Starring:
Nendo, Juudai, Mitsue, Kaneko, Hotaru
Date: October 20, 2015
Summary:
A strange terror is traveling across the farmlands of the Land of Earth, and some genin led by the Tsuchikage herself are charged with investigating.
"Stone Beast Terror"
Land of Earth
The fresh batch of scrolls for job requests from beyond the walls of Iwagakure was coming in today however the courier ninja had a smaller batch than normal. Where there was often a mass of missing pet and wanted help jobs for the genin to handle, there was only a meager handful today. Two to be exact.. The Daimyo's cat was missing and the Daimyo's dog as well. The very next job waiting to be classified was one involving monster attacks on farmlands. The attacks aren't random in the slightest, they move from village to village through the months, bypassing certain villages or houses to only attack the farming communities that are raising cattle or growing crops. The rate of destruction so close to harvest is threatening both the livelihoods of the farmers, and their chances of having enough food to last them through the winter months. Details on the monster are varied and boarder on inconsistent but the reports from informants and the damage that remains in the wake of these reported attacks is undeniable. Following the loss of life at Iwa's gates, denial or delay of the response could easily lead to a heavy portion of their nation's villages beginning to seek aid from beyond their country's borders. The contact for the mission was an old man, an owner of farmland not far from Iwagakure that had been witness to some minor conflict of the genin in the past and perhaps held faith in the people of Iwagakure, however he was not at the village awaiting a response, there was a map leading to the elderly man's home at the foot of the mountain range.
The elderly man would be seated, waiting out in front of his house for the ninja that would be assigned to his mission, the remainder of his cattle hiding away in the barn where they could at best feel safe from the beasts rapidly diminishing the herd. The finer details would have to be gathered from an eye-witness… even if that eye-witness was an elderly man that had reported stones coming to steal his herd away.
Having decided this mission should be a good solid starting point for her newest genin, she took a more seasoned genin with her along wit the three new ones to go out to this farm. Having already started them off earlier in the day, they are just arriving at the farm where the farmer is waiting patiently for them. As she approaches, Juudai simply lights up one of her cigars and then glances at the man, "Sir." She nods her head, "We have arrived to help you in this situation." She then glances at Mitsue, Nendo, Kaneko, and Hotaru before looking to the man, "Introduce yourselves."
The first mission outside of the Academy. This should be quite interesting. It wasn't even one of those chasing the cat type things after all, it was something rather more interesting. Mitsue had heard the tail end of some rumors from merchants that traveled in and through Iwa but he hadn't thought he'd be involved in anything more than just hearing those rumors. Now he was there with the troupe and he was ready to start making money as quickly as possible to start working on finding his parents. When they arrived and Juudai told them to introduce themselves the boy would step forward and bow to the elderly man before giving him a small card that stated simply 'Hello. My name is Gansao Mitsue.' And then he'd take a step back, leaving the card with the man.
Kaneko was eager to go on her first /official/ mission that took place outside the village! Sure, it was on a farm that really wasn't far from home, but it was cooler than Kaneko could hope for. If there really was some creepy monster. Given her own luck, it'd probably turn out to be nothing or something she couldn't handle at all. The young Murasame had her cloak on, the symbol of her clan turned inward so she didn't draw much attention to herself. At her side was a katana that she made herself, the hilt taking her less time than the live steel.
After Mitsue stepped forward, Kaneko stepped up with a quick salute. "Murasame Kaneko, at your service, sir!" she declares with a grin before stepping back and standing at attention best she could. The girl would also tap Mitsue when she stepped back to join him. She wanted to ask him about something… But now wasn't a good time, was it? She'd just have to reserve a small chunk of the Gansao's time!
Hotaru isn't going to take cat or dog catching seriously at all. She hasn't been known to move very fast, so that wouldn't be a very good measure of her ability. Hotaru clearly wasn't as destructive as the monster roaming and causing havoc, so maybe it wouldn't be so bad that she was here… In a farm that was likely already ravaged by this beast. The scenery was rather pleasant, just like all of Iwa, unless a rock-storm was blowing over the mountains. The sky is usually clear, as a result. That's where her head was, for most of the trip. Including a little bit right now.
Hotaru was wearing her best attempt at wearing something more shinobi on her first shinobi mission. Instead of her usual skirt and long-sleeved coat, she had on actual pants and a sort sleeved shirt. No funny business this time. It was all rusty red, however. The blue-haired daydreamer snapped to attention when she heard Juudai's words, introducing herself right after Kaneko. "Watanabe Hotaru." rather than say anything else, she planted her cane forward to support her relative bodyweight with a bow, before righting herself and stepping back in order. Her legs had gotten progressively worse again, and she has had to rely on her cane once more to move about quickly.
Nendo would step forward and give a slight touch to his hitai-ate to make clear that he was indeed a sanctioned ninja of Iwagakure before speaking. "My name is Toujitakumi, Nendo, Sir.." Nendo explained before he stepped back and began to look over the fields to see what they looked like. He would squint a bit toward the fields where the cattle weren't roaming even though the barn was open and waiting for them to graze and roam the fields. Long gray pants cinched at the Toujitakumi's calves with added pockets along the legs and a single-sleeved red shirt covered Nendo while he wore his hitai-ate like a bandana as was his usual. Just like Mitsue, he was glad to be out and about on a mission that could bring them in a fair cut of ryo to cover new clothes and supplies for the search. Still, the idea of a monster roaming and ravaging fields seemed a bit off even to Nendo…
The older man would slowly move from the seat he'd been resting in and step forward and have a look at the group that had come to his farm… Then the man frowned and narrowed his eyes at the gathering. He'd look from head to head with an unhappy face as they introduced themselves, taking Mitsue's card and reading it for a moment before he'd look back to Juudai. The old man took in a deep breath and let out a long, frustrated sigh. "You really be the shinobi-whatevers I sent for? I ask for help from the ninjas that everyone used to say could reshape the world with the flick of a wrist and when they come out here I see a woman - and I know your face - but the kids are what I'm askin' after! Look at them! You've got a mute, a hyperactive thing, and a girl with a cane. The big one looks well enough but he doesn't look like he could sneak his way out of a dark room!" The old man would begin shouting at Juudai, clearly displaying his disbelief in the ability of the little band she had assembled.
Nendo would frown slightly at the man's words and clench his right fist a bit tightly in annoyance, the leather itself groaning against his straining fist while he worked to stay quiet. This was the client… Don't blow up the client… Don't blow up the client… Maybe blow him up after we're paid… Nendo would step off slightly, moving to the side so he could begin looking over the farm a bit more in earnest and see whatever there was for him to see. There weren't any signs that he could notice in the fields or the animal's grazing fields.. Was anything really wrong here or was the man just insulting /and/ old?
"And yet, I felt in my wisdom that they were well enough to wear the headband of Iwagakure and chose them for this mission. Given I was chosen to lead the shinobi village of the Land of Earth, then I would believe that my judgement was sound." She turns slightly to look at the trio before looking back at the old man, "And given your age, I would assume in your time that you would know not to judge a book by its cover." She then shrugs and takes a pull from her cigar, "I have brought you a team of shinobi from Iwagakure." She gestures, "No more and no less." She looks to the old man, "Now, what is it that you need help with?"
~Patience,~ Mitsue would send to Nendo alone, a faint smile playing at his lips as he kept his own calm. Mitsue was used to having patience. He hadn't had much of a choice in the past. He doesn't even look offended at what the man says about them though he does extend the rest of his words to the girls as well, only leaving Juudai out of it. ~Don't worry about what he says, just listen to the Tsuchikage. I know you're both a lot more than you seem to be.~ Violet eyes turn from the old man before they start drifting over the fields as well, moving over the empty fields in silence as he tries to figure out why the animals are hiding instead of out grazing. He'd lived on farms in the Land of Rice Fields though he hadn't done much on them himself. He'd only watched and learned. And, of course, there was not as much cattle as was to be had here. Still, even he knows that this is not normal.
Kaneko doesn't say anything, though she does have to look away from the man. She, like Nendo, passes it off for taking stock of the lands. "Hmmm…" she mumbles, mostly to herself. She hadn't really been one to travel out of the village, as her father had managed to gain a number of customers just within Iwa and from various merchants who wanted a few weapons. Only a small nod in Mitsue's direction would acknowledge the genjutsu that touched her as her grey eyes sought out something else - anything else - that would reveal the situation a bit better than the vague rumors and tales.
It wasn't as if he had told Hotaru off. Actually, he -does- have a point. They are freshly graduated, but what the old man doesn't know is that they are some of the most promising shinobi to ever come out of the academy that had ever been known. That itself was enough to make Hotaru more proud than the man could beat down with such a terrible insult as 'One with a cane'. Still she did hold her breath. She could have told the man that she could have flattened him in a second, but those are the kinds of things she had to abandon as a shinobi of the rock. Instead, she turned her head towards Kaneko, and reaches out to place a hand on her shoulder. Reassuringly. "We're shinobi of Iwagakure. We'll prove our worth to everyone, so that there isn't without a doubt any disbelief that we can do what we need to." She would whisper into her friend's ear. Mitsue's genjutsu was assurance. She just needed to reassure Kaneko to reassure herself. Now it was up to Juudai to give them direction. "Ne, Kaneko." She whispers. "It sort of feels like we are on Juudai's genin team, doesn't it?"
"Alright, Alright, hold yer horses and settle down. I'm not saying I won't let you try, I just don't want that village of yours up in the mounts sending some kids down to help like I'm going insane. I'M NOT CRAZY I TELL YOU!" The old man began shouting without warning, eyes wild as he stared down at the children before his eyes and then back up to Juudai. He could at least speak adult to adult… "I won't let your blood be on my hands just because I asked for help!" He admitted, tearing up slightly before he bowed his head slowly and wiped at his eyes a bit to keep from crying in front of children. "Not like my boy… I asked for his help before I sent for you, and they tore him apart.. Monsters is what they are…" The old man would explain before he'd start to walk. He was a stout man, built like a barrel with arms to match and yet he shook with a fear that overpowered even the anger at the loss of his son. As they moved toward his sprouted fields of crops he'd point out to areas between the stalks of his harvest.
"You see there? Them be the footprints the monsters leave. They're like… galloping horses made of stone or something… all angled and dull colored." The man would say, his finger pointing here and there were large footprints like those of a dog or a mountain cat.. but much, much larger than that. "They come through the fence over there and run through here… I lose their tracks when they get onto the grass outside the animals pens and somehow they're getting in. Getting at my cattle and back out with one in pieces when they leave." The old man would point out with a frown on his lips as he waved a hand to the fence for his herd. The fencing around the fields was easily penetrated, it was just a split-post fencing.. But the tall picket fencing that surrounded the animal pens wasn't as easily penetrated without leaving some kind of a sign.
Nendo would relax his fist at Mitsue's words, letting out a slow sigh and flashing a bit of a smile to the young Gansao so the younger teen knew he wasn't going to break the old man… yet. As the man began moving off toward his crops to point at things, Nendo lingered back a few steps behind the man and would start to examine the footprints he pointed out, crouching a bit by one pair of the prints and touching the soil to get a feel for what was going on. Perhaps it was an illusion, what the man had seen, but these prints were at the least abnormal. Nendo had no idea what kind of a beast could have made them. "You said horses made of stone..?" Nendo questioned to make sure.. At the very least, he could tell that whatever beast came in wasn't a horse, and wasn't galloping…
COMBAT: Juudai focuses 6849 stamina to turn it into 9200 usable chakra!
RPCOMBAT: Juudai defends against with a PERCEPTION-II…55
Looking at the old man, she nods and listens before turning her gaze to the area around. SHe idly walks out a few steps and hmms before she nods to herself. Her steady gaze graces many parts of the area till finally she turns her gaze to the genin, "Ok, tell me wh at you see." Juudai gestures around and doesn't say a single word on any of her observations.
RPCOMBAT: Mitsue defends against with a PERCEPTION…26
COMBAT: Mitsue focuses 2184 stamina to turn it into 2500 usable chakra!
Mitsue looks between the others to make sure no one is going to jump the angry old man before he follows after them and starts examining the area that he'd shown them. The teen wanders off a little ways towards the fence, trying to figure out how something could get through without destroying the fence or…something. Something catches the eyes beneath the cloak and he crouches to get a closer look. ~The grass over here is pushed down. It almost looks like they may have tried to go under the fence.~ But then how could something so big fit underneath? Hmm.
COMBAT: Kaneko defends against AUDITORY-HALLUCINATIONS(33) attack from Mitsue with a TENSE…10
RPCOMBAT: Kaneko defends against with a PERCEPTION…18
Kaneko offers Hotaru a small smile, and her hand reaches out to give Hotaru's own a small squeeze as if unthinking. But then Juudai tells them all to go find … anything, so she makes her way around the area, walking towards the large foot prints. She inspects the closest ones, then makes her way to each, crouching down to get up close and personal with them. Hopefully no one would find it funny to kick her! The girl stands back up and looks around a bit more, considering the area. "Under the fence?" she echoes Mitsue's comment. The Murasame steps over to the fence, crouching again and seeing something, it seems. "It's weird. The prints… All have this grey dust or powder. I'm not sure… It seems like residue from something. Or I suppose it could be crushed stone if we want to try and fit the story."
COMBAT: Hotaru defends against AUDITORY-HALLUCINATIONS(22) attack from Mitsue with a TENSE…2
RPCOMBAT: Hotaru defends against with a CHAKRA-SENSITIVITY…29
RPCOMBAT: Hotaru defends against with a PERCEPTION…17
A true citizen of Iwagakure. Hotaru only heard the mean, but didn't realize that this old man was simply grieving in a hard-headed way that seemed typical of someone from this rugged land. Hotaru imagines it was just as bad as the last mission she was on, where she saw many kids her aged killed in front of her eyes. She imagines he must have felt the same way, especially given it was his son. Mitsue points her gaze over at the cross that Mitsue does as she looks. Everyone else is better with their eyes than she does, so she takes a different kind of look. She likely won't find anything interesting, surely there aren't any residual signs of chakra nearby. Nope. No one other than her friends, the frightening Kage, and the old man nearby it seems… She would walk her way over to with Kaneko in specific, though she doesn't really see anything.
That is, until she finds a rather appealing stone. One that had six sides. Six actual sides! She tried lifting it up to look at it in specific, and as she placed her hand on it to do so, she quickly retreated. It was… fleshy… "E-eww… T-this isn't mud or dirt…" She looks over towards Juudai. "Tsuchi-kage-sama. Could this be a clue? This.. is definitely not a plant." She makes sure not to touch it again as she wipes her hand off on the leg of her pants…
COMBAT: Hotaru focuses 1788 stamina to turn it into 2000 usable chakra!
COMBAT: Nendo defends against AUDITORY-HALLUCINATIONS(19) attack from Mitsue with a TENSE…2
COMBAT: Nendo focuses 3021 stamina to turn it into 3600 usable chakra!
RPCOMBAT: Nendo defends against with a PERCEPTION…22
"That be the skin of the monster!" The old man would shout as he pointed toward what Hotaru had discovered. "That's one of them rock edges the beast is covered in!" The old man would shout as he retreated a step as though it would somehow come after him despite being only a scale. The scale was truly not mud or dirt… it was solid like a stone and roughly gouged along one side but smooth along the other to tell which side of it no doubt was exposed to the world. "Those dust trails are all they leave, them and those stones, it's like they're mocking me when they take my herd or eat my crops!" The old man would continue to shout, reaching and snatching the hat from his head to throw it against the ground in a rage. "Every time they come from the same way though…" He'd begin as he started pointing back to his field. "They always comes from the wests' forest and retreat back into it, galloping all the way… I see them do it more boldly at night… always a pair of them running off or coming from there to eat my cattle. I've tried locking them away so the monsters couldn't come get them but they've eaten at the walls and now there's big holes in my barn!" He'd call out in either fury or fear, it was unclear which. "Please… get rid of those monsters before it's too late; I can pay the fine for whatever this mission costs, I'll even put in a good word with the other villages in the area. But I can't last, they eat my crops, they eat my cattle… I won't be able to survive the frost if they're keepin' this up."
Nendo would be busy at the fields themselves however, sniffing with an unhappy expression on his face… It was a horrible scent.. "Has someone been doing their business in your fields?" Nendo would call out before he'd fan a hand at his face with an unhappy expression. "It smells like ammonia all over in here." Nendo would call out to Juudai in particular to report on what he could discover. It was normal for a farm to stink from fertilizer but this wasn't that… it was a stench that dotted the fields here or there and as Nendo emerged from the fields, sniffing with that unhappy face, he'd nod his head. "It's out here too, just spots of it. It's not really strong either but it stands out." With Mitsue's report on the grasses, Kaneko calling out about the dust, and Hotaru complaining about her strange rock, it was just not adding up. There was clearly something off if a monster so big was slipping through such a small area but able to eat entire cattle without issue…
COMBAT: Juudai defends against AUDITORY-HALLUCINATIONS(17) attack from Mitsue with a TENSE…8
Looking at the area around, Juudai nods her head as she hears all the genin coming up with good points all around. She'd approach where Nendo was, "Good job, all of you." She states and then considers this for a moment before she idly looks in the direction of the woods as she hears the old man. She looks at the various pieces of the puzzle. She nods her head in that direction, "Let us move in that direction." She starts heading that way idly and then glances back at the others, "We need to search the edge of the forests." She nods her head as she turns and starts that way.
RPCOMBAT: Mitsue defends against with a PERCEPTION…20
After looking through the various things as they were called out (Except, of course he isn't going to go through the fields and all that sniffing…) Mitsue would look to the Tsuchikage to see what she wanted to do. And she was on it too! Violet eyes search the rest of the farm briefly, settling on the old man a moment before he looks off towards the forest and starts after the others, unconsciously gathering up his chakra a bit more in case he might need it. As they reach the edge of the forest something strange would immediately catch his attention. Perhaps all that growing up outside the Village did help with some things. ~Over here, there's a fresh game trail. The branches are freshly broken.~ New creatures could make a new trail if they didn't know where the old ones were!
RPCOMBAT: Kaneko defends against with a PERCEPTION…12
Kaneko doesn't see anything new, really, but now that Nendo's mentioned it… "Yeah, I do kinda smell something…" she says, frowning a bit. The girl would look over to Mitsue when he calls out, and she rushes over to see if there's anything. "I think… The smell kinda follows this trail. There're definitely a lot of tracks, at least. I dunno what they mean, though…." she glances over to Juudai, then Nendo. Despite the fact that she and Nendo are now the same rank, she still views him as a sort of superior.
RPCOMBAT: Hotaru defends against with a PERCEPTION…20
RPCOMBAT: Hotaru defends against with a CHAKRA-SENSITIVITY…33
ROCK SCALES!? "B-but the size of this rock is… really big for something like that. Hotaru would get a little sick in the stomach after. "So they're holed up somewhere in the mountains." That's what is west, so she assumes that's where they come from. "This -can't be something created with ninjutsu." She turns and walks over to see what Nendo was smelling, to which she withdrew a bit. "Nendo-sense-…. Nendo… At first, I thought it was advanced ninjutsu creating a stone animal, but that was flesh. Flesh isn't any ninjutsu I know about. These are living creatures, not earth manipulation." She theorizes. She places a hand on her hip as she taps her cane into the dirt. "It poops too… Yep. I don't know of any ninjutsu that can poop." It'd be a terrible ninjutsu…
Just then, as a wind blows on her, brushing her hair aside her eyes widen a little. She would stand tall and look over towards the woods, blinking. "H-huh? What?" She pauses a moment as she looks around to see if everyone was present. "Nendo, Kaneko, Juudai, ojii-san, Mitsue… It's not them… Hey! I… I feel something, but it's not there… Maybe it's far away?" She would rub her chin. "In the tree line, it feels like there are a few others. Can't really be sure…"
RPCOMBAT: Nendo defends against with a PERCEPTION…18
RPCOMBAT: Nendo defends against with a TREMOR-SENSE…34
The forest trail discovered would wind, twist and turn into the depths of the forest. Deeper and deeper it would lead the group of ninja until they came to a river. It was thanks to Hotaru's senses that the river which ended the trail, wasn't the end of the road for the ninja as she confirmed that the creatures were still off in this direction somewhere. It was just a matter of searching and with her senses and the perceptive eyes of the others, no doubt the path way was in that general direction and knowing that direction, the continuation of the pathway was up river a short ways and then it continued on. As Hotaru said, the creatures did seem to be nesting somewhere near the foot of the mountains in the direction of several ravines that carved their way into the foot of the mountain side.
Nendo would let the others tell the way, stepping onto the path and beginning to walk it slowly as he watched carefully for anything that might be lurking in the woods. Nothing was noticed by the genin however along the way. Still, he'd knock his foot a bit firmly on the ground just once to make for sure. "I don't feel anything out of the ordinary around here - there's a river flowing - ahead but I can't sense Chakra like Hotaru can." Nendo admitted. As much as he wasn't a fan of the thought, Hotaru was far more sensitive in that respect and made it so he relied on her comment when he reached the river to begin walking through the river. The shockwave he'd felt in return of his firm step told him the path they were looking for was upriver because of the similar feel of an animal path in the drection Hotaru had mentioned.
RPCOMBAT: Juudai defends against with a PERCEPTION-II…36
Glancing around the area as they moved, Juudai would look to Hotaru and consider her a moment, "I see." She then looks forward and approaches an area. She considers it before looking to the genin in general, "Always learn the lay of your own home." She states and then gestures to the nearby ravine. As they move closer, she listens and then glances at the others to say quietly, "What do you hear? What do you see?" She then nods to each and gestures to the ravine.
RPCOMBAT: Mitsue defends against with a PERCEPTION…15
Mitsue follows after the others, looking around as he goes and wondering what exactly it was they were going to come up against. For sure it wasn't anything that he'd seen before but, well, guess he was going to see it now! The young Gansao pauses after a time, head tilting slightly as his eyes quickly scanned the area. ~I hear voices.~ he says, whatever hesitance he might show not coming through in the genjutsu. One of the benefits of not relying on your voice to speak.
RPCOMBAT: Kaneko defends against with a PERCEPTION…23
Kaneko smiles to Hotaru when she's able to detect something that they all can't, and she starts hunting for… whatever it may be. She ends up eyeing a sort of slope off in the way and she moves towards the ravine… That she's pretty sure wasn't here before. "This's new, right?" she calls to the others, gesturing to the spot. The girl pauses for a second as something feels uneasy, and it takes her a moment to realize… "There… isn't much noise… Uhh… Guys…" she starts heading back to the group. "I think we're on the right track… There's like /no/ birds around here, and that's never a good thing."
RPCOMBAT: Hotaru defends against with a CHAKRA-SENSITIVITY…21
RPCOMBAT: Hotaru defends against with a PERCEPTION…10
Hotaru's got to be good at something right? Her path through the forest alongside her friends is met with challenge. The river was most difficult, however. She couldn't quite walk across it yet. She had to go through. She came out on the other side a cold, soaked, unhappy lizard. This is real ninja stuff though. She had to suffer through it. "I'm a real ninja now. Can't… let this bother me." Now that they reach the ravine she looks down upon it and sees nothing. Yet… "W-well, t-they're down there for sure." She notes. "S-scary…" She would be able to feel it clearly. Maybe Juudai should just throw a few bombs down there. Mission success. Hotaru doesn't think she could get down there easily.
[NPC System]: Stone Rats roll(s) Tooth and Nail(Nendo) from 10 to 30 and get(s) a 14. - Rolled by: Nendo
[NPC System]: Stone Rats roll(s) Tooth and Nail(Nendo) from 10 to 30 and get(s) a 22. - Rolled by: Nendo
RPCOMBAT: Nendo defends against with a PERCEPTION…18
RPCOMBAT: Nendo defends against with a TREMOR-SENSE…29
[NPC System]: Stone Rats roll(s) Tooth and Nail(Hotaru) from 10 to 30 and get(s) a 29. - Rolled by: Nendo
[NPC System]: Stone Rats roll(s) Tooth and Nail(Hotaru) from 10 to 30 and get(s) a 29. - Rolled by: Nendo
[NPC System]: Stone Rats roll(s) Tooth and Nail(Mitsue) from 10 to 30 and get(s) a 26. - Rolled by: Nendo
COMBAT: Nendo attacks target 1 with HOLLOW-EARTH-BULLETS with a roll of: 27
COMBAT: Nendo attacks target 2 with HOLLOW-EARTH-BULLETS with a roll of: 22
COMBAT: Nendo attacks target 3 with HOLLOW-EARTH-BULLETS with a roll of: 26
COMBAT: Nendo attacks target 1 with C1 with a roll of: 34
COMBAT: Nendo attacks target 1 with C1 with a roll of: 35
Approaching the ravine was a dangerous thing… The edges could crumble in, a stone could tumble down and make whatever lurked inside notice the unwanted arrivals so close to their home. Yes, ravines were dangerous. Especially when that huge mass of chakra that had been sensed was just deep inside, and would begin coming apart. From within the ravine would come the loud, squealing squeaks of… rodents.. The first sign was a large clawed paw of a rodent scratching through the stone edge of the ravine as the large, stone scaled, dull gray of a near-horse sized rat crawled out of its depths. With the furious red eyes of a rabid monster, the rat would hiss and begin charging, soon to be followed by many others just like the massive beast. A plague of Stone Rats had gouged their new home into the mountains near Iwa and were charging forward, teeth and claws lashing toward those that dared to invade their new home!
Nendo hadn't moved as quickly as the girls had, a ravine wasn't something he wanted to party with too much when they were looking for monsters… but then came the feeling of movement through the ground as Kaneko and Hotaru backed from the edge. "Something's coming up!" Was all the warning Nendo could call out before he'd see the creatures lunging out of the ravine and toward the group. Nendo would form hand seals quickly while summoning up earth and firing them off at the rats as they came his way but at the larger one coming toward Hotaru and one of the beasts coming toward Mitsue(the 26 of course). Shaking his left arm, Nendo would whip it foreward to throw a pair of shuriken into the two larger beasts lunging toward Hotaru and then set them off to blast the rats away from the young Watanabe.
[NPC System]: Stone Rats roll(s) Tooth and Nail(Juudai) from 10 to 30 and get(s) a 14. - Rolled by: Nendo
[NPC System]: Stone Rats roll(s) Tooth and Nail(Juudai) from 10 to 30 and get(s) a 15. - Rolled by: Nendo
RPCOMBAT: Juudai defends against with a DODGE…27
RPCOMBAT: Juudai defends against with a DODGE…16
As the rats come out and attack, Juudai nods, "Be prepared!" She then glances, "Hotaru, don't let them overwhelm you! You have to learn to defend yourself." She nods her head, "That goes for all of you." She then slips away from the bite and then claw that nearly takes her. S he hmms, "Need to work on my taiujutsu it seems." She then suddenly appears to have something her hand that is slightly glowing before she slams her palm right into the rat and her hand explodes outward with all the explosive force of the explosive style of the Toujitakumi, "Hurrm."
COMBAT: Juudai attacks target 1 with SHAPED-PALM-CHARGE with a roll of: 41
[NPC System]: Stone Rats roll(s) Tooth and Nail(Mitsue) from 10 to 30 and get(s) a 15. - Rolled by: Nendo
RPCOMBAT: Mitsue defends against with a CLONE-MIRAGE…34
Mitsue hadn't expected much of this to happen. He'd heard sounds but it had been the rats scratching and such, how interesting. Then they attacked! And then Nendo helped to protect him and he had to fend off one himself. Whew. ~Thanks,~ he'd send to Nendo before making the hand seals to send some scary dark beasts into the minds of some of the rats. He wasn't sure how well such a technique would work against the creatures but he was going to have to try and at least distract them while others did some damage!
COMBAT: Mitsue attacks target 1 with OPPRESSIVE-FIGURE with a roll of: 17
COMBAT: Mitsue attacks target 1 with OPPRESSIVE-FIGURE with a roll of: 27
COMBAT: Mitsue attacks target 1 with OPPRESSIVE-FIGURE with a roll of: 25
[NPC System]: Stone Rats roll(s) Tooth and Nail(Kaneko) from 10 to 30 and get(s) a 19. - Rolled by: Nendo
[NPC System]: Stone Rats roll(s) Tooth and Nail(Kaneko) from 10 to 30 and get(s) a 14. - Rolled by: Nendo
RPCOMBAT: Kaneko defends against with a DODGE…18
RPCOMBAT: Kaneko counters with CLEAN-CUT…29
RPCOMBAT: Kaneko took 200 damage.
Kaneko stumbles a bit when Nendo's little explosions go off, putting her off-balance enough that one of the rats is able to sink its teeth into her! She winces, letting out a hiss of air from the pain, but she's quick to draw her sword and slash at the one that's flying at her face! Kaneko proceeds to thump the rat that decided to embed itself into her shoulder with her sword's hilt, hoping that the solid knock to the head would kill it. "Dang vermin…" she mutters, sheathing her sword to form handseals that would allow her to rain fire upon the stone rats.
COMBAT: Kaneko attacks target 1 with PHYSICAL with a roll of: 14
COMBAT: Kaneko attacks target 1 with FIRE-BULLET-BARRAGE with a roll of: 26
COMBAT: Kaneko attacks target 1 with FIRE-BULLET-BARRAGE with a roll of: 34
Hotaru would have been in trouble had Nendo not intercepted. Those rats didn't look like normal rats. These were horse-sized abominations. It was fortunate that Nendo was there to intercept both attacks. Still Nendo was in front of her, so using her usual form of attack wasn't going to work. She had to find a different way to attack the rats. "The perfect time to try it out!" She would make several seals, which seemed kind of bad for Nendo. "Katon! Burning Furnace Technique!" No worries though, the flame that exited her mouth curved right around Nendo, and looped around one of the rats several times. The column of fire was hard to escape, and what came next was another set of seals as the other was progressing. This next flame burst from her mouth, using the running fire as a channel. When it finally reached the coil of flames, it would encompass the trapped rat, causing an upward directed burst of flame. A furnace, if you will!
COMBAT: Hotaru attacks target 1 with RUNNING-FIRE with a roll of: 32
COMBAT: Hotaru attacks target 1 with DRAGON-FIRE-TECHNIQUE with a roll of: 26
[NPC System]: Stone Rats roll(s) Stoic from 10 to 30 and get(s) a 21. - Rolled by: Nendo
[NPC System]: Stone Rats roll(s) Beast Senses from 10 to 25 and get(s) a 18. - Rolled by: Nendo
[NPC System]: Stone Rats roll(s) Beast Senses from 10 to 25 and get(s) a 13. - Rolled by: Nendo
[NPC System]: Stone Rats roll(s) Beast Senses from 10 to 25 and get(s) a 23. - Rolled by: Nendo
[NPC System]: Stone Rats roll(s) Stoic from 5 to 20 and get(s) a 10. - Rolled by: Nendo
[NPC System]: Stone Rats roll(s) Stoic from 5 to 20 and get(s) a 13. - Rolled by: Nendo
[NPC System]: Stone Rats roll(s) Stoic from 5 to 20 and get(s) a 11. - Rolled by: Nendo
[NPC System]: Rat King roll(s) Tail Bind(Nendo, Juudai, Mitsue, Kaneko, Hotaru) from 15 to 35 and get(s) a 18. - Rolled by: Nendo
[NPC System]: Rat King roll(s) Tail Pick(Nendo, Juudai, Mitsue, Kaneko, Hotaru) from 20 to 40 and get(s) a 30. - Rolled by: Nendo
RPCOMBAT: Nendo defends against with a SPARK-SHIFT…17
RPCOMBAT: Nendo defends against with a SPARK-SHIFT…18
COMBAT: Nendo attacks target 1 with C1 with a roll of: 32
COMBAT: Nendo attacks target 1 with C1 with a roll of: 23
COMBAT: Nendo attacks target 1 with C1 with a roll of: 37
The rat saw Juudai's hand and curled in on itself, using its scales of stone to defend the strike to no avail.. Her explosive strike removed the rat from existence. Then the other rats were shaking in terror as the illusion from the young Gansao took hold… several of the rats would feel the abuse of those flames and even Kaneko's strike would knock the fight out of the rats. Rather than an outright attack, the rats that followed seemed… frantic… running away in a panic as they scurried from in the ravine and rushed not only at the ninja but off to the forests, into the brush.. Anywhere but in the ravine where the ground was beginning to quake. The earth itself shook and rumbled until the massive paw of the largest rat would pull the beast up from inside the ravine and let out a howling squeal as it lashed its tail toward each member of the ninja unit. The rat was easily twice the size of the other rats and a dark black tone almost like obsidian. That tail it lashed out was unlike the other rats where it was bare, this ones tail was covered in scales similar to its body and just like obsidian, it was easily edged and several scales were sharp to apply a cutting edge to its attacks. Rather than lashing and biting however, the rat used its tail to try to wind around whoever it could catch while simultaneously attempting to batter each ninja brutally into the ground.
Nendo would get bitten a few times in the struggle against the rats that charged past in their frantic attempts at escape however when the massive rat revealed itself, Nendo would rush forward while lashing out kunai and shuriken to begin bombarding the beast's body. The Toujitakumi wouldn't manage to dodge the tail as it coiled about his form and crushed in on him before slamming him to the ground to force the wind from his chest as well as to slice into him with those sharpened scales that covered its tail. It wasn't enough to make Nendo lose consciousness but it winded the genin so much he couldn't mock the monster with announcing the "boom" of his weapons when he charged and set off their explosive blasts onto the beast.
RPCOMBAT: Nendo took 1150 damage.
RPCOMBAT: Juudai defends against with a CLONE-TECHNIQUE…49
It appears Juudai is actually getting caught by the tail of this massive beast only for there to be a poofing sound and she is gone leaving nothing but smoke behind. She then appears beside the rat and glares at it heavily, "I don't know what you think you are…but these genin should be able ot handle you." She idly turns off. There was only a brief flare as she let her will attempt to slam the poor creature for a second to help the genin out but other than that she is walking away to light up another cigar, "Well, you lot should finish it off quickly then."
COMBAT: Juudai attacks target 1 with KUPPUKU with a roll of: 36
RP: Mitsue transforms into PARTIAL-DARK-CLOAK.
RPCOMBAT: Mitsue defends against with a CLONE-MIRAGE…44
RPCOMBAT: Mitsue defends against with a CLONE-MIRAGE…31
Mitsue's eyes widen when he sees the giant rat make it's appearance and as he saw the tail come he drew upon that dark force inside, calling out the cloak…though really more of a cape extending over his real cloak…that helps to focus his genjutsu. With that in place he managed to avoid the rat's tail, but then he saw what happened to Nendo and he could feel a bit of…rage? Yeah, that was a good word for it. The same dark being would try and scare the giant rat before bearing down on it to try and drain some of it's energy from fear alone.
COMBAT: Mitsue attacks target 1 with OPPRESSIVE-FIGURE with a roll of: 23
COMBAT: Mitsue attacks target 1 with ASSISTANT-INTIMIDATION with a roll of: 30
COMBAT: Mitsue attacks target 1 with ASSISTANT-INTIMIDATION with a roll of: 26
RPCOMBAT: Kaneko defends against with a EVASION…28
RPCOMBAT: Kaneko defends against with a EVASION…29
RPCOMBAT: Kaneko took 350 damage.
COMBAT: Kaneko attacks target 1 with FIRE-BULLET-BARRAGE with a roll of: 29
COMBAT: Kaneko attacks target 1 with CLEAN-CUT with a roll of: 25
COMBAT: Kaneko attacks target 1 with CLEAN-CUT with a roll of: 29
RPCOMBAT: Hotaru defends against with a FIRE-REPLACEMENT…28
RPCOMBAT: Hotaru defends against with a FIRE-REPLACEMENT…34
The binding tail would not wrap around Kaneko, but she would get a very nice cut on her left arm. Not her sword arm, thankfully. But the girl was definitely in pain now. She forces herself to make a few handseals and spits out a barrage of flames before she darts in right after, cutting with her new sword to try and dig into the rat's 'scaly' skin. It was probably better than nothing, and hopefully the armor was weak… Possibly. It didn't look that weak, but Kaneko's sword was pretty sharp..
Hotaru would watch the tail coming at her, dropping her cane and making a handseal. When the tail wrapped around her body, it looked at first as if she was struggling. Before anything else could happen though, Hotaru turned into a burst of flames. Replacing herself with a nearby fire source, she would bombard the rat with a barrage of flame pulses!
COMBAT: Hotaru attacks target 1 with FIRE-BULLET-BARRAGE with a roll of: 29
COMBAT: Hotaru attacks target 1 with FIRE-BULLET-BARRAGE with a roll of: 32
COMBAT: Hotaru attacks target 1 with FIRE-BULLET-BARRAGE with a roll of: 21
The beast would take on all of those attacks, Juudai's oppressive power pinning it down while the terrors of Mitsue's rage caused its fur shingles stood on end in terror and opened it up to the brunt of the attacks that were rained on the massive rat by the two girls and the Toujitakumi boy. It would squeal, the cry dying out with the beast's lifeforce while it fell to the ground and passed on. The massive rat's body would sag with its last exhale before all was silent in the forest, the rats scattered and the leader having fallen, the farmlands wee sure to be much safer in the coming days from attacks. More so, with the signs well known, there was little doubt that any new colonies would be snuffed out before they grew too massive or dangerous to the farmers and other villages in the area. Thus the mission came to a close, a success of the first mission for the three fresh genin of Iwagakure!
