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H.T. The letters meant something as Ekitai paused briefly to consider their meaning before recalling the title of the Hozuki as the Hydra Twins. It was fortunate Ekitai was with the oinin this evening it seemed as his experience as a Hozuki himself may prove more useful than he previously thought. Ekitai rose to his feet keeping a wary eye on the water for any surprise attacks as he prepared to flush the bastard out.

A long series of hand seals were quickly formed in only a second of time, the product of extreme suiton discipline. "Come out come out, wherever you are..." What happened next was a drastic feat of ninjutsu as all real water in the pool exploded skywards as ten massive dragons took their watery form flying skyward above the company. With the usable water in the pool drained Ekitai hoped to have revealed the where abouts of the missing Hozuki.

"I know you're down there, your tricks won't work on me!" Ekitai began ranting, "Come and face your end and know that I Ekitai of Kirigakure, a true ninja and a true Hozuki, have come to end your disgrace." Brave words to provoke the Hozuki. Ekitai sincerely hoped one of the members of his team had raiton otherwise this could become a splashing contest and the only comforting thing about that... was that Ekitai had all the water. The dragons serpentined through the air above waiting to strike.

SPOILER: Click to show

Efficient Sealing II
Chakra Reduction II (plus another for being Hozuki so a total of three reductions)

Suiryuudan no Jutsu (Water Dragon Projectile Technique)
Rank: B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B [1000]
Type: Offensive / Suiton Ninjutsu
Range: See special!
Handseals: Yes.
Chakra: High
Special: Due to the nature of the attack, the dragon can strike available aerial targets as well, as long as they are within their 'Suiton Ryuuken' range. Dragon head is roughly 1/5th the size of the user's 'SR' range, and can move at the same speed. If the dragon’s head is severed from its body, the lost appendage reverts to its natural water state and the remaining severed stub attached to the water source can re-grow once more. Only focusing a strong attack 'A' ranked or higher on the head will defeat it for sure. Up to one dragon can be made per use, plus one more each time retrained. However, after every third retraining, chakra consumption will go up by one.
Description: Suiryuudan no Jutsu is one of Suiton’s strongest ninjutsu, mainly because of its impact force and its ability to attack enemies in the air and on the ground. The ninja does a long string of hand seals which then causes a column of water in the form of a dragon to rise from the water and then strike at their target. Upon striking its target and ensnaring it in its aquatic maw, the dragon explodes with great force, flooding all nearby and providing an ample amount of water for more Suiton techs, should any enemies remain standing…
Domain: Suiton. Suiton Ryuuken 'B'.

Ekitai snatched the scroll from the air before putting his cigarette to his lips casually unbinding and opening it to read as he muttered sarcastically, "Yes ma'aaaaaaaam." Once the mission scroll was open Ekitai began browsing through the details briefly searching for some sort of directions or map or.... anything. After a moment of concentration on the scroll he found the directions to the island, a small nearby body of land that had been a simple tourist destination in the past to visit on vacation. "Ok, they have a small island three miles from here due East. We should likely approach by foot though as they will most likely we wary of some sort of attack or interference from the village. Sailing a ship openly across the waters may prove more... hazardous to us. Shall we?"

Without waiting for an answer from his 'team leader' he turned about and began casually running across the water. It was a strange fluid movement though as Ekitai appeared to skate and glide along the water's surface with ease rather than actually run. Water came naturally to the Hozuki and a short three mile skate wouldn't be a problem for him, but he maintained a relatively slow speed for Hotaru to keep pace with him. As he skimmed across the waters he continued to smoke until the cigarette was gone merely spitting it from his lips into the water below.

They soon came to the island described in the mission scroll but something wasn't right about it. Simply put, it seemed rather deserted from the distance and as the pair came to the shore the whole island seemed unnaturally still and silent. "I doubt this is a mistake," Ekitai began in a hushed tone without turning to face Hotaru, "We are dealing with a few missing ninja so odds are good they're most likely hidden somewhere. How would you like to go about doing this ma'am?"

Ekitai forced himself to stay vigilantly aware in case they had already been spotted on their way in. He had to await orders from Hotaru on how she thought it would be best to advance in on the mission. After all if he made a mistake and had done it without her approval he would be in far worse trouble than if he had simply messed up on his own. It wasn't a struggle to kowtow to another person, Ekitai had been doing it his whole life. How as this person any different than the royal family he served faithfully?

Shinju saved Ekitai from what could have been a hazardous incident as well as a rather embarrassing beginning to the test. Ekitai frowned slightly at how gravely serious just following the trail any missing ninja would leave when they knew they were being hunted. He nodded at shinju understandingly and taking the lesson to heart to be cautious at all times in such dangerous work.

They soon moved out once again Ekitai's eyes now open and alert even as he moved now for the slightest disturbance or thing out of place in the forest. After what felt like nearly an hour they came upon a clearing where the grass gave way to what appeared to be a pool of water. The field before the pool however, was strewn with masked bodies as Yoji voiced what must have been on everyone's eyes. Despite the savage scene before them Ekitai could only see one thing that his eyes locked on suspiciously as soon as they had come in, the pool of water.

Ekitai and Senichi were assigned to search the bodies, but as Ekitai strode past Shinju he muttered under his breath, "Keep your eyes on the pool sir, if we are tracking other Hozuki it would be an ample hiding spot..." He then proceeded to the task alert and cautious making use of his main gauches to cautiously and carefully search and probe the bodies as he searched tediously thoroughly for any traps having remembered the incident in the past. Even as he set about his work though, he found himself still glancing often towards the water suspiciously.

After having met and conversed with his team mates Ekitai withdrew a pack of cigarettes from his vest's breast pocket and quickly tapped one out sliding it up to his lips lighting it just as some new people arrived. From their leader's attitude he seemed to regard their own work as superior to the ninja, a somewhat fair assumption considering the ninja were seemingly only there to protect them. This was nothing new to him as he served as a protector for much of Kiri's royal family as they couldn't always protect themselves. So here he was again protecting self imposed 'superiors' for the money.

His team mate Tokomaru Sen seemed to have been moved or disturbed in someway by their disrespectful treatment of the shinobi. Ekitai stood behind shaking his head slowly and exhaling a plume of smoke. Even though his new friend may be right, there wasn't much to be done at this point to change the minds of those who felt 'superior' in anyway. Only real way to get them to change their minds was simply to prove them wrong, and Ekitai highly doubted they actually thought little of the shinobi. This was considered a frightening mystical place from the sounds of things, why would anyone wander around in there freely unless they felt their protection was up to the task.

No, what bothered Ekitai though was the question of pay. The man mentioned they would only be paid... if they found what they were looking for. Normally this wouldn't bother the Hozuki because normally the task would be something that was possible. Tracking down mythical philosophical answer to questions seemed highly likely to be a wild goose chase that could still get them into a lot of trouble. Even if they did everything just right and made it back alive, if what this man was looking for didn't actually exist then all the shinobi here... including kages themselves will have wasted their time entirely...

A woman with vibrant red hair and some of the least clothing Ekitai had ever seen anyone wear at a given point of time suddenly had claimed him for a mission. Claimed him for a mission? That wasn't right at all. It was more like she saved him from the mundane actually, for she stood in the line Ekitai was not allowed to go into. She was a Chuunin it seemed, and from her blunt attitude she knew she deserved it but Ekitai couldn't help but to hold reservations for her based on her appearance. He smiled at her friendly enough giving a slight bow of his head as he said, "Yes Ma'am, right away."

Turning and simply leaving the C-rank missions on the desk forgotten Ekitai moved to follow the woman through the crowded office before winding their way out of the building and onto the street. Once outside in open space Ekitai felt it would no longer be considered rude to probe his new partner with a few questions. "Thanks very much for taking me along on this mission ma'am. I want to keep earning money and working but there were so few missions of worth in C-rank and I've already done them now." Reaching one hand underneath his own vest breast pocket he withdrew a small silver cigarette case and a small blue lighter. Withdrawing a finely rolled cigarette from silver box he set it to his lips and lit the end drawing carefully on the opposite end.

He shifted his lips to the side exhaling the smoke out the side of his mouth so it would blow behind them rather than at them. "But I forget myself and I must apologize, that's no way to start a conversation. Hello, my name is Ekitai Hozuki and I am sincerely grateful for your assistance." He held forth an outstretched hand covered in a black fingerless glove awaiting to shake her hand, "And if it's not to bold to ask, what may I call you?"

Smoke flowed freely from Ekitai's nostrils before swirling in the sudden absence his team had left him out on the docks. "Yep, that's the idea of it," Ekitai mused drawing his cigarette from his mouth and rolling it daintily between his fingers, "Ten minutes to find the best hiding places you can and prepare for the dog fight that is to come. Only way to see the real fighting spirit of hunting dogs is to do one of two things," Ekitai turned seating himself with his legs dangling over the wood beams of the creaking docks, "You can either set them on a hunt for something bigger than them, or if they're still having some issues finding the nerve to stand up and howl you can always corner them." He tapped his cigarette on the deck discarding loose ashe and ember from his cigarette to keep it in pristine condition. "And what a collection of breeds I have in this pack, a raiton swordsman and an akegarasu swordsman," Ekitai began tugging on his tie loosening the bond around his neck and freeing up the collar of his dress shirt, "I'm sorry mizukage, but you can't gather wild dogs together in a pack and expect us not to go after one another until you let us out on the hunt."

Ekitai hunched forward over the water peering down at the fishes below in contemplation quietly taking a drag as the schools of fish moved together side to side as a single unit with the current. "That's the kind of unison we want though..." he leaned to his side against one of the dock posts and spoke through clouds of smoke, "How do you break a back of wild dogs? You let them establish their own hierarchy right? We beat the daylights out of each other for the night until we all know where each of us are top dog and know which of our pack can be counted on in what situations," pausing for another smooth drag on the cigarette before contemplating further, "But then, you have to have some sort of pack leader to get them to work together..." Ekitai grimaced at the thought. He was too young to lead a team, even if these ninja were far younger than himself. "No, a pack mentality won't work for us at all, let's try a new approach. We need to be a hive mind, something that works altogether so fluidly and completely aware of one another that we're no long distinguishable from each other in combat..." He let the butt of his cigarette fall to the water with a gentle ripple as it touched down. Ten minutes was up and his own musings were over, time to see what all the anxiety over this team was about.

He stood silently forming a short string of hand seals with ease and speed less than a second before water off the docks rose in five relatively short pillars of water before spring forth arms and legs and taking form of Ekitai himself. Water clones. They sprang cautiously onto the docks beside Ekitai for a quick inspection as Ekitai looked them over briefly before nodding with approval at his work. Then altogether the six Ekitai's began to uncuff their sleeves and roll them up to their elbows preparing for the work ahead of them tonight and lastly unbuttoning the top buttons on all of their clothes loosening them up for the fight. "Let's go to it my handsome gentlemen." Four of the clones shot off in groups of two searching the area as Ekitai stood on the docks leaning lazily back to back with the last of his clones waiting.

-Seijuro-

Two clones soon found themselves approaching a large vacant warehouse silently before sneaking in and looking all about. They stepped cautiously into the large vacant area in the warehouse looking around them constantly for any ambush that may lie in wait. One of the clones rubbed his knuckles of his gloves where the binding of metallic fibers assured him of his own protection, the other had both hands open available to form seals in a moments notice of an attack.



-Jubei-

Close to the warehouse where Seijuro lay silently in preparation the other pair of clones meandered casually to keep there eyes out for any runners the first pair may flush out from the building. Although they were there themselves for simply heading off anyone who ran, they too stood erect and aware of their surroundings looking all about cautiously in the night. They soon turned down a small alley way looking down it cautiously before one of the two clones walked deeper in and the other stood guard at the entrance to the alleyway keeping his eyes out for movements outside of the alley but listening intently in case it's partner needed aid.

SPOILER: Click to show

Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu (Water Clone Techqniue)
Rank: C-C-C-C-C-C [300]
Type: Supplementary / Suiton Ninjutsu
Range: Self
Handseals: Yes.
Chakra: Mid
Special: Up to one clone can be made at a time, plus one more each time retrained, for a maximum of five (5). As elemental clones, they cannot exist outside the user's 'Suiton Ryuuken' range in terms of distance away from their creator, and as such, can never exit the thread they were made in nor travel unless by their creator's side. Due to their watery nature, water clones can absorb attacks one rank lower than their maximum 'Suiton Ryuuken' rank mainly by altering the density of their water; any attack above that will instantly burst them. When defeated, clone explodes in a mist of water. Finally, because they are mentally linked their creator, water clones can cast any known general Suiton jutsu one rank less than the highest rank known in 'Suiton Ryuuken', but whatever attacks they perform will draw still from the user's chakra pool.
Description: With this technique, the Suiton user is able to call upon aid from a perfect copy of themselves. Comprised purely of water, this clone retains the user movement speed and strength. Best of all, due to its flowing essence, the water clone is capable of using a hefty amount of the original user's suiton-based techniques either for defensive means or offensive.
Domain: Suiton. Suiton Ryuuken 'C'.