Pirates Vs. Ninjas (Mission)

An early morning fog had cascaded over the land making it difficult to see within 10 meters of oneself, Minato stood calmly just outside the boat wearing his normal blue trench coat and tie. A book in his left hand as he read to pass the time, the letter he had received for this mission stated his partner for the mission would arrive soon. The sailors continued to load their cargo some seeming to cut their eyes in Minato's direction as though doubting their safety in his hands, but that was not his concern as he remained nose buried in his book. Turning the page slowly as he turned and began heading up the ramp on to the boat, the other shinobi must be late he assumed as he made his way to the upper deck and began to prepare for their departure. Minato awaited the captain of the ship to come out of his quarters and brief him on the journey, knowing only that he was to protect the ship from pirates. However, he couldn't help but wonder what their destination was to be and perhaps even the cargo he was tasked with protecting beside of course the crew.

[200/3000 Words]

Frantic writing could be heard when listening close to the Kage's mansion. Kizmaru, the current Mizukage of the mist, was busy signing forms and stamping documents as a last minute task before heading out to an important mission. Piles upon piles of paperwork laid on top of his task for him to sort as he was nearly neck up in it. "Give me a break," Kizmaru said aloud in frustration. Ever since he came to power in the office, he's been doing nothing but stamping, signing papers and granting requests. This felt a lot more stressful than going out to perform missions in a way. He figured, he might a well take a mission. Disguied as taking a break, Kizmaru slipped through the shinobi and councilmen that were seemingly always at the mansion to get out and head to the receptionist. When he approached, the receptionist seemed startled at his arrival but Kizmaru place a finger towards his only lips in order to shush them before causing a commotion. He explained that he wanted to go out and get some exercise without being hounded by his anbu guards all the time. The receptionist sighed, knowing this would become a habit of the Kage since he was young, irrational and ahead of his time with his rank up.

Instead of choosing something he wanted to do, the receptionist knew just what Kizmaru was looking for at little risk to himself. Pirates. Pirates had been raiding the fishermen's boats when they are out at see for anything they could get their hands on whether it was valuables or the catch of the day. Kirigakure needed the fish to survive so they would like to prevent more robberies and if lucky, apprehend the thieves in question. They must not be very dangerous since they only raid smaller ships but are still a nuisance none the less. The receptionist informed Kizmaru of the details before Kizmaru left to meet at the said destination. Apparently, another person had already been there waiting for him to come by so he had to get thee quickly before they departed without him. Sprinting through the town in his Jounin Flak jacket, Kizmaru eventually made it to the meeting location. Jumping on the ship, he had immediately spotted a familiar shinobi he had met not too long ago although his name eludes him at the moment. He figured he'd introduce himself once more if the boy had also forgotten his name. Making his way to him, he stood next to him in order for him to notice his presence.

W.C: 430

It appeared the other shinobi had arrived now and was of course a bit of a shock to for Minato to see the same familiar man from the other day, it was apparent the man felt the same as he made his way to Minato's side. He closed his book and slid it into his pocket beneath his trench coat turning to the man as he drew closer, "Well hello again, I'm not sure if you remember but I am Minato." a slight smile on his face as awaited a response from the fellow shinobi.

The ship ramp was lifted and with a mighty shove the ship was floating away from the docks, the captain stepped forth from his quarters and began making calls to the other 9 fishermen who immediately set the ship in motion with sails at full mast. It was the first time Minato had ever been on a ship headed this far out into open water, open water, it was perfect for practice with water style jutsu. But Minato couldn't help but wonder if it was wrong to think of training right now when they were supposed to be protecting this people, his brain pulling on a particular jutsu the Hidden Mist Technique that he had read about in the past. It was explained that the jutsu was the collection of chakra in either the user or in a mass of water around the battlefield allowing it to manipulate the water into a vapor whether thick or thin and obstruct the view of the shinobi around them. A useful technique for missions of secrecy or even if mastered well enough may make an excellent jutsu for assassinations. To fuse chakra into the water around them would be easy with the mass body of water they were currently gliding through, the sailors probably wouldn't even realize where the mist came from so it couldn't hurt to practice. He then turned to the fellow shinobi and asked the simplest of questions, "What do you know about the Hidden Mist Technique?"


(342 Words toward Hidden Mist Technique)
(542/1500)

Now that he didn't have to worry about making it on time, Kizmaru figured it was time to get ready to prepare for the mission, at least mentally. He was already wearing his Jounin flak jacket over his yellow shirt and coat, wind breaking pants and ninja tabi along with his pouch filled with some throwing tools he had previously bought. Five Kunai, Five Shuriken and five Senbon along with his trusty katana and two Fuma Shuriken that reside folded in his pouch. Nothing could go wrong he thought to himself as the boat prepared to leave the docks. Looking at the boy next to him, it appeared he had noticed Kizmaru and was no greeting with with a friendly smile to which Kizmaru would respond in kind. "Hey there Minato, nice to see you're doing well. I remember you from the other day. Good to see you're still alive and taking on missions for the good of the village. I'll be accompanying you this time around since we're short staffed," Kizmaru had said telling half truths and what not. Still, it was genuinely good to see the boy here helping out people in need, even if he was getting a hefty sum for it. 

 The captain could now be heard lining up his fishermen, a total of nine to be exact. They hoisted up the anchors, untied ropes from the harbor that was keeping the massive ship from going out into sea in order to begin their voyage. The mission was simple, all they had to do was keep pirates and would be marauders at bay. Looking out into the sea to keep watch, Kizmaru heard the boy asking him if he knew how the hidden mist Jutsu works. Kizmaru nodded to the boy, assuring him that he indeed knew how and asked if he would like to be taught the correct way to utilize the technique. He didn't mind helping a fellow village shinobi out when it comes to learning or improving on a technique. In fact, he would encourage it if more shinobi attempted to teach each other as well as learn from one another. Kizmaru then began to speak. "Yeah, I've learned that jutsu a little while ago. I could show you how to do it since its not too complicated of a technique. Unfortunately, you'll have to wait until the mission ends. I don't want to create a fog that would hinder the sailor's work," he said, a bit gratified.

W.C: 415
T.W.C: 845

Minato looked at the man uncertain as to why the man chose not to teach him at the time, to him it seemed odd considering the person creating the mist could control the density of the mist making it present yet easy to navigate. The thought of creating this simple mist stayed implanted into Minato's mind as the boat crept onward through the sea, it was strange that they had been away from the docks this long and have yet to see any other ships. Then Minato saw it, the first sign of trouble for them. Off the starboard side of the ship about 100 meters out was a broken mast laying on a sharp rock which was sticking up out of the water, the damage to the mast was however a result of something other than the rock as it was scarred with burn marks and hacked away by some for of blade. Minato’s eyes then began to watch the waters around them for any sign of an ambush, a small boat off to the northeast corner was present. The looks of the ship was nothing more than a coast line fishing boat, room enough for 3 people. Strange to see once this far out in the ocean and especially powered by a boat motor like what it had, Unsure of the boats affiliation at the time Minato decided to speak to Kizmaru “I don’t know who they are but we have a small boat making its way to us from the northeast. A maximum of three men on it for certain.”

Assuming the other shinobi had in fact listened to Minato’s warning, he would be prepared to help in any way he could if this boat was the enemy they had been warned of. It didn’t take more than a second for them to reveal their intentions as the men on the boat began grabbing  treble hooks with rope tied to them, an instrument by design was made for boarding ships on open water. Minato decided if anything could be done to prevent the pirates from boarding now was the time to do it. With a hopeful heart Minato signed the tiger seal and began to expel a thick mist from his mouth, with in moments the ship disappeared into a white wall of mist. The sounds of contact from the treble hooks against the hull most of which weren’t sticking but instead bounced off and sank into the ocean. With the time the mist had bought him Minato quickly spoke to his comrade, “I can’t hold the mist forever, What do you think is the best plan of action? Do we reverse it and jump on their ship or basically let them on this one to catch them on familiar playing fields?” Minato awaited the answers he needed.

(1,013/1,500 Words)

Regardless of if the boy understood his intentions or not, Kizmaru stood by his decision of not using unnecessary techniques for the fun of it, especially while on a mission. He didn't want this to be come a habit in case a more tedious assignment comes along that could pose an even bigger threat than what they are currently doing. Still, if he could get the chance, he'd demonstrate to the boy how to properly cast, use and maintain the fog when the time came. There's no problem there since he's an expert at casting most water jutsu anyway. He then noticed Minato's attention was off elsewhere. Turning his head to looking the direction the boy's gaze seemed to have drifted too, he also saw a broken ship mast and chuckled a bit. Not far from it, was a small coast line fishing boat which Kizmaru didn't seem to react too. He figured some of his fishermen got careless and was swept into the deeper parts of the sea to perish by pirates, dangerous animals or the sea itself.  Mintato then made a report to Kizmaru, to which he responded, "Quite so." Soon after the boat made its way to the ship they were suppose to be guarding. 

Suddenly, treble hooks had found themselves making contact to the ship they were currently aboard. This made Kizmaru chuckle a bit as the other shinobi made his move in order to prevent the boarding from happening. Kizmaru thought the technique he cast was quite wasteful. It was a good try, he'd teach him properly right after he dealt with marauders that were attempting to board the ship they were task with guarding. First, he decided to tell Minato his plan of action. "Hey listen, we'll let them board and I'll show you how to properly use that mist technique. Got it? Now, whether to dispatch them or to take them in for questioning is a tough one. I guess if any survive, I'll interrogate who I can. Anyway, there's three of them, yeah? I'll take two and you'll handle the last one, got it," he said, asking if the boy when what course of action they would take. Shortly after, he reached for his weapon of choice, a katana, fashioned at the left side of his hip, drawing the blade swiftly. When the boy's mist had finally dropped, he decided to wait for the marauders  to try and board the ship a second time.

W.C: 412
T.W.C: 1257

Minato was confused at the claim the man had made in regards to the jutsu, yes perhaps there are better ways he could use the jutsu however, Minato has taken the sight from the invaders before they even boarded the ship. Minato nodded in agreement to the decision of splitting the attacking force and taking on one of the three, but decided to leave the mist in order to maintain home field advantage. Minato figured without sight the men would never fully see the layout of the ship and therefore he could use memory in order to keep his advantage, Minato quickly struck the first man who had climbed aboard knocking him 5 meters from the enemies entry point in an effect to separate the invading force. Now assuming that his comrade would handle the others as they climbed aboard the ship as he so claimed he would, Minato was free to focus on the enemy before him and not worry about interference.

Now with his enemy isolated and his ability to see hindered Minato began devising a plan using the layout of the ship, thinking about the fishing spear the was mounted above the captains door merely 3 meters away. The enemy was able to make out a small blur in Minato’s direction and blindly charged, his speed decent at most but luckily it proved slower than Minato. Jumping aside as the man struck the deck causing great damage to the flooring, he was obviously a brute with no speed or brain to back it up. Minato now standing beneath the Captain’s door reached up grasping the spear with his left hand, the shaft of the weapon laid against the back side of his arm and facing point down. The big lug of a man turned slowly after ripping his hand free from the wooden debris, met only by the spear that Minato had thrown at the first sign of movement the man had made. The impact could be heard as the blood spilled from his carotid artery splattering on the ground below, Minato released the Mist assuming the other shinobi didn’t need it due to his distaste in Minato’s use of the jutsu. The mist faded allowing Minato to watch the massive man as he collapsed to his knees propped from falling on his face only by the shaft of the spear that had ripped into his throat, a smirk on his face as he watched the light leave the bandits eyes and fade to darkness.

Minato then turned to watch the other shinobi and see how he was faring against the others, he figured a more advanced shinobi like this man was probably done by now if the opponents were all as weak as his.

Once the battle had ended Minato would help the crew off fishermen discard the bodies to the ocean below, the ship now able to be on it’s way would push on as their destination wouldn’t be much farther. Of course Minato would return to his reading, luckily they would make the rest of this journey undisturbed by anymore pirates and the mission would be a success as the sailed into port.

(1,542/1,500 Words)
(Mission Complete on My End/Exit)
(Claiming: +3 Stats/+3,000 Ryo/+100 Bonus Ryo for Rank/+7 AP)
(250 Words: Hidden Mist Technique/1,000 Words: Water Release: Water Needles)

Waiting for his opportunity to strike, Kizmaru began to make the 'Tiger' Hand seal, producing a thick fog from his mouth to obscure the vision of the marauders coming onto the ship. When they finally climbed up onto the sip from their treble hooks, one was immediately greeted with a gash opening up from his torso from shoulder to shoulder. The man cried out in pain as he collapsed to the ground, bleeding profusely. His body seemed to fade from view as the other man began to panic, unsheathing a large dagger from his back waiting for the inevitable to come for him next.  Kizmaru chuckled loudly, as if it could be heard from every direction at once before a sinister, smiling shadow appears behind the last marauder standing. With a swift thrust of his katana, he thrusts his blade into the last assailant's back, the blade tip protruding from the back coming out from where the man's lung would be. He then removed the blade as quickly as it appeared, allowing the man's blood to fill his punctured lung as he slowly but surely, drowned in his blood from a collapsed lung. Well then, now that fun time was over, Kizmaru decided to see how the boy was doing.

He had noted that Minato previously knocked one of the marauders away from the other two before the mist had fully taken affect but didn't pay anymore attention to that event since his was just beginning his at the time. Dispelling the mist, Kizmaru walked over in the direction he last spotted Minato to see he had finished up his conquest as well. Giving a small smirk, he instructed the boy on how to cast the Mist jutsu properly, giving him device and tips before it was time for them to resume sailing to their destination. Of course, he assisted in the disposal of their adversaries by tossing them into the sea of which they are currently sailing in. Kizmaru would then take the time to relax for the remainder of the trip, looking out into the great waters.

W.C: 349
T.W.C: 1606

Claiming 3000 Ryo, +7 AP
Claiming 3 chakra
1,500 words into Thousand Needles of Death