Tools for war...

Mission Name: Underseige
Mission Type: Defend
Mission Rank: B
Mission Goal: A small settlement has come under attack, get to the settlement and help however you can.
b]Description:[/b] Urgent assistance is requested in a small settlement within the land of Earth, get there before it's too late.
Payment: 25k Ryo
Requirements: B-Class

Tadara had been handed another mission. A test of sort and told to recruit his own team. Apparently a Settlement nearby was under siege from some group or another. Bandits or shinobi lost and wandering after the war. The displacement population after the last war was still far from being collected. Ex soldiers or even just talented citizens that had gotten a rough toss of the dice. Whoever they were they had chosen the path of the criminal. Even if the settlement were to be taken all they would loot was a few months supplies at best. They couldn't simply take it and work the land as the land of earth would eventually put them all to the sword for it. There was no long term solution here. Only the panicked reaction of animals too instinct driven to consider long term options. If there was anything Tadara could not tolerate, It was inefficiency.

Still it appeared that whoever the enemy was had been held of thus far by farmers and a couple of genin level guards. Which meant if he did this alone it would take up too much notice. A low profile kept his movements more to himself after all so a team was warranted. However given the level of threat posed so far his calculations suggested no more force would be needed to succeed within normal parameters than a couple of genin. One of the most common teams was comprised of a three man squad. One chunnin and two genin. So Tadara would enter into the administration building. He was in his work attire with shined black navy dress shoes with black slacks fitted to his legs. His white shirt was spotless and without wrinkle along with being carefully tucked in so the buttons matched the button on his slacks. A single black tie was tied in a perfect Eldredge Knot. His lab coat was insulated on the inside to combat the cold temperatures of Iwagakure. The headband metal piece stitched into the breast pocket. Within the breast pocket was a single pen with a small notebook. No weapons adorning him. His white hair appeared to be formally styled but flat. His eyes though...

His eyes seemed empty.

As if somehow even if those grey eyes were looking at someone they did not see the person there. A thousand details but nothing of who was before them. Nothing more than statistics. His face never seemed to form anything remnant of an expression. Instead his hands resided in his pockets of his coat if he didn't need them. His form as thin as it was would move slowly to one of the squad request agents. Glancing at him over black framed glasses a moment. His eyes were fine but people still expected less from someone in glasses.

"I require two genin prepped for live combat. Assign them to me and have them here immediately if possible. There is little to be gained from the waste of time."

As his brother had pushed for the two of them to request a fun mission, despite Ito's own judgement towards the dangers such missions would provide, it would seem that an answer to Atsu's wish would land in his lap without much work at all. Ito could feel his brother's excitement even as the announcement was made. Dammit. He would curse under his breath as there isn't much he can do in this situation. They were picked for the mission, not much else to do but to follow the orders given. "It seems your wish has been granted bro. A fun mission. At the very least, on our way to the village gate to meet up with the one who requested us, lets stop buy a weapons shop so I can pick up some tekken and holsters. Should prove fairly quick as long as we don't get distracted."

As per his request, Ito would attempt to purchase two tekken and 2 holsters and that's it. This adding up to 1050ryo, though it would take Atsu's great brain to remind him that they don't have to pay full price for such things, being official shinobi and all. This deduction would reduce the price to a 788ryo total. After this and whatever Atsu would deem a necessary buy for himself, they would head straight to the designated gate in search of their group leader for this mission. During this walk, Ito would equip his holsters and tekken on both hips for quick access in the time of need and necessity.

________________________________________

Purchased Items:
Tekken x2 - 1000ryo
Holsters x2 - 50ryo

Comfortable Lifestyle Discount: 25%

Total Cost: 788ryo

Atsu was already grinning before he was even told that his begging had been answered. Although he knew that they would only be able to take on a mission if someone of a higher rank was with them, he was hoping that someone would send in a request for aid in a mission of their own, which would allow them to join in. And that was exactly what had happened. He knows his brother is worried about having such a dangerous mission on their docket, but Atsu already believes that they're ready for more serious missions like this one; with his brother being the physical striker and Atsu being the one better suited for ninjutsu techniques, they're already part of a really powerful team! Atsu knew they just needed to prove themselves.

Of course he had no problem with Ito grabbing up some weapons and holsters for those weapons on their way out to the mission itself. Although he looked at his own purse of 24000 ryo and remembered that he was saving up for some smithing equipment so he could put his apprenticeship in armor crafting to the test. He assumes that his wrist-mounted senbon launcher and the ten senbon he's already got are going to be enough for now! After making sure he's got everything he needs, he makes his way straight to the administration building, leading Ito there to meet up with the Chuunin, where he introduces both himself and his twin with a grin and a silly-looking salute. While his brother's hair was messy and in a ponytail, Atsu's hair was carefully shaped. Though the twins both wore similar skin-tight black nin-wear, Atsu's was armless and he wore arm sleeves instead that covered his entire hands and arms up to his elbows. And although both wore the same black jackets lined with white fur, Atsu was the one wearing a half-kimono underneath the jacket. Ito's headband shined around his waist, while Atsu wore a sash around his own waist and wore his own headband loosely tied around his neck.

"Atsu and Ito Kotoshura, the Blasting Twins, reporting for duty for the defense of the besieged town, SIR!"

Tadara would turn those cold empty eyes to the pair of what appeared to be children approaching him. His eyes scanning over them and their demeanor. By first appearances they looked roughly fourteen years of age but there were tall tale signs medically otherwise. His mind seemed to place statistics to them and with his initial scan would assume they could actually be older than him. Appearances could be deceiving but not much could fool him. In that moment he studied everything from the gait of their walk to the posture in which they held themselves. Combat specialists with the scent of ash about them...Katon specialists in some way. Even the slightest burn on the hem of their coat would tell him a great deal of how they used it. Around the wrists of their coats were remnants of the slightest damage from explosives yet not on their hands. Still they would approach him as he studied their armaments. Basic in nature which told him they lacked either the finances, connections or experience to have better gear. Unlike him they intended to have something on hand aside from their chakra based abilities. Still their introduction would confirm his hypothesis.

The Blasting twins.

Blast Release was something he had coveted but never been able to truly replicate or obtain. He had seen it used on occasion before but had failed negotiations with their clan head before. His medical expertise would have done wonders for their clan but he had been kept from the technique. He still did not see the reason behind such seclusion besides not wanting him to have it. These two could prove interesting to overcoming that barrier. Giving him the capability to do precision assassinations with explosive bees on the brain stem. Unlike how they simply through around large scale explosives Tadara was far more precise. Still his attention would turn to the two of them. Careful not to show any hint of excitement. He would observe them closely and perhaps even find reason to medically examine them. Not that he would gain much yet...but blood held trace amounts of chakra and he would love to study their bloodline. That aside he needed to allow them to believe this mission was a success due to their capabilities. So he would not purposefully allow one of them to fall upon harm. However the brash nature of their clan almost assured him that would not be an issue. Still he would address them both with a monotone voice.

"Very well. Before we depart however I have to ensure your understanding of the situation. These criminals are not so simple as to be scared away by our presence. Their attack is not well thought out and as such I hypothesize they will not flee or surrender simply because three shinobi intervene. You will be instructed to kill the enemy. Have you committed homicide before?"

When asked if they have ever committed homicide before, Ito freezes for a second. Thoughts immediately return to the past and how they treated their father for such things before. Ito became even more hesitant than when he first heard about the mission itself. He would step forward and reply to the individual in front of them. ”H-homicide? No but is it really necessary? I know you said they won’t stop just because three shinobi show up, but we could just over power them right? Just beat them up and take them into custody? We wouldn’t be trying to kill them right in the beginning, right? People might think that instead of helping them and being praised, they might become scared of us and consider us a threat as well…”

Ito puts both hands behind his back as he can’t help but ball them into fists. His knuckles turning white from gripping so forcefully and slightly shaking. He doesn’t want to be regarded as a disgrace and shunned like his father was. But most importantly, he doesn’t want that to happen to his brother. Whatever he could do to prevent that, he will do without hesitation. Ito would unclench his fists and shake them nonchalantly, before pointing to the tekken on his hips. ”I mean I have these as a last resort, but I hoped they wouldn’t need to be used in this situation.” He would rub the blunted spikes on them as he specifically chose one of the least harmful ones, though they were still studded as more of an incentive rather than to be purely harmful. He would look towards Atsu while saying this to see how he was reacting to such a question. They may be twins but they have different thoughts on different things.

Atsu listens seriously to his brother's speech on how he's not really willing to commit homicide unless it is absolutely necessary, and Atsu honestly feels somewhat similarly. Even his own automatic reaction to try and differentiate himself from his twin has him instantly agreeing to homicide, especially since he's never had to kill anyone, either. He wouldn't even attack their own father back while he was fighting with his mother, although that had probably been more because of the fear he'd felt of their father than anything else. If he could have killed their father back then, he isn't sure he wouldn't have done the deed. He waits for Ito to come to a conclusion, and then sees him turn towards Atsu himself to let him have his word, so he turns to look at Tadara, and in those blank eyes, he can see a glimmer of intellect, too.

"I've never murdered anyone, no. But I'll follow any lawful order to get us through the mission, as long as we all come back alive and in one piece. Although..."

Atsu folds his arms across his chest, looking far more serious than when he'd shown up to Tadara's meeting place with his twin, his eyes flashing with determination.

"If the criminals use any ninja technique while we're there, and they don't surrender, I'll consider them enemy combatants, and then I'll kill them myself. Ninja who betray Iwagakure are worse than criminals, and they deserve no quarter. As for the regular criminals... I'll subdue them unless specifically ordered to kill them, and I won't kill anyone that drops their weapons and surrenders."

Atsu felt he needed to make it clear that although he held a great deal of disdain for betrayal, that he wasn't a mindlessly killing monster. He wasn't like his father. He hoped.

Tadara would describe their responses as trained naivety. A social expectation of them to abhor murder. It was mildly problematic given their chosen profession but directly faulting them for it would be folly. They seemed ready to defend this point of view they had been taught likely by the academy. Such a silly place to try and teach values while training a new generation of agents of war. It was inefficiency at its finest. Training people to kill while teaching them it is wrong to do so. Given the opportunity he would see that changed. However for the time being he would simply address their current shortcomings. Though most wouldn't see it as Tadara did. Maintaining ethics was never his area of expertise. Ethics slowed progress and he cared little for it. Still he would let them finish before raising his hand to push his glasses back up his nose with one finger in the center. They had slid down at some point and were causing mild discomfort.

"An interesting point of view. I posted a research paper once back in the academy regarding survey results. The question posed to twenty people was what would it take for them to take a life. Ten percent of them stated they never could. Fifty percent of them stated only under extreme circumstances. Thirty percent admitted that if passions were raised it was possible to happen while the remaining ten percent stated that they would kill over an insult. Extreme circumstances were boiled down to either loved ones or property or themselves being threatened. You stated that if they used jutsu you would go for the kill....however a toddler with a sharp object can still do significant damage. If your enemy is armed you should treat them the same. If you hesitate when they attempt to kill you, and given their current objective of obtaining a settlements resources through violence is likely, you will not return from this mission. However if a significant show of force is posed fear overcomes greed in eighty percent of the population of this particular nation. As for the view of the public...efficiency in necessity is how to sway the point of view. Answering adversity with the minimal amount of violence is what people seek in a nation based on their shinobi capabilities. If you can not defend them in their hour of need they will not fear you...but hate you for being incapable. The choice will be yours though. Face killers while restraining yourself or not. Are there any more questions or preparation before our departure?"

Ito listening to Atsu declare specifics for him to kill yet no hesitation to do so in the name of the village, he would slightly wince at the words. He imagines the ever impending treatment of the citizens towards anyone with he and his brother's capabilities, just as their father suffered. As much as he wants to disagree and revoke this mission, he absolutely will not leave his brother to handle such a thing alone. Since he can't convince him otherwise, he has no choice but to join him. Ito would curse under his breath while making a pained face, filled with love for his brother and the annoyance of the lack of humane choices that were presented to them. Though no matter the situation, Ito will never turn on Atsu. Even if it were ordered to him to kill him, he would immediately defect. If Atsu were ordered to kill Ito, he would stand and accept his fate, that was to be delivered by his twin's own hand; that is if Atsu were to accept such a choice. In such a scenario, Ito would have no winning choices aside from helping Atsu to complete his mission.

Ito listens to Tadara's short speech. He would kick at the ground and dig a small crater out of wordless spite before responding to the individual. "I've none more to ask or say." The words would fall from his mouth like stones that grow the closer they got to the ground, growing at an exponential rate in that regard. Words that were hard for him to utter in such a situation, but nonetheless spoken. No words followed anytime soon afterwards, though he would immediately unclip his newly purchased tekken, equipping them as he dawn an stone expression on his face in preemptive remorse for the lives that were inevitably soon to be taken by force. Iwagakure is lucky to have Atsu to follow so attentively, or else they wouldn't have Ito at all. Ito is directly loyal to Atsu with no room for defection, which in turn would translate indirect loyalty to Iwagakure. He would await further orders with full stillness and a stone's confidence, ready for the task ahead.

Atsu starts listening to Tadara's speech, but then it starts to drag, and his eyes glaze over, not really looking at the man in front of him but apparently looking far away at the horizon as his mind thinks about other things. He's about to just discard everything the other man had said when he seems to notice his twin brother's reaction to hearing all of these arguments from this stranger, this nobody, who was beating down on his brother psychologically, and something snaps for a moment in Atsu's mind, some kind of protective instinct to want to keep his brother from harm. After all, he couldn't have protected his mother from harm when he was faced with his drunken father, but he could protect his twin brother right now. His eyes flash in a dangerous wide-eyed stare at Tadara, clearly having taken offense.

"Oh, you like to talk numbers? Let's talk about the increased likelihood of 50% that one of us is going to cause significant damage to a civilian, or worse, each other, if we use our strongest techniques, in an effort to only scare off the attackers. Who, by the way, have an even greater likelihood of returning later if they're only scared off and not captured - alive - by us. Also, killing them has a ripple effect that causes grief and rage from their families, if they have any, and turning them into bandits, as well as making the bandit survivors feel that the only option is to attack with even more fervor and aggression. Also also, a bandit's corpse has a 0% chance of redeeming themselves and becoming a proper functioning member of society."

As he speaks, Atsu moves closer to the blank-faced man in front of him, but Atsu's own face is contorting in rage as he spouts off more and more figures, before he ends his own counter-speech just a meter away, glaring directly into the other ninja's eyes before he reaches out with his right hand hand and attempts to flick the corner of the glasses, throwing them off-balance on Tadara's face. Assuming Tadara tries to stop his right hand, he soon after lifts his left hand, activating the Earth Spear technique on that hand to instead flick the opposite corner of the glasses with his left hand, likely breaking the frame completely and causing the glasses to fly high up into the air, instead.

"In this mission, I'm not going to kill any of them, even if it's a lawful order that's coming from you. Especially if it's a lawful order that's coming from you. That's the Tsuchikage's choice, and if I catch you killing any of them, you can find my name on a report on my kinsman's desk tonight for incompetence, excessive use of force without regard for civilian casualties, and reckless endangerment."

Atsu keeps the same enraged expression on his face just a bit longer, under the assumption that he sees no change in Tadara's tone or facial expression, and then his face switches like the flick was switched back off to a brilliant smile. Despite the change in his outward appearance, Atsu's tone remains that same almost-threat.

"Get me?"

He doesn't wait for a response, turning on his heel to return in front of his twin and placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. His voice is back to a normal, almost cheerful sound.

"C'mon bro, let's get these bad guys taken care of."

OOC:

Jutsu used, if needed:

Spoiler:

CP: 65/70 (or 70/70, if jutsu not used)

One of the two would accept the data provided. If they did not kill that would be up to them but it would be more challenging. Choosing to be non lethal in an active combat situation was for those with strength for superior to that which is needed for the task at hand. Killing was almost always the simpler answer. However the other of the two would begin to speak. Clearly there were tones of anger in their voice. Raised tensions on the vocal cords mixed with heightened aggression in the expression. Furrowed eyebrows indicated something had set them off. Interesting how simple it was to trigger them. However they did appear to be children in one form or another despite medical signs otherwise. Perhaps this was some instinct to protect the other one? Facts had been shared based on a published study but now some numbers were being thrown out without backing. However his approach was aggressive. Warning signs flickering through Tadaras mind. Surely someone wouldn't be so foolish as to...his hand instinctively lifted to block the hand heading for his face. Even he was not beyond the urge to protect his eyes. However it was clear that the target was his glasses.

Tadara noted the hand seal and the darkened skin along the other hand. He was careful to only allow it to destroy his glasses without grazing his skin. A mild discomfort as they were removed from his face. Cold eyes would continue to take in this subordinate yelling threats at him. However none of them held weight. He was pushing personal moralities over the written laws of Iwagakure. Emotional instead of intellectual. It would be difficult to control them. However there would be more to discuss.

"I do not. Your arguments have been taken into consideration. However should you or your sibling fall in the line of battle during this mission my report will reflect your decision. As well as it will reflect either way your choice to utilize a jutsu to attack a superior officer. An aggravated assault. However it is not my interest to punish either of you at this time. Do not allow there to be a second. For the time being you have the opportunity to support the mission objective to eliminate the enemy force based on the laws of this village. Which homicide is well within the boundaries of. I will not limit my own capabilities due to your personal ethics. As for civilian casualties...precision over power. We will go investigate the state of things first and then choose a course of action with the most merits from there. If possible we will engage the enemy away from the affected population. The choice here is will you commit to the mission or leave it at the assault?"

Looking down and fiddling with his tekken that he didn’t plan on using, Ito said wouldn’t notice how Atsu reacts before it was too late. Taking a step and reaching his hand out, it had already been done. His brother attacked our teammate. Or so he thought, though instead it was just his glasses. ”Atsu! It’s fine. No need to attack our teammate. He is only doing as he was told. Granted he has a bitter cold Aura, what he says technically isn’t wrong. I may disagree with it but I will have to get over it. I’m a shinobi remember? Plus you shouldn’t waste any unnecessary chakra before the battle, you know you can’t keep up with me, hehe.” Ito smiles and chuckles weakly as he speaks these words almost halfheartedly. Though, he knows he will most definitely do anything for his brother, which most of the time is helpful to the village. It is to be expected.

”We shouldn’t waste any time over non-necessities. Probably best if we head out now.” Ito looks between the two, following Atsu as he begins to walk off. He declares to himself that nothing should happen to his brother while they are out on this mission. If killing will be deamed necessary, it will have been proven if they hurt Atsu. This is all the flows through Ito’s head as they depart for the settlement.

Atsu rolls his eyes as Tadara begins speaking again, and he forms a duck-like mouth with his thumb underneath and his four fingers on top, opening and shutting them while Tadara is giving out another long-running speech about how they're going to be in trouble for using his ninjutsu to attack his superior officer. Now that one gets his attention, and he gives his twin brother a grin and a wink before he quickly rushes over to the broken glasses on the ground, faking crocodile tears as he cradled the glasses directly in front of Tadara. Atsu notes with interest that the "glasses" in question actually have no glass lenses or any lenses at all, really, but he puts that information away for later as he dutifully carries Tadara's broken glasses back to their original owner.

"Sir! I'm afraid my superior officer, these glasses, have been severely wounded, and must be returned to the infirmary! They might not make it!"

With the joke made but not quite finished, Atsu fakes an almost ludicrous level of patriotism by clapping his heels together in an overzealous caricature of the proper form of attention before rapidly and smartly bringing his right hand above his right eye in a traditional salute.

"Sir! I will follow all the orders of my superior officer and only my superior officer, which are again, these aggravated and salted glasses, and they have instructed me to assist the civilians with the least possible number of casualties; to clarify all of the bandits are also civilians if they are not missing ninja, Sir!"

Atsu returns to his normal state and drops the fake glasses to the ground before returning to his twin brother, laughing like a child at his joke while he jostles Ito. As if to lighten the mood despite Tadara's excessive seriousness, he picks up his brother on his back, carrying him about for a few meters piggyback before he turns to look at Tadara quizzically.

"We going to help these villagers or what? They're just gonna get taken out by bandits if you sit around whining and then the mission's gonna be a failure."

Atsu turns back around and continues running, though he eventually has to let Ito down because he's not really strong enough to carry his twin all the way to the village piggyback style.

Tadara would stand still without expression at the Broadway level display put on before him. While the essence of drama was within the script the performance seemed too forced to him. No true heart behind it in the eyes he supposed. A lack of tears or cracked voice. Than again the actors prop item was just a pair of broken glasses. Nothing expensive mind but still. They would need practice for really acting. Perhaps if they had longer to prepare for the role. However Shinobi sometimes had to assume a disguise on the moment. Tadara prefered the stealth approach but there were other methods for infiltration. Disguise and illusions were part of his personal capabilities. Still he would listen as the two of them both suggested that time was an important factor. Aside from making note to keep a spare pair of glasses on his person he would simply nod.

"You are correct. Time is always limited. We should not waste more."

Tadara would turn and walk the most direct route possible to the main gate. The rooftops. Idly he would jog up one of the buildings as he leaned forward or upwards for comfort while moving vertically. Upon reaching the roof his speed would shift to a D rank run as they made a straight line for the gates. Only stopping there to check in a moment before continuing with their mission papers giving them a brief leave from the walls. Tadara would quietly run the majority of the journey. Only taking a fifteen minute break every hour for the three hours it would take to reach the location for water.

Upon reaching within a kilometer of the mission objective and location Tadara would slow to a walk. His hands going into his coat pockets as he walked along a path on the mountain forest floor. Dark eyes shifting left and then right as he formed a single hand seal in his pockets. From whichever side of him wasn't facing the two with him bees would emerge out of his skin like liquid. Ten of them in total would fly away from him at A rank speed for fifty meters. Tiny bees with almost impossible to follow speed with the naked eye. Flying up another fifty meters before casting a hundred meter diameter net around him. Evenly spaced out along it and flying in a circle for an aerial view to check their surroundings. Despite their lack of respect for him Tadara was an Anbu. He was highly trained but preferred to keep this illusion of weakness. Still he would note the village itself was free of hostiles upon reaching fifty meters of it.

"Both of you enter the village and announce us. Calm the civilians and assure them. Make sure to help with any emergencies. I will map out our surroundings and locate any approaching hostile groups. For now I will only engage if necessary before I report back and we regroup in fifteen minutes."

As he is carried off on Atsu's back, Ito would giggle and smile with the bit of fun it was, though it was only covering up the dreadful feeling of what he might have to do later. But nevertheless, the mission began. Slowly getting up to running pace, they all began their travel to the settlement. During the trek, Ito wouldn't speak too much as he was deep in his head with conflicting feelings.

'Why is this what has to happen? It's to be expected, dangerous individuals won't always back down after a little bit of resistance. Tadara is right, I need to just suck it up. Tadara is inhumane. We shouldn't listen to what he says, it would make us look like monsters.'

Over and over, similar conflicting statements scrolled throughout Ito's mind. Though a very focused face masked the jumbled mess in his head. Once they reach the vicinity of the settlement, Tadara speaks up with a plan of action. Surprising enough, it didn't seem too bad. No hostiles within the town, just calm the citizens and help with whatever they need help with. Finally! A bright side to this dismal mission. Not too bad either! No fighting or anything. Ito would quickly holster his tekken before dashing through the entrance to the settlement.

"Iwagakure Shinobi on the scene! My name is Ito Kotoshura! Please ask me to help with anything and I will try my best!" With this, Ito walks up to a group of 3 villagers sitting against a building with signs of burning and damp buckets. Crouching down in front of them, he would speak up while looking over their bodies to see any injuries. "Are you guys alright? Would you like any emergency provisions? Just say the word and I will go collect them." He would continue on with similar actions to this as he entered deeper into the settlement further and further.

Atsu doesn't entirely trust Tadara, but even with him keeping an eye on his "superior officer", at least as much as possible while travelling to the small village, he isn't able to notice any of the bees leaving him for reconnaissance. He frowns a bit when Tadara instructs him and his brother to go right away to the village to announce them as well as to calm the civilians and assist them with any emergencies. It almost certainly didn't sound much like Tadara's earlier orders to use their maximum power to annihilate the bandits, and he knew for a fact that Tadara's statement of how his arguments had been "taken into consideration" meant that the arguments were completely dismissed. Atsu takes a single moment to give Tadara an open glare before giving a quick final statement.

"Harm them only if you seriously consider risking the failure of this mission; bandits retaliate not through themselves, but through their families. Remember, bandits are civilians, and ninja have become missing nin from betraying civilians, too."

With that advice given, Atsu follows immediately after his brother into the village to help announce their arrival and help them, while also taking the time to gather information on the bandits and where they came from. Atsu might not have been as naive as Ito, but he wasn't nearly as heartless as Tadara; he hated being the bridge between both. In any case, these dark thoughts are gone from his head when he reaches the village, introducing himself in much the same manner as his twin brother.

"My name is Atsu Kotoshura! With us is Tadara, Chuunin of Iwagakure! We're here to help with the bandit problems!"

Atsu quickly runs through the village, but finds little that is an actual emergency. The only major issues he sees are that the village has little in the way of natural defenses, and little more than a few walls made of wooden spikes around the village to dissuade approach from more than a few entrances. With little to help with, the 15 minutes are quickly up, so he makes his way back to the meet-up point with Tadara.

"Ito! Time's up, they'll be fine for now!"

Tadara would keep the village within his range of surveillance. Keeping an eye on the main objective with one bee while he investigated the enemy movements. They weren't difficult to track after all. A series of boot prints here and there and even the signs of someone punching a tree. It appeared they were not only incapable of conquering a small village but that they were aggravated by this too. Truth be told he wouldn't have to go more than a hundred meters into the woods before they were within his range. Six hundred meters from the village they had paused to regroup. He would move forward another two dozen meters before stopping in a tree. Placing a bee to watch his surroundings while simultaneously taking a birds eye view over the enemy group. All of them were armed and only a couple had light injuries from some arrows. So at the very least the village was armed with hunting gear. So they had been held off by a ranged assault before. No dead among them though. It hardly mattered though. He could eliminate them all right there if he wished. However these two seemed more likely to give details in a report he didn't care for if he did. Remain incapable in appearance to blend in.

He would count two dozen men and women all armed. Reading their lips for a few minutes was enough to tell him they intended to slaughter everyone for that arrow volley. They intended to rush the village from the tree line as quietly as they could at night before cutting them all up in a variety of graphic ways. Some more descriptive and unethical than others. He always wondered what the fascination regarding things being shoved up the anus was. Still he would turn after around ten minutes of observing them before returning to the meeting point. Taking note of the twins as he stood waiting. He would glance over the village to see what kind of preparations they were making for a second wave. Little more than eyes on the treeline by the look of it. They would be blind come the night an then they would die. Tadara would see that the issue was handled well before then. Still he would speak up once more if the twins approached him.

"The enemy position has been located. Two dozen enemy combatants. All armed with mostly knives or kunai. From my observation they don't have intentions to move until the cover of night. We have at least an hour before that allotted time for preparation is up. However I do not calculate waiting for them to move as a viable option. Do either of you have any large scale jutsu of any sort or are you both single target specialists?"

Regrouping with the other two as planned, Ito stands awaiting the update that Tadara had for them. This update including an exact amount of enemies, along with a bit of their status and their plan for sundown. Ito takes a deep breath before looking him in his eyes to see his complete intentions. Through it all, he did agree with the choice of pushing out of the settlement before they reenter. It was around this time that Tadara asks the twins if either of them had any large scale jutsu to use on a large group of individuals. This makes Ito think and come to the realization that he does only have a bit of specific target techniques. Thinking more just in case he could remember one that he read before but didn't work on during training that he could possible pull off in this situation.

"Well, I don't have any that I have worked on previously, but one that I have planned on working... one that I have seen in action before as well. Tearing Earth Turning Palm. Could work to trap a decent bit of them maybe?"

Ito would stand and await some kind of response. As long as the order and choice isn't to end any kind of life, that choice would be good with him. Ito turns to Atsu to see his response as well and waits for his own suggestion.

Atsu listens intently to the report from Tadara of two dozen enemy combatants; 24 was quite a lot, but from the sound of what happened at the small village, none of them used any ninjutsu, so this should actually be a cake walk. He turns to look at his brother as he suggests utilizing a fairly simple Doton technique, one that he'd thought of training, but hadn't actually done so yet. Maybe after this mission, they would make use of the training field to get their repertoire of ninjutsu higher. However, there was one other technique that he had been considering, and he looks to Tadara as he makes his own strategic observation.

"What we use depends on how closely they're grouped up. Tearing Earth Turning Palm only has a maximum range of 30 meters, so unless you can find a way to improve its range, that likely won't catch them all. But..."

At this point, Atsu simply shrugs before deciding that he might as well give another option.

"I'll use the Sticky Earth Drop technique. Its maximum range is greater than Tearing Earth Turning Palm by more than half. It still might not be large enough to capture all 24 unless they're grouped closely together, but I feel like they could be funneled into the technique if they're guided towards it. As it is, we're a bit unlucky; this close to their strike time, they're antsy and nervous, highly alert. Even now, they're too eager to take head-on, but maybe we can use their eagerness to our advantage. A good loud explosion should get a majority of them to come running; the ones that stay behind are likely to group up, and the ones that go to investigate is probably going to be the larger force. Splitting them up decreases their combat effectiveness; even if they don't split up and leave the smaller force behind, they'll be concentrating on getting to a singular point instead of naturally spreading out to have their own spaces, making them group up much more tightly. In any case, I'm going to be the one that's better at large scale ninjutsu, and I can utilize Earth Techniques best."

Beyond this, Atsu doesn't give any direct suggestions or orders, and instead looks at Tadara, waiting for him to make use of these ideas, as one should when outranked. He might tease Tadara, but he recognizes that the Chuunin is the one currently in charge of the mission and the only one of the three that can actually issue orders.

Tadara would listen to both of them. Still focused on their capture techniques more so than elimination. They were soft and naïve in his opinion but different experiences and lifestyles could promote different opinions even given the active laws and current situation. He wasn't interested in arguing however. These two would be more useful if they were not involved in the full extent of the plan. So for now he would stand there virtually motionless. Only those empty eyes switching between the two. The more timid of the two would suggest they have a medium scale capture jutsu but one they hadn't really practiced. The outcome for that could prove unreliable. They would be set to plan b. Their sibling however had a larger scale capture field technique. He would let his empty dark eyes shift to them as he blinked slowly. So there was a better plan available. Plan A it was. For now he would turn his head. They were just outside the village but he preferred not to interact with the enemy too close. There was a good clearing on the other side of the treeline between the village and the enemy. The tree line would break line of sight from the villagers. The clearing would be a good spot for an ambush.

"Very well. In this situation I would not leave grouping to chance. There is an ambush space available on the other side of that treeline. A fifty meter clearing approximately that they would cross. The tree line keeps the civilians out of play while the enemy will be in plain sight. I will have you two hide among the trees in wait. I will herd the enemy into position for more effective use of Atsu's sticky earth drop technique. Ito your technique isn't refined for active field use as of yet so you will be back up for anyone who manages to escape the technique. We won't be waiting for nightfall or for them to fully recover. They will be alarmed...panicked and herded together so do not miss. Move into position and remain hidden for as long as possible. Move out."

All of it was stated in a plain voice. He held no excitement or reservations about the plan. Instead he would turn and move out himself. Heading back to the enemy encampment. Keeping an eye on them with his bees. He was watching them now with interest before circling around to a position out of their path. Off to the right by a few dozen meters and hidden behind a tree. Quietly he would focus his chakra as he placed his back to a tree. If anyone had been close enough they would hear the air fill with the echo of loud buzzing noises. For herding purposes he would hold out his hands as a thousand bees burst from his clothing. Out from his neckline and sleeves and ankles. A thousand bees would fill the air and surge as a mass to the enemy. Sounds of confusion would echo from the camp as the cloud descended upon them. He could kill them all now with that but for now he would only use them to inject their toxins and reduce the enemy effectiveness while herding them in a group. Their coordination would drop to E as they stumbled along and their perception to D. A couple bursts of jutsu would be noted as the fire element was attempted to be put into play but it was weak and slow. In moments the entire group was herded into the clearing. Stumbling along and shouting in panic as they were directed into the ambush. As soon as either of the twins would appear to utilize a jutsu the cloud of bees would skyrocket a hundred meters straight up at A rank speed. Clearing the effective radius and then some.

As the plan had been conjured and decided, Ito didn't have anything to add, as he definitely couldn't think of anything truly large-scale. This made him feel like he needed more training for many more instances to come. With that, he followed Tadara out to where he assumed was the enemy encampment that was spotted and confirmed. On the way, he looked at all the citizens that they passed, noticing that none of them were hurt yet. Thankfully, this means they don't have to use any excessive force unless the criminals don't stop their futile attempt upon the settlement. Continuing on further, out of the settlement and into a section of forest, they begin moving through the trees to stay out of the enemies' line of sight. Stopping about 50m away, Ito would position himself directly in between the pathway of the criminals towards the settlement, only staying on a branch of a tree. Activating his sensory technique, he would maintain this all the way until all of the criminals had been dealt with.

He would easily keep an eye Atsu and Tadara, along with sensing their specific chakra signatures, Ito sits in wait. Listening, Feeling, Seeing. All things to add information of the situation. He may not be the strongest at thinking up plans, but he for sure  understands his own intuition and reactions should be enough to figure out if a situation has gone wrong. Even though his sensory only reaches about 25m, he still keeps it up and keeps an especially tight eye on the area the other 2 went, though he figured Atsu wouldn't move too far away considering he is the first line of defense for keeping these criminals from making an early move on the settlement.

__________________________________________________________________________________

OOC:

Atsu hears the screams from the camp, and assumes that's his signal; he moves to stand directly in the center of the clearing that the group of bandits are being corralled to, and he begins making handseals as soon as the first of them appear, knowing he'll need to form them early and quickly in order to get enough made for him to perform the jutsu in time to catch them all without allowing any of them to escape. He sees the terror in their eyes and knows he won't be targeted directly for an attack, although the sight of some Katon techniques instantly enrages him, knowing that there are missing nin included somewhere in their ranks. He finishes the final, second Snake handseal as he counts the 24th person entering the clearing, and a great portal opens up around him, bringing down a huge shot of earthy mud to the area, though Atsu controls the technique enough to cause it to miss only himself, with the flowing mud extending outwards to an even greater distance of 75 meters around him, about 25 meters more than he'd mentioned, since he'd amplified the technique with that final Snake handseal.

The mud rushes out to meet the bandits' already sluggish footsteps, trapping them in place; even with their bringing out knives to try and slash at the mud to free themselves, but the amount of mud created simply instantly replaces the mud they'd just tried to cut out, ensuring that they're unable to get out themselves. Atsu smirks proudly at his accomplishment of trapping them all in his jutsu without killing a single one, though now he looks around at the rest, walking near some of them, but staying at least two meters away from each one to bait out and see which ones were using jutsu. He manages to find the first one, whom he moves around behind to make it difficult for him to stop Atsu when the genin grips the back of his neck and starts draining his chakra, forcibly sucking almost all of it dry but stopping just short of killing.

OOC: Sticky Earth Drop 200/200

Jutsu Used::

CP: 70 - 8 = 62
62 + 5 = 67 from Chakra Drain

Tadara would step out from behind his tree as he opted to watch the technique in play. Plan B never had to come into action as plan A was so ultimately successful. He was familiar with the technique himself. Though the range on it had increased by another fifty percent on average. So this one had opted to train their focused amplification technique to doton. Even now they would blatantly approach the armed group. Trapped in their mud as they tracked down each katon user. Forcing the chakra out of them as Tadara would calmly and quietly approach himself. His empty black gaze taking in the men all panicked and trapped before them. Class A offenders simply from the act of aggression towards other citizens. Banditry was a death sentence in most cases. Any court would either imprison them for life or execute them. At least in Iwa. Class A offenses held serious consequences. Resulting in death less often than the class S offenses but enough all the same. Still Tadara made no move yet. Letting the more up front of the two twins do as they please until they were done. The enemy was captured and those capable of using chakra were dealt with.

Still Tadara would wait until a couple more bursts of flames erupted and were evaded. The poison had done its work and even if they could spout off ninjutsu they would not be fast or accurate. In that time though they could have ended the mission. Instead Tadara would wait until Atsu was finished. Waiting for them to exit the strike zone. Speaking to them and their brother assuming they would come join them.

"Effective. The use of your capture jutsu held a one hundred percent capture rate. Expanding its range was a good call. However Atsu, Ito's file has them down as a sensor nin. Utilizing them to locate those with chakra would have been more effective and less risk prone. Consider utilizing them in the future. As for where we stand now...there are a considerable amount of enemy units here. Though temporarily disabled we are too far from the village to arrange transportation in a timely manner. Any time spent attempting this endangers the mission and the members of this team. These class A offenders are active combatants. I have seen evidence of their hostile and terroristic plans. As such I pass down the ruling of death."

Despite the threats against him and the twins personal view on the matter he did not seem to care. For him this was a justified line of thought. As soon as he finished speaking it would be a sound that filled the air around them. A loud buzzing noise echoed across the clearing as the bees came down on the heads of the enemies. Screams echoed for mere moments before it was evident that having their mouths and eyes open was a terrible idea. A thousand bees fell upon the trapped enemy before them. Every last one of them were torn apart sting by sting hundreds of times a second as they were ground down starting at the face and moving into the brain. Through the eyes or the mouth were the easiest paths to take. In moments screams turned to gurgles of pain before the bodies slumped into the mud one after the other. Not even the slightest chance of survival as gallons of blood mixed with the mud. Turning it into a thick...sickly red color as Tadara simply stood there. Watching them die and ensuring that they all did. Once the bees moving at A rank speed were upon them there would be no way to remove them without hitting the enemy too. All of which would be dead in under ten seconds.

Once declaration of all of the enemy targets have been apprehended and clarification was given by Tadara, Ito returns to the other two with the captured individuals. Looking at the lot of them, seeing some of them with light injuries and some with a couple of arrow wounds, considering the state of the settlement itself, it seems like they were the ones to lose the fight from the beginning. This made Ito glad that they were able to capture all of them without much hassle. It was around this time that Tadara would begin to speak to the twins about the situation. He mentions the sensory ability of Ito's and about it could have been better used to find the bandits as they were. This statement made sense as sensory is a very useful ability to have especially with multiple targets.

Sadly, woven into the statement of truths, so was the law of criminals that Tadara clung to without much emotion; at least on the outside. Ito never agreed with these harsh standards, even when they seem to be the more efficient for certain situations. When Tadara exacted his 'punishment' to the bandits, Ito would turn away and look deeper into the trees surrounding them. Anything to distract himself from the cruel reality of the current situation. Not much he can do to stop it either since Tadara is the leader of this mission and he is indeed following the laws of Iwagakure. Not to mention, it would be very difficult to transport all of these individuals to a prison. After everything is completed, Ito would stand leaning against a tree about 10m away from the corpses and his teammates. Deep in his mind, he was slowly coming to terms with the times that he was born into, as such things seem to be unavoidable in most circumstances. Needless to say, this doesn't change the fact that he will do his best to avoid similar outcomes such as the one before him currently, but he does have to come to terms with the fact that sometimes it is unavoidable.

"I assume that this is all of them? Does that mark the end of our mission?"

Atsu nods slowly as Tadara mentions how his twin brother's sensory techniques would have been helpful in locating the ninja among the civilian bandits. There was some truth in this statement. But then he frowns as Tadara also mentions that it would take too long and require too much work to get the bandits out to Iwagakure for a proper sentencing directly from the Tsuchikage, or for an order from the Tsuchikage herself to exact punishment on the few missing nin among them as well as the civilian bandits. He wonders what Tadara is up to when he states that he himself is passing down a ruling of death.

Atsu's eyes go wide, but by the time he turns to try and help the bandits escape from the mud he himself had created, almost all of them are already stung too much by the bees for them to survive the poison coursing through their bodies, even before their screams have stopped echoing around the clearing they'd used to trap them. Unlike his twin, Atsu is unable to tear his eyes away from the carnage, until he turns to glare at Tadara with murderous intent, his fists shaking.

"Oh? I had no idea you were now the Tsuchikage. It's good to know that we have a Tsuchikage that murders civilians as well as enemy combatants."

He leans in close to Tadara, pointing out the field of upright, but limp corpses in mud, like so many wilting flowers in a garden of neglect.

"Look on them without remorse then, Tadara. I swear on my mother's name and my father's own grave that your end will be even more gruesome, when that time comes."

With that, Atsu picks up a handful of the mud, seeping with some of that blood from the bandits' seeping sounds, and splashes it across Tadara's chest on his way past the Chuunin, before he goes to stand next to his twin, leading him back towards Iwagakure.

OOC: Attempt exit thread

Tadara would not insist either of them watch or argue further against them. The idea of arguing with someone too set in their opinion to listen was too close to the definition of insanity. Not to mention it was how most people reacted to frustration after a time. Usually turning to anger and eventually violence. Of which one of the twins had made clear was the go to emotion for them. They were prideful but he supposed if he had that emotion he would be considered that too. So he would remain quiet as he allowed them time to process. He saw the one turning away before inquiring if that marked the end of the mission quietly. They had not been utilized to their full potential but they had possibly learned some harsh facts. He wondered about the psychological effects of being tossed into the deep end. People reacted differently based on their own personal history and ethical values he had found. Their own values were high so perhaps this would be difficult for them to surpass. He wouldn't rate them very highly in open warfare effectiveness though their techniques put them higher than the average civilian. Ito could improve if they wished to though.

However his attention shifted to Atsu. Once more making strange statements. In the field the commanding officer made decisions. It was expected of them. Still they were class A criminals at this point. Calling them civilians seemed to deny they had committed the crimes. He had a small towns worth of witnesses that would be relieved to find their attackers dealt with. Still he saw the mud and blood and considered moving to the side. However dodging the ineffective attack would only serve to escalate the emotions of Atsu. He felt it smack against him before sliding down. Leaving a few stains on his clothes before his empty black eyes regarded it and the one who threw it. How odd that they would swear such things on their mother and the dead. The dead could not be leveraged if the one it was being leveraged against knew they were in fact dead. The mother however...would she be happy to know that she was on the line over a thinly veiled death threat? For a moment he considered making Atsu an enemy as well. However their actions would reflect in a report. Beyond that he would leave them be for now. Instead only answer Ito while his blank eyes watched Atsu.

"It does mark the end of the mission. Go file your reports to obtain payment. I will clean up here."

With that Tadara would utilize the bees to wipe the board of flesh. Leaving only bones and clothing before gathering them into a pile. This would take time but it was effective. Finally with it all in a pile he would utilize the body elimination technique. Blue flames burning the bones to ashes as was appropriate for at least the missing nin and his role. Only once that was finished would he return to the village himself to file a details multipage report of the entire encounter. Leaving none of his own or the others actions out. He did not care if the village sided with Atsu's opinion or his own. He was within the boundaries of their laws. Still he would collect his pay. Funds for his future expansion. Though he would send an invoice for the glasses and dry cleaning to the twins. Not expecting them to pay it but sending it all the same.

exit thread
9 x 15 = 135 exp