Mission: Protect and Capture

[Saiyuki]

SPOILER: Click to show

Name: Renegade student!
Rank: C
IIC Length: 1 Day
Difficulty: Easy
Description: Katsumi Nobuaime was once a disciple of Garin Tokusuke until a fortnight ago. For reasons unknown she has left his tutelage and begun a life of crime. Stealing from noble merchants along the Toku highway in Ame No Kuni she is relentless as she is skilled with a bokken, such is her weapon of choice. A cell of genin is dispatched by the village to subdue and capture her! Go Along the Toku highway under the guise of merchants and wait for her to strike!
Objective: Capture Katsumi Nobuaime and find out what has led her to this life of crime.

Akira was walking outwards again into the roads of Ame no Kuni. Last time, he had been hired to take care of a number of bandits. Most of them were simply unskilled fighters who had decided to lead a life of crime. But this time was different. He was simply hunting down a single shinobi this time. The young Kaishin, in disguise once more, was staring at a piece of paper which had the kunoichi’s information on it. Now at least Akira knew what she looked like. And she seemed skilled with a bokken. But Akira was not too worried about fighting her. If this were truly a dangerous person, then this mission would not have been ranked so low. But still, he was not underestimating her. She had no doubt learned some tricks from her time as a shinobi and he doubted that she was foolish enough to turn into a missing ninja without having at least several back plans.

Akira stopped walking, already in disguise as the mission required him to be. He was now waiting for the merchants to come here. They were the ones that were being stolen from and so were the ones to request the mission. And even though they were probably all incompetent fighters, they might have some useful info on their attacker, info that the young Kaishin could use to his advantage. However, he did not count on it. Akira stood there in the rain for a while, letting his body fall into the rhythm of the falling rain. However, soon enough, a group of merchants started to appear on the road. Akira could tell that it was the merchants that hired him. Akira let them get to him. When they were right by him, he looked up, a meaningful look in his eyes. They stopped and greeted him. Then, Akira started to go along with them, listening to what they had to say.

“She’s very fast, and a very slippery customer. She comes and goes like the wind, very efficient and very smoothly. I hope you have the skill to be able to take her.

“...Don’t worry about me. Did she use anything else besides her staff?”

“Well, I remember a time when she used some projectiles, think they were knifes or something of the sort. But I reckon she doesn’t need to use anything else but her weapons for us.”

“....Then we’ll just keep going along until she arrives.”

There were about four merchants walking along side of Akira. He could sense that they were all nervous. Obviously, only having one young shinobi like him was not enough to soothe their anxiety and Akira could understand why. However, they were clearly underestimating him, just as the leader of the bandits, another shinobi, had as well. And he was now a statue of ice, doomed to that state forevermore. Akira put a hand to his head. Something was troubling him, but he could not tell what exactly.

[Saiyuki]

The five of them steadily walked down the road, making their way through the muddy path. Akira had instructed them to not seem too cautious. If they were too cautious, then it might take longer for the lone shinobi to make her move. If they seemed too carefree, then she might get suspicious that there was a trap set for her. So the best path was to take the middle path. There was not much that they could do except to wait while steadily walking down the road. Akira was more relaxed, having undergone the right training and having more experience in matters like these as well. However, his companions were not the same as him. Their tension and anxiety permeated the atmosphere of the group. However, the young Kaishin did not mind. He just wished that the rogue shinobi would just make her move and come out already. He was starting to get a little impatient in the rain with four nervous to hell merchants. Then, finally, it began.

So there she is...

The rogue kunoichi, Katsumi, came out, bokken in one hand and throwing a barrage of sharp projectiles with the other. The merchants yelled at the sight of her. Akira quickly pushed a merchant out of the way, taking many of the projectiles. She flashed a grin as she started to approach the merchants while watching Akira’s falling body. However, then something went wrong. Instead of a body, a small log was hit instead. The kunoichi immediately knew that she was lured into a shinobi’s trap. However it was already too late. Akira was up and kicking at her. She quickly parried with her staff and leaped away. However, she was clever enough to know that running would be a very bad idea. She knew that the only way she could get away was to defeat the Rain shinobi standing right in front of her. However, Akira was not going to let that happen. She threw a kunai with an explosive tag attached to it. But the young Kaishin swiftly countered by forming the Great Breakthrough technique, sending the kunai with tag right back at her, along with a powerful blast of wind capable of knocking the wind out of her. It seemed that she recognized the attack and used her staff as a vault and leaped over the attack. While in the air, she threw another kunai with an explosive tag attached to it.

“Any better tricks?”

He swiftly side-stepped, dodging the explosion that ensued. However, his enemy was clever enough to predict his evasion and throw in a Hikari bomb for good measure. Akira was hit by it and he had to close his eyes. Katsumi apparently felt that she could finish this now and tightly gripped her staff as she moved in for the kill. However, the young Kaishin was not going to let the battle end so easily. He was well versed in the art of fighting without sight. And if she was going to take his sight away, then he might as well do the same for hers. Dense mist quickly covered the area. Akira had already instructed the merchants to move as far away as possible, since his using this technique was almost a guarantee. He silently moved out of his position while performing the hand seals for the Sonar technique. Now the situation had been readily reversed. And the instinct that the kunoichi had developed from living life on the edge told her that. Akira smiled as he spoke like a ghost, a couple of words coming from one place before he moved to another to confuse her.

“Now, let’s start dancing for real, shall we?”

[Saiyuki]

“Why did you run away?”

Akira’s voice echoed throughout the mist. After all, he was curious as to why she would suddenly decide to just up and leave the village. And part of the mission was to find out her reasons. The other part involved beating her down without killing her. Akira planned to bring her back to the village. Still, he wondered how he should handle this. He had never really thought of a way to bring back people. All of his techniques were designed for the art of swift death. So, to buy for time as well, he asked this question. He kept applying the Sonar technique, so he could keep track of Katsumi’s movements. It was like a picture in his mind. And that image showed him that she seemed to have hesitated about something. However, with only this technique, he could never be sure. However, she chose to start running around, attacking wildly. Luckily, she was far from where Akira was, so this left him time to think about how he should take care of her.

But Katsumi decided that she was getting nowhere and in a desperate attempt, she randomly threw projectiles out into the mist. Akira easily dodged these thanks to his Sonar technique and the fact that he was quite far from her. She seemed to have tired herself out, so Akira did not want to do too much damage to her. He guessed a few taijutsu attacks should cut it for her. Akira then formed a clone of water for distraction as he moved in. He moved silently, while his clone moved noisily. Obviously it was hit by Katsumi’s staff once it got close enough, but then that left her open. She should have kept her cool, but she was desperate enough to not think things through and fall into what was obviously a trap. But Akira calculated that and so he decided to finish this. He leapt up into the air and started kicking at Katsumi, kicking her multiple times before finishing with one that sent her flying eight meters away. Akira landed and moved back into the mist.

“Give up.”

“Never...!”

Akira could tell that she was going to be quite troublesome. She got back up, filled with fighting spirit. The young Kaishin tried to remedy that with a couple of explosion tags, all which hit as they flew through the air attached to a kunai. But she still kept getting back up, constantly trying to get away now. Akira then decided to finish this as he drew his blade and in one swift motion unleashed a wave of wind cutters from his blade. They all cut into her and sent her body flying back. Akira could hear the thud. There was silence for a while. Then she got back up. But Akira had sheathed his blade. That was the end of it. He could tell that she could no longer fight him. He appeared behind her and grabbed her in a bear hug, not allowing her room to do anything. But she did not have the strength to resist. His last attack had damaged her quite badly. Akira then proceeded to tie her up and headed back on the way to Amegakure. He dispelled the mist and whistled loudly into the air, telling the merchants that he had succeeded in capturing her and that they were free to go. He then started to move quickly towards Amegakure, Katsumi’s last whispers in his before Akira tied her up.

You’ll be fine...

Mission End