Starring:
Date: April 7, 2016
Summary:
Kenta and Tatsuo are sent to handle the removal of a wrecked cargo ship full of chemicals from a river.
"Salvaging a Wrecked Situation"
Land of Fire
It's a wonderfully warm and sunny day in the Land of Fire. The sky is clear without a single dark cloud in sight. It's the type of summer day that begs people to simply sit back with a cold drink in hand. Unfortunately, this is not going to happen along a wide stretch of a mighty river that runs through territory two days to the north of Konoha.
"Heave! Ho! Heave! Ho!" exclaims many masculine voices along the western river bank. Men crowd the banks, all of them stripped to nothing more than shorts and sandals. Their feet have created ugly furrows in the previously grassy ground, which is now a churned up mess of shredded greenery and dirt where the men have walked. "Heave! Ho!" Sweat pour down many faces as the men wrestle with a thick rope tied to a sunken merchant ship.
There are actually two ships sunken on the river. According to reports, one is a small merchant ship and the other is a larger carrier that's transporting hazardous materials to a research facility further downstream. The two ships had collided two days ago when they moved too close to each other. Divers managed to disengage the ships and volunteers from nearby villages started to tow the merchant ship out of the water. Unfortunately the larger vessel requires much more delicate handling.
The larger vessel isn't too badly damaged, except for the hole in its rear that allowed water to seep in. Unfortunately, this is enough to damage some of the cargo and release trace amounts of toxic chemicals into the river. Dead fish float near the ship, now stinking after having a few days to rot. The people handling the situation has sent a scroll to ask for shinobi help from Konoha. As a result a water manipulation expert and a medic-nin with knowledge about toxic materials is sent to work on the case.
"Umm… this is going to be difficult…" Kenta mumbles as he stands on the eastern shore of the river with his hands on his hips. He had picked the opposite side from the working men to avoid getting in their way… and so that they won't get in -his- way. "Tatsuo, what do you think? We can't really move that cargo ship quickly, because that might cause the chemical leak to get even worse. The water's actually not too bad further away from the ship, since the chemicals are getting diluted, but that won't stay true if the breach becomes worse."
Tatsuo looks over the water as the men heave out the smaller of the ships and, while he wouldn't mind helping them with that, he's got to focus his attention on the more dire problem with Kenta-sama. "I could create a temporary seal of water over the hole to keep any from leaking into the water, but, um, once it's out it will have probably made more of the chemicals spill inside. So I don't know how we would take care of that Kenta-sama. I could keep the water keeping it closed for a while I'm sure."
Kenta considers Tatsuo's ideas. "Umm… what does the water seal involve? Would you have to push more water into the ship too? I can make a seal barrier over the damaged area, but I don't know how well it'd hold once you start moving the ship." The young man goes silent for a second as he peers at the hulking vessel that's a good two thirds underwater. "I wish we were able to get a list of the contents before we arrived… If the chemicals aren't -too- dangerous, one of us might be able to go inside to investigate, but that's too dangerous since we don't know."
"It's not really a seal so much as a layer of water I can hold in place," Tatsuo admits as he looks down into the water with a frown. "I can hold it and harden it with chakra so that nothing can get past it." He chews on his lower lip in thought for a few long, silent moments before he speaks again. "Do we know if the chemicals are all in a liquid form Kenta-sama? I..might be able to control it if that's the case."
"Umm… probably not all of it, but the ones leaking out now probably are or at least are water soluble," Kenta responds after a second. "There's always going to be other substances that's not water soluble too, but that doesn't mean it's good for the environment if it gets out." The medic-nin jogs forward and bends over the edge of the river bank to check the water. He sniffs it a few times, but doesn't get more than the smell of rotting fish, which he wrinkles his nose over. "I'll have to do some tests on the water to see what's in it." Kenta brings out a glass vial to get a sample. "Tatsuo, can you at least stop the leakage for now with that water seal of yours?"
"Of course Kenta-sama," Tatsuo says before quickly making making a single hand seals. Nothing changes on the surface of the water however, but after a few moments he nods to Kenta to show that it's done. "I can get us down there if you want Kenta-sama. Um, I should be able to keep the water away from us for a little while at least too, so nothing would effect us. But if we come across something not liquid I'm not sure I could stop it from getting to us…"
Kenta considers the offer for a second before he nods. He slips the capped vial into a little pouch at his side. "Umm… we might as well. I trust your ability to handle this, Tatsuo. If we can get inside the ship, I can set up some barriers to contain the portion of the cargo that's causing the problem. Or I can at least set up barriers to slow it down, hopefully by a lot." The young man straightens to his feet and sheds his eyes from the sun to peer out over the river. "Take us down when you're ready."
Tatsuo nods to Kenta before moving to stand next to the medic. He pulls fresh water out of the water and forms it into a thin line underneath the both of them as a platform. "Hang on Kenta-sama. You can use chakra to help you stay on the water if you like." With that warning the water lifts them into the air, the thin layer seeming to be unable to do so yet it holds them both as it floats smoothly. It takes them out to the half sunken ship before they start floating down towards the water. As they near the water seperates, making a cocoon around them as get closer and closer. The water forms a large bubble around them and once they're beneath the surface the air pocket remains as the water simply moves around it with Tatsuo's focus. Once they're near the hole he pauses to let Kenta get a look at it from the outside.
There's a single impact wound on the ship's rear end, but it looks a little worse once they're under the river than what they saw above. A section of the wooden hull about the size of an elephant has caved inwards. The center portion of the crater suffered the greater damage, since there's a jagged hole punched through it. It's probably just big enough for a person to squeeze through. A barely perceptible amount of dark liquid streams slowly from the wound and disappears into the surrounding water as it's carried away from the boat by the river's current. "Ummm… I guess that's considered not too bad? I can definitely put a seal barrier over that. It'll free you up to concentrate on lifting the boat. Can you take through and stop right when we're inside?"
"Hai, it doesn't look too bad Kenta-sama," Tatsuo agrees with a small smile. "I thik we may be in luck." He moves them forward, using some chakra to keep the toxins from escaping for a time while they're in the area. The water inside forms an impassable wall while Tatsuo stops them at the hole, then extends their 'bubble' and the path of water to the hole so Kenta can get there without a problem. His eyes narrow a bit as he extends his chakra, then after a moment he draws on some of Isobu's chakra, his eyes changing to a dark red color. But at least he stops straining.
Kenta grimaces when he steps into the ship. The floor is slick with water, possibly chemical residue and at least a bit of river slime. The young man has to extend a little chakra to his feet to keep from slipping on the fouled wood. As soon as Tatsuo also enters, Kenta removes a wad of tags from one of his pockets and start to peel one tags one by one to stick them around the inner perimeter of the damaged portion of the hull. "It's a good thing I made these water resistant. It'll just be better if the ship's already drained." Kenta makes a hand seal and the tags activate to extend a blue barrier across the opening. "I think that'd hold. Can you identify the source of the leak somehow with your water sensing abilities?"
Tatsuo looks around the dry area, stepping carefully onto the floor of the ship and using chakra to keep himself from slipping and sliding. Dark red eyes search around while Kenta works and after extending his chakra out a little Tatsuo points down a ways. "There's two barrels leaking from there, two different liquid chemicals but I don't know what they are."
"We're going to need some more light," Kenta announces. He removes two glow sticks from his pack, breaks it and shakes it until blue light starts to emanate from it. The light twists and refracts in strange ways when it meets the water at the edge of the bubble. This in turn distorts what lie beyond, adding to the difficulty of seeing by such a faint source. "Ummm… not that good in these conditions, but it'll have to do." Kenta waves his stick around, which makes the shadows spread across the bowels of the ship dance. There are lots of boxes, kegs, barrels, trunks and other containers soaking in the river's water. A lot of these have fallen all over the place and turned neat stacks into an untidy jumble that often spills across the paths left open between the rows. "Ummm… storage area for sure. Lead on, Tatsuo."
When Kenta starts the glow stick going Tatsuo nods and turns to start slowly walking in the direction he senses the dripping coming from. He has them go around anything on the ground that is too large to go over or that might be dangerous. Tatsuo seems to have no problem with the lack of light either. But then water is just like an extension of himself. If he has his chakra in it he'll be able to sense what's in it. About thirty paces in they come across the pair of barrels, two different color liquids spilling out of both. They'd fallen and cracked, keeping the leaking down to a minimum but also leaving no real way to patch it.
Kenta lifts one of the glow sticks up high. He had stuck the other one into his belt as a secondary source of light. "Ummm… I don't really have anything to patch these barrels with," the young man says after a second. He kneels to inspect the labels on the barrels. One barrel's is exposed, but the other one is lying in such a way that only part of it can be read. "Don't get too close, Tatsuo. This stuff will burn your skin." He points to the first barrel. "It's a chemical agent used for deep sterilization of lab equipment. Ummm… not really that dangerous once diluted, but not great to get on you in pure form like this. The other one… I think it's a preservative."
Tatsuo does avoid touching any of the chemicals with his skin because chances are they're going to be bad anyways. "I can move the other one so you can read it Kenta-sama. Hold on." The water surrounding the barrel hardens into a thin layer, stopping the leaking temporarily as he has the barrel lift and turn so that the label is facing Kenta.
Kenta steps back to give Tatsuo space to shift the second barrel. Once it's upright, he steps forward again to inspect it again, careful to avoid the chemicals pooling on the damp wooden floor. "Umm… definitely a preservative. We don't want any of this leaking out either. Keep holding the water away from us until I'm done please." The young man removes an ink brush and some ink from his pack. Tags won't cut it this time, since they're strong, but not flexible enough to do what he wants.
It takes another ten minutes for him to finish scribing a circle of characters in a wide area around the two leaking barrels. This is made harder by the dim lighting. When Kenta finishes, he sets down his writing implements to make some hand seals. A domed barrier springs up around the barrels to cut them off from the surroundings. "Ok, that should do it. Are you sure you didn't sense any other leaks?" Kenta asks while he puts his writing implements away.
Tatsuo shakes his head at the question of more leaking barrels. "No, I don't sense any other area in the water where it's different from normal," he says, glancing around the darkness. Lots of things had fallen or shifted, but none of them seemed to be broken or any such thing like that. While Kenta works Tatsuo just stands guards, waiting. When he finishes however Tatsuo points back the way they'd come. "We should start back Kenta-sama. Since this is sealed I should be able to move the ship now. And, um, I'm not sure how much more oxygen we have in here with both of us…" He's only used to doing this for himself.
Kenta nods his head quickly. "Umm… I agree with that. I don't want to be in here so long that the oxygen runs out. Or for us to end up trapped if something shifts the ship." The young man makes sure that his pack is closed securely. "Lead ahead, Tatsuo. I'll briefly undo the seal across the damaged hull once we reach it. The quicker we can get this ship out of the river, the better. There's a chance that other containers will break open if they have to be immersed in water longer."
Tatsuo nods in agreement before he turns and starts heading back towards the makeshift entrance/hole in the side of the ship, making sure that Kenta stays close as the water continues to move around them in a bubble. It's times like these he wished he could use maybe wind ninjutsu to make sure they didn't run out of air…but better safe than sorry. Once they reach the hole Tatsuo extends the bubble to just outside the seal to make sure nothing leaked in or out while Kenta undid the seal.
"Umm… ok… Get ready for it." Kenta moves around in the bubble of air until he can reach one of the tags that he stuck around the hole in the hull earlier. He touches it gently, confirming that it's damp, but that the water resistant treatment given to it keeps it intact. A second later, the barrier of chakra over the hole disappears. "Bring us through now and back onto shore, Tatsuo. It's time to remove this ship from the river." Kenta pulls his hand back, but stays prepared to reactivate the barrier once they leave.
The water forms into a platform beneath the two again as they step outside of the ship. Tatsuo keeps the bubble encompassing the hole as well until Kenta reactivates the seals. Once that's done they 'float' up inside the bubble of water to the shore, breaking the surface about a foot from it with the water between them and the shore solid enough to walk on so that they can step off. Tatsuo would wait for Kenta to do so first before he did, then finally released all that water to take a very brief breather.
Kenta lets out a deep breath when he's back on land. On the other bank of the river, the men that was working on the smaller ship had finished their task and is now settled down for some rest. A lot of eyes are on the two shinobi, which doesn't seem to help Kenta's comfort levels. He sucks in another deep breath and places his hands on his hips. "How sure are you that you'd be able to lift the ship out of the water and sit it down without causing more damage?" he asks Tatsuo. A frown appears on his face when he verifies again just how large the cargo vessel is. "It's going to be even more heavy with all that water inside, unless you can draw it out before you move it. If needed, I can create a temporary barrier on the landing spot to act as a cushion. Maybe use wind to help a little too, but I'm much less skilled at fine manipulation with that."
"I'll need to use two tails," Tatsuo replies after doing a little math in his head. "That will be enough for me to move it freely even with the water in it. Once it's out and your barrier is down I can draw all the loose liquid out if you can decide where to put it. Seperating it will take time more than chakra to know what I can put back in the lake." He looks to Kenta then, seeming to just wait for whatever his orders and instructions might be.
"That's kind of what I thought. Give me a second to go talk to the men across the river. I don't want them watching this." Kenta jogs the short distance doing the riverbank and across the river's roiling waters, which seems to impress the workmen every bit as much as Tatsuo's previous work did. When the young man's on the other side, he approaches the leader of the group and talks animatedly for several long minutes. The request for the men to vacate the area before they've have a satisfactory rest brings sour expressions to many faces, but they comply nevertheless after the leader starts bellowing. Kenta waits until everyone's out of sight before he turns around to give Tatsuo a thumbs up from across the river. "Go ahead!" the young man calls out. He jogs further upriver to cross back to Tatsuo's side, so that he won't get in the Chuunin's work.
Tatsuo watches as Kenta jogs across the water and waits for the Jounin's word that he could get started. When Kenta says he's good Tatsuo nods, then draws on Isobu's chakra much more deeply than he had before. Blue bubbles out of his form and surrounds him, culminating in two tails shifting a little nervously behind him. It takes only a matter of seconds before Tatsuo is ready. He makes a single hand seal to cast his chakra out into the water. A few moments later the ship starts moving, slowly and a bit chattering at first thanks to some rocks on the bottom. But then it starts to rise smoothly the rest of the way. Water runs off the side of the ship though none escapes from the inside.
Kenta is ready when Tatsuo invokes his Bijuu chakra. The feeling that it creates is as unnerving as always, but he's at least familiar enough with it not to be too disturbed. The young man makes a series of hand seals and presses his palms against the ground. A flood of seals pour from his hands to cover the area of the river bank where the ship will be set down. The seals form a thick barrier that'll absorb at least some of the force of the ship if it gets dropped. "Ok, Tatsuo! Set it down and we should be done here!"
The ship floats higher and higher until it's completely clear from the top of the water. Although water still surrounds it in a thin layer to move it. Tatsuo moves it slowly to make sure that nothing happens to the contents more than already has and it floats along towards where Kenta has the seals laid out and ready. He slowly sets it down in the sealed area and holds it there until Kenta finishes whatever he needs to do to keep it from falling or anything.
The weight of the ship is more than most barriers can handle, but Kenta's is a strong one and it's also braced against the ground directly. The young man molds the shield to fit the contours to the ship, so that it won't rock around too much. That, along with Tatsuo's water should keep it aligned. Then, Kenta slowly dissolve the barrier under the ship, so that it can settle onto the ground instead of dropping even a few inches and risk more damage. "Ummm… Ok, I think we're good here," Kenta says once it looks like the ship's stable. "Umm… we'll tell the work crew that our part of the job's done and head back to Konoha. There's already a team of experts on the way to handle the rest of the work here." The young man gives his student a smile. "Good job. We couldn't have done it without you."
