Every Step Towards the Future

The two flaming birds would dive towards the running boy, moving at 170 speed, by the time he had reached the threshold five meters away, the birds would have traveled ten meters. Katok would make his way across the rooftops, keeping pace with them, and cross the first rooftop by the time Saito was within the building. W1 would trail after him and follow beside him. Katok would place himself on top of the building Saito hid in a few moments later. As the wolf clones would move in, they would pause, still remaining within 15 meters of the boy and staring at the doorway, shifting only if he did. Katok would use their position, as well as his own senses, to determine that Saito had moved only two meters into the store. The birds would barrel into the store through the smoke and Katok would bark and throw up the Boar seal, causing the two birds to erupt, unleashing a ten-meter radius (twenty-meter diameter) explosion which would engulf the lower level of the building and part of the front of the store. A smoke-colored field of flowers would suddenly spread into the store and Katok would jump off the building towards the other wolves, aiming to land five meters in front of the store. As he tracked Saito, he would rapidly form seals for Tiger - Boar - Dog - Dragon - Rat followed by Rat - Dog - Tiger, removing two seals as he launched a 2mx2m fireball through the smashed in front door of the store, landing past Saito one meters short of the back of the store and causing a circle of fire to suddenly erupt outwards in a ten-meter radius, covering the first floor of the building and the front door. Katok would land on all four paws and then move back three meters, connecting senses with the other wolves nearby before throwing up the tiger seal and directing the newly formed spider to drive itself at the boy within. As he focused on the spider, the orange in his fur would fade, reflected in the clones.

As this was going on Sakai would see the birds streaking across the front of the buildings, leaving a burning pathway behind them. She would sustain her yellow wallpaper genjutsu, making all moving objects not appear to be moving until it was within five meters of Saito. Sakai would already be 12 meters off from Saito as he entered the building and she would connect her senses with the wolf clones and pinpoint the child's location before rapidly sealing Snake - Dragon - Rat, causing a smoke-colored field of flowers to suddenly expand out from 3 meters away from Saito outside. It would expand into the room and aim to connect to the boy, moving at 105 speed, as it expanded to cover the front of the store and five meters out. if it did connect with the boy, it would paralyze him in place. She would then rapidly sign Ram - Monkey - Hare at the center of the flower field and have it expand rapidly at the same speed to cover a ten-meter radius, stopping short of her allies, effectively catching the entire bottom three floors. Having seen into the building as Saito ran in, there were no windows in the back or sides of the first floor, as it was right up against other buildings on all three sides, Sakai would choose to instantly shift the visuals of the building within. The staircase had been located in the back of the building, as Sakai could sense, she would shift it and replace the location between it and a display on the south side of the building, making each appear as the other. If Saito attempted to leave the store, Sakai would rapidly throw up the seals Ram - Bird - Tiger and cause smoke covered butterflies to suddenly appear around Saito, scattering and moving up into the air out of his reach. They would seem to shimmer and fade away, wings faltering and falling to the ground if touched.

Dracoso, feeling the battle was moving further and further from him, would move swiftly two rooftops over and position himself from above. Sutsui would continue to track the build in the building through her mind's eye and she would throw up the seals Tiger - Dragon - Bird - Clap and shift her scales into a firmly held pattern, causing a bubble of chakra to move out through the buildings and engulf the boy below as they came closer. With Sutsui's history of tracking through her senses, she could feel the movement and awareness of the boy for where they were. Dracoso would prepare to give directions to the clones right as he heard their words. Dracoso would let out a sigh.

As the clones had stopped 15 meters out from Saito and the building was only ten meters from front to back with the staircase hidden towards the back of the building, the clones felt comfortable with opening on the building full strength. As the explosion from the pheasants would clear and the flower field would form, W2 would continue to track the boy as it moved to stand 10 meters from Saito, directly west of the building, aiming inwards and shape Tiger - Dragon. As his team would communicate silently, Ten flaming projectiles would form and fire rapidly at the boy through the doorway into the space he had moved into. He aimed the darts in an X just above Saito, with one dart at his current position, to cover the air if he were to jump or move outwards. W2 would then fall back to 15 meters from Saito as W3 would stand 15 meters northwest of Saito and continue to track him as he moved. W3 would rapidly seal Snake - Ox - Ram - Dragon - Tiger, aiming for the building, out of the way of his allies, and launching a river of mud at the building, twenty meters wide and thirty meters long, engulfing the ground and first floor staircase of the entire building inside and out with mud that would rapidly slide and catch Saito's feet. While it may not pull him under, it would slow his movements and his swings rapidly. 

S1 would have tried to follow after Katok, but found himself easily outpaced as all but the original Dracoso would already be several meters ahead of him. He would signal to the second Dracoso clone to continue on as the face and spend his time crossing the top of the buildings and stopping on the top of the building. 

S2 would make his way down the front of the building and reach the bottom just as the earth, fire, and illusionary effects exploded across the building, a ring of fire expanding out just short of him. With the mud and eruptions from the building, the clone would whisper back through his headset, "I think they just went scorched earth. Looks like they may have beaten him to smashing things..." He would let the bow and arrow disperse from his hands as he watched the building's first floor become engulfed in earth and fire.

Positions:

Battle Info:

It was coming, that flaming bird. It was coming fast. Way too fast! Saito hardly had time to register the approach with his chakra sensory before the twin pair of birds would burst through the smoke just behind Saito and detonate once they reached two meters into the shop, engulfing the entire lower level of the textile shop in the process. Just before the fire would wash over Saito, he'd leap from his spot less than a meter away from the explosion towards the back of the store, his Lightness Skill activating as he formed a quick duo of signs- Tiger. Rat. Followed by a clap of the hands. Using lightness to turn in mid-air, a fire would wrap itself around Saito once more as he unleashed a tremendous punch back towards the front of the shop just after the Pheasant Hunter had overtaken him in order to follow in the blast wave of the Pheasant Hunter outside. His Evening Elephant had turned into a blazing flame thanks to the Crimson Blazing Heart that had been utilized just before it and masked the technique within the fire of the Pheasant Hunter as the pressurized fire-air blasted out of the front of the shop originating three meters from within. He had aimed his punch to line up with the door, which sat in the middle of the ten-meter wall that made up the street-facing front of the shop; had the Pheasant Hunter not just obliterated the shop, his Evening Elephant would have done much the same. He had seen the wolf out in the front of the shop, and hiding his own technique in the shadow of the massive fireball might just catch that invisible opponent.

With the position of the Pheasant Hunter explosion and the intended landing zone for Katok and the speed of the wolf in comparison to the two techniques now barreling towards it, the summon would be threatened by a staggering amount of damage before he would even touch the ground presuming he didn't have a way to deny the injury beforehand. (315 potential damage between the 170 Pheasant Hunter and 145 from the mastered EE.) Given the twenty-meter range of the Elephant, those standing in front of the store threatened to be slammed into by the firey, pressurized wind as well. Given the destruction of the building and the timing of the attacks, most wouldn't have a valid target to land at, hit the rubble of the building or be dissipated by the Evening Elephant. 

The superior speed of the Pheasant Hunter would race past Saito and his mid-air stunt, destroying the walls of the building around him with ease and doing him the favor of blowing out the back wall of the shop so that Saito could fly out of the building before the entire upper floor came crashing down behind him. Pulling chakra to his feet, he'd land on the wall of the building across the alley from the one that had just been destroyed, quickly clearing the three-meter gap that was the back alley and putting him 13 meters from the front of the shop that was just destroyed, potentially breaking distance effect for some of the genjutsu that he unknowingly had applied to him. With three meters of building rubble collapsing and tossing up a massive screen of dust, Saito hardly waited a moment before beginning to run along the wall southward down the alley and behind the shops that had been facing the much bigger street on the other side. He heard the sound of other jutsu slamming into the rubble of the building but paid it little mind as he aimed to make some distance. His muscles tensed as he felt another surge of chakra in his system, flooding his veins and pounding in his chest as he felt a burst of energy and his wounds begin to close.

"I gotta get some ground- this guy isn't playing around anymore! He's out for blood. Unluckily for him, so am I." he thought to himself.

Combat info:

(quick comment on Saito's pathing into the alleyway, this was mentioned in the previous post: Having seen into the building as Saito ran in, there were no windows in the back or sides of the first floor, as it was right up against other buildings on all three sides, Sakai would choose to instantly shift the visuals of the building within. So, I will be reacting with this in mind.).

As the explosion of the pheasants erupted out of the building, Sakai would be ten meters west and 3 meters south. She would realize just after summoning her flower garden that there was no building left to interact with and dissipate it. With her fellow wolves tracking, she would sense Saito moving away again before she shifted forward. Sakai would recognize the jutsu Katok had used from their practice as a pack and stay just on the edge of the 10-meter radius, tracking Saito.  She would shift south a few meters, knowing the explosion would only take out the lower three floors and she would need to skirt the falling floor. As she did, the three wolves in front of the store would sense an odd shift of sound and scent within the explosion and Sakai would rapidly throw up the seal of confrontation as she opened her mind's eye. The sudden rushing shift of chakra alerted her to an attack, and she would signal to her team instantly through a short bark which translated to oncoming five-meter radius. A few moments later, the evening elephant would vanish, and a bark would come from a now-wounded Katok. As the explosion would reach the full range of 10 meters at 170 speed, Saito would have moved slightly less than 5 meters back into the now destroyed store at a speed of 80. The explosion would have reached eight meters beyond the front of the store and as it began to dissipate, Sakai would jump from 16 meters west and 6 meters south of Saito (roughly 17 meters southwest thanks to ol' Pythagorean theorem) through the air parallel to Saito and 1 meter south of the now falling rooftop. She would be leaping through the scattered smoke with her body still hidden within camouflage. Saito would travel another 6 meters, in which time Sakai would travel slighter faster through the air, reaching across the 8-meter gap as Saito would turn south. As she flew, the remaining 4th floor would fall at a speed of 150 for a 10x10 rooftop and collide with the pit, catching roughly three meters from the bottom of the pit and leaving a platform 6 meters from the bottom of the 10-meter pit. Sakai would have traveled across the pit and landed ten meters from Saito, 6 meters south, 8 meters west, remaining within the 20-meter distance for her Genjutsu across the jump. As the boy would attempt to run south, he would be 1 meter inside the remains of the eastern building. The explosion would have reached from 2 meters within the original building and expanded 10 meters, placing the explosion line at just about 12 meters from the front of the original store and only 2 meters in the eastern store. Saito would have run 5 meters to reach the wall and 1 meter west to bypass it and taken off towards the southern alleyway. The northern and southern buildings were now cut in crescents and barren, still holding themselves up. with a 2-meter gap between the alleyway and the east wall of the southern building. Sakai would aim to continue to track the boy. During the 8-meter jump, Saito would have gone an additional 6 meters east, and then taken 5 meters to run south to exit the building into the alleyway, making it 2 meters by the time Sakai would have landed. Sakai would then carefully shorten the distance to 6 meters of the boy, wanting to make sure she would not lose him and felt secure in the strength of her camouflage. She stood 2 meters from the gap around the remaining wall of the southern building hit by the explosion into the alleyway, as Saito would have traveled the remaining 4 meters to reach the alley. The alleyway would only be ten meters long, north-to-south and 3 meters wide. The buildings would keep the consistent 13-meter height and effectively surround the boy aside from the original entrance. With Sakai's genjutsu still in effect, she would prepare to finish the fight.

Katok and W1 would have jumped as they triggered the explosion and would be roughly 2 meters west of Saito as they jumped. The two would realize they had off-shot their jump and saw the explosion slowly coming up to meet them. W1 and Katok linked awareness would pinpoint the same oddity in Katok's jutsu as the other wolves right before Katok would dispel W1 ahead of the burst. He would activate his seal of absorption in preparation, shortly followed by Sakai's bark moments later. It would expand out through the explosion and connect with the evening elephant where Katok would activate the seal and absorb the jutsu completely into it (115 power vs 105 health). At that moment his own explosion would impact him. Katok would then give a deep bark back to signal the situation resolved as he landed and quickly retreated to the south, curving back towards Dracoso's last position. The burns from his own explosion would leave him injured and he would silently signal to the wolves to follow Sakai's lead as he made his way back to the rooftops towards Dracoso. With all the rubble and smoke in the way, the child would not have been able to see his retreat.

Dracoso would be tracking the whole event through Sutsui as the boy would fall back into the building beside the one that was now ruined. He would feel awful for the destruction that was ensuing from his summons appearing and wondering if he had made the right choice for who to confront the child with. The rooftop he stood on would not be fully stable and he would make his way slightly south to remain on stable footing. He realized that perhaps Kechi would have given more support in this situation with less damage, but it was too late for that now. Dracoso would see Katok injured, reaching his rooftop, and Dracoso would seal Bird - Boar- Dog - Dragon and began to patch up Katok's wounds, wanting to handle the smaller cuts before going for the bigger ones.

W2 would receive Sakai's alert, his fire darts consumed by the explosion, and begin to swing south with her, when suddenly Katok would signal the situation resolved. W2 would follow Sakai's lead, letting them get close as the wolf would circle the falling and collapsed building and begin to climb to the rooftop to get an advantage point. He would be 13 meters up and roughly 10 meters south of Saito. W3 would have stopped his earth river flow as he saw the building erupting and would reflect W2 by moving from the north and avoid the explosion by several meters while then crossing the northern side of the destroyed building, hidden behind the thick smoke.

S2 would have been halfway down as the birds erupted inside the building with Saito in it. He would have delivered his message to Dracoso and both clones would realize the wolves would be leading for now and disperse.

Battle Info:

Adrenaline pumped through his veins as Saito flew through the building as it collapsed around him, the thunderous crash of the building falling behind him and kicking up a small storm of dust into the adjacent building as its back wall was blown away by the tremendous fire. The heat had swelled around him, beading his skin with sweat though the blood that pumped through his veins was naturally resilient to the heat. As such, the wicked backdraft that swirled about him as he landed just past the broken wall by controlling his trajectory meant his feet were hitting the ground of the inside of the building and pounding as he took himself to the southern end of the building and flung open the door to the back alley. Warm air buffeted the youth as he stepped out into the alleyway and failed to spot anything there stopping him. Perhaps they thought he was caught in the collapsing building? Either way, this was his chance to escape. Charging down the alleyway, his muscles would surge once more as new strength filled his body, his arm hauling back as he reached the far side of the alley and smashed through the wall of the building that stood in his path, breaking through the barrier and into the back of a storage building that he quickly dashed through, smashing one more wall until he was out onto another street. Turning to look behind him and seeing no one in pursuit, Saito would breathe out a sigh of relief and form his hands into a single seal of the Ram.

Picking out his path to be a distant point down the road, Saito would activate his body flicker and take to clear over fifty meters and careful to avoid any obstacles that rested or threatened to have been moving into his trajectory. Heels digging into the ground, the image of the youth would shimmer as he blurred in speed down the street. The relief was short-lived, however, as the edges of the boy's vision began to darken and close in, his mind struggling to understand the effect he had found himself victim to. "Damn it, what the hell is this? I didn't see anything, and none of them could have followed me. Just what the hell...did they...do to me.." Consciousness would leave the boy partway through his attempted escape, causing him to fumble and stumble, falling to the ground and rolling once or twice before he came to a stop. His chest rose and fell gently, having passed out from the persistence of the wolf's Genjutsu.

(I'll go ahead and concede this fight here since there was little to no hope of escaping the genjutsu at this point.)

[Exit.]

TWC - 3,808

Claims:

Sakai would track the boy through the wall and quietly dash to look down the alleyway to watch as he ran towards the wall 10 meters off. She would smell the fear and steady panic in him, and it would remind her of training the young ones back in their pack. She had seen a familiar suffering in this one. Just as he would impact the wall, she would throw up her own Ram - Bird - Tiger seals, causing the smoke and debris that erupted in front of the boy to be quietly overlayed with butterflies of the same visual composition as the smoke. As it would catch his eye, and Sakai would feel the genjutsu take hold through her mind's eye, she would reflect the boy's Ram seal a moment before he could complete his and send his mind into a deep sleep. 

With the combined jutsus, she would quietly make him lean forward, shortening the fall to the ground as the hole behind him would clear from its destruction. Once the sleep took firm hold, Sakai would move forward to the boy and check over him. She found minor burns over his body, but to be unconscious and breathing. With a steady movement of her head under him to lift him up, Saito would be slipped onto her back and carried back out towards the others. Sakai would give off a clear, even howl into the air as she would come back out onto the main street. She would look up towards the rooftop where she could sense Dracoso and his familiar alongside Katok.

Dracoso had just finished sealing up smaller wounds and moved on to using Snake - Ox - Tiger, as his hand was coated in medical chakra. He applied it to Katok's wounds as the howl sounded and Katok rose to his feet. Dracoso would look concerned to the large wolf as Katok would glance back and say softly, "the hunt has ended. The boy has been caught." Dracoso would give a soft nod, a small pit of worry in his stomach as to how far they had gone to capture the boy. Sutsui gave him an idea of location and influences over the boy, but not his physical condition. The wolf gave a short jerk with his chin before Dracoso gave another silent nod and climbed onto the wolf's back. With his hand still glowing softly in the night, Katok's strength would return fully as they would meet Sakai in the street. The two wolves would walk side-by-side as Dracoso directed them towards the nearest guard post.

Katok's clones flanked the two wolves as guards as Dracoso leaned over Sakai's back and administered healing to Saito. The night was dark, but Dracoso could see the strain and stress across the boy's face. His mind flashed back to the first time he had seen a face so stricken with strain. Fuku had run from him, and he could do nothing to stop her. She was still off in another land, forced to defect due to the threats of harm and death to her friends and family. He looked over the boy as the burns would slowly scab over and become small scars. A tear slid down Dracoso's face as his stomach began to clench. His face would slowly contort as a second tear would slide down the other cheek. He hunched over towards Saito, trying to keep his hands from shaking as the tears would begin to flow. Sutsui would lean in close to him and softly share in the sensations, wanting to give her presence to help calm him.

"At least I did one thing right..." he would say softly to himself as the wolves carried him on. Even though his words were meant to be unheard, the two keen-eared wolves would glance knowingly to one another and pretend to have heard nothing. They carried the two young ninja off into the night with only the sound of crickets and softly burning torch lamps to follow.

{Claiming successful completion of mission}

Claims:

Approved