[Ishida Shoyo]

It has been discovered that a small organization on the island of Hoka no Mura was trying to quietly take over the island by killing off its competitors. Shoyo had been tasked to locate their hideout and eliminate them in order to put a stop to their evil doings. Such actions placed the merchants and their towns at risk and damaged Mizu no Kuni's economy. The last thing the country needed was for the economy to get worst after it was just recovering from multiple events. He wasn't alone, though, he was accompanied by the Mizukage Toru in order to swiftly terminate the threat.

They arrived at the port of the island that had a small town with it. The place wasn't filled with mist like other parts of Mizu no Kuni, at least, under normal circumstances. The ship that took them there was anchored and the crew would wait for them until the completion of their mission. "I believe it's possible their hideout will be on the outskirts of the town." Shoyo turned to look at Mizukage as he made his comment. The island was quite big and they could hold their base of operations somewhere around the time in order to properly conceal themselves from the shinobi forces that might be stationed on this place. He walked off of the boat after making his comment, waiting for the Mizukage to give his comments or any further instructions before moving forward with the mission.

[Kaguya Toru]

if i'm a danger to myself Just think what I could do to you Ishida Shoyo Ren

Having been on the first investigation for this particular mission, Toru had made it a point to come out for this second one as well. After a thorough discovery had been made, now it was time to locate the hideout and destroy these evildoers. Toru did not take kindly to anyone poisoning the nation's merchants, as they were a vital piece to Mizu no Kuni's and thusly Kirigakure no Sato's economy. So, these types of things had to be dealt with.

They traveled by foot, and then by ship to get from Kirigakure all the way to Hoka no Mura. Once they had gotten off, they were on their way to fulfill the promise of the mission - destroy those that would stand against a prosperous economy.

That was when Shoyo had turned to make his comment briefly, Toru would nod in response, agreeing but he would not let it all just be speculation.

"My last investigation had led me North of town in a forest." He paused for a moment contemplating if that would be a good place to start. It was likely, in truth, the only place they would get any clues from about locating the site.

"It would be good to start there."

And so, Toru would lead Shoyo straight through and out the north side of the village, using memory and scent to get back to the original spot. Most of the area had been blown up, thanks to Toru's efforts to get rid of all the poisonous fog apparati. But, hopefully there would still be something here.

OWL

[Ren]

It didn't take long for the duo to reach the entrance to the forest, and Toru could definitely see the environment clearly remembered his presence, for much of it was still destroyed. There was plenty of fallen trunks, scorched trees and branches all over the place, making it a bit hard to navigate through it, which would definitely hinder their ability to quickly scout the area. If they had a sensor type with them, this job would've been much easier, but not always the conditions are ideal in a mission, and people have to make due.

On the bright side, with the amount of destruction caused, it was at least very likely that the place they were looking for was not above ground-level. Most likely it was either inside a cave somewhere, or underground.

[Ishida Shoyo]

Shoyo didn't know much about the place itself as it was his first time ever actually to the town. One of the few things he knew is that there was a mission that took place here previously, but he didn't know much about the details. Another thing he knew was that the place was vital for Mizu no Kuni's economy and there was a need to stop them from killing off their merchants as they played a vital role in the economy.

"Understood, I shall follow your lead." He nodded, if he said that he had performed a previous investigation in this place then it meant that Toru had a better layout of the place than he did. Shoyo will follow right behind him. The devastation left behind made it hard to navigate, fallen trunks, scorched marks, a battle occurred here. They were many places to put a hideout, on a mountain, a cave, or even underground, but every hideout had an entrance. The first thing they had to do was to find that entrance. Shoyo continued to look at his surroundings as he followed Toru's lead, an advantage they had was that there wasn't as much fog compared to the likes of Kirigakure, which made the search much easier.

[Kaguya Toru]

if i'm a danger to myself Just think what I could do to you Ishida Shoyo

Toru would begin to focus on his tracking skills, particularly focusing a bit of chakra to his nose. Not necessarily enough to expand the area to the maximum but enough to start sensing what was around them. Anything abnormal that he could catch. The scent of the forest was unique. Mossy, earthy, a bit burnt from the destruction in the past, which meant he was looking for something else. Smelling for something else, his gaze though remained hyper-focused, fixated upon the task at hand with a great amount of diligence.

There was an advantage to be had here, as they were likely looking for people and even moreso people that lived outdoors of some kind. So they would smell particular, Toru at least theorized. Furthermore, the production of the poisonous fog that kept being put out, might carry an acidic smell with them... This is what Toru was searching for more or less, just a hint of it. A trail, a group, acidic smells... He did not expect any of them to be quite pleasant, but it was not a matter of pleasantries. He was here to track, find and with Shoyo's help, eradicate.

So, the duo would press on, Toru vigilantly keeping his nose to the 'ground' (metaphorically) to find their culprits.

OWL

[Ren]

Toru focused his chakra on his nose, and with his enhanced sense of semll, he started to look for any clue of where to go, and where to look. The destruction that took place in the area did make the task a tad bit more difficult, as it added smells that wouldn't naturally linger in the forest, but with the focus a shinobi of his caliber had, after a good ten minutes checking the area, he caught a peculiar smell. It was the smell of burning oil and hemp, typical of some old lanterns.

It was a bit hard to determine where it was coming from, but his nose took him to a large pile of wood, rocks and other debris. The smell was definitely coming from there, and yet there was no smoke. The closest to the ground, the stronger the smell was. If they took a good look at the debris in the area, it felt a bit odd, almost as if it was carefully placed there to look messy, it lacked the chaotic nature of just regular destruction.

[Ishida Shoyo]

Shoyo continued to follow Toru, as he held no true tracking skills such as sensory abilities. The least he could do is use his eyes and looked at his surroundings in case he finds something out of place. His main specialization relied on sea operations, although he did have some experience in operating on land. It simply wasn't the best thing he was at, but from what he could tell the Mizukage was quite skilled at that so it was for the best for him to take the lead on this mission. The entire place was a mess, but there was no way to find anything out of place. Mainly because the entire place was out of place, to begin with, so maybe finding something "normal" would be the way to go.

As the two continued to make their way through the place, there was something peculiar to be found. It was definitely out of place from all the things that were out of place if he were to think about it logically. A pile of woods, rocks, and debris, it was strange for all of that to be piled up in a single place. It was most likely moved by other people, with the purpose of perhaps hiding it. "I take it this might be the place?" Shoyo politely asked, as Toru was the one that was tracking the whole thing. So he wondered if this was the place that had led him on his search.

[Kaguya Toru]

if i'm a danger to myself Just think what I could do to you Ren Ishida Shoyo

It took about ten minutes before Toru realized that whatever it was he was smelling, something very unique was closer to the ground. He would get on all fours near where the scent was strongest and then looked up. There was a pile of debris, but it wasn't just a 'pile' it looked a little too suspicious to be just random.

It was, so suspicious that even Shoyo pointed it out. Noticeably, Toru would nod and wander towards it, before he would begin pulling apart and breaking down the pile of debris. But he was doing so very quietly. Carefully, his mind working a million miles a minute.

"It seems underground," He would lower his voice down to a mere whisper as he worked to not attract undue attention, in case there was a guard or someone just underneath what he was trying to break down and pull apart. There could be any number of things beneath the surface. A hole. A trap door. Hard to tell at the moment, and for now Toru would try to dig to the very bottom of whatever it was, the process speeding up if Shoyo helped, but Toru was content in doing it all by himself as well.

OWL

[Ren]

At the suspicious spot, Toru and Shoyo began to slowly move the debris out of the way. They were being very careful to avoid making noises, and since they took their time, their work proceeded smoothly and quietly, and after some fifteen minutes or so, they had uncovered enough to show a steel trap door with a seal on it. And it wasn't just any seal. If any of them had any knowledge about Fuinjutsu, they would be able to identify that as a Five Seal Barrier, a simple, yet quite efficient jutsu that made the trap door and its lock mostly impervious to physical attacks.

If anything, it was served to inform the duo that they had shinobis at their disposal, and that they were quite cautious in protecting this place, just adding to its potential importance. Now, how would they approach the seal?

Technique in use:

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Gofuu Kekkai - [Five Seal Barrier]
RANK: C
CHAKRA USAGE: Low
CLASSIFICATION: Fūinjutsu
ELEMENT: N/a
DESCRIPTION:
The five "kin" (prohibition) seals act together to form a barrier to the entrance of the place being protected. The entrance itself is marked with one seal, and four other seals are located within a few hundred meters of each other. Despite its low rank, this technique is seemingly impervious to most physical attacks, being more dangerous to the offensive party if they were to try such an act. To remove the barrier, all five seals must be removed at the same moment.

[Ishida Shoyo]

Shoyo silently nodded agreeing with Toru's statement. An effective way to hide a base was to build it underground, most people would not be able to find it unless they were very good trackers and they were openly looking for a base like they did. As they got closer the place looked out of place and suspicious, to the point that it lead him to believe that they were bound to find it soon enough. He assisted the Mizukage in digging the hole in order to speed up the process and make things go faster. Shoyo was right and 15 minutes later they managed to find a steel trap door that seemingly lead to the inside of the base that was hiding underground. However, there was one problem the entrance was sealed, preventing them from entering.

"Seems like a Five Seal Barrier..." He whispered, the people that used to base definitely didn't want anybody entering it. It definitely made things complicated for the two as if they wanted to enter they would have to search for four additional sealing tags throughout the area in order to enter. Before they decide to move forward into the place they'll have to locate the other seals. They wouldn't be able to damage the trap door without getting rid of the seals. On top of that, they had to be careful. Shoyo awaited for Toru to state their next course of action, he was aware that the young man had good tracking skills so it would be better if he waits for him to at least give him a general direction on where the other seals might be before moving forward. He knew that Toru could potentially warn them from any hostiles if he manages to sense them and avoid alerting the enemy.

[Kaguya Toru]

if i'm a danger to myself Just think what I could do to you Ren Ishida Shoyo

Toru understood Fuuinjutsu to only a basic degree - being in possession of a few such techniques, and his bodyguard being a specialist. This only meant that whoever applied this seal knew what they were doing in some capacity, even moreso? They were shinobi or at least had some shinobi abilities.

He would tap his foot against the ground in thought before leaning down to sniff the seal. It might have seemed weird, but he was quite literally taking a sample of the unique contents of the seal and whoever might have applied it. Then, he would focus a bit of chakra to his nose again so that he could get a lie of the land. In other words, he was searching for four other seals in the immediate area and with his focusing he was certain he would be able to find the same scent four more times in the area. Once they determined where these five points were, they could progress further... Progressing further here, being an operative word for taking the seals off the ground at the same time. A five point seal, well it wouldn't be very effective if one could just break it. So, instead, one had to remove the seals all at the same time. A good tactic by the enemy, but not good enough when facing the Mizukage.

"Stay here..." He murmured and would begin to wander off to search.

OWL

[Ren]

Although they were crafty in using that fuuinjutsu to protect their hideout, they did not take into account someone using their sense of smell to track down the seals. Toru focused his Chakra on his keen nose and he capture a particular smell, it as the same of a human, probably the person responsible for placing the seal on the location. With that smell memorised, Toru would sense smells coming from different places.

There was a stronger smell coming from the north, and two more mild smells coming from when west and southwest. Of course the first seal was at the location, but there was no other direction he could detect for now. They all seem so to be within a a couple hundred metres fr their location.

Which way would he go first?

Obs.: If Should will wait for Toru, Toru can post and I will narrate after that. Up to you guys.

[Ishida Shoyo]

The ones that used the base for their operations definitely knew that shinobi would be sent to find their base and then attempt to destroy it. Since they were only two of them finding and then removing the seals would be a difficult task, but not an impossible one. Shoyo looked at Toru perform a rather strange action, which involved the seal, his only thought was that he was trying to use that seal to potentially track down the rest of the seals. The best thing to do at the moment was to rely on the Mizukage's sensory abilities.

Removing all the five seals was going to be a difficult task, but not impossible. The strategy was a good one, as it could serve as a deterrent for somebody unskilled to train to infiltrate their base or even slow down any trained shinobi from entering their base. Shoyo gave Toru a nod and remained there, he figured that he was going to search for the rest of the seals and maybe give further instructions once he found them. So he remained still and stood guard in case something or someone might approach them.

[Kaguya Toru]

if i'm a danger to myself Just think what I could do to you Ren Ishida Shoyo

Toru would follow his nose, and attempt to locate the three smells he could adequately sniff out. That would make four. But there was a fifth and it was thus far being illusive. He would have to focus a little more, maybe a little harder. He would wander north, locate the seal there by following his nose. Then, he would come back to the original point and move towards the west and southwest, he would figure the other two seals by following in the directions where the scent got stronger once the were within his reach he would uncover their contents. But that still left one last fifth one.

He would wander, if he could not discern a trail from one of the five other points he figured he might move to the east, or at least towards the east. There was a seal in the north, one in the west and one from the southwest, the nest logical position would likely be in the east. If it was not there, or he couldn't find a scent he would climb into a tree and get a higher vantage point to try and catch a trail from up top.

OWL

[Ren]

Shoyo stayed where he was while Toru used his enhanced sense of smell to track the other seals. As he went north, he would find the first seal exactly at 80 metres from the location, but there was still a smell coming from further north, which was the tip for the last seal's location. Toru would then proceed to follow the other scents first, finding a seal 145 metres to the west, and then another one at 200 metres to the southwest (distances are all in reference to the main seal).

Using a vantage point, he could see something atop a tall tree, way further north, even in comparison to the north seal. He couldn't tell the distance from there, but if he had to estimate, it would be around 400 metres from the centre, and nearly 300 from the first north seal.

The question now was: how would they deal with all the seals at the same time?