[Netsu Midori]

Midori herself is quite confused already by the situation with the rope and the sound of bells, making for quite a riddle, and she waits to see what Akio thinks they should do. After all, he's the high ranking shinobi on this mission, and the leader, if only for this mission in particular. He seems to be acting unperturbed by the whole thing, but the aggressive Midori isn't so sure that it's not some form of a trap, and probably a trap laid by someone that had managed to sneak around inside the caves that lead to the real Takigakure. It honestly made her a bit more nervous, and she could feel her fingers itch with the desire to punch whoever was responsible, but there was no way to know who it was that had done this without falling for the trap herself, and she wasn't about to do that.

She's a bit curious about Akio wrapping the bells around his own hand, but she figures he must know what he's doing, and so she follows after him as he leaves behind the odd predicament in the caves. She gazes up at the cave wall, comparing it with the odd boot prints left behind. A real shinobi wouldn't have left such an obvious sign of their passage, most likely. Not unless it was also part of some elaborate trap meant to lure people out to investigate. Midori herself grumbles a bit at the strangeness of the situation, but she leaves it; Akio probably knows better than she does, and he's gone this long as a shinobi of Takigakure. While Midori was older, she'd spent her years training, rather than going on missions to become a Jounin. Hesitantly, and keeping an eye behind the group, she follows after Akio towards the jungle. After all, she can count plenty of eyes looking forwards, and she's aggressive enough to grab their attention if they're being snuck up on from behind.

[Netsu Souran]

A breeze and another ringing of the bells this time from above, and looking up would reveal to Souran something that could only be labeled as a 'contraption'. Poorly maintained shuriken held still by a very thin piece of rope and a string of bells. It wouldn't take much to send them flying if that was the intent and with the sound of the bells bouncing off the walls it could create a clever ruse to keep the projectiles hidden until the very last moment. With that said, the condition of the shuriken were so bad that whoever placed them there couldn't have expected them to do much damage, right? So why go through all the trouble of setting this up?

The genin would listen as Akio pointed out the footsteps and his thoughts on the matter and in the end not feeling too worried about things and deciding to push forward with their patrol. Souran believed the man to be too carefree with the situation as it had even fooled him for a bit, but he had taken the necessary precautions before the group set out --assuming that was what the small lizard was for-- and as it hadn't reacted that must have been all the assurance he needed. Slowly Souran would release the tension from his hands as he followed along outside of the cave and into the lush jungle. Whether someone was just trying to play a plank or had more nefarious intentions was still yet unknown but they had picked a hell of a group to put on edge.


Takahashi Akio  Sprinkles  Netsu Midori  Oborozuki Yuri

[Oborozuki Yuri]

Admittedly, Yuri doesn't believe that the chiming and ringing had only been from the thin string overhead. She purses her lips, frowns and narrows her eyes, wonders why the noises had been so calculated, so spaced apart, as if intentional - but she should trust her sensei, right? And her peers aren't throwing a fuss, either. Would she not look like a fool for hanging onto the possibility that there's someone already with them?

Regardless, Yuri is on her toes, careful not to let her guard drop as they exit the cave. She watches the footprint disappear, only resuming a forward gaze once they're among the trees.

Still at the caboose, the youngest genin keeps an eye over her shoulder, making sure to watch the cavemouth get smaller and smaller as they venture onward. When she's satisfied that nothing is lingering, nothing is following, she takes to looking from left to right as well, occasionally glancing ahead past Midori and Souran. Her fingers twitch at her side, wanting desperately to grab for the bat's hilt standing erect over her left shoulder. She is quiet, listening intently to their surroundings, afraid that they might hear the chiming of phantom bells once again.

[Sprinkles]

    Outside the cave where they stood, it at least seemed calm and quiet, but there was a muffle metallic noise, barely even audible in truth, very easy to hear and likely as easy to ignore as they were talking or walking around. By the time everyone had become quiet again there was a more familiar noise; a bell. It wasn't coming from the cave, but from above it, then again, not in any pattern however, and each time it was almost as if it was being cut off of muffled before the sound could fully travel.

    In a sudden flash there was a body leaping down from the top of the cave...that proceeded to face plant right at Akio's feet. It was certainly a human, but it didn't at least seem to be a shinobi, and from the way they looked it would have been hard to tell they were a human had they been moving around with full motor function. Something was clearly off about them, but they didn't move for a good ten seconds, until their head lifted, and their face looked emaciated, their eyes a bit sunken and bloodshot, and a light foam was drooling from the corners of their mouth.

    What or who was this, and how were they here? Did they even intend to be here? Likely these shinobi wouldn't have noticed what exactly was going on, but this was something similar to the after effects during and certainly long after of a drug from a village decently far to the east. These unfortunate soul at least made an attempt to stand up and lunge at Akio, which didn't go particularly well as they looked to have a bad twisted ankle, in the literal sense, as it was twisted at a ninety-degree angle inward, and there was a string wrapped around it with a bell. The person managed little more at most than to grab onto Akio's ankle, but despite the shape they were in the grip was surprisingly strong, perhaps even dangerously so if they didn't remove it from their leg as it continued to squeeze, acting more like a brutish animal than a human.
    

[Takahashi Akio]

Akio's mind raced with a flurry of thoughts as he processed the sudden appearance of the disheveled figure. Amidst the chaos, one glaring question pierced through his thoughts: How had this person managed to bypass the numerous security measures designed to protect Takigakure's secrecy?

Despite the stringent precautions in place, this individual had somehow found their way to the hidden entrance of the village, raising concerns about potential breaches in security protocols. It was a troubling realization, one that hinted at the possibility of greater threats lurking beyond the village's borders.

As Akio grappled with these unsettling thoughts, another perplexing observation weighed on his mind. Despite Koza's heightened senses and ability to detect the presence of nearby entities through their scent, the small lizard perched atop Akio's head had failed to alert them to the stranger's approach, which meant that the man had been hidden in a manner to prevent detection.

It was a baffling inconsistency, one that added another layer of complexity to the situation at hand. Despite the man's visibly distressed state and the faint scent of drugs that lingered in the air, Koza had remained oblivious to his presence, leaving Akio to confront the unexpected encounter unprepared.

With a sense of cautious vigilance, Akio remained attentive to the unfolding events, his focus shifting between the disoriented individual before him and the broader implications of their sudden appearance. Regardless of appearances, it was clear that things were not as they seemed, and Akio remained determined to uncover the truth behind this enigmatic intrusion into the heart of Takigakure.

Reacting swiftly to the unexpected lunge, Akio's instincts kicked into overdrive. With a sudden jolt of adrenaline, he instinctively lifted his leg and delivered a firm kick, aiming directly at the hand of the drugged-up man reaching for his ankle.The force of the kick was enough to knock the man's hand aside, effectively thwarting his attempt to grab onto Akio's leg.

Though his initial reaction had been instinctual, Akio's mind raced with questions. How had this person managed to bypass the village's security measures? What was their intent in venturing to Takigakure? And why had Koza, with its heightened senses, failed to detect their presence?

Akio would address the genin as their attempt to enter the jungle had been thwarted by a second interruption, "Psych, I guess it wasn't a prank. We might not get to actually leave the village today.” The young sage would half chuckle and half sigh, adding on, "Don’t let him get ahold of you, we should try to take him alive if we can.” He wanted the genin to have a chance to do something, he could likely take the enemy down himself, but given the fact that their escapade had been cut short it felt cruel not to give them a chance to do something.

Oborozuki Yuri , Netsu Midori , Netsu Souran , Sprinkles

[Netsu Midori]

Midori herself is also surprised at the appearance of this disheveled man, but ironically, since she didn't put much faith in the capability of a stupid lizard to be able to detect others, she was likely less surprised than Akio might have been. She performs the four hand seals in order for her to use one of her most favorite techniques, the Atsuki Ken. This would likely be Souran's first sight of Midori utilizing their clan's Kekkei Tota, and she smirks evilly at the strange man as both of her fists glow with the same neon green that can be seen in her eyes and in her clothing. She immediately rushes in after Akio gives them the approval to take him alive, but to not let him get ahold of any of them.

As ruthless as she's always been, Midori leaps above the target, dropping down with all the weight of her body, increased as it is by the Hung Gar rings she wears in order to increase the force of her attacks, and the crushing force of her right fist is increased even more by the concussive power of the Kesshoton energy contained within each fist. She aims the strike directly for where she assumes the stranger's spine would be, since he'd attempted to grab hold of Akio's ankle. It wouldn't necessarily be a deadly strike, but if it should land, it would almost certainly be a debilitating strike, as she was using a lot of brute force as well as trying to crush the target between her own strength and the ground underneath him.

Immediately after her strike lands where it may, she brings both legs down, pushing from where she'd just hit in order to leap back and away. The more dangerous thing that might happen when attacking in a group like this is friendly fire, so she'd just make her attack and then get out of the way, allowing others to get in their own hits while she could prepare for another strike and keep a lookout for other such ambushers.

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Atsuki Ken [Heated Fists]
RANK: B
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium [Initial] | Low [Constant] to High [Constant]
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu
ELEMENT: Kesshoton
HANDSEALS: 4
REQUIREMENT: Netsu clan
DESCRIPTION:
Rather than expelling the Kesshoton element quickly in order to damage the opponent with a blast, this technique allows the user to cover both their hands in Kesshoton energy, causing them to glow with erratic plasmic energy that can add a concussive component to their physical strikes with their hands, increasing the power caused by their Taijutsu strikes to a level that matches the amount of chakra usage of the technique. Although their hands have a high level of absorption, absorbing such a large amount of electrical energy requires an equally high amount of chakra from the user in order to contain the energy until it can be released through Taijutsu. After absorbing that Raiton chakra or electrical energy, the chakra usage for the technique increases from Medium to High in order to keep the energy absorbed under control for further use of the Atsuki Ken.

[Netsu Souran]

Parlor tricks had turned into something a whole lot more as the odd man leapt in front of the group and set his sights on Akio. The vagabond of a human didn't look or move like a shinobi which made it all the more strange how he had managed to get so close to the actual village since all the tunnels and waterfalls were designed to keep people from just stumbling upon it. Secondly, had the man lied about the small lizards ability seeing as it had made no noticeable movements since being summoned and hadn't alerted anyone of someone being in the immediate vicinity.

The order was given to avoid getting grabbed but also to not kill the man which was probably the harder of the two considering the annoyance he had caused the group for the last few minutes. He watched as Midori sprung ahead quickly bringing down a strike fueled by their clan's KKT on his back. It was the last thing Souran wanted to see and while it was probably enough to put the man out for good the genin wouldn't let himself be outdone, especially by someone from his own damned clan.

Making a single seal, the boy would take aim at the man before loosing three blasts of pressurized wind hoping to hit the attackers midsection, not caring too much if Midori wasn't quick enough to get out of the way in time. His move would hopefully work to knock the wind out of the man along with dealing some damage but nowhere near enough to end his life no matter how much he had earned it from turning what was supposed to be a simple patrol into a clown show.

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Fūton: Kūki no Dangan [Wind Release: Air Bullets]
RANK: C
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu
ELEMENT: Fūton
HANDSEALS: 1 - Bird
DESCRIPTION:
After the formation of the Bird hand seal, the Shinobi will knead chakra in their gut. From there, the chakra will be formed into one to six orbs. When expelled, these orbs move with enough concussive force to knock the wind out of its targets. With enough power to dent wood, a hit from one these bullets to the head is enough to render a man unconscious.

Netsu Midori Takahashi Akio Oborozuki Yuri Sprinkles

[Oborozuki Yuri]

When the disarranged stranger falls from the sky, Yuri actually feels a swell of relief - she is not crazy, there had been a threat, and she should have acted. It was her sensei, her teammates who held her back from proper decision making.

The strange man, clearly incoherent and helpless, reaches for Akio's ankle only to receive a flurry of attacks. Yuri yelps, steps back, watches with slightly wide eyes as her teammates take turns assaulting the intruder. She knows, logistically, he should deserve this treatment. He is foreign, a potential threat. Yuri considers his choices - did he choose to be here? She wonders if he's mentally capable enough to know that he is a threat. Does he deserve those consequences, then? And what exactly has caused him to look so malnourished, bloodshot and foaming, like a rabid dog?

Yuri wouldn't know unless someone asks. She steps up beside Midori, looking down on the pelted man from just a foot away. She doesn't want to get too close, in case he is nothing but a threat, but she doesn't want to pass unnecessary judgement without a fair trial. She pulls her bat off her back and presses its head down on the man's shoulder, laying her weight down atop the pommel to hopefully keep him flat against the earth. She speaks to the others instead of him. "Err... Now what do we do with him? Bring him into the village or... Can we ask him questions? Do you think he can talk?" She points the last question to Akio, eyebrows scrunching with thought.

[Sprinkles]

    The situation would no doubt have been alarming given how security focused Taki was, and how hard it certainly was for shinobi or even civilians to get into the village if they weren't wanted in. The problem was, this wasn't a case of someone sneaking in, this was a case of something being snuck in, and an unfortunate victim was was about to be on the receiving end of a few blows too many. A one time instance of a merchant being handed something, talked into taking said something, and it not going into any effect until they were within the walls, turning into this scene unfolding, nearly a week later. Something was certainly off however, and there were a few pieces of this strange puzzle that weren't adding up even assuming they knew all this.



    The kick was easily enough to get the hand away from Akio, and while the grip certainly seemed strong, it was about all that the man could muster. As they laid on the ground, looking almost like a zombie more than a healthy human, the Genin Midori feels the need to smash them with a force that was quite overkill, and was quite nearly a literal kill. They were certainly in no state for a fight, given their physically twisted leg making it impossible to stand up, and their other looked as if it wasn't moving either, leaving them barely crawling to start with.



    Either the Genin were so surprised and caught off guard that their adrenaline spiked to a degree that they felt threatened into attacking, or the young shinobi in Taki were as filled with blood lust as the poor creature crawling on the ground in front of them. Things certainly took a turn for the worst, and if the poor man wasn't already at death's door, he was certainly knocking and asking for a spot on his couch at this point, as the force of the blow came down, immediately leaving them unconscious in the best case scenario. While it wasn't intended to be a killing blow, the poor soul was in critical condition by the time they fell. By the time the wind bullets struck their target, the motionless body simply rolled a few times, the sound of the bells stuck wrapped around their leg chiming.

---

    There was a threat here for certain, but the truth was, it hadn't come from the motionless body on the ground, even if it was easy to make that assumption given the context as far as these four knew it. With the information they had, this might have seemed like an attack, and no one could blame them for reaction as they did. What they would have likely noticed first, was the god awful smell that was suddenly filling their nostrils. There was a good reason no smell, no sound, nothing was coming from whatever or whoever it was, as someone had casted a type of sensory masking jutsu on them, but why?



    With a minimal amount of investigation, it was clear now those bells in the cave had been tied to the leg of whoever this was, and the sound was from their movement tugging at the string. The same string wrapped around Akio was around the leg of this person with the bells attached, so tight in fact it had cut off circulation to their foot, but again, why? Their identification was still on their person, a merchant that was from another country entirely, come into the village to sell wares, caught up in an unfortunate situation, perhaps trying to catch someone's attention, but once again, why?

[Takahashi Akio]

Akio couldn't help but let out a heavy sigh as he surveyed the scene unfolding before him. The situation was dire, and the genin's reaction had been far too extreme, resulting in fatal consequences for the individual on the ground that was seemingly already in terrible shape. With a solemn expression, Akio knew that immediate action was necessary to salvage what little chance remained for the injured man; but given there weren’t any medics among them it was unlikely that they’d be able to save him.

"Jeez, that was maybe a bit much," Akio continued to think about the next course of action as he addressed the young shinobi. "Go home and make your reports for the mission. I'll take the body from here."

Turning his attention to the unconscious and probably dead man, Akio's heart sank at the sight of his condition. There was little hope of saving him now, but perhaps the village's medical team could glean some insight from his injuries and whatever was still in his system. With a heavy heart, Akio knew that every effort must be made to uncover the truth behind this mysterious incident.

Akio's mind raced with questions. How had this individual managed to bypass Taki's formidable security measures? And what had led to his current state of distress? There were too many unknowns, too many pieces of the puzzle that didn't quite fit together. The young sage would take a moment to kneel next to the body and search his pockets, allowing him to find the ID of the body that was lying before them.

Once it was clear that there were no more valuable pieces of information on the body, Akio bit his thumb and with practiced precision, performed the necessary hand seals, and infused chakra into the technique as he slammed his hands on the ground, summoning one of his many lizard companions.

In a swirl of smoke, a large gliding lizard named Shi materialized before him, its sturdy frame ready to assist in whatever task lay ahead. Without hesitation, Akio explained the situation to Shi, "Take this man back to the hospital and see what the medics can figure out about the body.”

Understanding the gravity of the situation and the fact that time might be sensitive, Shi only nodded as Akio scooped the man’s smelly body onto the back of the large lizard, careful not to exacerbate his injuries. With a final glance at the scene.

"This mission will technically be a success, but you shouldn’t feel good about it.” Akio would sigh and wait for the genin to start returning to the village to do the same. The only way he’d stay behind now was if they wanted to talk with him about his assessment.


Oborozuki Yuri , Netsu Midori , Netsu Souran , Sprinkles

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Kuchiyose no Jutsu [Summoning Technique]
RANK: C
CHAKRA USAGE: Low
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu [General]
ELEMENT: None
HANDSEALS: 5
DESCRIPTION:

One of the most common and beneficial techniques in the known shinobi world. Simply drawing blood and releasing a mass of chakra from one's extended hand is capable of calling an animal or otherwise to one's location. As a Space-Time Ninjutsu, this technique is capable of instantly displacing an intended summon from wherever they may be to the requested location, though there are obstacles that can prevent this. To use this jutsu, one must first make a contract with whatever they are summoning, living creature or not. Both the size and the stamina of what a shinobi calls upon increases the demand of chakra they must spend to perform the jutsu.

Name: [Shi]
Element: Katon.
Type: Lizard
Rank: B
Appearance: [X]

Shi is a gliding lizard with the colors of the above picture. It's size is about 10 meters long, and 2 meters high. His ribs and skin membrane that serves as wings and thus enables glider capabilities.

Personality:

Shi is a helper of the extreme, with intensive knowledge regarding the shinobi arts and thus supports its summoner regardless with a wholehearted effort. He's definitely has a linguistics scholar-like mind, and thus uses very big words unconsciously and many are incapable of understanding. He would then be forced to quickly explain his intents with a more well-laid out explanation.

He's vicious, willing to kill simply because, and it makes his kind tone completely deceptive.

Abilities:

[Glide]: Albeit he can not fly, Shi can glide at high speeds within the range of [50 meters[ high for extend periods of time. His maneuverability in the air is top class, unlike those birds, he can manipulate his body to evade high speed techniques.

[Intelligent]: As described previously, Shi has intensive knowledge in shinobi arts, including the rare ones. His level of knowledge enables him to locate and even determine the inner working of techniques by seeing then once or for some complex ones, twice. He could determine the rank of a technique by sight alone, and even deduce lower-rank techniques inherent weakness or weaknesses within an individual's prowess.

[Sensor]: Shi can sense for up to a [200 meters] diameter. He can target and locate specific signatures, thus recognizing them.

[Katon Usage]: [XX]


[Standard Katon Techniques]:

[Netsu Midori]

Midori had been lucky to get out of the way of the attack in time to not be harmed by her own clanmate's attack on the stranger, so she feels pretty good about herself, having followed her orders to attack the apparent threat as ordered by Akio, holding back only enough to avoid killing him, though perhaps Souran's additional attacks had not helped so much. Not that she would heap blame onto him, either; she had attacked first, and had hit hard. It couldn't have been Souran's fault if any additional attacks had caused serious damage, because Midori had caused some very serious damage already. Though, she felt she could heap some blame onto Akio; he did just tell three combat-capable Genin to assault someone, and then seemed surprised that they'd likely dealt some lethal damage to him.

Midori might also have realized, somewhere in the back of her head, that almost all of the blame could be laid at her feet for acting impulsively to what may have been perceived to be a threat at first blush, but which needed at least a little careful study before the more deadly actions should have been taken. Perhaps this subconscious understanding and re-evaluation of the situation was what led her to simply shrug after being told that the mission was technically a success and that they were to return to Takigakure proper. Midori herself, though, walks towards the false Takigakure initially. The last thing she wanted to do was unintentionally lead someone back to the real Takigakure by following Genin back through the cave, and she assumed this was the real meaning of Akio's order to return. She didn't argue at all; after all, he had said the mission was a success, and although they shouldn't feel good about it, she would still likely be paid for the completion of a mission.

Although, Midori knows she'll need to do some introspection about her immediate reaction of violence. Perhaps it wasn't always necessary...

[Netsu Souran]

Whoever this rabid, beaten man was had caused enough problems that Souran didn't really care if his attacks were overkill or deemed unnecessary; better to still be standing to ask questions later. Between he and his fellow Netsu they had ensured that whoever this person was wasn't going to give them any answers right here and now, maybe not ever, yet with how bad he smelled perhaps that was a good thing. It wasn't until all the commotion stopped that the genin was able to see just how bad shape the man was in and with his twisted foot alone it became clear that he wouldn't have been a true threat to them at all. The question of how he managed to get so close to the true village's entrance still lingered in addition to what was up with those damn bells.

Those were questions for another day as Akio gave the group orders to return back to the village but not before telling them that they shouldn't have felt good about what had transpired today even though they successfully completed their mission. A frown crossed Souran's face as confusion set in. Were they just supposed to play patty cake with the man or something? Of course not, they were supposed to take care of any threats to the village and that is what they did; maybe things would have turned out how the older dude wanted if his stupid lizard had done its job but he didn't hear any of them complaining about that now did he?

Rolling his eyes the Netsu turned about face back towards the cave to make his way back to Taki, this had been as annoying as he knew it was gonna be.

Takahashi Akio Netsu Midori Oborozuki Yuri Sprinkles

[Oborozuki Yuri]

Yuri never even gets the chance to step forward, instead disturbed by the treatment of both the strange man and the nearly lifeless body thereafter which the other Netsu deems necessary to shoot. What is it with this clan? Bloodthirsty and rabid and kind of mean. So far, Yuri's warmed up to Midori - but Souran is a different story.

Annoyed, Yuri stands there with her head down, staring at the disheveled mess of a man who they failed to help. She doesn't care if he's an "intruder" - something was obviously wrong with him. Did he deserve such punishment when they did not even know his commitments? She was fine with lethal force; she was fine with murder, really - but only when it is tried and true deserved.

As Akio summons a sizeable lizard and scoops the halfcorpse onto its back, Yuri finally looks away, but can't look at either of her teammates. She nods as their temporary sensei withholds praise, turning to be the first to start heading back into the village's catacombs. She is quiet, and falls behind to walk a few feet in the rear to light up a cigarette. She maps out in her mind what she'll write in her report - unnecessary use of violence, perhaps.