This thread is INVITE ONLY

Information: [x]
Requirement: 4'000 words

Mission name: Birth of the 7 Swords || Prologue: Awakening
Mission rank: A
Objective: Protect the Nation from the attackers
Location: Kirigakure
Reward: 1000 Ryo + 1EP
Mission Description: "Three figures walk into the center of kirigakure streets, three locations, each clutching what appears to be a crimson gemstone in the shape of a pick. Light from the gems catches an eye from a stranger, as the pick is raised to strike at the heart of a citizen, a hark goes out! but it's too late, and the deed is done. Soonafter, alarm bells ring across the city as fire rises from three locations across the lands. Fire and smoke billow from districts across the nation and brave ninja lay dead on the streets. confront the triplicate threat."
Development References: Returning of the 7 swords
Mission Details: A mysterious weapon has been thrust into 3 of the citizens of Kirigakure no sato. Within moments they were transformed with terrifying power, nature chakra thick in the air around them. The beasts which transformed from the innocent few have begun destroying the nation around them with reckless abandon and seem to be resistant to the effects of ninjutsu. This mission can be undertaken 3 times, one for each of the locations / beasts felled. But all 3 need to be completed before this mission can be handed in.

Name: Chakra Beast
Age: Unknown
General Appearance: Hulking behemoths, standing at about ten feet in height and built like an ox with its muscle. Red crystals cover their bodies in sharp horns, spikes tusks and claws which brim with potent nature chakra.
Personality: They are murderous monsters which attack any living thing that moves without thought or consequence, but they are not mindless, merely focused on their deep blood-lusted rampage.
Goals: Destruction.
Abilities: They each have SS-3 strength, SS-3 Endurance, A-3 speed, A-3 Reaction time and A-3 perception. They take -2 ranks of damage from all chakra bases sources due to the energy the crystals seem to emit. The crystal at their heart can be destroyed with 5 basic attacks of S-0 or higher, twice as many for each tier below S-0 the ninja is. They're capable of producing a limitless number of one-foot wide chakra empowered, straightforward blasts from their crystals which travel 80m, these interact as A rank jutsu with max speed and damage for their rank but the beasts may only emit one at a time.
Items: The sharpened crystals over their bodies are considered A rank weapons, dealing the maximum damage of their rank.

There was a nip in the air. A sombre feeling that irritated even the spider whose whole live was one of darkness. The feeling of waking up after having had a nightmare, yet not being capable to recall what it was about. Just the sour tinge of fear. It was all too easy to recognise its taste; the Nightmare Sage of the Osada clan knew it all too well. She was also aware of her own aura sending most creatures around her cowering in a corner, as she had come to cultivate 'fear' as a form of fuel for her own techniques. But this sensation was different. It was not the slow absorption of emotion and energy. It came from much further. Outside Spider Island, and more main land. The sensation of despair. Black plumes reaching for the skies. Kirigakure was under attack.

Haka titled ever so lightly her head, the wolf spider in human form not quite compelled to intervene. Kirigakure had their shinobi and their ANBU to deal with threats like that. Though a Hunter-nin herself, the aranean queen ignored most requests unless they concerned hunting down individuals. She had other things to attend to ever since Sero had taken his rest. She had the lair of the Unmei to build up still, and now that she was the only available Osada she had to represent her father's clan to the best of her abilities as well. The Spider School did not rest despite their notorious seclusion. As if fate had meant for everything to come together, a presence flickered into existence next to the aranean queen.

Apathetic eyes shifted their gaze towards the visitor with a mere blink, waiting for him to speak up. He'd kneel, mustering his courage as her aura reminded him of his frailty as a mortal, and report his findings on what was currently transpiring. An emergency message. A request, no, command to assist in the protection of Kirigakure. Stoic as ever, the Unmei tyrant would assess the shinobi's stalwartness on the matter. Running her hand through her white hair, Haka closed her eyes as she breathed slowly. Contemplating what to do with this command. She had never been keen on being commanded around. Not when Verdandi had tried to do so back in Hansha, not now, not ever. Only one man was entitled to such authority, and he was not available at this point in time. But she was not stupid either. There had not been a single time where Kirigakure had called upon her for trivialities. A fact worth remembering. Allowing this command to pass as a 'slight', Fuinjutsu seals briefly glowed across her body. The white dress she commonly bore as the 'lady of the manor' disappeared and was instantly replaced by 'Lurking Terror', her battle dress. Further covered by her black spidersilk cloak, the emaciated looking Osada suddenly bore the regal presence of a warlord. Confirming the shinobi she would heed the call, the Unmei then summoned forth a Fuinjutsu Gate and vanished from sight, leaving the messenger to himself.

---

Seemingly emerging from the shadow, Haka crouched on top of one of Kirigakure's many buildings. A hulking behemoth vehemently flailed its grotesque fists at the shinobi trying to stop him in his rampage, smashing them with a power that made them look like mosquitoes. The bones of solidly trained men snapped at the slightest touch, their bodies thrown around like they meant nothing. The sort of strength Haka would attribute to Sero and Ayakashi. The sort she certainly was not looking forward to suffering herself. What it didn't pummel to death, was getting shot at by a sort of laser beams on quite a regular base. Those too proved to be rather powerful, seeing how an A-rank technique collided with it and shredded both energies to nothingness. A power like that was nothing the sort Haka had ever seen, wondering even what her own father thought of its presence.

Speaking of which, this might be a moment where Haka would have done well to wake the Dark Father up. But the Unmei had other plans. As the Tyrannis of the Unmei clan, she had a vast army of her kin at her disposal. As the contract holder of the Spider Sage, allies were ready to jump into the fray with her. And as a high-ranked Hunter-nin, her personal crew wouldn't hesitate to follow her. In fact, Haka would register their presence as they hid within the shadows themselves, summoned forward by the same command she had received prior to them.

"How does it look, Haka?", one of the women spoke up.
"Terrible."
"Edible?"
"Not even. It's a giant version of Pebbles gone bad."
"Pebbles?"
"An old acquaintance from Hansha"
"Right. What do we do?"
"Observe. Figure out its weakness. Then kill it.", she stated like it was the most obvious of answers. "Hokori and I will attempt weaken it and bind its mind and body. Mayu and Kotsuzui, you two are tasked with bringing it down to the best of your abilities. Ameya will join you with targeted strikes once I summoned her."
"Do I really have to fight that thing?", the Unmei called Hokori hissed as if hurt.
"Yes. Trap its mind. Let it fight itself."
"Ooh, I can do that :>"

At those words, black chakra bled out of the human flesh-covered book and swirled to form a Summon Circle around them. As it completed, the roof seemingly churned like soil being turned about before it burst open to let a swarm of spiders out. Tiny crawlers, eight-legged terrors the size of an adult's hand and even a couple of giants poured out of the circle to cover the immediate area in a thick mass of black and grey. A swarm of spiders seemingly knowing no limit in size or number - Spider Island itself, rallied under a single banner, had come to wage war with the giant Pebble-kin. And in true Spider School fashion; there would be no mercy for the weak.

---

1019

Ch: 420/420, sench: 120/120

NPCs:
- A spider horde!
- Haka's three Ananasi Hunter-nin

Shinobi Ability
- 40m radius 'Cowardice' negative SC

Just as Haka was about to move in, something of a sound attracted her attention. Like it had uttered her name. Her gaze shifted from the battlefield to the mass of blob that could well pass as a piece of modern art, assessing the rather unfamiliar sight before her. It continued to speak as if she was supposed to be familiar with it, muttering something about water and being boiled alive. She tilted her head lightly, connecting the dots - living pudding, water, speech, familiarity. This could only be one person.

"Boilgetsu.", she uttered with her usual apathy, as if the sorry state of her friend didn't bother her in the slightest. She knew he was capable of shaping himself up and resizing himself to varying heights but hearing him ask for her help rather than that of Verdandi was not something she was all too familiar with. Still, under a, "Only I am entitled to kill you and Verdandi. I don't remember having given you permission to die.", as if her apathetic 'friendship' included owning their lives somehow, she'd form a shapeless suiton clone and allow it to fuse with what was left of the Hozuki. A trick Verdandi had bemusedly used on Chigetsu in the past to change his gender, and one she expected would help him now too, if only to some degree.

Not waiting to see the results, red eyes returned to the battlefield to assess the situation. Of all the Kirigakure shinobi, only the highest rank members remained standing. The rest had been killed or was drooping off in search of healing. Its actual power revealed in the current state of affairs. Using her native arachnid speech, she'd command the swarm of spiders. Sending them to recover the bodies of the dead still littering the battlefield and to wrap them in spider silk for preservation. She knew some corpses would be lost to the more starving members of the swarm, but such was the risk when dealing with Kirigakure's spider horde. Those who remained would prove useful to Kirigakure as the remaining bastions of information  still, the Hunter-nin familiar with the Village's expectations from the ANBU division. The black swarm of spiderlings moved, flowing across street and building like black water as they searched for the designated targets of their Tyrannis. Leaving Haka alone with her own squad and a now hopefully restored Chigetsu. Returning her gaze to Chigetsu, she'd now see how he was doing and speak up again.

"Why is there a giant Pebbles on the loose?", she asked with her grave-like calm demeanour. Trying to pry loose whatever he knew from her friend.

---

449
Total: 1'468

OOC: sorry, bit short, but open for you to tell all you know from your previous fight.

The shapeless suiton clone, and he was very grateful that it was shapeless, immediately made the situation better. Steam bellowed out at the introduction of a new, fresh supply of water. The majority of the heat inside of him would dissipate, and he would be allowed to collect his form back into its normal humanoid shape. As it was shapeless, Chigetsu wouldn’t be forced to take on the appearance of Haka in the process, and while that wouldn’t have been at the end of the world it would have been a bit difficult to explain if anyone else came across them in the moment.

“Trust me, I’m not exactly trying to die.” His words came easier now that he had the injection of water from his companion. The ‘clone trick’ that Haka used on him brought back embarrassing memories of when it was used on him by Verdandi back in that bathhouse. This memories were wildly inappropriate for the current situation, and so they were quickly discarded.

“I had tried to use a jutsu that I just learned, and it ended up nearly boiling me alive and blowing up half the village- It was a mistake, but that’s not important right now.” The distance between them resulted in Chigetsu shouting in order to be heard. This positioning wasn’t ideal, especially with the beast between them, and so Chigetsu would quickly leap forward now that he had control over his internals again. Soaring over the somewhat confused beast, he would catch his heel on the roof’s gutter and skip up the tiling until he was a mere hopscotch away from the frightening spider woman. Getting so close, Chigetsu could feel her ‘aura’ reaching out to grasp his mind, although at this point he had grown intimately familiar with it after knowing the woman for so long. With as cowardly as Chigetsu was normally, there wasn’t any way he could become more afraid of the current situation. Haka was here, he presumed, to help anyway.

“Alright.” He would let out a quick pant, another bellow of steam erupting from his lips and spilling out into the colder air. “These strange monsters suddenly popped up throughout the village and started destroying everything. I had met up with Fuyuko earlier and together we managed to kill one of them, but she was left too exhausted to continue.” He couldn’t exactly judge her, considered he was left in that pitiful state of half-boiling after fighting.

“The Mizukage was with us for a little bit, but she disappeared on us. I think she went out to fight another one of them, but I lost track of her. I tried to look for her and meet up, but I couldn’t find any signs of her still fighting, or where she might be. I’m not sure if she’s still alive. I have no idea how many more of those ‘giant Pebbles’ are left either. Everyone else has been completely useless. I've watched squads of ANBU be cut into like butter. It's like there's nobody here competent enough to even tie their own shoe laces. And with the Mizukage gone, I don't know who else there is that I can rely on around here...”

"I'm really glad you came. Thank you." It would take Chigetsu a moment to catch his breath after that. He wasn’t used to speaking so much, being a much more quiet person than the babbling now would imply. Part of it was that he was really, really happy to see Haka again. Both because it had been a while since their last encounter, and also because she likely partially saved his life in that moment. Also, because he didn’t think he could kill another one of these monsters without destroying half the village in the process. The fact that Haka seemed to bring an entire squad with her along with a horde of spiders only added to the joy. He was so happy that he could kiss her right now, except that would of course be suicide, so Chigetsu wouldn’t dare.

“You’ll have to introduce me to your little squad here after this all is over. I wasn’t aware you took on your own group.” He would look curiously over the three women who had accompanied Haka to the battlefield. It seemed incredibly out of character for Haka to bother with a group of genin, so Chigetsu was sure there was more than met the eye to these three that accompanied her. Of course, perhaps Haka would be exactly the best sort to train genin. She would definitely weed out the weak. Although, all of them being female made him suspect that they were likely also spiders just as she was.

“Will you help me take this one down?” He would ask after that moment of casual conversation. It wasn’t entirely guaranteed that Haka was here to help in the first place. This could just be the invasion force of Spider Island, preying upon the sudden weakness of Kirigakure. He hoped that wasn’t the case, but he wouldn’t discount it. “I’m not exactly at my best, but the two of us and your squad should hopefully be enough.”

---

WC: [889/1893]
CH: [290/400]

The clone had been sufficient to shape him back up, and with his voice properly restored it'd be much easier to make him understood. The wolf spider in disguise waited patiently, arms folded, eyes fixated on the hostile scene before while Chigetsu spoke. He'd assure her he had no intention of dying, but that didn't trigger much of a reaction. Chigetsu was no lemming. Self-destructive tendencies was not something she'd attribute to him, even if was an unusual being in comparison to humans or spiders. Clumsiness would be more fitting, yet even if such was the case, Chigetsu seemed to have an odd mastery in it. Nonsensical chaos was to Chigetsu like analytic order was to Haka. At least, that's how she often perceived the Hozuki to be with those eight eyes of hers. So hearing how he had boiled himself while fighting did not come as a big surprise. It sounded mind-bogglingly miraculous, rather.

Things took a turn towards seriousness when he started to share his information on the situation. The Mizukage was involved, then vanished. It'd be hard to believe that one of the strongest humans on earth - or so they said - would flee or be killed off so easily, so the Unmei supposed she had found something else to occupy herself with. Questioning the illogical actions of most humans was hardly something Haka bothered with. Not only because there had always been a certain love-hate relationship between the the arachnids and the humans, but also because human nature and its society was inefficient and easily torn to pieces due to the way the strongest stooped to protect the weaker. In the Unmei's eyes, survival rose above silly chivalry.

That said, it remained an unusual fact for the strongest not to step in and protect the weaker shinobi. Almost counter-intuitive to the nature. Did this mean something? Had the Mizukage understood survival was paramount to walk the road of true strength? From the sound of it, she might be the only one capable of dealing with the giant Pebbles, so why then had she disappeared? It was hard to say, the aranean queen never having dealt with the likes of a kage. The battle was left in the hands of those who proved too weak. Not even their numbers sufficed; the horde of humans hardly the mind or the instinct to function properly in a massive wave. There was a saying about Haka had picked up somewhere... 'The IQ of a mob equalled to the lowest of the mass divided by its amount'. Even without knowing exactly what 'IQ' meant, humans condescended the idea of a human mob in favour of solitary superiority. A paradox to their usual approach when it came to their community.

That's where the spider horde came in. Even if spiders were solitary hunters, they were not unfamiliar with swarms. Even if Haka seemed a solitary shinobi, she had always others available at her beck and call. And so she nodded in reply to Chigetsu stating he was happy to have her around. It had been too long since the two had fought side by side. The massive Chimonstru and the tiny spider. Pudding and Death; they had made a good team in Sunagakure.

"We are here to hunt.", she confirmed his question about helping him in taking down the giant Pebbles. "As for my personal squad, they will join. Kotsuzui is a flesh weaver of the clan. The body holds few secrets to her. Mayu is quiet. It is a good thing to be as a trapper and hunter. And Hokori is a mind weaver. She will turn giant Pebbles against himself. The three of them together are good at locking prey down. They even know how to lace shoes."

Each of them would briefly glance to Chigetsu when their names were heard. Kotsuzui winked confidently, her small whitened face an inhumane allure despite the deep red eyes as the girl seemed to have gussied up for the occasion. Mayu shot a brief glance, the mute simply folding his arms like he held no interest in getting to know the 'stranger' before him, yet at the same time didn't simply ignore him. Lastly, Hokori inched forward, narrowed eyes like she couldn't see well. Her eyes would assess the Hozuki from top to bottom before flashing a wry smile.

"Virgin skin. Perfect for a tattoo", she'd coo like she just discovered a fresh canvas to paint on. "Any friend of Haka's gets their first tattoo for free. So you're in luck, boy, because that means you're a rare gem~"

Hearing Chigetsu was not on his best and knowing he was just as much part of Sero's dark horde, she'd shoot a tiny strand of chakra to the Hozuki and transfer chakra into him to replenish his reserves. Her own demonic energy source was nothing he couldn't handle if he was used to Sero's dark influence. She had inherited his advanced release and had embraced her Sage heritage, but the arachnid remained a progeny of the Dark Father - younger, weaker still, and far from holding or mastering the power the man held.

"You'll be fine. The Ananasi will weave the giant Pebbles' body and mind into confusion. Chimonstru and Haka can search for its weakness and kill it. Do you know how to destroy it?"

---

913
Total: 2381

ch: 355/420, sench: 120/120

- 15 : suiton clone
- 50 : chakra transfer to Chigetsu

They were here to hunt. He had to assume that someone from Kirigakure had come and requested their assistance. That was brave of whatever grunt they sent. Coming to Spider Island begging for help wasn’t something that Chigetsu assumed would normally go well. Perhaps Haka took the requests of Kirigakure more seriously than he assumed. Still, there wasn’t anyone he would want on his side more than Haka. They had made a good team together in Sunagakure. But that was fighting against humans. They had come a long time since their shared experience in the Hansa, but this was a completely different story than anything else they had fought before.

Kotsuzui. Mayu. Hokori. The names were immediately committed to memory along with each of their appearances. Getting to actually know them could come later. Of course, he wasn’t sure how personable these spiders would be given Haka’s personality. The blabbering of the one introduced as Hokori gave him a bit of hope on that regard. Although, the way in which she described his skin as ‘virgin’ was a bit concerning. He had never considered getting a tattoo before. Ink and Hozuki didn’t exactly mix. The best that he could go for in that sort of sense was maybe something watercolor, and that was an entirely different story than ink tattooing… This wasn’t the time for thinking about tattoos.

“I’ll pass on that.” That’s what Chigetsu would have said, but the burst of chakra unsettled his form. Like the shimmering body of a lake that had just had a stone skipped across, Chigetsu’s skin would part away in ripples as vibrations echoed throughout his body. The words that he had been trying to say would be lost in translation, coming out as bubbles before his body would collapse to the ground. He had collapsed into pudding, knocked off his feet from the sudden burst of chakra sent into his body. It was a lot of feeling that he wasn’t used to. A completely new experience. He was familiar with the flavor of Sero’s chakra, but Haka’s had an entirely different taste. It was similar, but like comparing vanilla ice cream and butter pecan. They both looked nearly identical, but had nuanced differences that were easy to taste once you actually got it in your mouth. While Chigetsu had never been a particularly skilled sensor it was very easy to tell fine details about chakra after it was shoved inside of you. That he could taste the flavor of Boil Release was surprising as well, but not that surprising. Given her lineage from the Osada it wasn’t unexpected for Haka to develop something along those lines. It would only last a moment, and he would quickly reform into human once again, but the entire experience had left him flabbergasted. He felt the chakra transfer into his own system, and he was left in awe. That was possible? He had no idea. Chigetsu was left staring with wide eyes at Haka.

“That’s incredible. When and where did you learn to share chakra like that? I didn’t think it was possible…” He would stop. All this conversation could wait. Chigetsu would clear his throat.

“There’s a red crystal over where it’s heart would be. That’s what needs to be destroyed in order to kill it, but most ninjutsu seems to barely have any effect against its crystals. The thing is incredibly fast too, and stronger than anything I’ve ever seen. They can fire lasers out from the crystals as well. Anything it can do will kill, so don’t get hit no matter what.”

“I didn’t have much effect with ninjutsu before, so try genjutsu if you have any. Maybe that’ll work better.” He would offer that as a suggestion before turning back down to the beast. “If you need me to, I can restrain it, but doing so will leave me half boiled again like how you saw me in the beginning.”

“You’ve seen how I fight before. It’s hard for me to do anything when I have to worry about all these buildings and civilians in the way. I can’t exactly destroy the village while trying to save it. So I’ll follow your lead here.”

The massive rock-monster, which Haka had taken to amusingly calling pebbles after the golem they discovered in the Hansa, had seemed to finish playing around with the team of ANBU that it had been fighting previously. The five that stood up above it were the only targets left in sight. It would release a snort as it turned to stare up at them, appearing like a rhinoceros preparing to charge. A thick glow of red energy would surround it, emanating from the crystals that covered its body and spreading around to cover the rest of its skin. It appeared as though the planning stage was now over, and combat was about to begin.

---

WC: [842/2735]
CH: [390/400]

The offered information, no matter how little, provided good insight on their enemy. Faster, harder, deadlier. Dodging its attacks was paramount to survival. Haka knew her own physical limitations. Spiders weren't the toughest beings among the living but the natural born huntress had other ways to deal with creatures supposedly more powerful than herself. Of all the shinobi in Kirigakure, few would rival her ability to remain undetected. The Nightmare Wraith of Spider Island had not become the embodiment of the island's terror by mere boasting and bravura. More than once she had shown how easily she could slip passed the watchful eyes of her enemies only to kill them with a minimum of opposition. And she had only become better at it as she grew stronger, and as she became the Nightmare Sage.

But while getting closer unnoticed was not of any concern, Chigetsu's statement that ninjutsu did little to no damage was of a greater concern. Most of the tyrant's techniques were ninjutsu, her most powerful ability, her signature technique, being classified exactly as that: ninjutsu. Now, she had the means to seal one's chakra thanks to the expansive Fuinjutsu library of her father, but sealing away its ability to fire lasers did little if it couldn't be followed up by a proper offence. Her eyes shifted to Kotsuzui and Mayu, two of her personal team that were more aligned with physical combat. Taijutsu, Iryojutsu and Kugutsu. At least one of those should provide the means to deal with the limitations imposed by this powerful elemental. A change of plans was required for that to succeed though.

"I can get closer without being seen and try to seal off the chakra stream. It won't stop its physical prowess but that should give us a window of opportunity to further restrict its power. If Hokori traps his mind, then Chigetsu could restrict his movements sufficiently for Kotsuzui and Mayu to get a few solid punches in."

A basic strategy was revealed. The best thing she could currently come up with based on the info provided and the skills she knew to have at her disposal. If that one didn't work, then hopefully the new information provided during their first attempt would suffice for either one of them to come up with a new strategy. But for now it was a matter of making the proper preparations. There was no saying that sealing off the chakra would remove the scalding effect on Chigetsu. It was at best an assumption to make; a needless risk that could involve more casualties than was needed. Haka disliked the thought of making assumptions, preferring to opt for proper defensive measures instead. At the same time, by going in first, she left herself vulnerable to an immediate counter-strike, whereas the rest of her ANBU squad were capable of providing most of their support from range or when the giant Pebbles had sufficiently been restricted.

"Would a defensive Seal around you prevent you from being boiled, Chigetsu?"

If Chigetsu gave a positive answer to her question, she'd form the hand seals required for a high ranked Fuinjutsu Seal. The strongest variant of her chakra-denying seal which absorbed all foreign chakra expressions. Unlike her 'Tapestry of Life', which focused on more durability, this one was intended to tackle greater powers than herself. A technique that could prove more useful considering the current situation. If Chigetsu denied the suggestion, she would not impose herself, simply leaving it up to him to find a means to avoid boiling again. After all, there was no saying he'd require protection once the chakra of the golem was temporarily sealed - perhaps it was his chakra that allowed him to sear others to begin with.

Considering preparations done, Haka's appearance changed as she entered her own Sage form - that of the Nightmare Sage. As if the naturally oppressive aura of the arachnid wasn't sufficient, the embodiment of nightmares further enhanced the feeling of terror she spread. Those who suffered her fearful aura additionally found that emotion digging deeper within their mind and soul to a point their senses were completely being numbed by skin-deep terror. All the while, Haka's features darkened. Her eyes, already apathetic, lost every cinder of emotion and became as hollow as the death-stare of Sero himself. White hair turned to pitch black darkness seemingly trying to swallow the soul of onlookers. Even her clothes seemed to be consumed by shadows now, a ink-black darkness without colour upon which her armour fed and fuelled itself until eight tendrils jutted out to reveal the origins of this surreal entity - the Spider Sage Animal.

"When I place the seal, I will become visible again. It'll be your turn to play your part.", she stated with echoing words as hollow as the winds of Hansha. Once everyone had signed they were ready, a next set of hand seals were formed and the Nightmare Sage disappeared from all mundane and senjutsu senses.

Closing the distance between her and the raging Pebble-giant, it was as if Haka had entered an overlapping Hansha. The souls of the slain lingered around, confused at their predicament. Disregarding the Sage on her path who jumped from rooftop to rooftop, ran across the streets and climbed up the bewildered Creation. Positioning herself around the Heart Crystal Chigetsu had mentioned, she took a brief glance around her to assure herself the others were in position and ready to jump to action. Then, the spider, snake, hare, ox, rat, bird hand seals were formed and the chakra of the Sealing Technique was smacked on top of its Heart Crystal.

Haka became visible again, the activation of her technique breaking her stealth. The cue for the others to move in and play their part in this dangerous game. Almost instantaneously after that, a mighty stone fist swatted her away with extraordinary power. Despite her armour, the spider felt several of her bones snap upon impact before finding her lithe figure soaring through the skies like a black missile. She'd crash-land uncomfortably into a building, and remain there for a while as she endured the pain trying to take over her mind.

But the Seal was taking effect. As if the rubble giant was suffering a heart attack, it bellowed as it stumbled around. Its system crippled as the Seal suppressed its extravagant chakra reserves. Perhaps not sufficient to make it completely useless, but certainly enough to lower its offensive prowess. Leaving a window for the others to move in.

---

1108
Total: 3'489

Chakra stuff:

Haka’s question needed a moment of thought. The Joki Boi was not something he had really tested before. The last time it was used was in the process of destroying the last demon. He was fully aware of the destructive ability it possessed just from using it in the past, but the fine intrinsic details were something that he was more or less unaware of. Jury-rigging it to work together with his Clone Possession Technique was something he did more or less on the fly as well. The truth was that he didn’t know if a seal would prevent him from melting, or even prevent the explosion that would ensure from it and rip the village apart. Could he afford to be wrong about something like that? It would surely kill everyone involved if he was wrong. At the same time, could he afford to not use it? The only reason he had been able to successfully restrain it the last time was the speed it granted him.

“Yes. It should stop me from being boiled, if the seal is strong enough. Probably.”

He watched as she formed the hand seals. The seal would form around the place of impact almost instantaneously, and the chakra around it would snake out in a spider-web to the place where Chigetsu stood. Restraining chakra would immediately surround him. Chigetsu hoped more than anything that his assumption was correct. He hadn’t told Haka the true nature of the technique, which involved him exploding from the built up heat, but hopefully that wouldn’t become relevant.

Following the application of the seal, Chigetsu would begin to apply his own technique. He made no visible hand seals in order to activate it, but his body was already restructuring itself. In a matter of moments Chigetsu had compressed down to half his original size. His height and features turned to that of a young child version of himself. The hesitation and fear that he expressed the last time he had fought one of these monsters had vanished entirely. After watching one be killed, he knew it could bleed and die, and that he could kill it just the same as Fuyuko could. The Child-getsu would be ready. He could feel the manner in which the seal clung to his chakra, and the already heating liquid that composed his core.

It seemed he wasn’t the only one who had transformed.  Haka’s appearance was similarly completely different. Without any knowledge of Senjutsu Chigetsu was completely incapable of acknowledging it as Sage Mode, but the difference was obvious. He felt the change before even seeing it, Haka’s natural aura growing much, much heavier. Pressured down by the weight of fear he found himself nearly paralyzed for a moment. Just barely used to her normal aura, it would take an awful lot for him to get used to this. Reminding himself how to breathe, he would take a moment to appreciate the changes in her form. As he knew she was actually a spider he really shouldn’t have been shocked by her pseudo-arachnid appearance, but the state of mind he was in from her oppressive aura wasn’t the best. It caught him off guard, and his mouth would hang open for a second. It was her eyes more than anything that caught him off guard.

He could only weakly nod as she told him the plan. Chigetsu would have to ask her about this later, at some point.

After she had turned invisible, all Chigetsu could do was wait. It wouldn’t take long. Haka would reappear in her current state only a few moments later, her hand resting on the center heart-crystal of the monster-beast. The seal that she had placed on top of it was clearly visible, stretching black on red across the crystal. He could barely process this information before Haka was swatted away like a fly. Her body made the worst sound when the stone fist collided with her, and panic bells would sound in his mind as he watched her body soar through the air. As much as her new form was scary, and as emotionless as Haka was, Chigetsu had the natural instinct to rush out and catch her. The comradery they had built up to this point was enough for him to have a subconscious desire to protect her, but acting on that would have meant not capitalizing on the opportunity that she risked herself to provide. Hoping that she was tougher than her emaciated form appeared, Chigetsu would rush forward. Off the rooftop, there would be three steps until he reached the beast. It’s stumbling and panic at the sweltering pain in its chest would throw off its guard, and to the beast it would appear as if the Child-getsu had simply just appeared suddenly in front of it. Rather than stopping in front of it, Chigetsu would instead be mid-bounce. Like a stone skipped across an idle river, he would skip right into the beast’s midsection, splashing against it like a thrown puddle. Rather than bouncing off or dripping down, the puddle would cling to the rock and crystal that it hit, and in a moment the puddle-getsu would be wrapping around the monster. It was as if the puddle were trying to give it another set of skin with its own liquid form, wrapping up and down its arms and legs until the puddle was a series of snaking tendrils wrapping around each limb. Together with the heart-attack pill in seal form that Haka had place onto its heart and the restraining of Puddle-Child-getsu, there was nary a thing the monster could do much more than struggle.

This helplessness would last for a full second, until a beam of hot red laser would spray out from one of the beast’s crystals. It would cut through the tendril of water like a hot knife through butter, except even less as water likely provided much less resistance than butter did. Being cut through would be a minor inconvenience, as the Puddle-Child-getsu would simple restretch itself to recover the are as soon as the beam was finished, now twisting a bit tighter in an effort to further restrict the beast, but there wouldn’t be very much that it could do to prevent giant-Pebbles here from lighting up like a disco ball and firing out its crimson payloads like it was going out of style. Judging by the light show that was beginning to leak out of each of the crystals that stuck out from its flesh, it was looking as if that was what the beast was planning. When in panic, fire wildly in every direction. Considering the circumstances it wasn’t exactly a bad plan, but it wasn’t likely to do much more than create wild amounts of property damage. Considering each beam traveled in a straight line he would hope that Haka’s little squad of spiderlings would be clever enough to avoid them, or at the very least quick enough on their feet to dodge.

---

[1202/3937]

Chakra:

---

925
Total: 4'414

ch: 225/420, sench: 95/120

-00/-10 : Sage Form maintenance
-25 : A-rank Greater Tapestry of Life
-30 : S-rank Arms of the Mighty
-20 : B-rank Divinity Cascading Grace [+50 m/s movement to Haka, Chigetsu]

With his stretchy bind ongoing, Chigetsu would have his full attention stuck on capturing the beast to the best of his ability. Unlike the last time, he was able to completely restrain the thing from moving at all. Only the monster’s cries and struggling flexing of its muscles would let you know it was anything more than a statue. That and the lasers that it was shooting all over the place. Statues usually didn’t do that, at least not to his knowledge. He was at least slightly aware of the actions that surrounded him, at least to the point where he could watch the attempts of Haka’s squad in attacking the beast he was restraining. If it wasn’t for the fact that they were in a life or death situation and his best friend may have just been killed, Chigetsu might have laughed at the senbon that they were throwing. Perhaps it was just because he had prior experience with these things, but the idea of throwing what were essentially splinters at the thing was sort of comical. If that was the best that they had, maybe they all were really about to die. With the seal that Haka had put on him, he couldn’t even suicide bomb the thing in an attempt to take it out. Not that it was a particularly appealing idea to kill everyone in a hundred meter radius, especially since he quite liked the people within the hundred meter radius, but if that was the only way that this thing could be stopped…

The strike by one of the spider squad changed his mind and broke him out of that depressing train of thought. A crack was better than nothing, and it impressed him a bit that Mayu was even able to do that much considering the minor effect he saw a Chidori have on the crystal. Chigetsu wasn’t aware of the Genjutsu that was going on behind the scenes. Despite all the training he had recently done into the subject of Genjutsu, he still remained blissfully ignorant of even the most basic details of recognizing their use, and had little skill in them all together. Even as the beast attempted to thrash and free itself out of the pain, Chigetsu would hold on tight. It wouldn’t move an inch, only able to struggle against a winding and binding goo that held it tightly where it stood. Still, the spider squad seemed ill equipped to take down a beast like this. Against humans he was sure they were all more than competent, but this was very clearly a prey beyond mere humanity.

It was just then that he noticed the return of Haka. A great relief washed over him. She had been hit hard, but he should have known not to doubt her. Haka was strong. One of the strongest people he knew. He would be silently cheering her on as he watched her charge forward.

He would do as she told, springing off the beast like a … spring. He would hit the ground mere meters away recollected into his normal form, except much larger than before. The steam was already building up inside him due to all the struggling that the beast had done, and his now sudden movements. Chigetsu was now easily twice the size of a normal person, and still inflating slowly like a balloon. Despite this he kept his incredible speed, and was able to bounce back and land on his feet like an acrobat. He would explode soon. Although, perhaps that was a good thing? The area around here was already completely destroyed anyway. If only there was a way he could target specific areas and avoid casualties…

He would burst up again, growing to about the size of a building as Haka ripped the creature’s legs off. The heat emanating from his body would be easily felt by both her and the beast, and it would increase significantly with that last expansion. Staring down at the battlefield with his comically oversized form, Chigetsu had a few quick decisions to make.

“Get away from it. I’m going to explode.”

After speaking those words he would grow another size. He nearly at his bursting point. It would just take another few seconds until he would pop. The area around them would be vaporized.Buildings would be reduced to ashes, and then blown away by the force of the explosion. The current would move in ways as to avoid the four allies that had been on the batltefield with him - Haka, Kotsuzui, mayu, and Hokori would all be spared the brunt of the blast. The steam thrown up from the explosion would slowly begin to settle after the Chigetsu-splosion. The battlefield was left a perfectly circular field of ash now, with the exception of the spots where the spiders had been standing. Chigetsu was nowhere in sight. The seal that Haka had provided earlier had done its job and held up, but that didn’t seem to stop the explosion itself from happening.

But the beast remained. It’s exterior was blackened, and it lay now face first in the ashes due to its lack of leg. Despite its center crystal still being intact the thing’s entire body was cooked medium rare, and its exterior cooked into a nice thick hide. Although still alive, it hardly seemed in much of a threat any longer due to how severe its injuries were.

---

[921/4858]

---

649
Total: 5'063

ch: 180/420, sench: 85/120
- 00/-10 : Sage Form maintenance
- 10 : Body Flicker
- 15 : Summoning Technique: Ameya
- 05 : Fuinjutsu Mastery
- 20 : Supoidazu

The steam thrown up into the air from the explosion would begin to condense. The cloud of dust and steam and fog would lower enough that hail would begin to form, pelting down over those still in the ashen radius of the explosion. The temperature in the surrounding area had risen to an unnatural heat following the detonation, but now it would drop suddenly and dramatically. Together with the hail, it was now a brisk chill that surrounded the area. Not nearly that of where it snowed regularly, such as the Land of Snow, but still more than what Kirigakure regularly experienced. It would take a few minutes before the mist that had been thrown up into the air by Chigetsu’s explosion would condense in full. It would begin to stream back down to the ground as if it were being magnetically pulled into one location, collecting into a thick puffy cloud against the ground. The cloud would take shape as more and more of the condensed steam flowed into it, and very quickly it would take on the appearance of a human. As the color returned to its face and the steam returned to being water, it would be clear who it was. Chigetsu. This was the conditionation of his Joki Boi technique, and what made it worthy of the title “Infinite Explosion”.

Having recollected, Chigetsu would be back to his usual self. He had never done this before, so the process of detonating into a steam explosion and then recollecting was an incredibly disorienting experience. It was as if he was just hit by a truck, or something along those lines. There would be a few moments where he would just blink dumbly, staring around bewildered as his senses came back to him. This was something he had never done before, and so in truth he had no idea if this was something he would end up surviving. Exploding in that manner due to boiling yourself alive was, after all, something that would seem pretty fatal. Especially to a Hozuki. The genius of the Second Mizukage had to be commended though. Still, this wasn’t something he wanted to overuse. The amount of chakra it cost him, along with how disoriented it made him afterward made it have somewhat limited combat potential. That wasn’t even considering the massive collateral damage that he caused just by using it. A few blocks of Kirigakure were just evaporated, turned entirely into ash. He hoped that there weren’t any survivors still in the area, or else he would have just become responsible for a lot of deaths. Speaking of survivors, as soon as he gained his senses Chigetsu would begin looking for his allies. Haka and her squad. If they didn’t get out of the way… Well. Chigetsu wouldn’t know what to do.

He would be greeted by the sight of the dead beast, with each of the spiders standing over it. Each of them would be taken note of and counted quick to make sure none were missing. Haka. Kotsuzui. Mayu. Hokori. Ameya as well, who seemed to have suddenly appeared. He could only assume that she was summoned to help dispose of the creature’s body, which seemed to be what they were obviously doing. Or perhaps they just wanted a quick meal now after all that exertion? He couldn’t tell. Spiders were a mystery, truly. He would be still a bit wobbly on his feet, but without hesitation Chigetsu would begin to walk to the group. After a few moments the emotions that flooded into him turned that walk into a run.

“Haka!” Losing his better judgement, Chigetsu would be overwhelmed by how happy he was to see that she was alive. Seeing her swatted like a fly by the rock monster had put a growing fear in the back of his head that her frail body might not have been able to handle the punishment. He had seen countless other shinobi of Kirigakure killed in the same way, although perhaps he shouldn’t have doubted Haka, as he knew exactly what she was capable of. Regardless, he would leap once he got close enough, jumping on top of the monster’s body and embracing her in a big bear hug. He had never dared to exactly show affection to Haka before, but this was something of a special circumstance.


[737/5595]

---

[EXIT]

353
Total: 5'416
- 4'000 : A-rank mission
- 1'400 : extra payment (350 ryo)

Surprisingly, Haka would rest her head down on his shoulder. It was a spur of the moment decision to suddenly hug her like this, but it seemed to pay off. She was taking to it better than he had thought. He had completely forgotten, seemingly, the fact that she might be in terrible pain due to being smacked around by that monster earlier. That he was currently causing her a great deal of pain by squeezing her like this when she had broken ribs was something he was completely ignorant to, and something very Chigetsu-like to do. Clumsiness and bumbling ignorance like this was characteristic to him, just as much as spider like apathy was characteristic to Haka.

“Drop dead, Bakagetsu”

His blood ran cold as she whispered into his ear. The realization of who he was hugging came back to him, along with what she was perfectly capable of doing to him, even in her weakened state. Before he could even think about letting go, her aura began to creep into his mind and rattle his brain again, he would have her obsidian kunai stuck deep in his chest. He would release her at once in shock, stumbling backwards before falling off the corpse of the beast entirely and landing on his back on the ground behind him. The kunai was stuck deep in his chest, nearly up to the hilt, and around it warm water would leak out of him and form a small puddle around where he fell. The ridiculousness of the situation, along with the general relief he felt that they were both alive, would make him begin to laugh. Quickly he would break out fully into uncontrollable laughter, unable to stop himself. It was a great relief.

[300/5895]
[EXIT]