Monkey vs Rabbit

Spoiler:

Sandayu excelled in catching, pursuit, and tracking. It is said that he has the nose of a dog. But he doesn't. He has the instincts of a monkey. When he heard about good ol' Ms. Poom losing her rabbit again, he knew that he would have to go and catch the naughty critter once more. This was his job. This was his life.

Sandayu was a trained hunter. But the rabbit was a trained escapee. She was his foe of old. She knew his tricks and his deceit. But Sandayu is never out of tricks. To track her down, Sandayu must understand where she is going. This is the first step. From prior experience, he knew that rabbits preferred grasslands and forests. This was in the book. Next, he must find the nearest habitat from where the rabbit went missing. The darn thing always left some footprints. And maybe some dung along the way. Sandayu noticed small footprints that he recognized were the padding on the rabbit's feet. "Kedamono....... this thing is always off on its own", he muttered. He tracked down the footsteps all the way to Training Ground #4. Plenty of humidity, grass, and woods. A ninja rabbit would be wise enough to hide here and remain hidden. But SAndayu has to think like a monkey now. He has to use his wits. Like a monkey using a stick to poke out fruits from a tree, he has to probe the rabbit. He surveilled the scenery. He went to an area thick with branches, but still clearly open to the field. He came prepared with bait. Sandayu placed some milkweed in the middle of the ground. He added some super-fruits in close proximity to the milkweed. The fruits excreted a super-sweet smell. It would arouse the nose of the ninja rabbit.

He waited for twenty minutes. He saw the shaded figure of the rabbit approaching the milkweed, just 15 meters away. She came closer, closer. She stopped short just 10 meters. She realized something was amiss. It was all too perfect yet offsetting, milkweed in the middle of the ground as a white bird would be in a desert. Sandayu snickered. He bursted forward with his natural ninja speed from the branch he was hiding in. He was now on the offense. The rabbit realized it was a trap a second prior. She turned and headed back where she came from. But just as she was able to make it out of there, a clone of Sandayu jumped in her way and intercepted her!

"Ha! I knew you were going to make a run for it. But guess what, this forest is so thick that there can only be two escape routes. The one I just came from, and the one you just came from. All I had to do was use a Bunshin to hide in and we would flank you!" he declared, treating the little animal with extreme bloodlust. The rabbit was well known for its cheetah-like speed. But she could not utilize its agility for it bumped into the clone. The clone dispersed. The rabbit fell to the ground from the force that was bounced back on her as she hit the clone. Sandayu went full-speed now. He caught the rabbit on her ass. Alert, the rabbit used her super-speed o try to shake Sandayu off. Sandayu was dragged across the grassland. Scars and bruises opened up on his side and face as he was dragged. "Grrrrrrrrrr," he grunted. He endured the pain. Eventually, the rabbit slowed down from having had too much drag on her, and tired out completely. Sandayu had completed his mission. He cupped her in his hands. He gave her a little kiss. "Alright, let's go back to Miss. Poom. Hey. I never realized this before. But are you running away, because YOU DON'T LIKE MISS POOM?"

And so he returned her anyway.