Starring:
Date: June 5, 2013
Summary:
Shuuren sets up a big bait, though legitimate, caravan to be attacked by whatever remnants of the peacekeepers and local bandits could band together. A couple of Kirigakure's stronger shinobi were sent to quickly subdue and capture the rabble rousers and deliver them to the internment camp.
"Pulling Up The Roots"
Between Kirigakure and it's docks
With the coming of evening, the sun has begun its descent toward the horizon. Most people are going about their days as best they can, given the circumstances. One particular man has apparently lost patience with the restrictions the actions of the rebels are putting on trade. A large ship recently pulled up to the Water Ferry Docks and tied off, unloading several caravans that lined up and began driving their way toward Kirigakure. In the midst of these, standing on top of one of the wagons, is Nagamura Shuuren.
From his perch, the young bureaucrat stares off into the distance. He stands ready and waiting for a likely coming attack. 'If it's not theirs, it will be yours', right? He also sent correspondence to Kirigakure, laying out the path they will be taking toward the village as well as requesting a mission to protect the caravans as they travel. Given the opportunity this presents in money and also a chance to capture some of the rebels if they come, this presents a rather nice opportunity.
Meruin sits still and silent, his form hidden in the manner only an experienced shinobi can manage, utilizing high levels of speed to change positions instantaneously, should it ever prove necessary. The Okumo was in his assigned section of the caravan route, eyes open for the start of any assailt that may come it's way. It was a good thing that this mission had fallen underway. The creation of the internment camp had largely dispersed all of the rebel activity in Kirigakure, leaving few people left to actually fill the camp. There'd been a mop up service, but the captures weren't the numbers they were expecting when he'd initially drafted plans for the establishment. This mission meant that there was a chance he'd be able to bring them closer to their desired occupancy count. So there was no displeasure in doing this duty.
While Meruin is on part of the route on high alert, Yuuka stands on the other wagon waiting for the last of the shipment to be packed. It had the possibility to be an intense mission, given the circumstances. The Peacekeepers, at least the hardcore members, wouldn't tolerate Shuuren ignoring the restrictions their movement. A small breath parts from her lips as she crosses her arms loosely against her chest. It was becoming clear that it was more than likely they'll run into trouble, but this had to be done. Not just food and medical supplies had to get to people, but clothing and all sorts of necessities of life.
As he glances around the area, Shuuren holds a look of focus. Everything is falling into place. He waits patiently for a bit as the caravans continue on toward Kirigakure until he catches wind of a presence he doesn't recognize and then another and another… A light smirk graces the former Jounin's face as he reaches down and picks up white cane off the caravan.
"Hey, haven't you heard? We're running the show," a voice comes from the treeline as a group of rebels would finally show their faces. "This stuff belongs to us now, so you can just turn around and walk on home without it if you want to live."
"Is that so?" Shuuren asks, looking down at the man speaking as he tilts his head slightly and begins to twirl his cane. "So, you're the Peacekeepers? Cute moniker for those who stir up trouble and destroy men's livelihoods… Well, why don't you tell the rest of your friends to come out and play then?" he asks, giving a hint to whoever's come to help that these men are not the only ones hiding in the forest, and the speed of the cane twirling would grow faster and faster, seeming as if he's about to strike with it or toss it. However, amidst the large show of this, a simply syringe would fly out of his other hand with a flick of his wrist to attempt to stab into the side of the man's neck and push a serum into his body. If successful, one would know it rather easily as he falls to his knees screaming in pain.
COMBAT: Shuuren focuses 7000 stamina to turn it into usable chakra!
Meruin's gaze flickered to the rebel force that'd shown itself, the small hairs about his body shifting as his body converted it's physical reserves into a less corporeal energy. But despite seeing the enemy, he did not come out of his place of hiding just yet. As Shuuren had mentioned, there were bound to be others hidden away, not yet having shown themselves. It would be better to see the whole force before he made his true move, so as to capture as many of them as was completely possible. But he prepared for swift motion, his muscles shifting beneath the thin veneer of his pale skin.
COMBAT: Meruin focuses 2500 stamina to turn it into usable chakra!
The wagon moves as Yuuka seats herself, her intense blue green eyes focused on her surroundings as the scenery passes by. Time passes, but all too soon the kunoichi sits up a bit straighter, just before several figures appear on the road ahead. Rebels. Whether or not they were Peacekeepers was debatable, but right now it looked like that Shuuren was confronting them. While he does that, Yuuka presses her lips together as she smoothly pushes herself up to her feet, slipping off of the wagon with natural grace as both of her hands reach up to the collar of her green kimono. The color of the foliage around them. "I would suggest doing what he says, before anyone gets hurt." she murmurs, not totally uncaring as she prepares for a likely confrontation. The collar slips off of her slender shoulders and her arms free themselves to the long sleeves that become lax around the slender curve of her waist.
As one man falls, the others would begin to spread out to completely block off the round and surround the caravans. "I don't think they plan to listen," the businessman says calmly, glancing around as he assesses the situation. His eyes narrow slightly as he senses more movement. "Ah, here we go," he says as the numbers double up with more of the rebels stepping out of the tree line. "They hope to win by numbers, huh? That might be a good plan against lesser shinobi," he comments, bringing his hands into a seal, and a puff of smoke would let out in front of him, revealing a pair of shadow clones standing on other wagons that were empty.
"Alright. Let's do this then," another member of the rebels says before they would begin to charge. As they would start to try to leap up on the wagons, the shadow clones would start fighting back, though their numbers are much higher than two clones can handle, and thus they would begin charging Shuuren and Yuuka.
RPCOMBAT: Shuuren attacks with SHADOW-CLONE…46
And there we have it.
Meruin vanished, reappearing behind the whole of the group in silence. He began going through the rebels, looking to take as many down before they noticed his presence as possible. His objective was to take them alive, so he went for disabling strikes and bursts of spider silk to bind, exhaust, and entrap.
RPCOMBAT: Meruin attacks with PHYSICAL…25
RPCOMBAT: Meruin attacks with BINDS-OF-THE-NEST…31
RPCOMBAT: Meruin attacks with PHYSICAL…34
"Hm." Yuuka gently lifts a pale brow. "It appears so, however it could not hurt to at least warn them. Oh well." The number quickly doubles. Clearly they have no intention of backing down. They make the mistake of charging first, trying to leap up towards the wagons. Just as Meruin appears behind them. Poor fools. The kunoichi exhales a small breath of a sigh as she feels the charka gathered in the pit of her stomach surge through her, a slight smirk tugging at her lips before she takes a sudden, hard inhale to spit out dozens of bone needles not even a moment after.
RPCOMBAT: Yuuka attacks with SPITTING-BONE-NEEDLE…56
RPCOMBAT: Yuuka attacks with SPITTING-BONE-NEEDLE…42
RPCOMBAT: Yuuka attacks with SPITTING-BONE-NEEDLE…51
As they are attacked form behind, many of the rebels are already caught or smacked down before they have any time to react. "Hey, what the?!" This divides up the numbers coming after Shuuren and Yuuka, a third of them now charging Meruin with weapons and strikes. On Yuuka and Shuuren's end, bone needles are not something these men are prepared for.
"Effective," Shuuren comments as he ducks a strike and returns it with a strike of his cane to the offending party's face. The shadow clones continue to do the same, striking down as many of the men as possible without killing them. It's hard to tell which of them might know vital information, so may as well keep as many of them alive as possible so they can be interrogated. Still, the numbers are many, and more and more of them are charging at the wagons in hopes of overtaking the shinobi and derailing the shipment.
RPCOMBAT: Shuuren attacks with CHAKRA-PHYSICAL…31
RPCOMBAT: Shuuren attacks with CHAKRA-PHYSICAL…46
RPCOMBAT: Shuuren attacks with CHAKRA-PHYSICAL…41
As part of the enemy force noticed his presence and switched gears, the Okumo allows his secondary pair of arms to emerge, increasing his combative potential, both for offense and defense. To counteract the weapons brought to bear against him, long ropes of spider silk begin to slide from his limbs, the platinum lengths glistening with the burning poisons adorning them. He lashed out as he waded through the foes, relying on pain and the tiring properties of the silk to cripple the enemies and leave them unable to continue fighting rather than actual bindings.
RPCOMBAT: Meruin attacks with FOUR-PLAGUES…42
RPCOMBAT: Meruin attacks with WISPS-OF-PAIN…41
While the rebels try to defend themselves instinctively, the very bones that pierce arms and limbs not even a moment before begin to writhe and wiggle back and forth as if with a life of its own, quickly growing and morphing into vines that quickly try to capture their targets. And it looks like Meruin is doing the same thing, trying to cripple the targets to end the fight as quickly as possible.
RPCOMBAT: Yuuka attacks with WILLOW-SEEDLING…53
RPCOMBAT: Yuuka attacks with WILLOW-SEEDLING…47
Despite their best efforts, more and more of the rebels wind up tangled up in the silken material that binds them up, quickly losing their stamina as they are put in quite a bit of pain by the Okumo shinobi. Those struck by the needles are bound and fall helpless just the same. The ones left start to wonder if it's even wise to stay here, but can they really run from this lot?
As his shadow clones fight some of the remaining rebels, the real Shuuren stands on top of a wagon, looking around. His head snaps toward Meruin as he points at a spot behind him. "There," he says, just as ten more rebels leap out of the treeline at Meruin, trying to overwhelm him, though looking a bit bewildered since their surprise attack was spotted.
RPCOMBAT: Shuuren attacks with SHADOW-CLONE…43
An ambush wasn't bad in premise, and it was performed admirably for the participants within, but it was nothing near what was required to catch Meruin unawares. He was a little too far away and too near to the sounds of combat to hear Shuuren's spoken word, but a sudden deluge of darkness gushed from him to streak towards the group trying to strike at his back anyway. Spiders, and a great many of them, rushing towards the ambushers to bite and tear and subdue. Throughout it, the Okumo never turned his eyes backwards, never paused in his combat, webbing lashing, limbs striking, prey falling.
RPCOMBAT: Meruin attacks with SPIDER-SWARM…34
RPCOMBAT: Meruin attacks with PHYSICAL…20
RPCOMBAT: Meruin attacks with WISPS-OF-PAIN…22
Shuuren points up over Meruin's head, Yuuka's bright eyes instantly snapping up at the dozen more rebels that appear out of nowhere. Though it looks like they're already regretting it as darkness suddenly surges over Meruin, hundreds of spiders instantly scattering to latch onto their targets. It looks like they're taken care of for now. Her eyes narrow as she turns her head to glance over her shoulder at Shuuren. "We need to flush out whoever is left."
With the would-be ambushers tied up, Shuuren looks around at the men that are down and counts before closing his eyes. A loud /*WHAP*/ would be heard behind the treeline before a clone of his would walk out and dump one last unconscious man down among the others. "That's all," the businessman says as he opens his eyes and looks over to Yuuka. "My caravans are safe, and you've got your prisoners. I'd say we're all happy," he says as his clones would grab nets that are attached to the back of the caravans by wire and begin to toss the men into them. Not exactly a pleasant way to be transported, but they were the ones who attacked.
Light exercise.
As Meruin stands over the last assaulter, the webbing rescinding into his body, it was all that he could call this little foray. He looked towards the men left bloody and ragged on the ground as the spiders leave them, returning to the Okumo. A decent haul as well, he'd decided. Once more, webbing began leaving his body and he moved to the ones who'd tried to ambush him, starting the work of bundling people up and packing them onto the caravan for transport into the village.
They were just another good.
Arching a mildly skeptical brow at Shuuren as the clone dumps the last rebel on the ground at their feet, she couldn't help the slight smirk that tugs at her lips as she gently shakes her snowy head. "Show off." she murmurs with a bit of mirth. Their captives are soon netted like fish and tossed into the back of the wagons. All were caught, none escape, and no lives were lost. It was as much as Yuuka can hope for in a mission.
