Starring:
Kenta, Kyuketsuki, Jetachi
Date: June 21, 2015
Summary:
The greater part of Team Lunar (Kenta, Kyu and Jetachi) are sent on a mission to scout a newly discovered tunnel hideout that dates from pre-Founding times. Despite being initially classified as a low rank mission due to a low danger assessment, the team finds themselves contending with genjutsu, traps and some hostile animated suits of armor before the day's over.
"Team Lunar Goes Tunnel Sweeping"
Land of Fire
It's late into autumn nowand quickly baring down on winter. Even though the Land of Fire is a warmer region of the continent, almost all the trees have lost their leaves on this first week of December and the more delicate plants have died back into the ground. Today is an exceptionally gray skied affair, with brisk winds that chill the limbs and faces of anyone that decides to forgo thicker coverings.
It's also on this day that the members of Team Lunar find themselves on a mission in the village of Brookview. It's a farming village that specializes in both summer and winter varieties of grain, located only a day's journey north of Konoha and at the edge of some large woodlands. The team had arrived the evening before and spent the night in one of the tiny guesthouses reserved for important visitors. The sun's still low, yet bright, in the sky and everyone just finished a hearty breakfast provided by the villagers. Kenta hadn't explained what the mission is, but he prepares to do it now, while everyone gets their gear ready.
"Ummm… so I guess I should let you guys know what we're supposed to do today," Kenta starts off as he checks his pack to make sure that all of his supplies are in place. "Last week, the villagers discovered a structure in the forest, a series of tunnels really, that date back to before the foundations of the Great Villages. Ummm… not -that- far back though, probably twenty years ago, according to the local mason after he examined the entrance. There's places like these all over the various countries, mostly serving as hideouts for various clans during the shinobi wars that occurred very often back then. People are finding new ones all the time and it's pretty much the jobs of Konoha's shinobi to make sure that the ones in the Land of Fire aren't a danger to anyone."
Kenta straightens up and pulls his backpack into place. "Ummm… so that's where we come in. The mayor has given me a map to the location. We're to explore the tunnels to identify any dangers within and to retrieve any useful resources. This is a low rank mission, since it's unlikely to be much risk, especially with a place that's been abandoned so long. There's still a possibility of traps though, which is why we don't want regular villagers poking inside. Umm… I want all of you to stay on alert, no matter how boring this mission might get. Understood?"
Kyu checks his Medic Nin supplies that he doesn't expect to need since Kenta's here, and once satisfied straightens the pack on his hip and looks at Kenta, "Understood Kenta-sensei. I will stay aware of my surroundings as best I can. And will my Genjutsu be useful? I can't imagine it being very helpful on this…" Kyu shrugs, "Unless we get attacked by living creatures. But I will definitely do my best."
After a decent night of sleep, Jetachi woke with his team. Catching a quick breakfast as they were being breif on their mission, This was an exciting day for Jetachi as it was his first mission. No need to check his tool bag, He only had a few shuriken and kunai along with some bandages and his journal. Having finished his meal in silence, Jetachi finally stood ready to follow Kenta's lead. "After you. Kenta-Sensei."
"We won't know for sure until we're inside, Kyu. Ummm… Usually, Genjutsu isn't much of a problem. Usually, there -isn't- any problems at all. But I always try to prepare as best as possible when we go into unknown locations. Ummm… I've had some bad experiences regarding those…" Kenta bites his bottom lip and shakes his head to clear it of unwanted thoughts. "Anyway, if everyone's all prepared, we're going to head out now. It'll take us about an hour to reach the location. It's a good thing that it's so far away, or we have village children poking their heads into it already. That would be pretty bad. The mayor says that they called us quickly and only kept their findings to a few necessary people because of that scenario."
Kenta gives everyone a quick inspection to make sure that everything's in place. Kyu's experienced enough by now that only a glance is warranted. Jetachi gets a full body scan from the medic-nin's eyes, but Kenta gives a nod of approval. He have faith in the newest member and that hasn't been disproven yet. "Looks like everyone's ready, so we're heading off."
True to Kenta's word, it takes about an hour for the small group to reach their destination. The Chuunin takes out a hand-drawn map as soon as they enter the woods behind the guesthouse. He takes them through leaf-less trees and across small babbling streams, over mossy boulders and around a few sluggish bears still foraging for food in preparation for hibernation. Eventually Team Lunar reaches the dried out banks of a deep stream. They travel along it until they see a hollow in the desiccated stream bank that was carved out from the soil beneath the roots of a massive tree by running water. "Over there," Kenta says. He beckons his team to follow and jogs underneath the outcrop of gnarled roots. A round tunnel opening lined with fitted river stones is underneath.
Kyu nods to Kenta and as soon as Kenta has done his glance-over he moves towards the exit. When Kenta says everyone looks ready he lets Kenta leave the area first and follows close behind, when they finally arrive after the hour Kyu takes a look around and follows behind him, "So this is the place?" Kyu examines the tunnel, staying near Kenta. He's already been "the one that triggered a trap first" once, he's not aiming to do that again…
It was a long and nearly conversationless walk, As it was necessary to remain alert which Jetachi did so. They walked in a sort of standard formation, Kenta in the lead with Kyu and Jetachi side by side behind him. It was a long hour into the deep nearly hibernating forest, When they finally reached their target. Jetachi eyed the strange opening, As he stood at the entrance waiting for Kenya's orders.
"The villagers only went a short way inside, so I have no idea how extensive the tunnels are," Kenta tells his team. He examines the stones that line the opening. "Ummm… looks like there used to be a door here. Must have been destroyed or removed at some point… If other people have explored this place already, it's likely to be even less dangerous. Umm… we'll see. Everyone, make sure to focus a good amount of chakra as a precaution. We'll also stay linked mind to mind, in case we get separated and need to communicate."
Kenta makes a few hand seals to activate the Yamanaka hidenjutsu. <"Link activated. Ummm… everyone can hear me?"> Kenta asks through the mental link. At the same time, he pulls out three chemical glowsticks. After cracking and shaking them to start their light production, he sticks out into his belt and offers the remaining two to his subordinates.
Kyu nods to Kenta, and already being used to his telepathic link he responds as soon as it's active <"Hai Kenta-sensei. I hear you just fine. Focusing Chakra now."> With that Kyu closes his eyes and floods his chakra system as he focuses up a good amount of chakra. He then opens his eyes and takes the glowstick with a silent nod. <"So. I don't think I should go first… But if you want I will. I could use the Sharingan to try and give me an edge in spotting traps."> Kyu shrugs after saying that through the link.
Jetachi followed Kenta into the darkness along side Kyu, Eventually hearing both their thoughts with the help of Kenta's jutsu. <"I can hear you both clearly."> Even his thoughts held a similar coldness to his voice as is thoughts echoed towards Kenta and Kyu. It wasn't long until Kenta lilluminated the area with three glow sticks. Jetachi nodded as he was handed one, Which he tied to his wrist with one of his bandages as a sort of wrist light. Only following silently next to Kyu and behind their Sensei, Paying attention to their surroundings.
<"Both the sharingan and byakugan will be useful here, but not strain yourselves if you feel them start to drain too much chakra"> Kenta sends through the links. He carefully steps inside the tunnel opening. It's small enough that he can touch the top of it, even as short as he is. When he brings his hands back down, the tips of his fingers are covered in dirt and there's a beetle clinging to his thump. He shakes it off. <"The mayor told me that they went about fifty feet in. The tunnel are paved with stone beyond, but there could still be weak spots. Watch out for those. There isn't enough room to maneuver here, but we'll shift positions a little once the tunnels widen. Ummm… I'll take point. Jetachi, you take the middle and Kyu bring up the rear."> Put the newest guy in the most secure position. With that, Kenta starts heading deeper down the tunnel.
Kyu thinks for a moment before nodding and his eyes quickly turns red and gain one single tomoe in both eyes. <"I can keep this active for a long time. Trust me."> Kyu follows behind Jetachi and looks around carefully, trying to spot any traps. Luckily he's in the back. He can't trigger a trap from back here right? Nonetheless Kyu isn't taking chances. Kyu doesn't care about getting dirty surprisingly.
After falling into rank, Jetachi stared at the back of Kenta carefully following down the narrow path. With Kyu behind him, He knew he was pretty safe. Though he never let his guard down by keeping alert of his surroundings, as Kenta requested. The occasional drizzle of dirt fell from atop the tunnel onto their heads but it was nothing but a slight annoyance, But all together the tunnel seemed pretty secure.
The tunnel does begin to become bigger as they move deeper inside. It widens enough for three people walking abreast and the ceiling lifts to about eight feet after a hundred and fifty yards in. The air also gets drier and staler the further away from the opening that they get. Dirt gives way to stone, which causes the three shinobi's footsteps to echo back of them. Their glowsticks reveal dusty stone tiles that haven't been wiped down in ages. Mold and mildew makes footing slick in many places, while tiny animal bones crunch underfoot at regular intervals.
"Doesn't look to be much signs of life around here," Kenta says as he glances around the area. He pauses to check out a crack in the wall, which just turns out to be damage caused by a tree root that's trying to force it's way between the mortar of the stone tiles. Kenta tugs his glowstick from his belt and holds it up to get a better look at a few other cracks caused by intruding roots. "The place seems straight forward so far too. Ummm… no branching or anything. You guys see anything notable?"
Kyu makes sure to contine to stay in the back but does keep an eye out with his Sharingan, but his ability to spot things has never been very good at spotting things. Kyu shakes his head, "Nothing far as I can see." Having time seemingly slowed down and enhanced memory doesn't really help when it comes to Kyu observing his surroundings!
Jetachi made his way deeper into the tunnel along side his team members, Eventually coming to a more open area. Mildew, Dust, And rust covered the stone made room. After getting a closer look, Jetachi even noticed the many animal bones along with several cracks within the structure. Per Kenta's request, Jetachi studied the room even more, Noticing more cracks and along the walls and bones on the floor. <"Not sure what to be looking for, Kenta-Sensei"> Jetachi aimed his thoughts to Kenta and Kyu utilising Kenta's telepathy Jutsu. Still He continued to scan the room, Seeing if anything was out of the ordinary for a place such as this. Eventually finding a large area of wall, Which unlike the rest of the walls it appeared in perfect condition. <"Kenta-Sensei… This might not be anything… But come check this out."> Jetachi waved both Kenta and Kyu to come across the room into the far right corner.
"Oh, that does look a little odd." Kenta steps forward to take a look at the section of wall that Jetachi pointed out. The Chuunin keeps a watchful eye out for his surroundings, but he doesn't notice a cluster of floor tiles that's slightly darker than the surrounding ones until he steps on them. Click. The wall that Jetachi was checking out splits open to reveal several tubes hidden inside. An instant later, over a dozen kunai spray out from the tubes at high velocity. They travel with the distinctive whistling sound that missiles make when speeding through the air. "Watch out!" Kenta exclaims as he ducks out of the way.
Kyu heard Kenta's warning and his red eyes snapped to the kunai, in a instant Kyu formed the hand seal for a Replacement technique, creating a clone of himself to hide behind that was filled with random animal bones, to the other two Kyu might just seem to stand there and take the kunai, but they'd notice the sound was off, more of a 'konk' than a 'shink'. Kyu explodes into smoke revealing the now damaged bones and Kyu behind the smoke caused by the clone exploding. He looks to Jetachi worriedly, hoping he can get away unharmed.
Jetachi had turned towards Kenta as he gave warning, But it was too late. By the time he attempted to dodge, The kunai had already made its way. A dozen kunai shot past him, Most of them missed however three of them made injury. Slashing past his arms and legs, Merely light cuts through his sleeves and pant legs. A small amount of blood leaked out of the, Light cuts. Jetachi nearly fell, But regained his footing not even noticing his wounds as they were not even clost to fatal. <"That was close…"> Jetachi thought out, And attempted to regroup with Kenta and Kyu.
Kenta cautiously gets to his feet. He glances at the wall where the kunai came from, but the tubes are already hidden behind the sliding tiles again."There -are- live traps in here. That means we're going to have to be even more careful now. Jetachi, you better activate your Byakugan to support Kyu." The medic-nin approaches the patch of darker flooring, but doesn't step on it again. Instead, he pulls out a thick piece of white chalk, which he uses to mark little X's around the area. "Umm… So that we don't forget on the way back, Kenta explains to the others. Let's hope that was the only one…" Kenta straightens and gestures for the other two to follow him in the same formation as before.
Kyu sighs. <"Live traps. Great. I bet there's more. Jetachi, glad you're okay. I realized something, my Sharingan doesn't make it easier to spot traps, but it does however allow me to react to them quicker…"> Kyu sighs and shrugs before falling back into formation, keeping a close eye out for anything as they walk.
Adrenaline came to an end, And Jetachi finally felt the slight pain from the cuts. It wasn't enough to take note, He simply ignored it and followed in rank once more behind Kenta and in front of Kyu. As he was walking, Jetachi began to focus his chakra. More specifically, To his eyes and activated his byakugan, In effect the outside of both eyes protruded noticeable veins stretching from his silver optics. At the instant this was active, Jetachi didn't need his glowstick any more. As his enhanced vision allowed him to peer further ahead if necessary, And even through the walls and floor should a trap suspected. <"No worries, Kyu. I can be our eyes."> He spoke while still focusing three hundred and sixty degrees around them.
The tunnel begins to curve to the left and then downwards deeper into the ground. The air is even staler here and there's less animal bones, but everything's just as dirty from neglect. Each step that the shinobi takes brings up a cloud of dust that threatens to clog noses and induce coughing. About fifteen minutes deeper, the ground comes upon another set of floor tiles with slightly different coloration, so Kenta marks it off and they skirt around the patch. Things begin to get very confusing, as the tunnel then turn in random directions. It turns right, then upwards, then downwards, then to the left and downwards again, confusing all senses of direction.
Then, something even odder occurs. The three shinobi comes upon a very familiar part of the tunnel. Animal bones strewn all over the floor, including a small pile to the side that has a kunai stuck to it. A few other kunai lie scattered on the ground. There's a patch of darker tiles on the floor with chalk markings around it and an unusually pristine patch on the tunnel walls.
"Ummm… It might just be my imagination, but I'm pretty sure that we just came from this direction…" Kenta says as he points to the markings on the floor. "But we were going deeper. Something strange's going on here. Did the tunnels shift while we were walking around?"
Kyu looks around. "Yes… This is strange… The Sharingan allows me enhanced memory of things I /see/ so these bones here, with kunai stuck in them, they're from my replacement technique. And this." Kyu goes over to where Jetachi was standing last time, "His blood. There's no way that this area just so happens to look exactly like the one we were just in. And if that's the case there's one of two things going on here. Either we got turned around, or we're all under a fairly powerful Genjutsu." Kyu is fairly used to casting Genjutsu, and he knows how to stop it… For himself at least. Kyu closes his eyes and forms the ram seal, stopping his entire chakra system's flow, before focusing a sudden surge of chakra through his whole system, basically forcing a 'reboot'. He then opens his red eyes and looks at the others. "Now the question is, am I right? Or did I just waste chakra?"
Jetachi continued with Kenta and Kyu, Keeping alert expecting some sort of trap that never came. Eventually they came to back to a familliar setting, His enhanced eyes didn't miss anything as he instantly compared the room to the room before. Utilising his byakugan perception, Everything was the same as before. Down to the mildew, rust, and root created crack, Even the kunai stuck into the wall from the earlier trap. <"Kenta-Sensei, What is going on?"> Jetachi's thoughts echoed into both his team mate's mind, Still using Kenta's active Telepathy jutsu. <"This is the same room…"> Jetachi noted to Kenta as he stood there with both his hands resting at his side, Awaiting Kenta's command.
As soon as Kyu performs Genjutsu Kai, the entire area shimmers. The passage still looks as dirty as it ever was. The kunai and bones are still there, along with the marked floor. There's also several major differences. First, the single path forward turns out to be a branch. A section of the wall has disappeared to reveal a new tunnel that's running diagonally forward to the left. The other tunnel, which they must have taken earlier, continues to go straight forward, but sharp turns to the right within twenty feet, which -isn't- how they remembered it. A section of the right wall behind them has also disappeared to show a tunnel opening. It's likely that that's how they walked back around in a loop. An area genjutsu must have messed with their perceptions.
"Ummm… I think that Kyu's right. We couldn't have gotten turned around so easily, especially not waiting straight ahead for so longer. We were also going -deeper- into the tunnel and further underground, so it's strange that we're back close to the surface now." Kenta sucks in a deep breath and also forms the ram seal. He focuses his chakra, putting a halt to its flow and then sends it surging quickly through his chakra network the same way that Kyu did. As soon as he does that, the area also shifts in his eyes. "You're -definitely- right, Kyu. The defenses are pretty sophisticated. We'll have to keep watch for more genjutsu." He walks over to Jetachi to place a hand on the young Hyuga's shoulder and force chakra into Jetachi's body to break the genjutsu.
Kyu nods. "Got it. This mission just got a lot more interesting. Also, we don't know if the person who did it is nearby or not. It could've been a seal or something, or it could've been cast by a Genjutsuist. Considering the complexity and skill it'd take to use this Jutsu, I assume that someone's nearby. We should move before it happens again. The sooner we go, the better. Mark our path as well. As much as possible. Don't underestimate Genjutsu." Kyu doesn't like this, and it shows that he's worried. He may be nearly an expert at Genjutsu, but he doesn't want to keep getting caught in it if he can help it.
Jetachi felt Kenta's touch, Immediatly afterwards was broken from the Genjutsu. Able to see the path clearly now, Jetachi was only shocked. <"I … Didn't see it. Forgivr me Kenta-Sensei.."> His thoughts echoed as he peered to the newly appeared path, Still shocked that even his undeveloped byakugan had been fooled. Now that the genjutsu had been released, They would be able to continue on. Jetachi waited for orders, If any and would follow behind Kenta and infront of Kyu once more when they finally made their way out of the room, He attempted to keep his perceptions in attempt to be alert for another trap or genjutsu.
Kenta gives Jetachi's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Don't worry about it, Jetachi. Genjutsu is a tricky thing. It can be very hard to detect, even with powerful dojutsu, like what you and Kyu have. We're lucky that we noticed the discrepancies before we triggered any more traps. That was probably the purpose of the genjutsu or at least part of it." Kenta squeezes a second time before he moves away from Jetachi.
"We should have marked the passages earlier, but it looked pretty straight forward," Kenta tell Kyu as he approaches. The Chuunin moves pass and heads into the newly revealed branch of the tunnel first. He pulls out the piece of chalk that he previously used to mark the traps, which he uses to mark on the wall every ten feet. Between two of the markings, Kenta makes a seal and sends out a pulse of chakra. He cocks his head to listen to the returning "echoes" of the chakra pulse. "I don't detect anyone up ahead or behind us, but that might just mean someone's hidden very well. My jutsu doesn't reach that far either."
Kyu looks at Jetachi and nods, and resumes speaking through the link <"I'm almost certain that was the point. And if someone is here we should follow Jetachi's example. Speak through the link. We could give him things to work off of in his Genjutsu if we talk out loud. Only say misleading or useless things out loud."> Kyu watches Kenta's markings carefully, and, for good measure, slashes into the stone with his one kunai at random intervals, creating crude quick drawings on the opposite side of the tunnel, memorizing where the carving he makes are using the Sharingan. He makes sure no two are the same and doesn't care about the noise it makes. <"They know we're here so no point in me being silent. Being too organized can give the Genjutsuist a pattern to replicate.">
Jetachi nodded as Kenta explained why he could not see through the genjutsu, Making alot of sense however Jetachi was being more aware reguardless. Not making any marks, Jetachi only noted where and how Kenta and Kyu made their distinctive marks. The tunnel seemed to never end as they carefully traveled forward deeper into the strange structure. Jetachi kept his eyes ready incase he had to look ahead of them, And was capable of seeing atleast fourty meters ahead of them in the tunnel aswell as behind them should someone sneak up from behind. It was obvious that the Hyuuga was nervous, Reguardless of his emotionless expression. Obvious because he had his right hand in side his ninja tool bag, Which was wrapped around his right leg. Within his hand he had three shuriken between his fingers, Ready to pull out quickly to launch them at any threat should one come. <"I can look ahead if you wish, Kenta-Sensei."> Jetachi echoed to Kenta and Kyu with the telepathy link jutsu that Kenta activated earlier.
<"You're the genjustu expert, Kyu. We'll follow your example and count on you to keep us out of another trick like the one that got us back there,"> Kenta sends through the link as he keeps forging ahead. The young man starts to randomize his markings like Kyu's doing, trusting in the Uchiha to keep track of them with his Sharingan. Kenta also sends a thread of approval down the link, all feeling and no words, towards Jetachi when the Hyuga checks whether he should look ahead with the Byakugan.
The new tactics that Team Lunar's taking seems to be working after another half hour of traveling. None of the markings on the wall repeats in any ways that alarms Kyu's keens senses.
Just as importantly, Jetachi manages to steer them clear of several traps. The Byakugan's ability to see through solid objects prove to be very useful, even with Jetachi's lesser experience. He notices additional kunai shooting tubes behind several walls along the way, which makes spotting the pressure plates easier also. In addition, the entire group manages to duck around a corner before they get incinerated by a motion sensing trap that spat fire at them from above, due to the Genin's observation of suddenly elevated temperatures in the ceiling up ahead. That trap only worked once, so the team manages to get pass it afterwards.
Kyu is quite impressed with how well they're doing but he makes a realization. <"We haven't seen the Genjutsuist once. Could he be doing something that we're missing? Or maybe he's setting a grand finale up for us."> Kyu takes a good look behind them. To make sure nothing is wrong, but he doesn't stop moving with the group.
Jetachi was slowly getting bettet at using his byakugan, Learning by instinct he had been able to look ahead of the team searching out traps before they even reached them. Jetachi pointed out each one to both Kyu and Kenta, Using the telepathic link between them each. By now they had just dodged sure death by the fire trap they were forced to activate, <"That last trap was recently set.."> Jetachi noted to Kenta and Kyu, A clue observed by the trap itself how it had been made in a hurry. His emotionless silver optics scanned the area as he spoke in thoughts to his companions, <"All the other traps are way more consealed, This one was rushed to make and In this rush they left it unconsealed."> Jetachi finally pulled out his three shuriken, Still firmly bewteen the fingers of his right hand. <"I didn't need byakugan to see this trap, Its possible we are catching up to the person who used that genjutsu."> Jetachi stood alert in front of Kyu awaiting Kenta's orders.
<"That doesn't sound promising. If someone's setting traps in front of us, that means they're ahead of us. We're going to have to be careful."> Kenta says through the link. He pulls out a kunai with a tag wrapped around the handle from one of the holsters. <"I wonder why the guy hasn't cleared out of the place already. Either he doesn't know that the villagers found this place and sent for a team to check it out, or he was confident that no one would break that genjutsu. Ummm… ok, make sure to stay behind me. We'll go more slowly.">
Kenta leads the team forward at the slower pace that he promised, careful to check everything ahead every few paces. He trusts that both of his subordinates will call out if there's any signs of danger. Thankfully, no further traps appear. Instead, they find themselves at the end of the tunnel a few minutes later. It opens up into a large room, which strangely has no door to bar access. Maybe not that strangely, since some degraded seals along the edges of the opening indicates that there might have been a chakra barrier across it at one point.
The room beyond is filled with items. Several tables against the wall is piled with scroll cases. Weapons hang on the walls, most still in very good condition. Chests are also stacked up everywhere, along with bags that broken open from age to scatter precious items onto the dusty floor. Several sets of armor made from plates of carved stone, complete with stone helmets and stone maces lie in a pile on either side of the entrance. There's no sign of anyone else inside, but there doesn't seem to be that many hiding places either. Everything that's stacked up is set against the walls directly.
<"Ummm… I don't see anyone inside. Could be hiding via genjutsu or some kind of camouflage technique. You two take a look with your doujutsu, but don't step inside."> Kenta stares through the entrance from where he's standing at the threshold, not moving a single inch. <"There's a -lot- of stuff here. But nothing look disturbed either. Look at all that dust. This is so odd, especially considering what Jetachi noticed about that trap earlier. Something's fishy.">
(Kyu sees that there's a shallow depression with some spikes right beyond the door, just wide enough that anyone taking the first step will end up with a skewered foot.)
Kyu hears Kenta comment that they could be hiding via Genjutsu, and in an open room like this, if that Genjutsu breaks, they're exposed. And in response he does the ram seal and Genjutsu Kai's once more, forcing any Genjutsu off of him. But to his surprise he doesn't spot anyone immediately, his attention is drawn to a shallow depression that has spikes, ready to skewer someone's foot. He suddenly shoots a hand out to block anyone from taking a step, even though most likely no-one was going to and speaks outside the link as to not arouse suspicion to the telepathy. "Watch your step. There are spikes being hidden by Genjutsu." He then drops his hand, knowing that they are at least now aware. He can't do much about pulling others out of Genjutsu.
(Jetachi sees a seal hidden behind a false panel in the rear wall. It looks like it's active, since there's some chakra running through it.)
Jetachi stood in the room along side Kenta and Kyu, Keeping himself alert and now it was his turn to check the area. The Hyuuga concentrated on the entire area focusing chakra into his byakugan, To anyone in the area Jetachi seemed to be staring off into the distance or perhaps a trance. Not even a focused gaze because it wasn't, At first Jetachi's could an entire three hundred and sixty degrees of the whole area. With just a blink He was able to see through things, The chest and any sort of non genjutsu traps. If anything was hiding he would possibly be able to find it, Aswell as anything of importance within the chest should he need to. Jetachi used the telepathic link to report <"I can see through everything. Even the chest, But that trap I can not see but… Wait."> Jetachi had noticed on the rear wall a fake panel a hidden active seal, Chakra seemed to be coursing through it. <"Kenta-Sensei… Kyu, That rear wall. Some sort of false panel, And an active seal behind it."> Jetachi finished reporting, Still alert with his shuriken still ready.
Kenta wasn't planning to enter the room, but he surges his chakra as soon as Kyu warns him that there's a concealed trap directly in front of the entrance inside. He also places his hand on Jetachi's shoulder like before and channels chakra into the Hyuga to break the Genjutsu's hold on Jetachi as well. He shivers at the sight of the shallow spiked pit that suddenly appears just beyond the door. "That doesn't look too comfortable to step on… Ummm… I'm going to go inside to take a look. You two guard the entrance." He adds quietly through the telepathic link, <"I'm going to check that seal. Jetachi, keep an eye on it for activity. Kyu, protect Jetachi while he's focused.">
Kenta carefully steps over the shallow pit. The Chuunin glances around warily, waiting for additional traps to spring. When that doesn't happen, he begins to inspect the items within the room, but his meandering path is designed to take him towards the hidden panel with as little delay as possible. Unseen to him and Kyu, the elaborate seal behind the panel begins to glow more fiercely the deeper he enters. When he's in the middle of the room, both of the Genin would notice that the two piles of armor flanking the doorway's beginning to move slightly. Jetachi actually see chakra begin to gather within the armor.
Kyu looks at the armor, and at Kenta <"This isn't good. The armor is moving Kenta."> Kyu stays put though, keeping Jetachi covered. He grips the kunai he pulled out earlier tighter and watches the other two. Kyu has no clue what to do for this. How should he fight this threat?! Animated suits of armor? Certainly the grand finale Kyu was talking about… Kyu focuses a bit more chakra to ready himself for this.
Jetachi had been watching the entire area paying attention to every detail, More spacifically he could see the chakra in the seal which began to react to Kenta's presence. The closer he approached the more erratic the chakra within the seal became, At a repeating pulse which only quickened by the second. He was possibly the only one who could actually see it and had to react. Jetachi kept his focus on the seal, Aswell as area should something occure. Kenta had made his way to the middle of the room by now and the seal began to pulse with even more chakrab than before, It infact began to serge out with chakra. <"Kenta-Sensei… Kyu… the seal."> He attempted to be immediate, But the chakra had already begun to pour into the suits of armor. <"The armor is building chakra!"> His voice was cold but he held consern, Showing it by quickly throwing two shurikens into both suits of armor. One towards each, Jetachi held the remaining one in his right hand between his fingers. The attack might have done nothing, However it would Alert Kenta and Kyu of where to focus and target. Still alert to his surroundings, Jetachi could see more and more chakra build into the armor until it eventually began to move.
With a sudden shiver, two sets of armor rises into the air, as if they've been lifted by strings. The shuriken that Jetachi tossed goes right through the gap between the mail shirt and the greaves. Chakra condenses into a translucent semblance of two men within the armor, until they fill the pieces almost completely. Then, the armor settles onto the solidified figures, all gaps sealing shut.
The animated suits of armor turn towards Kenta as one, ignoring the two Genin completely. Thump! Thump! Thump! Heavy stone boots marches at the Chuunin. Stone-plated gloves lift with stone cudgels clenched in the heavy fingers, prepared to smash Kenta a new face.
"Uhh oh…" Kenta utters aloud when the suits of armor starts moving towards him. He lifts both palms to send blasts of medical chakra at them when they're only a few feet away. The chakra isn't very effective against non-living creatures, being keyed towards disrupting biological systems, but they still send the suits of armor reeling backwards a few step. One of them strike the edge of a heavy table and scatters into pieces all over the floor. Then, it quickly begins to reform piece by piece.
"-Definitely- uhh oh…" Kenta scowls and runs for the hidden panel. <"Keep those things occupied! They must be linked to that seal. I'm going to have to shut it down, but I'll need to concentrate when I'm doing that! Don't let them interrupt me!">
Kyu sees Kenta's display of skill and sighs a relieved sigh, but when he hears the mental message he straightens up. <"I only know basic academy non-Genjutsu defenses. But I'll try."> Kyu jumps clean over the pit and dives, kunai point down, holding with both hands, right at the armor, trying to slam it into them, and in an impressive display of speed he leaps up and focuses chakra into his feet, standing upside as he rapidly does hand seals, unleashing a large barrage of small bolts of fire at him via rapid small exhalations from above. <"Jetachi, distract the other one.">
Jetachi watched as both suits of armor attacked Kenta, Who had knocked them to peices effortlessly. However they began to put themselves back together and the chakra inside grew stronger. <"Their chakra just grew stronger."> Kenta had already headed to solve the situation, And Jetachi assisted by throwing his last shuriken go land right above the false panel. <"Its there."> Jetachi's thoughts echoed To Kenta and Kyu. By now Kenta gave both him and Kyu intructions to fight the chakra possesed suits of armor off to give him some time.
After a quick nod, Jetachi turned to Kyu who he had looked forward to fighting along side. No longer standing still he glared to the suits of armor, <"Alright."> Jetachi agreed before he dashed to close in on the other suit of armor, Finally within range he could strike. Standing infront of the chakra filled suit of armor, Jetachi had already been in his Juuken style fighting stance. One open palm stretched above him with a bent elbow towards his opponet, his other palm open infront of him aimed to the suit of armor. Within seconds he had focused his chakra to his open palms and begun to strike, First with his right palm thrusting to the armor's chest. Almost instantly after the attack, Jetachi had pivoted his body around in a spin to bring his left palm to meet his opponet aiming another Juuken strike to the suit of armor's chest. Jetachi finished his strikes with a third Juuken strike, Which came almost immediatily after the second. His right palm once more thrusted into the armors chest, He would kick himself away after his attacks attempting to prepare himself for more.
As soon as both Genin charge at the animated suits of armor, they turn around to face their attackers. Two identical stone shields lift in defense. The one on the left manages to block the first shuriken that Kyu threw, which simply bounces off the hard service. Then, flaming shuriken hit with a force greater than the shield can handle. The creature stumbles backwards and goes down on its knees, but doesn't shatter like earlier, having managed to brace itself to some degree. It lowers the shield and lifts an armored palm at Kyu. Small flecks of chakra consolidate in the air in front of the gauntlet and sprays outwards in a cloud of razor sharp particles.
Jetachi's doing worse than Kyu at the moment, maybe because the strikes were meant to be effective against living opponents. Also, hitting stone with bare hands isn't the most comfortable feeling in the world, even to one of the Hyuga. The strikes bounces off the shield of the second animated suit of armor, but does force it to stay still for some precious seconds. As soon as Jetachi leaps backwards, it's swinging its stone mace directly for the Genin. The mace whooshes through the air… once, twice.
Meanwhile, Kenta has reached the hidden panel that Jetachi pointed out to him. He pats the wall where it's located until he finds the seams. Then, he pulls out a kunai to jam the tip into one of the cracks. It's not the best way to treat a kunai, but the medic-nin's in a great hurry. He grunts loudly as he pry at the panel, muscles straining and face going red with the effort. There must be some kind of trick to the panel, but probably one that only the owners of this hideout would know about. Eventually, the panel pops off and falls to the ground with a loud thump of stone striking stone.
Kyu's form appears to get decimated by a spray of chakra, but then explodes into smoke, revealing a large amout of rocks that were being held together by adhesive chakra, but the second burst catches him off guard, the best Kyu managed was to bring up his arms and get sliced up by the cloud. "Ah. Nothing compared to what Zori did." Kyu comments before doing the same seals again, and this time firing off an even larger barrage of bolts of fire.
Jetachi's attacks were useless, Doing more counter harm than good. Luckily he had chakra in his hands or they would be more than bruise, Though he did not sumbit to the pain and contined to fight on. Seeing the armor attacking him, He had no choice but to attempt to dodge and blocking would only crush his arms. Already being in the Juuken stance, He would attempt to utilise his near perfect balance to pivot away from harm. Using his feet to turn away from harm only to quickly redestribute his balance, Attempting to dodge the opposite direction.
However reguardless of his effort, Jetachi was smashed by the stone mace right into his stomach. The powerful strike hit him in the air, Only temporarily as the second strike came down hitting his back returning him directly to the ground.
Jetachi laid on the ground stomach first in pain, Not really sure what was broken or not he attempted to pick his dizzy self up. "Woah…" Jetachi spit up blood and clenched his stomach beginning to stand, Still holding his stomach he stumbled back and for as hid other arm rested to his side. "Kyu.. Im pretty messed up." Even now he help his free open hand outward attempting to atleast defend himself.
The animated armor that Kyu's targeting lifts it's shield again in defense, but the barrage of flaming shuriken prove to be too much. It stays crouch under the assault for a second before getting overcome. The chakra that keeps it moving dissipates for a second, so that the indistinct figure within it turns into a shapeless cloud of energy. Individual pieces of stone armor rains down on the ground. They begin to rattle back together as the cloud of chakra start stabilizing again, but Kyu has brought himself a breather…
Or maybe not, since the second set of animated armor is turning towards Kyu, whom it now regards as the bigger threat. It dismisses Jetachi, since the young Hyuga's obviously injured and unable to cause any trouble. The looming amalgamation of stone pieces stomp towards Kyu and turns its back on Jetachi completely for a second.
At the back wall, Kenta's trying to decipher the seal chiseled into the wall behind the panel. Many people would simply try to break it, but as a seal expert, the Chuunin knows that might not always get a desirable effect. Some seals have measures built into them to cause just as much trouble when disarmed the wrong way as they did while active, maybe more. Kenta isn't about to trigger any such measures, so he concentrates on tracing all the paths of the seal and the meaning behind each linked character. It's tough going, especially with a fight going right behind him. Sweat quickly begins to bead behind Kenta's forehead protector. "Hang on back there! Just a little longer!"
Kyu sees Jetachi take one hell of a hit, and shifts focus now that his armor is temporarily down. He looks at the armor as it approaches, and thinks. "I said I shouldn't use this in a fight until I practice it more, but I suppose it could be useful. Take your time Kenta!"
Kyu then does the seal used to create basic clones, and tries to use the smoke created by the clones appearance to speedily grab Jetachi, and tug him behind something, hoping the suit doesn't take note, and instead focuses on the clones.
The clones, both of them, move towards the suit VERY rapidly, and distance themselves from eachother, the first clone gets close, and suddenly puffs up and explodes into flames, attempting to burn the suit and use explosive force to harm it, the second tries to loop around behind it and do the same thing.
Kyu meanwhile shushes Jetachi, as they're both behind a few boxes now, and checks if the suit noticed his escape, and whispers to Jetachi "I saw you were injured. I wanted to heal you before continuing."
Jetachi had actually blacked out for a moment, Only coming to as he stood there with Kyu. Explosions echoed from byond there cover, Kyu had attempted to stall the enemy. <"Thank you…"> A thought echoed as Jetachi came too. "We have to keep at it" Jetachi readied for battle as he stood with kyu, Alert for what ever.
The detonation of both clones makes the room shudder. Objects on the nearest tables and shelves tumbling off, with a few of the delicate ones immolating or shattering according to the natural of its material. The intact suit of armor also staggers from the force of the attack. Unfortunately, it manages to hang on to its shield and shelter behind it well enough to absorb much of the force of the attacks. It's torso actually twists all the way around to sharply defend from each direction, being nothing more than a stone cuirass housing a sentient mass of chakra. But by the time that it's prepared to retaliate, both of the Genin are gone. Only one target's in sight. It starts to stomp towards Kenta. It moves pass the sister suit of armor that Kyu scattered, which is already more than halfway back together again.
At the back of the room storage room, Kenta's still tracing the seals, but there's greater deliberateness to his motions now. It's as if he had latched on to a trail and now he's following it with growing confidence to the end. Suddenly, he points to a seemingly randomly part of the seal. "There," the young man breaths. As soon as he found what he's looking for, Kenta starts to perform a series of hand seals. Each motion is deliberate and sharp, but it's obvious that it's going to take him a while to complete whatever intricate counter he's attempting.
Kyu quickly assesses Jetachi's injuries once the armor shifts focus, having seen the hits he took, and places his hands gently on his stomach, he pulses Echoing/Reflective-Diagnostic chakra into his body and rapidly mentally assess his injuries. He then begins to heal Jetachi's wounds. They aren't too horrible, but when they get back to the village, a short time in the hospital may be nessessary, due to a few minor fractures in the ribs from the hit on the back. Nothing he can't fight with though! <"Alright. You'll be fine, I need you to do something, charge the suit and get it's attention, don't let it interrupt Kenta. And look like you ran away from me as soon as you could move. We still gotta keep this up in case the Genjutsuist is somehow watching us… If he is still here. Or was ever here. I'll protect you if it attacks this time, but I'll stay hidden until it attacks."> "You'll be fine" Kyu says after his short speech in the link, still healing Jetachi's wounds.
Jetachi felt great as his broken bones began to fall into place, After they fell the pain came. It took every ounce of himself to not make a noise, Clenching his teeth tightly. His eyes showed pain, But Kyu was helping him because they were friends. Jetachi's bones tightened more, They even began to mend. Pain was tolerable by now as he stood up from his resting place and dashed at the suits of armor. More angry than before, Jetachi looked to end them. His byakugan ability showed him the weak point, The entry point of the chakra. Jetachi leaped to send a juuken strike to the first suit of armor, Attempting to strike the point of entry for the chakra. If he his strike hit, It should block the chakra flow to the suit of armor as he would have blocked the chakra entry point. By the time the suit of armor would notice, The other suit of armor was hit. A second juuken strike to the chakra entry point, Attempting to stop the chakra flow to the second suit of armor. Regardless if he made contact, He would attempt to make distance between them for another attack.
Somehow, the suit of armor that's stomping towards Kenta detects Jetachi's approach. It whirls around just before it reached the Chuunin, but is a little too slow to rise it's shield towards the Hyuuga. Nevertheless, it manages to twist it's stone cuirass enough that the Juuken strike misses a vital spot and leaves it mostly unharmed. It moves to retaliate almost immediately. By that time, Jetachi had struck the second suit of armor, which had just finished reassembling itself. With a vital point struck, the flow of chakra animating it falters for a second and it half scatters back all over the ground.
Kenta's series of hand seals grow more urgent as he comes to a close. Finally, he makes the Tiger seal and presses his hand against the pattern on the wall. The glow of it flares for a second before it begins to flicker and finally die. Behind him, the one still-standing suit of animated armor clatter to the ground like a doll with its strings cut.
The Chuunin whirls around with a look of relief on his face. "Good job covering my back," he tells the other two members of his team. He wipes his forehead with the back of his sleeve. Then, his expression grows a little more somber. "Ummm… It doesn't look like anyone's been here for a while. The seal was a very tricky one. It was powering many of the traps in this place, including the genjutsu. Ummm… I -think- it had a few dead people's chakra bound to it as a source of fuel, which is why it lasted so long. But I've disabled it, so it should be fine now."
Kenta looks around the store room. It's much dimmer without the glow of the seal, but there's enough light to see by, if also much more shadows. "I bet a lot of the stuff here's pretty valuable. We'll head back to Konoha to report. Some other teams will probably be sent here to sort through this stuff and bring back anything worthwile. Ummm… you guys ok?"
Kyu sees the suits collapse and looks a bit surprised. He was ready to step in, but looks like that won't be neccessary. Kyu steps out from behind the boxes. "I see. Well that makes sense I suppose. So the seal's done for?" Kyu says, breathing a little heavily. He wipes away the very small amount of blood on him from the chakra shrapnel earlier. Nothing serious at all. Kyu looks around the room, "I forgot how complex seals can get. It's not in my list of things I know a lot about. But I'm glad it wasn't anyone nearby."
Jetachi had smiled at his attempt, "Well… Who knew…" He spoke before he fell into an unconscious state , The pain had finally put him out. Broken rips had grinded together, Pain was not the word. Jetachi's last images were a blurred vision of his team mates before he fell into unconsciousness. Jetachi laid on the solid ground completely unconscious, Blood slightly poured down his mouth as he laid in his coma like state.
Kenta nods his head up and down at Kyu. "Ummm… It takes years, even decades, to learn a decent amount about seals. But it's not really possible to learn everything in a lifetime. I started when I was very young. Grandmother is a seal expert…."
The medic-nin's voice falters as Jetachi suddenly collapses. He drops to his knees to check the younger shinobi. He places both hands on Jetachi's chest with the palms glowing from medical chakra. "He's not gravely injured, but we're going to have to tend to him. Ummm… I'll save the congratulations for accomplishing our first mission together until he wakes up and we're back at the village. Still, good job. This didn't turn out as easy as I thought, but it still went well." Kenta looks up to offer Kyu a faint smile.
