Jashin Hunt / Book Recovery

[spudman]

The robed figure falters as Higure's genjutsu lands and seems to work. But with a sudden burst of energy the necromancer recovers and lifts an accusing finger to the ninja.

"Impudence! I am a master of the grave and you think you can send me to it!
DIE!" the necromancer shouts. His arm pulsates and stretches until a tendril bursts forth from the arm, breaking it apart in a gory mess. The tendril whips toward Higure in an effort to slice him in half.

--

As we rejoin Yamato, it is clear that at some point he summoned Ichi once again, because some familiar looking mook swordsmen are moving through the streets to protect any nearby civilians. Yamato himself continues to whittle down the numbers of the undead with blade and wind. He leaps past one, cutting through its head and lands near two others. He ducks down and spins toward one. Slicing upward he cuts the zombie in half, and with a spin of the wrist directs the wakizashi in the opposite direction and in the eye of the other one.

[Phht]

"What. The. Hell." Higure stares for a moment at the guy's arm before it moves to attack him. He quickly substitutes some inanimate object on the roof for himself and reappears on the same roof as the necromancer. He pulls out two kunai with one hand while the other withdraws two tags from a pouch. A brief look confirms that they're arc tags and he attaches them to the kunai.

Higure activates the tags as he throws the kunai at the roof next to the man's legs, causing a self-sustaining arc of electricity to form between the two kunai. He moves position to the corner opposite the necromancer and crouches down. Withdrawing another kunai and a tightly wound scroll, he starts unrolling the scroll, revealing a repeating seal two inches wide in the center of the scroll repeating from the start of the scroll out of sight in the still wound section. He cuts 4 sections off, trimming two sections of part of their bottom, and arranges the sections to form a door shape on the rooftop with the repeating seals. He stows the scroll remaining, and withdraws a remote det tag that he attaches to the edge of one seal before jumping clear of the spot and taking in the situation

[The (anti-personnel) electricity arc will continue between the two tags until something blocks the path, such as a necromancer's legs, at which point the chakra in the tags completely discharges as electricity into whatever blocked the path. Higure uses the B-rank tag whenever possible. The other stuff is the equivalent to strip/linear shaped charges with the visible seals as the 'back' of the charge (so the blast mostly goes the other direction). C-rank Breach demolition tag. It's in case he needs to put Plan B into effect, though I guess he's had to push it back to Plan C or D because the rat complained. ]

[spudman]

The necromancer takes a step back in reaction to the landing kunai and seals, which is enough for a leg to break the electrical circuit. Electricity arcs in and out of the necromancer. By the end of it he is looking a little crispy around the edges with a bit of smoke rising from him. It has clearly done at least some damage, but he's still up and about. "Foolish ninja, I do not suffer the frailties of mortal flesh. I am beyond it. Now be a good boy and die so I can assimilate you and add your strength to my own."

The necromancer's jaw unhinges...extending into a maw of sharp teeth that drip with malice. Instead of forming a tentacle his other arm twists into a powerful claw. The transformation continues to the rest of him. The twelve foot monstrosity the necromancer is now provides a good indication of what he meant by "assimilating".

Ryoushi turns to Higure. "Kid, at this point I support dismemberment, incineration, whatever. Still, try to get him into the courtyard below. Looks like it's clear of civilians now. Heads up." he nods back toward the necromancer.

The beast roars and leaps toward Higure in an effort to grab the leaf shinobi.

--

The transformed Ichi clones continue to move and protect civilians. Multiple Yamato's can be seen cutting zombies apart with swords in hand, making the work faster. One of them, likely the original, spares an instant to glance at the building where the necromancer and Higure are doing battle. He gets back to work, however. He was confident the younger ninja would do fine, and Ryoushi was there in case anything went wrong.

oog: I dunno...I've just had the Resident Evil games on the brain, that explains the necromancer transforming and such.

meh...I just noticed I havn't done a Westen style narration in a while. It just hasn't felt right. Maybe when the fight's over.

[MEKristian]

Tch... bad feeling; I should be down there help.... *grits teeth*

(*has nothing to do, so waits for the other two to finish*)

[Phht]

[I'll try to get a post out later tonight involving real-me, but I have a Cunning Plan to get MEK into the fight that I can go ahead and do now.

Oh, and what kind of building is the schmuck on? Warehouse-ish, or residential/commercial? And how many stories tall is it? I'm pondering different methods to move the guy from the roof to the ground, and it'd depend on what kind of building it is.]

The KB glances over to Shiki. "If you really want to get in the fight, we could bundle him up and move him into town to the inn near where you found us. I'd stay there with him and the civilians to keep an eye on his condition, and you can go and join in the mayhem."

[MEKristian]

But that would involve trying to make it through a swatch of zombies, without having either of you two harmed at all. I don't wanna listen to the old man rant at me for "failing to complete mission objectives" or whatever.

[spudman]

oog: Meh, warehouse I guess. Make it a big one, a few stories high.

Edit: You know...Kamisori has a certain item on his person that Yamato gave him that might be useful. An item that can *cough* summon someone that can look after our ailing demon slayer, perhaps?

[MEKristian]

(One that Shiki, at least, can't use.)

[Phht]

[That one or two shot summoning scroll for rats? Also, thinking about it, him coming after me ruined my demolition ideas. Which means this'll be shorter than I originally anticipated. :(

I would've posted sooner, but Mass Effect was on sale for 9.99 on Steam... I put 11.7 hours into it the day it finished downloading to my computer. ... and then several hours today while working on this post. ]

"Why can't I get a relatively normal mission nowadays?" He hits the detonator seal for the demolition tags, causing a small explosion behind him followed by the sound of a roof section and other bits making their way to the floor. He darts for the new skylight and drops in as the necromancer leaps for him.

"Ryoushi, check for anyone hiding in here and see about getting them clear. Since he's apparently chasing us, no time for anything fancy. I'm going to slap down four B-rank demolition tags toward the corners and just hope they aren't storing explosive materials in here." He slaps up four arc tags covering the drop down from the hole and takes off into the warehouse to set the demolition tags.

--

"Hey, Shiki-san. Didn't Yamato hand him a scroll or something to summon a rat tomorrow? Couldn't you use the scroll and leave the rat here wth me?"

[MEKristian]

No. My chakra doesn't react well with seals; especially summoning ones. So I can't do a thing with those scrolls.

[spudman]

Higure might hear Ryoushi mutter something along the lines of "young people..." before he shunshins off to a different part of the warehouse.

The transformed necromancer is surprisingly fast, but still can't match the speed of a ninja, which allows Higure to stay out of the monster's grasp. Higure taking time to set demolition tags make for some close encounters, though. Once Higure is done setting the tags Ryoushi appears once again.

"Found one guy locked in an office, got him out. It's all clear now."

[Phht]

"Good. I finished setting the tags so we should clear out before he catches up." Higure body flickers himself and the summon out to the far side of the courtyard. "Boss! Creepy leader shrugged off Plan A and turned into an ugly bugger, so I put Plan B into effect!"

He activates the detonator tag, causing the back and front sections of the warehouse to crumple outward with sections breaking loose to fall several feet away. Remaining upper wall sections topple inward as the roof ends begin lifting up with the first set, but they begin to sag downward when the last set goes off in the middle section of the building. The roof breaks in half across the width of the center from opposing forces and crashes into the burning remains of the warehouse along with the side walls of the middle section.

He watches the ruins with a happy smile. "And yes, I made sure civilians were out of the building before I made it go boom."

[spudman]

"You had WAY too much fun with that..." Yamato lifts his wakizashi and stabs behind his left side, piercing a zombie that was reaching towards him through the middle of its forehead. He pulls the sword back out and the zed drops.

"That's it for undead in the area, but we need to make sure the one who was controlling them is really dead."

As if being summoned by that last statement, a large chunk of wall is pushed up and away from the rest of the rubble, revealing the necromancer. Even in its transformed state, it's clear the monster is seriously wounded. The black blood and pus oozing from various wounds and the missing arm are good indicators of that.

It gives off a pained, accusatory growl as it stumbles toward Higure.

"If you want to finish it try to keep the body intact." Yamato remarks.

[Phht]

Higure watches the monster before shaking his head. "Nah, I've had enough fun for today, and you couldn't have gotten much of a workout from the cannon fodder. He's all yours. One arm was a claw and the other involved tentacle like tendrils. So whichever one he still has, something to watch for."

He hopped back, both to keep some distance between the creature and him, and to give his teammate some room.

[spudman]

"Give me weights for a good workout, this is just trash cleanup." Yamato moves to engage the former necromancer. It swings its claw in an attempt to strike at him but its injuries make it barely more combat effective than one of the recently dispatched zombies. This means that Yamato has no difficulty avoiding it. A stab to the heart and the creature is down, only for it to twitch and try to get up again.

*tch*

As it struggles, Yamato cuts off the head. The body and head convulse a bit more and then remain still, finally.

Now is the time that what passes for the local militia choose to arrive, armed mostly with swords that could be described as being in adequate condition.

"What happened here?" a large middle-aged man, apparently the leader, asks.

"I assume you're in charge of these men?" Yamato asks. The man nods. "From what I can see a necromancer has been in your town, gathering victims and raising an army for some time. That's been dealt with, but maybe you can explain things a bit more. Do you recognize him?" Yamato holds up the necromancer's head by the hair. Though the jaw is clearly no longer human the upper part of the face still retains features of the man it formerly was.

The man pales a bit. "I...ugh...think that's Saotome Saito. He's...was...a big landowner round here. Owned and ran one of the bigger mines in the mountain, son of a *#$%^..." he spits.

'Concealing the disappearances of multiple people takes skill and effort. More so than most can provide working on their own. In cases like this there's usually more than one culprit, and at this point just about anyone else in town might be involved. That's why undercover investigation is best to start with so as to not alert the targets someone has noticed their activities.

But when things go to hell like this, it's time for some direct application of rank and authority.'

Yamato reveals a Konoha hitai-ite. "My name is Yamato, Jounin of Konohagakure. This town is on quarantine until further notice. I'm expecting the aid of you and your men in enforcing that for the time being."

"Um, okay." the man replies, not willing to test Yamato with all the corpses around.

Even if any, or all of this militia are in on it, they can't really hide things now, anyway.

Yamato turns toward Higure and the summoned rats, Ichi and Ryoushi, that are present. "Ichi, I want you to go and relay what's happened here to Hokage-sama. Tell her we need containment and forensic teams here as soon as possible. Just make some more clones before you go, help keep an eye on things."

"Right." Ichi makes a couple hundred more of himself. After the shadow clones appear and move throughout the town the original disappears in a cloud of smoke, returning to wherever he was summoned from.

"Yuuhi, go and check on the client. Ryoushi, go with him in case more help needs to be summoned."

Ryoushi nods and will follow Higure towards where Shiki and Kamisori are.

Yamato once again turns to the leader of the milita.

"What's your name?"

"Gin."

"Gin-san, I'll need to speak to the mayor."

oog: Well, things are wrapping up, I guess. Anything anyone else wants to add? Higure, Shiki, and Higure-clone could do some more interacting with Kamisori getting treated and all that, then doing some more stuff in town if you really want to. Or we could just move things right to where reinforcments arrive and house is cleaned so to speak.

[MEKristian]

(I've got nothing. Just waiting for Phht's character to show up so I can do something...)

[Phht]

[I'd say that it'd be up to MEK either way, since his guy got sidelined for the "majority" of the mission due to bad luck.]

Higure tosses off a lazy salute and disappears over the roofs back to the area his kage bunshin left his sight at earlier. Once there, he starts heading out the direction he saw the duo go and dispels his KB once he exits the town. He alters his path slightly after assimilating the memories and quickly arrives at the cave.

"Yo. Situation in town appears to be dealt with. Included the leader of the group turning into a fairly ugly monster that barely survived me blowing up the building it was in." Higure does a brief check over Kamisori to ensure nothing changed in the time since his clone was dispelled. Once that's complete, he removes his flak jacket and headband from his bag and puts them on.

[spudman]

oog: Keep in mind Ryoushi is there to help keep an eye on Kamisori or provide medevac so if you both want to do something the demon slayer won't be alone.

[MEKristian]

Finally. Let's head home; this whole trip has been a disaster.

[Phht]

[Left 4 Dead 2 came out Tuesday early morning (or really late Monday evening, depending on what side of the US you're on), and I've been sucked into it since then. Apologies for delays. I guess it's probably best to skip the week or whatever and pick up at the end of clean up so those of us with faster posting paces can get on to new missions.]

"Well, heading back may be a bit of an issue. Boss declared a quarantine on the town and sent a request for forensic and containment teams. Client appears to be at least stable, so I'll prep him for moving into the village because I don't think we're going anywhere for a while." Higure readies Kamisori and stands up with him.

[MEKristian]

Tch. Once again he overreacts. Whatever; I don't have time to deal with him trying to talk my ear off, so I'll comply this time...

[spudman]

oog: overreact again? When was the first time?

ig: *One week later*

The containment and forensic teams took just over a day to arrive at full speed (and taking shortcuts). The quarantine remained as they gathered bodies for analysis, identification, and to be processed for future study for the ones not claimed. The body of the necromancer fell under the latter. Saotome's home and property was also investigated by the forensic team for any evidence (especially signs of accomplices) or other material that ought to be gathered.

The previous day the medical ninja on the containment teams had finally determined that there was no risk of any infection spreading. The undead in this case were of the purely mystical sort. Nishiyori was glad he took the precautions anyway. Besides the chewing out he would have received if he didn't, with the quarantine in effect it was much easier for the teams to maintain order. This aided Yamato's group and the forensic team in uncovering several of Saotome's co-conspirators, including the local coroner and the mayor's aide. They would be delivered to the capital for judgement and punishment for the scope and severity of their crimes.

By last night the shock of recent events had died down and lost loved ones among the townspeople had already been mourned. A small "thank you" celebration was held for the ninja and the lifting of the quarantine that night helped raise spirits even further.

Today the quarantine was lifted officially and the teams were packing things up. The lab coats down in the Research division of ANBU would certainly have fun with the specimens and notes that were gathered in Sentetsu.

As for the demon slayer Kamisori, he was provided treatment at the local hospital until the containment teams arrived. Kamisori had been transported back to Konoha via slug summon earlier in the day. He was still ill but his condition stable.

At the moment Yamato (back in Jounin uniform) can be seen talking to a comely kunoichi with silver hair and eyes of the same color, though of a shade that they likely possess the Byakugan. She wears a black women's cut trench coat, black pants, and a lavender shirt. Higure at least, since he regularly works with Sugiura Ayumu (Trapmaster), may recognize her as his comrade's former teammate, Namikaze Tsukiko.*

Yamato was pleasantly surprised to find out his former student was assigned to lead the forensic team sent. But there was a job to be done so there was little time for pleasantries or small talk during the week. Her attention to detail and ability to analyze a scene were extremely helpful when going over Saotome's property. It was only now, as things in Sentetsu were finally returning to normalcy, the teams packed up, and their work finished that the two spoke casually for a significant length of time. Considering the "need to know" nature of the lengthy missions they were on before this one, however, the catching up was rather general.

Their conversation finishes and Yamato walks toward Higure and Shiki. With his back facing his former student he fails to catch the extra glance she stole before turning back around to her own duties.

"The other teams are moving out. I assume you're both ready as well?"


*oog: Higure may have met Tsukiko before today (through Ayumu, so it depends on how close they are, which I don't know), but not Nishiyori hence why he didn't recognize him before. Or Ayumu may have talked about his former teammates and Higure could recognize her that way. If he does at all.

The reason Higure didn't recognize "Yamato" as Nishiyori before is because he would have only had a brief description or two from Ayumu, probably not enough to overcome the fake name. The lightswitch of recognition may click now, I'll leave that to you Phht.

[MEKristian]

*mutters something about having been ready this whole time*

(Shiki's talking about the mission they went on before, but is probably blowing it out of proportion.)

[Phht]

[Yamato's ANBU. Overreacting is part of the job description. Though they luckily got the "dying like bitches to high level opponents" removed from the job description at some point. ;)

Also, did anyone else notice that our trio is absolutely frightening in the Nin/Gen/Tai area? Shiki is S-rank Nin, Yuuhi's S-rank Gen, and Nishi's S-rank Tai. All we need to do is bone up on Fuin/Juin/Sougujutsu til we each have an S-rank in one area, and we'll be an unstoppable team! ]

At some point over the week, Higure had finally connected the familiar face to Ayumu's teammate, but hadn't spoke with her much. So as he waited with Shiki for moving out, he pondered what the relationship was between Yamato and her. Co-workers? Friends? Friendly friends? Teacher-student? Noting an extra glace toward his boss's back, he decided on the third option and ended the internal discussion when Yamato spoke.

"Yep. The charm of this place has certainly worn out."

[spudman]

oog: *snrk* Friendly friends...

ig: "Well, it wouldn't go over well with the townspeople if more of their buildings were blown up just to keep you amused." Yamato quips with a sly grin.

Having already received his subordinates' parts of the mission report and with the team packed up and ready, there was nothing else left to do but leave.

"Let's go."

*ninja speed*

And the shinobi teams make their way back to Konoha for debriefing and to await their next mission.

oog: move this over to Hokage tower thread, fast forwarding a day or two?