::雲影 Raikage Tower::

[Marii K. Kazeraikou]

((OOC: You're welcome! I hope my contribution lives up to your expectations))

A female Owl ANBU agent with long amethyst purple hair appeared. "Excuse me Captain, please follow me." told the shinobi. The female nodded as she followed the woman up the stairs.
The duo went up to the third floor in silence. Both of them knew that the times were more serious now than just a couple days earlier.

Marii entered the room with the double doors. It was a large storage room converted into head quarters that buzzed with activity. Their were ANBU's from every division that were looking at papers or typing stuff into computers.
In the center was a large round wooden table with six Anbu captains standing around with the young male at the head furthest from the entrance. He wore the same black long sleeve shirt and black slacks that he wore at the funeral the previous day.

'Kami...looks like he haven't slept much. I can't exactly blame him for that due to his position' thought the young woman as she entered the room.
"Ah the legendary Sannin Kazeraikou, and coincidentally our Owl Captain. Please join us Marii, our strategy meeting has just begun." informed the Raikage.

"The floor is open to suggests on how to proceed with the Gale Empire. After I hear any and all idea I'll present my own. Please allow me this courtesy" told the young man.
The first one to speak up was the bear captain. He apparently had some ideas about how the defence of Kumogakure could improve.

Some of them involved installation of traps around the mountain as well as sensors. The Sannin agreed to this idea since the enemies had attacked them via the air. Not to mention that they were located in a basin...it could be devastating if their surroundings were weak.
"Some of the prisoners have already committed suicide in their cells. Which is not that surprising since they haven't been interrogated yet" told the wolf captain.

"Some of them however were a bit easier to cooperate with. My division are analysing the tapes as we speak" informed the man. "Speaking of which...what did you find out Kazeraikou-san?" inquired a falcon ANBU as he looked towards her.
"I have my papers here. I'm afraid is not a complete report given that I did not have that much time to ask people" admitted the female.

She dropped her backpack on the ground before she removed her small report from the main pocket. "Several of the guards that attacked the Academy were unable to counteract ninjutsus that were "C"-ranked or above. They also fell victims to various types of high-ranked genjutsus despite that there were unaffected areas between them" started the brunette.

"However, they were quite skilled with taijutsu. My companion had to use an "A" or "S"-ranked taijutsu against two of them in order to stop them. All of them were armed with swords plus good quality armour" told the young woman.
"I suspect the higher ranks may be more trained in ninjutsu than the lower ranked soldiers that attacked us during the invasion. The Raikage can attest to that" finished Marii while she looked at the other male.

She would wait until the other captains had spoken until she would present her idea. It was customary since the female was the youngest captain there. Not to mention that she only been a teenager during the last war, unable to contribute.
'I suppose this is a downside of living in a peaceful nation. We don't know exactly how to react when these things occur' thought the Sannin.

[Raikou!]

The meeting was going well. Everyone was sharing data on the enemy and in doing so a picture of whom they were up against slowly began to form.

The enemy was fiercely loyal to their cause. Enough so, to commit suicide before possibly leaking information under torture. Enough to risk their lives coming to attack Cloud head on. For the most part it didn't seem like they feared death.

Marii gave a report on the offensive and defensive capabilities of the enemy. They seemed weak to Ninjutsu, however seemed to be strong with and against Taijutsu. They also seemed to have a weakness to Genjutsu as well.

Their level of armor was impressive as well. Raikou thought back to the steeled samurai he faced at the gates. He was incredibly durable and tough. The technology he had at his disposal was years a head of anything they had in the village.

"We managed to capture one of their transports as well. They have very advanced technology unlike anything we have seen before." Said the Frog Captain.

Indeed their technology was probably their greatest strength. However the fact that they also had high level ninjutsu users at their disposal could not be over looked either. They were a multifaceted enemy that was prepared to wage a full scale war.

"Thank you everyone for the information. It is clear that we are dealing with a powerful enemy... They are willing to die for their cause which makes them a difficult enemy to fight. At their lower levels they seem to specialize in Taijustu, however they have shown high level ninjutsu skills in their stronger soldiers also. And on top of all this, they have technology that lets them transport huge amounts of soldiers to the battlefield at once and it also serves to increase their destructive force further."

Raikou sighed from exhaustion. His body was weary but his mind still raced. It was more of an emotional exhaustion if anything. Kuro's death was just a day ago. And a couple days before that he had just been fighting side by side with him on the Front Line. He needed time to grieve. But there was none.

"Now that we have a idea of what we are up against I am opening the floor to ideas. Nothing is too crazy, too big, too small. The more ideas the better. Let's hear them."

[Raika Tatsu]

[Enter]

Raika entered the Raikage's Tower, steel-faced and grim. He had just witnessed the death of a Raikage, during the funeral of the last one. The Gale Empire had successfully infiltrated and assassinated two of the village's leaders, and though the village shinobi had repelled their last attack, the assassination earlier in the day was proof that more was coming.....much, much more.

Raika walked up to the front desk carrying the six blades of Kurogane that had been entrusted to him. Tatsu had made sure everyone got out of the graveyard safely and the injured made it to the hospital before making his way here.

He directed his attention to the receptionist at the front, who was quite busy considering everything that had just happened. ANBU were everywhere, no doubt making sure the Tower was secure."Excuse me, I have brought the swords that belonged to Kurogane, are previous Raikage, who was murdered just a bit ago. These weapons are precious to the village, and I was instructed by an ANBU member to bring them here." Tatsu flung the blades forward onto his arms, waiting for the receptionist or anyone else to acknowledge him and instruct him further on what to do with the blades.

[Marii K. Kazeraikou]

"We managed to capture one of their transports as well. They have very advanced technology unlike anything we have seen before." informed the frog captain. That information scared the female a little since technology was crucial when it came to battles like these.
Combined with competent ninjutsu users plus physically fit soldiers, the Gale empire were not weak. The voice of the other male then broke her trail of thoughts.

"Thank you everyone for the information. It is clear that we are dealing with a powerful enemy... They are willing to die for their cause which makes them a difficult enemy to fight. At their lower levels they seem to specialize in taijustu, however they have shown high level ninjutsu skills in their stronger soldiers also.
And on top of all this, they have technology that lets them transport huge amounts of soldiers to the battlefield at once and it also serves to increase their destructive force further." stated the Raikage.

"Now that we have a idea of what we are up against I am opening the floor to ideas. Nothing is too crazy, too big, too small.
The more ideas the better. Let's hear them." told the young man. Marii tried to think out how she should formulate her idea to the team.

"There is one thing that worries me a little. We have an abundance of herbs in the greenhouse that can be used as poisons or medicine. But there are less than five herbalists in the village that are able to use them" informed the frog-masked shinobi.
"I agree. We have a large need for herbalists, animalists as well as medics in this village" replied the young woman.

"Aren't there anyone that can teach them?" inquired the cat ANBU captain at the opposite side. "Well...teachers are not that easy to find. Plus that most of the herbalists are usually Jounins or Chuunins with other duties" answered the frog ANBU captain.
"Another thing I'm worried about is that we have little to no information about our enemies. We don't know which nation they are from or if they are missing from other villages" said the Sannin with a grave look at her face.

"I don't think all of them were missing shinobis. Some of the dead soldiers I found were actually men in their forties or even older. I know we have shinobis at that age in our village, but it's not an ideal age for infantry" informed the bear ANBU captain.
"So this means we have middle-aged soldiers clad in armour plus higher technology to face in our future fights? Sounds a bit odd and dangerous to me" concluded the cat-masked shinobi.

"I think the same. Hence why we should investigate their origins plus improve our alliances with different villages. May I present my plan?" asked the brunette.
The other captains nodded before she laid the world map on the table. "At the moment, we're allied with Yukigakure, Konohagakure as well as Otogakure" told the female as she pointed out the villages.

"I know that Konoha has a stronghold of shinobis plus that they have some very skilled medics. Yukigakure on the other hand has unique ninjutsus and a harsh climate we may use to train our shinobis.
Both villages also have clans with bloodlimits like the Hyuugas or Kaishins. My suggestion is that we can offer both villages some services to get some help in return" finished Marii.

[A 5 A M 1 -- N4GA]

Asami was greeted by a female sporting large glasses this time round. What had happened to the old man? Perhaps he was serious about taking that break after all. But at the flattery spoken from this new assistant, Asami could not help but to issue her most charming smile. “Thank you!” She breathed, accepting the reward she so richly deserved. But the patrol mission did seem to bother the assistant clearly, her shared concern for Asami's safety was enough to make her like the young woman.

“I'm sure I'll be fine, but thanks for the concern though.” She said softly, picking up the mission slip off of the desk and slipping it into the waist band of her Yukata. With a low bow, Asami would back away from the table gracefully and exit the tower with a new found goal in mind.

..Exit..

[Raikou!]

A young woman with large round glasses welcomed Raika. He looked so tired that she couldn't help but give him a sad look. A Cat Anbu came and lifted the swords out of his hands and went away with them.

"Thank you so much Raika." said the young woman. "Please go home and rest. The new Raikage has ordered all ninja to rest up for the rest of the week. He has a lot of big changes coming up and I think he wan't everyone to prepared. We appreciate all you help, we really do."

[Swords taken into the Tower]

---

"Alright give me a moment to process please."

For a short moment Raikou closed his eyes and went inside his own head. The good news was there were two halfs of Raikou. Literally. There was Beowulf and there was Rathalos. Beowulf was a bit more passionate and fiery while Rathalos was calm and strategic. It was Rathalos who was in charge at this moment, and had been so since the attack at the funeral yesterday. Beowulf had laid silent all this time until now.

When Raikou opened his eyes he suddenly had a new burst of energy about him.

"Alright people here's the plan. Marii, we are going to need a thorough report on all the ways we can use our green house to our advantage during this war. Don't worry about how the herbs will be processed or handled, just explain how we can weaponize them and for what scenarios. I know it's not in your nature Marii but we need you to think deadly. After that we need you to do one more thing. Exercise your status as Sannin and visit our allies. On your way collect data on possible sources of the enemy's infantry. However more importantly we need you to raise support. When we take this battle to them. And believe me we will. We are going to need every ninja we can get."

Raikou paused with a smile as he looked around the room. He was enjoying this.

"I am going to need our top minds on the transport we recovered. With the priority being to understand it's weaknesses and strengths as well as getting it up and running again."

The Anbu Captains nodded approvingly.

"We also need to pull more information from the prisoners we have left. I know we have a single high ranking officer in-cased in crystal downstairs. I faced off with him personally. I know he knows more than he is letting on. I'll handle him myself."

The Raikage took a quick breath as he realized he was working himself into a frenzy. Gathering himself, he would talk out just one more decree.

"Finally. We are going to put the village into a state of emergency. Not code red, but code orange. I want patrols going on 24/7. I want the entire village swept for enemy insurgents. Every man women and child with be interviewed over the next few months to collect data and to insure they aren't the enemy or hiding among them. It might sound drastic but we have already lost two Raikage inside our own walls. I don't plan to be the third."

He actually let out a small chuckle.

"We are entering a state of war. Over the next few weeks I will be implementing a series of war games to get our ninja prepared for whats to come. Every Anbu will be utilized during this time so I hope you are all prepared. Marii you have the most work ahead of you. Your mission will be B rank, with the possibility of it reaching A or S. Take your team if you wish. And raven home if you need anything and it will be delivered to you as fast as possible. Everyone else's individual jobs will be handed out shortly."

Once again the Raikage paused shortly. His face grew serious but excited.

"This is it everyone. This is what we have been training for since we became Shinobi. Let's make our ancestors proud!"

The meeting would end unanimously. The Anbu captains would turn to their lieutenants to get the gears of war moving. And Raikou would walk around the table to Marii side to hear any last concerns she might have.

[Marii K. Kazeraikou]

Silence filled the room when the male started to process the information that had been taken in. The female looked at him with a pair of alert eyes. A part of her felt like he was almost switching personality in some way.
All of the ANBU captains were quiet while they waited for command. What would be the next move in their preparations?

"Alright people here's the plan. Marii, we are going to need a thorough report on all the ways we can use our green house to our advantage during this war. Don't worry about how the herbs will be processed or handled, just explain how we can weaponize them and for what scenarios.
I know it's not in your nature Marii but we need you to think deadly. After that we need you to do one more thing. Exercise your status as Sannin and visit our allies" started the Raikage.

"On your way collect data on possible sources of the enemy's infantry. However more importantly we need you to raise support. When we take this battle to them. And believe me we will. We are going to need every ninja we can get." stated the young man with determination blazing in his eyes.

"I am going to need our top minds on the transport we recovered. With the priority being to understand it's weaknesses and strengths as well as getting it up and running again.
We also need to pull more information from the prisoners we have left. I know we have a single high ranking officer in-cased in crystal downstairs. I faced off with him personally. I know he knows more than he is letting on. I'll handle him myself." told the ebony-haired guy.

All of the captains nodded in approval of what he told them. "Finally, we are going to put the village into a state of emergency. Not code red, but code orange.
I want patrols going on 24/7. I want the entire village swept for enemy insurgents. Every man women and child with be interviewed over the next few months to collect data and to insure they aren't the enemy or hiding among them. It might sound drastic but we have already lost two Raikage inside our own walls. I don't plan to be the third." chuckled the guy.

"We are entering a state of war. Over the next few weeks I will be implementing a series of war games to get our ninja prepared for whats to come. Every Anbu will be utilized during this time so I hope you are all prepared.
Marii you have the most work ahead of you. Your mission will be B rank, with the possibility of it reaching A or S. Take your team if you wish. And raven home if you need anything and it will be delivered to you as fast as possible. Everyone else's individual jobs will be handed out shortly." finished the former Jounin.

"This is it everyone. This is what we have been training for since we became shinobi. Let's make our ancestors proud!" exclaimed the young man.
He then walked over to the young woman. She cleared her throat while she tried to understand what he had just said.

"Let me see if I get this. You want me to analyse the herbs in the green house to see which one can be used for poison first. I'm then off to Yukigakure as well as Konohagakure in order to ask for help.
I can't help to think that this is a slightly bad timing...our council ceremony is coming up in just two weeks. I'll try to get back home until then" told the Sannin.

"I'll pack my bags and leave for Yukigakure in two days. I'll leave off a report about the herbs prior to my journey. I think the herbs should be a good service gift for Yukigakure since they have a harsh climate.
Thanks for letting me come with my ideas. I'll go to the greenhouse now to start on my work" said the female prior to leaving the tower...she had work ahead of her.

[Exit Marii]

[Raika Tatsu]

Raika bowed his head and left the Tower. He was indeed tired, and he would need to recover his strength if he wanted to be useful later.

[Exit]

[Weizhe]

Enter

As honored as I was to walk the same path the Raikage once did, I had work to attend to. Upon entry into the Raikage Tower, I headed straight to the mission department to see what kind of money I could make. I looked through the available missions, and set my eyes upon one that I could not turn down in my current position. Walking up to the desk with a feint smile on my face, I awaited approval patiently.

SPOILER: Click to show

Name: Strengthen Kumogakure!
Rank: D
IIC Length: 2 Days
Difficulty: Easy
Description: Increasing in strength is an important part of helping your village. Thus the ninja are being asked to train a technique! The idea is simple train a D ranked technique and then show the new skill to the staff at the Raikage tower. Once this is done you will be rewarded for helping make the village strong!
Objective: May be repeated once a month.
Personnel Requirements: 1-3 Ninja of any Rank
Reward: 1,000 Ryo (800 for a Non-Nin)

[Marii K. Kazeraikou]

[Enter]

'I hope they're not too busy' thought the female when she entered the tower. She had spent a good day or two in order to do the research on the herbs. All of the results were in a report that was in her hands.
Marii lined up behind a couple of Genins that were lead by a Chuunin. It appeared they were going on an interaction mission of some sort.

'Oh...I better get packing so I can leave too. The Raikage told me to gather the support after all' remembered the young woman. She stepped forwards after the team had left.
"I have a report that HAS to be delivered to the Raikage as soon as possible. It will be useful for any further - attacks" told the Sannin.

She laid the report on the counter. "Please tell the Raikage that I'm going to Yukigakure tomorrow. I would appreciate if someone from the bear squad to come with me.
It does not have to be the captain, but it must be a somewhat experienced member in good physical shape. Are there any guards like that available?" inquired the female.

The last thing she wanted to do was to be attacked by enemies on her trip to Yukigakure or Konohagakure. Both of them were on good terms, but there were still enemies there. 'I have to take care since I'm about to step up in my ranks. Not to mention that I probably have a good bounty on my head' thought the brunette. She hoped that they would help Kumogakure out in case of a new invasion that could possibly spread.

SPOILER: Click to show

Herbal report.

I have conducted a research on the herbs we have in our facility. I'm afraid not all of them can be used for poisons, but we have a couple wild cards in our bunch. Below are the descriptions of the herbs that can be the most useful for healing and/or poisoning.

Eucalyptus: This is my favourite herb that acts as a double edged sword. Eucalyptus is able to dissolve slime in the nose or the lungs. Can also be used to clean up the respiratory system if the concentrate is inhaled. But taking more than 5 doses in a day will cause it to act as an uncommon poison. This herb can cause skin rashes if a concentrated does is used on the skin as a salve. I think it may have the same effect on the lungs if a gas made out of eucalyptus is inhaled.

Doshenkana: An herb we have two of. Doshenkana is EXTREMELY toxic. The downside about this herb is that it has a bitter taste and must be taken orally. But the upside is that it has numerous effects. Some of the effects that occurs one hour after eating it includes nausea, convulsions, shortness of breath plus blurred vision. There is a 70% chance that the person may die if not treated within a short period of time. This herb also has a 40% of permanent eye damage even if the patient gets healed.

Neep: May be used in conjunction with doshenkana since it removes the nauseating effect as well as removing some of the taste.

Bulis: Same as above due to the sweet flavour. Bulis is used in wine too.

Laishaberries: This is a VERY rare herb that we only have one of. Use this only in case of emergency. Eating more than five berries will cause stomach cramps plus muteness. However, the berries can heal serious wounds as well as very rare poisons.

Cow parsnip: May be used on insane hostages. This herb will cure insanity temporarily (8 hours per dosage).

Chervil and elvish galingale: These two can be a deadly combination. Chervil can be used to dissolve blood clots and slow wound healing. Elvish galingale speeds up the bloodstream, which makes the person bleed more. Both of them must be either eaten or drunken.

Tempin: Tempin can draw out rare and weaker poisons when smeared on a wound. It makes the wound heal without complications too.

Goat's rue: Can remove effects of poisons that are uncommon or weaker.

Hawkweed and klagul: Hawkweed gives extremely good eyesight for some time while klagul provides one with infravision. Archers plus ninjutsu users can benefit from this one.

Saddilia: THIS herb can give us a HUGE advantage. Eating one dose will make you move faster plus increasing your chakra for one day. One should not eat more than three doses per day.

Sweet trefoile: Reduces the falling damage for a short amount of time. Taijutsu users can benefit from this.

Guard ALL of the herbs in case of an invasion! ALL of them have some sort of healing property or can give the enemy a sizable advantage!

I hope you can use the information I have here.

Marii.

[Weizhe]

Approaching the receptionist once again, I was ready to complete my last accepted mission. Asking the receptionist to get the required staff, I began to ready my chakra flow and concentration. I had just learned this technique, and I was really hoping I wouldn't choke and fail in front of people.

As they stood to view what I had to offer, I was feeling very anxious and my chakra balance was thrown off. When I finally centered it enough to perform, I threw together a chain of handseals and forced wind chakra into my right hand and water chakra to my left. As they began to glow, I prepared myself for the jutsu I had trained earlier.

I took a deep breath, before weaving a second string of handseals. Upon the creation of the last handseal, I held my palms outwards and let the two chakra natures meld together to form a thick, five by five cloud. When it was completed, I continued to show what I had learned, moving my hand to the left, as the cloud followed my hands movement.

I continued this for some time, ammused at the nifty little trick I had learned to do. It took me a while to catch on that the staff was getting bored, now, and I quickly dissapated the created cloud. I looked at the receptionist now, wondering what was going to happen now. "So, will that suffice sir?" I said aloud, setting my gaze upon the receptionist.

SPOILER: Click to show

Name: Strengthen Kumogakure!
Rank: D
IIC Length: 2 Days
Difficulty: Easy
Description: Increasing in strength is an important part of helping your village. Thus the ninja are being asked to train a technique! The idea is simple train a D ranked technique and then show the new skill to the staff at the Raikage tower. Once this is done you will be rewarded for helping make the village strong!
Objective: May be repeated once a month.
Personnel Requirements: 1-3 Ninja of any Rank
Reward: 1,000 Ryo (800 for a Non-Nin)

SPOILER: Click to show

Kumo Soushi (Cloud Creation)
Rank: "D", "C", "B", "A", "S"
Skill: Ninjutsu/Supplementary
Effect: Creates a cloud in which the user can use the Kiero-series jutsu.
Special: Handseals
Drawback: ---
Description: Combining wind and water elements within both the user's hands and doing the handseals will allow the user to create a cloud in front of the user. Simply waving the user's hands in the direction one wants to go will cause it to move in that direction. Once the user gains the third stage of the eye this cloud gains electrical properties as well. The size of the cloud depends on the rank of the jutsu learned. Once the user gains the O-Dai Ryuugan the cloud is capable of gaining electric capabilities.
D: 5x5 Meter Cloud
C: 10x10 Meter Cloud
B: 20x20 Meter Cloud
A: 40x40 Meter Cloud
S: 60x60 Meter Cloud

Limit: Must have Ryuugan and Arashi no Kiero (Channeling of the Tempest)

[Raikou!]

"That will suffice just fine. Thank you."

The receptionist smiled and pulled out a small bag of Ryo.

"Enjoy."

[Paid]

[Weizhe]

"Thank you"

[/i] I said as I grasped the small purse. I walked back to the mission board, gazing at all of the options before me, and ripped one of the notes off of the board. "I was also wondering, if you would approve this mission for me?" I inquired, bearing a wide smile.[/center][/size]

SPOILER: Click to show

Name: Glass delivery.
Rank: D-ranked
IIC Length: 1 day
Difficulty: Easy
Description: The local glass smith has recently injured himself and cannot make a delivery of glass products. With your help, you are to deliver the glass products from his smiting shop to the kage’s tower. A trolley will be loaded up with the glass products, which will make its way to its destination. Make sure that the glass does not break during the delivery. The glass used will greatly aid in furthering clouds infrastructure.
Objective:(Must be repeated 3 times)
Deliver the trolley full of glass product to the kage’s tower.
Personnel Requirements: 1-2 shinobi of any rank
Reward: 1,562 Ryo (1,250 for a Non-Nin)

[Raikou!]

[Marii]


"Thank you very much for your report Marii-San. I'm know know the Raikage is looking forward to reading it."

Said the young purple haired secretary.

"Oh and please, stay safe on your trip."

[Report Accepted and Mission Approved.]

---

[Weizhe]


"Yes of course. Thank you so much for your help."

Said the secretary as she took the mission slip from Weizhe. She then stamped it with a large red stamp and handed it back to him.

"Please take care." Said the women smiling.

[Mission Approved]

[Marii K. Kazeraikou]

"Thank you very much for your report Marii-san. I'm know know the Raikage is looking forward to reading it. Oh and please, stay safe on your trip." told the woman.
"I will. Thanks for handing over the report for me" replied the female with a smile at her face.

She exited the tower with a big grin at her face. 'This is gonna be GREAT! My first mission as a diplomatic envoy of Kumogakure no sato!' screamed her inner in pure joy.
'I better not screw this up...it's a REALLY important mission' thought Marii. She went back to her house to pack her supplies for the trip.

[Exit Marii]