WHEEEEEEE
The tsukumogami-turned real boy-turned human puppet squealed with joy as he floated upwards, born by the strange and wondrous creations that were balloons. Helium balloons to be precise, bought from a local vendor who was, admittedly, rather perplexed at why a strange old smelly woman had purchased several of the brightly coloured balloons instead of, say, having a bath.
Hidden within the puppet of the old woman, Mikki snickered. Humans always claimed to know everything, but in reality they just presumed everything. Smart arses.
Mikki had always dreamed of flying high above the shinobi village of Sunagakure, enjoying the hot breeze that made flying via balloon so exciting. And now, with a bunch of colourful balloons tied to his arms, he was living out that dream. As he soared through the sky, Mikki couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of the village below. The shinobi were always so serious and focused on defence, but from up here, it all seemed a bit silly.
"Oh, what a view!" Mikki exclaimed, twirling in the air with his balloons. "I wonder if they'll ever realise that they can't defend against a flying wooden mannequin armed with balloons!"
But despite his playful attitude, Mikki had a vision. He knew that the village's defences could use some improvement, and he was determined to help. So, he started brainstorming ideas on ways to enhance their safety from potential attackers.
"Maybe we can assemble a team of flying wooden mannequins armed with balloons to patrol the skies," Mikki mused. "Or perhaps we can install a giant net to catch any would-be intruders. Or better yet, we could just overwhelm them with an army of inflatable animals! The possibilities are endless!"
With his creativity and visionary thinking, Mikki was sure that he could revolutionise the way Sunagakure approached defence. And who knows, maybe one day, the shinobi would even thank a small wooden mannequin for helping to keep their village safe.
It had been a strange request from Migoya, to look at the defences of the shinobi village. The Myakashi alliance with Akkuma, and therefore with Sunagakure, was strange indeed and he knew, as evidenced by his interaction with Miohino at the gates, that the local population wouldn’t be as… excited at the possibilities.
But really, who better to talk about defensive issues in a village than those very members they are hoping to defend against?
Now floating above the village, Mikki was impressed a little bit at the defences set before him. Some ancient powerful jutsu prevented attacks from any positions other than the Primus gate thing, causing there to be a distinct bottleneck that could easily be enforced. The problem though seemed to be trained personnel willing to put themselves into danger, Miohino aside.
Speaking directly to the balloons, as was his ability and jutsu, he instructed them to move right. The problem was that balloons were such airheads.
“OMG did you see Sally. Her skin was so wrinkly and deflated. She lets anyone blow her!”
It was quite annoying really.
Soaring above the village, Mikki noted the possibility of striking against Suna’s water supply. Whilst they had ‘hidden’ springs that he totally didn't know about, if they were to be affected, either poisoned or dried out, that would cause significant damage to this village given its location. After all, its probably what Migoya would do.
He looked down at the various structures - from the Kazekage’s tower, to the ancient library. He noticed the damage still there from the last cataclysm that had caused part of the village to be consumed under the ground. That place was very, very cool, but also a place that the nasty people of the village could congregate. Hmm.
This village was special though. They had demons, undead things, homunculus, ancient try hard beings, mad scientists and those that were a mixture of the above. Kinjutsu seemed to be welcomed and practised openly, which was pretty cool. Well, as long as there wasn’t internal conflict that is. Another potential point where things could get messy?
Hmm.
It was then that Mikki heard the squawking.
As Mikki admired the view from above, he suddenly found himself under attack by a flock of aggressive seagulls. The seagulls swooped down and started pecking at his shiny wooden limbs, mistaking him for… gods know what. Seagulls are bloody stupid after all.
Mikki, not one to back down from a challenge, stretched out his arms and almost immediately the whirring of a pair of buzzsaws started. "Shoo, pesky birds! Im not your lunch! But you will be mine!" he shouted, trying to scare them away.
But the seagulls were relentless, and Mikki realised he needed a more creative solution to fend them off.
—---------------
An old man lovingly looked down at his granddaughter, upset that the little puppet he had found on the road had turned out to be alive, and had taken his cart after being confronted by a sand man and a demon. At least he could spend some quality time with his little grandchild away from such stupidity.
The little girl looked back lovingly, enjoying the ice cream that she was eating.
—---------------
It was rather difficult cutting up seagulls without hitting the balloons, and listening to the screaming of the seagulls really didn’t help. A sharp peck on his arm though really, really didn't do much to improve puppet-bird relations. Fed up with this nonsense, Mikki struck back with a shiny buzzsaw.
—----------------
The girl took a lick of her ice-cream, enjoying its sweetness. Her grandfather looked down with her, first with pride, and then his eyes widened.
Her ice-cream tasted funny. Metallic. She looked down to see that she had licked a mouthful of what appeared to be parts of a seagull.
—----------------
The seagulls, shocked at the evisceration of one of their members, squawked in fear and fled from the ultimate evil. Mikki, proud of his efforts, continued with his very important mission.
A mental link was established with Migoya, using the Myakashi seal.
“Heya Migo-kun. Well, Suna’s outward defences are pretty good, with the gates being the only way to penetrate whatever jutsu is covering the village from aerial assault. I would suggest they station more shinobi at the gates, rather than that big old demon man. He needs a break.”
“They have issues with water, and potential dissidents from below. But yeah, its not a bad set up overall. Now, can I go to the bar.”
A word of acknowledgement came through. “Thank you Mikki-kun. Go - enjoy yourself.”
With that, Mikki willed the ‘ladies’ to lower him down to the nearest bar. Fun times ahead!
[MFT]
[WC: 1003]