Mission Intelligence Network under repair

[Keiji]

[Mission involving the following characters: Inuzuka Keiyaku "Jackal", Toshi "Dove", Yamanaka Shusuke "Reaper".]

Children, three children on their way to examine the whereabouts of their collegue within a small local village.
They had left the village in a rush, and speeding their way towards the village where the resident general shop housewife.

In their intense speed they wouldn't have been running for longer than 30 minutes, with their Chakra powers ANBU training their base running speeds exceeded that of the limits of any non-chakra users. The time of day wouldn't be later than late afternoon.
They had already gotten past the second village at this point, and would be reaching the village within the next fifteen minutes. Presumably they'd be able to spot the village within fourteen. (perhaps by the end of your post, you react to spotting it?)

The stretch of land ahead, below, and behind them were that of thick woods, small groves, perhaps a few random passerbies, hunters and woodcutters or gatherers of herbs. But they were few and far inbetween. Their path would have taken them through the outskirts of the last two villages, they were small, not more than a handful of families living there, but still one might guess with an ANBU agent amongst their midst reporting everything that happens on the weekly.

Had the children camped? Paused for a few minutes to get their baring? Their path is now close ahead and they find themselves landing on a solid branch of a thickened wisened old tree with a lookout across their target village.

Spoiler: What they can see from the branch

Within their periphery the village they saw in front of them seemed busier than any of the others, almost like a great market had come to town. But at closer examination they'd see those walking around back and forth were all armed with weapons. The town was located on the side of a mountain. A large central staircase leading up the mountain led to a medium sized temple with 3 buildings and a central plaza. Towards the base of the mountain were several buildings with two walkways up to. The buildings were of different sizes, and different use. One, the closest one to where they were sitting, were the largest one, with sliding door on the side where they were sitting, a side door to the right side of the building most likely to the living quarters were barely visible. On the side of the building a sign hung above the front door reading "General Store"
Next to it was a semi large house looked to be where a larger family would live, and the smaller ones across the road was where smaller families lived. There were more houses further down the road most likely for more families.

There are maybe twenty people walking about between the houses, all armed with swords, some with spears, there were small torches placed across the roads not yet with fire in them. Some people probably resided within the buildings, so those they saw outside weren't all they could see. At all times there were 2 people watching the front slide door, they stood talking, bantering with others nearby, every time people walked across them they nodded with a smile and a grunt.
The Gathering hall was the most active, within was light and ecstactic roars, the clink of cups could be heard from within. The large family home, had several outside watching guard. Up the stairs a small group were bantering and walking downwards with satisfied grins on their faces like they had just had more fun than anyone else in their small army, those with experience in this regard might recognize their body languages as if they had just had the best encounter with the opposite sex in their lives.

In the sand and grime in front of the family homes both large and small there could be seen blood streaks from slices and attacks. No corpses could be seen though.

Spoiler: top-view image

 

[Chikamatsu Shin]

Shusuke had donned his black cloak and his reaper mask, a now cracked and broken reminder of the weakness he experienced at the gates. His heterochromatic eyes peering sharply through as he darted alongside his fellow Anbu in Training rookies. He wasn't entirely sure what this mission was to be about as he wasn't there when Corvus assigned this mission to Jackal and Dove, but he was recruited nonetheless. Shusuke would connect his ring finger to his thumb to cast his signature telepathic jutsu, Yamanaka Style: Third Eye Blind, which would allow the three boys to communicate without having to speak. He wasn't sure how secretive this mission would be, but he didn't want to risk it.

`Can one of you please remind me what it is we are doing out here? I want to make sure I have a full understanding of this mission.` He kept his mind steady and his chakra coursing evenly through his body. He wasn't sure when he would need act nor how quickly the tides of battle would come their way, and after what happened at the gate, he had a lot to make up for. He has spent some time reflecting on his own skills and where he fell short, and he realized he may have been relying on his Genjutsu soo much, and as such has decided to expand into focusing more on using Taijutsu with his illusory weapons, specifically focusing in on blades.

Stopping onto a branch with the others he would look out. Taking in the armed guards and the sheer number of people present Shusuke would telepathically give a suggestion. `So, I know the Mind Disturbance Jutsu. It is a unique ability of the Yamanaka Clan, allowing me to project my own consciousness out of my body, and attempt to enter the mind of another living being. This Genjutsu allows me to lurk within the mind of my target, sharing their senses. The biggest draw backs is if I so happen to choose someone with a strong will they may sense my presence, additionally, if I am fond out and my host is attacked, my body will mirror any and all injuries taken.` He hesitated for a moment. `This will give us some sort of heads up, and I can even hop from body to body if need be. I will still be able to communicate with you both, as my body will remain here, but if we get to the point where I need to fully take control. If I do that though I will either need to fully enter my target, body and all, or I will need one of you to watch over me as my body here will fall unconscious as I send my entire consciousness into them... That is unless one of you have a differetn plan.` Shusuke would listen to what his teammates had to say and do his best to try and not just take his route, though he felt like it was one of their best, if not the best, options they had.

 

[Inuzuka Keiyaku]

Ah, it felt good to escape the village for the wilderness now and then! Alongside his fellow ANBU cadets, Keiyaku galloped on all-fours through the trees, Morutobu following slightly behind, playing the role of a rear guard but still moving with the other three as a single unit. He was just thinking about the mission brief, trying to think how best to tackle the job when he suddenly felt that familiar sensation of Shusuke in his head. O

h, how telepathy gave him a headache. His slit-pupil eyes moving to peer at Reaper, out from behind his wolf-like mask, he spoke aloud; he still wasn't used to this jutsu of Shusuke's and it made him feel weird, trying to explain something without moving his lips. Maybe in time this would come more naturally. Crucially, Morutobu was just as much a member of this team and excluding him was perhaps not the best idea.

"Yeah, sorry, didn't have much time to explain at the gates, buddy. We're going to this little outlying village; there must be some trouble 'cause they haven't sent out any reports to Konoha. Corvus-sensei was saying how there's a Konoha ANBU informant there, living in the general store, in fact, she's married to the owner. Basically, she keeps us informed of what's going on in the village, its security, stuff like that. Usually, if she knows she won't be reporting one week, Corvus-sensei will get prior notice, but this time, we got nothing, without the slightest sniff of a reason why. The low-down is, we find her, see what's up, work out the kinks, and head on back, hopefully still alive."

It seemed simple enough, but the worry was about attracting too much attention. Usually, Morutobu and Keiyaku could work together to sniff the target out, but without knowing her scent, that would be a bit tricky. Shusuke had began to explain the benefits and drawbacks of his own signature jutsu, as if presenting arms. Good idea, Keiyaku thought. The village had come into sight and perhaps now it would be wise to pause and scout the place out.

"Sounds like it'll come in handy for spying, hm? Reckon you want to bust it out for this?" He suggested, turning his head to Dove to get his thoughts on the matter, then turning his head to watch the village guards, "any ideas, Dove? Think your new powers will be able to do something we could use?"

"I reckon if Reaper mind-transfers into one of those guards, maybe you could have a little conversation with his buddy there and see if he knows anything about the general store owners," he said, beckoning Moru to his side. Moru dutifully bounded forth and affectionately nosed at his big brother's hand. He let out a few little whimpers and whines which seemed to draw Keiyaku's attention to something else, "yeah, Tanuki, that is weird... see those dark streaks on the road down there.... is that blood? Tell you what.... Tanuki, why don't you head on down there and see if you can find anything strange; it looks like a trail, doesn't it? Try and act like a stray."

With that, Moru quietly leapt to the ground and began sniffing around the sandy path, trying to pick up a scent from the blood, but also making it look like he was innocently foraging for food.

"He'll bark when he finds something. Right now though, what do you guys wanna do about getting inside?"

 

[Toshi]

Only a few things circled in the boy’s mind at the moment. It was great to be out on a mission, but there were the unspoken facts that went through his mind. They’d be at the destination soon, but he remained focus and cool about the situation. He jumped through the trees, entering the perimeter without his transformation. He knew that he would alert others of his presence, so he would keep it down. At least for now, but if time arose, he’d be ready to test out what the new status evolution could handle.

The mind link caught the boy off guard. He had to make a note that the Yamanaka were capable of this ability. Kei gave the specifics, the green AiT reran another scenario through his mind, searching for the ways of success.

He wore his bird mask, and AiT shroud. Staying behind the thick of the leafs, the boy scouted what was ahead. ’The amount of blood around here is ridiculous. I wonder if they are from animals or people?’

Shu seemed to have a great idea, using his bloodline techniques to distract the guards. The boy replied to Kei, keeping his voice low. ”Not at the moment. They’ll notice the difference in the environment. It’s just a reason to spot us out for now. There’s no reason to snapshot the scene, but it sure is shady. If we’re here to talk to that lady, it may take a while dealing with these guys. I was hoping we could slip past them.”

He looked over to Shu and nodded before continuing on. ”Shu, let’s go with your plan, also, find out where the lady is. I don’t remember her name, but she’s the Store Owner’s Wife. Any information you get is vital. I’ll be here if you have to go fully into someone to get the information.” He looked over to Moru, sniffing out the scene. ”Good idea Jackal.” He said, observing the happenings. He shifted into a position that would better help catch Flamethrower if his body went unconscious.

[ MFT | WC: +300 ]
[ Topic Entered ]

 

[Keiji]

The boys gathered and collected the intel they could from the branch above. Their view enabled them perfect observation of the main parts of the village.
The guards' rowdy and violent displays with each other were of a sort of people that had no care of others but their own, the blood across the the ground of the houses were a clear sign of that, one might guess their reasoning for being there based on their number, and the nature they're showing.

With the information gathered what was their options? And what was their call to start the operation? First Moru is sent out to scout, and the plot to manipulate the minds came about, the Yamanaka utilizing their talents fully.

Within the Gathering hall the noises remained at the same level, their rowdy noises of songs, drinking and partying, one might only guess how many there were inside compared to how many there were currently outside. The guards outside of the General Store, scratched their bum, looking bored to tears, one yawned and the other with a sleepy gaze scanned the horizons, barely noticing the blink of movement that was Moru jumping from the branch and onto the road leading up to the village, making his way up to the town houses, he managed to dodge the turning of one of the people standing there to making his way further between the houses.

The houses themselves weren't remarkable, they were clearly made for those of lesser standing, farmers and workers, not the kind of people with high thoughts or expectations of life. Behind one door a hand laid on the ground with the rest of the body obscured inside, flies gathering, and the smell of burnt and rotting meat came from within the building where most of the blood seemed to have been coming from. Tracks from between the houses all lead to this one house. Outside where Moru was standing, the guards outside both looked non-plussed with their lot in life, one stood with half of a smoke in their mouth looking off to the side of the mountain between the houses, like he was half expecting a naked lady to pop out, the other, whom he had dodged the turning of seemed a little more attentive, but barely so, his eyes seemed glazed but still with his brows furrowing with every turn he took, which seemed more than necessary for one in his position.

Further behind a nearby building, further up the stairs leading up to the temple the loud and carefree banter of those looking proud, refreshed and eager were walking down, they would come close soon, does Moru walk inside of the open house? Run into one of the other houses? Run back, hoping not to get caught by those coming down? Perhaps attacking one of the guards, taking out one might be easy, but alarming the rest is a risk.

The voices coming down the stairs could be heard by Moru spouting such sentences like "Aw, man, those huge honkers were juuust magnificent! Gawd, I could be buried between them and die happily!" "I hear ya, I only wished their screaming could be held back, that piece of cloth and bamboo trick only worked partially" "The kid down in the basement could have learned some manners too, the senseless crying was unbearable!"
Moru, being the only one close enough to hear it was the only one of the group that heard it.

Spoiler: top view image

 

[Inuzuka Keiyaku]

Moru was very careful about how he went about his little spying mission; his first step was to spend a minute or so rolling around in the dirt and sand, trying to make his fur look filthy and unkempt to sell his ruse of homelessness a little better. Trying to act as though he was scrounging for food scraps, he got to work sniffing at the path, following the blood splatters in a slightly indirect route. The violent outbursts and hedonistic behaviour of the barbarian-like guards did not seem to cause him too much disquiet however. Reaching the end of the trail, the little dog's nose wrinkled quite palpably; he was standing just across the path from a house, behind whose door he could smell something rotting, like a big cow carcass that had been left in the sun. A hand stuck out from the door. He reported this back to the team.

Morutobu, not being capable of human language, gave his report through his earpiece in the form of grunts and growls. Keiyaku had to step in as interpreter.

"Sheesh; the blood trails seem to lead to a house. There's some...." he paused, trying to think how to say it without repeating Moru's colourful choice of words, but came up short, "...smells like shit, basically. There's a body kinda wedged in the doorway."

Keiyaku paused; Moru had just given a short bark which seemed to mean 'wait a sec!'

He could smell them before he heard them. A small group were descending the stairs and walking across the Temple Approach, back to the village's high street, boasting openly about some sinister misdeed. Moru relayed this back to the team.

"Three people, walking down from the temple. One's talkin' about boobs, one's.... yeesh, they've got some people tied up in there, gagged. There's a kid down there, crying. Sounds like they're....eh, assaulting some kids down there. Tanuki, you did good. Just stay there and stay inconspicuous and out of the way; I'll come get ya once we're moving in, alright?"

There was a short bark of agreement. Keiyaku a little worried, as he always was when he knew his little brother was in a precarious situation.

"Now that we know that... what do you guys wanna do?"

 

[Chikamatsu Shin]

"If they are talking about breasts as well I would assume the one they are assaulting is a woman, or at least... umm... born female." Shusuke said out loud, dropping the Third Eye Blind jutsu for the time being since his companions had been speaking. The young boy was clearly uncomfortable as he finished that sentence speaking of someone being born female, as if that was different than being a woman. Because, well... It was different right? He was a boy after all, despite-

"Dove, I can maintain some of my balance but if it gets to the point I need to fully enter my body may drop full control from here. If I am needed to wake up, prick my finger and I will instantly drop the Jutsu. I am going to target all three of them with a jutsu I have just recently learned, so bear with me." The boy took a calm and collected breath before raising his hands in the signature Yamanaka seal for Mind Disturbance Jutsu, by connecting his index fingers with the other hand's thumbs to create a large square with his hands. "Mind Destruction Jutsu" The boys mind would fragment and shatter as small aspects of his own consciousness would launch outwards and at these three men. His body would stammer some as the light all but left his eyes. Shusuke's body slouched some as if he just woke up from a nap and was groggy.

Mind Destruction was an advanced usage of their Mind Body Disturbance Technique, but instead of limiting it to just the confusion in combat, Shusuke injected some of his own consciousness into the targets like how he performs the Mind Body Disturbance Technique. This would allow him to hear and see what the three men would hear and see while not fully taking control over any of them. "I will relay what I hear in real time, if I sense there is any danger I will drop the connection to two of them and use my Mind Possession on one of them. If there is enough time my body will vanish as well, much like how I used it against Jackal in our spar."

Shusuke's mind was probing into the men and he tried to push a gentle influence onto them to try and bring out some more information. The Mind Destruction Technique allowed him to impose a slower thought process, a suppression of the mind if you will, that he was attempting to take advantage of to make these men openly share information so that he and Moru could hear what was going on here.

OoC: Actions Taken
- Used Mind Destruction and while I don't need to use my consciousness I am choosing to for the flavour of blending the two techniques, if this isn't allowed I will be targeting just one of them with Mind Body Disturbance instead

Spoiler: Mind Destruction

Mind Destruction - Will Genjutsu
An advanced usage of their Mind Body Disturbance Technique, in which the True Yamanaka may influence the mind and actions of a target without the need to implant their own consciousness within. Though the control this gives the Yamanaka over their target is weaker in comparison to Mind Body Disturbance, this carries none of the risks associated with that technique. A skilled True Yamanaka may learn to spread this effect to multiple targets, allowing them to turn their enemies against each other.
Rank 1: Deals 480 damage to three targets each round. Upon initiation of this Genjutsu the targets are suppressed for 1AP. While affected, victims have -1 Max AP and their actions have a 10% chance of being unable to choose specific targets for attacks they make.

Spoiler: Mind Body Disturbance

Mind Body Disturbance - Will Genjutsu
The unique ability of the Yamanaka Clan, allowing them to project their own consciousness out from the limits of their own body, and attempt to enter the mind of another living being. While excellent at reconnaissance, this skill is risky in a direct confrontation. If the Yamanaka is willing to take the risk, this Genjutsu allows them to lurk within the mind of their target, sharing their senses, and if they so desire, take disrupt their unwitting host.
Rank 3: Targets an opponent with Genjutsu DC. If successful, the Yamanaka's awareness enters the body of the target with the victim unaware of their presence. The target and user each have -3 Dodge. 30% of all damage done to the target is also inflicted on the user ignoring the user’s DR. At rank 2 the user is aware of everything the target is aware of (Including targets clones). At Rank 3 the user can now use the Distracting Thoughts special action.
Special Action - Distracting Thoughts: While Mind Body Disturbance affects a target, the user may spend up to 1 Ap to reduce the target’s AP by double the spent AP. Doing this alerts the target to the presence of the user.

 

[Toshi]

The masked unidentifiable AiT looked to the buildings around as Kei spoke. It sounded like the best approach would be to sneak in, rather than chance an alarm or a group of the common people below. He held a stern look as Jackal finished speaking. His mask hid his facial expression, though he hoped it wasn’t the woman that they were assigned to collect intel from. He moved over slowly on the branch, careful not to make too much commotion, helping Flamethrower stay with proper posture. ”You know, if the woman we are looking for is dead, this place can be more dangerous than I had once thought.” He was implying that maybe something tragic had already happened to her. Maybe this was the reason her latest report was late. ”We should wait on Flamethrower’s information gathering skills. Afterwards, we can put together a plan of what to do next. I believe that we can enter and exit without being detected if we stay stealthy.” He hoped the team wouldn’t be noticed. Of course they could fend for themselves, but he didn’t want to underestimate the enemy.

He looked back out to the houses and the general store. If something was going on in the temple, they could intervene. He only hoped for the best to not go back with a bad report. Now counting on his teammates, he would have their back through this mission. Coming back with no intel at all could mean their failure.

 

[Keiji]

The guys walking down the long stairs Moru had heard seemed to slow their pace.
Moru ran to the side of a building and seemed to casually shove some rocks his nose acting like he was looking for scraps. The guard that stood by the building turned his head, regarded the dog, gave a slight scuff presumably thinking it was just a dumb dog when all the "delicious" meat was in the building nearby.

Meanwhile Shusuke's mental penetration broke the men's barriers easily, like they had no training with mental fortitudes, or any practice with Genjutsu. One of them seemed slightly better guarded than the others, but that could be excused by simply being of a naturally stronger mind. However Shusuke's strong push got through without much issue at all, their pace slowed almost like they were suddenly wading through water, but no one seemed to regard it or mention it like it was simply natural.

Their banter continuing from that, but with a more transient nature, slowed and truthful like their emotions were bare and open, like a truth serum had been injected into their veins "I wished we didn't have to kill so many people.." The other turning to regard his friend with an almost accepting look on his face. "I know.. But orders are orders. I'm just glad the orders for the temple was 'do as you want with them' The little girl is only locked up down there, and the woman did have a happy expression by the end." The other turning to him in return. "Yeaaaah.. I'm glad they both live. Hopefully they'll stay quiet or run away tonight unless someone else gets told to go up there."

The last one in the middle trailing a little behind grabbed both of their shoulders with both hands and in a very suggestive tone addressed them both "Be honest though, you didn't exactly mind having some fun there, no?" They both nodded with slight hesitation. "True, it's been much, much too long.."

The guard standing on the side of the building that had noticed Moru turned to look up the stairs and squinted his eyes. Then shouted at the three guards coming down. "What the hell are you guys doing, taking so long?" Commenting on the fact that their pace had slowed. As the shout came it was almost like their faces and stances shifted all at once, and they shook off whatever it was that had held them in that mind state, and their pace resumed.

Walking past the guard, one of them noticed Moru in the corner of their eye, almost imperciptively, allowing Shusuke to mark the moment and Moru's placement perfectly. Their path led them further down to the side of the mountain down towards the larger buildings of the village, with the Gathering hall being the first. Shusuke seemed unable to pinpoint what their goals or orders had been, where would they be going to report? The Gathering hall, General store or the large family home?

Spoiler: top view image

 

[Chikamatsu Shin]

"I wished we didn't have to kill so many people.." "I know.. But orders are orders. I'm just glad the orders for the temple was 'do as you want with them' The little girl is only locked up down there, and the woman did have a happy expression by the end." "Yeaaaah.. I'm glad they both live. Hopefully they'll stay quiet or run away tonight unless someone else gets told to go up there." "Be honest though, you didn't exactly mind having some fun there, no?" "True, it's been much, much too long.."

Shusuke repeated what he heard verbatim as he also extended his Third Eye Blind to a Third Eye Awakened. This expansion of his jutsu would allow him to share his senses with Jackal and Dove allowing to halfway see what he was seeing. This took a lot of concentration out of the boy and more than once his body would begin shifting unsteadily as he nearly left his body entirely. As soon as Shusuke saw the dog that followed Keiyaku around he broke his Third Eye Awakened Jutsu to give himself some of his own mental fortitude back. "What should we do?" A bead of sweat would drip down Shusuke's brow at the mental concentration he was using. "I can take full control of one of these guys and check out the temple, but I think the best way for me to do that is to become one with him so that we wouldn't have to worry about my unconscious body resting here to be found out if you two need to move in." He let out a sigh as he kept the Mind Destruction Jutsu maintained.

---

If the Party says yes to investigating the Temple, Shusuke would make a few handseals before turning into a being made of pure flames as he performed his Name of the Rose Jutsu and converted his flesh and blood into pure chakra. "Ninja art: Mind Possession Jutsu" He would simply vanish as the chakra that made up his physical form would entirely combine with one of the bodies that he had under his jutsu. He would take a moment to blink and get adjusted to his new human form before speaking. "Hey, I'll catch up. I think I left something up there and don't want to get busted for giving them a tool they could use for escape." He hit the side of his head. "Completely spaced out, running on that high if you know what I mean." He chuckles slightly to try and give himself an excuse to leave before turning and walking towards the temple. As soon as he finished speaking the boy would pulse a surge of Genjutsu on the two, a Leaking Mind technique which would further hinder their abilities to concentrate on the tasks before them. Hopefully with this layered confusion and inability to think clearly they would not question Shusuke's actions while manipulating their colleague.

Shusuke would head back up to the temple and see what he could find, fully prepared to send a message to his team with his Third Eye Blind jutsu.

[OoC:]
Actions
- Maintain Mind Destruction
- Used CRPJ Yamanaka Style: Third Eye Awakened
Conditionals I guess lol
- Used Name of the Rose
- Used Mind Possession Jutsu
- Used Leaking Mind with Sensory Move Spread with Illusory Cantrips to be a free action that takes 0 seconds to perform on both of the targets.

Spoiler: Yamanaka Style: Third Eye Awakened

CRPJ's Effect: This allows the user to connect mentally with anyone within a close proximity, approximately a quarter kilometer, that is already connected through the Yamanaka Style: Third Eye Blind jutsu. The recipient of this connection can feel Yamanka's extended use of Visual Genjutsu and the two may communicate telepathically by allowing the other to see the mental images you produce within your own mind, but the connection is easy to sever and requires no more effort than it does to blink to break the said connection. As the connected individuals move further away the delay in the message increases and the clarity in which the image is seen mentally is diminished until the limits are met and the connection is automatically severed. With complete concentration the user of this jutsu can allow the connected individual to see through their eyes for a just a moment.

 

[Inuzuka Keiyaku]

It was such a weird experience, watching Shusuke do this, repeating what the guards were saying as though he as a strange kind of television aerial for small-town gossip. The Inuzuka instinctively placed a hand on the Yamanaka's shoulder as he shifted, worried he might lose his balance and fall from the tree. They had final confirmation now that something real weird was going on with that temple, but, at the same time, he was feeling antsy about the things Moru had seen - maybe they should investigate that later since it seemed like innocent people were in imminent danger. He just hoped Shusuke had the acting skills to pull it off.

"Yeah, that's a good idea, Reaper. See what's going on in there if you can," he said encouragingly, silently feeling somewhat helpless given they'd likely all be attacked or arrested if they actually tried to physically step foot in the village themselves. Keiyaku gave a little start of surprise as Shusuke burst into a fiery glob of chakra and proceeded to possess his chosen victim. Keiyaku turned to Dove.

"Reckon we should get eyes on the general store too? See if there's any clues about our informant?"

Keiyaku spoke into his headset, directing Moru to go back on himself down the path in the other direction. The Shiba made sure to keep up the act of a stray dog ferreting for food. He began to make his way to the general store, though the pup was becoming increasingly nervous now.

[Sorry for the short post; couldn't really think of what else to do]

 

[Toshi]

”Check out the temple as well. I’m sure we’ll stumble upon our entrance into this village.” He eyed the area out for ways to infiltrate the village without being seen. Jackal and Flamethrower had already began gathering information on what was going on. Arriving on such a scene without knowing what was going on could lead them to danger. He continued to lay low, staying in stealth, looking around and staying aware of the trio’s surroundings. For now he’d sit tight, but a finding a way to enter without being notice would be a key to victory. Fighting would be time consuming and dangerous, but if the three had to defend themselves and help a few others, they would be able to leave the situation unharmed. Underestimating their competition would be a folly, but Toshi knew to stay on alert. As the Yamanaka’s body transformed, the boy moved back, a bit surprised by the sudden technique. He was still learning about these two, even while on the mission.

Watching one of the guards turn around, the boy knew that Flamethrower was on his way. He hoped this attempt were successful. Watching as Kei called in to Moru, the pair had already a briefing of what was going on. Toshi gave a thumbs up, information from their target location would aid them in returning on with some insight of the ongoings of this village. Depending on the feedback that was relayed, their next move would be to either approach, or leave with the information that they had. He knew they shouldn’t put themselves in harm’s way, but knowing when to take a stand is what took bravery and courage. He rested, giving his mind time to decide on his vote. He would ask and see what his two teammates felt about the ordeal. After coming to a decision, they would move in.

He continued to plan to walk into headquarters with a successful story of what was going on. Something seemed to be amiss, but he wouldn’t allow his teammates to be ended because of something they couldn’t handle.

[ MFT | WC: +250 ]


-Looking for any spiritual signs that would lead to clues. ( Ghosts, Anything spiritual to the five senses, Notes or abstract art )
Spiritual Enlightenment - Passive

Spoiler

A Tsuchimikado clansman is born with a bond to the physical and spiritual world, and over time, can develop an abstract understanding of the balance of the universe and one's position in it.

[ Each post counts, don’t worry about the length. ]

 

[Keiji]

The mind altering and control technique succesfully embedded itself with Shusuke's target and their mind was completely under his control, the others suddenly losing the sluggishness turned to look at each other like slowly realising something was off when two of them suddenly dull-eyed again like eyes were ready to sleep. A slow nod in response to the third of them saying he was gonna head back up to fix something, they nodded quietly and turned again acting like nothing was out of the ordinary and made their way further to the side of the mountain.
Running back up, the guard on the side of the building looked up after him for a second but turned around as well and simply shook his head, like he knew the one running up had always been a bit of a dunce.. Running up the stairs Shusuke's mind meld enabled him to fully control the humanoid automaton, making his way up he could see the tip of the hill where the temple rested, a few light sources within made it seem like lights had been set up inside to help navigate the halls, the walls of the temple were of thickened parchment and classic temple designs and red colour revealing that it was a temple meant for spirits, as he was making his way up he noticed the bulky statues on the side of the entrance to the temple grounds were stone sculptures of large draconic-looking hounds with snarling mouths and wide eyes looking fiercely upon all who entered.

Within the soul and body of the automaton Shusuke could sense the person within never really liked or was a fan of these statues since the first time he laid eyes on them, almost like an innate fear of the spiritual and beasts of legend. But somehow he was relieved as he was somehow able to ignore the fear and just kept moving, not realising his body was in fact being controlled by something other than him.


Meanwhile Moru got the commands, and turned quickly, darted in betweeen the houses, dodging the eyes of the nearby guard, quickly running past where Shusuke ran before as he was going up. Moru ran behind the Gathering hall, and his nose and ears twitched as some open slitted windows revealed the loud noises of partying people. The clink of mugs and the drinking of ales and drinks, celebrating something, meanwhile the smells he caught was that of roasted pig, spices and herbs alcohol and warmth of a lot of people cramped into one room for extended time. As he creeped past the corner to see the side of the General store the guard outside were looking to the sides, seeming brighter, younger than most of the other people there, he tilted his feet and leaned forward, then back almost like an impatiant man ready for excitement, his weapons were bright, shiny, no visible scars or dents. Most definitely Moru might conclude this person was a complete newbie, and probably was a recent hire.
His ears perked up as a conversation peaked through the noise within could heard within the Gathering. "Ohoho! The glorious three returns! How was she?" A quieter more somber reply came "She was good! A little noisy! But it was FUN!" "I see I see! But where's your third? Where's Sonosusuke?" "Oh he forgot something and made his way back up!" "Ah forgetful one that! Don't worry, we'll abandon him before the next raid, less mouths to feed after all!" A small bout of laughter came across the gathering within, "Did you check the one in the Store?" "no not yet, I have heard she's a fiesty one though, and his husband likes to watch!" Another bout of laughter, and then the merryment continued returning the sound level to the same as before.


Toshi's senses peaked through his mind, like a bird's head peaking up from it's nest, not having a firm grasp of all of the powers he held it was like a blurry mess of fog almost came creeped out across the mountain entirely, like the time of day suddenly turned from late afternoon to late evening, the sun hid behind clouds and darkness consumed everything, then light pierced through the fog like a lantern blowing a straight lens from the skies above, illuminating the streets of the town, showing the path across the center of the town starting from the small family homes, past the Gathering hall and hit the General store, several figures, fog-like humanoid shaped beings stood by the entrances of the General store, just standing there, waiting, like they are expecting something to happen, or perhaps just wanting to be present to witness something interesting. If his eyes scanned further, he'd notice a single blue flamed lantern illuminated atop of the temple. Like a beacon for gathering things, like an entrance or gate to places unseen or unknown.
Then as quickly as it had appeard on the blink of his eyes the world turned back to normal, the sun was back, the fog had vanished and the beings of smoke disappeared as well. A peak at the spirits will perhaps? Or the will of those dead hoping for retribution.

Spoiler: top view image

 

[Chikamatsu Shin]

((OoC: Sorry for the short post, but I am walking into the temple!))

As Shusuke continued towards the temple he would let out a sigh of relief. he was glad that this jutsu was a success. His current objective was clear. Make it into the temple and find the woman and children these men were just interacting with and free them. Though that wasn't the mission at hand that was all the young boy could think about. He passed by a few other people in this outpost and it seemed like he was going to be able to make it through without any issue, but the real test would be to see what happened once he arrived and the prisoner's saw him wearing this face.

 

[Inuzuka Keiyaku]

Moru, or rather Tanuki, dutifully relayed everything he heard, Keiyaku translating it into Fuego to Dove as it came in over the headset network, though Dove seemed to be distracted by something, perhaps using some kind of jutsu of his own. He felt his fang slightly pierce his lower lip in his irritation, listening to what these lowlifes had been doing to innocent women. It was like the four of them had stepped into some strange parallel universe where the most vile things were commonplace, even quotidian. He tried to come himself by watching Reaper's progress up towards the temple, but even this was hard. He wished he could get in there, and do much more than silently watch while ordering his little brother to put himself in increasingly riskier positions. As it happened, Moru had kept up the fascide and made it to the general store. Figuring he might as well do the thing properly, he slipped inside, still sniffing around, seeing if he could catch a glimpse of the informant Corvus-sensei had described. He wanted to hold out for some better ibnformation about what they would be facing, namely, to what level these 'guards' were trained... were they just thugs, or were some of them possibly Shinobi?

"How about you, Dove, see anything?"

 

[Toshi]

He didn’t know exactly what the vision that he saw meant, but as Kei asked him if he saw anything, he managed to sputter out a few words. ”The only thing I see is that building seems to be heavily guarded.” He nodded towards the General Store, keeping his eyes peeled. The image he saw from the top of the temple store lingered in his mind. ’ What exactly was that?’ It seemed to be a beacon of light for others to find their way to the temple. If that was the case, what were they doing inside? He caught a guy walking alone, some distance from the branch the AiT were on. There was another traveling away on another path.

”You know, we could take out these two guys, and transform into them. Entering the village looking like these guys might give us the edge we need to get somewhere.” Toshi slipped off the branch and landed on the ground. ”I’ll meet you in front of the building I pointed out.” on the forest floor, the boy moved while in stealth, readying to pounce on the prey before him.

The villain further away from the large family house and general store was alone. Toshi considered this easy pickings. He’d move further ahead of the guy, making sure he was out of the line of sight from the rest of the guards that stood around.

The AiT would use the Crystalize jutsu to freeze the land under the guard’s feet, and lead the ice path into a nearby tree, causing him to hit his head and fall unconscious. If successful, Toshi would put on the guard’s gear and hide the body behind a nearby tree. Using the basic Transform technique, he’d take on the guy’s appearance. After wearing the guard’s clothes and appearance, he’d begin to head to the general store, hoping to meet Kei in his transformed disguise as well.

——-Actions———-
Crystalize to knock out the lone guard.
Transformation jutsu to transform into the knocked out guard and walk towards the general store area.

 

[Inuzuka Keiyaku]

"Yeah, not a bad shout actually," Keiyaku agreed, nodding after Toshi's example and watching him make his next move. He watched admiringly as Toshi slipped down to the ground, effortlessly incapacitating one guard with some sort of ice jutsu and stealing his clothes, all in one fluid sequence of moves, none of it wasted. The Inuzuka kind of had to admit, he wished he could do something just graceful. Eh, that wasn't really his style. Wanting to pick the right moment, he waited as a guard passed nearby the path just beyond the trailing, his eyes trained firmly upon him, eyes squinted in concentration. Performing a set of hand signs, he activated his Active Camo, which allowed him to slip down gracefully to the ground without making a sound. Stalking on all fours, through the bushes, he waited for the guard to get just far enough away from his fellows and....

URGH!

Keiyaku pounced, knocking the man to the ground, simultaneously clamping a hand over his mouth and rather deftly turning his head slightly to the side so he knocked himself out on the dirt road. Pulling him swiftly into the bushes, he donned the man's slightly loose gear and performed a simple Transformation jutsu. All geared up, he jogged back to where Dove and told him to meet and gave him a mocking salute. He seemed visibly relaxed now he was closer to where Moru was investigating.

 

[Keiji]

The Wildflower
As the last step up the large staircase was reached in front of Shusuke was a horshoe shaped building, each section as large as the Hokage's office building back home. It was two stories tall and the walls were old and decreipt but still well maintained, Shusuke stood at the opening between the buildings, to the left side of him the whole side of the building leading into the square was open to the elements, within were statues of many different shapes and sizes in the back center was one shaped like a giant bulky hooded creature with in one hand holding a torch, and the other a small hand sickle one used for herbs and other plants. The place where normally the flame would be a literal blue flame burned, looking unnatural, ethereal like it wasn't meant to be there, as Shusuke would blink the flame turned back to the form of stone, like the blue flame was never there in the first place.

The center building's lower walls were covered in thin parchment doors framed in dark wood, easily spotting where the sliding doors were. The parchment revealed only that inside the whole building was lit up by torches and candles, controlled flames. If someone was walking around it'd be easy to spot the theater-like shadows walking around, but the center building appeared empty. The upper floor was the same, the flames burned within, but no shapes or sounds came forth from within. The only thing Shusuke could tell would be the faint smell of lavender coming from within.

The right building was like the center one, but it had a thicker brick wall on one side, like it had been significantly strengthened more recently, one might assume based on this that that was the building that was more live-able, better in the cold at least. The parchment walls on that side was also lit strongly, but the parchment seemed thicker and the outlines where the sliding doors had wider wooden panels. The night was rather cool, and the scent of lavender permeated from there as well, but thicker. Within Shusuke would also spot a single silhuette, it was barely moving and thanks to the thicker walls, the silhuette had lost almost all of its angles and shapes so it would be hard to tell if it was a person or not. One sliding door was fully ajar letting out the heat from inside out. All Shusuke would have to do was run in, and open another door.

The general look to the buildings made the inside seem easy to figure out at least, one large corridor on the other side of the walls with more doors within leading to different rooms of varying sizes within, these would be bedrooms, storage rooms, dining rooms etc. each room probably would have rooms that could expand or minimize by simply pulling or pushing different walls into place. These were classic temple designs, the different factor would be the brick walls, if Shsusuke knew anything about building architecture he might know that the reasoning could be to accomodate a basement and ensuring its function was proper during the cold climates.

Running In​

If Shusuke were to run directly in and confront the situation within. When the inner sliding opened the sight would encompass a black sort haired lady in scantily clad red and white kimono would be standing by a large wooden door, she'd be standing there, fumbling with keys as tears were falling from her eyes, leaving a dark trail of ruined makeup, she wouldn't look older than thirty, her desperate cries would go back and forth as she would be fumbling with the keys ending with her dropping them and then succumbing to the pain she clearly was having in her knees and fall to them and holding herself up with her arms. Her crying continuing as the faint sound of a child on the other side could be heard saying "It's okay Mama, just relax, it's going to be okay.. Just please get the door open.."

If Shusuke took a step inside, the creaking of the floorboards would make the woman turn her head, and within a split second start to scream, falling to her side and flaling her arms in a badly defined defensive posture that might only deter a bee or a fly. "No no no! Please! I wasn't doing anything! The ropes were loose and I just wanted to get my daughter some water! Please please don't hurt me!" Shusuke might be able to spot her wrists which would have thick red marks from tight ropes that would have previously been around them. However she got out of them, she must have had a tricky time with it. Around her as well Shusuke would not spot anything signifying any water pots, or flasks, how she was gonna bring her water, wouldn't be obvious.


The Trusted infilitrator
Moru who has already witnessed some of the worst these brigands had done to this innocent village now had another assignment ahead of him. After listening and reporting back the words from within the halls, stood looking at the young guard by the side entrance into the general store. Within was their prize, their goal, if he got in, and reported back that she was there, they'd be that much closer to their goals. Knowing what was required he leaped forward as the guard turned in a yawn, standing right by the side of the building outside of his view, Moru looked up and spotted a window, reporting back the placement of it, slightly open. Jumping up, squeezing his nose underneath and opening the window slightly more ajar enabling him to crawl through his eyes peaked within. He was inside of what was a bathroom, it smelled rather intensely for his strong canine nose, these brigands hadn't known how to flush or wash these village toilets resulting a rather nasty scent filling the small room.

Leaning his snout against the door slightly enabling him to peak inside his nose would first catch the scent of blood, piss, vomit, the scent of mouths breathing, two maybe three people inside, lots of food of varying quality, then his eyes would look and see inside a large and open room, there's a counter in front of him that's been thrown to the side in order to defend whatever would have come through the front door to the store. And inside proper are the rows of storage shelves thrown to the sides and broken, several shelves had missing items, probably looted. They had been kicked or shoved to the sides and corners of the building area indicating that they wanted to create more space. On the floor and towards the shelf furthest away were two people tied up. A woman with black long hair, her face was covered with a thick fabric covering her mouth, nose and eyes. The other was a man, Only his mouth was covered and his eyes kept staring at the woman, with clear fear in his eyes.
A single guard stood above them looking down at them with contempt, and a gleeful sadistic smile. His weapons had been stashed by the front door inside. He raised his arms and gleefully wiggled them as he moved his hands towards the lady, in response the man screamed from underneath the cloth and writhed in his ropes like a worm wiggling and slamming his legs on the floor in frustration. He stopped and lowered his arms gleefully smiling at the man. He opened his mouth and said something to the man with a smile and then a hearty laugh. His words were quiet and hard to decipher for Moru, but he was probably sure they weren't nice.


The operation
Toshi had a plan. And it was executed flawlessly. Utilizing frost the guard who was walking casually, almost with a suporiority in his step, his confident strides made it easy to throw him off balance with the ice and he flew directly into a tree. As Toshi stood above him, taking his clothes, another guard from further in the forest had heard the bump and probably also the grunt from the unfortunate target of Toshi. Exploiting this before unseen guard, Keiyaku took his chance and incapacitated him, and copied Toshi's actions adding his own twist to how he did the deed.

Walking up the dirt path up to the village proper was easy. The guard standing by the greater family home barely paid attention to the two children in disguises and jutsu formed sizes and faces. He simply nodded in their direction and then went back to his own private thoughts. It was the other two guards by the General store that would be the true problem. They seemed a little more attentive and scrutinized the two ANBU more closely, The older one of the two, not more than nineteen years of age, the other not older than fifteen took a step to them as they approached, and with what seemed like a fake accent he asked the two approaching "Oy, what you want 'ere? Weren't you two supposed to watch the woods?" He pointed towards the trees where the kids had previously hid. The other guard just looked off to the side and picked his nose, digging gold, getting it out and flicked it off to the side of the road. Their hands were looking soft, like they were very recently inducted into the ranks, while the guards they had previously beat up were much older, gruffier and made of harsher stuff. These two didn't seem like killers or rapists.

Spoiler: Overview map

Spoiler: General Store map

 

[Chikamatsu Shin]

((OoC: So sorry for the delay!))

As Shusuke approached the startled woman and her child he would drop to a knee and raise his hands. "Don't worry. I will help you out of here." Releasing his jutsu the young boy would seemingly appear out of nowhere as he now stood behind the grunt that he had possession over. With a quick blow to the staggered man's spinal cord and an application of his Critical Exposure technique he would crack a vertebrae with clean precision that would hopefully knock the man unconscious, or outright kill him which to Shusuke was another viable option.

"Let me get that for you." He would make an Non-Elemental Clone to stand guard at the entrance of the building wielding a scythe of it's own before the skull masked child would approach the mother and child. Sending out a telepathic message to Jackal and Dove Shusuke would explain the situation he has encountered and end with `and if I don't do something now I think they might get even more harmed. You two do what you want but I am going to get them out of here with a noticeable distraction to buy you guys time.` Shusuke would pull out a small tag made of chakra absorbing paper and quickly begin to write out a Combustive Seal: Scalding Ash Cloud configuration on it. Once this tag was triggered a pillowing plume of smoke would erupt from the building which should cause many of the people here to think the building was on fire.

Once the boy would assist in getting the child free from the other room Shusuke would cast the Mystical Hands jutsu on the woman to help soothe her pain before speaking. "This tag I made will cause an eruption and will cause these men to rush here. Do you have a place to go nearby or are you in need of protection of Konohagakure? I need to know how well you both think you could manage if we began to run to freedom so that I know when and how to help you escape." He held a tighter grip on the tag waiting to hear back from his team and from this woman before setting it.

 

[Inuzuka Keiyaku]

Following alongside Dove, he wasn't sure how well this little infiltration operation was going to go; would they be in with a chance, or would the guards monitoring the General Store see right through it. If the guard they past, nodding at them absent-mindedly, was any indication, maybe this wouldn't be such an ordeal after all. As they approached, Keiyaku jolted a little. He hated when Shu did that out of nowhere. Via telepathy, they were treated to his dulcet tones giving them a rundown of the situation up at the temple. Yeesh, this place was seriously messed up; like another universe were rape and kidnapping was an acceptable social norm. Trying to keep his face steady, and resisting the natural instinct to vocalise his reply, he thought back his response.

'Yeah, that's good work, Reaper. Get any and all hostages or prisoners to safety if you can. Tanuki's infiltrated the Store from behind, and it sounds like our informant is being held in there by some goons. Dove and I are gonna try and bullshit our way in through the front. We'll call you if things go tits-up.'

With some trepidation, and a hint of relief that he could smell his little brother so close by, he approached the two guards with Toshi. The Inuzuka was rather disarmed by their youth; the younger one was probably about the same age... yet as he watched him pick his nose, flick it away, and look generally bored, his immediate thought was that he could swear he'd cleared stronger stuff out of his throat than this guy. The elder of the two seemed more suspicious, inconveniently sharp. Though there was something about his voice that suggested he was trying his best to sound more macho than he probably felt.

Being quite a bit taller than average for his age, Keiyaku felt the sudden change of height from the transformation jutsu wasn't so dramatic that he couldn't comport himself and hold his posture as though he were a couple years older. What troubled him was that he did not now how important the guard he was impersonating was; knowing whether he was senior to either of these two guards here would inform his answer, allow him to phrase his statement a little more convincingly. It was a roll of the dice, but he erred on the side of caution and kept his response neutral.

"Jus' been relieved," he replied, matter of factly, "captain's rotating the 'hole shift round, he says. We'll take over watch 'ere; trus' me, you ain't gonna wanna stick around for the interrogation a' that chick you got stashed in there."

He was trying to play off what he saw in them as a lack of experience, seeing if they would capitulate, or perhaps if they still had some innocence to them that could be exploited.