Starring:
Nendo, Mitsue
Date: December 23, 2015
Summary:
After long hours of interrogation the bandits that had been attacking the main roads for food reveal the cause for their turn from villagers to criminals. Now it is up to the shinobi of Iwagakure to handle the issue before the land of Earth is thrown into an upset!
"The Greed of the Falls - Part 2, The settled invaders are Dealt with"
Land of Earth
After a long period of interrogation the bandits were proven innocent. They had simply been driven from their homes by a rouge band of Shinobi that acted strangely.. Killing men and women in the night, kidnapping children to unknown ends. With the villagers having abandoned their homes in favor of hiding in the forests for security, the band of Shinobi seem to have moved into the village and grown rather comfortable in the homes of the villagers as their new home base. While the villagers themselves had little they could offer that had not been stolen food, the Daimyo had been informed of the situation and sent in a paid request for two shinobi teams to be sent in and right the wrongs of these invading shinobi. With the first team already having gone ahead, the second team was composed of two high-ranking Chuunin, Toujitakumi Nendo, and Gansao Mitsue. The fact that the two Chuunin had been added to usual pair of genin, told of the assumed dangers that would be involved in today's mission.
Nendo had dressed similarly to his usual outfit, a single sleeved red tunic and his black cargo pants that were tucked into his closed-toed sandals to keep out the cold. With his hitai-ate worn like a bandana on his head as usual and the metal plate identifying himself as a member of Iwagajure's ninja units, Nendo had one addition to his usual outfit. His cloak, similar to Mitsue's had been finished and now wrapped around the Toujitakumi's form. Once Nendo made it to the gates of the village, the Chuunin would already be there and waiting for the pair of Genin to join them.
Mitsue was as ready as he could be in going out to face the dangers set before them. The accompanying Chuunin was kind of a mixed blessing in his mind as it made him feel safer having them there, but their presence meant that this mission could be quite dangerous. As he arrived and saw Nendo with the cloak on he couldn't help but smile, eyes sparkling. ~That looks good on you Nendo. Now you're going to put me to shame, looking better than me in my own look,~ he says with a wink.
The two Chuunin didn't seem in the mood for talking as they turned and started off at a rather rapid pace from the gates once Mitsue arrived. As it turned out, they were only planning things a bit differently from what was normal. "We're getting to the village within two hours, the other team reported in via messenger bird that there were large chakra signatures in the village, two of them." The first Chuunin reported as he rushed. Rather than taking to the trees, the pair seemed keen on rushing along the roads and only taking to the trees when they needed to pass over a chasm or chose to avoid the winding mountain paths and skip along the branches to descend more rapidly. The only speed the Chuunin seemed to know was fast. The second Chuunin picked up explaining where the other had left off. "The reported information told of at least ten trained shinobi among the invaders populating the village so we are going to have our hands full fighting them. The Tsuchikage spoke highly of you two so we're trusting the two of you to pull your own weight." Well, at least they were 'friendly'..
Nendo would chuckle a bit at Mitsue's teasing and form the hand seals needed to send his genjutsu to Mitsue. ~Think so? I like how easy it is to move in, I can even make hand seals inside of it so that my hands can't be read.~ Nendo answered before he heard the Chuunin kick off and turned about to rush after them along the way. Listening to their explanations Nendo would nod his head in understanding and then call forward some information to the Chuunin. "Mitsue uses Genjutsu to speak so don't be shocked if you start hearing voices in your head. I can use the same Genjutsu so I may use it to relay messes without alerting the enemy." The Toujitakumi explained though he'd not immediately extend the genjutsu to the Chuunin. For now he'd simply form a hand seal to begin focusing chakra as they raced toward the village.
For now Mitsue doesn't bother extending the genjutsu to the Chuunin either, not until they were at the village and he might actually /need/ to speak to them. Instead he follows along, his stamina training showing in how well he manages to keep up, even if he is pushing it a little bit in the end. ~I'm glad you like it. I told you I knew the best cloak maker in the Village didn't I?~ He gives Nendo a wink before looking ahead to make sure he doesn't run off of a cliff or something…
"Be sure you make it clear who you are when you start the Genjutsu, if anything is out of the ordinary we'll be The Chuunin had promised that they would make it to the village within two hours and even before they were halfway into the second hour, the two Chuunin were signaling to stop as they tucked against a tree each and peered around the trees. The other Jounin team was nowhere in sight upon arrival and from the way the rouges in the village were going about their business so casually, there hadn't been any conflict just yet. This didn't seem to bother the Chuunin however as they simply began to quietly explain how things were going to happen. "At the two hour mark, the other team is going to launch an open assault onto the village and while they do that, we will slip inside to begin tearing their forces apart from the inside. The other team is another set of four just like us so there's no need to worry about being overly out numbered."
Nendo chuckled mentally at Mitsue's words and made motion of fanning the cloak while he moved. ~It's really warm so I'll be able to use it through the winter. You really do know the best cloak maker.~ The Toujitakumi explained before looking toward the Chuunin and showing a surprised expression at just how quickly the Chuunin had gotten to a point that they were stopping at. The trip would have been at least four hours had Nendo been leading the charge. Nendo crouched in the branches, hanging onto one as he nodded and focused to bring his chakra into conflict, preparing to start charging explosives as the need would arise. "So we'll be doing Juudai's part of the mission this time; actually killing the bosses rather than just the underlings… Good." Nendo commented to let the Chuunin know he understood what they were telling him.
Was it good? Mitsue felt rather suddenly outclassed thinking about facing whoever was in charge of this madness. Still, he kept low once they arrived and just watched from their hiding spot for the fun to begin. ~I know the best Toujitakumi too. Seems I know the best of everything,~ he teases though his violet eyes remain on the village and the people there. He does give the Chuunin a nod to show he understood what they were saying but he remained out of their minds unless they asked him to actually speak.
When the time came, it was met with proof that Nendo wasn't the only Toujitakumi in this operation… Repeated booming explosions rang out like someone rapidly beating war drums. Each explosion was large enough to blast over the treeline and quickly throw the village into chaos while a metal whip-like tool was flashing through the village to strike at the would-be invaders. There was more signs of fighting and some of the invading shinobi began using various water and earth techniques to try fighting off the unit of Iwagakure shinobi but from the look of it, they weren't going to scare them off so easily. "That's the signal for us to get moving.. Keep low and try not to draw attention to yourselves. Once we find the location of people not actively in the fight we'll take down the heads and join in the elimination of the others trying to invade." The first chuunin stated as a warning before he'd start moving carefully along the treeline and rushing toward one of the houses of the village to listen to the wall. A negative hand motion and the other chuunin would move forward into the village, listening to the wall using a pair of fingers pressed to the wall. Another negative motion followed by the Chuunin motion for the two Genin to move forward into the village.
Nendo would move forward quickly to stop by the house just in front and listen to the wall while looking about. He didn't hear anything inside of the house nor see anyone so he'd mimic the motion the Chuunin had made to relay the information. Looking to Mitsue, the Toujitakumi would motion for Mitsue to move forward to the next house. That house would be the odd one out.. several muffled sounds barely being able to be heard through the wall of the building..
Mitsue was, admittedly, not the stealthiest shinobi in the world. But he made due. Luckily with the distraction coming from the other direction no one should be looking over here. Hopefully. He watches the Chuunin as they move forward, then Nendo before finally moving to the next house as quietly as he can. Once he reaches it he pauses and listens to the wall. A few seconds of hand seals sends his genjutsu out over the two Chuunin as well. ~This is Mitsue. There is noise coming from inside this house.~ He moves towards a window, trying to peek into the building.
The Chuunin visible flinched at the Genjutsu but rather than breaking from the illusion, listened to what Mitsue had to say and moved in to press along the wall on either side of Mitsue. They would listen and then, with a slight smirk on the first's lips, gave a thumbs up to Nendo. As Mitsue peeked into the window the sight before him would be that of roughly twelve children, gagged and bound in the room with the door of the room closed. There was no one in the room watching over them.
As Nendo closed the gap he'd press against the wall and send out a few pulses of chakra into the wall to feel the vibrations within the building. "A bunch of kids…?" The Toujitakumi would question quietly while glancing toward the Chuunin pair wo would divide up thier attentions.
While one of them touched the wall like Nendo did, the other simply leaned up and peered into the window like Mitsue was doing to see what the genin was doing. "Keep your guards up.. We'll take it slow and move into the building. Finding the leader takes priority, we can come back for the kids. They're not going anywher…"
Mitsue's violet eyes narrow slightly when he hears the Chuunin say they can come back for the kids. ~What if they come and try to use them as a bargaining chip? What if they just come in a kill them all? At the very least we should cut them loose and send them to the forest.~ Just leaving them there was one of the stupidest ideas that Mitsue had ever heard, though he does prevent himself from saying that part at least…
The first Chuunin had a simple answer for that. "Because they've not killed them up until this point and if they're keeping them in this house then the guards for them arn't far off. If we slip in and free them, they might notice and be ready for our attack, or even strike the children down for having escaped. If they're keeping them for some reason then we can use that to our advantage because we know where they are." The Chuunin explained, the other had something to add to it. "And if we enter and keep this room in mind, we'll be able to kill anyone that tries to come take them for living shields or hostages.. Keeping them in one place works best for us and them. The job is to kill the commanders. We can deal with the rest later." Once they were done talking, that seemed to be the end of it as the two Chuunin would start moving around to the door of the building so they could slip inside without drawing attention. Then again, with the explosions, metal weapons whipping about, and flames slithering like snakes along the ground in search of the invaders, the invading shinobi had their hands fairly full. It wouldn't be too surprising if the house was empty.
Nendo pressed his hand fully to the wall and used more chakra to let his pulses reach further before rebounding back to him to be deciphered by the Genin. "I'm only feeling the children inside… If there's someone else in there, they must be countering my senses.." The Toujitakumi announced before he sent a message just to Mitsue. ~Once we clear the house we can make sure the children are safe and then take down the bandits living here so that we can get the children to safety.
Mitsue was far from impressed with their reasoning. The attacking shinobi could be more than enough reason for the people here to kill the children. But he had to listen to the Chuunin and do what they said, so he could only nod slightly. He would be watching this house carefully as they went and at the slightest hint of someone trying to get into it he would hit them with his genjutsu.
The pair of Chuunin were the first to move within the building, they separatred but worked together well to search each room one by one with sound and then visually inspecting the rooms. This continued all the way to the door tot he children's room where the first Chuunin slipped inside without listening and closed the door behind himself. The second Chuunin took up explaining as he continued checking the house. "He's a softie behind the hardass act; he'll keep an eye on them and kill anyone that doesn't enter the room after knocking… Once we finish clearing the house, the three of us will join in the fighting and come back to see if he was attacked by anyone." It wouldn't take long before the house was cleared however and the second Chuunin dropped the stealth act. Instead, they reached and pulled on a pair of spiked knuckle dusters before starting to rush back toward the front of the house. They didn't need to repeat themselves; the house was clear so now it was time to fight!
Nendo blinked at the Chuunin that entered the room and then at the other's explanation of what was to happen now… Perhaps these two talked through Genjutsu as he and Mitsue did..? Either way, Nendo would nod once the stealth portion was completed and press to his feet. Standing at his full height, the Toujitakumi needed only tap a finger to the center of his forehead to clear his mind. A slight crackle of lightning coating his form and Nendo would glance to Mitsue as he walked from the house after the rushing Chuunnin. ~Let's get moving, or do you want to stay behind with the other Chuunin to make sure the kids are alright?~
Mitsue moved as stealthily as he could with the Chuunin and Nendo, stopping as they did in front of the room of children and blinking in surprise. Okay he hadn't expected that. He wasn't sure if he wanted to kill the Chuunin that went in or be grateful. But for now they had their other orders to take care of. He turns to follow, allowing the cloak of dark purple chakra to flow out over his physical cloak, the teen ready to get underway!
The Chuunin would jump from the doorway with a burst of speed, wrapping himself in lightning and closing the gap between himself and the back of the invading Shinobi. He would waste no time in delivering two rapid barrages of punches with those spiked knuckles into the backs of the invaders. He wasn't using force by any stretch of the word, choosing instead to send shocks into the spines of his targets to stun them while the other team dealt out punishing blows on the defenseless. In the same instant he was there, the Chuunin was bursting away with a rush of lightning to move on to his next targets, all the while searching for who was strongest and most likely commanding them.
Nendo wasn't much the type for stunning and while he jumped forward, the genin was forming hand seals of that new ability of his. Raising his hands and slamming them into the ground as he landed, the Toujitakumi formed hordes of horned bats to peel from the ground and fly toward the stunned targets as well as another group to begin battering them with the barrage of exploding beasts. The commanders were the target of course but with them being mixed into the crowds of invaders, most likely the commanders would be the ones least harmed, right?
Mitsue followed the others out, violet eyes taking in the fighting from underneath the dual hoods before he quickly made a group of hand seals and send out darkness. Darkness that brought fear as it sought to envelop at least two of what appeared to be commanders in charge. If he could get them to stay put it would be much easier to deal with them later.
The minions suffered well at the hands of those cripping barrages of fists and explosive earth. The commanders however, were the ones left standing and while the first struggled against the Gansao's Genjutsu befoe escaping the idea of being frightened, the second simply seemed to shrug off the frightening presence. The Chuunin would lunge at the first, their spiked knuckles being blocked with a pair of wakizashi easily. There was a bit of a smirk on the Chuunin's face however ashe pressed harder to keep those blades busy against his fists.
Nendo would force more earth up, forming a dense horde of his creations to bombard the area once more while focusing several of the beasts from his barrages on the commander that had their hands full. Several of his creations were also directed at the second commander to strike out at the woman. The other unit was growing louder and the flashes of their weapons coming closer so reinforcements wouldn't be far off. Even if the barrage wasn't effective against such people, they would no doubt drain them with a sheer number of strikes.
The second of the commanders was quick to respond with.. an instrument.. As she tucked her violin into place and stroked the bow along its strings she would divert most of Nendo's attacks, only taking one or two of the monsters before smiling sweetly at Mitsue and beginning to play a slow song for him. With her chakra forced into the tune, the woman worked her genjutsu toward Mitsue to try assaulting his mind. The sweetest of memories she could drag up were to be played for Mitsue. The genjutsu was not violent and assaulting or dangerous, it would be as warm and welcoming as Mitsue could possible imagine. That was how the woman drove her enemies to their knees. Peaceful submission.
Mitsue frowns as it becomes obvious that these people were rather well versed in genjutsu. His doesn't even touch them. Yet as he feels the others genjutsu creeping over him he can't fight it off no matter how hard he tries. The song sweeps him up and he's just…there. Unmoving, unthinking.
The Chuunin would break away from the commander just before Nendo's attacks hit the man and as the smoke cleared, the man was standing there grinning and patting the dirt from his body while his skin slowly lightened in shade. Rather than blocking it seemed he used a technique to harden his body in some way against damage and with a flick of his blades, began rushing at the Chuunin to strike them down.
That Chuunin smirked a bit as they blocked each of the strikes directed at them and then in a flash had lashed out and sliced into the captain's chest with those spiked knuckle dusters. The attack was from the front so it wouldn't stun the man's spine but the aim wasn't for that.. the Chuunin had aimed for the heart and successfully pierced it before forcing it to rupture from the electical shock.. The other should be easy for the kiddies to handle. Speaking of kiddies, the Chuunin whipped an arm toward Mitsue which sent a tiny, hair-thin needle of lightning chakra at the stunned Gansao to break him out of the illusion he'd been put in. It was a shame however, that even when he struck himself with those spikes, he was trapped in the genjutsu of the second captain.
Nendo smiled at the brutalized corpse of the first captain as the genjutsu showed him an illusion of his victory over not only the first captain but the second as well. The Chuunin was congratulating him and Mitsue was calling out to him from where he was, hands cupped around the boy's mouth as the younger teen's words of praise were called out to him… That was what made it clear Nendo was trapped in an illusion, one that even the pain of misdirecting his chakra could not remedy.
The woman smiled and lowered her violin as in reality, both the Chuunin and Nendo fell to the ground and she moved toward the pair while unbuttoning the first few buttons of her shirt. There was no desire there, not for the captured pair anyway.. just two things were on the woman's mind and as she raised her right arm and let black thread-like tendrils slip from a sutured wound on his bicep, it showed. The woman was sending those tendrils toward the chests of Nendo and Ginta. She was after their hearts. "You're going to owe me for sharing the spoils with you, Ganja.. I'll let you have the little Genjutsu boy's heart once I've gotten these two.." She commented, speaking to her would-be dead fellow captain had he not twitched, and began pushing to his feet after that would-be fatal wound.
The Chuunin would break away from the commander just before Nendo's attacks hit the man and as the smoke cleared, the man was standing there grinning and patting the dirt from his body while his skin slowly lightened in shade. Rather than blocking it seemed he used a technique to harden his body in some way against damage and with a flick of his blades, began rushing at the Chuunin to strike them down.
That Chuunin smirked a bit as they blocked each of the strikes directed at them and then in a flash had lashed out and sliced into the captain's chest with those spiked knuckle dusters. The attack was from the front so it wouldn't stun the man's spine but the aim wasn't for that.. the Chuunin had aimed for the heart and successfully pierced it before forcing it to rupture from the electical shock.. The other should be easy for the kiddies to handle. Speaking of kiddies, the Chuunin whipped an arm toward Mitsue which sent a tiny, hair-thin needle of lightning chakra at the stunned Gansao to break him out of the illusion he'd been put in. It was a shame however, that even when he struck himself with those spikes, he was trapped in the genjutsu of the second captain.
Nendo smiled at the brutalized corpse of the first captain as the genjutsu showed him an illusion of his victory over not only the first captain but the second as well. The Chuunin was congratulating him and Mitsue was calling out to him from where he was, hands cupped around the boy's mouth as the younger teen's words of praise were called out to him… That was what made it clear Nendo was trapped in an illusion, one that even the pain of misdirecting his chakra could not remedy.
The woman smiled and lowered her violin as in reality, both the Chuunin and Nendo fell to the ground and she moved toward the pair while unbuttoning the first few buttons of her shirt. There was no desire there, not for the captured pair anyway.. just two things were on the woman's mind and as she raised her right arm and let black thread-like tendrils slip from a sutured wound on his bicep, it showed. The woman was sending those tendrils toward the chests of Nendo and Ginta. She was after their hearts. "You're going to owe me for sharing the spoils with you, Ganja.. I'll let you have the little Genjutsu boy's heart once I've gotten these two.." She commented, speaking to her would-be dead fellow captain had he not twitched, and began pushing to his feet after that would-be fatal wound.
Mitsue was enjoying his own little word of happiness all the way up until the little needle broke him out of it. Vision cleared, the Gansao shook his head a bit before he glared angrily at the woman. She had trapped him in what he thought himself an expert at. Obviously he's far from it with the ease at which she took him. That just made him even more angry. He didn't like being shown how weak he was. Although it was a blissful ignorance that kept him from thinking he was weak he really could not do much of anything. And that even made him angrier. He made hand seals quickly and stomped on the ground, causing columns of earth to come up and try and smack the one around that's trying to hurt Nendo.
With the Chuunin unable to fight back and Nendo likewise disabled, the man would simply scoff at them before beginning to walk toward Mitsue. That was when he noticed Mitsue's hands forming seals and gripped his swords. Beginning to charge rather than alerting the woman, he'd try closing the distance between himself and Mitsue. The man leaped into the air before bringing down the bladde toward Mitsue's neck.
The woman took that hit brutally, no warning leaving her focused on trying to rip out Nendo's heart from his chest. An explosion user was a rare treat and he seemed to have matured enough to at least be useful for a short time. Huh… explosions.. the explosions and sound of fighting had stopped. Through the pain-induced haze of the strike from Mitsue that had broken the bones in her arm and perhaps a few ribs, the woman began looking around for the condition their men had been left in.
The man lunging at Mitsue would have a bit of trouble as his blades did indeed sink into flesh, but that flesh was under a flackjacket issued to the Chuunin of Iwagakure. The smiling woman would hold up a coiled sword, and then let it glow under her bloodline's mastery of metal. In an instant the blade had shot forward to straighten and attempted to pierce through the man's head. A sweet smile on her lips, and no mercy in her heart. It was the way she was raised in the Murasame clan..
As the third member of the distraction unit, a blue haired male was kneeling down over Nendo, working at the wounds goudged into the Toujitakumi's chest with a glowing hand. Soon enough the wounds would be an almost distant memory.
With the two commanders taken down an the injured pair being tended to, the all clear was announced and the Chuunin with the children would slip from within the room, dragging a man's body with him and tossing it to the ground. There were three holes driven through his chest and the same black tendrils had spilled from in the wounds to tell he too no doubt had more than just his own heart in his chest. The children all seemed fine and the distraction unit seemed well enough that they were taking care of checking the bodies so they could bring someone in for interrogation. The children too would be questioned but in a more gentle manner to ensure no trauma came from it. The invading unit had been suppressed for today, thought there was a large amount of doubt that these were all of them.. Too few and too weak to be assumed as monsters. Then again, villagers no doubt would call the Shinobi of Iwa the same if the ninja bared their fangs on simple villagers. Either way, it was time to wrap up in the village and let the Genin get back home.
