Starring:
Hige, Atsuro, Zankuro, Taiki, Kyuketsuki, Nagai, Toshio, Michiko, Izara, Zori, Tsukino
Date: March 28, 2015
Summary:
Having previously located the main camp for the kidnapping ring within the Land of Fire, a small army is gathered. Kill the kidnappers, save the kids, destroy the compound!
Poster's note: foul language filtered in obvious places.
"Youth Kidnapped Army - Land of Fire Cleansed"
Land of Fire
It was finally time. The kidnappers that had nested in various nations were about to have their Konoha vacation home removed. After having previously located and scouted their compound, time was taken to gather the necessary resources to help get rid of them. Everyone had been instructed to gather in a specific location, about a mile from the compound in the middle of the forest. Here any forces from Kumogakure that had come to assist would meet up with those from Konohagakure.
The mission was simple in thought, but hard actually completing. Kill any kidnappers, try and save any children, even the brainwashed ones, and don't let any kidnappers escape to try and start up again somewhere else. As the Jounin Commander, Atsuro was put in charge. The remaining Jounin, Tokubetsu, Chuunin and advanced Genin would be assisting Atsuro in taking down the compound while the fresh Genin and Students would be assigned to organize and take care of the kidnapped children as they were freed and sent from the compound. A location was to be set up for them at the tree line to keep things organized and tend to any minor injuries.
And so it begins as those gathered look to Atsuro for his great guidance…
Having been involved in this kidnapping scandal since the beginning, Hige was there with Konsho and prepared to deal with these kidnappers. All that anger that has built up over time is bubbling to the surface as he more or less draws on it for this fight. The duo are somewhere in the mix of other Konoha and Kumo folk, leaning against a tree and watching Atsuro as he waits for his orders. His expression is blank, emotionless, and his body is tense and ready for the battle that is to come.
Before anyone's allowed to do anything, the group spends time waiting beyond the treeline to observe the patrols around the compound walls. Once that's determined, Atsuro's orders start going out. The support group is to stay here and be ready to receive any of the rescued children sent their way. Although they swept the forest for patrolling gang members on the way in, Atsuro also cautions those in this group to be on the alert for anyone who they missed. Meanwhile the attack group will circle around the clearing to one of the corners farthest from the compound's main entrance, staying on the side hidden from an approaching patrol. There, the seal expert will work on disabling one of the seals on the wall, creating a small entrance into the compound while the other members of the team will wait in ambush for any patrols that might come by while the work is happening.
Once they've disabled the seal and gained entry to the compound, a small subgroup will remain behind to take care of any remaining patrols, then move onto dealing with the guards at the main gate while the bulk of the ninja move into the compound to reconnoiter the interior, extract the kidnapped children, and capture or kill the remaining gang members. Atsuro also cautions that some brainwashed children may be among the enemy combatants, but these are to be taken alive if at all possible.
Once the order have been disseminated, Atsuro moves to the edge of the treeline, waiting for a patrol to pass out of site so that they can safely cross the clearing. Once they're gone, he holds up his hand to signal, then darts out into the clearing, Taizen following behind him as they make for the wall.
Nagai and Nami are picking the role of backup and support today. An easy choice considering and it's a job that won't get him in the thick of combat. He nods with Nami as he's leaning against a tree, waiting for the Kumo's to arrive. Just in case, he's packed an additional smaller pack with a red cross on the side showing it's a medical kit. He might not be able to do much with it, but he can put bandaids on boo boos and dry tears.
Kyu paces back and forth, nervous about this mission but trying to remain calm, he can't help but think all the things he could cause to go wrong, he just wants to be useful. He stops pacing and thinks to himself that he simply doesn't have a choice anymore so it doesn't really matter, he can't and wont simply run away from this. He looks to Atsuro, Kyu's arms, legs, and body hidden beneath his cloak, and his hood up, and listens carefully to any instructions he gives, when he is finished Kyu responds with a simple "Hai" and a nod, clearly prepared to move out. He is going to be with the attack group clearly as he doesn't have any skills in seals nor is he good as a scout. He goes to where the attack group was supposed to gather and waits until he see's Atsuro's signal, once he does he too will rush at the gate, following him closely, but not too closely.
Izara could hardly believe that out of the many students at the academy, she had been selected to take part in putting an end to this kidnapping affair. She was a bit nervous, her first time outside of the village walls on an actual mission. But she was with Kyu and Hige, and that put her a bit at ease. Not surprisingly, she was assigned to the support squad. Apparantly since she was probably closest in age to the children being rescued, she was the perfect candidate to care for their emotional and psychological scars.
She lingers underneath the shade of a nearby tree, waiting for the action to start. Nevertheless, she remains ever vigilant as Atsuro had instructed.
Zori heard about the bad things that were happening in Konoha, So decided to lend a hand in the stopping of the kidnappers. Zori walks towards the middle of the forest with his arms crossed. Upon arrival he looks at the group , with a michevious look. He then waves to everyone in greeting. This mission, he will help the others with his support. He will be with the support group. After giving out a short greeting to the group, he stands in one spot with a grin maintaining his micheivous look. "Hello there Kyu and Hige, i see you wanted to have some fun as well. Hehe". Whenever Atsuro was ready, he would move in motion behind Tsukino with the support team.
This time, Taiki was not here as a leader, but as a jounin of Konohagakure. Atsuro would be leading this mission, which sparked memories of his genin days. So much had changed since he was a withdrawn, shy, pre-teen. The old Taiki would have been ready to do his part, but somewhat detached from the main group, all the while trying to cover it up in typical Inuzuka brashness. Now, however, Taiki normally plays the formal, serious Clan Heand/Medic Nin. This guise, however, covers and controls a wild, passionate man determined to ensure a brighter future for the next generation.
This is why he is here today, along with his two ninken, to help rescue these children. When he heard of this situation, the old rage built inside of him, causing him to actually volunteer to help in whatever way Atsuro would require. He only hoped that Atsuro would allow him to help bring justice to these kidnappers, though his brand of justice would be brutal. He wanted a message sent out to anyone that would think of following in this group's footsteps: repeating the actions of this group would result in your erasure from existence. For now, he has his orders, and races to the wall to take down the seals on the section of wall Atsuro specified so the wall can be breached.
Tsukino had a note on her file requesting that she not be put on a killing squad, signed by the Hokage himself. So she ended up with the fresher genin which was strategically good anyway. She could protect them and the children if it came down to it. The Uzumaki Princess was wearing a chuunin vest over her usual black and grey outfit complete with leggings. Her hair was free flowing as usual as well, brushing the backs of her thighs.
She stood with the group of genin, her blue eyes serious as she waited. She looked at those staying in the tree line behind, looking them over. She glanced back at Zori, frowning lightly. "This is not a game." She turned ot he other genin that were with her. "I will shield you as best as I can but keep in mind you may have to immobilise them if they fight you… We need everyone's head on the mission." This was the second time she had been exposed to Zori's devil may care attitude and it was beginning to worry her? How long would it be before someone was killed because of it? She made a note to herself to speak with a jounin about her concerns. For the moment she was waiting, her eyes turned back toward where the kids would be comming out from, alreacy gathering chakra so she could react quickly.
Zankuro's stomach churned uneasily over the mission. He knew he shouldn't feel so conflicted, and yet strangely enough, he did. While it may have flown the face of rules and regulation, the Sarutobi wore a rather plain festival mask; a blank white and circular piece of ceramic with simple eye holes and a cheshire grin painted in place. An ineffectual mask to hide his emotions when it came to the inuzuka, but for everyone else it would sufficel. Besides, if he was gonna be forced to abandon his favored loud shirts for one darker and his chuunin vest, then by golly he was gonna wear the next best thing!
Nervous tension is burned through as Zankuro paced closer to the head of the group. With perhaps the exception of one or two others, his part to play meant attacking the front gate essentially when the time came, leading if need be or relying on his own bag of tricks. "If this keeps up I'll make Anbu.." He joked quietly to himself. Unfortunately, the joke doesn't go far enough to reassure him, so the teenager turns to lightly tapping the side of the giant scroll strapped to his back.
Michiko had seen that there were kidnappers in the Land of Fire. She also knew that they were to be on the border of Fire and Lightning, which piqued her curiosity even more. While she did send out a call to those in Kumo, there weren't many that were interested, or even free of obligations. Michiko wanted to help Konoha, not only because she had a number of friends there and the issue was close to the border, but because it would also be good for the alliance between them.
The Tokubetsu would arrive at the meeting place, nodding lightly in greeting to those gathered. It was her team for the time being… And it looked like Konoha spared no effort. Of the faces, she knew about as many as she didn't, which was fine with her. Everyone and their position was filed mentally for future reference, Michiko planning to write down her own report when she gets back to her village. "Just tell me where you need me, Atsuro-san," she would tell him. After giving the Commander a brief run-down of her abilities, she was sent to be a part of the attacking force.
Michiko focused her chakra, building up quite a bit as she prepared for the battle ahead. To the entire attack force, she would mention that she does very well in trapping people or making it so they can be taken down. "Hmm… If there are this many Shinobi here, then just how many enemies are they assuming we're up against…?" she wonders quietly.
With the support group taking up their position at the treeline, the others all follow Atsuro's instruction and are moving towards the position where Taiki begins working on the seal. The support group is lead by Tsukino, along with Nagai, Izara, and Zori. Those that follow Atsuro to attack and kill are Taiki, Kyu, Zankuro, Michiko, and Hige.
The time that had been taken to note the local patrols seems to have been a wise move as, while the patrols overlap, there was also a very short span of time when this particular section was not monitored. Likely due to one patrol moving faster than the other. Would such a folly prove fatal for them? They had placed far too much faith in their seals, so then maybe it was no surprise that they are not so easy to disarm. Taiki will find that beneath the seal keeping them from breaching the wall is another seal made to explode outward should the first be tampered with. And while they have some time it's hard to say if there will be enough before one of the patrols returns.
The others with the support group, including a few medics, have started to set up shop just within the trees. They seek help from the others to ensure they have all the supplies they'll need, from water and bandages, to blankets and hot cocoa. Because every traumatized kid needs hot cocoa right? There is a lot of preparation to be done for what they estimate to be anywhere from fifty to a hundred children of various ages from six to thirteen. And everyone has to do their part to help!
When Atsuro had explained the mission Hige had listened and only nodded in response. When they had cleared out the patrols that were in the forest itself he had taken down a number of them with Konsho in a surprisingly clean fashion for Hige. His emotions are still hidden behind a mask of neutrality, all but those who can smell the emotions not truly knowing his thoughts. As they gathered at the tree line Hige would simply nod in greeting to those he knew, going so far as to give a comforting smile to Izara and Tsukino. But it disappeared as quick as it had appeared and his focus returns to the job at hand. The duo follow after Atsuro and Taiki to the wall, keeping low and silent. "A lot…" is Hige's muttered response to Michiko while he keeps an active watch on their surroundings.
Nagai nods to Tsukino as she gives orders, as much as they are. He looks over at Izara and then looks over at Nami. He gestures with his head and the cat, who is sitting next to him, sits up with a yawn and pads over towards Izara. She plops down in front of the student and mews, tilting her head for a moment before brushing up against her. As if reassuring it'll be alright. He asks, "I hope there's no combat, considering what we needed to face them in the compound, if they get out here…" He smiles, "…guess there's only one thing for it then. Just try." He goes through his makeshift medic pack that was given to him, just for something to do.
As they wait for Taiki to get them through the wall, Atsuro and Taizen keep sniffing at the air to try and get an idea of when the next patrol is approaching — and to make sure they haven't switched directions for some reason. "What've we got?" he asks Taiki — they're relying entirely on him to get through the wall, so if he can't do it, then they're going to have to move to Plan B. "Be ready to ambush," he tells the others, "When they round the corner, we'll have only a moment to surprise them, so use it well."
From what Izara could tell first hand by observing Tsukino, the Chuunin had a good head on her sholders and the physical skills to go with it. As she watched the woman scold Zori, all she could do was shake her head in disappointment. Lives were at stake, and it was no time for playing around.
Following the Chuunin's lead, Izara focuses her chakra as she scans the surroundings for signs of anyone escaping.
Zori listens to Atsuros directions, He quickly gathers a sufficient amount of water bottles and bandages along with blankets and hot cocoa mix packets placing them into his backpack. As he slings his backpack on his back, he looks at Tsukino "Heh, Always gotta try to ruin the fun. Dont worry im gonna pitch in and help protect Nagai and Izara." is said with a faint grin. Zori follows behind Tsukino and the rest of the support gang.
Tsukino watched as Taike began examining the seals protecting the compound for a brief moment before she turned to look around them again. She could tell they were having trouble wiht the seals. not a good sign. "Stay alert." She said to those by her quietly. She noted Izara's little head shake then once again was confronted with Zori's attitude. Yes she would definitely be speaking with a jounin later about this one. "Cut the attitude and chatter, Zori-san. We are here to do a job not have fun."
Taiki kneels down next to the wall and forms a few handseals before pressing his hand against it. Black lines flow out of him, causing the sealwork on the wall to become plainly visible to him. As he concentrates on reading the seals, his ninken fan out slightly to offer a protective lookout for any incoming threats even as Taiki channels more chakra into his system. "They aren't entirely stupid," Taiki responds to Atsuro when asked. "They booby-trapped the seals with a second array. If I don't disable the trap, it will explode the moment I start to take down the defensive sheilding. This will be close…"
The change in plans did not exactly sit well with Zankuro. While on the one hand, he was spared from what would more than likely be a suicide mission, the suddenness of the change left him unnerved, to say the least. Still, he kept his lips zipped like a good little chuunin, and quietly followed along after the others, if albeit belatedly. His tardiness kept him from needing to take out any patrol members so far, but how long would his luck really last?
Zankuro quickly shook his head, then focused more intently on his surroundings. His ears are the only thing that remained receptive of anything that didn't have to do with keeping a look out for anything unexpected.
"Man has to get his fun where he goes." Toshio says as he tries to sense like the others. Except he doesnt have dog senses or any type of clan abilities so the clanless genin just looks about. A hand rests on the sword along his back as he peers about, moving with the others while trying to not hinder the others.
Michiko makes a soft sound of irritation at the news. That they expected so much… Was irritating. The fact that such an operation even existed was disgusting in and of itself, though it was not the fault of anyone that it had gone unchecked. An organization this large can afford to cover its tracks amazingly well, is what she has discovered with her five years of experience being a shinobi. "Hai…" she says to Atsuro, sending a pulse of chakra through the ground to get a bearing on just where the guards were. It was easier to trap them when she had a handle on their locations. She had taken care of her own fair share of bandits during the initial assault, and now she just had to take out a few more.
The seals are truly difficult and luckily Taiki had found the secondary defenses before he set them off. The noses of the Inuzuka would be able to tell them that one of the patrols was now on their way back and, with what Taiki was saying, the timing would be close. But it's now that Taiki's skill shines through brilliantly as he is able to diffuse both the exploding tag and the other seal, leaving nothing but a good six foot section of wall as merely wood with nothing protecting it. Now to get through that wood. Loudly or not? As it stands the attacking group has only about fifteen seconds or so before they're going to set off an alarm…
The support group is finally set but that is no reason to relax. This becomes apparent as Tsukino would notice they have some visitors coming from behind. On a path that, at the moment, will bypass the group. The intruders don't seem to have noticed the support group as of yet but that could change. It also means that once the intruders on the path reach the clearing they will also have a clear view of the shinobi attempting to breach the wall.
While sight over the hall is still impossible due to it's height, with the release of the seal the scents from inside come clearly and the sounds increase. The sounds of training, lots of metal on metal, lots of shouting - directions, pain, anger - everything to indicate that inside some very harsh and forced training is taking place. The smell of blood is prevailant and may be smelled even by those without those increased Inuzuka or Maneshi senses.
Hige and Konsho are crouched low as they listen and wait. Taiki works on the seals, Atsuro prepares to direct everyone, so Hige and Konsho keep an extra eye on their surroundings. So far they're in the clear though with the encroaching patrol that may not last. He looks back to Atsuro and Taiki but he knows that he doesn't need to warn them. They'd be able to smell the returning patrol just as well as he could. All he could do was wait and be prepared. So prepared he is. A kunai in one hand in case he needs to attack someone at range, he tenses his body and is ready to move. Whether that's to attack the patrol or attack inside, he's ready regardless.
Atsuro nods to Taiki. "Take your time," he says, "We need to deal with the patrols anyway, and we're better off being delayed than blown up." It's a tense few minutes as Taiki deals with the seals, and Atsuro can smell the enemy getting closer and closer. "Get ready," he says in a low voice, "We want to take them down quick and quiet. Try and keep the kid alive." He reaches down to Taizen's vest and unsheathes a ninjato. Both he and Taizen ready themselves to strike.
Nagai isn't 'exactly' ready, he's messing around with other things, like his gear, instead of focusing his chakra or even listening to Nami and her senses. Nami runs over to Nagai and lifts herself up putting her front paws on his leg and starts kneeding to get his attention. "What is it Nami? Can't you see I'm checking my gear?" he sighs. He hasn't notice anything or anyone for that matter. The ball has been dropped and it's rolling away from Nagai.
All Izara could do was nod in agreement with what Nagai said about hoping there would be no combat. She balls her fists together, resisting the urge to sock Zori for his tasteless remarks. She tries her best to calm her nerves as she watches the rest of her group take their assignments seriously. The last thing she wanted to do was be a burden and step on anyone's toes. The best move on her part was to just wait and follow directions.
Zori sits on a nearby rock his eyes flicker from Izara,Nagai and back to Tsukino. Zori nods in agreement to Nagai. Quickly removing his backpack, checking to see if everything he needed was in there. Once he realized everything was in the right place, he slings the backpack on his back. Crossing his arms as he remains sitting on the rock. He waits for Tsukino's directions. Grin on his face as usual.
As Taiki finishes the seals, Nozomi and Shinobu alert him to the smells of the oncoming party, especially since his normal olfactory senses are currently dealing with the new smells from within the compound. The requirement for a quiet takedown would limit Taiki's response, given that most of his normal fighting techniques are prohibitively loud, especially the lightning techniques. Still, water techniques and his limited attack versions of seal jutsu would fit the bill nicely. As such, he and his ninken turn around and prepare to disable and/or kill the incoming patrol with well-placed tags and water techniques. The tops of the canteens Nozomi is carrying open as water pools at their necks, ready for use by either Nozomi or Taiki. Shinobu prepares to deploy a regular tsuga technique for any enemy that dare come into range.
Tsukino eyed Toshio, yet another genin talking abck to her. Perhaps it was the spiral on her hitai-ate that made them forget she was a Chuunin. But she had no patience for thier insubordination and no time to get a team that would act appropriately. They would do this and then she would deal with the attitudes later. Lives depended on this mission… It bothered the Uzumaki Princess that lives /would/ be lost today even if they were the kidnappers' lives. Her focus was keeping the children as safe as possible. But then something caught her attention to the left, a parallell path and.. another patrol? She ducked behind a tree glancing over to where Taiki and his group were working.. If this secondary group exited the forest they would see the advanced unit. She had to make sure that did not happen…. She motioned for the medics and genin to get down, hide themselves as best they could for the moment and bit her lip…. She reached up and pulled off her hitai-ate then slipped out of her shuunin vest, setting them on the ground. One thing about being an Uzumaki, she looked much younger than she really was. Her top was loose enough to make her appear close to the age of the children they were supposed to be rescuing.
Perfect.
She moved quickly, silent through the trees, getting behind the group on the side path… Then, when she was out of sight of her team she made a LOT of noise, running and stepping on trigs then finally stumbling out onto the path behind them. To see her, they would have to look away from Atsuro and Taiki's group. In as childish a voice as she could muster she squeaked and yelled. "You're not gonna catch me again!" She stuck her tongue out and pulled at the bottom of one eye for emphasis…. And took off running as fast as a 13 year old could down the path…..
Thoughtlessly, Zankuro returned to absently fiddling with the side of his scroll until the warning came. His rotund figure may betray him, but until it did, the Sarutobi sucked in his gut and tried to become one with a nearby tree. He unclasped his weapons pouch at his side in preperation for the fight, and gradually slowed his breathing. Despite his efforts to remain calm, a nervous sweat broke out beneath the mask and neck. 'Why do these things have to be so—' Zankuro's head jerks around in the direction of the noise. Though some ways off, hearing it start roughly in the direction where the support group was left the Sarutobi nervous. He almost broke the silence to ask Atsuro if he wanted to change the plans again, but hesitates for a moment too long, losing his nerve in the process.
Michiko sets her jaw a bit as she detects the sheer numbers behind the walls. "More than a hundred back there… Most are children, judging by the lightness of their footsteps. A score and a half of adults with them, keeping an eye on their training," she reports to Atsuro. She then glances backwards since there seems to be people coming in towards the support group. But she has no way to warn them… But it looks like they can take care of themselves, and Tsukino seems to be trying to draw the incoming enemy away.
She glances back to those that she is working with. "I can take out most of the incoming patrol… Silently…" she offers, a tinge of green surrounding her palm as she focuses chakra to it. Anyone who has seen a medic work would know that it meant she could likely knock people out efficiently. Her other hand is resting in her pocket, invisible as it shuffles around like she's looking for something.
Toshio draws his sword and remains at ready, nodding to Atsuro and Taiki, ready and waiting to take down the patrol. "Give the word, Taiki-Grandsensei, Atsuro-Great-Grandsensei." He says softly, trusting the dogs they had with them to relay the message if they didnt hear him.
It appears to be inevitable that one of the patrols would find the group before they can fully get into the walls of the compound. A trio rounds the corner, two older guards in their twenties or thirties flanking a youth, a girl of maybe thirteen or fourteen. While they aren't the most observant in the world it is kind of hard to miss a small band of ninja gathered near the wall in an open clearing. However between the time it takes them to notice the shinobi and get over the shock there's a good few seconds of silence. A few seconds to provide some well earned death. As if that wasn't enough it's sister patrol was also on its way back, moving at a good clip as it's the faster of the patrols. They'll be on them in moments as well.
The group that's coming down the path isn't one of the normal patrols. In fact there's a handful of people in the group though most of them are younger. They appear to be somewhere in between the ages of the kidnapped children and the older guards. Tsukino's sudden loud appearance on the path behind them catches the group of five completely off guard and they all look between each other, dumbfounded for a second. "Hey, wait, come back!" One of them finally shouts and together he and two of the others take off after Tsukino. The remaining pair look to each other again and sigh, "Guess we better check to make sure no one else is trying to get away." That said, the two walk off the path into the woods the direction Tsukino had come from, leading them towards the rest of the support group. At least they haven't spotted the group yet.
"Coming from behind too." Hige says softly to those around him, looking to Michiko, then to the other location. She could easily get there before the other group came into view. Once Hige realizes they won't get through the wall in time the boy and pup move silently along the wall to the corner that patrol is going to come around. As soon as they do he rakes out with his kunai, then his claws to the closest man, trying to take him in the throat to keep him silent and dead.
Atsuro glances to Michiko, regarding her out of the corner of his eyes. "Do it," he whispers back, "We'll be ready to deal with anyone if they escape." And he is ready when the patrols round the corner. In the short time they have to take the men out, Atsuro leaps out to one side of the enemy group, then charges in to attack the man Hige didn't go for, striking at him with two quick and vicious slashes of his ninjato.
Nagai did notice Tsukino's hand movements before she went running off and crouches down, moving behind a tree as he spots the guards coming as well. Nami leaps up and lands gracefully on Nagai's shoulder, in case she's needed. Nagai makes a hand sign and begins charging his chakra, finally. Better late than never. He shivers as this is real combat, something he's never had before. But he grips the tree with his hands harder to steady the shakes.
Once Tsukino ordered them to get down, Izara quickly slides into a nearby bush as carefully as possible. She glances about the area, wondering if the others had heeded the Chuunin's directions. She could hear Tsukino's childish taunts coming from a distance. Hopefully whatever crazy plan the woman had work out. Hopefully the group was prepared to deal with whatever happened next.
Zori lets out a "heh" as it whispers from his mouth. Observing Tsukinos head movements towards a path, it looked as if something was wrong as the signs of concern showed up on Tsukinos face. Zori unfolds his arms from his chest as Tsukino signals for the Genin to get down and take cover. Zori simply rolls behind the rock he was sitting on previously. Placing his back on the rock as he sits down with any motion. Zori seems confident in his hiding spot.
While Atsuro didn't issue orders to Taiki, he doesn't really need them. Taiki throws a chakram with tags attached to it toward whoever is visible and not currently targeted, while Nozomi does the same at the same target. Shinobu, on the other hand, draws nearer to protect both.
Tsukino turned to see only a few of them following her and then she noted their ages. She narrowed herr eyes and ran faster, turning around a bend so that when the pre-teens rounded the corner after her she would be waiting with glowing palms. She jumped down from above, aiming to land her seals anywhere on their bodies, looking to paralyze them and block the third one's retreat bodily. A tag was suddenly in her hand and she leapt forward, looking to place the seal tag on the third attacker….If she was successful…. She knew this wasn't all of them and she had genin to protect…
The time to act had come. Zankuro manages to dig free a shuriken, and had intended on acting as ranged support for his more close-quarters minded comerades. The blade is raised in anticipation. His eyes zero in on weak points that could be exploited. Just as he seemed ready to make a move, he freezes. One slip, one error and… he just couldn't do it. His hands visible shook from trying to force them to move. 'Not now..'
Michiko nods to Atsuro, making the last of the handseals required. She makes Hige and Taizen wait for a second when they move out to take care of the second patrol. Earthen hands come out of the ground and snatch the different members of the patrol. It would grab most of them by the stomach so that the air would be knocked out of their lungs, barring them from screaming or calling out. Then the hands would drag them into some grave-like structures that would keep them in place, ripe for the taking.
Seeing the child present, he sheathes his sword slowly and softly to make it not make any noise. He then positions himself to sneak up on one of the kids and puts them in a sleeper hold, covering their mouth and throat to keep them from calling out. He waits until the kids struggles quiet down and slow down and is knocked out before letting him go, looking for someplace to set him. When the hand comes for the kid, he lets go to let the jutsu work. "I need to learn that." He mutters before beginning to gather who he can of the patrol out of the way.
Seeing the child present, he sheathes his sword slowly and softly to make it not make any noise. He then positions himself to sneak up on one of the kids and puts them in a sleeper hold, covering their mouth and throat to keep them from calling out. He waits until the kids struggles quiet down and slow down and is knocked out before letting him go, looking for someplace to set him. When the hand comes for the kid, Toshio lets go to let the jutsu work. "I need to learn that." He mutters before beginning to gather who he can of the patrol out of the way.
The first group of three that faces the attackers has no chance as they were caught completely off guard. Hige's claws rake one across the throat, keeping him from being able to scream out while Atsuro's blades cleanly behead the other adult guard. The chakram and water needles from Taiki ensure that Hige's silent guard isn't able to try and retaliate against the boy as they pierce him and send him collapsing to the ground. Toshio's quick movement put down the kid without any real harm, leaving the first patrol completely immobilized.
The three that follow Tsukino aren't quite so young, but not quite so old either. While they gave chase they didn't draw any weapons or any such thing, expecting the young kid to just be someone that's trying to escape and thus not a real threat. The folly was theirs as they round the bend just in time for Tsukino to slap them with the seals. All three are frozen inside the barrier and one of them lets out an angry curse. "Hey, let us out of here kid or you'll get it!" He yells at Tsukino, all three of them banging on the barriers from the inside to try and free themselves.
The two other intruders make their way through the trees towards the support group, telling jokes and laughing even. Obviously they don't expect anything to be out here and are just cracking jokes. Two teens, both around sixteen and both with swords at their waists. Neither of them have weapons drawn and, short of one of the support group jumping out at them, they aren't likely to notice anything on this pass through.
Hige moves as soon as the patrol is down, peeking around the corner of the wall quickly to make sure no one else was coming from that direction at least. Once that was cleared he would look back to Atsuro and Taiki and give a quick nod before moving over to where Michiko was preparing to hold the rest. Once that happened the boy made quick work of the guards, knocking the kid unconscious and effectively ending the second patrol with Michiko's aid. He returns to the rest and nods again to Atsuro. "Let's do this ojii. Gotta get through the wall."
"Good work, everyone." Atsuro looks over to Taiki, "It's safe to get through the wall now?" He walks up to the wall and looks at it from its base to its top. The ninja could easily climb it, but they'll be sending kids out this way too. Luckily, he thinks they have a way to deal with that problem. He turns to Michiko, "How quietly could you make a tunnel under this wall?" he asks, "Big enough to let us all through, and let the kids exit this way too?"
Nagai keeps his head down, using his other senses instead of his eyes. He's keeping tabs of all this going on, but isn't doing much. He's picking out that others are handling the guards and he figures these two will be handled that way as well, or go on by without them noticing. Either way, it's a good thing.
From her hiding place, Izara could see the two patrolling teens passing through their area. In her head, she weighed the pros and cons of disobeying Tsukino's orders by staging an ambush. Considering her current abilities, acting on impulse could sabotage the mission. Nevertheless, she strenthens her own focus as she remains where she is for the time being.
Zori remains hidden, observing as Tsukino uses a barrier jutsu to trap the kids. Zori smirks a bit as sighs of relief hits him. It was second later Zori heard some conversing up ahead in the forest area. He peeks around the rock and see's what looks like to be Two teens. They seem to be apart of the intruders, wearing the same clothes and whatnot. Zori grins. He whispers to Nagai and Izara "Hey stay here, Ill be right back." To keep the other Genins out of harms way, Zori jumps out of his hiding place into the open keeping distance away from the other Genin. The wires uncoil themselfs as they lash out from up under his sleeves at the Two Teen Intruders neck, once caught he would then have the wires twist and squeeze. Slicing there necks open, blood splurting out.
Taiki grins as first group is swiftly dispatched. He turns to consider the wall for a moment while he catelogs all the ways he could breech it and quickly comes to the conclusion that his way would be… loud. He starts to ready a plan just in case Atsuro decides for a strong in entry, but is attentive enough to answer Atsuro's question, "Yes, the seals on this section have been disabled. What next?" Of course, he's answered even as he asks the question by Atsuro's query to Michiko. In the meantime, his ninken draw close to him, ready for whatever comes up next.
Tsukino eyed the three inside her barriers… that wouldn't hold them for long… She wove a few signs with her hands and reached through the barriers with her hands, placing a much more….lasting.. seal on two of them. The third she turned to and sighed softly. "We're not here to hurt you. But i'm not going to let you fight us and get hurt either."
Zankuro nearly drops his shuriken as his body sagged in relief. After spending a moment or two catching his breath, the teenager pulls up mask far enough to wipe his forehead using the back of his arm before drawing it back down again. Then, he turned to regarding the others, wondering if anyone noticed — 'Nope.. not a one' He thought. Although relieved further he remained uncertian if that was an actual good thing or not…
Either way, he watches and waits, ultimately offering no suggestions of his own. His skill set was rather limited, after all.
Michiko waits for the kidnappers to be taken care of before releasing the jutsu, giving out enough chakra to solidify the bindings around any kids should it still be needed. Then she looks to Atsuro when he asks the question. "Hm? I can do that quietly… It'll be a bit messy, though, so I advise you all to stand back." Once everyone does (or does not, depending on their attitude), she makes a few handseals. The earth starts to crumble and turn mud-like before spewing out like a geyser away from the wall. It's nothing too noticeable, fortunately, unless one is looking directly at the ground. By the time it's done, there's is a tunnel that all the shinobi can get through. … Though it may be a tight squeeze for the larger folks.
This portion of the wall is completely under the shinobi's control at this point in time, so there is no one to stop Michiko from digging her tunnel. And while such a thing isn't liable to make a ton of noise thanks to her Earth Jutsu, it doesn't keep it from being seem. It just so happens that some of the guards on the inside must be fairly observant because an alarm goes up as soon as Michiko finishes and someone notices a hole where there shouldn't be one. But perhaps that's for the best since it starts to draw in the patrols and they do need to make sure no one escapes! The main entrance also opens as some guards start coming out to run around over to where the shinobi are gathered.
The two laughing teens pay no mind to the possibility that there /was/ anyone there besides Tsukino, perhaps for the benefit of all. And then someone decides to attack them. The two are caught off guard by the wires and bring their hands up. One of the Chuunin medics that had been hiding comes out and orders Zori to release them, while at the same time channeling medic chakra to knock the pair out, then begin healing them. "We aren't to kill them Zori-san, remember?" The medic chides the Genin angrily.
After the other two are more fully sealed away, the mouthy one bangs louder against the barrier and glares daggers at Tsukino. "Look, I don't know who you are, but if you let me go now then I'll make sure they don't beat you for trying to run away. If you don't then I can't protect you." He sounds fairly reasoned considering he appears to be one of the brainwashed kids.
For those that go through the hole, on the other side they meet their first resistance. They are still caught a little off guard and so no attacks are thrown at themyet. Now that they're on the inside the layout is seen. Against each of the four walls are buildings, three larger, one smaller. Everything in the middle is open grounds where the children stand, no longer practicing as they look to see what the alarm is for. Guards and even some of the kids are running towards the place the hole is, weapons coming to the ready.
When the alarm sounds Hige doesn't even hesitate. The small Inuzuka and his pup are through the hole in a flash and on the other side, the boy down on all fours and at the ready. The guards that are unfortunate enough to be close are slashed at with some lightning imbued claws trying to silence them before they even have a chance to defend themselves or attack in return.
The alarm doesn't seem to perturb Atsuro too much yet. He knew that any attempt at breaching the wall had some chance of being discovered. "Michiko, Zankuro, Toshio" he says, "You three stay outside the wall and sweep the perimeter. I need you to take down anyone outside and keep the tunnel clear. We'll be sending the kids out to you soon." He ducks down to enter the tunnel, "Good luck."
The moment he and Taizen emerge on the other side, they begin laying down the punishment on any guards foolish enough to come here. They leap from the mouth of the hole, then begin to spin in the air. They aim to smash into a group of guards at just the right angle to launch them skyward before coming back around for another pass, hopefully to drive them into the ground.
Nagai is scared out of his wits, he's not coming out from behind the tree, no way no how. He's staying put, not used to battle like this. Simple spars are one thing, but this is something else.
Izura should have know that Zori would jump out at the two and act so recklessly. Seeing as there is no other further danger at the moment, she comes out from her hiding spot. She glares at Zori with disappointment. "Baka," she bluntly scolds Zori before goes around to check on Nagai and the others. Afterwards she resumes her place under her shady tree, waiting for Tsukino to come back.
Zori grins as the wire wraps around the Intruders necks. But the Medic Nin came out of hiding and told him to let go. "Fine.." Zori lets go of the Intruders necks as the wires retract back up under the sleeves of his hoodie, safely wrapping around his wrist. Zori shouts over to the Two Teenage Intruders "Your lucky, were trying to keep down the casualities. Or else you would be done." Zori crosses his arms staring at the Chunnin Medic Ninja thats on his support team.
Taiki nods to Atsuro and turns right and picks his targets even as he moved through the hole. First, he and his team of ninken would attack the older bandits, the ones that are obviously /not/ brainwashed children. They would go down as quickly as Taiki could manage it. He takes the first older man with a lightning tsuga, leaving Nozomi to mirror the action with a water tsuga on another grown man (or woman).
Tsukino turned to the third one in his barrier and gave him a gentle expression. "I'm not here to hurt you. We're taking you somewhere safe. You don't have to do this anymore." She reached out, through her own barrier to stroke his cheek softly before pressing the same northern seal to the boy's chest. "I'm sorry you've been hurt…" She sighed softly and started dragging the unconscious boys into the woods, binding them with seals and rope to a tree to keep them where she needed them.
Thing was she was 5'3 and barely pushing 120 pounds. Her upper body strength wasn't exactly her best attribute so it took a bit of dragging and readjusting to get the three 'guards' bound.
That was when she heard commotion ahead and one of the other chuunin on the mission scolding Zori. Oh no.. what had he done?" She turned and made her way back to the group as fast as she could. When she saw the cuts and blood from the wires she looked like she had been attacked herself. "What happened??" When the medic informed her of Zori's actions she closed her eyyes and took a breath before looking at Zori and firmly stating, "Do /NOT/ kill anyone unless you are explicitely ordered to do so. We are support not attack. We're here to save these kids." Was the princess… showing anger? Creepy….
"So much for stealth.." Zankuro said dryly moments after the alarms go off. A hesitant nod is thrown Atsuro's way following the new orders. Then, he turns to regard Michiko uneasily. "So, uhm… how do ya wanna handle this, uh, Michi-chan?" Zankuro says, having spoken with his attention focused elsewhere. While awaiting for an answer, the Sarutobi rapidly began building up his chakra, then converting it. Seeing as how the element of surprise was gone, he mine as well prepare himself to take down a large group while he's at it.
Toshio comes through the hole and soon, multiples of Toshio runs out towards some of the guards, not caring if they stab into him. It is then they glow and explode in fiery explosions.
Michiko gives a small nod and turns in her spot, seals forming. Then she pricks her thumb on a bit of sharp metal that appears from her sleeve, blood spilling out. And with the blood comes a small *POOF*, a fox appearing in a small cloud of smoke. "Kimura-san, go around the perimeter with Zankuro-San," she instructs, the fox nodding and going to move to Zankuro's side. "I'll keep watch here."
Kyu's eyes turn the bright red that signifies the Sharingan is activated, tomoe and all as he rushes towards the opened hole, any guards that try and stop him he would simply bind them in place, slipping past and letting someone else deal with them, he just wants to make sure he's fully inside before dishing out some illusions and making people sleepy!
Let the death begin! Hige and Konsho make quick work of the guards nearest them as their lightning claws shear through skin and bone like it was nothing, leaving two collapsed and completely dead guards at their feet. Atsuro's attacks make Hige's look like a puppy playing banging his head against a cement wall. A small grouping of guards let out cries of pain and other various, generally unintelligible sounds as they're tossed painfully into the air, then slammed very deadily back into the ground with all sorts of shredding wounds across their torso. It looks like some kind of wild animal attacked them! The passing fang and aqua tsuga find marks as well, each taking down an older guard. The passing fang leaves some nice charred holes through the woman while the aqua tsuga cuts cleanly through the man and leaves him dead and…wet? To top it all off a pair of Toshio's sneak through the hole and go to hug some guards before exploding. Love hurts!
The medic heals the two teens and leaves them unconscious, leaving Tsukino to deal with Zori as the sounds of the alarm and fighting reach the support team. Nagai is left for now as they don't exactly have time to pull him out of his shell. The three teens that Tsukino had dealt with are firmly tied in place and left by the princess to be picked up later. Hopefully. Izara is grabbed by the medic and brought to the tree line when the action starts, instructed to help flag down any children that are trying to escape.
After the initial shock of the intruders is over the remaining people inside the compound seem to gather their wits and charge the intruders with weapons of various sorts. None of them seem to know any type of ninjutsu and none of them seem to be all that spectacular at taijutsu, but that doesn't make the weapons any less deadly. Of those that are coming out of the front entrance a handful come around towards Michiko and Zankuro as well, weapons at the ready as they charge in to attack.
With all the guards distracted some of the less brainwashed kids make a break for it out the front entrance. While it's not the direction that leads to the support group, when they leave the compound the support group would be able to see them and, hopefully, somehow get their attention to start rounding them up and helping. Of the ones that are escaping a number have minor wounds from their 'training' and a small few have larger wounds. One of the kids is even being helped by two others because of a leg wound that bleeds furiously.
After his lightning has killed the two guards Hige and Konsho both turn to face the rest. As they see the guards coming towards them the two are on the move. They push away from the first attacker, neatly dodging the sword that's aimed towards them. When an axe comes at Hige he simply ducks just below the swing, then growls. The duo then launch themselves at the guards, attempting to smash into them both with as much force as they can muster. Spinning death dogs of deadly death! As they barrel into the two their claws and fangs would be bloodied upon successfully landing, shredding them up. After they land the duo looks around to try and take in the situation as well as check on the others. So far it seems like everyone is holding their own, and some of the kids are even starting to flee of their own accord. Wouldn't hurt to help that out…he looks towards the closest kids and gives them a view of his bloody fangs before shouting, "RUN!"
Izara breathes a sign of relief once Tsukino comes back. She follows the others toward the treeline, looking for any child, friend or foe, come out of the compound. From a distance she spots a younger child who seems to have some injuries. Without further instruction, she runs over to him, shouting "This way," And offering to lead them by the hand back to the Chuunin medics.
As they land in a crouch, Atsuro and Taizen both notice men approaching them with weapons raised above their heads. Atsuro rolls backwards into a somersault while Taizen hops off to one side. Both evade the attacks and the guards are forced into overextending, allowing Atsuro to quickly strike at one, then the other with his ninjato, then continue the salvo of attacks and draw a third man into the fight, swinging at him too. Meanwhile, Taizen runs over to a nearby group of children. "You can escape out the tunnel at the back," says the dog, turning to point with his snout in the direction of the tunnel.
Zori turns his attention at Tsukino and responds "My apologizes, for a split second i had forgot. Hehe" Zori grins evily. Zori is a bit dissapointed that he couldnt finish what he intended. Zori turns his head giving a slight nod to the Medic. Zori would then turn back over to Tsukino giving a slight glare. Zori walks over to the unconcious Teenager Intruders and wraps up there wounds even further with bandages. Once he finishes he looks back at Tsukino "See? Good deed."
Taiki finishes his initial attack to end up in a position with Nozomi and Shinobu by him. He looks down at the fleeing kids and considers telling them to head toward the tunnel, but decides that the support team could easily find them the way they were going, and directing the kids toward another direction might make it harder on them. Taiki blithely puts up a water wall to block the incomming techniques, then smirks as this time he and Shinobu take point. Taiki makes a couple of handsigns and aims for another older person as he intones, "Raiton: Lightning arrows," producing a virtual storm of arrow-sized shafts of lightning to speed toward his targets. In the meantime, Shinobu uses his own lightning claws to eviscerate another older guard while Nozomi looks at the younger ones and says in human speech, "You don't have to work for these people anymore, you're free." All the while she prepares to act should the brainwashing be too complete for words.
Tsukino raised an eyebrow at that glare of Zori's. But that was a discussion for another time. She looked out and saw the first of the kids exiting the front gate. That was the wrong way. Damn. She pointed at them. "Split up, we need to ensure their safety, take them even if they fight you." She looked at Zori. "No. Killing." Izara's rush out toward the child had Tsukino on her heels just in case there was resistance leveled against them. She called out to the fleeing children "This way!" At the first sign of pursuit, Tsukino threw a thick wall of chakra between that child and their pursuers, hoping the genin will take them further to safety….
Zankuro hesitated for a moment, but ultimately followed Michiko's suggestion. With luck, he'd run into a sizeable patrol, unleash his spicey meatball attack, and overall attract attention away from where the children were to escape. To that end, he concentrated his efforts on circling around towards the front with the intention of grabbing the most attention. Or would it be better to go a different direction?
"Say, uh.. Mr. Fox? Where do you think we… oh boy." Oh boy is right! The guards were coming out of the wood works like no tomorrow. An odd combination of panic and clarity drives the youth to give up on his earlier plans. The first guard to try and trike him would find a kunai buried in his throat. Even if his counter missed, the movement bought him time enough to do a bit of fancy foot work to avoid a strike from another. Afterwards, he formed the hebi seal, and unleash a wave of terror enducing chakra into all that surrounded him.
Michiko eyes the guards that are attacking her, shaking her head a bit as they come. "Well… I'm sorry, but you two have to die," she says, their weapons moving through pure fire that she managed to replace herself with. "Kimura-san!" she calls out. "Make sure you direct any children to the relief." The fox's nose would have to figure out just what's being talked about. "And since the ones here don't need to live…" she comments lightly, seals forming slowly and surely. With an inhale, Michiko's hands complete the seal sequence and land on the 'tiger' seal. The exhale would bring about a large bullet made of oil that is lit with a small flame, quickly turning into a large burning hot mass that is sure to result in a bit of pain. Beneath the guards' feet, the earth would shift just enough that they would all be stuck in place.
"This way." Toshio says to the children as he remains outside. With each child that comes out, Toshio sends more clones in behind them. When the clones go in and through, they run to more guards to tackle them. Cue the fiery explosions on contact. "This way." Toshio calls for more children.
Kimura is about to respond when the baddies suddenly appear. Oh dang… The fox watches as many of them submit to Zankuro's Genjutsu. She quickly reacts, though, three bullets of wind firing from her mouth as she tries to take down the ones that are still standing. Whether or not she is successful, she quickly rounds on the Konoha Chuunin. "I'm a girl!" she growls unhappily.
Kyu avoids any attacks aimed for him with a simple look, ram seal, and a step out of the way, followed by doing rapid hand seals. To them they see Kyu stand still, and suddenly poof into smoke, simultaneously appearing about a step to the side and holding up the ram seal still, shortly after they would feel their vision fade to black and then their bodies become unresponsive, before being pulled from their bodies and looking down at them helplessly. Kyu would begin looking for the brainwash children, seeing as they'd be rather easy to put to sleep and his methods of doing so, even at their strongest, cannot kill anyone.
The inside of the compound has become a madhouse. Many of the children have dropped whatever weapons were in hand and have started fleeing towards one of the two entrances told of. Of course the group that is spoken to by Taizen just kind of stare in shock for a second - a talking dog, what the heck? - but then they make for the hole through which they escape. Not all of the kids have started fleeing though as some bring weapons up. They're scared, eyes wide, and it almost looks like they're willing to attack anything that comes close. Meanwhile the ones nearest Nozomi seem to take her big furry presence as means to keep them safe and instead of fleeing they practically latch onto her for safety.
Hige and Konsho's gatsuga tears through one man but the man slows them enough that the second man manages to just barely roll away. Instead of turning his attention back to the shinobi boy and pup he decides to follow after the kids and try to capture at least one. For leverage, if nothing else. The only problem is that, as he leaves the compound, he runs head first into an Uzumaki shield and falls back on his rump. With a shake of the head the man gets to his feet and looks around - spotting Izara. While the kids who Izara called out to didn't seem to want to hurt their rescuers this man certainly seemed to want to do so! With a loud shout of anger he goes at the Student, sword raised and ready to come down on the girl.
Atsuro and Taizen make quick work of more of the guards, the swords slicing through the men cleanly and then leaving them flopping bloodily on the ground not-so-cleanly. At least they're dead, right? Taiki meets with similar success, his raiton attack taking some of the guards neatly and ensuring that they remain more on the 'dead' side of things. With the guards disposed of the two Inuzuka elders find a new problem facing them. One, a man with a pair of katana's, is facing Atsuro with a frown. "You will all die for disrupting our plans." He says simply, then moves in a flash towards Atsuro, blades slicing quickly down - towards Taizen. Equally deadly is a ninjutsu user that faces Taiki and his brood, hand seals completing and sending out three large, deadly blades of air. One for each ninken and Taiki.
Zankuro and Kimura certainly have some fun times ahead of them with those encroaching guards, right? Luckily the chuunin's kunai-in-throat counter attack works, as does his genjutsu. All of the guards near him, men and women alike, drop to the ground and struggle against some unseen force. One of them gets up the energy to shout threats at Zan that include something about the male anatomy being sliced off. But there's not much more to do about that. And then it happens. From out of the woods comes two attacks: a large fireball and a spear made of lightning, heading right for Zankuro. After the attacks Zankuro and Kimura would see two girls at the edge of the forest, familiar twins that Zan has fought before.
Screams come from the guards that Michiko forces to stay in place, then burns thanks to the flame until they are nothing more than piles of muddy ashes. No more guards come after Michiko, but something else has appeared before her. Two somethings, actually. One is just finishing hand seals and throws out a fireball towards the Tokubetsu while the other follows the fireball in on nimble feet, a sword appearing to slash at Michiko quickly and skillfully.
Kyu manages to knock the mentality of two of the guards away long enough that they get knocked over and trampled by fleeing kids. Poor guys. But then he has to deal with someone else - an older teen with a dagger in each hand. He charges Kyu quickly and slices towards the genjutsu user with an easy graceful skill. Toshio's fire clones manage to find targets, exploding on them again. When the smoke clears there's another fire clone running at /him/, this one from an older man.
All the guards are dead or dying, most of the children continue to flee and, after the redirection, are going towards Tsukino and the rest of the support. Ther
e are many injuries to be taken care and the flood of children seems ceaseless for the moment. Some of the children are just frightened and don't appear to trust the shinobi, but don't want to go back inside either. They're in a type of neutral mental state.
Zori nods at Tsukino's order and takes action. Zori walks over to the little child that was giving Tsukino trouble earlier. He looks down to the child and says "Listen here, Your gonna walk with me to safety got that?" Zori pauses and continues "If not im gonna wrap you up and drag you myself." Zori gives the child a mean evil look as he stares into the young childs eyes. Zori grabs the childs shoulder and wait for the childs response. Zori looks over and their are more kids coming towards him and the support team. "Great.. just what i needed.. more"
Izara recalls the fact that children she was rescuing were in various states of brainwashing. She tries her best to be kind and gentle as she directs the children to safety, not neglecting the fact she may have to use physical force. All the while she keeps part of her attention on the compound, which is when she notices the man rapidly apporaching her. The predicament she finds herself in overwhelms her, but fortunately at the last moment Tsukino intervines.
With that man fleeing Hige and Konsho are left in a surprising lull. Guards are dead, children are fleeing, there's no one near him that's trying to make him dead. That's good. Hige turns to see how everyone is doing, then pauses when he sees Kyu being attacked. In a flash the Inuzuka duo charge the man, trying to slash at him with death claws.
Nozomi just sighs inwardly for a moment and then starts sheparding the children she's with toward the tunnel. Her head whips around as she hears the wind attacks come and puts up a seal encampment wall jutsu that manages to absorb her attack. Taiki himself moves into the raiden's circle, but the wind attack manages to hit him. Shinobu is a tad faster and manages to avoid being hit, and together they start encircling their opponent, becoming little more than brief flashes of lightning as they strike at the wind user, hoping to blast him up into the air before slamming him down to the ground, all while managing the speeds that make them nothing more than extremely bright flashes of light appearing at odd intervals.
Tsukino saw the rush of children and the man comming after them. When he turned on Izara Tsukino was suddenly there, betweent eh girl and her attacker, arms opened wide as though to hug him.. But no, her hands had spread a barrier shield before her and her blue eyes flashed as she stepped forward, pushing her hands through her own barrier looking to land a seal on the man's shoulder, hopefully holding him in place then she lifted both her hands and the palms seemed to explode with energy, blasting him with pure chakra at close range. It shouldn't kill him.. but he won't be moving any time soon… She turned to Izara and helped the girl up if she needed it. "Go. Get more kids."
Zankuro felt the unmistakeable need to cover his nether regions after the threat. The feeling alone isn't enough to make him do it. On the other hand, having a now hostile and apperantly skilled fox on the other hand yell at him did shook him enough to regard her wearily from the corner of his eyes… then immediatly scoot a few steps away. Yep, he was not going down that route again.
He presses his hands together and hold them slightly above his head. Just as he began uttering the word "Gomen", the Sarutobi tenses. His dangers senses were tingling! That and the crackling sound plus the big light show lighting up the area sort of gave things away.
On impulse more than anything else, he throwing himself free of them. Evil trees and rocks make a point of making sure he crashed or tripped over them in some way, because Zankuro winds up burnt both inside and out. His cries of pain turn into hacking coughs after the lightning finally dies down. Against what may have been his better judgement, the Sarutobi rises again and searches for his attackers, only to come face to face with — "You two? Again!?" He pauses, then furrows his brow. "Was… *sighs*… Was my money really not good enough for ya?" Zankuro chuckles weakly. Even as he spoke, he tries to focus past the pain on a mantra; the source of his spirit and strength.
Michiko blinks a bit when she finds herself face to face with a pair of twins. A barrier of earth starts to form around her, blocking the first attack efficiently. However, the sword is able to make it through, resulting in a nice slash in her arm that hurts… A lot. "Hmm… " she murmurs to herself, seals quickly forming so that two hands made of earth shoot out to grab the duo. Hopefully that works so she can spike them through.
Toshio acks as he is driven back before he could form a clone. He assesses the damage to himself before realizing that if he keeps on going he will get seriously hurt. He then just turns back to the one who hit him, forming a series of hand seals and sends two clones to try and tackle the man.
Kyu jumps back with a ram seal, letting the dagger user see him still standing there, he watches Hige's claws slice him while Kyu had done the seals for Binding Illusion, the teen seeing chains dart up from the ground and stop him from doing the seal for Genjutsu releasing, then more hand seals to use Out of Body Experience, to leave him open to follow-up mental drainage, not having control over his body. "Just let it happen, sleep is nice, better than his claws." Kyu says, gesturing towards Hige.
Kimura's fur starts to spark up as she watches people suddenly appear. Her eyes narrow a bit, but she knows that she probably can't face the two. So she instead just goes for an all-out attack. A small thundercloud appears and starts zapping people just everywhere, small lightning bolts aiming at both twins and genjutsu-ed kidnappers. Should it hit, it would not only hurt, but also drain a bit of their energy.
Taizen takes both hits from the enemy leader's swords. While the comment would normally get a mouthy rejoinder from Atsuro, harming Taizen is one of the few things that make him too angry for that. "Go to laundromat." That doesn't affect the precision of his fighting though. In a swift motion, he puts the ninjato back in Taizen's vest while the dog reaches back as well, handing (or jawing) Atsuro a nodachi when his hands are free. Atsuro narrows his eyes, then charges at the enemy swordsman, making a multitude of swift slices — most are feints, but he's hoping to hit the man with at least one razor sharp slash.
The lightning claws of the youngest Inuzuka dig into the man that's attacking Kyu, causing the man to cry out in pain and anger and turn towards the Inuzuka. But then suddenly there's chains wrapping up and around him from the ground like some kind of weird magic! And then his mind starts to drift away from his body before he collapses, asleep.
The guard who had been coming towards Izara was cleanly intercepted. Aww look she wants a hug! The man bumps into his second barrier in the last ten seconds and let's out a curse, ready to cut Tsukino up before her pair of seals freeze him in place, then put him down. The man is no longer a threat. More children do filter out though it seems it's starting to taper off. The medics are very busy mending the more major wounds while the others are being instructed to bind up whatever injuries they can after brining the children back.
Apparently one of the children takes offense to Zori's tone because out of the masses that come towards the support group one pulls a dagger on Zori and goes stab crazy. Granted the kid is only about eight and far from skilled but that doesn't mean that a stabby pointy weapon isn't going to draw blood if he accidently gets a hit!
The wind user that attacked Taiki and his brood just smirks after he hits. When the duo comes at him with lightning speed he uses the wind to surround himself with enough force pushing in the opposite direction to keep the attacks from getting through. After a moment he pushes out that wall, sending it towards Taiki to try and hold him in place before shooting out another sharpened bit of air towards the Inuzuka.
"You should have killed us when you had the chance." One of the twins yells at Zankuro and the look on her sisters face seems to echo that sentiment. They hadn't been this way last time, but then that's what brainwashing does to you. Even as Zankuro just kind of lies there the two prepare more hand seals once more, sending the same two attacks once again towards the chuunin. When Kimura's storm appears they simply hop back under the cover of the trees, avoiding the danger.
Michiko has better luck it seems as her demonic hands pop up from the ground and grab both the jutsuist and the swordsman. Once they're so securely held they have no chance for defense as the spikes spear them through. Nothing if not efficient, Michiko is, as she kills her two targets with a frightening ease.
The fire clone battle appears to be continuing, first with Toshio killing two people with his clones, then getting hit by a clone, then sending clones back. It's a regular freaking clone fest! At least the clones hit again and this time it's enough to send the man to his death, nothing but charred remains at Toshio's feet.
The man seems entirely uninterested in going to laundromat, despite the offer from Atsuro. "No, I think I'll send you there. And your little dog too." When Atsuro comes at him the man moves swiftly, meeting Atsuro's blade blow for blow in a dazzling display put on by the two. He's patient and waits for an opening in Atsuro's attacks before he brings his second katana around in a heavy block, then his first comes forward quickly to try and slice the Inuzuka. A returned flurry of deadly attacks.
The compound itself is now empty of any children. They'd all left and made their way to the support group. The compound is now just a killing grounds, and is open for much, much more killing.
As the man between he and Kyu gets that scared look in his eyes, Hige knows the genjutsu is working. When the man collapses Hige finally stands back up on two legs. A quick flick of the claw ends the unconscious mans life before Hige looks to Kyu. "Good job Kyu." He says, then looks around to see what else is going on. So much death, so much blood, and Hige is covered in it. Not his own, but he managed to wreak havoc on a number of these soaps. But still it's not over. Feral eyes look over to Taiki and Atsuro fighting their battles before he looks to the other two with him. "Go back to the support group, see if they need any help. We can't do anything here. I'm going to check on Michiko and Zankuro." Without waiting to see if they listen he turns and runs towards the hole, popping up next to Michiko again. "Alright?" The question is simply and followed by a yip from Konsho as he appears behind Hige.
Izara's earlier assesment about Tsukino was certainly true, as the woman had proably just saved her from getting sliced and diced to pieces. "You have my thanks," she quickly bows to the Chuunin before she heads off to assist the others with roundup duty. As she combs the area for any stragglers, she tries her best to push her own recent trauma out of her mind, not letting the recent attack affect her nerves. She had to remain strong for the sake of the others.
Having deposited the kids with the support group, Nozomi turns and sprints back toward her partners. Taiki and Shinobu use the wind's gust to turn dodge the first attack, though the wind user's second attack hits Shinobu rather soundly. This enrages the trio, who, acting as one, land with Taiki and Shinobu side-by-side with Nozomi landing on top. Taiki goes through a series of hand seals and calls out, "Transform: Elemenatal Wolf Horror." A large cloud of smoke erupts, obscuring them from view, but not for long. In the next instant, some single, huge, bipedal thing launches out from the cloud in a white blur, trailing a small trail of lightning behind as a huge claw with extremely long spikes for nails takes a swipe at the wind user. Should this hit, it would set Taiki up perfectly for his next attack, given that the man would still be fighting off the effects of a high-voltage current pouring through his body from the claws (Round stun).
With the boss of the group showing itself, Toshio forms a series of clones to throw at the wind user, hoping to blast him down somewhat for the others. He begins to pant a bit as he watches and waits, concerned about the others.
Tsukino simply nodded to Izara's thanks. There would be time for that later if the girl wished, but foor now.. Tsukino looked around, trying to see if anyone else could use a shield.. It was one of the few things she was good at. She took off running as she followed the last kid, herding them toward the medics…
Although he smiled sheepishly on the inside (not that anyone could see it thanks to the mask), Zankuro turned more serious on the inside. It should've been expected in a way. Anyone depraved enough to brainwash children into becoming their soldier wouldn't stop there. Zankuro winced at the thought, reminding himself once more of his earlier delimma. Debila. Debamma?
Moving on…
When fire and lightning once more begins to reign down on Zankuro, he's more mindful of the ground and tries to use the surrounding cover. Regardless of his success or failings, something is gonna get burned, almost ensuring that the forest will be set ablaze soon if noone stoped it. Zankuro was in no position to try. In fact, he could hardly stand after being set on fire and electrocuted for the second time around. By the time the electricity stopped coursing through his system, Zankuro's gelled locks are standing on end, and flak jacket (as well as the shirt beneath) are little more than rags hanging loosely from his frame.
Groaning and twitching, the Sarutobi arises from the ground again following a tuck and roll maneuver to put out the flames, slowly regaining his focus. He can't shut out the pain easily. Sheer stubborness and willpower were the only thing keeping him up. No, there was more to it. A mistake had to be rectified, but…
"Maybe… you girls.. are probably right…" He grins weakly. "But… that ain't my nindo… The world would be… so much darker.. without… *coughs*…. without yer beauty.. lighting up the place… kindling that good.. *groans*… that good soul fire, eh.. heheh.." With that last chuckle, the Sarutobi resolved himself to either go down following his nindo, or — No, he would succeed in getting those girl on the proper path. But first, he had to lock them down long enough for his secret anti-brainwashing technique to work. Signs are made, wires spring up out the ground around the lightning twin, but ultimately it is the command to kneel that proves the real threat to the girls.
He only hoped the little fox didn't think to take advantage of their situation should he succeed…
"I'm fine," Michiko says. "But get them out of the compound or surrounded by some water… /Fast/." She starts to create handseals, a different set on each hand. The first hand finishes, and walls of earth begin to spring up all around the compound, acting as a barrier for whatever it is she's planning. The walls aren't too tall, though, just expansive. They barely go up by two stories. When the second set of half-seals finishes, the girl breathes four small balls of fire that make their way towards different sections of the compound. As soon as they make contact, though, they explode in a burst of fire. Said fire creates a giant blaze that could be considered a fire storm, and it would easily run rampant were it not for the earthen walls she had created.
Kyu winces at the teen getting put down, "We could've knocked him out you know. Taken him alive, but nevermind, I'll go." With that Kyu rushes off to join the support group, briefly taking in the scene and then assisting by starting to put the more scared or panicked children to sleep, the Monkey and Ram seals being done, accompanied by a soft and gentle, "Shhh. It's okay, sleep." Kyu continues this for as long as he will need to, trying to do this quickly.
Kimura continues to eye the twins that Zankuro faces, shaking her head a bit. "I guess I should go…" she mutters, not able to keep up. A bit of lightning adds to her speed as she darts away from the battle to go over to Michiko and receive more orders from the Tokubetsu. Hopefully Zankuro can hold up until they get back, if he's not successful so far.
"You barely blocked the low-effort version of that move." Atsuro glares at the enemy leader, "Don't get cocky, you jackass." He easily dodges the swipe of the sword, perhaps even in a more deliberate manner than necessary as if to simply prove this point. In a calmer moment, he glances around as he catches the sweet scent of burning wood. He glances to exhange looks with Taizen, then looks back at the wind user. "I told you to go to laundromat and I meant it. Go. To. LAUNDROMAT!" He and the dog leap forward at the man, spinning end over end and attempting to give him a parting shot before they use the momentum of their move to soar up and over the wall of the compound — making sure to go above the spot with the disabled seal, just in case.
It's hard to say what part of the transformation it was that affected the man so. Perhaps the fact that three were now one? Perhaps the fact that the werewolf has really bad hair? Or maybe it's just that one fang is a little crooked. Regardless, it works, and the man is unable to move in time before the claws rip through him, forcing lightning to course through his system. He lets out a gasp of shock, a look of horror on his face as his body freezes from the electric current.
The twins are caught off guard and stunned, both by Zankuro's strange words but also by the chains and then genjutsu that follows. The drop to their knees, then to the ground as they're forced down by the genjutsu.
All of the children have escaped and are rounded into the same general area. Medics work to heal the worser of the wounds while others just help to bandage wounds. There's a lot of crying and a lot of soothing going on as the Village folk try to comfort the kids for now. Kyu's arrival is a welcome blessing as some of the youngest kids are scared and balling their eyes out. The medics are too busy healing to deal with the annoyance, and so Kyu is put to work helping the worst off to sleep.
The earthen barriers contain the flames that Michiko releases, even as those flames consume the compound. Everything is made of wood from the walls to the buildings themselves and it's easy food for the licking flames. Of course there is that small problem of the exploding tags on the walls still and as the flames hit them they do still explode, likely blowing out large chunks of the earthen wall as well. Luckily no one is really close enough to be hit by falling debris except the shinobi.
The swordsman facing Atsuro doesn't seem to be afraid and he leaps back away from the Inuzuka at first, sword coming up. "Come, meet your death." And they come alright, but they don't meet their death. Sheesh, not very nice! The speed of the pair catches him by surprise and they rail into him, hard. His sword flies from his hand and sinks into the ground meters away while the man himself is shredded. Not only that but he's knocked back by the force of the attack right into one of the fiercely burning flames. Loud screams of pain echo, then are choked off as the flames consume his flesh.
Hige quirks a brow at Michiko's words, then nods. This is going to be rather deadly, he can tell. In a flash he's off, going to check on Zan - and good thing too, since the chuunin isn't looking so great. But hey, neither are his opponents! The small Inuzuka ducks under one of Zan's arms and tries to help him stand. "We need to move Zan. Let's go. This place is about to be a huge firey explosion." He tries to help the teen over towards the two genjutsu'd twins, then drops him to tie the twins up quickly since Zan doesn't seem to want them dead or anything. Konsho has gone to check on the others in the support group, yipping to Tsukino first, then Izara as he checks on them with a critical puppy eye.
Seeing as not any more children were pouring out of the compound, Izara went around to the other Chuunin and Genin in the support group, offering assistance whereever needed. Judging by the fact that the compound was now basically a giant makeshift bonfire, the other side was wrapping things up as welly. All that was left was to trust that the others would make it back in one piece.
As the attack landed, the… abomination skids to a halt even as it turns to face the wind user. The rain of fireballs postpones his next move, however, as those canteens spew forth an incredible amount of water to form a water wall that barely covers him, but hopefully fends off Michiko's fire. As the water varporizes away, the gargantuan werewolf with three heads glares at the wind user, the side head growling while the center head says one word, "Die." Then the entire area around the wind user erupts in a quickly expanding dome of lightning-charged whirlwinds that causes the very ground to shake as it, the wind user, and every structure and hostile entity within a large radius is bombarded by multiple strikes of piercing lightning and drill-like gatsuga strikes. As the attack dies down, a giant crater is left where the wind user stood, filled with fire from both Michiko's fireballs and Taiki's attack. The abomination stands on one of the walls, toward the location of the tunnel, only pausing long enough to check to see if his attack finished off his prey.
A grim grin spreads across the dark-haired teenager's face at the sight of the immobolized twins, though it doesn't last. Both heart and mind were conflicted. Albeit the former was less so thanks to the lengths the Sarutobi went to just to ensure his success. While there still remained enough chakra to maintain his half-awake state, he would take full advantage of it. However, that first step is almost Zankuro's last, seeing as how his strength suddenly gave out on him. Luckily, Hige's arrival is a timely one.
"Oh hi Hige-san~ Heheh… just give me a sec." Zankuro would try pushing off of Hige at that point to stand on his own. If allowed to, he manages to stay standing long enough to get the twins tied up. But as soon as that's done, the Sarutobi would try to shoo Hige on back to the support group with the excuse of making doubly sure they were alright. When that more than likely fails, he makes it a firm order. But if even that is not enough, well… Zankuro makes a point of exercising those instant muscle techniques to increase his strenght, toss both girls onto his shoulders, then escort them in the general direction of the camp. As soon as they were safe he'd see to it that the medics helped snap them out of the brainwashing. After that, there would be the matter of… explaining their presence/sneaking them away. A darn near impossible task with so many inuzuka around, to say the least.
Toshio pants heavily as he looks to the various peoples. Their strength, training and resolve seems to cause the teen to become a bit more somber, a neutral expression in his face as he looks about, trying to find something he could do so he wouldnt have to look at all them anymore. "Are we finished here?" he calls out to the higher ups.
Michiko makes a few more barriers to keep the fire from spreading, then just relaxes, thinking there's not much she can do for now. A glance to her fox companion and she smiles a bit. "Well… Not much we can do now. Good work, Kimura-san," she says, the fox nodding lightly. She turns and heads towards where Tsukino and the others are, planning to assist in healing the children that they had reclaimed. To whoever is in charge (that she can find first), she says, "I'm here to help with healing people. And Kimura-san can offer a bit of… Hmm… Fox therapy, I suppose…" The fox blinks and almost glares at Michiko, but she just grumbles instead before nodding in agreement.
Kyu continues to put more of the injured or crying or panicked children to sleep, accompanying the genjutsu with more attempts to calm the children down with shushing and "it's okay"s, its only after a bit of doing this that he realizes that his Sharingan could be unnerving to the children, seeing as his eyes would be bright red, he deactivates it and continues what he was doing until he can't see any more that require sleep.
Toshio pants heavily as he looks to the various peoples. Their strength, training and resolve seems to cause the teen to become a bit more somber, a neutral expression in his face as he looks about, trying to find something he could do so he wouldnt have to look at all them anymore. "Are we finished here?" he calls out to the higher ups.
"Can we go home now?" He asks a bit impatiently. "I need to head back home and continue my work in the forge."
The two spinning discs land in the clearing outside the walls, leaving Atsuro and Taizen both in a crouching posture. Atsuro straightens up and regards the burning compound for a moment before he turns around and starts walking back to the support team. "Good work, everybody," he says, "Looks like we did it. If you're not taking care of the kids, then be on standby to deal with the fire. We don't want it to spread to us."
Just a whole lot of death fills the area now. Taiki's attack left nothing of the man but blood splatters in that giant crater he created. The man was cleanly eviscerated and even now the blood is boiling and evaporating from the heat of Michiko's flames. More explosions sound as the rest of the tags go off. Nothing else is left alive but the children. The medics accept Michiko's assistance and Kimura is quickly claimed by a trio of girl who stop crying once they can pet the cute little fox!
Hige just eyes Zankuro when the chuunin tries to play tough but he's not leaving that easily. Zan may look like he's okay but Hige's nose tells him otherwise, as does his brain. I mean, Zankuro looks like fried chicken, c'mon. Hige doesn't argue or try and force Zan to take his support, or even let him carry one of the girls, but he doesn't leave even when ordered. Instead he just says, "I don't follow stupid selfish orders." After they're back with the support group Hige pats Zan on the back, then tells a medic that Zan /really/ needs to get checked out. Luckily they're all over that. Toshio gets a curious look from the boy and a faint frown, but he doesn't say anything for now.
Izara breathed a sigh of relief as, one by one, those on the attack team returned. Spotting Kyu out of the crowd, she approaches him and gives him a friendly pat on the back. "Good thing we don't have to send you back to the recovery wing so quickly." With that said, she resumes assisting caring for the children. All in all, her first time on the field was a success in her mind. After all, she still had all her limbs and was alive.
Once the lack of a body is shown, and the smells indicate the man is nothing more than blood and gore, a giant cloud envelops the three-headed werewolf, leaving Taiki and company in its stead. They look mildly injured, and really tired, but otherwise in decent shape. They slide down the outside of the walls and start to direct the NPC medics in their duties, even as one of them comes up and starts to give Taiki some stamina while another applies light healing. "Make sure the children are okay, and the most severely wounded are treated," he tells one of the senior NPC medic nin present. Otherwise, he watches the wall, just in case something aflame blows over the top of it.
Kimura acts like a pleased fox with all the attention, snuggling and yipping and just amusing the kids who are still awake and look like they need entertainment and loving. Michiko moves around the area, assisting those that need healing. Until her comrades get back, it's the children who get healed. Then she works on the ones who were a part of her team. Zankuro first, since he seemed to need it. Then Toshio and others.
Toshio accepts the healing before nodding when told he could leave. He begins to head back to Konoha for now, tired aand heads back to konoha.
Kyu looks a bit surprised by the back pat and he smiles at Izara, "Yeah, seems I did well this time." with a nod he examines the children, seeing as a fox has entered the area the kids seem happy enough to not need to be put to sleep by him. He puts his hands behind his head and looks around. "Anyone else want some help falling asleep?"
As he himself ordered, Atsuro sticks around to keep watch over the area, making sure that the fire doesn't spread and that no more gang members suddenly show up to cause trouble. He's pretty sure they got them all, but it's best to be safe. Taizen, when everyone else has been taken care of, can go to a mednin and get his wounds looked at, but for the moment he'll be fine, so he just accompanies Atsuro in keeping the area safe.
Zankuro grumbled and probably muttered something about "stupid Inuzuka loyalty" on the way back. Beyond that however, he didn't complain all that much about the company back; only once more from Hige grabbing the attention of a medic. A male medic no less! It is as if the boy did not know him!! Naturally, Zankuro is quick to rebuff the man's efforts, and point the medic towards helping the twins first. Michiko, however, he is more receptive of, to a degree. Just as soon as his immediate wounds are taken care of, the Sarutobi saw to the twins personally in any way he can. That is as soon as they are given a clean bill of health. He's tired and wounded, not stupid.
"Now to see if Hige keeps his trap shut.." He mutters underbreath.
Shortly after the medics finish with the children (and any shinobi, should they need it), the second wave arrives. This group from Konohagakure contains additional medics as well as administrative staff to see to the children. A man took a quick debrief from Atsuro as well before releasing them to return to the Village. "Don't worry, we'll get all the children back safely and see to it from there." The man informs the shinobi. "Go back and get some well earned rest. Atsuro-sama, we'll have a full report on your desk in the morning." A deep official bow is given to Michiko as well, "Konoha thanks you for your support and assistance."
Kidnappers dead, the children are saved if looking to have a lot of healing time in the future, mentally and physically. The building is destroyed and the fire dampened thanks to some water jutsu after the fire has burnt down the building. A mission completed, a danger to the nation destroyed, and folks were generally happy and worry free, at least when it comes to kidnappings!
