It'd been almost an hour now since the three genin and their companions had begun following the path Asuma had taken, and the young ninja were beginning to wonder how much longer it would be before they caught up with their sensei. And something weird was going on - Tatsunosuke kept giving odd looks at Ryobi as though he were somehow afraid of him. He'd been doing that ever since the man had given him a hug earlier. And all Ryobi did was ignore him and focus on keeping a lookout all around them as they traveled. Soon they arrived at the same rocks that Asuma had been sitting near only a short while before, but all they found when they got there was evidence of the fight with Shinryaku. Forcing the kids aside, Ryobi rushed to investigate the dart which Asuma stuck fast in a nearby tree. He looked rather angry at it for a few moments, then sighed before turning to face his companions and explain his findings.
"Looks like one of them got to your sensei before us. If this dart's what I think it is, then I'm afraid Asuma-san doesn't have much time left to live. This thing severely messes up your heart and almost always kills its target. Definitely the work of an expert assassin.
And all this blood around here is a sign of a major battle. I'd say that either the attacker was mortally wounded, or both him and your sensei were injured in the fight to produce this much."
Just then, he noticed the wagon tracks leading farther into the woods and how very deeply they cut into the ground - evidence of there being more weight added to the wagon. He wondered what this might mean, but then dismissed the thought as quickly as it had come to him. The genin were looking pretty damn worried after hearing what he'd said about the dart and all the blood, and Tatsunosuke was looking even more nervous. Sighing, Ryobi then continued to speak (but with a more serious tone).
"I think I know the place your sensei might be headed, and it's a good thing - there's a shortcut through the woods that can get us there much faster than the rate he's probably going at. We'd be able to arrive there before he does. And if we're lucky that he's wounded, bloodloss might have made him lose most of the dart's poison. That doesn't mean your sensei can't still die from it, but it'd give him a whole lot more time before its effects turn fatal. So let's all get moving!"
Trying their best to keep up, Tatsunosuke and the three genin hurried after Ryobi as they all dashed off through the trees. Sticking close to Chouji while they traveled, Shikamaru cautiously whispered to him:
"Something doesn't feel right about this plan. How do we know if sensei is going to this place Ryobi-san spoke of? And I've been noticing that ever since we ran into him again under the willow, Tatsunosuke's been acting weird in his presence - almost like he's afraid of him for some reason. I'm getting the vibe that we might be rushing into some trap, so keep sharp and be careful. Now excuse me, I'm going to go tell Ino."
Chouji nodded in agreement as Shikamaru went off to warn their comrade. He'd been having the same feeling since Shikamaru and Tatsunosuke had gone off to explore, and wondered if their sensei was okay and what might happen next. This was beginning to look more and more like it wasn't going to be a Rank-C mission anymore and might prove to be too much for them. Not that long after Shikamaru warned his team of what might lie ahead, Ryobi slowed down and instructed them all to stop. Sitting down on an old tree stump, he told them to rest a bit and that they'd reached the place they were seeking. After quick investigation, all it looked like was a small clearing with a hunter's cabin tucked away in one corner of it. The building looked badly made and very old, as if it would fall to pieces in the next big storm that came along. If this place was a to be a haven of some sort, it didn't feel that safe. Even Ino could sense that there's was something kind of odd about this place, and she looked rather nervous. Speaking up after a few moments of cautiously peering around, she questioned Ryobi.
"Are you certain that our sensei might come here? This place doesn't really look like much of a refuge. Looks more like a decrepit old ruin than a good place to hide out in - and I don't think sensei would want to stay in an area as open as this when there are enemies around."
Ryobi suddenly gave Ino a slightly fiendish-looking grin, and with amazing speed, rushed behind Tatsunosuke and grasped him in a strong embrace - a kunai hovering over the startled teenager's chest. He darkly chuckled at the looks on their faces, and drew his kunai a bit closer to his hostage. Laughing after Tatsunosuke moaned, he said:
"What naive little monkeys you all are. And you actually thought that I'd wanted to help your sensei? So amusing. All I care about is the very massive amount of money that me and my associates are going to get from ransoming this kid. We don't care about the wine, though I'm sure it'd fetch a nice price if handed over to one of Gokkai's competitors. That bastard has cheated me for the last time, so I figured taking his precious nephew prisoner might be enough to make him pay. Getting some nukenin to help me out was a fine idea, as well. If any of them gets killed, it just means more profit for me...heh heh heh. And I must say that bit of acting you did back there was fantastic, Tatsunosuke. The whole 'kicked at a tree and took off' b-s was a great way to cover up our little meeting in the woods after I had Shikamaru get distracted. So I guess this means I'll have to kill you all now, but I'm not stupid enough to take on three genin by myself. HEY USOUNE! SHOW YOURSELF!"
Suddenly, the decaying old cabin behind Ryobi disappeared like a swirl of green mist, and a tall ninja with spiky red hair appeared as the illusion was dispelled. Shikamaru smacked a hand to his head in utter annoyance of not having seen through the genjutsu technique. Usoune was not only quite tall, but very muscular, and carried on his back a large vicious razor-edged sword covered in mystical engravings. In addition to wearing rather tattered grey combat gear and a big mottled poncho, he had on his head a hitai-ate from Kiri no Kuni (a gash struck through its symbol like the one worn by Shinryaku). As he appeared from hiding behind his illusion, he'd removed a hooded green cloak off of himself. Obviously, the cloaks used by him and Ryobi were meant to conceal their identity from the ninja, but didn't do that much of a good job hiding Ryobi from Tatsunosuke when they'd met earlier. Grinning, he took his sword from his back and came to stand beside Ryobi (now struggling to keep his hold on Tatsunosuke, who was trying to get free in spite of the risk of being stabbed). Shikamaru looked nervous as he faced this dilemma, and though he looked so scared to the others, in his mind he was quickly formulating a plan to deal with this mess. As he stood there trying to keep Tatsunosuke still, Ryobi smirked when he saw the looks of fear in the genin's eyes and felt confident his plan would soon be successful. But as his eyes met Shikamaru's, his face suddenly gained a look of concern, for the young ninja was not at all afraid now and in fact, looked quite serious. At that moment, Shikamaru gave an odd hand signal to Chouji, and the husky boy nodded back at him with a determined look on his face. With a big squeal of immature blubbering, Chouji proceeded to throw a tantrum - whining that they were going to die and that he'd never enjoy his mother's lovely cooking ever again. This gave both Ryobi and Usoune a major headache, and Usoune begged Ryobi to let him run his sword through the annoying 'fat-ass'. With a look of cold fury, Chouji suddenly halted in his fit and with one eye twitching, asked the swordmaster what he'd just said. Seeing that it bothered him a lot, Usoune teased him and called him a fat-assed pig. This made the boy look so red in the face that it seemed like he might burst into flames. And though not planned, Chouji getting angry was a good part of the distraction which was allowing Shikamaru to quietly sneak up behind Ryobi unnoticed. Fast as lightning, Tatsunosuke was quickly and carefully wrenched loose from Ryobi's grasp and whisked away to freedom in the trees above everyone. Shouting in rage, Ryobi ordered Usoune to kill them and get their hostage back unharmed. A look of delighted battle-lust showing in the nukenin's eyes, he rushed at Chouji with sword ready to plunge into the boy. At that moment, they heard Shikamaru call out from the trees above - "Team #10, to battle! Ino-Shika-Chou!!!" Grinning with almost fiendish joy, Ino begged Chouji to take care of her body for a few moments. Nodding in reply, he caught her limp form as she used her special move 'Shintenshin no Jutsu' and possessed Ryobi's body. Just when Usoune was about to stab Chouji, he was punched in the head by his own associate. Reeling from the blow and a bit stunned, he cursed at Ryobi and asked him what the hell that'd been for. Ino inside of him smirked and told him to shut up. In anger, the nukenin was about to hit him when suddenly he discovered that he couldn't move. Looking at his feet, he saw that his own shadow had been connected to another, which he followed with his eyes along the ground and up a tree to where Shikamaru stood defiantly. The genin laughed at the confused look on the man's face and then proudly exclaimed:
"How'd you like that move, Usoune? 'Kage Mane no Jutsu' is certainly a technique they don't teach in Kirigakure. Mostly members of the Nara clan are those who've mastered it's many tactical and combative uses. The only reason I didn't use it on you right away was that I needed to find a place where the sunlight was coming strongest through the trees. So just sit tight and wait for the real fireworks to begin. Hey Ino! Have Ryobi give this nukenin a hug for me, will ya? Heh heh heh..."
In a vicelike grip, Ino made Ryobi tightly wrap his arms around Usoune. The man painfully grunted from how hard the embrace constricted him. Taking out a rope from inside of the sachel Ryobi carried, Ino made him securely bind his hands up with Usoune's hands. Once that'd been done, Ino shouted 'kai' and then quickly released Ryobi from her control. He was very confused and infuriated to find himself tied up with Usoune. Jumping down from where he'd been hiding in the trees, Tatsunosuke rushed over to Ino and made sure that she was allright. Now trapping Ryobi within his shadow, Shikamaru boldly shouted out:
"Chouji! Remember what this creep called you? FAT-ASS. I think that it's high time that you made him pay for that tremendous insult."
Once more Chouji's face started getting red at the thought of what he'd been called. Looking very serious, he did 'Baika no Jutsu' and became like a giant ball. Usoune laughed at this and called him a 'lardball'. But he wasn't laughing for long when Chouji shouted "Nikudan Sensha!" and started to rapidly spin right towards them - his speed increasing the closer he got. Releasing the men from Kage Mane no Jutsu, Shikamaru leaped out of the tree that he'd been in. At that moment, Chouji rammed powerfully into the men and shoved them into the tree with such force that it broke in half. When the dust settled, Chouji sat sprawled on the ground looking very dizzy and ill. Ryobi and Usoune were roughed up and knocked out cold at the tree's jagged stump. Shikamaru smiled, very pleased that Ino-Shika-Chou had been such a fantastic success...