The Outskirts

In a small clearing, covered by layers of Genjutsu, fuuninjutsu, and complex trap-making, lay a horde of A and S-Class criminals. The Blood Prison had never before faced such a sophisticated and wide-reaching incursion attempt. It usually dealt with ignorant criminals trying to free their friends or lovers. They were often caught before even making it through to the stronghold's walls. Those who tried to enter from the sky were picked off before they landed and those who tried to tunnel in were trapped or crushed. A combination of highly skilled deputies, informants, correctional officers, S-Grade infrastructure, tactical surveillance technology, and the superior might of The Warden had made the prison impenetrable. Until now.

Many months ago, Merryweather had announced Crimintern West 933. At the meeting, she issued an open challenge to some of the most elite criminal organizations on the planet: help her free her daughter and receive rewards beyond this world. For the first time in centuries, criminal organizations were working together to pull off the impossible. A historic assault on the most secure penal institution in shinobi history. The mission was top secret and only the most trusted of criminals were brought in on the operation. However, like all lucrative and complex missions, there was bound to be an oversight. Gaps, missteps, or simply trusting the wrong person. The Blood Prison had gotten wind that something was coming, they just didn't know what and how strong.

Several camps of criminal shinobi ranging from A to S-Class surrounded the prison. The camps were separated by hundreds of meters and maintained an aura of secrecy through collaboration techniques the likes of which the world had never seen before. The amassed army was nigh undetectable despite the chatter and bodies that crowded the area. Each camp would attack from a different direction. They'd break into the prison and fulfill whatever tasks their bosses had given them. Some were told to kill as many C.O.'s as they could find, others were told to sabotage the Fuuninjutsu depowering the people in Block B, some were tasked with finding and stealing the enormous volume of secrets held within the prison. Only a select few would be headed straight for the prize: Chiheisen Ōtsutsuki.

The main camp was located to the West of the prison. It was the primary base camp for the operation and was centered on the point that Merryweather herself was supposed to arrive. Those at this camp were of the highest and most elite class. Warriors whose name would echo throughout history.

Honiko Yoshidara would arrive at the camp from above. She and Nozomi would be riding Thorn, one of the Dragons of the Watahshi Wastelands. The dragon landed on the field, and the Sage and her lieutenant would be able to join the others. Raijin would have already arrived on top of Balerion. Their arrival on dragons wouldn't be noteworthy as many of the criminal shinobi had arrived on similar summons although none were as impressive and fearsome. The mighty dragons and many other such beasts of burden were well shrouded by the complex Genjutsu and Fuuninjutsu.

Honiko signaled for Nozomi and Raijin to wait to the side while she joined the other leaders from various criminal groups. They stood in a semi-circle, some making small talk with one another, others going over joint-strategies. As a whole, the outfit had decided a grand and overarching strategy would be counterintuitive and liable to failure. Instead, certain criminals with pre-existing relationships agreed to cooperate on a case by case basis. There was universal agreement among them that there would be no foul play, sabotage, or infighting during the course of the jailbreak. The leaders were good about enforcing that kind of rule but Honiko was still distrustful of worldly and greedy criminals. None spoke to her, and she spoke to none of them. She was confident that she and her disciples could stand on their own and free Chiheisen.

In a cart on the outskirts of the main camp was Izumi Shimura. The cart contained a small wooden cage that had been brought by a notorious criminal syndicate based in the Fire Country. They had kidnapped Izumi from Konohagakure and smuggled her out. How did they do such a thing and to what end? No one is entirely sure. Somewhere along the way, the man who had snatched her had died and his spoils taken by another. This person wasn't even aware that the cart he had dragged along had a wooden cage. Luckily for Izumi, she was a ninja and probably knew the Rope Escape Technique. If she was quiet, she could creep out of the back of the cart and join the crowds of missing ninja. No one was paying attention to the cart and it was unlikely anyone would ask what she was doing here. The most fearsome of ninja came in all shapes and sizes, and at this level, most criminals knew better than to pick a fight with an unknown face before a caper.

All that remained was for the woman of the hour to arrive.

QUEST: Free Chiheisen Ōtsutsuki
STATUS: LIVE

The trip over had been rather pleasant, with it just being Nozomi and Honiko, and Thorn of course, but more to the point, there was a lack of Raijin. Nozomi didn't particularly mind Raijin much anymore as she found him mostly a little bit of a nuisance, and he got in her way more often than not, but there wasn't much to like or dislike with him. He just existed for the most part, and he wasn't really a threat to her place as Honiko's second. That being said, she enjoyed spending more singular time with Honiko, and wished that she had gotten more of that.

As usual, although Nozomi had hoped otherwise now, Honiko went to go represent the Society's efforts here with the other criminal leaders, leaving Nozomi and Raijin more or less alone. It wasn't that she minded all that much, but Nozomi had hoped things might be a little bit different and that she wasn't just ignored off to the side like some little girl.

Still, Nozomi had a glow to her that was seldom seen. It was rare that Nozomi displayed any sort of emotions other than frustration, excitement, or outright anger. While the excitement was evident, as she was looking forward to this test of her abilities and just the excitement of the battles to come, there was clearly something else that was giving Nozomi some extra pep. Looking over to Raijin, she smiled at him for probably the first time. "Are you ready for this? Failure isn't an option, so I may have to carry us a little bit on this one. Still, I know you got it in you to pull this sort of thing off. This prison may be tough, but it hasn't ever dealt with the likes of the Society."

A little bit of small talk, perhaps out of the ordinary for Nozomi. She didn't care though. She had a lot of energy and nowhere to release it other than by just talking, at least until they started the heist. Nozomi looked around at all the people near them, searching for any familiar faces from the Crimintern Forum, but wouldn't actively speak to any of them. She also figured it was as good a time as any to scope out the competition. There was no doubt that the Society was going to be the one to free Chiheisen, as Nozomi had proven beyond a doubt at the Tournament hosted by Kumogakure that she was superior to any of these shinobi, by besting the Major Nation's best.

If Jounin and higher ranked shinobi couldn't stand against her, then what chance would these criminals and mercenaries stand against her? None of them were Honiko's level for sure, she could see that by the way that they avoided confronting her or doing anything that would get her ire. There was some respect there of course, but also a decent amount of justifiable fear.

The cart finally stopped moving. Izumi had been sitting in the back of it in her cage. The shaking from the rolling wheels on the bumpy and broken roads all the way here was the only constant thing in her temporary prison. It rocked her to sleep over and over, but before she could get into a restful state, it shook her conscious again. She wanted to get out of the rope and bolt out of there. She knew she could, but she didn't want to risk getting seen. They clonked her in the back of the head at the training grounds. So she didn't know what they could do. And if they caught her running, they would know that she could get out of ropes and they might use something she couldn't get out of.

Now that the shaking and rocking had stopped, Izumi started to listen. There was a blanket covering the cage, so she couldn't see. All she could do was try and hear what was happening on the outside. She waited a while so that she could be sure. It sounded like the bad guys were getting out of the front part, but they did that before. Last time, it sounded like they beat some people up and kept going down the road. She had never seen the first people, so she had no way of knowing that her freedom had swapped hands since the first time she was taken.

There was lots of talking outside. It was like a huge crowd of people out there. Izumi's eyes got super big. Was this a slave auction?! She had to get away from there super quick, but without anyone noticing. If she waited too long, they'd open the cage for her and take her where everyone could see and know that she wasn't just one of them. If she got out before then, she could probably blend in with the crowd.

Izumi used her rope escape technique to slip out of the ropes that were binding her. She turned around in the cage and put her hand over the latch. There was no lock on it! They must've thought that the ropes would hold her good enough and they wouldn't need any extra protection on the cage itself. Izumi smiled real big and pushed the door open after she popped the latch. She lifted the blanket and slipped out right as a bunch of people were walking by. Two or three people noticed her slide into the crowd, but by the time she walked around half of the place, they lost track of her. They never really cared to start with since that wasn't their slave and they weren't even here for any slave stuff anyway.

Now that she was in the crowd, Izumi started to realize what kind of position she was in. All these people looked like super tough criminals. A lot of them had headbands, but they had big scratches through their village symbols. Rogues and criminals were probably all that was in this gathering. Izumi took out her headband. There was already a scratch through her Konoha symbol. She didn't remember that ever happening, but it would definitely help to blend in here.

Then the most awesome thing happened. A super loud sound echoed in the skies. Izumi looked up and saw the wingbeat of a ginormous dragon. An actual real life dragon!!! Izumi was so astonished that she didn't notice the guy sneaking up behind her. "We need to talk. Come."

By the time Izumi came back from the strange man and his talk, the dragon was on the ground and now there was another one with it. Some people stood around the dragons, one or two, maybe more. Izumi couldn't really tell from that distance. They sure must be powerful though if they could ride on actual dragons like that. She kinda wanted to go talk to them, but they looked like the center of attention in this place. She didn't want to be in front of a whole crowd and get all frozen up like that mission at the academy. For now, she had to stand around and wait for whatever was going to happen.

Balerion was moved with a sense of purpose. Flying from the Great Chang mountains, he had spent quite sometime with the Dragon. Able to sense his pain and his pride torn apart. He couldn't figure out what exactly had happened. But he was in tune with the dragon, able to communicate with him, even if he didn't communicate back. He at least was able to do so in a different way than most. Which made their journey important, though nothing of note happened. The duo arrived in the Land of the Grass, they were going to meet the invasion force along with the Societies main group. Thorn would be arriving with Honiko and Nozomi.

Raijin was the last to arrive. Getting off of Balerion one could see that Raijin was armed to the teeth, plus he had some extra tools to help them in this rescue. Nozomi actually would be helping along. She came to speak to him, surprising for her. Usually he was dealt with her cold shoulders, as did most of his teachers. But she spoke words of encouragement and as usual, failure wasn't an option.

"I am ready. I've been preparing for this for a while. The Society will be successful." Raijin nodded to Nozomi. "Lets get started."

The players had arrived. The boards were set. It was time for the games to begin. A primal and innate part of Honiko picked up on the sudden shift in reality even before Merryweather's signature ability kicked in. The part of her that was Ōtsutsuki had always been somewhat attuned to that kind of thing but she had always suppressed it. She didn't think of herself as a daughter of the Otherworld, but as a Sage of this one. A nanosecond after the gut-feeling came the sudden shift in temperature. The climate in the area changed dramatically as it oscillated between extreme heat and cold. The fluctuation in climate heralded Merryweather's imminent arrival, and several of the Missing Ninja stood up a tad bit straighter. The climate soon stabilized and a shutter from another world appeared in the space five meters from the open semi-circle of leaders. A tall and deathly pale woman stepped from the pitch black background of the portal. As soon as she came into this world, a stream of locusts followed her before the portal shut like a cascading window. The locusts buzzed around her form, obscuring her appearance for a moment before lifting off into the sky above the encampment. With the locusts gone, Merryweather was now fully visible to the camp.




Merryweather was a six-foot-tall Ōtsutsuki with piercing red eyes, silky white hair, and black lipstick. She wore a black top, pants, and matching arm-guards. Two devices of extra-terrestrial origin were strapped to her hip and thigh. The devices made an audible beep when she stepped into this world, and the red glow they emitted appeared to brighten a bit. Merryweather's usual charm and devilish sarcasm were nowhere to be found. The mercenary's body language exuded pure seriousness. At that moment, the mother and daughter were like mirror images of each other. Merryweather was a bit taller and maybe a few years older in appearance, but other than that it was clear to all who could see that the two were related. The solemn mood of the meeting was overpowering. What they were about to attempt was unheard of in the history of the ninja world.

"I normally don't waste time repeating my offers but I want you all to know what you stand to gain if my daughter is freed. If Chiheisein comes home, everyone here will receive 1 million ryo and a rare item of considerable value. The shinobi that proves to be the most useful will be granted the Flying Thunder God Technique. Of course, if you're interested in other curiosities...I'm sure something else can be arranged..."

Merryweather's voice was very peculiar. It seemed to bounce off of reality in a fashion that was totally alien to the sounds produced by the native inhabitants of this world. It wasn't so strange as to be entirely distracting in of itself, but it was noticeable. This was especially true for those with enhanced senses.

The criminals muttered amongst themselves but said nothing to her directly. She was merely confirming what they already knew. A final meeting of the minds before they embarked on a suicide mission of epic proportions. Merryweather pointed above but eyed each of the leaders. The neutral and serious expression on her face remained unchanged.  

"These are my friends. Please do not kill them. They'll feed me valuable information about the jailbreak as it progresses. I can use it to assist you by relaying information. It'll also give me a good idea on which one of you prove to be the....."Merryweather struggled for the word that humans used in situations such as these.....MVP of this operation."

As Merryweather spoke, storm clouds appeared to be gathering in the airspace above and around the prison. The clouds seemed to dart in and out of reality. A tell-tale sign that Merryweather was calibrating her coveted Neo-Amenominaka ability to achieve maximum effectiveness. The Ōtsutsuki had been born with a version of Amenominaka. Amenominaka was jutsu used by the infamous Kaguya to sculpt and mold realities. Over the course of many generations, the ability had changed and become disassociated with the Rinnegan. It gave her the ability to "capture" the inherent climate of a given reality and "bleed" it into another dimension at will. The result was weather manipulation on an unprecedented scale. Merryweather, and indeed the Clan as a whole, considered it the ultimate terraforming and field control technique. It would serve the insurgents well today, but its effectiveness was limited given that the Warden had found a way to counter its most dangerous aspects.

Honiko would be the first person to speak directly to Merryweather.

"And will you be doing anything else besides spying on us from above?"

The question was pointed, but whether it was because of Honiko's animus toward the woman or just her general nature was anyone's guess. For the first time since her arrival, Merryweather's characteristically guile demeanor showed itself. She appreciated Honiko's bite towards her. It elicited a hodge-podge of feelings such as pride, anger, love, and jealousy. She had often struggled with wanting to discipline and protect her little Sage, but she learned long ago that those instincts were useless. Honiko was just one child, on one world, and a particularly disobedient one at that. Once Chiheisen was returned to her, she could go back to grooming her true heiress.


"Yes, as a matter of fact, I'll be blocking off reinforcements with Neo-Amenominaka. That way, they won't be able to cut off your escape. Which reminds me, Honiko, Hype, and Resin. I'll need you three here with me. Once the Warden realizes what we're planning, he may call for Grass Special Forces or even international aid. You three are the strongest Nin here which means you'll do well in helping me fend off whoever or whatever gets sent our way to interfere with the operation. That won't be a problem will it?"

There was a rumble of confusion in the camp. To make such a request just before a jailbreak was highly unusual. Many felt that it was bound to rattle some plans. Interestingly enough, Honiko, Hype, and Resin did not appear perturbed. They were not only masterful warriors, but they were also amazing tacticians. They had already calculated the likelihood that Merryweather would make such a request and factored it into their plans.

Hype, an old and decrepit looking man with a misshapen head, merely shrugged. He looked at his lieutenant and gave a simple nod. "Hmmm...no problem here" Resin, a man wearing a gas mask and suit of armour exchanged words with two men who walked over. He snapped his fingers and pointed in another direction as if he was calling a play. "I'm set." he responded. All eyes fell on Honiko who only glanced at Nozomi briefly. They'd note that Honiko's lieutenant was the blonde Jinchurikki that had bested the world's finest in an epic tournament. The two would lock eyes for a second and at that moment Honiko hoped that her thoughts were clear.

Ensure that Chiheisen is brought back.

Honiko was depending on Nozomi to get the job done. Merryweather's assessment of the situation was probably accurate. The Blood Prison would raise hell once the jail-break was in full swing. There was a chance that they could send their best, or at the very least contract shinobi of elite caliber to put down the attack. Best case scenario, they would only be facing off against the Grass Special Forces and but even then they would be responsible for covering thousands of meters of entry points between the four of them. It would be all hands on deck for even the absolute strongest of shinobi. She could not aid them directly. Raijin and Nozomi would have to stand on their own merit. The Dragon Sage folded her arms and raised her head a quarter of an inch.

"That's acceptable. Are we ready to begin?"

Merryweather's playful air melted and she grew serious for a few seconds. She looked around, closed her eyes, and savored the moment. Once she had captured the memory, she then opened her eyes, smirked and nodded. She began walking in the direction of the prison. The locusts that swirled above began to follow her while keeping their altitude. The criminals followed her and slowly the entire camp would inch forwards. The semi-circle of leaders would disperse, and join their respective groups for a last minute pep talk. Honiko would return to Raijin and Nozomi, with their dragons following closely behind on foot. She spoke to them both while there was still a chance to communicate.

"You can fly on Balerion and Thorn into the prison once the outermost wall is down. They don't have much time left but they should be able to get you to Block B at a minimum."

Soon, Merryweather would give the signal and all hell would break loose. The jailbreak would officially begin, and a multitude of criminals would rush the prison.

Nozomi had started pacing around a little bit while they waited for Merryweather to show up and kick off the start of the Prison Break. They hadn't been waiting as long as some of the others, but she wasn't necessarily a patient girl, especially for things that were this exciting for her. Nothing was about to stop them from succeeding, Nozomi knew that nobody was really strong enough to hold out against her one on one, and she wasn't even alone here. It would be a challenge, but there was absolutely no way that they could fail.

She felt her nerves as a bundle of energy that was coursing through her, and all she wanted to do was find something to do to let out all that energy. Everything was taking far too long.

Grabbing the new necklace that she had been given by Honiko in the cave, Nozo rooted herself back into that moment, to distract her mind a bit from the impatience that she was feeling. She wore the necklace freely around her neck, but most wouldn't understand the real significance of the talon and scales that adorned the necklace. They wouldn't understand what it meant at all, other than thinking Nozomi liked to wear jewelry.

It succeeded. Nozomi was brought back to the cave, and her nerves calmed down. They waited a bit longer, until Merryweather's dimension hopping began. While Nozomi was no Otsutsuki, her perceptive abilities were no joke. She felt the temperature shift and knew it was about to begin.

Sure enough, a moment after the change in temperature, the portal opened and out came Merryweather, Locusts abound her form. Nozomi paid close attention to the bugs, making sure none came near her. She wasn't a huge fan of them and wouldn't hesitate to kill them if they did come near. She wasn't thrilled with the idea of being constantly monitored through this breakout, but she couldn't really argue.

Nozomi was both not surprised and yet still offended by Merryweather's supposition that Hype or Resin was stronger than she was, to the point that she let out an audible chuckle to herself. Maybe at one time they had been, but Merryweather was out of the loop. Nozomi would have to rectify that incorrect assumption.

Nozomi simply nodded back to Honiko and then locked a gaze on Merryweather. It was one of almost an acceptance of a challenge. Nobody was freeing Chiheisen. Nobody but the Society. She wasnt going to let anyone surpass her, as she was the best.

"I think we can let them take down the first wall. I'll ride Thorn, you can ride Balerion, Raijin. Save our energy for later. It's only going to get harder the further in we go, and if we exhaust ourselves getting there, then the chance of failure increases."

It was smarter to let the criminals start their job s little bit and then overtake them from the sky. They wouldn't have to deal with anything for a little while, and at that point they would have plenty of energy for the real fighting. "I think when we get to wall B, we need to start sending out shadow clones. Don't use any of your chakra if you can avoid it. Scout ahead with the clones and take out opposition without using chakra, conserve all your energy for when it's absolutely necessary."

Nozomi shifted her gaze to Honiko, a grin on her face. "I'm sorry I can't join you against the reinforcements and special forces, but I'll be a little busy stealing this show. Pay attention for the fireworks, you *might* be in for a show." Nozomi emphasized 'might'. She had no outward plans on needing to use something, but she had prepared for that eventuality.

She was gaining more and more control over the Bijuu Chakra inside her, and her meditations were paying off. Honiko had no clue just how much Nozomi was advancing. The blonde hopped onto Thorn, and awaited for Raijin to hop on Balerion while they sat back and watched for wall A to fall.

It didn't take too long before people started fidgeting. Izumi couldn't really tell what was going on from so far away, but it looked like a whole bunch of people up there towards the center point of everyone's attention were getting really uncomfortable. Izumi shrugged and kept looking at the dragons. They were so cool! She had no idea anything like that even existed. Now she got to see them in person, all cause some guy decided to kidnap her and then another guy kidnapped her from that guy. That was such an unlikely string of coincidences that she kinda thought it might actually be destiny at work. Maybe she was meant to see those dragons. All this other stuff though, she wasn't too sure about that.

A whole lot of bugs flew out from some black looking thing. Izumi had no idea what that could even be. She figured it might be a summoning. Usually those have a lot of smoke and they don't come out of weird looking doors that pop up out of nowhere. Then the door thingy closed and there was a woman who looked just as pale as that other woman that had come in on a dragon. She was probably the leader in all this. She sure must be strong if she can command all these criminal looking people.

There was some talking that Izumi was too far away to hear. She couldn't see good enough to read any lips, either. Not that she could normally read lips, but she was sure gonna try. After they were done, the older looking pale woman gave a signal. Izumi didn't realize that was the signal until all of the people everywhere suddenly rushed off towards the prison.

"O-oh! I guess we're doing that now." Izumi mumbled and joined in on the rush. She mingled in with the running crowd pretty easy and took a piece of cloth that one guy gave her to make something of a mask. That way, nobody would recognize her. She was pretty sure that she wasn't technically supposed to be here, but she didn't really see any other option to stay out of trouble other than to go along with all these bad guys. Eventually, they'd reach the first wall and the fighting would probably start. She had no idea how this was gonna go.

Merryweather had finally made her appearance. Like the last time at the Crime Interim meeting, she had made an entrance unlike any he had seen before. The very fabric of reality split open, changing the temperature like last time. Raijin felt the immense pressure coming from it, he could not sense it coming like his senseis could. But it was very obvious after she stepped out of the opening. It wasn't long before she began to brief them on this mission. Easily an S-rank mission, especially since they somehow found out that this rescue attempt was happening.

Merry was adamant about stopping reinforcements from helping, and even pulled the help of the Honiko along with two others. One of them didn't seem all that strong, the other just as mysterious. But if they were on the level of Honiko's fighting prowess. They were to be respected, and not underestimated.

After she finished her briefing, they had their goals already. The taking of Block B. Nozomi suggested to Raijin not ride Balerion into battle and to let them take the wall down first before resuming the attack. He nodded adding, "I'll keep an eye on the wall till it falls. I have a special clone waiting for them that will help myself with chakra consumption. We won't have many ways to keep in contact with each other but we'll meet at the Block when B falls. You will see my clones first. " It wasn't common knowledge he had a near endless supply of nature chakra, but it took time to grab after a while. Raijin jogged to the back of Balerion and hoisted himself up on top of the dragon.

"Lets ride Balerion." He said using his Nature ability to communicate with him. Merryweather gave the signal and they all started charging. Balerion flapped his wings thrice, and generated strong winds before taking off into the sky with Raijin on its back. They would start to monitor the criminals taking Block B. He held a tiger seal up and created two Sage clones on top of Balerion. He would help garner the energy he needed. The clone held a seal and began to gather energy as the real Raijin steered Balerion.


----------
Sage Clone: 55 CP | 20/30 NCP

Raijin: 55 CP | 20/30 NCP

Honiko's serious expression did not change as Nozomi boasted that she would be stealing the show.

"Don't let the prospect of victory cloud your judgment Nozomi." she offered.

She didn't like it when Nozomi got too cocky. This would be a treacherous mission and if Nozomi was more concerned with showing off than completing the objective then they'd likely fail in rescuing Chiheisein. Even still, she knew that Nozomi was in rare form. There was precious little that could stop her disciple from tearing apart the Blood Prison's security apparatus. So long as she remained focused and none of the scum got in her way, she considered victory an inevitability. Honiko was not thrilled about the prospect of meeting her little sister but if it got her a step closer to her goals then she would oblige.  

The crowd was growing restless and Merryweather could sense their lust for battle. Nuke-Nin were mounting their summons, prepping their jutsu, and rushing forward to be the first ones inside the prison. Many sought to please their leaders, earn rewards, or claim bragging rights that would endure for the remainder of their careers. The Ōtsutsuki raised her hands into the sky and pushed. A series of storms bled into this reality from several points in the sky. She could sense the Warden's power pushing her back and out of the prison but before he could dissipate her clouds completely, she forced several lightning bolts to hit the ground. Six-hundred and forty-three lightning bolts to be exact. The loud sound would be heard throughout the prison as if someone had just loosed an entire nation's worth of artillery into the atmosphere. The deafening sound was followed by a battle cry of several hundred criminal mercenaries. They screamed with excitement as they internalized the fact that their names and deeds would echo throughout history forever. Merryweather ceased walking forward and allowed her army to rush past her and towards the gates. Meanwhile, the woman's locusts would fly into the prison to get a sense of what was going on inside.

Within moments the group moved out from under the complex cover that had rendered them undetectable. The fastest among them sprinted forward, flickering through handseals. The first ninja to reach the outermost wall of Block A was a Dust Release user. The man aimed a cylindrical shaped widget at the wall and in the blink of an eye the wall was gone. A thunderous explosion rocked Block A as its primary defense was knocked down via a single technique. The hole was widened as criminals from the leading camp struck the wall with dozens of effects and techniques. Criminals dashed inside and began making their way to Block B. Deputy Wardens commanded their troops of correctional officers to fight off the invaders but the insurgents had the invasive advantage. The first wave of prison guards was hopelessly outnumbered even when factoring in the assistance they received from the division of Block A inmates that had agreed to defend the prison. There were simply too many skilled criminals for them to fight off and thus almost immediately the prison guards found themselves either retreating or dying on the grounds of Block A.

The scene was repeated at many points throughout the outermost wall of the Blood Prison. Wall A falling, guards rushing to the prison's defense, and then dying at the hands of a criminal horde. Never before had the prison experienced such a sophisticated and ruthless assault.

Balerion and Thorn would ride into the prison carrying both Raijin and Nozomi respectively. Balerion the black dragon had not failed to notice his talon dangling around Nozomi's neck. He had snorted in hurt and anguish upon seeing it but not a word escaped his lips. He was aware of Honiko watching him watch Nozomi. She had made it abundantly clear that she would not tolerate any disrespect to her students or meddling with Society's affairs. He let it go. The fact that Raijin was capable of communicating him without him having to speak was a true blessing. He assented to the boy's commands and as a group, the Society flew off to free Chiheisen.

Izumi for her part would be hoofing it on foot with the rest of them. Fortunately for her, one of Hype's lieutenants was riding upon a large rhinoceros summon. The rhino summon was like a gargantuan bus of doom and death. Many criminals were riding on its back and using it as a means of traveling into the prison without expending physical energy. If she felt so inclined, Izumi could hop up on this beast. No one would mind as there was power in greater numbers. It was in her best interest to hitch the ride as it would ensure she didn't fall behind given the distance between Wall A and Wall B. The rhino would charge into the prison, building speed and force as it cleaved through several buildings housed within Block A. The rhino's horn glowed with chakra and it let out a mighty roar as it wasted prison guards by running over them.

Once the entirety of the camp had fought their way into Block A, Merryweather began to surround the prison with dark storm clouds. The clouds melded together and eventually formed a hyper-concentrated dome of manipulated wind, lighting, snow, and pressure. This protective dome could not infiltrate the prison proper due to The Warden's influence, but it would serve to prevent other people from entering.

Honiko, Hype, and Resin would each make several shadow clones and then send them across the perimeter of Wall A. It would be their responsibility to guard as much of the prison as possible while their subordinates freed Chiheisen. Between the four of them, they would be able to handle not only the Grass Special Forces but any other international aid that might come knocking. Honiko had her Mind's Eye active which would allow her to sense anything coming their way. The prison had mechanisms in place to prevent her from precisely sensing the activity within, although she could catch glimpses of movement and major actions. And so, the elite squad waited for reinforcements to show up.

Bulk of Merryweather's Army Exit To Block A

Izumi was running along in the crowd when all of a sudden she heard this super loud roar behind her. She looked back and saw a ginormous rhino running right at her! Izumi jumped up as high as she could. The rhino ran forward under her, but one of the guys riding on it grabbed her out of the air and pulled her on behind him. "Best place is on this big fella. Don't worry, I'll keep you safe."

With wide eyes, Izumi blinked at the man. That was super cheesy, but she was super nervous already. "Hey," the guy started with a raised eyebrow, "what's with the clothes? You're going to a prison break, not a school lesson. Here, put these on." He pulled some spare clothes out of his bag and handed them to her. "They're probably gonna be baggy, but you should still be able to move around. Just stick close to me. This'll be over in no time." The guy smiled at her.

Izumi took the clothes and slipped them on over what she was already wearing. The shirt was easy enough, but the pants were pretty difficult. By the time she had them on, they had just about reached the wall. Some other guy already blew a big hole in it with some jutsu that Izumi didn't get a chance to see. She thought it was gonna be way harder than that to get through these huge walls. Hopefully that guy stuck around for the next ones.

The rhino rushed through the wall and crashed through a whole bunch of rock and wall pieces to bring Izumi and its other riders into block A. Now the hard part was about to start.

(Exit)

Raijin guided through the air with the wind beating his face. Balerion had gotten the jump when Merryweather sent the order to attack. Raising hell on the ground, Raijin was honored to be one of the few to ever ride a dragon into battle. He could feel the shame and the anger and the pride within the great dragon. Something dark had happened to him, the new necklace that Nozomi seemed to belong to a dragon. And Balerion looked beaten, couldn't have been a coincidence. This was also a redeeming moment for the black dragon as well. Raijin projected his respect for the dragon, as a comrade. As they flew into battle, putting their lives on the line. Bayushi had hoped that would spark something in the dragon for the battle ahead.

Clouds began to form out of the nowhere. The strangest occurrence within their time on this planet. As this type of power was unheard of. Lightning clouds began to form. However this was akin to a super storm, giving out enormous amounts of wind power. There was even snow brewing from it. It brought complete shock over Raijin's wind beaten face.

"By Jashin!" He said aloud, but the wind ripped his words away as Balerion dove and maintained his course for Block A. Time to show Honiko and Nozomi that his training paid off.

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[Exit - Block A]

Sage Clone: 55 CP | 30/30 NCP

Raijin: 55 CP | 30/30 NCP

Nozomi rolled her eyes a little bit at Honiko, who told her not to get too clouded with her judgement. Honiko had no idea that her mastery over Isobu was as great as it was, but she found herself saying "Sure thing Honiko." anyhow, letting a sense of seriousness wash over her again, grounding herself into the moment. And then it came, the signal to begin. The world around them grew bright from the light of hundreds of lightning bolts streaking through the air, the sound deafening like when Shimiko had unleashed her sound technique.

She was fairly impressed with Merryweather's ability to manipulate the weather to such a degree. Nozomi wished she could do that, then she could call upon Kirin with no problem what so ever. As long as the storm continued raging and it didn't clear up, she would be able to use it anyhow. If something were to stop the storm though, it was a small matter for her to start up a new one on her own with one of her newly trained jutsu. She'd developed it for just such a purpose. It was still much better if she didn't have to use any chakra to start a storm herself though, that much was absolutely certain.

Nozomi and Thorn took off up into the sky, pulling away from the rest of the crowd. Thorn was pretty fast, and even though he wasn't as big as Balerion, he was still rather large. She liked him a bit more anyhow, and they didn't have any animosity between them as far as she knew. At least it wasn't toward him on her own side, so she hoped it was the same way, but after the way Balerion was done, she couldn't really be too sure. "Let's get to the wall as fast as possible Thorn."

Nozomi hunkered down, and let Thorn take full control for the flight, keeping an eye on Balerion and Raijin, just to make sure that nothing happened to them while they flew. The prison guards were falling back, and actually being overwhelmed almost immediately, which made sense. They had been caught off guard, and hadn't been prepared for the full brunt of what was more or less an army. They flew towards Block B, to try and get there first, now that Block A was broken through. It was time to start.

-exit-