Re: The Winter Wonderland Miracle

Wed Jan 25, 2023 5:49 pm

Ban was lucky, or rather Mrs. Claus was, that there were mind readers in the group that could extract information, Ban's only way of getting information was through intimidation and torture. Not to say she wasn't able to get information. After reading Mrs. Claus's mind, Zunir took it upon himself to take off her head and disintegrate her. Ban didn't understand why he did this, it wasn't like there was anything to cover up. However, she understood the frustrations of being attacked and betrayed so there were complaints from her.

Minaguya Ōtsutsuki was the only name Saturn could give. Zunir connected Saturn's finding with what he had found in the library. Apparently, a cult was planning to sacrifice the baby to summon a demon, most likely Minaguya, and ruin not only Christmas but the entire world.

Ban thought the name sounded ancient, like something she would hear in a religion. She was the one behind the kidnapping of the New Year and Mrs. Claus's betrayal. To Ban, this made the Otsutsuki unforgivable. No god or man should be forgiven when trying to mess with the joyful time of giving presents. The crew knew what they had to do. Destroy this cult and save the baby.

After overhearing everything, a sickly Santa came out, apologizing to Mrs. Claus. Ban immediately gave the man a deeply earned bow. "Sir, it's an honor to be in your presents. We will stop this demon no matter what."

Santa snapped his fingers and like magic, his massive sleigh appeared. It was beautiful. Ban was awed at its craftsmanship. Despite it being nothing like the boat that Ban specialized in, the sleigh was simply a wonder of the world. Jun to the reigns to drive. Ban hopped in the back and stood. The inside of the slight was massive, giving the four plenty of room. The wood was stronger than steel, keeping the sleigh from taking any potential damage in combat. It was the dream warship for Ban. Of course, she would disrespect Santa by taking it. It was enough of an honor for her to use it just this once for battle.

"Alright, girls. Let's kick some demon ass." Ban cheered as the sleigh began down the path. Just like the other sleigh, this one had no trouble getting off the ground and into the sky despite its massive weight. The magic of Christmas allowed it to defy gravity and now it was going to help the crew kick ass.

The crew was easily able to find the cultist with flight advantage and Jun's dojutsu. The cultists were praying in a crimson circle of cryptic and unknown writing. Jun launched the first attack, casting a fury of fireballs at the cultist. Now it was up to the rest of them to get in there and get the baby. As Jun pulled the sleigh closer to the ground, Ban jumped out of the sleigh, pulled out her massive hammer, and landed harmlessly on the ground. "You guys messed with the wrong baby." Ban charged at the group.

Some of the cultists were able to dodge or counter the fireballs from before. They were clearly talented. Ban targeted one of the larger ones with her hammer. The cultist took out a sword and countered her hammer. He was tough in order to counter Ban's hammer head-on. The two of them clashed a couple more times, the cultist causing Ban to lose ground. She wasn't going to be able to get the baby at this rate until she beat this guy. She decided to back up and put down her hammer. She weaved some signs and suddenly she was much bulkier. She was able to one hand her hammer as she came back up to attack the cultist. He was beginning to lose more ground before Ban disarmed them with their sword. Panicked, the cultist tried to flee. Just as they turned their back on Ban, she slammed the hammer down on their back full force.

It was far from over though. As the group was distracted by the cultist and getting back the baby, a figure started to immerge out of the snow. It had long horns, wispy hair, and a disfigured body that made its spine protrude from its back. Zunir was the only one to recognize this figure as the one from the book. It was Minaguya Otosuki.

Ban noticed the figure as it was only 20 meters from the battleground. "Guys, we got creepy company." Ban would prepare herself to fast the beast head-on.

WC: 761
TWC: 3642

Thu Jan 26, 2023 3:00 am

Saturn curiously planted his right hand on Zunair's forehead, his ice blue eyes rolling back into his skull as he began reading his memory, to gain knowledge of the ominous antlered beast described in the book that he had found in the library. There, he also found the steps for the sacrificial ritual that was to be performed to summon the beast, and it put on an expression of horror on his usually unfazed face. He was quick to take his hand back upon seeing the form of the beast and the ritual, and looked around the room with a look of disbelief, which quickly changed into one of concern and determination. They had to stop the beast before it was summoned.

The death of Mrs. Clause was necessary. She could have had a way of warning the cultists about failing her part of the plan, giving them a lead. That could prompt the misdoers to send more bandits to take out the crew, and put their lives in even more danger. Saturn shook his head and tsked at the wailing old lady as Zunair reduced her body to dust.

The crew of four flew over Winter Hill, looking down on a circle of cultists circling around the Baby New Year Ureshii. Saturn winced when Jun immediately began raining fire down on the group, while the baby was still with them. "Oi, Jun, chill out!" He warned, but the balls of fire were louder than his voice as they crashed down into the hill, kicking up clouds of snow. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!" Saturn cussed profusely, downing his bottle of dark rum before summoning his dragonfly Aka Manto and leaping out of Santa's sleigh, falling headfirst directly towards the middle of the circle until his summon caught him in the air, while piles of snow burst into flames around them.

He immediately searched for the golden baby Ureshii, but saw that his cradle was already empty. He saw a man in a white robe with a cone shaped hood running off into the woods, clutching the baby in his grip as he fled the scene. He gave chase to the man quickly, ducking through the seas of flames between them. As cultists chased him, their bodies were severed into pieces rapidly by the sharp claws and fangs of the relentless dragonfly Aka Manto as it buzzed through the clouds of smoke and falling snow with its six mobile wings. Its alias was Red Cloak for a reason; it was quick to get covered in the blood of its enemies whenever it was summoned.

Saturn jumped from tree to tree in pursuit of Ureshii and his captor, and soon cornered him by backing him towards a steep cliff. "Stop right there, cultist. You have nowhere left to run. Hand him over, now!" Saturn instructed assertively, pointing at the object of their mission. The cultist looked back at the steep drop behind him, and then up at Saturn, tilting his head before taking his sword to Ureshii's throat, letting an evil grin crack across his face. He chuckled quietly at first, and then began to laugh erratically. "It's too late, the ritual, it was already completed..." He claimed.

"Impossible.. you don't mean... Wait..."

"That's right. Six virgins. Their blood drawn by crystals of Jade. The head of a horse. It's privates cut with mercury. A jar of pickle juice infused with candle wax. All put together in a pit of fire. Your friend basically completed the ritual for us.."

Saturn's face went green, he covered his mouth, gagging. "You didn't actually do it, did you?"

"Oh we did. All that's left to do now... To turn day into night. Light into darkness..." He grinned, grabbing Ureshii by his skull and lifting him up, the light from the full moon hitting his face as he cried. His eyes were blindfolded, until the man exposed them to the moonlight. His eyes began to glow, and his mouth gaped to let out a light of equal luminosity. The light escaped from his ears, and nose, and every crevice bled. Saturn looked on in horror, as the man slit open the baby's throat, letting the light within radiate out like a star.

"Noooo!!! You bastard! You will pay for this!"

Saturn wailed, staring into the blinding light. Soon the light became a dark void, and when it cleared, it revealed the image he had foreseen in Zunair's mind. The monster was no less than forty meters tall. The antlers confirmed it. It was a terrifying sight. The beheaded corpse of Ureshii and his head rested on the ground in front of the beast. It picked up the Baby New Year, pinching it between its long nails, and swallowed it in one gulp. The cultist laughed manically next to the beast, mocking Saturn.

"Behold, the night, the darkness, the promised one! The last New Year is past. The last Christmas is past. Tremble, cower in fear, you pathetic ones who call yourselves shinobi. Your efforts were in vain! You have failed! Your deaths are inevitable. Your lives will be forgotten. You. have. los-!"

The sound of crushed bones grinding into splattered flesh interrupted his speech. The Beast had grabbed him in its claws and reduced his body to a pulp, to eat him whole with no remorse. It turned its ominous gaze towards Saturn and remained eerily silent, making no noise whatsoever. The Genin drew his axe, pointing it at the specimen, staying on guard. He reacted immediately when the beast first twitched to signal its moving limb. An air current picked up ten meters around the shinobi before the head of a ferocious dragon thirty meters in diameter formed and rushed towards the beast with an unforgiving tenacity. The beast swiped its claw at the technique, but it relented, piercing its charcoal black body. A black foul fog leaked out from the beast, as it let out an enochian wail.

Saturn had caught the head and body of Ureshii in the dragon's mouth, and when it pierced the back of the beast's body to resurface, it plunged the remains of the blood sacrifice out of its consumer and sent it rolling down the cliff. The fortuneteller hoped this would debuff the beast, but to his horror, it remained as vigorous as ever, and now visibly enraged. "Shit.." He cursed and braced as the beast screamed and swiped its claw at his direction, tearing down every tree in its path with the resulting shockwave.

He had pulled it off. Substitution Jutsu never fails. Finding himself in a ravine with the corpse and head of Ureshii, Saturn tried to put them together like lego pieces, but the baby was still very much lifeless and its head severed. He needed Zunair. And fast. He kept the baby and its head in a black bag, and he hid in the shadows. He could see the beast even from his hiding spot downhill. He could hear its wails coming from the hill, screaming and bellowing for its priced possession. It was only a matter of time before they were found.

Even more troubling was the second disturbing presence he felt. He had vaguely sensed it in Mrs. Clause's head, and there was no doubt. It was Minaguya Ōtsutsuki. He hadn't quite expected her to arrive this early, and it was unfortunate timing. The battle was looking grim for the troupe of shinobi. He stayed in hiding, using Chakra Nullification and Hiding With Camouflage to conceal himself. He caught a raven, and sent it scurrying in search of Zunair, with a simple message: Ureshii is dead.

WC: 1276
TWC: 7154

Thu Jan 26, 2023 10:09 am

Soon, the fellowship was on their way to the mountain's peak. Zunair taken his place in the backseat, besides the standing Ban. He figured he would let Kumogakure's designated alcoholics take the reins and the drinks. Maybe not the smartest decision but has the psionic user and the hothead led them astray this far, certainly not. As the crew ascended to their destination, Zunair did find a fifth of peppermint vodka once again right underneath his seat with a note attached to it. 'Thanks for disintegrating that whore, he is present. - Santa'. Zunair quickly smiled and thought it would be best saved after the mission at hand was completed.

As the group finally meet their destination, Zunair could see the individuals thanks to his byakugan. Familiar stone glyphs and strange markings, this had to be the platform for the ritual. Zunair didn't get to think much as Jun began to rain fire down on the cultists, which was interrupted with Saturn's shouting. The sun user was unaware, or frankly, didn't care that the baby was down there. Whatever the case was, Ban launched herself off the sleigh, towards the cultists while Saturn did the same thing. While Ban landed on the ground, Saturn summoned a dragonfly right before his jump and saved him before he hit the ground.

'So, no plan? Just run in and hope for the best? Okay.' Zunair thought, as he shook his head. "I guess we better follow," Zunair said to Jun as he placed his hand on the sun users' shoulder and teleported them to the ground where Ban was fighting one of the cultist members who was rather large and wielding a sword that was clashing against her own weapon. Focusing his byakugan around the area, he saw the Saturn was following one of the cultist members, who appears to be holding Ureshii. Maybe he needs assistance, therefor, Zunair tried to follow the direction that Saturn was going until he was ultimately stopped by four members of the cult in the woods, with quite the distance between him and other members of his group.

"Out. Of. My. Way." Each word was soaked in venom as the medic hissed at the four.

"Or what?" One of the men said to Zunair.

"You're about to find out." Zunair said as he took a step towards the four.

"You won't win here. I guarantee you that. However, fortunately for you. The Mighty Minaguya has forbidden us to kill the ones that are pure." The man continued to Zunair. The Hyūga then began to start questioning on what he meant.

"Pure?" Zunair asked.

"The one's that carry doujutsus. You and Jun," he said to the byakugan user. Confusion started to cross Zunair's face as he tried to make sense of it.

"We knew about the two of you once you first stepped foot in our village. The wielders of the Byakugan and Tengan. You will both be freed and live in peace once Minaguya erases the unpure." The man said as Zunair's vision caught sight of untense light from afar. Zunair stared in horror as the beast from his memories surfaced in real time.

"Good luck, Zunair." Intense emotion flooded his body as the four men seemingly disappeared from sight, even his byakugan.

"Fuck," Zunair didn't have time to worry about some pure and unpure bullshit as he could clearly see that Saturn was near the creature of myth.

Taking off in that direction, he hoped he could at least help stop this beast in some way. But too much of Zunair's dismay, the creature immediately killed the man who sacrificed Ureshii and Saturn seemed to be on the offensive with the beast. To the creation rebirth user, Saturn was doing surprisingly well as Zunair closed in on the battle. However, when the creature swiped at Saturn, Zunair was not expecting such an intimidating shockwave that made Zunair close his and hold on for dear life.

Trees and debris flew by him, thankfully none hitting him on the way to their next destination. Once Zunair opened his eyes, he saw that Saturn was gone and the beast was still there. Was he dead? He couldn't see him. Was he just completely obliterated. Sadness and anger swelled up into Zunair's mind and chest. Gritting his teeth, he can't let this beast roam free. It could destroy and kill everything. Finally gathering up the courage and filling himself up with massive amounts of chakra, Zunair activated his byakugou seal and confronted the beast.

"I will put a stop to you, here and now," Zunair shouted as the beast looked down upon him. What next shocked Zunair to the core.

'My child, you many have the unworthy hurt you. You're family.' A motherly woman voice filled his head.

'How long have you suffered by those who steal, cheat, and cause chaos in your life,' she continued on as vivid images began to flood his mind. It felt like 1,000 years of watching his friends, family, mentors die by the hands of those who didn't hold any doujutsu's. Unfamiliar and familiar individuals dying, having their eyes stolen out of their sockets. But in a split second it was all over.

Zunair was heaving and on the verge of tears. He felt his mind about to break as he dropped to his knees. 'I know more than anyone dear, this is what must be done.' She spoke into Zunair's mind as a humanoid figure stood between him and the beast. The alien-like woman caressed Zunair's face as tears begin to fall from his eyes.

"Now come, we have to free our people," the woman then spoke out into the open. It was almost like Zunair was a trance, but he wasn't really fighting it. His mind was broken from the things he's seen, he didn't know what else to do, did he even have any other option. Taking Minaguya's hand, she helped him stand.

TWC: 6,874

Fri Jan 27, 2023 11:41 am

Perhaps it wasn’t Jun’s brightest idea to rain fire down at the ritual site. Even though he specifically aimed to the surroundings of the ritual circle, aiming for the cultists outside the ritualistic circle in order to distract them and allow his allies to rescue Ureshii, it was all too noisy. Inexplicably, the always rational Jun Shibasaki was acting all reckless since arriving at the Winter Wonderland, drinking, partying and doing things by impulse and with no strategy at all. Pretty much the opposite of Jun’s regular behavior.

After the fireballs started hitting the ground, thus revealing to the mysterious Cult that they were under attack, the assembled in defensive formation in mere seconds, like a well-trained troop, ready for combat. First Ban attacked head on the cultists, attacking them with her mighty hammer. Secondly, it was Saturn time, as he flied down to the ground with one of his Dragonflies, going after Ureshii right away. Finally, it was Zunair’s time, and he just touched Jun in the shoulder and teleported the duo to the ground. The Shibasaki clansman appeared alongside the medic ninja right in the middle of the combat. Zunair went straight after Saturn and Jun would try to follow him, before being ambushed by a group of hooded cultists.

- Out of my way! – shouted the young genin, before doing some quick handseals and generating a Solar Chakra sphere at his right hand. The cultists seemed unimpressed and just stood there in front of Jun – I warned you guys… take that!

Jun launched the sphere at the group ahead of him, which exploded when making contact with the man in the front, which exploded the sphere into a huge blast. Jun hoped that this would deal with the creepy cultists, but to his dismay, he could see through the smoke using his Tengan that the cultists where still standing there as if nothing happened. After the smoke created by the explosion dissipated, one of the cultists pointed at Jun and started speaking to the young genin.

- You… you are one of the pure ones. We are forbidden to kill pure ones… you may pass – and just after finishing his sentence, the whole group just vanished right in front of Jun’s Tengans, and he could not see any trace of them.

But when trying to locate any thermal signature of the fleeing cultists, Jun spotted his friend Saturn battling what appeared to be a gigantic beast giving its huge and weird looking thermal signature. “Fuck, I gotta help him…”. Jun started running towards the fortuneteller’s direction, before being unexpectedly hit by the shockwave of one of the beast’s attack. He was sent flying away alongside many trees, hitting his head hard on a tree in the process, which knocked him out.

After the dust settled, Jun woke up, still very dizzy from the hit over his head, and started to slowly get back up. He analyzed the scene around him: the beast absolutely destroyed the site with its sheer power, and was now face to face with Zunair. But to Jun’s surprise, it wasn’t attacking him. The Byakugan user was immobile, and suddenly felt into his knees. Seeing that, Jun started to stagger towards him, still dizzy, hoping to assist the defenseless medical ninja, before a female humanoid figure appeared before the Konoha Chuunin. This made Jun freeze at his place. The young Shinobi was instantly taken over by a whirlwind of feelings: fear, anger, despair, joy, happiness, insecurity, hope and many other, all at the same time.

He never saw the mysterious figure before, but something inside of him just shouted her name inside his mind: “Minaguya Ōtsutsuki…. Minaguya Ōtsutsuki… Minaguya….” The name kept echoing through Jun’s head as he was paralyzed, watching his friend standing up and taking her hand as he appeared to be in a state of trance. “Zunair… I need…. to… help…” even thinking seemed hard at Jun’s current paralysis state, but the young shibasaki clansman gathered all his strength and, with his arms appearing to be weighting 10x more than regular, made some handseals almost like in slow motion. His tengans started shining even more as it gathered solar chakra, before Jun fired at Minaguya a beam from his eyes with his trademark Laser Eyes jutsu, Jun’s strongest technique.

But to the genin’s horror, without even looking at him, she just raised her arms and opened the palm of her hand at the beam’s direction, revealing a small black mark on the center of it that started to easily absorb the jutsu as it made contact with her hand. Soon, the solar beam stream ceased, and Minaguya’s hand was intact. She slowly turned her head towards Jun, distracting herself from Zunair for a second and perhaps giving him an opening.

- I’m disappointed at you, my sweet child… - her voice was motherly and smooth and it penetrated Jun’s mind and started echoing inside his head

Minaguya just snapped her fingers, and a wormhole in space and time just appeared beneath Jun, making the genin fall into it without being able to react at all as he fell into darkness. The Shibasaki clansman just fell and fell and fell in what seemed like an eternity, and he could not see a damn thing, even with his Tengan, as there was only darkness before him. While he fell, Minaguya’s voice started to echo through his head once more:

“You are binded to me my child… You are one of the pure ones…. I was the one to bring you to the Wonderland with that scroll… I’m the one behind all your bad choices… every impulsive action… every reckless act… you even helped to complete the ritual with your fire… everything just to bring you to me… I’ve been at your side since you touched that scroll… whispering at your mind… controlling your fate… as you’re my child… and together we will free our people… once and for all… together…” – those same words just kept echoing through his mind as he kept falling into the abyss.

Suddenly, Jun woke up. He could not tell when exactly he passed out, but he wasn’t falling no more. Instead of darkness around him, he could see now just white. The floor was white, the sky was white, the horizon was white. Without a single clue of where he was sent to, Jun heard the motherly voice of the Otsutsuki once again. This time it appeared to be distant as he could barely hear it: “You have been a naughty boy… after all I’ve done to bring us together my child… but you’ll learn… and you’ll help me free the pure ones…”.

As Jun looked around, trying to find the source of the voice, he began to hear footsteps approaching. Distant at first, but it soon grew louder and louder. It was something big, really big, coming towards the shinobi. After a few seconds, a bizarre creature appeared on the horizon. It was a... giant golden piñata, and it seemed extremely hostile.

- What the fuck…

WC: 1180
TWC: 6240

Mon Jan 30, 2023 9:54 pm

Things weren't going as Ban planned. She had figured the cultists would be a breeze to take out like the bandits. With Ban's strength, she thought she would be ideal for holding off the cultists while the others went for the baby. But she was too slow. Ban only had to ability to take out one of the cultists while the others were getting away, one of them with the baby in hand. This would spell the beginning of the end of their mission. Once the cultist was able to finish off the baby, Minaguya Otosuki was able to make her entrance.

Ban was finishing off another of the cultists with her hammer when she noticed Zunir and Jun seemingly locked in a trance, not fighting the demon. Were they under some kind of mind-control spell? A genjutsu? Why wasn't Ban getting targeted? She looked frantically for Saturn but he was out of sight. It was just her, as far as Ban could tell. She would have to be the one to get the others out of her curse. She switched from her hammer to her odachi named Wave Slicer to slice up this ancient witch.

Just as Minaguya was about to place her motherly hands on Zunir, Ban launched a massive, multiple-bladed Rupture at her. She had to pull her hands back not to get sliced up by Ban's attack. This put distance on her and Zunir, which Ban filled. She shoved Zunir back, hoping the shock of her shove would knock the sense back into the medical ninja. "Wake up! She using some kind of mind control on you."

Ban stood her ground between the beast and her comrades. She needed to give them time to wake up. Ban's amour radiated her chakra to protect her. The Otosuki gave her a deafening screech as she charged Ban with her massive body and claws. Ban met her with her odachi and clashed with her massive figure. Ban's strength was only able to briefly hold off her attack, but the demon was faster. She took her other claw and slammed it against Ban's armor, flinging the Hozuki back a couple of meters and disarming her. Ban slammed into the snowy cold ground next to her comrades. "You fugly, bitch. That hurt!" Ban grunted and got back up.

Ban charged like an angry bull at the monster. Minaguya was prepared tho and caught her with her massive grip. Ban's armor protected her from getting squeezed to death but she was unable to move. The beast then clamped down on her body and tore it in two. Her body fluids flew everywhere. The demon then threw Ban's body away.

Thankfully, Ban wasn't dead. Her Hozuki trait allowed her to turn into the water before the beast tried to chew down on her. She had survived another attack but would need a minute to reform her body from being scattered. Ban hoped that her team was back in action and would be able to her on now.

WC: 506
TWC: 4148

Mid-topic claim for mission rewards
Merry Christmas: 12,000 Ryō / 60 AP / 2,500 Winter Equinox Tickets / 1x Blank Dice (d4)
And A Happy New Year!: 12,000 Ryō / 60 AP / 2,500 Winter Equinox Tickets / 1x Blank Dice (d4)
I Haven’t Even Started My New Year’s Resolution Yet!: 10,000 Ryō / 50 AP / 2,500 Winter Equinox Tickets / Access to a unique boss event during the next event
Run The Gambit!: 10,000 Ryō / 50 AP / 2,500 Winter Equinox Tickets / 1x “Golden Ticket” (allows entry into the LE raffle)

Total: 44,000 ryo, 220 ap, 10,000 event tickets, 2x Blank dice, 1x golden ticket

Tue Jan 31, 2023 2:43 am

Approved

Wed Feb 01, 2023 9:39 pm

"Eek!" Saturn shrieked when he saw Ban's body get liquified in a single swoop by their common enemy. Having made his way back uphill to find Zunair when his messenger bird failed to report back to him, he found himself in the middle of the warzone. The towering beast could still be heard and seen wailing in the distance behind the Otsutsuki when the fortuneteller grabbed a hold of Zunair and slapped him with Taijutsu: Discipline, trying to make him snap out of his hypnosis. He waved the black back around at the Hyuuga clansman, the dismembered head and body of Ureshii sounding clinks in the plastic. "Zunair, listen to me, snap out of it! She's gone. Ban is dead. She turned into a puddle of water right in front of me. But Ureshii is more important. Or we'll miss out on new year's festivities. Think of the booze! Can you bring the dead back to life?" He groaned desperately, while looking around for Jun. When he could not find the sun mage on the hill, he looked up to the heavens. There he was, the boy with golden eyes, his unofficial subordinate walking in the clouds towards what seemed like a golden Pinata in the horizon. Horrified, baffled, confused, Saturn cupped his mouth and shouted upwards. "Jun! Stay away from the light!"

“Futile! You fool! You won't stop him. Perish. You and that other. Only the pure ones can join me in the light!”. Minaguya's ominous voice interrupted Saturn's panicked yelling. Before he could react, she casted a mysterious orb from the ether and sent it flying at the substitute Santa Claus. Forming the seal of confrontation, he summoned two massive gates of Rashomon between himself and the incoming projectile. The gates bore menacing Oni masks, and heavy chains dangled from horns that protruded from the top of the structures. The first one split open, and Saturn sensed the assailant's technique cut through his defense like knife through butter. The second one split open almost as easily, but now it was slow enough for the Genin from Kumogakure to react. He summoned a portal, blue on one side and orange on the other, in front of the orb, causing it to disappear at first. The second portal orange on one side and blue on the other appeared just as quickly over Minaguya's head, catching her off guard. When it struck her body, she braced and cursed. Her dress was half torn. “A cheap trick.. You will atone for your sins. You are no son of mine..” She uttered, before summoning a clone and vanishing into thin air.

"You're not my momma!" Saturn retorted, but the words fell on deaf ears. The clone was on the hunt, summoning another orb but Saturn was ready. He rushed forward and parried the orb with his kunai, sending it flying back once again at its caster. The clone, having anticipated this moved quickly out of the way, but Saturn replaced the old portals to realign the pair at rapid pace to reset the projectile trajectory, sending it back even faster at his target when their space time bending closed the distance between them. After enduring the hit head on, the clone was still unfazed. She rushed towards Saturn but his gaze looked upwards at Jun and the pinata, and he launched his weapon at the golden structure before teleporting away to avoid a large metal beam flung at his direction. "Zunair, I trust you." He said, sounding rather unsure, before tossing the black bag containing Ureshi's body and its head towards the medic.

While the fight dragged on, a familiar duo carrying half full bottles of a dark liquid sang next to a child who had licked Minaguya's pole.

A child was playing in the snow,

With a mischievous grin and a giggle or two,

But when they licked a metal pole,

Their tongue got stuck, what are we to do?

Don't you worry, little one,

We'll get you free, just wait and see.

With love and laughter, and a little bit of fun,

We'll make sure you're back to being glee.

We'll grab some butter, and we'll grab some heat,

And sing some carols, with a gentle beat.

We'll all hold hands and skip our feet,

And soon that tongue will be free and neat!

Don't you worry, little one,

We'll get you free, just wait and see.

With love and laughter, and a little bit of fun,

We'll make sure you're back to being glee.

We'll grab some hot cocoa, and we'll sing a song,

And dance around until the night is gone.

We'll hold each other and sway along,

And soon that tongue will be right as long!

"Shigeo, what the fuck?! Get outta here! Is that a child?!" Saturn screamed at the vocalist, ducking from orbs and rods.

WC: 809

TWC: 7963

Adding Mission:: Mission Name: I Triple Dog Dare You!
Rank: D-Rank
Mission Location: Any Location

Challenges: N/A
Task: A childish dare has gone wrong; because of this, a person has gotten their tongue frozen to a pole. Help the individual free themselves from the pole, and do your best to keep their tongue intact.

This mission can be performed up to 4 times (this will be monitored for abuse, so no copy-pasting posts). This mission can only be claimed 1 time for power rank-ups.

Word Count Requirement: 1,000 WC
Reward: 2,000 Ryō / 10 AP / 500 Winter Equinox Tickets

Character Requirements: N/A
Character Exclusive: N/A

Thu Feb 02, 2023 5:09 pm

Zunair felt like he was moving in a prolonged motion while everything around him was happening rather quickly. He saw Jun attack from the distance with his signature technique, the concussive eyebeam of sunlight. However, the attack proved futile as Minaguya absorbed the jutsu with just her hand. If that wasn't the worst part of it, Minaguya seemed rather disappointed in the fact that Jun attacked her, something that she didn't take lightly as she opened up the ground from underneath the sun user. One quick motion, he was swallowed up and Zunair could feel nothing but despair for the Kumogakure ninja.

Next up was Ban trying to attack the alienoid figure with a series of blade-like technique. This pushed Minaguya to create distance from the Byakugan user in which the Kirigakure ninja soon found herself between Zunair and Minaguya. The woman soon pushed Zunair back and yelled a couple things to Zunair. While he was receptive to the things she was saying, he still felt locked out of his body. Zunair just stood there and watched Ban's in vain attempts upon the legendary creature. He wished she would stop and save herself. Why is she defending the Hyūga, didn't she dislike him. From the events prior it seemed like it, but maybe he had her all wrong. Maybe she's more than meets the eye. Well, it didn't really matter anyway as he watched her body get torn in two.

First, Saturn, then Jun, and now, Ban. In a matter of minutes all three were wiped out like they were insects. They never even had a chance in this fight. Zunair could feel anger filling his body. How could he let this happen, he should have been more support to this team that was thrown together, and yet he felt useless just like the past. With all those thoughts, they were obliterated when he was grabbed by none other than the psionics user, Saturn. He thought he was dead, but he was here, alive in the flesh. A small surge of hope filled Zunair's heart as Saturn struck him in the face, which completely shocked Zunair, then the Kumogakure ninja started quickly yelling things at Zunair.

Zunair was about to answer him until he looked to the bright light in the sky. Zunair followed suit and saw Jun effortlessly walking in the sky towards a Golden Pinata, which looked ravenous. Everything was happening at once, but he felt resolve as he noticed out of the corner of his eyes that were Ban was split, the that came from her still held chakra signature. Maybe she wasn't really dead. He's heard about the clan that is able to turn their bodies into water, she must be from that clan. Even in the predicament that they are in, a wave of happiness and relief shot through Zunair as he found out that they were all still alive.

There was not time to revel in that fact as Minaguya was now beyond pissed as she shot an orb straight at Saturn, which Zunair was still standing dangerously close to. About to move out of the way when Saturn summoned Rashomon to defend. Just like everything else, those gates didn't hold back the disastrous attack as he broke through both gates, one right after the other. At least Saturn had an idea up his sleeve as he opened a portal to redirect the attack to Minaguya. Obviously, Saturn has this under control; therefor, Zunair needed to take action against the beast that is still heading towards the village.

Taking off in the direction of the edge of the cliff while both Saturn and Minaguya were locked in a battle. The Hyūga reached the edge, he formed the seals and touched the ground before jumping off. The great white phoenix, Asura came forth and Zunair landed upon her neck.

Taking to the skies, Zunair telepathically told Asura of the situation at hand. Obeying the orders of her summoner, they took off towards the beast who didn't make it far as the beast moved slowly. Catching up in a matter of seconds, the duo was flying high above the beast. Asura activated her genjutsu, bringer of darkness upon the beast making him stop in his tracks, looking around in confusion. It didn't take long before the creature started roaring in anger of the darkness that was brought to his sight. Now it was Zunair's time to go on the offensive. Activating his atomic dismantling armor, a white, translucent aura coated his body, increasing his abilities to new heights.

Jumping off Asura's neck, Zunair performed another set of hand seals. With a single clap, Zunair unleashed his dust release technique from before, except this one was astronomically more powerful. Shooting down, the particle style engulfed the beast in white-like chakra, vaporizing the massive beast in one powerful beam. Exhaustion started to set in as he his byakugou lines reverted back to their purple rhombus shape and the white aura faded.

As Zunair fell from the sky, Asura caught him once again.

"Were too?" She asked Zunair.

"I have to go back, they still need my help." Zunair said as he said on her neck.

"Are you sure?" Asura asked.

"Yes, go home, thank you for the help." Zunair said as he hugged the back of the legendary white phoenix as he teleported back to Saturn as Asura poofed in a blast of smoke.

With that Zunair was standing beside Saturn once again, who launched an object towards the Pinata in the sky and handing Zunair a bag containing the lifeless, dismemberment body of Ureshii before taking off. With all the teleporting, healing, 1,000 years of torture, and the disintegrating that Zunair has done, has left him tiresome, and now the revival of baby new year is going to take the cake.

Positioning the head with the body, he used his creation rebirth technique to connect the two parts together and then started to use his resurrection technique upon the baby. Zunair could feel the excessive amounts of chakra leave his body as color started to flourish upon the baby's face once again. With a gasp and wail, Ureshii was brought back from death itself. Zunair smiled down as the baby cried since the last moments of his life resurfaced in his memories. Picking up Ureshii and cradling him in Zunair's arms, performing a series of 'shushes' and 'there theres' as he bounced the little.

"It's okay, you are safe now," Zunair said as he kissed Ureshii's forehead. The baby began to settle down and looked up at Zunair with his bright blue eyes. With all the terrible things that happened, this was a wholesome moment for the young Hyūga. Maybe the is hope in all of this.

"Who knew someone could have to power to bring those back from the dead. I have heard of reincarnation, but this is on a whole other level." A voice shocked Zunair as he turns to meet a man, that was at least seven foot tall but elderly.

"Thank you for saving Ureshii, saving and breathing life into him once more." The elderly man bowed in the presence of Zunair.

"Forgive me, I am Father Time, and I am here to take Ureshii back," he said as Zunair looked down at the baby and then back up towards the man, he didn't know what it was, but he felt inclined to trust him.

"We owe you a great debt, you are your friends, please take care." The man said as he took Ureshii from his arms and disappeared in a gust of wind leaving Zunair lonesome. When Zunair was holding that baby, he thought of a family he wants to have. With that being said, Zunair returned to the Tavern to resta and start his drinking again, maybe with his newly found friends.

EXIT

TWC: 8,186

Claiming:
+10,500 Winter Equinox Tickets
+46,000 Ryo
+10,000 Ryo (For being Chuunin)
+11,500 Ryo [For Maxed AP (230 x 50)]
+1 x Golden Ticket
+2 x Blank Dice (d4)
1,317/5,000 to Complete Vanish (1xHandseals Mastery) (Other words from Here)
5,000/5,000 to Complete Vanish (2xHandseals Mastery)
1,125/1,125 to Shadow Clone (25% off via Max Stats)
744/1,000 to Genjutsu Release (1xHandseals Master)

Fri Feb 03, 2023 2:45 am

Approved

Fri Feb 03, 2023 2:00 pm

As the Giant Golden Piñata ran towards Jun, he could hear a familiar voice coming from below. It was the voice of his longtime mission partner, Saturn… but how it could be? The Shibasaki clansman activated his Tengan and looked downwards at the direction that the voice came from, and for Jun’s surprise, he could see Saturn’s thermal signature through the white surface he was standing on at least 50m below Jun’s position. He looked around a bit more with his doujutsu and realized omething rather absurd: he was actually standing on top of some clouds, which felt really solid, in the middle of the air, right above the Winter Peak they were before, defying pretty much all logic and all the laws of physics. “So that’s how powerful Minaguya is…”

But before Jun could finish his thought, the Golden Piñata was right in front of him, as It tried to stomp Jun like an insect with one of its gigantic feet. Luckily, Jun was able to avoid it by jumping backwards right at the nick of time. The Piñata rushed again at Jun and kept trying to stomp the genin down, but he was able to avoid this attacks as well, being much faster than the monster. Jun got away for a bit from the monster’s range, and did some handseals, summoning 3 blazing hot Sun Shurikens in each of his hands, before throwing all 6 of it at the Piñata.

Unfortunately for the Kumon shinobi, it seemed that the Piñata was made of some sort of metal of some really tough material, as the the Sunshard Shurikens were just deflected upon hitting the monster’s body, but now the Golden Beat looked even angrier. It let out an angry roar that could be heard from miles away, and started charging a big chakra sphere in its mouth.

The construct grew to about 10 meters in radius, before it was shot by the monster at Jun’s direction. The genin was just able to activated his Immolation Aura technique, which expelled a cloak of Solar Chakra around Jun from every single one of his tenketsus.

The sphere collided with Jun’s aura, and while his technique served as a shield and was able to protect him from the Pinata’s attack, the sheer impact of the collision sent Jun flying a few meters backwards while also breaking the aura in the process. Jun quickly got back on his feet, but the beast was just relentless and had it mouth open once again, charging another Chakra Sphere to blast its foe. “Dammit… I can’t use the Immolation Aura and I don’t have any other technique to block this jutsu… it seems that I’ll have to use some offense as my defense…”

“Serpent→ Ox → Tiger → Hare → Ram → Dog → Dragon” Jun swiftly formed those handseals, before his eyes would start to glow even brighter than before, gathering loads of Solar Chakra in it. But before Jun or the monster could fire their techniques, something distracted the Piñata. Saturn launched upwards his weapon at the clouds that Jun was fighting at, and god knows how I travelled long enough to peirce through the cloudy floor, before hitting the sole of the Piñata’s foot. This was enough to distract the beast, that could not see where the weapon came from, and make it hesitate for a moment. And that was Jun’s opportunity.

- TAIOYOTON: REZAAIZU!

Jun fired from both his eyes an enormous beam of pure, destructive Sola Chakra at the beast, aiming directly at the Chakra Sphere at the beast’s mouth. The piñata never saw it coming, and upon the collision of the beam and the monster’s jutsu, the sphere destabilized and just exploded right in the face of the Piñata, with this blast alongside the power of Jun’s lases eyes technique absolutely engulfing the golden beast and turning it into dust. “I did it…”.

But Jun had no time to rest, as he knew that his friends still needed him. He looked downwards and was able to see Saturn battling Minaguya’s clone while Zunair was working on reviving baby Ureshii. But there was problem for the Shibasaki clansmans: he was many meters above the peak, and had no ways of getting back down alive… that’s when he heard a whistle behind him:

- Yo, kiddo. Want a ride?

Jun turned around and to his surprise, there was the legend himself, Santa freaking Claus, driving his sleigh, the same one Jun and the party used to get to the peak.

- Right on time, old man… - said Jun while quickly jumping into the sleigh.

Wasting no time, Santa flew the sled downwards at full speed. The duo quickly approached the place Saturn was facing Minaguya’s clone in a fierce battle. They were getting closer and closer and Jun was starting to be afraid that Santa was mad and was going to run over the Otsutsuki alongside his friend. Bu Santa was a Space-Time legend after all, and a man full of surprises.

- Hold the reins, kiddo! – He told Jun, handing them over to the Genin. He quickly formed some handseals, and with some
crazy Space-Time jutsu, he just teleported Saturn away from Minaguya, without even touching him.

Without any impediments now, Jun just kept the sleigh at the clone’s trajectory, and he just ran over it with Santa’s legendary sleigh, which was at about 200 km/h absolutely destroying the clone, which puffed out of existence after the impact. It was finally over…

Jun parked the sleigh and at the Winter Peak’s surface, and after thanking Santa for his vital help at the very last moments, he just ran in the direction of the rest of the party, absolutely destroyed from all the fighting, drinking and the beat down he received earlier. Luckily, everyone was safe and sound, Zunair was able to revive baby new year, and Jun was able to witness father-time thanking Zunair and the shinobi for their heroic deeds. Jun was feeling for the first time in days relaxes and genuinely happy, before he heard Santa shouting from behind, as he was waving at the group from his sleigh.

- And thank you all for also saving Christmas HO-HO-HO… and sorry about that bitch, Mrs. Claus! Oh… one more thing… that woman… Minaguya Otsutsuki…. I know her kind; she will be back! And she seems really angry… brace yourselves!

WC: 1070
TWC: 7310

EXIT

CLAIMS: (2x money and AP from Beloved Presence)

Merry Christmas: 24,000 Ryō / 120 AP / 2,500 Winter Equinox Tickets / 1x Blank Dice (d4)
And A Happy New Year!: 24,000 Ryō / 120 AP / 2,500 Winter Equinox Tickets / 1x Blank Dice (d4)
I Haven’t Even Started My New Year’s Resolution Yet!: 20,000 Ryō / 100 AP / 2,500 Winter Equinox Tickets / Access to a unique boss event during the next event
Run The Gambit!: 20,000 Ryō / 100 AP / 2,500 Winter Equinox Tickets / 1x “Golden Ticket” (allows entry into the LE raffle)
I Triple Dog Dare You!: 4,000 Ryo / 20 AP / 500 equinox tickets.

Total: 92,000 ryo, 460 ap, 10,500 event tickets, 2x Blank dice, 1x golden ticket

WC CLAIMS:

5810 words towards Perfect Tengan (6000/6000 as I had 192 words on it from here, 25% discount via max stats discount)
1313 words towards Summoning Art: Rashomon (25 % discount via max stats)
The remaining 187 words towards Taiyōton: Shōshin ōra (Sun Release: Immolation Aura) mastery (handseals) [187/2137] (25% discount via max stats)