[Yamanaka Tomomi]

YAMANAKA TOMOMI

NINGYO/HIDARI

Shigure took care of the man at the back with extreme efficiency, managing to lay him out upon the ground in very quick order, as well as preventing him from using any kind of jutsu in support of his allies. That was one down, leaving only two men to directly confront in the smokey basement.

Tomomi separate Tamamo-no-Mae into her two components, the human form and kitsune form, allowing them to separate so they could each help to deal with one of the men below.

The man further to the right of the room was a large figure, imposing in his size. When the attack had begun, he'd seized a machete to arm himself and had scaled the wall, using tree-walking, into the ceiling's corner, standing at the ready to hack anything that came within arm's reach. It was clear that this man was hired muscle - he looked more the part of a mercenary than a merchant.

The man further to the left of the room was smaller, dressed like a merchant himself, and almost squirrely in his manner. Not to be underestimated, he formed a set of hand seals and then slammed his hands upon the ground. From the point of contact, a large circle of chakra-infused lines began to blossom outwards, 25 meters in total, which covered a good area of the basement. If Shigure remained within the circle, he would find the lines grabbing onto him and binding him, which would quickly hindered his movement. It seemed the duo had found the fuinjutsu specialist behind the sealed barrier next door.

To deal with the machete-wielding man, Tomomi sent the Tamamo half of the puppet. She attacked with a flurry of jabs with her blades, forcing the man to go on the defensive. That could potentially allow Shigure to go for a strike.

The fuinjutsu man, however, managed to capture the leg of the Kitsune puppet. That meant that its mobility as restrained. Tomomi continued to urge it towards the man at the center of the technique, as he seemed unable to move while maintaining this, but it would be a slow go for the puppet to intervene as it fell to a crawling speed.

---

Hyūga Shigure

SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu used:
-

---

Enemy jutsu used:
NAME: Shintai Wanain [Movement Sealing Trap]
RANK: B
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium
CLASSIFICATION: Fūinjutsu
ELEMENT: -
HANDSEALS: 8
DESCRIPTION:

After performing the necessary hand seals, the user slaps their hands against the ground. A giant sealing circle with five sealing lines traveling from the outboard circle to where the users hands are are formed. The circle is about 25m in diameter. Including the user, anyone who steps within 5m of this circle (to the side or above) will have sealing lines immediately launch out and latch onto them within seconds, travel as fast as a thrown kunai, and pull them into the sealing circle. When someone is caught by this, it is incredibly difficult to escape with the only way to do so being walking outside of the sealing circle itself. While inside the sealing circle, the movement capabilities of the individuals becomes sealed to that of a stagger. One can barely walk as if they were trapped in a pool of tar and sludge. Jumping capabilities is limited to 5 inches off the ground. The sealing at first only affects the legs, but if one were to fall or try and move on their hands then those appendages will be sealed as well until the opponent is sealed to the floor.

[Hyūga Shigure]

"knock knock". "No matter how many people you may lose, you have no choice but to go on living." DISARMING With the man in the back taken care of, Shigure could now focus on assisting Tomomi with the other two men, even though the Jounin was doing a good job at giving them a hell of a tough time with their mastery over the puppets. But before he could dash forward, he noticed that the man was waiving some hand seals and with his Byakugan tuned to detect the chakra, which - together with his agility, reflexes and sheer speed - allowed him to leap to the corner of the room, just outside of the range of the man's fuinjutsu. "So this is the guy who placed the five-seal barrier, uh?" he thought to himself. He didn't want to kill the man, for they could still extract information from them, but his techniques were problematic, but as a fuinjutsu specialist, he needed the use of both his hands for that too work. With a slashing movement from his hand, Shigrue would launch his Blade of Wind technique, aiming at the man's right, seeking to server it. Hopefully the intense pain of a lost limb would also make him lose focus and dispel the fuinjutsu, thus letting them move around more freely. Seeing the effect of the fuinjutsu on the kitsune puppet, Shigure knew he didn't want to be on the receiving end of that technique, even though he potentially had a technique he could use to fight that, worst case scenario. "So what if it seems hopeless? If it were me, I still wouldn't give up. Embrace your dreams. And, whatever happens, protect your honour as a Shinobi, for the price of freedom is steep." B-Rank Mission [17/20] Uses Blade of Wind to try and server the fuinjutsu specialist's hand, while keeping himself on the corner of the room, to avoid the range of the technique. [Yamanaka Tomomi] [267 words]

Technique used:

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Kaze no Yaiba [Blade of Wind]
RANK: A
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu
ELEMENT: Fūton
DESCRIPTION:
This technique is a pinpoint slashing strike, where the user emits chakra from their fingertips and materialises it into an near invisible weapon that assaults the enemy in a gust of wind. If the Sickle Weasel Technique can be regarded as a swarm of wind kunai, then this technique is akin to a longsword which can leave the target's body mutilated. Just being in close proximity to the technique can cause minor cuts. The wind blades can be created and thrown, like projectiles, in rapid succession.

[Yamanaka Tomomi]

YAMANAKA TOMOMI

NINGYO/HIDARI

Moving into the air and away from the technique seemed to be the appropriate move, as though the technique tried to reach after him, it seemed not to have any sort of verticality, unable to do anything once Shigure had moved onto the walls. From his perch on the wall, he sent out a blade of wind towards the fuuinjutsu expert.

The blade sliced into the man's arm, severing it. Without both hands to hold the technique, the jutsu was dispelled, making the ground safe once again. The man let out a ghastly scream of pain, falling over as he held the bleeding stump. Even though Shigure didn't wish to kill the man in favor of questioning him, a move like that seemed like a rather risky one - without medical intervention, he would end up bleeding out quickly. If Shigure wanted to ask him questions, he would need to do it fast, something more difficult to do when there was still another opponent in the room.

Seemingly urged on by the sound of his ally's wail, the hired muscle in the corner of the room made a desperate play. He swung his blade with a great force, both knocking aside the Tamamo puppet and ripping through the smoke of the room, allowing him to see clearly for just a fraction of a second before the smoke closed in again to blind him once more.

Still, using the information he'd obtained from that brief snippet, he attempted to lunge at Shigure on the other wall, swinging a rending blade.

Tomomi sent the kitsune puppet to aid with the assault against the man with the machete, the puppet attempting to bite the man by the leg. If Shigure could hold off the assault and throw the man off balance, the puppet may be able to capture him.

At the same time, Tomomi came down the stairs, to the side of the fuuinjutsu expert. Tomomi was far from a standard medic, but they would begin to try to patch the wound to prevent him from bleeding out for now.

---

Hyūga Shigure

SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu used:
-

---

Enemy jutsu used:
Kaisuikaga [Running Current Fang]
[RANK] B
[CHAKRA USAGE] Low
[CLASSIFICATION] Bukijutsu
[DESC.]

Placing great speed and power behind a single swipe or thrust, the user will deliver an iron-rending strike against whatever is on the receiving end of the sword. The sword will split the air (or water) around its edge or tip, creating a splitting vacuum within a meter in the direction of every attack, one that can even halve an incoming fireball. This force can only cut through flesh, but adds an unseen range to the weapon, even if it is avoided.

[Hyūga Shigure]

"knock knock". "No matter how many people you may lose, you have no choice but to go on living." GO TO SLEEP The Blade of Wind hit the mans arm and severed it, and like he had expected, it dispelled the technique, as he needed both arms to keep it in place. That was one less worrisome enemy to have to worry about, especially considering the fact that he was now bleeding profounsely, and if they wanted to question him, they would need to address it soon. Still, there was one other enemy they needed to take of first, and it was the one holding the machete. He was strong, that much was clear from when he swung his blade and ripped through the smoke, however briefly, which allowed him to lock onto Shigure and lounge at him, swinging the blade. Tomomi sent her kitsune puppet to help him, and without hesitation, the Hyuuga also leaped against the man. Seeing him clearly gave him an advantage. His chakra moulded to its wind nature and was conducted to the mesh armour shirt he was wearing, and when the man's blade hit Shigure's flank, the armour deflected it, thus leaving the man vulnerable to his attack. Using his palm, he would hit the side of the man's neck. "Shoutei!" he exclaimed, pushing his chakra inside his neck and damaging it enough to put him out of consciouness, and with a bad injure to his neck. It wasn't deadly, but he would have a tough time recovering from it once he woke up, leaving it ripe for capture. Shigure would exhale deeply, and then look at Tomomi, who was doing her best to patch up the man. Approaching her, he would speak in a low - yet audible - tone. "I can try and cauterize it with my Fire Release..." he offered, not too sure on what to do; he had the Byakugan, but he was no trained medic and only knew the basic of first aid. "So what if it seems hopeless? If it were me, I still wouldn't give up. Embrace your dreams. And, whatever happens, protect your honour as a Shinobi, for the price of freedom is steep." B-Rank Mission [19/20] Takes the attack with his wind-reactive armour, then counters with Palm Bottom at the man's nack to knock him out. [Yamanaka Tomomi] [328 words]

Item used:

SPOILER: Click to show

mesh armour shirt [universal]


OWNER: Hyūga Shigure, among others.

RANK: B

CLASSIFICATION: Defensive.

ELEMENT: Wind

RESTRICTIONS: N/A

DESCRIPTION:
A well-crafted mesh armour shirt, protecting the user from the base of the neck to the wrists, with a plate of metal also covering the back of the hands. It can be used underneath the user's clothing, as its especially tailored for shinobi use. Its special metal alloy allows the user to channel chakra through it.

ABILITIES:
Wind Repulsion [Conductive]: To properly use this armour, the user needs to have access to Wind Release. When wearing the armour, the user can channel their chakra to add a thin layer of wind covering the armour, which acts makes it harder for weapon attacks to connect, as the moving wind seeks to deflect attacks off the user [Low chakra drain per use]

Built for Shinobi: The metal alloy used to create this mesh armour shirt is strong, but that's not its main perk. The armour's weight is neglectable to the point shinobi wearing it suffer no negative impact on their agility and speed. However, due to its design, it is more effective against slashing attacks, and more vulnerable to piercing attacks.

Technique used:

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Shōtei [Palm Bottom]
RANK: D
CHAKRA USAGE: Very Low
CLASSIFICATION: Taijutsu

DESCRIPTION:
The user thrusts their palm forward, hitting the enemy’s body with a quick and precise motion. The technique is both basic and deadly; this is because like any other Gentle Fist technique it injects chakra into the target causing a great deal of internal damage. When the technique is used it usually temporarily paralyzes an opponent but the collateral damage is not on par with much more elaborated techniques.

[Yamanaka Tomomi]

YAMANAKA TOMOMI

NINGYO/HIDARI

With the strike to the neck, the machete-wielding man was down for the count. Easy enough, the kitsune was able to capture the man and toss him into its back, a trap compartment used for the exact purpose of bringing people into custody. The battle was put to an end, with all three men out of commission.

Shigure offered to cauterize the wound of the fuuinjutsu expert, who was still panting and making agonized sounds. Tomomi had raised the arm and was tying a belt around the end of the limb in order to stem the bleeding. It seemed the worst of the gushing blood had ended - it was often the case for amputated limbs that blood vessels would shrink back from the wound to try to prevent excessive bleeding when at all possible.

Tomomi shook her head.

"Cauterizing is rarely a good idea unless completely necessary. It increases the risk of infection and will make it harder for a medical shinobi to reattach the limb," she informed Shigure. Forming a hand seal, a clone of Tomomi appeared. It bent down to pick up the severed arm.

"Tell us where the seals to the barrier in the next building are and I'll get you to medical help fast enough to keep your arm," Tomomi said. Bargaining like this might be incredibly cruel, but Tomomi was clearly very efficiency-minded.

"Bastard," the fuuinjutsu expert hissed, voice thick with pain. "There's one under the... the desk... Another behind the bar upstairs, under the wine bottles. Another in our record's cabinet. One... on the roof, beneath a tile. The last is in the other building, over the door to the hostage's room."

"Thank you," Tomomi said. She stepped back, allowing the clone to pick the man up, taking him and his arm to find aid from one of the medics in town. "We can question him later. Let's focus on the little ringleader and getting rid of the seals for now."

She moved to where the man-no-longer-behind-the-desk was laid on the floor, and stepped upon his back with one foot just to keep him from getting up. She left the floor open for Shigure to question. Partially, she was interested in seeing his skill in this regard.

---

Hyūga Shigure

SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu used:
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.

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.

---

Enemy jutsu used:
-

[Hyūga Shigure]

"knock knock". "No matter how many people you may lose, you have no choice but to go on living." HE WILL SPEAK With all men taken care of before they could ask for reinforcements, it was now time for them to extract some information so that they could not ony rescue the noble that had been captured, but also know what they were dealing with so preventive measures could be taken. At his offer of cauterizing the injury, Tomomi shook their head, explaining it was not a good idea. Shigure nodded, as he chose to believe the Jounin, who seemed to know more about medical treatment than he did. Tomomi created a clone, and promised to get the person help under the condition he played ball, and he did, informing them of the location of all the seals, which Shigure confirmed with his Byakugan and nodded to the Yamanaka. "I located them all." he said, and then the clone picked the man up to get him to the help he needed. Now they were to focus on their leader. Shigure walked towards the man, groaning on the ground. He was conscious but barely able to move. Tomomi stepped on him, to which he muttered something in complaint and Shigure approached him. Crouching near him, he would look straight into his face, his Byakugan focused on him, trying to get a good read of the man. "Who are you working for? Who gave you that money?" he said, but the man didn't seem to want to play ball. "Screw you!" he roared, to which Shigure sighed, shaking his head. "Look... We will get answers. We can do this the easy way, painless, simple, and we can all be done with it. Or... We can make you talk. You may resist for a while, but you will break, eventually." he explained, but the man insisted in being difficult. With some chakra on his palm, he would tap on the man's side, targeting his kidney with a good burst of chakra that would make him almost scream in pain, if Shigure didn't shove a a piece of cloth inside his mouth, muffling the scream. "I'm using enough chakra that it won't destroy your kidney just yet... It should resist for a couple hours at this pace. But you won't like it. So... Ready to cooperate?" he said, as he prepared to use it again. The man started to almost hyperventilate, he could see he was about to break, but seemed he was not quite there yet. "So what if it seems hopeless? If it were me, I still wouldn't give up. Embrace your dreams. And, whatever happens, protect your honour as a Shinobi, for the price of freedom is steep." B-Rank Mission [21/20] Using pain to extract information [Yamanaka Tomomi] [408 words]

[Yamanaka Tomomi]

YAMANAKA TOMOMI

NINGYO/HIDARI

Shigure didn't hesitate at all to step up and use whatever means necessary to get information. That was good. Encouraging. Tomomi knew that many people could be squeamish about things like interrogation and torture. More than once on missions, other people had had to step out of the room while Tomomi had done their job. The kind of person who could really commit without flinching was the kind Tomomi appreciated working with most. It demonstrated the level of commitment to Konoha that they expected to see.

Still, it seemed the application of pain Shigure was utilizing still wasn't quite enough to scare the words out of the man. He grit his teeth, trying to bear it. It seemed that whatever he was wrapped up in, he was at least willing to put up with a decent amount of agony to avoid getting into trouble with his benefactors.

If absolutely necessary, Tomomi could use their hijutsu to extract the information by force, but trawling through memories in the field took a long time, time they didn't really have the luxury of wasting. She pulled out a vial of poison from one of her jacket pockets and knelt on the man's back.

"I believe you are under the impression here that whoever you work for is a greater threat to you than us. I can assure you that isn't true. We have medical shinobi - we can take you apart and put you back together as many times as needed to get the information. Even if you don't talk, I will get it out of you."

With an eyedropper, she deposited the poison into one of the man's eyes. The wail he released was too disturbing to record, thrashing at the intense agony. For about thirty seconds he almost seemed to seize from it before the pain seemed to relent. His own will relented with it.

"I don't know his name. I don't know," he insisted. "Some fucking smuggling teamonger bastard from the North. We work with- with him sometimes. He works for some business called Shakar. He told us he'd pay us good money and that it'd be good for trade. But if we fucked it up, he'd kill us."

Tomomi put the poison vial away, swapping it for another.

"Thank you for the information. We'll be taking you into custody, so you won't have to worry about him killing you." The courts were another question, but that would remain to be seen. "You wait here while we clean your mess up."

Another drop of poison, this time in the mouth. A mild sleeping medication. Even if the man somehow managed to get up and run with the damage he'd sustained, he wouldn't make it very far with that in his system.

"Can you help me take care of the seals?" Tomomi asked Shigure. They would all need to be removed at once in order to deactivate the barrier. "Bringing the barrier down might alert the others in the next building. We need to remove them and extract the hostage in one fell swoop."

---

Hyūga Shigure

SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu used:
-

---

Enemy jutsu used:
-

[Hyūga Shigure]

"knock knock". "No matter how many people you may lose, you have no choice but to go on living." EAGLES AND A CLONE He didn't enjoy torturing people, but his duty towards his village was more important than his personal principles. And while he wasn't an extremist to the point of align interests with the likes of Root, a criminal like this enticed very little sympathy from the Hyuuga, and he would put him through a world of pain, if that was what it took for him to talk. Still, the man was fighting back and Shigure was growing a bit frustrated; he also didn't want to disappoint Tomomi, who he held in his highest regards, but again, he was no specialist in extracting information, shortcomings he would be addressing with further training and experience, that was certain. Tomomi chimed in to help, uttering a threat and showing a vial of poison they had with them, which they used soon after that. After that, the man finally broke down and started cooperating. He shared the information he knew, mentioning the group known as Shakar, which Shigure had heard about back when he had his encounter with the Ghost of the Hyuuga, so hearing that name alarmed him deeply. "So they are involved, uh?" he thought to himself, feeling a bit angry at that. Once he had shared the information, they were good to proceed and Tomomi asked if he could help her remove the seals and he nodded yes. With a few hand seals and bite on his thumb, drawing some blood, he slammed his hand on the ground, and in a poof of smoke, two eagles would appear before them: Daisuke and Rumiko. "Shigure!" Daisuke greeted him energetically. "Hey guys. I need your assistance, please." he said and the eagles nodding, showing they were open to helping him out. The Hyuuga would then explain the situation and ask them to go to two of the position where the sealing tags were. "Once there, wait for my whistle, and remove it, okay?" he said and the eagles nodded, flying towards the two locations. Then, they just needed one more thing, which Shigure addressed by creating a Shadow Clone. "Let's do it, sensei!" he said. Since he had come up short in the interrogation, he wanted to at least contribute more to this part of the mission. "So what if it seems hopeless? If it were me, I still wouldn't give up. Embrace your dreams. And, whatever happens, protect your honour as a Shinobi, for the price of freedom is steep." B-Rank Mission [23/20] Summons Daisuke and Rumiko, and makes a shadow clone, so they can all remove the seals at the same time [Yamanaka Tomomi] [396 words]

[Yamanaka Tomomi]

YAMANAKA TOMOMI

NINGYO/HIDARI

Producing two summons as well as a clone, Shigure helped them reach the manpower necessary to properly remove the seals on the barrier. The eagles would help them to time it properly, allowing them to get it done correctly on the first try. Removing the barrier would become significantly more difficult if the seals were pulled out of sync with one another.

Heading back upstairs, Tomomi led the way out. It seemed the single person who had been upstairs in this building had fled at the sound of the fight downstairs. Cowardly, but not unexpected. At least it made it moving around the upstairs easier, not requiring a fight or stealth.

"I'm going to task myself with removing the seal inside the second building. I should be able to do it from a distance with my puppet string," Tomomi informed Shigure. "The second the barrier is down, I'm going to enter to obtain the hostage. Catch up with me as quickly as possible - our priority then will become getting away with the hostage and not fighting anyone in the building. I'll have my clone come back for our other two prisoners in the meantime."

Tomomi would allow Shigure himself to decide which tag he would prefer to pull, which one would allow him to get to the second building as quickly as possible. With that established, Tomomi would move into position.

Snaking a puppet string inside the second building the way they had with the first's window was easy enough work. They latched onto the seal and waited for Shigure's whistle. The second Shigure raised the call, Tomomi would rip the seal, and then quickly make entry to the building.

---

Hyūga Shigure

SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu used:
-

---

Enemy jutsu used:
-

[Hyūga Shigure]

"knock knock". "No matter how many people you may lose, you have no choice but to go on living." BARRIER DOWN He nodded at Tomomi's words, quickly responding to let them know which one they would be personally taking care of. "I will take care of the one on the roof. It's the closest one to yours." he said. That was the most appropriate one as it would allow him to rejoin with Tomomi the fastest, as for the others, once their task was done, they could take their leave. With that decided, the group would move to their spot, and once they were all in place, Shigure would whistle loud enough so that they could all hear, and then rip out the seal, thus destroying the five-seal barrier and allowing Tomomi to enter the building. With that taken care of, Shigure would make the shadow clone poof, recovering some of the chakra he had invested on it, and then close the channel of chakra keeping the eagles there, thus sending them back to their home. "I will give them some treats later, to thank them for the help." he thought to himself, as he deeply valued his relationship with his Eagle allies to the point he already considered some of them his true friends, especially Daisuke. Moving with all of his speed, Shigure would quickly make his way to where Tomomi was, inside the building where the hostage was. Byakugan activated, he kept tabs on their potential enemies, but this far they have evaded them. "All clear." he confirmed with Tomomi as they approached the Hostage. "It's going to be okay, we are the help." he would inform the blindfolded and gagged noble, who quickly nodded, in a mix of relief and tension. "So what if it seems hopeless? If it were me, I still wouldn't give up. Embrace your dreams. And, whatever happens, protect your honour as a Shinobi, for the price of freedom is steep." B-Rank Mission [25/20] Removes barrier, dispel clone and sends back eagles. [Yamanaka Tomomi] [282 words]

[Yamanaka Tomomi]

YAMANAKA TOMOMI

NINGYO/HIDARI

Rejoining them quickly, Shigure came to meet them in the room where they captive had been being held. The enemies hadn't noticed them yet, which was a relief, though Tomomi was sure someone would be by to check on their hostage soon. This seemed like a group inexperienced in major crime, certain to be anxious about the potential consequences of such, and likely to check in frequently.

Back in the original building, Tomomi's clone had returned, having delivered the other man into the arms of local medical shinobi. The fuuinjutsu master would recover and be taken into custody. Now to pick up the remaining prisoners who needed to be transported back to Konoha. That duo would answer for the rest of the group, be interrogated into identifying them so the rest could be arrested at a later hour. Making this determination ensured Tomomi and Shigure could focus all their efforts just on the noble's safety.

Tomomi untied the noble's blindfold as well as her gag, and she let out a shaken breath, relieved, glad to be able to breathe more freely.

Reaching chakra out, Tomomi connected the trio's minds to ensure silent communication was possible.

"You're unharmed, right?" Tomomi inquired, entirely through thought. The noble looked surprised, but she nodded. "Shigure, can you carry her? I think we can exit without alerting them if we do it quickly through the window."

---

Hyūga Shigure

SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu used:
NAME: Shindenshin no Jutsu [Mind Body Transmission Technique]
RANK: B
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium - Very High
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu
ELEMENT: --
DESCRIPTION:

The Mind Body Transmission Technique allows the user to telepathically communicate with other people. Using this technique, the Yamanaka may also act as a medium for persons to communicate with one another telepathically; this is done through establishing physical contact with the person.

The user can communicate with multiple people at once and the targets can also communicate with one another while the technique is in effect. This technique is not limited to just transmitting thoughts, and images such as memories or even strong feelings can be conveyed through this method.

The more people that are connection through this technique however, the more a physical strain is put on the user, forcing them to keep the connection going for shorter periods to otherwise avoid sustaining injuries.

---

Enemy jutsu used:
-

[Hyūga Shigure]

"knock knock". "No matter how many people you may lose, you have no choice but to go on living." SUCCESSFUL ESCAPE Tomomi untied the noble and checked on her, connecting the minds of the three of them so that they could communicate between themselves. The noble seemed to be okay for the most part, and when asked if he could carry her, Shigure nodded. "Leave it to me." he said inside his mind, where only the two of them could hear. Approaching the noble woman, he grabbed her into his arms, and now all they had left to do was to escape from this place without being noticed and bring the woman to safety. With the Byakugan, he scanned around, describing the movements of the other people to Tomomi so, they were more or less aware of what he was seeing. The Hyuuga would then guide them out of the building through a path where there was nobody to interfere, moving as quickly - and silently - as possible. Once they were out, it was easier to reach the authorities in the city, where they could deliver the noble they had just rescued. Even though they had some fighting in this mission, he was proud they were able to avoid most of it, and rescue the hostage without further incidents. He was positively impressed with Tomomi's abilities, and he was more than glad to be on the same team as the Yamanaka. He still had a lot to learn, but he was happy with how far he had come along this year. The noble woman was more than grateful to them for the rescue, and that would be very good for the image of the Hidden Leaf Village before the nobility of the Land of Fire. A country who can believe and rely on their military is a strong country after all. "So what if it seems hopeless? If it were me, I still wouldn't give up. Embrace your dreams. And, whatever happens, protect your honour as a Shinobi, for the price of freedom is steep." B-Rank Mission [27/20] Escape from the building to deliver noble to the local authorities [Yamanaka Tomomi] [301 words]

[Yamanaka Tomomi]

YAMANAKA TOMOMI

NINGYO/HIDARI

Under the guidance of Shigure's byakugan, the three of them were able to make their way out of the merchant's guild without another confrontation and without endangering the life of the noble they had rescued. Turning her over to the authorities meant that they could begin the process of routing her home, after the necessary interviews were conducted of course, and all would be well soon.

There was much to contemplate with the information they had already secured. Organizations paying off merchants to engage in crime in the hopes of souring political relationships, trying to pressure the government to create situations that were more economically favorable for some merchants. There was a decent chance that such influence could be running all up and down the border, not just within Border Town. Tomomi would need to remember to make an inquiry to Kyōsō, after checking with the hokage.

For now, Tomomi would content themself with debriefing with Shigure.

"You did very good on this mission. We managed to execute that operation very efficiently because of your attention to detail and your quick reaction time," they praised.

"I also appreciated your help with the interrogations. Though... Even though the arm made an interesting bargaining chip, perhaps be more careful severing limbs on key witnesses in the future," Tomomi joked. It was light teasing - cutting off the arm had been quick thinking to avoid an unknown, probably dangerous jutsu, after all.

---

Hyūga Shigure

[Hyūga Shigure]

"knock knock". "No matter how many people you may lose, you have no choice but to go on living." FEEDBACK The noble had been delivered to the authorities, but that was not the only positive outcome of the mission. The two of them managed to gather an important and substantial amount of intel that could be paramount to finding a more permanent solution, so that Border Town was no longer such a fertile ground for this type of occurrence. In any case, with the mission officially completed, Shigure and Tomomi started heading back home, to the Hidden Leaf, while discussing the mission. The Yamanaka complimented Shigure's performance, and that made him feel all warm and giddy inside, proud of himself. He had been working really hard to become a reliable shinobi for the Hidden Leaf. They even appreciated his help with the interrogation, even though they pointed out to the arm incident, which made him scratch the back of his head. "It was a bit of a heat of the moment decision. I was afraid things would go down if we couldn't move, so I took that gamble. Fortunately it worked out in the end, but I will try to be more careful moving forward." he assured them, with a firm nod. "It was quite a learning experiencing watching you in action, sensei. You are quite versatile. I'm training so that I can also be more adaptable to different circumstances. I think I'm relying less on my taijutsu when compared to before." he added, with a smile on his face. And that was true. He was now more used to using bukijutsu, fuinjutsu and genjutsu on his missions, breaking away from how he used to operate back when he was a Genin and a Chuunin. His missions and training were certainly guiding him through this growth, even though it remained quite the challenge. "So what if it seems hopeless? If it were me, I still wouldn't give up. Embrace your dreams. And, whatever happens, protect your honour as a Shinobi, for the price of freedom is steep." B-Rank Mission [Completed] My exit post! Had a great time! [Yamanaka Tomomi] [298 words]