[Honō Saya]

"You think they’ll show up soon?" Saya said, her voice light and airy as she walked down the winding dirt trail that connected the main road from Hohei-Cho to the river, her teammate and fellow Gate Guard following a few steps behind. It had been awhile since she and Kumori had gone on a mission together, since before the Chuunin Exams in Akazaya, and with her promotion sitting in limbo while she waited for her meeting with Lord Ichi, there wasn’t much else for her to do but train and watch the Gate. Until, of course, she had seen the posting for this mission; banditry was an unfortunately common occurrence in the foothills of Nohara no Kuni, with many a disaffected farmer or Ashigaru taking to the practice to take what they couldn’t (or wouldn’t) rightfully earn.

The particular group she and Kumori had been tasked with hunting down was a rather vicious one; though details were sparse, their numbers sat somewhere around ten or twelve, making them a fairly substantial threat to the peddlers and wanderers who traveled the backroads, particularly young women. Their leader was a known figure, a former-Ashigaru soldier who had killed his superior, stolen his sword, and rode off into the night with a dozen or so of his compatriots. The responsibility of hunting down such a group would have belonged to the local garrison, but with the death of the garrison commander and the desertion of his right-hand man, the task had fallen to Kusa and its shinobi.

Which had led the two Kunoichi here, slowly making their way through the wooded foothills between Hohei-Cho and the river, doing their best to look like a pair of lost girls ripe for the plucking… minus the swords, of course.

Futago Kumori

[Futago Kumori]

It was situations like these that Kumori honestly wished that she had some of Saya's skill with Fuuinjutsu, since she didn't look so much like a potential damsel in distress. As bait, Kumori was not effective. Saya looked much more the part, though it was certainly possible that the bandits they're after might assume even armed women were an easy target. As it is, the gold fitting keeping her black hair in a ponytail might make her a target, even with Osobureki strapped to her back. While the sword might have been a normal longsword, the sheathe, when locked onto the sword, turned it into a much more massive blade. She's also wearing her usual cheongsam of white, standing out even more.

Saya next to her was eye-catching as well, though her sword is much smaller, making her seem like an easier target. Her attention is pulled to Saya fully as she's asked if she thinks they'll show up soon. Unfortunately, she doesn't have much of a guess. Still, she brings up her own concerns that she'd had with the plan of both of them acting as bait for the vagabonds to take.

"I don't know. Do you think perhaps being openly armed might be making them a bit wary of trying anything...?"

She doesn't honestly have any better plans, though; she might be able to move about through the grass fairly quietly, but she wouldn't be entirely stealthy, and if she goes too deep into the grass for such bandits to notice her, she might not get to Saya in time and end up missing out on the action. For the moment, at least, she kept on the track, as initially planned.

[Honō Saya]

Saya tilted her head to one side as Kumori spoke, listening to her friend’s concerns and weighing them, as always, against what she knew and could infer. Their being armed would, in truth, be somewhat of a hindrance under normal circumstances; bandits usually attacked those who weren’t prepared for it, preying on the weak and helpless in order to leverage their strengths for maximum gain. But these men were trained soldiers, fighters who followed a competent leader and who, apparently, didn’t fear the repercussions that would inevitably come for them. That made them dangerous, yes, but it also made them easier to goad, if they used the right bait.

"I don’t think so. These guys fought their way out of the garrison in Hohei-Cho; a couple of girls, even armed, probably won’t scare them much at all." Her reply was low, but the tone firm; she was certain that the men would spring at the idea of grabbing them if given the chance. Two weeks in the wilds, without any companionship, was sure to make the majority almost feral for a woman- especially one they thought had a bit of spunk. Still, they had been walking for some time now, and without so much as a hint of trouble, so maybe…

Ah. Finally. Saya thought as they rounded a bend in the path, coming face to face with a large tree that had inexplicably fallen onto the road, blocking the way forwards. It was a classic; lay an obstruction over the road, then encircle the target to smash them down from all sides. Laying her right hand on Hitsuiken’s hilt, the Hono girl glanced in her teammate’s direction, nodding once before drawing the blade, holding it in a firm, steady grip. She didn’t have to tell Kumori they’d need to be on guard- she trusted the other Kunoichi enough to know that just by looking.

There was no sign of them as yet, but if the Futago paid attention, she might notice the slight rustling of leaves, or the crack of a twig beneath feet, as if someone (or many someone’s) was trying to move through the trees quietly…

Futago Kumori

[Futago Kumori]

Kumori nods at the explanation that their targets would likely still be after them, even if they were armed, since they were able to escape from such a well-maintained garrison. She was honestly just a bit nervous; combat had been somewhat sparse since the last mission she'd been on with Shin, and now she was finally getting another taste of it with Saya, instead. Shin wasn't a friend of hers, but Saya and Kumori had been in the same Academy classes, and had even graduated at similar times, though they'd recently reconnected more often thanks to Kumori leaving her last Genin team once the others had promoted in their own Chuunin Exams, while she'd been mostly ignored by her previous sensei. So now they were all gate guards together, which gave them a lot more time to catch up.

She frowns when she sees the tree laid across the road. They hadn't heard what would have been a rather obvious crashing sound of a felled tree, which meant that it had been laid out this way before they'd arrived. It was quite likely, in her mind, that they'd been planning this for one of many merchants that might have been traveling the roads, so it was lucky that they had instead "captured" two swordswomen, instead. She nods back to her teammate, and she pulls the blade and its attached scabbard from her back, connecting the two and locking the metal covering over her sword to turn what would have normally been a simple longsword into a massive weapon, standing with her back against Saya's so that both are watching the other's blind spot. Kumori herself watches all around herself as the grass rustles in ways that isn't quite similar to the way that the tall grasses do when they dance with the wind; this is from some human movement, with a purpose.

Kumori's grip tightens on the blade in her hands, using her greater strength to be able to hold such a giant weapon without exerting herself as she prepares for combat. Still, she puts on a bit of a smirk as she takes a deep breath in, and then out. She won't use her clan's hijutsu until the bandits make their first real attack, just to make sure she can stay in the fight as long as possible.

"Want to do a body count after? I bet you lunch that I get more than you do.~"

[Honō Saya]

Saya’s lips spread in a soft, knowing smile at Kumori’s quip, her honey-yellow gaze shifting between the three or so men who had melted out of the forest in front and beside her; three more came in from behind, making it a total of six foes. A little less than half of the numbers they were looking for, but given their armor and the various weapons the men wielded, they were definitely the right group. Ashigaru armor was very recognizable, and most bandits didn’t have access to anything close to the quality metals needed to forge a proper weapon.

"Can’t kill all of them Kumori. We need one to show us where their hideout is." She replied, her tone matching the Futago’s as she glanced between the three men in front of her, who looked remarkably at ease for civilians about to take on a Shinobi. Not that they knew that, of course- they’d rather intentionally kept their Kusagaure headband hidden, to make the ruse all the more convincing. Still, the trio were confident, and not without good reason; though none of them were wielding a spear, they each had a kanabo in one hand and a buckler in the other, and were arrayed in a loose triangle formation, with the bulkiest of them in front.

Without waiting for the men to attack, or even speak, the Hono Genin moved forward, bringing Hitsuiken up in a fluid two-handed rising diagonal that was aimed at cutting the man in front of her clear in half. He reacted well, managing to get his shield up in time, his eyes widening at the force behind her blow; she didn’t let up though, slipping past his somewhat clumsily counter attack and stabbing her falchion through his exposed knee before twisting to her left, out of the way of his nearest comrade’s attempt to swipe her head off from the side.

Normally she would have followed up such an egregious miss with a counter, but before the redhead could capitalize on the mistake her instincts kicked in and she rolled, narrowly avoiding another, this time much more precise, attack from the third man, who had swung around behind her in an attempt to pin her between himself and his colleagues. Chakra pulsed through her arms, her hand pressing against the grass as she pushed away from the men, leaping up and onto the fallen tree, her body twisting around to face her foes, who looked on, grim but determined to continue. She had no idea how Kumori was fairing, but with her group…

Well. They really should have paid more attention to what was beneath their feet.

"Kumori, BOOM!" She shouted towards the Futago, giving her notice before forming the singular hand seal needed to activate the seal she had placed on the dirt a second ago- an explosive seal, strong but not overly so, which immediately went off beneath the men’s feet in a shower of dirt, fire, and body parts.

Three down.

Futago Kumori

Combat Info

SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu Used:

NAME: Ittoryu: Ryuurei Fusagu [One Sword Style: Flowing Block]
RANK: D
STAMINA USAGE: Very Low
CLASSIFICATION: Bukijutsu
ELEMENT: N/a
HANDSEALS: N/a
DESCRIPTION: Less a set technique and more a way of utilizing one’s weapon to the fullest, Ryuurei Fusagu is designed around one core concept- the art of "flowing,” like water, around an attack in order to open up new angles and create opening in an opponent’s defenses that would not naturally be there if you stand against them face to face. To this end, the steps of the technique are rather simple: the user brings their weapon up to deflect an opponent’s blow as normal, but steps around the attack rather than holding their ground (without dropping their block), thus deflecting the incoming blow while forcing their enemy into a momentary overextension, opening them up for a counter-strike. Though quite useful, this technique is limited to use in close quarters, and is utterly useless at range.

NAME: Exploding Seal Jutsu [Bakukami no Jutsu]
RANK: C
CHAKRA USAGE: Low
CLASSIFICATION: Fūinjutsu
ELEMENT: -
HANDSEALS: 0
DESCRIPTION: One of the simplest jutsu thought to almost all beginner fuuinjutsu users. This technique has been used for centuries being put on exploding notes of all sorts. The idea behind this jutsu is to seal a certain amount of the user's chakra inside of a seal and release it at a later date using a simple seal. The user is capable of inscribing the seal onto any [non human] surface and the explosion strength can be varied depending on how much chakra the user puts into the seal,C rank being your average explosive note.

SA's:
A Bright Burning Light [Enhanced Chakra Reserves]
Born with abnormally large chakra reserves, Saya is capable of utilizing more jutsu than the average person of her rank, and can continue to use them at a much higher rate, allowing her to fight longer than others of her rank can without running out of chakra.

Seals Are Cool, I Swear! [Fuinjutsu Proficiency]
Having spent much of her time as a Genin learning the intricacies of Fuinjutsu, Saya has a better understanding of how seals interact with chakra than most others of her rank, which has allowed her to implant Fuinjutsu onto an object struck by her blade, so long as she has prepared the technique beforehand. This does not allow a character to bypass any restrictions on a Fuinjutsu, and Saya must concentrate on the Fuinjutsu being used through the blade in order apply it, making it impossible to channel a Fuinjutsu through the blade while concentrating on another jutsu (or use another jutsu while a Fuinjutsu is channeled through it).

Equipment:
Yoton Forged Steel
Forged using a unique blend of Iron Ore that can only be smelted with Yoton Release chakra, Hitsuiken boasts a surprising level of durability for a weapon of its rank, allowing it to shrug off blows that would shatter lesser blades with nary a nick or scratch. Additionally, the blade rarely needs to be sharpened, as its edge is quite hard, though of course it does require polishing and maintenance from time to time (this does not mean it is any sharper than normal).

Chakra Conductive - Fuinjutsu
Created specifically with the users Fuinjutsu prowess in mind, Hitsuiken lives up to its name by enabling whoever wields it to channel fuuinjutsu through it so long as the character has the correlating SA. This allows the wielder to apply said seals to the surface of the next object the blades touches, be it organic or inorganic provided the technique itself can affect said object in the first place. This does not allow a character to bypass any restrictions on a Fuinjutsu, and the user most concentrate on the Fuinjutsu being used throught the blade in order apply it, making it impossible to channle a Fuinjutsu through the blade while concentrating on another jutsu (or use another jutsu while a Fuinjutsu is channeled through the blade).

[Futago Kumori]

Kumori smirks when she hears Saya remark that they can't kill all of them, since they'll need at least one alive to be able to find their hideout, but still, it wasn't an outright denial of her little wager. Instead of responding, though, she watches as several of the bandits appear from the foliage to surround them on the other three sides, but Kumori has already activated her adrenal gland, stimulating it and causing the world around her to feel as though it's slowed down, and the vagabonds all look like they're moving through molasses. Saya barely has to get the word out before Kumori is already on the move, using her greatly enhanced speed to race past the trio of bandits in front of her so that she can safely breathe Fuuton chakra all along the massive blade she's wielding, causing the already quite hefty blade to become truly immense.

Such a technique was normally capable of turning simple kunai into scimitars, but the effect is even greater as the Wind Release chakra covers her blade, causing it to turn a quite bright and minty shade of green before she once more grips Osorubeki in both hands and twists her body, putting the full weight of the blade and her natural strength into a powerful swing by the time the bandits are even aware that she's behind the trio of them. With all of her improvements to an already impressive weapon, the blade sings as it slices through the air, cutting straight through the three bandits in front of her. Thankfully, Saya has already leapt away by the time the blade is cutting an arc in front of Kumori, as the extended length of the blade could have cut all the way through where both women had been standing only moments ago as the Wind chakra slips through all three bodies with a satisfying, if sickening, ease, as though their bucklers and armor had not even been there.

Kumori wrests control of the blade back by the time the swing is completed, and the Wind chakra dissipates from the steel of her weapon as she twists it back around to point directly at another of the bandits, the smirk never having left her face as the explosive seal causes the ground to erupt, and she can see that the remaining few bandits are certainly no longer feeling so brave...

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Fūton: Shinkūjin [Wind Release: Vacuum Blade]
RANK: C
CHAKRA USAGE: Low
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu
ELEMENT: Fūton
HANDSEALS: 0
REQUIREMENTS: Weapon
DESCRIPTION:
The user exhales wind-infused chakra onto a weapon in order to increase its sharpness, range and lethality. For example, the user can infuse a kunai to resemble a makeshift scimitar or infuse shuriken to increase their range and cutting power.

[Honō Saya]

It didn’t take long for the bandits to crumble.

The ground erupted in fire and dirt, two men blown to pieces by her seal while a third was knocked back, blown away by the force of the explosion, bleeding out from his knee and screaming his head off. One cut form Kumori, swift and brutal, was enough to fell three of them in the blink of an eye, the top half of their bodies toppling one way while the bottom half went the other, blood spurting from their eviscerated torso’s and pooling beneath the Futago’s feet, leaving the ground slick and uneven. Three seconds, five dead, neither of them hurt- and they hadn’t even been trying, not really.

"That was way too easy." The Hono girl said as she slid off the tree trunk, her lips parting in a slight frown at the man’s screams. A quick glance at Kumori was enough for her to verify her friend was unhurt, though her eyes sported the telltale signs of having used her clan’s Hijutsu; she would need a bit before she could safely use it again. "You think they sent the B-team?"

Her words were light, almost airy as she strolled across the patch of scorched earth and body parts towards the bleeding bandit, Hitsuiken held loose at her side. His screams had died down now, replaced with soft, gasping pants; his face was pale, his hands clutching at the wound in his knee, trying to stop the flow of blood. It was pointless, of course. He’d lost too much, his own body’s instincts working against him, the shot of adrenaline that came at the start of combat pushing his heart to beat faster and, therefore, pump more of his precious red lifeblood out through the wound.

"You’re not long for this world. You know that.” Saya said, looking down at the dying man as she spoke; her tone had shifted now, going colder and more harsh, but not so hard as to make him recoil. "Tell us where the others are, and I’ll make it quick and painless." The man, already pallid, when white as a cloud, breath hitching in his throat as he glanced between her and Kumori, his kanabo just out of reach… only for his shoulders to slump, all the force and fight draining up of him in a single, ragged breath as he fell back, looking to the sky.

"There’s… a small fort, to the southwest. By the river, hidden in… the trees...” He said, voice soft and dull, his breath light and shallow now. A few seconds later and his eyes closed, and in a flash her falchion shot out, thrusting down through his chest to pierce through his heart in a single, quick stab that ended his suffering. Cold, yes. But a mercy, in its own small way.

Futago Kumori

[Futago Kumori]

Kumori feels quite pleased with her own technique's power, and she certainly thinks to herself that she's probably ready for the next Chuunin Exams, wondering for a moment if she'll perform even better than Saya had. As she ends the use of the Vacuum Blade technique, she replaces the sword onto her back again, still within easy reach while Saya asks her if they had perhaps sent the B-team out for this job, and she shrugs her shoulders, though her eyes are still a bit jumpy from her own use of her adrenal gland. It would pass gradually, and then she knows a headache is on the way, though she had noticed that the headaches were becoming less painful and seemed to appear over a longer period of time. Perhaps she was becoming accustomed to the adrenaline surge, although she couldn't know for sure.

"Perhaps they did; I doubt they expected a couple of skilled shinobi to come down this path, since it's usually just merchants and their bodyguards, and if we had been merchants with body guards, this tactic would have worked swimmingly."

She follows Saya over to the one screaming bandit still on the ground, who she looks down on with hard-set eyes even as he grips the bloody stump that had once ended in a foot. She, like many in Nohara no Kuni, held nothing but disdain for ashigaru who would give up a steady paycheck for only the potential of greater gains in the form of banditry, which hurt the farmers and the merchants of the grassland country that they had been tasked with protecting. At least he's somewhat redeemed himself by giving the two kunoichi information on where the bandit fortress was, and so immediately after he receives his eternal reward, Kumori turns and smirks at the redhead, despite the throbbing pain sensation in her own head.

"That's three each now.~ Shall we get a move on towards the fort?"

[Honō Saya]

Saya looked at the dead man’s corpse with a slight frown, her honey-yellow gaze lingering on the man’s bloodsoaked chest as she thought over what he had said. There was, to her knowledge, no fort where the man claimed his comrades were hiding; sweeps were done rather frequently to see if groups such as this one had taken over any old fortifications, which meant there was likely something new in place. Something clever, if it had been passed over by the Ashigaru patrols.

"I wouldn’t be so sure, Kumori-chan; there’s no fort in the forest by the river." She said after a long moment, flicking the blood from Hitsuiken’s length before she sheathed the falchion, her voice calm but sharp, as if all her thoughts were perched on the edge of a knife. Which, in a way, they were; there was always a slight tension to her shoulder whenever she went out on an actual mission like this, the smallest hint of unease whenever the prospect of combat was at hand. It kept her honest, kept her vigilant, kept her from breaking down when the pressure was on… and, right now, it was telling her something was very, very wrong.

"So either he was lying, or…" Saya paused then, her frown widening as she looked up… just in time to see a volley of a dozen or so arrows flying through the air towards them. She didn’t think; instinct kicked in, her hands coming together to form a single seal as her chakra network surged, pouring energy into her limbs. There wasn’t time for her to speak, just move, so as her Shunshin coalesced she pivoted, blurring into motion and slamming, physically, into Kumori, sending the both of them tumbling into the forest but, thankfully, out of the path of the arrows.

"Fuuuuuuuck…"

Futago Kumori

Combat Info

SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu Used:
NAME: Shunshin no Jutsu [Body Flicker Technique]
RANK: D
CHAKRA USAGE: Low
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu [General]
ELEMENT: None
HANDSEALS: 1
DESCRIPTION: By invigorating one's entire body with chakra, a shinobi can seemingly disappear and reappear in another location faster than most people can see. Often times one's movements are disguised with the use of an extra element, be it a smoke bomb, leaves, water, sand, etc. in order to hide the user's trajectory from those with skilled eyes. Though it mimics teleportation, it is important to remember this jutsu merely boosts the agility of its user. As useful as this technique is, it can only be used 4 times in a battle thread, compounding in exertion and difficulty each time. with any more usages beyond that result in muscle tears in the legs from overexertion. The hand seal for this technique must be held until the shinobi reaches their destination, making it impossible to utilize other techniques regardless of any preparation.
SA's:
A Bright Burning Light [Enhanced Chakra Reserves]
Born with abnormally large chakra reserves, Saya is capable of utilizing more jutsu than the average person of her rank, and can continue to use them at a much higher rate, allowing her to fight longer than others of her rank can without running out of chakra.

Seals Are Cool, I Swear! [Fuinjutsu Proficiency]
Having spent much of her time as a Genin learning the intricacies of Fuinjutsu, Saya has a better understanding of how seals interact with chakra than most others of her rank, which has allowed her to implant Fuinjutsu onto an object struck by her blade, so long as she has prepared the technique beforehand. This does not allow a character to bypass any restrictions on a Fuinjutsu, and Saya must concentrate on the Fuinjutsu being used through the blade in order apply it, making it impossible to channel a Fuinjutsu through the blade while concentrating on another jutsu (or use another jutsu while a Fuinjutsu is channeled through it).

Equipment:
Yoton Forged Steel
Forged using a unique blend of Iron Ore that can only be smelted with Yoton Release chakra, Hitsuiken boasts a surprising level of durability for a weapon of its rank, allowing it to shrug off blows that would shatter lesser blades with nary a nick or scratch. Additionally, the blade rarely needs to be sharpened, as its edge is quite hard, though of course it does require polishing and maintenance from time to time (this does not mean it is any sharper than normal).

Chakra Conductive - Fuinjutsu
Created specifically with the users Fuinjutsu prowess in mind, Hitsuiken lives up to its name by enabling whoever wields it to channel fuuinjutsu through it so long as the character has the correlating SA. This allows the wielder to apply said seals to the surface of the next object the blades touches, be it organic or inorganic provided the technique itself can affect said object in the first place. This does not allow a character to bypass any restrictions on a Fuinjutsu, and the user most concentrate on the Fuinjutsu being used throught the blade in order apply it, making it impossible to channle a Fuinjutsu through the blade while concentrating on another jutsu (or use another jutsu while a Fuinjutsu is channeled through the blade).

[Futago Kumori]

Kumori tilts her head when Saya expresses doubt, and then explains that there is no fortress in the forest by the river, causing her to frown in worry. She similarly wipes her blade clean, slipping its surface across one of the dead men, at least on a portion that wasn't splattered with blood already in order to keep the sharpened sheathe clean, before she sees Saya's reaction to something, and she quickly turns in that direction, drawing the weapon to prepare to swat away the arrows she now sees hurtling towards both women... but unfortunately, instead of trying to deflect so many projectiles, she winds up sprawled in an instant on the ground with Saya, grunting as the pain of their collision finally rings through her nerve endings. The sudden motion had been somewhat disorienting, but at least now Kumori was definitely unharmed.

"Owwwwww... Thanks, I suppose..."

She quickly gets back up to her feet and brings her massive blade to bear once more, but at least in the forest, they're less likely to have to face down an actual volley; blindly firing into the forest was not conducive to success, although now any archers would be able to get the drop on them from almost any angle, which did make defensive options rather more limited. So the only way forward was through, and their best bet was to run in the direction the arrows had come from. At least both herself and Saya were relatively unharmed.

"We'd better head in the direction those arrows came from. A retreat won't do us any good... How loyal someone must be to lie even when there is no real benefit to do so, only for the sake of one's comrades? And yet, that loyalty could not be given to Kusagakure. How foolish."

[Honō Saya]

Saya rolled off of her friend with a groan, doing her best to ignore to surprising softness that was cushioning her face and neck in favor of testing her aching left shoulder; a sharp, stabbing pain radiated from her collarbone, drawing a hiss of pain from the redhead as she wobbled to her feet. Still, she and her partner were safe, relatively speaking, and Kumori was more disoriented than hurt, so she’d count it as a win.

"It was nothing." She said, taking a deep breath while drawing Hitsuiken, left arm hanging limp at her side. She could get it checked out by a medic when they made it back to town; right now, they had a mission to complete, and a group of bandits to track down and kill. A rather clever group, if her hunch was correct. "And I don’t know if they lied to us; they went down too easy to be proper Ashigaru."

They had to have known Kusa would send Shionbi after them eventually. Saya thought, motioning for her comrade to take point, following after her as stealthily as she could without jostling her injured arm. If those men we killed were honest, then either they’ve managed to build a fort somewhere without the Ashigaru noticing… or they were bait. It made sense, after a fashion- success brought numbers, and what better way to utilize those new recruits than in a gambit meant to catch some unsuspecting Shinobi off-guard?

It took a few minutes, but eventually the pair of Genin began to see signs of the archers that had attacked them; a dozen discarded bows lay scattered on the ground, with tracks leading in every direction but the one they had come from, as if they had fired their volley and dispersed back into the forest like mist. Where the hell are they…?

Futago Kumori

[Futago Kumori]

Kumori can't help but to sigh and feel disappointed when they come upon only the discarded bows on the ground. She knows well enough that leaving bows strung like this and especially touching the ground was likely to ruin the bowstrings, which was not something you wanted to do if you were an experienced archer. It would have made more sense to take the bows with them, which likely meant that this was also a potential trap... The brunette makes sure to avoid touching any of the bows herself. A cache like that was certainly a possible bait for an explosive mine, and so she makes sure that her friend doesn't also get too close to the bows.

"Hmmmm. They've likely gone in every other direction. I don't have any tracking techniques, and you've got a wounded arm..."

Kumori turns her head this way and that, feeling as though they're being watched even now. At least without the bows, they might not have any method of attacking them with arrows; if they do try to attack, they'll do so with melee weapons, most likely. If this was anywhere near their campsite or base of operations, they also had the field knowledge advantage, and they weren't going to be able to beat them like this. Wounded, disoriented, and unaware of the area around them, Kumori considers a retreat for now, if only to get her friend some medical help until they return to the mission and take down the others. She also wanted to get the tree out of the path, just in case any other merchants came around down the path, but she wasn't sure they could do that safely with the actual soldiers most likely keeping watch to try some form of ambush.

The swordswoman keeps her back to Saya's, ensuring that neither of them has a completely open blind spot to exploit, wielding her sword in front of her to prepare for any kind of assault.

"Following these individual tracks, we'd probably never get them all... So what now?"

[Honō Saya]

When Kumori spoke, Saya nodded, her brows furrowing as she glanced about, looking for any signs that the men who had been wielding the bows were nearby. The dirt was disturbed in most every direction, with tracks overlapping one another until it was all but impossible to tell which direction anyone went- likely an intentional choice on the part of the bandits, though why they would retreat when they held the advantage, both in numbers and in tempo, was beyond her. And to waste such resources as the bows? It was almost as if they really had left in a hurry.

"Something about this is definitely off." She said after a moment, glancing back at her friend as she spoke, slipping Hitsuiken into her mouth for a moment to form three hand seals- just in time for the sound of a voice to hit both their ears from above, loud and booming and definitely very, very close.

"You Shinobi really do think highly of yourselves, don’t you?” The voice proclaimed, drawing Saya’s attention upwards, her gaze looking for and finding the source; it was a man, tall and broad of shoulder, his body covered in makeshift camouflage that blended in with the foliage so well she might never have noticed him if he hadn’t spoke. More began to appear all around them, in the trees and and in the bushes, a good half-dozen silhouettes standing to their feet, pointing spears at them in a near perfect circle. "As you lovely ladies might have guessed, you’ve walked right into our lovely little trap. If you lay down your weapons and cancel whatever you were about to do, we promise you’ll be… well taken care of.”

The Hono girl paused, looking at her friend for a moment before she spat Hitsuiken out into her unharmed hand and stabbed the blade into the ground, nodding once… only for the black-iron blade to sprout lines from within, forming a singular seal around the pair that everything and anything within five meters of her and Kumori out, hard enough to knock every spearman on their ass.

Hopefully that would enough of an opening for Kurmori to deal with the downed spearman.

Futago Kumori

Combat Info

SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu Used:
NAME: Hanpatsu Shīru [Repulsion Seal]
RANK: C
CHAKRA USAGE: Low
CLASSIFICATION: Fūinjutsu
ELEMENT: -
HANDSEALS: 3
DESCRIPTION: After performing the necessary hand signs the user then places their hand onto whatever it is to place a visible 5m radius seal upon it. Anything other than the user that tries to cross the seal from outside will be repelled and be pushed back noticeably throwing them off balance and guard. This seal lasts 5 posts or until removed using an unsealing technique.
SA's:
A Bright Burning Light [Enhanced Chakra Reserves]
Born with abnormally large chakra reserves, Saya is capable of utilizing more jutsu than the average person of her rank, and can continue to use them at a much higher rate, allowing her to fight longer than others of her rank can without running out of chakra.

Seals Are Cool, I Swear! [Fuinjutsu Proficiency]
Having spent much of her time as a Genin learning the intricacies of Fuinjutsu, Saya has a better understanding of how seals interact with chakra than most others of her rank, which has allowed her to implant Fuinjutsu onto an object struck by her blade, so long as she has prepared the technique beforehand. This does not allow a character to bypass any restrictions on a Fuinjutsu, and Saya must concentrate on the Fuinjutsu being used through the blade in order apply it, making it impossible to channel a Fuinjutsu through the blade while concentrating on another jutsu (or use another jutsu while a Fuinjutsu is channeled through it).

Equipment:
Yoton Forged Steel
Forged using a unique blend of Iron Ore that can only be smelted with Yoton Release chakra, Hitsuiken boasts a surprising level of durability for a weapon of its rank, allowing it to shrug off blows that would shatter lesser blades with nary a nick or scratch. Additionally, the blade rarely needs to be sharpened, as its edge is quite hard, though of course it does require polishing and maintenance from time to time (this does not mean it is any sharper than normal).

Chakra Conductive - Fuinjutsu
Created specifically with the users Fuinjutsu prowess in mind, Hitsuiken lives up to its name by enabling whoever wields it to channel fuuinjutsu through it so long as the character has the correlating SA. This allows the wielder to apply said seals to the surface of the next object the blades touches, be it organic or inorganic provided the technique itself can affect said object in the first place. This does not allow a character to bypass any restrictions on a Fuinjutsu, and the user most concentrate on the Fuinjutsu being used throught the blade in order apply it, making it impossible to channle a Fuinjutsu through the blade while concentrating on another jutsu (or use another jutsu while a Fuinjutsu is channeled through the blade).

[Futago Kumori]

Kumori and Saya find themselves surrounded by spearmen, so it was good that she'd decided to go back-to-back with her teammate, if only to make it easier to hold them off for now. With a quick look at one another, it seems that both she and the other gate guard she'd taken this mission with have a plan of attack for this situation, and while the redhead stabs her blade into the ground in order to knock back the spearmen closest to the two women, Kumori is building up Fuuton chakra within her blade again, causing the greatsword to turn a mint-colored green from the chakra flooding all throughout the sheathe before she calls out for Saya, just to ensure that she wouldn't be hit with the attack she's planned on using.

"Saya! Drop!"

With Kumori unwilling to provide any further warning than that, she swings her blade in an arc directly in front of her, giving it a wide swing, though it seems at first to go over the spearmen completely. Unfortunately for their opponents, the blade itself is not the actual danger, but the invisible blade of wind that is following after the swing of her blade, which lops the tips off each of their spears, and then continues forwards, slicing straight through the fibrous meat of every tree two hundred and seventy degrees in front of her, causing them to fall as the wind-natured chakra slices through the wood and causes each of them to topple. Kumori herself uses her greatsword to slice through the branches as trees fall towards herself and Saya, leaving themselves untouched, though the same cannot be said for at least some of the spearmen that had been on the ground.

Right away, she reaches over and grabs hold of Saya's injured arm, pulling on her hard to get her to change locations, although she winces in empathy for her pain; she'd had her arm yanked out of socket and had to have it yanked back into place when she'd been young, and it had been almost traumatically painful, though she remembers that the pain had seemed to instantly disappear after her arm had been put back into socket. She has to hope that her pull had been enough to do just that. Now Kumori is facing off the few remaining ex-ashigaru with her weapon directly in front of her, prepared for the slaughter.

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NAME: Fuuton: Hakōgeki [Wind Style: Rending Light Attack]
RANK: B
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium
CLASSIFICATION: Bukijutsu
ELEMENT: Fuuton
HANDSEALS: N/A
REQUIREMENT: Sword
DESCRIPTION:
The user gathers fuuton chakra into their blade before slashing to release the chakra in a large cutting arc, the nearly invisible wind blade able to slice through stone, it travels up to 20m and is as wide as the full swing of the sword used for the technique.

[Honō Saya]

Saya had a grand total of one breath between when she stabbed her blade into the dirt and when her fellow gate-guard barked out her command, but in that breath she kept her eyes glued to the man above them, honey-yellow gaze narrowing even as curled herself into a ball, wincing in pain at having to move her injured arm. Above her, Kumori’s wind slice cut through trees and spears alike, smashing four of the spearmen into paste before they could so much as roll out of the way; two were, fortunately for them, not in the path of the Futago’s attack, though they got up slowly, their legs unsteady beneath them as they fumbled for the swords on their hip, clearly dazed.

The man above them, the leader, leapt from the tree branch he had been sitting in, drawing a pair of thin, curved knives from his belt as he fell, clearly trying to land atop one of the Genin and stab them. Unfortunately, the same seal that had knocked his men flat on their asses was still active, and it stopped him from coming any closer as well, his body bouncing off the invisible barrier with an audible oof, as if all the air had been forcibly knocked from his lungs by the impact.

The Hono rose to her feet a moment later, yanked upwards by Kumori’s fierce strength, her lips parting to unleash a raw scream of agony as the Futago wrenched her arm back into place… only for the pain to dwindle to a dull ache the instant it popped back into its socket.

"A little warning next time! That hurt." She said, her voice sharp with the lingering effects of pain as she pulled Hitsuiken from its place in the dirt and sheathed it, breathing slowly. Her eyes found the leader’s frame after a moment, lips parting in a snarl as she moved in, leaving the two remaining men to Kumori, chakra pulsing through her falchion. This one was hers, if for nothing else than for the temerity of wasting his own men to try and kill a pair of Genin. Nevermind how close he came.

Still, Saya closed the distance between them rather quickly, breaking the threshold of her seal and ending its effect even as the man managed to rise to his feet, bringing his knives up in a hasty cross block that intercepted her draw cut, his superior size allowing him to hold firm… for a moment, until the Senkin seal she had channeled into her blade took affect, turning what ought to have been a few ounces of steel into three-hundred pounds of metal, the knife wrenching the man’s whole body down before he let go, leaving him perilously open. An opening that she took, slamming the pommel of her blade into the back of his head, cracking his skull and knocking him out in one clean, painful blow.

Futago Kumori

Combat Info

SPOILER: Click to show

Jutsu Used:
NAME: Senkin [Great Weight]
RANK: D
CHAKRA USAGE: Very Low to Medium
CLASSIFICATION: Fūinjutsu
DESCRIPTION:A simple technique where the user will inscribe a small seal upon an object and apply their chakra to the object, allowing that object to act as a regular weight. It appears in Kanji of how much weight is added up to a half ton and can be broken with a single seal by the user. It cannot be used on another person and costs chakra based upon how much weight is applied to the seal.
Very Low (0-300lbs)

NAME: Iaido [Quickdraw]
RANK: C
CHAKRA USAGE: Very Low
CLASSIFICATION: Bukijutsu
ELEMENT: -
HANDSEALS: 0
DESCRIPTION: Iaido is a style of quickdraw. The secret behind the speed of this quick draw comes from two separate movements. The user will begin with their hands close each one on the opposite side of the tsuba [guard]. The two movements needed to take out the sword in an instant faster than one can raise their guard come from the pulling motion onto the sheath as the user takes out the sword as well as flicking the sword out with their thumb increasing the speed of the pull onto the handle.
SA's:
A Bright Burning Light [Enhanced Chakra Reserves]
Born with abnormally large chakra reserves, Saya is capable of utilizing more jutsu than the average person of her rank, and can continue to use them at a much higher rate, allowing her to fight longer than others of her rank can without running out of chakra.

Seals Are Cool, I Swear! [Fuinjutsu Proficiency]
Having spent much of her time as a Genin learning the intricacies of Fuinjutsu, Saya has a better understanding of how seals interact with chakra than most others of her rank, which has allowed her to implant Fuinjutsu onto an object struck by her blade, so long as she has prepared the technique beforehand. This does not allow a character to bypass any restrictions on a Fuinjutsu, and Saya must concentrate on the Fuinjutsu being used through the blade in order apply it, making it impossible to channel a Fuinjutsu through the blade while concentrating on another jutsu (or use another jutsu while a Fuinjutsu is channeled through it).

Equipment:
Yoton Forged Steel
Forged using a unique blend of Iron Ore that can only be smelted with Yoton Release chakra, Hitsuiken boasts a surprising level of durability for a weapon of its rank, allowing it to shrug off blows that would shatter lesser blades with nary a nick or scratch. Additionally, the blade rarely needs to be sharpened, as its edge is quite hard, though of course it does require polishing and maintenance from time to time (this does not mean it is any sharper than normal).

Chakra Conductive - Fuinjutsu
Created specifically with the users Fuinjutsu prowess in mind, Hitsuiken lives up to its name by enabling whoever wields it to channel fuuinjutsu through it so long as the character has the correlating SA. This allows the wielder to apply said seals to the surface of the next object the blades touches, be it organic or inorganic provided the technique itself can affect said object in the first place. This does not allow a character to bypass any restrictions on a Fuinjutsu, and the user most concentrate on the Fuinjutsu being used throught the blade in order apply it, making it impossible to channle a Fuinjutsu through the blade while concentrating on another jutsu (or use another jutsu while a Fuinjutsu is channeled through the blade).