“Skaven? What’s a skaven?” the boy asked, after requested an advanced briefing for reasons he won’t disclose an older man began to give him details on how a group of humanoid rat people were responsible for a multitude of raids against the country side. Tatsuo rubbed the back his neck and chuckled a bit, the thought of Ratmen attacking a village seemed absurd but someone was willing to pay for it so it was worth checking out.
Tatsuo was wearing his flak jacket over a large black shirt and pants. His headband tied tight to keep his hair out of his face, the symbol of Konoha shining bright. The boy had begun to think of home more and more as of late. Maybe it was the cold? Maybe it was the duty he felt to his country, he couldn’t pinpoint it but he had already started to get home sick.
There was plenty to be done here in Cloud though, he still spent plenty of time hanging out with Hira and Hoshi. His training with Kaji was going well, they had just recently got back from slaying a giant. Tatsuo was getting stronger and he could tell it. Even after his long absence he was making leaps and bounds, even closing the gap between he and Hoshi. But he would still have a long ways to go before that. Though even Tatsuo could tell the progress he was making, it made him more confident in the power he was gaining. No longer was he weak enough not to handle himself. There may be people who could beat him, but he was no longer going down without a fight. Even when he fought Kaen he managed to take quite a few high level abilities. Tatsuo cringed as he ran his hands up his arms he almost could feel the burns. They weren’t visible anymore, thankfully, Kaji’s lizard ointment made quick work of them but the mental scarring was enough. He knew he would have to get a lot stronger before he could beat someone like Kaen.
All of that had been going on as he was on the train waiting to arrive in the city of Bekarut. There was supposed to be a Ratman village encampment there and Tatsuo’s job was to clean it out. Easy enough he thought. It didn’t take him long to get settled in the place and he was quickly shown to his room as an esteemed guest. It was common for clients to try and butter up their shinobi since it’d be better for the person who is capable of killing whatever's bothering you be on your good side. Tatsuo was friendly enough and didn’t plan on killing anyone, no matter who they were.
It wasn’t long before he was out in the countryside on the trail of the rat men, they were said to live in giant burrows in the mountain sides. Creating a wood clone to help him look he stumbled upon a few wide looking caves that had the stench of disease inside them. However before he could enter he heard something marching up the path. Hiding behind a few rocks he saw a small platoon of ratmen, carrying a prisoner. The man seemed to be no older than Tatsuo, he was struggling and kicking yelling out obscenities. It wasn’t long before one of the ratmen smacked him with the blunt edge of a spear. The man let out a yelp of pain but grew quiet after that trying to avoid any further punishment.
They would have gotten away with the prisoner had Tatsuo not been there. As he watched them run up the path he sent his wood clone to stop them from the front, so he could flank from the bind. As they walked through a small walled in path Tatsuo’s wood clone stepped out from in front of the rocks and slammed his hands together. “Wood Style: Great Wooden Wall!” Out from the earth grew a sizable wall of strong oak. One of the ratmen gave out a call and they dropped the prisoner getting into a defensive phalanx position as they rushed the clone.
The real Tatsuo came in from behind, taking the prisoner and placing him in a Case of Life, to protect him from any stray attacks and also to heal up his injuries. The boy seemed scared of Tatsuo but seemed to trust him more than the ratmen. Unbounding him, he told him to stay put and he would be safe not to try and struggle from within. The man listened to Tatsuo and didn’t struggle despite his intense fear of the whole situation.
Slamming his hands down onto the ground he yelled once again “Wood Style: Great Wooden Wall!” and from the earth shot another large barrier, boxing in the rat men in with Tatsuo. In some foreign tongue of squeaks and hisses, they shouted at Tatsuo before producing a large green vial. As they popped the cork a disgusting aroma filled the air as green smoke billowed out. He knew he couldn’t get hit by that. After being thrown with scary accuracy, the vial broke in front of Tatsuo’s clone. Instantly it broke down into a mix of coughing and pulling at its throat. Tatsuo released the clone and it turned into a solid piece of wood that fell to the ground. Gritting his teeth he realized that this might be a little tougher than expected. He might have to use his special ability so early. The problem is he used it now, it means the rat men would definitely be aware of his presence. He could get swarmed by however many of these there were in the mountainside. Perhaps it would be best to retreat, he had saved the man, got some info.. If he ran now he could prepare for a better fight later and not risk his or the recently rescued man's life.
As much as he hated retreating it looked like the best option here. Dropping his case of life on the man, Tatsuo rushed over to him grabbing him before bouncing off the wall between the mountain leaving the rat men trapped in between his two barriers. He doubted the rat men would be able to figure out just how powerful wood ninjutsu was but quite a few people were capable of it. Though not many were capable of it to the great extent that the Kyoubaku was. He would need to hold his cards close to his chest for this one. Using his abilities whenever he had a chance would just result in them overwhelming him. What was he thinking there anyways running in, what? One vs Ten? Even if they were just rat men he has no idea what was going on. Imagine had it not been his clone that had been hit when that ghastly bomb, both he and the man would’ve probably died.
Tatsuo asked the man where he stayed and after some shaky directions he was returned home. The man offered Tatsuo a room in his house, not only because he felt like he owed him but he was worried the rat men might return. It was much closer to the countryside and would allow Tatsuo to get a better look at all hours of the day so Tastuo accepted his offer. Placing all of his equipment in the room he began to think of his plan of attack. They spoke in a language he couldn’t understand, used weapons he had no idea how they worked. Perhaps it wouldn’t be able to get through his thick wooden armor but would he really want to take that risk? He was no longer on missions where he could just recklessly go through things. He had to plan and plot, like a real shinobi, which was the bane of Tatsuo’s existence. He sat on the bed, hands together as he thought of what to do. He was horribly outnumbered, these mountains could house thousands if not tens of thousands. If any of them were as powerful as Tatsuo there would be no chance he wouldn’t be over run. However he wondered why they stayed inside their caves. It was possible they had military strength akin to a small army perhaps they were weaker than they looked? Or maybe they had a reason for staying..
A knock on the door interrupted his thinking as the same man came in with a plate of rice, fried veggies, and meat. Tatsuo took the rice and veggies but shook his head at the meat, saying he had lost most of his appetite in the fight and wanted to keep what he ate simple. Tatsuo knew the real reason is ever since that mission he could barely stand the smell of meat, just the chance he would accidently eat someone again it made him want to vomit just thinking about it. But ignoring those thoughts he scarfed down the food quickly. It wasn’t long for him to finish up and the man crossed his arms trying to help Tatsuo think. “Well they tend to raid at night, they captured me early this morning I think they were headed back. I don’t know what they were planning on doing with me, but i’m glad you came so I did not have to find out. I really am grateful and you’re free to use anything or ask me anything if you need help. My grandfather had some notes around the house speaking about these rat men. He disappeared years ago, we all thought he was going crazy saying he saw rat men, so we bought him a cat but he said they were giant rats.. I wish I believed him, and now he’s gone.. Do you think.. Maybe they captured him?!”
Tatsuo was sure of it, they had to be connected. “Can you read the notes to me? I’m not really great at reading Kumo... I’m from Konoha the dialect is drastically different.” The man luckily didn’t know much about language and went along with it. It took him about ten minutes to find the notes but he began to read it around Tatsuo. Nothing really struck as useful except something saying they were scared of bright lights. But that didn’t make sense.. Hadn’t he fought them during the day? In between speaking with the man Tatsuo realized yeah it had been day but the clouds overhead made the sun barely visible.. Perhaps they had a weakness to bright lights. It was worth something keeping in mind, he could head back to the city and buy some flash grenades but it also meant he might need to fight them during the day. That’s if they’d even come out. It would always be dark in the caves.
Part 1 Complete!
Tatsuo was wearing his flak jacket over a large black shirt and pants. His headband tied tight to keep his hair out of his face, the symbol of Konoha shining bright. The boy had begun to think of home more and more as of late. Maybe it was the cold? Maybe it was the duty he felt to his country, he couldn’t pinpoint it but he had already started to get home sick.
There was plenty to be done here in Cloud though, he still spent plenty of time hanging out with Hira and Hoshi. His training with Kaji was going well, they had just recently got back from slaying a giant. Tatsuo was getting stronger and he could tell it. Even after his long absence he was making leaps and bounds, even closing the gap between he and Hoshi. But he would still have a long ways to go before that. Though even Tatsuo could tell the progress he was making, it made him more confident in the power he was gaining. No longer was he weak enough not to handle himself. There may be people who could beat him, but he was no longer going down without a fight. Even when he fought Kaen he managed to take quite a few high level abilities. Tatsuo cringed as he ran his hands up his arms he almost could feel the burns. They weren’t visible anymore, thankfully, Kaji’s lizard ointment made quick work of them but the mental scarring was enough. He knew he would have to get a lot stronger before he could beat someone like Kaen.
All of that had been going on as he was on the train waiting to arrive in the city of Bekarut. There was supposed to be a Ratman village encampment there and Tatsuo’s job was to clean it out. Easy enough he thought. It didn’t take him long to get settled in the place and he was quickly shown to his room as an esteemed guest. It was common for clients to try and butter up their shinobi since it’d be better for the person who is capable of killing whatever's bothering you be on your good side. Tatsuo was friendly enough and didn’t plan on killing anyone, no matter who they were.
It wasn’t long before he was out in the countryside on the trail of the rat men, they were said to live in giant burrows in the mountain sides. Creating a wood clone to help him look he stumbled upon a few wide looking caves that had the stench of disease inside them. However before he could enter he heard something marching up the path. Hiding behind a few rocks he saw a small platoon of ratmen, carrying a prisoner. The man seemed to be no older than Tatsuo, he was struggling and kicking yelling out obscenities. It wasn’t long before one of the ratmen smacked him with the blunt edge of a spear. The man let out a yelp of pain but grew quiet after that trying to avoid any further punishment.
They would have gotten away with the prisoner had Tatsuo not been there. As he watched them run up the path he sent his wood clone to stop them from the front, so he could flank from the bind. As they walked through a small walled in path Tatsuo’s wood clone stepped out from in front of the rocks and slammed his hands together. “Wood Style: Great Wooden Wall!” Out from the earth grew a sizable wall of strong oak. One of the ratmen gave out a call and they dropped the prisoner getting into a defensive phalanx position as they rushed the clone.
The real Tatsuo came in from behind, taking the prisoner and placing him in a Case of Life, to protect him from any stray attacks and also to heal up his injuries. The boy seemed scared of Tatsuo but seemed to trust him more than the ratmen. Unbounding him, he told him to stay put and he would be safe not to try and struggle from within. The man listened to Tatsuo and didn’t struggle despite his intense fear of the whole situation.
Slamming his hands down onto the ground he yelled once again “Wood Style: Great Wooden Wall!” and from the earth shot another large barrier, boxing in the rat men in with Tatsuo. In some foreign tongue of squeaks and hisses, they shouted at Tatsuo before producing a large green vial. As they popped the cork a disgusting aroma filled the air as green smoke billowed out. He knew he couldn’t get hit by that. After being thrown with scary accuracy, the vial broke in front of Tatsuo’s clone. Instantly it broke down into a mix of coughing and pulling at its throat. Tatsuo released the clone and it turned into a solid piece of wood that fell to the ground. Gritting his teeth he realized that this might be a little tougher than expected. He might have to use his special ability so early. The problem is he used it now, it means the rat men would definitely be aware of his presence. He could get swarmed by however many of these there were in the mountainside. Perhaps it would be best to retreat, he had saved the man, got some info.. If he ran now he could prepare for a better fight later and not risk his or the recently rescued man's life.
As much as he hated retreating it looked like the best option here. Dropping his case of life on the man, Tatsuo rushed over to him grabbing him before bouncing off the wall between the mountain leaving the rat men trapped in between his two barriers. He doubted the rat men would be able to figure out just how powerful wood ninjutsu was but quite a few people were capable of it. Though not many were capable of it to the great extent that the Kyoubaku was. He would need to hold his cards close to his chest for this one. Using his abilities whenever he had a chance would just result in them overwhelming him. What was he thinking there anyways running in, what? One vs Ten? Even if they were just rat men he has no idea what was going on. Imagine had it not been his clone that had been hit when that ghastly bomb, both he and the man would’ve probably died.
Tatsuo asked the man where he stayed and after some shaky directions he was returned home. The man offered Tatsuo a room in his house, not only because he felt like he owed him but he was worried the rat men might return. It was much closer to the countryside and would allow Tatsuo to get a better look at all hours of the day so Tastuo accepted his offer. Placing all of his equipment in the room he began to think of his plan of attack. They spoke in a language he couldn’t understand, used weapons he had no idea how they worked. Perhaps it wouldn’t be able to get through his thick wooden armor but would he really want to take that risk? He was no longer on missions where he could just recklessly go through things. He had to plan and plot, like a real shinobi, which was the bane of Tatsuo’s existence. He sat on the bed, hands together as he thought of what to do. He was horribly outnumbered, these mountains could house thousands if not tens of thousands. If any of them were as powerful as Tatsuo there would be no chance he wouldn’t be over run. However he wondered why they stayed inside their caves. It was possible they had military strength akin to a small army perhaps they were weaker than they looked? Or maybe they had a reason for staying..
A knock on the door interrupted his thinking as the same man came in with a plate of rice, fried veggies, and meat. Tatsuo took the rice and veggies but shook his head at the meat, saying he had lost most of his appetite in the fight and wanted to keep what he ate simple. Tatsuo knew the real reason is ever since that mission he could barely stand the smell of meat, just the chance he would accidently eat someone again it made him want to vomit just thinking about it. But ignoring those thoughts he scarfed down the food quickly. It wasn’t long for him to finish up and the man crossed his arms trying to help Tatsuo think. “Well they tend to raid at night, they captured me early this morning I think they were headed back. I don’t know what they were planning on doing with me, but i’m glad you came so I did not have to find out. I really am grateful and you’re free to use anything or ask me anything if you need help. My grandfather had some notes around the house speaking about these rat men. He disappeared years ago, we all thought he was going crazy saying he saw rat men, so we bought him a cat but he said they were giant rats.. I wish I believed him, and now he’s gone.. Do you think.. Maybe they captured him?!”
Tatsuo was sure of it, they had to be connected. “Can you read the notes to me? I’m not really great at reading Kumo... I’m from Konoha the dialect is drastically different.” The man luckily didn’t know much about language and went along with it. It took him about ten minutes to find the notes but he began to read it around Tatsuo. Nothing really struck as useful except something saying they were scared of bright lights. But that didn’t make sense.. Hadn’t he fought them during the day? In between speaking with the man Tatsuo realized yeah it had been day but the clouds overhead made the sun barely visible.. Perhaps they had a weakness to bright lights. It was worth something keeping in mind, he could head back to the city and buy some flash grenades but it also meant he might need to fight them during the day. That’s if they’d even come out. It would always be dark in the caves.
Part 1 Complete!