This isn't a murder, its a Conspiracy!

Mission:

Oda sauntered down the pathway from his apartment to the training grounds. He had a big day of training ahead of him, and his pack was heavy with supplies, water, food, and some books from Bal’s library.  He stopped at a local merchants stall and haggled with them for a bit before finally getting a free Chicken Katsu. Of course, he had to spend a couple hours helping the merchant fix a broken wheel, but it was well worth it to Oda. With a smile and a mouth full of Chicken Katsu he waved goodbye to the merchant and continued on towards the training grounds. With his head held high he enjoyed the view of the village as he ate, sitting on a fence of a nearby farm, he looked out at the field and enjoyed the smeal of the fresh crops.

“We need to find a professional, Yasuo. These crows are going to force us out of business!”

Oda’s peaceful meal was disrupted by the sudden outburst of a particularly stressed out farmer, who seemed to be walking with another farmer and in a passionate conversation.

“I know, I know.” The other farmer sighed and agreed. “I’ve never seen such determined birds, we’ve tried everything in the book.”

Oda perked his head up and graciously interrupted. “Got a bird problem?”  He said with some curiosity.

The two farmers looked at him briefly, noticing his Tsukigakure headband, and approached excitedly. “Yes yes, maybe you’re just the person that can help!” The farmers proceeded to explain the problem.

Their farms had been put under siege by a determined murder of crows. For the last month, the crows would routinely swoop out from the forests and systematically collect as much of the crops as they could. The farmers of course have attempted every trick in the book to deter the crows, traditional Scarecrows didn’t seem to work, and the crows seemed smart enough to distract any guard animals while the rest collected. The farmers were at their wits end on this, and were headed to the Kage Tower to put a mission request in.

Luckily for them, Oda had gotten into the habit of carrying around these forms with him, due to his penchant for spontaneously helping the various citizens around the village. He pulled out one of these forms and helped the farmers fill it out. “I’ll help assist you with your crow problem!” He gave a big thumbs up and a smile. The farmers returned the smile and thanked him profusely.

With the farmers returning back to their home to continue work, Oda began to scout out the farmland that the crows had been attacking. He thought of a plan while doing so. The small farm was a simple 20 acre farm. In one half, an orderly line of corn was laid out from end to end. The other half was split into different crops, a random assortment of vegetables interlaced with herb plants. The farmers had attempted to cover these areas with a makeshift net covering, but the crows had deftly defeated the defenses. A destroyed scarecrow sat askew on the ground at the center of the 20 Acres.

Seeing the scarecrow gave him an idea, and he quickly went to work removing the dirty clothes of the scarecrow. With those removed, he quickly changed in the privacy of the corn stalks. Next, he took the straw that made up the scarecrow and stuffed his sleeves and pant legs with straw. The result was a hodgepodge of ill-fitting clothes and straw sticking out every which way. Oda was uncomfortable, but it should do the trick for some birds. With his disguise set, he went about setting up on the stand, making some makeshift braces so he could rest his arms. With that, he waited.

For some time Oda stood there, beginning to feel like a fool. However, after a few hours, he could hear the cawing of the crows in the treelines near the farm. He tried not to move too much, his plan was to spook them and he needed them to get close first. He didn’t intend on hurting them of course, but he did think that in order to truly deter them he would have to display some power. As he pondered his options, he could see some movement from the shadows of the woods, gradually, a group of about 20 large black birds emerged from the woods.

Two things immediately stood out to Oda as the birds approached. One, these were ravens, not crows. This isn’t a murder, it's a damn conspiracy! He thought as they approached. Crows were one thing, but Ravens were entirely different. For one they were much larger, and they were much more powerful, but they usually weren’t as smart as crows. The second thing that caught Oda’s attention was something he couldn’t quite explain. The birds were moving in a formation, and stranger yet, they were looking directly at him. He couldn’t quite explain what he was seeing as the birds split into three groups and began moving to encircle Oda. Suddenly, he was hit from behind by a flurry of sharp beaks. The birds had taken advantage of the distraction caused by their allies, and had circled around the farm to attack from behind. The beaks dug into his back and his senses were assaulted by feathers, caws, and claws as the birds mobbed him.

In a panic he activated his Invigoration technique, quickly rolling away from the barrage and getting to his feet. He had originally intended on just scaring them away, but with the deluge of beaks that he now faced he was in full on fight or flight mode. After rolling away, he quickly shot up to his feet and faced the birds. He looked up at the hundreds of eyes that dotted the shadows of the treeline. Suddenly in a flurry, the birds descended from the branches for another attack.

With a flash of hand signs from each hand, he formed a Fire Dragon Bullet and a Vapor Dragon Bullet, launching them at the birds. Their caws turned from aggressive to panic in kind, and the birds flitted around the dragons, some feathers being singed as they tried to weave around the two deadly dragons.

Unfortunately for the birds, their efforts were largely in vain as Oda twirled the dragons around, hitting the larger flock of birds head on and causing them to disperse. As they dispersed he dropped the jutsu and fell to one knee, the adrenaline of the encounter quickly wearing off. He wearily got up and made his way to the farm house. The two farmers met him as he approached, with concern on their faces. He limped to their porch, gingerly touching his back and feeling at the numerous lacerations.

“I scared 'em away for now.” He pointed back towards the field. “But those are NOT normal birds.”

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[exit]

TWC:1157

Claims: