Examining P3

Mission Details:

“Look how we made it. It was a short trip for us to get here from Wind Country. That blasted sandy hell was too terrible.” Kota was speaking loud enough to be heard if one wanted to listen, just not loudly enough for it to be considered obnoxious. Kota thought it easier to give a reason as to where they came from. The secret to lying was using the truth as much as possible. He wanted the two of them to have a cover story of sorts. He doubted the people of Fang would give them a problem as long as they did not come from Claw.

He was blending in with what he remembered from the last time he was there. Matching the place with his memories was a wake up call. Fang had always had some issues with Claw but it did not hurt the people as much. Looking at it now it seemed like it was more of a problem then he had believed. The atmosphere had a layer of darkness over it that was hard to explain. It reminded him of the time when the Kazekage was being changed over. He did not know about it at first. The village in Suna had just the same amount of tension in the air.

The village they were dropped off in was small. It had one hotel that was run down and was still considered the nicest place around. It would serve as a decent base of operations for the duo. Kota kept his eyes, ears, and senses open for anything of note. The chakra signatures he could pick up were substantially weak. Fang was a minor country and they did not have any ninja worthy of note. It highlighted the disparity between the small countries with barely anything and the great ones. “We can head inside here and use it as a base of operations. It would be best for us to find one soon. We need to go over the finer parts of the mission, and come up with a plan of action.” Kota said in a whispering way and gestured with his eyes. The archer wanted to get the mission done as soon as possible. It would show off his skill as well as give him some time to play around and explore. Fang was not the best country but it was a change of pace.

If Raiden was okay with the place as a base of operations. He would head inside without any qualms. Kota thought it was lucky the place doubled as a bar. It would make it easier for them to collect information from the various patrons if they were inebriated. Small town people used gossip to pass along news anyway. Last time he was here he was too young to understand the full situation of the place. That did not mean he lacked the matters of the people from small places like this. Kota was down to drink and brawl. It would actually make his profile more natural.

WC: 507

The White haired swordsman would step out into the country of Fang, his orders he knew, he had to prevent war with the neighboring country of claw, well if there were other Shinobi from Suna in Claw, maybe an accords could be easily struck between the two groups if both countries allowed their corresponding group to talk on their behalf. Things could be easier than expected, or it could be harder, War is a part of the life around them, however if it was avoidable that would be best. Raiden had already began to formulate different talks within his head about how they could handle this situation, it was just a matter of how it would be eventually achieved.

Raiden had heard the comment made by the archer, but made no response back to the first part. However when he heard Kota speak again, it was at a small town, Raiden would nod, this was the center for trade and government for the locals of the country, since most of the other land was Farm land and required the river to thrive. "Yes, This should do nicely, The mission is clear for us, we need more information before we can discuss and come up with a plan, I suggest investigating the River itself, gather information there to see if maybe there is a simple solution dealing with that." It could be anything as simple as widening the river for both sides to be happy, or figuring out a alternating pattern of days with one mutual day where they both gather or neither does. These are the fast solutions that first popped into Raidens head.

As Kota would head inside of the Inn and Tavern , Raiden however would take a walk around the town, looking and listening for any information. He figured that the merchants were the local farmers, at which time, as Raiden shopped the local stands, he would quizzically ask about the farms they came from, and make himself known to be a person looking for work, anything from the farming itself, or maybe even mercenary work if it was needed. After his bout of gathering intel from the local farmers, he had a couple of offers on the table for work and he would nod and walk his way back to the tavern while he pondered the offers. At least that was what he would tell the farmers, as he would head to the tavern to look for his partner, and if found, he would sit with Kota and begin to inform him of the work that he found and that he spoke with the farmers in the market, nothing to loudly given, but enough to give Kota that he has some information and ways to safely gather further information under a guise.

Raiden was taking this situation carefully, for he did not want to set anyone off as being a spy or anything when he was not, and he would only reveal his ties with the village when it would be helpful and or necessary, Hopefully Raiden would not have to do that until the end of the mission, as to try and win loyalty with the people for Sunagakure, so future issues, they will know they could bring it to the village to handle. But until that can be figured out he would keep different possible fixes to this problem rolling around in his head, he was currently waiting to hear from Kota what information he has found, or if they needed too, head to one of their rooms, so they can discuss in more private what to do next.

wc- 605
1541 Carried over To Instant Transmission = 2146/3000

The golden archer was glad that Raiden agreed to use it as the base of operations. He walked in and did not think much about the fact that his partner scampered off. The archer would take the chance to soak up available information. The first thing he did was head over to the front desk and get a room, with at least two beds. Kota was paying out of pocket for this. He did not get any ryo for it coming in. He just assumed the village would reimburse him as long as he got a receipt. If not he still had enough money.

Kota went back to the bar and ordered him a drink. Making small talk with the barkeep in question. “Hey? Why does this beer not taste great?” His question immediately gained the attention of the barkeep and not in a good way. “I am just saying it was better last time I was here. I guess I have not been here in a bit. I guess this village did lose the battle against Claw.” Kota said it with a smug smile on his face. The earliest lesson his dad taught him about hunting was to always know your prey. His prey was information, the easiest and safest way to get it. The observant one noticed that when someone made a wrong statement, depending on how bad it was, the statement was bound to get a reaction and correction. This time was no different.

“What would an outsider like you know? We won the last skirmish against the Claw brats. If it was not for the fact that they hired some outsider shinobi to reinforce them we would have already achieved peace, they are using those forces to unfairly pressure us. Even when our glorious lord was willing to show mercy to those f*cking bastards.” He spit in Kota's direction as if the young man had insulted four generations of his family.

“Oh. I did not know that. I travel a lot and last I heard was how the Fang kept losing. I am not much into mining as I don’t pay it attention, just repeating what I hear. I just go where the prey is. I only keep coming back here because the mountain beasts are delicious. Maybe the thing you need to pair with the god awful beer.” Kota spoke with a shit eating grin as he finished his mug.

The Barkeep had a twitch in his eyelid. Kota had a sneaking suspicion that if he did not have his bow and quiver on, the old codger would leap across the bar and let his fists start to do the talking. Kota put up his hands in surrender. “I am joking, the beer is not that awful.” Kota pulled out some extra ryo and put it on the table for the man to swipe up. A satisfied expression on his face, his rage temporarily quelled. He was lucky he did not hear the next words that came out of his mouth softly. “If it was being given to a group of prisoners.”

The archer was sociable enough to start up chatter inside the bar. It was how he was found when Raiden had returned. He did not want to talk with all of his new associates present. “Next round on me.” Kota loudly announced as he ordered for the new party. It was mostly in thanks for all the intel. Not that they cared. People in small villages never had a lot to look forward to. A rich hunter coming into town ordering drinks for everyone garnered curiosity and happiness. They would drink till they dropped and avoid looking too closely, as long as they did not do anything suspicious. In some ways Kota was making their mission easier and harder.

It did not take long for Kota to have the room liquored up. The barkeep was even happy because his sales were going through the roof. Kota had dropped off some more money before heading up to settle the tab. Kota would allow Raiden to follow him up to the shared room. “I wanted to make our exit look natural. Still we will have a lot to go over.” Kota would explain to Raiden the various things he had learned from the people, while the man was away. He would also take the time out to listen to anything Raiden had to say.

“If the gist of the problem is enemy shinobi sowing discord. We will need to take them out. My fighting prowess is not the best. Do you think you can come up with a plan of action?” Kota was confident that he could probably ambush and take out one. That was the best he could do at the moment. The archer was aware of what he was and was not capable of. He would never try to shoot completely out of his own abilities.


WC: 824
WC: 1,331

Raiden was not upset at all to find out it was only one room, at least it was not only one bed. he could only shake his head at the earlier scene he had walked in on with Kota and the tavern. guess this was apart of the mission, two different styles and methods to achieve the same goal. Once Raiden was done letting him know about the work to get a better look at the river itself , to see what they could do about the river, if they needed to widen it or not. Raiden would than be told by Kota about what he found out, that there was mercenary shinobi of some sort helping the other side, or maybe they were the source of discord period between the two sides, likely finding working both sides lucrative.

Raiden was disgusted by this, while he may have killed in the past, it was by accident, and in a virtual simulation. He would give it some thought and than looked at Kota, "I think we should keep cover of looking for jobs, and maybe accept a couple I found, and let  us look into things from a closer perspective. If it is Shinobi fueled, we end it, and if it is something as simple as either location or river width issues, we fix the problem by making the River wider, at least from the mouth of the source down to just past the towns. I thought about breaking the river in half essentially but neither side would trust the other with the upper half, due to being able to Dam it up and keep the water for themselves, those I think might be our best course of action, other than that, all I can think is wing it and hope for the best" Raiden would think about his repertoire of techniques, he had a couple he could use.

"We could do so non lethally too, I have several techniques I can use that will essentially subdue them , allowing local enforcement to handle the situation, giving the people real answers and a real end to it all, we may be able to link up with our fellows in Claw to see how things are going on their side, and maybe with their help we can sure each side the truth and that they have no reason to quell anymore" Raiden would finish his thoughts on the subject

Raiden would pace around for a moment as his mind ran with several scenarios before he would flop down on his bed with a great sigh "It has been a long day, I think we should get some rest, and start work in the morning" and with that Raiden would pull his scabbarded sword up to a cuddle, this was done specifically as to keep himself ready as he did  not allow himself to rest deeply, but enough that his body and mind would mostly recover from the activities of the day.


The Next Day....

Raiden would awaken early in the morning to get ready to look the part, he would disperse his sword into its own little dimension, Re-Quip, and followed up he would take his cloths that he would not be wearing that day, leaving just the armor that was deceivingly such, within the armor was his tools of war, those that he could easily hid within the seals of the folds of the armor. He was ready to head to work, but first a good hearty breakfast. from his pack he would pull out some cured steak and from the void of a fold within his armor, some eggs, enough for both him and Kota, if the boy had not  beaten him awake before the sun fully crested the horizon. At which time he would awaken Kota with the meal after cooking it, over medium and medium rare, the two safest options in Raiden's opinion. since the steak was already cured so it would stay for the trip, he would not add to much additional seasoning, just enough to top it off. Once he polished off his meal he would look at Kota.

Okay, So I am going to head down to the farms today and put in some work, and gather some intel. I think that in about ten  hours time we should meet back up, or sooner if we deem it necessary, and Hopefully by the end of the day, we will have a plan of action and we will begin to enact upon it in the dark of night. Remember this mission is to be covert, we cannot let anyone know we had anything to do with what comes about to resolve, that is a last line sort of thing. not here to conquer or win over the land for suna, just looking out for the overall interest of Suna " Raiden would ad lib the letter that detailed their mission, as much of a reminder to himself as for Kota, if not more so for himself. Something to remind him in case he gets too distracted.

Once anything else was discussed, Raiden would head out to the Farm furthest up the River, something that Kota would know, in case he needed to fetch him. Raiden would begin to work shortly after getting there, being on a daily case basis with the farmer, story purposes it was for both of them to see if he was a good fit for the farm and other workers. Mission wise it was so he could move on to the next farm and get a view and news from the other locations too. Upon Raidens work on the farm, he would glance over at the river occasionally, mentioning its beauty to anyone who would question his gaze.

Raiden noted that it was plenty wide, that three water wheels could fit side by side across the river. that would not be an option. eventually he would begin to ask about the history of the land. getting rather interesting information. Not long ago, news had reached the farm about an attempting poisoning that was foiled, and supposedly it was from Fang, a group of people who was trying to prevent claw from taking the river. However as Raiden thought about it, Would that not do more harm to those who would win the river ?

That was suspicious. Since he was close enough, When no one was looking, Raiden would take a quick albeit dangerous Swim across the River and silently into some bushes to sneak down to a farm not far down that way, That was when he would heard the same story but hear it was people from Claw....with the same mark. That told Raiden everything he needed to hear. He would make his way back to the Farm he was working at. If questioned about being wet, he would confess to a dip in the river to cool off. At which time he would take the opportunity of the scolding to 'Quit' the job and head to Kota's last known location to see if he could catch the archer.

If he finds him he would inform him of the information he found out from both sides of the river "I think someone is sabotaging everything to play both sides, and it sounds like we may need to see if our compatriots in claw are ready to team up and take out the threat once and for all  " Raiden would await an answer from Kota, again if he was to find the boy, otherwise he would have to do what he could to track the boys location down.

Wc- 1279
Twc-1884
Instant Transmission Learned 854/1279(3000/3000)
425 left over

Kota listened to his traveling companion with rapt attention. The mission was not a solo one. Trying to solve it on his own felt more counter productive than anything else. The swordsmen was making sense in some cases. Keeping cover was important enough. The archer may be fast and loose with a lot of things but he agreed the mission came before all else. To fail at the mission would make the entire trip pointless. Besides that point Kota was under the impression that the swordsmen did not collect any information the entire day. He gave a lot of hypothetical solutions to hypothetical problems.

“Alright. We should be getting to sleep right about now. The people in the village turn in early if they are not drinking. Good catch on making us look more natural. I will go freshen up. See you in the morning.” Kota would head out of the room to do as he said. He bathed and rid himself of the accumulated travel filth. Making him feel a lot better about himself. Raiden may have been able to pass out so quickly but Kota was trained to be more alert. He showered but kept his weapon ready.

---

The next day….

---

The Archer could tell when his companion woke up. It was too early for Kota to start moving himself so he just ignored it. That and the fact that he went to sleep later. It meant that Raiden should be able to handle staying alive for a bit. The eventual smell of food is actually what got him awake.

“Thanks for the food. You can have fun doing that. I will explore the vicinity as well. I come from a family of hunters so fitting in as one is second nature to me. Being discreet is easy as well. I appreciate it but do not need the warning.”

Kota was saying it to be polite but he was not keen about the nagging. There were no technical leaders on the mission. They were a team. The archer would have preferred it if his partner had some level of basic trust in himself. Kota was calm and finished his food. He decided to get to work finding out what he could.

The first thing the hunter did was actually hunt. He took down two deer and threw them in his storage space when he made sure no one was watching. It would be harder for him to move around carrying them. He expanded his senses and went invisible. Kota was going to move around the village as under the radar as possible. Taking his time out to thoroughly investigate, Kota went to the river to check out the encampment. From what he could see. There were more people armed and present here then he had estimated. Kota believed it would take more than the two of them to take out all the enemies. Thinking it through the man decided it would be best to meet up with Raiden, as the set time was going out.

The hunter shinobi found a good spot to become visible, so he grabbed the deer from his storage. He took it to the nearest butcher shop, then finally went to go find his partner. It did not take Kota too long. He was getting better at finding chakra signatures and could find Raiden through his a mile away. 
Kota did not get a lot of time to speak right away, at first. It was only after the team up did he chip in. “That will work. The banking encampments have a lot more enemies than I had anticipated. It will be better for us if we have a few more hands to help us out with. Do you have a meeting location or should I try to track them?”

Depending on what was said. Kota would either take the lead and start to guide the two of them to find the others, or he would follow Raiden to the designated meeting spot. Any way they would head out to solve their problem and do what was right.



WC: 684
WC: 2,015

[Exit]

Using the 2k in WC to pick up the skill Clanless Pureblood

Beloved Presence doubles the other mission awards. Gaining 9,000 Ryo (brining me up to 88,500), and 160 AP

When Raiden heard the news from Kota they were both in agreeance, look for help from the comrades in the land next to them and end this tyranny once and for all. Raiden would gather the last of his stuff from the room, and would head out close to the boarders but directly in line of the camp once their friends joined them. It was time. Raiden was going to do his best not to kill

(Exit) 500 Words Mastery 500/2500 (A Rank)
Above claims 3000/3000 1541 from here 25% discount

9000 Ryo and 160 AP for Beloved Presence.

Kota Apollon wrote:WC: 684
WC: 2,015

[Exit]

Using the 2k in WC to pick up the skill Clanless Pureblood

Beloved Presence doubles the other mission awards. Gaining 9,000 Ryo (brining me up to 88,500), and 160 AP

Approved!

Raiden Ametsuchi wrote:(Exit) 500 Words Mastery 500/2500 (A Rank)
Above claims 3000/3000 1541 from here 25% discount

9000 Ryo and 160 AP for Beloved Presence.

Approved!


- Note: Stein, in the future please try to include your final wc tally for the thread in your last post. Thanks. Also, you gave yourself a few words extra credit but I'll let it slide this time.