Starring:
Date: August 17, 2014
Summary:
Michiko is sent out to take care of the bandits that have been heckling her and Jukai. Of course, Jukai happens to be there, too.
"The Unluckiest Pair: Bandit Conclusion! "
A few miles away from the Amagumo Bridge
Michiko finds herself on patrol once again. With the girl in top shape, the administration has no trouble with sending her out alone on the patrol, especially since she's supposed to be at a Chuunin-level of strength. The girl's route is a bit longer than her last patrol, an the orders were clear. She was to find those bandits she had several dealings with and take care of them. Shinobi found their nest and monitored the bandits for a bit, determining said bandits didn't number much more than 3. Perfect for Michiko. So she makes her way to the hideout, which happens to be a few miles east of the Amagumo bridge.
Jukai has been keeping track of this situation, perhaps a bit more than he should. However, with Chou's arrival, the necessity for securing her safety has driven him to take steps that he wouldn't normally take, like following some of the less skilled shinobi as they went about their jobs. Of course, he wasn't being threatening, and he was rather open about it, though he intentionally made it look like he was out for a walk and didn't quite stop near where they were camped out, he continued on just a little ways and then sat down and pulled out his book so he could write, which he set to doing, though he was watching his surroundings as well.
Of course, Jukai might hear a few noises as he set about writing that book of his. He might also sense a few people about, though their chakra was close to nonexistent. Perhaps he even notices the seal tag that floats down towards him! Whether he does or not, that seal tag goes off right as it nears the cripple's head. Should he be unable to avoid it, the resulting flash-bang would blind and deafen him for the kick to his gut that is so nicely aimed at him.
Michiko is a bit too far away to be able to help Jukai right away against the bandits, but she does hear the commotion. She moves silently so as not to alert the bandits of her presence. It looks like only two are present, and one of them she recognizes to be the leader of the group she's gotten to be familiar with. Not wanting to reveal herself, especially as the flash-bang seal affects her slightly as well, she keeps herself away from the combat that happens… For now.
Jukai sensed the impending strike, making a few hand signs in an effort to allay the tag, but he was just a bit slow and it went off, stunning him long enough for a kick to land in his stomach and send him rolling backwards off the boulder he was sitting on. Grumbling, he reached for his cane and hoisted himself back to his feet. "Such annoying nuance. I think I should stop trying to keep you alive." He shakes his head, makes a few seals and then blows out a cloud of ash, settling it over the area, intent on harming all of the little bandits that might happen to be hiding out near him.
The first bandit who just attacked Jukai is sharper than most, apparently. Or Michiko is a bad hider… Regardless, he's able to spot the genin right as Jukai launches a cloud of ash at him. As the bandit dances back to avoid the fire, he throws two knives at the hiding girl with a wild laugh. "Come out, girly! We're gonna tear you apart this time. We know your moves~." His attitude is a bit different than previous encounters, but perhaps it's because he's more confident. The leader of the bandits goes over to Jukai, kicking at the cripple's uninjured leg. "Yer tryin to keep us alive? Well, we don' need yer help!"
Michiko, in the meantime, sees those knives coming at her and she makes a few handseals to block the attack. The knives this into the earth, the girl letting out a relieved sigh. "Stupid bandits," she mutters under her breath. "Yasujiro-san, are you alright?" she calls out, forming more seals so she can attack the bandits still present. With a breath, she launches two firebolts, one at each enemy. "Take that…" she mutters.
Jukai sighs. The clones aren't good enough in this particular situation and he knows it. All he can do is rely on a technique that will effect his opponent, and only his opponent. It's risky, but Michiko should be too busy to really pick up on anything. To add effect, he steps to the side and away as the voids that hinder the bandit leaders sight make him miss anyway. Jukai does what he can to ensure that it's a close miss, then forms chakra around his hand and lashes out with two blows at the man. He's intent on ending this a bit quicker than before.
Those firebolts come in strong and powerful against the bandits, and both find themselves badly burnt. It's because of that pain, the leader would claim, that he was unable to avoid one of the chakra-infused blows that Jukai landed on him. With a cry of both frustration and pain, he glares at the man with the cane. Slowly he backs away, pulling a whistle from his pocket. Two shrill tweets of the instrument and there's more rustling in the surroundings. Two other bandits have joined, these with swords. They look… blood thirsty. "One of you work with him and go for the girl. The other is with me and we take out the cripple," he orders, waving his hand.
The first sword user that arrived moves to Jukai in a burst of speed, attacking the man with his hilt in hopes of stunning Jukai. He follows it up with a slash to Jukai's midsection while the bandit leader comes in with a powerful punch of his own. Michiko has her own problem to deal with as the bandit she faces sends a bomb in her direction, providing a distraction so that the swordsman he's working with can slice at her head.
Michiko doesn't look happy when more bandits show up. She can deal with them, and it's always good to have a helping hand (Jukai) when dealing with the bandits. It's just such a pain, especially when there are bigger enemies nearby. She makes a few handseals, making two clones of herself. It allows her to avoid both bomb and first slash, but the second slash to her arm catches the girl for lack of clones, and she ends up with a long shallow cut. A faint curse and she'll attempt to blind both of her enemies while launching a firebolt at the sword wielder.
Jukai is hit. Not once, but three times. Failure was such a troublesome thing, but he'd been neglecting training for quite some time because he'd been busy. That and training here was dangerous. There wasn't a secure location that he'd found for Chou and him to practice within. That would take some more time. He took a breath to regan himself and stepped back away from where he was. As he did, he focused on drawing out his chakra to prepare himself to do something more than simply defend now. It was going to take more than simple moves to end this, but he wasn't willing to do more than what he was doing so far. "Michiko-san, these guys keep getting tougher, don't you think?"
The bandits, of course, don't let up even as Jukai is trying to focus his chakra. Well, they /are/ the bad guys. Why would they give their prey respite? The sword user makes some fancy flashy moves before driving his sword towards Jukai's stomach and then legs while the Bandit leader works together to try and punch Jukai a bit more. The other two are a bit less successful in their endeavors, Michiko's dirt bomb forcing them to step back. The one burnt by her firebolt rolls around for a bit while his partner tries to barrel into Michiko. Once recovered, the sword user does the same flashy moves against Michiko that his friend did.
"I think it's more like they keep finding stronger guys, Yasujiro-san… The bandits we're familiar with still seem rather weak, from what I can tell," Michiko replies, making a seal with her hands. Her opponents find themselves attacking a nice log instead of the genin, which means Michiko can store up her chakra and do a super-charged attack against the pair. A large flame bullet engulfs the duo, then a second one as the girl finds their existence rather annoying. Hopefully that will finish them off.
Jukai is slashed and then pummeled. This is not going well, but he will not rely on the main abilities that he's honed. He isn't about to die, either. He backs away from the two of them, making a few signs as he drips blood all over the place. He puffs out not one, not two, but three full clouds of ash in an effort to catch the two bandits in one of them at least. If he doesn't, he's essentially in a world of hurt. Unless, somehow, help manages to arrive in the form of Michiko, which would be great. If nothing else, he looks a lot weaker than he should, which he can use.
Against that wave of ashes? Well, the bandit leader didn't really stand a chance. He was weak, even as the leader. The only reason he did become the leader was because of his evil ways that involved blackmail, poison, and other underhanded tricks in his sleeves. The swordsman fares much better, able to avoid the second two waves, though the first fiery ash still burnt him a bit. A small grimace as he dances back. The boss looked like he was unconscious… Does that mean he should run? The confused look on his face obviously was a good sign that he didn't know what he was doing, which gave Michiko time enough to come down and knock him out.
"I'm sorry that you seem to keep ending up injured because of these bandits, Yasujiro-san. They seem to be all taken care of, though!" The girl offers a sympathetic smile to the older man, pulling some rope from her pouch as she does. "I need to bring these two back to Kumo for some questioning. Maybe they know a thing or two about The Silence, even…" With that, she ties them up so they won't be able to run away. "Ah, did you need any wounds treated, by the way? I have some first aid supplies with me that I don't mind using on you…"
Jukai grumbles as he falls over now that the fight appears to be done with. Seriously, he was starting to wonder why he was even in this place. Perhaps he should tell Chou that they should move on to a safer land than this one. The bandits here were stronger than most Chuunin! "I hate this place," he says somewhat softly before he waves at Michiko. "I'm bleeding and beaten up. What would you think that I need, Michiko-san?" he asks of her, grumbling even more afterwards. Seriously, in his state, did she think he would make it back to the village on his own or something? "I need to start training again, just to defend myself and Chou-chan better in this place until we leave."
Michiko takes most of the grumblings to be a 'yes, you can do what you want in terms of healing' and does a quick patch up for Jukai, meaning bandages, antiseptic, and maybe some ice packs for the guy. She looks him over a bit to make sure he seems like he can walk, offering a hand to help him up. "Perhaps a bit of training wouldn't hurt you. Did you get to meet up with Chou-san, then?" she wonders, glancing over to the bandits she captured. Man, a horse would be nice to have right about now. She was stupid for traveling without one. But she also doesn't want to get just any horse… Nariko said they would get a proper horse for Michiko, and she wanted to wait for that.
"I am thoroughly out of practice. Most of the places I go don't end up with me being attacked as much as I have here," Jukai says when she is done bandaging him up. He reaches for his cane and then sits up, but doesn't stand quite yet. At the moment he's a bit dizzy and woozy from what had just gone on. At least it seemed like the situation had finally been resolved with catching at least a couple of these guys. They'd sell out the rest of their group if there was more. "Yeah, she's here. She's sleeping under guard at the moment. I wanted to get away for a bit to work on my book in silence."
Michiko nods and prods the bandits a few times with her foot. They're out cold… "I see… Well, then, Yasujiro-san. I really am sorry you have had such misfortune here. I hope it ends soon for you. I would be happy to train with you, if ever you wished to be a bit stronger." Michiko offers a smile before hefting both of the unconscious bandits with an intricately tied rope keeping them together. It seems she intends to drag them back to Kumo… "Would you like me to walk with you back to the village? Or do you wish to be alone?" she asks.
"Really? I didn't think you trusted me," Jukai says as he positions his cane and good leg in order to lift himself from the ground in a hobbled rise. After a brief moment of standing there and sucking in air, he nods his head to her. "I'll walk with you, if you don't mind being slow. I think I've had enough of coming out here for now. I'll just do my writing in the room with the others. Won't be as quiet, but it will be much safer." He grumbles and rubs at one of the bandages. "This place almost makes me want to go back home, and I really don't want to do that." He turns and starts walking. "Well, let's go."
