Setting Sail [Damn that Jack Sparrow C rank Mission]

Ann raised an eye brow. Was that not an expression often used in this continent? It took her a while to figure out what was wrong with her choice of words, which caused her to blush a little. Out of all things that had changed in the past five centuries, vocabulary was likely one of those which had changed the most. Initially Ann struggled to speak and even understand the people of this continent, often resorting to gestures and strange sounds to pass along her ideas. After studying and practising a lot she had improved substantially but she still often made errors.

"Well, considering they changed their route to intercept us, they're either pirates or very friendly merchants. I'll assume it's the first. " Ann said as she jumped from the mast and landed near the back of the ship. A few placed hits and the ice holding the steering mechanism together broke. Now that it was obvious that the pirate ship was chasing them, they needed to make it look like they were trying to escape.

"Hmmm?" Ann shrugged as she listened to Arisu's question. "Killing or subduing someone at the sea is more or less the same thing. We need to make sure they don't attack anyone again, but our ship is too small to carry prisoners. We could leave them incapacitated at sea, but that's a cruel fate. Might as well kill them and be done with it." And with that, Ann moved the steering wheel and changed their course, faking their escape.

"Got any long range jutsu?"

"Not particularly. I've got somewhat of a long range jutsu, but I don't have a lot of jutsu in general." Arisu said honestly. It was hard, given that she didn't have access to elemental jutsu just yet, but she would hopefully soon enough. "I've got a few that can be used offensively enough to take out a group of pirates though."

She nodded in agreement. "Killing them it is then. Unfortunate for them, but they chose their paths." She took a look at the now pursuing ship, which was falling for their faked escape and giving full chase. She had no doubt at this point that their intentions were to try and attack. Friendly merchants certainly were unlikely to give chase with that much gusto.

"I can more or less make metal-like chakra rods and needles, launching them from a distance if I want. A small cannon if you will." Her level of artillery certainly wasn't enough to sink a ship at this stage in her development, but she could pick off pirates with little problem. "What about you? Any long range jutsu yourself, or are you more of a close range fighter? I remember you fighting mostly with a sword against Kyoji."

Ann occasionally turned the steering bar to skilfully maneuver the small fishing boat away from side waves while keeping an eye on their pursuers. Naval combat was often slow and could last for an entire day at times if the fleets were large enough. Bulky ships took their time to maneuver and get in position which means the sailors often spent more time operating their stations than in actual combat even after having tagged a prize.

Fortunately their ship was rather small and the pirate's ship wasn't as bulky and heavy as those usual owned by nations. Speed was important for pirates, after all. "Ah yes, that was a rather bad fight, wasn't it?" Ann would say, remembering her match with the current Mizukage. It didn't quite go as well as she had planned, but she learned quite bit from her mistakes and even more of Kyoji's abilities. She was confident she could and would do better next time. "I prefer to fight at close range, with good steel. But long range isn't out of my skill set completely. Let's wait for them to get a bit closer before we see what your chakra rods can do."

Ann was curious about Arisu's powers. What were the limits and overall power of this strange bloodline? Were these chakra rods stronger than her steel? The thought of competition excited her.

Arisu nodded, remembering the fight well enough. It had angered her to no end that someone in a position of power wouldn't assist their subordinates in training, but would rather show off their power with no intention of actually helping. It was an unwelcome interruption that Arisu had been fine with, so long as she could actually learn anything from it. She knew she was weak at the moment and needed to train. But whatever, that was in the past, and the even was cataloged in her mind.

"Of course. My maximum range is about 40 or 50 meters, so they'll have to get pretty close. But we are both fairly close to mid range fighters it appears, so I don't expect we will get out of this without some actual action. I'm not going to be able to kill them all before they reach us."

She began to channel some chakra into her palms, getting ready for the inevitable fight. One of the things that she had lied about was her prowess with her rods. She didn't want to completely show off all of her tricks in one go, but she would be able to wipe out the pirates with minimal difficulty if she really wanted to.

Ann smiled at Arisu as she explained the limitations of her abilities. It was good that the Otstsuki knew exactly how far she could reach and how quickly she could dispatch pirates. Ann had seen a lot of more experienced fighters fall to the edge of the blade precisely because they didn't know the extent of their abilities and limitations so she was glad to see Arisu was mature enough to be aware of those even at a Genin rank.
"It's okay, you don't have to kill all of them in one shot. Just use this opportunity to see the extent of damage you can deliver, and I'll cover your back."

Having said that, Ann manoeuvred their ship in order to take advantage of the wind and go directly towards their enemies. At this point they might have found their manoeuvre strange and get suspicious but the pirate's ship was too bulky to turn tail and run. Ann and Arisu had their prey exactly where they wanted them to be and it wouldn't be long now until the two of them were sinking a pirate vessel. The wind blew strongly and in a strike of luck their ship gained even more speed. Soon they would be within range for Arisu's abilities to work.

"We're getting closer now, show me what you're capable of!"

Arisu nodded, and the two of them began their assault on the Pirates, quickly turning the tables on them. They'd thought they had got the two of them cornered, but things weren't going to go their way on this day. As their course changed to intercept the pirates, there was no possible way for them to turn around and get away in time as they realized that they had sprung a trap for them.

Ann let her know she didn't need to kill everyone, which was good, because Arisu didn't think she'd be able to kill them all in one go anyhow. With the wind in their sails, the got within Arisu's range, and she raised a hand, looking at their ship, finding two crew members who were currently peering at them, and she lined up her shot.

Focusing her chakra into her palm, Arisu made a chakra rod, and then dismantled it while it was being created, launching the rod as a blast of needles towards the pirates. A swarm of them traveled through the air, some colliding with the side of their enemies' vessel, some missing completely, as she'd moved her hand in a small spread to make sure to cover a decent enough area. However, most of her needles hit their marks, pin cushioning the two immediately.

Arisu looked to Ann to see her response, sure that the woman was analyzing Arisu's jutsu. Honestly, that was really the best thing she could show at the moment. Her ranged jutsu were a little lacking, despite Arisu not being a taijutsu or bukijutsu fighter.

-
Ninjutsu Focus: Non Elemental Jutsu
-5 chakra for Needle Barrage

Spoiler:

Stats:
Strength: D
Constitution: D
Stamina: C
Speed: C
Coordination: C
Intelligence: D
Perception: C

From there, the two of them made short work of the pirate's vessel, between a combination of long range jutsu, and once they caught up with the ship, boarding it and taking them out physically. It didn't take too long, and the effort wasn't all that great. Arisu didn't speak during the process, but she went around and killed the ones that weren't dead, making sure that they were, as the mission demanded of her.

The ride back, Arisu and Ann spoke some more like they had on their way up, but nothing of note was particularly said. Arisu paid attention to how the boat was moving, in case she needed to operate a boat again at some point. A nice and uneventful mission, neither of them had been injured, and the mission was completely successful. Neither could ask for something better.

After arriving back on the mainland, Arisu took her leave from Ann to travel separately, rather than back together. She had some things to work on personally, hoping that perhaps she could unlock her rinnegan abilities, but not really wanting anyone to be around when or if it ended up happening.

-Exit back to Kirigakure