Landing in Tides

[Ace Trainer]

The trip to the Land of Tides had been anything but short. Given recent events, Shio had been advised against traveling through Wind Country, which had resulted in his small squadrons traveling through Pebble, then through the small dividing lands between Earth, Wind and Fire to reach the ocean, where they sailed to the eastern shores of the Land of Tides from. The lengthy process added a day and a half to the journey, and more than tripled the time they spent at sea, which was not well received by some of the accompanying samurai. With him, Shio had quite a small squadron, a part of the guise he was carrying for this trip. Unlike the usual presence Shio carried, he would be coming as what was effectively a bandit company leader, presenting himself as an expert in military coup de tats. He would be operating mostly from this shadows on this mission, and the title of Taishou was not necessarily conducive with such a plan.

Thus, with him he had only 12 samurai, and naturally Kesu. Additionally, the 15th and final member of the squadrons was one Mitsuhide, who had gained Shio's favor purely out of coincidence - perhaps an inkling of potential that had caught Shio's eye. Much of what Shio was doing he had a sense Mitsuhide was not on board with, which made him a useful companion to have. Should the mission go in a direction that Mitsuhide was too openly against, Shio would send him off to be part of the official party, and Shio would continue with his more devious methods alone.

The boat they were on slowly pulled to shore, and Shio having been standing on the bow would quickly leap off, his feet landing into the sand and digging into it for a moment before taking a few steps. Kesu would float slowly through the air to Shio's side and look at him dutifully, "We are back, Taishou-sama.", Kesu said with a soft smile, "We are set to meet with the former Lord Seiyama in roughly an hour and a half.", not much time. But, time still. Shio nodded, taking a few more steps before turning and looking back at the boat.

"We'll begin then. And for this time forward, nothing of Taishou or my title. No honorifics. And ensure the squadron knows that.", he instructed. "As much as I'd like to interact with the Kuruma sooner rather than later, we'll need to get everything happening before they're even aware of the events. This is a military coup still, and it will need to be an effective one if we want the outcome we came for. At the end, I think its likely the Land of Tides will be nothing but broken tribes and former nobles left to the mercy of their people...", his voice trailed for a moment, "Lets get them going. Where is Mitsuhide?", he'd ask.

Kesu would give a sharp hai and turn to float back to the boat to corral the squadron and get them going.

[HotelBravo]

For the love of Iron. That was what Mitsuhide had been telling himself as the journey into the land of Tides extended well past their estimated arrival. A few detours had been required by the current Taishou, Shio. His family and friends were all in Iron. the people he wanted to protect were there - the reason he became a Samurai in the first place. He repeated to himself mentally over and over that a strong country meant that they wouldn’t have to warrior about the great Shinobi nations threatening them anymore - and yet the method… He used to think that they were on the moral high ground over the shinobi, but now despite whatever Shio was saying Mitsuhide recognized that they were slowly becoming that very thing. Shio wasn’t a samurai after all - he couldn’t lead a nation of Samurai, butt a nation of shinobi he was doubtless familiar with.

Mitsuhide had been gazing at his chestplate, held in his hands instead of worn. He took a cloth and dabbed it on his tongue before wiping away the golden letters that had read “Honor” on the chest. With a brush and paint he drew a new symbol upon the chest. “Change”. It was the only word that he could write that didn’t disgust him. He cleaned the brush and put it away and the ink and was refastening his armor when it seemed that they had reached the land.

Shio was the first to the ground, and Mitsuhide moved to follow but paused momentarily to let Shio speak. The words left a sinking feeling in his gut, and then Shio called him out. He stepped forward from among the others - whom even among them he was not alone. He stepped off the boat onto the sand.

”I’m here.” He answered, letting Shio know that he hadn’t hopped off the boat in the middle of the journey. He would have liked to. ”Whatever you need.” He was at Shio’s side. He wasn’t intimidated by the boy, nor could he claim that he was truly loyal to him. His loyalty lay with Iron, and as long as Shio was working towards a stronger Iron country then Mitsuhide would be there by his side if he wanted him there. A simple patrolman elevated to whatever this was. Never in his wildest dreams had he ever thought he’d wind up in this kind of clandestine operation.

He gripped his sword tightly and followed Shio.

[Ace Trainer]

Mitsuhide made his presence known and Shio gave a curt nod at him, not saying any words. For a moment, Shio's eyes waivered on the freshly painted symbol on his comrades chest plate. His lips made a slight pursing motion, letting his mind absorb this for a moment before turning away and beginning to walk. Shio had to be intentional with himself, every thought and decision he made was being done so with a number of layers on top of it. Could he be at peace with his decision knowing the effect it was having on Mitsuhide, and consequently what effect it would likely have on the rest of their country and countrymen? He clenched his jaw for a moment, now facing away from Mitsuhide so his frustration would be slightly less visible.

He would kick off the ground, moving at a pace slow enough to ensure Mitsuhide would be able to keep up, Kesu and the other squadron following a fair distance behind. Kesu would direct them to set up camp and meet Mitsuhide and Shio at their destination, but for now Shio would get ahead and make his presence known to the ex-nobleman that was expecting them.

"Mitsuhide.", Shio called out, "Tell me, how much genjutsu have you gotten to see so far?"

He imagined that Mitsuhide had not seen genjutsu to the extent Shio was capable of - in sincerity few shinobi had. Shio was one of, if not the, strongest known genjutsu users in the known world, there were little that had the capacity and ability to match him in that art. It was unlikely Shio would need to use his strongest techniques during this mission, but it was still likely that Mitsuhide would see the more advanced mind altering techniques that Shio had in his repitiore. In truth, he was asking because he wondered how Mitsuhide would feel about the more covert and insidious ways Shio fought.

[Ace Trainer]

Mitsuhide made his presence known and Shio gave a curt nod at him, not saying any words. For a moment, Shio's eyes waivered on the freshly painted symbol on his comrades chest plate. His lips made a slight pursing motion, letting his mind absorb this for a moment before turning away and beginning to walk. Shio had to be intentional with himself, every thought and decision he made was being done so with a number of layers on top of it. Could he be at peace with his decision knowing the effect it was having on Mitsuhide, and consequently what effect it would likely have on the rest of their country and countrymen? He clenched his jaw for a moment, now facing away from Mitsuhide so his frustration would be slightly less visible.

He would kick off the ground, moving at a pace slow enough to ensure Mitsuhide would be able to keep up, Kesu and the other squadron following a fair distance behind. Kesu would direct them to set up camp and meet Mitsuhide and Shio at their destination, but for now Shio would get ahead and make his presence known to the ex-nobleman that was expecting them.

"Mitsuhide.", Shio called out, "Tell me, how much genjutsu have you gotten to see so far?"

He imagined that Mitsuhide had not seen genjutsu to the extent Shio was capable of - in sincerity few shinobi had. Shio was one of, if not the, strongest known genjutsu users in the known world, there were little that had the capacity and ability to match him in that art. It was unlikely Shio would need to use his strongest techniques during this mission, but it was still likely that Mitsuhide would see the more advanced mind altering techniques that Shio had in his repitiore. In truth, he was asking because he wondered how Mitsuhide would feel about the more covert and insidious ways Shio fought.

[HotelBravo]

Mitsuhide met the boy’s stride and paced alongside him. The inquiry about genjutsu came next - it was something at least that took his mind off what they were about to do - or perhaps genjutsu was involved and this was another part of the scheme.

”the basics. I’ve built a fundamental knowledge of illusions, I think I am ready for more complex illusions at this level.” He responded to Shio. It was true that he hadn’t put as much practice into illusions as he had into swordplay but it was more than most of the Samurai in the land of Iron had mastered. At least until recently. He would have to continue to up his game if he wanted to stay on the edge, and right now he had only the barest of an advantage. He didn’t have any idea what heights Genjutsu Shio might have, but he wouldn’t be surprised.

After all… Who could have truly bested the previous captain without such trickery? No, it was wrong to make such doubts, and despite what they were about to do, Mitsuhide still valued his honor highly, even if he was forced to drag it through the muck for the sake of Iron.

”I’ve developed a few ideas of my own that I think would work well for me in a fight but I haven’t put in the hours practicing them yet.I’ve been… Occupied.” Despite the travel time, he couldn’t have focused at all during the trip for all the brooding that he had been doing. He g azed ahead and glanced back at Shio. "About how much further do we need to go?"

[Ace Trainer]

Shio smiled at the mention of Mitsuhide being ready for more complex illusions - "During this mission, we will be operating in two capacities. There is the disgraced nobleman we will be meeting with; he is slowly rising to power and will likely bring further discord to this country. And there is the Kuruma Clan, who are here...well perhaps because they have no where else to be. When meeting with the nobleman, Lord Seiyama, we are merely a guild of mercenaries. This will be where I will be more inclined to use genjutsu. You're familiar with Qi, yes? When you become attuned to it, when another person is channeling Qi you can see it. Lord Seiyama and his guard will not be chakra attuned or Qi attuned. So, you'll likely see me using techniques. Much of the genjutsu I use are 'Status' class.", he held up air quotes as he said this, "So nothing will happen, but his brain will feel the effects.", if Mitsuhide was interested in complexity, this would be the opportunity.

"I'm looking to forge a relationship with the Kuruma clan so they can make a home in Kemurigakure, even if it is on slightly misleading terms. Regardless, using genjutsu to facilitate a transaction of that degree would be a poor idea. Politicking via genjutsu is a foolhardly path to follow, not one I would encourage."

He let silence float between them for a moment as they approached the edge of a forest, before answering Mitsuhide's final question, "We're just about here, any final questions?", as the cleared the edge, they'd be faced with a large mansion of stone. It looked quite gorgeous, though was poorly tended after, indicating a level of decay and mismanagement. Knowing Lord Seiyama was disgraced made this understandable, it was unlikely he still had the staff and personnel to maintain the grounds.

One thing he did have though was guards, they became immediately visible past the wall that surrounded the mansion - a number of them patrolling the grounds. "They're expecting us, so we can announce ourselves.", he said. r