Ayato and Dave fight bad guys (epic) [IO]

A mission to recover shinobi that had abandoned the village, it was a task suited to the Terumi more than it would for ninja of the village. Picking up the mission he would read the details. It was posted by one of the villages chuunin he wanted the elimination of all of the missing ninja. Not something Akabayashi was concerned about, the death of a traitor was natural. Though there were times to make exceptions as well. There would likely be no exceptions this day as the orders were very specific as to how the mission was completed and by extension how he was getting paid.

At the moment all Akabayashi could think of was the armor he wanted to buy, it was a custom set and that took money. His usual set was destroyed battling against a group of missing ninja and their monster of a summon. Damned, creature even ate his blades with some vortex jutsu that attracted metal. It was a tough time for the Terumi indeed. He continued to read through the orders and saw he had to meet this Ayato at the saw mill. Taking the orders the Nova member would put on his old jounin jacket and make haste to the meeting point.

With the orders in hand Akabayashi knew just what had caused a mission like this one to surface. It was why the man had returned after so long to the village. Valen Akari the third kage of the village took a number of the forces of Hoshi to the hidden sand, where the missing ninja Kenshin Uzumaki had set up his base along with a number of rogues. It seemed the ruffians were gathering under him and the former kage sought to bolster his number with the addition of Hoshi’s forces. With less shinobi than ever it seemed clear why people were abandoning the village of stars now. There was no leadership. The first kage of the village disappeared into his own world barely being seen, the second killed himself and released the four tail inside the walls, the third decided it was time to level the place but changed his mind and took some of the ninja. The man who reasoned with Valen who took the mantle of kage then left as well leaving a jounin in charge.

To say anything it would seem the mantle of kage of the hidden star drove one to madness. It was no surprise people began to clamor for a true sense of leadership even if they had to operate outside of the law to get it. Akabayashi wondered how long Yasaki would retain his title before he drove off the deep end. The doctor knew he was the highest ranking in the village at the moment, but he never wanted to be kage that would leave him too tied down. The Terumi would defer it to some other person until one stuck.
As the tall 6’4 Akabayashi neared the mill with his chakra suppressed a breeze caught his nose and he could note a fruity smell coming from the direction. The man would walk toward the mill noting the scent of others in the vicinity, he could hear their whispers asking one another what their plan was. They went through a number of options, but when they saw the Terumi with his jounin jacket they knew the two on two would prove risky. Akabayashi would walk into the mill without a glance into the hiding ninja’s direction.

Stepping to the side Ayato was on the man would stop. Fixing his sunglasses that had fallen slightly from the running. ”I am Akabayashi Terumi, I saw this.” He would say holding out the orders and writing something onto it. At least two people to our four o’clock. The man’s nose and ears would stay busy picking up on the plan of action from the hidden duo. With their proximity the smell of the wine was even stronger, it smelled good no wonder the kid was drinking it so early in the day but in such a dangerous place. With the ram and clone seal two clones would appear in a hiss of steam. They would then run off in the direction of the two jounin shinobi their footprints leaving chemical burns in the earth as they moved.


When the two jounin heard the sizzling and stomping of shoes they turned to see the clones coming straight for them. “Oh, shit.” One would yell as the clones sprinted at them one of the clones would body flicker in front of one of the two jounin to which the man would stab the clone. The clone would smile its purpose fulfilled as it erupted into a blistering corrosive gas that filled the air around the man melting his blade and his skin on contact. (105 power) The audible scream from the man as he died caused his accomplice to yell out another oh shit as the clone continued to chase him.

Looking to Ayato he would give a hand gesture for one. ”Still have to kill the other before he tells his friends. Unless you want them to come to us instead of us to them.” He would leave the decision up to the man who posted the mission. Even though he was looking a little inebriated he could still hopefully think rationally enough to make simple decisions. There seemed to be  something a little off about the man, as if he looked sick. The Terumi would have to give him an evaluation later, as now was not the time. He would note the youth likely had an addiction to alcohol. Given the location he chose to have his wine in the view of a hostile force. If the man attempted to take another drink the Terumi would place his hand on the bottle. ”Maybe, save that for later.”

WC: 990

It was a good thing the young man was able to see reason in that it was not the time to take another swig of whatever alcoholic substance had managed to find its way into the drinking container of the mission giver. The Hyuuga would then point to the body of the deceased. Akabayashi’s clone would have caught up to the man who would regret saying someone would regret something. As screams from further inside the trees escaped the man’s lips as the clone left acid burns on the targets back before beating him unconscious and dragging the fleeing man back.

In the meantime however the corpse in front of the two seemed to cause some alarm in the face of the Hyuuga. ”You are saying this man has died and come back to life are you sure?” As he asked the air chilled and the Hyuuga took up a fighting stance as would Akabayashi. Besides himself there weren’t many who could bring back the dead, so it wasn’t impossible that Ayato had seen this man die once before only improbable. As he thought this the remains would rise steam spilling from the body the corpses eye a leaking goo streaming down a half skeletal face.

”Attacking a servant of god is a one way ticket to hell. These words somehow caught the Terumi’s attention more than the phenomena happening before his eyes. It would seem that the duo wasn’t to the creeps liking as a tiger shaped ball of pressure made its way to the pair. Stepping in front of the Hyuuga with three hand seals a ball of liquid rubber would form around the pair becoming solid as the air bounced off of it. The Terumi would then move with the ball in the direction of their attacker. ”Jack this isn’t how I taught you to bring back the dead. Your blue skinned friend said I would regret this, I’m going to make you regret making a bunch of zombies . Each one of your creations will go up in flames. Until I make my way to your house in Hoshi kick down the door and shove my blade down your throat and out of your bleeding asshole.”

The zombified man was taken aback by the threat, as the Terumi closed in he would send punch after punch the man’s way but each bounced off causing him to hit himself a number of times. This ball of rubber is incredibly durable a weak thing such as yourself is never going to harm it. Now do me a favor and turn to ashes.” Making a few more seals molten lava would shoot from the Terumi’s mouth and onto the body of the deceased. The burning liquid would melt the already melted man further leaving nothing left of the man the Hyuuga once knew. Turning the wanderer would look at the Hyuuga as his clone brought back the other zombie. ”Finish him, he is already gone.” The clone would do as asked placing his palm on the back of the man’s head and letting the corrosive chemicals he was made of do all the work as skin, bone, blood, and brain broke down from the acid.

I have to find Jack, a former student of mine whose faith drove him off the deep end. I showed him how I brought back the dead and he said it was a mockery of god. I didn’t think he would pervert the dead because of me.” The Terumi didn’t blame himself the people of the hidden star always hated the shinobi. The Terumi showed the man a gift resurrection and he took it as an insult to his faith. Yet somehow these barely human concoctions of science and voodoo were non-blasphemus. Jack would die for his misuse of Akabayashi’s Lazarus pits. I sense a bit of my chakra within this man’s body, he likely used water from my Lazarus Pit to aid in bringing the dead back to life.”

WC: 682
TWC: 1672/2000

In truth, it was not the words of Akabayashi that fueled the Chuunin's sense of dread, instead, it was the way he said them. Beyond the surprise that would come upon seeing the return of the man who had exited the mortal plane -not once but twice- there was something that suspiciously felt like guilt. 

Akabayashi Terumi stepped between the coming blast and the Hyuuga shinobi. As appreciative he was towards the gesture - he who was but a shell of his former shell- there was no possibility for him to accept it. Doubtless, Ayato was no longer the prodigy he had been two years ago, but he still had enough left in him to be an edge in combat instead of a burden.

Byakugan.

Ayato activated his clan's Kekkei Genkai, his chakra pulsing along the veins and nerves of his face. They bulged up in a manner almost grotesque, reaching up from the top of his spinal column and across his cheeks, up to his temples, and into his eyes. The pupil became distinct, the outline etched into the iris via a flexing vein, giving the Taijutsu user a fierce and hostile appearance.

The young man wasn't certain how effective his Jyuuken would be on an undying enemy, but he reasoned that his precise attacks should at least be capable of disabling one...provided he could actually land one of them on them.

The Byakugan's long-range vision would have little use here....instead, Ayato exhaled and a single additional nerve flexed under each eye - his vision narrowed to a normal range, focusing on Tenshin’s undead body, tracking every flash of his nervous system to predict the missing-nin movements.

Before he could be enclosed in the apparent safety of the barrier of mud that began to form in the air around him, the taijutsu user sprinted at Akabayashi’s 11 o clock. He clenched his teeth so hard they could be heard back in Konoha as he braced the impact that was to come behind him. The tiger head upon impact exploded into a cone wave of pressure. A minute later he was rolling in the dirt, trying to regain his footing and battle stance.

The Terumi’s soft earth barrier was covered in dried brown leaves and splinters of wood, the ground around it caved in. Otherwise, the defense stood there unscathed. “Admirable” Ayato thought, almost regretting not hiding behind those thick walls. Tenshin’s was not as amused, evident from how the word “cunt” exited his lips. The man with half a face made to move forward, but the ball of the earth that enclosed Ayato’s newfound ally rolled first.

“Jack this isn’t how I taught you to bring back the dead.” Your blue-skinned friend said I would regret this, I’m going to make you regret making a bunch of zombies. Each one of your creations will go up in flames. Until I make my way to your house in Hoshi kick down the door and shove my blade down your throat and out of your bleeding asshole.”

“Fuck you how about that!” The undying man screamed and flames encased his fists and up to the shoulder. The next moment, fiery blows bruted their way through the defense and sent pieces of hardened rubber flying into the air.

It was a looping jab that grazed Terumi’s temple and knocked off those cool sunglasses of his. A right overhand followed coming at the end of an acid burned arm, targeting the jaw of the Lava user. If the punch was to go through and shatter the jaw to a thousand pieces or be tanked by Akabayashi...that we'll never find out.

The needle that flew from the Byakugan’s heir hand caught him first. The sharp chakra projectile -Eight Trigrams: Storm Senbon- pierced through the ragged leather of a shinobi sandal and the soft flesh of the Achilles heel. Tenshin’s foot gave up under him and the timing of his punch was off, missing the target clumsily. A muffled grunt was all the walking corpse could manage before Akabayashi blasted his face with a molten earth substance.

“Burn.” Ayato’s eloquent response was as he watched the hair of the corrupted man catch on fire, his remaining eye run down his cheek like a soft boiled egg. “Burn you sick fuck.” To see skin melt away from the body was a horrific sight, the smell was even worse. By the time, the doppelganger showed up with a prize on his back, nothing but ash had remained of the resurrected convicted killer’s bones. Even then, there was a part of the Hyuuga that wondered if that was the end of Tenshin the Faithful.

“I haven't smelled anything half so bad since Kenshin Uzumaki.” Ayato said, looking to no one in particular before turning around to face the blue-skinned traitor whose knees met the ground with a loud thud. “I don’t believe we’ve ever had the pleasure.”

"They call me...Kid Blue." The man said through a set of white pointy teeth, like those of a shark. Ayato remembered reading about them in a picture book that contained all the known creatures that inhabited the vast ocean. His mother had gifted him when he was little. 

"Hard to imagine why.” The boy warrior said dryly. "I'm-"

“I know who you are...”  He spat “I know who both of you are.” Kid Blue sounded more angry than scared. Rough callused fingers at the end of iron guard gloves gingerly felt the ground, as the rogue shinobi met the gaze of the man who defeated his partner. One of his eyes was swollen badly, Ayato noticed then.

"That so?"  The taijutsu expert stated after taking a deep breath of crisp morning to savor the taste of acknowledgment. He might have gone for more but this was not the time. "You and I are going to keep Akabayashi over there happy. " Ayato sat cross-legged on the ground a few feet away from kid Blue. "See what happens to those who don't." He pointed a bony finger at the field of ash to his right. "Tell me where are the rest of your band of outlaws and I ask him not to turn you into charcoal."

The former Hoshi-shinobi took a long look of the smoking remains that was what left of his partner. The apple of his long blue neck throbbed as he gulped down. Still, on his knees, Kid Blue straightened his back and held his chin up high.

"I refuse." 

The man’s attire consisted of indigo-blue cargo trousers with side pockets and the matched jacket. There was even a black cross-shaped metal pin on the left breast of a sleeveless gray Hoshi vest. If an eye unfamiliar with the context walked in right now they’d think he was the Village Shinobi and Ayato the missing-nin in his rich fur-trimmed coat and hostile white eyes. 

"Did you get this medal for butchering women?" The young man queried slowly rising to his feet.

"Bravery." For a moment, it looked as if the brooding shadows of the tall sentinel and soldier pines came to life. It was a long moment. ”Finish him, he is already gone.” The Terumi commanded his clone and it did as asked placing a chakra infused palm of an advanced element on the back of Kid Blue's head.

When it was done, Ayato looked at his colleague. "What now?" Provided that Ayato's brief interrogation of the captive didn't change anything, Akabayashi's dialogue would play at this moment.

“I have to find Jack, a former student of mine whose faith drove him off the deep end. I showed him how I brought back the dead and he said it was a mockery of God. I didn’t think he would pervert the dead because of me.”

Ayato rolled those white eyes of his in disbelief as he placed his hand on the bark of tall sentinel. The seventeen-year-old boy ran his hand through his long black hair while taking a moment to consider this. His pale skin turned almost bronze in the sunlight, highlighting the scar underneath his cheek.

"Jack fucking Skellinger was your student!?" There was all sort of crazy stories about the S-rank missing-nin that literally came out of nowhere and placed the entire Shadow Country under his grip. Skellinger had a synthetic jaw, saw his mother stabbed to death in front of him when he was a toddler. Fucked up shit like that. And added to the mix was making the dead come to life.

"You mentioned something about a house in Hoshi." 

WC:1400
TWC: 3259

The Hyuuga didn’t feel the need to be protected something Akabayashi found to be good, instead he worked his own angle of attack moving to the left of the Terumi to meet the attack head on. And by head on he meant head on, the Hyuuga clenched his teeth so hard before the impact he would be looking for a dentist if were a normal human. Then the blast of air would knock him into the dirt the Hyuuga of course would once again stand. Maybe he is still a little drunk, but he survived it. The Terumi would think watching him regain his footing.  With the rubber ball absorbing the impact of the blast the zombie Tenshin decided it was time to resort to name calling. What was that zombie rapist  I couldn’t hear you through my defensive barrier that easily stopped your attack.”

Those words seemed to tick Tenshin off as his fists  and arms caught fire, he would then flail his arms about tearing off chunks of the hardened rubber until one his  haymakers nicked  on the Terumi’s temple knocking off his glasses.  Another was on its way, with the Terumi prepared to move  while forming his seals but the man fell to one knee as something pierced into his foot and he let out a groan as he missed the Terumi  with his swing. Lava would then pour onto Tenshin’s body the hot earth leaving nothing to the man’s remains to reanimate.  It would seem as this man was a rather serious offender in life with the Hyuuga saying burn and burn again.

”You get sort of used to it after awhile, burning dead bodies smells no worse than burning rubber which is something I do frequently unfortunately. The doctor would state having smelled something similar things prior. There was a note of heavy decay in the blue skinned body however that added a layer to the smell that stuck in the nostrils making it slightly more unpleasant.

Akabayashi let Ayato do all of the talking, the wanderer had an idea that these lifeless creatures would not turn on their creator as their free will had likely been stolen when they were reborn. An effect of Akabayashi’s lazarus pit could make someone turn crazy killing their friends, an aspect of the technique he did not use lightly and reserved for dire situations. Jack had to have used some of the water within his own experimentation to gain control of the unlives of these men. When asked what the next step was he would look to Ayato explaining who could be behind something like this.

Briefly, but yes. He saw me bring the dead back to life  using one of my personal techniques. Even after ending the flow of chakra the technique is so powerful that it leaves behind places of quickened healing. The Hoshi hot spring uptown by the palace for example. I own the place and used my resurrection jutsu there to create a hot spring where people could go to alleviate their aches and pains along with healing any minor injuries they may have had. He must have used some of the water in the springs to control their minds and partially bring them back. It seemed like the zombies retained their memories and some of their personality, but had completely controlled their minds to only do Jack’s bidding.

”I know where he lives. He will likely have left by the time we get there, but perhaps he left something behind that could tell us where he’s gone.  He’s always been sort of a rat the sewers is where I would expect him to crawl”.  If Ayato wished to follow the Terumi he  was more than welcome to, but they also had to provide proof of the issue before knocking down doors and blowing up the sewers. ”Lets take this guy back to the village I can have one of the nurses I know do a few tests to see exactly what we are dealing with along with giving a report to our very creepy kage. “ Akabayashi would add recalling all of the odd words and gestures. If Ayato agreed the Terumi would pick up old Blue as if he weighed no more than a pound and sling him over his shoulder like a one strap backpack holding onto the man's right arm, with the rest of the body dangling on the Terumi’s back as he ran. The clone would disperse as it was no longer needed.

WC: 765
TWC: 2437
Claims: 4000 ryo, 10ap, 6 stats, Shuriken Shadow Clone, 750 rank ryo (2437/2500)

Dave, want to recalculate the Ryo you get?

Edited, thank you for the catch

Approved at Dave

Also, I'm just going to go ahead and approve Ayato for the same rewards, so I can just make one post on the Hoshi ryo page.

Ayato sensed even understood Akabayashi's resentment for his former student in his words, a monster in a way he himself created. But perhaps he was letting it cloud his judgment. 

"There are times a rat is harder to catch than a wolf. And cannot say for certain this one looked like a mindless puppet." 

Kid Blue seemed to have reason and rationale, even displaying the feeling of loyalty by refusing to betray the rest of his gang. All for the wrong reason, doubtless. However, if Jack Skellinger could inspire the hearts of those he gave a second chance in life, that in a way was even more dangerous than him controlling a horde of mindless, undead puppets.

Thinking about all this made those white eyes of his narrow down to what looked uncomfortably like frustration. The dead coming back to life was not something to be reasoned with. As the duo made their way from the abandoned mill back to Hoshi, Ayato could not help but wonder how weirder this series of events was going to get. 

[EXIT]

Claiming 2500/2500 on Hyuuga's Valor
934 towards Paralysis seal [934/1500]
My A-rank mission rewards have already been approved by Hikari but my bonus Ryo is 250, not 750 since I was Chuunin when this mission started.