Mission name: Operation: Earthshaker
Mission rank: B Rank
Objective: Eradicate the Key location
Location: Suna, What Lies Beneath
Reward: 500 Ryo + 3 EP
Mission Description: A demolition expert has been sent to your location to breach a key location of the enemy in response to the success of Operation: Desert Lotus. Collapse on the enemy encampment, and sweep up the cell. Be ready for any last minute surprises.
Mission Details: Attacking a fortified location is one thing, protecting a VIP to the front doors of that location is entirely another. The demolitions expert is a B rank ninja with C-2 stats across the board and A rank katon and fuuinjutsu. Upon reaching the massive iron gate of the building he will require 2 posts to place his jutsu and then to clear the location before setting off the A rank explosive specifically made to gain entrance to the heavily fortified base of chakra enhanced stone. Only this jutsu is capable of breaching the base.

All the while, the base is protected by booby traps, arrow and senbon launchers, siege weapons as well as crossbowmen and enemies wielding jutsu through small holes no larger than a foot wide. Once inside, the ninja alongside 2 teams of hunter ninja will attempt to wipe out everything within the base. The base is held by a combination of C and B rank fighters with tier 2 stats for their rank across the board as well as various B rank weapons and armor. Each of them have B rank ninjutsu with a wide array of library techniques at their disposal.

Verdandi moved from the bathtub. It would slowly dissolve from its icy structure down back into casual water, mixing with the suiton of the tub as it simply dripped away into the cave. She would dress herself back up and lower the visual protection sheet of the wall she erected. Stepping past a small cave corridor before she returned back into their makeshift camp and main room. Closing the hole in their room behind her with another soft layer of ice.

She would return with some drafts drawn on the scrolls she had taken with her to the bath. Haka would hopefully have made some progress with interrogating the prisoner. Verd would see her radio buzzing on the table and picked it up. Hearing beep noises coming from it. Morse code. She would write down the beeps and send a few back as simple confirmations. The demolition expert was approaching their position. Verd slowly stepped out past the icy main entrance of their makeshift camp but staying in the shadows of the cave. She was scanning the area for the man that was supposed to appear as she could feel movements right next to her. Raising her sword to its destination as the masked man stepped from the shadows. He was wearing a mask not unlike the ANBU division but he certainly was not an ANBU himself. Probably just enjoyed masking his real identity. His mask had a big round dot in its centre and was otherwise purely grey.

He didn't dare to imply that Verd had been careless as she stepped from the main cave. Considering how late she had noticed his presence he could probably have ambushed her if he dared to. Slightly annoyed by this very fact, Verdandi raised her voice to ask for his confirmation code which he promptly answered correctly. They would hence move back inside the cave room where he would take a seat. Taking a look at Haka and Chigetsu as well as the sleeping bear in the corner.

"Greetings. You may call me Xshu. Please don't ask too many questions. I am merely here to open a certain door as you might be aware of. If you however feel like its time to finish your tactics, please feel free to do so. I will however mention, that my main objective is to support you from the shadows. I do not intend to fight with you on the open battlefield."

With that being said he would simply stare mindlessly into the room and not really say any other word anymore. Verd closed the icy entrance and sat down not far from Xshu. Her drawings of the entrance gate would be placed on the floor. "I deducted that if we place the explosives here…" Verd would point at a little wooden ridge probably used to transfer little items back and forth without opening the whole gate. "… we would have the largest impact on potentially destroying it. However, we need traps and other ways to properly ambush their troops as they will certainly not just idly sit and wait for us to casually walk into their little fortress. Any suggestions?"

That being said. Avalanche would slowly wake from all the commotion around him. Scratching himself and potentially nudging cuddly against Chigetsu.

540 WC

He would wipe his face clean. After the man had been successfully interrogated Chigetsu had his way with him. Now a dehydrated mess down on the ground, it was hard to exactly recognize him as what he once had been. What he had been wearing was left intact, but the bandit’s body appeared little more than a poor imitation of life. A clear outline of his bones could be seen under his browned, shriveled skin. Perhaps it was a bit unsightly but drinking like this was necessary when it came down to survival in this scorching desert. While perhaps what he had just done might be judged at first glance as cannibalism by those who witnessed it, Chigetsu rationalized that away very easily in his head. All he did was suck away the liquid. Was liquid meat? Absolutely not. If anything, he was much more like a vampire, drinking their blood to provide him sustenance. It wasn’t even something he particularly enjoyed. Blood has a disgustingly metallic taste, likely from the iron. Real water was something he much preferred but didn’t have the luxury to drink at this moment. His water bottle was still full but drinking it when there was the opportunity to fuel up on something else was a waste of resources. It wasn’t as if he were going fill his water bottle with blood either.

The cave had been made comfortable due to Verdandi’s presence, and because of this he didn’t rush in what he was doing. Once he was finished with the entire drinking thing he would retreat back into a corner where he could get comfortable. Without a second thought Avalanche would make his way over, floofing down to sit besides Chigetsu and cuddle into him. The big bear would be pulled into a comfortable cuddle, and Chigetsu would comb his fingers through Ava’s fur. He would pet the cuddly bear and be rewarded with a few affectionate licks before Ava would doze off into a comfortable nap. Chigetsu would be half tempted to join them and rest a bit himself, but he kept his eyes open. Falling asleep in a foreign land didn’t come so easily. Being so careless as to drift off into sleep could easily mean death in a hostile country like Suna as well.  

…

The time would pass faster than he expected. He needed the relaxation more than he thought. The presence of the masked figure roused him up and away from his sleepy state, and he would quickly stand and distance himself from the bear. Survival instincts kicked in before his brain could, and he was nearly about to try and take off this person’s head. Sense returned to him though, and his violent desire was suppressed to a slight jerking of his body at the stranger. As he returned to consciousness he would be on high alert, listening carefully to what this man had to say. The talk about tactics and explosives interested him little, but he made the effort to pay attention regardless. “Are traps really necessary? Unless you have some expertise in making them that I’m not aware of they’ll be easily discovered. It’d be better if we could sneak in and avoid their notice entirely. I can’t imagine that being easy though.” He would grunt, taking a scan over towards the masked man again. Sneaking him in to the place he needed to be definitely wasn’t going to be easy. Kneeling down, Chigetsu would gently pat at the slowly waking Avalanche.  

---

[599]

Torture wasn't as fun as the thrill of the hunt. Haka came to experience that as her obsidian kunai slowly but steadily carved little pathways into the man's flesh, his mouth wide open to release a scream that would never be heard. Tears were forced out of the corner of his eyes, blood slipping out of every little cut and trickling on the floor. Drip. Drip. Drip. One at a time, yes, but from so many spots on his body at once the sand floor got soaked rather quickly. Pleading eyes would look into her apathetic red ones, Haka briefly licking the blood of her kunai as if enjoying an appetiser. No joy. Just duty. Not a trait she got from her father, Sero, who was a master in the arts of torture both on a physical and mental level. Perhaps she, too, held an inkling of that mastery within her. Maybe what she did was nothing but a bleak shadow of what Sero could and would do for that same information.

His quivering lips would move. Speak. Soundless words would leave his mouth, picked up by the Ace Eye in front of him and translated from quietude to meaning. 'Please. Please stop. I'll tell you everything.' Curious how despite his wounds the man still succeeded in speaking rather properly. Haka waited for him to continue. He promised answers, he was due giving them. But the wolf spider was a patient monster. She'd allow him a moment of respite as he caught his breath, then spilled out the beans. 'Four men watching the gate from the outside'. Pain would overwhelm him. 'A dozen inside. The place is trapped'. He'd utter a wordless moan, his pallid, sweaty face turning even bleaker if it was so possible. His persistence to deny her the answers prior to this moment now dearly costing him as life force was coming to an end. 'S-senbon launchers. Poison d-darts. Please... Don't let me die.' Too bad for him she didn't know any medical jutsu. As the colours of life slipped away in front of his eyes, turning to a desaturated palette, Haka found Chigetsu staring at the man like a hungry hound wanting to be thrown a bone.

Brushing her hair away with her left hand, she'd lift the unnatural quietude and move away from the man so as to leave Chigetsu to do whatever he was looking forward to. Since the bandit was tethering on the brink of life already, chances were slim he'd find the strength to defy Chigetsu or make sufficient noise to have their location betrayed. It was a matter of moment anyway before he'd slip into the realm of the dead, but the slimy sounds that would follow when Chigetsu drained him of his bodily fluids to replenish his own evaporating squish would aide the man in dying. It was not the most merciful of ways but at this point the spider had grown weary enough of the lands here she didn't bother to care about that in the slightest.

Xshu would enter shortly after, remove his mask and present himself. His introduction would instantly be followed up by his desire not to be asked too many questions and that'd be fine if their strategies had ended. Stepping into the group, Haka would provide new insight in the situation.

"Four men stand outside. A dozen watch the gates from the inside. Senbon launchers and poison darts form the base of several additional traps. That's just the immediate vicinity of the gate itself. There's no info on how many more we may encounter once we are inside their base."

The spider-nin would lean against the wall, taking her gourd of water and drink it. The lukewarm liquid would slake most of her thirst, driving away the parched feeling in her throat and body alike before the remainder of it would be locked up again and be clasped against her tool belt.

"Haka has techniques that can shield against weapons and jutsu in an area."

A statement. Nothing more. It was one option she could provide to get the man to certain safety. The use of enshrouding mist was a technique most if not all of them knew and could thus provide the creation of a massive mist cloud but the limitations of the technique were not exactly unknown either as the perceptions of some had come to a point they could see just fine within the mist. If Ahoban could, chances were their opponents would have people who could do the same. Getting close to the gate might prove a challenge on its own.

---

788

Thread wc: 1927

Verdandi scratched her head. The prisoners body had been discarded into a hole of the cave. Chi didn't leave much left to bury or so. The dry skin and bones were nothing of interest for either of them now. Xshu gave off a somewhat arrogant but was certainly efficient in his ways. Verd couldn't point her finger on it if he really was an ANBU or not.

"I see. Good work on the intel. You have to get rid of the guards outside silently. If we make too much noise they will be alarmed straight away. It will take some time for me to place the explosive. We can suppress the noise but shinobi inside the fort could still notice that something is happening. You will have to get inside and disable the primary traps. Stealth kill as many as possible. Once they are on to you, retreat back past the gate. We will set up our own traps as suggested for them."

Xshu seemed to be pretty sure that it was the way to go, he didn't really know the details or fine mechanics how they would end up doing all that but he expected that the team he was appointed to had the necessary skills for this mission.

"I have you know that two of my hunter Squads are already in position nearby. Once I whistle into this signal beacon. They will attack, charge in directly and kill everyone in sight. So, pulling the enemy into territory where you already disarmed the traps is probably the smartest way to give the Hunters a clean battlefield to do their job and quickly eliminate the enemy."

Xshu implied the power of two squads but didn't specify how many hunters there were. He however opened his palm and started to play with a mixture of fire that was slowly condensing down into a spiral ball and contained within a specific chakra barrier between his fingers. Whenever he accumulated enough chakra, a seal would become visible on his palm that instantly swallowed the contained ball, just so his palm could start again forming a new one.

Verdandi started to realize how this guy was an explosives specialist. If he had the ability to create a seemingly indefinite number of fire bombs, condense them down into a pure A-Ranked damage bomb and conveniently sealing them away into his palm… Verd wondered how many he had already stored. He certainly didn't show any desire to share the complexity of his unique technique with the Squad. Instead he stood up. Moving towards the entrance of their makeshift camp. Making it clear that he didn't wish to linger around much longer.

Verd scratched her head and was trying to come up with a tactical idea, as that was usually her strength. The chess board was already set up in her mind. But this time there were so many unknown figurines involved.

"I'd say… Chi enters disguised as the prisoner we killed… I follow with my Silhouette technique in his shadow. As we enclose our targets Chi will draw their attention away. Allowing Haka to slip in. Before Haka kills the firs one we need your Quietus to shut them silent. When Haka kills the first, Chi can move on to kill the second and I will drop from the shadow to hit the third. Pretty sure we can deal with the last one too if we do it all in quick manner…."

That being said the four men would be dealt with, if it all worked out. Which it probably wouldn't but that was a different matter.

"Chi could be our trump card in activating and hence disabling the traps. Darts, toxins and other projectiles shouldn't be much of a problem for him in liquid state. I could set up a water hole trap at the entrance to safeguard our retreat if they follow us… we'll have to deal with the first guards and hope the hunters will be here in time to eradicate the rest of them when we run back out."

Dandi shrugged. She couldn't plan even the last step that far ahead. She could try but she was sure that some non-calculated problems would arise after all. She'd get up and sign for Avalanche to raise his butt as well. The bear wouldn't be much use during the primary stealth assassination attempt but would certainly come in handy as a reinforcement and guard to the explosives dude.

Verd would stay to listen for additional inputs on the basic plan and then follow Xshu. If they didn't decide to do everything completely different, then it was time to start Operation Earthshaker.


Verd: 790 / 1330
Thread: 2'717

The operative that had been assigned to assist their squad was regarded by Chigetsu with suspicion. Perhaps he had been given too much freedom as of late. His experience in the Hansa where he was left bereft of a hierarchical command structure to delegate orders to him made this sudden return feel strange. Having no direction from higher ups to follow mean him feel nervous. The entire experience in that strange dimension was odd for him. He was able to work together with his squad, but neither Haka nor Verdandi were ‘true’ superiors to him. Perhaps they might be stronger or better skilled in tactics than he was, but they both lacked any sort of rank that could be held over him or an overwhelming aura of superiority. Suddenly having the collar put back on and the leash tightened made for an odd experience. The order that he had been longing for chaffed around his neck now. It gave him an especially uneasy feeling. This man, assuming they truly were a man behind that mask, was apparently support to be working as an assistant to them. Not a true commander, and even if he had been there would there would have been a few issues Chigetsu took with it. There was no way to know their ranking, and only knowing them through this mask left the entire situation feeling cold and unfamiliar.  

Cold and unfamiliar was a good way to describe this. This entire situation, ever since he arrived in the Land of Wind. He desperately wanted the charismatic face of a superior to explain with a warm smile what they were doing here. He was sure there was a good reason for it, beyond what was officially said. Maybe if it was rephrased in a way he could better understand it would be easier. But there was a severe lack of that here. No compelling speeches from above. Just blood. He didn’t mind blood, but in this ocean of sand that was utterly hostile to him in every way he desired a bit more of a compelling reason to stick around.  

His mind completely scattered away from what was in front of him, and instead he thought of this. He just wanted to be home. He was sick of the heat. It had progressed beyond the initial suffering into being an annoying sort of pain. Reality snapped back in every so often between thoughts. He caught mentions of conversation between the others. Only half listening, he understood most of it. At least, he understood most of what he probably needed to know. Hopefully the hazy glaze over his eyes didn’t give his level of interest away. When he named was spoken to Verdandi he returned to the conversation in earnest. Disguise as the man that had just been killed. Draw their attention away. Silence from Haka. Organized slaughter. Very simple. It would be just like on the bridge, back when he had taken his first kill.  

The sucked dry corpse would be returned to. After kneeling down over it Chigetsu would climb inside. Forcing himself in through the mouth, his body would stream into a liquid form that surged into the man’s drained body. Taut skin and wrung out flesh would inflate as liquid seeped into them once again. All that Chigetsu had sucked dry from him would be returned, and then more as he crawled around inside the man’s body. With a bit of creative color changing from Chigetsu the flush of blood would return to the corpse. Wearing the skin of their tortured prisoner, Chigetsu would rise. Standing was a bit awkward in the flesh of another and moving in it looked inherently unnatural. The way the musculature bulged and his skin slid as the liquid beneath it squirmed was strange to see. The myriad of cuts that had been left in his body from the interrogation session that Haka inflicted upon him were little holes in the disguise, stretched unnaturally and exposing the red liquid squirming around inside without letting a single drop drain out. It took a bit of fumbling for Chigetsu to gain his balance. It was like learning how to walk again. Each step came easier than the last, and soon he was comfortable and steady on this man’s feet. A thumbs-up would be given to his squad.

None of it was really necessary. He could have just mimicked the man’s face and build by changing his own appearance. The only advantage of doing it this way was that he could take use of the man’s vocal chords instead of trying to copy them from what little screaming he heard. Using the man’s voice would make the disguise more realistic, if only slightly. Probably unnecessary in the long run, and perhaps a liability if the injuries and unnatural movement were noticed. Really, he did it in part just to escape direct contact with the heat.  

Part of it was that he was frustrated. He hated being here. It brought out a particularly cruel part of him. Draining the blood from this man was hardly necessary, and only done to make his situation a bit more comfortable. Wearing his corpse like this was just another bit of cruelty brought on by his frustration. Not to the man who’s body he was wearing. They were already dead. There was nothing left Chigetsu could do to them. It would be a cruelty to his allies, who would be killed with by the hands of their compatriot. Assuming nothing else was said that altered the plan Chigetsu would prepare to head onwards.  It was time to begin.



“Daisuke?” The corpse was recognized. One of the guards seemed to have recognized him as Chigetsu approached, and the shambling would come to a halt. With Daisuke’s face Chigetsu would smile. The liquid in his eyes would turn them to maintain eye contact with the man who addressed him. There many little things he had to think about when piloting a corpse. It wasn’t as easy as you would think. The smile would be dropped after a moment, and the Daisuke-Chigetsu would give a curt nod in the direction of the gate guard. The four men standing watch would all look among themselves for a moment. Unspoken communication bounced off between glares, and after a moment they would turn back down to Chigetsu. One who had a particularly thick moustache would address him, speaking in a notably deep voice. “Why are you back so soon?”

Clearing his throat, Daisuke would speak. From below his lungs would be manually pumped, sucking in the necessary oxygen to exhale out spoken words. His tongue and jaw would be manipulated carefully. Thinking on the spot, Chigetsu would begin formulating an excuse within his mind. It was only to stall, until his squad could move into action. With Verdandi in his shadow and Haka close behind, Chigetsu would babble out apologies and poor excuses until the Quietus spell came down.  

---

[1178/1777]

Total: [3895]

A simple strategy but one that sounded a little too easy. A disguise was one thing that worked more often than not but to have all of them somehow position themselves and slip inside unnoticed seemed a little too good to be true. In an empty desert area such as this, where were the others supposed to hide? Haka would stare at the ground beneath her. Yes, tunnelling her way through would be one way to do it. A wolf spider generally lived in burrows. Haka once had too, more than half her life ago, but her arachnid nature was not gone despite the human masquerade. She'd throw a glance at the specialist on their side that felt a need to give them orders on how to go about this. As if Ahoban was still an unlearned group. As if he had no notion of how often Ahoban had performed stealth kills. Annoying, but the spider remained quiet. She would just alter the course of action a little differently.

Performing a set of familiar hand seals, Haka would start by marking her known allies and the bossy companion. He gave her a cautious look, which was replied to with a gaze that left little to the imagination if he'd bother to complain. Perhaps he was at an unease due to her aura but as long as she bore the Kirigakure headband he better not complain about him being marked as an ally by the spider. Such an 'honour', if Haka even bothered to call it such, was not given often to others outside of Ahoban.

As the specialist tried to figure out what the sting and spider mark entailed, the spider-nin proceeded to form the seals of Quietus and place them on Verdandi for a change. She'd find her throat decorated with Fuinjutsu symbols, cloaking the environment into silence as it activated since all was said and done. When Verdandi would hide into Chigetsu's shadow, completely removing all traces of their presence and thus the Fuinjutsu seal along with it, the superior stealth technique would thus suppress the effects of Quietus to maintain its own influence until it was dispelled. The moment Verdandi would reveal herself, quietude would suppress the screams of those in need of help as she took care of her own designated target.

All that was left now was for Haka to get into position herself. Lacking any decent sensory while she'd be underground, she'd link Chigetsu with an invisible chakra strand not dissimilar to the puppet technique but with as only purpose to keep track of his position compared to her own. Then, chakra would surround her limbs and create two more arms, for a total of six chakra limbs, as her Arms of the Mighty manifested themselves. The heavy amount of chakra as well as their ability to rip clean through whatever they touched would not only betray the A-rank classification but would allow the Multitasking arachnid to dig through the earth at an insane speed - far faster than she would be able to do in her natural wolf spider form. Nodding that she was ready, Haka would move outside and tunnel her way underground, expecting the specialist to follow her in the newly created entrance no matter how dark it was - the chakra string attached to Chigetsu would lead the way.

When the land dwellers were ready to move, Haka felt the chakra string start its pull into a certain direction. Daisuke-getsu was moving, guiding the two blind tunnellers as the wolf spider dug their way along, deep enough so the earth would not crumble down on them as easily and mostly to avoid tremor detection as good as possible. At some point, the pull of the chakra string would stop, the line going limp as no strain was maintained. Too deep to hear the mumbling, the spider's instinct took over, waiting just a little longer to allow the false sense of security to seep in. Or as was generally the case with humans, to stretch the disguise to the point where it was bound to break and distinguish the falsity from reality. Haka worried none despite the depths that prevented her a proper feedback of intel. She knew Verdandi had her way of 'feeling' the situation. Haka would pick up on that.

The moment Chigetsu's excuses and explanations would come to falter, Verdandi would jump in to take out her target. With it, cloaking a short area into unnatural silence. The two Fuinjutsu she had been marked with would 'reactivate' within Haka's senses as they revealed their existence once more now that the Silhouette technique was revoked. A second later, Haka dug her way up to the surface, the sheer strength and speed of her chakra arms throwing her up two meters in the air as she reached the surface before four nigh invisible chakra arms would stretch out at blinding speed to rip clean through those guards that had yet to be eliminated. The entire Ahoban team combo executed in a matter of seconds, four guards would find death before they so realised what transpired.

Apathetic eyes would make a quick survey of the surroundings to assure no other threats would rise to the occasion while her ears scanned for any sign of alarms being raised. A couple of seconds of silence would reveal the first part of their mission was executed with success, leading the way to the next steps. Chakra arms descending, Haka would pull up the specialist who sat still all the way down the tunnel, the shifting sands of Suna making it almost impossible to climb up without the help of chakra. It was his turn to play his part now.

---

WC: 965 | 1576
Thread WC: 4860

Note: not sure if C-rank Silhouette Technique actually would suppress D-rank Quietus but ... owner's prerogative?

275/350:

Verd didn't mind much the attitude of the bossy twat that seemed to take control of the situation. The Hunters were supposedly hiding around the cave of the mountain ridge that Ahoban was currently in as well. As would be the enemy camp. Covered and hidden beneath the mountains. It had been their first, previous mission to find the hidden camp in the first place. Not that they would intrude a mountain cave complex with an in-built enemy base, Verd was pretty content that there would be plenty of shadows to slip into. Seeing Chi use this guy as some sort of puppet, was kinda raising her gag reflex a bit. She usually didn't mind much when he did his weird ass stuff with his hydro thingy. But he didn't always have to push the limits of weirdness too far.

Sighing a little bit, she watched her supposed romantic interest pilot a dead body meat-wagon. Stomping over the sandy dunes as if he was going to implode any minute. Haka's seal was already neatly placed and the silhouette technique was rather quickly casted. Allowing Verd to slip into Chi's shadow and become part of the weirdo man-wagon he was driving. Haka seemed to be going in using the sub terrain to their advantage. Luckily the mountain ridge where the base was located inside still had plenty of sand flooring at the guarded entrance area. Verd was sure that trick wouldn't work to get past the gate or further into the base.

The execution went quick and smooth. Haka moved in as Chi did his thing. Verd already ready behind her own target in question. Despite the quietus, she still came in from behind and covered her targets mouth as she stuffed her blade in, shoving it inch by inch pasts his flesh until it eventually made its way through the holes in his rib cage towards the more vital organs. He died on the first piercing motion, the added thrusting further inside was, as one could say, but a security measure to make sure he'd be dropping to the floor, having left this plane of existence.

Xshu climbed out of the makeshift spider tunnel. Cleaning the sand and dust off his clothes. Slowly stepping towards the little hole in the wall that tended to be used for transactions. Xshu didn't sense any guards directly behind the gate, implying that they were free to do their stuff for now until reinforcements arrived. While the arrogant masked twat started to slowly unseal his prepared explosives, Verd wondered if the quietus would actually keep the noise of the explosion shut as well.

Verd was helping her squaddies slowly get the corpses together. Not sure what Chi would be doing with his own pilot corpse. But they had to be taken to the side a bit. After a certain time, Xshu seemed satisfied, a small but visibly well explosive-covered area was furnished in his strange bombs. He would step back and start to create and form a rather large one. Probably for what came next. Verd watched him with big eyes.

Chigetsu's part of the plan was now to sneak in, once the explosions went off and either trigger or disable the entrance traps. Xshu would form his hand signs and the entrance part would quietly go 'boom'. Verd was intrigued. Not sure if this was quietus spell-work or if this was Xshu's own speciality. But now there was a clear open door. Just large enough for a human to slip inside. Curiously enough, when carefully peeking inside. No guards were to be seen by far. From this angle, the stairs that lead into the mountain-set base, were completely unprotected.

Chi was about to do his thing as Verdandi gently pushed him back from trying to get into the entrance. Verd didn't necessarily wish to steal his job but she had a really, really bad feeling bout either of this. Dandi shortly formed the hand signs and let a casual water clone pop into existence. Sending it ahead. Triggering a few very common and easy traps. Senbon launchers mostly. Shooting through the water clone alike as they would shoot through Chi. It wasn't until the clone was already halfway towards the stairs as suddenly, one of its steps pushed in a floor plate. Verdandi's clone turned her head back at her Master. It was literally like standing on a land mine. The clone knew it fucked up and as expected something nasty happened. Some sort of net was suddenly raised from the floor. Designed like a spider's net. Until Verd could see how conduction transformers got tapped onto the net. Surging electricity through it, literally electrifying the water clone until it evaporated into thin air. While the puddle sacrifice was happening. Verd shortly pulled a few shuriken from her weapon pouch and tossed them at each transformer she could see. Until the electricity within the trap field seemed gone.


She would say so jokingly as a soft reminder of the electric arrow moment in Heidel. However, her voice was still cut off from being put into existence, so she was basically just moving her lips in hope Chi could potentially read lips. Once that was being dealt with, she stepped from the entrance and allowed Chi to move through. Hopefully he'd be able to disable most of the traps without much problem. Seeing how the enemy forces along wit more nasty traps were ahead of them. Xshu moved in slowly after Chigetsu. Giving Haka chance to prepare herself before the lot of them would probably delve slowly into the depth of the mountain complex. Haka protecting the annoying explosive guy and Chi ahead to take out the traps.

Verd would stay behind. Having taken away the large bomb Xshu was creating. Pulling on it until he let go of it. Probably wasn't that happy that Verd was simply claiming his biggest explosive for her own plans. The princess would stay right here… preparing for the final phase and the retreat. Xshu's hunter squads meanwhile moved on ahead, now waiting at the outer cave entrance. Hiding in the shadows. None of them giving away any intent to talk or even just have eye contact. Their faces hidden and masked too.

Verd would hope they would get out of here after doing their deed. Considering that, depending on timing. Verdandi's traps that she was now setting up, could just as well end up being their doom as well. Xshu stared at Haka as if asking if she had a plan to blow up this base below. Meanwhile Chi would have the pleasure to find out how many senbon projectiles could shoot through his body in less than five minutes.

Verd: 1160 / 2490
Thread: 6'022

Chakra 300 / 350:

Once the volume was cut Chigetsu knew that his time in the corpse was over. It wasn’t particularly fun and honestly more difficult than it was worth, but it had been an interesting experience. He probably would never willingly do it again, but at least he knew he had the capability to. Verdandi flashed quickly from his shadow and executed the man with a very traditional silent killing. Cover their mouth and slit their throat. There wasn’t a sound made from the man’s death, and even if there had been it would have been covered up by Haka’s very useful Quietus. Haka would rip up out of the ground as the time came to kill, ripping clean the two guards to Chigetsu’s left. The one in the center was left for him to take care of, and at the same time as his squad he would spring forth to give this man a quick death. From the mouth of the corpse that Chigetsu was piloting an intense amount of water would stream out. It would flow in a straight line at blinding speeds, shoving itself as a gooey pseudopod into the face and mouth of the man he had targetted. Quickly the goo would shove itself down the man’s throat and twist around his body to restrain his arms. Inside his body delicate internal organs would be ruptured by a spinning twister of newly former water blades, turning his chest into a blender. As soon as the man fell limp the water would retract. Dropping behind the corpse he had been using, Chigetsu would squirm out onto the ground and reform his body. Standing up again on his own two feet, he would turn to both of his allies to confirm they had finished before turning to survey the situation.  

Without much hesitation Haka would pull in the specialist who was accompanying them. One less thing to worry about. With the corpses discarded and guards taken care of the only thing they would have to worry about would be that this guy was protected when he did his business. The corpses would be drug together and obscured as Xshu worked on his explosives. As soon as the bombs were laid down it would be nearly time for Chigetsu’s next part. With the explosion going off the door would be blasted open, complete with a strange and off-putting silence where an explosion should have been. It was eerie. He very much wished there had been at least a little bit of sound to come with that boom, even though he knew it would have ruined their mission. It just felt strange in an uncomfortable way that there wasn’t any sound coming off from it. Shaking those thoughts aside Chigetsu would attempt to pass through the gate, only to be stopped by Verdandi. She would shove him back, and with the Quietus still silencing them she would be unable to explain herself. Chigetsu would give her a strange look, raising an eyebrow as he saw the water clone she had created. Without much ability to argue with her about this, he would simply follow after the water clone as it headed in. Even if the Quietus had been lifted, arguing with Verdandi probably wouldn’t have gotten him very far.

Senbon and shuriken pierced through his chest, flying out frayed by the water and sputtering to the side. All would fall down, having lost their momentum quickly after hitting him. Many of the spewed projectiles were covered in a layer or two of poison, but that hardly meant anything when they couldn’t cause him to bleed. He would seek to press as many triggers as he could, touching down on any impressions in the floor that he could spot. The more traps triggered now the less they had to worry about going in. With Verdandi’s water clone standing infront of him he was just generally picking up the scraps that she had missed, but he could hardly complain about having to face less senbon in his chest. Nothing was going too out of the ordinary, but minesweeping was tedious work that he needed to be thorough in. Only when Verdandi’s clone in front of him froze in place would Chigetsu turn his eyes up from his work, sensing the tenseness of the clone’s reaction and immediately turning to watch what followed. The net rising up from the ground and pinning the clone to the ceiling caught him off guard. Why they hadn't just walked across the ceiling to avoid the traps was answered punctually as electricity surged through the net and across the ceiling. The static electricity in the air was enough to frazzle him even from the distance the water clone was from him when it got shocked. A painful snap of static would pop across him, and he would recoil back as it popped off. His entire body had gone numb, and his face pale as he watched the electrocuted remains of Dandi’s clone. Turning back quickly he would stare at the rest of his party, terror clearly visible from just his expression. His hair was nearly standing on end, giving him an incredibly frazzled look. Quick movements by Verdandi popped the conductors on the net, and with the static being removed from the air he could breathe again. The little teasing comment she made provoked a slight frown from Chigetsu, but he was too busy wetting his hair back down into place to formulate any response.  

The rest of the traps in the hallway were taken care of quickly. He would be careful to scan for any potential wires or electronics before moving in, and the already meticulous work that was needed to clear the area became even longer after that. Chigetsu wasn’t one to take risks when there was danger of being electrocuted. By the time he had finished the floors of the hallway were completely littered with senbon and shuriken. The entire hall was silent as he finished. None of the weaponry he had spilled across the ground seemed to be chattering. While he had gained the ability to more or less tune out the conversations between weaponry that weren’t relevant to him, the absolute silence coming from what must have been hundreds of projectiles on the ground felt strange. Figured it must have been a strange side effect of the Quietus that was still active, Chigetsu would roll with it. Shortly after finishing he would return to alert his squad.

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[1101/2878]

Chakra 335/340 | Hydration Points 21/25:

[/spoiler]

The next challenge would cause some difficulties as Chigetsu had to deal with unexpected lightning traps, revealing an equally unexpected terror for their zapping nature. But other than that, the senbon and shuriken that shot into his body posed little threat for the gelatinous being Chigetsu was. Only the sheer amount of projectiles was nothing to scoff at, betraying that those inhabiting the depths of the mountains had taken meticulous care in their defences. If such were the amount of layered defences they had, the road downwards would not make things any easier when defensive mechanics would be mixed with human opposition.

Haka would lower her eyes for a moment, thinking how best to deal with unexpected opposition. Weapons not infused by chakra posed little threat against a solid chakra barrier, while incoming jutsu would be blocked. Granting the group the benefit of much needed protection would not only deal efficiently with any future trap that could be lurking but also with surprise attacks of physical nature done by bandits lurking in the shadows. And to certain extend it would even allow the team some respite should chakra techniques come into play and be aimed at them. The ability to react to surprise attacks would be completely up to them but a margin of error while dealing with this sort of mission wouldn't be bad.

Dropping her Mark now that they had gathered together again, and dispelling the silence of Quietus as it had served its purpose, the team would have to rely on their own abilities to remain undetected now. Her next technique would consume sufficient chakra as it was, so preserving what little she could for the coming raid would be a most welcome thought. Besides, Haka was no babysit to begin with, the shinobi that were part of her team were expected to know stealth on their own. Taking out a scroll, Haka would allow chakra to bleed out of her finger with which she'd write two symbols on it - 長寿. That done, she'd focus on pouring more chakra into the Fuinjutsu seal, concentrating her will into its intent, upon which she Seal would suddenly disappear and release four blotches of ink. Each member of the Ahoban and the bomb specialist would find the blotch of ink to mark that same symbol upon them before it generated a coating of chakra that would provide them with B-rank defensive properties. Though now the key figures were protected against non-chakra strikes and weaponry, the hefty drain upon her chakra left Haka slightly reeling, her face turning briefly pallid in exhaustion.

"Shodō Mahō, Tapestry of Life", her soft voice would declare, the name strangely fitting when one considered each beneficiary of the jutsu to be part of the tapestry that would preserve their lives. But perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the jutsu would be Haka's humane approach towards keeping the flock together, bound by a single jutsu and purpose. Cold-hearted as she was, apathetic in about everything she did, the spider that aimed to gather the whole Spider clan under a single influence would also become the brood mother binding them under a single purpose. Eventually, much like her will now dictated the preservation of these human pawns, her will would be the dominating force within the clan. Haka Osada, Daughter of Sero Osada, would claim her rights as the ruling Aranean Queen and lead the spiders her mother spawned forth upon this world. "We are inside, the time for stealth operations is over. Xshu, summon your squads."

Hunter squads would slip in, quiet and barely seen. They'd go ahead as he urged them on, delaying the advance of Ahoban as Verdandi decided she could put the explosive of the man to better use. After some back and forth pulling, the bratty princess would eventually win the claim, leaving Xshu to look at Haka with a slightly shocked expression. As if the apathetic spider would even care if Verdandi decided to blow up the whole place. The couple of seconds the spider-nin stared back before she averted her eyes to focus on the mission completed the man's perplexion. By now, he was certain blowing up the whole place was the plan, considering Ahoban completely crazy in their approach. He probably wasn't that far from the truth.

Following the Hunter squad into the depths, Haka moved on and beckoned Xshu to stay close. Verdandi would stay behind it seemed, leaving Chigetsu to make his decision about joining the assault or not. One thing was clear, Haka would be ripping through opponents with her chakra claws without second thought, the hunt beckoning her to have some fun. As they'd advance, a few more corpses would reveal themselves along the path. Taken out by Xshu's Hunter squad. The outer cavern awaited them, empty of life on their side, the blare of an alarm resonating on the other. Soon enough this large area would become the battlefield but its emptiness was alarming. More traps sounded a likely option.

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847 | 2423
Thread WC: 7970

195/350:

Verdandi watched as her darling and her spider queen moved on forth right after the ANBU squads. Xshu gave Verd another mean glare, whom in return only showed him her tongue despite the fact that they could talk again now. Being a little bit of a know-it-all mech, Dandi moved in to work her fingers back into the various traps at the entrance gate. Senbons would be picked up carefully. Only the non-toxic ones would get to be touched. Verd covered her fingers carefully in a bit of ice just to be sure. She however had a good 10 senbon, shuriken and kunai in her own pockets. Using them to refill the launchers and search for their triggers. Cutting those triggers off towards the respective floor plates they were connected with and leaving a proper remain of the toxic senbon mess on the ground to make sure that anyone who wished to return, would ultimately think that all traps here had been disarmed and inactive. Verdandi would however get especially creative with the electric net. Severing its connection to the electric coil and instead just using its basic outlines to serve as a holding-platform for a very special surprise. Mixing into the new net a multitude of Makibishi (foot wear piercing traps), Metsubishi (stink bombs), flash bomb and smoke bomb as well as the massive explosive from Xshu. While she didn't have his bomb trigger, she simply strapped one of her own explosive tags on the bomb and hence complete the packet.

Verdandi used a lot of left over rope to return the net back to the ceiling. Testing if the new main coil would now be solely connected to one rope she freshly pulled along the ceiling towards the new 'exploded' entrance way. Her chakra she infused to the ground was still concentrated on the sandy floor that mixed with the pressure plates of the entrance. Despite the rather difficult composition of the floor way Verd could see how the water of her suiton technique was starting to fill the whole area in a damp wetness. Verd had a last perverse idea as she figured that the electric coil could still be used for something. Digging a small hole until she reached the new suiton deposit below, she pushed the electric coil down until it sank deeply into the water, then returned the sandy surface to close the hole around the coil. To finish her ultimate trap. Verd would cast a shadow clone and put her into position. The clone added a chakra string to each launcher and the trigger for the electric charger, as well as position herself behind the entrance where Verd had placed the end of the net's rope. With that being all done. Dandi moved further down the stairs to check if she could give some last-minute assistance or cover the retreat of the troops. Hoping that all was going well for them as they had stepped down into the bowls of the mean fortress.

As soon as the group would make their retreat, Verdandi's clone would wait for the enemy troops to follow suit. The first ones would get to taste the pull of chakra string to the senbon, kunai and shuriken launchers. Then Verdandi would have to activate her Erosive Lake technique to decompose the floor at the entrance and have the men fall down into the water reservoir below. The clone would hence pull the electricity trigger and shock any enemy that had fallen to the earth crumbling trap, potentially dying from electrocution. If not, the erosive technique would commence to bury them below the mud and sand surrounding them. Last but not least and hopefully when everyone was already outside. The clone would pull the rope to drop the myriad of nasty items upon the grave of the already mud-covered enemies. The Makibishi would slow them down and the myriad mixture of stink, smoke and flash would stop the rest in their tracks, allowing Xshu's bomb to drop unnoticed into their midst. Once that was complete, the shadow clone would disperse herself, returning the knowledge of the situation to Verdandi's mind whom would, At last, trigger the explosive tag and hence set off the bomb. Causing a massive explosion upon the entrance and probably even disrupting the stability of the fortress cave roof and completely and utterly bury any last remaining person within the secret base, leaving nothing and no one left alive.

However, for Verdandi's plan to come into effect. It was absolutely necessary that her team would succeed to infiltrate the caverns below. Stir up the enemy soldiers. Keep them busy while Xshu would plant his last explosives at the vital pillars and then all retreat. The entrance explosion alone wouldn't be able to bury the whole cave. Xshu was aware that his job was the key to the whole operation. If he didn't blow up the central pillars, all of Verdandi's traps would only collapse the entrance way and maybe kill the closest enemies but leave the base intact deeper within the cave and also potentially allowing those deeper in to survive and even bury themselves free from their prison. Verd wouldn't go all too deep into the caverns. Remaining nearby the entrance hallway and pulling out one of her last kunai's to glare into the dark depths of the cave. Watching out for friend or foe to return so she could properly time her whole escape plan with the clone.

Verd: 930 / 3420
Thread: 8900

Chakra 275 / 350:

The static electricity that collected in his body after that close call hadn’t yet released from his body. It gave him a strange energy, not wanting to stand still in one place too long. He had been lucky, all things considered. If it hadn’t been for Verdandi’s intuition he would have likely faced grievous wounds. There was a lesson to learn from this. Perhaps not to be so cocky about his own ability? Trust the intuition of women? Chigetsu wasn’t exactly sure what it was. It left him feeling very uncomfortable though, and perhaps that was the lesson. Never get comfortable. That shocking experienced together with the eerie silence from the weaponry set him on edge, past his earlier playful irritation. His hair would be slicked back again, and then again, using liquid from his forehead to wet it. The masses of weaponry would be glanced back at as it was time to pass. It wouldn’t be possible to, but carrying them all back would have been nice. With the explosion that Verdandi had stolen from Xshu he could only image they would all remain buried under the ruble here, forgotten about until the ruins of this camp were excavated. What an entirely unpleasant situation.

The dispelling of Quietus allowed him to relax, and only then did he notice his heavy breathing. Ahoban Squad were already preparing to move forward by then. Haka prepared new sealing techniques, marking the group with defensive barriers. Her excellence in fuuinjutsu was plain and obvious to see, and nothing new to Chigetsu or Verdandi. All the while the hunter squads that had been called in would begin their part. Their uniform silence perhaps overshadowed Ahoban a bit professionalism, especially with the backdrop of Verdandi struggling to seize the bomb from Xshu. Whatever she was planning with it would surely be interesting, but ‘interesting’ likely meant ‘liability’ to them. They were certainly admirable, but their traditional methods put together with Ahoban’s chaos was like mixing oil and water. The distress it caused Xshu to have his bomb stolen away brought a small smile to Chigetsu’s face. It was an impossibly Verdandi thing to do.

As Dandi rushed into the hallway again Chigetsu would turn to follow her. Mainly curiosity had driven him to keep on her heel, but as he approached the remnants of the spent traps he would skid to a halt. Since he didn’t particularly want a headache he would keep his distance. As if she had read his mind and saw his concerns about the weaponry earlier, Verdandi would be working through the variety of spent ammunition and triggered traps. He would watch the work she did, paying close attention to the strange net covered bomb she seemed to be constructing. The trap that she was building was beyond Chigetsu’s comprehension to understand, embarrassingly even though he had watched her create it. He would eventually find out what she planned to do with it and why she filled it with metsubisi, but as for now he would be left in confusion. “Are you going to blow up the entire building?” He would ask, tilting his head at the spectacle and speaking up a bit louder to try and be heard over the chaotic arguments between senbon and shuriken. "Try not to do it while we're still inside. I mean, I'd be fine, but..." The rubble of a collapsing building falling down on him would be only a minor inconvenience, but he couldn’t help but worry for Haka and Verdandi. He would have to check to make sure she hadn’t lost it from heat stroke after this all was over.

The ability of the Hunter-Killer squads became very clear when they met combat with the enemy. In the depths of the enemy base their skill found a place to shine. A flurry and flash of silent blades swiping out to spill blood came from every direction. Silent Killing. Predator Concealing Mist. These were very standard Hunter-Killer tactics, and having them performed by the two squads that accompanied them was like watching a well-oiled machine. They seized the initial momentum well. Even after the initial shock and awe the combat was a mess. Stuck in the close quarters it was difficult to not get in the way of others. Large area of effect ninjutsu was impossible to use unless you wanted half your allies caught in it. The speed it moved at surely would have been dizzying to onlookers but caught in the moment the high speeds and complicated movements were reacted to naturally. With the eight tentacles he replaced his arm Chigetsu was able to grapple and strangle those he focused on, usually allowing a Hunter-Killer Nin to slit their throats as he had them caught. Embracing his role as a ‘net’, Chigetsu would focus on slowing down and repositioning his targets into the grasps of his allies. Ankles and wrists were slithered around, broken, and flung. Corpses thrown against walls, swords and knives swinging through water, and splatters of blood. This at least made the entire situation worthwhile.  

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[846/3724]

Chakra 315/340 | Hydration 18/25:

Hunter and Chigetsu would move forward, the terror of the tentacle attracting most of the attention and setting up incoming enemies for the ANBU to deal with them even faster than they already could. The tunnel was filled with killing intent to the point it had to be suffocating the enemy. Haka in the meanwhile walked in the back with Xshu, her senses taking in every minute detail to be sure the carpet of corpses they were walking through would not deliver any surprises in the last minute. They did not, the killer efficiency of entire Hunter Squads becoming apparent. Haka liked this. Swift and neat, nothing showy, nothing chaotic. Nothing more but a quiet end. Sometimes it felt as if such a clean and stealthy approach was getting increasingly rare the more often Haka undertook missions as a member of the Ahoban. Maybe it was just Suna getting to them, but blatant force and chaos had been about the only thing they had been delivering ever since they set foot on the coarse sand filled lands.

The quietude of the moment would be disturbed as a hidden passage revealed itself in their backs. Doton would crumble down the walls, a handful of shinobi jumping out to take out Xshu and Haka in the back. Loaded with his own materials, Xshu was at a disadvantage in his defences, but Haka replied to their bolstered morale by taking it away in an equally harsh way. Forming the snake and spider hand seals, she'd tap the nearby wall to create a Summoning portal. Countless spiders would skitter out, blackening the narrow tunnels in a flood of biting darkness as it washed over walls, ceiling and floor alike. As the handful of shinobi were drowning in the spider horde. As even Xshu had taken a step back at the insanity of it all, Haka's chakra arms ripped through the bodies as they were being dragged away, leaving brutally slashed corpses at the end of the spider stream. Relative peace returning, Haka moved forward with Xshu as the spider horde retreated back into the Summoning seal, ignoring the few beads of sweat the man was suffering from seeing the cold terror the Unmei had brought forward. She was probably more exhausted than he was, starting to feel the strain of chakra usage in her muscles.

The two would move on through the tunnels, eventually ending at a point where Xshu would raise his hand to point at a solid wooden beam. His eyes would trail it upward to the ceiling, watching how it branched out into various directions and sections. As he analysed the construction works which supported the underground lair, Haka observed the area. Most men had already been killed by the squads and Chigetsu, the few remaining troops now being dealt with. A stray kunai would fly in their direction, deflected by Haka's bare hands as she trusted the chakra barrier to protect her against weaponry.

"There, there and there...", Xshu would say as he pointed at a few of the pillars. "If I get those three destroyed, this whole thing comes down."

Not waiting for a reply, he'd move in to start his preparations, Haka swiftly following him up. Babysitting a human was a dull job, if you asked her, but perhaps having the tiny terror of Spider Island watch over him was the better option as her aura alone was already off-setting to those who would even think about reaching out to him. Those who persisted despite would quietly been dealt with as nigh-invisible chakra arms tore through them without a second thought. Merciful but ruthless, such was the wolf spider's nature. The second benefit of having Haka around him was that the spider's patience would not be bothered by the long time Xshu would need to properly place his bombs. Motionless yet not dropping her vigilance, Haka's general lack of desire for lengthy discussions would now be a welcome aspect as the bomb specialist expected to be granted full concentration and as little disturbance as possible considering the situation they were in. The only sound to be heard would be that of Chigetsu and the Hunter Squads tearing through enemies somewhere in the distance - and that didn't mean much considering the stealth of the assassins.

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Total: 3149
Thread WC: 10'472

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Verdandi worked her way through the traps and mentioned that Chi was still hanging around. Haka and Xshu had already vanished to their own location towards the centre. Leaving the two flirty birds alone for a moment. Verd grinned and moved in to hug the little flubber monster. "Now now darling, don't you think you should head down to invade some more bodies? Can't leave it all up to our spider assassin can we?" she chuckled and licked his cheek. Then turned away and spanked his perky butt to return to her work. "Don't worry about me, I'll get the goodbye present ready by the time you guys are done toying with the camp soldiers." She winked as she worked on some more ropes to fix with her clone. Chi eventually moved down to do his deed. As mentioned, Verd would proceed to the hallway instead of going to deep into the caverns. She could hear noises of spiders in the distance. Probably some flubbery gargles from Chi doing nasty things and a whole lot of killing intent being spread by the ANBU. An occasional scream. An alarm that would be silenced again. A whole lot of commotion. It wouldn't go without a visitor of course. One of the cave soldiers moved straight forward towards Verdandi. He had already raised his blade. Verd had her kunai in grip. But the cave floor below was wet and gave her plenty of other… ammunition to work with.

With a single motion of her palm the charging soldier would be left to suddenly stand still. His feet wouldn't move anymore. He would glare down to see how the frost was creeping up on him. Verd's Hyouton filled eye would glow brightly as she smirked a bit in an almost joyful way. Maybe she started to like being a bit of a cold hearted witch sometimes. Maybe it was the ill influence of her squad that the paragon seemed to cherish the art of killing a bit more by now. Or maybe it was just the utter nature of her Hyouton element that it wished to undo and cleanse the world from any dirt that might have befallen the purity of the natural elements. The man turned into a statuette of his former body. Another soldier had come this way and stared at what happened. It went not without another surge of joy as Verdandi clenched her extended, open palm into a fist and buried the prisoner of ice within his form, a lot of blood would spill from the glassy encased prison as Verd basically de-juiced the man and shattered his bones beneath to slowly pressure the formerly humans sized statuette into a mere fraction of its shape. The view of this cruel endeavour left the soldier in angst and distress. Screaming as if he had faced the devil himself and turned around to run away. Verd tossed her readied kunai after him to neatly bury itself into his exposed neck. She was getting good at aiming.

With that being done. The first eruption echoed into the cave. Xshu must have finished his deed. The ANBU hunter had placed their explosive tags on the less important structures to crumble any remains of the hideout buildings to dust. A multitude of soldiers was incoming for the lot of them. But never did any of the hunters nor Xshu really intend to battle them all. His special bombs were placed and hidden. Haka had made sure that no one lived to tell the tale what and where he did it. The lot of them now on the retreat. The ANBU were quick and were the first to pass by Verd. She counted to make sure both squads were complete so that she wouldn't end up burying an ally. Eventually Chi and then Xshu and Haka would turn up once their work seemed complete to them. Not far behind them a multitude of enemies. Verd was getting excited. She ran ahead of her Squad to give the signal to her clone. Waiting by the exploded entranceway until Xshu and her friends passed by. The clone nodded. Verd wouldn't stick around and quickly followed after her Squad. It was an odd feeling to command one of your living clones to do a suicide mission. But it wasn't the time to think and talk about ethics on how shadow-clone life mattered or not. The ropes were pulled. Screams of men would echo as senbon, kunai and shuriken buried themselves into the front wave of enemies.

The erosive lake would give way. A good dozen men falling into the pit. The electric current activated to slowly fry them alive while the sand would slowly bury them beneath. At last. The clone would finish her deed. Closing her eyes in an almost dramatic fashion. She could feel the explosion deep in the caves below. Xshu's time bombs had exploded. The screams of dozens of men getting buried alive down there was her cue. Pulling the last rope. Stink. Smoke. Flash. Pain and a pretty large bomb would drop from the net. By the time the Squad had left the cave base, the final explosion would erupt. Verd could, for a split second. Watch the detonation with her 'own' clone eyes. Since the memories of its beauty would be sent straight to her head once the clone dispersed from the massive shockwave. The whole cave shattered. The entrance eradicated and any last remaining enemy soldier was ultimately buried beneath stone and rubble. Nothing of this base would remain. Everything had be utterly nullified into a collapsed grave for a large mass of corpses. Verdandi would give it a moment of silence before she turned around to face her Squad. Moving back towards the makeshift camp that they started in with. Xshu followed and so probably would her team mates. Exhausted by the deeds done Verd placed her butt into one of the makeshift seats. Avalanche was already back in his spot. Never having entered the deeper depths of the base.

The ANBU would have dispersed already. Having no social attachment to either of the Ahoban men. Xshu would give Verdandi another of his glares. Probably still upset that she stole his baby bomb. "Well I guess, as chaotic as the lot of you are, you sure are effective as well. I shall report this to HQ. A commendable deed." He would speak in an almost slimy way now. Verd didn't like it. She only waved dismissive as the man put back on his mask. Nodding to Haka and Chi, before he finally left. Allowing the Squad some last rest before either of them might decide to head home now. "That was FUN. Fuck I totally love blowing up stuff… I seriously got to get me some more of these… exploding tags and things…" Verd would say. A bit unusually hyped for her personality. But who could blame her. This was actually quite the exciting mission result. Wasn't it?


Verd WC: 1180 / 4600
Thread WC: 11'652

Immediately Chigetsu was taken aback. To say he was a bit flustered by Verdandi's sudden hug and butt touch was an understatement. The way she licked his cheek left a bright tinge of red covering his face, and he was left stiffly frozen in place as she returned to her work. The poor boy felt so hot that he wouldn't have been surprised if trails of steam began raising up from his body. Although given they were still in Suna, perhaps he shouldn't be surprised if he started evaporating. Even though they were alone now flirty acts of affection like that still set Chigetsu to a shade of red. Perhaps he would eventually grow used to them in time, but for now baby steps were required. "O-Oh... Okay!" He would reach up with one hand to rub at his cheeks. Any interest he had previously had in the bomb she was crafting melted away. "I'll go with Haka and … We'll kill everybody! I'll do a good job." He would be left staring at her for a moment before rushing off. "...Darling~" He would whisper under his breath before turning around and rushing back.  

Flubbery gargles and many other squelching sounds did indeed from Chigetsu. The many sounds his body made when he twisted and turned in inhuman ways couldn't exactly be controlled. The terror of the tentacle would be incredibly effective in catching his prey. Especially with the numerous tentacles that extended from his body, the strange gargling sounds, and the way his body seemed to flow and twist in ways that bones wouldn't allow. It all combined to terrify those in his path. Even if he was a force of chaos he was surely was an effective and useful one, at least that was the delusion that Chigetsu convinced himself. The swift neatness of the Hunter-Nin was attractive, and perhaps a skill that would be learned in time, but for now he was content in the tentacle. More than anything he wanted to destroy what was in his path. The harshness of Sunagakure turned him to this cruelty, and the frustrations he had from the heat of the desert were released on the flesh of his foes. Something so clean and quick wouldn't give him any satisfaction. Perhaps that was the root of what separated him from them.  

He was red again when he finished. Streaks of tainted pink flowed through him from the blood that had saturated into his tentacles. It left him multicolored, as if he was playing with paint. The beginning of the explosions signaled. Torn away from the stress relief he was engaged in, Chigetsu would be forced back. A bit too reluctant to go, especially given how concerned he had been about Verdandi and Haka mere moments about. Despite what they had been through so far in this cave Chigetsu could have gone for more. Physical combat didn't exhaust him nearly as much as it did the others. He was blessed with his body, and that made him careless, sloppy, and wild in his attacks, and yet he couldn't be punished for it. Of the multitudes of bad habits that his liquid body imparted him with, it was this delusion of invincibility that was perhaps the most dangerous. Before how wildly he lived could catch up with him Chigetsu would retreat with the Hunter-Nin he had been off with.  

His curiosity with the bomb was finally answered. The barrage and subsequent collapse of the cave would completely evaporate the pursuing forces and bring the roof down on them. It was a shame that all the weaponry had to be left behind. Spending time picking up individual senbon off the floor would have wasted too much time, and so they were all condemned to this cavern as their resting place. An unfortunate casualty of war. He would be left at the entrance of the cavern, the screams of the damned still ringing in his ears. The mission briefing from their temporary ally Xshu came at some point after that, but the disinterest that Chi showed was palpable. The eight limbs of his octopus right arm were still squirming around anxiously, twirling and folding in over themselves in a pulsating cone of dripping pink tentacles. Excess liquid that he absorbed into himself was being conserved, and with a swipe of his tentacles he would slather himself in their dripping excess. Rubbing himself down with their stickiness until he was fully covered was necessary in spreading as much of the body fluids he stole around his body. Various squelches accompanied it. Seeing as his allies would be venturing into the heat as well, Chigetsu decided to be a bit generous. One tentacle each would venture out to his companions, and quickly they would both be squeezed around and slathered with a layer of cooling goo that dripped off the pink tentacle.  

"Let's get out of Sunagakure as soon as possible." Making sure to only speak once their 'friends' were out of earshot, Chigetsu would cut the dead air that likely resulted from his tentacle generosity. "I think I'm going to evaporate if we stay here much longer. I don't want to die so far away from the ocean, either. If I evaporate away into the sky, where will I end up?" It was a real question. Even the Storm Followers that he was born to still recognized all Hozuki returned to the ocean after they died. Uncertainty about death was uncharacteristic of him. A tentacle was pressed up against his forehead, and he would use it as a covering to stare up into the sun.

---

[955/4679]
Total WC: 12,607

Chakra 305|340 Hydration 13/25:

"All set. Time to move away!", Xshu would signal his troops, instantly moving away himself as the explosive seals were set alight. It would be a matter of seconds before the whole thing came down. The Hunter Squads, having finished their own job, would retreat as fast and quiet as they had come in. Chigetsu followed in their wake, smears of red blood having turned pink in colour in his liquid form. Then Xshu moved, Haka still at his side.

A bandit would move from the shadows, his own technique withdrawing him from the sight of others. In the false sense of security the withdrawing troops held, fuelled by the early sense of victory despite the missions not being finished yet, the man took his chance to strike at Xshu. Good positioning, an assassin's manoeuvre worth respecting. It was becoming clear that the bandits, despite lacking any decent means to deal with the Hunter-nin's strategies were well-trained and practised in their own ways of ambushing and raiding. Knife drawn, he would have hit Xshu straight in the heart were it not for the Tapestry of Life deflecting the attack. Good aim, not enough chakra. As Xshu continued mid-air in his jump, face turned pallid at the realisation that this could have been his last moment, a nigh invisible bundle of chakra suddenly ripped through the assassin's chest in retaliation. As the man spit out blood, his chest now sporting a thick hole where the ripping claw had pierced him, the last sight the man would catch was the apathetic red gaze of the spider-nin before his body would embrace death not even a second later.

A couple of jumps later, the two would find themselves at the entrance seeing the others exit the cave as fast as they could now  that Verdandi's own trap was set in motion. The whole place imploded as a massive explosion was heard, rocks crumbling to bury the former head quarters forever in dust and stone. Their mission was finally over. The chakra arms of Haka dispersed, the nigh-invisible menace now leaving the smaller fatigued spider-nin almost meek in comparison despite the monstrous aura. She'd brush her hair away, showing not intention to drop her guard or her willpower even now. Xshu's gaze would linger briefly on Haka before he'd speak up, his former arrogant tone only slightly softer than otherwise and certainly slimier than before as he acknowledged Ahoban's prowess after they had done the hardest part.

"Well I guess, as chaotic as the lot of you are, you sure are effective as well. I shall report this to HQ. A commendable deed."

With those words, he'd give them all a nod before he vanished from sight with his squad. As soon as the three of them were alone in front of the collapsed entrance, Verdandi expressed her joy for the chaotic, noisy, explosive way they had dealt with it whereas Chigetsu revealed his disgust for the lands here, feeling it was better to move away from Sunagakure as soon as possible. On that, Haka would agree. She wasn't one for showy and explosive to begin with, but at least she could put up with that as it was only a passing thing. The Lands of Wind on the other hand were slipping further under the label of 'better off death' with every new day she had to spend in this forsaken land.

"Let's go home.", Haka would simply state as her two-cents on the matter, keeping her actual disdain for the lands to herself if they couldn't already guess it. Why had she even agreed with Sero to learn doton from these lands anyway? She was seriously regretting her choice to prove herself to him by moving into other, less familiar habitats than Kirigakure. Next time, she'd just drain the knowledge out of someone else. Like Chigetsu did with people's juices, maybe, as that seemed to work just fine and faster.

---

679
Total: 3828
Thread WC: 13'286

150/350:

Verdandi remained seated in her stone-chair of their makeshift camp. She had to admit that she enjoyed the squads desire for temporary housing or camping during their missions. She stared at Chi as he felt the need to tentacle some lewd goo on her skin. For a moment she considered to get angry with her cute butt boy but then had to admit that, as slimy as it was, it had similar comforting properties as Verdandi's frost. She enjoyed it for a while until the goo eventually froze on her skin, brittling off her body to the floor, where it melted again and turned into a tiny flubber that slowly crawled across the floor until it returned straight into Chigetsus body by jumping it his leg. Verd would find herself continuously amused and surprised by the nature of Chi's body. His weird but interesting features making him a special goofball that was as equally entertaining as he was deadly. Xshu and the ANBU had left at last. His exchange with Haka on a visual level would imply that something went on between them down in the cave that Verd wasn't fully aware of. Considering Haka's type, she guessed it wasn't any kind of lewd innuendo like Verd and Chi shared in their alone time. Did she potentially threaten to kill him? Did she try to kill him? Nah if she tried he'd be dead. Verd found it almost as amusing to day dream about Haka's private adventures as she enjoyed to watch Chi being a flubber monster.

The lot of them would probably admit that they should take a rest soon but rather not near the place they just blew up with a rather large, loud boom. Her Squad mates urged the lazy Verdandi to get her ass back on her feet and she would, with a bit of a deeper sigh than she would admit towards. Verdandi whistled and Avalanche, the good boy that he was, would get up far more quickly than herself and move in to nuzzle Verdandi's palm. He would lower his front and slowly allow the princess to climb on his back. Verd would, as usual offer her palm to Chigetsu if he wanted to join in and climb on the large furball as well. Verd would offer the same to Haka, not sure if she wanted to join the two up there or preferred to use her feet, or horse for transportation. However, the lot of them would eventually catch up with their remaining supplies and items and then move on. Despite that they moved in the same direction as Xshu and the hunters, Verd and the others wouldn't see anything of them anymore. Either their movement speed surpassed them by far or they had been moving to stealth mode, or eventually even had a secret place to go instead back to the Kiri camp. It had been a long and exhausting mission and Verdandi was certainly looking forward to another, proper bath.

She did however keep in mind that taking a shower in between missions was a wonderful idea as well as improving their camping equipment, she figured that summoning a house into the midst of things would eventually be frowned upon but she could try and see what could be done with her latest skills in sealing techniques. She wondered what Haka did after a long exhausting mission. If she stepped into her lair, webbed herself up, took a nap, ate some people and then began to fanatically play piano to distract herself. The idea was too genius to simply abandon. The memory of the pirate mission was still very visible in Verd's head. Leaving her to personally wonder if it was a good idea to wish for another moment where she would see the maturing Haka drunk again. But it was never bad to know someone's weak spot. Especially if that someone was a scary spider disguised as a human being. Haka actually getting mad at Verd was a somewhat scary thought. Dandy would shoot Haka a glare only to be met with ignorance in return but those eyes were still scary. She couldn't help but notice that, Haka had grown quite… massively since their first meeting. Her features, especially the feminine ones were far more refined. She had shown her abilities in the pirate mission too. But Verd still needed time to get used to that kind of feeling. A mature, seductive spider chick. Scary.

They would soon arrive Kiri. The lot of them supposedly just moving to the HQ tent to shortly cash in their rewards before splitting up to do their own thing for now. But Verd was looking forward for this whole War to be over. Not specifically cause of the heat. But cause she really missed to take things a tad more easy going.

[EXIT]

Verd WC: 820 / 5420
Thread WC: 14106

WC Usage:

Finally, as he would come to rest in the interior of their little campsite he would release the chakra he had been using to maintain his mess of tentacled limbs. Perhaps it wasn't necessary to keep himself octopus-clad for so long, but who knew in this country. As far as he knew it would be necessary to sleep ready to strike in a moment's notice. If it was necessary for him to permanently twist his limbs into a collection of tentacles he doubted anyone on his squad would mind anyhow. Perhaps there would be a few odd looks given to the man with seafood as arms, but that was the price that he needed to pay for ease of mind while in this desert. The offer to climb up upon the back of Avalanche once more was eagerly taken once it was offered to him, and he would rest up upon the back of the abdominal fluffball. He had grown so much since Chigetsu had met him. Back when he was a little floof it would have been hard to imagine riding him, and yet here they were. Wiggling into position behind Verdandi, and potentially scooting to give Haka some room, they would all be off shortly.

His hand would travel down to pat at the lumbering Avalanche was he trotted through the desert sands. More than anything he would have to sit down and give the big oaf a brushing session once they got back home. It had been too long since he had snuggled with the bear and fallen asleep beside him. Those easy days were something he desperately wanted to return to. Adversity wasn't something he particularly shied away from in the past, and but this was a different and unfamiliar form of conflict. It was very easy to complete a mission. There was a key objective, and generally there were teammates who would help you complete it. Here in Sunagakure Chigetsu couldn't comprehend what the objective was, or when they would be able to declare victory. Each little mission they took didn't make it seem as if they were any closer to a total victory in the end. It was incredibly bitter and unsatisfying feeling as though you were risking your life for nothing. Not to say anything of the heat, which Chigetsu had complained about so much at this point that he was sure his squad mates were totally sick of it. He would keep his mouth mostly shut. They didn't want to or need to hear his complaints, not about the heat or the malaise he was feeling. He had thought better of it after that outburst of his earlier. At the very least it seemed as though Haka agreed with him, and Verdandi seemed indifferent to the idea of returning.  

The return to Kiri held territory couldn't have come soon enough. The paltry pay that they received for missions such as these was much more than he had ever seen in his life, but at the same time didn't feel nearly enough. During his time as a genin he had always dreamed about what it would be like as a chunin, and then a jounin. The unimportant and meaningless missions that he had done largely for the pay gave him hope that the stronger he became, and the further he worked himself up the military hierarchy, the more meaning he would be able to derive from his actions as a shinobi. Instead the meaningless and unsatisfying patrol missions he received turned into meaningless and unsatisfying slaughter missions. It was difficult to find solace when alone. He could only wonder when this would end. Hopefully soon.

---

[EXIT]
[621/5300]

[2500] - Mission Pay
[700] - Training Strength to B-1
[700] - Training Speed to B-1
[700] - Training Endurance to B-1
[700] - Training Reaction Time to B-1

Having agreed to return home, everyone climbed on Avalanche as the mount of choice. Even Haka, usually relying on her own 'pony' but now feeling too tired to open a Gate to beckon the mount simply crawled upon the massive bear, throwing her monstrous aura over everyone as a dark embrace of terrorising acceptance. Perhaps they were rather used to her aura, but the thought buzzing through her slumbering mind that the Ahoban members would be killed as last when she decided on the eradication of humanity remained a strange sensation. What little human nature she had would have told her she cared for them, but such positive feelings of affection were not the arachnid's ways. No, Chigetsu and Verdandi were 'acceptable', for a blob-thing not tasting of vanilla and a human.

As if Verdandi had heard her thoughts that she was labelled as 'acceptable' rather than 'loved and cared for', she shot the spider-nin an angry glare only to be replied to with an annoyed frown that pretty much said the Ice Queen could still be killed if she tried anything funny. Whatever the reason even was for the glare. But eventually, strange mental confrontations aside, exhaustion would catch up and Haka's head would nudge forward against whoever sat before her on Avalance, the spider dozing off as the group returned home.

It was but when her restless awareness picked up the busy noise of Kirigakure's base camp that she shot up again, eyes instantly analysing the sudden appearance of 'home'. A dreary sight. Sand walls, flags, the stink of humanity, militaristic outfits wherever her eyes gazed, tension and stress putting everyone on edge. Nothing alike to the gloomy atmosphere of Spider Island, where the mist was a soothing embrace and where the only tension senses was that of a hunter eyeing their prey. Spider Island seemed so peaceful in comparison to these blazing lands. Hopefully this human nonsense ended soon.

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EXIT

327
Total:4155
-2500 mission (500 ryo)
-1600 extra pay (+400 ryo)


Thread WC: 15'054 (3 EP mission reward, +6 Passive EP)