There was a plus and a minus to the mission.
On the positive, it wasn't a kill order and there weren't supposed to be any thugs or criminals to keep in line. Those had gotten stale, and frankly, Onamuji was tired of playing the grim reaper, taking lives as regularly as someone bagging groceries. It was necessary, he knew, but it became monotonous. There was more to being a shinobi than killing or binding targets. He wanted to uncover secrets, unlock new sources of power and enlightenment, and experience the world as it was.
On the negative, though it wasn't a kill order, it was a high-risk mission that still had the potential to be a catastrophe. As opposed to a handful of lives, this mission held the balance of a good thousand lives. Not precisely the path to enlightenment he was looking for, but...it broke up the monotony.
A rogue ANBU had painstakingly created an array of chakra seals that formed a massive explosion jutsu. Though his motives were unknown, his intentions were pretty clear. He wanted to shake up the residential district and destroy everything in the area. Early reconnaissance had established that there were no chakra signatures in the area. The ANBU had obviously fled the scene once his array was up. It was then decided that Onamuji would enter the building and negate the seals, carefully and safely rendering their explosive properties inert. The hope was that his knowledge of seals and his innate chakra sight and knowledge of jutsu would enable him a better chance to handle the array as quickly as possible.
"Onamuji, moving in," he announced over the headset.
Naturally, Muji went right to work. He traced a direct path across rooftops and into a window. Aside from some broken glass, it was the most efficient route. Like a flash, the auburn-haired shinobi took off on his path. He leapt and moved across rooftops with an almost blinding speed, until he came to the large gap before the target building and gave a hefty jump into the air. Timing and precision were key. Using his wood element jutsu, the sage covered his skin in a hardened bark-like shell and shattered through the window safely. Bits of broken glass fell from the wooden flesh as he released the jutsu and moved to track the array.
Rinnegan eyes scanned the area, able to detect and read chakra signatures. The recon was accurate, he discovered. Kudos to the ANBU, it seemed. There were no enemies in the building to be seen, which made his job a lot easier. It didn't take long before he found a circular formation of chakra seals a few rooms awat. Moving with all haste, he traversed the halls, keeping wary eyes open for any surprises. When none were to be found, he moved in on the array.
A complex set of fire chakra seals and earth chakra seals seemed to make up the larger composition. Whoever made this array was far more advanced in the sealing arts that Onamuji, unfortunately. However, that didn't make his seals impenetrable. It just required thought. The seals were formed in a chain that created a similar chain reaction...that's what was meant to cause such explosive devastation. If the wrong seal was removed from the equation, it left a destructive gap in the array and the remaining seals would attempt to reconnect with catastrophic results.
Muji scanned one seal to the next, deciphering their markings the best he could. Fire...earth...fire...fire...earth...lightning...
Hm. The sage was a remarkably cunning and intelligent man, but there was a limit to which intellect could only go so far. It seemed like instinct would take over from there.
Gathering his immense and focused chakra, he thanked his lineage for the pure chakra and complete mastery over the elements that the Rikudo Sennin blessed him with. It would make working with elemental seals that much easier. Placing hands on one seal, then the next, he worked in an orderly fashion - pushing chakra into this seal, then another in order to break their composition and render them inert. The thought of failure was far removed from his mind. Such thoughts were nothing but a distraction to anyone under pressure.
And, it seemed to help keep him focused. Aside from a few touchy seals, the chain was being broken piece by piece as the array was being dismantled. After a tense span of time, the sage emerged from the building, giving a firm nod to the ANBU who were silently watching from a distance - a signal of success. The village's little crisis was averted and lives had been saved. Muji's job was done. The suspect involved was now up to the ANBU assigned to take care of.
[WC: 784]
On the positive, it wasn't a kill order and there weren't supposed to be any thugs or criminals to keep in line. Those had gotten stale, and frankly, Onamuji was tired of playing the grim reaper, taking lives as regularly as someone bagging groceries. It was necessary, he knew, but it became monotonous. There was more to being a shinobi than killing or binding targets. He wanted to uncover secrets, unlock new sources of power and enlightenment, and experience the world as it was.
On the negative, though it wasn't a kill order, it was a high-risk mission that still had the potential to be a catastrophe. As opposed to a handful of lives, this mission held the balance of a good thousand lives. Not precisely the path to enlightenment he was looking for, but...it broke up the monotony.
A rogue ANBU had painstakingly created an array of chakra seals that formed a massive explosion jutsu. Though his motives were unknown, his intentions were pretty clear. He wanted to shake up the residential district and destroy everything in the area. Early reconnaissance had established that there were no chakra signatures in the area. The ANBU had obviously fled the scene once his array was up. It was then decided that Onamuji would enter the building and negate the seals, carefully and safely rendering their explosive properties inert. The hope was that his knowledge of seals and his innate chakra sight and knowledge of jutsu would enable him a better chance to handle the array as quickly as possible.
"Onamuji, moving in," he announced over the headset.
Naturally, Muji went right to work. He traced a direct path across rooftops and into a window. Aside from some broken glass, it was the most efficient route. Like a flash, the auburn-haired shinobi took off on his path. He leapt and moved across rooftops with an almost blinding speed, until he came to the large gap before the target building and gave a hefty jump into the air. Timing and precision were key. Using his wood element jutsu, the sage covered his skin in a hardened bark-like shell and shattered through the window safely. Bits of broken glass fell from the wooden flesh as he released the jutsu and moved to track the array.
Rinnegan eyes scanned the area, able to detect and read chakra signatures. The recon was accurate, he discovered. Kudos to the ANBU, it seemed. There were no enemies in the building to be seen, which made his job a lot easier. It didn't take long before he found a circular formation of chakra seals a few rooms awat. Moving with all haste, he traversed the halls, keeping wary eyes open for any surprises. When none were to be found, he moved in on the array.
A complex set of fire chakra seals and earth chakra seals seemed to make up the larger composition. Whoever made this array was far more advanced in the sealing arts that Onamuji, unfortunately. However, that didn't make his seals impenetrable. It just required thought. The seals were formed in a chain that created a similar chain reaction...that's what was meant to cause such explosive devastation. If the wrong seal was removed from the equation, it left a destructive gap in the array and the remaining seals would attempt to reconnect with catastrophic results.
Muji scanned one seal to the next, deciphering their markings the best he could. Fire...earth...fire...fire...earth...lightning...
Hm. The sage was a remarkably cunning and intelligent man, but there was a limit to which intellect could only go so far. It seemed like instinct would take over from there.
Gathering his immense and focused chakra, he thanked his lineage for the pure chakra and complete mastery over the elements that the Rikudo Sennin blessed him with. It would make working with elemental seals that much easier. Placing hands on one seal, then the next, he worked in an orderly fashion - pushing chakra into this seal, then another in order to break their composition and render them inert. The thought of failure was far removed from his mind. Such thoughts were nothing but a distraction to anyone under pressure.
And, it seemed to help keep him focused. Aside from a few touchy seals, the chain was being broken piece by piece as the array was being dismantled. After a tense span of time, the sage emerged from the building, giving a firm nod to the ANBU who were silently watching from a distance - a signal of success. The village's little crisis was averted and lives had been saved. Muji's job was done. The suspect involved was now up to the ANBU assigned to take care of.
[WC: 784]