[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/aFoHGUO.png?1[/img] [b][h2][color=004b80]Arima Shuu - Tametomo[/color][/h2] Ame - Suna - Konoha Border, Harvest Festival[/b][/center] [hr] It was only just a few days ago that Arima Shuu had an undying urge to put into action this grandiose assault the Red Sages had planned for an extended period of time now. Countless efforts of preparation, resources gathering, coordination, training and careful planning, all for this event. Being the subject of slight nepotism, Arima had the chance to part take in Seijo's careful planning along with the higher jonin of the Red Sages, prompting him to express a powerful passion among his peers when mentioning the 'big event'. Having risen the spirits of his many friends and colleagues, he almost felt like part of this operation would be successful thanks to the admiration many of the new ones had for him. This excitement would completely drown in the final, sleepless night he'd have prior to the festival. Devoured by fear of death and general stress of being for the first time in his life in a truly hostile environment. Until now it was easy covert operations and petty theft at Confederate warehouses that weren't that well guarded in the first place. But now, he was going to have to murder, and face people with the same obligations geared toward him. The idea alone of taking a life was making him anxious, having rarely conducted the act if he were to be frank. As the sun rose, Arima's mother, a woman whom take part in this invasion too, came along to wake him up, only to find him drenched in sweat and the body as tense as ever. As much as his honor urged him to, he just didn't want to go, he didn't want to risk it all even if it was what he wanted deep down. Making his way to the base for final preparations, he long thought of the stakes all of this entailed. The people counted on him, his friends counted on his example but most of all his lineage would forever be tarnished if he were to cower away. His heart raced at the idea of being the black stain of the family, and as such, assaulted a poor, lone tree along the way to release his contained frustration of this dilemma. At least when he'd arrive, he'd be freed for that. "[color=004b80]Let's do this, guys.[/color]" He simply said as he entered the common room where the young were preparing for the big strike. All of them looked at him in awe while the more senior members either chuckled at the evident bullshitter or simply remained quiet, disillusioned or simply occupied. With these looks, Arima felt both immensely motivated to make them proud but also terrible for giving them hope that he couldn't even harness for himself. Time moved so fast at this point, and he'd barely even feel time pass during his own final preps. He wore his typical white attire with his navy blue boots and black combat gloves, never forgetting the Red Sages armband. The final touch would be a stolen ANBU mask to conceal his identity. Various kunai and explosive, the general shinobi weapons and he was ready. "[color=003471]... It's showtime, I guess.[/color]" He mumbled to himself, followed by a silent sigh. [hr] In the midst of the event, the young Tametomo had already blended in using the transformation technique to appear as a typical middle-aged man enjoying the festival like any other civilian next to his much bold cousin. Too stressed to even look normal, he never addressed her until the signal. He tried his best to contain his sweat, as he anticipated the signal with a twisted stomach. Eventually however, the flare would emerge in the clear skies of the border, accompanied by a powerful roar from the shot. Barely a second later, he would be ducking in his attributed position as the bombs went off in various places. He in turn, used the Kai hand seal to activate a couple of the tags he set himself, mostly on stands where people would be concentrated in. "[color=003471]Go![/color]" He shouted for his nearby Red Sage comrades to hear before he'd revert to his normal, masked appearance. Without hesitation, he immediately jumped a confused guard shinobi with a kunai in hand, cutting up the back of his neck without even turning back a he kept running forward. He wasn't sure if he killed, he felt as though he hit, but the adrenaline made hi almost insensitive to a whole lot of things as well as making him unsure about mostly anything. He didn't think much however and focused on the mission. Despite all the smoke around, he could distinguish a few influential figures surrounded by above average shinobi. This was his time to shine, he was going to get the bald head of that defenseless politician for his comrades, for his honor. His Glorious Cosmos activated, the boots becoming somewhat brighter with an electrical aura surrounding it. Jumping one of the shinobi by surprised again, he'd land on her face, thus giving her a nice, direct shock to he forehead. She'd be knocked out, but the others would take notice of him quickly. They didn't seem so tough, more like cheap state soldiers, but he feared that Confederation Shinobi of higher class would quickly jump at the opportunity to defend the government's assets. He dashed in an attempt to take the man down quickly while hoping that Neki would get rid of these fodder before they'd swarm him. [hr] [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/XrYa8Ud.png[/img] [b][color=f26522][h2]Yakoul Kakariko[/h2] The Confederation's General of Armed Forces[/color] Stockpot Inn - Suna Border, 5 KM from the Festival[/b][/center] [hr] Ever since the death of Tarara Tametomo, Yakoul has been more or less ... Jobless. Not that it didn't have anything to do, it just didn't have any big army to completely crush. The thing is that it would be a bit sour toward the 11th Corp for taking the Red Sage's head instead of itself, but there were never hard feelings in that regard with the feline warlord. These days all it could really do was either do typical shinobi Jonin stuff and part take in more fun than average events. The Farming Feast wasn't particularly interesting, especially considering farmers were Yakoul's number one meals during its days as a stray beast. Nonetheless it made the effort to at least check it out, maybe see a tasty cow or two they'd be presenting during some sort of stupid competition of cattle. The Red Sages would however catch Yakoul during one of its cat-like naps. Indeed, the bed in the Inn was just so comfortable that it practically skipped most of the interesting events of the feast. The sounds of the first explosion would be enough to have the Commander's right ear perk up and turn to the direction of the window. At first it thought it was just a bunch of idiots playing with explosives while hunting for dangerous animals, but as they increased, it felt compelled to get up with a groggy look. Walking its completely naked body toward the window, it checked by reflex the Inn's porch before gradually looking upwards to see if the bombs went off anywhere nearby. Despite its sleepy state, it didn't take long for it to notice the residues of the flare and the masses of smoke where the festival was taking place. "[color=f26522]Cock-a-doodle-what-the-shit is this?[/color]" Evidently grumpy from such a forced awakening, it rubbed its face to see if it wasn't just seeing things since sleepwalking was a thing. Upon closer inspection, it realized it was absolutely true. Somewhat dumbfounded that such a boring and mundane event would have such a dramatic turn, it stared at it speechless for about ten seconds before grinning in glee. It was like it had just received the illuminating message of an angel revealing the path to salvation, its eyes sparkling in excitement as it finally had something worthwhile to do. Swiftly, it put on its regular clothes, a blue shirt, organe shorts and dark blue shoes. Nothing more, nothing less. Oh and maybe a few surprise tools under its sleeve. As it ran out, of the Inn, leaving probably triple of the amount it owed the Inn-owner out of complete lack of mathematical prowess and hate, it employed its extreme speed to cheese through the five kilometers without any issue. It was mostly desert at this side of the border anyway so the trip didn't have too much of a problem. Taking just under a minute to arrive at the scene, it hopped on one of the old buildings set there so it could have a good overlook of the situation. Civilians maimed, rebels attacking wildly as if they were more scared than those they were terrifying, rookie state shinobi desperately trying to keep up with the more experience, politicians getting a dose of reality under the form of cool metal rubbing against their neck. This was war. This gave Yakoul some purpose again. And most of all, it meant the Red Sages would need a best friend again. "[color=f26522]Ho ho holy fuck. I'm unsure who to fucking root for, damn. 'Cause I kinda have to help my bitches, but then again you assholes are going to make this world shake! One can't just deny you that![/color]" It seemed to talk to itself with its somewhat feminine but croaky voice as if it has some kind of throat issue, thus making is somewhat a little more deep (and accentuating the gender issue). However a few meters away from it, an apparently low ranked Red Sage was using a camouflage technique and Yakoul had easily discerned him. Once he revealed himself, it was clear that it was address him without a hint of hostility. He seemed new, hence the reason why he didn't run upon seeing the Confederate General. However, upon feeling the intoxicating presence of Yakoul and the naturally dominating demeanor he had lost the ability to actually do anything. The cat-critter turned its head to face him with an eyebrow cocked. "[color=f26522]That means move your ass, dipshit. Before I change my goddamn mind. GO![/color]" It scolded the rebel, visibly uninterested in the small fry but also motivated to keep this chaos going for a while longer so it could justify bringing back the methods of its 'glory days'. The Red Sage didn't ask any questions and just ran through an alley, likely to be slaughtered by a Chuunin Confederate or whatever. The commander made itself comfortable in the meantime, observing the various little confederate shinobi that would prove interesting to work with after this amusing phenomenon while sitting down with its tail swaying.