Starring:
Date: September 30, 2012
Summary:
Needing some help flushing out a group of bandits and their fire-using friend, local law enforcement has hired a team of Leaf nin to infiltrate their fortress.
Poster's note: Foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Controlled Burn"
An abandoned fortress in the Land of Fire
In recent weeks, this area has been terrorized by bandits. Nearby villages have been raided, trading caravans have been waylaid, and some people have even been kidnapped and held for ransom. But today, all that is coming to an end. The brigands' hideout has been discovered, and law enforcement from a number of cities and towns in the area have banded together into a mighty fighting force, intent on capturing the hideout and all within.
The hideout is actually an old fortress, abandoned long ago, but still in good enough condition to serve the brigands' purpose. The buildings inside may be dilapidated and uninhabitable, but there's open space for tents, and best of all, a huge stone wall around the perimeter. It was certainly good security, but the anti-bandit task force was not daunted. Hiring a couple of siege engineers, they drew up plans to break down the gates and storm the walls.
They were prepared for a mighty battle, but there's one thing they weren't prepared for. They surrounded the fortress this morning, brought their battering rams and siege towers up from the rear, and prepared to assault the fortress at night. Unfortunately, the bandits had a secret weapon. While they were waiting for the day to pass, a man came out from behind the walls, lept straight into the middle of the camp, then blew fire all over the siege equipment. The besieging force was able to put out the fires, but their plans were ruined.
For a moment, they thought their only choice was to abandon the siege, but they knew they couldn't. If they left, then the bandits would escape and their reign of terror would continue. So they sent a messenger to Konoha at top speed to hire a ninja team who could infiltrate the fortress and open up the gates from the inside. And given that the man who started the fires was probably a ninja, their help would be invaluable. Unfortunately, they weren't able to get a full team on such short notice, but Atsuro, Ryo, and Isato were available, and the village will be payed handsomely for their aid.
It's evening now, just before sundown, and the three ninja, after a rushed journey out from Konoha, are here, hiding in the shadows of the forests and looking up at the stone walls of the fortress. "Okay," Atsuro whispers, "We need to get inside the walls, find the gate, and take down a possible ninja. The most obvious way to get in would be over the walls. You guys know tree-walking? If not, we could search the perimeter for some other entrace. Hole dug under the wall, something like that. One of the guys in the camp told me that there's a river that supplies water to the fortress. If we can get in there, we could try climbing in through the well."
Though Ryo had been out training, he was not upset when he was pulled from that training for a mission. He seemed fairly quiet on the trip. He was thinking over the briefing. A fortress that needed to be infiltrated and a shinobi that needed to be dealt with. That was fine by him. He had no issue with the work or his comrades.
"Yeah, I can use the tree walking jutsu. My question is though, what are we going to do on the inside? If we cause a ruckus, the shinobi might come find us. Given our combined abilities we should be able to detect him without an issue. There is also the chance he might run. We could split up…" Ryo was not sure how Atsuro wanted to handle it. The Uchiha boy then turned to Isato. He was not sure what plan the Senju had come up with, but he was interested in hearing it.
Isato was given the details of the mission beforehand and thus he made a stop by the house and such beforehand just in case his fears came to life. "Okay I know how to but its not mastered and thus I lose chakra control however I brought rope and I am well advance in the art of climbing, thus there is no reason to turn back around." Isato would have a smile on his face as he stood there before coughing and slipping his hands into his ninja pouch pulling out the rope and with a kunai tied to one end of it. "Getting in using this wouldn't be much of a problem however getting out that can cause a little trouble yeah," Isato would kick rocks as he looked at Atsuro sensei before smiling faintly. "Once on the inside my plan would have to be eliminating the target shinobi first since they could give use the most problems." Isato would laugh as he shifts for a moment before he turned towards Ryo as well before he closed his eyes.
Atsuro shoots Ryo a grin. "I thought stealth kinda went without saying," he says, "But you're right, we wanna do things nice and quiet. Worst case scenario, we quickly open the gate, then we're fighting with a small army supporting us, but I'm sure our friends would appreciate if we took them by surprise." He pauses and admits, "And we don't know how dangerous this guy is, or if there's more than one of him. The element of surprise would be a nice thing to have when we're fighting him." He shakes his head. "I'd rather we didn't split up. They know this is a dangerous situation they're sending us into, but I'd really rather not try and explain to the Hokage why I sent ten-year-old Uchiha Ryo off to pursue a dangerous missing-nin, thus getting him killed."
He nods to Isato, though he looks a little dubious. "Instead, I guess I'll be explaining to her how twelve-year-old Senju Isato fell to his death because he tried to use a kunai as a grappling hook. You seem to speak from experience here, so I'll allow it, although I have a feeling I'm going to hear the words 'broken neck' a lot over the next month or so."
He looks back to Ryo. "Going after the ninja first might work," he agrees, "I'd just as soon get him in the confusion of the attack, but I can see an advantage to taking him out first. You wanna be the tiebreaker?"
Whatever Ryo's answer, the mission begins, Atsuro leading the group as he and Taizen start to walk up the wall, pausing just before they reach the top, and stopping to listen and smell for signs of an enemy.
"Take the shinobi out first." It was simple. Ryo wanted to nail the shinobi and as many of the bandits as he could before opening those gates. He did not want good, brave men to die when they did not have to. "I am Uchiha Ryo, if there is anything in that fortress that can kill me, then it is a good day to die." the boy grinned at Atsuro. "So lets do this."
Ryo takes a running start as he walks up the wall behind Taizen and Atsuro. He then looks towards Isato. What kind of Senju could not walk up a wall? He'd have to check and make sure Isato was able to do so.
Isato would smile as his plan was picked and the fact that they were going to stay in a group. He would whip the hook around before tossing it up with grace and power as it stuck onto the wall he quickly followed the other two. Oddly enough his climbing skills were really good it almost as if he was really powerful or something? "Pull ups are playing off that's for sure." Isato would be sweating as well as breathing heavy as he took a step at a time before he grabbed hold to the side and pulled himself up. "Made it to the top at long last. Sorry to keep your waiting." Isato would have a faint smile on his face as he looked over the range of the terrain it was a lot to taken in that's for sure.
Atsuro just gives Ryo a look. "I can't believe I didn't expect that exact answer," he says drily, "Word for word."
Once the boys have joined him at the top of the wall, he begins making hand signals to them, letting them know what he's detected up above. Well, first he response to Isato only responds with a finger to his lips. "We can talk about your training some other time," he promises in a whisper. Then he makes a few gestures. Two. Guard. Patrol. He points, drawing his finger from one end of this section of the wall to the other, then back again. If Ryo and Isato are listening, he's tracking their movements fairly closely. He begins to gesture again. On my mark. Takedown. Fast. Quiet. He points to himself. Backup. He listens for a few moments more, then… Three. Two. One. Mark.
There is no need to give Atsuro a look for his comment on his own comment. As the count goes, Ryo draws his blade. As soon as its time, Ryo moves up behind the guard and takes him out by the throat with the blade. He then holds the body to keep it from hitting the ground. Once he had set it down he looks to the others wondering how they took down their guard. "So now what?"
Isato dashed off towards the guard and with a spinning burning tonfa style went into effect as he tripped him with one a powerful strike to the chest, the man passed out in pain. As he was about to roll off the wall to his death Isato caught him and placed him up in the tower. Using the same rope he would tie him up as he bowed before heading back to the group. Nodding his head the young genin appears to be ready for the mission at hand this time around before yawning. Holding his tonfas in hand the young ninja would have a carefree smile on his face.
The guards go down without a hitch, and Atsuro didn't even have to do anything! Perfect. He and Taizen climb up over the wall. "Nice job, guys," he says. He takes a moment to sniff around and make sure there aren't any guards nearby. Once he's satisfied that they're safe, he answers Ryo's question. "Now we look for the ninja, since you guys apparently thought my plan was too lame."
He gestures out over to the bandit camp below. There are a number of tents, loosely arranged in a circle (one of them is conspicuously large). A number of men patrol the area and other parts of the walls, unaware that the perimeter has already been breached, but most of the men are in the center of the circle. Some are around a big campfire, laughing, drinking, eating. Others are bathing in what appears to be a makeshift bath, consisting of a giant steel container (possibly salvaged from some forgotten industrial purpose) and a fire beneath, heating the water just enough to be comfortable. Their clothes are scattered around the ground near the pool. It's nearly night, so of course most of the men are at leisure. Along the wall, other guards are patrolling as well, and a couple of the towers have lights in the windows.
"According to the descriptions, he should be wearing a forehead protector," Atsuro says, "I don't see him in the courtyard down there. Any ideas on where to start looking?"
Ryo leans forward and his eyes activate. He scans the camp looking for chakra signatures. "That big tent has an odd signature and a coule of smaller ones. If there are shinobi here, that is where they are." Ryo then turns towards the other two. "I can create a huge blaze of fire. That would send the bandits into a panic and cause them to come out. That would give us the element of surprise. Or we could henge into bandits and attempt to get close. No idea what traps he may have set up though." He then looks between them to see if there were any other ideas.
Isato would touch the bottom of his chin he thought about it "the obvious choice would have to be the huge tent however if I was the ninja I'll hideout in a smaller one just in case something were to pop off." Isato would try and focus on what was going on as he held his tonfa close by but not in hand yet. "So what's the plan sensei?" Isato would focus on any orders tossed his way.
"That's probably him," Atsuro says, nodding to Ryo. He grins at Isato. "I think you've been overruled. Not a bad idea, but you just can't beat magic eyes sometimes. Sorry, kid." He glances back to Ryo. "The fire thing is… risky," he says, "The guy might just run out of the tent and they'll start tracking us down. But then again, a little chaos in the camp'll make it easier to isolate him and take him down before anyone's figured out what's going on." He glances down at the fallen bandits. "We'll use disguises though," he decides. He studies the two men for a moment, then makes a seal. There's a puff of smoke and now Atsuro's wearing similar clothes as the two men. "I left their actual appearances for you guys," he says, "I'm feeling charitable."
Ryo henged into a random looking bandit. He then looked at the others. "You two might want to start heading down there." He then peaks over the side and makes some hand signs. After a moment a small ball of flame falls down into the camp and turns into a blazing torrent as it lands. Several of the tents are set on fire with the burst. The henged Ryo then looks back towards the other two. "Wonder if the bandits will put down the gate to escape the fires. That or if they are smart they will just try to put them out."
Would just watch in marvel at the skill that Ryo displayed, as he stood there his jab dropped a little bit as the fire started to spread rather quickly before he spoke softly to himself. "Such grace and skillful technique…never seen anything like that before." Smirking as he started to grip his tonfas in hand before spinning them about readying himself for combat. Waiting for further orders is what Isato would be doing at the moment as he shifted about before he tapped his foot on the ground "that would be the most logical course of action." Isato would transform to match his group.
"Why aren't you— " Atsuro hasn't finished this thought before Ryo starts making the seals. "From here?" Atsuro asks, "That's not really what I had in mind. We'd better haul petrol, Isato." He waves for Isato and Taizen to follow him, then makes hops off of the wall down into the camp. This might have attracted attention, but any bandits who would have noticed are now noticing something much more threatening.
"Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrreeee!" someone bellows. Several people coming running out of the main tent. One of them has a forehead protector. The details can't be seen from here, but this is probably the guy. "If Tai and I shadow him, do you think you can lead him into there?" he asks, "Get his attention somehow, just don't blow your disguise, and we'll try to ambush him in… there." He points to one of the old buildings of the fortress, far enough away from the fire for a proper beatdown to occur without interruption. Looking back up at Ryo, he makes a few gestures to meet them in the building and be ready for a fight, then starts to weave his way through the commotion in the courtyard and track down the missing nin.
There was a grin on Ryo's henged face as Atsuro decided to speed up with Isato. He liked knowing people were caught slightly off their guard. Ryo watches from the wall and spots the nin. He then looks back towards Atsuro and recieves the signal. "Hrmm.. he wants to trap him in the building… alright. I'll be there." Ryo gives a nod of the head before he makes his way over towards the building. He was sure to keep a bird's eye advantage on the missing nin. He did not want to lose the guy in the traffic.
Isato would dashed off with his sensei he quickly put the tonfas away as he just left Ryo to his element. Isato was rather calm since he been around the block before. "Gotcha," Isato would have his shoulders low as he ran with his sensei trying his best to keep the disguise up. "We have to be smart about this eh." Isato would cough as he kicked up some dirty as he moved.
Thanks to those Inuzuka senses, Atsuro is able to track down the missing-nin and keep on his tail. He waves Isato ahead. "I'll be following you guys shortly. Remember, you just need to get him into that building. But whatever you say, make sure you don't blow our cover. We don't wanna be fighting him in the open. Especially if Ryo's already gonna be inside." He waves Isato on ahead.
Ryo's route to the building is fairly simple. The bandit's obviously didn't have any plans for dealing with fires. Turnabout's fair play, right? Some men are running to the walls, hoping that the fire won't spread to them. Others are trying to put the fires out with anything they've got on hand, be it their drinks, wet cloths, or even overturning the bath. With everyone distracted, getting to the building is a cakewalk. Inside, it appears to be an old training hall. With old dummies and targets scattered about, various side rooms, and pieces of rubble that were once part of the building, it should be easy enough to find somewhere to hide.
Ryo moves easily towards the building. He had debated for a moment if he should remain outside the building or enter it. If he entered and they did not make it to the building, it removed him from the fight potentially. If he stayed outside the building, he ran the risk of being spotted and blowing the play. Slowly Ryo sneaks into the old training facility. He moves behind a target and keeps his eyes pointed towards the entrance.
Isato would think to himself before dashing forward and bumpping into the man once he did that he would shift aobut and speak "get out the burning way propane!" before he dashed into the building the young shinobi was hopping the the man would take the bait and followed suit. He wouldn't have the time to make sure everyone was in position or not so he was going on blind faith.
"Hey!" The missing-nin stumbles forward as Isato bumps into him. Despite being a shinobi, though, the man doesn't have much in the way of self-control, and chases after Isato. "Get back here, torch! I'm gonna teach you some respect!" He chases after Isato.
"Yeah!" yells Atsuro, following behind the ninja, "Let's kick his hearth!" He, Taizen, and the bandit follow Isato into the building. Atsuro turns around and shuts the door, then grabs an abandoned training sword and jams the door with it. "No way he can escape now," he says loudly, "Let's kill him!" He takes a couple of ninjato from Taizen's vest, and waits for Ryo and Isato to strike before joining the fray himself. Element of surprise times three?
Ryo spotted Isato as he entered the building and then the shinobi behind him. Now that Atsuro had locked the door and given the order, Ryo had to figure out how exactly he wanted to attack. His firestorm jutsu would probably hurt the other two if he used it. While that would be fun, it probably would not be for the best. Then Ryo seems to have an idea. He hops out and starts some firestyle hand signs. "Out of the way Isato. Great fireball technique!" Soon his hand curled around his face and a giant fireball formed right infront of the shinobi. Ryo was using the move to force the shinobi to back up into Atsuro.
Isato would be rather pleased with himself as he was able to get the man into the building. It was only after the door was locked that he was able to launch his assault just as Ryo did, this was done using the great fireball jutsu as cover to bring his tonfas with the mirage effect aimed at both knees to hinder dodging and then a strike to the nose to aid another follow up assault. Isato felt a surge of will power to prove himself to the group since he was unable to bring it in the mission last time out.
"Aaaawright you little firecracker!" calls the enemy ninja, "You were pretty smart to hide, but you're only delaying the inev— ineff— iniquitable! So why don't you make thi— " He's cut off by the fa-WHOOMP of a giant fireball. He staggers back, yelling out loudly as he's burned. He might look thoroughly unprepared for Isato's coming attack, but he actually manages to dodge one, despite being caught off guard and on fire. Of course, Isato still gets a couple good hits in.
The fire's out now, and he backs up to near Atsuro. "Holy spirits! There's two— " he says, turning to face the other man. Then his face goes white. Atsuro has given up his henge, and the poor guy now realizes that he's facing three enemies. He manages to dodge Atsuro's first strike, but a second immediately follows and he takes a deep cut on his side. Unfortunately, this guy has studied fire ninjutsu for a while now, and he know's that it's better to burn out than fade away. He jumps back, putting some room between himself and the other ninja, making a number of hand seals. Then he pulls a hip flask from one of his pockets, takes a drink and spits out an incredible stream of flame that (thanks to that apparently flammable drink) splashes all over the barracks.
Ryo placed his finger together but he was not quick enough to escape the blaze. "You really want to play fire with fire… Everyone, stay out of the way." Ryo states. He was serious about his warning. The boy makes more fire seals before spitting out a small fireball for the floor near the shinobi. Once the ball hit the floor, it would explode into a massive firestorm around the shinobi and that portion of the building. After the jutsu Ryo started to brush off his now tanned skin. "I hate fire burns. They always sting…"
Isato took a powerful stream of fire as it knocks him down, as he struggled to get back onto his feet he soon found himself gathering even more will power than before as he started to attack once more. This time he would use his rather limited knowledge of tree walking to quickly move from the wall to crash his tonfas down onto the shoulders before spinning and attacking to the bottom of the shinobi chin. Spinning the tonfas around he found himself ready to strike once more this time he would go after the same knee he missed from before. Isato quickly notice that he was becoming stronger and he would just have to hang in there if he wants become a great shinobi one day.
Getting down on all fours, Atsuro (along with Taizen) jumps out of the way of the enemy ninja's attack, landing unscathed a fair distance away from the flames. "Stay out of the way?" he asks Ryo, "What are you trying to do? You know this building's flamm— " Whoops! Well, the building was already on fire thanks to the enemy's attack, but now it's more on fire.
In any case, Ryo's attack hits the man dead on. The poor guy howls in pain, running out of the flames and rolling on the ground to put himself out. He's survived, but he's in bad condition now. Much of his clothing has burned off, leaving him half-naked, with hideous black marks all over his skin, which now has a charred, cratered appearance. Better not to speak of his face, which is almost totally unrecognizeable now.
Even so, he keeps going, in the spirit of 'taking them down with me.' Two of Isato's strikes hit him dead on, but he still manages to dodge a third.
Figuring that the end can't be far now, Atsuro leaps at the man, slashing at him with his sword, then jabbing him as he lands. He manages to score deep cuts, but the man just keeps going. Ninja training plus desperation, perhaps. With shaky hands, the man makes a few seals, then breathes deeply in. Then he forces the breath out, creating fire that forms into a massive dragon, blasting through the room before exploding into flames.
Ryo sees the guy come out of the fire. "Wow, most people do not come out once they are cooked. I burnt you crispy and you are still walking. Congrats." the bald headed Uchiha stated. Soon the fire of the dragon burns through Ryo and he turns into fire himself. It was a clone of the boy. He appears on the other side of the man aiming two advanced slashes towards the man's throat. He then looks towards Atsuro. "Yeah… fire might not have been the best idea…"
Isato would take both of the powerful fire based move as he started to dash back and land softly on ground he would shift as he slipped his hands into his pockets. Isato would shake off the pain as he started to slowly stagger back onto his feet before shaking the pain off and putting his guard back up "I'm starting to get the hand of this I guess." Spinning his tonfas he would wait for a clear moment before launching his attacks he would wait for his opening before striking.
In his condition, the man doesn't get much of an opportunity to respond to Ryo's mocking congratulations. It would seem that the attack took whatever remaining energy he had, because he can hardly even move when Ryo's sword comes 'round. His throat is cut open and he quickly collapses and bleeds out, ending his misery.
Atsuro, who lept out of the way of the ninja's last attack is on the other side of the room by now. "You think?" he asks Ryo, "C'mon, let's get outta here before this place comes down around our heads!" He runs over to the door and rams it open, then waves the two genin out into the courtyard. "Just need to get the gate open now," he says.
It should be easy enough to get there. The fire outside has only spread, and smoke and flames are all about. The bandits are fantically putting out the fires, and nobody's really watching anything.
Ryo moves towards the cripsy body and grabs what is left of the forehead protector before following Atsuro into the courtyard. "I will cover both of you. Make your way to the gate." Ryo states with some sarcasm. He then rushes forward with his blade and slashes at the first bandit he comes across. Not that he was paid to kill bandits, but he felt it his obligation to protect the just that were waiting outside the gate. Soon his hands are working and making more fireballs to spread the fire. With all the panic he was almost certain no one was really paying attention.
Isato just followed the group he would be speeding down the path using his tonfa style to parry and counter strike any bandits that got in his way. However a rather large bandit would move into his way, as he was ready to deal with it Ryo would make rather quick work of the bandit thus allowing Isato to simple jump over the dying bandit. Isato would be rather pleased with himself as he started to relax a little more as its clear that his skills has increased tenfold since the last mission.
"You're such a hero," Atsuro tells Ryo drily. But he knows that the kid's not going to get himself killed under these circumstances, so he continues on, leading Isato and Taizen onwards to the gate. It's a great big steel door, but from this side, all you've got to do is unbar it and pull it open. A simple task for a pair of ninja. The awaiting army on the other side floods into the courtyard, and the battle begins.
It ends not a lot later. With the chaos among the bandit ranks and the loss of their champion, it's not long before everyone is either dead or subdued. Scratch one bandit fortress.
After the dust have settled and they've been checked out by the on-hand medics, the ninja are given their thanks and a nice bundle of money for Konoha (a fair chunk of which they'll get to keep for themselves once they've been debriefed), then they head home, mission accomplished.
