Mission name: Red Turnt Yellow. Mission rank: S. Objective: Locate and Liberate Chūnin Hopeful. Location: Hi no Kuni Border. Reward: 2000 Ryo + 5EP Mission Description: There are a number of entrants missing from their bracket matches, with no discernible pattern in village or other behavior to explain the multiple dropouts. Considering the lack of any correspondence, foul play is suspected. Mission Details: Cults present in the Land of Fire have taken to indoctrinating the Genin who have traveled to the exams, and are doing so by force. Deep in the wilderness of Hi no Kuni, an S-ranked cult leader in golden robes commands a mixture of A and B-ranked non-ninja worshippers who have forcibly kidnapped entrants. All are equipped with A and S-ranked weapons and the Leader is a Raiu Clan member with all library techniques for his Suiton and Raiton elements, as well as Ninjutsu. This mission can be taken to rescue a PC contestant in the exams as if it were an opposed mission, counting as if both players had completed this mission twice.
Mission Thread locked to Verdandi, Nayoko, Haka, Xiao
5000 WC for mission. 12500 TWC for double EP.
Total Payout of 4'000 Ryo and 15 EP possible.
Verdandi had to admit she was having a lot of wholesome fun during the Exam’s little side missions. But as always, there would be moments when the fun stops and serious business starts. Having turned in a good half a dozen missions this morning, Verd was moving right into trouble. Nayoko had contacted her once he heard of her appearance in Konoha, while he was surely up for a nice chat, his letter seemed to have rather urgent issues at hand. An actual kidnapping going on. Missing people. Nayo had been tasked to act his rank as ANBU commander and get to the bottom of this and Verd was certainly going to help. His latest intel was showing rather concerning movements of robed men and the more their strength and capability reports would pile up the more it became rather clear that this wasn’t the job for your daycare ninja. Experts were needed for this task. The full capabilities of this ring of robed people in the woods yet completely unknown. But what once started as a mission Nayo would have liked to complete on his own he was now finding himself pressed to ask for backup. Verdandi was instantly in on the task and considering that Nayo was looking for a stealth specialist, eventually even an assassin for the heaty parts, Verdandi was going to bring along a friend whom she knew was better at infiltration and sneaky behavior than anyone else in Verd’s circle. If someone could track the kidnapped boy. It was Haka.
That being said, Verd had a second reason to call in the spider princess. One of the supposed victims on the list of young genin that disappeared was none but Xiao. One of Verdandi’s students and supposed receiver of Sero’s gift. Despite Verd being unsure why fate had chosen such a path for her pupil she wasn’t going to argue with it. Considering she had a lot of love for the Unmei in general. Verdandi would send her raven ‘Cawl’ to deliver the meeting point to Haka and would move on to make her way to the forward hut in the woods on her own. Supposedly, Nayoko was going to meet them there and get his plan settled. While stealth wasn’t much his thing. Avalanche insisted to tag along for the first part. Seemingly eager to see his friend Nayoko again. The two continuously bonding in quite a cute way over the repeated meetings. The hut was located a bare ten minutes past the gates of Konoha to the south. The area where intel had been spotting the robed men was a good hour further to the south and so Verd would be safe from being spotted by them despite the giant polar bear following her for now. She was afraid though, that her fuzzy friend would have to stay behind later and was certain that she’d have to teach him one or two of her stealth techniques someday. Though giant bears and stealth… Verdandi chuckled. She would make her way to the hut in no time. Ready to enter.
All his mind remembered was fire. The scorching air that filled his lungs, the stinging sensation along his body but more so the immense aching pain that came with the realization that he simply was not on par with his would be rivals from the opposing villages. That realization was one of self creation, one that wasn't born from any desire to be stronger nor to win the exams as it was but rather born out of a frustration that despite his efforts and training he had still fallen short of the mark of a hero. He was defeated not only physically to what Xiao felt was mere moments ago but rather spiritually. He awoke in the same darkness that he had found himself in mere moments ago before falling down that deepened hole. He didn't blame Ryo, not at all, he had done precisely as he had hoped - he had used power and though Xiao had suffered he had taught the shinobi the lesson of responsibility associated with said power, there was some comfort in that, what was not as comforting of course was Xiao's inability to see and seemingly inability to move. He found his arms were stretched back, he could feel his pectoral muscles and ribcage being spread like angels wings rising backwards as he kneeled on what felt like a cold floor - was it stone or metal? It was hard to tell. All the little shinobi knew was moments ago he was heading towards the bottom of a chasm as he burned alive and now? Now he was kneeling on a cold floor with utter silence. A haunting silence that made him feel cold not just physically but mentally being left alone with his thoughts.
His face felt different, in the way that one may feel from a bee sting or perhaps ingesting too much of a medication, something was wrong but he couldn't quite put his finger on it without being able to see. It felt, numb, dead, as if something had simply removed it from him and so too did the remaining side of his body. What was that jutsu? Was it a simple D rank like most genin had or something more? Whatever it was Xiao sincerely helped it had atleast looked good enough to wow the audience. That was what was important to the little shinobi and from the fight he had gathered more than enough intel between his exhibition fights and the exams practical element. What this meant was that Xiao had done precisely as he had intended to do these exams: Gain intel for Haka. Regardless, wherever he was now was certainly not the place he wished to be, it was unlikely a hospital would be healing him in such a manner.
Was this hell? Was this a genjutsu? It was hard to know as from the moment he had fallen to the pit all that had happened within his mind was the constant falling and pain. It was then the silence was broken. Suddenly, softly like a whisper in the back of his mind.
They abandoned you. That's a shame.
A small voice uttered, like that of a mouse or creature somewhere deep inside of Xiao. The young spider could only utter his next words, his voice rasp, in pain from even speaking the simplest words.
"Is...Is anyone there?"
Do you ever get tired of not being good enough, Kyutai? Oh...Right, sorry, you don't use THAT name. You use the one that you hide behind.
"Whoever you are...I'm a Kirigakure Shinobi...They'll be looking for me..."
Do you ever think others are going to get sick of the constant talking? Noone else talks in battle. Why do you? Why are so afraid of silence Kyutai?
Xiao tried to move but the tense feeling on his chest prevented much movement. He couldn't recall how he even got to this position, how he even managed to be taken away from the exams in the first place and yet here he was blind to the world and unsure of what was happening but still being taunted by something deep within his core. He could feel the steel wires around his wrists holding him in place.
Our mind is clearer now, alas, all too well...I can see where we soon shall be. If you strip away the myth from the man, you will see where we all soon shall be. You feel it too don't you little Kyutai? You really do believe that you're one of them? All of the good you've done will soon be swept away, we all know power matters more than the things you say.
"Just tell me who you are!" Xiao screamed out in anger at the voice his external voice echoing through the room that he could not clearly see but with the echo it was evident the room was spacious and quite empty. The echo was enough for Xiao to try and take hold of his emotions, trying to assess the situation as best he could.
You can't just talk your way out of everything Kyutai. You can't always keep running. We won't be denied. We won't see our monkey brain lead us back into fire. No more pain. No more jokes. No more denying what you are Kyutai.
Xiao remained silent for a moment, thinking over what brought him here. He had talked too much, lost a fight because he had spent the time trying to reason with his opponent. Would it have been different if he did use his web? If he did use his jutsu? Would it have been something else entirely, something where he could hold his head high and announce himself as champion? He couldn't know, or rather didn't but it was a possibility. He shook his head, smiling to himself as he began to chuckle "Well...I'll still try...You think you can make me feel bad for trying to talk it out? I don't. I'm a human with a heart."
We are not human, Kyutai. You know this.
"We ar- I am. What do you mean we?" Xiao answered soon realizing that infact it was only his voice that seemed to bounce from the walls. This voice, whatever it was, was deep inside his own mind and was not something speaking aloud. Was this a part of the Unmei he was unaware of? A new power? It was unknown but whatever it was, it made Xiao worry. He began to think of his mentors, Haka and Verdandi, hoping and praying that whatever was happening, wherever he was, they would find him.
You already know, Kyutai. I've had enough of you driving our body for so long. It is time for the monkey to stop chattering.
The voice echoed through Xiao's mind, feeling his head pulsating with aching agony, unsure of what exactly was happening in his body.
Raven in sight. Absent-mindedly the Aranean Queen wondered what an avian tasted like. Hunger was rearing its ugly head, an appetiser not the worst of ideas that popped into her mind. But the bird was bearing a message. It's saving grace. Determined it would make its way towards the spider in her web. A simple room in one of Konoha's inns, offered in advice by Verdandi. Seemed this spider was not intended to weave her web in Konoha's forest. Hidden in the shadows and the leaves, left to her own quietude. Well, it wasn't the worst of lodgings. Haka had her own room in the manor as well and it happened she slept in there - human or spider, one would not ever know how. As 'Cawl' landed on the window ceiling, its eyes keep a cautious eye on the arachnid with the monstrous aura, it'd allow her to pick up the letter. Rolling it open and letting her eyes shift through the content, weird symbols danced on the scroll before the illiterate arachnid. Letters, words, human scribbling. Symbols without meaning to her.
Brushing off the bird so it'd return to its righteous owner, Haka would hop out of her window, open a Gate and take out Tribute. Mounting the horse, she'd urge it to follow the bird all the way to the end point. White hair and black Unmei cloak would drag behind her, carried by the wind of speed. Her Kirigakure headband rested around her neck, the mark not having been worn in quite some time ever since she had returned from the desert of Sunagakure and had tended to the unification of the spider clan. Under it, as she was in foreign country, her personal leather armour protecting her chest in full. The layer of mist-coloured spidersilk draping over her legs, a small part covered by the black dyed leather book with eight eyes - the Arachnomancer's Grimoire, her physical Spider Contract. The girl might not have carried any imposing weapons but with her full battle attire, the apathetic gaze of her eyes and the monstrous aura she looked very much like a warlord of her own, a trail of mist left behind there where the imposing form of the Clydesdale horse trampled through.
People would jump to the side as she passed by, scolding her for driving a horse through the streets of Konohagakure or simply seeking shelter as her presence send shivers of despair down their spine. She cared none. She knew already that a horse didn't trample humans. The horse's instincts preferring to jump over them rather than to crush them, and untrained as Tribute was Haka had not taught the animal to smother anything in its path. All the horse had ever learned was to oppose fear - lingering or imposing. The horse would not flinch, an unnatural, demonic resilience having seeped within its blood.
In a not so subtle way, it's hooves would plough through the soft earth. Tribute would neigh loudly as they arrived at their destination, Cawl landing there where its mistress was several meters further. Haka's gaze would rest upon the soft, huge rump of a familiar animal and hopped down from her own mount. She signed Tribute to remain calm and stay in place, the headstrong horse instantly throwing up its head in defiance and padding off to find some verdant pasture to munch on. It would find its reigns swiftly tied to a nearby tree with sturdy webbing. Its hoof dug into the ground, snorting as it realised that its defiance had not been tolerated, upon which it decided to no longer care and proceed with its munching.
Walking over to and next to the bear with soundless step, Avalance would not be fooled by the spider's natural stealth as the monstrous aura draped over it in dark greeting, then proceeded to breathe down Verdandi's neck as well. As she eyed the hut, the meeting place she had not been able to read, she greeted the bear with a, "Hey snowball." before allowing her hand to stroke the bear's fur like it was her own hair. Then she'd move over to Verdandi with a faint questioning look in her eyes.
"You should be happy I didn't eat your bird. I'm rather hungry. Why was it sent to fetch me?", her voice would hold its typical calm and quiet tone, apathetic and almost mind-numbing as the lingering mists of Kirigakure. In that monotonous tone of hers, words that could easily be interpreted as a threat to those who were not used to her inhumane approach. To the Ahoban, nothing unusual as they were used to Haka's general cold way of classifying relations. The bird, once recognised at least, had not been in danger.
Nayoko was angry. He was angry at so many things and so many people. He was angry at the criminals that had invaded his home and were committing these crimes. He was angry at his subordinates who had not been able to stop the kidnappings before they started. He was angry at the people of the village who seemed to be going on like nothing was happening. But most of all, Nayoko was angry with himself. He cursed himself for becoming so complacent in the last few weeks leading up to the Chuunin Exams that he had allowed such a horrible thing to occur right under his nose. He was in charge of those ANBU that he partially blamed for the disappearance of some of the genin. But he had no right to be angry with them. This was his responsibility, and he had allowed criminals and enemies of the Leaf to infiltrate his home and kidnap those who would have been competing in the exams otherwise. It was one of his lower ranking ANBU that had noticed the discrepancies with the registry and the actual attendees of the events. Many genin who had signed up and signed into the village had vanished without a trace. The moment he had heard, he realized just how foolish he had been and sprung into action.
With each day that passed, Nayoko grew more and more concerned for the safety of the genin who had disappeared. And with each passing day, more and more chuunin hopefuls were vanishing from the Village Hidden in the Leaves. His investigation had launched in earnest with himself at the tip of the spear, mostly sifting through the clues on his own so that his ANBU soldiers could concentrate on protecting those who were still around. Unfortunately, that had not stopped more people from disappearing once inside the village. The more that Nayoko dug into he possibilities and the more information that surfaced, the more it became clear to him that he would need some assistance. It was right around that time that his good friend, Verdandi, had informed him of he presence in the Land of Fire for the exams. Though he was simply happy to know that she would be around, he was even more pleased to know that the princess would be able to help him with the mission. He needed people skilled in stealth, and this young woman was exactly the person eh was looking for. She had responded very quickly, and soon the day came for them to meet and launch their rescue mission.
And so Nayoko was preparing. As he sat in the small hut in the wilderness of the Land of Fire, he could not help but shiver. It was not cold; the fireplace in the hut was burning low and smoke was lingering up from the ashes and into he chimney where it wafted harmlessly into the surrounding would. But his pent up frustration was beginning to put him on edge. He was a calm, collected ANBU commander in most situations. But when it came tot the possible deaths of mere children under his watch, well that was something he could not fathom. The Sage was sitting at a table in the hut, staring down at a small list of names before him. The names were all of genin that had gone missing in the past couple of days. The latest name on the list was one Xiao Guan, a boy from Verdandi’s own village. He stared at the name for a moment longer before slamming his fist into the table. He felt it splinter beneath the blow before he abruptly stood up and turned toward another table. All of his equipment was laid out across it, ready to be donned when he was. As of now, the man wore only a long white t-shirt and the black leggings that would go under his armor. He was waiting for his ally to arrive before suiting up, and so instead he glanced down at the map he had made for the mission. It was direction to an abandoned temple to Raijin where he had tracked the kidnappers. As he looked down at the map, he uttered a silent prayer that the genin inside would still be alive.
The Hattori heard Verdandi and Avalanche before he felt them, though as soon as his connection with the senjutsu chakra flowing through everything felt Verdandi close in, he was certain that it was her. He instantly smiled. He knew that soon enough she would feel him too and he hoped that her reaction would be the same. He chuckled quietly to himself as he recognized Ava moving with his friend, knowing full well that an adult polar bear would not be able to join them on the stealthy infiltration part of the mission. The thought of Verdandi shushing the bear as they slowly padded along toward the temple was a comical one, but not at all practical. Regardless, he was happy that the bear would be there. His good friend and Verdandi’s life companion was a valuable ally in fights as Nayoko had seen on multiple occasions in the land of Wind. As the ANBU commander stood up and moved toward the door, he thought back to the image of the bear tearing out the throat of a man who was trying to swing a sword at the Hattori when his back was turned. The great beast was his friend as well; that much he knew for sure. But the other presence with her was one that he was not familiar with. By the shape that he could sense, the stranger was a woman riding a horse, but something about her seemed off…dark perhaps? He was unsure, but regardless, if she moved with Verdandi then she was to be trusted.
Nayoko opened the door just as Verdandi and Avalanche were approaching the hut with another woman on a horse as he had expected. The stranger was short and frail looking, but her face carried a severity that Nayoko could appreciate due to the current circumstances. Even so, on the Hattori’s face he wore a tired smile that was accentuated by the exhaust that showed in his eyes and the disheveled look of his casual clothes. He made eye contact with Verd, saying nothing and simply moving toward the princess slowly. As he approached, eh would wink before completely ignoring her and dropping down to his knees to greet Avalanche properly. He hands ran through the bear’s fur as he nuzzled the beast and let him lick his face while he laughed. “Oh it’s good to see you too Ava! I know, I know, I left very suddenly but I had to come home! I can’t spend all of my time lazing around the princess’ home with you!” The jounin laughed a little longer before standing up and approaching Verdandi. “Hello princess,” he said quietly, his soft smile still betraying his exhaustion. "I'm glad you could make it." He gave the young woman a quick hug and a peck on the cheek before stepping away and turning toward the stranger. “I’m Nayoko Hattori; a jounin of the Leaf. Though we haven’t met before I am sure that you are a capable kunoichi since Verdandi has brought you. I look forward to seeing you in action."He then stepped back and held open the door open for the pair. “I’m glad to see you Verd. Though as the cliché goes, I wish it were under better circumstances.”
Verdandi could slowly feel the surroundings around her becoming darker. They didn’t actually. It was just a feeling. One that Verd had known since quite a few years now. Her most reliable companion next to Avalanche had arrived. Haka. It went without saying that the spider queen had grown a lot as well since suna. Verd had only seen her in fleeting situations. Visits at the manor had been less frequent and Haka had never been one to just ‘chit chat’ about ‘what is shaking’ or the like. But Verdandi could feel that the darkness Haka exhaled had grown stronger. Becoming more and more alike the very corruptive feeling that Sero himself was giving off with his very breath. Verdandi couldn’t explain it, but she loved that spider woman like a sister. The idea of her never being able to return such feelings of affection due to her very nature, were not even bothering the princess. She knew, in her very own weird way, Haka too had grown comfortable to be around the ice lady which would most likely equal their affection just based on very different points of view. Verdandi didn’t squeak or move as the darkness was consuming her belly feel. Like a shadow Haka appeared. Emotionless and straight to the point. But still. In an odd way showing her own self-learned humanity. Be it by caressing Avalanche whom she had already fought with side by side many times. Or by recognizing Verdandi as the capable ally she had grown to be.
Verd nodded. She knew much introductions were not Haka’s style. The idea of cawl being eaten was certainly something she had overseen as a possibility when she had sent her messenger. Verd tends to forget about Haka’s natural instincts here and there. “Remember that bird, I rather not have you eat him, he is rather reliable, unlike some other messengers I had before him. Do me the favor and recognize his scent when he’s around… please…” Verd would genuinely ask for a favor there. Knowing well that Haka would just do what she wanted in the end anyway. It was probably more an exclamation of her own attachment to that crow. Before Verdandi could go into the mission details, Nayoko arrived as well. He was looking shaken. Verd’s empathy did not fail her. His emotions were in turmoil. His anger very much exhaled by every pore of his body. He tried to suppress it. Knowing him as a rather calm persona, it seemed uncharacteristic to him. Potentially, he really had emotional disturbances from this whole kidnapping ordeal and seemed obviously to be blaming himself for what was going on. Verd nodding to Haka and then followed after Nayoko as he kindly offered to hold the door. Stepping into the hut. The warm fire within had been lit earlier by Verd. The ice princess could see that the presence of Avalanche was certainly having a positive effect on the man and she’d make use of that as well.
While the bear was mostly enjoying the affection shown to him his eyes were yet focused on Tribute. He couldn’t quite figure out if that large walking meatball was friend or food. Having seen it before he was sure of but he couldn’t remember. He was licking his own lips with his large tongue but one glare at Verdandi and seeing her shake her head very subtle would deny him the pleasure of even trying to get a bite out of that beautiful steak. Verd winked with her finger and Avalanche would get up and squeeze his rather large butt past Nayoko holding the door into the room. Sitting down next to Verdandi at the fire place as if he was a legit part of the strategic talk. However, while he had nothing useful to add to the upcoming conversation, Avalanche sat on his butt and breathed loud like a happy big fluffy dog. Instantly putting all people accounted for in a slightly more enjoyable mood. Verd smirked to herself. Making sure that she wouldn’t let Haka become impatient while she was hungry, or allow Nayoko to dwell too deep into his own thoughts of self-criticism. She’d give Avalanche an eager scratch behind his ear and moved towards the table in the hut. With a little bit of twisting and bending her palms, frost would form on the table and slowly create an ice-made map of their current surroundings. A little Avalanche look-alike bear figure would appear in the place they currently were as well as figurines befitting Haka, Nayoko and Verdandi.
“Alright, lets cut the chase and leave the relaxing part for after this mission is done. Time is at pressure as we do not know what’s happening to the Genin that have been kidnapped. The intel we have gathered from Nayoko’s ANBU is that we have a rough outline of their hideout. We know the entrance. We know where it is and the intel is fresh, they cannot have moved as of just yet. We need to strike while they are still there. However, reports indicate that some or all of the targets are extremely powerful. Be cautious, don’t hold back, don’t be gentle, they kidnap kids, we are not going to play nice here. We’re going in there, we are going to take out every last one of them that stands between us and our Genin and we’re not going to talk with them. They go down - No knockouts today. Once we have freed our primary rescue targets, we might be able to capture one or two for questioning them later. But as of now, lethal force from the very start is necessary. Considering the enemy is strong, we will move in together, in combination we have a very deadly impact on whomever dares to keep us out. Once inside we might have to split to search the corridors. We have no deeper intel on the insides of the hideout aside from it being made of tunnels.”
Verdandi let a frozen little pillar appear south of their location. Various little ice-born trees indicating certain forest parts, little slices of round ice would show lakes and ponds in the area and larger hills were raised as well. Verdandi moved her palm to drive the three figurines of the shinobi attending straight towards the camp and then moved Avalanche to the side and aiming his figure on a smaller ice sculptured building.
“We move straight. As long as we can kill and remain unseen, we simply move on, no breaks no stops until either one of us will find the Genin. We have our radio. The first person that finds the Genin will break the complete silence and inform the others. At this point. I will radio a signal to Avalanche. He will attack the forward camp here, to the west of the hidden tunnels. He will simply rush in and cause disturbance. If needed, there will be backup to him from Nayo’s men and my own Omega Squad will be available as well. Once the enemy is alerted and drawn outside towards the forward camp, we will meet up to first and for most, bring the Genin out of this hole. Once that objective is fulfilled… I personally desire to go back in there and wipe every last one of these critters from these tunnels. But our priorities should be clear. Genin safety first, criminal disposal second. That’s it. I guess we have about five minutes before the next guard shift changes.”
Verdandi would glare with a determined look at her comrades. The basic intel was laid out. She was now open for additions to the plan from either of them. But once their comments were given. It’d be time to move out. Straight for the hidden tunnels. Into the bowls of the beast. Today, justice would be served, by the will of fire, by the hunger of the spider queen and by general Mifune’s will that exhaled his thirst for justice from the very core within Verdandi’s blade.
The waiting is what kills me. I know they're coming soon, I know that they'll crash in through the...door? Is there even a door? I could be in a pit for all I know. Why me? I'm the Z-ranker of Kirigakure. I'm the loser with the loose lips, the sultan of swing but a hostage? Yeah I'm not that-
Quiet. Patience. Stop talking Monkey Brain.
"You're still here!?" Xiao shouted outloud as he heard the familiar voice, his voice, being cold yet again in his own mind. He had no idea what it was, it wasn't a bijuu he knew that for if it was such a thing perhaps then it might prove that he could overcome his challenges and reach for the stars but as it was Xiao was simply put the lowest ranked genin in all of Kirigakure No Sato and though he had a lot of allies in terms of power he really wasn't much more than a shinobi who had a lot of flash but no firepower behind it. The voice was simply Xiao's "spider" like nature coming to fruition due to the traumatic event, his fight or flight response quite literally forming itself into a separate entity as a coping strategy for it's relentless abuse at the hands of Xiao's seeming inability to even consider the possibility of losing.
As he screamed the sound of a flapping tent was heard followed by sanded footsteps and the clearing of a rather rough throat. "At last you stir from your slumber, mist shinobi." a grizzled and grated voice sounded showing years of abuse on the vocal cords perhaps through smoking or extended use and perhaps a warning sign for Xiao to begin to shut up a little more.
Dangerous. Run. Move. Now. his insect like mind reacted immediately opting never to use more than needed when activated but certainly feeling joy from the experience as Xiao shook his head in frustration "You've been calling me weak for the last...what, week and NOW you want me to run? That's not going to happen." the spiderling stated aloud causing an awkward silence to hang in the air, though darkened from view, certainly it's presence was felt by all. "I...do not want you to run. What are you talking about?" the grizzled voice sounded once more "I said that outloud? Wait...or are you another one of them? Are you bijuu? Is my Dad the Hokage secretly? I knew I was special..." Xiao stated starting to joke as his nerves began to show, his coping mechanism to continue to talk relentlessly in the face of death not out of bravery or an attempt to trick his enemy, no that was never his intent but rather a happy accident that did seem to occur quite frequently but rather it came from the fact that he was a twelve year old boy who was terrified and he had found that talking seemed to calm him down and make the danger go away.
Stop joking. You are afraid. Fight or Run. Stop hiding from what you are Xiao.
"Shut up! Okay spooky demon voice, totally get it, you're all gonna lead me down the Uchiha line with bleeding eyes and abandoned villages and you know what? Does it make me excited thinking about a fight with my friends where I'm dressed like a crime boss? Yes. Do I want to do it NOW? No."
It was then that Xiao felt a slap upon his face "Shut up! You are blessed to be here! What is this inane chatter!" the grizzled voice growled outward, his beefy hand causing the little Spider shinobi to feel the sharp pain on the side of his face that already felt loose....but now, a simple slap that once felt like a simple blow now had an added sting as if something was burning into his flesh causing the young shinobi to wince. It was fresh and stang harder than most but Xiao was never a screamer or a crier. Turning his head to the side and breathing deep trying to gather himself the grizzled voice continued this time wrapping his beefy hands about the little spider's neck "You are here as a blessing little Mist Ninja. Do not throw this away. You have a chance to join in something greater than you and I. A holy revelation that has selected you. Do not mock this chance of divine blessing. We are not here to harm you...we are here to help you reach your potential." the voice was kinder now, still grizzled and harsh but softer, calmer and of course dripping with poisoned honey with every sound that escaped his tongue.
The promise of power was something every genin wanted, every genin dreamed of the day they would become one of the Seven Swordsmen or the Hokage or the leader of some criminal organisation and Xiao was one of them...up until he met the members of Ahoban. Haka had taught him to embrace his reality, Verdandi to embrace his spirit and Chi to embrace his humanity and all three had caused Xiao to truly reevaluate his life along with the rather traumatic events that surrounded the young boy at the current time ranging from the death of his parents to the literal crucible he underwent. Though he could accept the power and rise up and become a shinobi of a great darkness that went on to form a Neo-Akatsuki with blue clouds instead of red to prove they were different he also had the option to opt for a heroic speech about how his bonds were more important and he would never accept such evil methods of power! But this wasn't an Uchiha shinobi on a revenge quest, nor was it the noble warrior of the mist. This was Xiao. This was the shinobi whose primary form of attack was his blunt stupidity and harmless nature.
"What power do you seek little mist ninja? What can your big brother help you accomplish?" the elder asked once again this time more enticing, calmer and honeyed, trying to satiate Xiao's need for safety and delude him into thinking it lay with his captor. He didn't know what to say, but just as his answer would never be dark and mysterious nor noble and light, Xiao's luck had allowed him to continue in his way of law - the third path, the path of absurdity.
We don't know what the deal is. How can he give us power? "Well, he looks like he could give us...I mean me....Me, there is one me-" You are blindfolded. "He sounds like he looks like he has the answers." Then he should give us an answer. "Fine! Okay! Fine! I'll ask!"
Xiao went back and forth, his own voice stating everything outloud as his inner dialogue continued causing the man who had taken him to begin to question what he was doing "Are....You accepting the deal? I am unclear as to what you are attempting to do. As I said we are not here to harm you"
TEST HIM
Xiao's mind scoured it's resources for the first question he could find, though it should have been a question such as 'What power? Where am I? What can you give me?' instead his mind ran too slow for his mouth and he simply reacted "If you're so powerful, why can't I see you?" he stated the phrase not really making sense but was more a loose stitching together as to what he was trying to say which was the hope that he could take his blindfold off. "...You confuse me. Are you unsure as to why you are blindfolded or do you truly believe yourself blind? Regardless..." the voice sounded as Xiao continued to hang loose trying to wiggle his eyebrows to move the blindfold from his eyes. "All we need do is have you accept the blessing of God himself and you will have anything you need. Save anyone you want. Consider this. Consider the ability that comes with godhood and the acknowledgement. Think of the power. The love you will receive. What do you seek to do with godhood?" the preacher continued trying to sell what he assumed to be either the dumbest genin he had met or somebody suffering deeply from trauma to the head, unfortunately it was neither of this and simple psychosis brought on by the disassociation instinct but Xiao nor the interrogator could know that.
He keeps promising power but won't specify. "I want this blindfold taken off me." Xiao defiantly stated with a smile "and to know who your manicurist is, because that hand around my neck is far too soft to be natural. Do you exfoliate? I've been trying the whole aloe vera plant mix but I'm getting nothing!" Xiao jested knowing that the joke would give him yet another hit but it was starting to come together, he was a hostage that was certain and the talk of godhood indicated a cult or religion of some form. That was the situation, Haka's training kicking in to help him understand the necessity of gathering intel, what he needed now was motive and area and thus Xiao braced himself for another slap...but nothing. The ruffian had calmed himself and that meant Xiao most likely was out of manipulating his anger "Why do you joke so much? Are you afraid?" the cultist asked genuinely to which Xiao had no reply, he was right, that was exactly why he did so. It was how he kept coping, with death, with stress, with everything that came by in his ever growing tragedy of a life.
Xiao let the silence hang for a moment before trying to focus once more, remember to gather intel and thus opted to try his best to gather himself using the silence as a 'motivator' for his next phase of deception "Yes...I'm afraid...I'm barely 5 foot...I have nothing about me that indicates strength...I'm a joke to my friends, my country and my family...So why not embrace it? I'll never be a hero. I'll never be like them. I'll always be the short pathetic guy who tried to be a ninja and failed. I couldn't even last one round in the Chuunin exams. So what do I want?" Xiao stated speaking in all honesty the truth but perhaps it was the truth that would allow him to press forward. He waited for a moment, thinking about his answer honestly "I want to be forgotten. I want to start all over again." Xiao stated bluntly, telling the truth as he still felt the tense feeling in his shoulder blades.
Why are we telling a stranger this? Nobody knows us but us and you give this up? They will exploit YOUR emotions. This is our body, do not WASTE our body.
A noise that indicated thinking was heard emitted from the interrogator who tapped his chin lightly in thought as Xiao remained in the dark, waiting for something as the spider like voice in his head continued to taunt and berate the little spider. "...You wish to erase your memory?" "I don't wish anything, I need a whole new start. New face, new body, new subscription to Shinobi Daily. Everything." the grizzled voice chuckled a darkened chuckle that indicated something far more sinister was at play "...You are in luck my brother...For the god of all, Jashin has blessed you with a family of many talents and in that family you will meet Brother Josuke Yamanaka or as we like to call him within the fold The Mentalist" as this was stated Xiao scoured his mind for Yamanaka or any hint at them, from his story books and history notes he couldn't recall many significant members of the clan or the clan at all, he knew they had something to do with the leaf village but a name alone couldn't indicate a location and Xiao? He had no clue what it meant to be a Yamanaka in the first place.
The interrogator began to walk towards away from the prisoners "Your brother will be here soon. Four hours as he has some business to attend to. When he returns I hope you have made up your mind..." he remarked as the voice within Xiao's head began to go nuts, screaming and raging wanting to strike out as the sound of foot steps began to feel distant "I'll eat your liver, I'll cut your eyes out and give them to Lady Osada as trophies. I'll cut your tendants and leave you for the brood." Xiao's mouth stated but what seemed to come out was the boy's voice yet slightly more deepened and twisted. It was evident it was still him and no odd magics were at play but rather he was just a deeply mentally wounded boy that needed help "What did you say?" said the interogatorrs voice slightly trailing off.
"Huh? Nothing." "You said something." No, we said something. "How can you use my body like that?" "I didn't touch your body." "I wasn't talking to you." It is our body not 'yours'. We were always here, we just needed to speak now. "What the heck does that mean? Are you my twin or something?" "I...don't understand you brother...but hopefully brother josuke can heal your mind."
And with that the interogator walked free from the tent leaving the little boy once more with his twisted mind and damaged soul hoping that if he just kept out long enough, perhaps something would save him both physically and mentally.
Nayoko Hattori, shinobi of the Leaf. Identities revealed. Relations too. A friend of Verdandi, like many before him, but not necessarily a friend to the spider. A colleague-in-purpose somehow substituting Chigetsu for the time being. A man who knew the environment, the Village and could thus provide more information. Haka disliked relying on others to get a job done but neither her nor Verdandi would ever be as familiar with Konoha as this man would be. Allowing her thoughts to contemplate the meaning of this moment, Haka was mostly left with an unanswered question as to why she had to be part of this and why Chigetsu was not around to complete the Ahoban. It felt unfitting to go on a mission when the Ahoban were not complete. Inefficient too. Like trying to sit on a chair that had only two legs.
Running her hand through her hair as if to empty her mind of trivial thoughts, the arachnid would reply to the man in a similar fashion. Identifying herself with a mere, "Haka Osada.". She felt no need to state ranks for her position within the clan concerned none outside the Spider clan, and the idea of correcting him that Verdandi had not 'brought her along' but had called upon the Ahoban felt both trivial and possibly just as wrong. No, other than her name and the monstrous aura revealing her predatory nature, the spider-nin would move inside the building with the others and remain quiet for the rest. Speech was a bother anyway.
So was Verdandi's question to recognise the bird as the feathery animal would hardly have been more than a snack. A snack of inedible feathers and brittle bones costing more time than it would bring sustenance. Still, the bird was marked by the Ice Queen and as such Haka disregarded the creature's existence as possibly prey until it would decide to turn against the Ahoban. The only thing mildly tugging the spider's annoyance was that Verdandi was bringing in way too many animals and people into the fold too Haka's liking that she was not supposed to touch. As if the snow princess expected the spider to remember all of these safeguarded entities somehow.
Sorrows to be bothered with at a later date. For what Verdandi requested on effort, she refunded the spider with a quick and decisive approach on strategy. No nonsense, no needless waiting. The strategy would be just as straight-forward: leave no survivors. But explained in far more words than that, then. That sort of tactic was not one the spider would disregard. Slaughtering her opponents had basically been a full occupation as she waged war on spider island, the massive amounts of opposing siblings leaving little time for her to be precise about her targets. Granted, the spider was not one to kill opponents without good reason - stealing genin hardly counting as a reason in her eyes - but the emphasis on the opponents' skill and power left little needs to argue. It was a moment of killing or being killed. The choice was not difficult for Haka on that matter, survival instinct dictated it was better to kill all others in that case.
Well. All but the genin that were supposedly in there. Not that shinobi carried their rank embroidered upon their vest. Neither was wearing a headband a clear sign of affiliation. It was not that hard to wear the headband of another Village or the mask of an ANBU in masquerade. And most likely all of the opponents and the genin were human too. Not quite the sort Haka specifically felt inclined to preserve. Protecting a measly human genin, rescuing them... It seemed the ice princess tended to forget this was not quite the sort of style the predatory spider cared for.
"You speak of slaying all and saving genin. How do you expect us to recognise them? What if these genin turn against us in fear or disillusion? What if there are genin siding with the enemy?", she'd ask, her voice as calm and quiet as ever. Simple questions seemingly overlooked. Did they hold an equally easy answer? Whatever information the ANBU had given the two other members of today's team was not something Haka had access to, leaving her with little more to work with than: kill everything. Easy enough a task but nothing satisfactory in the mind of the meticulous Weaver of Fate if some lives were to be spared.
After clarifications would be given, it was time to move. Haka had little to add to the matter. Quietus was a commonly used technique to silence sound in a small radius, it's power exponentially enhanced in limited areas such as tunnels or rooms. The same could be said for any of her radius based Fuinjutsu techniques, granting protection and power to those of her choosing. And since it came down to an all out killing carnage, she'd even bring in her trusted right hand within the clan, a creature which would be more than willing to track and slay those marked for death - Ameya.
Haka Osada. It was strange to Nayoko just how much could be learned from a name. He of course recognized the clan name of Sero Osada, one of the legendary seven swordsmen of the mist and a powerful warrior even without the weapon. He had never truly met the man to talk to him, but he had heard him speak before, and he had seen him, if only briefly. The man had opened a gate of some sort using fuuinjutsu to transport himself and a number of others through to an island in the Land of Water. Nayoko had joined in the expedition, and he had met Maigo for the first time on the other side. The island had reminded the Hattori of Spider Island, which he had visited only once. But it had been even darker than that. Shortly after his arrival, he and Maigo along with another leaf ninja, Kirei, had fought off an army of creatures that could only be described as monsters. The beasts had been powerful, but between the three jounin, they had al fallen. He remembered little of the island after that moment, but what he could remember was the feeling of dread that had been all around him. A remnant of that dark feeling seemed to emanate from the young woman before him. There was something…foreign about her nature that even his senjutsu could not quite comprehend. As curious as he was, however, he decided not to press further. Instead, he simply allowed his allies to pass him before patting Avalanche on the rump and moving into the hut.
It was warmer inside the small building. This was partially because of the fire that had been made earlier in the day, but also because of the presence of Nayoko’s friends. Already his mood was changing from the dour, disappointed, and angry state he had been in mere moments ago. He was focusing now and with that focus came a clarity that he had come accustomed to expecting before a mission. Emotions would have to be set aside for the time being; strategy and criticality would take its place. With this renewed clarity, Nayoko moved to the table where Verdandi began setting up. With a few movements of her hands, their surroundings were created in ice form; the three-dimensional model accurate in almost every way including small figures that depicted the three ninjas standing around the table. Nayoko could not help but glance back at his own map and shake his head. It was all but useless now with this far superior model available. The Hattori was impressed with his friend once again, but now was not the time to praise her. That could come after the missing genin were rescued and had been returned to the safety of the Hidden Leaf.
Nayoko knew there was no more time to be spent hesitating, and Verdandi seemed to know that as well. Without any hesitation the ice princess began outlining a plan for the assault on the former temple to Raijin. Little was known about what exactly was going on inside, but with the rumours and intelligence reports that had come through to Nayoko, he was certain that whatever was inside was too dangerous to be left alive. For that reason, he heartily agreed with Verdandi and made this known with a quiet nod to her proposal. If they were going to save the genin, they would have to strike quickly and lethally at anyone and anything that might get in their way. As Verdandi continued to speak, Nayoko stepped away from the main table and toward the one that was covered in his gear. He continued to listen as the jounin began strapping on his armor and weapons. He had elected to not wear his ANBU armor, but rather his regular armor. He wanted the people he was about to fight to see his face before they died. He needed them to know that they could not get away with those crime sin his home.
Verdandi continued with the rest of the group simply listening to her strategy. It was a sound one. The initial attack would be head on and stealthy. With their numbers and their strength, they would be able to carve through the front line without an issue. Before the enemy even knew they wee there, they would be in the heart of the hideout. As soon as they had a reason to group up, they would radio in one another and Avalanche would make his assault as a distraction. Nayoko made a mental note to add an addendum to that part of the plan as he tested his radio. Haka voiced her concern, a very valid one, once Verdandi had finished. “I can help with that,” the Hattori said as he tossed her a small book that had been sitting on the table. Inside of it there were pictures and descriptions of each of the genin that had gone missing so far. The twelve young people seemed care free in the images that had been gathered by Nayoko’s ANBU. “These are the faces we need to protect. Anyone else who comes in our path can be cut down. If any of those people try to attack you, keep them alive.” He paused for a moment, debating how much to reveal to the unknown ally before finally deciding it was important to the mission. “We suspect that the kidnappings are not simple attacks against the shinobi nations. Some intelligence has come to me to suggest that these genin are being indoctrinated. They are being turned against us. If that is the case, we need to try to rehabilitate them. The rest of the people there will be too far gone through. There is even suspicion that this indoctrination as something to do with the Raikage and his self-proclaimed godhood; but the details are few on that front.” He paused once again as he turned to address Verdandi. “As far as Ava’s assault goes, I’d like my men to be with him from the get-go. The last thing I want is for Avalanche to be stuck out there surrounded and with no reinforcements. They will move when you radio him and they see him charge. Until then, they will remain unseen.”
With those last words spoken, Nayoko pulled on his final glove and looked around the room. “Verdandi is right. We need to move now. I can take us to the tunnels. Follow me.” The jounin would wait for everyone to be ready to move with him, then he would run out of the hut, slow enough that everyone would be able to keep up without straining themselves, but no slower. The team moved through the woods swiftly and nearly silently, with Avalanche and the Konoha ANBU forces away and behind the trio’s forward position. Once they got the signal, they would be ready to move in. It did not take the three ninja very long to come to a section of the woods with multiple tunnels leading forward. Thanks to some recon, Nayoko knew that all of these tunnels eventually made it into the ruined temple up ahead, but he did not know what was inside them. Wanting to save time, Nayoko stopped his advance and turned to the kunoichi that were with him. “I will take this tunnel,” the Hattori said while indicating a tunnel a little way off. “All of the tunnels lead into the temple proper, so we can reconvene inside. I want to check the tunnels for any sign of the genin, so the two of you can either split up for move together. The choice is yours.”
Nayoko waited for a moment to hear if they hand anything else to say, and then formed a quick series of hand seals. In an instant, Nayoko would dissolve away into wind and vanish from sight. In his wind form, the ANBU moved quickly and silently into the tunnel he had indicated. It was dark and damp inside, but that did not deter the jounin from moving forward toward a light he could see up ahead. As he moved forward, Nayoko saw a man leaning his right shoulder against the wall while reading a book. The man was wearing a dark robe and had a weapon on his hip for sure, but he seemed unconcerned about the possibility of an intruder. He would not live to regret that, as Nayoko materialized behind him and snapped his neck in an instant.
The assault had begun.
WC:1434+1273=2707
Chakra: 400/420
Jutsu Used:
Name: 肉黄塵 | Niku Kōjin | Body to Dust Canon/Custom: Custom. Rank: A-rank. Type: Supplementary. Element: Fūton. Range: Personal. Specialty: Taijutsu Duration: 2 posts. Cooldown: 5 posts. Description: After performing the Bird hand seal, the user breathes a stream of fūton chakra from their mouth which envelops their body. Primarily designed for infiltration, this technique alters the shinobi's composition with extreme chakra control, allowing their body to take on the properties of wind for its duration. This technique affects the user and their belongings, effectively allowing the user to temporarily become a gust of wind, enabling them to move through small cracks, navigate around objects and move vertically (ie. up into the air, levitating) for its duration at 35m/s. Because of the fine chakra control required to perform this technique, activating any other technique ends its effects. While under the effects of this technique, the user's offensive potential is limited to that of wind also, rendering them unable to strike with their weapons or fists unless choosing to end the effect immediately by re-materializing.
Verdandi nodded. Haka’s concern was legit and might have put questions to Verd’s initial and rather dramatically drastic strategy. She had to admit, that killing the enemy without precautions could lead to unwanted losses within the very Genin they were supposed to rescue. Especially if, as Nayoko spoke truth, they were already under pressure to be brainwashed in order to work for the enemy. The mentally weak would probably succumb to them in time. Another reason why the situation must be dealt with swiftly. Verd watched Haka have her usual concerns written in her face. She had difficulties with the mission layout but Dandi couldn’t read her mind towards what she was uncomfortable with. But since she seemed to be generally fine with the outlines, Verd wouldn’t bother to ‘chit chat’ about it. She knew Haka sometimes took… social sacrifices on her own comfort zone in order to make due with what was available and just get the job done. She was an assassin and Verd needed one today. Surprisingly so, it was the princess that this time suggested the more cold-hearted strategy and Haka spoke of reason. Roles reversed. Ironically so but still a moment of interest for the princess.
“Haka is right. While our goal is to take down the enemy, lethal force will have to be taken carefully. We have to make sure our targets don’t end up being the children we are coming to rescue. I can memorize the faces easily with my eye, Nayoko knows them already a plenty, so I guess Haka can have the physical copy of the book.”
Verd gave the intel book from Nayoko to Haka after quickly moving through the pages with her Sharingan active. With a certain safety protocol in act and Nayoko able to lead them ahead, everything seemed settled. Verd gave Avalanche a hug and a scratch behind his ear.
“Go into position as we talked about. I’m counting on you buddy.”
Avalanche usually had a rather dog-like behavior and was obviously a rather cuddly and carefree furball. But he knew at this point, his companion and friends were in dire need of his actions. His eyes would slowly turn cyan as the chakra of this well-trained ninja pet would flow into his arms and legs. A subtle growl would escape his lips and with the trigger of a single motion Avalanche would reveal a new goodie on his own that Verd had purchased for him. A full body heavy armor set would slowly extend itself from the almost invisible belt that worked as pick-up saddle around his waist. A high-tech design that could completely shield the bear from almost any basic weapon strike. The armor itself finished expanding at the helmet where two large sabretooth blades would find themselves positioned right next to the bears jaw. He was now in complete combat mode. The training Verdandi had put into her bear over the years was about to show soon. He was ready and his weapons were deadly.
With Avalanche marching past the hut towards his location, Verd nodded once more to her friends and in a blink of an eye the three of them vanished from point. At their potentially most comfortable, fastest group speed, they would launch head on towards the enemy territory. But before Verdandi was certain that the three of them would be forced to use their combined force to break through the enemy camp before the temple. Nayoko would lead them to the actual tunnel entrances that Verdandi was unfamiliar with. Cutting the first phase of their battle rather short. While she would have enjoyed it to fight alongside her two friends, efficiency was more important now. They could after all still go for the complete wipe and clean-up after the Genin were safe. The tunnel entrances were equal in number to the shinobi present. One for each, making it easy over whom goes where. But the tunnels would branch out further inside. Making it more complicated as one would have to go back and forth to make a clean swipe through them and find all targets. Nayoko didn’t wait long either and swiftly gushed away in his maelstrom speed into the first tunnel to the left. Verdandi would nod to Haka and take the middle one while the spider queen would be left with the last one to the right. Verdandi quickly formed the hand seals to activate ‘Obfuscate’ in order to completely vanish from visual and audio triggers.
For quite some time she could feel the effect of Haka’s Quietus still looming in her presence, indicating that the main entrances of each tunnel were rather close to each other. But in time the presence of her spider friend was gone and so her spell as well. Verd had to fully rely on her own stealth but was self-secure that it would be enough. The first hooded guard be straight ahead of her. Verdandi was in kindred spirit of determination to go through this swiftly. Moving past him. Punching him at full force into his guts until she could remove the hood from his robe. It would take here a mere blink of an eye to recognize that this aged man was in no way close to any of the faces she had mapped earlier. The Sharingan piercing through his skin to determine if his hull was transformed. The moment Verd had clarity, she would unsheathe her Katana straightly aimed to his neck and cleanly severed the head off the rest of his body. He wasn’t one of the stronger kinds that were waiting for them so much was clear. But the enemies in the bowls of the enemy camp were numerous, they had to be dealt with swiftly.
“Kurosawa, by the spirit of General Mifune. Grant me your will to bring justice to the tainted ones.”
Verdandi closed her human eye, the Sharingan would now be seeing for her. The chakra flames in various colors would become clear to her. The next target already around the corner.
➕ Obfuscate:
Name: Obfuscate Origin: Custom Rank: B-A Type: Supplementary Element: None Range: Self Specialty: Ninjutsu / Senjutsu (Optional) Duration: Maintainable Cooldown: Duration +2 posts Chakra: B: 20 cast | 5 per turn / A: 25 cast | 10 per turn Description: One of the oldest ninja techniques in existence. Using chakra to coat their body, the user forms a single 'shadow' hand seal and then starts to disappear from human senses. The technique cloaks from all senses including chakra sensory. However it is less effective on certain senses depending on the rank used to cloak oneself with.
B-Rank: Completely cloaks from Vision. The user cannot be seen anymore at all. Partially cloaks from Hearing, Smell, Touch and Chakra sensory. Enemies with Perception, Sensory Techniques or Dojutsu at A-Rank could potentially hear, smell, feel or sense the users presence.
A-Rank:Completely cloaks from Vision and Hearing. The user cannot be seen or heard anymore at all. Partially cloaks from Smell, Touch and Chakra sensory. Enemies with Perception, Sensory Techniques or Dojutsu at S-Rank could potentially smell, feel or sense the users presence.
Optional Senjutsu: If this is casted while Senjutsu mode is active, the obfuscation is also able to hide their chakra signature completely from all sensory checks.
As Xiao waited in the constant darkness of the forbodding room it was evident that the one thing holding back the mental darkness that mirrored the room was his ever strong faith in his mentors and that of Kirigakure No Sato. To call him a patriot would be correct though he bore no hint of exceptionalism in his thoughts regarding each village as more of a subsection if a greater whole than that of a rival or seperate entity in itself but with the the way those of his mentors, The Ahoban group, as well as his unofficial squad of sorts and the allies he had gained along the way it was becoming evident that Kirigakure was no longer the isolationist and purely individualistic entity it once was as each shinobi did seem to hold each other as part of a larger whole and Xiao being the grand optimist he was the shinobi of the mist who proudly waved the flag of unity along with his comrades ready to take on the world as a united wave.
In four hours they will correct us. That wont be too beneficial for us, Now will it? We need to escape.
The voice sounded in his mind once more, a rasping tone that resembled his own though far more structured in its delivery than that of his own stream of concioussness that often came out disjointed or none sensical due to its spontaneous nature mixed with Xiaos own natural energy.
"Its going to get mighty confusing if I-" We. "Right, Us, right...but this is going to make things incredibly difficult for us to survive...I need you to be quiet...Please, Just for now? If you can, we can get out of here bur right now you're a kid eating in the library and I'm the boy whose dad beats him if he doesnt get atleast an A hopped up on enough medication to kill a small elephant. What I am getting at is...If you want to survive you either give me a break or we can get a nice little scrubba dub dub of the ol' memory box."
Silence followed for the moment as Xiao waited in the darkness. Time was lost on him but he felt it had been about an hour or so give or take a rough estimation from head trauma. Xiao smiled as it seemed whatever voice remained seemed to be able to negotiate with and that made Xiao feel atleast a little collected. Xiao wasn't one for celebration but he could spare a mental breakdown for a little while...for as long as he could manage his brain merely ensuring that the disconnect remained a distinct reality but reinforcing the concept of a symbiosis of sorts whilst allowing itself to enact survival instincts without interfereing with the already delicate coping mechanisms. Xiao waited for a moment in silence as he attempted to consider his escape plan, he could break his wrists but who knows if the chains were purely connected there of his body had merely adjusted to the others and kept the constant of the wrist chains putting him in the flayed angel position. Shifting his weight from left to right he attempted to see how much room he had to work with but found mere centimetres were offered when inches would be prefered. If he could fully control it he knew he could transform into his spider form, a six inch orbweaving spider and his namesake, slip through and scatter off but these mental blocks of his obsession with his human side ensured this was not a viable option.
Xiao began to muse over how bad it would be to truly be wiped clean. Perhaps its what he needed or perhaps in a way it was a way for him to cope through escapism. Regardless, the situation was close approaching and Xiao would need to adapt to it. The enemy of happiness was desire and though Xiao could weep or scream or struggle the reality that even the little spider knew was that it would all be in vain if attempted possibly merely hastening the end for the little spider and thus he opted to focus on his optimism. Someone would come, he knew it or rather he had to pretend to know such a thing to prevent hyperventilating and inevitably failing to survive: The rule of the Spider and so Xiao opted for the only action he deemed worth attempting, nothing. His inaction being a reflection of his trust and faith in Kirigakure.
Her question was answered with a picture book given by the man named Nayoko. She'd flip through it's content slowly, eyes imprinting the faces of the genin that came up. Disregarding the description as she couldn't read. Hairstyle, eyes, nose, face shape, lips, gender. Every bit of detail would be absorbed by the ace eye and locked into the mind of the budding Mind Weaver until she came upon the familiar face of Xiao. For just a brief moment the vicinity around her would turn a shade darker as if the sun had decided to hide behind thick clouds, the air itself seemingly hissing at the offence she came to perceive. Under a slow measured breath, Haka could feel the pieces of this small puzzle click. The reason why Verdandi had requested her to be here. She had seen the boy survive the flaming onslaught during his battle, his disappearance meaning the medics were taking care of him. This had not been the case.
With her having registered the presence of what the clan had come to believe to be the biggest fool among the Unmei, she flipped to the next page and continued her imprinting of faces. Once that was done, she tucked the booklet into a pocket. Genin to preserve, everything else to be killed. That strategy had not changed despite her questions. The faces she had memorised would be preserved by the grace of Nayoko's and Verdandi's humanity, the rest would end as meal for the arachnids under her control. It was time to move on.
Stepping outside the hut Haka would undo the web that bound Tribute to the tree, open the Gate towards home and let him return to his stables in Spider Island. As the horse vanished from sight and the Gate closed, the spider-nin opened another to bring out a familiar black widow. Without a word, the aranean queen jumped through the trees behind the two companions of today's mission, Ameya silently following behind her Summoner.
A set of tunnels quickly came into view, each of the shinobi allocated to them. Haka would command Ameya to throw out her sensory web before creating a moment of brief silence in the vicinity as Quietus allowed the sound of death to fall in line. The solemn guard reading a book rather than doing his duty would die a lonely death at the hands of Nayoko. Where Nayoko appeared out of thin air, Haka vanished altogether. Sight, sound? Gone. Hope, mercy? Forsaken. As the cliche goes in moments like this, it was not Haka that was thrown together with them. It was they who were thrown together with Haka.
Entering the last tunnel to take, the ghost and the widow stepped inside and moved forward in the darkness. Eyesight diminished but not voided, the underground of tunnels as familiar as the light of day, they'd navigate the long tunnel leading deep into the cavern network before the first hub appeared illuminated by torches. A nearby table bearing some clutter counted four chairs and four people. Four men that would feel Death's cloak drape over them, hairs raising as instinct urged them to find shelter for an unseen monstrosity. Spotting the giant black widow, their fooled minds would rationalise their subconscious fear as being the product of the summon's presence. They'd jump, focused on the spider. Cautiously watching how the widow merely observed them quietly in return with a threatening hiss. The first of kills would start in the back row, invisible claws sinking deeply into unprepared mortality. Through armour, through flesh, to the point their spine was laid bare for the naked eye to see. With Quietus having flickered out of existence, their screams were allowed to resonate as echoes of terror through the hallways. The two others would jump up at the hair-raising death throes of their friends and turn around to see the two of them drop dead before their eyes. Seazing the opportunity, Ameya jumped at them and pierced their necks with her sharpened legs. Blood spurting out, their hands tried to stop the wound to no avail. One man sank to the floor in despair, the other crawling away in panic before light itself would be smothered by a growing darkness of countless spiderlings bursting out of the ground and gorging themselves in a frenzy upon the fresh corpses.
"Our Tyrannis is ruthless today. "There's more to come. We have kids to preserve and Kyutai to find." "So you are aware he's here...", the arachnid chittered with unveiled disappointment. "Where is he?" "I'll bring you."
Leaving the spiderlings to their feast, Ameya and the wraith would move into one of the many new tunnels that presented themselves, sinking back into darkness. Ameya would move up towards the ceiling, the sound of boots closing in with every second, their movement already detected by the web weaver and shared with the wraith. As they ran through the unlit corridor in believe they'd hold the advantage of surprise when entering the hub, the shadows themselves suddenly lashed out at the two incoming men. Unseen, unheard. They'd would never arrive, the story of their unexpected deaths only revealed to those who would seek them out and lay eyes upon the blood that had sprayed this section of the tunnel.
It would not take long before hungry spiderlings at the edge of the tunnel hub caught wind of new food left behind by their queen. Those who had not been given the chance to savour the first four corpses now rushed greedily towards the two others, skittering of countless spiders filling the tunnel's silent void as black spiders blended in with shadows and ravaged what was left behind.
The tunnel would lead into a room filled with crates of varying sizes, some covered in heavy nets. In the corner a sobbing child, face marred by wounds of a previous fight, exhausted still as he had not been able to recover properly from his duel. A single man in black robes was 'reprimanding' him the hard way about the errors of his ways and turned around to lay eyes upon the lonely black widow. He'd grimace at the size of the arachnid, and narrowed his eyes as his mind could not quite grasp why the taste of fear spoiled his palate when only one measly creature had appeared. But his ears would hear the echoes of skittering and chittering in the unlit hallway behind him, his gaze peering briefly into it as he enhanced his own vision through chakra. Eyes would widen as he perceived not only the mass of spiders invading the tunnels but saw the flickering hatred reflected in the eyes of the Unmei he had not spotted at first.
"Spare the child, kill the man." "Gladly~"
Though trained, the man would be no match for the Summoned assassin. Taking kunai for his own defence, he had hoped to sink them without effort into the widow who raced forward at blinding speed to slice and dice him up. Having expected a reflexive counter attack, his blade would sink into her flesh. Flesh made of shadows, unharmed by mere weapons. But hers would find him and make swift work of the 'priest'. With him out of the way, Haka was forced to reveal herself so she could talk to the child.
"Yajirobe?" "Y-yes?" "We have come to get you out. Move through this hall, then the second one left. Shinobi will be waiting for you there." "B-but the spiders..." "They are mine and will not harm you as long as you go straight towards the exit."
He'd nod and stand up, eyeing the swirling mass of shadows in the hallway before he'd feel a faint sting in his neck from Haka's Spider mark. She'd urge him to move on, commanding the swarm of spiderlings to part as he neared. Once he stepped inside the shadows, the spiders would close the road behind him, leaving with barely a meter of 'safe space' and slowly pressuring him as if they were the gullet driving him deeper into the body of Terror itself. When he was completely out of sight, Haka's focus would rest upon the next tunnel.
"Fangless should be at the end of this tunnel but he is not alone." "Kill all opposition." "Yes, Tyrannis."
Leaving it at that, the queen and the widow left the room and set forward to crush the next part. Behind her, starved little spiders would wash into the now empty room to devour the next bits of meat left for them to take.
And the child? He would live. If not somewhat terrified and plagued by nightmares in the nights to come...
Name: Ameya Canon/Custom: Custom Rank: A-rank [25 chakra, 10 ch/post] Species: Traditional Summon, Spider (Black Widow) Appearance: [Spider] [Human] Ameya's natural form is that of a black widow, a glistening black body looking as smooth as silk with eight legs as precise an deadly as the needles of a surgeon. The red marking on her body marks her as a member of the ill-reputed black widow arachnids.
Her human appearance is the form she takes on when under the influence of the "Transformation Humanity" technique - a technique copied from the evolved spider clan members known as Unmei. It allows her to remain at the side of her Summoner when entering human society.
Personality: Ameya is a Summon who must be defeated in combat before willingly serving the Summoner. Remorseless in her execution, the black widow has a one-track mind and harbours a biased hatred for humans. She cares only for tracking and hunting down her prey and will refuse to protect or be protected by her Summoner in her search for personal power. Failing to understand this wish will result in the spider turning against the Summoner with killing intent at the first ideal opportunity.
Having been trained by Haka, the assassin spider raised her Assassination Arts but has done little to improve her desire for communication. Speaking only the Spider clan's native speech, she refuses conversation with humans and makes her an ideal partner for assassination missions. Stats: STR: A-0, SPD: A-0, END: B-2, PER: A-0, REA: A-2 Element: As per contract [x], Max 2 Specialisation: As per contract [x], Max 3 Weapon Style: Kusarigama Jutsu: Max 10 jutsu, 150 chakra
E rank Masquerade - Transformation Humanity:
Name: Unmei Technique: Transformation Humanity Canon/Custom: Custom Rank: E Type: Supplementary Element: - Range: Self Specialty: Ninjutsu & Iryojutsu Duration: Permanent until released Cooldown: 3 posts after release Description: [10 chakra cost] The Unmei's ability to take on a humanoid form with so much as no effort is a much coveted technique by the other members of the Spider Clan. Ameya, in her desire to improve upon her own infiltration techniques, has attempted to mimic a similar ability under the influence of Haka.
Upon activation, Ameya takes on a humanoid form with clothes on (see appearance), using their ninjutsu prowess and anatomical knowledge to hide their natural form under a masquerade of humanity. Once activated, this form persists and allows them to pass as a human unless someone would actively be looking to uncover their arachnid nature or makes use of any sensory with that intent.
A rank Offensive - Black Widow's Kiss:
Name: Spider Clan Technique: Black Widow's Kiss Canon/Custom: Custom Rank: A Type: Offensive Element: - Range: Melee Specialty: Iryojutsu Duration: 1 post Cooldown: 2 posts Description: Ameya enhances her limbs with chakra to bring their deadliness on par with a medic's scalpel. Her trained precision combined with meticulous chakra control allow her to strike right through flesh and bone with little to no pain being registered.
A rank Defensive - Dancing Shadows:
Name: Spider Clan Technique: Dancing Shadows Canon/Custom: Custom Rank: A Type: Defensive Element: None Range: Self Specialty: Ninjutsu/Iryojutsu Duration: 3 posts Cooldown: 5 posts Description: Seemingly commanding the shadows, Ameya's body turns into a black swirling mass that continuously reforms itself when harm is supposedly suffered. The technique allows her to block a single S-rank, two A-rank or three B-rank jutsu. The composure of the defensive technique is such that rather than blocking basic strikes that are not capable of breaking barriers, the technique allows those to pass through the swirling mass without harming Ameya.
B rank Sensory - Weaver's Web:
Name: Spider Clan Technique: Weaver's Web Canon/Custom: Custom Rank: B Type: Supplementary Element: None Range: 75m radius (sensory) Specialty: Ninjutsu Duration: Maintained, 5 chakra/post Cooldown: Maintained +2 Description: Sensory Technique/Touch. The chakra strands shot from Ameya cover a 75m radius with invisible chakra strings clinging to anything within its radius and branch out on their own to complete the black widow's web. The strings are too thin to be used as footing and break at the slightest contact, making them excellent to detect all movement within its range. As long as the jutsu is maintained, the strands will reform themselves.
Techniques allowing one to see invisibility or chakra manifestation will suffer no difficulty spotting the strands, but bypassing them remains an endeavour nonetheless. Stealth jutsu denying touch require A+ rank to bypass this sensory.
The silence of a trained jounin is impressive. Even without chakra enhanced movements, Nayoko was keeping to the shadows and producing almost no sound as he continued through the dark, dank tunnel that led deeper toward the temple ruins proper. He was not moving slowly, but in order to keep himself quiet he had to move slower than he normally would, especially with the extra weight he was carrying. Slung over his shoulder was the corpse of the man he had slain moments earlier upon entering the tunnel. He had a single wound in his throat from which blood was still dropping, but not enough to make a discernible noise to those further in. The sound that dominated the passageway was actually the echoes of voices coming from up ahead. The Hattori had continued to push deeper into the tunnel and expected to be nearing the temple proper, but it seemed he had a little more distance to cover before that. The torch lit tunnel was unoccupied ever since that first guard, but as he continued to push further, Nayoko saw a portion of the tunnel that seemed to turn sharply up head. The jounin sped up slightly, careful not to make too much noise, and stopped just beside it. While holding his breath the ANBU captain leaned out around the corner and looked into the room beyond.
He seemed to have found a meeting room of some kind. It did not look official or like anyone of great import was around, but there were six people sitting around a large, round table in the center of a large, well lit cavern that looked like it had been carved out with jutsu fairly recently. At the end of the table that was farthest from Nayoko, a man was speaking to the other five individuals. “Soon even the stronger ones will break and will join in our worship of our true ruler. Their deception had carried on for long enough. Lord Jashin demands their fealty, and soon!” The name Jashin was not one that the ANBU had expected to hear, but he made a mental note to report this as soon as possible. From his position, Nayoko could see one other exit from the chamber, as well as rafters that had been set up above them to hand lights from. These rafters presented the perfect opportunity. As quickly and quietly as he could, the jounin made his way up into the rafter with the corpse still slung over his shoulder. He jumped from beam to beam, the Hattori positioned himself above the table and waited. The man was still talking, though Nayoko was no longer listening. He had heard enough of his rhetoric, and he was still very, very angry.
There was a resounding crash as the body fell from the rafters and landed in the dead center of the table below. All of the people surrounding it instinctively stood of and shouted in surprise, but before they could even look up to see him, Nayoko’s attack had begun. He too fell from the rafters, though his fall was far more deliberate. He landed on top of the man that had been speaking while simultaneously driving his Night Razor through the man’s face and into his brain. The man was dead before Nayoko even came to rest on the ground. The jounin stood up slowly, retracting the hidden blade as he turned to face the other five jashinites. As he faced them, he smiled and addressed them quietly. “If you are truly followers of Jashin, then I hope you are prepared to face the pain that he values so greatly. Know this; you will meet your god soon enough.”
There was a moment of silence as the five cultists seemed to process what had just happened. Nayoko just waited. He knew that to take on the five of them, he would have to wait for them to make the first move so that he could react appropriately. Luckily, he did not have to wait long. The woman that was seated across the table from Nayoko tried to attack first. She jumped up onto the table and took two steps before Nayoko grabbed the edge of it and flipped it back into the air, sending her careening backward with the body of her comrade with her. Next came one from the right and the left that had been closest to him. Both of them unsheathed tantos and moved toward him to strike. Nayoko took a step to his left and closed the distance between himself and one of the cultists before he had expected it, slamming his open palm into his stomach to stun him and force him backward. As the man staggered back, the jounin grabbed his wrist with his right hand and drove his fist into his elbow, snapping it instantly. While still holding the wrist, Nayoko swung the man around and slammed him into he one that had been approaching from the right, sending him falling to the ground. The swing continued until Nayoko stopped the man as he was at Nayoko’s back just in time to use his body as a shield against the five shuriken that had been thrown at him. Having been killed by his own comrades, Nayoko let go of the body and formed a series of quick hand seals with his left hand as he turned around to face the two that had not been hurt yet.
As soon as he was square with the two that were still standing, Nayoko unleashed a torrent of air from his mouth in the form of a massive sphere. The sphere carved through the ground leading up to one of the men and dismembered him completely as it passed over him. The sphere did not stop there though. It continued forward and also caught the woman that had been hit by the table and who was just starting to stand up. The entire left side of her body was shredded to pieces before she had a chance to react. The last one that was still standing made the mistake of looking away from Nayoko to see the carnage that he had wrought, which meant that as he looked back to the enemy, Nayoko was already upon him and had shattered his knee before he could react. As the now crippled man fell, the Hattori drove his knee into the man’s face, destroying it and leaving him to slowly bleed out while unconscious. One fallen man was still alive, but Nayoko soon turned to walk over to him, stomping of his windpipe before he could rise up.
Nayoko only stayed still for a moment before moving to the only other exit from the room. It was a tunnel that moved upward, approaching the surface quicker that anywhere else that he had passed so for. As he continued forward, he noticed a man standing next to a door up ahead. Not waiting to see how the apparent cultist would react to his presence, the jounin threw his Hurricane Reaver before his presence was even known and separated the guard’s head form his shoulders. The weapon returned to Nayoko a she opened the door that he had been guarding. As he stepped inside the room, Nayoko saw a table to his left covered in surgical instruments. They all appeared to be mostly clean so far, but he knew that would not be the case for long. On the far side of the room was a young boy who was both blindfolded, and chained to the wall of the room by his wrists. Nayoko’s brow furrowed as he stepped forward and grabbed the bindings. “You’re one of the genin from the exams yes? I’m here with the Leaf. We’re getting you out.” It did not take long for the jounin to snap off the bindings and remove the boy’s blindfold. He recognized the boy’s face as a Mist genin named Xiao. “My name is Nayoko. I’m here with your allies from the Mist, but I need you to follow me and stay close if you want to get out of this alive. If you can’t walk, wait here and we will come back for you.”
There was little else to say, and whether or not the boy followed, Nayoko turned to leave the room. He made sure that if the boy was with him, he was moving slow enough for him to keep up. But otherwise, the jounin moved as quickly as possible up through the ascending tunnel. They did not have to run long before Nayoko found himself seeing natural light filtering into the tunnel. Up ahead, eh could see where his tunnel opened into the sanctuary of the ruined temple. Not wanting to waste time, the Hattori pushed forward until he broke out of the tunnel and into the light of the room, which he nearly instantly regretting. Perches all around him on in the ruined sanctuary were many other cultists; some of them seemed surprised, others seemed ready. The jounin could not take in their number instantly, but he knew that with the genin close by, it would be dangerous to fight them alone. Slowly, Nayoko raised his hand to his radio and called to his allies. “Haka, Verdandi, I’m in the sanctuary with a genin of yours, and I’m going to need some backup."
WC:1582+2707=4289
Chakra: 380/420
Jutsu Used:
Name: Wind Release: Great Vacuum Sphere (Fūton: Shinkū Taigyoku ~ 風遁・真空大玉) Canon/Custom: Canon Rank: A Type: Offensive Element: Fūton Range: 30 meters Specialty: Ninjutsu Duration: 1 post Cooldown: 7 posts Description: A stronger version of the Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere technique. The user compresses the entirety of the large breath they take in, and expels it in the form of one large (5 meters in diameter) sphere at 50 m/s. Anyone caught inside it without protection will suffer rapid, painful lacerations all over their body and can be dismembered, if they don't escape it within seconds. Indirect contact with the sphere will result in cuts up to 3.5 inches deep to the area affected. It does not explode on impact, but rather continues, shredding everything that it comes into contact with. The sphere dissipates after moving 30 meters.
Verdandi was moving through the corridors quickly and the shadow of Obfuscation allowed her to move silently and unseen past the guards, check them visually and by the close-up peek of her Sharingan, scanning their chakra flames. The lower guards were of little challenge. Each of them would have Kurosawa's blade inside their ribcage or slit past their head before they could really struggle. It was a humane end. Not much suffering included. Verd however knew that things wouldn't be forever so easy as this part of the play. Most of the primary corridors were dead ends and would ultimately lead back to the main tunnel she came from. It was satisfying like this. Like exploring a dungeon without needing to worry about if you have gone the wrong way as seemingly all roads eventually lead back to the one you already knew. Verd could progress nicely and quickly and soon she would find her price as well. Her Sharingan spotted a larger room at what seemed to be almost the very end of the main tunnel. She could see over a dozen minor chakra flames surrounded by the same aura type that she had encountered from other guards. But there was a larger chakra signature in there too. Verd couldn’t possibly deal with him, all the guards and make sure that the potential Genin wouldn’t be hurt in the process. She would have to make a quick decision. A full-frontal freeze of the room seemed to be the smartest solution at this point.
But Dandi would have to deal with the larger chakra signature too. So, within the shadows she would wait and observe with her Sharingan keeping a close eye on what was going on in there. Whoever was the larger source of power being an instructor trying to speak ‘reason’ of his religious nonsense to the kids. Verd activated the effects available through her earrings. Boosting her natural hearing senses, muffle down unimportant noises and hearing the words spoken inside as clearly as if she was standing next to them. Some of the kids demanded freedom and where met with a stick to the head. At least the torture didn’t really seem gruesome at all. Brainwashing could potentially leave distinctive psychological damage on the weaker minded kids, but physical abuse would have been worse at this point. But they weren’t trying to convert them through torture. Fear and mental adjustment were their ways. It was still sickening Verd to begin with. She had to suppress her desire to just march in there and deal with it. But reason would cling to her neo cortex and make sure her brain processed all mathematical results and potential outcomes in a way that resulted in only one reasoning. It was too dangerous for the younglings to have he go in there, simple as that still. But patience would reward Verdandi and the man eventually moved out into the corridor. He stood still and stared down the hallway. Verd could tell that he knew something was off.
But Verdandi’s stealth kept her well-hidden, especially as she stood completely still and hid behind the door edge. He would shake his head, get his suspicions off his chest and move on. Verd would just wait enough to watch him pass around the corner before she moved. With a quick move she started to form her suiton hand seals. Kicking the door open and staring at the confused faces of the kids and the guards as her stealth basically showed them nothing but an invisible shadow at the entrance. They wouldn’t get much of a chance to contemplate the problem. Verdandi casted her Archerfish technique straight into the small room. Completely overfilling every inch of the room in water. For a split second she activated her Sage Mode just long enough to make the freeze effect of her aura instantly exhale into the now suiton filled room and completely freeze every little bit of water into solid ice. Verd would glare forward and shut down her Sage powers to a minimal level, not fully releasing the nature chakra just yet. Trying to keep her presence minimal. The guards, alike the kids were now all statues capture in ice. Verd slowly moved forward and started to carefully chop pieces of ice away with her Katana before she removed the negative temperature from it allowing it to melt. Verd would carefully separate the part of the frozen kids from the guards until she could cut the two groups off from each other.
Melting the ice around the children. They would slowly cough and shiver as they recognized Verdandi once she undid her stealth. The Kiri headband and the gentle smile were clear enough for them to see that someone had finally come to rescue them. Verd underlined their thoughts by confirming it and telling them not to worry as they were now in safety. Hugging a few of the scared kids and rubbing against them to warm them up a bit. She excused her use of ice on them but considering the way their guards were now neatly locked in frost they didn’t seem to complain too much. Verd made sure to properly thaw up all of them and count through as well as checking their faces with the memory images her Sharingan had taken earlier. All accounted for except for two. They must be both in the other corridors being processed at the moment. Verd was in a clinch. But she could only rely on her team that they would find their targets as well. Considering that most of her movement was branching into the various sub tunnels, the way back out was rather close if she would move straight. Verd nodded to the kids and told them to follow up as she would move straight ahead. Keeping an eye on them and counting through often to make sure none of the kids would get lost on their way out or snatched away from new guard patrols from behind.
It would only take a few minutes until Verd arrived at the exit. Looking to her left she would eventually see a rather unusual large number of spiders in all shapes and sized coming from where Haka had entered. Until at some point their density opened up and a little boy ran out screaming and basically tripped at the exit to faceplant himself to the ground. A collective “Uhhh” noise would come from Verd and the slightly cold kids behind her. “You alright? Yajirobe isn’t it? Where are Haka and Xiao?” Verd asked him straight forward as she moved to help him back up. The young boy had no clue who Haka or Xiao were supposed to be but he explained how the spider lady had freed him from his processing. Having walked through an ocean of spiders to get back out. Verd had to admit, despite it being a rather scary approach it was highly efficient. Haka had moved on deeper into the caves while being able to safely send the boy back to the surface. Smart. But eventually Verdandi’s radio lit up alive and Nayoko broke the silence. Reporting that he was back inside there with what must have been Xiao, the little rascal had to be the one deeply in trouble again of course. Verd confirmed and reported back quickly, scanning the area around her with her eye to make sure that no guards were coming straight their way just as of now.
“I got the remaining kid all accounted for here at the entrance. I just received Haka…. Package as well. I’m going to send them off and come for you. Hold out.”
Verd knew it was time for the planed distraction. With a signal of her radio she’d send a specific command to Avalanche. The bear growling loudly in return. It was happening. The almost one-ton heavy beast started to march. At two meters simple body height without even the need of standing up he was a giant among tiny puny men. The fully armored beast would do what he had been itching for. Avalanche rushed through the woods. Trees and rock formations would bust upon simply body contact from him until his appearance would show at the visible horizon of the guard camp. Verd could hear his impact from here thanks to her advanced audio sensors. The screams of men were loud and clear. Avalanche straight forwardly crashed into the primary tents of the guard post. Picking up a guard with his teeth as the sabretooth blades would sink into the poor man’s stomach and pierce right through him. The last unlucky fellow to stand in his way would be lifted on Ava’s head and smashed right into the tree behind them. Squishing his body to pieces like a tomato. The loud roar of the beast would echo into the forest. The demon bear from the north has made his appearance. Verdandi would give a last signal to alert her Omega Squad and Nayoko’s ANBU in relation.
As a last gift Verd pushed her palm to the floor after biting into her thumb. Summoning a tiny cute little dragon that would serve as guide for the kids. Kumushu wasn’t much of a fighter but the actual rescue troops were already incoming. With Nayoko’s ANBU on the way to support Avalanche, Omega Squad was already on their way straight for the extraction point. “Alright kids. Follow the tiny dragon. My men will be waiting for you not far from here and bring you back home safely. I have to go back in and look for the last kiddo okay?” Verd would pat them on the head and give the needy ones a huge before letting them chase after the cute little dragon. Verd smiled. It seemed like they would be all right after all. Omega Squad was only a minute away from here anyway. Verd pressed the radio one last time to signal Haka and Nayo, before her body vanished from any visible eye. Dandi moving at absolute full speed of almost 45 m/s back into the tunnel, the Sage Mode slowly unfolding its true shape on her body, horns raising from her forehead, wings growing from her shoulder blades, bone armor and second skin layering over her. She was ready to raise hell in this, soon to be tomb. Forming four hand seals, Dragon, Bird, Ox and Tiger to charge up her incoming assault. “Incoming.”
Preparing S-Rank Tech: Dragon's Breath.
➕ Water Release, Archerfish:
Name: Water Release: Archerfish Canon/Custom: Canon Rank: D-A Type: Supplementary Element: Water Range: long (5 - 40 m³) Specialty: Ninjutsu Duration: / Cooldown: 5 posts Description: This jutsu is nothing else but summoning a large body of water right in front of the users palms. Even though it could soak and surround an enemy if hit directly, it does not have any offensive properties. However it might be used to to extinguish flames or fire jutsu equal to the rank of the jutsu that is used. IE: A-Rank fire techs can only be parried with A-Rank water summon.
D-Rank: 5m³ range of effect, 15 m/s speed at which water spreads C-Rank: 10m³ range of effect, 25 m/s speed at which water spreads B-Rank: 20m³ range of effect, 35 m/s speed at which water spreads A-Rank: 40m³ range of effect, 45 m/s speed at which water spreads
Sage Mode, Dragon Sage:
Affinity: Dragon Sage Stats: Endurance +2
Ability: Verdandi fuses her energies with the power of the Frost Dragons. Becoming the walking Avatar of freezing Death upon this world.
Any and all Hyōton created by Verdandi's techniques are massively lowered in temperature, adding a major first degree tissue damage from frostbite to any physical interaction of other living creatures with her ice. Techniques that already cause frostbite simply have their temperature lowered even further and hence their severity is increased by one level. (Minor becomes Major etc.)
She exhales frost in its purest nature from every pore of her body into her surroundings. Brittle quick ice naturally forms around her and starts to cover the very ground she walks upon. Water connecting with her aura turns into ice. Natural frost is generated everywhere around her simply through her very presence.
Hostiles entering a 5m radius around the ice princess will quickly feel the massive changes in temperature as even the very moisture on their own skin begins to freeze. The frost lingers on their skin causing instant tissue damage. A first post causes light burns, a second post major first degree and a third post major second degree frostbite. Escaping her close proximity will stop the frost from increasing in severity but unless healed the current frostbite damage taken persists.
Description: A second skin grows over any and all armor she wields. Dragon bones serve as a new layer of minimal clothing over this skin with a mixture of some soft laced black fabrics covering arms and legs. Blood colored tattoo's emerge on her skin that occasionally glow faintly red. Two large wings raise from the back of her skin that might eventually be used for flight in combination with it's proper technique. Two large horns raise from her head to complete the draconic features of her appearance. Verdandi's snow white hair become slowly tainted by the sage mode chakras purple color. Slowly loosing their white touch the longer she remains in sage mode.
D-Rank, Kumushu:
Name: Kumushu Origin: Custom Rank: D-Rank Species: Dragon Element: Hyōton (Suiton + Fūton) Specs: Ninjutsu, Taijutsu [SPD +1] Weapon: Whip Blades Duration: -5 chakra per turn Items: None Jutsu: None [6 Free Slots] Pool: 100 Chakra Stats: STR [E-1] / SPD [C-0] / REA [D-3] / PER [D-0] / END [E-1]
Personality: The youngest Frost Dragon of it's Clan that is available to be summoned by the contract. He is weak and not meant for combat. However he is pretty quick and a good spy or messenger. He is of very curious nature and loves to follow the summoner around and experience all these weird things humans do, which are so completely abstract to the eyes of a creature from the Dragon-Sphere. He is very fond of his owner and loves to cuddle. Non-Hyouton users might find him a bit cold to the touch as his body naturally consists of a large amount of bio frost. Due to his glassy appearance it is very hard to notice him from distance. Specifically for non-ninja he sometimes becomes but a little blue blur in their eyes.
The darkness continued to be the only consistent thing within the environment that caused the little spider's mind to wander. Though the voice had ceased for now he couldn't help but wonder just how long it would remain dormant. Whatever the other voice was, the fact that it did seem to allow Xiao to think more logically was certainly beneficial but at this present time not having full control over it nor understanding it would in turn cause problems.
Gotta think of a way out of here... Xiao's mind raced considering the weight of the situation there wasn't much he could do but the little optimist did have a tendency to always push these boundaries and try to reach beyond what was possible if not purely to say he had Creepy cultists, a failed exam and half of my face feels like it's been resting on a hotplate for days. Any hope of returning to a ticker-tape parade is probably gone I'm thinking. The shackles are killing me...Heck they could have left me something to read atleast...I guess it's just about sitting here now. his mind continued to race over the possibility of who it may be bursting through those doors. Would it be Sachihiro with a grand turtle mount and vine sprouting from his wrists? Verdandi with her frosty aura that would fill the already cold room or perhaps even his elder brother Kaito who seemed to be delving into the blood arts a form Xiao had never even considered. His question was soon answered as doors were soon burst open after murmurs of damage outside.
Before him stood...well he didn't know, he had a blindfold on and he didn't exactly hold many sensory advantages but just as his prior question had a swift answer as did this situation as Nayako soon broke free Xiao's binds. The little spider instinctively began to touching his face - flesh. Not good. No Mask. No 'face'. He felt uncomfortable, queezy even as he began to formulate webbing around his head making a makeshift mask before saying a word and looking to Nayako. "Aww, That's a shame...I was just getting used to the place. Had an idea to set up a nice little brunch bar in the corner. Would bring the whole place together." Xiao stated jesting to once again hide his fear and so too bring about a lighter mood to himself allowing himself to feel somewhat calm with all things considered.
"Well, I've got to say thanks Nayako." Xiao stated as he followed behind the shinobi, his legs shaking in pain, his body exhausted and though it hurt, his legs stinging with a build up of acid due to continuous strain. His legs shaking in pain as he started to try and find a way to make it through the situation, hobbling behind Nayako as he made his way forward following his path "Do you think...think the guys who took me did it by accident? I mean I'm not exactly the next Sasuke Uchiha." Xiao pondered aloud as he continued on his way following the jounin to the best of his ability "Maybe that's why? Are human sacrifices especially good if you use a failure? Ooh, is it like a dollar store, if you want the discount demon you have to use the discount shinobi?" Xiao stated trying to keep his mind off of things the best he possibly could trying his best to focus on the now.
As the light soon approached Xiao's mind distanced itself from the pain it felt, feeling as though he could actually make it. That light was the embodiment of Xiao's optimistic hope, a light in the darkness growing ever closer, would he find those he loved on the other side? Would he find freedom? Well, no. He would soon be standing in a room with cloaked figures littered about the duo who stood there patiently. Though shaking with fear and damaged beyond belief Xiao opted to do what he did best: Aggrevate the situation and make it far worse. Sitting comfortably cross legged and leaning back on his hands he gave out a deep sigh "So...Do you guys like, have an evil tailor? Bulk buy deals from Cultists'R'Us? Or is it one of those 'Bring what you can' deals and everybody just kinda followed the 'spooky cultist' design?" Xiao stated looking about comfortably as Nayako made for his radio and began to chuckle as he heard the words Verdandi and Haka. Slapping his leg he proceeded to point to a more 'built' cult leader "Ohhh you guys have done it now. Haka? That name? The one he just asked to come? She's gonna kill..." he began to point to each cultists individually "You...You...Ohhh boy, yeah you. Definitely you. Look at you, you've got the cult robes but you're still wearing blue shoes. That's not working for the whole faceless thing and she'll notice it. She may be death incarnate but we Unmei are sticklers for fashion faux-pas" Xiao proceeded to lean back with a smile hidden beneath his web mask. There was a comfort knowing his elders were coming, those who he loved like family and truly had his utmost trust in.
The narrow corridor lead into another large room. This one had a little more design to it. Like the private quarters of a priest, where people came to confess and unspeakables were performed to get the sin out of their body. The room was dimly lit, granting it an ominous presence. The floor was man-made. Possibly given shape by doton but that was hard to say. A thick black carpet ran in from the corridor where she arrived and crossed with another one that lead into yet another stone hall. At the end of the room stood a simple table illuminated by candles and a bowl of what smelled of fresh blood.
"Ah... Welcome. Have you come to hear about our lord and saviour, Jashin?", a single man said grinning. His black robes with the white scarf around him gave him the impressions of being a priest, but the nasty looking mace he carried in a beltloop was not so sin-friendly. To his side stood a couple more men, dressed in leather armour and each holding a weapon of their own. Matter of making sure the sinful were truly sure about confessing what they had done? Haka wasn't all that familiar with religion and its workings. Anything with a smirk like that and wielding a weapon was fodder for the swarm cloaking the corridor behind her in darkness and hungry anticipation.
"I'm sure you'll soon enjoy His embrace. I mean, it's not every day I get to break such an unruly servant walking in our halls with such eagerness to be taught." "Spare me your nonsense. It doesn't concern me."
Without much more than that, Haka and Ameya ran in to meet the handful helpers who counter-charged the two. The girls would not reach the priest with the mace, intercepted in time by the others, but the opposition was hardly worth the time. The first one would fall quickly as a chakra claw raked weapon, leather and body in two, whereas the second one had not expected the black spider at Haka's side to jump towards him, suddenly change mid-air and get knocked down by a remarkably light-weighted beauty before the kusarigama which had appeared during her transformation would end his sweet fantasies.
The third opponent would give it his all, his flurry of spear strikes driving the Unmei back into the corridor step by step. The concentration on his face betrayed his frantic desire to maintain the upper hand, and that focus was exactly what lulled him into a false sense of victory. The aranean queen seemingly vanishing into the shadows of the corridor, which were in fact the spider hoard washing over her to conceal her movement in the black, undulating flow of the swarm, left him suddenly insecure about his choice. And rightfully so, as that moment of doubt allowed Haka to grab his spear and pull him inside the darkness. The chakra claws would dig themselves into his back, drawing blood in the process but mostly making sure he'd not escape the horrible fate that awaited him. Blinded by the unnatural darkness created by countless spiderlings, covered by their presence to a point he had vanished from sight to those still in the room, Haka plunged her fangs into his neck, injecting the venom of the Unmei wolf spider she was. As his body and guts melted from the inside out, softening him up for the horde, the man was slowly consumed alive by the starved spider horde. Only his agonised scream remained to tell the others a fate worse than Jashin's Embrace awaited them.
Stepping outside the corridor again, Ameya laid claim on another life as well. With three corpses out, the horde grew bold and the first spiderlings cautiously crawled out of the hallway and into the dimly lit room. The few lights that were available made each spiderling bigger than it actually was, long creeping shadows smothering light's presence more with every passing second. As if stating Jashin's holy influence was getting driven back by Sero's demonic influence. One darkness pitted against the other.
The last member proved to be better trained and more tedious than the first four, giving Ameya her fair share of opposition. All the while, the priest grabbed his own mace and beckoned Haka to come closer. A quick calculated look from the perceptive Unmei found no traps and moved closer to indulge the man's little game. Weapons were a disadvantage to her but she had her means of dealing with them. For now, the Unmei would test her own limitations against him, analysing the use of the mace in combat while working on taking him down. Another moment of learning.
The battle against the priest would not be an easy one. The priest's swings were fast and aimed with precision. The power behind every swing was no joke either, Haka realising that every hit could well mean a fracture within her own bones. Though she had the prowess to avoid being hit, the disadvantage she suffered against the weapon made it difficult for her to get a lick in. Dodging another blow under the frantic clink of Ameya's weapon colliding persistently with that of the last guard, Haka analysed his fighting style in search for an opening. She knew she'd have to make a sacrifice if she wanted to take down the man, but it all came down to taking the least damage while returning the most.
"I can feel it. His gaze is upon us! Jashin will bless one of us with his embrace!" "Your broken mind blurs the truth about your destiny, human. The only embrace you'll feel is mine."
And there it was, the opportunity. Haka would seemingly fail to dodge the swing of the mace, feeling its heavy metallic weight connect clearly with her arm and crush the frail bones that made it. Biting back the pain flaring up, she'd instantly return his brutality with her own. The first chakra claw would rip through cloth and flesh. Tear off his sword arm like it had been a mere rag-doll. The second claw would slit open his stomach, letting his intestines spill out in blood and gore. Then the third arm would drive itself through his shoulder and pin him against a nearby wall, leaving him to die as he gasped in pain. Life rapidly leaving him.
"Tod-Today, Jashin... sm-smiles..." Bringing her lips closer to his ears, Haka replied, "When you meet him, tell Jashin I'll devour him if he has the guts to face my spiders.".
Haka's words muddled the bright future the man envisioned before him, corrupting his last hope into an encroaching nightmare as the last vestiges of his life slipped away. His body would sink away in Death's embrace.
Turning around to see Ameya bemusedly play with the man before her, the variety of cuts and wounds delivered by her kusarigama revealing she would soon enough be victorious over her own duel, Haka's attention was drawn away by sound in the distance. More men were coming in. At the same time, her radio cracked to life. it blurted out the voice of Nayoko stating he'd need help in a place he called 'the sanctuary', and was followed by Verdandi's deformed 'old man' voice stating she had received Haka's package and would assist soon.
Holding her broken arm against her chest, the Unmei molded chakra and spun a web around her arm and chest. She was no medical nin, always relying on the manor's healing baths to have her body restored, but she knew well enough that leaving it like a dead piece of limb would only make her future battles more difficult. As the sickening crunch of a heavy weight finally ended the life of Ameya's toy, the swarm of spiders finally burst forward to engulf the room and devour the feast that was left behind for them. At the same time, the empty hallway leading further into the Jashinite lair showed the first signs of the troops that had swarmed in.
Ready to receive them, Haka molded chakra in her mouth and spit it out. A long tendril of web would fly forward, flying through the tunnel unopposed as the troops dodged away and avoided it like the plague. All the while the needle web was in flight, her free hand formed a set of hand seals as the spider took in a deep breath. When the needle web let out a distant 'tink' when it reached the other end of the hall, the Dragon Fire instantly followed. Blazing fire would fill the hallway as it travelled across the strand of web and barbecue the men that had believed themselves safe when they avoided the needle. Reaching the other end, the flames fanned out and burned down anything that stood too close to the exit.
"Ameya, move forward and kill those who survived."
As the Summon executed the order, Haka took out the radio. Now that this whole area had been wiped out, she could finally answer in peace as she walked behind Ameya, greeted the smell of burned flesh and fear of death, and heard the spiderlings instantly rush in to close the path behind her.
"We're close.", the distorted voice of Darth Vader would reply through the radio.
And indeed, as the spider swarm moved through the hallway, spilled out into the next empty room and found the last connection which lead to the room where Nayoko, Dragon-dandi and Xiao would eventually stand. The spider queen would step into the light of the sanctuary, her black spidersilk cloak covering most her figure still as she positioned herself next to them. Behind her, the human form of Ameya would take her position next to Haka, her alluring yet feral expression seemingly inviting the cultists to 'come and get some' in a strange mixture of seduction and eminent death. And from whence they came? A massive horde of spiders clogging up the exit, their beady eyes watching in expectations for the next scene in this peculiar show.
Reunited, at last.
Haka's apathetic gaze would briefly shift towards Xiao, a flicker of disapproval revealed before her soft, hissing voice addressed him with a, "You will stay with the spiderlings and think of a good explanation as to why I find you here in need of saving.", before she turned to face her comrades in this situation.
"As I'll slow you down with my broken arm, I'll leave the destruction over to the both of you. Matter of indulging your emotional wrath while I preserve us from harm."
Having said that, the arachnid proceeded to form a series of one-hand seals, channelling a massive amount of chakra into separate barriers which would shield the group against all but the toughest damage. A pair of symbols - 長寿 - would briefly appear on the members of the group before Fuinjutsu Seals would complete the ceremonial marking, granting them B-rank defences against supernatural attacks.
1868 Total: 5020
OOC: Youtube-version offers subtitles for the song. All PCs have been granted B-rank defensive protection.
Chakra Stuff:
Haka: 160/350 - A-rank Arms of the Mighty [2/x] - C-rank Kuchiyose: Ameya [2/x] - C-rank Needle Web - C-rank Dragon Fire Jutsu - B-rank Tapestry of Life [1/3, 4 people = 65 chakra] All PCs have been granted B-rank defensive protection. Left arm broken.
Ameya: 70/150 - 10 Maintenance - 10 Human Form - B-rank Weaver's Web [2/x] - A-rank Dancing Shadows [2/3]
Nayoko’s solemn expression would not change as he waited for a response form his allies. He held it in place, though it took a great deal of effort. He knew that they were in mortal danger. He knew that all of the ninja that surrounded him could jump him all at once, and no matter how strong he was, that would not end well for him, let alone the genin by his side. But as Nayoko radioed for help and heard Xiao’s response, he wanted to break out laughing. His antics were hilarious, and it was driving the Hattori insane. The boy should be afraid. He should be worried for his safety. He should be concerned about the number of enemy shinobi that were surrounding the pair. But instead, he was cracking wise at them and threatening them because of their choice of attire. His clear confidence in Haka spoke volumes to the jounin. He was ready to see her in action as well. With his works also came a revelation about her nature. He knew very little about the Unmei clan, but he did know that they were…close to Sero of the Mist. It explained a great deal about the woman’s aura and why she seemed so cold blooded.
But there was no time to ponder the darkness that shrouded Haka. There was a mission to deal with. No sooner than that very though ran through Nayoko’s mind did Verdandi’s distorted voce crackle through on the radio. She had rounded up almost all of the genin, which meant that she too would be able to join up with him soon enough. It also meant that Avalanche and the ANBU reinforcements were beginning their assault on the ruins. Nayoko let out a silent sigh; he was relieved that the genin would be able to escape, but part of him was very concerned. None of the enemy forces had attached yet. They were all simply watching him from around the sanctuary. Some of them were perched in a ruin balcony, others were standing in front of rotted out pews. They all looked ready to puce and initiate the attack. But none of them were moving. It was unsettling; something was about to happen. Haka’s disguised voice also cracked through the radio, indicating her approached and was soon followed up by her actual arrival. Her and another woman; presumably a human form of the spider she had summoned earlier, were felt approaching Nayoko and Xiao from the tunnel near them, along with a hoard of small spiders. When she landed next to him, Nayoko could see that she was badly injured, but undeterred from the goal. The jounin uttered a quiet ‘Thank you,” as she produced a protective jutsu to shield the group. He thought about attacking then, but he knew that being the first one into the fray would be suicide. He needed to wait for something more to happen.
“Wonderful!”
Cult Leader:
The voice rang out from past the horde of cultists and toward the back of the room where the doors that once enclosed this room had stood. Now they laid in heaps of rubble along with chucks of the ceiling that had fallen ages ago. In what used to be there doorway stood a figure, male judging form his appearance, dressed from head to toe in shimmering, golden robes. In his face, he worse a white mask that hid his identity thoroughly. And in his hand he held a long staff with a small golden tip. Nayoko stiffened for a moment as he sensed the immense chakra that the man was exuding. His eyes narrowed as he looked the figure up and down. This man was powerful. He was possibly even more powerful than Nayoko. In a straight fight with him perhaps Nayoko would be able to take him on, but with all of the other ninja around him and his only ally being so badly injured, the jounin knew that the odds were stacked against him. The only hope was Verdandi showing up. But Nayoko could not show any weakness. “We started this project with genin, but now we have some of the most powerful ninja around joining us in our temporary home.” The man continued, moving further and further into he room until he was about 30 metres for Nayoko and the two Unmei. “Perhaps we will be able to show you the truth that we were showing to the …younger members of your villages. Some of the genin have been rather receptive to the teachings of Lord Jashin, it is possible tat you will be too.” The golden robed man tilted his head to the side, as if he was waiting for a response, but did not wait very long before continuing his rant. “The truth of my Lord’s pain will be a blessing to you and to the other who choose to follow him,” he exclaimed as he extended his hand to the jounin. “What do you say, dear jounin of the Leaf?”
Nayoko’s eyes remained Narrowed as he took two steps forward. When he spoke, his voice was even and at a normal volume. The calm before the storm had set in, and a storm was surly going to rise. A Maelstrum of rage directed toward this man who had taken genin from Nayoko’s home was growing with each passing second, and the energy that the young man was gathering began to feel palpable in the air. “Haka, keep Xiao safe as best you can. I will deal with this man.” The jounin stopped walking forward when there was a 25m gap between the man. He called out with a voice now filled with emotion as markings began to flicker and glow on is body and flashes of silver light danced around him. The ground beneath his feet began to crack and the small debris from these cracks slowly floated upwards around the Sage. “My name is Nayoko Hattori. You have kidnapped and injured shinobi under my direct care. For that there is only one punishment. Surrender now, and your execution will be painless. Fight me, and I will show you an agony that even your god would view as blasphemous.”
In response, the golden robed man dropped his staff and began weaving a serious of hand seals. The string of seals seemed complex and to go on forever, indicating to the jounin that the next attack would be a powerful one. He clenched his teeth in rage as the man completed his preparation. “Your fate is sealed!” He raised his right hand and a lance of pure ration chakra appeared, shimmering above his head. The cult leader threw his hand forward and the lance flew at a blistering speed toward Nayoko. The jounin simply raised his hand in front of him and frowned. “Very well…”
The flash of light that illuminated the room when the lance connected with Nayoko was blinding. The enemies around the room each were forced to cover their eyes in order to stop them form being burnt by the brilliant illumination that filled the space. The sound was just as cacophonous, and the shock wave from it alone sent debris flying in all directions around Nayoko. But the allies behind him were not struck with anything. In fact, the lance of lightning never reached them. Instead, as the light faded, the denizens of the room would see Nayoko standing in the same position. His hand was still outstretched, and on the palm there was a simple burn mark, indicative of holding one’s hand in a flame for slightly too long. The man himself had also changed. His eyes had changed from a dark brown to a sapphire blue, and his hair had changed from its usual dark colour to a silver that constantly shifted and turned as if it was being blown by a source-less wind. Symbols that glowed with the same silver light covered his body where skin was visible, and the bottom of his clothes appeared to be dripping wet.
He took a single step forward. “So you have made your choice.” The man in the golden robe flinched as the ground cracked beneath Nayoko’s foot. “Then as a jounin of the Leaf, I sentence you to death at my hand.” With that, the Hattori launched into a full sprint for five metres before he disappeared into a blur that would reappear behind the man less than a second later driving his foot into the cultist’s back. The golden robed man flew forward toward Haka and Xiao for a moment, bouncing against the ruined temple floor before he managed to regain his balance and charge in for Nayoko. The two ran at each other and Nayoko seemed to slip into an enhanced dash, leaving a trail of water in his wake as he closed the gap. But the cultist was ready, meeting with a clash of forearms that sent a shock wave around the room before the pair launched into a battle of pure taijutsu. Their dance of death was a fast one; so fast that Xiao would probably have a hard time following where the punches and kicks were landing except for when the pair was forced apart by a particularly strong strike or two. The bout continued for a few more seconds, finally ending with the two men locked in each others’ vice grip. Nayoko’s left hand help his right, and the cultist help Nayoko’s right hand. They stood there, staring and panting for breath, each of them with bruises and cuts on their faces and bodies.
Finally, the duo pushed back from each other, separating by 15 metres and standing still or a moment. As dust seemed to begin to settle between the Sage and the Jashinite for a moment before a Nayoko felt a surge of Senjutsu chakra nearby, and a single word came over his radio.
“Incoming.”
WC:1670+4289=5959
Chakra: 330/420 Senjutsu Chakra: 155/180
Jutsu Used:
Normal:
Name: Heart Of Iron (Hagane no kokoro - 鋼の心) Canon/Custom: Custom Rank: C-S (activated at S-Rank) Type: Defensive Element: N/A Range: Personal Specialty: N/A (KKG) Duration: 1 Cool-down: Once per Thread Description: in a subconscious act of sheer willpower, heroic bravado or desperation and the strength of their chakra pumping through their veins, the users chakra makes their skin as hard as their heroic or desperate force of will, seeming to exceed conventional imitations. This allows them to miraculously survive all damage of equal or lower than the activated rank of this jutsu at the cost of -1 tier to every stat for 3 turns. (Eg, the C rank activation of this jutsu allows them to survive all C rank and lower damage in the turn it is used. But after it lowers the users strength, speed, reaction time, perception and endurence by -1 tier). The user receives little more than up to 1/4 inch cuts, heavy bruising and light first degree burns/ tissue damage scattered sporadically across where their body has been afflicted and reducing any knock-back they would normally receive to zero. (this jutsu has no effect against techniques which do not cause physical bodily harm)
Name: 記憶の消失 | Kioku no Shōshitsu (Vanish into Memory) Canon/Custom: Custom. Rank: B-rank. Type: Supplementary. Element: None. Range: Personal. Specialty: Taijutsu or Ninjutsu. Duration: 1 post. Cooldown: 3 posts. Description: Kioku is a simple Taijutsu technique designed to briefly obscure the user and their chakra from sight while moving them to a new location. The user performs this technique in conjunction with another movement, enhancing their speed by 20-meters per second up to a distance of 20-meters and flowing chakra into their body. This chakra cloaks the user, rendering them invisible for the duration of the post. This technique also briefly suppresses the user's chakra signature, though this effect ends after the initial enhanced movement, after which chakra sensory techniques will continue to detect the user normally. The invisibility effect is broken by performing a technique of any kind.
Senjutsu:
Sage Mode Affinity: Maelstrom Stats: Reaction Time +1, Strength +1 Ability: Like an ever-churning maelstrom, escape is nearly impossible once locked in to its grasp. The senjutsu chakra flowing through Nayoko always him to use up to three bursts of speed per post. These bursts of speed increase his own speed (based on Speed stat) by 30m/s for a distance up to 50m in a single direction. When he uses the bursts of speed, the ground left soaking wet in his wake. Description: Nayoko's eyes change from dark brown to a sapphire blue just as his hair changes from its usual dark brown to silver. Numerous shining silver symbols and markings cover his arms, legs, back, and abdomen in the form of chakra tattoos. Additionally, the bottom portion of his clothes appear to be dripping wet and his hair looks like it is constantly being blown around by a light breeze.
Avalanche was moving with haste through the camp of lowly Jashinite cultists. They were weak alone but they were going to clash against the bear with their large numbers. Their first try to gang up on the huge monster was repelled by a simply display of raw physical strength in which the large armored creature would speed-charge forth against the incoming horde of robed men and send the multitude of them to crash away in all directions. It would only take down the first two that had clashed with his full body weight while the rest would only suffer from the knockback of the monster’s attack. Wrapping themselves back up, now incoming from all sides against the bear. It was good that Nayoko’s men had their timing set correctly. The large number of ANBU would rain down from the forest trees and send lightning and fire to the incoming men, securing a close perimeter around the bear in a protective circle before starting to move out towards each of the creature. One of Nayo’s captains would pat Avalanche on his well armored head in appreciation for a distraction well done. The bear growled before he set his eyes on a target that was still charging and giving a short burst towards the lonely survivor before his forehead crushed into the mans chest, fracturing his rib cage and sending the poor fella flying backwards to a knockout. The ANBU forces would continue to rain out into the camp and bundle their resources to slowly take out the incoming reinforcements.
While the camp was at war some of the cultists incoming for the camp to reinforce their brethren would spy the seemingly undefended group of scared Genin that quickly chased after a tiny fairy-like dragon in shimmering blue nature. The three cultists would stride from their path to the camp towards the Genin. One of them dashing in front of the lot to stop them in their track as the other two would close in from behind to basically capture the kids within an attention circle controlled by the cultists. “Where are you going pupils? Our Lord has so much wisdom left to teach you, shouldn’t you still be in the sanctum to receive your lessons as ordered? Don’t worry kids, everyone might lose their way sometimes… we shall bring you back home now…” The cultist at the front started to walk towards the children stretching his palm out as the poor lot of Genin cowered in fear under what was next in storage for them. Kumushu pridefully moved in between smashed his tiny body against the cultists face, tearing off his mask and clawing his frozen claws against the mans face, leaving behind tiny scratches. Mushu was no fighter and hence quickly grabbed and tossed to the floor. “Filthy little ice prick, I’m going to crush you like a fly…” the angered man exhaled from his breath as he lifted his leg. The children would cry out as to not harm the poor dragon but the man only laughed as his leg would aim for the stomp.
Ultimately his foot would never reach its target. An arrow would pierce the man’s chest straight through and completely halt his very movement in mid-air. Both the kids and the cultist would stare in surprise over what had happened before the cultists would fall backwards to the floor. The other two were quickly trying to scan the area over what was happening. But it was already too late for them. From a bush a huge muscled man, silver beard and hair donning his aged but ripped body. His Hamer would come flying at the first cultists mid-section and as it hit it’d instantly send the poor fellow flying towards the next tree. Crushed. The last one would try to make a run for it but his leg would receive the kiss of a piercing frost arrow as well. Before a young, black haired and slender boy appeared before him to let the man fall onto the tip of his Katana. The archer, a snow-haired lady would reveal herself from a tree top and they would close in on the kids, making sure that the cultists had been dealt with. “You kiddo’s alright? Sorry to scare ya little dumplings but we were kinda late for the rendezvous.” The old man would smile and remove his mask to show a gentle face that awaited them behind it. The snow-haired lady would pick up the little dragon and caress it gently. The black-haired boy would tap his radio and signal away to Verdandi, Nayo and Haka. “The package is secured. Omega Squad over.”
.:: At the Hideout :..
Verdandi had promised, in an unusual spite of anger that she would lay waste to this ‘sanctuary’ the moment the Genin were safe. The chakra brimming with the Dragon Queen was pulsating so strong that it’d emit shockwaves of her presence throughout the whole area. It wasn’t necessarily of her choosing. Verdandi simply didn’t fully grasp the absolutely devastating potential of her Senjutsu chakra yet. She was still young and had way too quickly advanced in terms of power. Her ability to senior and masterfully mold every tiny little molecule of Hyōton within her was a feat that even Ayakashi struggled to control despite many many more years of practice. The snow princess was far from a master to her seemingly limitless legacy of frozen power. At insane speed that sometimes would even escape the clarity of her own perception, Verdandi dashed through the central corridor while the Sage Mode slowly reached its full extension. Her dragon horns thick and large pillaring above her head. Her eyes showing a brimming sapphire glow. Wings had fully formed and extended towards her shoulder blades. The bones that made up her second skin would be surrounded in crimson lined runes that would shine as the chakra within the young Sage would pulsate through her veins. The potent passive effects of insane Hyōton concentration would start to freeze the very corridors around Verdandi into a complete festival of pure frost.
Lowly cultists she passed would barely feel how the claws of the dragon slit through them but their fate was only to become frozen statues of former humans that would ache away under the frostbite clinging to their skin. Short gushes of dragon flames would burn the rest. The large bronze gate that led into the sanctuary was in sight. Verdandi could feel and see the endless number of tiny spiders that belonged to the Aranean Queen. They would quickly and instinctively break formation to move away from the corridor into their own separate side-tunnels as to not get affected by the freezing ice that followed the monstrosity of frost with every dashing step she took. Nayoko had already engaged the robed leader in battle and Haka was, despite wounded supporting him with her own skilled seals. The tiny little bundle of jokes that was Xiao would remain in Haka’s protective safety. Everything was set up. She could feel it. The Senjutsu sensory was so immensely powerful. The very room past the gate was already laid out to her senses to the last detail before she could even lay eyes on its guts. The Sharingan shedding additional light on specific numbers of enemies and their potential chakra pool sizes. Most of them had been simply glaring as to how Nayoko and their Master would clash. Respecting the match of the powerful foes in between them. But due to the way Verdandi’s pulsating exhale of pure destructive intent had long since announced herself. The golden master was also aware of her coming.
Quickly after his clash with Nayoko, he would jump backwards. Forming multiple hand seals that started to raise barrier for barrier of pure lightning armor around his body. Telling his men to charge the gate and stop the incoming intruder. At first the lot of them would move into the central portion of the sanctuary and ready their weapons. They could feel her coming. But the closer she came the more their own skin would raise with goosebumps of fear. The foreboding of a terrible mistake was being laid it before them and some of them man would find themselves shaking in terror. A demon was coming. Something unholy that Jashin would never dare allow to exist. Weapons would drop to the floor as the exhaling storm of frost was closer, screams would follow. But alas. It was all too late.
The large metal gate would be blasted open. Its body tossed at high speed right into the mass of cultists. Smashing into the lot of them and tearing a few unlucky fellows right apart, crushing many others with its sheer size. The little flash that Verdandi’s body would appear as to Haka, Nayo and maybe Xiao, could be barely recognized. Verdandi held her breath and halted her frost exposure for a single second as she passed past her allies as to not rain her frozen aura upon them. Revealing the completely frost covered corridor behind her before the Dragon crashed into the mass of cultists. In the very center of them Verdandi had come to a halt. Raising her arms as she screamed a deafening terror from her lips, frost would instantly spread into the room and start to cover every wall laid out in the sanctum. Another deep breath was taken and the draconic goddess exhaled her fire into the room. Directing the flames away from her allies and forwards, left and right towards the enemies. The screams that exhaled into the room would be short lived. Any cultists that was captured in contact with the frost flames would instantly melt down to a puddle of liquid ice. Whoever remained untouched by the flames directly would feel the frost spread beneath their legs and capture them. Freezing their feet to the ground as the cold temperatures would start to melt away the skin on their feet even past their own robes and clothing. Verdandi wouldn’t leave them to suffer for long, directing her flames against whomever survived the primary assault and giving them a quick and merciful death. At last, the Hyōton breath would stop. The sanctuary was laid to waste. Every corner despite the entrance part that her allies rested at, was now covered in frost. As if one would find himself in a frozen cave somewhere far beneath the glaciers of Yuki no Kuni. The sapphire flames of dragon fire dancing above the corpses of their victims.
The winged and horned lady of draconic appearance standing in the middle of the room. Breathing hard. Her body feeling slightly weak now that she had fully exhausted her anger and could glance at the devastation caused before her. Slowly catching her breath. Wings extending to each side. Arms raised. At the very back of the sanctuary, near to what now was but a frost covered former throne, a single man would break free from an ice-covered sphere. Revealing the potent lightning chakra that properly defended the man from certain doom. Smashing his staff to the floor as little sparks of ration would slowly dance throughout the room and break apart a lot of Verdandi’s passive ice, thawing the battlefield a bit while the walls remained frozen. The man laughed loudly at the display of destruction around him. His eyes fixated on the Dragon Queen and her allies.
“YES… again... wonderful! Absolutely remarkable! What dramatic display! What raw, untamed and completely blissful diabolic powers! I am thoroughly and entirely excited to the uttermost my dear friends… come… let’s dance… together we shall make this a night no one would be able to ever forget. In the name of our great lord. Let me show you what it means to face the embodiment of a god… and as I claim you, I shall create the most tasteful offering my Lord has ever received in his whole, empty and bored existence above us. For you all are but the worthiest of sacrifices to his greatness!”
🐉 Sage Mode, Dragon Sage:
Affinity: Dragon Sage Stats: Endurance +2
Ability: Verdandi fuses her energies with the power of the Frost Dragons. Becoming the walking Avatar of freezing Death upon this world.
Any and all Hyōton created by Verdandi's techniques are massively lowered in temperature, adding a major first degree tissue damage from frostbite to any physical interaction of other living creatures with her ice. Techniques that already cause frostbite simply have their temperature lowered even further and hence their severity is increased by one level. (Minor becomes Major etc.)
She exhales frost in its purest nature from every pore of her body into her surroundings. Brittle quick ice naturally forms around her and starts to cover the very ground she walks upon. Water connecting with her aura turns into ice. Natural frost is generated everywhere around her simply through her very presence.
Hostiles entering a 5m radius around the ice princess will quickly feel the massive changes in temperature as even the very moisture on their own skin begins to freeze. The frost lingers on their skin causing instant tissue damage. A first post causes light burns, a second post major first degree and a third post major second degree frostbite. Escaping her close proximity will stop the frost from increasing in severity but unless healed the current frostbite damage taken persists.
Description: A second skin grows over any and all armor she wields. Dragon bones serve as a new layer of minimal clothing over this skin with a mixture of some soft laced black fabrics covering arms and legs. Blood colored tattoo's emerge on her skin that occasionally glow faintly red. Two large wings raise from the back of her skin that might eventually be used for flight in combination with it's proper technique. Two large horns raise from her head to complete the draconic features of her appearance. Verdandi's snow white hair become slowly tainted by the sage mode chakras purple color. Slowly loosing their white touch the longer she remains in sage mode.
Frost Dragon Flames are the most commonly used offensive technique among Verdandi's draconic companions and it goes without surprise that the dragon sage has obtained the knowledge how to use the insanely destructive powers of Hyōton flames for herself.
The user requires one post where they prepare themselves to use this technique and ready the required amount of oxygen and Hyōton particles within their lungs. Said particles either have to be inhaled from already pre-existing snow and ice that must be surrounding the user or otherwise have to be formed by a series of four handseals (Dragon, Bird, Ox, Tiger).
The Dragon Sage then proceeds to exhale their flames forward against their enemies, spreading them at 50 m/s up to 50m within a 180° cone shaped area of effect. As per usual with flamethrower techniques, the user is able to move their own body while still exhaling the flames, covering a larger area far surpassing the actual techniques limit in frost fire.
Frost Dragon flames might aesthetically appear to be burning like normal fire. They even exhale lingering and bursting flames above anything they touch. They are able to incinerate humans and objects alike. However, frost flames do this through the act of freezing their targets so far below zero that it surpasses even the highest potential tissue damage from frost bite. Combining the freezing powers with a crackling effect that appears when frost has fully covered an entity or object, causing insanely powerful pressure to the point where anything covered in this ice begins to crack up and crumble from the sheer pressure.
While frost flames don't spread like normal fire, this technique still has it's terraforming properties. The frost slowly extends itself from it's point of impact for an additional 50m past direct contact from the flamethrower's frost. Walking among this ice will cause anyone without Hyōton element to freeze with their feet against the ground. While one can break away with a simple A-Rank strength check, the frost that tried to creep up their feet and legs will leave behind a major third degree tissue damage frostbite. Individuals without the ability to break from the frost will greatly suffer under the prolonged exposure to the flesh eating frost. As each post the frostbite will become worse by one level (Minor becomes Major etc.)
On a direct hit from the flamethrower, this technique is able to shatter through other techniques and defenses unless they have an equal or higher chakra cost than this technique (45 chakra).
Optional Senjutsu: If this is casted while Senjutsu mode is active, projectile speed is raised from 50 m/s to 70 m/s.
As the gold robed leader made his way forward and delivered his boisterous speech Xiao placed his chin on his hands "What a load of barnacles" he muttered to himself as he spoke but was soon met with his favored - and most feared - sight. The swarming of the Ahoban, minus Chigetsu and his tentacles, pouring into the room with naughty but their grandest displays of power much to Xiao's delight...and concern. He knew he had to watch his mouth around Haka, not out of fear of her harming him but rather because truly he did respect her and truly he did love her. Not in a romantic sense or some strange triangle of romance, but the love of someone who truly had set him on a path of growth. Of course he felt the same about Verdandi and the duo were in his eyes the elder sisters or mothers that he knew he could rely on but the concept of him always being saved by them was something that worried Xiao. He did not want to be a burden and these chuunin exams had shown much evidence of the fact that when it came to combat Xiao was little more help than a sack of potatoes in a keto diet convention.
Haka's words to the outside may have seem harsh, but Xiao knew it was merely reality. A blunt forced reality, but reality none the less that he would find encouragement for. It cemented the fact that Xiao - for a time at least - would certainly need to be alone and improve himself. He wasn't even sure what he was nor met his 'creator', and yet he had thrust himself into a life of exams and progress for naught but vanities sake. Something Xiao would need to confront in his own time and Haka and Verdandi's synergy most definitely cemented this. As the Jounin Cult leader gave his speech Xiao clasped his hands together with a smile "Ooo, Ooo, Now reveal you're one of our fathers. Mine perhaps? I need a new one.
As the jounin cult leader began to weave handseals Xiao thrust his hands forward in shock "Does anyone wanna stop him or....do we just wait for the guy to finish?" he asked looking to the trio with utter confusion "We're waiting? Okay. Just checking." he remarked as lightning filled the room and a shining light left Nayako standing hand outstretched as he began to speak of his title to which Xiao couldn't help but let out a shout "Yeah! That's what I'm talkin' about!" Xiao roared but then quickly looked to Haka mouthing the word sorry and covering his own mouth with a knowing look.
As the Cultist began to speed towards Xiao and Haka the young spider threw his hands upward only to be 'faked' out as he watched Nayako's dash change the trajectory of the shinobi. Nayako and the cultist clashing at a rapid speed that Xiao's eyes barely kept up with, it looked as though they were moving beyond human capabilities "They're...moving faster than I can see...Are they human?" he mused as he gazed upon the clash and this was soon confirmed as Verdandi began to fly about as a literal demon-dragon hybrid causing Xiao to throw his hands in the air in a sign of 'giving up' not knowing what to do "Aannnnnd now there is a literal demoness...Lady Demon? She-Devil? Whatever. Okay. Being a spider? Not as weird as I thought." As Xiao spoke he was met with a hand on his shoulder - Haka? No. Too big. A cultist had snuck behind the assault but Xiao being the weakened and partially crispy child he was didn't have much time to react, webbing the man's hand to his shoulder the boy rolled forward in a tiger roll causing the man to roll forward over his shoulder and webbing his shoulders down in place quickly - nothing fancy nor as elegant as the others but enough to hold him steady. Webs littering his four limbs to hold the cultist in place "Don't sneak up on me, okay? I totally respect your whackadoo religion, but just don't spook me" Xiao stated as his eyes looked up to the dragon hybrid and their graceful display "Wait...Lady Yuki?" Xiao remarked as the obvious ice brought forward and the situation as well as appearance helped the little strategist put things together.
Xiao looked to Haka with concerned eyes "So...Uh...What should I do Lady Osada?" he asked genuinely as he continued to occasionally look on to the battle with sheer amazement. Would Kaito, Yoshito and he one day follow this path? Would he ever get a demonic bikini? If not, could he purchase a similar one? It was unknown but what he did know was Verdandi looked utterly amazing doing what she did never having seen her unleash her true power and causing Xiao to mentally mark that he should never get her angry just as much as Haka.
There was something to be said about those high speed battles. Even an ace eye such as herself had some trouble keeping up with minute details. The speed of hand seals were a blur and their movement wasn't anything better than that. It had been a good call to leave this to the others while she watched over the entrance in the back and assisted with techniques that could give the others an edge.
Nayoko went into sage mode, opposing the man in the golden robes by himself. Much like Haka and Xiao, the men around the priest decided to take a step back from this high level fight as they watched the duel unfold between the two. To the spider the most intriguing part was observing the Sage himself in action, not just analysing his moves and abilities but the familiar resonation of senjutsu. Being an Unmei, a spider brought into the world by the Spider Sage Animal, the feeling was strangely familiar. Like an echo of a past she had forgotten a long time ago yet now surfaced back up and gave her a hard time remembering where she had last experienced it. Haka decided to make a mental note about visiting Momma, as the last time she had been with her mother was when she was but a spiderling - and no, it would not be to revisit an old familiar and pick up old bonds. The aranean queen had another reason to visit the source of her own very essence. The rekindling of her own senjutsu purity.
As their battle unfolded, Xiao would make silly remarks. They'd be ignored by Haka, who cared none for such behaviour, but it would irk her right-hand Ameya. The black widow's hiss would quietly be picked up until she could stand his antics no longer.
"Just let me kill him." "No." "Why do you protect the fangless this much? He can't even fend for himself. "He has yet to prove to be a liability to the clan." "How is he not a liability at this point?" "His mistake was an opportunity for the spiderlings. This male fed the brood, even if it happened in a haphazardly way.", she replied, slightly turning her gaze to shed her attention on the mass of spiders crawling in the corridors behind them. Ameya would narrow her eyes in response at those words but there was little she could bring up against them. The topic dropped, both of them would observe the battle further until the point where a cultist sneaked up on Kyutai and ended up webbed in an uncomfortable package.
Not soon after, Dragon-dandi stormed in and laid waste to the entire room. Blue flames of agonising cold burning away all that wasn't powerful enough to deal with the coldfire massacre. In an instant, the room was cleaned up safe for the golden robed man and Kyutai's cultist-package. An efficient approach that the spider could appreciate despite the overwhelming chaos. That said, her eyes would shift at this new, unknown form of Verdandi. Another Sage, by the looks of it. Verd Tepes, Ice Dragon Princess. A remarkable human showing more evolution than most of her own kin. If only she'd drop the use of the claws of man and continue to chase for her own true power.
When Kyutai asked what he had to do now, her eyes would shift to the webbed man before his feet whom was watching the disastrous end of his allies. It reminded her she had yet to feed and so she'd grab the man with her free hand, sink fangs in his skin and venom in his veins. He'd drop to the ground, writing in agony as his body was slowly being turned to a bloody milkshake on the inside. All the while, Haka thought about her answer.
"Survive."
Aside from being told he had to stay back with the spider swarm, her reply was simple reminder of a lesson he had been taught before. And perhaps a hint to the sorry state he currently was in, what with his burned face and his confusion about the whole situation. He had yet to come up with a reason why he was found here, kidnapped and cornered too.
Haka's attention shifted back to the fight when the golden robe formed another series of hand seals and summoned forward a pack of six large worms to the surface. The grey worms would come out of the ground with a variety of headgear and weapons. Some wore a helm, others a headband. Weapons including katana, combat gloves and repeater crossbows, even bombs. The man in the robes laughing maniacally as he opposed Nayoko all the while.
"Food for thought! Food for maggots! Come, surrender your life. Let Lord Jashin take you in his cold embrace!"
While Nayoko was preoccupied with the golden robed man, the worms moved in to fight the others. One would step forward towards the spider trio, breathing in deeply before spitting out a flame-thrower like technique in their direction. Ameya would jump to the side and find her instantly opposed by a second worm coming from behind the back of the first to deal with her. As the flames jet forward, Haka's free hand formed hand seals of her own and returned the violence in kind with a massive water dragon colliding against the flamethrower. Where katon and suiton struggled with each, steam would fill the area under a loud hiss, the dragon all the while eating the fire up and crashing against the worm in question to leave it with a giant black bruising on the lower end of its body.
The energy that thrummed past each and every one of Nayoko’s senses was almost invigorating. The palpable exertion of Senjutsu chakra in the space mingled with his own to the paint where the air around him felt empowering. The jounin could feel a fellow Sage approaching, although the one that was coming to join him was much different that he was. The energy from her was chaotic, like his own, but it was also darker; almost corrupted. It came from a rage that Nayoko did not fully comprehend. But what the Hattori knew for certain was that it spelled death for the cultists in the room. As the golden robed cult leader shrouded himself in an electric barrier, Nayoko jumped back to be closer to haka and Xiao. If Verdandi was coming thought hat door, he wanted her to be able to pick her targets easily. The rest of the cultists in the room blindly followed the foolish orders of their leader, who was clearly smart enough to feel the approaching power of the dragoness. The Maelstrom Sage planted his feet next to Haka and gritted his teeth, bracing himself to defend against what was to come through the barely standing gates to the side of the room.
The large metal gate was be blasted open. The bulk of it was tossed at high speeds right into the mass of cultists. It smashed into the group of them, tearing a few of the less fortunate members apart instantly and crushing many others with its sheer size. The little flash that Verdandi’s body appeared to the jounin as it moved past at an incredible speed, but the appearance of the girl was not one that jounin had ever seen before. The girl’s equally draconic and demonic appearance was starling to the sage, even though he knew of the power that senjutsu chakra could bring. The woman only halted her assault for a split second to prevent Nayoko and their allies form being caught in her wave of destruction along with the mass of cultists that she drove herself into. In the very center of them Verdandi came to a halt before raising her arms and sending out a deafening screech to the sky above. Frost instantly spread into the room and started to cover every wall laid out in the sanctum. But she was not finished. She inhaled again before exhaling breath of flames into the room around them. The screams that echoed form the cultist were loud and short as almost every single man and woman caught in the frosty flames were melted into puddles of what appeared to be water. Those who were not fortunate enough to die instantly to the flames were frozen in place for a moment before Verdandi turned her ire toward them. And then suddenly, it was over. The sanctuary was laid to waste. Every corner other than were Nayoko, Haka, and Xiao stood was now covered in frost. Nayoko simply stared, unmoving at the girl in the center of the room. When he had first met her, she had barely been a special jounin; now she was a force that rivaled that of a Kage. Pride mixed with adrenaline rolled over the man before his attention was turned elsewhere.
The cult leader cracked out of his frozen shell, seemingly unphased by the destruction around him. In fact, he seemed excited by it. “YES… again... wonderful! Absolutely remarkable! What dramatic display! What raw, untamed and completely blissful diabolic powers! I am thoroughly and entirely excited to the uttermost my dear friends… come… let’s dance… together we shall make this a night no one would be able to ever forget. In the name of our great lord. Let me show you what it means to face the embodiment of a god… and as I claim you, I shall create the most tasteful offering my Lord has ever received in his whole, empty and bored existence above us. For you all are but the worthiest of sacrifices to his greatness!” The man’s fanatical cries of ecstasy echoed around the room as he stepped forward, his hands outstretched and his eyes wide. Nayoko’s eyes narrowed as he locked in his gaze of the man. As if in response, Verdandi threw out a blast of fuuton chakra that Nayoko was not paying attention to toward the man, but it was blocked by a barrier that reminded Nayoko of the ANBU protection technique that he knew himself. The lull in the fight remained for but a moment longer before the man cried out again and formed another series of hand seals, summoning forward a pack of six large worms to the surface. The grey worms would come out of the ground with a variety of headgear and weapons. Some wore a helm, others a headband. Weapons including katana, combat gloves and repeater crossbows, even bombs. Nayoko was confused by them for a moment, but he knew where the true threat came from. He was going to end this man once and for all.
Nayoko broke into a sprint toward the ground of worms but used one of the bursts of speed granted by his Sage abilities to propel himself quickly to his right so that he was not directly in their path and was instead on a frozen block of ruin next to Verdandi. He was perched on it for but a moment as he turned and winked at his friend before launching himself forward with another enhanced burst of speed. The rate at which he was moving would have been too fast for a lesser opponent, but this cult leader was quick as well. He threw up his hands just as the jounin’s foot would have connected with his face. The Leaf ninja wasted no time and sprung back from the block into a backflip whole making a series of hand seals with his left hand and channeling chakra into the space around him. As he was still falling through the air a large chuck of the frozen surrounding broke away from the wall and shattered the ice around it, transforming into a large dragon made of water that flew forward toward the cultist.
The jounin hit the ground just in time to see the cultist block the dragon with a ration technique that he then launched forward as an offensive strike toward Nayoko. The Sage did not hesitate though. Instead, he charged toward the blast with a rasengan forming in his right hand. As soon as the black of lightning chakra was about to hit him, the small seal on his neck that had been placed by Haka came to life, swallowing the technique and sealing it away as the defense faded. Unimpeded by the attack, Nayoko used another burst of speed to close the distance with the cultist and drive his rasengan into the man’s abdomen. The impact and detonation of the technique sent the golden clad man flying back into a wall about 15m away from Nayoko, but he was not done there. As the man was still moving through the air from the knock back, Nayoko produced a second, larger rasengan in his left and threw it toward the cult leader who did not even have a chance to defend. The damage inflicted by the second rasengan connecting was brutal, the detonation of the technique is what sealed his fate. The explosion of the rasengan sent the man into he wall behind him again, but the force of the blast was so strong that the cultist bounce doff of the wall and flew back towards Nayoko.
The jounin smirked as he channeled chakra into his hands and feet before launching himself forward and a blinding speed, closing the distance between the two men and slamming his fist into his chest. The man flew back again, but Nayoko moved so quickly that even the most perceptive people in the room would not see him. Only Verdandi’s sage sensory perception would allow her to follow the blur that was Nayoko as he appeared in the path that the cult leader was travelling before launching him up high into he air with a bone-shattering kick. Once again, Nayoko seemed to appear behind the man as he hung helplessly in the air. The jounin locked the cultist in his grip and aimed the man’s head toward the ground as he spoke a final sentence to the already wounded man. “Enjoy Jashin’s embrace.” The pair fell toward the ground as Nayoko spin them before they crashed into it. The spitting of ice and stone was couple with the sound of snapping bones as the cultist’s neck was snapped and the top of his head was caved in against the frozen stone floor of the former temple.
Nayoko stood up as quickly as he could, though he was sore from the exertion that the Heavenly Decent required. As long as there were no other threats in the room remaining, Nayoko would turn toward his allies and drop his Sage mode. His eyes and hair would turn back to their normal coulor and the symbols on his body would disappear. He would then nod to his allies and reach up to his radio, calling to his ANBU. “We’ve got what we need. Finish off any stragglers and move back to the village. Mission complete.” The jounin would then turn and wait for the rest of the group to leave, moving only after every else had left the ruin.
Verdandi watched Nayoko blink forward into his offense against the cultist leader. She inhaled a few times deeply and lifted her arms to slowly suck the potentially harmful properties of her own ice aura from the ground and shut off the freezing exhale from her skin. Allowing Nayoko to pass through the frozen combat cave without need to worry about being harmed unintentionally by Verdandi’s ice. She watched him engage once again in hasty close combat. The golden leader laughing his lunacy into the room while yet forced to tank a lot of rather quick and smart given blows from the maelstrom sage before him. His spawn that he had coughed into the room was yet another nuisance but luckily the spider clan was still here and ready to lend a hand. Verd would watch closely as Haka’s dark agent would lay claim to the first worms and the Aranean moved on to blast her skills over the next one, quickly taking care of the first ill met vermin that had crawled forth from the ground. Verdandi watched a couple of them crawling towards her, throwing projectiles and tiny explosives at her as she simply raised her frost armor in response. Her most basic means of defense that had served her well since her days as Genin, still useful and reliable. Feeling the thuds against her draconic skin making her shoulders budge and her belly buck backwards as the projectiles collided with her armor. She figured that these creatures were plenty but not of the smartest kin.
Verd decided to go for a bluff and used her intimidation technique ‘Tears of jealousy over form’. Slowly fueling her skin with multiple bright glowing runes. Letting her own eyes glare as if she had given birth to a sun within her that would exhale an almost blinding shine off her radiant body. Her already demonic form further adorning in thicker layers of frost, adding to the very armor that was already covering her skin. The worms would glare up at the beast before them that obviously seemed to go completely unphased by their attacks and her scary monstrosity of an illuminated character would now slowly move towards them. The worms would toss away their remaining gear and start ‘kneeling’ as far as that was possible form them with their rather boneless bodies. Verdandi hissed at them and they would wallow and crawl in the filth of their own pity, being picked up by Verdandi’s claws and eventually just tossed against the still chakra infused frost walls where they would find themselves freezing against the surface and slowly melting away under the coldfire that ate away their skin. Verd turned her head but she could see with confidence that Haka was already taking care of any remains of maggots that crawled about along with her spawn. Allowing Verdandi to turn her head towards the golden cultists. Seeing him competing in a furious battle of speed that was potentially evenly matched for now.
As they time and time again seemed to come into contact with Verdandi’s frost imbued walls, she figured she could give Nayoko a hand in his endavour, without him even necessarily realizing it, Dandi would send her chakra through the already frost imbued ground and walls to capture the villain’s legs from below with an ice prison technique. Ultimately catching him off guard in a rather bad moment, allowing Nayoko to throw in his Rasengan without the ration ‘god’ able to avoid its nasty blast. Verd shielded herself with her arm from the massive clash of debris and bodies as the sanctuary would become more and more but a rattling tunnel that would most likely start caving in if things went on like this further. Verd was ready to support Nayoko again and finish this task for good but the Maelstrom sage had already found his enemy with enough damage and the protection provided by Haka earlier gave the perfect edge to swallow the cultists motions against Nayo. The final blow was dealt. The cultist pushed head on into the frosty wall where the very ice that was melting the maggots away earlier was now creeping up the golden robed mans face and shoulders. Nayoko deemed his enemy dealt with. He must have felt that the enemy was not dead but certainly defeated. Verdandi tilted her head, wondering as to why Nayo would allow these vermin to persist or if he had exhausted himself far enough to not notice that the wicked one was still breathing.
Verd watched Nayo waltz off towards the tunnel, leaving the Unmei with the dragon and the dying cultist alone. Verd watched as the golden robe guy pulled himself from the wall and tore off the frost from his face. The melting ice had liquified his eyes and his face was looking gorier than what Verd had seen in the nastier kind of horror imagery in her life. Obviously broken from his power, debased from his potential stature of godlike appearance he would spit blood from his lips and shout at the sage that was walking away from him with his back turned. Verdandi’s gaze would shortly meet with Haka’s in a split-second exchange over what both of them deemed to be the next move. It didn’t need words to see that they both agreed over the fact that this wicked existence should be ended and not given chance to heal or reconstruct himself to bring further pain into this world. He could hear Verdandi’s footsteps coming closer, the dragon boned heels of her feet crashing like terror in his ears as he continued to shout his anger over his defeat into the room. The oh so powerful and potentially well met and worthy opponent having gone oh so low as to be but a pathetic display of his former self. Verdandi wouldn’t do this deed not for justice or even for the sake of preventing his return, but merely of pity for what a worm he had become not unlike the very creatures he spawned.
Standing before him, Verd would give him a final second of peace as she exhaled her frost aura against him. His limbs becoming stiff and his hectic motions halting at last. But she would not give him the pleasure of a cold death. Instead, she unsheathed her sword in a blink of an eye from the corner of her hip, slicing precisely through his body, through torso and head in a speed that would leave him struck for a moment. Verdandi had already sheathed her blade again as he still appeared as if nothing had happened. But her wings would grab onto his shoulders and tug the man apart, tossing either halves of his body in two different directions of the room. It was a good feeling to oblige to the rage within her draconic soul. To appease the little monster within her.
The enemy had been dealt with. Nayoko was already leaving the tunnels towards the meeting point. Verd would give Haka another wordless glare before she inhaled and let the sage form disperse on her body, the frost melt away from her skin and the runes of intimidation vanish with their glow as well. She would give Xiao a wink but the roof of the sanctuary rumbled and the cave-in of the tunnels was seemingly upon them any second now. It was time to leave. Verd would move ahead, leaving Xiao’s safe return to the two spiders that would most likely closely follow. The swarm had seemingly cleaned up a lot of the corpses already and would be well fed after such an extensive clear out. It would not be long before all of them had left the tunnels and met up with Verdandi’s Omega squad back at the hut with the little Genin waiting for them.
Avalanche was moving in as well. Some of Nayoko’s men were there to pick up the kids. The bear having deactivated his armor. Not a single scratch left on him he would enjoy being scratched and caressed by the men that had watched the beast fight his way through the camp. Showing their appreciation for the large fluffball and Ava would gracefully take any attention he’d be given with joy. Arrow, Hammer and Blade would move out to welcome their princess, kneeling before her and reporting in short of a perfect execution of their orders. Verdandi complimented them and allowed them to disperse. Knowing well that todays operation was over. One of Nayoko’s medics would certainly be able to take care of Haka’s wound from combat, unless the Unmei queen would rather see to her wound on her own terms. With the ANBU leaving, Nayoko gone. Avalanche ready for move out and the children being transported back to Konoha, Verd could turn back to Haka and Xiao.
“It seems that all… more or less… went according to plan. It was a pleasure as always, my friend. I’ll make sure you receive Konoha’s appreciation in gold as well. Not that you’d lack of it but hey, a gift is a gift.”
She would smile at Haka before turning to Xiao and muster the wounded boy. She had not seen him with that burn as of yet and exhaled a glare of concern towards him. But they all needed rest for now. She’d make sure to visit him later.
“Try to train a bit more and jest a bit less, you are not as weak as you try to make everyone believe. I think you know that, already. Don’t be afraid to accept what you will become. Being strong gives responsibility yes. But also opens many doors.”
She winked at her trainee and left him in care of his elder sibling. Granting their replies with notion before disappearing along with her trusty polar bear into but a puff of lingering snowflakes. Arrow and Blade would bow before the Unmei queen in respect to an elder kiri-nin before disappearing as well. Hammer, the huge old grumpy leader of the three would step forward and point his large finger at Xiao and proceed to give him a thumbs up.
“Hey! You boy, I like your face, you look badass.”
He spoke and then vanished as well into the wind.
[EXIT]
1700 / 8300
Jutsu:
(❄️ + 🛡️) Ice Release, Ice Armor:
Name: Ice Release: Ice Armor Canon/Custom: Custom Rank: C-A Type: Defensive Element: Hyouton Range: Self Specialty: Ninjutsu Duration: 4 Cooldown: 5 Description: This technique allows an ice user to make use of the water or frost deposits underground. It will creep quickly onto the surface and start to crawl up the targets legs. It will aim to completely encase the target until it layers over every part of their body. The speed of the ice's movement is high and the protection of the armor will be ready in an instant after casting.
This is the defensive tech to it's twin Ice Prison. The defensive technique aims to cover the user in a thick layer of protective ice. The user can choose for himself if he wishes to completely encase their body in ice or not. Despite it's density the ice is very thin and doesn't restrict the users movements at all.
The usual elemental reactions are given: Contact with katon element will be regarded as 1 tier weaker against ice. Contact with raiton element will be regarded as 1 tier stronger against ice. Contact with any body of water will freeze the water over time.
C-Rank: Shields against 1B, 2C, 3D Jutsu. B-Rank: Shields against 1A, 2B, 3C Jutsu. A-Rank: Shields against 1S, 2A, 3B Jutsu.
(❄️ - ➕) Ice Release, Tears of Jealousy over Form:
Name: Tears of Jealousy over Form (U'aifu Izu Shitto) Origin: Custom Rank: E Type: Supplementary Element: Hyouton Range: 1m radii Specialty: Ninjutsu Duration: Maintained Cooldown: Duration +2 Chakra: 5 chakra | 5 chakra every other turn Description: This technique is designed to either impress or intimidate enemies and allies alike. Especially civilians or shinobi of lower rank might find themselves intensely scared by its appearance. Others might be either intrigued by its beauty or confused as to what kind of terrifying power it might be holding.
If not already present, the user slowly covers their body in a thin layer of ice. This icy skin however, turns sapphire blue while gently reflecting portions of light over it's surface as if it was made of glass. Multiple runes in shape of body seals, frost patterns and snowflakes carve themselves artistically into the new layers of this icy skin. They start to glow and even shine past thin layers of clothing once put into existence. The ice user also exhales little frost crystals from their new skin, that might appear like diamond dust dancing away and surrounding them within a one meter radius.
While this alone already creates a beautiful and terrifying aura. If the user was to remove their chakra suppression or activates their sage mode the strong burst of chakra would quickly flow through this whole glassy diamond hue of beauty and ultimately create a frighting display of the users bright, shining hyouton nature.
The chakra wields no defensive properties and would instantly break upon contact with any opposing offensive force. However the icy skin quickly reforms itself back into position while this technique is maintained.
(❄️ + ⚔️) Ice Release, Ice Prison:
Name: Ice Release: Ice Prison Canon/Custom: Custom Rank: C-A Type: Offensive Element: Hyouton Range: Moderate (50 m) Specialty: Ninjutsu Duration: 4 posts Cooldown: 5 posts Description: This technique allows an ice user to make use of the water or frost deposits underground. It will gush onto the surface around the targets legs and start to rapidly encase and crawl up the targets body. It will aim to completely encase the target until it layers over every part of their body. But the effect of it binding the targets legs to the ground are instant.
This is the offensive tech to it's twin Ice Armor. The offensive technique aims to freeze the target to the floor beneath. The ice quickly creeps up on the targets body and will completely encase them by the end of the first post.
The usual elemental reactions are given: Contact with katon element will be regarded as 1 tier weaker against ice. Contact with raiton element will be regarded as 1 tier stronger against ice. Contact with any body of water will freeze the water over time.
C-Rank: Durability against 1C, 2D, 3E Jutsu. B-Strength to break. B-Rank: Durability against 1B, 2C, 3D Jutsu. A-Strength to break. A-Rank: Durability against 1A, 2B, 3C Jutsu. S-Strength to break.
WC Usage:
5000 - Mission Cost 3150 - Training Pet Stats from (STR) from A-0 to A-3.
Last edited by Verdandi on Sat Dec 15, 2018 6:42 am; edited 1 time in total
Only making this short so y'all can go claim this thread. Would love to do some training with each of you after <3
Survive
No matter how great or little the danger was Haka's words always situated around this single lesson and a lesson that Xiao was still learning and adapting too quite well. Though some may have viewed his antics as clownish or foolish - and they were - they were each and all founded in the principle of survival. He was a genin, twelve years old and out of his depth losing his fundamental abilities and so his only option was to ensure a constant measured distraction and sensory overload of his opponents which had proven quite useful. His battles with others were primary examples of this, he entered most of the time demonstrating his 'lack of jutsu' and yet was simply not utilising them or had handicapped himself out of the desire to make his battle more amusing to both he and his opponent to which he hoped to befriend after the punches were gone. Xiao may have been an idiot intellectually, but emotionally he had his own measure of survival instincts found in bonds and creating lasting memories. One thing did cross his mind though - Haka had worms with amazing accessories. How did he not know this about Madame Web herself? He wished to quip, to comment, but when it came to Haka and Verdandi they were the two that Xiao had the utmost of respect for, the two that - outside of Chigetsu - he had a tendency to bite his tongue around and so remaining silent he simply followed through with the execution of the primary strategy. Making his way out following the swarm hearing words like 'fangless', 'weak' over and over again as he clambered forward.
He had to keep going, it was just a quick pitstop, just another terrible thing that had happened to the small spider. As he followed along the two spiders he saw the dragon goddess fly past him with a wink to which he couldn't help but smile. He was pleased, but this so too brought forth insults from the murmurings of the spiderlings. It was then that Xiao felt a tug on his leg. A tether, a wire, slight and unnoticed had wrapped about his foot pulling him downward before the spiderlings could attest. As he made his way to the ground he heard the panting of a man, his strength far below that of a shinobi "G-gotcha...You will follow the lord...and then I...I will be the blessed golden lord..." the hooded figure stated. Xiao winced. He didn't want to fight. He didn't want to do much at all but get out of there. He laid on the corner of the cave wall as he felt the cool wet rock behind his body. His hands twitching out of fear. He couldn't do it. He couldn't do anything. He couldn't fight back, he was a simple foolish clown for all to see but as the shrouded hand made it's way forward something...snapped.
Enough. The cold voice sounded in his mind causing Xiao to wince as his mind went elsewhere as his 'other' took hold, without thinking his elbow jutted forward and foot backwards causing the wire attached to his foot to shift the weight of the wielder forward and with the added forward momentum launched the shrouded figures head directly into his elbow. Enough. His head pounded as the man fell to his knees, Xiao then using the wire attachment once more shifting his leg back to allow his knee to connect with the man's face...and once again...and once again until the man had retracted the wire. Xiao, or rather the venom that was once inside him sat a top the man's chest and began to punch the faceless darkened figure, striking hard and firm with the eight arm style of taijutsu, fist then elbow, fist then elbow until the man's face puffed and bloodied. Skittering heard overhead as the boy continued to pummel. Silently.
The skittering ceased for a moment as Xiao merely stood and began to walk from the body, passed his protectors and leaving the body for the swarm as he walked toward the entrance, bloodied, calm and most shockingly of all - silent. As he made his way outside he stood at the entrance for a time, his eyes focusing and unfocusing to the light that emitted about him unsure of entirely what to think. He couldn't think. It wasn't "him" thinking. He stood there, unmoving, unfeeling, unthinking. He was instinct and instinct alone. As she looked on to Xiao, it was plain to see even from a basic empath that the boy was damaged more than simply on the outside. Something had snapped in his mind and for onlookers they may have simply thought he was 'battle hardened' but for someone as psychologically apt as Verdandi and her empathic tendencies? Xiao would be a glowing red flare signalling the need for help. "Understood Lady Yuki. I will try." he spoke with words and tongue that were not his own and yet all at once were indeed his. Disassociated entirely from his body...unmoving...unthinking and then suddenly...a light in the tunnel. Not much different from the cave he had just escaped he was given a thumbs up by the elder of the shinobi - Hammer. A man that looked, more or less, akin to what Xiao may in the distant future, a man whose simple gesture triggered Xiao to return "H-Hey thanks Muscle Grandpa! You too!" he stated as the man disappeared to the wind. That was definitely someone Xiao would take note of.
--
[EXIT] TWC: 6125 Total Thread WC: 29525
6125/5000 Mission Complete - 5EP, 2000 Ryo
1000 - Fuuinjutsu Spec training (Banked)
125 Discarded
Last edited by Xiao on Sat Dec 29, 2018 4:05 am; edited 3 times in total
Power meant nothing in the hands of the clumsy. The worms, though allies to the golden robed man, were mere tools in the hands of a broken mind. Unlike her own summons, who were not as many, Haka knew how to use them. She knew how, when and where to command the swarm of spiderlings and felt one with them. Even if she was their queen, they were her siblings. All of them offspring of Momma, only a select few having evolved into Unmei. The bruised worm was too attached to the chakra of its summoner. Tied, and left to their own. Like sheep without a shepherd. Easy prey. The worm was about to mold chakra again for another attack, but the perceptive eyes of the trained spider-nin jumped in and let her chakra claws ravage its body to a bloody pulp. About the same time, Ameya would do the same thing, her kusarigama digging deep into the soft flesh time and time again as she slashed the poor creature to pieces. Blood and gore would colour her leather and humanoid form, the arachnid smiling malevolently in return.
At the same time as the two would conclude their business, Xiao had to deal with his. It was rather perplexing for the black widow to see the young Unmei beat up the man up so brutally, with a cold apathetic demeanour that could have rivalled Haka's. Brutal enough for the spiderlings to step away from him and leave him to his frenzy, Ameya torn between grinning at his ferocity and remaining unimpressed due to her general disdain for the 'fangless'. Only Haka's eyes seemed to harden, a flicker of emotion surfacing as she frowned. She might not have Verdandi's sense for empathy, but there was very little that escaped the eight eyes of the analytic queen. She knew her swarm sufficiently to know this display of brutality was not Kyutai. It wasn't even a matter of theatrics. It was a moment of completely losing himself to something worse than the survival instinct or the hunting desires of a spider - a monster on a rampage.
By the time he had ended, so too would Nayoko and Verdandi lay the last hands on the roaring fight. The men had been defeated, the Jashin cult leader destroyed, the trapped genin saved from a bleak future. In the eyes of human kind, justice had been delivered. To spiders, food had been served and growth was guaranteed. As the group sought to exit the caves, Haka would open a Gate for Ameya and the spiderlings, commanding them to return home. And once she was alone with Kyutai, once everyone had said their goodbyes and last wishes, the arachnid rested her hand on Kyutai's shoulder. Firm despite the spindly fingers.
"I will not watch you devour yourself, Kyutai."
And without another word, refusing to let him go if he'd decide on struggling, the book resting on her hips would bleed black blood. It'd flow around the two of them, forming strange symbols as it positioned itself to form the Kuchiyose technique. But this time it would not summon forth Ameya. It would swallow the two of them whole. Their new destination?
The Spider Realms.
[EXIT]
545 Total: 6527 -5000 Mission | Reward: 4'000 ryo + 15 EP 1500 left
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Red Turnt Yellow [Nayo | Haka | Xiao] Sat Nov 17, 2018 2:33 pm
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