Chapter 1 - The Tea Incident [Private/PM]

[Kiri]

Better late than never – he thought as he arrived in the city just yesterday. With other duties for the Main Branch done, Jien was supposed to follow into Tea Country to help in any way possible with regard to keeping check the students that were taken along for the ride. Most of them had already arrived and probably watched the tournament since its beginning. He had already missed one of the fights, specifically that of Kumogakure’s own Kaji, and he sure wished he was there to somehow have sent his cheers. Ah, but perhaps he was simply eager to get to see the other competitors and analyse their skill sets.

However, it wasn’t babysitting, nor was it a holiday for him to observe the fights that greeted him. Instead, the moment dawn broke and he looked out from the window of his rented room, Jien’s purplish eyes caught sight of a couple of black garbed figures jumping between rooftops and swiftly running. They are adept and from his observant glance, he could tell there was a sense of urgency in their movements. That was just the beginning.

Putting on his bluish coat, the white-haired shinobi would hear a knock on his door and be greeted by one of Kumogakure’s other shinobis and he was handed a piece of paper. It was a notice of discretion with the problem of the poison and some other unwanted unruly actions happening around town. He thought of it as normal sense of discretion so he paid no mind to it before he dismissed the messenger. Then, he was ready to head off to the tournament grounds with his guns all ready, and his rifle case slung on his back.

Ten seconds into the streets, however, would change the entire schedule of his day. An explosion, not too large, but enough to alarm the streets, caught his eyes. Glancing, he saw a shop’s front window break as a dark garbed figure crashes out with a jump, agile feet sliding on the ground before kicking off to the rooftops. Pursuers, regular police forces on his trail, as well as the irate shop owner, he figured, but the latter gave up when the chase went to the roof. But he didn’t make any moves for this was not his country and he did not want to catch any unwanted attention.

Still, he let his eyes linger along the roof tiles that shook at each step taken by the pursuers and the one being pursued. There was something in the air that made him attentive, like a spark of chakra pulse. And it wasn’t long before a sharp lightning current ran across the roofs, breaking pieces of the tiles as screams let out. At that, Jien got into action as he raised his hand with a quick handseal, letting out a fast jutsu enact and stop the falling debris from the broken roof tiles from falling on the people on the street, the bits and pieces lay suspended on the air for a while before they projected back on top the roof.

At that, he felt another pair of observant eyes and upon glancing back, he caught sight of a few more black clad figures quickly retreating, almost as if they were trying to avoid his gaze. In any case, he felt the lack of chakra of the pursuing police force and the fleeing pulse of the one being chased. It would seem as though trouble had found him, or he stumbled unlikely into it. And though discretion would have him avoid it, he found that his adventurous spirit would not be so easily tamed by such commands.

Thus, he sets out into a chase, reaching the rooftops and following after the dark clad man at the distance.

WC: 631
[MFT]

 

[Akechi]

Today’s story was supposed to be about Yoshi’s tour through the bustling city of Kurosawa. Arriving late as usual, the dark-skinned man barely had any time to take in the sights. He wasn’t really given a directive or a mission of any kind – more than likely because he tended to be a bit reckless – so his trip to the Tea Country was more of a vacation than anything. Sure, he had his civil duty as a shinobi of Kumogakure to watch out for the younger Cloud shinobi wandering about these foreign lands, but his main prerogative was a little “R n R” – that’s code for Rest and Relaxation.

“Red? You think I look like a ‘red’ guy?” Hideyoshi spoke, stroking his chin as he stared at himself in the mirror. He was due a new outfit, especially with the slight raise that he had just received due to his status as a Senior Jounin. Most shinobi his age had either retired, become profiteering crooks, or found themselves submerged in the politics of man and shinobi – because shinobi were considered more ‘living weapon’ than actual human beings. Yoshi, the rather fashionable man that he was, had already chosen a fresh pair of dust-colored jeans to match a designer newsboy cap that caught his eye. The final touch was the shirt. All he needed was a fresh pair of threads to cover his torso and arms, instantly upgrading his ensemble to legendary status. The cute little attendant that assisted him in this ‘crisis of colors,’ mentioned that the red in the shirt meshes well with his ‘earthy skin tone’ and that she personally liked the contrast between his golden irises and the shirt. “Well, looks like this is the shirt then,” he whispered to the young lady, sliding her his credit chip as he posed in the mirror with his new, red button-down shirt.

She couldn’t have been gone for more than a minute, but seconds was all it would take to change the trajectory of today’s events. No doubt, the young lady was returning to Hideyoshi with a receipt and his credit chip when the sharp, ear bursting sound of an explosion echoed throughout the area. It may not have seemed like much of an explosion from a distance, but Hideyoshi was within earshot of the damn thing. The explosion sent the people gathered in this extravagant outdoor mall into a frenzy. While most of the people scurried about – running, screaming and scrapping for their lives – Hideyoshi ran into the fray, effortlessly disintegrating debris with a single touch as he forced his way past the frenzy and into the action.

Seconds. Mere seconds was all it took for some asshole to ruin his day and put hundreds of ‘normal’ people’s lives in danger. Seconds was also how long it took for Yoshi to save a couple of lives. Adrenaline pumped through his body in an Anabolic Frenzy as he created clones of himself to sweep the area, turning debris into dust. He was just about done when he heard the screams of a little girl – her fear forcing her into a ball as broken roof tiles descended upon her. “Dammit! I don’t think I have enough time!” Yoshi shouted to himself, sprinting toward the girl in a mad dash to save her life. Just as he reached her, the debris suspended in midair. “A jutsu?” His confusion turned into curiosity with a tinge of anger as he sought to pay back the people that caused the explosion.

Delivering the girl back to her parents, Hideyoshi jumped onto the rooftop that had broken moments before, noticing that it had been put back together… somewhat. In the distance, he could see a taller man giving chase to two unknown figures in the distance. “Hey, thanks for the help back there. Your jutsu saved that little girl,” Yoshi yelled out, catching up to the man in pursuit of the two unknown assailants. “Looks like your friends could use some manners though,” he quipped in earshot of the man, allowing him to take the lead for the time being.

“Any idea what they were after?”

Time for some trouble.

[WC: 695]

 

[Byakko Yukiin]

The hotel room had proven to be a sufficient barrier to the outside world for the past few days, the Genin excusing himself from the majority of the 'festivities' out of the rational fear of this foreign country and its foreign behaviors. On the way in someone stopped him in the street to tell him 'good morning' as if he were some chakraless like him and that kind of unwarranted social contact was almost worse than if he'd just pulled a knife...he knew what to do with a knife. Break the offender's arm and put the knife in his eye but that proved difficult to do with a verbal greeting, forcing Yukiin to mutter a 'You too' as he scurried away. Without Tsurara out he couldn't just talk and he was explicitly told that unless he felt something needed to be maimed, poisoned, or killed that his weapon was not to be exposed to open air.

He sighed heavily, casting ice from his lips across the room against a makeshift target on the wall which had several crude icicles pushed into it by his repeated throws. More of these crude weapons were resting in his hand as he steadied himself, hurling another volley into the eye of the target, each landing its mark on a charcoal marked vital organ. Yukiin smiled, to nobody in particular like he preferred, noting that his abilities were steadily improving day by day. Each day the quantity and strength of the chill he could muster and the water in the air he could command increased and at this rate he expected he would be able to produce a tangible result soon. It was a difficult thing to work with, natural or not, as it required so much work to mold properly...too much Fuuton and it cracked, weakened, and broke before it achieved its goal and too much Suiton and it simply fell apart or wasn't firm enough to puncture.

Not that he understood how either of its constituent elements worked exactly, it was more that he was told that Hyouton was composed of these things because he certainly couldn't produce the component elements themselves beyond marking chakra paper. Yukiin really wished he'd come away from his contract search more fruitfully, then he would've had someone to practice the art of social combat with instead of wasting time in his room with a skill that he could practice at any time. Tsurara made...poor conversation.

It slumped over in the corner as he thought about it, his ocular influence seeming to weigh the puppet down...no, that wasn't right. It moved unnaturally, something pushed it...a tremor? But only on that one side of the room...? No, something occurred on that side of the building, something that reverberated enough to move something on that wall. Either someone was slammed up against it or something larger had happened near it. Neither option was something he was comfortable with so the puppeteer lifted himself, dragging Tsurara to collect itself in its carrying back and throwing it over his shoulder with a Kugutsu string and a slide of his shoulders.

Yukiin made his way out of the room to the balcony outside and before his eyes caught anything his nose was embroiled with a struggle to pull oxygen from the smoke-lined air. He coughed, waving away the residue before gathering his breath and pushing the smoke away with a huff, clearing space for him as the icicles glistened and he saw two other figures who were seemingly already investigating. Several cloaked figures also abandoned the scene although they clearly lacked any taste in fashion or were cowards, the Genin glancing back at his own flamboyant clothing choices and the white cloak that concealed his puppet, nodding satisfied. No, a true Shinobi didn't conceal themselves like that, hiding was one thing but you needed to be identified in order to bring glory and prestige to your homeland.

Kumogakure had put far too much in funds and work into him for anyone to be allowed to forget which village was his and his headband made that distinction even finer as he dropped down to the ground, pulling the hood back on his puppet so it peered over his shoulder. Yukiin approached the pair, one of which shared his affiliation, taking a bow with his arm and his puppet's arm extending out with both sets of bended knees similarly moving, the arm extended doing none of the puppeteering so as to make the motion fluid and the arm pressed to his chest containing several moving fingertips.

"We would like to assist in this investigation and follow up." The puppet announced, the boy's voice emerged from the weapon's absent vocal cords.

[WC 800]

 

[Shinrya Riko]

It was the first time in her life she had ever left the Land of Lightning. It hadn’t really hit her how unfamiliar things would be until they crossed the border. She had traveled with classmates and people that she wasn’t very familiar with -and thus she was immediately mistaken for being an adult. Ai was a few inches over six feet tall and had the figure of a fully grown woman. She was embarrassed by her body and especially her choice in clothing. She wore a black T-shirt that had fit last year but was now as tight as a second layer of skin. She wore a pair of men’s pants which didn’t quite fit her at the waist and hips right and were a little bit too long so she had to roll them up somewhat. The boots were probably the only thing that fit - but once again she had pulled them from the men’s section. To top it all off she wore a gray coat trench coat that gave her some security as its hem reached her knees and hid the tight fitting clothes beneath-

Now that she was in Somehow the mistakes had allowed for her to be wandering the streets of the unfamiliar Tea country on her own. She looked into the windows of an unfamiliar shop. The wares were unlike anything she had seen before. She hummed to herself briefly as she examined the little trinkets on display… that is until she noticed the natives of Tea country in the reflection of the window staring up at her. Yeah. It was clear she was a girl, and she was a big one at that. She hunches her shoulders and lowered her head in an attempt to make herself appear smaller than she really was - but when you were almost a foot taller than most people it didn’t really help that much.

Still - she was a tourist in this strange land and was determined to make the most of it. She moved on to the next shop. Suddenly the world seemed to rumble and release all at once. The blast caused Ai to fell backwards onto the street, just as a figure broke through the shop in front of her. Splinters of glass danced in the air towards her. She raised her arms to cover her face. A shard scratch her cheek and the rest were caught in the thickness of her coat, but when she moved she could feel the glass threatening to nick her. She pulled the coat off and dropped it onto the street just as she saw men chasing after the cloaked figure. She got to her feet and noticed she was now standing next to a man who was screaming for his daughter’s safety as tiles came down upon her. Then at the last moment they paused in the air and another Shinobi grabbed the girl and shoved her into Ai’s arms.

”Hey Wait a second! I’m not her-” He had already taken off. Ai glanced at the man standing next to her and shoved the little girl upon him instead. She was over come with embarrassment as she was swallowed up in the moment. She wasn’t thinking at all, but suddenly she found herself giving chase after the men who were pursuing the cloaked guy. She didn’t really have time to think things through and now there she was as part of the pursuers.

 

[Kiri]

This was turning out to be one heck of an adventure, even if it was unintended, thought Jien, as he continued the chase on the rooftops. He would be joined by a two more people, of whom Jien could quickly tell were shinobis. For one, to be able to keep up with the pace would entail that they had enough experience and endurance to catch up. And two, to speak with such confidence mean that they were more capable than the ordinary denizens. It made him smile for a moment. It wasn’t every day that good-willed strangers would be up for the task, though he would rather not think these men were allies of the fleeing suspect out to deceive him.

“Thanks for joining but I have absolutely no idea what this is all about. However, I do know that they’re being nice back there,” answered Jien, glancing at the two.

Soon e]ough, they would near the back-ends of the city where the suspect would suddenly drop down from the rooftops. Making use of the tricky back-alleys, narrow paths and the almost identical buildings of this ghetto-ish part of Kurosawa, to pursue from above would be difficult with the uneven shapes of buildings that could cover their line of sight. Following suit, Jien would drop down, landing squarely on the stone paved path. The place was narrow and had a distinct stench of dew, earth, and stale water or some sort. “This brings back memories,” Jien smirked as he glanced about when he realized the suspect had fled from sight.

When the others would join him there, he soon realized that here was another helper – a woman. Tall, muscle-toned and seemingly ready for action. And just like the other two (or three if you counted the strange puppet that hung from the other white haired boy,) she possessed a strange power, a more active and developed chakra pulse.

“I didn’t think Tea Country would have able hands to help around, though judging from the difference from the earlier pursuers, you’re all not merely police forces of the town. Perchance you’re all here for the tournament from other countries?” asked Jien so casually while keeping an observant gaze about them. Something felt odd. “Of course, I couldn’t help but think you’re all in on this. There were a few others who clad in black earlier before the fled, and judging you all jumped to come along as soon as I set out makes it even more suspicious. Oh, forgive me if I’m too assuming, but you do understand…”

What he meant was simple as he took a few steps back before a sudden black mist would envelop his body and surround the narrow alleyway. There was a few movements heard and when the mist cleared off, Jien was nowhere to be found. But while the others were treated to this confusing event, a few black clad men appeared on the rooftop above them and began to aim and fire from crossbows. Clearly, they weren’t fans of these Good Samaritans.

 

[Byakko Yukiin]

"Accusing your own kinsmen of espionage..." Yukiin scowled, one hand moving out as the lump on his back animated with the direction of the invisible strings of command that the shinobi directed into it, veins and nerves for the inanimate matter that desired command and control as much as he desired to shirk off that comment. Tsurara's lips parted, rows of teeth made of jagged ice emerging as the puppet was flung directly towards one of the attackers. A bolt wasn't going to puncture his ice, there were very few things he had found that had that kind of punching power, and thus it came as very little surprise that the first loosed bolt was caught between the puppet's bared teeth and summarily crushed between them.

Tsurara was upon the shooter before another bolt was able to be loaded, the unfortunate consequence of these types of weapons. They were inferior to Kugutsu, they had to reload and they had to be loose precisely and they occupied both of your hands...it was kind of sad really, if you were going to invest so much time in building a weapon why not build a proper one? Like the puppet that was currently pressing its teeth into the assailant's neck.

Icy teeth pushed, deeper and deeper, slowly and slowly, until the man dropped the weapon and instead busied himself with trying to remove the mechanical beast trying to kill him and once he had made that commitment...well it was safe to finish the job.

The puppet's white cloak draped over the black figure, enveloping and concealing it as Yukiin's eyes narrowed and he exhaled a puff of chilling wind, one finger twitching down as the crack of a man's bones and the splattering of blood caked the cloak from the inside, slowly seeping through. The puppeteer knew what he did but he decided that making it a public showing would either come as bragging or upset the civilian population and without knowing their intentions killing them was out of the question so he'd just taken the opportunity to disarm and then to break both hands at the wrists, a fact which was revealed as the crimson speckled cloak revealed the twitching black cloaked man held in the puppet's jaws like a bird in a cat's mouth.

"...but if you really meant it you might've wanted to capture these associates instead of leaving them here. What kind of game is this?"

[WC 409]

 

[Shinrya Riko]

Whew. These guys were fast! She found herself already trying to push herself beyond her limits just to stay with them. Why was she even doing this. Reality and senses seemed to begin to return to her as she followed them onto a complex that was composed what seemed to be nothing but Identical buildings.She huffed and caught her breath for half a moment as met the precipice where all the others had jumped down into the narrow alley way. She put her hands on her hips Shaking her head. What was she even doing here? This wasn’t the place for an academy student - nor was chasing down assailants in an enemy country something that she should be - waahhh!!

Suddenly the roof that she was taking a break on collapsed and she fell through the ceiling and crashed to the floor. She groaned as she looked at the people sitting around around here with shocked looks on their faces. She began to brace herself to stand up but felt something soggy touch her elbow. Her Elbow was lifted for inspection and she frowned when she saw it was covered in rice. Had this been their dinner table? She brushed a few bowls aside, stood, and gave the group a few bows apologetically.

She looked up out the hole she had fallen into just in time to spot several cloaked figures pass by over head. What the - ? That was like the guy they were all chasing? What was this thing? Some kind of Comedy? Ai easily hopped and grabbed the ledge and hoisted herself up. Her backside was covered in Rice and food stuffs of the Tea country as she followed after them. Suddenly they all stopped and pulled out crossbows from beneath their cloaks. They aimed it below. Ai’s eyes went wide as she experienced killing intent.

She was briefly pulled back in time to when the bandits of Southern Lightning Country had slaughtered her family. It was just like then...just like… when she was still a little girl. Well it was only a few years ago - but She was much bigger than she had been then. How much had she really changed?

The bolts were released! It was too late! She gasped - not because she hadn’t been able to save anyone - but because there was a suddenly sharp pain in her back. She coughed and fell to her knees, glancing behind her at another cloaked figure that was behind even her. She felt the bolt twitch in the wind - irritating the wound somewhat. The man approached, but then froze when Ai began to rise slowly. Her full height allowing her to tower over him. ”W-what? You should be dead!”

Ai grabbed by the neck. Perhaps it was the shock of her survival or the way she stood almost a foot taller than him - but he stood stock still as her fingers wrapped around his neck. A red gleam flashed in her eyes as she lifted him from his feet with one hand and Slammed him down to the street below. The tiles cracked beneath the force.

She coughed again and fell to her knees - the adrenaline wearing off and the pain really began to set in. The bolt… It had hit her kidney? She had learned about certain spots that could kill someone pretty quickly from behind. If she wanted to live at all she would need to keep that bolt there and find some medical attention. She hoped the others were okay.

 

[Akechi]

A puppet “guy?” and a taller “woman?” – had joined the motley crew of righteous pursuers. Hideyoshi couldn’t tell what their intentions were, but it did seem obvious that they desired to help in some way. That was all that really mattered when innocent lives were on the line. Sure, the mysterious band of assailants were running away, but there were no telling whatever nefarious intentions they had for this city. After all, people that were so brazenly evil that they would blow up a building in the middle shopping mall weren’t individuals that should be taken lightly. For starters, something in that building had to be worth the trouble that they were inviting to themselves. Secondly, they couldn’t have expected such a quick reaction from actual shinobi. That meant that they would more than likely become rather desperate soon… and this situation was about to get worse. “Ah, you looked like a mother. My bad,” Hideyoshi joked, poking a bit of fun at the unusually tall woman that struggled to keep up with the rest of the group. Honestly, she wasn’t that tall but Hideyoshi was short, so everyone was kind of tall to him. His eyes quickly glanced over toward the puppet guy, waving a hand in his direction as if to say, “pay attention.” “Let’s try to keep the property damage at a minimum. Too many people were put in harms’ way as it is. If we can, let’s move them out of the village before engaging.” Not a bad plan right? Well, things had a way of never quite going Hideyoshi’s way… no matter how careful he had planned for things to go.

Even the best laid plans go awry when the situation goes sideways – and sideways this “adventure” had begun to go as one of the members of the brave “trackers” got cold feet at the wrong time.

“Yeah well, I’m not from here. I’m from Kum—” Kumogakure. Kumogakure, is what he wanted to say but he was taken by surprise as Jien vanished in a cloud of black mist. Almost like it was a smokescreen for the assailants, the cowardly bunch of attackers turned to their pursuers with crossbows in hand and fired them into the crowd without any regard for human life. Jien, in his mistrust, had gave them an opening— they knew it and took advantage of it. It was smart and pragmatic— also, undeniably cruel. Without much time to react, Hideyoshi leapt in front of the arrows with outstretch arms and clinched fists. Wind release, Cyclone Movement! he shouted as he slammed his chakra blessed fists together, a barrier of wind jutsu blocking the majority of the arrows before they struck anyone in the crowd.

A gasp for air partnered with a deadly cough as a man shouted in suspense, “You should be dead.” That sound caused Hideyoshi to lose focus for just a second as he knew what it was. One of his “partners” had been shot… and this was no flesh wound. The injured girl had managed to stave off her attacker, but Yoshi knew what a shot like that could do. Damn girl needed a hospital and quick. However, the cowardly attackers wouldn’t allow Hideyoshi to retreat with his wounded ally as they mistakenly believed his momentary lapse of concentration would deliver them a victory.

Three of the cloaked men descended up Hideyoshi like sharks that smelled blood in the water. A fourth covering them from above as they swapped crossbows for blades and rushed the dark-skinned shinobi. “Wrong move,” he whispered, reaching out and grabbing two of the blades they attacked from directly in front of him. The third man took a bit longer to strike as he attempted to flank Yoshi, not realizing that those precious seconds had sealed his fate. Yoshi spun on his heel, taking the two would be attackers with him as he guided their bodies with their own blades.

“No, damn!” The third man shouted, his blade accidently plunging into unlucky man #2 as Hideyoshi’s began to wind up his fist. Remember that whole thing about minimizing the collateral damage? Yeah… too late for all of that now. Hideyoshi’s fist slammed into unlucky man #1 with such ferocity that steam was plainly visible on his arms. The blow dented the man’s chest, violently sending him into his two buddies, violently sending them flying in a single filed line into a nearby building— the walls crumbling and burying them in rubble. Unsure if his friends were dead or not, Mr. Backup turned to run only to be met with angry man’s malevolent stare. “But how did y--?!” How did he get behind him so quickly? That was the difference between classes of shinobi. Anyways, his question was interrupted with quick grab of the neck. “Survive so I can question you later,” Yoshi said plainly, his voice devoid of compassion. With a quick jerk of his shoulder, Yoshi had lifted the man off of the ground before ramming his skull into the same earth that he had just launched his sneak attack from.

“Well, here’s one right here,” Yoshi replied, blankly staring at Yukiin as he pointed at the man with the fractured skull at his feet. “We need to retreat and go after them later. This girl needs medical attention.”

[WC: 888 / MFT]

 

[Midori Futotta]

….The heat from Maru's little show died down, he decided to walk amongst the people of tea country once more. He hasn't been in tea long and he's already looted one place, terrorized some of the locals, and burned down a building. You could say that in tea, it was one hell of a time. However, now the dark puppet master had just walked the streets like he didn't do anything. Probably because the person that the Tea police had been looking for wore glasses, all blue suit, and he had insane looking hair. Maru now took on the body of a thin young man who had been dressed in black dress pants, a black dress shirt with a purple tie, and a black vest. He also dons chains around the waist and pockets, jet black length hair, with black fingerless gloves for easier movement when he is puppeteering. His scrolls weapons scrolls sat inside his weapons pouch on the back of his waist.

He walked along the streets, cigarette in his mouth seeing black figures go by which he didn't have much of a problem with. After all he loved to talk about the darkness, so he could turn a blind eye to these men at least for now. Besides, this wasn't his country to be protecting so he went about his business like normal… but then he heard someone yelling ‘You should be dead!’ And being curious as he was Maru began to wonder over to see what was all the yelling about and who should be dead. Then all of the sudden he heard fighting, lots of fighting! He began to run to get to his destination, then he halted to watch the scene unfold. One man had a puppet, a woman looked wounded, and another man fought the others seemingly without a problem. Holding a man against his will that looked to be hurt.

“Hm?” Maru smirked, knowing that the situation was far from being clear so he reached to his weapons pouch to pull out a dark red scroll. With a puff of black smoke he summoned his puppet to him, a favorite puppet he upgraded with his own body from when he was a human. The puppet had shoulder length clear blond hair, her eyes are a bright blue color, and she has beautiful plastic skin. She wore frilly dresses with ribbons in the neck and a headscarf. She is extremely beautiful and charming. Using the art of puppetry, he made his cute smiling puppet eye him. "Maru dear, is it time to play?” Maru responded to his doll. "It looks like it, but it looks like a person is bleeding out.” He saw two men trying to flee the scene, wounded probably going for back up. But of course Maru wasn't going to allow this. Through the blonde puppet, Maru had created a wide rift to open, appearing as if reality itself was ripped open by the countless dark arms that come from within the rift. The lengthy arms, composed of pure dark energy, shot out from the darkness to grasp the two targets… and dragged them into the rift!! No matter how hard they struggled, how much they screamed, it was no use. The arms dragged them straight to hell… literally by using a dark technique known as the Gate of Enma that us said to open a pathway to hell.

Stepping over to where the three shinobi had been, his cursed doll pulsing demonic chakra, Maru smirked. "Well you're in luck, cause my puppet here has medical ninjustu.“ he said as though responding to the mans request for the woman to receive medical treatment. There was an odd darkness about this individual, as though his presence was bad news which was a common feeling that most demonic shinobi get because of their aura if doom..

 

[Kiri]

Perhaps that was a bad idea. Jien knew that the moment he doubted these people that there would be dire consequences. Even when he wished they weren’t suspicious, but seeing how their timely aid was just too good to be true, he couldn’t help it. And because of that, the tall woman was struck. Jien had only wished to move away and chase on his own, but then when chaos ensued, the black clad men appearing and using his own black mist for their cowardly assault, guilt shot up into his heart, leaving a bad metallic aftertaste in his mouth. Immediately, Jien would stop from his chase as he would turn back to the conflicting chakra pulses. What may seemingly, at first, be a simple chase had now turned rather reckless.

Ah… that was the word. He was reckless… again. And at the cost of other people’s welfare. He clicked his tongue as his mood turned foul though he was he would not show such expression for now as he quickened his run back to the group. Luckily for him, they were capable and managed to stave off those that were gathered. To be precise, he was a bit surprised at their capabilities– once more confirming that they were not ordinary shinobis. But perhaps what surprised him more was the urgency of which the current predicament has suddenly turned into.

Effortlessly, there was a surge of chakra pulse around his body before it disappeared as fittingly fast as it first formed. Immediately, there was an apparition-like scenario where his body seemingly split, before another Jien raced towards the rooftop to find the wounded girl with the other man who was with a living weapon. This Jien merely glanced at Maru and his puppet before he gazed down on the girl and touched her on the back while using his other arm to support her. “I’m sorry, I’ll take responsibility here,” said this Jien as he began to gather some chakra along his hand that held on Ai’s back. Soon enough, there was a soothing sensation that would begin to envelop her as the treatment began. Then, this Jien would look back at Maru and his puppet with curious eyes without saying a word as he continued to give Ai the medical treatment. (Coagulation+System Restoration+Mystical Hands)

As for the real Jien, he soon reached where the other were. Other three (puppet included). He knew he may have started their acquaintance on an odd foot but he wasn’t one to run away from what he had started. So he stopped with a good distance away from the two (three) but still made sure to make himself known. With raised hands to show the others that he was not armed, he glanced briefly at the man they caught before he turned his eyes back to Hideyoshi.

“I apologize for abruptly leaving earlier. I didn’t mean for this to happen to you all,” he began before he looked up as he lowered his hands to his sides. “Don’t worry. My clone should be up there to treat her wound. I’m sorry it happened like this. Even I don’t know what’s happening.”

Simple words may be lost to them, but Jien truly meant what he said. After all, he was as simple as any man if they only knew. But there would be times when he could also be truly mysterious, even to himself. “There aren’t any others within the close vicinity for now. At least, no chakra pulses other than ours.” His eyes then fell on the captured man. “They weren’t expecting and had to adjust. And there’s still one who got away.”

 

[Byakko Yukiin]

"He thinks if we already have one..." Tsurara vocalized, the actual speaker turned to the man he'd taken alive himself and looked at him with a feigned expression of pain as he snapped his fingers, the puppet twisting its neck harmlessly. Unfortunately a human neck could not move in the same fashion and this left the man in quite the predicament, his neck cleanly twisted around so that death was nearly instant as the body slumped to the ground lifeless. "We don't need an extra."

As he finished that task he cast his eyes to the wounded party that was being referred to, a pressure in his temple building much like a man pounding at a storm door in the rain, his desire to be completely rid of these types of incompetents who insisted on being wounded every time he got an opportunity to actually do something besides paperwork and target practice. Yukiin's teeth met one another much like his puppet's, with enough force to kill a man, and he regarded the idea of 'retreating' with an equal amount of visibility distaste. Why did he have to stop having fun because someone ate a bolt? They'd taken worse. They went through the same Academy he did right? So why was a crossbolt suddenly the end of the world?

The puppeteer glanced over the girl, although by her size maybe 'girl' wasn't the right term. He had some choice words to deliver to her but found himself interrupted by the unearthly chilling aura of another party, something that felt a lot less like the cool winter breeze and more like being submerged in something...foul. It felt like ice but he was used to ice, so more like something had cribed ice's notes in school and then decided to fuck it all up. Yukiin intensely disliked it and he disliked the source of it, or rather he disliked their taste in Kugutsu.

"What in the hell is that thing..." Yukiin spoke, catching himself as his voice left his actual lips for once from the disgust of seeing a man playing dress up with his weapons, as if they were something to be made beautiful instead of the tools of destruction they were designed to be. It was a lot like watching someone put makeup on a sword...but then it talked? Tsurara didn't talk, he talked through it, but that thing talked...like it had vocal cords...like it was something aberrant. The hell portal was the least disgusting part of the display although the kind of gross abuse of power that would prompt someone to use such an ability in the open air, with civilians around to see it, made him wonder if the wielder of the abominable puppet was too unhinged to be a shinobi and just had managed to skirt by being legally executed by some other village's lax sanity laws.

When the man announced that his puppet could perform medical techniques Yukiin had more than his fill of that particular kind of nonsense.

"Its a puppet, you have medical techniques and a poor sense of fashion. Its a weapon, why is it in a dress?" The Genin spat out, too lost in his own loathing for whatever this man was or whatever he was doing to realize that he was still actually talking from his own lips instead of casting them out of his puppet as he preferred. He was prepared to keep going and took another artic breath, spreading his own chill around his body and capturing the surrounding air as his own territory rather than allowing the fetid aura of this showman to be unchallenged. This was interrupted yet again but the return of the previous accusing party which was a lot like someone giving him a bill he didn't ask for and then removing their pants to give you an unwanted fresh brown desert, also on your dime.

Yukiin breathed even deeper, harder, like he was trying to wash away a years worth of shallow breaths in one corrective exhalation and succeeded, intentionally or otherwise, in glossing his immediate surroundings in a sheen of ice that was swiftly evaporating in the sun. He gathered himself and his puppet returned to his back, bloodstained cloaking wrapping itself back up once again. The shinobi cast a hand down at the man currently held captive.

"... let's just move on to this matter if the wounded party is handled."

[WC 749]

 

[Sunaku Harupia]

Haru let out a groan as he felt the not so unfamiliar sensation of swimming in place. Greeeeat... guess there was no better time to lose track fo you drinking than when on a recreational trip abroad. Not like he was fighting in he tournament...simply discussing the nature of the whole event and whether it was safe for him and his village kin to be there in the first place. Guess he could have just went back to the inn along with Riyota but he felt like clearing his head a bit after their talk, which ended up with him yoinking a purse out of some purse snatchers hands. Turned out the purse belonged to a preaty nice lady who was accompanying some rather chubby fellow (and two other ladies) around. The men were jovial enough to invite him for a drink as thanks. He did feel he could squeeze in a nice glass of sake into him till so he agreed. And as per usual with people who enjoy drinking and are dealing with stress, as well as a thirsty companion, one thing led to another. And now he was dealing with a splitting headache. He just hoped his wallet wasn't too empty...and he was glad to be in the dark. Smart of him to not uncover any of the rooms blinders. Now to try and get up.

...As the man attempted to do so, his mind slowly started to put together some pieces of the puzzle. He was sitting, not in bed. This was some dark, spacious place more like a storage room, not his current locum. Also, his hands and feet were bound, the legs less tight but still not able to move. His grounds were being muffled by a rag. Also, as he struggled to try and free himself, or tried to focus to create a toll to do so, he found he cant. The ropes...they were seeping his chakra. A slight panic started to seep in...less so about being kidnaped, though it was a valid concern. He was almost certain he and Riyota were not watched at the time... though he would have to deal with the fact that being drunk in the potentially hostile territory was not the best course of action. What worried him was the nature of the bind. Ever since his...change, he did not deal with any chakra limiting or siphoning agents or locations. With a worried glance, he looked tot he side, to his left arm...it seemed norma...though it was itching, slightly but naggingly. And he couldn't be sure if it was just sweat or something else.

Fighting through a headache and general wariness of his body he tried to assess where he was, with little he could see. It seemed the place wasn't quite abandoned, with him hearing some talk and muffled steps outside. At some point, some of the steps became much louder, as if someone jumped on the roof of the building, and than went down. Soon he was joined by someone, dressed all in black. The man would apricot him saying "Fuckin hell...that wasn't as smooth as we wanted. But at least I caught myself a fat golden fi...what in the hell" the man said irate, noticing the tied Sunan was awake. After a moment he approached him, taking fo the rag and Shouting "Who are you?!" to which Harupia replied with a cough "A tourist ready to stare in the next Hangover mo" before the man pulled him closer by the scruff, oh his shirt saying "Don't fuck around with me! What are you, some bodyguard! were you snooping around or...wait, where did you get this from?" he asked, looking at the side of his shirt. Harupia noticed a golden pin of a fish with an eye made out of some gemstone as he said "I...dont even know man. One thing I know I was drinking at a posh bar with a very generous dude...next thing I know, thus, in our cold, and I'm here. I'm just a tourist man, I dunno what's going on here" trying his best to act as a scared confused tourist would. At least the confused part was genuine. The man shoved him back as he said "well, a tourist with a nice forehead trinket eh? That's gotta be worth something" he said yoinking the forehead protector of his belt, to which the Shinobi tried not to react to as best he could " At least the boys were smart enough to bind you up...now I gotta figure out how to deal with this mess" as the man would walk off.

The tied Sunan sighed, moving his arm to try and doesn't he binds. At least it seemed they weren't interested in him epically...probably the man who gave him the stupid golden piece...maybe it wadrinking guy. They were dinking...chumming it up.Suddenly there was some commotion outside... the last thing he rememberd was a thud...but not his head, more like an explosion. The Sunan sighed, trying to calm himslef as he tried to free himslef...the itch of his left arm growin still...a growing pile of sand appearing right under his chair.

Mft, Wc= 890

 

[Shinrya Riko]

Somehow she had become the center of attention, even as the other shinobi on the scene dispatched their foes with the greatest of ease. She could only gaze in admiration before her own mortality pulled her back to the present and the injury she had. ”No way. Ahm fine.” She told the Jounin when he insisted on retreating and getting medical attention. The pain was still rather intense, but she got back to her feet. It was the first time she had felt the sting of a weapon before. She gave the puppet that was shaped like a woman an uneasy glance.

Jien arrived and claimed something about responsibility. His warm chakra poured from his hands into her wounds as he weaved a variety of techniques together, but as Ai yanked the bolt out of her back, Jien would find that there wasn’t as much to do as he had initially suspected - for the girl’s muscle were dense and had actually prevented the bolt from punching fully through to her kidneys. Not only that but it seemed like the would was already healing on its own by the time he had gotten to work on it.

There was only one thing that was left for Certain to Ai, and that was that she was definitely in over her head. She had no idea why she had even followed in the first place, but she had learned quickly that these guys - that is the bad guys - were much more skilled ninja than her and the only thing she had over them was her physical strength. Yet, strength meant little to Shinobi unless one also had the skill to back it up. Skill was something that Ai knew she was lacking sorely.

”Ah think maybe I’m not ready for this.” She admitted to clone of Jien. ”Ah don’t even know why I came running here. Mah body moved on its own. I’m just an academy student on a field trip. When Ah saw those guys with their crossbows and murder in their eyes, Ah froze. Ah couldn’t even move till one o’ them shot me in the back.” She straightened out and pulled away from the clone’s support. ”Ahm fine now thank ya. Ah think Ah should head back to mah room. This ain’t exactly the place for kids ya know?”

 

[Akechi]

Yeah, a lot happened. Hideyoshi, the fisticuffs expert that he was put the hurt on a couple of bodies, an abnormally developed academy student took one for the team, one guy ran away at the first sign of trouble, and puppets did what they did best… be creepy. It was hard to keep your eye on the prize in a situation like this. Honestly, the most pragmatic thing to do would be to leave the injured behind after a quick patch up and continue on with the mission, but Hideyoshi was a bit more compassionate than that. That was probably why he insisted on being a one-man show. After all, there was less collateral damage when he was on his own… human collateral anyways. That was just his style. He went in, he cleared the enemy out, he went home. Easy as one-two-three. It was simple, and teammates just made things complicated. Sometimes complicated was necessary, but there were times when – well, here we are, aren’t we?

“Shut up and heal her then,” Hideyoshi barked, his anger toward Jien clearly on display though the comment was directed at the “puppet” with the healing ability. Did this guy know that the puppet was an inanimate object? The puppet had medical ability because its user had the medical knowledge to use the puppet in such a capacity. Surely, he understood that… or maybe he was just crazy. Puppet users normally are. Speaking of puppet users, did I forget to mention that there was more than one? Well, there was and their general “sparkling” personalities were beginning to wear on Yoshi. “You handle it. What else are puppets for? I’m going to keep watch, he responded to Yukiin, casually sliding the barely conscious assailant toward him as he turned to move away from the group. Of course, he didn’t really have to keep watch or anything. He simply used it as an excuse to get away for a second and calm himself down. After all, it was kind of hard to think after being so hyped up…

But before he could move more than a couple of inches Jien “returned” with his apology. Great, just great. “You didn’t know what was happening? We could’ve found out if you weren’t such a coward,” Hideyoshi retorted, glancing over his shoulder at the group before letting out a deep sigh. I mean, at least the guy was sorry but who makes such an unfortunate error. Yoshi wasn’t big on lectures so he didn’t plan on giving one but… “If you want to run, then maybe you should ‘run’ the student back to the rest of her class. She said she’s on a field trip.” Which is odd, considering how she interjected in the chase. Sure, kids tended to be rebellious and maybe even curious, but most students knew what a life and death situation looked like. She was better off shepherding off the civilians to safety.

But enough of that. Time for a smoke. Hideyoshi jumped to the top of a random building, casually removing a cigarette out of his jacket and lighting it with simple hand gesture. Time to smoke and think about what the assailants were after. He heard a bit of commotion underneath of him – something about a trinket and tourists, or something like that. It didn’t strike him that there was an actual person bound to a chair just several floors beneath him, but that wasn’t his focus. The only thing on his mind was his cigarette and if the puppeteers would be able to get anything out of the man he knocked out.

[WC: 604]

 

[Midori Futotta]

Maru gave the man a nod, allowing him to heal the injured female. He looked at the girl with, his eyes catching every breath, every movement that the academy student made. He brought his hand up to his chin, then began to think to himself. ‘She is a little too tall, perhaps with some adjustments she could make a fine doll..’ He snickered, of course hoping that the girl would get hurt a lot more so he could claim her body so she could be one of his found dolls. But that was wishful thinking plus he couldn't snatch her up without people noticing, so Maru decided to take unknown snapshots of the girl so he wouldn't forget her ‘design.’ However, there was another puppeteer who seemed to be fresh out of the academy that seemingly… didn't like how he treated his beloved doll.

The doll in Maru's hand snapped its head to look at the boy, she was about to give the boy a pieces of his mind because she hated to be called an object. But Maru decided to explain before his doll began to cause a scene. “Well, technically the medical ninjustu doesn't come from me dearie.” The dark puppet master said to the boy. “Her medical techniques come from the hands of a medical nin who was careless enough to leave her soulless body in my workshop. So I removed her hands, cleaned them up and preserved them from decay so this baby here can use medical ninjustu.“ Maru said then giving the boy a wink. "The rest her Justu comes from me, made her out of my own soiled corpse. She is known as a Hitogustu, or human puppet. A special forbidden practice that uses dead people so the puppeteer can use their Justu and any kekkei genkai that the human host once had…” Maru finalize, before gesturing his hand to the wooden blonde in his hands. He was about to explain the reason why did he dress the doll up, but the doll itself began to talk for itself. "FIRST OF ALL! I’m awake ya know! I'm not like that walking stick you have floating around!”

To prove this…. She severed her chakra threads attached to her to begin moving on her own! The dolls moments were a bit ungracefully due to Maru having control of her, but she managed to stand straight then began to walk like a normal person towards the boy before halting. Placing both ball jointed hands on her hips, the puppet arched her eyebrows she flared up a cursed demonic aura again to let the boy know she meant business."You call me a weapon again and I'll send you to hell… LITERALLY!” Maru scratched his head, his puppet walking back to her master quite dissatisfied but then Maru looked at the boys puppet. Putting a hand on his chin. "Oh, and I have the ability to bring puppets to life now. Another forbidden practice, I could wake yours up if I wanted to. That's the little perk of being a human puppet yourself." he said, a smirked stretching across his thin lips like a spreading sickness, his teeth making him look more plastic looking. Of course, he didn't tell that the reason that his doll had this cursed chakra was that his body was half demon. Nor did he tell that in his core there was a demonic soul. After all, who would believe that he is a living doll who was possessed by a half demon who can turn people into puppets and magically bring dolls to life?

 

[Akechi]

[Inactivity Leave! Sorry, guys. Just clearing up a spot!]

 

[Byakko Yukiin]

[Also taking the leave due to the thread being delayed substantially and holding a tea slot]

 

[Kiri]

[Sorry for this thread. T_T got held up with school and ended up forgetting. takes blame for thread death. Thus, shall leave too. Q_Q Again, sorry]

 

[Midori Futotta]

[[I'll take my leave too, ^^]

 

[Sunaku Harupia]

(Taking a leave as well)