[masshiro]

    For all that Masshiro was great when it came to sitting down and sculpting his plan and strategies, could see moves ahead when all the pieces were in front of him, he wasn't always the best in terms of in the moment decision making. It held him back for being a great leader in that respect, and his demeanor shifts in combat situations worked against this idea of trying to strategize in the moment. There was no other way to say it than that it was hard to plan things when you were shifting to a mindset of brutalizing an opponent, and with each attack he was sliding into that dangerous mindset. 

    His initial thought of using the mist and reacting went out the window immediately for example, and though he had bloodlust in his eyes the moment he dashed out towards the fight, he was clearly not thinking things through. A great weapon to aim at an opponent in a fight, and a great teammate to have as a resource before one, but on his own he was certainly reckless. The mist around him and the lightning that followed was causing him issues that he hadn't even considered, and what he thought was just a jolt, was turning into a problem even after the lightning strike. His muscles were still twitching, his left thigh tightening, and for a brief moment it felt as if there was a disconnect between his muscles and his brain telling them to move. It wasn't just a matter of pain, as even the after effects were still gripping him and squeezing.

    The heavy motion of his swing met nothing solid to his frustration, but he planted his foot to move forward and give chase, trying to use his swinging momentum to keep moving, just as a kunai came whizzing towards him. It was lucky it was aimed towards him and not at him as he was starting to see red more with every swing. For all he assumed himself lucky in that brief moment, it certainly didn't last long. With both hands gripping tight on his weapons, he couldn't raise his hands and drop his weapons fast enough given the proximity of the kunai, so all he could manage was trying to push forward. 

    With all the strength he could force into his muscles he tried to dive, and at best his body twisted awkwardly forward, still not fully recovering from the swing yet balance wise. His body flopped forward in what otherwise would have been funny if not for the explosion, jumping just enough to at least not get the direct hit to the his body, but completely blowing off the back side and left sleeve of his disguise as well as the left leg of his pants. His mesh armor was now exposed, and by nothing but sheer luck, he still had all his hair. Making a groaning noise as he turned trying to figure out why his water clone hadn't rushed in to help, it dawned on him that it was destroyed earlier with the lightning strike, and his eyes narrowed back forward. He could feel the burns, thankfully not serious, but painful all the same, and was still feeling the now dissipating effects from the shock to his nervous system, and it further turned the dial in his mind up a notch. 

    He was still in proximity close enough to the shinobi he had attacked earlier to have sight of him in the mist, as he let go of his axes momentarily and pushed up to his knees, making a quick handseal with a big obvious motion that would be hard to miss. Within seconds, unless they were blind or impressively genjutsu resilient, would lose all track of Masshiro in the mist as a large tree appeared around them, binding them in place. For all he wanted to rest his chakra use, he couldn't simply let them lightning strike him a second time. With the assumption they would stay held for long enough to get up, he turned his head towards the location of where the kunai had come from earlier and grabbed his axes,. Pushing away as he tried keeping track up them, he jumped, painfully, to his feet and rushed in towards the one he had just casted his genjutsu on. Assuming it worked, he would keep running, attempt to use them as a human shield to stand between him and the kunai throwing shinobi, then put both axes to their throat in a clear and obvious threatening motion. 

"You'll come closer and drop your weapons and surrender or this guy loses his head, and I do mean that literally."

    
    

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Magen: Jubaku Satsu [Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death]
RANK: B
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium [Continuous]

The user first disappears from plain sight in a mist-like fashion in order to approach the target without being detected. Once close enough, the target will then be completely robbed of their mobility as they see the mirage of a fast-growing tree coiling itself around them. Given that the subject remains conscious, this technique proves extremely efficient for information-gathering. Once the target is immobile, the user can then attack the enemy, usually after seemingly emerging from the trunk of the tree.

[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world masshiro

The man was getting ready to set off another attack when he got caught in the genjutsu, surprised that Masshiro was able to do anything after the explosion - since it was quite large - but there he was being bound up by a tree and he was stuck in it and freaked out. He did not even realize he was being grabbed and Masshiro was threatening his life to the others as much as he was just confused by the trees presence.

Unfortunately the shinobi on the other side did not seem to care that their ally would have their head removed, they seemed more worried about making sure to protect the integrity of their country so instead of waiting all three of them quite literally ran and went to jump on Masshiro and one was particularly strong with his punches - clearly having some kind of strength enhancement to his body that would have Masshiro struggling at close quarters if he were to go toe-to-toe, especially difficult since he was also momentarily distracted with presumably chopping someone's head off of his shoulders.

Two would go and grab his arms, to stretch him out and grab into his burns, whilst the strong one was aiming to punch him hard in the gut to cause internal bleeding.

OWL

[masshiro]

    Adrenaline was a hell of a drug, stubborn persistence was addictive in its own right, and neither were particularly helpful for someone who was slowly slipping into the mindset Masshiro was finding himself in. From an outside perspective, perhaps it might have seemed good to be able to push yourself, act even when your body doesn't particularly want you to, but it has its limits. Pushing in such a way can work for a time, but it has a timer that when it wears off can put you in an incredibly dangerous place.

    Masshiro had only be actively aware of one of the others trying to attack him previously, but it seemed others were finally getting involved, with total disregard for this other shinobi. What a pathetic group, he thought to himself, so willing to let one of their own die like this, and he certainly wasn't going to leave him alive to get back up and use that lightning trick a second time. Sighing as he knew he was likely to take a hit in doing so, he bent his knees and flexed, pulling his axes back and pulling in either direction with all his might, removing the head of the shinobi caught in his genjutsu. 

    They might have gotten to him quickly, but getting to him without being noticed would have been near impossible at this range, with his ability to sense their chakra. It was clear one of them was no faster than he was, the problem was, neither of them were slower than him either, and given his body was in pain, even if it wasn't fully registering in his mind at the moment, he wasn't moving at full speed in the best of scenarios. As his arms were pulling away from him removing the shinobi's head from the rest of his body, his arms spread apart, which would have made him easier to grab, but it also meant they were getting closer to his weapons.

    Unfortunately he simply wasn't able to swing at either of them in a meaningful way, but he didn't need to if he acted correctly. Taking a deep breath, he reactivated his Jaakugan, looking between the two soon to be attackers, as he looked them both in the eye with a look to one side, then then other, casting his genjutsu on either one. He moved his arms to try and move his weapons just enough to be in the way, to do as little as cut them, likely barely enough to notice if they were focused on grabbing him. If that wasn't quite enough, or even if it was, he tried dropping the axes in such a way as to cut them on the way to the ground, or drop on their feet. If either of them managing to catch a cut from his attempts, immediately his genjutsu would have taken effect.

    The effect, assuming it took hold, would have been immediate, but whether or not their reactions were was another matter. They would have no doubt noticed in a matter of seconds if it did, the dramatic seriousness of their wounds. In the mean time, unfortunately it meant a punch to his guy, sending him doubling over and throwing up what little he had in his system at the time, showing his teeth, covered in blood from any number of instances he was attacked in the last few minutes.

SPOILER: Click to show

Activating the Jaakugan - Chakra usage very low

Attempting to cast a genjutsu on both of the guys grabbing Masshiro

Yamaguchi Sakushijutsu: Totsuzenshi [Yamaguchi Illusion Technique: Sudden Death]

Yamaguchi Sakushijutsu: Totsuzenshi [Yamaguchi Illusion Technique: Sudden Death]

low chakra usage - C rank - Eye contact trigger

This jutsu lies dormant in the victim until such a time as they are struck by an attack, which is then perceived as being far worse than it actually is. This genjutsu only causes the opponent to believe the wound is severe, but does not create new wounds. A small cut would appear, to the victim, to be a gaping wound. A palm strike to their chest might make the victim believe they are experiencing heart failure. A punch to the face might be perceived as them choking on their own blood and teeth. The only consistency is that this genjutsu causes the target to wholeheartedly believe they are dying. This lasts for the victim’s next five posts before returning their perceptions to normal.

    
    

[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world masshiro

The punch landed, but Masshiro retaliated with a genjutsu which captured the two individuals who were grabbing onto him, immediately they released him and started to wail. Confusion riddling their brains as they felt pain but extreme amounts of it cover their entire bodies, for one reason or another. They were quickly stumbling about and soon were both on their knees in different spots in the area, crying out and trying to hold onto the blood spilling out of them, even if it wasn't particularly impressive in reality.

The man who had punched Masshiro was confused, and instead of trying to back down just bum-rushed the young man again with intention of punching him and punching him hard, hoping to cave his skull in and kill him once and for all - and he clearly was not playing around. But Masshiro had a job to do, he really needed to take out everyone involved here or else he could risk blowing the entire mission for Kirigakure. Nobody could know that he was here or anyone in contact with the mist was here...

So he absolutely had to push through his burns and put down everyone, or else. There was no way out of it, unfortunately.

OWL

[masshiro]

    This wasn't Masshiro's first mission, however it was his first he had gone on without another shinobi there with him. He had been glad to stay in the cart, take his notes, and move on, but a part of him that had been scratching ever since he sat down earlier in the day started to claw and pull. The moment he had a chance to step from the cart and fight, unfortunately he took it a bit too quickly, with bloodlust on the brain. Unfortunately for all he could strategize for days, when it got to taking a step onto the battlefield physically he did have a tendency to overestimate himself and lose himself in the sport of it. 

    His physical condition showed just how much he had put himself in a frankly terrible position, regardless of the condition of everyone else around him, and he was in dire straight now. Every moment this fight went on the enemies were more desperate to take him out, and that adrenaline and push to block out the pain was ticking away like a clock, ever closing to every bit of damage catching up to him.
    
    Both men had managed to get caught in his genjutsu, and for all he would have normally immediately followed up and taken them out, it took him a moment to catch his breath again. The wind had been temporarily knocked out of him, and it took all the willpower left in his body to scream out and get back to his feet, picking up both of his weapons once more. Right away his attention was pulled to the man perhaps equally as stubborn as he was, even as he was caught in the genjutsu, running towards him with desperation in his eyes.
    
    Taking a deep breath, he shifted his feet, feeling the chakra flowing through his arms, the heat of the chakra moving from his fingers into his weapons, then stepped in and flexed as he moved both axes out to his right side. Right into the face of the incoming man his axes swing, creating an arc from right to left and a giant wave of flame. The axes were aimed right into the man's face as he followed through, and the arc of the flamed carried on right into the second shinobi who hadn't attacked, leaving a crescent shape of fire close to a full one-hundred and eighty degrees. Under his breath he spoke, as if saying it to someone that wasn't physically present.

"Cloud-Style, Flame Beheading"

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Kumo-Ryu Kaengiri - [Cloud-Style Flame Beheading]
RANK: C
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium
CLASSIFICATION: Bukijutsu
ELEMENT: Katon
The user imbues their blade with fire before slashing in the direction of the desired enemy, resulting in the creation of large arcs of intense flame that follow the trajectory of the previous swing. A skilled user is capable of surrounding their immediate area with a circular wall of flame, incinerating multiple targets even if they approach from numerous angles simultaneously.

    

[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world masshiro

Whether by design, or not all of the opponents were caught. The Yamaguchi had not accounted for the third, but the third was on the ground screaming like his partner in crime, whilst the only one who was not caught had kept on fighting. But the attack that Masshiro performed was blistering, hot, and painful. It definitely did a great deal of damage, enough to actually put all three enemies down since they were already on their last leg. Upon doing so, the air went silent and there were no more voices or breathing, the world was still and now Masshiro had to dispel the mist technique as to avoid being traced.

Furthermore, he should probably check up on Hisako who was upon the sign of silence starting to climb out from under the wagon hesitantly. Mostly he was seemed to be concerned on whether or not he would be safe to do so, but if things were silent it meant that everyone was dead, or the right people were dead. He could take his chances - in his head anyway - as he clamored back into the wagon and closing the door behind him before sliding with a soft sigh to the ground in relief.

Now they could finish mapping out the area and get back home.

OWL

[masshiro]

    His hands were still in the same position they were when he followed through on his swing, breathing heavily as he looked out at the flame. There was a slight ringing in his ears that slowly faded just as the mist was starting to fade along with it, leaving the bodies on the ground and burn marks. With what little strength he had, he gave a quick look to make sure no one else was about to run at him, as he made his way towards where he had left Hisako. Whatever the man had seen during all of that, he would now see the mess left from the fight, and more so the sorry state Masshiro was in after the fact.

    What was no more than a few minutes looked like it was a war given the burns, bruises, and missing parts of his clothing from the fight. Reaching down, he grabbed the weapon he had dropped at Hisako's feet earlier, reflexively trying to put it back where it was hidden, only for that part of his clothing to be missing and it falling to the ground. Grunting he bent down, picking it up, and tossing it and his axes lazily onto the seat of the carriage. 

"Make sure...you grab...the papers..."

    For all he tried, he couldn't hide the pain even in his speech, and the fact he very clearly had trouble even crawling back onto the carriage was proof enough of his state. He couldn't even make it back onto the seat, simply flopping right onto the floor, at least still conscious.

"Let's go. Please."

    His Jaakugan slowly faded as he lay there, breathing heavily, and slowly the pain was increasing as the adrenaline completely wore off. There was a good chance that he'd need help getting out of this carriage the next time it stopped. 
    

[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world masshiro

Hisako jumped a bit when Masshiro came inside the wagon and dropped himself flat along the floor of it. He stared at the man, quietly with an unflinching expression then, noticing that he was breathing hard. But it seemed that the job had been finished. Told to go retrieve the papers he nodded, and slid out of the wagon and on trembling legs made his way over to where he saw the dead bodies. Indeed, there they were... He grimaced and dug around in the corpses until he found what he was looking for, making sure to shake off any blood or strange bits off of the scrolls with his sleeve before he went back to the wagon.

At least their driver was still there, or at least he had returned - if he had gone - as he looked a little pale from what had occurred it seemed.

"We need to keep going," He whispered to the man who nodded and once Hisako closed the wagon door and got inside again, they were off the wagon wheels bumping over large lumps on the ground.

But now? Now they just needed to finish the rest of the mission, which was curating the map for the rest of the nation, very quietly. They just needed to get out of this scene of carnage and the rest of the mission should be a success.

Soon, they could return home.

[end]

OWL

[masshiro]

    By the time Misako returned Masshiro had at least managed to drag himself up onto the seat next to his weapons, emphasis on the word dragged. With the mist dissipating, the ground was left a bit more wet than when they showed up, and of course the bodies were hard to miss, as was the scorch marks most likely. Masshiro had more than a few of his own marks, not as if they were the first and almost certainly not the last, especially if he went into the next mission as recklessly as this one ended. 

    He grabbed his stomach as the cart lurched forward, clearly still reeling from that earlier punch more than he had realized. Looking completely done with just about everything, Masshiro kept quiet, except for the sounds of rustling around. The pencil he was using earlier was broken in half but still usable, and aside from a bit wrinkled, his paper was fine, readable, and still writable. It would take him much longer now than before, but by the time they'd return he'd have the area properly mapped out on a separate piece of paper, and as soon as they were on the path back home home he'd grab his weapons, lay back, and sleep until they somewhere safe.

---

[exit]