The Kidnapping Blues and the Ransom Mamba part 2

Age : 34 Posts : 1209

[This is a continuation of the following mission that takes place after part 1 . The posting order will start with Ashin, followed by Wakehi then followed by me and so on and so forth. First post is Ashin's]

Age : 30 Posts : 356

Internet is patchy at best. Storm knocked out a lot of stuff in my area. Will post asap. Really sorry.

Posts : 68

(OOC: Was given permission to post ahead of Ashin's post due to delays.)

The rhythmic tapping of shoes on tree branches would normally have lulled Kurea to sleep. However this time it was the girl herself that was running along the trees in order to get to their destination. Ahead of her was their team leader whom looked rather far away from herself. Kurea figured that she would have to pick up the pace if she didn’t want to lose sight of man. She wondered how much further they would have to go, she hadn’t been keeping track which was a failure on her part.

Sighing deeply, Kurea let the details of the mission run over her head once again. A rescue mission involving a rich young lady being kidnapped because she was born into the wrong rich family… That pretty much summarizes the situation in any case. Though their biggest problem lies in the fact that they have no idea just how ready these kidnappers would be of a team that’s supposed to simply deliver the ransom money. She supposed that she should get ready a little bit too.

Pulling free the wire in her equipment pouch, the girl looped a length of wire around her left arm before separating the wire from the spool with a kunai. She then replaced the equipment back into her pouch and looked briefly for Sanjiro. She was sure he was nearby even if she wasn’t able to see him without taking her eyes off what was in front of her. “Sanjiro… What method do you think you’d use in order to scout the area of the kidnappers?” She asked the boy just so she can see if she could use the method she had in her mind.

Age : 34 Posts : 1209

Sanjiro chased after his team, his intense speed allowing him to quickly close the gap that had opened up between himself and Kurea. Unfortunately no matter how fast Sanjiro pushed himself he knew he'd be no match for their leader's speed. The man had either gotten carried away or had decided to scout ahead of the genin to make sure no traps or ambushes were in place. Either way, he had given the two genin the kidnappers' location. In a worse case scenario Sanjiro was condifent that he and Kure could handle things until their leader rejoined them. This wasn't to say that the prospect didn't make the young raven haired genin nervous, it scared the hell out of him, but it wasn't something that he'd let limit his abilities. He'd push through the fear and doubt, there was a life on the line after all.

~~“Sanjiro… What method do you think you’d use in order to scout the area of the kidnappers?"~~

The voice came from below him, it was soft and delicate. Immediately Sanjiro placed it as Kurea's voice. A small smile came to his face as he instantly dropped from the higher branches, landing next to her, right in step with her as they both lept through the trees in a side-by-side fashion.

"Honestly? I think I'd use my eyes. Remember, I can see chakra flow. Everyone has chakra, even if they can't use it. I think if I get a good view point I can manage to spot any scouts around the hiding place. The only problem would be identify how many are hiding inside their little nest. I don't think I can see through walls unfortunately..."

He continued to stare ahead as the two quickly covered the distance between the village gates and the kidnappers' hideout. He had spotted Kurea fiddling around with some ninja wire but hadn't thought to ask the reason why. He was already thinking about what they could do to help even the odds in their favor. Most likely there would be more than three kidnappers. They also had the girl as their hostage. She was precious cargo that couldn't afford to be damaged. Such a thought brought a scowl to the genin's face. He didn't like it when the odds were stacked so heavily against them.

"Why? Do you have a plan?"

Sanjiro now turned his gaze toward his teammate. He was truly curious about what she was doing with the wire. Perhaps she did have a plan of attack. If she did then that put the team in a strong position. Winging it probably wasn't the best way to go about a delicate task like this. Sanjiiro made a note to never take another hostage negotiation mission if he could help it.

Posts : 68

Kurea smiled as Sanjiro dropped down and landed right in step with her. It gave her a bit of comfort knowing that he was actually still there. The girl would ponder Sanjiro’s method of scouting. So it seemed that their scouting of the outer area was pretty much covered by the boy’s useful ability. Kurea guessed and hoped that she could probably provide some aid for scouting inside the building. “Hm… I’m can’t really say it’s a plan but I think I might be able to do something about locating people inside a building provided the building they are keeping our lady in has windows.” Taking a short breath, Kurea then continued, “Well I guess my ice disks can become something like mirrors. I’m not exactly sure how effective it’ll be in a situation like this since they are pretty much detectable if someone is more perspective but it could probably help."

Kurea then paused to gather her thoughts and stared straight ahead as they continued to close the distance to their target. “Hey, Sanjiro. We don’t want the young lady to be hurt, that’s for sure but what about these kidnappers? Don’t you think that if they are going back on their word, wouldn’t they leave the girl be so that they can extort more money?” Surely if what Kurea said was true, then it seemed both them and the kidnappers share a same goal of not wanting the hostage in harm’s way.

Huffing slightly, Kurea has to remember that the next time she goes on a mission, she has to stated firstly that she’s not one to make battle plans. She feels that it’s much easier for her to follow plans than make some herself. It’s simply too much thinking and too much factors to throw in. “These are just kidnappers, right? They shouldn’t be too hard to deal with even if we have to sneak in to smuggle the lady out.” Kurea could only hope that what she thought was true.

Age : 34 Posts : 1209

Glaring ahead, Sanjiro realized that despite the genin both moving at a fast pace, that they were quickly being left behind by their leader. The boy could no longer see the jounin, the view of his body becoming obscured by the canopy that he and his teammate were currently traversing. The boy felt his brow furrowing as a knot of tension started to form in the back of his neck. He knew the location and he knew the objective, he and his teammate even had a plan, yet it all seemed for naught if their jounin leader was going to vanish on them. It was times like these that Sanjiro began to wonder if he and Kurea were cursed. Their original sensei had just up and disappeared on them after their first meeting and now their jounin mission leader seemed to have abandoned them for one reason or another. Sanjiro hoped he was wrong and he hoped that the man would return but for now it seemed as though the two genin were on their own.

Sanjiro listened as Kurea began to explain how she might be able to use her abilities to help the two spy on the men located within their hideout. He hoped that wherever the men were holed up had windows for her to utilize her technique, otherwise he'd have to rely on more dangerous methods to gain the information he sought. It was then that Sanjiro began to notice how warm the air was. Today was another hot summer day and to top it off the recent rain had caused the humidity in the air to climb, making for an over all muggy experience that caused the genin a considerable amount of discomfort. His mind was almost completely distracted by the weather when suddenly he noticed that Kurea was speaking, asking him a question.

“Hey, Sanjiro. We don’t want the young lady to be hurt, that’s for sure but what about these kidnappers? Don’t you think that if they are going back on their word, wouldn’t they leave the girl be so that they can extort more money?”

Sanjiro took a moment to let her words sink in so that he may process them. He was sure that the criminals would have liked to keep the girl in prime condition, but it wasn't imperative for them. Even if the girl was hurt she was still of value as a bargaining chip. On the other hand, for the ninja, she needed to be kept in a nearly perfect state. One of the parameters of the mission was that the woman had to be unharmed. While Sanjiro knew that the mission wouldn't be considered a total failure if they returned her in a not so perfect state, he also knew that the performance rating would be poor and this would be noted down in their file and could have an impact on their future careers as shinobi. In short, this mission, their first B rank mission, and a mission that was given by such an influential family, was too important for them to take any chances.

"I doubt the kidnappers would be as concerned about her well being as we are. Remember, as long as she's alive she's of value to them. They don't need to worry about not hurting her. We, however, must worry about her being hurt. So no, I don't believe they will mind if she gets a little roughed up. We need to proceed with extreme caution."

Sanjiro felt a bitter taste in his mouth. He hated giving lectures and he hated being in command but he also knew that Kurea wasn't much of a leader. She was passive for the most part. Though Sanjiro hadn't spent a lot of time with her he was able to get a decent read on her personality. If she needed to, she'd step up, but it was not within her comfort zone and this type of mission was the last place one wanted to practice new skills. It was best that Sanjiro take over as the acting leader, being that he had more experience than Kurea, at least until their original mission leader returned.

~~“These are just kidnappers, right? They shouldn’t be too hard to deal with even if we have to sneak in to smuggle the lady out."~~

Sanjiro noticed the girl huffing slightly, probably mulling over the situation and feeling the slight frustration creeping up the back of her mind as he painted the picture for her, letting her know what his take on the situation was. Once again Sanjiro felt himself glaring ahead. There was a break in the canopy, soon they'd be at the Great Geyser where the kidnappers had specified the exchange to take place. Why they had chosen this place was a mystery to the raven haired genin.

"Kurea, understand that these men were able to not only infiltrate a guarded mansion but they were able to abduct this girl without being caught. I would assume that they are skilled and dangerous. These aren't your standard thugs. These men seem more like an organized group of criminals. I don't know what their level of skill in combat might be but we need to be careful as always."

Sanjiro came to a stop at the edge of the forest line, overlooking the valley in which the "Great Geyser" resided. Contrary to the name, there wasn't just one geyser, rather there were several. Many small geysers littered the landscape of this area, making it quite difficult to traverse quickly. There was always the fear that a geyser might erupt too close to you, covering you in boiling hot water that could easily induce second degree burns. Sanjiro could already feel himself starting to sweat. He didn't like the heat. As he stood there, overlooking the valley he finally began to focus chakra to his eyes, letting them shift from their normal brown hue to two orbs of crimson, carrying the signature inky black comma shaped tomoe. His eyes quickly set to work, scanning over the area, doing his best not to let any details escape him.

"I see three men on the periphery of the valley. I don't know if they are part of the gang but if they are they are probably acting as sentries. From their position they have a rather clear view of the valley just like we do. They can probably see anyone who manages to walk out of the surrounding forest. There's a bunch of people within the hot springs and around the valley. The tourists have come early this year, it would seem. That could be to our advantage. We can blend in with them. Also I see a lone man leaning against a small shack on the outskirts of the valley just under the western sentry. I think that might be where we need to go as I can't imagine a hot spring being so far to the periphery of this area..."

He spoke softly as he strained his eyes, trying his best to catch everything. He'd sigh lightly as he let his eyes close, resting them a bit as the strain of trying to see everything from such a distance was giving him a slight headache.

"We're going to need to get closer. It's hard for me to see everyone clearly from up here. I can do a better job of scouting when we are in the valley. We can't walk around like this though, we don't look like travelers. We'll need to disguise ourselves. I hope you're good at the henge..."

With that Sanjiro opened his eyes, letting his red eyes fade to brown once more before he started to perform a short series of hand seals before his body suddenly exploded with a light popping noise covered by a small cloud of smoke. As the smoke cleared Kurea would now see a much older man, looking to be just over the hill carrying a beautiful sitar on his back where Sanjiro's sword usually hung. The man would stare at her with steely grey eyes as he moved a hand absently up to his thinning grey hair.

"Once we are in the valley we can investigate the area. Remember there are a lot of tourist attractions down there, places like restaurants and stores and stalls and also the hot springs. It wouldn't hurt to poke around a bit, but be careful not to get too close to the geysers, there's a lot of them and if we wander too far off the path we'll probably get burned pretty badly...."

The man chuckled lightly as he slid his hands into his pockets before bounding off a bit past Kurea as he started to slowly descend the trees toward the ground, aiming to land on a small path that would take them to one of the many entrances to the valley. He'd pause as he made it half way down before turning to look back at his teammate.

"Transform into a woman about my age and pose as my wife. We'll say that we are from outside the country and were coming for the legendary hot springs."

SC:

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CP: 67/70

Posts : 68

Staring ahead, Kurea realized with a bit of frustration that their jounin leader was no longer in sight. Clenching her jaw, the girl wanted to growl lightly but refrained from doing so. There was nothing they could do if their leader disappeared on them anyway. She disliked the fact that it meant that they are on their own but it might be a good way to test what she was capable of. Although she also knew that she had to keep their target’s safety in mind at all times.

With the air around them feeling humid, Kurea frowned. That can’t be a good sign for her. While she normally doesn’t mind the temperatures, today was not one such day. However the good side of this type of temperature meant that they were close to their destination. She really can’t wait to get this mission over with. She hadn’t like the sound of it from the very beginning when she was notified that she had a mission at the last minute.

Kurea felt her frown deepening as she quietly listened to Sanjiro who has basically became the team leader in place of the jounin. If she was really honest with herself, Kurea thought that whatever happened with the girl didn’t matter to them as long as she’s alive. Besides she really couldn’t see how the girl would still be perfectly normal after being kidnapped and threatened by thugs even before the shinobi of the village were even notified. As the girl thought about it even more, she figured that she really hated the wealthy.

Naturally, the girl didn’t say what she was feeling aloud to the boy. It was not necessary and it would only make things worse than it already is. That was definitely not something she wants and she had long figured out that this mission did not require the need of personal thoughts. With her thoughts taking up pretty much all of her mind, Kurea almost had to hit herself to realize that Sanjiro has spoken once again. She nodded to him as he told them what his line of vision saw through his ability.

There was not much she could say as the boy already formed a plan to scout even further and even used henge to change himself into someone that looked more tourist-y. Seeing Sanjiro henge, Kurea decided to follow suit as she would need to get closer to the building where they keep the lady before she could even do anything. Forming a few hand seals, a small poof and a cloud of smoke surrounded her body. When it cleared, what stood there was not the small doll-like girl that was known as Wataki Kurea. Standing there was a woman in her late twenties, wearing a red flowery kimono and with her long black hair flowing down her back.

Making a soft landing on the ground below the tree she had stopped on, Kurea already started walking down a smaller path that led to one of the entrances. She rolled her eyes as she heard Sanjiro say something that seemed pretty obvious to her but stuck closer to the boy nonetheless. “Don’t forget what my element is… You don’t need to tell me to be careful about it when the temperature in this place is already bad for it.” She whispered behind a raised hand as if she was imparting an important piece of information about the area to her partner.

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Jutsu:

CP: 69/70

Age : 34 Posts : 1209

Sanjiro, in his guise as the middle aged traveler nodded slightly with a stern expression. He moved down the path at a comfortable pace, not wanting to move too fast lest he draw attention to the two of them. He had every intention of heading toward that shack in the west, his instincts telling him that if they were hiding the girl around here she'd be there. Their leader hadn't been specific about where the exchange was supposed to take place, as a result Sanjiro couldn't help but feel a bit lost. As the boy stepped into the valley he instantly felt himself starting to sweat more profusely, droplets formed on his brow, falling down his face to his chin where they'd eventually begin their free fall to his shirt. This heat was unbearable, and the air so humid that sweating didn't seem to provide any relief, he didn't understand how tourists could enjoy this.

He'd give a small grunt of frustration as he tried to force a smile on his lips. He needed to play the part of a tourist. He wasn't sure exactly how sharp their enemies were or if they had men stationed within the valley, spread amongst the tourists. If they did though, he needed to do his best to seem like a normal traveler. A small sigh passed through his lips as he continued down the path, the two eventually finding themselves in the small tourist resort placed in the middle of the shallow valley. Sanjiro observed the people that wandered around the area, all seeming to have a good time, unaffected by the hot weather. This was nuts. He'd turn to glance toward Kurea, the expression on his face being one of slight exhaustion. The heat was already starting to get to him and his patience was quickly wearing thin. He needed to get Kurea closer to the shack so that she could use her technique that she had spoken of.

With that thought in mind Sanjiro began to walk toward Kurea, stopping in front of her with a light smile, trying his best to play the part of the happy husband. His steely grey eyes gazed upon her with feigned admiration as though he were truly enraptured with his fake wife. His left hand twitched slightly as he brought his arm up slowly, the side of his hand brushing gently against her cheek. Finally as his hand slowly came away from her face he began to whisper to her.

"How close do we need to be for your technique?"

His tone was gentle and hushed, it would be hard to imagine anyone overhearing his words as the sound of the other tourists did well to mask his voice. The shack was still a good distance away from their current position. If Sanjiro had to estimate he would have said somewhere between three-hundred to four-hundred meters away. Obviously those who were guarding the shack, the lone guard at the entrance and the three sentries around the valley's periphery would spot the two heading toward the lone building. The more Sanjiro thought about it the more he was sure that that shack was where they needed to go. He was also pretty sure that that was also the location where the exchange was supposed to take place. The girl had to be there. The trick now was how to approach the shack without causing alarm.

Posts : 68

Despite the smile on the face of Kurea’s disguise, the girl inwardly felt a very big urge to frown. She lowered her arms and held them together lightly in front of her at her lower body. Her eyes were turned downwards with a light smile on her face as she followed Sanjiro. It didn’t take long for him to ask her a question though his actions would tell outsiders otherwise. She could tell that the boy was annoyed by the heat but there was nothing she could do anyway.

As Kurea thought of something that would make her blush and timed it with a short mirthful laughter. She had to continue acting after all. Once again bringing an arm up to her face, Kurea made it as if she was embarrassed by the words her partner had said to her. “It’s all up to your eyes. After stringing up the ice disks, I’ll need you to look inside after all.” Kurea would turn facing away from Sanjiro as she was saying that just to keep up with the act in case of prying eyes.

“I take it that you already have a suspicion in where the lady is? We’re acting as tourists right now, Sanjiro. We can probably pass off as being lost if we are caught getting too close to the kidnapper’s territory.” Once again Kurea turned back to the boy and gazed into his eyes. Then she would point to the western side in which Sanjiro had mentioned of a lone man at a small shack there. “Even if we may need to be cautious, I don’t see the downside of trying the more direct approach first. We just need to act as if we are real tourists and I don’t think they would give us much trouble unless they want more victims.”

Age : 34 Posts : 1209

Sanjiro considered her words, his eyes still focused on the woman standing before him. There was indeed wisdom in what she said and he couldn't argue her logic. A small sigh found its way out from between his lips before he gave a small grunt of approval along with a nod. With that he'd begin to head toward the west, toward the small shack that had seemed so out of place upon his initial survey of the valley. The boy moved at a somewhat relaxed pace, not wanting to give any indication that he was in a hurry or at all anxious. So far the duo had done an excellent job at concealing their identity and maintaining their ruse as they snuck right under their enemies' noses, the last thing he wanted to do was blow their cover. To this aim he moved at a pace that was admittedly slower than he would have liked. As they moved further and further from the small gathering of buildings that served as the makeshift resort around this area, Sanjiro could only feel the butterflies in his stomach starting to stir and flutter. He was definitely nervous. The thought of how important this mission was and that he was essentially calling the shots for the most part had never left the boy's mind. He didn't think he was ready to pull off such a job. After all, he was only a mere genin.

"Kurea, like you said, I believe her to be in that shack up ahead. When we get closer the guard is probably going to approach us. While I talk to the guard I want you to use your jutsu to set up your disks. If you can I want you to place the disks behind the guard so that I can look into them while keeping the guard distracted. If I see her I'll start coughing. If I do that it'll be up to you to go get the girl. I'll take over as the diversion. My special vision will make it easier for me to fight multiple people at once. Because of your medical knowledge you'd be better suited to save the hostage once I start fighting. If she's hurt take care of her wounds. You two will need to make your escape while I provide the distraction. Hopefully with most of them focused on me you won't meet too much opposition. I'll rendezvous with you two on the way back to the village gate. Since she's not a ninja she won't be able to move as fast as you so you don't need to worry about leaving me behind. I'll be right behind you."

His voice was soft as he spoke, his eyes narrowing as he glared at the shack and the guard standing in front of him. Just how strong would these men be? He knew he was taking a big risk but the fact was that this mission required someone of more experience and ability, unfortunately it was just him and his teammate, both rather green when it came to hostage negotiations.

"Man, I really wish that guy hadn't ran ahead with the money. Even if we wanted to do the exchange it's not like we have the money to even consider that option."

A wry smile crept across his face as he noticed the guard's head perk up. They were now only 20 meters away from the shack and drawing ever closer. Sanjiro's pace quickened just a little, wanting to close as much distance between them and the structure as possible. He wanted to make sure that they weren't out of range for Kurea's jutsu. He wasn't exactly sure what she was going to do but earlier, she had mentioned disks and at the mention of her disks, Sanjiro's mind instantly went back to their spar where she had summoned a disk of ice. The ice had been so pure that it would have indeed been difficult for the boy to notice the structure if it hadn't been for the chakra that was contained within the disk's physical make up, causing the object to glow faintly in his visual field. He imagined that this was the disk she was talking about and he also concluded that Kurea must have had an alternate way of using her ice disks, other than simply defending herself from incoming blows. She had mentioned that she could string them together. The only way Sanjiro could really understand such a concept was when he thought about a periscope or a telescope. If this was the case then Sanjiro had to give the girl credit for her cleverness. Kurea really was an amazing girl when push came to shove but he supposed now wasn't the time to be singing her praises.

"Alright, here he comes. Get ready."

Sanjiro whispered just as his pace began to slow, his facial expression shifting to one of feigned confusion. The once sharp look his eyes held now dulled, taking on a rather dazed if not lazy appearance as he looked upon the armed man approaching them. The guard didn't look too happy to see outsiders wandering so close to the shack he had been guarding. He would give a small growl as he stopped in front of the fake couple, glaring down at Sanjiro.

"You two shouldn't be here. Leave now."

"Oh? I'm sorry to trouble you but it's just that I've never been here before and I was just interested in seeing all of the Great Geyser. I didn't know there were parts that were off limits in this place. That's something they should really point out to travelers like me and my wife. Oh by the way my name is Tosei, may I have yours? You seem like a strong lad, and a well armed one at that. I bet you've been on all sorts of adventures. I used to be an adventurer like you back in my day, but then I took an arrow to the knee..."

Sanjiro continued to drone on, barely giving the guard a chance to speak. He wasn't sure the armed man would be up for talking and he was scared that if he let the man get a word in that the conversation might come to an abrupt end. The goal here was to stall, giving Kurea enough time to complete her jutsu without the man in front of them noticing.

Posts : 68

Kurea followed slowly after Sanjiro as she fiddled with the wire she had previously extracted from her equipment. As she walked up the path with the boy, she would occasionally look up in order to take in the view of her surroundings. She needed to know where would be a good enough place to string up her ice disks. As Kurea surveyed the area she also wondered how she can easily set up the contraptions and without having a slightly distracted guard to keep an eye on her. No doubt that she was going to be next to Sanjiro when he starts distracting the man and that was the tricky part.

“Okay.” The girl murmured to the boy as he disclosed what his plan was. Hopefully it would go just as he had planned. As she continued to listen though, Kurea couldn’t help but give Sanjiro a smile sarcastic smile. “You really honestly believe that these kidnappers would hand us the girl after we hand them the money? Though I do admit that if we had the money, we wouldn’t need to go through with this act.” With a small sigh, Kurea finally finished uncurling the length of wire from her arm but she kept it hidden inside her right sleeve.

Her hands quickly formed the hand seals needed for the jutsu and she strung a number of ice disks on the wire in order for them to reflect off each other. That way, Sanjiro would be able to have a nice glimpse inside the shack. Now the biggest problem for her was how in the world she was going to slip past the guard to string it up. Kurea made sure she was pretty much hidden behind Sanjiro as the guard approached them and told them to turn back. The girl almost chuckled aloud when she heard that the boy’s tactics in stalling was simply to annoy everything the guard was worth. Finally an idea came to her and she moved as quickly yet undetectable as she could to retrieve two senbon needles from her equipment pouch.

Kurea then took a look at the man to see that he had turned away, half wanting to hit the man in front of him in order for him to stop talking. Seeing that he was well distracted, Kurea moved backwards slowly until she was hidden behind a nearby tree. Finally she flung the two senbon needles which had her makeshift spying glass attached to the shack behind the guard. Luckily for her, it hung just enough at an opening that one would need to be extremely perspective in order to spot the contraption.

Finally the girl would slink back out from behind the tree and go back to where she had been, behind Sanjiro. “Please dear, you are distracting the young man from his work.” She would say from behind the boy to signal that she was done with setting up.

SC:

Jutsu:

CP: 64/70

Age : 34 Posts : 1209

Sanjiro paused as he heard Kurea's voice insisting that he cease his useless prattling. He gave a light chuckle, feigning his embarrassment to the man in front of him. As he did so his eyes began to search the area behind the guard's shoulders, looking for any indication of the disks. Upon the realization that the disks were not where he had instructed Kurea to place them and that she had asked him to end his distraction, he came to the conclusion that she must have had to alter the plan. It was his fault, really. He hadn't known the capabilities of her jutsu and had assumed that she could perform the task he had set for her without gaining the proper information. He just hoped that she had managed to improvise instead of being forced to scrap the plan. Sanjiro gave a light nod to the man in front of him, still chuckling a bit in an embarrassed manor.

"Oh right right, I'm sorry. I tend to get carried away with my stories. You know what they say about the mind and age and all that. I can see you are busy so me and my wife will just be on our way. Sorry for the trouble."

With that Sanjiro watched as the guard turned away, heading back toward the shack. Immediately Sanjiro activated his special vision, his eyes transforming to a crimson red, despite his henge disguise. His gaze drifted toward the shack, moving upwards slowly. It was then that he say one of the many disks that Kurea had strung together. His vision followed the path of chakra infused disks until he noticed them leading back to a nearby tree. Sanjiro would nod slightly in Kurea's direction, a small smile spreading across his face as he made his way toward the tree, using his special eyes to look through the first of the makeshift lenses.

Sanjiro watched the image before him, his eyes filtering the scene with a chakra overlay that allowed him to clearly make out how many people were within the shack. Luckily the shack was small and only a single story. He supposed that having a basement would have been a dangerous addition in a valley like this where geysers were all around. Within the shack Sanjiro identified a small framed female, tied and gagged and sitting on the ground. One man sat within the shack near her, guarding against any unintended visitors or as insurance for the unlikely event of her escaping her binds and attempting to run away.

"She's there...but there is another guy inside."

Sanjiro sighed as he released the henge, shifting back to his original form. He'd stare at Kurea for a moment, as if contemplating something before finally nodding to himself as he slowly reached his hand up toward the sword hilt over his left shoulder. He'd have to provide Kurea with enough of a distraction to let her sneak in and out of the shack with the captive.

"I'm going to go get their attention. When you think you have a shot you need to sneak in and grab the girl, alright? Make sure you keep her safe. Like I said, I'll meet you along the way back to the village."

After he spoke he turned away from her, glaring from behind the tree at the shack and it's keeper. He felt a sense of nervousness growing within him. He hoped he wasn't making a mistake. He knew that if he counted the three sentries that were overlooking the valley, that there would be 5 men in total. He hoped that was all. He reasoned that it couldn't have been more than that, as the amount of money that each person shared would be too low for the trouble they had gone through to get the girl. He would sigh lightly as he started to march forward toward the guard who now drew his own sword from the sheath strapped to his waist. It was only a matter of time now before the sentries showed up.

SC:

Jutsu:

CP: 65/70

Posts : 68

Kurea smiled lightly with a small bow of her head. As soon as Sanjiro spoke of going on their way, the guard turned away to go back to the shack. Kurea couldn’t help but think that the guard was rather lenient about unfortunate strangers wandering close to the shack. In any case, it didn’t make their job simpler but it showed that perhaps they are not as competent as they had shown themselves to be. Even if Kurea thought that, it was not a pass for her to relax just yet.

She stood by the boy as he used her ice disks to spy inside the shack. She was glad that she was able to make things work even though it wasn’t what the boy had originally planned. Kurea nodded when he told her of whether the lady was in there or not. It didn’t sit well with her though, that there was someone inside with her. It means she would either need to take the guy out quickly or magically make herself invisible in order for her to pull the young lady out unseen.

“Be careful.” Kurea murmured to the boy as he released his henge and went off to provide distraction for her to sneak their target out. Kurea then released her henge, finding that the disguise was no longer needed provided that they already have all the information they need. She watched as Sanjiro unsheathe his sword while the guard of the shack did the same. She couldn’t help but think it was strange that they were going to fight this way. Provided that there were only two kidnappers here, Kurea figured that this one out here is probably simply going to stall Sanjiro then outnumber him. The girl frowned at the thought of the underhanded tactic and knew that she would need to get the girl out before anyone can arrive to help.

Kurea watched as the man made the first move, initiating a swordfight between Sanjiro and himself. As soon as he swung his sword left to right at Sanjiro, Kurea snuck towards the window at the side of the shack. The girl raised her head above the window just enough for her eyes to see where everything was. Kurea could tell that these men were rather well trained or perhaps very obedient. The man inside didn’t seem to have moved an inch even with the noise outside the shack. It seemed that all he was ordered to do was to watch the girl and that was all he would do.

The girl cursed her luck but it didn’t stop her for long. If the man wasn’t going to be distracted by the noise outside then she would have to distract him herself. Peeking into the room one more time, Kurea surveyed the room more slowly as luckily for her the man had his back to the window. Their target on the other hand was sitting at a corner across the room from the man. Finding not much she could do in order to distract the man, Kurea decided to make a rather dynamic entrance. Through hand seals, she formed herself a nice and sturdy shield of sorts then backed herself up. Without more thinking on her part, Kurea held the ice shield in front of her and jumped through the window directly where the man had situated himself.

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CP: 59/70

Age : 34 Posts : 1209

The attack was sudden, no words exchanged between him and his opponent, it was just how Sanjiro liked it. When in combat there was no need to waste one's energy with things as pointless as words. One should focus on the task at hand, their breathing, their opponent, and their surroundings. When one focused on these things, combat became something magical and undeniably magical. There was a strange serenity when one fought and no matter how much Sanjiro's mind tried to rail against this thought, trying to convince him that he was no warrior, no fighter, he couldn't deny that he felt a sort of strange zen when he took part in a fight.

Sanjiro watched as the sword was swung from the kidnapper's left to right, bringing the blade toward Sanjiro's right flank. The genin cursed his luck for being left handed and as a result, rather than trying to black, jumped backwards, barely avoiding the tip of the man's sword. The space in front of Sanjiro let out a slight slicing noise as the kidnapper's weapon caught nothing but air. Sanjiro quickly slammed his left foot on the ground, using it as a means of bracing himself and halting his backward movement. Suddenly Sanjiro pushed off with his left foot, charging forward, sword held firmly in his left hand. Using his superior speed, the genin closed the distance at an alarming rate. With his special vision he watched the man in front of him swing his sword a second time, trying to take the genin's flank once more, but this time on the left. Sanjiro watched the sword heading toward him at a sluggish pace, the wide arc looking as though it might manage to catch the boy. Suddenly Sanjiro hopped high into the air, lifting himself a good three feet off the ground only to come down lightly on the flat of the man's weapon for but a second, using it as another point of contact to push off of. The man's arm would drop as Sanjiro continued to sail through the air, landing behind the man only to quickly pivot on one foot, bringing his sword around to smash the blade into the man's side left side, leading the attack with the sharp end. The blade would cut deeply into the man's torso but wouldn't go deep enough to cause any lethal injury, unless of course, the man didn't get medical attention right away.

The man let out a howl of pain as his free arm came up to press against the wound in an attempt to lessen the effects. Sanjiro didn't allow the man to regain his composure though and pushed his advantage by quickly flipping the blade, striking the man with the blunt edge just as he was spinning around to face the boy. The blunt edge collided with the man's face, causing him to withdraw as his nose exploded with blood. Sanjiro continued to move forward, stepping forcefully on the man's foot with his heel, crushing the kidnapper's toes. The man let out yet another howl of pain before bringing his sword in a horizontal swing in an attempt to make Sanjiro back off. The boy, with his special vision, noticed the blade coming and quickly dipped down ward, ducking the arc before suddenly bringing his right hand upward, giving a solid upper cut to the man's chin, forcing him to stagger backwards once more. Finally Sanjiro stepped forward, moving quickly as he remained low, dipping under one of the man's arm and moving behind him in one continuous flowing motion. Once behind the man he'd swing his sword, bladed edge leading now, cutting the man behind his knees, forcing the man to cry out in pain as he lost his footing, falling to all fours, dropping his sword. It was at this time that Sanjiro saw two more figures approaching, knowing one more would be on its way very soon.

Meanwhile, as Kurea crashed through the wall of the shack the man who was guarding the young woman would bring himself to full height, the looking at the girl with a glare. While saying nothing he drew a weapon that looked akin to a war hammer of sorts. Without hesitation he charged forward, aiming to crush the small doll like girl under the massive size of his weapon.

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CP: 63/70

Posts : 68

Kurea released a breath she hadn’t noticed that she was holding until she stood to her full height after making a noisy entry. Naturally the man towered over her and he looked intimidating but Kurea had already cleared her mind as much as possible. Though she could see that the weapon in his hand would not do her any good considering what her element is. Undoubtedly it’d shatter her shield like a piece of glass. However she can make it so that the weapon of his was more of a disadvantage to him than an advantage.

The girl’s relaxed face betrayed nothing of what she was thinking and she threw the shield in her hands straight at the man. It didn’t matter to her whether it actually hit the man or not. It only mattered that the man would be slowed with a shield of ice flying towards him and she didn’t think he wouldn’t stop at that. And so at the same time as the shield flew towards the man, Kurea charged forward but then off to the side to avoid the man. Her target was not the man after all. She extracted a kunai from her equipment pouch and headed straight for the girl sitting in the corner.

Considering the size of the shack, it didn’t take long for the young shinobi to make it to her target. Quickly she cut through the girl’s binds and pulled her up. However a loud cracking sound made the two of them pause and Kurea quickly looked back at the man to see that he had smashed her ice shield and has now started to make his way towards them. “Make your way towards the door now.” Kurea whispered to the frightened young lady. She watched from the corner of her eyes as the girl nodded and made her way towards the door. However Kurea wasn’t thinking of leaving the girl all on her own. Especially not when Sanjiro is engaged in combat just outside. Pulling an exploding note free, Kurea attached the note to her kunai and threw it at the man.

She watched as the man dodged the kunai with a smirk on his face, most likely thinking that it was unfortunate that Kurea had missed him. Forming a seal as she made her way towards the door, a loud explosion nearly deafened the girl as she made it to the young lady. She seemed to be shocked by the explosion but Kurea knew there was no time to waste. “Come on, get up. We need to leave now!” She heard herself say through the ringing in her ears and while one hand was tugging the girl up, Kurea’s other hand pulled the door opened. From where they stood, they could see that Sanjiro seemed to have taken down the guard but Kurea knew that the others must have been notified and sure enough she noticed two figures from the corner of her eyes and cursed.

She thought that she really had bad timing but nonetheless, Kurea pulled the girl out into the opening and perhaps she finally sensed the danger in the air because the girl behind her had finally cooperated with her and started moving at a steady pace. It was not as fast as Kurea had liked but it was enough.

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CP:58/70

Age : 34 Posts : 1209

The battle was becoming hectic. As Sanjiro stood over his downed foe he heard the sound of an explosion tearing through the air, echoing all around him. The boy immediately turned, his eyes wide with fear as he noted the direction from whence the sound came. He began to move toward the shack but was stopped as he felt a hand wrap around his ankle, causing him to fall forward with a light thud as he barely caught himself with his right hand. Looking down, the genin saw that his opponent had managed to position himself in a way to grab a hold of the genin's ankle, pulling the boy toward him. Sanjiro gritted his teeth as he felt his anger rising. What occurred next was a series of slashes that caused the man before him to scream in agony as Sanjiro severed the man's hand from his arm. The boy was done playing. There would be no prisoners.

Sanjiro scrambled to his feet, ignoring the cries of agony that the man behind him emitted from his hunched over position. His eyes now fell on the shack, seeing Kurea poking her head out of the door only to scramble away with the girl as fast as they could. A sigh of relief escaped the boy's lips. She had done her job and now it was his turn to do his. He needed to buy them as much time as he could. Immediately turning to face the two enemies who were now within ten meters of him, he gave a small smirk.

"Gentlemen, so glad you could join us. I would dare say that your friend over here could use a bit of a....hand."

His eyes narrowed as he spoke the rather poorly constructed pun. He needed to keep these men distracted. The two men in front of them readied themselves for combat, one pulling out a rather long field sword known as a nodachi while the other pulled out a small hatchet. Quickly taking in the situation, Sanjiro could guess what this fight would entail, the hatchet user going in for quick strikes while the nodachi wielder used his long reach to try and gain an advantage. Sanjiro sighed as he took up a defensive stance, glaring at the men.

Suddenly the two broke formation, the hatchet user now moving in a diagonal path, not even seeming to bother with Sanjiro as he chased after the two girls. Sanjiro almost cried out in anger but didn't have enough time to do so as his attention was quickly taken up with defending himself against the elongated bladed weapon that was now swinging in a wide horizontal left to right arc, aiming to take out Sanjiro's right flank. Sanjiro quickly brought his blade across his body, bending his wrist in such a way that not only would the tip of the blade point point downward but also so that the edge of his enemies blade collided with the flat of Sanjiro's weapon. The genin quickly brought up his right arm, pressing his forearm against the flat of his blade in an effort to provide extra support for his over extended defense. He grunted lightly as he felt his body starting to slide ever so slightly from the force of the man's swing. This guy was strong.

Sanjiro continued to hold his defense against the man, all the while trying to figure out what to do about the enemy chasing after Kurea. At the rate he was going, he'd catch up to them without too much difficulty. The hostage wasn't too fast, not as fast as hardened bandits and ninja anyway. Sanjiro finally decided on a course of action and quickly hopped backwards, his feet never rising more than a couple of inches off the ground as he pushed himself away from his opponent. Naturally the moment Sanjiro's feet left the ground his body was carried with the follow through of his enemy's attack. The push backwards though allowed Sanjiro to slide against the edge of the nodachi, eventually disengaging with the blade as it sent him stumbling to the side, off balance. Sanjiro watched as his enemy now rushed forward in an attempt to take advantage of Sanjiro's vulnerable position but as he did Sanjiro quickly spat the toothpick he always carried in his mouth straight for the man's face. The makeshift projectile rushed toward the bandit's face, embedding itself in his eye, causing him to halt in his approach, giving Sanjiro enough time to let his right hand dip behind his back, yanking out two shuriken and turning his body in an effort to throw the two projectile toward Kurea's pursuer. The two projectiles sailed through the air, one found its mark as it not only struck but embedded itself into the crook of the bandit's left knee, causing him to stumble and cry out in surprise. The second shuriken struck the enemy in the calf of the right leg, sinking into the material of the muscle, causing the man to stumble and eventually stop as he let himself fall gently to his knees as he whimpered in pain.

The nodachi user, now regaining his composure rushed toward Sanjiro, barely giving the genin enough time to raise a defense, allowing the two to lock blades once more, but this time the weapons hung dangerously close to the two combatants faces. Sanjiro knew that somewhere out there there would be one more man, most likely either approaching or waiting for a chance to ambush Kurea, he could only hope that she'd remember that Sanjiro had pointed out that there had been three sentries posted around the canyon and that she'd be ready....

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CP: 60/70

Posts : 68

As Kurea pulled the girl away from the scene of the battle, there was not much on her mind other than the fact that she needed to get the girl back home safe. She turned her head to look back briefly in order to see how Sanjiro was holding up against the two new arrivals when she realized that one of the two had not been stupid enough and was chasing after them. She knew that if she didn’t do something soon then all their work would be for naught. Now slowing down a bit, Kurea spoke to the girl running with her, “Keep on going… Don’t stop, I’m right behind you!” And so as Kurea followed closely behind the girl while forming hand seals.

Knowing that she could no longer wait, Kurea pushed her palm outwards towards the man and send a gust of wind towards him. It didn’t do much to him but it did knock him backwards a slight bit and therefore had stalled him. However she knew it wouldn’t last but her salvation came in the form of two shuriken which embedded themselves into the man’s legs. Kurea watched as the man fall and took a quick look back at Sanjiro. One, two, three, four… She counted carefully. Two had already arrived but weren’t there three in the valley? A small but alarmed gasp answered her question. Kurea cursed inwardly and gritted her teeth. Instinctively, she pulled the young lady behind her roughly.

They had come face to face with the last of the men that Sanjiro had spotted the moment they entered the area. Kurea cursed her luck though as she had completely forgotten about the number of people they were dealing with until just recently but it was definitely a moment too late. The man already had his weapon drawn and was about to reach them. All Kurea managed to do was whip out the folded windmill shuriken from her equipment pouch and blocked an incoming attack that came from her side with only two of the blades unfolded. Having not been expecting the attack, Kurea was nearly thrown off her feet by the strength of the blow. She could feel her entire arm that held the windmill shuriken tremble from the force of the blow.

Growling lightly, Kurea grounded the shuriken within arm’s reach and formed another set of hand seals. This time clusters of ice formed around her in which each she threw in areas all around the man but not directly at him. The man looked at the ice clusters and laughed. Picking up the shuriken once again, Kurea sighed as she thought of how simple these men are. This was the second time someone laughed at her thinking that she had missed. Forming the needed seal, she changed the direction of the ice clusters to attack the man from the back while signaling the girl to get a move on.

The man finding ice clusters slashing rather deeply at his back wouldn’t find it pleasant of course. Before she lost complete sight of her ice clusters, Kurea changed their direction once again and aimed them at the feet of the man. She wasn’t sure how deeply they would have cut into the man but she knew for sure that he wouldn’t be able to move for at least a few minutes after the initial shock of getting injured. As a precaution though, Kurea threw half of her supply of makibishi onto the ground for any unfortunate man that might be chasing after them. Although she felt slightly better knowing that no one would be chasing them for at least the next few minutes, Kurea knew it wasn’t over yet and she would need to conserve energy. Still holding the windmill shuriken in her hands, Kurea fully unfolded the weapon and held it tightly in her hand as her other one held onto the girl’s hand just in case.

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CP: 48/70

Age : 34 Posts : 1209

Sanjiro gritted his teeth as he did his best to fend off the bandit, their swords scraping against one another as they each tried to out muscle one another. It was a fight that Sanjiro was quickly losing as the man's weapon inched closer and closer toward his face. Sanjiro was not built to out muscle others, rather he was a combatant who used his finesse to his advantage. In a clash such as this, the boy was at a disadvantage. He quickly brought his right hand up, pressing his palm against the blunt edge of the weapon as he let out a grunt. He tried to push forward but his foe gave no quarter and only continued to assert his dominance.

"You're pretty good for someone who just got out of diapers. Too bad this is where it ends for you. You see that girl you just let go, she was worth quite a bit of money. Once I finish dealing with you I'll go after the brat and your little friend."

"Like I'm going to let you!"

"You don't have a choice!"

With that the men pushed forward in a sudden burst of strength. The move caused Sanjiro to jump backwards, his feet barely leaving the ground as he put about half a meter's distance between him and his enemy. The bandit didn't allow the jump to go unpunished though. Taking this opportunity he rushed forward, swinging his blade in a horizontal arc while taking advantage of its long reach. Sanjiro was barely able to bring his own weapon across his body to defend against the attack but due to his feet barely making contact with the ground when the blow was struck, he was sent flying to the side, landing with a loud thud as he toppled over. The bandit rushed the genin, aiming to bring his large sword down through the boy. Sanjiro watched the move in slow motion and barely managed to roll himself out of the way, the edge of the blade biting into his side, cutting him rather deeply but failing to pin him. Immediately Sanjiro sat up, thrusting his blade through his enemy's abdomen, both staring at one another with wide eyes, both filled with anger and fear.

"You...you little punk.."

The man spat as he tried to pull away from the blade, grunting in pain. Sanjiro watched as the bandit's strength quickly left his body and within seconds the man was on the ground, holding his wound. The scene was reminiscent of a time that had long passed. The slumped over man held a posture that was all too familiar to the boy and at seeing this, Sanjiro could feel his mind starting to drift back to his fight with his mother's killer. The genin was on the cusp of losing himself in the memory when he was suddenly snapped out of his daze by the sound of someone crawling through the rubble that had once been the shack. Sanjiro's crimson red eyes narrowed, glaring at the pile as he tried to climb to his feet, using his weapon for support. What Sanjiro saw next caused his heart to sink. A large man seemed to emerge from the wreckage, glaring at Sanjiro as he picked up a rather large hammer. The boy cringed as pain filled his mind and vision. He didn't know if he'd have it in him to take this guy out.

Gripping his sword tightly Sanjiro began to stagger toward the man as the hammer wielder started to rush toward the boy. Suddenly the boy dropped his sword as he fell to one knee, his injuries seeming to be too severe to allow him to continue. The man closed in now within 10 meters of the young genin. Suddenly Sanjiro's hands broke into a series of seals only to complete the sequence as the man was within 5 meters. A large earth bound cloud suddenly appeared around the two, effectively cutting off their sight, or that would have been the case if Sanjiro hadn't had access to his special vision. The man now glowed faintly within the fog and as he continuing to charge forward, readying his hammer only to bring it down toward the boy. Sanjiro watched this all occur in slow motion and quickly picked up his sword, jumping to the side to avoid the hammer's impact, though the vibrations were felt as the ground shook ever so slightly from the force of the attack. Had Sanjiro not moved he would have been done for.

The thought didn't dissuade the boy though. He had the advantage, despite his now blurring vision. The man, upon failing to feel the familiar sensation of crushing one beneath his massive hammer, began to look around in a confused manor, wondering where the boy could have gone. It was then that Sanjiro struck, moving swiftly behind the man only to run him through with his blade. Not wanting to remain too close to the bandit, Sanjiro withdrew his blade as he twisted it slightly, worsening the damage. His enemy let out a loud cry of agonizing pain as the genin once more disappeared into the thick fog, leaving the man in this unseeing hell. The genin wasn't done yet. The man tried to make a run for it, moving toward the edge of the cloud, only to feel a blade cut into the back of his thigh, cutting into his hamstring muscles. Immediately the thug fell to the ground, still trapped within the fog, falling short of his goal by about half a meter. Sanjiro now stood over the man, glaring down at him, knowing that his victim would be unable to see him. The boy contemplated on taking the man's life, bringing his sword up in preparation to finish the criminal off but after a moment's hesitation he reconsidered. The boy hopped away, exiting the cloud as the jutsu dissipated. The men who Sanjiro had fought all lay amongst the valley, groaning or passed out. The boy tried not to think about them all dying of blood loss as he sheathed his blade, moving his now free left hand across his body to press against the deep wound on his right side. He needed to catch up to Kurea, he could only hope that he could still catch them even with this wound...

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CP: 54/70

Posts : 68

Having decided that the main road might be slightly dangerous to run along, Kurea had pulled the girl into the shade of trees that overlooked the valley. She could tell that they still had a long way to go before they can get somewhere with relatively more people and the girl was slowing down. With the initial shock wearing off from the girl, she roughly shook off Kurea’s hand and stopped. “How much longer do we have to run?! Why didn’t you people just give the money to the men and have a carriage ready for me?!” Kurea who was shaken off was silent but stared at the lady with wide eyes. After a moment or two, she sighed and brought at a hand up to her forehead and massaged it lightly.

She nearly sacrificed her hearing and her arm for this brat? What kind of world did she live in?! Everything seemed to be going against her. Kurea sighed once again but said to the girl, “Look, we were ordered to rescue you. There wasn’t anything about giving the money to the kidnappers or anything saying we have to ensure your comfort all the way back home.” The arm still holding the shuriken were still trembling from the small exchange with the bandit but Kurea opted to try her best to ignore it. She did think that she really wasn’t suited for direct combat especially when her opponent was so much bigger than her.

Before the lady could speak once again to argue with her, Kurea’s ears picked up sounds of heavy footsteps that was unlike a shinobi and brought her free hand to shush the lady by covering her mouth. It seemed the one that chased after them were able to follow them once again although he was definitely slower than before. However he hadn’t spotted them yet but Kurea could see him at the top of the road, shuffling down. “My job is to get you home and that’s what I’ll do. However if you want to get caught again, be my guest.” Once again, Kurea took hold of the girl’s hand and pulled her along. There weren’t many trees at this part of the valley and that was at their disadvantage. She could only wonder where Sanjiro was. With the ringing in her ears gone, her head was now hurting. She began to regret her decision to throw that exploding note. Gripping the windmill shuriken tightly, Kurea was getting ready to expect direct combat once again considering the pace they were running at.

Age : 34 Posts : 1209

Sanjiro continued to move, his body swaying back and forth as his legs moved as quickly as he could. His vision was still blurry and growing more distorted as time passed by. Despite the pain, the genin wasn't walking, he wasn't even jogging. Sanjiro was running, each step an unbalanced move forward that brought him only inches from collapsing as he did his best to keep his weight centered and over his base. The pain was getting to him but he needed to catch up to his team mate. As he continued to run he began to wonder if he'd die on this mission. He wondered if anyone would even care if he were to just drop dead right here. His eyes narrowed at the thought yet he continued to press forward, not too fond of the idea of dying on a simple hostage negotiation mission. This mission, however, was a disaster. The team leader had abandoned his duty, leaving two genin to perform a mission that was above their capabilities. He could only hope Kurea was taking care of the victim.

As Sanjiro kept running he eventually saw a limping figure ahead of him. It didn't take long for the dark haired genin to realize that it was one of the bandits, the one he had thought he had crippled with his shuriken. He wasn't moving too fast, his legs probably a mess from the precise strikes at key points along the lower limbs' musculature. Sanjiro brought his right arm back behind his body, letting it move into the satchel he kept on his lower back, tucked under his jacket. The boy quickly withdrew a windmill shuriken of his own. If normal shuriken wouldn't take this man down then he'd need to use something with more "umph". Without hesitation the boy came to a skidding stop as he spun his body in a painful yet powerful manor, allowing momentum to build up until he would release the weapon after one complete rotation. The weapon soared through the air in a semi-straight line, arcing slightly to the left due to the large amount of spin placed on the projectile.

The bandit never saw the weapon coming, crying out in pain as the windmill shuriken rushed boy him, the blade cutting deep into his side as it passed him, now wobbling unsteadily in the air before collapsing several meters in front of him. The man fell to his knees clutching his side, much in the same way that Sanjiro was hold his own. The boy's breathing was heavily as he glared at his opponent in the distance. Sanjiro once again dug in his weapon's pouch, pulling out two more shuriken. Without much thought he launched them forward, sending them sailing toward his enemy like before, but this time aiming a bit higher than his legs. The man began to turn, just as Sanjiro had expected and as he turned to see who had attacked him he was met with two sharpened stars penetrating his face, cutting and stabbing him, causing him to fall backwards in shock and pain, effectively blinded as Sanjiro now began to make his way toward the downed man at a lax pace. His right hand reached up and across his body, grasping at the hilt of his sword in an awkward style. He couldn't use his left hand anymore as it was preoccupied with holding his injury, this meant that he'd need to fight right handed. His sword was drawn with a bit of difficulty but once it was free from it's sheath the boy's speed began to pick up as he rushed toward the downed man who was now groping around as he tried to focus what little vision he had left.

Without any hesitation, the boy rushed forward, letting the sword drag behind him, scarring the earth as he closed the distance between the bandit and himself. Once he was within striking distance he lifted his sword in a sweeping vertical arc, the blade cutting upward, catching the man under his chin and slicing the bottom of the man's jaw, forcing his head to jerk up and back as the blade lost contact with the man's face. Instantly the boy kicked his right foot forward, sending his the bottom of his sandal clad foot straight into the man's exposed under-chin, causing him to fall backwards once more. Sanjiro didn't stop there however, the boy followed through with the kick, letting his foot land hard on the man's throat, closing his windpipe as the sword in his right hand spun around only to be halted in a reverse grip style as he quickly brought the sword in a downward stab, only for it to sink into the earth about an inch away from the man's head.

"Leave. Now..."

Sanjiro spit in an exhausted tone, his crimson red eyes glaring down at the nearly blind bandit. Of course the bandit couldn't speak due to having his throat compressed by Sanjiro's foot. Realizing this, the ninja quickly removed his foot, only to move at a brisk pace past the man, leaving him in a heap, groaning in pain and agony, bleeding all over the trail. Sanjiro needed to find Kurea....

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Jutsu:

CP: 52/70

Posts : 68

As Kurea looked back at the figure slowly gaining ground on them, Kurea wondered where Sanjiro was. It wasn’t like the boy to not have been able to keep up with them after taking out the bandits on his hands. Kurea could only wonder what happened to him and it didn’t leave her a pleasant feeling at all. The girl cursed herself for not being thorough and taking out the man she dealt with before leaving knowing that if she had, she wouldn’t have someone coming after them even if he haven’t noticed where they were yet. She knew they would just have to keep going even though Kurea wanted to send the girl ahead while she dealt with the man.

However that seemed like a bad idea to the young shinobi considering they didn’t know the exact number of bandits that were involved. Wishing to conserve her energy, Kurea retrieved two shuriken and a kunai from her equipment pouch after letting go of the girl’s hand though motioned her to keep on moving. Kurea on the other hand stopped and took careful aim of the figure that were getting closer and closer to them by the moment. It seemed to her that she hadn’t done enough damage to the man and she was determined to do that this time in order to prevent him from chasing after them for a long while.

For the two shuriken, she aimed both at the man’s knees one for each. With a fluid flick of her hand, she released one then two shuriken sending them sailing through the air. Unfortunately for her though one of the shuriken missed the man’s legs and sailed past it while the other embedded itself into the man’s left knee. Before the bandit could even look around to see where the projectiles came from, Kurea had already flung the kunai she had extracted from her equipment pouch. The kunai itself made its way towards the man’s side and was able to go in deeply. She knew that should the man choose to pull the kunai out, he’d bleed at an alarming rate even though the projectile was small.

Leaving the man on his uninjured knee, Kurea turned back around to catch up with the young lady she had sent ahead. With a sigh of relief though also a bit of annoyance, it seemed the girl hadn’t gone too far ahead as Kurea spotted the girl sitting on a stump of a downed tree. “Come on, let’s go before anyone manages to catch up.” Kurea said urgently to the girl as she looked back towards the road where they had come from. “Quit rushing me! Can’t you tell when a lady’s tired?!” Although the girl complained, she did what Kurea had asked her to do. Kurea could see the vacation area of the Great Geyser. That was good news in any case. Perhaps they can take a short break there before heading back to the village. Kurea didn’t think that the girl could last long enough to go all the way back to the village without taking a break. That and she was worried about Sanjiro.

Age : 34 Posts : 1209

Sanjiro continued to march forward, staggering at best as the strength from his body was quickly draining. In the distance he thought he could see a few buildings. At this point he was using his blade as a makeshift stick to help support his weight. He was sure that his old sensei would have chastised the boy for using his weapon in such a disgraceful manor, but he didn't think he could stay on his feet for much longer without support. The boy gave a light grunt with each labored step, his breathing heavy. He needed to find Kurea and the girl, damn it! Sanjiro could feel his anger rising. It was anger at himself, at these bandits, and even at Kurea for going so damn fast! He wanted to cry out to the world, telling it to slow down, despite him still being able to perceive the world in slow motion with his special eyes. He knew that keeping his vision active would drain his chakra reserves but he felt that it was needed in case another enemy came out of the wood works, though he suspected that if this was the case then he'd be hard pressed to put up a decent fight; the boy barely able to keep his footing.

As Sanjiro forced himself to continue walking toward the group of buildings that marked the small resort within the valley, he could only hope that someone would take pity on him. The young warrior wasn't typically a man who liked the pity of others but in this scenario he couldn't afford to be choosey. Another few minutes and he was upon the resort, slowly staggering out into the main street before suddenly falling over, collapsing on the road. The heat was too much, the pain was too much, the loss of blood was too much, he couldn't keep going on like this. His breathing was rapid as he tried to press his left hand against the wound, trying his best to stop the blood flow. Now people were gathering around the boy's body, looking down at him, muttering with alarm, all concerned but all too scared to move closer to the armed child.

"Kurea...."

His voice was light as he stared at the crowd, his eyes eventually reverting back to their normal brown hue as he felt his consciousness starting to slip. Soon the world was black as his mind began to shut down, trying its best to conserve as much blood and energy as possible....

SC:

Jutsu:

50/70

Posts : 68

As soon as Kurea reached the shadows of the buildings within the village area of the valley, a sigh of relief left the girl’s mouth before she could even hold it back. Now they could hopefully find a place to rest for a short while before continuing on their way. Glancing towards the girl whose face is red as a beet from all the physical exertion, Kurea could tell that she was relieved they found somewhere that they could possibly rest also. Although Kurea wanted to wait for Sanjiro first before continuing on, she wouldn’t speak her mind however she thought that it wouldn’t hurt to hope that they can meet up here first. Finally they have slowed their pace to walking and Kurea waited while they caught their breaths.

First of all was walking around town and asking for a drink of water for the two of them which was easy as the villagers were rather nice. Afterwards it was to ask around to see if they have spotted a male shinobi from Kumo that was slightly older than her. At first, Kurea didn’t have much luck but with people rushing to one another and imparting an important piece of information to each other caught Kurea’s interest. “Excuse me, what is going on? Everyone seems to be running over there.” The girl asked an older man who was running around telling everyone to go over to the general direction that Kurea had pointed at.

Kurea watched as the man looked her over while trying to gauge whether he should tell her or not considering her age. However he seemed to have immediately made up his mind upon seeing the forehead protector on her belt. “There’s someone over there with an injury at his side. He seemed to have the same protector as yours on his arm.” As soon as the man provided the information, the color drained from Kurea’s face but the man was too busy spreading the message around to notice. Only a tap on the girl’s shoulder shook her out of her stupor and she turned roughly to see the young lady they rescued looking at her with a puzzled expression. “Let’s take a look over there.” Kurea said after composing herself enough to speak.

She didn’t wait for a reply and was already pulling the girl down a street which led to a large crowd. Growling lightly, Kurea spoke clearly in order to get people to move over, “Step aside, let me see the injured person!” As soon as the people cleared, Kurea nearly couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw a familiar figure lying on the ground with a wound on his side. Taking a deep breath, the girl made her way towards Sanjiro while trying to assess his injures as she continued to step closer. The first thing Kurea did was check the boy for a pulse. To her relief, the boy still had one although it was weak. She could only wondered how long he had held on to make his way here.

Knowing that she shouldn’t waste any more time, Kurea quickly asked for someone as long as they are bigger than her to help her move Sanjiro to his back so that she can fully see his injury. Forming the hand seal for the only jutsu Kurea knew that could help with this situation, she focused chakra to her hands and held both hands over the boy’s wound.

SC:

Jutsu:

CP: 40/70

Age : 34 Posts : 1209

Lost in a semi-peaceful slumber, the boy had quickly forgotten about pain or the fear of losing his life. He sank into the darkness, letting it embrace him. As he fell familiar figures appeared before his eyes. His mother, his best friend, his teacher, his first crush, and his new friends. All these figures stared down at him with small little smiles plastered on their face. They were too far for him to reach them and no matter how much he stretched his arm to try and grasp one of them, even he knew that it was a futile effort.

"So this is how it ends?"

A voice echoed in his mind, one that was not his own. Sanjiro slowly closed his eyes, letting his head drop backwards as though he were fully relaxing during his descent. He felt like sleeping and never waking up. How long had it been since he had a good night's sleep?

"You're just going to give up again?"

The voice was back, buzzing annoyingly in his ear. The boy's mind, while still foggy, began to slowly register the words and also the possessor of the voice. His head slowly lulled to the side, his unfocused eyes staring directly into angry blue eyes that glared at him.

"I'm tired, Kenshin...so very tired."

The boy before him, falling with him, glared at him. It was an excuse that could not be accepted by the phantasm as it reached it's hand slowly toward Sanjiro. The raven haired genin didn't even bother to react, even if he wanted to, he doubted that he could really do anything, his limbs felt like they each weighed over a ton.

"Ami get over here!"

Suddenly the voice was distant and the world of darkness broke away. Sanjiro found himself lying on the ground, on the edge of a grassy field that overlooked a large body of water which was probably the ocean. Sanjiro let out a small groan of pain, too weak to fuss over his wound too much. Kneeling next to him was a tall red haired boy, staring down at Sanjiro with a concerned look.

"Ami, hurry up!"

The boy cried out in alarm as Sanjiro tried to move, the pain forcing him back to the ground. Kenshin reached out, placing his hand firmly on Sanjiro's shoulder, keeping the injured genin pinned to the ground.

"Don't move! Ami's going to take care of your wound."

As if on cue a female that was about their age rushed to Sanjiro's side, a female who Sanjiro was infatuated with. Even amongst all the pain, he still found a small space in his mind to admire her beauty as she began to work, using a kunai to cut through the boy's shirt so she could get a clear view of his chest, and the injury. The skin hadn't been breached but a very large bruise had already appeared over the injury, nearly consuming half the boy's chest.

"His ribs are broken, not just a few either...."

"I can't breathe..."

Sanjiro cried out as he tried to gasp for air. His muscles seized in pain, halting as much movement as they could, making the simple act of taking a breath a chore. He wasn't able to meet the oxygen demand of his body and as a result he was growing light headed.

"How hard did he get hit?!"

"I don't know! I was dealing with Kazi's thugs and Sanjiro chased after him, by the time I got here Sanjiro was lying on the ground and Kazi was missing!"

"Damn it!"

Immediately Ami's hands began to glow faintly with chakra as she pushed gently against Sanjiro's wound. Pain flooded the boy's world as the healing process was accelerated. First came the pain then soon after the euphoria as the adrenaline filled his system, doing its best to block out the pain. His ribs worked slowly to reattach themselves in the proper areas as Ami continued to move her hands down his wound, trying her best to heal not only the bones but any blood vessels that may have ruptured.

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The familiar intense pain washed over Sanjiro as he lay in front of Kurea, causing the boy's eyes to snap open as he let out a loud yell. He tried to move away but his body wouldn't listen, being too drained and thus he remained lying on his back, squirming slightly until his eyes fell on Kurea's face, her eyes focusing on his wound.

"Kurea? Are you okay? Did the bandits hurt you or the girl? Where are we?"

His voice was weak as he gritted his teeth, waiting for the initial wave of pain to pass. It would pass, he knew it would. This wasn't the first time he had been healed by a medical ninja and he suspected that it wouldn't be his last, seeing as he had regained consciousness. He would live to fight another day, thanks to Kurea, it would seem. As she forced chakra into the wound it would begin to close, bands of tissue stretching out to bridge the gap that had been forcefully created. Soon the sides of the cut would come to attach themselves loosely to one another, the tissue working to create new blood vessels while older ones tried to reattach to one another in order to provide the injured area with a strong blood supply. The process would take some time given Kurea's current level of skill, but he supposed that if the bandits were all dealt with then it was fine. With that thought in mind Sanjiro's head fell back, staring up at the sky....man it was hot out.

Posts : 68

A loud yell from Sanjiro nearly jarred Kurea from the concentration she needed to hold on to her healing jutsu. However the fact that the boy yelled out meant that she had at least achieved the goal she had set herself to do the moment she saw the boy lying on the ground. “I don’t think I would be here mending your wound if they did injure the girl or me.” Kurea said with a light smile before continuing, “Other than a trembling arm earlier, none of us have an injury as serious as yours.” Kurea fell silent as she watched the wound under her hands mend itself. At least it was nothing too serious so that was luck on the boy’s part.

Soon when the boy’s wound was no longer bleeding and had closed well enough, Kurea lifted her hands from it and sighed tiredly. “You might want to get that checked out later just in case.” She warned the boy as she wiped the sweat that accumulated on her forehead. She had been so concentrated in mending the boy that Kurea had not realized that most of the villagers had already dispersed other than a few worried ones and the girl that stood strangely quiet behind her. Kurea stood up herself before holding out a hand for the boy.

“If you’re up to it, I suppose we should hurry.” She then gestured towards the girl, “Our lady should be getting impatient after all.” Then Kurea would lean in to whisper to the boy, “Though you are dealing with her…”

SC:

Jutsu:

CP: 38/70