Escorting a Thug [Mission, Solo + NPCs]

The evening was filled with the signature mist of Kirigakure. Perhaps now a thick fog rather than a mist, it was still fitting of the village's name. Somewhere in the central districts of the village there was trouble, and the sky continued to fall upon it. A light drizzle accompanied by a wonderful chill and a somewhat annoying lack of visibility came to all the village citizens. In particular, it came to a pair of shinobi waiting on a street corner. A man was kneeling beside them, his limbs bound by shackles. The patrol had come across one of the many escaped convicts that were stirring trouble in the area, and they were determined to bring this one to justice.

He put up a fight, but they overwhelmed him in a two-versus-one conflict. Now out of energy, he could only hope that his brethren would emerge from the vapor-filled shadows and save his hide. This time, the guards had planned against that. Reinforcements were on the way, or rather, a reinforcement. Kisu had been enlisted to help with the patrol, and he was soon to arrive. The first guard was a rather tall male with trimmed brown hair, his hand resting upon the grip of his tanto in preparation for some sort of small-scale revolution. The other was a female with short black hair fashioned into a miniature ponytail, standing vigilant against the shadows of the evening.

Kisu dropped just in front of them, pipe in mouth and smoke trailing away. It would not take long before the scent of coffee filled the noses of the group, likely the most noticeable attribute of Kisu's presence. The thug on the ground merely looked up from his pitiful state of rags and bruises, smirking at Kisu's presence.

"Doesn't look like much of a guard to me." he spat.

The female punched him, immediately showing her desire for battle by putting the thug in his place.

"Ouch." Kisu mumbled, reacting to the thug's pain for him.

"Let's be off, then." the male guard sighed as he pulled the thug to his feet.

The group turned and prepared for their brief hike to the jail, their eyes focused on the shadows. Kisu performed a hand seal as they began to walk, stirring his chakra and beginning to reach out to the world around him. Chakra signatures of all types began to flood Kisu's mind and senses, but he focused on only the closest ones. There were few, but they had yet to make their move.

If I keep my sensing active, I'll know when they come. Then, we'll have the upper hand...

Kisu exhaled a large puff of smoke, and it seemed to be absorbed into the mist almost completely. It sparked a thought, and Kisu wondered just why this street was so empty at this time of day.

475 WC

CP: 120 - 12.5 = 107.5
Used: Chakra Sensing (C-Rank)

Mission Notes

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Mission Details

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NPC - Guard

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NPC - Thug

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All three of the ninja moved in a triangle formation, with Kisu at the lead and the thug in-between them. He tried to stall as much as he could, but it ended up being too painful to fall over again and again against the cold stone of Kirigakure's cobble paths. The delinquent did his best to remain as confident as ever, spouting insults and spewing his ear-rending bile whenever he had a decent opportunity. The guards may be oblivious to his plan, but Kisu could feel the others of his group following them. At this point, they had only made it a quarter of the distance to the jailhouse.

The dark of the night was beginning to settle in, and it seemed the fog grew ever thicker in their wake. Now only some twenty meters of visibility was around, creating a dangerous situation for Kisu and his allies. He had sensing available to him, but unless they found a way to get rid of the mist, they would be unable to fight together efficiently. It also meant that Kisu would have to expel a rather disgusting amount of chakra in order to continue tracking their targets, at least until they struck. His chakra pool was still somewhat limited thanks to his lack of training over the years, but he planned to fix that soon.

From what Kisu could feel out of the environment, they had reached the thirty percent mark. They were in the center of a four-way intersection, with some abandoned structures on each side. There appeared to be a light coming from one of the windows, too small to be torchlight but just enough to be candlelight. Movement stirred within, and suddenly three chakra signatures flared around them in a flanking formation. Kisu attempted to focus, but the thug began to laugh like the belligerent that he was.

"This is our territory!" he spat, eschewing disrespect for the shinobi.

The female shinobi once again shut him up, the sound of her knuckles smashing into his jaw echoing throughout the not-so-abandoned alleyways of the abandoned structures.

"Can it, dickwad! We're not losing you again, not even if your little friends show up!"

Quite forward with her revenge, she even went on to spit in the giggling thug's face. He thrashed about, and the attack began. The chakra signatures flared once more, and something was going to emerge from them. Kisu couldn't tell much more, so he released his seal and turned to his allies. He couldn't hesitate now. It was the moment of truth, and it would cost them their lives if they were not ready. This was likely the fate of the other guards, and those who were lucky enough to survive or be spared had avoided it.

"They're attacking! It's going to come from multiple sides, we should move off of this spot now!"

But they wouldn't be able to move fast enough. The male guard shouted something unintelligible as several spheres of orange-yellow emerged from the darkness of the mist. From every direction some six to eight of them came, and it would be nothing but speed to get around them now. Kisu slid to his right as one of the balls of flame struck the ground, which surprisingly enough resulted in a loud clang rather than an explosion. A searing-hot shuriken bounced and slid as the fireballs continued.

One of the fireballs struck the man they were guarding, setting his clothes ablaze and causing him to thrash about as he screamed in pain. Perhaps an unexpected part of the ambush, as these people didn't seem very smart. The last of the fireballs emerged, but Kisu and his companions were far too busy attempting to dodge them to notice their volley had come to a close. In a spiral they had flown, some missing entirely but others almost making contact.

A fireball came flying towards Kisu, and with no time to move, he raised his arm and took it directly. The pain wasn't even there at first, but as he swung his arm and sent the shuriken lodged in his coat flying away, the burning set in. An unbearable burning that seemed to sink right down into his bone, giving him the urge to scream unholy atrocities at all that existed. But Kisu was a little too smart for that, and gathering himself as much as he could, he ran to a nearby fountain and soaked his arm in the dirty water within it.

Small pyres had been lit all around the area thanks to the descent of the fire, clearing up some of the visibility issues they were dealing with earlier. The guards seemed to have recovered without taking much damage, Kisu being the only one to take substantial damage as a result of the fire.

"Is everyone alright?" Kisu called out, returning to the group.

"Yeah, we're good, but this guy got burned to a crisp. I think they were trying to eliminate all of us. A real mean guy is heading that group, that's for sure."

The female drew her tanto and aimed the tip at the shadows, calling out the perpetrators.

"Bunch of pussies is what you are, the lot of you! Come and give us a fight!"

Somehow, Kisu wasn't sure if that wasn't a very good idea. They took no time to respond to her request, but they had likely planned to attack anyway. A surge of chakra flared from above them, and Kisu was the first to notice.

"There! Another assault!"

At this point... I think there's three of them! That's what I counted before.

An explosion of fire emerged from the sky, descending towards them like a magnificent sun of smaller proportions. Still, it consumed their vision, and Kisu was unsure if they could stop it. Then he remembered that this was the Land of Water, and these criminals picked a pretty poor setup when it came to massive attacks. Thankfully, the guards were especially good with their ninjutsu. The male guard ran to the centerpoint as he formed hand seals, quickly exhaling a massive torrent of water towards the sky.

"Water Release: Water Trumpet Technique!"

In a matter of moments the two forces of power collided, sending steam in every direction. The man had won by default, likely sending the thug flying away for the moment. Still, that left two more, and they were already around. Dashing down from their positions, the rag-dressed and poor-behaved misfits confronted the trio of justice. This would be the final showdown, no more tricks. The third had recovered, appearing by Kisu. They were surrounded, but not outnumbered.

"What a joke! These guys have no idea what they're getting themselves into."

The two guards performed hand seals, and Kisu entered a fighting stance.

"So you use your fists, huh kid?" the thug nearest to Kisu chuckled.

He drew a kunai and raised it in an offensive stance, his cackling growing louder.

"Let's see what good it does you."

As Kisu ran forward, he could hear the sounds of battle emerge from the other guards. Water clones spread around the female, all with their tanto drawn. They shot towards the other thug, who jumped away and weaved hand seals. Still, she gave chase. The male weaved hand seals of his own, as did the other thug facing him, the two of them unleashing techniques simultaneously.

"Water Release: Water Trumpet Technique!"

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

More steam emerged, and yet another fireball whizzed past Kisu as he engaged in combat with the assailant. It seemed the one fighting the woman had used Phoenix Flower to nullify her clones, but a scream ensured that it wasn't enough. Kisu feinted his opponent who began with a slash, using his superior speed to perform a melee riposte and right hook him in the face.

"I see... You're not that well versed in close combat, are you?"

Kisu was more interested than using it as a means to insult. Still, it angered the thug, who only spat at the ground and came at Kisu once more. One slash after another, until Kisu stepped forward and punched his opponent in the throat. As the thug choked up, Kisu followed up by stomping on the criminal's kneecap and forcing him to the ground in a swift motion. The criminal dropped his kunai, the knife skidding across the ground away from his body.

The thug attempted to rise and Kisu kicked him in the jaw, slamming the back of his head against the stone ground and knocking him unconscious. Heavy breathing became slow, uneasy breaths as the man's body recovered from the strikes for him. Consciousness had a way of complicating things, when you really thought about it. But this was no time to ponder. Kisu turned to face his allies, who were still locked in combat. The last of the female's water clones dispersed, the thug frantically throwing out his ninja tools. Her assault was relentless, and she drew her tanto with one last dash.

A tip of shining metal pierced the veil of mist, and it appeared outside of the criminal's back. Droplets of blood slid from its surface onto the ground before she retracted the blade from his chest. They had been fighting upon a balcony now, and the chase was finally over. The corpse of the thug gave up the fight and fell over the edge, thumping harshly against the ground. Kisu turned looked towards the male, who seemed to be locked in melee combat with the thug now. Seeing as fire release would not work so long as water trumpet was available, he was forced to attempt victory through harder work.

Tanto against wakizashi sent resounding clangs throughout the now-stillness of Kirigakure's pathways. The display of strength here would likely keep other small-timers away for a short while, but a ballsy group would once again emerge. Kisu intervened in their one-on-one battle, coming in from the side of the criminal and sweeping his legs. He fell, his blade now in the hands of the guard. After some moments of babbling and self-pity, the thug admitted defeat. Two had been lost, but two were now successfully apprehended.

Kisu and the guards finished their trek towards the jailhouse, as reinforcements had arrived to take care of the dead bodies. For minor criminals, they were quite powerful opponents, and it seemed other parts of Kirigakure took notice of the ruckus they made. For a first mission, Kisu thought he had done pretty well. He'd just have to wait and see what the administrators hear about it to know for sure.

"I guess I'll go file in my own reports. Good work, guys." Kisu said, offering some sort of praise to the patrol.

"You, too, man. See you around."

Kisu nodded and headed off, smoke still emerging from his pipe and leaving behind a familiar sent.

1,817 WC + 475 WC = 2,292 WC Total

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