Travelling for Tea [T|PVT|NDE]

[奥田 (Okuda)]

By Naota Okuda boarded the boat quietly, saying nothing until the crew on the boat began giving them strange looks. Okuda approached a large group of them, slowly pulled out only the an inch of his blade and said “Me and my companions will ride this to the land of tea, however if anyone asks about us you will say you never saw us, I trust we are understood, I don’t want to have to make you all disappear.” Okuda then began to walk away knowing he’d scared them all, chilling them to the bone. Once he had gotten settled, if Raika had followed him he would answer the question proposed to him before disembarking the row boat “It is, to a degree, if you’re assassinating someone you cannot leave any witnesses, under normal circumstances this boat would be sunk but I know their fear of us will keep them silent for the most part. That being said, when we get to our location I want you and Katsugan to hide your faces, if anyone but me should see your face, end their life, that is not a suggestion but an order for the mission’s success and secrecy.” Okuda then pulled his Katana and its sheath from his belt and sat down on the boat and settled in for the ride to the land of tea, the boat’s only planned stop. ((OOC: a heads up, I am moving VERY soon, I expect to be without internet for sure from the 27th to the 29th, maybe longer, because the 27th is when they shut the internet in my house and the internet won't be on in my apartment till the 29th, so keep that in mind, thats also why my posts have been kinda bleh, I hope you'll forgive me guys. Also I hope you liked the rower from the last post, I wanted to see the reactions of you guys to it lol))

[Deleted]

Listening from his corner, Katsu sighed. Okuda's intimidation was the absolute worst thing to do when trying to keep one's position secret. The crew here had no reason to suspect that Katsu, Raika, and Okuda were Shinobi. Yes they were armed, but considering things like Kraken and Giant Squid were a very real thing it could be passed off as well-traveled adventurers. Instead Okuda had alerted them all to the fact that their team didn't want people to know where they were going.

The crew was going to have to die for Okuda's stupidity. You couldn't take a chance with this event.

Katsu didn't realize just what kind of thoughts were running through his head, didn't realize that he was thinking of murdering everyone on board just to keep their secret absolutely safe. His mind soon turned to the journey that was ahead of them, then wandered off onto other more mundane topics. Thinking about what they were going to have to do once they reached that political event would only cause Katsu anxiety.

= - = - = - = - =

The trip was a long one, as expected, taking a week by ship. No matter. The job had been set up nearly a month before the event was to take place. Lots of time to set oneself up in Tea and disappear into the populace. Unfortunately there was a snag. The crew. His mind having never once contemplated how to kill all of the crew members, Katsu suddenly knew the best way to do it. Or at least, the way most likely to not leave a trace that would lead back to Kumogakure.

Waiting until the ship was just in sight of land, so that it was only on the horizon, Katsu then went into action. He would travel to the bottom of the ship's hull, avoiding the crew until he found a suitable cargo room. Making sure there was no-one there to see him, Katsu would spew forth a stream of heavy mud that would soon turn to stone and earth there in the bay. With another set of handseals would form the earthen mass into a golem! Under Katsu's direct control, the Golem would slam it's huge earthern arms into the hull below, rending the reinforced metal with pure kinetic force, a huge gush of water flooding into the room.

Katsu would hold his breath and dive through, using chakra to propel him against the stream, and commanding his Golem to follow by pulling itself through the hole it had made. What this did was reverse the bent shape of the metal that had been ripped asunder, making it appear as if the ship had somehow run aground.

The damage to the ship would be enough to sink it, but not enough to ensure all the crew went down with it. Still, it'd be more than enough to have at least one person fall into the water, or jump ship. Using the chaos that would inevitably follow the fact that the ship was sinking Katsu would emerge from the water, performing handseals as he took a lungful of air in and activated his Ryuugan. Submerging again Katsu would find one of the ship's crew that had fallen in, and with a little editing to his golem via removing some of its arm with a controlled Earth Flow technique, he created a shark mouth like left arm for the golem. The first crewmember in the water would be snatched up in those pseudo-jaws, flesh ripped free of their torso to let them bleed out in the water.

Ocean. Blood in the Water. Incoming Sharks. It wouldn't take long for real sharks to show up to the feast that was waiting for them. The struggling of the crew members to stay afloat would only attract the sharks, and in all likelihood most of them would be eaten within hours.

His vicious duty done, Katsu would swim off towards the Land of Tea, surfacing when his air ran out and then running across the water. He had his communication device, and he'd key it up once he was sure its waterproofing had saved it from damage.

"We should hurry on..."

[Raika Tatsu]

As Okuda spoke, Raika just followed him, letting him take care of everything. It was then that Okuda answered his questions, at which point Tatsu replied.

"That makes sense. Good thing I came prepared to hide my face, I had figured that anonymity was going to be important. I can also tell that your intimidation is likely to scare the crew enough to keep them quiet, though that is likely still a risk. Regardless, we are going to be at the Land of Tea relatively soon, so I'm going to rest and make sure I have everything ready for when we reach our destination."

Raika made a short bow to his sempai and excused himself. He looked around shortly for Katsu but couldn't find him, deciding that he was likely already in a cabin or in some other part of the ship, and it was likely best to leave him alone for now. With that, Tatsu retreated to an empty cabin and decided to go over his equipment, even taking a short nap as Nera, his snake, remained awake and on alert.

-----------------

A few hours passed, and as Raika went through his equipment one last time, he realized the time and how close they now were. What would they be facing? How difficult would this be? Was he really ready? Yes, Tatsu decided, he was.

"Well, Nera, it won't be long now. Are you ready?" Tatsu spoke to his snake in serpent tongue, something he had recently learned.

"Of course, though I doubt I'll be...much assistance...still, even as a distraction, I shall be of use."

Raika smiled and nodded, and placed all his equipment in the most manageable order on his clothing.

Suddenly, a loud noise rocked the ship as a tremor seemed to erupt from somewhere on the hull. Tatsu quickly extended his arm for Nera to slither onto him before hurrying out of the cabin. Amidst the paniking crew, Raika made his way onto the deck, where he realized the ship was apparently damaged somehow, and was abruptly sinking. Crewmen were abandoning ship or falling off, but one quick survey of the water by Tatsu exposed their inevitable fate: sharks, and lots of them. But he also saw Katsu coming up from the water, and what seemed like a rock creature, possibly a golem of some kind. Had he been responsible?

Tatsu made his way up the ship as it sank, staying away from the frenzy that was turning the sea water red. A couple of the crewmen noticed him and screamed out for help, but as much as it may have pained him, he did nothing. While Raika was pretty sure Katsu had something to do with what was happening, and though his manner of doing so was questionable, the boy's reasoning was not: it was better for the mission if the crew was dead, especially since they had seen the team's faces. However, Tatsu looked around for Okuda, hoping he didn't get caught up in the sinking. They were really close to shore, so running there wasn't a problem, but Tatsu had no idea if Okuda could run on water or not, as some Taijutsu masters were unable to mold chakra.

It wasn't long before the crew perished to the sharks, and once the ship went below the surface, Tatsu stepped onto the waters. Making his way towards Katsu, Raika kept a look out for their current team leader. He said nothing to Katsu, and he likely never would. Tatsu merely wondered what had happened to the boy he had first met. But he knew. It's what happened to most shinobi. Reality and experience had taught them all inescapable lessons, and that was the only truth.

[奥田 (Okuda)]

By Naota As the boat approached the dock and Okuda began to stand up he felt the sudden shaking of the boat, a terrible trembling. Suddenly the boat was filled with shrieks, people shouting that the boat was taking on water soon there was a loud blaring as the alarms kicked in and alerted people to calmly precede to the lifeboats. Okuda started walking to the bow of the ship, watching as occasionally some people would fall into the water. Some would be devoured by sharks, some poor fools would get sucked into the propellers that were still going. Once he got to the bow, he hopped off the boat and focused chakra to his feet; he then landed safely and stood. Whilst he couldn’t mold large amounts of chakra he could mold a small amount, so doing the simple things he needed such as walking on water or trees etc. wasn’t too far off for him. He then walked to the shore which was in sight at this point, once he got to shore he laid a hand gently on Raika’s shoulder to let him know that he was ok. Okuda then turned his attention to Katsu and said “What you did was foolish and unnecessary, you killed more people than were needed, the people on that boat were sufficiently scared by my statement. You will not act in such away again on this mission, and when we return home you shall light a candle and say a prayer for each life that was lost because of your foolishness. I will not hear arguments, you will agree, I am the team leader on this, you will simply obey.” With that, before any reply could be made by the boy, Okuda began walking towards their destination, slightly agitated thanks to the foolishness of youth. ((OOC: If you all want to move this now to the thread made by Solus for the mission that is fine with me, this’ll count as my exit post in that case if not we can continue to RP.))

[Deleted]

Katsu didn't look at either Raika or Okuda as they approached, the sinking vessel slowly vanishing from view. He had nothing to say about his actions unless they wanted to bring it up, his mind already concentrating on the task that they were going to have to perform later. Raika seemed to understand Katsu's actions, which was a small comfort, but unsurprisingly to Katsu Okuda did not.

Katsu replied simply to Okuda, his voice sounding abnormally dead and emotionless. Katsu was suppressing them, "I would not have had to do this if you had not attempted to intimidate them. Before that we were curiosities, adventurers armed to defend themselves against potential sea-monsters. It would not have mattered how many tongues would have wagged at our presence on the ship, because we were just travelers. It was only because of your intimidation that there was a problem. You can't stop every tongue from wagging by a single attempt at intimidation. One at least would have talked about the scary fighters they picked up in Kaminari no Kuni to the islanders, and then we would have been subjected to scrutiny." A quick pause while Katsu let what he had just said sink in and he could catch his breath before he continued.

"In addition. Okuda-kun, you are a Chuunin and Mission Leader. Our Team Leader is the Sannin Marii-sama. Your ability to command me extends only as far as this mission does. It does not extend to ordering punishments against me."

There wasn't anything else for Katsu to say after this, and so he continued to walk towards the Land of Tea, performing a quick set of handseals to initiate Henge, turning himself into a large wolf. Tea had wolves, so at least until they got to the city Katsu had the perfect disguise...

[Exit]

[Raika Tatsu]

Thankfully Raika's worries were for naught, as Okuda reached the shore just behind the him and Katsu, almost making him jump. Still, he wasn't quite prepared for scolding and rebuttal that followed. Tatsu felt almost like a third-party in the argument, neutral and unwilling to take either side. He understood the reasoning both of his teammates had, and in one way or another both were looking out for the sake of the mission. Who was right was really all a matter of perspective, and Tatsu knew neither would change their minds or relent.

Regardless, they all knew they had no time for such squabbles, not when teamwork would be essential real soon. The two each said their bit and started walking, and Raika followed. The young shinobi took one glance at Nera, who was wrapped around his torso, and it was all that needed to be said between them. They had reached their destination. It would not be long before they reached their target, and that's when the true test would begin.

[Exit]

[奥田 (Okuda)]

By Naota Groaning loudly as he slowly made his way back to the docks of the country of tea, a young red haired man wearing tattered clothing with two swords on his hips. He wore, what was normal for him, a pair of light brown straw sandals, blue toe socks, a white hakama, a white inner kimono and a blue outer kimono. His clothing was ripped, cut and stained with his blood. Under his two kimono one could make out the bare visage of tattered and starting to dirty bandages. He would need to quickly get back to the village and seek out proper medical treatment so that he could get himself in fighting shape again. From the looks of him it looked like he could barely hold himself up, which was very much true, as he was now letting his wounds and his fatigue carry him towards the docks. Wasting no time the young man approached a small charter boat shop. When he was there, he explained that he needed a boat for two to take him and a companion to the land of lightning. The man agreed as long as he was paid, luckily the young samurai had some money on him, just enough to cover the expenses of the two, the man then showed him to the boat, where they would wait for Raika to arrive so that the two could depart. (We're travelling back to the village from this thread Raika Tatsu )

[Raika Tatsu]

Raika reached the docks behind Okuda, getting ready to buy his own ticket for the ferry. That was, until he heard from one of the deckhands about the upcoming Chuunin Exams in the nearby country of Sea. It would be much more worthwhile to prepare and rest close to the country of the exams than go back all the way to Kumogakure only to have to return.

"Okuda, unless you really need me, I would prefer to stay here for a bit longer and then head to the Country of Sea. The Chuunin Exams are being held there soon, and I can better prepare and rest here than travelling back home."

Raika then waited for his teammate's response.


[[ooc: Let me know if you have any issue with this, I'd rather travel from here than from Kumo, since Sea Country is basically right here.]]

[奥田 (Okuda)]

By Naota The young samurai had no real qualms with his partner deciding to go to the Chuunin Exams, it wasn’t his job to ensure that he went back right after the finishing of this mission. Okuda would nod slightly from within the boat “Fine, but do not lose your life or the exams, head there and show me you are worthy. If you become a Chuunin without issue I will train you in Burêdono Kenseijin, personally.” Okuda then indicated to the boats pilot that he should push off and head them towards the land of thunder. The young man and the older rower were soon moving, leaving Raika on the docks. Whether Raika knew it or not, Okuda had all but started his test now, as part of the exam as far as Okuda was concerned was actually getting there and back in one piece. Before they got too far away he shouted back towards the dock “I will inform the Raikage that you’re heading to the Chuunin Exam!” With that Okuda laid down in the small boat and let himself fall asleep for the long boat ride back to the land of lightning. ((OOC: I have no issue with you going to the CEs, as long as Marii has approved it I will ICly inform her when I get back to the village)) [please MOVE to KAMINARI NO KUNI]

[Raika Tatsu]

[Exit]

[Beltran]

Moved

[奥田 (Okuda)]

[EXIT to KUMOGAKURE GATES]