Starring:
Shuuren, Kuoroke, Suterusu, Chitose
Date: May 29, 2013
Summary:
Shuuren requests a squad from Sunagakure to come guard a large shipment of food and supplies he's bringing to local vendors he supplies for. With eight caravans in total coming to Sunagakure in just this run, the rebels are sure to bite, which is probably all part of the plan to help capture some of them and endeavor put an end to their efforts.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Struggle With No Reward - Challenging the Rebels"
Unknown location
As trade has begun to open up in the Land of Wind, most traders and likely just following the rules set forth to try to avoid running into the rebels to do what little business they can. One particular man is not so timid, however. Nagamura Shuuren promised his clients he would bring them a large haul of goods to help get things back in order, and that is exactly what he plans to do. The young bureaucraft sent a mission request into Sunagakure to meet him in the desert and guard the shipments, along with a map of the route he would be taking with several caravans of shipments.
Just as promised, several caravans are seen racing through the desert side by side in formation with Shuuren standing atop the most center one with a look of determination in his eyes. He holds his signature white cane in his hand, adorned in his normal suit, yet the stern look on his face is not the friendly, calm composure of a diplomat that he normally holds, more like a man ready for war. His eyes narrow as he spots a pair of unfamiliar wagons racing his way, those aboard them not appearing to be Sunagakure shinobi. The fun may just begin early. Gripping his cane a bit tighter, Shuuren says, "Rushing toward the Reaper is ill-advised, yet seldom can one stay the feet of the foolish who would make that run full speed-ahead."
Kuoroke had modified a wagon to fit their purpose better: the covering had been removed at the side, opening up avenues for attacks, but these openings had been covered up with seals carefully placed along the edges and the top of the wagon, providing a one-way barrier that made it seem like yet another wagon. On the front, guiding the horses, sat Kuoroke, though he didn't quite look the part: one of the guards taken prisoner when Yuuto had stumbled upon these bandits had paid with his life, and part of his body, a part now concealing Kuoroke's own face. Combined with a wig, he was now quite well-disguised. This extraordinary patrol, disguised as either merchants or allies to any rebels they met, was now on a course to meet Shuuren's caravan.
That figure was a silent shadow within the wagon. One clone ready, in the under carriage of the wagon, the other was hiding within the shadows of the wagon itself. He rode while Kuoroke did well to hide what they were and who they were. Simply waiting, prepared for when they got close enough to be needed to actually defend the one whom hired them. With the step up of attempts, it was no surprise that a council member was getting into the conflict against these people. In the end, they needed to be stopped and this group would probably be the one that did it.
Sitting at the back of the wagon, looking forwad, Chitose has her mask up. She has one leg extended and the other pulled up to her chest. She doesn't say anything at the moment. Her gaze doesn't move as she waits. She isn't a perception based animal. Her powers are far different and she is letting Suterusu keep his eyes open. That's what he is good at. Chitose simply awaits the moment they get attacked or do attack. She does stop for a moment though and look over at Suterusu, sizing him up and hmming.
As the wagons race toward his score of caravans, Shuuren takes a few leaps to end up on the outermost caravan toward where the unfamiliar caravan is coming from. Then there is another in the distance. He ponders a bit which one might be which, but it becomes pretty clear when he has to grab a kunai from his coat and toss it to deflect an incoming one as the pair he initially spotted apparently decide to begin their assault. He repeats this a few times in defense before firing one at them in the midst of it to stab directly upon one of the driver's shoulders, making him steer directly into the other wagon and knock a few of the men off into the sound. As they get closer, their numbers appear to be roughly about fifteen men per caravan. At least enough, to keep this interesting.
Kuoroke's mask frowns slightly as he weight the value of the element of surprise against that of coming into action immediately. He chooses the former, driving towards the just-incapacitated attacker wagons while beckoning and shouting something incoherent just loudly enough to be heard, but not even loudly enough for them to notice a difference in tone of voice. He rushes the horse as much as he can, and interrupts his orders only to instruct his troops, "When we reach them, let them try to get on. Hit the first ones as they're climbing on, then use the momentum from that."
There was a simple nod from the figure, changing his plan of attack as ordered without hesitation or thinking about it. Causing the clone under the wagon to poof, he'd immediately summon it back on top, both clone and figure were crouched down low, a kunai in hand for each of them as they'd watch the other wagon, preparing to do much as said, taking out the initial boarders, then attacking from there. Of course for him, attacking from there was going to be a bunch more of.. well.. him, leaping out, but that wasn't a concern for now. He was simply reading and waiting, prepared for the initial assault.
Frankly, for Chitose, this changes nothing of what she is currently doing. She doesn't even pull out her kunai at this point. She just looks up at the edge of the wagon and then idly awaits the incoming attacks. Her face shows that of a contented type.
At the bump that sends many of them flying, the rebels start to look rather revolted. However, they look a little more pleased as they spot even more merchants coming their way. One of the wagons splits off to avoid making the same error, calling out as they race toward Kuoroke's wagon. "Surrender your goods to us, and we'll let you live!" A warning shot is thrown in the form of a kunai flying by the wagon. Meanwhile, Shuuren forms a hand seal and creates shadow clones that begin striking to deflecting incoming attacks. As rebels try to board, a shadow clone would leap at each one attempting to board to kick him back. "That all you losers have got? What, did they send in the village idiots to try to take me on?" the young bureacrat would taunt a bit, trying to rile them up into making a mistake.
Kuoroke pulls on the reins, and brings the wagon to a stop so that the wagon coming towards them blocks them from the other rebels' view. "Whoa! I'm on your side here!" he shouts, raising his hands. "Just leave me enough water to get back home, could you? Though I'm not sure what you would do with these dresses…" While he waits for the rebel wagon to approach him, the tattoos on his forearm pick up a kunai and unwrap into a small crossbow, ready to release it at an enemy. Kuoroke's tactics prove flexible. "On second thought, I'll take care of these." His voice oozes with sudden hatred. "Havoc."
The figure responded to the command. Shadow clone and figure leaping out that side to roll in the sand. More clones would come off of him, all of them doing a set of hand seals as they'd suddenly surround that enemy wagon. Focusing that chakra, they would plant a hand to the ground as one, a sudden massive spike of super heated metal forming under the wagon to launch skyward, potentially shredding the wagon. As the metal studs along the length of that spike came to the surface, they would strike outward, extending into more super heated metal spikes. This was of course, mirrored by 6 more trees forming around that initial spot to make sure that there was nothing left. As for the bodies, they were probably cut, burnt and other such grisly things when dealing with super heated metal. Once the forest was done, the figure would slip back into the wagon, ready for the next command as the clones would vanish.
At the order, Chitose blinks and sits up, looking out the side of the wagon, "Well, you guys died." She makes a simple statement as she watches Suterusu go into action. She shakes her head and then leans on the side, glancing up to Kuroke, "Why did I come along?" She hmms and then hops out of the side of the wagon to move over to the area that Suterusu just attacked, "Is there anyone left?" She hmms as she looks at the rebel wagon and prepares to beat the hell out of anyone who moves out of that wagon.
As one wagon is easily dspatched, Shuuren smirks slightly and shrugs his shoulders. "Guess it's about time to get serious," he says before lunging off the caravan toward the enemy wagon, his hand glowing green with chakra as he would go to literally cut through the driver, the wagon, and anyone standing in his way like butter with his clones continuing in defensive maneuvers aboard the caravans. "To your right flank!" he calls out to Kuoroke's wagon, and two more wagons just as full of rebels would come over a dune toward the Sunagakure team. Throwing knifes and arrows rain from these as these rebels don't even wait, trying to get right down to business in taking care of who they think are merchants, or at least did.
Kuoroke speeds the wagon up a bit again, closing in with the growing spikes. As it approaches, he stops it abruptly, barking "Brace yourself." to Chitose. The Kuroki himself doesn't follow his own orders: he is sflung forward, into the growing spikes, and uses their growth as a boost to take off into the air, closing in with the next wagon. He chooses not to put his eggs in one basket, but launches a series of lesser attacks: bringing his right arm down, he launches the prepared kunai, aimed not for the soldiers who may defend against it, but for the axels of their wagon. Still in mid-air, he brings his hands together, inhaling and spitting out the air in his lungs in two sharp blows, both accompanied by a series of hand seals: the two bullets of spinning air are also intended to break down the wagons and bring their enemies to an abrupt halt.
Looking over, Chitose spots the incoming pair of wagons and blinks as she looks as Kuroke takes off. She chuckles and then turns and starts running that way. Even as she comes in close, she watches Kuroke aim for the wagons and she simply whips out a few kunai to fling in the direction of the men on the wagons, to try to take a few out, "Seriously. A councilmember, one of the nastiest people I've seen in a while and then me. I'm not sure at all why I'm here other than perhaps practice." And she flicks out the kunai with amazing speed.
With the strikes, the wagons Kuoroke aims at would grind to a halt in the sands. Of course, this brings the problem of the rebels being much closer and beginning to aim their strikes directly at both him and Chitose. On Shuuren's end, just as soon as the rebels attacking him are down, two more wagons come at the OTHER end of the caravans, and his shadow clones would have to take off across the tops of them to try to intercept before they can attack. Meanwhile, the real Shuuren grabs a pill out of his coat and swallows it down, his chakra roaring around him before he flickers a couple hundred yards in one instant to slam his fist into one of the wagons in an uppercut to try to make it flip up on its back, horse and all.
Perhaps the greatest immediate danger for a person stuck in the desert, say because their wagon broke down, is to be buried in the sand. That's precisely the fate he has lined up for these two wagons. As he lands, his knees bend to absorb the blow, and he ends up low to the ground. A quick order to Chitose, "OUT OF THE WAY!", and he is again forming handseals, again calling up wind. Still staying low so it picks up a great deal of sand, he lets a wind with the strength of a hurricane blast forth from his mouth.
A sigh escapes her and Chitose simply hops back and away from the massive hurricane blasting forth from Kuroke and she shakes her head as she moves back. She watches the horror of the great massive attack before saying, "And once more…" She shakes her head again and glances over toward Shuuren before shrugging and idly getting out a piece of bread and starting to snack on it, "Yep…"
Those who weren't crushed by the wagon flip begin to swarm around Shuuren, though he has little trouble fighting them off. Two of the shadow clones continue to defend the caravans, but the other would appear directly behind Chitose. "Hey," he says sternly. "I'm paying you to fight these guys, not stand there and watch while your boss takes care of some of them. If you don't want me to make a note about this to your Kage, get over there and do your job." With that, it'd take off back across the caravans to join in the fight. Meanwhile, the wind attack would rip through the enemy wagons, sending many of them flying, though some would get back up to start fighting again, throwing knives and some charging at him.
Kuoroke growls quietly as he sees that some of the enemies are still moving, and finally gets out of his crouch. He closes his eyes, and under the hood and cloak -not his usual ones, mind you, but an entirely different set- the Kuroki's tattoo light up, adding strength and finesse to his combat without showing through the thick desert clothing. The Kuroki waits for the enemy to get closer, forms a few additional hand seals, a wall blasting up to deflect the incoming kunai, and then the Kuroki charges forward, through the dying remains of his wind barrier, pounding them with savage growls accompanying every brutal punch.
A look over at Shuuren and then Chitose looks to Kuroke, "He told me to stay back and then unleashed hell upon them." She stands up and puts away the bread, "But sure, I'll not just help defeat these people, we'll just completely ruin them." She then rushes over even as she rushes up to beside Kuroke and her hand extends out with a sudden punch toward a man coming up on Kuoroke from behind before spinning around and sending another extended punch to the man before finally bending her arm backwards, causing the man to blink before it suddenly swings forward on her elbow as if it were a two way hinge toward his face.
As the numbers continue to wittle down, finally a rather burly man would step out of the final remaining caravan, standing about 7'2" with a long beard. "Alright, son. Time to end this. Hands your goods over," he says before leaping toward Shuuren and driving a giant fist down at him. Just as he does, however, Shuuren would reach up with one hand to literally catch his fist, giving a menacing wink to the giant, who looks rather confused as he is blocked easily by a skinny guy in a suit. Not only that, his arm would literally coil around the man's arm to hold him there while Shuuren's other hand reaches into his coat to produce a syringe then stretches out to jab it into the side of his neck and inject it. If successful, the man would fall down to his knees, screaming in agony as his the hallucinogenic and painful drug takes hold of his system. "So you're the boss for this particular little crew, hmm? I think Sunagakure would like to have a conversation with you, so I'll keep you alive. We'll just break a few limbs so you're not so apt to try to escape, hmm?" the young bureaucrat says in a voice that is just a bit too calm for what he is doing. Meanwhile, the rebels fighting Kuoroke and now Chitose are fairly easily blocked and struck, their numbers getting ever smaller as the shinobi take them down.
Kuoroke continues his rage-fueled rampage, roaring like a wild beast that has broken its chains and finally gotten at those who tried to imprison it. His blows may not be extremely accurate, but they're heavy and they do damage - typically avoiding the face, but trying break spines, ribs, or throats instead. He throws a punch, spin around to deliver a kick, and then pounces on a criminal to bury his knee in the man's chest cavity.
Watching Kuoroke, Chitose seems to go distant, looking over her shoulder at no one. She then laughs, "And this, this is how you wish to be?" She asks of no one in particular before looking back at Kuoroke's rampage, "I was so needed here." She then suddenly whips her arm like a tentacle into a nearby man and smacks him to the ground before spinning around and literaly whipping her arm into his gut, "Stay down…unless you wish to end like your friends." She then looks toward the large man Shuuren is dealing with.
"Actually, nevermind. I don't feel like piecing you back together," Shuuren says with a smirk. Two of his shadow clones would continue to deal with the rebels around while another form would appear directly behind the large man, going to grab place a pair of finger on his neck and use them to put him to sleep. As this is done, he looks over to assess the Sunagakure crew's work, tilting his head slightly. He hadn't expected that none of them would try to help fight the rebels on his side, but things are turning out well enough despite that. Kuoroke and Chitose rip into these men fairly easily, none of them having really more than average combat prowess. Easy targets, just large in number. That is what this has all been about, really, numbers.
"Good work," Shuuren would say as he flickers to appear by Kuoroke and Chitose. "Let's get a move on to the village, and I'll submit the mission payment." With that, he would hop back aboard the caravan closest to him as his clones load any nearby rebels that are still living, knocking them out and binding them before tossing them on the back of a caravan.
