Mission name: Rise of the sea nation
Mission rank: S
Objective: Stop the invading force
Location: Undersea city
Reward: 1000
Mission description: Some shonobi have been returning to the surface of the sea above the undersea city torn apart. These shinobi were at least special Jounin rank when they went in. We want you to go eliminate whatever is causing their deaths.
Mission details: Deep within the inner city where air holds have grown stale lights have begun to flicker to life. Hundreds of lights signifying a force has awoken. The monster that ruled the undersea city has reserved itself to the surface now as even its immortality isn't enough for it not to fear what dwells below. A forgotten branch of the Hoshigaki had fled years ago as Kiri burned to the sea and survived in the darkness of the deep sea gradually driven mad over the years by the seclusion. However the depths made them strong and now they wish to reclaim the surface from the lesser beings that hold it. An army resides within and your job will be to claim the head of a commander in one of the city sectors to delay an invasion. There will be ten special Jounin soldiers with tridents that cut 3 inches deep and all B rank stats with all the library suiton jutsu A rank and under. The commander will have all A rank stats and all Suiton and Raiton jutsu in the libraries as well as a harpoon that pierces clean through and returns to him when thrown.

Name: Hoshigaki Soldier
Age: 20 - 30
General Appearance: Gills and leathery skin with scales and a dark leather armor
Personality: Obedient and savage
Motivations: To conquer and consume the humans
Fears: Darkness and the unseen. Bleeding.
Abilities: All B rank stats, all Suiton library jutsu A rank and below, trident which pierces 3 inches deep.
Other:

Spoiler:

Name: Hoshigaki commander
Age: 30 - 40
General Appearance: Red scales with red eyes and light armor.
Personality: Driven to rule, Refuse to surrender
Motivations: Serve the queen. Conquer in her name.
Fears: An enemy force discovering the location of the queen. Dissappointing her.
Abilities: All A rank stats, All Suiton and Raiton jutsu libraries, Harpoon that can pierce clean through an enemy.
Other:

Spoiler:

Sero stood on the shore covered in rocks looking out over the sea. He was positioned on a bridge of land that went out considerably with a lighthouse behind him warning ships of the shore they approached. Still the rocks held his weight as the waves crashed against them. High tide was almost over and when it was gone the land tunnel leading to the undersea city would be open. At one point it might of been an underground passage that hade been tilted when the city sank but now it was the simplest way in for anyone that didn't have a way to breath under water. It would of course have some chance of being detected upon entering but it was a risk he was willing to take. That aside he had been informed he would have an old friend accompanying him for this mission. A squad mate of his that had survived up until now. Nozomi was coming and some part of him stirred at the memories. A fellow soldier that had stood next to him on a couple of battlefields and proven her might. His dull grey eyes glistened silver for a moment at the thought of seeing her growth again. Still he was aware she was of special jounin rank. This mission was to see what was murdering their own of that rank so it had some more risk for her then it did for himself, or so he assumed not being aware of her current growth. He was stronger but not by as much as he thought. Either way he would not allow her to become a corpse. The entire city would be reduced to rubble before he allowed that. That aside they would be on a time limit with the low tide to get in and out after eliminating the target. Otherwise they would be trapped in there with whatever monstrosities

Still he stood there as he waited. She would arrive soon but likely she was already all set to go. As for him he tightened the arm bands of his Hunter nin gear. He stood there in grey pants with grey shin guards and arm guards as well as a grey vest. He had never bothered to change to some blue looking thing the hunter nin had and had instead opted to remain with his ANBU gear. Same quality but colors that suited him better. A bone skull mask was strapped to his silver hair and hung to the side of his head as he hadn't donned it yet as his grey eyes watched the tide slowly ebbing. On his hip was a Katana and a Wakizashi which was odd since he normally just summoned his weapons. Nor were they one of his stronger weapons. Simple B rank quality. However he was planning ahead. If there was something down there that negated the use of chakra he wanted a couple of weapons at hand that he could use with limited mobility. The Katana and Wakizashi allowed for that instance. If chakra wasn't limited he had a plethera of other weapons to use. Either way the Osada clan symbol was clearly imbedded on the bottom of the hilt with seals carved and branded in beneath the grips. His ANBU gear and mask all held similar symbols of the same brands. If one looked closely at his exposed arms his flesh did as well. It explained easily how he was able to summon his equipment without the use of a scroll. He was the scroll. The only other concern he had about bringing Nozomi along was he did not think she focused in stealth as he did. The enemy they were hunting would know they were there as soon as Sero arrived. The city always did when he stepped foot within. Monsters detecting monsters. It meant whatever they would be facing would meet Nozomi head on and be prepared. Including that immortal hound that resided there. If the enemy was deeper within they would have to go through it to get to them. Something either Nozomi or himself could easily disable but they would need to do so without using too much energy.

701

Nozomi strapped on her weaponry, deciding that today wasn't the day she wanted to go to a fight with light gear on. She'd been assigned on another mission with Sero, this one of S rank importance, and that wasn't something that she took lightly. She'd been on one with Gin before. She was slightly apprehensive, but it wasn't out of worry or anxiety, but instead out of anticipation. Things were always... interesting, to say the least, on matters that involved Sero's attention. And hopefully, after completion of the S rank mission with minimal problems, Nozomi would have earned her promotion to Jounin, and she could move on to better heights from there. Besides the prospect of being a Jounin, Nozomi was spurred on by the hopes of some good fighting, and that maybe she'll actually find someone who can do some real damage to her, because as of yet, all of her opponents have been severely lacking in that department if they were anywhere near her level, and she wasn't a fan of not being an issue at all to people like Gin. She liked a challenge, which meant she enjoyed something she could beat, not something she had no chance in doing.

That being said, as she increased in ability, the amount of people who could actively thrash her in a fight were becoming smaller and smaller by the day. Her physical skills and Taijutsu improved every single day, and there wasn't all that much that would soon place her in the highest tier of fighters. Her Bukijutsu was also improving at a remarkable rate. She already had high quality weapons from before she was learning Bukijutsu, but now she knew how to use what she had to greater efficiency. Going through her list of items, Nozomi wasn't all that impressed, it hadn't improved much in a while. It was something she planned on working on, but it would be so expensive to do so, and she wasn't sure she could fork over that much cash. That was another reason this S rank mission was going to go so well. She was going to be getting quite a substantial pay from it.

She went over her check list one final time, making sure she had everything that she needed for the mission. "First and foremost, my best Tanto, over left shoulder for easy reach? Check. Both of my lesser quality, but still better than most twin tanto's, lower back? Check. Headband that never stays up on my forehead, so I leave it on my neck? Check. My better Flak jacket, so I'm in less harm if I actually do end up being hit in the first place? Check. A bunch of Senbon, Kunai, and Shuriken for all the stabbing and piercing pleasure a girl could ask for? Check. Some pepper bombs for blinding, and some caltrops for spiky spiky? Check. And of course, the Windmill Shuriken that I use only for a substitution, because it never actually hits a damn thing? Check." she said, sticking her tongue out playfully. Of course, she was alone, and talking to herself, but that didn't mean she cared at all. It kept her mentally in check. With that out of the way though, she set out on her course.

-

It didn't take her long to traverse the distance between her place of residency and the lighthouse that she was to meet Sero at. She slowed down to a more normal pace as she closed the distance between the two of them, waving excitedly at her partner. "Hiya Sero!" she called out in a loud voice, as she wasn't quite within normal talking distance of the expressionless man. "Is it just me, or is your aura a little bit brighter today than usual?" she joked, closing the remainder of the distance in little time, a grin on her face. It had been too long since they'd last seen each other, and despite that time having passed, his aura still wasn't one that unnerved her. She wasn't even sure it was brighter, she had just made a joke, because maybe she'd be able to put a smile on his face. That would be a rare sight. Perhaps one even rarer than the sight of seeing Ayakashi beaten in a match. To her knowledge, nobody could do either of those feats. Either way, Nozomi grinned and pointed onwards. "Let's journey on and kill us whatever it is that's killing us!" she said gleefully, excitement practically oozing from her every pore. Her hand dropped down to the Windmill Shuriken, and she placed some chakra in it to prepare her substitution, but apart from that, she'd awake Sero's commands. He was the highest ranking shinobi here after all.

WC: 794
Mission: 794/3000
-5 Substitution Prep [you know what this does]
235/240 Chakra

OOC: Edited wc requirement. Had it lower than I should have.

Sero would turn his attention to the sound of someone approaching along the rocks since they didn't feel the need to conceal their movements. He knew Nozomi could of probably traveresed even gravel without a sound if she needed to but for now she didn't. Instead the clattering of rocks drew his attention as she ran closer. The tide was almost finished ebbing away so her timing was perfect. Still as usual her energetic sounding voice reached out to him as he was greeted joyfully. She approached closer to him and jested about how his aura seemed brighter today than usual and he tilted his head squinting his eyes to see if she was toying with him. If his aura was truly weaker than normal he was not at his best. He would not risk the success of their mission on his own weakness for whatever reason. Perhaps she was right and he had lost some potency. He would need to correct that. Still she continued on to speak of killing whatever was killing their own and touching her windmill shuriken and preparing a substitution. He hadn't bothered bringing his due to the fact that if chakra wasn't cut off he could simply summon it to himself. If chakra was nullified within having it wouldn't help anyway. Still he would slide his mask over his face now looking like a skinned face as it very well might of been. His grey eyes looking through the sockets.

"Allow me to adjust my aura then. We must be at our best for whats to come as it has proven itself an advesary already."

His hands would move to his sides slightly in front of him with fingers outstretched and palms down. As he did so the waters would begin to churn and turn black as the plant life around the reef would wilt and die and slowly a transformation would take place. His hands would become covered in black gloves as a dark sleeve of chakra would rise up his arms and form a black coat. with a white fur trim that reached up around his neck. His bone mask would have a black mask rise over the upper half of it as Sero's eyes would turn blood red before a third eye would open in the center and stare straight ahead seperate from the other two. As the transformation completed into sage mode the tide would fall away and as he stepped the ground would die under his feet and the water would slide away from him as if in fear. The entire bay emptied of all sea life as it fled away from the aura that now filled the air like a dark weight dimming the skies. All the life seemed to fade from the area and colors seemed to dull as he stepped forward.

"We will have an hour before the tide returns. Unless you have another way out through this much water I suggest we be done and out before that time limit is up. Remember whatever is down there is killing shinobi of rank similar to ours. Be on your guard and wipe out anything that comes at you without mercy. There is also an immortal hound down here near the exit of this tunnel. We can't kill it but a heavy enough blow will disable it. If it remembers me it may avoid us but be prepared to deal some damage to it."

With that he stepped down and with a step flashed down the tunnel at a basic B rank speed pace. It would be easy for her to keep up but he didn't know how she had grown so he set it at a comfortable pace anyway even if it was holding back for him considerably. Still the tunnel was dimly lit as they more fell with occassional steps then ran. A good distance under the sea with leaks here and there and a rail care off to the side at one point. They were rapidly approaching enemy territory and even Sero had one hand one his Katana as all three red eyes scanned the darkness around them as if he could feel everything. As if he could see everything that drew to close. His killing intent however seemed to flood the whole tunnel. He was coming to bring death to something and he was not there to be kind. He was on a mission and when he was he had no mercy from the edge of his blade. This wouldn't be like the training session they had before and Nozomi fully knew that. Something down there had sentenced itself to death. And Both Nozomi and himself were the executioners. Their world was crumbling already and they wouldn't be ready for this storm.

1510

And as usual, Sero took Nozomi's joking to heart. Inwardly she sighed, wondering why she even bothered. Outwardly, Nozomi shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Oh Sero, I was just joking about the Aura. It still felt the same. Anyhow, I suppose being stealthy is out of the question then?" Thinking about her question, she answered it herself. "Of course not. If they're sentient, they'll know death is coming no matter how stealthy you are. If not, primal fear will drive it by instincts to either attack or flee." she reasoned out. It wasn't an unfair assessment. Especially if when he concentrated on it, his aura could be that corrupted. Besides, it wasn't like she had to worry about anything knowing they were there. It was her and Sero! For them to be beaten, it would require something that would probably already thrash them as it was. Being sneaky only worked for a couple of shots. She looked around at their newly altered surroundings and let out a small groan of pity for the animals and plant life that had been around. She didn't have time to lament them though.

As he finished his transformation, Sero informed her that the tide was only going to remain as low as it was for about an hour, so they needed to make full use of the fact that it was rolling out. He reminded her that their target had been able to take out Special Jounin such as herself, but that failed to take into account that Nozomi wasn't what one would call a normal Special Jounin. Even as a Chuunin, she'd had an ability to fight and best Special Jounin such as herself. She was almost a Jounin now, and that should translate to roughly the same thing, her being able to combat and fight Jounin level threats without too much issue. What had concerned her the most was that Sero brought up the immortal hound near the exit of the path, and that was intriguing. A hound that was immortal? For that answer to truly be undisputed, Sero would have had to try and kill it before. And he failed. That was rare. Perhaps that meant it was impossible to kill, but Nozomi was sure that wasn't the case. Nothing was impossible, just incredibly difficult.

Nozomi chased after him, following his pace quite effortlessly. She was actually a little bit over Jounin speed in her normal pace, so the pace they were going now was a little slower than she'd like. "Sero, I can easily sustain a 15 meter per second sprinting speed, if you'd like to up our pace a little bit, no need to hold back so much on my account." she said, keeping her breathing steady. A lot of the difficulty of running was simply that people didn't know how to breathe correctly, and their blood didn't remain properly oxygenated. Although, to be honest, she'd not hardly have any issues, nor have to worry about breathing correctly if she was using Flowmotion. Skating across the ground took so much less energy to do than running that it was almost laughable. It was also easier on the legs in the long term, and when she was old, she wouldn't have joint issues as quickly. But she still hadn't unveiled Flowmotion in front of anyone yet, so she'd hold off on that one for now.

Hopefully, Sero would pick up his pace a little at her suggestion, and they'd be able to beat the time crunch with little issues. She wasn't quite sure how long the tunnel was, or when they'd reach the end, so that meant they should be going as quick as they could maintain without expending too much energy getting there. Nozomi knew her limit well enough, she liked to keep herself in peak physical condition, and monitor her own abilities well enough that she'd have no questions when facing someone about whether or not they were in or out of her league. That's what made Nozomi so dangerous, was that she knew her own combat abilities so well that most of the time she could gauge the measure of her opponents within a few seconds of meeting them, which in turn gave her the ability to determine whether or not to go all out from the start, or not.

wC: 728
Mission: 1522/3000

Sero would turn his head to look at her as they moved. It seemed like he was wearing a mask with three red eyes and under the nose it was all bone with some sort of split maw into infinite darkness. Like a skull wearing an upper mask. Punisher meets batman meets hellhound kind of nonesense really. Still his eyes burned a crimson that seemed like endless rage watching her as if she too was the enemy. He was walking death and fury coming for the enemy but for Nozomi he was just Sero. Another companion she struggled to liven up. Still he wasn't aware of the exchange bothering her at all. Instead he passed by an abandoned relic of the passed long since turned into a rusted heap as the water continued to run down the walls and the sound of dripping echoed everywhere. He listened as she spoke of being capable of moving at a faster pace but still he only adjusted a little. Speeding up a single tier as he turned his attention down the tunnel ahead and looked to a single shining light ahead. When he spoke there was the ever so slight echo his mask made like whispers mimicking his voice. Eerie as it was it suited him.

"Regardless of your capabilities. We move at a pace we can easily adjust as needed in the event of an ambush. As well we conserve our energy for any combat ahead. When we hit the clearing I need you to break left and scout for an entrance leading down. I will hunt the hound and disable it for the time being. It should be down for the extent of the time we are here. We won't want to run into it if either of us are injured on our way out so avoiding it is out of the question."

He would wait for an affirmation that she understood his orders before slowing and letting her out through the man sized entrance first. It was perhaps at one point a heavy steel door but the ocean had managed to break through just enough for a large man to get through. As they exited they would suddenly step into a cavernous expanse of a city filled with air as stale as it was. Where they stood would seem like a waterfall over a lake that fed into a filtration machine constantly pumping water out. The dome over the city itself was managing to keep the oceans might at bay with only a leak or two pouring down into the city below and dumping into the filtration machine again. Somewhere within the grid pattern streets were a set of stairs leading down into the inner city. The light came down through the water and was reflected by crystals jutting out of the dome here and there shining like bright stars. Still Sero wouldn't pause to admire it as he had been there before. Instead his red gaze locked onto something moving in the streets. Without a word he launched from the waterfall platform and across the distance soaring down to land on a roof top and head for it.

What Nozomi would witness was more than a simple hound. It was a creeping four legged beast with what appeared to be the head of a great dog with burning eyes and its fur was like sulfur and smoke. Whisping around it as if it had no physical form. Easily the massive thing stood a story tall and just as long. Its padded feet carrying in through the decimated upper city streets littered with the skeletons of buildings with walls missing and debris on the streets from the fall. Marks of battle with the beast littered the city from many attempts to permanently end it but as Sero had indicated it refused to stay dead. Still it lifted its head as it felt Sero approaching and opened its maw to show black teeth as it roared so incredibly the city seemed to shake. However as it finished its roar and snarled Sero was already upon it. A single flash of light was all the indicated him passing it had been an attack as his blade reflected the light of the crystals and he slid to a stop on the street. It's throat split open and black ooze sprayed out and sizzled on the ground burning black marks into the concrete as it heaved and stumbled before toppling over and falling with a heavy crash. Sero would swipe some black ooze off his blade before it left a mark and sheathed his Katana. There he stood a meter from the fallen foe waiting for a signal from Nozomi where the entrance was.

2304

Nozomi and her companion blazed through the tunnels with little effort. In a way, she felt kind of bad, because she knew that being on missions with Sero was a little bit of a hinderance to him. Having a partner to think about and keep safe meant that complete and undivided focus couldn't be achieved. He knew he could handle himself fully well, but she herself wasn't quite where he was, even if she'd kept up for the most part. He didn't know her combat capabilities to their fullest, and because of that, she would be a bit of a detriment. Making it a mental note to either show off her abilities at some point, or to request a match between the two of them so she could proof her abilities in a while, Nozomi trudged on. Sero had picked up his pace only a little bit, something that had irked her slightly, but she kept pace with their movement.

When he spoke, his voice distorted by either his mask, or the shadows that seemed to have encased him, his voice filled Nozomi with an involuntary sense of unease, but that was just a natural reaction. She had enough control over her will to realize that he wasn't the threat, and that she didn't have to worry about him just yet. There may come a day when they'd have to seriously fight, but she was certain it wouldn't be this one.

His words offered slight encouragement to her that he wasn't simply pandering to her, and that his slowness in speed was a result of his will to be able to react to anything that might catch them off guard should they be moving too fast. In a manner, that made sense, but there were still doubts in her mind as to whether that was his only reason. Conserving energy was nice, but he certainly didn't know that Nozomi had a much more energy efficient way of moving around. Perhaps he'd end up finding out about it but as of yet, she wouldn't reveal it.

"I scout left for a further descending route, you hunt and disable the hound, got it." she said, nodding in affirmation. She broke into the cavernous city, and for the first time, stopped, awestruck at the place she was in. It was simply amazing. Perhaps it was broken down and in tatters now, but she could envision the city at the height of it's glory, and only imagined what it had been like. She spotted the beast as quickly as Sero did and at once realized exactly why this place had fallen to such disrepair. It was a monster, unlike any other. And if it were truly immortal as she'd been informed, nothing would have kept it from destroying the place, bit by bit, until everyone abandoned hope. She wasn't quite sure what realm of Hell it had crawled from, or how it got here in the first place, but it was here, and that was the only truth that mattered. Sero rushed past in a blur, to go apprehend it, and Nozomi launched herself off towards the left as directed, to go in search of a descending entrance.

A massive roar shook the entire city, making Nozomi wonder if the dome would fully hold or not, but to her surprise, no adverse effects seemed to come of it. It took a while, but Nozomi found a tunnel that had been covered by a grate in an attempt to hide it from sight. It would have been easier if she had any sort of sensory jutsu, but she'd just followed a downward flow of a small stream that stopped where it was, the water descending into the grate, the stream halting. Grabbing hold of the metal, Nozomi picked up the grate, hurling it to the side with a resounding thud as the heavy metal slammed into the ground.

She couldn't be sure that Sero had heard that, and she thought about what sort of signal she could utilize to get his attention, without expending any energy, and then a thought occurred to her. Pulling out one of her Pepper balls, Nozomi charged and primed it with the tiniest bit of chakra, and tossed it high into the air above where she was. About 15 meters up, it blew, not hardly making any sound, but releasing a cloud of its contents, signalling her location to Sero. She figured, anyone in the city already, if there were any, would have known where they were based on the roar of the beast alone, and would have already been tracking them since entering. Beyond that, she didn't care. Keeping her guard up just in case of an ambush, Nozomi waited for Sero to get over to where she was so they could continue on down the passage she'd found.

WC: 811
Mission: 2333/3000

9/10 Metsubishi remaining

Sero turned as his red eyes watched the beasts neck slowly begin to sizzle and close. His head tilted as this was the first time he had been able to sense the chakra within it and what fascinated him and held his attention this time was a realization. The beast was formed as a being born of chakra. All the hate and war that had sunken this city had fed into one being and created this thing. The ancient people of the city had never managed to leave but instead became fuel for this things being. He wondered idly if he killed it for every life that had been consumed to make it whole if it would stay down or if there was no limit. Either way it was cause for caution on his own island as the sheer amount of death there may already be creating one like it. If he wasn't careful and observant a creature he could not kill could inhabit his home. At which point his best hope would be to tame the thing. Even with all his might he could not compete with immortality forever. Nor would he abandon his home. What was his was his alone and he would surrender it to no creature. For now he would remain observant of the chakra around his own home and experiment with this one. However that was for another time. His mission here today was not to eliminate this thing again but rather a different monster.

His eyes shifted to the sky as sudden movement caught his attention. Something had burst to the south west of his position which likely indicated Nozomi had found something. An entrance that was soon going to be surrounded even if he had cut down the beast quickly. For the moment he would move in a few flash steps towards the location. Each step launching him with immense power with intense speed before he suddenly snapped into place next to her. His red eyes gazing at the grate she had moved and the hole. His eyes shifted down the tunnel to sense the chakra of ten individuals of Special Jounin ability. And one of Jounin. There was no reports of another squad here of that magnitude So he could only assume that was the target. He nodded to Nozomi and spoke quickly.

"Eleven enemies moving in two rows towards our position. Ten of special jounin chakra levels and one at Jounin. I am going to wipe out the Jounin to discourage the rest. Use the opening to wipe them out and do not concern yourself with crossfire. Eliminate all hostiles."

Sero would nod to her and draw his Wakizashi as it was going to be tight down there and he would only have one shot at this. For once she would be there with him on the battlefield against something dangerous to them. Still even with the odds stacked so high against them Sero's lips would split into a sick smirk behind his mask as he licked his lips. He lived for the oppertunity to risk his life in battle. The urge to charge in and take down powerful enemies and one wrong step could end him. He felt his power surge from him as he took a breath and moved. His feet slipped him forward as he seemed to flow down into the dim tunnel below like a flood of darkness swarming in just ahead of the charging enemy. Some dark soldiers with glowing eyes made noise and brandished weapons while a red on in the back blinked in surprise before Yelling "Take out the land dweller! No witnesses!" That was all the confirmation Sero needed to act against hostiles. He rose to his feet as his killing intent flooded the hall and his red eyes seemed to glow in the darkness. In that moment they knew they had chosen suicide. They had grown confident against basic soldiers but now the elite were here and they were no match. In a split second Sero was passed the two rows of soldiers as the gust of wind in his passing nearly made them slide backwards. His gloved hand reached out and grabbed the red commander Hoshigaki by the neck and in that same rush they went crashing upwards through the street and out of the tunnel leaving it clear for Nozomi to go all out. Mid air Sero released the commander and spoke a single phrase.

"Short blade style - Suffer the living no more"

With that he slashed out in what to some would appear like on slash but instead was ten slashes in a single instant. Blood sprayed forth from his opponent as he died in that instant before landing in a heap on the street with his blood flowing out. Sero once again flicked his blade and sheathed it before checking on Nozomi. Should she return he would inform her to file her report and leave before more arrived. The mission was done. He would only leave when she did.

Exit thread
3147/3000 mission complete.

Nozomi didn't have to wait long, nor was she surprised when Sero showed up out of almost nowhere in a flash. She had sensed impending doom descending upon the area before he'd even arrived, used to the feeling as she was. Sero examined the tunnel system she'd opened up, seemingly scanning for any activity inside of them. Apparently, he found something as well, as he relayed some information back to her. Nozomi was surprised, she wasn't aware that Sero had any sensory capabilities, but that was pretty interesting information. Perhaps he should have been the one that scouted out for the entrance, while she took care of the hound? But no, it had all worked out in the end anyways, so it didn't matter.

So there were 11 hostiles in total hmm? 1 of them was Jounin level, and the rest were Special Jounin level. That meant that most of the forces out here would have been completely caught unawares by such a threat, and explains why they never returned. They simply weren't equipped to deal with such a sizable unit. But between Nozomi and Sero? Something could be worked out of course. Besides, they had the strategic advantage here. The tunnel was narrow, and because of that, there was little maneuverability in there. They were walking in two lines, which meant that most of their space was probably gone. And that meant that they could be easily routed, as most forces avoided friendly fire.

Sero dropped down into the tunnel, Nozomi not far behind him at all, and she just had time to see him grab the leader and force him out and above 'ground' through the roof of the tunnel, making his own path. The normal soldiers had almost been knocked over by the force of the wind that accompanied Sero's speedy grapple, and so the young blonde capitalized on the moment, holding out her hands and unleashing a whirling vortex of her petal blades. In such a confined area, there was no escape. There was no time to do anything, they hadn't quite recovered from Sero just yet, and they never even got the chance to. That was how the two of them operated, taking down overwhelming odds with the advantage of surprise. They never stood a chance.

Nozomi peered at the unmoving bodies and walked towards them, amidst the blood and petals that ravaged the tunnel, petals still trailing from her hands, ready for a moment's retaliation should any of them have survived. It proved to be unnecessary. Examining their bodies, Nozomi was surprised to see that they distantly resembled fish people, quite like the Hoshigaki clan. Perhaps there was some sort of relation between the two? Maybe distant ancestors, or something like that? Either way Disappointed in the quality of these soldiers, Nozomi ended her jutsu, and jumped back up to meet with Sero. "All taken care of. Let's get out of here before more show up. That should be enough of a message for now. Not like they were really anything to worry about in the first place. This could have just as easily been a one person assignment, but I suppose better safe than sorry, right?" she said, giggling and dusting herself off. It was incredibly musty down there, she really hoped she didn't catch something. Mold spores tended to thrive in places like that. Oh well, she needed to turn her report in anyhow, so with that, she and Sero headed back, hopefully in time for the Lang bridge to still be above low tide.

Nozomi idly messed with her windmill shuriken, kinda dejected that she didn't need to use most of her weapons, but it was better to have them and not need them, than to need them and not have them. Besides, she didn't fancy the prospect of having to fight 11 soldiers out in the open, had they not been fortunate enough to get them in the position they were, as well as the devil hound thing. The girl shuddered slightly.

WC: 673
Mission: 3006/3000
Exit thread