[Ren]

Toru stealthly made his way to just underneath one of the towers, and it seemed like the guard didn't notice him just there, and Kobashi followed suit. Both of them being trained in silent killing definitely made the sneaking around and infiltration without detection possible. It was the perfect skill for this job.

Toru went up and then down to the inside of the castle walls, while Kobashi sneaked around to the roof of the tower, to get a vantage point in the area, keeping himself low to avoid being detected, which seemed to work out.

The inside of the castle, from the area they infiltrated lead them to a beautiful garden. There was an U-shaped structure surrounding a pond, with a willow tree inside of it. Staying still and in the shadows, Toru remained undetected and although it was quite dark to see properly, he could smell some guards patrolling the area further behind the structures, but it was hard to determine where they were.

There were other trees around the area, but mostly deprived of leaves due to the winter season. It would not be hard to hide from the ground guards atop a tree, but it would make a person easier to detect by someone from a watch tower. Still, some bushes in the area could potentially still hide a small person like Toru, but he would have to be careful not to make a lot of noise.

Kobashi, on the other hand, had a better view of the area, and could see beyond the structure. Two guards were walking around it in opposite directions. They were circling around the garden. If they continued down that path, they would walk dangerously close to Toru and risk detecting him. But they would still take around a minute to get to that side of the pond.

[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world Sourei Kobashi Ren

Toru sniffed out the guards, though it was difficult to pinpoint their exact position, he could tell that they were nearby and the stronger the scent grew the more he knew that they were getting closer, certainly not further away. He moved silently but quickly towards the pond and disappeared into it near some of the plants that naturally created ripples simply to avoid creating extra ripples that might get noticed. Once he was hidden, he remained completely still. This would render him invisible, and while he could not necessarily smell he could observe shadows, hear some talking - in a very muffled capacity, and see movement if it got close enough. In this case, if the guards did pass by close to him from his original position he would see them, but likely not the other way around.

Toru would wait for them to pass entirely before pulling himself out of the water tentatively, just above his nose, and observing the area if it was empty he would continue further inside the castle perimeter. If it was safe of course, if not he would likely remain under the water until he could determine that it was safe and if the guards had passed by he would use his nose to sniff out if they were getting further away or if someone new was showing up into the picture.

Provided things were picture perfect for him to continue, he would do so with the same totally silent step as before, hoisting himself up onto some rocks nearby the closest center building and beginning to crawl underneath the usually elevated buildings this way he wouldn't leave a wet snail trail, he wouldn't be noticed moving, and even more so there wouldn't be at risk of causing too much commotion. He was simply looking, feeling, smelling for incense - something that was reserved for nobles - and a heated floor which could indicate a comfortable arrangement, again, usually reserved for nobles.

Everything was slow, calculated making sure to not make too many moves that would reveal him.

OWL

[Sourei Kobashi]

Looking down from his perch atop the watchtower's roof, Kobashi could make out the pool of water, plant life and horseshoe like pathways that formed an edge around the structure. Scanning the area, the Jounin took note of the two pairs of guards which were walking along the paths in an obvious patrol pattern. Consistently though, his eyes would dart back to where he had seen Toru go when they had split up. By no means was it easy for Kobashi to properly see the young Mizukage at all times, but he at least had the advantage of knowing what he was looking for.

In his own thoughts he cursed not having ensured his compatriot had a radio on him so that he could have warned him as to the patrolling guard's movements. Shifting his position slightly, Kobashi prepared himself to move quickly in the event that the guards discovered Toru. His plan should the guards discover him being to simply body flicker to their location and quickly dispatch them through the use of the quick draw technique followed by a beheading technique for the second guard. Certainly the bodies would cause a problem and even if they hid them from plain view, there was no way of knowing when or even if the guards were supposed to check in with one another. Even if they weren't, it would certainly be near impossible to hide the bloodstains that would be caused by such a dispatchment.

Thankfully, Toru seemed to take notice of the guards himself and moved silently to the pool of water that laid in the middle of the small garden. As the young boy slipped into the water, Kobashi could feel himself holding his breath in anticipation as to what would happen. Prepared to strike, Kobashi could do little, but watch the guards to see the outcome.

If his state of readiness proved to be unnecessary, then the Sourei's plans would shift to match the changing situation. His goal at that point would mirror Toru's intention to go under the traditional styled building, while Kobashi's intention would be to move along the top of the lord's manor. To move from his perch atop the watchtower roof to the main building would be traversed through a body flicker, with the destination being the section of roof which turned upwards towards the sky out of the main roof section. Immediately the transformation technique would be utilized again to change his clothing to have a similar design and coloration to the tiles of the roof. Hopefully his attempt to blend with the roof combined with the lights in the watchtower and otherwise around the estate would ruin the night sight enough to keep any guard from properly discerning him.

Made by Riley at THQ!

[Ren]

Toru's stealthy skills and keen nose were really coming in handy in this infiltration, and with his careful actions, he managed to ellude the guards and move so that he would remain hidden and completely unnoticed. It took a few minutes, but Toru finally made his way to the central building and he found a window he could use to infiltrate it. There was a smell of green tea and flower petals coming from inside of it, which was a good indication of the location of their targets.

The Sourei was ready to strike at any moment, but fortunately he didn't have to. Toru was almost caught a few times, but his patience and care helped him avoid all the guard and make his way to the central castle. With his partner successful in approaching their target, Kobashi moved to the roof of the watchtower and then used his Body Flicker to immediately move to the main building's roof, changing his clothing to try and remain hidden. Which he did, for the most part...

The guards didn't notice him, at least not the average ones. But a voice came from behind the man. "So the rumors were true. But you are in bad luck, Leaf scum." the voice was not much louder than a whispered, but enough to alert Kobashi of a presence of a figure in a black cloak, with a Hanya mask covering his face. His hands were visible and waved three hand seals, this person was definitely a shinobi.

[Enemy spotted Kobashi, spoke to him and started waving hand seals. 3 so far]

Mysterious Enemy
Specs: ?
SA:
- Sensory
- ?

[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world Ren Sourei Kobashi

Toru focused on the job that they were here to do, even if he had heard the speaking - or might have noticed a new scent nearby Kobashi - he wouldn't have gone to help. It was part of their job as shinobi to work towards the end goal, he would help if Kobashi did not figure it out on his own after the mission was complete. Toru slid through the available window, careful after he had crawled underneath the building itself for quite some time.

Once he was in the window, he knew he could mingle with anyone who was walking here with a chakra signature - any one of the humans. It made blending a lot easier if there were any sensors, but Toru made sure to not use any chakra too now that he was here. Instead, he kept down along walls, checking very carefully around corners.

But, he was really looking for floral and incense smells. Nobles loved these types of smells to fill their rooms and living spaces with them...

It was a no-brainer when he caught the wafting scent of green tea and rose. So he walked, each step completely silent. His silent killing allowed him to hide almost entirely in plain sight. He didn't even cause air to stir. Of course, his nose also allowed him to catch new scents if anyone was about to come upon him.

Once he was near the door of the green tea and rose, he paused and pressed his ear to a nearby wall. Was there shuffling? Music? It was quite late for either one of those things. Was there a light inside that he could see, leaking from any crevices that were not uncommon in these traditional homes?

Moreso, he focused, were there more scents that he needed to be aware of? A trap? Guards just on the inside? The latent smell of some kind of explosive powder?

All of this, while keeping another ear, nostril, and eye out for anyone who might come around to this area.

OWL

[Sourei Kobashi]

"So"

The moment that first word was uttered behind him, Kobashi's mind went racing. An unknown enemy was behind him. Did he flee? Had Toru been discovered as well? The thoughts were immediately cast aside. At this point all he could do was hope that Toru had not been detected and try to buy as much time and draw as much attention as he could without giving away who he was to the enemies. Even as his ears heard more words being spoken, his body began to move. If there was one thing he was thankful for it was that the person behind him had decided to gloat at catching him, for such an arrogant move could potentially play to his advantage.

As the enemy's sentence was coming to a close, Kobashi's feet shifted and chakra course through his body while he also pushed himself to be a quick as possible. In the span of a few heartbeats he would attempt to make use of a few techniques in rapid succession. First was the (*) Quick Rotation technique, something usually utilized for a last second defense, but here it was being applied to help him turn all the more quickly. Not only was this meant to help him get the enemy that had been behind him into an angle that his sword could reach, but also attempted to add that speed to the already quick blur of a draw, slash and resheath from (*) the Iai Beheading technique. Just as the blade cleared his sheath the final component of this attack was added, with a small amount of chakra coursing into the conductive ninjato to coat the blade through the use of the (*) Sabre Technique.

While it was quite possible the enemy already had some plan as to get away, Kobashi still had to make the attempt all the same. While there was the possibility this attack would miss, the enemy had certainly made a mistake getting close to a member of the seven shinobi swordsman and if there was one thing Kobashi was confident in, it was his speed. Whether the attack connected or not though his next move was clear, to move away from the roof he was on and back towards the outer wall that formed the perimeter of the noble's estate. There he would need to do his best to keep any enemies preoccupied while Toru hopefully accomplished the mission.

Made by Riley at THQ!

[Ren]

Toru did feel a scent appearing out of the blue near Kobashi, which meant the person was either capable of using Body Flicker through large distances, or was capable of supressing their presence to the point of being also able to hide their smell, but they were way too far for him to be able to hear what was being said. In any case, the Mizukage had his own objectives, and he would rather believe the man was capable of taking care of himself.

The young man continued to walk through the place, following the floral and incense smells which led him to a larger room in what seemed like the centre of the place. There were far less guards inside than outside, which made sense: they were confident they could prevent people from breaking in.

This room had two guards standing between a half-open door. Inside, that door was the source of the smell. Those guards didn't seem like normal ones. They were shinobi. Still, they had not yet noticed Toru there, but if he continued to approach, they might.

Meanwhile, Kobashi was faced with a mysterious opponent on the rooftop, and quickly turned around to face him, seeing as he waived hand seals. Dashing like a blur, his target seemed to have just finished their three hand seal sequence when his blade - empowered by the Saber Technique - hit the man, cutting his body in half. "ARGH!" the man would scream in pain as the two sections of his body started rolling down the roof.

However, the body would soon fade away as if it never existed, which would alert Kobashi to a presence just beside him. Coming for his flank, the enemy - unscathed - was coming to stab him with a kunai. His arm was moving at an incredible speed, as if Kobashi didn't do anything to try and protect himself, he would be hit by multiple powerful stabs at incredible speed. Being hit by that would be very dangerous to the man.

[Enemy uses genjutsu to trick Kobashi into missing his attack and comes to try and attack the man from behind with a flurry of thrusts]

Mysterious Enemy
Specs: Genjutsu / Bukijutsu
SA:
- Sensory
- Anti-Sensory
- Kunai Specialist
- ?

Techniques used:
NAME: Kouji [Affairs After One's Death]
RANK: D
CHAKRA USAGE: To Use: Very Low | To Maintain: Very Low
CLASSIFICATION: Genjutsu
ELEMENT: -
HANDSEALS: 3
TRIGGER: Visual
DESCRIPTION:
After three hand-seals, the user will cast a Genjutsu over their opponent. When the opponent attacks, it will seem as if their attack lands, landing a mortal or fatal blow upon the user, when in fact the user is moving around unhindered, leaving their opponent open for attack.
[Prepared last round and executed this one]

NAME: Jōzan Surasuto [Multiplying Thrust]
RANK: A
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium
CLASSIFICATION: Bukijutsu
ELEMENT: -
HANDSEALS: 0
DESCRIPTION:
A fairly simple, yet deadly technique. By flowing chakra to the muscles in their arms the user is temporarily capable of stabbing their weapons with incredible speed, capable of performing roughly a hundred thrusts in just a few seconds. While this can prove deadly to anyone caught within the range of their weapon, it is also limited by that range. Additionally while the user's striking speed is increased, that is the only speed increased. Lastly this technique can only be utilized four times per engagement before the user begins to destroy the muscles in their arm(s).

[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world Ren Sourei Kobashi

Toru carefully examined the area, there was not a lot of ways into the room that he needed into. But, fortunately for him, these rooms were built in a very traditional way that would allow for proper air circulation through such large buildings. Beams and ornate little tiles all over the place. Toru decided that the best way was to not go through, but rather up and over. The beams above would easily support him, and his traveling into the room that he needed to get into and he was more than confident in that he could be in someone's presence and still go totally unnoticed - it was fortunate that silent killing allowed for a lot more than to just walk silently.

So, he wandered up the wall, very carefully using wall walking to crawl up press flat against it and out of sight into the rafters or rather on top of the beams. Being as small as he was had its advantages, it meant he could squeeze through tiny holes in ceilings and do so nice and quiet. So, he climbed in the rafters as silently as he walked the ground and started to move across in the interior of the room. Though he chose beams that would allow him to make the least amount of noise, whilst also staying in the shadows. He needed to identify his target and make sure that they were completely unaware of what was going on before he struck out.

OWL

[Sourei Kobashi]

Kobashi's blade seemed to split his opponent in half at the waist and for half a second he could only wonder if the enemy had truly been so weak. After the passing thought though Kobashi sensed the movement to his left flank and even as his body turned with stunning speed thanks to a combination of his own natural speed in conjunction with a second (*) Quick Rotation Technique; there was still little time to counter. Normally Kobashi would have just adjusted his density to remove the threat of the attack, perhaps increase it so as to simultaneously protect himself and destroy the roof his opponent's current footing was relying on. Unfortunately that was not an option currently. While he would certainly prefer to use his bloodline rather than die, he at least had to attempt to avoid using it. Besides members of the seven shinobi were supposed to be just as deadly with their swords as a shinobi with all their abilities.

And so that was what Kobashi relied on, his ability with the sword. As soon as his body pivoted towards the stab, the hand which still held the ninjato became a blur of speed as Kobashi made use of the (*) Untold Bourn Fang technique. His own blade hummed around his hand and the sound of steel briefly striking steel rang out into the night. The technique while far less taxing and complicated than the Multiplying Thrust was quite ideally suited to the attack. While the man's speed was greatly increased by the technique it was a series of attacks consisting only of thrust and thrusts were quite easy to parry away. Had the attack included slashes then it would have forced Kobashi to block and end his own technique. Furthermore the man had decided to make use of the technique with a kunai, a weapon that only helped to compound the reach weakness inherent to the technique.

While it was unlikely the Untold Bourn Fang technique would be able to block every single blow toe to toe, that thankfully was not what Kobashi needed it to do. Rather all he needed to do was block the initial attack long enough so that he could jump backwards and away from the attacker. In the event that his attempt to move away was successful Kobashi's next plan was one of a similar nature to his first instinct. While he could not make use of the density release, he could make use of other techniques to try and replicate the effect and so the Jounin would channel chakra into his ninjato and strike down towards the roof with the (*) Heavy Stone Technique. Hopefully the blast of chakra would be enough to blow a hole under him in the tile and wood roof so he could drop into the building below.

Made by Riley at THQ!

[Ren]

Once Kobashi had realized he had been played by the Genjutsu of his opponent, he quickly turned his body to face the incoming dangerous attack. Revealing his Kekkei Genkai could jeopardize their mission if his opponent survived, so the swordsmen was faced with a tough choice. Ultimately, he chose to use his Bukijutsu prowess and his blade to intercept the flurry of stabs coming from his foe.

The sound of steel clashing against steel at incredible speed was far from discrete and would likely alert the guards around the property, but it couldn't be helped. Still, the Kobashi's reading of the situation was good, and his opponent had clearly underestimated him, oblivious to the fact he was one of the Mist's legendary swordsmen.

Still, he knew that he couldn't rely on parring all of the attacks and once he avoided the first, he aimed to jump backwards and away from the attacker, and he succeeded. The man stopped the attack and readied himself to follow up, but before he could do anything, Kobashi attacked the roof and created a hole in it, and dropped down into the building below, falling in what seemed like the kitchen area of the castle, alerting the staff in there. "W-what is going on?! C-call the guards!" one of the cooks said to other member of the staff. The sudden surprise, however, made them slow at reacting, giving Kobashi time to try and intercept them, but his foe wouldn't take too long to start pursuing him, so he needed to decide on what to do rather quickly.

Meanwhile, Toru went over to the beams and carefully sneaked into the area. Luckily, the noise from Kobashi crashing down from the roof alerted the two shinobi there, and they looked at one another. "Stay here, I will check what's going on." the blonde long-haired shinobi said, to which the bald one nodded.

Now there was only one person between Toru and his target, but Kobashi's situation was quickly becoming more dangerous.

[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world Ren Sourei Kobashi

Toru's head turned towards the crashing sound, Kobashi was certainly making a scene. It was in part a good thing as there was now only one guard in the room. But one, was still one too many and in an ideal world he would have no one. He used the sound of battle to continue his silent moving across the beams overhead, then tucked himself into the shadows as he looked all around the room trying to find his target.

He needed a visual confirmation from overhead. But if he got in, he would be going in for the kill. If not, he would be waiting a little while longer in the rafters. There was no reason to reveal his location if he could not get an exact visual of who he was trying to kill and it was certainly not the bald shinobi standing by the door.

Upon the visual confirmation Toru would draw a kunai quietly from a pouch, and with a quick swirling beheading technique would put an end to the target. If not, he would wait - scanning the room a little more, using his nose to smell the area passively though the incense was making it a little more difficult he could still make out the unique scents of those nearby... Perhaps the target was hiding in their room?

SPOILER: Click to show

Let me know if I misunderstood something - I was meaning by my post that Toru has snuck into the room of the target via rafters, though no mention of target was made so I was not sure how to proceed. My two options are basically a 'scenario 1' 'scenario 2' but like I said, let me know if I messed up.

OWL

[Sourei Kobashi]

Immediately after Kobashi dropped through the hole created in the ceiling, his left hand reached into a pouch on his hip and grabbed one of the loose explosive tags he kept stored within. Quickly slapping it on the nearest surface just as his feet hit the ground, he immediately began to run past the yelling kitchen staff. Kobashi did feel some degree of regret that what he did next was likely to kill some of the kitchen staff; had this been an ideal world only their target would have had to die this night. Unfortunately for them, they did not live in an ideal world; their world was brutal and rarely ever fair to those who lived within it.

His legs carried him away from the drop down point and towards one of the windows in the kitchen. Whether they were open or not, Kobashi planned to dive through it. Hopefully his Waruichi silk garb would provide enough protection from any amount of glass or splintered wood he might encounter in such a dive. As he ran his right hand swung his sword in the direction of several large canvas bags, sacks of flour and rice were two of the most common staples in a kitchen and he was hoping it was the former. As the blade swung out some amount of chakra was melded into the blade and Kobashi used the secondary capability of the Sabre Technique(*) to launch a small blast of chakra towards the sacks. There was not even time to confirm whether or not flour had indeed been within the sacks as Kobashi's priority in this was speed.

Regardless of the outcome the moment he began to smash through the window and back to the exterior of the building, his left hand rendered the rat seal and would detonate the explosive tag within the kitchen. If he was lucky the genjutsu user he had encountered on the roof had pursued him through the hole in the roof and would be within the five meter blast radius of the explosive tag. If fortune truly shined upon him, then he might even be lucky enough for the explosion to trigger a dust explosion if flour had indeed been within the sacks.

Landing outside Kobashi would immediately be ready to go on the defense should his escape from the kitchen be contested, the thunderous boom behind him without a doubt being heard by everyone within the estate. Now his focus was to escape the area and hopefully lead a lot of the defenders on a pointless chase. If Kobashi did not meet any immediate resistance outside the kitchen, he would follow along the building until he found some amount of cover to cross to the exterior wall.

Made by Riley at THQ!

[Ren]

The blond-haired shinobi was running towards the kitchen area, seeking to intercept whoever had caused such a ruckus. The scream of fear coming from there was enough to get the castle into a high state of alarm, screaming and asking for help, which was already on the way.

Approaching a window, he used his Sabre Technique to cut some sacks of flour and create even more of a mess, and once that was done he leaped through the window, with his Waruichi silk protecting his body from any damage it may have caused otherwise, and landing on the courtyard of the castle, inside the outer walls. As he did so, he activated the explosive seals he had left behind as a memento, causing the kitchen staff to scream even louder, but such sound was quickly muffled by the sound of explosions, which claimed the life of a few members of the kitchen staff, as Kobashi ran past the chaos he had created.

The explosion delayed the blond man pursuing him, as he had to hide behind a wall to avoid getting caught in the sphere of fire that took over the place. "Bastard! You will not escape! GUARDS! FULL ALERT!" and with that, the sound of an alarm could be heard in the whole castle area.

Outside, the guard were already approaching, weapons drawn. Kobashi could count six of them, four with swords, two with spears, aiming to surround him in a semi-circular formation. The archers on the watch towers had started firing arrows towards him, but due to the distance, only two of them were actually risking hit the man if he didn't do anything. The situation was far from ideal.

However, the ruckus caused by him was working in Toru's favour, as his target was left with only one guard there. The noise made it even easier for the Mizukage to move at a faster pace, and he finally saw the person he had to kill. With a quick use of the beheading technique, the target was eliminated, with the gushing blood painting the place. The blood spilled on the guard's back and when he turned around, he saw his master dead, and an enemy there. The shock was enough to make even an experienced shinobi like him to freeze for a moment. "Y-you..." if Toru didn't do anything immediately after that, the man would reach to the pair of Sais he had on his waist, and ready himself to engage in combat.

[Kaguya Toru]

I would know him in death At the end of the world Sourei Kobashi Ren

Toru was not pleased with the sheer amount of blood and the fact that it had fallen upon the guard that had been stood there. It grabbed his attention. But, Toru was not one to linger on these sorts of things for long. This had to be as clean of a job as possible, and while Kobashi was creating distractions and running amuck - whether on purpose or not - Toru needed to make sure that none of that attention came to him. The young disguised man would have preferred not to kill any guards, but here they were at this rather unfortunate junction.

So, he struck out immediately somewhere between the guard turning around and vocalizing his stuttering shock. Hopefully, it would be enough to put him down. If not, he was in for a fight. Otherwise, Toru was back up in the rafters and retracing his steps to get out of the estate entirely.

It was time to rejoin Kobashi, or at least try to bail him out of the battle he was in. Which meant keeping a distance momentarily and reading the situation, he needed to see how to best approach it first before going straight into the fray. But, that could be easier said than done.

OWL

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Kumo-Ryu Mikazukigiri - [Cloud-Style Three days' Moon Beheading]
RANK: C
CHAKRA USAGE: Low
CLASSIFICATION: Bukijutsu
ELEMENT: N/a
DESCRIPTION:
The user swings their sword in a single, large, crescent moon-shaped arc, which occurs with such ferocious velocity that the technique can be employed in situations where only a very limited time to react is available. The swing can be used to counter attacks from multiple opponents simultaneously.

[Sourei Kobashi]

Have successfully escaped the kitchen and made his way outside, Kobashi had begun to run into the courtyard they had passed through earlier. In a mixed blessing it was far more active than it had been just a short time ago. It meant that his plan to draw the attention of the guards had worked which would be beneficial to Toru, but the threat was now quickly approaching him. While a small bit of pride as one of the Seven Shinobi Swordsman made him briefly consider engaging them with solely his weapon, his goal now that he had draw their attention was to escape pursuit.

Through use of the decelerate technique(*), Kobashi stopped in place and moved to have both his handles on the pommel of his ninjato. With a deep breath taken in, his muscles moved with all the strength he could muster as he did a horizontal slash directly in front of himself. It may have seemed as if Kobashi was losing his mind and just slashing at the air, but in reality he was employing the Rising Tide Fang(*) technique to create an unseen shockwave towards the group. While their semi-circle formation would have made it very difficult for him to fend off all their attacks as soon as they got in range, the formation played nicely into giving him a set of closely grouped targets.

Much like the kitchen, Kobashi did not wait to see the outcome of his attack, instead using the momentum from his vicious slash to turn on his heel and from there immediately employed the accelerate(*) technique to begin moving as fast as his feet could carry him away from the group of attacks and towards the perimeter wall. Unless anything or anyone intercepted Kobashi or some sort of attack was directed his way, the swordsman's intention was to just make use of his impressive speed and the act of tree climbing(*) technique to quickly scale the wall and flee into the city; hopefully leading guards away with him.

Made by Riley at THQ!