A Fishing Trip with the Boys! (Group Mission)

"Ugh another day here.. I was certain we’d be summoned back to the Nikkousato by now. I wonder how much longer the Gages would spend deliberating peace amongst our villages.”
A crouched down Kensei thought aloud to himself while perched up high over a large tree branch looking over the lake. He pondered quietly over the intensity of the situation knowing the extent the villages would go to hide any strife or discord among them. He closed his eyes as he sat back back, his bare shoulders pressing against the hard mossy tree bark. The sounds of flapping wings and quaking ducks on the lake below along with the smell and sounds of stilled water had freed him form the negativity of his thoughts, he let out a sigh of relief realizing he had once again been overthinking he situation. “Eh.. The village will do what’s best for themselves at the end of the day. I can’t control what happens… for now.”

He smirked as he ran his hands through his long spiky hair which had reached his lower back by now, pulling apart the string that kept it neatly in place. Shaking his head he allowed his locks of hair to move freely along with the passive breeze, as he picked himself up dusting off his oversized sweats before jumping to the ground below him.
Over the last two weeks spent in the Moon village Kensei had largely kept to himself, with the exception of certain group mission assigned by their Village rep. Although their main assignment demanded they interacted and assisted the Moon village patrons and leaders in order to spark further trade and a sense of unity between the two power house villages, Kensei had been entrusted by the village higher ups with gathering strategic Intel on the Moon village, their village layout, Modus of Operandi, and gauge the moon shinobi strength and unique abilities. He didn’t like espionage but he understood the tentative situation he had inherited upon becoming a shinobi of the Sun. After ensuring the secure transfer of certain information with contacts with the sun he had expected a few days off to kick back and enjoy some sake, but was pulled into yet another task by their Village rep, another cooperative mission with the moon.

“I wonder, is the moon as interested in our intel as we are of theirs?”
He asked to himself, realizing the increasing number of Sun shinobi tasked with participating with Moon squads, with a balanced variation of members. “I assume they want to see us in action as much as we do.”
He sucked his teeth as he imagined the same conversation occurring in two different villages, and the corruption it would lead to, turning his head he spit to the side in disgust. His mind however, shifted to the mission at hand as his eyes gazed across the beams of light ricochetting off of the sky blue lake his dark eyes glistening at the sight. He had placed his small ninja kit and Flak jacket on the floor besides the tree, he grabbed both, placing the jacket over his right shoulder while reaching into the ninja bag, retrieving a jug of sake. uncorking the jug he took a long swig before being interrupted by the sounds of light snoring a few meters away from him, in the direction of another large tree to the left of him. He tapped the tree trunk he had taken shade in, a means of respect for its protection before walking towards the snoring individual. As he reached the tree he knocked quietly against the tree bark, realizing the scruffy individual was no other than his partner Sojiro. Early that day he had received word of his assignment, suspicious disappearances of wandering beast and those that hunted them alike had worried the villagers about the safety of the nearby forest. “Poachers likely” He recalled saying to himself, before burning the mission note prior to actually reading who’d he be teamed up with for this mission. He was satisfied to learn it was Soji who had been called to participate as well…
“Morning, are you planning on catching any fish? Or are you just dreaming of doing so?”

As the sun had rose, so had Ryojin. He went through his morning fumblings, got himself some tea, then soon after was quite literally thrown out of the house by his father. Another mission. They were going fishing. A fishion if you will. This thought had Ryojin snickering about all morning. A Fishion.

He had dressed in standard black clothes with his flak jacket over, headband tied to his waist. He stretched about as he made his way to the lake, greeted the civilians as per usual, even got ignored or scowled at, but it was all fine. He was excited because he was going on yet another mission with the visiting sun shinobi and this time around he had been made aware of exactly who was coming. It would be the two from champion island not long ago. This made him somewhat happy, and he could ask the dark haired shinobi about that girl. Maybe in some way they were related?

He made his way up to the lake side and found the two already present. "Oh am I running a bit late? I must've let the morning go a little too much. Good morning to the both of you, good to see you again." With that he stared at the water. This task was going to be fine. After a moment though he broke his own train of thought. "Are you related to a girl who uses a bow?" He looked at kensei. "You two look kinda similar. I mean you don't have to tell me or anything I guess. I'm sure you all value your intel and secrecy a little more than what I value ours. I hope for cooperation, but under the surface it seems most people don't to be blunt."

“Ah but you failed to save me a plate? I hear the moon is known for their fish and sticks and smelly…”Kensei looked left spotting the Moon Shinobi he had met during his time within the Gekkousato, flashing him a smile he waved him forward with his hands. “Good morning Ryojin, Happy to see you join us. Always good to see a familiar face.” As Ryo spoke he looked him over confused, “looks like me? Bow?” Was there another Uchiha wandering about in the moon? Did he mean the girl he had met not too long ago. He had attempted to keep tabs on all of his clansmen, but the girl along with another had stayed well under his radar. Hearing the name Mikomi, brought his eye brow to a raise as he nodded along with sojiro in agreement to the name. “Ah, Mikomi. Yes I’ve met her not too long ago. You seem to know more about her than her fellow village patron” He teased, with a smirk across his face, intentionally not mentioning the true relationship between him and Mikomi. “I wasn’t aware she wielded a bow. But who knows, I might have one of those faces.” He looked over Ryojin and then Sojiro, he had long avoided speaking about his clansmen, as was the common theme amongst many of their kin, something he had remembered  his parents had hammered into his mind. Without underestimating the shinobi or judging him by his cover,  Ryojin seemed harmless and amicable enough, his mannerism gave off a sense that he was quiet and quirky rather than villainous, but he still could not be too careful. “There are some of us living within the sun that may share certain features. Although I was born and raised there I have spent some time outside of the Nikkousato. I only recently met Mikomi, so perhaps we share a lineage I have yet to discover.” He answered attempting a semblance of the truth without playing his full hand, he needed to learn more of his new partner before they went further. He looked over at Sojiro, hoping he man understood his lack of interest in sharing about his family.

He flashed them another smile to bridge the gap between their conversation before Sojiro spoke up once more, listening closely he looked out over the water and in the direction of the woods behind the lake.
“The lake is our middle point, every path to the woods leads back here. How far can your nose pick up scents Sojiro? Whats the likely hood they used the water to wash or mask their own scents? What do you think Ryojin? Not much to go by but your best guess, are we dealing with some large beast or is this the work of man?”
He turned to face the other two before looking back out across the lake once more, he raised his left hand and pointed to the far side of the lake. “Shall we get to the other side? Soj take point, see if we can pick something up there, if not I guess it’ll be up to finding some physical evidence. Maybe find the hunters main grounds and investigate them further.”

"Hmm? I don't really know her much better. We've only been on one mission together. I was just kind of curious. Anyways." Ryojin had lifted a stick and started drawing in the dirt aimless lines and squiggles. "Father was kinda vague about this one. Any actual clue what our real target is?" Ryojin began to walk forward and as he hit the water he remained above it's surface walking across. "If this is going to be an underwater battle.. I'm at a bit of a disadvantage here. I trust you guys, so i'll be the bait!"

He was thinking too himself. It was easy enough to walk across the surface of the lake. His senses weren't attuned like the beast man's. It may be easiest this time around to rely on these two. He wouldn't be able to fight at full capacity beneath the surface of the water. He was still lacking truly offensive ice jutsu, and his chakra seemed to enjoy flowing a bit more freely than that anyways.

Kensei watched Ryojin closely as the boy drew aimlessly across the dirt, there was something about the boy that made him curious about his upbringing, his father seemingly an important an influential figure in his life. He patted him on the shoulder as the boy stepped onto the water when it had appeared the boys mood had diminished. "Im not asking what your father told you, I want to know what you think? You're our partner today not your father. Your ice will definitely come in handy regardless of train I'm sure of it.. as for underwater battle why would you expect…"

Before he could finish his sentence Sojiro's line caught a tug, which followed Sojiro's tug of war with his catch. At first kensei paid little attention, believing Sojiro to be unfazed by any critters roaming the water. He moved towards the water attempting to cross it before the sound of splashing water forced him to turn around once more, catching the moment in which Sojiro struggled to pull in the fish, and then shockingly was pulled under. In a desperate failed attempt Kensei reached out grabbing hold of Sojiro's foot before it slipped out of his hands. He looked up at Ryojin with widening eyes.
"Off the water Ryo! Theres something there! "

Leaping up to the tree branch above them he scanned the surface of the water for any signs of movement underneath. Spotting a moving shadows near where rejoin stood, Kensei reached into his Ninja bag, grabbing a Kunai with an explosive tag tied to its end, flinging it immediately the explosion tag detonated upon contact with the water, setting off a medium sized explosion and a ripple effect not he surface of the water, as waves crashed and water fell from the initial explosion.

Ryojin watched the beast man, and it took him a moment to realize what was going on. Suddenly, the beast man was dragged into the water What in the.. and then everything began. Instead of leaving the water, Ryojin gave some distance between him and where the kunai was thrown remaining on the water's surface. Though from still being relatively close to the explosion, Ryojin's ears were ringing, but this wasn't enough to stop him.

He quickly dove beneath the surface of the water in order to get a better grasp on the situation, creature and Sojiro included. Definitely a tentacle. Multiple Tentacles. How inconvenient. Ryojin was no taijutsu master. He quickly pulled himself back up to the surface of the water. "We need to flush it out of the water!" Ryojin was dripping wet. It was times like this he cursed having no true weaponry. He lacked kunai and shuriken. Didn't even have a katana.

Kensei's eyes widen as the tentacle emerged from the water and reared the rest of its body from the water. The blue tentacles which had risen from the water had frantically whipped around in the air, crashing against the ground as it pulled itself up. The beast itself had coiled one of its tentacles, before launching, what had appeared to Kensei, as a large rock which would hit and splinter the tree Ken had stood on. At an instant Kensei leaped up into the air as the rock smashed through the tree, rolling about on the ground below before bringing himself back to his feet. His eyes were focused on the water below the beast, for any signs of Sojiro. He understood sojiro was in a tight position, but being the trained shinobi he was, he would be able to hold his breath, at least until the other two could come. up with a plan.
"Ryojin, get back! Can you freeze the water and the tentacles submerged within?"

He called out, in that moment Sojiro's body would fall from where he was held landing not he ground near Kensei, as the tentacles rushed towards his motionless body. Kensei grabbed another Kunai with an explosive tag, launching it towards the middle of the encroaching tentacle with hopes of of shocking the beast to withdraw his attack. On contact the explosion tag detonated causing a large boom and a shriek format he injured beast. Kensei used the commotion to bring Sojiro to his feet, with his arms around his partner he side stepped backwards giving himself extra space between the beats in the water and where they stood. He lowered Sojiro down by another tree a few meters behind the splintered tree, before running towards the Beast once more.
"Over here you ugly squid!"

Ryojin was sent tumbling and into a tree. He let out an audible "Oof!" and it took him a second to stand up and brush himself off. At this point, he formed hand seals and his mist began to spread forth and across the surface of the water. "It only freezes what it touches, so it wouldn't work if it goes under water." He was at this point running forward tower the beast. Another tentacle was swung toward him, but he was quick enough to roll out of the way this time. He didn't have anything sharp yet.

Thankfully, Ryojin was creative. He rushed up the tentacle that had swung toward him and pulled out an explosive note. It didn't take him long to reach the main body and as long as the creature wouldn't retreat to the water, he would tag it onto the creature's main body and continue his run forward. He formed his hand seal and suddenly the note exploded.

""Take that you goopy tentacle freak."

Kensei chuckled stealing a quick glance at Sojiro nodding in agreement before turning to face the beast one more. As he looked over the beast for the best point of attack he noticed the beast in the midst of his shriek of terrors cock back before swinging another tentacle at him, simultaneously another tentacle would emerge form the water and also lunged at him, both tentacles aiming to pinch Ken in between. Kensei let out a grunt as he realized the severity of the moment. Reaching into his bag he came up with another explosive tag tied to a kunai, and another single explosive tag, before launching the Kunai at the monster aiming at the big black eyes, he let the second explosive tag he had grabbed float out of his hand as the tentacles closed in on him.
"Substitution"

He thought out loud as the tentacles crashed against him, a puff of smoke poofed in place of where he once stood and only a split second later Kensei would appear in the air where his Kunai once flew. At the very moment that Kensei would appear the Kunai and explosive tag that had taken his place would be detonated. The second floating explosive tag at this point would have been on the ground adjacent to one of the tentacles, being caught in the initial explosion it would also be donated causing a blast fueled by two explosive tags. In the air Kensei readjusted mid flight landing only a few meters from the beast itself.


"If you freeze the water any tentacle caught underneath will be easy pickings, anything above can't catch us slipping.  Tear those tentacles off and we have little to worry about. Alternatively those big bulgy eyes look vulnerable enough don't you think Ryojin?"

[Chakra: 110/120]

He had managed to be caught by the tentacle and was lobbed to the shore. A rough oof came from him and he panted a bit as the wind had been knocked from him. The incoming tentacle was a problem if it swung again after Ryojin rolled quick to get out of the way, but he was coughing a bit trying to catch his breath from the last impact.

"Stupid Squid!" He was still gasping a bit but had managed to get up again thanks to the explosion, no threat of him being swung at again. This time, he ran forward across the surface of the water. After hand signs, his blue mist would pour from him, but it would still take time to freeze the beast.

Quickly, Ryojin rushed forward running up one of it's closer tentacles again. He had a few more notes left. He managed to evade another couple attempts to grab him and stuck the next one directly to the creature's face. He then turned back and dove into the water before forming the token hand seal and blasting it with yet another direct explosion. This thing just wasn't letting up.

As he fell Kensei retrieved from his satchel another Kunai launching it at the left side of the octopus's, this Kunai, however, had a long wire of basic wire tied to its end about 10 feet long, its spool tucked within Ken's satchel. As the Kunai struck the side of the beast, Kensei swung out of the air narrowly missing the crashing tentacle where he once fell. He landed on the surface of the water to the side of the sea creature, reaching into his bag he realized he had just one more explosive tag left in his arsenal, his last kunai, to evade the tentacled attack. He looked over the aquatic monster for a moment before taking off in full sprint, running circles around the beast. After performing a few hand signs, another Kensei would appear alongside the original running counter clockwise in opposite direction. As the clone and the original encircled the beast a few laps over, the clone began running up one of the remaining tentacles to the right of the beast, while the original kensei climbed the back end of the beast, hoping to get on its head to plant his remaining explosive.

The cries of the beast had almost blown Ken's eardrums as he climbed, the octopus responding to the continuous attacks. It had began to stagger, its wounds beginning to succumb to the toll of each explosion, this fight wouldn't last much longer. Kensei Began to pity the creature as he made his way up, wondering over its state of mind. Was this animal abuse? or was is this the fate of all invasive species, including humans themselves. The beast had been distracted by the rushing clone beneath him, seemingly too hurt and distracted to notice the encroaching shinobi. Once at the top of the octopus, Kensei quickly planted the explosion tag at the back of its head before sliding down the creatures body, in the direction of the Kunai he had left impaled onto beast. Grabbing hold of it, he held himself up by the wire before nudging the Kunai free and falling into he water below. If the Beast did not retreat, he'd need another plan. He would leave the tag undetonated, in hopes he wouldn't have to kill the beast but rather it would yield and return to its underwater sea cavern home.




[Chakra 100/120]
[Clone technique used]

Ryojin had swam straight down to narrowly avoid the incoming grab of yet another tentacle. A quick spiral to the left, then a rapid rush to the surface gasping for air. He himself had one last explosive not as well, but this beast was definitely on it's last leg. That much was clear. He held onto the last explosive note and instead made his way back to the shallow surface. He turned to see the creature wailing and wriggling about itself wounded enough to be at a point just before death. He took in a deep sigh. There was no longer any need to abuse the poor creature.

He looked about to make sure that Sojiro and Ken were both still in tact, and so it appeared that they were. The best wouldn't make it at the rate it was bleeding and this was one of those unfortunate times that he didn't exactly feel like a saint for completing this one. "It really is a shame... but this kind of creature in lake biwan is definitely not a good thing. It's not meant for this fragile ecosystem anyways." Ryojin sat on the beach huffing out of slight exhaustion.