Mission: Breaking Benjamin

[Ace Trainer]

The horse trotted calmly along the dirt path as the caravan was pulled along. There was a single man, dressed in nice clothes within the caravan. Two man equip with swords and spears sat on top the carvan. And another two sat on each side of the caravan, holding onto the bars for the windows as they road along.

"Just...breath...I'll be alright. I'm just a diplomat. They won't kill me. Tsuchikage-sama will send a sh--" "STOP TALKING!", one of the soldiers shouted through the bars. ...just where is that shinobi... he thought, fear continuing to flow into him.

[Deleted User]

Observing from a distance, Jun plotted how to best approach the caravan. He liked the mission, it even demanded that he not kill those men who had kidnapped the diplomat; something he would have preferred to do regardless. From peeking behind a rock along a bluff parallel to the road the caravan was traveling on, he could see the guards. 'Two on top, well armed, and another two on either side. Four in total, not a problem. I just need to avoid them taking notice of me and making the situation worse than it already is.' This was all Jun's plan in any case; he needed to stop the caravan or at least prevent it from reaching its destination. Considering Genjutsu, Jun opted for a road block and moved stealthily ahead of the caravan from the hill above.

Rockslides were always a danger when traveling along roads like these, and the mere fact that they were in Rock Country meant that there was plenty of it to go around. He was far enough ahead of the diplomat's captors to not cause them any harm, simply stall them, so he went about finding a large enough rock with enough other rocks in its path to get the desired effect. Jun quickly found what he was looking for, a large boulder that fit his purpose. "Here we go," he said nervously to himself, taking hold of his Dai-Kunai and wedging it under the boulder. After a few heaves he was able to get the stone loose and down it went, violently crashing down the hillside picking up other rocks and debris in its path bringing with it a nice plume of dust. The Chuunin quickly got out of sight, proud of himself for creating such a barricade and hoping that all this planning paid off. The road was blocked, so the caravan shouldn't be able to move, but the soldiers would certainly be cautious. Moving silently down the hillside, around to the rear of the caravan, Jun waited for them to stop. 'There shouldn't be a way to screw this up....right? I mean, they're just soldiers...oh boy...'

[Ace Trainer]

The soldiers jumped at the sound of the rock sliding along the cliffside, blocking their path. The diplomat was even more panicked, thrusting himself against the bars trying to get a look at what was going on. As the caravan got closer and closer to the road block, they didn't seem to show any plans of stopping. The two soldiers on the top of the caravan jumped off towards the front. So one from each side climbed onto the top. Leaving 2 on top again. And one on each side.

The two that jumped off run up to the rocks. Pulled there fists back, and punched into it, sending the barricade off of the cliff edge. They high-fived each other, and jumped behind the caravan right before it ran into them. Grabbing onto the back, the two of them hung off the back of the Caravan.

Being as they were no longer crouching, you could see the symbols on the front of their armor. Glowing in bright red kanji was, Strength. This would be interesting.

[Deleted User]

'What...was...THAT!?' Jun thought to himself, shocked and slightly panicked. Taking a look at the decoration on the armor of the soldiers, he quickly deduced the source of their strength. 'You're kidding me...I mean, they couldn't be just normal soldiers right? I guess not...but...GAH! Calm down!!' Thinking quickly, Jun decided that he still had the advantage in strength, but if they all attacked at once he might be overwhelmed, or, even worse, they would force him off by threatening the diplomat's life. He should still be a good deal faster than them, though it wouldn't do any good if he couldn't use lethal force. 'Maybe if I take their armor off? he thought to himself, quickly dismissing the thought afterwards. The situation hadn't changed, he still needed to somehow stop the caravan or draw at least two of the soldiers away from it so he could create an opening and quickly get the diplomat out of there.

What were his advantages? Well, the element of surprise for one; he assumed they didn't know that he was there yet. Number two was range, these soldiers were only armed with swords and spears, close and mid range weapons, while Jun himself was outfitted with many methods of keeping up pressure at a distance. The final advantage was what made him a ninja, his ability to use jutsu and he was regretting not going with his initial gut feeling. 'I suppose it was for the best,' he thought, 'Now I have a better idea of their capabilities and can plan accordingly. Maybe things aren't going so badly afterall.' With that final piece of encouragement, Jun once again made his way stealthily up the rocky hill to higher ground, keeping distance with the caravan. He could see the diplomat's well pampered face pushing up against the bars now that the guards had moved to the front and back. 'Just hold on,' Jun thought, hoping in vain that he could hear his thoughts as he put together a string of handseals.

*Kori Shinchuu no Jutsu [Sly Mind Affect Technique]
C-Ranked Genjutsu
Kori Shinchuu no Jutsu is a Genjutsu technique which causes the target to travel around in circles. If the ninja is unable to detect the illusion very quickly, they can become exhausted mentally and physically when they are unable to reach their desired target by traveling along the same path over and over.

With the genjutsu in place, Jun needed only to hold concentration and wait for the caravan to stop and rest. As they would travel infinitely on this cliffside road, surely fatigue or hunger would set in and they would have to stop and rest. The soldiers seemed very hardy, so Jun assumed the horse would be the first to complain. Either way, he had to tire them out. 'This'll probably take hours,' Jun sighed in his head, 'But it's better for me to remain hidden and weaken them from afar than engage them directly...yet...I'm not looking forward to fighting those big guys in that armor...yeesh.'

OOC: Since Sly Mind Affect has no sensory trigger described, I assumed there was none. If you think that's a problem, tell me, but I think that was how it was used in the manga *shrug*.

[Ace Trainer]

Ooc: Yeah, thats fine. I think the trigger is walking into the area that the genjutsu is effecting, so its all good.

The men seemed to make no notice as they continued on with their path and sure enough, each time they were about to reach the edge of their path, they'd go across the hillside as if it was normal and start again. This process repeated 4 times, consuming about an hour and a half of their time.

After yet another cycle and about 20 minutes, the two soldiers on the top began discussing something. One took his spear and heaved it hard, lodging it into the cliffs side. They did one more cycle, and when they passed where the spear had been lodged in they looked at each other and nodded.

Jumping into the air, their chest pieces glowed, but this time the Kanji was blue and said "Freedom." The two on the side climbed onto the top. And the two that were in there air stopped, thats right, mid-jump they simply stopped moving. Freedom....from gravity? They made the kai seals, then moved their arms apart in a wave like motion. And as they reached the fork in the road, they took the right path this time.

The two with the freedom kanji finally descended and grabbed hold to the side of the caravan. They whispered something to the two of top, who nodded. Their kanji began to glow green, and the symbol this time was, Justice. They seemed to inhale deeply, their noses high into the air. They were looking for a scent.

Strength. Freedom. and Justice. Quite the group.

[Ooc: Before this mission continues. I just wanna say that yes, this is C-rank, cause I do take missions sometimes, and I know how it feels when you've gotten put on a mission harder than you asked for. No worries. Getting to the diplomat won't be too hard.]

[Deleted User]

OOC: Ha ha, no worries, my only worry is that it's fun and THAT it is ^^.

IC: 'Oh no, nononononononononononooooooo!' Jun raved in his head, 'What are they? Super heroes!? Strength, Freedom and...and...' The Chuunin looked a little farther to catch what was written on the final two soldiers' armor. 'Cake?' Jun thought, confused, 'Well they shouldn't be much of a problem if they're just looking for cake, sniffing around like that.' Taking a closer look, he saw that he quite clearly was wrong, looking at the bright green 'Justice' symbol on their chest. 'They know I'm here...'

He was on the verge of running away, telling the Tsuchikage that there really should've been more chuunin assigned to this mission and that it might not even be C rank and...and........and....

...

A deep breath followed. Jun knew full well that the other Chuunin in the village were a lot more gung-ho than he was. Most of them would have probably just gone in there as quickly as possible, beat the crap out of the guards, and made off with the diplomat; here he was, hours gone by, and he hadn't even made his first move. 'Maybe it's for the best,' he thought again, encouraging himself, 'I seem to know their full capabilities, I assume they have nothing beyond just that armor. They look more like an escort group now then they did before.' Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he realized what he had to do. He would be found any second now and he needed to act fast. Chakra stores were alright, that jutsu took a chunk, but he'd be ok for a few more. "Here we go..." The seals for a couple of jutsu were made and then the show was on the road.

*Doton • Moguragakure no Jutsu [Earth Element • Mole Hiding Technique]
C-Rank Ninjutsu
Doton • Moguragakure no Jutsu is a Ninjutsu technique utilizing the Earth Element. This technique allows the ninja to burrow into the ground and hide out of sight. This allows them to avoid attack or travel underground. Tobi used this jutsu to place Deidara's C2 Doragon spheres underground.

*Bunshin no Jutsu [Clone Technique]
E-Ranked Ninjutsu
Bunshin no Jutsu is a Ninjutsu technique which every ninja learns at the Ninja Academy. The Bunshin technique creates a substanceless copy of the ninja. The copy serves can serve as a distraction or as means to confuse their opponent. As soon the the Bunshin gets attacked or comes into contact with the opponent, they will disappear in a puff of smoke.

The single bunshin of Jun stood at his previous position while the real Chuunin quickly burrowed down to the position of the caravan, right behind it. Even the bunshin was sweating, but it knew what it had to do. Leaping high into the air, directly the caravan, it descended screaming. "SOLDIERS OF CLAW!!! RELEASE THE DIPLOMAT IMMEDIATELY BY ORDER OF THE TSUCHIKAGE!!!" With the bunshin drawing their attention upward (and probably going to be sliced into a poof of smoke as it landed) Jun himself popped out from the ground, two kunai drawn, making for the two 'Strength' guards. He'd analyzed the opponent well enough from his time watching them; the details of their armor were clear to him and he slashed at both of their armor straps with each kunai. Hoping that by removing the armor he could make the only two soldiers that were a combat threat not so capable of beating him to the ground, Jun attacked quickly and with as much precision as he could before moving to the top of the caravan. "L-leave now and I won't have to seriously hurt you," he said nervously, with as much threatening maliciousness as he could muster, looking as dark and deadly as he could...yeah...probably not going to work...

[Ace Trainer]

The two on top continued to try and sniff out their attacker. Someone was clearly there, and the justice duo just had to know who it was and what they wanted. Was it to kill the di--""SOLDIERS OF CLAW!!! RELEASE THE DIPLOMAT IMMEDIATELY BY ORDER OF THE TSUCHIKAGE!!!", obviously not.

They released their spears, both of them stabbing it into the bunshin and not looking at all shocked by the fact it was a bunshin. They could smell. Bunshin had no scent. It seemed they had no other skills, their thrusts weren't even that powerful. As the kunai slashed at the straps, the kanji glowed, and the kunai seemed to be useless in their attempt to cut. Both soldiers jumped off the back, leaving large holes in the ground from the force of their jump. And stared right at Jun.

One pulled out a small dagger from his armored leggings, and threw it with incredible force, right towards Jun.

[Deleted User]

'Well there goes my idea of taking their armor off,' Jun thought, not at all surprised this time. Things didn't seem to be working the way he wanted them to on this mission...like they ever did. The dagger was speeding towards Jun; he didn't have time to think about this. Leaning out of the way of the dagger, it caught the kunai in his left hand and wrenched it from his grip, sending it flying in a random direction. "Ahhhhhh...." Jun said, staring at his hand, now weaponless. Now THAT was strength, maybe even a little stronger than he was...maybe not. Still, it wasn't worth fighting them head on, in fact, Jun had a better idea. He'd have to fight each set of guards in whatever they were least suited for. "Mr. Diplomat-san," Jun called beneath him, "I'm sorry about this but please bear with me."

Taking his remaining kunai, Jun quickly attached an exploding tag to it and tossed it into the ground behind the caravan, so the blast wouldn't damage it and might bowl over the 'Strength' guards (from what Jun had seen, he thought they could probably take it). Quickly forming another set of handseals, Jun screamed as loud as he could as his genjutsu came into effect for all in the area.

Hibiki Gyakujou no Jutsu [Echo Distraction Technique]
C-Ranked Genjutsu
An auditory genjutsu. Following the necessary handseals, the user will scream loudly. This scream is the trigger, and any targets who hear it will fall victim to the genjutsu, though they must be within the user's line of sight. After the cry, any sound the victim(s) hear will echo continuously in their head, slowly fading away. As sounds mount and overlap one another it becomes very distracting and will usually disorient those affected by it. A useful genjutsu because of its ability to affect multiple targets at once. Lasts 5 posts.

After the jutsu was in place, Jun quickly brought up a hand seal and detonated the kunai. The explosion would wrack their ears for a while, enough time for him to begin. 'Damn!' Jun thought as beads of sweat ran down his forehead, 'Used too much chakra on that one, I've got to end this as fast as possible'. Turning towards a 'Freedom' soldier, he drew his Dai-Kunai as fast as he could and swung it with all of his might so that the flat side of the kunai would strike the soldier. Assuming that these soldiers didn't have nearly the endurance as their red counterparts, the force of the blow should put them out of commission. Jun was getting a little tired of making assumptions now, and he didn't have much time to think now either. This was combat, quick thinking was key. Unfortunately, he only had time to go for one of the 'Freedom' soldiers. He turned to the other one, but Jun could only hope that he wouldn't have the time to dispel his genjutsu before he reached him...

[Ace Trainer]

The guards braced themselves, slamming their spears into the ground. They would wait for Jun to attack. They didn't need to be on the offense. They would outlive and outlast. And that was all that mattered. They seemed to have missed him putting on the exploding tag, because they looked at the kunai as it struck the ground for only a brief second before they crouched over in pain from the screams.

They tried their best to adjust to the ringing, clasping their heads as they looked up and all there was was, Boom.

They flew back, they could activate the strength in time. They hadn't expected it. Their weakness was clear. Strength required activation.

The freedom soldiers looked unaffected by the genjutsu. Their bright green kanji glowed non-stop. Absorbing the genjutsu for them perhaps? Whatever the cause, they seemed undaunted by the large dai kunai. As it flew towards them, the bright green glowed stronger for a second before fading back to its initial brightness. They looked at each other panicked, and dropped down, narrowly avoiding being hit.

It seemed whatever they were going to do, they couldn't. What was the meaning of this?

Still suffering from the genjutsu, the strength soldiers struggled to their feet.

The diplomat remained within the caravan, the two justice soldiers guarded each side, attempting to avoid participating in the fight.

[Deleted User]

'Yes!' Jun shouted in his head, 'At least something is working.' He watched carefully as the 'Strength' guards grabbed their heads in pain. The explosion had struck them, and the flashing red on their chests made it clear that they only had that massive physical power when their armor glowed. The 'Freedom' soldiers had dodged his large weapon; Jun rested it on his shoulder after his attack had missed, watching them. 'I seem to have the advantage,' he observed, 'Keeping up the pressure should keep me in control.' He noticed the two 'Justice/Cake' soldiers guarding the caravan. They didn't seem to want to harm the diplomat either, they needed him. 'I shouldn't worry then...'

Following up on his previous attack, the Chuunin sped from the top of the caravan to behind the two 'Freedom' soldiers. Holding his large weapon, point towards his enemies, he began a series of fast and powerful stabs.

*Tsuki Senjutsu [Thrust Tactics]
C-ranked Taijutsu
Prerequisite - Taijutsu stat of 4 or higher. Bladed weapons, staffs (usually longer weapons, but users with a high taijutsu stat may use almost anything)
After carefully analyzing their opponent’s movements and defense, the user then moves into close quarters, making swift and purposeful stabs at any weak point that presents itself. This applies to weak points in armor, an opening in a taijutsu, or the short period of time used while performing hand seals.

He had to make sure not to kill them, but they could be injured. Aiming for the openings around the arms and legs, he attempted to immobilize them with piercing wounds. For the final part of his combo he drove the Dai-Kunai into the ground and lept on top of the handle. Now drawing his Kusari-Gama, he swung the weighted end around his head threateningly, waiting for them to attack. Jun kept his eye on the 'Justice' guards, in case they tried anything funny with the diplomat. 'I assume those red guys will try and attack me,' he hypothesized, 'With my genjutsu affecting them though, it should be easy to keep them shaking...'

[Ace Trainer]

The red soldiers struggled to stand, clasping their hands over their ears as they stood on shaken legs. The freedom soldiers at this point were forming the kai seals and touching each other shoulders. Thus causing the green kanji to fade. They didn't have to worry about the genjutsu now that they had kai'd out of it. They were quickly attacked though, the Dai Kunai flying at their sides.

The kanji on their chests glowed once more, and they disappeared, reappearing on top the caravan. "Freedom from attack.", they announced in unison. Seems they had more than once attack up their sleeves. The justice soldiers kicked off the side of the caravan, launching forward at a pretty decent speed. Fuuton chakra could be seen whirling around their fists. It seemed they were going in for the kill.

[Deleted User]

Jun quickly recognized the futility of attacking the 'Freedom' soldiers and diverted his attention quickly to the 'Justice' guards that came forward to attack him. 'They're ability before was to detect me through smell,' Jun reminded himself as he prepared himself for their attacks. Deciding it was better to keep further away from their fists, charged with chakra, he leapt into the air and sent the weighted chain soaring towards one of the soldiers arms, intending to get it caught in the tangled metal links. If this succeeded, he'd use all his strength to try and tug and swing the trapped soldier into the other, hopefully keeping his distance and analyzing their abilities further. These were the only soldiers left that he had only a tenuous grasp on their abilities, and because of the pattern that this whole encounter has taken it probably would be better to make sure he knew EVERYTHING before he did anything too drastic again. 'I'm going to have a nervous breakdown soon,' Jun thought to himself, sweating, 'It's getting hard to keep coming up with small plans for all of this.' Exhaustion was setting in, but he wouldn't give up yet. Not because of determination, that wouldn't suit him, because of absolute fear and nervous tension of the consequences of failure...

[Ace Trainer]

As the chain was swung at one of them, the justice insignia on their armor shined, their eyes pulsed, and both dodged the chain with easy, quickly returning to their position. They held their hands up, "Just how much do you know about us?", they inquired in unison.

The diplomat was still in the caravan, and seemed to be struggling against the bars to escape. Seemed he wanted to get out just as bad as they wanted to keep him in.

[Deleted User]

Jun stopped his attack for the moment, he certainly wasn't expecting any sort of discussion from these guards. He was a nervous guy, not too quick to judge most of the time (most of the time), but even he thought this was too much. "What kind of question is that?" he said with unusual certainty, "All I have is my orders, and I don't need to know anything else as a ninja." Taking the opportunity to catch a breath, Jun took his chained weapon and re-holstered it. Walking slowly to his Dai-Kunai, which was still lodged in the earth, he hoisted it up and leaned it over his shoulder. 'I wonder why they've decided to stop fighting, the Chuunin wondered as he tried to breath evenly, 'I'll hear what they have to say, but only this once. My genjutsu will soon expire and then those strength guards will be primed to attack me again, and it would cost too much chakra to use it again, not to mention it being not nearly as effective.'

Even if Mori Jun was a softy in many aspects, he was still a ninja of Iwagakure; he wasn't completely immune to all the emotional conditioning and training they all received and the harsh atmosphere of their village didn't simply pass him by. Though he couldn't be said to be ruthless or merciless, he was clearly a ninja of Iwa, characteristic with all of their habits and mannerisms. "If you have something to say, you better say it now, Soldiers of Claw," he cried, clutching his Dai-Kunai firmly in his right hand while he moved his other slowly towards his vest for some exploding tags...

[Ace Trainer]

His answer made is clear, he had dodged the question, he didn't get them quite well enough yet. None of them. And this meant he didn't understand their weaknesses either. The justice soldiers looked like they were a little tired though, taking deep breaths. They seemed to be make super anything. Super nose. Super legs. Super eyes. What would be next? And just what was its drawback?

As he reached into his pockets, they flicked their wrists, kunai dropping from their sleeves into their hands. "Nothing at all, ninja of Iwagakure.", they responded, getting ready as best they could.

[Deleted User]

Jun tightened his grip at their response and began his second round of attacks. Immediately focusing his attack towards the 'Strength' guards, he tossed another kunai with an explosive tag right in front of them. He detonated it quickly, though he left what he thought was enough time for them to activate their armors. His genjutsu would only last a few more moments, so he'd have to take whatever advantage he could. Using the resulting cloud of dust and dirt as a cover, he sped behind the two 'Strength' guards. A simple plan; use their activation time as an advantage and force them to activate with the exploding tag. With the genjutsu still in effect, that should keep them off balance and unable to retaliate if everything went well. After using the dust cloud as cover, he'd attack them from behind where they couldn't anticipate the attack and so, supposedly, not activate their armors. 'I'm running out of ideas and exploding tags,' Jun thought, 'I hope this is enough to take these two guards out. Their armors seem to only be able to stay active for short periods of time, or so far as I've seen. Combined with the distraction, it's worth a shot trying to catch them before they can reactivate it.'

Spinning around his Dai-Kunai so that the ring as faced forward, he thrust it with mighty strength to the first 'Strength' guard's head so that the ring would smash into it; while at the same time swinging his body around to go for a blunt strike to the other 'Strength' guard, aiming to send him flying off the cliffside. It would be safer for himself, and the diplomat, if he stopped being so concerned about the guards' health; they were strong. Unfortunately, after the last giant swing, Jun was left rather open, and if the first 'Strength' guard had somehow avoided his attack, he'd be in deep shit...

[Ace Trainer]

[Ooc: Warning 1: You only get 2 of these, careful careful. One of the failure things was killling the guards. Thrusting a huge kunai through his head would certainly kill him. So you should probably edit...haha]

[Deleted User]

(OOC: I wasn't thrusting the blade of the kunai through his head, I was smashing him with the ring (I don't know the name for the back part). Sorry, I should've been clearer, I'll edit anyways.)

[Ace Trainer]

[Ooc: Ooopsie. Sorry. Time is up. You passed.

Pass