Foot Race [Mission]

[Haseo]

SPOILER: Click to show

Name: [ Foot Race. ]
Rank: D
IIC Length: 1 day
Difficulty: Easy
Description: A travelling man is wondering the country of water. He has been going from town to town, saying he is the fastest runner alive. His speed is unmatchable by any normal man. Well he has yet to meet a shinobi of the Mist. He has declared a challenge to the country. Anyone who can best him in a race will earn the reputation as the fastest runner alive. Even if the title is unofficial it would still be fun to hold.
Objective: Race this man and show him the speed of the Mist Shinobi.
Reward: 1500 Ryo

Peering into his eyes, Haseo saw the shattered remains of a man who once was. Ryutaro Gensei was his name, a former professional athlete who had long since fallen out of his prime. Retirement was the worst thing that could’ve happened to him, having his drank his small fortune down a bottle. Soon afterward, his wife and children left him. He had nothing but pitiful his own delusions of grandeur. He was but a withered husk of a corpse, with something to prove and nothing to show for it. He had already lost, that much was evident. Too bad he was the only one who couldn’t see it. Had he no shame? Haseo almost felt what seemed to be pity him, too bad he had none. Lining up at the finish line, the race was upon them now. All the young man heard was a shot, and he was off in a hiccup.

The wind could do nothing to contain him as he sprinted onward, sweat now pouring down his young face. As he continued to wind down street corners and alleyways, he noticed his opponent noticeably lagging behind him. He was out of breath, and considerably out of shape. As he ran his beer belly constantly spilled out of his too small shirt, slapping violently against the wind. No doubt he was faster than the average person, but still his current speed was laughable for a trained ninja. It was nothing compared to his prime, that much though was to be expected. The race spanned the length of the village which was huge enough but to make matters more interesting, three laps were to be completed.

It didn’t that there were detours posted throughout the village, mostly due to dilapidated and under constructed housing. It was annoying, but Haseo would have to deal with it and move on. As he turned the corner, rounding yet another street, Haseo noticed a few unsavory gentlemen in front of a large road closed sign. This was obviously a set up however, the men moving in such a way as to further block the young man’s path. “Simple thugs. How pathetic.” The green eyed shinobi knew something was bound to go wrong, but he doubted Gensei would try anything in broad daylight. This mattered not though, Haseo barreling over the gang of thugs as he made his way back around.

Turning his head, he noticed a visibly energized Gensei emerging from the distance through a cloud of fog. His speed was ferocious, enough to instill memories of his prime back into the genin’s head. He still however wasn’t any faster than Haseo was, but the young man had to keep putting distance between them. Running for a few miles now, Haseo saw that Gensei was nowhere to be found. This was a bit concerning, given the intensity at which he was running only minutes ago. It was a strange occurrence, but nevertheless he continued on towards his destination.

A bit later on Haseo caught a glimpse of those same three or so jerks who had blocked his path. They were now in front of him on a street corner. A fight between the two forces was inevitable, and one had to give. To this end, the genin engaged the three thugs in an all out brawl. Approaching one of the bigger men in the group, he hit him with a roundhouse kick square to his chest. It wasn’t until he started to bleed until his friends joined in, extremely afraid. They tried to fight back, but they were no match. He showed neither of them any sort of mercy, beating them nearly within an inch of their lives. “I don’t want to see your faces again, understood?” he barked to the men now groveling beneath his boots. “Come near me again, and I’ll kill you. All of you.”

This little distraction would cost him much ground in the fight, which he would have to recover. Gensei was clearly leading the race now, the finish line just about 400 meters ahead. Haseo made a mad dash to the finish line, he now beginning to catch the former athlete. The young shinobi was now standing side by side the has been, the two men sweating profusely. Looking over, Haseo noticed Gensei slip something into the corner of his greasy mouth. He swallowed something red in color, but Haseo couldn’t determine exactly what it was. There was a large grin on the man’s bloodshot red face. Still neck and neck, they were but mere feet away from the finish line when Haseo executed a near perfect Shunshin technique, for he would have the last laugh. No one said he couldn’t use any jutsu.

The tape broke and the race was over. Or so he thought “What the hell was that? You cheated!” Gensei bellowed, grabbing Haseo by the shirt. “Ref say something, c’mon!” The referee was obviously stunned in disbelief, hardly being able to summon forth one word.

“Just like you cheated by taking Soldier Pills?” replied the genin. “They were clearly prohibited in the pre-race agreement. You just chose not to abide by the rules. Nowhere did it say jutsu could not be performed. Are you that stupid that you could not read a simple form?”

“Why…why you!”

“Now take your hands off of me, or I’ll remove them myself.” The man was stupefied, or so he seemed. A dizzy look came over his face has he started to shake violently. His mouth had begun to foam and he hit the floor like a rock. Medics soon rushed to the scene. He would live unfortunately, but the after effects of the pills would leave him hospitalized for quite some time.

“But I won I won, didn’t I?”