Starring:
Shuuren, Imire, Asami, Sakuya, Taro
Date: February 12, 2016
Summary:
Someone seems to have poisoned the daughter of a feudal lord, and the best medic was sent for. Naturally, that best medic is Shuuren, who brings his personal entourage of guards and guests. And yet, it seems to be a trap!
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Verge of Darkness - Mysterious Sickness Part 2"
Land of Tea
With the tactic for checking out the town decided upon, Shuuren moves ahead from the docks with the three that are coming with him into the town. Hopefully the ship doesn't wind up targeted, but Asami should be able to handle herself if it is, right? As they come through the town, they're cast some glances, but the people of the town seem to be mostly going about their business.
While they walk, Shuuren blinks a bit… It's been a long time since he came to this island personally, years in fact, but he thought he'd recognize more of the townsfolk. Still, there are quite a few people here, and that's not something he can directly worry about right now since he has a patient to heal, but it is something to note.
After going through the town to the back area of the main village, they finally come to the largest house in the village, obviously the home of its leader. Rather than the leader, a housemaid waits outside and bows deeply when the group approaches. "Nagamura-dono, it is an honor," she says before rising up and opening the door. "The elder is away at the market, but he said you can go on in and examine the girl. He should be back in a short while."
Imire would frown just a bit as Sakuya stated her desire to have Taro with her. But apparently he didn't want to go with? OR something… It was more like the teen seemed to want to stick with his sister. Either way, Imire would move to go with Shuuren, trying to look like a good guard to the Daimyo. He would look around at the different people they passed, thinking that they didn't look very threatening. Maybe he could le- no, bad guard! Imire sighs inwardly and looks over to the one he'd soon be working with. "Umm… Sakuya … What all can you do?" he would ask, feeling just a bit awkward. Was he allowed to ask that? "Just so we can organize a bit when we go investigate the barn, I mean."
Sakuya actually tells Imire that she was relieved. "You seem like the more trustworthy one, Imire… I'm glad the Daimyo will let you stick with me." That's all she says, before she basically stands still. There isn't much else to do other than let the Daimyo speak to the maid.
Taro frowned a bit. He didn't much want his sister to be left alone up on the boat, but he didn't seem to much have a choice. He would nod to the others and to his sister before following after them. Honestly he didn't care what he had to do, so be it the barn or walk with the Daimyo he was fine. Imire volunteered the former though and Sakuya seemed relieved or something. With how they talked it seemed like he was untrusted compared to Imire. Supposed it made sense. Personal guard compared to a random mercenary. And one that she accused of murder for stupid reasons in his mind. Well he just would follow the Daimyo then…. "So… What do I just keep you protected from possible threats then?" He asked with no enthusiasm whatsoever. Of course that was all said before he made it to the maids place.
Asami is on a boat. She has a big shuriken ready to use if she spots any trouble, and a pretty good awareness of what's going on. Still, the other side of town is stretching her Chakra sensing abilities. She's going to have to work to refine them more and push her boundaries. For now, she's just going to have to sit down and meditate, focus solely with her mind and not her eyes. If she senses anyone in trouble based upon their Chakra, she'll immediately take action. But she also won't be able to move very quickly to defend herself if something happens near the boat.
In exchange, however, putting all of her Chakra and senses into sensing, she should be aware of any significant sources of Chakra in the whole town… Unless they have methods she is unaware of to hinder such, or her concentration lapses.
"Remain outside the door fo the house and keep an eye out. If this was an attempt on the girl's life, whoever wants her dead may try to prevent her being healed," Shuuren answers Taro in a quiet voice before they reach the door. When the maid begins to talk, he turns his attention to her and listens. "Of course. Thank you for informing me," he says then turns to the others while he pulls a piece of paper and a pen from his jacket. He quickly draws a picture of a few different herbs that can be found on the island and notates their names before offering the paper to Sakuya. "If I'm correct about what illness that has befallen the girl, I'll need these items to create medicine for her. You and Imire go gather them for me while I examine the patient please."
That said he turns to walk into the house, glancing around it curiously as he moves through to the bedroom where the girl lays on her bed. She's a lovely young woman, probably in her early twenties, with long brown hair. She seems hardly conscious, struggling to stay awake at this point. "Try to relax," he says as he walks into the room. "Everything's going to be fine." Of course, he should get a read of just how big a lie that might be as he places a hand on her shoulder to run a diagnostic jutsu.
Meanwhile, assuming they head north as instructed, they would, indeed, find a barn that seems to have fallen into disarray due to nearly burning down along with the fields around it. The foul smell is definitely coming from here. Perhaps Shuuren was right that some livestock were inside when it burned, or maybe it's something else, but there are at least two living people inside from what can be detected.
On Asami's side, there's nothing really noteworthy thus far. No real chakra signatures above the average for a villager. Not the first blip that's not someone that's on their team within range of chakra sense, at least so far.
Imire would stand beside Shuuren before the house, eyeing the Maid curiously. He's trying to work on his 'I can tell if people are sketchy!' skills, but it might not work out very well. Hopefully she just thinks that he's eyeing her for her looks (whether or not she has them …) and ignores the teen. And then Shuuren gives that signal! "Yes, Shuuren-dono!" he says, sounding relieved for being sent away. HE was just a guard. Not a doctor in any sense of the word. Imire would make his way towards the north and head to the barn, blinking just a bit at the smell and wrapping a piece of cloth around his mouth. "Ugh … This is when I'm glad I can't smell like the Inuzuka …" he says with a faint grumble. Imire would glance over to Sakuya. "Well? Do /you/ notice anything?" he asks.
Let's see… Sakuya would take the white piece of paper from the Daimyo and immediately look it over. Yes, she would indeed collect a large amount of these plants. Find one, use her senses to find others. A simple task, but at the same time this gives her the freedom she wants. To find information regarding what is going on in this strange little hamlet upon an isolated island. As she looks over the paper, her tongue slips from her mouth a moment as she looks up to Shuuren and smile with a soft nod. She would indeed get him a lot more than he asked. She would give him answers, or at least she hoped. A burning barn might just be a dead end. "I will find you a sufficient amount ! It will… 'take a while', though." She looks at the maid as her pupils dilate a moment, and would look over to Imire. "Not yet. Follow me, Imire." She says as she starts running off to the north. She would allow Imire to catch up, as she had some special instructions once she realized a few things. As she approaches the barn, her senses are trying to detect specific things she has come across during her time as a shinobi. She wanted to know if this fire was started using chemicals, such as oil, or if there was oil residue in the air. This would likely be completely phased out by the scents of the terrible barnyard smell. "Imire. I need you to do something for me while I take a look. There are people who definitely tended these lands that were burned down. Surely they know something, so I need you to ask them three critical questions. Introduce yourself, and ask for their names, is one. Ask them what their relation to the feudal lord is." After all, if they were related to the sick daughter in some form, this might be a direct attack against them. "The last, is I want you to ask them what they saw as far as who started the fire… Anything else you ask is just cream on top, if you will!" Sakuya would stop in front of the barn and look it over. "I'm going to start looking for clues."
The first thing she would look for is where the fire had been started. If she can find where the fire spread out from, there might be clues as to who started it… O-once that was over, it was clearly time to enter the barn and… try to find out what that smell is, and look for anything else within the shambles of the barn…
Taro nods to Shuuren. "Alright." Then they made it to the maids and he listened to everything that was spoken. He himself just had to stay outside so he did just that. His eyes moving about to keep an eye on the surrounding area. He first would just keep an eye on Imire and Sakuya as they left..Honestly he himself hated just sitting here, but that is all he could do. At least he could be paid.. Still he would of rathered stay back, but it made sense he supposed. His eyes scanned the area and rested on the direction to the ship slowly moving somewhat as if watching something.
Asami continues sensing things. Whoah! Far out!
Shuuren, at least, is easy to keep track of with that large Chakra of his. Using him as a point to orient off of is useful. She actually gets an idea… While she continues to monitor the others, she takes her straining senses and redirects them to focus on just Shuuren. Even on a mission like this… It might be possible to train. And the training will help her in this mission as well.
She focuses on Shuuren, and then, using him as a nexus for her 'mind's eye', she then spreads her tendrils of sensory awareness outwards FROM him. She tries to sense the others in relation to the 'landmark' that is the Daimyou. That's a lot easier. Obviously she isn't scanning the whole town anymore, but she also isn't expending Chakra to sense the whole town. She's keeping her focus directed on just the important people.
She's vulnerable as a result. But one thing at a time.
She envisions Shuuren as the sun, and herself as an aura all around him, reaching out with fiery strands to touch each of the ninja with her awareness. Even Imire, with his small Chakra pool, can be tracked by this method. But… It will take a lot more practice for this be a practical jutsu in anything other than a situation like this, where she has all the time in the world and no distractions.
Already, she can tell there are risks…
Moving around and asking questions unfortunately doesn't turn up any useful information for Imire. On the contrary, those he talks to seem basically clueless about what caused the fire and not too cooperative to provide any hints they may have. This kid's interrupting their work! What Sakuya finds as she enters the barn, however, is quite useful… and disturbing. Indeed, there were living things in the barn when it burned, or they may not have been alive at all when it happened. Either way, what she finds is quite unpleasant. Along with the livestock corpses that are used to cover up the more important smell, there are dozens of graves that have already been covered and piles of scorched skeletons waiting to be buried while several men work inside to dig the graves and bury them. In fact, there are enough corpses here to fill a village with people…
Meanwhile, inside the house, Shuuren's eyes go wide at what he finds in the girl through the diagnostic jutsu. "… No way a single dose did all this," he says with an anger that is quite rare for the Daimyo. For once he doesn't keep his composure as a look of absolute disgust shows on his face. "It's like someone dosed her again and again with a neurotoxin to break her mind down."
"… A number certainly was done on her mind," the voice of the housemaid rings out as she steps into the room again. "Tell me, is there actually anything you could hope to do for her at this point, or perhaps Seiho-san should simply destroy you both in tandem?"
Just then Asami's chakra sense as well as Shuuren's would detect something that had been hidden before, suppressed by jutsu as well as distance beneath the earth. However, it comes up through the ground with the swiftness one might expect of a high level Jounin as a man adorned in a black hooded robe aims a pair of ceremonial knives directly at the throat of the Daimyo and the girl.
Outside a loud whistle rings out, and suddenly every person in the village turns toward the shinobi that are visible. Even those at the docks turn toward the Daimyo's ship. Within an instant throwing knives begin to rain down upon Imire and Taro while the crew on the fishing ship aim a set of harpoons at the ship Asami is upon to try and pierce it so it can be brought down.
COMBAT: Imire defends against NPC-C-TAI-ATTACK(43) attack from Shifty with a IMPROVED-EVASION…47
COMBAT: Imire defends against NPC-C-TAI-ATTACK(45) attack from Shifty with a IMPROVED-EVASION…57
"Wha-? Okay …" Imire would say, startled by Sakuya suddenly sending him off on his own. The teen would listen and nod slowly. "Name, relation to lord, and relation to daughter …" he repeats, trying to pound that into his thick head. "Got it. I'll be right back, then." Then she adds something. "Oh, and the fire. Okay." Imire then sets off, stopping near a farmer who seemed busy. "Umm, excu-" "WHAT?!" The farmer was just not pleased with being interrupted. "I was just wondering if you knew anything about the fire, sir. Also, anything about the local lord …" Said farmer just have the very quick and short 'no' reply so he could return to his job, and Imire would scuttle away to avoid further tongue-lashings. The next ones he asked were just as unfriendly, and he bemoaned any chance of getting a hint.
"Sakuya-san, I don't think we're going to get anywhere with this!" he calls over. "Did you find those herbs? Also, you could have at least given me some of the pictures …" Imire sighs a bit. Then a piercing whistle splits the air. "Is that the end of working? Huh! Maybe I can go get some answers after- WHOA!!" Imire would leap back as the a random knife flew right towards where his head once was. "What's hap-" he stops to duck again. "-pening?" he whines, leaping away as a barrage comes towards him. Sharp! "The heck?! Who's attacking?!" Imire would pause and try to look around.
RPCOMBAT: Imire defends against with a PERCEPTION…35
Sakuya didn't understand. Was it because there was a plague on the island? Was the daughter not an isolated case? They burned a crop field just to smolder these corpses? This is slightly disturbing, but Sakuya seems detached enough that she isn't screaming seeing all the corpses. "Zuzu, your thoughts?" Sakuya asks in a whisper. The snake speaks softly. "Two reasons why corpses would be burned. One is what you have been thinking, likely. There is a plague on the island, and these corpses are burned to prevent it's spread. The second option is that these people are either dissenting citizens who were silenced due to their opinions or religion. The first seems likely, doesn't it?" Zuzu asks. Sakuya was hearing Imire outside, ignoring him unless she heard something important. Something important did seem to happen when a whistle sounds out and Imire sounds as if he is in trouble… Sakuya would try to lay low, hiding behind whatever cover she could as she made her way to Imire. She would then place her hand in a seal, and would keep silent as she communicated to Imire though mind trickery. «Imire, are you okay? What's going on. I'm here to assist!» Maybe it wasn't just disease. Maybe there is something deeper going on if Imire is under attack.
RPCOMBAT: Sakuya defends against with a HEBISUUHAI-SENSES…35
COMBAT: Sakuya attacks target 1 with STEALTH with a roll of: 22
RPCOMBAT: Shifty defends against with a PERCEPTION-II…51
COMBAT: Taro defends against NPC-C-TAI-ATTACK(34) attack from Shifty with a ACROBATIC-DODGE…37
COMBAT: Taro defends against NPC-C-TAI-ATTACK(43) attack from Shifty with a DUAL-BLADE…29
COMBAT: Taro loses the roll and sustains 547 damage.
Taro frowned a bit as he heard that loud whistle, but his hands didn't leave the hilts of his swords. Luckily enough too as knives started to rain down towards him. He pulled his blades free after trying to jump out, but he failed horribly as he just was not prepared. Virus dang it… "What is going on?" He was no wherenear built for fighting people and leaving them alive so how did he fight? Well…..bad luck for everyone else. He would just have to try and hit them all with the hilts. So he ran and charged at two before knocking both of them upside the head and hopping into some alley where he could watch the entrance of the house still… he now wished he took time to learn some first aid. Guess it is something he gets to ask his sister to teach him as he of course assumes she knows first aid.
COMBAT: Shifty attacks target 1 with NPC-C-TAI-ATTACK with a roll of: 55
COMBAT: Shifty attacks target 1 with NPC-C-TAI-ATTACK with a roll of: 43
COMBAT: Asami attacks target 1 with INTERRUPT with a roll of: 39
COMBAT: Asami attacks target 1 with INTERRUPT with a roll of: 50
RPCOMBAT: Asami defends against with a ACROBATIC-DODGE-III…38
NPC System: Harpoon roll(s) Shank v Asami from 200 to 500 and get(s) a 215. - Rolled by: Shuuren
RPCOMBAT: Asami took 215 damage.
Asami becomes aware that there's a new Chakra source incoming near Shuuren's location, and quickly realizes that things are suddenly heating up. That's the sign that it's time to act. Unfortunately, the downside of this unpracticed experimental technique of Asami's rears its head. She isn't aware of things going on immediately around her until she suddenly hears the commotion of battle commencing, and harpoons being launched. Her sensitivity to hostility and 'killing intent' is higher than is standard for most ninja. It runs in the family (or at least the female half).
She leaps to her feet, too slowly to stop the first harpoon from slamming into the ship, and her attempt to intercept the second one as she leaps into the air, drawing her Fuma Shuriken from her back, results in getting gouged along her right side. A glancing blow, but a painful one. At least she managed to alter its trajectory. However, targetting those attacking the ship, she decides that her first priority is stopping further damage to Shuuren's property. She's aware some serious business is going down around Shuuren and Taro, and that even Sakuya's Chakra level has elevated a bit, but abandoning their way out of here to run across town when her allies might very well be able to handle it on their own would be foolish.
So instead, she pulls the huge shuriken back, and hurls it at the enemy ship, attempting to destroy their weaponry with the huge blade. She can only target one launcher at a time though, right? That would give the enemy another chance to fire even if she destroys one of the guns, right?
Any crew man standing at the right angle might suddenly see that the oversized shuriken coming his way has something else directly beneath it. A second shuriken hidden in its shadow! Asami suddenly pulls back on some wires, hidden up to that point. There is a *click* as the blades on the shuriken separate.
Then the huge shuriken blades are launched outwards, attempting to destroy or damage not only the harpoon guns, but to impale any crewmen unfortunate enough to be standing in the same area.
And then Asami completes her leap from one ship to the other, landing on the deck of the fishing vessel. She is going to make sure no one else on this boat can resume the attack, and maybe find some answers as to why they're doing it. That might aid her in determining whether she can afford to go help the others or not.
And whether she should even try, if she's needed more here.
COMBAT: Shifty defends against FUMA-SHADOW-SHURIKEN(40) attack from Asami with a NPC-C-TAI-DEFENSE…66
COMBAT: Shifty defends against TRAPPED-SHURIKEN(50) attack from Asami with a NPC-C-TAI-DEFENSE…67
As cloaked figured bursts up through the floor, Shuuren bounds backwards a bit to put himself between this attacker and the girl that he is supposed to be healing, who rises up off the bed behind him and wraps herself around him from the back, most likely in fear of this person. The Daimyo allows it for now, figuring her can at least protect her in this position. At the same time, though, Shuuren can now hear the fight breaking out outside. "All this to kill this girl?" he asks with a frown, rather curious as to what is so special or dangerous about her that would cause this sort of attempt on her life.
"Why wou-" His speech is cut off suddenly as something he never expected happens. The very girl he came here to heal bites into the flesh of his neck and seems to be transferring…. something into him with the passage of what feels like her own blood into him. Whatever's going on, there's some kind of paralytic involved, and it's strong enough to disable him momentarily as he stares ahead with this girl now supporting him as the cloaked man looks on…. This was quite a perfect trap, but why would this girl take their side? What did they do to her mind?… And is THAT what's being used on him? He's got to get out of this and fast.
"Shocking, isn't it?" a deep voice rings out from behind the cowl as the figure reaches up to pull it back to reveal the shaved head of a monk along with a symbol the Daimyo might just recognize tattooed on his neck. "Those that turn to you now turn on you… It took quite some doing to arrange. An entire peaceful village had to be sacrificed, but it is for a greater cause in the end."
Meanwhile outside, the people aboard the ship are quite prepared for Asami's attack and slide a shield of some sort that's bult ino the decking of the ship in the way of her blades damaging the harpoon then duck down out of the way of her strikes. Once the danger seems to be clear, they leap back to their feet and in different patterns to throw knives down at her from all directions.
The three inside the village aren't having that great of luck either. Taro manages to do some damage to one of the men, but he fails at hiding. These men seem to be coin out of the woodworks at him bearing blades wielded with deadly intent. Even Sakuya manages to get herself spotted along with Imire as the men in the barn charge her and more come for Imire. The question is how long it will take for the group to realize this entire village has been slaughtered an replaced by mercenaries, most likely hired by the man in the room with Shuuren.
RPCOMBAT: Shuuren took 900 damage.
COMBAT: Imire defends against NPC-C-TAI-ATTACK(46) attack from Shifty with a EVASION…47
COMBAT: Imire defends against NPC-C-TAI-ATTACK(36) attack from Shifty with a EVASION…40
Imire would dodge and weave between those that are coming at him, not really sure how to react. Part of him wonders if the people here are being controlled, but the men that were attacking him were obviously well-trained. Quite the opposite of what one would expect from any sort of farmer. "I guess … You opened yourself up for this …" the teen notes with a small frown. Imire would grab a couple of knives from the ground, then throw them at his attackers. The knives would bounce off each other to hopefully make them come in at unexpected angles while Imire busies himself by drawing his sword.
It's only right that Imire get charged as he tries to remove it from its sheath. The teen would let out a very unmanly yelp as one of the assailants uses a wood-chopping axe to try and chop off his head, and Imire would duck down quickly. "That isn't nice!" he scolds, charging upwards to try and smash the handle of his sword into the stranger's chin. He wanted to knock him out at least temporarily so he could attempt to run and find Sakuya. While he runs, he picks up a few more knives that were on the ground, chucking them at various people who seemed intent on killing him and his 'friends'. "AUGH, SAKUYA!!!! I THINK WE WANDERED INTO A TRAP!!!!!" he yells, flailing just a bit as he tries to find her and that snake. It shouldn't be that difficult to find a white snake, right? They were in the barn?
RP: Sakuya transforms into ZUZU'S-WISDOM.
COMBAT: Sakuya defends against NPC-C-TAI-ATTACK(40) attack from Shifty with a ILLUSORY-SNAKE-CLONE…64
COMBAT: Sakuya defends against NPC-C-TAI-ATTACK(44) attack from Shifty with a ILLUSORY-SNAKE-CLONE…65
Sakuya might have heard the creeping of villager's steps behind her while she was focused on Imire's current combat. That was a clear indication someone was up. «Baka, wake up. Behind you. Fool, I've already made preparations. Relocate and strike back.» Any reasonable person would have shouted at Sakuya to get her attention. This tipped Zuzu off, whom was clearly being a second set of eyes. Sakuya would slip out of the barn and around it as suddenly the shinobi who seemed to be taken with her genjutsu merely charge into what they perceive as still Sakuya, though any bladed weapon might cause her to bleed cute little snakes instead of proper blood. This gave Sakuya a moment to slip up side of what was left of the barn's walls and peer down at the two. She would make a seal herself to work together with Zuzu's genjutsu, enforcing the illusion that those tiny snakes Sakuya was dissolving into would lash out and bury their fangs in both of the assailants.
"Why did Asami have to be right!?" Sakuya whines. Asami did hit the nail on the head though, about needing to know the specifics of a mission before going forward with it. Sadly, she doesn't think Shuuren was aware that there were so many shinobi that seemed intent with offing the fuedal lord's daughter. Perhaps the Daimyo couldn't have predicted that this might have been a trap for him. Sakuya would try to get a better read on what was happening from her perch, hoping to move on to Imire as soon as possible. She would land beside him, to help his fight while her aggressors were tied up in an illusion. "The Daimyo must be in trouble." Sakuya notes as she would grab Zuzu and drag him out from underneath her clothing. The snake would henge properly into what appeared to be a staff. A Khakkhera, specifically. Usually used by buddhist monks, the snake-fashioned tool would let out a pleasing little jingle. "We should probably head over towards him as soon as possible to provide back-up, ne?" She says, trying desperately to not show fear and act calm. "Let's cut a path through them." She suggests.
COMBAT: Taro defends against NPC-C-TAI-ATTACK(51) attack from Shifty with a DUAL-BLADE…39
COMBAT: Taro loses the roll and sustains 518 damage.
COMBAT: Taro defends against NPC-C-TAI-ATTACK(37) attack from Shifty with a DUAL-BLADE…40
Taro frowned as he had hoped he was free. Of course he wasn't and simply got hit by a surprise blade, but was able to avoid the next by deflecting them to the side. "You know if you all really want to do this you could at least tell me why before this place is left a bloody mess." He spoke out, and waited in a defensive stance giving them chances to speak before suddenly…he striked out. He charged them again and this time didn't hold back with his blades as one would be aimed at the wrist of an enemy and the other aimed just below the knee of another before he bolted back into the street. Here he had the best chance to fight against multiple opponents. His eyes looked around to see if he could see the others, and he could only hope they were okay….if..the Daimyo was okay. He out of all of them should be….even he could feel power from him.
COMBAT: Asami defends against NPC-C-TAI-ATTACK(39) attack from Shifty with a ACROBATIC-DODGE-II…52
COMBAT: Asami defends against NPC-C-TAI-ATTACK(44) attack from Shifty with a ACROBATIC-DODGE-II…53
Asami manages to evade the incoming knives through a series of acrobatic maneuvers, somersaults, and dodges. However, she is surprised by the agility and skill of her enemies. She had thought them to be crazy people in over their heads, due to not sensing any significant Chakra from them. But it appears they are better prepared for this than she originally imagined. She draws her wakizashi from the sheathe at her lower back, and starts silently slashing at enemies near her, efficiently trying to take them down with stabs through the knees, throat cutting, and similar maneuvers.
Her free hand is withdrawing another weapon from within her outfit… A collapsed Fuma Shuriken, folded into a single blade. That one is unfolded with a flick of her wrist and used to slash behind her at other enemies. Using a shuriken as a melee weapon? There are stranger things. But only shurikenjutsu specialists like the Fuma would think to use one that way in a practical manner!
COMBAT: Shifty defends against DUAL-BLADE(43) attack from Taro with a ACROBATIC-DODGE-II…39
COMBAT: Shifty loses the roll and sustains 280 damage.
COMBAT: Shifty defends against STEALTH-II(34) attack from Taro with a PERCEPTION-II…37
COMBAT: Shifty defends against TRICKY-SHARP-THROW(32) attack from Imire with a NPC-D-TAI-DEFENSE…41
COMBAT: Shifty defends against TSUKA-TSUPPARI(25) attack from Imire with a NPC-D-TAI-DEFENSE…33
COMBAT: Shifty defends against TRICKY-SHARP-THROW(31) attack from Imire with a NPC-D-TAI-DEFENSE…57
COMBAT: Shifty defends against VIOLENT-VENOM-TECHNIQUE(43) attack from Sakuya with a NPC-D-TAI-DEFENSE…50
COMBAT: Shifty takes 0 partial damage.
COMBAT: Shifty defends against VIOLENT-VENOM-TECHNIQUE(36) attack from Sakuya with a SELF-INFLICT…42
COMBAT: Shifty defends against DUAL-BLADE(35) attack from Taro with a NPC-D-TAI-DEFENSE…52
COMBAT: Shifty defends against DUAL-BLADE(39) attack from Taro with a NPC-D-TAI-DEFENSE…57
COMBAT: Shifty defends against DOUBLE-SLASH(31) attack from Asami with a NPC-D-TAI-DEFENSE…40
COMBAT: Shifty defends against DOUBLE-SLASH(30) attack from Asami with a NPC-D-TAI-DEFENSE…55
COMBAT: Shifty defends against FUMA-SHURIKEN(33) attack from Asami with a NPC-D-TAI-DEFENSE…44
RPCOMBAT: Shuuren took 700 damage.
The girl finally withdraws her teeth from Shuuren's neck, though the paralytic effect from whatever she's injected him with in her blood is still in effect. As she moves her teeth, though doesn't release him, she whispers, "The Dark Guardian shall come and protect us… and this shinobi world will die."
Shuuren's eyes go quite wide at that phrase, finding it all too familiar. It's a twist on the words of something he is all too familiar with. "… You," he nearly growls out, rather uncharacteristic for him. "You're with them…." He glances back toward the girl then toward the monk, his face betraying quite a bit of rage.
"You want to ask how I brainwashed her, but you already know, don't you? You also know that this is because of you," the monk says as he draws one of his blades back again, this time aiming it at the paralyzed Daimyo's gut to stab directly into him, though not aiming for anything fatal oddly enough and not that deep. His aim is most likely make Shuuren's heart beat faster and make the poison course through his veins faster along with it. "We know your secret… And there's nothing you can do to stop it. He's going to wake up." He then aims another strike from the other blade at Shuuren's shoulder, likely intending to disable his arm.
Perhaps fueld by his rage, the Daimyo is at last able to fight off the paralytic effect of the poison and grab the man's wrist to stop the blade with the hand opposite the one he's trying to stab him with. "… Didn't anyone ever tell you… not to mess up my suit?" he asks, his voice a bit dark as he forms a blade of chakra around his hand that he goes to try and ram through the man's gut.
Outside, the team isn't doing too hot still, at least most of them. The men are able to defend themselves for the most part, except that one guy that doesn't realize being affected by a Genjutsu and winds up rather winded. The other realizes what's going on and stabs himself in the arm to keep from being trapped in it. Through practiced blocking of blades, the others are able to defend themselves.
"Oh, yeah, we'll tell you exactly why we're here…. We've been paid to kill, moron," one of the men fighting Taro announces before going to stab at him again as more of the false townsfolk begin to charge Imire and Sakuya to try and keep them from reaching where Shuuren and the monk are. There's a whole town of mercs here, after all. Cutting through's not going to be THAT easy.
On the ship, Asami is holding her own, but so are the men in at least keeping themselves from begin gutted. More throwing knives come her way while a few charge her with blades aimed to strike wherever they can on her.
COMBAT: Imire defends against NPC-C-TAI-ATTACK(39) attack from Shifty with a DODGE…22
COMBAT: Imire loses the roll and sustains 833 damage.
COMBAT: Imire defends against NPC-C-TAI-ATTACK(49) attack from Shifty with a IMPROVED-EVASION…44
COMBAT: Imire loses the roll and sustains 602 damage.
RP: Imire transforms into BATTLE-LUST.
Imire was a bit distracted when Sakuya suddenly appears. "You couldn't have come earlier?" he asks, trying to jump back and away from some of the enemies. Sadly, Imire forgot that Sakuya was right there, and he bumps into her a bit instead, which means he's a prime target for "OW!! Dang bacteria!!!!" He ends up getting struck a number of times by blows from fists, feet, and even a few sharp things!
"Alright, I don't mind that plan, I guess… You go back to Shuuren-dono, and I'll try to knock them a bit off-course," Imire suggests, taking a few moments to try and focus on the battle at hand. Imire closes his eyes and tries to drown out anything unimportant, and when he opens them, he's quite focused. His senses are slightly sharper, and he could hopefully react quicker. "Ready?" he asks Sakuya. Not even waiting for a reply, Imire would leap into the fray, aiming a flurry of punches and kicks that were supposed to hold off most of the bandits so Sakuya could run.
RP: Sakuya reverts to her normal state.
RP: Sakuya transforms into STAVE-OF-SERPENTS.
COMBAT: Sakuya defends against NPC-C-TAI-ATTACK(47) attack from Shifty with a SERPENT-EVASION…56
COMBAT: Sakuya defends against NPC-C-TAI-ATTACK(36) attack from Shifty with a SERPENT-EVASION…56
Sakuya still had a few individuals who were attacking her before Imire sent out a flurry to distract them. Both of them came from the unfatigued shinobi who decided to enact revenge. He was the one that kept her from moving forward. "Didn't get you, did I? Guess you figured out after your friend stopped moving." Sakuya would stick her forked tongue out mockingly before she bent over backwards, staff planting in the ground as she narrowly dodges a weapon swing aiming at her chest. Sakuya would then display even more flexibility that is a result of being a hebisuuhai when the man attempts a drop kick. She was able to use her upper body strength to 'pole vault' right over the man. When she landed upoon her feet, her Khakkhara jingled with a pleasing sound as she made her way towards the manor.
"Wow, The Daimyo's servant is rather bold!" Taking on that many individuals? either way, it would allow Sakuya to seek out the Daimyo's interestingly snake like scent as she saved her energy to support him. It was a matter of time before an attempt was made on his life, and it would stain her already terrible reputation if he died on her watch. Little did she know, he would probably be better off with his bodyguard on the case. Not her.
RPCOMBAT: Sakuya defends against with a HEBISUUHAI-SENSES…35
COMBAT: Taro defends against NPC-D-TAI-ATTACK(44) attack from Shifty with a DUAL-BLADE…28
COMBAT: Taro loses the roll and sustains 397 damage.
COMBAT: Taro defends against NPC-D-TAI-ATTACK(36) attack from Shifty with a DUAL-BLADE…26
COMBAT: Taro loses the roll and sustains 371 damage.
Taro was just getting overwhelmed it seemed. Two blades didn't matter when four were coming your way. He wasn't that good yet. Not yet. He got pushed back against the building that Shuuren was inside now, and charged at his opponents. He wasn't one to give up no matter how bad things got, and he was not going to give up now. Two blades brought out and two men were aimed at to be taken down.
It was about this time that Sakuya might show up near him, and he wouldquickly wave her over when she did. "Shuuren is inside…. These people were supposedly hired to kill someone so it is either the girl which I feel is the more likely option or the Daimyo." He frowned a bit, and didn't seem to be in the mood to speak to the attackers anymore.
COMBAT: Asami defends against NPC-D-TAI-ATTACK(37) attack from Shifty with a ACROBATIC-DODGE-II…31
COMBAT: Asami loses the roll and sustains 496 damage.
COMBAT: Asami defends against NPC-D-TAI-ATTACK(46) attack from Shifty with a ACROBATIC-DODGE-III…50
Fighting several people at once is not Asami's area of expertise. Infact, she's not very good at melee combat. She only changed boats to get into melee range so that they'd be too distracted fighting her to continue attacking the ship. Her hope, at this point, is not necessarily to defeat them, but for the others to defeat whoever they are fighting and come back. She's buying time. However, that doesn't mean she shouldn't make the effort to overcome her foes if she can.
And as she is bombarded with throwing knives, stabbing and slicing her all over, it seems clear that a stalling strategy isn't going to work out here. Bleeding, with knives sticking out of her, she leaps up into the air, somersaults, and lands behind the men charging her from behind. Then she hurls her Fuma Shuriken at one of them with considerable force. If it cuts him down or misses entirely, the shuriken continues flying along its course… And then turns in mid-air, circling back around, and coming back to Asami. It was thrown in such a way that it, on the return trip, attempts to cut down another of her enemies from behind if he has turned to face the slippery kunoichi.
Succeed or fail, it returns to its thrower's hand, the momentum of throwing it causing her to go spinning around in a low crouch, until she out of it in a throwing position once more.
She used her free hand after the throw to pull knives out of her legs and shoulders and throw them aside. She has yet to harm her attackers from the initial clashes, though it is yet to be seen if this latest attmept worked at all. It might be time to stall via a different method.
"I don't suppose any of you would be willing to tell me why you were attacking in the first place?" she calls out, while she keeps her senses sharp for who is around her, how strong they are, and where they may be coming from.
RPCOMBAT: Asami defends against with a CHAKRA-SENSING-TECHNIQUE…41
COMBAT: Shifty defends against CHAKRA-DISSECTION-BLADE(56) attack from Shuuren with a FULL-BODY-ARMORED-CHAKRA…57
COMBAT: Shifty defends against DYNAMIC-ACTION(58) attack from Imire with a NPC-C-TAI-DEFENSE…41
COMBAT: Shifty loses the roll and sustains 416 damage.
COMBAT: Shifty defends against DYNAMIC-ACTION(44) attack from Imire with a NPC-C-TAI-DEFENSE…54
COMBAT: Shifty defends against DUAL-BLADE(44) attack from Taro with a NPC-D-TAI-DEFENSE…46
COMBAT: Shifty defends against DUAL-BLADE(30) attack from Taro with a NPC-D-TAI-DEFENSE…47
COMBAT: Shifty defends against FUMA-SHURIKEN-RETURN(39) attack from Asami with a NPC-D-TAI-DEFENSE…50
COMBAT: Shifty defends against FUMA-SHURIKEN-RETURN(38) attack from Asami with a NPC-D-TAI-DEFENSE…51
Just barely, Shuuren's attack bounces off a sheen of chakra around the monk that keeps it from doing any damage to him. A dark smirk touches the man's face as he starts swinging his blades at the Daimyo in a flurry and says, "You're going to have to dig deeper, but that means you're going to make that poison flow through you faster. Tell me, do you think you can kill me quickly enough to keep it from doing what I want it to do if you start fighting hard enough to raise your heart rate? And do you think your hired hands will survive if you don't?"
Meanwhile outside Imire is taking on quite a swarm by himself now, which was probably a bad move since it means he has to deal with even more attacks coming his way and people to fight. Sakuya and Taro fail to find much reprieve either as the town of mercenaries' numbers has not been thinned much. With each side holding its own, more and more of them start to gang up on them within the village.
On the ship, the men literally laugh at Asami while going toe to toe with her due to her question. "We were hired to do a job. What more reason do we need?" they asks as blades continue to rain toward her, though their non-shinobi backgrounds are beginning to show as their attacks start to weaken with fatigue.
COMBAT: Shuuren defends against CHAKRA-SHARP-IV(69) attack from Shifty with a NOT-EVEN-A-SCRATCH…64
COMBAT: Shuuren loses the roll and sustains 1478 damage.
RP: Shuuren transforms into COMBAT-MEDIC-PILL-III.
Of all the things that never happen, seeing someone actually able to deflect his dissection blade isn't high on the list of things Shuuren thought he'd see today. He hasn't even been able to think properly, and that is getting worse and worse with each beat of his heart, especially as his blade digs into his flesh over and over and sends blood flying and finally him backwards into the wall. It's then that he affirms to himself what this is…. A potent neurotoxin with quite specific effects.
Of course, with this realization comes another. This monk's almost definitely not planning on killing him, just on keeping him from curing himself of this poison until it's had its desired effect, which will almost definitely happen with the adrenaline rush caused by his soldier pills causing his blood to pump even faster than it already is. If he doesn't do something about winning this fight, he COULD die, though. This really was the perfect trap for him…
Though it'd seem like an eternity in the mind palace of the Daimyo, in reality only a second or two has passed before he reaches a decision. He reaches into his coat, withdrawing a box containing a soldier pill, which he pops open and chews to swallow immediately. Even a weaker Sensor Nin would suddenly feel an ENORMOUS spike in the Daimyo's chakra as he goes into true combat mode.
Before the monk can strike again, Shuuren charges him, but then vanishes in a puff of smoke. He apparently traded places with a Shadow Clone during that spike of chakra, which becomes obvious as he appears behind the monk and goes to grab around his neck to move in a massaging motion in a technique that is much kinder than he wants to be right now to temporarily sedate the man. It's frustrating not to outright kill him for what he's done here, for the lives he's cost, the mind of girl that he destroyed, and what he's trying to do to him, but survival is what's more important first, so giving himself a chance to purge himself of this poison before it causes even more damage is what's best for now.
COMBAT: Imire defends against NPC-B-TAI-ATTACK(52) attack from Shifty with a IMPROVED-EVASION…48
COMBAT: Imire loses the roll and sustains 839 damage.
RP: Imire transforms into BATTLE-MIND.
Imire would try to avoid some of the incoming punches, swords, and kicks that were aimed his way. Except the swarm of people hindered his movements and resulted in the teen getting knocked around a lot. Imire would scowl, trying to push himself and his body further. He didn't want to… So he would simply enter a new state of mind that involved pushing himself further. The teen would try to kick upwards at a number of the people nearby, sending them upwards. Maybe with them all clustered around, he'd actually be able to hit more than one. Others that took the place of those fallen and knocked back would receive a flurry of even more punches and kicks. 'Dang it … There are so many of them … ' Imire curses inwardly.
COMBAT: Sakuya defends against NPC-C-TAI-ATTACK(40) attack from Shifty with a EVASION…35
COMBAT: Sakuya loses the roll and sustains 733 damage.
COMBAT: Sakuya defends against NPC-C-TAI-ATTACK(48) attack from Shifty with a EVASION…45
COMBAT: Sakuya loses the roll and sustains 730 damage.
Sakuya was making progress after Imire seemed to take on more than he could chew. She could see the manor in the distance. It was unfortunate that before she could even near it, she came across even more shinobi. »Are you -kidding- me? How many more of these villagers are there?« … «Not villagers, fool. These people are clearly mercenaries. Have you not seen their movements? Clearly they are battle-ready.» Of course, one on one and even two on one she was able to fight on even grounds with these kinds of fighters. Fighters that were beyond bandits, without a doubt. However, when coming up against more and more of these fighters, Sakuya would unfortunately start to become overwhelmed. She had four on her at the current moment, and after being quickly surrounded she found herself having less and less of an opportunity to move. The result was being struck with a rather harsh blow twice. She moved backwards to dodge a blade only to be grabbed by one of the other shinobi which left her open to two other attacks aimed for vital areas. Sakuya was the last to remain unharmed in the combat, and that quickly changed.
To counter, Sakuya struck Zuzu into to the ground in his staff-henged form. The staff seemingly just reduced in length, but that was the snake coiling before launching himself at the neck of the shinobi holding her down. Distraction setting her free at any rate, she would bring her hand in a seal in an attempt to hold the person in front of her still for a moment with genjutsu. Outnumbered now, Sakuya sort of regrets her decision to move ahead of Imire. She hadn't moved fifty yards away from him before she was swamped.
COMBAT: Taro defends against SHARP(35) attack from Shifty with a DUAL-BLADE…33
COMBAT: Taro loses the roll and sustains 172 damage.
COMBAT: Taro counters against a SHARP(28) attack from Shifty with a PARRY-SWIPE…33
Taro frowned as suddenly he was cut again, but he luckily was able to parry and strike at an opponent of his. Of course he wouldn't be able to escape yet….he had to keep fighting. His swords spun in circles as he aimed to knock everyone around him out of action if he could. Starting with two and moving two at a time as he did so. His movements took him towards the door to this house, and he would try to get into a position to open it. Might work good to keep people outside, and he hide inside to keep them out.
COMBAT: Asami defends against SHARP(29) attack from Shifty with a ACROBATIC-DODGE…36
COMBAT: Asami counters against a SHARP(31) attack from Shifty with a DOUBLE-SLASH…29
COMBAT: Asami loses the roll and sustains 402 damage.
Asami frowns at her attackers as her attempts to counterattack one of her melee assailants fails, resulting in getting stabbed. She's feeling pretty tired now. "Well, I was hoping to discern whether you were being paid more than a Daimyou could pay you. Either to determine if you'd be willing to change sides, or if I should be doing the side-changing. But as you're still attacking me, and I wasn't hired to protect a boat, I don't see anything productive coming of this. I hope that your employer is a lot wealthier than a feudal lord."
Then she leaps up into the air, does a backflip, and goes right over the side of the ship, towards the water!
…And suddenly some wires go taut, and the two harpoon guns that were attacked with trapped shuriken earlier to damage them are revealed to still have wire-rigged shuriken blades wrapped around them. Those guns rotate in response to the weight pulling upon them, which in turn draws the blades upwards like the hands of a clock, until they hit the levers on either side.
Unless prevented, the launching mechanisms discharge, firing the mercenaries' own harpoon guns directly into the deck of their ship and down through the center. Possibly even right out through the bottom.
This is Asami's last gambit. She won't have the energy to join the others if she keeps fighting. The best she can do is sink the ship of her enemies as they intended to do to Shuuren. She just has to hang half in and half out of the water, and wait.
COMBAT: Shifty defends against RELAXING-SEDATION(110) attack from Shuuren with a NPC-A-TAI-DEFENSE…69
COMBAT: Shuuren drains stamina from Shifty
COMBAT: Shifty defends against SHADOW-OF-THE-DANCING-LEAF(49) attack from Imire with a NPC-C-TAI-DEFENSE…63
COMBAT: Shifty wins the roll.
COMBAT: Shifty defends against DYNAMIC-ACTION(46) attack from Imire with a NPC-D-TAI-DEFENSE…43
COMBAT: Shifty loses the roll and sustains 330 damage.
COMBAT: Shifty defends against PARRY-SWIPE(33) attack from Taro with a DODGE…34
COMBAT: Shifty defends against COILED-STRIKE(36) attack from Sakuya with a DODGE…39
COMBAT: Shifty defends against SNAKE-CONSTRICTION-METHOD(35) attack from Sakuya with a DODGE…25
COMBAT: Shifty defends against DUAL-BLADE(40) attack from Taro with a TENSE…15
COMBAT: Shifty loses the roll and sustains 397 damage.
COMBAT: Shifty defends against DUAL-BLADE(37) attack from Taro with a DODGE…39
RP: Shuuren transforms into COMBAT-MEDIC-PILL-III.
Though he's not quick enough to go up against Shuuren in this higher state without entering one of his own, the monk has a rather eerie smirk on his face as he collapses to the ground, unconscious for the time being. He doesn't seem to much be thinking that he's going to live through this, but rather that he can die in peace since his task has been completed.
With his going down, however, the feudal lord's daughter freaks out and launches herself as Shuuren to try and bite into him again. Somebody's hungry for another taste of Daimyo flesh, or at least her broken mind thinks this is the only course of action she can take at this point to try and survive.
Outside, Taro is trying to do exactly what the mercenaries are here to keep him from doing, thus the attacks never stop coming his way, and there are now even men charging to get between him and the door to attack and keep him from going inside, though one of them takes a rather hard hit.
For Sakuya and Zuzu, though the first attack is avoided, the mercenary holding her down apparently doesn't know enough about Genjutsu and tries to avoid the attack he sees by dodging, which causes him to be stunned in the grasp of the snake's jutsu.
Imire's doing about as well as one might expect for trying to take these kind of numbers on with a tactic of staying behind. The men continue to gang up on him and punch, kick, and stab him, a bit amused that the boy's bravado hasn't scred him much luck.
Perhaps the most lucky of the hired guns for this mission right now is Asami, whose tactics cause the men aboard the ship to move into a flurry to try and save their way off the island rather than trying to come after her. "Your words might make sense if we hadn't already killed everyone in this town. No way the Daimyo's going to let us get away with that," one of them calls back to her while they try to save themselves.
COMBAT: Shuuren counters against a NPC-D-TAI-ATTACK(35) attack from Shifty with a BODY-FLICKER-II…56
COMBAT: Shuuren has successfully countered the attack.
COMBAT: Shuuren cures Shuuren for 0 with POISON PURGE.
SMACK! Shuuren knowing that the girl is an enemy, at least right now, makes a bit of difference. When she lunges his way, she'd find him behind her suddenly, delivering a backhand across the side of her head with intent to knock her back into her bed and outcold so he can deal with curing himself of this poison. With her not being a shinobi of any kind, her crashing against the wall then falling onto the bed is pretty much assured.
With that taken care of, Shuuren brings his hands into a seal, creating a glow of chakra around his hands that flows into his own body. Within moments the poison begins to eject itself from his pores and give him some relief, though the look on his face shows that he's in quite a bit of pain, a bit hazy even. The extent of the damage done here isn't something he's going to be able to figure out right away or just shrug off, but he'll have to deal with that later on and just do his best to fight through now that his brain is no longer under direct attack.
As he feels the relief coming, Shuuren casts his eyes the way of the young woman briefly. At least some of his instincts say she should probably be put out of misery. On top of the immense damage done to her brain, which could leave her basically mindless if he can't reverse it, there's no way to know if she'll remember being told that secret that only his most trusted associates should know…. But he stops himself thinking that way and looks back to the monk that did this to her. As the last survivor of this village and the child of a friend, he will do his best to save her…. But this guy's not going to like what's coming for him….
COMBAT: Imire defends against NPC-D-TAI-ATTACK(39) attack from Shifty with a DODGE…29
COMBAT: Imire loses the roll and sustains 546 damage.
RP: Imire transforms into GATE-OF-HEALING.
COMBAT: Imire defends against NPC-D-TAI-ATTACK(34) attack from Shifty with a DODGE…36
COMBAT: Imire heals Imire for 370 with LESSER REGENERATION.
A lot of the kicks and punches hit their mark, making Imire look a lot like a mess. And then the blades come out. "Oh… malaise" He swears, the teen leaping out of the way only barely to avoid the incoming knife. He would frown just a bit and would open the first two gates, giving his body a burst of energy and speed that allowed him to seemingly teleport. "You… You are so going to pay for this," Imire huffs, panting just a bit as he tries to recover from the sudden movement. The teen would toss his sword out of the way, finding it to be more of a nuisance than anything, and then he would hold his fists out in a sort of boxing-stance.
COMBAT: Sakuya counters against a NPC-D-TAI-ATTACK(32) attack from Shifty with a COILED-STRIKE…48
COMBAT: Sakuya has successfully countered the attack.
COMBAT: Sakuya defends against NPC-D-TAI-ATTACK(35) attack from Shifty with a SERPENT-EVASION…43
Sakuya has nearly reached her limit, and with only one of four shinobi currently having trouble moving, she still had a long way to go. "So much for going to help the Daimyo." Sakuya notes as she brings her hands up to try and perform taijutsu. Though at this point, she had been fighting for far longer than she ever had. This is perhaps her most difficult fight. She would have felt this a learning experience if she didn't have the sinking feeling she was either going to be captured and enslaved or outright killed right now.
One of the shinobi behind her would come in, raising a large blunt instrument over Sakuya to go ahead and just end the girl where she stood. Luckily, like with any animal clan worth it's salt, there was always a highly evolved animal sitting around somewhere, ready to take someone out. That was Zuzu, in this instance, who had himself coiled up once more as soon as he landed on the ground after his last. He would thoroughly attempt to mash the shinobi's arm with his fangs, which would give Sakuya a moment to wake up from her thoughts of what people would say at her eulogy. Just enough that she is able to drop to the ground to dodge a piercing blow from the front that would have run her through. Lucky. «Are you awake now, Sakuya? You really have to work on your taijutsu that doesn't involve using me to whack people.» Zuzu suggests. Sakuya was incredibly apt to, and eager to ignoring Zuzu at this point in her life when she needed to, and would place her hands in another genjutsu-related seal. This time to do the very same thing that she used on the other man to hold him still for a moment, but with a twist. The man who had just lunged at her would feel the serpents twisting around him. All through out his clothing, and upon it, little snakes would grip him and cause him to halt his attack. In that moment, a far larger snake would slip up behind the man, or at least the feeling of one. It would lunge it's fangs into him, delivering a painful bite. Venom that caused a very large amount of pain, even if there was no venom. It was as if his blood boiled in contact with the venom, and that feeling radiated outward slowly and slowly…
COMBAT: Taro counters against a NPC-D-TAI-ATTACK(31) attack from Shifty with a PARRY-SWIPE…21
COMBAT: Taro loses the roll and sustains 575 damage.
COMBAT: Taro defends against NPC-D-TAI-ATTACK(48) attack from Shifty with a DUAL-BLADE…37
COMBAT: Taro loses the roll and sustains 360 damage.
Taro was stopped dead in his tracks by a blade is driven right through his chest. It wasn't the first time it had happened to him, and he had kept fighting then to a victory. He would keep fighting now too. Fuma didn't know when to stop fighting, and Taro was one of the most stubborn when it came to that. The sword on his left would be swung behind him to remove that guys hand from the rest of him. The sword would then be pulled from his chest and aimed right at another guys neck before being tossed to the side in favor of his own swords again. "How many of you want to die or lose limbs trying to take me down?" His eyes grew red in what seemed to be rage, but he seemed as calm as ever.
COMBAT: Shifty defends against BODY-FLICKER-II(56) attack from Shuuren with a BLOCK…25
COMBAT: Shifty loses the roll and sustains 1198 damage.
COMBAT: Shifty defends against COILED-STRIKE(48) attack from Sakuya with a DODGE…35
COMBAT: Shifty loses the roll and sustains 410 damage.
COMBAT: Shifty defends against SNAKE-CONSTRICTION-METHOD(37) attack from Sakuya with a DODGE…44
COMBAT: Shifty takes 0 partial damage.
COMBAT: Shifty defends against VIOLENT-VENOM-TECHNIQUE(27) attack from Sakuya with a TENSE…9
COMBAT: Shifty defends against DUAL-BLADE(38) attack from Taro with a WEAPON-BLOCK…33
COMBAT: Shifty loses the roll and sustains 250 damage.
COMBAT: Shifty defends against DUAL-BLADE(35) attack from Taro with a DODGE…42
"… You didn't kill me?" the voice of the monk comes groggily as he pushes himself back up to his feet and smirks at Shuuren. He glances at the girl then and then back to the Daimyo once more. "Not the girl either… So you took the time to heal yourself. A pity, but there's more 'medicine' where that came from," he says then reaches into his cloak to quickly grab a syringe that he goes to sink into Shuuren's throat to try and inject him directly with the same toxin that the girl had been dosed with over and over. "You know what's coming. For the sake of the world, just give in."
Meanwhile the team outside is doing better as the mercenaries start to wear and dwindle down. Though they themselves have taken a signficant amount damage, they've also killed a decent number of the men and the others are becoming too fatigued to keep up the pace they were fighting out.
The ones Sakuya and Zuzu are after stand little chance, especially as they still fail to notice he difference between real snakes binding them up and Genjutsu and wind up annihilated. Still, the numbers aren't completely thinned, and the remaining ones don't seem intent on giving up as the continue to rush the Hebisuuhai pair.
Taro manages to kill one of his targets with a blow to the chest, but the second one seems it coming and ducks out of the way before he can be beheaded. As he comes back up, he shoves his sword upward at the Fuma's gut almost like an uppercut in an attemp to run him through.
The ones Imire's fighting laugh at his words again and continue their attack, apparently not TOO impressed with the boy's newfound speed, at least not enough to stop doing their jobs. A number of them DO look a bit shocked and confused, though, as they charge him, wondering where that new strength came from.
[NPC System]: Monk roll(s) Bad Medicine vs Shuuren from 40 to 75 and get(s) a 43. - Rolled by: Shifty
RPCOMBAT: Shuuren defends against with a UNTOUCHABLE…71
With his specialized soldier pill in effect and the poison no longer causing further damage to him, Shuuren is a lot more clear at this point. "Oh, I've got far too many questions for you to just let you die, friend," the Daimyo's voice rings out with an eerie calm about it as he rather easily steps to the side and avoids the touch of the syringe while his hands begin to glow with chakra one might expect to see used in surgical skills normally. Instead, as he reaches forward with both hands to slap at both of the monk's shoulders and flips over him to drag the invisible chakra fully around to the other side of his shoulders, using some of his extreme flexibility to perform that reach as he lands on the ground behind him.
"Don't bother trying to cast jutsu to off yourself now. You'll find yourself quite unable to use your arms," he says with a dark glance over his shoulder at the man, all tone of amusement gone. This is just a peek at the side of Shuuren most people never see…. one they should never desire to see. "And that's just the beginning."
COMBAT: Imire defends against NPC-D-TAI-ATTACK(42) attack from Shifty with a LEAF-SWIFT-EVASION…41
COMBAT: Imire loses the roll and sustains 384 damage.
COMBAT: Imire defends against NPC-D-TAI-ATTACK(41) attack from Shifty with a LEAF-SWIFT-EVASION…52
Imire was quick to (try) and move away from those that were swarming him even as he moved away from them. But regardless, Imire still ended up getting hit by a lot of the blows that were aimed his way. "You guys are dead," he says, crouching before springing forward, flipping around to kick one of the men upwards. Then he'd disappear, shadowing the man at his back before giving him a crushing hug that would maybe kill him. Maybe.
COMBAT: Sakuya defends against NPC-D-TAI-ATTACK(34) attack from Shifty with a SERPENT-EVASION…43
COMBAT: Sakuya defends against NPC-D-TAI-ATTACK(43) attack from Shifty with a SERPENT-EVASION…58
Sakuya had a few more foes to go. Her stance remained loose as she rose to her feet. Being firm would be allowing herself to become too attached to the ground below her. That attachment would spell defeat. With two left, one of them finally have broken out of an ealier genjutsu of hers, they would apporach and try sweeping strikes against her. One would seemingly connect, causing Sakuya to keel backwards as if her spine had broken. She instead had simply rolled with his punch. The other would sweep a blade down towards her stomach while she was bent backwards, threatening to cleave her in two, but Zuzu's tail was just in the right spot at the right time. Clever snake. She grabs him and pull, the snake coiled around a nearby post, which would safely flick her out of the way. Sakuya would be back and ready with Zuzu returning to his Khakkhara state. Sakuya would moved towards one of the assailants quickly as she brought Zuzu up over her head, spinning him like a top over her. Rather suddenly, the ring-section of the Khakkhera staff would attempt a strike at her target's neck, and Zuzu would unhenge his head to attempt to bite the man's neck in a sneaky maneuver. Sakuya reversed the pole's spin and would bring it low to trip the man. The last blow came when she simply shoved the pole against the man firmly while he was down…
Sakuya would step back after doing said attack. She was panting pretty heavily as her entire visible body glowed with a thin sheen of sweat. She couldn't help but keep her mouth open as air escaped her body again and again. »I can't do this for much longer.« She would inform Zuzu. »We might need an exit strategy of things do not look up.« … «Perhaps it is time to leave. So. This makes two failures in a row, does it? You should consider retiring as a priestess of that silly religion you're intent on following. It looks as a far better profession for someone who has no way of leaving a truly fatal blow on anyone. Even your venom is weak.« It's the snake that makes the Sakuya, or it has been this way lately. «I… I just need to continue being tutored…» … »By who? I barely see your sensei.« … «Can this wait? Can you mock me after I know for sure I am alive?» Sakuya's techniques were becoming rather sporadic. She figured she had just enough for the final shinobi in front of her if the other one had succumbed to her assault. "One more…" One more and she was leaving.
COMBAT: Taro defends against SHARP(35) attack from Shifty with a DUAL-BLADE…31
COMBAT: Taro loses the roll and sustains 186 damage.
Taro had a blade go through his gut and he grunted a few times before grabbing both of his blades and driving them downwards into the same guy that stabbed him. He would then rip both of the blades out of his chest and fall away before slicing wildly at the next closest person to him. His movements kept him moving to the door, but they were becoming sluggish. "Vaccinate you all. I will make sure this place is littered with bodies before I have the chance of being one." He growled outwardly.
COMBAT Shifty is poisoned (3 rounds) and loses 86 health.
COMBAT: Shifty defends against CHAKRA-SCALPEL(89) attack from Shuuren with a FULL-BODY-ARMORED-CHAKRA…50
COMBAT: Shifty loses the roll and sustains 898 damage.
COMBAT: Shifty defends against SHADOW-OF-THE-DANCING-LEAF(63) attack from Imire with a DODGE…36
COMBAT: Shifty loses the roll and sustains 353 damage.
COMBAT: Shifty defends against DYNAMIC-BEAR-HUG(37) attack from Imire with a TENSE…20
COMBAT: Shifty loses the roll and sustains 755 damage.
COMBAT: Shifty defends against SNAKE-BITE(30) attack from Sakuya with a WEAPON-BLOCK…38
COMBAT: Shifty defends against SNAKE-TRIP(42) attack from Sakuya with a WEAPON-BLOCK…39
COMBAT: Shifty defends against PHYSICAL(23) attack from Sakuya with a TENSE…7
COMBAT: Shifty loses the roll and sustains 230 damage.
COMBAT: Shifty defends against DUAL-BLADE(40) attack from Taro with a WEAPON-BLOCK…29
COMBAT: Shifty loses the roll and sustains 299 damage.
COMBAT: Shifty defends against DUAL-BLADE(31) attack from Taro with a WEAPON-BLOCK…31
Unable to shield himself properly from the attack by the Daimyo, the monk growls in pain and hits a knee. "… You won't get anything from me. You may as well just end me here and now," he says through his pain as he takes a moment to breathe then pushes himself up to his feet to charge Shuuren and break into a flurry of kicks that is quite impressive for a guy who's lost use of part of his body. Either he doesn't want to give up or he plans on forcing Shuuren to kill him so he can't extact any useful information out of hhm. However confident he is in himself, he doesn't want to put his brotherhood at such risk.
Meanwhile outside Imire rather brutally crushes one of the men… in a manner that finally makes some of the men start to question whether they want to keep fighting… And most of them don't. While a couple remain to keep stabbing at the boy, the rest of the swarm around him decides to get out while they still can and turn to run away.
While some of the guys fighting Imire and Taro are managing to survive their onslaught, enough of them are not that, when some of them see those that were after Imire running, they decide that's a good idea. The town is beginning to lose its mass of bodies and the monk his backup, except as they move toward the docks, they find only one of their vessels is good to flee on while the very few remain behind to fight. This, of course, starts a mad dash for the docks as men push, shove, and punch to gain position on the remaining vessel.
COMBAT: Shuuren defends against CHAKRA-PHYSICAL-IV(48) attack from Shifty with a NOT-EVEN-A-SCRATCH…68
COMBAT: Imire defends against NPC-D-TAI-ATTACK(32) attack from Shifty with a DODGE…32
COMBAT: Imire defends against NPC-D-TAI-ATTACK(31) attack from Shifty with a DODGE…47
Imire was moving a bit better this time. He would shift his feet and push away from those that were coming at him, countering with his fists and feet to try and knock a number of his opponents out. "Cowards," he would shoot at those that were currently fleeing. The teen pauses for a moment, being forced to duck another blow, but it was laughable, and he would kick out at the man who attacked him. Feeling like he didn't really need to worry about these guys anymore, Imire would try and rush to help Sakuya.
COMBAT: Sakuya defends against NPC-D-TAI-ATTACK(39) attack from Shifty with a SERPENT-EVASION…39
COMBAT: Sakuya defends against NPC-D-TAI-ATTACK(31) attack from Shifty with a SERPENT-EVASION…61
COMBAT: Asami left combat at 42.6 percent stamina.
Sakuya is done to one person, who has approached with his weapon drawn. His comrades were all for the most part knocked out. Perhaps he sees the fact that Sakuya was wobbling like a tree during a Hurricane. Either way, he approaches and takes his swings. Swings that Sakuya easily and narrowly dodges. When he readies his third swing, Sakuya would huff a moment. She ached so much! There was only one muscle in her body that didn't ache, and she was about to move said muscle… The muscles in her fangs. Sakuya would open her mouth and spray venom into the final merc's eyes as they spray out of her fangs. That hurts more than it looks, because Sakuya is not quite trained to use that little trick as much as she should be. Her tongue curls around one of her fangs, rubbing against it as she grunts, closing her mouth and stepping back. That burning in his eyes was painful, and robbed him of his vision. Better than that, it would most certainly paralyze him rather quickly. That meant he couldn't quite clear his eyes very easily at all…
Imire would get the perfect opportunity to strike at this critical moment… Then perhaps she and him could finally move on to help the Daimyo together…
COMBAT: Taro defends against SHARP(27) attack from Shifty with a ACROBATIC-DODGE…33
Taro even in this state could fight well as he has done plenty of times before and was trained to be able to do. He was slower of course, but not dead. He spun just out of reach of the blade that came his way and swung his own sword at the guys neck to try and decapitate him before swing his other blade into the back of the head of one that tried to flee. "Oh now you want to run huh? Well it is too late! I told you I would leave this place filled with bodies and that is what is going to happen." He himself was covered in blood from head to toe, and luckily he could say it wasn't all his. "Finished already?" He growled, but was nearing the end of the fight himself.
COMBAT Shifty is poisoned (2 rounds) and loses 86 health.
COMBAT: Shifty defends against CHAKRA-SCALPEL(84) attack from Shuuren with a FULL-BODY-ARMORED-CHAKRA…54
COMBAT: Shifty loses the roll and sustains 832 damage.
COMBAT: Shifty defends against DYNAMIC-ACTION(51) attack from Imire with a DODGE…40
COMBAT: Shifty loses the roll and sustains 289 damage.
COMBAT: Shifty defends against DYNAMIC-ACTION(62) attack from Imire with a DODGE…40
COMBAT: Shifty loses the roll and sustains 255 damage.
COMBAT: Sifty defends against SPITTING-COBRA-STRIKE(50) attack from Sakuya with a DODGE…43
COMBAT: Shifty loses the roll and sustains 315 damage.
COMBAT: Shifty defends against DUAL-BLADE(44) attack from Taro with a WEAPON-BLOCK…23
COMBAT: Shifty loses the roll and sustains 353 damage.
COMBAT: Shifty defends against DUAL-BLADE(43) attack from Taro with a WEAPON-BLOCK…24
COMBAT: Shifty loses the roll and sustains 344 damage.
"Nice try, but I'm not a fool. You've sealed your fate, and death will stay its hand until I decide it's time for you to leave this world," Shuuren says as he steps around the monk that charges him. He creates the scalpels of chakra around his hand against and swings them once more, this time aiming at his achilles tendons and then the top of his neck to prevent him from running away as well as disabling him from being able to move his mouth or speak.
Unable to control his chakra well enough to avoid the damage done by Shuuren's attacks to his legs, the monk almost cries out in pain but finds himself suddenly unable to as even his control over his jaw is currently disabled by a surgical touch. He crashes to the ground and tries writing around for a bit, but he eventually figures out it's no use and succumbs to the pain, falling unconscious on the floor.
Outside, the men are still on the run, and those that were attacking have been dispatched by the hired guard. It's almost like hunting season now that they're trying to run away. None are even bothering to attack as their brethren fall, merely hoping to get away at this point.
COMBAT: Shuuren heals Shuuren for 1924 with NANO CHAKRA SCALPELS.
RPCOMBAT: Shuuren defends against with a SAGE-ART-CHAKRA-SENSE…63
With his target incapacitated about as much as one can incapacitate someone without killing or permanently paralyzing them, Shuuren closes his eyes for a moment and feels out with his chakra sense… Since his hired hands seem to have the outside fight in hand now, he decides on making himself look presentable before coming out to help them make sure none of these men make it out as penance for what they've done here.
Bringing his hands into a seal, the Daimyo creates a wave of chakra particles around his hands that flow into his body and begin healing his wounds from the inside out. Despite the mental fatigue and other symptom's he's feeling from that neurotoxin, he lets out a sigh of relief the hard part of the fight is over.
Imire ran towards Sakuya, coming in from out of nowhere to slam into the guy's head and pummel it to a … well, a very un-pretty pulp. Now Imire is even more covered in blood! "Sakuya-san, are you okay?" Imire asks, panting a bit. The teen was starting to feel the effects of using the Inner Gates, of course, his muscles protesting and screaming. He winces just a bit and takes a knee for the time being, trying to recover.
RP: Imire reverts to his normal state.
The younger snake, who had fallen back on her behind after spraying the cytotoxic cocktail into the bandit's face was happy to see that Imire made it just in time to finish him off. Sakuya would stand up, rubbing her mouth as she pulled out a bandage to remedy her wounds. "I'm fine, thanks to…" She watched as Imire takes a knee, her eyes wide as she saw that he had far more wounds and cuts than she did. He looked in terrible condition. Seemed like the better use of her time was for Imire, and not herself…
Sakuya dropped to her knees in front of Imire as she leaned forward. "Hold on…" She would say. "I know basic first-aid. Let me at least bandage up some of your major wounds real quick. No telling how many more we'll have on the way to the Daimyo." Her tongue flicks out a moment as she tries to find which wound looked the most severe. Shuuren is a med-nin, at least so she hears, so at the very least she will just prep him for the doctor. She draws a Kunai, spinning it in her hand once as she cuts away Imire's sleeve really quick, before she starts to apply a bandage over an arm wound. "Will you be okay to continue?" She asks, with a fair amount of worry she doesn't display with anyone other than who she trusts.
COMBAT: Sakuya heals Imire for 237 with FIRST AID.
Taro would aim his two blades just under the knees of the closest person to him to remove his legs from his body before doing the same to the guys arms. "You are coming with me now! And you don't get to die or I will force you back to life to kill you again!" He would then lift the probably near lifeless body onto his shoulder and carry it to the place where Shuuren was and open the door before walking in. "Daimyo. You in here?" He stood in that doorway and then got lightheaded before falling to the ground and dropping the body next to him. He himself drifting from conciousness.
COMBAT Shifty is poisoned (5 rounds) and loses 135 health.
COMBAT: Shifty defends against DYNAMIC-ENTRY(44) attack from Imire with a TENSE…9
COMBAT: Shifty loses the roll and sustains 485 damage.
COMBAT: Shifty defends against DYNAMIC-ENTRY(58) attack from Imire with a TENSE…7
COMBAT: Shifty loses the roll and sustains 623 damage.
COMBAT: Shifty defends against DUAL-BLADE(42) attack from Taro with a TENSE…20
COMBAT: Shifty loses the roll and sustains 401 damage.
COMBAT: Shifty defends against DUAL-BLADE(31) attack from Taro with a TENSE…7
COMBAT: Shifty loses the roll and sustains 427 damage.
RP: Shuuren uses WARDROBE-SUMMON.
COMBAT: Shuuren heals Taro for 2087 with NANO CHAKRA SCALPELS.
One might almost question the sanity of the shinobi still attacking the running men since getting their attention again since not all of them are going to make it onto the ship could be bad. Still, thanks to Sakuya and the effort of the others, a number of them fall still in their route to try and escape while the others pile upon the ship one after another.
As Taro opens the door, he'd be greeted with a puff of smoke that fades away to reveal Shuuren standing beside two unconscious bodies and seemingly completely unscathed himself in a pressed white suit without blemish. When Taro opens the door, the Daimyo looks his way and lifts an eyebrow as he watches him collapse to the ground. "… Carrying the guy in was a bit pointless. Poor kid must be light-headed or something," he states before moving over to the doorway to pull Taro out of it. He forms a quick handseal, creating another wave of chakra particles that flow from his fingertips into the boy to heal his wounds from the inside out and bring him back from death's door to a decent condition where he can heal up naturally. "Suppose it's time to check on the others… and make sure none of these idiots think they're actually going to get off this island free."
"I'm fine…" Imire would say, clenching his jaw to try and force himself to move. It was sheer willpower that allowed him to stand back up after his body had gone through the use of the gates. "Let's go," he says, shuffling towards where Shuuren was supposed to be. "Thanks for the bandages, but we need to get going…" After all, if they just fought an army in the fields, that must mean something just as big happened in the palace. Though Shuuren didn't seem to have destroyed it, so that implies that he's fine, right? RIGHT?
Sakuya wasn't going to argue, but something about Imire's stature was off. As if he wasn't using certain muscle groups, because he couldn't. It barely looked like he could function. Yet, he had a duty. He had the resolve to fulfil said duty of being a bodyguard. "Y-you're in no condition to move…" Sakuya says as she stands up. Should brought more bandages for herself. Having a few cuts across her stomach and shoulder, her legs felt like spaghetti, but it seemed as if there was no choice but to move on. "Tsk. Imire! Mmmh!" Sakuya would follow behind, Zuzu forming back into a snake and coiling up her leg. «Let it go. He's a man.» … »What is that supposed to mean!?«
Taro was not thinking clearly in removing the mans limbs, but he did have reasoning in using that man as a prisoner of sorts in some form. He himself was still out of it even after his wounds were patched up a bit. Nothing like having two swords jabbed through your middle. Of course his body did seem to settle though and he seemed healthy. He was purely lucky that the one he was with on this mission was Shuuren. Without him he probably had a high chance of death.
COMBAT Shifty is poisoned (4 rounds) and loses 49 health.
With Taro repaired, Shuuren reaches into his coat and withdraws several lengths of rope that look like they shouldn't fit into it, definitely not without making it bulge. He uses them to bind up Taro's prisoner as well as the monk and the feudal lord's daughter. Once that's done, he brings his hands into a seal, creating a Shadow Clone beside him with a puff of smoke. The clone immediately flickers out of sight, and the only sign of its actions is that the enemy ship rocks a couple times, though it was already doing that with the men piling up on it in a hurry. They might not even notice it starting to take on water underneath and sink yet.
As the clone does its work, Shuuren himself steps outside and looks around. Upon spotting where Sakuya and Imire are coming toward the house, he says, "I'll need you two to help carry Taro and this other guy. I'll bring the lord's daughter and the monk." With that he moves inside and picks one of them up over either shoulder and starts to move toward the ship, showing off his strength off a bit in this motion.
The trip back to their ship is basically smooth. Once they're there, the workers on the ship who've been busy patching the harpoon hole come up and untether them from the docks. As they sail off the opposite direction from the other ship, he brings his hands into a seal and slams it on the deck. The effects wouldn't be quite visible from their position with the other ship on the other side of the horizon, but it does sink a LOT faster for some reason.
"Gomen, Nagamura-dono. I can barely stand right now… I'll stay with Taro, while you transport the others to the ship. It will give us both time to recover." Shuuren's order was heard, but Sakuya wasn't quite able to follow it… Even her snake would have to incline with his master for once. "We will carry out your orders as soon as we have taken a breather, your lordship." With utmost respect, she moved over to the manor to Taro. "Hey, merc… We need to move out. Don't want to get left behind, so we can only rest for a few moments. After, I'll lend you a shoulder." Seems like Taro had a wound Shuuren had to look over… Sakuya would take a Kunai once more, and cut off the length of her sleeve. She would use that to bandage one of Taro's major wounds, and left her with one sleeve… "Hold still… let me get this tied down…"
COMBAT: Sakuya heals Taro for 254 with FIRST AID.
Taro was still out of it when Sakuya came over, but her words moved him some from the slumber. He was a stubborn one for sure as even sleep couldn't keep him down when he didn't want it. "I… thank you." He would try to get up as soon as he could. "Yeah. Alright." When he was healed up he then got up and used her as a shoulder to walk along with her back to the ship. "Thanks again Sakuya." Seemed his thirst for blood has left him at leat.
