The Arena: The Lion's Share (Solo Mission)

[Yin Ishimura]

Name: Lion (Arena Match)
Rank: D-ranked
IIC Length: Hours
Difficulty: Easy
Description: The king of the jungle is pitted against you in our Cloud Village Arena. You must prove your strength and ability against this ferocious beast and defeat him without fail. The Lion is quite large, hungry and is not to be taken lightly. Fight the beast and put up a dam good show for the spectators.
Objective:(May be repeated 2 times)
Defeat lion; do so in a stylish fashion.
Personnel Requirements: 1 Shinobi of any rank.
Reward: 1000 Ryo.

The boy walked into the circular building. His gourds weren't allowed past the participant's quarters. Hidden in his outfit was a bit of his Iron Sand. Around 100 lbs of it to be exact. It was clinging to his skin under the clothes, making it look like he was a bit pudgier than he really was, but not much. The boy had been sent here on a mission. Apparently, he was the main attraction at this event. The ringmaster had trained animals in the arts of fighting. Unfortunately, these animals weren't trained to fight against ninja. The muffled cheers from the spectators put the event in perspective for Yin. They were here to watch either him or the animal be slain. Yin felt a pang of remorse as the fact washed over him. These animals... they were trained to die...

And so was he...

"And now! Here from our very own Hidden Cloud Village! ISHIMURA, YIN!!!" The boy sighed as he stood up, his face somber, his body feeling much lighter without the heavy gourds on him. The boy walked slowly into the arena, the crowd going wild with anticipation of the fight. That's right. They aren't cheering for me... they're cheering for the bloody spectacle they know is about to follow... His eyes scanned over the seats.

"Also! As a proud sponsor of our business: Ikiado, Tayane is here to evaluate our performance to see if we bring you the quality entertainment he's paying us to!" The crowd cheered at this, but Yin froze, his skin going a little pale. His look drifted to the box he knew his old Lord would be sitting. The man he had run away from a year ago... the man who held his life in the palm of his hand... A hand went to the red scarf that was wrapped around his neck, hiding the curse mark. He couldn't use his regular techniques... the man knew he could use Iron Sand for his jutsu... How was he supposed to fight if he couldn't use the only weapon he had against the animal? Fear gripped the boy's heart. He had defeated Ripper the Jack, but that had been only with the unlimited manipulation of his Iron Sand... how was he supposed to fight now that he couldn't use it?

"Without further adeu, let's bring out the beast! The King of the Animals! Scar!" Yin looked to the gaping mouth of the cave, his opponent padding slowly from is depths. The black maned beast emerged, its fur was scarred from the previous fights it had... the training it had gone through.

The great beast ROARED, the crowd cheered as it came closer to the boy that was standing in the middle of the arena. He couldn't pry his eyes from it as it advanced. What was he supposed to do? How was he going to defeat such an opponent? He couldn't use any jutsu that would give him away... and all he had were his Iron Sand Kunai in his tactical vest that were already created... Yin blinked as he realized he had everything he needed already there. The boy relaxed as the beast stopped but two meters from him, the hungry animal eyeing him with its gleaming eyes.

It lunged at him, its mouth open, the crowd cheered as it moved. Yin raised his left arm, the iron sand moving to it. The sleeve bulged as the lion bit down. The crowd gasped as the beast shook its head. Yin smiled as his right hand moved to his tactical vest and pulled out a black kunai. Using it, he slashed across the beast's left eye. The lion roared as it jumped back, releasing the arm.

"Did you see that?! He took the bite and gave it right back to the beast! THAT is what you call bravery my friends!" The announcer cried, amazed that such a young boy would do that. "And... wait... he doesn't even look like he's hurt! IT'S A MIRACLE LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" Yin stepped back and move his hands out in front of him. He made fake handsigns and held the ox for a moment. He then reached his arm into his left sleeve... and pulled out two short swords. One on either side of the arm.

"There you have it folks! He hid the swords in his sleeve! Tricky son, but next time don't bring your own primary weapons!" The announcer said warningly. Yin breathed, his eyes following the lion. It was more weary now that it saw a normal attack wouldn't work against this opponent. Yin smiled grimly. If it wasn't going to come to him...

The boy pushed off the ground towards the animal. He was going to go to it! Standing behind the beast, Yin brought an arm around and stabbed into the beast's hind leg. A roar echoed through the arena as the lion fell to the ground. His sword retracting with his arm.

"This just about wraps this up!" The announcer cried. "Now for the finishing blow!"

The crowed roared in anticipation. Yin raised his swords and put them back into his left sleeve. The audience stopped cheering, confused. Yin turned and walked away from the animal.

"What? He's just going to walk away?"

Yin stopped as he reached the entrance. "The beast is dead. Check it yourselves." He told the guards. The looked at one another and shrugged. They ran out into the middle of the field and cautiously approached the Lion. It lay on the ground, still.

"I don't know how he did it, but the boy won with the second blow! It's amazing!"

* * * * *

unseen by everyone, a layer of Iron Sand stayed in the lion as Yin withdrew the sword from it. The sand formed a small edged spike of iron and shot to the beast's stomach. It died as the boy walked away, the blood oozing from its leg. The Iron sand would then disperse through the Lion's body, making it almost impossible to tell it had been the iron that had killed it and not some hidden quality of the swords.

[Yin Ishimura]

Name: Lion (Arena Match)
Rank: D-ranked
IIC Length: Hours
Difficulty: Easy
Description: The king of the jungle is pitted against you in our Cloud Village Arena. You must prove your strength and ability against this ferocious beast and defeat him without fail. The Lion is quite large, hungry and is not to be taken lightly. Fight the beast and put up a dam good show for the spectators.
Objective:(May be repeated 2 times)
Defeat lion; do so in a stylish fashion.
Personnel Requirements: 1 Shinobi of any rank.
Reward: 1000 Ryo.

"W-wait. I just got word from the owner... Who wants to see him do that again?!" The announcer asked the crowd. They roared, knowing that the first time must have been a fluke. Yin frowned and stopped in his tracks. He had beat the beast... were they going to hold some sort of a grudge match?

"However, this isn't going to be the same lion! Oh no! This is a special lion we've been saving just for this sort of situation!"

Yin turned around to face his opponent. It was another lion. However, this lion's mane was a firy red. Wait... it was on fire! Well, parts of it anyway. Tied into its hair were blazing torches, adding a dangerous element to the game. The lion would be in a frenzy, trying to put out the flame, it would attack ruthlessly, franticly, trying to save itself. The beast rushed for him, feeling the heat on its back. Yin's face hardened into a frown, anger spreading through him. What had the lion ever done to deserve this sort of treatment?

"Enough!" Yin cried as the lion pounced. Instead of staggering back as most people would have done, Yin charged forward. His hand reaching up, the sand rushing up, pushing into the lion full force. The beast let out a roar, but was quickly silenced as the sand cut through its body. Yin was caught under the beast's weight, nearly crushed between his gourds and the fearsome animal. Using his untrained strength, he rocked the beast back and fourth until he got it off of him. He spat on the ground and walked away. The crowd stayed silent, not knowing what just happened.

"That... was the quickest match I have ever seen..." The announcer stuttered over the mic. "A-amazing! Give it up for Yin Ishimura!"

[Yin Ishimura]

Name: Kangaroo (Arena Match) [both times at once]
Rank: D-rank
IIC Length: Hours
Difficulty: Moderate
Description: Jack the kangaroo is pitted against you in our Cloud village Arena. You must prove your strength and ability against this beast, which is said to have know some Taijutsu moves. The kangaroo is quite large, skilled and is not to be taken likely. Fight the beast, and put up a dam good show for the spectators.
Objective:(May be repeated 2 times)
Defeat the Roo; do so in a stylish fashion.
Personnel Requirements: 1 Shinobi of any rank.
Reward: 1000 Ryo.

"kid... you aren't half bad..." A gruff voice said to Yin as he sat in the Arena's gladiator locker-room. The young boy recognized the voice immediatly. It was his old master... An unseen chill filled him as he turned to look at the man he had once served.

The man frowned. "Do I-..." The man shook his head and laughed. "No! Oh, I'm so sorry! You look like one of my servents! But it couldn't be you! he died a year ago!" The lord laughed, his pot-belly jiggling. Yin forced a few, hollow laughs himself... knowing that the man could quickly come to the conclusion that he WAS the servent that ran away. "I just wanted to give you my congratulations! You bested the animal and gave it your all! I'm afraid I have to leave... but, I wanted to give this to you!" The man threw the boy a bag, it was filled with something, he couldn't tell what it was.

"It's a bag filled with coin boy! What I want to do is do a little... wager if you will!" The man smiled deviously.

"I'm listening..." Yin replied evenly.

"If you win, you get all the money in that bag! That's double what you would have origionally recieved! For fighting that other lion, you would have gained 2000 ryo, am I correct?" Yin nodded. "That will make it 4000! If..." A smile came to the man's face. "You can beat two animals of my choice both at once!"

Yin looked up into the greedy man's eyes, knowing there was a catch. The catch was the fact that his arena's animals could even beat Cloud Shinobi. It was bragging rights, something that would give anyone reason to watch these fights.

"Fine... what are these animals you want me to fight?"

The man smiled. "Oh... you'll see!"

* * * * *

Yin made his way to the center of the arena. The crowd roared with anticipation, knowing that this next fight was going to be much harder than what the boy had endured earlier. Yin could have cared less. What was going to happen wasn't something he would be proud of... but it had to be done... he had to use it... his birth right... his iron sand...

"Now, round three! Two Kangaroos trained in the style of Muy Thai! These devils coming both at the same time will knock you right out of your socks! Literally!" Yin had heard enough of this man's brags, making the animals seem much more difficult than it would be. "Here they come!"

Yin saw them. The two animals wearing boxing gloves as the hopped frantically towards him. Thrusting his arms out to either side, Yin brought his hands togeather to form handseals, quickly shifting from one to another, he watched as his opponents got closer and closer. At the last moment, he thrust his hands forward and the black clouds of sand shot out at the animals from each sleeve. The crowd roared with amazement as the animals were thrown back by the black arms that had shot out from each of his sleeves. The clouds retracted immediatly, making it seem like he had extended black arms toward his enemies. one of the kangaroos got back up and hopped toward Yin. It unleashed a flurry of punches, none of them aimed, all randomly unleashed. Even with his little training in Taijutsu, Yin had no problem dodging these... until the second Kangaroo came in. A kick to his side threw him four meters before hitting the ground hard. Yin frowned and wobbily stood up. The roos were charging him again before he even got his bearings. He ducked the first punch and punched at the animal. A sharp blade of sand shot out from the boy's sleeve, peircing the animal, killing it as he did the lion.

The second one jumped toward him, but Yin was ready. In a moment, another arm of Iron Sand came out, striking the animal in the face, sending it backward to the ground, unconcious. Yin sighed and fell to a knee. It was over... it was finally over...

"He's DONE IT!" The announcer yelled happily. "AMAZING! YIN ISHIMURA IS THE CHAMPION!"

The boy sighed. Thankfully, this concluded his participation in such a disgusting event. Being owned by his late master, the only benefit that having was that he now owed Yin 4,000 ryo. The boy left the arena, content with his accomplishment.

[/exit]