A-Rank: Drop the turtles

Mon May 18, 2020 6:40 pm

Mission:

Arc and Rook Took the new mission that was posted on the boards. It was an A rank mission but for some reason it was labeled that genin could accomplish the task. Which meant one thing to Arc and actually since their minds worked in much the same way it occured to Rook as well. This mission was going to take forever. But Arc supposed that was a good thing because he would be able to help Rook get a bit stronger. It seemed that the jutsu of creating a whole new being had it’s limits. Rook didn’t have any knowledge of the jutsu Arc had learned. So Arc would have to teach him on the mission. It also seemed that while a copy of himself, Identical in every way, Rook seemed not to posses the affinities of a Hedatari clan member. Which was odd. Arc pondered a possibility that in a timeline or reality he might not have access to the abilities he had cherished since a young age. But that didn’t matter much right now.

The mission they were asked to do was on one of the other islands so he would have plenty of time to instruct Rook on the basic shinobi abilities.

“Alright Rook, First I’m going to teach you a technique called Substitution-” Arc started.

“A technique that trades places with another object allowing a ninja to deceive their opponent into a false sense of victory.” Rook finished. “It seems even though I have the same memories as you I still need to learn the actual technique.” He sounded sad.

That was a blast from the past for Arc. Hearing his own voice thick with emotions made him remember a bit of his humanity. He wondered why his memories weren’t conveying his own detachment to his new likeness. Arc sat and considered it for a moment before putting it aside for the time being.

“Alright first let's go over the hand seals. Show me that you are aware of the basics.” Arc walked next to the man who looked identical to himself. He would have to do something about that at some point. He would probably buy the two of them masks to hide their identity. Probably some new ninja gear too. Arc paid attention to Rook’s chakra as he started the hand seal routines that Arc had done when he was younger.

Rook put his hands together and began “Saru, Tatsu, Ne,Tori, Mi, Ushi, Inu, Uma, Tora, I, Hitsuji, U” As he did the exercise Arc was surprised that he built up a fair amount of chakra for a genin level ninja. Rook however didn’t seem as soundly built as Arcanis was. Perhaps he would grow differently than Arcanis and learn to be more proficient in other areas. Suddenly, Arc had flashes of what the future might be like with Rook mastering an entirely different art.

“Alright Rook, the seals for Substitution are:” Arc placed his hands together “Tora, I, Ushi, Inu, Mi” Arc performed the hand seal as He said their names. In a puff of smoke Arc replaced. Himself with a nearby garbage can. “Alright your turn.”

Rook Quickly did the Hand seals that were shown to him. Quickly and without hesitation or flaw. Arc was surprised and pleased. Rook substituted with the same can. It was a basic technique but one that would be extremely helpful in a pinch especially at Rooks current level.

“Good Nicely done. How did that feel?” Arc asked as they continued their way around the Island.

“It was pretty cool. There are a couple things I want to try out with it in my free time though. It seems a little clunky. We could work on that together. Your input would be valuable. I know that we have a lot of the same memories but as you must know since I stepped out of the rift I have been making my own unique thoughts.”

Arc nodded he was sure that they would grow now less like two halves of the same thing but more as two brothers with the same upbringing. From here on they would separate and become their own person. “Of course, but lets deal with that later. Now you can tell with the substitution Jutsu you are replacing an object near you but that object can’t be too big or too small for the jutsu to work. That's why I used the garbage can. Logs work well and in a pinch you can swap with a bunch of things even…” Arc swiftly made the hand seals and swapped with Rook himself. “We can actually perform this jutsu together. If you should get into a pinch. You can switch with me and I’ll help you out.”

Rook nodded and used the jutsu to swap with Arc to see how it was done..

“Next thing is to show you a way of controlling your chakra in such a manner to allow you to walk up walls. Pretty basic chakra control jutsu. There aren’t any hand seals, it's just finely controlling your chakra.”

Arc Stopped at a wall they had come to. It was a path that arc was taking to their destination in order to train a bit. He placed his foot on the wall and began to walk up the wall normally. As he was nearing the top Rook flashed past him landing at the top of the wall at the same time Arc did. Arc said nothing and just smiled. This had to be the version of himself that was good at these kinds of jutsu.

“The next part of this jutsu is harder. It relies on a subtle ever changing flow of chakra.”

“Water walking right?” Rook replied as they turned the next corner.

“I see you remember that training as well? Like walking up a surface walking on water doesn’t require hand signs. It is just chakra control. Think about it as a method of dispersing your chakra into the water to keep your foot on top of it.”

Rook seemed pretty relaxed about the jutsu but Arc knew it wasn’t a walk in the park. Arc chuckled. No, the water walking technique was something that took practice and muscle memory, not just regular memory. As rook stepped into the water at first the water was blasted away by the force of his chakra in his feet. Stepping down into the sand the water flowed back over his feet. Arc smile and sat in the shade of a nearby tree until he was summoned to help.

Rook tried again and again finally finding an equilibrium point. He stepped his first step on top of the water. As he lifted his foot for another step however his first foot sank. “I see, so it’s not just a constant amount of chakra it is a regulated amount of chakra. If I put more pressure it needs more chakra.” Rook slowly but surely was able to find his footing, all by himself. He walked and then tried running a bit and jumping. He finally was able to learn how to properly adjust the chakra of his feet to the water. He even lowered his head and stood up on his hands focusing his chakra there to keep from slipping into the water.

“Good” Arc commented from his seated position.”Now go grab some wood for a fire. It's getting late and we will continue tomorrow.” As rook went to grab firewood, Arc set up a basic camp. They weren’t far from the village but Arc felt it would be a good time to take a break from the village life and enjoy sleeping outside for once. It was something that a ninja had to do on missions out of the country so they might as well get used to it. “Tomorrow we will cross to the other island where our mission target is. And we will be crossing on the water. So get some rest.”

Arc gazed over the water as the sun set. He couldn’t see much with the thick fog surrounding everything but he could feel his target out there gazing back over the water.

______________

The next morning the two got up at dawn and without a word cleaned their camp and headed out at a quick pace over the water. They didn’t move too fast that way Rook could keep up. They moved steadily in a single direction through the fog. It didn’t take long to cover the distance to the next island. The village had more houses and businesses over on this island as well however there was a large area of undisturbed nature that allowed for the indiginous turtle population to thrive. But the mission briefing had said there were poachers trying to steal the turtles.

They stopped in town first. Even though the mission briefing laid out a lot of the details, there wasn’t much to go on the general location of the thieves or their hideout. But Arc was sure one of the Kiri citizens on this side would know something. He and Rook split up to ask various shop owners and residents if they had seen anything.

Arcanis headed into the residential area and began to canvas the sector while Rook took to the businesses and fisheries out on that side of town. Arc had spoken to many people without getting much info. When he heard a voice quiet at first then sudden and clear as if it was right next to him. “Arcanis I need help” It was Rook. and the voice was urgent. Arc blitzed out of where he was and followed Rooks chakra signature. It was easy to detect because it was Arcanis’s own chakra signature. It was almost like Arc could sense where Rook was all the time. Without a good visual though, the arc couldn’t just teleport to him. So he chose to run top speed in that direction. He arrived at a pretty abandoned fishery but he saw through one of the windows that Rook was surrounded by 3 big looking guys. As Arc watched one man wound up and swung at his body. Arc quickly utilized the substitution technique he had taught Rook the other day. Replacing Roof, Arc caught the man's hand with his own. The man would surely be surprised with the reflexes and composure of the young man he was just beating on. Since Arc and Rook often wore the same clothes for this very reason it would look to these men as if Rook had suddenly gotten a big boost to his power level.

Arc kicked the one who he was holding hands with right in the gut hard enough to throw the man into the second who was standing a little behind him. The third had tried to run when he saw Arc, well he saw Rook standing in the doorway. The man froze. Arc slipped up from behind and laid the blunt side of his katana on the man's shoulder so the man could see the blade right next to his face.

“Sorry but I am afraid you are going to have to give up your friends. I can tell your operation isn’t being run out of this building so you must have another base of operations. So you are going to take me there.” Rook had since disappeared. Good. it gave the illusion of Arc being ridiculously fast...actually Arc was ridiculously fast but this man would now be aware of the fact. He tied the man up and led him to the edge of the city. “So I guess we can speak telepathically” Arc thought in the general direction of the genin who was shadowing them.

“Yeah I suppose we can. Does that mean you can give me more training? I know there is still a lot to learn but I honestly really hated being at those guys mercy. I wish our experience in dealing with situations had been passed on.” Rook was still following at a short distance. Arc still wasn’t sure what had been passed on to his clone then they had met each other. The fact of the matter was he didn’t actually know much about Rooks anatomy or skills yet. He would have to promote his growth in any way possible.

“Okay the next technique that all genin should know is the Transformation technique. That allows the user to change their visual form to go undetected. So while we are traveling to the camp practice changing your form. Try to make yourself look like one of the attackers we fought before. That way you can move around the camp freely. The hand seals are Inu, I, Hitsuji”

Rook behind a nearby rock did his handsels swiftly. Visualizing one of the men, the one that had gone to punch him before Arc stepped in, rook tried to take his shape. When the jutsu activated Rook was surprised to again get the jutsu to work on his first try. The ninjutsu of the beginning level just worked and made sense to him.

Arc made it to the encampment where the man led them. Rook was close behind approaching arc and the bound man as arc laid a blow on the mans neck that knocked him out. Rook stepped up next to Arc and Arc shifted the unconscious man into some bushes. Doing his own seals Arc transformed into the man they had just stashed and the 2 of them walked calmly into the encampment

The encampment was a lot bigger than Arc expected. And because of this they needed to play it cool because the group of poachers were much bigger than they expected. “Ok rook we don’t want to be caught we don’t know if these guys might have ninja on retainer. Whenever you take someone out, hide them and change your disguise to them. That way we know we won’t be walking into anybody with their face on. Be silent and keep in touch.” Arc spoke directly into Rooks mind. Rook nodded. “And before you go the last jutsu you should practice is the Clone jutsu. The clones aren’t physical but they mirror your actions so you can use them as a distraction. The hand seals are Hitsuji, Mi, Tora” With that Arc and Rook stepped into the camp. Arc went right and Rook went left. Moving along the perimeter Arc saw that this was actually a major operation. It was a surprise that they were able to keep it a secret for so long. There were many huts and storage containers, a main building that looked like it could be erected and torn down if need be.

Arc skirted around a pile of crates and slipped into one of the side buildings. Arc knew because of the layout of the camp this building probably wasn’t the main command building. That was likely the teardownable building in the middle. Inside he confirmed his suspicions as he found many, many cages with turtles in them. This was the poachers camp alright.

A slight noise caught Arcanis’ attention. The other side of the building a door opened and 2 men carrying another cage with a turtle in it enter the room. Arcanis leapt up and used the surface walking technique that he had demonstrated for Rook, to cling to the ceiling. Moving closer to the two men he could hear their conversation.

“Look man all I’m saying is that we have been here for a couple weeks. If we stay too long we might get found out. And the guys around here don’t take prisoners.”

“Just shut up and keep your head down. The boss has it covered. If anything goes down he has Him to deal with it.”

The first man to speak seemed to have a little more sense. So Arc dropped down on the second guy, knocking him out and grabbing the first. The first man opened his mouth to scream but found a kunai resting gently on his tongue. “Shh Shh Shh. I don’t have time for whimpering. I also don’t have time for lies. Please don’t waste my time.” Arc slide the kunai back into his pouce and the man started to quietly whimper. “Hey what did I just say?”

The man stopped whimpering knowing that he could easily be killed if he didn’t cooperate. “Okay question one, who is running the joint, question 2 who is the “Him” your friend was talking about and question 3” Arcanis opened the mans wallet which he had lifted when he stuck his kunai in the guys mouth. “Do you want your lovely family to know that they are going to die because their papa didn’t cooperate?”

“Please no please I’ll cooperate please.” the mans voice would drop to a gag as arc reached out and grabbed his throat.

“You are being far too loud for someone who is cooperating. You also seem to be very slow at answering my questions.” Arc didn’t seem to have a problem slipping back into his old interrogation ways. He released the man and pointed at him sternly.

“The boss’s name is Giovani. He isn’t on site though he is the money of the operation. He is from Konohagakure. He just funds the project. The man on site who is running the joint is a military man named Surge. He's a hardass who is all business but as strong as he is they hired a ninja to protect the camp. He doesn’t speak and never is spoken to. But he is big. You don’t stand a chance. If I were you I’d get out of here…”

Arc had heard enough with a swift chop the man was a crumpled mess on the floor. Arc tideid the area. Bound and hid the unconsious men and moved the turtle cage to a less conspicuous position. He would have to come back and release the turtles later but it looks like he had to deal with a couple things first

“Rook…”

_______________

Rook was moving around the complex. Heading left from the entrance led him into the crew quarters. He moved around men as they lounged or shaved or whatever. He grunted acknowledgment at a couple of the men. He had changed his voice to sound like the guy who had caught him snooping earlier. He had waved off an offer to play card and a drink with a simple, “Boss needs me” He moved passed the men and over what looked like the main building in the center. A lot of the crates had weapons in them. Swords, kunai, nets for the turtles, wire, some explosive tags. Rook swiped one, and kept moving. Moving around to the main building there was a bit of a commotion at the entrance to the camp. A couple men were shouting, Rook stepped into the command center and saw about 7 guys look up from around a table. One of the guys though was sitting with his feet up smoking a cigar. He had short spikey yellow hair and spoke with a weird accent when he asked. “The fuck you want?”

Quick on his toes Rook said in the man's voice. “Sir there was a situation in town and a couple guys found Hitashi tied up in the bushes outside of camp.” The other 6 men scrambled leaving the room. As the man smoking the cigar put it out.

“You know I want to thank you for bringing this to my attention.” The man sauntered to the door. “You see I know every man on this site.”

Rook knew the man was onto him even before the sound of the lock on the door clicked into place.

“And I didn’t hire anyone named Hitashi.” Suddenly the man drew and threw a large sharp knife from his side sheath, straight at Rooks head. Rook dodged the knife but the stress made his disguise disappear in a puff of smoke. Before the smoke cleared through Rook whirled around and snatched the knife from the wall behind him. Suddenly the man was on him though he grabbed the ninja by the back of his neck and lifted him up off the floor.

“Rook, we have trouble,” he heard Arc say in his mind.

“I have my own trouble to deal with.” came the response. Rook used the wall in front of him to run up with his new jutsu. He ended up on the ceiling after the man had to let go from the sudden change in the angle of his neck. It was time to get creative. Using the clone technique Rook split into 3 different clone, one being his actual body. He then focused his chakra into his feet and used it to start rapidly bouncing around the room. He found an opportunity to get behind the man and thrust the man's own knife into his back. Rook twisted and then yanked the blade free. He needed it if he ran into any more trouble as he escaped. He didn’t have any other weapons. Without checking to see if it was good enough Rook used the moment of distraction to open the door and escape. Out of the frying pan…

And into the fire. Outside stood a mountain of a man. The rest of the cam seemed to be deserted except for this man, who Rook was starting to think was an actual ninja. The arms of this brick house of a man were so large the massive forearm bracers he wore were the sise of barrels. His muscles looked like a carefully arranged pile of boulders. ButAarc was here. And so far the man was content with paying attention to Arc. Rook decided to hide behind some nearby crates.

The katana in Arcanis’ hands felt like an old friend. The ninja in front of him seemed to have put all of his training into building his massive muscles. That and growing a few extra feet. Arc knew he had to be careful if he didn’t want to die. “How are we looking? Think you can manage a distraction?”

“I’m already on it.” With that a sudden barrage of kunai flew out of an area behind the monstrous man and hit him with many of the attacks littering the ground around him with the attacks that had missed. The man seemed fairly un phased however but it did take his attention away from Arcanis. Arc used the brief moment to dash by slashing the man's hamstrings dropping him to his knees. He seemed very surprised but not as surprised as when Arcanis was clear of the area. The whole area lit up as the tags attached to the kunai all activated. The resulting explosion threw the massive guy 20 meter outside of the camp.

Arc followed up and had bound all the perpetrators. The leader and the ninja unfortunately didn’t survive the attacks that rook had made. However Arc had some special knowledge that he could substitute in case he was asked about it. Giovani. Arc wondered if he would show up in the future. Didn’t matter for the time being they needed to release the turtles and get all the poachers here to kiri interrogation.

When that was done Arc and Rook walked to the mission center to turn in the mission.

“You did a good job today rook. You learned to utilize the new jutsu you learned in battle and ended up being very helpful, no you were essential to this mission. I look forward to seeing where you will be able to take this. Have you thought about what kind of jutsu you might want to be the best at?”

Rook didn’t really understand the question. He thought about it for a long time. “Well Iguess I want to be the best at all of them.”

Arc chuckled but deep down he wondered if that was Rooks true feelings or if he had just repeated what Arc’s own feelings were. He used to think that way. Master everything and be the best at everything. Arc wondered what else he might have brought back from the past with Rook.

[Exit]

Arc 2018 words
2522 words with +25% max stat bonus
2500 words for Sacred Spear
22 words toward False Surroundings

Rook 2017 words
10 stats all in chakra
Main spec changing to ninjutsu first time switching 2000 words
17 words toward Fire Element

Rook Marked by Arc’s Mark Seal

Appropriate Mission Rewards

Tue May 26, 2020 1:58 pm

Approved for appropriate rewards

A-Rank: Drop the turtles

A-Rank: Drop the turtles

Re: A-Rank: Drop the turtles