Taking Down the Boss (p, nk)

The sporadic breeze of the once sun-filled village of Konohagakure would flow through the translucent window curtains attached authenticly to a gray wall bar. The silent yet fierce winds slowly plaguing the Fire Country's autumn blew ominously through the once feared village. The winds were cold, almost freezing in fact, reflecting the state of the ninja world at that moment. Not even the false comfort of the tan blankets that lied haphazardly on the repaired maroon bed bought from the multi-purpose Konoha thrift shop could lift the bleak ambiance of the village. Such an environment leads to introspective pondering among the residing souls of Konohagakure. No one was outside, despite being a Friday and early morning where it was the norm for civilians to roam around rushing for work. There were the vagabond merchants from other villages, some were respectable souls trying to make a living while there were others who sold rather dubious things. Yet, the village felt like a ghost town, resembling the minor villages that suffered a dreadful fate such as Yukigakure that was reduced to an unrepairable dilapidation years ago. The Ninja World made sure to tell its inhabitants that it was a dog-eat-dog world. The weak perish and the strong prosper.

Tadashi suddenly rose from his shadow-tinted slumber, the thought of the Sunagakure invasion still plagued him to this day. He swore not to kill someone again after his bout with the Rogue Ninja, Oda. He vomited internally when vividly remembering that faded day. The sound of his sharpened katana merging with foreign skin, piercing the man's throat in an instant, then swiftly pulling his weaponized steel out of his throat. It killed him instantly as Oda fell onto the blood-drenched ground as his body drifted through his crimson red fluids with a plop...The rancid smell of the man's blood violated and proliferated the Namikaze's nostrils, forcing the young teen to drop down and gag heavily as tears streamed down his eye sockets, clouding his vision. Though he wasn't the one who killed the lavender haired traveler during the Sunagakure Invasion courtesy of the mysterious swordsman clad in Kirian armor, the lifeless eyes of Senhime bore into Tadashi's after he used his Temporary Paralysis technique to bind her in invisible chains of chakra. The ginger knew that someone was bound to die since it was war, which meant killing all semblance of emotion to victory. The pang of assisting in killing someone didn't shackle the young Namikaze until months after the ordeal when he transplanted her sacred eyes into his body to attain more power. It was then, where the ginger subliminally merged with the last lingering thoughts of the tragic traveler.

"Why did she have to die?" Was the thought that rang through the conflicted teen's occluded encephalon. The most evident answer would have been, "Because she was in the way of Konoha's objective." However, said answer opened an endless myriad of questions expanding outwards. This...didn't follow the Will of Fire everyone knew and loved, the rose-tinted dogma in which Academy Students were taught to be positive shinobi who cared for their comrades and fought for their country valiantly. To what extent they would fight for their country, was dubious and could be easily attributed to any enemy, to the point of using excessive force on anyone in their vicinity.  He had been looking at his village in rose-tinted memories.

It began to dawn on the young boy what the "Will of Fire" truly meant, "I've killed so many people for this country to the point of killing this...stranger." A small chuckle escaped Tadashi's mouth before tears streamed down, "We're no different than Kirigakure. We've been brainwashed to think that we're actually in the right..." On his window porched lied a steel engraving of the Will of Fire symbol. "DAMN IT ALL!" Blinded by rage incarnate, his hand clenched itself before punching the steel sheet of engraving with all of his force. Like a rose-tinted in sporadic thorns, the rose would shatter, but the sharpened thorns would retaliate. An explosion of blood from the fist splattered all across his hand in a horrific sight. A long drip of bright, heated crimson blood traveled throughout the origin of the wound, the ginger's knuckle to his finger for a splatter of blood to land on the broken engraving.

"Such a metaphor." A call from the inner workings of the teen's mind jested. An outline of a gleaming Silver Dragon emanated through the blank abyss of the Namikaze. "Have you finally understood your hypocrisy of yourself and your village, host? Since the beginning of the birth of Konoha, Konohagakure's 'inspiring' dogma of the Will of Fire causes bright shinobi to become mindless killing machines, husks of their former selves. This is further exemplified through your esteemed previous 'god', Viper Uchiha who caused mutual suffering throughout the Ninja World with the 'Will of Fire' masqueraded as propaganda for imperialism. The Ninja World is still licking its wounds from his tyranny YEARS after his reign. Because of his reign, thousands of the Pendragons DIED as well as other weak humans killed by his imperialism. You are nothing more than a product to be controlled anyway your "great" village sees fit. You are nothing to them, so why should they mean anything to you? Are you prepared to keep living as a mindless puppet, forced to slay even your bretheren of the Pendragon clan to complete your objective, or free yourself from a conquerer? The choice is all yours, but maybe this will make you ponder on your current predicament." Within the spectrum of his thoughts, Tadashi could feel his body being forced to relive a past facet of his memory.

An ominous breeze ran through the cobblestone passageway, carrying the solemn and sorrowful souls of the piles of the rotting deceased that failed to escape the brutal assault of the invading Konoha forces that entered the River Country. The dead bodies of many civilians proliferated and saturated said passageway as their bodies limped on top of each other like a horrific twist on a massacre. They were owned by crude stab wounds, bloody lacerations, and broken bones turned hollow from the exposure of damp oxygen. The smell of iron-like scarlet fluids spilled by the crowd of corpses infused with the air easily, forcibly infiltrating the noses of those who were still conscious. The corpses' lifeless glares bore into their perpetrator's eyes. Beyond the valley of human carcasses were a small group, surviving Konoha shinobi reporting back from the invasion, all sporting the dried blood deriving from the corpses and ripped up armor caused by the now deceased's frantic attacks for their lives. Tadashi stood in the middle of the group with his sword bloody, appearing that Yurai had claim tens of lives that twilight period.

Wiping a smudge of blood from his cheek as it impeded his current vision essentially if it wasn't already nightfall, Tadashi would witness the atrocities he and his comrades had committed. From the putrid, rotten corpses of young adults, mothers, and even young children, a sudden urge to gag and vomit resurfaced on the young teen as dropped his knees on the crimson earth. Yurai would fall on a dried splatter of blood, nearly sinking in the vermillion puddle if it wasn't for the crudely made cobblestone patterns absorbing the liquid. A churning feeling escaped through Tadashi's stomach as the unnatural, rising awareness of vomiting exploded outwards with a pained grunt. Coated in a yellow tint, the Namikaze's broken down lunch spewed out of him, merging with the dried blood which created an unbearable pungent smell to those within the vicinity of the ginger. "Stand up." A hoarse voice above the recovering teen spoke. Wiping off the remainder of his saliva, the Ace stared upwards with a hazed vision. Amber eyes and stark black hair, it was no mistaking that it was Kalis Shimada, a notable and favored Jounin in the Konoha military. He was also one of the few shinobi who fought alongside Kinzoku in the Sunagakure Invasion against Kenshin Uzumaki. Despite the ginger's silent stubbornness to his superior, the man would simply drag him across the valley of dead carcasses.  It was a stark contrast to what Kalis regularly behaved; he was usually a nonchalant man who didn't take many things seriously due to not wanting to over encumber his lifestyle. However, Tadashi's previous interpretations of the man betrayed him, now witnessing a cold-blooded killer. Within minutes, after seeing the hundreds of corpses throughout the area, the Namikaze would start feeling numb to the number of corpses. His submissive, meek expression downplayed the utter chaos in the River Country village. 

If he could recall correctly, the Konoha shinobi group had just traveled through most of the River Country in the fastest route possible. The location they were at now was referred to as Dorei, or "Servitude." Dorei held a town, housing no more than about 500 people if they were lucky to live more than thirty years of age. From years of suffering, Dorei Town was shackled by tax escaping from neighboring nations, an enormous amount of debt that would take a lifetime to pay off, drastically high crime rates, poverty, and lack of proper medical supplies. Morale was low since their average lifespan was about thirty, and it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for your son or daughter to be in a brutal quarrel for money and their lives to be taken. This resorted breadwinners and other members of the family to engage in criminal activities to gain money, for a CHANCE to bribe border patrol to enter other countries and possibly their hidden villages. Money laundering, black market investing, organ trafficking, and underground death battles were the norm in Dorei Town. From what Tadashi could recall, Dorei Town wasn't like this many years prior, but there was never once a non-obfuscated reason for the River Country town's downfall.

Nevertheless, time would still not allow the ginger's introspection as a barbed arrow, aimed at Kalis' head would be shot towards him at lightning-fast speeds. The force of the bow launching the arrow created a tiny slipstream of wind surrounding the projectile. The Jounin's ear peculiarly wiggled in retaliation to the sound of the arrow cutting through the wind as he would drop quickly onto the bloodied group with a "THUD!" "Experienced Fighter?" Tadashi thought in the split-second before he was knocked to the ground when seeing Kalis' ear move to the arrow. He had heard Jounin being able to sense, hear, and detect objects that could prove fatal to them, said ability was attributed to the secret skill called Experienced Fighter. The Ace would witness Kalis' catching the arrow with his bare hands before redirecting the projectile with the simple flick of a finger back at the direction of the arrow.

3 seconds passed...

A horrifying scream of agony echoed through the interior of Dorei Town, forcing the preying vultures that munched on rotting corpses to soar upwards in animalistic-fear. Within the scream held a carnal growl of sheer anger towards Kalis'. A figure illuminated through the shining, plasmic stars as it strode in a horror-inducing pattern. Tadashi gulped. It held an angered man, adorning peasant clothes, a crudely made crossbow held on his left hand, and a large number of scratches. What was most noticeable, was the arrow redirected landed on his eye, destroying it immediately. Blood periodically dripped across his eye socket to the right side of his face. An even more dreadful atmosphere would surface across the twilight gleaming Dorei Town. The man's blood would seemingly curdle and boil in sheer anger and heat emanating from himself as his crossbow aimed and bore towards the Konoha shinobi squad,


"FUCKING KONOHA VERMIN, I'LL SKIN YOU ALIVE FOR KILLING MY FAMILY!!!" Another one of his crossbow bolts would shoot towards the group, uncaring to who it hit, just so he could reel in the euphoria that he had slain a Konoha ninja. In a fluid motion, Tadashi would react in sheer instinct towards the harmful arrow bolt. Activating Raijin as an aura of chakra would surface around him, empowering his body to superhuman-like capabilities, the arrow would wrinkle to nothingness once it came in contact with the aura. Before the man could react, Tadashi would already be in front of him once he reopened his eyes from the shocking blinking. Suddenly, all cells in his body would be attacked by lightning currents as he dropped to the ground instantly, writhing in paralysis by the aura. "Come on then! KILL ME, BOY!" The peasant-man spat at Tadashi. 


"Or? Would you rather hear the truth of how this village came to be, by you wretched vermin, and why you self-proclaimed "protectors" had the "decency" to commit genocide on Dorei Town?" The man licked in lips in satisfaction, enjoying every second of Tadashi's hyperventilation and internal struggle. "Don't listen to him, Namikaze!" Kalis attempted to reel Tadashi back in, but you should never underestimate the curiosity of Tadashi Namikaze.

Kizaru looked at his mission assignment. He couldn't believe he was going on an S rank mission so soon after his last mission's lesson. Luckily he wouldn't be out in the open where the real monsters lurked. He much preferred the company of his fake monster puppets.

Kimchi was still recovering from his burns and was in no shape to be leaving for a mission. He would be staying home with a large bowl of fruit. "Please don't eat it all at once. It was expensive." He'd sigh to the little ape.

He got dressed in his typical hoodie and black pants outfit and grabbed the cases for Alucard and Rake. He needed a better means of transporting his puppets, but for now he just had to hand carry them. With that he was all kitted up and ready to go.

He headed out the door and went to the rendezvous point. He was nervous about having to deal with merchants. A merchant's son himself he felt a connection to the plight of the common trader, but these people were deemed criminals by the leaf and he would obey his orders. As he arrived he would see his two teammates for this mission, Yoi and Tadashi, already waiting for him.

"Sorry guys. Didn't mean to be late." He'd call out as he walked up.

(WC 224)

Kizaru's two partners for this mission had both also taken part in the chunin exams, but they faired much better than the puppeteer. Yoi managed to win on his three way bout, and Tadashi showed incredible skill in his fight. Proving he was leagues above most genin in konoha at the moment. "My fight was pretty rough. Over before I could even really react." He would say with a sigh, "At least the mist covered the field so nobody really saw me embarrass myself out there." He wouldnt have wanted anyone to see him flailing like an animal as he lost blood.

Yoi shifted the topic back to the mission at hand with a question about who they were after. Kizaru didnt recall the name 'the Black Ones' but Tadashi did. He described them like a group of bandits who pillage towns on the outskirts of the countries.

"Stealing from the poor and defenseless is something only cowards would do. If they're so skilled they should take on bigger fish." Kiz couldnt help but compare them to the man who had attacked him and Yoi not long ago. Whatever justification they may have, bullying the defenseless is something humans with dignity wouldnt do. But outside the walls, dignity gets thrown to the wayside, and humans become monsters like Calin.

With newfound resolve to end these cowards acts of violence the puppeteer would follow Tadashi out of the gates, both puppet cases in hand. This time he wouldn't be defenseless.
(EXIT to fire country borders)
(WC 249)
(TWC 473)
No claims until mission end

Actually, I should take my claims back lol

Mid-thread claims:

3000 WC towards and to finish off This, using 25% Max Stats Discount (3000/3000)
256 WC Towards Iai Beheading, using 25% Max Stats Discount (256/1125)