Starring:
Jiro, Kaidan, Rikuto, Arika, Shemri, Shintario
Date: March 14, 2015
Summary:
The main base of the kidnappers in the Land of Wind is located thanks to some outside help. A group is formed to go take care of business and make sure the kidnapping ring in the Land of Wind is shut down for good!
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Youth Kidnapped Army - Suna Takes Care of Business!"
Land of Wind
It's an odd time for a mission to take place in Suna. That time is early evening and the sun is already beginning to sink below the horizon. If nothing else it means that the temperature is going to cool down soon and a trip through the desert won't be as horrible as it could be, even though it is still spring. Late spring. Information had come into the Sunadome in regards to the kidnapping ring that had been plaguing the land and message had gone out to many various shinobi to meet up at the gate and be prepared for at least a day out on a mission. No other information is given as of yet.
At the gates is someone from the administrative office, carrying scrolls and likely with all the details of what the mission will entail for the shinobi that are going. Alongside said administrative type is Jiro, the boy having a personal involvement with all of the happenings of the kidnappers and being one of the ones that is going to make sure that it's over. Or at least as over as it can be for the Land of Wind. The boy looks grumpy as he waits there next to Ms. Administrator and his arms are crossed as he waits for whoever else is coming.
Arika is with Jiro, too. While she couldn't be there every step of the way, and she doesn't really know the details of this particular mission, she /does/ know what this mission is likely to be about. The girl seems about impatient as her friend, but perhaps a bit less grumpy. She mostly looks determined, actually, as she gets ready for the mission. Get Psyched! The girl glances over to Jiro, saying, "We'll definitely get them this time, Jiro-kun." She nods seriously, as if her saying it makes it true.
Shintario told that was suppose to go on a mission today however was never told what it was, gathering the last of his things he rushed off and headed for the gate. His blonde hair was pulled neatly back to be out of the way his green eyes were shining brighter then ever at this time and he moved with a rather upbeat swagger pace. His red gi was tied down just exposing a nice amount of flesh and his all black gourge was tied down to his waste he peered around the group at all the new faces and spoke softly "Ohiya Hagane Shintario reporting for duty!?" Is stated as he smiled and gave everyone a two finger wave that his is iconly known for that and the sand of course.
As he was assigned to two of the previous operations, Miira Rikuto was also called upon this time to handle instances as well as keep an eye on two of the junior members, Arika and Jiro. While the light was fading, it seemed seem to bolster or lessen the Miira's spirits such which for the first time in several weeks was decent. "Just another mission.. once again babysitting these two" was said some what teasingly as he makes his way to the gathering point, knowing both of the younger genin were there before him. "Looking around towards the administrator, he offer her a slight bow and his eyes lower towards the ground respectfully. "Ma'am. I was given a summons, so I am here."
Another day, another mission. Shemri strides up to the gates in her travel gear, followed by her small black cat companion. She nods to the administrator on arriving, 'cause obviously that's who's in charge here, right? "Greetings." Shemri notes the expression on Jiro's face and quirks an eyebrow. "Hoi, is this some manner of…disciplinary activity? I shall need to know what measures I am allowed to take if so." Shiikaa sits primly by Shemri's ankles and gives a cautionary mrowl to Jiro. Better watch your attitude, kid, she's well accustomed to doling out pain on unruly rumps. ^c.c^
As the shinobi all arrive Ms. Administrator nods to them each in greeting. She waits to make sure that everyone has arrived before motioning for the group to gather around her so she doesn't have to shout. "Thank you all for coming on such short notice. We received some information of import from another Village and decided it was best to act now while the information was still fresh." She doesn't say which village or really give any other information on where the information came from.
"As some of you may be aware, there has been an underground kidnapping ring that has been terrorizing various parts of the Land of Wind. What we didn't know until now is that it extends to other nations as well. Because of this revelation we are moving to clear whatever parts of the kidnappers remain from our Nation." She holds up a scroll, "This is a map to what is reported to be their main base here. It looks to be about four hours away. It is felt that a night assault will be best as they won't be expecting it and it may be easier to get in without detection. Also," she frowns a bit, "it appears they are using the kidnap victims to create an army of their own. You are to try and spare the lives of these people if you can. Sunagakure does not care what you do with any adults. With a night time assault we hope that the kidnapped children will not be armed or ready to fight. A group of administrators will follow behind you a few hours to take care of the children and getting them to their respective homes."
With that said she offers the map to Shemri. "Maneshi-san will be in charge of this group. And no Maneshi-san, this is not disciplinary. Young Jiro-kun here has involvement with this group. Particularly one of the men that seems to be in charge was his guardian for a time. He may be able to give you valuable information on the man during the assault." Another scroll is offered to Shemri then, "This scroll may be of assistance. Apparently there were seals in one of the other nations to keep people out. If they use the same seals here this will disarm them." Business done, she looks around the group. "Are there any questions?"
Jiro just kind of glowers at the others as they arrive, not liking this whole thing in the slightest, but not about to let some other kids be victims. He scrunches up his face at the young Miira's words but doesn't respond. He uncharacteristically quiet for now. At the question on questions he gives his head a shake, just looking ready to go.
Arika nods a bit to the administrator, climbing onto Rikuto's back since he's here… If allowed. The girl hmms softly as she thinks over the mission. ~Just give me a poke when you need me.~ 'Not gonna need you!' she huffs. The girl grumbles lightly and rests her chin on Rikuto's shoulder. "Let's hurry up," she urges the group.
"Nope none from me, kill the adults not the kids." Shintario would go over his gear once more and double checked that everything was tied down effectively so that when they moved noting was lost. He also made sure that his gourge was full and topped off to the brim with sand, he then placed it back onto his side. "Well I'm ready to head out whenever you guys are."
"Reduce them all to cinders, force the children into lesser coma states.. a second team will come in for clean up and collection" was softly said as he listens to the orders before lightly nodding his head. Glancing around, Rikuto brings to furl his eyes as he looks at Shemri for a moment, studying them silently but then looks away muttering, 'Feels odd' to himself but then shakes his head clear. Looking upward, the Miira gazes into the distance before turning to move but then lingers. "We'll be leaving soon then before day break hits?"
Shemri takes the scrolls, processing the mission's story. So, there are people taking children from their families and making them fight and die. "…They shall bleed." Shemri tucks the sealing scroll away with icy calm and opens the map to study it for a moment. After determining the best route for their travel, she rolls it back up and signals to the others. "This way." Shemri sets a pace off through the sands toward their destination. "Jiro-kun, is it? What can you tell us of this matter?"
When Arika climbs onto Rikuto, he hardly reacts.. he's used to it and half expects it. Once she settles in, his hands move behind himself and weave together to act as a seat for her
There's a small gust of wind and fluttering of a jacket as Kaidan arrives and frowns at Jiro. He is just in time to hear Shemri speak and then he adjusts his jacket, "He can tell you that he has been a troublemaker all throughout the process of bringing these kidnappers down." He nods his head, "Insubordinate and a danger to himself." Kaidan glares at Jiro and then looks to Shemri, "He has been useful at times though." He nods his head before walking over and giving the boy a ruffling of hair before nodding, "Hopefully this time around, given he is included in it, he won't purposefully disobey orders."
Kill the adults not the kids. Well she did say they could do as they pleased, but to jump right to killing. Such is the life of a shinobi perhaps. Ms. Administrative looks around the group as they each speak or otherwise make their minds known as to whether or not anyone has questions. When it seems no one does the lady just nods and steps back, motioning for Shemri to take charge and lead the group off.
Jiro moves up to be with Shemri when the chuunin starts asking questions. His face is still one that shows great unhappiness as he goes along. "They've been takin' kids, mos'ly off the street. We foun' some and even 'ad Yoppa in jailbut then they kidnappe' me an' other students." Before he was a genin, which wasn't all that long ago. "Made 'em trade us. I guess he's in charge cause they foun' some stuff with 'is name at one'a the other places. He'sa bad man. An' an Earth user." He mutters the last few parts, trying not to think of the history too much. When Kaidan appears Jiro just glares daggers at the man. "'m supposed ta be 'ere. 'm a Genin now." He says grumpily, then hmphs as he turns his attention back to where they're going. Stupid Kaidan.
Arika hrms softly, taking a ride on Rikuto's back. "We need to catch 'em quick so they don't keep doing all this kidnapping," she pipes up. "Want him dead…" she mutters, knowing how much trouble Yoppa gave Jiro. So much trouble… Kaidan appears, and she wiggles her fingers to the puppeteer, but seems a bit less cheery than usual.
Shintario sighed as the movement to move out was given he peers over to Arika before speaking "easy easy make sure to keep a level head about yourself out there." Smiling he would be hoping rather swiftly as they motion it appears the gourge placement wasn't that much of a pain for him. "Four hours away eh?" Shintario made sure to know the stinging word of Jiro which where aimed at Kaidan made him think that the two of them might've had something "special" in the past to make them this way either case he would do what he can to make sure this behavior doesn't spread to the mission at hand.
With the order to move out given, Rikuto would part from the group with Arika in tow unless the jumps down. Stored outside the village was his sand skiff that was still in good condition. While the others seemed like they were planning on walking the trek, the Miira has no intent on 'walking'. This would leave him away from the group for several moments. While he works on setting up the craft he begins to hum a melody to himself, something short and looping, but continuous
Shemri listens to Jiro's rundown of the group they're dealing with, and Kaidan's two cents about Jiro's involvement. After considering it, she sighs through her nose. "I am certain there is good reason for you to be along on this mission. Make certain, however, that you do not get in over your head. Most importantly, do not confront the man who was your guardian. Even aside from the fact that he is far more proficient than you, it will likely be difficult for you to fight him. Leave him to others." Shemri turns her head to glance at Jiro. "Should you find yourself trapped by him, though, do not hesitate. Fight for your life." Shemri looks around to the others. "Of course, that goes for all of us facing any of these criminals. There is little need to show mercy to those who would do such things to children." >/
A nod to the last bits of info from Jiro before Kaidan glances over to the others. He looks over Shintario specifically, seeming to size him up before he hears Shemri speak up. Kaidan smirks at her and then rolls his shoulder, "Oh, you needn't worry about that." He flicks his right arm out and it literaly comes apart, the various parts floating away from him as he looks over his right arm, various chakra strings moving in between the parts before he yanks it together and focuses, "I have a brand new move I've perfected specifically for the leaders of this group." He chuckles, "And I tested it." He then clenches both of his puppet fists before saying, "There won't be anything left." And with that his puppetry armor slides over his chest, face, and back as he moves with the group, "I'm ready to start this thing."
"If I see 'im" Jiro starts, but stops. It wouldn't be smart for him to face Yoppa of course as the man is definitely far more deadly than Jiro is. Still, he feels he owes the man some death. Or at least pain. "I'll do wha'cha say." He mutters finally.
The trip is long but uneventful on the way to the marked location. As the group travels the sun sets completely and they are guided only by the moon and the stars. Lizard skitter away from the silently traveling shinobi while off in the distance can be heard the howling of coyote's on the hunt for their night time meal. Eventually they do reach the fated location however and what they find is not a pleasant sight. A stone walled construct, what looks to be one extremely large building in the middle of the sand, is what greets them. The place is huge as far as acreage goes, but it's barely even one story. Even a building made by many earth users can't stand up to the sand storms of the desert after a while, so it was probably a smart architectural idea. Torches are lit around a large closed door that marks the entrance as well as at intervals around the outside of the building. The light from the torches doesn't go far however and if the group stays far enough away they should remain unseen. Hopefully.
Jiro's eyes scan the area once it comes in sight, stopping well away and crouching on the sand to make himself small and hopefully unseen. His eyes flick along the entire building but besides the general things he doesn't see anything special. It's not a surprise, his heart is pounding at the thought of running into Yoppa again and there's a real killer intent in his gaze. Something that has never really existed within the boy before. He just waits for his orders at this point. At least it seems that they have yet to be noticed.
Arika makes a handseal when they reach the compound, her chakra moving along with the wind and allowing her to sense what might be nearby. After a bit, she glances to Shemri to say, "There's a buncha guards. They're traveling in pairs, and there's about twenty total." She frowns a bit. "… Hnn… It might be hard to try and get in…" she grumbles, eying Jiro a moment as he looks about as angry as she feels. Fortunately she's used to suppressing pure anger by this point, the girl planning to unleash it later…
Shintario quickly spots two guards standing a the entrance just out of the torch light, he wasted no time relaying the information up through the chain of command. "I figured I can capture the two guards thus it might allow you guys a chance to get in there Shemri?" Shintario would place a hand onto the ground and ready himself to see what the group would do. For now he waited and kept his eyes peeled for anything else that might be going bump in the night.
Lifting his hands to the inside of his cloak, Rikuto begins to adjust thins within his cloak before humming softly. 'Twenty.. which twenty are they talking about?' Shaking his head lightly, the young Miira begins to weave his hands together, the process was slow but also silent. Once he was finished, he brings a hand up to his lips and he blows gently onto his palm. Speaking softly, Rikuto says "Lend me your minds eye.. I'll share with you what I see..
Those trapped within his genjutsu would watch as embers would flake from his skin and loft in the air. Each the embers would move to gather at the center of the encampment before turning into a sphere and scattering. Along one of the walls the embers seem to breath into full flames again, hovering over the heads of several waiting there. Other embers would dance at the doors, most of these embers were hardly hot match sticks, pale with a faint glow. The last of the embers dance over the heads of others within the center, a dozen flickering shards of coal with bright embers but not yet enough to catch into flames.
Shemri and Shiikaa peer into the starlit expanse. Shiikaa's ears swivel and erratic little noises come from his throat as he scans the desert. "There are more than just the guards near the building," Shemri murmurs. "They have further patrols scattered about the vicinity. The good news is, if they are spending this much effort to try and catch intruders, it is unlikely that they have anyone with powerful sensory abilities on their side." Shemri blinks as Rikuto shares his intel in a rather creative way. "Ah. Aha. That is most useful. Hmmm…I suspect this cluster inside the building is the hostages. Our first priority should be to see to it they are safe."
Shemri leads the way into the darkness, creeping a winding path intended to weave between the patrols. "Follow in my footsteps. When we are close enough, Shintario shall deal with the door guards, and we shall hopefull enter undetected. If we are found, run for the building. It will be better for us to fight within narrow hallways."
A look to Rikuto's creative display and he hmms. He then looks to Shemri and states, "The walls are sealed." He nods his head, "Going through the walls would be ill advised. It could cause something to go off or at the least set off an alarm. Going through the walls is not wise." He then looks over at the others and then back to Shemri, "I actually fight typically better in the open." He nods his head, "I've got a lot of experience fighting large numbers of enemies. I led many of our troops against the Silence." He states quietly and then looks around, "If you guys get in over your head or are spotted, I'll move out quickly to draw attention." He nods his head, "I can take the hits and return them easily. If need be."
As everyone explains what they see Jiro gets a little annoyed that he was so blind. Then again maybe it was just the anger that was blinding him. That wouldn't be much of a surprise really. When Shemri gives his orders the boy doesn't question them. In fact he doesn't respond at all as he just moves forward as silently as possible, following the chuunin on his winding path that leads towards the door. For sure Rikuto's genjutsu helps him to see where people are, and that biggest grouping is where he's focused the most. He does fall back just slightly thought to whisper to Rikuto. "Do ya see Yoppa?"
As the group moves towards the door the patrols continue on and while the majority of the shinobi manage to sneak through without being seen that isn't completely true for one of them. Somehow one of the groups breaks off of its normal patrol and starts heading towards the sneaking shinobi though they don't seem to have actually /seen/ them in the dark yet. "You heard something? You sure? I don't see anything." One says, though they both have daggers out and at the ready.
Arika blinks a bit when suddenly everyone has little lights over them. Pretty! She continues to cling to Rikuto, though not on his back but at his side. It also puts her relatively near Jiro! She looks around a bit as they sneak around, using those stealth lessons that she had honed with Jiro. "I don't see Yoppa," she tells Jiro, though that might not be as helpful as she thinks…
"I only sense chakra, I don't see faces or names.. Focus" is all Rikuto would say when Jiro begins to question. With Arika on his back, it made staying in the shadows difficult if it were not that he was simply.. not there largely to the others that might of seen him. The young Miira keeps his eyes focused, looking forward though as he did, he was mindful to stay mostly still to maintain a visual marker where each of the guards were. In a low tone he says, "Once we're inside.. give me a moment to prepare and I'll see how long our luck homes, I'll try to lessen just how many we might have to deal with.."
Shemri grimaces as one of the patrols gets suspicious. The Suna nin could probably deal with any foes that come their way, but the whole thing would be easier if they could confront the criminals at the time of their own choosing, not to mention safer for the kidnapees. "Rikuto, Kaidan, try to deal with them, quietly," Shemri murmurs. Shemri pulls the seal-undoing scroll from her pouch; her top priority is to apply that, so that the whole place doesn't get alerted to their presence at once. In order to do that, though, somebody's got to handle the guards at the building…which for unspecified reasons can't be Shintario after all. Maybe he fell behind and lost the group in the dark? e.ea Anyway. "Jiro, Arika, get ready to ambush the guards." Shemri waits until most of the other patrols are a good distance away from their targeted entrance, then sprints forward to slap the unfurled scroll against the seal on the wall. >.<
Moving with the group, Kaidan overhears the group spotting them and then frowns deeply as he hears it. He looks in the direction of the pair that seems to have heard them and then looks over to Shemri. She is the defacto leader of this little mission and he nods to her desicion in this. Within just a moment he vanishes in a burst of speed and races off toward the area where the pair are. He appears right between them, his right leg kicking straight upward at an almost perfect angle of 180 degrees even as his right arm turns with his turn to slam his right arm into the face of the other guard. Only a moment later he is trying to grab one of them to drag them away while awaiting Rikuto coming in to drag the other away as well.
The pair of guards that Kaidan attacks go down without ever knowing what hit them. Luckily since the group has been hitherto unnoticed except for that scare, the guards don't seem to be on very high alert. Nobody even seems to notice the others go down, but then their patrol path probably won't cross another for at least a short time yet. Hopefully it will be enough.
Jiro nods to the orders he's given, pulling off the sash around his waist with a flick of the wrist before looking to Arika to make sure she's ready. Once he's sure she is he launches himself forward, the cloth snapping out at the man on his side to drill right through the middle of his neck. Not even a chance.
When the scroll touches the wall at first nothing seems to happen, but then there's a slight fizzling sound that could be mistaken for a torch having problems. The seals seem to half peel off the hall and just hang there, now entirely disarmed and ineffective.
Arika nods a bit to Shemri, drawing a kunai and sending her chakra through it so that the blade would be sharp. The girl focuses on the guards, glancing to Jiro with a small nod of her head to say that she also was ready. When Jiro moves, so does she, the kunai getting thrown at the guard's neck to pierce through and insta-kill that man with very good accuracy. Phew…
'Erm..' Furling his brow, Rikuto realizes an issue and looks from one to the next as he contemplates exactly how to move forward as well. Shaking his head softly he brings his hands together though with Arika likely still being rather close, she would be able to hear him say, 'I didn't want to use this.. everything else is too flashy though' The set of seals the young Miira uses are and awkward combination but rapid all the same. Once his fingers part, a single white fire ball appears in front of him. Shifting his fingers slowly, he rolls his fingers under it before extending it out with only minimal force forward. With a lazy drift it would float towards its target before trying to not burn them but seep into their chest before it's true nature was known
Success! So far so good, the element of surprise remains theirs. Shemri rolls up the scroll and puts it back in her pouch — it might come in handy again later. "Let us move swiftly, we cannot remain undetected forever. We must find the hostages first." Shemri darts into the building, ears scanning for echoes that might forewarn her of potential foes around each corner.
After depositing the bodies out of the way, Kaidan catches back up and attempts to follow inside. He for the moment is just following orders and staying real quiet.
Shintario moved swiftly behind the others pulling up the rear defenses he notice a guy off to the side and bound him in sand swiftly. With that very same motions he moved with the others inside the compound he kept his stealth up and his guard. Once inside though he wasn't fully prepared for what he saw, he was ready to say the least.
Thanks to the sneakiness of the shinobi - and the quick correction of the one not so stealthy shinobi - the attacked guards go down without ever actually knowing what hit them. Broken necks, kunai through throats, fire through chest, you know just your average fair of shinobi inspired death. Now that the seals are down there is nothing blocking them from entering other than a flimsy door. Of course it's a flimsy unlocked door so it really doesn't do much. As the shinobi enter they can see where all the various chakra signatures are thanks to Rikuto's genjutsu and it falls on each of them to remain quiet and unseen to not draw unwanted attention.
With the slow peeling of the disarmed seals there starts to be some murmuring amongst the guards upon seeing it. They point and mutter to each other, wondering what it might mean. For now they don't do anything besides whisper to each other about it but after enough time someone will likely try and check on things.
As the shinobi move along to the largest gathering of small chakra signatures they seem to make it without incident. Once in the room they find a lot of sleeping children, aged eight to fourteen. There doesn't seem to be any guards in the room, just a lot of sleeping kids. Apparently they rely on fear to keep them in place, and it seems to be working.
Jiro follows along silently, cloth remaining in his hand and at the ready as he sneak sneak sneaks. He's watching though, carefully. If one of those mystery dots turns out to be Yoppa
Arika makes a handseal while the group is still out in the open with no guards around. A small *POOF* and a clone of herself appears beside her. The girl lets it move first so that she can get a bit of information, also making it so that if things go awry, it would be possible for her to realize such and the clone could just poof away! For the most part, though, she stays close to Jiro's side, not wanting him to be alone for more than a few seconds if she can help it.
'Good.. good.. They are all safe for now, though lets finish this quickly.' Rikuto seems to forgo subtleness in his movements, walking out into the open, drawing closer to the targets that he had signaled out before to the group. To most the young Miira was a breeze, little else though a warm one with the heat that cloaked him. He didn't just weave an illusion that he did not exist, but one of betrayal. Each of the men standing guard that he could see, would watch as the man to their side not only turn towards them and strike, but burry a tainted short sword into their side before covering their mouth to keep them quiet until they could slit their throats, leaving them to die grasping for air and gagging on their own blood.
Shemri glances around the room for any hidden guards or traps. This part seems strangely easy. -.-a Well, no use worrying over it. "I shall remain here and see to it that the children are not harmed," Shemri tells the others. "Kaidan-san, you are in charge." With that, Shemri sets about gently waking the kids and informing them of the situation, just in case they're going to need to move out.
A nod to Shemri, Kaidan turns to the others, "OK, plan is simple. Arika, you go with Rikuto. Jiro, you are with me." He nods his head, "We split up, we take down this whole group. Avoid the larger signatures until all the others are down, got it?" With that he gestures for Jiro to come with him and starts out of the room quickly to head out and start heading for the outer guards, "We gotta bring down the small signatures first, make sure they can't aid the big ones and we bring them down hard." He nods and is leading Jiro to the left upon exiting.
Well things were going well and silent and all that, but when people start killing each other it's bound to draw attention. Screams start filling the hallways as people die and start attacking each other as they see each other doing so already. Genjutsu. The cries summon out more guards and all those magic specks that Rikuto created begin converging in the hallways - including the ones that are quite strong.
The children start to wake up at the screaming but Shemri is able to keep them fairly calm. They seem to understand quickly that they're being rescued and the look of relief that comes from them is nearly overwhelming. They start to dress and such, not looking like they're going to be causing any problems any time soon.
As Jiro and Kaidan get out of the room and start heading down the hall they meet up with a dozen guards, weapons drawn, and looking none too pleased that these invaders have managed to sneak into their base undetected. Oh boy. They charge the pair, various weapons coming down towards them. Luckily these guys aren't really that well trained and aren't any match for a shinobi, even a young one.
Arika and Rikuto are going to find a similar issue when they leave, guards charging to pairor the one, since Rikuto is probably still hidden. So instead they start going towards Arika and, if she's not careful, she could be overwhelmed. Better hope Rikuto is going to help!
When the attackers come towards Jiro the boy steps a little away from Kaidan to get some room, then goes to work. He's silent, and angry, and even a little afraid. A whole new level of emotions that he has never really dealt with before, but it has him focused. His cloth blocks the majority of the attacks coming at him and he deals a decent amount of damage as well, separating a few limbs and even a few heads with his steel cloth.
Arika's eyes narrow as she watches the guards charge at her; a big mistake… The girl glances to her shadow clone, who nods lightly to the original in response. Then, moving as one, the to make a few handseals, flashing through them slowly but with purpose. When they land on the final seal, they both crouch, then jump up and kick outward, a burst of air forcing the guards to the floor. Well, two of them thanks to the clone!
Weaving his fingers together again, the chain was much longer than before, as Rikuto begins to echo the last illusion that somehow went wrong in so many odd ways, not fully paralyzing the victims. The young Miira breaths out and spreads in influence, pulsing his chakra. One by one, the group that was attacked by Arika would see not one strike and pressure leveled against them, but as if there was an army of the girl alone, each one more powerful than the last. Each blow would not cut into them but crush them into nothingness in almost an instant.
Rushing into the group, Kaidan unleashes a pair of spinning kicks, attempting to take down a good chunk of the enemies in two solid attacks even as he looks back, "Jiro! Bring them down!" He is moving at high speed, ripping out bursts of hits into the enemies with a kick here, a punch there, a roundhouse here, and an uppercut there. His attacks are hard to follow and count as he strikes. Even as he finishes up he checks on Jiro's progress.
Arika and Rikuto take care of their folks pretty easily. Well, somewhat at least. They are all blinded by the air bursts first, then the genjutsu bites into them and they all just kind of…topple over. At least they'll be easy pickings now, right? Maybe not. The men fall over and behind them are two others, though these two have much stronger chakra signatures. They don't wait for any kind of formal introductions or anything as they attack in tandem. Seals are made and one issues forth a ball of fire. Normally it wouldn't be so bad but the other pushes it forward with air, enlarging the ball of fire to engulf their own men and leave very little room for the two shinobi to escape in the suddenly cramped hallway.
Kaidan and Jiro are a little more on the deadly side of things and together the pair bring down their own guards. But much like what Arika and Rikuto had, there are two men waiting a little further down. Even worse? One of them is Yoppa. The man sneers at the pair before sending a litany of earth bullets at them. The other man moves after the bullets, drawing a pair of small daggers infused with wind chakra to slice at Kaidan neatly and quickly.
Jiro finishes taking down the guards around him and turns just in time to see Yoppa. And he freezes, eyes wide as fear washes over him. It's only the hours of training that his body reflexively acts on the attacks that come towards him and he raises his cloth to cover his frame completely before hardening it, letting the earth bullets pelt it harmlessly. He doesn't attack though, he just kind of…hides there for the moment.
Arika is about to finish off the group before her when her shadow clone realizes just what's happening and jumps in front of the girl, taking the fireball for the original. While Arika is undamaged, she's still a bit shaken by the damage her clone had felt before poofing. The girl then finishes a seal, the wind along the corridor gaining a sharp edge as it runs over the ones who were downed earlier. With the cutting wind comes a tiring gas that is exhaled from Arika's mouth, the girl seeking to distract the two guards that just arrived.
Switching his stance, Rikuto begins to weave his fingers together and head forward into the fireball before disappearing into it. The Miira appears to cross his arms and dive into the sphere, becoming destroyed by it but then something changed.. he explodes and the bellowing flames erupt outwards towards the man who cast it at him. It wouldn't be long after that Rikuto would be seen on the wall, blowing bubbles of orange and white fire. The air becomes filled with dozens which expand and explode when they land on the ground in a barrage around the two who were focusing on Arika
The reaction by Jiro has Kaidan twitching even as his armor barely seems to even react to the attack by Yoppa. Even as shabby comes in, though, his right arm is coming apart. Hundreds of chakra strings flit between the parts and then he brings it around to crash through the knife man's attack and possibly right into him. Without even acknowledging the knife wielder he rushes Yoppa and… misses? Though that becomes clearly not true perhaps too late as his right arm passes by the man but a hidden blade whips out of his forearm covered in a horrific poison that is a refined venom of a brown recluse.
"Yoppa, I presume. You die slow. If you aren't? You still die slow."
Arika's wind takes care of all the comatose targets and they die very sad deaths. But at least there's no worries about them breaking free somehow or anything. The smoke that Arika exhales catches the fire user off guard while the wind user manages to hop back a little. Using the wind he blows the smoke away from the fire user but the mind still stumbles a bit. He's not down and out but that certainly wasn't cool. Of course Rikuto kind of puts them both down and out as he lets loose with his clone and explosions. Smoke fills the hallway and washes down in both directions, blocking the pair from view. Certainly those two are quite dead. But then out of nowhere a new chakra signature appears to Rikuto, something that had apparently been hidden until now. From the signature the hallway fills with a dozen spears of lightning shooting at the pair. It's random however since the shooter can't see through the smoke.
Stabby is pretty agile and so, when Kaidan's arm comes apart and then aims for him, the man manages to duck and roll under it before coming up on the other side. Yoppa isn't so lucky in avoiding the attack however and he gets cut by the heavily poisoned blade. The man steps back then and frowns at Kaidan. The poison…doesn't seem to be affecting him at all. "I am Yoppa. And if you leave now I'll let you live. Just live the merger here." Stabby chases after Kaidan then, giving two quick slashes at the puppeteers back.
Jiro remains hiding behind his cloth, shaking violently as the sight of Yoppa seems to have broken something inside of him. Some memory keeps him in place despite the fact that Kaidan is facing off against two different people now.
Arika didn't know there was a third person! While she attempts to get out of the way, she's largely unsuccessful and ends up getting pierced by the lightning several times over. She winces a bit, rubbing at the injuries before focusing her chakra to blow away the smoke. Then she tries to crush the man who's attacking her with another gale of wind that would press him downwards.
When the spear is hurled down the hallway, it strikes the Miira cleanly though.. Poof! It was nothing but a clone which was destroyed though falling back, scorch marks where the lightning continued through and struck him in the chest was visible. Bringing his hands together, he tries a different front, when Arika attacked with ninjutsu, Rikuto attacked the man's mind. Twisting what he saw, t believe Arika's strikes continued further, cutting deeply into the man even if he avoided them though the last art would be different, surrounded by the smoke from the flames and the smog would blind him. Within the darkness blades made of smoke and soot would take turns lancing through him.
As his powerful strike misses, his right arm pops at some seams, hissing as palitable chakra flows out from his arm almost like steam as he then blinks as the man seems to not care about his poison. He then hurrms and stands up straight, "What the company are you?" He then is cut across the back…though not really. It simply slices across his armor and his left arm this time is the one doing the breaking apart as he whips it around. It is coming together fast as he sends it right for the knife wielding man, "You. Don't. Learn!" He attempts to slam it into the man's chest and even after that hit, if the man dodges back or is hit by it, Kaidan flips on to his right hand, pushing off of it with a flip to send a massive axe kick for the knife wielding shinobi…if anything is even left of him before he'll use that attack as a spring to push off and come back toward Yoppa with a powerful knee right for his face, "I'll leave him here." He lands with his left arm hissing as more chakra pours out of it, "So, he can synergize on your grave after you're dead."
The lightning user becomes visible as the smoke clears away. A woman in her late twenties who's face is twisted in anger like she's never had a happy moment in her life. The woman manages to avoid the strike from Arika and even the worser of the genjutsu, yet still her body has cuts appear that aren't natural and the pain courses through her. She says nothing and besides an even more pinched look not much changes. She makes some seals then before holding her palms out, one at each of the two Genin. Lightning comes from the palms and forks out, flashing multiple times to try and strike them.
Poor Stabby tried to avoid the strike again as it happened but he missed this time, which means Kaidan didn't. There's a brief shriek of pain that cuts off suddenly and then the knives drop to the ground as the man just appears to have vanished. The effects ripple outwards as well and the walls nearby crack and shudder but for now hold. How long though? Yoppa looks angry at Kaidan and uses a clone to take the blow from the puppeteer. "You underestimate me. It'll be your last mistake." He makes some seals and the ground around Kaidan erupts to try and pull him down into it. This is followed by a the walls around Kaidan sprouting spears that shoot towards the man Yoppa tried to imprison.
And Jiro still remains where he is, frozen and unable to move for the moment, his psyche shattered by the memories of his short life.
Arika jumps out of the way of the lightning, seeming relieved that it didn't hit her. Once was enough. The girl glares at he woman, shadow clone appearing next to her as both of them aim a burst of wind to once again try and paralyze the woman. Then, still acting as one, the Arika throw two wind-sharpened kunai at the lightning user. If they knew what was happening to Jiro right now, they probably would be a lot more angry…
With another jolt of lightning, strikes the Miira in the center of his chest but.. Poof! It was just another clone. "Arika, fall back if you get hit by something like that again, got it? I'll cover for you while you recover." Weaving his fingers once again, another illusion is laced, one that echoes the first form his limited success already. 'Sleep for me.. you'll be useful for the council later on' was said in a low voice as his chakra faintly flares and surges forth to infect the woman's senses.
He is out of the path of the attack with an impressive speed, avoiding being sucked into the ground only to have a spike crash into his side. He winces a litlte but only a little as he rushes forward and sends a kick right for the man's side then using the spin to do a spinning backfist toward Yoppa's face, "You overestimate yourself. You've tortured children long enough. When I'm done with you, death will seem like a mercy."
The lightning lady seems to have lost some luck after the last volley as she tries to make a lightning clone but fails to do so in time. Instead her arms come up to ward off the toppling wind and the wind that follows cuts. With Rikuto's genjutsu following it up the cuts expand all over her body, at least to her. She cries out in pain as the world vanishes and swords begin slicing her over and over again. She drops to her knees, hands up to try and ward off the invisible attacks, before she falls flat on her face as the genjutsu overwhelms her.
Yoppa manages to get a clone in between him and the first puppet flavored kick but as the second comes he only has time to raise a hand to try and block it, which fails. He lets out a violent curse as he slides into the wall from the blow. And then he literally slides into the wall, vanishing. He reappears a few seconds later - right behind Jiro. The cloth loses it's chakra and drops to show that Yoppa had knocked out the boy and now holds a kunai to his throat, facing Kaidan with a sneer. "Move and this partnership dies."
Arika and clone nod to Rikuto, both watching as the lightning-user goes down. The two make a seal, and wind starts to slice at the woman's body until Rikuto joins in on the attacks. Then the clone poofs, and Arika darts off to where Jiro and Kaidan went, the girl having some strange feeling that something bad is happening…
Rikuto walks over towards the recently fallen woman with some caution until it was clear was was well in a deep sleep if not worse. Turning to the side, he says "Arika, try to regroup with Jiro-san and Kaidan-san but on the way focus on letting 'him' tend to your wounds. I'll be bringing her." Looking around briefly, he points towards the side, directing Arika to where the others were fighting but then shouts, "They're fighting someone and have for a bit, I'm starting to feel chakra spikes, one of them is using powerful earth jutsu, and a lot of it."
The young Miira falls to a knee as he draws out a kunai with one hand, his other hand grasps and stretches out the woman's arm. With it exposed, he thrusts downwards, slashing into her forearm to crudely cut into the muscles crudely to try and drastically limit her motor skills. After moving the kunai away, he brings two fingers to his lips and blows out, breathing out a burst of flame, singing the woman's flesh to stop the bleeding, but little else. Unless stopped, he would try to pick up the woman over his shoulder to bring her towards the others as a bonus prize.
A blink as he watches the man vanish into the wall and Kaidan whips around fast to look around. He then blinks when he spots the man come out right of the wall next to Jiro and put a knife to the boy's throat. He glares at the man and grinds his teeth behind his mask. A moment later Kaidan did move…but his move was insanely fast and he kicks right for the man's face and…misses? Or did he? Right as his kick passed over top of the arm holding the knife that was aimed at Jiro's throat, a blade whipped out in an attempt to completely remove the man's arm from his body. If it were possible to poison him, it'd do that as well. Even as he brings his foot up and around to land it down, "Something like that? I'm going to send you straight to hell…and you can lick the devil's corporation when you get there."
The lightning woman is completely out and under Rikuto's control at this point, although thanks to Arika she has even more wounds. Really she's bleeding quite a bit, not just from where Rikuto severed tendons but from all the wind sharps that Arika threw. He'll have to work on that a bit if he doesn't want her to bleed out on the way back.
Yoppa screams in pain as Kaidan moves at speeds the man can't keep up with and removes his arm before he can do more than knick Jiro's neck. The arm drop and so does the boy as Yoppa moves that hand to cover the bleeding area. The bleeding is stopping rapidly though, leading one to believe that he has some med nin knowledge. It would explain how he was fighting the poison as well. "Just you wait. I'll kill you!" Yoppa yells loudly at Kaidan before he starts to sink quickly into the ground…
Arika pokes Gyuki a few times to make him heal the wounds she had sustained, and it honestly didn't take much for that to happen. He grumbled a bit about how he's basically just being used, but the beast's chakra starts to fill her chakra system enough that her injuries are all better. Arika also uses the chakra to speed her along, getting to Jiro just as he's freed from Yoppa's grasp. The girl darts over, grabbing Jiro and dragging him away from the fight.
Rikuto seems to have his hands full with the woman, surprised how much she withstood before he stabbed her. Laying her out onto the floor, he begins to go through his satchel to pull out lengths of bandages normally used for his own use and quickly begins to tend to the woman's body, focusing on where she was bleeding most and for any of the more severe wounds would blow flames that would leave scars but would close the wounds making them easier to tend to and bandage
A frown as the man attempts to sink into the floor and escape again. He glares at the man and then Arika races in and grabs Jiro out of the way. He looks down at the floor as his arm whips up and puppet strings begin to flow between the parts of his arm, empowering it. He glares at the man and then the mask he wears slides down, "No, you won't." Kaidan dons a vicious and wicked looking grin as he brings the arm slamming down but he doesn't aim for the man at all. Instead he aims for the ground right in front of the man just as his waist slips into the floor. As he hits the floor, it craters under Kaidan's feet, spiral energy flowing out from the point where he hit, and the floor all but twists as if it were a drill below his arm as he looks up to the man who was half-way into that floor.
Yoppa couldn't move as quickly thanks to the pain and lack of an arm, but he was still doing his best to escape. His best didn't matter in the end. When Kaidan comes in with his attack Yoppa's eyes widen before the loud boom sounds. The floor crates, the walls crack and the ceiling shakes loose rock dust. There is nothing left of Yoppa beneath Kaidan except for his crumpled pouch of shinobi tools.
Any remaining guards have given up or fled at this point in time. The second group of shinobi - medics, administrative types, and a few trackers - arrive for clean up. They hunt down those that fled, heal those with injuries, and start seeing to the children, leaving the main force of the first group to return home after they were healed.
Jiro only had the small nick from the kunai and a bump on his head from where Yoppa had knocked him unconscious. Other than that was okay. When he regained consciousness he said nothing. The whole return trip he would be silent as well, leaving the others once back in Suna to be debriefed without him.
Arika seems very relieved when Jiro wakes up, hugging him briefly before tugging him up so they can leave. On the way back, she travels with Kaidan, taking a free piggy-back-ride if possible while watching Jiro very carefully to make sure he's okay.
After taking care of him, Kaidan looks around and spots Arika with Jiro. He looks at Jiro with Arika, watching him as he wakes up and only then starts ot leave. He states nothing to Jiro other than to ruffle his hair if he can and then lets Arika climb on to his back. He is on his way back as well. Even as they leave though, his right arm is still hissing with chakra being released from his arm as he walks out with the others, leading the group plus children back.
