Squad 3 - Ijouhassei Village

[Keiji]

Not really caring for the conversations or the discussions, his eyes rested upon the rest of the villagers, examining them closely with his eyes fully enveloped in his chakra, looking closely at their faces, were they experiencing fear? Anger? Hatred towards their presence, or maybe a mixture of both, were they reluctant or forceful in their postures, he examined them as closely as his eyes allowed him to.

For a second his thoughts carried away a little, he would understand if the villagers were being reluctant towards having their families and loved ones examined, he knew, perhaps more than any of the other members of the team, having lost his entire family, and then witnessing his own previous, now dead mentor examining them, seeing their charred, dissected and ruined bodies hanging on meat hooks.
His breathing increased, his hands sweaty, eyes blinking, losing focus, the hazmat's internal environment was getting to him, but he remained vigilant, these people are still living, their ages varying, but they all shared the common trait of being enveloped in the powers of chakra, does this mean that they themselves, being Shinobi and trained in the usage of Chakra make them not being at risk of the virus or contanimation? He wondered what might happen if he took off the suit.. His eyes remaining vigilant upon the villagers.

Not caring for the approaching mongrel of a hound, he stayed where he was.

He felt the suit's sticky plastic touch to his skin, and he wanted to take it off.. Letting him move more freely, maybe these suits were terrifying them? He kept pondering and theorizing.
If nothing happened soon, he would simply take it off, with no second thought in his mind.

He remained silent and stayed in the background of the group.

 

[Ryu Hime]

From the conversation Lirin has gathered that these villagers were experiencing some sort of increase of chakra and that people were dying. Was there a connection between a spike in chakra and the deaths? Something about increase chakra and death seemed familiar. She remembers a lesson that her master had taught her. It was about special people that could increase their chakra flow by opening their gates. However if one leaves their gates open it will ultimately kill him. Was there something that was forcing their gates open and converting their life-force into energy, which left some to burn out like a candle? If this indeed the case it would be wise to close their gates, but it would take a Huga to force them shut.

Time was of the essence and she needed to tell the group fast. Luckily in Lirins collar was a small radio, which she turned onto the anbu setting. Ayumu would hear a series of growls coming through his headset. Then he would her Shimete’s voice. Thanks to Kirito’s teachings, she knows the language of the wolf. “Ayumu-sama, I have just received a message from Lirin who I gather is with you right now. She believes the increase chakra is the cause of the people’s deaths. She thinks there gates have been open like a Hachimon. That may explain what our squad is seeing here. From what we can tell the deaths were instantaneous. From this information I believe the people in our village burned out like a match.”

 

[Junan]

Between Kahako and Ayumu the woman before them dropped her arms, a defeated look came about her, or perhaps a look of fright. She was in truth terrified of what had happened, but she had felt the need to be strong, to keep everyone who lived together united in this darkest of times.

O-our abilities are new. At about the same time as our friends and families fell several of their bodies became... damaged. Their loved ones somehow managed to move so fast and had strength as they hadn't had before that in grabbing their loved ones to stop them from landing on the ground... several broke the deads arms, ribs, we buried them as quickly as we could so that if someone investigated they wouldn't be charged with murder when they hadn't committed it.

Asuchi asked about the idea of judgement and she turned to him and answered

They died, we did not only live but we gained abilities. Surely it must be some kind of judgement?

 

[Morikou Asuchi]

Asuchi nodded solemnly at the woman's last words. She truly looked devastated now, all pretenses of strength deserted her. She was scared, just like everyone else in the village. He gave her a reassuring smile before turning around to his team. They needed to get going on helping these people out.

”Well, I think we should start figuring this situation out. It seems that the villagers haven't noticed anything odd to cause the deaths or the increase in chakra. We need to see if there's any evidence of what happened. Obviously something kept these villagers alive, something that the others lacked. Whether it was an internal or an external factor is as of yet unknown.” He left out his thought that time was a valid external factor. It was currently an unfounded theory, and a macabre one that was likely to frighten the villagers, but it was worth keeping in mind. Whatever killed the dead ones could be working on the live ones as they spoke. He continued, ”I think we need to start inspecting the living, and if possible the dead. That's probably our best lead right now. Kahako and Keiji, obviously you two are suited for that job. Ayumu and I can talk to the other villagers. See if they noticed something useful. Or possibly look for physical evidence of what happened around the town.” He looked around at their team, and then shrugged. ”Or you know, some other plan. I dunno, I'm not the leader here.”

He turned back around and faced the woman once again. ”I do have another question, though. Over what time period did this all happen? Did your friends and family fall at once, or was it spread out over days, weeks? And how long ago was it?” He had no idea where these questions might lead, but Asuchi subscribed to the school of thought that there were no bad questions; you may stumble upon a clue you otherwise would not have. Or, more likely, you wasted your time. But he was willing to take that chance. As of yet, time wasn't valuable.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Marked For Training]

WC: 349

 

[Kogami Ayumu]

Ayumu was beginning to suspect that the chakra these people possessed was strongly related to whatever had occurred here, and the next few moments confirmed his suspicions. Over his headset, from the ANBU frequency, came a message from Shimete, apparently explaining what the dog thought about the situation. It was an interesting theory, perhaps she was correct, or at least close to correct. Regardless, Ayumu was definitely thinking that they were granted this chakra as a result of the epidemic that had hit the town. "Okay. Thank you," Ayumu responded into his headset quietly. As the woman answered Ayumu's questions, it seemed there was little doubt that his suspicion was correct. At the exact time as many of the villagers died, others gained the ability to use chakra, perhaps having their natural pools expanded greatly as well. Ayumu wasn't sure if they had opened up the celestial gates, or exactly what was going on.

"I see... the abilities came to them without warning, so they weren't used to controlling it when the time came," Ayumu commented before the woman answered Asuchi. She suspected it was some kind of judgement, though Ayumu doubted it was anything like that. Asuchi commented that there was a difference between the villagers that lived and the villagers that died that determined who perished and who survived. This seemed likely, but they had no idea what that was yet. Perhaps it was the presence of chakra itself, some of the villagers having latent chakra while others did not, thus dying. Asuchi suggested that they start inspecting the living and dead, which was what they had been hoping to do all along. The only thing stopping them was the people themselves, which was why they were still talking to the woman who was their leader.

"Yes... I would like to get this investigation underway. Would some of you be willing to let our Med-nins give you a check-up?" Ayumu asked of the woman, and anybody around that could potentially volunteer. Of course, there was still the question of whether or not they'd be allowed to see the dead. "As for the deceased... I still think it might be beneficial to study them, but if you prefer we can wait and see if we find anything from those that survived, as my teammate suggested. We've no reason to believe they were murdered by villagers, so that is of no concern," he requested once more, hoping she would comply with the assurance that they wouldn't be blamed for any broken bones or injuries they came upon. Ayumu wanted to know if they had died from opening gates, as Shimete suggested, or perhaps from something else. Could one even tell such a thing from an autopsy? Regardless, at this point Ayumu was strongly suspecting a human element in the unleashing of whatever hit the three towns.

"I wonder if this could be some sort of sick experiment gone awry... an attempt to tap latent chakra in ordinary citizens. Another squad seems to think there is a possibility that their celestial gates were opened," he speculated, though it was little more than a thought at this point. They were grasping at straws right now with how little the village was cooperating. They could only ask questions and hope one of them landed on the right spot. "I have a question as well, though it is a long shot... do any of you recall any visitors to the town at the time of or just before this occurrence? Somebody with no connections to this town, perhaps? Anybody suspicious?" he asked, hoping to hook something interesting with the question but not expecting much. What they really needed was for the Med-nins to have the opportunity to look at the people, but if he could somehow figure out if there was a "who" to this case, there might be more to it.

[MFT]

 

[Keiji]

With the calming of the situation, the discussions beginning properly, or if anything questioning..
Listening partly to the talking, he cared little for the uninteresting parts, yes, sure he'd help out examining the living closely, but he still thought that the truth of this case was to be found in the dead so he didn't have his hopes up for finding the culprits, even though the living bursts more chakra than the dead. But if Ayumu's theory is correct.. And that the opening of their celestial gates were true culprits to their demise, then their deceased would still be emanating vast amounts of chakra, even their graves should be clearly visible to his eyes even he neared the graveyards with his eyes activated as they are now.

'Oh dear' one might think of the bizarre and curious thoughts currently ongoing in Keiji's thoughts as he now began to feel a curiosity of their dead, he wanted to properly analyze what happens to the body when they open their celestial gates and examining the dead that had their gates opened. He was curious as he hadn't seen it properly yet, only from teachings from Kushin, and notes from Kushin's own examinations he had been allowed to read through. He wanted to do his own research and soon..

Keiji scanned across the area quickly with his eyes, and then resting upon one of the villagers standing the closest, first he wanted to establish eye contact, how'd he feel? Was he reacting to the cold, dead stare of Keiji's? After which he then concentrated his eyes on his chakra system.. Granted he was far but maybe he would be able to decipher a little from a distance..

 

[Shinrya Kahako]

Kahako took note on how the woman finally slumped in defeat. In truth, she hated playing on the woman’s fear, but it was clear that the only way to progress was to weasel into the minds of the villagers. The faster they could proceed to looking at the dead, the faster they could potentially save these people if they were truly in any danger. ‘And the faster I can get out of this god damn Hazmat suit.’ She thought.

While the other conversed, Kahako stepped back from the interrogation and just listened as she pulled the pieces together. The entire village had latent chakra that came to them randomly, and they had no idea how to control it, nor any idea where it came from. ‘Someone or something had to have initiated the contact,’ she thought.

Just as she had come to her conclusion, Ayumu mentioned that the findings of another squad. ”If that’s the case then the danger posed to the living citizens is more than we originally thought. People not trained in controlling their chakra can easily over extend themselves. One move too many, and they could exhaust themselves and die. If the members of this village indeed had their chakra reserves forcefully opened, then we need to close them again, and we need to do it yesterday. But first…”

Kahako took a step back, grabbed at her Hazmat hood, and pulled. If a normal person pulled at the hood, then the tape would have forced it to stay on. However, Kahako was a shinobi, so with a little help from her own chakra they tape tore away like a thin sheet of parchment. As she straightened she took a deep sigh of relief. “Goodness, those things are hot.” She then began to shrug away the rest of her suit. “It’s clear that chakra is the cause of the deaths. If it is a virus or some sort of illness, it won’t affect us. We can already control our chakra. I would suggest you boys keep yours on at your own risk. We still don’t know why what happened here only affected a certain demographic.”

She knew she would probably receive disapproving stares from her fellow squadmates, but she had a reason behind taking off the suit. She needed to see if whatever happened was an airborne virus, or something else entirely. She wouldn’t have taken this risk if Keiji hadn’t been here. She knew his byakugan was active, so the moment she exposed herself, he would see what was happening to her chakra system. If she were in any real danger, she figured he was skilled enough to save her. That he cared enough to save her. He was a mednin and a Hyuuga after all. She waited a while before speaking again to see if she felt anything change with her body.

“We seriously need to start looking at these villagers though, Oba-san. Please, allow Keiji-kun and I to investigate. Ayumu-san and Asuchi-san can continue with questioning if they wish, but we need get started.” Hazmat suit gone, Kahako walked up to the old lady and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked into the old lady’s eyes. Kahako knew what the power of human contact and the right phrase could do. She studied psychology after all. “Please, Oba-san, let us save you all. It would be more helpful if we can look at both the living and the dead, but we will work on your terms. Just please… let us save you.”

 

[Ryu Hime]

Lirin would love to stay and help out anyway she can, however she has a job to do and she is already seriously late on her arrival due to getting lost in the country of Leaf. She doubts she could be too much help anyways. As long as they use their radio to talk to the other squads they should be able to figure this mystery out.
[left topic]

 

[Junan]

[OOC: Sorry, my activity has been dubious at best, but I had 3 assignments and an exam in the past 2 weeks which is now all over, and so is Uni. So I should be able to keep up with things a bit better now.]

She stood there listening to what they had to say and answered the questions directed at her It happened over seconds. There was no time to panic or try and get people medical treatment, they just simply died where they stood. It was terrible.

When asked if they would allow for a check up she simply nodded then said I will go with them so that the others would know it was okay.

She thought about whether there had been anyone suspicious and couldn't think of anything. There was only one group who had arrived and left before this occurred, but they were frequent visitors, still no harm in bringing them up right?

There were five people from the capital. They're frequent visitors though and never trouble us. They had left less than an hour before this happened, we don't know if they lived or died but they leave along that road every time. She pointed to a road which ran west, the Capital lay to the North East. We would have gone to check for them but were busy here burying the dead and trying to restore order, also the army told us to remain here.

Kahako would find herself unaffected as she removed the suit, at least for the moment, though from what the woman said perhaps it took an hour for things to take effect?

Samples would be gathered over the following few minutes from several villagers without much in the way of issue. It was what the team did next which would be over to them. The samples would need to be taken to Kumo for testing, but those strangers had left West. More questions may be in order.

 

[Keiji]

Having listened further to the woman’s explanation, he didn’t wish to further trouble her so he kept quiet to remain impartial and not cause any more issues. He knew what he did was wrong, but it was an attempt, and he was certain that he was in the right place to do so. And yet, he remained pondering with his ears listening, and eyes staring.

Something caused this outburst of chakra, and no cases, to his knowledge has been recorded as being similar to this, which leads to further establish that this is indeed, a unique case, but is it artificial, or natural in nature. If anything it’s at least not benign in nature and has the potential risk of causing harm to people.
And as Kahako pulled off her suit he quickly turned to her and stared intensely with his eyes at her body and chakra systems, he knew what her thoughts were, granted he wasn't a mind reader, but he could assume that the same thoughts that had passed through himself was in hers, If the ones that died were only people that had never any control over Chakra before, then theory would lead to believe that the ones that already has mastered control over chakra would not be affected by any means, maybe slightly, but that theory would need further proof of concept. So there he was, staring at Kahako, maybe to some, creepily so.

”You two.” He pointed at Asuchi and Ayumu as he continued. ”Could one, or both of you go and check on these strangers while we examine the villagers? They should be an hour away. So it should take no more than two to get there and back, if you spot anything, let us know.”</B><i></i> With the last three words he tapped the side of the suit where his ears were to indicate his electronic earpiece. <B>”You have the number.”

For now, he remained in his suit, but he would make sure to keep his eyes on Kahako.
The army, Keiji pondered for a brief minute as he readied himself to check on the living, even though he hardly had any faith in their findings being relevant. Surely the army didn’t have any stake in this, that would be near preposterous that they had anything to do with this sort of epidemic, unless.. Unless these are experiments.. His gear readied, and as the examinations began he worked properly, the tools, granted not in his standard gear as he usually carried more deadly tools than ones used to examine the living. But he did what he could with his vials, sticks, paper and other assorted gear utilized in it. As he did so his eyes kept flickering at Kahako, to stare at her body, his eyes constantly active.
After having taken the samples and prepped them in small airtight bags ready for traveling, he placed them all in his shoulder bag so as to awake any too big suspicion as to what they were to be utilized for.

”Kahako-chan” He said with a serious tone, and a serious glare. The strangeness that could be interpreted was the suffix he strangely applied whilst being so serious as he was. ”We need these samples analyzed sooner rather than later, any ideas to moving them to Kumogakure? When you have yours ready we should place them in a scroll and get them moved.” He didn’t want apply further theories as to the reasoning behind this situation, but his thoughts remained curious, The army.. Could the army be involved somehow? Keiji knew, maybe more so than many others that the army was afraid of the Shinobi, afraid of their powers and their potential and it would be no surprise if the Army is attempting to create their own Shinobi.

If the army simply left the villagers to their own without assisting it could be theorized that they had a stake in it. But for now the most plausible theory is that of the strangers.

 

[Kogami Ayumu]

Ayumu listened carefully as the woman explained how things had gone down, though this explanation was moreso for the medically inclined of their group, as they would be trying to figure out exactly what had happened to them. Kahako began explaining the dangers of uncontrolled chakra, something all of them were drilled about in the Academy to ensure they never overused their chakra to the point of injuring themselves. These villagers unfortunately had no such drilling, and had no idea what was happening to them. The answer to his final question was what had his interest peaked. Five people from the capital, and they were the only people she could think of. He had little time to think further about it before a hiss of air caught his attention. He turned to see that Kahako had detached the helmet of her suit.

"What are you doing?" he asked, slightly alarmed as she began to take the rest of the suit off. Though her explanation was logical, Ayumu was far from put at ease. They weren't sure about any of this yet, and it seemed an extreme risk to take. He understood that she was possibly trying to gain some trust with the villagers, but the risk was not something he was happy about. "I really wish you hadn't done that," he said to her quietly after she was finished speaking to the woman. Unfortunately, it was done and over with now. They could only hope that nothing would come of it, or if it did, that Keiji could help her. Keiji addressing him caused him to recall what the woman had said.

"Right... she said they left less than an hour before the incident. That's somewhat suspicious, and very convenient for them. Perhaps they knew it was coming? Regardless, it's been days since the incident. If they left then for the capital, they'll be long gone by now. Still, there is a chance they may have remained nearby to observe the results of what they did. Before we leave, can you give us a description of the group? Genders? Ages? Appearances? Any names by chance? How did they leave? Did they acquire passage from someone in the village that might have more information?" he asked a series of questions to get them to come up with as much information as possible. If they purchased traveling arrangements from someone in the village more information might be gained there, though it was entirely possible they had their own means of travel that they brought with them.

"Please confer with the other villagers if it helps to get an accurate account. Any information you have on them might be helpful," he said, addressing the shinobi before turning to the old woman for one last request. Without some description to go by they would have no idea who they were looking for. At least this way if they didn't find them nearby, which was entirely likely, they could send investigators to the Capital to look. As the villagers hopefully talked among themselves to find those who had information and send them forward, Ayumu would turn to Asuchi though the other shinobi would hear as well. "Once we have as much information as they can give, you and I will search nearby in the direction they suggested to see if they might still be around, though it seems doubtful. Kahako and Keiji can finish gathering their samples... and hopefully they will allow them to get some samples from the dead as well, and then start towards Kumogakure to study them ASAP," he said before looking to Keiji specifically.

"Keiji... it goes without saying, but keep an eye on her. Hopefully she's right and it won't affect her," he said seriously. He was glad Keiji was there, just in case the illness did hit Kahako. Finally, he turned to Kahako. "Kahako... take it easy until it's for sure that you're alright. Please don't give me any further heart attacks," he said with a half-smile. They all knew what they needed to do for now, mostly before he even needed to say anything, so he turned to the villagers. "Alright... anybody got information?" he asked, pulling out a pen and a notepad from his belt-pouch attached to the suit. He'd be a bit clumsy writing with a gloved hand, but it would do. He wanted to get whatever information anybody had quickly and then head off. The sooner the better.

[MFT]

 

[Morikou Asuchi]

Asuchi's eyes flicked over toward Kahako as she dared to remove her only known protection from the possible virus. It was a smart idea; they had a test subject now. The fact that their test subject was one of their mednin was a bit disconcerting, but it couldn't be helped now. Keiji would just have to treat her should anything unfortunate happen. Asuchi barely knew the face hidden behind those dreadlocks, but they were brothers in arms all the same. He trusted the man to save her, should the worst happen. His concern was focused on other matters.

The fact that all of the deceased villagers lost their life in seconds, apparently randomly, was very interesting, in a twisted morbid sort of way. It would be irresponsible to assume that whatever caused the deaths was the same mechanism that increased the living's chakra, and even moreso to assume that the five mysterious visitors were the origin of it all. However, that's where the circumstantial signs were pointing. It appeared the squad would follow.

Keiji gave his input on the situation, and their captain began to give orders. Ayumu and Asuchi would pursue the visitors while the two medical professionals studied the population here. It sounded like a good plan. Asuchi spoke up once more. He felt like he was saying the obvious, but he just wanted everyone to be on the same page.

”The fact that they all died within seconds seems to indicate to me that they were all exposed to something at once, something that has a well defined time frame to act. While Ayumu and I go after these strangers, see if you two” he locked eyes with Kahako and then Keiji here. Well, as well as you can lock eyes when your eyes were barely visible under a constricting hazmat suit. “can find something that all of the village, or at least all the ones who died, were exposed to together. My limited knowledge of biological processes and such seems to indicate to me that if they all died within seconds, they were all exposed within seconds. But perhaps I am wrong. Just something to think about.”

Asuchi nodded and spun in place, looking out towards the mass of villagers. He glanced sidelong at Ayumu to notice the other man pull out note taking instruments from a pouch. Asuchi lacked the foresight to bring those, but he was employed as an intelligence expert. Hopefully he had the skills to remember some simple identifying information.

 

[Junan]

[OOC: I'm just gonna wrap this up so we can move on with the event. Spoke with Ayumu on IRC to confirm what it is that he would do in different circumstances.]

All the samples had been gathered and the villagers gave similar information when asked specifically about the visitors. Nothing out of the ordinary, they'd been around regularly for the past few months. They always arrived from the western facing road and left on the same road. Some voiced their doubts on this as the visitors said they're from the capital... but the capital was quickest to get to along the north road which then turned northeast, towards the capital rather than away from it. Others would say that they must have had business with other villages as well, but to arrive and leave from the same road still seemed suspicious to the suspicious minded.

Ayumu took Asuchi out to see what they could find along the road while Keiji finished up packaging away the samples. Nothing could be found unfortunately, however as they walked along the road split with a signpost showing that one road went to Soeki Village and another to Ekirei.

When they returned another local spoke up, preferring to talk to these two rather than Keiji who'd been seen to be in combat with one of the villagers earlier.

The villager said in a very nervous way that he'd noticed that every time they stayed they stayed in a different place. Going to each of the houses they found nothing unusual.

Leaving the village they headed back to Cloud with the samples.

Mission Complete - Success