Forced Cooperation (Group Mission)

Guard duty eh? Yes, this could be completed with efficiency and without undue effort that would cause lasting harm, an acceptable thing for the newly 'knighted' ninja who knew they couldn't punch too far above their own station, or if they could, now was not the time to attempt to. Clutch efforts may be needed in the future but surely they would not be needed now when peace seemed to have a hold of most of the civilized world, sure there were problems in the wild but such would be the case until they could be tamed and claimed. A thought for another time however, now one would behoove oneself to focus upon the task at hand and thus turned their attention to the patrol mission.

Garbed in their normal regalia, their black beak of a mask was covered by a purple hood which was sealed unto a black cloak and all of the outfit looked much like someone who did not want outside air getting in though Plague Uzumaki used it to hide their identity more than anything. Underneath all this was their flack jacket and within the many pouches of the cloak were items of various utility though they still lacked the chemicals that one was accustomed to, ah well. Perhaps one day that would change, but trust was not something the medical ninja could often afford in life and was a very rare luxurious commodity at this point. Thinking of the mission the ninja did wonder if they would be paired around someone within their experience level, they had heard that it was a ninja from the Sun village and as such was looking forward to meeting them with great anticipation.

The first thing Plague would notice about the Sun ninja is that they were as tall as themselves, but slunched, as it was Plague being slouched themself they were three inches shorter at five foot seven inches. He truly seemed dressed better for the heat as well though it could not be helped on the Uzumaki's end that they did not adapt as well to the humidity found there, no doubt their companion simply had their garb from the desert country that was the biome where their village was hidden within. The odd thing about the man was that he wore no shoes and had red eyes, an Uchiha perhaps? One had heard of such things within their studies but did the clan have little squiggles as well? One simply could not remember how it went, they were simply not accustomed to nor privy to the secrets held under the Sun.

Following the lead of their companion but coming in from behind them and the opposite way that Sojiro Sakura had entered into or rather exited, well archways are weird, Plague came up from behind regardless and sat down cross legged and waved with their right arm while giving a nod and then speaking in their cheerful muffled voice which masked things like pitch and certain other speech tics but allowed tone to be understood well enough, "Hello there buddy, are you the Sun ninja that's supposed to patrol with me? I am known as Plague, it is nice to meet you."

"Thank you, I figure it is best to advertise what I am" Plague would chirp cheerfully through the mask while swaying back and forth while seated side to side in a blissful manner. "Sojiro Sakura, I shall do my best to remember your name and guide us along the way though I must warn you that shorts in the jungle may expose you to certain nasties that one would not be used to if they lived in other environments. Oh you're tall..."

Plague would look at the person opposite of them as they stood up while remaining seated and replying to their words spoken with glee before getting distracted by the youth's actual height. The Uzumaki was then extended a hand as a help up and accepted the help getting pulled up easily due to their light weight, arriving to their standing position with a bit of a jump Plague would bounce on their heels while humming in a light hearted tone.

To the person buried underneath so much clothing they had met a potential new friend, those were always good to make in their book and the more friends one had the easier life became from Plague's observation. The smaller ninja fell into step behind the male who was quickly walking towards the line of the jungle, as they did so they would fold their arms behind their back and sway back and forth with a slight skip in their step while continuing to hum until answering the final question lodged in this period of time, "Depends on what you call interesting, I mean I for one always enjoy that interesting part of the forest that glows, but most deadly things are rather subdued and not what one would describe as interesting to a layman but rather more fascinating in a laboratory setting or for someone who like botany, animals, or just the outside in general." Plague would bring a hand from behind their back to rub the underside of their beaked mask like one would rub their chin in thought as they spoke, remaining slightly slouched and with the other arm behind their back they truly looked the part of a scientist.

Though Plague Uzumaki could not predict the interesting events that would take part that day, soon to take them by surprise.

Plague pondered the response before responding simply in a friendly tone, "Well you see, it's quite common when the top layer of a jungle is blocked out by the leaves of the tallest tree. If the canopy cannot let light through, things will have to provide for themselves and bio-luminescence is one such way!" The Uzumaki always got excited at the prospect of spreading more knowledge and information out into the world and thus seized this opportunity with a fierce relish. Perhaps one day they would have the chance to put that zeal into use by officially teaching others, but that would be much down the line for themselves.

The next part of verbal conveyance would be digested a bit slower as the ninja processed the words, wildlife was also something they took note and interest of and in. As such they could convey a bit but they felt as though the person across from them now was much more versed in the subject and as such thought would be needed before replying with wind from ones own throat. The way this was all phrased revealed the stark difference in thought between natives of the two villages, unlike the Uzumaki themselves, a Moon villager would wonder the opposite, how a creature could live without foliage. After all the Moon native would assume that was the only way for herbivores to survive, plentiful and obvious plant material. This was not always the case, nature found quite a few creative ways to have a biome exist without collapsing.

"Well I think as we explore you can see, most animals use it to hide or as sustenance so be alert and use your ears over your eyes. Hold-" as they spoke they were moving into the thick greenery of the jungle and the black cloaked ninja would extend their arm in front of their companion. Not twenty meters ahead a black shadow could be seen moving the brushes aside with it's body as it passed through. It looked as though Sojiro would have their wish filled earlier and perhaps in a different way than expected but still, the monkey paw curled.

Glad for the fact that the mask could hide their indignant facial expression Plague responded politely, "I've been here over a year, we don't have to collect I have extra samples of most every specimen you could have." One of the few things that the Uzumaki Scientist took pride in was their tireless efforts to push the envelope on technology so they could not hide their gut reaction to a perceived slight that was not there even if their consciousness knew better. They had spent quite a bit of time collecting far too many things from the countryside of their new home and had sprung a museum of oddities back at their actual brick and mortar house. The two ninjas could easily hop back there for tea after the mission and Plague could give Sojiro any specimen their heart desired within limit.

The Uzumaki doctor would take note of their companion's fascination with the birds that swirled above in their lazy patterns, chirping away in glee as they lacked daylight predators for the most part allowing a lackadaisical existence for the amicable avian wildlife. Luckily the doctor had books of their own notes on such creatures back at their domiciliary as well and would simply have to remember to suggest those as well.

Eyes widening under their mask with extreme excitement, the doctor bite their tongue to ensure they did not squeal in glee too loudly and alert what they were seeing. "The reason it's bigger than a baby, is that it is a baby Hive Queen, look at her crest oh my god, we have to catch her. I have always been looking for an opportunity like this, normally raising a Sliver is hard and pointless but raising something that controls other Slivers could have so many applications, who knows, maybe we could learn to communicate with them. I am extremely excited, allow me to attempt to placate it." Their words flowed a mile a minute, the wind picking up pace as the tenor of anticipation built up, the hushed tones audible through the mask only to Sojiro as Plague began to creep forward towards the Queen.

Plague extended their arm towards the beast after crouching forward and moving closer, they were now within reaching distance of the beast but wanted to do this on their terms as that would allow for an easier rearing process when this was completed. One of two things would now happen, the Sliver Queen would bluster but submit to their curiosity and allow the two ninja there to approach more and attempt to tame it or it would attack, and Plague would have to swear Sojiro to secrecy were that to happen.

Animals had an odd way of sensing another person's emotions and intent better than humans could most often, such as a dog knowing the difference between a new neighbor and a burglar coming to case their home for later robbery. It may have been because of this that Plague Uzumaki was allowed to approach so close to the Queen Sliver who looked at the leather cloaked person with wide eyes and a curious, perhaps, look upon her face. The moment would stretch on for a time as a bond was instantly reached, an unspoken, almost telepathic thing of knowing each other upon a greeting. While most would think that a creature bred and designed to control other would not look for a parental figure, but all adolescent creatures did and so it would be that this one attached itself to Plague.

The warning cry came and the doctor instinctively covered the smallish Sliver with their body before hearing the commotion and recognizing their newfound friend had covered them both from the attack and then they twirled around with that in mind to assess the situation for themselves. This allowed the adolescent Queen to hiss at the other and flee from the scene as their own survival instinct would prompt.

"Are you certain? Eh....fuck it, I will be back as quick as I can" the second part was stated as Plague would jet through the full foliage at an extremely quick pace crashing through the fauna and displacing wildlife in a way they would never normally do in their race after the young Sliver Queen who was Five Feet in length and half a foot in width at most points.

It would be a run of fifteen meters before the masked person would catch up with their goal unfortunately allowing quite some time to pass before they could return to aide their friend...

An explosion would bloom out as the beast began to rush towards the injured ninja, metal shrapnel from the caltrop used to carry the exploding tag would shred the Sliver as the concussive and fire damage pushed the thing back quite a bit. While it was now blooded and cut up, with a limb missing and it's face halfway blown off it still lived and roared at the two ninja. Plague Uzumaki had arrived back on the scene with the adolescent Sliver now hesitantly following behind them much akin to a lost puppy.

"Sojiro, fix yourself first and then use ranged attacks on this thing" Plague would yell as they hurled another caltrop through the air, they intentionally exploded it a bit prematurely to force the beast further back though the metal would still shrapnel in cutting deep into it's torso enraging the creature even more than it was previously causing the Uzumaki doctor to wonder if that was the best route and just how resilient some slivers were, things to be pondered later. While to the outside observer it would appear now that the battle would easily shift and become a cake walk for the two ninja, but unfortunately it was a bit more complex than the casual eye could pick up on. The situation was a bit more dire than the genin had no doubt expected this mission to be when they took it, and running would not be a very long lasting option if they foolishly decided to take that route.

No matter what the pair did they would have quite the fight ahead of them unless some sort of miracle were to happen it looked like the duo could very well be in trouble. Without divine intervention this was an uphill battle, while injured the creature was still stronger than Sojiro and certainly stronger than Plague if that were the case, though the Uzumaki would not know that. Instead they simply knew the beast was stronger, faster and more resilient than the two ninja and truth be told the Doctor was pre-occupied by worrying about the baby Sliver Queen who was hiding behind them currently.

The next explosion that would occur was of blood and bone;

Physics are quite a tricky thing as the beast they would be fighting would figure out, while rushing headfirst into a foe would work rather often in the animal kingdom that would be a foolish choice on this day, one that was chosen none of the less to the behest of a few whom descended swirling into a madness of their own creation, a plaguebearer rising from the sins of their sacrifice of sanity to the god of themselves that they had made within the temple of their own mind. If one could apply the same amount of force in an opposite direction at the same time one could instantly shatter whatever was delivering the force, the matter was not if it could be done but if it could be timed out properly.

Whilst there was truly nothing to be done about the first tail lash that had flung Sojiro a total of twelve feet into a thirty foot oka tree that shook with his impact as the other ninja groaned. Not that Plague was looking there, no, they were focused in on the hunt for the second follow up 'kill strike' that would no doubt fall onto Sojiro before he could even speak. Plague had told them to focus on range and healing themselves, when Sojiro ignored them Plague decided to focus their attention fully on putting the thing down themselves. The Uzumaki was a deliberate beast of plodding intent after all and the doctor would stop at nothing to stop this beast from destroying what was supposed to be a perfectly fine and mundane day in which they had found a cute new pet.

This ire hyper-focused them into seeing a tunnel vision of their plan and allowing the timing to spiral outward into the exact dimensions needed, the beast was attempting two things after all and one would be lashing forward and outward with it's jaws. Jaws which housed teeth as long as Plague's own forearm itself, still the doctor was betting far more money on what was attached to their forearm into comparison of what was attached to those teeth of the same dimensions. Some bets needed to be hedged, but this one would only work if they went all out.

Nay instead the bright neon glow of purple would erupt with an eldrich presence from the left shoulder-blade of the chemist who was fully consumed in an icey rage as they felt their perception of reality shift with the activation of the seal allowing them to match the Sliver's speed easily and rushing forward with a mark appearing upon their sinful hand, it would come down to catch the limb of the sliver that was coming in from below and to the right in order to hook the nasty claw into Sojiro's underside and gut him before consumption.

Not that this would happen in the viewing of the Elysian Grandeval Galèriarch whilst they held the other within their esteem, instead the deed would be completed upon the crux of two actions that seemingly rolled into one just like a hand would roll from one side to the other. Which of course also happened, as Plague moved forward to intercept their legs moving in a mirror matched with the sliver's movements they would slide their arm forward from the now frozen in air arm that they had sapped the energy from.

"Back of the hand!" the Uzumaki chirped gleefully bringing the back of their left hand into direct opposition of the head of the sliver which exploded into bloody giblets from the two equal but opposing forces that met together upon that point, the chakra from the jutsu ensuring that Plague's hand did not suffer the same fate as they maniacally laughed at the spraying fountain of a corpse that fell in front of them. As it fell and crimson liquid spewed tens of feet into the air and rained down upon them, they would turn back to look at Sojiro, "I thought you might know medical jutsu, do you need your thigh healed? I have plenty of chakra left." While it did not matter the Uzumaki would still have the seal active out of a simple knowledge it would turn off soon anyways, the purple glow puncturing through the thick black cloak that the ninja wore.

The Sliver Queen that had followed Plague back now slithered up to them before rearing back up onto it's 'hind-tail?' and regarded the two ninja with an odd sort of intelligence, just what had they stumbled upon to here.

Jutsu Used:

75|100 - Stamina
120|130 - Chakra

Cocking their head to the side at the statement of being fine the Doctor would analyse and regard the wounds, it was nothing he would die from so they would not strip the free will from the other shinobi by healing them forcibly against their own will though Plague did want to do just that. A certain politeness and etiquette of participating with others would prevent their parental instincts from kicking in and just caring for the other shinobi's wounds. Still this cool guy act would fly for now as the Uzumaki had seen Sojiro handle himself quite easily before during the fight for the most part, delivering blows with ease that were a high feat for any ninja.

The masked person in a thick black cloak laughed at the second question before settling down completely and replying in a happy tone, "No, I just utilize jutsu to flip kinetic energy back onto others. The mystical arts of sealing are quite useful in their varied utilities to be fair this is hardly the most impressive thing it can pull off, I am simply still not skilled enough to allow sufficient shine to show through for this specialty. Still looked like you could hit feats of strength near that level without expending chakra, that is quite a bit more impressive in my opinion at least." Plague would speak cheerfully while absentmindedly scratching the head of the Sliver who had nuzzled her head into position.

Now that was odd, it felt far too naturally a habit to fall into, well regardless the matter at hand was naming this small creature that had become the interesting point of the mission besides the blossoming respect affixed by each ninja for the other. "Aubergine the Sliver Queen" Plague would say in almost a whisper as they looked down to regard the creature who had came into their life just a few short moments ago but had now seemed to ingratiate herself like she was there the whole time.

"So what now Sojiro-san?" the masked figure would ask in a louder tone, coming off as a bit gruff due to the mask's muffling of voice.

Aubergine accepted Sojiro's affectionant pets with a hearty...purr? Perhaps? Plague was uncertain other than the fact that it was some kind of happy noise.

"Well I will bring you to a resturant near my place, grab the books and meet you back there." The Uzumaki spoke cheerfully as they followed both of their new friends out of the jungle and back towards the village.