[Plotboard] The Cave

[Sanjuro]

The cave mouth was wide, stalagmites and stalactites marking the entrance like great teeth of stone. It seemed to swallow the sunlight, leaving the darkness beyond as a threatening warning to any who would step within. There was a soft wind that came from its depths, carrying on it a sound of wailing and moaning. Small, loose stones littered the floor causing Kazuo to step carefully as he got closer the rock face. Its general shape was ovoid, the walls beyond the marked entrance smoothly curved to the floor, the walls above arched another forty feet up to more stalactites and the bat roosts.

"Well, this looks suitably gloomy. You take me to all the best places, spider-bastard." Kazuo muttered, pulling his jacket closer around him, not that provided much in the way of warmth with its distinct lack of sleeves. There was a chill to the cave, the distinct lack of sunlight meant the lack of its warmth as well. His voice carried into the darkness and he strained his hearing as hard as he could. There was no sound of water ahead, not that he could pick up. The shuffling of sleeping bats above and his own incredibly loud heartbeat were all he could make out.

But he could still smell his prey. Over the scent of guano and the natural must of the cave itself, he could pinpoint the distinct scent that he had been following for the last day. They had passed through here, of that he was certain, he had caught their scent on one of the stalagmites which gave him a fresh source to work with for the moment. Koji was sniffing the area as well, the dog's eyes glinting an eerie green which took Kazuo by surprise when he turned to look at his partner. "I freakin' hate caves. You coming, spider-bastard?"

[TyDie]

The Masked Commander of ANBU had traveled alongside the Inuzuka for a day, but with his brash attitude it seemed like much longer then that. Multiple times he had found himself thinking "I should have just killed him and claimed it was an accident", it would have been easier than dealing with him and the annoying mutt that followed him. "Just want to make sure you enjoy the first date. The place is a little run down but trust me, whats inside is worth it." The amount of complaining the dog man did during the trip was shocking, but he had to admit... this cave wasn't very inviting.

The dank, gloomy smell that permeated the air caused his nose to twitch ever so slightly under his mask. The damp, cold air worked to congest his sinuses with feverish pace, and the pitch black darkness that resided at the deepest depths would keep even hardened men from exploring too far. Luckily, the two shinobi were both excellent trackers, and their senses were incredibly keen. Navigating the cave would be a cake walk... assuming the natural fauna caused little issue. The smell of their quarry was still present, and it was strong too...

"He was here an hour ago, at most. We're catching up to him." Kazuo led the way into the cave, and Yosuke was quick to follow behind him. "Caves are natural havens for spiders, I'm perfectly at home in this kind of place. Dogs on the other hand..." He trailed off, knowing his ally would have an idea of where he was going with the thought.

[Sanjuro]

"The creeper is perfectly at home in a cold, dark cave that smells of bat shit and week-old dirty socks. I can't say I'm surprised." Kazuo muttered under his breath, knowing full well that Yosuke could hear him. Kazuo could get along with just about anybody, at least to a certain extent, but some people just rubbed him the wrong way. People that hid behind masks and acted superior to those around them? Definitely on his shit list. "Let's just get this done. I've broken I don't know how many rules following this guy." Add that to the fact he still didn't quite trust the ANBU, and well… it went some ways towards explaining his current attitude.

Leading the way down into the darkness, Kazuo was forced to rely on his other senses more and more as the light of the sun vanished behind them. He stepped carefully, distributing his weight with a practiced ease, and with a little help from a layer of chakra under the soles of his sandals, the Inuzuka was moving silently over the rough ground of the cave. The dark passageway quickly led downward and two turns later, on the steady decline, meant that he couldn't see his own nose in front of his face. Koji was right beside him, Kazuo's fingers gently brushing against his head, relying on the dog's better low-light vision and following the scent trail, which was now mixed with the slightest hint of oil.

"Well, they had an advantage we don't. They had a torch. Unless you can… wait, you can't see through echolocation, can you? Or you happen to be an Empath? That'd actually be kind of useful right now." As Kazuo ran his hand along the wall it felt far too smooth and well-made to be natural, they finally reached the end of the passageway. Before them was a large cavern, easily 100 feet or more in height and even further in width. The only reason Kazuo could tell was the faint light sources dotting the landscape, which was made up of a veritable forest of stalagmites and stalactites, some of which were well beyond 30 or 40 feet in length. "… I've got a bad feeling about this."

[TyDie]

Yosuke rolled his eyes at the dog man's comments about him and the cave, shaking his head as the two descended deeper into the depths. As things got dimmer, navigation became more difficult, and it wasn't long before their pace slowed to accomodate their lack of vision. Kazuo's questions were of course all wrong, but this wasn't the first time he'd dealt with a cavern and had no way of seeing. "Unfortunately not. My skills in tracking are second to none, I'm practically impossible to sneak up on. However, all of my sensory abilities deal with locating opponents without my eyes... If something moves i'll know where it is, but we're flying blind as far as making our way through is concerned."

It was disconcerting to say the least, but hopefully his experience in doing this before would help. Yosuke was silent as a shadow passing through this darkness, keeping track of his partner through scent, sound and even touch. Not physically of course, his sense of touch was so keen he could feel the air displaced by Kazuo's movements, and he was able to reliably follow the Inuzuka as a result. "This isn't my first spelunking trip though. We should be fine."

He said it to assure himself just as much as his partner, but truth be told he wasn't entirely certain... He had the same feeling of dread that Kazuo had.

[Sanjuro]

Kazuo led the path forward, moving in and out of the stalagmites, his ears straining to pick up on anything that might give him a clue as to which direction to go. He heard… nothing. No bats, no rats, no spiders or bugs. It was just… silence. He could still follow the scent trail, in fact given the lack of any other real odours down in this cave it stood out like a sore thumb. A soft whine came from in front of him, drawing his attention to Koji. The ninken was moving forward slowly, slunk down like he was about to pounce, and had whined to draw his attention to something that he couldn't see in the darkness; a wire.

"That's just fantastic, ain't it? This place has probably been booby trapped up the wazoo." Kazuo knelt down and followed the wire as best he could without touching it, pointing it out to Yosuke before he did so. "Oi, spider-bastard, you ANBU are meant to be good with traps, right? Reckon you can disarm it?" From what Kazuo could see, the wire wrapped around the base of one of the nearby stalagmites before disappearing into the darkness, continuing to who only knew where. All Kazuo knew was that it probably wouldn't end well for anyone involved.

The real annoying part was the scent trail followed this exact path. Their quarry had either set the traps themselves as they went by or knew this path well enough to avoid them. "This Murai character. You said he's good at Genjutsu. Think this is an illusion or an actual trap?" Kazuo had no idea when he could have fell under another illusion, but it was possible. The bastard had used scent the last time to catch him out, maybe he had done it again with the torch?

[TyDie]

Onigumo moved along behind the Inuzuka, straining his senses to catch a hint of something, anything other than their quarry. Much like Kazuo however, he found them to be completely, utterly and unnaturally alone. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as the sense of danger continued to grow, and it was only made worse by Kazuo's discovery of a trap. Yosuke took a look at the trip wire, realizing how simple it was in execution, but remembering that the actual delivery could be much more potent. Still, it seemed simple enough to disarm. "Give me a moment." He stated plainly, motioning for Kazuo to give him room to work.

Once Kazuo was clear, Yosuke knelt down to the wire and ever so gently lifted on it with a single finger. The wire wasn't too tense, which meant that there was a small bit of slack... enough for him to work with. The only difficult part was that both ends of the wire went off into darkness, so he couldn't say for certain which end of the wire was actually trapped. As he removed a Kunai from his ninja pouch, he thought on what Kazuo had said about Murai. "It's entirely possible, I wouldn't put it past him. But we can't take that kind of chance either. We have to treat it like a threat, even if it may not be."

As he spoke, he took the Kunai to the wire and with a neat slash he cleaved the wire in two, both ends held in their initial positions by a single hand. From there it was a simple enough task to use his other hand to pull one of the wires away, maintaining the same tension it currently held while he brought it over to a nearby stalagmite that was out of their way. He then wrapped the wire around the stalagmite and tied a simple, one handed knot; nothing tight by any means, but it would hold long enough for him to properly tie off the other end of the wire in the same fashion. Once he had done so, he would go back to the sloppily tied wire and rework it to be much more stable. With that, the wires would be out of their way, allowing for the two to pass.

"Amateur work. Trap setting is clearly not his strong point. Let's get moving, we spent too much time on that as it stands."

[Sanjuro]

Kazuo kept an eye out as Onigumo worked on the trap currently preventing them from moving forward. As much as he could keep an eye out in an environment like this. It was more keeping an ear out, really. The place was eerily silent, so any sudden noise would definitely stand out like a sore thumb. "Do you know why this guy went rogue? You were obviously watching him for a while if you knew exactly when he'd leave." It was something Kazuo had always had trouble understanding. Why sign up to be a ninja if your loyalty wasn't to Konoha? And if it was and then something changed, how did people not notice it sooner and try to talk them down? Pack was everything to an Inuzuka and if one left, turning against the rest, it would have been like someone ripped off his own arm and decided to beat him with it. Still… "Traitors deserve to be hunted down like rabid animals. I'm not sayin' otherwise. Just… wonderin' how someone gets to that point."

Once he had the distinct snick of the wire being cut, Kazuo immediately braced himself for the oncoming explosion. Just in case. And then Onigumo stood tall and demanded they pick up the pace. The problem was if Murai had laid more traps, even amateur ones as Onigumo suggested they were, they would be that much harder to spot. Unless… "You want to sacrifice stealth for speed? 'Cause I can do that." Regardless of his answer, Kazuo would go ahead with his plan anyway. Taking a kunai from his pouch, he wrapped a piece of his tattered coat around the edge and cut it away. He didn't particularly care about the damage he did to it, only what other people did. He ran through a short set of hand seals and blew a small stream of fire onto the bandaged kunai.

The chakra in the fire would keep it lit regardless of the lack of adequate fuel, the coat wrapping was just something for the fire to cling to. "One make-shift torch, at your service." The beautiful thing about the chakra-based flames was… there was no smoke. No scent to interfere with their noses. With that he ploughed forward, keeping the lit kunai low to the ground, and decided to simply jump over any of the trips wires he came across. With the torch-light he could see they were attached to clusters of explosives that, if he guessed right, would trigger a cave in.

"I think these traps have been here a while. There's too many for Murai to have set up as he ran from us. Even some of the wire is starting to sag. I'd be careful spider-bastard, one sneeze too hard could bring this bloody place down."

TechniquesShow

[Katon • Lingering Flame]
D-Rank Ninjutsu
After performing the necessary hand seals, Kazuo will exhale a small stream of fire that extends no further than a few inches from his mouth. This flame is relatively weak but lasts for 10 posts, providing a source of smoke-less fire; ideal for camping, igniting a torch, or providing warmth.

[TyDie]

Onigumo let out a small sigh under his mask as the Inuzuka asked about Murai's reasons for desertion... Even he had to admit that the man had motive. "His wife turned traitor. Left with his best friend to go start a new life outside of the village, on the lamb, as if it were some romantic fantasy. He later found that his wife had been murdered by the man he called friend, who had taken his own life afterwards. He had no outlet for that rage, no way to put his demons to rest. He was vulnerable, and counseling didn't help. It wasn't long after that ANBU got the call to keep watch... That was 3 months ago." He silently wondered just how devout Kazuo really was to his 'hunt all criminal scum down' mentality, now knowing the hell this man had been through that lead him to this point in his life.

"But that doesn't excuse the lives he took to escape the village, or the lives he threatens by working with this group. Don't let your feelings cloud your judgement, or you might end up on the wrong end of my wires." Kazuo's torch would prove quite valuable to their progression, as Yosuke was now able to easily see the traps and what they lead to. Stepping over them proved simple as well, making their speed much faster. "I'll make note of that and try not to sniff to hard. I think i'm allergic to dog." He began to fake sneeze, stopping before the climax just to rile up the poor Inuzuka.

Even an ANBU agent could play a joke now and then.

[Sanjuro]

"You're right." Kazuo muttered. The story he heard was heart-wrenching, no one deserved to suffer that kind of a fate. Kazuo wasn't a romantic, he didn't believe in true love or fairy tale endings or anything like that. He had seen enough of the bad shit of the world to understand that nothing was perfect and most everyone had a reason, even convoluted, for doing said bad shit. However, that didn't excuse one simple thing. "Pack is everything. Konoha is my pack. It sucks that something so shitty happened to one of our own but there were other avenues of dealing with it. There is no excuse for abandoning the village." He turned his slitted brown eyes to Onigumo's mask and graced him with a feral grin. "Right back at ya, spider-bastard. Give me a reason and I'll rip yer throat out… with my teeth." He waggled his eyebrows before turning his attention back to the path ahead, moving at a higher speed now that he could avoid the traps. "And don't be ridiculous. No one is allergic to dogs. Probably your own bullshit that you're smellin'."

Speaking of smelling, Kazuo took a deep breath, searching for any other sources of scent within this cave. Something he should have done when he first stepped into the new cavern. At first, he smelt nothing, just the scent they were following, which was growing stronger by the minute, but then there was a faint lingering scent below that. And another. Three human scents. And another thing that felt out of place. This earth smelt… new. Not brand new, but not old enough to have formed such a massive forest of stalactites and stalagmites. From what he knew of said things anyway, it wasn't like he was an expert on the subject.

That was when he felt the rumbling. It was low, deep in the ground underneath them, but it was enough to alert Kazuo that someone was very wrong. He looked down at the ground below him and noticed, with a growing sense of horror, that a wire was slowly fading into view under his foot, snapped in two. He looked up just in time to see the smirking face of Murai holding his hands in a seal before he waved and disappeared down a small dark tunnel.

"Motherf-"

Crash!

Several of the stalactites crashed shattered at their base and came smashing down around them, Kazuo quickly throwing himself in the path of one with enough force to punch it out of the way of spearing Koji like a giant earthen lance. "RUN!"

[TyDie]

Yosuke was pleased to hear that Kazuo did not sympathize too much with the enemy. Yosuke's heart went out to Murai as well, but he was of one mind with the dog man; Konoha is everything. He was surprisingly even happier to find that Kazuo returned his threat, giving only a chuckle and nod of understanding in response. Honestly, it was how he would want it to happen... If ever he went rogue again, he was not of sound mind and needed to be put down before he became a threat. He was glad to see that there were still shinobi capable of doing that.

As he was about to return the shithead's witty retort, Yosuke felt the vibrations in the earth long before Kazuo did, though Kazuo's nose beat his in that race. Both of them had ample warning that something was happening, and it was then that Yosuke heard that telltale "snap"... the snap of a wire breaking. He wasted no time taking off in Murai's direction, running ahead of Kazuo with his superior speed but taking a look back to make sure the Inuzuka was hot on his heels every now and then. A couple of stalactites fell right in front of the duo, to which Yosuke responded with a quick shoulder charge that shattered the rocks in an instant. He felt that calling deep in him to bring out the Broodfather, but he had to resist... it was a dead giveaway of who he was under this mask of his.

No, the two would barrel forward as fast as their legs could carry them, the chain of explosions behind them threatening a cave in that would capture them both within the stone jaws of the cavern.

[Sanjuro]

Kazuo struggled to keep up with the ANBU's speed and he certainly couldn't barrel through the falling pillars of stone without losing momentum like Onigumo could. Still, he did manage to swerve around a few and Koji mimicked his motions to avoid the falling rubble before it trapped them in an earthen grave. Being buried alive didn't sound like a very fun way to die, especially after getting caught in another genjutsu. A loud crash sounded ahead of them and Kazuo swore a storm when he noticed that Onigumo had avoided a particularly large crashing chunk of roof that was now blocking his own path forward.

Performing a few hand seals, he funnelled chakra to his arms and legs, his body structure shifting, before he performed another set of seals and transformed Koji into a doppelganger of himself. Speed enhanced and both able to do what they should have done from the start, the Inuzuka duo compensated for their delay by blasting through the pile of rubble that had gathered ahead of them. They would be behind Onigumo for a few moments, the man having blasted ahead of them, but that would give him time to follow Murai's ever growing scent trail.

Murai, after casting the genjutsu had taken off as fast as he could down further into the depths of the cavern. Here, the path was unnaturally smooth and there was a layer of residue along the walls like a thin, fine sand or powder. It was also straight. A straight tunnel that went up at an angle. Yosuke would find the path easy to follow but the unnaturalness of it suggested it was man-made and the residue that it was recent. As soon as Murai got out of the tunnel he would trigger another trap; a perfectly smooth sphere of condensed stone.

SpoilerShow

[Four-Legged Technique]
C-Rank Ninjutsu
After performing the necessary hand seals, Kazuo will flood his system with chakra and take on a more canine appearance. His pupils will become nothing more than slivers, his teeth will sharpen and his canines will extend into full-blown fangs, his nails extend into razor-sharp claws, and he will be able to travel faster on all fours. While active, this technique increases Kazuo's Speed by 6, although this comes at the cost of -6 Control over his chakra for 5 posts.

[Beast Man Clone]
C-Rank Ninjutsu
After Kazuo performs the necessary hand seals, Koji uses his own chakra to transform himself into a perfect copy of Kazuo. This transformed state gives Koji access to Kazuo's Taijutsu techniques and is classified as being in the Four-Legged technique for use in Piercing Fang. The transformation lasts for 5 posts but can be broken like all transformation techniques; with a few solid hits.

[Jūjin Style • Dual Piercing Fang]
B-Rank Taijutsu Manoeuvre
Prerequisite: [Jūjin Style • Piercing Fang], Both the clan member and the companion must have this technique.
A combination technique utilized by the Inuzuka clan members and familiars, this portion is performed by Kazuo. By spinning rapidly, Kazuo turns into a whirling mass before launching himself at his target. Using a full body attack allows Kazuo to hit an opponent or nearby object at full strength when they connect with their claws. In conjunction with the familiar's portion of this technique, it becomes extremely dangerous and can cover large areas with continuous assaults. Lasts for 5 posts or until it is cancelled.

[TyDie]

The destruction behind them only confirmed that they would not be leaving the way that they came in; this was clearly a one way trip. Whether it was to hell or not, that was still to be determined, as the two shinobi zigged and zagged through the collapsing cavern. Eventually, the cavern crashing behind them had stopped, and Onigumo breathed a small sigh of relief. Of course, it was short lived however, as a moment later he felt the rumbling in his feet. But this wasn't the same as the cave in, no... It was coming from within the cavern in front of them. It was then that he noticed the walls of the cavern they stood in, the fact that everything was far too smooth... it was man made.

Shit.

Yosuke had to think fast... they couldn't afford to backtrack, that would lose them too much time. And he was strong, but he couldn't keep tanking these hits, especially if that was a Doton technique and not just a regular boulder. There was one option of course... He'd have to force it on Kazuo. He performed a short series of hand seals before approaching Kazuo, and as he wrapped his arms around the dog man, he said only four words: "Take a deep breath!" A moment later, the three would find themselves underground, shrouded in total darkness. A few seconds later, the rumbling above them signified that the boulder had rolled past them and that it was safe to come out. Suddenly, the ground above them fell apart, revealing the way up and back into the tunnel again.

"Sorry, had to think fast. Let's go, they can't be much farther."

JutsuShow

Doton • Trap Door
C-Rank Ninjutsu
Yosuke will perform a series of hand seals and channel Doton chakra into the earth beneath his feet. Then, he will suddenly disappear into the earth, dropping down 10 meters below the surface of the earth without leaving a hole to reveal his previous location. He is then immobilized, unable to move around or do anything until he activates the technique. Once this jutsu has ended, either by its 4 post duration or by him ending it prematurely, the earth above him will suddenly part, revealing a 5 meter diameter hole that leads back to the surface. Anyone standing in this 5 meter area is in danger of falling down into the hole towards Yosuke.

[Sanjuro]

Finally breaking through the rubble, Kazuo thought he'd have to spend some time and energy catching up to Onigumo. He wasn't sure if he was pleasantly or annoyingly surprised by the fact that he hadn't actually gotten that far ahead. Then again, when he realized exactly why the masked man had been halted, he had to admit that yeah, that would've stopped him in his tracks too. He crouched down, ready to throw himself at the boulder and try and smash it to smithereens, when all of a sudden, the ground dropped out from under the three of them, Koji being caught up along for the ride into complete and utter darkness.

"I get that you want some alone time with me, that's not unusual, I mean have you seen me? But time and place, dude, there's a time and place." Kazuo muttered, a chuckle to his breath, to try and hide the fact that he really didn't like being stuck underground of someone else's power. When the way back up was clear once more, Kazuo took off as fast as he could, which given his currently enhanced state wasn't insignificant. Koji was right behind him, though a touch slower as the transformation only have the dog his physical form and not his chakra prowess.

He was quick to pick up on Murai's trail once more and blazed a path up the tunnel and through the side exit, now moving into a more natural cave formation once more. The sound of trickling water reached his ears, but it wasn't loud enough to cover the sound of stone grinding against stone. Like something being slid into or out of place. His nose twitched as he slowed his pace, moving to the sound of the grinding stone as it came to a halt. He came to a section of wall that he could smell the scent trail going through. A false wall then. Something he could try and break through, but he had no idea what was on the other side.

Closing his eyes, he took a moment to breath in the air, scenting through the damp musk of the cave, and found that their quarry wasn't the only one that frequented this path. There were two other scents, one definitely male and the other female. The amount of perspiration he could smell from Murai suggested he was running low on stamina, he was sweating heavily and there was a certain level of anxiety and fear he could scent. He knew all three were on the other side of the wall, but he had no idea how far, if they were waiting for them, if Murai had warned them of his pursuers or if they were unaware of their presence.

Ideally, they would find another way around and take them by surprise. Maybe Onigumo had another useful earth technique that would help them out. Either way, he would relay what he had learnt to both Onigumo and Koji. "What do you want to do?"

TechniquesShow

[Predator's Instinct • Primal Nose]
B-Rank Taijutsu Discipline
After utilizing his nose and training his sense of smell for so long, Kazuo has become able to tap his sense of smell to its most refined and most bestial. Kazuo is able to pick out the most common scents and focus on the freshet ones in an area of 10 meters around him. By doing this Kazuo is able to tell the amount of individual humans, animals or creatures and the most intense smells of each person, including if they were injured or if they were tired by gauging sweat levels. Kazuo can then track these groups of scents with relative ease.

[Predator's Instinct • Gender]
D-Rank Taijutsu Discipline
Males and females naturally give off different pheromones which affect their natural scent. Kazuo's sense of smell is so honed that he can determine if someone is male or female by their scent alone, though this can be more difficult if they are covering their scent with something like perfume.

[Predator's Instinct • State of Affairs]
C-Rank Taijutsu Discipline
Having spent so much time honing his sense of smell, Kazuo has become more attuned to the way smells can reflect the emotional state of the one who emanates them. He can tell when someone is nervous or excited, scared or happy, etc, from their scent alone.

[TyDie]

All Onigumo would do in response to Kazuo's silly remarks was chortle a little, rolling his eyes before the grouned opened up and the two were free to move. Yosuke followed the dog man through the caverns, smelling the same smells that Kazuo was smelling but perhaps not with as keen an accuracy as him. After all, he -was- an Inuzuka; He might be able to smell well, but they were practically part dog. When they reached the wall, Yosuke paused as well and used his senses to try and discern any information that perhaps Kazuo might have missed.

His sense of smell wasn't as good as Kazuo's sure, but his sense of touch was far beyond Kazuo's. And with it, he would be able to tell if anyone was on the other side of that wall... provided they moved at least a little bit, made some form of a tremor in the earth. "Stay completely still..." He would crouch to the ground and freeze, closing his eyes and simply waiting, focusing, feeling... He felt nothing, however. "Either they're not close enough to sense... or they're standing still. I can't feel a thing." He was pressed for a plan of action and pressed for time... they didn't have much else to do except follow the trail.

Yosuke felt along the wall for a few moments, poking here and touching there until he found a stone out of place. Pulling down on that stone, the wall suddenly parted and revealed the next room... whatever was in it.

[Sanjuro]

Beyond the stone wall was a surprisingly well-kept room of sorts. The chamber contained a writing desk and stool, several tables with books and papers, and a mirror on a floor stand. Light was pouring from two oil lamps, one hung on the wall and another atop the writing desk. Thick rugs completely covered the floor. In the back corner was a ladder that led up to a trap door in the roof. It was easy enough to follow the scent trails of all three individual Kazuo could scent now through that door. Rather than barrel ahead, however, he took a moment to look around the room. They had been caught by trap after trap since chasing Murai and the Inuzuka had no desire to be caught in yet another one.

Digging up a few chunks of loose stone, he tossed them into the room at random points. A portion of one of the rugs depressed a little more than it should have but other than nothing jumped out at them or exploded. Apparently whatever allies Murai had weren't awaiting his arrival in this room and he had gone to find them. Which gave them a little time to either try and set up an ambush or go through the chamber for any helpful information. Carefully, Kazuo stepped into the room, holding his breath and waiting for the inevitable explosion. When none came, he let out a sigh of relief and carefully shuffled over to the rug that had a stone on it. Tossing it over, he found a pit trap filled with some rather nasty looking spikes.

'What kind of paranoid bastards are we chasing?'

Koji was sniffing the edges of the room, focusing on the separate scents, and monitoring the trapdoor in case the scent suddenly got stronger. In the mean time Kazuo would look to Onigumo and raised an eyebrow. He made a few hand signals, not wanting to risk speaking aloud now they were in the figurative lion's den. He wanted to know if Onigumo wanted to rummage through the chambers or set up an ambush for when they returned. If they returned. There was no guarantee they would come back for whatever was in here; their hideout had been made and they could just run.

[TyDie]

Onigumo took in the details of the room, his eyes darting everywhere with rapid speed to get a glance at everything he could. Kazuo took the helm in a search for traps, of which he did indeed find one; a spike pit. Crude, but effective... these guys weren't messing around. Kazuo asked his question silently through hand signals, and Yosuke nodded before he thought a few moments. He sniffed a few times, hoping to catch a whiff of someone... the trail let out the trap door, but the question was... what lay above that trap door?

No, they couldn't afford to simply wait around for the guys to come back. Murai knew they were on his ass, he had no doubt that the man was on the run. Onigumo gave the order to pursue, leave this place behind just as Murai and his buddies had. But Onigumo would take the helm... if an ambush was lying in wait beyond that trap door, better he take the brunt than the Inuzuka. That wasn't a noble act either, he was just convinced he was more hardened than the beast man, he could take the hit better.

[Sanjuro]

The trap door slid open without a problem, apparently being left unlocked by Murai in their haste to escape. Looking around the room, Yosuke would find himself in what appeared to be a small hovel. The floors and walls were dirt and the roof was low. A set of stairs led up and out of the one-room building. There was very simple amenities around the room; a old wooden table set low to the packed dirt floor, a 'bed' if you could call it that, it was simply straw thrown over the top of a few wooden boards. Simple baskets and clay jugs held basic foodstuffs but there was nowhere to cook them in the hovel. Yosuke's focus on his sense of smell would lead him along the trail of Murai and the two mystery scents, leading up the stairs and out of the hovel.

Kazuo and Koji followed along behind after giving the room below another once over. There was nothing of use in the cave below and he was beginning to assume it had been made using elemental ninjutsu, especially after seeing the state of the hovel above. He crouched low, moved as silently as he could, and opened his senses to what lay beyond. The roof of the hovel was thin, and the wooden door was old and poorly made. Where before he couldn't track through the thick earth and stone, these impediments were nothing to Kazuo and to Yosuke as well.

The door led out to a set of earthen stairs dug into the ground, leading up to a makeshift 'road' and a surrounding camp. Many of the houses had been dug into the ground as this one had been and the landscape was barren in a way that suggested they had definitely left the borders of Fire Country. There were people here, decrepit villagers who likely had little more than the clothes on their back. The scent trail led south, looping back through the village and towards the centre of it. Kazuo frowned a little at that. If it came to a battle, the potential for collateral damage just escalated greatly. Add in the fact that technically speaking he wasn't even meant to be outside of Fire Country and there was good chance that they could cause all kinds of political bullshit.

"This is bad."

"You should leave."

Kazuo's head whipped around to the source of the words, one of the random villagers had stopped and stared at the trio. He blinked, shook his head, and continued walking before another villager stopped on the other side of them and stared at the masked Yosuke.

"Leave. Now. Or suffer."

Again, the villager said the words and then looked around confused before continuing on their way. Kazuo stared at Onigumo. "What… the actual fuck… is going on here?"

[TyDie]

The scene that the two shinobi came out to see was disconcerting to say the least... these villagers were like zombies, their little hovel of a town was even more decrepit than most. "Took the words right out of my mouth Inuzuka." Onigumo spoke out in his gruff voice, taking in the sights and assessing any potential danger from these locals. They hardly even seemed to notice them... Until one of them spoke. And then another one. Kazuo was basically speaking for the both of them; he had no idea what was going on here. "I have no idea... And honestly, I don't aim to find out. Let's find our quarry and get the hell out of here as fast as possible."

He would turn his nose to the air again, following the scent trail south and deeper into the village. He was going to get this bastard, all of these bastards. He wouldn't suffer any threats to Konoha, and if these villagers were caught in the crossfire, so be it. No doubt his partner would take issue with that, but he couldn't care less.

[Sanjuro]

Following the scent trail led them deeper into the village. The straggling villagers that can seemed to be possessed earlier were now coming more frequently. It seemed like each new person they passed would stop everything they were doing to stare at the entourage with dead, soulless gazes, whispers of death and impending doom on their lips. The entire process wasn't only unsettling it was deeply worrying. Someone or something had to be controlling these people en masse. If it were a Genjutsu it would have been a permanent thing, but it only ever lasted for a second or two at a time before the villagers returned to whatever task it was they were performing.

Kazuo's fingers were twitching above his thigh pouch, itching to take out a kunai, just for something physical to grab onto and centre himself. Koji's hackles were raised, and he growled at every villager that turned their way with teeth bared and ready to pounce at a moment's notice.

And then they found the end of the scent trail. Murai was standing in a crossroads, not a perfect intersection of the village but one road ran east to west while the other was more on an angle, southeast to northwest. The buildings here were of a greater quality than the hovels they had so far seen, being made of actual standing wood and not dug into the ground. Murai was doubled over, panting heavily, arms flailing about wildly as he motioned to Onigumo and Kazuo's arrival. Beside him were two others. One was tall, lanky, with long free-flowing blond hair that easily came to their lower back. They stood calmly, a frown marring their face as they looked between Murai and the newcomers.

The greatest threat was the giant that stood behind them. Standing at least a full head above Kazuo's height, he was broad shouldered and muscular, the only visible flesh was their upper arms. Everything else, head to toe, was covered in a black body suit and gleaming metallic armour. Chest plate, forearm guards fitted with spikes, shin guards with the same spikes, shoulder pads and thick belt with metallic plates covering his thighs. The hilt of a sword was visible poking from above his right shoulder. The entire face was covered in a black mask, revealing no facial features, just slits for eyes were cold blue stared through directly at Onigumo and Kazuo, never blinking, never wavering. Atop his head sat, for lack of a better term, a crown of twisted iron that came to three points; seated between the three points, right on his forehead, was a deep red glittering gem of ruby.

The blond turned to the man for a moment, nodding as if hearing him speak, but there was no movement of his jaw, no indication that words were spoken, before the blond turned back to the trio and stepped forward, arms folded behind his back. "You failed to heed my master's warning and continually pursued our compatriot."

Another voice started, right behind them, and they would turn to find one of the villagers had begun to speak. "That was a mistake that will cost you your lives."

Another voice, a young child, probably barely even ten years old. "It's a shame, really. We had hoped to continue our work unimpeded for a while longer yet."

The blond once more took over, hands now visibly held in front of him in a hand seal. "Still, it was to be expected that Konoha would be made aware of our presence sooner or later. We shall simply have to ensure that you do not get the opportunity to report back."

Mist seemed to billow from every corner of the crossroads, filling the space, carrying with it an air of despair and the cold chill of death. Breathing, they would find that the air itself had indeed grown colder, cold enough that their breath was visible. The villagers didn't retreat as one would expect but instead stepped forward, crowding in around them. Kazuo swore under his breath.

"We can't do this here. We need to move them or get these people out of the way. Are you listening to me, Spider-bastard?"

[TyDie]

Yosuke's attention was drawn to each and every villager, not just the ones that spoke up. Each one that turned to speak to them, he fought the urge to lash out with wires and silence them right then and there. If not for Kazuo's presence, honestly he probably would have. Instead they would follow the trail to find Murai... and two other shinobi. One, judging by their control over the villagers and their appearance, was a Yamanaka. Then of course there was Murai, the man they had chased all the way here. And then of course, there was the gargantuan of a man... he had no idea who he was, nothing of him was visible save his eyes. But judging by his build and his equipment, he was clearly well versed in the ways of hand to hand.

The people began to gather around them, and Yosuke had already unraveled multiple wires, ready and raring to go. Then Kazuo piped up... Yosuke sighed under that mask of his. "While I agree with your assessment, I'm also not beyond going through the civilians. Don't like it, i'll take the heat and say you had nothing to do with it. I'm ANBU, I don't give a shit." He then changed his attention back to the guy in charge. "That said, i'm not looking to kill them if I don't have to. But i'll be damned if i'm going to let them stop me from dealing with you. They won't protect you from me, so they're worthless to you. Drop them, and let's fight this out."

Yosuke was 100% serious; he was in garb, no one would know who he was, and Kazuo sure as hell wouldn't be killing any innocents. Yosuke on the other hand? He couldn't care less.

[Sanjuro]

Kazuo stared at Onigumo as if he were insane, his disgust clear on his face. His earlier doubts, when this entire nightmare had begun, about Onigumo's true nature were rearing their head once more and if he needed further proof then this was it. "These people are innocent. I don't give a damn who you are or what you think you're entitled to, you piece of scum, but if you kill a single one of these people I swear by the Will of Fire that as soon as I am done with this lot I will tear your fucking throat out myself." The threat in his voice was clear, there was no joking this time. This masked man who thought that the ends justified the means had just stepped over a line that Kazuo could not abide by.

Unfortunately there was no time to deal with that. The sliding of metal against leather rang through the sound of the zombie-like crowd of civilians surrounding them. Kazuo's eyes cut across to the large man, who had drawn the sword from his back and what seemed like frost gathered around it, like visible breath on a cold morning. With a feral snarl, Kazuo crouched down, building up strength in his legs, before launching himself as high as he could manage into the air, avoiding the crowd entirely, and running through a set of hand seals. His muscles and bones shifted, his finger nails grew longer and sharper, and when he landed clear of the civilians and right in the path of the trio, Koji appeared from between the masses, having run under their legs with ease.

"Surrender yourself to the will of Konoha and you may be shown leniency. But please, for me, fight back. I beg you. I'll enjoy ripping your throats out."

TBC