When the comforts of civilization begin to dull our senses, we must never forget that in the beginning, there was war. And war. And more war. Long before there were empires, there were humans consumed with greed and the hunger for power. Resources, territories, information—these were the forms of sustenance upon which we preyed. Today, we call such habits vices. Oh, how arrogant we have become! Are we not still impelled by those primordial emotions? Is the advent of war so far-fetched? But alas, for you to truly understand, we must dive deeper into this land’s half-forgotten past.
There was a time when might was the only law that humankind knew. Fearsome clans roamed throughout the land, seeking amenable grounds within which they could take root and opposing forces against whom they could test their mettle. Given the irregularity of nature’s bounty, certain regions appealed more than others, and dominion over such coveted territories became the spark that ignited the earliest inter-clan wars. These fierce, internecine affairs tended to conclude only when one side had decimated their competition into oblivion, and many clans of story were rendered extinct during this period.
The victors of war, having claimed their territories, often made truces with surrounding locals, offering protection in exchange for access to the yields of agriculture. Over time, certain communities emerged as more dominant than others, either due to numbers or sheer talent, and their rapid expansion would force smaller, neighboring communities to either collapse into their fold or be devastated. When the dust settled, humankind found itself divided into the five major territories that we are familiar with today. And was the bloodshed over? With our lands obtained and our bellies filled, were we finally content?
06/01/2023 June is for Juggin
We made it y’all, another month of OTA, and fresh off the press we have another promotion ready. Leaving behind the opening bonus sadly, we welcome the jugggggg! June is for juggin AKA working hard, so we are making it a double rewards month for every mission completed! Yes we said it's double rewards, now you all can really get into the thick of those builds if you work hard enough. And who knows what you might uncover in the process. AND all jobs are free to enroll no quest EXCEPT ANBU(Black Ops) roles.
☆ Name: Contraband - Part 1 – 5 post required Rank: C Repeatable: Yes Description: One of the goals of the Hidden Cloud is to provide an inhabitable, forthcoming environment for its citizens. To birth the notion that all can walk through the streets without the fear of conflict and criminal transgression; however not every citizen feels such a way. Word has spread and eventually got back to the Raikage herself which talks of a young man whose name is unknown; his crime—the illegal distribution of pharmaceutics. While small scale in comparison to other larger affairs, this, if unattended to, could become the gateway for more illicit acts of the same crime and ultimately spread like a potent virus. Your mission is to find information about this name’s whereabouts and bring him to justice. Death will NOT be acceptable.
Reward: 200 EXP and 25,000 Ryo
“Alright lets get to it.”
The sun peaked as Xio was exiting the Kage’s office, it was the middle of the day and he found himself in the center of the mission compound without a mission. ‘ironic let me get to work.’ Without much more hesitation the Kami made his way towards the front desk, the young lady behind greeted him with a warm smile.
“Good afternoon, I’d like to take a mission, preferably one with some combat to it?”
Xio question lead the young lady into a short search before she finally arrived at something that fit his request.
“Alright Xio, today you’ll be dealing with some trouble on outskirts of the village. And per request of Fuma-sama I’ll be sending you with a teammate, they’ll be waiting for you outside the door. You’ll be looking for a women named Senju, Hyouka she kinda has eyes like yours good luck Xio-Sama.”
The genin would nod his head as he took his mission slip and headed for the door, ‘Ehh C-Rank Shouldn’t be too hard.’ Tucking the mission slip in his pocket he made his way through the crowds of people without much effort. Exiting the door the genin was bathed in sunlight as he looked around trying to find this supposed to teammate.
Outside the mission center, Hyouka was thoroughly abusing her authority to receive information without having to appear in person. After all, it wasn't anything with a high degree of confidentiality. Hyouka had long known about this man known in the back streets as 'Grey Serpent'.
Medicine in itself was getting more and more restricted as time went on as the industry developed and standards had to be set as law, but because of standards, things got safer. This 'Grey Serpent' was doing things shadily, which was more convenient for people who wanted medical products without the hassle of going through a doctor's diagnosis beforehand. However, it also opened up a whole new can of worms. The potential risks was so much that the Raikage could not sit still. Now, ninjas would be dispatched.
What Hyouka heard next nearly made her drop her transceiver.
“Sure, a Genin can handle i- you're sending what? Isn't that overkill?”
Somehow, Hyouka sneaked a sigh that didn't make it through to the other end.
“Alright, I'll make sure he doesn't kill anybody.”
Once Xio went outside it wouldn't be too hard to locate Hyouka; heterochromatic eyes, long black hair, sword on her back, usually dresses in black.
More importantly, she was also looking right back.
“Hello, Kami.” She would say once he approached.
“Let's get this settled first: Do you prefer to have a briefing now, keep it short or just reduce it to 'we'll talk on the way'?”
[attr="class","itsover"] Scanning the crowd, he couldn’t find the women right away, but it wouldn’t matter as a voice addressed him by name. Seeming to appear out of nowhere the the young woman dressed in black appeared boasting a similar genetic trait as his own although different colors. ‘I guess I really have been gone awhile.’ The genin couldn’t collect a memory of her from anywhere, but it didn’t bother him much as he redirected his attention back to what she was saying. Listening attentively while she spoke, he would nod his head while he stared into her eyes, he was little taller than her, but he could tell she was his senior by her demeanor. While deducing who she was, the genin would stare blankly into her eyes continuing to nod his for a moment after she finished talking before snapping back to reality.
“My bad, yeah, we can do the briefing on the way. I was trying to figure out if I’d crossed paths before, but I don’t think I have.”
Gesturing towards the gates Xio would take off, he was dressed in his usual mission attire all black with his family crust on his back, while his scythe was attached to a small strap holster linked to his shirt. Assuming the young woman followed, Xio would begin to speak.
“I didn’t get a big briefing on the mission, but I was told we’d be dealing with some folk that one might consider hostile. Seems like fun yeah?”
Xio didn’t have much of a battle mind outside of sparring with his father, but with the new circumstances he knew he would have to sharpen up.
Xio seemed to stop for a moment when they first met, which he explained as some sort of familiarity.
“I'm very confident we've never met until now.”
As he would rather get a briefing on the way, Hyouka simply kept pace and continued the conversation.
“We're dealing with a man referred to as 'Grey Serpent'. Adult about your height, gender unknown but believed to be male due to masculine voice and body shape. Always wears a mask and carries a black umbrella, believed to be a ninja tool. Appears only in the back streets, sightings have all been recorded in the afternoon or later. Simultaneous sightings have not been confirmed, so chances of him knowing clone techniques are low.
We'll be the first to make an arrest attempt. Raikage-sama wants him alive, so you are not allowed to kill him, but feel free to beat him up if he resists.”
Hyouka pulled ahead to lead him towards the entrance of the back streets. Turning a corner as soon as she went in, she walked into a dead end and put her hands together. In a puff of smoke, she turned into a civillian woman in her fourties, clothes yellowed from years of wear. From inside her clothes she produced a pair of handcuffs and reached out to hand it over.
"I will attempt to make contact to buy something and you pick when you feel it's appropriate to drop in on him and perform the arrest. I will only engage in combat if he manages to make it past you, or the conflict escalates to the point you cannot subdue him without killing him. Do you disagree or have any questions?”
[attr="class","itsover"] Nodding as Hyouka assured they hadn’t met before soothed his thought process, and it made sense especially since he’d spent a lot of time outside of the village. Continuing through the village the duo made there way through the Kuomgakure before they found themselves just inside the trenches, it wasn’t much different the rest of the village outside from the clear lack of development which created openings for things like the Grey Serpent. As his senior continued her briefing, she’d mentioned not being able to kill the guy they were after, it was kind of funny to Xio causing him to laugh slightly. It wasn’t everyday he got the chains put on him on him before he went out on a mission, ‘I guess it’s a product of the four tails?’ Kami would swallow the thoughts for now as they found themselves at a dead end, the Jounin would quickly apply a disguise with hinge no jutsu.
“Alright that makes sense.”
Xio would grab the handcuffs placing them inside of ninja bag, ‘this is cool.’ For the first time he’d been a mission where someone was actually being tactical about inside of just bombarding the problem with for force.
“You don’t have to worry about the killing part, I specialize in Genjutsu for the most part, and I’ve got a pretty strong grasp on how much a person mental can take before it shuts down.”
Recently going through the sealing process awakened more than the ability to use the lava release, the weight of joining spirits with Yonbi have brought his Sharingan to full maturity. Unsure of exactly how it happened he had been waiting for the opportunity to see the difference in his visual prowess.
“So I’ll follow from a distance, and watch with a close eye. Once you give me the signal I’ll do my best make this apprehension as smooth as possible.”
Speaking confidently Xio positioned himself to get a view of the place where they suspected the Grey Serpent had been running his operation. ‘He’s booming.’ Watching his senior pulling out of the ally he would allow his chakra to pool into his eyes while he covered his head with his hood to hide his visual prowess, he wasn’t one to boastful about his abilities he’d rather keep them to himself.
Xio explained that his specialty was Genjutsu. A rare thing these days, but very welcome for a thing like this.
“Good. Now remember, the signal will be when I raise my hand and wave like this.”
The woman raised her hand quickly and waved while her other hand covered her cheek. It looked as if an embarrassing topic was brought up and she had to cover her flushing cheeks.
“In the event I don't signal, use your own judgement. If I don't drop the transformation after you apprehend him, bring him here and I'll meet you as soon as I can.”
Once Xio disappeared from her view, she adjusted her expression and began making her way through the area, joining in on a queue like it was natural. She mingled with the crowd, chatting away about the latest news and a husband that never existed.
Finally, she made it to the front of the queue. A deep masculine voice greeted her and her eyes showed some fear. Meeting someone dressed in all black with a mask and umbrella was the textbook definition of a shady character. Still, meeting them in person for the average person would be more scary than suspicious.
"First time?"
She paused for a moment before finally finding herself.
“O-oh yes, I've been hearing about you, they said your stuff is the most reliable if I wanted to buy something to... uh... spice up the bedroom.”
She started fidgeting in place after saying something embarrassing.
"That's no problem. Just have your partner take this and I guarantee you will not be sleeping tonight."
He pulled out a small glass bottle and handed it over. There were bits of paper stuck to the glass exterior, indicating the label had been torn off. In exchange, the woman handed over the appropriate amount of money, which he kept.
“Thank you. Maybe with this I can finally have a child.”
"Then I wish you good luck. I'm sure your child will be as good looking as you."
Of course, it was an empty compliment, because his monotone voice did not portray any sincerity. Still, the woman took it as one.
She raised her hand and waved as if sweeping his words away while her other hand, still holding the bottle of pills, covered her cheeks as if hiding a blush. “Oh, you're such people pleaser!”
If nothing happened, she would turn around and walk away just like every other customer before her.
[attr="class","itsover"] Despite not being a seasoned shinobi Xio’s natural prowess guided him well, using the busy streets as a median he would blend into the crowd as if he was another bystander waiting on his turn. ‘Ok, that is him.’ The Genin would move out of view of the assailant, he didn’t need to draw attention to his person as he waved through a few short seals. ‘I need to get like my father.’ He thought as he watched Hyouka complete the transaction, his chakra would flood the area in front him though only affecting the grey serpent.
As the Jounin muttered her last words the Genin’s chakra would invasively attack the grey serpents mental causing his entire would to go blank for a second. A high-pitched voice would ring in his head.
-Enters Genjutsu-
“Welcome to hell.”
As he heard those words the entire area around him would be lit ablaze, simultaneously from the ground hundreds of bloody hands would reach out from the ground grabbing his arms and legs keeping him in place. Voices would begin to ring, as the victims of his drugs agonizing deaths played loudly on repeat, screams of death echoed in his head as he felt the flesh melting away from his body.
“Now Bow.”
Another voice rang in his head as a large demon comprised of thousands dead bodies erupted from the ground and slammed the grey serpent into the fire where the hands would begin to pull him to hell.
-End of Genjutsu-
If everything went according to plan as Xio’s chakra overtook the criminal, he would’ve went into an instant state shock before appearing to have a brief insanity. He would act as if he had been set on fire before finally losing his consciousness and falling to the ground.
Xio would allow the chakra to dissipate from his eyes, he wasn’t able to do the trick his father had tried to teach him a while ago just yet but it was fine. This technique along with what his mother taught him was more than enough to deal with someone of this stature. The Kami would make his way through the small crowd people, he would check the surroundings to see if he had any henchmen watch and of course he did. They were moving in from the back of the crowd as the man fell to the ground, ‘shit.’ As Hyouka blended into the crowd Xio pushed his way through quickly grabbed the body of the unconscious drug dealer and threw him over his should.
Xio’s hands would fly through another set of hands seal two to be exact, but this time he wouldn’t discern a target to everyone around him his body would appear to melt into a hot pool of lava burning away the ground while he appeared about 5 meters away from his last known position. Using the ruckus he’d caused as cover he would make his way back to the ally where he had last spoke with Hyouka with the man on his shoulder.
“Damn, I hope I didn’t go overkill after I talked all that shit.”
Xio would toss the unconscious body to the floor in front of him.
“Ehh he’s still breathing, will probably have to take him in for interrogations or something.”
Kiso Keihatsu (Base Enlightenment) Rank: S Range: --- Type: Supplementary Handseals: 9 Chakra Consumption: x2 High, x1 High (Optional) After the utilization of this technique, the user's Genjutsu techniques seem 'more real', and cast shadows, create sound, disturb the environment, and can compensate for the specifics of any known illusion to make it harder to detect as false. The manner in which illusions can be made to seem more real is nearly endless in utility, though the manner in which it is roleplayed out determines the technique's effectiveness. Detail in regard to the desired conditions of the technique's usefulness always determine its success. Any sensation associated with an illusory event actually occurring can be mimicked with this technique, though this doesn't stop them from being illusions.
Note: For an additional x1 High, this effect can be applied to the user's allies, enhancing their Genjutsu as well. This technique cannot be broken via pain, Kai, or chakra disruption, but the techniques it is used on can still be broken normally.
Joku no Kamira (Kamira’s Hell) Rank: A Range: Close (0m ~ 5m), Mid (5m ~ 10m), Far (10m+) Type: Offensive Handseals: 6 Chakra Consumption: High, Low to sustain
Once inside the black space, the target will see grotesque figures said to be tortured criminals, the previous victims of the technique. These grotesqueness will reach out and grab a hold of the target. They will then be thrown into a void (the ground below them) to the mercy of a spectral demon. The horrifying oni can even extend from the targets own body to attack them. The technique aims to transfix the victim with fear while they kill/apprehend the target.
Note: This technique can be broken via pain, kai, or chakra disruption. This technique effects everyone within range, spare for the user.
Manugareru (Escape) Rank: B Range: Close (0m ~ 5m) Type: Defensive Handseals: 2 Chakra Consumption: High
If the user comes under attack, they can use this technique to cover their escape. After forming the needed hand seals, their body will disperse into a "shower" of whatever they have an affinity for. This shower will confuse and distract their opponent while they escapes or hide.
Note: Those outside of the immediate range of this technique will still be able to see the caster attempting to escape, and can thusly counter. This technique can be broken via pain, kai, or chakra disruption.
The woman had already stuffed the bottle into her clothes and turned when the Grey Serpent started showing signs of abnormality. She only looked back when noises started coming from the line of people behind her. She, like everyone else, started shrieking and running away, afraid of catching whatever the Grey Serpent came down with.
It would be a few minutes after Xio reached the rendezvous point before Hyouka showed up with her transformation undone and carrying an unconscious man over her shoulder. It was one of the henchmen Xio had noticed earlier.
“Good job.”
Looking at the man on the floor, Hyouka complimented Xio. He had apprehended the target quickly in front of a crowd. As for the victim's well-being... Hyouka did not have the skills to determine the mental health of an unconscious man.
“Grab him and we'll turn these guys in to our Intelligence department.”
Once Xio picked the guy up, Hyouka started leading the way again.
“Not so easy, is it? It's understandable: usually a genin is often told to aim high and grow stronger. To increase your output to contend with rising dangers in the world. However, once you are doing missions like these... You get reminded to hold back and keep your victims alive.
Well, I won't lecture you on how you should and shouldn't develop yourself. I'm more experienced than you, but I don't know you well enough to make a comment.
[attr="class","itsover"] Xio stood over his captive ensuring his breathing remained steady, the mental stress the Kami enforced in the situation was a bit excessive but he didn’t want to underestimate his adversary. Arriving a few minutes later Hyouka made it back with a prisoner of her own, ‘that was slick.’ the thought crossed his mind as he hadn’t heard much commotion but the man she carried over her shoulder was surely docile. With his leader's command, Xio would grab the grey serpent by arms pulling him up and over his shoulders. As they began to move back towards the intelligence department he listened to her questions carefully to line up a good response.
“Yeah, it’s a difference for sure. Applying things I practice alone and with family different hit different out here.”
Following Hyouka’s lead through the village the Genin to a moment to digest the rest of her statement as they moved along in silence for a moment. ‘I barely have any mission experience.’ Although this was a fact that rattled him a little bit Xio did his best not to let it show.
“Well honestly I don’t mind lectures, sometimes experience trumps talent depending on the perspective needed for a situation. This is the first time I’ve been out on a mission in a couple of years. After all, I’ve been spending a lot of time outside the village with my family, cause I had to learn more about my lineage and I think paid off here.
But I’m rambling on, the question is do you think the grey serpent is the end to this problem we have in the slums or just a small pawn?”
Despite being young Xio usually thought a couple of steps deeper into every situation he was faced with, and this one didn’t seem as simple as it appeared. He was carrying a man that was supposedly distributing drugs to the entire south side of the city, ‘there’s no way he’s in this by himself, he’s gotta have connections.’ Kami continued to follow his leader through the city staying alert to his surroundings, they did just extract two criminals from their hood so it could be people stalking.
Hyouka listened, but did not comment. Every person's situation was special. In her own case, she was lucky that her family was located inside the village. She could just drop by whenever she wanted. She simply let him talk then answer his questions.
“Well here's the lesson: In cases like these, people like Grey Serpent are more like the symptom to the disease. Just like how you know you have a cold when you have a runny nose and sneeze a lot, this man's business means there's a vulnerability and/or corruption somewhere that allows this to happen. That's why he must be taken alive: our Intelligence department will need to start the trail from him.”
Hyouka saw his alertness and nodded in approval.
“Being alert is right, but you need to brush up on your acting skills. You look too tense. As a general rule, if someone were to attack us now, in the open areas of the village, it means someone quite high up in the hierarchy is involved. However, because that instantly casts suspicion on them, it's not a move they can make without planning it in advance. Even if it was an external organization, it'd be out of our hands and into those of our ANBU.”
Finally reaching the Intelligence department, she entered by pushing the door open with her free hand. Being who they were, Xio and Hyouka were recognized quite easily.
Dropping off the people, Hyouka spoke again to Xio.
“Once again, good work today. They'll take it from here.”
After they left the building, Hyouka turned away from Xio and body-flickered off into the distance.
