsteps becoming loud clackings from the wooden heels as she walked down the steps and eventually out the front door.

“Shion.” Shiori smiled, she was back into comfortable clothing as the mission wouldn’t be until later that night. She wore shorts and let her hair hang loosely in an unkept mess, in contrast to what Shion believed she wasn’t preparing herself at all. In fact, it looked like she just woke up. She took a seat in the loveseat adjacent from her new teammate, curling her legs up and yawning loudly, “It’s a surprise to see you here, what’s up?” She asked while rubbing her eye.

“No problem! Take care of yourself, madam!” she waved the woman goodbye as she left the house. What a busy woman, she thought to herself as she heard Shiori behind her, “Oh, good morning, Shiori-chan.”

“Well the brief-I mean, the meeting came so suddenly so we didn’t get to properly introduce ourselves back there,” she explained, ”That, and I am pretty curious about the newest girl in our team.”

“I was going to bring Yuyuko with me but apparently she went out to gather some ‘materials’ for tonight’s mission,” she said as she muttered ‘probably some rocks’ under her breath before she continued with a grin, “Hopefully I’m not bothering you, you little sleeping beauty.”

“And a good morning to you, Shion-chan,” The pale girl yawned once more, and stretched her arms out above her head in an exaggerated fashion, “Sorry about Luna, she’s usually pretty busy in the mornings so she was in a rush.” Shiori turned to face the door, as if Luna would be on her way back in as she said, “She works a nice government job, much safer than being a ninja, but probably just as stressful if not worse.”

Shrugging she turned her attention back to Shion, her heterochromatic hues looking into her teammates electric eyes. She seemed well composed, obviously had professional manners, spoke with class, and carried around a large blade. Like a samurai rather than a ninja, and Shiori guessed she came from a high middle class to low upper class family. She smiled, her cheeks became flushed from the idea that her new teammates were curious about her. “Yeah, it’s a shame we didn’t really get to meet. It went by so quickly, and I was so hasty in my preparation that by the time it was over I was exhausted.”

“Oh no, you aren’t a bother at all. I don’t usually get company, so I wasn’t ready is all. Whenever it comes to friends I end up going to their homes instead of letting them come here, only because Luna usually has important people over.” She sighed, then uncurled her legs from the love seat and sat up straight. She rested her elbows on her knees, and leaned forward, chin in the palm of her hands. “Would you like some tea or coffee before we have a chitchat? You can ask away any questions you like really, I’m an open book. I just hope you’re willing to answer some of my own questions.”

“Sure thing, Shori-chan. We are going to be teammates after all,” Shion answered, ”As for the drink, may I get a cup of coffee? I’ve been wanting to try one.”

“Anyway how about we have a fresh start? With some introductions,” she said with a clap, “I am Shion Kobayashi, a swordsman, as you can see, and one of the very first members of Team-7. That weirdo you saw back at the park is Yuyuko Takeda, also a swordsman just like I am.”

“And so, what about you?” she asked at the end expectantly.

“Sure thing,” Shiori closed her eyes, a warm smile spread across her drowsy face. She stepped on the warm carpeted floor with her bare feet, wiggling her pale toes in the carpet’s soft bristles. She was about to turn and head to the kitchen, but stopped to look at Shion when she suggested a fresh start. She nodded, it looks like her intuition was right. Shion was a swordsman, not hard to determine considering she was carrying the weapon around. Then she spoke about the outgoing girl back at the park, the strange one with the urge of always covering her eye, her name was Yuyuko. A swordsman as well.

“Ah, I see,” Shiori nodded with a smile, then pointed at herself, “My name is Saito, Shiori. I’m from the Saito family, and come from a small little island in the Republic named Kosa. That’s where I grew up and discovered I was capable of using chakra. Unlike you guys, I can’t wield a sword, or any weapon for that matter. But I’m very good at hand to hand combat, my Taijutsu is ‘above average’. At least that’s what my academy teachers would always say.”

She shrugged and then motioned Shion to follow her, “Come, come, let’s go make that coffee.” She lead the girl through the long hallway, that had three doors to the left hand side and two to the right hand side, then one all the way down the hall. Shiori made a quick right into the first room on the right hand side and into a cozy little kitchen. It smelled of honeysuckle candles that were lit by the windowsill ,where the fire escape was. Outside of the home were the sound of the city people yelling, laughing, and talking. On days like today, when there wasn’t violence staining the streets, the Republic was as peaceful as any other place in the world. Shiori bent down in a squatting position as she scurried through a cabinet trying to find what she needed for the coffee.

“Tell me more about yourself Shion, your family, and how you got so good at weilding a sword. Where did that urge come from? Did someone teach you or are you self taught?” She pulled the kettle out from the cabinet and stood from her squatted position. She took a second to fix the strap of her tank top that fell off her shoulder, and then set the kettle on top of the stove. She then reached up over her head to grab a grinder and some coffee beans that she began to grind away with.

“Hahaha, slow down, Shiori-chan,” Shion replied with an amused laugh, “You sure are curious about me, aren’t you?”

“Now then, I’ve been practicing Kenjutsu before I even entered the Academy. As for how I got into it in the first place, one morning, I woke up earlier than usual and happened to catch my mother practicing. Back then, I always thought of her as this sweet, gentle housewife but witnessing her pull off all of these cool moves,” she feigned some Kenjutsu moves with her hands as she explained, “like some samurai in a fairytale is just really exciting for young little me. So naturally, I pestered her day and night until she finally gave in and taught me all she knows.”

“In fact, this katana right here was wielded by her back when she was still a shinobi,” she said, patting its hilt, “From what I heard, she retired after she found out she was pregnant with me.”

”Heheh, at my father’s insistence, of course,” Shion added with a chuckle, “He said that she would have even gone into battlefield with a pot belly if he didn’t convince her. Can you believe that?”

Shiori walked over to the small square table, and sat besides her new friend, placing the coffee mug in front of her.She listened intently to her stories and the background behind the weapon she carried with honor. Her head tilted sideways when she remarked how her mother was once a swordsmen and had to put away that lifestyle for her daughter’s sake. It made Shiori wonder if Shion ever felt some sort of guilt for taking away from her mother’s dreams. Not like she could control her existence, but the thought still stuck into her head.

“Ah I see,” She sat back in her chair, “I never really enjoyed the feeling of carrying around a sword. The weight can grow bothersome, but I’ve been very nimble with any kind of weapon. Now what I do enjoy is using my fists! Being in total control of my bodies of movements to inflict damage.”

“As for my family I grew up in a small little island town named Kosa, my family, or at least my older sister and father’s side, were born in the village hidden in the leaves. We came here to take refuge, for a better life is what I’m always told. Mother doesn’t enjoy the populated areas too much. Claims that it brings up far too many bad memories, so her and pa stay in Kosa with my younger brother. My older sister went back to Konohagakure, to see what her birth place looks likes. Meanwhile, here I am, becoming a ninja. It’s surreal...I’m young and yet it feels like life is moving so fast.”

“You tell me, Shiori-chan. Looking at the Republic now, I can’t even believe we went through three wars and a jinchuriki attack,” Shion replied as she took a sip of her coffee before raising her cup at the girl as if approving of its taste, “Or...wait, was that four? I kinda lost count.”

“Come to think of it, it had a year since the attack, huh?” Shion muttered to herself as she looked down into the cup with a sullen look on her face before she realized that Shiori was still there and put a smile back on, “Oh, sorry. Got lost in thought for a second there.”

“Anyway, enough with the depressing histories,” she said, putting down her cup before pointing at Shiori’s face, “What’s with that mark on your face? Is it some sort of Cho war-paint? I’ve seen some warriors wearing something like that. Except...theirs look a little more colorful, I think.”

Shiori reached up to touch her cheek where the markings began, sometimes she forgets she even had them to begin with. She grew so accustomed to seeing the same thing every morning in her reflection, that she forgot it was even a thing. “This? My mother calls it a curse, or rather a curse that I turned into a blessing. I consider it a birthmark, given to me by the gods, not Cho war-paint.” Shiori giggled and took a sip from her coffee before taking a deep breath and thinking deeply about everything, “Really though, I’m not sure where it comes from. She never told me and whenever I ask my dad he says it isn’t his place to say.”

"A curse, huh?" Shion said as she rubbed her chin. Perhaps it was a superstition from a local village, she thought to herself though the fact that her parents were hiding details about the mark sounded strange to the young swordsman, “Oh, well. Don’t worry about that. It’s probably some old wives’ superstitions.”

“Ugh, I nearly forgot,” Shion said to herself as she hurriedly emptied her cup of coffee before she stuck her tongue out in shock, fanning it with her free hand, “Ahh, hot hot!”

“Sorry about that, Shiori-chan, I have to go on this errand for mom,” she said with a sullen face before her face brightened, “But...I should have more than enough time to help you clean up.”

Shiori sat looked sullenly at her coffee mug whilst in thought of what Shion had said. The course could be old wives superstitions, but that wouldn’t explain the very real markings on her face. They held a huge contrast to her skin color, which was rarely pale. Shiori never met anyone with skin like her up until a few days ago when she met their sensei, and even then she never met someone with markings similar to the ones she bore. It could be mimicked with Cho war paint, but never has she seen someone with birth marks quite like her own.

Come to think of it, she’s never been so self conscious of her own markings until now that she realized they were there all along. Just as Shion had noticed them, others did as well, and they all must of wondered what it was. It must’ve made her a freak. She was a freak. She immediately snapped out of it when Shion chugged down the coffee, burning her tongue and throat, “Woah, are you okay?”

Shiori reached out and giggled taking the mug from her, walking it to the sink, “No it’s okay. You can go, I’ll clean up from here, trust me it’s okay.” She turned to face Shion, “It was nice chatting with you though Shion, we should definitely do this again.” She lead her new friend to the door and bowed slightly as she opened the door, “See you later tonight.”
 
Fieldset:
Hiron Hon


Empire of Akino | Konohagakure
| Jounin of (Konoha) team 9 | Member of the Akenian War council | Major General of the Third Division |



A drink with a Hisoka Uchiha?



A day or two had passed. Hiron hadn't heard anything yet from his team or subordinates. The man didn't doubt that his students and team were just relaxing. No, that wouldn't phrase it right.

He didn't care.

Sitting home, he stared in front of himself. A bottle was gripped in his right hand as the silence was the only other company that Hiron had. His gaze seemed fixated but it wasn't on the sketch of him and his family. He was withdrawn into his thoughts for quite some time. Hiron didn't experience the peace and tranquillity that ruled the atmosphere in his house. He heard the laughter, noise and grumbling faintly.
Slowly, he raised the bottle to his lips as he took a sip. It seemed to increase the volume of the feminine laughter and voices. The absent voices that no longer kept the silence at bay.
Closing his eyes, Hiron tried to picture the same scenario he had done these last few days over and over again. It was perhaps odd for anybody to see the stern and solemn man to begin smiling. Like he was a kid that dreamt of his favourite dessert.
Opening his eyes, there seemed a certain desire present. But upon spotting that he was still alone, Hiron's smile vanished. His eyes narrowed and the bottle was placed with a loud thud on the table. It would be followed by a loud bang of the door over a few minutes. Only for the silence to return.

Walking outside, Hiron's walking pace betrayed that he had a certain purpose. A few people nodded, flashed a smile or greeted him. Some seemed curious but not willing to engage the man in small talk. Not that they would be given a chance anyway with the jounin walking as if he was going to beat somebody to a bloody pulp.
As Hiron walked through Konohagakure, he kept ignoring everybody. He didn't need the sympathy of other people that had heard or knew what had happened to him and his family. He didn't want their friendship because of what he was to Kiyomi. All that mattered in his mind was to visit him. There was only one person in the entire empire that perhaps could understand his feelings.



"What a miserable place," Hiron grumbled. His eyes had adjusted to the dark of the long hall. There was light from the candles that kept the darkness and shadows at some distance. But they couldn't improve the solemn atmosphere.

Hiron frowned as Hisoka just looked back at him. It remained silent as Hiron's previous words reverberated through the hall.
"Well, fine. The reason why I wanted to speak with you is that I am done with this crap." Hiron didn't deign to look at Hisoka, just throwing a look at the right side as if he was expecting somebody else to join them. "If somebody ever told me that I was going to do this a decade ago, I would have been laughing for a week."

Hisoka still didn't say anything. He stood there with a blank expression plastered on his face. There was no telling what the Uchiha thought or felt as Hiron continued.
"I despised you for some a time. I doubt that I had to ever say that. The mere idea made me act as I did back then, those years." Hiron turned his head, locking his eyes with Hisoka. "I couldn't imagine myself being the subordinate of the son of Shozo fucking Uchiha. It just once more proved to me that the Gods have a crude sense of humour if any at all."

Hiron paused, a wrinkle appearing on his nose bridge as he frowned. Gripping a bottle in his right hand, Hiron's tone shifted slightly. The irritation was still present, mixing together with a cynical tone as Hiron seemed ready to make a toast.
"On to you, Lord Fourth. Captain of the Hokage Guard. The Governor of the Fire province. Oh, great fucking captain. On you, eh?"
Taking a swig, Hiron inhaled afterwards. His head lowered slightly as he threw a look at the bottle.
"You were a fucking prick. It pissed me off. Acting as if you were so much better than me." A light shrug followed. "Not that I can blame you. It would be a lie if I stated that you weren't better. You, Sakamoto and Meisa. All of you were better."

His tone seemed to become softer and less agitated. The light from the candles created an interesting lighting. Hiron wasn't entirely sure what to make out of Hisoka's expression as the Uchiha remained silent. Still hearing out what Hiron had to say.
"In all honesty, I do miss those days. Not because of you lot. Don't get me wrong. You were the biggest prick that I knew back then. With your constant demand for discipline and order. Gods, I wanted to prove you wrong again and again when you had that stupid look on your face. But I can't think that I served with more pride underneath any other damn prick." Hiron grumbled the last part. He took another swig.
"Meisa with her damned seals and wits. I think I have never heard anybody proven her wrong. She both made me angry and yet, feeling like I actually had a purpose. She saved my hide several times. I never thanked her for it. I never thanked any of you guys for it."

Hiron's eyes started to gain a glint. Not of joy of remembering the days when the Hokage Guard of the Sandaime Hokage, Zakito Hon, was active. But out of sorrow, guilt and anger. His voice became a little bit shaken as he continued.
Sakamoto was a drunken fool. One of the fastest and one of the most loyal men I have served with. But a kind-hearted drunken idiot. I never told anybody but I blamed you for his death. He lost his arm due to Nakashima perhaps. But I still cursed you."

The revelation was once more followed with a silence, plaguing the hall until Hiron spoke up again. He took a step closer to Hisoka. The Uchiha remained where he stood, still not showing any sign of his thoughts or emotions.
"Not that it was fair. But a lot of things haven't been fair, right? How you were cast out of Konohagakure by the Elders. How Meisa grew up. How Sakamoto died."
Hiron wanted to take another step towards the Uchiha. His grip tightened on the bottle. But he didn't take the step or swing.

"How you took away my little girl." Hiron produced the words slowly as his eyes became teary. His voice started to shake more as he continued, the anger and frustration clear.
"You know how it feels to lose somebody? I know you do. You should. But the irony is that I didn't just lose her to you. The day that you made her into your apprentice. The day that you decided that she was worth your attention, I wanted to march on your home and burn everything down. Not out of hate. Not out of spite. But because I knew what would happen."

Licking his lips, Hiron lowered his head. The sting of tears being held back became briefly more intense but he didn't care. Taking a step back, he would follow it with another step. Until he felt the smooth wall at his back. Sliding down on his bottom, Hiron raised his eyes. Meeting the gaze of Hisoka.
"She was so happy. So proud when she came rushing home. Telling me the grand news. But I will let you know, I was terrified. Aye, she is loyal. Skilled by hard labour and hundreds of hours put into what she had mastered. Smart? Aye. Talented? I have seen more talented but less driven people. Everybody keeps seeing this," Hiron made a frustrated gesture with his hand as if the wave just could push everybody outside away. "Talented kunoichi. The Tamer of the Nibi. The prodigy child. And then you had the audacity to make her the Empress. Ripping her from my home."

Hiron's words echoed faintly through the hall for a second. The jounin continued to stare at the statue of Hisoka Uchiha. The man had a calm composure, much like Hiron remembered Hisoka. The only reason why Hiron had decided to pay a visit to the Hall of Heroes was that he had no idea where Hisoka had went. There were some vague rumours that Hisoka had resigned from his office and moved to the Uchiha clan lands. Others spoke of fouler rumours, implying that Hisoka had been secretly disposed of by the crown because he could be a danger to Kiyomi's rule. A stupid theory, Hiron knew. But people were quite stupid.

"I was fifteen when I was promoted to jounin. The youngest to be promoted. Then joining your esteemed little group. I have bled and fought for you. I have fought and won against many bastards that almost got me in a coffin."
Softly shaking his head, Hiron would take another swig. Emptying the bottle, which he would put down on the ground next to him. There was nobody else in the hall at this point of the evening. That and Hiron had instructed the guards at the entry to not allow anybody inside. An order that was met with a salute and no questions.

"The thing is, I haven't suffered anything but failures these last years. I have been unable to protect Kiyomi against every danger. I have been unable to be there for her. What good of a parent or guardian am I, if I can't protect her from harm? What good am I of a man if I can't keep the promise I made to her those years ago?"
Swallowing, Hiron's eyes lowered as a shrug followed. A faint sound of a snif disturbing the brief silence.
"Has she ever told you the story of Eiji Emiya? That prick bested me. Took my bandanna headband as a trophy. I admit, he won fair and square. I decided not to seek that man out and continue focusing on attending my duties. Yet," Hiron's hands clenched into fists, " she trained and one day went to Amegakure. She went to Amegakure, knocked on the door of Eiji fucking Emiya himself. Then stated she was there to win my headband back. Can you imagine that?"

A snort was produced as Hiron shook his head again.
"You can. You have trained yourself. She managed to beat him though. Little tedious brat. When she came back with the headband, I was happy. But also scared and angry. On you, of course. But I was also angry at myself." Once more, Hiron's tone shifted.
"I had nothing more to teach her. More so, she had gone out of her way to protect my honour. A little girl kicking the ass of Eiji Emiya. Hiron Hon's honour defended by a little brat. Gods, you must have laughed your ass off when you heard that. Prick."

The last word was faintly spatted out as the man became silent for another moment. In truth, this was making him feel a bit better. But not as much as he had hoped for.
"You are a bloody prick, Hisoka Uchiha. A bloody prick for no being here."
 
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~ Suzu Insurgents ~
Kimi Iomaski

Republic of the Water Country, in Kirigakure - The Council's Office.
Minister of Knowledge


Standing at the window, Kimi looked over Kirigakure. The large building complex that was once dubbed as the Mizukage office, a rather large and imposing structure was now the Council´s Office. A minor change in name perhaps but in practice? A rather large change. A revised of the offices, vaults and locations within the large structure and surrounding buildings, a process that had taken months before one could argue that it was finished. Now instead of being the Mizukage's personal assistant and advisor, Kimi had been given a new and less influential position.
She was now the Minister of Knowledge. A rather soothing title but no longer did she control the ANBU directly or was capable of telling them what to do. A safeguard from preventing her to decide to avenge the death of Rika Suzu, the late Fifth Mizukage.

If those fools only knew, Kimi thought to herself. A smile grew on her lips as she was quite amused by the mere thought. Of course, she had accepted the change of positions and thus technically being demoted for else she would have given those idiots a reason to dispose of her.
Not that she was scared of anything. Though she had no longer direct command over the ANBU, the Council couldn't undo her previous work. Many captains and officers within the ANBU division were still loyal to her. A lot of those men and women rather served under the command of somebody that could understand them. That knew what their value was and how they could be appreciated.
Of course, the Minister of Knowledge should only have the Intelligence Division under their command. Another branch of the military that Kimi was rather acquainted with.

Many a person would likely have gotten bitter and angry with the demotion. But Kimi had decided to use it in her favour. Her name was all but unknown and now even harder to find. And somebody that was hard to find could spell a lot of trouble.
Perhaps, she thought to herself amused, she should initiate the second stage of her plans.

The faint sound of somebody knocking on her door pulled Kimi out of her thoughts. Turning around, Kimi replied with a polite tone; "enter"
A small girl entered, giving a short and quick bow before she would straighten her back. Holding a few letters, the girl waited in place. Kimi beckoned the girl to come to the desk as the woman would take a seat behind it.
The girl walked towards the desk and reached the envelopes towards Kimi.
"Thank you Nami. I take it that the last assignment went well?" Kimi asked, her eyes already fixated on the closed letters.
The girl just nodded, her hands behind on her back. The silence from the girl was an answer on its own.
"Good. Know what? You have been such a good help. Take the rest of the day free, little dove. Go on, shoo! Before I change my mind.~"

The girl would offer a small bow before she quietly left the office. Even though Kimi knew she could arrange for a most experienced and capable assistant, she had found some amusement in keeping Nami around. The girl wasn't perhaps a trained killer but if anything, Nami had helped to murder a kage. Not many genin could boast the same, so far Kimi knew.
Opening the first letter, she was slightly intrigued. The report wasn't actually meant for her but much as one could expect by now, Kimi was more than happy to have some people duplicate messages or reports to inform her about events in and out of the Republic.
The first letter regarded over a small skirmish that had occurred not too long ago.

"The Seventeenth Light Patrol Squadron has met and destroyed three ships of foreign design and crew on the Eastern fringes of our maritime territory. The ships appeared to be of make and models similar to those of the trade ships of the Eastern nations. Fast with only wind propulsion they gave even the Akiyama’s a hard time of catching up.

Engagement took place just past eight o’clock, conditions were deteriorating (Wind and wave conditions were moving from moderate to heavy) and allowed for the squadron to move in undetected until it was too late to evade. Successful ramming and boarding of all three vessels, though oddly one vessel did not seem to sink when the RNS Mutsu and the RNS Nagato, both Akiyama Rammers, freed themselves of its hull and left large two by four meter wide holes below the water line. Can not explain the event while still at sea, currently towing said enemy vessel to port.

It is this humble servants opinion that these are no normal pirates, advise that patrols be stepped up in and around the Eastern fringes and the fleet be brought to alert. We can not let our naval might blind us to the possibility of an enemy attempting a naval invasion as it did before.


Current Disposition - Seventeenth Light Patrol Squadron

RNS Hamakaze (Trireme)

-Moderate damage, sails intact, twenty crew lost

RNS Hatsukaze (Trireme)

-Lost with all hands shortly after ramming. Enemy vessel exploded violently, believed that the Hatsukaze pierced a storage area of the ship containing aforementioned barrels used to dispose of the trade ship.

RNS Mutsu

-Moderate damage, sails intact, fifty Republican Marines and half of rowing compliment lost

RNS Nagato

-Largely intact, light damage, no losses

RNS Mikasa

-Heavily damaged during explosion of enemy vessel, remains seaworthy. Sails destroyed, crew in no condition to operate ship, transfers have been made from the RNS Nagato to get the vessel to port."


Normally, such a report wouldn't be that interesting. Pirates weren't a rarity, despite not being as common as people thought them to be. But this report did indicate something more ominous than a few pirate vessels. Usually, pirates didn't have the capacity to provide a big threat to even a light patrol squadron.
It was more common that pirates tried to flee or surrender when spotting a Republican squadron moving in on them. The Republic maritime power and reputation was enough motivation to cause most pirates to not risk their hides on engaging them.
However, there was also the fact that one vessel didn't sink. Being somewhat acquainted with maritime warfare, it was strange for a vessel to not start sinking after being rammed so severely.

Once Kimi was done with the report, she would grab a pencil and paper. Scribbling an instruction, in code, she would prepare to make sure that the captured vessels would fall into the hands of the Intelligence Division.

Then she moved on to the next report. It wasn't as interesting as the first report. It stated some details regarding the training of several new military units and crews for vessels. Usually, such reports also came with names of people that could be either useful or a threat to one of her plans. Such as the late jounin commander, Hiro Akiyama.
Good thing that people seemed to buy the whole Suzu insurgents. Nobody had questioned who more could be behind the murder of Hiro Akiyama. Who knew that the name of a dead clan could erase so much doubt about an actual rival wanting Hiro dead?

Moving on, Kimi read the other reports. It was details of teams that had completed their operations. Searches for Suzu insurgents, some attempts to capture Suzu insurgents and etc.
If those poor sods only were aware that they were literally hunting ghosts at this point. Kimi wondered how far she could press on with continuing the 'threat of the Suzu'. Knowing well enough that somebody competent could try to attempt to try to figure who was 'supporting' or 'leading' these insurgents would mean endangering her future plans.
"Perhaps it was time to stir up some more problems?" Kimi thought to herself, the smile of before finding its way back on the woman's lips. But who should be targeted?

"Of course. That foreigner clan, so successful with their trade." Kimi thought as she would start scribbling down coded instructions on a new slate of paper.
 

►Yukimi Yuki◄
►Team: Team 11 Chuunin
►Location: Yuki Mansion
►Disclaimer: This post starts off with a flashback (by way of a dream) to the Shoji occupation, so hopefully this will eliminate any confusion!

The entire world seemed to conspire to create a dreadful atmosphere, or at least that was how it felt to Yukimi. The clouds overhead hung dark and low, ready to unleash a flood upon the poor denizens below at any moment. The air itself carried a scent of unease and fear with it from recent events. Truly, a day that she much wished she could have spent inside painting or else just enjoying not being out within this... mess. Yet here she was, sitting out in the open at some cafe table that was less than the kind of establishment she would usually frequent. However, it really wasn't all that bad despite her internal complaints. It was a place where she could more or less converse with the man at her table without too much a worry of being overheard. Hiro Tsukada, a man who looked rather assuming despite being a rather skilled Jounin. Well, he would have been had the arts not been outlawed in recent days. The two talked in comfortable, yet hushed tones as they sipped on tea. Talking about various ongoings in the city, though the topic kept coming back to the truth of why Hiro had asked Yukimi to meet him on this day. The man cautioning her to avoid acting out against the new laws, valuing her safety more than making some sort of statement. Warning her that something was coming and that he doubted this was going to be the law of the land for good. It was a little strange, yet the thought never occurred to the girl that she was watching herself and the man interact from afar. She watched the interaction for a long few minutes before she could hear the man telling the other girl to stay safe and he'd see her on the other side.

At that same moment, a trio of men in armor were making their way towards the table at a rather brisk pace. Seeing this scene, Yukimi's eyes went wide as something seemed to click in her mind. Suddenly Yukimi was screaming, willing herself or the girl sitting at the table to act to prevent what she knew was coming. Yet neither her body or the girl who bore her face seemed to respond to her desperate pleas as the men came closer. "STOP THEM, DO SOMETHING!" She screamed as tears suddenly seemed to burn on her face. Yet nothing moved, and she couldn't look away as the men came forward to grab Hiro. She knew the rest, that he would resist for some stupid reason. That she would remain still, watching in fear for her own life as the guards mercilessly put down a truly good man. Somebody she respected and looked up to, dying before her very eyes. Yet she wouldn't act, not to keep herself hidden from these bastards. No, that was the farthest thought from her mind. But fear. Fear would keep the younger Yukimi rooted in place with a wide-eyed expression instead of doing anything to help save the man who had trained her. As he once more fell lifelessly to the ground, Yukimi finally found herself able to move from the invisible quicksand that had seemingly enveloped her feet. Dashing forwards to the corpse that had once been one of the few who she had felt she could trust, tears fell freely from the Yuki's eyes. "Why? Its not fair!" She demanded, staring between her younger self and the sky. ”You never thought of what might have been had you not been useless while they executed Tsukuda-sensei? " The words from her Aunt echoing from behind her. A sort of taunt as Yukimi stared down at the lifeless corpse, and her mind focused on the fact that she had been useless. She had watched him die in part due to lack of skill and in part because she was scared of what might happen to her. She stared at how her younger self betrayed no emotion at seeing this all, other than mild surprise. A terrible feeling in her gut telling her what she already knew, that the lack of emotion was not feigned. At least at that time, she hadn’t regretted it until a couple years later.

In a rash moment of emotion, she whirled around at the source of the noise with the intent of attacking with reckless abandon as a primal scream left her lips. Then she was suddenly jerking upright in her bed, the scream dying in her throat as she looked around at the stillness of the room. Its pristine appearance a vast difference from the somewhat messy scene of the cafe she had so recently been staring at. Her usually white sheets darkened in small spots from the tears steadily falling from her eyes as the haunting vision of mere moments ago was still fresh. Her attention turned to the frozen kunai sitting on the floor, and as if triggered by some secret curse in the block she was reminded of her aunt's harsh words. Once more fire flowed through her veins as the girl was suddenly on her feet, grabbing the block up and throwing it across her room towards a rather beautiful painting of the countryside just outside the city, covered in snow. The once immaculate detail of what was going to be a gift to Kukiko ruined as the block easily tore through the canvas. Yet the act did not shut up the voice gnawing at her mind, replaying the events from that morning. Even worse, the little thoughts in the back of her mind. Did she truly think herself above it all? What would she do if another situation like that occurred, with father or mother? Was she even fit for this life? Did she actually think herself so far above others she wouldn’t care if they were hurt? Thoughts like these and darker swirled through her mind as she tried to wipe away her tears even as the door to her room suddenly burst open. One of the servants, a woman barely two years older than Yukimi herself came rushing in and looked quickly around the room. "My lady Yuki, are you okay? I heard screaming and a crash?" She said quickly, looking towards the girl standing at the end of her bed as Yukimi shook her head. "I'm fine, Anko. Just..." She said as she trailed off, before turning towards the girl with a critical expression. "Why are you even in my room?" She demanded suddenly, trying to change the subject. "Oh. Sorry, Lady Yuki. Your father sent me to retrieve you, he wants you ready for the dinner tonight and to help entertain our guests. Yo-" The servant explained before Yukimi held up a hand to silence her. "I know that he is coming tonight, Anko. Could you draw a bath then for me? I need to be presentable." She said as the servant nodded towards the Yuki. "Certainly, my lady. Also... don't worry about all this, I'll clean it up and we won't tell your father. My apologies for intruding." She said quickly, offering a polite smile as she bowed slightly and started making her way out of the room. Only to stop and turn as she heard the Yuki speak up once more before she left.

"Thank you, Anko. Really. Though I've got a question for you if you would be so kind." She said with a sigh as she turned to face the servant girl, once again reminded how close the two were in age. "What kind of person do you think I am? Give me an honest answer, no matter how harsh, please. I... I need to know how others perceive me." The girl asked, slightly dreading what she would likely hear in response.


 
A Struggle in the Dark - part 2
Empire of Akino
Hon clan lands


Operation:
Obsidian Blood


A collab between Alice and Oetje

Summary:
Astrid and Meilin move into the large room, only finding out that the route behind them closes. Finding themselves in a room with a mysterious man, that introduces himself as the Priest of Threads, a short exchange of words occurs between Astrid and the Priest. Then the struggle takes place.



Making quickly some distance, focusing some chakra to enhance the speed as the distance of her skids, Astrid came to a halt. Spotting the odd creature made out of iron threads start to gather lightning, the woman frowned briefly.
The crackling of lightning started to pick up as the sheer volume would create a most menacing sound. The iron thread made creature leaned slightly forward as it kept moulding chakra into lightning, gathering it to the point Astrid felt the familiar iron taste in her mouth - even despite the distance between them.
Yet, she didn't move aside or away. It would be fruitless anyway. Instead, a grin started to dawn on her features as she spread her hands open.

Without a warning, the creature unleashed a large volume of lightning. The violent force raced towards Astrid, kicking up dust and small bits of debris into the air.
Placing her hands in front of her, Astrid unleashed some of her own chakra - transmuted into lightning. A heavy vibration would go up to her arms as the violent force slammed right at her quickly made shield.
"Aumingi," the word was muttered softly as Astrid narrowed her eyes.
Steadily, she would push back and force the attacking force to split. The motion of her hands almost seemed like she waved it aside, causing the remaining force of lightning to pass her and slam against the wall at the woman's back.



"Attention here, big boy," Meilin said as she would beckon at the odd opponent to focus back on her. Though she wasn't sure how intelligent this monster out made of iron threads was, she was sure that she had its attention once it turned back towards her.
The masks opened and Meilin didn't need more than that to be warned what was heading her way.

Starting to run for cover, the chuunin would hear the wind and fire chakra combined heading her way.
Finding cover behind a small rock, Meilin waited a moment. Various small explosions followed the impact of the monster's attack, causing Meilin to softly grunt as the attacks were enough to kick up dust into the air.

The creature kept firing several powered shots of enhanced fire at Meilin's location until the dust made it impossible to spot anything.
Just as the creature was about to turn and aid its allies against Astrid, a silhouette moved out of the smoke. This movement was enough to spark another volley of lethal fireballs from the creature.
The first seemed to hit Meilin at her right knee, only to slam her at her chest. The chuunin stumbled and seemed to be unable to mount any proper defence against the following onslaught.
Void of mercy, the creature unleashed a few more attacks until it abruptly brought to a stop.



"Most impressive." The priest said, clearly amused as he watched how Astrid defended herself against the lightning attack. He shot a mere look at how the other fight was going. But didn't seem that concerned that he would face a threat on that front.
"You westerners are so primitive in your ways. Haven't you detected yet how futile it is to continue fighting? You lot will be soon dead. But I will offer you once more to cease your fighting."

Scoffing, Astrid frowned as a response. She was considering a way to bring this fight to an end. But she couldn't communicate with Meilin. The chuunin seemed to be struggling against her opponent. And there was opening detected by Astrid, that she could utilise to come to the chuunin's aid.
The priest shook his head as he would snap the fingers of his right hand. Once more the odd creature started to gather lightning.

Coming up with something, Astrid's hands shot together. Weaving through the four hand signals, a bright flash would briefly fill the hall with Astrid at its source.
Now that her opponent was blinded, the woman sprinted forwards. Her right hand placed on the hilt of her sword, the Hon moved as quick as she could forwards - closing the distance with the priest and its odd creature.
Aiming for the throat, Astrid would lash out as she attempted to use her speed and weight to amplify the impact of her attack. A sharp blue of lightning trailing the sword's blade.
But as the sharp edge of her weapon left its scabbard, the priest would be defended by its iron-thread creature - that moved in between Astrid and him.

Almost without effort did the weapon slice through the iron threads but wouldn't be able to harm the priest. Before Astrid was able to lash out another attack, the iron threads surged forwards and started to overwhelm the woman at a rapid pace.
The gasp and following scream as the threads started to pierce through Astrid's clothing and flesh would be muffled as the threaded creature engulfed her.

"A pity," The priest said as he lowered his arms. Seeing how the woman still attempted to struggle, it would soon cease as the vague shape of Astrid stopped resisting. Leaving a large heap of moving threads on the ground.
"Now---"

The man's eyes widened. He blinked as he turned. A sharp pain moved from his chest to his entire body. Breathing became difficult as tears started to form at his eyes, the burning sensation numbed away by the intense pain.
Trying to make sense of his situation, the man blinked again. His gaze first moving to the direction where Meilin had fought with her adversary.
There was only a heap of threads on the ground, giving away the outcome.
Still confused, the priest tried to turn but soon enough collapsed and fell on the ground. His last breath leaving him as a painful gasp as the air around him would be of burned skin, hair and iron.



Pulling the sword out of the man's back, Astrid sighed. Looking at the priest, she waited a second. Placing her right foot on the man's head, she would heave her weapon and bring it down. The crackling of lightning made the sound of the sharp blade slicing through the man's neck faint.
Severing the man's head from his body, Astrid would kneel and grab the decapitated head by its hair.
"Nice work," the woman said, as she shot Meilin a look. "For a moment, I was wondering if I had to help you instead of going for the killing blow."

Meilin looked at the Grey Guard, at how she severed the man's head from his body. She had managed to trick her foe but the way how Astrid had managed to use that Flash technique was on a whole different level. The sheer surprise on the man's voice, not being aware that he was placed underneath a genjutsu was terrifying. Even while she had been spared of it, it still sends chills down Meilin's spine.
"Well," Meilin flashed a wry smile towards the other woman. "With this done, I want to move out. Perhaps see if the others need my help."

"Mmm," Astrid shot a look at the blocked entrance. Clearly, she was pondering about something but would make her mind up as she nodded. "I need to search for something here. Not to mention," the Hon kicked against the corpse at her feet, "making sure that what seems dead remains dead. This place seems a fitting tombe for these kúkalabbi."
The corpse didn't move and it almost seemed to upset Astrid. The disappointment seen on the woman's features were swiftly replaced by a faint smile.
"Let me clear that blockade for you. I will then continue my search."

Meilin nodded as she was hoping that none of her team had kicked the bucket. The mere thought that she could be responsible for their deaths briefly caused her stomach to twist. It was more than enough to distract Meilin from questioning or wondering what Astrid was hoping to find in this murky and dark place.
 
Obsidian Blood Fight
Empire of Akino
Hon clan lands



Operation:
Obsidian Blood


A collab between Lesli and Tim

Summary:
Neji and Aiko find themselves facing off against an unknown, masked enemy. Their opponent seems rather skilled and capable of holding her own against Aiko and Neji combined. The Uchiha chuunin and Cho jounin soon have to press the offence in order to gain an advantage.



"You shouldn't have come here."

The feminine voice originated from the shadows that obscured the room in front of them. Aiko looked around but with the one torch, there wasn’t enough light to illuminate the entire hall. Slowly Aiko flexed the fingers of her right hand as tried to detect any movement with her other senses.
”Stay vigilant,” the jounin mumbled, audible enough for Neji. She was sure that the boy wouldn’t relax in a situation like this but it also served as a reminder for herself.
Suddenly two tendrils made of some dark substance moved forward, attempting to grab the jounin and the chuunin. Managing to evade the attempt with a quick roll to the right, Aiko pulled out a kunai. There was no telling for her where the tendrils had came from as they vanished as soon as they had appeared.

The room was pitch black, it was easy to tell right away that there were no windows in this room. It seemed to be an empty room with no windows and no lights, that was until a voice coming out of nowhere spoke up. ”You shouldn't have come here." Neji immediately activated his sharingan on hearing the voice that sounded like it came from a woman. Aiko sensei would raise her torch in front of her to try and see who and where the voice was coming from. The torch was not enough though as the room was still pretty dark. Aiko would tell Neji to stay vigilant. Neji would shake his head and respond ” Yes sensei” Just loud enough for Aiko to hear.

All of a sudden Neji picked something up with his sharingan. There was chakra forming seemingly out of nowhere. All of a sudden that chakra lashed out and tried to grab both Neji and Aiko. Neji would jump back to evade the tendrills. They would then disappear after failing to grab the two of them. Neji would take out a kunai and get himself prepared for another attack. He would also tell Aiko what he saw. ” Sensei, I could see chakra forming and making those tendrills that attacked us, but I can’t tell where they are coming from and they seemed to disperse after they failed to grab us.”

Hearing what Neji said, Aiko didn’t reply right away. She had figured that the tendrills were products of chakra. But with Neji stating that he couldn’t see where they came from was a bit more concerning.
Sounds of the earth violently cracking was the only herald of the next attack. The dark would hide most of the cracks that would run over the surface of the stone before violently raising solid spikes upwards.
Forced once more, Aiko would move to the side with a skid. But the moment she placed a foot down, the earth underneath produced an odd sound.
Able to focus some chakra at her boots, the jounin managed to quickly perform another skid to move out of harm’s way.
The same situation would occur for Neji as well. Spikes moving out of the ground with the clear attempt to skewer his feet and possibly holding him in position.


Neji would hear strange sounds coming from underneath him. He would look down at the ground and even though it was dark, Neji’s sharingan would see chakra underneath them. Neji’s eyes would widen as he would jump up into the air to dodge the spikes that were coming up from the ground. Neji jumped into the air and to the side. He would land and would look around the room trying to find the source of this chakra. They knew there was someone in there. The person had spoke to them when they first entered, but they just couldn’t see where this person was and who it was. The situation was not great for them as their opponent held the clear advantage at the moment.

It became silent in the room as if the presence of before had left. Aiko doubted that was the case. First, they required some light to be able to see more. Bringing her right hand to her face, Aiko would proceed to whistle hard to get Neji’s attention. It was a shame that the boy didn’t know any other language that could provide a safe way of communication between them. But this wasn’t the time to worry over small setbacks, for without any idea on where they opponent could be, they would soon be cornered and taken out.
”Create some light, Neji.” Aiko instructed. She already started to try to detect anything that could lay a hint to where their foe could be.

But all that the jounin would hear would be the soft cracking of earth below her, before a spike erupted. Despite the earth made spike being raised at a decent speed, Aiko managed to evade it with a quick step to the right. Soon enough, the process of before repeated as the earth seemed quite eager to pierce and wound both the present Cho and Uchiha,

The room become eerily silent, way too silent for the situation that they were currently in. Neji looked around the dark room as he tried to see the enemy, but it was far to dark for him to see anything. The enemy could see or sense where he and Aiko was, so that put them at quite the disadvantage. Aiko would whistle and Neji would turn his head towards where she was. She told him to make some light. This was the perfect opportunity to use his new jutsu. ” Right” Neji would make the hand signs, Serpent, Boar, Tiger, Hare, Tiger. Once he made the hand signs, his right hand would light up. A glow of light would form from his right hand and it would create some light in the room around the them. This new jutsu was called Fire Release: Light Grenade and it was a jutsu Aiko sensei had just recently taught him, and it was already becoming useful.

As Neji would look around the room he would spot a big rock on the far side of the room, because of the light he created he could spot a shadow behind the rock. Neji was getting ready to alert Aiko sensei when he heard a sound coming from below him. Neji looked down and would quickly have to jump up into the air to avoid the spike that had quickly shot out of the ground trying to strike him. When Neji was in the air he would grab a kunai blade from his pouch and throw it down at the rock. It would land behind the rock where Neji believed the enemy was hiding. He landed on the ground in between the rock and Aiko sensei, hoping that he had hit his target.

Not watching as Neji would follow his instruction, Aiko tried to detect anything that could betray their hidden foe. The crumbling sound beneath her forced her to make a quick skid to the right to avoid being impaled by an earth spike. As the Uchiha chuunin evaded a spike that tried to impale him, Aiko shot a sideways glance. Turning her attention towards where Neji threw a kunai, a shadow quickly moved away from the site. The light generated from Neji’s technique prevented the unknown figure from hiding. Revealing the masked woman who had been attacking them ever since the jounin and chuunin had entered the hall. There was a second of pause but quickly the masked woman’s hands shot together to form various seals as she intended to crouch and place a palm against the cold earth. The earth would quickly morph and shift, revealing a dragon’s head. As the jaws opened, large balls of mud and debris would be launched towards the direction of Aiko and Neji.

Focusing wind chakra at her hands the moment that the unknown woman started to weave handsigns, Aiko would attempt to react as quick as she could. Evading the first projectiles, she attempted with counter-attacking, lashing out two arcs of wind chakra towards their foe.

The light that Neji had created would give off enough light to make their enemy visible. Neji’s kunai would miss their enemy but it did force her to move from behind her hiding spot. As soon as the woman moved out from behind the rock she would start to form hand signs. Neji’s sharingan picking all of this up and he knew that it was not something he would want to get caught in. The enemy morphed the ground into a dragon head, the dragon head shot balls of mud and debris at Neji and Aiko. Neji would quickly dodge out of the way, as he was in the air he looked to Aiko sensei and his sharingan picked up her hand signs. Neji quickly realized what she was doing. Neji made hand signs and got ready to fire off his own jutsu. Just before Aiko would fire off her jutsu Neji shot off a fireball jutsu. His plan was to use Aiko’s wind jutsu to make his fire jutsu stronger, and it did just that. The room was big enough that the only affects that he and Aiko would feel would be a little heat. The wind jutsu amplified the fire ball as it went towards their enemy.

The large arc of wind chakra started to become more lethal with the addition of the flames provided from Neji’s fireball. The destructive force of the arc of combined natures would sweep the flying mud and debris with ease aside, leaving a carving in the ground as it continued.
The unknown woman quickly moved away, just a moment before the deadly force would slam the dragon head made from mud into smithereens, still continue until it slammed against the wall. The light that came from the fierce collision of the fire fueled arc created an interesting lighting in the room.

Taking a small respite that was offered by the combined attack, Aiko considered a feasible tactic. Now that they knew that their opponent was capable of using rather competent earth ninjutsu, they had to find a way to disable and kill her. Forming various handsigns in a quick succession, Aiko whistled hard to gain Neji’s attention. Following the whistle, Aiko would inhale deeply before focusing the moulded chakra for a moment. As she exhaled, the jounin started to blow and sweep up a large concentration of wind charka flowing into the room, creating a stream of wind chakra that started to pick up a gust, towards their foe that attempted to cover her face with an arm - in an effort to keep the swept up dust and pieces of mud from flying against her face.

Neji would watch as his fireball jutsu being amplified by Aiko’s wind jutsu would create a huge arc of fire heading straight for their enemy. The arc would easily destroy the mud dragon. Their enemy would at the last second get out of the way so that she was not killed by their combined attack. With Aiko being a wind nature user and Neji being fire, they could use each other’s jutsus to amplify and make their own stronger.

Neji would hear Aiko’s whistle as he looked over and saw the hand signs she was making. Neji smirked and started making hand signs of his own. This time he would use the phoenix sage flower jutsu. This jutsu would create multiple small fireballs instead of one big one like the Giant fireball jutsu. Neji would launch three small fireballs at the stream of wind Aiko had created. The fireballs became stronger with the help of Aiko’s wind as they made their way towards their enemy.

The pending threat of the approaching fireballs forced their opponent to take defensive measures. Quick to weave handsignals, the unknown masked woman would end the sequence of hand signs by stomping once with her right foot on the ground, What followed would be a sturdy wall rising from the ground, durable enough to withstand the empowered fireballs of Neji. Chunks of earth would be slammed into the air, splinters hitting the ceiling of the hall as the thuds of the violence resonated.

Spotting the response, Aiko narrowed her eyes. Halting her wind stream technique, she wasn’t keen on a prolonged ninjutsu fight. Even if she and Neji were outnumbering their enemy and had some other advantages, there was no telling on the situation could turn around.
Whistling to get Neji’s attention, Aiko would point upwards to the ceiling with her index and middle finger. The gesture would end to indicate towards their foe, likely still hiding behind her defense..

Neji would watch as the fireballs that he shot off at their enemy would speed towards her. Their enemy quickly made hand signs and then stomped her foot. A wall rose in front of her protecting her from the fireballs. The wall would take some damage but it would hold.

They had an advantage because they outnumbered her, but without knowing the full extent of her powers, it would be better to end this as quickly as possible. Aiko would whistle which made Neji turn to look towards her. She pointed her finger up at the ceiling and then pointed towards their enemy.

Neji would quickly run forwards a few steps before jumping up in the air, he would get an aerial view as he could now see over their enemies wall. Neji would take out three shuriken and throw them at their enemy behind the wall.

The masked woman was still behind her cover. Dodging two shuriken with a step backwards, the enemy caught the third out of the air. A blue hue would quickly envelop the shuriken as the masked woman threw the projectile back at Neji, who was now likely descending in the air.
Before the projectile would close in on the chuunin, something else hit the projectile, slamming it out of its course.
Moving to the right of the wall, Aiko would pull out another kunai.

Neji watched as their enemy was able to dodge the first two shuriken befor catching the third one. The enemy would envelop the third shuriken in chakra and throw it back at Neji. Neji’s sharingan eyes would widen as he was now descending in the air. He wouldn’t be able to dodge it and he didn’t have time to get a kunai blade out to block it. All he could do was put his arms up in defense to make sure that the blow wouldn’t be fatal. He was preparing for the blow to his arms when he heard metal hit metal. Aiko had thrown either a kunai or shuriken and, had struck the shuriken that was coming for Neji. He saw her take out a kunai blade and rush to the right of their enemy. When Neji landed he took out a kunai blade of his own and rushed to the left and their enemy. This way Neji and Aiko would be able to surround her and hopefully be able to take her out.

The sight of Aiko moving from around the wall caught the attention of their opponent. The masked woman was able to pull a knife from a scabbard and deflect the first attack of Aiko. An attempt was made to counter-attack and drive the Cho jounin away but it was clear that the masked woman was less confident in the close ranged department.
Quick to take advantage, Aiko would lash out again and keep the attention of the woman focused on her. Spotting Neji moving from the other direction, Aiko decided on something that would she would consider risky otherwise.

The steel edge of their enemy’s knife pierced through Aiko’s defence, the steel point moving through the cloth of her left arm as it was raised in an effort to defend herself. Dropping her own weapon, Aiko cursed softly and used her right hand to firmly grab the wrist of her opponent. Locking the woman and preventing her from moving away, leaving her quite open for a killing blow.

Neji came rushing to the left side of their enemy who had her back turned away from Neji as Aiko sensei had engaged her. The enemy had taken out a knife and was fighting with Aiko sensei. Neji continued to rush towards their enemy with his kunai blade out. He saw the enemy strike Aiko and get through her defenses. Aiko dropped her kunai blade to the ground as the knife hit Aiko on her left arm and caused her to start bleeding.

Aiko was able to grab a hold of the enemy’s wrist with her free hand and hold her in place for Neji to rush in. Neji rushed in from behind their enemy and slipped his kunai around her placing his kunai blade on their enemies throat ” This is it for you.”
Neji would slice their enemies throat going all the way across to make sure that their was no possible way she could survive. Neji stood there as the body came crashing to the ground. He would try and catch his breath for a moment. Many different thoughts going through him mind as he looked at the enemies body on the ground. She was a fierce enemy and if Aiko sensei hadn’t been there he isn’t so sure he would have been able to take her out on his own. This made Neji grit his teeth for a moment as he was a little frustrated, he was frustrated because Aiko sensei had gotten hurt, maybe if he had been more competent. maybe she wouldn’t have taken the damage she did. He turned to look at Aiko sensei ” Are you okay sensei?”

With Neji administering the killing blow, Aiko kept her grip on the woman. The light in the woman’s eyes was slowly vanishing as the newfound wound started to flow blood into her throat, suffocating her and draining her of strength. Some half muffled gurgling would resonate from the unknown enemy as Aiko would slip her grip and let the woman fall on the ground.
The question of Neji brought Aiko’s attention from their foe to the chuunin. A faint smile crossed Aiko’s lips as she nodded. Only to poof away, revealing the true nature - a shadow clone.

”I am okay.”
The voice would resonate as Aiko walked around the corner of the earth wall created by their opponent, a few moments before. ”Not too shabby. Though, don’t close your eyes next time. It was easy enough to fool both of yous.”
Throwing a glance at the fresh corpse, Aiko would frown slightly. Her left hand moved to a pouch but the woman seemed to ponder on something. Only to end opting to decide against it.
”Let us go. We will see if the others need help and else we can use a bit of a rest ourselves.”

Neji would smirk as Aiko’s shadow clone disappeared from his sight. Neji’s eyes would turn back to their normal color as he would hear Aiko’s voice coming from around the corner. She would tell him that she was okay and that he did a good job but not to close his eyes. ”Right.” Neji would look back down at the corpse of their enemy. He had done a decent job, but he knew in his head that he had to do better. He needed to continue to train to get better. He would snap out of it as Aiko would talk again. ”Got it, hopefully everyone else is doing okay.” With that Neji would put his kunai blade back in his pouch and the two would start to head out of the room.
 
Treating Wounds
Empire of Akino
Hon clan lands

Operation:
Obsidian Blood

A collab between Frost, Lesli and Winter.

Summary:
After their fight, Aoi and Yumi used their communicator to indicate that they were in need of aid. This caused Orun, Dea and Satia to move in and move the chuunin and Scholae back to the surface. There a tent was established as a medical quarter, to treat Aoi and Yumi - as possible other wounded members returning from their confrontation with the Zealots.




The small improvised medical tent did keep some of the winter cold out. The thick canvas also kept the light of the bleak sun out, making Yumi briefly ponder how long they had been in the tent. As they had gained some help to reach out of the dark caverns, Yumi was still attempting to piece several matters together. The surreal struggle she had faced with Aoi against that demon was haunting her. Which was to say as she had seen grotesque results of fights and seen fearsome foes before. But none that could shrug off an otherwise lethal wound and just request them to surrender. She was certain such feat wasn’t even feasible for jinchuriki or any kage she knew off.
Grunting softly as she kept a hand on the wound on her side, she wondered how Aoi was doing. The girl was sharing the tent with her but past from the short exchange after their fight, they hadn’t spoken much. Inspecting the makeshift bandage that she had made herself, Yumi was more than happy to be reminded that they had somebody with the group that was classified as a medical nin. If anything, it meant that they could be perhaps be patched up and attempt to reinforce those who hadn’t returned yet out of the caverns.

Aoi found it shockingly funny, that she thought she had been so shaken during the fight against the daemon, that she had been so paralyzed by fear at the sight of a servant of the darkness that she couldn’t bring herself to act as the shock set in, but she knew now that that was nothing near as shaken as she was now. The adrenaline had worn off quickly after they’d been brought out to the medical tent, the fear of death and the thing they’d left dead in the cave now deep beneath them, her body had had no need for the chemicals it had pumped through her veins to force her to act.

She was sat on the ground at the side of the small bunk she had been helped to, rocking herself slightly out of a deep seated need to stay moving as she waited for the apparent medical nin to come and look her over. Her nerves were frayed beyond what she’d ever imagined possible, and the smallest of movements of the tent around her drew her attention as the disgusting after taste of her bodies desperate struggle filled her mouth. She tried to swallow down the bitterness, tried to stop turning her gaze as quick as she could at every noise or suggestion of movement but failed. A sound from behind her drew her up so quickly she nearly tossed a small table over and she found herself facing a still empty area within her curtained off zone. She swayed and her legs refused to listen as she tried to force herself to sit on the bunk. Aoi dropped to her knees and wretched, emptying what little she had left to get rid of as she began to shiver and tense uncontrollably. She bit back the taste of bile in her mouth and tried her hardest to control the ebbing of the battle high.

Satia pushed her way through the tent flap, having been told two wounded had been brought from the caverns needing treatment. She didn’t say anything right away as she placed her things down at the offered table stationed between the curtained off areas, opening her satchel before taking out various items and placing them down in neat order. Her eyes briefly swept the interior of the tent, noting Yumi and Aoi, one of whom appeared in much more need than the other based upon visual observation.

Bracing herself with a deep breath she made her way over to Aoi first, taking a knee as she hooked her arm under hers and helped lift her onto her bunk, being gentle and mindful of her state as she took her weight to ease unnecessary additional pressure to her body. “Nice and easy” she said softly as she lowered her down, prompting her to lay so she could assess her properly. Looking over towards Yumi she visually checked her over before returning her attention back to Aoi as she brought her hands together, quickly performing a few handsignals causing a green glow to emanate from her hands which she then passed over Aoi’s frame, her hands hovering over her as she concentrated on diagnosing her condition.

“Fatigue is to be expected… elevated blood pressure, risk of hypertension. Bodily pain resulting in cerebral aching… “ she was saying this mostly to herself as her brow furrowed, the green glow starting to fade out as Satia looked to Aoi with a small soft smile. “You’re going to be fine, I’m going to give you something that should offset these symptoms but I suggest you remain in your bunk and let your body rest, otherwise you’ll risk further damage that could be trickier to deal with”.

She turned and made her way back to the table, taking a few key ingredients from different containers and piling them into a pestle and mortar, crushing them together before mixing heated water boiled from a pot resting over a flame in the corner. She stirred together the herbs, applying her knowledge of botany and herbalism to prepare a remedy that would counteract Aoi’s symptoms, pouring the concoction into a bowl which she brought over to Aoi, setting it down on a smaller table beside the bunk as she prompted the Shinobi to sit herself up in her bunk slowly.

Satia took the bowl and placed it into her hands, “Let yourself absorb the vapours before drinking, it should relieve your headache. Once it cools, drink it and hopefully you’ll start feeling more like yourself. It’ll detox your system which unfortunately may cause you to feel the need to relieve yourself, it may also make you feel slightly nauseous but that’ll just be your body preparing to push anything it doesn’t need out of your system. If anything starts to feel worse call me over immediately”. She offered a reassuring smile.

Closing her eyes for a moment, Yumi felt the temptation faintly. A soft whisper trying to tempt her to get some rest. Upon hearing something, Yumi wanted to get up. Without much ruckus following, she concluded that it hadn’t been anything. A soft scoff followed as she laid once more on her back. The curtain prevented Yumi from seeing how or what Aoi was doing. It irritated Yumi but it wasn’t like she had much to say to the Miyazato. Talking about what they had faced down in the dark? Not really a topic that Yumi wanted to bring up so soon.
Staying silent, the Scholae thought she had heard somebody. Was Aoi on the move? That damned curtain, Yumi thought to herself. In all honesty, she didn’t trust that a mere genin and specialised jounin would be able to guard the exit of the cavern. Listening further, Yumi deduced that it wasn’t an enemy that had slipped past to finish her or Aoi off.

Remaining silent, Yumi tried to listen in to what was said in the other closed off area of the tent. The medical genin that they had with them didn’t speak loud enough that Yumi could fully catch on what was being said. Licking her lips, Yumi considered the idea of speaking out loud. Perhaps crack a joke.
But nothing came to mind and Yumi remained silent, trying to keep herself calm as the pain kept aching at her side.

Managing a sliver of a smile as the medical nin came to her Aoi wouldn’t offer any words as the girl coaxed her up and laid her on the bed. She tensed and gripped at the air with her hands as the blonde nin got to work. Aoi felt as though she was beginning to drown in her own spit as she lay as still as she could for the nin, the need to vomit once more rising in her stomach as the girl spoke aloud to herself about Aoi and her condition. She wanted her to be quiet, to finish what she was doing so that she could lean over the bed and get it over with but the girl went on. With every ounce of decency she had left in her she managed a closed smile and a half nod to the nin as she told her she’d be alright and to hang on for a moment as she grabbed something to help her.

With the medical nin turning away to tend to her bag of medicines Aoi quickly rolled over and dry heaved for a few seconds before rolling herself back to her original position. Content in the fact she didn’t feel as though she was drowning anymore she’d watch as the blonde nin made her way back to her bedside, sitting up as she was prompted to and watching in silence as the girl place the bowl in her hands. She hesitated to breath as the nin stated she needed to inhale the vapours of the concoction before her before slowly nodding, “Right…” she murmured as she would take a small breath of the stuff in the bowl before simply pretending to breath in the vapors for the medical nin as the girl seemed poised to leave, “No questions here.” she said quietly. Aoi eyed the contents of the bowl some more and silently decided she’d rather suffer through her current issues then deal with whatever was just handed to her, it wasn’t exactly a new event given she’d dealt with the over use of her abilities in the past and hadn’t died yet.

Satia didn’t have to turn herself fully to realise what was happening, her incredible perception and affinity with the element of wind enough to combine with her experience in the field of medicine to make her aware of what was happening, noting she was not breathing in the vapours. “If you’re not going to take the medicine you should have told me before you wasted my time and resources” she said softly without looking towards Aoi. She wasn’t about to try and coax or convince the Shinobi into taking the remedy, she was capable of making her own choices but her words would likely have a sting to them, if only because there was truth to her words.

Turning towards her other patient the Genin approached the curtain and pulled it back, finally removing the separation between Yumi and the rest of the room. Satia offered a small reassuring smile to the woman as she approached, assessing her visually first before she’d speak. “What seems to be the problem?” she asked softly, noting that this woman seemed far more able than the other and information would likely speed up the process. While she waited for Yumi’s response she would prompt her to sit herself up slowly so that she could get a better look at the injuries and the extent of the damage, her hands once again taking on a green glow which she passed over the areas coated in maroon. She could tell almost immediately that the wounds were superficial, but required treatment nonetheless to stave infection and further injury, perhaps even a suture depending on the depth.

When the curtain was moved, Yumi’s eyes opened. The fingers of her right hand flexed briefly but upon recognising the genin and thus medical nin, Yumi calmed slightly. The light brown eyes didn’t reveal much of the woman’s thoughts. Keeping her left hand pressed on the source of aching pain, Yumi would focus on her breathing as the medical nin prompted her to st up. Knowing it would be best for the genin to analyse and see the wound, Yumi was a bit hesitant to remove her hand. Slowly as she spoke up, Yumi removed her left hand. Despite not afraid of seeing blood, she decided to focus her gaze on where the entrance of the tent was located - right ahead of her.
”A stab at the side.” The Scholae began, briefly pondering about if there was any possible information that could be handy for the medical nin. ”Possible chakra invasion of the culprit. But I haven’t felt sick or weird ever since the…”

The woman’s voice briefly trailed off and she stopped talking. Not because the pain was still aching and troubling her. She thought back to the unnatural opponent that could shrug off mortal wounds like it were mere flea-bites. ”Ever since the source died. I haven’t been able to check it on how deep the wound is.” The woman did decide to not mention the blood loss. It only struck her now that she was being treated by a genin. And that a chuunin had been able to survive the encounter with the demon much better than she had.

Giving the medical nin a confused little stare Aoi would take the bowl and place it on the table at her side, letting it clatter lightly as she did, “And maybe you should tell your patients what you want to give them before making it up and expecting them to follow along.” she responded defiantly, uneasy of the girl, “I’ll deal with this without it, you’d have gotten that answer yourself before wasting your ingredients had you asked.” she continued before laying herself back down and rolling on her side.

She was able to watch as the Genin made her way to Yumi and suddenly felt a flush of embarrassment over her treatment of the medical nin the moment she was reminded she wasn’t actually alone in the tent. She did her best to keep her face from the Scholae’s view and watched curiously as the girl seemed to repeat the routine she’d done with her.

Satia calmly and carefully observed the area as she listened, hearing Aoi but choosing not to respond as the Scholae removed her hand. She passed her hand over the area and nodded in response, “It’s quite deep but it doesn’t look like anything we should be too concerned about as long as it’s treated” she replied before she stood back, the green flow dissipating from her hand. “As my other patient quite rightly warned, I’ll explain what I think we should do and if you’re in agreement I’ll patch you up”. She turned and regarded Aoi after that statement, inclining her head respectfully “Forgive me, you’re right I should have asked you if you wanted to accept the remedy” she said before turning her attention back to Yumi.

“Firstly I’d like to disinfect the wound, then proceed to cover it with a salve before dressing it to hold the salve to the wound. I don’t think a suture is necessary, the cut is quite clean” she said with a reassuring smile before continuing. “As for your Chakra, I can check your flow and see if anything turns up. The process might be uncomfortable so if you’re feeling fine you’re welcome to continue on without a checkup if that’s your preference” she finished softly before waiting to see what the Scholae wanted to do.

The words of Aoi, aimed at Satia, didn't have any impact on Yumi. The Scholae's thoughts were occupied with the fact that the mission was technically still ongoing. The mere idea of being unable to contribute more than she had was irritating, in the least. Even if one could try to argue that bringing down a demon wasn't a small feat, Yumi started to feel outclassed.
Sizing up the blonde genin, Yumi blinked twice in a slow fashion. Remaining silent for a moment, the corner of the woman's lips slightly curved down as the genin moved a hand over the area. The painful aching briefly became a tad more intense.

Listening to what the genin told her, Yumi wanted to interrupt the blonde young woman. Honestly, she didn't care what the genin would do. She wanted the wound treated and then be more in shape to be of use. To aid further in the mission.
”I doubt it will be anything worse. Do what you have to do." Yumi replied, a pause of a second following. ”I rather have my chakra checked. Just to be sure."
Though Yumi felt the urge to cover the wound. Placing a hand to apply some pressure on the source of the location that kept sending painful aches through her body, she would absent from doing so. In an attempt to give enough room for the genin to do her work.

“Very well” Satia replied softly, inclining her head forwards with a small respectful nod of acknowledgement before she continued with her plan, taking a soaked cloth and gently applying it to the wound to clean away dead tissue and expose the wound itself to the air. She would place the cloth aside, folding it into a disposable bowl before then applying a salve she had stored in a jar mixed previously among a small collection of healing items and remedies. Once spread thinly over the wound the Genin would dress the wound, wrapping the dressing around Yumi’s waist and looping it over her shoulder to keep the dressing more secured. The salve pressed by the dressing would sting at first but after a few minutes would slowly start to add some relief.

“Alright, that should do it” she replied with a small smile, “If it gets worse at all or you start feeling feverish come and see me immediately. But first let’s check your Chakra” she said before prompting her to lay herself flat on the bed. “As I said before this will likely be quite uncomfortable, but it’ll definitely tell us if anything is wrong” she spoke as she focused Chakra to her fingertips till they formed into fine needles. “Try to be completely still and relax your body, if you need to stop at any time you need only let me know and we’ll stop there” she reassured before carefully and dexterously moving the first Chakra needle towards her shoulder, pressing it down into the area between her collarbone and arm socket.

Once the needle had made its way in, she took her other hand with the other needle, inserting it carefully and slowly into the right side of her abdomen. Concentrating as the Genin furrowed her brow, she began to make connections between the needles, allowing her own Chakra to flow through Yumi between the points. She would occasionally move the needles to different points on her body before repeating the process, ensuring all the pathways were clear before eventually withdrawing them, the needles dissipating in the air. “I can’t seem to find any blockages or damages, whatever was in there seems long gone now”.

Though silent and attempting to lay still as the genin treated her, Yumi watched the activities as good as she could. The sting that overwhelmed the previous painful aches was enough to cause Yumi to clench her hands into fists as narrow her eyes. The uncomfortable feeling resided for some time but it was not on par with what followed.
The treatment of the genin, regarding the check on chakra, was more uncomfortable. It didn’t hurt but it sure felt odd. For a moment, Yumi wanted to shove the genin away and move herself out of reach. Keeping herself still, the Scholae kept herself quiet. As well not attempting to see how the genin was injecting needles of chakra into her body. It surely wasn’t a sight that made the alien feeling any less worse.

As soon as the genin was done, Yumi inhaled deeper than before. Her eyes briefly closed as she flexed the fingers of both hands.
”Good.” The sole word was mumbled as Yumi would attempt to sit up. Despite not feeling fit as before, she wasn’t planning on just staying in the medical tent.
”Thanks for the treatment.” Yumi mumbled as she would further attempt to get up.

Satia inclined her head to acknowledge the thanks, although it wasn’t necessary. When Yumi tied to get herself up the Genin held up a hand, “I would prefer it if you remained here a little longer to ensure you recover fully before attempting to go back out there, although I can not stop you if you insist on it” Satia gave a concerned look as she watched the woman closely. Of course her main concern was if the Scholae had any kind of adverse reaction to the treatment, meaning she would be in serious trouble if mid fight in the field she suddenly began to suffer side effects such as an allergic reaction to the ingredients used in the remedies. However being a Genin made she had no authority to enforce her to stay in the tent.

The first visible reaction of Yumi to the words of Satia was a frown, as the Scholae halted her actions. Sitting up right, it became clear that she was considering the words of the genin. Knowing that the genin was right, the young woman didn’t want to sit by and idle in a tent as some kind of old harlot - unfit to continue to attend her duty.
Slowly, Yumi would move on her back as she exhaled loudly through her nose. If anything, the situation was slightly ironic as she was once more taking the advice of a genin while being of higher rank.

The Genin exhaled a small content sigh of relief as the woman seemed to be agreeable to her wish and remain in the tent a little longer. “Thank you” she replied softly before turning to give her some space as she set about collecting her things together, placing away the ingredients and various utensils she used to prepare the remedies. Hopefully she wouldn’t need them again, but that was rather wishful thinking considering what they were up against.
 
An Aftermath of Sorts
A small talk between Madoc and Aoi following their battles in the cave system.


Swaying slightly as she walked, Aoi made her way through the small set of tents that had been erected outside of the cavern entrance to serve as rest and shelter from the elements for those involved in the operation. Her head still throbbed and she hadn't been able to get the taste of copper from her mouth no matter how much she'd tried on the way out of the cave, not even with the medical nuns tiny amount of help. She stopped and teetered in place for a moment as she inspected the row of tents in front of her. She'd been told that Dagrún and Madoc had recently come out of the cave and retired for some rest, and though she was curious how they'd both faired she was far more eager to get the images of the daemon out of her mind and far less excited at the prospect of approaching the Hon.

Crunching forward through the snow she stopped at the tent she knew was Madoc’s and rapped her hand against the heavy canvas, “You in there pretty boy?” she asked from the other side of the flap, “Mind if I come in?”

It felt good to be laying down breathing in the air that wasn’t from the cave. It was more cold outside as such a chill was still present but it was better than muggy air and hard rocks. Having tried resting his eyes after expending a good portion of his chakra, he felt himself dozing off when Aoi’s voice had awoken him. From what he knew Aoi and Yumi were the only other group to have come out yet. A bit worrying but he was sure the others would be fine, they had a jounin with them after all.

Yawning he would look at the flap and sigh softly. ”Well it’s warmer in here so might as well.” Madoc said as he would sit up stretching his arms above his head.

Standing awkwardly outside for what seemed like far too long in the cold, Aoi felt a small smile grow on her lips as Madoc invited her into the warmth of the tent. Parting the flaps only enough to slip through them, the Miyazato quickly entered and turned around to close the tent flaps once more, tying off their small loops to hold them together and keep out the wind and snow.

“I figured I'd come see how you were doing,” she started as she turned back to face Madoc and couldn't help but snicker a little at his current position, “though it seems you're doing just fine.” she motioned with a hand at him lounging before she began to strip off her snowy outer layers starting with her gloves and then the large jacket she wore. Quickly undoing her scarf she'd lay all the items near the flaps before moving to kneel down at the side of Madoc.

She had come to try and talk to him about what had happened in the cave, but now that she was here and staring at the obviously exhausted Yamanaka she just couldn't bring herself to make the moment about her, like she always did with him.

“How are you holding up?” she asked him as she reached a hand out to grip at his bedroll.

Watching as she entered in quite a hurry, the cold wind sneaking in just as quick as he shuddered slightly at the slight chill. She would end up securing it to keep the wind out as much as possible to which he shrugged as he started to whistle to himself. Only stopping once she asked how he was doing, although she snickered and said it looked like he was doing fine.
”Could be worse I suppose. Could be missing some limbs, have some broken bones, or the greatest tragedy of all…. I could be missing all of my hair. I shudder at such a grim thought.” Madoc said shuddering for effect while Aoi would would remove her jacket and scarf.

As she knelt down at his side, he looked up as she asked how he was holding up to which he shrugged. ”Not dead so I guess that’s considered great in our job. Tired I suppose. Trying to slow down a tornado so Dagrun can slice an opening in it, left me rather depleted on chakra. Slightly annoyed but other than that no complaints. What about you blue? How are you holding up? You got out of the cave first it seems.”

She was relieved when he made it clear he was doing fine. Though she could tell from the moment she walked into the tent that Madoc was well, she had apparently not processed the information until he himself had spoken the words. She let out a sigh of relief and felt tension in her shoulders that she hadn’t realized was even there release.

“Good.” she said quietly as the cold of the tent began to get to her. She regretted taking off the heavier outer layers but was pretty sure they’d do nothing but make her far too hot in the tent as when she’d first stepped in. Tightening and loosening her grip on the Yamanaka’s bedroll she’d sigh and shake her head slightly as she smiled at the blonde, “Had you died… Well I’d need to come find you so I could kill you as well. None of you are allowed to die.” she stated as if she had any control over death in her field of work. Leaning slightly forward she’d scrutinize Madoc’s face for something she wasn’t even sure of before leaning back as he asked her how she was doing.

Blushing slightly as he called her “Blue” she’d wave her free hand at him and grin, “I’m fine I’m fine. In the same boat as you I’d say… Used up most of my chakra as well.” she’d say as she began to spread her legs out down the length of Madoc’s bedroll. “You mind if I lay down? It’s admittedly a bit tiring sitting up right now.” she asked, unable to bring her gaze to settle on Madoc as she did.

”Yeah yeah, if anything is gonna kill me it’s going to be something unrelated to what we do on a regular basis. Yet by all means you give your best shot at killing me.” Madoc said with a smile, which turned into a confused look as he looked up too see Aoi scanning his face only to lean right back as if she didn’t do anything. ”Usually one makes their admiring of the other a bit more secret. Yet I understand that my dashing good looks can captivate anyone, so I will let it slide.”

When she stated she was feeling the same as him he chuckled. ”Yours was annoying to fight too huh? Mine wasn’t really skilled, just knew how to be really god damn defensive. Have to learn some new tricks in case that happens to me again.” Madoc said closing his eyes as he relaxed in silence, ear perking when she asked her next question.
”I don’t care. Do what you want. I feel we’re allowed to relax while we wait for the others to come out of the cave.”

Giving Madoc a mirthless laugh as he once more showed just how large his ego was Aoi would shake her head at him, “Oh so captivating.” she said mockingly as she tried to simply forget the thing she’d fought in the cave. She shrugged and began to lay down, “Annoying or something, sure.” she stated as she’d lift up his bedding and slide herself underneath it, “You said you didn’t mind.” she quickly said as she dropped the linens over herself and quietly relished in the warmth that Madoc had worked so hard to create.

Staring up at the roof of the tent she’d place her hands behind her head as a bit of a pillow and sigh, “How exactly was yours annoying? Defensive? As in what? They deflected everything or…?”

”Oh stop you will make me blush.” he said rather sarcastically as his covers began to move as Aoi slide her way under them causing him to smirk as he shook his head. ”You are using my words against me young lady. Well played, couldn’t be prouder.” he said with a slight chuckle as he gazed over at her as she would ask how his fight was annoying, which caused him to groan as he rubbed his face.
”Well for starters she knew some sound genjutsu or something, created this high pitched sound that only vanished when she lost sight of us. Thankfully I had sensory otherwise she would have done something with explosives. Then she made a tornado. You know how many Madoc’s it takes to slow down an artificial tornado?” Madoc asked as he held up three fingers.
”Three Madoc’s, took me and two clones to slow it down enough just so Dagrun could slice through it without it dissipating on us. Needless to say I now want to make artificial tornadoes cause my word are they annoying.” Madoc said with a slight evil smirk before another thought popped into his head.

”Oh she also could insert herself into my telepathic mind link with Dagrun. Glad I told her that secret for no good reason, maybe she forgot but I doubt it. So either the opponent knew Mind Reader. Or she maybe was a Yamanaka who could create her own mind links. As she spent the majority of the time shit talking us in our heads. Then she died, Dagrun said she was worthy, which I disagreed with but ain’t shitting on someone’s beliefs. Even if what they said annoyed me.”

Aoi rolled her eyes as Madoc, an action he couldn’t see given their current positioning but one she couldn’t help from doing, “Right right.” she agreed with a small laugh before she’d tune in on his explanation of the person he’d fought. Shivering slightly as Madoc spoke she wasn’t quite sure if it was because of the explanation of the genjutsu user or the cold that still bit at her even beneath the blanket. When he asked how many Madoc’s it would take to stop a tornado she found herself oddly confused until he stated that it took two clones and himself to finish it, clearing up the notion, “I can barely handle one of you… God I don’t know what I’d do if there were more than one of you.” she snickered as she’d prop herself up on an elbow facing the Yamanaka.

“I’m not sure you can be trusted with something like a tornado Madoc.” she chimed in as she watched him talk. She pushed herself farther up as the blonde told her that she could get into the telepathic link he had with the Hon and found herself staring wide-eyed at him. She wanted to say it’d be impossible for the woman to have known such a thing, and even then… “How did she even know you were using it in the first place?” she gasped, “She was reading your mind from the start then? That’s the only way right? She only got in on accident? Can that be done,” she began to stammer, “I mean that’s not possible right? We need a connection to hear one another? Or is it just us that need a connection and not you?” she stopped talking for a moment, “Oh God.” she said quietly, “It’s just us that need it to hear you isn’t it? That means anyone with the same technique can hear us? It’s not actually fool proof?”

She brought her free fist up and hit Madoc squarely in the middle of his chest, “That’s something right?” she asked before dropping the tone, “That they could use it or something similar to it? That’s got to be important yeah?”

When she said she could barely handle one of him and that three might be too much he chuckled at that more than he should have. ”Well it’s not like my skill increases if anything Im putting myself more at risk for a plan that could backfire on me. For example I don’t need to posses anyones mind, when I can have my clone do it. However splitting my chakra in many bodies is a risk. Cause if those clones die then Im shit out of luck ain I? That and if I don’t have methods to get past certain defenses then Im shit out of luck again. So really three of me is nothing special.”

He found himself taken back a bit though when Aoi suddenly started getting more worked up by the mind thing than himself, spouting off possibilities without a break. So when she finished as she smacked him in the chest, he smiled but shook his head. ”It’s a bit more complicated than that. With Mind Reader I can read what you are all thinking, even edit memories if I need too. Although that’s more complicated to do. Speaking to you all is a telepathic connection I set up between us all, unless I add people in then the only way in is to have the same ability. Hence why I think the woman might have been a Yamanaka. She inserted herself into the telepathic link, reading our minds she wasn’t doing. Otherwise that fight would have ended with more damage to ourselves… Well I say she wasn’t but the only way she could have is if we discussed the plan in the telepathic link.”

Madoc let out an annoyed sigh as he sat up with a frown on his face. ”Honestly it’s not even that that bothered me, if the fact that... ” Madoc was about to bring up this supposed Maker but remembered the glare he got from Dagrun when he said something about it, thus he just shook his head. ””Eh it’s nothing, we won she died. In the end that's what counts.

Resting a cheek in her hand she'd slowly nod as he spoke about Mind Reader, divulging a bit more about how it worked and his own suspicions for the woman he'd fought. She took a breath and managed to calm herself down and kick the wild theories running around her head loose as Madoc seemed to be pretty sure on a general theory for his enemy.

“Well…” she began before frowning slightly at him as he tried to write off whatever it was that was bothering him, “You can tell me what's bothering you, you know? There's no shame in that, and it obviously matters if it's bothering you.” she said as she moved her free hand to his forearm.

She seemed to relax a bit which was good, camp may have been mostly empty yet the few that were around would think something was up if Aoi made more of a commotion. She would go on to tell him that he could tell her what was bothering him, as it mattered since it was bothering him. Remaining silent as she tried to assure him by moving her hand to his forearm, he just sighed and shook his head.
”Trust me you don’t want to know, it would only cause more issues if I told. So I’m going to keep it to myself if you don’t mind Aoi.”

He wanted to tell her about what Dagrun said, and about this whole Maker thing. However he knew it would only rile Aoi up more than she has been about this whole Chonobi thing. Mostly if she knew that Dagrun was only worried about Meilin’s life right now. That and telling someone that was religious about another stupid god, might only set her off more.

Raising her eyebrow she'd huff as he seemed to move away from the question, “Fine.” she said reluctantly while wondering what he'd meant, “But next time I'm not telling you what's bothering me.” she joked as she was pretty sure that he'd actually enjoy such a thing.

Moving her hand off of his forearm and to his chest she'd lower herself down off her arm to lay at his side. “Anything else then? Nothing at all you want to talk about?” she asked at a near whisper, “Or something you want to do maybe?”

”Jokes on you, you don’t have to tell me for me to know what’s bothering you. I’ll know by you telling me, or me entering your mind.” Madoc said with a smirk, somewhat debating not teaching them Mind Reader when it was like his trump card against these two.

When her hand switched from his forearm to his chest. His eyes looked down at her hand, they would move over to her as she asked if there was nothing he wanted to talk about, or anything he wanted to do.
”You know we can’t, we may have done our job but we are still on a mission.”

She smirked at his comment, “I know I know, it was a joke.” she smiled before balling her hand into a fist and hitting his chest again, “That's not what I meant at all!” she exclaimed quietly as she felt her face becoming red at his comment. She began to talk and tripped on her words before releasing her fist and clutching at Madocs chest, “I was asking more so if I could take a nap here…” she finally managed out before sitting up, “Though that might not be the best idea, considering we are still on a mission.” she repeated from his own words.

Letting out a little oof as she hit his chest, causing him to rub it as she exclaimed that wasn’t what she meant. ”Hey I’m an exhausted man. Can’t be going and attacking a weakened man.” Madoc joked before she stated she just wanted to take a nap here. Which caused him to raise an eyebrow as she used his own words against him.

”You came all this way to my tent. To take a nap in it...” Madoc said as he moved his head in to look her in the eyes just inches away from her face. ”Just a nap right?”

Rolling her eyes at his comment she'd rub his chest softly with her hand, “Sorry then.” she said as he'd start to seem to doubt her intentions. “No--” she stopped as he rose up to meet her, his face so close she had to avert her eyes from his, slightly out of embarrassment and slightly out of the fact he may have been cheating and reading her mind, “No, I came because I was worried.” she stated with an air of confidence that felt entirely forced, “For how you were doing. Dagrún too… Though she's harder to approach.” she admitted.

She realized for the first time since entering the tent her heart was beating as if she'd just ran a marathon as Madoc was so close. She brought her eyes back to his and smiled, “Just a nap.” she repeated as she moved herself a little closer to him.

It felt kinda dirty to turn this situation against her, he knew this wasn’t why she was here but he just couldn't help himself. She was too fun to tease about it, she just had to many humorous reactions when put on the spot like this. So when she said she came because she was worried, he simply nodded his head before she said she was worried about Dagrun as well. This made his look frown ever so slightly as now he knew Aoi cared about what happened to their team, but the other member didn’t. ”Well last I knew she was doing fine.”

Madoc said as she replied that indeed just a nap as she moved closer to him. ”You are a really bad liar you know that? Usually one naps by moving towards the ground, not the person.”

Still smiling as Madoc informed her that Dagrún was doing well she’d move a little back from his face and raise an eyebrow. “I thought I was pretty good at lying.” she admitted a bit hurt, “Though I guess it's a different story versus a crook like you.” she moved a hand up to the side of his arm and gave it a small squeeze, “We really shouldn't.” she said softly.

”Oh I don’t need Mind Reader to call you out on your lies there Aoi. So lying to me doesn’t truly work, others I have no clue.” Madoc said as he feigned pain. ”Once again I am called such a dastardly word by my friends my allies! When will they see that I’m no crook, no asshole. Yet a man of simple goodwill!” Being a bit over dramatic for no reason, his attention would focus on her when she squeezed his arm and said they really shouldn’t
”Yeah I know. Least not on mission anyway. But sure feel free to take a nap. I’ll let you know when the others start coming out. Kind of surprised no one else has come out yet.”

Nodding in agreement Aoi would let go of his arm bring her hands down to her lap. She stopped a bit after he had spoken and nodded “That sounds like a plan yeah.” she smiled before leaning forward and wrapping her arms around him and then quickly releasing him, “I'm glad you're both alright. Tell me when Meilin is back.” she smiled and quickly laid back down before she did something that they'd both regret on the job.

Feeling her grip on him be let go, he smiled as she agreed before she quickly hugged him only to release him a second later. Caught a bit off guard, he only looked at her and nodded when she asked him to inform her of Meilin’s arrival from the cave. Watching her lay down he would mentally sigh as he looked at her for a bit. ”Huh. First time I ever felt bad for being a flirt.” Madoc thought to himself as he chuckled at what appeared to be a sleeping Aoi.