The Mission:

"Yo-hoo, yo-ho a pirate's life for me!" Navi sung as she was flying around Sanosuke. Tiny bells harmonized with her voice so that it seemed as though she had her very own music to go along with her singing. Boredom was what drove the tiny wasp to sing her song. She only learnt the common melody that many children knew because Sansouke taught it to her while they were in the library of Kirigakure during their standby phase of a mission they had just completed. Now they were on a boat for yet another mission they had to complete for the Kiri Alliance. They were on a ferry that was filled with several other shinobi from different villages other than his own. Water kissed their vessel as they were doing yet another border sweep of the shore side of their side of Mizu no Kuni. It would rock them from side to side as they kept on traveling alongside the current. There was nothing to report thus far. Not a single ship was seen that they had to destroy from the look of things. For now they were simply sailing on the ship, listening to the sounds of Sanosule’s partner singing out of boredom. The ranks of all the shinobi were few in number. This time Sanosuke was in charge of about 10 shinobi that were at the very least chuunin ranked in terms of strength. Only about 5 or 6 of them were genin. It would be a good exercise for those starting shinobi to see what would happen when they had to watch the border of the sea. To be honest this was a learning experience for Sansouke himself since he never encountered fighting on the sea.

Leaning over the railing of the ship, Sanosuke let out a sigh out of boredom. There really wasn’t anything for him to do. From what Sanosuke heard from the shinobi he was put in charge of, fighting on the ships for combat was very rare since nobody would dare to fight Kiri in their own territory. Kiri had the strongest naval force of the 5 Major Hidden Villages, so it would be a stupid move indeed for any other village to challenge them in a direct naval conflict. An even stupid move when they will be fighting on Kiri’s home turf. Looks like there wouldn’t be much for him to do on this border patrol this time around. Low rumbling could be felt throughout the ship they were on. The ship was made out of metal casing to brace the hits of jutsu in case they had to fight against shinobi in ship to ship combat. It revebrated through Sanosuke’s bone that made the jounin let go of the ship’s railing to check what was going on. Looking around carefully, Sanosuke tried to find out what was going on. His panic expression caused for all of the other shinobi that was under his rule to look around scared and alarmed at what was currently happening. What was happening? Sanosuke thought frantically as he tried to find out why the very ship they were on was threatening to rip apart the ship from the inside. It was his responsibility to try and find out what was happening to the vessel he was in charge of leading. But that proved problematic to him since he didn’t know what exactly he should be looking for. An enemy, something to do with the current, or was it a malfunction to the ship itself. If anything happened to this ship Sanosuke was leading, then it would be on his head making Sanosuke responsible for the failure of his mission.

Vibrations that rivaled that of an earthquake slowly engulfed the ship in its rocking spell. It made Sanosuke almost teeter off the ship, if he hadn’t had grabbed the railing at the last second then there would be no doubt in his mind that Sanosuke would have been hauled over the edge of the ship. Hanging around there from the side of the helm of the ship, Sanosuke was barely able to hold on because of the violent shakes of the ship that threatened to throw him overboard. Screams could be heard as other shinobi that was on the ship was tossed overboard into the cold waters of the sea that was right below them. Some of them even had their heads bashed against the parts of the ship or even their own people. Sanosuke watched as this violent phenomena was beginning to tear down the ship that Sanosuke was supposed to lead. The haul of it was beginning to be ripped aside in half. Some of the shinobi hit the water harshly having many of them being killed from the fall of the ship. But there were some of them that were able to fall down into the water so that they wouldn’t be killed. Instead they were swimming in the water but barely. ”What the hell is going on here?” Sanosuke said to himself. Fortunate for Sanosuke that he didn’t have to worry about Navi being affected by the roughness of the ship considering that she could fly in the air. This violent shaking that developed through the ship didn’t affect Navi to cause her any bodily harm. All that mattered was that Snaosuke had to try his best to survive. After all as long as he held on to the railing of the ship, Sanosuke would be safe. The haul being cut in half made the railing he was holding on to made it difficult for the jounin to hold on to. It made him slip closer and closer into freezing waters of the Mizu no Kuni sea. Focusing chakra into his gauntlets, Sanosuke gave his hands some more traction in his grip. This was bad, if this kept up Sanosuke would fall into the sea definitely because of the attack.

Looking down right below him, Sanosuke saw that there was something large was bubbling to the surface. Bubbles that were developing right below him was growing larger and larger with every passing second. For a while, Sanosuke just stared at what was going on right below him. Even a genin could tell that the source of the force that was used to destroy the ship that Sanosuke was supposed to command was coming directly from what was going on right below him. A glint of silver caught his eyes as something else besides bubbles was coming into vision. ”Sano move!” Navi shouted to her partner. She was floating at the side of Sanosuke’s head as he hung there for his very life. If Navi was telling him to move, then he should probably do what his partner told him. Swinging his body backwards, Sanosuke let go of the railing he was dangling from in his hands and then let his body freefall to the depths of the water. He used wind chakra to push his body farther and farther away from the ship. His body was soaring backwards in the air with his back parallel to the waters that was right below him. Adjusting his body so that he could maintain his backwards movement by having his feet to the ground, Sanosuke feasted his eyes on what was coming out of the sea. It was what looked like a large scorpion puppet. It had large metallic pincers and when it stood on its, it was about 5 meters tall. From the look of things, there would be more and more of the puppet that was under the water of the sea. Sanosuke had to dodge it at all costs if he wanted to survive. When he landed on the water, Sanosuke made sure that he pulsed chakra at the soles of his feet so that he would be able to stand on the sea’s rigid surface. The current was swaying from side to side making it slightly difficult for him to stand, but after a quick second the jounin was able to adjust his footing to match the waters of the shift water. It only took a second for the puppet to let out a hissing moan before it fell down to get in its proper positioning. A large shadow was catining itself overhead the Kumo jounin as he looked directly up. It seems as though the colossal puppet had risen completely from the water and was much longer than its height. If Sanosuke didn’t move fast, he was sure that he would be splattered by the giant puppet. Slowly ever so slowly, the puppet was plummeting downwards to squish him; it was gaining momentum thanks to gravity’s push. There was no way that Sanosuke would be able to escape from being squished by simply running away. No he had to do something that demanded much more talent than that. Wind chakra danced around Sanosuke’s body as he focused more on the feeling of being light as a feather. It was all that he could do to avoid being killed by the giant puppet that hung over his head. ”Paradigm Shift!” Sanosuke called out loudly. With a mighty pull of his own will, Sanosuke propelled himself backwards at extraordinary speed that was unlike those of a jounin should have. Water skidded on his feet as Sanosuke slide to a stop out of the underbelly of the giant belly that belonged to the puppet scorpion that tried to take his life by simply squishing him.

Thanks to his jutsu, Sanosuke was able to gain some distance from the giant puppet that stood before him. From this distance, Sanosuke was at a good vantage point to look at the puppet from a good view to see the giant puppet’s specs. The giant scorpion stood at about 5 meters tall and was 30 meters long. In the middle of the puppet was a large cannon that was about 3 meters long. Wooden plates were the primary part of the scorpion’s armor that was lined with steel finishes. It was reinforced with steel plates as well along the joints of the puppet itself. Silver reinforced pincers were at the tips of it that would seem its main way of combatting against those that would dare attack it. Right at the head of the scorpion was the Seven Bells insignia.  At each part of its joints and the cannon itself, was a puppeteer that looked to be in charge of manning a specific part of the puppet in order to make it operational. This hunk of scraps was the cause of the ship being ripped to shreds and the death of many of his subordinates. Such a large piece of mechanics.

”Sano, what the hell is that thing?” Navi wondered as she was sizing up their foe alongside Sanosuke. To be honest he had no idea what he could do against something like that. It was so large. Looking around, Sanosuke saw that a majority of his troops were annihilated from the attack of the colossal wooden puppet. There were a few who could still fight, but they were only chuunin and special jounin, with a few genin here and there. In total he had about 7 shinobi that could still fight with injuries that would make it hard for them to assist Sanosuke. The other higher up shinobi were either injured or dead from the blast. The cards were not in his favor at all. They had a big order to complete. Sanosuke cursed under his breath as he brought his hands together to summon his twin blades in a dance of lightning that went on between his fingertips. When the lightning died down, Sanosuke held them tightly and got in his stance. ”I don’t know, but if we let that thing get close to Kiri we’re going to be in big trouble.” Sanosuke retorted sourly. He had the responsibility to fight this large behemoth for Kiri’s sake. It was true. They were the first group to encounter this giant beast made out of wood and iron. Also their border patrol group was the closest stationed to Kiri’s naval base. If they let this thing through, then Kiri’s defenses would be destroyed by that large piece of mechanical fury.

”Kiri forces! Flank the beast! I’ll attack it head on, CHARGE!!” Sanosuke barked out his orders. The shinobi forces that he had been in charge of nodded as they did what they were told by their leading officer at the moment. They needed guidance in this time of need and Sanosuke would be the leader that they needed at the moment. With a shouting charge, the men under his command went to flank the other parts of the giant scorpion that were available. In a flash of speed, it moved at speeds that were rare indeed for something so big. The genin didn’t stand a chance against it. The scorpion was moving at speeds that were faster than a chuunin by a significant amount; but at the same time it was much slower than him. Blood splashed to meet against the water that was in the sea. Crimson droplets that came from the human body were now infecting the sea with blood of Sanosuke’s men. Screams filled the air as their skin was getting ripped apart by the sharp pincers of the giant scorpion. If Sanosuke didn’t do something to end this battle, then more of his men would be killed. Left and right, his men was being killed by his orders. Some of the special jounin ranked shinobi were able to dodge the strikes of the scorpion while at the same time inflicting damage on the puppet. It creaked slightly with each strike it took before making the proper adjustments to its body it needed to make before counterattacking. The time for Sanosuke Flynt to join the battle had come at last. Running at the giant scorpion head on, Sanosuke got his sword so that it was leveled to meet the scorpion head on.

It seemed as though Sanosuke got the scorpion’s attention. Hot steam escaped from the scorpion’s mouth as it made large clicking noises that came from each of the joints of the puppet. Each of the joints made a significant calculation in its positioning to the water so that it would be facing a speeding jounin. After what was like a minute of alignment, Sanosuke saw that the giant scorpion adjusted its claw to try and stab Sanosuke with a large pincer that was as large as Sanosuke’s body. Closing his eyes, Sanosuke focused on the energy gathered in nature to gain the powers he needed to fight such a large creature. He didn’t have time to hesitate. He needed senjutsu chakra right now and that was crucial in fighting this giant puppet. 5 meters, 4 meters, 3 meters, 2 meters….1 meter. More and more Sanosuke tried to absorb senjutsu chakra while running straight for the puppet. After the giant pincer was half a meter from his position right now, Sanosuke opened his eyes. The markings that were on his face that signified his activation of sage mode appeared. A single stripe of silver makeup was on his eyes making it seemed as though he no longer had any pupils. A haze of blue light was radiating of Sanosuke’s body making him shining in a bright blue glow as Sanosuke ran. Sanosuke smirked as he was finally in sage mode. With a swift side step, Sanosuke evaded being skewered by the giant pincer. The side step was more like a jumping action to the water’s surface. With that one leap to the side, Sanosuke spun around to get himself adjusted before continuing his run through at the giant scorpion puppet.

His muscles in his arms were pulled to instinctually and quickly swipe at the joints that connected the nerves of chakra strings to the fingers of the puppeteers that was commanding from their positions on the puppet. From the looks of the puppets, there should be about 5 maybe 6 Seven Bells puppeteers that were in charge of the whole colossal puppet. If he could kill them somehow, then maybe Sanosuke might be able to get this hunk of metal out of commission. But killing them would have to wait; the task that was ahead of him was to simple survive and not be killed by the scorpion puppet’s large pincers. His slash to the right joint of the scorpion’s pincers made contact and thus led to that one joint sputtering weakly. It tried to pick itself up, but there was much trouble. Even with the large clicking that came from the puppet, Sanosuke could hear the distinct curses of frustration that came from inside the puppet. The mechanical difficulties were all Sanosuke needed when he jumped high above the pincer so that he could get a good aerial perspective of his enemy. The large jump gave him a good vantage point. There was a total of 25 major joints that Sanosuke could see. It looked like each of the joints had the most amount of chakra threads to increase mobility of that specific part of the puppet. If they could cut that joint out with damage, then Sanosuke and his forces could have a chance at victory.

While looking at his surroundings, a shadow was casted above his body making everything go dark. Above his head, Sanosuke felt the hot air that came from the hissing joints of the puppet’s other perfectly operational pincer. Hot air kissed the back of his neck making him sweat because of the heat that came from the puppet part that was right before him. He wasn’t scared at all, it’s just the head was making him rather uncomfortable. ”Sano! Look out!!” Navi warned into Sanosuke’s ears. Whipping around his body, Sanosuke saw the pincer was already moving to seek the blood of the Kumo jounin that was dancing around its body. If it wasn’t for Sanosuke’s sudden increase in speed and Navi’s warning, Sanosuke would have been killed by the pincer once again. Spiraling around the pincer that was coming right at him, Sanosuke narrowly avoided being stabbed by the giant puppet part. As he spun in midair, Sanosuke dragged his blade against the puppet’s pincer with each revolution. The jerking motion of the movement made Sanosuke’s shoulder pop out of his socket when he did his maneuver. It caused him to grit his teeth to bear with the pain. Kicking off of the pincer that Sanosuke nearly avoided, Sanosuke did a free fall to get down from the pincer. No doubt that the leading puppeteer of the large puppet was manning the cannon on its back.

”BRING IT YOU DAMN PUPPET!!! GIVE ME YOUR BEST SHOT YOU BUNCH OF BITCHES!!!” Sanosuke roared so that the man firing the cannon would strike at him. The shout was a dare for the cannon to release all it’s got to attack him. If the man was going to strike, then he might as well do it. After all, there was Sanosuke just dangling from midair perfect to be struck down by a blast of the canon. They would be idiots if they didn’t take the chance. The cannon on the back of the wooden beast’s back was glowing yellow with lightning based chakra. Heat was gathering brighter and brighter as more raiton developed in the cannon itself. Sanosuke smirked as he could feel more and more of the chakra gather in the cannon. It would soon fire if Sanosuke didn’t do anything. But why should he do such a thing when this was exactly what Sanosuke wanted in the first place. A tiny ball of lightning was slowly beginning to develop at the tip of the cannon that was about the size of a basketball. The ball of chakra grew larger and larger with every second that passed. It finally was about 5 meters in diameter before it was fire out of the cannon in the form of a beam of chakra. The beam was shot out like a lance of chakra speeding at Sanosuke at high speeds. Bingo… Sanosuke thought to himself as more and more of the chakra  was heading right at him to turn Sanosuke’s body into nothing but ashes. The raiton jutsu looked like the gigantic version of a jutsu that he had seen in the past of the Kumogakure jutsu library. Lightning Release: Divine Lance. That was the name of the technique. A lightning based technique, exactly what he needed to put an end to this thing.

Chakra danced around his own body to focus only on the task at hand. He had to match his chakra to the blast of lightning that was being launched at him. Lightning danced off the tips of his sword as he got his blades to cross each other to defend himself from the attack that was coming at him. More and more lightning was gathered in his twin swords that was so bright that it was radiating chakra. He had to focus more to get himself prepared for that attack that was coming right at him. The blast of lightining that was coming right at him from the canon was getting closer and closer. Static in the air was getting stronger and sronger making his hair stand on end. Slashing his blade at the lightning juts that was coming at him, Sanosuke let out a roar. ”Ekusukaribā!!” Sanosuke roared as he let his sword bat the chakra coming right at him and back at the original caster of the jutsu. In a large explosion, the large puppet exploded in a blast of lightning charka amplified by Sanosuke’s kekkei genkai. Fire exploded causing ripples in the water as Sanosuke landed on the water’s surface. Closing his eyes, Sanosuke allowed for his sage mode and his demonic seal release to be released from his hold. Looking around, Sanosuke noticed that there were only about 5 survivors of the attack. They did pay a steep sacrifice of a good group of shinobi, but they defended Kiri from an attack that would have left a whole in Kiri’s defenses. That was victory enough….
(Exit Thread)
3758/3500

250/335; Jutus Used: