tag-along, (nagi)

[KEITH]

From the village to deep within the countryside, my fellow Kiri-nin and I had ventured out deep into the forests of the country, looking for something. I had kept what exactly this mission would be a secret, because I had wanted to surprise the young lad, but hopefully he wouldn’t be too upset with me for not explaining. I had my reasons for the things I did, I wanted this to be a huge surprise for him, and taking on this very mission could change his life forever. We would swiftly cut through the trees of the forests that were blanketed by a light mist, with me leading the way to our desired destination.

Not before long, I would come to a stop, halting my advancements as I paused upon a tree branch. I slowly turned around to see the young lad before I would speak briefly to him.

“We aren’t too far from where we need to be, Mifune. So, just keep your guard up, because on these types of missions danger is just always around the corner.”

I would say before I turned back around to look ahead of where we were. We were practically at the edge of the forest, and with the blanket of mist not really hindering our sight, I could see just how far we had to go. Perhaps Mifune would also see where he would believe we are headed. My eyes would then move toward the ground, and I spotted many dead animals which had been impaled by arrows; blood stains in the grass and soil where people or animals may have been slain.

“Hm, have you ever been hunting, Mifune?”

[~Mifune~]

The trees of the countryside had always dazzled me. They were so large and strong in stature. It was like they had some unknown strength and fortitude, and it was these features that I had always envied. The trees would be my only real interest at the moment, as I have given up trying to guess the exact reason Yokumaru-sama had dragged me out into this forest. It was obvious that we were tracking something, but he had made a noticeable effort to hide what exactly. I hope he had something truly interesting to show me, or I fear I will begin to doubt his prowess.

Soon Yokumaru-sama would halt his movements and land on a branch in front of me. I swung amongst the trees until I came across a similar branch behind him.

“We aren’t too far from where we need to be, Mifune. So, just keep your guard up, because on these types of missions danger is just always around the corner.”

As he spoke I hid my interest and simply nodded. He turned to look into the vast misty horizon. I followed his eyes and could see a long jagged mountainous land ahead of us, and wondered if this was our intended destination.

My attention was quickly brought back to Yokumaru-sama as he spoke once again, asking me if I had ever hunted before.

"I have hunted before. Though it was only if I had ran out of rations, or if a journey was taking longer then expected. Even then, it was only deer, or the occasionally rabbit."

[KEITH]

“Excellent! Well, we will be doing some hunting today. Not for animals or anything like that, but for people. Potentially dangerous people, but we aren’t allowed to harm them when they are found. If they are in possession of dangerous weaponry, just relieve them of it. That’s just something I thought I would tell you before we progressed even further. Follow me, Mifune!”

Where many of the slain animals had lain upon the ground, I had descended down upon it, to get a closer examination of the damage caused. Even from any one could tell that the main usage of weaponry against them had been bows, but upon closer inspection, they might have also used polearms too, based upon the wounds. I followed bloody trails to see where they would have laid to, and hopefully Mifune would follow me as I ventured about the area looking for clues on the attackers. Based upon their foot prints, they hadn’t been there for a while.

But, it had also been hard to track due to foot prints being scattered all about the ground over a massively large area. As if this had all been done on purpose for some sort of weird reason. Nonetheless, it was only a minor hitch, and I could find a solution to our problem if I had more time to think about it. Which caused me to sit down and meditate over the information my brain was processing about the clues I’ve gather, though few.

“Mifune, be prepared to advance on any given notice.”

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[~Mifune~]

I smiled at Yokumaru as I removed my mask. There was no longer a reason to have it on around him, he had proven to be a reliable ally, and my mask was reserved for those whom I could not trust. I watched as he began some form of meditation, and I would silently sit down next to him. Smiling as I rested the giant shuriken from my back, to the ground next to me.

"I'm always ready to kill. I'll just wait on you to finish... whatever it is your doing."

[KEITH]

Meditation had been the course of action to take at the moment; I had to figure out which way the group of hunters may have been. I knew that the mountain was probably the best option, but maybe that was just too obvious to me for some reason. It wasn’t mean to really over think things, perhaps it was a side-effect of the punishment I had received from attacking and robbing Kumogakure. Either way, it was probably for the best, after all.

In my mind, I had painted the entire area around us, and I had envisioned all of the trails there was there, left behind by the hunters and the animals. It was like they had created some sort of code to block the path they had actually taken, and due to it being over such a large area, you couldn’t help but wonder why they had done it. Was it because they knew that someone was already following them or did they just want to keep people like shinobi off of their trail? As I continued to meditate, I felt as if the path that we should take had levitated off of the ground, as if it was for sure that this path had been the right one.

It actually felt like this path was calling out to me, because it had been the right path to follow. With that, I rose back into a standing position, with my eyes opened, and then dashed to my left, following a particular path that had been the closest to me. Hopefully, with Mifune also trailing behind me, in case the place I was going had been booby-trapped if someone figured it out, he could save me or help me if something happened. The path that I had followed had eventually leaded to a camp site, and there had been a large cliff about [50m] above us, and [25m] away from where we had stood.

We could see blood smeared all across the ground, with carcasses all over the site and a rotting smell. This had to be the place; the original mountain I had seen was about [100m] west of here. I figured that it would have actually been there main base, but they would lure people into this area to throw them off track. As I continued to search the area with my eyes, noticing bones and all, I couldn’t help but notice that there had been a few human bones and clothing scattered about the place.

As I had come to this realization, four specialized arrows had hit the ground [5m] before me, curving into a half circle around me. I was a bit shocked immediately, I hadn’t known what was going on, but immediately, I had trailed backwards. Though, as I would have, an arrow would have been targeting the area I was about to land in, as a means to intercept my movement, and I hadn’t even noticed it. Where was Mifune, and would he cover me from the things I couldn’t see? My distance from the first four arrows had now been [10m].

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[~Mifune~]

I watched in silence as Yokumaru-sama sat in a meditated state. What was the man thinking about, surely he could just check the ground were the kill was made. The blood on the ground was obviously made by multiple animals, meaning that there would be more kills somewhere around here. I closed my eyes and began to imagine the days I spent hunting with my uncle, and realized how much Yokumaru reminded me of him. Both were cold and calculating, but had the utmost faith in their villages, and would never harm there village allies. I had been around Yokumaru enough now to let my guard down just a little when around him. For now, he has shown that trusting him would yield desired results, and for now that's all I could ask for.

Before I could truly rest my eyes, Yokumaru was standing. By the time I had gotten to my feet he had begun to dash to our left onto some eerie trail. The second I had my balance into my legs I dashed after him. We had been sprinting now for only a few seconds, and I would notice the bones getting larger and larger, then eventually I would see the skull of a human.

Ok.. obviously whatever we were doing was gonna involve some danger. A shiver of excitement fell down my spine, as I thought how wonderful it was to have met Yokumaru-sama. For without him, I highly doubt life would be this exciting.

In the middle of our sprint, Yokumaru suddenly stopped, and only 5 meters in front of us, a few arrows would plunge into the ground. Yokumaru-sama instinctively stepped away just as another arrow would come spiralling into him. However, I would not give it the opportunity. A kunai was in my hand in the short instant it took for me to reach into my satchel. A short burst of speed was all I needed to approach Yokumaru's immediate left, where I would deflect the incoming arrow to the ground with my blade.

SPOILER: Click to show

Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique)
Rank: D
Range: Close (0m ~ 5m), Mid (5m ~ 10m)
Type: Supplementary
Handseals: -
Chakra Consumption: Low
Shunshin no Jutsu is a basic ninjutsu technique used across the shinobi world by all, ranging from the most basic shinobi to the legends of lore. Considered is a high-speed movement technique - to an observer caught in the optical illusion, it appears as if the user has teleported. This allows the user to escape or attack suddenly, should they need to. However, while a high-speed movement, if used in broad daylight, one will still be quite visible and as such, easier to be defended against. In order to achieve maximum effect, the user must to combine it with a distraction.

Note: Despite popular belief, this is not an ability that allows an individual to teleport, or even move incomprehensibly fast. It simply combines high mobility with some disruption of visibility to conceal those movements. That in mind, if you can conceal your movement, it is common for this technique to allow very long-distance dashes before enemies may notice you.

Chakra:1 massive 1 high 3 mids 1 low

[KEITH]

Before I had even noticed it, with brilliant speed, Mifune had been by my side, attempting to deflect an arrow I hadn’t seen coming. Though, his method of saving me would unfortunately be a bit lack luster, because due to saving me, he would leave himself in a vulnerable state. The arrow which had been targeting me hadn’t been any old ordinary arrow; no, it had been a Taser Arrow. Mifune’s kunai would come in contact with it as he tried to deflect the arrow, and as it touched, it sent an electrical current through the kunai and into him.

It hadn’t been too powerful, but it was enough to stun him for about a few seconds [5s], and in that take he had been paralyzed, I had still been protected due to his heroic efforts. I don’t know what it was, but my eyes had been drawn toward the ground, and I would see hundreds of dots appearing upon the ground, and quickly I looked up and noticed all the arrows which were about to come falling down upon us. It had been gaps big enough for the two of us to move through, though the assault of the arrows had lasted for exactly [5s], and in this time limit, Mifune would be useless. I quickly reached to him and pulled him over my shoulder just before the arrows fell, and I began to maneuver myself skillfully through all of them.

And, before I would have known it, I found myself within the [5m] range of the original four arrows, and they had erupted, releasing small shrapnel from them which could have easily did us in if I hadn’t been quick enough. I used my body to shield Mifune from any shrapnel that would have gotten pass me, using the black threads within me to stop them as they would begin to pierce through my skin. Quickly, I moved us back into the nearby forest we had been in once, and hide inside of deep area where we would be covered all around. Luckily, no blood had exited from my body, so that left them no exact trail to follow, and I had been moving too fast to leave a real foot track.

I would put him down and lean against a tree, trying to listen for the faintest sound.

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[~Mifune~]

So much for no good deed goes unpunished.

The moment I had deflect the steel arrow that had attempted to shoot down Yokumaru, I was rewarded with a buzz of electricity winding through my body. Numbness would set in, and I found myself partial paralyzed. Before a true reaction could be issued, Yokumaru-sama had lifted me onto his shoulders, and guided us through a barrage of incoming arrows.

However, he had foolishly forgotten about the initial volley of arrows, and the moment they had gotten close enough to do any damage they would burst into many bits of shrapnel. Whoever we were fighting were highly skilled in archery and tactics. I doubt that if I was here alone I would be able to detain them without a few new scars. Yokumaru-sama quickly shielded me from the blows of shrapnel. Looking towards him ( which proved difficult due to the shock induced paralysis) I would shiver as I watched black tendrils slithering inside his body.

As he set me down near a tree I raised my hand to show him the paralysis had begun to lift, and that I could now move on my own. Although, after taking that blow I was unsure of the other tactics our targets would take.

"Seems like they want us dead."

My words would be marked with masked pain, but I would ease myself into a crouching position, continuously flexing my fingers in order to shake off the numbness.

[KEITH]

OOC: Due to my wavering activity, I will not be able to finish and complete this thread. Though, if you wish, you can complete it and in turn, complete the mission and turn it in. As for anything concerning my character, he will have devised a plan where you two of split up and now you are on your own. You proved that you had the skill to handle yourself, now is the time to show it.

Once again, I am sorry for any inconveniences.

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