Truth Lies at the Bottom of a Well

The Truth: Part 1:

Having finished investigating the Haunted Hotel, Guren and his team had successfully escaped and spent a bit of time exploring the city. As they traversed the town, it seemed just as haunted and eerie as a graveyard. Each step throughout this mysterious village seemed to boom. Every gust of wind howled. And all signs of hospitable life were abandoned. "A ghost town..." Guren thought to himself. Just like in the hotel, there were no people seeming to live in this place. The only evidence of any discernible life were predominantly of spectral presences, and the occasional vermin rummaging through trash. Nevertheless, the trio would press on led by Guren. "This should go without saying, but keep your eyes peeled" he would calmly usher to his team. And as he would do so, his eyes would transcend from their resting shade to one of crimson aura and the other of an oceanic blue. Guren used his Ketsuryugan to scan the area they walked through for any sources of blood; whether they were people, animals, or even dead bodies. Yet there were no traces...

Not until one particular oddity caught his eye. His blood affinity proved itself useful, as through the thin and natural fog of Yugakure, Guren was able to pinpoint a trail of blood leading down the pathway just before the trio. It was almost as if someone had left it behind for the team to find. Guren immediately heightened his guard upon seeing this blood, as it was clearly fresh and moist. "Something was just dragged down that path," he began while pointing subtly in the forward and Eastern direction. "Yet the shape of the trail is too neat. No, it looks like someone used blood to paint a clear path..."

Thinking to himself, Guren could clearly see the simple investigation they were conducting had immediately elevated in severity. If someone were using blood, then there were only three entities that Guren thought they could be from. Either his own clan, the Kyuketsuki clan which Mizuki belonged to, or worst of all: Jashinists. Yet perhaps it was none of the above and these people were just evil. "Whoever we are dealing with, is clearly capable of murder and inhumane acts. Nothing to be afraid of, as the three of us can handle anything. But I need to make you all aware that our objective has been upgraded from a D level investigation, to a B rank. And we don't seem to have much of a choice. I have a feeling that we need to track down the trail and the culprits if we want to leave this place."

If the team seemed confident in their abilities to continue, then Guren would proceed. "Good to hear. Now, we need to proceed with extreme caution. We'll only take an overhead approach and follow the trail from those building tops." As Guren would say that, he would waste no time utilizing the surface walking technique to subtly ascend the nearby building. Before reaching the top, he would peek his eyes over to see if anyone was guarding the rooftops. There wasn't. And so he would leap over the side of the building, landing his feet directly on top. It was modern, almost like a building of New Sunagakure. But still, something just felt off. Still though he pursued, and would leap from rooftop to rooftop in the direction the trail was heading. Finally, the blood path ended at the entrance to a building. Upon seeing it, Guren would crouch down and take in all of the intel from their secure and unnoticed vantage point. At that building were two men guarding each side of the entrance. Both guards bore a symbol familiar to Guren, the Jashinist insignia: an upside down equilateral triangle enveloped by a perfect circle. "I see..." Every so often a white robed person would approach the door, flash the palm of their left hand, and then proceed inside. Seeing this, Guren's eyebrows would raise and he would grip his chin with his index finger and thumb. "Hmm, did you guys catch that?" he would ask while waiting to assess the inference skills of his comrades.

WC: 696

Kota was feeling nauseous. Moving as fast as he could was fun. Moving faster than he could comprehend was worse. Teleporting was not a habit he wanted to develop. It was making him feel sick. This time he found himself in a strange hallway. He felt the presence before he saw them. It was Asuka behind him and Guren in front. Kota looked up to see the strange painting he saw a few days ago. He was in the same hotel.

The worst shiver went through his spine as he tried to wrap his head around what happened. He simply traveled with the rest to exit the place. He felt more secure about the fact that he had his bow, ten arrows, and the rest of the gear. Kota chalked it all up to a time fluctuation of sorts. It would be the only thing that made sense.

Hearing Guren speak brought him back to the present moment. “My eyes are as peeled as a banana.” Kota gave his affirmation, he sounded cocky but he did keep his guard up. His experience with the occult and creepines demanded him to be wary at all times. The experience was interesting to say the least.

“Why does he want to follow the trail of blood? That seems a bit like the opposite of what we should be doing. Seeing as he is the one in charge here I guess it would be better to just go along with it." It was not Kota’s fault he was a bit confused. He was unaware of how strong he had grown since joining Suna. In his younger years silence and blood meant danger. Not having the skills to use chakra meant he needed to mind his own business.

When he heard Guren speak about a possible mission, Kota was filled with excitement. “I may not be the best but I am sure of my ability to survive. Worse comes to worse, if I fall and one of you survives, just promise to look after my mom.” As a realist Kota was under the impression that not every ninja survived. He was ready to die and expected it. The most he could do was go down fighting and doing his best to live. His resolution would not waver.

Alighting on top of the buildings was fun. It was just like when he jumped from the tower to the roof to avoid zombies, or jumping from tree to tree, as well as a lot of other experiences he accrued. Keeping up was a simple matter for him. He laid on his tummy as he watched the deal go down. His eyes were focused as he tried to read the lips of the hooded. Being terrible at it made the endeavor futile. The most he could read was ritual. As far as Kota could put together. It meant someone could be getting sacrificed, or he was at a terrible sex party, even worse was the thought that it could be both.

Kota shook for a moment. He did not want to let Guren know the true thought he had on the matter. “Yep. I saw it. My guess is that something big is going to be going down in this place. It explains why the air has a major creep factor to it. Feels like you are being stared at in the shower by the inn’s grandmother.” Kota was as much of a poet with his words as he was a saint. “Captain. I recommend we break in there like a bug in a grain house. Carefully and without raising attention. The issue is the stealth we need to pull this off is not something I am experienced with.” 

Kota was bringing up his own weak point in order to alleviate the chances of unnecessary surprise. It was better for Guren to know what he was capable of to work around it. “Well I may not be stealthy but I can collect some of those outfits. Kill a few enemies before they even know we are around. If we can figure out the passwords we can take turns infiltrating that way as well.” The options Kota gave out were reasonable. As it was not his choice to decide. He would move with the rest of the group to accomplish their objectives.

WC: 723

The longer they were in this place, the more uneasy Asuka felt. Everything about this place felt wrong, like some twisted nightmare of a real place. Everything was utterly still, the whole ghost town as quiet as if it were holding it’s breath. Waiting for something, his brain supplied helpfully. But what?

Just as he came to that conclusion, Guren seemed to find a trail. One look at the blood was enough to have Asuka feeling slightly ill, knowing that they’d likely killed whoever’s blood it was. “Something about this feels wrong. The longer we’re here, the more uneasy I feel. We need to be careful,” he said, though he fell silent when Guren began to speak again. He nodded in understanding when he was informed that the mission objective was now upgraded to a B rank, the slightest flutter of worry making itself known. He had a feeling the worst was yet to come, but Guren was right- with the odd things that had been happening, they would probably need to find who was responsible if they wanted to leave.

“I will watch our backs. It’s best I stay behind you two, in case someone needs medical attention.” He wasn’t certain of how useful he would be in any upcoming battles, but he knew he’d at least be able to keep the others from getting too hurt with the jutsu the Kazekage had taught him. Taxing though they could be, it would be worth it to ensure his teammate’s safety.

At least Guren was taking a cautious approach, something Asuka was grateful for. If anybody went blundering in by themselves it may just spell their doom. Following Guren up the building and onto the rooftops, he subtly pulled the dark cloak further around himself to hide his distinctive silver hair and signature white robes. He was grateful for the dark fabric now, if anybody caught sight of his spectre-like appearance they’d be found out for sure.

When the trail ended outside a building that appeared to be guarded, Asuka crouched low on the rooftop, observing the scene with Guren. Occasionally, he watched a person in white approach the doors, flash their left palm, and gain entrance. Guren seemed to notice it too, though the hand flashing seemed to go over Kota’s head. “That’s not what he meant, Kota, take a closer look. See how the show the guards their hand before they can go in? There’s probably a symbol or seal of some kind on their hand, it won’t be that simple to get in.” he murmured, keeping his voice as low as possible to avoid attracting attention to their hiding spot. “We should look for another entrance before attempting to get in that way, if whatever they’re showing those guards is a seal we might not be able to replicate it.”

WC: 473

Upon hearing the slight doubt in Kota's future of survival, Guren let out a slight chuckle. "None of us will be dying today. You'll take care of your mother yourself." Guren reassured him. "Asuka, if you will be primarily at our rear then also watch our flank. Although I don't anticipate us being ambushed, it's always good to have eyes in all directions."

Following this conversation, Guren led the trio across the rooftops where they would observe the building of interest. When he would pose the question to each genin, he was pleased with both Kota's and Asuka's responses. Each of them seemed to have their separate takeaways from the events that were unfolding. Kota understood that blending is was key, and acquiring the robes of those members would be where they needed to start. However Asuka also noted that a disguise was not enough. The trio would also need to acquire the same branding that the members flashed as well. "Excellent analysis to the both of you. I think that our best option is to incorporate the both of your plans. My thoughts are that we certainly need disguises. So we will need to knock out, or potentially kill some members and steal their disguises. However, we will also need to observe their left palms. Based on how quickly the guards at the entrance have been inspecting the palms of those allowed entry, it shouldn't be anything too difficult to replicate. Perhaps a simple transformation technique applied to our palms could be enough to be permitted inside..." he concluded before pausing briefly. "Besides, our best bet may be blending in perfectly and taking the front entrance. I would hate for us to sneak in elsewhere and then be caught because we stick out like sore thumbs."

Clearing his throat and crouching over to the other side of the building, he peered over and down. Just their luck. There was a simple trio of members, all dolled up in their white robes. They were walking down a dark alley in between buildings; none of them with any suspicions of being watched. "Now then, if you two are in agreement we can begin with our plan." Guren would spin the rings upon his fingers and begin bleeding from his fingertips. As the blood drops began to exit his body, they would rapidly form three blunt tip wires which would hurl themselves behind and towards the three members as they walked. Once close, each wire would creep up, and aggressively pound the right temples of the walking trio. The concussive force was enough to knock the members out without drawing any blood. From there, Guren would manipulate his wires to coil around a leg of each member and with the flick of his wrists they would retract and pull each member from the alley all the way up to the rooftop that Guren's team resided on. 

With the unconscious members lying before them, Guren would return his blood wires back into his body. "Excellent, not a scratch on these uniforms. Now, let's inspect their palms."

With his right hand, he would grab ahold of one of the knocked out people's left hands and closely study the symbol. "Hm, exactly what I thought. It's a simple branding of the Jashinist logo. This should be easy to replicate." Guren held his left hand up to that of the member, created the dog seal with his left hand, and instantly mimic the branding on his own. "Think you guys can do the same? Mine came out pretty good." He would then free up his hands and wait for his teammates to do the same. While they did so, he would remove the robe from the member with the closest dimensions to his own and then dress himself with it. He would expect for Kota and Asuka to do the same. When they would, each of them would have perfectly conspicuous disguises that should allow them entry without a hitch. 

"Alright...now before we attempt entry, we need to decide what to do with these three...Any ideas? If we leave them alive, we run the risk of our infiltration being compromised. I have the feeling we may need to dispose of them and hide their bodies. But if either of you have an efficient way of showing them mercy, then I'm all ears."


WC: 726, Total = 1422

A nod of approval was given with what Guren was saying. Finding a middle ground would be for the best. “Alright. This has my support.” A pause was made as soon as he said it. Guren managed to kidnap three members with red threads in the blink of an eye. “I guess you didn't need my input.” He wanted to inquire about getting the threads that were used. Hid did not see Guren carrying a weapon and assumed they were hidden. Having a hidden weapon like that on him would make for a decent trump card. The best he could guess was the threads had something to do with what he was wearing.

Kota got dressed in the creepy Jashinist robe-like outfits. He liked how comfy they felt even if they had a faint order of blood and death. It made him think of the time he covered himself in entrails and shimmied up a small stream in the land of rice paddies. He had his reasons and it was a fun time. He performed the hand seal and copied the sign onto his palm. “No problem for me.” The small symbol of Jashin took place on his palm.

“All that is left is Asuka. As for this trio. Well we can not leave them alive. At best they escape and alert the others to our presence. The best we can do is a quick death and clean up the best we could.” Kota pulled out a kunai from the pouch on his leg. When Asuka would change, he would go to the bodies and individually stab them through the heart. Giving them as painless a death as he could muster. It was nothing personal, just a choice to choose himself and the people of his village.

Turning to Asuka he posed the question. “Think you can stop the rest of the blood from leaving their bodies? Close the wound or whatever. At least to keep the smell down and lower the odds of the blood smell attracting unneeded attention.” Kota would go with anything that Asuka could do. The ball was in her court. It was best for him to move out with the group.

When everyone else left the top of the building Kota would go along. He would stay silent if they got a small inspection. His confidence brimming in the glow of teamwork. Heading inside the place without any major occurrences happening.

WC: 406 TWC: 1129
Personal WC to finish mission met. Thread [Exit]

Claims:
My skill beloved presence doubles mission rewards. 12,200 (12,000 for mission and 200 for genin bonus) and 60 AP rewarded.

8 Tickets

11 SP all going to speed

1,129 words going towards the skill Heavenly Body. 1,900/2k Previous amount earned here

”If you insist.” Asuka conceded to Guren’s plan with a dip of his head and a small sigh. ”I’ll have to use a full henge, though, my albinism is too distinctive on it’s own. We don’t want them thinking I’m a ghost.” With that said, the young man watched and waited as Guren incapacitated and dragged three of the apparent cultists up onto their current rooftop hiding spot. As he waited, he removed his cloak, folding it neatly so that he could (hopefully) retrieve it later.

He inspected their palms and uniforms right alongside Kota and Guren, taking a moment to memorize the appearance of the symbol. When he was done he straightened up and looked at the three cultists, sizing them up in his mind. None of them were even close to his size, significantly taller or wider than him in every single way. There was no way he’d fit into any of those robes, so as he stood he performed the necessary hand seals for a henge. His robes were close enough to those of the cultists that nobody should notice the subtle differences, he decided. “Their robes are too big on me, but this henge should suffice until we get inside.” he commented, eyes and hair now an unremarkable shade of brown. His hair was also significantly shorter with the henge, leaving him as a pretty ordinary teen in terms of looks. He had no real desire to have them discovered, and so he took extra care to ensure his features didn’t stand out in the henge.

By the time he’d finished, Kota had already killed all three cultists, leaving Asuka feeling somewhat sick. As it was he only just managed to refrain from puking as he bent over the bodies, hands lighting up with the soft green glow that indicated he was using the mystical palm. The bleeding would quickly stop under the ministration of the healing jutsu, leaving the three bodies with only the smallest of red stains as evidence of their deceased state. His expression was pained as he did so, not liking the killing they had had to do in order to carry out their plan. He would have preferred imprisoning them somewhere, but he hasn’t exactly had the chance to react to Kota going to kill each one. In his mind he sent up a silent apology to any family the three men might have had. It was their lives or the lives of himself and his two comrades.

Sighing once, he schooled his features into a carefully neutral and somewhat blank expression, shaking off any lingering guilt at the deaths of these strangers so that he could continue on with the mission. He would wait for Guren to take the lead, following along behind the two others with silent steps. He kept his eyes forward, showing no emotion, as they made their way to the front of the building for inspection. The inspection of their palms was quick, and with a cursory nod from the two guards they were quickly ushered into the building ahead. Asuka could only guess what horrors would await them inside. He just hoped he wouldn’t have to get any blood on his own hands.

WC: 538
TWC: 1,011

[Exit]

Claiming 1,011 words towards learning the Fuinjutsu spec.
Claiming mission rewards of 6,000 ryo, 30 AP, and 8 tickets.
Claiming the additional genin mission pay of 100 ryo for a total of 6,100 ryo claimed.
Claiming 11 stat points towards vigor.

Seeing how his genin teammates handled the trio of cultists was surprisingly satisfying. As gruesome as the task may have been, the two understood the assignment and the complications that might arise if they had left them alive. Admittedly there was a path of mercy that could have been pursued using Guren's genjutsu that would allow the members to stay alive but deter them from revealing information to others. But neither Genin inquired about alternative ways. It was simple and straightforward enough. Besides, the important thing now was infiltrating the Jashinist building. 

Guren led his team down from the building and into the hallway where the cultists were yanked up from. Disguised and "branded" the three would walk towards the building in the most natural way. When Guren would approach the building, his genin teammates would follow behind him. He would be the first to present his palm. Calm, cool, and collected he was. He held his left hand up to the Jashinist guards before him, they briefly inspected it, and motioned him to enter the building. The same process happened for Kota and Asuka. And with that the easy part was over. Now it was time for the trio to learn what the hell was going on in Yugakure. 

-Exit-
WC = 210. TWC: 1632
249 going towards Genjutsu Amplifier, B Rank (1125/1125). Additional WC coming from Trick... or Treat? and The Ghost of Halloween Past
1383/1875 towards Poison Mist, claiming B Rank

Claiming mission rewards:
6000 ryo, 500 ryo for Jounin mission completion, and 8 tickets

Approved