Rules of Nature (Mission/Duo)

Mission Details:

Power.

Loath it, love it, it was a necessary part of Kumogakure's culture. Since its founding, the village had prided itself on power, fed itself on power — killed, stolen, violated children, men, women — all in the name of power. If you were powerful, you were beloved: hence why Kumogakure, even in its foundling years, have always cooed and purred over their jinchuuriki. But if you weak, then you were trash. Historically, that meant death or abandonment. These days, it meant severe remediation.

(Which was often death or abandonment, but more complicated.)

Like many ninja of Kumogakure, Baruga desired power. Oh, yes, she had the daimyo at her beck and call, she had the banks wringing their hands and lapping up her money, she had the infinite resources of the Ryoinsatsu... but none of these really amounted to much in this insane shinobi universe. She needed something more.

And she knew people who had that something more. Luckily, like most things in life, all she had to do was ask.

"Dr. Sato," Baruga begun when she saw her military superior approach, "thank you so much for indulging my mission request. I was worried you'd be adverse to blatant technique theft and general avarice."

Dressed in a modified version of her usual flowery clothing; pants instead of a skirt, polymers instead of silk, boots instead of heels; Baruga gave the man a low bow befitting his station before continuing.

"As for why exactly I'm invoking the Rule of Two... what was it my summon said? 'Nature Chakra's a hell of a drug'? I shall be picking that as my coveted power."

She'd done her digging, and between all the people she'd met, Sato Ichigo did indeed fit the bill for 'something more'. He fit it more than enough, actually: she'd done the autopsy on the body alongside the good doctor, and anything that could utilize Nature Chakra — or, less openly, the more secretive Sage Mode — definitely counted as a brilliant power to desire.

---

WC: 327

Stat page:

Clouds started to form over Kumogakure, a sign Raijin and Fujin kept watch over the village in the Land of Lightning. Two legendary figures of the past now playing an important part in everyone's future, each one of the Gods worshipped for the power they held and passed down onto the next generation and the one thereafter. The both of them as the symbol and embodiment truly became the representation of Kumogakure's culture where the strong ruled. One of those who could be considered more powerful than the others, Ichigo Sato, would be making his way to the Training Grounds where he agreed to meet one of the younger shinobi of the village.

With a steady pace it didn't take the current Deputy Kage that long to arrive at his destination, noticing the person in question had already arrived. "No need to thank me Princess, what kind of leader would I be if I didn't make time to help those requesting my guidance?". Clad in his customized armor, black in color, Ichigo removed the helmet, his voice no longer distorted by the respiratory mask. Unknown to Baruga, the blacksmith's son made sure to clear up his schedule, allowing a moment to participate in Kumogakure's Rule of Two. "Ah yes, Nature Chakra. Powerful yet dangerous when unable to handle or control it. I take it you want to learn more about this phenomenon?". Ichigo was one of the few in Kumogakure who possessed the ability to both sense and absorb Natural Chakra so perhaps he'd be the right person for the task. 

(WC: 261)

Nature Stacks: 1/6

Stat Page:

"Well, I appreciate the sentiment."

She stopped herself from making a comment about how laughably altruistic his particular statement sounded. Perhaps she just wasn't used to being around genuinely nice people. Then again, he may just be playing the universally agreeable angle... layers within layers. She envied the common shinobi, unable to overthink things or duel in the political arena.

But that wasn't why she was here.

"Yes. As it stands, I've got an ear to the ground and a seat in my father's courtroom. Both tell me to prepare to die," she snorted derisively, flicking her hair away from her face, "as you well know, I can't really afford that in my position. Hence my interest in one of your greatest boons."

Oh, yes, once the cat was out of the bag about her Ryoinsatsu heritage, she fully expected the errant hunter nin or even the foreign assassin to come and have a go. After all, 'a clan that literally has an endless bank of money' tends to attract the worst sort of attention. And from what she'd been hearing from the contacts, that cat was coming very close, very soon...

"Nature Chakra, and by proxy, Animal Sage Mode, are the two most available guarantors of my continued survival. I'll need to finalize my plans to contact both of the outstanding S-Rank monarchs of my contract to truly grasp this power, but until then... I suppose I'll be your student in the fundamentals."

Thunder echoed in the distance. Baruga turned her nose up, tilting her chin slightly as she eyed the taller man.

"So, are we sparring using the," Baruga paused to hold back an insulting adverb, "...method that Raikage-sama suggests, or did you wish to spare my health insurance and simply 'say' we fought to the near-death?"

Baruga had both the physical tenacity and the coffers, so she hopes he won't feel pressured to hold back. ...Then again, the last time Baruga had seen evidence of Dr. Sato's abilities, he had blown a hole through a trained ninja's torso. So it may be debatable, how much one can 'pull punches' with this ability.

---

WC: 355
TWC: 682

He'd pay attention to the young woman's story, listening how Baruga's wealthy background could potentially affect the kunoichi's life and in a worst-case scenario even endanger her. "All the more reason for you to get stronger should the day come where your heritage turns you into a target". Ichigo knew this all too well. During their trip after the Kage Summit in the Land of Tea he encountered an assassin himself, one who attempted to take care of the Deputy while the man was out of the village. No matter where you'd be, you always had to be prepared to fight for your life. 

Realizing that day might arrive sooner than later Baruga confirmed that Nature Chakra was one of the means to secure her survival, the Princess planning to make full use of her summon race to fully grasp the power of Animal Sage Mode. However, aware there were still a couple of steps for her to take she requested Ichigo's guidance, for the time being becoming his student in the fundamentals. A smirk appeared on the blacksmith's son's face, from Head of the Medical Institute to Deputy to now even someone else's teacher, it seemed his schedule would become more occupied than it already was.

The purple eye of the Rinnegan well-hidden underneath the contact lenses activated, meaning Baruga wouldn't notice any change in Ichigo. "I'm sure the health insurance of the Ryoinsatsu clan allows me to test my student". With the Rule of Two in mind Ichigo knew to take things seriously. The second he finished his sentence the Deputy activated the first of many techniques in his arsenal. Baruga, who'd be standing 9 meters in front of him would suddenly feel herself being pulled towards her teacher by an unknown force and unless she applied an appropriate force in the exact opposite direction as the pull the kunoichi would find herself at his mercy.

Simultaenously, a total of five hand seals were formed in rapid succession, Dragon - Boar - Bird - Ram - Monkey. At the same time the princess became affected by his first technique, Ichigo horizontally swung his left arm starting from his right hip moving in an arc to his opposite side. Doing so, a total of fifty needles made of lightning followed the Deputy's movement, effectively being shot out towards Baruga and although not lethal would deal quite a bit of damage should they hit.

(WC: 400, TWC: 661)

AP + Stats:

Baruga immediately started forming four handseals the moment she felt the pull, before suddenly getting knocked off her feet and pulled towards the deputy kage.

Dragon, Hare —

She absolutely couldn't outpace the pull, but opting for the B-Rank version of this technique, she formed four hand seals as opposed to Ichigo's five — and as Baruga was pulled forward and the needles started flying, Baruga activated her technique.

Horse —

The needles flew —

Ram —

Baruga braced herself, before feeling her entire skin light on fire as fifty chakra needles sliced into her body and electrocuted her —

"KGKHKGKH!"

And a shimmering blue portal appeared in thin air in front of her, and she flew into it. 15 meters away from Ichigo, a second portal opened, and Baruga rolled and landed on a knee facing away from Ichigo, bleeding from head to toe as her body was turned into an electric pincushion. Her muscles spasmed uncontrollable for a moment — before Baruga pressed her bloodied palm to the ground and, without any hand seals, created a gigantic puff of smoke the size of a person.

Taking cover behind the portal, Baruga shakily activated a smoke bomb, attempting to mask the movements of her summon. The summon in question — Masamune — was a normal-sized porpoise currently swimming through the smoke, preparing his equivalent of hand seals. Then, one, two, three, four clicks of different pitches erupted, the squeaks of the dolphin-like summon audible past the smoke, before lightning ripped through the smoke and towards Ichigo.

Lightning Breath continuously blasted the environment around them as the beam blast was sustained, with Masamune maintaining aim while Baruga tried to hide away further in the remaining smoke.

---

BARUGA ACTIONS
Space-Time Art: Portals (B-Rank, 4 Visual Hand Seals) - 22 AP.
Summoning (No Hand Seals) - 25 AP.
Smoke Bomb used.

HP: 210/300.
AP: 1295/1342.
Armor: 50 HP, Chakra.
Summon Points: 5/10.
Timers: Portals (1/4 Duration).

MASAMUNE ACTIONS
Beast Amplifier: Ninjutsu (A-Rank, 5 Visual Hand Seals) - 37 AP.
Lightning Breath (A-Rank, 4 Audio Hand Seals) - 58 AP. 30 Range, 120 Speed, 90 Power.

HP: 300/300.
AP: 1405/1500.
Timers: Lightning Breath (1/3 Duration).

---

WC: 286
TWC: 968
Mission WC: 1629/3000

Two things for future reference:

His needles of lightning successfully hit their target, the princess having started to form hand seals of her own the moment she felt the pull affecting her but still getting struck by his attack nonetheless. Using the optical tracking of the Rinnegan, a direct upgrade to the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, Ichigo easily tracked the kunoichi's movements before they even manifested physically. Automatically, the Deputy began to form a set of hand seals himself, in a reflex activating his Byakugan concealed underneath the contact lenses. When a portal appeared in front of him he knew Baruga had come up with a measure to get out of harms way, but only temporarily.

With the 360-degree vision granted by the lilac eye of the renowned Hyuuga clan, Ichigo had no trouble determining the kunoichi's new position, the young woman reappearing 15m behind of him. Immediately shifting his body to face her current location, the blacksmith's son noticed a cloud of smoke had started to form around the female shinobi. Not a bad idea, but not enough to remain hidden from the Byakugan. Having finished his set of hand seals well before the total of nine the small whale had to form, Ichigo spew out a large cyclone of water. What started as a simple stream would rapidly grow and once it reached a meter from its creation the vortex had already expanded ten meters to the left and right.

The vortex made his way towards its targets, overpowering the Lightning Breath without any issue and continuing its trajectory. The torrent would violently carve out the ground, leaving its mark on whatever crossed its path. Powerful enough to destroy the portal by Baruga who would not be able to see the vortex come her way due to hiding in the smoke she created herself. Should both the young whale as the princess get caught within the torrent they'd find themselves trapped and suffering great damage while at the same time being pushed back 35 meters. Regardless of the result, Ichigo continued to keep track of his opponents' movements, ready to react when necessary. 

(WC: 349, TWC: 1010)

AP + Stats:

The Lightning Breath, the smoke, all of it — was simply washed away in one stroke as a gigantic hurricane of pure water suddenly darkened the sky, and Baruga didn't even have the time to scream, let alone react to it.

What came next was light, then darkness, then pain. Baruga's entire body cracked against the ground the moment the water technique hit, and Masamune was similarly battered. Their bodies were crushed and ground against the dirt like chalk on concrete. Baruga had no healing techniques. She was still trying to perfect her main form of defense. She had no illusory techniques or anti-sensory techniques.

No escape, really. She'd spit out a self-depreciating joke if she weren't currently drowning in mud. Finally, as the waters receded, and Baruga was done skidding for a distance roughly equivalent to a third of a football field, she found the inner strength to fight through the crushing pain currently blinding her ability to think... and roll onto her back.

Her right leg feels wrong. Her left arm is bent wrong and crushed under her body. A pool of blood was building from the many bruises and cuts she'd just accumulated, along with the aggravated wounds from the Chidori Senbon. There's this ringing in her ears she can't get rid of. And...

Masamune, her summon, gave an apologetic series of clicks before desummoning himself. Baruga gargled out a loud, forceful laugh, muddied water coughing out of her lungs and onto her teeth and lips.

"Keh-kh-hegh-hegh! And without.... without a drop of Nature Chakra. So much for that. I didn't even last a minute..."

She hadn't accomplished her objective whatsoever. She had set out to learn of Nature Chakra, to covet it — and all she got for her troubles were gravitational techniques she had no access to, and elemental techniques she had no talent in.

Perhaps this was simply a lesson in self-awareness, then. Dr. Sato likely thought that she was aiming too high and sought to humiliate her before she had the chance to embarrass herself.

A mercy, really.

"The mission is over, I think. I'll mail in my report to the Raikage's office as soon as possible."

And if he kills her now out of hatred for her weakness, or if he strikes her into unconsciousness as some sort of final lesson, she can't do much about it. She only has enough strength to get back on her feet one more time, and even then, how will she fight? With defenses she doesn't have, with an offense that was lacking, or should she summon a whale and injure them without explanation? This was a foregone conclusion, and they both knew it. There was nothing left to 'covet' here, the point had been made, and another attack will send her into critical condition.

Baruga groaned and pushed herself onto her feet one last time, bleeding from every part of her body, blurry vision trained on Ichigo Sato. She winced as, yes, her right leg was broken, as she suspected. There was only one thing she could do in this situation.

She bowed forty-five degrees in saikeirei.

"Thank you for your time."

---

HP:: 105/300.
AP: 1295/1342.
Armor: 50 HP, Chakra.
Summon Points: 5/10.
Timers: Portals (1/2 Cooldown).

---

WC: 527
TWC: 1495
Mission WC: 2505/3000

Waves would crash down, like a tsunami destroying everything in its path, leaving nothing behind. Deactivating the technique after it had achieved the intended result Ichigo would make the vortex disappear, an incredible amount of water in its wake. The young whale, small for its kind, returned to where it came from, the blow so devastating he couldn't bear staying behind. "I hope she brought a second set of clothes". And there she would lay, with wounded pride and her body all messed up from getting hit with the attack. Even though the Deputy decided to hold back, the impact was still devastating nonetheless.

Recovering from the aftermath the princess would slowly get back up as she walked towards Ichigo. "Sit down" he ordered her. What the man needed weren't apologies or words of gratitude, there was no need for all of that. Assuming Baruga did as she was told the doctor, yes he still was one, would form a set of seals before his hands started to glow a bright blue. Doing so, he would begin to heal the kunoichi's wounds, speeding up the process by applying the Mystical Palm technique. "Now, what did you learn from this?". Obviously the young woman didn't expect things to take a turn of events, at least not to such an extent. She probably went out with the idea of attaining some form of knowledge, but for now the only thing she gained were a couple of broken bones and perhaps a reality check. 

(WC: 251, TWC: 1261)

Nature Stacks: 4/6

"Nothing."

Baruga snorted with a cruel smirk, dried blood caked on her lips. Oh, did someone think this was going to be some life-changing revelation about how she treats the world and equity in actions? Was this the start of a beautiful arc in Baruga's life, where she would grow and blossom into some amazing heroine figure?

As if. This was the real world. What happened here was expected as a possibility, as all instances were, in a true shinobi's mind. Baruga came seeking power and she got nothing. This outcome wasn't at all surprising. She knew damn well that she had demanded the care and attention of an upper division shinobi, and not just that, the Deputy Kage and the main medical powerhouse of Kumogakure. It was a blind gamble, and she came up with a weak hand in the end.

"I asked for help. You came. I then got yanked around by forces I-know-not and elemental techniques before being forced to surrender. I've once more tasted humility, I've once more known defeat — and every day, I salt my food and sprinkle my water with humility and defeat. As it should be."

As it has been. Nothing's changed, really.

"There is one thing. I learned that I'll have to learn Nature Chakra and Sage Mode on my own terms. And for that, I thank you for teaching me that there will be no consultant in my endeavors."

And then Baruga meets his eyes with a completely dead, uninterested look on her face.

"Unless the actual lesson was that I should have just asked normally, in which case — this is Kumogakure, village of masochist kratocracy and sadist traditions. Why would you expect me to do that?"

---

WC: 284
TWC: 1779
Mission WC: 3040/3000

It appeared the young woman had trouble figuring out the lesson Ichigo hoped she would take from their little spar. "If anything, you should have realized where your current limits lay". The entire time he held back, hardly breaking a sweat while Baruga on the other hand received grave injuries. Experiencing the difference between them first-hand should show the kunoichi just how hard she'd have to work if she ever dreamed of catching up. "Sure, I could have simply told you what to do, but sometimes people need a reality check before truly understanding where they're currently at". And truth be told, it wasn't as if the princess was ever in any real danger.

Once he was done applying first aid, Ichigo stood up, hoping Baruga would think things over once more. "If you really want to learn about Nature Chakra, I'll teach you. But not here, not now". Before he'd agree to help Baruga with tapping into the power of her summon race he wanted to make sure the princess figured out why the deputy decided to go with the approach he used. If he really wanted to bully her, he wouldn't have limited himself in a way that stopped him from using his full arsenal and instead simply throw whatever he possessed at the young girl. 

Hoping to see her again once she had made a full recovery, Ichigo would take his leave for the time being. "If Raijin allows, I'll be seeing you soon". And with that the Deputy disappeared, leaving the princess with a couple of things to think about. 

(Exit)

(TWC: 1525)
Claims, using 25% max stat discount:
- 1500 to change my second specialty to Fuinjutsu
- Mission rewards (6000 + 10.000 Master bonus ryo + 1500 ryo from AP to ryo conversion for max stats characters)