Mist's Knight to River Four

[Valkier]

Naohiro, wrapped within the legendary cloak Desire and moving with the stealthy expertise befitting a captain of the infamous Head Hunter Division, stalked through the dense undergrowth beyond the outskirts of a particular town, now within occupied territory on the peninsula once known as the Land of Tea. Ocha Province of Water Country. A full night and day had passed since his meeting with the legendary Grand Shogun, Iiyashi Fuhen, and he had not been idle; it’d been a night of planning and preparation, with many orders written and seals stamped in an effort to mount a resistance to the ongoing invasion. Unfortunately, in the void of power left behind after the disappearance of the Juudaime Mizukage, Kirigakure’s interim leadership left the village almost paralysed from the top down. And so he’d acted on his own initiative instead, calling up his peers to action while the would-be councillors argued and manoeuvred amongst themselves, eyes turned inwards within their glass-walled tower. Water Country, at least, still operated under the Daimyo’s command, and he’d been pleased to hear of the mustering of samurai and ashigaru troops across the peninsula. Heart may have gotten the first surprise strike, but they would not find Water Country an easy conquest. Especially not if he had his way here today. Figurehead leader or no, Water was still one of the greatest military powers in the known world, and should still eclipse the strength of the fledgling Heart Empire even with an early misstep.

The town ahead was the same settlement in which he’d met the Grand Shogun the day before, and seen then one of their magnificent flying leviathans—airships, he thought someone had called them—come lumbering into berth to deliver hundreds of soldiers, supplies, and followers alike. He found those very interesting. Interesting and concerning, thus his return here today. He settled down, well concealed in foliage and shadow, to monitor the comings and goings of the vessels to the town. It seemed to be one of the Empire’s main staging grounds, with vessels arriving and leaving regularly, as if each were running the same route back-and-forth from wherever Heart’s armies waited to board. Naohiro had arrived well before the dawn and had seen one of the large airships arrive and land inside the town already from his hidden vantage, and he watched now as a second, much smaller vessel soared into view. This type was new to him, but what it lacked in tonnage it seemed to make up for in speed and manoeuvrability. It made sense there were different types, he reasoned, assuming they followed the same logic as a seafaring vessel. Neither should be underestimated, particularly not together.

As the second smaller airship settled down into the town, Naohiro took a deep breath and decided to act. Now would be as good an opportunity as any to have a look around. He performed two sets of rapid handseals, first drawing moisture out of the bright mid-morning air around him and freezing it into a thin layer of reflective ice over his skin, clothes, and equipment. The layer shifted colours as the technique completed, moving from reflective to transparent, and taking any visual sign of his presence with it. The second set of seals gathered fuuton into twisting jets around his limbs, and he manipulated it to lift him delicately into the air. Obscured, cloaked, and quiet, he let himself rise on a gentle current of air until he was far higher than the walls of the town, then shifted stance and pushed himself gently forward to drift towards where the airships lay berthed. By moving slowly and not disturbing the air, even his flight was silent, and soon enough he hovered directly over where the two airships, one small and one large, lay. He took a moment to count and analyse the many figures and activity below, trying to gauge how many each type of vessel could hold and pick out any threats or important figures—military commanders or those organising the logistics of the ships.

After just a few moments, he adjusted the fuuton technique and let himself drift slowly down towards the smaller of the two vessels and examined them from the new vantage point. They appeared to be crafts incorporating a number of large, rigid bladders pulling upwards against the body of each craft and interspersed with sets of large rotary propellers. He’d seen those spinning at high speeds as the two ships arrived, but now they lay dormant, still, and quiet compared to the noisy din of the engines earlier. Picking a couple of potential targets, he sank down until he touched the roof of one of the balloon-segments on the smaller of the two airships, feeling the slight spring of the material. Filled with air, perhaps? Odd. Still invisible, he crouched down and tucked himself against the top of the bladder and one of the propeller shafts, and began channelling just a tiny spark of chakra, hoping that the bright morning sun overhead would mask any unusual glow. The channelling allowed him to score a faint seal formula in an obscure place, where one of the prop shafts blocked easy view of the bladder fabric. The first seal was simple and quick, allowing him to track the ship. Then he withdrew a half dozen explosive tags and affuxed them in a tidy circle. A single trigger and he could detonate those to hopefully burst the entire top side of this small vessel, rupturing a wide hole in the bladder and hopefully catching the adjacent engine and prop shaft as well.

Once complete, and if still hidden, he’d float up and over to the larger airship next, finding a similar location and repeating the procedure of placing the tracking seal. But instead of explosive tags this time, he wanted something stronger. Bigger. He began preparing a second seal, this one even simpler than the first but filled with significantly more energy. Luckily, the vast ship—he'd counted hundreds of people disembarking—provided plenty of roof space that only faced the sky. Once this seal was complete he’d rise back into the air, faster than before but still careful and watching for any sign of alarm from below, and soar high and away from the small town, back to a distant vantage where he could continue watching and waiting. He wanted to see a few more of these come and go to gauge the travel time, and perhaps try and estimate the number of vessels like these that the Heart Empire could field. He’d wait and watch until one or both of the airships finished their unloading and took off back on their journey to destinations unknown...

Jutsu used…Show

[Quiescence]
S-Rank Taijutsu Discipline
The user has learned to move in total silence, and does not produce any sound when moving through any means. They cannot be heard unless a person listening for them has a specialized hearing technique of equal or higher rank.

Fuuton • Daedalus
A-Rank Fuuton Ninjutsu
The user opens their tenketsu to release streams of concentrated fuuton chakra, manipulating them like miniature thrusters to propel the user and control air flow around their body. This allows the user to fly at up to their [speed] while maintaining total control of their speed, acceleration, direction, and momentum. These fuuton jets have no instrinsic strength and do not apply the cutting passive.

Hyōton ◊ Hiemal Zephyr
A-Rank Hyouton Ninjutsu
The user will channel a substantial amount of Hyouton chakra into a thin ice-crystal layer over their entire body. The crystalline structure of the layer acts to flawlessly reflect and refract light in such a manner as to make the user entirely invisible and impossible to detect by visual means for its duration. This layer forms at a speed of [5] and has a strength of [25]. The coating protects the user and is light and thin enough to not constrict movement or actions in any manner. The layer remains for up to 6 posts before fracturing and falling away.

*Charge Fuuinjutsu • Air Seal
D-Rank Charge Fuuinjutsu
A truly unique move in that it can be used alongside other Fuuinjutsu, by channeling into their finger as they draw in the air directly in front of them, the user releases raw chakra the lingers for a small amount of time, allowing it to be used as a seal formula. Alternatively the user can also do hand seals and place their hands forward, causing a seal to burst to life in the air in front of them. This technique consumes chakra equal to the cost of the technique.

Augment Fuuinjutsu • Tracking Seal
C-Rank Charge Fuuinjutsu
Pre-requisite: *[Ninjutsu • Tracking Device]
After drawing the necessary seals on a surface, the user will imbue the object with a variant of the *[Ninjutsu • Tracking Device] technique before activating it with a surge of chakra. For so long as this seal remains intact, the user will be able to pinpoint the exact location of the seal and may use it as a focal point for navigation or teleportation.

*Force Fuuinjutsu • Explosive Tag
D-Rank Charge Fuuinjutsu
After drawing a ([Control]/5)x([Control]/5) meter seal formula on a surface of an object. The user will then arm it with their chakra up to [50] strength with a concussive force explosion outwards from itself.

[Valkier]

Naohiro rested, nestled well into the undergrowth on his chosen vantage point atop a foliage-filled bluff overlooking the town, and silently watched from afar. It seemed that the general hum of activity around the settlement hadn’t changed at all following his little aerial jaunt in and out, and he breathed a sigh of relief. He’d suspected that the bulk of the invaders were not proficient with chakra usage—at least not to the same extent as someone raised and trained in a ninja village—but the main staging camp of the Heart Empire’s invasion was still teeming with powerful soldiers all the same. He felt a little rush of satisfaction at having evaded them. Now, concealed but ready, he had time to catch his breath and restore some of his spent energy while waiting for the next opportunity to act.

It wasn’t long before the smaller of the two airships, having finished loading whatever peoples or cargoes it needed, rose back into the air and turned slowly in place, before accelerating away from the small town in a soaring arc. From the angle of its flight, it seemed it was heading further inland, back towards the thick of the ongoing fighting. Probably delivering important people, command staff, or perhaps essential supplies, to the front line, he thought. He’d been hoping for the opposite, but no matter. He could wait, and learn more all the while. It was a few hours before the other airship, the one which was considerably larger and, he now saw, considerably slower, took back to the skies. This one got underway at a much slower pace, wallowing through the air more than soaring, and turned gradually as it flew to head out towards the coast. Perfect. He watched it recede into the distance, its bulk becoming a small dot that slowly vanished from sight entirely. That airship had been different to the one he’d seen in the camp yesterday, and he had hope that it would not be the last that he saw here.

Another couple of hours passed before he got his wish and a third airship, from a distance appearing to be of the same design as the second, approached. It flew from roughly the same bearing upon which the second had departed, and began to slow down and descend as it neared the small town. Taking a deep breath and repeating his earlier techniques to conceal himself, Naohiro floated up and back into action. This time, there was more to do. And less room for error. Now was the time to strike. Invisible and airbourne, he picked up speed quickly and shot into the air, controlling his motion with jets of twisting fuuton trailing from his body. He rose higher and higher until he was well above the level of the incoming airship, then accelerated forward as fast as he could go and circled the vessel until he was positioned between it and the sun. The bright backlighting would help disguise his next actions until it was too late.

Turning to face and approach the airship now, he began glowing brightly as he channeled a great quantity of chakra and surged into his offensive. A moment later, as he reached about 20 metres away from the top hull of the airship and its bladder, he tossed a handful of spinning shuriken into the air before him and then thrust his other, glowing, hand forward and unleashed his technique: A sudden bright light erupted around and bolted forwards from his palm, a blue-white radiance forming into a 40-metre long, 10-metre diameter cone of raw energy. The blast fired the ten shuriken forwards at incomprehensible speeds, turning each of them from a simple sharp hazard into weapons that could level buildings in their path. The raw chakra blast itself followed, annihilating everything else in its path. Airship hull included.

As soon as the technique was fired, Naohiro changed course and shot upwards, darting sideways and back to throw off any potential return fire from the ship or ground far below—though the latter was likely too far away for effective shots anyway—and began channeling a second time. He flew evasively, making unpredictable twists and turns as he rose higher and higher, before turning to survey the carnage in the moments before completing his second technique. The airship, a jagged 10-metre hole in its size and billowing smoke from the lethal shotgun-blast of shuriken all over its surface, including through the engines and propellers, had clearly lost all capacity to fly. It, and its full complement of soldiers en-route to the join the Heart Empire’s invasion, plummeted downwards towards the unforgiving earth far below. And towards the settlement. In moments, the town would be a writhing fireball of twisted steel and smoke as the enormous vessel crashed at speed into its midst, scattering dust, debris, and bodies alike. The survivors would be few.

And yet, the work was not yet complete. Finishing his next technique, he concentrated on one of his earlier anchor tags and folded space around himself, warping reality between the two locations and stepping into the void. In one moment he was staring down at the desolation-wrought town, the sea of corpses and carnage; in the next, he was elsewhere, miles and more away, stepping out into cleaner, saltier air up in the skies far to the northwest, and standing upon one of his earlier tracking seals atop the first large airship as it soared away from Water Country…

Jutsu used…Show

[Quiescence]
S-Rank Taijutsu Discipline
The user has learned to move in total silence, and does not produce any sound when moving through any means. They cannot be heard unless a person listening for them has a specialized hearing technique of equal or higher rank.

Fuuton • Daedalus
A-Rank Fuuton Ninjutsu
The user opens their tenketsu to release streams of concentrated fuuton chakra, manipulating them like miniature thrusters to propel the user and control air flow around their body. This allows the user to fly at up to their [speed] while maintaining total control of their speed, acceleration, direction, and momentum. These fuuton jets have no instrinsic strength and do not apply the cutting passive.

Hyōton ◊ Hiemal Zephyr
A-Rank Hyouton Ninjutsu
The user will channel a substantial amount of Hyouton chakra into a thin ice-crystal layer over their entire body. The crystalline structure of the layer acts to flawlessly reflect and refract light in such a manner as to make the user entirely invisible and impossible to detect by visual means for its duration. This layer forms at a speed of [control] and has a strength of [control]. The coating protects the user and is light and thin enough to not constrict movement or actions in any manner. The layer remains for up to 6 posts before fracturing and falling away.

*[Ninjutsu • Palm-Top Cannon]
B-Rank Ninjutsu
After the user has channeled a massive amount of chakra into the palm of their hand, the user releases the massive amount completely raw without any form of manipulation, releasing a blast of chakra outward from their hand in a 40 meter long, 10 meter diameter cone at [50] Speed and Strength. Though seemingly simple, this technique can be coupled with loose objects in the air or thrown by the other hand, such as shuriken or a variety of different materials, to launch them at the techniques strength.

Open Space: Shift -> Teleporting to the Augment Fuuinjutsu • Tracking Seal on the first departed Sunflower
C-Rank Jikukan Ninjutsu
The user will focus chakra into their hands and sink them into the air before them, physically pulling open a small portal up to 2x2m in size. This portal can connect to a familiar location etched in Naohiro’s memory, to a point he can see within [control] metres of his current position, or into his personal realm as he so chooses, where an equivalent portal also appears. The tear in space opens at [control] speed, but is unstable and closes immediately after his passage, or after one post if not traversed.

[Valkier]

Naohiro emerged from the rent in space as a small cloaked figure atop the vast Sunflower class airship as it soared high across the oceans, his form still invisible to normal vision thanks to his ongoing techniques. The wind hit him immediately as he arrived, slamming into him like a wall and sending the legendary cloak Desire billowing out around him until he calmed it with a gripped hand. He breathed deeply and crouched, checking the integrity of his earlier fuuinjutsu for a moment before sidling away to the far side of the airships’ roof and finding a sheltered and hidden nook to stow down for the ride. As he walked, he channelled a mote of chakra to the ornate silver cuff worn around his left ankle and aimed the same foot away from the airship’s direction of travel. The wondrous item concentrated his chakra into a thin one-metre-square platform of near-translucent ice, hovering stationary in the air where it was formed, which was almost immediately left behind as the airship and Naohiro continued flying forward and away. He fixed the location in his head and nodded, then continued to try and hide atop the airship roof.

If he were discovered, or if the airship were to suddenly change course or speed in such a way as to suggest that news of the town’s destruction had reached the crew of the ship below him, he’d be able to simply step off the side of the ship and send a small spark of chakra into the large fuuinjutsu atop the vessel roof, detonating it and immediately destroying the airship. He could then quickly step to safely to the ice platform, which should remain viable for far longer than he’d likely need it, or else simply teleport back home again, as he’d done so in arriving here. However, if all went to plan, no one would be the wiser to his presence here until after the airship reached its home berth.

Because that is where he was heading. Back to the origin of these impressive but accursed vehicles, to strike at their base of operations and prevent their continued use in the war raging across the lands of Ocha Province. He had quickly deduced upon first seeing the airships of the Heart Empire that they were as strategic an asset to the invaders as they were magnificent to behold; they seemed to be the crux and lifeline of the entire invasion effort. Not only did they allow Heart’s forces to avoid Water Country’s infamous navy during their initial troop landings, but they also enabled the continual re-deployment of troops to stay one step ahead of Water Country’s defences, and could let the Empire continue to wage their shock-and-awe campaign by simply out-manoeuvring the local garrisons and defending armies. And, presumably, they’d allow the constant resupply of troops and movement of their generals and leaders between battlefronts, too. All together they were an incredible asset to Heart’s invasion—but also a very vulnerable single point of failure for the invaders’ entire logistic network. The ships must already be stretched thin, covering so many essential tasks, and the damage Naohiro had already done would perhaps be enough—enough to limit their utility, enough to force Heart to withdraw them to only operate in safer areas, maybe. But the war could not be left to hinge upon a maybe. He had to be sure.

And so, hunkered down between a propeller housing and the bladder which together lifted and powered the airship, clad in his cloak and concealed as best as he could, Naohiro waited out the long hours of the airship’s journey. And soon enough, he gazed out over the edge of his hiding spot at the city of Shimekiri, the capital of River Country, and the outpost berth from which the airships appeared to be based. A grin slowly grew across the jounin’s face as he began planning his next move. To begin, he drew a simple looking kunai and concentrated, channelling Jikukan chakra into the weapon and placing both hands upon it. When he drew his hands apart a moment later, he held an identical copy of the kunai in each, one now linked inextricably to the other through space. Anchors. Pocketing one for use later, he held the second ready as the airship began to slow and move itself into position, ready to dock at his home berth.

Scanning the area below, Naohiro decided it was time to move, and threw himself out into the air, renewing his flight technique and deftly throwing the second anchor kunai away, out into the coastal waters just outside of Shimekiri’s docks. Water would be no bar to the function of the anchor, and would keep it nicely concealed until—that is, if—it needed to be used. For now it was simply a contingency for any future action needed. With that done, he’d form the kai seal and focus back on the large explosive fuuinjutsu covering the top of the large Sunflower class airship he’d been riding and, now safely flying a distance away, he’d detonate it right as it began to hook into its berth in the airship base. Although this time the ship likely wasn’t full of soldiers, the effect of the huge vessel blasting apart in a giant explosive fireball was enough by itself to destroy a large swathe of the airship docks, very likely making those parts unusable for some time in addition to destroying the vessel in question.

The next few moments passed in a blur of adrenaline and action. His attack had now truly begun, and so, airbourne, invisible, and clad in Desire, Naohiro began flying back and forth over and through the airship docks. He channelled again, wrapping himself in a vast hurricane of swirling and cutting fuuton, while searching for additional targets and always in his head mindful of any counterattacks. It would only take a moment to channel back into his anklet and step away back to the earlier prepared ice platform, or, if necessary, to open another rift in space to escape to his realm or homeward. But for so long as he was not in fatal danger, he would continue his one-man assault of this airship base.

It only took a moment to spot other airships. The fleet of Tulip-class vessels that the Heart Empire could field was perhaps three times that of the larger Sunflower-class, and four of the smaller ships were present here, one of them already in the motions of taking off as he begun his attack. But the real gem, and his priority target, was the one other Sunflower present. If he could destroy that, it would make for three total of the large ships removed from Heart’s invasion arsenal. He made a beeline for it, swooping in as fast and as nimbly as he could and trusting to his whirlwind cloak to counter any projectiles or jutsu that might be shot blindly up to try and catch him. On his way to the sunflower, he swerved and careened past the taking-off Tulip ship, trusting to the tempestuous whirlwind around him to dice up the small ship. It would likely fall apart from the strength and depth of the repeatedly-cutting winds, but would at the very least be rendered a dead weight falling back to the ground as its bladder and propellers would be sliced apart.

The same would likely have been enough to deal with the larger Sunflower vessel, too, but this time it was good to be certain. So he once again began channelling a raw blast of ninpou, the same as he’d used previously, into one hand. As he swooped in nearby to the great vessel, letting his Dragon’s Tempest carve wide gashes into the warship and slice it apart, he unleashed the ten-metre-wide cone of chakra in a blast of energy straight through one of the engines and bladder of the ship, effectively destroying it irreparably. Then, still not slowing in his flight, he’d spiral around and try and fly directly past the three remaining docked Tulip class ships, intending to destroy them just as thoroughly as the first using the fuuton whirlwind cloaked around him. His hope, once the attack was complete and he was out of important airship targets, or if he was too strongly opposed to continue the assault, would be to soar up and away and prepare an escape through the use of the The Fleet Footed Demon of Mirrors ankle cuffs and the earlier ice platform…

Jutsu usedShow

Continued use of Fuuton • Daedalus, and [Quiescence] and Hyōton ◊ Hiemal Zephyr.

*Recycle & Open Space: True Link
A-Rank Jikukan Ninjutsu
The user will do a series of hand seals then place one hand on an any object small enough to fit in their grasp. Upon doing so, they will Recycle Space, creating an exact duplicate of that object. The duplicate of said object will act as an Anchor, turning both objects into links to each other. Should any party aside from the Architect come in contact with either anchor, they’ll be instantly transported to the other Anchor either a) they elect to or b) their control is less than the control of the Architect. The Architect can opt to use the Anchor at any point as well, should they so choose.

*Fuuton • Dragon's Tempest
A-Rank Fuuton Ninjutsu
After forming the needed hand seals, a fierce whirlwind will radiate out from the user at [50] Speed, surrounding the user with winds that will cut any opponent or object within range to pieces. There is a 2m radius around the user that would be the “eye of the storm.” If struck by this Jutsu the victims will face blades of wind that strike with [50] Strength and can leave wounds and deep cuts. This Jutsu covers an area of 65m in all directions for 3 posts.

*[Ninjutsu • Palm-Top Cannon]
B-Rank Ninjutsu
After the user has channeled a massive amount of chakra into the palm of their hand, the user releases the massive amount completely raw without any form of manipulation, releasing a blast of chakra outward from their hand in a 40 meter long, 10 meter diameter cone at [50] Speed and Strength. Though seemingly simple, this technique can be coupled with loose objects in the air or thrown by the other hand, such as shuriken or a variety of different materials, to launch them at the techniques strength.

The Fleet Footed Demon of Mirrors
Two simple thin silver cuffs worn around the ankle, often under the wearer's boots or socks, these cuffs have the ability to channel both Jikukan and Hyouton chakra when focused on. The embedded ability of the boots is actually to 'Tighten Space', which is does through mirrors of ice it produces. Through channeling chakra into the cuffs, the user can create small 1m x 1m platforms of ice under their feet. The platforms form at [10 speed] as the user steps, remaining in the air for the next 5 posts. The platform has no strength beyond being able to hold the users weight. However, the user can channel chakra into the cuffs and destroy the platform they're standing on, causing the space between where the platform they've destroyed and any existing platform they choose to Tighten at 10 speed, allowing them to step from their current position directly onto the destination platform. The space immediately expands again once the user has dropped onto the targeted platform.

[Valkier]

Chaos reigned in the city of Shimekiri. In the beginning, the civilians throughout the city streets likely assumed it a natural phenomenon or horrific accident; the howling whirlwind appearing from nowhere, the colliding of airship into the ground and the scattering of burning debris. By the end, some presumed it an Act of God. Holy retribution, bringing the Empire’s overseas aggression back home to roost. Only a handful, the more experienced samurai of Shimekiri’s garrison, would’ve been able to determine the true course of events. But those events were over too fast for retaliation. The city watched in stunned silence as its unseen and unknown attacker wrought his relentless fury upon their airship docks and infrastructure, and wept as their that which was likely the height of their pride was reduced to rubble and dust, fragment and flame.

In truth, Naohiro’s assault lasted only a few mere minutes. When he finally rose into the air to pull back and regard his actions, the damage was clear: the two Sunflower transport ships were scattered into burning hunks of twisted metal and torn husks of canvas, as were the four smaller Tulip class ships also present, and the docks themselves were destroyed beyond all reason of repair. From there he’d taken his tempest out into the city proper for a few passes, not seeking civilian lives, but sowing chaos down the roads and coastal docks, even tearing through the train station and shredding the tracks that led to it with the intense strength of his fuuton cloak. In the docks and airship berths he’d blasted open fuel storage silos, spreading the thick contents across the grounds until it caught from the burning debris of the ships and turned the already scarred and broken scenes into hellscapes of billowing black smoke and intense heat. There would be no swift recovery for this city’s contributions towards the Heart Empire’s campaign against his homeland. No easy resolution to right their wrongs.

For the first time since the conflict began, Naohiro felt like he’d made a difference. Organising his own village’s involvement and planning the defence of his nation was one thing, but actually being here, taking direct action with his own hands, was something else entirely. It felt good. It wasn’t quite justice—these people were not the ones commanding the armies currently rampaging through his homeland—but it was a deliverance of hope to his country. The beginnings of it, at least. As always, there was work yet to be done. Even so, his face was grim as he opened another tear in space and stepped through.

Immediately the sounds of panic ceased, and the acrid smell of smoke and char vanished, replaced by a cold and sweet rush of wind. His feet touched the roof of the very first Tulip class airship that he’d targeted all those hours earlier in Water Country, and he steadied himself upon the roof of its bladder. It seemed his seal had gone unnoticed, and the vessel was still in flight somewhere in the open skies. He stepped to the edge of the ship and looked down, squatting and taking a moment to center himself and recover his breath from the intense fight in Shimekiri. While he recovered he surveyed the land passing far below. The ship flew high, far out of reach of any ordinary bow or siege weapon from the ground, and the view was second to none. In better times he would’ve revelled in it and the sense of freedom it gave. He quickly recognised the lay of the land, however; the ship still flew over Ocha Province, the peninsula of former Tea Country, although from the curve of the coast far below he gauged that they were much farther to the northeast than when he’d last seen this ship.

He channelled a spark of chakra to his feet and hands, adhering himself to the curved top of the ship’s bladder, and then began slowly scaling down the side of the vessel. Below the bladder was a sizeable cabin, wrapping around and beneath the ship, and the nearest point to him had a row of windows and what looked like a walkway beyond. A passing face glanced in his direction and did a double-take, eyes widening with shock. The guard’s arm reached out to grab the sleeve of a colleague beside him just as Naohiro’s two kunai took him and the other guard in their heads, shattering a window and sending both men thumping to the floor. Naohiro’s boots made a similar sound as he threw himself through the window and landed inside the vessel.

The room was a thin corridor, like one would find on a small seafaring vessel, well made and panelled with polished wood. There were five closed doors, one at either end of the short corridor, and three on the side opposite the row of windows. One of those three, right behind Naohiro, opened to reveal another pair of guards, evidently coming to investigate the clamour of his entrance. He spun and cut the throat of the first with another kunai before the door had finished opening, and then kicked the man backwards into the second guard before rushing in. A moment later, the second man lay in a growing pool of blood, staring blankly upwards with his one remaining eye.

Naohiro recovered and wiped his two kunai from the bodies and before cracking the two other doors along the same wall, revealing one empty room—perhaps a break room for the crew, with a long table along one wall and lockers and cupboards around the others—and a small cabin lined with cots. This last contained one more man, wrapped in blankets, who he ensured would never wake. Back in the corridor Naohiro had a decision; from his view while outside the ship he suspected the door towards the front of the ship likely lead to the bridge—did you still call it that, on an airship?—while the other door led in the other direction, towards the main bulk of the ship. They seemed to be flying steadily, and so he turned left towards the rest of the ship, preferring to eliminate any threats from behind before dealing with the pilot.

Through the door at the end he turned a corner into another corridor with another three doors, surprising one further guard with a knife in the back and through his heart. Two other occupants, uniformed but clearly not soldiers, fell with kunai in their backs as they tried to flee. Seven, Naohiro counted, and descended a steep narrow staircase leading into the belly of the vessel. Through one more door at the end of the stairs he stepped into a much larger room—a lounge? The main cabin? He didn’t know the term—filled with seating and a crowd of passengers. His appearance went unnoticed for a good couple of seconds before someone raised the alarm. He leapt into action as a half dozen samurai around the room began to move in his direction.

Moving towards one of the samurai around the periphery of the room, he performed a rapid set of hand seals and raised his arm as six icicles formed around his wrist. The first fired almost point blank, splitting the first samurai’s head like a melon under a hammer as it exploded through him. A second samurai ducked around the side of the falling body and swung, but Naohiro stepped back and ducked beneath the arcing sword before unloading a second icicle into the warrior’s throat. His gorget split before the spike, and his body lurched from the force of the impact before he staggered and fell, blood spurting in gouts as he tried to breath.

The other four samurai reached and began to form a circle around him with their weapons raised, two behind and two to the side. Naohiro tensed, then began the fight before all four could rush at once by charging to his right, ducking low, and firing another spike into the inner thigh of one soldier. It shattered through his armour and out the other side of his leg, then continued out across the room and through a far window. Naohiro spun to the man’s left, avoiding the off-balance swing, and aiming his hand behind him fired a fourth spike into the back of the fourth samurai, side-by-side with the one whose thigh he’d just damaged. The remaining two rushed him simultaneously, and he fired both remaining spikes towards one of them. The man deftly blocked one, but the second lanced past his sword and tore into his chest right over his heart, killing him before he hit the floor.

The other samurai still on the offensive began an elaborate series of slashes, forcing Naohiro back and giving his one remaining comrade time to regain his footing from his wounded leg. The kirigakure shinobi smiled as he fell back, ducking and weaving to avoid the sword while drawing another pair of kunai. He was about to step forward and resume his attack when a blow hit him from behind, throwing him off to one side.

He smashed into a bar counter which stood against one wall and skidded across it before managing to kick himself back to his feet at the end of the slide. His head spun from the blow and his back felt stiff where his flak jacket had absorbed some of an impact, but soon his eyes settled on the three figures facing him. Behind them, panic had filled the room, with most of the occupants swarming to the far doors. He clicked his tongue, having been hoping to avoid such a complication, but for the time being had to focus on the danger before him. The two samurai had been joined by a third man, a mountain of a man, clad in fine armour wielding a heavy two-handed hammer. The three fanned out ahead of Naohiro, murder in their eyes…

Jutsu Used…Show

Continued from last post: Fuuton • Daedalus, [Quiescence] and Hyōton ◊ Hiemal Zephyr until:

Open Space: Shift -> Teleporting to the Augment Fuuinjutsu • Tracking Seal on the first departed Tulip
C-Rank Jikukan Ninjutsu
The user will focus chakra into their hands and sink them into the air before them, physically pulling open a small portal up to 2x2m in size. This portal can connect to a familiar location etched in Naohiro’s memory, to a point he can see within [control] metres of his current position, or into his personal realm as he so chooses, where an equivalent portal also appears. The tear in space opens at [control] speed, but is unstable and closes immediately after his passage, or after one post if not traversed.

Hyōton ◊ Boreal Cannon
C-Rank Hyouton Ninjutsu
After channelling chakra into one of their hands, moisture is drawn and condenses from the air to form six icicles, each 50cm long and tapering from 15cm diameter down to a point, which hover in a circle around the user's arm, point towards their hand. At any point during the next 5 posts the user can choose to launch the icicles, individually or all together, towards a target at a speed and strength of [control].

[Evasive Combat]
B-Rank Taijutsu Discipline
Prerequisite: [Close Quarters Combat], [Perception]
The user has ingrained in themselves the importance of watching an opponent's motions, enabling themselves to instincively react in a defensive manner to incoming strikes. This allows the user to duck, weave, and twist their body to evade or lessen the impact of attacks, so long as the user's speed is equal to or greater than that of their opponent.

[Valkier]

Kawano Daishi, Natsubushi of the Heart Empire, despised impertinence. There were some things a true man should not do, and bursting uninvited into one’s private party aboard a man’s private transport was one of them. Killing one’s retainers without so much as a hint of warning was perhaps a close second. He hadn’t flown thousands of miles from the new homeland for this. He sized up the intruder as the young man was picking himself up from the bar counter. A good foot shorter than himself, thin and frail-looking. Raven-black hair, snow-white skin, and a Kirigakure shinobi headband. He should have expected as much. It’d been only a matter of time before those fools showed up to defend what was not rightfully theirs. He hefted his warhammer and resolved to mete out justice to this foolish would-be assassin. Justice for Tea Country, justice for his fallen soldiers, now lying scattered and staining the plush carpets of the lounge, and justice for the two samurai who still stood at his side. Arinaga was wounded, standing with his weight on one leg and bleeding through the armoured plates of the other, but Hiroya stood firm and ready, waiting for Daishi’s signal. They were good men, and deserved better.

---

Naohiro had to think quickly. The two samurai, he could handle without too much issue, though much of his success so far had been down to surprise rather than a surplus of physical skill, but the giant of a man who stood now between them gave off a much stronger aura. More importantly, the weight behind his hammer blow had been immense; one or two more of those and he probably wouldn’t be able to regain his feet. Worse, he was already considerably drained from the earlier parts of his mission. But he was close, now, so close. He raised a fresh pair of kunai before him in a guard, set his feet, and then began to channel. The trio ahead of him charged immediately.

But Naohiro’s technique was not complex, nor insidious, and took him only a split second to complete. He jumped backwards to open a mote more space and buy him time, but quickly found his back up against the wide curved window which made up the rear wall of the large room. In better situations the view would have been breathtaking, but for now his eyes were very much aimed inwards. The effects of his technique took hold immediately as a dense mist began to permeate the air within the cabin, reducing visibility to within a few metres. But the three figures were upon him, and he had to dive out of the way to one side as the heavy warhammer slammed down into where he’d been standing. The wood deck splintered and broke under its weight, and Naohiro took off running into the newly forming cover, closely followed by the two samurai.

He continued to channel as he moved, ducking and weaving to try and avoid his pursuit for a moment longer, and his techniques constantly increased the density of the mist and further reduced vision until he could see barely a meter in any direction. Somewhere further into the room, generally back where he’d entered, the remaining passengers began shouting in panic as they tried to find their way out. Then, kicking a passing table over to create a clamour, Naohiro shifted the angle of his feet and the balance of his weight, and stepped sideways in utter silence. The mist was his home, and like a wraith he melded with it, becoming as silent and creeping as the mist itself. Then, finally, he opened his senses.

The room burst back into clarity in his mind’s eye, though he could feel the strain of the technique on his rapidly depleting reserves. He quickly refined his sense, examining the relative differences between the different chakra sources, and felt reaffirmed. The two samurai and the larger man were easy to distinguish by their locations in the room compared to the large crowd, probably a score in total, who had fled or were fleeing away into the rest of the ship. Those people were insignificant, likely civilians or simple grunt guards, and posed no immediate danger. The two samurai held some talent, though dwarfed still by his own capabilities, but the large man dominated, easily the strongest presence across the whole ship. As Naohiro silently edged through the room, tracking and avoiding his targets until the timing was right to strike out, he idly wondered who the large man was. But, he supposed, it didn’t really matter. He hadn’t come here for a hostage, and one corpse was much alike another.

---

Daishi growled in annoyance, frustrated by the thick mist. He should’ve expected tricks and traps; these bastards didn’t understand a soldier’s honour, much less possess it. He no longer knew where he was in the room, and had already almost split Hiroya’s skull after hearing the man stumble into a chair nearby. They’d both realised their error at the last moment and stopped their blows, and now they stood back to back, slowly circling the room. He wanted to shout at the ninja, the weasel, and call out his cowardice. Was he even still here? But every fibre of his being screamed at him to stay quiet and avoid giving his position away. Unfortunately, Arinaga didn’t share the same gut instinct. The man called out from somewhere out in the room, and Hiroya answered before Daishi could raise a hand. Not that the man would’ve seen it anyway. They heard Arinaga approach, and then a whistling motion, a stagger, and a heavy thud.

Daishi rushed forwards, Hisoya at his side, just in time to see the ninja vanish back into the mist. Arinaga lay twitching on the floor, his opened neck pumping spurts of blood up and out across the floor around him, gasping silently. Daishi grimaced and, drawing his side knife, deftly put the man out of his misery. It was all he could do. Then he gave chase, pulling Hisoya along with him and swinging into the mist towards every eddy or sound…

---

Naohiro backed off again, cleaning the blood from his kunai, and crouched on the far side of the room from the brutish man and his lackey. For all his strength and speed, the armoured giant seemed to be a creature of instinct. Passion had surely overtaken reason as his mark circled the room. The man obviously hoped to come upon Naohiro by chance. And perhaps he would, but not in the way he expected. Naohiro squatted beside one of the samurai he’d killed upon first entering the room, rolling the corpse over to stare upwards. The man had apparently crawled some distance before finally expiring, and lay in a smear of blood where he’d dragged himself. He wiped some of the blood from the man’s face with a corner of the samurai’s collar, then concentrated and performed a few rapid hand seals, transforming his own appearance to match that of the fallen man, clothing and all. Then he wiped a handful of the man’s blood over his face, completing the disguise.

A few moments later, he staggered out of the mist towards the two remaining holdouts, clutching the man’s sword in one tight hand and staring around warily and bewildered, other hand clutching an imagined wound. The smaller of the two soldiers still alive, clad in samurai gear, gave a shout.

“Black gods, Iwasaki! Get over here!” The man hurried over and began helping him forwards, shooting anxious glances at the surrounding mist all the while. “Did you see the bastard? He’s still here somewhere, don’t let your guard down!” He waited for a reply, so Naohiro gave a grimaced shake of his head, as if too pained to talk. It seemed to satisfy. The samurai ushered him to sit and rest a moment, but as soon as his back was turned Naohiro leapt back up. The man simply froze mid-step, without so much as a grunt, as a kunai found his spine then heart in two rapid strokes. Naohiro let the body fall and launched himself at the back of the final enemy, the large man, hitting him with a deep stab between the shoulder plates of his armoured back before the noise of his comrade’s collapse could alarm him.

And yet, it wasn’t enough. Instead of reacting to the pain or injury, the man spun and grabbed Naohiro with his left hand, hoisting him into the air and effortlessly tossing him away. How in the hell? Is he made of steel?! Naohiro hit the rear wall of the cabin—the glass wall—and it shattered. He sailed through and out into the open air, spinning and falling away from the airship. No. I definitely saw blood. He spread his arms and steadied himself to try and counter the spin, then began a set of hand seals. One last time he renewed his flight technique, a shell of fuuton erupting around him and jetting from his hands and feet. His descent slowed and he regained control, rising back upwards and giving chase to the fast airship. He had to open his chakra reserves to thrust himself forward to a dangerous clip to catch back up, but soon enough he brought himself to a hover outside the rear wall of the airship. The inside was an opaque sheet of white mist still, though it had begun encroaching out of the rear wall and giving the airship a white tail out into the sky in its wake. He could still see the shadow of the giant man moving just within the edge of the mist, no doubt waiting to see if Naohiro would return.

One more. He stoked the remnants of his chakra and reached his hands out, channelling into the dense cloud of mist. He pulled on the suiton within, forming it from the mist into three long spears, slowly, but deftly. Then, focusing on the large chakra signature still isolated in his mind’s eye, he completed the final seal and launched all three spears, simultaneously, into the target from different sides. The chakra signature in his mind shimmered, flickered, then winked out into multiple drifting fragments.

Jutsu used…Show

Hidden Mist Technique
D-Rank Ninjutsu
Prerequisite: Kirigakure Shinobi
Kirigakure no Jutsu is a Ninjutsu technique utilized by Hidden Mist Ninja. After forming the required hand seals, the ninja creates a blanket of mist which covers the area around them. The mist covers an area of up to 15x15x15m. The mist limits the visibility of those inside to 4 meters in any direction. This technique lasts a number of posts equal to 1/2 the user's Chakra Pool.

Obscuring Mist Technique
A-Rank Ninjutsu
Prerequisite: Concealing Mist Technique
After forming the required hand seals, the ninja creates a blanket of mist which covers the area around them. The mist covers an area of up to 100x100x100m. The mist limits the visibility of those inside to 1 meter in any direction, and dampens scents, weakening any advanced scent techniques, or controlled scent techniques by 4m. Additionally, sound is dampened as well, which can make it more difficult to communicate plans through the mist without advanced hearing techniques. Those without advanced hearing techniques won't be able to hear anything that's not within 5meters of them, while advanced hearing is limited to 10m. Additionally, the mist is saturated in chakra, which makes it impossible for sensors outside the mist to sense who is within it. This technique lasts a number of posts equal to the user's 1/2 Chakra pool.

[Quiescence]
S-Rank Taijutsu Discipline
The user has learned to move in total silence, and does not produce any sound when moving through any means. They cannot be heard unless a person listening for them has a specialized hearing technique of equal or higher rank.

[Sensory Style • Beyond Senses]
C-Rank Ninjutsu
Prerequisite: 10 Control
This sensor technique is used by shinobi to feel chakra sources within a radius of 60 meters. While this jutsu is fairly helpful in sensing chakra, it is unable to actually pinpoint specific chakras outside of a 30m radius. This only gives the user an idea of how many chakra sources are present in their general area and a rough gauge on the size of each chakra source.

[Sensory Style • Evaluation]
C-Rank Ninjutsu
Prerequisite: [Sensory Style • Beyond Senses]
The sensor will activate a this supplementary technique in addition to a sensory jutsu. By doing so, the user will be able to compare the relative strength of each source of chakra they are able to sense. The “strength” of the individual is determined by the average of each person’s Chakra Pool, Control and Endurance stats. The user can determine who has more relative strength than others, allowing them to pick out possible risks.

Fuuton • Daedalus
A-Rank Fuuton Ninjutsu
The user opens their tenketsu to release streams of concentrated fuuton chakra, manipulating them like miniature thrusters to propel the user and control air flow around their body. This allows the user to fly at up to their [speed] while maintaining total control of their speed, acceleration, direction, and momentum. These fuuton jets have no intrinsic strength and do not apply the cutting passive.

Mist Intercession
C-Rank Ninjutsu
After performing the correct handseals, the user will focus on a 3x3x3m area of mist. This mist will then become extremely dense, forming into three 3m long spears of suiton with [Control] strength before firing into and impaling a target at [Control] speed. Each spear can be formed in a different location and independently targeted, but are fire-and-forget once launched.

[Valkier]

Naohiro floated forwards and stepped back onto the polished wood of the airships’ lower main cabin, the mist and floor around him now bleached a tell-tale pink. Chakra reserves now running low, he dismissed both his fuuton flight technique and the mist itself, allowing the dense cloud to thin and escape out of the smashed rear window of the room. The scene unveiled spoke loudly of the struggle; chairs, tables, and sofas were smashed and upturned, swathes of glass and other debris littered the floor, interspersed with still-leaking bodies. The large armoured man lay now in three pieces, speared through and torn apart by spears of suiton which now diluted the oily red tide around him that ebbed and flowed with the motion of the airship. Again Naohiro wondered who the warrior had been, and whether he would’ve been a useful captive. By now he was familiar with the rank insignia used by the Heart Empire, and this man had been no mere footsoldier, but an accomplished leader of such. Shame.

Without any more backwards thought, the Kirigakure shinobi stepped over the body and left the room, taking the door that most of the other passengers earlier had fled to. The corridor and rooms beyond were vacant. No doubt the survivors wanted to get as far away from him as possible. But he found a crowd of them through the next corridor, lining the halls and ducking in side cabins with many an anguished expression. They froze as he stepped through the door towards them, and he paused in turn. These people were… a complication. The easiest thing to do would be, of course, to silence the lot of them. It wouldn’t take much to shatter the floor and let gravity handle the rest. But he curled his lip at the thought; these weren’t soldiers, and nor did they appear to be any threat to him. His sensory technique confirmed no one else on the vessel was a concern. Perhaps there was another option. Slowly he raised his hands, palms open, to his sides.

“Easy. I am not here for you,” he spoke calmly but clearly, and even those hiding further without would have no trouble hearing him through the panicked silence. “But, neither can I ignore you. Instead, I will give you a choice.” He scanned the crowd, then singled out one man near the front who seemed slightly less panicked than his fellows. He fixed him with a look, then beckoned him forward. “Search the ship, and gather every non-combatant you can find. Some of your peers fled to the other decks, I fear. Bring everyone back here, and stay here. Lock the doors. Do not follow me, and do not try anything to hinder me, and I will see fit to allow you all to leave once we reach our destination,” he paused for effect, meeting the few eyes that were not averted, “Otherwise, I will have no choice but to see that you disembark…sooner.”

“If I see any of you again from this point onwards, I will assume this agreement is broken, and act accordingly. I suggest you choose wisely.” He waited a moment longer, watching the man he’d singled out until he scurried away to obey. If the threats weren’t enough, perhaps the slew of bodies in the lounge area would add further motivation. Finally, Naohiro walked slowly through the crowd—it parted easily before him—to the far door, which, if he’d gauged the layout of the airship correctly, would lead back towards the bridge, but from the opposite side to his initial entry to the airship. He pushed open the door and strolled through as if he owned the place.

A narrow passageway beyond, with some further side doors leading to empty rooms, did indeed emerge out onto the bridge. A final two guards waited, swords drawn and ready, but neither seemed keen to charge at him as he entered.

“It’s over, you can throw down your swords,” he began, but then one of them did charge. Perhaps he was losing his touch at reading people. Unfortunately the charge was a frantic one, made in panic rather than composure, and Naohiro quite easily stepped around the man and deftly kicked him to the side. Turning the tables from earlier, this time it was the samurai who hit and smashed through a window, vanishing from sight with a panicked but swiftly fading scream. He wouldn’t reappear. The final guard dropped his blade and stepped away. Naohiro considered for a moment, then picked up the weapon and held it back out to the man, before telling him the same instructions he’d given to the surviving passengers.
“Guard them until you all make it off of this ship safely, and try to prevent a panic. It’s in all of your best interests, and they need someone they can rely on right now.” He told the samurai, then moved out of his way and waited for him to leave. The man didn’t hesitate for long before leaving, and once he was gone, Naohiro dragged over a nearby table and barred the door from the inside, just in case. Now, then.

He turned back to examine the bridge of the ship. It was a sizeable room, with a bank of wide sweeping floor-to-ceiling windows arranged in an oblate hemisphere facing forwards. The view was spectacular, with cloud-dappled sunlight lancing in from above and endless open sky beyond, and the ground slipping past far below. Inside, the floors and walls were just as well polished as elsewhere, with several desks, chairs, and some sort of wheel in the bridge center, and all manner of tubes, levers, and gauges on banks of controls. One man still stood at the helm, watching Naohiro with an expression of open panic, and two other occupants were visible trying to hide behind one of the desks. Naohiro stepped towards them.

“Wait! Wait! You need us!” Voice growing frantic, the pilot reached out a pleading hand to try and stop him. “No one else can fly this ship!”

Naohiro simply smiled. “I don’t need this thing in order to fly. But, as it happens, our interests align, for the moment. So long as you do what I say from now on. What’s your name, Pilot?”

The pilot fell silent, his hands tightening back on the controls. The tension was clear upon his face. Slowly, almost reluctantly, he shook his head.

“I can’t, I…” he stood a little straighter and looked Naohiro in the eyes, “I have a duty. This ship and crew are my great responsibility. I can’t stand aside.”

Naohiro regarded him for a moment, then nodded.

“Very well.” He darted forwards suddenly, faster than the Pilot or the others could react, and seized the two crew that had been trying to hide behind one of the desks. He hoisted both up by their collars, one in each fist. One woman, one man. The pilot watched with growing unease as Naohiro dragged the two to one side of the bridge where a bundle of thick tubes ran across the wall, resisting their energetic flailing and ignoring their shouts all the while. He found a point that was out of arm’s reach of any obvious valves, handles, or controls, and began to deftly truss the two crew to the pipes using the thin rope he kept around his waist. Soon enough they were securely tied, wholly unable to move, and he tore a strip from the man’s cloak to stuff into their mouths and mute their cries. Finally, he turned back to the pilot.

“Choose, then. Your duty is called. Choose the ship, or choose the crew.” He drew a kunai and placed it gently against the man’s throat, and the prisoner fell very, very still. “Will you do as I say, Pilot, and save your remaining crew? Or will you deny me, and betray those who you could still save in the name of this… vehicle?”

Sweat beaded upon the pilot face, and his fingers were tight upon the controls, eyes flicking between Naohiro and the two bound crew, then down. Then he swallowed, grimaced, and— and Naohiro, unhappy with the hesitation, pulled his arm back to drive the kunai home. The pilot’s voice rang out like a keening bell at the last moment.

“Stop!”

Naohiro barely halted the blade, but did not remove it as he turned to look back at the pilot. He raised an eyebrow expectantly.

“Your oath, Pilot”

Another pause, but shorter, and a deep intake of breath.

“Okay. I swear it. I’ll do as you say. But I need them,” he indicated towards his two colleagues, “I need them to be safe.” He sagged against the controls, defeated.

“You have my word, Pilot.” Naohiro deftly untied the rope and rewound it around his waist, ungagging and gently pushing the two captives back into the room. “Now, I have a new heading for you. We’re going to a particular island in a particular lake, within another island. You won’t find it without me, I’m afraid. And what are your names?”

---

Many hours later, the small airship drifted gently down, slowing and levelling, until it touched gently down in an open courtyard not far from the Mizukage's tower in Kirigakure. Naohiro had needed to return in advance to make preparations for the landing site, of course, and to avoid any would-be defenders from shooting the already-damaged vessel from the sky. But he'd returned as quickly as possible, finding the remaining few crew more than ameniable. Most of the surviving passengers he'd released some time earlier, near to one of Ocha Province's port towns, with an oath to cause no trouble and either return quietly to their previous lives, or better yet to seek new ones and help mend the country they had helped pillage. He suspected none of them would dare oppose his instructions for some time, even once out of his sight. One individual among the passengers, excepting the pilot and their two aides, had insisted upon staying with him instead, follwing his strength and success. He didn't trust them yet, but perhaps they would have some use in the future. For now, he had an urgent meeting with Kirigakures finest engineers and shipwrights...