Starring:
Taiki, Hinotori, Usagi, Naru, Kasumi
Date: May 22, 2013
Summary:
Taiki leads a team to rescue the Land of Fire's prisoners that the Daimyo holds hostage.
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Struggle With No Reward - Rescue of Mercy"
Prisoner camp outside the Land of Fire Capital
Times have become more and more stressful as the rash of executions drew closer. Finally a team of strong Shinobi were put together to stop the executions. Rather than let the time wind down, the decision to pre-empt this by removing the prisoners was made. Thus, at dusk on October 7, several Konoha ninja were summoned to the gate. Taiki was the first to arrive, and was thus given the mission briefing. He is wearing the midnight blue version of his normal ninja attire, and Shinobu has had a special compound applied to his fur to darken it temporarily, to allow him to blend into the environment. He waits nervously for the others, for this is apt to be a very dangerous mission.
Times have become more and more stressful as the rash of executions drew closer. Finally a team of strong Shinobi were put together to stop the executions. Rather than let the time wind down, the decision to pre-empt this by removing the prisoners was made. Thus, at dusk on October 7, several Konoha ninja were summoned to the gate. Taiki was the first to arrive, and was thus given the mission briefing. He is wearing the midnight blue version of his normal ninja attire, and Shinobu has had a special compound applied to his fur to darken it temporarily, to allow him to blend into the environment. He waits nervously for the others, for this is apt to be a very dangerous mission. <repose for Usagi>
Narusegawa was next up for such a dangerous mission, something to get her feet a little wet with the situation of the rebellion their feet. While Narusegawa did have a mission in mind this was a perfect opportunity to gauge the strength of her enemies. With that in mind she swept in soon after, dust picking up briefly next to Taiki as Naru had arrived at the gate. Her body was grabbed in a faint black cloak, a hood peeled about her head to obscure her features slightly but the obvious gleam of her sharingan could be seen from behind the darkness, and Taiki could probably make out her scent as well. " Hmm, there is more coming right?" Narusegawa questioned briefly, reaching a hand back to lightly rest it upon the sheath of her blade along he waist.
With the events as they are, Hinotori has received orders that he would be joining a team lead by Inuzuka Taiki. His new team captain, funny, but still with the severity of the situation a team strong enough had to be assembled and Hinotori is one of those members who is strong enough. Dressed in his normal combat attire but in blacks. No cloak is on, but the Sharingan is active in his eyes, having appeared on the main gates, Hinotori looks down at Taiki and Naru, "Should be more." he calls down towards them.
Usagi comes dressed for work, wearing full black, including her chuunin's vest. Her arms are bare, and her scythe is most certainly present behind her. She approaches quietly, not saying a word as she approaches the group so far, breathing slowly. The closest thing that can describe her look is a bit haunted, but determined. She only nods to Taiki in greetings, meeting eyes with Naru and Hinotori moments later, then back to Taiki as she waits for orders.
Taiki nods in response to Naru's question, then again toward Hino when he makes his appearance. Once Usagi arrives he says, "It has been determined that the rebels will only execute their prisoners at the same time or after the Daimyo executes his, and as a response to the Daimyo's executions. Furthermore, the Daimyo is holding innocent people of the Land of Fire, whom the Hokage has sworn to protect in her statement. Therefore we will make our way to where the prisoners are being held and rescue them. Stealth is high priority, for we are only to attack should we be discovered. But if we are… neutralize the person seeing us. Only if our cover is blown are we to move into full scale battle. But the lives of those prisoners comes first, and they are to be brought to Konoha. Any questions?" His voice is low, though they are in friendly territory, due to the fact that the land outside Konoha is a dangerous place.
"I don't have any questions, we just have to see what we have to work with once we arrive at the area," Narusegawa answered up with a slight nod of her own, a sigh escapes her lips and she looks forward, there wasn't going to be much for her to do until they reached the area but if stealth was a high priority perhaps she did have somewhat of an advantage to keep it up. "Hopefully we don't have to worry about any full scale battles…As much as I'm curious about their strength I'd rather not go that far…"
Crouched, Hinotori listens to Taiki as he explains the situation and particulars of the mission he nods his head. "None from me." he says as he looks towards the team assembled. Dropping down from the main gate, "Well seeing their full strength, and get an estimate of numbers." he states as he walks over to stand by Naru. Allowing a calming breath to blow from himself, Hinotori looks to Taiki.
Usagi takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. Her hair, normally blonde, is apparently dyed black as well, lending to her natural stealth abilities. As Taiki speaks of stealth, she nods and takes a few moments. All of them would see the shadows around them shift slightly and coil up her body, as if covering her in a cloak. Though rather obvious to the Uchiha eyes and the Inuzuka senses, she nonetheless seems to drop from sight from anything but enhanced senses. She offers a nods to Taiki in response, and they'd all be able to see that her eyes have become void of emotion at this point. As she pulls her scythe out, some of the shadows on her back seem to twist a bit, settling back down, but giving her the appearance of folded wings on her back.
Taiki nods once. "The prisoners are being held in a high-security facility just outside the capital city. In addition to the normal guards of mixed abilities, the intelligence office approximates there's at least one company of elite soldiers. Team Shadowstrike's confrontation would have put the army on alert, but they will not be expecting something so soon. In addition, the army is more used to pitched battles, not attacks by stealth. Use hand-signals instead of speech whenever possible. Remember, once we leave these gates, we are in enemy territory. I take point, Hinotori-san behind me, Followed by Usagi and Naru, single file formation." Those orders given, Taiki gives orders by hand signal to move out, and he does indeed take front. Another set of hand signals goes to the ninken, who spread out and behind him to either side, forming an arrow-type formation.
Narusegawa nods slightly as Taiki informs them more about the situation. Infiltrating a high security facility wasn't something she had done oftenly especially within their own lands… However at the same time it wouldn't prove to be impractical either. As Taiki ordered them into position Narusegawa was quick to move herself in position to follow right along with them, sticking to the rear while keeping a close eye on their surroundings… IT was a little surprising for their own homeland to suddenly turn into a war zone of itself.
Looking to his cousin, Hinotori smiles and pats her on the shoulder. "Glad to have you with us Naru-chan." he says to her. Noting her Sharingan, he grins a little bit then moves into position. THough as he looks to everyone he sees he's the only one without a weapon, "Kinda feel out of place among you weapon wielding people." he cracks a light joke to break the mood just a little. But as he looks towards the main gate, "Lets do this." he says.
Usagi takes a slow breath and shakes her head slowly once. A soft sigh is the only objection to the entire scenario that she voices. Not the rescue, but the situation that calls for it. She looks back up to Taiki as he finishes and nods as he gives orders for their formation, taking a moment. The shadows around her pause for moment, and then travel down the length of the scythe to obscure the blade, dulling the surface of the metal to prevent reflection, and therefore detection. Hinotori's remark gets a small smirk, shaking her head again, but at least she's smiling this time. That being done, as Taiki takes off, she follows them out in formation, behind Hinotori but ahead of Naru.
At first Taiki leads the group away from their target and off the main path toward the Land of Fire's capital. After about an hour, he turns the group back on track, but at a trajectory that would keep them off the main roads, at least for the first part of the trip. In fact, the group seems to be headed through the more dense parts of the forest, apparently in order to avoid detection by the Daimyo's forces early on. Or at least that is the theory, but after another hour Taiki signals a stop, followed by a "get down and blend motion. The dogs have already begun to disappear as Taiki tries to hide in the foliage.
Narusegawa carefully motioned herself within the foliage of the forest. she angled her body to stay out of sight, chin against the dirt as she dug her nails into the ground and spread herself out into a crawling position in order to slip forward a little further. " I don't think they see us yet…" Narusegawa couldn't help but to slightly whisper, making sure to keep herself out of sight while the rest of the team followed along… It might prove to be a little more difficult to get to where they needed to be..
Hinotori noticing he managed to make one person smile, takes off as well, keeping behind Taiki. Keeping in formation and keeping his speed on par with the quiet steps and using the surroundings to help mask him as they move. Upon getting to their destination, he is flat along the ground moving within the foliage and keeping himself from making anything around him move as he looks about to see where their query is.
Usagi follows along in the formation for a time being, until she sees Taiki's hand signal to get them to stop. But, her being her, instead of going 'down', she instead goes 'up', and blends quite readily into the shadows of the upper foliage, while likely keeping line of sight on what Taiki was wanting to do. But for all intents and purposes, she's out of sight…as best she can be.
Just ahead from Taiki's location is a squad of soldiers, mostly rank-and-file from the looks of things. Taiki keeps his hand down for the moment, indicating they should remain hidden. After a few moments that seem more like forever, the squad moves on into the foliage, with Taiki following their scents. Finally he nods and directs the group to circle around the area where they just were, just in case someone is watching their back trail. So far so good, though the forest looks to be thinning ahead.
Keeping quiet and following orders, Hinotori keeps within the foliage, watching Taiki's back as well as keeping an eye out for anyone they may have missed who could be watching them. But with the pattern they are in and Taiki's lead, Hinotori is pretty sure they are ok. Keeping his movements subtle, he keeps his eyes on the soldiers as they follow them, and when Usagi leaves to continue watching them, Hinotori moves up to Taiki quietly, looking around wondering what's the next plan.
Narusegawa also kept herself close against the foliage. Her eyes flashed briefly noticing the soldiers up ahead, even going about to peer around her form just in case someone else might catch her attention. For now nothing could be seen so she just moved along with her voice down. She kept a close hand at the blade by her back side incase there were any sudden movements. This Uchiha truly was ready for anything to be thrown at her….
The patrol moves on, with Usagi following it for the moment. Taiki leads the group back around toward the main road, headed toward the crossroads. After a short while Taiki holds his hand up again. There, at the crossroads, is a checkpoint. A single man with a cart approaches, and the soldiers stop him there, apparently asking for papers and preparing to inspect the cart.
Soon an argument starts, getting louder by the minute. Other soldiers turn to look at the arguing pair even while another patrol is preparing to move out. Taiki motions for them to get down in order to see what is going to happen. In the meantime, he glances back at the team to see if they have anything to input.
Again following orders for now, there wasn't really anything wrong with how things were going. As they come up on the checkpoint though, laying down stomach first on the ground and looking at the man with the cart who is being questioned, he narrows his eyes slightly watching one of the patrols moving in towards the two arguing men. If they were to continue their mission, they would need to keep moving and use this as a distraction, if they revealed themselves now, all that stealth they were doing would be for not. Looking to Taiki, Hinotori shakes his head no, and to keep going. Hoping that the least the guards would do is detain the man for arguing, but then again TFM have been doing more then just that.
There wasn't much they could do now, she wanted to keep the stealth for as long as possible and not risk being detected. Narusegawa naturally agreed with Hinotori silently. Wanting to press on and find a less direct opening rather than what had been given to them thus far. The quicker they could get into this place the better. Surely there would have been other locations… For now Naru stuck close to the ground, bitting down on her bottom lip as she pressed onward, waiting for Taiki's lead.
It's not 'too' long before Usagi rejoins the group as a whole, coming up quietly with them and dropping by Taiki from the branches above. She takes a slow breath and releases it. A tap on the shoulder lets him know she's right there and to get his attention before she makes a few motions with her hands. The first being an oval before she points back to where the patrol she went after was, and then mouths the words 'headed towards Konoha and doubled back'. The shadows still encircle her and her blade as she nods to the others.
Taiki nods to both Hinotori and Naru, apparently being of the same mind. When Usagi returns he listens then frowns. Looking back at the team he points to the checkpoint and mouths "later," followed by the sign for moving on toward the south. Even though Taiki uses a circuitous route, there is one point they're relatively close to the patrol heading out, but the team can't really move off without being spotted. The patrol heads for the rescue party, only to pause as an explosion comes from the checkpoint. The patrol stops, then doubles back. Taiki then motions for the group to continue, figuring they have another hour, maybe two before they reach the Land of Fire's capital.
With Usagi coming back and Taiki telling them that they can't go further. He frowns a bit but nods his head. Turning to look at the route they are going, he keeps silent his Sharingan looking around but as the rescue patrol nears them, he continues to watch them keeping as quiet as he can and hidden as best he can. Though as the patrol starts to near the group, Hinotori is already waiting and ready but then the explosion comes, turning his head in the direction of the checkpoint, he glances towards Taiki.
They had to move fairly quickly if they wanted to get to the location before time was up… Narusegawa huffed quietly, exchanging a quick glance at the explosion near the check point. She then narrowed her eyes towards Taiki. " We need to get moving… The security is only going to get tougher with that explosion," Narusegawa warned sharply. Slowly but surely it seemed like they were going to be quite doomed into a needless battle…
Usagi nods to Taiki after a few moments and follows him along south. She'd be staying to trees again, keeping her breathing regulated, and especially trying to see if she'd be looking for any trip wire. Granted, she didn't think that the dayimo would have the entire forest wired, but he was being paranoid, and he did have some people that were at least able in their duties. But, other than that, she stayed in the formation they'd originally gone with, as much as the others are anyways…Hinotori in front, Naru behind. The entire time, she's silent though.
Taiki looks back at the group and nods in agreement to Naru's spoken words. He knows this, its getting past all this security that is going to be a hassle. Still, he motions for the team to move on, quietly. It seems best to get there as quickly as possible.
In the meantime the patrols have picked up in the area as another starts to pass their position. The explosion has attracted some attention, forcing the groups on ahead to divide between looking for intruders more sharply and making their way toward the explosion as backup. Taiki notes this first patrol apparently is doing the later, so he motions the team to move around them and keep going.
Hinotori looks to his cousin and nods his head in agreement. They can't afford to fight right now, fighting is a last resort. Looking to Usagi as she joins back in with them he offers her a quick nod then moves out along with Taiki. Keeping his steps as silent as he can, Hinotori tries to keep look out for patrols that are lagging a bit behind as the team keeps moving hidden.
Moving along without being detected seemed to be going smoothly but it also met that eventually they might be discovered. Keeping a close eye open she peered out into the area, carefully watching over the area with her sharingan careful to see if they might run into anything unusual. She remained careful at the rear, allowing Taiki and Hinotori to lead forward without any more word from herself
Usagi remains quiet for the time being, going in forward and staying where she can, keeping her eyes peeled. As the patrol gets close, she again lets the shadows cover and conceal her, staying within the shadows cast by any light given off from the patrol, or any nearby source.
As the team nears its destination, the capital for the land of fire comes into view. About half way between the final treelike and the plains beyond is a well-patrolled camp. Dirty, rickety and ill-built shacks are surrounded by barbed wire, with wooden sentry towers about every 10 meters. The area is relatively quiet however, save for patrols that seem to go between the front gates of the capital and the camp. The living conditions for the prisoners must not be good, given the conditions of the camp itself. Taiki pauses for a moment to gain his bearings and check for patrols before urging the team forward, while crouching low to make the most of the darkness around them.
They are getting close and it is harder to maneuver but it has to be done and will be critical for this team. Hinotori stops not far from where Taiki is, utilizing what terrain he has near him to keep himself hidden and hoping that the others do so too. "We better hurry." he whispers slightly as he looks around.
Like the others, Narusegawa didn't really like moving about a mucky and rickety tree line which over looked the deplorable living agreements for the prisoners. But there they were. While it was hard to maneuver Naru was carefully to keep some distance from the others, allowing her eyes to assist her with tracking other's eyesights. She could see muscle tensions in order to check if they had been detected or not….
At this point, with such little cover, it would be hard drawing shadows to keep herself out of sight, so she turns her attention to keeping the blade of her weapon concealed more than the rest of her. She's still dressed in dark clothing, and that'll help as she drops down to on her stomach, working her way upwards towards the camp, though keeping a slight distance from the others, in case one is spotted. That way, hopefully more than one won't be.
The group makes it about half-way to the fence before a rustle in the grass sounds to the right. Naru can see a squad of five men drawing their swords and heading toward Taiki, Hinotori, and Usagi. "Stop where you are and identify yourselves!" the squad leader calls out. "Sir… the dogs…" "Ah… Konoha traitors… stand up slowly, hands where we can see them. Bring your hands even remotely close together and we'll kill you where you stand. And keep those dogs where they are."
Taiki for the moment appears to weigh his options, then stands up, his hands in the air. "Well done," Taiki says with a satisfied grin. "It looks like the General was right. Too bad, I'll owe him a steak dinner." The squad generally looks confused before Taiki adds, "If you take us to the commander of the camp, he'll explain to you what we're doing here."
Freezing where he is and hearing the guards then Taiki explaining what's going on. Allowing his Sharingan to fade from his eyes, Hinotori grumbles a little bit, "Now I owe you money." he plays his part basically a bet they wouldn't get caught. Raising his hands into the air looking very slicked but still he sighs and looks to the guards shaking his head.
"Narusegawa was lucky to stick to the shadows but it was rather pointless if the others were detected. A slight drop a sweat slipped down the side of her cheek as she revealed herself. The brilliant gaze of her crimson Sharingan wasn't at all hidden from view. If anything it became to whirl about, gradually pulling the 5 men into their hypnosis for good measure. "We are suppose to be here so don't worry about us," Narusegawa spoke softly, implanting the thought of alliance belonging, they wouldn't see them as a threat if they weren't able to resist. " We will just be on our way to the next post…"
Usagi pauses as they spot her, and she lets her shoulders slump softly, pushing herself up and standing. She raises her hands up to shoulder height, elbows bent. "Slipit Taiki, I bet the man a full round" She grumbles softly and shakes her head, grousing softly to herself. She looks towards Naru as she exposes herself as well, but smiles a bit when she figures out what the woman's doing. And again, she goes silent.
"Oh, we'll take you to the commander all right… You…" the squad leader starts before Naru implements the Uchiha version of the Jedi Mind Trick on the soldiers. They blink for a moment before one of the others pipes up with, "Didn't they say a few of the people in Konoha saw the light Sarge?" The leader looks confused for a moment before nodding. "You're right Private." Then the man looks back to the group and says, "Just make sure you give glowing recommendations, okay?" The Sergeant salutes to Taiki after putting his sword up and then begins to move the squad out and back to their control. Taiki is watching them leave and says, "Too close…" With this he bleeds back into the shadows, motioning the group forward once again.
Hinotori watches the change in the soldiers, he silently listens to the commander let them go. Man he loves his cousin and seems like he needs to train with her in genjutsu now. Shaking his head, "Tell me about it." he says to Taiki, "Lets move." he says to him then tries to melt back into the surroundings and move towards their destination.
Things were a little too close for comfort. A sweat drop trickled down Narusegawa's brow as they finally were able to move a bit further. A close class was better than being discovered, but the technique did take a considerable amount of chakra from her body. She huffed and nodded to move along, maintaining her stealth while developing more chakra about her body.
Usagi sighs softly in relief as Naru's quick thinking saved the stealth part of this mission…at least so far. She inhales slowly and releases it, moving on towards the next point as she follows behind Taiki. This was getting relatively uncomfortable fast. Not to mention it'd likely get bloody, as the patrols are paying attention to their surroundings right now. She does take a moment to concentrate her chakra, building up a portion of it in case things went south.
Unfortunately things only seem to get worse for the team. A rather sly misdirection got them by the last patrol, but they're picked up almost immediately by the next patrol. This patrol consists of a team of four people, all career military by the looks of things, and very observant. As the ninja team approaches the team line another voice calls out a challenge, "Halt and identify yourselves." The challenge's tone indicates that the soldiers know exactly what this group is, for it is condescending and rather rude. "Or save yourself a lot of pain and surrender now. Your choice."
Taiki takes a look at this latest patrol, then at the fence and guard towers surrounding the base. So close… he had really been hoping this could have gone the relatively bloodless way, but it doesn't look like its meant to be. He surreptitiously makes a few one-handed signals to the team, telling them this just turned from stealth to violent. He then clears his throat in a message to Shinobu and Nozomi, the later of whom lets out a loud howl that rings through the darkness. What he's up to is anyone's guess, but it looks like he had a back-up plan…
You paged Kasumi with 'The howl is a signal to Kasumi, who was instructed to come here by another route. It is a signal for her to cause a fire to be set in the grassy area nearby, preferably big and hot. Something that would have a lot of people focused on putting it out. Use of accelerants, explosive tags, or whatever she needs is authorized. After setting the fire, she's to join the group and take out any enemy forces in the most efficient way possible.'
Kasumi was using the canopy to remain hidden, traveling parallel to the group, yet at sufficient distance to remain out of sight. A soft ripple through the darkness at the distance. The dark night turned dead silent, before suddenly a nearby field lights up brightly. An unnaturally big fire rushes through the grass. Kasumi grins.
"Fire, oil of the yellow sacko (a type of berry, and a great fire accelerant) and chestnuts…" Yep, chestnuts, so simple, yet very effective. Those things pop at enough heat, and the accelerated fire provides just that, not only is there a big bright flame quickly expanding in the distance, it's also making a whole lot of noise! Kasumi makes a set of seals, disappearing in thin air and popping up in front of the group of soldiers.
"Hello boys." She muses, forcing her chakra forward: "Kneel, kneel… KNEEL!" They suddenly feel the command to kneel before her. Kasumi smiles, reaching into her pouch and popping some sort of pill into her mouth, opening it up while suddenly the chakra she was sending out gets stronger.
Hinotori sees the patrol and as they speak, his eyes narrow slightly, and as Taiki informs them of the situation, Hinotori only sighs. "Oh well." is all he says low enough for those around him to hear. Noting one of Taiki's ninkens howling, the Uchiha is about to act but stops as he hears a familiar voice, his lips curl into a smile, but he doesn't allow it to fully reach his lips. Not wanting to get caught up in the genjutsu, the Inferno Uchiha halts, waiting to see the effects of the Genjutsu, his Sharingan blazing in his eyes as he waits.
Things did turn from passive to violent in almost a single instance. Naru on the other hand wasn't willing to do the wait and see, especially once a random shinobi skipped into existence and began to spout her genjutsu. The swell of the Uchiha's sharingan only darkened with a venomous azure tint, her eyes mixing almost near violet as her hand reached back to tug at the glint of metal by her back side. Almost instantly it was crackling and vibrating with electricity, kicking forward and sending a straight stab into the man's thigh, even more painful if the genjutsu did stick. The painful slash and the lashing of electricity would help numb his senses and perhaps cause him to pass out if his body couldn't handle it. The other slash went for another in the group, hopefully caught by the Kuppuku for a devastating blood, more to maim instead of kill. Naru wasn't taking any chances.
Usagi, much like Naru, wasn't going to wait until things turned against them to act…or for them. Instead, she kneels and flips through a few hand signs, her hands ending in the rat sign as her shadow leaps out quickly, coming to try and connect with the four men. If the genjutsu hit, she'd be set. If it didn't…consider it back up, and a quick way to end the fight. "Make it fast, we're on a timer now" She holds her stance if it works, trying to keep them pinned
And the soldiers start to kneel almost immediately, save the leader who took just a little more time than the others, but not by much. Soon the entire patrol was kneeling on the ground, which enabled Naru and Usagi to finish them off rather quickly. Still, the alarm was sounded, and soldiers soon divided their forces between trying to put out the fire and facing the group of Shinobi. Archers were being set up rather quickly, so if something wasn't done soon, the group would have much more to worry about than the single patrol.
Seeing as how he didn't have to deal with the patrol he simply snarled, "Well, there goes the neighborhood." He then gets down on all fours, joined by his ninken as the trio launch forward in a grouping of three tornado-like attacks that rends the fence wide open. The target for Taiki and crew is clear: keep the archers from forming up.
Kasumi looks at her work, kind of satisfied. She looks at all the action around her, now that's interesting. When Taiki rushes the gates Kasumi follows along, providing close support mainly. When she finds herself inside she ducks low, he hands disappearing before the shurikenjutsu-ist slips out a collection of shuriken, throwing two clouds, one left, one right… mainly trying to disrupt the archers from being able to form a death squad. She looks for the officers orchestrating the movement, slipping out one of her signature darts and throwing that his way, it has a blue plume on it, something she has never used while sparring.
With his team mates closing in and attacks their enemy, Hinotori quickly does the same. With the archers setting up and trying to get shots off, Hinotori quickly flashes in towards the enemy soldiers, Hinotori leaps into the sky, spinning in the middle of the air and as he comes down, Hinotori's legs ignite off in fire, and he quickly kicks out at three of the enemy soldiers, hoping to knock out the three soldiers.
Narusegawa was a little more known for her powerful ninjutsu rather than her fighting up close in personal. At this point it was going to be best to cause as much destruction and chaos as possible. A startled camp would make it harder for them to react and perform their executions. After forming a flawless set of hand seals Narusegawa built up a torrent of chakra throughout her body, channel it in the form of fire nature and anchoring her next to point towards the buildings were people were clambering to setup. "Katon! Zukokku!" Narusegawa exclaims, a small bullet of chakra tinted with a hint of azure sped out from her lips into the building…and finally exploding outwards into a massive and destructive fire storm. Total chaos it would be.
Usagi was moving forward after the patrol was done. She glanced around for a few moments and looked around the camp, trying to spot likely places where they could hold 300 hostages relatively easily. A big building, a group of smaller buildings, something indicating there were a large amount of people. But her 'first' course of action, she pulled her scythe and simply started cutting down the fence. Large sections of the fence, so people could easily get 'out' if neccesarily. A few kunai here and there to deal with the guards on the ground if they came her way, or if the fence was too thick, then a well placed explosive tag would do the trick as well.
Kasumi didn't wait to see what the result was. Horses were coming at a distance, the riffling drums of hoofs on concrete getting closer and closer. "I got them, rendevouz at point B, same signal." Kasumi says towards Taiki. Disappearing out of the gate, a few minutes later a loud explosion is heard, along with complaining horses. Yep, she got it.
And chaos does indeed reign. The soldiers forming up against the Shinobi are not ready to face such a devastating foe. Even those not hit by various jutsu are forced to break formation as Taiki, Kasumi, and Hinotori go to work amongst them. The officer directing this line of soldiers also has to dodge from the dart thrown by Kasumi, though she beats a hasty psuedo-retreat to deal with possible reinforcements. Still, these are professional soldiers, and the bows are discarded in favor of swords as they begin their attacks. Swords flash out against Taiki and Hinotori, seeking to cut them down where they stand. The officer draws his sword, and starts shouting orders to the few who are running around. Usagi is in the best position to understand that three large buildings near the center of the compound hold the prisoners, which the officer just ordered to be burnt to the ground. Older, more seasoned soldiers from up behind the first line, half with pikes and half with swords. They start marching forward, not yet reaching the ranks where Taiki and Hinotori are.
Taiki, in the meantime, is weaving in and out of the swords to the best of his ability as pads of lightning spark under his hands and feet right alongside Shinobu, whose feet are doing the same. So far, the trio seems to be holding their own even as they start using elemental taijutsu. Taiki and Shinobu slash about with claws filled with lightning, while Nozomi works through the crowd with her own water version, proving the trio to be a devastating team.
Keeping the enemies at bay was what was really need. Once the Shinobi had began putting fire to the buildings Narusegawa had a feeling she knew what was happening next. " Nope…. Not that one…" Narusegawa voiced softly, using a set of hand seals she began to take some of the moisture in the air and turn them into spears of water chakra, after some time she chucked two large launches at one of the buildings direction, attempting to stop a portion of the fire while wounding some baddies in the process…. Her attention was focused on saving what they planned to burn…
Usagi blinks as her eyes go wide a moment later, and then she snarls softly. A kunai is thrown at the officer with an explosive tag attached. That being done, she vaults towards the buildings, going over as much as she can, and literally cuts a good section of one wall off one of the buildings. She looks at those present briefly and says. "The soldiers want to kill you! If you want to fight them, then do so! If not, there's an exit towards the (insert direction here)!" That being said, she yells at the others. "They're going to set the buildings on fire!" And she's moving to intercept 'anyone' near the buildings with a form of fire, that isn't a shinobi. In the meantime, if no one is close, she'd head for the next building
As the fight continues, those that are focusing on Hinotori and Taiki are being cut down rather quickly. Neither one seems to be able to hold back for much longer as the group threatens to over-run their positions. In the meantime, Naru's first shot with the water lance goes wide, but her second shot manages to neutralize some of the enemies. Usagi's is the same, as the Kunai is avoided, but the explosive tags give the soldiers pause. The commander of the place steps out of the burning main building, the one mostly blown up by Naru and gives a simple order, "Kill them all."
"Get them out!" Taiki orders Naru and Usagi. Looking toward Hinotori, he nods once and says "Let's do this." With this Taiki takes a step back as Shinobu and Nozomi join them as a pyramid. Taiki runs through some hand seals, ending in the dragon seal as he calls out, "Jinju Konbi Henge: Fusei Santouro!" A extremely large puff of smoke appears, and before long it clears away to show a truly enormous three headed dog. The dog is obviously a combination of all three members of the Inuzuka trio with light red and white fur. Then the humongous dog takes a look at Hino before erupting into action with a raitsuga. Taiki ends up a fair distance away from Hinotori. The distance is deliberate, however, as he readies for the next move while swiping at officers with the aqua fist.
As the fight continues, those that are focusing on Hinotori and Taiki are being cut down rather quickly. Neither one seems to be able to hold back for much longer as the group threatens to over-run their positions. In the meantime, Naru's first shot with the water lance goes wide, but her second shot manages to neutralize some of the enemies. Usagi's is the same, as the Kunai is avoided, but the explosive tags give the soldiers pause. The commander of the place steps out of the burning main building, the one mostly blown up by Naru and gives a simple order, "Kill them all."
"Get them out!" Taiki orders Naru and Usagi. Looking toward Hinotori, he nods once and says "Let's do this." With this Taiki takes a step back as Shinobu and Nozomi join them as a pyramid. Taiki runs through some hand seals, ending in the dragon seal as he calls out, "Jinju Konbi Henge: Fusei Santouro!" A extremely large puff of smoke appears, and before long it clears away to show a truly enormous three headed dog. The dog is obviously a combination of all three members of the Inuzuka trio with light red and white fur. Then the humongous dog takes a look at Hino before erupting into action with a raitsuga. Taiki ends up a fair distance away from Hinotori. The distance is deliberate, however, as he readies for the next move while swiping at officers with the aqua fist.
Swiftly Narusegawa followed Taiki's orders. Making her way towards the prisoners while Hinotori and Taiki dealt with the people at hand. The seal about her body continued to spread, pumping her energy while she raised a hand and directed the prisoners to follow suit. "Come along with me and we will get out of here!" Narusegawa commanded, waving forth in their direction while turning her eyes upon one of the walls. Rather than going out through the main entrance it would have been easier to come out through the side. She focused a torrent of fire twisting chakra and expelled it into one of the walls,attempting to melt a hole straight through for everyone to run out of… While clearing the way of baddies…
Usagi growls softly as the soldiers start to focus on her. The shadows about her flare and protect her, the 'wings' coming around and protecting her from harm. After that, she flares them out and growls, brandishing the scythe. She growls again at them and forms some seals with her hands, the shadows underneath her flaring outwards and leaping off the ground, coming up to attack the soldiers directly, the tips of them laced with a few explosive tags. Naru took care of the second buildings, and she yells. "COME ON! Let's get out of here!" She waves them towards Naru as she engages the soldiers, looking to watch the third building now.
The group around Hinotori and Taiki dwindle down as Hinotori splits off to lead some people away at Taiki's prompt. Around Taiki, not much remains. The rank and file soldiers all lay dying around the huge three-headed wolf thing. The non-commissioned officers, and the lower rank officers, all seem to avoid his attacks, though they are seemingly corralled by the huge beast. Those that face Usagi and Naru are more of the rank and file, who also suffer severe injuries. Finally the prisoners move out, some reluctantly, some purposefully. Those that belong to the True Fire Movement seem to contemplate attacking their would-be rescuers, but given the reinforcements coming, they opt to follow along for now… In the meantime, the last remnants of the lower ranked soldiers make one final push against Naru and Usagi, while the non-commissioned officers and the officers make a similar push against Taiki.
Taiki on the other hand simply moves his massive paws out of the way, maneuvering himself into proper position. Suddenly the area around the great beast explodes in a mealstrom of lightning and tornados. The ground shakes from the blast as it is hit again and again simultaneously to the officers and the noncommissioned officers. Blood, gore and recognizable body parts fly as Taiki releases his ultimate area weapon: the raigatsuga. The members of the TFM pause long enough to watch the massive crater form underneath the army and for once understand… Konoha has not released its true power. People far away from the base fall down from the earthquake released by Taiki's movements, and what is left of the nearby buildings, fence, and gate are destroyed, just as Naru and Usagi had done to the side. As the explosion of vicious energy and lightning dies, having temporarily blinded all the officers and no few of the TFM forces, the ground finally settles, even though debris continues to fall through the massive red dust cloud that exists where Taiki was.
Usagi's shadows again protect her, the wings coming around again to defend her once more. As she's taken care of most of the soldiers, she does two things at once. She kneels as her hands go through signs again, and shadows leap up both to attack the remaining soldiers, as well as to destroy the wall on the third building. "Go go go! Get out of here, we'll hold them off!" She's still on one knee, but this was making things very interesting, with all the shadows about due to the light.
The dust starts to settle, leaving most of the soldiers dead, and the rest either wounded or disoriented. Those facing Naru also have perished as those following Hino left and were lost. Finally the remaining low-ranking soldiers, faced with the darkness of the death angel, decide that living is more important than a now impossible task of preventing the escape of the prisoners. Those remaining run through the gate, with he merged Inuzuka ensuring the last of them escape.
"Go now…" Taiki's middle head growls out even as the right raises its mouth and lets loose a howl that sends shivers down the spines of anyone that has second thoughts about duty. Even so, this is a reminder to Hino and Kasumi to break off. The mission is complete, and it is now time to return home.
After a half hour in the forest, Taiki lets the remnants of the True Fire Movement go with this reminder. "We don't want to fight you. But we are sworn to protect the people of the Land of Fire. We will protect those innocents who are not involved in the conflict, make no mistake about that. But it is my hope, as well as the hope of the village of Konohagakure, that you realize we are not your true enemy. By letting you go, let it be known we do not wish to fight, but will to protect the innocent, and our own lives. Go now, and think on that. The rest of you, those not wanting to join the True Fire Movement, are welcome in Konoha, as our guests. We offer you aid in your time of need." When the last of those heading for the rebels leaves, Taiki looks at his team and says, "Let's take these people home."
Those following Hinotori after he rescued them and lead them away were safe, but those soldiers who thought they were going to try to take them back met with a fiery end, and as Hinotori makes his way back to his team, there are cuts along him, but one unique thing is there is an intense haze all around Hinotori, his Sharingan glowing an eerie red as if the flames he uses have come alive from the inside. As Taiki speaks, Hinotori stands motionless looking at the remaining forces willing, daring them to attack, because if they do, the same fires that help create the world would also destroy them. But upon the completion of Taiki's speech, Hinotori would nod his head and the haze around him would also die out as he makes his way to the team leader, "Sorry, took longer then I thought."
Usagi takes a slow breath and nods, having long since sheathed her scythe. She remained quiet for the most of it, staying on the outskirts in the shadows as she watched. She did not want the TFM members to think she wasn't watching, but nonetheless, she makes no move to antagonize or do anything else. The shadow wings were enough to make her point. But either way, as Taiki spoke, she nods and smiles. "You're safe now"
