[Fujiyama Orbei]

It wasn't every day that you woke up and looked at your work load, only to find that you had been tasked with establishing the relationship between a giant ass turtle with an entire island on its back and Kumogakure as a whole! As always, the ever affable and upbeat Orbei had been more than excited and available to go and represent her beloved home village to anybody in the world, let alone a mysterious giant animal who had been alive for likely far longer than most older people she knew! Her hurried steps into the mission prep room had been more elated than usual, with the giant woman's face plastered with an excitable grin.

"This is gonna be awesome! I have so many questions I have got to ask this old turtle! I bet he's older than...everything! Don't turtles live to be like a thousand years old?"

The oni had almost fully reverted to her demeanor as both a child and as a genin to the village, seeking knowledge with the most knowledgeable and venerable of people. Her work was laid out before her, as she would need to put together a small group of fellow shinobi who might have been interested in meeting the huge turtle. Not exactly a hard feat in itself as plenty of Kumo-nin were certainly lacking anything better to do for the present time. But that man she had met before on another outing, Tozuki Omori, wasn't it? He could definitely be of great user here! If not only for that fact that Orbei had enjoyed their time together while in Bear Country. The other person was one of the other jounin that were centered around the village, Eitama Sora. The oni had not interacted with her as much, although she welcomed any face provided they were just as eager to go meet Genbu. She put out the call for the two other shinobi with a note saying to meet her by the front entrance of the village.

Once the trio was gathered, Orbei beamed down at the other two shinobi.

"Looks like we're all here! Ready to go and introduce ourselves to a sentient island turtle, Shinobi Squad?~"

The trip towards the wilds of Shimagame hadn't been too overly difficult to do. It was the same route as everything else would take so freely to get there. It wasn't until they came to an unmarked pathway near the lip of the basin that the actual hard part would begin. Through the brush barricading the entrance against the supposed feet of those brave enough to venture into the untamed wilds lied their target. It was hard to estimate whether or Genbu would be friendly towards outsiders given what limited intelligence there was of him, though it would ultimately be up to this small team to build up a rapport to establish a base on his back, in exchange for assisting in the turtles.

"I'll take charge up front and make sure that nothing's come for either of you two. Don't worry, I'm a tough girl. Dad always said that I was big for my age." Orbei smirked at Omori and Sora as she put both hands into the bushes leading them down the pathway of Genbu. "Ready to get rolling? Here we go!" She summoned what small amount of chakra there was into her arm to warm up enough to strip away the plant life blocking their path without much interruption. She left a trail of broken branches, searched leaves and more while slowly making her way further along the unventured path.

Omori Tozuki | Eitama Sora

[Eitama Sora]

SORA

❴ down came the rain ❵

This was certainly a departure from the norm, the usual day to day tidings of training young genin were traded in for an actual mission. Sora had been tasked to join a squad that would make contact with the large turtle island, Genbu, and officially establish a rapport between it and the village. It was a unique mission to say the least but oddly enough it was not the first time in recent history that Sora had dealt with diplomacy --perhaps a reason he a had been chosen for the mission-- but he was excited for the opportunity to help Kumo continue to prosper.

The other two joining him were figures that the special jounin weren't too familiar with but considering they were jounin their strength and skills couldn't be waved away, and for the first time in... well, quite some time the Mayonaka found himself as the lowest ranking member of a squad. Having to defer to the opinions and expertise of others instead of having to answer and lead a group of genin would be a welcome change, perhaps even relaxing. Granted, adults could be just as stubborn and thick-headed as his group of young knuckleheads but the man had faith.

Entering the mission briefing room Sora's eyes were immediately drawn to the large, giddy woman; he honestly didn't know people could even get that big but here she was. No wonder Kizumi had selected her as a bodyguard, the appearance alone was a great deterrent. "It's a unique situation for sure, but I'm interested to see how this turns out." He replied sharing in Orbei's excitement.

With the group assembled they'd soon head out towards the island which if one didn't know any better looked like the entrance to a lush jungle. It was truly amazing that a living creature was sustaining an entire ecosystem on its back yet that exact thing was the reason Kumo needed to build a rapport with Genbu: to better keep track of things going on around here. The man would simply nod as he followed behind the giant woman who was using her considerable size and strength to clear a path through the brush for them, no branch, bush, or leaf was safe in her wake.

❴ Notes go here! ❵
❴ Fujiyama Orbei Omori Tozuki ❵

❤

[Omori Tozuki]

    As he so often did, Tozuki simply appeared in the room as if he had been there all along. It was a simple trick he had used long ago to act as if he was faster than assumed, or was teleporting even, but really he had just used a quick Genjutsu on the room. He had been out all night on a mission and had only gotten maybe four hours of sleep, so he wasn't up to dashing around just yet, let alone acting energetic. This small trick allowed him to at least seem less lazy than he was at the moment, as he stretched now standing next to Sora after dropping the genjutsu. These two weren't really his normal crowd to hang out with, but then again unless you were a part of the SOKA, of the Omori clan, or a Conciliators of Hotei, then you'd be less likely to even really see much of him.

    The other two were more openly excited, in Orbei's case, giddy even, but Tozuki didn't outwardly share the same enthusiasm with them. Internally he was jumping up and down to meet a creature like this, as he was more fond of animals usually than anything humanoid, so when this mission chance came up he jumped at the chance. When they were ready to go, he slid his hands into his pockets and nodded to them both, following at the back of the group.

"Didn't think giant island turtles were a real thing. I'm hoping it doesn't try attacking us."

    After a pause, he raise a brow curiously.

"Wonder what it's like to fight with an island."

[Fujiyama Orbei]

"'Eyyyy! That's the spirit!" Orbei beamed down at Sora. She was used to the gawking considering her size and genetics. The Onigo were always going to be pretty bulky, but she wasn't entirely sure about why she was so huge. Whatever it was, it probably didn't matter too much in the long run to her. Sure, it made getting into doors for normal people kind of a hassle, and she really couldn't go inside some settlements, but the oni didn't view it as any sort of negative against her. Just like life, it had its perks and drawbacks. "Make sure you're on our best behavior! We've got to make a good impression!"

Of course, when they arrived, the three of them were all primed and ready to make their way into the dense wilds of this little adventure. Orbei cleared the way in front of them while Omori had spoken up about what it would be like to throw hands with an island. She turned her head back to him with a friendly pout. "We are NOT fighting the turtle. I mean, yeah, it would be cool, but I've never thought about it." A moment of silence came between them. "Okay, so I have. But that's besides the point."

The trio continued on until the daylight outside of them was blotted out by the canopy of trees above them. The streaks of the sun above them were fleeting while their trail continued along. The Oni's large shape had made it pretty easy for either of the two to avoid any unwanted interruptions. She roamed forward and suddenly came to a stop in front of them, spitting out to the side and groaning. "Blegh! Spider webs!" She wiped it away from her face and continued along until rummaging in the bushes had come along. Orbei grinned to herself, continuing forward while walking away at the scenery in front of them. It followed close by, but never once striking. Bushes moved around nearby as some feint growls and noises could be heard.

"Looks like we're getting a proper welcome from some of the locals." Orbei said while keeping her eyes on them. "Ready to have some fun, guys?"

Omori Tozuki | Eitama Sora

[Eitama Sora]

SORA

❴ down came the rain ❵

For a moment Sora believed he had misheard Tozuki wondering how it would be to fight something the size of an island, but as Orbei eventually admitted to sharing similar thoughts it became strikingly clear that his two mission partners were insane. Granted, if things did turn south it was probably better to have people around who had the confidence of being able to best an entire ecosystem, but hopefully it would just stay theory. Getting through the brush was pretty simple with the large woman clearing the way for them but all that foliage moving had not gone unnoticed apparently.

There were going to be sounds in a place like this, it was after all a habitat for who knew how many species of animals, but the calls and growls had grown more consistent since they began trekking through the jungle and it seemed that curiosity was getting the better of the locals. Sora guessed it would have been too much to ask for a trouble free jaunt to meet the big guy and even the imposing figure of Orbei wasn't enough to dissuade the animals from getting worked up. Such is life.

"I guess it was only a matter of time. We probably should try to avoid killing them if at all possible, don't want to make a bad first impression." Sora spoke readying himself for what was to come. Truth be told he didn't know if the turtle even knew what was going on or if it got updates of happenings, but it was better to be safe than sorry and having to apologize because they got a bit overzealous against the wildlife.

❴ Notes go here! ❵
❴ Fujiyama Orbei Omori Tozuki ❵

❤

[Omori Tozuki]

"You don't have to fight it, you can just watch."

    Grinning at her response, as now he was getting more curious the longer they walked. Not able to hold back a single laugh, at her eventual response, he just shook his head.

"See?"

    At least he has a bit of something to distract him, as he wasn't exactly loving the view, not because he didn't like this specific terrain, but it was getting so dense it was hard to see much but the back of Orbei and Sora's heads. Given the slow pace, it wasn't getting anymore interesting the longer they pushed closer, but at least he wasn't the one having to lead the pack. He yet again let out a bit of a laugh through his nostrils at Orbei's reaction to the spider webs, surprised it had taken this long to get a face full of them given where they were walking.

"Why are you spitting? Are you up there walking with your mouth open?"

    Chuckling to his own question, then turning his attention to the noises that were building up around them. It wasn't unexpected that whatever was around them wasn't fond of them coming into their territory, as they likely weren't used to seeing humans push through here so brazenly as the three of them were.

"Yeah what Sora said. I'd prefer to avoid even fighting them unless they give us no choice. Just keep pushing forward and try not to act like we are a threat. If they attack us unprovoked then we do what we have to do."

[Fujiyama Orbei]

"Ah, always taking the honorable approach, ey Eitama-san?" Orbei grinned with excitement, as if she were fully ignoring the fact that the three of them were currently being stalked by predators they didn't know the capabilities of. It was nice that all three of them didn't midn that tidbit, as Orbei had met plenty of newbies that had a tendency to overthink and analyze when they should be embracing the chaos that was the shinobi way. "Sounds great to me! But something tells me our hosts aren't going to return the favor!" As if on cue, a sudden growl from a beast nearby would come from the far away brush. It was a mix of a tiger mixed with the deep soprano tones of a buck. Not something that you wanted to be messing with alone! "Let's get ready to rock, boys!"

They continued forward, unabashed by the direct growls and threats from those who watched on. Orbei kept her nailed hands at the ready, stomping along the unbeaten path with a great elation. After a few more seconds of muted ambience, a silhoutte had rushed at her from the bushes beside her. "Gotcha!" On instinct, Orbei raised an arm in the direction and flexed. Her monstrous strength meeting the fangs of the would be attacker, forcing it backward, while its appearance was revealed. This misshapen beast was a mixture of what appeared to be a tiger of some kind, blended together with the hardened exterior of one of the turtles. Perhaps this was one of the side effects of being so close to them? "Looks like we found our stalkers!"

The beast let out a terrifying roar, as several more of its friends would come to join the fight. They appeared out of the brushes and were dispatched fairly easy. Until they began to exert chakra and summon forth suiton techniques of their own. Orbei cursed to herself, having her katon blast be reduced to nothing as a result. "N-Normals tigers in this country don't do this type of thing, right?!"

Omori Tozuki | Eitama Sora

[Eitama Sora]

SORA

❴ down came the rain ❵

"Just want to make a good impression is all..." Sora replied trying to avoid bringing up the fact that Orbei and Tozuki may have been a bit too eager to use lethal force on whatever was stalking them. The path they were clearing through the jungle was one thing, the plants would regrow in time, but taking out the animals would was a different story that they probably didn't want to have to tell their side of once they came face to face with Genbu. This was their home after all so it only made sense that the animals would want to figure out if what had intruded was friend, foe, or food.

Soon enough the odd sounding growls would turn into attacks and Sora couldn't quite figure out which was more surprising: Orbei's strength or the turtle-tiger hybrid that had jumped out of the bush at them. Needless to say it was the first time the man had seen something like this and his mind wandered for a moment if other species had been effected like this on the island, but such thoughts would be cut short as more of the creatures appeared, some even being able to utilize ninjutsu. Forming a set of seals with one pair of hands Sora would fire off several cobweb like projectiles from his mouth aimed at ensnaring the beasts and sticking them to the surface of whatever they hit first be it ground or tree. The sticky webbing was strong enough to avoid being pushed through or cut without use of chakra so any hit would be sitting ducks for follow up moves if the situation called for it.

"Turtle tigers using ninjutsu, what is going on out here?" Well, the second part wasn't out of the ordinary he supposed but these unnatural hybrids definitely were.

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Kumosouka no Jutsu [Spider Cobweb Flower Technique]
RANK: C
CHAKRA USAGE: Medium
CLASSIFICATION: Ninjutsu | Kekkei Genkai
ELEMENT: N/A
DESCRIPTION:
Kumosouka is a Ninjutsu technique that can only be used by descendants of the Mayonaka Clan. Kumosouka is very similar to Kumoshibari no Jutsu, however in this technique, the user fires a lot more webs than in the other Jutsu. After gathering their spider thread into their mouth, the users will spit a plethora of net-like cobwebs at their target. These nets will fly through the air and if they touch the opponent, they will stick and bind the ninja to any nearby surface. In addition to that with this Jutsu, the user can follow up binding the opponent with binding their body parts, such as their hands to ensure that they cannot use Jutsu which require hand seals.

❴ Notes go here! ❵
❴ Fujiyama Orbei Omori Tozuki ❵

❤

[Omori Tozuki]

    As a hunter in more than once sense of the word, being stalked by such creatures did very little to unnerve him. He had hunted and had been hunted, and this didn't so much feel like being hunted as much as walking into the area of a territorial animal that was overprotective. He had joked about fighting the island, but he had no actual interest in hurting any of these animals.

"Let's try not to needlessly hurt these beasts. They probably think we are a threat, so let's not prove them right."

    As one of them jumped out from his left side, he stopped moving and jumped back, then jumped back to where he was as it lunged across and past him, causing him to sigh. Using his speed and maneuverability he moved in front of Orbei.

"You two need to close your eyes and keep walking forward slowly. Do NOT open your eyes until I tell you to. I'm going to take the lead for now. Now, close your eyes!"

    Bringing up his hands and quickly creating three handseals, he began to glow a blinding white light, blinding being the key word. Anyone or anything that so much as looked as him while he held this genjutsu would be immediately blinded as if they'd had the light of the sun shone directly into both their eyeballs.

"Anything or anyone that looks at me won't be seeing anything at all for a while. I've created a genjutsu to make myself glow so bright it will literally blind you, so I can't stress enough not to open your eyes. Grab my shoulder if you need to and walk slowly behind me."

    Hoping this would work, he held the genjutsu and pulled out one of his retractable staves, opening it and using it to push through forward until he felt it was safe enough to drop his genjutsu.

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Raiton: Raikochu [Lightning Release: Flash of Lightning Pillar]
RANK: C
CHAKRA USAGE: Low [Continuous]
CLASSIFICATION: Genjutsu
HANDSEALS: 3
ELEMENT: Raiton
TRIGGER: Light (Sight)
DESCRIPTION:

After performing the necessary hand seals, the user begins to glow a bright white light with electricity sparking around themself. The light then triggering the genjutsu, which causes them to envision the light quadrupling in luminosity and blanketing the entire field in a white light, enough to blind all sight.

    

[Fujiyama Orbei]

"No clue! Maybe it's because of the close proximity to Genbu or something that's causing this?"

Orbei asked as she went to try and tangle with one of the beasts currently trying to chew on her arm. For such a scrawny little thing compared to the eight foot woman, it was heavy enough to force itself upon her. Sora and Tozuki behind her had their own troubles and such given the amount of attacks being launched their way. Just water jutsu of all kinds being hurled at the three of them. Fortunately, if one was so keen enough, they would be able to discern most of it were rather elementary. Some of which barely scratched the surface of C-rank, if even that. Sora fired out a sticky flame net that indeed would find its mark with several of their attackers. They sat bundled together, attempting to free themselves from the webbing as Orbei managed to get a hold of the tiger-turtle thing and raise it by the neck with one hand. She flipped it behind her, trying to gently toss it behind them as its back collided with the ground with an audible thud. It scrambled to get back on its feet and jump back into the brush.

"Anybody got any ideas? Or are we fighting more?" Orbei asked before Tozuki would chime in and offer a way out of their situation here. "Got it." The oni stepped aside to enable him to take up the front position, then closed her eyes as instructed to by the other man. After a brief pause for some presumed hand seals, a muted light partially pierced through Orbei's eyelids, no doubt because of the jutsu being used. The sounds of the tiger turtle's attacks had softened when the jutsu went into effect. The sound of hissing, growling and frenzied plagued the area around them, as the beasts were fully blinded by the jutsu being used. With them distracted, all they had to do was to continue forward. "C'mere, Eitama-san." The oni reached behind to place an arm on the other male, then put hers on top of Nozuki's head. She was the bridge connecting everyone together, just like the hero she's wanted to be! As they continued forward, the sound of tigers flailing around could be heard going onwards and onwards, until they were out of the thicket, leading down a more open ended and coastal rode.

<><><>

When the party was fully away and out of listening distance between the animals behind them, the tigers would growl, pawing at their eyes.

"Waugh! This didn't work! Why didn't they run away?" came a higher pitched, youthful voice.
"I knew I should have joined the scouting parties..." said another younger sounding tiger-turtle, sitting down on the ground in a fury.
"I think I got one of them! They're really furry though."
"Noshouka, you shellhead, that's me! Ugh! I hate guard duty!"

Standing in front of the blinded party was another older looking tiger-turtle. One who had an heavy scar over the left eye, with a beard just below where the chin of a tiger sat. He looked back upon the party behind him, narrowing his eyes before bellowing out, "Silence yourselves." The group's whining reached an end as all three stood and presented themselves to the older tiger. He growlled for a second or so before rearing his head back into the thicket. "Take your posts once again, it will fade. If another party shows up, defend this once more. I shall inform Genbu of what has happened."

<><><>

Once out of the thicket and no longer under threat of being blinded, Orbei opened her eyes and grinned over at Tozuki. "Nice thinking, Tozuki-san! Looks like we can finally catch a break for a change. Looks like we're near the water now, at least." Indeed, the dirt path they had continued to grow to led towards a wide open field in the middle of a coastal home. Ruins of dilapidated buildings and more took over. The wood rotted and gnarled, the stone crude and ill placed. In the middle of all the destruction was some kind of thoroughly ruined template, the remnants of which that remained were nothing more than half destroyed torii gates that withstood the elements for an unspecified amount of time. The entire was was flooded, with water from the shoreline in front of everyone seeping through the land.

"Looks like some sort of settlement or something? It's been like this for a while. Wonder why though." Orbei said while looking at where they were likely headed if following the pathway. The beach was nearby, alongside some in tact torii gates that led to the shores, where a large island mass would be waiting for them from afar. A platform on the beach stood out among the sands, its stone faded a mossy green, with the area that could have been a staging area having been long since passed. "Alright boys, wanna check out the town or that weird spot by the shore first? Unless somebody has a way to get to that island, I don't think we can swim that whole way."

SPOILER: Click to show

NAME: Tekken: Arashi Tatakitsukeru [Iron Fist: Storm Throw]
RANK: C
CHAKRA USAGE: Very Low
CLASSIFICATION: Taijutsu
ELEMENT: N/A
DESCRIPTION:

Preformed with one hand, the user will pick up their opponent before bringing them over their shoulder, smashing them into the ground or whatever is behind them with enough force to daze and crack the bones of the opponent. Leaving them dazed and open for an attack.

Omori Tozuki | Eitama Sora

[Eitama Sora]

SORA

❴ down came the rain ❵

The sticky webbing had been enough to immobilize the tiger-turtles without hopefully hurting them too much, though if the shells were anything like real turtles then it probably didn't hurt them at all. Nevertheless the longer the commotion carried on the greater chance more and more creatures would show up and the last thing any of them wanted was a drag out fight against the entire island. First impressions and all. Thankfully Tozuki had a plan to fast track them out of the situation but it required Sora and Orbei to keep their eyes closed and follow along. Good enough. Taking hold of one of the giant woman's arms the man would close his eyes as the growls of the tigers would once more fill the air like they had been attacked, but there was nothing in retaliation and soon enough they were on the move once more through the jungle.

Once a clear distance away Sora would open his eyes to see that they were no longer being actively set upon and was thankful for it. The island had demonstrated why so much mystery surrounded it and also why Kumo was keen on making contact with Genbu: there was power to be harnessed here. Eventually the trio would come across some dilapadated ruins which signaled that at one point someone had called this place home, or at the very least performed some kind of ceremonies here, which was a huge surprise to the special jounin as he had believed this place to be untouched by people.

On the other side was a beach that seemed like any other aside from the torii gates and platforms jutting from the lapping waters. They led to a much larger area that didn't seem to have any discernible purpose but may have still been worth checking out. Which would the trio check out first, if either? The ruins looked well past holding anything of value and perhaps only more creatures that would try and take a bite out of them, and the raised platform at the beach was... just that. Of course there could have been more once they got closer but as for now the slightly more interesting looking option of the two had Sora's vote.

"The ruins may have some kind of insight on how to gain an audience with Genbu, or how to not get eaten by a giant turtle when we do find them."

❴ Notes go here! ❵
❴ Fujiyama Orbei Omori Tozuki ❵

❤

[Omori Tozuki]

    It was lucky for both of his companions that he had turned off his genjutsu, as neither had checked with him to make sure it was deactivated before simply opening their eyes once more, which would have been incredibly awkward. As soon as they were clear of the immediate danger, he didn't hesitate to fall back to the back of the three person line, much more wary this time around as they had already been directly attacked once. At the very least he knew that tactic would work, but it wasn't something he liked, because if it didn't work too well then it would just leave two teammates walking around with their eyes closed and open to attack.

    Unlike the other two now, he wasn't all that fascinated by the ruins they had found, as he was keeping an eye on the surrounding area.

"We can literally walk on water, so I don't feel like getting there is the hard part, but I don't really wanna do that..."

    Shrugging, as he moved around a bit more freely, having a slight look around.

"Not too interested in sight seeing, just being honest. But do what you need to do and I'm keeping an eye out for any more pissed off animals. I guess that platform looking interesting if I had to point somewhere?"