Spoiler:

This was a simple enough mission for a simple enough duo. Kill a bunch of people and take everything. Simple, wasn’t it? Of course, the mission was a bit more complex than that, with all the fluff of social and economic politics. Nothing really important, per say, but it helped to have a justification. Otherwise, the world would simply view that as banditry and murder. Now, it was viewed as confiscation and execution. Though, she supposed that it wouldn’t be called banditry here.

No, it would be called piracy.

Ciera stood at the bow of the ship, leaning over the edge to look at the vast ocean. Water, water everywhere, where it would stop, even she didn’t know. Even at the edges, where the sun would rise or vanish—she had kind of forgotten if the sun rose from the west or the east—there was no land in sight. Truly, this was a paradise of water.

Except you know, it was mostly salt water. Salt and more salt, so salty that it could be said to be filled with the tears of all life. You know, if that wasn’t a blatant and obvious lie.

Behind her, she could hear the shuffling movements of the crew members as they went leisurely about their work. Probably checking the structural integrity of the ship as well as maintaining their course. There wasn’t technically that much work while out at sea; it was mostly just a matter of patience. Their job was similar to a guard’s; it was mostly dull boringness, but when it got exciting, it would definitely be something to remember.

She would even liked to have gone for a swim or a dive, but with how fast the ship was moving, it was likely that she was going to be left behind if she did so. It was a clear day with a good amount of breeze so the ship was taking a good pace, more than she had expected to be honest.

The mission was simple. There were reports that smuggler ships had taken to the sea to transport their illegal goods and make a profit. Of course, what kind of profit would it be if there wasn’t a big risk to it, a risk that they unfortunately have failed at. The thing that these smugglers should have known was that, while a couple of shipments would have been unnoticed, a literal trade-route was far too much. Risks were risks, and by smuggling with any one route for a number of times, they increased their risk of getting caught. They really should have simply just did a couple and then use a new route.

Of course, sometimes, you couldn’t expect to get the smartest fish in the barrel when it came to outlaws. You just had to take what you could get.

“Ship spotted!”

The loud yell woke Ciera from her thoughts. She snatched the binoculars out of a nearby sailor’s grip to his dismay and looked through them. There—in the far distance, barely a speck—was the ship that they were probably looking for. It had a red and white crossbow insignia on their flag that determined their allegiance, but it wasn’t one that she recognized. That was a sure enough sign that it was suspicious.

Handing the binoculars back to the sailor, she said, “Go and bring the Tsurugi up here. He’s probably below deck.”

---

WC: 581/1500

He sat down below in the deck of the ship feeling the rocking motions of the boat which did not bother the man at all, despite his lack of natural affiliation to the water like his comrade he was quite used to being on boats having used them when he was younger. Calmly sitting there with his hands interlocked at the fingers behind his head, Tsurugi found himself with his eyes closed enjoying the motions of the ocean, that is of course until he was suddenly abruptly interrupted by the sound of a booming male voice. "Tsurugi! We have spotted the enemy ship!" the man called out to him, nearly falling over from where he sat Tsurugi would flail around a bit, blinking a few times, and then settling his eyes on the man who had so suddenly interrupted him, raising a hand he would stand from where he sat. Tsurugi made his way up the stairs that would lead him to the top of the deck, where he looked around his golden eyes taking in the beautiful scenery of the surrounding ocean, and his nostrils flaring with the inhale of the refreshing ocean breeze.

Spotting Ciera in the distance he walked towards her, stopping at her right side his duster would rustle with the ocean breeze that pushed against his body, those eyes of his could see the shape of the ship in the distance without the help of the binoculars that Ciera had used earlier. "So it would be best to intercept them" he said giving a suggestion to the woman, he was not as experienced on the ocean as Ciera, in fact this time around he trusted Ciera to take charge of this situation; putting her expertise to use here. His attention would turn from the ocean to the surrounding area, where he saw all the men preparing for the impending collision that would occur from them leading the ship towards the pirate ship. The male would roll his neck once, preparing for the battle that would soon come, he in fact was waiting for the ship to get close to the pirate ship that was moving across the ocean.

Tsurugi would widen his stance, his hands preparing a hand seal as the ship got closer his golden eyes focused on the ship, once they were close enough to the ship he planned to release this jutsu. With a deep inhale he would begin to manipulate his chakra so it would mold with the oxygen he had in his lungs, readying his jutsu the male waited to take the offensive, once they were in reach he release it. Leaning his head back Tsurugi would throw his face forward releasing a single powerful exhale which resulted in his oxygen manifesting into the atmosphere in the form of a giant fireball that shot forward towards the pirate ship. There was no netter strategy than shock, and awe with the distance between the two ships being so close Tsurugi watched as his fireball smashed into the side of the boat. The resulting collision causing a single explosion of flames that resulted in the pirates on the other ship to panic as thee flames began to crawl onto the side of their ship, and spread into the large gaping hole that had been created by his jutsu.

556/1500

185/200:

Of course, on sighting our own ship, the other ship tried to run. What kind of smugglers would they be if they didn’t run from a ship hoisting the flag of water country? They were running from the law. It was a natural thing. However, greed was a funny thing as well. The ship was large and laden with goods, enough so that it made their ship much heavier than the patrol ship that Ciera and Tsurugi were on. It wasn’t long—just about a couple of hours of chasing—before they finally reached with enough distance for firing range of the cannons.

Yet, neither ship seemed to want to start off the engagement, one that would likely leave one ship downed and one ship floundering. For these kinds of tense stalemates in which neither side could decide if they wanted to start first, there was Tsurugi.

Yes, good old Tsurugi, firing his massive fireball that slammed into the smuggler’s ship and exploded, sending both the wooden planks that composed the ship and people flying. Some fell into the sea, where they tried frantically to stay afloat. Both ships began turning to their starboard side, to exchange canon fire, but the smuggler’s ship was much slower, due to the damage and loss of personnel.

“Not to burst your happiness bubble, Tsurugi, but weren’t we supposed to not sink the ship?” Ciera asked mildly in a deadpan voice, almost if she was disinterested in the whole thing. Or perhaps, it was more for the exasperation part.

She had to admit, they seemed to be wholly unprepared to deal with the techniques of a shinobi.

Oh wait, they were finally using water techniques to put out the fire. From this distance, she could see that they were frankly putting out fire while trying to return fire with cannonballs. Unfortunately for them, they were receiving far more than they were giving. It was almost pitiful.

Oh hey, one of them had a parrot and a peg-leg.

“I could just swim over there and finish them off. Out here on the open sea, I have a few jutsu’s that will come in handy for clear the ship of people,” Ciera said, again in a mild tone, as if she was unsurprised by the fighting and the loud cannon fire originating from below deck. Even the shouts of the captain and his crewmembers did little to disturb her. “That’s if you don’t want any prisoners left. It would be a pretty simple deal overall.”

---

WC: 1009/1500

The pair of golden orbs that focused on the chaos that was unfolding on the other ship would not move an inch as his ears caught the words that were being spoken by his partner, "It's easier to dominate a crew that is broken under pressure, than to give them any room for success. Even if we had the upper hand from the start, It is better to take them out now, that they are scattered, and consumed by the chaos." his tone was as flat as ever, and his eyes remained fixed. The other ship, well their structure seemed to be falling apart, he would see men running on the top deck trying their best to put down the lingering fires that were still trying to spread, and others trying to keep the boat afloat by quite literally scooping bucket loads of water out of the gaping hope he had created. It would not be long before the ship sunk to an untimely grave at the bottom of the ocean, this is why they had to work fast, even amidst the chaotic exchange of cannon fire that was going on he was able to focus enough to listen to Ciera's suggestion.

He would hear the tone she was using with her words, it was obvious she did not approve of his previous actions; but then again he could care less he was looking to end this mission with as little casualties on their end as possible. "Whether they all die or live is of no concern to us, our only mission is to salvage was good we can, and return them to Kirigakure. Let us wipe this trash from the waters of our nation" he said coldly as he took his attention from her, and back to the enemy ship. He could see they were starting to organize themselves just a little more, but there was no doubt that he had dealt a serious enough blow to them that he brought their ranks down a few men, and the damage to the ship well it would continue to be a burden; forcing the remaining enemy ranks to split their attention.

Having spoken his bit he stood there waiting for Ciera to take action, according to her she had effective jutsu in clearing large crowds? Well she would have her chance to do just that, meanwhile he would start looking for a way to get across to the other ship, perhaps even with a handful of the crewmen that they had to their disposal, this way it was easier to overwhelm the enemy. As far as he was concerned this mission was already in the bag for the duo...

1004/1500

“Well, I suppose I will get right on it then.” As the ship made another cannon pass against the other, Ciera stepped onto the railing and jumped over the ledge to the ocean below. Just before her feet touched the surface of the water, she filled it with chakra, such that when she landed on the surface, she was able to stay on of the waves. Once stabilized, she began running forward to close the distance to the other ship.

From the ship’s deck, it didn’t look that far, but when she was actually traveling it, it was quite a bit more of a distance than she had anticipated. Nevertheless, that did nothing to change her plans. However, as she ran across the waves, she saw both debris that had fallen from the ships as well as people. Knowing that all of them came from the enemy ship, she leaned low and dipped her fingers into the water as she ran. Chakra leaked from her fingertips and into the ocean.

Suiton: Five Feeding Sharks.

Each stream of chakra flowed beneath the water, turning in sharks that immediately went out to seek prey. Even as she ran, she could hear the surprised cries from the overboard sailors that rapidly turned into horror as they realized there were sharks in the water. One by one, they were each savaged upon by the sharks, ripped apart and eaten. It wasn’t long before there was nothing left of them except for a few bloodied rags.

However, that didn’t deter or distract her from her task. She rushed across the waves, finally reaching the ship. Focusing her chakra once again, she began the meticulous task of performing the correct sequence of hand seals for this jutsu. Once finished, she slammed her palm down onto the surface of the water once more.

Suiton: Rain Water Shark Wave.

Wave of water rose upward in front of her, reaching just above the deck of the ship. And then, it rained down on the ship’s deck. Those smugglers on deck, frantically moving about to extinguish the fire, were beset upon by the rain. However, each droplet of water had changed, taking a different form because of her chakra. Each and every single droplet was actually in the shape of a shark, tiny and composed of water.

Like vicious, biting sea-creatures, they fell upon the smugglers, their jaws biting and onto each piece of flesh and clothes they could get their teeth on. When one droplet had exhausted itself and lost cohesiveness, there was always more rain from the wave to replace it, resuming the ripping and tearing of the flesh.

Their screams, a melody of pain and agony, echoed out from the deck. Such bliss, she felt. Yet, it was all too soon that each of the voices on deck soon began to quiet down, their cries lowering from screams to mere whimpers to nothing.

Chakra 180/220. +1 power (clan):

---

WC: 1503/1500

He stood on the deck of the ship watching as Ciera unleashed her onslaught upon the enemy, there was no reason for him to step in the girl seemed to have it all under control from where he stood he had a perfect view of the massacre. The men on the enemy deck would run wild trying to save themselves, but those who were washed away to the water were hopelessly left to die in their watery graves. With all the unfolding chaos he would remain quiet, his attitude calm as he stood there quietly watching until it all came to a quiet end; raising a hand he got the attention of a nearby sailor "...make sure to get the men over to their ship, and get us the supplies they have over to our ship" the man would nod, and almost immediately the ship would begin to creep closer to the enemy ship. Once they were within range three planks where dropped down creating three makeshift bridges from their ship to the enemies. Tsurugi walked down the middle on followed by the men who either walked behind him or used one of the other two bridges, once he hopped onto the enemies ship he looked around, watching as men emerged from below the deck. Golden eyes stared at them all, their faces screamed defeat, it was obvious they had overwhelmed these men so far that they had lost the will to fight, the sailors on their side would run over gathering up the surrendering men, and forcing them all to sit on the deck while they waited to transport them.

Tsurugi would walk back over to the friendly ship, the men had already gathered the supplies from the pirate ship one of the sailors approached Tsurugi, "Shall we bring the prisoners over?" he asked, looking over at the man the golden eyed male would smirk "No, leave them to their fate, bring Ciera back on board we are heading back" he would say, without question the sailor nodded signaling for the men to return the planks. Once they were back, he would turn waiting for Ciera to climb aboard, watching as the men who had surrendered stood in confusion, wondering what was going to happen; happy to answer their question Tsurugi would begin to perform a series of quick hand seals holding the last one he would allow his chakra to flow outward from his body. The fireballs would emerge, all the other sailors watched in silence as Tsurugi launched the fireballs towards the enemy ship each exploding on contact the overall combined explosion causing a combined burst of intense flames. As expected the men on the ship panicked running wild as they tried to escape the crawling flames, some jumped ship into the water others seemed so consumed by fear that they found themselves running in circle, or across the desk like mad men.

Either way the job was done, turning his back Tsurugi walked back to below the deck where he aimed to continue to enjoy the relaxing rocking of the ship, rolling his neck it was obvious the man had no guilt for what he had done, condemned a group of surrendering men to their death.

1549/1500