Starring:
Date: May 30, 2013
Summary:
The machine killing the fish was fixed for good, only its vibrations caused a nest of spiders to spill out into the land. Nori, Hiro, and Hiei acted as a team to kill the spiders and sweep them downstream to their deaths, thus protecting not only themselves, but also the Owl's nest that the spiders were headed towards (as it was downriver and the spiders were following the river). Nori has Hiroyasu act as a sensor to determine just how many spiders are coming and when/where they are. Hiei fights off a massive spider while Nori and Hiro go and close the entrance to the spider nest, effectively sealing anything left inside. The owl is grateful and offers the possibility of a contract to Nori and Hiroyasu. Hiro turns it down, but Nori considers it.
"Sensing an Owl Summons - Spider Swarm"
Near Toshiba Forest, Konohagakure, Land of Fire
Hiei was separated from the group during the skirmish with the Eagles. Misaki and the great horned owl were enough to defeat the rest of Convocation's scouting party, which allowed Team Hioriyasuki to travel upstream, find a milling factory, and discover that a chemical scrubbing machine had been malfunctioning.
Hiroyasu and Misaki teamed together to fix the machine. Hiroyasu was the gentle tweaker, while Misaki was the forceful hammer. Together, they made the machine work. Misaki has decided to stay back at the factory for one reason or another. Hiroyasu and Nori have checked the health of the fish in the water near the outlet, and it appears that they are not getting sick more than they originally were. As the two like-minded shinobi head back, along with the great horned owl, Nori says, "I certainly hope we run into Hiei-san. I'd hate to find out that he got hurt in that fight. Ano, eh, Owl-sempai, what exactly is the fight over with the Eagles?" The Owl flaps its wings in an agitated manner, but answers anyway with a shrill chirp, "They want our territory. Their numbers are expanding and they say that because they rarely see us out during the daylight hours, that we aren't using our air rights and therefore lose them. Most of us are predators of the night you see…so we are defending ourselves and our lands." Nori shrugs and looks to Hiroyasu, "Seems honorable enough."
Hiroyasu shrugs "Seems no worse than the rest of us and our squalbbles over land." while keeping a keen eye on the river "They really should think about switching to a less toxic chemical. It might even be able to be found locally" he was in his own world, a strange world filled with random asides and deep insights into the random. "There is no way that an Eagle, took out Yotsuki-sama" he adds "He probably stopped to eat it" finishing the sentence after a pause.
As the two shinobi and the owl make their way down the river, they hear a shout of glee right before hearing a loud *thud*. They hear it once more, and if they decide to go investigate, they would find Hiei with an Eagle who's wings are clipped. Hiei holds the bird tightly to his chest before diving out of a tree, cackling like a mad-man. He falls straight down, spinning like a top to drive the head of the bird into the dirt, snapping it's neck in the process. He's also creating some small craters in the ground from the impacts, there are about a dozen or so already littered around the area. Maybe he's hit his head too many times by accident with this little manuver, but he seems to be in a good mood. He sings as he begins collecting the eagles he's drilled into the ground so far. ~Gonna eat 'em all, gonna eat em all, gonna eat em all, hey, hey, hey, hey!"
Nori nods to Hiroyasu, "They probably could. I'm guessing that with the son gone to the Levy, that the old man was in over his head. We need to end this darn conflict as quickly as possible to get things back to normal." Nori shrugs and then looks to Hiei at the sound of 'battle' up ahead. Nori goes into sneaking mode, which is nothing more than lowering himself and walking all bent-forward and funny-like in the bushes. As he finally sees the source of the commotion, Nori blinks. "Uh, Hiroyasu-san…ramen-breath has gone crazy. I think you need to talk him down off the branch," and then he jumps. Nori errks. "Oh boy."
Hiroyasu sighs deeply "He doesn't grasp the gravity of his actions sometimes" yes it was a pun, "Yotsuki Hiei! What are in the name of the goat ogre are you doing!" Hiro storms out of the bushes at Hiei /who is going to eat them all? yeah yeah yeah?/ "This is unacceptable behavior! Your bringing shame to land and you clan!" of course now they had to do something with the bodies. "I would expect this from Miso!" he growls pulling a seal from his belt, it might be time for a time-out in an impregnable barrier.
Hiei looks a Hiroyasu with a look that borderlines on madness. "Look, Hiro!" He holds up a bird by the feet. "Dinner! I told you, it would be a fun day in Kiri before a stupid bird would ever get the better of a Yotsuki. And now because of the bird's audacity, it is going to serve a higher purpose by being eaten by me!" He raises a brow when Hiroyasu pulls out a seal. "Unacceptable behavior? What are you, my mother? Besides, I haven't done anything wrong. You left me out here while you went gallivanting off to see what's wrong with the fish. Now you got two choices, you can help me cook, or you can get out of my way."
Nori just takes a step back and speaks to the owl mentally, ~Don't be afraid, it's just me. Please forgive our friend. I think the Eagle hit him a little too hard.~ Nori looks back to Hiroyasu, "I think the bird did get the better of Hiei. He's gone silly. The seal barrier might be a good idea while he calms himself down. Although, if he's willing to cook the bird for us…" He again looks to the owl, "That wouldn't offend you right? Us eating bird in front of you?" The bird asks, "Would it offend you if I ate your friend?" Nori considers this a moment and answers honestly, "No…not really," and then quickly adds, "Assuming he was dead already of course."
Hiroyasu pauses for moment, his fingers creeping under his glasses and gripping his nose. Several frustrating rubs later "It would be wasteful to just let them fester in the sun. We could give the excess to the poor or something." he says pushing the glasses up on this nose. "I really am sorry for his actions, I think i'll have him go to hospital for a checkup. He might have a concussion injury" he says to the Owl and Nori, not that it would excuse this barbaric behavior. "I wonder if it's more like chicken or more gamey like a turkey" he probably had some seasonings in his boulder, with the rest of his cooking gear. "Fire roasted, should take about an hour or two" fire cooking didn't take as long.
Hiei eyes Hiroyasu. "What are you apologizing for, would you have liked it better if they had killed me instead?" He waves a hand. "On second thought, don't answer that. Owls are birds of prey..they eat mice and all other kinds of stuff. I don't think he'll be offended if I eat the bird that tried to kill him." He snorts. "And you idiots call me stupid." He's already built a small pyre in preparation for cooking the birds himself. He points two fingers at it and lightning sparks from his fingers to light it on fire. He looks at Nori and Hiroyasu. "Look, I'm hungry and I'm going to eat. Do you want any or not?" There is a large bruises on the back of his head that trickles blood, and it's definitely no secret that his behavior his altered. It's a good chance that Hiei might have a slight concussion from his head hitting the ground so hard when he was first attacked.
Nori considers along with Hiroyasu, "Fine. Let's get the fire going." Hiei throws the lightning and up the fire goes. "Err, that's one way to do it. I guess I'm in." Nori then spots the blood and says to Hiroyasu, ~Don't let him go to sleep like that. If he has a concussion, I hear that's the last thing you're supposed to do, though I'm not sure why exactly.~
A little while later, the birds are on a spit, rotating around a fire. The owl has grabbed a field mouse (just as Hiei had said) and is eating it just about whole. All seems like it is going well…and then something flashes across Nori's face. "Hiroyasu-san, do you sense that?" He wants confirmation it seems. Nori looks to Hiei, "Hiei-san and Owl-sempai…something big is coming."
RPCOMBAT: Hiroyasu defends against with a CHAKRA-SENSITIVITY…21
Hiroyasu is in the middle of sprinkling some seasoning on a roasting eagle ~It's because they can slip into shock or worse not notice a serious side effect.. And have a stroke~ he was a medic afterall but he didn't have the full tools with him to diagnose it. "Do feel what?" before tuning his senses to the surroundings, "I feel something.. it's pretty large.. it could be" before thinking about it "No not miso, it does have her kinjutsu duality" he looks around before pulling a leg off the cooking eagle taking a bite out of it and tossing it to Hiei "Eat some, I think it's about to get hot around here." before looking surprised "Tasty!".
Hiei catches the leg and devours it to the bone before tossing the bone to the side. He burps loudly. "Tasty." When the sensory types seem to..sense..something, Hiei asks. "Would it be accurate to say that you have a 'bad feeling' about what's coming?" He stands up and starts looking around. "I don't see nothing, but that doesn't mean anything. He forms a few hand seals in preparation. A blue glow surrounds his body briefly before disappearing.
RP: Hiei transforms into RAPID-MOVEMENT-MODE.
RPCOMBAT: Nori defends against with a CHAKRA-SENSING-TECHNIQUE…37
Nori thinks about it for a moment and then says, "That makes sense." This is a verbal response to Hiro's mental lesson. Nori grows focused suddenly and nods, "I'm not sure about the intention as the chakra is spread out and all over the place…but it seems to be eminating from near the factory and stretching toward us." The owl flashes away only to return a moment later, shouting, "Spiders…tons of them. Some big, some small. They are headed toward the nest following the water. Please…drive them back." Nori blinks, "Spiders? What? Why? How?" Nori is trying to piece it together. Fixing the machine resonated the spider nest, driving them above ground. Uh-oh.
Hiroyasu claps his hands together and begins to focus his well of chakra whipping it into a torrent of Zen. "I hope Misaki is okay" he says while he continues to gather his zen. "I wonder if spider can be fire grilled" he muses lowering his hands only to fill with the paper seals.
Hiei replies. "Misaki will be fine.." He swallows visibly. "S-spiders, huh?" He is suddenly remembering the time that he went to sleep only to wake up in a spider's web cocoon. He frowns and then draws two kunai knives from his belt. "Owl-san is right. We have to keep them back. We should meet them out in the open, by the river bank. Room to manuver." He speeds away, only to return. He plucks another piece of meat from the roasted bird before speeding away again.
Nori would eat, but his stomach is churning at what is coming. As everyone looks up-river, there is a hill that blocks the view of the oncoming horde. From the owl's vantage point, it shouts, "Here they come." At first, one small and fast spider comes leaping over the top of the hill. It is soon followed by a trickle of more spiders. These are just a little bigger…and then it is like the spill-way opened. Spiders of all shapes and sizes flow over the hill; turning the hill from green to black. While the spider sizes range from teeny tiny to about two feet in diameter leg-to-leg, their individual sizes aren't the issue…their volume is.
Nori focuses not only his chakra, but his mind. He starts to attack from a distance with earth barriers. He is creating a funnel to try and limit their numbers so they can be handled more easily and draw them right toward the river bank and Hiei. "Any suggestions, he asks everyone?"
RP: Nori transforms into YAMANAKA-CLARITY.
RPCOMBAT: Nori defends against with a EARTH-BARRIER…39
RPCOMBAT: Nori defends against with a EARTH-BARRIER…31
RPCOMBAT: Nori defends against with a EARTH-BARRIER…23
Hiroyasu says "Barring fire? I'm not an bug specialist" but the terrain could be conducive to a victory literally "We could soak them, and let Yotsuki's lightning fry them in large batches." it was a tricky plan and not very likely. "Until we can conceive of a way, we need to thin them by any means!" he stomps his foot on the ground and the tears of stone fly unto his finger tips, and he begins firing a barrage of hollow bullets into the horde, with this many you don't really have to aim.
RPCOMBAT: Hiroyasu attacks with HOLLOW-EARTH-BULLETS…29
RPCOMBAT: Hiroyasu attacks with HOLLOW-EARTH-BULLETS…29
RPCOMBAT: Hiroyasu attacks with HOLLOW-EARTH-BULLETS…22
Hiei frowns. "Yeah, even with my speed, if I were to go into that crowd with my blade, I'm not coming back out." He makes had seals with his fingers before stating. "Ninja Art: Multi Lightning Needles." Twice the amount of lightning surrounds his body before flying in several directions at once. "Area of effect mode!" It seems that kenjutsu and taijutsu isn't all he trains. "We need to funnel them somehow. Maybe into the river..let the water wash them away."
RPCOMBAT: Hiei attacks with LIGHTNING-NEEDLES…21
RPCOMBAT: Hiei attacks with LIGHTNING-NEEDLES…13
The hollow earth-bullets and rain of lightning senbon Nori listens to both suggestions and herms. "Keep them off us while I try something out." Nori calls out to the owl mentally for some help. It was fighting along with the others, but it zooms off. Hopefully Hiro and Hiei don't think she's abandoning them. Nori forms more handseals and goes into a dance step.
The hollow earth-bullets and rain of lightning senbon, along with the funnel, do hold off the masses to begin with. The bodies of the dead are trampled over by the living. The small spiders manage to get through the larger attacks and try to climb up Hiroyasu and Hiei in order to bite them.
Nori listens to both suggestions and herms. "Keep them off us while I try something out." Nori calls out to the owl mentally for some help. It was fighting along with the others, but it zooms off. Hopefully Hiro and Hiei don't think she's abandoning them. Nori forms more handseals and goes into a dance step. This is how Nori focuses his chakra flow to create better defenses. The young Yamanaka begins lowering the earth near the front line, if only by a few inches. It is enough to start bringing the water from the river onto the battlefield…but it takes a bit out of Nori to do so. Nori calls out, "Electrify Hiei-san," Also, some of the spiders closest to the river get swept away.
RPCOMBAT: Nori defends against with a EARTH-DOME…55
RPCOMBAT: Nori defends against with a EARTH-DOME…50
Hiroyasu nods, and continues to use the multiple bullet barrage tactic as it was the best given the numbers and their plan "Hurry Hiei!" he pants as he draws up another volley of bullets before unleashing them into the mass of spiders.
RPCOMBAT: Hiroyasu attacks with HOLLOW-EARTH-BULLETS…17
RPCOMBAT: Hiroyasu attacks with HOLLOW-EARTH-BULLETS…19
RPCOMBAT: Hiroyasu attacks with HOLLOW-EARTH-BULLETS…18
Hiei moves back and forth, summoning lightning as quickly as he can and then releasing it as an area of effect technique. When Nori gives the word and Hiroyasu urges him to hurry, he summons forth the lightning again and fires it at the water, creating an electrical current. He begins breathing hard…it was weird. He could kick and punch all day and not even be winded, but if he used lightning consecutively for ten minutes he felt wiped out. "Did..we..get..them..?" He asks, out of breath
RPCOMBAT: Hiei attacks with LIGHTNING-NEEDLES…29
RPCOMBAT: Hiei attacks with LIGHTNING-NEEDLES…26
The tactic apparently is working. Between Nori flooding the battlefield, Hiei shocking the heck out of the spiders in the water, and Hiroyasu…eh, barriering to keep the funnel maybe…the spiders are being driven backwards toward the factory. The only problem appears to be that Hiei is getting winded.
Then the owl shows up and speaks with Nori. The young Yamanaka says, "Alright…Hiei, keep it up for just a moment more. Hiroyasu, create barriers and force the spiders toward the water." Nori does the same; creating a few barriers and then making one right under the three shinobi…and then waits a moment. Sure enough, a flood of water comes roaring down the hill, sweeping the swarm into the now deluging river. Nori calls out, "The owl found a damn upstream and broke it. We may have to rebuild it later…but that was the only way I think." Nori looks to Hiroyasu, "Scan again please…I'm getting tired."
RPCOMBAT: Nori defends against with a EARTH-BARRIER…39
RPCOMBAT: Nori defends against with a EARTH-BARRIER…24
RPCOMBAT: Nori defends against with a EARTH-BARRIER…34
RPCOMBAT: Hiroyasu defends against with a SEAL-BARRIER…19
RPCOMBAT: Hiroyasu defends against with a SEAL-BARRIER…21
RPCOMBAT: Hiroyasu defends against with a SEAL-BARRIER…30
RPCOMBAT: Hiroyasu defends against with a CHAKRA-SENSITIVITY…23
Hiroyasu throws out seal after seal, barriers pooping up and shattering into dust and chakra ash before fading away. When they are inside the dome and the water rushes by them in a deluge "Alright, let me find my calm" he sighs for a moment calming his chakra which swirled with activity until just a moment before "I believe there are more coming?" he says with a slight question, his range was not that good.
While Nori and Hiroyasu did their sensing thing, Hiei was busy trying to keep the creepy crawlies off their butts. In between panting for breath and summoning lightning, he finds time to ask the question. "How come…I can..swing my sword all day..but…when throwing lightning…I get tired quickly…" He summons more and then lets it fly into the water. Any of them trying to swim over to them would get a rude awakening. He leans over, planting his hands on his knees. Sweat oozes from every pore. "This…this is crazy.."
RPCOMBAT: Hiei attacks with LIGHTNING-NEEDLES…15
RPCOMBAT: Hiei attacks with LIGHTNING-NEEDLES…14
RPCOMBAT: Hiei attacks with LIGHTNING-NEEDLES…14
Nori calls to Hiei as the water finally sweeps past, "Chakra control takes more focus than Taijutsu attacks." There were more coming, or at least…one more. It was giant. The spider was larger than all three boys put together. It had a large chakra signature and would probably be an Okumo's best friend had this been Kirigakure. Instead, it just walks through the water; its long legs acting as anchors to prevent it from getting swept away. Nori looks to Hiei, "Hiei-san, you wanted another opponent…take it down. Hiroyasu-san and I will go figure out where their nest is and close it off."
Hiei's jaw drops and he has flashbacks of being in that web cocoon again when he sees the size of the spider. He shakes his head. "Finally, one I can take a sword to. Consider him mine, Nori-san. Good luck to you and Hiro." Drawing his sword from the small of his back, he leaps into the trees and jumps from one branch to the other in course for the large spider. They would hear a shout of glee just before a loud hiss as the battle between Hiei and the spider began.
RPCOMBAT: Hiei attacks with FLASH-STRIKE…35
RPCOMBAT: Hiei attacks with FLASH-STRIKE…34
Hiroyasu shakes his head "Concussion, right.. I think he just gets get berserk rage and goes off the deep end." mentioning as Hiei launches himself at the giant spider in melee glee. "Let see if we can find where they are coming from, it has to be a sizable entrance for a spider that size to escape it" he says hiking a thumb.
Nori calls out to Hiei, "Don't fall asleep until we get back!" And then the owl starts leading Hiroyasu and Nori up the river towards the factory that they had left only hours before. The hole is large enough to notice before they even get up close to it. Based on the few remaining spiders that have stuck around to protect the nest, it looks like the factory, which was further upstream, was spared an attack. Still, the damage from the dam is apparent everywhere. There's a good chance the factory was flooded too, but its foundation looked sturdy enough to take the water and not have the building sustain too much damage.
Getting back to the nest opening, Nori looks to Hiroyasu, "Any thoughts? I could slowly use earthen walls to close it, but that might take a while and we don't know if there are any other big ones in there. Can you scan one last time? Do you have explosive tags?"
RPCOMBAT: Hiroyasu defends against with a CHAKRA-SENSITIVITY…23
Hiroyasu shakes his head "I don't think he has a concussion, he isn't exhibiting any of the other signs." as the walk down the river path to the large opening "I have not mastered positive feedback seal matrices yet." which means no to explosive tags. "We could cause a cave in, with properly placed attacks." before taking moment to scan the cave to the best of his ability "There is a lot of noise and ripples but I am having trouble. So we can assume there is something in there, might be bats, more spiders, glowing mushrooms.. I am not that acute or practiced as you" he says sadly.
Nori shakes his head, "You've been doing exceptionally well Hiroyasu-san. You've come a very long way." Nori sits back and considers his options for a while. It seems like he is calculating things in his head. After some time, he holds his hand out, nods, as if calling the shot…and shifts a small portion of the earth somewhere inside the cavern. The whole thing collapses. Nori looks back to Hiroyasu, "You were correct. Sometimes it is not the quantity of attacks, but rather the quality of one well-placed attack." Nori smiles. With that, the nest is closed off, the Owl nods and swoops down, and all is good. The great horned owl states blunty, "Well done all of you. You have helped us greatly. If either of you wish to hold a contract with us, I would talk to the elders of our Parliament and make them see that you are worthy of it." Nori blinks and then looks over to Hiroyasu. Nori bows deeply, "That would be excellent. Thank you." Nori blinks as the owl swoops away on silent wings and then looks back to Hiroyasu, "Well, that was odd."
Hiroyasu nods "I know, and it has many facets that will take a long time to grasp. But I wish I could do more, for my team and myself." before watching the well placed attack cave in the entrance "I like to believe that just a little bit of brain can easily be a force multiple." He stays silent while nori has a discourse with owl "No thank you, I feel that Nori-Sama deserved that honor and distinction" besides Owls while cool are not his thing. "You do know what that means right? I have read about them, It's a special form of seal using the transportation jutsu. But until now I never figured out how you were supposed to get something capable to do it".. it seems he learning something about his own craft today.
