Starring:
Date: September 27, 2014
Summary:
Konoha and Kumo cooperate to take down a missing-nin with a flair for sweet-talking kunoichi.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Ballad of Katon Aijo"
A rural town in the Land of Lightning
Sometimes rogue bands get started up by the craziest things. Take, for example, the bandit gang headed by Katon Aijo, a missing-nin from Konohagakure. He was a handsome lech who actually managed to sweet-talk the first group of hunter-nin who came after him into joining him instead. Well, two of them anyway — the third was a guy, who barely escaped and went back to Konoha to report his team-mates' treason. As Aijo's band fled the Land of Fire, he started convincing more and more girls to join, mostly ordinary roughnecks, but a few of them capable ninja.
Crazy or not, the group has started to pose a serious problem, not to mention a disgrace to Konoha's name. :P So Konoha sent Noab to pursue them into the Land of Lightning, and also sent word to Kumogakure notifying them of the potential threat and requesting assistance to meet Noab near where Aijo's band is expected to be.
Hiei had been tasked by the administration to go assist Noab in capturing the missing nin from Konohagakure. Since there was a good possibility that if this man was in the Land of Lightning, he may have convinced some Kumo shinobi to join his cause. With that in mind, his superiors suggested that his alter ego accept this mission instead. Therefore when he arrives where Noab is, he is clad in the guise of Viper. He inclines his head towards the elder shinobi. "Kamen Rai Da agent Viper to assist you, Noab-sama." His voice is muffled and the seal on the mask keep his chakra in flux to make it more difficult to sense his true identity. "Anything I need to know about the target?"
No matter how much Rise tried to resist the compulsion, her eyes inevitably kept finding themselves locked on the Kamen Rai Da as they made their way across the land. It was simply pointless paranoia, or so Rise tried to convince herself. It wasn't as if it was uncommon for a shinobi of Viper's status to be assigned on a man-hunt. Still, the fact that he was the same one that witnessed her brazen attempt to join the Kamen Rai Da — "Enough." She muttered darkly underbreath before shaking her head hard. The timely decision is followed immediately after by their arrival at the meeting point.
Rise is taken aback by the sight of the grizzled Akimichi at first, but quickly recovers her composure. For now, she would stand behind Hiei, await further orders, and silently pray Noab didn't recognize her in the 'silly' get-up Hiru created for her years ago.
Noab sits at a table tucked away in the corner of a small inn, awaiting his allies. When they arrive, Noab nods to them and indicates the other chairs nearby. "Greetings. Thank you for responding. I'm Akimichi Noab, jounin of Konohagakure." Noab pulls out a scroll and unrolls it on the table, revealing portraits of Aijo and his two top lieutenants. "Our primary target is Katon Aijo, the message you received should've filled you in on most of the intel we have about him. I'll emphasize that his primary strength lies in fire ninjutsu, though he's a decent taijutsuist for a jounin-level ninja as well." Noab points at the lieutenants' portraits, which, well, are pretty much the same. "These are Machi and Michi, identical twins. They were part of the first recovery team sent after Aijo, but they deserted to join him. They're close to jounin-level together, and they rely on combined strikes and wind manipulation." Noab rolls up the scroll. "The rest are mostly vagabonds, though they're not an inconsiderable threat. We don't have detailed intel on what their capabilities are."
Noab lays out another scroll on the table, this one a map of the local area. "Fortunately we do have intel on where they are. Their group's getting too big to conceal its presence, or maybe too bold to care. They should be arriving in this town near sunset. Of course, it's better for us if we intercept them on the road, away from potential civilian casualties. Any other questions?"
Hiei shakes his masked head once. "That's all pretty straightforward. I'm read to head out immediately." He looks over at Rise, or rather the disguised Rise. He had never seen her before, but it wasn't the first time that he had been partnered with someone he didn't know. Orders were orders afterall. Blue eyes stare out of the slits of the serpent mask towards Noab. "Your reputation is known even in Kumogakure, Akimichi-sama. I'm eager to engage this Aijo and his lieutenants."
After a tense few moments of awaiting for the hammer to drop, Rise finally able to allow a quiet sigh of relief to escape her lips. "I… Mm… Nevermind." Rise says quietly. Despite her own words, the girl spends as much studying the map and playing their targets over again in her head before truly focusing back on the present. "You can count on us, Jiji-san." She says eagerly and grins toothily at the Akimichi, revealing a line of pearly white and shark-like teeth.
«OOC» Noab says, "I think I'm going to start off the encounter by checking whether you two would be able to successfully ambush the enemy. Hiei, you'd be a +8 Ninja in the system, which means your actions typically start with a +roll 1d13. Could you do one now?"
RP: Hiei rolled a 13 with 1d13 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "Nice. X) Do you have any special skills for hiding?"
«OOC» Hiei says, "Taisan"
«OOC» Noab says, "Hmm, that's for getting away in mid-battle though, not ambushing. Guess we'll just leave it at that."
«OOC» Noab says, "Rise, you're a +7 Ninja, base roll is +roll 1d12."
RP: Rise rolled a 8 with 1d12 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "Hiding skills?"
«LDG» Rise says, "Stealth ii"
«OOC» Noab says, "Extra 1d2, then."
«OOC» Noab says, "Okay, Aijo is a +8 Ninja, so his base roll is 1d13…"
RP: Noab rolled a 11 with 1d13 die.
«FIRE» Michiko peers
«OOC» Noab says, "Let's say that's his roll against Hiei. ;) And the twins, who are +6 Ninja, roll against Michiko…"
RP: Noab rolled a 3 with 1d11 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "Okay, basically that means you'll get to attack first. *writes pose*"
«FIRE» Michiko thinks you mean Rise
«OOC» Noab says, "Ah, right, sorry."
Noab nods and stands up. "All right then. I'm not much good at hiding, so I'll confront them in the open and draw their attention so that you two can ambush the group. Don't worry about me, defense is my strongest point. Focus on taking down Aijo, then his lieutenants. The rest should fold if we can accomplish that."
A few hours later, some distance out of town, Noab stands in the middle of the road through the forest, leaning on his axe-cum-cane. The sound of trudging feet comes up the path, growing stronger until a band of mostly-female miscreants appears around the bend. They pause and stare when they see Noab; anybody standing around with a big ol' weapon and a forehead protector is likely to be a threat to bandits like them, and the three missing-nin recognize Noab's build as belonging to a certain clan from Konoha. "Katon Aijo, Tsuin Machi, and Tsuin Michi," Noab calls out, lifting up his axe. "The three of you are under arrest and will return to Konohagakure. The rest of you, disperse now and we won't charge you for criminal affiliation." >/ Aijo's eyes dart around the trees on either side of the path. "Huh, that's all they sent, one old man?" "I'm all it'll take, pretty boy," Noab growls.
«OOC» Noab says, "Okay, Hiei, you get to do your base roll before deciding on your move, so go ahead and +roll 1d13."
«OOC» Noab does it to keep things moving. X)
RP: Noab rolled a 13 with 1d13 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "Hiei's lucky today. XD"
«OOC» Hiei says, "Apparently."
«OOC» Hiei says, "We're capturing these people, right?"
«OOC» Noab says, "If possible, aye."
«OOC» Hiei sees what he has that isn't lethal.
«OOC» Hiei starts off with a Falcon Punch towards the Jounin.
«OOC» Noab says, "You start out with 8 chakra, which puts you in tension level 1. That means D-ranks are free, C-ranks cost 1 chakra, B-ranks cost 2, etc. Since you just rolled the highest possible base roll, now would be a great time to go for a big hit."
«OOC» Hiei says, "Ah, you don't say? How are combo's handled?"
«OOC» Hiei says, "Nevermind. I'm gonna hit him with Swallow Return."
«OOC» Noab says, "Okay, that's an A-rank move in a style for which A-rank is the highest you've achieved, so you +roll 1d16."
RP: Hiei rolled a 12 with 1d16 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "Total of 25. Aijo's base defense roll:"
RP: Noab rolled a 8 with 1d13 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "Aijo spends 3 chakra to do a B-rank Smooth Moves Taijutsu defense:"
Rise has partially disconnected.
RP: Noab rolled a 17 with 1d48 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "And just barely succeeds. X) At least you made him expend a lot of chakra."
«OOC» Noab says, "He draws a kunai and just barely manages to fend off your attack. You can describe the results in your pose if you like."
«OOC» Noab says, "Now, Rise's turn. Base roll is 1d12."
Hiei was waiting for Noab to spring the trap. When he heard Aijo comment on how there was a single old man there to apprehend him, Hiei leaps out of his hiding place and immediately pushes his body past it's normal limit in speed. Drawing both swords, he appears to be everywhere and nowhere all at once as he feints constantly until he actually attacks from a seemingly random direction. The sound of metal on metal rings in the air as his technique is parried by the missing nin. He finishes his movement several feet in front of Aijo and turns to face him, both swords at the ready. "Not that he needs the help for the likes of you. But he's got backup." Hiei states, eyes staring at the man through the serpentine slits of his mask.
RP: Rise rolled a 4 with 1d12 die.
«LDG» Rise says, "eww"
«LDG» Rise hmms..
«LDG» Rise says, "goes with a d under strong fist"
«OOC» Noab says, "You have 7 chakra, tension level 1, so that's a free attack. 1d10."
RP: Rise rolled a 2 with 1d10 die.
«LDG» Rise ._.
«OOC» Noab says, "Who were you attacking, BTW? There's Aijo (+8 Ninja), Machi & Michi as a single entity (+6 Ninja), and the Rabble (+4 Rabble)."
«LDG» Rise says, "Machi & Michi"
«OOC» Noab says, "Twins' defense base roll:"
RP: Noab rolled a 2 with 1d11 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "And, E-rank move in a B-rank Twin Taijutsu style:"
RP: Noab rolled a 3 with 1d6 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "You hit. XD"
«LDG» Rise woots~
«OOC» Noab says, "They get in an argument over who should deal with the nasty old man and don't notice you attacking them."
«LDG» Rise nods, and prepares to abuse dynamic entry. *.*
«OOC» Noab says, "Machi & Michi are now a +4 Ninja."
«OOC» Noab says, "Aijo's base attack roll:"
RP: Noab rolled a 1 with 1d13 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "Heh. X) He'll try to blow a D-rank fire attack at Hiei, which is free because he has 6 chakra (everyone generated 1 chakra due to new round starting, BTW)."
RP: Noab rolled a 2 with 1d10 die.
Rise awaited alongside Hiei for the trap to be sprung. She lingers awhile still for Hiei to capture the attention of the leader. Just as she's ready to spring forth from hiding, hearing the twins argue over the old man proves too much of a temptation for the young Shirokiri. "Leaf Dynamic entry times TWO!!" It is about the only warning she gives, and only seconds before she drop kicks a twin's from the side. By extension, the other twin gets caught up into the blow as well thanks to angle. "I think you two got yer own problems to deal with at the moment." Rise says cockily as soon as she recovers.
«OOC» Noab says, "You almost can't fail this, but, +roll 1d13 Hiei?"
«OOC» Noab does it.
RP: Noab rolled a 5 with 1d13 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "Hiei defends easily."
«OOC» Noab says, "Twins' attack base roll:"
RP: Noab rolled a 5 with 1d9 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "They retaliate against Rise with C-rank Twin Taijutsu:"
RP: Noab rolled a 1 with 1d10 die.
RP: Rise rolled a 11 with 1d12 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "Total of 6, and Rise defends easily. Anything either of you want to tell me about how you defend?"
«OOC» Hiei dodges.
«LDG» Rise parried and side-stepped her way to victory.
«OOC» Noab says, "Guess I'll put Noab before the Rabble. Base attack roll:"
RP: Noab rolled a 11 with 1d13 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "Pretty good. Think I'll go with a B-rank Akimichi Taijutsu attack, trying to slam Aijo between my palms."
RP: Noab rolled a 12 with 1d12 die.
«OOC» Noab is lucky too. n.U
«OOC» Noab says, "Aijo's base defense:"
RP: Noab rolled a 1 with 1d13 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "He attempts a B-rank defense again:"
RP: Noab rolled a 18 with 1d48 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "And fails this time. XD He is now down to a +4 Ninja."
«OOC» Noab says, "Finally, base attack roll for Rabble:"
RP: Noab rolled a 2 with 1d9 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "They do a D-rank Gang Taijutsu attack against Rise, since she's the only one within their reach."
RP: Noab rolled a 3 with 1d6 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "Total of 5. Rise?"
RP: Rise rolled a 6 with 1d12 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "Successful defense."
«LDG» Rise woots~
«LDG» Rise face jump past them. >.>
«LDG» Rise says, "head*"
«OOC» Hiei needs to get ready for his date.
«OOC» Noab says, "Ah, sorry for taking so long to set things up. We could say you deal with keeping the Rabble suppressed if you want to bow out."
«OOC» Hiei says, "That works for me. Thanks for including me in the scene, though."
«LDG» Rise hugs Hiei and hopes ye have fun. :3
«OOC» Hiei says, "Thanks. ;)"
Hiei has disconnected.
«OOC» Noab says, "You could roll your attack while I'm pose-writing, BTW. You have 8 chakra, still tension level 1."
«LDG» Rise says, "Okay dokie"
RP: Rise rolled a 12 with 1d12 die.
«LDG» Rise *.*
«LDG» Rise shall be targeting the twins again, "D under konoha"
RP: Rise rolled a 3 with 1d10 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "That's all? This fight probably won't last long enough to strain your chakra, y'know. X)"
«LDG» Rise X)
«OOC» Noab says, "But, guess it's too late now."
«OOC» Noab says, "Base defense from Twins:"
RP: Noab rolled a 5 with 1d9 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "They spend 2 chakra for a C-rank defense:"
RP: Noab rolled a 14 with 1d24 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "They succeed."
«LDG» Rise finger snaps.
«LDG» Rise says, "Well, at least I'm draining their chakra charge. |S"
Aijo draws a kunai and steps forward toward Noab. "Oh, I think it'll take a lot more than — whoa!" o.O; Aijo reacts instinctively to Hiei's sudden onslaught, parrying the real blows amidst the feints through a combination of well-honed movement and dumb luck. "W-why you hypocritical old windbag!" >.<; Aijo tries to spit a fireball in Hiei's face, but in his flustered state he takes a long moment to fumble through the handseals. Hiei easily jumps over Aijo, and in the space past where Hiei was Aijo has only a split-second to see Noab's massively inflated arms swinging in toward him. *WHAM!* Aijo is smashed between Noab's gigantic palms. x.x
Meanwhile, the twins Machi and Michi had each seen Hiei's sudden attack as a chance to get a leg up on each other with Katon-samaaaa~. "I'll help you, Katon-sama!" "No I'll help him, you go fight the old geezer!" "Ew, no, you should totally go deal with that, I claimed helping Katon-sama fir — " *POW!* Rise's kick fells the twins into a heap. "OW! Like, what the fudge!?" "Seriously! Hey sis, we need to get back to fighting together." "Totally! Let's slap this squirt silly!" Machi gets up and grabs Michi's arm, then swings her around for a slow but hefty roundhouse kick at Rise. >.< Meanwhile, the other bandit in the group also attempt to rush Rise with their makeshift weapons.
Rise cringes at every word that leaves the twins mouth until at last she's ready to shove a fist down each of their throats! "In your dre—" But the rest is abandon for the sake of limboing under the twins roundhouse kick. "Hey!" She springs back up, but again before she can finish a thought, the rest of Aijo's fangirls decide to take a shot her as well. Rise elegantly weaves from through the throng, parrying strikes, and side-stepping just in time for a pile up or two. By the time their taking care of, if only for a moment, the taijutsuist has made her way back to the duo, ready and more to try clothesline them both in passing!
«OOC» Noab says, "Okay, Twins already rolled to defend, now Aijo makes his next attack:"
RP: Noab rolled a 1 with 1d9 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "The baddies this time are pathetic. X)"
«OOC» Noab says, "I'm going to have Aijo do this now because he might not get another chance. He attempts a B-rank Glamour Genjutsu against Rise, with a 1d2 bonus for his Charming Rogue quality."
RP: Noab rolled a 12 with 1d12 die.
RP: Noab rolled a 1 with 1d2 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "Total of 14."
«OOC» Noab says, "What's your defense?"
RP: Rise rolled a 8 with 1d12 die.
«LDG» Rise hmm..
«LDG» Rise bahs and burns up a c. XI
«LDG» Rise says, "under konoha"
«OOC» Noab says, "1d32."
RP: Rise rolled a 24 with 1d32 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "That works. Now, Twins' base roll…"
RP: Noab rolled a 7 with 1d9 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "Guess I'll have them attack Noab, since they see Aijo trying to work his magic on Rise. B-rank wind manip attack:"
RP: Noab rolled a 3 with 1d12 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "Noab's base defense:"
RP: Noab rolled a 1 with 1d13 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "Uh-oh. X)"
«OOC» Noab says, "I think I'll suffice with a D-rank earth defense, just to make things dramatic."
RP: Noab rolled a 4 with 1d16 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "I'm hit! Takes me down to +4 Ninja. :o"
«OOC» Noab says, "Noab's base attack roll:"
RP: Noab rolled a 5 with 1d9 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "Noab attempts an A-rank earth attack against Aijo:"
RP: Noab rolled a 5 with 1d16 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "Total of 10."
«OOC» Noab says, "Aijo's base defense roll:"
RP: Noab rolled a 7 with 1d9 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "He's desperate, so he uses his 1 remaining chakra for a D-rank fire defense:"
RP: Noab rolled a 12 with 1d16 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "All right, your turn, roll-wise."
RP: Rise rolled a 8 with 1d12 die.
«LDG» Rise goes for the twins again with a b-rank under konoha
«OOC» Noab says, "That'll be a 1d14."
RP: Rise rolled a 4 with 1d14 die.
«LDG» Rise says, "Of course.."
«OOC» Noab says, "Twin's base defense roll:"
RP: Noab rolled a 4 with 1d9 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "They do a C-rank wind defense:"
RP: Noab rolled a 13 with 1d24 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "They succeed."
«OOC» Noab says, "New round, Noab has 9 chakra, Rise has 6, Aijo has 1, Twins have 2."
The twins tumble forward underneath Rise's attack on either side of her. Aijo, sensing that his little army is outclassed, decides to try a desperate gambit, one which has worked surprisingly well for him in the past: convert the enemy. A strange misty softness envelops him in Rise's vision, like the carefully constructed lighting and camera focus of a soap opera. Even the bit of blood dribbling from his nose after Noab's attack seems to make him look more roguishly disheveled as he casts a soulful look at Rise over his shoulder. "Baby doll, why must you hurt me? Couldn't we learn to get along?"
The twins glance at each other and grimace slightly, but they're well familiar with Aijo's method of recruitment by now and they know he only ever meant it for them, right? :/ So they decide to focus on Noab while Aijo works his magic. They put their hands together to form seals, then blow a howling gale at the Akimichi. Noab is still shrinking his hands back to normal size and doesn't manage to get through his own seals in time to bring up an earth barrier against the attack. >.U Lacerations from the wind chakra form all over his limbs. But, he's survived worse in his day, and at least he has some earth chakra moulded up he can use. He slams his palms against the ground, causing a river of mud to flow toward Aijo's feet.
«LDG» Rise facefaults.
«LDG» Rise is getting dragged away for good. x_x;
«OOC» Noab says, "Acknowledged. Maybe we can finish the scene later."
«LDG» Rise nods and bows in thanks for understanding.
«Notice» You have been voted for.
«LDG» Rise slinks away to go play babysitter now. ._.;
10/04/14
«OOC» Noab says, "Last we rolled, you were doing a B-rank Strong Fist move against the twins, but they successfully defended with a C-rank Wind."
«LDG» Rise sagenods.
«OOC» Noab says, "You're at +7 Ninja, everybody else is at +4."
«OOC» Noab says, "Oh, and you succeeded in your defense against his Glamour Genjutsu"
Rise growled in frustration as she skidded to a stop. She's quick to turn about, and is just moments away racing after the twins when everything — even her rage — gets sidelined once the words "Baby Doll" left Aijo's mouth. Confusion and disbelief compete for dominance in her features as he spoke on. Admittedly at some point, she even found herself… considering apologizing for hurting the rogue. That handsome, bedeviling, shining, scrawny, blood-nose, arrogant, dandy, son-of-a—
"Cotton no!" She screamed out with such righteous anger and — though she'd never openly admit — konoha spirit that illusion is rebuffed. "And if you call me 'Baby Doll' one more time, I'm gonna do more than just break your face!"
«OOC» Noab says, "Okay then, Aijo's base attack roll:"
RP: Noab rolled a 3 with 1d9 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "He'll save his chakra and send an E-rank puff of fire Noab's way."
RP: Noab rolled a 3 with 1d8 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "Noab's base defense:"
RP: Noab rolled a 1 with 1d9 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "Noab's got plenty of chakra, so he'll spend 1 to do a D-rank Earth defense."
RP: Noab rolled a 15 with 1d16 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "Success. Twins' base roll:"
RP: Noab rolled a 3 with 1d9 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "They also attack Noab with E-rank Taijutsu…"
RP: Noab rolled a 3 with 1d6 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "Noab's base defense:"
RP: Noab rolled a 4 with 1d9 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "E-rank Oversize Weapon defense:"
RP: Noab rolled a 3 with 1d6 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "Success. Noab's base attack roll:"
RP: Noab rolled a 1 with 1d9 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "Sigh. X) E-rank Oversized Weapon against twins:"
RP: Noab rolled a 6 with 1d6 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "Not bad on the whole. Twins' base defense:"
RP: Noab rolled a 2 with 1d9 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "Hmmm…they'll save it and go with E-rank Tai defense."
RP: Noab rolled a 2 with 1d6 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "They take a hit, down to +3 Ninja."
RP: Rise rolled a 6 with 1d12 die.
«LDG» Rise targets Aijo with d under konoha.
RP: Rise rolled a 2 with 1d10 die.
«LDG» Rise says, "Etsu's accursed 2"
«OOC» Noab says, "Aijo's base defense:"
RP: Noab rolled a 2 with 1d9 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "E-rank Smooth Moves defense:"
RP: Noab rolled a 4 with 1d6 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "He succeeds."
«LDG» Rise rolled 8. c.c
«OOC» Noab says, "Oh, sorry, for some reason I thought both of your rolls were 2s. X)"
«LDG» Rise apologizes. X3
«OOC» Noab says, "So he's down to +2 Ninja."
Aijo scowls and drops his genjutsu suggestion. The twins glance at each other. "Y'know, I was wondering if even the guys would fall for Katon-sama." "Guess this means no." Aijo notices the river of mud forming in the ground coming towards him and blows a small stream of fire down at it. The mud bakes hard and stops flowing before it reaches his feet. "Focus on the fat one!" Aijo shouts, then spits a small dart of flame in Noab's direction. Noab brings up a pillar of earth to block the projectile. The twins dart in on Noab from either side of the pillar to attack him, but he grabs his axe and deflects their knives with an experienced twist. Then he jabs the haft of his weapon into Machi's stomach. "Back in my day, foolish girls who fell for worthless vagabonds wound up scrubbing floors for a living!" >P
'Did he just—'
But oh did he did just let his attention wonder from her! Strangely enough, she hated that /more/ than the flirting. Rise shakes her head hard, banishing one distraction only for two to take its place. A quick glance over to the sound of Hiei's confrontation with the fan girls brings satisfy one worry, but the other…
"I should'en even help him." She murmured with cheeks stained pink in embarrassment now. Embarrassment that last only for a moment or two before she reminded herself of hopefully still distracted Aijio. "Dynamic En-tryyy!" She calls a split second before her foot is to collide with the side of Aijio's head!
«OOC» Noab says, "Aijo's base attack roll:"
RP: Noab rolled a 7 with 1d7 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "Lucky him. He puts everything he's got into burninating Rise."
«OOC» Noab says, "Which is to say, 3 chakra, so B-rank."
RP: Noab rolled a 5 with 1d14 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "Total of 12."
«OOC» Noab says, "Twins' base attack roll:"
RP: Noab rolled a 2 with 1d8 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "They keep attacking Noab at E-rank."
RP: Noab rolled a 1 with 1d6 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "Noab's base defense:"
RP: Noab rolled a 7 with 1d9 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "Easily succeed. Noab's base attack roll:"
RP: Noab rolled a 1 with 1d9 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "…Y'know, I should've done D-rank on the last attack, it was free. e.U"
«OOC» Noab says, "Oh well. D-rank attack now against twins:"
RP: Noab rolled a 6 with 1d8 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "Twins' base defense:"
RP: Noab rolled a 6 with 1d8 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "They can't fail to defend after that."
RP: Rise rolled a 11 with 1d12 die.
«LDG» Rise can't fail her next roll, so.. X)
«OOC» Noab says, "Affirmative."
«LDG» Rise says, "As for my atks.."
RP: Rise rolled a 12 with 1d12 die.
«LDG» Rise has.. 7 chakra left, "or 8?"
«OOC» Noab says, "8."
«LDG» Rise sticks to Ds just in case the twins & followers pull a berserker bonus. >.>
RP: Rise rolled a 3 with 1d10 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "Who was that against?"
«LDG» Rise says, "whoops, aijio"
«OOC» Noab says, "Base defense roll:"
RP: Noab rolled a 3 with 1d7 die.
«OOC» Noab says, "He used up all his chakra, so…basically he can't succeed. Aijo's down for the count."
Michi tries to attack on Noab's blind side, but he brings his axe up and halts her blow regardless. Noab cocks the axe to take a swing at the stunned Machi. "Maybe a scar will help people tell you apar — hrm?" Turns out Michi had grabbed hold of the axe when her punch was blocked. "Move it, Machi!" >.<; Machi gathers herself and jumps back out of range, and Michi lets go of the axe to do the same. Noab snorts. "Not bad. Can't believe you'd endanger your team dynamic to both chase after the same man." e.U
Aijo grits his teeth. "He's trying to make you betray me, my lovelies! Don't listen to hi — " *POW* x.x Aijo reels sideways after Rise's foot connects with his jaw. Aijo groans and staggers upright…then spits out a tooth, and stares at it for a long moment. "My…my perfect smile…" o.o; A look of contorted rage takes over his face, and he flies through handseals while pulling together as much chakra as he can. "YOU AREN'T CUTE AT ALL!!!" he screams, then blows a humongous fireball at Rise.
Rise is still smiling in satisfaction when Aijo turns about with rage filled eyes. In fact, it even widens a tad in response before being dropped altogether from surprise at the giant fireball headed her way. A split second later, Rise is sailing above the mass of flames, risking burning her backside given how narrow her escape was. She twists about in mid-air as soon as it passes, repositioning herself for one last attack; a falling drop kick for Aijo's money maker!
«OOC» Noab says, "To be clear, what part of him would that be? -.Ua"
«LDG» Rise says, "His face again, of course."
«LDG» Rise suppose she could've gone with his bottom some how, but figured if he is to survive this and come back for revenge, well..
Aijo's face turns ugly with cruel satisfaction for the split-second when he thinks he got Rise. >} Then it turns pathetic for the split-second after that when he sees her sailing over the blaze at him and realizes he has neither time to evade nor chakra to pull any miracles. @.@; Then it turns inward under the force of Rise's heel. Xx
With Katon Aijo down for the count, not to mention looking considerably less handsome, the twins pause. "Um…can we like, still surrender?" "Yeah, that's um, looking like a good idea, if there's any chance we won't be executed." c.c; Noab points downward sternly. "Drop your weapons and sit down with your hands on your head." >/
Soon afterward the entire gang is rounded up and securely tied for the long march home. Noab thanks the Kumo nin for their help and sets off to bring the rogues in for judgment, which will surely be harsher for some than for others.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
«LDG» Rise woots!
Sometimes rogue bands get started up by the craziest things. Take, for example, the bandit gang headed by Katon Aijo, a missing-nin from Konohagakure. He was a handsome lech who actually managed to sweet-talk the first group of hunter-nin who came after him into joining him instead. Well, two of them anyway — the third was a guy, who barely escaped and went back to Konoha to report his team-mates' treason. As Aijo's band fled the Land of Fire, he started convincing more and more girls to join, mostly ordinary roughnecks, but a few of them capable ninja.
Crazy or not, the group has started to pose a serious problem, not to mention a disgrace to Konoha's name. :P So Konoha sent Noab to pursue them into the Land of Lightning, and also sent word to Kumogakure notifying them of the potential threat and requesting assistance to meet Noab near where Aijo's band is expected to be.
Hiei had been tasked by the administration to go assist Noab in capturing the missing nin from Konohagakure. Since there was a good possibility that if this man was in the Land of Lightning, he may have convinced some Kumo shinobi to join his cause. With that in mind, his superiors suggested that his alter ego accept this mission instead. Therefore when he arrives where Noab is, he is clad in the guise of Viper. He inclines his head towards the elder shinobi. "Kamen Rai Da agent Viper to assist you, Noab-sama." His voice is muffled and the seal on the mask keep his chakra in flux to make it more difficult to sense his true identity. "Anything I need to know about the target?"
No matter how much Rise tried to resist the compulsion, her eyes inevitably kept finding themselves locked on the Kamen Rai Da as they made their way across the land. It was simply pointless paranoia, or so Rise tried to convince herself. It wasn't as if it was uncommon for a shinobi of Viper's status to be assigned on a man-hunt. Still, the fact that he was the same one that witnessed her brazen attempt to join the Kamen Rai Da — "Enough." She muttered darkly underbreath before shaking her head hard. The timely decision is followed immediately after by their arrival at the meeting point.
Rise is taken aback by the sight of the grizzled Akimichi at first, but quickly recovers her composure. For now, she would stand behind Hiei, await further orders, and silently pray Noab didn't recognize her in the 'silly' get-up Hiru created for her years ago.
Noab sits at a table tucked away in the corner of a small inn, awaiting his allies. When they arrive, Noab nods to them and indicates the other chairs nearby. "Greetings. Thank you for responding. I'm Akimichi Noab, jounin of Konohagakure." Noab pulls out a scroll and unrolls it on the table, revealing portraits of Aijo and his two top lieutenants. "Our primary target is Katon Aijo, the message you received should've filled you in on most of the intel we have about him. I'll emphasize that his primary strength lies in fire ninjutsu, though he's a decent taijutsuist for a jounin-level ninja as well." Noab points at the lieutenants' portraits, which, well, are pretty much the same. "These are Machi and Michi, identical twins. They were part of the first recovery team sent after Aijo, but they deserted to join him. They're close to jounin-level together, and they rely on combined strikes and wind manipulation." Noab rolls up the scroll. "The rest are mostly vagabonds, though they're not an inconsiderable threat. We don't have detailed intel on what their capabilities are."
Noab lays out another scroll on the table, this one a map of the local area. "Fortunately we do have intel on where they are. Their group's getting too big to conceal its presence, or maybe too bold to care. They should be arriving in this town near sunset. Of course, it's better for us if we intercept them on the road, away from potential civilian casualties. Any other questions?"
Hiei shakes his masked head once. "That's all pretty straightforward. I'm read to head out immediately." He looks over at Rise, or rather the disguised Rise. He had never seen her before, but it wasn't the first time that he had been partnered with someone he didn't know. Orders were orders afterall. Blue eyes stare out of the slits of the serpent mask towards Noab. "Your reputation is known even in Kumogakure, Akimichi-sama. I'm eager to engage this Aijo and his lieutenants."
After a tense few moments of awaiting for the hammer to drop, Rise finally able to allow a quiet sigh of relief to escape her lips. "I… Mm… Nevermind." Rise says quietly. Despite her own words, the girl spends as much studying the map and playing their targets over again in her head before truly focusing back on the present. "You can count on us, Jiji-san." She says eagerly and grins toothily at the Akimichi, revealing a line of pearly white and shark-like teeth.
Noab nods and stands up. "All right then. I'm not much good at hiding, so I'll confront them in the open and draw their attention so that you two can ambush the group. Don't worry about me, defense is my strongest point. Focus on taking down Aijo, then his lieutenants. The rest should fold if we can accomplish that."
A few hours later, some distance out of town, Noab stands in the middle of the road through the forest, leaning on his axe-cum-cane. The sound of trudging feet comes up the path, growing stronger until a band of mostly-female miscreants appears around the bend. They pause and stare when they see Noab; anybody standing around with a big ol' weapon and a forehead protector is likely to be a threat to bandits like them, and the three missing-nin recognize Noab's build as belonging to a certain clan from Konoha. "Katon Aijo, Tsuin Machi, and Tsuin Michi," Noab calls out, lifting up his axe. "The three of you are under arrest and will return to Konohagakure. The rest of you, disperse now and we won't charge you for criminal affiliation." >/ Aijo's eyes dart around the trees on either side of the path. "Huh, that's all they sent, one old man?" "I'm all it'll take, pretty boy," Noab growls.
Hiei was waiting for Noab to spring the trap. When he heard Aijo comment on how there was a single old man there to apprehend him, Hiei leaps out of his hiding place and immediately pushes his body past it's normal limit in speed. Drawing both swords, he appears to be everywhere and nowhere all at once as he feints constantly until he actually attacks from a seemingly random direction. The sound of metal on metal rings in the air as his technique is parried by the missing nin. He finishes his movement several feet in front of Aijo and turns to face him, both swords at the ready. "Not that he needs the help for the likes of you. But he's got backup." Hiei states, eyes staring at the man through the serpentine slits of his mask.
Rise awaited alongside Hiei for the trap to be sprung. She lingers awhile still for Hiei to capture the attention of the leader. Just as she's ready to spring forth from hiding, hearing the twins argue over the old man proves too much of a temptation for the young Shirokiri. "Leaf Dynamic entry times TWO!!" It is about the only warning she gives, and only seconds before she drop kicks a twin's from the side. By extension, the other twin gets caught up into the blow as well thanks to angle. "I think you two got yer own problems to deal with at the moment." Rise says cockily as soon as she recovers.
Aijo draws a kunai and steps forward toward Noab. "Oh, I think it'll take a lot more than — whoa!" o.O; Aijo reacts instinctively to Hiei's sudden onslaught, parrying the real blows amidst the feints through a combination of well-honed movement and dumb luck. "W-why you hypocritical old windbag!" >.<; Aijo tries to spit a fireball in Hiei's face, but in his flustered state he takes a long moment to fumble through the handseals. Hiei easily jumps over Aijo, and in the space past where Hiei was Aijo has only a split-second to see Noab's massively inflated arms swinging in toward him. *WHAM!* Aijo is smashed between Noab's gigantic palms. x.x
Meanwhile, the twins Machi and Michi had each seen Hiei's sudden attack as a chance to get a leg up on each other with Katon-samaaaa~. "I'll help you, Katon-sama!" "No I'll help him, you go fight the old geezer!" "Ew, no, you should totally go deal with that, I claimed helping Katon-sama fir — " *POW!* Rise's kick fells the twins into a heap. "OW! Like, what the fudge!?" "Seriously! Hey sis, we need to get back to fighting together." "Totally! Let's slap this squirt silly!" Machi gets up and grabs Michi's arm, then swings her around for a slow but hefty roundhouse kick at Rise. >.< Meanwhile, the other bandit in the group also attempt to rush Rise with their makeshift weapons.
Rise cringes at every word that leaves the twins mouth until at last she's ready to shove a fist down each of their throats! "In your dre—" But the rest is abandon for the sake of limboing under the twins roundhouse kick. "Hey!" She springs back up, but again before she can finish a thought, the rest of Aijo's fangirls decide to take a shot her as well. Rise elegantly weaves from through the throng, parrying strikes, and side-stepping just in time for a pile up or two. By the time their taking care of, if only for a moment, the taijutsuist has made her way back to the duo, ready and more to try clothesline them both in passing!
The twins tumble forward underneath Rise's attack on either side of her. Aijo, sensing that his little army is outclassed, decides to try a desperate gambit, one which has worked surprisingly well for him in the past: convert the enemy. A strange misty softness envelops him in Rise's vision, like the carefully constructed lighting and camera focus of a soap opera. Even the bit of blood dribbling from his nose after Noab's attack seems to make him look more roguishly disheveled as he casts a soulful look at Rise over his shoulder. "Baby doll, why must you hurt me? Couldn't we learn to get along?"
The twins glance at each other and grimace slightly, but they're well familiar with Aijo's method of recruitment by now and they know he only ever meant it for them, right? :/ So they decide to focus on Noab while Aijo works his magic. They put their hands together to form seals, then blow a howling gale at the Akimichi. Noab is still shrinking his hands back to normal size and doesn't manage to get through his own seals in time to bring up an earth barrier against the attack. >.U Lacerations from the wind chakra form all over his limbs. But, he's survived worse in his day, and at least he has some earth chakra moulded up he can use. He slams his palms against the ground, causing a river of mud to flow toward Aijo's feet.
Rise growled in frustration as she skidded to a stop. She's quick to turn about, and is just moments away racing after the twins when everything — even her rage — gets sidelined once the words "Baby Doll" left Aijo's mouth. Confusion and disbelief compete for dominance in her features as he spoke on. Admittedly at some point, she even found herself… considering apologizing for hurting the rogue. That handsome, bedeviling, shining, scrawny, blood-nose, arrogant, dandy, son-of-a—
"Cotton no!" She screamed out with such righteous anger and — though she'd never openly admit — konoha spirit that illusion is rebuffed. "And if you call me 'Baby Doll' one more time, I'm gonna do more than just break your face!"
Aijo scowls and drops his genjutsu suggestion. The twins glance at each other. "Y'know, I was wondering if even the guys would fall for Katon-sama." "Guess this means no." Aijo notices the river of mud forming in the ground coming towards him and blows a small stream of fire down at it. The mud bakes hard and stops flowing before it reaches his feet. "Focus on the fat one!" Aijo shouts, then spits a small dart of flame in Noab's direction. Noab brings up a pillar of earth to block the projectile. The twins dart in on Noab from either side of the pillar to attack him, but he grabs his axe and deflects their knives with an experienced twist. Then he jabs the haft of his weapon into Machi's stomach. "Back in my day, foolish girls who fell for worthless vagabonds wound up scrubbing floors for a living!" >P
'Did he just—'
But oh did he did just let his attention wonder from her! Strangely enough, she hated that /more/ than the flirting. Rise shakes her head hard, banishing one distraction only for two to take its place. A quick glance over to the sound of Hiei's confrontation with the fan girls brings satisfy one worry, but the other…
"I should'en even help him." She murmured with cheeks stained pink in embarrassment now. Embarrassment that last only for a moment or two before she reminded herself of hopefully still distracted Aijio. "Dynamic En-tryyy!" She calls a split second before her foot is to collide with the side of Aijio's head!
Michi tries to attack on Noab's blind side, but he brings his axe up and halts her blow regardless. Noab cocks the axe to take a swing at the stunned Machi. "Maybe a scar will help people tell you apar — hrm?" Turns out Michi had grabbed hold of the axe when her punch was blocked. "Move it, Machi!" >.<; Machi gathers herself and jumps back out of range, and Michi lets go of the axe to do the same. Noab snorts. "Not bad. Can't believe you'd endanger your team dynamic to both chase after the same man." e.U
Aijo grits his teeth. "He's trying to make you betray me, my lovelies! Don't listen to hi — " *POW* x.x Aijo reels sideways after Rise's foot connects with his jaw. Aijo groans and staggers upright…then spits out a tooth, and stares at it for a long moment. "My…my perfect smile…" o.o; A look of contorted rage takes over his face, and he flies through handseals while pulling together as much chakra as he can. "YOU AREN'T CUTE AT ALL!!!" he screams, then blows a humongous fireball at Rise.
Rise is still smiling in satisfaction when Aijo turns about with rage filled eyes. In fact, it even widens a tad in response before being dropped altogether from surprise at the giant fireball headed her way. A split second later, Rise is sailing above the mass of flames, risking burning her backside given how narrow her escape was. She twists about in mid-air as soon as it passes, repositioning herself for one last attack; a falling drop kick for Aijo's money maker!
Aijo's face turns ugly with cruel satisfaction for the split-second when he thinks he got Rise. >} Then it turns pathetic for the split-second after that when he sees her sailing over the blaze at him and realizes he has neither time to evade nor chakra to pull any miracles. @.@; Then it turns inward under the force of Rise's heel. Xx
With Katon Aijo down for the count, not to mention looking considerably less handsome, the twins pause. "Um…can we like, still surrender?" "Yeah, that's um, looking like a good idea, if there's any chance we won't be executed." c.c; Noab points downward sternly. "Drop your weapons and sit down with your hands on your head." >/
Soon afterward the entire gang is rounded up and securely tied for the long march home. Noab thanks the Kumo nin for their help and sets off to bring the rogues in for judgment, which will surely be harsher for some than for others.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
