An Uzumaki and a Ryuutei walk into a Forest

Mission:

Raphael would wait by the gates of the village for his mission partner to arrive, it was interesting to him that not long after meeting an individual of both Ryuutei and Uzumaki bloodline that he would be assigned a mission to partner with the clan. His only hope was that the Ryuutei would send Raika as their representative, she was an interesting character in the man's eyes. She possessed a strength and adaptability that few others held, not to mention the fact that she fights decently as well. Other than what he had learned during their first encounter however he did not know much about her, still he would rather deal with her than one of the other members of the Ryuutei. She seemed far less, he wasn't sure what the word he was looking for was but whatever it was that the Ryuutei were, she was less of it, in his eyes at least. Of course, he would attribute that to the fact that the woman had Uzumaki blood within her, there were after all very stubborn, so it would only seem obvious that her Uzumaki dna made her more approachable... he still didn't think he was getting the word right. Either way, he would have plenty of time to think about it as he waited, still with the hope that it was Raika that was to be his partner on this joint operation between the village and the Ryuutei. Though if it wasn't Raika he would just have to deal with whoever they sent, and then hope to finish the mission as quickly as possible.

Raphael would be dressed in the uncomfortable, yet mandatory Uniform of the Kirigakure Jounin. Though he knew it was for his own protection while out on missions, it did not change the fact that he found it extremely enclosing and suffocatingly so. His Kirigakure Hitai-ate tied with a crimson red cloth around his forehead, another reason he wanted his partner to be Raika is that at least he would have interesting conversation partner along the way which was better than his last mission partner that did not like to talk much. He wasn't sure if another Ryuutei would be as interesting as he found Raika, nor as good a conversational partner.

Raika approaches the village gates, having volunteered for the mission to be the Ryuutei representative. As was customary when a Ryuutei was chosen or volunteered as the representative to assist in taking down a large group, she was also wearing the Kirigakure headband, this one wrapped loosely around her neck. Raika walks with a smooth grace as she sees Raphael, not hurrying but not taking her time, either; when she'd heard that it was someone in the Uzumaki clan that had requested the Ryuutei's representative in this mission, she had assumed it would be the clan head, and she was glad that she was right. After all, it would help her to try to understand how to make the chains with Uzumaki chakra. She'd focused on some training on her own to learn something of Fuuinjutsu, but she'd not gotten far in her solo learning, since the extent of the Ryuutei's Fuuinjutsu ability mostly only extended to their clan's summoning scroll. She still couldn't make her own Fuuinjutsu ink for sealing, but she had learned enough to seal some objects into scrolls. It had been completely unlike learning Taijutsu for her, which came naturally.

But she put thoughts of such things behind her for now, and she refocused as she reached speaking range of Raphael, the Uzumaki clan head, looking up at him and seeming quite at ease for the moment.

"Let's get to it. But you better not watch after the fight; I haven't eaten yet today, and I'm hungry from training up on some Fuuinjutsu last night."

Raika turns towards the village gates again and comes through them, though it wouldn't matter much to her if Raphael wanted to be in front of her, behind her, or walk alongside her. It would take a lot for her to admit it out loud, but she didn't mind talking to Raphael. At least she could tell he was strong.

A wide grin would form on Raphael's face as inside he let out a sigh of relief at the sight of Raika, thankful it was her rather than another Ryuutei. "Don't tell me Little Raika is hangry," Raphael stated jokingly with a chuckle as he moved to walk next to her. Calling her little not because of their age difference or height difference, because neither were that off, no he did it simply because he found it funny. Similar to how he refers to Donatello by his full name rather than his preferred name, he found little things amusing and he was always looking for something amusing. Hearing that she had training on fuuin wasn't at all surprising to the male considering their last conversation, and he was doing his best not to think about what the Ryuutei was going to do with the criminals when it was all said and done. "You know, normally it's polite to greet you mission partner with a friendly hello." He said sarcastically with a wide smile, "let me show you. Good morning, Raika. Lovely to see you again, how are you doing today?" He would then stop and wait to see how she responded to it before adding in a semi-mocking tone. "So have you figured out the chains yet?" Of course, he knew the answer, but the fact that she was training fuuin she was at least a step closer than she was during their spar. "You know all you have to do is agree to spar with me some more and I can show you all kinds of things that you can do with the chains." He would say with a playful tone as he put his hands behind his head as they walked through the gates of the village. Of course, if Raika wanted to, they could talk about the chains more during the mission, but if she was too hungry for that then he wouldn't bother her.

According to the report the camp was not far from the village, but it would still take them some time unless they moved fast, so Raphael would let Raika decide the pace they went. He supposed if she was hungry enough, she might just want to get there as soon as possible, but he didn't know how that whole Ryuutei thing worked and tried not to think about it either. Whether Raika decided to talk about the chains or just hurry off to their destination, did not really matter to him though he did enjoy conversing. Even if it was just because he like the sound of his own voice.

Raika gives him a toothy smile when Raphael suggests that she's "hangry", but one might remember that the Ryuutei don't usually smile. She was showing him her teeth literally, possibly to show her disdain for being called "little". Then she's told that a hello is the typical greeting for people about to go on a mission, she stops her "smiling" to take on a more polite bored expression as she looks at him with half-lidded eyes.

"Good morning Raphael. I can hardly wait to slaughter the bandits and leave their body parts strewn about the ground."

She frowns again when he teases her about whether or not she could manifest the chains, and she looks down at her clawed hand while she focuses hard on the feeling she had when she was performing Fuuinjutsu. She gasps when she thinks she can see a little black circle poke up from a black hole that appears in her palm, but she quickly closes her hand into a fist and the single oblong ring disappears, making her harrumph. Her face had shown wonder and maybe a bit of excitement for a moment, but she stifles it again; if she couldn't make chains like Raphael could, she wasn't going to be making much progress without help. And Raphael was offering help.

"Very well, I'll agree to some more sparring to learn how to use the chains. I can almost do it, but I think it would take me years to learn how to make anything usable on my own. But if the clan head of the Uzumaki can teach me, then I'll have it done in no time."

That wouldn't necessarily be the end of the conversation, but Raika was still hungry, so she quickened her pace. Although this would likely shorten their conversation, it would give them enough time to still talk about it; of course, she couldn't eat them all herself, and she would likely have to bring quite a few of those 20 bodies back to the Ryuutei clan herself. With their low birth rate, the clan didn't often send out too many ninja on these missions anymore, and Raika was one of the few prominent members that often put herself out there and applied herself, which might have something to do with her Uzumaki bloodline.

Raphael would let out an uncomfortable chuckle at Raika's mocking hello, trying not to be offset by the slightly creepy smile or the fact that she was talking about slaughtering and massacre while doing it. He would watch her though as his question seemed to strike a chord with her, though a genuine smile would form on his face at her answer to spar with him again. He would take her comment about learning it fast from him as slight praise to his own ability, which would only increase his ego larger than it already was. "I will show you all the secrets I know, Little Raika." He would reply more than happy that she was willing to spar, he liked the challenge she provided even for a genin it was impressive and was much more entertaining than training with any of the others willing to spar with him. "By the time we are done it will be like second nature to you and you won't have to even focus that much to be able to do it. It's like your chakra wants to do it because that is what it is meant to do, that is something I have tried to explain to Hayami multiple times. Every Uzumaki feels this pull from their chakra, this desire to form the chains. Even those that cannot unlock it feel this pull, but for some there is a stronger pull as if your chakra takes a mind of its own or something like that. Maybe our chakra is flowing through us in the shape of chains already, I don't know. What I do know is that I wouldn't be able to do half the things I do now without them, and sometimes it's like I don't even have to think about it they react on their own, like during our spar." Despite loving to hear the sound of his own voice Raphael wouldn't take up the whole time talking himself, so he would fall quiet to allow Raika to respond to his brief explanation of the chains. He could show her more about the chains, but he wasn't sure how much time they had before they would reach the camp and he wasn't sure if she was too hangry to pick up on what he would be teaching either. So, he would save the lesson for when they actually had time to spar and simply stick to advice as they traveled to their destination. At the rate they were traveling now it would not take them long to reach the area where the camp was believed to be located, but until then for at least the next ten to twenty minutes he would be able to answer her questions.

At the point that Raphael calls her Little Raika a third time, she's no longer affected by it, and simply ignores the use of the moniker, realizing that her reaction to the nickname is what's giving him the satisfaction when he uses it. It took her a long while to realize that, but she is at least smart enough not to point out that she knows why he's calling her that. It really is just to get a rise out of her, but one doesn't usually get a rise out of a Ryuutei and get to enjoy it as well. While Raika might have called Raphael lucky in any other situation, he had expertise that she needed, and so he had more than luck on his side.

She listens to his explanation about how the Uzumaki chains are much more natural for them, and she starts to think that perhaps her Ryuutei clan's chakra is interfering; she'd always been told that their chakra was special, a gift from the Nibi of some sort. Or perhaps something like a curse, or both. Maybe it made the Uzumaki chains more difficult than for a pureblooded Uzumaki. Raika would just have to work hard on it with Raphael in order to find out. But she didn't verbalize any of that. She wasn't particularly great at Fuuinjutsu, and especially not too wonderful at chakra or jutsu theory. Instead of a reply, she mutters something under her breath, words from only a short while ago, though it felt like a lot had happened since then.

"Among the Ryuutei, we don't call anyone a friend. We barely have family. But we have a Pack."

Before Raphael can inquire about what she'd just said, her nose catches the scent of an unwashed group of humans, the scent particularly strong from the size of their group. She puts a hand out to her side to catch Raphael from moving too far ahead of her and possibly throwing off the scent as she breathes in heavily through her nose, although the stench makes her want to gag. This time when she speaks, her words are firm and unmistakable, and also unmistakably disgusted.

"A lot of them. Not a lot of bathing. Poor waste management. Cooking food and burning flesh, I can definitely smell bandits."

Raphael would be about to ask Raika what she had said when she held out her hand, a smile forming on his face at her words. "Well then, we will save our talk for later. Let's not keep them waiting." Raphael would whisper as quietly as he could, which in all honesty would sound like normal talking. Reaching to his belt, Raphael would grab his trench knives sliding his fingers into the holes of the handle. Holding both of the knives in a reverse grip with the clawed knuckles just as sharp as the blades, these would be essential for his fighting the bandits. A quick thought would cross his mind that honestly, he wished he would have thought about earlier. "So, what if we don't kill everybody?" He would ask just a little quieter than he had spoken before, "What if we just kill enough to make a point and then round the rest up and make them carry the bodies back to your clan. Rather than the two of us trying to figure out how to haul all the bodies, what do you say?" This thought of course came from the fact that he both didn't care to haul the bodies himself but at the same time he didn't want to be the asshole that made Raika deal with all the bodies when they were done, there was also the fact that it might be less gory this way without him having to worry about Raika and her carnivorism.

If Raika agreed, then he would follow her lead towards the camp for the simple fact that she had their scent, and he still didn't know which direction they were from where the pair was. Still gripping his trench knives in each hand ready to strike, the plan was a simple one. Take down a few let them watch Raika eat and then Raphael could round up the rest of them, he could use his knives to cut a few throats to thin the crowd so to speak. As they got to the edge of the camp Raphael would look to Raika, "Get ready little Raika." He would say in whispered voice, showing that before he wasn't really trying to whisper. Forming the seal of confrontation, Raphael would use the Hiding in Mist technique to shroud the camp in a thick mist before looking to Raika. "Do you know how to kill silently?" Granted the hiding in mist hide their movements and prevented the bandits from exactly seeing what they were doing, but if they lowered the numbers first the rounding up of the others and getting them to surrender would be easier.

The suggestion that they kill only a few and then round up the rest makes Raika grimace, and then look at Raphael, considering his proposal somewhat ridiculous. While the Ryuutei clan wasn't very large and the size of a 20 man feast would be a lot to get through even for the entire clan, she didn't think it any more feasible for them to only take a few, especially considering how ruthless the clan typically was. She wasn't sure that the Ryuutei wouldn't simply ambush the bandits after they all make their way to the clan, anyway. She looked right at Raphael so he could actually see her doubtful expression as they circle around the bandit camp as quietly as they could. When she speaks, Raika whispers quietly, though not as quietly as she can without hearing herself; she can actually hear Raphael just fine.

"I know they're bandits, but they're still humans. If you were in their shoes, would you accept giving up and carrying the bodies of your comrades back towards Kirigakure? They'd just as soon try and fight us all at once, and we wouldn't know when we'd killed enough of them to make the rest give up. Letting one or two escape when they flee would be mostly fine, but the clan demands food..."

She watches him grip his trench knives, and she still feels a little bit superior; her claws are all she needs, not needing to rely on any man-claws like Raphael. Then she watches as he creates the mist, making vision almost a worthless sense as he whispers to her to ask if she can kill silently, and she moves down to her four-legged stance, using her ability to scent her enemies to keep track of the opponents as her claws extend from her hands. She focuses her chakra along those claws, making them particularly sharp and durable while she responds, just as quietly.

"That depends; do you consider them gurgling on their own blood to be silent? But no, I don't know the Silent Killing Technique... Think you could show me that, too?"

Raika chuckles a bit, but if Raphael could see her eyes, he might see a flash of excitement in them for learning the Silent Killing technique. In any case, she lets him know that she's ready as soon as he is.

Once the mist had enshrouded the camp Raphael smiled at Raika's reply to his remark about killing silently, though he wouldn't see the excitement flash in her eyes because to the mist they were still standing next to each other so they could hear one another easily. "It's very simple really. It's much like you do when you focus your chakra for taijutsu, it works on two fronts. As you focus your chakra focus on two things quiet movements and the faint sounds or smells of the enemy. The mist will hide our movements, but it also hides the enemy. Your natural hunting skills should help you on that front, think of this similar to the supernatural walking practice, but rather than using your chakra to allow you to walk where you normally would not be able to you are using it so your steps and movements are completely unheard." Raphael would finish explaining how the technique worked but of course it would be up to Raika if she would actually be able to do it, he could only take it so far. With this technique, it was not like he could show her how it worked even without the mist. Unless she was a sensor, then she would be able to sense the chakra as it flowed and that could help her in understanding it, but he doubted she had the ability despite her tracking capabilities.

With the technique explained and the mist in effect, Raphael would also flow a little extra chakra into himself to increase his own speed as well. The technique allowed them to move silently, but that did not mean the ones they killed would be necessarily quiet. So once the killing started, the others would be alerted and be on guard if they were not already from the mist. The camp was not large, and there would only be twenty targets. Raphael would look towards where Raika had been standing, assuming that she was still there. "We can each take ten but be careful, little Raika." With that he would be off, moving at a speed of fifteen meters per second as he traveled through the camp and found his first victim. Coming up from behind him and slicing his throat with one of his trench knives before continuing on to the second without wasting time. These men were low level thugs, they were no match for true shinobi, let alone a Jounin and his protege. The sounds of them shouting out about this or that, only made it easier for Raphael to track them down and kill them without being noticed. Within the matter of a few minutes the camp would fall silent, he wasn't sure how many in total he killed only that they were all now dead. Ending his mist technique Raphael would look around the camp until he found Raika, a light smile that she was alive, though it wouldn't last long in the face of her eating. Finding a small horse drawn wagon with a horse attached, it was likely a victim from one of the bandit's recent attacks on a merchant or something, but now it would be used to carry the corpses back to the Ryuutei clan. The horse would likely be an unfortunate causality, but at least it would make the transport of the corpses easier. Raphael would begin loading the wagon up as Raika ate, then once everything was done, he would accompany Raika most of the way back to the village before they separated so that she could take the bodies to her clan, and he could file his report on the mission. They would likely setup a day for Raika to visit the Uzumaki district for them to spar and him be able to teach her the secrets of the chains that they could create.

{Exit Thread}

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5 posts as Sensei 75exp + 25 for Mission Completion

Teaching Silent Killing Technique to Raika.

Training Krav Maga B-Rank Custom Tech 250/250

Raika listens carefully to Raphael's instructions on how the Silent Killing Technique works, and she presses chakra down to the bottom of her feet, just like she'd learned to walk on vertical surfaces and over water. She takes her first step, and discovers that it makes no sound at all. She stops there, however, as she could still smell Raphael directly next to her, and he hadn't moved. He explains that they're going to be taking down ten each, and she lets out a simple grunt of agreement, as she could already feel her hunting instincts taking over and getting her ready to kill and eat. She can't hear him move, but she knows that he's no longer next to her by the fact that his scent is much more faint, so she takes that as a signal to start.

Raika avoids his scent, but moves slowly and silently through the came, pulling entire throats out of their necks so that their only noises are soft gurgling sounds; her claws slicing through their necks and her sharp teeth simply biting straight through as she focuses chakra throughout her feet to keep her movements silent as well as her claws to ensure their cutting power is at maximum. Just to make sure she can keep drawing them to one central location and make it easier for herself, she finds another scent and slices the back of the bandit's legs near the feet, bringing him down to the ground and unable to move, but screaming in fear and pain. It forces the others closer to him to try and find their own friend, only for him to lead them to their deaths as Raika continues the slaughter. Finally, she cuts the neck of her distraction and begins eating even before the mist clears, having been hungry almost the entire day.

She looks up from her meal when the mist does finally dissipate, her mouth dripping with blood, and she swallows what's in her mouth. Raika can see that Raphael is disgusted with her cannibalism, but it's not something she can truly stop; when a person gets hungry, they eat. She finishes with her own corpse and discards the rest of the bandit's body, finding little need to eat any more than that before she helps Raphael load up the bodies into the cart. Raika gives Raphael a wave goodbye as she leads the horse-drawn cart to the Ryuutei clan, feeling quite proud of herself for having learned one of Kirigakure's restricted techniques.

OOC: 100/100 Silent Killing Technique

(EXIT Thread)