Starring:
Date: September 1, 2015
Summary:
After the current leads had gone cold once again in Hige's investigation into the death of Zori's friends, he finally received word from some villagers. They had seen the man he'd sent out pictures of before visiting someone within their village! After pulling in a medic and friend to help, the teen Jounin went out to speak with this man…
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Cold Case - A New Lead"
Land of Fire
Hige had sent a message to Kenta to clear his days schedule for the day and to prepare for a bit of a journey and some possible trouble. Then he'd said to meet him at the front gates. Hige and Konsho are there at the front gates, the teen dressed to travel and Konsho sitting next to him. The boy looks troubled and lost in his own thoughts as he stares up at the white fluffy clouds in the sky.
When a Jounin says jump, Kenta jumps (usually). When a Jounin tells him to clear out his schedule for some traveling, that's exactly what he does too. By now, Kenta is familiar enough with Hige to know that something must be going on. It's probably something dangerous too, or at least potentially dangerous, even without the mention of trouble, since Hige wouldn't have tried to get a medic-nin otherwise.
Kenta appears at the gates at the exact appointed time. He approaches with his thumbs hooked into the straps of his traveling backpack. His modified many-pocketed Chuunin vest looks as prepped full of smaller equipment as usual. Kenta bows as soon as he's only two paces away from the two Inuzuka. "Konichiwa. Where are we going today?"
"We're going on a bit of a hunting trip Kenta," Hige says, nodding to the medic when he sees him. Konsho's tail starts to wag and the pup stands, moving to Kenta to him a few face licks in greeting, followed by a "Hi Kenta!" Hige waits until Konsho gets his greetings over with before he continues. "You might remember a while ago I was helping Zori find the man who'd posed as a Jounin and killed his friends. Well most of the leads dried up, but I recently found got some information that a compatriot of the man is in a village not too far away. We're going to try and take him and capture him. And then question him."
"Umm… I guess that's the part where you said we might run into some trouble?" Kenta asks tentatively. He actually doesn't know much about the situation that Hige's describing, except the basics and that shows as caution on his face. "I'll be glad to help with your task, Hige. Someone needs to bring Zori's friends to justice, especially since the criminal that you're hunting is part of the reason why Zori's the way he is now. But what do we know about this other man that might have information on him? What should we be looking out for?"
"Apparently a picture I've had circulated was familiar to some folks in this village. He hasn't been there in months, but he was often going to this guys house. I was going to go myself and talk to him but he fled when he saw the pictures. I can't promise I'm not going to hurt him so I need you to make sure he stays alive if he starts acting stupid and I have to react." Hige doesn't looked pleased by the prospect, but he's not pleased about any of this in general. "I might also need your medical expertise when it comes to extracting information." Hige looks up at the sky, then back at Kenta. "Any other questions ask along the way. Come on, let's go." Hige leaves it at that before turning and jumping into the trees, moving at a quick clip.
It isn't as much information as Kenta hoped for, but he nods anywhere. There's been missions launched on far less intel and trusts that Hige knows how to adapt to unexpected development. The young man launches himself into the trees after the other two. "I don't actually know how useful my medical ninjutsu will be with interrogations. Or any of my other jutsu. The best that I can do is try to read his surface thoughts while you're asking him questions and see if I can get anything that way. Ummm… but he'd be able to feel me doing that for sure."
"I think you underestimate yourself Kenta. That palm thing you hit me with before sure as holmes hurts. I might need something like that in this instance. If worst comes to worst then you can just make sure he stays alive while I cause him pain." Hige seems to have no qualms with this in the slightest as they go, his feral eyes focused ahead. "Anything you can think of to help I'll take it."
Kenta gets an uncomfortable expression on his face. "Ummm… maybe we should try other methods first. I don't think that type of thing works as well as people thing…" he comments. The young man goes silent afterwards. This line of conversation is exactly the type that he's least suited for, since he doesn't even normally like to think about such interrogation methods. Hopefully, things will turn out much better than Hige expects.
Hige nods slightly. "If you've got suggestions I'm open, but I'm not going to waste a bunch of time either. I don't expect he'll be willing to talk to us to begin with." Hige picks up the speed a bit, leading the way while Konsho brings up the rear. It doesn't take more than an hour to get where they're going at that speed and Hige drops from the trees at the village gates, looking around carefully to make sure that nothing is out of the ordinary. "Keep an eye out, just in case he's trying to set us up."
Kenta nods his head somberly. The young man scans the area with his serious gaze, trying to see if anything's out of the ordinary. His senses are less sharp than Hige and Konsho's by far, but his knowledge in other areas might help him spot things that they might not, like seal-based traps. Kenta also slips a hand into one of his pockets to pull out a small defensive tag, which he could try to activate on a moment's notice if it turns out that there's an ambush waiting.
Hige and Konsho move along the edge of the village until they find a house seperated a bit from the others. Hige pauses a short distance away and sniffs at the air, his frown deepening. "The scents aren't that strong. I don't think he's here but we need to check…" Hige walks towards the front door and doesn't even hesitate or knock. Instead he raises a foot and kicks the door, shattering it before he looks inside. "Nope, empty."
Kenta opens his mouth and then closes it again. Then, he opens his mouth again. "Ummm… give me a second. I have a way of checking if anyone is nearby, even if it's not as good as your nose." Or kicking down doors. The young man makes a hand seal and closes his eyes. Then, he sends out several quick pulses of medical chakra into the surrounding area. As the pulses ripple out, they also bounce back in a series of echoes upon striking organic creatures - flies, people, etc.
There's lots of creatures around though there isn't anything within the house. A distance away however there is a faint echo of a person and a horse. It's at least a good half mile away, but it's there. Echoes come back within the village of more people too, but the chances of him fleeing and then returning to hide in the village isn't all that great. "Anything?" Hige asks as he returns from within the house, having checked it for people.
Kenta furrows his brows in concentration. He doesn't open his eyes yet, since it's easier to visualize the chakra echoes without the interference of other senses. Eventually, he nods his head. "Umm… I think there's someone traveling away in that direction." The medic-nin finally opens his eyes and points towards where he felt the mounted man. "I can't tell for sure though, since the echoes are so faint. Maybe your nose will be able to pick up a trail and tell if it's the right person. I think there's a horse too."
Hige pulls out a strip of cloth and nods. "This was in there as part of a shirt. I ripped it off so we'll have his scent. Let's get moving and I'll be able to say for sure when we get closer. Let's hurry." The teen turns and starts to run at top speed in the direction that Kenta had pointed, using his nose to pick up on the scent while Konsho does the same.
Kenta speeds after Hige and Konsho as soon as they take off. The medic-nin keeps his eyes out on the surroundings. Just because his medical ninjutsu didn't pick up anything else nearby doesn't mean there's no ambush. That jutsu's no good for inanimate dangers like traps and puppets at all. Unfortunately, he couldn't try to use the jutsu again while they're traveling at such speeds. There isn't enough time to concentrate and analyze the returning echoes, except in the most perfunctory ways. Inuzuka noses will have to do their job.
It doesn't take long to close that gap and as Hige sees the man he pushes ahead even further. "That's him, it's the same scent!" Hige calls back over his shoulder, his voice coming out with a growling undertone. It seems they were spotted however as the man kicks his horse into a full on gallop and starts riding away as fast as he can. He also leaves behind a few presents in the form of explosive tags that he drops behind him. "Watch out!" Hige calls as he jumps sideways, forced away from the man to avoid being exploded instead.
Kenta doesn't attempt to dodge the explosive tags at all. He might be faster than most people expect for a medic-nin, but it'll still take precious time to dodge and he's actually not as good at -that- as Hige. Instead, Kenta flings the tag that was in his hand. A wall of chakra expands in front of him to absorb the explosive force of the attack. Meanwhile, Kenta's already making the hand seals for the Yamanaka clan's signature Mind Body Switch technique. He sets his sight on the horse, which would be much easier to mentally overcome than a shinobi, and would provide do much more to hamper attempts to flee if he manages to take control.
Hige slides a short distance to the side after he lands, cursing the man for throwing him off so much. When he sees Kenta making hand seals he calls out to Konsho who moves to the medic's side to provide support should it be needed. Hige himself continues onwards towards the man once again, jumping up and over another exploding seal this time.
The horse is riding in a straight line so it's a pretty easy short for the technique. Kenta wouldn't have any trouble subduing the creatures mind either.
Kenta lifts his fingers, which he has used to create a rectangular bracket. The medic-nin sends his mind outwards in a stream of invisible chakra to take over the horse. His movements slowly down a bit and become slightly less agile as a result of the concentration this takes. "Got the horse! I'm turning it around now," Kenta utters in a slightly strained voice. He immediate forces the horse to run a big U-Turn -towards' the Leaf shinobi instead.
The man starts cursing at the horse and hitting it when it turns around before he finally just jumps off, rolling to the side and coming up on a knee. Hige is there and lunges at the man but, much as Kenta had done, he throws up a seal tag and Hige hits it and is forced to push away with a curse of his own. Konsho stays near Kenta to make sure the medic stays okay while he controls the horse and even after.
Kenta keeps his distance from the man. He still has control of the horse, so he drops to one knee and gestures at it while sending another command along the control link that he's established. A thunder of hooves is heard as he forces the horse to run a tight circle to charge at their suspect from behind. It might result in some broken bones, but Kenta's pretty sure that a shinobi that can repel Hige would just be distracted enough for the Jounin to find an opening.
The man turns when he hears the horse coming back and throws an exploding tag at the creature. Since the horse isn't a shinobi or anything, even with Kenta's help it can't escape the tag and gets blown up pretty badly…It's enough of an opening however and before the man can fully turn back around Hige is there and his fist comes down to knock the man to the ground in a daze.
Kenta reels backwards when his connection to the horse is completely disrupted. When his eyes refocus, he finds that the horse had actually been splattered all over the place. That columbo! He quick springs forward to cover Hige and Konsho after the source of his consternation is knocked out. The young man slaps a hand to the ground a short distance away from the enemy shinobi. Black seals pour off his arm into the ground with each one sending streams of chakra forth to bind the man.
The man was knocked down and before he can get up Kenta's seals bind him up, leaving Hige to stand back up with a growl. "You poirot. Would've been so much easier if you'd just given up. Wouldn't have had to go through all this marple." Hige walks around to look the man over.
The man is easily taller than Kenta and Hige, nearing Atsuro's height even. Once his head starts to clear from the punch he starts struggling against Kenta's bindings. "Peabody you little fletchers! Let me go now or I'm going to slaughter your whole monking family!"
"Umm… you're going to find that pretty hard. My grandmother can eat you for breakfast. Not that she'd want to, I mean…" Kenta tells the bound man. He starts making another series of seals to activate another Yamanaka technique. It's a technique that all of his associates is already familiar with, being that it establishes a telepathic link with an individual. What some people might not know is that if used successfully against someone, Kenta might be able to glean surface thoughts. "Hige and Konsho are two of Konoha's best Jounin. I suggest that you tell us what you know."
Hige pulls a picture out of a pouch, the same drawing that had been passed around the village, and crouches to show it to the bound man. "Take a look at this and tell me everything you know about this man. If you answer me truthfully then I might just let you live. If not then you'll be in for a spadeload of pain."
Hige has the man distracted well enough that Kenta is able to make his link. The mans thoughts are moving in a fast jumble of fear and anger. "I'm not telling you guys anything. I don't know nothing. I was just traveling and you attacked me!"
Kenta folds his arms across his head and concentrates on reading the man's surface thoughts while Hige starts asking the questions. After the man's denial of knowing anything, he tries to nudge things in the direction that he wants to go. "Are you sure that you've never seen him before?" he asks. Maybe that'll trigger something that he can use, assuming he can get pass that mass of stronger emotions that's clouding up the telepathic link.
"NEver seen him before in my life!" The man says though across the link it would be obvious that he wasn't telling the exact truth.
Hige glances to Kenta, then shrugs before drawing out a single finger, the claw at the end filling with lightning. From one moment to the next that claw and lightning and half of Hige's finger is deep in the mans shoulder, causing him to scream in pain and send that pain along the telepathic link. Hige withdraws the claw after a moment and glances to Kenta.
Kenta winces and rubs at his head. "Umm… he's lying or at least not telling the complete truth." The young medic-nin shakes his head at the bound man. "I'm part of the Yamanaka clan. You've probably heard of them. You also feel my inside your head right now, don't you? I can tell when you're trying to trick us, so don't even try. Hige doesn't like that and he's… umm… he doesn't mind using certain tools to make people talk. Like your shoulder." Or whatever was -done- to the man's shoulder.
Hige nods his thanks to Kenta, then looks back to the man and holds up the picture again. "Talk," Hige growls, feral eyes drilling into the captives as if he's considering whether or not to behead the man the very next moment.
"Gah! You wimseys!" The man curses, gritting his teeth and fighting against the restraints all to no avail. "His name is Simon, he hired me for a job last yeah, that's all I know! He paid me, I did it, that's it. Never saw him again!" Or had he? Something floating around his mind makes it seem like he's seen the man more than just once…
Kenta shakes his head from side to side. "Umm… you're lying again. Didn't I tell you that it's a bad idea to lie?" he tells the bound man with a glare. It's not a very good glare, since he doesn't have much practice and he doesn't exactly hate this guy like he hated the Recluse leadership. "I forgot to tell you that I'm also a medic-nin. That means I can do all kinds of medical ninjutsu, harmful as well as helpful. Like cutting muscles with a touch. That's very hard to heal from and can cause permanent damage if not done right." Kenta tries to make the statements in as grim a voice as he can muster.
Hige eyes Kenta, then shakes his head. Despite his best efforts Kenta just wasn't all that scary. Hige…well, he wasn't all that scary either until he actually did damage. Then he was really scary! Claws imbued with lightning dig down suddenly into the mans leg, making him cry out and rendering it useless. "AHHHH WOLFE YOU! Fine, tracy! He comes every few months and I do stuff for him, whatever it is he needs and he just pays me, alright? Sometimes it's just letting him stay at my house and sometimes it's robbing a market stall!" At least this time he's telling the truth.
"When is he due again?" Hige asks in a low tone, feral eyes staring the bleeding man down.
"It could be next week or a few weeks, it's never the same! Now please let me go!"
Hige glances to Kenta, then stands and hits the guy hard enough to knock him out. "I got what I needed, but we're taking him in case we need more." Hige isn't happy…and he's in a rare mood.
"There's probably more that he can tell us," Kenta agrees. The telepathic link is broken, but he has other concerns now. The medic-nin kneels to hold his hands over the shredded leg. He heals the leg just enough to prevent their captive from bleeding to death, but not enough that escape would be easy. Afterwards, Kenta also uses one of his sleeping pills to keep the man knocked out for the duration of the journey back to Konoha. Konsho would have to do the carrying.
