Starring:
Amata, Kazumi, Naoya, Yoichi, Yuriko
Date: August 27, 2014
Summary:
The original mission was Pest control, the team only later realized there were signs that the pests were deliberate and more advanced than expected but within tolerance. The mission went off the original plan when the saboteurs took an extreme route, using Earth Manipulation to destroy a close dam, flooding the fields.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Contests, Pests.. and the Leaky Dam"
Land of Water
The day had come for the grand judging of the Land of Water's most vaunted farm contests! The Land of Water's largest vegetables contests! Farmers from all around the Land of Water have brought their craziest Kale, their largest lettuce, their most spanning spinach and beefiest beets! The problem with this contest is that every year it might attract people from all around but it also attracts pests! Pests that love to get their little paws, mandibles and pincers on these delectable targets and for that they need the mighty shinobi of Kirigakure to protect their foods! The fierce farmers have gathered their grown goods and cannot allow themselves to be distracted from pushing their produce both to contest tables but also into the buggies of those shopping for the tastiest treats. Even as Amata arrives, she brings with her Yuriko, Naoya and Kazumi along as guards against the pestlience that is sure to surround the area.
Herself and Yoichi are actually not simply here to do what the younger shinobi are to do though, they are here to be guest judges (and muscle) for the contest! After all, who would cheat with two of Kirigakure's superior swordsman. Amata smiles at Yoichi, "Well, the rich man who runs this is paying a pretty penny to have us attract a bigger crowd but…I don't know…something feels off." She nods her head and she isn't sure what she is feeling but Yoichi might feel the hum of danger, too. All of them could. This contest and festival, held under one of the larger dams of Kirigakure, seems to be buzzing right along but something seems just wrong with the whole thing, what though isn't yet clear.
Why, oh why, was he stuck protecting produce from pests? Kazumi wasn't sure, but… he didn't complain. He actually said nothing at all as they traveled, arrived, and now even when Amata says something about something feeling off. Great. Just great. The smell of soil fills his nostrils from the farmers more than their vegetables. The bustle of people fills his ears. But most of all, the presence of the two Swordsmen weighs heavily on his shoulders. Mostly because of who they are. Amata, who basically (but not literally) told him he was an idiot for being down on himself, as if that was to help… and Yoichi, who'd given him no choice whatsoever in training, but actually hadn't given him any as of yet…
The young Okumo accepted and signed onto the somewhat demeaning task and it would be clear why soon after he departs from the larger groups around the area. Naoya's pants legs would churn, life beginning to move and crawl under its fabric before almost two dozen large wolf spiders crawl from them. The brood as a collective quickly scattering from plain sight and into many different nooks and hiding spots such as into the fields as well as under several of the preparation spots. Unknown to most, a large count of spiders stayed within their host.
Naoya began to take his time, looking around the area, personally looking for common signs of pest breeding pools of stagnant water, smashed vegetables that were cast away. The young Okumo after a time turns towards the main presentation area. Chittering softly, a spider crawls from his neck and begins to extend two legs, letting them bob gently while he walks, scenting the air to see if there were scents to lure insects to one area more than another.
"Any time there's a lot of money around in a country that's known for warmongering… There's going to be trouble," Yoichi comments with a glance over at Amata, arms folded over his chest. Though it's not dominating the area, one might notice that there's just a bit of mist about in spots one might not normally expect it to be. Simply enough, Yoichi has basically made this place impenetrable without him knowing something's coming. While they might not be in TOO much danger here, best to be prepared in case someone tries to attack the weak nobles or something of the sort. "At least there's some chance we won't be completely bored."
The littlest Kaguya takes up the rear of the team as they arrive, quiet as the Swordsmen talk, though her bright eyes curiously glance back and forth at all the different kinds of product that's been brought for judging. "I wish there was cookies…" Vegetables are good too she guesses, but given the choice Yuriko would choose cookies any day. Exhaling a longer breath, she reaches up to cross her arms behind her snowy head. "At least tell me there's some caramel apples."
Even as Naoya begins to spread out his spiders and Kazumi starts to look around, the truth of the area is already being revealed. Quick eyes might spot a manic monkey sneaking in here, a ringed raccoon there, an array of ants over there and more little pests slipping in. Even as Kazumi walks by one stand, a man yells out and then points at Kazumi, "You, quick! To my precious pumpkin! Get them! Get them!" And if he looks, the pumpkin is moving because a group of mice are actually working as a team to try to dig into its side and get into the pumpkin and its seeds. Naoya will be similarly accosted by a woman who tries to grab his arm, "Please! Please! The monkeys!" She yells out and points even as monkeys try to make off with more. As for Yuriko? Well, she's just asking about apples when one falls toward the top of her head from above. If she looks up, she'll see a trio of raccoons, each holding a bag, one spilling out an apple or two and upon being spotted, they move faster away even as a man screams in panic about his apples.
Amata chuckles and nods, "Perhaps." She nods her head and then licks her lips, "But it's strange, I don't know what it is but I don't think it is bandits." She shakes her head, "I made our presence well known and so did the rich man who hired us. He felt if he made our presence as judges well known, it'd attract paying customers and scare off bandits." Even as they speak a barely audible sound of cracking and creaking can be heard nearby the dam.
Kazumi looks mildly startled when the man yells at him. Quick… The boy isn't very quick, but he does move to start taking mice by the tails and trying to form tiny little balls of acid to press against their heads and solve the problem long term. To avoid disgusted looks, of course, he takes the dead mice towards the edge of the area where the festivities are going on.
When suddenly grabbed, Naoya freezes and stares at the panicked woman, though the spider on his shoulder was less then calm quickly baring fangs at the woman. Without much guidance, several of the brood was already on their way towards Kazumi, seemingly wanting to help at first though after one manages to hunt down a mouse, it began to drag it off into a dark spot. To say the least, the 'aid' the other teen would gain would simply be hungry.
Naoya would look at the woman again before turning towards the direction she pointed to. Slipping a hand into his left pouch, he withdraws a pair off kunai, though he waits, allowing a trio of spiders to slip from his arm and to his wrist and work together to spin a thin cord, linking the kunai to a length of silk and then to his wrist. "Just show me the pay, I'll make sure they are dealt with," was said in a attempt at a calming tone before he tries to locate his prey.
The young Okumo's tactic was rather simple, he was going to try and lance the monkey's with the tethered kunai and draw them back and close for confirm the kill before disposing them out of sight.
As the bits of chaos start to happen already, Yoichi would glance around at the Genin but keep to his post. "If I had to guess, it's either sabotage or ransom," he comments with a shrug, brows furrowing at the sound of the dam creaking. Deciding to check it out, he looks over his shoulder at the dam, a copy of himself sprouting from his body and vanishing with a crackle of lightning to move over to the dam and see what's going on over there.
The apple is smoothly caught just a fraction before it's about Yuriko head, the girl calmly lifting a pale brow at it before looking upwards, spying the raccoons in the trees with a cloth knapsack. Of all things. She frowns at the absurdity of it all, but clearly theses are the pasts they were hired to deal with. Yuriko calmly shrugs her shoulders to herself and turns to face the tree a bit better, a small hand lifting as if to point at them. Three ivory bullets shoot from her fingertips, though they miraculously change in mid-flight, expanding and becoming a web of white vines that quickly ensnare each raccoon. When they fall, they catch on the branch and dangle from the tree limb. As if caught in a hunter's snare.
A glance at the others as the effectively take care of the problem, Amata smiles and nods her head before looking to Yoichi, "Seems that portion of the show is dealt with." She nods her head and then blinks as he sends a clone off to the dam, "I heard it, too. Better safe than sorry." She nods her head and then hmms as she looks forward to the table where they are to sit, "Care to pick your spot. We're two of five total judges and…wait…" She then looks back at the dam.
Even as mice heads melt, others get ate, monkeys get skewered and raccoons get snared, something far worse appears to be taking place even as Yoichi approaches the dam. His clone, effectively himself to a degree can feel the trembling under the ground. The smaller river of water that flows nearby out of the dam appears to be picking up in intensity as more water comes through the dam and Yoichi will start to realize why, the openings that let water through are cracking apart and the cracks are spreading…at this point it might be possible to slow down the breach in the dam but at this point the dam will be coming apart quite soon and there's no release from the disaster that will befall the festival.
Underground, beneath the dam, a trio of shinobi move along under the dam, using their earth ninjutsu with devious grins.
After discarding the bodies of the dead mice in a ditch far enough from the main area of the contest, Kazumi found himself watching the clone of Yoichi and wondering what was going on. Still, he happens to feel just the briefest of trembles from the earth from where he is and looks down at it, furrowing his brows. That's… not a good sign. He starts making his way toward the damn and the second Yoichi, still remaining silent.
Unaware of the dangers of the dam, Naoya continues to lance through the troop of money pests. After he secured that they were in fact dead, he would bind their limbs with silken cords, allowing them to be carried more easily. The young teen would busy himself collecting them at one point, tethering them loosely to the others already brought there to move them at once when he had time. Naoya would form time to time look back towards the main pathway, his eyes focusing between Kazumi and Yuriko, checking if either of them were being invaded by overwhelming numbers of pasts in their area. "Mostly cleared over here for now.. What other 'things' are making a mess?"
"… Looks like there's going to be some action after all," Yoichi says with a glance over to Amata. "If these people don't want their things flooded out, I suggest they get moving immediately. I can hold the dam back, but only for so long." With that he'd fade into mist and materialize again back where his clone his. The two stand in front of the dam, bringing their hands into seals. Inside the dam, his chakra would create a wall of hardened water to stop the flowing water from reaching the cracks, at least attempting to. This will only work for so long, however, especially since one of them will have to let go to fight….
The raccoons safely dangling in their nets, Yuriko gives them a slight nod before turning her attention to the others. Kazumi and Naoya seem to be doing well on their ends, and there doesn't seem to be any additional rodents scurrying around… Turning, she glances at Amata and Yoichi, only to frown past him to spy the clone of Yoichi. The light trembling beneath the ground… is it an earthquake?
The actions of Yoichi are slowing the problem that is growing but it seems Yoichi is wrong about one thing, he won't need to break off one clone to fight. Only one head pops out of the rocks on the side of the cliff beside the dam and peers, "It's a shinobi! That's why! Go after the dam! The dam!" And then the man ducks back into the rock and the shaking begins worse than before, this time focused on various parts of the dam as cracks begin to form in other portions.
Amata notes what Yoichi states and then looks over and starts to notice the breaks before saying, "Quick, everyone pack up and leave now!" She then looks at the other shinobi and starts barking out orders, "Now! Start helping everyone get moving! Try to help them with their product but lives are to be saved first! Remember, get them moving and if you can, save their things! Much of this product will or would have been used in Kirigakure!" She then immediately starts to help move people along, directing one group of spiders to help move a cart while another group moves over next to yoichi, crawling up on to the dam to start webbing up the cracks as they can but cracks are forming faster now.
… Well, apparently he did the wrong thing. Kazumi jumps when the original Yoichi appears near the clone that he was approaching. And then he hears Amata yelling and he sighs somewhat. Turning, he rushes, clumsily and really not very quickly back toward the farmers to start ushering people toward a safe distance. He also starts putting anything he can lift into carts, trying to simultaneously file away what produce belongs to what stall and therefore be able to later say what belongs to which farmer.
"Huh..?" was Naoya's initial reaction to Amata's order. The young teen curls his lips, and sucks at his canine, producing a high but wavering pitch. In reaction the spiders that had been hiding away and feeding begin to quickly appear again, swarming towards the field with the pumpkins. In a fanned out pattern, the spiders began to spin a encompassing web as a net.
The teen himself makes his way towards the woman who had first grabbed him about the pests. "We have to move, fast! Bring the carts around and we'll begin loading everything up as quickly as possible but you have to hurry." Turning back towards the fields, the young teen twists his lips and begins to chitter again, causing most of his remaining brood to begin working on weaving nets onto the other fields to collect a lot of the vegetation at once.
Yoichi quirks an eyebrow slightly as the face sticks out of the dam. "My name is Kaguya-Hozuki Yoichi. I am the Seven Swordsman who bears the Kiba blades, and you will only get one chance to be smart enough to stop what you're doing. If you don't stop now, you're going to die or live out the rest of your pathetic lives as lab rats. You will not get a second warning to get away, and you cannot escape me, so choose wisely." With that another couple clones would sprout from him, bringing him to his max number of clones as he uses them to increase the strength of the chakra wall to give the civilians a bit longer to get away… These earth jutsuists have only moments to decide before their only chance for any kind of mercy is expired.
The shinobi at the dam… they were the source of the quakes, causing the dam to crack. Yuriko takes a step in their direction to aid Yoichi, but Amata's orders quickly hold her fast in place. She makes a face, reluctant, but with a irritable scowl she turns to join Naoya. "Come on! Move it! Faster the better!" the girl yells. "Everyone move in the same direction! Move!"
The poor shinobi underground have only one thing in mind, they heard that this guy was a swordsman and that there are possibly two here. They seem intent on trying to wash away the shinobi along with the party and then pick clean what is left over. THey continue to move around the dam, using jutsu to try to break the thing apart and send water smashing down on those beneath the damn. Yoichi's actions along with the webbing is holding but not going to do it. Already more cracks can be seen to be forming and they are starting to form at a fast enough pace that near the top, a chunk of dam simply breaks away falling toward one of Yoichi's clones as water follows…not a flood yet but the beginning of the end.
Amata is already helping others move things along before watching that chunk fall and then taking a breath, "This is about to end very poorly for us all." She then looks to Yoichi, "I know you can stay till the end due to who you are…but I'm going to have to leave you here if I and the others are to survive." And then she is ushering people out, "Ok, the time for grabbing objects is coming to an end! We gotta get people out."
Right, right. Gotta leave. Kazumi puts down the last thing he was carrying in the cart and then starts pulling it along, quietly trying to instruct anyone left to go ahead of him, toward safety. He glances back toward the dam and cringes a little at the sight. He tries to hurry then, but it is somewhat difficult given his general lack of strength…
Naoya began to mount the larger carts over laden with web bound vegetables as well as several web bound panicking guests. It would appear that the young Okumo only gave vague orders and those who were in the fields trying to collect their prizes to show off were likewise captured and bound. While the fields and stands still held produce, the young teen wastes no time trying to encourage the carts to begin their sprint away from the grounds.
Naoya now continues to make high bitches chitters as well as whistles with his teeth, collecting his brood. "How many are left? This isn't a time to be hiding!" The young teen began to look into a few of the outlying building, trying to make sure some people weren't planning to 'ride out' the flooding.
"Maybe for you," Yoichi says with a slight smirk as he glances over at Amata. "Get out of here… I'll prove to these idiots why they just created their own personal Hell. Honestly, who makes a flood as offense when they're fighting a Hozuki?" With that he looks back to the wall, holding it as long as he can with a dark look in his eyes… Somebody's about to get taught a lesson…
Wagons and carts pulled head, Yuriko starts moving through the flow of the crowd, picking up children that are separated from their parents up in her own tiny arms, carrying them to passing wagons in order to get them out quicker. "I think that's it! Everyone else, leave your things behind and move now!"
Even as the last of the people are starting to head out, the dam gives away and water smashes down into the valley below. The water crashing in and seemingly crushing Yoichi, though those that know know that that isn't a terrible effect on him. Even as the water fills in the areas, a bit of product is lost but thanks to the quick eyes of the shinobi, not everything is lost. Amata smiles as she looks at the headcount being done and nods to Yuriko, Naoya and Kazumi before smiling, "Good job." A rare smile and she nods as she looks back into the valley.
Meanwhile, on the opposite side, three shinobi pop up out of the ground. They all stand together, three Earth Users and highfive each other, "Sweet! Dude! We killed one of the seven swordsman! We're awesome!" The other highfives his friends and then then rub their noses lightly, "We're like awesome and a half!" The third looks over at the water and blinks, "Hey…uh bros." The other two look over, "Wha-…oh cataract." And then all that is heard is screams as three tentacles made of water grab hold of them by the legs and yank them into the water.
Kazumi can honestly help a lot less than an Okumo or even a Kaguya in terms of rounding things up and getting them out, but he did what he could with the cart he had. He had tried to specifically save anything that was to be part of the contest rather than just… any produce, but there was plenty of regular items within it.
Naoya was sitting comfortably on the side of one of the carts. It takes him a while after looking behind them before he leans back, resting flush with the side of the cart. In one of the carts, several spiders were busy spinning small bundles, not all the mice were killed off at first but after a time they were found and were being consumed contently. "This.. was supposed to be a simple kill the pests job. Do you think the Mizukage will list this later on as a higher grade mission? A rescue?" The young Okumo muses aloud, as if trying to find ways to pad a near non existent resume.
"Oh yes, you killed me," Yoichi's voice rings out flatly as his body reforms atop the water, no sympathy or mercy in his eyes. They had their chance and decided to spend it. "Idiots." His hands crackle with lightning from the blades before he places them on the water to send surges of electricity through it to incapacitate them. A moment later the tentacles of water would produce them back onto the top of the water by him, only for a trio of clones to come up with them and bind them up to carry back to Kirigakure. Looks like there are going to be three new additions to the lab or the prison… maybe both.
Yuriko easily jumps into Naoya's cart, standing, rather than sitting The last few people move out of harm's way. Luckily. Turning her snowy head, she glances at the Okumo boy and frowns at his inquiry. "I guess so, but that's up to him to determine. I think we have more important things to deal with right now."
