Mission name: Operation: Doubletap
Mission rank: B
Objective: Join the Frey
Location: Endless Wasteland
Reward: 500 ryo + 3EP
Mission Description: “Information on our hunter ninja tactics have been leaked to outside sources, placing our hunters in a considerable sum of comparable risk when it comes to striking at our targets. Find a deployed hunter squad, back them up, and see to the elimination of their target!”
Mission Details: Ninja undertaking this mission will be given the last known location of a Hunter Ninja squad sent to eliminate either a single high profile target or an encampment and have either been captured or are currently engaged in an ambush of some kind. The ninja taking this mission is to reinforce the Hunter ninja squad, and see their task completed. (High value targets are A rank with A-1 Stats as well as A rank Nin, Bukijutsu and Futon with an assortment of weapons at varying ranks. They’re capable of using all library techniques they would be able to except for academy techniques. Enemies at encampments have B-0 stats as well as B rank bukijutsu with varying weapons, but are many in number.)

Invite only

Verdandi sighed to herself. She was getting ready for one of her final missions in the lands of the burning sun. She didn't necessarily dislike the place, after all she had kind of grown used to the whole area. Her Hyouton chakra keeping her cool and hence, unlike most of her comrades, Verd didn't have much troubles getting along with the heat. She would shrug it off. Her body was able to take this. She had grown a lot in these lands. Her strength would have risen to new heights otherwise impossible to accomplish. She had gained her new eye, met various new friends and spread her name as a skilled shinobi. Her training had made her stronger than ever and eclipsed the ranks of shinobi once again. Slowly turning into the weapon, she always wanted to meld herself into. Verdandi accepted that her journey was long from being over but at least she could say that she had taken a big step into the right direction. She chuckled to herself and slowly jumped off the chair as she made her way towards the Mission HQ that she had seen so often during these days it was literally her second home in suna. Verd left Avalanche to wait outside. The large bear casually nibbling on the tent with his lips, getting scolded by the guards for doing so but he could just shove them away without a single care in the world. Verd had to admit he was growing bigger than it was going to be good for him.

Mission HQ implied on Verdandi's request for ANBU entrance has not been granted yet as her request was still in process. Nodding to it a bit impatiently considering how much work she had put into that Job in the capital. However, considering the skills she had put to light that day, she'd receive an ANBU related quest after all. Verd heard that, connected to the intel leak she too had been investigating, Hunter Squads were currently under pressure. One in particular was not responding to HQ's calls anymore. Verd acknowledged. Taking the mission intel scroll with the last known coordinates of the Hunters sealed within. Patting Avalanche gently on his back on her way out and motioning him to tag along. The bear growled and left the guards clinging to him behind. Giving them a playful brush with his tail on the way out. Verd had to gear up properly for this. Getting all her stuff together. Filling her pockets with kunai, senbon and shuriken. Prepping all of it to fit in her belts pockets and pouches. Then slowly climbing on Ava's back and squeezing his waist with her legs. Letting the good boy know its time to head out. Verd had her radio on and was in contact with HQ and knew the coordinates to go for. It would proof to be quite the journey off the grid but hunter ninja usually went for the offensive kind of jobs into the heart of the enemy.

More so, Verdandi wasn't surprised to find the current situation of the Squad. She couldn't tell if some of them had been killed or not as she had not been properly informed about the full number of all men involved. Her sharingan was doing most of the job. While some of the enemy targets were potentially trying to conceal themselves, the Hunter-nin did expel their chakra and aura on purpose. They had ways to simply leak their energy out of them, since they weren't using their chakra for anything else anyway. Verd would have seen them without them doing that but it kind of was a neat feature as it sorts of clearly showed the difference between the hunters she was supposed to rescue and the enemy targets she was supposed to take down. Verd would pull out some paper and pen and start to casually map the canyon and the bandit camp within. The camp was half protected by the cut out in the canyon and half in the open desert. It seemed clear that some building structures had been built into the mountainside itself. That'd certainly include prison and the office of the bandit leader. Verd cross checked her intel with what she could gather from the mission briefing. The bandit boss, Weng Lou Zhang was supposedly the high profile target the hunters were to take down. With the intel leak he had been expecting them however.

The moment the killed his double would be the moment, they got electrocuted by an electric net trap and taken out by poisoned senbon traps. Verd would be surprised if all of the hunters had survived this. But again, without a proper counter towards whom she was supposed to rescue, she had no clue if they were all still accounted for. That was typically Kiri. The mission's success was far more important than the rescue of the hunters. Or they just didn't want to spread more intel about what already had leaked. Verd kept sketching out the surroundings on her paper map and would spy her way in to get a feeling of patrols, men power and eventually letting her Sharingan use its superior perception to get a picture of that bandit leader. Since he had a chakra pool alike one or two others. It was easy to track him with her eye. What was more complicated, most of the soldiers weren't even ninjas. So, they didn't actively regulate their chakra. Making it almost impossible for Verdandi to see them with her eye from this distance. People that actively utilized their pool and flow were much brighter in Verdandi's eye than those who didn't. Which literally meant, that if you were weaker you had bigger chances of escaping her taking notice of you. Verd found that disclaimer to be quite annoying but she was yet not complete Master of her eye. Training it over the years would eventually allow her to learn and control it much better.

Verd was eventually done with scouting the place. Moving back to a little oasis spot off the grid. Using a specific frequency given by HQ to contact them and give them an average picture of soldiers, ninja and the status of the Hunter nin. Once done, Verd was informed to wait and sit tight. Supposedly someone had been at Mission HQ and requested to join in on the mission. Verd scratched her head but shrugged it off. She didn't mint backup. Especially on a mission that might turn out to be complicated to move in. She'd sit her butt under a tree to get some shade. Her eye unable to see the chakra anymore from this distance. But that kind of put her at ease knowing they wouldn't simply find her by sheer luck either. Verd would take a nap. Avalanche had already made himself comfy in the pond of the oasis earlier.


1170

Chakra 310 / 350:

The spy within the hidden mist's border camp was dealt with, but it would seem not before information about a hunter ninja operation was leaked. Raphael would silently kick himself as he listened to the briefing within the Kirigakure border camp's operation tent, a privilege he received for his effort in dispatching the spy. The boy would be one of the first to leave the tent once the briefing was over, he blamed himself for what has happened. If he had acted sooner and caught the spy then the hunter ninja would not be put in this situation, their operation would have more than likely succeeded but because of his slowness they were now either captured or dead. The boy shook his head, he had to make it right. There was no other choice, once he was outside the border camp the boy took off heading for the hunter ninja's last known position. If there was a chance that he could help them he had to take it, after all this was his fault. He had known about the spy for weeks now and yet he had done nothing to stop him, wanting hard evidence before he acted. And now his delay had cost the hunter nin their mission, if there was even a chance they were still alive then he had to help them and if they were dead then the boy would carry out their assignment himself. As the young jounin moved across the desert sand that made up the Land of Wind he replayed the words that were spoken in the operation tent in his mind. The hunters were on an assignment to eliminate a high profile target that had a hand in the criminal activity within the land of wind, they should have returned by now yet no contact has been made since their departure. This lead many to believe that they were captured or even worst killed before their assignment could be completed, while the boy hoped that they were still alive he knew that the chances of that were slim. From what was stated in the tent there was already someone scouting the last known whereabouts of the squad, with any luck he would be able to meet up with them and deal with whatever the situation was with them.

The boy picked up his pace moving at full speed across the sandy desert, leaving a cloud of kicked up sand in his wake as he moved. He knew he would have to slow his pace before he got to close to where the hunter nin had been, just in case there were still enemies in the area, as he did not want to give away his approach, but for the time being with the distance he had to travel it would be acceptable for the time being. The land of wind was a vast wasteland and more often then not really easy to get lost in, however luck was on his side for the simple fact that he knew this desert like the back of his hand and he knew where it was that he was going so it was unlikely that he would get lost. As he drew nearer to his destination he slowed his pace, no longer kicking up the sand as he moved. The oasis was closing in, he was suppose to meet the scout here, Raphael took the time as he walked to begin pumping his chakra into the air around him as well as through his body. He needed to be ready for anything. When he saw the girl sitting in the shade, the young jounin instinctively reach to the back of his belt where Ikari sat. However when he saw the familiar face of the girl who had helped him track down the spy he stopped himself from drawing the blade. The boy would lift his right hand to wave at the girl to ensure that she knew he was not a hostile approaching, his left hand remaining under his cloak close to the hilt of Ikari should trouble arise. Though with his wind sense monitoring any movement within two hundred and fifty meters around himself, he doubted anything would surprise him. The movement in the pond of the oasis drew the boy's attention to the large polar bear, a sight that was not common within the land of wind where the desert sun cooked it's inhabitants. Leading the boy to assume it had accompanied the girl from the mist village, though he was intrigued by the polar bear his fascination would have to wait as there were more important things at hand.

When the boy finally reached the girl he would give a slight tilt of his head, his right hand doing a slight downward spiral as was customarily used among the Kozai as a formal greeting. "Hello, Verdandi. It is a pleasure to see you again, though I can not say I wish it was under better circumstances." The boy stated with a slight smile, the tone of his voice holding the same formal and regal tone as it had when they had first met hunting down the spy, the tone as would be expected from a child brought up the way he was. "So I was told you had already been sent out scouting, any new on the Hunter Nin?" Though he already knew she had some information from the simple fact that she was relaxing, and though he had only worked with her once before she did not strike him as the kind to just lay about while there was work to be done.

---

946

Chakra 380/410

Wind Sense: A-Rank -20
Aspect of the Wind: C-Rank -10

Verdandi was definitely the type that would sit around while work was supposed to be done. But only while it was funny, harmless and of no importance. Seeing that she had been on this mission directly connected to the leak if intel through the spy they had apprehended. Verd was not surprised that her suspicions came true when Raphael showed up at the scene. While Dandi would never admit it. She too had a rather deep feeling of responsibility in this specific mission. Verdandi welcomed her partner in un-crime and would offer him a seat in the shade. Avalanche would recognize the man's scent and actually wave at him with his paw. Sometimes people tend to forget that Ninja Pets had the intelligence far surpassing normal animals at this point. Despite that being true. He was still but a bear. So, Ava's preference to stay within them comfy coolness of the pond over stepping his paws into the sand again. Verd would toss a little shuriken to the trees above and let Raphael watch how one of the famous peachapple fruits dropped into her palm. Munching on it casually away. Getting properly up from her rather lazy position in the shade. Once again. But less teasingly this time. Coming awfully close to Raphael. Sitting herself right next to him. Pulling out a myriad of sketch-drawn plans and maps from her pockets and spaces between her clothes until she found the one that seemed to matter.

The pile of papyrus that would end up on the floor seemingly all connecting to this very situation. Showing a nearly endless amount of statistics, calculations, survival chances. Reaction predictions. Even various potential success rates based of on how well either of the two would perform in this particular mission. Despite Verdandi's clear display of rather odd habits she should have proven her skills to Raphael however, hopefully leaving some space for characteristic odd'ness in the sake of getting this mission to a similar, equally satisfying result as the previous one. Verdandi would show the map of the crescent moon shaped canyon cut out into the mountain side. Besides having scouted various ways to approach the place. Avalanche had sniffed out a specific tunnel they probably used for sewer-like purposes. Despite it being a disgusting thing to think about. Bad smells could be dealt with by covering one's nose properly. So, putting the bad smells aside. Having a rather safe way into an otherwise seemingly inpenetrateable outpost without being seen… at the same time coming out in a rather convenient close proximity to the prisoners? Verd would call it a win-win. She would spread open the map properly and point out to Raph the various locations where she had spotted recurring guard patrols that of course keep out an eye specifically for the prisoners they have. Whilst the bandit camp wasn't expecting visitors just yet. They weren't completely stupid and made sure the prison blocks were exposed forward into the canyon. Making it permanently visible if they were still confined or not. Verdandi's suggestion of how to proceed was unusual but certainly had its point.

"Alright. Here is the deal. Our major disadvantage is that the bosses we're hunting for have a lot of eyes and allies in this camp while we have none. My plan is. Either of us creates 3-4 shadow clones and whenever we move further into the camp, we snatch a guard, take him out, one of the clones uses transformation and replaces him. Eventually by the time we get around to the prisoners we could have half a dozen of our own 'men' in the camp that now work in favour of us actually letting those hunters escape. While one of the clones leads them out of the back entrance to Avalanche. We will slip into their identity inside the cages. Just… with a lot less chains and chakra suppressors on us. Once they bandit boss comes to check upon his guests… we attack them all together. You, Me, clones. Use the moment of surprise. Then we start to sneak out with our bounty bodies while the remaining clones stay and cause enough confusion and ruckus to hold enemy reinforcements at bay as we casually escape into the darkness of the stinky caves again. Sounds good for you?"

Verd had laid down her plan on the table. Raphael was free to add to the creativity. However, Dandi would soon start to form the needed hand seals for creating shadow clones. Shutting down her Sharingan and closing her eye for now too to keep the limited chakra distributed to the clones within somewhat reasonable manners. Avalanche would proceed to lead the two to the entrance of the cave he could smell the stink exhaling from. But would ultimately stay outside. He was to welcome the Hunters as they would run out the tunnels to safety. Taking care of them and eventually transporting them back to the oasis whenever possible. Concentrating the chakra on clones would force the two of them to concentrate more on martial arts, wits and clever use of techniques. Or make sure that the clones would end up using their chakra wisely as well. Verdandi sighed to herself. A lot could go wrong in this whole process. But the lists of "Plan B's" in her head was long. If there was something she was famed for it was intuition and reflexes, able to react in seconds on pure instinct.


920 / 2090

Chakra 290 / 350:

Raphael smiled when he saw Avalanche wave, it was not uncommon to see a ninja pet with intelligence but it was surprising that the bear seemed to remember him from their brief encounter before. Raphael would join Dandi in the shade of the tree she was sitting under, making sure to give her some space so it did not feel like he was invading her personal space. He would watch silently as the girl tossed a shuriken into the tree before catching the fruit she cut down and began eating it, watching her as she sat up he was reminded of her playfulness which only made the young blonde boy smile. It was then that the girl moved closer to him, to the point that they were nearly touching. The boy would not admit it aloud but he did not mind her being this close to him, normally he would say something about someone being that close to him but with Dandi he could not help but feel as though her being close to him some how just felt right. As the girl pulled what seemed to the boy to be a endless supply of papyrus from nearly every point on her body, the boy would simply set there and wait patiently. Raphael knew that the girl more than likely had something related to the situation buried somewhere within her notes, as she laid the map out before him he could not help himself from just watching her as she moved. He snapped himself out of it when the girl began to speak, he was there to do a job he kept telling himself. However as she spoke his thoughts returned to the girl rather than the mission itself, completely lost in his own thought about the beauty the girl had. He did not know why he did not see it clearly before, though perhaps it was their close proximity to each other now that allowed him to see exactly what he did not pay attention to before.

The boy's train of thought shifted when he heard the girl mention of the hunter nin escaping, he did not know how much the girl knew about the hunter nin but all of the ones he had encountered in the past would not run to safety while there was a fight to be had. If they were in any fightable condition they would be more likely to fight with them then try to escape, though if they were injured then of course it would prove more important to get them out as she suggested. "Sounds like a good plan," the boy replied when she had finished explaining her plan. "Though if they are not wounded I would suggest that they may be able to help us eliminate the bandit threat from this location, it would be better to deal with them all now than risk any of them surviving and causing trouble for us in the future. I am sure we can find a key to the chains and everything, though it may require a lot more stealth to prevent any alarms from going off and alerting the whole camp. However this is your mission so I will follow your lead, I am merely here to support your effort in freeing the Hunter Nin due to the fact that it was my lack of action that lead this team to be captured." The boy said his eye's dropping to the ground as he finished his statement, the boy held himself solely responsible for this tradegy for the simple fact that he discovered the mole months ago yet he had no evidence other than a few mishaps and he did not know the identity of the spy. If he had acted sooner he could of found the identity of the man that he now knew was named Kite, and he could of stopped him before he was able to leak the information about the hunter Nin's mission and they would not be in this current situation. In fact if it was not for the girl's help in finding and dealing with the spy, there was a chance that he would not have even been able to find him in the first place. He was grateful for her help in identifying the spy as well as dealing with him, perhaps that was the reason he was feeling this attraction to her now. What he had seen in the previous mission of the girl must have sparked something inside of himself that he was slowly beginning to realize. Whether it was attraction or admiration, the boy did not truly know, but for the time being he would need to push his thoughts to the side and stay focused on the mission.

As the boy said he would follow the girls lead on whatever she decided to go with, following her and avalanche to the cave and making the clones as she had and staying close to her in case there was need for last minute changes to her plan.

---

848/1794

Chakra 70/410
Wind Sense & Aspect of Wind Maintained -10

Shadow clone Activated -15
4 Clones created 70 Chakra each

Verdandi remained completely oblivious towards Raphaels looks and gazes. If she had noticed his slight change in emotional façade or even some genuine emotions rushing through his body she would have been very surprised. She had figured him as a rather emotionless character when they first met. To actually notice that he was not was something she would only do over time while they were close next to each other and already discussed most of the plan. The sudden struck of red flushing cheeks would rise to her as she quickly had to deal with the fact that she realized and noticed his gaze just now. Then realising how close they were sitting. Realising he had been very silent since he arrived. Realising he had been gazing at her. Now realising his eyes didn't stare at Verd with simple curiosity over information and relevant intel but curiosity towards her as a person… or woman. Verd's flushed face was tomato red for a moment. Her body instinctively reacted by cooling her down. Exhaling a thick gasp of frosty breath for a moment. She shook her head and slowly retreated from Raphael's side. Looking down to her own legs a bit embarrassed. She wouldn't give him any kind of 'hell no' sign but rather a gently warm smile back. She felt honoured by his unspoken remark but for the sake of both of them she'd continue without actually speaking about it. Her palm placing itself on the maps and cards as they discussed.

Verdandi felt like slapping her own face into her palm as Raphael casually mentioned that the Hunter nin probably wanted to fight back as well and the lot of them could defeat the camp all together. She nodded embarrassed to have made such a thought mistake and nodded. If they weren't wounded. Which they seemingly were not last time she checked. They could help. Maybe they needed a short break first though. Being dehydrated and all. Verd would proceed to seal all the paperwork except for one, the actual map, into a scroll and let it vanish in the depths of her clothes again. Taking the map at hand and readying her clones they would move on. On the way Raphael would too make his own clones and the little army of them would soon approach the stinky caves. When she would have complained about this as Genin, being an ANBU put new requirements on her tolerating bad things like ill smells. She'd leave Avalanche outside. It'd be torture for him to go through this. Making sure he'd be in hearable distance for her call if needed. Verd snuck in ahead into the cave, Raphael and the clone army would follow. The lot of them keeping their noses shut as well as possible until they passed the worst areas. Once they came to the end of the cave. Verd would notice that the passage had been shut close by a wooden door. She had not noticed that last time. Peeking through its holes she'd also notice a guard outside.

Scratching her head, she'd motion the clones and Raph to move a bit aside. Then motion for one of the clones to come to her. The two of them would proceed to talk in some sort of weird gesture and sign language mix as to not make any sounds while Verd basically pointed at the guard, then at the clone, made some weird 'pouff' symbol and then pointed at the clone again. The clone nodded and gazed past the holes in the wall. Staring at the ugly bandit the clone pouted for a minute as if saying 'why do I always have to be an ugly bandit huh?' but the clone didn't because it wasn't allowed to talk. Hah! The clone took a few steps back, used transformation technique and waited. The noise it generated made the guard curious. Not long until he turned around and the door opened. As he stepped through the gate he couldn't even start expressing his 'what the fuck' as he saw himself staring back at him. He had passed Verdandi who had been crouching low next to the entrance. Moving from the shadows she unsheathed her blade basically into the guys back slicing it once so his back turned into an ) shape. Before he could scream Verd's hand found its way over his mouth and her katana was shoving in from behind perfectly past his spine, towards his rib cage.

She needed to shove a few extra times as each thrust would add another 3.5 inches in depth until the sword passed his heart and killed him. His body dropping to the ground and Verd's clone quickly moved to casually take the guards place. After pulling the first corpse into a corner Verd would return to her position. As if asking the clone 'is it clear?' she'd donk a few times against the wall. One donk yes, two donks no. Easy language. The clone donked twice. Verd hissed at herself and waited. Staring back at Raphael the wait would be tiring. But actually, only five minutes later. DONK. The clone gave the signal. The door opened and Verd signed to the remaining clones and Raphael. It was time. Time to invade a whole bandit camp. Time to hunt down the guards. Time to kill them. Time to replace them just as she did it with the first one already.

920 / 3010

285 / 350:

Verdandi moved further into the compound. The clones casually taking out one enemy after the next. Knocking the lower ranked guards to the ground. Taking their position and letting the remaining troops take care of them. Verd watched how the prison was slowly populated by the clones and men. Allowing them multitude of them to quickly proceed forward. Once they arrived at the prisons. Verd would make sure that one of her clones would start a ruckus at the complete opposite side of the canyon. The loud noises would be waking the guards yet to nap and eventually draw the whole camps attention to it. One of the clones was starting a fight with another one and 'accidentally' bumped into a third, real guard whom then proceeded to fall down a full floor into a haystack. Leaving the lot to laugh about the 'clumsiness' and 'silliness of the guards in question. However. Using the distraction. Verdandi would freeze open the locks on the ANBU's prison cell and quickly move them out of the back. Replacing them in an instant with clones that would transform themselves into their appearance. Seeing as how out of breath and completely bantered by heatstroke's they were, Verdandi had to improvise and deny Raphael's initial tactics. Telling him that there was no way that they would be able to face the guard captain and the whole camp like this while trying to bring these men to safety. Verdandi moved ahead. Returning the prisoners to the already secured pathway back to the back entrance.

Verd would potentially watch how Raphael went in to try and stealth down as many enemies as he could without actually revealing himself. He was clearly angered by the adjustment of the mission and was looking forward to lay waste to the camp. Verd moved in to thwack him on the head. "We can come back another day to destroy the rest of the camp silly. Lets just make sure to get our ANBU corps to safety today okay?". Verd pulled on Raph's arm relentlessly until her potentially gave up and followed the lot of them. The clones would soon start to feel that their masters were escaping the max. range to keep them alive. Moving into various buildings to disperse themselves and not attract too much attention. Eventually the fake prisoners would puff into non-existence as well. Causing one of the real guards to realize that they were gone and sound the alarm. But by that time. Verd had long since loaded the real prisoners onto the back of Avalanche and drove off to the oasis. After a short rest to re-hydrate the prisoners and making sure they were stable for transport. Verd would take off into the distance. Splitting ways with Raphael there. Leaving him the option to either go home or to return to the camp and… 'finish the job' for himself. Verdandi wouldn't take part in mindless slaughter now that the mission objective was fulfilled anyhow. Time to go home.

[EXIT] - closing due inactivity.

Verd WC: 500 / 3'510
Thread WC: 5'304

WC Usage:

Exit

1794