Mission name: The Snake Eater
Mission rank: B
Objective:Discover the identity of the Sound Village leader, as well as their true plans.
Location: The Ruins of the Village Hidden in Rice, Current Warzone
Reward: 1 EP + 500 Ryo
Mission Description: To any Leaf Shinobi currently in the Village Hidden in Rice. Partisan forces have forcefully closed the borders, making infiltration difficult. This mission, thus, is of the utmost priority. With a Civil War beginning, Konohagakure is in need of intel to determine the severity and circumstances currently active. With the Village Hidden in Rice having swiftly transformed into a warzone, this mission is asking for any available shinobi to uncover the identity and ultimate goals of the so-called 'Snake Eater' and report back with their findings. DO NOT engage the partisan leader. After reporting your findings, wait for further instruction on how to proceed.
Development References: The Springtide Bombing that destroyed a cliff-side commercial district of the Village Hidden in Rice has been used by an unknown Third Party to rally the populace around a militaristic revival of the Sound Village. This Third Party, most importantly, through some means of auditory genjutsu, have made the Leaf Village seemingly responsible for the bombing. By striking a nerve with the common folk, claiming to be a 'defender of the Minor nations agains imperialism', and swearing to restore freedom to the people, this unknown populist figure has move with a speed and efficiancy that has been completely unexpected. With an army of Sound shinobi, dozens of storehouses of supplies, and many more resources, this partisan has fanned the fires in this country so great that there is no longer any recourse save for Civil War. Before the Leaf can decide how to proceed, it is paramount to discover who this 'Snake Eater' is, as they are now called, and what their ultimate goal is. Regardless, it is quickly becoming clear that a bloody, brutal, civil war will tear the small country apart unless drastic steps are taken...
Mission Details: The Snake Eater's encampent is built into the ruins of the old Shinobi Headquarters from the Age of Heroes. In disrepair, it is not well known to even those guarding it. With much of the fighting happening at the frontlines against the Pro-Rice forces, the base is guarded largely by Chunin and some Genin. The shinobi will have to stealthfully infiltrate the encampment, make their way into the War Room, and uncover the full plan of the Snake Eater, as well as their identity. The shinobi must then escape and report back to Konoha, avoiding a fight with the Sound Village leader no matter what.

There are 2 Chunin and 4 Genin guarding the encampment, all of which are freshly promoted rebels with C-0 or D-0 stats across the board. The chunin both wield B-rank swords and are proficient in Katon and Futon library jutsu, as do the Genin.

There they were, back in the thick of it all.

Yojo sat hunkered down on the ledge of the cliff he and the small squad of Leaf shinobi he had been assigned with were on. They had ben there for, what, something like five hours now? It was certainly longer than any of them wanted to, though none of them dared get any closer to the rebel encampment. There was a slow trickle of the stronger and more able-bodied Sound-nin from the headquarters down the ruined streets of the Hidden Village toward where the fighting was thickest. From what Yojo knew, the Rice-nin were putting up a resistance, though with how more and more flocked to the rebel cause with each day it was only a matter of time before the whole defense fell apart. It was only once the last few strong shinobi left for the front lines that the sensory-nin of their group, a Tokujo close to Yojo's age named Kiki, gave the go ahead for them to begin their operation. "This is as good as we'll get. I think we should take the risk and go now" she recommended, looking over at Suutei for the final go-ahead.

Ahh, yes, of course, Suutei was their leader for this assignment, much to Yojo's chagrin. While he wouldn't challenge his former partner and brief sensei, the Chunin certainly had his reservations about following him once again. When the Hokage's office had ordered the two of them back out on this important mission, it was likely because the two of them knew the situation on the ground best and could move about with more familiarity.

Yojo looked over the rough map they had. It was a relic from a bygone era, but considering the headquarters was based out of the old Sound-nin headquarters, the layout could be assumed to be somewhat similar. "Right, let's go over it again" Yojo said, drawing the attention of Kiko, and their two other Chunin comrades- Yojo didn't remember their names, and Suutei. "The War Room is in the old Hokage office, that's our hypothesis. There's only a skeleton crew of Chunin and Tokujo, meaning it should be easy to slip by them if we're not careless. Once we get to the main atreum, we'll use Kiko's stealth jutsu to cloak ourselves and hide in the rafters until the Snake Eater leaves her office" he explained, looking around to see what questions might pop up. "Sound good?" he asked.

Of course, they had planned for all of the above to go tits up in case they were spotted. The one would was found would have to make a distraction and lead the others away for the sake of making sure the rest of them weren't caught as well. They couldn't fail this mission, not with how important it was to both Konoha as well as stability in the region. If they didn't know what they were up against, they'd be no better off than just banging their heads against a wall by invading the whole country with an army. Tonight would be a make or break in what their next steps would be. They had to see how deep this crisis went, and how dangerous this storm would become.

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