[X] Gather up some of the other Ame jounin eliminating the Iwa scouting teams to wipe out the Iwa jounin decisively. This might mean you'll have to track them down though, since it will take you some time to get the other jounin together and, as far as the chunin knew, the Iwa team will be on the move.
Being a battle junky is one thing, but having a team of people able to take advantage of the opportunity Tsubaki creates is also very important.
One of the opportunities is being able to overwhelm them enough to capture them so they can be interrogated, or as usage as a hostage. Tsubaki beating them doesn't matter if there isn't someone capable of either interrogating them or taking them somewhere they could be.
The other opportunity is eliminating or forcing back the jounin and closing the gap. If we can push back the jounin it means we can use this point as an ambush point against all the scouting teams as they exfiltrate with their information, thus accomplishing the elimination of the scouting teams another way. If we can eliminate the jounin we could even capture or kill new teams as they arrive to come through before Iwa command realises, as well as the above.
[X] Gather up some of the other Ame jounin eliminating the Iwa scouting teams to wipe out the Iwa jounin decisively. This might mean you'll have to track them down though, since it will take you some time to get the other jounin together and, as far as the chunin knew, the Iwa team will be on the move.
[X] Gather up some of the other Ame jounin eliminating the Iwa scouting teams to wipe out the Iwa jounin decisively. This might mean you'll have to track them down though, since it will take you some time to get the other jounin together and, as far as the chunin knew, the Iwa team will be on the move.
[X] Gather up some of the other Ame jounin eliminating the Iwa scouting teams to wipe out the Iwa jounin decisively. This might mean you'll have to track them down though, since it will take you some time to get the other jounin together and, as far as the chunin knew, the Iwa team will be on the move.
[X] Gather up some of the other Ame jounin eliminating the Iwa scouting teams to wipe out the Iwa jounin decisively. This might mean you'll have to track them down though, since it will take you some time to get the other jounin together and, as far as the chunin knew, the Iwa team will be on the move.
[X] Approach the team of Iwa jounin on your own. Not necessarily to assault them, but to scout them out. You will attack them if you think you can deal with them on your own though.
Having a team is for fodder-nin and side characters. The real MCs fight alone
[X] Approach the team of Iwa jounin on your own. Not necessarily to assault them, but to scout them out. You will attack them if you think you can deal with them on your own though.
[X] Gather up some of the other Ame jounin eliminating the Iwa scouting teams to wipe out the Iwa jounin decisively. This might mean you'll have to track them down though, since it will take you some time to get the other jounin together and, as far as the chunin knew, the Iwa team will be on the move.
[X] Approach the team of Iwa jounin on your own. Not necessarily to assault them, but to scout them out. You will attack them if you think you can deal with them on your own though.
[X] Gather up some of the other Ame jounin eliminating the Iwa scouting teams to wipe out the Iwa jounin decisively. This might mean you'll have to track them down though, since it will take you some time to get the other jounin together and, as far as the chunin knew, the Iwa team will be on the move.
While it is technically true that a single scout is less likely to be spotted than a group, we all know that unless its an obviously unwinnable fight, Tsubaki scouting means Tsubaki is going to try and take on all of them. I doubt she can do that without revealing her bloodline, and the odds of at least one escaping is reasonably high.
[X] Approach the team of Iwa jounin on your own. Not necessarily to assault them, but to scout them out. You will attack them if you think you can deal with them on your own though.
[X] Gather up some of the other Ame jounin eliminating the Iwa scouting teams to wipe out the Iwa jounin decisively. This might mean you'll have to track them down though, since it will take you some time to get the other jounin together and, as far as the chunin knew, the Iwa team will be on the move.
[X] Gather up some of the other Ame jounin eliminating the Iwa scouting teams to wipe out the Iwa jounin decisively. This might mean you'll have to track them down though, since it will take you some time to get the other jounin together and, as far as the chunin knew, the Iwa team will be on the move.
We have no concrete knowledge of how many jounin there are and while I would happily trust in Tsubaki to deal with any number of chuunin, it is better to be cautious even when facing even a single jounin squad of 4 jounin.
Especially if we don't want our kekei genkai to be exposed.
And let's not forget the possibility of chuunin presence or reinforcements from any returning scouts.
Under the circumstances it is better to secure further Ame support.
(Also gaining further notoriety within the Ame ranks in the process, after all there is a difference between rumours and seeing for yourself the prowess of a Shinobi).
[X] Gather up some of the other Ame jounin eliminating the Iwa scouting teams to wipe out the Iwa jounin decisively. This might mean you'll have to track them down though, since it will take you some time to get the other jounin together and, as far as the chunin knew, the Iwa team will be on the move.
[X] Approach the team of Iwa jounin on your own. Not necessarily to assault them, but to scout them out. You will attack them if you think you can deal with them on your own though.
All you know is that it's "a team" which can mean anything between three and fifteen-ish. Team and squad are very nebulous terms when it comes to shinobi.
All you know is that it's "a team" which can mean anything between three and fifteen-ish. Team and squad are very nebulous terms when it comes to shinobi.
[X] Approach the team of Iwa jounin on your own. Not necessarily to assault them, but to scout them out. You will attack them if you think you can deal with them on your own though.
If we can't do this on our own are we even worth remembering the name of?
[X] Approach the team of Iwa jounin on your own. Not necessarily to assault them, but to scout them out. You will attack them if you think you can deal with them on your own though.
[X] Approach the team of Iwa jounin on your own. Not necessarily to assault them, but to scout them out. You will attack them if you think you can deal with them on your own though.
[X] Approach the team of Iwa jounin on your own. Not necessarily to assault them, but to scout them out. You will attack them if you think you can deal with them on your own though.
Voting is now closed!For some reason there were 2 hours left.
Scheduled vote count started by No Country on Mar 4, 2024 at 2:45 PM, finished with 27 posts and 24 votes.
[X] Approach the team of Iwa jounin on your own. Not necessarily to assault them, but to scout them out. You will attack them if you think you can deal with them on your own though.
[X] Gather up some of the other Ame jounin eliminating the Iwa scouting teams to wipe out the Iwa jounin decisively. This might mean you'll have to track them down though, since it will take you some time to get the other jounin together and, as far as the chunin knew, the Iwa team will be on the move.
You could collect some of the other Ame-nin in the area, some of them have no doubt already dismantled the scouting teams they were hunting, but that would take time. Time you're not sure you have, as the enemy jounin are almost certainly on the move as well, and you'd have to find the other Ame-nin first, as you don't know where they are. Either way, the Iwa-nin are likely barrier and infiltration specialists, more than enough to deal with chunin, but probably used to fleeing in the face of a proper threat. But even if they aren't, you'll just gather up the other Ame-nin to deal with them. Not that you'll need to.
The sparse evergreen forest that stretches from southeastern Meadows through the Land of Storms and into the Land of Fire snakes around the craggy hills that form the natural border between the three countries, further to the east. As you head northwest, towards the more trafficked border into the Land of Meadows, the hills give way into the scrubby forest, still green and hard to see through this late in the winter. The snow that was falling when you left the village was rain here, and the ground between the tree trunks is still muddy, the sun having again melted the ice the rain became after seeping into the ground, so you stick to the trees.
Leaping through the trees also makes it easier for you to see the Iwa team when you finally find them, after around an hour of traveling. The scaly pines of the scrubby cedars, along with your light gray kimono blending in with the still-overcast sky behind you mean that they can't see you. Or at least, they shouldn't be able to, you're hiding pretty well, and you didn't feel any sort of barrier when you came into their vicinity.
Unfortunately for you, there was one. Or one of them is a very good sensor. In the brief moment of hindsight you're afforded before you roll out of the tree, collapsing as a result of an Earth technique, you surmise that both are equally possible.
Things get even worse when you hit the ground, as your momentum is carried forward by a hard kick between your shoulder blades, and you only get a glimpse of four shinobi arrayed before you, all wearing Iwa's traditional dull brown flak jackets with one-armed undershirts, though the shirts are a variety of colors. You don't get a look at the fifth member of the Iwa team, the one who kicked you while you were down, as one look at one of the two kunoichi standing in the clearing, the one performing hand signs, is enough to put you in a genjutsu.
While Willow Dance activates itself immediately, it takes Willful Cactus some time to actually snap you out of the powerful technique. You come to some distance from the Iwa-nin, suppressing your instinct to suck in a deep breath while you assess whatever damage you sustained while blacked out, as that's all the genjutsu did, put you into something like a deep sleep or unconscious state. The first thing you notice is that the left side of your chest is wet, from your collarbone down to the bottom of your ribs, and the wetness is spreading. The second thing you notice is that your hand is wrapped around a sword. The third thing you notice is that the sword is embedded halfway into your neck.
You pull your hand away from the blade as quickly as possible, quickly looking at your palm and finding only a shallow, bloodless cut. Your left hand comes to the side of your neck, where you find the thin entry wound has already closed, though moving it over to where the spine of the sword is, you find that hot blood is still leaking out of the wound.
Knowing that you're unable to ossify your blood vessels panics you for a moment before you remember basic anatomy, and the fact that those same blood vessels can expand and contract on their own. Using that, with great concentration, you're able to force the severed jugular and carotid shut, and you can feel the blood rushing through the right side of your neck picking up the slack. Once that's done, you allow yourself to exhale. At least the blade didn't pierce your windpipe, as that's typically hardened when you're traveling in the field, unlike your skin and muscles, which you keep normal for flexibility, speed, and the sake of conserving chakra. Then you pull the sword out.
Unsurprisingly, it's slick with blood, which you quickly flick off. From the weight and glint of the metal (after you flick the blood off), you can tell that it's chakra-conductive metal.
Some ninja would retreat at this point, some would send up a flare, hide, and hope that backup came. But you're not some ninja, or most ninja. You know that this team is going to bug out and head for the border, and that you're the closest to them. You also know not to look at the genjutsu specialist again. Or…
The Iwa team consists of three male ninja and two kunoichi. The former are a big man you didn't see before with a dull blue undershirt (the one who kicked you), a long-haired man with a gray undershirt and a bespectacled man with a bandana forehead protector and a gray undershirt as well. The latter are the blonde swordswoman (whose rigid sheath is empty) in a red undershirt, and the genjutsu specialist, who has short white hair and a gray undershirt. Though you only really get another glance at them when you appear in front of them with Jet Movement active and your acquired sword wreathed in Eaglery. Each of your enemies drops into a combat stance, with the genjutsu specialist and the long-haired shinobi moving to the back, already weaving hand signs.
That's just what you wanted, and you appear behind the entire group in two steps. The man who came to the back with the genjutsu specialist notices you, and his mouth opens to say something in warning to the rest of his team, but it's too late. As soon as your right foot touches the ground, you fire your core in one swift snap, swinging the chakra blade with the force of a hurricane. The sword, seething with hyper dense Wind chakra, cuts through the genjutsu specialist with such force that it defoliates the top of the tree at the apex of your swing. The enemy kunoichi herself is blown in half, her arms flying in opposite directions as her head and torso spin through the air and land with a wet thump in the underbrush.
Your long-haired opponent readies a ninjutsu, either Fire or Earth based on the hand signs he's started weaving, and you go to attack him with your sword. The blade moving in your peripheral vision tells you that the use of Eaglery shattered it, however, so you simply throw the broken stub of the blade into his gut, disrupting his hand signs and sending him back with a clipped gasp.
The swordswoman comes after you next with a high slash that you duck, then a low slash you catch in a Cedar Dance-enforced grip. You look her in the eyes and see that her expression is full of rage, before you regard the sword, a summoned nodachi of lesser quality than the ninjato you just shattered. Then you punch her in the face.
Your other hand, along with your arms and lower legs, is also coated in the ossified skin of Cedar Dance. Combined with Jet Movement, and even with your opponent snapping her head back to mitigate the strike's damage, this is enough to cave her face in. She makes a strange noise as she collapses, probably a result of her sinuses being crushed by the strike. The scuff on your knuckle tells you that she put a lot of chakra into her defenses to avoid major injury, she just underestimated your power.
The remaining three (two, really, as the man you stabbed is on his knees attempting to extricate the blade from his stomach without damaging anything) won't make that same mistake. Not that you're going to give them the chance. The other gray-clad ninja, the one in glasses, moves to his injured comrade's side, and you move to intercept him. The big man, the one in blue, moves to crush you with a pair of Earth gauntlets. You reverse your grip on the nodachi blade, which you had yet to let go of, and swing the pommel of the sword into his chin, momentarily stunning him. Then, you appear next to your glasses-wearing opponent, adopting a proper grip on the oversized sword. He moves faster than you expected, moving to grab your forearm. You don't let him do that, especially after seeing something black and character-shaped on the palm of his gloved hand. Dropping your sword into the soft ground, your right elbow twists unnaturally and grabs the enemy by his forearm with the same grip he was trying to grab you with. Then you tear out his throat.
An Earth Style wave makes you jump back into the trees, but not after you grab the nodachi to bring it with you. You land at the top of one of the shorter cedars, and you can hear the big man curse at you before casting another Earth jutsu, this one sending balls of muddy earth into the trees with enough power to shatter the trunks. You dodge between trees for a few seconds, before hacking the top off of one with the sword once you're out of his line of sight and the projectiles stop flying. You propel the treetop at him with a Wind-enhanced kick at such speed that he can't dodge it even at the range it came from, and it clips him in the shoulder, staggering him. Still, he recovers well from the hit, and casts a wide-range Fire jutsu into the trees. You toss a bough into the conflagration as a diversion before reappearing next to him in a single movement. Your stance is extremely low and wide, allowing you to swing at his legs with the now-dulled blade of the nodachi. He tries to step out of the way but isn't fast enough, and the sword messily chops through his lower shin and calf, separating his foot entirely. A spear hand strike through the chest finishes him off.
"Fire St-" the last ninja begins to intone before you snap his head back with a front-heel kick to the chin. His neck breaks with a louder crack than the impact of the strike.
You drop Jet Movement when it's all done, but you don't drop Cedar Dance. You allow yourself a sigh of relief before touching yourself on the neck, checking if your natural regeneration has sewed the severed blood vessels back together. It has, but you can tell that the pulse is weaker on your left side than your right. It's going to heal over time for sure, but you're not sure whether or not you should find a medic. Your medical history is sealed, you know that, and you don't want to give up any sort of biometric data or chakra samples, but the blood making your kimono stick to your side reminds you of just how real the injury you took actually is.
If you vote to see a medic, then just vote for that. If you vote to move onto the next mission, vote for one of the secondary options as well:
[] Go to one of the smaller villages serving as bases for the Ame-nin combating Iwa's scouts as well as the forces massing to blunt Konoha's potential invasion and find a medic, just in case. It couldn't hurt.
[] Find a river or something to wash the blood off in and get a change of clothes from one of your scrolls. Sure, it hurt in the moment, but your body is able to deal with it, so you should just get on with your mission.
If you picked the second option, pick one:
[] The first order of business is disrupting Konoha's supply lines before they can reinforce against Iwa's more elite western forces. In theory, similar to this mission, though likely with more genin and chunin involved on the enemy side, and loose teams of jounin and chunin on your side.
[] The first order of business is eliminating Konoha's forces before they're able to attack into the Land of Storms from the Land of Meadows and establish the foothold, turning your country into a battlefield between two great powers just like the last war. This mission will consist of a lot of jounin working together, as the reports regarding Konoha's gathered shinobi paint a daunting picture.
Voting closes at !
A/N: Not much to say for this one, if the injury seems like a lot, it kind of is, but I pictured it and everything kind of spilled out from there. These also weren't 'front-line' jounin, so they didn't put up as much of a fight as others may have against Tsubaki, though her being able to bolt while under genjutsu and being stabbed in the neck before coming back without a scratch on her certainly helped. This also ended up way longer than I expected, that's just how action goes I guess, you lose yourself writing it.
A/N2: RIP Akira Toriyama, the news came out yesterday, I think. I was never a big fan of Dragon Ball, but it's hard to overstate the impact he had on the genre. We certainly wouldn't be here today reading and writing these fanfics if it weren't for him and DB. Really unrelated to the quest or anything, but it felt like it had to be said on a shounen quest.
[X] Go to one of the smaller villages serving as bases for the Ame-nin combating Iwa's scouts as well as the forces massing to blunt Konoha's potential invasion and find a medic, just in case. It couldn't hurt.
We want to become a god-like legendary ninja, we gotta take care of ourselves.
