Kazuki was looking around the room at his new teammates, waiting to see how the others would respond. His attention shifted towards Tsukiko as she started speaking. "Does she really think I will follow her blindly like some sheep? She does have more experience and she was a jounin commander for a reason, but still I will speak up if she makes dumb decisions." He decided for himself after Tsukiko's comment about leaving the planning to her. "Ofcourse Ryuunosuke is strong, he wouldn't have become the leader of the confederation if he wasn't. That doesn't change the fact that he needs to die, if we ever want to take down the confederation." Kazuki thought to himself as he listened to Tsukiko's speech about Ryuunosuke. He knew that he wasn't even close to that man's level yet, but still he believed they would end Ryuunosuke's reign.

"So she knows Aoi Fuegushi, also known as Hamajō's Blue Voice. Depending on her knowledge of Aoi's ability's, we might be able to make a plan to take her down. It would be a big blow to the confederation if Aoi were to die that day." Kazuki figured after listening to Tsukiko's little story about Aoi, who she seemed to know personally. He was glad about her plan of exploring Amegakure before the big day, something that they really need to do before they would be able to come up with a good plan. He just didn't like the undercurrent of threat she put in her words. He was expecting her to do something to intimidate them as Tsukiko was walking towards the table, but he was still slightly shocked as she slammed her knive into the table. Kazuki was slightly hesitant and was about to speak up as Rin broke the silence first.

Kazuki was shocked by Rin's outburst, he had pegged her as a somewhat meek and maybe timid girl, but this changed his opinion about her. He couldn't agree more with her at this moment, they did remember the kage's and how it was before the confederation took over. In her rant Rin made a good point, they were all rebels now. Regardless of what they did before joining the Jiyuna no Guntai, they were all here fighting for the same reasons. "So she is all round kunoichi, but probably the close range fighter of our group. Although that would mostly depends on which doton and fuuton jutsu she knows and what her hiden can do." He thought as he analyzed Rin's explanation about her ability's. "So she came from Amegakure originally, which will be very usefull once we decided to go there. But it could also pose a extra threat since she might be recognized, so she would either need to stay behind or go in disguised." Kazuki reasoned as Rin picked up the knive and started channeling her chakra in to it, before dropping it where it almost completely imbeded itself into the ground.

Kazuki ignored most of Takashi's rambling about why Ryuunosuke was called a drake or dragon, or whatever. The man was strong and needed to be taken down, that's all that he cared about. He smiled slightly as Takashi spoke up about not following Tsukiko's orders blindly, he was glad that there was another one in her team who favored logic. "So he is a raiton ninjutsu and fuinjutsu specialist, making him probably a mid to long range specialist. Which would make it two mid to long range fighters and one close ranged, two if Tsukiko is also a close ranged fighter. It would make a pretty good group setup. He reasoned after listening to Takashi's explanation. Kazuki was also really interested in Takashi's ability in fuinjutsu, it would be interesting to see what it could do in the medical field. He chuckled softly as Takashi made a last jab towards Tsukiko, he had gained some more respect for both his teammates.

"Umene-taichou, don't get me wrong. I respect your experience and ability in leading teams, but I won't just blindly follow you. I have lived my life using my intelligence and analytical ability in order to survive, so I won't stop using that. Kazuki explained as he looked directly into Tsukiko's eyes, trying his hardest to not show that he was intimidate by her. "As for my ability's. I use a mixture of doton ninjutsu and the use of my weapons at medium to long range. Normally all my weapons are coated with either a strong paralytic poison or a strong neurotoxin." He calmly explained as he stood up and drew one of his kunai. Without showing a hint of pain, Kazuki made a cut on the palm of his hand, before making sure everyone in the room could see it. "With the use of my kekkei genkai, I can manipulate certain quality's of blood." He explained as he channeled chakra to his palm and increases the amount of platelets in his blood, which would close his wound in a manner of seconds, leaving a small closed over wound on his palm. "Furthermore with the use of my shôsen no jutsu (mystical palm technique), I can deal with most wounds" He continued as he channeled chakra into his other hand as he brought it towards his wounded hand. After a few moments he pulled his hand away, showing a recently healed hand with no visual marks on it from the cut that was there momenst ago. Being happy after his little show of ability, he sat back down in his chair, curiously awaiting Tsukiko's respond.

The Jiyutai’s commander watched as Tsukiko delivered her history lesson, illuminating a few parts that she hadn’t quite been made aware of in the past eleven years. Ultimately, all it did was cement what she already knew. Nonetheless, it would be useful information to keep in mind for the younger shinobi here, who weren’t quite aware of some of these facts, likely because they would’ve been small children at the time of the Hamajo Confederation’s rapid rise to power. And despite being in her late teens at the time, Senhime was a bit more sheltered than most due to the Osuushi clan’s decision to stay out of the goings-on of Kirigakure at large.

Once the older woman had finished up her explanation, she had actually begun to work her way towards the table. Without even a hint of hesitation, Tsukiko jammed her large knife into the wooden surface, most likely as somewhat of a power play. That….. Was a good table. Senhime cocked her head to the side for a moment as Tsukiko sat atop the table and began to address the actual details of the team itself. While her gruff tone was to be expected, the chunins’ responses proved to be especially interesting. While many in the room may have wanted to dismiss Rin as being some sort of meek, plain young girl, the Takahashi clan member was making it clear that a fire burned in her heart too. That she was, in fact, very serious about her part in the revolution. Though, it remained to be seen whether or not Tsukiko would appreciate her tone, Senhime herself was quite pleased at the level of fearlessness she displayed in giving the older Jounin lip. Hell, she even touched the woman’s knife.

Takashi’s round of applause sort of set the tone for what his objective was from that point on. While Senhime understood the fact that he wanted to clarify his grievances, it was ultimately an explanation that she had already taken into account herself. However, none of it mattered. That was not to say that the commander herself wouldn’t take the boy’s feelings into account, much as he might’ve tried to play it off as him not caring too much. But his long-winded explanation made it clear he cared just enough. Through the draconic young man’s explanation of what his abilities were and the words that followed, it had become abundantly clear that Takashi was making a point of messing with Tsukiko. While it didn’t seem like either he or Rin had been too enthusiastic about Tsukiko’s attitude towards them, Takashi was a fair bit more outwardly defiant. While Rin had made it clear that she wasn’t to be cowed, she had kept her level of snark to a minimum.

The commander clapped, both as a small round of applause and a way to bring attention back to the front of the room for a moment. ”Well, it looks like you’ve got quite a spirited group on your hands, huh, Umene-san~?” she chimed, a soft chuckle punctuating her comment. The commander strolled over to the table and observed the gash left in the table by Tsukiko’s knife, nodding before turning to look at everyone else. ”Oh~. There’s not much else to go over on my part for today, so I suppose this meeting is over. You’re all dismissed.” she stated, turning to Tsukiko. While her kind expression hadn’t changed, the older woman might have felt a degree of pressure as the horned woman cocked her head and closed her eyes.
”U-me-ne-san~. If you wouldn’t mind, could you stay behind and do something about this gash you put in the table? While I understand that we all have our methods of commanding a room, I’d hate for a perfectly good piece of furniture to suffer for it. Besides, I’d say this would be as good a time as any for your squad to take a little break in the cafeteria~.” she requested, her voice sweet despite the contrasting feeling that it wasn’t so much a request as much as an order. While the Commander appeared to be a bit of a pushover, it was clear that she had a bit of an edge, if mostly hidden behind an otherwise soft exterior.

It had been a productive meeting, though Senhime was going to have to check in with the Statue Team to see how their planning was going. In her haste, Akumako had taken her team out of sight, so Senhime was left to assume they were getting on well during the time they were out of sight. A few seconds before she had addressed Tsukiko, Senhime had taken note that one of the surveillance strings she’d placed in the cafeteria had been disturbed, no doubt due to something Kuko had done. ”I hope Kuko-chan isn’t giving those two too much of a hard time.

These kids are stupid, she thought to herself as they spoke in turn, one-by-one. They all had something smart to say, and all seemed to think that their opinions and thoughts mattered. A complete lack of cohesion among the three teenagers. They all considered themselves to be more important than the others, and they all had the delusion that whatever experience they had was anywhere close to good enough. Their attitudes annoyed Tsukiko greatly, so much so that she mostly tuned out their drawling and only paid attention to the relevant information. Their skills, abilities, strengths. The only things she asked for. But, of course, the kids were stupid enough to try and get a read on Tsukiko. "You little shits think you know why I'm here, eh?" she spoke up, the look of irritation on her face and the cynical tone of her voice perfectly expressing the sharpness of her words.

Before she could go on further, where she would've surely worked herself up enough to try and strike terror into their hearts, Senhime clapped her hands a few times and spoke up. They were saved by the bell, so to speak. It would only be a slight reprieve from the hell that they were going to experience for the next two weeks. "There are no breaks," Tsukiko responded to the commander, her irritated tone still in place. Then she directed her gaze to the kids. "After your meals you will immediately report to the first training room. Nobody is going to waste time." With this she kept an intimidating gaze on the three until they finally left, before turning her attention back to the Commander. "Listen," she began, scooting off the table and picking her knife up out of the floor. "This whole operation has been a mess since long before I joined. There needs to be more discipline, more devotion. I don't give a damn about any little sob stories your recruits have because they won't help a damn thing. You can only get so far on unfocused emotion. At a certain point you will have to put your foot down. You'll have to get your hands bloody."

Tsukiko looked back to the gash in the table and pondered briefly before looking back to Senhime. "If they mouth off like that again, I will beat them. I will train them to become real soldiers. Whatever training they've gotten up to this point clearly hasn't paid off. If they aren't completely useless then they'll become assets by the time I'm done. That, or they'll die. Now, about this fucking table..." The older woman leaned over the table, holding the knife in her hand above the gash with the tip pointed down. "Do you want a Jiyutai emblem or do you dare to let me get creative?" Senhime had obviously given Tsukiko this command as a power play, to help assert her own authority, and to that end it bothered Tsukiko greatly. Still, if Tsukiko were to dissent before Senhime then that action would reverberate throughout the Jiyutai. A ripple effect that wouldn't be worth starting if she wanted this organization to get anything done. She'd bite the bullet and make the table look nicer, but without any sort of knowledge of how to fix tables that have been stabbed, the conclusion she came to was to make a carving out of the existing gash. At any rate, whether Senhime would take the question seriously or not, Tsukiko was certainly not going to repair the table properly. It would take time better served to turning the self-important rebellious teenagers into killing machines.

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Akumako shook her head in disbelief as Roga continued to question her authority. What was so hard to understand? She was the jonin, he was the little chunin baby. If she wanted his input, she'd ask for it. But for now, she was tired of his antics. So she decided to kill his little tirade with a few simple words. “Baka-chan, did you hear which team Senhime was on? No? Me neither. That's because she'll probably be around us at all times. Regardless of what you think, ultimately I have the right to override your 'tactics'. And besides... Senhime is a genius because she's related to me! So obviously she'll help us out. For now, let's go do something else. I want to go read my manga in my room..”

While Akumako seemed irresponsible at times, she did have a 'plan' of sorts in her head. And that plan related mostly to doing whatever was right in the moment. Fact of the matter was that it was impossible to assess the situation in Amegakure on the day of Hamajo day. They didn't have intelligence on the way the security perimeters would be set up, or how they'd even get into Amegakure. Assessing a plan, while 'fun' for Roga, seemed to be ultimately useless since his plan could be smashed to pieces by something as simple as a guard being in a place where they didn't expect it. It seemed better to rely on Senhime and her superior skills as a tactician, and coming up with a plan on the move.

After all, they were merely destroying a statue. It wasn't like they were planning to kill the Dragon himself. How hard could this be?

With that said and done, Akumako, the little devil child, saluted her two new companions in a military like fashion. “Thank you for your cooperation. I am sure you'll make fine soldiers for the Jiyutai. Akumako out! Oh, and if you guys want more sweets, I have a bag full in my room. I'm gonna read my manga now.” She turned on her heels as if she were a military commander - which she was in a sense, though it was hard to see her as such due to how she acted - and marched away past the other shinobi, who didn't pay her any mind. Then, she disappeared into the hallways towards her own room. Finally, some time to finish this chapter..

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Yamato Minamoru was wearing his Hamajo-uniform, specially made for him by request of the Dragon himself, due to Yamato's aspirations as a rising figure in the military of the Hamajo confederation. It was rather.. expansive. There were many bits and pieces of the uniform that bothered Yamato, since it was too flashy and hard to work in. But, it had to be said that the uniform made him look more impressive indeed and as he walked past certain shinobi, they would look at him and bow for him. As to be expected of a commander-general of the Hamajo forces, but never the less a welcome change from the desk personnel that Yamato was frequently surrounded by. They never looked up, only typing away on their typewriters.

For the upcoming Hamajo day he was tasked with organizing the defenses of the area around the statue that would be revealed. It was part of the total defense of Amegakure, which was a large scale operation by any rate and required shinobi from divisions in Konohagakure and Kumogakure to temporarily transfer to Amegakure. For what it was worth, it seemed useless. Nobody would dare to attack Amegakure on such a day. Never the less, an order was an order.

So Yamato walked down the street towards the statue. He looked left and right, and then approached a nearby jonin. “You there. First of all, your uniform is wrong. Take out those earrings at once.” The jonin seemed surprised by Yamato's sudden appearance and his demand, but quickly complied. Yamato was strict, one of the strictest commanders around, which had earned him somewhat of a reputation. But he didn't get to be commander-general by merely looking tough. He had the merit to back it up which could be testified by anyone in the service of the shinobi regiment he was in charge of.

His own regiment, which was somewhat of a special task force, was created by order of the Dragon, President Hamajo, in order to have a counterpart to the 11th corps, which were barely trusted. A security measure against the inevitable clash that the 11th would have with the president. As a result of that, the toughest shinobi were under Yamato's command, but even they were at times incapable of dealing with Yamato's harsh methods and punishments.

Though that seemed unimportant at the time. “We need to organize the security of this sector. I want guards posted at all the street corners, with messaging headsets active. You're the jonin in charge of this area, right? Asame Kitsu, according to what I was told. So, you'll take care of that for me. If you have any trouble organizing the equipment, just drop my name. They'll.. comply. If they know what's good for them.” The young jonin nodded and quickly called over some of the nearby chunin and genin that were all busy doing their own jobs.

“Listen up, commander Minamoro wants us to..”

Yamato wandered off again to arrange some other things. As he walked past some of the shinobi, they bowed for him again, and he nodded in return. It was good to be respected, though in Konohagakure, the stain of his father still lived on and it was hard for him to go there without feeling some sort of resentment against himself. Perhaps that was why he had moved to one of the top notch appartments in Amegakure. Speaking of which.. that's where he'd return to.

"I-I..ehh..", Seichirō blinked twice, stammering as little Akumako shot down his suggestion in a manner very uncharacteristic of her. This time though, she didn't pull off a letter from her clothing. The teenage Roga was under a different banner now, but seemingly his reputation hadn't improved one bit. He was still a fish in a shark pond. His confidence also took a pretty big hit. He wanted to elaborate on his draft and make everyone see where he was coming from, but ultimately decided to keep those words to himself, hanging his head in defeat. He exhaled for a moment before reverting his sight back to the horned girl. "Sounds fair.", he uttered, a faint smile creeping up his mouth, although not one that communicated a sense of joy or satisfaction. Bitter defeat, maybe.

Even though a Roga, he could find a silver lining in the entire affair. While he wouldn't admit it, he had no idea Senhime would be so closely involved with the squad. That was good news. Maybe her speeches were a load of PR bullshit, but Seichirō knew that she did care. Some of the points she brought perfectly mirrored some of his own sentiments regarding his clan, which in turn gave him an ability, in lack of a better word, that allowed him to sift through the half-truths and the political chicanery, negative properties that he was a hundred percent positive Senhime didn't possess.

Right as Akumako left, Seichirō shot a glance at Maema who had remained stoic throughout. He expected to get his support but apparently he'd seen something on brash Kuko that instilled faith in him. Tucking his hands on his pants front pockets, Seichirō spoke; "Nisshoku, I'm curious, what did you notice in regards to little miss sunshine that I missed? You were willing to put your life in her hands after witnessing all her shenanigans. I can't tell if you took a leap of faith or if you're lacking in the common sense department." His last statement was maybe a bit rude, but not supposed to be intentionally hurtful. It was just Seichirō speaking his mind.

As he waited for Maema's reponse, Seichiro's gaze fixed on Akumako as she vanished into the crowd of Jiyutai rebels.

As expected, Tsukiko met her suggestion with a certain level of aggression. While the commander herself wasn’t particularly intimidated by the display, it certainly wasn’t doing her any favors in the likeability department. To be fair, though, there was wisdom in Tsukiko’s words.Crossing her arms under her chest, Senhime let out a sigh. ”I’ll admit that my leadership still leaves a lot to be desired. Bringing together the disparate groups of the Jiyutai was a task in and of itself, if I’m being honest. But you’ll have to forgive me if I don’t lord over this army with an iron fist like Hamajo does his own.” she remarked. Sometimes she missed not having any responsibility other than running missions by herself. While she was confident that she was doing at leat a half-decent job so far, she knew that going from what was once deemed to be a one-woman army to the head of an entire organization was a rather large shift in how she operated.

”I placed them in your care because I know that you have something I don’t. I’ll trust that your methods will adequately prepare them for the task ahead, but be aware that I am expecting you to produce actual results. You might not care too much, but these are still children. Call it sentimentality, but I’m still on the fence as to whether or not smacking them around is the best way to achieve any progress.” Senhime stated, now heading towards the exit of the room. Perhaps she would’ve had a different outlook on the matter if she didn’t have Akumako around. In a way, the presence of her little sister might have kept her from becoming like Tsukiko. Though, those struck down by the Million Threads might not have seen the two very differently.

Before leaving, the commander looked over her shoulder, pondering the options that Tsukiko had posed to her in regards to the table. ”Hm~. The Unfettered’s insignia would fit rather well, wouldn’t it?” she chimed, answering the woman’s question before dipping out of sight to go find Akumako, only to be informed during her walk that the younger Osuushi sister had blown up a table. ”Ara ara~. We really can’t have anything nice around here, can we?”

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Two weeks had passed like a blur as the preparations for the assault on the Hamajo Monument were made. And now was the moment of truth. The center of the village was filled with the citizens gathered in front of the monument, awaiting the speech that was to be given by the Blue Voice, and the following celebratory proceedings. In a few moments, the Jiyuna no Guntai’s strike teams would spring their attack, with the Statue Occupation team having hopefully devised a plan to clear out any civilians within range of the statue. It would be an even greater uphill battle, if not an entirely impossible one, to gain the support of the commonfolk if they screwed up and ended up harming civilians in this display of the Jiyutai’s might.

Gazing upon the crowd from a distance was the Commander of the Jiyuna no Guntai herself, Senhime of the Million Threads. Perched atop a building, the horned woman rested a hand on her hip while the other gripped her trusty nodachi, the blade still tucked neatly into its sheath. Though, if their limited intelligence were to believe, it would not be long before Shurakumo would need to see the light of day. Turning to look at those accompanying her on the building , Senhime smiled at the members of the Statue Occupation team. ”Well, now’s the moment you’ve all prepared for. The other team should be moving now, so I think it’s about time that you all make your grand entrance.” she chimed, winking at Akumako, Seichiro and Maema, who were all wearing custom-made cloaks. The commander turned her attention back to the statue and raised a hand in its direction. Without a second’s delay, three white strings fired from her fingertips, punching into the statue’s torso. Senhime checked the tautness of the makeshift zip-lines as she watched some of the crowd react with confusion at the sight of the faintly glowing strings that marred the statue’s visage. ”Your chariot awaits~.” she purred, signalling for the three that they were good to go.

There were certainly going to be targets that Senhime herself would have to look out for. The Blue Voice for one. And, while she was sure that President Hamajo himself wouldn’t show himself (not immediately, anyway), there were also key players like Yamato Minamoru to consider. If it weren’t abundantly clear before that the assault on the Hamajo Monument, and the Hamajo-day festival as a whole, was a gargantuan task, it would be made apparent very soon.

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Akumako stood on the same rooftop as her sister, looking impatiently at the mass of people around the statue - at least, the large figure covered in a white cloth. As her sister spoke to them, she perched her head slightly to the left to face her older sister, before looking back. Confidently she nodded. Her face, however, remained covered by the hood she had on. Their raincoats were those typically worn by shinobi during either rain or spec. ops operations. In this case, however, they were wearing them because it'd allow them to remain hidden for that tiny fraction of time more. The confusion of three hooded and coated figures ziplining down to the statue would be more confusing than seeing three - obviously rebel - shinobi doing that. “Hmm, nee-san, make sure to watch out for us too. I don't want them on the roofs shooting ninjutsu and stuff at us.”

Grinning at the prospect of the beheading of the statue, she looked at her two companions. Despite initial hitches in the ride, she had decided she liked the both of them without any more questions. “YO! Let's go!” And with that said, she jumped up and grabbed one of the silky strings. Now, she didn't jump because the strings were so high, but because she was just too short to reach them otherwise.

Almost immediately she slid down, hopefully followed closely by her two companions. As they zipped down the silk strings, the crowd began getting more and more confused. Some slowly started clapping as if this was part of some stunt, others were gasping, and some slowly stepped back. Now that Akumako was closer to the raised platform made of marble that the statue stood on, she let go of the zipline and landed elegantly on the marble steps, turning around rather cinematically, as if she was some movie star. A playful grin was laying on her mouth as she raised her hand into the sky and hailed the crowd.

“Yo, people of Amegakure! The Jiyutai is here to secure the festival and make sure that you don't have to suff-” Her words were rather heroic, though they came out more like some young teenager that decided they suddenly wanted to be a movie hero. She didn't even get to finish her sentence before three shuriken were flung towards her, which she dodged by moving her upper body to the left and letting the shuriken fly by, which then proceeded to plant themselves into the base of the statue. “Hey!” she yelled out, looking at the shinobi that threw it. Only then did she noticed some Hamajo confederates were already approaching.

While the other team naturally would prevent more shinobi from entering the area, the ones that were already there would prove to be an issue. “Chimney, Mae-ma, would you be so kind as to deal with that?” While she wasn't entirely sure what these two chunins could do, she was sure they were up for the task. And besides, Akumako already noticed a ninjutsu coming in from the side.

A giant rock was flying towards them over the crowd that was still left, as many civilians began trying to escape to all sides and directions. As Maema and Seichiro would be pre-occupied with the three frontal attackers that were apparently part of a squad, Akumako took it upon herself to deal with the giant boulder. She took the kanabo that was strapped to her back and twirled around on her feet in a circle as the boulder came closer. Finally when the boulder was close enough, she swung full force at the rock, using the chakra enhanced strength technique she had mastered to fully blast the rock into pieces and send them scattering all over the place, causing debris to fall in the direction of Seichiro and Maema.

Once the debris cleared up from the sky and the light amount of dust settled down, did the scene reveal itself. With the civilians gone all that remained in front of Akumako was a woman wearing a standard Hamajo uniform, but with remarkable hair. It was light pink, almost as vivid as that of the Blue Voice, but less charming and more.. crazy, since she had shaven both sides of her head and the rest was tied into a long ponytail. “Don't fight us, we just want to set you fr-” Her attempt at making peace and convincing her the Jiyutai were good people was met by a series of shuriken, which she deflected with her kanabo - narrowly so, almost getting hit.

“Sheesh.. fine. No talking, let's go!” Hmm, she just hoped her two teammates would be fine on their own. But they had been so boastful during their time in the canteen, that they should have no trouble, right?

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Reports started flowing in early in the morning of a near-normal situation. Only some slight disturbances had been detected at the border but this was quickly clarified as it appeared to be just some traders that didn't have their papers in order. They were simply escorted to the capital and then the rest was arranged, since Hamajo focus wasn't on legality during the festival, more so on providing security and safety during the event.

It was a big surprise then that when the ceremony was about to begin and large movements of civilians were beginning to get reported by the little 11th corps cooperation that they received, that a larger report came in about a disturbance at the statue itself. An 11th corps official came in wearing a typical 11th corps outfit - which was a dark tinted traditional jacket with similar pants. Their operators wore different gear, but that wasn't important right now. “Commander Minamoru, the 11th corps would like to report that disturbances in the form of violence have happened at the statue. The team you placed there is currently engaging, what appears to be, Jiyutai forces. The 11th corps has chosen not to interfere, but we opted to let you know about this in case you hadn't heard already.”

“Can't trust on anyone to do their jobs-” Yamato mouthed rather angrily, getting up from his desk. Frankly he was happy to finally get up and do something, as he'd been doing nothing other than sitting around reading reports. The 11th corps officer stepped aside as Yamato passed him. Yamato didn't even offer him a thank you. He had met enough 11th corps officers - Saburo, Daiki - to know that they were dangerous people even if they were ultimately destined to die. For a moment he felt anger that he wasn't the one that killed the both of them, but rather Yakoul.

As he walked past the coatrack he quickly grabbed his longcoat and his backpack. Those he might need. Furthermore, he grabbed a radio and quickly radio'd in his private squad - those elite soldiers that had been held back to be placed under his care. While they were definitely strong, on the level of ANBU shinobi, the Jiyutai were no joke.

For years Yamato had advocated the destruction of the Jiyutai but his calls had gone unanswered by the president and it seemed like now they would finally pay the price for that. Jiyutai were unconventional shinobi, and so he wasn't sure what to expect. Missing nin? Possibly.

With that, he marched straight to the village center, that is if he wouldn't be stopped by any interception team. He was joined by some high ranking jonin from his special squad, but besides that, there had not been any large scale order for any other teams to move towards the village center - mostly because that would open up other areas to a possible attack.

Seichirō sat on his bed, tracing the left side of his temple with his fingers while he held a mirror in his right hand. He was not showy or flamboyant, but never missed the chance to admire how symmetrical his head looked like after a decent haircut. When it came down to it, he never even bothered to change his hairstyle. His strands were unruly, so much so that Seichirō himself had estimated it would take an entire squadron of hairdressers to get them to obey, even if for a couple of hours. He pondered shaving his head clean, but dismissed the idea out of fear someone might associate him with a monk or worse, make a note of his pineapple-shaped head. In the end, he decided to settle for an undercut for every trimester. It has worked for him, so far.

After gently placing the mirror on the wooden nightstand to the right side of his bed, Seichirō collapsed on top of the neatly fixed sheets. He wasn't exhausted one bit, at least not physically, but he needed himself in good shape for what was to come. As for his psychological state, it was fair to say he was worn out. His day had been spent meticulously dissecting aspects of their plan along with his teammates, then putting them back together to look for any loopholes. Names were tossed around, primarily the names "Aoi Fugeushi" and "Yamato Minamoru", both names which Seichirō had familiarized himself with long before joining the Jiyutai. He'd seen Aoi on TV several times, while he had met Yamato during a Hamajo-funded event in Konohagakure. The second they bumped shoulders, he knew Yamato was someone not to mess with, but he'd made the mistake of discarding Aoi as a government bimbo.

As he slowly forced his eyes to shut down, his dick brain began constructing a new set of concerns to keep him awake and docile instead. Maema's words sprung to his mind, especially what he said about Akumako. Seichirō wondered if his habit of underestimating the kunoichi had to do with some innate, subconscious sexism that was planted in him at an early age. He found fulfillment in his "skill" to see the inner potential in people, but he could not see why she was chosen to spearhead the squad. He had concerns regarding her efficacy, concerns that were usually put to rest once he remembered Senhime was gonna watch over them. Maybe that was the point after all. Maybe Kuko was just a puppet leader and the entire thing was a ploy by Senhime to satisfy her younger sister.

Like a man possessed, Seichirō bolted out of his stasis. It was an instinctive reaction that was common in every shinobi and one that the young Roga was used to. He groaned, squeezing the bridge of his nose with his right hand. He soaked in the scenery for a couple of seconds or so, the only sound emanating from him constantly shuffling on the bed. He threw a look at the far end of his room where his battle attire laid, properly ironed and nicely folded, prepped up for the big day. On top of it, there were two scrolls near one another and a dual sword sheath with the swords fitted in. From there, he shot a glance at the clock. He had only dozed for half an hour.

As if to drive away the perturbing thoughts plaguing his mind, Seichirō assured himself, audibly "It's gonna go fine, bud. You get in, you get out. Simple as that." With that said, he lazily raised his palm up, aiming it at the light switch near the door. At first, a thin line formed around his wrist, thought it wasn't blood that came out of it - it was smoke. Then, as the line got gradually wider, his hand detached from the rest of his arm, leaving a small stream of smoke as it traveled towards the light switch. After doing it's job of turning the light off, the hand returned back to it's owner with the same speed. It would deprive him off a small chunk of chakra, but he'd have until morning to replenish it, which was more than enough. With the grace of an Akimichi Clan ballerina, Seichirō fell on his comfy bed.

His slumber was a fairly peaceful one, until the snores began.

---

Hamajo Day celebrations. Day of the assault on Amegakure.

Seichirō stood right on Senhime's line of sight, acknowledging her command via a stern affirmative nod. He was playing it fairly cool, but not because of any effort to do so but rather because he had to keep his head on the mission at all times. With Akumako descending down on the square, the chunin Roga rapidly followed suit, his raincoat flapping behind like he was some sort of a comic book superhero. He didn't like openly indulging in such childish pleasantries while on a mission, but even he had to admit that was cool, the smile on his face perfectly encapsulating how content he was with himself at that moment. His mental gloating was immediately cut short as he barely avoided three shuriken that were aimed at Kuko. He had to give her credit for trying to reason first. In his fantasy scenario, he always imagined she would be the one to provoke the crowd first.

Seichirō turned his head to look at Kuko who was informing the two of oncoming threats. Three Hamajo soldiers were heading their way. He grabbed his cloth and hurled it in the air, revealing his red battle attire. The jig was up and he needed access to Yin and Yang, access that was sort of restricted by those raincoats that they were sporting, so he saw no need to have it on him anymore. "You don't need to say that twice!", he almost excitedly responded to Kuko's request, leaping on the ground as the civilian crowd dispersed in different directions. Two of their opponents took off from the ground and were heading towards Maema and Kuko. Seichirō intercepted the third one before he could take off, clashing his dual wakizashi with the man's silver gauntlets. He had seen weapons like those before and, much to his dismay, they were actually supposed to be chakra conductive. Didn't help that the man he chose to fight was built like a brickhouse.

The second his legs touched the ground, Seichirō felt pressure coming from his right side. Though he barely saw it coming, the attack was too fast for him to be able to do anything, so he got blasted away. As a wise man said, knowing was half the battle, and while the Jiyutai rebel got his ass handed to him, he learned a thing or two about the properties of that particular weapon mainly that it was designed for wind release attacks that could be launched from the gauntlet's palm. With his face still on the ground, he gripped one of his swords tightly with his left hand, leading his tree-sized enemy into a false sense of security. The Hamajo shinobi tried to kick the sword out of Seichirō's hand, however the latter made a swift turn and attempted to stab his chest. The shinobi masterfully dodged it before grabbing the Jiyutai chunin by the neck and lifting him up the ground, setting him up for the finisher. Seichirō's sword-equipped hand detached from his arm, launching in the air and then doing a spinning motion that positioned the blade right behind the shinobi's back. His opponent closed his right hand into a fist, presumably choosing to not make use of the gauntlet in order to preserve chakra. Before he could take a swing however, his entire hand went numb.

Opting to not waste any more time, Seichirō used the man's confusion to free himself from his grip. He acrobatically latched on the man's chest, before removing his own sword from his back. While the man was busy earlier trying to pummel him, Seichirō had used that to his advantage by utilizing his Smoke Release: Detached Limbs Technique to strike a nerve on the shinobi's muscle, effectively disabling his right arm for a while. With that accomplished, he went in for a vertical kick to the man's jaw, knocking him down on the ground.

"W-Whaa..", the fallen shinobi attempted to communicate as Seichirō stood above him. He was visibly upset about his arm.

"Don't worry cupcake, that's just your deltoid muscle going AWOL. The paralysis will fade away after an hour or two.", Seichirō proudly declared. "This, however, won't." The Roga's tone took an entirely different color as he shoved his sword in the man's right kneecap, causing him to shriek in pain and most likely rendering him permanently disabled for the rest of his life. Seichirō didn't want to kill anyone, especially considering that the nature of the mission was to portray the Jiyutai in a positive light, but he couldn't allow any hindrances either.

After picking up his other sword, Seichirō's eyes searched for Maema, interested to see how he fared with his share of Hamajo infantry.

Time flies when you're having fun, but the past two weeks were a slow-moving hell for Tsukiko's team. Whether the three kids knew it or not it would be for the best. Tsukiko was certainly a harsh leader but an effective one nonetheless. She made sure that her team had visited Amegakure prior to this operation, to memorize the area and plan ahead. With Kazuki's assistance, Tsukiko even prepared hidden explosive tags around the area they would be holding. Two sets, so to speak. Throughout the area she made sure to place exploding tags along the ground and have her team memorize their positions before Kazuki concealed them. These would be for emergency uses as the kids can activate them by running over them and the delay would be just long enough for them to be safe. This is to provide further resources to use during the battle. The other set of explosive tags was set in a large ring around the area with all the tags spaced out but connected via wire. This was part of the exit strategy, as Tsukiko would detonate these all at once to cover their escape.

After their field trip they moved on to the real training. On top of a tough physical regimen, to make sure they were all at peak strength and capability, Tsukiko made sure to teach them practicality. How to make a fight unfair. How to specifically kill other shinobi. To get in the head of their opponent and predict their downfall. How to ambush, trap, use their environment, and most importantly how to get out of tricky situations. Every time they stepped out of line or had an attitude they would face verbal and physical punishment. Tsukiko didn't expect them to like her, even after all of the training would pay off. But that didn't matter. Senhime wanted results, the Jiyutai needed results, so Tsukiko made sure to give them results. Rin, Kazuki, and Takeshi had become more efficient soldiers. More efficient killing machines. True rebels that would take on larger forces and win through sheer guerilla warfare. At least today they would, so Tsukiko expected.

The team was spread out across a wide area, hidden among the civilians. They had already anticipated that the majority of reinforcements would come from the West and North, so the three kids were prepared to distract, hinder, and otherwise intercept the brunt of the Hamajo forces. Tsukiko herself, however, had positioned herself to the East of the statue. From there she had figured she would intercept the flankers who would take a wide route past her team. After all the Hamajo forces would prioritize getting on-scene, so even with an interception team in the way it would only stop some of the forces. A good leader would order a sizeable portion to go around the problem while their front line would fight the interception team so as not to lose time. Tsukiko would prevent this from coming to fruition.

When the crowd before the statue began to grow nervous at the sight of Akumako and her team, Tsukiko knew it was time. She had commandeered some of the Jiyutai's radios for this operation, making sure that Rin, Kazuki, and Takeshi all were able to hear her orders no matter the distance. They all had small, easy-to-conceal earpieces as a means to relay information. The middle-aged woman brought her hand to the earpiece and gave the command. "It's begun. Prepare to intercept any and all forces." It was all she needed to say. They had laid out the traps beforehand, memorized the locale, and planned accordingly. They even had the element of surprise on their side. Two minutes, tops, Tsukiko figured. All they have to do is distract for two minutes. The kids all knew to prioritize their own safety on this particular mission. They would be chased, which would give even more time for the rest of the Jiyutai, as opposed to standing their ground and dying. Normally running away would be a bad idea, but this situation may well call for a bit of footwork to get the job done.

And so footwork she performed. Tsukiko blended into the crowd of civilians rather well, but with everyone running away she was beginning to stand out like a sore thumb. It was time for her to get to work. After activating her Hiding with Camouflage Technique, she had become perfectly invisible and thus almost completely undetectable. Her first move to action was to jump up to a nearby second-story windowsill, to get a higher view above the crowd and pinpoint any Hamajo shinobi that were already on-scene at the start of the attack. Immediately she spotted three, though one of them was going to get to the statue team before Tsukiko would reach him. They could handle one person, so Tsukiko brought her attention to the other two that were beginning to move in.

Tsukiko was always fond of the spear as a weapon. Most shinobi would prefer a ninjato or their kunai as their weapon of choice, which is why Tsukiko came to learn how to counter this. The spear had more range, more control, more leverage. The fool who would think they could cross blades with Tsukiko would never live long enough to learn this. The downside to spears, however, is that they are large and ill-suited for stealth. For times like this she kept a ninjato to complement her style. And now was a great time to use it. She held the weapon in a reverse-grip, something that was also not widely considered among shinobi, and pounced towards the nearest Hamajo soldier. He was in the process of drawing shuriken as he ran, likely to take a ranged attack on the statue team. He would never see what hit him. Tsukiko landed directly behind him, bringing the business end of her blade across his calves. She followed through with the motion, spinning around while rotating around her target, allowing her to slash him again across the side of his neck before he even hit the floor. He was incapacitated, would lose consciousness within twenty seconds, and would die in under a minute. Her next target wasn't fully stupid, having seen this unfold from the corner of his eyes and already turned to face the invisible Tsukiko.

None of the blood had gotten on Tsukiko, so all she had to do was flick her wrist and the blood that was on her ninjato slid cleanly off the polished surface. A normal person would be confused and in fear before the sight of a shinobi being mangled by thin air, but a shinobi would only be in fear. This man knew what was coming to him and attempted to ready himself, bringing his hands up to perform handsigns for a jutsu of some kind. That was unacceptable. Tsukiko dashed forward and covered half the distance to the man before jumping several meters to the side. The technique her opponent used was some kind of small-scale mist, spraying out his mouth. No doubt an attempt at pinpointing her position. But Tsukiko had expected he would try something like this, which is the reason she jumped to the side to begin with. This gave her plenty of room to get out of the way, jumping to the side one more time before taking a direct line to her target. He had expected her to go straight for him, which would've allowed him to detect her, so he was confused that his mist wasn't picking her up. He was less confused when Tsukiko's ninjato stabbed completely through his left lung from behind. As she pulled her blade out she slapped an exploding tag onto his back. With one final kick off the falling man she was flung into the air, landing on a lamppost as her springboard was consumed in a fireball. He died screaming but there was no other immediate Hamajo forces that would be within earshot except those already at the statue, whom should all be occupied if Akumako's team was doing their job.

Any number of powerful assholes is already on their way here, Tsukiko thought, looking to the West. The Hamajo Palace was North and the Amegakure barracks were to the West, but the brunt of the city was to the South and East of the statue. This was the reason she had chosen to split the team in this fashion. Rin, Kazuki, and Takeshi were all close enough to assist each other but they all had the majority of reinforcements to handle. Tsukiko had less potential targets but a wider area to cover. As she began to move, already on the hunt for incoming forces, she couldn't help but feel like something was amiss. It isn't a matter of if Hamajo or his cronies will show up, it is a matter of how many...

Looks like the party's finally started. Good entrance, I give them a 4/5.

Takashi was watching from the crowd, currently henged and covered with a suitably thick rain jacket to hide his more inhuman features, but as everything started to go to hell, he figured it was time to stop hiding. However, he didn't just leap into action like Tsukiko, but stood still like a stone amongst the surging sea of bodies, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. He didn't have to wait long, as he saw a shinobi touch down not far from him, getting ready to start another leap towards the statue. As he leaped back into the air, however, he'd suddenly find himself getting knee'd in the face, throwing him off course and sending him tumbling into the ground. As he groggily rose to his feet, he suddenly find himself staring into a pair of reptillian electric blue eyes, followed by a kunai imbedded in his throat.

Takashi quickly ripped it out to the side, letting the shinobi's boyd fall as he turned around to see himself being targeted by two other shinobi, one launching a brace of shurikens his way while the other seemed to be preparing a jutsu. Takashi was quick to avoid the initial attack with a deft back flip, skidding to a stop just as his second opponent let out a barrage of water bullets traveling at rather high speeds.

Shit!

Takashi quickly leaped to the side, taking off his rain jacket and dropping the henge in one swift motion as he avoided the attack for the most part, though one of the bullets did manage to graze him a bit. Letting out a low growl, he would rush forward, running through a few handseals before his body was hidden by a puff of electrified smoke. From this small smoke cloud, Takashi would burst out without missing a beat, ninjato out as quickly deflected a barrage of shuriken fire. Running up to the two, he had to quickly drop and roll to the side to avoid another water jutsu from the other shinobi, quickly rising to his feat with a slight flourish before charging at the water slinging shinobi, seeming to turn his back his other foe. However, he was already more than covered, as the smoke from before would quickly clear to show another Takashi seeming to charge up chakra before letting it go, hos body crackling with electrical energy as he also charged forward. The first shinobi, however, was prepared for this, having guessed the nature of the jutsu from the trademark smoke, and quickly drew kunai of his own, charging in to engage with the young rebel.

Their would be a single clash of metal, followed by a short cry of pain as the man suddenly felt electricity surge into his arm, numbing the limb and rendering it useless as well as causing him immense pain. Before the man could attempt to try something else, Takashi would take this moment to slam the man's forehead with the pommel of his blade, further disorienting him as he stumbled backward. Takashi was about to finish him off when he felt a surge of information enter his brain which, in reaction to this new knowledge, allowed him to just barely dodge the high-powered stream of pressurized and electrified water that had just destroyed his clone, courtesy of the water ninjutsu specialist.

This attack was also followed by the man surging towards him, bringing forth a collapsable Bo staff into battle and swinging it with surprisingly deft precision. Having seen what Takashi had done to his comrade, who was slowly starting to gain their barrings again, he was making sure to only make stabbing strikes with his weapons, as those would be hard to block with just a ninjato. This was forcing him to rely on dodging and deflecting, and he hardly had anytime to focus so that he could draw the chakra needed to shock this fucker. As they continued their little dance, Takashi footing was messed up as he slipped in a pool of water, which gave his foe an opening to strike out with a fierce jab to the gut, before coming around and batting him of to the side with a rather hefty swing. Needeless to say, this didn't exactly tickle, but due to the weapon's light-weight, he only suffered a few fractures from strike instead of a broken ribs and a plausible ruptured belly organ(like the spleen, for instance).

As he tried to get back up, his opponent, seeming to be content in his victory, started to slowly make his way towards the fallen rebel. It was at this point, however, that the other confederate shinobi would seem to be almost on his feet, though his arm was still pretty useless.

"Sorry kid. You were good, but not good enough. Certainly not what I expected from a Ryuuga."

"Heh, I get that a lot," Takashi mutted as he rose to his feet, seeming to waver slightly. "But two out of three ain't that bad."

This gave the man pause, a confused look setting on his face. It didn't last long, but it gave Takashi all the time he needed. With a single release seal, he activated the explosive tag he had laid down when he had evaded the stream of water, causing the crippled shinobi to suddenly go up in a roaring wave of electrical energy. Luckily for them, that tag had less power and range then a normal tag, due to the fact that they were trying to avoid civilian casualties, so he'd live. Unfortunately, he would be utterly immobilized, suffering from some rather bad burns and muscle spasms. The bright light show, however, was enough to draw the attention of Takashi's current foe as he turned to see what was happening. In that moment, Takashi sprung into action, as he was feigning the severity of his injuries, plunging his blade into their back and letting loose a surge of electrical energy into him, causing his body to spasm wildly before he fell to the ground, dead. He took a moment to stab him in his thorat as well, just to make sure, but before he could do the same to other guy, but he saw a few more shinobi coming his way. Takashi let out a sigh as he rolled his shoulders, even going as far to crack his neck a little bit.

"Well, I guess that's enough warm-up." He muttered before rushing forward to meet his opponents, making sure to finish off the guy on the ground with a quick slash to his throat. As he closed in, he'd summon another shadow clone, falling behind it as he ran through another set of handseals, gathering a great amount of electrical energy before launching out with several discs of lighting at high speeds to rain down on his opponents while his clone zipped to and fro, slashing at the shinobi with electrified blades in order to hassle them. He was going to keep his distance for this one, see how things go before he got back into the frey.

@j8cob@mochin@Hexaflexagon

The trip to Amegakure was very productive, under Tsukiko's leadership and with Rin's knowledge of the area. They were able to make a effective plan to stall and confuse the enemy while the statue team would deal with the statue. Atleast he hoped it would be effective, but no plan is perfect so all he could do was hope things would work out. Tsukiko's training regime started the moment they returned, or as Kazuki liked to call it the two weeks of hell. He had always strifed to keep himself in top physical condition, but Tsukiko showed him how much he still had to improve upon. But besides the physical conditioning, he really liked the way Tsukiko approached the way of fighting shinobi. Kazuki also liked to finish his fights quickly and effeciently, taking out his enemies by any means necessary. So the trapping and ambushing skills would come in handy for him since it complimented his fighting style. He didn't completely become the killing machine she probably meant him to become, not that he has problems killing his enemies, but he preferred to use non-lethal options if possible.


Kazuki was standing amongst the crowd, using a henge no jutsu to blend in. As the statue occupation team moved in, the crowd started to panic which turned into terror and caused them to flee when the first jutsu started was thrown around. He kept following the crowd for a few moments in order to stay hidden as long as possible. They were too late to intercept the first couple of enemies, but the statue occupation team was able to deal with them. As the first enemy landed, Takashi was allready on him. Kazuki was about to jump in, but Takashi was able to deal with the first wave himself. He was slightly suprised by how easily Takashi killed his opponents, but then again they were trained for two weeks for it. ”Judging by the area where he got hit, it could mean a broken rib and possible ruptured spleen or stomach.” Kazuki flinched as a bo staff connected with Takashi's ribs. ”Due to the lack any signs of pain, he is either faking it or he has a very high pain tolerance” He figured as Takashi rushed the last enemy, atleast for now.

Seeing as more enemies were on their way, Kazuki made a kage bunshin (shadow clone) after he had dropped his henge. Kazuki pulled out a kunai and a senbon while his shadow clone started weaving handseals. He launched the kunai and senbon at the same time towards the enemy furthest back, the senbon travelled in the shadow of the kunai, hiding it until it would be too late. Just as Kazuki released his weapons, his clone finished the seal for his Magen: Narakumi (demonic illusion: Hell viewing technique), putting the same target under a genjutsu. “Do you really think a simple genjuts..” The man started yelled as he had quickly noticed the genjutsu and cancelled it before he noticed the kunai allready really close to him. Using his reflexes the man was just able to catch the kunai, but he didn't notice the senbon until it was too late. A flash of panic crossed the mans face as he realised that he would be unable to dodge the senbon, but he was able to shift slightly in order to prevent the senbon from hitting a pressure point. But unbeknownst to him, the paralytic poison on the senbon needle had allready started to spread through his bloodstream. “Seems your little plan failed.” The man laughed as he pulled out the senbon from his neck.

Ignoring the man's response, Kazuki's shadowclone charged in to engage the man in close combat while Kazuki rushed towards Takashi. All the shadowclone had to do was distract the man for seconds until the poison spread enough to slow him down and eventually paralyze him. ”Takashi-san, I need to check the extend of damage that the bo staff could have done.” Kazuki said as he reached Takashi, allready activating his shôsen no jutsu (mystical palm technique).

The descent of the Statue Occupation Team had gone smoothly, the three members making their way to the statue proper without much of an issue. It was when they finally got to the statue that they began to encounter difficulty, as Confederation forces were already beginning to close in. At the same time, Tsukiko’s squad also leapt into action, intercepting the confederation shinobi that were attempting to deal with Akumako and her squad. The Jiyutai commander allowed the silk strings to disperse, only to turn around and see that several shinobi were already arriving on the rooftop, their present number sitting at about ten. ”Ara ara~. So many of you to take care of lil’ old me?” Senhime chimed, smiling softly at the Confederation shinobi that had begun to fan out and surround her. ”This is your chance to drop your weapon and come with us. If not, then we’ll have no choice but to exercise force.” one of the Confederation shinobi spoke up, stepping forward with his hand ready to draw the sword at his side. The man had his black hair tied back into a ponytail, which stuck out of the back of the bandana-style forehead protector he was wearing. At the man’s suggestion, Senhime chuckled a little.
”Ara ara~. I’m afraid I can’t do that. Everyone else is working so hard, so it’d be wrong of me to let their effort go to waste, no?”

Seeing that there would be no convincing the horned woman, the shinobi simply drew his sword and rushed forward, leaping up for a downward slash and cleaving through the commander. Except, his blade had hit nothing at all. In fact, looking at his sword now, it no longer had a blade. Before he could move away from Senhime, he felt a hard impact on top of his head that promptly knocked him out. While none of the shinobi currently surrounding her might have seen it, in the instant that the shinobi unsheathed his sword, Senhime had unsheathed hers as well, and cut the blade off of his sword before resheathing her own blade. Stepping over the unconscious shinobi, Senhime beckoned to the rest of the shinobi to make their own assault. The Jiyutai’s commander parried strikes from all angles, using her sheathed sword like a staff by exploiting its length. During the exchanges, the Akumako ornament tied to her sheath managed to avoid any harm. A few of the shinobi were knocked out by clean blows to the head like their comrade earlier, prompting the rest of their number to step back to reassess the situation.

Kinuton: Gossamer Drill

A lance of silk pierced the thigh of a sickle-wielding shinobi and stuck into the roof behind him. Without further delay, smaller lances of silk shot out from the shinobi’s thigh and pierced the other shinobi that were next to him, before anchoring into the ground. Seeing that they were all properly secured and working on freeing themselves from the lines of silk that had hardened with Earth nature chakra, Senhime waved before leaping to an adjacent rooftop and reassessing the situation down below. So far so good. At the very least, it didn’t appear that anyone on the two primary squads had been gravely injured yet. However, the Statue squad hadn’t gotten around to properly breaking the Hamajo monument yet, having been distracted before they could complete that section of the mission.

That aside, there was another issue that very clearly required her attention. Entering the square was one of the targets that would be a serious detriment to the mission. The Phoenix-Touched. Minamoru, Yamato. From what Senhime understood, the man was known for his use of Katon jutsu. Troublesome. But not impossible to at least hold off temporarily. However, Yamato had also seen fit to bring his own squad with him, which would complicate matters for everyone.

As Yamato and his company entered the square, a crescent of chakra would tear up the ground in front of them, kicking up dust and rubble. Once the dust cleared, they would see that the attack had drawn a horizontal line in front of their feet. And, standing before them a few feet away, was the commander of the Jiyuna no Guntai, Senhime of the Million Threads.

”Greetings, Minamoru-san~. I believe this is the first time we’ve met, yes? Unfortunately, I can’t really let you through here.” she chimed, remarkably casual and cordial considering the situation. She intended to buy time until the Statue Team finished their part of the mission or Tsukiko joined her in intercepting Yamato and his squad. It had become apparent that they would need to hurry along before anyone else of note showed up. It was bad enough that the first one to arrive was one who would be well-suited to dealing with her silk techniques. But that did not mean that she had nothing up her sleeves. Gripping Shurakumo, Senhime prepared herself for whatever Yamato or the Jounin accompanying him would attempt. The face of the resistance movement was right in front of them, so it would only make sense that there were those among their number that would want the glory of taking the head of the Million Threads.

"Give me a sec, my clone's not going to be able to last much longer without me unless I even the odds a bit." Takashi said as he pulled out a kunai, quickly attaching a tag to it before letting it fly into the thick of the melee just as the clone made an evasive roll, barely dodging the strike of a confederate shinobi. Said foe was stuck in the arm, and only had enough time to curse before the tag detonated, sending him and his allies flying backwards, the mixture electrical energy and concussive forces making it difficult for the group to gain their bearings, making them easy prey for anyone of his teammates should they choose to dive in. The clone,meanwhile, would fall back to where Takashi and Oshiro where, the former dropping to a knee as his side suddenly flared from the sudden motion of throwing the kunai. "Fuuuuuuuuuck . . . yeah, I think the adrenaline is starting to wear off a little, cause my side is starting to hurt a lot more than it did before. Pretty sure it's just a fracture, but maybe a tad more serious than I thought. Hehehe . . . ow."

While his clone played kept a look out for the both of them, barely having enough chakra for a single jutsu, Takashi rose his arm to allow his medic ninja friend access to his injuries, flinching slightly as he set his hands upon it in order to start the process. As Takashi had stated, the ribs were fractured, not broken, and while he likely could still fight, it likely worsen the injury by a good amount if it wasn't at least given some minor first aid at the moment. As for the gut area, he'd likely find a bit of internal bleeding in that area that Takashi wasn;t fully aware if yet, but would definitely be a problem if not properly dealt with. As this was happening, Takashi would start to channel chakra into himself, his eyes seeming to glow slightly, the pupils in particular seeming to bring about a strange dark blue and red energy. From their training together, Oshiro would recognize this as Takashi preparing to bring about his clan's Hiden jutsu, taking the momentary pause to prep in a way he couldn't have done before with alerting the confederation to his presence. Taking deep breaths to help strengthen his focus, he looked towards the statue, noticing that the Commander was busy facing a group by herself, though he was too far away to tell who. The fact that the Commander was facing them and not just destroying them, however, let him know that it was likely one of the confederations big hitters.

How much longer is it going to take to bring that damn statue down, I would've brought down within seconds already. *Sigh* So Kazuki, after you're done patching me up, have a game plan? Cause I'm thinking you make a big wall behind them, giving them less room to escape my next jutsu barrage. After that . . . well, who knows what'll happen in the next few minutes, so let's just focus on dealing with these rejects, yeah?"

@mochin@j8cob@HexaFlexagon