[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world Shouki Kumori Sourei Kobashi Shimizu Asuka

There was a wooded area nearby the Red Keep, though it was quite scant as the keep itself was near the sea making it a very vulnerable place to try and invade by anybody's standards. But all the higher ranking shinobi were stationed in this forest, with the job to keep silent and as still as possible until the genin would arrive with their orders of what their next steps would be.

It was generally known that they would be invading, but the details were not yet shared with the group.

There were three teams of chunin and special jounin, stationed a little further ahead of their superior officers - the jounin and elite jounin - with the intention of being the eyes for the higher ranking teams in case they needed to act while the genin had not yet arrived. Though acting would most certainly also spell doom for the genin who were rushing to their destination.

Unsurprisingly there were enemy patrols to keep track of with any sense available to the shinobi, though they walked in a very particular pattern so if timed correctly they would never have to come across them. But it still took a great deal of care...

Some shinobi might find themselves perched up in trees, others blending with the environment with all the training they had received. It would just depend, and they would certainly have to since there was also a few watch tower lookouts but a particularly apt one at the top of the Red Keep.

Ultimately though, right now would be a good time to prepare for battle for the waiting shinobi teams, and any that needed to do something to prepare should do it now lest they be caught in the midst of battle without the necessary tools ready for battle.

SPOILER: Click to show

Awaiting genin arrival. Stay out of sight or risk compromising genin troops. Prepare for battle as needed.

Please make at least one entrance post to determine general activity

OWL

[Shimizu Asuka]

serenity is not stillness.
● ● ● ●

but peace within a raging storm and the serendipity that can be found within the storm

It was unfortunate that they’d been stationed in the trees instead of the water, where Asuka would have been able to use his stealth training to a maximum degree. Instead, he had had to wear a full cloak that concealed him from head to toes to hide his distinctive silver hair and glittering scales. Perched in a tree, the man carefully watched, waiting for their orders. As it stood, he was of the mind that he shouldn’t peek out from behind his tree at all, lest the watchtowers catch a flash of silver and send men to investigate. Instead, assuming his two teammates were nearby, he made a few quick hand signals. Going - pull - out - weapon. Will - put - enemies - sleep - if - close. Don’t - show - self.

He hoped that his teammates were close enough to understand the gist of his message. Reaching one hand beneath his cloak, he ever so slowly and carefully pulled out his target: the injection shot sniper. A device that would enable him to quietly shoot darts filled with sleeping agent to (hopefully) dispatch people they had sent out to sweep the forest. With the sniper, he pulled out a handful of darts and the dose of the sleeping agent he carried on him. The sleeping agent was slow to act, but with enough skill and precision, he could more than likely be able to hit a place less noticeable if he needed to. However, it took precious minutes to load up his scarce few darts with the sleeping agent and load one of them into the sniper. This part was done beneath his cloak, to minimize the chance of his actions being spotted from a distance. If he were spotted, it could jeopardize the whole front.

If the patrols got too close, he’d cast the cloak of invisibility technique, careful all the while to not expose any pale skin or stray hairs. His preparation was slow, tedious, and perfectly his speed. He needed to make sure he was careful. He’d be fine, if the enemy sounded the alarm, but there were genin teams out there. His genin team was out there. The idea of being the cause of their demise caused a fear in his heart like no other. With that in mind, he was meticulous about preparing his sleep darts, quiet as he could manage and with slower, harder to spot movements. Throughout this, he would not change his position in the tree once except to use the simple camouflage of the cloak of invisibility technique.

Shouki Kumori Sourei Kobashi
# # #
notes

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Shouki Kumori]

Kumori, too, had decided to cloak up his form with the Special Ops wear available to a Suiryū Butai member like him – simple in design, a typical cloak like many others, but with an intricate, detailed design. It hid his form well, made his movements silent and discreet, and it blended in well with the dark shades of the woods. After all, one had to be prepared from tip to toe on occasions like these… the Red Keep. It was tangible from his hideout among the trees, using the thick tree crowns and girthy bark to hide his form. Underneath his cloak, however, he had prepared a multitude of items for today’s operation – a scroll holster holding a handful Water Scrolls (in the rare case that the sea wasn’t within a convenient range), an armored flak jacket, blades, shurikens, and kunais. A pair of hidden wrist blades. Bombs of a few kinds, pills of a few kinds, and tags of a few kinds. Strapped tightly to his body, too, were his two most commonly used weapons – a switchblade staff collapsed to a shorter size when on standby, and his preciously new ōdachi.

The orders were simple – keep quiet and await arriving Genin who would relay orders of their next actions. As long as they stood out of sight, the plan ran smoothly.

Those who were closest to his position were the Silver Prince – Shimizu Asuka, of the Ama clan – and the White Spectre of the Mist, once more in Kumori’s company – Sourei Kobashi, of the Sourei clan. The former relayed hand signals to tell very short, simple words making up the message of… taking out a weapon. Kill sleep- no… enemies to sleep. Close. Don’t show self.

Kumori nodded, understanding the message – Asuka was planning to equip a certain weapon that could put enemies to sleep if within range, and the two others were asked to stay in hiding and out of range of that weapon. In the meantime, Kumori adjusted his special glove, having it connected to two shurikens, a kunai, a flash bomb and a smoke bomb via special wires manufactured into the glove itself. His hidden blade sprung out, in, and out, and in… smoothly. Check.

Holding his sheathed sword vertical to his body, he slowly unsheathed it and slid his thumb across the blade part closest to the guard. With the tip pointing downwards, he let his blood droplet trickle down the side of the blade, before he unsheathed it and kept it still and close to his form. It would be quite the cleaning work when he returned, but his blood could prove a potent additive to the sword’s lethality. A simple technique that exchanged his Dokuyoke-shaped hands with a metallic weapon, instead.

All of this happening as he hid his form behind a particularly wide tree, making use of the shrubbery to catch echoing sounds from the opening beyond the trees and bushes. Since they weren’t in a body of water, the Hiding in Water Technique couldn’t be utilized… but the Cloak of Invisibility Technique could be used with his cloak on, should any enemy troops approach the forest uninvited. As a Councilor, he was involved in many affairs, and thus he knew many things – Asuka’s Genin Team came to mind, as one of those things…

So be vigilant, Kumori. Keep in hiding – the Red Keep would soon belong to the Mizukage.

Special Abilities:

SPOILER: Click to show

Shouki Clan Hijutsu - Dokuyoke Master
Kumori possesses his clan’s secret ability to store, produce and release deadly poisons from his own body thanks to the ritual of Dokuyoke. Said ritual has also granted its clan members an uncanny resistance to local poisons and toxins found all over the Land of Water - however, with the decades that Kumori has had to practice their craft, he’s become a master of the offensive Dokuyoke – both in the secret but simple Taijutsu that takes advantage of the release of poisons, and also in the regards of being able to mold and create forms from the poisons released. Only a master who’s had decades to train the clan’s Hijutsu is able to utilize the poisons with this much efficiency and creativity.

Medical Training
Kumori was taught practical, medical skills from a young age – this was to honor his clan’s past as medical experts before the ritual of Dokuyoke changed them forever. His in-depth understanding of human anatomy grants him the ability to treat his own wounds as well as the wounds of others with minimal effort despite the lack of Medical Jutsu in his arsenal. When it comes to surgeries, then he’s confident and very experienced in cutting open as well as patching up human bodies for various purposes. This has definitely flourished during the trials that he witnessed in his clan… and despite his distancing from them, their books and notes did grant him a deeper understanding of human and animal biomechanism. Kumori is able to use this knowledge in combat as well, capable of easily identifying weak spots on the foe's body where critical organs or blood vessels (arteries, capillaries etc.) are located, thus targeting them for the most optimal killing chance. Medical knowledge isn't solely for healing the body, in the end... not in the hands of a shinobi.

Enhanced Chakra Reserves
Old as he is, Kumori’s decades of training and fighting has made his body robust physically, but it has also increased the available pool of chakra that he can draw from. He possesses enormous chakra reserves - much more than the typical shinobi, and he can release Jutsu after Jutsu for much longer periods of time before tiring out. This especially aids him in performing high-ranked Jutsu that usually cause other shinobi casting them to stagger or lose focus due to the huge loss of chakra as a result. The enormous concentration of chakra can also cause visible outbursts from his body upon welding or releasing chakra.

Enhanced Strength
Kumori’s muscle mass contributes to his massive size – it allows him to not only depend on the deadliness of his poisons, but also overpower his opponents with brute force. Every swing of his weapon is like a ravine charging into the target, and the toughness of his musculature alone is able to absorb quite a bit of blunt damage. It’s unheard of to witness a poison user like the Shouki to be this physically fit, but Kumori is something else… he has enough strength to punch holes in the ground, break weaponry with ease and utterly destroy an opponent's body and turn their bones to flakes with simple, heavy punches. Landing on the ground from great heights can cause soft tremors to travel across the ground, and he often deliberately lets foes land hits on him just to flex.

Jack-Of-All-Blades (Bukijutsu Expert)
Kumori seems to just know his way around any sort of weapon that he’s handed. Whether they be a sword, spear, bow, kunai, shuriken, kama, axe, club, staff, chain, knuckle-dusters, metal claws or even blowguns – of any shape and any size – when he wields and utilizes such any weapon, he does so with nigh unmatched skill. He may still have his preferences, but give him any weapon and he’ll kill with style.

Enhanced Hearing
As a result of his tracking missions back when he wanted to become a member of the Oinin Butai, Kumori developed a sharp and unnatural sense of hearing. He usually carries special Ear Protection plugs with him if enemies want to take advantage of this trait, but when freed of those, his ears can catch and distinguish sounds and their sources from long distances. He’s able to recognize usually muffled sounds with ease; the sound of a person’s heart beating slow or fast, the sound of insects crawling on the muddy ground, the sound of a hiding shinobi’s breathing etc.
Active: 5km / Passive: 1km

[Sourei Kobashi]

Anxiety, it filled Kobashi's heart currently. This was not due to the risk this battle posed to him and the comrades close to him currently, the potential for failure in this large operation or even for those who were about to be put down; no the anxiety was formed due to his concern for Hisao who was to be taking part in this operation. He was not certain on the details of why Hisao had been ordered out to this assault, he could only assume that they wanted medics on hand for all the teams, but even so surely they could have found one with a bit more combat experience.

A part of him desperately wanted to just break ranks and go to protect the boy, but the larger more rational part of his mind knew that it was pointless. Even if he were to do such a thing it would only serve to get at the very least himself if not Hisao as well killed or imprisoned. Even if by some miracle neither of those outcomes occurred then it would still bring a great deal of scrutiny to their lives, a scrutiny he did not have confidence they would be able to overcome with any amount of certainty.

So there was not anything to do, but sit and wait or at least, crouch and wait for that was what Kobashi was currently doing. While his nearby comrades had opted for the trees above, Kobashi had decided to remain on the ground so as to spread their forces some. He sat among a cluster of thick bushes and other foliage. His usual pristine white clothing was gone, switched out for a dark blue variant that blended better with the night and which had further been camouflaged with mud, fresh cut leaves and even a few mushrooms rubbed into the fabric to give it that additional earthy scent. He did not know the abilities any patrols might have, but he had prepared himself as best he could to hide from sight, smell and sound.

Glancing up and some distance to the left Kobashi caught sight of a small amount of motion, catching the tail end of Asuka's signed words saying they would put any nearby enemies to sleep. Kobashi made no movement beyond turning his head back to peer through the tiny hole in the bush ahead of him that looked out into the woods slightly. Signing an understanding was needless. Asuka would do as he had said regardless of if Kobashi acknowledged it or not, still it was good that he had communicated his intent. Now Kobashi knew to stay back for a time if any patrols wandered too close. His plan for the moment was to sit tight and only if they drew too close for comfort would he use his bloodline to slip into the soil below. If they lingered too long though and Asuka failed to take them out then he would be forced to attack before his time limit to remain submerged ran out.

Made by Riley at THQ!

[Han]

The higher ranking shinobi were well out of sight since they were not on the front lines, some prepared others continued to wait.

The Red Keep was hard to make out due to all the foliage.

An occasional breeze might disturb them due to their proximity to the sea.

Will they continue their wait in silence or devise a strategy on how their strengths and weaknesses may benefit each other?

[Shouki Kumori]

Kumori glared towards Kobashi’s position next. Knowing his strengths, as well as having an idea about Asuka’s, made the old man conclude that he served best as a distractive force – outside of a large source of water, his options of hiding were limited to the Hidden Mist Technique, the Invisiblity Cloak Technique and standard shinobi procedures. However, when it came to being open, visible and hard-hitting, then he was confident in his abilities…

Watching Kobashi among the thick bushes with a shrubbery-coated cloak prompted the old shinobi to seek a similar hiding spot further away among another cluster of thick bushes – his size made him easier to cosplay as a bush than a squirrel, after all, and his cloak’s muffling effect was put to the test as he, too, followed Kobashi’s example and rubbed grass, dirt and a few leaves onto the edges and back of his cloak, even coating some on the inside to cover his own scent.

Since they were well out of sight…

"It’s me,” Kumori relayed to Kobashi, having made sure to hide behind a bush that hid his form from the ‘front’ – that was, hiding his form from any viewing hole through the woods that came from the keep’s location. They were well-hid, but no chances were taken – it was likely due to the events of a previous mission, from which Kumori knew Kobashi’s skills firsthand. "For now, until we’ve met the enemy’s forces… I’ll take point. You and Asuka excel further in blending in with the surroundings than me.” Kumori reached into one of his holsters and gestured for Kobashi to reach his hand out, so that the old shinobi could grant him 2 of his 5 small, tightly packed compounds of antidote as well as 1 blood pill. Kobashi’s ability to phase through objects still kept his body intact, as he remembered Kobashi’s hand wound had to be treated… so just in case.

Under the dark shrouds of tree shadows, Kumori made his way back to Asuka, informing him of the same and adding: "Take these. I’ll manage with just one of them – in case the enemy wants to combat us slowly with poison.” Another 2 small packs of powdered antidote, and 1 blood pill, would be handed over to Asuka, before Kumori would make space and hide in the collection of bushes where he was prior to his generous gifting…

[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world Shimizu Asuka Shouki Kumori Sourei Kobashi

It took quite a bit of time but soon enough the din of armor would pierce the air and three genin arrived on the scene. Shizuka dragged by Gomi - the one in the armor - with Shizuka carrying the scroll and Homare not far from them. The scroll would be given up and the genin would disappear.

Kumori would get to see Shizuka and Asuka his team a bit beaten up but not dead... But now the scroll was in hand which meant that one of the two scrolls had arrived safely. The jounin had only to open the scroll.

Of course, the orders were in the scroll so they could open to read the message which would say something rather concise and straightforward:

You have been entrusted with the take over of the Red Keep, do not fail. Our information says that there is one who is heavily guarded that must be taken on by our highest ranking shinobi. Do not waste your energy needlessly on the peons below, give the command to the chunin and sp. jounin forces to advance.

The Red Keep must remain in tact as it will be used as an important base moving forward. Do your best to not cause utter destruction on the inside and to the structural integrity of the building.

The other team of jounin are in possession of a flag to be hoisted at the top of the Keep once our position is secured. Be sure that your push is successful.

Be well,
Kaguya Toru
Daimyo & Hachidaime Mizukage


The jounin were now tasked with quietly commanding the lesser ranked fighters closer to the Keep with mounting an attack. But they had to do so stealthily as they were too far from the second unit of jounin to know whether the second team of genin had arrived or not...

SPOILER: Click to show

Posts Due: Thursday, September 28th, 11:00 AM CST
You are tasked with giving the chunin and sp. jounin the command to attack, but do so stealthily.

Please note: You should only post your actions in this thread and I will relay what happens here into the necessary threads of the chunin - sp. jounin.

Deliberate quickly, there is no time to waste.

OWL

[Sourei Kobashi]

Upon hearing the soft sound of Kumori's approach towards him, Kobashi immediately turned with his left hand gripping the sheath of the ninjato at his side and the right resting upon the handle ready to draw and slash simultaneously if it had been an enemy. While slightly obscured Kobashi could still make out Kumori's form in general so the slash did not come, but the hand remained on the blade just in case it was some trick. Watching as the older shinobi withdrew a few items and offering them out with a short explanation, Kobashi nodded and took them. Placing them in one of the satchels at his waist he offered a single word of response to Kumori's suggested tactics.


"Understood."


Kobashi watched for a moment as Kumori made his way to Asuka, the words too quiet to truly make out what was being said, but assuming a similar discussion of tactics and offer of medicine was made. Kobashi turned back to the small little gap in the bush he had concealed himself within and waited patiently as he did his best to open his senses to the surrounding area.

It was not too much longer after Kumori's movement from Kobashi to Asuka to a new hiding space that the genin team arrived. They looked as if they had encountered a fair bit of resistance which made both Kobashi's throat and hands clench out of concern for Hisao. Still given there were three here he doubted that Hisao had been part of this team. He did indeed still worry that perhaps Hisao's team would meet equal or even greater resistance than these three had, but he could hardly go charging off into the woods looking for Hisao when he had no idea where the boy would even be. Instead he was forced to try and push the intruding thoughts from his mind.

Making his way over to the genin team he accepted the scroll they had, saying just "Good work." upon receiving it. It was simple praise, but any praise was useful to a team's morale especially after a combat encounter so it was the least he could do. After they departed Kobashi silently made his way towards Kumori and motioned for Asuka to join them with a quick hand gesture where he opened and read the scroll, passing it to Kumori next so he could read it.

The letter frustrated him slightly, with the line about structural integrity feeling as if it was specifically meant for Kobashi. Still he understood the importance a fortress could hold for a nation and it would not do to capture a pile of rubble. Kobashi figured if he used the Shibuki he would need to limit the amount of explosive tags used in a strike to just one or two to prevent damage that could not easily be repaired, at least on the interior of the fortress. Depending on how the enemy had their troops arranged he might be able to use a bit more if they had any skirmishing forces on the outside of the main keep. His ninjato had served him well enough in most situations though, so he figured it should be enough to deal with this situation as well for the most part.

Kobashi was also a bit concerned about the line referencing an individual who was highly guarded that would need to be taken on or rather the lack of information on this individual. There was no detail as to how strong the target was, what they were capable of, any known weaknesses or even what they looked like. This lack of information could prove very deadly, but he supposed it was the reason that their team had been designated to take them on and a medic provided for their group. With an emotional sigh in his soul, Kobashi physically took a slow and deep breath before looking towards where the Red Keep laid.


"We need to meet with the other attackers as quickly as possible. The lack of detail in regards to what we are facing means we should make a slow methodical attack on the keep. We need to keep an eye out as well to ensure that this guarded individual does not escape. I recommend we hit any outside the keep hard, establish a perimeter with the lower ranked shinobi manning it. The rest of us proceed up the keep from there while they prevent any escape."


His voice was soft and while on the previous mission with Kumori his words had been expressed as suggestions, this time they were more matter of fact. Whether it was out of frustration with the situation, concern over Hisao or a lack of belief in this whole operation was hard for Kobashi to tell, likely a mixture of all three.

Made by Riley at THQ!

[Shimizu Asuka]

serenity is not stillness.
● ● ● ●

but peace within a raging storm and the serendipity that can be found within the storm

His teammates were… interesting people. Kobashi had yet to interact with him, but Kumori was more friendly, expressive, and…. Heading right towards him? Once the man was securely sheltered next to Asuka, Asuka listened to his words with the faintest hint of confusion. Kumori’s plan regarding combat made sense enough, but the offer of antidotes and blood pulls was something he couldn’t really understand. He took one of them, but if anybody was to make do with one of each it really should be the medic of the mission.

”With all due respect, Kumori-san, I am a medic. If anybody will be making do with less it should be me. However, I’m surprised you aren’t aware of my abilities. I’ve spent years studying poisons, your clan likes to keep an eye on me because I’m the only medic in the village fully capable of counteracting your poisons.” he said, head tilted slightly at the much older man. Was Kumori truly so oblivious? Asuka knew all too well what the Shouki thought of him in particular. They were wary, and only barely cordial the majority of the time. Not that he blamed them. Clan abilities being countered would always put clanned shinobi on edge.

Before he could listen for the older man’s response, the genin team had arrived with their orders. His team. His heart clenched at just how rough they looked, though nobody seemed bad enough to need immediate attention. His annoyance flashed just a little when Kobashi was the one to collect the scroll from the genin, but he tamped down on it as the man returned to the trees with their orders in hand. As they read through the orders, Asuka’s brow furrowed. They truly had little in the way of information, and they had to avoid damaging the building? That severely limited their power. Asuka wouldn’t be able to use his Fish Monster jutsu at all, in this case.

As Kobashi piped up for the first time since they’d been assigned as a team, Asuka frowned. ”We should definitely make haste. However, I feel I must warn you two, my offensive power will be very low with our mission parameters. I will not be able to use my fish monster jutsu except as a last resort, so it may be best for me to take up the rear position, and watch our backs. However… if you are injured, you will be able to trust in me. But, we shouldn’t debate this much longer. We have a keep to invade.”

Shouki Kumori Sourei Kobashi
# # #
notes

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Shouki Kumori]

… Well, that was awkward. In an attempt to save face, Kumori’s darkened eyes remained so, not dropping his guard even to the should-have-been-obvious note that Asuka, for all intents and purposes, was the last person in their team who needed medical assistance… on account of being a medic himself. The comment about his clan’s, say, interest in him was also new…

"… I’ll have a word with my brothers later,” Kumori promised with a low, almost threatening tone albeit not aimed at Asuka, "I believe some intel has been kept away from me…” Oh well, as annoying as it was, a problem for later.

At long last, the genin team had arrived in full – upon inspection of the team’s condition, they had been roughened up by plenty of resistance but managed to arrive in one piece. That included Shizuka, his clanic protégé, whom he hoped would take things a little easier from now on to avoid worsening her apparent wounds.

Kobashi received the scroll and rejoined with Kumori, while Asuka followed suit. When Kumori received the scroll, he read through its contents, taking in the note about a heavily guarded individual – accordingly, just one – who was specifically to be taken on by the two groups of highest-ranked shinobi. Such a guarded individual would be tough to reach when they were located in a large keep such as this one, especially since the scroll emphasized that the Red Keep was to remain intact and that they should exercise upmost collateral integrity…

So if he were forced to use big, destructive Ninjutsu, he’d have to make sure that it was close to the edge of a balcony – however, chances were low on that scenario, so Kumori assumed that he’d have to refrain from frivolously spending chakra like that with such a risk at hand.

The scroll commanded them to further command the Chūnin and Sp. Jōnin to advance, and Kobashi quickly established a reliable strategy behind their assets – with the troops advancing forward now, they could cut off escape from the keep in short time, which would help the higher-ups reach this anonymous, highly-guarded person before they attempted to escape themselves. Nodding in agreement, Kumori formed a handseal and summoned two Shadow Clones, one next to Kobashi and one next to Asuka. "I’ll leave these clones with the advancing forces for support. Let’s meet up with them,” he decided, coming to a consensus after hearing his teammates’ input that they were to move now.

And thus, they’d have to keep their heads low, making use of any shrubbery or constructs that’d allow Kumori to hide his form with the Cloak of Invisibility Technique should a surprisingly curious enemy guard look their way. He was assured that his cloak helped with audial muffling of his steps, and that its camouflage helped him blend in with whatever green he was able to pass by. However, Kumori was approaching the Chūnin and Sp. Jōnin, dividing his clones to each group to relay the command to advance forward and attack the keep quickly. He’d also make sure to inform these groups of their fellow role to prevent escape from fleeing enemies, and that a certain heavily-guarded individual was to be left to the higher-ups to take down should one such being try to escape too – in the scenario that they’d be able to identify such a person, prevent escape, but beware.

Jutsus Used/ SAs Active:

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Kage Bunshin no Jutsu [Shadow Clone Technique]
RANK: B
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu [General]
ELEMENT: None
HANDSEALS: 1
DESCRIPTION:
The Kage Bunshin technique evenly distributes your chakra between one or more clones with form and substance (x2 Clones).

The clones created by this technique are able to utilize any jutsu the original ninja knows, has all of their special abilities, as well as their kekkei genkai. Typically a clone's equipment doesn't retain any special abilities and the clone itself is dispersed when hit with a single attack or incapacitated, although the clone can also choose to disperse itself or be dispersed by the user.

When the clone finally disperses, any new knowledge it has gained along with it's remaining chakra are passed back to the original ninja and any additional clones.



NAME: Kakuremino no Jutsu [Cloak of Invisibility Technique]
RANK: E
CHAKRA USAGE: Very Low
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu [General]
ELEMENT: None
DESCRIPTION:
Using a cloak or a piece of cloth, a ninja may disguise themselves against a nearby object by covering their whole body in a fashion that blends in with their surroundings.

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

Shouki Clan Hijutsu - Dokuyoke Master
Kumori possesses his clan’s secret ability to store, produce and release deadly poisons from his own body thanks to the ritual of Dokuyoke. Said ritual has also granted its clan members an uncanny resistance to local poisons and toxins found all over the Land of Water - however, with the decades that Kumori has had to practice their craft, he’s become a master of the offensive Dokuyoke – both in the secret but simple Taijutsu that takes advantage of the release of poisons, and also in the regards of being able to mold and create forms from the poisons released. Only a master who’s had decades to train the clan’s Hijutsu is able to utilize the poisons with this much efficiency and creativity.

Medical Training
Kumori was taught practical, medical skills from a young age – this was to honor his clan’s past as medical experts before the ritual of Dokuyoke changed them forever. His in-depth understanding of human anatomy grants him the ability to treat his own wounds as well as the wounds of others with minimal effort despite the lack of Medical Jutsu in his arsenal. When it comes to surgeries, then he’s confident and very experienced in cutting open as well as patching up human bodies for various purposes. This has definitely flourished during the trials that he witnessed in his clan… and despite his distancing from them, their books and notes did grant him a deeper understanding of human and animal biomechanism. Kumori is able to use this knowledge in combat as well, capable of easily identifying weak spots on the foe's body where critical organs or blood vessels (arteries, capillaries etc.) are located, thus targeting them for the most optimal killing chance. Medical knowledge isn't solely for healing the body, in the end... not in the hands of a shinobi.

Enhanced Chakra Reserves
Old as he is, Kumori’s decades of training and fighting has made his body robust physically, but it has also increased the available pool of chakra that he can draw from. He possesses enormous chakra reserves - much more than the typical shinobi, and he can release Jutsu after Jutsu for much longer periods of time before tiring out. This especially aids him in performing high-ranked Jutsu that usually cause other shinobi casting them to stagger or lose focus due to the huge loss of chakra as a result. The enormous concentration of chakra can also cause visible outbursts from his body upon welding or releasing chakra.

Enhanced Strength
Kumori’s muscle mass contributes to his massive size – it allows him to not only depend on the deadliness of his poisons, but also overpower his opponents with brute force. Every swing of his weapon is like a ravine charging into the target, and the toughness of his musculature alone is able to absorb quite a bit of blunt damage. It’s unheard of to witness a poison user like the Shouki to be this physically fit, but Kumori is something else… he has enough strength to punch holes in the ground, break weaponry with ease and utterly destroy an opponent's body and turn their bones to flakes with simple, heavy punches. Landing on the ground from great heights can cause soft tremors to travel across the ground, and he often deliberately lets foes land hits on him just to flex.

Jack-Of-All-Blades (Bukijutsu Expert)
Kumori seems to just know his way around any sort of weapon that he’s handed. Whether they be a sword, spear, bow, kunai, shuriken, kama, axe, club, staff, chain, knuckle-dusters, metal claws or even blowguns – of any shape and any size – when he wields and utilizes such any weapon, he does so with nigh unmatched skill. He may still have his preferences, but give him any weapon and he’ll kill with style.

Enhanced Hearing
As a result of his tracking missions back when he wanted to become a member of the Oinin Butai, Kumori developed a sharp and unnatural sense of hearing. He usually carries special Ear Protection plugs with him if enemies want to take advantage of this trait, but when freed of those, his ears can catch and distinguish sounds and their sources from long distances. He’s able to recognize usually muffled sounds with ease; the sound of a person’s heart beating slow or fast, the sound of insects crawling on the muddy ground, the sound of a hiding shinobi’s breathing etc.
Active: 5km / Passive: 1km

[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world Sourei Kobashi Shimizu Asuka Shouki Kumori

The team created a plan, particularly Kobashi taking a lead not unlike his days during the Civil War, he comfortably took the leader's role in such a situation. With agreement, Kumori made clones and sent them to the two remaining groups that had yet to receive correspondence about moving ahead.

It might be a good idea that Kumori's clones were going to help out, or it may just get in the way. Either way the jounin knew that they had to keep their reserves to themselves and not fight too much and really establish a perimeter before getting inside and fighting to the top. There was after all a reason that the chunin and sp. jounin were present, they were meant to weaken the main forces substantially so that the stronger shinobi could have their full strength for the worst shinobi that they all could face.

It would be a long battle, but with good strategy, they might be able to do what is right. Even Asuka - if he were to take to the sea just behind the keep - might be able to use fish monster, assuming someone was able to lure enemies out there.

No enemies came to the jounin at this point, they were quite safe within the brush of the trees and foliage, for now.

SPOILER: Click to show

Posts Due: --
Timer paused while chunin & sp. jounin are commanded to move in.

If you wish to move in tandem with you will have to keep track of their posting rotations, otherwise you may wait and setup for Stage 3 at your pace. Be mindful of the enemies going forward as they are more likely to see your party and retaliate now, in which case a timer would start back up.

For the clones, feel free to either communicate or write up what they will do; or you may relinquish all control to me as to avoid being overwhelmed by multiple threads.

OWL

[Shouki Kumori]

…

!!!

Kumori received memory of the two teams his clones visited – humored that Kasumi was among the surveying team of Chūnin and Sp. Jōnin, the elder shinobi pondered over the next options that they had. The immediate forces – those mentioned earlier – were to tackle quite a bulk of enemies defending the keep, while the higher-ups were preparing to combat quite an extraordinary foe looming ahead of them all.

Kumori was curious about this foe of theirs – the scroll held next to no information about them, other than that they were heavily guarded… someone important of status, but not a fragile person. Kumori could only assume at this point, but it must’ve been an elder – an experienced warrior or shinobi, who still appreciated the support of guards in their old age. That would explain the status of ‘heavily guarded’ as well as their threat towards even the Jōnins.

The keep’s close to the sea. That could be-

"With the sea so close to the keep… it’d be reasonable to lure enemies out there,” Kumori pondered to his teammates, insinuating the use of large-scale Water Release Jutsus in that area – away from the keep’s structure – but also, albeit unintentionally, alluding to Asuka’s opportunity to make use of his morphing Fish Monster Technique in an environment that didn’t compromise the objective.

[Sourei Kobashi]

Kobashi stood watching towards where the keep laid, his mind idly considering a variety of tactics, dismissing them and starting his thoughts anew. A great many methods of dealing with the shinobi passed through his thoughts, forcing them out of the fortress with heavy smoke that would threaten their lives without damaging the structure, simple bluffs that they would burn the place down if they did not come and surrender, simply surrounding the keep and calling for additional forces to utterly overwhelm the enemy and many more. The problem with all of these various plans that went through Kobashi's mind however remained the same. . . they just did not know enough about the enemy they faced nor their abilities.

As Kumori spoke up with a suggestion to lead the enemies out of the keep and into the water which sat at the keep's back: Kobashi spoke up, his tone almost a murmur as he discredited the idea as it faced the same flaws his own had.


"We do not know enough about the enemy. Leading them to the water could prove a mistake. While the scroll said nothing of their abilities, we have to assume the village attempted to get the information and failed. For all we know this enemy could be a kinsman of the Hozuki or have some such ability where the water would be to their advantage. Best to keep them contained in the keep for the time being where we can at least try to ensure no easy escape or reinforcements for them will be found. The same problem is true for every other plan I have considered that would force the enemy from the keep."


Kobashi continued to stand pondering over the situation. Not only was planning to deal with this enigma of an enemy difficult, but the lack of information as to what the other teams in this great assault was almost equally frustrating. While Kobashi might assume there was a reason for the seeming disorganization, any such reason would not have made Kobashi like the situation any better. Likely it had something to do with operational security, possibly a spy was even among their ranks.

The thought made Kobashi go cold for a moment. Honestly it was the only thing he could think of for the roundabout way of giving orders to their various teams and what he viewed as a somewhat disjointed endeavor with this task. Kobashi glanced towards Kumori and Asuka for a moment wondering if perhaps they might be traitors of some sort before shaking his head slightly and refocusing himself to the task at hand.

Idle speculation as to who was a friend or foe was ultimately pointless at the moment. Regardless of why Toru had arranged this operation in this manner, despite the logical conclusion of a traitor being a possible explanation, regardless of the anxiety that still lurked deep within his heart at the thought of what Hisao was doing at this moment: the only thing that mattered right now was the job at hand. All other matters were secondary until the threat they were assigned to eliminate was either dead or captured.

Made by Riley at THQ!

[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world Shouki Kumori Sourei Kobashi Shimizu Asuka

The trio continued to rest waiting for the sign of battle to stop as the sign that they could proceed forward. It had not yet stopped, and so they could continue resting, continue waiting. Though, very suddenly, out of the brush and tangled wood three familiar faces would appear.

Zaizen, Ichigoni and Sora in tow - unconscious at the moment from a hard battle. All of them were not particularly in pristine condition having clear wear and tear on their bodies from battle. Everything from the most basic of scrapes, to a lot more, varying between the three of them. This was the scene that the fresher jounin team would see.

It would be up to them how to proceed, whether they would choose to heal, or speak to the team at all... Soon they would need to try and combine forces to fight to the top when the battles in the Keep went silent. But for now it was still going on so they had a short window to have an interaction.

An explosion went off in the background very suddenly, and a rush of sudden water. Whatever was going on in the Keep was clearly intense, but for now - what was in front was the most important.

OWL

[Shimizu Asuka]

”That’s not a good idea, Kumori-san. Our aim should simply be to take the enemies out-" Asuka said, but he was quickly interrupted by the arrival of the second jounin team, all injured. As his eyes fell on Sora in particular, Asuka went into what can only be described as life-saving mode for a medical worker. Tossing his normal medical kit at his own teammates, he scrambled towards the unconscious jounin to work on stabilizing her condition. ”Help the other two get their less threatening injuries seen to! I’ve got Sora!” he snapped, voice as serious as they’d ever see.

However, something most unexpected would happen were he able to reach the second jounin team and get his hands on Sora. Letting out a pronounced ”Fuck,” the man would take stock of the injuries he could see. What he saw was devastating. Her rib cage was shattered, her skin heavily burned. Her left arm and hip seemed to be broken, and there were four sluggishly bleeding arrow wounds in her side, likely with internal bleeding. His current priority was the arrow wounds, since losing too much blood would almost certainly kill her. It was a miracle she was still alive now, even.

His start would be on the arrow wounds, the ones in her torso taking the most priority. The arrowheads were still visible in the wounds, so with mourning to his chakra pool, the young man performed handsigns. After using Dog, Tiger, Bird, Dragon, Snake, a watery chakra scalpel would appear, which he would use to carefully cut the area around the arrowheads until he could pull them free. This was not a quick process, the delicate control needed making sure that the process was tedious at best. A great deal of care was needed to deal with these arrowheads, because doing it too fast could cause unnecessary damage. Asuka had control in spades, though, and barring any unexpected circumstances he should be able to do this rather easily.

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Suiton no Mesu [Water Scalpel]
RANK: B
CHAKRA USAGE: Low (Drain)
CLASSIFICATION: Medical Ninjutsu
ELEMENT: Suiton
HANDSEALS: 5 - Dog, Tiger, Bird, Dragon, Snake
REQUIREMENT: Chakura no Mesu - [Chakra Scalpel]
DESCRIPTION:
This technique is functionally identical to its parent technique with the added effect of the scalpel extracting toxins, pathogens, and other impurities from the area surrounding cuts inflicted with it. This makes it ideal for performing surgeries and other medical procedures in the field where disinfectants are scarce/unavailable. Additionally, this technique is useful for countering poisons of the same power or lower, as areas cut with the scalpel will stop being afflicted by their effects.