Three sets of eyes peered from the brush outside a small camp, inside this camp laid their targets, three outlaw Senju. These three criminal had placed a death mark on their own heads by ambushing, robbing, and murdering travelers and wandering merchants who traveled the roads between several smaller villages inside the Mizukage’s protection. In response a team had been dispatched to eliminate this problem, a young Kaguya Genin by the name of Moresy, the Hinode Medical Ninja by the name of Abel, and the Genin from the Aisu clan, Reitou. Their task was a simple one, find and eliminate the three Senju as they were becoming a nuisance to Kirigakure and threatened to collapse the economy of several smaller villages.

Rei’s cold eyes peer from his vantage point in the treeline, his job was a simple one, watch their movements and give the signal to his temporary squad mates when to start their assault. His green eyes watched as the tio of outlaws began to head into make shift tent to rest for the evening. A small smile appeared on his lips, soon they would be ready, and Kirigakure would gain vengeance for the blood shed around those she was to protect. The thought excited him to such a degree he failed to notice a quick exchange of words between the three as they entered the tent.

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The three Senju were acutely aware the interlopers at the edge of their encampment, they had learned to listen to the whispers of life and now the trees were practically bellowing a warning to the Senju. As the Chuunin guided his two charges into their tent a small smile formed on his lips, he could practically feel the cold hand resting on the bark high in the tree to the north of the encampment. These three hunters were foolish to think they could ambush a Senju, the clan who had a connection directly with the source of life, with the plants that surrounded them.

“Be prepared, they will come soon.” He whispered to his charges.

As the Chuunin entered the tent he formed three half hand signs with the hand that grasped their tent’s flap. The intruder that was given over watch duty would suddenly find the tree he stood on to be melting away, causing him to panic, and hopefully plummet from the high branches to his doom. This of course was an illusion, a figment created by the infinite power of Genjutsu, but one that could have devastating effects for anyone caught in its grasp.

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Rei failed to notice the hand signs, and as he looked down to give the signal to attack to his comrades, he noticed something. The leaves that hung on the branches began to wither and turn into a thick liquid before sliding from their positions and onto the ground. Soon the effect spread from the leaves to the branches themselves, fear entered Rei’s heart as he gazed down at the length of the fall, death would surely claim him should he collapse. Rei quickly channeled chakra into his feet and began to charge down the tree as it melted behind him, fear gripped his very soul the entire trip down to his companions.

Upon arriving to them, he placed his hands on his knees, he remained bent over as he attempted to catch his breath. “It’s time.” He is all he stated between gasps.

Chakra Remaining 145/150:

Word Count: 569/1500

Word Count: 521/1500

Abel rubbed an eye sleepily as he had been basically dragged out of bed (off the couch) by this Aisu brat. Something about getting off his ass for the honor of Kiri. Which seemed odd to Abel since he hadn't been raised in Kiri but rather wandering around and seeing the world while training. Still he took his time showering and doing his hair before dressing in his usual outfit with knee high boots and a knee length black leather skirt. His black vest was zipped up to near the neck and his captains hat was positioned on his head. Then elbow length black gloves and finally he grabbed his belt with the med pack attached on several different spots. Everything a med nin needed. Yessir no one was dying today. Lastly he reached to the wall where he kept his Odachi hung. The sword was incredible with its length from hilt to tip was 91 cm. It's blade was well sharpened and polished. Still he slung it onto his back and tied it between his non to real breasts. The weapon standing near as tall as himself. it was then and only then that he allowed himself out of the house.

It was on the way to the mission that they picked up some kid with a fancy tongue and a this sword. A rapier he called it. He certainly acted like royalty but Abel knew nothing about him. Nor did he mind the words until Rei revealed Abel was a man and suddenly the words towards Abel where significantly less. Either way it bothered him only for a moment. What truly caught his attention was the en route mission briefing by the Aisu he had been loafing off of. The cold bastard calmly explained that they where sent to annihilate some murderers. This alone made Abel a little wary as he wasn't a huge fan of killing. He hoped he could subdue his opponent quickly so as to keep his team mates from killing theirs. Maybe then they wouldn't all end up haunted by a bunch of angry spirits. However this hope faded as Abel was informed the targets had some developed Senju abilities mysteriously. This made Abel cough nervously as they ran ever closer towards the mission. Usually Abel didn't fear shit. His body would heal just about anything with a passing thought. But A Senju was just asking to get impaled by a tree. He dreamed about sex a lot but damn if this wasn't the type of hard wood he wanted inside of him.

Now they stood outside of the camp. Rei had gone up to scout leaving Abel with fancy pants. But Abel hardly noticed anything else but the tree next to him. His green eye focused on the bark as his hand rested on the hilt of his new sword. He kept expecting the bark to shoot out and try and bite him. The sap dripping down like it's life blood. Senju gave him the shivers. They could turn the forest against them and have them torn apart. Still Abel took a deep breath and focused. He remembered his training. To truly live by the sword one must be ready to face death. If you fear death then it will defeat you. He had brought no white flag. There was no room for surrender. A new keen shine entered his green eye as he focused on the objective. This determination was hardly broken by his team mates lack of stealth tactics. One sneezed and the other came tearing down the tree like a pack of man eating flying monkeys was after him. He watched his team mate land in front of them trying desperately to catch his breath. Then the command was given to move in.

Normal tactics would suggest the medic stayed out of direct combat and acted as support however this was not Abel's role. See a Hinode had passive regeneration as a clan ability. Light wounds would heal and hardly slow an Hinode a single beat. Abel's role in this mission was to get close to the target silently. However ABel would not open the attack. Instead Abel would remove his sword from his back and spread his feet shoulder length apart with his right foot slightly behind on the tip of his toes for a single step forward. His left foot placed in front. His knee's where bent and his sword was shifted to his waist. Normally an Odachi would not be used in a quick draw stance but Abel had practiced half his life with this length of blade. And could draw it just as quick as a Katana. For now he would maintain the quick draw stance and wait for one of the others to begin the assault.

(801/1500)

Rei wondered how his teammates had kept so calm as the tree behind him hissed and melted down to its roots, leaving no trace of its existence as he touched the marshland floor. After he addressed his other teammates he took a step forward, his foot caught a root of the supposedly melted tree and the Genjutsu shattered around him. His green eyes were locked on the root that and mystically reformed in front of him, the realization set in, a new danger had presented itself.

“We have a bigger problem…” Rei whispered informing his comrades as he turned to face the tree which had now reformed as his contact with root had shattered the illusionary technique. The tree solidified before his eyes, reversing the melting process and returning to its normal state, it was a sight only he beheld. “Genjutsu” he finished, informing his allies of the presence of a Genjutsu specialist.

"Yosh! Come now my loyal men! We shall catch these scum and bring them on to justice in the face of the people they themselves chose to hurt and steal from! We canno-.. WILL not! Let them conti-.." The Kaguya began to shout, until Rei slapped his hand over the young man’s mouth.

“It’s bad enough they saw me without you giving away our posi-“ Rei’s irritated whisper was broken as the ground underneath the team began to tremble slightly.

From underneath their feet roots hardened by chakra ripped forth like devious spikes sent to impale the unwary. Rei himself barely had enough time to react to the surprise attack; his right arm had been nicked by one of the many root based spikes that had suddenly emerged as he leaped backwards. His green eyes, looked upwards over the brush that the team had used for cover to prepare for their assault, there stood the three rogues, the leader of them giving a small satisfied grin.

“Did you really think you could ambush us? The very forest around you warned us of your presence and hostile intent. How could you possibly defeat us when your land calls out for your own blood to be spilled?” He taunted as he formed another set of hand signs.

More roots shot to life underneath Rei’s feet, but this time he was ready. Rei’s reaction was as swift as the Chuunin’s own hand signs; he leapt to the right clearing the root system spikes and landed close to Abel. He turned his head to address his companion and old friend.

“Are you ready Abel?” He asked as his head turn to gauge the strength of their opponents.

“You take the leader, he seems about the same strength as you…The Kaguya and I will peel his subordinates from his side and engage them in combat together. Once they are eliminated as threats we will join up with you to finish him off, if you require the assist of course.” Rei instructed, coming up with a battle plan on the fly. “Good luck and be careful…the couch won’t look the same if you aren’t sleeping on it.” Rei teased with a small smile before he leaped off to rejoin and reiterate their plan to their Kaguya Squad mate.

Rei moved swiftly to reconvene with his temporary squad mate to inform him of the strategy before engaging the trio directly. Several more root spikes formed as he moved in an attempt to eliminate him early on in the fight. However, Rei’s superior speed allowed him to exit the radius affected by them with minimal to no damage. Mere seconds later Rei had made it to his new comrade to deliver their plan to him.

“We are peeling the subordinates from their leader and engaging them as a unified force, Abel will take on the leader and we will back him up once we have defeated our primary targets. Are you ready?” Rei asked the Kaguya, silently praying the young man would not attempt to change the plan to something that better suited himself.

Word Count: 1249/1500

Chakra Remaining 135/150:

Word Count:1160/1500

Abel listened as the word Genjutsu was mentioned. Fantastic. If the world wasn't about to get fucked enough at least one of the little bastards used Genjutsu. This was just incredibly great news. Abel would have to be cautious with this. He knew how to break out of it sure. But his chakra pool was minuscule and to top it off he was the only medic on the team. Meaning he needed to conserve some of his chakra. So he could hope that some one else would be dragged into taking on the genjutsu user. Probably the leader of the group. After all them Genjutsu types where always smooth talkers and scary as shit. So long as he didn't take on the leader he should be fine then. Right?

It was then that he felt the ground trembling. His fears slowly realized as he remembered instantly they where fighting three Senju. However Abel had been expecting to deal with this kind of power so while his two team mates panicked and awkwardly evaded it all Abel's feet had already left the ground before the first spike erupted. His hands gripping his long sword and while leaving the blade in the hilt Shoved the tip down to slam into one of the spikes smashing through the thin tip. The spike rose and with it Abel rose as well. At the peak of its height it abruptly stopped and Abel flipped backwards as his momentum continued. Gliding through the air as if he had wings. However this was hardly to be ignored. The one who showed the most threat at that moment was himself to the enemy. Wooden Kunai formed out of the surrounding tree's and seemed to launch with some moderate speed at him. His one good eye noted the one who was speaking made a casual hand signal. So they thought Abel was an easy target in the air. How humorous. While in the air Abel began to spin his sword while sheathed like a bow staff. The whirling noise flowing gracefully as wooden Kunai where deflected and sent into the dirt. All of it was a form of graceful swordsman ship. Abel landed unharmed in a light stance designed to move again immediately when Rei landed next to him. Informing him he was to keep the leader distracted. He was about to argue when the smirk and the words registered in his mind which had been previously focused only on combat. His temper flared as he let his one green eye look to the leader. Rei was already back on the move at this point.

Abel and the leader just stared at each other a moment with neither showing much expression until suddenly bone was whizzing past the enemy. Abel watched them seperate with a twitch of the eye back and forth. The Leader however seemed to just side step the Bone bullets. Before Leaning his back against a tree and smirking. The arrogance of the over confident bastard made Abel's skin crawl. There was no room for fear now. The sword was his soul and mind. No room to fear the wood or the genjutsu. He took a deep breath and gripped his sword. His one eye taking on a new glint as the wind seemed to pick up and stir the grass around him. His hair flowed from him like water in a stream as his aura changed. He lowered into a sword stance as He filled himself with all his power. The power of a Hinode seemed to roar out of him like a beast. He wasn't using his chakra but the amount of it passively raging through his body was intense. As Strong? No. This man was not on the same level as Abel. He was just another target who liked killing people. Abel's lips parted though as he spoke to the leader.

"Let me tell you something about Kiri. This land that calls for our blood? It call's for everyone's blood. Hence the bloody mist. Your a fool if you think siding with it will protect you from me."

The words where cold as Abel stepped forward and began walking casually at the tree the man was in. The man made a hand seal still confident in his abilities and roots erupted from beneath the tree's all around Abel. Racing to restrain the swordsman. However Abel calmly reached down. His focus was centered now. His hand gripped the hilt feeling the cloth rubbing against his gloves as he tightened his grip. The roots seemed to race at him but his area of influence with such a large weapon was more expansive then a normal Katana. He waited until it seemed to late and then drew his sword. It's steel range out and echoed through the thin misty forest swamp. With a rapid swinging combo Abel moved as if in a dance with the roots. As a root passed him it was cut cleanly and fell to the ground as dead as any other severed plant. Within a moment every root was cut. And Abel sheathed his sword once more. His quick draw style having most of it's power in the draw. Before he looked up again his power still raging out. The man was no longer smirking or leaning. But focused now. He even looked concerned.

"Your move. Pawn."

(1696/1500)

"Already on it"

Rei smirked at the Kaguya‘s response to his question, moments later several bones shard bullets ripped from his fingertips and towards the pair of Senju forcing them to break formation and separate. Rei felt the gust of wind that signified his Kaguya ally departing from him side to engage his target. The movement distracted Rei for a moment, his opponent the only Senju left charged him fist raised overhead in an attempt to clock his opponent over his head. But as the Genin foolishly ran forward his crushed a dead branch underfoot, Rei’s eyes darted back towards him with a few moments left to react to this attack.

Rei’s chillingly calm green eyes peered at the Genin adversary as he closed the distance between himself and his opponent. The young Senju leapt into the air, in an attempt to gain extra momentum with his strike. A devious smile appeared on Rei’s lips as he formed the Monkey then the Hare hand signs. After this Rei spread his hands out with an equal expanse of five inches of space between them, slowly a light blue orb of solidified Hyoton chakra materialized in the emptiness. The orb shone brightly for a few moments before shattering into ten jagged senbon shaped fragments, which Rei snatched up in his hands.

A look of shock appeared on the Senju’s face as he helplessly sailed through the air at Rei, the set up was perfect. Three Senbon left Rei’s right hand and darted towards their target, the whistle of the senbon cutting the air seemed more like wails of a screeching banshee to the young Senju. But Rei’s opponent was intelligent, as the Senbon connected with him there was a puff of smoke; a log fell from where the Genin once sat. Rei’s eyes slanted in frustration as the realization that his opponent had out maneuvered settled in.

The rustling of leaves caused Rei’s disappointment to dissipate as the young Genin attempt to break Rei with a strong punch to his spine. However as his fist connected with Rei’s back there was a puff of smoke in return, a log fell from the smoke and Rei had vanished from the Senju’s sight. The Senju’s heart beat began to pick up as he look around him for his opponent but found nothing.

At the tree line, Rei formed another set of hand signs, the Ox and then the Tiger. Once these had been completed two dragon heads made of Hyoton chakra surged towards his opponent and dived down under the earth just as the Genin turned. A small smirk appeared on the Senju caught sight of his opponent, a smirk the vanished as suddenly as it appeared as the Dragon heads emerged under his feet and clamped their jaws down on his legs, snapping them like twigs.

“One down two to go.” Rei thought as his attention turned towards the Chuunin ranked Senju and Abel.

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Bone shard bullets collided with the shoulder of the other Genin as he leaped from his position. But he wasn’t overly concerned because even as he moved the young Senju formed a pair of hand signs, he felt the flesh beneath the bone shards mending itself and pushing the bullets from the flesh. The young Genin pulled the Kaguya adversary away from his allies and towards the wooded marsh where he would have some form of an advantage. Upon reaching the edge of the woodline he formed two hand signs and roots would erupt from the earth in the form of a web which was laced with a sticky sap. He hoped to catch the Kaguya off guard and immobilize him for a short period of time, but long enough to help his brothers in the elimination of the other two hunters. That was until a cry of agony erupted from the initial battle sight, the Senju turned his head towards the noise, his attention pulled from his oncoming opponent.

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The Chuunin leader of the trio grinned with grim satisfaction at the young woman’s finesse in battle. She was obviously the strongest in the squad and probably was the glue that held the hunter squad together, which was similar to his own duties. The Senju brushed his long brown hair behind his left ear to clear his line of sight and allow for clearer and more concise reactions to his obviously skilled opponent.

The cocky Senju raised his right hand and motioned for the woman to bring the fight to him, silently he hope his taunt would succeed in drawing her deeper into his web of deception. Either way he formed a triage of hand signs, the leaves around the young woman would seemingly rise on their own as the Genjutsu took effect. When the leaves settled on the ground she would be caught in the living nightmare of the Hell Viewing Technique.

Inside the illusion, behind the Chuunin would sit the impaled corpses of the overconfident Kaguya and the young Aisu she seemed so fond of. The massive root spike balls had penetrated their bodies killing them almost instantly before her eyes. The cruel eyes of the Chuunin bore down on her as he asked a single question.

“What hope do you stand against the power of nature? Die, Kunoichi of the Bloody Mists!” He shouted as he formed another pair of hand signs in the illusion and the very forest around her jerked to life with a single purpose, to kill her.

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Rei saw the hand signs formed by the Chuunin, He saw Abel’s eyes glaze over; he was going to be caught in a Genjutsu! Abel knew he had to break the Chuunin’s concentration to save his ally, and he had been experimenting with just a jutsu to do so. Reitou quickly formed both the Bird then the Hare hand signs before slapping both of his palms onto the ground. There was a sudden roar as pure Suiton Chakra poured out from Rei’s palms and formed a single massive wave. The wave sat motionless for a moment before suddenly rushing forward, it would threaten to catch the Senju in its unforgiving grasp if he did not break his Genjutsu and release Abel.

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The Chuunin ranked Senju glanced over his left shoulder as the Aisu boy formed a pair of hand signs in his direction. He raised an eyebrow out of curiosity at the actions, was this Aisu seriously about to engage him? It wouldn’t matter, with any luck this target would soon drop from the mental stress of his Genjutsu. However is belittling gaze soon changed as the young Aisu slapped his hands on the ground and a massive wave of Suiton chakra began to pour from his palms and rushed towards him.

The Senju glanced back at the woman whom he had used his Genjutsu on, he couldn’t afford to take a hit from the massive wave, but he couldn’t allow her to escape his grasp. His hesitation solved the problem for him as the massive Suiton wave crashed down on him, sweeping his feet out from underneath him and tossing his body in its current as if he was a rag doll. His genjutsu would break instantly as the wave swept him away and gave Abel a quick moment of breathing room to allow his footing to be regained.

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Rei landed beside his ally as the wave streaked across the field of combat, he slapped Abel on the back and gave him a quick wink to reassure him that his back was being watched. Then his attention would turn to the Second Senju and his Kaguya ally, he would aid his ally should he require it and they would cripple this threat to Kirigakure before it took too deep of roots.

Chakra Remaining 100/150:

Mission word count: 1500/1500

Suiton: Tsuiraku Nami (Water Release: Crashing Wave) training word count: 1000/1000

Chakra Left 130/150:

Word Counter:1500+/1500

Abel shifted into a different stance with the sword brought up into a high defense stance. Holding the hilt above shoulder level and pointing the tip down wards while crouching. The leaves began to shift rapidly around him before they settled. His back up had arrived. He watched as they landed on either side of him with a renewed sense of confidence. One of them must of negated whatever technique the senju had been cooking up. However this was short lived as suddenly wood erupted from no where and speared through each of his companions. The blood landing on Abel's cheek as he froze on the spot. He looked at the dead faces of his two companions and his will power began to shake. His fears becoming all to much to push down with just the will of the sword. He now stood alone and those he had come with lay dead. One he hardly knew but had some heart even if he thought of himself as royalty. The other was a close friend and room mate. Some one he had intended to watch grow. As he watched the Aisu die something began to replace the fear. Though the fear was still there a cold. blind rage began to burn him from the inside out.

He wanted to scream. He wanted to take his sword and remove the mans head. His teeth grit as chakra built inside of him. He could feel the adrenaline. His vision turning red as a feral snarl erupted from him. And then the blood was gone. Water washed over where he had been looking as the world melted away. He was patted on the back but this hardly registered through the rage. It didn't register that he had been tricked by a genjutsu. His dilated pupil locked onto his target being washed away. With a scream of pure rage. Abel began to move rapidly. His very being like a beast as his hair seemed to stand on end. He raced at an alarming speed pushing his muscles to the max. He caught up with the wave and gripped his sword with both hands. Another roar and a mighty swing and the sword cut through the wave where his target was helplessly caught. There he watched as his opponent noticed the feral beast decending on him through the spray of water. A hand closed on the leaders throat as suddenly they where falling towards the ground. Abel choke slammed the Senju through several branches before getting to the last one and landing on it holding the Senju by the throat. His fingers digging into the throat leaving bloody marks. Steam came out of Abels mouth as he turned his head in a slow tilt. His eye's where rolled back revealing only the whites. With a flick of his other hand he turned his sword and swung. Cutting just below his hand and severing the head. The body dropping to the forest floor. Abel stood there holding the head for a moment before His eyes closed. And he fainted from his black out. His mind choosing to let the body rest and block out what it had just done. And the death it had just seen.

Rei watched as his team mates rejoined him with severed heads in hand; a small sigh of relief escaped his lips before his attention returned to the final surviving member of the Rogue Ninja trio. The youngest member of the Senju trio was attempting to crawl towards the tree-line and an imagined safety net; his legs had been rendered utterly useless by the Maws of Tundra Predation. His soft whimpers were the only noise that echoed through the silence of the battle field.

“Hand me the heads.” Rei requested as he stared at his suffering opponent.

Once the heads of the Senju were in his hands he would approach the suffering Genin, slowly. Rei gazed down at the Genin as he walked in front of him, dropping the severed heads of his companions down in front of the boy’s gaze. A terrified scream escaped the boy’s lips as he stared at the only remains of the two he once called brothers.

“Why did you come here? Why did you abandon Konohagakure for a life that only leads to death?” Rei asked calmly.

The boy ripped his tearful gaze from the severed heads and towards Rei, fear filled his eyes as he sniffled and whimpered. The Senju boy knew better then to betray his master, only a painful death would occur if he betrayed him, the fear of him outweighed anything else. The boy savagely bit down on his tongue, severing it completely to avoid betrayal, he intended on dying with his secrets.

This action caused Rei to raise an eyebrow, what was so important that he would opt losing speech over spilling his guts in effort to save his own life? It really didn’t matter, Rei drew his katana and brought the hilt savagely over the boys head, ripping his consciousness from him and rendering him into a forced sleep. Rei then grabbed the boy’s unconscious form from the ground and slung him over his shoulder, he would be delivered to ANBU for interrogation, it was all they could do.

“We will hand this one over to ANBU Black Ops when we return to Kiri, they will be able to pull all the information they need from his memories.” Rei explained as he motioned towards the severed heads. “Let’s get home.” Rei said simply before darting towards the tree line back to Kirigakure, the unconscious Senju laid across his shoulders.

Exit Thread