he smiles gently, amused by the aura of skepticism she radiates. [break][break]
téngfēi takes a moment to fully get an idea of her, as well as angle his mental in a way that best deals with... animals. [break][break]
"i imagine you're not very fond of the mizukage," he starts out of nowhere, before reaching down to pull the bowl of sake to his lips. he drinks calmly, a few sips and nothing more. delights himself with a pick of pastry sat on a plate nearby him, taking a generous bite as he exhales a soft, contented sigh through his nose. he really did enjoy the food the maidens of the kisaeng house made.[break][break]
chews, swallows it down with a little more sake. a napkin wipes his fingers individually, "i mean, kuma-- no, seiichi koji is meant to be executed on his orders, as is miss mizuno..." a subtle flick of his pinky once it's cleaned, and the item is placed to the side as he plucks a grape from a stem and pops it into his mouth. "i imagine after that the kage did to your clan on that ship it's been hard seeing him target..." he trails off, exhaling a sigh before the subject dramatically changes without effort. "please, i'd prefer zong instead of pup, lady inuzuka." he bows respectfully, polite. [break][break]
as he lifts his head, his eyes shift in expression as a steak knife stabs into a piece of meat, all the while maintaining line of sight with his guest. rather than cut, he rips - tears - the meat from bone slowly across a plate. "i've established an advance unit in the upcoming situation, and the hokage has ordered my assistance within the commander's tent during this war. i'll ensure that you're positioned favorably, lady inuzuka." his tone seems a little more on the border of threat, establishing an idea of hierarchy. of course he'd like to work with her, but some dogs needed to get put down when disobedient. [break][break]
eyebrow raises a little, and once the meat is freed from the bone it presses it to mouth - tongue curling the serrated blade as his teeth bites down atop the steel, glaring across the table. as he pulls it safely into his mouth with only minor scrapes of blade against his tongue. "the group shall host shoichi, seiichi, yukio, mongke, and potentially aiko. some of the many coalition members attending. they will handle things excellently." [break][break]
he pauses, eyes lowering even further. [break][break]
"have you ever considered becoming a pirate queen, lady inuzuka? it'd fit you immensely." he chuckles, chewing the steak in his mouth with a little bit of silence, before a random blurt of unknown knowledge, "you'd be like ching shih."
[attr="class","bolo-grid-subtitle]― ❝ with my heart up my sleeve.
[attr="class","bolo-body]
tengfei settles onto the sofa, watching the display of sumi finally climaxing from innocent, potential whore of an errand boy to a fledged killer who'd now had blood soaked on their hands. it'd been messy - the process. he smirks, lighting a cigarette while sumi looks confused and concerned... for them and himself. "come here, stupid." he pats the sofa next to him, and once he's joined by the boy who's destined to keel over and vomit at any second once the shock wears off, they get to watch as the larger of the few "extras" brought in takes an ax to the limbs of the deceased. "usually, we'd take their organs. eyes, hearts, livers, kidneys, etc." he chuckles, taking a long drag from the cigarette before passing it over to sumi. "smoke this, it'll chill you out." he nods his head, an obvious order. [break][break]
"but they're far too old. dope fiends, alcoholics. their organs are probably busted. most we'd probably get is 15k for their eyes. if we cut their sacs off, could sell their baby batter to get a nice price. but that's kind of unethical." laughs a little. "better to just put them in cement or acid and drop them off the boats into the sea. easy peasy, right kid?" he ruffles etsumi's hair before taking his cigarette back. "you don't know how to use a sword, i guess? i'll commission a special one for you from our guy in sound. he's... chef's kiss when it comes to that shit. kind of fucked up though." frowns, feeling a little shiver just thinking about that asshole. creepy corpse demon, tsk. [break][break]
"good job." he passes the cigarette back after blowing a plume of smoke from the confines of his lungs. [break][break]
"you'll no longer be doing errand work. you won't get hit anymore by scumbags like them." as the trash gets rolled out, he smiles while watching them disappear from his sight.
though this is a meeting of necessity - one hidden in a small shack at the furthest end of town, a "hideout" if you will it. one established solely for this little... situation. his guest he brings with him is none other than the captain of the first platoon - makoto inuzuka, whom he wishes to speak with privately in regards to the updates of his meeting with the hokage. they sit comfortably in a small single room, a table between them and food brought in for them to enjoy as they speak with one another. [break][break]
once one of the kisaeng finishes setting up their spread, she bows to the two of them with a soft blush - fleeing the scene with the scent of admiration. téngfēi notices, quipping once the sliding door is shut: "seems you've fascinated one of my girls. if you'd like a discount, i'd be more than willing to supply." he suggests a small inkling of knowledge of the other, though doesn't outright say anything. research on those you deal with was of utmost importance, after all. it goes to say; friend or foe. [break][break]
sitting at the head of the table with makoto at the other end, her ninken stays outside in a stand off with téngfēi's own mutt, mú yunyao . this set up is undoubtedly strange... considering yunyao is the jounin of platoon two. "if willing, i'd like to collaborate with you - makoto-san." he starts, retrieving the bottle of sake at the center of the moderately sized table. he pulls back a sleeve, eyes towards her empty glass in hopes she'll allow him to pour her a drink. afterwards, he pours his own. "i've met with the hokage. i have a strategy i believe will work." he explains after they have their drinks. sitting on his knees, he smiles softly in her direction - eyes lacking any form of empathy for the situation.
his face deadpans, a small vein beginning to bulge at the side of his head. was he under a genjutsu the entire time? when the fuck did that happen? how infuriating of that little ffff. still, his disdain for her had began to lessen. he'd been shown something important despite unintentional, and he'd remember that. but... more valuable captured?... he supposes with the current set up he has in mind capture is possible. ah, wait. for torture and information. of course. he continues to stand, musing in front of the person he'd came back to - having to literally be ushered out by their growing impatience of his loitering. all in all, his mission was successful - even if the mizukage wouldn't be too pleased by the antics, at least there's relative doubts sprinkled within the army, and with the hokage looking into seiichi perhaps there'd even be tensions. too many birds to kill with one bow. [break][break]
well, time to go buy a dinner for gauma and indirectly apologize. [break][break]
he decides early, at this point - how much he hates her. [break][break]
nothing more than your average radical extremist in his opinion, someone who believes they 'know everything' despite being an idiot. truly, if she were strong, she would not have sent a request of coalition. the fact that her own platoons had seemingly come up with little constructive strategy in regards to the potential attack shows many. the nations here were merely fodder to protect a newly established kage whom was being invaded because of the instability within this country. [break][break]
as a member of vajrakīlaya and having an general understanding of disunity displayed as obedience at the surface, he's certain some of the sound ninja are wary of her - and may even attempt a coup in the future. idealistic waves of ambition towards brighter futures don't last if the young, ambitious leader loses their first important battle. that much is written in the lore of history. [break][break]
he stands straight, having already established his location to his platoon - having already alerted them to come at a later time. if anything were to happen to him, the fragile coalition- [break][break]
would crumble. [break][break]
a soft smile spreads beneath his mask, connecting dots rapidly. [break][break]
deadened eyes peer into her own, [break][break]
his own life sacrifice towards his liege. [break][break]
"if i may," he starts, stepping forward and pulling several crude drawings from the inside of his jacket. there's several pages of what appears to be the surrounding area, not highly detailed - but structures, landmarks, and the like has been set in place. on some of the maps there's x marks - locations he believes would be suitable for ambushes, strategic land points he's observed within the short time he's been in the nation, as well as the most logical location on where he assumes taiyou will set up their camp. the location is heavily forested, and while it is likely that smaller camps may be set within the smaller patches of the country leading towards the city currently being fortified there is a single location perfect for either the main camp or supply camp of taiyou - plains set adjacent to a water supply, fortifications easy to set up to block the forested area, etc. he's labeled them accordingly to their "possibility", and after placing this information before the hokage he steps back once more. [break][break]
"this is information of the surrounding area. since the time i've been here, i've been creating maps of every location my eyes has seen. i've quarreled with myself frequently in regards to how the taiyou will move, and i believe i have a good idea. i understand that your own council has potentially detailed similar, or perhaps did not share information with you due to your relatively new status. but in the spirit of your position as leader of the coalition forces you've put together, i hope you won't find offense to my desire to assist you to the best of my abilities." his eyes flick down towards her after staring forward, showcasing both obedience and slight challenge hidden beneath it. [break][break]
they return upwards, staring obediently straight ahead as before. "as i'm certain you'll be able to piece together from the labels, those are the locations i believe suitable for ambushes, guerrilla warfare, or full on skirmishes. i do not believe we should allow them to easily reach the city. it is under my belief that the taiyou views you as weak, inexperienced, and far too audacious-" he pauses, and closes his eyes to release a small sigh, "and i'm certain you know the kages view you the same." he finalizes, unsure how this will go. [break][break]
"i believe they will approach arrogantly, with retinues of conscripted soldiers and potentially a rear guard meant to deal the final blow. it is well known you haven't had an easily time cementing your power, and to the taiyou- if i were their daimyo- i'd view you as nothing more than a stepping stone, and pay you handsomely for your participation in creating such an easy opportunity to not only cripple oto, but every nation that answered your call." he shields himself with the reminder - if taiyou wins, not only will oto suffer a catastrophic defeat, but every nation around the world would suffer: [break][break]
because of her. [break][break]
his tone softens, and hands slip from behind his lower back obediently to casually at his side. left palm rests on his hip, and his eyes no longer hold any real regard. "we're all counting on you, mai hokage." he starts, "and i believe you will destroy them... soundly." he smirks beneath his mask. "my request is this: have you heard of the strategy, nobunaga's tide?" he's becoming more comfortable, mostly because he's set up several defenses to ensure that if he were to die, then things could potentially get ugly - all the while subtly reminding her through his strategy that such actions couldn't be afforded. "in a land far ago, there was once a young warlord - pretty much around the same age as you. a massive force began a movement to conquer the entirety of the land, and in the way of their daimyo full of hubris was a small land they assumed would be essentially a cake walk. while his officers advocated towards holing up within the city walls to possibly drain the enemies supplies, the young lord decided against that action. he personally led a small force of several thousand to attack the enemies main camp after hiding along the ridge. the enemy, lured into a false sense of security after winning small battles had begun to celebrate. they had no idea what hit them, and in a single moment their daimyo's head would be cleaved clean from their body, leading to the much smaller force to completely destroy their enemy." he explains it in detail, just in case. as the offspring of a family associated with daimyos, of course he knows of this famous story. however, it may not be as common in these parts of the world. [break][break]
right fist slams against his left palm, and he offers a bow more traditional in his culture as his body leans forward slightly in humility. "i would like to create a task force for such a strategy. i've already members in mind for it: please allow Seiichi Koji, Yukio Shimizu, Aiko Hyuga, Shoichi Azuma, and Möngke Genghis to form this task force with Shoichi Azuma being the acting leader. i believe with one close range, one mid range, two long range, and a healer at hand that the task of cleaving the head off your invading enemy will be more than possible, hokage-sama." he raises slowly out of respect. [break][break]
"in regards to the report, the blood you see on my garb is that of my platoon member, Gauma Gaojima. during my rounds of map creation, he crawled to safety battered and bloody until i found him resting against a tree. before losing conscience, he confirmed that he'd been beaten down brutally by Seiichi Koji , and though i would prefer to see the beasts head chopped off for committing such discourteous service in the midst of a possible large scale invasion, i have rather come to the idea he should join them on this task force where he can be properly watched. my only condition for his participation while my genin lays bloody and unconscious is that should the task force mission go awry, Seiichi Koji will remain behind to protect the retreat of the rest of the team. his sacrifice should be more than enough atonement for his sin against your coalition." eyes close, and he breathes calmly. sensing anything from him is fruitless, raised within the world of politics, he isn't technically lying. all of those events occurred. his poor genin was brutally beaten down by the beast and is not unconscious. it's all about how you word your specific truths - it's the law of kings and queens vs. those who merely abide. she'd do well to learn from his tongue.
this hadn't exactly been a "mission" in the traditional sense, but rather one that involved the organization solidifying their influence against a rival's operations. with this blow to their hideout and the assassination of their leader, vajrakilaya had settled itself comfortably as the main organized syndicate within kirigakure. the whole human trafficking bit that was going on here was fairly a surprise, but not necessarily unexpected. in a land of pirates that pillaged coastal cities and terrorized the distant lands, exporting and importing other nationalities was something that came with high frequency. [break][break]
smoking a cigarette while other members of the gang carted out crates and stocked them on their own ship, fei's hardly paying attention to the girl standing off to the side of him. [break][break]
doesn't know her, doesn't exactly care to know her. she's product. [break][break]
he flicks his cigarette, "name, age, clan." [break][break]
he doesn't look at her, but the statement comes with a commanding tone, expectant in her proper answer.
hey, hold up- "wash my face? what-" what the fuck was yun talking about, he glares and pulls out a hand mirror. oh- eek. didn't realize he'd collected booger eyes. after about thirty minutes of freshening up, tengfei leads the other out of the kisaeng house (sending notice to kiyoko that he'd be gone for the evening), and the two young men head off for their "date". it was less of a date and more of a 'get me away from this loud ass delinquents, my head hurts'. fuck, might even go to a hot spring or a sauna to just chill. having yunyao with him just made it easier for him to not be on guard, knowing that the jounin would pick up any bad vibes from anyone around them. as they reach to port to the ferry, they have to loiter for a little as they wait for it to return back from across the ways. "how're you, anyways? life going okay?" he randomly inquires, lighting a cigarette for himself to enjoy. [break][break]
[attr="class","miss-title"]nami no kuni yōjin goei
[attr="class","miss-block"]
[attr="class","miss-img]
[attr="class","miss-info"]
[attr="class","miss-blurb"] client: master katō [break]rank: c (b) rank [break]recommended: 4~7 [break]location: land of waves [break]briefing:
you have been hired by a shipping magnate known effectively by the people of nami as master katō. a wealthy businessman, he's built a fortune on the backs of those within nami; by no means is this man a good person. a scumbag millionaire that continues to profit from exploiting his workers, creating a monopoly over product shipping throughout the shinobi world. his techniques of controlling workers will, in another universe, become the standard of operation for a master criminal in his own right. that's right fellas, his name was jeff bezos. [break][break]
as nami no kuni (land of waves) remains a contested territory between the land of water and the land of lightning, you have information that they've sent out a relatively degenerate team to protect the master builder seeking to construct a bridge that leads directly to lightning (and taiyou, ironically). this cannot be allowed to occur. reports have shown that the enemy team you will undoubtedly engage with is led by a fabled cloud jounin, a copy-cat shinobi. though the women love him for his status as a hit author of books regarding his many numerous physical and mental feats, men despise him for the truth that he is nothing short of a coward that hides behind unit. in another universe, he's known as - that's right, gilderoy lockhart. [break][break]
your job is to not only defile the cloud team sent to protect the builder and his team, but to also ransack the small village in which housed the builder's family and comrades. a lesson is meant to be dealt to these disgusting socialists, and katō is paying a hefty price for this mission to be completed quickly, and with as much destructive flare the reputable vajrakīlaya gang can muster. extra money is paid forward to rip out the tongue and present it to kato of the blond brat that continues to screech dattebayo whenever holding his sac. [break][break]
he's cautious - though it's expected the anbu / security forces of the hokage to hold such disposition, he has to remind himself that he is indeed within unfamiliar territory. hell, he's certain that if the mizukage knew what he was doing right now, he could end up flayed. regardless, he had some complaints - and his sight was far more important to have than to dismiss. a consistent bargaining chip. he enters through the opened door with a frown beneath the face mask he wears, long blond hair pulled into a small ponytail as his eyes scan upwards first. takes note of his surroundings in the time frame he moves to a comfortable location, running roulette of what the hokage's ability could be. [break][break]
thankfully, working alongside yukio and her olfactory genjutsu has him cautious when it comes to scent, and the mirrors offer more clues. his eyes shift 'obediently' to his feet, no longer focusing on anything. he's lucky his smell is blocked by his mask. he's already imprinted the location in his brain with great detail. [break][break]
"hokage-sama." he speaks, the crass dropped as the masquerade of a diligent aristocrat loyal to their superiors manifests. he knows how to dance with those of higher status, it's been his whole life. daimyo or kage. a small bow of respect is afforded towards the young woman, yet his expression remains vacant. "i am zhōng téngfēi of kirigakure's platoon two. i would like to speak earnestly with you in regards to a situation that has come to my attention, as well as make a humble request."
dropping gauma off with yukio and others and relaying them the story of seiichi's brutal attacks on their platoon member, the news should have struck through those within the barracks fairly quickly. it was lucky that yukio had the abilities to heal the tragedy that had occurred to a willing combatant, sent by the mizukage of all people, ruthlessly assaulted by someone with the low equivalence intellect to a mannequin. [break][break]
with a few dialogues of confused sound shinobi, as well as their witnessing of his whole carrying of the half-dead, bleeding out boy on his back to medical assistance, tengfei asserts their assistance towards being led to the hokage's office to discuss this act of treason against the coalition. the blood staining his jacket and neck would not go without recompense, that he'll make certain of. the kuma no kumo whatever would pay. [break][break]
once outside the office, he waits for the sound shinobi to alert of his request for a meeting, though he's been snapshotting heavily along the way. though he's meant to ensure an alliance occurs, it's important to still maintain a level of information on potential enemies in the process. he's sent word for some of his own men to follow suit after ensuring that gauma isn't dead, so reinforcements should arrive shortly during the discussions with hokage-sama.
big guy... twice your size... bear pelt. [break][break]
as a mist shinobi, it's not hard to know who he's speaking of. natural enemies since before the whirlpools incident, keeping track of who was in their ranks was of utmost importance. he's certain that cloud has a good idea of who is who within mist, as well. his eyes deaden, and his expression sours. "i see." is what he mumbles, temporarily silent before a soft, inaudible sigh escapes his mouth. scratches his head, thinking things over. [break][break]
it's about three minutes past of this... weird silence, most ignoring any question gauma may have asked, before- [break][break]
he leans in, whispering something against the boys ear. [break][break]
as he pulls back, his eyes remain the same cold that they'd been the second gauma described his assailant. with precision, a swift punch is directed against gauma's face, trained enough to know this should be lights out for the younger. especially with the way his head will bounce off the body of the tree. a second punch, a hand grasping his platoon members shoulder to keep him steady as third punch becomes fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and the blood seeping from head continues to drip. the gloves on his hand serve excellently as cushion for himself, switching hands to use his other to do continue the process until he stops. the blood from the boys nose and his head pours, and he shifts a little to pick the other onto his back, head over shoulder as he bleeds out. [break][break]
beneath his mask he frowns, but his eyes settle from cold and dead to acutely distressed and empathetic. he runs rapidly towards the area where everyone has gathered, determined to find his boy a medic for the crimes committed by Seiichi Koji .
humor was, and always will be, a dialogue of importance during times of distress. takes the edge off otherwise serious situations, distracts the mind from the numbing pains. as much as fei likes to bully the brat, he's still one of his friends - a member of the platoon, so there's... something akin to personal responsibility at play now. tch, making him care. fei's eyes glance over and observe the boy - his wounds, his status of injury - the locations. it wasn't 'taiyou' from the looks of the attack(...s?). so it'd have to have been someone else. something else? [break][break]
"say, gau-chan." tengfei crouches in front of the other, leveling with the boy. hand reaches towards gau's head, fingers through hair as he checks for the source of head injury. at least he knew with such a hard noggin that gau would heal pretty quickly. he was special like that. [break][break]
"any idea who screwed you this badly?" it didn't seem bad, from fei's point of view. you tend to get used to being punched in the face and what not after awhile. though he's not too sure if gau is used to being brutalized like this.
of course it's gauma. there's always going to be special ed students on the bus, and frankly tengfei - at this time and hour - considers gauma to be the special ed child. why? yunyao's just shrug emoji, and yukio is out looking as well - but fei? he's already got a whole speech lined up for the idiot, something about dragging the team down, being a useless sack of fodder, and that he shouldn't have begged to come if his only goal was to force them up out of their beds in the evening to go search for his dead body. idiot. absolutely a fucking idiot. jesus christ, he's special- [break][break]
he pauses, squinting- [break][break]
"gau?" there's this body limping forward, before it flops against a tree and slides down- seemingly fucked from the way they're acting. is it gau? shit, he's have to get a better look. he approaches, squinting as he steps nearer and nearer until he's directly in front of his team member. [break][break]
he definitely hadn't fallen asleep on his desk. the abrupt knock, and the peeking head would spot the opportune moment of fei pushing himself upright, the back of his left hand wiping away slumber time drool. it takes him about... ten or so seconds to mentally adjust, "huh? ... oh, right." he'd definitely asked for yunyao to come visit him. actually wasn't for any particular reason, either. "let's go on a date." raises his arms above, stretching with a yawn. by date, he mostly meant loiter around the village, visit some shops and snoop about to see what sort of interesting gossip was going around - which in a way was kind of similar to a date, right? he felt a little neglectful, the prodigious jounin with a lazy streak always became an energetic puppy when fei wanted him to do things with him. needed to upkeep loyalty, and all that. "is there any food shops you wanna try out? or we could go to the usual diner. or maybe take the ferry to one of the island towns?" actually was beginning to lean to the idea of a ferry, hm. [break][break]
[attr="class","bolo-grid-subtitle]― ❝ with my heart up my sleeve.
[attr="class","bolo-body]
the one huddled in the corner stares, wide eyed. [break][break]
as etsumi tries to slaughter the other - failing to follow a simple instruction, fingers go up to protect the spot. the blade is not a dull one, and with more than a few missing appendages and a sword lodged into the side of his throat, the gurgled scream is muffled by the fade of life. blood loss plays an important role here, and sobs are accompanied by sniffles as tengfei stares at his smaller companion with cold eyes. [break][break]
a hand reaches forward, and the blade is tugged roughly from the side of the other's neck. a single clean swipe finishes the job, accompanied by the loud cries and silent begging - a belief that if bringing up his family, how his mother has a birthday soon, how his girlfriend just forgave him and they were trying to make a baby. tengfei lowers himself into a crouch, speaking quietly with the last of the trio - a soothing hand petting the side of his head. encourages him to put the full blame on his now slain comrades, to scapegoat them to save his own life. in this brief conversation; this brief patronizing of master of life versus resigned (in)subordinate, he manages to calm the other. the exchange of information was profitable: new merchandise for the saloons, new product for the scum of kirigakure. more revenue. [break][break]
he stands up and turns, passing the sword back to sumi as the man looks confused as he also had started to get up, only to stop once he sees sumi holding the sword, and hearing the simple order: "shove means pierce. don't fuck it up unless you want a demonstration." [break][break]
he moves to the door, opening it and motioning a hand to two of the gang men carting along two trash cans to haul the deceased.
