[Deleted]

Animals were filthy things. So, it didn't fall upon deaf ears when Hotarubi needed to remove them from any sort of perimeter. Such things could not be done alone, mind, which is why he had to enlist the help of another person - one week later, here he was finally waiting for them to arrive. Someone had finally answered and also signed up! Woo! He had yet to find himself any permanent accommodation, to the point where he was feeding himself and sleeping in training areas, still in the same clothes. Luckily for him, sweat wasn't a thing and the same stone and dirt smell was present: thank Kami. But, it was the area and space between the two villages and then some that animals of various kinds were setting up shop and home in the jungle. That wasn't unheard of: Hotarubi himself had wrestled and murdered a large snake once... so what issue was an earthen human? None at all, he supposed. The scene was set upon a crisp, but humid morning. Hotarubi preferred the cold more - not too cold, as was his preference, but this was like walking in muck and mud. He was made of earth and he knew the varying degrees of gloopiness he felt. But, this was home and the way of life for many - he was no exception. Hijikata Saga SPOILER: Click to show Securing the Area Mission Rank: D NPC Required: NPC[Optional] Random Mission Scenario: Enabled Participants: Place your team members here, don't forget to tag in their profiles. Description: Reports have come in of a pack of animals that have been attacking travelers coming to the village. This can not be allowed and should be ensured that this matter is dealt with swiftly. The mission is to find the creatures responsible and to deal with them by any means possible.

[Hijikata Saga]

"securing the area". "How can you move forward if you keep on regretting the past?" MEET AND GREET Saga could hardly believe he was actually being sent to a mission. It was his very first official mission since he had become a shinobi, and he had no one to blame but himself for that. According to the mission briefing, a pack of wild animals had been attacking travelers coming to the village. They were supposed to deal with it swiftly, by any means necessary. He wasn't going to the mission alone, however; another Genin named Hotarubi was supposed to join Saga, and he was fine with that. It was a D-Rank Mission, after all, not much could go wrong there, right? With that in mind, he would go meet his mission partner somewhere in the outskirts of the village, in the general direction they would have to go towards in order to deal with the critters. Once he found his partner, he would waive to the boy, who was not only much taller than he was, but also looked significantly older. "Hey there, you must be Hotarubi, right? I'm Saga. We are supposed to work as a team for this mission. Did ya read the briefing and stuff?" he asked, his tone cautious, but a little bit friendly at the same time. He didn't know anything about his teammate other than their general description and their name, so hopefully he wouldn't be someone difficult to work with. "There is no such a thing as a painless lesson, they just don't exist. Sacrifices are necessary; you can't gain something without losing something..." D-Rank Mission [2/10] Meeting up with Hotarubi [@perpetual] [221 words]

[Deleted]

"Right. Hey Saga." He gave a sorta - two fingers wave to Saga? "Good name. Sounds like a long quest. Sa ga." he needed to get on with other people to a degree, and there was nothing that Saga had done wrong besides having blue hair. Significantly shorter than Hotarubi, but as he had learned: height rarely had anything to do with power. "I've seen the brief." Thankfully it gave them an idea of where to start. "Let's get on with it, then." The sooner these animals were dealt with, the sooner they'd have a pay day. Hotarubi made a move to get them out of the village, taking a more direct (but scenic route) among and past the waterfalls that would eventually lead them to a starting point. But in the mean time they did have a bit of time to kill. "I thought we could try that area past Hiroi Oi Ana [lit. Spacious Grey Hall]? The main primary suspect in these attacks have been Jaguars and Crocodiles; Hiroi Oi Ana has water and lots of cave-like spots for jump predators?" Their combined knowledge would help them to ascertain the exact situation. He hadn't himself seen Saga - had they been a Genin for a lot longer than Hotarubi? By the way the Yamakira carried himself you might not have thought as such, given his quiet arrogance. But he was open to whatever made it the quickest mission for the both of them.

[Hijikata Saga]

"securing the area". "How can you move forward if you keep on regretting the past?" HIROI OI ANA Hotarubi seemed friendly enough, and that was something Saga was not entirely used to. When the boy made a comment about his name, he blinked twice, taking a while to understand what he meant, and when he finally did, he looked rather silly. "Ohhhhhhh... I see, I see... Yeah, I guess that's true. I dunno what my name means, never bothered looking." he shrugged, being quite honest on the matter. Saga was a rather simpleminded individual, and name meanings and such meant very little to him. Then, his partner confirmed he had checked the mission briefing and he nodded in acknowledgement of that. "Then let's get rid of those jerks!" he said, cracking a large smirk, showing his sharp, pearly fangs. Saga would follow Hotarubi outside of the village as the two of them took a direct yet scenic route towards the area past Hiroi Oi Ana, where they would start their search. "I think that's a good starting point, it's exactly what I had in mind. The jaguars like to hang around the crocodiles... They eat each other when they can't find anything better..." he added, being quite familiar with the region, as he liked fishing nearby, but it could be quite the hassle when the animals were a bit more feisty. Saga had been a Genin for a few years now, but since he was never part of the regular forces, being suspended for his stupidity, he was a rather unknown figure within the village, despite the fact that he was technically one of Lord Ryuu's disciples. "There is no such a thing as a painless lesson, they just don't exist. Sacrifices are necessary; you can't gain something without losing something..." D-Rank Mission [4/10] Heading to the area [@perpetual] [251 words]

[Deleted]

He shrugged. "Me either." What good was etymology for a name when you could just be called it or something better? Something like Killing stone, or rock-alanche, or something interestingly cool enough. Saga had accepted Hotarubi's suggestion and he would eventually make it so: making it so would be in about half an hour, but it still gave them time to kill and chat. While they chatted, they passed a bridge with a waterfall and houses on either side of the bridge: overlooking one of the higher points of the area that would take them to one of the exits of the village. Of course, it was all very well hidden and with good reason. Did they really spend time around eachother? "Wait. Really?" Hotarubi stopped to look back at Saga then continued walking after his affirmation. In honesty, Hotarubi's specification for using the place was that crocodiles tended to go near water, which it had: and Jaguars were meant to be assassin-type animals.. right? He didn't really know. "How are you with techniques and stuff? I'm not in any danger so I'm happy to draw all of their aggro. Not that I anticipate they're masterminds or anything, but I'll be up in faces... anything goes." Hotarubi didn't think they would work together (the animals) other than what Saga might have said went. But, there were enough of them to warrant this being a mission. Maybe it was spread over a wider range? "Do we know which routes have been reported?" Hota asked Saga. Maybe Hotarubi hadn't read the mission brief so thoroughly after all. So much for animal facts.

[Hijikata Saga]

"securing the area". "How can you move forward if you keep on regretting the past?" THE MAIN ROAD Their destination was a short walk away, but they had some time to kill with casual chitchat. Saga didn't have much to tell, he wasn't from a shinobi family, being only the second person in his entire lineage to have showed any aptitude for chakra usage, the other being his older brother, who had made it to Special Jounin before dying during a mission. Because of Saga, yes, but he would not be sharing that part of the story unless directly asked or confronted with; it still caused him a fair amount of pain to delve on the subject. "I'm good with Fire Release techniques. And I'm somewhat decent with a sword, but I prefer to just scorch stuff if I can help. And I have a lot of chakra, people say, so I can use a bunch of techniques before I get drained. How about you?" he asked, wondering what Hotarubi had going on for him. He wasn't concerned with fighting animals, he had done it before multiple times, and even creatures like jaguars and crocodiles shouldn't pose much of a challenge to the two of them. When asked which routes had been reported, he nodded. "They've been targeting the main road for the most part, and then the secondary road to the east of the main road. Mostly the ones people use more often. Makes sense, I guess... I suggest we go through the main road, they will probably come to us and make our job easier!" he said with a firm nod and a confident smile on his face. "There is no such a thing as a painless lesson, they just don't exist. Sacrifices are necessary; you can't gain something without losing something..." D-Rank Mission [6/10] Approaching the dangerous road [@perpetual] [254 words]

[Deleted]

"Don't worry about scorching me." Hotarubi was being serious as he spoke, and it might have given Saga some pause but it was nonchalant enough that Hotarubi was either stupid and arrogant or knew something that Saga didn't. Fire didn't concern Hotarubi in the slightest. "The opposite. I use Doton. And my fists." It wouldn't hurt to share that feat, right? He was among friends. Main road, secondary road... that did not help at all. "Which main road and secondary road?" Hotarubi barked. There were main roads and secdonary roads all over the Waterfall village. How on earth did that help him? Even if Hotarubi didn't know fully, he did trust that his past self, the one who had promptly done the reading of the briefing and the one who came up with the idea of their choice of location did recall where the roads where and he trusted in his own ... what he did at the time. "Good idea, I guess? I'm sure we won't be tasty. They might be once you set fire to them. I've never had crocodile." Again another truth - he expected it to be chewy and leathery like their hide suggested. But, if fire was on the cards then he supposed there would be no issue. Past the aforementioned bridge and now toward a gates of a sort, a post of tribal nature that would signify the end of the common path and lead to this 'main road' they spoke of.

[Hijikata Saga]

"securing the area". "How can you move forward if you keep on regretting the past?" CROCS AT THE ROAD Saga arched one of his brows when Hotarubi told him not to worry about scorching him. Well, there were two possible reasons for that: he was either crazy, or had some weird power like those clan people did. In either case, he would just take the boy's word for it, and if he got injured, it wasn't like Saga was new to getting in trouble anyways, so it would be just another Wednesday. "I like punching, but I'm not very good at it." he admitted with a light shrug. When asked which roads, Saga would point in their general direction. "The one over there, and the one over there... They are the main roads... I mean... Yeah." he said, his tone a bit unsure now, but he was pretty sure he was right, he was familiar with the place. Then, as he started walking towards the place, they continued to chat, and when Hotarubi mentioned he never had crocodile, Saga gave him a large, eager smile. "It's actually pretty good! The tail, I mean... The rest is not really worth it... Unless you are starving... But I can make us some nice tail after the mission. It has been a while!" he said, with quite the excited tone in his voice. And once they finished talking, they were finally at the place Saga had indicated, and as they expected, there were some crocodiles in the water nearby, and they looked rather hungry. The boy narrowed his emerald eyes, and started looking around. "If there are jaguars, they are likely hiding... Keep your wits, eh?!" he warned Hotarubi as he readied himself. "There is no such a thing as a painless lesson, they just don't exist. Sacrifices are necessary; you can't gain something without losing something..." D-Rank Mission [8/10] Spotting some crocodiles near the road [@perpetual] [266 words]

[Deleted]

People had their strengths, unsurprisingly Hotarubi's was punching things and Sagas was apparently...? He would see. They would start to get directed toward their direction. They had a brief discussion on the meat again. "I'll take that." He didn't see how tail = good and rest = bad. But it meant that there would be something for them to do and not paying for food? Epic win. Having arrived at the space, he clapped once in achievement. "See em?" There they were. All... living. They were relatively large, and some of them weren't that obvious the more he looked at the body of water. Good camoflauge, he thought to himself. It was when he placed a hand to the floor he got a muddy view of the area around him: there were bodies in the water. Not human. He couldn't fully get a picture given the water but it was good enough. He started to walk toward the water's edge of where they had arrived. "I used to swim in this when I was younger." Hotarubi stood before a crocodile, and they were being cautious: one of them wasn't, because as far as they knew: this was just another. The rest of them were being coy, perhaps sensing that this was not prey. It continued to move closer toward him. Hotarubi looked back at Saga, beginning to speak when it closed the gap to try and snap at Hotarubi. "I-" he stopped as it all took place. Hotarubi turned around and dropped his elbow in tandem with moving his own thigh out of the way. He considered it to be one of the ways that he could prevent him from being too arrogant in his human form, because the quick clack of the alligator's mouth snapped shut on thin air. For Hotarubi, between the eyes, it was already well over. As he returned to a standing position, Saga would have seen his elbow dripping blood: a spike from his elbow retracting back into his body. It was an effort of manipulation on use of his earthen body. As a result, though, the rest of them backed away. "Don't fuckin make me come in there..." He said as they scattered. "I don't want to go in there." The water and being a Yamakira did not cohabit. But no jaguars just yet.

[Hijikata Saga]

"securing the area". "How can you move forward if you keep on regretting the past?" FIRE Saga arched one of his brows when Hotarubi said he used to swim in these waters. "For reals?! Nasty place to swim with those guys." he said with a light shrug. Maybe this boy was tougher than he looked, or had balls of steel. The crocodiles seemed to be a bit hesitant, except for one who decided to take a bite at Hotarubi, and when he got close enough, Saga widened his eyes. "Yo, watch out!!" he exclaimed, but before he could do anything, the Genin moved out of the way, which made Saga sigh in relief, and yet, there was some blood dripping from it, which left the young sage apprentice even more confused. Shaking his head, he decided he didn't have the time to try and figure out what was going on. Waiving four hand seals, he would mould his chakra, and aiming at the crocodile who had just attacked Hotarubi, he would spit a huge fire ball. The fire ball was oil based, so it could thrive even though the croc was still mostly in the water, and it was big enough that it hit not only that croc, but the other two that were watching them a short distance behind the first one. "Katon! Endan!!" he exclaimed as he attacked. Saga's Fire Release was much more powerful than what is normally expected from a shinobi his level, and it was enough to roast the crocodiles and end their lives, leaving just the ones on the other side, and potentially any jaguars who were hiding in the area. "There is no such a thing as a painless lesson, they just don't exist. Sacrifices are necessary; you can't gain something without losing something..." D-Rank Mission [10/10] Uses fireball to kill 3 crocs [@perpetual] [253 words]

SA used:

SPOILER: Click to show

『 BREATH OF FIRE 』

Saga's natural affinity for the Fire Element was a trait he discovered very early in his life. Because of that, he dedicated a great part of his Shinobi training to develop the use of Fire Release, making him quite proficient with the element. When he uses Fire Release techniques, he can make them significantly more powerful than what other shinobis of his level can hope to produce.


『 CHAKRA WELL 』

Saga was born with a huge chakra pool, which allows him to use more jutsu than his peers. His large reserves also highly benefit his training in Senjutsu. His chakra pool makes it hard for the young man to be outlasted in a battle of chakra against his peers. This makes him capable of using stronger jutsu more often without tiring out, as well as jutsu which require continuous chakra flow to be sustained before running out of juice.

Technique used:

SPOILER: Click to show

Name: Katon: Endan [Fire Release: Fireball]
Rank: C
Chakra Usage: Low
Type: Ninjutsu
Element: Katon
HANDSEALS: 4
Description: After doing the necessary hand seals, the user molds a large amount of oil within their gut before spitting it out, simultaneously lighting it aflame with their charka. The result is a giant fireball, fueled by oil, which burns everything engulfed in it. Since it is both fire and oil mixed together, it is even difficult to be put out by water.

[Deleted]

That made it significantly easier. When the man started to perform techniques, Hotarubi would step back. Again - he was trying to act as though he were in human form. Humans didn't like to get scorched by fire. It may have had taken more practise to get used to, but it was worth it. In the wake of the attack and the noise subsiding from the powerful fireball, Hotarubi was stood there watching the destruction. "That's beautiful, that. Did you make the tail for us?" speaking of the two of them being there. But no Jaguars yet - did he really need to go up there into the caves? Hotarubi would point up at the rock face rising up where the holes in the walls. "Can you do another one in there to flush em out? Or maybe finish it for us?" If they were in hiding, that would cause them to leave or turn to a crisp. If not, he would be more than happy to climb up there himself. One of the Crocodiles were trying to escape, leaving the fire - ironically while also on fire. Hotarubi ran at it, twisting and doing a three-sixty spin while raising up his arm. Up, and then down. The arm turned into a different shape, like a scythe: and would end up in the back of the creature, like a shishkabob'd item. Hotarubi was pleased at how quick he was starting to get with it.

[Hijikata Saga]

"securing the area". "How can you move forward if you keep on regretting the past?" HOW ABOUT A MEAL NOW Saga smiled when Hotarubi complimented his fire ball technique and when he asked about the tail, Saga nodded. "Might be a little well-done, but should still be good!" he said, giving the boy a thumbs-up. Following that, his partner pointed out to a cave, and Saga nodded to him and started heading that way while Hotarubi would be taking care of the other crocodile left in the place. Once the young blue-haired boy approached the place, he could hear a growl from the beast, alerting him not to get any closer. This was all the confirmation he needed, and with the same set of hand seals, he fired the attack. "Katon! Endan!" and from his mouth, the blazing flames filled up the cave, and one more - louder - growl echoed from it before it went completely silent. The creature was dead. The boy nodded to himself, feeling rather triumphant and then turned around to look back at his mission partner. "All good here. I don't think the travellers will have any more trouble. Wanna eat that tail?" he asked as he slapped his stomach a couple times, showing he was eager to have a meal. It was an easy mission, but its rank was already an indication that the challenge was simple, something even a lone Genin could take care of. But having a partner did make it much faster and even more entertaining. "There is no such a thing as a painless lesson, they just don't exist. Sacrifices are necessary; you can't gain something without losing something..." D-Rank Mission [12/10] Fire balls the jaguar in the cave [@perpetual] [230 words]

[Deleted]

Hotarubi cleaned himself up, having returned his arm to a hand rather than the former scythe at a speed he was pleased with - was cleaning up a bloodied hand. It mostly meant going over to the water front, but him being him: realised it was oily still - and got oil over himself. No blood, but oil instead. The oil got wiped on himself, not that he couldn't live with it. First he required to pull out the croc. "Sounds like a plan." Hotarubi would make use of his earthen body one more time to create a sharp axe: and brought it down atop one of the tails that had been cooked. It was still a bit watery. And a second time - offering the actual end tail part to Saga. "itadikimasu. Did you get the Jaguar? Jaguars?" He hadn't heard it take place beyond the fire that Saga had used. But he tried it - his body turning to normal human, a bit more flesh colored and he would try it. It was gingerly at first, and then it was his judging face as he figured out if he liked it or not. He tried eating the insides, around the outside of the scales. "That's good." Was the determination. If it wasn't, he would be throwing up later. But, that wasn't on his mind. "I understand why it's a D-rank mission if it was that easy. Huh. Haha." he spoke through his full mouth.

[Hijikata Saga]

"securing the area". "How can you move forward if you keep on regretting the past?" MISSION COMPLETED As they prepared their meal and sit together, Saga grabbed part of the tail and gave it a large bite, pausing to look at Hotarubi doing a little praying for the food. That was something he never truly understood: it wasn't the gods who provided them with a meal; it was the two of them who made the effort to acquire it. Why should he thank a deity for doing absolutely nothing? But, he wasn't there to judge his companion. When asked about the jaguars, he nodded. "There was only one and two cubs. Maybe there's a male somewhere else, but they are territorial, so it shouldn't be too close to here." his tone nonchalant even though he had mention the slaying of cubs. To the boy, this world was a dangerous place, and it was often a kill or be killed situation. When Hotarubi mentioned it was good, Saga nodded. "Like I said, the tail is pretty good. It is also quite nutritious too. Can't go wrong with a little croc! Hehehe!" he said as he continued to devour the meal with his sharp teeth. The mission was easy enough, and soon after they finished eating it, they would go back, and hopefully Hotarubi would provide a better mission report, for the young blue-haired boy just wrote "Mission done. Pretty easy.". "There is no such a thing as a painless lesson, they just don't exist. Sacrifices are necessary; you can't gain something without losing something..." D-Rank Mission [COMPLETED] Exit post [@perpetual] [209 words]