[Hisakawa Yamato]

Ten'ei Defectors

@all

Yamato directed the ashigaru into a more organized formation as he noted Kuebiko going up onto the roof, specifically having the footmen brandish their weaponry in a particularly threatening manner. This further drew the attention of all the defectors on the outside, with a few on the inside even peeking out of the front curtains and murmuring uncomfortably to themselves. Now all six of the defectors on the outside of the hideout moved to the front, sloppily lining up to form a defensive rank of their own, though the uncertainty was plain on their faces. They vaguely understood that there was a very low chance that the ashigaru would risk the lives of the four hostages still inside of the building, but their instincts were much stronger than their critical thinking, the rousing of their foes pushing them to impulsively gather for a sense of safety.

Up on the roof, there was the chance that Kuebiko felt the changing of the mood in the air. Through the hole in the roof, he could now hear footsteps shuffling about down below, the unsettled conversations as voices discussed how they should proceed. Scents were a bit difficult to pick apart, even from this short of a distance, but they did seem to be clustered up at the front of the building, with only one or two hostiles keeping vigilant guard outside of the hostage room. As promised, if and when Kuebiko fully entered the building, the tag Yamato had given him would activate, creating a clone of the young lord to aid Kuebiko in extracting the hostages.

Extra notes;

SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu Used:
NAME: Fuuinjutsu: Fuuin no Bunshin 封分身[Sealing Technique: Clone of Sealing]
RANK: B
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium
CLASSIFICATION: Fuuinjutsu
ELEMENT: N/A
HANDSEALS: 1 - U/Hare
DESCRIPTION:
The jutsu requires a medium that the user can write the symbols (封分身) on, including tags. The user seals away chakra within the medium and can later activate the seal using the Hare handseal.

The activation creates a clone with physical substance at the location of the seal. Like Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, the user's chakra is spread evenly among clones, and the clones are capable of limited physical attacks. However, the Sealing Clones are only capable of performing fuuinjutsu that the user knows, can't stray too far from the user, and are easily defeated by any weak attack. Once the clone is injured, it disperses, returning its chakra to the user, but not any knowledge it gained during its duration.

♥ Chou

[Kuishinbou Kuebiko]

Even without any kind of enhanced hearing, it was easy to hear the shift in mood. Where before there had been some casual conversation, a general murmuring that while quiet was enough to fill the area with a sound, it was now completely quiet. A hushed anxiety, like when the wind went still before a tornado. The defectors were waiting for something to break and for chaos to arise, were waiting for a major threat, a fight. They were facing the fact that their plan may have failed and that they must go for the most desperate measure. 

Before anything worse could break out, Kuebiko needed to finish what he was doing here. 

He looked down into the room and made a shushing motion, encouraging silence from the group. They all nodded in agreement. Kuebiko lowered himself in slowly, doing his best not to draw attention. Yamato's clone was released from the scroll and that would make this much easier. 

As an added security measure, Kuebiko moved through the mass of captives to the door. With a quick series of hand seals, he created a barrier handcuff around the doorknob and barred it to a support beam on a shelf. That would prevent anyone from opening the door and interrupting easily. 

Once that concern was addressed, he was ready for the extraction. Along with the clone of Yamato, he began lifting the hostages out through the hole in the roof. With the two of them together it was a quick process and he was able to climb out to join them. Getting them down stealthily would be the harder part of the process. 

"Are you able to report back to... yourself?" He asked Yamato's clone. Addressing clones was always strange. If Yamato knew they were out, he might be able to actually push forward with the ashigaru to help with the extraction. 

SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu used:
NAME: Kekkai: Tejō [Barrier: Handcuffs]
RANK: D
CHAKRA USAGE: Very Low
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu
ELEMENT: --
DESCRIPTION:
Making physical contact with the target's wrists, a transparent barrier forms in the shape of hexagonal handcuffs, limiting the movement of their hands and wrists. The handcuffs are specifically designed to be just far apart enough to prevent the target from using hand seals while in the shackles. These handcuffs have the consistency of iron and can be used for the ankles and to bind a target by the wrist or ankle to a pole, fence, etc.

[Hisakawa Yamato]

Ten'ei Defectors

@all

Immediately upon being created, the clone of Yamato knew what his purpose was and deferred to Kuebiko's instruction. The white-haired shinobi gave a nod of approval as they began moving the four remaining hostages up through the hole in the roof that the Kuishinbou had used to enter, not before making an effort to bar the door however. It was fortunate that the civilians were both cooperative and competent enough to not hinder the two shinobi, and once everyone was on the roof, Yamato's clone shook his head in response to Kuebiko's question.

"Unfortunately, dispersing will not transfer my knowledge to the original, but... I suppose I could simply go over the top and physically signal to the original to attack or we could simply try to continue the stealthy approach, carefully and silently helping these people off the back side of the house."

Both options seemed to be equally viable to Yamato ('s clone) and he once again deferred to the Kuishinbou's judgement, aiding Kuebiko in whichever approach he chose. If Kuebiko chose the former plan, the clone's method of signal would be quite crude, simply moving over the roof to try and catch the original Yamato's attention and pantomiming an attack. If Kuebiko chose the latter, he would make himself useful by hopping off of the roof out of sight of the defectors, waiting on the ground to help the hostages off as well. In either scenario, the two shinobi would be pressured to act quickly as the sound of the door being forced would ring out from the hole, followed shortly after by shouts of surprise from the defectors within.

Extra notes;

SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu Used:

♥ Chou

[Kuishinbou Kuebiko]

It was unfortunate that this clone couldn't just disperse back to Yamato with the knowledge, but that was the way of it. It must work differently from a true clone technique. Kuebiko didn't know all that much about fuinjutsu, but perhaps he should brush up. The last thing he really wanted was a true attack on the defectors. They needed to be captured and reprimanded, face the consequences of their threats before they could hurt anyone else, but he also wanted to avoid violence as much as he could. Ultimately, that meant removing the hostages. They would surely give themselves up more easily if they had no leverage and everything to lose-

The door below was being forced. Shit. Well, the decision would need to be made fast. And honestly, it would be half made for him. If he wanted to avoid bloodshed, they needed to move and not waste time calling in the cavalry. 

"Let's move them away from the building. We don't want them to get caught up in conflict," he decided, keeping his tone hushed but still rushed, clearly stressed under the circumstances. He hated this. 

The defectors below would inevitably notice the hole in the roof and follow. That meant they needed to move very quickly. He would help Yamato get the hostages down, making sure they didn't slip from the roof as they were lowered into Yamato's (clone's) arms. 

If the defectors managed to make their way to the hole in the roof, Kuebiko would warn the group that had been lowered, 

"Cover your ears and run." 

He would take a bell from his pocket and give it a jingle, lacing the sound with his chakra. It was quiet enough that it would hopefully just impact the one climbing through the hole and not notify anyone else nearby. The man would suddenly feel as if a weight had wrapped around his ankles and would fall back through the hole onto his allies. 

That gave Kuebiko enough time to drop off the roof behind the rest of the group and help them make way away from the hideout. If they curved out to the side, they should be able to meet the ashigaru blockade without intervention. 

SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu used:
NAME: Naru Kane: Kusari [Ringing Bells: Chain]
RANK: B
CHAKRA USAGE: To Use: Medium | To Maintain: Low
CLASSIFICATION: Genjutsu
ELEMENT: -
HANDSEALS: 0
TRIGGER: Auditory
DESCRIPTION:
This technique is one meant to immobilize an opponent. Upon hearing the bell ringing, a user will begin to feel heavy ball, or rather bell, and chains connecting to their ankles. The user will feel as if their feet are cuffed to massive iron bells, making them perceive it as near impossible to move.

[Hisakawa Yamato]

Ten'ei Defectors

@all

The clone nodded as Kuebiko ultimately chose to hastily evacuate the hostages without a loud distraction. The escape of the hostages was accompanied by frustrated grunts and knocks as one of the defectors attempted to break through into the holding room, eventually succeeding and immediately spotting the hole in the roof. Before he could fully pull himself up, however, he heard the deceptively innocuous sound of a bell before he felt a massive weight pulling him back towards the ground. While he struggled with the phantom weight, the rest of the hostages managed to get away from the building, arcing around the makeshift hideout and entering into Yamato's view.

The young lord immediately noted the change in situation before shouting out to the defensive defectors before him, nicely grouped up so there was little to no danger of them recovering the hostages.

"We've successfully extracted the hostages! You no longer have any leverage, surrender now or we'll be forced to use.. er force!"

The defectors looked at each other uneasily, thrown off by the absurdity of Yamato's sudden claim. There was a moment where they were fairly certain he was bluffing, right up until the hostages regrouped behind the ashigaru. The defectors were already well on their way to surrendering by now, but if there was still any fight left it was completely extinguished when the leader of the defectors burst out of the house, hands free of weapons and planted firmly on the back of his head. He had finally gathered that his hostages had escaped, and there was no benefit now to continuing the ploy. He was followed by the rest of the defectors that had been inside, minus one unfortunate fellow who was still mentally weighed to the floor.

"Arrest them."

The ashigaru moved forward to execute Yamato's simple command, the remaining defectors throwing down their weapons and succumbing to the arrests. A few of the footmen went inside to ensure that there weren't any stragglers but it was fairly clear that the conflict was now resolved. The Kusa lord made his way over to Kuebiko and the hostages, only letting out a heavy sigh of relief once he was in front of the medic.

"I take it that everything went fine on your end? Everyone does seem to be accounted for..."

Extra notes;

SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu Used:

♥ Chou

[Kuishinbou Kuebiko]

Given the lead that he'd been able to establish with his technique, the rescued hostages were able to move forward and get well away from the defectors. Back behind ashigaru lines, they were all safe. This lifted a heavy weight from Kuebiko's shoulders. The burden, the stress, of trying to save other people's lives was what he had signed up for and what he must do, but that didn't mean it would ever stop forming knots in his chest. 

From his new secure position he was able to watch as the defectors gave themselves up. None of them wanted a fight because they knew very well that they would lose. They came from the building and kneeled, allowing the ashigaru to handcuff them and take them in. What would their fates be, he wondered? Many of them probably had family back home. What would their families do? 

They'd come here to analyze the situation in Ten'ei, to hopefully learn what they had to do to make this a better place to live. But would what they'd just done harm this place more than help? 

He shook himself from those thoughts as Yamato approached. 

"Everything went well," he confirmed. "I was able to bar the door to give us enough time to flee without intervention. Everyone is uninjured, though rattled," he said. 

"What are we going to do with...?" His eyes wandered again to the defectors now being wrangled. 

[Hisakawa Yamato]

Ten'ei Defectors

@all

Yamato's shoulders slumped even more as Kuebiko relayed the last of the good news, the tension in his body now completely dissipated. He noted the waver in Kuebiko's voice and the look in his subordinate's eye as the defectors were taken away, arching an eyebrow as he responded.

"Well uhm.. I imagine they'll be dealt with according to the local jurisdiction. If I had to guess I'd say their sentences won't be light..."

Yamato's own voice became unsteady as he went on, biting his lower lip as he wrestled with the uncertainty of what might occur in this village. He pulled Kuebiko a bit away from prying ears, speaking much more thoughtfully as he gave a more candid reply.

"Actually... if this encounter wasn't telling enough the sentiment of this village towards Nohara no Kun is... well... Let's just say there's a nonzero chance they get off easier depending on who adjudicates the case. And if I were to impose Kusagakure law I... I believe that would only further agitate the sentiments carried by those defectors."

The young lord turned back to take one last look at the criminals being taken away, most of the hostages tearfully reuniting with their loved ones as well.

"Let's go back to reviewing the medical infrastructure here. When we get back to Kusagakure, if you'd like, we can talk more about what happened here."

Extra notes;

SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu Used:

♥ Chou

[Kuishinbou Kuebiko]

There would be no imposition of the village's martial law, at least. That was very good news. It did little in the way of relieving Kuebiko's anxieties for them, but he nodded slowly nonetheless. Now was not the place to discuss this, where people who were captured, or defector sympathizers, or ashigaru could possibly overhear the conversation. Waiting until a return to the village was very likely a wiser idea. 

Thinking that did not help the unsettled feeling in his gut, though. While they were working on assessing the medical infrastructure and taking the trip back home, these people would be sitting in cells, their families missing them. It was their own fault, wasn't it? Yet maybe it wasn't. Perhaps all of this could have been avoided if they'd been given a different level of care from the outset, if they'd had better opportunities. 

Kuebiko swallowed and nodded again, more certainly this time. 

"Yes, my lord. Thank you. I would be glad to discuss further when we have the time," he said, straightening his shoulders and trying to force the mask of professionalism back onto his face. Time and place. Play good soldier. 

"Now, uhm... Where was I," he said, trying to recall where the discussion had been before they'd been interrupted by this mission. "I believe we were in the middle of talking about patient capacity."