[Akira]

Navigating to any central point in the Black Forest was no difficult feat considering the landmass it covered: but doing so with a Genin in tow would not be the most fun type since it really meant that he'd spend half his time trying to keep them alive. Hotarubi had never been here himself: only horror stories of how plants seemed to be so alive in this area, how they were just as dangerous as animals. The man thought it would be likely due to poisons, venoms, but live plants? Nah. Couldn't be.

But they were there to take cutting samples and which Hotarubi had expected there would be an aborist to take seeds, take samples - but nope, they were given a test kit, tubes and off they went. It went without saying: don't break the equipment, don't do anything wrong, don't die. Now, Hotarubi was cetain he wouldn't go as far to suggest he was in danger... but his lack of comprehension was just as dangerous here.

Travelling with yet another Genin, Hotarubi was going to quickly touch base at an outpost before the famed land, an area that was kept lean with little Shinobi manning it, in the dozen or so: but he had given fore warning they would be there and so there wouldn't be any sort of hostile reception. Having to actually guide the shit there? Difficult. Zura was... like him. So, their conversation had been long and fruitful and he had come off it being no worse for wear.

---

Mission:

SPOILER: Click to show

Between You-Me
MISSION RANK: C
NPC REQUIREMENT: Optional
PARTICIPANTS: Open, Open
DESCRIPTION:
As part of developing peace initiatives, the Daimyo has ordered a group of Shinobi to collect the seeds of rare plants found in THE BLACK GARDEN so that they can be used in a more colorful context. This arena of Bonchi no Kuni is infamous for carnivorous plants: including the kind that like human.

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[Oborozuki Zura]

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The Black Garden seemed a place of legendary peril nestled in the southern reaches of Bonchi no Kun. If it weren’t for it being located in his own country, Zura would have dismissed it as mere folklore. The prospect of venturing into such a famed and hazardous place definitely piqued the young man’s interest, but the excitement waned when he realized they had to trek there on foot. Zura, disgruntled at the being assigned missions so far from the village, preferred the simplicity of paid, seemingly meaningless tasks assigned to genins. At least he had Hotarubi, an interesting enough travel companion with whom he shared a couple of chuckles during the lengthy journey. Damn the trip was boring, but at least Hotarubi was nice to look at.[break][break]

As the outpost Hotarubi had decided they would stop at came into sight through the dense rainforests. "Finally,” Zura sighed with exasperation.[break][break]

The outpost, a basic military installation on the outskirts of the world’s most dangerous collection of plants, seemed like nothing special. Zura pondered whether its purpose was solely to prevent the fabled man-eating plants from encroaching further. It was hard to imagine any bandits or war parties attempting an invasion from the Black Garden.[break][break]

"You think those plants are as freaky as they say?” Zura asked Hotarubi, a hint of nervous laughter in his voice. He’d melt any nasty plants that tried to gobble him up, that was for sure. But still, the idea creeped him out.[break][break]

"I mean I’d kick their ass anyways…” Zura muttered, contemplating the nature of the man-eating plants. He’d encountered harmless flytraps and pitcher plants living so close to the rainforest, but had the ones in the Black Garden sprouted legs? Guess he would find out.

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[Akira]

They'd arrived and it would give Zura an opportunity to have a little break, meanwhile, Hotarubi got them checked in: and then found a spot to sit down and mark out their map with a few areas, a route in mind for the journey to come. Hotarubi stopped what he was doing at Zura's question - that was a healthy curiosity. Hotarubi shrugged. "If it's a C-rank mission, they're not going to have pretty petals." Hotarubi flatly responded.

"Hm." Hotarubi grunted amusingly, approval of the man's action. They were going to need it for the road ahead. "Did you bring anything in preparation?" Hotarubi brought himself since that was all of the equipment he needed but he wondered if Zura had brought anything like... fire bombs? Or something?

In truth, the man also had no idea what they were going to encounter - so that was why they'd pitched at an outpost, to get an idea first. Soon enough, they would be welcomed. "Yo!" A voice called out to the two of them, causing Hotarubi to swivel. A younger, darker gentleman spoke out. "Rolling on the Black Garden like it's your own personal one. I respect that. You two are the first faces we've had here in about... three weeks? Damn Daimyo or someone or other is growing something they shouldn't outside this place. A piss poor decision if you ask me."

"Eh. Money is money. We wanted to ask you about the types of things we can expect whilst we're out here?" Hotarubi would be plain with his words and ask. "Sure. Shoot your questions." He would look between Hotarubi and Zura to see what was on their minds.

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Seated beside Hotarubi, Zura unzipped the pack he brought along at the Jounin’s request. As he surveyed its disappointingly empty contents, he gave a breathy grimace. Aside from a haphazardly stuffed sleeping roll, the pack held an assortment of snacks casually thrown on top. In Zura’s mind, the essentials were covered, and he hadn’t given much thought to anything beyond the usual.[break][break]
"Uh…” Zura glanced at Hotarubi, then back at his meager supplies. "Some snackies, that’s it.” With a shrug he placed his pack on the floor.[break][break]

Before any disappointment could settle over Hotarubi over Zura’s lack of preparation, their conversation was interrupted by a shinobi stationed at the outpost. Zura greeted the newcomer with a friendly grin. The notion of someone experimenting with these flesh-hungry plants sent a shiver down Zura’s spine. Who in their right mind would play with such dangerous plants? Well, Zura did have to admit it had a certain badassery to it. The idea of charging into battle against a horde of angry plants appealed to Zura’s sense of spectacle.[break][break]

"Got any pictures of the dangerous ones?” Zura interjected, hoping for a visual guide of which ones to steer clear of. Eventually, they would need to collect seeds from even the deadlier varieties, a task Zura was more than willing to delegate to the more competent of the duo. He’d be better staying at a safe distance and blasting any naughty plants away.

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[Akira]

Hotarubi would scoff at Zura when they said the word snackies and shook his head: but there was amusement, if Zura could tell by the smirk on his face and the tone of his noise.

The man thoughtfully took his time to answer as they took a few moments to collect their thoughts. "We've got grip-vines, they're easier to identify because they're a bit bluer than green - it's subtle but once you get a hold of them they're easy to see. We call them grip-vines because you turn the same color if they get a hold of you. You know, lack of oxygen and all that?" The man chuckled. Hotarubi remained still because it wasn't really impressive to him.

"There's one - really neat little thing - The good thing about that you'll only find them in one specific place by itself because it kills everything else and so they're by themselves in a jungle clearing, but the bad thing is they shoot acid at you. It's cool because they do it by the use of shadows: so it's not really alive or sentient but defensively acts against anything preventing it from access to the sun. Cool right?"

That was a bit more helpful. "You have large pitcher plants which eat large animals, so don't go inside them - they try to disguise themselves in the environment and have great camouflage so be careful where you're walking because if you slip you're done for."

"The one we really wanted to warn you against is the suicide plant. It's a peculiar little plant - doesn't look any different from your environment except they have little barbed needles - hollow, and long. If you so much as brush against it, it can leave you with pain for years. Even Iyro-nin have a lot of problems trying to fix it, because it's not like removing a poison, and it's too small for the eye to see: so there isn't a tool that can get rid of them. Only thing we've seen get rid of them is painkillers or removal of the limb." That was, well. That had Hotarubi a little more worried as he looked over at Zura. The man was happy to give drawings to the both of them, though, so they had a vague idea what to look for.

"Neat little diagram." Hotarubi would say. "There's a lot more, of course - but best to look at the diagrams. This isn't a playground after all." Hotarubi would nod. After talking for a bit longer and with them left, Hotarubi would sigh. "We should take a look at these first." Gesturing to the diagrams.

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Zura’s expression froze in a permanent state of shock as the outpost shinobi rattled off some of the more dangerous specimens in the Black Garden. Strangling vines, acid spitting plants, Hidden pitcher plants, Suicide plants!? Zura was far too fond of keeping his limbs that none of this was seeming pleasant any longer. The thrill of exploring such a fabled area evaporated quickly. The once-cool mission now felt like a deceptive bargain, far more dangerous than its C-rank designation implied. If there wasn’t a hefty stack of cash waiting on his return, someone was going to be hearing about it. There better be a pretty lump sum of cash waiting for him on his return. A few drinks would be in order to drown out whatever horrors were waiting for them in the Black Garden. [break][break]



"That’s fucking terrifying!” Zura exclaimed with nervous laughter. "But big, tough Hotarubi will keep us safe, won’t he?” A hearty slap on the back accompanied his attempt at a reassuring grin.[break][break]



Checking out the diagrams, Zura pretended to give them a thoughtful study before casually passing them to Hotarubi for safekeeping. If this was the kind of shit they were up against they’d better get a move on. Zura had zero interest in extending his stay in that cursed rainforest.[break][break]



"Let’s make this a quick in and out, yeah?” Zura declared, popping up to his feet and slinging his pack over his shoulder. Ready to face whatever weird and wild stuff the blasted garden had to offer, he kept his grin. Time to stunt on this jungle mission.
[break][break]

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[Akira]

Zura seemed shocked while Hotarubi seemed disinterested: they had a lot of dangerous things but no plant would be able to chow down on him while in an earthen form, he would just be sure not to do exactly that. Hotarubi would not visibly react to the slap and Zura would get some amazing feedback from the hit.

"I think so too. You best cover yourself up." Hotarubi didn't want to have to deal with an amputation in the forest, not so soon after the other amputations that had taken place. After some looking at the diagrams for the purpose of actually harvesting, Hotarubi would also ask how to get effective cuttings - and they were given a little guide before their guide left them be.

And after making his notes, Hotarubi would toss one of the arborist packs to Zura. "Gloves, bottles, clippers, that sort of thing. Get familiar." If Zura was ready to go ahead then Hotarubi wouldn't stop it: frankly, the only issue that presented to him was if Zura got hurt, since it would affect his record.

So - passing along a river first and crossing that threshold would be immediate in terms of how the environment changed. The colors turned into a more wonderful kaleidoscope: but more darks and monotones were visible as well, it seemed less like a jungle as Hotarubi waded through the water. "Be sharp. There's already those.... uh. Grip vines. We'll need a few, so tear them down - grab specimens." Hotarubi would point up at the trees and as expected, according to the notes the parasitic grip vines - slightly bluish in color were extremely slow, but noticeably alive as they covered all assortments of other trees. Upon touch, it would seemingly burst into life as the environment around it - where all different vines hiding, would try to grab at what was an apparent prey.

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Slapping the other man’s back was like smacking a concrete wall, and Zura winced as pain shot through his fingers. With a regretful grin, he shook his hand vigorously to get rid of the discomfort. No time to nurse wounded fingers when they had a plant collecting mission to tackle.Hotarubi handed him an arborist’s kit that had some plant-collecting doodads. Zura opened and rummaged through it, examining each item as if they were bizarre artifacts. Seemed pretty straightforward to him, snip the plants and stow ‘em away, and, oh yeah, wear gloves so you don’t end up poisoned. Easy peasy. [break][break]

The duo embarked into the forest, facing the challenge of a rough river crossing. Zura didn’t want to dwell on the possibility of carnivorous fish lurking beneath the water’s surface waiting to chomp on his bits. Let alone wicked plants ready to entangle and drown unsuspecting shinobi! As he waded through chest-deep waters, the humidity of the rainforest ensured he’d be soaked through until the mission’s end. Clothes clung uncomfortably to his skin.[break][break]



On the other side of the river, the rainforest loomed like a colossal wall of greenery. It seemed as if the river was the only thing protecting the rest of Bonchi no Kuni from the deadly plants. Zura had to admit it was beautiful, if he didn’t know what else made their home within. Hotarubi promptly pointed out some of the grip vines, instructing Zura to collect a specimen.[break][break]



While Zura hadn’t paid too close attention to the information they were given, but he knew that these vines reacted to touch and would constrict anything that came into contact with them. Cutting them would trigger their defensive response. Opting for a ranged approach, Zura pulled out a shuriken to catch the vines’ attention before making his move.[break][break]



"On it, Sarg!” Zura saluted and launched his shuriken at a vine. The vines immediately coiled around the shuriken, creating a grotesque ball of writhing green snakes. Suppressing a gag, Zura retrieved his clippers and attempted to skillfully make two cuts to extract a segment. He leaped backward as the vines writhed even more, attempting to grasp onto whatever had disturbed them.[break][break]



"Disgusting,” Zura grimaced, collecting the specimen after the writhing died down. One deadly plant down.[break][break]

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[Akira]

It hadn't even occurred to Hotarubi of Zura's concerns of the water having predators as he himself crossed it, and because Zura hadn't mentioned it it still would beyond his own thinking. That was the price of an earth body: arrogance.

It seemed easy enough to collect strains of a plant that automatically made its way to you as Hotarubi got in the way of the vines as to allow Zura to get his specimens. Hotarubi wasted no time in using his arms to chop various good pieces of it. They hadn't... said a specific area that they needed right? Wait. Shit. He was wrong. His brows furrowed as he started to get tangled up around the torso. "Get the fuck off." he chided to the vines as he walked through them, going up to one of the trees that it seemed to be... parasiting-off. Resting among the branches, the less active parts that seemed to act as the root 'going' into the tree.

He supposed that Zura was collecting good information too, but toward the root of the tree and what he suspected was the 'entry point' as it seemed to be more of a bulbous pale mound on the outside of the tree, Hotarubi would rip that, using a freakishly long arm to pull at it as opposed to trying to climb the obviously dead tree himself.

"Ya alive?" Hotarubi would call out, though he had his sensory it was good practice to still act like he didn't know Zura's position, but he turned and there he would be. They could move on to the next. Hotarubi would pull out the paper, as he hadn't recollected absolutely everything. "Uh. Black-lotus like thing, you know the ones with the six odd stems-" he did a butterfly like gesture as he crossed his thumbs. "Acid bulbs in open green. If we come across those I'll get them. Avoid the suicide plant that looks like every other plant." His eyes would take a moment to scan the surroundings for danger. Hotarubi sighed. "We've got like thirty fuckin' things to gather. Let's get on it and keep your eyes peeled for anything that looks remotely interesting and I'll cross reference. We might be here a while."

And get on they would: every now and again, Hotarubi would see a plant that just looked exceptionally colorful in contrast to its environment, after all what looked like 'safety' more than a brightly blue colored plant in a green forest?

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"Still kickin’!” Zura yelled out as he tipped toe around the foliage. [break][break]

The jungle was rife with a chaotic mix of countless plant species, bugs the size of his fists, and voraciously loud birds. Zura meticulously cross-checked his guide everytime he thought he spotted a new plant, holding the guide right next to the plant, ensuring it was the one they needed. Squeezing a hard, bulbous plant about the size of his fist, he made it spew out its hidden seeds into a specimen jar. Another plant got its fruit brutally torn apart, and Zura dug through the gooey insides for a couple of seeds. His focus was on the less deadly plants – no need to get chewed up so soon in the mission.[break][break]

"I’ve got two!” Zura hollered, rushing over to Hotarubi, "Maybe.”[break][break]

With his kunai, Zura casually swatted away grip vines as if they were merely bothersome flies. Despite his excitement at finding two specimens, he made sure to tread carefully. It would do no good if he became the main course for a pitcher plant and bathe in its acid. Unfortunately, one of those giant pitcher plants was on the hit list. Where the hell did they produce seeds?[break][break]

Just ten meters through the jungle cover, Zura spotted a clearing. The other shinobi had warned them about these potential hangouts for acid-spitting plants. Zura pointed towards the clearing, asking, "We don’t need seeds for that one do we…?” The thought of tangling with acid-spewing flora made him pause, but he would throwdown with it if he had to.

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[Akira]

While Zura had his own list - Hotarubi had the identical one and when one got a satisfactory sample, it would be ticked off both lists to avoid duplication. Where Zura was able to find seeds, Hotarubi was focusing more on stems and roots: pulling them from the ground with gripped fingers to the grounds, or the insides of plants.

"I'll be fine." Hotarubi would wave Zura off as he walked into the clearing and it didn't seem that dangerous - Hotarubi had just about entered the rough area, avoiding the birds and the animals above where the clearing seemed to make them steer and redirect course.

In a way that Zura would have expected of his own kekkai genkai, the shadow initially didn't cause any reaction from the plant, but it would become slick and shiny in the seconds that followed, in what could only be described as a build up as Hotarubi leant over it. Where was the-

Hotarubi lurched back as without much warning it would sort of cause a bulbous push, a thin-latex outer layer which seemed to burst as it sprayed the man with a sludge. And - fortunately for Hotarubi and maybe not so much for Zura's consciousness, the man's body torso, arm, and face would melt in places. But Hotarubi didn't make any noise, in fact there was a noise of disgust. "wen in mai mouf-" the garbled noise would swipe and hammer fist the plant. In the wake of the death of the plant, Hotarubi's body grew back. "I'm good!" Hotarubi would give Zura a thumbs up. But - he looked back. Then he frowned. Not much had been left.

Hotarubi sighed. Then he went to the next one to be more tactful, dodging the sludge as it happened and then dug underneath it - pulling out a waxy, veiny stem that was harder to break. It looked like a bone, the porous, marrow-kind which produced blood. That was bigger than he'd intended, but Hotarubi had the single flask for it. It had a little symbol on it - to prevent acid from leaking through it. It was allllll good.

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Zura nonchalantly shrugged when Hotarubi volunteered he would tackle the acid-spitting plant. Less trouble for him. He spared a glance towards Hotarubi every now and then, to make sure his partner wasn’t disintegrating into a puddle of melted flesh. However, during one of those glances, a hefty blob of acid splattered across Hotarubi’s face and over his chest. Zura went slack jawed and he nearly fumbled his supplies. Watching the other man’s face dissolve was the stuff of nightmares. Yet, before he could fully freak out, Hotarubi’s flesh began to regenerate, restoring his face to its original, handsome state. [break][break]

"Fuckin’ creepy,” Zura muttered to himself. At least he knew that his own melting techniques would be a futile endeavor against Hotarubi’s face. "So if you can just grow back your face, I think I’ll leave the suicide plant to you.” He chuckled but kept a keen eye out for the flower-that-looked-like-any-flower-but-would-make-you-die-a-painful-death flower. If he stumbled upon one, he hoped an acid bath of his creation would be an easy fix.[break][break]

With a few more plants ticked off the list and a triumphant display of his findings to Hotarubi, Zura was beginning to get bored of collecting plants. Despite the looming, deadly plants, there had been little to no action. At least romping around in this overgrown garden had been interesting. He was starting to understand why his grandma spent so much time puttering around in her own garden, even if she wasn’t cultivating man-eating plants.Zura wouldn’t mind bringing a more reasonably sized plant, perhaps a tiny flytrap. He’d name it something cool.[break][break]

"How much more we got left?” Zura called back to Hotarubi. It was about time he was at home, maybe in a hot spring with a generous cup of sake.

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[Akira]

Hotarubi tuttred. "Why me?" Hotarubi laughed. Of course he would be dealing with that- "I mean, I'm not even going to handle it myself, if we can find the fuck. I don't know why those nobles in the capital want this stuff, but maybe it'll be divvied up among them and our military division. A dust made from it would be ... lethal." If it wasn't already.

It wasn't his job to question; Hotarubi would remember being told by superiors on many other missions. The Yamakira was a similar age to Zura though in spite of his rank and Zura had been a good talker on their way over here. So he didn't mind doing the man a solid considering it meant little to him... but Hotarubi held in the back of his mind that what if something had been left on him, or his clothes and he turned into a human? Nope. Not going through it. This was even if they were going to come across it.

So they carried on for a little while, and at some point Hotarubi had stopped paying attention to Zura and they'd move onto a new area and as he looked, he wondered what... and would reference the sheet again as they walked while they went over a huge canopy of large overturned trees and drooping, dead looking trees by the way the thousands of trunks seemed to protrude "Maybe another 5? We haven't come across the big bad yet..." with no reason or ransom when-

"Zura.... STOP-" Hotarubi was so immediately sharp in his voice, so much so that it would almost hoarsely come out as a growl, scraping against the lower half of his throat on exit. "Not a fucking step-" Hotarubi could see it now. Zura was surrounded by it, and the closest was near his hip.

Hotarubi neededed to assess. "Hands in pockets. Now. Snake them down your body like you're in a wet suit." Hotarubi left no room for error - they were, subtly, surrounded by all types of it. Hotarubi himself looked behind him - one of the leaves was touching his back. Only lightly: but his arrogance had won this time and thought himself too brave.

"Fuck. Okay." He couldn't risk touching the man himself either in case- he looked at his own hands. Nothing. But the guy had said - invisible like needles.

Hotarubi would take one big breath.

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"God damnit!” Zura yelled frantically, a cocktail of fear and frustration. "What is it?”[break][break]

Despite the imminent danger of a deadly plant lurking just centimeters away from, Zura focused on steadying his breath. Whatever it was had evaded his sight, making him suspect it could only be the infamous suicide plant. Even the slightest twitch could spell the end for him.[break][break]

Zura complied, cautiously sliding his hands down his body, moving towards his pockets. The suicide plant seemed obvious to him now, it was all around him. He had to trust Hotarubi that by sliding his arms down his body he would be safe from getting nicked. Blessed fucking day Zura thought as his hand came to Oki Ini fastened on his belt. The skull-shaped gasmask should have been on his face from the get-go, but Zura hadn’t been smart enough to put it on.[break][break]

No matter. With a trickle of chakra, Zura activated the mask once he laid his fingers on it. A vibrant pink gas erupted from the breathing apparatus, beginning to engulf Zura in the cotton candy haze. Ginning, Zura exclaimed, "Thank fuck!” The suicide plant and the surrounding foliage wilted a terrible brown and disintegrated nearly immediately.[break][break]

"Hotarubi!” Zura scuttled back towards his teammate. "I owe you my life, you beautiful man!” He ran to embrace Hotarubi in a burst of gratitude.

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SPOILER: Click to show

Shi Onsen | Reactive [break][break]

Oni Iki channels futton chakra through its filters, causing it to bellow acid mist. The mist which is expelled from the right filter is cotton candy pink while the left side is a sickly turqoise. If kept active, Oni Iki will create a dense mist which veils Zura (10m radius). The acidity of the mist is potent enough to cause 2nd degree burns with brief exposure. If one stays within in the mist for longer than 1 post their burns will begin to eat away at their flesh. This will also degrade any organic materials, and after 2 - 3 rotations, the acid will begin to rust and destroy metallic items.

[Akira]

While Hotarubi thought of the best way to do it - the reigning plan and idea was to make a bunch of clay clones that covered the area in a mush, but it seemed that Zura had an idea. While Hotarubi didn't immediately trust it, he didn't have any reason to believe otherwise - "what are you doing?" Hotarubi hissed, trying to make his brain go inevitably faster.

A pink cloud - much like his own hair, would breathe into the area. That was - so it was an intentional thing, it spewed out gases rather than preventing them from entering? So what was it for? It would be immediate as he watched the organic matter around him die. Thankfully for Hotarubi as it passed by him it would be ineffective: he wasn't organic.

OooooKay. That was good. Hotarubi was able to deflate a little bit - but for himself he wasn't out of the woods yet. "Goooood work!" Hotarubi was happy for the man and wouldn't accept the embrace - stepping back. "I might have it on me. Give me a moment." That was good enough for him.

The Yamakira would sink into the ground, and then reappear a meter or so away from his original place, having 'regenerated' himself with a new body of earth. One couldn't be too careful - and that's exactly how he would phrase it. "Just changing the skin, don't know what I might've stepped into." That was the easiest way to put it. And he would raise up a hand for a high five, if Zura so deigned to not try and hug him a second time.

But it did mean, they would likely need to try and find another set of the same species, "just - let's try and ignore that one. I'll go out myself and finish off the job, but let's try and find somewhere a bit less... deadly. Let's carry on with the others" The man was happy to take on that aspect for himself, when he was certain that he could deal with it alone.

And then they could get set out. The dangers were plentiful here, but they were no less mitigated by the pair of them as they worked together - actual teamwork. And it felt good to own the wilderness. There were a few more to collect!

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SPOILER: Click to show

Name: Dochuu Senkou - [Underground Submarine Voyage]
Rank: C
Chakra Usage: Medium [Continuous]
Type: Ninjutsu [General]
Element: Doton
HANDSEALS: 2
Description
Dochuu Senkou is a Ninjutsu utilizing the Earth Element. After forming the needed hand seals, the user can sink below ground and quickly travel through the earth. While this is similar to the Underground Fish Projection technique, it should be noted that the chakra usage is much higher.

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