Starring:
Date: May 29, 2012
Summary:
Daisuke, Hashiramako, and the Pandas face down with the boss of the invasion force.
"Warriors of Balance - Fight for Freedom part 2"
Mt. Daikuma
"Yeah I got him." Daisuke says as he squeezes the man tightly in the grasp of his bijuu chakra hand, the demonic chakra bubbling enough to leave small burn marks. "What should we do?" he asks Hashi, for he would like to know why the man and this bandit army was attacking, and why attacking what seemed to be peaceful summoning type animals was so important. Before he could speak again or Hashi could answer, a deep voice came from close by the small gate the man had been actively trying to get open before they intervened. "What you should do is drop the man and step away while you still can." says the voice from the shadows as a thick mist begins to waft from the direction the voice was coming from, quickly covering the area. Daisuke doesn't release the hold on the man but squints as he tries to see through the thick mist that quickly envelops the ground and rises.
"We should…" Hashi started as she focused on the man. She was really getting tired of using jutsu against this guy. If they haven't already hit him, then this must be a genjutsu if he's constantly evaded them without any capture. "Daisuke, I think we might be trapped in an illusion and I don't want to know what that mist might be capable of," she offers to him. Still, an illusion that they can move around in is questionable, but she didn't want to take any risks. Considering she laid roots all around here, she could attack the guy head on, so she separates herself using a couple wood clones and begins to run off through the area. "What are you planning to do?" One of the wood clones inquires as it draws closer. Hashi herself draws close from another side while the second wood clone maintains a view of Daisuke and the one trapped in his arm.
"Who would've thought Hashiramako, Hokage of Konohagakure, would show up here. I guess what they say is true, it is a small world." The voice says from the shadows, chuckling to himself. A soft hissing sound is amplified through the open space, echoing through the newly grown trees though it was hard to find out where it was coming from.
As the man behind the voice steps into the light, the shadows retract, revealing a man in ninja garb and a rebreather device covering his mouth. Daisuke's eyes open, recognizing the garb. "Kirigakure.." he says, suddenly realizing the mist in the area should've helped him clue in. He focuses on keeping the other man, the one who can somehow disable summon-type animals, in his chakra, letting Hashi do the work for now.
As the man is revealed and the shadows continue to retract, a massive form behind the man is revealed. Standing an impressive height is a large lizard, unlike the almost-dinosaur nature of the one Hashi and Daisuke fought, more like a large gecko or lizard. But that is not all that is going on in this area, as this new man, newly revealed leader of the bandits, has obviously been preparing for company. From the right, against the far wall, another giant creature steps forward, this one letting out a massive shrieking call that echoes all the way up the large pit and out through the inner sanctum doors 100s of meters above. With massive talons and a razor sharp beak, this creature was no lizard, it was a giant bird.
"Come, meet a few of my collection, Hashiramako of the Leaf." the man says, holding out his hand in offering. As soon as the hand is out, the bird rises into the air with one large SWOOP, stirring the mist up and creating a much denser concentration over on the side the two Leaf ninja were at. At the same time, the Lizard goes lumbering forward towards Hashiramako, ready to take a bite.
"I have a duty to fulfill. Anyone placing people in danger, within my country will face me," she offered to the man as he began to step out. "Daisuke, release the man from your grasp and move away!" She calls to him as she makes a seal to cause the trees to well up and explode, aiming all its splinters towards the man to destroy him. She didn't care if he was a fake or not. She had the chakra to spare.
Since she had some wood clones moving about, both of them could attack the bird that was swooping toward her by extending their arms out in the form of wood, splitting up to grab the eagle and entwine it in wood binding. That left her to take care of the Lizard, which she engaged by drawing up water within herself and blasting it out of her mouth in a large jet toward the summon. "Doesn't this lizard remind that ape of someone familiar!?" She calls out to Daisuke with a smile.
Daisuke doesn't second guess his directions as he lets the man go and flickers away a safe distance before the wood technique explodes, sending fragments of bark and splinters of wood to cover the man, falling to the ground at least unconscious if not dead. Daisuke waits for something to do as this fight of epic proportions begins. The giant bird is restrained within the large wooden beams by two of Hashi's clones, sending it crashing to the ground, stunned. As for the lizard, when Hashi uses the water technique, the man controlling the lizard would begin to laugh. As soon as the water spout was spotted by the lizard, it opens its mouth, the spout being drained within its body which begins to expand to almost comical proportions. Once the attack was finished, all that water is suddenly regurgitated back at Hashi and the surrounding area, causing a flash flood to appear and go roaring through the trees. Daisuke hops up onto one of the taller trees to get a better view of what is going on as two more summons appear, a large canine and a giant caterpillar. 'Who was this man who could hold so many different summons?' Daisuke wondered, almost amazed by the number of them. He had yet to be assured that there was a truly useful plan for summons in combat, but right before his eyes these creatures were fighting it out with a Kage while the man stood partially obscure in the shadows.
Suddenly Son Goku was wide awake and wanting to stretch his arms. Daisuke called out to Hashi to go after the man, because this large scale fight was more his standard. With the mutual bond of trust forged between Daisuke and Son, that small chuunin on top of the tree leaks out red furry skin from behind as his body rapidly begins to change form. Only moments pass before the King of the Jungle has appeared, standing amongst the trees. With a powerful roar that shakes the cavern area they were in, Son Goku announces his dominance over these beasts, charging forward into the battle with Daisuke perched atop his diadem of horns. "Go!!!!" Daisuke says as he points forward, like he was riding some kind of animal for fun, watching as Son reaches a massive fist out to grab the snout of the canine beast that was leaping towards Hashi and physically throwing the whole animal into the wall with a giant crash. Next came the caterpillar and the lizard, who had seemed to team up. Son bangs his chest in defiance of this two on one, charging in on all fours and leaping high into the air, landing on the lizard and grabbing its tail, spinning around and around to toss it into the other wall. While this giant battle of beasts was going on and the cavern was shuddering like crazy, Hashi had time to seek out and attack the man in the shadows.
The man had been astounded at the sudden turn of events, not realizing not only did a Kage come to stop him but she had a tailed Beast in her arsenal as well. He was at a loss, already using most of his summons and draining a lot of his chakra, and with his lackey out of commission, controlling the pandas was out of the question as well. With a 'tch', the man disappears into the shadows, trying to disappear in the confusion.
Always left to the scraps. Well, Hashi was okay with that. Less work for her to do. Besides, she didn't want to be around when Goku came out and started smashing everything into smithereens. Besides, she just took her water right back in the face which was not all that comfortable. Not one bit. Yet, she'd be alright. She just needed to get up from the ground and track the man's movements off her root grid and into the shadows. That was the best thing that she could have possibly done to make sure she had an edge on this battle.
Once on her feet, she began to squeeze out some water from her clothes, though the effort was a bit futile considering she was surrounded by it, and went after the man in the darkness. To speed up the process, she summoned up some trees to utilize and move around on by surfing on them into the darkness, just so she'd have a source to use when she faced off against this guy. So, he was from Kiri or maybe he just had abilities of the people from that village. Whatever the case is, she has to stop him. So, she summons another wood clone to take the lead while she decides to hide inside the tree limbs so that she could keep from charging in blindly and running into trouble.
With another giant smash, Son Goku has laid the caterpillar out on its back, squirming ontop of the dog and the lizard. The eagle, still bound, was also taken care of, as Son and Daisuke look around the battlefield, what a mess they had made. Son lets out a giant roar of victory, with Daisuke letting out his own, feeling pumped after that large scale wrestling match. "I would give you a hi-5 right now if my fist wasn't the size of the dirt under your fingernails, Son-san." Daisuke says, to which Son chuckles and lifts his hand up to his head to let Daisuke smack it. "We showed them who's boss of the animals, didn't we?" After a few more minutes of letting Son stretch his legs and discussing things like the new facility they had waiting for them, Son was sucked back up inside Daisuke, who lands lightly on a tree. He made his way across the battlefield to make sure the pandas were ok as the summoned dog, lizard, eagle, and caterpillar poof into smoke, sent back to their world. It was important to Daisuke to make sure these important pandas were ok if he were ever going to make a contract with them. As he began to do a count and help the pandas get their senses back, Xun and the group that was fighting above appeared in the door, taken aback by the sight. Luckily, most of them if not all of them had never been in this area so they wouldn't know just how much of a mess it was. Daisuke looks up to see Xun and calls him over to help with the round up.
Meanwhile the Mist-nin was trying to get away in the shadows, an old path long since abandoned worked its way up the mountain towards daylight. Once he hit daylight it would be a lot easier for him to escape but Hashi was quickly closing in with her wood manipulation. The man looks behind him, another 'tch' and he's turned around, sending water down the tunnel to try to flood it out.
Hashi wouldn't be held off by water this time. Water just helps the trees grow, she felt. Not only that, but she used water also. When her clone drew close enough, it stretched out its arm of wood to go after the Mist-nin and bind him. This kind of guy could probably be kept alive for his kind of ability. It's something that could be looked into.
When the wood entered into the sunlight it expanded drastically to cover a wide range. It would take a bit of chakra to do, but it was necessary to keep this guy within her control. Besides, Hashi wasn't out of the wood, yet. She was still inside the branches and could pop out at any point she decided. The clone could use this to its advantage as well, but it wasn't meant for that purpose. Instead, it'd do all the talking for her. "You won't be getting away," it remarked. "So stand down. I have the advantage here…" Just to force her point, sharp spines exit from the branches, inhibiting movement in any direction unless he wanted to ram himself into them.
Hashi's tactics succeed in capturing the man, the clone binding him after she reinforced her advantage with spikes in the wood. She had him in her control and this whole mess seemed to be over. Back down in the mountain, Daisuke, Xun, and the others were busy finding and waking up the elders, making sure everyone was ok. Daisuke was sniffing around over near the small shrine gate where that small old panda had been abused and was able to spot a leg in a bit of rubble. Pulling by the leg, Daisuke now has the elder Panda hanging in front of him by a leg as a few of the pandas look over and gasp. "Elder-sama! Raja-sama!" Daisuke blinks, looking at the panda, who looks at him while upside down, his arms crossed and clearly not impressed. "So you are probably the boss around here, huh." Daisuke says, a completely sheepish look passing over his features as he sets the small panda down, dusting him off. "I'm Senju Daisuke, from Konohagakure, come to save you and your people." The elder grumps around as he looks at the mess in the area, dismissing Daisuke with a wave of the hand. "Yes yes, I knew of your arrival and just who exactly you were, as I also know what you are wanting to ask. Now isn't the time, we need this holy place cleansed."
Hashi doesn't reveal herself just yet. She knows this guy has used trap after trap and is not in the mood for falling into another. So, she has the clone maintain its bind on him while talking to him saying, "You'll be turned in to the Pandas. I cannot exact judgement against you since you have not attacked my home directly. You will face them and accept their decision willingly. Whatever the case, your life is forfeit outside of these mountains. I may not be so generous away from here," the clone explained.
"Let's go." With that, she began to lead the man back, maintaining her hold on him to take back to the Pandas.
With the bandits cleansed, the Mist-nin in the custody of the Panda, the inner sanctum secure, and the leadership amongst the Pandas safe, it seems like what started as a hunt for a summon creature has drawn to a successful end. The Maharaja, seemingly the boss of the Pandas and second only to the Elder Raja, spent a good two days organizing the Pandas and cleaning up the monastery, restoring it to its former glory. After the days of clean up, Daisuke and Hashi were summoned before the Maharaja. Standing next to the giant panda was Xun and a Panda who looked somewhat older and wiser. Daisuke pegged him for Xun's master, stealing a smirk towards Xun who narrowed his eyes at Daisuke, the two communicating in a goofy mental way briefly. Thanks were given to both Hashiramako and Daisuke, who were asked what they could give in return. With a nudge from Hashi, Daisuke stepped forward, introducing himself again, and asked for the right to summon contract with the Pandas, to fight this same kind of evil that had infiltrated the mountain all over the world. With an explanation that no one had contracted with the Pandas for many many years, the Maharaja wanted Daisuke to know just how much of an honor it would be to have a contract, to which the chuunin reciprocated just how much of an honor it would be to them to be chosen. Xun's master summoned a contract, looking like an ancient ornamental scroll, before handing it to Daisuke and explaining what to do. With a bloody hand print and a signature, Daisuke was bound to the Pandas as they were to him. The chuunin was beaming from ear to ear so much so that he didn't notice the small panda cub that had latched herself onto his leg.
"It seems Lin has taken a liking to you." The Maharaja or 'Boss' Panda says, chuckling to himself. "There is one more thing that you must do before you return, though your aunt is welcome to leave with our thanks. If you are to fully understand and utilize this contract with us, you must stay with us for one week in a year and train, learning our ways. Only then will you be able to utilize our skilled people to their full extent."
Daisuke looks over at Hashi before nodding his head. "I agree to that. I am more than happy to learn your ways. We didn't exactly get to learn much in our time here so far."
And so it was settled that Daisuke would stay on Mount. Daikuma for one week a year, learning the ways of 'Balance'. He was partnered with Xun in apprenticeship which had a sense of delicious irony to Xun who was only mocked a day before in the meeting. The mission was finally complete and Daisuke had gained numerous powerful allies in his quest to obtain a summoning contract.
