Another C Rank For the Win

Sneshi just shrugged awkwardly at his teammates thanks, he wasn’t sure how to respond to it. He felt that he was simply returning the favor for what Max had done the previous mission, it was realy nothing special. He did grace the younger Genin with a small smile, but as soon as Itami showed up his face returned to the normal imperturbable mask that it usually was. This was his Jounin commander and he refused to show anything that he deemed as a weakness in front of the man. He wanted the Jounin to think of him as a capable shinobi and in his mind that meant being as emotionless as possible. It seemed to be how Itami himself acted after all and Senshi was doing his best to emulate his Commander.
 
When they moved out Senshi made sure to take the rear again. He didn’t know how much his teammates had improved but his logic still stood for why he should be at the rear. Reizo with his taijutsu needed to be able to respond to either front in the event of an attack and the Genin knew that Max was more fragile then the rest of them were. His puppets were a serious threat but the front or the rear of the formation were the most vulnerable spots and Senshi didn’t want his almost friend to get injured when he himself was much more durable. The instant they left the gates Senshi began to use his own chakra sensory ability.
 

When he felt his commander begin to suppress his chakra he immediately followed suit. Clamping down on his chakra and forcing it into his core. He continued to send out pulses and occasionally would turn his head and travel backwards for several steps in order to get a good visual on the rear of their formation. He made sure that he kept himself at least five meters away from Max or Reizo, whomever was traveling as third in their formation. He wanted to be sure he could cover them effectively but also there might be a chance that an enemy would mistake one of them for the rear and attempt to cut them off. If that were to happen Senshi knew that they could catch the opponent in a pincer movement, out flanking him and taking any opponent down quickly.

Word Cout: 392
 TWCL 2054

Reizo would join his Sensei and the rest of his team as they made their way through the forest to the outpost. He took the position right behind Itami. Senshi had taken the rear. It would always make sense for either Senshi or Reizo to take the rear to protect Max from an ambush. Reizo supposed it was better for Senshi to be the rear since he also had longer range capabilities thanks to his use of weaponry to confront a head on attack as well as a flank. While several (or all) on his team suppressed their chakra, Reizo didn't even take notice. He still could neither sense nor suppress his own chakra, and he didn't really have any interest in learning it just yet. There were still other skills and jutsu to be learned that he felt were more pertinent to a Taijutsu user, and so he had procrastinated learning them.

It wouldn't be long before the team would reach the open expanse of grass that led to the towering walls of the outpost. Reizo would make his way to the closed gate at the center of one of the walls, regardless of if his team would follow him. Maybe it was a bit reckless as the supposedly stationed guards could mistake him for an enemy, but Reizo didn't care. He went on his own gut assumption that they would hold off any attack until the team could be identified. Besides, surely they were notified beforehand of the team's arrival. Upon reaching the gate, Reizo would look around, scanning the top of the wall for any guards at all. Strangely, no one had responded when he had approached. It was way too quiet, even if it was a slower day. There were no guards to be seen. Something was definitely wrong, and Reizo threw his arms up to show his team his confusion as to why no one was there. He was tempted to scale the wall and inspect the outpost using the Tree Climbing technique, but he wanted to wait for further orders from his Sensei.

Reizo didn't want to make too much noise, he figured this was a very delicate situation and his intuition told him that something was awry. No one had greeted them at the gate, and there wasn't a single guard was in sight. It was dead silent - not even birds or other creatures were stirring about, as though they too could sense something was amiss. Reizo stood by to await the actions of his team.

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424 + 1010 = 1434 words

Max would nod when Itami tells them to stay focused. This was in fact a C- rank mission and there were dangers associated. If we were careless, our lives could be forfeit. Max would quickly finish up him meal, eating far faster than he probably should be, and head into the forest with the others.
 
Getting into formation, Max would happily take his place in the center. It would help keep him safe, and so he wouldn’t have any issue with it. Feeling out the area with his own chakra sensory he notes that Itami has hidden his chakra, and so had Senshi. He considered suppressing his own but he waited a moment and watched Reizo. He had not suppressed his chakra, hopefully out of the inability to do so. Yeah, he must not have been able to. Reizo wouldn’t do something that could endanger the team on purpose. Since Reizo wouldn’t be able to hide his chakra, and both Itami and Senshi were in the front and back respectably, Max would have a tough decision. He isn’t the stealthiest, so if he does suppress his chakra and there is someone who senses Reizo, they would likely see the youth and his puppets. If they can sense Reizo and can see Max, they will know that there are targets capable of hiding their chakra and that could tip the enemy off about our numbers. If he doesn’t hide his chakra, then any opponent that is relying on sensory abilities instead of their own eyes would be able to pick him up and use that information.
 
The last group of bandits didn’t seem to have much in the way of shinobi training so they likely couldn’t sense the group coming. They shouldn’t be what Max uses as the standard for enemies he might face off against though.
 
Just going with his gut, he decides to suppress his own chakra as well. Anyone using sensory will see only a single target, and therefore they might make the mistake of underestimating their numbers. Plus, if any of them was noticed and targeted Max knew that Reizo would be able to defend from a surprised state much faster than he could.
 
They get to the outpost, and an eerie silence is all that one can hear. It is deafening. Looking around to his companions, Max doesn’t say a word but it is clear as day on his face that he is concerned with something about this. Something isn’t right. No men stationed the walls on lookout, no men signaled to others that a small force had been approaching.
 
Reizo heads up closer to the gates. Max begins to step forward as Napa places his arm in front, signaling to wait. Reizo throws his hands up in confusion. If someone was able to get that close without any sign of people or anything, this mission was about to get much more serious. There is a chance that the outpost had already been taken over by bandits, and now those same bandits had the defenses of the outpost to use to their advantage. But that was the thing, there weren’t even bandits manning the walls.
 

What had happened here?


WC: 533
TWC: 1618

As Itami was walking through the black forest with his team. It wasn't really strange to him that there wasn't anyone spotted. It was in the mission details that there might be no one here. So if no one was present in the forest by the time their shift ended... mission complete. It would be a lot less trouble and a easy day. As Itami continued to walk through the black forest, still scanning for things around the area. He doesn't hear nothing but the trees rustling.

He then heard the sound coming from the trees. It sounded as if something was suddenly spying on them. Itami stopped moving and began to close his eyes. Using his experience fighter skill that allows him to hone his sense. He heard the sound of something or someone stepping on some dried up leaves. Itami would grab his kunai at a speed of 125 and throw towards the bushes located northeast from where he was facing. The kunai would then travel at a speed and power of 137 into the bushes. As the kunai made a big impact at the target. The sound of animal being hit in the chest was made immediately. The sound was like a small roar. Itami would begin to walk towards that direction and upon inspection. It seemed he had hit a mountain lion. The kunai had pierced its stomach as blood began to leak out at a semi-fast rate. Itami would then begin to walk the same direction he was walking before.


"Keep moving..." Itami wouldsay as he continued to walk forwards.

As he sat and inhaled and just generally enjoyed his day, a small spark went off in his sensory field. A really small spark, I'm talking like one a scale of 1-10 a why the fuck am I even picking this up. Unfortunately, Maku had been through some stuff so this ambient chakra sensory was more habit than intentional. The signature was tiny, one that some may or may not have missed. None the less it was there and it was worth investigating.

Whispering to the girl, she moved over and looked out the window. She held out four fingers to indicate how many there were. Faint voices could be heard, but nothing he could make out. Clicking his tongue he gave one last command. For the girl it would be rather unfortunate, but he thought she'd probably survive the fall with minimal, to moderate maiming. Her vision changed to reflect her fears before she leaped from the window screaming. She would fall and hit the ground with a large amount of noise, making it painfully obvious to the genin team.

Moving his neck side to side he get and heard the satisfying pops and clicks associated. Reaching up, he pulled down the mask to cover his face, as his eyes swirled to their eternal state. His lips danced into a smile. The mental barricades he had placed on all the guards where a pretty good start. He doubted any of them would break his genjutsu to get information from them. Instead they would get an injured girl and a bunch of chaos from the others.

His left hand fiddled with his cufflinks, causing his normally white robes to shift colors. The akatsuki signature look would now be upon him, however unlike regular clothes the clouds would be slowly drifting around the fabric. In constant motion just for appearance sake.

Lifting the mask slightly he downed the rest of the glass setting it back on the desk. He'd give them a second, hopefully to investigate. Then it was time to play.

As they were travelling Senshi kept a sharp eye out for anyone following them or even any traps that may be in their way. His constant use of the chakra sensory technique today, and all the time since he had learned it was quickly making it an almost instinctive thing for him to do. Whne their jounin commander killed the panther Senshi simply raised an eyebrow. He had heard the creature moving as well but had categorized it as a non threat based on the weight of its foot steps. That was probably something he should not have done and he took himself to task mentally for making such a fool hardy mistake.
 
Just because the creature hadn’t sounded like it weighed a lot meant nothing. Max was younger and much lighter than even the panther and Senshi knew from experience training with the blond genin that he was just as lethal as many adults. He would not be making the same mistake again, and he resolved to put himself through more intense training after this mission to ensure that. They continued to travel and Senshi recognized their route and the black forest as they entered it. As the reset of the team entered the clearing Senshi had been traveling just far enough behind Reizo and Max so that when Reizo was foolhardily approaching the outpost so close, Senshi had just barely left the tree line.
 
Senshi wanted to say something to Reizo, but he had an ominous feeling much like the rest of his group. It was too silent, and though Senshi had not been expecting a lot of shinobi to greet them he had at least expected to see those that they would be relieving and taking over for. Before Senshi’s thoughts could continue on to create scenarios for the oddly quiet and seemingly unoccupied area he heard the scream and saw the female shinobi jumping. He immediately reacted by back tracking until he was hidden within the shadows of the forest again. He was good with his ranged weapons and figured that the element of surprise would be better.
 
It was entirely possible that the previous team on this mission was testing them since they were a Genin team, but Senshi wasn’t going to bet on that. Not after his earlier mistake, he was going to consider this an invasion. Someone had taken over one of Kumogakure’s sentry outposts and they would have to deal with it. This meant that Senshi should remain hidden since he was already far enough away from his team that if someone attacked he wouldn’t be able to close the distance and support them fast enough. Once he was back within the confines of the trees hidden among the shadows still using his chakra suppression to hide his signature he began to move as stealthily as possible so that he would be off to the side instead of so far back.
 

He was setting himself up to flank whomever their enemy was. His ears were focused on listening for someone moving to attack him or his team, or any orders that Itami-taichou would call out to them. His hands hovered near his kunai and shuriken weapons pouches ready to send weapons flying towards their opponent. He could also move his arms up fast enough to his hips to draw his tanto’s if he needed to do that instead. He knew that he was operating a good distance from his team, that meant whomever their enemy was could also have allies who were doing the same thing Senshi was. He trusted in his stealth training that he wouldn’t make any noises as he slunk around the forest slowly. He always kept his team in view as he moved waiting to see if anyone would appear or attack.

 

Word Cout: 634
 TWCL 2688

Reizo was awaiting further direction from his sensei and the rest of his team as to how to proceed into the outpost, knowing that something dangerous was likely housed inside. There could've always been an innocuous reason as to why the previous defending squad wasn't present, but the very air in the area felt eerie, and Reizo assumed the worst. A valuable outpost such as this would never be unguarded and unoccupied. When the directions didn't come however, Reizo figured it was a silent attempt to tell him to back the fuck up and group together with his team.

He had just about turned to head back to the forest where his team was hiding when a shrill shriek rang out through the air, followed by a sudden thud. Reizo looked to his right at the bedraggled woman groaning only 30 feet away. Reizo's first instinct was to rush over and help her, but he knew that it could very well be a trap. He didn't have the time to weight the decision in his head, and so he went with his intuition and rushed over to help the woman despite the potential danger it might've held. If a fellow ninja of Kumogakure needed help, he would be there to help that person.

She didn't seem to be too injured, but Reizo gave her some basic medical care anyway, healing up the bruises caused from her fall. After performing the hand signs of Boar -> Rat -> Snake, Reizo's hands glowed a faint green color with medical ninjutsu chakra (5 Power, 328 / 333 AP). He noticed something was clearly wrong with her pupils and her heartbeat, but it wasn't something Reizo was capable of healing. It wasn't too perceptible, but something certainly felt off about her. Reizo didn't have the experience to recognize it as a Genjutsu. Afraid of what else might be going on inside the outpost, Reizo retreated back to his team. Although he wanted to take the woman with him to ensure she recovered, he knew she could prove to be a huge liability, so he simply propped her up against a wall while she recovered, and headed back to his team to devise a plan with the others. "There is definitely someone or something inside the outpost. Almost certainly hostile. That woman was under the affects of some drug or jutsu, almost like a spell. She didn't seem like a normal person, and she certainly didn't seem like a shinobi, despite the fact that her clothing and equipment confirm her to be one. I think we need to attack in a coordinated and likely stealthy or deceptive fashion. I get the feeling that whatever it is is very dangerous to take the outpost on its own. If it's an enemy shinobi, he or she knows that we're here, or at the very least that I was approaching. That woman seems like she was set up to be a message to keep out. Do we have some sort of plan, Sensei?" Reizo would ask Itami.

Reizo looked around a bit, and only just noticed that Senshi was missing. What could he be up to? Reizo had a puzzled look on his face, indicating that he had noticed the other Genin's absence, but didn't bother asking about it as he figured it would be rhetorical. Reizo eagerly awaited the response of his sensei or maybe Max as to how they would get inside the outpost and tackle whatever lay waiting inside.

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584 + 1434 = 2018 words

Jutsu Used:
Basic Medical Ninjutsu Level 1 (E-rank)

Something was verynwrong here. Max could just feel it in his bones. Not saying a word, he watches as Reizo had looked around in confusion. Maybe the youth had just been being paranoid. Maybe this was all just his imagination playing tricks on him. Taking in a deep breath, Max would begin to try and clam himself.
 
Itami had seemed relaxed and calm. He ordered the team to keep moving forward as if nothing had been wrong. Max would begin to obey his commander, at least until a scream had halted his progress. A woman could be seen leaping from the window, a harsh *THUD* the only sound that could be heard after the shriek. Reizo was closest, and so he was the first to respond. From a distance Max could barely make out what he had been doing, but he managed to recognize the hand seals for some basic first aid.
 
Reizo returns to the team informing them of what he had just witnessed. A kunoichi had randomly decided to jump from the window, and her eyes had looked as if she were drugged? Well that would be no good, and this event only supported the fact that something was indeed amiss here. Who could manage such a thing?
 
Max’s distraction on Reizo and his report would make him lose track of where Senshi had gone, as the boy was in the back behind the rest of the team and now had been missing. Maybe Senshi was scouting the area for any enemies, or maybe Senshi had instinctively went into a stealthy position to better prepare for whatever is coming.
 
“Well, we don’t have a lot of information to go on. We don’t know their numbers, nor do we know their capabilities. We don’t know how long they have been here to prepare for the counterstrike from Kumo, so we don’t know if they have the area trapped or rigged. We do know that they managed to take a Kumogakure outpost, and we do know that they are aware that we have come. Well, if they are not aware that was the most perfectly timed coincidental jump I’ve ever seen.” Max would whisper, trying to keep his eyes on the outpost, hoping to glean any more information he can.
 

He would pause his words now, looking to Itami for orders on how to proceed. He was their commander, and he had been the most experienced on the team.


WC:409

As Itami and his team was heading towards the outpost, Itami was always on his guard even though he seemed as if he wasn't. As they were approaching the outpost... they suddenly  heard a noise of a woman screaming. It was a loud thump that could be heard from a good distance. Itami saw the girl laying on the ground, Itami immediately looked at the window that she was thrown out of. What could have happened? Itami saw Reizo rush to the scene immediately as Senshi began to flee the scene. Itami knew he wasn't the type to run, so he assumed he went to take cover and watch from a distance. Which was a good idea to scope the area before anything happened. The team seemed a bit startled, seeing this situation catching them off guard. Itami would then move next to Reizo to inspect the girl. 

Itami would get on one knee as he inspected the girl. She had minor wounds, nothing life threatening. Judging by her wounds and in the places they were in. It seemed the wounds corresponded with the body parts that slammed into the ground from her fall. So those wounds must have been caused by her fall. Which means she probably wasn't in combat or maybe didn't have enough strength to pick a fight with the enemy. As Itami took another look at the window and the distance from the window to the ground. A fall like that shouldn't have cause someone to just land like this. This female is a shinobi, even these three would be able to catch themselves or at least do a proper landing from a fall like that. Which means her body wasn't acting accordingly or it was probably weak. But since there aren't really any scars from a battle and her wounds seem to only be from the fall. She must have been weakened somehow.

Reizo spoke to Itami, saying she looked drugged or affected by some type of jutsu. So Itami began to investigate more into it. Looking at her pupils and her blank facial expression. Itami could only assume one thing.. genjutsu. Could it have been that she was being somehow controlled or something or was she weakened and this was her only was to escape? Either way, the culprit must be still up there just waiting. As Itami listened to Max speak, maybe this could have been planned. But there's no point in thinking about how this happened. Its time to focus on how we will handle this. Hoping this was going to be an easy day, so much for that.

"Genjutsu.. somehow she wasn't herself. Could be mind control or something of that sort. Other than the wounds from her fall, there seems to be no other signs of her engaging in battle. And from a fall like that, even genin like you would be able to easily do a appropriate landing. The culprit must have either weakened her to the point she used the window as an escape route, knowing her wounds were going to be minor. Or the culprit, took control over her and made her jump out." Itami would say. Those were his two theories for right now. But why would the culprit tell her to jump out, knowing she wouldn't receive much damage from that fall. If they were really looking to take down the village, she most likely would have been dead or almost in a critical state. So is this person just doing this for his amusement? Itami was now taking action.

"Create some distance and watch from a far. Make sure no one goes in or out... go." Itami would say to the team. They would know what that means very soon. Itami would then do the hand seals Bird → Rat → Ox → Monkey → Rat → Snake to perform rain tiger at will. Causing heavy rain to pour from the sky. This way, the rain would catch anyone trying to enter or escape the outpost. He would then make the tiger hand seal and use the hidden mist jutsu. Causing mist to spread at a speed of 185. The mist would also enter through the window that the woman was thrown out of. Causing that room to be filled with mist as well. But Itami would only allow the mist to cover this area of the outpost. he would make sure the mist wouldn't spread out to where his genin would be caught inside the mist too. From their view, the should be able to see this area of the outpost covered in a dense mist. Itami would wait till his team is in position before he makes a move.

600 - (40 Rain tiger) - (10 Hidden mist) = 550 ap

(My TWC: 1635)

Boring.......that was what Maku thought of the opening move by the shinobi.  By this point he had sensed one runt, some body had done some trash medical jutsu, probably some bleeding heart for the scrub lord Youka who apperantly was such a scrub he didn't even go by his real name anymore, and now someone with a little bit of mustard in their sandwich had decided to use two of Maku's least favorite jutsu.  He watched as the rain started to fall.......then he blew smoke from the still lit smoking object of mysterious origins into the mist.

Of course his real smoke was over powered by the chakra version, but whatever.  It was meant to be for dramatic effect.  Walking out of the room the mask was shifted as to cover the upper potion of his face, allow him to smoke, and to not run head first into walls.  Moving through the out post he made it to the mess hall in very quick succession.  The surrounding individuals were in varying levels of hypnosis type effects doing various things as described on page one.

Clicking his teeth he watched as all the shinobi snapped to attention.  Giving a bird whistle, which really meant nothing just like the clicking honestly they were just gestures for effect because Maku liked that kind of shit all this was done with his own chakra and he easily could have done the same thing while eating an enchilada, the men and women started out of the building.  There were 7 guards.  3 of them had medium sized chakra signatures, 2 weak ones, and two others had nearly none to be recognized given their civilian guard status.  

They would rush past Maku, through the outpost and into the mist.  Blindly running towards the group which Maku had a fairly good idea of where they were at this point.  Having sensed the big one from his jutsu, the original little, and the second little who had done some trash med on the woman.  The mist messed with his senses a bit, but unless they just ran about it was still a good idea.

All of the guards would be screaming like lunatics.  Their verbiage was that of a cult, exclaiming the praises of Slaanesh.  Hey if Youka could come up with a clearly stolen name to make himself sound "cool" Maku was down for that shit too.  The mind lackies would continue to sprout praise to this mysterious slaanesh, which involved some seriously foul language about adult material that children really should not be privy to, so I won't say them, keeping my words from having their way with y'alls virgin eyes.

They would close the distance quickly and attempt to tackle anyone they ran into.  Then they would attempt to do the foul things they shouted about.  Overall, it was a really weird scenario, which gave Maku great joy.  He loved weird stuff like this.  

As for our protagonist, he would take another deep breath and set the mysterious smoking material down.  Propping up a chair he had a seat.  The smoke twirling around him.  He fixed his mask to be on just right, before sending out black flames from his eyes.  The flame moved this way and that at a speed of 125, scorching the air around him.  It would eat through the mist leaving the room clear, evaporating the water that it was made of easily overpowering it.  The fire then at his beckoning would move back to him, up his sleeve.  It rested against his body not burning his own equipment.  Giving the appearance that like the red clouds the black him of his robe moved.