Shimiko & Seigi's Wild Adventure Part III

Seigi would think for a moment, trying to think of the best course of action.
“I think… we can make this easy on ourselves.” Seigi would say, then looking to the power box.
“Do you know any time release techniques?” Seigi would ask, walking over to the box.
“If we can cause a gas leak, especially here in this room, we can let it build up. Then, if we can cause a spark…” He would imitate an explosion with this hands.” It was simple, but effective.

“We can come back the day of and ensure our targets don’t escape. I can seal the doors with sand to make sure they can’t leave their quarters. Strike at night, when everyone is asleep and unprepared.”

Shimiko nodded in an understanding fashion. “That could work. As for time release techniques, not quite although I can manipulate my blood from very far distances….much farther than most people can. Perhaps I can manipulate by blood to crack open one of the gas pipes. We’d be long gone by then and any forensic analyst couldn’t tie the gas rupture back to Bibito and Babito” She watched as he walked over to the box. Engineering was always more Natsuru’s thing. She wasn’t very good at judging structural integrity and plannig demolitions. Her tactics in that were regard were pretty basic.

“Striking at night will work….”

She didn’t bring up the kids.

Seigi didn’t bring the kids up either.

“That plan sounds perfect.” He would say. “So, we genjutsu the staff, make a gas leak, come back, use your abilities to trigger an explosion.” He would say out loud, repeating the plan in it’s entirety to make sure they were on the same page. “Meanwhile, I ensure the targets don’t make it out alive. Seems like a simple enough operation, don’t ya think?” Seigi would joke. It sounded weird coming from his mouth, Seigi not used to the higher influctions a female version of him would have in her voice.

“I’ll be honest, I don’t have much skills in the way of Genjutsu.” He would admit. Where he thrived in Fuuinjutsu, genjutsu had always been his weakness.

himiko nodded concurring with his summary of the plan. “Its never that simple but Jashin willing this time we can actually make it home in time for dinner….I’m making lamb chops” she said with a smile. Of course, in her Bibito form it appeared as though she was missing some teeth. The two of them sounded totally hilarious. If Shimiko was that type of girl she’d make a Tok-Tik account and do funny skits with Seigi and the twins.

“I got you covered on the Genjutsu portion of things”

Shimiko made a shadow clone. That shadow clone used Transformation Jutsu to turn into a rat. That rat in turn sported a pair of Ketsryugan. It ran off in another direction and would make its way through the large mansion. Hitting several servants with Genjutsu: Ketsurygan.


“Oh yeah, weren’t we supposed to do something with the electricity?”

“We’re supposed to be gathering generator readings.” He would say, looking back to the power box. He figured it wouldn’t hurt to at least look at the thing. Walking over to it, he would observe it, making sure it actually DID have a feed to the mansion. Not only did it, but it was actually the main conduit box for the whole building.

“You know, they designed these castles to stand against entire armies.” Seigi would say, tinkering with the box to get it open. “But we didn’t take into account interior materials and how flammable these things are. Those stone walls outside can take the strong Futon techniques, but the insides of the bad boys goes up in flames if a candle so much as falls over.” She would grin, finishing her work.

“I guess that’s what they get for still using paper walls. I’m done here.” She would say, quickly taking her spot by her brother.

“You finished playing with your toys?”

Shimiko listened to Seigi with one ear while the other focused on ensuring the Rat was doing its job. Seigi appeared to know a lot about structure and engineering. Shimiko nodded and laughed. “No kidding...I had a close friend of mine who was really good with building buildings. She’d probably throw a fit if she saw some of the support work in this place. Some people jsut lack vision.”

Seigi asked if she was done playing with her toys to which she sucked her teeth and knitted her brow in faux-annoyance. The young woman disgusied as a grown man bumped him with his/her hips.

“So impatient! I am just. About. Done!” The rat poofed after it had mind-wraped the last maid. The leak would be progressive and complex. It wouldn’t start from one person. It was a serious of mistakes from several different maids. This would make it fairly difficult to trace.


Bibito turned to his younger sister. “Ready?”

She would nod.

“Ready! All I gotta do is tell those guards some electrical mumbo jumbo and they’ll just nod their head.” She would say, taking her place by her brother’s side. It was weird, to Seigi. He and Tetsuo had never gone on missions together. In fact, his entire life, his brother made sure to let him know just how hated he was. It wasn’t until he had become substantially stronger that his brother recognized him as his equal. Shimiko made him feel more like family than he ever really had, and he didn’t know her at all. He was slightly jealous of this universe’s Seigi for a moment, knowing that for their entire life, they had a good relationship, good enough that Shimiko’s love for her brother had somehow brought Seigi here, to her. The odds of that happening were slim to none. And yet, here they were. Brother and sister, bound by powers beyond the cosmos. Seigi started to think that maybe Jashin really was real. Maybe his universe’s Jashinism was a perversion of what it was supposed to be? He wasn’t sure. But whatever the case, he was ready to get out of this fucking basement.

“Yeah because they’ll be too busy looking at…well you know” Shimiko laughed. Shimiko-Bibito then turned to get out of the basement. The way out was pretty self-explanatory. The maids didn’t give them any trouble as they exited the premises and the guards didn’t even bother to search them. Shimiko once more used her prodigious acting skills to play the concerned brother. He let Babito do her electro-mumbo jumbo and soon they were home-free. Shimiko kept up the disguise until they were a significant distance from the residence. She ducked into an alleway and walked out as Shimiko Chinoike.

“Phew! I really really really love acting but that role was something else” she sighed in an exasperated fashion.

Seigi walked forward, slightly funny for a moment, before correcting himself. “You’re telling me. How do women walk around with their center of gravity so offset?” He would ask, shaking his head. “But hey, acting is an art. Some of us are just artists.” He would joke, teasing her. Truth be told, she did a better job than he did, he just loved to talk shit. It helped ease his mind, but he couldn’t stop thinking about the kids in there. However, the wheels of fate had been set in motion. Maybe they might get lucky and be out of the castle when they came back.

“I say let’s give it a week. That basement is big and it’s gonna take a lot of gas. However, all that wine will help give it a nice boost.” He would say, having not even thought about how flammable the wine was previously.

Shimiko laughed as Seigi re-balanced himself. Walking around as a woman had done a number on him. There was a school of thought that held that the strongest ninja were always women because they had to learn a level of balance and coordination that men did not and shinobi battles tended to be won based on precision and speed as opposed to brute force strength and endurance. Shimiko acted mock offended when he implied he was a better actor or “artist” than she was. She placed a hand to her chest and gave him a look of fake annoyance.

“I will have you know that my performance as Raijin won me an Academy Award, 2 million ryo, and a new brother” she said with a wink.

“A week sounds good. Let’s reconvene at the same spot under the cover of darkness.”

Shimiko hadn’t forgotten about the kids either although she had hoped that Seigi did.

A week later, the duo had arrived in the same spot they departed, Seigi once again donning his black hakama and robe, liking to keep things traditional. Seigi was a traditionalist at heart, but he believed that stemmed from his clan. His clan had once been big on keeping things the same, keeping culture and tradition going. That’s part of the reason he had picked up the blade, if he was being honest, but it worked out all the better.

“I’ll sneak into the compound to make sure the targets are there. I’ll use that seal I gave you to let you know when you’re good to activate the explosion. Hopefully this should all be very quick and simple. Are you ready?” Seigi would ask, tightening his gloves and pulling his mask over his face. Once she gave him the go ahead, he would spring into action, quickly moving towards the walls of the mansion. Jumping to the top of the wall, Seigi would run along it before jumping from it to a pagoda, rolling into the shadows.

“I’m in.”

Shimiko was on the same ridge overlooking the compound that they had started out at when the mission began. Seigi communicated to her via the seal that he had entered the compound. The blonde pressed a finger to her neck and confirmed. “Copy that...I have a good bit of blood can use to set of the explosion” Shimiko activated her Ketsryugan and felt the blood that she had left in the compound stir to life. The liquid swirled and picked up a pair of rocks. She was ready to use it as a pair of flints the second Seigi gave her the go ahead.

“Let me know when you’re ready” she bid.

The blonde wondered if he would try to save the kids. The mission was sensitive and she had urged against it but she wasn’t in a position to physically stop him if that’s what he chose. It would reveal a lot about his character and his principles depending on what he chose to do.

The mansion itself wasn’t guarded as well as he had anticipated, finding entrance into the main building incredibly easy. Moving from building to building, he would find his way to the larger portion of the estate, where he was sure their targets would reside. The hallways were empty and dimly lit as Seigi crept through them slowly, only stopping to admire the random piece of art work here and there. Despite how he got it, the man had an impressive collection on display.

“I’m in the main building now.” He would say, keeping his sister updated on his location. Creeping slowly, he would hug the corner nearest to Nazgul’s quarters, a lone guard patrolling the hallway. Seigi would move quickly, sneaking up behind the man, the guard not realizing Seigi was upon him until he was directly behind him. Turning to face Seigi, the ANBU would move quick, his katana piercing upward, into the bottom of the man’s jaw, through the top of his head. Wiping the blood from his blade, he would resheath it, quietly opening the sliding door to Nazgul’s quarters, only enough to peer inside. He would close the door, opening up his gourd, as he did, manipulating the sand to flow freely along the cracks, hardening up as they did.

“Target located and sealed tight”

“Wonderful” Shimiko replied. “Okay, get out of there Seigi….I’m going to get ready to set off the explosion” Shimiko closed her eyes and prepared to start striking the rocks together to trigger the explosion. She’d wait until Seigi specifically declared he was safely away from the mansion. The young woman slightly recalled the basis of Chinoike Blood manipulation. She was just a kid when she had mastered the subtle and powerful art of blood manipulation and now here she was Captain of the ANBU Squad ready to use it against the nation’s enemies. Shimiko had come a long way and she was awfully glad that she had. The Damiyou would of course be rather pissed that Nazgul had been killed in the explosian but the way they had planned this operation it would be pretty much impossible to trace this back to them. He’d have to sit there and take it. Perhaps in the back of his head he would think better than to move against the Church or Nariko-sensei. No one messed with Shimiko’s loved ones.

Seigi wanted to check on the kids room. He very badly wanted to know if they were there or not, having miraculously gone to a relatives or something of that sort. Instead of checking, Seigi decided specifically not to. Whether they were there, or not, were irrelevant to the mission, and Seigi didn’t want to bear the weight on his conscious. It was Shrodinger’s Children. Trapped in a sealed box with leaking gas, they were either alive or not. Quickly making his way back the way he came, he would exit through the same exit, onto the roof the mansion, then to the same Pagoda, and over the wall. He was now officially off the property, which mean’t that Shimiko was now free to act

“I’m off the property. Do it.” He would speak, quickly making his way back towards Shimiko’s location. He at least wanted a good view of the fireworks.

Shimiko saw Seigi leave the property. He didn’t bring any of the children. She released a sigh. She wasn’t sure what she would do if he had. Killing them and placing them in the wreckage probably would not fool forensic analysts. And this wasn’t the sort of thing that Shimiko would necessarily hate Seigi for. She could understand and sympathize his care for the children but it was also good to know that when it came down to it he was fully ready and willing to do what needed to be done for his country. Shimiko heard him say that he was officially off the property.

She waited until he was by her side and then within the basement she began clinking two rocks together.

All I need is one spark….

The atmosphere in the cellar was choked with gas and the walls and pillars were damp with the flammable substance. The wine would add some nice *oomph* and flavor to the blast as well. All that remained was getting this show on the road. Shimiko closed her eyes and focused on the rocks. A stream of blood held each of them and she kept on clicking them until…

BOOM!

A massive explosion erupted in the cellar. Fire cascading high into the sky and sending the entire mansion up in flames. The pillars had been blasted away and in a few seconds the entire pagoda like structure collapsed in on itself. It sank into the ground crushing all of the inhabitants within. Shimiko sighed a breath of releif. They had done it.

Nazgul had been successfully eliminated.

“Mission accomplished.” Seigi would say, watching as the mansion went up in flames, the dangerous mix in the basement providing them all the fuel they needed. It was an inferno that would be most impressive, but also draw lots of attention.

“I think we should get out of here. First response teams will be here any minute.” Seigi would say, making sure he hadn’t left anything incriminating around them. He didn’t want this to lead back to him or Shimiko, but if it did somehow, he was sure they were fine. He couldn’t help but think about the kids though. They weighed heavily on his mind. Walking away from the scene, Seigi would walk and talk with Shimiko.

“So, I’ve been meaning to give you something.” He would tell her, reaching into his pocket. He had thought about it heavily, but he had made his decision. He didn’t need a lot of words to portray what was happening. His loyalties were shifting. Konoha wasn’t the same Konoha that had bailed him out, and there was no way he could go back there after everything he had been through here.

“If you’d have me, I’d love to have a home here.” Handing his Lead Village headband to Shimiko, he would smile gently. "Don't give me an answer right now. Think on it. I know how difficult it might make things. I've weighed this on my mind for awhile now and I think it makes the most sense." Taking a step back from Shimiko, Seigi would sight a breath of relief.

"I'll be at the tower when you make your decision."

With that, he would shift his feet, turn away, and begin walking home.

[EXIT]

Shimiko watched with a smug satisfaction as the mansion was utterly destroyed. Nazgul and his family had been terminated and no one would be the wiser. Shimiko nodded in response to his statement and got up to leave. They ensured that not a trace of their involvement was left and soon the pair were casually strolling down the street.

He said he had been meaning to give her something and the blonde turned in response to see what it was. It was his Leaf Village Headband. She stared at it for a moment and listened to his words. He was switching villages. He wanted to stay in Kumogakure as he now consideered it his home. He insisted that she take her time and think about it. There were significant political and military consequences to consider. Their plan hadn't really accounted for him staying long term. He said he'd be at the Tower awaiting her answer but Shimiko grabbed his wrist before he could turn away. She hugged him.

"Yes. The answer is unequivocally yes. I don't need time to think about it. Kumo will always be your home in this universe or in any other. Welcome back big brother" she'd say. She broke the hug and smiled. They could go back to the Tower together. Shimiko had left the scene feeling whole. Her family had returned to her.

EXIT