Starring:
Date: October 10, 2013
Summary:
The parasite changes, requiring Taiki to call in reinforcements.
"The Silk Conflict - Mutations in Chakra"
Konoha Hospital Isolations Lab
When this parasite was first discovered, Taiki performed most of his investigation all by himself. But after nearly loosing a patient not once, not twice, but three times during the original investigation, Taiki decided that any more that needed to be done with this parasite would not be him alone. Thus, when he made the original report, he mentioned to the Hokage that should this prove any more dangerous, he'd be calling in outside aid. Well, the parasite changed, rendering any and all data pretty much void. Therefore, after careful consideration he sent word out among the international medical community that he had a strange case that he needed assistance on. The list of qualifications needed included medical ninjutsu, fuinjutsu, and exotic situation experience. While he did not specify what exactly he was working on, he intimated that this could be potentially dangerous and dealt with chakra. That was a few days ago, and he has been busy readying things since then while waiting to see who would show up. Sadly, Uzumaki Tenken sent a note apologizing, noting that he was involved in something he could not leave. Ah well…
So thus Taiki is in a secure quarantine lab on this afternoon, carefully going over his notes. The bottle he was using has been sealed, and Taiki himself is dressed in medium-level anti-contageon gear to avoid accidental exposure.
While Shuuren himself isn't a fuinjutsuist, he's a specialist in medicinal and surgical solutions. What he can do is come up with his own way of dealing with the parasite, perhaps in something that can be mass-produced to make this process quicker. With that in mind, the Daimyo made his way to Konoha in a hurry to help with this. Adorned in his normal suit with the Tea Country symbol on the back, the former Jounin arrives at the lab with a focused look in his eyes, though he does seem relaxed, especially given the situation. As he approaches the guards at the door, he offers a light bow of his head. "Nagamura Shuuren. I believe I am expected," he says, withdrawing a scroll from his coat as he speaks. "Is there a wash room through the door, or do I need to get prepared out here?"
The higher-ranking guard looks at the list of replies, then nods once as he sees the name. He then says "This is our quarantine unit. There's no direct access to the lab from anywhere. Instead you enter through this door, get yourself prepared, and when you're ready, turn on the light at the other side. That will pressurize the chamber and alert the senior med-nin in charge that you're there, who will let you in. Please be warned, the seals will make the first room a higher pressure than inside, to keep the risk of gross contamination to a minimum." That said, he opens the door for Shuuren and once the man is inside, closes it and activates the outer seals.
Listening to the instructions intently, Shuuren gives a nod. "Very well. Thank you for your assistance," he says before stepping through the door. Once inside, he would quicky wash up before opening the scroll, a brief puff of smoke letting out and then fading to reveal the Daimyo is now wearing a bio-hazard suit with some sort of scroll pieces sewn into it. He tears one of them off before tucking the scroll away and then turning to flip the light switch on. That done, he waits for the next door to be opened to let him into the quarantine area.
As soon as the door opens, Shuuren would step throgh the door. He takes in his surroundings quickly before offering a nod to Taiki. "Nagamura Shuuren, Daimyo of Tea Country and Medical Ninja in charge of Nagamura Pharmaceuticals. You may also know my name as a former Jounin of Kumogakure." With that out of the way, he says, "I've already spoken with the Raikage since he summoned me a few days ago, so I know some of what's going on. I'm sure you'll be able to supply more detailed information on exactly what we're fighting, though."
Taiki gives a nod of respect in return, partially bowing in good manners. Finally he motions the man over to a table where a stoppered bottle holds something off-green with several bits of paper on the bottom. "What we have here is a "parasite," for lack of a better term, that attaches itself to the chakra core. It used to simply collect data on whatever the host sees, hears, smells, tastes or touches and sends it on to a location somewhere in the southern part of the Land of Lightning. It camoflaged itself as the host's charka, making it exceedingly hard to detect, and only slightly easier to remove. There seemed to be very few symptoms of infection after the first few weeks. We were fortunate that the prior host was sick already, which is how we found it. It was not contageous when we first discovered it."
Taiki frowns a little and looks at the bottle. "The parasite is being kept alive by a special tag I made to diagnose problems with the chakra network. It emits a slow, continuous amount of healing chakra, normally injecting it directly into the chakra network to gather data. It's a diagnostic jutsu, but it supplies just enough power to keep the parasite alive. I checked my tags a few days ago to in preparation for putting new ones in, when I noticed the parasite was changing, and the data was conflicting with the old data. So I sealed it off, and since the original removal left me almost bed-ridden for half a week, I called in for help. At this time we might as well be starting with a clean slate."
Following Taiki over to the table, Shuuren would remain silent for a bit as the Inuzuka explains the parasite and the situation surrounding it. Some of the information he already knows. Some of it is new, especially the part about the parasite beginning to change. "So only a minimal amount of chakra is needed to keep this thing alive then," he says, sounding a bit concerned about that. "That is rather insidious. Even the most unassuming Academy Student could be a potential host for this if that is all it takes." After a brief pause, he says, "I brought some things with me, some native and common and some rather exotic, to help make a medicinal cure and a vaccine. From what I understand, you do already have a way of removing it, at least the old strain, so hopefully we can draw upon that to make a way of erradicating this before it gets too far… But I suppose that's getting a bit ahead of where we are in thought." With that, he would step forward to take a closer look at the bottle. "How shall we start then? Do we know what it uses to break down chakra for its consumption per chance?"
"That's another thing," Taiki says as he pulls out his notes. "This parasite… acts more like a parsitic ninjutsu than a true living parasite. But it's entemology, and other properties, are unlike anything I've ever even heard of. Considering my specialty is chakra issues which includes chakra use and networks, I could tell you where in the elemental nations any single jutsu in existance comes from. This isn't from here…" He then glances at Shuuren and adds, "Also, it was able to stay alive and operate normally in a civilian host, one not trained in chakra use. I removed this from a merchant."
A jutsu to consume chakra? That's not uncommon, but such a thing is normally only seen in at most adept shinobi and at least Kikaichu. For something as minute as a parasite to be able to perform such a thing is almost unheard of… "So, it doesn't come from our part of the world," Shuuren somewhat restates, blinking a few times. Casting a glance at Taiki, he says, "So, in other words, our nations are soon to be under attack by something from another part of the world? After all, why else would they go to such great lengths to gather intel on us?" This is troubling… The more intelligence these parasite gathers, the more at risk the shinobi world becomes. "So we would need something that can stop the absorption of chakra from the inside without killing its host to be able to effectively eliminate this en masse, correct?" he asks, being sure he's following Taiki correctly.
Taiki nods now that Shuuren has the general picture. "That's along the lines I was thinking. During my initial removal process I got a direction and a glimpse of who did this as well as power level… whoever did this had the charka reserves a of a biju." Given Taiki's declared specialty he'd likely know all about that. "It's why as soon as I had data, I told the Hokage. I stressed the fact that this was probably a precursor for something bigger. And the technique I developed to remove it only works on one person at a time. Same thing with the seal. Now that it mutated, who knows what it will do?"
The chakra reserves of a Bijuu? That does make sense, considering this person was planning on using a jutsu on an indefinite amount of shinobi at the same time… Then again, Shuuren has his own secret in that aspect that will help when it comes to taking such a person on. "We may need something we can produce through the air to eliminate this thing if it gets far enough in mutation," he comments, pondering on how quickly he can come up with something. "Since it's your specialty, how is the way it absorbs chakra different from the way a shinobi would? Is a method of blocking that works against a shinobi going to work on this thing, you think?"
Taiki pulls out a couple of sheets from the stack and begins a highly technical explanation on how elemental country jutsus work, and how they convert chakra into the effects. What he describes is as far beyond the genin instructions that only someone well versed in medical jutsu, or a Hyuuga, could understand it. "This, however, doesn't do that. The flow into the lattice structure is thicker, but the formation of the base is thinner. Furthermore …" Taiki then explains how those two observations effect the jutsu. "In other words, the jutsu is stronger and more resistant, yet it can be interupted easier, provided you are very quick on the draw. That's because it initiates quicker." He then takes out a couple of tags and lays them down near the bottle. "I was to busy setting up for the worse to do any real diagnosis work on the current sample."
Listening silently once again, Shuuren takes in the information. The basics of how most of it works he knows, but it doesn't hurt to be presented with all the information so one can compare. "So, if we catch it early, we can eliminate it more quickly and hopefully put a stop to it before it gains a serious foothold." With that, he would withdraw a scroll from a compartment in his bio-hazard suit and then two smaller ones, one of which he holds out to taiki. "This is a list of all the potential ingredients I brought with me. If you're not familiar with any of them, feel free to ask. Hopefully we have something within our reach here that can stop this. If not, we may have to try to figure out this thing's origin and do a small invasion of our own to harvest what we need for a cure." With that, he would start studying between Taiki's charts and his own, beginning to ponder on a solution.
Usagi sighs as she enters the area, already scrubbed up and ready to go as she hmms softly approaching the two, nodding. "Invasion, I can do if need be" She takes a slow breath and looks between the two. "So neutralize it quickly, or we're in for a long hard fight….I can't say that's anything past normal with us, but one could have hoped…"
Taiki nods as Usagi comes in, and then directs her to get into a Hazmat suit. "We have no idea what we're dealing with, after all," he reminds her. "Usagi, this is Nagamura Shuuren, Daimyo of Tea Country and Med-nin in charge of Nagamura Pharmacuticals. Nagamura-san, this is Nara Usagi, my med-nin partner."
Once introductions are out of the way, he continues, "Now that this thing has shifted, I don't know what it will do." With that Taiki attaches a tag to each side of the jar and sighs. "When you have your sample, I'll run my tests," he inform Shuuren.
Once Shuuren has set his equipment up, he grabs a petri dish and takes a sample. He then transfers it to the microscope for study, checking to see what he can find.
Usagi nods as she goes to get into a hazmat suit, working on that first. The mention of Shuuren's name gives her pause for a few moments, but she finishes suiting up before she offers him a more formal bow. Taiki already took care of introductions, so she simply says. "I'm sure it will be a pleasure" And with that, she stands ready to assist, as it seems Taiki and Shuuren already have it set up properly, and both of them are definitely past her in terms of skills in this particular portion. So For now….she waits.
Once everyone is in self-contained environmental suits, and Taiki ensures the jar is indeed sealed tightly, he releases his chakra tags attached to outside the jar. Suddenly the entire jar glows green, and Taiki breaks off his jutsu immediately. "Sweet Kami, it's contageous!" He wastes no time in hitting the emergency button, locking down the doors. He then looks at the jar and pales. "I hope the seals hold," the says before looking at Shuuren. "Whatever you do, don't apply chakra to that sample!" He then starts to activate seals permanently implanted here to see if the room, and its inhabitants, are infected…
Usagi blinks and sighs softly, shaking her head and backing up slowly. "This should be good…I finally get in on this after all my training, and now I end up infected" She quirks a brow at Taiki. "that's just irony right there" She shakes her head slowly, crossing her arms…carefully. "Well, least it'll make it easier for us to work with it…"
