The Elephant in the Room

The wolf was glad that Youta was on this mission with him. He knew that he could count on his longtime comrade here, and sure enough Youta's mastery over ninjutsu would allow him to spawn a pair of clones created from nothing more than a dark smog that poured from his mouth. Ninjutsu was a fairly interesting field of study, since with chakra it would seem as if anything was possible. 

The bestial form of Loghain would allow his nose to detect even the faintest hints of scents from great distances. His nonverbal message to Youta seemed to be understood, and the wolf would begin sprinting towards this unseen adversary. Youta would follow behind, calling out that he detected the target ahead and that they were capable of water release. A fury was building within Loghain, this form amplifying any feeling of rage or irritation by countless times. This adversary not only stood between them and their objective, but they dared to attack his team, those under the protection and tutelage of the wolf. The detection of the enemy by Youta and his keen nose allowed him to pinpoint the enemy and close the distance. Once within 15 meters the enemy shinobi was in sight, a large canine towering behind them with eyes focused on the approaching wolf. 

With an angry howl, the wolf would sprint into action, moving as a blur of speed and ferocity matched by few. Closing the distance between the two happened in a near instant, and with a swipe of his claws the enemy would seem to split in two. The wolf would feel a wetness on his claws, but instead of the warmth of the blood of his target it was simply water the enemy falling only to disperse into a puddle of water and appear at another position. The wolf would then dash over again, aiming to kill this annoying enemy. 

Once Youta caught up and could see what was going on, he would witness Loghain seemingly on a rampage, attacking and felling trees in a single swipe. Meanwhile, the enemy he detected was perched on the branch of a nearby tree, simply watching the whole thing with a smirk on his face. 

"It would seem as though it was a simple task to remove two of your teammates from the equation. Will you be as easy to eliminate?" The water shinobi would say in efforts to taunt Youta. 

wc:406
twc: 2002/2092

Youta would try to keep up with his werewolf friend and see the man in a tree nearby.  He would try to hurry up and catch up. He would have to try his hardest to keep up. Youta would eventually fall behind and lose sight of his friend and the enemy.  He would hear trees falling not too far ahead of him and would rush that way. Once he caught up, he would see Sebastian felling trees left and right. “Sebastian! Wake up and snap out of it!” Then he would hear the other ninja say “It would seem as though it was a simple task to remove two of your teammates from the equation. Will you be as easy to eliminate?” This would catch Youta off guard.  He would say back “To be honest, probably, but you, Praxidike, and I ought to have some fun before anything happens.  Are you going to come down? I can see you in the trees.  Come on down.”  Praxidike would talk in Youta’s head “Can I go all out? Please! Please!” “Of course! I would prefer it if you did!” 

Youta would start signing  Rat → Hare → Bird  → Dragon  → Bird  →Dog.  And when he was close to finishing the man would jump down and release a water technique Youta had not seen before.  “That's what I wanted” and all of a sudden the technique would just disappear into Youtas hand.  As the confusion set in for the man Youta would get a little closer and make the hand seals Dragon, Hare, Dog, Boar and a fiery blast of what looks like blue flame right at the shinobi but its not hot or really even flame.  And it would drain him quite a bit and Youta would continue “Sebastian? Anytime you want to help would be great!”

WC307
TWC1409

The rampage of the wolf would be difficult to break, his rage taking control of his body instead of allowing his rational thought to take over. Flooding with the natural energy from all around them, the werewolf really did think that he was assisting, putting pressure on the adversary despite not being able to land a blow. Hazy words would fill Loghain's ears, the sounds garbled and difficult to make out. The first sounded like someone calling his name, probably his Shinkou teammate. The second voice was different and distinct enough to not be the words of his comrade Youta. Simple... remove... eliminate... these were the words that came through clearly, yet it was still difficult to decipher much meaning with those alone. Well, it was difficult for him right now at least. 

A sudden clarity would befall the wolf, his mind slowly sifting through the fog of his anger. No adversary was that fast, not were they making any hand seals. No, something is amiss here. The sounds of rushing water could then be heard, like a raging river. He would hear his name again, the voice that of Youta. This time the words were far more clear, or at least he thought so. Youta wanted him to help? This suggested to the wolf that whatever it was that he was doing was not helping, and so he would think back to Jun's condition. A damned Genjutsu! Quickly flooding his body and mind with chakra he would push out the false images and all would become clear. He could see the enemy, a shinobi fighting with Youta. Loghain was angry, but it was a more controlled ferocity this time. He would lift up one of the trees that he felled and throw it like a javalin at the enemy. 

The enemy would laugh, chains suddenly wrapping around the wooden mass and then he would shift his weight and redirect the attack towards Youta, "Lets see you absorb this!". The water shinobi would then shift his gaze over to the large beastman and begin weaving seals. "All that brawn with no brains... a shame really. So easy to manipulate..." And with that said he would fade from view as a fog like mist would emerge from all around him and rain would start to fall. What trickery was this enemy up to now?

Loghain was able to smell both the enemy and his ally, but he wasn't sure if the mist was detrimental or not and couldn't depend on breathing in through his nose while in it to detect his adversary. "Youta, can you see him in that fog?"

wc: 439

Youta would see his teammate finally break the genjutsu that he was under and say to him “Hey, buddy you finally back?” Next thing Youta realizes is he sees this werewolf of a shinobi rip a tree out of the ground and just toss it at the water user. But all of a sudden chains wrapped around it and the ninja in the forest would then try to redirect the tree towards Youta. The tree had lost a bit of its momentum and was moving a bit slower than when Sebastian threw it at the other shinobi. Youta would body flicker closer to Sebastian making sure to avoid all the trees in the area which was not too hard since Sebastian knocked over most of them in the area. He would not use the full body flicker just enough to avoid the tree. Then he would try one of his favorite moves and make the handsigns Dragon - Rat - Hare - Bird - Monkey - Dragon, Snake, Dragon, Tiger, Monkey, Boar. A black whip would travel at lightning speed because of the boost and trap his enemy in a grasp. “Alright buddy do you want to try to finish this? Then we can find the actual injured animal and move on from this mission.”

WC 210

Youta managed to avoid the tree hurdling towards him in a flash of speed that caught almost caught the wolf off guard. Witnessing the hand seal utilized, he recognized it was the use of Body Flicker, easily increasing his speed to move out of the way of the redirected attack. Youta would rapidly begin to form hand seals in order to catch his assailant. The water shinobi was paying more attention to the wolf, which should have given Youta the opportunity to capitalize. Unfortunately, the enemy formed some sort of misty fog like barrier. The snaking whip of solidified darkness darted towards the position of the enemy, but without eyes on the target it was just Youta's best guess as to where they were located. The whip would wrap around something, firmly holding it immobile. The wolf would dash to the location that he could smell the enemy, thrusting his claws into the target and pulling apart in an attempt to rip the enemy in half. His claws tore into something, though he couldn't smell blood, which meant that he somehow missed. The sound of wood hitting the ground could be heard, suggesting that his target had been a log. A substitution? But what about the scent? The mist would slowly dissipate, showing the pair that the adversary was simply gone without a trace. A jacket was on the ground, clearly the method of misdirecting the wolf. He never smelled a second target, so this enemy was not only skilled but also seemed well versed in not only their tactics but also their capabilities. 

The beast would lift its snout into the air, sniffing to see if any trace could be detected. It was not successful, and it would seem as though they lost him. Taking in a deep breath and then exhaling, the lycanthropic transformation would end as his body's mass decreased. Loghain would find himself back in his human form, his clothes destroyed in the transformation. A simple weaving of seals would conjure a robe which he would clothe himself with, tying the belt to avoid it opening during movement. 

"Such a skilled adversary..." He would mutter, loud enough for Youta to hear if he was paying attention. The wolf's keen ears would pick up the sounds of a beasts whimpers. "The beast is close." He would offer as he made his way towards where the sounds were coming from. After reaching the top of a hill, looking down below they would see the large canine. It was injured and bleeding, though it wasn't clear what caused the damage. Loghain would weave seals and lift his hands, placing them on the beast. Its injuries would rapidly heal right before their eyes. 

wc: 453
twc: 2894/2092 [mission wc complete]

The water shinobi saw what Youta was up to or he was just very scared of what Sebastian would do to him if he was caught by the wolf.  Youta thought that the Water shinobi was paying more attention to the wolf then he was paying attention to Youta.  All of a sudden a fog formed all around Youta.  He would reactivate his Meigan to see if he could see through the fog.  He knew he had got a hold of something but it threw Youta for a loop.  Because through the chakra vision, he saw blue chakra jump out of the whips he had made.  He saw Sebastian charge towards whatever was in his whip's grasp.  Sebastian would punch this form of the shinobi but while he was running “Sebastian, it is a substitute.”  But before he could finish Sebastian punched the substitute.  All of a sudden just splinters would fly around him and a log would hit the ground.  The fog would clear and the shinobi was just gone.  The wolf would run off and find a jacket.  “It must have been a redirect and a distraction.”  Youta would just keep his Meigan activated in case the shinobi was going to come back.  It seemed like the shinobi knew about us in particular.  He would see that the shinobi was nowhere to be seen. “Sebastian, do you smell him?”  
Just as this was happening the other two clones would start catching up carrying Jun on a gernie that they had made out of clothes and pieces of logs that they found.  

“Oh well do you smell the animal?” They would go up the hill and see a young Jackal bleeding and was obviously injured.  Youta would prepare his paralysis jutsu also making the handsigns Tiger, Rat, Tiger, Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rat, Ox, Dragon, Ram. Youta would use this technique on the animal and would say to Sebastian. “Hey bud I would hurry up the healing of the Jackal here so we can finally get home.” Youta would look around and try to see what would have caused these injuries.  He would find in the distance some scraps of papers and a kunai.  These use to be explosive tags.  He would walk a little further and find the blast zone so he would quickly activate his Meigan again to make sure the coast was clear.  He would pick up the kunai and paper scraps to bring back to Sebastian. As soon as Sebastian finished healing Youta would walk up “ hey Sebastian, look what I found. Do you think it was that ninja we fought?”  Youta would disperse the clones and ask Jun if she was alright but she was unconscious but seemed to be better then when they first started chasing the shinobi.  “Hey Sebastian, does it seem weird that he was able to perfectly counter our moves? I guess grab that other end and let’s finally get back to the village.”  They would finally make their way home and after they dropped Jun at the hospital, Youta would say “alright Sebastian this was an interesting mission but always a pleasure to see you.”  

WC 525
TWC 2,144

[exit]
Claims
12,000 Ryo / 40 AP
Spending 1000 WC for 10 AP to be max AP

fear 2144+226=2370/4000

The wolf would quickly heal their canine target, the whole point of this mission in the first place. It was good that Jun was alright, her breathing normal. It would seem as though she was just sleeping, which was a relief not only as her team leader but also as her compatriot. 

Youta brought scraps of paper and kunai. "I suspect it to have been that shinobi... and you are right. It was rather strange how much intel he seemed to have on us. No run of the mill rogues would be able to counter us so perfectly." He didn't say it out loud, but it was clear to the wolf that someone was feeding the enemy information. The worst part was that this hadn't been the first time that exceptionally well trained shinobi had targeted those around the wolf... or perhaps they were keeping tabs on Sebastian himself. But why? He would lift the one end and help carry Jun to the hospital, cutting his mind off from thinking too much more into that question for the time being.

Once they had dropped Jun off, Loghain would nod reassuringly to his comrade. "Likewise, it is always a pleasure to find myself working beside trusted allies. You handled yourself well out there."

---exit---

wc: 212
twc: 3106

Claims
12,000 Ryo / 40 AP
Bite of the Werewolf 2750/2750

Approved for the both of you.