Ambitious Arrangements (Squad)

Tadara would watch as his bees came and went reporting the movement of the one individual towards somewhere up ahead. His black eyes would watch as Katsumi would note he was ready and Shin would order him to inform him of any grouping of enemy movements. A dark gaze would shift to him a moment but he wouldn't respond. It was only natural that he would inform them all of any change in troop movements or size. At least he would if his bees caught it. He wasn't using chakra sensory so things hidden from sight were lost on him. Still his attention would be dragged towards a science lesson their squad sensei was interested in teaching them. Idly he would pull out his notebook and jot down some notes in regards to the information. Always jotting down notes over every bit of information he had. His apartment was lined with pages for wallpaper of random information. Or seemingly random to the untrained eye. He had it categorized and this bit of information was going into the geography section of his apartment. Most of which was taken up by chemicals and medical knowledge. It was clear he never entertained guests.

Still the dogs tearing out from the structures would draw his gaze. Interesting. Using geography to avoid being seen until one was close enough for an ambush. Using disposable animals to initiate the attack and lower the targets mobility. Tadara was going to wait for someone to eliminate the dogs but his sensei's call out to not kill them would raise an eyebrow from him. He would sigh over the soft nature of the command but besides that he would comply. Tadara would rise both of his hands outstretched before him. Spending ten chakra Tadara would summon one hundred bees as buzzing filled the air. Forcing anyone wishing to talk to shout as it drowned out all but the barking. The bees would descend upon the dogs stinging at them but ultimately not killing or maiming them. The dogs would snap back but to no avail. Unable to fight back and the pain driving them back the dogs would take off with their tails tucked between their legs and a cloud of bees chasing them for a moment. As they did two bees would return and land on Tadara's ear as he seemed to listen to them. Speaking in return.

"Katsumi...If you can you should wipe out those structures to ensure nothing else is hiding there. No traps or explosives at least. The simplest solution is to use an area attack on it. Shin. There are three enemies in the direction the whistle came from. forty meters north by north east in that grouping of trees. Likely they were hoping our cart would be disabled before they intended to ambush us. Sensei...cover me a moment please."

Tadara would calmly walk to the edge of the cart and hop off. Approaching the panicked and wounded horse without any sign of fear for the situation. Calm and rational. Control always. Tadara would form the hand seals for ox and then Tiger. Expelling chakra into his hands as he stepped next to the panicked beast. The bleeding horse would eventually slow them down or bring them to a stop and they couldn't continue without it. He would reach out and place his hands on either side of the wound and the bleeding would stop immediately. He noted this wasn't a fatal wound but it would still take about ten seconds to heal. In that time he couldn't stop healing or the process would fail. As he began though the enemy noticed he was the med nin and despite the danger they were in they had to take him out to succeed. So one of the three in the trees would level a crossbow and fire it at Tadara. The bolt heading straight for his neck at C rank speeds.

Jutsu used:

Three enemies north by northeast, roughly forty meters away hiding within the greenery of the trees surrounding the area. There were a few techniques that Shin had in mind that could aid in removing the threat that was his opposition. He would move a bit away from the cart, making sure to keep a five-meter gap between himself and the cart; he would require the extra space. Closing his eyes momentarily, Shin would turn in the appropriate direction and begin to form the appropriate hand seals for what he had in mind. It was time for Shin to add another jutsu to his repertoire. Horse. Dog. Bird. Ox. Snake.

The earth around Shin would rumble for a moment before a snout would emerge out of the earth before Shin. The snout, fully emerged, would clearly be attached to what one could assume to be a dragon made out of the earth from where it erupted. Shin would hop on the head of the dragon, as it was directed to the group of three that Tadara had pointed out. Riding on the head of the dragon, Shin would hop off before the dragon would collide with the earth where the individuals stood, placing himself behind his opponents and hopefully in a relatively safe spot where he could operate freely. Once the dust settled, the three targets that Shin had would be laying on the ground, not dead, but heavily battered and slow to rise back up to their feet.

Spoiler:

Mitsu was pleased that none of her squad had opted to kill the dogs. She had watched as hundreds of bees swarmed the canines but left them largely unharmed. The horse was another story as it had a massive wound on it’s flank, but Tadara was quick to attend to it. As he requested her to cover him while he worked, she would move in front of him, placing herself between Tadara and the general direction of the attackers as he had informed their group. She knew the technique that Tadara was using, she had had it used on her once. She also knew that in order for it to work he had to remain undisturbed or whatever wound he had healed would reopen.

During the day Mitsukira had terrible eyesight and her dexterity was all but reduced to nothing. The bright light stung her eyes always, but it wasn’t usually a problem unless there was some other type of distress. Other types of distress such as a crossbow bolt. Thankfully Mitsukira had her Sensory active, otherwise she may not have noticed the bolt at all and what was supposed to be an easy escort mission would have taken a tragic turn. She had promised that no harm would come to any of them, and as the bolt flew through the air straight for Tadara’s neck she instinctively reacted to fulfill that promise. In a single fluid motion Mitsu would pull her razor fans from off her belt, and leap to bat the bolt aside.

With a burst of chakra she would move as quickly as she could, spinning so that her dominant arm was to the crossbowman as she pushed off the ground to attempt to deflect the arrow with her razor fan. It was not the best plan, it wasn’t even a good one by reasonable measurements, but it was all she could do in the short bit of time she had. Under ideal circumstances, under a moonless night sky, Mitsu would have been fast enough to deflect the arrow without any harm. But not during the day. As she leapt into the air she realized that she had misjudged the speed of the projectile and had moved quicker than it had, which placed her directly in its path. A sickening ‘thunk’ noise could be heard as the bolt slammed into her back, dead center of her right shoulder blade. She would let out a yelp of pain and crash onto the ground, her graceful leap halted mid air.

As she landed she would look up immediately to ensure that Tadara was unharmed, and seeing no other bolts she would turn her head to take in the destruction of both the Fairy Chimneys by Katsumi and the tree three bandits had been in by Shin. As all three men in her squad seemed unharmed, she would allow herself to focus on the pain in her shoulder. With a groan she would begin to slowly lift herself to her knees, trying in vain to grasp at the bolt that was sticking out of her back. It hurt, a lot. After a few moments however it was strangely bearable. Fortunately, or not depending on how you looked at it, Mitsu was now pleasantly in shock.

CP Use:

Tadara would refrain from allowing distractions to compromise his role in the moment. If he stopped his efforts to heal the horse would be lost. If his efforts to heal the horse were lost it would lose blood. If the horse lost too much blood it would compromise its ability to pull the loaded cart and thus compromise the mission as a whole. It would take a few more moments for him to finish his work. Each of the other members responding to their role. Katsumi would deal with the destruction of the cover the dogs had come from. Eliminating any unseen threat in the process. An intimidating display of boulders crushing through the area. The horse was startled but Tadara managed to stay with it. The possibility of further unseen threat eliminated. This was the mission of course. Shin had also responded in kind with another earth attack. utterly obliterating the tree grouping where the enemy was and injuring them. However it was unclear from this distance if he had actually done any real damage to them. They did seem to be rising up again. So the known enemy wasn't down yet. Shin was on the other side of them now and separated by them from reinforcement.

Tadara would let his mind play out strategic scenarios as he continued his healing on the horse. The wound almost fully closed now and his work almost finished. Just a little longer and they could be on the move again. He doubted those three would be all of them. Not even with the dogs would they be so successful up until now. There were likely others either in wait or on the way. Tadara didn't like separating the group with so many unknown variables. Still the sudden movement from their sensei would force him to remain calm and maintain his technique. She took a bolt for him and he would frown. Dark eyes studying her and the wound without expression before he called out to Katsumi. "Go back up Shin. Flank the enemy and prevent them from escaping. Put them at a disadvantage but attempt not to catch shin in any direct line of fire. Make sure he sees your position so he doesn't either. Try to keep one alive and conscious. Either quickly interrogate him for information regarding our situation or return with him so I can." With that he would turn back to the horse.

Without stopping what he was doing Tadara would send out his scout bees once more. Searching for other enemies. They were clever and used cover so he reduced the scouting range to two hundred meters. Keeping the bees low to search for anyone out there. Ten of them in total. The hundred broke off from the dogs having sent them packing and returned to the cart about ten meters ahead. Creating a smoke screen of sorts from prying eyes while Tadara focused on healing the horse. They would be able to move soon by the rate he was going. He would address their sensei next. "Team leader....you have sustained damage to your right shoulder. To keep as much damage from happening as possible do not move your right arm. Do not remove the bolt until I can tend to you. Attempt to get yourself into the cart so I can work on you while we move. You won't be of any use if you bleed out or lose the use of your arm entirely. Shin and Katsumi will act as a two man frontal unit to protect us in the meantime and I have scouts searching for further threats."

With Shin's attack unloading upon them, Katsumi would halt his barrage of stone to watch the dust settle a bit, all three of their enemies on the ground. Katsumi could hear the words and ramblings around him but hearing was different than listening. Not a word would reach him as Katsumi would look towards Shin and then back to their enemies slowly rising to their feet. Katsumi would smirk a bit, knowing that this was his time to shine in a way, digging his feet to the ground and turning up onto the balls of his feet before lifting off the ground using the chakra within his body to give him a sudden burst.

A quick shout towards Shin as he would pass by him,

"I'm going to Dismantle them up close, try not to hit me!"

His words would echo behind him as he passed by and dashed the distance into the rubble of the fairy chimneys while maintaining his burst of energy. He would identify the enemy furthest to their left to give the others ample room to act within the right half of the battlefield. Immediately upon arrival, Katsumi would aim to break this bandit down to size, coming to a sliding stop and turning his body slightly to minimize his silhouette. Bent knees and a quick jump to the left and Katsumi would quickly weave a few hand-signs together while his back was ever so slightly turned.

Bird -> Rat -> Ram

Then with a furious turn, Katsumi would bring his palms upward and unleash a fierce blast of energy from his hands as close to the body and head of the bandit as he could manage without severely endangering himself in close combat.

Should the bandit be unprepared, he would be sent off of his feet completely and knocked back several meters, adding to the disorientation of the blast itself. Katsumi though, wouldn't relent and wouldn't allow the opportunity to hesitate take him over. Instead, he would immediately push forward to follow the backwards moving bandit or stand his ground firmly and begin to channel his chakra if he would withstand his blast before releasing two Bakuton punches into his torso and stomach. Standing, the bandit would have the wind knocked out of him and have his torso and stomach greatly damaged by the strikes themselves. Probably not enough to kill him but if he weren't ready to fight so intensely then it would surely be enough to put one of them out of combat for the moment.


(++ to Speed while Bodily Temperament is active.)

342/365 CP:

“If you don’t want to get hit, don’t be in my way.” Shin would retort to Katsumi’s words yet, he would not act, just yet. He would await Katsumi to launch his technique. Once Shin saw one of the bandits on the ground, still breathing, he would recall Tadara’s earlier words about leaving one alive for questioning. While leaving one alive certainly served a purpose, Shin would rather just eliminate them in their entirety. Heaving out a sigh, Shin would take action on behalf of Tadara’s earlier statement. Forming two handseals in quick succession; Boar and Tiger, the surface beneath the bandit would decompose into mud and a swamp like setting. As long as the man didn’t die from suffocation, they’d have him set aside for questioning at a later time.

“We got one… eliminate everyone else.” Shin’s calm words were directed at Katsumi. “Try not to die.” He would turn his attention away from the swamp and towards the remaining bandits that stood earlier; a series of hand seals would be formed by Shin; ram, horse, snake, dragon, rat, ox and tiger. After the completion of the seals, ten flaming dragons would dart out towards the remaining bandits that stood. The dragons split off into small groups before they would converge on the two targets that Shin had in his line of sight. What remained, after the smoke cleared, was two piles of Ash where the bandits once stood.

Mitsukira was having a bit of a break. She felt like she was fully cognizant of what was going around her - much like she had been when she had been stabbed by Chen - but she couldn’t quite will herself to move. She knew that if she could just get the bolt out of her shoulder that she could heal it herself easily. She had learned a good many techniques since her time in the throne room, and it was part of why she’d chosen the route she had in the first place. She was unwilling to let her students come to harm, but also she knew how much damage she could take before it became a real problem. An unfortunate, but useful, side effect of her time spent with Chen.

Tadara ordered everyone about, which didn’t surprise Mitsu that much. She’d read the mission reports. But when he ordered her into the cart she shook her head ‘no’. She knew her limits, and she was not useless yet. With a sigh she would push herself to her feet and stand again to protect Tadara as he worked. “I’m fine, Tadara. You continue your work, and try to look less shootable. With the bolt removed I can heal it myself.” Forming three hand seals, Mitsu created a vortex of wind and placed it between where they were standing and the remaining bandits. The vortex would be enough to at least slow down any projectiles headed their way. It would also severely damage anyone attempting to pass through it to get to them. She would keep her left hand poised to manipulate the vortex should she need to use it.

CP Use:

Tadara would continue the last of the mending for the pack horses wound. Her own analysis of her wound would bring a frown to his lips but little more in the way of expression. He wasn't like them. He wasn't like other doctors either. He didn't much care. To him it was all a game of numbers and each person had a calculable value. If their value dropped to low they became worthless. If it rose high enough they became leadership. He was tallying up everyone's value and his own every day with every interaction. That said none of these three were without worth. He had expected more from their squad leader...though he would not have been able to counter an arrow either given his capabilities. Still she had made a claim and he wondered if it was just boasting. She had followed through so far at the expense of her own health but if a greater threat was looming....she would be incapable of sparing them any traumatic experience or loss. Black eyes would observe her for a moment longer before glancing at his finished work. The horse would be fine as the wound itself was closed now and would remain as such.

A glance at the battle in the distance told him the matter was all but settled. Men died out there and he thought nothing of it. Nothing other than their value dropping to nothing. Or perhaps transfering to the two men as field experience. They took life efficiently and even seemed to keep one alive and contained. Good they could follow directions. He would add twenty points for Katsumi and thirty points for Shin due to sheer efficiency. As for Mitsukira he would add ten points for doing as she said and protecting him. The horse got five and the driver got nothing. Tadara would consider his own role and give himself twenty points. Since most of that was in the positive he would consider the mission a success. Though the vortex would keep his bees from being able to return from that direction. He reduced five points from himself and Mitsukira for that oversight. Being blind during an essential operation had its negatives. If he couldn't overcome some wind...well that was a negative as well. He would eventually need to take such things into consideration for future reference. A way to use his abilities to get around jutsu.

Still if she was going to claim she was fine Tadara would not protest. He had no interest in convincing anyone if they needed help. The enemy was dead as far as they could see and the driver looked eager to be on his way. Tadara would assume the other two could collect the prisoner for interrogation without being told to do so. With his mending done Tadara would move passed Mitsukira without a word. Her instructions in his mind. How did one attempt to look less shootable? The hundred bees he had used for a smoke screen were already wiped out by the wind jutsu used for much the same purpose. Perhaps her wound had clouded her judgement when she used her wind jutsu. Regardless the bees were not strong enough to survive the technique she used but they were also created for the same purpose as said technique...so their loss did not matter other than mild irritation over the repetition of it. He would climb up the cart and find a seat again before waiting with his hands folded in his lap quietly. At the moment he had no further value to contribute so he would merely wait. Once it was finished he would head home to rest and rejuvenate before his shift at the hospital.

Exit thread 9 posts x 25 a post = 225 exp

Mitsu surveyed the situation, as best she could in her pain-addled state. She was tough to be sure, but she wasn’t able to stop the automatic response of shock when she was injured enough. She saw well enough that the other bandits were well in hand, having been taken care of by Katsumi and Shin, and Tadara seemed fine. As far as the mission had gone, there had been unexpected surprises but all in all it was a success. They had set out to protect the shipment, and it was protected. Now all that remained was to get everyone back to Iwagakure, a simple enough matter with the four of them and a cart. She would direct the remaining bandits into the cart and they were fortunately compliant as the might shown by her squad that day was hard to deny. Throughout the movement of the bandits she had placed in custody, she tied herself a sling to rest her arm in, intending to have it looked at once they made it back safely.

The remainder of the journey would pass uneventfully, as it seemed that the full might of the bandit force had been quelled for the time being. Once back within the village, assuming everyone had come along as planned, she would turn over the bandits to the village guard and direct her squad to make their reports and then head home for the night. It had been a long day after all and everyone could use their rest. For her part she went to the hospital for assistance with the bolt still lodged firmly in her shoulder. Removing it and healing the damage was a simple matter for the doctors at the hospital and before long she was declared fine enough to return home, which she did with haste after filling out her own report.

[Exit Thread]