Operation: "Principle" Confrontation and Climax [P

Fri May 12, 2017 10:42 pm

Hanzo kneels to Shiro’s left. The foliage beneath his feet and knees ruffles as he descends and settles. His eyes are focused forward as are Shiro’s. Atsuko sits atop both of her knees with her hands upon her thighs. Shiro more so squats with his right knee at the same level as his heel and his left foot flat upon the ground. His left arm rests upon his left knee and his right hand is upon his knee. The three of them are low behind a large bush which can be peered through for some measure of visibility. While Shiro and Atsuko may not be able to see much, Hanzo is a sensory type ninja and is able to determine the position of what it is that they have their sights set upon. This is the reason which Shiro designated him to the soul protection of Atsuko on this mission.

    The sun descends into the horizon, giving the sky an orange tint in one direction and a pink tint in another. Shadows cast by trees and also by the object the team is observing are stretched long by the angle of the sun. Grass sways in the wind. Every so often, the wind picks up enough to cause the bush the team stations itself behind to rustle.

    Contrary to Shiro’s prediction, the team is not actually within the ruins of Tengakure. Instead, they are currently a mile and a half out from that area. The broken structures seen far in the distance are Tengakure’s ruins.

    Shiro talks to himself in his head. There is quiet in the area as the team awaits Hanzo’s decision on this most stealthy of circumstances. “I thought that we would find Genri somewhere within Tengakure. Then again, they are ruins, a known location. I can see why Genri would decide to place himself near that symbol rather than within it. Did he predict my coming to find him? Has his plan been to wait this far out from Tengakure’s ruins, sense me, and leave? Or upon sensing my presence, would he confront me? Would he kill me or get me to join him? Would I die for refusing? Could all of this have happened if we had entered Tengakure on this mission?”

    Atsuko’s left hand comes to rest upon Shiro’s right hand which is upon his right knee. Shiro’s breathing must have changed to reflect his thoughts because the feeling of her hand is a gentle comforting one as if she is telling him to calm down. No words are exchanged as the team finds themselves within the vicinity of their target. To make a sound may mean giving up their position. The element of surprise must be kept.

Shiro heeds the hand’s advice. “She’s right. I’m asking myself too many questions. Remember what you said in Iwagakure, Shiro. Quick, seamless, no troubles.”

Hanzo rises slowly and silently. In his hands is a wooden tube which seems no more than two centimeters in diameter and is hollow containing a small dart. Standing, Hanzo lines up the tube with his mouth, takes a deep breath inward, and holds this breath. Following, the tube is moved onto his lips and the breath he holds is quickly and powerfully released through the wooden pipe. The small dart within then proceeds forward at a high speed which is not so fast that Shiro cannot track it but as fast as possible for this particular purpose.

Before elaborating upon the events that occur directly after the dart leaves the wooden tube, some context is necessary. Shiro, Atsuko, and Hanzo have located Genri Koutaishi a mile and a half away from Tengakure’s ruins. What is before them about fifteen meters ahead is a tent. In the same direction is the setting sun. Within the tent, the team deduces, is Genri. His shadow can be seen projected onto the side of the tent by the sun’s light and sitting upon the grass likely with his back to the direction of the group. Also, Shiro has confirmed that this chakra signature belongs to his old master. This is the target of the group’s mission.

The tent itself is set up within an area of deep forest across from an open field in front of the team’s current position. The field separating the group from the tent is some seven meters wide so Genri is 8 meters within the forest. Their own side of trees, bushes, and other plants is not as thickly populated as the other side housing the target’s tent. Within the tent, the shadow moves but never to face them. The group is able to pick out certain actions and determined that Genri is enjoying a meal at the moment. Lucky enough to have come across his tent at this time, Shiro decides to take advantage of Genri’s being partially distracted.

As for the actions that each group member has been engaged in up until this crucial moment, they are as follows: Hanzo has scouted the immediate area for traps or suspicious items. Finding nothing of this sort, he returns to Shiro and reports that the area is clean for a confrontation. Shiro has remained behind their bush, monitoring their target for suspicious movements or developments of the sort. Atsuko has been emotional support as demonstrated by her unspoken advice to Shiro in preparation for the next portion of the team’s task.

Back to the speeding dart. It is a tranquilizer dart potent enough to sleep a large moose. The less-than-two-centimeters wide dart travels forward towards the shadow aimed for Genri’s lower back neck. Events seem to slow to a the tempo of a heart beat as Shiro watches intently at the shadow and its actions. Motion becomes sluggish as the shadow’s right hand moves to its right side and its body turns ninety degrees. It does not take long for Shiro to realize the team’s mistake.

Almost immediately after Hanzo fires the dart, Shiro speaks, knowing what will happen in the next few seconds simply be watching Genri’s shadow move in the way that it does. “Positions.” Then the black figure does just as Shiro has predicted, using its right hand to intercept the dart just after it pierces the wall of the tent. The dart is swiftly caught. At this same time, Shiro speaks once more before leaping backward and to his left. “We’re fighting.”

Hanzo lifts a fist and shows Shiro his thumb, acknowledging his words. Atsuko turns back and watches as Shiro moves towards the leftward side of their forest border. His body stands between two trees of regular thickness and is open to be seen. The shadow which Shiro continues to concentrate on makes no movement aside from turning its head to examine the dart that was caught. The body then slowly rises and bends forward while exiting the tan cloth tent.

Laying his eyes upon Genri, Shiro takes a deep breath in preparation for their first words to each other after three years. The length of time is not what makes this meeting so charged with tension. The atmosphere is set by the knowledge of where the two left off last time they were in each other’s presence. Within Shiro’s mind, the prevailing feeling is neither fear nor anger nor a combination of the two; rather, a fragile calm sets over him.

Genri stands and up straight and turns towards the direction from which the dart came. In this direction he can see Shiro who is not very far to the left of the dart’s point of origin. Genri notices this slight difference in positioning but sees neither Hanzo nor Atsuko behind the bush to Shiro’s right. He turns completely to face Shiro and lets his arms rest at his sides. With the former master and student staring at each other from across a grassy plain, Genri speaks first, his face reflecting the nostalgia he feels at the sight in front of him.

“Taiyo... how is Hoshigakure treating you?” The dart in his hand is dropped into the grass at his feet. As Genri speaks, he moves forward until he stands just beyond the trees and enters into the field. Shiro does the same before responding.

“Well. I’m well. Umm… look, I don’t want to waste time.” Shiro is interrupted.

“Did they send you to find me?” Genri asks, smiling a sincere smile. Shiro can tell that he is simply happy to see his face again.

“They did. We’re going back to Hoshigakure.”

“You’re going back to Hoshigakure. I’m going to prison.”

“Well yeah… yeah. Look, I can umm… I’ll do what I can to ease their ruling.”

“You don’t understand the position we’re in, Taiyo. Life on the run like this has not been pleasant and I don’t want to live it any longer. On the other hand, life in prison is not any more favorable. But these are my only two options.”

Shiro nods and responds to show his understanding. “Ok.”

“Now, they must have instructed you to use force if necessary, correct? I won’t go willingly.”

“Genri, sensei, I don’t want to fight you. We can shorten your sentence -”

“We?” Genri cuts Shiro short and looks into space for a moment, eyeing neither Shiro nor the ground nor any other particular location. Settling his focus again, Genri continues, pointing towards the bush to Shiro’s right side. “You brought comrades. Is one of them Atsuko?”

Shiro does not answer, working out what should happen now that hanzo and Atsuko have been found out. Then he responds. “Yes.” He turns over his shoulder. “Atsuko, Hanzo, you can rise.”

    Atsuko slowly stands and sighs. She looks at Genri with contempt. “His name is Shiro now.” She tells him, never lifting her death stare from him. Hanzo stands with the left side of his body in front of her.

    “My apologies. Shiro.” Genri corrects himself. “By now, you must have figured out why I took the actions that I did on the night that I fled the village. Why did I kill those priests? Why did I mislead you the way I did? Why did I ultimately try to kill you as well?” Genri’s questions are pointed towards Shiro for him to answer. He does so.

    “I know that the reason you did the things that you did was to benefit me in the long run. Maybe the priests had a message that you didn’t want me to hear. Maybe you misled me because you didn’t want me to face the harsh reality that, without my parents, I wouldn’t find an appropriate role model to look up to. You tried to become that role model. You wanted me to grow up to really be the facade that you put up so that I would be a morally sound individual with something to give to the world.” He pauses.

    “Good so far. You’re spot on. Keep going.” Genri encourages Shiro to continue.

    “Killing those priests meant securing my future, didn’t it? The less I knew about the social conflict between the village’s religious community and ninja forces, the better chance I had to grow into whatever beauty you saw in me.” Shiro pauses again, to think about what it is he should say next. There is so much swirling around in his head. “And I think that the things you did were admirable from a certain point of view. My growth and protecting that growth have really been your number one concern.”

    “All true.” Again, a sincere smile spreads across his face. At the same time, his eyes begin to water. Seeing that Shiro understands him must make him happy.

    “After I saw you kill those priests, you felt so sorry for me. You never wanted me to see through your exterior. Really, you have a hatred for Hoshigakure’s religious community. But it was always your intention to keep me from seeing that truth. In all honesty, there were other measures you could have taken to keep that social conflict from affecting me. Instead, to satiate your anger, you decided to murder those two people in cold blood. It’s just unfortunate that I was there to see it.”

    “So unnecessary. I can’t apologize enough for it.”

    “Yes, and you wanted to cut my suffering short by ending my life. I understand. The feeling of betrayal at that moment was so painful. I felt like Genri had died and someone else had taken his place. And I knew that I was a ninja just like you. I didn’t want to compare your actions to what I might do but it was unavoidable.”

    “The stars fell. That’s what I said you must have felt. The stars were Hoshigakure’s ninja. The birds they pierced were the villagers, religious or not. The blood would stain both of them, causing the star to lose its glow. That glow was beauty. I must have seemed so detestable to -”

    “I don’t want to talk about it any longer.” Shiro quickly stops Genri’s speaking. “I don’t want to relive that. I’ve forgiven you. The village may not feel the same way but I can make them pardon you… maybe.”

    “No, look, I’ll say it again. You don’t understand the position we’re in.” Genri removes three shuriken from one of his pockets. Shiro’s guard goes up but his mind is still trying to flush out the negative feelings which came with reminiscing about Genri’s actions. His reactions are too slow.

    Genri throws the shuriken at high speed and in a straight line. They travel across the field and are aimed directly for Atsuko’s neck. Her body is half covered by Hanzo’s own body. He simply steps to his left in order to stand in front of the path of the shuriken and deflect them with a kunai knife in his hand. The deflected shuriken fly off in different directions.

    Shiro saw the entire event occur and did not move a muscle. After the sound of clashing metal brings his body back into action, his eyes widen and his fist clench. The scene is accentuated by the wind blowing past Shiro’s body, causing the short sleeves of his thin red shirt underneath his Hoshigakure chuunin flak jacket to sway to his left. Previously turned to look at Atsuko and ensure that she is safe, he turns to face Genri.

    Before Shiro can speak, Genri does so. “Consider me to be resisting, Shiro. You will fight me or she will not return home. Let me see where you are now mentally. Please… don’t disappoint me.”

    “Is that what this is to you?” Shiro’s voice rises in volume. “You want to test my fortitude?”

    “I want to assure your morals.”

    “Well you’re going about it the wrong way.”

    “I don’t think that I am. Am I?” Genri’s question is a real question, he wants an answer. “Do you have romantic feelings for her? By my observations back then, I was sure that would blossom. Am I attacking the wrong person?”

    “You…” Shiro pauses to validate his thoughts. “You shouldn’t attack anyone. Especially not her!”

    “I am correct.” Is Genri’s response. He produces a kunai from his pocket, arming himself with it.

    Shiro’s anger flares. In the corner of his eye, he sees Atsuko move backward a small distance with Hanzo also backing up to protect her. In Shiro’s eyes, Atsuko would discern that he is losing his temper or that it is already lost. “The village wants you back dead or alive. If you prove to be a danger to Atsuko, then…” Shiro steels himself, confirming what he must have the resolve to do. “Then I will end up killing you here!” His voice chokes not with sadness but with blazing contempt.

    “That’s good. You should have the resolve to protect those you love.” Following these words, Genri charges forward. His target is the combined Hanzo and Atsuko. He plans to cut both of them down. As he charges forward, he materializes a katana long blade made of paper. The kunai in his hand is thrown in Shiro’s direction as a distraction. This is ignored by Shiro as he darts directly forward in order to intercept Genri.

    In front of Hanzo and Atsuko, Shiro extends multiple sharp bones from his body. One arm is moved to contact Genri’s blade and stop its advance with the grown bones. Another uses these bone blades to swipe at Genri’s mid-section. However, this second attempt fails when Genri stops short of his run and leaps backward into the center of the field, his paper blade still in his hand. Shiro retracts his own bone blades and runs forward at the same speed so that the two remain in front of each other.

    Now in the open field, the conflict picks up momentum. Genri’s blade work is masterful. However, Shiro does not need to concentrate on parrying his slashes as the bones coming from his body provide an adequate defense when he spins his body at a high speed. This spinning is meshed into his fighting, sometimes throwing punches in Genri’s direction and then going back to spinning. The fast offensive from Shiro causes Genri to further back himself up. There is now a short distance between the two.

    To Genri’s left and right, two clones materialize from spontaneous sparks in the area. They are made of static electricity and condense into identical clones of Genri. Both run directly towards Shiro as he stops spinning. He takes in the information before him and decides on a course of action which will protect Atsuko while allowing him to continue his offense against Genri. As quickly as possible, Shiro claps his hands together and places them onto the ground. From directly under him, a square shaped pillar rises in a diagonal direction away from Genri. The platform is five meters by five meters and grows to be tall enough to create an obstruction on the field which still allows Shiro to see Genri’s head but not the rest of his body. This is to assure that Genri does not replace himself with a lightning clone without Shiro’s knowing.

    Following the emergence of the rock pillar, Shiro continues to leap backward using the momentum from the rising earth. On his way backward, Shiro weaves five hand seals and blows a condensed ball of fire forward. This fire ball impacts the rock pillar and explodes with violent power. Chunks of rock fly in multiple directions. Shiro makes sure that he is directly in front of Hanzo and Atsuko before deflecting all of the rocks coming his way. He stands in one spot to clear all debris from coming into contact with the people who he vows to defend.

    Both lightning clones are dispersed as multiple rocks impact them. The smoke clears almost as quickly as it appeared but through it, three shuriken fly towards Shiro in a small area. All three are deflected when Shiro pulls out his spine and uses it as a whip to whack the shuriken out of the air in front of him. One of the shuriken is at a different height from the rest and succeeds in cutting into Shiro’s arm. Letting the spinal whip drop to the ground, dematerializing on the way, Shiro places his right hand upon his left arm where the shuriken is stuck in his muscle. The shuriken is removed and he begins to heal the wound through the use of basic medical ninjutsu.

Genri then stands seven meters away from Shiro, his face showing no emotion. Really, he has chosen a course which he will not move from. He wants so badly to make sure that Shiro has the right mindset before allowing him to strike him down. Genri no longer wishes to live but does insist on ensuring that Shiro has a meaningful future. By pitting himself against Shiro with Atsuko’s life in the balance, he forces his former student to show just how far he will go to protect those close to him.

Shiro prepares himself as Genri holds his paper katana at the ready. His stance implies the coming execution of an invested motion. This coming strike is meant to cut through Shiro in order to reach Atsuko. The palm of Genri’s left hand rests upon the back of the blade which is set at his left hip. His body is turned in the left direction as well while his eyes are locked upon Shiro’s direction.

Preparing to finish this fight, Shiro activates the first stage of his curse mark. Black makings spread across his skin and cover half of his body. He lifts his left hand and has the palm face forward. His right hand comes into a fist and is reeled back with power behind it. Both shinobi have their concentration on each other, all other simulations are blocked out.

And suddenly, Genri makes a move. He dashes forward at full speed towards Shiro who reacts by launching his fist straight towards his left hand. The resulting blast of air which moves outward in the shape of a tiger’s head is in Genri’s way. The two collide, the air quickly expanding with the force of Shiro’s punch. Genri is blown back and his body slams into a tree within view. Shiro jumps backward and Hanzo steps fully in front of Atsuko. With the two of their bodies as well as Shiro putting up a high level block, Atsuko is not affected by the incoming force.

Shiro moves forward towards Genri who is lying upon the ground. His instinct to protect Atsuko fades away, knowing that the threat has passed. He then arrives in front of Genri and kneels down. The tree which Genri had collided with is on the border between the open field and the dense forest. Shiro and Genri are on the edge of the field. Hanzo also moves to observe the two.

Genri first coughs blood. He lays with his head against the base of the tree and his back upon the ground. Attempting to speak some words of apology, Shiro is stopped short when Genri gives his thoughts first. “Don’t apologize. I threatened Atsuko’s life and you defended her well. That’s all I wanted to see from you.”

Shiro understands Genri’s reasoning and respects his wishes. In a way, Shiro feels bad for Genri because his actions were for good cause and yet this is what his life has become. “This suffering for wanting to see me grow to be a respectable person?” Shiro asks himself. He sheds a tear as Genri releases his last breath.

(3,767/3,767)
(8,356/10,000 towards mission completion)

[Exit]
[Claims: 642 words towards Dance of the Chrysanthemum (claiming with words from multiple threads)]

Sat May 13, 2017 3:00 am

Okay, that was a nice read, now onto the claims. Claims towards Mission and Dance of the Chrysanthemum are approved. Yin Healing and Dragon fire on the other hand...well, I'm afraid I just cannot approve those claims. Only 29 words described you using a fire release technique, not enough to justify the 1500 word claim towards Dragon Fire, same goes with the 18 words described healing yourself and the 1301 word claim towards Yin Healing.

Sat May 13, 2017 1:11 pm

Fixed claims

Sun May 14, 2017 9:22 am

Approved

Operation: "Principle" Confrontation and Climax [P

Operation: "Principle" Confrontation and Climax [P

Re: Operation: "Principle" Confrontation and Climax [P

Re: Operation: "Principle" Confrontation and Climax [P

Re: Operation: "Principle" Confrontation and Climax [P