In the Valley of the Shadow of Death

[Eechi-go]

It would appear as though Haruyuki's efforts weren't for naught, as Raz's battered and broken form was crawling out of the debris that had entombed him, desperately clawing his way over towards the adjacent house so that he could find some peace in leaning against a stable structure. To say that the red-maned Sennin was in bad shape would be a laughable understatement. Raz was a shinobi for almost ten years at this point, and there were times where he was pushed to the brink of death before, but he was pretty lucky for all intents and purposes. The most traumatic physical damage he had ever suffered was in the forests of Lorien, where his chest cavity was pretty much erupted by explosive webbing, ironically created by a hunter-nin who's clan belonged to Otogakure.

But in comparison to the condition he was in now, that was barely a scratch. The impact of the Rasengan and the laser light show that the yokai had assaulted him with completely burned through his torso, melting away the jounin vest and shirt he wore, leaving him in nothing but a pair of charred pants. The armor wasn't the only thing hit by the blast, as he had suffered from some rather significant burns all along his torso, but that was really the most minor of the injuries he had suffered. The impact with the buildings had very clearly shattered several bones in his body, especially his ribs, which had actually taken such severe damage that one had broken inward and pierced his lung. With each pained breath the man would take, he'd be wracked with unimaginable pain, and that wasn't to mention how desperate each half-gasp was. It felt as though he was going to suffocate at any moment.

To make matters worse, his right hand still had a deep, spiral shaped wound spinning around his palm and went down his forearm, revealing bone and tenketsu to the open air. Or at least they would be visible if the massive wound wasn't pooling in blood. Instinctively he tried to clench his fist, but he had done such significant damage to his nerves that he was incapable of doing anything more than bending his fingers. So this crawl over to the adjacent building was painfully slow, but he would manage eventually, resting his back against the wet wood as he tried to keep himself conscious. His vision was absolutely wrecked at this point, to the point where everything was blurred and shaking whenever he moved his head to look around. In addition, his eyes had become incredibly sensitive to any light, and found himself wincing whenever some would flash from the opposite side of the Harakage Tree where Gargantua was still stomping the group. Of course, he only assumed it was, since he had been practically deafened by the blast that catapulted him all the way over here.

So there Raz sat, caked in mud and blood from his head to his toes, his left hand desperately pressing against his stomach in a vain attempt at keeping guts in his body, all the while attempting to keep precious oxygen in his lungs. Though his peaceful transfer to the realm of the dead was interrupted, the man felt himself beginning to fade once more to the abyss. He had just suffered far too much trauma to be able to survive, and there wasn't like he was going to be rushed to a hospital quick enough to save his life.

His headband fell off his forehead rather suddenly as though it was signaling the final closing of the curtain on his life, hitting the ground beside him which caused the metal to crack in half from the damage it had sustained from the blast. It too was just as battered and bloodied as its owner. Raz leaned back, allowing himself to embrace death once against. Ever so slowly, his eyes would begin to descend, this time triggering a flashback of his entire life before his eyes. Everything moved in a blur, losing all meaning for the most part, until his eyelids were just about to close. Then he heard a voice amongst the ringing in his ear.

"I'm sorry! I-I'm really, really sorry. Please forgive me...!”

Raz would let a small grunt from his throat, forcing his eyelids to open once more. Before him, he saw Korin, although much younger than she was nowadays. She was wearing the same hunter-nin armor that she had during their first meeting in Lorien when they were still on opposite sides of the war. He remembered this whole scene very vividly. Apparently when his life flashed before his eyes, it decided to focus on this event. This was when she tried to save him- her enemy at the time.

"All this killing and hurting…it's gotten us nowhere. If we could all just stop…and love one another…”

She pleaded to her comrade to spare his life, the life of a boy she didn't know. She put her head on the chopping block and risked treason with the empire...all to save him. "K-korin..." Raz muttered, hacking up a pint of blood as he found the willpower to clutch the side of the building in an attempt to pull himself back up onto his feet. "No....not ready....not yet..." He thought to himself, not allowing his spirit to move on quite yet. He might not have been able to fight anymore. He might not have been able to help the team he brought to this village. He might not have even been able to walk properly anymore, but that was not going to stop him from finding his wife. From finding this girl who was willing to risk her own life to save him.

Managing to weakly clutch the wall, Raz slowly but surely pulled himself onto his feet, turning his attention to the Harakage's Tree in the distance. Nothing else in the world mattered at the moment. He didn't notice Haruyuki, nor the battle going on any longer. The only thing he was focused on was getting to the top of that tree, come hell or high water. But it seemed like both had already arrived.

Leaving his shattered headband behind, Raz took weak, downright pathetic limps down the street, one step at a time, expending all of his energy just to keep him standing. He looked like a walking corpse, and his bangs stuck to his face in such a way that completely shadowed his eyes so they couldn't be seen, only water dripping down his face that were probably a combination of tears and rain. Though he didn't notice it at the time, his body was beginning to expel a wild, untamed and unnatural chakra that whipped out at everything around him. The only thing he would notice now was the memories he had of Korin ringing through his head, fueling his crippled pursuit.

"I'm happy that you're alive, Raz. There is no debt. Knowing that you're alive… that's all that is needed.”

---

Gamabunta's rage only continued as it slammed back down to earth. Though he was typically an ornery old man, today was simply proving to be one failure after another. Not only had he lost a member of his own toad clan, but the great beast believed two of it's favorite summoners to have perished. Raz and Korin had rode the massive toad into battle against the Raikage, and since then they had forged a strong bond with the clan. To see them completely dismantled by this monstrosity was enough to make Gamabunta take this battle seriously.

However, in his anger, Gamabunta began to miss vital things in this battle, such as how quickly Gargantua could charge and fire its lasers. The toad was so pleased that it had managed to scar the creature, it leapt in at a more horizontal angle to hopefully close the gap between him and it. Of course now he was airborne, moving directly into the killzone of this yokai's laser blast. Realizing that he was going to take these things head on, the toad let it's courage bubble to the surface, tossing it's massive blade directly at the creature as the blasts slammed into him. It was his hope that this sacrifice would allow for the blade to slice not only the demon in half, but the ring that had been apart of it all along.

Though the beams didn't cut him in half, they did hit him with enough force to send him flying backwards, rolling over several buildings in the proccess. Thankfully missing the rest of team Oto rather narrowly. Whether or not the beast was unconcious was uncertain...but didn't seem to have it's eyes open at the moment.

1,459 Words

7,486 Total

Edited December 12, 2012 by Eechi-go

[Lemon]

With a quick twist of his hips the newly christened ANBU changed the trajectory of his out of control free fall, managing to impact the roof with his shoulder first and roll toward relative safely. He hopped to his feet quickly and peered over his shoulder with a jubilant grin on his face. He only had a moment to revel in the beauty of his seering orange flames that engulfed the Gargantua's tail before the massive appendage swung towards him, sweeping away any structures in its path. Before Mizujin could leave the roof the creature's tail turned the building to a slurry of mud, wood and debris right beneath his feet. He found his footing completely lost as the roof collapsed in on its self under him. "Shit---" He cursed and whipped his arms out around him to try and grab hold of anything he could use to stabilize himself. His hasty effort was futile, the building came crashing down around him.

"Time for Plan B." Without hesitation Mizujin's hands formed the seals for a katon jutsu and he released a super heated breath of fire. The wooden remains of the building were charred to ash as a hole was created in the rubble. By controlling his fall Mizujin crashed down into his burning escape route. A sharp pain coursed through his leg but he pressed forward as the roof continued to fall around him. Just as he passed through what was left of the structures far wall the biblical yokai came crashing down destroying all trace of the building. The dark haired boy barely had time to glance over his shoulder to see the wave of mud and rubble rushing towards him before he had been over taken by it. He tried to escape but as he braced his leg another sharp pain struck causing him to falter, hindering his usual nimble movements.

He barely escaped the fiery assault by the summons by taking shelter behind one of the more structurally sound buildings left behind the Yokai. He had staggered a decent distance away and since he was behind the demon the structures here were left more or less in tact for now. "These fucking summons better watching where their aiming." He growled while addressing his injury. A shattered shoot of bamboo had lodged itself in his leg. The young genin had a basic knowledge of medicine he had picked up from his lifelong shinobi career. He knew all too well that those who couldn't take care of themselves ended up dead. Removing the stake as gently as he could he began to inspect the injury. "Clean enough removal, missed the femoral artery... I'll be fine." His injury wasn't cripling, he would possibly need a medic to take a look but it was nothing major. The jounin was trained better than to let pain affect him.

He braced himself against the next shockwave as the Yokai released its absorbed energy into the atmosphere. Like the other shinobi around him he moved in to strike out with a counter attack. He planted his feet and once again his hands moved at blinding speed to form seals for a katon jutsu, those these were much longer than the first. It was not a tehcnique the Uchiha genius liked to use but it was one of the more powerful that he knew. So what if he couldn't control it, the Yokai was a big enough target and this ninjutsu had the power to melt away solid rock. "You're going to burn, you fucker." Inhaling a deep breath, Mizujin formed the final seal. Sharply he exhaled and an enromous dragon took shape from the flames leaving his lips. It soared through the streets, incinerating buildings in its uncontrolled rampage towards the Yokai

Katon; Ryūka No Jutsu [Fire Release; Dragon Fire Technique]

[Leon]

OOC: Finals are over, posting activity is back to normal now.

The birds horribly coordinated assault was thwarted by the combined efforts of Ren and Yue. The duo held off the minor flocks of birds while Lilina brewed a seemingly wide effect jutsu to combat the birds. Within minutes she had done just that, releasing several serpents that seemed to be extensions of her bloodline in a sense. At first they began to snap at the birds, bringing them down but not necessarily killing them. Then the serpents turned on the group. Ren moved quickly to get away from them while continuously attacking the birds. Silently he cursed as one managed to take a grab out of his leg. Ren used one of his wind bullets to take care of that problem. When Yue yelled out that the group needed to do better, at least that is what Ren assumed he was going to say before the giant beam tore through the side of the building. For a brief moment Ren could only hope that this was not the way he went down, not able to protect himself or his teammates from anything.

After the beam passed, which took but a second, the birds began to flap frantically for unknown reasons. Ren was astounded to see a giant hole carved into the side of the building. It was nearly perfect in its blade like cut across the tower, and for a moment Ren was surprised that the structural integrity of the building was holding. That moment was quickly regretted as the building began to make a moan much deeper than Ren ever remembered hearing before. The stories above the team slid gracefully off of the top, exposing the team to the downpour of rain. A few seconds provided Ren with a sense of relief as the bird yokai scampered about. The feeling passed as the building fragment caused an avalanches of concrete and other materials to gather around the team. A sense of urgency swept the group when a few of the birds became creative artwork designs of slap and blood. Fortunately the group was being looked out for as Yue rushed them to the back door. It was good thinking on his part as the building had lost all structure from the collapse of two buildings on top of it for now. Ren began to wonder if he had the strength to carry one of his team mates out and have enough leg power to maintain a good speed. The obvious choice was the damaged Yue as to which Ren was starting to get generally worried for.

The group seemed like they were going to be in the clear when Lilina release her time space jutsu to help speed things up. Ren could get used to this feeling as the space around him contorted to his godly speed combined with Lilina’s jutsu. In fact at this moment if Ren ran full power he could take on any Hachinin’s speed… most likely. The team burst through an abandoned house, to which Ren saw a few ghostly figures that he ignored. Lilina apparently decided it was time to take the team street side, an action that Ren did not agree with but seeing as they had little choice the chunnin followed along. From their new outside location Ren could once more see the giant Yokai along with the seemingly thousands of random yokai that were roaming around in the sky and in the streets. Ren checked behind him to stare at Yue for a moment. His eyes were filled with worry as he surveyed his teammate. Never had Yue looked so… broken… before. Not even from the moment the two awoke in the hospital together. Ren for the first time sincerely asked Yue, “Are you okay?” He realized this may be to soft for Yue so he quickly followed up with a Yueism and said, “You look like I just got you into a shit ton of trouble which you’re going to be me up for later.”

Ren would say the last part with a slight grin. His humor was returning as the adrenaline rushed through his veins. They had avoided a falling building along with a swarm of bird yokai. Ren was feeling pretty good about them right now. The group had a slight moment to breathe so he spoke out in a calm rational voice. “All right guys” Ren began with a slight exasperated voice, “We have to nix Raz’s mission. The people of this village are practically gone. Are options are to regroup with him or try and mount a ground attack to help out this ‘alliance’.” Ren would trust what his team mates suggested at this point. But they had to hurry, whatever these new found “senses” were had begun to crazy and Ren wasn’t quite sure what it meant.

[802/3813]

[cntrstrk14]

Syaoran stood on the sidelines, watching from a building top far enough to the side that the beings seemed to ignore him. His chakra was under tight wraps, the only thing he had done thus far was to prepare a Hiraishin no Jutsu in case he needed to jump out quick. As he watched the Gargantuan charge his beam at the Harakage's tree he would tense, but Terrick quickly used a wood jutsu to deflect its aim. There had been no need to worry. In that last moment though, he would see Raz and a female ninja he was not familiar with get in the way of the new beam. He cursed softly, but would see that the girl at least had been using the beam to take out one of the bird yokai. Smart. Possibly smarter than she even realized.

As the beast slashed another set of haphazard lasers across the village, Syaoran would see some black specks in a sliced building through the downpour. Frowning he would disappear.

----------

“HHHUUUUMMMMMMMAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNSSSSSSSSS!!!!!”

The beast bellowed into the storm that surrounded the whole village now. The rain had picked up even further, as if the small breaks in its downfall had caused it to try and make up for lost time. The beast was still bent down, its golden ring had slowed for a moment, but it was whirling again as if it meant to explode a second time. Fire licked at its edges, flicking off as it approached critical mass.

Yatako was able to successfully approach and climb one of the legs of the Gargantuan. Just in time to see a dragon of fire soar underneath him. It seemed his Uchiha subordinate had not bitten the dust yet and was still holding up an assault. The first licked the bottom of the leg that Yatako had just climbed, staying low to the ground and then taking a sharp turn upwards towards the beast's belly. As the dragon struck, Yatako would just make it to the surface of the creature's main body. The heat from the explosion, though not in danger of getting to the Hokage, could be felt as a wave of heat. The beast bellowed out again but he kept charging that ring of his above. The fire was being drawn in again, the ring only growing brighter.

Yatako had more immediate problems to handle at this moment though. Crossing the beasts body was not as easy as the Hokage had anticipated. The skin in front, behind and to the sides of him would churn and bubble like it had when the spawns had pulled themselves out and when the beast had devoured the attacks earlier. The skin turned from a solid epidermis to a boiling thick sludge that almost seemed alive as it turned into thick tentacles of pitch black goo. The first would swing at him, trying to claw at him and pull him into the skin. Even the skin he stood on would become slippery and unstable. If one of the tentacles managed to grab him he would find the strength of it surprising. Hell, with his experience, he would be able to tell that getting trapped here would mean being dragged into the beast and becoming completely immobile. Not to mention there was probably not much air inside of this black tar like goo.

At this same time, Terrick would crash into the beast with not only his dragon of wood, but also his slashing taijutsu, like the teeth of a chainsaw. He would successfully cut into the beast's skin but would find like Yatako that the sludge like substance was more resilient than it first appeared. Black good like liquid would spill out and fall to the pavement, but some of it would churn and bubble, trying to fill the gap the Kusa ninja had made and also reaching out to capture him with razor sharp tendrils. Just before these tendrils could wrap around the Kusa ninja though a large crash would send shockwaves through the whole beast.

Up above at the ring, Taiyoutaka had burst from the clouds and grabbed the searing white ring. As soon as he did, the ring would pry up and bring the beast with it. The bird would find the ring burning hot though, and only a second after it took a hold another blast of wind and fire would ripple out. The damage had been done though, the ring was no long horizontal with the beast, now at a thirty degree angle from its body as the fire launched. Instead of hovering over the village it would slash into the ground behind the beast in a large arc and fire into the air. Taiyoutaka would probably take massive damage from coming to close to this attack.

A second shockwave, just as mighty as the first, rippled through the Gargantuan. This time a massive knife the size of a small building had crashed into the ring, right where Taiyoutaka had grabbed it. Gamabunta's last ditch throw had struck true, and the white ring that was still spinning cracked. A moment later it shattered and exploded, chakra and fire raining down all above the Gargantuan as if a bomb had detonated right above its back. Anyone near the Gargantuan would have to watch for falling pieces of gold and fire.

“GWWWAARRRRR!!! MMAAAJJJJAAAAAA!!!!”

It's large eye focused on Gamabunta. The toad took all of its ire and with both front legs slammed firmly into the ground the large yokai would charge another massive blast. There was not shaking this one, the beast had all the energy it needed to make this attack and just like that the laser was let loose. Whether he was unconscious or not, it was unlikely that the boss toad would be able to dodge this attack from its position on its back. Much more likely was that this blast would send it right back to its own realm. The Gargantuan looked pissed... Well MORE pissed.

----------

Haruyuki's bird would be struck by all seven needles, the ice piercing through and shredding its form easily... too easily. The pieces blackened and moved apart like shadows, forming bird like piranha that swirled to the left and right of the Kirigakure ninja. They would try and swoop in on him, ignoring Raz as he pulled himself out of the rubble and started to limp down the street. This other ninja had much more chakra to feed off of. The bird like fish yokai would swoop in on the Hisame, dozens at a time with teeth looking to rend flesh.

----------

Back in the hole Yatako had created, two hands made an assault on three ninja and a fox. The first had just barely missed clamping down on its target, slowed and knocked back by a strange vibration. It did not waste time though as its fingers closed on air it would land on the ground on all five digits. It was not rooted at all, in fact it was as if it was a floating severed hand. Her chain wrapped around one digit, but the beast instead flicked its finger down as if to pull HER to IT. Whether it was able to or not, the beast would push off the ground and dive at her again with an agility that outmatched its appearance. It moved almost like a five legged spider.

The second hand had tried to cut the Kumogakure no Sato ninja in two, to mild success. It had clipped him on the shoulder. As the beast landed on all five digits like a spider, it would be struck with no time to react by a torrent of water. The dragon shape was powerful, though not enough so to move the beast more than a few yards away as it spread its body out to absorb the damage and hold its ground. The hand lifted itself up and the eyes on its face were wide open.. but had no pupils. Its solid white eyes focused on Izzy and it hissed from its human like mouth. It bent down like a loaded up spring- and was struck by a lightning bolt dead center. The air had ripped open to the power of electricty, the ground exploded below the hand and its form was lost in the light as strike after strike tore more of the ground asunder. The assault was powerful, it was impressive, and with the added water it was very effective. At the end of the assault all there was left was a crater where the hand had stood. At the center of this crater was the motionless hand, a hold blasted through its center right where the face had been. Its 'body' was crisp and burnt, and the smell was something akin to tar and rubber tossed into a pitch fire.

----------

As team Oto broke into the street behind the building, they would have about two seconds of peace before the piranha beasts burst out of the building behind them. There seemed to be less than there had been, but as they swooped down onto the street in front of them they would condense and form back into the body of the strange cloaked bird yokai. The beast let out a cry as it bent down and launched itself at the three. They had fought hard, been through a lot in the past half hour, and were likely getting to the end of their ropes. As the beast launched itself right at Ren a flicker of light from a rooftop would catch the eye along with a familiar sound- the slicing of air a kunai made as it traveled. The kunai would strike the yokai directly on the beak as it was only about two yards from Ren, talons extended as if it intended to take the man into the air like a bird of prey. The kunai bounced off the beak, unslowing the freight train of a yokai. In that same heartbeat a body of brown and black clothing would ripple out of nothing in front of Ren. The body was already twisted in the motion of a roundhouse kick, and in the same motion as appearing it connected a solid knee to the face of the Yokai, sending it into the building wall on the opposite side of the alley.

A flicker of pitch blast steel sailed through the air, a katana nailing the beast through the chest as it struck the wall, pinning it. As expected, the beast immediately started to peel apart into shadows, taking the form of those flying piranha. The figure had not stopped moving though- he finished a seal and braced himself with feet spread.

"Katon: Haisekishō!"

(Fire Type: Ash Product Burning)

The bird shrieked and cried, its small bird fish forms being overtaken as the cloud of ash and fire that erupted from the figure rushed over it, slamming it again against the stone wall. The fireball spread out in a huge fan in all directions. The yokai was completely engulfed in the flames, and as they died down there would be nothing left but a huge scorch mark against the wall and the faint outline of small beasts against burned stone.

Alchem Syaoran stood in front of the small team, the sword that had pinned the beast against the wall was the cursed blade Hinshi. With a flick of his wrist the sword would disappear and return to his hand, still smoking from the heated ash that had washed over it. Too bad the blade couldn't have been destroyed that easily. Syaoran would begin to turn...

----------

Yokai Tracker

Gargantuan: City Square [Yatako, Terrick, Mizujin, Gamabunta, Taiyoutaka]

○ Spawn 1: Gargantuan's Head

○ Spawn 2: Hole in Ground [sato, Kikuya, Izzy]

○ Spawn 3: Gargantuan's Head

○ Spawn 4: Destroyed (Sato & Izzy)

○ Spawn 5: Gargantuan's Head

Bird 1: Building Remains [syaoran]

Bird 2: Destroyed (Syaoran)

Bird 3: Destroyed (Kikuya)

Bird 4: Far Side of Village [Raz and Haruyuki]

[1Q84]

ran this by cntr and he doesn't mind backtracking a bit

It was a small miracle that Ren and Lilina decided to fucking listen instead of argue with Yue for the first time probably ever. He barely even noticed whatever the hell Lilina was doing with the floor only that everyone was moving in the right direction and not wasting any time to give each other shit. Even Ren waited until they got out of the building to run his fucking mouth causing Yue to glare at him. He was tired, covered with with bites and claw marks from the birds and snakes and wouldn't be surprised to find that he had broken something from the massive piece of rubble that glanced off his shoulder and Ren had to ask if he was fucking okay.

"No, you just got me into a shit ton of trouble in which you're going to beat me up for later. Or at least fucking deck me in the face, right after Lilina and Raz blame all this shit on me." Yue snapped back though he sounded somewhat distracted as though he wasn't really angry at Ren or at least no more angry then usual. "And we are not nixing the god damn mission. Finding survivors was only the first fuckin' part, we're supposed to head some god damn tree thing when we were done." Yue pointed out knowing that they were supposed to meet up with Raz the only issue being it was supposed to be when the giant gargantuan thing was dead but judging by the sounds and flashes of light the damn thing was still kicking and putting up one hell of a fight.

"We can barely escaped the wierd bird things. If that huge thing is still standing, we ain't gonna do shit but get in the..." Yue was cut short as the same fucking bird fish things came bursting out of the building swirling around and condensing in front of the team but instead of attacking it turned back into the original monsters they had been fighting on the rooftop finally giving Yue an explanation of what the hell happened to those things or at least one of them.

It was more then being on the end of his ropes at this point. Yue had spent the last week fighting in some dumbass tournment only to push himself beyond anything he had done in his arena playdates with whatever the hell had caused those monsters to appears at the after party. He could barely fucking move this morning and by all rights should be laying in a god damn hospital bed and it was only through sheer willpower and whatever the hell that toad oil did to his body that he was still standing here but it was getting to the point that every part of him was starting to throb with a dull pain.

So when the reformed bird thing cried out and launched itself at Ren Yue wasn't thinking just acting on instinct after feeling pretty fucking useless this entire time. Those god damn things were finally fighting at his level and like hell he was going to pass up the oppurtunity to beat the every loving shit out of these things for as long as he could no matter how bad he felt. Yue didn't even notice the thrown kunai only that the air rippled in front of Ren with something forming between the dumb fuck and the bird but like hell that was going to stop Yue. In hindsight he could put two and two together especially when the new person kicked the bird thing away but Yue wasn't wasting time to think and for all he knew this was some new kind of attack because why the fuck would anything other then an attack suddenly pop into existance between some monster and three god damn ninja.

Everything happened so fast it was almost instantaneous. Yue let out his own battle cry energy flooding his sytem and he opened the First Gate, a cloud of ash and flame errupting into the back alley as a fireball consumed everything in front of Yue except for the black and brown thing that was still moving in the alley form obscured by the dimness and then the sudden burst of light. When the thing finally stopped to brace itself it was as good a shot the already moving Yue was going to make so he swung at it with everything he had not realizing until it was too late the it was a person standing in front of him.

[cntrstrk14]

ooc: Rolled a 6 to dodge. Also, moved some of my last post down here to account for the back pedaling.

Syaoran would feel a rather sudden and strong strike to the back of his head. Clutching his scalp in his free hand and ducking a bit he would take a few steps forward and turn towards the three Genin-Chuunin-Whatever the fuck they were. Syaoran had no idea if they had been promoted by their village after the exams. Yue was standing there with his fist still clenched. Syaoran was not sure if the young man realized he had just struck not only the guy trying to save their asses, but also the god damn Tsuchikage. Touching the back of his head again he would wince a bit, he would have a bruise for sure. His eyes fell back to the three that were now in front of him- looking at Lilina, Ren and then Yue in turn. Letting his hand fall from the back of his head, the midnight black katana in his other hand, he would speak to the three as if one of them had not just punched him in the back of the god damned head. At times like this he had found that ignoring a mistake was the best way to not embarrass any of the parties and save some feelings.

"Fire. These bird beasts are all made solely of wind type chakra. Fire is their weakness. Spread the word- and thank that female ninja that was with Raz for showing it to me.", he said. Syaoran flexed his hand, that fireball had been a risk. He had to test his theory and it looked like he was right. But hopefully it wouldn't cost him control.

A cry would come from inside the building the three had just left. They could see in the rubble of that building the piranha fish reforming, remaking the body of the other bird that had chased them. Syaoran swung his arm at the team, pointing down the street. His head was still pounding but he ignored it.

"Now go!"

[1Q84]

Yue's eyes would widen slightly when he got close enough to realize that the person who had unexpectedly come to their rescue looked too much like Alchem fucking Syaoran Tsuchikage of Earth to be some sort of strange coincidence and since Yue had actually hit him he was pretty damn sure it wasn't a clone or illusion. As Syaoran turned to face them Yue would drop down into a defensive posture waiting for the inevitable ass kicking he was about to receive for punching a god damn Kage in the head. Yue already knew that Raz was going to flip his shit when he heard this if his reaction to the way Yue had acted in front of the Raikage. This entire situation could not get any more fucked up if Yue tried but he was pretty fucking sure Lilina and Ren could manage something.

The last thing Yue expected was for the man to ignore the fact that Yue had hit him which actually served to piss Yue off a bit. Not that he fucking expected to let alone do a noticible amount of damage to a Kage but it was kind of shit situation to find out that he had given everything he had into that punch and it didn't fucking phase the man. Better yet he started telling them what them what to do when it seemed pretty fucking obvious to Yue that Syaoran was the better man for the job.

"Go?" Yue asked his voice incredulous. "Go fucking where exactly? Back into that mess?" Yue asked gesturing towards where the roars and the crashes of the other fight seemed to be coming from. Yue couldn't even use Fire jutsu or ninjutsu at all so like hell he was going to risk getting himself killed playing messenger boy when case and point there was someone who could the job a hell of a lot better than he could.

"Hell no. You don't seem to have a god damn problem just showing up out of the god damn air, you fucking do it." Yue snapped back clearly getting over what fear or guilt he may have had after accidently punching Syaoran in the back of the head. "I'm going to find my fucking teacher." Yue didn't give a shit about what the Tsuchikage wanted or what happened to Kusa or anybody else that wasn't a part of his team. He was here because that crazy fuck who called himself his teacher had asked him to be here. Yue turned as he heard the cry of the yokai from inside the building but he had a stupid stubborn set to his eyes that said quite clearly he wasn't going to listen to a word Syaoran said. The only thing that kept him from running off to find Raz that instant was to see if the rest of his team was going to follow him or not.

[Azure]

It surprised Lilina that Ren was able to mutter out a concerned tone for Yue, or any of them really. She often forgot that Team Oto was actually comprised of somewhat decent people beneath their thick skins. It was a nice reminder, but that was torn to hell when Ren mentioned nixing the mission. “The one thing we do semi-right with the team and you want to throw it away. We try ONE BUILDING and you call it lost.” She didn’t know why Yue thought she was going to blame him for something, she clearly didn’t think a lick of this was his fault, but then again trust issues ran high. She did however, jump to his side when he so eloquently reminded them that getting to Raz was already in the plan. And right about now she was worried about him. The last thing she saw before jumping into that building was some ninja jumping towards the Yokai and Raz getting toad gunned towards it. What remained of their teacher was unknown, and that was frightening. “What do you think we can do to that things Ren, BLOW at it? We would only be proving to that guy who yelled at us to get out of here was right.” The only help they could really provide was making sure the village was empty and evacuating any wounded shinobi before they kicked the bucket. Frankly, she was a-ok with that. She might be hot headed, but she didn’t have a grossed out ego that said she could take on the world and expect to live, that was drilled out of her in the CNA.

And then loud and annoying shrieks and flapping wings came back behind them. “Oh balls.” She knew it wasn’t going to be easy escaping from these things, but at least they weren’t trapped inside of a building with piranha birds flopping around like idiots, now they had options to deal with the idiots. She was getting ready to try and snap those things back to oblivion, not caring about wasting chakra as long as they died. That was, until they swam together and formed the original cloaked bird thing that rammed into her a little bit ago. She didn’t even want to begin thinking of the biochemistry that took place for that reformation. Usually when multiple bodies converged on each other forming a new one, moral lines were crossed.

“RENNN!” She cried when the bird fish flickered in front of her teammate. She would have formed up an attack, but she could already see Yue mounting one up and knew that she could conserve her energy. Then she heard the fine zipping of a flying knife through the air, which was only identifiable because she was a shinobi of the sound village although she didn’t know where the hell it was coming from and WHO threw it, so all she knew it was heading their way, so she ducked. And it landed nowhere near her. But at this point, she was getting more frantic due to stress and less likely to make the assumption that ‘hey a person is throwing this and people are the good guys here. Lots of yokai don’t have hands and I don’t even know what they have in substitute’ and more likely to avoid the thing in general. She looked up just in time to see Yue charging into a liquefying body that was turning into a sloid and the blankets of smoke that was about to cover them both from the attack the stranger executed.

Oh wait, that wasn’t a stranger, that was the Tsuchkiage. Without thinking, Lilina rushed into the smog of smoke to find Yue. Luckily it dissipated pretty quickly, but it still left a rather awkward scene of Yue seeming slightly perturbed and Kage trying to keep a cool demeanor. Needless to say, Lilina joined up beside Yue, only a breath away from releasing her bloodline and doing whatever necessary to gang up with Yue, even if it meant death. And the more and more time she spent in this situation the more and more something annoyed the crap out of her. “You think you’re the ONLY one who can figure that out?” Little was it known that Lilina apparently had faith in the other ninja that they were capable of figuring that out. Of course, she hadn’t but that wasn’t the point. The point was this guy thought he could fly in here, pretend to steal all the glory and just sit back. Well that wasn’t happening. She truly believed that if a shinobi was capable, they would have experimented in finding the weakness already, they would have. Which either meant they had, they couldn’t use fire, or their fire was so weak it wouldn’t matter if it was their weakness at all. Her problem wasn’t with the information, it was his attitude. Like he was some super genius and everyone else was incapable of thought.

Oh, and if he expected that be thanked like he saved their lives or something, he was wrong. The way she saw it: sure, he did just kill the bird, but they had lasted this long against it, which meant they were strong enough to kill it or be killed by it. It was still an even match and much less dangerous than that snake bitch yokai they fought. So he could suck it.

But that anger was only a mask for something that annoyed her more. And normally a girl would hide that and extract every little bit of substitutional aggression there was, but these were far from normal times and Lilina was far from normal. She rather liked what Yue was saying and she agreed. If he had taken the time to come here, why couldn’t he do it? But she noticed something. The Kage looked normal. “Who the HELL do you think YOU are tell US what to do when YOU don’t bother to get out there and fight. Either you’re a coward for standing back so not to get your hands dirty or you’re too DAMN stubborn to leave because you think people need you, while you don’t help at all. Raz is out there fighting when he shouldn’t and while you loaf. Despicable.” Her argument came from the fact that Syaoran looked as if he spent a day in Kusagakure before it was blown up. He had no signs of being sweaty, or dirty or tired or bruising (save from Yue) or ANYTHING ELSE. Meaning he did nothing. At all. At least that scary ice guy looked a bit worn from the fight in Metroplois, and this guy didn’t even look like he had that. So in her eyes, he did nothing in the last two major battles. Worthless.

So she decided she would ignore him and instead turned to Yue. “Let’s go get Raz. We can stop on the way there and use our guitars to carry sound vibrations. Our sage robes have sound amps built into them so if I use my lightning and if Ren uses wind and Yue strums hard and communicates the message, we can get the message out without actually having to worry about getting stepped on.” She looked at Yue and Ren for confirmation, she thought it was a decent plan (good thing Raz gave then gifts) and hell of a lot better than actually finding people and telling them what they may already know (and wasting their time) and it saved time finding Raz.

[5546]

[Leon]

Yue would argue with Ren, that much was known to the boy before he even opened his mouth. Ren had never known someone so stubborn to the point where they would vehemently fight a question about their health. Even if it was a valid question. Ren wanted to scoff at the idea that he was going to beat Yue up later, and slightly began to wonder if Yue was just into that sort of thing. Ren brushed it off now realizing that Yue was going to be Yue in any hell hole of a situation. Of course he would bash the plan in which Ren had proposed to try and find Raz, a plan that Yue would then endorse himself as his own plan, but Ren did not expect such a strong response from Lilina. Had she not heard him before or was she truly willing to be that naïve? The people in this village were GONE, but they remained in a nontraditional sense. There would be no rescuing, as there was little if anyone to rescue.

Ren would begin to speak in order to defend his position, but was cut off by the birds coming back for more. In a fluid motion the birds transformed into the single cloaked yokai once more, and it wanted a piece of Ren. The chunnin was not afraid of the yokai, as he had survived two of them before, but Yue seemed to think that the boy could not handle them. Even Lilina would show a slight bit of feeling after grilling him, crying out his name. Ren would admit that he wished the girl had cried his name in a different manner, but Yue’s next act would snap him away from that thought. Yue would charge after the yokai trying to stomp it before it could reach Ren. Now Ren was fast, it was not opinion but fact, and not even he could have moved quick enough to save Yue from a very unfortunate accident. Of all the people to have the situation happen to it had to be the fucking Tsuchikage. He had appeared to destroy the yokai in only a matter of seconds, but that was not enough time for Yue to realize what he was doing, and a swift fist greeted the Tsuchikage in the face.

‘Was this going to be an international incident’ Ren wondered as the Tsuchikage clenched his head from pain. Was that an internal problem or something Yue had done? The man would speak, giving rather unfortunate news for Ren. “This thing is made of wind chakra!? God FUCK ME right now!” Ren realized that he was being somewhat melodramatic, but his entire elemental tree had been taking out of the fight in terms of killing these things. Even Yue and Lilina could not kill these things, at least easily.

Then of course his teammates would begin to perform their usual banter, but this time directed at one of the most influential figures in the world. Yue started by questioning the man’s suggestion, to which Ren had somewhat agreed with. There was nowhere for the group to go at this point. Then Lilina went on and opened her mouth. Ren felt the reputation of Oto sinking as they grilled into the man on his lack of fighting. If Alchem FUCKING Syaoran wasn’t fighting there was a good reason for it. In fact Ren remembered Izzy trying to warn Haruyuki of something about Syaoran before Lilina jumped off the toad. After Lilina finished her bantering and offered a plan Ren finally had a moment to speak up.

“Guys calm the fuck down right now” Ren would say in a surprisingly calm voice, “Whether he is fighting or not Syaoran just gave us a tactical advantage by taking these things off our tail.” Ren would turn to Syaoran now and say, “We’re going to Raz, I know you understand. We’ll tell whoever we find on the way the knowledge we now know.” Ren’s mouth continued running this time directed back towards his team mate, “Yue, if you think heading to the tree is our best option then let’s do it. Lilina with your jutsu my speed is probably the fastest among even the hachinin here. I will search all streets and scan the buildings of chakra while we make our way to the tree. If I get attacked I can just run away as soon as they get near me.”

Ren finally took a deep breath realizing that the team would most likely argue with him over his sense of direction, but god damn they had to trust him eventually. After Syaoran declared for the group to leave Ren would clearly issue his challenge, “Syaoran, you owe me a race one day.”

[4815]

Edited December 13, 2012 by Leon

[cntrstrk14]

Lilina had apparently not looked very close before throwing her words at the Tsuchikage. Throughout not only Yue's, but Lilina's little tirade, he simply stood there. His intense emerald eyes were locked on the bird as it reformed into its human like state. He, unlike these children, had over thirteen years of shinobi field experience and had probably seen more than any of them would in a long while. He was very young for a Tsuchikage, but his hard eyes were beyond his years in wisdom. A very harsh set of conditions that had begun during the Atasuki invasion in Iwa and had continue for the next decade of his life had forged him into a very fine piece of steel. At his absolute core he was a weapon like every other ninja, though he knew that they were people as well. And like any person, Syaoran did not look alright. Sure, he was only covered in the dirt and soot from his own attack a few moments before, but his eyes were weathered and his face was worn. He had not slept since the day before, staying up all night since the attack on Metropolis to come here and try and figure out the puzzle that was this disaster. He was a husk of a man at the moment, his morality pulling him in all direction but the Sanbi keeping him from taking all but the smallest of steps. Already he felt the fierce fight that the demon was putting up. The Gargantuan yokai called to him, and something towards the direction of the Harakage's tree was pulling at him as well though no where near as powerfully. The beast inside him know that it had brethren close and it only made it fight more fiercely.

"I didn't ask for your opinions.", Syaoran said in a cold voice in response to Lilina, his eyes still on his enemy. This was not Syaoran the wise sage or the warm friend, but Syaoran the Black Swordsman, the efficient murdering tool. "Everyone does as they must with the means they are given. When you have carried the weight of the world on your shoulders, come back and talk to me.", emotions tied down under a tight and icy cool control. They had to be, because the price for loss of control here was too great.

Ren would begin to speak to the team, finally a voice of reason between the three. Syaoran was in no mood or physical state to force them to do their duties. This was a battlefield, not a training exercise, and every moment was of the utmost importance. Until these three left Syaoran would not be able to fight that bird. He would only be able to use one more fire attack and he wasn't sure what would happen after that. For just a moment he looked at Ren as if to give a smile as he finished his last sentence.

“Syaoran, you owe me a race on-”

The Tsuchikage barely had time to react, the sky around them ignited in white orange light and his eyes grew wide in that precious moment. Training kicked in and in a flurry of movement blue and gold chakra crackled around them.

"Alchem Hijutsu; Graphene Bankā"

(Secret Alchem Type; Graphene Bunker)

The group of four were instantly plunged into shadows as the street around them crackled up with the speed of a lightning bolt. Around them a hardened dome of Graphene so thin that it let through small amounts of light and allowed them to see outside just barely, as if through a foggy grey tinted glass. It was not a moment to appreciate the beauty of such a rare and strong element, because in the same instant that the barrier had gone up, a beam of white and orange chakra poured into the top of the dome from the direction of the Gargantuan. It rippled across the barrier, dispersing and crashing into the street in all directions. Even the stray bolts of chakra deflected left explosions, burns, and rends in the street and buildings on all sides. A wall collapsed behind them and an abandoned cart exploded into flames as it was flipped over from a stray shot. The beam was steady on the barrier and the Tsuchikage held both hands aloft and dug both feet into the ground as he held back the destructive force. His chakra was like a wild torrent, crashing down on him as he fought to keep it from overwhelming him. Searing pain crushed through his entire body as he felt the Sanbi's chakra and his own fighting for control of every muscle fiber he owned. The only thing keeping him in control was this constant outpouring of his own chakra into the shield. The pain. Oh the pain. His skin felt on fire, every nerve in his body was on fire! It felt like every cell was being branded by hot irons. His face twisted in pain as he even forgot the three young ninja with him as he fought to not only turn the beasts attack away but to keep control of himself. For a brief moment he wondered how Raz had managed to not be torn asunder by a force like this. Gold, blue and teal chakra swirled around him, the gold and blue fighting the teal as they tried to engulf each other back and forth.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

He screamed out in agony as the shield started to crack. It was too much. Everything was too much. He couldn't hold it, screaming as much to give himself courage as to react to the pain. It was a war cry; it was an agony. And then the blast of chakra stopped, the laser dissipating and the Tsuchikage released the barrier. The entire alley they had been in was left destroyed, walls collapsed, the street no longer a flat road but a battlefield of pot holes and craters where energy had ripped the bricks and earth from the ground. Fires had started here and there, even a few stones had fires on them before going out a few moments later. The pieces of the barrier fell all around them and added to the rubble. All that remained was the circle around them where the barrier had been erected.

Syaoran had stopped screaming, but now he clutched at his chest as if having a heart attack. He hunched over on himself, blue, gold and teal chakra still swirling. His aura was different, it seemed like a halo of darkness had wrapped around him now and was only growing with each second. Every third beat it would shrink, but then two more beats would see it grow larger. Something was wrong with the Sennin.

'Can't... leave them... have... to... finish this... last... thing...', he focused in his mind. Everything was still on fire inside of him and he thought he might blackout from the pain. He forced his eyes to open, not even seeing the Oto team. His hands were clutching his vest, he couldn't stop the pain. Oh gods how it hurt. Losing his arm had been less painful than this. The only thing that had been worse had been... losing...

'Kia... I WON'T lose her AGAIN. I won't lose... ANYONE again!!!'

[Leon]

The moment passed in the blink of an eye. Syaoran erected an elaborate barrier jutsu to shield the group from the laser attack they had seen just minutes ago. It was actually beautiful watching the colors combine and then streak across the jutsu. Any beauty was ruined by the extreme agony that Syaoran was in. If Lilina had any doubts over the man they should be gone by now. He had just saved their lives, although it could be up for debate because if the many had not intervened they may not have been in the spot they were, etc etc. The man would scream in agony as they barrier shielded them from the harsh blast of the Gargantua attack. There was nothing they could do except hope that he would hold his barrier up.

After the beam passed the shield dropped, revealing a war torn street around them. Buildings had collapsed under the intense power of Gargantua, roads gone, and above all a depleted Syaoran stood before them. Somewthing was… off about the man. His chakra swirled around him, but had a different feel to it. Perhaps it was one of Ren’s new talents, but the chakra was actually a completely different signature. The boy had never heard of two different types of chakra in a person unless, “…Bijuu” Ren whispered quietly as his mind raced back to what Izzy had been saying. He had to filter out the intense shit that had happened in the past half hour or so, then filter our every other voice he had heard. Perhaps no one other than a sound ninja would have been able to discern all the different voices at that time, but Ren was able to piece together words of what Izzy had muttered before Ren made the jump. Yatako had called Syaoran a Bijuu and now it made sense.

The energy grew and for the first time in a while Ren had felt genuinely terrified. It was almost as if the chakra from this other source could influence his emotion, and it was a disgusting feeling. Ren could only tell the group, “We have to move now. He needs a moment and we need to get Raz. It’s time to go.” Ren began to back up slowly, not wanting to cause any commotion that may make Syaoran lose whatever sense of control he had over this other chakra. Ren was not sure if it was in fact a Bijuu, but he was not about to find out. He only hope that if it was, it could help take down that Gargantua.

[5248]

[Terrick Sukrai]

Terrick's clone landed on all fours as it came down into the street, looking about the area. It didn't seem like any of the yokai were around, which was good, but it paid to be cautious. The tsuchi bunshin was still looking for anyone else in the area though, and had yet to do so. Running as fast as it could whilst staying low, the crude sixth sense of the clone detected what it thought to be a human being...

(OOC: I'll let the rest of you guys decide who the lucky one is)

********************************************

Terrick grinned as blobs of daemon-flesh were carved off, and the beast roared in response to the attacks done to it. "So you CAN be hurt you bastard... good!" The Kusa-nin grinned vengefully as his chains continued to carve out chunks. He could feel the tar-like substance beneath his feeth trying to swallow his legs while tendrils started to form around him, and the jounin cursed. Normally it wouldn't be too much of a problem, but trying to free yourself from a situation while on top of a rampaging creature from Beyond the Veil as it went toe to toe with a boss summons Gojira-style was NOT ideal conditions!

Still, it provided a decent opportunity to GTFO, and as the demon let loose its laser cannon attack, Terrick looped his chains around once more, this time aiming for the giant eye that was on its front. Hopefully the barbed chains would stick in, and the Kusa-nin could then use them as a pendulum to swing himself away while doing yet MORE damage to the great beast...

[1Q84]

Yue let out a "tch" as Ren told them to calm down but the dumb fuck had a point. Regardless of where they went or for what reason they now had the chance to do it and if his team was willing to listen even with the normal amount of bullshit arguing involved he would fucking take it. Unfortunately it looked like they missed their window of opportunity since Ren couldn't even finish speaking before hell broke lose. Yue fucking blinked and the world changed everything become infinitely brighter than darker in less then a second. Instinctively Yue's muscles flexed fight beating out like flight like it always did but looking around he had no idea what the hell was going so he had no idea how to stop it. They seemed to be in some strange translucent dome thing as the world around them was blown apart.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

"FUCK." Yue swore turning to stare at Syaoran not even noticing that the barrier had begun to crack. That kind of scream was enough to make the hair on Yue's arms stand on end. The Tsuchikage wasn't screaming in challenge or exertion. That was a blood curdling scream of pain. And then everything fell silent.

Yue found himself panting with the adrenaline was pumping through his veins so much his fists still clenched and body strung out with the energy of the Gates watching Syaoran with something stuck between fear and concern. Yue didn't really know shit about ninjutsu or what the hell those lasers were but you didn't have to be a fucking genius to realize they had narrowly avoided being seared out of existence, and whatever the hell Syaoran had done to stop it had obviously hurt like hell. If anything it made the way the man had fallen silent and was clutching at himself sparks of energy and darkness swirling around him had Yue more scared then the cry of pain. At least Yue had his answer as to why the man hadn't taken it upon himself to warn the others seeing as there was something very fucking wrong with him and it had probably taken everything he had to save their asses.

Yue spared Ren a quick glance when he muttered "bijuu" wandering how he came to that conclusion but figuring in the grand scheme of things it didn't really matter what or why. Yue certainly agreed that they had to move now but Yue's face was grim determination refusing to let himself panic and refusing to withdraw without making sure that Syaoran was going to make it too.

"We can't just fucking leave him!" Yue snapped moving towards Syaoran. "We've got to get to Raz, and warn others if we can, but I ain't leaving him here to die." They hadn't asked for his fucking help but after that beam that incinerated or blown up everything around them Yue wasn't going to deny that they had probably needed it. Whether or not it was a bijuu or something else entirely it was pretty obvious there was something pretty fucking wrong with the Tsuchikage so like hell Yue was going to leave him in the middle of this mess. Bastard looked like he could hardly stand let alone fend off another attack which meant he would be at the mercy of anything that might still be following them or would show up after the crazy display of power.

He didn't even know if Syaoran could hear them or see them at this point but Yue had to at least try. If the man was incapable of following with support Yue would god damn carry him if he had to assuming Yue wasn't blown to fucking pieces by touching him or standing too close.

[wolfnin]

"Even when they're struck down, these damn yokai are still a nuisance."

The smell which was similar to burnt rubber and tar agitated his nose, only adding to his already distaste for these things. He wasn't sure if it was an accomplishment, but the death of the yokai gave Sato the best feeling he had all day. His light blue eyes scanned over the newly deceased yokai to ensure that it was no longer functioning. With the fact confirmed, the kumogakure jounin grinned and gave a sigh of relief. It felt good to have gotten rid of one of those beast, but unfortunately their battle was not over until all the yokai were completely destroyed. He turned towards the young boy that had launched the dragon, who was surprisingly was slightly taller than him. Either kids were getting taller these days or Sato had begun the inevitable process of growing old.

"Thanks kid, I appreciate the help. You've got power, so keep it up, and don't give up."

Sato would give a nod to reassure his statement, before he gazed upon the other hand yokai that was dealing with the oto-nin. Not giving up was the important factor for survival right now. With all the things that were happening, they had to continue fighting despite the outcome. Still, despite the entire time they've been fighting, there was not a weakness found. Everything had to have some sort of weak point and it bothered him how these yokai seemed to be able to resist mostly anything they threw at them. The lightning he had destroyed the yokai with had done severe damage and the bird yokai died with the giant beam. Both the beam and the lightning were powerful manifest of energy, so perhaps it was high amounts of pure energy that destroyed them. Then again, maybe it was a physical weakness for these hand yokai.

"Their eyes! This might not be accurate, but I think they're eyes are these hand things weak points."

It was a guess, but as he recalled the lightning had struck dead center and had torn a hole within the yokai. The problem was though that since the yokai was now about to drag the oto-nin towards it, sending a rain of lightning bolts again would be an issue. Sato had other options and he was going to explore them. Time was of the essence and not to mention the series of jutsu he had used put a slight strain on his chakra, he wasn't exactly sure how much longer he could keep all this up at full force. Still, he wasn't about to let these creatures capture a fellow shinobi.

With an impressive display of speed, Sato would flicker from the area he was seen and would instantly reappear above the hand yokai. From above, it looked similar to a spider while it attempted to drag the female shinobi towards it. No, it was time for these yokai to be told who the top species was. They had caused enough pain already; it was time to end this.

Akuma Kuuchuu: Den Katana Otoshiana

(Demon Sky: Lightning Sword Trap)

The sky was still volatile and Sato took advantage of that as he gathered the lightning from above and created 14 different variety of "swords" or well sword-shaped lightning. It was too risky to launch any type of bolt, since the lightning could travel through the chain and injure Kikuya, but at least the swords were more controlled. "Hey asshole, you want to cut something in half, don't ya?! WELL CUT THIS!" With no hesitation Sato launched the swords towards the yokai, each aimed to pierce through where the fingers connected to the main body and at least 3 aimed to pierce directly where the center was. One sword aimed for the middle of the chain to pin it down so the yokai could not drag Kikuya.

[650 word post/4002 words total]

[Azure]

[Ooc; I went back and modified Yatako's RP to reflect what happened.]

He could feel the wave of heat lick up his boots and run up him like a spring of hot air. He had narrowly missed Mizujin’s attack, which either meant he was really lucky or Mizujin’s timing was impeccable. Normally he would give the benefit of the doubt that his newly promoted ANBU was indeed skilled, but the reality was luck was a heavy determinant on this battle. With so many players and the huge variable he stood upon, every action even the Hokage took was soaked in chance. Beneath his feet though, problems were arising quicker than he had anticipated. The skin across the Yokai was bubbling like boiling water and clenching like waves. What he previously thought as of charred skin was much more than that, it was as if the black goo was a spongy shield that absorbed chakra, fueled it to the ring and allowed a concentration release. The black goo also served as a shield that moved to where it was exposed, unless it was hit with a high intensity attack.

It would have been fantastic to gather a moment and contemplate what that meant, but like everything else with the Gargantua, more strange things started happening. Previously it only seemed like the black goo went mobile when it was pierced, but the solid skin seemed to turn into bubble tar lava right in front of him, along with tentacles slithering out of its body. “This can’t be good.” The Hokage muttered to himself the plainly obvious. Just as he said it, the first tentacle took a swing at him, he was able to slide to the right and avoid it but unfortunately found that the skin had gotten a bit slippery. When Taiyoutaka hoisted up on the ring, the beast jolted with it, something Yatako wasn’t prepared for. His legs felt like they were on ice as he nearly did a split on the yokai. Composing himself, he began to walk carefully, taking small but precise steps on the back of the monster. He only made it a little way before a tentacle had actually grabbed hold of his left arm. It snapped at him like a gecko stealing a fly from the air and he realized rather quickly that the pull of the tentacles was not a short tug, if was like an anchor was dropping and he was tied to it. The slippery skin only made his center of balance weak, meaning the resistance to the pull was lower than what it should have been. But if he gave in, he would be swept under the skin or at least made immobile. His life force might be used to fuel that ring and possibly contribute to the deaths of those fighting here. That was not going to happen.

His first thought was for Zelfie. She had already lost her mother and although she realized that, a four year old should never lose her other parent. Anyone could be a Kage, but a father was a position that was unique. Friends and jobs may go, but you can’t choose your family. As he drew that katana strapped to his waist with his free hand, he thought of the world. It had already lost one Kage and possible a second if Syaoran was sincere in surrendering his position. The security and trust of not only his village but the world reminded him that even though anyone could be a Kage, the people under the robes were no less important. They didn’t build a world a peace just to see it ripped asunder in the wake of devastation. “We may not remember your kind, but shinobi have evolved as well. HUMANS OVERCOME!” With a yell his katana slashed at the black goo tentacle, slicing it clean in half. The tentacle wiggled profusely and then recoiled back into the epidermal membrane, including the residue on his arm. He switched off hands of his sword and twisted the blade around, stabbing it into the slippery skin. He would use it as a walking guide, thrusting it into the black goo and hoisting it out as he walked forwards. Every time he trust, the goo tried to take the sword, making it a laborious process, but at least he had stability.

“If you can get a shot, hit those faces or draw them out! I’m going for the eye!”

-------------------------

While Taiyoutaka was grabbing the ring, he realize the thing was far more hotter than he expected. The Hawk let out a yelp, but he wouldn’t dare let go. The hawk had far too much honor and duty to let this assignment go unfulfilled. Spreading wind chakra into this wings, he pulled harder until the ring angled up and a spring of fire burst into him. The Hawk Boss let out a massive screech as the fire exploded all around him and consumed him. The fire charred his feathers, his talons were scorched, burned and scarred from holding on to the ring but it wasn’t until Gamabunta’s sword came crashing down into it that he let go. When the ring burst, Taiyoutaka began to fly out of the way, only to find the damage to his wings was so severe he came crashing down into a set of buildings a dozen yards away. A wash of concrete and wood dust flew up around him and the bird would become chillingly quiet.

-------------------------

A second tremor ran through the Gargantua, signifying the end of the super heated ring around the demon. Fire and gold exploded around the demon, and Yatako felt the heat of the flames. If he weren’t holding on to his sword, he may have been in danger of falling off the beast. Then another tremor came with the beast slamming its feet down on the ground and releasing an abysmal laser . He wasn’t so concerned that it was on track with Gamabunta and was too determined to end this yokai to show a cry of compassion towards Taiyoutaka, but what shook the Hyuuga was what his Byakugan picked p in the far distance. Blue, gold and teal chakra that was unmistakably Syaoran. He hadn’t left, he had moved from his observation post and now the Bijuu was fighting for control. And there was not a dang thing Yatako could do at the moment, because a Sanbi controlled Syaoran was not the most pressing thing. They were great friends yes, but there was a promise to be fulfilled. With a cry of both physical and emotional agony, Yatako summoned a saturation of chakra in his free hand that bled blue and white. After all of the attempts to ensure that peace and security could be kept, after all of the bargaining and sifting between politics and friendships, he was still unable to avert crisis. But he was damn sure getting to that eye.

.: Zennou Genkotsu Tenrai :.

(Almighty Fist of the Divine)

He released the same technique that he used to create a crater only earlier in the battle. The might of it was already testified for, especially when he combined it with the Jyuuken form. This one, however was of a different sort because he imbued the chakra in the attack with the water element. The torrent that poured from his hand would not only appease some of his burns but hopefully be powerful enough to drive a clear shot up the yokai’s back and straight towards the head.

[7243]

•••

Haruyuki on the other hand happily watched his ice needles sink into the bird yokai. As he predicted, they had hit spot on and landed in a rather violent fashion- and he would expect no less. He knew he was a powerful ninja, but these birds were still giving trouble to experienced shinobi all the same. He may be more powerful than them, but this one went down too…well look at that. The bird split apart into a school of flying fish with nasty looking teeth swimming to either side of him and then coming around to bite him. He didn’t even get to notice Raz pulling himself along out of the rubble.

“Bird and now bird-fish? You can’t make up your mind, so let me just help you along.”

He intoned, insinuating that the next progression in the yokai evolution should be the plain kind of fish that swam in WATER, not AIR. Luckily it was already raining and picking up in ferocity to make amends for them moments it was absent. But to describe the rain as ferocious was like saying a beetle was tantalizingly cute. The Hisame whipped out a set of seals in the seconds while the piranha bird fish yokai were trying to maw him. It was the formula for perhaps the most iconic thing about the Hisame: Demonic Ice Mirrors, added with an extra seal.

≈|:: Makyō Hyō Shō ::|≈

(Demonic Mirror Ice Crystals III)

In less than a second, twenty one ice mirrors formed from the rain in a prison type formation, encapsulating both Haruyuki and all of the bid fish yokai. Due to the close proximity, he couldn’t avoid being bitten a couple of times, but none had sank so deep to gnaw at muscle or bone. Some of his SHADAKI robes ripped and some blood spilled, but he made quick work in freezing the blood before it could clot so he wasn’t leaving a trail. He seldom used this technique, despite being a Hisame because he often wanted to test other tactical assaults, always knowing he could rely on something old and faithful to back him up. He hadn’t refrained from using it because he wasn’t proficient at it, he was. Melding in to the crystals, Haruyuki’s image flashed upon all of the mirrors and then converged.

≈|:: Sensatsu Suishō ::|≈

(Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death)

Three tidal waves of ice needles splashed out from the ground as Haruyuki zipped from mirror to mirror with almost traceless speed. The waves of ice covered the entirety of the ice prison and with more fish, there was less room for them to flop about and less room to escape from the attack.

[3624]

•••

“Stop sucking up, you know it’s not right.” Lilina whispered to Ren, not caring Syaoran actually heard her. Raz probably lost his wife and maybe his kid and she was supposed to be okay with people not fighting? Especially when his wife was the Harakage and a Hachinin, of which whom double crossed the NCIA and provided critical Intel for the Resistance? (She had finally figured out that it probably wasn’t likely this person also doubled as a toad and was a real human, considering pictures she saw in Raz’s home). She didn’t particularly mind Korin double crossing the NCIA. One could argue she saw fit how to survive and took it, Lilina simply didn’t have the energy to also be mad at Korin when much more larger problems were at her plate. Like honoring that kinship, and to her this Hachinin didn’t care about that Hachnin. But he didn’t ask for her opinion, so she didn’t say it.

“You never did.” The words slipped out of her mouth like ice, and while it may have been chocked up to opinion, she saw it as morbid fact. Syaoran certainly never carried the weight of her world, or the rest of the Empire supporters, or the ones who benefited from it. Life would have gone on if the Resistance failed and technically he put her out of a job. If anything else, he housed the clan that vowed to murder her family. Frankly, she didn’t see the hype that Ren saw, different worlds she supposed.

It also seemed like different worlds when the world lit up a grand orange and them cusped a terrible dark. Her pupils felt like they punched her irises with all the rapid changes but there was naught the Chuunin could do to stop it. “Thanks.” She said, giving credit where it was due. It wouldn’t absolve what she said and she wouldn’t repent for it since she still believed it, but this time it was unquestionable that he saved their lives. So he started screaming. That started to concern her, realizing how dead she would have been if he wasn’t here (although the question remained if they would have even been targeted if Syaoran hadn’t appeared, but her mindset switched enough to give him the benefit of the doubt, for now). And then the world opened up to reveal that everyone was perfectly safe, but everything was not. The street had been decimated past the point of being called a street. It was a land fill, it was the Swiss cheese of concrete. In the wake of the devastation, Syaoran was acting weird or at least she assumed so. Lilina hadn’t seen him do much at all, and that time it wasn’t meant in a bad way. She really didn’t spend enough time with the guy to figure if this was acceptable ‘him’ behavior, but according to her training, no it REALLY was not.

Something totally felt off. Having been revolved around a place of sin and the dark side of humanity, she knew what it looked like to gaze upon a dark human. There were traces of that…but different. Darkness was apparent, real darkness but the humanity was…questionable. When Ren whispered the word ‘bijuu’ her jaw slacked. ‘How could you be so stupid to get one of those in you?’ That time she only thought the insult, maybe because she was either too surprised or actually scared to voice it aloud. She didn’t think that was a valid reason to be here and be a danger to everyone else while doing nothing. The NCIA knew that the tailed beasts weren’t gone forever, but the fact that the greatest organization in the history of shinobi flat out refused to use them in their conquest only told her they were a BAD idea. “We gotta get out of here!” She screamed, both at Yue and Ren and Syaoran if he were still conscious. It was pretty obvious that Yue wanted to drag him along because somewhere beneath that thick skin he actually had a heart. “Don’t touch him!” She pleaded to Yue, hoping that he would spend an extra two seconds to hear her out before he made up his mind.

“You don’t know how he’ll react! For all we know, he’ll see Yue and think he’s gonna be kicked again and then go on a rampage and kill us! I don’t think he deserves to be left here but…” She realized something. If Team Oto couldn’t stand a chance against the huge yokai and their mission was to try and find people that didn’t exist, what good would be going to the Haragake Tree? It was just a place to meet Raz and was probably a pretty big target anyway that they might get shot from. But here was a chance to help Syaoran and actually DO SOMETHING. “These things are attracted to chakra, right? Maybe we can light a beacon up while we’re running so they forget about this guy. We run as a team or we die as a team.” If Yue decided to still try and move the Alchem along, she wasn’t about to leave Yue behind and she hoped Ren stuck around too.

[6417]

[Rhap Sodos]

Izzy froze as the hand thing turned and hissed at him, eyes going wide and body absolutely still like some woodland creature caught in a bright light. It would appear as though his attack had done little more than to piss the odd creature off, and now it's wide gaze on the Kiri-nin. The tall Namikaze would draw a sharp breath as the monster coiled it's body, knowing that it was to pounce, trying to think of something, anything that might be able to stop it if brute force wasn't enough. Thankfully, he was saved from trying to dig through his rather small repitoire and/or being squeezed or lasered to death by the strange creatures as the Kumo-nin struck as well, a bolts of lightning striking the creature and leaving a blinding crater in the ground. At least, Izzy thought was the black haired ninja, though he didn't see him use any hand seals, even with one hand. It just struck the Kiri-nin that it was extremely unlikely that lightning had decided to gather and strike the hand creature, considering their position in the sunken whole and that the monster probably wasn't very conductive. The fact that other man seemed to be wreathed in energy also helped to confirm his hypothesis. Was it a bloodline, or were all Kumo-nin skilled in the art of lightning and storm. Izzy was probably as un-Kiri as he came, and even his chakra seemed at odds with the wind and water of his heritage, but he still had some mastery over the native elements of his land.

Izzy wrinkled his nose at the unexpected smell of the fallen creature, but was forced to ignore his curiosity as the black-haired ninja addressed him, causing the tall Kiri-nin to jump slightly. The Namikaze managed a weak grin at the thanks, but it was obvious the boy was still shaken. The lack of Haruyuki's presense still preyed on his mind, like a child missing their safety blanket, and being put against foes Izzy had never even heard of was unnerving to the newly minted Chuunin. But the Kumo-nin was right. Izzy had strength when he needed it, and he couldn't give up now.

"Th-thanks!" He managed to call back, body still flooded with nervous energy, body tense with fear. The boy was sorely hoping for some sort of reprieve, a chance to catch his breath and ask Alba to take him to Haruyuki, but more words from the Kumo-nin reminded Izzy of the fact that they hadn't even finished they're battle in the whole. There was still another creature to deal with, and a chance for Izzy to lend some aid. Perhaps it was a blessing then, that Izzy didn't posess the same level of strength as most of the other people here, as he didn't have to worry as much about one of them getting caught in his attack and harmed by it. Not that he didn't worry, but the knowledge that these two were likely stronger and faster helped ease his concern enough to move.

Almost simultaneous to the blades of lightning the other ninja produced, Izzy let lose the one technique that he had which would impact an opponents eyesight. The temperature around the hand creature would suddenly drop, ice and condensation forming in the air as Izzy froze the water, the crystalline catching and reflecting the light of Sato's technique and surrounding the hand in a freezing, dazzling shroud.

Name: Anyu

Type: Ninjutsu; Ice

Rank: Chuunin

Cost: 150

Damage: 112

Effects: Target is "Confused" for Two [2] Turns.

Description: The User creatures a myriad of crystal ice particles that surround the Target in a freezing blast. The light and reflections glancing off the individual fragments disorients the Target.

[cntrstrk14]

The torrent of chakra Syaoran was directing couldn't stop, because the moment it did he would lose control. He didn't just know that fact, he could FEEL it. It was like a facet that was turned on full blast, and if he even slowed that stream it would be directed by the Sanbi. So even as the shield had fallen apart and Syaoran sank to the ground, his blue and golden chakra and fought against the Sanbi's also would ripple through the ground towards the ruined building that the Oto team had just came out of. Burning pieces of wood and rubble still lay all over the street from the laser attack, the cart that had been in the alley now lay in a hundred small pieces of burning timber.

The bird yokai was just getting to its feet now, small motes of darkness and shadow from the smaller fish birds dragging across the ground and pooling into the beast. It looked almost fully healed now, and its eyes focused on Syaoran. As Yue came closer to the Alchem though, the teal chakra would seem to almost tear apart, pulling off of him and taking the most vague shape of a beaked face that let out a silent scream with mouth open before turning into a claw and collapsing back into the Alchem. It was like an ever shifting plume of smoke, the shapes that it took could just be their imagination trying to put shapes to the randomness of the cloud. At that moment though the yokai bird in the building would let out a screech, its wings flapping once, twice as it tried to move forward. If any of team Oto was to look at the beast though they might notice that it looked... hazy. Like it was behind a wave of heat or... gas?

Syaoran would turn to Yue, the chakra around him suddenly disappearing for a moment. That tempest that had swirled around him and fought was suddenly just gone. The Tsuchikage's emerald green eyes turned to look at Yue's, gazes meeting, and the Alchem's eyes would ever so slightly start shifting from the deep emerald green to a lighter more blue color. They were shifting to teal in front of the Oto nin's eyes. Syaoran smiled, an almost sickening, but victorious smile.

"Fire away.", he whispered just barely audible and then he was gone. Disappeared into thin god damn air with not even a trace to be left behind.

5846 Words Total; Syaoran Out.

[Leon]

Ren wanted to curse at Yue, even if the man was not feeling what Ren was feeling he was surely witnessing it before his own eyes. Yet he continued to be ever stubborn which just so happened involving the team in an S class threat at the moment. Ren wanted to yell out that Syaoran was beyond saving and any further interaction could potentially destroy the group, but in all honesty the demonic chakra prevented him from doing so. It terrified Ren to his very core, and all instincts told him to hightail it to the other direction. All instincts except for one, the powerful attraction of this team is what kept him here at the moment. That bond that they all stubbornly shared between one another, that bond that caused them to fight all the time yet still stick together. Perhaps one may call this bond a family, but that would be judged another day. Ren pleaded to Yue, “Please don’t get near him man, that chakra isn’t of this world”. The plea practically came out silenced, and was issued more as a whisper than anything else. Lilina preached more of the same and begged for Yue not to touch him.

“Yue” Ren spoke finally having some clarity in his voice, “Not everyone can be saved man. Right now we have to go so that one day others may be saved.” Ren meant what he said, truly believing this team had work far beyond today that would beneficial to the world. Before Ren could persuade Yue against his course of action the Alchem would fall to the ground, literally providing ripples of chakra through the Earth. One such ripple took a vary particular path, following in the direction of a seemingly collapsed building. Ren’s eye followed it for a moment, noting the obvious (at least for Ren) trace of the “demon” chakra involved. Ren had almost wished not to have followed the source as it led to the last remaining bird-man yokai. The slithering smaller birds attempted to create its full body in a slow manor, each one fusing into the host in some new grotesque form. The group did not have time to dawdle with Yue trying to have a conscious, a thing that Yue always had just utilized in the worst of times, and it was beginning to kill them. They were losing their tactical advantage with each passing second they wasted.

Then it happened. Syaoran’s chakra would become nearly completely suppressed by the demonic chakra, causing the utter collapse of the once beautiful teal and blue chakra. The remnants of whatever chakra left on Syaoran appeared to take many shapes, but one in particular looked familiar as it took the shape of a human face. It reminded Ren of his father, whom he had betrayed and potentially killed, which sent shivers down the boy’s spine. What exactly were they dealing with? The “creature” as Ren would now refer to him as, looked at the group (Yue the most it seemed) with a glaze that could melt the very Earth they stood on. The bird Yokai screamed as it fully regained its form, essentially telling the team they had fucked their grace period up. Ren could not care right now, even as the bird approached because the creature in front of them deserved their full attention. It almost commanded respect, and Ren would certainly give it to the creature if it meant surviving. But in just a moment the creature spoke words that meant no sense and disappeared. All that seemed left for the team was nothing but air in front of them as it faded from view. The bird’s flaps were the only thing to break the silence and the downpour of rain. Ren was not sure if the group was as worried as he was, but he knew they all should be.

Fortunately now that the creature had escaped into thin air, the group was now clear to move on. All that stood in their way was the lone bird yokai, which was enough to destroy the entire group. Which made it strange that Ren thought that he should be the one to break what was about to happen to the team. “Well now we just lost our fucking advantage!” Ren exclaimed as the bird made its way towards the team, “We need to get the fuck out of here and it is too late to run without the damn thing catching up with us.”

Ren would begin to rapidly pace back in forth, causing a fair amount of water to fling upwards as he did so. He kept his eyes on the bird as it navigated through the heavy fog. While the yokai was thinking of its next meal Ren was thinking of every possibility to get out of this predicament. There was only one solution, and the boy knew it. “All right we all know I am the fastest person here.” Ren said it in a tone that left no argument, “So here is the plan. That bird thing is going to catch up with us while were running away. It is too fast for y’all, but I am way faster than it especially with Lilinas help. So our solution is simple. Lilina I need you to use your jutsu on all of us again and then get the hell out of here with Yue.”

The idea would probably seem ridiculous as Ren was probably the least offensive (and defensive) out of the group. Yet he was being dead serious. “I can catch up as soon as I delay the bird” Ren said matter of factly, “and for reasons I can’t explain I will be able to find you. Create some distance between us and either find Raz or a safe spot for a while. All I need is a minute of you guys listening to me and running. Please guys, I need you to trust me and listen to me. Were a team and a family, please honor this request.”

Ren would crunch his hands together and stop in place. The lack of movement seemed to symbolize a final stand as Ren reached for his pouch. In a quick flick of his hand he launched all of its contents into the air. Several kunai, shuriken, and senbon flew into the air at once, propelled by the momentum of their launch. Ren clasped his hands together and weaved several signs before gathering wind chakra into his fists once more.

Fuuton (Wind Release); CYCLONE BUMPERS!!!

Ren held the wind in place, waiting for the weapons to drop into his range. As they crossed the plane of his eye sight Ren would launch his first cyclone bumper, which would propel all of the weapons in one swift movement after the bird Yokai. Ren launched the second one at the remainder of the roof of the building, hoping to dislodge any of the foundation of the building into crushing the bird once more. Was his attack lethal to the bird? No, but it would surely slow the bird down and that was all the Chunnin needed right now.

[6451]

(ooc: trying to get us moving without getting killed, so feel free to follow along… or don’t lol)

Edited December 18, 2012 by Leon

[cntrstrk14]

From where Terrick was on the beast, his chain was not able to reach the eye. He was able to latch to the Gargantuan's skin easily enough, swinging away to safety. As the Gargantuan stopped around, it swung its tail left and right. It had taken out the large foes, but it still had tiny pesky humans to deal with. One with the wood, one with the fire, and that pesky one that had punched it with that exploding fist of chakra. As the Gargantuan started to turn, it would be oblivious to the Hyuuga fighting to charge up its backside. It would catch sight of Terrick as he swung away, and with nothing else nearby for it to fight it would turn its full attention into the Kusa ninja. The three small faces on its head would all open mouths, firing thin laser beams down at Terrick as he tried to retreat. The large mouth opened to fire, but instead its attention was taken somewhere else, off in the city. It turned, looked in that direction, and then suddenly fired a laser beam at a building off in the city. It continued to hold the stream of white and orange chakra energy until a loud explosive thud would be heard.

“GGRRRRAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!”

Yatako's attack struck the beast on the back, clearing away all of the tentacles that were trying to grapple with him. The black ooze would be shifted away, blasting off in all directions and in general just making a huge mess. Once the blast would clear though, the beast's skin would begin to pool again, the black ooze coming back. Something was different now though, the beast was not healing as quickly and the attack seemed to be leaving more permanent damage than anything had previously. Of course this realization would become a lesser important point as the beast spun quickly to find what had struck it. The speed that it moved threatened to send the Hyuuga flying based on simple centripetal force.

----------

Haruyuki's one thousand ice needles would flood over the birds, trapping all of them in a grinder of piercing and slicing attacks that shredded them all into nothing. Each bird would die with a flap of wings or a hiss of a mouth in its last gasp, until silence fell on the field. As the last of the needles finished and the battlefield grew silent, Haruyuki would be able to see the remnants of the bird at the bottom of the ice mirrors. A shapeless mass of black feathers and cloth would remain, but the odd thing was that these feathers and blobs were not stationary. The birds that had been sliced into pieces and the bodies of those that had at least not been cleaved into nothing were moving together, forming a new mass. If Haruyuki would watch, it would appear as if it was taking the shape of the original bird yokai, hunched over as if trying to gather some strength. It appeared that despite the man's much more proficient show of power, slicing and stabbing was still slicing and stabbing, and that was just not going to keep this bird down.

[1Q84]

Yue had no fucking idea where Lilina's animosity towards Syaoran came from or why Ren had decided to spout some pessimistic philosophical bullshit but this was just one of those ideals that Yue wasn't going to back down from. He knew chances were pretty good he was going to get himself hurt but it just seemed like a pretty fucked up situation if they were all okay with just walking away without trying to help the man. The three of them together wasn't going to be able to create a large enough chakra signature or whatever the fuck you wanted to call it to drag these things away not after what Syaoran and having those things chase after them was what got them into trouble in the first place. Gritting his teeth Yue had every intention of ignoring his teammates and at least trying to help Syaoran especially since Yue could see the remaining bird thing pulling itself from the rubble and pulling itself back together. "Fuck." Yue muttered moving forward but halting once more as the chakra around Syaoran began to move as though it had a life of it's own. Yue could've sworn he saw something in the weird energy, maybe the bijuu or whatever the Ren had spoke about but before Yue had a chance to figure it out it sudden vanished. Yue's eyes went wide as he saw Syaoran's eye color change and actually took a step back at the vicious smile that spread across Syaoran's face and the softly whispered words.

And then he was gone.

"Well, FUCK YOU!" Yue shouted into the air wondering if Syaoran was close enough to hear him. "I fuckin' knew you could do that shit, don't know why I even fuckin' thought you needed my help." Yue snarled realizng that the had probably made another stupid ass mistake by delaying them here. Why didn't he just fucking listen to Syaoran the first time, or to his teammates, because now they were back to square one in an alley burning to the ground around them and the bird thing coming at them through... what the hell was wrong with the god damn air? What the fuck had Syaoran said? Fire... away? Yue blinked. Oh, this isn't not going to end well.

Ren was trying his best to put together what he thought was a good plan but Yue was already dismissing it. Ren wasn't all that strong and wind wasn't going to fucking work, anymore then weapons punches would. These damn bird creatures had been torn apart before and the didn't seem to have any problems pulling their shit back together. Ren was fucking fast but where the fuck was he going to run? Back into that mess with the laser show? If they couldn't get rid of these damn birds right now it was a delay tactic at best and leaving Ren to it by himself was liable to get him killed. It was a heartfelt request and Yue actually felt slightly bad about ignoring it but it was the same with Syaorn - like hell he was going to leave anyone behind to get themselves hurt or kill. If they were going to go down they'd go down as a team so Yue wasn't going to leave Ren behind.

Yue generally liked to pride himself on being the smart one of their misfit team but he had pretty much thrown that sense of highground out the window the minute he went chasing after Lilina and punched Syaoran in the god damn head so even though Yue knew this was probably a really dumb idea he was going to fucking do it anways. He had one vague ass clue to go off of from Syaoran and having learned his lesson the first time he decided it probably wasn't in their best interest to ignore the man again. Fire away.

Well Yue couldn't fucking use Fire Jutsu or Lightning Jutsu or any other Jutsu that didn't involving pucnhing people in the face which meant that normally his options were pretty fucking limited, however whether it was sheer dumb luck or fate's way of saying he wasn't going to end up as bird food it just so happened the street they were standing on was littered with pieces of burning rubble. Looking at Ren and realizing what he was about to do Yue actually smirked knowing that if his crazy ass idea was right Ren's technique might actually help which would be a nice change of pace for once. Reaching for some of the burning timber he tried his best to not burn himself as he grabbed pieces with enough flame to survive Ren's whirlwind and without wasting time to second guess whether or not this might actually worked he tossed the pieces in with Ren's kunai and senbon hoping to use those cyclones to bring the flame to the bird without having to get close.

As a safety precaution he reached for the back Ren's clothing intent on dragging the dumb fuck as far away from the area as he could knowing that if he had put together Syaoran's clue correctly things might get pretty fucking explosive very soon. "Fuckin' cue, MOVE."

Edited December 22, 2012 by 1Q84

[cntrstrk14]

Ren's first flurry of small weaponry would strike the bird as it tried to move down the narrow hallway towards them, flapping its wings to run faster. Apparently it was taking the straight line method because it didn't think of going up and over the rubble of a building it was now in. It would let out a screech as the first volley struck into it, breaking off some dark motes of cloth and feathers, but it continued on. An important note though, as Ren's wind jutsu cut towards the bird, it left a clear line of sight towards the bird where the air stopped being wavy like some sort of mirage. The wind from the technique had displaced whatever was surrounding the bird.

The second volley, complete with a piece of burning timber like a torch, was sent right after the first. As it entered the building along the exact same path as the first, nothing would happen as the small weapons and torch struck the bird. It was not enough fire to harm the bird, the piece of timber bouncing off and falling... and then the world erupted.

From far off on the back of the Gargantuan, Yatako would see a flash and then feel the heat and wind of a large explosion in the city. If he looked he would see that it came from a building the large beast had previously cut in two and also where it had just moments ago fired a laser. The shape of the explosion was odd, much more box like than the normal fireball of an explosion one would expect from... well an explosion. It was almost like the block of air was burning, rather than an explosion. It was a rather strange explosion to say the least, and it lasted twice as long as you would expect before dying down to a rather strong fire.

Yokai Tracker

Gargantuan: City Square [Yatako, Terrick, Mizujin, Gamabunta, Taiyoutaka]

○ Spawn 1: Gargantuan's Head

○ Spawn 2: Hole in Ground [sato, Kikuya, Izzy]

○ Spawn 3: Gargantuan's Head

○ Spawn 4: Destroyed (Sato & Izzy)

○ Spawn 5: Gargantuan's Head

Bird 1: Destroyed (Ren & Yue)

Bird 2: Destroyed (Syaoran)

Bird 3: Destroyed (Kikuya)

Bird 4: Far Side of Village [Raz and Haruyuki]

[cntrstrk14]

ooc: Double post! Like I give a fuck! Cloud, since you haven't posted in two weeks and had no inactivity post, I've deemed your ability to dodge invalid! Hurray! You are at my mercy!

With its counterpart destroyed, the second hand in the hole with the team was left alone in a battle of three on one. However, the spider like yokai didn't seem to even care about its outnumbered status. As the other hand died to the combined attack of Sato and Izzy, this hand would pull Kikuya towards it with her own weapon. At the same time it sprung forward so that it would pin the girl to the ground, its fingers forming a cage around the girl as it held her against the stone and dirt of the ground. It's strangely inhuman face was almost right against hers, and as its blank eyes rolled open its jaw would crack ajar to show a giant maw. Then, with its mouth fully agape, the beast's chakra would reach out and touch the Oto ninja, draining the strength from her body. This was the same type of absorption that the larger body had shown earlier, but directed on a person instead of a technique. The beast, mouth agape and eyes wide, would pull a large amount of chakra from the girl. As it did so, it would make this deep gurgling moan of a sound like a deep wind coming out of a large underground cave. It was unsettling to say the least, definitely not a sound one would expect from a living beast.

Suddenly, the air around the hand yokai would burst with a large variety of colors and splashes of ice blue. It shrieked in pain as it broke from Kikuya, taking a step away as Sato appeared behind it and attacked with a flurry of swords. Many of them struck, but some would miss as it staggered away. None had hit the face in the center as the creature moved erratically. One of the swords struck true, cleaving a finger off of the hand that went flying with a spray of black ooze that fell to the floor and all over Kikuya and Sato. As it hissed back at them in that strange bestial way, it would swing a beam of orange and white light across at the ground. It would cleave a line across the hole they found themselves in and slice boulders and the fountain in the middle of the square in two, along with any bodies that were in the way. Kikuya was already on the ground still and would be safe, but Izzy and Sato would need to move or find their legs suddenly no longer attacked to their torso.


Yokai Tracker
Gargantuan: City Square [Yatako, Terrick, Mizujin, Gamabunta, Taiyoutaka]
○ Spawn 1: Gargantuan's Head
○ Spawn 2: Hole in Ground [sato, Kikuya, Izzy]
○ Spawn 3: Gargantuan's Head
○ Spawn 4: Destroyed (Sato & Izzy)
○ Spawn 5: Gargantuan's Head

Bird 1: Destroyed (Ren & Yue)
Bird 2: Destroyed (Syaoran)
Bird 3: Destroyed (Kikuya)
Bird 4: Far Side of Village [Raz and Haruyuki]

[Azure]

In a torrential wash, the black ooze and tentacles were cleared away.  The coolness of the water splashed his face, wiping some of the black soot and dried sweat away and gave the Hokage a brief of needed hydration.  Little time was wasted before Yatako began to swiftly ascend the Garagantua’s back.  Even without the black goo, the strange skin was awkward to walk on, let alone sprint.  He continued to use his sword as leverage, only more quickly until the black goo began to surface again.  Interestingly enough, Yatako could actually see that regeneration of the beast being remarkably slower than previous recoveries.  Perhaps water was the key to destroy this thing, or its power was waning down.  Either way, it was a clue and a vital spark of hope. 
 
The problem was, Yatako had been noticed.  His eyes grew wide as the body beneath him jerked suddenly and swiftly in reaction to the pain.  “Not so fast!” He yelled in response as he drove his black katana Kinen deeper into the yokai and formed a barrier of stone that tumored around him, tethering him to the Gargantua as it pranced around.  From inside his little dome, it felt as though a tornado had snatched him up and was volleying him around the gusts.  When the Hyuuga felt confident in standing on his own, he broke out of the cage he erected noticing that the black ooze was creeping up quicker.  He didn’t have long before he needed to separate it again.
 
His divine white eyes caught an explosion in the distance where he had seen the teal chakra he attributed to Sanbi, although noticeably delayed from where the laswer shot off, meaning that the laser didn’t cause the explosion…something else did.  And it was controlled.  The flame was unlike a fireball, or a water fall of fire, but tighter and confined like it was stuck…or its fuel was in a certain parameter.  The strength of the fire was also strange and its duration, leaving Yatako to assume only one source.  Alchemy.   After encounters with the Sanbi, he believed the bijuu wasn’t unreasonable, but his disregard for humans made dealing with it tough, since Yatako’s value of human life and the Sanbi’s were completely different.  He needed to make haste towards the eye, before politics became even more compromised.  Concentrating a mass of chakra into his hand, an orb began to form in the Hyuuga;s free hand.  The bright white chakra transformed into deep blue as water chakra filled the void.

 

.: Tenrai Botsuraku; Tenketsu Tenka :.
(Divine Ruin; Tenketsu Ignition)

 
The orb of chakra let loose a beam that was similar to the laser the Gargantua was using, only sintead of infused with heat, Yatako;s was infused with water.  The geezer type laser had enough force to lift Yatako off of the beast back a couple of feet and then project him at the back of its head, hopefully shaving off some distance and time now that he was noticed.
 

[7736]

 

•••

 
As he expected, his attack had utterly destroyed the fish birds.  He could have probably made ribbons out of steel  if he wanted to and if his calling was for fashion designer instead of shinobi, he may very well have done such a thing.  But unlike last time, he didn’t bank on the idea that the yokai was finished just because it appeared to be.  Soon, to his professional dismay the pools of fish at the bottom of the mirrors would smash together like a regenerating jelly and form once again the bird that just would not leave him alone. 
 
“How come fish are the most annoying things in the world?”
 
He said flatly to himself, like he was cursed.  To his good fortune, it appeared as though the bird had reformed, yet was tried.  It needed to gather itself before attacking, which meant everything he was doing was not for naught.  A part of him wondered if all of its power was invested in its annoying power to transform and reform , meaning that biting him would be of little damage.  He figured this bizarre ability was rooted from the fact that yokai sought after high concentrations of chakra like it was fuel.  If it had a constant supply of chakra, even if it was natural energy then the regeneration could take place.  If he could disrupt this, then the beast would possibly be destroyed. 
 
Luckily, they were still in his ice prison, meaning the bird couldn’t go far and Haruyuki still had the upper hand.  The rain on the outside was sliding off the mirrors and pooling around the base, sticking close enough to the cold ice that it was freezing as well.  Light was dim in the prison, as it was already partly poor on the outside world.  The only light was coming from the bright blue flame that had encased Haruyuki’s hand.  It shown off the mirrors in a ghostly wisp.  He had activated a sealing jutsu that would specifically burn away chakra and prevent the chakra from regenerating.  Given the valiancy of the flame around his hand, the Hisame was aiming to drain the yokai of a LOT of chakra.  His SHADAKI robes blurred as he melded back into the mirrors, plastering his image on all the mirrors before the real Haruyuki leapt from a mirror, trying to slam his hand into the yokai.
 
 

≈|:: Dahlit Umarekawari Fuuin ::|≈
(Dahlit Reincarnation Seal)

 

[4024]

•••

With each second, the indent upon her lip where her front teeth were biting down hard was getting more painful and more apparent.  Needless to say, the girl was extremely apprehensive about the next ten seconds.  She had absolutely no idea what Yue would do- if he would actually listen to his team’s qualms or if he would stubbornly go about his personal mission (likely) and the result would be Syaoran…something.  Maybe the demon was ACTUALLY kinder than the Alchem, or maybe it was crafy mofo who wanted to enslave and destroy.  The fact was. She had no idea but from a survivalist’s point of view, standing here was probably not the best idea. 
 
She also silently agreed with Ren, it was impossible to save everyone even if they would have liked to.  Coming from Oto, they would know it the best, with famine and sickness and all around poor spirit.  Some people were too resigned for redemption and some too difficult to save,  Telling Yue that may just give him the extra determination to face the impossible, because even if Yue had a cold heart, deep down it was pure.  It was just corroded with a harsh life, but that inner purity was exactly what the Toad Sage had seen in him, why he would be a good leader.  “Don’t do it.”  She said under her breath, hoping either Yue would back off or Syaoran wouldn’t go crazy.  Her knuckles were growing white from gripping her knife so hard.  The chakra around Syaoran was growing more unstable and a literal gasp came out from her throat when the teal chakra gained a face and a claw.  She jerked forward and caught herself, knowing that Yue was already at its mercy and any attempts to save him could possibly worsen things. 
 
Then something came from the building- the bird let out a screech.  Her eyes turned to it momentarily to see the return of the bird yokai looking rather cloudy almost like a mirage.  “Heeeey, we’re not alone.”  She whispered to Ren to get his attention.  Yue had enough problems to deal with, but like hell was she going to let the bird sneak up on them, that would have been the icing on the cake to the amount of errors they had made,  She had missed Syaoran’s eyes changing and the chakra disappearing but she did notice him disappearing, which was a welcome sign even if he was previously fighting the bird.  The bird wasn’t moving…for now, but it still wouldn’t be counted out.  Again…Ren was right, they needed to get out of there.  But she wouldn’t be too quick to give him praise for an obvious statement- and yet she wouldn’t belittle him for it either.  She began to consider various ways of slowing the thing down, like everyone releasing a strong sound wave to cripple the bird, but that wasn’t guaranteed.  They still needed to get out of here and fast though. 
 
She was going to object to Ren, because even though he was fast- it did not mean he was invincible.  The bird could easily shoot something off and catch him.  Speed meant nothing if the bird was accurate.  But the way he asked earnestly for a chance struck her for some reason.  She realized then that he was determined to leave some sort of impact, since he didn’t do so hot in the exams, he needed to prove to himself that he was actually capable.  “Okay…okay Ren.  Just make sure you off that jutsu and BOLT.  The effects of my chakra won’t last too long, so don’t dilly dally.  And here, maybe we can’t use fire, but here’s something.”  Her hands came together in a seal and a crackle of electricity slipped between her fingers.  She grabbed for Ren’s hands and took them inches from her chest (but NOT touching her chest), which was a lot more close contact that she usually displayed.  “Hold your chakra as if you were walking on water, only in your hands.  Keep it controlled and you won’t get hurt.”  A stream of lightning chakra would fill Ren’s hands.  It would be more than wind chakra alone, since wind was apparently what the bird was made of.  She let go after that forming again new seals to moderate their flight.
 
She didn’t pay attention to Yue and he got a flaming stick.  Attention whore.  Or maybe not, since he threw it in with the cyclone, which was a remarkably good idea.  Yue didn’t use ninjutsu, but he sure could use the world around him, which was ingenious.  Finishing her seals, Lilina placed her palms on the ground, spilling out a pool of black chakra that would wrap around Team Oto’s legs.  By now it wouldn’t be a novel feeling, the world twisting time patterns to slow down but it still was pretty freakin’ weird. 
 

“LET’S GET OUT OF HERE!”

 
She called, as she began to bolt away from the house where the bird was coming from.  Her first priority was get away and her second was to find the Harakage tree that Raz would call for rendezvous.  It was only after she truned her back to the house did a victorious explosion of heat erupt and nearly blind her in the process even though she was facing away from it. 
 

[7307]

[Terrick Sukrai]

BOOM! "God" BOOM! "Damn" BOOM! "Son" BOOM! "Of" BOOM! "A" BOOM! "B*TCH!" BOOM!

 

His chakra coils were practically SCREAMING at him now, as in order to dodge the lasers coming from the smaller faces Terrick was forced to improvise again, using the Kugustu no Jutsu the same way he'd learned in Tin City to create thin threads and ropes of chakra with which to tightrope on, in order to change directions mid-air.  This allowed him to avoid the faster shots, but the constant creation and discarding of the technique was far more draining than the normal one...  During the last two blasts the Kusa-nin was forced to dive behind a rooftop access point, which was promptly blown in half just above Terrick's prone form.

 

As the larger explosion occurred, and no more lasers were coming his way, the jounin got up just enough to peek over and see that the beast was again trying to divide its attention between all the gnats attacking it.  "Come on, come on.... Think Terrick, think!" he chided himself, before rooting around through his pack.  Surprisingly, there was quite a bit in there, but not too much that could be useful at the moment... Until he felt three small balls hit his palm.  Grinning, he took two of them out and left the third inside, before running towards the edge of the roof with another leap of faith, followed by a rolling landing and a sprint to try and get in front of the demon.

 

Only once he was able to get within sight of the beast's face did Terrick take the two spherical weapons and hurl them upwards, whereupon they would explode hopefully in front of the main youkai's face in a cloud of noxious yellow gas...

 

 

 

Ammonia bomb - aerial AOE, inhaled ( -5 HP, "Tired” for 4 turns)  (Had 3 of them sitting around all this time, never used them until now...)

[Rhap Sodos]

Izzy let in a sharp breath as ice exploded in the air around the monster and the Oto-nin, the faceted crystals throwing up flashes of light as Sato bore down, trying to bring an end to a hand-beast that had pinned the woman to a ground. While neither of their techniques landed on the eyes that the Kumo-nin had mentioned, his lightning blades did manage to sever one of the fingers that the creature seemed to use as a hand, playing a dark liquid over the two ninja who stood close to it. 
 
Izzy's stomach lurched, but the color was too dark and the consistency too thick to be blood. Or at least, blood blood. It still made the tall Namikaze shudder, and he was now having difficulty looking at the creature with it's severed limb-finger. Even though the the hand-beast was doing its best to try and kill them, hissing at them in a way that was making Izzy's skin crawl, it never sat well with the Kiri-nin when he purposefully inflicted pain on others. Even when the others was some chakra devouring monster set on either killing or consuming them all. 
 
It was fortunate for the lanky Namikaze that while the three ninja were focused on trying to defeat the strange creature, they had another set of eyes watching out for them, in more ways than one.  Izzy would have no way of knowing that the face-beast was preparing to fire a lazy, any more then his uncoordinated limbs would have a chance of caring him safely out of harms way. As it was, for the second time in the past few minutes Izzy would find himself sprawled on the ground as something unexpectedly hit him from behind, landing him flight on his stomach and adding a matching layer of mud to his chest and face. 
 
Four paws momentarily pinned Izzy to the ground before leaping off, giving leave for Izzy to peal himself off the wet ground once more. The Namikaze blinked spiraled eyes as his brain put together what had happened, assisted by the smell of singed fur that joined the scents of tar and dirt that had filled their crater battleground. A swatch against the fox summon's back had been burnt black, and it was likely that the fox-creature was in pain, a sight that caused a painful twist in Izzy's chest. 
 
"The face!" Alba growled, ignoring his wounds in favor of trying to get his ungainly charge out of this situation alive. Whether it was the eyes that the Kiri-nin had mentioned, or the knowledge that loosing on of the limb-fingers had did little to slow it down, the unmarked center was the one of the few options left they had that would bring the last one down. Izzy nodded, staying low to the ground, knees bent and using one of his arms for balance, preparing to drop or dodge out of the way should another laser slice through the air. Using his free hand, he would form a sequence of seals, air and water condensing before rocketing forward, intent on smashing the strange creature as hard as possible in the face. 
 

Name: Kassuq
Type: Ninjutsu; Ice
Rank: Chuunin
Cost: 120
Damage: 50
Effects: Target is "Clobbered" for Two [2] Turns
Description: The User creates a massive ball of Ice and propels it at their opponent. Has been known to cause blunt force trauma. Inspired by Hisame Haruyuki's training methods.
Points: 4