Starring:
Nobunaga, Zankuro
Date: May 2, 2014
Summary:
Nobunaga and Zankuro travel to Fuuma Alley to acquire a rare and priceless treasure that very easily may cost them their lives.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Battle for Utsumeshi's Mark"
Fuuma Alley
Today's mission would just involve Nobunaga and his wayward Sarutobi junior, Zankuro. The two were on their way to receive the specifics of their mission. A particularly odd thing this mission was. Nothing was given to the two shinobi except for an address. They were told that it was up to them whether or not the mission would be accepted. Nobunaga didn't understand entirely but he figured anything was better than waiting around. He stretches as they continue down this dirt path on the way to a privately owned territory. They are just north of Fuuma Alley. "Gah I'm still a bit stiff. I swear hospital beds are just too comfortable sometimes." Nobunaga comments with a soft chuckle. He looks to Zankuro "Just me and you today. You nervous?"
"… Huh?" Zankuro gives Nobunaga a confused side-long glance before the chuunin's words clicked in mind. Even then, the boy takes a moment to rub his chin thoughtfully first. "Not really, no. More like confused and uhm… curious, I guess?" The loud shirt bearing boy gives a careless shrug, then focuses his attention back on the path ahead. "I mean, like, what's with all the secrecy from the start? And… why leave it up us to decide rather we'll take it or not?"
Nobunaga nods to Zankuro "Heh yeah I'm wondering that as well." He returns his attention forward as they come upon a gate. Behind the gate resides an extravagant manor. A butler was standing on the other side of the gate. He was as still as a statue. It is hard to estimate this butler's age. He definitely is not a young man nor middle-aged even. However labeling him as elderly would not be accurate either. "Greetings. You are the Leaf Shinobi we requested I presume?" Nobunaga turns around to reveal his Konohagure forehead protector. The butler opens the gate filling the area with a discomforting screeching noise. "This way please." The butler instructs.
There was a large fountain in the front yard with a beautiful garden display at either side. Cobblestone paths ran all over leading to more marvels no doubt. Nobunaga did stop to endeavor in the scenery for just a minute before walking up to join the butler at the massive entrance to the manor. The butler was very quiet. He lead Nobuanga and Zankuro inside and then had them wait before a fireplace at the base of a winding stairway. "I will inform the Count of your arrival." the butler informs then departs. The inside of the manor seems rather old and predominantly of western design. Mounted animal heads as well as presumably expensive pottery and various other odd collectables can be found almost everywhere. Nobunaga folds his arms and stares at the softly kindling fire as he waits. "Well this guy is loaded. That's once incentive." Nobunaga remarks with a smile. Just then a shadowy figure appears at the top of the stairs near the fire place. "You two seem capable." a voice calls out.
Zankuro frowns a little after hearing the reply, but decided to leave things there. With his arms behind the back of his head, he continues on side-by-side with Nobunaga, curious but overall undaunted. The place they eventually arrive at earns itself a whistle in awe, as well as heightened the Sarutobi's curiosity. For the most part, Zankuro leaves the introductions to Nobunaga and kept his focus on examining their destination as thoroughly as he could. Which meant coming very close to touching about everything in reach once they were inside and the butler left to do whatever it was butlers do.
Just as he can't resist the urge no longer to actual tap at a vase, a voice from above gives him such a start that he knocks into the pedestal. "Spotspotspotspot!!" He stops in just in time at the cost of ending up in an awkward pose for a good second or two. "Whew~" He let's out, righting it once more. Then belatedly turns to see the source of the voice.
Nobunaga looks to Zankuro and just facepalms. "I did not think I would have to tell you not to touch anything." He says to the curious Sarutobi. The voice from before lets out an amused chuckle as a shadowy figure steps down the stairs. The figure comes into the light after making it so far down the stairs but does not reveal his face. "I'm sure you're both wondering why it is that you're here." The man says with a grin. His robes are elegant clearly fashion from fine material, perhaps silk and masterfully tailored. The man seems to be of fair age perhaps the mid thirties. Dark onyx hair can be seen cascading over his shoulders. Nobunaga's eyes narrow. "I suppose you're going to shed some light on that now?"
The man points at Zankuro. "You there, young lad, there is a book case next to that antique vase you nearly tarnished. Third row. Pull out any book on that third row…" Nobunaga looks at the third row of the bookcase and his eyes widen. He notices a gap though between two books on this row. "You're missing one." Nobunaga says softly. He turns back to the man. "What is this about?" his voice is low and a bit threatening.
Zankuro sweatdrops and rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry, Nobunobu-senpai." He emits quietly. Zankuro quickly turns his attention back to their presumed host, and examines the man with a critical eye. 'He certainly matches the rich and famous' The boy thinks and reveals in the look about him. He jumps at the man pointing at him, but manages to avoid nearly breaking anything this time at least. "Er, hai!" He follows the command curtly at first, and yet hesitates for a moment. The bindings seemed strangely familiar to him. After pulling it out and flipping to some random page, the boy's cheeks redden and eyes become alight with an inner fire! "This.. this can't be…" He murmurs to himself. Then after looking back and forth between their host and the book, he pulls another book off the shelf nearby and flips through it. Then again with another… then again with another book…
Before long, Zankuro is holding the original book close to his chest and smiling in a daze. He snaps out of it pretty quickly and presents the book (the first volume) to Nobunaga, holding the thing out reverently. "Hold it, read it, and see for yourself that this man… I… Just read it and see for yourself, Nobunaga-senpai!" He practically gushes. Nobunaga better be quick about it too, because Zankuro can only hold off of the urge to abscond with the entire set collected so far for so long!
Nobunaga takes the original from Zankuro sensing the boy's rising hunger. "I've read it already Zankuro-kun." he admits softly. Nobunaga looks at the book then back to Zankuro "Did you notice…they're all autographed." Nobunaga opens the cover of the book to reveal the truth to Zankuro. "Lust's Labyrinth. The entire volume set. First edition autographed by Utsumeshi himself." Nobunaga's eyes go back to their now tasteful host. The man nods "You both are quite knowledgeable. Yes you'll do well for this job." The man steps down a few steps lower to reveal his face. A long scar runs down the left side of his face. "Most would've shrieked in disgust. They would've labeled me a pervert and stormed out thinking of me as nothing more than a filthy urchin. Others that know the value of what you hold there….would abscond with it now. However you two…have pride and understanding. You honor Utsumeshi's work. You have proven worthy of my trust and respect. Please I beg of you….hear my request."
Nobunaga places the book back, carefully, and turns back to Zankuro. "Control yourself." he says. Nobunaga felt a bit guilty himself though as the thought of running off with the collection passed through is mind as well. "We'll hear your request. But you're missing one. The fifth volume of Lust's Labyrinth." The man holds up a book. "I hold it here in my hand." He comes to the bottom of the stairs and hands the book to Nobunaga. Nobunaga smooths his fingers along the spine and across the cover. "Marvelous isn't it…if not for one critical detail." Nobunaga opens the cover and gasps "It's….it's!" The man nods to Nobunaga. "It's the only non-autographed original. But with your help I can change that. I am willing to pay a large sum and even offer you two personal compensation for your work." The man looks between Nobunaga and Zankuro. "In exactly one hour Utsumeshi will be doing a book signing in Fuuma Alley." Nobunaga is paralyzed with awe. "The man is growing old. He won't be around for much longer. I don't know if there will be another opportunity such as this." The man moves towards the fire in the fireplace, his back to Nobunaga and Zankuro. "Go to Fuuma Alley. Acquire his signature. That is your mission…should you choose to accept it." Nobunaga looks to Zankuro then back to the man. "But Utsumeshi is notorious for only signing one book per signing. That's why his autograph increases the value of the novels exponentially." The man nods "You are correct shinobi. And you must know what it is like then to attempt to acquire such a thing." the man states. Nobunaga swallows hard once. The man runs his fingers down the side of his face tracing the scar. "I won't hold it against you if you refuse." Nobunaga nods and looks to Zankuro "Are you up for it Zankuro?"
"Dude, man. There's like, not even a need to beg. We're all brothers here." Zankuro says with a grin so broad that he's squinting as a result. "Hai, hai," He says somewhat sourly in respond to Nobunaga's admonishing. Afterwards, the Sarutobi crosses his arms over his chest and closes his eyes firmly, listening, but also tuning out his inner most desire to see what else their client had in regards to similar series.
"I only have one question… What the heck are we even waiting around here for!?" So much for doing the Zen thing…
Nobunaga laughs and looks back to the man. "It's settled then. We accept. And we will not fail you." Nobunaga bows. The man grins and lifts a hand "Go then. You have my blessing." Nobunaga turns to depart along with Zankuro. The butler stands ready to see them out. "You gentlemen are very foolish. Or perhaps you're very brave? But all the same…I wish you luck in your endeavors. Godspeed." the butler bids them farewell. Nobunaga is silent for most of their trip but once they came to Fuuma Alley Nobunaga pulled Zankuro aside.
"Zankuro-san do not hold back. I've been to these things before. It is complete and utter chaos. Hell." Nobunaga looks off into the seemingly deserted Fuuma Alley. Postings for Utsumeshi's book signing litter the area. "Do not hold back or you will not survive." Nobunaga instructs Zankuro very sternly. As they walk through the alley one could feel the tension, the thick anxiety that plagues a battlefield. Nobunaga looks to Zankuro and nods "It's about to start. It always does approximately 10 minutes before the signing. The survivor is the last one standing. Those are the only rules." Nobunaga has the book tucked away in an empty tool pouch. He begins to gather chakra once the wind picks up. The blood lust that swept in with it was maddening.
Zankuro stands at attention and gives a prompt salute. "We shall not fail, milord." He states curtly, and leaves with only a cheeky grin thrown back at the butler when the time comes. He kind of glares at Nobunaga when he pulls him aside since time was a wasting. His gaze transforms into one of solid conviction soon after. "I didn't come here planning to fail, Nobu-senpai." He states firmly, and emphasis his statement further by gathering his charka along the way. A good chunk of his best jutsu were dropped out of the equation, though the blood lust in the air started to make him reconsider. Just a tad.
"Yoshi… let's do this." He mutters with a mad gleam in his eyes.
Nobunaga is impressed by Zankuro's resolve. Whatever turn of events awaited them Nobunaga would be proud of Zankuro. He quietly promised to voice that to the Sarutobi once they've made it through this. As they venture further they come to the normally busy shopping center. Not a soul was in sight but ahead in the distance was a stand set up for Utsumeshi. The wind sailing through barren alley ways is the only sound the two leaf shinobi are able to pick up…aside from the rapid beating of their hearts. Suddenly other noises start to pop up. A broken bottle shatters. Fire suddenly streaks through the shopping center. "Head's up!" a bottle containing a burning cloth is launched towards Nobunaga and Zankuro. At that moment a mob suddenly rushes the shopping area. Not a single individual was unarmed. Swords, knives, broken bottles, bats, etc the carnage was about to begin. Nobunaga and Zankuro would be overrun whether they were engulfed in the flames or not. The mob didn't seem to care about them or the fire.
Zankuro breathes in the calm before the storm and tries to use that to calm down. It doesn't help in the least bit. Still, he's ready to move when some calls for a heads up and dive rolls out of the way of the Molotov. Unfortunately, he didn't anticipate the charging mob to move quite down the same path he moved into. He's on the ground for awhile there, trampled and twitching. He recovers quick though and unleashes smoke and fire on the backside of those that trampled him. He's aiming to set some pants on fire specifically if he can.
Nobunaga finds himself burned by the flames as he tries to take to the sky. His leg is then snagged by someone in the crowd as they rushed by underneath him pushing through the flames and dragging him to the ground. He suffered the soles of many at that moment. Chaos broke out. At every moment someone was getting something broken over their head or slashed. People were being flung about cast to the wind or crushed into the dirt. Nobunaga wouldn't let himself befall the same fate. He would not be defeated here. He rises bursting from the ground letting out a war cry as fire rages in his mouth.
Zankuro's embers are shrugged off by the wave of maddened and crazed perverts. Pants ablaze or not none of them are going to give up without a fight. From Nobunaga's mouth erupts two fireballs shot into the bulk of the warring mobs. There was no tact to be found in this situation. He just wanted to take out as many enemies as possible. After giving himself some elbow room he leaps into the center of the chaos engaging any who confronted him in taijutsu. His cloth whips out to sting whoever catches its fang.
On the rooftops emerge three stocky men. "Take flight my brothers!" one shouts. All three leap into the air and begin flashing through handseals in perfect unison. One man below points up and shouts. "The Three Little Pig Brothers!" a few stop to gaze at the three fat brothers plummeting down towards them. "Earth Style: Bellyquake!" the brothers all announce together. Upon landing they cause so much destruction it's ridiculous. The ground trembles, cracks, and breaks from the force of their jutsu.
Zankuro snaps his fingers as his work gets ignored. "Time for some more drastic measures." He states as he starts forming handseals again, only to turn around and take flight on a column of flames to avoid the Pig Brothers' Jutsu! "That does it! Now you guys have made me mad!" He yells after touching down atop some random mob guys shoulders. He leaps high into the air, flipping forward tucked in like a certain blue hedgehog, and lands atop the very same roof tops the big brothers were on. "Fire Style: Covering Fire!" He sucks in a deep breath, then unleashes a storm of fireballs with pin point accuracy. He's still aiming for mostly bottoms, though neutralizing arms and legs were just as good targets to the Sarutobi.
Both Nobunaga and Zankuro were able to evade being swept away by the Pig Brother's Bellyquake. A lot of people were undone but the justu. It did whittle out the weaker competition but now only the strong remain. The cloud of dust and debris adds to the confusion and chaos. The pig brothers were at the center of all this mayhem for now. Zankuro's covering fire jutsu set ablaze a few more individuals including one of the Pig Brothers. "My brother! I will avenge you!" One of them cried out dramatically. Nobunaga decided to take advantage the situation. He swoops down targeting the remaining pig brothers first. His scarf loosely flowing in the wind until he attempts to ensnare the two pig brothers with it. Zankuro seemed safe on the rooftop but right below him he'd detect cries. "Help!" it was a woman. If he looked he'd see a woman garbed in a red cloak under attack by a man with an axe. The poor girl stood no chance.
Zankuro hears the cry, but even the will of fire cannot hasten his drop down to intercede. The most he can hope for is to lock the man in place during the drop with a bit of genjutsu before the woman can be harmed. Even should he fail, the teen tries to add a bit momentum by running along down the building to help empower the knee drop to the man's head to boot!
Nobunaga manages to subdue one pig brother but the other shuffles skillfully out of harm's way. Nobunaga tightens his razor cloths until the captured pig brother is down. The remaining pig brother is quite steamed. "NO! You….I'll kill you!" Nobunaga waves the portly man on. "Here little piggy." he taunts with a smirk. Like a wild boar the pig brother rushes him weaving through handseals as he goes.
On Zankuro's end he was having no luck saving women today but thankfully he knows genjutsu. It took hold of the axeman and before he could swing the axe he was knocked out cold by Zankuro. The woman in red garbs smiles and rushes towards Zankuro. "Oh thank you thank you so much." she cheers. However once she is upon him a sinister glower takes her previously innocent and grateful eyes. "Now die worm!" She launches a surprise attack spinning rapidly until her leg was on fire!? "Temptress Style: Kick of a Thousand Vasectomies!" She launched a fiery kick towards Zankuro aimed right for….his pride as a man. Yes betwixt the legs. Another person calls out "It's the temptress Lil'Red!" referring to the woman Zankuro had so bravely saved.
Before the pig brother could reach Nobunaga blood splashes from his back and paints the ground. The pig brother falls much to Nobunaga's surprise. "*sniff* *sniff* He huffed and puffed without a fuss." Nobunaga's eyes narrow as they fall upon and hairy fellow with razor lined fingernails. "The Wolfman." Nobunaga states taking up a guard. "Now I'll blow you down." the Wolfman howled before spiraling towards Nobunaga.
Zankuro grins at the woman. "Why it was no problem ma…. wait, what?!" Unfortunately, between the belated realization and disbelief Zankuro is too defenseless to guard against the kick! He lets out a small wisp of a fire…. and promptly falls on his back. "Why… me?" He mutters just before promptly passing out for the time being. So much for being the village hero…
Sadly Zankuro cannot evade Lil'Red's surprise attack. It connects and is super effective as it would be against most men. As Zankuro goes down Red laughs at him mockingly. "Fool. First I trick the Axeman into working with me and now this? Oh it's too much. After I take you out Utsumeshi is next." Her eyes rage on with madness as she prepares to finish Zankuro off. "Not so fast!" From above a shadow appears. Suddenly Lil'Red's head is smashed into the ground knocking her out instantly. The one responsible sits atop her. "My my she did a number on you lad." says an elderly lady to Zankuro. She adjusts her glasses and approaches the boy. "Granny…run!" shouted another. She laughs wide revealing no teeth just gums.
She rubs Zankuro's face "It's been a while since I've seen a man like you. Most of these young men would not think twice about saving a girl…not in this chaos." She rises. "Fight on sonny. Don't let your passion end here. Somewhere out there there is a girl who needs a selfless strapping young lad like yourself." Three men armed with blades surround Granny and Zankuro now. "You're going down Granny. Your time has finally come! How old are you anyway?!" one of them asks. Granny begins to chuckle. "I'll see you on the battlefield young hero." She says to Zankuro. "And I'll see you boys….IN HELL!" Granny vanishes then reappears flanking one of the men. She roundhouses him right through a wall. The other two taste dirt as she stomps their faces into the ground. Granny then hops off to spread more carnage leaving Zankuro to recover uninterrupted.
Meanwhile Nobunaga does battle with the Wolfman. He evades his attack and spins to sling his cloth at the Wolfman's exposed back. Like a viper his cloth snaps and strikes. He then directs it like a blade and tries to cleave the Wolfman in two. "Down boy!" Nobunaga snarls!
Zankuro doesn't shirk away from the elderly lady. He's in far too much pain for that. Plus… he also just saw her lay waste to red in one move, so there's the fear factor there keeping him in check. "I… I…" All he can do is nod as firmly as he could, and with his passion now rekindled, the boy stands once more. Well, eventually, to be exact, considering he did just take a firey nut kick moments ago. Ignoring the chill and the fact that there's a hole in the bottom of his pants, Zankuro keeps a summoned ice pack from one of his scrolls applied until he was feeling well enough to stand again.
And boy, oh boy! When he does it is with gusto!
The Wolfman's body becomes bulky and his hairs stick out. They surprisingly fend off Nobunaga's attacks for the most part. One does make it through and draws blood from the wolfman. He turns to face Nobunaga now, his yellow eyes began to glow. "Let's finish this." he says to Nobunaga. Nobunaga nods and dashes towards the Wolfman. The Wolfman does the same and they would exchange blows leaving only one standing at the end.
Zankuro doesn't get much time to recuperate now. "Hey that's the guy Lil'Red deflowered. Let's finish him off!" A small group charges Zankuro now. They're armed with torches and shovels. The bodies were dropping like flies in this battle but it was drawing to an end when a man emerged near Utsumeshi's stand, which remains intact completely somehow, and shouts "THREE MINUTES UNTIL THE BOOK SIGNING!" oh if all Hell hadn't broken loose before it was about to now.
"Toss it! Toss it!" someone shouted. "This ends now!" and in the storm of battle all goes silent as a vial sails through the sky. It contains some sort of liquid "It's the Happily Never After Bomb!" people start to scramble but there is no where to run. The vial splashes on the ground and green mist spreads throughout the area. Shortly after the mist begins to flicker with sparks until it is fully encompassed by them and erupts resulting in a mighty explosion!
Zankuro stands resolute! Foooorrrr all of a minute and thirty seconds. After that, the boy can't keep up the small bursts of fiery evasion long enough to avoid the mobs torches and shovels long enough to tire them out. By the time their through with him, the boy is left a bruised and bleeding mess held up by two of them. It is in that weakened state he would've remained if not for the call going out that the book singing was almost upon them all! While the others are distracted, Zankuro frees himself just in time to ride a column of fire back to the roof tops and out of range of any more beat downs and explosions for the time being.
"This is seriously getting out of hand…" He mutters as he observes the chaos and wipes the blood from his lips. "Still…" A mischievous grin plays upon the boys lips. While at this point diplomacy would be the better option, Zankuro is a little to mad to consider going for the inspirational speech path today. Nope. All he was concerned with now is burning enough pants to scare off his fellow pervert so that he could meet the man of the hour!
And, you know, complete the mission too. Very important that is. >.>
After the trade in blows it appears that Nobunaga was the one to come up short. Blood spilled from his waist. The wolfman chuckles "Hehe go home. You're still not ready kid." His eyes flash over to the vial though. "Nononono!" The wolfman tries to flee but he is taken by the explosion. A good portion of the competing perverts are. Between the Happily Never After Bomb and Zankuro's covering fire hardly any remained. When the smoke cleared Nobunaga would we recovering on a rooftop. "Zankuro….Zankuro are you still alive?" he called out for the genin. It seems as though he and Zankuro were the only two left. Utsumeshi's stand still stood untouched by all the mayhem. An old man with a pen in his hand was even sitting at the stand with a soft smile. "So who's first?"
Nobunaga sees the mission objective before him and rises to complete it. He'll look for Zankuro afterwards. But cutting off his path is an elderly lady damaged but very much alive. "Oh-hohoho it got messy there for a second didn't it?" Nobunaga swallows hard once. "Granny…." She adjusts her glasses and stares daggers at Nobunaga. "Back for more? You know this won't end well for you boy." Nobunaga pants exhausted as he holds his bleeding side. "I didn't come this far to just turn back." he stated. Granny grins and waves Nobunaga on "Then come."
"Yoooo! I told'ja I ain't die'n today, Nobugandum-senpai." He calls out once the fog of war clears enough for the two to see each other. There's a wide grin on the Sarutobi's face. They have accomplished something great here today. The grin fades however as something draws his attention. It was some part of this whole event that's nagged at him a little, and only now just found room to poke at the forefront of the teen's brain. Because of these ill thoughts, Zankuro neither joins Nobunaga or even realize soomethings wrong until granny and Nobunaga start their exchange.
"That's it!" He snaps his fingers, then sweatdrops. "Oi! Don't forget about me too Granny!" He calls out, standing proudly on the roof tops with a cocky grin. Internally, he's just hoping she doesn't do to him what she did to the other girl, because that kick looked painful!
Granny laughs "I sure haven't forgotten about you Hero." she winks at Zankuro. "Come now. Show me what you can do with that passion!" She commands. Nobunaga grins at Zankuro "Easy their runt. Glad you're still alive and kicking though." Nobunaga looks back at Granny. 'We may have a chance now.' he thought. He turns to head for Zankuro reaching into his tool pouch. "Zankuro-kun listen." Granny cocks her head to the side while wearing a bemused look. "You two strategists?" she asks playfully. Nobunaga glances back and just smirks before returning his desperate gaze to Zankuro. "We can't beat her. Not even our combined powers will work." Nobunaga retrieves Lust's Labrynth Vol. 5 from his tool pouch and hands it to Zankuro. "Take it. When you see an opening you go right for Utsumeshi and don't look back. I'll try and keep Granny off you long enough."
Utsumeshi peers outwards trying to see who all is left. "Oh there are still a few of yah left? Well hurry up! Hahaha I ain't gettin' any younger." he rushes. Granny turns to him and smiles. "Just two boys left hun! They're actually quite something." She looks back to Nobunaga and Zankuro. "That's my hubby. He has tons of fans and tons of enemies. My job as his wife is to weed'em out and decide who is worthy enough to retrieve his mark." she explained. Nobunaga turns to face her now. "Get ready Zankuro." Nobunaga takes his scarf off and clenches it tightly in his hands. "Granny! Here we come!" He says before charging her. "Don't disappoint me gentlemen!" she says eagerly accepting Nobunaga's challenge. Rushing head first into a losing battle Nobunaga gave it his all as he slings bands of cloth at the woman edging them with his chakra.
Zankuro leaps down next to Nobunaga. "I felt that too. She's—" He start to say, but Nobu's plan took precedence. He'd offer the man some encouragement. However, he knew he needed more luck considering everything. When the moment finally arrived for the battle to get underway, Zankuro pocketed book and got into a sprinter's start position.
It is with eyes shining brightly and a battle cry that he kicks off in a mad dash to the Utsumeshi. He dared not pull the book out until he was certain he could reach the man first to have it signed.
Nobunaga's attack's actually connect. Granny is sliced by his bladed cloth. She chuckles "Good spirit." She notices now that Zankuro is trying to get past her. She sucks in and spins launching a roundhouse at Nobunaga. Hit or miss she leaves for Zankuro. This old lady was fast. Zankuro would be shrouded in her shadow as she descends upon him. "House Wife Style…" Granny chanted with a grin. Nobunaga could only call out to his genin "Goooo! Zankuro!" Granny shook her head. "He's not getting away from me!" Her body began to glow. "Gate of Pain, OPEN!" Nobunaga's eyes widen. "WHAT!?" Granny's body begins to glow with a green aura and her skin turns red hot. "Housewife Style: Wilting Lotus!"
Zankuro tunes it all out. He only had eyes for the main objective. He tunes back in only when he feels the shadow above him. Looking up and see Granny go from normal to vibrant and red puts the fear of the Kami in the boy. He tearfully flashes through a series of handseals, hoping and praying that he moves in time! "Fire Style…" He leaps forward, twisting around in mid-air so that he's facing the opposite direction. 'Fire Rocketeer Technique!' On a horizontal column of white hot flames, Zankuro rockets out of Granny's reach. He doesn't go completely unscaved. Granny managed to shred his lucky white shirt and bandolier in the process of her attack. Nonetheless! The teen terminates the jutsu just in time to let his momentum carry him the rest of the way while he drew out the book and handed it to Utushemi as he passed him with a silly look on his face.
A few moments later, he's firmly planted into a wall, dazed but happy to have accomplished his part of the mission.
Nobunaga is kicked away by Granny her strength sent him to the ground. Crushed by her power and overwhelmed by pain he left it all to Zankuro. "Gooo! Zankuro!" he cheered for the genin. Granny had opened the Gate of Pain Zankuro's fate was all but sealed. Her Wilting Lotus Jutsu never left anyone standing. Once she hit the ground it was like lightning. A sound wave blasted out deafening all in range for a short moment before the sound of her mighty attack finally came. Chunks of earth hailed from the sky as a fog of dust sweept over all.
"I guess this is the end." Utsumeshi remarks with a stern look on his face. "Yes…it is finally over." Granny laughs. The dust clears finally. Nobunaga coughs violently due to inhaling too much dust and the beating he's sustained during this entire fiasco. "Z-Zankuro…" He calls out softly. "These guys…were something else though." Granny says adjusting her glasses. "They were indeed worthy…" Utsumeshi states with a solemn nod. His hand extends outward. "Well done!" he congratulates Zankuro by signing the book. "You have my mark and my blessing. Thank you for reading!" He says with a bow. Nobunaga sighs in relief and gives a thumbs up to Zankuro. "Nice!" all the carnage and armageddon wrought on this day was not in vain. "Zankuro…let's get the signature outta here. Utsumeshi-sama….it was a pleasure. Thank you." Granny bows to Nobunaga then walks over to Zankuro. "You did not disappoint me young Hero." she then returns to Utsumeshi's side and the couple leave. The aftermath of the battle was catastrophic but the sun shines down on Nobunaga and Zankuro today. Mission COMPLETE!
