Starring:
Date: October 2, 2013
Summary:
Kirigakure sends out Doihara Ishino and Okumo Meruin to put a stop to a gathering of rogue shinobi thought to be joining forces against the village. There's only one small mishap.
"Business as Usual"
Classified
The best way to avoid trouble is to stop it before it starts. That was the key thing in mind with the mission that Meruin and Ishino were sent on. They were to go to a village that rumors whispered of a rogue shinobi group gathering at. They were comparing strengths, sort of an underground fight and the best were going to start disrupting Kirigakure. Thus it was that when Ishino and Meruin showed up, the village had a certain hushed buzz to it. Even with dusk gathering, there were whispers. Ishino was alone, no Time Keeper at the moment, instead just holding his own umbrella. However he was ready, keeping sharp view of his surroundings. He didn't speak much to Meruin. They were a good match together in his mind and there wasn't much needed to be said at this time.
Meruin walks besides the Swordsman, his starkly pale form hidden in no way, opposite the way he usually performed. But the dark orbs of his eyes, filled with mists of muted blue, were meant to be seen as they watched this mission.
Their objective was a fairly clear one. Stop this rumored gathering of shinobi from banding together to cause trouble for his and Ishino's home. Whether that was through capture or killing would not be an issue. If they were here to find, and by the feel of the place they were, then they would be found. And they would be dealt with before the sun rose again.
Ishino, along with Meruin, would get stopped near one of the larger looking buildings. They were studied a moment, Meruin a bit more closely due to his eyes before the country man would finally speak. "ya'll are here for the fight? There's suppose to be this big purse for it. Especially for those who are in the tag team matches." Ishino glanced over at Meruin with a raised brow, before he'd shrug. Nodding to the man, he'd motion for the building. "We're here for that. Please let us in." Well if they were going to be nice enough to just escort them right in, why not accept it? It'd let them know who was around to deal with as well. The man wasn't certain, peering at Ishino then Meruin again. "You look kinda familiar…"
As the two were stopped, Meruin began letting spiders escape from his feet in inconspicuous ones and twos, letting them spread throughout the area. He was silent as he was examined, simply staring back. At the query about the big fight, The Okumo simply inclined his head, not looking to Ishino. He'd have the spiders begin setting themselves up in key locations, a few moving to enter the building itself to see what lay inside while others began searching the area surrounding it.
"If a shinobi looks familiar enough to recognize, it should be a clear indication to stay out of their way." These were the only words Meruin spoke as he stared the country man down, blood red hues seeping into his unblinking misted gaze.
The man blinked, before nodding agreement. "uhh.. right!" He'd quickly turn from that unblinking stare to lead on, heading around to the back of the building where a few small groups of random ninja were at. Ishino studied them curiously, shaking his head slightly. "Such a waste of potential." Walking in the building, the country man would head back to where he had been at. There was a table there, looking to be for registration of the fight. An older woman who looked to brook no non-sense didn't even look up. "Name?" Ishino thought for a moment, before giving a shrug, glancing to Meruin. Did they admit who they were..?
"Okumo Meruin and Doihara Ishino of Kirigakure."
Meruin's chin lifted slightly, looking down to the woman whose attention seemed so involved in her work. A few more swift spiders scuttled down from his feet and slipped under the the table, looking to secrete themselves on the woman's person, making sure to touch only clothing in the attempt to remain unnoticed. "Advise whomever has orchestrated this event that we will be contending with the rest of the gathering."
Subtly, not going that route. Fair enough. Ishino looked back to the woman as she'd blink, look up and gawk at Ishino and Meruin then. "wha.. wha.. wait, what? You're saying a swordsman and a jounin of Kiri is joining our fight? I.. uh.. I'll have to ask.." She'll motion at someone, having them close and lock the door to the outside. Ishino glanced over with a frown, before pulling his pocket watch out to look at the time. "They're getting ready to jump us. All of them. You know that, right? Probably the one who wins, gets the pouch or something now. Very typical.. the timing looks to be going that way too.." Meruin would know by the spiders on the woman that she went into an upstairs office looking area. She talked to someone from the doorway, then would head back down towards where the two stood.
Meruin simply waits as the woman makes her surprised statement and then heads off. He seems unperturbed by the situation, the door clicking locked — laughable, that attempt — and is silent and watching until Ishino speaks.
"That would be the plan," spoke the Okumo in reply. "It's a powerplay and a matter of efficiency both. When they're all present, subdue them as best you can and get out. There's an office upstairs. One of the people in charge is there. We will want him alive. While you're taking him, I'll kill those down here and we'll see what we can get from him. If he comes down for the fight, take him and get him out. Noone in this room will live."
He looks back to the woman as she comes back down.
"Alright. Sounds like a plan then." That *POOF* of summoning occurred, the ticking immediately behind it as Time Keeper came out of the watch. Looking about, Ishino would count off the 'guards' of the room, some of the tougher looking shinobi being the ones that were keeping everything level in there. The woman came back alone, she'd nod and point to the ring. "You just happen to be next. Go ahead." She'd wait for htem to start for the ring, getting near that center of the wandering around crowd before the announcement came out of a pipe from the roof. "Ladies and gentlemen! We have a rare treat today!! Today, the pot will be for a free for all brawl, The first person to take down one of the two Kiri shinobi get half the purse. If the person takes down both, they get all of it." Ishino sighs dramatically. "Well. Who could of possibly saw that coming?" Gathering his chakra, Time Keeper shifted into an offensive stance as Ishino brought his hand up. "Time for our plan to go into effect."
"Who indeed?" asked Meruin as he stepped past Time Keeper, starting towards the ring that the woman had pointed out to them. It was indeed time for the plan to begin, the Okumo's hair writhing in the air behind him as he converts his body's energy into what he expected to be enough chakra to see this mission finished, with a little extra in case of plans going awry in some way. He sent a glance towards Ishino, saying only, "Look for the spider on the door." And soon he was in place and simply waiting.
Ishino nodded towards Meruin. Focusing himself, Time Keeper would step up to behind and the left of Meruin, Ishino was on the right and behind. Although that was a henge that Meruin might notice, most would not. Instead, the ticking that Time Keeper eminated would be noticed. Heavily. The whole room was swept up in that thick genjutsu, sending most of the room on it's run away escapate of the Time's Thread. Leading people through the lives they could only imagine, as it is actually their imagination that fuels that genjutsu. There were a few, about 5 of them, that managed to fight it off. They tried to wake a few more, but most of them were completely oblvious. Ishino nodded lightly, looked to Meruin with a nod before he'd move. Ishino and Time Keeper heading for the stairs to go upstairs, looking down the hall of office doors to find the spider and the one they wanted. After the noise of the crowd, the silence was almost eerie in response.
Meruin turns his head to the side as the many slump, not looking over his shoulder but inclining his head. And then his comrade and his puppet moved to depart and he was left alone. Or rather, in the company of the people traveling their lifetime and the ones trying to bring them back to awareness. Those who'd managed to resist the Swordsman's genjutsu should've abandoned the fight and fled once they'd seen what had just happened. But instead, they would die.
Meruin vanished and reappeared on the ceiling. Vanished again, the pipe that the anouncement had come from covered with spider silk, to reappear on the stairway. A blade of chitin extended from his forearm before growing in all directions, cutting into the wood and cutting off the way up behind Ishino. And then he vanished again, reappearing in the center of the ring. Body tensed, neck straining, he held still. It would take only a few moments before the effects of what he was doing could be felt, even if it couldn't be seen.
He was flooding the room with an invisible poisonous gas specifically crafted to kill large amounts of people in one swoop. The aerial poison is caustic, destroying tissue on contact and entering the body both through the necrotic wounds it causes and the throat as it is breathed in. A few moments after it hits their bloodstreams, they'd start to hack and cough in heaves if they hadn't already done so from breathing it in. The reason would be the pulmonary hemhoraging. It was the main killing aspect of this poison. The Okumo had chosen to have each of these shinobi die by asphyxiation, drowning in their own blood as it fills their lungs.
And most of those died without even reacting to it. The genjutsu only failing as the asphyxiation caused them to pass out, quickly dying without the least bit of resistance. Most of those who had actually resisted the genjutsu were down as well. Finally leaving just one person left standing. They had a gas mask on, their entire body covered in what looked to be two to three layers of clothing. The shinobi settled into an unusual combat stance, hands up into open palms as he'd beckon Meruin on. Well.. from roughly 100 to 1. But this one was obviously a careful type.
Ishino found the proper office door, a nod was given to the spider as TK would carefully reach out to give it a lift away from the door. Settled on TK's head, so Meruin could keep track of what was going on, the puppet would simply kick in the door, knocking it off hinges easily as puppet, then puppeteer stepped into the office. The man in charge looked startled, the guards he had with him were quick to respond, getting between Ishino and the man. Ishino swept into a formal bow with that smile, although his eyes didn't leave the man. "Doihara Ishino. I do apologize for the rude entry but you see I am on a dead line. I am going to have to ask for you to come with me now. It can either happen with, or without the bloodshed of your guards dying. Your choice."
Meruin turns his head to the side as the many slump, not looking over his shoulder but inclining his head. And then his comrade and his puppet moved to depart and he was left alone. Or rather, in the company of the people traveling their lifetime and the ones trying to bring them back to awareness. Those who'd managed to resist the Swordsman's genjutsu should've abandoned the fight and fled once they'd seen what had just happened. But instead, they would die.
Meruin vanished and reappeared on the ceiling. Vanished again, the pipe that the anouncement had come from covered with spider silk, to reappear on the stairway. A blade of chitin extended from his forearm before growing in all directions, cutting into the wood and cutting off the way up behind Ishino. And then he vanished again, reappearing in the center of the ring. Body tensed, neck straining, he held still. It would take only a few moments before the effects of what he was doing could be felt, even if it couldn't be seen.
He was flooding the room with an invisible poisonous gas specifically crafted to kill large amounts of people in one swoop. The aerial poison is caustic, destroying tissue on contact and entering the body both through the necrotic wounds it causes and the throat as it is breathed in. A few moments after it hits their bloodstreams, they'd start to hack and cough in heaves if they hadn't already done so from breathing it in. The reason would be the pulmonary hemhoraging. It was the main killing aspect of this poison. The Okumo had chosen to have each of these shinobi die by asphyxiation, drowning in their own blood as it fills their lungs.
And most of those died without even reacting to it. The genjutsu only failing as the asphyxiation caused them to pass out, quickly dying without the least bit of resistance. Most of those who had actually resisted the genjutsu were down as well. Finally leaving just one person left standing. They had a gas mask on, their entire body covered in what looked to be two to three layers of clothing. The shinobi settled into an unusual combat stance, hands up into open palms as he'd beckon Meruin on. Well.. from roughly 100 to 1. But this one was obviously a careful type.
Ishino found the proper office door, a nod was given to the spider as TK would carefully reach out to give it a lift away from the door. Settled on TK's head, so Meruin could keep track of what was going on, the puppet would simply kick in the door, knocking it off hinges easily as puppet, then puppeteer stepped into the office. The man in charge looked startled, the guards he had with him were quick to respond, getting between Ishino and the man. Ishino swept into a formal bow with that smile, although his eyes didn't leave the man. "Doihara Ishino. I do apologize for the rude entry but you see I am on a dead line. I am going to have to ask for you to come with me now. It can either happen with, or without the bloodshed of your guards dying. Your choice."
Meruin relaxed into a fully upright posture, body's strain vanishing as the many became the few and soon the few become just one. And still, this odd shinobi stood against him. It only showed the grip of greed on mankind.
But it was of little consequence. The Okumo sudenly burst with spider silk, a thousand strands and ropes and chords of it streaking towards the last shinobi as though a platinum hued kraken were lurching from Meruin's body to try and capture the shinobi. But the danger was the poison. Seering, caustic, and enough to eat away at the clothing of the man, allowing the poisonous gas filling the room to do its work.
As the silk would launch outward, so too would the enemy move. A flurry of shuriken cascading outward in a thick enough layer to actually cut off any of the initial silk that would of reached him. he immediately leaped, flipping up tot he roof, to run away to the side, avoiding the webbing as a kunai would get launched at Meruin in turn. This kunai turned into a blob of acid, the main thrust actually a senbon coated in it's own poison in an attempt to pierce the initial defense and hit Meruin anyways. The shinobi hopped off the roof, skidding down on the floor to slide to the side. "You could always give up."
Unfortunate. Meruin had been hoping to avoid combat.
The acid coated senbon would tear through Meruin's face, hitting the ground and leaving him unscathed as he faded away. An afterimage left by the sheer speed with which the Okumo had changed locations. The offending shinobi would only get out, 'You could always gi—' before either having to defend himself or getting Meruin's hand to the facemask and having the back of his head smashed into the ground.
It seemed at the very least, this guy was matching speed with Meruin. He'd have his hand go right through the afterimage left behind by the other shinobi, who was now on the other side of the room. Shaking his head, the guy had to chuckle through his mask. "Well. It seems that pleasentries are now out of the way." The guy blurred through hand signs, ending on a seal while the wind within that area picked up, stirring up the gas as it'd get launched at Meruin much akin to a battering ram of solid air would feel like. Even if it misses Meruin, the hit would plow through the wall of the building, opening up the place to start the gas escaping, as the air would forcefully rush out, trying to make a partial vaccum within the room.
An unexpected development, finding a shinobi of this caliber among this crowd mused Meruin as his hand slipped through an afterimage left by the man. Either the Okumo had just missed him or the gas masked man had waited until just before he struck to evade the attack. And by his demeanor, it had been the latter. This shinobi behaved fairly confidently.
But Meruin was nearly through testing him. As the man started moving through handseals, a black chitin suddenly covered the Kirigakure Jounin's body in preparation. Because he was waiting for a maneuver such as this. Though, he had expected it to be directed at a wall rather than at him. But the man likely had too much confidence for his caution to overule.
So when the winds coalesced and shot towards Meruin, he vanished. The battering ram of wind would suddenly disperse, its torn remains whirling about the room in small, impotent gales, the Okumo reappearing within the center of them immediately. He'd simply flickered into the strike, using his speed and mass to break it and counting on his shell to keep him safe from the reprecussions. And it stung. But when the impact brought his velocity down back to visible levels, he did not appear to be at all damaged.
Closer now, an arm whipped towards the potential enemy of Kirigakure, a rope of spider silk shooting towards the man. One of the dangers of this was, as with the others, the poison coating it, not as potent as the other toxins but enough to burn the skin. But the greater danger was what it held inside. Before the whip lash would reach him, the rope would suddenly unfurl, bursting apart and sending a spray of jagged black shuriken in all directions but back along the silk. Not only would the man have to evade the shuriken, but he still had to deal with the caustic cat o' hundred tails and any one cut would allow the poison entrance and mark the end of his final chapter.
The man moved as soon as the wind was disrupted. Ok, well that didn't work as well as planned. When the rope came through him, he'd skid back until he was right back against that wall. Those seals going again, that massive swirling essance of air would get redirected, throwing it to the right, deflecting the silk and shuriken to the wall and potentially through it. That battering ram hitting the front wall of the building this time in an attempt to get out. Meruin was obviously pushing this guy and he didn't want to stay here fighting any longer!
No more time for play.
Between blinks Meruin was between the man and the hole in the wall, new fangs already streaking downwards. The whole of his body, even every strand of his hair covered in that black chitin, and his face now sporting eight eyes, he was a new beast. And he sought to sink his fangs into the man's neck. As soon as they'd pierce, a powerful paralytic agent would render the shinobi helpless just long enough for Meruin to flood his body with his stomach acids that liquify flesh and bone to be drawn back in by the Okumo for nourishment. With throat and upper chest effectively destroyed by this assault, it was either escape it or die.
"That's my queue." With Meruin going all beastial, the man knew he'd have to leave. Shifting, the wind all through out the room picked up, a rapid flurry of surging currents going in and out of that hole. It quickly dispersed the gas that had been in the room as well as developed clones of the guy all over the room. Meruin did actually pick the right one, however the guy was spinning, stirring the wind up even more as he did. Those clones would attempt to intercept Meruin, slowing down his strike so that the spinning of the actual shinobi would stop Meruin short. A literal mass of wind, spun tight about him, wouldn't allow Meruin through it, eventually picking him and any clones that got a grip up and flung to the side. As soon as the deflection occurred, the man was gone, vanishing out that hole much like the wind, the currents stirred up within the room slowing a few moments after he left.
Despite his efforts, Meruin found himself rebounded from the wind manipulator, wind and clone sending him off to the side. He landed with a bracing skid, having already seen the man vanish. Despite his transformation, he seemed no closer to touching him than he was when he'd firsted started out. This man was, it seemed, a rare shinobi. The Okumo would have to study their bingobook again for an entry he may have missed.
With the winds dying down, his hair settling down against his back, he stepped back towards the place the gas mask wearing shinobi was last at. No prints. The winds disrupted any dirt tracks that might have been left behind. Without a clear indication of where the man had gone, he would be left alone. He was not the specific mission, and there was no time for hunting. The only measure he took was send to out a small wave of spiders and communicate with those already in the area to ensure that he hadn't remained nearby to spy. And then he looked out of the hole, reverting to his original form and checking in on Ishino through the spider on Time Keeper.
The sun hadn't yet finished setting.
The spider showed the two guards, pierced by kunai close to their hearts were slumped off to either side. Ishino was braced against the head man that had been running the business, his guards dispatched, he was much more malliable. Of course, he was also tempting to bribe Ishino. It didn't work too well. No, instead, Ishino had him gather up all the materials he would use, then simply knocked him out with the genjutsu, having Time Keeper pick him up to carry him back downstairs. It'd gone silent below, so he figured it was clear. Pausing at the chitin mass that blocked the way, Ishino pondered it. "Okumo-san. It is clear above. He is apprehended. You mind clearing this? We can leave and bring him back to the detension center in Kirigakure."
