[Graded]Not Your Usual Recruitment Drive

[Sanjuro]

Mission BriefShow

An ancient ruin located in one of the many swamps in the south of Kazusa Province has been unearthed by a recent quake. The area has since been reported to be haunted by the locals. A mission request was sent to Kirigakure and forwarded to the SRI's Archaeology division. Expecting it to be little more than superstition, Hideki has assigned the task as a C-Rank Mission but will tag along himself, merely to observe and see if those who take the mission are worth recruiting.

The request sounded simple enough. Honestly it was likely a load of superstitious nonsense. Alas, the request had been forwarded to him and his organization. Loathe as he was to leave his experiments, this was something he had agreed to when forming the SRI. Missions. And the Archaeology division was likely to have more than a few of them, at least compared to the rest of the organization. But it was a new department. Hideki had been intending on staffing it soon enough, perhaps he could use this mission as a recruitment method. It would certainly save him some time later on down the track. He was likely to attract a bunch of halfwits if he picked from the masses at random.

And so he had left the mission request on the general board in the Mizukage's Tower for anyone who had any interest in it. The only ninja who used the general mission board seemed to be the ones who were bored or looking for a specific type of mission. With a little luck he would attract the latter. The idea of going and exploring some unknown ruin that had been buried for an indeterminate amount of time would either be exciting or boring. The 'curse' would attract a few more thrill seekers and though Hideki loathed their type in general he knew they were an unfortunate necessity on occasion.

Whoever accepted the mission request, and he made sure to limit it to a maximum of three but no less that two shinobi, would receive instructions to head to Kazusa Province and the small town just on the outskirts of the swamp where the cursed ruins were to be found.

The doctor looked around. It was less a town and more a collection of huts with a bunch of people too crazy or poor to move into one of the few actual villages this far south. An aging woman, hunched over and so short she barely reached Hideki's waist, smiled at the man. It wasn't pleasant. It was filled with yellowing teeth, the few that remained at least, and he had the feeling it was meant to intimidate him. He simply arched his eyebrow in response and then went back to pointedly ignoring the masses.

There was still an hour or so until the time he had left on the mission request was reached. The moment the proverbial clock ticked over, he was going to the temple. New recruits or not.

[Jinan B]

For someone so used to a more urban environment, it was safe to say that the village was a bit of a disappointment to Kirino. Why would anyone choose to live in such a backwater village...? The proper way to live was in a dense area, with enough people to interact with and places to go whenever you didn't have something to do, here... Would there ever be anything to do? The Genin supposed that some villagers might meet up for... Something at some point or another, but what would they even do? For far from the first time, Kirino was damn glad he was born a Karagata.

At least there would be something interesting to take up his own time here, once he boy had seen the mission request he had known that he wished to go. Ruins such as these, and what they may contain, fascinated the boy. He had always had questions about the history of the Country, the origins of Chakra, and the background of Shinobi as a whole, but no amount of books in the Kirigakure libraries would come close to providing the information that he wanted. Something like this, however, was an entirely different story. A previously undiscovered ruin like this could provide answers to some of the questions that the boy so annoyingly could not find the answers to. If that was the case, he wanted to be among those discovering the answers, and it was that simple.

It wasn't hard for him picking Hideki out of the crowd, or rather the lack of one. He was the only man who stood upright in a village where everyone seemed to be stooped over and hobbling about as they went about their lives. Of course, the lab coat that the man wore in no ways made him blend in with the rest of the population. "Hideki-sama? I am Karagata Kirino, it is an honor to meet you." He bowed deeply to the Bannin, but didn't bother to explain why he was there. It would only be an insult to assume that a man with such famed intellect would not already know why a Karagata was there after all.

It seemed as if they were the only 2 there thus far, however, so Kirino guessed he'd have to wait a bit longer before they could leave. How much longer will he have to stay in this place...

[Kabu]

On the other hand, Mizuki found herself intrigued by the small village, it's citizenry, and the history that it could possibly hold. This was after all her first time away from the village on a mission and even her explorations had never really taken her quite this far. Most of the citizens seemed to be elderly so it was bound to be just crawling with stories about either the village itself or the surrounding areas. Unfortunately she didn't really have the time right now to talk to the villagers, Mako had taken forever to prepare the boat and she was running behind. She would definitely have to come back some other time though.

For now though, there were other matters to attend to. Frankly she wasn't really interested in any curse but rather she was more intrigued by the prospect of the ruins themselves and so she had signed up without an ounce of hesitation.

Anyways, before the mission could commence she had to find Hirohito Hideki, perhaps Kirigakure's greatest mind. She had never even seen the man herself but she had received a detailed enough description, though it mostly told her that he would simply be easy to pick out of a crowd. And sure enough it didn't take long before she found him, his blue hair and lab coat standing out amongst the elderly hobbling around. It also seemed that there was a young man next to him.. One that after a moment she found she recognized, Karagata Kirino. "Muramasa Mizuki, reporting for duty." she spoke as she approached. "Nice to see you again, Kirino. And Hideki, it's a pleasure to finally get to meet you." she added, lightly bowing toward the latter. It seemed that this would be the squad for the mission and she found herself growing more excited by the minute. Hopefully they could head out soon.

[Sanjuro]

Hideki was pulled from his musings when he felt the presence of another ninja. They were easy to tell apart from civilians, even in a crowd. With no one but decrepit villagers around, their presence stood out like a sore thumb. He turned just enough to see the cloaked form of Kirino bowing to him. The scientist rose an eyebrow at that. He was used to working with his equals or those who had trained under him. Such a blatant show of respect was something he was still growing accustomed to. He offered a nod of recognition to the lad before his eyes cut across to the young woman approaching.

Like him, she too stood out in the crowd. In fact, when they were all standing together they made for a rather eclectic bunch. While such outfits were a common sight in and around Kirigakure, outside its walls and a few places like the capital, most folk were limited to simple clothes that were cheap to replace and easy to repair. If this were a stealth oriented mission he would likely be at least somewhat concerned. As it stood, he simply filed away his observations and gave a nod to Mizuki as she introduced herself.

A Karagata, a Muramasa, and a Hirohito. If this were a council meeting Hideki would be concerned blood was about to be spilled.

"Welcome to Kazusa Province. As this mission was voluntary I will assume you read the briefing and simply get down to it. This is likely to be nothing more than superstitious nonsense, but a mission was paid for and so it must be investigated." He tucked his hands into his pockets and started through the village, expecting the duo to follow. "I am going to be primarily observing the two of you. I will intercede only if I deem it necessary. I expect this should take little more than a day or so to investigate though if the ruins prove to hold fruitful information, the mission will be extended for as long as necessary."

The trio would come to a rotting wooden boardwalk that led over a pit of the marsh and into the swamp itself. Mangroves were thick, shrouding the area in darkness despite the midday sun. The buzzing sound of insects filled the ears and there was a faint aroma of something sickly that could be detected. Hideki smirked and turned around to face the two. A Genin and a Chuunin. If he had to intervene he would be sincerely disappointed. "I trust you've made the necessary preparations. I've no intention of turning back until the mission is complete. There is plenty of wildlife if you did not think to bring food supplies. Any questions? Any desire to leave? Speak up now."

If they proved adept at clearing out basic threats and investigating the ruins of whatever ancient peoples built them, Hideki would have no qualms about having them sign on with the SRI. Even if there turned out to be no curse, ruins were dangerous. Ancient architecture combined with degredation over time tended to equal unstable surroundings. If they were truly unlucky, the place would be boobytrapped. To be honest, Hideki was looking forward to seeing how these two would handle it.

[Jinan B]

"Mizuki? It's been a while." Kirino noted the redhead's presence with no small amount of surprise, but at the same time he was glad to see a face that he recognized. He had almost taken for granted that he would be pared with some other Shinobi that he had never encountered before. He may not have known Mizuki well in the slightest, but it was a major difference nonetheless.

Ah, of course. He had initially not understood completely why Hideki would have bothered to come out on such a run of the mill mission, but now that he had explained it to them the pieces fell into place rather quickly. Any experienced member of the SRI would be capable of investigating ruins such as these, but it seemed as if the man in the white coat preferred to choose his subordinates personally. The boy was still not entirely sure if he wanted to join the SRI, but he couldn't deny that he had been drawn to the mission, and by extension the organization's archeology branch, through a great degree of personal interest. He decided his experience on this mission would make up his mind on the matter.

Kirino had checked his equipment thoroughly before he had set out, and so nodded when Hideki spoke of how he planned to keep at it until the mission was over. He wondered if there really were Shinobi who were not so forward thinking. If so, I guess they wouldn't be found on a mission of this nature. He was, as a result, completely prepared to go, and considering that Hideki would only be monitoring them he saw no reaon why they should not set out on the Journey. Of course, however, he was not the highest ranking Shinobi actively participating in the mission (even without counting Hideki).

As a result, if Mizuki choose not to speak up, or after she did if she decided that it was necessary, he would turn to the girl. "I'll follow your lead then Mizuki." He would say, following his almost instinctual knowledge that he was subordinate to almost everyone within the Village. He knew that he wouldn't remain a Genin for much longer, and that in the coming months he would probably have to take a leadership role in more missions.

But that day was still in the making, and so it was that he awaited Mizuki's instructions.

[Kabu]

Of course, Mizuki had been fully expecting this mission to possibly take a while. There was no way to fully explore ruins such as these in a day or two, especially as they had apparently appeared just recently and as such they had absolutely zero prior information to work off of. What she hadn't expected though, was that Hideki was more or less going to be merely observing, waiting and watching.That meant that she and Kirino were on their own, a fact that almost instinctively brought a twitch to her nose. It was a pain but oh well, this was pretty much what she did on her own on a regular basis anyways, the only difference being that she had only really stuck with exploring previously discovered areas up to this point.

As such, she followed behind Kirino and Hideki as the latter led them onwards, or at least that had been the plan. Kirino however soon spoke, clearly expecting her to take the lead. She had to resist letting out a sigh at the fact and instead simply walked forward, silently nodding and beckoning Kirino to follow. She was the higher ranked of the two of them plus she had experience with this sort of thing so it was really only natural that she should take the lead, even as much as she wanted to try to weasel out of it.

Anyways they soon enough came to a boardwalk that seemed to cross the marsh and lead into the swamp proper. Really it was sickening with all the bugs and the mangroves surrounding the area, and not to mention the sickly aroma but she had come across such things in the past so it didn't particularly bother her that much. "I'm all good. I go exploring on a regular basis so this is nothing new to me." she spoke in response to Hideki, letting a small grin cross her lips. It was a pain that she was going to have to pretty much take charge given the situation but oh well, that was kind of exciting in itself.

[Sanjuro]

An ever so slight inclination of his head was all the response Hideki gave in answer to Mizuki's apparent confidence. He had to wonder what experience she actually had with ancient ruins but decided that it was a moot point to ask her. He would soon find out first hand whether the confidence was well earned or misplaced. Shifting to the side, he gestured for the duo to take the lead while he dropped to the back of the group. "Our destination is located ten point four miles to the southeast from this bridge." At the word bridge he glanced down at the rickety and moulding wooden structure with a sneer. "And the reports suggest whatever caused the quake and unveiled the temple has also stirred the local fauna into frenzy. Do take care not to get yourselves killed."

As the group headed into the mangrove swamp they would find the heat would quickly grow, the humidity skyrocketing. While the wooden board walk got them over the deep murky waters on the edge of the swamplands, the ground ahead was damp in a lot of places and turned to mud and sludge in others. The murky waters were a dark, cloudy brown, the long roots of the mangroves sprawling out into the deep waters, making a clear cut path almost impossible to find. There would be no hopping from tree to tree in this place, use of the Water Walking exercise would be almost a necessity.

In the trees they would find snakes and monkeys, both dangerous if aggravated. The swamp floor would be host to numerous bugs that were little more than annoyances and some would be as dangerous as a shinobi. Hidden in the murky waters were all manner of dangerous creatures. Water serpents, crocodiles, hippopotamuses, carnivorous fish. The swamp mangroves in the south of Water Country were not a friendly place to visit. The tribal peoples of the swamp, primitive as they were, would prove to be dangerous as this was their home territory and took offense to any uninvited visitors. And that wasn't to mention the near constant mist that limited visibility to little more than a few meters in any particular direction and the threat of rain and hurricanes.

Add everything together and multiply it with the 'curse' of an ancient temple and the aggravated nature of the animals and people of the mangrove swamps and today was not a good day to be a visitor to the south.

[Kabu]

Mizuki took the lead as she had somehow agreed to, looking around at their surroundings as they walked. This.. definitely wasn't a good place to be right now, that much was clear just from a glance and they were barely at the entrance. She had heard tales of Water country's swamplands but this was a lot worse than she had initially expected. It was incredibly misty and the so called bridge that the rickety boardwalk served as wouldn't really get them all that far before they had to travel the rest of the way by water walking, which in itself would be made difficult due to variety of easily agigated animals and fauna, it would be incredibly easy to get lost or injured. "Everyone stick close and keep a close eye on your surroundings, we won't be able to follow a straightfoward path and if we get separated the chances of one of us getting lost and being unable to regroup is very high. Also, don't do anything to aggravate the local animals or fauna. If you have to defend yourself, try to keep chakra usage to a minimum." she spoke as they headed further in, gathering chakra to her feet as the boardwalk seemed to end and made way for nothing but swamp.

She felt pretty pleased with herself so far but she couldn't help but feel there was something that she was forgetting, something important. Oh well, the time for thinking was over, now it was time to concentrate. Any lapse in concentration from this moment on could be fatal and nobody wanted that.

JutsuShow

*[Basic Jutsu • Act of Water Surface Walking]
D-Ranked Ninjutsu
A variation of the Act of Tree Climbing technique, this jutsu requires the user to focus a precise and balanced amount of charka into the soles of his/her feet. By doing so, the user is able to walk on the surface of water as though it were a solid surface. Users with low control 2 or lower are much more likely to fall through the surface of the water, while users with average control 3 or higher will be able to use this technique functionally. It lasts for a number of posts equal to the user's stamina stat times 3.

[Jinan B]

"Understood Mizuki." Kirino said as the Chuunin gave out her instructions whilst they made their way through the swamp. Truly, their surroundings were dreadful. Not for the first time that day Kirino was struck by the contrast between the urban Village where he had grown up and the rest of Water Country, only this time it was even more pronounced by the complete lack of any path, or even land for that matter. The swamp truly must have been one of the worst places in Water Country if not the entire world, at least that was the boy's thought at the time.

The boy channeled chakra to the soles of his feet as he began to follow Mizuki across the water, turning his head almost constantly as he tried to keep an eye out for the numerous animals that were supposed to be in the area. He doubted that such creatures would be much of the threat to a group of shinobi, but then again it never really hurt to be careful. He briefly wondered if there would be any threats other than aggressive swamp animals. Perhaps there are other people investigating the ruins? Thoughts of high rank MN attacking the group raced through his mind before he put them down. What could be so important in these ruins that MN would search them for after all. In the end he doubted that there would really be any problems before they reached the ruins themselves.

Then again, once they were there... That would be an entirely different story.

Jutsu UsedShow

*[Basic Jutsu • Act of Tree Climbing]
D-Ranked Ninjutsu
By focusing chakra into his/her feet, the user is able to walk up trees and other vertical surfaces in a similar fashion to walking along the ground. This chakra amount must be precise, and although all shinobi learn this technique, the user's control stat will determine how well this jutsu can be executed. Users with low control 2 or lower will often fall during the use of this technique, while users with average control 3 or higher will be able to use this technique functionally. It lasts for a number of posts equal to the user's stamina stat times 3. My bad.

*[Basic Jutsu • Act of Water Surface Walking]
D-Ranked Ninjutsu
A variation of the Act of Tree Climbing technique, this jutsu requires the user to focus a precise and balanced amount of charka into the soles of his/her feet. By doing so, the user is able to walk on the surface of water as though it were a solid surface. Users with low control 2 or lower are much more likely to fall through the surface of the water, while users with average control 3 or higher will be able to use this technique functionally. It lasts for a number of posts equal to the user's stamina stat times 3.

[Sanjuro]

Hideki kept pace a few meters behind the duo, his eyes roving the mangroves and noting the numerous threats they were already facing. Three venomous snakes, a myriad of disease carrying insects, and two crocodiles. The deeper they trekked the more pronounced the threats would become. Dealing with such threats would be a crucial skill to any member of the Archaeology Division of the SRI. Hideki's keen eyes locked onto the first of such threats overhead and he smiled. It seemed that they had indeed forgotten one thing he had warned them of when entering the mangrove swamp.

The creatures within had been driven to frenzy.

Three long snakes were following the group through the taller branches of the mangroves, moving surprisingly fast and aiming to attack the disturbance they had sensed rather than fleeing as their instincts would usually dictate of them. Hideki made no move to warn them, simply dropped back a little so he could observe how they would react to the threat.

The first of the three would lunge for Mizuki from the left hand side, mouth wide and fangs extended. The other two were a little further behind and wouldn't be able to attack for a previous few moments after the initial assault.

[Kabu]

Mizuki internally groaned at the sight of the snakes that seemed to be rapidly approaching them. She had forgotten that they had just been warned that the wild animals in the swamp weren't really in the best of moods at this time. Resisting the urge to sigh she pulled out her slingshot, and in the same motion slinging a marble towards the nearest snake, the one that was lunging towards her. She hated snakes, spiders and the like she could deal with but snakes were just absolutely unbearable. It took all that she had not to scream, the notion that A. she couldn't afford to look weak in front of Kirino as she was both older and technically his superior and B. they were being accompanied by a Bannin that she really needed to make a good impression on being a really big help in that area.

[Jinan B]

Snakes... Brilliant Kirino groaned internally when he saw the creatures that Mizuki was reacting to, three snakes that seemed far to large to be of any regular variety. He remembered what Hideki had told them about possibly having to deal with such creatures on their way to the ruins, but seeing how long it had taken for the snakes to attack, it seemed to Kirino that the Bannin had understated just how much they might be attacked. More than that Mizuki had told him to keep his chakra usage to a minimum, so he guessed that that meant he'd be limited to only his lesser skills. Great, how am I supposed to impress Hideki with no Ninjutsu...

Nonetheless Kirino would act hardly a split second after Mizuki. Pulling out 4 shurikan from his belt, the boy would take aim at the snakes that were further away from the pair. He could see that Mizuki was already taking care of the closest creature, so he felt as if trying to take it down with her would only be a waste of resources. No, Mizuki would surely be able to take care of the first snake without his help after all. As a result 2 shurikan would be thrown at the one snake, with the other 2 thrown at the second. Kirino would wait to see if the attempt to take the snakes down would succeed, but he grabbed a kunai from another belt pouch regardless, making sure that he would be ready if the snakes kept coming.