Break Into the Temple

Mission:

You can always tell a cultist by the way they dress in their creepy robes with hoods. The Vulture of Hoshi had been watching for quite some time on the events at the entrance to the temple. There was plenty going on this night at the place and all of it strange. The strangest part so far being what the hell Akabayashi was even doing there.

In another instance of kidnapped in his sleep and taken to a mysterious place, the doctor found himself inexplicably drawn here with random information beamed into his head by aliens. He knew a couple things that he normally shouldn't. He had to enter that temple, he couldn't be seen doing it, and that there would be others brought along into this dream who would help him along the way. Why did he want to enter this temple though? Truthfully, the man just wanted a restful night of sleep which he knew now would not come to him.

The cultist showed their identification and said their weird greetings of praise lord Jashin. Whoever this Jashin guy was he had quite the number of fans based on the attendance at his temple. Some, people were turned away at the door apparently their praise wasn't enough for the death lord. Maybe, those dudes just weren't metal enough to hang out with the other edge lords inside.

Truthfully, it was a surprise Valen Akari hadn't shown up yet. An edge lord such as himself had to come here and sip tomato juice pretending it was blood on the frequent. Well, he likely would if he wasn't dead. This place screamed Dracula in the castle. The odd thunder and lightning being the only illumination of the area. The dead trees that hung as if about to snatch a person by the leg, and the coffins made of that dead wood with no markings outside of the symbol of Jashin. A circle with a triangle within. Hell even the guards were painted as skeletons. It was like a cult of cheesey movie cliches.

Akabayashi would step to the back of the huge temple? Castle? Whatever the place was to walk around the building even took time. It was surrounded by a black fence which gave the impression of pitchforks. Very metal place indeed. There were doors inside around the back and an open window which blew out the smell of baked goods. What cultists don't love a cookie? The doctor thought walking toward the smell. He could hear the baker speaking inside the window, so it wouldn't be a good point of entry. What the baker spoke about however was most strange apparently he had run out of toad eyes for the cake and needed a man named Fester to retrieve the lizard eyes instead. That sounded like the edge the lords inside needed, eyeballs in their cake.

Fester came outside through the window, but hadn't seen the Terumi who had settled down by some fowl smelling garbage in a corner. Why is he out here? Does he have to catch the lizards or some shit? As he thought about what Fester was doing the oaf started lifting rocks and grabbing the lizards which tried to flee from when their shelter was moved.

The man moved from place to place lifting rocks until meeting his quota and having enough squirming reptiles to mutilate inside. Once, the weird guy was inside the doctor would walk around the building some more. There were plenty of ways to get in. There was the basement door which was down a set of concrete stairs, a side door which had a lot of rooms nearby, then there was also the door into the back which was also by the kitchen.

Akabayashi assumed by the kitchen was likely the best. As he knew there were two people nearby, but they were distracted with baking. This seemed better than the corridor with multiple rooms where anyone could pop out at any moment. Even the basement was a large unknown as there was no indication where it would lead to. Besides most of the people here probably spent an abundance of their time in a basement, owned by their mothers.

Making his choice final the doctor would head back toward rear of the building and melt off the door handle using some acid sprayed from mouth. He would then push the door open and step inside ready to explore the place with whoever he knew was about to show up.

WC: 754/750

The wolf would come to, standing before a large temple that felt fairly ominous. He was starting to get really tired of waking up in strange places. He thought that with his transformation under control he wouldn't have to ever worry about stuff like that again. Yet here he was -yet again- waking up in an unfamiliar place and not knowing how he got there. It was.. infuriating. 

Still, he found the temple to be a rather strange sight. There were strange guards... well, not truly guards. They looked far more like priests than armed guards, their flowing dark robes bearing some sort of strange symbol that he wasn't entirely familiar with. Well, he might not have been familiar with what religious practice they participated in if it wasn't for the "Praise be Jashin!" That spouted out of their mouths every single time they interacted with any of the others. "Praise be Jashin! Praise be Jashin!" It was absolutely ridiculous to the point of almost being comical. No other religious figure he had ever met was that overly obnoxious about praising their deity. Of course, he might have been cutting them less slack than usual. Ever since these nightmares started he has been getting less and less sleep, to the point of sometimes not finding any sleep whatsoever during the night. It caused him to be more on edge than normal. 

He wasn't sure why, but just like the previous dreams... or rather nightmares, he had a sudden urge to complete a very specific set of tasks that he had no idea why or how the knowledge managed to get into his head. He needed to get inside the temple without being detected. Such was no easy feat, as the two at the door were keeping a vigilant eye on all that found themselves at their doors. Many were turned away, though the wolf had no idea why. Perhaps they were not a part of the secret killer cult. Or perhaps they would not allow the rookie members to join their ranks in the temple to do... well, whatever the hell it was that they were doing in there. The wolf suspected that figuring out what was happening in there would be the next objective he had to complete in this series of unfortunate events that he found himself almost unwillingly participating in. 

It would seem as though he was not the only person here, the familiar scent of Doctor Terumi wafting into the nostrils of the Hoshi wolf. Loghain wanted to address the man to determine if he knew any more than the wolf had, but if his experience with the other odd nightmares had any bearing on this one, the man would be no more knowledgeable of their current circumstances than anyone else. The Terumi would make his way towards the back of this temple, and the wolf would follow. Strange scents would fill the air, the smell of some sort of baked goods. Perhaps bread? No, there was a sweetness to the smell, like a great deal of sugar was being used in the baking process. No, this was a desert dish. Was it a pastry? Or perhaps a cake of some sort. It wasn't long before sounds could be heard from inside the window, someone telling some other fellow that he was out of a strange ingredient and that that fellow needed to go out and fetch some more. Toad eyes? Lizard eyes? What the hell kind of cake were they baking that required such strange components?

The wolf would keep out of sight, hiding in a nearby bush. The strange looking little man, covered in some sort of pox and with a large hunch in his back would wander about, lifting rocks one by one to find the lizards that he needed for the cake. It took some time, but it would seem as though he would find them. They tried to flee when he managed to get close, the spotted lizards skittering away as quickly as they could. Still, despite his odd hunch and overall strange looking body there was a quickness to his actions. It was almost as if he would be punished if he wasn't quick enough in gathering the reptiles. Maybe that was why he had the messed up back? He might have caught a serious beating for his failures in the past. The strange fellow would then go back into the kitchen with his prize. The wolf watched as the Terumi quickly crept into the window and so he would activate his Silent Footsteps technique and follow, aiming to avoid detection as best he could. 

What next?

wc: 777/750

Youta would wake up but it felt strange and when he woke up he realized that he was not in his comfy bed and not in his house. He thought to himself “where am I? What happened to my house? Where did everyone go to more importantly where did I go? I did go home last night right.” He woke up scared because he was in an unknown place that worried him. He would then see that he was in a forested area and wanted see what was around him. He would as quietly as possible walk through a little of the forest. He would walk up to a building and hide behind a tree and look at this building. It was a strange building. He was not sure what the building really was but he knew that it was scary.

This building looked like a temple in the city of Hoshigakure but it was very gothic in style and kind of scary. There was a couple of men walking around chanting “Praise be Jashin! Praise be Jashin!” It felt like every sentence they said to each other ended with “Praise be Jashin!” There was jashin this and jashin that. Jashin, Youta had heard that there might be more activity with this cult. He had no idea what they actually worshiped or believed in or why they were considered a cult and other beliefs were religion. Youta did not really know or care about these differences. They were not wearing combat clothing though they were in robes and no visible weapons. The temple had a bunch of windows but only really one door, maybe a service door or something in the back that he would have to check out. There seemed to be people walking in and they would say something about jashin and then would be let in. The two cultists in the front had some sort of paint on them that made them look something like a skeleton or just that they have bones with some pitch black paint behind as a base coat. This all really confused Youta because he did not really get the point of looking like a skeleton. Was it just to be scary but then how would you recruit new people. Youta would think about it for a moment but then he would focus again.

Youta would activate his Meigan from behind his tree he would see his teammate Sebastian looking at his chakra and using his best guess. This person had chakra at levels and elements so it would be weird for someone to have the exact same stuff. He thinks he sees Akabayashi, his team leader. Which would solidify his thoughts that one is Sabastian and the other is Akabayashi because he would see Sabastian follow the Terumi. What are the chances that two chakras he has seen a lot following each other. He thought it would definitely be them so he decided he would catch up and follow the wolf with his meigan activated.

He was a little further behind then he thought but he would try to catch up to them. He knew that he had to be secretive and as silent as possible. He would eventually catch up to Sebastian and Akabayashi. This relieved Youta big time because he was not one hundred percent sure that they were his teammates. Finally seeing someone he knows comforts him a lot because he finally has some familiarity and that he is with people he has faught with and done missions with before. They are people who kind of know his style and he knows theirs. He would step in front of Sebastian so he could see in the door after Akabayashi opens it.

He would see that Akabayashi would push the door open and he would see two chakra sources to the right but it looked like they were on the stairs maybe. He would tap Akabayashi on the shoulder and hold up two fingers and then point to the left. He would also try to show that they might be up on stairs or a ladder so he would point left but up at an angle so he would look or go in to fight and that they would know they were up higher a little. He knew that he was not a front line fighter or if we were even going to fight because it seemed like more of a stealth mission. He would step back behind Sebastian though so they could enter first.

WC 756

The Master dreams of disorder.

Kozai knew something was wrong, right away. Usually, when someone dreams of flying, it's by unknown means. A lucid dreamer can be aware of this and still stay afloat, while some begin to plummet once they realize the impossibility of their flight, but for Kozai, this flight was real. Well, what a familiar situation. The red glow of Kozai's Susano'o lit up the clouds as it passed through at great speed, holding an object in its hand as it traversed silently.

Well, there was the OTHER kind of dreamer, but Kozai loathed to think of that. "In my dream, I am the world"? Ridiculous, his mind told him, but the terrifying experience that he'd been through was a cold reminder that the world did not like to conform to his expectations. A lesson that he was destined to repeat again and again, like as not.

There wasn't much to look at, this time around. While his altitude was limited, even when using a jutsu like this, he was high enough to not have to care about much of anything on the ground. Air travel within Susano'o was an ability he had only unlocked after his visit to Hoshigakure. In its normal state, of course, it was simply a manifestation on the ground, and although potent in both defense and offense, it could only really move with the user. However, with its bizarre, demonic, tengu-like form, the thing could veritably walk about and fly as it pleased. Clearly, this was related to the stage of Kozai's doujutsu, which was something he would have to start writing more extensively about, eventually. No doubt, if Echo and his ilk had known of this power, then so too would there be others cognizant of it as well. All this preparation... eventually, Kozai would lose his appetite for this whole academic pursuit, but the knowledge was still important, was it not? It was still necessary for his own survival, and surrounding himself with people who were at least well equipped to deal with threats, while unsavory, was still better than the alternative: fighting alone.

Either way, Kozai knew, as he did in any dream, where he was going and what he needed to do. While coming to the rescue wasn't exactly his MO, he did feel the need to protect any assets that he could use later. And besides, while he had his gun pointed in a direction, as it were, why not have others pointed in that same direction?

As he flew along, he gazed down at his hand wherein was held a metal sphere. The contents of said sphere were, to put it simply, fragile enough to require the container, at least for the task that he wanted to accomplish. There were six of them available to him, of course, but today he only needed the one. He'd heard tales of abilities like the one he was about to use being applied to infiltration tasks, and fancied that he might give it a try himself. Never in all the circle of the world had someone ever used this ability on him, though he knew that Denkiteki certainly could have tried, in the olden days.

However, Denkiteki was no more.

For all his efforts, the old fucker had failed utterly in preventing Kozai from entering Hoshigakure. Now who was the one left standing? Kozai had never been the kind of person to ascribe things to fate, and as fortuitous as events had been, he had to remind himself that despite his quick response, he'd had no way of detecting Denkiteki's ambush before it was almost too late.

Reminder: hire a- No, coerce a sensory shinobi into service. His ethos in combat was to kill any medical nin or sensors immediately, but that didn't mean that he had to play the game without some of his own, to put it a certain way. Indeed, no game was worth playing that didn't involve him having the greatest, most overwhelming, most unfair advantage possible. Let the chivalrous and the idiotic scrabble with each other in the dirt. For him, he thought, as the edifice loomed ahead, there was only one idiom: God smiles on winners.

The Susano'o ramped up and threw, the metal sphere crashing and breaking apart as it slammed through the wall of the building, into a room beyond. The Animal Path emerged, and with a blur of power, Kozai did as well. People always told him he had a flair for the theatric, but from his point of view, it was just practicality.

WC 764

Mission:

How in the hell did these two end up caught in this as well. Was Zeref somewhere ignoring mind ingrained instructions as usual and confronting the priest outside? As he thought about the possibility a new set of instructions flashed into the ninja's mind. Now the mission became to find out where all of the heavily painted weirdos were headed and locate a stairwell which is painted with the symbol of Jashin. They still had to avoid being found out however the instructions merely said their true identities couldn't be found out.

"We are going to transform into other people. The instructions sent to my brain from what I assume to be Aliens from another planet said our "true identities couldn't be found out". While we should try to avoid detection anyway it won't hurt that if we are seen they won't know who we actually are. Making seals for the transformation jutsu the Terumi would transform into a normal citizen that worked at a tea shop in Hoshi. The man was of a wider build and he was dressed in a regular T-shirt and jeans.

After a few moments an audible crash echoed throughout the building in a different area. Whether this crash was a good or bad one was unclear. The best outcome was that whoever was on watch would be distracted by such a large crash that went through the building. The people in the kitchen were shocked by the explosion prompting them to run out and see the transformed group in the hallway. They managed a quick "Who are" before the Terumi through kunai at their necks and made sure they were dead before taking back his knives and moving on.

The assistance of Youta and Loghain were most welcome on a task such as this. Both were capable sensors that had some form of enhanced sense the Terumi did not currently possess. If they looked into the doctor's eyes prior to transforming they would see an obvious difference from their last meeting. The doctor's blinded eye was replaced with one of coal black as was the other eye which was usually an emerald green in color. The eternal mangekyou sharingan implants he had replaced his old eyes with hadn't awakened just yet, hell the doctor didn't even know what state the sharingan he had implanted were. What the doctor did know was that regardless of the tomoe the sharingan would improve his vision greatly.

"Kill anyone who sees you. We can't be discovered or let them know who we are. If you guys could take lead I'll take out anyone to our rear who comes out of some hallway door. Thinking of their strategy for moving about the doctor had a wonder about Loghain's scent. The doctor wondered if in a building it was harder to pick out individual people who had entered and walked through the place. Like if hundreds had walked through this particular area would he be able to identify one of them among the many. Also what if something particularly overpowering like garbage could impact the hounds nose. Questions for another time the name of the current game was stealth. Making use of hand signals like Youta had to alert him to the presence of those in the kitchen would be very important.

The Vulture of Hoshi was quite unsure if either of the two remembered their academy training as it pertained to hand signals, but it didn't matter. Loghain surely didn't really understand hand signals as he never attended any academy training. Something the doctor found odd to begin with, but even without it the wolf was reliable.

The man would signal for Youta to go hopefully the yuumei user would understand such a gesture and their search could begin. The doctor would follow the group as he kept an eye on their backs. Hoping none of the many doors in the building would open forcing him into action. After some time one did of course and what the Vulture of Hoshi saw was unbelievable. It had pale skin white as snow, red eyes the color of blood, and fangs. Somehow the Terumi knew exactly what the creature was without having even encountered one. Vampire! Somehow the group escaped the creatures notice in its rush to seek out the cause of the explosion. How the man and the group knew it was seeking out the source of the explosion the creature was yelling it about it calling for help in the dining hall. Apparently there was some purple ringed eye person causing a disturbance.

While Akabayashi was curious of the identity of this enhanced sharingan user that had shown up it was in excess of the mission. Even though the mission was beamed into their minds by an outside force something compelled the doctor to complete it. For some other reason the doctor had to mention the vampire he had just seen even though Youta and Loghain also likely saw the creature. "There are vampires here. Like I don't know if those fangs were fake and a part of the cult or if that was a real vampire. This place is either a Halloween role playing facility where the guards are skeletons and vampires or those dudes outside were skeletons and the guys inside are undead blood suckers. The Nova kept his voice low enough for only the two nearby to hear him as he spoke in a light whisper. There would be plenty of encounters with the creatures after this.

Eventually the group came across the staircase with the symbol the man had seen inside his mind. The doctor at this point knew they had to ascend. He would grab the intricate railing and go up the stairs. The carpet was a dead velvet and seemed expensive like much of the building indicated. For some reason as the man reached the top he breathed a sigh of relief to have made it to this point and knew the climax of this story was almost upon them.

WC: 1012
TWC:1766/1750

Youta who caught up to his comrades in the kitchen area. He somehow knew that they had to find out where all these clowns, cultist, to be honest Youta did not know what to call all these people with their face and body painted. He knew that the team had to find out where they were going and what they were doing. Even though he did not know anything about this Jashin, they do not usually give good religions or groups the title of cult for no reason. Akabayashi said that we could not be discovered and to use transformation jutsu. Before the Terumi transformed Youta noticed that there was something wrong with his eye and made note of it to ask Akabayashi about it later when they were not in a life or death situation. Youta would make sure that all signs and accessories that pointed to him being a shinobi were well hidden and figured that since he had no notoriety in the village yet that he should be fine without transforming into a new person. He thought to himself “I should find a cloak if possible” and would keep an eye out for a cloak. This would help with his disguise and give him a few more places to hide things for this mission. He knew that the best was not to be recognized was to not stand out at all and to make sure to try to fit in with these cultist. Which Youta had a visible cringe at the fact he was going to try to blend in with a cult.

All of a sudden a huge bang snapped Youta back to reality and caused him to jump a little. Just as the Terumi finished transforming, the people in the kitchen started to make their way down the hallway and started to say something questioning who we were when Akabayashi quickly threw Kunai and killed them. Youta would quickly run up and grab a cloak robe looking like clothing off one of the people and slip it on over his outfit. He knew now that this was to kill anyone who seemed to doubt you at all. This loud crash had to cause panic among the guards and the people inside this castle, temple, secret lair, Youta was not sure where they were. It was a strange place inside and out. Team leader started to make hand signs that were not basic ones to us. Youta however took a minute to deduce what he meant. This might have been official Hoshi hand signs but Youta only read slightly about those because he was trained and went to an academy set up special for Yuumei and meigan users by his clan. This academy focused more on the Yuumei and understanding it then hand signs. Youta however eventually figured out what Akabayashi wanted them to do and would whisper to Sebastian “let’s go.”

They would walk down the hallway and Youta had his meigan activated and the cloak on. When eventually a door opened up and a creature with blood red glowing eyes kind of like a Meigan but different. They looked empty and void of life and a soul. This creature had huge fangs. Youta had zero idea vampires were real they had alway been a folktale. It’s what you tell little ninjas so they do not wander too far at night. Youta seeing his chakra or lack thereof, but there was something there it was a very confusing read because there was no element to it but it was pure darkness like the Yuumei. Youta was very confused but started hand signs to try to catch him in a fire whip so he could not yell but the creature did not even seem to care that we were there and started to rush towards the direction of the loud crash. He was yelling about a purple eyed man or something to that effect Youta was only half listening to the panicked yelling. He thought to himself “I do not know who this purple eyed man is but we owe him a meal when we get back.”

The vampire really spooked Youta so he would just quietly whisper to Sabastian ``why don’t you go ahead and take the lead on this one. You are a lot tougher and stronger than I am and to be frank vampires are way more than I thought we would have to deal with. I hope what Akabayashi sensei is saying is true about it maybe being a cult thing and that they are fake but those eyes and their chakra disagree. They are hard to read chakra wise and it makes no sense to me.” This darkness is what Youta feared most because it gave strength to his inner darkness and the Yuumei but he had a lot of control over it but this place was scary. They would encounter a few more panicked vampires who paid them no real mind.

They would go around checking door to door looking for a way up or for more people who were part of the jashin cult. They would wander around the multiple hallways for what felt like an eternity. What made the eternity even worse was the fact that now Youta knew there would be not only crazy cultist but vampires. He would whisper again “Quick question. Does anyone here know how to kill a vampire? It is not necessarily a right now, need to know as soon as possible question but it might be one we need to let percolate a little. Also vampires have to be the worse thing in here right? I just need a little assurance because I am not going to lie, I am not a fan of the idea of having to fight vampires.” They eventually found the symbol of Jashin and what the man was wearing at the gate at the bottom of a spiral staircase which would probably lead to their doom but Youta wanted this dream mission or whatever it was to be over so he could not have to think about it ever again. He would wait for Sebastian to make his move up the stairs and follow him.

WC 1038
Twc1794

This whole situation grew more and more strange, his keen nose able to pick up the familiar scent of one of his fellow teammates. The scent was that of Youta Shinkou, the potent shade ninja of Hoshigakure. The wolf was not sure why he was having this strange experience with not just one, but two of his compatriots. Still, the familiarity of the trio would allow for them to lean on their experiences and better understand who should do what tasks. Plus, between the nose of the wolf and the keen eyes of the Shinkou, there was not a great deal of options an enemy could use to avoid detection from their slightly advanced forms of sensory. 

So their true identity cannot be figured out... the wolf simply considered awakening the beast, allowing the creature out to play. The beast would be able to freely hunt the halls of this temple, or more accurately fort or castle. This place was enormous, with what seemed like and endless expanse before him. There would be no hiding if the wolf was let out. No, he would instead be actively hunting down all of the cult members, one by one, disemboweling them and moving to the next in a flash of teeth, claws, fur and blood. The thought of this started to get the beast blood in the wolf pumping in excitement, but it was not a good idea. Doctor Terumi made it very clear to the party that this was first and foremost a stealth mission. And while some may not recognize Loghain while transformed into the wolf, if seen by the enemy they would certainly have detected his true identity, for in reality the beast hiding within is the most true expression of his primal being. At this point he had not a single doubt in his mind about that simple truth. There was something off about the man, something that the wolf couldn't quite place. He looked the man up and down, only finally realizing that something about his eyes were different than normal. He didn't spend a great deal of time on this matter, figuring that it could just be some sort of strange side effect of the evil place they found themselves in. 

Following the lead of his sensei, Loghain would form the seals to cast the transformation technique. The wolf would suddenly change appearance in a puff of smoke. His features were no longer his own, but that of a bald priest he had known in Hoshigakure. The man was now dressed in pitch black robes, trimmed with what seemed to be gold. Adorning his hands were large, golden rings with rubies set in them. Around his neck hung a large, golden religious symbol. The outfit was unreasonably lavish, which showcased the priests enormous wealth and status in the religious order. Or at least that was how Loghain imagined they showed off their position. Some people hated this display of overwhelming riches, stating that such wealth could be better spent on helping others. Loghain had witnessed firsthand that the priests, despite their appearance, were more than happy to provide aid and assistance for those less fortunate. For this he was grateful. He took on this form, hoping that it would shower him with blessings from their gods and help to pierce the evil sorcerous veil that hung heavy in the air here. Doctor Terumi was in a much more simple transformation, making Loghain almost feel like his choice was a bit too much. He noticed that Youta would opt to not transform. Perhaps he figured even if spotted he wouldn't be recognized? No matter. The wolf would not question the young man's choice. 

Suddenly there was an enormous crashing boom, rattling the entirely of this whole building down to its foundation. The wolf could feel this quake all the way through his body and deep into his bones. This caused practically everyone to stop whatever it was to address the interloper with haste. The people in the kitchen quickly made their way to the trios position, in which the good Doctor made a hasty effort to end their lives quickly and prevent any and all of their unnecessary suffering. It was a relief that their sensei was so... efficient in his methods. Doctor Terumi would then speak his next words very clearly, painting the picture in the mind of the wolf as to how he should handle all decisions during their mission. If anyone discovers them, kill them. No room for doubt, no room for hesitation. The wolf at one point might have been reluctant to take on such a task, but such a time was far behind him now. Akabayashi would then insist that he take the rear position, allowing him to not only protect their rear but also keep his keen eyes on the other two junior shinobi in front of him. 

Since the goal was stealth, keeping speech to a minimum was mandatory. The doctor would utilize hand signals to instruct them to move out. The wolf understood the basic meaning, and Youta would speak in a soft whisper that they should begin their movement. The wolf would of course take the lead here, keeping himself between any frontal assault and Youta. Not because of any silly reasoning, like him thinking the Shinkou could not handle himself. No, he simply placed himself in the front because of simply how difficult it was to put a werewolf down for the unprepared. Basic weapons and jutsu would find their damage capability far below the sheer regenerative properties of his bloodline should he focus his energy towards such. 

They had pushed on, not getting all that far before a haunting sight would appear before the eyes of the wolf. The man... no the creature rushing down the hall smelled like death and blood. It was not the stench of decay like that of some sort of undead zombie like he knew the Yamaguchi could conjure. No, this was a pale creature with the eyes of a hunter. God damn blood sucking vampires! The wolf would internally scream, not actually speaking a word of it out loud but an image of rage now painting his face. He had no idea as to why, but something in him made him want to tear these things limb from limb. Resisting the urge to unleash his beast and hunt down and slaughter these vile, lifeless bags of flesh, he would listen to the hushed whispers of his comrades. "I don't believe this to be fake... they smell of blood and death. But worry not, Youta. They are not the most dangerous thing here in this place. I am, and I'm on your side." This was a bit of a boast, knowing full well that the Doctor was a far more skilled shinobi than the wolf had been. Still, it was more meant to ease the Shinkou's concerns. "And you don't have to worry. Much like anything else, the swift removal of a head will kill practically any target, regardless if they find themselves among the living or the dead." 

After extensive searching, they finally found their way to a staircase that had the symbol of Jashin painted on it. Many of the vampiric guards that they might have had to worry about had ran towards some sort of Ring-Eyed intruder. It honestly allowed for them to move about practically without any sort of resistance. The wolf could smell blood from under the door, but it was a fairly overwhelming scent. "Whatever is behind that door.... there is a great deal of blood. I'm not entirely sure what to make of it, but whatever it is it cannot be good." If questioned whether or not he could detect how many targets were inside, he would shake his head. "I cannot. The whole place smells of death and blood, much like those vampires had. Its hard to distinguish the scents from one another." 

He would look to his team leader, a look of confidence on his face. "I await your commands." 

WC:1348
TWC:

The Master dreams of the hunt.

Kozai stalked through the simple corridors of the tower, leaving his path behind at the entrance. Which is to say, he had left it behind at the rather large hole he had left in the wall. It was just as expendable as the rest of his tools, really. Dead bodies weren't hard to come by, even with the requirement that they belonged to people who wouldn't have been missed in death. The poor and the downtrodden disappeared on a daily basis, and nobody else really gave a shit. Why should he not profit from the misery and despair of people who were going to end up dead anyway?

Speaking of "soon to be dead", Kozai dropped the soulless corpse of yet another hematophage to the floor. Better to call them "vampires", maybe? It seemed almost too colloquial, but these blood drinking creatures certainly seemed to fit the stereotype almost too well. Quite possibly, he mused, the cult had some common cultural archetype that had affected their mode. If these instances didn't take place in bizarre dreams, he would have at least wanted to take one of these home. Oh, well. He was sure that if this archetype existed in one population of people, it would another too. He just had to look hard enough.

Everybody had certain archetypes within their psyche, shared commonly with people in similar cultures. Fear of the dark, fear of spiders, fear of fire, so on and so forth. These primordial fears, born perhaps from centuries of pre-historic existence in plains or in mountains, were naught but shadows in the mind. Patterns in clouds or in long grass that favored the familiar wetwork of the human brain. But to Kozai, of course, where there was smoke, there was fire. He could very well search other countries for others like this, and would no doubt find a few, given enough time.

Fear of the dark: there was one that these vampires seemed to want to take advantage of. But they'd never really fought anyone with a doujutsu before, had they? Kozai's ocular prowess was one of the greatest in magnitude, and to him, detecting even agile opponents in dim light was child's play. Why, there was one now! With his hand outstretched, Kozai conjured a blast of force, shearing flesh from bone, ripping through the hallway with a booming noise. Well, Kozai had certainly never been the kind of shinobi who preferred stealth. Better to overcome through subtlety, he knew well, but in times like these, what did it matter? He and the others had been pulled here for some bizarre, unknown purpose, so he decided that it was time to let loose, and give himself a little bit of entertainment. In his dream, after all, he was the world, as the ancient writers put it. He could sate his loose appetites here as he so desired, with practically no consequences. Hell, he could probably tear this tower apart brick by brick and shower in the fucking rubble if he wanted to, but he was more curious about these bloodsuckers, first.

He passed by something on the wall, and stopped. The writings here had caught his eye. While he couldn't read the runes right off the bat, it was evident to him that they represented phenomes of some kind. Bah! He'd just have to memorize it and figure it out as he walked. After a mere couple of seconds of reading, Kozai was on his jolly way once again. If these vampires ever figured out how to use chakra, he thought to himself, things might be a little more interesting.

In a dream, he was the world, and so the world responded... is what he would say, if he was superstitious like that. Rather, a vampire wielding powers of blood and fire was something he had expected to see out of a teenager's story, but here it was before him. The hematophage screeched before lobbing spheres of both at him, probably expecting to see him burn and wither away. But, of course, as long as Kozai had the Rinnegan, chakra simply wouldn't work against him. As whatever jutsu the vampire had launched vanished, Kozai initiated a jutsu of his own, pulling the surprised creature towards him before staking it through the heart with a black receiver emerging from his palm. Maybe he did have a flair for the theatric, after all... The rotten thing began to crumble away, its body turning to a fine ash as it died. Odd. Was this kind of creature holding its body together with will, and in the absence of that will, their bodies decayed? It was certainly one theory, though Kozai suddenly realized that he didn't really give a flying fuck. Kill everything that moved! Eliminate every obstacle, every witness!

With a casual sweep of his arm, a skeletal limb from the Susano'o manifested, blowing through a wall and crushing another bloodsucker in the room beyond within its fist. Was that a... locker room? What a bizarre edifice, and what strange inhabitants therein. Was he really being detected if everyone who detected him died? Not likely. With another crash, he slammed it against a wall, flattening it and destroying its brain. Important, that. He had no idea how immortal these things were, but nothing he knew of could heal from head destruction. A universal weak point, one might say.

Kozai raised his hand and another wave of force emerge, blasting a hole in the ceiling and into the floor above. Again, and again, he climbed upward, destroying group after group of the unusual creatures with fire and lightning, with wind and ice. So too, over and over did the Stone of Gelel respond to his exertions, feeding his chakra with its most alien of energies. A valuable find, that one. Without it, he might have broken a sweat, but with it, these grandiose exertions felt like naught but an average day of work for him.

[wc 1000]

Mission:

Well Youta didn't transform, but he did do the next best thing and at least conceal his identity. Even if it was a very flimsy disguise. Loghain used the directive to take on the form of a priest whose greed despite being a member of a church was comical. The doctor however was not a fan of the priesthood and merely sighed looking at the wolf, before killing the men and moving on with his day. Following the two genin to whatever paths they chose. It seemed Youta found the missing piece to his ensemble with the dead guys cloak.

Youta clearly didn't understand the hand signs he was giving and Loghain was the one to have a firmer grasp of them. Did Youta just not pay attention when their instructors went over this or had the genin just brain dumped it as useless information? Either way it would be worth reviewing with the two of them when this mess was all sorted. Then again this was likely a dream, so maybe the two genin only knew what Akabayashi expected them to know. There was a way to test if they were there or not requiring the two to reveal things the Terumi did not know and couldn't possibly figure out on his own. However, that seemed rather pointless.

While the blood sucker had gotten under the Vulture of Hoshi's skin it did not effect him as it did Youta. Who decided to let his comrade take the lead while that comrade declared himself the strongest among them. Akabayashi wasn't so vain as to challenge the remark it was unlikely the wolf actually thought that and was boosting the confidence of either himself or Youta. "I was just going to melt them." Akabayashi would state after Loghain had answered. Either through acid or blazing fire. The group avoided even more vampires as the rushed to discover the source of the commotion. Well they likely had discovered the source by now and were just dealing with it. As they all scurried into that direction well armed and ready to fight. Not particularly situationally aware however as they kept moving past the group creeping through the castle.

There were many more crashes and bangs  as time passed. It was no wonder the vampires and cultists were in such a panic. Whatever blue eyed ring man was doing it was great. Hopefully, he kept it up long enough to get them through the whole building unnoticed. However, unlikely that would be because almost nothing ever went smoothly.

At the top of the stairs there was a door painted with the symbol of Jashin and a new directive came to the mind of the Nova. The people behind this door had to be killed or whatever beasts lurked inside. The man would end his transformation and try to flood chakra into his eyes this time finding success in the endeavor. The eyes were blood red like the vampires, but there were black markings inside which marked them as mangekyou sharingan. He could see the chakra flowing off of Youta and Loghain and their slight muscle twitches.

Grabbing the door handle Akabayashi would turn the knob and bush the door open. Revealing the dark interior only lit by candle light. There were so many that the cultists and beasts inside were clearly visible. Most notably within the center of the room was a large symbol painted from blood and a man sitting in its center.  He didn't acknowledge the group immediately, but he was clearly of some importance to sit in such a place. He had the same markings as the guards outside making him one of the cultists and not some poor innocent sacrifice.

The cultists around the unmoving man in the center began their chant. A wave of admiration for the lord Jashin and the sacrifices who willingly ascended the stairs to join him in eternal pain. They drew their weapons and began to inch forward. Finally, the man in the center raised his head and simply stared at Youta. His black fear seeing eyes reading his body language and emotions. "Vampires frighten you? Don't fear one drink and you can join us." To Youta's eyes the man would become more bat like in feature before settling into the form of an incredibly bulky vampire. Its fangs massive compared to the others seen down the stairs. To Akabayashi, Loghain, and all the others within the room nothing had changed. The man was just still looking at Youta, but to the genin the man in his vampire form was coming right at him.

"Well we definitely have to kill all of them." The Vulture of Hoshi would state as the chanting cultists moved forward. The first to break into a sprint at them was some type of rabid dog which foamed at the mouth and was covered in sores. The room was much too large and the enemies too great in number for the Terumi to take out alone. He would have to leave some for Youta and Loghain to handle. The doctor made seals for melting apparition technique opening his mouth a spew of acidic mud would spread and melt the dog and anyone unfortunate enough to be behind it and within range. There were screams of ecstacy from some of the cultists who seemed to enjoy this type of punishment.

This place was very odd to the point the doctor had half a mind to leave and just level the whole building. But he continued on using the Secret Wood Release: Nativity of a World of Trees. The man would pay attention to where his allies were not growing the trees near them or whacking them with one of its many branches. There was a clearing in the center of the technique for those wishing to remain in a safe area.

With one of its many limbs the jutsu would strike in a sweeping motion sending many cultists, vampires, and other beasts flying. The cultists seemed to be mere foot soldiers as they succumbed to their wounds the quickest, the beasts seemed momentarily stunned, but even through obviously broken bones they still stood, the vampires however were unharmed. They turned themselves into a swarm of bats and began crowding the Terumi. The limbs would kill some of the swarm, but not enough to make a difference. If he didn't act quickly he would be bitten by one of the bats and that likely meant becoming a prince of the night, like a less edgy Valen Akari.

With haste the doctor primed his Killer T Cells for release and let them out in a wave avoiding his comrades with the spread. Previously Akabayashi needed a microscope to see such things now the cloud of cells was very much visible. They floated in the vicinity of his allies, but weren't malicious like the ones eating the cultists and their allies bit by bit. After a few moments the center cultists stood and from his scythe which he slashed crashed into the Killer T Cell wall destroying it or so he thought.

After being destroyed initially the doctor would infuse even more energy into the technique and reflood the area with the deadly cells. The man seemed unconcerned with this turn of events. But, he would soon be dead killed by someone within the room.

After the last cultists, vampire, beast, and their end boss was defeated there was no time for speech. The doctor in a flash was taken from the dream scape and placed back in his bed where he remembered minor details about the days events. Like the state of his eyes which he would check in the mirror. The design was in an inlay of two sharingan making these Eternal Mangekyou which was obvious from the lack of strain while using them. Had these been regular Mangekyou there would be some strain. Collecting his thoughts the doctor would walk about outside to clear his head, the night had been long, and the sleep terrible.
WC: 1346/1250
TWC: 3112

Claims: Using 1767 WC to awaken my EMS fully bringing it to 2000/2000. Using the other 1345 toward Creation Rebirth: Strength of One Hundred. 62AP from max stats, 6000 ryo, 30AP, and 8 event tickets from The Truth Part 1, 10,000 ryo, 750 rank ryo, 50AP, and 10 event tickets from The Truth Part 2, 12,500 ryo, 750 rank ryo, 63AP, 12 event tickets, and 1 Golden Ticket from The Truth Part 3.
Exit.

Their team leader would shift back to his form but have a sudden shift in the way he looked in the face, crimson red eyes with strange black markings etched into them now appearing where his other eyes once were. The wolf didn't entirely understand, but something about the whole transformation felt off to him. He had never seen such before from the Doctor... but then again, they were never in a situation that could not be easily handled with a simple wave of his arm and flex of his chakra. There was a look of complete confidence on the Terumi, as if nothing could catch him by surprise and nothing could escape his sight. 

Doctor Akabayashi Terumi would open the door that had been adorned with the dark marks of these Jashin cultists and their strange fascination with death and destruction. The wolf would await, eager awaiting whatever it was that he would find behind this door. Would it be some sort of monster, perhaps demonic in form with sacrifices being fed to it by the masses? When the door swung open to reveal the truth, Loghain saw that it was a different sort of monster sitting at the center of this room. Surrounding the dark cult leader were various cultists and creatures, all of which seemed to be locked in some sort of chanting prayer to Jashin, their lord and savior. The scent of blood in the room was clearly due to the symbols on the floor, painted in what he could only imagine was blood based on the color and smell. The room was very dimly lit, to the point that it was hard to see where all of the targets had been. Normally he would rely on his powerful nose, but this was a very unusual situation they found themselves in. Never had his nose been unable to detect targets with relative ease. Then again, this was all a rather strange place they were at. A realm of nightmares, and such night terrors had the common theme of making the dreamer believe that they were powerless. Well, it was no matter. Perhaps this form simply did not have the needed olfactory system to detect them all. He could always bring out the wolf. 

The next orders from their leader were very clear. They needed to kill all of the people... no, more accurately, all of the monsters residing in this shrine room. These cultists lost their humanity long ago, sold away from some promise of power or everlasting life. Disgusting. 

Loghain's transformation into the priest would end, only for a new one to begin. His nostrils flares, eyes wide as the pain shot through his entire body. There was a throbbing pain in his head, each pulse of his pounding heart sending waves of pain rippling through the entire skull of the wolf. His muscles bulged, burning as they tore and rapidly expanded to massive proportions. The sounds of bones cracking and popping could be heard by his team. Where there was once flesh, not there was dark, course fur. And extended snout and face like that of a wolf would now replace what was once that of a human. Fangs, not like those of the vampires but like the prominent canine teeth of a hound now sat in his mouth, ready to tear flesh from bone. Hands would extend, revealing massive daggerlike claws at the tips of each digit. The wolf would now stand massive, growing by several feet in height, despite its posture forming into a slight hunch.

Loghain would form a few hand seals with such haste that it might be difficult to track for the untrained eye. He would focus and mold chakra to his eyes which now turned be glowing red. This was Hunter's Sight, and the poor illumination would not be able to hinder the savage beast now standing at the ready to kill each and every once of these cultists. He would let out a low growl, snarling at the Jashin cultist standing in the center of the room and beckoning them to come in and face their doom. The werewolf held no fear, knowing fully that between the three of them these cultist wastes of life could not possibly last very long. 
 
The Terumi wasted no time either, forming the seals needed to not only spray some sort of highly corrosive acid at the enemies, but also weaving the seals for some sort of wood style technique that quickly filled the majority of the shrine room with branches that would stab, pummel, wrap and crush any and all targets that were caught within it. Luckily for the wolf and Youta, their sensei left room for them to also take action. 

In a blur of movement, the wolf would rush towards the center of the room to address the cult leader. Unfortunately, plenty of cultist and creature fodder aimed to place themselves between the wolf and his prey. The underlings simply were not fast enough to do much, the wolf being able to sidestep their pathetic attempts at attacks and easily land his own. A backhand to the first cultist would be bone crushing, the wolfs powerful fist shattering the nose and orbital socket into what he could only imagine would be countless tiny shards like that of glass breaking under strain. It wasn't as flashy as what their Terumi sensei could do, but it was just as effective in the right circumstances. The wolf would continue his rushing assault, leaping on one of the spiders and smearing it into bug paste under the weight of his massive 'paws'. Another one of the cultists would rush the wolf, thrusting a dagger at the head of the beast. The wolf would simply lift his massive hand, allowing the dagger to plunge into flesh. The other massive clawed hand would then slash at the cult member, claws easily piercing through flesh and bone alike, shredding through the chest and all of the important organs held within. The would be killed almost instantly, a look of of peace and happiness on their face. If the wolf was in any state of mind to think properly, he would question if they were here seeking death. Of course, all that he could focus on was his bloodlust, the beast's instincts driving him onwards to finish this quickly. 

Once the wolf was in front of the Jashin Cult Leader, he would use the distraction of Doctor Terumi's technique to draw the focus of the man's scythe, the evil weapon somehow clashing with the jutsu without issue. The claws of Loghain would aim to tear out his chest, the natural weapons easily cutting through the man. Of course, it was never quite that simple. The Jashinist would simply laugh at the normally fatal wounds, pushing the wolf back with a swift kick and slashing the beast across the chest with his weapon. The beast was caught off guard, not accustomed to his efforts to kill a target being so ineffective. The scythe would plunge into flesh, only to mend back up just as swiftly as it was cut. Thanks to his wolf blood, he was no easy target to kill either. Some might call it a healing factor of sorts, but it would suffice to keep the creature safe from almost any assault from weapons and jutsu alike. 

The beast would press again, slashing wildly at the Jashin priest. The man would barely try to defend, thinking the wolf was simply not able to damage him in any real way. Of course, the wolf wasn't trying for a kill shot with this blow. The attack would connect, dragging the priests body and slamming it into the ground. The beasts massive paws would hold down the priest, pinning him to the ground. The priest would just let out a cackling laugh, completely uncaring about the damage his body was taking. "My god smiles down on me, dog. You cannot -" The wolf wouldn't let the priest continue, using his giant mouth to bite through the mans face and skull. Despite what should have certainly been a lethal strike, the man's body would struggle and with a sudden burst of strength launch the wolf into the ceiling, causing him to slam into it with such force that the wolf would almost lose consciousness, only to then fall back down to the ground with a thud. It would take a moment, but the creatures broken bones would heal back together. This assault only caused the beast to grow more angry and let out another growl. He somehow knew that his method of attack wasn't going to work, but the creature had a plan. 

With one last ditch effort, the beast would tackle the priest into one of the nearby branches and piercing through both of them. The pain was minor, but as long as the branch was in place it would be hard to heal from this wound. The priest cared little for this damage, but it wasn't the wolf's goal to kill him with the branch spike. No, the wave of Doctor Terumi's second set of Killer T Cells would begin assaulting the man's body, disintegrating the Jashinist into practically nothing in an instant. 

The wolf would startle awake, his bed torn in several places as if his wolf form actually had been present. The wolf was sitting in a puddle of his own sweat and panting heavily. "Hopefully that was the last of these damned nightmares."


---Exit---

wc:1588
twc: 3713

Missions complete:

Claims:
2000/2000 wc towards Wolf Fang Fist
1713 wc towards Nature Chakra Proficiency 
74 AP (max stat training)

Mission Rewards:
6000 ryo, 30AP, and 8 event tickets from The Truth Part 1, 
10,000 ryo, 50AP, and 10 event tickets from The Truth Part 2, 
12,500 ryo, 63AP, 12 event tickets, and 1 Golden Ticket from The Truth Part 3.


Rank bonus: 200 ryo x 3 missions = 600 ryo