The Ninja Goonies(Daily Mission: Pirates Bay)(Kobachi)

If Katsuro had not taken a squad as early as he did, he probably would have done this mission solo, even without the Jounin as back-up.  But he had chosen a squad and it had the potential to be one of the strongest he had ever taught.  Two Uchiha and a Taijutsu Master wannabe made up Squad Katsuro, or Squad One, whichever one preferred.

One of his favorite teaching methods to test their individual combat prowess was to take them on a mission along with himself.  Of course to keep them out of any real danger he only took them on C ranked missions, sometimes lied about it to make them feel better about themselves.  Which is what he did to Kobachi whatever his name is.  Told him it was an A Rank mission which was why he was bringing along three other Jounin, which was completely false.  He had been ordered to bring the Suiton specialists along with him despite being one himself.

It was the previous night that he had delivered the notification to Kobachi and informed him to be ready for a serious fight and to pack light.  What he did after he left Kobachi's family's house was an entirely different story.

Like always he had arrived at the designated meeting point, along the coast where a ship had been moored near the shore.  The ship had a small crew compliment that had no fighting skills and therefore would probably be more of a hindrance than a blessing.  Of course Katsuro didn't know how to work a ship, and he was sure none of the other Shinobi under his command did either.

As he waited for the task force under his command, he pulled his cigarettes and lighter from a pocket before lighting one.  Placing the pack and lighter back in his pocket, he took a deep puff off the cigarette before exhaling and making smoke rings that floated lazily in the air before the wind caused them to disappear.

Katsuro watched as each of the Task Force arrived.  First to arrive were the three Jounins and bringing up the rear was his Genin, who made quite the comical entrance swinging his arms in the same direction at the same time which made him look like some sort of train or something.  Nearly brought a laugh to Katsuro's lips.  Nearly.

It didn't take long after Kobachi arrived for the all clear to sound across the water.  This told Katsuro that they were ready to disembark and for Katsuro and his Task Force to get to the ship.  He took a puff off his cigarette as he motioned for the task force to follow him out across the water.  It wouldn't take them long to cross the hundred yards or so of water to get to the ship.

As they walked across the water he prepped the Genin seeing as the Jounin were at the briefing and knew of his plan to trick Kobachi into thinking he was involved in a high ranked mission.

"We are only about an hour where the pirates' area of operation is.  We suspect there will be only one ship and it will have a few compliment of crew where we only have a skeleton crew that have no fighting experience.  Our jobs are to neutralize the enemy crew and then kill the Pirate Captain.  The crew are suspected to be A-Ranked criminals while the Pirate Captain is a confirmed S-Ranked Criminal with the ability to use ninjutsu, taijutsu, and various forms of weaponry.  The Crew are only suspected in advance hand to hand combat skills and mediocre weapon skills.  After we deal with the crew, we remove any and all cargo from the ship and then scuttle the ship.  Once we find the target ship, our ship will stay at range while we approach from the water hopefully catching the enemy by surprise.  Any questions?  No?  Good," he changed his attention to the friendly captain, "Permission to come aboard, Captain?"

The captain gave them permission with a nod before he went back to ordering his crew to haul the anchor in and set sail.  Without hesitation, Katsuro jumped aboard the ship and was quickly followed by the Jounin.  Once on the deck of the ship he watched the barefoot crew go about their business before he motioned for the Task Force to congregate around the captain and the wheel.  A puff off his cigarette brought forth the sweet smelling smoke of the cigarette to those around.  They had an hour to rest and relax before they would have to begin fighting.

The canvas of the sails rippled in the wind as salt water splattered the face of the aging Jounin who stood at the front of ship watching out for pirates.  He would take occasional glances to check on his Task Force.  The three Jounin were hosting a small gathering around the railing as they watched the fish swim around the ship.  His Genin seemed to be practicing something akin to prayer or Taijutsu, not that the two were technically mutually exclusive.

Unlike his Task Force, Katsuro was formulation plans of attack for various scenarios.  More than two shisp would require a division of forces, depending on the number of extra ships.  Already he planned to have two of the Jounin to approach by foot on the water towards the ship in hopes of being able to sink it while Katsuro and the remaining members of the task force engaged in hand to hand combat on the deck of the ship.

After deciding on the plan he turned to face his Task Force.  He went to each member of the Task Force and told them to meet him at the Captain of the ship to hear the plan.

After each member of the Task Force arrived he began explaining the plan in depth.

"Once we get within range of the enemy we will drop off two Jounin where they can't see while maneuvering to give them cover on on their approach.  Their job is to put a hole in the hull of the enemy ship while the remaining task force fight hand to hand on the enemy deck.  Captain, I don't want your ship within range of the pirates.  Once the Task Force is off the ship I want your ship to maneuver away from the pirates while we handle them.  Once the pirates are taken care of we will come back to the ship through the water.  Then you can bring us home."

After he finished the plan, he took a final draw on the cigarette before dropping it on the deck to stamp out.  Once the ember was extinguished he picked it back up and pocketed it.

After the cigarette butt was placed in his pocket he leaned against the railing, watching the way the sailors worked amongst each other like a well oiled machine. Which is exactly how he needed his Genin squad to work together. he continued to flit his attention from the man in the crows nest to the men on the rigging to the men scurrying about the deck bringing supplies to the others and making sure ropes are still secured. Well oiled machine indeed. Every now and then the captain would shout an order to his men and they would follow it to the letter. A ship would be the perfect testing ground for his students to get along. It also seemed like the skills needed to be taught to a Genin were also useful on a ship. The need to climb the mast for the rigging, the need to be completely accurate in everything. Being just lazy enough and angry enough to make sure the job is done right. Not perfect but right.

It was in the middle of this thought train that Katsuro's attention was drawn to the now exercising Kobachi. He had been meditating just a few moments before but now he was alternating between pushups and jumping jacks. If the kid was able to do physical training and still maintain that level of exuberance in battle he would indeed grow up to become an excellent shinobi. Of course he wouldn't tell him that until he left his squad. That is if he didn't suffer a permanent injury that would stop him from advancing in the ranks. Losing a limb would end most shinobi's careers. He continued to watch the genin training for a while before the crow's nest sighted something. The call came down soon afterwards. They spotted a ship sporting a black flag. Pirates.

Katsuro felt the ship lurch to the right as it started a diagonal approach on the pirate. It wouldn't be long before the pirates spotted them and made their way to intercept the merchant vessel. And it wasn't. The Crow's Nest called down another tidbit of information. The vessel was approaching them at speed and would intercept them in the next few minutes.

"Start the plan now," he hollered at his Task Force. "Two of you drop into the water now. Stay on the opposite side they are on and don't trail behind. The rest need to stay out of sight until the ship closes in on us. We need to surprise them. They won't be expecting a shinobi let alone three on board. When we get close enough I'll give the order and we jump ships. I'll take the front, Kobachi will take the middle, and the Jounin will take the wheel. Once we leave the deck of the ship, I want you, Captain, to steer this ship away like we discussed earlier. Keep a safe distance from the enemy. Now go."

The two Jounin with the orders to go into the water jumped over the side, out of view from the enemy ship, while Katsuro pulled Kobachi and the last genin into a spot where they would be out of sight from the approaching enemy. Now was the time for them to keep themselves under the strictest of control. Any slip up could jeopardize the mission and the men in the water.

"If either of you run into any help just call out and someone will arrive to assist you. Your main jobs, though, are to clear the crew out of the way so we can take out the Captain as easily as possible."

Katsuro controlled his breathing as he waited for the call from the captain as they neared. He could feel the fire in his blood begin to boil as adrenaline shot through his system. He was getting ready for a fight he had been itching for for the past few months. He had been couped up in the village for months without a real way to release the pent up energy he had. With a smirk he grabbed one of the kunai that was in a pouch on his back before before bringing it to bear. It shouldn't take long for the call to go through and shouldn't take much longer for the water borne shinobi to begin their assault on the hull of the enemy ship underwater. Breath in. Breath out. Control your breathing and don't let your subordinates you are itching for a fight.

Feeling the ship lurch to the side as it swiftly changed directions, Katsuro looked at his Genin and gave a smile full of teeth. "Now!" He shouted as he lurched up from their hiding spot and, after running at full speed, used the railing to launch himself through the air towards the enemies. He didn't spare a glance towards his companions hoping they would be able to at least make it aboard the ship. Upon making landfall aboard the deck of the moving ship, landing harder than intended due to the swaying and rising of the deck, he wasted no time in launching a kunai at the nearest enemy before performing a single handsign. Ram. If anyone was watching the bearded Senju they would notice that his body had sprouted a series of makeshift weapons akin to swords or something of that ilk as he initiated hand to hand combat with the pirates.

After landing and throwing the Kunai, which was subsequently disregarded as it impaled itself in the chest cavity of one of the pirates, leaking blood down the front of his blouse and he fell on it, shoving it deeper inside.  It didn't take long for the spikes to form from Katsuro's body after performing the wood release jutsu.  With his defenses augmented so that he couldn't be immobilized easily, Katsuro went on the offensive using Taijutsu.

Unlike his Genin who was simply using his body, Katsuro was using the spikes that sprouted from his form as well as grapples to pull them into the deadly spikes coming from his chest and back.  The second unfortunate pirate to taste the fury of the Teaching Jounin was too fat for his good and unable to properly defend himself when Katsuro came in with a quick jab to his pudgy thoat, effectively crushing his throat before sending a roundhouse kick to the side of his head, launching him over the railing and into the rolling ocean.

He cautioned a glance towards his Genin just in time to see the arm break into two pieces forming a V.  Kobachi wasn't afraid to break bones or get his hands dirty it seemed.  He converted his eyes towards the other jounin who was delaying the captain and the higher ranked members of the crew while they dealt with the rest.  He smiled.  Things were going as planned and hopefully the other shinobi would arrive shortly to begin working on the hull.

Unseen to those aboard the pirate ship, the two remaining shinobi made their way quietly under the water.  They would be in the fight shortly.  Or at least doing their part with sinking the ship cutting the enemy numbers down drastically.  Though there was always the chance there were crew under the deck working the bilge pumps to make sure there wasn't any water leaking in.

Katsuro had been to busy with his own battle with the crew to realize that his Genin had broken away from combat on the middle deck and moved to assist the Jounin on delaying the the captain.  Of course the dead or dying bodies were turning the rocking deck into a slippery death trap though the crew on his side of the ship were no longer a threat to anyone.  Cancelling the jutsu that made him into a human porcupine, Katsuro turned his attention towards the other two just in time to see his genin fly into the deck where he was supposed to be.  Blood covering the Genin's face and the only thought that crossed into his mind was 'What an idiot.'

Katsuro payed no mind to the Jounin who slit the neck of the Captain open as he jumped onto the water to inform the other Jounin the fight was over.  Eventually they were back on the ship and Katsuro was watching as the Genin's wounds were cleaned and his eyes flushed out.  Luckily for the Genin his back wounds were superficial and the blood in his eyes was not his own.  Once they back at dock, Katsuro listened in passing as his Genin thanked him.  'Idiot...'  He turned to the Genin with a small smile on his face as he spoke.

"That was a C-Ranked mission."  He turned around and walked off back towards the village.