A characteristically damp morning had plagued the Land of Water with a slight chill. A thick layer of mist had settled at just knee-height above the ground, and slowly danced over the eerily calm ocean. Coal-black eyes stared at the water with clear disdain, or what would have been if his head had not been covered by his visored helm, the mirror-tinted mask offering not even the slightest hint of his visage. Yet behind it lay his grimace, knowing fully well what this assignment required of him.

“It had to be a sunken city of probably fish-people.” He inwardly complained, the mental whining offering some semblance of outlet for his frustration. Takao was certainly out of his element here, both figuratively and literally. It was pointless to scout at this point, the water would obscure the Burning Eye™ from the surface, and it would merely be a waste of his chakra that could surely be depleted in the battle that would rage beneath the calm surface. Thankfully, he hadn’t the need to go in alone. The benevolent Kirigakure no Sato had bestowed upon him the privilege of a partner in crime, although their identity to him was largely unknown. He had little more than a name, “Nova Makato”, and a vague description of her skill set so that he might have had the opportunity to adapt his own to her combat repertoire. Their assignment had them set to meet at the spot where Takao stood presently, although he had arrived early to brood in silence over the water.

For this undersea excursion, Takao had opted for his modified ANBU getup. The typical vest donned his torso, whilst a form-fitting black undershirt and typical shinobi slacks covered the remainder of what would have been visible skin. His head was, of course, covered by the Konoha-patented A-ANBU-M, or his own take on the typical, traditional, and less than functional ANBU mask. It obscured his face and head entirely, although it was the auxiliary functions of the helm that Takao intended to rely on. A blade rested upon his left bicep, resting within a scabbard that was fastened with two straps. On the other forearm, his bladed tonfa Muninn was clearly visible, and freshly sharpened for use. A belt around his waist held the myriad of shinobi tools at his disposal, and a pair of black combat boots completed the off-brand Black Ops ensemble.

As he waited, the Jōnin mulled over his time in the Land of Water. It had been surprisingly eventful for the three days he had been visiting, sans the first which had been quite the opposite. He had already completed one mission, which had an unpleasant twist that he hadn’t been expecting, and shortly thereafter he had met a very interesting girl. Now, he stood at the shore of the Land of Water, preparing himself mentally to dive into the leagues below to fight what he could only assume would be a swarm of Atlantean shinobi fish-people. It was a far cry from the usual boredom that came with everyday residence in the Hidden Leaf.

Gloved fingers flexed and relaxed against the handle of the retractable tonfa, matching the rhythm of the gentle tide that pushed the water in and pulled it back out. Takao was patient, waiting on the beach without moving was not something that bothered him, but the thoughts that plagued his consciousness were another story.

...Don’t do it...

...Nothing to burn...

...Will die… You will die...

The usual voice that whispered over into his ear like his own personal devil on the shoulder was more frantic than usual, trying to say as much as it could all at once, likely given the stressful situation that put Takao so thoroughly out of his element. He knew that the instant he touched the water, it would be screaming at him, and it was something that would need to be wholly ignored, lest his cursed mentality jeopardize their chance for success.

His gaze turned sidelong as trained ears picked up on the faint, distant sound of debris crunching. The helm and his head within it had hardly moved, if at all, and he caught a glimpse of a large mechanical spider and the woman who sat atop it. His grip upon the tonfa flexed again when she dismounted and approached, only then did he turn in her direction and meet her gaze behind his visored helm. She addressed him by his full name, and introduced herself as Nova. With his gaze hidden behind the helm, he gave her a brief examination. Long auburn hair with dyed tips, freckles, green eyes, relatively short with most of her weight seemingly carried in her hips and bust, and his own eyes had picked up something with the manner in which she walked. He hadn’t quite worked out her handicap in its entirety, but instead determined it to be something related to an injury. She hardly seemed dressed for combat, but then again, the presence of puppetry that she had previously ridden was a clear indication that doing the physical work herself wasn’t on the agenda.

Takao’s hand lifted to a button on the helm that collapsed the visor, and allowed for the rebreather portion and the rest of the helm to rest against his shoulders and collarbone.

“Nice to meet you.” He said in typical deadpan, his attention lingering on her for only another moment or so before shifting to look at the water.

“I’m not from the area, so I’m almost entirely unfamiliar with the underwater city, sans what I’ve been able to learn. But that isn’t much, admittedly. We’ll make a rough plan when we’re down there and can properly scout it to identify our threats.” Takao continued, first admitting to his lack of experience with their intended destination to make sure that communication between them was clear. He wasn’t part of Kirigakure, so any intimate knowledge of their task or whom they might battle that would have come from being a resident would be lost on him.

Her usage of puppets had a myriad of different applications. His own manner of fighting was best supported from a distance, if he were to reach the peak levels of destructiveness that he was capable of, but it was reckless and irresponsible to do that while he fought alongside another. Ultimately, adaptation was a large part of the shinobi life, so he would work with the opportunities that presented themselves.

“Do you fight inside your puppets, or from a distance?” Takao asked in an attempt to gauge how he would need to adapt.

“My method of fighting tends to put me up close and I supplement shortfalls by using destructive techniques at the same distance. I’ll adapt as best I can if you’re a close range fighter as well, and not rely as much on the techniques.” He continued with an explanation of his own preferences for fighting. It was relatively vague and offered little in the way of specific detail, but it was all the more he was willing to speak frivolously on.

“If you’re able to, we’ll walk along the surface for a distance to save energy and dive the rest of the way. I’m not sure how your puppets work with surface walking, but if they aren’t able, we can dive the entire way to the city. As far as I understand, the city itself is full of large air pockets, so we shouldn’t need to worry about air. We don’t have intel on what’s waiting for us once we’re down there, though, so let’s keep our guard up.” With Takao’s long winded description of their circumstances out of the way, he lifted the helm back up and raised the visor once more. His voice became audibly distorted once the mask was over his face.

“Anything I forgot?”

Takao took a moment to consider the new information she brought. It painted the city in a much better light than how he had been imagining it, which was something akin to a magical bubble of air surrounding it, though he knew it was more likely to be a flooded city with pockets of air remaining within rooms that were somehow water tight. If nothing else, a cave where his flames could be funneled more appropriately would be much more preferable to fight in than a bubble that he feared could collapse at any moment. In addition to that, Takao’s earlier suspicions regarding her leg were proved true to some degree.

“Noted.” He said simply, taking his first steps out onto the surface of the water. “We can expect the enemy to be using the environment to their advantage, and since we’re both quite unfamiliar with it… We’ll have to keep on our toes.” His inner musings were vocalized outwardly as he thought, considering what challenges and tribulations they would face in the undersea city whilst they were en route. After he finished speaking, he stopped for a moment, lamented on what had been said, and cleared his throat. “I wasn’t making a joke or, uh…” He clarified, gesturing toward her prosthetic leg. “Anything like that. About your leg, I mean.”

“I’ll be fine out here.” Takao said, lifting his hand and lightly tapping on the rebreather of his mask. “I should be able to dive to the city without a problem, even if it is relatively deep. The mask is pressurized to a degree for the rebreather.” Although her offer was appreciated, Takao did not fair so well in tight or confined spaces. Instead, he opted to walk over the calm surface of the morning ocean.

---

“Alright, I think this is about it.” Takao said as his gaze turned earthward, looking down into the water. It was impossible to see what lurked beneath, which both intrigued and terrified Takao to varying extents, but his sense of direction and the information they had been supplied with prior to embarking on the assignment pointed to the general area in which he stood. “I’ll take the lead.”

Takao took the helm and dove first. The chakra was released from his feet after he leapt, using the momentum of his fall to jumpstart his descent. The moment he was submerged entirely, the voice began to ring loudly in his ear, practically screaming words of protest to discourage him from continuing. But, just as they had been up until this point, they were ignored and Takao pressed on into the dark depths, swimming down with a fair deal of skill despite his natural aversion to the element.

The rebreather kept his flow of oxygen steady during the descent, each breath exhaled as a cloud of bubbles that quickly rose toward the surface. Before long, lights from within the sunken city became visible in the darkness. The city itself seemed unapproachable from a distance, at least tactically speaking. With so little information on what awaited them, it was surely suicidal to swim into the heart of it and investigate. Instead, Takao attention was directed toward lights that shimmered nearby against a rocky overhang. The raven-haired shinobi assumed that the light came from something akin to a natural moonpool, and thus felt it worthy of investigation, gesturing for Nova to follow as he rerouted.

Above them, light shimmered atop the surface of water well into the depths of the sea. A pocket of air remained below the overhang, and there was clearly some source of illumination that lit the cave of sorts. Stood guard at the edge of the natural wet porch were two Hoshigaki Soldiers, armed with their tridents and conversing idly with one another to pass the time, although the intricacies of their conversation were unheard from beneath the water’s surface.

Although the water acted as a fairly efficient insulator of heat, Takao’s coal-like eyes were lit aflame with Aibāningu behind his mask whilst they lingered in the water. His sight was obscured, but the imagery produced by the Kimura dōjutsu provided him with valuable information; two targets stood guard above them in the surface, and they were the first two of many to be dispatched. He turned his attention to Nova, or rather the puppet she would ride within, and gestured as communication. First to indicate the number of targets, then a vague gesture pointing to himself and the leftmost target, and after that he pointed to her and the remaining, hoping that his wordless conveyance of direction was enough to clue her in on the unspoken plan. With no other method of communication whilst submerged, Takao made his move.

Although his actions were slowed by the water, he managed to bring his hands together. Upon doing so, he gathered chakra betwixt them, which required him to hold the pose for about a second. Takao broke the pose and pointed his hands in the opposite direction of his target, who stood at the edge of the moon pool. What would have been a powerful gust of air left the chakra of his hands, but instead of the intended purpose, Takao himself was propelled from the water. He was given just enough time before colliding with the Hoshigaki Soldier to turn and extend the blade of Muninn from its housing on his forearm. As his arm thrust forward, the surprised Soldier attempted to raise its trident, but it hadn’t the reaction time to adequately do so in time. Takao thrust the blade of Muninn into the Hoshigaki Soldier’s neck, tearing through flesh and muscle, and ripping veins and arteries in twain. Warm sanguine blood sprayed from the fishman’s neck as Takao sliced clean through and subsequently fell forward onto him, knocking the soldier onto his back.

The other soldier was prepared to act, and turned toward Takao, readying his trident to be thrust in the direction of the shinobi.

Takao dragged the blade back from the neck of the Hoshigaki Soldier that he had attacked. Wet squelches echoed silently throughout the nearby cavern as the carbon fibre weapon cut through more scaled flesh on its way out, and more blood pooled beneath it. He wiped the blade on the soldier’s clothing, cleaning it of the blood, and left the lifeless body there to grow cold. His gaze turned upward and looked to Nova as she spoke, now able to see her clearly within the puppet whilst his eyes were still ablaze with Aibāningu. His gaze turned toward the cave that lead further into the sunken caverns, and although the stone was dense, he could still see through it.

“Three more in the cavern ahead of us. Four in the cavern to the left, and two in the cavern past the one in front. If we’re careful, we can avoid drawing all of their attention at once.” Takao said as he stood and stepped over the lifeless corpse at his feet. He adjusted his gloved grip on the handle of Muninn, the leather whining as his hand flexed and he made his way toward the partially flooded cavern. He didn’t peak around the corner, and instead looked through it, further identifying their targets. While his vision of the cavern ahead wasn’t the best, as Aibāningu only revealed heat signatures and not intricate details of the surroundings, he could make out rough details and filled in the blanks himself.

“I’m going to use Burning Ash to give us some cover moving in. It doesn’t seem like either of our ability to see them in the ash will be compromised, so I’ll take the furthest first, you get the closest. First to kill theirs engages the middle and the other joins them right after.” Takao said, speaking at a volume that was loud enough for Nova to hear, but not quite audible for their amphibious targets.

“Try not to cause any kind of sparks in the ash, though. Even weapons sparking off one another is enough to set the whole thing off, and it’s a bit nasty if you’re inside.” He wasn’t sure how much she knew about the technique from only the name, but communication was key during assignments such as these. Letting her go in blind might have protected the secrecy of his abilities, but compromised the greater goal of remaining undetected and culling the gilled threats that skulked about in the caverns. “Alright. Moving in.” He said after giving her a moment. Takao sucked air into his lungs through the mask and exhaled a thick plume of ashy smoke. It crept into the next portion of the cavern slowly as he controlled the flow of the exhale. The creatures within hadn’t noticed it at first, but as it built up, they became aware of its presence and armed themselves accordingly despite their confusion. The ash quickly overtook the remainder of the cavern and dropped visibility with the naked eye to nothing. Guided by the Burning Eye, Takao rounded the corner and broke into a sprint, disappearing into the ash in an instant. He bypassed the first Hoshigaki Soldier, who stumbled around in the ash in the second that followed, and then by the second. As he neared the third, he lifted Muninn and dropped into a slide, swinging the carbon fibre blade at the Soldier’s leftmost ankle. The leg was sliced clean through, bone and flesh alike were rend from the soldier’s body, causing it to topple over as the weight formerly supported by the foot was no longer supported. The Hoshigaki Soldier had just barely started to whine in pain from its sudden and unexpected dismemberment when Takao rose and forcefully thrust the tip of Muninn between its shoulder and neck, piercing veins and arteries as it traveled down into the heart, bypassing the ribcage. Wet squelches left the wound as a hose-like torrent of blood sprayed from within, the Hoshigaki Soldier’s whine of pain turning into sopping, gargled noises as blood filled its lungs and throat and life quickly vacated from its body. More sanguine blood stained the white of his uniform, the fabric of which had become well accustomed to being covered with the wine of life.

A good portion of the Ash didn’t last long within the cavern by the time Takao had dealt with the first of the trio. The one that had stood in the middle spat water from its mouth that flowed like a waterfall, clearing out large sections of ash as it was aimlessly shot around the cavern. Nova would have enough time to engage at least one of the two that remained before the Ash was completely dealt with.

While Takao pulled the blade from his executed Hoshigaki, he sucked in a lungful of air and exhaled it at the next closest target, which was the soldier that was dealing with the ash. As he exhaled, a powerful blade of wind left his mouth, and rocketed forward to hit the soldier at near point blank range. It sliced deep into the soldier’s right arm, back, and lower back, prompting an early end to the water technique being used. The soldier choked on the water that left its mouth as it fell to the ground, the arm struck by the technique barely hanging on by a few threads of muscle and a deeply cut bone whilst its back gushed warm sanguine blood.

Takao’s gaze quickly shifted to his right, eyeing the four unmoved soldiers in the next cavern beside them, and then over his shoulder to note the remaining two had yet to move as well. The soldiers remaining had yet to be disturbed by the brief battle in the next cavern over, which had been obscured from sight and slightly muffled by the flooded natural halls of cave. If things went smoothly on Nova’s end, another portion of their targets would be wiped out without much issue, and the next fights would be made significantly easier.

Takao observed as the last of the trio of Hoshigaki Soldiers were felled, and that the remnants of the ash in the air were ignited into a spectacular explosion. The cave around them shook and rumbled, with pieces of sediment falling loose to the sodden cave floor, but ultimately remained structurally intact.

“Alright, well… I was kind of expecting that.” Takao said as the flames from the Burning Ash died down. He was entirely unharmed by his own fire, sans the scorch marks upon his clothing, though that would wash out much easier than the blood would. As he pulled the blade from the initial Hoshigaki killed, he wiped the carbon fiber surface upon its clothing.

“That boom will have definitely alerted the rest of them.” He continued, his eyes diverted from Nova within her puppet to the cavern at their right, which held four more soldiers. The heat signatures provided by Aibāningu revealed that the four had indeed began to converge on their position. As Takao turned to check on the remaining two, his keen ears picked up the sound of a blade slicing through the air. He turned, unable to clearly see what exactly it was he was hearing because of how Aibāningu obscured the vision of objects without infrared radiation. Instead, his body acted on instinct, judging the location of the incoming projectile and moving accordingly. Unfortunately, Takao had been preoccupied on checking the positions of their remaining targets, and wasn’t able to fully avoid it. The blade of the Hoshigaki Commander’s harpoon only narrowly missed its target, but not quite fully, as it sliced through the fabric of his ANBU vest and the shirt worn beneath, tearing a clean cut nearly two and a half inches deep into the flesh and muscle just above his right hip. A guttural whine of pain left Takao’s throat as his hand reacted subconsciously and moved to clutch the bleeding wound that stained the white vest further, this time with his own blood. He dropped to one knee as the harpoon was pulled back from the direction it came, slicing the same side a second time, although this time the wound was considerably more shallow than the previous.

The voice in his head was practically shrieking now, screaming at him to do what it always said; burn it all. Takao clenched his jaw hard and gripped the wound on his side, eyebrows furrowed and knitted close together as he watched the remainder of the threats quickly merge on the cavern. Biting back the pain, his gaze briefly turned to Nova.

“Move back!” He called out as he stood and turned to face the two caverns, backpedaling to give himself a better position between both. With the voice continuing to scream and the sticky spot the pair found themselves in, burning it all didn’t seem like such a bad idea. “I’m going to make it a lot warmer in here.” Takao added.

The raven-haired shinobi began to inhale, quickly filling his lungs with both oxygen and chakra whilst simultaneously lifting his hand to his mouth. As the remainder of the Hoshigaki neared the entrance to the cavern that Takao and Nova occupied, with the Commander amidst their ranks, Takao released the oxygen and chakra that had built within his body. As it passed through the respirator of his mask, the chakra was diffused, and the technique’s scale was doubled from the point of exhale. A forty meter wall of flames erupted from the rebreather of Takao’s mask, consuming the caverns ahead of them into a sea of fire. Nearby water would evaporate into steam, the darkness of the cave was illuminated by the blinding heat of the flames that were large on their lonesome, but further increased in size by both the mask he wore and the shape of the caves that contained the technique. He held the technique for as long as there was oxygen in his lungs, and when there was none, he stood upright and observed the result of the technique. Stone was scorched and left ashen, whilst the outlines of the Hoshigaki remained as cinders, ready to be blown into the wind like dust by the slightest draft.

Now panting slightly, not from the usage of the technique but from the strain it put on his wound, Takao dropped back down to one knee. His eyes quickly scanned the cavern, Aibāningu picking up remnants of the heat from the technique but otherwise nothing that indicated there were any more of the Hoshigaki to threaten them.

“Motherf----r.” Takao hissed through clenched teeth as he blinked away his dōjutsu, then pulled the visor up and the mask down to get a better look at the wound. It felt like his right side was drenched in warm, sticky water, which was quite uncomfortable when coupled with the throbbing pain pulsing in waves from the pair of cuts.

“Don’t suppose you know of any medics that happen to be strong swimmers on call, would you? Got a little bit of a flesh wound here.” Takao asked, attempting to make light of the injury with some dry humour spoken in monotone.

Heavy, exhausted breaths left his lungs as blood poured from the wound on his side, the amount lost having been significant enough already to bring on a strong sensation of fatigue. It was fought off, of course, but he didn’t imagine he could stave it off for long. His gaze drifted to Nova, who had unfortunately proclaimed that her list of water-borne medical specialists was lacking, but had offered her own skills as an alternative. Had she not, he likely would have requested her to simply burn the wound closed with the flamethrower that had set the ash off earlier, as he would be incapable of doing so himself. But, thankfully, that would not be necessary.

As she laid her kimono to be used as a makeshift pillow, Takao realized that even small movements sent powerful jolts of pain crashing through his body like waves on a beach. His motions became stiff and rigid as a result, trying his best to not move the portion of his body that had been wounded, but ultimately not doing a terribly good job.

“Ah, thanks.” He said through clenched teeth, easing himself down onto his side with great effort made easier with her assistance. The Jōnin detested the medical procedures that he had become uncomfortably accustomed to over the years, especially after his brief stint as Hokage. This situation was more tolerable, given the circumstances, but still just a tad unpleasant in the first place. He would have much preferred to not have a gaping hole in his side, if his opinion were to have been consulted, but having it healed was a close second in terms of preference.

“It’s called Gōka Mekkyaku. It was an old Uchiha technique.” Takao answered, his gaze set upon the ashen figured of the Hoshigaki that remained after the technique had died down. He could still feel some residual heat on the stone he laid upon, but it was fading quickly. “Not a very interesting story behind my learning it though, I’m afraid.” He continued his answer, momentarily pausing to consider whether or not he wanted to speak truthfully on where and how he learned it. He quickly settled on a partial truth before continuing.

“I learned it off an old scroll I picked up along the way when I was younger. The scroll itself is practically an artifact now, ready to turn to dust on my shelf, but it had a few interesting things like that technique in it.” He said, wincing as her technique began to mend muscle and tissue within his body. It was never a sensation he could get used to, feeling his body repair itself so rapidly in comparison to the natural process. His black-eyed gaze set upon the puppet she had ridden within whilst Nova worked, that had shielded her from his intense flames just a moment earlier.

“That’s one impressive puppet you have there.” He continued making small talk, if only to make the time pass a bit quicker whilst she worked on healing the wound. “Not a whole lot is usually left standing after that technique hits it, but it doesn’t look any worse for wear. Did you make it yourself?” He inquired, briefly looking down at her handiwork on his side before averting his gaze again, his face paling slightly. The sight of blood hardly phased him, lest he be a fairly inefficient shinobi in his particular line of work. The sight of his open wound being mended before his eyes by the field equivalent of a doctor, however, made him queasy.

“I didn’t think puppeteers were all that common in the Water Country either,” Takao added after giving her the opportunity to respond to his first inquiry. “If it isn’t too prying to ask, would you happen to be from Sunagakure?” While Takao valued whatever skill he might have held in deductive reasoning, it hardly took a sharp eye and honed wit to make the observation that a puppeteer in Kirigakure may very well have originated in the homeland of the art itself. It hadn’t escaped his conscious thought that the subject might be a sensitive one, as the loss of one’s village and the people within was a wound that seldom closed easily. Takao himself took damage to Konohagakure very personally, although he was aware that his patriotism for the Leaf was greater than most had for their own villages, for better or for worse.

Each moment that passed left less of the wound in its wake. His face had paled slightly from the loss of blood, but given the attentiveness of his healing, it would hardly be a threat to his life. Takao mused that he would sleep well tonight, for reasons that went beyond the exhaustion brought on by loss of blood, though it would certainly be a factor.

The small talk between them continued with her explanation of the puppet and its insulation, which kept her safe within its metallic shell during the onslaught of his technique. A light hum rumbled in his throat as he mulled over the momentary recklessness of firing the technique off so quickly. Had his partner in crime not been adequately defended by her puppet in the way that she had been, it would have been a rather disastrous mistake to make. Such were the risks of playing the game of shinobi, but it was still a point of improvement that he would refer to in the future. Teammate lives matter.

“My bad for scorchin’ it up.” Takao said, briefly adjusting his position on the cave floor when a moderate wave of pain throbbed in his side. “Ng… I should have given you a little more time to get clear. I’ll go ahead and offer my help fixing it as a courtesy, but I don’t know the first thing about puppets, honestly.” He admitted after falling into a more comfortable position, letting her continue the healing of what remained of the wound. His knowledge of the mechanisms that made such machinery possible was, admittedly, quite lacking. Takao's particular set of skills was much more geared toward sudden and explosive dismantling than it was building and repairing.

She proceeded to answer his inquiry about her origins in the Land of Wind, and confirmed the rather simple observation that she might have been a refugee from the catastrophe there. The destruction of the Hidden Sand Village was truly tragic, and those that had lost people in the fall had his condolences, but the offhand knowledge that those responsible were still at large and yet unchecked left him uneasy. Konohagakure was privy to the repeated experience of cataclysmic near-total destruction events, and the train of mental thought had reminded him that whilst he was in Kirigakure, he could do little to protect the home he would die for. That same train of thought continued further down the tracks, and he was further reminded of what-- or who-- exactly it was that kept him in the village for the time being. A lengthy sigh left his lungs before he remembered that there was a conversation between them.

“Well… my condolences, for what it’s worth.” He added simply, allowing her question to take precedence in the conversation. Speaking more on the matter might have been prodding his way into a touchy subject, which he would prefer to avoid, if possible.

“I’m from the Fire Country, born and raised in Konoha.” Takao answered, his gaze shifting down to the wound after he felt the strange tingle of her healing technique fade and the damp, cool air of the cavern overtake the bare wound. The clothing he wore was heavily stained by blood, or at least the white portions were, not just from the wound itself but from the pool of blood he had laid within while the wound was being healed. The black underclothing was just dark enough to be spared an obvious stain, yet the colour was hardly the concern for Takao. His concern was targeted more toward the gaping hole in the fabric, which had been torn through by the harpoon. It was his favourite vest.

“Another one for the collection.” He commented offhandedly, not particularly fond of the many stripes of battle that his body wore. “The not bleeding part is good, though. Thank you.”

With a light grunt, Takao accepted her help back to his feet, and wobbled for a moment before he regained his balance. While she brought the other puppet that had hidden itself within the former corridor, Takao stiffly bent down and retrieved the partially blood-stained kimono, and exhaled a faint sigh of disappointment.

“I owe you a new kimono too.” Takao said as he folded the fabric semi-lazily and moved over to her, glancing into the puppet out of sheer curiousity. It appeared that their usefulness went beyond combat applications, although he had figured as much.

Accepting the cured meat with another expression of gratitude, Takao tore a piece off and chewed as his gaze shifted further into the caves. After focusing for just a moment, his black eyes were alight with Aibāningu once again, glowing in the slight darkness of the cave whilst he scanned what he could see for any other threats. A few distance heat signatures suggested that this was not the end of the creatures that lurked in the sunken city, but it was the end of those that threatened them presently.

“I can’t see any others, so we shouldn’t have to worry about more coming.” Takao said as he allowed the chakra in his eyes to fade and the black colour to overtake the glowing orange. “They looked like Hoshigaki, sort of. My guess is that they probably fled here after Hao burned Kirigakure with his Amaterasu.” Takao had intimate knowledge of the event, as well as the clansmen mentioned formerly, as his first real fight as a shinobi occurred in Konoha against one. His own obsession with Amaterasu had lead him to learning much about the destruction of Kirigakure as well.

“No other targets. When we’re safe back on the mainland, we’ll consider this mission successful. We probably shouldn’t linger either.” Takao said, finishing the strip of cured meat in the moment that followed. He turned his back to the caves that ran deeper into the sunken city and started a stiff walk back to the pool they had entered from. His gaze was briefly caught by the two bodies that remained from the beginning of the slaughter, and lingered for just a moment, wondering if perhaps one of them could have been the Hoshigaki genin he had fought in the Chūnin exams of his earlier shinobi days. The thought was quickly discarded as meaningless musing, and he lifted the mask over his head, covering his face with the visor. Thankfully, the short walk from the pool of blood that he had laid in had loosened his freshly healed muscles just a tad, enough for him to confidently make the swim back to mainland.

Takao dove into the moon pool and swam, albeit slower than the speed in which they had arrived, back toward the surface. Walking along the surface of the ocean would be considerably easier than swimming further away from the city, and would assuage the worry that the blood upon his uniform might attract unwanted aquatic attention. After reaching the surface, Takao channeled chakra to the soles of his feet, and began the long water-logged trek to his new home away from home.