[Info] A whole lot of gang shit

[Trusted Grader]

The sun was slowly rising over the horizon, it had hit that perfect spot where the entire world looked a tad bit orange, that combined with the morning dew made the upper parts of Crescent Coalition appear like a heaven-state. Normally, the commander of the Legionnaire wouldn´t find themselves walking to the border of Crescent and Rock if not for an important meeting. See, normally Ishizuka would´ve sent someone else, but today presented a perfect opportunity to strengthen international relationships and also get rid of an annoying fleece that had been strutting around in Juu no Kuni.

Normally Crescent would´ve just sent in a squad of mercenaries to take him down and then do whatever they want with the DNA that they collected but ever since the tragedy, the village outlook on the world had slightly changed, it was still optimistic but had lost a lot of spirit and soul. Ishizuka figured that there was a small sense of lack of security, this was why he had brought up the idea to the Speaker, Kohaku, Shinzo. He had agreed upon that life would perhaps feel a bit lighter if the citizens knew that they got rid of a missing ninja within their vicinity and at the same time strengthened the relationship with their only ally.

Shiroyoku´s massive wingspan beat the air into submission as it forced the duo closer to the outpost where they had agreed that the meeting would take place, Iwagakure sent an agent to assist in the hunt, This will take the country one step closer to secure. Theoretically this should make my job easier, but considering that the damn orphans keep causing trouble... Shit... Don´t even think about Ziv and Yume... Ishizuka sighed as those two had been a massive content for his never ending stress and headache.

A chuckle escaped his breath but stopped once he spotted the ninja from above, Shiryoku would swoop down but in a circular motion so as to not to cause the ninja to assume that it was an ambush, once the eagle was 10 meters above ground the Samurai would leap off and land next in front of Feng, Xi, a promising Jounin, which would match the same level of intensity as Ishizuka, which was perfect. Originally Shinzo wanted to send Miyazaki, Jin but Ishizuka pushed for himself as it would present better optics.

"Maho, Ishizuka, Commander of the Legionnaires. I presume you are Feng, Xi of Iwagakure no sato, correct?" Ishizuka asked out of politeness, even though he could clearly see the Iwagakure headplate wrapped around his leg. "Our target has been spotted in a country south of Crescent Coalition, in fact, he is hiding in one of our enemy states which makes this mission a bit delicate as it could spark international drama if done incorrectly." Ishizuka didn´t seem all that phased by the idea as the warrior that he was, for he believed if they died protecting their sovereignty then they die heroically.

[Zao]

From the outpost, the rather non-challant looking figure in black and grey clothing that appeared like simple attire, even lacking the traditional jounin vest associated with many of his own rank within Iwa had been alerted from the lookout that a large bird was approaching. 'This should be the one from Crescent...' Xi truly didn't have feeling one way or another about the small country that had allied with Iwa, in his own mind it was the only smart thing to do if they wanted to create some type of protection from themselves and it seemed the country also was at odds with at least Konoha. Reaching up to rub the back of his messy black hair that almost appeared to be spiked up naturally, the man did wonder about what this action did for them. Perhaps it was a way to strike back at Konoha indirectly by using this smaller nation and if things went bad the blame could be shifted.

Either way, Xi stepped out into a more open area allowing for himself to be more visible as the large bird and its rider traversed closer and soon then just before landing the figure jumped off landing a short distance in front of him. Upon closer inspection one could see the string of red orbs that ran diagonally across the man's chest from the right shoulder down to the left hip and on around onto his back, the black shirt he wore also sported a triple crescent symbol on the left chest, the family insignia for the Feng family. "Welcome, I am Xi." The young man found himself running his left hand through the hair on the back of his head as he spoke to the Legionnaire, "I see. We had also heard about the movement of the target but hadn't planned to intervene just yet. Though it seems we most likely won't be the only ones after him as I'm sure you could guess."

Xi looked young but had a decent amount of combat experience during the great war and even the Wind country invasion and direct assault upon the Sand village, "There will always be drama, such in inevitable in our current time." Straight forward were his words, already understanding the relative tensions that went between the other nations after Suna had been occupied by the standing for of Iwa. "Do you have any other preparations to make before we set off?" Eager to get started in order to just as quickly finish this task, the green-eyed shinobi tilted his head slightly studying Ishizuka as he asked his question.

WC: 433

[Trusted Grader]

Ishizuka inspected the man before him, nothing about his attire or his demeanor screamed that this man was a danger but a true warrior like Ishizuka knew that looks deceived the eye, no, what was hiding under those slack clothes and the brand of his family was a man forged in steel, sent by their ally to make short work of their common enemy.

The risk was there, but the reward would be so much greater if they pulled off this crazy stunt, besides, Ishizuka had gathered information through the mercenaries that trouble was brewing, rebellion in the sands, the rising power of Heart and Konoha´s insistence on being a nuisance. A sigh escaped his breath as he turned around, he whistled for the eagle to drop down as he replied to Xi.

"You could say that again, the war isn´t finished, we were just granted a bit of slack. Rebellions, rising powers, schemes... Sorry but those are the ninja ways, us Samurai we like to do things a bit more straight forward." Ishizuka climbed up the back of the massive blue eagle that landed in front of them, he would reach out and pull up Xi on the eagles back before it beat the ground and took off.

"Our mercenaries have been working diligently in order to make sure that our borders are secure, lately we have been given reports that a strange man has been seen wandering Dragon Country and Juu no Kuni claiming that he is capable of shooting down the sun. I presume it´s hyperbole, but if the rumors are to be true then that bow would be invaluable. Besides, they claim that he has milky white eyes, and you know what famous clan carries those right?"

...

A moment of silent passed before he finally revealed the nature of their enemy.

"A Hyuuga."

Ishizuka looked over at Xi and slowly nodded, he tried to transmit through his eyes. "I would not expect us to be the only ones coming for his head. If we play our cards right we could get the Hyuuga to defect, alternatively we turn his body into a husk for medical practices and the likes." The latter part meant that they could grab the eyes for all he cared, ninjas tended to collect others organs he heard, like trophies. Brutal.

[Zao]

"That you samurai do, if only others were so straight forward with their own plans." Sadly, Xi couldn't help but nod in agreement, each nation had its own secrets and special black operation teams that were out and about conducting reconnaissance, intelligence gathering, and even assassinations against those who posed a threat to the security of that nation or its ideals. Yet the samurai had a better code of conduct and honor, but it was still hard to believe that they didn't do the same behind the scenes. Reaching up he took a grip on the man's wrist before being pulled up from the ground with a surprising bit of strength as the black-haired man wasn't overly strong himself, some might even mark him as subpar in that department but then again, he wasn't a close-range fighter. "Oh?" The ninja couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as the foreign samurai continued to explain a bit about the information that Crescent had gathered on the man and the reference made to Juu no Kuni, where they interested in Juu to have eyes and ears there at this time?

But what had really caused his eyebrow to arch and then for both of them to furrow was the continued description of the rogue shinobi, mostly the key trait being his milky white eyes. "I see." Though he only spoke a few words they were in a serious tone about the matter, if this was the case then of course such a clan member would probably be pursued by hunters from the Leaf village. 'I wonder who they have chasing this one.' Konoha was much like Iwa in this instance, if one of the unique powers of their village went rogue, then a hunter team would be dispatched to chase down and recover the body before it could fall into the hands of others. Death was the only option for those that betrayed the village. "A Hyuuga, things may indeed become more complicated than I had originally thought.

"I suppose that we'll need to make that determination on the fly, either way we can't let him slip through out fingers and fall back into the hands of the foreign shinobi." Xi nodded in understanding to the last of his new comrades' words as he voiced matching desires in this matter with Ishizuka. "Allow me to speak for a moment about my own skills so we can begin to devise a proper strategy." One of the orbs on his sash glowed with chakra before it detached itself and float into the air before the samurai as they flew on the large bird. "I'm able to control and manipulate my soul orbs for various things, meaning I'm mainly a ranged fighter but these guys aren't as harmless as they look." He smiled a bit as the center line of the orb seemed to open the orb turned into a mini Pacman-like creature as it opened its mouth revealing rather sharp looking teeth that interlocked with one another as it chomped down with a metallic clack.

WC: 510

[Trusted Grader]

Ishizuka listened intently at his new partner words, he could tell from his physique that he wasn´t the strongest of them all, but he had still been sent here which meant that he would probably be better at range, luckily Xi would answer that for him in a bit, what he reacted to first was the fact that there would probably be more ninjas after him, which meant that this mission had to be completed with delicate hands, they could not just bum rush in for they had no idea who else was currently getting involved.

"You are right, a valuable member such as him will definitely be hunted down, so we should keep our eyes open in case we run into any hunters." He agreed that they couldn´t let this Hyuuga slip through their fingers, so he would just nod in agreement. He took a moment to ponder as this situation was slowly annoying him, if the Hyuuga had been found far away from Crescent then he would´ve just ignored it, but he couldn´t help but to feel like things were slowly escalating.

Medium to long range, that is good... Ishizuka was glad to hear that because he was strictly close combat, which could become bothersome if he couldn´t get close to them. "Perfect, because I am only proficient in Kenjutsu, I know how to use explosive tags and have been training with those... Ehm... Shuriken that you ninjas love to use. So... If you keep em busy, I´ll make them a few feet shorter." Ishizuka chuckled, his gaze never left the front as he felt no reason not to trust this ninja, nothing about him told Ishizuka that he was untrustworthy and he had no intentions of raising any alarms inside Xi´s head.

"We should arrive in a couple of hours, we will jump of the eagle by the border of Juu and continue on foot as to not draw too much suspicion... Besides, a Sun Shooter sounds like the opposite of what Shiryoku wants to face, heh, ain´t that right?" The eagle cried out as it beat his wings.

[Zao]

'Kenjutsu.' Xi thought quietly to himself, this would help offset his own lack luster close range abilities and create a bit of a shield for lack of a better term to allow for him to utilize his soul orbs to the highest degree. As long as one could take away the concentration of the target then it wouldn't be to much trouble for him to slip in one or two of his orbs into the target's blind spot for attacking. "I believe that we can manage to make out own individual styles work together." He gave a nod of agreement as Ishizuka spoke about making them a few feet shorter which only caused for the Iwa nin to smile lightly and shake his head. These were indeed rather bold words as anyone who was sent out to hunter a special clan member would undoubtedly be rather strong themselves and most likely those in pursuit would be a team rather than an individual as that was just how the shinobi worked.

"The Sun Shooter, what a strange nickname." Xi commented as he tried to recall any information on the man that might have been within the bingo book, yet with a name like that his long-range capabilities had to be decent, perhaps some form of archer. "What else do you know about this Sun Shooter?" Knowing that their destination was still a decent time away he was straight forward about the questions on his mind as his words were directed to the Crescent mercenary. At this point all the pair could do was discuss the target and their own skills in order to better coordinate with one another if this trail did manage to lead them to the desired outcome and perhaps a bit of unwanted attention, as well. For the time being he could feel the rush of the wind as the eagle pushed through the sky ascending closer to the fluffy snow-white clouds that dotted the sky above the ground as their travel speed was nothing to shake a leg at as they rapidly shot across the sky towards their intended destination.


WC: 353