Starring:
Jon, Hiei, Misaki, Kanbei, Kayaru
Date: June 22, 2013
Summary:
Kumo ninja set out to euthanize some canines in the name of ecology.
"Wolf Extermination"
A land east of the Land of Lightning
Overpopulation - An land east of the Land of Lightning has begun to have a problem with the overpopulation of giant wolves. They were part of a balanced ecosystem at first, but their pack has begun to grow out of control and is starting to attack humans due to a dropping food supply. The people of the land don't necessarily want the wolves to become endangered, but something must be done. What they've asked if for the wolves that have become ravenous to be taken care of to bring their population back under control.
Some would say that nature should be allowed to take its course, with as little meddling from humans as possible. Others would say that mankind are the guardians and overseers of the natural order, and should use their capacity for intelligence to prune and control nature, even if that leads to some mistakes made as they learn what's best. Still others take the cynical view that 'nature taking its course' would imply that a naturally dominant and intelligent species like humans should take full advantage of the environment for their own satisfaction. :P
The people in a little country to the east of the Land of Lightning are probably mostly of categories two or three, because they've commissioned Kumo shinobi to make an artificial adjustment to a certain natural population. Wolves — abnormally large ones at that — have become very numerous in the area of late. With not enough prey to go around, some of them have become aggressive toward human towns. Hence, time to cull their numbers a bit. Saito Jon is at the head of this mission. He has an idea or two how to go about it, but first he wants to hear what those following him think. A mission like this is a good training opportunity, and who knows, maybe they'll come up with some really clever plans. "Okay, we're approaching the hunting territory. Any suggestions for how we can accomplish this mission?"
Hiei remembers Saito-san from his visit to Konoha when he questioned them all about the murder of the replacement team from Kumogakure. So, he was surprised when he is assigned to his team to cull some super wolves. Well, not really, after all, the Elders and Kamen Rai Da have been watching him for a full month now and they probably know his tendency to cut things up before blasting it with lightning would make him ideal for this sort of thing. When Jon asks the best way to handle the situation, Hiei gives his honest answer. "They're wolves. Track them down, kill the ones that have been attacking human villages. If we can't tell which ones are the ones doing that..then we slaughter them all." He's got a halfway bored expression on his face. Couple weeks ago, he was facing down assassins hell bent on killing the Daimyo. He just couldn't get himself excited about hunting wolves..even if they were the big kind. He idly wonders if they're edible.
Misaki was actually a little excited. "Come on Hiei! It will be fun! Not fighting stupid assassins for a change." She smiles and considers if the wolfies would be petable. "Can't we like make them sleep and then put them down somewhere else?" She asks Jon while pulling on his sleeve.
Kanbei knew a few of the people on the mission. Hiei and Hiro were some of the more known. He had met Misaki before. The mission however reminded him of his first mission. A guy had dragged them out into the woods to watch them fight some wolves. "Wolves…" he states as he remembers the instance. He did not care for them. "There are only three real options. Kill them, relocate them or try to domesticate them. Killing them solves the issue for a while. Relocating them solves the issue as well. Domesticating them is a bit more dangerous and we probably do not have that amount of time for the mission. I also do not think we have a real location to place them in for relocation. So… we kill them?" he asks.
Contemplating his last conversation with 'Him' Kayaru would go along with the others for that mission. They were to take out wolves. It seemed pretty straight forward. "Alright. So since it's been stated that the main way we have to resolve this issue is to kill them, shall we try to make sure they are clean and fast kills. There is no reason to be inhumane in our actions." He'd look between each of the genin, then looks over to Jon, wondering for a moment. "What would be your input on this situation, Saito-san?"
Jon nods to the responses given. "Your attitude's a little careless, Hiei-san. You're essentially right, but you'll miss important details if you don't give more thought to things. Like, what do our clients want done as far as which wolves to kill? According to the mission details, they don't want the wolves to become endangered if it can be helped, so they'd probably be most pleased if we managed to exterminate all the ones that've become less fearful toward humans, and leave the others alone as much as possible. We need to do our best to come up with a way of differentiating." Jon turns his head toward Kanbei. "That's a fairly good analysis of the situation. You might've mentioned increasing the prey population too, though in the end that's about as impractical as relocating them, and would probably result in a bigger population problem down the road." Next comes Misaki. "I have some genjutsu techniques which might distract them from the killing blow, but nothing to outright put them to sleep. If anybody else has anything like that, we could give it a try, but depending on how many we encounter and how savage they are, it may not be worth the risk of doing anything besides fighting to kill straight out." And finally, Kayaru. "My input is, tracking the wolves down sounds like the most straight-forward and efficient way of accomplishing our purpose. Of course, that assumes we'll be able to track them. I'm fairly good at following trails in general, but I'm more used to looking for the signs left by human beings on the run. We may have to resort to baiting them into coming to us instead…although considering we're looking for wolves that would consider humans prey, that could be as easy as wandering through their woods trying to track them."
Soon they arrive at the scene where the aggressive wolves were last spotted, just outside a rural village. There is a patch of trampled grass where the wolves jumped an unfortunate villager before being chased off by a mass of townsfolk. "Well, here's the start of our trail. Let's see how well each of you can follow it, shall we?" ;)
Hiei sighs heavily and crosses his arms over his chest. He nods to Misaki and offers her a faint smile. "I'll try. For you." She seemed especially excited about this mission and he didn't want to ruin it for her. He looks toward Jon. "Sorry, Saito-sama. I guess I understand your point. But I'm not a hunter, at least, not of animals anyway. Hiroyasu is the sensory ninja on our team. He does that sort of thing." He and Misaki were the brain bashers, as it were. "I recommend I use myself as bait to draw them out so that you guys can deal with them. If they think of human as prey, then I'll make sure I look as delicious to them as possible."
Misaki looks around herself when Jon speaks, seeming a bit distracted. But then she nods. "Got it.." She says. She's just going to have to trust this jounin! She smiles at him briefly before walking up to Hiei. "I don't see anything.." She says while making an effort to follow the tracks. It's all too complicated for her! She then giggles at Hiei. "Don't look too delicious though.." She waggles her eyebrows, indicating something else might pounce first!
kanbei nodded his head as he was given direction by the Jounin leader. As the conversation went further, he was not liking the idea of being bait. He had been there before. This was a mission though. Saito Jon wanted to draw out the wolves that were a danger. "Wolves need a source of water, shelter and food. The village seems to be the source of food. So I would be guessing that somewhere between here and a source of water we might find some of them. Any idea where the nearest stream is?" he asks.
Kayaru would nod in agreement. Track, remove those who are wrong, thin without destroying the whole thing. "That sounds like a valid scenario." Looking over to Hiei, he'd ponder that and look at Misaki too, musing for a long moment. Finally he'd give a small shake of his head. "I think it's better we keep together. We track together. It may ward off the whole pack trying to attack a potential lone target." Kayaru would look to Jon then. "I am ready for what you need us to do. Just state it and we will do it."
Jon nods slowly as none of the team members prove quite capable of discerning the wolves' escape trail. Well, that's not terribly surprising, tracking animals is something of a specialized skill, even for ninja. Even Jon would have a pretty hard time being sure of the direction the wolf pack took…if he didn't have a way of cheating, that is. ;) "Bit o' a furrow in th'grass, headin' into th'woods thataway towards th'rivah!" Scruvo, Jon's crow companion, swoops down to report this bit of information which is more easily perceived from an aerial view. Seems he must have been scouting things out this whole time they were on the approach. I mean, of course he wasn't with the group, he'd have been talking everyone's ear off if he was, and it would be ridiculous to suppose Jon's player simply forgot to write him in. >.>
Jon gives orders as they prepare to head into the woods. "Kayaru-san, I'd like you to stay here in case anything happens near the village. Send off a flare if you sight any wolves, two flares if there's an attack." Jon looks at Hiei. "Thanks for volunteering, Hiei-san, but a role that risky isn't something I can assign to a genin. I'll be the one drawing them out. Follow me within shouting distance. When they appear, close in for the attack." Orders given, Jon trudges off into the woods, trying to look like a careless human just out for a stroll.
Hiei looks up as the crow descends towards them. And then it talks. Hiei adds it to the list of weird stuff along with the Inuzuka talking dogs. He looks at Misaki as if to say 'did you see that'. However, when his plan is turned down, but the premise remains only Jon would be taking the risk, he shrugs slightly. "As you wish, Saito-sama." Reaching up behind his back, he draws Fukushu and Saiai, his katana and wakazashi. Both blades looked identical in that on one side was the bladed side, but on the back side it was serrated like a saw. He begins to follow Jon as quietly as possible. Which for him, wasn't all that quiet, but he did his best.
Misaki follows Hiei, but she had a lot more trouble maneuvering through the snow and twigs! Making noises and such.
Kanbei was about to protest the crow. He made mention of the water source, but at least the crow told them which direction it was. He then starts to sneak behind the others, except he is horrible at it. He's stepping on twigs and leaves. It's not pretty. He glances towards the others before he focused ahead of him.
The whole stealth thing doesn't turn out very well with this group. X) Hiei manages to do okay, but the others are making enough noise that even Jon could hear them…almost. As it is, he's too busy making a believable amount of noise himself. So he doesn't turn back to rejoin them or anything…just keeps going on to track down/draw out the wolves.
There a slight hitch in the current plan. While wolves do indeed tend to target lone animals separated from the herd, they're also wired to view younglings as pretty darn helpless. So even in a 'herd' of three, the genin make a more attractive target to the hungry wolves. :E And since they made enough noise to be noticed by the hunting pack, they're the first to be targeted. The wolves bound out of hiding and converge on the genin, baying their hunting call. Jon hears it and immediately zips back toward the others, but the genin are going to have to deal with the snapping jaws of the giant canines on their own for a few seconds!
Hiei was too busy concentrating on being stealthy. So when the wolves finally show up, he can't really believe how big they are. And one of them actually manages to take a bite out of his shoulder. Hiei yells out in pain, but doesn't loose his head. Going into a series of acrobatic flips and dodges, he manages to evade the other snaps of the jaws at the wolf pack. He slides to a stop and frowns at the situation. "Incoming." He says towards he rest of his team. With a flick of his wrists, he sends chakra into Fukushu and Saiai before charging by the dire wolf. He slashes out twice, once with each charged sword. With chakra running into the blades, their respective names that are etched into the flat of the blade glow. He plants his foot after attacking, and then turns back to attack the wolf again, this time his body blurs almost out of sight as he temporarily increases his speed for his last strike. "Misaki, you're up!"
Misaki looks at the beasts and gasps. She wasn't on time to avoid the first attack, but after that she goes into her limber usual self mode. She even grabbed one of the wofl's snouts, somersaulting over him and riding the beast for a few seconds to avoid a set of attacks! Making a bit of a show of it while ignoring her bleeding right arm!
She nods at Hiei. "I got it.." She jumps up high and reaches into her pouch, starting to throw kunai and shuriken downwards as fast as she can! Aiming to really damage those pesky beasts! Aiming for the eyes, legs and other vulnerable spots.
As the teeth of the canine come forward towards Kanbei, he creates a plate of crystal around his arm. He creates another as another wolf tries to bite him. Luckily both hold. That is until the first wolf clamps down and shatters the crystal. The damage done by the teeth is light. Kanbei reaches out with his hands to form some crystal slivers. He takes them and tosses them at both of the wolves, even though they are close range. His eyes then glance towards his wound. He was not the only one to receive one. Luckily his did not seem as painful.
Jon zips back to the battlefield on flashes of lightning. The enemy saw through their plan! The vulnerable young genin are under attack! Jon's got to rejoin them quickly and…OBSERVE HOW THEY HANDLE THE SITUATION!!! >O Jon lands crouched on a tree branch overhead and watches the fighting. "Hiei-san, their fur gives more protection than you'd think, you'll have to emphasize power over speed. Misaki-san, put a little more oomph into it, yeah, there you go. Ah, that's an interesting technique you have Kanbei-san, good work."
Oh, fine, Jon'll help out a little. Forming some handseals, he projects his chakra at one of the wolves. It suddenly finds itself in a dark room, strapped to the ground, with a single cone of light shining down on it from above. Into that cone of light steps the intimidating form of…SCRUVO!!! Who proceeds to whap the wolf's muzzle with a rolled-up newspaper. "C'mon, Fido, out wi' it! It was YOU wot left that mess in th'livin' room, wasn't it! Confess!" >P Back in reality, Jon points at the paralyzed wolf. "If you take that one out now it won't suffer much." :|
Hiei glances up at where Jon is and nods. "Power over speed, huh? You got it." He goes through a series of handseals. "Release: Lightning Movement." A bright blue aura surrounds his body with bolts of lightning flowing through it. As Hiei calls upon the power of the Yotsuki, he flicks his wrists again, this time lightning flows into Fukushu and Saiai. "The man says he wants power, I'll give him power." He whistles. "Here, puppy. Hiei has what ails you…" He disappears in a gust of wind to attack the wolves around him. He slashes out twice, using a technique that is geared towards power rather than speed.
Misaki was already healing up her previous wound. He wants power? He can get power! She jumps up high, suddenly she's engulfed in a cloak of chakra even Jon can see! A tail grows behind her, and while she's on the way to the ground she suddenly smacks it into the ground. Sending a shockwave that makes trees shake and wolfs trip and fall over the ground, aiming to get them out of balance while she zaps between targets. Hitting each of them with her nekote while moving as fast as she can, hitting as hard as she can!
Kanbei was glad to have his technique complimented. A lot of people did so. As the wolves continue to attack, Kanbei forms a shield in front of himself bashing their attacks away. Luckily the shield holds unlike the plate which had broken. "Since everyone else is upping their techniques…" Kanbei places his hands together making a seal. Soon crystal particles begin to form around one of the wolves jaws. He then takes another crystal sliver and tosses it towards the other wolf.
The increased efforts of the genin push the fight up beyond the threshold of what the wolves can handle. Pretty soon there are a bunch of dead wolves littered around the forest floor. Jon hops down from the tree. "Good work everyone. Kanbei-san, get these two back to the village and make sure their wounds get disinfected properly. I'll stay here and dispose of the corpses, best not to risk spreading disease even out here." 'Course, in Misaki's case you'd probably have to cut her open again to clean it out. e.e Scruvo arrives and surveys the damage. "Crikey. Canine carnage. Guess obedience school wos out o' th'question." :P
