OOC:

Battle Theme:

The blue hair shinobi, the Third Lion Sennin finally arrived to the battle field. No longer under the guise as an ANBU. He was glad to finally take the mask off. Kenji had arrived to the battle a few miles from the base, where an army of puppets had been making a march to one of the strongholds of Kirigakure. Kenji along with several other Jounin put the advance down immediately. The allied force was finally starting to get some steam going, and Kenji was planning on keeping it up. He was on his way back to the base when he realized the constant shuffling and noise... "Another battle has broken out..." Kenji looked yonder and saw the action ensuing, there would be no time to rest as he knew his services were likely needed.

Explosion after explosion, the bombs bursted. Searing strikes of chakra bombarded the enemy, leaving nothing in its path. Kirigakure, the allied force, refused to let this war slip away from their grasp. Kenji had been entrusted to lead the follow up attack on area, to deal a tremendous blow to the enemy's forces. The Jounin had carved the forest out, leaving burning brush and broken puppets in the area. Kenji could smell the smoke from their position a little more than 400 meters away, where he waited with his platoon to finish the operation. The plan was to have the powerhouse shinobi decimate the enemy's numbers, then in the chaos have the back up force led by Kenji to strike... The squad was ready.

The Jounin had set the bar... Now it was time once more, for Kenji to lead the Genin and Chuunin into battle to secure their stronghold. Kenji's fingers caressed the hilt of his death instrument as he strided to the battlefield, Zanto to his right, Chachi to his left, and 5 other shinobi behind him. The blue hair shinobi had talked to Zanto ealier, greeting him, as his sensei. He let the Genin know that Jenito, the ANBU agent was sent on more pressing assingments. Kenji was glad, he was tired of the ANBU uniform and talking in that squealing voice. He had dyed his hair back blue and he had removed the black paint from his Hane, returning it to its original lustrous self.

"Alright, men and women, it's time. Us 8 we'll be heading into a war zone... most of the job has been done for us, but if we've learned anything so far, these Seven bell characters are full of surprises. This is a demolition mission, we're to go in a rid the area of any Seven Bells members left. Ringo, you'll stay back, I've been instructed that we may have additional reenforcments depending on what we encounter, you will be our messanger." Ringo nodded. The squad leapt to the top of the roofs, as they traveled at fast speeds, approaching the blazing forest... they stopped just short.

"We don't know what's waiting for us in there, we can't just dart in. I'll stay atop the roofs, and use my sensory ability to map out the area before hand. Zanto, you too gather some intel on what we're going up against, the more intel we have, the more destruction they'll face." The platoon, other than Kenji and Zanto stood still, as the two sensory shinobi gathered information their surroundings. It wouldn't be long before they had the necessary information to luach a successful finishing strike on the Seven Bells henchmen.


WC: 582/2500

Another battle before him and another chance to die, but he still wasn’t afraid. He was surprised that his mentor was here; although he was glad to get rid of that annoying high pitched Anbu black op ninja.
‘I really hope I get chunnin after this war. I think I proved myself enough… Oh well can’t be thinking about that right now. I need to focus.’
First day of the war Zanto learned a lot about himself. He came to the conclusion no one really knows what they are capable of until they stare death in the face and Zanto simply smiled at death.
They were given a new assignment he was tasked with a group of 6 he was the 7th and much to his surprise his mentor was the leader of this task force. Zanto wondered where the Anbu black op went but Kenji explained to him that he was sent off on another mission. It struck some curiously into Zanto. Why were they treating him like a Ping-Pong ball? give him one partner and let him stick with it through out the war. On top of that why was he tasked with an Anbu in the first place? Nothing made sense and nothing added up, but for now that wasn’t a pressing concern. For now he had to focus. He was about to go into battle once again.
He stood there side by side with his mentor gathering information. Although it wasn’t a glamorous job it was still important. A lot of time the outcome of a war depends on who has the most information. To add to that the more information he had the more lives he could save and the enemies he could kill. He could smell the smoke from burning wood and flesh.
For some reason he couldn’t see anything. It was too quite. Zanto thought a counter attack would have been launched by now to secure the ground they lost, but there was nothing. It was quite and still. This didn’t sit well with Zanto.
“It’s way too quite.” Zanto commented.
He finally gave up and decided to do a recon mission.
He created a few hand symbols and said.
“Void release: Eye of the void jutsu!”
His left eye blackened and he slowly closed it and a small orb came to being in front of him. He sent the orb into the woods. He saw the burning puppets and corpses but it didn’t bother him he was too focused on finding his enemy.
‘Where are you?’ Zanto wondered.
Once he reached his limit he began to move side to side looking for any enemy threat.
He felt tense, but he knew they couldn’t hide forever. He saw they layout and the trees were tightly packed. It was a perfect place for an ambush.
‘It’s going to be an ambush it has to be that’s what I would do If I was in there position. It’s perfect. Its dark trees everywhere and everyone is on edge. It was a perfect setting to cause panic and discord. I hope Kenji’s abilities will be able to find them. I should get a mental image of the land scape. As he moved his eye from tree to tree trying to be extra careful not to get it caught in the open he noticed three things. One the foliage was thick which would give away any shinobi instantly. Second there were some bald spots in the forest. That area would be easier to move in, but they would be exposed, and three there was a medium a small area through the woods where there wasn’t too much foliage to cause noise, but not enough trees to help conceal them.
‘They did their homework…” Zanto thought.
Zanto wanted to test his theory and sent his eye down the medium before it got to far it was destroyed by an unknown assailant.
‘It is an ambush set up. They are focusing on the medium that’s where any smart person would go, to go out in the open would be suicide, but to go through the other area would expose us.’ Zanto thought.
Zanto slowly opened his left eye and turned to his mentor.
] ”Kenji-sensei I found something interesting. Further down into the forest there is a peculiar site. One side has thick foliage which would expose us if we tried to go through. The other side is bald with very few trees for cover and in the center is a medium. Minimum foliage with a good amount of trees for cover; they are stage somewhere there for an ambush. They just shot down my eye, and I didn’t see anyone.
Although Zanto didn’t find the enemy he did obtain a decent amount of intel now it is up to his mentor to find the enemy.
 
WC:807/2500

Zanto used his ninjutsu to scout the area, the same one he used with they were attacked back at the village. Kenji used his sensing ability to sweep the area quickly. His sensory ability was fast and truly impressive, but it did rely on the sense of chakra. Therefore, he had asked Zanto to assist him by obtaining an aerial visual just in case they were capable of suppressing their chakra. Kenji picked up several chakra signatures.

Zanto alerted Kenji that his eye jutsu was shot down, only confirming that there were enemy forces in the forested area, their intentions obvious, ambush. There was 8 of them, including Ringo who was going to be staying back as they went in to clean out the area of any remaining foes. Kenji turned to his platoon and began the briefing on their initial strategy. "I'll go in first, while moving through cover, I will get as high as possible. There are men on the ground and in the trees." Kenji slung his crossbow from off his shoulder, "I'll take care of the long ranged fighters from above. Once in go into the formation we talked about earlier, I'll provide cover, from there it's up to you all. After we made it in deep our join you guys on the ground to finish the job. Remember your training, and remember our goal. LET"S GO!"

Kenji finished his pep talk, and immediately after he slipped into the forest with his crossbow loaded. The Jounin maneuvered cautiously, he inched deeper and deeper, and right as he began to focus chakra in his feet, he sensed an active chakra source approaching him fast. "Damn it, they were ready for a long range fighter to sneak in and attempt to get to the tree, but what they didn't know was, that I don't really care." Kenji stopped in his tracks and waited for the attacker. The enemy came into view, it wasn't a puppet, but a shinobi, it was clear. "So they have some diversity... but this guy is a decoy for sure." Kenji used his blazing speed to align himself with the bluffing shinobi, using him as an impromptu shield, as he further analyzed the area, using his honed reflexes and perception. He spotted the disturbance and chakra of the hidden enemy, he accomplished this within a second. He deliver a swift and short elbow to the shinobi's rib cage and simultaneously brought his crossbow up and fired the bolt at 60 m/s at the enemy that was covered by the trees. As silence filled the area, a short ruffle then a body came torpedoing down, colliding with the scorched earth. Kenji was finally able to see first hand what the Jounin before him did, the area was ripped to shreds. There were small and flickering fires splashed sporadically across the area, along with the many broken puppets scattered across the ground. Kenji smiled, as he knew his platoon wouldn't have to do much more than give them a swift kick in the face. However, it was important to him that he made this a siege to remember.

He ran vertically along the bark of the tree, sprinting to the top. He reached his perch of about 20 meters high, looking down onto surface. He had a bird's eye view of where his platoon would be entering from soon, but he could also see about 10-15 meters ahead where they couldn't and saw shinobi with swords. And he could sense the chakra of men in the trees. After the others would make it in, with Kenji providing cover of course, he would advance further into the forest by way of branch hopping. Getting into position to take out the snipers. After that, it would be fair game.


WC: 1227/2500

Zanto’s eyes were glued to the forest he was ready for a fight. He went over in his head the information he has. First the terrain we were at a disadvantage on foot so the only other logical approached was to go through the branches in the center. Assuming the snipers do not pick us off we need to wipe out the enemy that we know of while hoping they don’t have reinforcements. There were too many unknown factors, but that can’t be helped the fog of war shrouds us all.
Zanto briefly listened to his mentor’s plan and didn’t like they were basically bait while he ran to take out the snipers. He was sure that was not his intention, but it was the way he saw it.  When he finished we moved into formation and began to slowly advance. The Jounin and Zanto moved into the forest. The hairs on the back of the neck stood up.
‘What the hell? Why do I have such a gut rotten feeling?’ Zanto thought.
Before he knew it he suddenly heard one of the Junion shout “Scatter!” before he knew what was happening. He heard a loud explosion that sent him flying into the woods and into a tree.
He tried to move but couldn’t he looked over at his right shoulder and saw a small stick sticking out of his left shoulder.
‘Son of a….' Zanto cursed to himself.
He slowly stood up only to be met by the enemy.
“Pretty careless for a jounin.” He taunted.
Zanto stood up and drew the rusty Katana.
“I am a genin as a matter of fact.” Zanto snarled.
The enemy exploded into laughter.
“They sent a genin to us… Well no harm in a little fun.”

He pulled out a scroll and in a puff a smoke a Bunraku puppet appeared.  It was a simple puppet, but it didn’t have any arms. He then drew a Katana.
‘What good is that puppet going to do? A shield maybe?’ Zanto wondered.
Zanto grinned and yelled.
“Fine you want to fight. I am more than happy to oblige.”

Zanto summoned three void spheres and had them encircle him.
“Don’t feel bad when I rip you in half.” Zanto snarled.
“A lot of talk for genin.” He said.
This guy was taunting him, but he doesn’t know what he was in for. Zanto was at a small disadvantage. He had a stick sticking out of his left shoulder, but Zanto had his void spheres. He could figure out a way to take him. All he had to do was take out his puppet and the individual should be easier to dispatch.
“Let’s go.”
Zanto charged at the ninja with a Katana in his hand. The other ninja’s puppet opened its mouth and launched sebon at Zanto. If it weren’t for his natural reflexes he would have been skewered. The ninja to advantage of the situation and charged at Zanto. He swung his blade and nicked Zanto a crossed the chest.
Zanto sent his Null sphere at the ninja forcing him back. He then sent the other two Null spheres trying to crush the Puppet, but he the ninja pulled the puppet out of the way.
Zanto smiled brightly.
‘Finally an actual challenge…this is going to be fun.’ Zanto thought.
 
WC.1358/2500

Using his sensory skills, the long range shinobi fired bolt after bolt ripping though tree and branches and into the enemy, as he was working on taking out shinobi up above. Kenji periodically had to change location. He sprung from tree to tree using the wild and drooping branches full with colorful leaves as cover. His muscles and tendons fired with zeal. His body was made for kind of fighting if nothing else.

Senbon were continuously launched, but he was never in harms way. He had tabs on everyone in the area. They should know sensory ninja are among the most dangerous. As Kenji continued his assault he got a creative idea. Lets try something knew he thought.

The blue hair shinobi fell from the tree and came swooping down, he was on a crash course with the battered surface. He contorted his nimble body at the last second and landed as light as a feather. As soon as the soles of his shoes disturbed the earth beneath him, he went into a full sprint, whizzing through the battle ground. He was now completely in the open, and he sensed 5 snipers remaining and there were over 20 foot soldiers closing in on his location.

As expected the long range fighters initiated a full assault. There were senbon snipping and piercing the ground, the tree trunks, snapping through branches. Kenji and his superior speed and reflexes bypassed the petty offense. Then in one burst he vanished from sight, just as the ground troopers arrived too. Their eyes simply couldn't follow his movement when he decided to kick it into final gear. He had positioned himself south of the snipers. He quickly raised his crossbow, smiling as the unsuspecting foes were in sight. Two fell within the next moments. He followed the attack up by scaling the tree in which the snipers were in. The final occupied separate thick branches. Even with the three of them they couldn't trace his movements and while they were bewildered, Kenji was dicing them up. He couldn't remember the last time he had this much leeway in combat.

The slain enemy ninja were slumped across the thick branches of the tree. Kenji stealthily relocated in order to escape the foes on the ground. He increased the distance between them as he inched closer to his platoon that were awaiting his signal. He let out a primal roar, signifying the beginning of the siege. Kenji would remain up above a little while longer, deciding he was most useful where he was. Kenji watched as the platoon of Genin and Chuunin took it to the enemy. Several of the ninja were from Kiri and they out on a wondrous display of suiton, sending torpedos of spiraling water rampaging into the heart of the bukitjutsu members the enemy's ambush unit. Other sent soaring watery dragons that gushed down rinsing the area clean of the Seven Bells militia. Kenji was in awe and focused mainly on staying out of the way and not getting caught in the destruction. He hoped everyone involved was smart enough not to be in the way when the attack went down.

There was so much havoc down below he couldn't keep up his chakra sensory with chakra flaring and being expelled all over the place. But as it died down, he realized there wasn't a single foriegn chakra source remaining. It was done. Kenji couldn't find a dry spot to land in so he came splashing down instead. He gazed upon the field of sleeping bodies and wrecked puppets, it was a glorious masterpiece, he was just happy he could witness it. He grabbed a white cloth from his pocket and cleaned his crimson blade. The hot blood came right off. He was using a special fabric that was especially good at getting blood off metal and leaving behind a sleek appearance at the same time.

He saw Zanto limping. Many others were doing the same and then the rest of the platoon were checking for more enemies or looting their corpses. "That was some action. You got into a scuffle earlier, I see you survived. Finish securing the area so we can establish our post." Kenji had led another successful campaign. He started to feel the action begin to wear on him as fatigue settled in. He was out of everyone the happiest that the mission was taken care of swiftly .


WC: 1972/2500

‘So he is using his puppet for cover fire while he gets in close to attack.’ Zanto thought.
That made things a little more interesting for Zanto. His shoulder was bleeding and he had little use of his left arm. The Adrenaline pumping in his system only made the bleeding worse, but right now there was nothing he could do about it. The cut on his chest was small nothing a few bandages couldn’t fix, but before he can get fixed up he had to kill the ninja in front of him.  The puppet fired a few more sebons at him, but wasn’t able to hit Zanto. When the enemy closed in to catch him Zanto forced him back with his null spheres.
‘I have an Idea.’ Zanto thought.
With his damaged shoulder he put his hand behind his back and created a void grenade.
‘Try and come at me again.’ Zanto thought.
The enemy was predictable. He believed he had Zanto on the ropes and he didn’t respect him sense he was still only a genin, but he was going to find out real soon that he should ever underestimate his opponents.
The puppet fired a few more sebons at Zanto, but this time he deliberately let one cut his leg making it look like he was open and stumbling.
The enemy closed in on Zanto just like before.
‘So predictable and he looks down at me for being an amateur.’ Zanto thought.
When the ninja was 5 meters away Zanto tossed his grenade at the ninja. The grenade hit him square in the chest and violently exploded knocking him backwards planting him on his back. Zanto then sent two of his null spheres and smashed the puppet between them. He used his other null sphere and created a spike and had it come crashing down into the enemy ninja’s stomach.
The enemy ninja cried in agony and Zanto limped over to him.
He looked down at the dying ninja and said.
“Still having fun?”

Before the ninja could answer Zanto drove him blade into his chest putting him out of his misery.
Zanto was battered and bleeding. Right now he needed medical attention for his shoulder. The only thing he can do was fallback and get treatment. His technique was sound, but sloppy. Zanto needed more experience. The only thing he could do for now is survive and gain that experience. Zanto could hear the battle not too far away, but his better judgment was telling him to get fixed up before he rejoined the battle.
He finally rejoined his mentor. He noticed that he was limping and told me to secure the area. I would rather get fixed up, but it did make a certain level of sense. We were in a middle of a siege and we couldn’t just stop. Besides it looks like the others have done their work and decimated the enemy forces.
Zanto did what he was told and scanned the area. All he could see was mangled corpses and broken puppet all drenched in water. Looks like Kiri ninja work. He continued to keep his null spheres close by just in case of any stragglers and snipers. He used his null spheres to tip over some of the bodies and the puppets to see if they were alive or booby trapped.  He could only smile at the devastation. It was unnerving that it put him in such a good mood. After making several round trips he was finally satisfied that the perimeter was secured. At this point the blood oozed all the way from his shoulder to his shoes.
‘I may have put this off a little too long.’ Zanto thought
He returned and grabbed one of the medical ninja gave his report to Kenji as he was being patched up.
“I found nothing but broken puppets and corpses Kenji-sensei.”



WC: 2006/2500

As he got a closer look at Zanto he realized he wasn't just limping, he had sustained some pretty serious wounds. Zanto was breathing heavy and struggling to stay up right. It appeared he was finally getting his hands dirty. He had lacerations all over his body, Kenji knew this was the work of senbon and kenjutsu. Unfortunately, priorities were priorities.

He clearly needed medical attention and he would get it soon enough. They had come too far to let any loose ends dangle. There was no room for mistakes or over sights. Till this point the enemy has been preying on that behavior in particular. Zanto waddled off and surveyed the perimeter. He returned soon reporting nothing but lifeless bodies and water torn puppets.

Kenji spun around soaked in the scenery, or what was left of it. The smell of sweat and blood seemed to swing under his nose, leaving only to return shortly. His muscles relaxed as the spur of combat gave him a new level of focus. His confidence soared high above the trees. The taste of the fear his foes faced in loom of their defeat was still fresh on the tip of his tongue. The recollection of the victory took place while he made sure personally the area was locked down. Zanto was still back getting fixed up.

The blue hair shinobi got back and announced that the mission was an official success and everyone was free to return to base. It was there hot food, refreshments, and better medicine was waiting. As they wasted little time returning to base, Kenji stayed behind a little longer. After their follow up attack the Jounin would return to retake their new post, so Kenji waited till they turned up. The Kumo shinobi didn't have to wait long. Three tall ninja hopped from the trees into view. They gave him a smirk as if to tease him for taking such a low level mission. Kenji wouldn't entertain their jeers, and in one forceful leap, he gone from the area, and strolling back to camp.

He saw the platoon chowing down, he tried to locate Zanto but he wasn't anywhere to be seen. He assumed he was in one of tents receiving more medical attention. He was sure in his assumption so he went to get something to eat as well.

Kenji knew securing the area, and completely ridding it of the enemy's forces was a big deal, but there was still more to be done. Unlike yesterday, he would have to keep the energy up and put on a similar show few hours from now. This day was just getting started. Kenji would have to lend his hand in the more difficult missions.

Kenji once again took his plate happily. Just as he finished scoffing down his food he felt tremble ripple under his feet instictually. His fingers tapped the bottom of his hilt rhythmically. This was the start of his next assignment, he knew it. He looked over at one of the LT. he was an IWA ninja. Kenji was already equipped and ready to go, and in that moment where they glanced at each other they both blasted forward in the general direction.


WC: 2514/2500

Exit Thread

It was a good start another mission accomplished on the battle field. Not bad for a rookie. Zanto was walking towards the medical tent to get patched up when his mind started to wonder
‘Wonder how much longer we are going to be out here.’
He finally made it to the medical tent. He felt light headed from the blood loss, but he kept telling himself he would be fine.
Zanto sat on a wooden bench and allowed the medical ninja to patch up his injuries. The only wound that was really bad was the one in his shoulder and it was the most painful one.
Zanto bit down on a sick as they slowly pulled the stick out of his shoulder. The pain was bearable but extreme. When they finally pull the stick out the medical ninja used a jutsu Zanto had never seen before. He didn’t pay close attention because he had no desire to learn medical Ninjutsu. He was a weapon of war not a doctor. As the bandaged his wounds Zanto began to think about a young girl in a small village to the west.  
‘I wonder how Setsuko is doing’ Zanto thought.
‘I shouldn’t go straight back. She would only cry again if she saw the state I am in.’
Maybe Zanto was getting ahead of himself. The medical ninja’s were no amateurs. The managed to close all of Zanto wounds quickly. Much quicker then he thought.
‘Least I can go to the front lines now.’ Zanto thought.  
After they finished patching Zanto up he finally decided to get some food.
He didn’t want to eat with the rest of the platoon, but being by yourself in a warzone was dangerous even if you secured the area.  He decided to sit in full view of the platoon, but far enough away where he could be somewhat alone.
‘Fish and rice again….how original. I swear these Kiri ninja each so much fish they just might become fish themselves.’ Zanto thought
Still it was better than nothing at all and he needed the nourishment after losing so much blood.
‘How could I have been so careless and get injured like this?’ Zanto wondered.
He came to the conclusion he just wasn’t focused enough or he could blame Kenji-sensei’s plan. Either way it didn’t matter. He was still a rookie when it came to the art of war so who was he to question Kenji’s strategy.  
He slowly began to eat his fish and rice. It was just like he expected… It was awful.
‘Damn it… when I get back the first thing I do is get me some real food not this crap.”
‘So they only thing to do now is rest up and get ready for the next mission. I have to be extra careful. I can’t let some ninja get the jump on me like that ever again. It might a god idea to get some shut eye before we have to move again.’ Zanto thought.

WC:2514/2500