Team 1 (Stray Dog/Pod Recovery)

Spoiler:

Honiko and the Society's stray dog made their way through a dark and damp tunnel. Their group had split into two teams. Team 1 would search for the gestation pods that had been described by Iwagakure's ANBU. They'd recover three and destroy the rest as the village had asked for. Meanwhile, Team 2 consisting of Honiko's clone, Raijin, and Nozomi would hunt for the Type I Specimen and attempt to kill it. Honiko was not interested in capturing the beast but rather eliminating it entirely. She had expressed to the group that she was certain Merryweather had activated the creature and had nurtured it to its near maturity. The creature was a relic from the far past presumably having come to our world through one of the portals created by Kaguya. It had killed mercilessly in early shinobi history before being damaged and put into stasis aeons ago. The beast was designed to kill Bijuu and Jinchurikki and when it was fully grown it was formidable for even a Disciple. Luckily this beast had not quite reached that level which is why it was imperative they kill the critter now rather than wait for it to become a problem. There was no telling what Merryweather aimed to do once the beast was fully grown but Honiko imagined she'd use it to gain leverage over this world. She had a nasty habit of using crises to extend her influence to various worlds and the Society had not intention of letting an alien interloper meddle in the affairs of a world on the verge of rebirth.

Honiko led Akira through the tunnel utilizing sensing to make a beeline towards the gestation chamber. Merryweather had created a series of complex tunnels with traps and snares for the unwary. Luckily with Honiko's mastery of the rare Mind's Eye technique she was able to guide them to their target with minimal trouble. So long as the stray kept close and didn't do anything stupid she was likely to survive. As they trekked towards the pods, Honiko took this opportunity to set some things straight with the Society's accidental member.

"Stray...it is my understanding that you at one time wished to do harm against your former clan. Do you still harbor fantasies of revenge?"

The Stray Dog's hatred and anger was fading with time. Honiko could understand the feeling. She had harbored hatred and spite for the monastery abbots for many years. They had stifled her potential and placed many rules and restrictions upon her. Some of the younger monks hated and feared her while the elder ones had this look of pity and sadness in their eyes. Both groups incensed her but she found herself truly wanting to make the latter camp suffer. She was not a pet to be pitied and plied with training and promises. Just the memory caused her to clench her fists even though she had let go of the hatred. Honiko had learned they were misguided fools and that to let them hold power over her now that she had a grander destiny was folly. They would burn along with all the other impurities of this world. Nothing would be left except those that had prepared themselves for the coming calamity. Honiko had learned to release her hatred and what she could not release was deployed strategically. Her rage was hot yet some how cold in its ethos. She was not concerned with teaching the Stray Dog her secrets at the moment but she did consider how the two were somewhat alike. Akira was less useful to her if she was beginning to let the memory of pain and hatred fade. If she was not wed to the idea of revenge then she was a ship sailing in the open sea with no tether or direction. An asset but also a liability given the narrow focus of Honiko's goals.

".. Do you harbor those same feelings toward your family?"

Honiko stopped walking. She spun around and backhanded her Stray Dog with all of her might. She then gripped the young woman's jaw roughly before shoving her against the wall.

"Don't ever presume to speak of my family Stray..." Honiko hissed.

She released the Kaguya and continued walking towards their destination. The kunoichi formerly known as Yanagi had no right to pry. To ask Honiko such a bold question belied a low IQ. Did the girl believe Honiko would answer her? Honiko hated her mother and everything the woman represented. This was partially because her mother reminded her of what she had nearly become before she had met her Sensei. A directionless mercenary looking for vain glory, wealth, and amusement. A terrorist who used her divine talents for some of the most basest of pleasures. No. She cared more for spittle than she did for the woman that had birthed her. Time would never heal this wound as her mother's continued interference on this plane of reality meant that she was blocking Honiko's progression towards fulfilling her destiny. Not content with mediocrity she seemed hell bent on pulling her daughter down with her. Honiko's father was not someone she knew although she had heard stories of him being a great man. She had dismissed some of the embellishments as being part of the pity campaign waged by the nicer abbots at the monastery nevertheless when she entered the real world she found that his surname held considerable weight. She had respected the stories she had heard of him both good and bad, she liked to think that she was more like him than her mother although she had never met the man. Her recently revealed sister was like grass to her. She knew nothing of the sibling outside of the fact that the child was likely reared to be a weapon in her mother's arsenal. She therefore hated her sister despite not knowing anything about her.

The conversation's turn was a momentary distraction from the mission at hand but a pitiful one. The Dragon Sage trekked on and the tunnel became a steep decline. She used the Tree Walking Technique to maintain her grip as they descend into the pitch black darkness. She did not create light for them as her superhuman senses and chakra sensing abilities gave her all the direction she needed. Also if the horrid and nightmarish conditions of the tunnel along with the darkness frightened the Stray Dog all the better. Honiko allowed herself a momentary grin at the thought of Yanagi whimpering as they made their way to the chamber containing the gestation pods.

She had thought that she had made her point clear after striking at and then pinning the Kaguya against the wall. She thought wrong. After being released Akira opened her mouth again to confirm what she had suspected. Honiko went still for a moment but then kept walking. This was not the time nor the place. The gestation pods were likely to be guarded by secondary creatures that were fairly dangerous and disciplining the Stray here and now would jeopardize the mission. She'd swallow the insubordination for now but she vowed that once they were done, the girl would be severely punished for her transgression. They continued down the incline and the Stray Dog spoke again. "Silence" she warned. This was not the time to talk. When they arrived she would let her know and not a moment sooner.

As the pair made their way down the incline, scuttling could be heard around them. Multi-legged creatures that were born and bred by the Specimen to protect the gestation pods. They had been enhanced by Merryweather to be stronger, faster, and more agile. Honiko dedicated a significant amount of her attention to tracking the movements of the creatures. She saw them through their Mind's Eye as small slivers of chakra running to and fro. The only reason they hadn't attacked them yet was because they still had a ways to go before they reached the gestation pod chamber. However, once they grew closer then they would have to fight the beasts. Honiko suddenly broke into a brisk run as the decline became a straight vertical drop. The tunnel was crawling with the beasts and if they continued at their current pace they'd be swarmed. It was better to fight off the creatures from the gestation chamber. They'd have better footing and the area was likely to have more lighting. Lighting they wouldn't need to waste chakra creating.

The abominations were like centipedes but far larger and with some sort of metallic exoskeleton not unlike what their creator had. Honiko could sense them stir as they began to approach their destination. The creatures began to reverse direction and crawl to them. After a few more seconds of running, the monsters started following them at a high speed. They were nearing the end of the tunnel and a line of monsters began crawling into the mouth of the tunnel to block them off. They were nearly trapped with some of the beasts behind and some in front. A precious few were organizing themselves around them even as they ran attempt to bite and scratch the fleeing ninja. Honiko shrugged them off with easy. They were weak against Katon and all she needed to do was extend her fiery aura past her skin and armour and they tended to die on contact. Honiko made a hand seal and exhaled to produce a giant dragon's head which burned its way through the insectoids leaving nothing but charred shells inits wake. Honiko leapt out of the tunnel and landed on the ground of the gestation pod chamber. The second Yanagi followed her through she'd repeat the same technique to roast the ones that were behind them. The beasts were killed before they could even fall them out of the tunnel. The smoke and fire was effective in eliminating them but what the creatures lacked in durability they more than made up for in terms of sheer mass.

More creatures began poring out of tunnels all around them. The insectoids rushed forwards in a swarm aiming to attack the Stray Dog and chew her to bits. Once Honiko was certain there were no more insectoids that were to come from the hold she looked down and saw the critters moving in from all around them.The pods were there was well, upright jars filled with a grey gelatinous substance. They would need to put that part of the mission on pause and tend to these monsters for the meanwhile. Honiko did not want to waste more fire chakra on the constructs and she also wanted to see how the Stray Dog handled herself in a fight like this. She summoned a tomahawk in each hand and began cleaving and knocking away the insects as they approached. The woman weren't quickly and methodically using her heightened senses to kill them before they posed any real threat to her. Akira would have to fend for herself as the multitude continued to stream through the cracks.

The pair continued the process of thinning the over-protective death centipedes as they poured from every crevice. Honiko watched from the corner of her eye as she noticed Akira using her kekkei genkai to dispatch the creatures. The young woman's movements didn't contain the grace that the Kaguya were known for. Honiko speculated that she was not used to using her bloodline because she had never been trained in its art. She wondered how good the Stray Dog would be if she had learned the dances rather than eschewing them perhaps out of some sense of hatred. It was a silly thing in Honiko's view to let hatred of one's own clan get in the way of learning something so important although in fairness she had not been overly eager to explore her own other-worldly origins. After a few minutes of intense fighting, the number of centipedes began to subside. Honiko formed some handseals and used the Great Fireball Jutsu to finish off the rest. A ball of fire collided with the final surge of centipedes that had moved forward. Once the smoke and flames cleared the critters twitched as they died slowly.

An eerie silence past as Honiko sensed the area around them. There were no immediate threats for the time being.

Honiko turned towards the sea of gestation pods that littered the ground around them. The chamber was rather large and in a fairly open space. She grasped a pod, crouched down, and removed the lid. Instead was a viscous light green substance that appeared to bubble upon contact with chakra. They were to destroy the majority of these pods but take a few back for study and analysis. Honiko knew Menza would love one of these pods as a gift but she wasn't sure if he deserved the treat. Then again, he had his informants within what remained of Iwagakure ANBU and would probably find a way to secure a pod for himself at a later date. Honiko scoffed audibly at the thought. She then checked each pod one by one so to see if any differed from the first. They did not. She looked at the Stray Dog still acutely aware of the woman's earlier slight.

"Do you have training in Ijutsu?" Honiko asked.

Satisfied that the pod's contents did not differ in any material way, the Dragon Sage stood back and considered which ones to take. None of the pods were larger than any other so she grabbed and dragged five pods to one side. These pods were safe from the rest that were about to be totally incinerated. Three pods for Iwagakure's ANBU (or what was left of it) and the rest would be for the Society for further study. Menza might get his hand on samples but Honiko being a woman of science herself wanted her own samples for study. The Stray shook her head in response to Honiko's question. It was a pity because she could really use someone who was well versed in the subject. Menza was an insufferable colleague in that department and the Stray Dog's uselessness was wearing on her. This naturally compounding the already disdain she had for the girl given her previous insult and the fact that she would not be here had it not been for the battle-mad Mizukage. Honiko turned her attention to the task at hand and surveyed the pods. Something of this magnitude would take decades to pull off ordinarily but to Merryweather it had been just one side project of countless others. Honiko was known one to take vain pleasure in a mission like this but halting her mother's progress always did bring a small sense of satisfaction.

She made a handseal and a sea of flames erupted from her mouth totally annihilating the pods before them. Ther would be nothing left but charred slag. The pods were unusual and thoroughly destroyed one less threat for humanity to contend with. And yet there were fools who believed the Society was an evil organization bent on mindless destruction. As fate would have it no sooner had the pods been destroyed than the battle against the Specimen reached a fever pitch. The chamber shook with force as the other squad dealt the beast. Honiko walked over to the remaining pods. She lifted the cover on one and examined the contents again. She retrieved a scalpel from her utility belt and jabbed it into the fluid before raising it to eye level examining it closely.

Used: Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet

Honiko finished her examination wordlessly, secured the pods, and set them aside. The clone had poofed giving her knowledge of what was happening elsewhere in the structure. Honiko grinned at the fact that her students had forced the creature to run. It was likely that they could finish it off without her assistance. She could sense the Specimen moving towards the chamber where it kept its pods. She could tell exactly when and where it would arrive down to the exact point. She took a step back and turned her attention to the ceiling. As if on cue spider cracks began to form above them and a low rumbling sound could be heard as the Specimen took a short cut to its nest. Moments later the Specimen would burst from the ceiling nearly 40 feet above them. The monstrosity fill into the center of the room which was now filled with destroyed pods. The green substance contained in each pod had been burned to a black slag and the embers still littered the ground. The ebony colored creature landed with a crash and while it could sustain the damage from the fall it was plain to see that Raijin and Nozomi had done a number on it. The creature was leaking fluid at various parts of its body and one of its arms hung limp. The creature sniffed the ground and became acutely aware of what was happening. It could not sense its pods. It could not sense its children. The beast let out an extreme howl alerting Raijin and Nozomi to where it was in addition to providing a trail. The Specimen engaged in the kind of screaming and wailing only possible to one that had lost their young. They were all dead except for five. The Specimen's head followed the scent to the pods next to Honiko and her Stray Dog. Honiko stepped in front of the pods and waited for her disciples to arrive. She would rather them kill this beast but if they did not arrive soon she'd be forced to put it out of its misery.

The monster put two and two together and realized that Honiko was responsible for the destruction of its children. It lowered itself to the ground in preparation for an assault.

The large specimen had been rearing itself to attack the real Honiko and the Yanagi. However it had made another fatal mistake. It forgot about Raijin once again. The Missing ninja had been running after it as quickly as he could muster trying to save some chakra to execute the creature. He could see that the beast had stopped running through walls and had traveled to the other side of terrain, exactly where Team 1 was supposed to be. Then it made one more large crash then it disappeared going downwards. He put more pep into his step. His legs began to take on the familiar dark grey color as he went into half of his transformation.

He sped up greatly and was able to gain some ground on the beast. And before it could attack after it lowered itself to the ground, Raijin came running as fast as he could. Then he came to the mouth of the opening and kicked himself downward like a speeding bullet. Also using the jets on his legs to propel himself even faster for a death punch to permanently put this beast out of its misery.

Raijin swung down with his right arm using the momentum from the jets and the drop to possibly break his fist into the back of beast. Thinking he was strong enough to break its exoskeleton and reach straight for its innards. Where he would electrocute the inside of beast where there was no armor.

----------------


Thunderclap Drill -10 = 67/90 chakra

Jet Booster Jump -10
Piston fist -5 = -22/40 nature chakra

Strength C>B>A>S+ (Tier 1, Piston Fist, Thunderclap Drill)
Speed C>B++ ( Jet Booster Jump)

As Nozomi chased the creature, she weaved some hand seals, creating a disk of petals around one of her hands that started to rotate at a high velocity, forming a saw of sorts. She had pulled far ahead of Raijin, her initial burst of speed from the body flicker helping her keep on the trail of the beast fairly easily. Raijin just wasn't fast enough to over take her, and she lost track of him as she followed the beast.

A few seconds after it entered the pod room, Nozomi landed down in there as well, locking her eyes on the creature. She put on a burst of speed towards it, aiming her petal saw and letting them launch at the creature, the blades of the tiny petals moving out in almost a thin wave of petals, on top of her own speed helping them move even faster.

More damage on the creature could only help put it down for good, it was already hobbling to get here, it would not be able to run any longer. She could probably put it down if she wanted to, but Raijin was the one who seemed most eager to take down this creature. She'd give the kill to him if he wanted it.

Spoiler:

It was the end. The Specimen was not an intelligent creature but in the moments that remained to it, it could smell its own death approaching. It looked upwards to see Raijin barreling down on it with enough force to completely crack its exoskeleton in multiple places. It was then electrocuted by the disciple with a torrent of Raiton aimed at its inner organs. Raijin's hands would be badly burned as acid gushed from its inner body parts. It tried to move but its limbs were cut off by the cherry blossom shuriken that were thrown its way. The monstrosity collapsed as it convulsed wildly in its death throes. If Raijin didn't retract his hands it would die after some violent movement. Honiko watched with a neutral expression as the creature was killed before her very eyes by her two students. They had made quick work of the being and Raijin was the one who did most of the heavy lifting. Honiko suspected that Nozomi could have defeated the creature by herself and that this exercise, while useful for gathering information, was below their talents. The reality was that the Specimen was no match for the Society. Another one of Merryweather's plots had been foiled and the world would be none the wiser.

Once he was finished, the Specimen would lay motionless. Its ebony exoskeleton was cracked and its blackened entrails spilled out. Honiko stepped forward and approached Raijin. She looked at his badly burned hands and took them into her own. She applied the Mystical Palm on them and healed the damage to the point where it was as if it never occurred. She said nothing as she did this instead using the time to consider how far he had come. It was at that moment that she decided he would only get stronger if he fought his peers. His mastery over his Blessed form was not perfect but it would be the starting point for even greater power. Once she had finished healing him, she'd walk over to the remaining gestation pods and sealed them in her scroll. She gave Yanagi a look but didn't say anything. The girl had a great deal of hurt coming her way but it'd be best for her to believe she had escaped Honiko's wrath for now. Honiko walked over to the Specimen's corpse and sealed that away in a scroll as well.

"Well done both of you" she said unceremoniously. She was unwilling to flatter them for something that apparently cost them little effort. She was proud of their strength and skill but she would reserve her true congratulations until they had bested opponents worthy of their caliber.

As a group they would leave the complex network of tunnels that the Specimen had created as a nest. The journey was long and quiet just like their arrival. Once they had exited the tunnels they would rendezvous with Iwa's ANBU. The ANBU would receive proof of the creature's death and the gestation pods they had asked for. Honiko and her group for their part would receive payment. 100,000 Ryo to the Stray, Raijin, and Nozomi for their services. Honiko herself had no use for funds and had opted instead to exchange her amount for an intelligence-sharing arrangement with the Captain of the ANBU Squad present. She had also secured the right to keep the Specimen's corpse. Once the exchange had been made the group would leave the area and prepare to head to the Jounin Tournament.

Exit

Raijin's fist connected and blew the back of the specimen's exoskeleton. Immediately as his hands got near the slight explosion from its back. Acid flew from the open wound and some of it got on his hands and burned him. He felt it and he flew to the ground and dropped them to his waist as he grunted in pain. But he continued to look at the barrage of raiton attack set off by his superior Nozomi. Completely wrecked by the Societies most up and coming members, the beast knew its time was up as it violently thrashed about the place before it too, became silent. As it died, it took a look at the dying embers of its children. Raijin looked the beast in its eyes before the last light ebbed away. So that he would die alone.

Honiko without a word walked up to Raijin and performed her medical ninjutsu and healed his hands. He was kind of surprised she healed his hands. And even more surprised that she complimented both of them on their success. Raijin stood proudly and only replied, "Thank you sensei." She wasn't one for idle talk among praise. He hadn't gotten a compliment in a long time. It was as close as he could get to affection from her. I'll take it. His hands now healed, he bowed his head and said a quick prayer to Jashin.

Now they were to collect the Specimen. Bayushi held a tiger seal just as he had seen Nozomi do, and performed the Shadow Clone jutsu. Another Shadow clone came to life and Raijin was pleased. Using the added manpower they collected the specimen for proof and the gestation pods. They met up with the Iwa ANBU squad and they were paid for their services. Raijin finally had some money in his pockets and some recognition with the Iwa ninja.

[Exit]

Nozomi watched the aftermath of the creature as they tore it to shreds. She had to admit that she was wholly disappointed that it hadn't provided that much of a challenge to the two of them. A feeling of resentment poured into her as she realized that Raijin had stolen most of her enjoyment out of the mission. She took a moment to glare at him as his back was turned, but it was gone as soon as it came.

Her attention shifted from him to Honiko as she congratulated them on a job well done. She could tell it was only slightly a compliment, she knew it hadn't been difficult. Nozomi merely bowed her head, knowing better than to shine at the praise. She'd have plenty of time to earn real appraisal from her sensei. She wished that she could go back in time to when she had first met Honiko, to fight in that dome for her with the skills she had now. The difference between her then and now was almost incalculable. She would have mopped the floor with the Kumo squad.

In a way, it was funny. She had been so cocky and arrogant, to have been on par with Yomi, able to take on and defeat Kotsubo if she wanted to. Makahshi would not want to mess with her now. But that was the funny thing. Jounin back then seemed to be such a joke, but this level of ability was so easily achieved by her in the span of a couple of years. What did that say about the state of the Shinobi world? Honiko's vision was correct. The world needed to be reborn, and Nozomi was the perfect tool to let Honiko start it over with a clean slate. Only the strong would be able to survive.

She left, letting Bayushi carry the corpse, and followed Honiko to receive her payment. Then, they proceeded to leave to Kumo for their business there.

[Exit]