Starring:
Kei (emitter), Goh, Fuyu, Yuri, Ryuutai, Shichirou, Tetsuo, Tsun, Yuzuna, Ai
Date: March 7, 2011
Summary:
Konoha-nin and Land of Fire forces seek to destroy the source of the clay monsters destroying their homeland.
"The Legion March - Ending the Unending"
Land of Water, Golem Production Facility
It was under the cover of night that the Konoha strike team was set to hit their target. A larger force would provide a distraction, but the main threat would come from the small band of shinobi that were to sabotage and destroy the main production facilities on the island. The defense of their homeland rided on the outcome of this battle, and failure might mean the loss of a second chance. There was almost no room for error on this mission, for their target was the main golem production facilities. It was here that Kirigakure was making over ninety percent of the unending supply of disposable soldiers they were throwing at the Land of Fire's defenses.
Though it was a cloudy, overcast night, the island was lit up as if by an invisible, ethereal torch from the underworld. Everything seemed to glow an eerie red color. The facility was massive, and took up most of the square-mile that the small island was composed of. It was from this building that the red glow came. The outside was made of metal and concrete, not wood or stone, and stood some five stories tall in some sections. It was an enormous complex, the kind one could get lost in trying to find their way around.
It was also hot the closer one got to the building! Like night-time on the neon strip in Vegas hot. It was hot enough that just standing on the island was enough to make people start sweating. The guards were all well-hydrated and rotated regularly, so this wasn't usually a problem.
Speaking of guards, they patrolled along the water-fence regularly. The fences was topped by barricading, brightly-lit flotation devices that kept the chain-links from sinking, and helped to mire and swamp any boats that may approach. The fence itself extended some six hundred feet underwater, farther than any normal human could hold their breath, and had sealed tags every hundred feet or so to detect tampering. The fence had two places that could be disconnected to allow boats to come through to pull up to the island's docks. There was a stone bridge extending across the water to the next island, but that was heavily-guarded. It was also where the planned attack was to come from, so entering through there would likely not be a good idea.
Already men could be heard shouting in the darkness, signalling that the attack was about to begin. Searchlights light up the night sky from all over the island as the alarm is sounded and shinobi and soldiers prepare to defend their posts.
The Kiri-shinobi posted here probably weren't happy about being sent on guard-duty out here in the middle of nowhere. But this facility was the cornerstone of their entire invasion efforts. If it fell, so too would likely their entire war effort. It was boring, but it was important. And now, with the sounds of battle on the fire side of the bridge being engaged, it appeared it might not be so boring after all!
Of course, there were clay golems EVERYWHERE. Even as raw clay and other materials were brought into the facility's east side, whole golem divisions marched out of the west… and into the ocean where they would begin their several-weeks-long march to the shores of the Land of Fire.
The mission has already started and no one is waiting around, thus it is unclear what 'others' people may be standing near, as the Konoha ninja and their allies are not standing around together, or even standing at all. They are, instead, secreted away inside the transport vessels bringing in materials from the east side of the island. She had the team assigned to this mission perform Henge no Jutsu to disguise themselves as either storage containers or some of the raw materials being brought in. Uchiha Fuyu herself is disguised as one of the guards that make sure everything is checked over. Where Henge no Jutsu might fail, Genjutsu is a useful alternative.
If Shichirou is standing around, he is likely disguised as a guard and standing atop the cargo container that was hijacked a couple days prior. Fuyu's eyes search constantly for signs of those who may be suspicious. But as heavily-guarded as this place is, it seems they do not have the same degree of paranoia as Fuyu herself does. Those who question her have the Sharingan's power cast over them and they leave confident that all is well.
But this cannot last forever. Fortunately, Fuyu does not intend for it to do so. She instead intends to wait until the cargo container is within or near the factory entrance and then give the signal to attack. The signal is two loud impacts on the side of the container. When she strikes the container twice, everyone is to un-Henge and emerge from concealment. From there, they are just supposed to destroy everything that looks even remotely important.
The shortish Shirayuki Chuunin kunoichi that Fuyu appears to be presses on. Almost there… This was almost too easy. And with that line of thought she immediately goes into a silent frenzy of trying to figure out what possible traps they might be falling into.
It's not paranoia if they're really out to get you.
It seems that none of these missions had any margin for error. Nevertheless, the blonde Akuu from Konoha is happy to take a backseat in the planning this time around. Goh played a major role in finding captives, thus finding out exactly where this place was. He'll let Fuyu plan out the mission on not only how to get into this warm factory, but also how to destroy the place.
Thus, here he was. A box, just like any other. Goh himself was terrible at genjutsu, and figured that he'd at least be pretty good as a box. But the problem with being a box? You have to be so, SO still to pull it off. And … Goh just finds that difficult. Nevertheless, he waits for the signal. So quietly. So still. Gr.
Tetsuo would be posted up waiting for the word to move out petting Nebo on the head as he licked his face smiling, "let's wrap this mission up so we can go back home and spend time with the girls." He would sigh as he sniffed around the area checking for a scent that wasn't any of the ones here but so far he picked up nothing.
Yuzuna hasn't participated in the war as often as the others, a fight here or there, though when she had been told of the details of her fellow clansmen being taken, then rescued, she had volenteered for the mission. To be of any help possible to defend the village and have her justice. Nobody messes with the Hyuuga clan. As she has like the others, Yuzuna is henged as a wooden box, containing bottles of water for soldiers or anyone else that worked constantly at this unusual building.
One of the people hidden as a crate is Ai, she has her Byakugan activated while waiting for things to 'go down' as it were…
Tetsuo would be waiting with the others, rest and thinking of what it is he has to do in order to make sure the mission goes as smooth as planed. During this time he would sniff out the area checking for hidden enemy scents and their location for the most part they where clear and ready to move. Just then he would flash a sigh towards Fuyu telling her that they're good to go on her mark. (So much pressure is put on me nowI can't failI can't let the others downand besides I have to make it back home for her.) (I have to be sharp and my nose has to be sharper!)
Yawning, Tsun would run her hands through her hair, stopping at the top of her head and somewhat tugging on currently very much unkempt hair. Bags were under her eyes, sleep was something the girl had none of as of late. She also lacked a new supply of bubblegum, which further added to stress, she looked a mess because she lacked sleep and was too stressed out to put herself together… the messy look even though caused by stress, added more stress. Now, she was finally getting into the swing of killing things and they decide to post her in a completely actionless area, her teeth would grind together her brow scrunching up at the thought of this.
So yes, the girl was not in the best of moods and her trains of thought were that of a more pessimistic person as she thinks back of her many faults in her mission. Not killing Ai, not putting more effort into killing Goh(Really she believed she could pull it off!).. and then Tsun would think back to her most recent battle which ended in quite a bit of wounds that were somewhat quick to recover.
"I should've made sure he was dead… he didn't deserve a chance did he?" "…" Tsun's presence would become much more negative as she growls out, "Why wont you answer me…"
One of the younger guards next to her would have been sweating bullets, she had made him feel nothing but uncomfortable the whole time, especially when he attempted to strike up conversation and now she wanted him to talk to her. Shaking, his eyes would slowly shift away from the ocean and look towards Tsun, his voice rattled. "Uh…eh, n-no, y-you shouldn't of let him live. He didn't deserve it at… at all!" He had no idea what the hell she was even talking about and all he could do was hope that agreeing with her would be the right answer this time around.
The girl would go silent, even her shallow breathing would halt. The sound of construction and the ocean being the only thing keeping him from fleeing in panic. Maybe if he said something else it would help, "I mean… it's not like h-" His hope would be quickly crushed when she turns to give him an icy glare.
Lucky for him, the glare was unintentional and a half smile would appear causing a large smile to erupt over the guard's face. "I wasn't talking to you but… thanks and…" The smile would fade, her glare would become much more cold, "Please don't talk to me anymore." The man would quickly turn away and even take a step away from her as the two return to watching over the ocean.
Yuri succeeded in her task of causing damage to Konohagakure installations and forces. She caused chaos, death, and even managed to take down a fairly skilled Uchiha! But that was all in a day's work. Nothing special for a Swordswoman. Thus, allowing one of her allies to be captured by the Uchiha Clan Head was very much a blackmark on her performance record. Still, the enemy had been retreating, and her intention to kill the foolish little girl that let herself be taken hostage was foiled by the Akimichi Clan Head's Ninjutsu. Being stuck in mud? Seriously? Even now she has to shake her head about that.
Such a simple concept, and yet so utterly devastating. Sure, the base was destroyed… But how much information will be obtained from Yuuka before she is either disposed of by Konohagakure or eliminated by Kirigakure? The worth of a single base is nothing compared to what secrets might be spilled from the mouth of a torture victim.
Still, they had to withdraw. Two of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and a supposedly-powerful Jounin, driven away by a few miscreants. Why had the order been given to retreat? They still had work to do! If they had pursued immediately the problem Kaguya might already be dealt with!
A wife and mother of two children, Suzaku Yuri is concerned only that this will somehow turn back and bite her in the rear unexpectedly. Kirigakure? The Land of Water? Eff them. It's her >own< life she is concerned about.
Sighing, Yuri turns her attention back on the task at hand. She is currently standing in a relatively open position in order to both boost morale and enforce order. She is known throughout the ninja ranks as friendly, loyal, and fair… Yet a strict follower of proper protocol. If she sees anyone violating the rules for safe conduct here, she will let him or her know very promptly. If someone is slacking off, she will notify him or her directly. And further, she will expect to see the issue fixed so that she doesn't have to kill anyone.
But as alarms begin to wail, search lights are turned on, and forces are amassed to repel the recently-spotted forces of the combined Leaf and Cloud, she can no longer worry about issues of uniform violations or if someone is wearing gloves while handling volatile chemicals. She considers taking charge from the local commander and organizing these louts to move to meet the charging shinobi instead of merely defending their positions, but a nasty feeling nags at her mind. Who would be dumb enough to launch a frontal assault? The Leaf, obviously. But who is commanding them? That Akimichi fat-head? Noab or whatever? Maybe.
But if that >other< is in charge or involved in any way… She doesn't see this as the kind of battle strategy she would employ. And even if it is >not< Uchiha Fuyu, Yuri is just about as paranoid as Fuyu is (not that either knows this or would admit to it), and it is in her nature to suspect everyone of just about everything. Trust absolutely no one at any given time. So she starts trying to figure out where an alternate route of attack might be coming from, and comes up with only one answer. There are two ways onto this island. One is being assaulted openly. Why would the Leaf attack the island without covering the other route? That would just allow a retreat to be possible for the Kirigakure forces! They could just pack up their equipment and plans and such and >leave< with the vast majority of what they need >intact<.
If she were the enemy, she wouldn't leave that possibility open. So she places a ceramic Hunter-Nin mask over her face and starts heading towards the east side of the factory. The fact there are no alarms coming from that direction yet makes her >very suspicious<.
Ryuutai is new to the Kirigakure forces — as far as anyone knows. He is a Yotsuki. He should be considered the ENEMY. And yet he has been granted a prestigious position as a Kirigakure Jounin with no more than a month of 'testing' and been given the two newly-forged swords that together are called 'Kiba'. First that Maikeru person, and now this one? Yotsuki Ryuutai is new to the Kirigakure forces. Already, most of them either resent him or just plain hate him. The rest just suspect him of treachery at any given moment. Not caring one way or the other what those around him think or feel unless it impacts the performance of his duty, the dark-skinned man has nonetheless removed himself from the eyes of those who might be offended just by seeing him. He stands atop the factory itself, watching silently all those below him scurrying about like insects. He may outrank them, but he does not hold their respect or loyalty yet.
Ryuutai will have to change that eventually. But right now, a more major concern is the alarms that are going off and the large force of ninja and regular troops that are approaching the bridge. He is a bit paranoid himself. A lot paranoid, really. But he is still nowhere near the same degree of crazy as Yuri is and he is trusting enough of her judgement to assume she can handle the incoming attackers.
The local commander can do his job, but Ryuutai has no other opinion about him. Therefor, as an unknown quantity himself, Ryuutai assigns the duty to himself of checking up on the commander and seeing if he is needed anywhere. He makes a series of rapid leaps and runs along walls and smoke stacks and similar. The heat of the factory is oppressive. The dark-skinned man shows no sign of noticing. Instead he just 'stealths' his way into whatever structure the man in charge uses as an operations center, practically just 'appearing' behind him silently… Like a ghost.
The moment there is a pause in any reports being offered by others, the young man asks, "How many and who is leading them?"
The Konoha team's entrance has gone so far with success. The barge they come in on is brought through the water barrier. By the time it gets to the docks, it seems to be pretty clear sailing! The containers are given a cursory check-over by non-shinobi personnel, nothing more. With the apparent presence of 'Kirigakure' shinobi on board, there is no need for a thorough examination, and with the severe volume of raw materials inported every few hours, anything more than a simple exterior examination would slow down production. And the last forge manager that slowed down production ended up in the golem press. In fact, the only thing odd about this shipment… was that Kirigakure ninja were aboard! But the watch soldiers were not in the habit of questioning ninja. And thankfully, there are no shinobi apparent outside the facility near the docks. But then, one didn't have to see a ninja for there to be one nearby.
The bridge commanders are massing their soldiers, and already clay golems are pouring away from their positions towards the bridge! When Ryuutai appears in their midst, the group of men, and one woman, look startled for a moment. The commander of the security force snaps out of his surprise and answers. "A strikeforce of at least several thousand. They landed in a clear zone on the larger island and are attacking the front gates as we speak. We had no advance warning, that means all of our advance guards are dead. Whoever it is is good."
But more sirens begin to wail, even as the first of the golems begin marching over the bridge. They are comming from the west side of the island. Boats are coming in under full sail, making all haste for the island the factory is on, the banners of the Land of Fire's navy displayed prominently, though hard to discern in the darkness. This second front is small than the first, comprised of a few dozen ships packed with hundreds of men, but the threat is no less imminent. The Land of Water's own naval escort is moving to intercept them, the shinobi in the security boats already gathering chakra to manipulate the water around them.
Just then the first of the clay golems meets the soldiers trying to beat their way across the bridge in a coordinated fashion. They fight like demons, but the golems are twelve feet tall and thick as reeds. Engineers lug siege equipment behind them, but it will take some time to set that up. And with more of the stonework monsters marching up out of the water, all around the island, that time is something they may not have!
But these golems may be a little different than others encountered in that their eyes glow a dull pink, not the usual listless orange.
Shichirou remains waiting for the moment to strike out to come. His patience is one of the virtues he is known best for… for those who know him.
The 'Shirayuki' Chuunin does as little as possible to make others wonder why she is onboard the barge. She allows her gaze to seem glassy, uninterested, and just looks about with only vague interest. But that is how she glimpses the blur of movement approaching the docks quickly, just as the barge is being secured in place by the dock workers. The Sharingan sees all — or almost all. Either is good enough to spot the woman in the same clothing and mask as Fuyu recalls from the conflict last week. Yes, a Kaguya was captured. But Fuyu would have preferred killing or capturing a Swordswoman. Funny how she now has a second chance at severely harming Kirigakure's forces.
Then she looks towards the factory and recalls they already intended to harm Kirigakure's forces. Destroy the facilities and it will have the same effect. But that woman… Again Fuyu's disguised Sharingan turns to track the Hunter-Nin as she approaches. She nearly killed a member of Fuyu's team. Hinotori is going to be laid up for a week or more even with the best Medics available to work on him. He might never heal fully from having a large portion of the right side of his torso torn out. Fuyu doesn't like that.
'Revenge it is,' she thinks silently. As a dockworker approaches, she calls out the order, "Take good care of this shipment!" Then she raises one hand and knocks her fist against the side of the cargo container to indicate what shipment she is talking about. In the process, the two impacts on the metal siding should be quite loud enough for those within to hear.
The signal has been given.
Before the worker can even respond, the Konoha and Suna ninja and anyone from any other Village that is here should be literally exploding out of the cargo crate, sending pieces flying everywhere, and basically just blasting, stabbing, poking, biting, and 'mantis'ing every single damn thing in the area. For her part, Fuyu just Body Flickers about 600 feet in one go and appears in front of the incoming Swordswoman with blade drawn!
Goh the box just sort of sits there. His crate is inspected, but like the others, nothing ever comes for it. Phew! Goh is damn good at being a wooden structure, it seems. Then the guards clear…
When Fuyu gives the signal, that is when the action starts up. A POOF erupts from the container as GohBox explodes into the Pickler proper. His long white muffler drags behind Goh as he charges out of the crate at full speed. As he goes, he gathers chakra in his wake. Fuyu is already gone it seems, but no matter. Once he's clear of the container, he leaps high into the air, hollering his announcement to the world.
"HEY KIRIGAKURE LOSERS!" He cries out, landing on the docks before peering to the left, then to the right. "I'M GOING TO TAKE YOU ALL DOWN! SO SAYS THE ALMIGHTY GOOOHHHH-SAAMMMAAAA!" He's getting used to his opening line, that much is sure.
Darting forth along the docks, he seems to not attack many people at the moment. Just gathers chakra for the impending destruction. He needed to gather as much attention as possible, and make it not only easier for others to destroy things, but also take some of the attention away from the weaker shinobi in the Konoha ranks.
The double tap. The signal is all she needs as Yuzuna releases the henge, popping out of the top of the container as if she had jumped gracefully from it instead. Landing with a slight crouch, the Hyuuga kunoichi narrows her pale opal eyes as she shifts her gaze quickly from left to right, knowing that her sight was going to be relied heavily upon in the coming battle. Without so much of a twitch, the pale skin along the corners of her eyes suddenly bulges with veins, spiderwebbing towards her temples and along the edges of her cheeks. Yuzuna flexes her slender fingers at her side, focusing on building chakra while Goh screams at the top of his lungs, geared up for a fight it seems.
Back to normal, Ai is ready to try and kick some ass… keyword is sadly probably try. Anyway, she gets into a Juuken stance, and lounges herself at a nearby soldier, aiming at his tenketsu. She notices Goh's distracting behavior, and makes note to thank him for that later…
Tetsuo would get he signal and get all fired up taking charged out of the boxes dashing at high speeds "move aside move aside! TSUGA!" taking off into a spin he would attack everything infront of him with with a huge smile on his face it would appear that he and his dog Neebo has taken a liking to the combat of war. Tetsuo would use his speed to strike the stomach and kidneys as he saw fit.
Tsun would get bored of looking out, it was pretty obvious they were under attack and they only needed one person to yell if the Konohagakure ninja broke through the initial defenses… there were much more than Tsun and her fellow guard in charge of this so she'd deem herself unnecessary. "They don't need both of us staring out here. If someone comes it only needs one person to shout." Tsun would then roll her shoulders, will she get chewed out for leaving her post without being told to do so? Probably. But, at the moment she didn't care, her judgement was not at its greatest at the moment, it's not as if being responsible was ever the highest on her 'things to be' list.
'Where are you going Tsun-chan?…'
Now he decides to talk. He would go ignored, she would do her best to void her mind of thought to avoid answering him. Leaping down from her position, a sheet of ice would form beneath her feet and they would instantly halt her decent in front of one of the building's window openings. She would bask in warmth of the building within from the outside for a good five seconds before taking a step through the window. Once again falling, she would drop only for a short moment this time as she is caught by a metallic walkway set against the wall.
The warmth was somewhat refreshing. Despite her element, Tsun was not entirely in love with the idea of being cold all of the time, her thick jacket was testament to this. 'Tsun-chan, are you going to turn your back on that? Do you not hear what is happening?' Tsun would ignore him, just as she did the sound of the alarms and now the sounds of battle.
Sighing softly, Tsun would just look off ahead for a good minute until gracing the oddly patient Shukaku with a response. "It's going to happen again isn't it. Is that why you're so eager?" 'Is that why you're being so lazy?' Tsun would frown, her eyes would lower from the wall as she contemplates her next move. Watching the actions within the building down below through heavy eyelids, she'd drift into a split second of sleep only to be met by an ear(mind?)-piercing scream. Her heart would skip and her eyes would widen once more
'Fighting is your best bet… Tsun-chan, we've been over this multiple times. Either way, I'll be waiting…' She could feel the monster smiling. Quietly, she would turn and leap back out of the window, it was a lose lose situation, she was aware of this she would just need to keep pushing her adrenaline to keep her going. For now Tsun would be in free fall, the wind cutting out the sound of most events in the area… yet Goh would somehow manage to make himself heard. A small smile would touch her lips as she gathers her chakra. The moisture in the air about her would crystallize and latch to her body as she passes through it, a minor transformation if you look at her from the outside, though a dramatic increase in her already high chakra reserves from within.
The loud noise of a cargo container exploding and some idiot yelling his head off draws her attention to the specific pier where the Konoha (and one Suna) ninja have arrived. She alters her course swiftly but Yuri sees something blur and appear in front of her, right in her path. She doesn't even think about it. If it's an ally, he or she should know better than to jump in her way. If it's an enemy, it would be a mistake not to strike. Either way, she acts reflexively by lashing out with her sword as she draws it from its sheath at her lower-back and tries to quickly cut at her target without stopping her run. She just tries to leap up and over what she assumes will soon be a falling corpse. No time to wait for it to finish dying, though. Not with >enemies< having arrived!
Smiling cheerfully behind her mask she prepares to drive these invaders back into the sea. Right now, before they can get onto the island properly and start causing a ruckus, is the time to terminate them. Seeing some spiralling shape go streaking through the ranks of the dock workers, the Hunter-Nin-masked woman draws and hurls a kunai with amazing precision — especially given she is attacking a high-speed moving target. She doesn't plan to stand and fight all of these goombas. She just wants them to focus on her instead of proceeding deeper into the island. She can hold them off long enough for reinforcements to arrive! …Surely!
Of course, she now has her back to someone who may very well >not< be dead, but she's still running towards the damaged barge. 'Everyone look at me!' is her strategy at the moment. It's… It's…
Disturbingly similar to Goh's strategy!
The ninja are approaching by land and by sea, it seems. Ryuutai considers joining the fray. Surely, Yuri already knows what's going on and has moved to do so. Or maybe she is keeping the island secure and on-schedule regardless of the impending assault. Hmm… Well, no alerts have come forth yet about the intruders at the east docks, so the Yotsuki male really has no reason to think anything is up. "Have the workers gather anything vital and started packing it up. We can afford a brief delay in production more than we can afford to have this facility wiped out," he orders. And then, perhaps having heard of what happened to the last commander, the man says, "I will take full responsibility for the interruption to Samominoryuu's schedule. Just do it." Without even saying another word further, he just slips away. If anyone even notices amidst the resulting chaos would be questionable. The next thing most would know, there is a dark-skinned man swiftly and silently approaching the bridge.
He starts to draw his two pike-like swords. He can kill a great many in a matter of seconds… And in melee-range too. But then he hesistates and leaves the blades where they are. Using that technique might give too much away. One never knows who might recognize it. So instead, he leaps into the air after running up the back of one of the golems, and unleashes a blast of lightning from… His MOUTH!? The lightning bolt splits into dozens of other bolts that in turn go striking at the soldiers, tearing up the ground and anything in their path, moving back and forth and leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. Several thousand. That's not good odds. Serin is hoping that the island will be evacuated most of the way before the golems run out and the enemy breaks through. He knows he can't hold them forever. If it was just him, he would be dead already.
There is another solution to slow down the enemy further, of course. And that is to simply blow up the bridge. Would it stop the invasion? Not at all. But it would give some breathing room and at least make it harder to come ashore. After seeming to hang in the air for an eternity, Ryuutai lands again. NOW he draws his swords. They crackle with the Lightning imbued into them during their forging.
The men on the docks die easily, for they are just conscripted civilian workers. They die as quickly as attacks can be made against them, whimpering and screaming in terror and for mercy, fleeing in every direction. From throwing themselves into the ocean to trying to reach the building and the safety it represented, they don't even try to fight back. But the noise is enough to attract some of the searchlights, which land upon the docs and the people fleeing from them. It's only a matter of time before they find the shinobi, as well. And all around those docks, as a problem becomes apparent, comes more of the seemingly-limitless supply of clay soldiers from beneath the waves.
The clay soldiers begin to converge on Goh's position. And why not? He's certainly an easy enough target, shouting as he is and such. The stone sentinals merely raise their clay swords and unthinkingly approach! Unfortunately, this is the case for anyone near the boats. The golems may prove easy prey, dumb as they are, for the experienced shinobi, but they are effectively limitless and taking them all out may prove an enormous waste of energy, leaving not enough to get the job they had come here for done in the first place!
Ai's attack against the guard is expertly-blocked, as he was a veteran soldier. Unfortunately, the girl's attack did not depend upon actually hitting his muscle and he stumbles back, falling to the ground clutching at his chest, where his heart has just taken a blast of chakra.
The lead soldiers of the Land of Fire forces are struck down by the lightning blasts, leveling a few of them in a matter of instants. But a single jutsu doesn't make a dent in their ranks, and they outnumber the defenders on the far side of the bridge by a wide margin. …Until the golems reach across. But at this point enemy soldiers begin to unleash their jutsu into the Land of Water lines! Fire blasts and boulders rain down on their positions, and are promptly responded to with jutsu from Kirigakure's own line. Meanwhile, the golems coming up out of the water behind the Land of Fire's forces close in on the engineers and light defense of their rear, which quickly becomes a fight for their very lives.
Back on the water, the two navies collide, jutsu and wooden battering rams doing their best to take out the other ships, but for the moment, it seems the greater Land of Fire forces have the advantage as they near the coast! At the docks, however, things begin to look grim if the Konoha-nin stay put, for they are being best on all sides by the closing ranks of twelve-foot stone behemoths!
As the golems approach, Shichirou is overlooked. Who knows why? He hasn't overlooked the golems though, waiting until one stands right next to him before snapping out quickly with his left leg, following it up by a headbutt, and ending with a fistblow from his right foot. He then jumps back and returns to standing entirely and completely still.
The Shirayuki Chuunin blocks the simple sword slash easily. She saw it coming before the blade had even finished leaving its sheath. And as Yuri leaps over the disguised kunoichi, she is already turning around to face the opposite direction before the masked woman lands. Smoke poofs outwards from the 'Kirigakure' ninja, revealing Fuyu for who and what she really is. She sees the Swordswoman throw a kunai at that one Inuzuka that was assigned to this mission and frowns deeply. It was pretty stupid of Tetsuo to start maiming and killing the dock workers like that instead of headin for the factory. But that doesn't mean he deserves to be wounded, crippled, or killed.
The loss of even one ally is a loss, no matter how small. Fuyu copies the technique used by Yuri, though it is mostly about accuracy and skill, not anything special. No point in duplicating it right now. Fuyu is not a Taijutsu specialist. Instead she forms a single Tiger handseal… And one-handed to boot! Then she spews out a stream of fire at Yuri's back, hoping to keep the wielder of Nuibari from simply slaughtering the entire team before they even reach their objective.
She remembers what Shima Sami, or 'Serin', did to her in a single attack. The Swordsmen of Kirigakure are not to be understimated. Keeping that in mind, she follows up her Great Fireball Technique with a second attack that can strike more than just a single opponent. She sends out several more compact fireballs, each laden with oil to both provide fuel to keep burning and to increase the heat of the flames.
That woman WILL pay attention to Fuyu… And she WILL suffer for what she has done! Once she has launched her attacks, Fuyu yells to everyone, "HEAD FOR THE FREAKING FACTORY!" Hopefully that will put things in perspective.
Dashing along the docks and collecting his chakra, it would be nigh impossible to NOT sense a huge spike in chakra and deadly intent from the sky. Even if one were to somehow miss that, the sense of impending doom is enough to cause Goh to look up, if only out of curiosity. He stops in his tracks, simply watching as the now hulkling ice form of .. something stands in his way, having landed from above. Yet through the transformation, Goh is still able to recognise Tsun. "Oooh … you're that girl who kidnapped Ai." That's … unfortunate. Since Ai was right here. Hopefully she'll stand clear of it all.
Goh has nary a time to say anything else, noticing the golems trudge his way. Stupid clay things! As if he cared about them! Dodging under the blows with near effortless dexterity, his eyes snap back to Tsun.
"…I don't really have time to chat right now. You're in the way! I'm going to smash this facility into pieces!" And just like this, he leaps forward!
Dashing along the ground, Goh lets drag behind him his right arm. The arm itself begins to glow a fiery red—specifically around the hand. Only a quick glance will reveal that the thing is on fire. It's on fire! And, with a huge thrusting move, the Akuu clan member hopes to GUT PUNCH Tsun! So hard that it will send her right backwards into the facility that is behind her. And, if there's any added dramatic effect, maybe even /through/ the wall.
His eyes then turn to Yuri, who seems to be charging them and attacking the Inuzuka Chuunin. He's about to attack her, before … well. He spots Fuyu breathe fire all over the place. Well! No need for him to stay around. Whether he hit Tsun or not, he'll move in to charge at the facility proper. Hoping to bust in and smoke it all up!
While everyone else launches into action, Yuzuna merely remains still, her pale stoney eyes constantly scanning the battlefield. Her images blurs with sudden speed, easily dodging the raining boulders and fire blasts as they crash behind her, where she was full seconds ago. She already knows that the golems are lifeless, a waste of energy, her pale eyes flicking to Fuyu as she yells above the growing roar of the fighting. Yuzuna looks back to the factory itself, never slowing her fluid speed as she dashes straight at the heated building, avoiding Kiri soldiers and golems as she moves to the closest door leading inside.
The spinning dodge wasn't need as the weapon moved in such a way he couldn't have dodged it as for the second attack he would do a simple flip out of the way, slide landing he would be in a crouching position before lashing back out at the golems first and them he would change direction and attack Yuri as well before landing. Nebo would do as his master in terms of attack be instead of landing in front of her he would land in back.
Tsun's mismatched eyes would take in the battlefield, things went into chaos rather quickly. Her left eye would slowly morph to that of the One-Tailed beast within to match her right. 'Well then…' Tsun would land heavily, dropping low to take a bit of the shock out from the impact. 'Quite an oppurtunity for that technique… of course, you might hurt your associates…' Tsun would ease up, bringing her hands together.
The chakra would begin to swirl within her, slowly rising up from her extremities and floating into her hands as she begins to chant softly to herself to assist her in keeping track of the long string of seals which may of happened, if Goh didn't rudely interrupt. "Dog, ox, monkey, hare rat…"
Goh appears. The girl is, quite recognizable she's just rather gliterry now. "You…" Tsun would stand still as water simply rises up to take in the fist, sizzling as Goh's fist is halted and doused by the goo.
The water would shift as Tsun raises her hand quickly, palm pointed towards Goh. It was already cold enough when stepping into the presence of Tsun but, it'd suddenly get much worse. A wave of frosty chakra that was somewhat discernable would radiate from the girl, blinking would cause you to miss it. Though some with an eye not entirely trained to catch high speeds could even miss it wide eyed. "I'm sorry. I can't let you do that. This facility is pretty useful. Oh… and I don't plan on playing games this time." Tsun smiles pleasantly, "I'll just kill you instead. No hard feelings."
Goh, if he didn't evade, would get covered with a thick layer of ice with each pulse.
Yuri feels the wave of intense heat coming at her back. Far more potent than the warmth of the factory, a wave of fire and the >whoooosh< it makes as it eats up the oxygen is more than enough to alert her. So she lunges aside, escaping with only some mild burns on her left arm. However, as she turns to face her attacker, she finds another fireball, this one more compact, heading right at her. Even as her right hand blurs to her hip and retrieves a scroll, she is leaping into the air at high-speed, arcing at about 20 feet above the ground, and trailing the unrolled scroll behind her as she moves. Multiple puffs of smoke erupt from the scroll, and then >people< start falling out of it! People that are either engulfed in flames by Fuyu and rapidly burnt up, or simply hit the ground limp and dead.
Corpses!? Why the hell is she carrying around a scroll full of corpses!? A dozen dead bodies lie out now. Some are faceless civilians, but at least a few are Leaf Village ninja. No one 'important', though. The distraction of the newly-appeared corpses combined with Yuri's own rapid movements gets her out of the way safely, just in time for a spiralling figure to come at her from the side. She leaps backwards and away from Tetsuo, letting him pass in front of her. Then she tosses aside the now-empty scroll and shows what the dead bodies are for.
An Explosive Tag or two dangling out of the stuffed-full mouth of one of the dead ninja is the only warning. Then, easily a hundred explosions go off at once, all clustered in the general area of Fuyu and Tetsuo. 'I can't take chances with this one,' she thinks for a moment as she finally catches sight of who she just tried to blow up. The dog and boy are of little concern, but having to dodge them might be costly in terms of energy… At least as long as she continues to hold back.
So she stops holding back. No reason to! She just allows her facade of being a sane, stable person melt away. If Fuyu or Tetsuo could see the woman's face right now instead of her Hunter-Nin mask, they would most likely feel an odd chill. Because Yuri is smiling, and it is not a happy smile.
When the Leaf forces retaliate against his Lightning Release, Ryuutai vanishes. The fireballs and boulders arrive and seem to smash into him as he raises his swords to defend himself, but he was already gone. Instead he is standing behind a number of golems that were previously behind HIM. He hmms thoughtfully, then watches as the Water forces respond in kind! …Only with less fire and earth.
The sound of additional alarms with all the other noise going on is lost upon Ryuutai, but when a messenger runs up to inform of additional intruders on the east-side of the island… The messenger abruptly finds him telling thin air that the commander wants him to go reinforce the defenders. Again, Ryuutai is already gone. Dashing across the island at top speed, the Yotsuki male arrives just in time to see fireballs being spewed, ice being shot, at least two people heading towards the factory that probably should not be. Someone is shooting through the air while spinning, and then a hundred individual Explosive Tags detonate at once. The glare of the flames and the sound of the explosion, and the resulting shockwave are all enough to knock most people to their knees, alternatingly plugging their ears or covering their eyes.
Ryuutai is not most people, but he certainly squints and braces himself. That woman looks familiar… He isn't sure, but that looks like… THAT woman…! Ryuutai recognizes her alright! Though whether that's due to past interactions or just out of Fuyu's fame will remain a mystery. The twin-swords resting in his hands, Ryuutai grips more tightly and then streaks forward suddenly, trailing blue after-images. He ends his attack somewhere beyond Fuyu, swords held out as though he had just struck. Did he actually hit her? Or just TRY and MISS? Either way, that Hyuuga girl charging at the factory will probably be his next target. Or perhaps he can simply stay and fight Fuyu, freeing up Yuri to pursue her… Either way, something must be done soon.
The golems Fuyu alights with her burning techniques stumble around for a bit, still swinging their swords as if nothing were wrong at all until the fire manages to eat through the integrity of their bodies and they begin collapsing into a heap. Shichirou and Tetsuo's attacks likewise lay a few low. Still, the sheer number of them, smiting down a handfull is like trying to empty a lake one bucket at a time.
Yuzuna would soon enough find herself inside the building, easily evading the non-shinobi speeded guards and the slow, lumbering clay golems. Entering through one of the many doors in the huge, mile-long facility is easy enough. It would dump her not in any hallway or office-type setting, but right into an enormous forge! Most of the building was a singular room supported by columns with various catwalks, conveyors, cranes, presses, forges, ovens, anvils, and the like. As if someone had taken an entire city's worth of factories and placed them all in a single room. The assembly line was in full swing, despite the interruption of the attack.
The noise is almost as atrociously invasive as the heat is. Workers process the raw clay into melting vats, which then pours them into presses, which are then heated and steamed. From there, the conveyor moves them along into another room where they are imbued with chakra from living beings. Unwilling living beings, strapped to some kind of device and held down by leather restraints, gagged. They are not unconscious, and judging from the weak struggling they put up, it was not a painless process. Was this what they were using people taken from the Land of Fire for!? Perhaps, though there are far too few of them here, only a dozen or so.
On the other side of the bridge, the Land of Fire army is brought to a standstill by the defenders. Though they greatly outnumber the living Water army defenders, there is little they can do to advance with the enormous golems piling out to block the way! And they are beset from three sides by the swarming hordes of the slow-moving beasts! That fight is quickly becoming desperate.
Not so on the naval side of things, as Land of Fire forces, supported by shinobi, have pummeled through the blockade! Even now the first soldiers are hitting the soil and beginning to run for the facility. But with the sound of displacing water over the alarms in the night, comes the sound of breaking wood as golems BENEATH THE WAVES begin attacking the boats and men as they get out of them!
Shichirou is attacked by one of the golems, he waits for the blow as though he attempts to dodge it, then, suddenly, he is no longer there, dodged to the side. He lunges out with a kick before jumping up to attack with his other foot and use the force of that blow to land next to another golem, wait until he has that golems attention, let it come close, and strike out with his fist at the golem.
Fuyu sees the Explosive Tags coming out of one corpse's mouth. Her red-and-black eyes widen and she leaps backwards, barely getting out of range of the powerful, combined explosions. If not for her Sharingan… She would have been caught in that. In the process of landing and turning to track the Swordswoman, she catches sight of a man she doesn't recognize. She sees him preparing his odd swords, and even though he has not yet moved to attack, she can predict his movements. She can SEE him attacking blindingly fast before he actually does so. And she knows she needs to get OUT of the way!
Fuyu leaps up into the air and then flips backwards in mid-air. She lands on the side of the factory, high above, and sticks there with Chakra. 'This is ridiculous,' she grouses. 'Where are all these high-powered enemies coming from? They better be almost done destroying the factory by now! We need to get out of here!' Then she forms some handseals quickly. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu! <Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!>" she calls out, then she breathes out fireball… Only to immediately form a very specific handseal associated with the Shadow Clone Technique… Suddenly, that one Great Fireball turns into TWENTY. All twenty rain down on Yuri and Ryuutai mercilessly and blast the entire area they are in, destroying the ground, setting fire to anything in the vicinity, and making it quite hellish to be at ground zero.
With his hand stopped so easily, the fire along his palm sizzling, the blonde growls a little. "Yeah, no hard feelings. It's hard to get offended when I only hear every Kirigakure ninja I come across say that." Retracting his arm, it seems that the Akuu clan member has little time to move. For that palm which she extended is firing out a huge amount of ice all of a sudden! "Tch." A small glance will reveal Ryuutai dashing in out of seemingly no-where, her speed being truly … well, speedy. But no time to ponder that right now. Goh has to focus on the present.
Before the ice has a time to overwhelm him, Goh thrusts his palms to the ground. As he does so, a large /MOUTH/ of all things erupts from the docks! And swallows him completely, covering him from the ice. Of course, the salamander mouth itself gets frozen in his place. But in the grand scheme of things, only the tip of this critters mouth got frozen. And that would thaw, eventually. Right? Right.
With a loud POOF, the mouth dissapears once the attack passes, the Salamander reverting to its home. With Fuyu getting ganged upon, the blonde quickly realizes that even the Uchiha Clan Head might suffer a little at the end of two Swordsman. Leaping up from his crouched position, Goh sidesteps to pass alongside the hips of Tsun. After a string of seals are performed, Goh's chest suddenly expands greatly. Upon seeing that Fuyu is up in the air, stuck to the wall, the ex-Jounin locks onto his targets. Tsun (at point blank), Yuri and Ryuutai. The later two being at a bit more of a distance. A moment to pause, before … FWOOSH! He exhales!
At first, the 'cone' of fire is red, washing over everything it comes across. But a few seconds into the breath, the fire shifts to become far more dangerous — white hot and scorching. Sizzling, even! And of course, right at the same time as Fuyu sends her own attacks out. The huge torrent of flame casts a long shadow behind Goh himself, how is standing with bent knees to deliver the attack as best he can. If he can get the attention of them all, Fuyu can dash in and take this facility out. Or at least give Yuzuna some back-up. Goh was confident with his running away abilities, if nothing else!
Speeding through one of the entrances into the building itself, Yuzuna blinks her pale eyes with some surprise as she comes into the bright glow of a huge forge, the single room building enormous while cranes and machines of all sorts continue to work endlessly. Narrowing her eyes, the Byakugan scans over her surroundings as she pushes off into movement again, her attention quickly focusing on the bright blue light of chakra being drained from unwilling hosts. It doesn't take a genuis to figure out how the Kiri are beinging the Golems to life.
Eventually, Yuzuna settles her sight on a rather large cauldron of molten clay. Moving to it, her gaze narrows as she glances around its base, soon discovering what she was looking for. Her hand reaches out to wrap her fingers around the handle of a long lever, pushing it completely to one side as the cauldron suddenly moans under its own weight. The Hyuuga blinks up at it again, watching in silence as the glowing cauldron begins to slowly tilt onto its side, pouring the bright liquid clay as the sheer weight of the liquid spills into the forge building itself.
Seeing Yuzuna enter the factory, and seeing Ryuutai follow her up… Ai rapidly makes way to try to intercept Ryuutai. She focuses her Byagukan in an attempt to trace him amidst the chaos, and when she gets close to him… she tries to close up some tenketsu points in an attempt to hinder him and draw his attention to her. Her duty is to make this mission successful AND to make sure a main family member like Yuzuna gets out alive.
He couldn't dodge yet again and he would be knocked right into Nebo as he flipped he would land and dig in as the golems attack him and nebo would counter their every move killing them he would still be bleeding and holding his side as well but it was nothing but a old wound reopening he would dashed at him and attack with a powerful kick to the neck as his dog attack with a crushing headbutt but the duo wouldn't stop there as he attacked twice more with speed ending his attack aimed at Yuri.
"That's… annoying." Tsun would comment as once again, a salamander would interrupt her fight with him only for Goh to take off running by her. Regardless it would appear that she had halted one person from entering the building, and seeing as Ryuutai had gone rushing towards the building just a moment ago she could only assume something was going on in there.That or, at least something important was going on in there.
Goh would be disregarded, out of a combination of tiredness and really not caring if that guy was going to keep running off and his follow up attack would go ignored. Tsun somewhat saved by her automatic defense, that really didn't react quickly enough to completely defend against the missile. It would break through at some points though when the steam clears Tsun would come out pretty much unharmed.
Her body would simply drip, her armor melted where the fire had collided but, it wasn't enough to cause her to stop from where she originally planned on going.'You aren't going to let him run away again are you? That is quite embarassing… for me at least I have a reputation to keep! Be a pal and chase him Tsun-chan?' Tsun would just shrug, she would disappear into the building with a flicker.
"Ah hah! Ifoundyousneakyliiiil…" Tsun's words would slur and eventually trail off as she breaks into a yawn. "Ugh." Rubbing her eyes she'd make some passive motion. She would take no action in trying to stop Yuzuna at the moment, it would appear she lacked the ability to.
Yuri has no way to defend herself against 20 Fireballs at once. She is thoroughly blasted. Right now, she is very unhinged and not really in touch with exactly how messed up she is. When it's over she is going to be unable to walk and will require hospitalization. If she even makes it off this island alive. But right now? Amidst the inferno, she struggles to her feet and tries to leap out of the blaze… Just as Goh unleashes yet >more< fire on her! She is nailed hard and lands off-target. She is also >on fire<. There is no way that she can keep fighting in this condition. She may be insane but she is >not< suicidal. Forget these people. She is saving her >own< life!
Thus she turns and starts heading for the water, hoping to douse herself and maybe get a chance to catch her breath. The Uchiha Clan Head is no wimp, clearly.
Ryuutai is seriously injured. He has no chance to evade the fireballs that land everywhere and explode everywhere, and no defense that can stop them. So he just braces himself and turns his head away as best he can, so as not to get his eyes burnt out. Despite how extroardinarily painful the flames are, he still manages to relocate himself to somewhere that is NOT ON FIRE quickly enough to avoid Goh's own Fire Release.
Ryuutai frowns a bit at the severe burns covering his body, but he is ready to keep on fighting… Even if in a weakened and injured state. He is already moving when someone comes at him from behind. He doesn't see her at all. When he realizes he is under attack her turns to face the enemy — and gets nailed twice with Chakra-sapping attacks. He staggers back, having lost the little Chakra he had available. He raises his blades to strike down this child… And then lowers them and turns back to the factory as it sits with two powerful Jounin either on it or near it. This is a lost cause. He can keep on fighting. He might even deal some heavy damage to these remaining ones. But it won't save this place. He breathes out shudderingly and takes a deep, calming breath… And then the Yotsuki male turns to go alert the commander it is time to get everyone out of here.
The molten clay tilts… and then begins to drop its contents out onto the factory floor! Yuzuna better find something to stand on other than the floor, or she'd soon find herself missing a pair of legs like much of the works below do. The sheer temperatures melt through skin and bone instantly, liquifying people in a flash. Machines and golems in progress alike are similarly damaged by the sudden introduction of extreme temperatures. Metal becomes super-heated, and it causes other things to break and crack open, spilling their contents, as well. The chakra-imbuing machine, perhaps the most delicate and expensive piece of equipment in this entire facility, is destroyed when the mini-flood of molten substance comes into contact with it, as are the people within it, mercifully ending their lives.
But more than that, soldiers are now running into the factor from the Land of Fire ships. They have golems in slow pursuit, and the majority of the Fire navy seems to be stalled by the masses of them milling down amongst the beach, but a few dozen soldiers left unchecked could cause quite a ruckus. But all of this pales in comparison to the incoming fireballs that light up the night sky.
The Konoha shinobi in the main force have managed to give the Land of Fire enough breathing room from the golems to unleash a barrage of flaming boulders upon the compound. Several of them strike in various places about the island, slamming into golems and security forces alike, and some tear through the roof of the mile-long facility. It cracks the steam press and ruptures the cooling lines, spewing chilled water into the factory. The combined intense heat and intense code causes a loud *KRACK* to resound form the facility, huge and deafening as metal brittles and ruptures, breaking down the assembly lines and forges.
And yet the Land of Water still had it's many… go… lems… One-by-one the eyes of the golems lose their pink glow as a section of the roof with a large smokestack collapses under fire from a ballista bolt. They stop moving, lower their arms, and just… stand there, eyes and joints ceasing their hypnotic pink glow. The Land of Fire forces fight on at them for a few moments before giving a resounding cheer at their apparent, perhaps temporary demise.
At the end of the day, Land of Fire losses were staggering, but the Water Daimyo's forces are the ones forced to withdraw as the golem-producing facility goes up in flames in the night. In the morning, reinforcements arrive, bolstered by those of the Kirigakure forces that had fled, but the survivors of the Land of Fire and Konohagakure have already left, setting sail with all speed back to their homelands.
The infinite supply of golems had been halted. …For now.
But in the morning, standing amidst the rubble of the golem production facility, Samominoryuu Kei bends down to pick up a rock. One of her sub-commanders says something about a timetable for getting the facility up and running again. She grins maliciously as she looks out across the water, towards where the Land of Fire lay beyond the horizon.
"It doesn't matter. They are already too late. My precious pet has been completed, and they will soon know utter destruction! Ready the ships, I need to be in Fire Country yesterday."
"At once, ma'am!"
