Follow the Yellow Dirt Road! [M][O]

[Shinryu]

Follow the Yellow Dirt Road...
Follow the Yellow Dirt Road...
Follow the,
Follow the,
Follow the,
Follow the,
Follow the Yellow Dirt Road!

Follow the Yellow Dirt Road!
Rank: C
Ninja needed: 1-3
Mission info: Mr. Han, a traveling merchant, is wary of the Yellow Road to the east - it is said that a demon haunts it at night. In truth, it is simply a band of vagabonds who dress as Akuma and rob and kill travelers. Lure out the thugs and deal with them, permanently.

_________________________________________


I left with my compatriot, exiting the building and staring up into the hazy gray-blue sky. We'd need to assist some man named Mr. Han. If I remembered the information from the mission correctly, he was staying in town, a few streets to the south. We'd have to find him, of course, but that would be of little consequence. I began heading southward and nodded to Ryu.

"Hm... so it's pretty much an escort mission, I guess. We take the old man along for the ride, use him as bait, and ax the fools in demon costumes, take anything useful from them, and sent the merchant on his way with a clear road." I said, stretching a bit. This mission seemed almost too easy.

I yawned and let my arms hang by my sides, looking back down to him. "Of course, we'll have to discuss strategy a bit, in case we wind up fighting more than just renegade punks in suits. You never know, there could be some Nuke-nin hiding in their numbers." I chuckled a bit at the unlikely possibility, and continued on, turning down an alley that connected to the street where our Mr Han supposedly was staying.

[Taizo]

Ryu was still trying to work out what he could purchase with the funds from this mission. He would get around 1,000 ryo right? But then again he might get more because its a group mission. Ahhh this shit was confusing, he would worry about it after he had accomplished the mission. Seemed like a very basic mission, get Mr. Han from A to B and kill everyone that tries to stop us.

First thing first, we would need to find this Mr. Han. Yukina began to move, so Ryu decided to follow, listen as he talked. [blue]"Hm... so it's pretty much an escort mission, I guess. We take the old man along for the ride, use him as bait, and ax the fools in demon costumes, take anything useful from them, and sent the merchant on his way with a clear road. Of course, we'll have to discuss strategy a bit, in case we wind up fighting more than just renegade punks in suits. You never know, there could be some Nuke-nin hiding in their numbers."[/blue]

Hmm Yukina did have a point, they didn't know who was in this gang. This is what made it so much fun, maybe a high ranking ninja would be there enemy. They would get a bonus for killing someone like that, for sure. Hopefully this Mr. Han wouldn't be to much trouble, and wouldn't get in the way. Because if he did, Ryu might end up killing him.

[Shinryu]

(Yukina is my Family name, just FYI. It's the Haku BL clan.)

__________________________________


My partner seemed lost in thought, so I payed him no heed, simply strolling up to the door of the place, and knocking. I waited, as I heard shuffling from within, and was soon greeted by the face of an old and somewhat paranoid looking old man. His nearly bare crown was pockmarked with liver spots, and his eyes were sunken, black with circles from lack of sleep. They shifted back and forth suspiciously, first to me, then to Ryu, then to our headbands, before he said in a wheeze.

"Well then, village finally got about to finding me some help? About time I should think, those demons frighten the willies out of me!" He went on about his fears and how he was glad he'd finally have some help, as he turned inside, and went to gather his things.

"I trust you lads are strong enough to battle some demons? Hm?" He said, as he pulled on a traveller's cloak and a rice hat, and then exited.

"Well, let's put it this way. If we come to find anything, I trust we'll be more than capable of handling it. And if there are demons, well... let's just say I've always wanted the chance to put my family name to the test..."

I smiled, as the old man hobbled down and shut the door behind him.


"Now, I believe the road in question was off to the east, outside of town. We should probably head to the gates first, and go from there. After that, it shouldn't be hard at all to spot those 'demons' and deal with them accordingly."

And with that, I nodded to my companion and my employer, such as it were, and headed off towards the end of town, towards the gates. We wouldn't have to hurry as we had plenty of time until sundown, but regardless, it would be good to scope out the area, and get a good view of the terrain before the night came.

[Taizo]

Ryu's urge to burn something was growing, this normally meant that he would have random out burst that many people would find strange. [red]“I hope there is lots of demons, It wont be fun other wise. Ojii-san you ever seen someone have the water in there eye balls boiled ?”[/red] With this short outburst over and done with, Ryu would take a few seconds to inspect the man's attire he wasn't in a smart outfit. In fact it looked a bit like he was wearing rags. The brown hemp like material hanging from his body, clearly the wrong size for him. Looks like these demons really had stole all his money.

[blue]"Well, let's put it this way. If we come to find anything, I trust we'll be more than capable of handling it. And if there are demons, well... let's just say I've always wanted the chance to put my family name to the test..."[/blue] Family name ? Ryu rubbed his head for a moment thinking, oh the ice clan ? Interesting that element was made by combining water and wind. Ice was all fair and good, but it wouldn't stand a chance against lava.

[red]“Now listen Ojii-san, we are going to use you as bait. When the 'demons' come out were going to kill them all. So just try to stay out of the way, unless you want to die as well.”[/red] Ryu then let out a chuckle, before continuing. [red]“Maybe if we are lucky we will find, one by himself. We can use his screams of pain to draw the other members out to help him, and then kill them as well”[/red] Ryu would remain emotionless after saying this, which would only add to the scary aura he was giving off.

[Shinryu]

I listened with a mixed feeling of disgust and gleeful morbidity as my partner described what he planned to do to the men we were after.


“Maybe if we are lucky we will find one by himself. We can use his screams of pain to draw the other members out to help him, and then kill them as well”

I rolled my eyes and smirked as we made our way towards the gate, seeing the sun still high in the sky.

"Now, now, Ryuu. We don't want to frighten the man. After all, he might start thinking that we're the demons once he sees what we're capable of..."

I chuckled softly at the reference to my name, before yawning and cracking my neck. I bit my lip to hold back a curse as I worked a kink out from the training father and I had gone through. Shaking my head, I looked over at Ryu, and began to speak seriously.

"So... what's our strategy, then? We'll be using Mr. Han here as the bait to lure out the 'demons' ", I said, making farcical air quotes, "but what about once that's done? Their most likely method of assault will either be encirclement, or using a pincer style two-pronged attack to divide our attention. You have any Area of Effect Jutsu to work a suitable defense?" I enquired, wondering what my team-mate had planned. I chewed my lip a bit before offering another piece of strategic advice.

"It's also possible that they'll have scouts, but if so, then it's probably best not to engage them, or the main group may be scared into not attacking."

I nodded with confidence. If they did have scouts, then they wouldn't attack, unless they thought they could overwhelm us by themselves.

"I think once we head out on the mission, we should hide our headbands, so they can't tell we're ninja, which would probably scare them off. However, we should have our weapons out and readied, so that we at least appear intimidating enough to warrant calling in their larger force of bandits. Sound good to you?"


I finished conversing for a while and decided to listen to my partner's take on things. Maybe he could give some insight. We were drawing closer to the village gates, I could see them looming in the horizon. It would make for an interesting trip, indeed.

[Taizo]

[blue]"Now, now, Ryuu. We don't want to frighten the man. After all, he might start thinking that we're the demons once he sees what we're capable of... So... what's our strategy, then? We'll be using Mr. Han here as the bait to lure out the 'demons' but what about once that's done? Their most likely method of assault will either be encirclement, or using a pincer style two-pronged attack to divide our attention. You have any Area of Effect Jutsu to work a suitable defence? It's also possible that they'll have scouts, but if so, then it's probably best not to engage them, or the main group may be scared into not attacking. I think once we head out on the mission, we should hide our headbands, so they can't tell we're ninja, which would probably scare them off. However, we should have our weapons out and readied, so that we at least appear intimidating enough to warrant calling in their larger force of bandits. Sound good to you?"[/blue]

Ahhh Ryu felt like his brain was melting his partner did raise some valid points, but all of this talking was begin to irritate him. He wanted to just leave and play the mission by ear, but apparently his partner wanted a in depth plan. Ryu would put on his cloak and hat, hiding himself from prying eyes completely. This would answer on of his questions as, this outfit meant that nobody would be able to tell he was a ninja. In fact at the moment it looked like two traveller were being escorted by a single man.

Ryu didn't want to relive to many of his tricks, after all you never know who is going to turn against you in the future. But he would acknowledge that he had an area of effect attack, [red]“I have a mist type attack, I would advise that you keep out of it.”[/red] It was time to get serious, after all the ninja rules helped insure that a mission always went well. And number twenty-five, said that a ninja shouldn't show emotion, so that what he intended to do.

[red]“There is a high probability that there will be a scouts, after all they will want to cover a wide area, that way they can maximise the amount of loot they can take. As you know it is a rule that we put the mission first, and in the mission briefing I don't believe it said anything about, protecting Mr. Han the only thing that the mission wants was to annihilate the enemy, that means no survives. Which means everyone dies, I don't care if there is a nuke ninja, or woman and children. They will all end up dead”[/red]

Ryu would approach the gate along side the others, [red]“There is some other things to consider how ever, how a mission to work at maximum capability there must be a leader, this way no time is wasted with arguing amongst ourselves. So I suggest, that I should be the leader of this mission, I've already had combat experience with five C ranked missions. What do you think ?”[/red]

[exit]

[Shinryu]

We drew nearer to the village entrance as I listened to my comrade go on. He seemed pretty monotonous, and uncaring as he gave me his thoughts. To be fair, ninja were supposed to be emotionless, but emotionless is a far stretch from immoral, at least in terms of the law...

“There is a high probability that there will be a scouts, after all they will want to cover a wide area, that way they can maximise the amount of loot they can take. As you know it is a rule that we put the mission first, and in the mission briefing I don't believe it said anything about, protecting Mr. Han the only thing that the mission wants was to annihilate the enemy, that means no survives. Which means everyone dies, I don't care if there is a nuke ninja, or woman and children. They will all end up dead”

Was this really guy serious? Not to say that I didn't understand where he was coming from, but women and children, too? "Seems a little much, to be honest. I don't generally approve of civillian casualties, unless they're necessary. I can't stop you if you want to be indiscriminate, but I'd prefer it if you only went after the ones aiding and abetting the theives. The last thing we need is to have civilians hiring ninjas to attack the village in retaliation." It wasn't as though I cared about any of them, but it would look bad if we stirred up any unnecessary trouble, and to someone with aspirations like myself, appearances are everything.

“There is some other things to consider how ever, how a mission to work at maximum capability there must be a leader, this way no time is wasted with arguing amongst ourselves. So I suggest, that I should be the leader of this mission, I've already had combat experience with five C ranked missions. What do you think ?”

Hmm... I wasn't really one for playing second fiddle, especially since I'd chosen the mission, but, proud as I was, this guy did have experience, which I was sorely lacking in... And to be fair, I was still kind of beaten up from the training session yesterday with father...

"Well, alright. I suppose I can swallow my pride and let the senior member take the leading position. Just make sure you leave me some scumbags to kill. I haven't been taking an ass-whooping in training just so I can stand back and watch."

The gates loomed, and as we approached, I smiled. The old man looked rather meek and frightened, scared that we might turn on him and carve him to bits at the next turn.

"Don't feel bad, Ojii-san. It may not be in the mission description, but you did pay for the mission, and you are an innocent civilian, so we've no reason to harm you. Just do your best not to become a liability, because I can't promise we'll be completely able to protect you, especially if the bandits number more than ten. They may not be ninja, but at odds greater than 5 to 1, even civillians can be troublesome without the right jutsu... so just stay between us, and do what we say, alright? Or... well... whatever Ryu says, I suppose."

The old man swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded, as we finally came to the gates.

It was time to head out.

[&&_-Exit]

[chiatsuki]

[ moved.]

[Shinryu]

[&&_-Re-entry]

We walked out of the gates and onward down the road, towards the east as per instructions. I heard Ryu's retort, and nodded. It was good that he wasn't after innocents. I wasn't sure of entirely what his motives were, but that he was unwilling to harm those uninvolved meant that he would be abiding by the law. I was sure Mr. Han was relieved by that much as well, although I wasn't bothered to check on him. After all, we were busy, and we would have to get moving if we were to find the place along the road where the bandits camped. I quickly removed my headband and stowed it inside my bag, before loading the senbon launcher on my wrist, weilding my katars, and continuing on.

As the sun bore through the cumulus cover from above, my eyes were peeled for signs of life. Overt wildlife movement, smoke from a fire, anything that would give away our target's position. I kept quiet as we walked along, prefering to let Ryu start any conversation if he felt it necessary, which he likely wouldn't, if I was any good at judging people. His patterns of speech insofar seemed only to deal with necessary topics, and I hardly thought one who spoke so emotionlessly would have time for idle chit-chat.

We passed some decent scenery, mostly wetlands, with willow trees and bullrushes to be found just about every which way. As I looked elsewhere, I noticed some ducks in a nearby pond, so far undisturbed in their wading. It didn't look as though we'd come nearly far enough to meet our foes, and it was at about this point that I began to wonder just how long this road was. But I didn't vocalize my impatience. After all, I had chosen this mission of my own volition, and I would have to deal with any consequences.

Some time later, after about a good three hours of walking, I noticed something unusual. Our first hint that enemies were in the vacinity. I noticed a flock of birds take flight from treetops in the distance. Something had disturbed them. Likely something human.

"In the distance... the birds have been disturbed. I think it might be them, preparing for tonight. Should we do recon on them now, and/or push for early engagement? Or just retreat a bit, and wait until nightfall?"

I would leave the decisions to our leader, after all, he had experience. Then again, I was no novice when it came to strategy. I simply hadn't had much chance to apply it.

[Taizo]

[Enter]

Ryu would watch, as Shinryu ready herself for combat which was quite a good idea on his behalf as you never knew when the enemy would strike. Although unlike, Shinryu Ryu was already prepared in fact it was a very rare occasion when he isn't. Ryu kept the majority of his equipment under his cloak inside a butt bag, secured to his waist. It was full of an array of different equipments, such as Kunai and Shuriken. Although Ryu did have some other weapons rad for combat use, he wore a pair of Kakkou, one on each forearm, read to use them at any time. It was fair to say that Ryu was armed to the teeth.

Ryu was also surveying the area looking to see if any thing was unusual after all a ninja was trained to see underneath the underneath. It was most likely that these demons would be foolish, although there was a possibility that they would just pretend to be, to try the group into an ambush. Considering the several factors of there group, and the unknown possibilities of the enemy, then an ambush was the last place that the last place that the group would want to be in. As they would be left exposed with no idea of the enemy's numbers.

It seemed the hours of silence, had taken there toll on the old man. [yellow]“Ryu-sama, your not actually going to leave me to die are you ?”[/yellow] It seemed that the old man was seeking reassurance, he was probably scared that this place would be his death bed. [red] I don't intend to let you die, if I can help it.[/red]Ryu would then raise his finger to his mouth, forming the shhh sign to the old man. Ryu had noticed the moving birds, a sign of enemy movement in that area ?

[blue]"In the distance... the birds have been disturbed. I think it might be them, preparing for tonight. Should we do recon on them now, and/or push for early engagement? Or just retreat a bit, and wait until nightfall?"[/blue] Ryu's brain was already calculating the possibles, he was coming to the conclusion that the best time to attack was now. [red] “We are going to go in now, although there is a possibility that it could be an ambush. If we attack later on once there camp has been formed they will have most likely set up some form of defence, it will be extremely hard to bypass traps as we protect the old man, and the look-out they will probably deploy could see us. So be on your guard, We will take a straight line formation, I will go to the front, the old man in the middle and you at the back. With this you wont get caught up in my area of effect attack, and will be able to stop us from being flanked. Okay then, lets move out”[/red]

[Shinryu]

“We are going to go in now, although there is a possibility that it could be an ambush."

I nodded, although thought that ambush was an unlikely possibility. Even though we were posing as civillians, we were still ninja, and I'd yet to discover any trace of being watched or followed insofar... Then again, neither of us was a sensor, at least not to my knowledge, but I had doubts that this was a band of Shinobi. Their actions were far too juvenile for Ninja. Dressing up like a demon to scare people was a foolish idea and would draw unnecessary attention. Ninja would have struck and killed their foes without a trace, leaving the world to wonder what had happened. They also wouldn't stick around the same area for any prolongued period of time... at least not if they were smart.

"If we attack later on once there camp has been formed they will have most likely set up some form of defence, it will be extremely hard to bypass traps as we protect the old man, and the look-out they will probably deploy could see us."

This was true, too. Although half of our plan was to be spotted, it was better strategically to try to catch all of our enemies off guard, while the sun was still in the sky. That way, we'd be able to track survivors if anyone escaped our initial attack. If they weren't stupid, they'd have scouts deployed while they built their camp, keeping an eye on the perimiter. Then again, they were stupid enough to stay in the same general area, so perhaps these bandits weren't the brightest stars in the sky, so to speak. If we were fast, and the old man stayed out of trouble, then we'd have no problems. If only we had a third member, so that one person could keep on the defense, while the other two launched a full out assault... Oh well, I suppose that was simply a bad decision on my part.

"We will take a straight line formation, I will go to the front, the old man in the middle and you at the back. With this you wont get caught up in my area of effect attack, and will be able to stop us from being flanked."

Hm. A wise move, tactically, perhaps. Unless they had tree-borne or airborne scouts, any lookout we encountered would likely simply see us as one person until we were too close for them to do anything about it. I would think our initial assault would be stealthy, but then again, having a civilian with us made things difficult, in that respect, as he wasn't exactly trained the same way we were. Besides, we wanted to draw in a full frontal assault. As we began moving, a question popped into my head.

"Should we try to draw their attention, and gather the whole group together, or make our attack more stealthy and catch them unaware? They'll likely see us before we can spot them, so it might be wiser to come in acting as civilian bounty hunters, making noise and acting arrogant, to put on a bit of a maskirovka*, no? That way we'll likely draw out the full group, instead of risking escapees. Your call, though."

We were drawing closer to the woods as the cloud of birds passed us overhead. We wouldn't have much time, likely, before we were spotted. I kept my eyes and ears peeled for signs of advanced scouts who might try to surround us, but saw nothing yet. Perhaps fortune would indeed be on our side. As I felt the strap of the senbon launcher digging tight around my wrist, I could only hope we would be so lucky.

________________________________________
* Maskirovka - A set of procedures designed to confuse, mislead, and camouflage oneself from the enemy.

[Taizo]

[blue]"Should we try to draw their attention, and gather the whole group together, or make our attack more stealthy and catch them unaware? They'll likely see us before we can spot them, so it might be wiser to come in acting as civilian bounty hunters, making noise and acting arrogant, to put on a bit of a maskirovka*, no? That way we'll likely draw out the full group, instead of risking escapees. Your call, though." [/blue] This was a fair question to ask, but Ryu already knew the solution, it was in one of the minor details.

[red]“Currently I appear to be a civilian and along side, Mr Han this makes us look like a merchant group. Its natural for a group to have at least one guard that is you. Now if you cast you mind back, these demons haven't been killing people only stealing. So when they see use, they will believe its there lucky day. This is where we have our element of surprise, which will no doubt draw the whole group as they will likely be over come with greed. So for the time being no scout would react, as after all what threat are a bunch of civilians.”[/red]

The group would head closer to the enemies location all the time Ryu would be prepared for a surprise attack but one never came. It seemed that the gang had started to establish camp in a open are of land, Ryu would stop on the edge of the land. [red]“Hello, Hello, Me and my friend have lost our way around here. I wonder if we could hire you to protect us, we have heard rumours of bandits in this area. We are carrying a vast amount of money with us so don't worry about getting paid”[/red]

It was time to see what these fools would do, Ryu would have already began to work his magic. His left hand silently forming seals, hidden from view by his cloak. The bandits were beginning to assemble the smug grins plastered across their faces, indicated that the plan was going well so far. The only question left was how would the other group members respond.

[Shinryu]

Ryu had made a fair point. They wouldn't attack a merchant group with scouts, unless one of the scouts thought they could overpower us, and they would be out of costume, likely, thus being uneager to render assault. As we approached the group, I did a quick head-count. There appeared to be twelve in the immediate area, most huddled in a group, assembling a small camp, plus either four or five stragglers over in the high grass. As Ryu made his mention of looking for protection, I looked around for evidence that these were our men. I saw someone in the back quickly try to stash away an oni mask, with horns protruding from it, and smiled, although pretending not to notice. It WAS them. Keeping with the facade, I chimed in.

"Indeed... it's dangerous travelling these roads alone, or even in groups without proper protection... they say that mist demons are everywhere...

And as I noticed a subtle movement of Ryu's sleeve, silently appreciating that he was capable of performing such a feat, I gave a half smile, taking aim for the stragglers out of the corner of my eye, and raising my arm to mock scratching my chest. I would wait for just the right moment, as soon as Ryu finished his jutsu, to depress the trigger, and send my senbon flying towards the unsuspecting crowd. They wouldn't know it, and by the looks of things, they had no weapons, in fact, few of the band before us had weapons drawn as of yet. The lot of these bandits were about to find themselves suddenly less articulate. I looked up to the hazy blue of the sky, as the sun had started it's slow descent. It was a fine afternoon for killing criminal scum.

[Taizo]

Ryu had finished his seals it was time to see everybody die. His right hand would slip down revealing a ninja star, this wasn't meant to deal a great about of damage, more to draw the enemy's attention. As they looked at the weapon he would exhale a deadly mist which would cover the surrounding fifty meters, this mist was extremely corrosive it could burn through just about anything. So hopefully the other team members would stay away from it. Ryu had already picked up the location of a couple stragglers so made use of a mini volcanic eruption, which would explode from underneath them spraying red hot lava to melt anyone caught within it.

SPOILER: Click to show

Fushokuzai (Corrosion Disolvance Factor)
--Rank: D, C, B, A, [red](S)[/red]
--Type: Supplementary / Youton Kekkei Touta
--Range: 0 - 50 meters
--Chakra: Mid
--Special: Allows the user the ability to create, control and move Youton (Lava) chakra of their own for multiple purposes. Level of corrosion and intensity of lava is determined by highest rank learned.
D: 10 meters
C: 20 meters
B: 30 meters
A: 40 meters
S: 50 meters
--Description: Youton, the marriage of Earth, Fire and Water, yields a new and truly terrifying substance - lava. Birthed from the user's very chakra control and the simultaneous binding of these two substances, the Corrosion Disolvance Factor exists as the user's corrosion gauge. Essentially, as their control over the kekkei touta grows, so will the strength of the corrosion of lava, as well as the size and area of control. In their most basic state, the Youton user is able to summon a fixed amount of Lava within an designated area, and further the birthing by controlling the substance to their will.
--Domain: Youton.

Koumu no Jutsu (Skilled Mist Technique)
--Rank: D, C, B, [red](A)[/red], S
--Type: Supplementary / Youton Kekkei Touta
--Range: See special!
--Chakra: Mid - High
--Special: Area of mist depends on the user's highest 'Fushokuzai' rank. Corrodes anything of a lower ranked existence than the acid. Highest rank known establishes corrosion levels, as well as the time it takes to dissolve through materials.
D: Whole Turn
C: 3/4th's of a turn
B: Half of a turn
A: 1/4th of a turn
S: Near-Instant
--Description: Upon refining their chakra molding skills, the Youton user is able to rely on the Water aspect of the trio in order to produce a looser acid, specifically in the form of a corrosive mist. After a few seals, the user creates a cloud of mist which is emitted from their mouth in the form of simple exhalation. This mist has corrosive properties, which gives it an inherent disadvantage in that its effects are indiscriminate, limiting its usage to areas that do not presently contain allies until the attack is completed. In the event that the mist escapes the containment area, thus putting others in danger, the technique can be sufficiently manipulated to limit its acidic qualities to safer levels. Finally, though the mist is corrosive to all around it, the user seems to be immune to it
--Domain: Youton. Fushokuzai.

Ōityue (Shooting Magma Geyser)
--Rank: C
--Type: Supplementary / Youton Kekkei Touta
--Range: 0 - 50 meters
--Chakra: Mid
--Special: Strength of corrosion and the distance the geyser can appear depends on the user's highest 'Fushokuzai' rank. Geyser starts as a 1 meter whole, and grows by 1 meter each time retrained.
--Description: Ōityue is a offensive ninjutsu technique, utilizing the Youton release. After forming the needed handseals, the user places their hand on the ground, transferring their youton chakra and allowing their lava to move to the area of their liking. The lava can only go so far, and after that the area will begin to heat up, allowing the enemy to realize something is going on. Finally, with a quick command of the index finger pointing upwards; a massive geyser of lava will shoot up.
--Domain: Youton. Fushokuzai 'C'.

[Shinryu]

I waited, and then his seals were done. I saw him draw a star, wondering what he had in store, as I depressed the trigger and watched my senbon fly off into the distance; three of them hitting an unsuspecting target in the back of the neck, dropping him instantly; one grazing the face of another, and the fifth flying aimlessly through the air. Not bad for a shot at this distance, but I could do better. I turned as I heard screams, and was met with a gripping scene. Men were leering, then reacting, as a hazy mist enveloped them, eating their flesh rapidly, their blood running from their pores, spilling onto the ground freely from exposed veins and arteries that were also dissolving. It was a sickening sight, although I couldn't watch for long, as my eyes were drawn back to an explosion.

The group I'd attacked had gotten up and started running toward us, before they saw their comerades enveloped in acid. A blast of magma from behind them coated one man in in a thick stream of molten stone... his screams still haunt me sometimes, I'll never quite forget how it melted the skin from his skull as he gurgled in agony, before the rock melted his skull away, super-heating and liquefying his brain matter until all that was left of him was a pool of reddened lava. The other three had scattered to the winds, and now it was my time to shine.

I took off after the nearest, who had headed back the way we came. I lined up my shot, and hurled one of my katars hoizontally at his back. It connected and by the way he fell, I could tell I'd vivisected his spine. He dropped with a howl of pain, blood pouring from the wound. He wouldn't be getting back up again.

I tore after the next closest, running through tall grass, and launching the other katar, this time the blade vertical as it sailed through the air. I heard the unmistakeable 'shink' of blade piercing skin, and knew without looking that my punching dagger had pierced all the way through his neck, poking it's blade out the front as the man went down, gurgling.

Only one was left, but now that my hands were free, the rest was simple. I brought my hands together as I ran, jumping and forming a platform to stand on above the grass, as I made yet more seals. Twenty ice sparrows tore off after the man, flying twice as fast as kunai, before they exploded against his flesh, peppering him with heavy ice shrapnel that would dig into his skin, and lacerate his organs. The sound he made as he fell over was satisfying, and I knew the deed was done.

I looked back at Ryu and smiled. "At least you left me some, although I was lucky I launched my senbon first, otherwise I might not have even had that pleasure." I chuckled as I walked over to the man who's spine I'd severed. He was trying to crawl away, his legs no longer working. I pulled my blade from his back, and kicked him over, smiling evilly down at him.

"Now you know who the true demons of the mist are..." I said with a snide grin, before my black-sandaled foot collapsed his windpipe.


[/li][li]&.Jutsu

SPOILER: Click to show

• Yuki no Kami (Gods of Ice)
  Rank: D, C, B, A, S
  Type: Supplementary / Clan Kekkei Touta / Hyouton Ninjutsu
  Range: 0 - 50 meters
  Chakra: ---
  Special: Dominion extends 10 meters in every direction of the user, and goes up 10 more with each rank learned. Determines rank strength behind all CLAN Hyouton ninjutsu. If this is learned, the user automatically gains the effects of Hyouton Ryuuken (Ice Dominion), and as such does not need to learn it as this can be used as a substitute.
  Description: Able to manipulate Ice better than the rest, the Yukina Kekkei Genkai specializes in the accelerated recomposition of Hyouton chakra, able to create surdy, powerful creations within seconds. Serving as the basis to the Yukina's ability, their advanced Ice skills has earned them the nickname 'Gods of Ice'.
  Domain: Yukina.
  
  
  
• Tobihaneru (Swift Ice Step)
  Rank: D
  Type: Supplementary / Clan Kekkei Touta / Hyouton Ninjutsu
  Range: See special!
  Chakra: Low
  Special: Tiles can be placed anywhere within the user's 'Yuki no Kami' range. Up to one tile can be made per use, plus one more each time retrained.
  Description: Although basic, this jutsu nonetheless is hhighly effective for mobile Yukina members. After forming a single handseal, the clan member can create a floating ice tile anywhere they wish within range, allowing them to use it as a stepping stone towards higher planes.
  Domain: Yukina. Yuki no Kami 'D'.
  
  
• Tsubame Fubuki (Snow Storm Swallows) x 2
  Rank: C
  Type: Offensive / Clan Kekkei Touta / Hyouton Ninjutsu
  Range: See special!
  Chakra: Mid
  Special: Strength and range of swallows depends on user's highest 'Yuki no Kami' rank. Up to 10 swallows may be formed when first learned, plus 10 more each time retrained. Swallows fly at speeds that of twice a well thrown kunai.
  Description: Hyouton • Tsubame Fubuki is a secret Yukina n Hyouton ninjutsu technique that, although basic, can be deadly with proper use. After a few brief seals, the clan member will create ice swallows which they can launch at their opponent at high speeds. As they fly through the air, these deadly birds can hone in on their target.
  Domain: Yukina. Yuki no Kami 'C'.
  
  
• Yuki Bakushin (Explosive Ice Barrage)
  Rank: C
  Type: Offensive / Clan Kekkei Touta / Hyouton Ninjutsu
  Range: See special!
  Chakra: Mid
  Special: Can only detonate ice creations equal to the user's highest known 'Yuki no Kami' rank. Can detonate up to one creation per thread, plus one more each time retrained.
  Description: As its name implies, this specializes secret Yukina ninjutsu allows the user to detonate ice creations into a sea of high-speed ice shards. As long as the ice creation is within range, they merely observe it and focus their Hyouton chakra on it, allowing for detonation moments later.
  Domain: Yukina. Yuki no Kami 'C'.