Starring:
Kanae (emitter), Naoya, Oda
Date: March 3, 2015
Summary:
Someone tried to break into Kiri and watch the exams. Teams have been sent out to locate the infiltrator and capture (or kill) him. Naoya and Oda are lucky enough to find the man, too.
"Breaking the Exams"
Land of Water
Early morning in Kirigakure was about as quiet as it could possibly be. A cloaked figure approached the gates that morning, inquiring the guards for entrance so that perhaps he could see the Chuunin exams. He was, though, exceedingly stubborn about trying to enter without being thoroughly checked over, even refusing to put his hood up. When force was applied, the man ended up taking one guard out and disabling the other before fleeing.
The disabled guard was able to put up the alert, and those available were called to track down the mysterious man. He had used Taijutsu to take the one guard down, but that's all they know. Sensors paired with attack-dogs were sent out in many directions to seek this man out, and one of those pairs was Okumo Naoya and Hofuku Odayakana. They were quickly issued the mission data before they were sent off.
He'd been back in the village now for only a couple days. Oda was already having to run his legs off like always. No time to really recooperate from his trip, but at least he was told he would be with an old charge of his.
Oda dashes full bore through the streets of Kirigakure, eye narrowing as he is making a B-line for the entrance of the village itself. His purpose? He knows you can't start hunting without finding the first step of the trail. As he skids to a stop at the entrance, seeing the guard being covered up while the others are being tended to, he frowns immediately and looks back towards the village as he waits for Naoya.
He's already taking in a deep breath by the time he arrives.
Another conflict just marked the next day, as the last before it. Listening to the calls that there was a fresh conflict near the village gates did little to excite the young Okumo though it was made clear it was an 'order' and as such he moved. Compared to the pace Naoya was known for, he dragged his feet even though to some villagers it could be seen as a dash. The young Okumo wore a outfit of white silks which were already slashed into though it was in the process of being repaired by a dozen small spiders crawling across his torso, which was almost completely mended by the time he arrives at the gate. "Another fight.. Will this one be tasty or just boring again?" Tiling his head to one side, a couple of spiders slip from his neck, seemingly quickly noticing Oda from where he waited.
Oda would slowly raise one of his hands up some, not really pointing but slowly waving it from right to left in a slow arc. He was almost parting the air in thought…he was trying to naturally sense the intruder. Naoya knew, so he wasn't concerned about hiding it. He picked up Naoya fast, looking his way a moment before looking back outward towards the village as he slowly took in all of the energies around him.
"You've gotten stronger, Naoya. It's been a long time."
"We're still weak.. We still haven't caught our prey." Closing his eyes, the young Okumo shrugs his shoulders before turning to look forward. When his eyes reopen, they held a almost blind aspect to them, "So annoying.. So we're to collect pup from the outside. Did the village want them breathing still? I wasn't given the details beyond 'dealt with'." The spiders that flowed from Naoya's neck shifts, moving into his long white air before beginning to feel the air. 'You know the common scents.. which ones are misplaced?'
A guard, the one that was disabled, actually, looks over to Oda and Naoya, saying, "He went northeast out of the village. I think he might be aiming to escape from the beaches, but he could just be trying to hide. He was strong, so be sure to stay wary…" The man glances to Naoya, knowing just how the Okumo sometimes was. Definitely one that was eager to hunt… "Hmmm… You'll find it rather tasty, I believe, Okumo-san." The man grins darkly, as if anticipating the target's pain. "Move out quickly. And Okumo, watch the clock."
Outside of their speaking to the guard, Oda would not be able to sense much. Their target was long gone. However, Naoya's spiders could pick up the scent of a stranger. Following that trail would lead them northeast out of the village. About a mile passes in a straightforward manner, but then it deviates into two paths. Apparently the man had enough time to set down a false trail.
Oda would narrow his eyes as the two trails split, frowning. He would take a second to shift his eyepatch from one eye to the other, opening his normally covered eye up. He blinks a couple of times, clearly not used to the light or using it. He keeps it at a sharp squint, staring down the direction of one of the paths as he attempts to douse where the enemy may be.
"The other path. Check it.”
Glancing to the side, Naoya arches a brow lightly towards the older teen but does begin to walk only to stop near the center of the fork. 'Move.. now' was softly spoken as the young Okumo crosses his arms and stays still for the moment. From his pants legs flows a stream of spiders, the left leg send out a trail to the left, and the other to the right. As the spiders move, Naoya closes his eyes, beginning to focus lightly, grumbling softly as if thinking something over for the time being.
He was close… The target, that is. Oda could probably sense him hiding in the ground, as the man was backtracking when he had a feeling there was someone on his tail. Naoya's spiders would continue forward, following the strange scent. Eventually both would come to an abrupt halt, though, as the man had not continued out much further than four miles from the village.
Oda keeps still, sweeping back and forth over the area. He doesn't feel anything at all, nothing remotely close. In silence he turns to look towards Naoya with a bit of a frown as he pulls his patch back over his correct eye. He lets a low hum out before resting his wrist on his sword's hilt.
"He couldn't be far…Do you see anything?"
'Now.. what did he mean tasty? Does this one have tricks for us to learn?' slipping his tongue from his lips briefly, the young Okumo wets his lips at the thought of something interesting. 'Oh?' Canting his head to one side, Naoya's eyes lid partially when the brood manages to uncover something. "Oda-san.. this way" was all he would offer before turning suddenly and begins to make way forward down one of the trails. With Oda's senses open and aware, he would also be able to sense chakra swelling within Naoya, though for once it didn't cloak his body. "This won't be a 'draw'.. Not two in a row."
The two boys would notice the mist was starting to thicken around them, obscuring their vision. A voice would sound from the mist, surrounding them and having no exact source. "Hmm… Kirigakure is so weak that they had to send little birds that barely can fly from their nest? Heh… I wonder if these ones will taste good…" Then they would feel something coming in to choke them, surrounding their necks would be a very thin wire that gets pulled taut and slices through them, beheading the body.
Oda's eye would narrow, knowing Naoya was not wrong when his brood was on to something. His eye suddenly goes wide the moment he realizes the nature of what's happening around him. He's immediately yanked backward with the wire, and in his mind is immediately beheadded. He grabs to his throat, stumbling a bit before falling flat on his back due to the weight of his armor…holding his throat with a wide eye.
Looking around, the young Okumo doesn't seem to notice anything was wrong on his own until he could hear a voice without direction. Narrowing his eyes, the young Okumo quickly slips a shuriken from his hip sash and tightens his grip, causes it to slice into his palm, to no avail. When the garrote wraps around his throat, Naoya widens his eyes and quickly starts to panic trying to free himself until he winces, the brood itself turned on him, biting strongly. The fleeting pain was just enough to awaken him from the illusion.
Looking around, a low growl escapes the Okumo as he begins to look around for the source of the illusion.
"Oda-san, we need to keep moving.. It's somewhere close. Even Sei-san's range is short with phantom voices." It would take Naoya a moment to realize the other teen was stuck in place, lost to the illusion. Shifting his fingers, he lashes out a hand, sending a loosely braided length of silk to wrap around Oda's left wrist and yank onto it. "Wake up!"
A clone appears made of water, blocking Naoya's way to Oda and attempting to knock him over while another clone of water simply douses Oda. The real target is a few feet away, which the two might notice, watching the clones. Before him are his hands in the seal for water that's typically used: dragon. "Hmm… The Okumo… Might be an issue… But I should try to escape…" is commented softly, considering. He shakes his head lightly. "But I want to see them… The exams… If I can…" The hood still covers his face, and the clones of water don't look like much in terms of color, so it's difficult to tell who they are.
Oda is slammed by the clone, doused entirely in frigid water as he's pushed along the ground by it. He starts to come back to reality when he realizes that he was caught in an illusion. A long hiss burns out of his teeth for a moment as he begins to collect himself as he hears Naoya's yelling.
Genjutsu. Well, that's going to be fun.
The sudden appearance of a clone catches the young Okumo off guard almost as much as when the man before them got in the way of shaking Oda free of the illusion. Even though he was struck, Naoya doesn't back off but moves forward, drawing a blade and moves towards the man, rapidly closing the distance. Staying close to the ground, the Okumo slide weeps a faint at the man's legs before turning to spin kick at his hip if it was left exposed. "Bleed.." was muttered before whipping his arm forward, slashing at the man's arm, his own blade glistening with a clear fluid.
Naoya manages to strike the man, though it doesn't do too much damage. Enough to irritate him. The sword, though, Naoya would see pass through the man's body. He would feel like the swing would come around too far, eventually cutting into himself and tainting his own blood stream with his poison. Oda would find himself facing off against the water clone that had kicked him, the clone aiming a solid (?) kick at the warrior's stomach.
Oda would be standing up the moment that the kick is drilled into his gut. His armor at least giving him some relief from the impact of the clone, it still hurt nonetheless. He grunts low and then finally, for the first time that Naoya has seen, pulls Omoide no Taishoku out of it's sheath. His eye locks right onto the water clone, and then narrows.
"You're mine."
He then suddenly vanishes from view of the cloaked man…And reappears directly behind him, blade slicing through the air in a long, broad arc twice in an X manner.
Oda's fighting style revealed.
'Tsk' sounds as the blade slashes cleanly into the man only for him to break apart. Furling his brows, Naoya focuses to try to see through the illusion but hisses slowly as his blade touches his side but doesn't actually cut into himself despite the feeling. 'Guide..' Opening his eyes more widely, it only takes the young Okumo a moment to release himself from the genjutsu after the fact. 'Tricks.. all he has is tricks, no skill..'
"Tricks..?" Echoes the man. "No… tricks… are not the only thing I have up my sleeve…" he says, darting towards Naoya with a strike to his body. There would be a sense of loss in terms of energy, and perhaps even chakra. Oda is ignored, even as the sword slices through his skin. The samurai was the bug for now and could be taken care of later on. He wasn't, technically, a shinobi, which is what the man was inclined to test.
Oda would frown a bit as he goes right for Naoya. For the first time ever, Naoya's the one who's visibly incapacitated instead of the other way around. Oda's eye is locked on the cloaked man, and he's not changing his tactics. This time, he scratches his fingernail down the side of his sword to cause a ringing effect…and then again reappears infront of the cloaked man.
He slices in an uppercut manner right up the man's center…and then downward with twice the force itself.
"Leave him be…"
It was fleeting, but for a moment the young Okumo gained control over his body once again, but it was too late, something washes over him. Shivering, the young Okumo quakes for a fleeting moment as he could feel himself weakening steadily, staggering for a moment before stopping, stomping one foot down, Naoya draws back his lips and lunges at the man almost animalisticlly. In one smooth movement, the Okumo quickly attempts to sink his fangs into the man's right shoulder before moving away rapidly.
Naoya simply bites air when he goes in for an attack, the man avoiding the bite with a bit of chakra to disguise his absence. Clones form from the mist, and he makes them rush Oda and Naoya both, apparently not holding back. Well, the guards /did/ say he was strong. Maybe not worth a huge fight like this over, but strong enough to be a potential threat.
Oda braces himself, knowing they are coming from all directions. He raises his sword defensively but is immediately scooped up, slammed, and then completely pounded senseless from all sides. Armor or not, he's hurting now and the fact that he has his jaw slightly to the side shows he bit his tongue…again. He growls low in his throat in silence before suddenly digging hard into the ground and launches through the clones…powering through them with his armor as he slices from left to right, cleaving through them before reaching the cloaked man.
He drives his sword again and again towards the man's legs, aiming to slice them clean off. He's wanting to limit his mobility now.
When he was surrounded by clone after clone, Naoya hopped into the air and rapidly begins to spin. With each rotation strings of silk begin to coat the area. Each clone in turn is stuck in place ot attached to the ground. It was then when the Okumo surges forward to slash at the man with a tainted blade before.. a suddenly the Okumo kicks at the man's chest, trying to knock him off balance and into the webbing that now blankets them.. a personal web for the Okumo to fight within.
The mist comes rolling in again as the target dances backwards from all the strikes, the man hoping to cover the enemies' vision while he can escape. He can try to watch the exams later, when there's actually something to watch. He's wasted too much time fighting these kids, and he had a better idea of things now. It was a good time for a retreat.
Hurting, Oda was not collected enough to follow the man. He curses under his breath in a whisper, he's grown dull in his time back home. He would stagger a slight moment before he growls out with a bit of a lisp.
"Naoya…Naoya where is he…I know you can smell him. You're sharper than me in combat."
While he was tired, Naoya wasn't settled on chasing after phantoms. Slashing his sword once, he twists his grip before sheathing the blade. 'No.. Return.. He isn't worth our time.. Likely another test.. like the last.' Lidded eyes begin to brighten from a pale hue to prominent amber as he turns away, slowly making his way back towards the village. "He's not even interesting prey.. He's a coward playing in mists and shadows, using tricks to sneak around, strike once then flee.."
As the mist faded, the pair would see no sign of their target. All seemed quiet. Whether they decide to turn back or continue forth, they would notice naught but what could be considered normal. About ten minutes of walking would show, though, some shadows moving next to them. A bird flying overhead. The feeling of something looming over them… Whatever it was they noticed, as it is different for each, they would feel a sense of dread.
Oda would turn back immediately as he feels the sensation. His eyes go wide for a second and he bites down on the chunk he is missing from his tongue in attempt to rout it…He knew it was genjutsu, only because the target kept using it. Even in retreat, they are under attack again. He feels paranoia creep into the back of his mind as he tries to take another step…feeling his whole body seem like it is weighed down.
"P…prepare…"
The young Okumo stops dead in his tracks, a snarl crawls across his face. No matter how deeply the brood gnaws into his arms he couldn't shake the feeling or get his body to react the way he wanted it to. There was one things different though, Naoya's body began to writhe, silk began to pool under his clothes seeming to prepare for something or preparing to do something once it regained control.
With both boys under his Genjutsu, the man reappears. He can't help but respond to the challenge… "So… You think I'm weak? My clan is always thought as such… But we're not.." He jumps up, staying in the air for an impossibly long time before coming down and adding a bit of spin to the kick that he was going to deliver to Naoya's midsection.
Oda would be snapped out of it when the man reappeared. His eye narrows…He's hurting but he knows the man is going for the kill now. He would let a deep growl out as he goes for Naoya again, immediately blinking out of sight when he draws his blade loudly. He appears beneath the man and behind, slicing deep for the man's lower back and thigh.
"I said leave him be!"
Oda's beginning to plan now on becoming the distraction for Naoya's escape…this has gone on a bit too long.
The blow.. changes the Okumo, drastically. The snarl on his lips was familiar from before but the block didn't knock him onto his back or knock him down to the ground. The teen's body writhes under webbing latches onto the man's leg, attempting to keep him close while another pair of arms wraps onto the man's own arms.. a final pair of hand grasps for the man's head and shoulders to draw him in close. This wasn't to hug the man or anything kind, several inch long fangs dripping with a corrosive venom are bared wide as Naoya hastily tries to literally bite a chunk out of the man's throat. There were no words during this time, only agressive and guttural growls.
The man is tiring as well… He's unable to defend against the slashes from Oda's sword, nor is he able to avoid Naoya's attack. What he manages to do is avoid getting bitten in the throat, at least. The man feels the poison in his veins, though… He makes a seal, mist coming in rapidly to hide his presence so he can disappear for the time… And maybe get rid of the poison in his system.
This time, Oda was more prepared and his senses spike. The problem is, the man is already long gone…no sight, no sign. He would let a low, gruff sound out before looking back over towards where he senses Naoya. In the back of his head, how the boy acts now makes him uneasy…
While the mist was starting to thicken, the Okumo ran forward with little pause in one direction before making a sharp curve in the middle of his journey. Two of the arms on his right drew blades, one made of steel the other seemingly made of polished ivory. With a spin, Naoya slashes at the man's neck once and at his arm just below the shoulders.. it was clear he was no longer trying to weaken the man but was moving in to cut the man down and likely take his head if he was given the chance.
And the man sees that Naoya is following him and is very much like 'NOPE'. He disappears clean out of the way from the blade with a powerful leap, the man dancing off and hopping away into the shadows with the last of his energy… Stupid poison… He also takes a pill to cancel out some of the nastier effects from Naoya's blade.
Oda stops, this time he's watching. His brow sinks a little as he observes Naoya's actions. He keeps his distance…watching what is going on with his senses rather than his own eye. He sheathes his blade, frowning.
"Kirigakure…never changed at all."
With his body reverting to a more stable state, a withering hand tosses a blade into the Okumo's off hand and the dance began. With a pair of slender curved blade, Naoya continues to press at the man, trying to drive him back and keep him from taking the time to tend for himself, possibly to wound the man with a passing strike. It wasn't long before the young Okumo hops back, creating some distance before kicking at the air.. releasing a kunai that was tethered to a silken strand which caused it to whip at an odd angle.
The man eyes Naoya as he manages to avoid the attacks coming his way… Hmm… The man knew Kiri was ruthless, but to go this far even after all that? He makes a handseal, and Naoya would find himself getting kicked in the chest, sending him backwards… But there was no ground to land on. He would just be falling falling and falling…
With that single stroke, to those who could see the young Okumo he would stagger briefly before stopping. Not a step or a strike further was made, only his fall to his knees before landing into the dirt. The wounds he had suffered were minimal at best, though that kept him to the ground was unseen though close inspection would show he was unconscious.
The man lands in front of Naoya, eyeing Oda for a few moments. His pleas had, while not necessarily moved him, had made him pause and reconsider. The man looks down at Naoya's body, which is unconscious, and moves his foot back. With a sickening crunch, the bones that make up the ribcage would crack thanks to the powerful kick, likely piercing his lungs. then the man moves to Naoya's legs, and he kicks again, doing so in just the right spot at just the right angle so that the bone would break. And finally a broken arm is delivered to the Okumo. It would not kill him, but he would be injured enough that he could likely not participate in the exams for a while…
