[attr="class","pwf1body"] Man, now she felt kinda bad. Though to be fair, she couldn't really tell how much of the good doctor's little tirade was the truth, and how much was just a melodramatic exaggeration that he was playing up just to mess with her, especially with that last part. He was a snox, after all. Yousei may not have been an expert on snox behavior, but being shrewd, and deceptive, and generally Machiavellian definitely seemed like archetypical personality traits for such a wily mammal. [break][break]
"Sorry, doc. Maybe next time. If it makes you feel better, I've barely had any free time at all lately. With the battle at Onomichi getting closer every day, my schedule has been jam-packed; training, missions, going over the new defense plans...things have been pretty hectic! I imagine you've probably had your hands full down here too, getting ready to help treat the injured and whatnot." [break][break]
As he beckoned her to follow, nearly taking her eye out with those fingernails in the process, the two started off further into the depths of the totally-not-creepy complex, though to where Yousei hadn't a clue. Hopefully not the Tyrant research lab or something, she hadn't brought her rocket launcher. [break][break]
"Sure thing! I should be able to afford them, no problems there. As for how many I need, uh...I guess maybe like, five? I don't think I'll be needing them very often, so-" [break][break]
You sure about that~? [break][break]
Her footsteps came to a sudden halt as she froze up on the spot, the breath catching in her throat as her eyes went wide. She just sort of stood there for a second, staring off into space, before she finally came back to her senses, a hand sliding through her crimson locks as she took a deep breath and tried to regain her composure. [break][break]
"S-so I shouldn't need...too many." [break][break]
Yousei forced herself to start walking again after that, doing her best to push the incident from her mind and refocus on the matter at hand, but it wouldn't take a doctor to tell that something was still bothering her; she never was great at hiding how she felt. [break][break]
[attr="class","pwf1body"] Yousei read through the contents of the scroll curiously, scanning over the list of unfamiliar names that she was apparently supposed to be pulling from the- wait, huh? That she was supposed to be pulling? Mai wanted her to lead this team!? Her eyes went wide, her thoughts suddenly feeling like scrambled eggs as Mai went on to explain the situation in greater detail. [break][break]
"A-are you sure you want-" She began, but cut herself off before she could finish. It was a natural reaction, of course; she'd only been a jounin for a little over a month, and now the Hokage was asking her to lead a group of foreign shinobi into a major battle against the Taiyou? She couldn't understand how Mai always had so much confidence in her, but if she really trusted her that much, then she'd just have to believe in the her that believed in her. [break][break]
Scrambling down onto the cushion like a fawn that was still figuring out how its legs worked, Yousei gave Mai an anxiously vigorous nod. "S-sure thing! Just need to round these guys up and go deal with whoever's commanding their cavalry unit, right? I-I can do that, no problem." [break][break]
Her words were laced with the nervous energy of someone who was assuring themselves as much as the person they were speaking to, but the fact that she had the determination to push aside her doubts and force out this resolve in the first place was already a good sign. [break][break]
"I-In fact, I know someone who would be perfect for this team!" Might as well strike while the iron was hot, right? Seemed like as good a time as any. "I met her a few days ago, she's this swordsman with a real grudge against the Taiyou. Kind of a...free agent, I guess? Pretty sure I can convince her to come along, though. Should definitely be an asset to the team." [break][break]
[attr="class","pwf1body"] "Oh, you'll be fine!" Yousei waved the boy off nonchalantly, as though getting slammed into trees was just a normal, everyday occurance. [break][break]
"That wasn't even the dangerous output level, you shouldn't even have a concussion or any broken bones or anything from that. Besides, nothing builds character like a little blunt force trauma, right?" [break][break]
The chakra around her hand slowly evaporated as she flipped Ryota's cutlass into an icepick grip and walked over to where he was currently seated on the ground getting his bearings. [break][break]
"That technique I just used is actually a pretty good lesson in and of itself, you know. I first came up with the idea for it when I was trying to perfect another technique and failed." [break][break]
A wavering white sphere slowly began taking shape in her free hand as she spoke, spinning like a miniature typhoon as it steadily grew more and more unstable, but before it could explode she clenched her hand around it, causing the energy to disperse harmlessly into the air. [break][break]
So close, but still not quite there. [break][break]
"Just goes to show that no experience is ever worthless. As long as we take what we've learned and continue moving forward and improving ourselves, even failures can lead us to success! So don't be discouraged, it's all just part of becoming a better you." [break][break]
With a heartening smile that told Ryota he could rest assured in the prospect of his continued growth, Yousei offered him back his sword by the hilt. "Now how about we clean up here and go get something to eat? I'm sure you probably worked up an apetite after all that. As a special offer, if you act now, I'll even pick up the tab!" [break][break]
Sasuga, Yousei-sensei! (Yousensei?) Truly the greatest of all senseis: absolutely sensei-tional, if you will. Okay, that's enough of that.[break][break]
[attr="class","pwf2body"] Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Maecenas at sapien ex. Maecenas feugiat et tellus non dignissim. Sed tortor nisi, venenatis sit amet velit at, tempor semper tortor. Integer ornare eu ex quis consequat. Suspendisse sit amet blandit nunc. Proin sapien turpis, porta at odio eu, feugiat placerat leo. Ut ut facilisis augue. Cras laoreet in nisi blandit bibendum. Mauris tristique sollicitudin leo in pulvinar. Suspendisse sit amet iaculis eros. [break][break]
Ut sagittis nibh a mi pulvinar euismod. Sed convallis quam vitae eros faucibus tincidunt. Donec vestibulum consectetur rutrum. Maecenas laoreet massa eget diam eleifend gravida. Nullam vitae suscipit nunc. Vivamus tortor leo, gravida vel nisi in, maximus malesuada dolor. Etiam posuere nisi ac sem aliquam, nec facilisis libero sodales. [break][break]
In malesuada enim et tellus blandit dignissim. Integer et rutrum sem, malesuada facilisis lorem. Nulla facilisi. Integer et pellentesque diam. Quisque scelerisque porttitor porttitor. Nam dui ante, tempus eget pretium blandit, dictum vel metus. Quisque malesuada, libero non tempus iaculis, ex lorem ultricies neque, sed lobortis ex libero eget ante. Nulla facilisi. Praesent elit eros, placerat vel porta vitae, euismod tristique ligula. [break][break]
[attr="class","pwf1body"] Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Maecenas at sapien ex. Maecenas feugiat et tellus non dignissim. Sed tortor nisi, venenatis sit amet velit at, tempor semper tortor. Integer ornare eu ex quis consequat. Suspendisse sit amet blandit nunc. Proin sapien turpis, porta at odio eu, feugiat placerat leo. Ut ut facilisis augue. Cras laoreet in nisi blandit bibendum. Mauris tristique sollicitudin leo in pulvinar. Suspendisse sit amet iaculis eros. [break][break]
Ut sagittis nibh a mi pulvinar euismod. Sed convallis quam vitae eros faucibus tincidunt. Donec vestibulum consectetur rutrum. Maecenas laoreet massa eget diam eleifend gravida. Nullam vitae suscipit nunc. Vivamus tortor leo, gravida vel nisi in, maximus malesuada dolor. Etiam posuere nisi ac sem aliquam, nec facilisis libero sodales. [break][break]
In malesuada enim et tellus blandit dignissim. Integer et rutrum sem, malesuada facilisis lorem. Nulla facilisi. Integer et pellentesque diam. Quisque scelerisque porttitor porttitor. Nam dui ante, tempus eget pretium blandit, dictum vel metus. Quisque malesuada, libero non tempus iaculis, ex lorem ultricies neque, sed lobortis ex libero eget ante. Nulla facilisi. Praesent elit eros, placerat vel porta vitae, euismod tristique ligula. [break][break]
[attr="class","pwfbody"] As the absolutely brutalized samurai succame to his grisly end, Yousei quickly got back to her feet, flicking the blood from her sword as she ceremoniously returned it to its sheathe. Hey, look at that! Everyone made it through their first encounter safe and sound. Not that it was a particularly difficult one, mind you, but it's the little things that count, right? [break][break]
"Good idea!" She nodded affirmatively, as Tsubaki explained her plan to blend into the enemy ranks. "With such a large force, there's no way a well-played impostor would be easily recognized, especially with all this chaos going on. Just make sure you don't get overwhelmed out there, okay?" [break][break]
Then, reaching down, she picked her jacket up off the ground, surveying the blade-sized hole in the fabric before slipping it back on with a sigh. Might as well roll with it for now; besides, the battle damage would probably look pretty cool when they all got back from this. [break][break]
Seemed that wouldn't be getting much of a break though, as the thunderous hooves of the Horse Force™ began approaching. The quartet of riders soon split off in pairs, and it was obvious that they were trying to execute a pincer attack on herself and Seiichi. Man, these random encounters were getting pretty annoying, she just wanted to fight the boss already. Who set the spawn rate for this area anyway? [break][break]
At any rate, Yousei decided to focus her attention on the cavalry approaching from the left, wordlessly entrusting Seiichi with the right, as she positioned herself in the path between the oncoming horses and coiled her body to the side, in what appeared to be an unusually deep iai stance. [break][break]
She let them gallop forward until they were nearly upon her, not moving a muscle and no doubt seeming easy prey for the horsemen, especially when their weapons held such an advantage in range over a simple katana. [break][break]
But as their javelins thrust forward, Yousei moved in concert with their actions, jumping up and over their spear-points at an angle as she uncoiled her body like a spring, drawing her blade as she did so, and performing a spiraling slash that would first slice up across the chest of the rider to her left, before carrying through and slicing down across the back of the rider to her right, with Yousei herself completing a full 180 before landing back on the ground as the horses passed her. [break][break]
If all went to plan, that would be her half of the pincer dealt with. The rest would be up to Seiichi, while the disguised Tsubaki was free to carry out her plan unimpeded. [break][break]
[attr="class","pwfbody"] "Ahh!" Yousei jumped with a start as she rounded the corner, only to find herself face to face with the good doctor. Holy red bean paste, did this guy really have to be lurking around corners waiting to jump scare people like that? It didn't help that these old tunnels were more like the setting for a horror game than a clinic; seriously, what kind of weirdo sets up a medical practice in a creepy ass place like this? Anyway, a short fit of internal swearing later... [break][break]
"Oh, uh...hey there, Dr. Kobubobo!" She chuckled nervously as the older jounin rocked on his heels with a little too much enthusiasm for her liking. "N-no thanks, that's okay. Not really a big tea person, you know?" Or a very big person at all, but that was beside the point. [break][break]
"I stopped by because I was wondering if you do, well...custom orders, I guess? You're good at dealing with medicine and drugs and stuff, right? I'm looking for someone that can make me some hyorogan (military ration pills). Like, extra strength hyorogan; something that can help replenish a lot of lost chakra really fast for, uh...reasons." [break][break]
Damn, that sounded kind of suspicious. Well, not that Kobashigawa of all people really had any room to talk. On a scale of one to suspicious, this guy was pretty darn suspicious. [break][break]
That "make sure you have all your organs when you leave the office" kind of suspicious; that "this guy probably has ethically questionable experiments preserved in tanks of unidentifiable green liquid" kind of suspicious. Suspicious like some sort of part-snake part-fox hybrid: a Snox, if you will. [break][break]
Okay, that was getting a little silly now. [break][break]
"So yeah, uh...think that would be up your alley, Doc? If not I could always just get going and, you know..." [break][break]
[attr="class","pwfbody"] "Ha! You Ame shinobi are even more pretentious than I remember. Let's see if you can put your money where your mouth is, pretty boy." [break][break]
The senbon that followed weren't much of a surprise to Ichinose. This kid would have to be off his rocker to try getting anywhere close to him now; with those shakuton spheres in place, ranged combat was essentially Anotsu's only option, and that was exactly what the ninjutsu expert had been counting on. [break][break]
His hands moving on pure reflex and muscle memory, Ichinose sucked in a huge breath. Scorch Release was a combination of fire and wind, and while the advanced nature may have been his specialty, he wasn't unversed in its constituent components either. Whipping his head forward, a huge sphere of air was expelled from his treacherous maw like a cannonball, easily deflecting the incoming needles and continuing on towards a direct collision course with Anotsu, effectively combining both attack and defense in a single technique. [break][break]
Futon: Renkudan (Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet) [break][break]
The Uchiha would have to be careful; the impact from getting hit by this thing would hurt enough as it was, but the resulting explosion after it made contact would make a direct hit even more catastrophic, and if he managed to avoid it, there was still the problem of breaking through Ichinose's impressive zone control. Unless, perhaps, this was part of his plan all along? [break][break]
Meanwhile...[break][break]
Yousei had finally managed to dispatch the rest of the cannon fodder, now it was just her and Kaneshige. Her backpedaling had taken them all the way to the top of the stairs that led to the shrine, so it looked like that was going to be the backdrop for today's fateful duel with the villain of the week. [break][break]
"No one left to interfere." The armor-clad lieutenant confirmed, as he continued his menacingly slow approach. It was weird, his stance looked like it was absolutely full of holes, but Yousei had a feeling that each and every one of them was a trap, meant to lure in those who only saw what their eyes could show them. [break][break]
"Let us begin." The first attack came with more speed than Yousei had been expecting for someone wearing that much armor; a horizontal slash aimed to slice through her torso and bisect her in a single blow, just like that ashigaru from earlier. [break][break]
She narrowly blocked it, but the force of the impact was way crazier than she'd been expecting, and she ended up flying back nearly a meter before regaining her footing. What was with that ridiculous strength? If she'd been using a normal sword instead of Hatsuyuki, it probably would've snapped in half from an impact like that! [break][break]
"Good. Show me how you struggle as you dance your life away." [break][break]
Yousei had only a moment's respite before Kaneshige made his next move: a vertical slash descending from above. She couldn't keep playing defense forever. If she wanted to win, she had to go on the attack. Taking a deep breath, she gracefully turned to the side, floating like an autumn leaf as the lieutenant's sword skimmed past her, and coating her blade with an aura of condensed white chakra as she countered with a rising slash of her own. [break][break]
Unfortunately, the attack only managed to leave a shallow gash in the samurai's armor, but it did succeeded in chipping away a part of the mask he wore, revealing a glimpse of the enraged brown eye beneath. As Yousei jumped away just in time to avoid the slash that followed in retaliation, chakra began to form around Kaneshige's own blade, taking on a far more complex shape than the simple neon line that surrounded Yousei's. [break][break]
By comparison, this was beginning to look more like a...oh, that wasn't good.[break][break]
[attr="class","pwfbody"] Oh gosh, oh man. Not only was it the big day, the eve of the anxiously anticipated Battle of Onomichi that had the entire village abuzz with last minute preparations, but Mai had just called her out to the command tent! Oh gosh, what could this be about? Her mind was racing to come up with an answer, but obviously it was all just wild speculation at this point. [break][break]
Even so, any chance to meet with the Hokage was one that Yousei was gladly willing to take. She was practically wheezing on the inside just thinking about it; this was Mai Nobusuma, after all! Who wouldn't get a small colony of butterflies in their stomach whenever they got to talk to her in person? (Is this what it felt like to be an Aburame? She'd have to ask Maimai at some point, before she went back to Ame.) [break][break]
Making unnecessarily good time in reaching the tent, Yousei took a deep breath and tried to psych herself up for what was to follow, passing the- oh heck, was that the Kazekage? Yousei was feeling like a small fish swimming into a real big pond right now, and sat right in the middle of that pond was none other than her #1 idol (and her secretary). She could practically feel her heart skip a beat, as she fought hard to suppress her inner fangirl. [break][break]
"Something different?" The question caught her somewhat off guard, and she had to think for a minute to figure out what might've changed since the last time the Kage had seen her (you know, metaphorically). "Oh! Probably the new-" [break][break]
Sword~? [break][break]
Her breathing hitched a little as a soundless voice whispered into her mind. So much like hers, yet at the same time different as night and day. It left her standing there awkwardly for a moment, frozen mid-sentence, before she finally came back to her senses. [break][break]
"-sword..." She concluded, though her tone was notably less vivacious than it had been when she'd started speaking. However, that absentness would last only a moment before Yousei sprang back to her usual self (if ever so slightly forced, as though a splinter still hung in her thoughts). [break][break]
"Did you need something, Mai-sa-" Darn it! There she went again. She cleared her throat in a panic as she tried and failed miserably to cover up her little faux pas, before inelegantly deflecting back to the subject at hand. [break][break]
"D-did you need something, Hokage-sama?" [break][break]
It seemed whatever was bothering her had been forgotten in the heat of the moment, at least for now. [break][break]
[attr="class","pwfbody"] They'd been walking through the woods for what seemed like hours now. At this point, Yousei was beginning to wonder if there really was any merit to these rumors of a forest-dwelling monster, or if it had all just been some tall tale cooked up by villagers with overactive imaginations. But if that were the case, then how had those caravans gone missing? Bandits? Taiyou? There was definitely something going on here, cryptozoological or otherwise. [break][break]
Wait, was that an overturned cart up ahead? Sure enough, a quick inspection of the cart and its contents would reveal that it was one of the missing supply shipments they'd been told about by the merchants guild. [break][break]
Judging from the fact that one side of the cart had been smashed in to the point of being almost completely splintered, it seemed like a reasonable assumption that they'd probably been attacked and forced to abandon it here. That was weird though; if this was the work of bandits or the Taiyou, then why had they left all the goods behind, and why weren't there any bodies?[break][break]
That's when she noticed the footprints leading out of the forest. Ooh-wee! Those things were huge. Were they hunting (the ninja equivalent of) Bigfoot out here? Those weren't the only footprints though, there were also a number of smaller, much more human-sized ones running off into the forest. Probably the merchant party scattering after they'd gotten attacked?[break][break]
As Yousei followed the prints deeper into the woods, she started catching a whiff of something strange. She scented the air curiously; it smelled like something...burnt? Her nose led her in the same direction as the path left by the fleeing merchants, the smell growing stronger and stronger until she finally located its source: a partially devoured human corpse, its flesh charred black and splattered with a smooth, stone-like substance that must've been liquid at some point, she reasoned. [break][break]
The forest itself was in a similar state of disarray, with smoldering trees and more of that once-liquid rock painting the landscape. And upon further investigation, there wasn't just one corpse here either; there were well over a dozen! Merchants, bodyguards, even...wait, were those-[break][break]
Unfortunately, Yousei and Koba's investigation would soon be interrupted, as an inhuman roar suddenly erupted from the depths of the forest- oh wait, this is still the beginning of the story! My bad, my bad. I guess we'll have to do that cheeky thing where we intro with some future events, then flashback to the start. Let's see, how about... [break][break]
[6 Hours Earlier][break][break]
"Helloooooo?" Yousei's voice echoed through the empty halls of the Hirabayashi clinic; a certain medical center in Otogakure run by a certain doctor who definitely wasn't sketchy, or of questionable moral character. [break][break]
"Dr. Kobababuwa? Anyone hooooome?" Place was pretty creepy to be honest with you, especially with nobody else around. Normally Yousei wouldn't be caught dead in a place like this, but circumstances being what they were, she'd decided to make an exception this time against her better judgment. Hopefully this guy wouldn't be too off his rocker. [break][break]
[attr="class","pwfbody"] Well, she'd given it her best try. Who knows? Maybe that last ditch sales pitch would actually get her to come arou- wait, huh? She actually agreed (with stipulations)!? Hell yeah! This felt just like passing a dialogue check to recruit one of those optional party members you always see in RPGs, and you know they're gonna be good if you have to go out of your way like that to get them! They probably even had a bunch of deep character development and side stories and stuff, and a dedicated fanbase on the interne- wait, Ame hadn't invented that yet, scratch that last part. [break][break]
"Leave it to me! I'll be sure to give you a glowing recommendation!" Mind you, she wasn't exactly sure how she was going to do that, but she was sure she'd think of something eventually. Plus, if this whole scenario really was running on video game logic, then some super convenient circumstances pertaining to this exact situation should totally end up presenting themselves in short order! [break][break]
Maybe Mai would just call her in out of the blue and ask her to lead a four man recon team in the big battle, and Yousei could be like, "A four man recon team? What a coincidence, I have one person in mind already!" And then they could team up with a ninja bear and some dude who turns into water, and go fight a boss in the Zone 3 farmlands to the west of Onomichi! [break][break]
Man, that would be pretty crazy, huh? Hahaha... [break][break]
"Looking forward to it!" She responded enthusiastically, meeting Tsubaki's toothy smile with a lively grin of her own. A shark and a fairy; an unusual combination to be sure, but there was no doubt in Yousei's mind that this was already another beautiful friendship in the making! [break][break]
"Hey, do you like taiyaki? I know this place here in the village that has the best taiyaki, my treat!" [break][break]
[attr="class","pwfbody"] "Haha! Well, you're not wrong. Even today, there are definitely still some people out there that look on us with ire and suspicion for the traditions we uphold, but you should never be ashamed of who you are! Even if people end up hating you for it, isn't that better than living a lie? Life is too short to not be true to yourself, at least that's what I think!" [break][break]
Yousei had already experienced plenty of discrimination in her brief time on this earth. On top of the prejudice associated with her samurai heritage, she'd always been overlooked and underestimated, ever since she first joined the academy. Be it her youthful appearance, or her height, or her gender, it seemed there was always some reason for people to doubt or exclude her, and her recent promotion to jounin had been no different, with many jumping straight to ostracizing her as "the Hokage's latest mistake". It was exhausting sometimes, to say the least. [break][break]
And yet, somehow she always managed to bounce back and keep moving forward; always smiling, never losing sight of her convictions, no matter how wounded and scarred her heart became. That was a different kind of strength, to be sure. Perhaps one the world sorely needed in this tumultuous age. [break][break]
"Aw, that's too bad..." Yousei audibly pouted, sheathing her sword with the practiced ease of years of training as she spoke. She'd kind of expected Tsubaki to decline her invitation, but she figured it was still worth a shot all the same. "Offer still stands though, if you ever change your mind! I bet you could accomplish a whole lot more out there if you had some people to back you up. Really hit those Imperial losers where it hurts, you know? And I'd love to see that Jigen-Ryu in action out on the battlefield! Think it over, okay?" [break][break]
[attr="class","pwfbody"] "Ah, sorry! I was talking about the culture barrier between shinobi and actual samurai." She clarified with a sheepish chuckle. [break][break]
"There aren't a whole lot of us now left here in Oto, but before the Fall of the Leaf, the samurai houses of the Land of Fire were revered as guardians and protectors. Then those so-called Imperial "samurai" went and dragged our name through the mud, committing countless atrocities in the name of the Taiyou, and making our order and its teachings a symbol of fear and malevolence." [break][break]
The hand around her sword clenched tighter as she spoke, almost to the point of leaving her white-knuckled. Talking about the Empire like this always got her worked up. "I'll never forgive them for that. One day, I'd like to bring the Emperor down myself; drive the Taiyou out of the Land of Fire, and help restore Konoha and the good name of the samurai..." [break][break]
This was a surprising departure from Yousei's usually chipper and upbeat personality. It seemed even fairies had a serious side. Then Tsubaki asked about her parents, and it was all bright eyes and bushy tails again. [break][break]
"Oh, nope! Well I mean, they dohave a dojo at home, but it's just a private sorta thing. Our family hasn't really trained people in a long time; hard to get students with the whole stigma against samurai, you know? Eventually they just gave up, and our teachings became more like an heirloom passed down between generations. Pretty crazy how much the Empire fucked everything up, huh?" [break][break]
Okay, bright eyed, bushy tailed, and maybe still a little venomous. Like a platypus! One of the few venomous mammals (the more you know). [break][break]
"You said you weren't here to join the coalition, right? That's a shame, we could really use someone like you! I'm sure you have your reasons, but you seem like a good enough person to me, and if you're here to fight the Taiyou anyway, then I doubt Mai would-..." [break][break]
Damn it! [break][break]
"...then I doubt the Hokage would really mind! [break][break]
