Starring:
Odin, Yuuka, Kogarashi, Akane, Onimitsu
Date: Month Day, Year
Summary:
Summary goes here.
"The Silk Conflict - Tributary Offerings"
Land of Water — Chill River
An enemy force has been located.
Within the Land of Water, at a section of the Chill River where the majority of its tributaries converge to create the surging course, a band of those puppets from that foreign nation to the east has been noted and marked for immediate erasure. The afternoon is a foggy one, the spring air warm and filled with the thick, gauzy veil. But that shouldn't cause too much trouble for Kirigakure shinobi, who live in such a state.
Yuuka makes sure that the team is out of detection range of the puppets, kneeling silently within the treetops several yards away. "Alright." she murmurs quietly, nearly a whisper as she turns her aquamarine eyes back to the team gathered. "It looks like there isn't any kidnapped with them, so we don't have to worry about any innocent citizens. And according to the reports, they are very difficult to kill off. So we're going to search for a way to do it quickly and thoroughly. I won't accept anything less from Kirigakure shinobi. Any questions before we move in?"
Shaking his head, Kogarashi looks to Yuuka and then to the others. He is taking note of those that are with him before he moves a step forward to stare at the various people moving in the village below. He hmms as he looks at the area they are moving into before looking to Yuuka again, awaiting the time to move.
Akane had once again gone with the Kiri shinobi on a mission. The crimson haired woman was in full regalia, hair up in a tighter and more simple bun that usual, but her hairsticks — all six of them — were still there. She wore twin kodachi and belts of throwing daggers and kunai. She too knelt in the treetops, remaining close to Yuuka as her vision was still limited. She held up a hand to gain Yuuka's attention and silently spoke with hand gestures /I'll see if there's anyone else around./ And then she sent her hands through several handseals, sending out light pulses of medical chakra which will act like sonar, returning to Akane any signs of life in the area.
Looking at the area ahead that they are approaching, Kogarashi stares into the fog for a moment before looking to Yuuka. He nods his head, "No questions here." He idly rests his hands on his hilt that is hanging on his hip and he pulls up wiht his other hand the gourd on the other and takes a drink out of it before resealing it and hanging it back at its spot opposite his katana.
The reported band of puppets is right where the team was told that they would be. Their numbers appear to be an even 30, the figures stand tall and broadshouldered in fully encompassing black cloaks, heads covered by their hoods. They are still, shadow clad figures in the shadows, like silent sentinels awaiting an awakening. And it seems… that they were given their cue. Moments after Akane searched the area for vital signs with her medical chakra, the group raise their hidden faces in the group's direction.
And then they start forward.
Yuuka faintly tilts her snowy head to give Akane a glance, gaze narrowing before she faintly dips her chin with a nod. With Akane doing her thing detecting chakra, she waits in perfect silence, keeping her own senses stretched out in the direction of the puppets, at the edge of her senses. Then, they start to move. It elicits a scowl from the Swordsman and she doesn't hesitate to begin gathering chakra in her gut, her hands quickly pulling of her kimono to reveal the ivory that crisscrosses and wraps over her flesh. "Looks like we don't have time now." Kimono dropped over the branch, she uses a hand to dig into her shoulder, pulling out the length of a sharpened blade from her very flesh.
Twitching at the sight of that, Kogarashi honestly wandered if he would ever get used to that clan pulling blades of bones out of their skin. Even as he notes this, he turns to the sound of the moving puppets. He stares out at them, watching them move and he pulls out his own blade, though in a far more normal fashion, the blade flowing forth from his hip and into his hands. He takes a breath and then lets it out slowly as he focuses some chakra.
Akane turned back to Yuuka and shook her head to indicate there was nothing out there. Unlike the young genin, she kept silent unless she absolutely had to, though if anyone outside of her length of vision wanted to 'speak' to her, they would have to do so audibly, she could use the 'sign language' of the shinobi.
She'd barely sent her message to Yuuka when the other woman stripped off her Kimono, stating that they seem to have run out of time. Akane stood as Yuuka did, taking her cue from the swordswoman. When Yuuka pulled the sword from her flesh Akane blinked several times before she was able to focus again. She'd been aware of the Kaguya's abilities but it was one thing to know and another to see. She shook herself mentally and drew her right kodachi with her left hand and gathered her chakra around her. Her ears strained, allowing her to hear where the puppets were coming from if they made any sound…
Onimitsu flits through the tree tops with all the grace a true shinobi is expected; soundless even while bearing full armor. He was to play the role of reinforcements for the day's mission. And while he could've arrived sooner and requested further instructions ahead of time, sacrificing suprise for a method he could not keep quiet was not something he believed would be tolerated. The most loud mouthed of the spirits would remind him again just to agitate the man, but at that point they were both given pause by the march of puppets.
<Not a word, geki…>
Onimitsu only response to that is a weak grin before dropping from the trees. Silver gives way to crimson, and then the maginified hum of a beetle in flight precedes his eventual arrival..
The puppets swiftly sped into a running pace, soon simply dashing towards the shinobi, the sound of half breathed whispers sifting through the fog like lost echos. Hands raise among the group, slipping from the confines of their ebon shrouds to reveal their skin to be extremely olived toned — green to the point of being unnatural.
"Firaya…" came that whisper, repeated a dozen times in that same voice before a barrage of fireballs blossomed into being suddenly streaking towards the grouped Kiri-nin, devouring the low clouds in their hunger to consume.
But despite Onimitsu's general lack of noise and the distance between them, the approaching man in steel did not go entirely unnoticed either. "Raido," sliced that echoing whisper, this one sharper before two lightning bolts traveled towards the man from the raised fingers of two puppets.
"Keep close together. And watch each other's backs!" Yuuka shouts. "For Kirigakure!!" She doesn't wait to leap from the treetops, landing smoothly on the forest floor while the bone sword in her hand warps and curves. The dark smirk flickers across her lips if but for an instant before the sword is thrown, a deadly blade that arcs through the air to attempt to hit as many targets at once.
Looking at the situation, Koga lets out a sigh as he watches the attack incoming and winces as he is unable to block it with the wind. Not the best defense but right now, about the only one he really has that might have worked. He watches the enemy and then nods, "Well." He states and then shrugs, "Fine!" He suddenly rushes forward, firing off an attack off wind with a swing of his blade before jumping into the first puppet he can reach for two quick slices of his blade.
The sound of the flame attack caught Akane's attention and she flipped out of the tree, landing in a crouch on the ground in a similar manner as Yuuka, though Akane's movements were mostly just proof of flexibility. She winced a twitch as she saw the genin — what was his name again? ko…ko.. not the time for that. — She saw the genin try to block a fire attack with wind. Her distraction nearly cost her.. nearly. She felt her sleeve grow warm as the fire singed her clothing. Her eyes flashed and she drew her second blade, launching herself forward. She kept within a few yards of Kogarashi, aware of the boy's position, and took on the nearest puppet there. She used the same technique as she had when she was with Ishino, though the puppets obviously had no hearts. One blade pointed directly at the puppet's chest area and emmitted a bolt of lightning at point blank range. Then, with a spin to add power to her attack, she tried to lop the thing's head off with her other blade. Her eyes had deepened to a dark leafy green.
Onimitsu quickly averted his course, diving until he flew only a few inches above the ground and evading the bolts in the process. He rises once more in a quick hurry and opens up pouch at his backside, then flies through a short series of handseals. A stream of water flows out and gathers before the hovering man before being flung in compacted balls like bullets at the same puppets that fired. If that isn't enough to at least immobilize them mfor a time, Onimitsu sped forward and would finish the job with a final slash before hitting the ground sliding on his feet.
The cloaked figures showed no fear as they continued their direct assault on the Kirigakure shinobi, their fireball assault proving somewhat effective against at least one of them. As Yuuka's camellia blade came sweeping in, the swift-traveling blade speared right through two of them, carrying them as they and the weapon struck five of their comrades, knocking some about. "Ssssssalasar…" yet another whisper, power in every syllable and repeated twice before a pair of nearby puppets vanished into black smoke and reappeared by Yuuka in the same, one lashing out with a punch as another strikes out with a swinging kick.
The puppets assaulted by Koga simply raised their arms and burst through the wind slashed towards them, meeting the boy head on. His first slash cut into the cloak and slightly into the body of one, the second slash evaded. The puppet lashed out with a countering kick, the whisper, "Raido…" accompanying a quick lash of lightning that came immediately after from pointed fingers.
Akane's foes met her head on as well, simply rushing towards her in battle preparation. The puppet she attacked moved to evade her lightning strike but it came in too swiftly, hitting it in the chest and giving it pause before the spinning slice to the neck connected, sinking it. But it didn't decapitate it. Instead, the weapon only lodged partway through. Apparently unperturbed by it, the puppet raised a hand.
"Jalil…" was it's sussurous whisper, before a foreign symbol left the palm of its hand, pure glowing energy. It floated towards Akane, starting green in color but swiftly darkening to an angry red before it abruptly exploded.
Onimitsu's water bullets flew in towards the mass, striking the crowded puppets directly and with enough force to send them skidding to the side, bumping into some of their compatriots. The final slash found a mark as well, opening a cut in a puppet's cloak and side. The puppet didn't go down, however — none have and stayed there yet — and soon the assaulting shinobi was under assault himself, the word "Sssssalasar…" sifting through the area a plethora of times as a few puppets began appearing around the medic, fists and feet streaking in.
Yuuka tries to keep close to the team as much as possible, considering one of them happens to be a Genin. Though using wind style jutsu… She scowls to herself and jumps into the air, twisting gracefully so that she lands closer to Kogarashi, alert and another blade already forming in both of her hands. "Now isn't the best time to experiment with elemental jutsu. Akane!" She calls to the other kunoichi. "Have you sensed any weaknesses yet?" The strikes are aimed at her, and almost instinctively Yuuka moves, dances gracefully to dodge the punch and kick, using the momentum to her advantage as she slashes at them with the bones in her palms.
Watching how his attacks weren't having a great of an effect, he looks over toward Yuuka with a slight scowl, "It's not experimentation, I'm not exactly versed in a ton of abilities." He stares before looking back in time to try to block the incoming lightning with another gust of wind and then Akane is there to defend him. He lets out a breath and sends three quick slices toward the puppet next, "I don't have tons of attacks available."
Akane swore as her sword stuck int he puppet's neck, but rather than lose her own head — literally — or a hand for that matter, she let the sword stay there. Yuuka got closer to Kogarashi, telling the kid to not experiment in battle and the kid talked back. Akane frowned, but rather than focus on that she moved into the puppet's range, twisting, but taking the lightning hit to her shoulder. Her eyes deepened in color but she showed no sign of pain. The odd symbol that was sent her way was unrecognisable to her but she knew she should get out of the way o fit. She leapt backwards but alas it was not enough and the explosion caught her forearms as she shielded herself with her arms. And the damn thing still had her second sword…
Che. She shealthed her remaining sword. To Yuuka she said "Forgive me, I can ense living things but these aren't alive…" Then, rather than simply continue a fight that seemed endless, she launched herself at speed /into/ the crowd of puppets. She bumped a few on the way, but when seh reached thier midst she dropped to one knee and tried her search again, for it made no sense to Akane that puppets would be without a controller….
Having never had an opportunity to face the puppets before this moment, turning and seeing those he felled continue to move came as a surprise to the armored shinobi. The surprise look lasts up until those that sought to surround and assault him made their move. Blades are sidestep, blunt strikes spun past or weaved under, and surprises from blindside parried or deflected without the chuunin braking his pace by little more than a second at most. By the end he hoped to have placed himself towards the outer edge of the puppet group, or at least forced them to clump together in the process of trying to strike him down. Regardless of which the chuunin would take any momentary reprieve to gather his wits about himself and reconsider his next move.
Somewhat grudgingly compared to most times, Onimitsu would try to take the sky to take in the scene as a whole before making his move. At best he had… three shots or four before having to resort to drastic measures. Two of those shots are wasted upon the puppets to Akane and Kogarashi. Their placement meant to knock the puppets into each other or scattered them if it all possible through aerial bombardments. More preferably, to tangle them up for a moment, but hoping for >that< kind of miracle was asking for too much, though maybe drawing the majorities attention to him might help…
The two puppets that had moved in on Yuuka would find themselves torn apart by the powerful strikes coming from the bone spikes stemming from her palm, their own attacks never landing. Their hewn forms lay on the ground, bloodless but unmoving. Another pair responded to this by looking to her and raising their hands, deep intonations emanating from them. There was a sparkle. A crackle. Then a whoosh, a large sphere of fire centered on Yuuka launching from those hands.
Koga's blade managed to find the body of a puppet still speared through by the Kaguya Swordsman's blade, cutting into it and making the torso crumple over the weapon, puppet collapsing to the ground with a hollow sigh. His two other slashes find no purchase, howver. The puppet with Akane's sword in its neck runs over, though, looking to simply slam a fist into Kogarashi's face.
As for the crimson haired medic, she would manage to slip her way into the crowd of puppets without issue. It would've been far more dangerous and likely much more painful if she wer enot covered, at that time by Onimitsu, however. His water bullets struck those nearest her, giving her enough time to sense that there truly… wasn't another person around who was at the reigns. She would sense nothing new. The knowledge, or lack thereof, would cost Onimitsu a few fireballs and lightning strikes, though.
"Then you should know what jutsu you do have that /won't/ work." Yuuka gives Koga, before barely glancing at Akane out of the corner of her eye. "I don't care if they're alive or not. We are just looking for chakra. They're /puppets/. That must mean that there's a puppet master or strings controlling these things." Not that she really needs to point that out, but this time it seems like it's necessary.
Though whatever reply may have been given, it isn't caught as she focuses on the sphere of fire that's being concentrated on her. A smooth step, and the Swordsman tries to dodge the attack and counter with another swift slash at the second pair.
"They aren't beings of fire, on fire, spewing nothing but fire." Koga responds and then turns to try to block an attack and gets punched right in the face. He stumbles back several steps and spits blood on to the ground before growling, "Without the wind, I might as well run away…though for all the good it is doing me…" He growls and then jumps back and stares before shaking his head, "No matter what the others say, my attacks aren't finding purchase. Fire isn't all these things use and the wind is all I have." And he whips out a trio of slicing attacks, wind cutting through the air into his puppet opponent
Akane couldn't figure this out. What kind of puppets moved without the strings of a master? She frowned but quickly retreated back to the front of the pack. Yuuka's words only confused her more but she decided not to dwellon it.. And what was with that hissing whisper?! But that gave her an idea… She drew a kunai and her sword, turning to get close to th puppet with her other seord in it'sneck… she leapt into the air and came down hard, aiming her blade for the blade stuck int he puppet… maybe if she could disrupt the sound they were making…. maybe they oculd get a clue. She was running out of ideas though…
They turn to him and Onimitsu in turn grasp the hilt of the Yoshimitsu. Lightning and fire are both dealt with as they come, though ultimately it is the latter that clips an exposed joint in his armor mid-aerial sweep to the side. The wound may have stung but he showed no signs of feeling pain. Not to these merciless machinations of some foreign man's ambition. No. It was better to simply count himself lucky that no oil was mixed into the fireballs and that his wing managed to avoid being singed or burned. That, and to focus on remaining useful. Seeing Koga fairing the worse, Onimitsu would sweep in to air lift the boy towards the outer edges of the struggle, soothing and healing the boy through jutsu over words before setting him down and moving back to 'high ground'.
Even if the puppets were creatures to celebrate their success in striking Yuuka with their large sphere of combusting fire, the celebration would be short-lived as the Kaguya sped through the conflagration to attack them, seriously crumpling one and cutting another sheer in half. Kogarashi's winds — swift but not the most powerful of attacks — struck a target about two thirds of the time but looked to have next to no effect on those they struck. Akane's blade hitting the sword stuck in another puppet's neck, sending the blade the rest of the way through, leaving the cowled head to tumble. The body stood there for a few moments before tumbling. And it was here, with a little less than half of the puppets downed, that the force turned tail, retreating back towards the river.
Yuuka makes a pained face and slides back several feet at the fire sphere hits, before striking back and tearing through the second pair. Whatever vengeance she may have dished out in recompense is… she growls to herself as she watches the rest of the puppet take off. "That…" Yuuka scowls. "Great. The Mizukage isn't going to be pleased to know that the rest fled…" She makes a note to herself that she'll have to hunt them down later, if only for her pride as a Kaguya.
Blinking as he feels himself being lifted off and he stares at the man holding him up with some form of jutsu. THen he is on the edge of combat and staring into it as the puppets leave. He stares at the situation before letting out a sigh and putting his weapon away. Looking down, he bites his lower lip before looking up and nodding, "I see."
Akane looked down at the puppet she'd taken the head off of and pondered just a moment, watching the rest flee. But then her attention was side railed by Yuuka. The woman's injuries were probably nothing to a kaguya, she could also spot the signs of fatigue. The crimson haired girl walked over to Yuuka, looking her over some, making sure she wasn't injured badly. She would follow Yuuka as they retreated to regroup.
Onimitsu eyes narrows as he watches the puppets retreat in full. While he could not understand their order being rescinded he was… relieved, nonetheless. He would watch them until satisfied that no further danger loomed over the horizon, then turn his attention to the others. Out all those that were present it is the Kaguya that still bore the worse injuries out of them all. It is with a heavy heart that he turned away to focus on his own injuries instead, for he did not trust himself fully around that one. Not anymore…
Unimpeded by pursuit or harrying fire, the puppets soon vanished into the fog and leapt into the surging waters of the Chill River, leaving behind the shells of a decent number of their broken compatriots. With the mission goal being total erasure of those forces, the team failed to complete this one, but they've been driven back. There is that victory, at the least.
