Re: What The Shark Doing?

Thu Jul 14, 2022 10:44 am

Luckily the giant shark took the bait, and went straight into the cage. As it started going to town on the meat, the fishermen slammed the cage shut, trapping the sea creature inside. After only a moment, the shark realized what was happening and began slamming its body against the cage, causing the boat to rock violently. It was a shame, having to kill such a beautiful creature, but Gonk knew what had to be done. In the end, the life of this one shark was far outweighed by the dozens of human lives on the beach. The same cold blooded logic Gonk applied when ending the life of his clanmate had to be applied here, regardless of any personal feelings or attachments. So when the captain called out the order for his men to move in, Gonk stood by stoically, not making any moves to stop him.

When Auron suddenly called out that the shark was under a genjutsu, Gonk was taken aback.

“A genjutsu?” He wondered. “I thought they were Kuroobi’s companions or something. Does this mean he’s controlling them?” This sickened Gonk, but he still wouldn’t have done anything if it weren’t for the shouts of Auron, telling him to release the creature.

“Right,” Gonk yelled back, running towards the edge of the boat. If they could save this creature they absolutely should try. But worse came to worst, Gonk figured he could probably take it out.

As he reached the edge of the boat, Gonk dove off and entered the water with only a small splash. As soon as he was submerged, Gonk could smell the blood in the water. It was even more potent than it had been in the air, and Gonk had to focus in order to keep control. He could see how the shark had been lured into the cage with such a powerful bait. As he approached the still thrashing creature, Gonk realized it would be hard to control its bloodlust, even if he could remove the genjutsu. Gonk had performed genjutsu release on others before, but never on an animal. But he figured it had to at least be the same principles.

He obviously couldn’t approach the creature while it was thrashing around so much, so first Gonk formed a few hand seals and two strands of scales formed out of the water, wrapping around the shark locking it’s movements. Now that it was at least still, Gonk slipped through the bars and swam up to the genjutsu trapped animal, being sure to steer clear of its mouth, which was still snapping open and shut. Gonk could sense the shark’s desperation and anger, so he slowly placed his hand on the top of its head and started gently rubbing it. After a moment, the shark calmed down slightly, so Gonk activated genjutsu release, surging his chakra into the shark in an attempt to disrupt the jutsu. He felt it work, so Gonk lifted his hand, however it had taken a fair amount of energy from him. The shark stopped thrashing and looked puzzled, starting to come to its senses. But then it noticed the raw meat next to it, and immediately started going to town, sensing no immediate danger from Gonk.

With that taken care of, Gonk slipped back out of the cage and began heading back to the boat, figuring that it would be better to leave the shark in the cage and relocate it rather than running the risk of having it immediately swim for the shore and start gobbling up swimmers. Suddenly Gonk frowned, noticing something. He could feel the vibrations of something huge coming towards them underwater. It had to be at least 13 meters long and 2 meters across, much bigger than the shark they were already dealing with.

“Oh god,” Gonk thought, ‘please don’t be another shark.” Then he sensed the vibrations again, trying to discern more details, and shit, it was another shark. When he broke the surface, Gonk could see the fin approaching, and when he looked up at the boat, he noticed Auron already staring at it.

“Something tells me this one isn’t under a genjutsu,” Gonk called, watching it approach. At first he wondered if it had smelled the blood in the water, but then something occurred to him. “The one we caught was a female, so maybe this is her mate!” This was bad. They could try releasing the first shark, except the same risks still applied, plus the added possibility of her joining in on the carnage.

“We need to get both of them away quickly,” Gonk said, eyeing the ever approaching male. “If you start sailing out to sea with the first shark, I thinkI can distract and divert the second long enough to let them both go.” Was Gonk extremely confident in this plan? No, no he wasn’t. But he was willing to put in a bit of extra effort if it meant the sharks could live. Just like with the genjutsu release plan, if worse came to worst, he could just switch to plan B: the all out brawl. Assuming that Auron agreed, Gonk would take a deep breath, then activated his curse mark, wincing as the wave pattern began to spread across his body and transform his already battered body. As the curse mark took hold, Gonk grew to seven feet tall, and put on incredible muscle until he weighed well over 300 pounds. He felt his armor fade into his scales and his face morph into that of a great white shark .He didn’t like using this technique, but it gave him the boost in speed and strength that he needed, and he began swimming towards the shark at lightning speed.

As he neared the shark, Gonk suddenly remembered something. He was still covered in open wounds! And sure enough, when he glanced behind him, there was a slight red coloration to the water as his blood diffused. Unintentional high risk high reward he supposed, the blood would help him divert the shark, but at the same time he was way more likely to die now. What Gonk wouldn’t give to have some Disney princess animal talking abilities right about now. Regardless, Gonk realized that he would need to get the shark’s attention if he wanted it to follow him, so the shark boy began forming hand seals. The shark had already noticed Gonk, but it was extremely surprised when an underwater vortex slammed into it, the only visible signs being a slight distortion in the water emanating from Gonk. However the shark wasn’t exactly a seasoned shinobi, so it didn’t understand what had happened. All it knew was it got hurt and there was some weird looking shark boy staring at him.

The shark began charging Gonk with renewed anger, causing Gonk to decide now was the time to use his best technique. The boy quickly formed eight hand seals, then with a surge of chakra, caused the water to rise up from the ocean and start forming a large dome around them. They were still pretty far from the boat, so it would have plenty of time to avoid being caught in the rapidly expanding jutsu. With his preparation complete, now all Gonk had to do was get the large shark in the moveable dome, and keep it there until they had traveled far enough away from the beach.

Gonk quickly positioned himself under the shark, then slammed his hands together, causing a cylindrical shock wave to slam into the shark, pushing it up into Gonk’s dome. Immediately, the shark would feel its speed and strength being sapped and Gonk pushed in, battering the shark, as he began swimming out into the open ocean. Periodically he would glance back, making sure everything was going ok with Auron.

[WC=1306]
[TWC=4996]

Fri Jul 15, 2022 8:46 am

Heroically, Mako had dove right into the ocean upon hearing Auron's revelation. As for the two shinobi that dove in after him, Auron was unsure of their fate. But all that he knew was that shortly after Mako had began to pursue the shark the boat's rocking began to stop. The once crashing waves surrounding the boat subsided, and now the waves had calmed. The Yamaguchi had only assumed that once again this Mako fellow worked his magic against the sharks that the team were up against. But to Auron, it seemed far more humane to quell the beast rather than kill it. Especially considering the fact that it was essentially weaponized by quite the villain. He couldn't help but think back on the man's face and abilities that presented themselves. For him to have devised such a plan that would incapacitate villagers and set them up to be shark food was truly devious. If it hadn't been for Mako, Auron, and the fishermen there probably could have been dozens if not hundreds of casualties. This follow up though began to shake Auron's morality, perhaps it had been better to actually kill the sharks and not knock out the fishermen. They were looking to save the lives of people. Even though Auron was a missing ninja, he didn't want to see anyone or anything die today unless it had to. The shark man was somewhat of an exception.

The two fishermen who dove in after Mako would note that the man had calmed the beast, and had a change of heart. Instead of lunging towards it to attack, they simply returned to the ship side and began to ascend it. They shortly trailed behind Mako, who would make it back to the surface of the ship first. When they arrived, they'd be shocked by the fact that all of their crew had been knocked unconscious except for the one to steer the ship.

"What in the hell happened here? Mutiny?" one called out in a tone of equal concern and anger.

"Hush, they were planning on making the situation worse. Just as you two were. I'm glad you saw reason, but I suggest you stand down along with your captain. Things are getting more intense. There's a second shark."

Auron's stern interjection would come alongside the pointing of his finger off towards the distant, yet incoming fin of a massive shark. At this point it had been 55 meters away, having slightly closed the distance in the time it took for Mako and the others to return to the ship. The masked man would make an observation, which Auron agreed with in regards to this shark being completely sound of mind. His follow up comment had been interesting and intelligent, stating the captured shark was a female and the incoming one was its pissed off mate. Of course, he thought. Of all sharks to had been pit against the group, it had to be two mates. Just when he thought he understood and had a grasp of the shark man's sinister plan, it grew more and more complex. And in actuality, it seemed genius. He couldn't help but reluctantly yet internally commend the man. But at the same time he had a high respect for Mako, who seemed to collect and analyze information at an accelerated pace. He had been the brains behind the solution, Auron was simply following instructions and making observations. Two things he did well.

The man's suggestion was to separate the sharks, which did seem to be the best solution at hand. It would be difficult to execute, but if these two sharks really were mates then it would be even more difficult to engage the two in such a close proximity. Creating distance was optimal. And so at Mako's command, everyone on the ship who remained conscious would nod in unison. Upon seeing the feats of both Auron and Mako, no one wanted to challenge them. "Agreed," Auron would echo as he proceeded towards the helm of the ship. Auron would watch as Mako underwent some form of a transformation, becoming a larger and more terrifying figure. And in an instant he'd leap from the ship to pursue the incoming shark. Brave, yet bold. The Yamaguchi would look towards the captain who firmly, yet nervously gripped the reigns of the wheel.

"I can create some distance, but it won't be easy. I'll need the ship's speed maximized. We're at a stand still right now, so we need to get speed and fast. Smee, Oree! Start throwing off dead weight. We need to get lighter, now! And you, do you have some way to accelerate us from a dead stop?"

"I can try."

"You're going to have to do more than try! But let's start!"

With the plan defined, everyone would jump to their positions. Smee and Oree immediately rushed to hull of the ship and would one by one begin throwing heavy items overboard. It was a strenuous and repetitive process but a necessary one. And as they did so, the ship indeed grow lighter. Consequently though, it became more sensitive to outside forces. With this in mind, Auron would need to be careful about the level of precision he used to boost the ship from its halt. It would need to be perfectly angled yet extremely powerful to accelerate the massive boat from its stop. With haste he'd form a number of hand seals, belonging to his time dilation technique. Resultantly his speed and chakra potency would increase exponentially, allowing him to near instantly rifle through the next sequence of seals. These belonged to the space time amplifier technique, which would be instrumental in maximizing the power of the technique Auron planned to call upon. Finally, his last set of hand seals would pertain to his doomsday technique. It had been the same one he planned on using against the shark man, but didn't end up needing to. As they were completed, ten massive portals would spawn at the rear of the ship. Their formation would be determined so that when all fired, there would be equal force expelled from the back of the ship. In theory if he fired them opposing the ship, the equal and opposite force from their massive power should propel the ship forward. At least that's what he thought and planned on trying.

"Alright, you ready?" Auron would inquire while looking over to the captain.

"Smee! Oree!"

"We're ready captain!"

"Do it now!"

Nodding in unison, Auron would simultaneously trigger all ten portals to expel massive beams of highly amplified negative energy. They would fire significantly away from the trajectory of Mako and the shark, ensuring those two were completely out of harms way. And when their expulsion would commence, the ship would rocket forward and emit a loud roar in the process. It nearly flew forward, almost instantly distancing the ship from the sub 50 meters it had been from the shark to 75 meters. 75 became 100, and 100 became 150. And while the ship flew forward, the captain would expertly maneuver the ship so that its pathway curved away from the beach and went off towards the deeper sea. Once far enough away from Mako and the other shark, Auron would cease his fire and the ship would slow to much more manageable speeds. The cries of the fisherman would then come, as they had felt accomplished and knew that the threat had been thwarted.

"I can't believe we just fucking did that!" The fisherman exclaimed with sheer excitement on his face.

Auron, calm and composed on the exterior, but in disbelief internally would nod. "Yeah, but it's not finished yet. We need to see Mako return. And we need to figure out what to do with this female shark."

"You know, I'm inclined to kill it..." the captain began, "But seeing the lengths we went through to keep it alive...we should release it."

Auron's eyebrow would raise beneath the shroud of his hat upon hearing the initial comment from the captain. Yet once the second came, it'd lower and his tension would quell. He agreed with this plan, and would softly smile in relief.

"Well, I guess I'll do the honors." Auron would say, as the conscious crew would silently agree. He'd subsequently walk over towards the mechanism that controlled the cage on the side of the ship and raise his hand towards the level. Pulling it down, he'd actuate the release sequence which would hastily lunge the doors of the cage open. And with that, the shark's captivity had come to an end. It'd make no hesitation swimming out, in a direction off towards the sea and away from the beach. All that was left to do was to see Mako return to the ship and brief the group on how his side of things had gone.

WC = 1483. TWC = 6402

Sun Jul 17, 2022 8:49 pm

Keeping the shark in check proved to be a relatively simple task, all thanks to his giant water prison. The chakra that permeated the water slowed and weakened the shark, meanwhile, Gonk’s curse mark made him faster and stronger than before. The result was a rather one sided fight, with the shark not being able to react to Gonk’s blows in time. But luckily for the shark, Gonk wasn’t trying to kill it, only to make it chase Gonk away from the shore. The periodic blows and quick dashes away seemed to do the trick petty well. If Gonk went too long without provoking it, the shark would start to lose interest, and Gonk couldn’t risk it leaving his bubble. So slowly but surely, the bubble crept along the surface of the ocean, taking the shark further and further away from the beach goers.

At one point, when Gonk looked back at Auron, he was met with the sight of ten portals shooting lasers away from the boat, causing it to shoot forwards. Gonk couldn’t exactly judge the method as it was separating the sharks pretty damn fast. As the transformed boy continued his dangerous dance with the shark, he noticed it starting to tire. It was reacting slower and more sluggish, getting more exhausted with each passing minute. Gonk knew that if he kept it up for just a bit longer, he would be able to leave without a risk of the shark going straight to the beach. Gonk could barely make out the boat at this point, and the people on the beach were no more than little dots. Gonk started pressing the shark even harder until eventually it stopped. Gonk could tell it wasn’t unconscious, but it was exhausted to the point where it didn’t have the will to fight back. Gonk was getting tired himself, so he undid his water prison shark dance jutsu, causing the bubble to splash down into the water, releasing the shark. Gonk watched it carefully, ready to spring back into action, but luckily it seemed to have no further interest in the beach, and turned around and swam away towards the open ocean.

With that taken care of, all there was left to do was get back to the boat. Gonk could still see it off in the distance, but it would take some time to swim there. Unfortunately, Gonk didn’t have much of a choice, so with a sigh, he began the trip. As the adrenalin from the fight started to wear off, Gonk began feeling the injuries he sustained during his battle with Kuroobi once again. Dueling with the giant shark certainly hadn’t helped them heal, although the shark never managed to touch Gonk. He probably pushed himself too hard though, and he would definitely need some time to recover. Luckily it seemed like this beach was perfect for that, and it’s not like he could leave anyways until his boat was fixed. Some forced R&R Gonk supposed, although that was why he went on the vacation anyways. Gonk still wanted to get some real training in though, as he hadn’t gotten to since even before he took the mantle of Mizukage. He had more time for training while he was running the shadow government in the capitol, but it still hadn’t been great. What he wanted was days on end to spend honing a single skill, perfecting it to the best of his abilities. He would start with his curse mark, as he knew there were secrets lying below the surface there. Gonk had just never had time to fully explore them. He also didn’t fully trust the brand, as it was given to him by the Hoshigakure doctor Akabayashi Terumi, however the man hadn’t done anything to betray his trust yet.

Finally Gonk got to the boat, deactivating his curse mark as he climbed up the ladder. The fact that the female shark wasn’t in the cage and also wasn’t prowling the waters nearby showed that Auron had been successful in releasing the creature, and it was docile now that the genjutsu was released. All in all it seemed like everything had gone to plan. As Gonk stepped onto the deck, he noticed that almost all of the crew was unconscious, causing him to raise an eyebrow. However he didn’t question Auron’s methods as clearly the job had gotten done. It’s not like these random shark hunters were his problem.

“I managed to chase off the big shark,” Gonk told Auron, before heavily sitting down on a metal bench. “Shall we head back to the dock?”

“Aye,” the captain replied, nodding. The man carefully picked his way around his unconscious crew members as he walked towards the wheel. Slowly the boat began to turn completely around, then chug back towards the beach. Gonk gazed at the people who were still enjoying the sun and surf. They had no idea how close they were to death. How nice it must be to be so ignorant of reality. Shinobi worked from the shadows so that others could bask in the sunlight. Quite literally this case.

Now that the boat wasn’t laser propulsion powered, it would take them quite a bit of time to get back, so Gonk took the opportunity to chat with Auron.

“Thanks for your help with this,” Gonk told the other boy. “I don’t think I could have stopped them without killing them if it wasn’t for you.” Gonk would pause to let Auron answer before continuing. “I know you said you left your home in the land of fire, and I won’t pry into what your journey entails. But if you ever end up in Island Country, feel free to stop by Kirigakure, you have a home there whenever you need it. Provided you don’t like, do anything illegal,” Gonk gave a small laugh. “I could use someone like you helping me out, just look for Gonk Hoshigaki.”

It was Auron’s choice whether he took the disguised kage’s offer or not, but the boy meant what he said. Most of his friends from the village had seemingly disappeared, perhaps on long standing missions like he had been, or perhaps… well he didn’t like to think about the other possibility. Gonk supposed he could probably check some records and find out exactly what had happened, but frankly, ignorance was bliss. Regardless, he both needed some new faces for the security of the village, and to help keep him sane with all of the mind numbing paperwork he had to deal with.

With that taken care of, Gonk would chat with Auron if that’s what the man wished, but if he didn’t say much in response, Gonk was content to sit quietly and rest after the arduous battles.

[WC=1132]
[TWC=6128]

Mon Jul 18, 2022 1:11 pm

When Mako arrived at the ship, he seemed exhausted. And rightfully so, he had done a vast number of the physical labor associated with the tasks the two undertook. He had fought the shark man one on one, swam through the ocean to challenge a behemoth shark, and managed to subdue it. And to top it all of, he had swam the hundreds of meters back to the boat just to check in that everything had gone accordingly. Though fatigued, he also seemed quite composed and understandably confused. It had taken Auron to subdue the majority of the fishermen and assume control of the ship to get them to comply. Though it wasn't as laborious as fighting multiple sharks, it still had been draining and a bit unorthodox. As the captain set sail back towards the dock, Auron would take the moment to approach Mako. Though he planned on thanking him for his efforts, it seemed as if Mako beat him to it. During his brief pause, Auron would interject.

"It just didn't seem right for us to kill them. They weren't even in control. But really, I owe it to you. I don't think I could have handled any of those threats by myself." His tone was sincere, and though he rarely felt comfortable around village shinobi he had a feeling this man was different. Following this, Mako would prove that hypothesis to the Yamaguchi. He offered him an invitation and a home in Kirigakure, with a small caveat. Auron would laugh in sync, and seriously consider the offer from the man. "Gonk Hoshigaki? Should I tell him Mako sent me?" Auron would ask, unaware that both names belonged to the man standing before him. However Mako would respond, Auron would add his decision. "Well, when I make my way out to Kirigakure I'll be sure to do so. You've got a friend in me, Auron Yamaguchi."

With that, Auron would take a few steps towards the side of the ship and rest his arms upon its bannister. He too was tired, though his fatigue was likely only a fraction of Mako's. He couldn't help but reflect on the offer from the man and what it might mean. But he would be a fool to not at least investigate it. Besides, anything was better than staying in Fire Country. Now to figure out how to get there.

-Exit-

WC = 398. TWC = 6800 (4919 Spent via Mid Thread Claims, 1881 to Spend)
Mission Rewards
Mission 1: 8,000 Ryo / 40 AP / 25 Tickets
Mission 2: 8,000 Ryo / 40 AP / 1 Shark Fin (B-Rank Augmentation Material) / 1 Pirate Cutlass / 25 Tickets
Mission 3: 10,000 Ryo / 50 AP / 1 Shark Scales (A-Rank Augmentation Material) / 1 Swashbuckler's Eyepatch / 30 Tickets
C Rank MN Bonus: 2,000 Ryo x 3 = 6,000 Ryo

25% Max Stat Discount
- 353 WC Towards Mind's Eye of the Kagura (1875/1875); rest trained here and here
- 1125 WC towards Soul Snatch (B, 1125/1125)
- 403 WC towards Soul Snatch (A, 1528/1875)

Mon Jul 18, 2022 3:06 pm

It would seem that Auron was exhausted as well, and rightfully so. The shinobi had unleashed several large, very powerful techniques as well as physically knocking out each crew member. Not to mention the general stress of a mission such as this one. The two boys hadn’t really gotten to talk at all before being thrown into this mess, but now Gonk could see that Auron was a very sincere person, and Gonk appreciated the young man’s words. He felt that a few genuine words were better than any amount of false praise or flattery. Gonk decided that he would never give in to yes men who would just bring him up to try and win his favor. He would need to surround himself with people who could criticize him when necessary but support him when he was on the right track. That, Gonk thought, was how a leader should rule. The shark boy was happy to see Auron seriously consider his offer, and Gonk would laugh once again when Auron asked about Gonk Hoshigaki.

“Yeah, he’ll be able to point you in the right direction.” Gonk said with a little grin, not giving away the source of his amusement. “And you in me,” Gonk replied to Auron’s final statement, nodding. Both of the boys were clearly tired, so they spent the rest of the boat ride in comfortable silence, regaining some of their strength. When the boat reached the pier, Gonk would disembark and silently raise his hand in farewell, before turning and walking towards the docks where he had washed up, hoping that there would be some good news. However, when he reached his small boat, the message he got wasn’t exactly what he had desired. Apparently it would be several days, possibly even a couple weeks, before he could leave. Apparently supplies were short on the island, and the boat was more damaged than it seemed.

“Oh well,” Gonk thought as he walked away from the shipbuilder after thanking her. “There’s not really much I can do about it.” The woman had suggested a resort where he could stay, so Gonk started making his way into the town, ready for some rest. The check in process was quick, and after a nice warm shower, Gonk collapsed into the bed and immediately passed out, completely drained from the day’s events.

[WC=392]
[TWC=6520]

claims:

Mon Jul 18, 2022 11:46 pm

Exit claims approved for Auron and Gonk!