Limbo [Mission|SS|Okami + SOMEBODY] [TRAINING]

0300#words
0800#chakra

#Jounin(A)


©2013 caliburn

Black body suit? Check. White flak jacket, courtesy of being an Amagakure Jounin? Check. Headband, steel on red silk, in it's usual place wrapped around his upper right bicep? Check. Six kunai in their places on his belt, aligned just so for quick and easy access? Check. 100 foot of fine wire, bound tightly, as thin as a thread, but strong as steel? Check. Shuriken, prepped for throwing? Check. Trusty kunai blade, the closest thing he could get to a decent sword on his paygrade? Check. Ancient dragon spirit howling in the back of his mind for release? Double check.

Okami was prepped and ready to head to the Port of Dreams, where reports of a great and powerful demon were rampaging throughout the territories of the Village Hidden in the Heavens. He wasn't sure about whether or not he would come back from this one alive, considering the rank given to this mission. As an A-Ranked combatant, Okami had quite a few tricks up his sleeve, and was considered one of the best, but he came nowhere close to this veritable shitstorm. SS. The very classification itself sent shivers down the spines of all but the most hardened warriors, and even then they came nowhere close to this level of power. Since his curse began when he swallowed the fallen star, Okami's chakra had skyrocketed, but still, this...King Minos was several tiers above him. Sadly, only he was available to fight this massive threat looming on the horizon. Okami was one of the few privy to the news that Amagakure didn't have a Kage to guide it, and as one of the highest ranking shinobi in the country at the moment, it fell to him to do this job. Well, him and whoever else they suckered into it.

0300#words
0800#chakra

#Jounin(A)


©2013 caliburn

Striding out the door of his small house, Okami took a deep breath of fresh air. This could be the last time he managed to do so peacefully, without blood clogging his lungs and pain clouding his vision. Children laughed and played in the streets nearby, stopping and waving when he gave them a smile. Many of the children in the village liked him for his "funny" hair and relaxed attitude. Those children included Academy Students, with many of them begging to be assigned to his squad as Genin. However, he had not managed to get the privilege of a squad of his own yet, as he was fairly new to being a Jounin. If this beast had his way, he would never get the chance.

Making his way to the edge of the city, Okami found a backpack sitting at the very edge of the cliff, with his name on a small plate on the front pocket. Next to it was a note that read 'Have some fun once in a while, ne?"

Undoubtedly, this was the work of one of the kunoichi that knew of his mission. Sighing, the young man strapped the backpack on tight, and pointed himself towards the Port of Dreams. Straight north from his position. Easily a several thousand foot drop. Maybe even more. Backing up a few steps, he ran forward with a sprint...right off the edge. Free falling for most of the way was a hazard, but it would get him there faster. Forcing his right eye shut, his left eye was completely fine, despite its oversensitivity. Watching the airflow was child's play, moving himself into the fastest winds possible. Once he hit the proper altitude, he deployed the parachute left for him. It was time to rock, Okami style, bitch.

0652#words
0800#chakra

#Jounin(A)


©2013 caliburn

Landing in the Port of Dreams was a piece of cake, as people did that all the time. The airfield was a spectacular place, blimps travelling back and forth, people skydiving all over the place, and so much more. Alas, Okami didn't have enough time to sightsee today. Now, where would one find a thirty foot tall demonic cow-snake hybrid? Jumping onto a building was easy enough, hauling himself up the side. A port security guard was about to yell at him, until he recognized the distinctive headband and flak jacket of a shinobi. Not even the police were allowed to interfere with the military operations that ninja often overtook, and it was fairly dangerous to do so in the first place.

Scanning, he noted the destruction to the south-west that symbolized the emergence point of the beast he was hunting. Jumping from building to building, he made his way over to that point. Supposedly, the creature was hanging around that area, and the local security attempted to keep it contained as best they could, which explained the panicked faces on everyone he passed, especially when they noticed him going in that direction.

Finding the entrance to the quarantined area, he saw sights that he didn't want to see. Walking to the police outpost, it looked like a warzone, with casualties strewn around, civilian and security alike. Clearing his throat, a young man who had recently lost his left arm jumped and spun around. From his uniform, Okami could see that he was a Corporal. "Uhh...hello, sir. My name is Traverse, and I'm the ranking officer at the moment. Everyone else got killed in the first couple of raids. I heard that Amagakure was sending reinforcements. Are...are you it? Are there any more coming, or are we all going to Hell?"

"Corporal Traverse, my name is Okami. I'm a Jounin, so the fact that they sent only me is standard. Supposedly, I'm worth more than a hundred men. Where is this....King Minos? The reports claim that he stays in this area, but I haven't seen any sign of him."

"Sir, he comes patrolling around the area every couple of hours making raids against anyone he finds. He's absolutely insane, sir. He's around thirty feet tall, and his eyes glow with a hellish light. I'm gonna have nightmares for the next twenty years if we make it out of this alive..." Traverse replied, straightening as he heard the man's rank. The legends of the Jounin rank preceded themselves, it seemed.

As they finished talking, a massive roar was heard only about half a mile away, towards the center of the area. Dashing with all the speed he could muster, Okami left the Corporal behind to tend to his ragged troops. Eyes widening, he soon beheld the monster. The Corporal was right. It was the stuff of nightmares. A snake like tail followed the body of a bull as it walked? slithered? over the ground. Black fur meshed with green and gray as it came together just above the flank. It was horrific that such a creature could possibly exist.

Looking straight at Okami, King Minos let out a strangled roar that sounded more like a moo than anything else. Watching it through the eye affected by the curse, the shinobi was horrified at the tremendous amount of chakra that the thing had. It reminded him too much of the dragon in the back of his mind, always judging his every move. Drawing his kunai blade with his right hand, he grabbed a pair of shuriken and threw them with his left while dodging the beast's charge. Eye moving a million miles a minute, he was only able to pull off the perfect timing due to watching the flow of chakra through his body, the ebb and flow to the muscles that told him just when it was about to move.

0405#words
0725#chakra

#Jounin(A)
#bgm

©2013 caliburn

The first shuriken struck the beast in the eye, while the next struck him in the jowls. Fair aim, considering he was about to be gored when he threw them, Okami thought as he prepared his first technique. This was the most powerful Kenjutsu technique that he knew, and was arguably the most difficult technique to perform correctly. As the beast charged once again, Okami sat still, breathing in, out. In, out. Use his own speed and strength against him. Breathing out one last time, the young shinobi watched as King Minos bore down upon him. Moving aside at exactly the right time, Okami spoke firmly, clearly, for the beast to hear. "Tenshisen."

Slicing through the beast's natural defenses, Tenshisen, or Glimpse of the Heavens, was a lightning-fast flick of the wrist, gutting the beast as Okami lashed out then sheathed his kunai blade with the speed of a god. It even sliced through the horn of the beast effortlessly. However, the shinobi knew that his blade, his precious weapon, was damaged beyond repair in that one second. The thing's bones had caught on the edge, snapping off the tip of the weapon in Minos' hip. Discarding the useless weapon, Okami leapt in the air to prevent getting hit by the thing's tail. Forming the sign of the Tiger, Okami took in a breath before spewing out a mist of gunpowder from his lungs. "Fire Style: Ash Pile Burning."

The bull coughed and hacked, sliced ribs and ruptured organs showing as the thing inhaled the gunpowder. Perfect, Okami thought as he formed the symbol for Horse. Kneading the chakra in his belly, then spewing it out of his mouth as inferno, Okami covered the entire battlefield in flame. "Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!"

The burning of flesh hit his nose as the gunpowder went off, blasting him back in a massive explosion as he cut off the course of fire. Hitting a brick wall, Okami coughed up smoke, his lungs burning from all the heat in the area. He had taken out dozens of opponents with just the second jutsu he had used during times of war, and nothing could have walked out of that explosion combined with the inferno from his Fire Style. Watching as a shadow began to emerge from the smoke, his eyes widened before a voice could be heard across the battlefield, gravelly and deep. "Earth Style: Great Moving Earth Core."

0454#words
0625#chakra

#Jounin(A)


©2013 caliburn

Watching in horror as King Minos emerged, still able to move after the damage he had sustained, Okami was launched into the air forcefully, breaking several ribs in the process before being slammed back into the rebellious ground by the thing's tail. Coughing up blood, the young shinobi's eyes watered as his internal organs were crushed by the demon. How the Hell did he survive? Okami had no time to wonder as he was risen to his feet by a shaft of earth. Slumping against it, Okami looked the beast in the eye as it began to speak. "Shinobi, you fought valiantly, but you will not keep me from my Kingdom!"

Okami despaired as he spoke, knowing in his heart that he had failed. As his vision slipped and began to fade to black, a voice spoke resolutely in his mind, whisking him to a familiar place. As he looked around the island that reminded him so much of his home in Amagakure, the silvery dragon before him spoke, his voice booming across the fields dotted with sakura trees. "Okami, I did not choose to be sealed within you just to die here. USE ME. UNLEASH ME!"

His left eye came into focus, while his right one was blurred with pain. A bull stood over him, with a snake tail wrapped around his torso. Oddly, he wasn't afraid anymore. Flexing his arms, he saw the bull's eyes widen as a silver haze came over him. Who was he? Was he Okami, Jounin of the Hidden Heavens, or was he Ochita, all-powerful Heavenly Dragon? Did it matter? Ripping himself free from the bull's grasp, he dashed to the side in a blur of motion. Grabbing the bull by the throat, he threw him twenty feet back as he made a hand seal. He couldn't remember which one it was, and he didn't care. "Lightning Style: Striking White Shadows."

A thunderstorm burst over the area as he spoke, pillars of lightning shooting down with one spearing the bull through the chest. It seemed to be more effective than normal, but Okami didn't care at that point. In this state, his eye could see that there was not just one, but TWO kinds of chakra ambient in the world, and he knew instinctively what to do with them. Holding out his hand, he gathered the blueish chakra until it was 8 parts, then gathered 2 parts of the reddish chakra. Swirling them in his hand like he would a Rasengan, he formed a perfect orb that was blackish-purple in nature. Launching it from his palm, he watched as it struck King Minos directly in the head before a massive explosion rocked him and his vision went black.

0720#words
0800#chakra

#Jounin(A)


©2013 caliburn

When Okami's eyes opened, it was to a nurse looking him over with a clipboard clutched in her hand. Looking around blearily, he recognized the facilities as the Amagakure General Hospital. His gear was folded neatly over in the corner, with a note saying that his weaponry was transferred to his home, along with his kunai blade, which was kindly reforged by the smith that made it in the first place. Also on the paper was a congratulatory letter for completing an SS-Ranked mission, and a check for the Ryo that he had accumulated for doing so. Just looking at the number of Ryo he had earned for one mission made his head spin. Was it even legal for them to give him that much?

Getting up, he asked the nurse politely how long he had been in the hospital. According to her, he had been in a week, and had somehow managed to singlehandedly destroy an entire half of the quarantined zone with whatever jutsu he had used. He honestly couldn't recall it even having a name, nor could he see the reddish chakra anymore. He doubted that without using whatever that power was again, he would be able to replicate that jutsu. Gathering his gear and getting dressed, he was mindful of the bandages. Apparently, in addition to the burn damage he had caused to himself in the explosion, he had multiple broken ribs, several ruptured organs, and micro fractures throughout most of his bones. All in all, he was practically the walking dead.

Moving himself into the sunshine was a hassle, due to the pain and the doctors trying to keep him lying down. Shrugging off the last cute nurse that tried to force him into a sitting position, he strode out into the light of day. He wondered idly how they got him back to the main island from the ground before he died on them. Perhaps he had, and they had resuscitated him. He thought he had heard a nurse or two complaining about him going under a few times, but he wasn't sure what they had meant by it. Striding out into the market, he decided he wanted a replacement for his kunai blade. No matter how long he had had the thing, the smith himself would jump for joy at being able to make him a new weapon. It wasn't betrayal, as he would still use the thing, but a nice katana was in order. Maybe, just maybe, he would be able to get the old bladesmith on the adjacent island to make him one. It was said that his were the greatest in all the lands, and he would only forge them for those that were most worthy.

Hopping on a blimp to the mountainous area on the smallest of the outer island was easy, and the difficult part was soon to come. Climbing up the mountain slope would normally be a piece of cake for the shinobi, but Okami was in no shape to do any of that. Therefore, it took him several hours to do a one hour job. Heaving once he had gotten to the top, he leaned on the old hermit smith's door before striding in. Speaking with him, the old smith agreed to make him a blade after he heard his epic tale of defeating the beast. The payment? Pretty much the entire fortune he had amassed for completing the mission, and the horn of King Minos, which Okami had decided to keep as a trophy. The explanation, however, was sound. He was to use the horn as carbon for the blade to make it stronger, and the process would take a week. He would ask for the rest of the payment then, giving Okami some time to gather the proper amount of money and giving the smith the time to make the sword, from ore to blade, infusing chakra the entire time so that the metal would be receptive to elemental chakra being poured into it, and making sure it wouldn't lose it's temper given Okami's affinity for Fire. Despite having to spend that much money, Okami thought, it would be nice to have a blade of that quality, and it was nice to even be alive. Yes, it was a good day to be alive.

0200#words
0800#chakra

#Jounin(A)


©2013 caliburn

Walking back to his home was arduous, even though a week had passed. Clutching his beautiful new sword tightly, he flopped on his bed and fell asleep, dreaming he was back on that battlefield, smoke everywhere, the beast's voice laughing as he tried to get away. He had been having that nightmare recurring for the past week, and wasn't sure if it was survivor's guilt or not. After all, he had learned that the Corporal and his men were killed in a rockslide caused by King Minos' jutsu. He supposed he would have to live with it for the rest of his life.

Climbing out of bed in the morning was a chore, and so was cooking breakfast, or lunch at this point. His hands shook as he boiled the water for noodles and poured them in, planning on making beef teriyaki ramen. It was really what he lived off of for the last week, trying to conserve money for his sword. He still had plenty left over now, but it was more habit than anything from his academy days. Well, he thought, it was a blast as a Genin. Maybe he warranted a team now that he was famous.