(Spectral) Calling to the Night [Mission][Kildred]

[Krethean]

It was a bright, late afternoon, although there were several thick, dark clouds that cruised the sky above. The sun had almost touched the horizon, giving off a sharper tone of sunlight that cast long and stretched out shadows. The desolated tower could easily be seen from the forest below and for many kilometres around. The old structure had served as a sentry and guard outpost since the First Shinobi World War, and the years of neglect have taken its toll. The fact that it was still standing, despite three wars was definitely impressive, but there wasn’t a need for the tower... yet anyway.

Stories were plentiful about how odd sounds came from within the once prime sentry location, and the general consensus was that the derelict tower was haunted. Several groups had pleaded their case to the Shinobi of Kusagakure to see what was going on there. They collectively pooled a sizable sum of money into making it a B Ranked mission, a rating that the Shinobi had designated such a request owing to a large number of unknowns and the very likely possibility of danger. On top of this, it was an excuse to see if that tower was worth repairing and moving back into.

Despite the inherent danger of such an undertaking, two Genin made their way to the tower.

Ujiyasu, clad in his usual abstract and attention grabbing colour scheme, was extremely chipper about taking on this mission. This was to be his last before the boy made off for the Chuunin Exams, and spending one night in a “haunted” tower wasn’t going to set the boy back so much. Failure was the only thing that would. He seemed extremely cheerful despite the risk the mission posed... after all, this was his biggest challenge yet!

“Hehe... this will be awesome! If we can do this mission, then surely the Chuunin Exams will be easy enough! We can climb the ladder and to do more for Kusa.”

Ujiyasu was also extremely keen for the exams because it meant competing against a number of Shinobi, not just from Kusagakure, but from virtually every other Nation that held its own Shinobi force. The thought of going against the best Genin the world had to offer was an opportunity too good for the boy to pass up.

“Spend the night at the tower, see what’s up then head home with our mission complete... how hard could it be?”

One could say Ujiyasu was tempting fate with his remark, but that was just how Ujiyasu was: anything difficult and dangerous was simply a challenge for him to overcome.

[Kildred]

The leaves and bushes around them rustled as Usio and Ujiyasu made their way through the forest. Marks of green continually added themselves to his shirt and pants, which were already stained with dirt. It gave him an odd camouflage effect, though he wasn't really aware of it. As they made their way through the forest, he looked up to see the tower in the distance. It sat amongst a number of trees upon a hill, overlooking everything for miles around. While it may have been a wonderful asset in the past, it had been abandoned for whatever reason. The stories and rumors surrounding it were numerous to say the least, but he paid them no mind. Rumors had little to no truth to them, most of the time.

He, himself, had never been to the tower, but it was not out of fear or respect. He simply had no interest in the dilapidated building. Now, he was here at the behest of Ujiyasu looking into some reports of haunting, which was utterly ridiculous. Ghosts didn't exists, and any who believed they did were simply begging to be taken advantage of. Much more likely, the old building was either housing a group of people, perhaps gang members or some youths, or the noises were simply the result of the wind blowing through various openings in the rock. The whole thing seemed like a colossal waste of time and resources, but since the clientele had paid for the services of the village, they were obligated to complete it. That didn't explain why Ujiyasu thought that they were the ones to do it.

“Hehe... this will be awesome! If we can do this mission, then surely the Chuunin Exams will be easy enough! We can climb the ladder and to do more for Kusa.”

It couldn't be just to qualify for the exams. A simple eight missions was all that was needed, and there were much easier tasks to be had in the Atrium. Ujiyasu always was one to look for a challenge, though. Maybe he wanted his latest one to be a hard-hitting qualifier? It didn't make sense to him at all. In his rush to do the higher ranked missions, he might be more likely to ignore the D and C-ranks, and those were the ones that kept the village going. It kept a sort of constant flow of ryo going through the village, ensuring a stability of sorts for its economy.

“Spend the night at the tower, see what’s up then head home with our mission complete... how hard could it be?”

Usio groaned audibly at this. "You do realize that, having said that, every force in the universe is now against us?" He was a firm believer in Murphy's Law, and wanted as little conflict to go on during this mission as possible so he could get home. "Exactly why, pray tell, did you need to get this mission anyway? I don't recall any B-ranked missions on the requirements for the Chuunin Exams. Trying to overachieve?" He had more than double the requirements needed, but he wasn't going. He still felt like he didn't have the sheer experience required, and doing eight unspecified missions didn't seem like it entailed a new rank.

[Krethean]

The tower loomed overhead as the two boys approached their destination, Ujiyasu’s smile seemed fixed on his face as Usio spoke up and chastised the wilder of the two for dragging him along. In typical Ujiyasu fashion though, Usio’s words didn’t dampen his spirit.

“Well then if all the forces in the universe want to stop us, then that’s more fun for me! Besides... why aren’t you that interested in taking on such missions? This is the sort of thing we’d be doing when we become Chuunin right? If we can’t do missions like this, we might as well be stuck as Genin forever.”

Hearing the remark about this mission not being a requirement, Ujiyasu shook his head with a slight chuckle.

“Well the message I saw in the mission compound didn’t mention that it wasn’t a requirement either. The way I see it, why not? It’s a tougher challenge, it’s a great way to see where we are... and besides that, this mission pays really well! The village will get good money out of this too, not just us.”

Ujiyasu looked up to the top of the tower as they drew near, the sun began to set as the day entered its final hours of daylight.

“Besides... imagine the look on the other people’s faces when they see that we pulled off a B rank! “

They reached the ruined tower with enough time for some planning before nightfall. Ujiyasu looked to his friend and decided to work out a plan of action.

“Right... I think we got enough time to prepare. I’m gonna make some clones and look around the area. Then get ready in case there is something going on. What about you?”

[Kildred]

Having arrived at the base of the tower, Usio looked up at the expanse. It was quite taller than he expected, and gave off quite the intimidating feeling. Still, it was only a tower. Once they gave it a once-over and found out whatever was making the noises, he could go home and sleep. He still had to get up in the morning to tend to the farm. As the sun dipped lower on the horizon, he listened to his partner's encouraging words. Sighing, he shook his head and shrugged. "Genin and Chuunin are merely ranks given to us by our peers. Why worry about a title?" He took a few steps to the right, looking at the surroundings. There wasn't much in the way of cover, so the tower entrance was quite open.

Once Ujiyasu mentioned the payment of the mission, as well as the prestige that comes with completing one while a Genin, Usio rolled his eyes. "Why would anyone be surprised? First of all, it's not like it's unheard of for Genin to complete missions above their rank. Second, this hardly qualifies as a B-rank mission. This is simply something put forth by a bunch of superstitious villagers, backed by the village's want for another outpost. A waste of money, if you ask me." The entire thing grated on his mind. Why were people so flippant with their money, anyway? He briefly thought about the adage of fools and their money. Glancing upward, the final rays of the sun shot out from beyond the tops of the trees.

“Right... I think we got enough time to prepare. I’m gonna make some clones and look around the area. Then get ready in case there is something going on. What about you?”

Bringing his hands together, he created two of his rock clones. The first immediately ran inside. "My clone shall go inside and find absolutely nothing, and then we can go home. Speaking of which, why in the world did you bring me out here at night? You know I have to till the land and tend the crops in the morning. It's bad enough that I have to be here in the first pl-" His words died in his throat as a loud noise erupted from the tower and bits of stone flew from the door. Irritation grew on Usio's face as he turned his head back from the tower and looked at Ujiyasu. "It is far too late for this."

[Krethean]

complaints died the moment the noise echoed from the tower. Excitement welled up within Ujiyasu, as he performed a quartet of handseals and manipulated the water that flowed from a small stream close by the outpost. The water took on two humanoid forms, who then leaped out of the stream. Their bodies began to look more like Ujiyasu, while the original performed a lengthier series of handseals.

A chilling mist formed near the rowdier boy as yet another clone was being created, this time from the ice that he was gifted with the ability to use. Much like its liquid brethren, the Ice Clone was formed from its base element, before it took on Ujiyasu’s likeness. With that task complete, Ujiyasu did one more string of handseals. This time, he moved his right hand out a bit and positioned his fingers as if he were holding something. The chakra then gathered itself into his grip, creating the hilt and guard, while a sleek and vicious blade was created. The design seemed similar to a katana, which was what Ujiyasu intended.

Now that he was ready, since Usio jumped ahead and sent his clone in, one of his water clone rushed forward to see what had happened. Once the clone was there, it stopped and saw what looked like rocks and debris scattered around with two logs that seemed to move slightly. The logs’ movements seemed to suggest that they had just smashed into each other. The clone looked around the debris zone and spotted what looked like an elevated plate on the ground.

Ujiyasu and his other clones made their way to the tower, calling out to Usio as he did so.

“Looks like this place is more interesting than I thought! Your clone stepped on a pressure tile. Two logs smashed into it. Guess we got a bunch of other traps to worry about.”

Ghosts wouldn’t need traps, and they certainly wouldn’t need to kill people. To Ujiyasu, this definitely meant that there was someone, or some people in the building. As an aspiring hunter, traps were certainly something he was quite familiar with... and something he could learn more about with this mission.

As the clones advanced slowly, they spotted a tripwire. Knowing that these operated by the target rushing on ahead, they cut the wire without moving forward. Rusted spikes rushed up and pierced the air as the mechanism lightened the weight that held the plate down. The trap disarmed, the clones, and Ujiyasu weaved through the dirty death trap and pushed on.

[Kildred]

Ujiyasu yelled out the information that became apparent once he entered the room. As he suspected, the ghost theory was nothing more than superstitious nonsense. Looking down at the crumbled remains of his clone, he clicked his tongue in irritation and molded his chakra. The bits of rock and stone moved towards him, coating his body in a thin, protective layer. This should hopefully give him a slight advantage on any trap he didn't notice in time. He moved to the center of the room as Ujiyasu and his clones moved on. Someone was definitely here, and wanted others to be kept out. The mission was quickly becoming worthy of its rank.

Tapping his foot twice before placing it on the ground, his sensory skill spread out, showing him the layout of the land around him, as well as the tower level above him. Panicked steps echoed in his mind, scrambling near the top of the tower. All the running made it difficult to ascertain exactly how many people were there, but he would guess roughly...twelve? A loud scraping noise alerted him to the continued march of Ujiyasu and his clones, whom he hurriedly moved to catch up with. His other rock clone rushed in from outside, falling in step with him. Maneuvering through the spikes, he approached the boy from behind.

"We're gonna deal with maybe twelve or more people at the top of this thing, once we get up there. Just as a heads-up." Ugh. Was that dried blood on those spikes? Nasty. His clone moved ahead, safety being the primary concern for Usio at the moment. Whatever lay ahead had the advantage of being unknown, and he couldn't afford to trip up and injure himself before dealing with a group of unknown assailants. This entire ordeal was going to be an exercise in patience, not to mention having to deal with Ujiyasu's boisterous manner. "I swear, for every time something hits me, I'm going to break one of their arms." He wasn't good at this particular exercise.

[Krethean]

As the group pressed on, Usio relayed his information regarding the numbers of the people in the building. This quickly confirmed the suspicion that there were people in here, rather than being some supernatural phenomenon. Ujiyasu turned to Usio and gave a nod to him.

“Thanks. Least we have a good idea what’s here. Still got some traps here to deal with... I think... maybe you can use your Doton to find any pressure plates and hidden traps. Since those are much harder to find than the usual tripwire method, that should help us get through without too many problems.”

Suddenly, as one of Ujiyasu’s water clones stepped on a tile, it depressed, causing a dart to fly at the clone’s head. The dart passed through the water clone without any real effect, but as soon as that one dart fired, a series of them shot out in rapid succession. The sheer number of projectiles disrupted the integrity of the water clone, forcing it to dissipate. With a sigh, Ujiyasu moved around the plate, as did his clones.

Oh well... I still have two more clones left.

Another tripwire, another trap. The clones stopped the group as they looked around, seeing the wire attach itself to their left. After a more careful look, they saw what looked like a rusted, metal door with spikes that faced where the victim would walk into. Yet another lethal trap, one with a shock effect to it that would cause the poor sod’s death at the hands of impalement and being crushed by the force of the door.

The wire cut, the clones moved everyone back a bit as the door rushed forward in a wide arc, slamming into the wall on the left with considerable force. The door then slowly moved back due to the momentum it had, but with the wire cut, it won’t be swinging ahead like that unless it was done manually.

As the group worked their way up the tower, Ujiyasu thought about the people they would likely find.

“You think it could be some criminal group or some bandits? You wouldn’t need to take an old sentry tower and re-arm traps unless you don’t want people around, especially if you’re hoarding some illegal goods. Or planning something bad. These traps seem to be in decent repair too... they look aged but not one of them misfired yet.”

[Kildred]

"Most likely. They might not have much in the way of skill regarding traps if they have to rely on these old ones, or they simply haven't had enough time to put it ones of their own." Usio gazed at the door for a second before following the group ahead of him. It was hard to think of this place as a mere outpost with so many traps and such within it. He had no knowledge of these kinds of buildings, however. Maybe he'd look it up when he got back. As they approached the next floor, everyone slowed down and kept an eye out for any triggers. The room seemed empty, and the floor and walls didn't look to have any markings consistent with any trap markings.

His rock clone moved forward, edging in and testing the area further. A loud noise echoed throughout the room as a portion of the walls slide down, revealing the actual location of this room's trap. Several holes indicated what the type was, and sure enough, several arrows flew out from the adjacent sides, firing upon Usio's clone. The clone braced for impact, guarding itself as arrow after arrow struck it. After several seconds, the barrage ceased, and the clone continued forward, unfazed, brushing aside the shafts on the ground as it moved. Chuckling, Usio looked over to Ujiyasu. "Well, looks like we both lost one clone. Still, mine don't dissipate after darts and arrows. I'm sure two logs would still demolish yours. Looks like earth trumps water this round."

[Krethean]

As Usio goaded Ujiyasu for the fact that his water clone dispersed after being shot at by countless projectiles simultaneously, the remaining liquid clone stuck his pinky into Usio’s left ear and liquefied his finger a bit. With a laugh, Ujiyasu continued forward.

“Maybe, but just striking my clone won’t do you any good. It took a pretty deadly trap to get rid of one of them.”

More stairs were climbed as the boys drew closer to the top of the tower, evading the traps they had already encountered with ease, now that they were aware of them. A bit further on, Ujiyasu stopped the group and examined the area.

The floor looked much different than the lower floors, which threw off Ujiyasu’s pattern recognition, so he took the time to examine the floors and the walls. The design did seem to indicate that the traps were different this time, and he couldn’t make out any panels on the walls. The ground did appear to have panels of their own but without the side compartments, the arrow traps are very unlikely. There didn’t appear to be circular panels either, so floor spikes could be ruled out.

A water clone stepped forward and triggered the trap to see what it was. Immediately sections of the floor, including a block in front of the pressure plate gave way, revealing a long drop to the floor below. The positions of the holes also suggest that the trap was designed to catch the victim entirely off guard if they didn’t know the plate was there, since the gaps around the plate seem to be positioned where someone would likely move to under duress. Holes could be found to the left and right of the plate, as well as a few sections just behind the group

“Hooo, they’re getting smarter. If no-one had seen this, someone was likely to be severely injured, die, or a clone would vanish. They did away with the old tripwire, so keep an eye out for anything unusual.”

[Kildred]

Usio continued his laughter for a while before getting an unwanted gift from Ujiyasu's clone. Rapidly rubbing his ear, he cried out in disgust. "Ugh! Oh, gross! Why would you even do that?" The next room housed very little, save for the trap that the water clone set off. Looking down the hole, he saw the floor below, riddled with whole and broken arrow shafts. After Ujjiyasu's remark, he cocked an eyebrow. "I do hope you're talking about the original inhabitants of this tower. This trap still looks to be as old as the others, and it doesn't take a genius to come up with the idea of using what's already here." Skirting the edges of the pit, the group continued upward and moved to the top floor.

As they ascended the stairwell, all of them stopped in their tracks. The group of people he had sensed earlier all ran out, forming a line and barring their progress. All of them were dressed in different clothes and styles, not showing much in the way of uniform. They all brandished weapons of different types, while two of them looked to be carrying themselves better than the rest. This would be quite a different fight than the ones he had been in before. Stepping forward, Usio tried to give off an authoritative presence and go the diplomatic route. Holding his hands in front of him in case of sudden attacks, he began speaking. "This keep, though dilapidated, is still a building under the jurisdiction of Kusagakure. All of you are considered to be trespassing, and will be-"

His speech was cut sort as a laughing member of the group took a single step forward and pushed down this room's pressure plate. A low rumbling alerted all to the occurrence of something, and Usio looked up in time to see exactly what the trap was. His hands shook rapisly as the ceiling itself fell down, a large slab crushing his form down into the ground.

[Krethean]

The ceiling collapsed on his friend, which caused a bit of confusion in Ujiyasu. He wasn’t sure if his friend had actually perished, or if he had managed to use his Doton and fooled the group of miscreants. There wasn’t time to check however, as the group of criminals rushed Ujiyasu and his clones.

His ice clone ran through a string of hand seals before it released the original Ujiyasu’s chakra, chilling the air considerably. Within seconds a powerful snow storm blasted throughout the room, reducing visibility considerably. Grunts and curses could be heard from the band of crooks, while the water clone and Ujiyasu himself rushed at the group, who had stalled from the sudden blast of snow and cold winds.

The water clone gripped the frontmost bandit’s weapon arm and twisted the wrist sharply, causing the man to scream in agony and drop the weapon. The clone then moved forward slightly, into the man and quickly drove an elbow into the side of the face, knocking the crook out instantly. Ujiyasu himself used his ice katana to slice the legs of two men that were before him. The damage wasn’t too severe, but he cut enough of their muscle to make movement extremely difficult for him, if not impossible.

Moments later, a loud clang echoed throughout the room as every pressure plate had been depressed, due to the weight of the snow that had begun to build up. Multiple sections of the room gave way, while several more areas had sections of the ceiling slam down onto the floor. As the group were close to one of the traps that had already triggered, they weren’t in danger. It did however, restrict movement in the room.

Suddenly a low rumble could be heard from behind the Kusa Nin. Knowing what it was, he immediately leaped to his left, along with his water clone as the snow seemingly erupted behind him. More eruptions followed as the displacements moved along the path to where the group was. A second wave of eruptions could be seen moving to the right hand side, as if leading the bandits to Ujiyasu’s left.

The result is a panicked group of bandits. Some avoided both waves and leaped to their right, while a number got caught by the main wave, knocking them off their feet, some slightly injured themselves from the sudden knockdown.

Ujiyasu kicked a man’s head while the bandit struggled to get to his feet amid the snowstorm, he wondered what happened to Usio as he moved on to the next downed crook. Surely that trap didn’t kill his friend. It shouldn’t have.

[Kildred]

The maelstrom of activity following the trap being set off did not interest Usio's rock clone in the least. It stood by, going through hand-seals repeatedly. Various areas of the walls and floors shifted ever so slightly as it continued its tirade of chakra manipulation. By the time all the snow had set off every trap in the room, the clone had set up several small instances of needles jutting out from every which direction. Using its Doton: Ryouuken, it easily determined where all the targets were, based on their panicked steps. Pointing its fingers in the appropriate areas, the needles shot out in frenzied bursts, stabbing into the legs of several bandits and severely hampering their movement.

Two bandits opted to go back-to-back, trying to increase their chances of survival against the elements that so suddenly turned against them. Turning in a small circle in order to keep every angle accounted for, they neglected the one area that actually had an attack coming. Two hands slid out of the ground, grabbing each of their ankles and dragging them shoulder deep into the floor. Standing in their place now, Usio rolled his arms and glanced at the remaining bandits that were still conscious. "-persecuted to the full extent of the village law. Any further aggression on your parts will be added to your sentence. You do have the right to remain silent, since anything you say can and will be used against you. Do you understand?"

[Krethean]

Ujiyasu couldn’t help but laugh at his friend’s return, a return that severely depleted the number of capable opponents. So far it looked as if things were actually going well. His two clones had begun incapacitating the remaining criminals, either by knocking them out or restraining them. Usio finished up his statement to the bewildered faces of themiscreants... after all, they did witness him being “crushed” by the ceiling.

Ujiyasu noted that something was amiss however. He couldn’t tell exactly what, but he prepared a string of handeals, after placing his ice katana between his hip and the rope belt. I’m sure Usio said at least twelve. Why is there only eleven here? His suspicion was proven correct when a person flung themselves from ceiling. He seemed to have come out of nowhere, despite the keen sense of observation Ujiyasu had.

Immediately, Ujiyasu pressed his palms to the ground, causing a chilling mist to appear behind Usio, and continued to become thicker. Suddenly, a rather large spike of ice formed and shot up, blocking the man off and forced him to leap off the construct and land to the boys’ right. Another person tried to slash at Ujiyasu’s water clone in an ambush strike, only for the knife to slice harmlessly through the water body. The clone saw the weapon pass through it, and quickly made to kick the attacker’s back. The clone managed to land a hit, but the second attacker rolled with the force of the blow, reducing the damage he would have taken.

The man who attacked Usio looked at the farmer boy and retorted to the boy’s statement.

“And you are trespassing on our territory kid. Anything you do from here on out will be dealt with by everyone in our group. You’ll be targets for life you little shits!”

The man who attacked Usio then performed a series of handseals, then took a deep breath in. Suddenly a large fireball shot out of his mouth, the ball of flame roared toward Ujiyasu’s Ice clone, while the other assailant performed a few handseals of his own. To Ujiyasu, it seemed as if the room went completely dark. He could still hear however, and with the snowstorm dying down, he was able to make out what was going on. He drew out his blade and called out to Usio, letting him know what’s happened.

“Hey, Usio, kinda dark in here...”

The ice clone simply ducked and dived to the right and hid in the snow, a feat that was made possible by the mixture of snow falling, a slight mist and the smoke from the Katon jutsu that was used.

[Kildred]

Ujiyasu thankfully halted a sneak attack from above, one Usio didn't notice due to the man's unmoving form. The water clone and the man tussled for a bit before they stood at opposite ends. The man then yelled at him, claiming this area to be their territory. How absurd. "I'm not going to bother stating how incorrect you are in this instance. Rather, I shall say that should we be targets, you would then be coming after us, which makes capturing you all the more easier." His taunt seemed to have the desired effect, as he immediately reared back into a jutsu. A large fireball was launched at Ujiyasu's clone, who dived out of the way. Ujiyasu himself drew his sword, calling to him.

“Hey, Usio, kinda dark in here...”

The room hadn't changed, apart from all the snow, so he had no clue why he thought it was dark. "May I suggest you wipe the ice from your eyes? The lighting has not changed." Equipping his gloves, Usio made sure to have enough room to use hand-seals before running after the katon user. The two men had split up, running in opposite directions. The other man already had the rock clone to contend with, and would probably have little to contribute after Ujiyasu went after him as well. Completely focused on the man before him, he ran up to close quarters and threw a quick punch, aiming to gauge the man's reaction and ability.

He had quickly responded by weaving out of the way, pulling out a short sword of some kind and swinging it at him. This wasn't anything he hadn't practiced in the academy, easily ducking and rolling over the attacks made by the man. However, each of his strikes were, in turn, dodged or pushed out of the way. This stalemate was not going to bring about any kind of fortune for him, so he opted on a bit of a gambit. Pulling out a kunai with his left hand, he continued to dodge and weave before spying the correct swing he needed. As the blade came closer, he tossed the kunai in the air. Slinging his fist, he punched the blade, blocking the strike and momentarily halting the man's assault. A single hand-seal was made as he moved to do a forward roll. He switched places with his kunai, a proper kawarimi putting him in an ideal stance to continue his spin and bring his foot down on an aligned shoulder. Stunning the bandit, he grasped his hair and slammed his gloved fist into the side of his skull, ensuring some damage.

[Krethean]

“Room’s not dark? Man it’s pitch black here! I don’t think I covered this place with so much snow to snuff out the lighting... and I was sure that guy did a Ninjutsu...”

Hearing footsteps that came from Usio’s original location, Ujiyasu figured that he sent his rock clone to deal with the guy who cast that weird jutsu. All of his clones couldn’t see either, which had led the boy to believe that the room had gone dark. But if Usio can still see... then...

It wasn’t something Ujiyasu was too keen to admit, but he didn’t have much talent for Genjutsu at all. He also didn’t have the interest in it. He had learned a means of disrupting the chakra flow so that he could break out of Genjutsu used on him, however he hadn’t learned any more than the bare basic version. He had remembered something from his days at the Academy, which the instructors mentioned would be invaluable to remember if he was unable to free himself from an illusion under normal circumstances.

The wild-haired Kusa Nin placed his ice blade along his left forearm, then cut into his flesh with the sharp blade. Pain coursed from the arm with a potent sensation that caused the boy to muffle his vocal reaction through clenched teeth. As the pain washed all through his body, his eyesight returned to him, as if someone had turned the lights back on in the room.

“Damn that... smartass blinded me...”

He shook his left arm a little and felt his arm was mostly ok, but it wasn’t likely he’d do anything too overly exhausting with it for a while. He looked to see what was actually going on, not just from what he heard and his thoughts were right: Usio and his rock clone had split up to take each one on. Blinding Ujiyasu would have made the odds more favourable to the criminals and effectively made it a two versus two conflict.

An idea formed in Ujiyasu’s mind as he performed some handseals, after tucking his blade under his arm, then planted his hand into the snow. Two waves of snow being forcibly blasted skyward snaked toward both of the crooks, while two more waves snaked out to each crook from where Ujiyasu’s Ice Clone hid, after it dived away.

The cloth face covered man who casted the Genjutsu on Ujiyasu saw both snow displacement waves approach and jumped up, Usio’s rock clone leaped up, ready to drive a fist into the stomach of the man, only for him to block with both forearms and push away, sending the both of them away from their intended course. For the crook though, it resulted in taking a double axe handle to the back of the head from a waiting water clone. The water clone kept track of what both the rock clone and the Genjutsu user had been doing, and acted while it knew it had the best chance to attack.

Two Snow Waves continued to streak toward the real Usio and the Katon user, each with an unrelenting fury that threatened to send whoever got caught away.