---

---

The awkward silence between Reiji's newly formed team was finally broken by their sensei. It seemed that they were going to be working with two other new teams and Sutemasu appeared to be acquainted with the two other jounin. She lightly teased a jounin that Rei recognized as the 16 year old prodigy. Reiji couldn't fathom how that guy has managed to get a position leading a team, word around Kumo was that he was a major douché.

“Listen up!” Sutemasu said loudly. “We're tasked to take down a metal refinery. It is possible that we'll engage with enemy combatants, since we're taking down a refinery belonging to Kirigakure. It shouldn't be anything too serious, however, so don't worry! Let's go.”

And with that we were on the move, Rei couldn't believe they were just rushing into combat like this. He had no knowledge of any of his teammates jutsu nor had he actually seen how they fought. Focusing on the present while forcing himself to stop worrying, Reiji became alert to his surroundings. The biggest factor around him was the fog, he could barely see a couple yards in front of him. “Reiji, Kota, Kasumi, Amehime, once we're in there we'll probably be on our own. I think that the Raikage didn't foresee the mist being this thick.” Reiji nodded in understanding, all business now. He checked his pouches and weapons, making sure he had everything he needed. Sutemasu also pointed out that visibility would be low in the compound as well, which spelled bad news for Reiji's fighting style. Plus, he assumed the compound would be closer quarters, meaning he wouldn't be able to use his large area of effect techniques which was basically his whole arsenal. When his teammates dropped off the cliff, Rei followed suit, hitting the lake relatively quiet, albeit a bit louder than his sensei's landing. Pinpoint chakra accuracy was never his specialty.

“Hmm. We could blast ourselves in.. but.. maybe that's too loud. It'd be very surprising if we did, though. Hm. No, let's just jump over. Follow me, Kota, Kasumi, Amehime, Reiji!”

The Abukara chuunin flashed up into the air in a blink and landed on the other side, keeping up his stealthy approach that he had honed so well over the years. On the bright side, it seemed like his teammates weren't as annoying as the other teams, they were all quite and attentive. Maybe they wouldn't be so bad. The mission was in full swing at this point, they had infiltrated the compound and were now about to take out the biggest threats. “Okay, follow me.” Sutemasu commanded softly, aware of the enemies in the area. Reiji was surprised there were no sensory nin guarding the compound. They would be much more suited to take up sentry duty, maybe there were some and just hadn't immediately recognized the offending chakra natures. Once confronted with their opponents, the first thing Reiji noticed wwas that they were outnumbered. Sutemasu-sensei quickly engaged one of the men and began to take him down. Looks like the chuunin were up next. Kasumi-chan took action first, stepping forward and warning her teammates to get ready. Rei watched as she started playing her harp, wondering what the hell that was going to do. He knew she used music-based jutsu but He saw no outward effects manifesting. Finally, after close observation he saw that they were slightly slower than when they first turned around and began to engage with his team.

Reiji watched as one of the Kiri ninja set his eyes on himself and Rei knew it was time to first, to prove himself. Sadly, hiis jutsu were useless in this close of quarters, the last thing he needed was for someone to inhale his smoke or get caught in an explosion. It seemed like he was going to have to use Taijutsu with a little help. The ninja fighting Reiji began to weave hand signs and began to shoot bursts of flames at the Abukara. The chuunin was able to dodge the flames until he found cover behind a pillar. He began to form plan, then drew a kunai and came out of his cover. Immediately Reiji threw the kunai, which the Kiri easily dodged, but took a step back in the process. Rei took this opportunity to use,

Binding Smoke

in an attempt to grasp his opponent. Four tentacles sprouted form the ground and caught the unaware Kiri. Reiji was already on the move by then, sprinting towards his enemy. The dumbass Kiri ninja got distracted and tried to cut the tentacles, which gave Rei just enough time to land a well placed kick to the side of the ninja's face. It sent the Kiri falling backwards while the tentacles from Binding Smoke released him. Reiji was just about to land an incapacitating blow at the least to the Kiri when he was sent flying into the pole by a strong Wind Release technique. His back hit the pillar he originally hid behind, it was definitely going to hurt the next morning. Hell, it hurt right then. Rei grit his teeth and stood back up, preparing to strike again, but also waiting to see what his team would do. He was at the disadvantage here, not being able to use jutsu.

---

Hidden next to his teammates, Kuroba asked them in a whisper, "I know that these aren't really peaceful times, but..." He paused while looking around. "This is still a bit much for a first mission isn't it?" Immediately after meeting their teammates, they went off to go infiltrate and sabotage enemy territory. Kuroba was stuck in a daze until there was finally time for the situation to sink in. Metal factories were reasonably high priority, weren't they? His hallucinations became far more vivid from being hidden in the dark, making the growling sounds he heard even louder and phantoms grabbing his limbs pull him down lower to the ground. If it were any other situation, he'd be a quivering mess. But now, any movement might get the others hurt, so he simply endured the sensations that pinched at his nerves.

Eventually, the doors they were posted at opened, and a few workers came out, escorted by what seemed to be 5 chunnin. Radioing in to their jounin, Kuroba sighed when Minaru ordered them to hold them there. "Awawa, I really don't want to hurt them... Blood is scary, so try to just incapacitate them 'kay?" Silently, he followed them until they got a good distance away from the factory, preventing them from calling for back-up. He stepped out from behind a tree in front of the small convoy, surprising them since they hadn't noticed his presence. Kuroba had practiced a lot, after all.

The Kirigakure ninjas acted first, one of them throwing a shuriken at Kuroba. He dodged to the side, activating his Mist Servant technique which split off, seeming to dodge to the other side. Immediately after, Kuroba activated the Haze Clone technique, causing a few of the enemy nin to panic when they were suddenly surrounded by the growing number of duplicates. Weaving in, he did a few hand signs, activating his sense-blocking genjutsu before tagging the workers to make it easier to move them out of the way. He decided to leave the chunnin to his teammates, judging that it would be safe since he had distracted them from their surroundings.

-

---

Toraburu was caught off guard by the sensei's words, who apparently dodged his jutsu. But with his words, he made the same mistake that the feisty chunin called Trouble made. He gave away his position, and that indicated to Toraburu that something was going on. Turning around swiftly he noticed a gale of wind approaching, and his ears twitched from hypocrisy of his sensei saying some dumb shit about not yelling a jutsu name, but at the same time yelling out a warning for no reason if he was going to surprise him. Being a bit of a scrappy kid he simply pushed his feet into the ground, augmenting chakra at his feet to keep himself steadied. He crossed his arms right in front of him and braced for the impact -- granted that it was heavier than he expected -- and felt himself being pushed back slightly. Some unremarkable cuts appeared on his arm from the wind cutting his skin but it wasn't anything serious.

“Su-su-suuu.. baka! If you're gonna complain about me yelling my jutsu out, you should think before yelling at me about some random nonsense before you use yours! Who even made you a jonin.. I bet your mom did. ... I mean.. she's the raikage.. of course she did..”

Once the gale of wind had passed him -- leaving numerous cuts all over his body -- he lowered his arms from in front of him, and looked at Hageshi with a challenging glare. He then turned back to his team, namely Midori, Kaguya and Saborama. “Damn right it's a lot more serious. It's so serious that they needed four of us to babysit that big weenie they call a jonin. Su-su-su.. and they didn't even give me a capable team.”

---

---

During the travels to Kirigakure, Toraburu made sure to stay relatively close to Hageshi. There was no saying when this moron needed saving, after all. At least that's what he told himself. He kept his ears peeled and they were constantly twitching around, listening for sounds. It made it so that, unintentionally, he heard Sutemasu's message through the intercom without even wearing one. He smirked when she said something about friendly fire, since from what Hageshi had shown so far it seemed to be near impossible for him to actually do anything without blasting off a huge wave of air and therefore, it seemed unlikely that friendly fire would not happen at all.

While team Sutemasu and team Minaru already headed off, Toraburu waited behind Hageshi, looking over the edge of the cliff at the misty compound. “Prrrrrrr..” A soft purr escaped his mouth -- something he hated, because it made him sound more like a cat than he wanted to let on to. He already had enough crazy people calling him a neko, and it seemed like nobody seemed to understand that he was genuinely a catperson. His ears twitched slightly, listening closely to the footsteps of both the teams ahead of them, before he turned to face Hageshi. “What are we waiting for you idiot? Let's go!” And with that said, Toraburu, or rather 'Trouble', set it upon himself to throw whatever authority Hageshi had in question. Oh, Hageshi would be very very sorry for dragging him along like some animal.

---

---

As Ame headed out with his team, he couldn't help but be a bit comforted by the fact despite the awkwardness, the tension between his group wasn't as bad as having Toraboru in tow. He didn't say anything about it, though, and a quick glance around made him twitch his eyebrow similarly to the others, as though slightly disapproving, but also a bit amused. Before he had time to have a thorough look over the other teams, however, they were off.

They paused right before the refinery, and as Sutematsu warned them about being on their own as well as the mist, Ame took the time to slip off his cloak, wrapping it over his waist. Quickly readjusting the rigs on his spools, he practiced his polite smile in the safety of the mist before jumping after after them, keeping up as they made their way towards the compound. Though the mist was indeed thick, Ame having spent much time in the darkness during Basement training helped, his attention relying more on his ears as his eyes failed him.

Leaping after Sutematsu and company, the group landed on the other side with much ease, without getting caught. It was Ame's first big mission, and honestly speaking he was kinda nervous, but he made pretend that it was just like the small shit his family made him do, trying to focus on the situation at hand. He sneaked behind his teammates, fingers twitching readily as they approached six other shinobi, knowing as his foot passed the threshold shit would be going down. And he was right, Sutematsu dashing forward to knock the fuck out of the furthest one, following it up quickly before the other guy could get in a word edgewise.

Already Ame had shot two wires across the closest ninja towards him, weighted balls allowing them to wrap around two nearby pipes and just as he heard Kasumi warn, "Get ready," his light feet were already leaving the ground, his body lurching towards the enemy. He overshot in the rush, flying over the enemy rather than kneeing him in the fact like he wanted to, quickly pulling back his wires. He turned midair, aiming his wires once more at another set of pipes, focusing chakra on his feet to lad solidly on the wall, pushing himself off and using the momentum to pull himself around the pipe.

The enemy was rushing past to make a counterattack, but in maneuvering his wires, he used the wire to spin sharply, allowing himself a kick to land solidly on the enemy's face---- or. Well.

It was supposed to.

"Shit--" he hissed as his foot met air, somehow his calculations having been fucked up yet again. It wasn't his fault this time though-- he was focused and his eyes had been paying attention and--- ah fuck, that Kasumi girl slowed the other guy down. Focus, Ame, he told himself, as he quickly used his kunai to snip at his wires, unable to be salvaged as they'd wrapped around heavily against the pipe, his feet skidding as he landed on the ground. So far, he'd just done a really good job of missing, he thought to himself as he parried kunai thrown at him, their physics being of normal speed despite the owner of them having been slowed down.

Alright, alright, get your shit together. He aimed for something simpler this time, wire stretching past the enemy he was focusing on, careful to aim it towards the rig and not in a way where his teammates would accidentally cut themselves on. He made a running start towards his enemy and just as the shinobi readied himself for defense, Ame tugged the wire, pulling him up and quick, timing it just right to use the kunai in his hand to cut the string, his free hand reaching back to grab a second kunai. As momentum propelled him over the shinobi, he aimed his kunai downwards, letting gravity be a helping hand, sending the weapons down the enemy's shoulders and pushing him to the ground.

Nice, one down. Only took him fifty years.

---

Hageshī was easily annoyed by the attitude of the brat that he had taken under his wing, even if he didn't show it. Of course, Sutemasu didn't help much, but at least she was joking. He could appreciate a joke or two. Minaru, on the other hand, was almost as bad as the brat! Hageshī was just begging for an excuse to pound them both into the ground. Of course, that wasn't why they were there. A mission was about to go underway and he had no time to fool around with them. "Kirigakure is a dangerous village...I want all of you to stick close by me." He demanded his students in a strict voice and booming voice. And like that, they were on their way.

The teams would take some time to travel to the factory. He always kept his eye on his students, making sure they weren't moving away too far from the group. As they made their way to the factory, Hageshī noticed the mist was beginning to thicken. Using his Wind Release techniques, he would allow for it the clear out of the way for him and his team. Soon enough, they would find themselves at the cliff leading to the factory. Hageshī stared down at the buildings, trying to scope out the area as the other two teams went on their way. It was not long until he eventually decided it was time to move out.

With the small cat pressuring him, Hageshī nodded, jumping off the side. He landed softly on the water, before standing up, and treading through the mist towards the factory. It was at that moment that, if the students noticed, a kunai flew past Hageshī's head. On it was a paper-bomb, sticking itself to the cliff side. It appeared that the enemy was trying to cause the cliff to fall on top of his entire team! "Watch out! The cliff is going to explode!" He called out, engaging the shinobi that had thrown the kunai. With a few swift strokes, the pure brute strength of his blows caused the shinobi to lose his defence, and he was sent flying with a kick to his side. Approaching the team, hoping that they would be killed, were four enemy shinobi. "Let's take them out quickly and regroup with the others!"

---

---

The travelling was a little annoying for Kota, since he wasn't much for walking around everywhere constantly. Although, he had no major issue with it, he would have rather stayed home and relaxed if he had the chance. Still, at least when the mission was over, he could get to know the other Chūnin a little bit better. During his travel, he would take the time to catch up with Kasumi. Most of the day was spent laughing over something stupid or making jokes, but other times he was actually rather curious about her experiences.

He was glad that they finally got to see each other again. Of course, a sudden thought hit him; what if she got hurt? He shook his head, trying to shake the idea of it out of his mind. She had grown up to become independent and strong enough to take care of herself. Besides, if she got hurt, he just had to remember the one thing he always told himself when he was a child; he was a hero!

As the group finally reached the cliff, Kota was astonished by the sight before him. If only they weren't there to destroy the factory. He would have loved to play in that mist with his new 'friends'. Either way, he had a mission to do, and he was going to try and see it through. As the team slowly made their way in, it didn't take long for Sutemasu to alert one of the guards. Shaking his head, he noticed that Kasumi was giving them a buffer. With a grin, noticing that Reiji was entering the fray already, he took his sword out and cheered. "Alright, Kasumi-chan! I'll show you what I can do!" Charging one of the enemies, he clashed them tool-to-tool. Sparks flew quickly, before he hit them sideways in the jaw with the handle of the blade. It seems that his Kenjutsu was quite skilled for a Chūnin. The man yet again attempted to bring his weapon down upon Kota, but each one was met with a parry, the sound of metal grinding and hitting together ringing. It was not until he brought his weapon down low for the Uchiha's feet that Kota leaped high into the air, before coming back down at the mans head with huge force. "Lightning Style: Lightning Oppression Horizontal Drop!" With a loud boom, the man blocked the initial chop with his weapon, before being driven into the ground and knocked unconscious from the pure blow.

Standing there confidently, he looked back at Kasumi, Reiji, and Sutemasu, resting the blade on his shoulder. Pointing at himself, he grinned, "I told you, I'm a he-" Without even realizing it, a large man had smacked him out of the way, causing Kota to go flying into the ground a few feet back. He groaned, picking himself up, before bringing an angry glance at the man. "What's the big idea, tubby!? I was in the middle of sounding all cool to someone I haven't seen in years and you ruined it!" For someone who acts positive, he sure did upset for something so stupid.

---

The trip to the island was mostly without incident, with most of the issues coming from whenever Toraburu would belt out his special brand of “encouragement”. The cat was still pretty cut up from Hageshi-sensei’s jutsu, but he seemed to be in good spirits. Knowing Toraburu’s type, Ikaruga hoped that the catboy’s high energy wasn’t just posturing. True to form, Ikaruga made a point to look out for any signs that his fellow chunin weren’t looking too under the weather. Other than Toraburu, none of their squad had been touched, so at least they were physically tip-top.

The mist made it hard to see, but luckily Hageshi was taking care of it as they advanced towards the factory. As they moved, Ikaruga carefully removed his spear from its casing and began to follow Hageshi from his left flank. The coast looked clear, or at least as clear as the mist hanging over the island would allow. Regardless, Ikaruga had taken a low stance, the spiral head of the Rasen no Yari pointed towards the ground. Following Hageshi’s lead, Ikaruga lept after the Jounin, almost getting hit by the paper-bomb rigged kunai that came flying out of the mist ahead of the squad. As soon as his feet touched the water, the young spearman pushed forward to engage the enemy shinobi that had approached. As soon as Ikaruga came within optimal spear range, swung it at the two kiri-nin that had come to meet him, knocking the two into each other. It appeared that they had underestimated Ikaruga’s strength, as both of the Kiri-nin were knocked off of their feet by the impact of the spear’s shaft.

The two kiri-nin were far from out of the fight, however, as they both managed to recover swiftly from Ikaruga’s opening blow. The taller of the two, who happened to be wielding a sword, signaled to his compatriot that he had the fight covered, allowing the other kiri-nin to engage one of Ikaruga’s fellow chunin. Before Ikaruga could intercept him, however, the sword-wielding kiri-nin was upon him, attacking Ikaruga with deftness of skill. No slouch with his own weapon, Ikaruga calmly parried the swordsman’s blows while counter-attacking to regain proper distance for a proper spear strike. Eventually, Ikaruga delivered a kick into his opponent’s chest to knock him back before thrusting the Rasen no Yari towards the kiri-nin’s heart. Just as the unsuspecting enemy raised his sword to intercept the blow, chakra erupted from the spiral spearhead and spun itself into a drill, bursting forward with immense force and coming out through the swordsman’s back.

The force of the spinning chakra burst sent the kiri-nin rolling backwards, though surprisingly he still drew breath. The injured shinobi clutched his chest in pain, the flesh around the entrance and exit wounds from the spearman’s attack having been twisted into a spiral itself. Despite having avoided a fatal blow to the heart, it seemed that the attack still managed to damage most of the organs surrounding his wound. Sensing Ikaruga’s approach, the kiri-nin attempted to pick up his sword for one last hurrah, only to see that the blade itself had been partially shattered and twisted into a spiral as well. “I had hoped to hit your heart so it wouldn’t hurt for too long, but you were better than I expected. In your next life, I’d suggest avoiding the Yayoi clan’s Spiral Driver.” Ikaruga remarked as he spun his spear around his hand.
“Fuck y---”
Thoom
The kiri-nin’s retort was cut short by a spear thrown through his skull. Sighing, Ikaruga pulled the spear from the corpse and rejoined his comrades once again.

---

---

Sutemasu had glanced briefly at her team, and noticed that they were handling themselves, though it was the question how well they were handling themselves. Before being able to intervene, she was already facing her opponent again. The man charged her with drawn kunai, swiping at her three times. Sutemasu dodged underneath the first one but for some reason allowed the second and third swipe to hit her -- there wasn't even a dodge attempt. The kunai hit her on unimportant places, opening up a hole in her pants, cutting her thigh, the other kunai grazing across her upper arm. Blood came from the wound but Sutemasu seemed unbothered, grabbing the man by his arm and skillfully executing a hold on the arm. She locked his arm so that he couldn't use it, and with one hard knock on his elbow from below, broke the arm in two. The man wailed with pain, releasing a hard and shrieking AAH! that could be heard throughout the compound and far outside. Sound seemed to carry far between the Kirigakure cliffs and open waters. Now that he was partially disabled, she pulled her free hand back and delivered three rapid punches on the mans solar plexus -- the core of his body, which was unprotected by muscle or bone. The man gasped for air then, unable to automatically breathe due to his nerves being hit, which made him focus very hard on, well.. not dying.

One of the shinobi that hadn't been engaged by Sutemasu's team, namely the one closest to her, reacted to the scream by attempting to rush her, forming seals while he approached. His footsteps gave away his position however and Sutemasu turned around, swinging the man she held by the broken arm and throwing him at the shinobi that came for her. The man tumbled into the other man, throwing the entire attack that was being planned into disarray before they ended up in a clump on the ground.

Sutemasu considered them defeated, not wishing to kill them without a reason, as they were merely doing their jobs just like she was. However that left the four other shinobi to deal with. She glanced at the team, who all seemed to have fallen back to their original location after exchanging blows with the enemy. It seemed the fight was going well enough. Could've been better she mused, but there was no time to really think too much about it. As the chunin with her didn't know about her self-created kekkei genkai, that was in truth more like a hiden, she decided it would be a good time to show them.

The Kirigakure nin were standing next to each other, forming a front against the Kumogakure nin. Clever, and textbook, but it wasn't going to help them in this case. Sutemasu jumped into the air and landed in front of the four shinobi, looking back over her shoulder towards the chunin under her command. “We can't win this, guys. We need to retreat. Go now, I'll buy you time!” .. well, that wasn't true at all. If anyone of the chunins were attentive enough they would likely notice the slight hint of a wink in Sutemasu's left eye, before she turned towards the Kirigakure shinobi. “”

“Just take me, but let them go!” Sutemasu bargained with the shinobi, before setting a step forwards with her hands raised. The Kirigakure shinobi didn't seem to catch on and let her get closer, before one stepped forwards. “I'd rather see you dead, Kumo scum!” The other then joined him and rushed towards Sutemasu, trying to circle her. Sutemasu merely grinned, flashing her teeth at the shinobi -- a sign that even Sutemasu, otherwise sweet and gentle, could have a bit of battle enthusiasm in her.

When the one facing her stepped forwards to stab her, she once again did not move to dodge it. His kunai penetrated her flak vest, reaching into her stomach. Strangely she did not flinch at all. Her hand reached for the shinobi's arm and pulled him closer, which only pushed the kunai in deeper. “You've messed up. Never attack someone like this if you don't know what they can do..” she whispered to him, and she watched him closely when his eyes became larger upon realizing that he had made a mistake.

Her hand let go of the arm and rapidly slapped together with the other hand, forming a tiger seal. She hunched over slightly, gathering chakra in her body, before yelling out what she was doing. “Sutemasu Sutairu: Chakurabāsuto!” All of the gathered chakra expelled from her body, producing a rather harsh and powerful shockwave that sent the shinobi flying. Two went to her front -- away from Reiji, Kota, Kasumi and Amehime -- while the other two were flung towards the four shinobi, since they had tried to encircle Sutemasu.

They'd be easy pickings for the shinobi. Now that the shinobi were, more or less, dealt with for now until the team of chunin neutralized them, Sutemasu pulled the kunai out of her stomach, where it'd been lodged rather deep. It was rather strange, after all, to leave it sitting there. Again she didn't flinch - nor did she squint her eyes in pain, nor did she squirm, nor did she give any signs of pain.

Sutemasu Sutairu. The definition of what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

---

---

---

Toraburu followed Hageshi closely, landing slightly behind him, to his left. “Su-su-su.. Could you be any more loud..” he uttered under his breath to those that dropped down behind him, even if they didn't produce a sound. He just liked to complain about people. He stood straight again, after having leaned forwards slightly to ease his fall onto the water.

He remained still for a moment, raising his noise in the air, before his ears twitched slightly. Something was souring through the sky.. hmm.. sounded like.. “What the f..” Just as Toraburu was about to warn the rest about a projectile with a piece of paper hanging behind it, judging from the sound, the kunai passed them and hit the cliff behind them. The explosion was large enough to send the cliff crashing into the water, producing a small wave of sorts. Toraburu maintained his balance while he bobbed up and down, adjusting himself to the front again where he heard footsteps approaching on the water. His ears kept twitching, adjusting to the sound constantly. “There's more coming, baka-sensei.” he warned, walking up closer to Hageshi.

When the figures appeared, Ikaruga seemed to be ready for battle, charging in headlong without any orders really. “MROW! BAKA! You're gonna get killed like that.. kami-sama, why do you mock me so? Making me work with these fools! MROW!” His hairs stood up on his neck as he got agitated, not only with his team, the mission, or Ikaruga's recklessness, no, he was prepared for battle. He picked his target ahead of time, seeing that Ikaruga was busy with two at the same time.

After the two got up from being smashed about by his spear, one of them drew a sword and went after Ikaruga. Toraburu's instincts were telling him to go for the other guy, just to make sure that he wouldn't be a pain for Ikaruga later on. “Prrrrrrr.. get ready, son of a bitch! Your mother is a whore! Your sister is a harlot, your father is a coward and your brother brings nothing but dishonor to your family! HERE I COME, BAKA!”

He ran towards the man that Ikaruga had left alone, forming handseals rapidly with great flexibility and agility, before leaning back slightly with his head. Anyone that had seen the attack on their sensei, would know what Toraburu was about to do. But, alas for the Kirigakure nin, he hadn't seen it, and thus he was met with a full frontal blast. “Suidan no Jutsu!” he yelled before a jet of water spewed from his mouth, hitting the man square in the face.

The blast wasn't strong enough to do anything other than force the man to throw his guard up, which blocked his vision. When the jet of water had stopped, Toraburu was suddenly gone from sight. “NANDA? Where!?” the man yelled, before he noticed a shadow being cast on the water below him. When he looked up, a dark figure appeared through the mist. “MREOW!” Toraburu let out as a slip of the tongue, before crashing his fist into the man. Or at least that was the intent, but the man had simply slid back and was grinning at the cat's failed attack. “I'm not that stupid, fucking neko idiot.” Toraburu looked up and stood there, somewhat confused but at the same time angered by the mans audacity. “I don't know about that.. AND I'M NOT A NEKO, SHUT YOUR MOUTH YOU IMBECILE.”

It became clear that the team Ari was a part of was only a portion of a whole operation, one that consisted of three teams that would be performing three tasks simultaneously. Something to do with Kirigakure and a battle of resources. Or at least that was what Ari got out of it. She didn't sweat the small stuff, surely the details would be given to her once they were required. If they were required. For now all she had to do was follow Minaru, whom she still was a bit taken aback by because of how similar in age he was to the chuunin of the team, and do whatever he said. Simple and to the point. He told them to cover him as he sabotage a ship that was going back to Kiri, leaving the three younger teens to dawdle around.

That is until the port along the refinery opened and a large shipment started to get escorted out. Naturally the team had the instinct to stay hidden, as even though they had to defend Minaru it would've been a bad start to fight a force twice their size in a fair fight. Sure, Ari could probably hold half of them herself for a bit but odds are still odds and they weren't in her favor. The trio followed the five Kiri shinobi until they were a decent distance from the refinery. But before Ari or Hanare could coordinate an actual attack, Kuroba decided to jump in front of the convoy and reveal himself. While Ari didn't say anything she let her jaw drop in a confused and amazed expression. Rather than taking the opportunity to take one of them out he just initiated a fight with them, and he did it without Ari's protection.

With an irritated sigh the pink-haired girl jumped into action behind Hanare. At least the chuunin were mostly dazed by Kuroba's genjutsu, allowing Hanare to begin attacking them. Ari, on the other hand, stood idly and simply watched how the enemies all moved and reacted to the flow of events. From getting out of the genjutsu to how they handled their rogue comrade. By the time Hanare had jumped behind Ari and the three remaining foes turned their attention to the two girls, Ari had already figured out exactly what she had to do. "Yeah," she confirmed with Hanare, raising her right hand and holding it near her face. Without using her other hand she began to crack her knuckles, just by stretching her fingers alone, before crouching down and putting her hand on the ground.

To completely interrupt the ranged duel Hanare was having with the other lava fellow, a large wall of steel erupted vertically. This not only blocked the view of both sides of each other but completely halted his lava pellets from even having a chance at hitting Hanare. As Ari stood back upright her skin tone began to change. Her fair complexion quickly turned dark grey. Even her hair and eyeballs changed to this dull color, becoming solid and durable like the steel she uses. Her Steel Release: Impervious Armor had been so well trained she was able to cover her entire body with it. And without waiting for any further ado, Ari made a quick dash forward and planted a hard kick into the steel wall she had erected.

Just on the other side were the two shinobi that were flanking forward in tight arcs, to go around the wall and attack directly. But Ari was closer to the wall and beat them to it. And the wall was her territory. The powerful impact of her flying kick sent it hurtling towards the lava-release asshole, and consequently the two shinobi who were right on the other side. The sheer surprise of the wall flying at them was enough of an advantage but the fact it wasn't flying slowly either meant those two wouldn't get the chance to test Ari or Hanare in close quarters combat. One of them was clipped in his left shoulder, which not only spun him around several times and completely shattered his collarbone and shoulder but also a few ribs and nearly sheared his arm off. He hit the ground conscious but he wasn't getting up. His buddy was less fortunate, taking the steel wall head-on. He didn't hit the ground breathing, let alone conscious.

The last one was far enough away to have plenty of time to avoid the surprise attack, but by the time he would've gotten in a position to return fire again he would find the somewhat-serious Ari was standing directly in front of Hanare by about five meters. If he was to try and shoot at them again she would easily erect another wall in time to block the attacks. Instead, however, Ari held out her right hand to her side and focused her chakra. The chakra manifested in pure steel, forming the shape of a single shuriken. "He's going to dodge this," Ari muttered, barely loud enough for Hanare to hear. Despite her throwing motion seeming to be in rather bad form and, frankly, quite a lazy attempt, the shuriken still flew at the same normal speed one would expect. And she aimed it directly for the last enemy's head. Of course, just as Ari had predicted, the other chunin wasn't completely stupid and didn't just take the hit. He wasn't in a position to be surprised by her, unlike his fallen comrades, and made no mistake. He ducked and dashed to the right, bringing up his blowgun to try and shoot at them one more time.

Perhaps he was baiting Ari into building another steel wall, so that their view of him could be obstructed and he could try a stealthier approach to defeating them. But this time Ari did something different. She reached out with her left hand and swatted the few lava pellets away. Of course the sheer heat of them singed her slightly, but unlike Hanare she had significant protection. A few pellets, no matter how hot they were, amounted to nothing against the defense of Ari Aria. The opposing shinobi continued running perpendicular to the two girls, trying to get an alternate angle of attack now that his range was proven to be useless. "Hit him while he's stunned," Ari commanded of Hanare, before crouching down and putting her hand on the ground again.

This time the steel wall was nowhere near the two girls. It formed directly in the Kiri shinobi's path and he slammed into it headfirst. It wasn't nearly enough to knock himself out as he wasn't going all that fast, but the blow to the head was enough to daze him briefly, knock him off his balance, and completely kill his momentum. It probably ruined his plan too, if he had one.

Kasumi glanced over at Kota when he declared that he would show her what he could do. Typical showoff... It was all she could do not to roll her eyes. In the back of her mind, though, she was impressed as he showed her. They had both grown quite a bit from the old Academy days, well before they were even genin. It seemed that Kota had subdued one of the other shinobi rather easily, standing proudly before her and the rest of the team. "I told you, I'm a he-" She gasped with concern as he was sent flying, though it seemed to have not wounded him, thankfully. If it had been any other situation, she probably would have burst out in laughter at him, but this was too serious. Instead, her lips twitched rapidly, obviously trying to not laugh. She would have to tease him about it later - once they were safe.

Kasumi kept playing, moving when she needed to, but she was slowing down. Not only that, she had let Kota's display distract her. She ended up with a kunai in her playing arm, having to switch hands. She could still play with her other arm, but it wasn't nearly as effective. She had little experience in flowing chakra through that arm - but she needed to learn, fast. She could sing if things came down to it, but she really preferred not to. That was when Sutemasu jumped in front of them. “We can't win this, guys. We need to retreat. Go now, I'll buy you time!”

Kasumi detected the wink, unsure if the others would or not. She stood her ground. She winced as Sutemasu was struck with the kunai, wondering what was going on. Why take a hit...? She left the thought behind as she saw the tiger seal by her sensei being formed. She focused her chakra into playing a few more notes of her chakra enhancing music, despite her growing exhaustion. Whatever ability her sensei was about to use would be, at the very least, a little better than it would have been without her. The resulting blast blew all four shinobi back fairly violently, sending two in front of the team of chunin.

Kasumi leapt back, despite the weakened state of the enemy. She was not a close range fighter. She glanced to her teammates, hand on her strings, playing a few more notes like she had for Sutemasu. Whatever they had or needed to finish these guys off, their chakra would be enhanced at the cost of her own. It was more than worth it. She had no need to pull out her only offensive jutsu at this point. It was too chakra intensive for something like this and would definitely be considered overboard at this point. There didn't seem to be a need to kill these shinobi.

---

As the battle raged on, ultimately it was only a matter of time before the teams were able to subdue or neutralize any threats. With the boats sunk, the production of metal was already crippled in this facility. Since team Sutemasu was freed up, they were able to move outside of the compound to support team Minaru and team Hageshi with ease, providing the necessary back up to quickly deal with the threats and thus, ending the fights quickly.

When the coast was clear, the teams met up in front of the compound. The heat of fire jutsu had cleared off some of the mist, allowing them to at least be able to see each others faces for the first time since entering the mist. The next step was to decide on how to take down the plant. It would be easy to place some explosive tags around, but that might not fully destroy the facility and ultimately make it easy to rebuild, merely providing an obstacle and not providing the Kumogakure nin with a long lasting solution. If we merely blow it up, we'll be back here next year to repeat this mission. The teams would stand around for a while, no longer than five minutes, discussing the whole ordeal in front of them.

Sutemasu spoke to the other jonin, and by extent to the chunin, proposing a new plan to deal with the threat. Of course, the mission statement provided they had to destroy the refinery, but what other solution was there. “Perhaps we can just let them keep the refinery, but make sure they don't steal minerals again? That way, we are dealing with the cause, not the symptom. I think that might be a better solu-” The flash of a blade, right in front of the eyes of the three jonin, interrupted whatever Sutemasu was trying to say. Without a moment to even react, the Kumogakure nin were all blasted away by a rather large explosion, which erupted from right under the feet of the three jonin. A loud, booming voice would then speak up when the kicked up water from the explosion settled down and the Kumogakure nin had gotten back on their feet. “I think that's a very bad solution, Kumogakure trash.” it said, the sound coming from a figure standing where the blast had erupted. The man was of average build, with flashy white hair, reminiscent of perhaps someone like Kakashi. Of course, the idea that they were somehow related was rather.. far fetched. His teeth were cut, sawed into triangles to give off the appearance of a shark of sorts.

Standing there like he was, he took a deep bow before the shinobi, and when he rose up to stand straight again, he raised his blade up to his shoulder. Shibuki.. The Kumogakure jonin would surely recognise the blade, and if the Chunin were smart enough, so would they. The man lifted the gigantic sword like it was nothing, indicating that he knew very well how to use the blade, and use it to great effect. Sutemasu blinked, before looking at both Minaru and Hageshi. “There's one of him, and there's a lot of us. Maybe we can-” A loud laugh interrupted her once more, coming from the man that was wielding the Shibuki sword. “You didn't bring a sensor? In the mist? Oh, Kami-sama, you Kumogakure nin are something else.” Sutemasu squinted her eyes, looking around carefully. There was more?

“Perhaps you should go home. Now you have the chance. But time is ticking and my friends aren't very patient. Tick, tack.. The only reason you're not dead yet, is because I convinced them that you were within your right to stop us from stealing your minerals. It's just a shame you didn't bring someone more strong. Nobody you have here can beat the swordsmen of the mist, let alone three of them. Oh.. hear that?”

The crashing sound of waves could be heard now, slowly fading into hearing distance, becoming louder quite quickly. From the mist a dark figure approached, and like the sound he produced, his visage became apparent quite quickly. It was a young boy, no older than 20, with similar sharpened teeth as the man that wielded the Shibuki. He was dragging a massive sword behind him through the water, seemingly ignoring the drag it created on his movement speed, simply powering through it. “I guess your time is up.” Did they really bring out the Shibuki, and the Kubikiribōchō?

The young boy swung the sword with remarkable ease, despite his rather lanky appearance. He opened his mouth slightly, showcasing his sharpened teeth. It was clear, very very clear, that they weren't here to play around. The sword swung in a wide arc, far enough to hit all the Kumogakure nin in one swipe if they didn't move out of the way in time.

As if that wasn't overkill enough, a shadow appeared in the water below the Kumogakure nin, swimming closer and closer to the surface before surfacing in the middle of the group. An older man, with a long white beard, erupted from the surface of the water with the Samehada in his hands. A wise and smart look played on his face, his lips curled down slightly and his forehead rid with wrinkles. It was almost as if he did his best to hide his true intentions and feelings.

But he couldn't hide the intense killing intent that emitted from him, so strong that even someone not versed in the art of detecting killing intent could feel it, that burning pressure on their body. It was most uneasy.

And true to the killing intent, when he surfaced, he dropped on one knee instantly and pushed himself off in a clockwise direction, extending the Samehada in the same motion to try and cut everyone that didn't move down.

Minaru had arrived just before the other two Jounin had arrived. Minaru had arrived as two more Kiri shinobi arrived, armed with Kunai, jumping at Ari behind her steel wall. He had grabbed the two by the collar and spun around, swfitly and forcefully throwing the two into the wall, completing his spin by grabbing kunai out of his pouch, tossing two from his right hand to his left, then grabbing another two dexterously with his fingers, tossing them all at the shinobi with such force that the blades hit the two in their shoulders, pinning them against the wall before their backs had hit said wall. Minaru turned to the two girls, then he wistled for his third member, gathering with the others.

Sutemasu suggested them not blowing up the plant, but simply just inciting they would make the kiri shinobi not steal their minerals anymore. Them not stealing metals from our country defeats the whole purpose of this refinery. It's this close to kumo territory because they are stealin- He too got interrupted by the shinobi from the Hidden Mist coming out from the fog. He was talking all that good shit, yet, Minaru recognized him from his time in Kiri.

He was Chobi Nafar, also known as The Detonator. He held the Shibuki, and had for the last ten years - The Exploding Sword. Chobi was known to be brutal and fearsome, as crazy as Seven Swordsmen went. Minaru's relaxed stance stiffled as he turned to his team."This guy.. He's bad news.." Minaru commented, gritting his teeth, his hand grabbing the handle of his katana, the a dim golden light manifested inside of the sheath, the Jounin sending his chakra into the weapon.

“Perhaps you should go home. Now you have the chance. But time is ticking and my friends aren't very patient. Tick, tack.. The only reason you're not dead yet, is because I convinced them that you were within your right to stop us from stealing your minerals. It's just a shame you didn't bring someone more strong. Nobody you have here can beat the swordsmen of the mist, let alone three of them. Oh.. hear that?”

His eyes darted across the field, on the left side, emerging from the mist was Haseo Tsurigi The Butcher Of The Blast Village. He was one year older than Minaru - he was a Chunnin when Minaru was posing as a Kiri Genin, earning his place in the swordsmen when he had been sent to eliminate one target in the Blast Village - a small place on the borders of the Land Of Waves. When the locals aided his target, he butchered over 50 people, everyone who lived in the village in a massacre that hadn't been seen since the Uchiha Massacre, 70 years ago.

And then there came the third guy, he was older, perplexed. He didn't look too intimidating - like the average older gentleman. Minaru couldn't tell his name at first glance, he was one of the few Swordsmen of the mist he didn't know at glance, but once he saw the The Samehada with it's teeth like features in his hands he realized it was Zitsgetsu Hozuki. Not a lot was known about him, and someone who could keep their personal details hidden in this world of shinobi was someone to be feared.

Minaru gritted his teeth. "Fuck.." And before he could come up with a plan, the Haseo darted towards them and swung the cleaver like sword, Minaru dudged under the large blade, and in the next second used his Iadoi technique to pull the sword, Haseo parrying his cut but it was futile as the lightning enhanced chakra coming from the golden blade cut through the top side of the weapon, cutting off the top half of the circle clean of, the shockwave form the blade clash sent Haseo skidding on the water. Leading to a reaction from the three swordsmen of the mist.

Minaru's blade crackled with it's golden light. "Legendary sword my ass." the young Jounin taunted, his voice was far from the relaxed one his students had heard before, his pupils were dialeted and his skin was paler than normal. He was focused - battle mode, fight or flight instinct. Adrenaline was pumping through his veins and now it was time to do or die. The three kiri swordsmen recognized him as the punk kid who had infiltrated their ranks almost a decade ago - the one who was one of the biggest reasons one of their Jounin Commanders had been taken by Kumo. Haseo jarringly laughed "You wanna dance?!" And lunged at him again, with the broken gigantic blade in hand, Minaru grunted and dashed off on the water, making Haseo chase him.



Once the refinery's soldiers had been dealt with, the three teams had gathered again, Sabo standing with his teammates and his sensei, while they came up with a new plan. Peering into his magnifying lense, the chunnin patted Hageshi on the shoulder - his sensei didn't really react. "Uh, guys.. Someone's coming." he said, while Sutemasu and Minaru were talking, before they were all cut off by the Swordsman.

His allies arrived, but Sabo wasn't wasting any time introductions. He was hiding behind Hageshi, as to conceal his movements as he placed down the seal for his Fractured Mirror technique, a bit of distance in front of the guy with the big sword with scrolls on it - the one who had been talking. The lanky guy attacked and the first guy followed after, Minaru vanished into the seal, appearing just as the Swordsman moved, the momentum from his jump into the portal stayed with him as he came out, seemingly making him jump out of the seal, the man swung the sword around backwards with the edge facing the blonde boy with the goggles - having caught the chunnin as he appeared behind him. Mid swing, Sabo jammed the kunai he held into the man's arm and his left hand tapped his right forearm just as the blade was about to connect with his face, disappearing in a ultraviolet light, appearing with a big flash behind his teammates.

"All right, he's wounde-" As Chobi pulled the kunai out and let out a angry cry.
".. Or just pissed off. The tactical approach here would be to run. Captain?" turning to Hageshi.

The panic hadn't sunk into him like it might his teammates, he was staying objective and tactical with it. But he also trusted his seniors, Captain Minaru had already seemingly disarmed one of the three and taken him out for a one on one battle weather that was smart or a matter of pride Sabo did not know, and if the other two captains were as powerful as the swordsman among them, they could have a chance. While he was talking he was forming the required hand-seals to the recreate the Flashpoint seal on his arm, he figured he would need it.

---

With the squads having managed to take care of the hostiles defending the refinery, they were allowed a bit of a breather, or at the very least a huddle to determine the next course of action. Ikaruga let out a sigh of relief at the fact that, for the most part, everybody hadn’t gotten roughed up too bad. That is, except for Sutemasu-sensei, who looked to have been stabbed while her team was inside of the refinery. Though, oddly enough, she didn’t seem terribly concerned about her wound. At the very least, the mist had begun to clear a bit. Might’ve been more useful when everyone was in the heat of battle, but they would take what they could get, right? Despite not having encountered any major setbacks so far, Ikaruga had a feeling that they weren’t quite out of the woods yet. After all, Kirigakure was going through so much trouble stealing minerals from Kumogakure, so surely they planned to have a greater defense than this planned out?

Keeping this thought in the back of his mind, Ikaruga listened intently as Sutemasu proposed a plan, one that was less explodey than that prescribed in the original mission. While Ikaruga agreed with the sentiment behind it, he wasn’t sure how much the Raikage would approve. Ikaruga hadn’t met Kumogakure’s leader terribly often, but he’d gotten the impression that she was very…. intense to say the least. A trait that appeared to be passed on in some way to Hageshi. In any case, Minaru brought up the one wrinkle in the plan, which Ikaruga had also been thinking about. Why the hell would they hold a refinery off enemy shores without access to materials?

Before any further deliberation could be had, the relative silence of the area was pierced by the roar of explosions, followed by the voice of the man from which they came. As a bit of an anateur shinobi historian, the visage of the weapon the man held and the relation of the facility to Kirigakure let Ikaruga put two-and-two together rather quickly. The Mist’s Seven Swordsmen. Or, at least one of them as far as Ikaruga was able to tell. Of course, the spear-wielding Chunin would quickly be proven wrong by the appearance of yet another figure wielding a large blade with ease. The individual looked to be around the age of all the Chunin present and, by extension, the young Jounin Minaru. It didn’t take long for the Kubikiribocho’s wielder to zip into range to mount an assault on the group of Chunin. Just as Ikaruga prepared to dodge the blow, Kumo’s own master swordsman, Minaru Gazo, the Lionheart, intercepted the attack, driving him off for a pitched one-on-one duel. ”I’d heard he was powerful, but I didn’t realize he was that strong.” Ikaruga thought, watching the broken piece of the cleaver blade sail through the air before landing in the water.

Of course, the teams wouldn’t be so lucky as to get a breather after that, as an old man emerged from the water between them. “Shit!” Ikaruga growled, stepping into the blow as the man swung the shark-skinned sword. Holding his spear vertically to block the strike, Ikaruga hoped to at least reduce the speed of the man’s swing enough for everyone else to dodge. However, due to a combination of not having too much time to think it through, along with an underestimation of the opponent’s strength, Ikaruga was sent flying, sent skipping along the water like a rock. The spearman quickly rolled to his feet and noticed pain shooting through his right arm, which now had some puncture wounds along it. Looking from his blood-soaked sleeve to the Samehada’s wielder, he saw that the blade’s skin had extended out into spikes, presumably at the moment it had come into contact with Ikaruga’s guard. “You guys probably don’t need me to tell you this, but avoid touching that thing at all costs!” Ikaruga called out to his fellow Chunin as he stumbled back up onto his feet. He was sure that he wasn’t going to get too much time to explain the intricacies of the peculiar blade, so that advice would have to suffice. “Just our luck for a first mission, huh?” Ikaruga muttered, taking a stance once again and waiting for an opening. Patience was a virtue here. These were members of Kirigakure’s elite, so one false move would get them killed. Ikaruga himself had only gotten lucky that the swing wasn’t too fast for him to react to.
A shark toying with its prey.

---

---

For the most part, Midori had stayed in the back and avoided any major confrontations. As a medical-nin, she didn't belong on the front line, and without worry, she watched her team take out the enemy shinobi they came across. It wasn't until they came to the front of the compound that tension seemed to rise following an attack, and the appearance of what she could only assume was one of the Seven Mist's Swordsmen. However, if one wasn't enough to worry about, the arrival of a second had forced an exasperated groan out of the kunoichi. "Oh, come on!" Beside her, Raiden had sunk into an alert crouch and hissed at the swordsman. Eyes narrowed and ears pinned back, his black fur bristled in alarm as he easily sensed the killer intent from the two kiri-nin.

Somersaulting back to avoid the first attack, the arrival of the third swordsman had easily thrown Midori off guard, just barely jumping out of the way as he swung the massive, spiked sword. As she landed a few feet back, her heart skipped a beat as she watched Ikaruga get flicked away by the assault. Holy shit! Her wide, golden eyes stared in concern and horror, fearful that she had just seen her own teammate get taken out on their first mission. Fortunately, she watched Ikaruga roll to his feet as blood dripped from his arm and into the water below them. “You guys probably don’t need me to tell you this, but avoid touching that thing at all costs!”

Shifting her gaze from Ikaruga to the Samehada wielder, Midori felt her throat run dry. So far that was two amongst the group who were injured in some way, one of which was a jonin leader. If she were in any other situation Midori wouldn't have hesitated to tend to them, but surrounded by elite enemy shinobi, the medical-nin knew stopping to heal any of her team would just put them and herself in a compromising position. Instead, Midori swallowed her fear and took out a kunai before widening her own stance. If she couldn't support her team with her medical skills, she'd do her best to support them with her own strength and offensive tactics.

It was unwise to move without a strategy, but she didn't think it'd be all that easy to run away like Saborama had suggested. Not to mention none of her team, besides Ikaruga, were mid to long range fighters. Without shifting her gaze from the bearded shinobi, Midori called out to Hageshi in search for some guidance, "Sensei, what do we do?" It was either fight or flight, and with Captain Minaru already intercepting the enemy, Midori could already assume that the latter decision was no longer a choice.

---

---

Reiji was relieved to be out in the open once again, he hated fighting in close quarters. He had managed his own, having to rely on his taijutsu instead of ninjutsu, which was difficult he admitted. He told himself he would practice his taijutsu diligently after this mission, it needed some work. The newly formed groups took out the threats without much trouble it seemed like, whoever designed the teams had put a lot of thought it. It seemed their synergy was higher than most. Once everything was taken care of, they huddled up, deciding what to do about the compound. Reiji actually sided with Minaru on the subject, they shouldn't leave the compound standing. Before they could reach a verdict however, they were cut off by a new arrival.

It seemed ninja of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist didn't take kindly to their destruction of the compound. Not one, not two, but three of them arrived to confront the Kumo ninja. Shit. Reiji took notice of the first Swordsman's weapon, Shibuki, remembering it from his studies. He immediately jumped back, predicting the strike, why else would he position himself so close to them? In the air he performed a backlfip, using the motion to cover the hand seals he was forming. Rei was ready to release his Enton: Dark Cloud technique when Minaru stepped in and distracted Haseo in a one on one duel. Reiji used this opportunity to release his technique of Chobi. A thick cloud of dark smoke shot from his lips, covering a large area, with Chobi in the middle of said cloud. The distraction wouldn't last long, but it would be enough to give everyone some time to gather themselves. As Reiji retreated to the others, Chobi exited the cloud of smoke at a full sprint. Realizing he wasn't going to be fast enough, Rei started forming hand seals again. As Chobi swung a horizontal chop toward him, Reiji used Enton: Soft Cloud in an attempt to slow the strike so he could dodge. Unfortunately, he forgot Shibuki's ability, and was blasted by an explosion. The Soft Pillow technique is what saved him, cushioning the close ranged explosion so that it only made Reiji go flying away instead of burning the fuck out of him.

Reiji staggered to his feet and grit his teeth, he had underestimated the power of that damned sword. A mistake he wouldn't make again. He surveyed the battle field. They weren't making much progress, there were already minor injuries and the Swordsmen just got started. The only one doing any real damage was Minaru, who managed to break Kubikiribōchō, damn. If Chobi were to make a move at him again, he would be prepared to start pumping out the stronger of his jutsu. Maybe if he could catch more than one of them in it, they would finish them quickly after that. Reiji waited patiently, a strategy needed to be formed.

"Guys, we need a plan," he said, stating the obvious. These guys were powerful, not to be fucked with. They were toying with the Kumo-nin. Reiji wasn't too worried, they had strength in numbers, and three jounin themselves.

Kasumi was just now catching her breath from the fight earlier as the jounin talked, but an explosion from underneath the jounin sent all of the shinobi reeling back. Thankfully, it didn't seem anyone was immediately hurt...but that was going to change. Very soon. The Swordsmen appeared, though they didn't talk long before they attacked. Kasumi recognized the swords - to a degree - but all she knew was that she had to move. She felt as though the blade had been inches away from taking her life despite the fact that she was fairly fast. It just showed the strength and speed of the Swordsmen - and the fact that they were not to be trifled with. She wondered if the plant was important to them somehow, or if they were just here because they had seen the opportunity to do some killing.

A few of the other chunin and Minaru were able to do some damage to the swordsmen, both with a kunai and a spear, and even Minaru had destroyed one of the men's swords - part of it, anyway. It was extremely impressive, but Kasumi was no front line fighter to do such things. She found herself cowering behind Kota, hands on his back as she tried to think of how they were all going to survive this. Even all of them were no match for the Swordsmen. They needed to get out of here, didn't they? Her teammate seemed confident enough, she only wished she could share such confidence. Despite the fact that she was a chunin, she had never encountered anyone like this. Their killing intent hung thick in the air, as thick as the mist itself. She doubted her chakra music would be of any use here. She couldn't think of any way she could manipulate her chakra easily or accurately enough with such power all around her that she wouldn't affect the swordsmen with her songs, too. So she was stuck, cowering behind a childhood friend. If she had the time, she would have hated how weak she looked, but there was no such time.

Instead, she would await direction from the jounin and assist her teammates - however she could. She was not going to give up in the face of fear. If she had been planning to, she might as well have not moved from the sword strikes and ended it then. She just hoped she could be of some use. She knew that now was likely the time that she would end up using her offensive jutsu, but she would not do so unless directed to or when she knew the time was right. The animated daggers were fast and would be almost invisible to the naked eye in this mist - and any of the chunin or jounin would be able to manipulate them if they paid enough attention. She would keep the weapons close, though, so that the Swordsmen did not get any ideas about using her own jutsu against her...not that they needed to do such a thing. "Sensei..." She said, glancing to Sutemasu. She knew the question had already been asked or stated a few times, but it bore repeating due to the perilous situation. "What's the plan...?

As the situation around the refinery died down, mainly due to large successes by the Kumo shinobi raiding the place, Ari relaxed out of her combat mode and began to laze around as soon as the teams gathered. She took a seat on the ground, sitting while the rest of the party remained standing to discuss what to do about the refinery they had just taken back. Ari couldn't care less what they came up with. If they were to destroy it then so be it. If they were to leave it then so be it. If anything she'd prefer the easiest option that required the least work on her end. But a unanimous vote was never reached before the three jounin were interrupted.

A Swordsman of the Mist. And he brought company. More Swordsmen. Ari remained seated as the first one rambled on about his comrades being impatient or something. She didn't really pay attention to exactly what he was saying so much as she was simply watching him to make sure he couldn't get off any surprise attacks. But soon a wave rolled into the compound, practically forcing Ari to get off her ass to avoid being soaked. But what brought the wave was worse news than the water itself. It was one of the other assholes, and he decided to greet everyone with an attack. Ari's position among the party put her at the very end of his swing, meaning everyone else dodged up until the point his blade reached her. But rather than dodge she decided to block it, raising her arm and flexing it to brace for impact. When her skin turned dark grey even the Kubikiribocho wasn't able to cut through it, instead halting with a resounding clang. But he quickly diverted his attention as Minaru attacked him personally, eventually distracting him and taking him aside to fight him alone.

A bold move, but Minaru didn't provide any further assistance with the first one with the exploding hammer sword nor the third one that arrived as he drove off the second. And this one had Samehada. The sharkskin blade was unmistakable. While Ari didn't pay a ton of attention to history there are some things that always stick out and you'd have to be stupid to not remember them. Things like previous Raikages, the Fourth Shinobi World War, the Akatsuki, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist... Her usual instinct to block attacks had to be temporarily overridden for this encounter. The older-looking fellow didn't seem like the toughest of foes but his blade alone was something Ari didn't want to touch. It would surely drain her chakra, leaving wherever her point of contact with it exposed and accordingly injured. Her Impervious Armor technique was useless against this blade, and for this reason The Wall decided to move out of the way.

Ari jumped backwards from the attack, dodging it with relative ease. But her calm and inexpressive demeanor didn't match up with how she was beginning to feel. A slight sense of panic and confusion lingered in her mind. She didn't know if she was equipped to handle a threat like this. If anyone was equipped to handle this. Mathematically they had a major advantage but these enemies were on a different level than they are. Some of the others already were vocalizing their confusion and fear. Ari could understand how they were feeling because she sure felt the same way. But on the other hand she didn't think that she should sit around and wait for a command. It wasn't her life on the line but instead all of theirs. Against enemies far superior. Rather than sit and wait as she normally would she decided to take action.

The small, pink-haired girl locked on to the old man, Zitsgetsu Hozuki. Her bored expression didn't change but she shifted position, aiming her left shoulder towards him as she held both her hands out to her side as if she was wielding an invisible weapon. Liquid steel began to form in her hands, stretching out to meet and become one single object. It took all of a full second to form the solid steel battle-axe. The thing was practically as big as Ari, and surely weighed more than she did without her Impervious Armor, but she wielded it with seemingly no care in the world. She didn't wield it for long though, as she lifted it over her head and then hurled the heavy weapon at the Swordsman. It flew significantly slower than a shuriken would but the point was to force him to move. Nobody in their right mind would try to block something like that. Even if they caught the blunt end it would break bones and even most normal swords. Samehada was a strong blade but it was still only a blade, one that could feel no less. This man wouldn't block it but he'd see it as a real threat and dodge it. Hopefully. That was all Ari figured she could do to aid the situation right now: force the man to keep moving so as to prevent him from attacking. Before the first axe even made it to him she began to create a second one, already mentally prepared to continue a slow but steady barrage of heavy weapons to force the Hozuki to either stay back or move closer.