The Newcomer

Spoiler:

Guren walked through the entrance to the arena feeling confident. He had gotten a tip from a few gamblers earlier that the easiest way to make fast money in Sunagakure was by participating in The Bloodworks games. If you were a capable fighter that is. Nonetheless the arena combat would be a high risk, high reward scenario even for the most experienced shinobi. There was no guarantee that you would walk in with an advantage, and with Guren being new to Sunagakure he had no intel on anyone's abilities. Although it was not his preference, he would have to make it work. Besides, this was the nature of most real life situations. 

Upon reaching the arena gates, a guard met him. 

"You sure you want to participate? This is your last chance to change your mind..." the guard would let out with a furrowed brow.

Guren nodded in response and let out a calm, "I'm sure."

And with that the guard would shrug then open the gates, allowing Guren to enter the colosseum. It was massive: approximately 200m in diameter, and 100m in height. Once he stepped foot into the sanded arena, he was met with a sea of "boos" surging from the crowd. It would seem like the audience was partial to a regular fan favorite, who just happened to be Guren's opponent. That was fine. Guren was a newcomer, the crowd would have no reason to root for him. And this was true except for one lone fan, who decided to take the bet on the underdog.  If Guren pulled through, that guy would have a nice payday. Ironically enough, this was the same guy who had told Guren about the arena. 

Guren toned the clamor of the crowd out, as he proceed to walk forward until he was roughly 20m from the Eastern entrance of the arena. From here he would wait until his match up entered from either the Northern, Southern, or Western entrances. His hands resting directly adjacent to his ninja tool pouches on each side of his outer thighs. 

(WC: 345)

~Requesting a D-Rank NPC~

(I'll be NPCing your mission ^-^)

Your Opponent:

"Come on guys, let's hear some NOISE!" A young man with both fiery hair color and a fiery attitude roared in response to the crowd's rambunctious cheering towards him, amplifying their jeers to a tremendous amount. Today was a rather normal day for Kaito Uzumaki, fighting and killing opponents to gain some cash and notoriety seemed like a surefire way to get enough money to live a normal life. It was undoubtedly better than being a Missing Ninja as the cash he would get by fighting in the Bloodworks was far superior to the illicit funds he got from being a Missing Ninja. An arrogant smirk would appear on Kaito's expression, putting his hands deep in his pockets whilst entering the Bloodworks arena from the Western Entrance. He'd walk towards his position to face his opponent at a rather haste speed (let's say 20) but would discern if his opponent would pull anything as he walked to which he would immediately begin fighting should that occur.

Should Kaito not be interrupted mid-stride, he would walk over more to the Eastern Entrance of the arena, stopping when he was 20m away from his opponent, parallel to his adversary's position. "When I beat you, how much do you think they'll give me for winning?" The Uzumaki asked, beckoning his rather unintimidating opponent to do the first move, still keeping his hands in his pockets just to trigger his opponent even more. This was going to be...interesting.

WC: 243

(Thanks bro, I appreciate it  8))

Shortly after the “boo’s” from the crowd ceased, they immediately transitioned into gleeful cheering. Guren’s opponent had made his entrance, striding with confidence from the Western Entrance of the arena. He hyped up the crowd, and they reciprocated that same energy. This environment was new to Guren. He had never fought in an arena with an audience so grand. It seemed like they really enjoyed the showmanship. And truthfully, it seemed kind of fun. But it wasn’t really Guren’s style. Although even if it was, he was sure the crowd wouldn’t have received him well after they just spent several minutes heckling his entrance.  Besides, that wasn’t why Guren was here anyway. Although the atmosphere was fascinating, his attention was entirely focused on the warrior before him.

“Kai-to! Kai-to! Kai-to!” the crowd rallied. And with each beat of their cadence, they boomed louder and louder. Initially there was quite the distance between the two combatants inside the massive stadium (~160m, assuming that Kaito began to approach Guren once the two were both 20m from their respective entrances). And so Guren would match his opponent’s speed and approach him as well (speed of 20, began when you did so when we were ~160m apart from each other, each 80m from the center of the arena).

Once the two had each covered 55m at walking speed, Guren would proceed to lift his hands up to meet and perform six handseals: Bird → Rat → Ox → Monkey → Rat → Snake (at 100 speed). As he would, the clear sky would miraculously be filled with heavy clouds centered directly above Guren and a steady rain would descend (100m diameter originating at 75 speed; center point = 75m straight from the Eastern Entrance of the arena, 25m from the center of the arena; performed without breaking stride). The rain was not intense enough to dull either shinobi’s visibility, yet it spanned across such a large range that it was a spectacle for the average desert inhabitant. From most of the arena's seats, it would be difficult to see the happenings at the deepest points within the storm. However with the chakra based rainfall Guren was able to heighten his own sense of perception within the area of effect, which in turn would allow him to better perceive his opponent.

While still walking and when the two were roughly 40m apart, Guren would dip his hands into the openings of his ninja tool pouches rather quickly and barely puncture each of his hands on the sharp side up facing shuriken within. His palms began to drip steadily with blood. Although it was a conservative amount, it would be enough to service any potential blood technique he would be prepared to use. The dark colored pouch would prevent any of the leaking blood from visibly staining its cloth. And Guren kept his hands here while he walked.

The two would continue to walk through the rain towards each other, until they would both stop nearly simultaneously 20m apart (each 10m from the center of the arena). Now it would seem like Kaito would call out to him, in an effort to provoke him. In return Guren sighed, “I wonder...”, and inconspicuously secured each of his middle fingers within the center holes of the shuriken which had pierced his hands.  He figured he had to entertain Kaito, and so he would start off with a relatively simple move to begin the battle. In a sudden movement, he would whip each hand from their respective pouches and hurl both shuriken towards Kaito, each pinpointing the center of his opposition’s chest. Guren’s follow up would depend on Kaito’s response to the simple attack.

(WC = 615. Total = 960)

Actions, AP, Calcs, and Stats:

The crowd would grow louder, louder, and even more loud with each step the scarlet-haired adolescent took towards his opponent. The beating orb of inferno above the Bloodworks Arena, coupled with the jeers of the audience made Kaito more and more psyched with every step he took. As the two had covered 55 meters in distance from their original positions, the young Uzumaki would watch in interest as his opponent would weave six hand seals with such fluidity that even Kaito was impressed. Due to the high speeds of the weaving hand seals, he would quickly note that his opponent was indeed, much faster than him. "Guess I should take him seriously..." The Uzumaki thought unostentatiously, seeing it as not detrimental to his success, but rather another note to take. Suddenly, the sky above Guren would darken like the nighttime sky in Sungakure...except it wasn't nighttime, it was high noon. As the two continued to walk, raindrops that defied the usual weather in the village would lightly shower over the two of them. It had been a while since Kaito had been in rain, being a sheer miracle to rain in Sunagakure, the unnatural coldness of the rain would be interesting for the scarlet-haired teen to reexperience. The rain didn't hinder the vision of the two to Kaito's pleasure as he decided to take his hands off of the pockets of his pants, letting the chakra-transmuted rain bathe his body.

The Uzumaki noticed once the two were roughly 40 meters apart that his opponent would attempt to grab something in his pocket, but it would stay. Did he want to grab a Ninja Tool? Kaito didn't have any extra basis to wonder upon, so he would stay with his first assumption. In response to Guren dipping his hands in his Ninja Pouches, the scarlet-haired teen would do the same, pulling out a Kunai attached with an Explosive Tag with his left hand from his left Ninja Pouch attached to his left waist at maximum speed, still retaining his regular stride. His assumption would prove to be correct as once they had reached 20 meters from each other and Kaito would state his small little quip, his opponent would strike first. Like the speed of lightning, Guren would hurl two shurikens at the young Uzumaki's chest horizontally. The response? Kaito would give a light chuckle before moving a meter to the right the moment Guren's shurikens would leave his fingers to be hurled in the air towards the scarlet-haired teen. Despite the Kunai being faster than Kaito, he had 20 meters of space to move out of the way, so the whole escape maneuver was rather easy for him. Concurrently, after he sidestepped to the right, he would prepare to hurl Kunai attached with the Explosive Tag he pulled out previously, throwing it at the left side of Guren's head after the Uzumaki displaced himself one meter to the right. 

The Explosive Tag attached to the Kunai would explode anytime Kaito willed it to should he be interrupted, so long as it didn't bypass 100 meters from the scarlet-haired teen's position, however, Kaito intended for it to detonate once reaching 1 meter within Guren, exploding a meter in all directions. The explosion would surely kill his opponent right then and there, as the Kunai would perform the final blow, striking Guren on the side of the head fatally should Kaito's actions be uninterrupted. However, Kaito would keep an open mind, being able to react to anything his opponent would pull off if interrupted.

WC: 692
TWC: 935

Actions + Stats:

As Guren initially stuck his hands into his pouches to pierce his hands, it was clear that despite Kaito’s nonchalant demeanor initially he was now taking Guren seriously. Guren could tell that simply by Kaito’s response, as he would pull out a kunai with a tag dangling from its handle. By pure speculation, Guren assumed this to be an explosive tag. They were truly a handy tool during all types of missions, and could prove to be extremely useful when equipped with a long range attack, such as a kunai. It was an easily crafted bomb. Something for Guren to pay attention to.

But nevertheless Guren continued his first strike, hurling the two shuriken at Kaito. As they whipped through the air Kaito quickly dodged them, as expected. The victor of the fight would not be decided upon such a simple maneuver. However, Kaito would respond with a similar attack and throw his kunai towards Guren’s direction in a diagonal fashion which was aimed at the left side of his head. Like his own, the throwing tool had speed to it. Yet, because of the distance between the two, this was also a simple technique to avoid. Guren turned his body slightly to face Kaito and as soon as the kunai was thrown he (at 100 speed) shifted his weight from his left foot to his right, and moved diagonally away from his former position forward (6 meters) and to his right (3 meters). He figured that moving so far was a bit of an exaggeration, but it was for two purposes. First, he would be far enough from the trajectory of the tag to avoid being caught in any of the blast radius as it flew. Secondly, this would close the distance between the two (now 14m) even more allowing for Guren to smoothly follow up with his own counter.

During his initial step to dodge the blast, Guren lifted his hands and with them he weaved four seals. When he would do so, the rain above Kaito would agglomerate together and disperse into the form of 3, 2m long, water sharks (centered 5m right above Kaito’s current position). If his opponent were to look up, he would note that they were in triangular formation ½ m apart of each other. With haste, they would swarm down upon their target all looking to viciously “devour” him. Should he move from his position, they would follow as if they were fixated on attacking their prey. For the moment, Guren would keep his current position and observe Kaito’s response, then follow up accordingly.

Now the fight was beginning to develop more. It was becoming interesting, as was noted by the clamor of the crowd. Up until this point, the combatants were just feeling each other out and so now was the time to get serious.

(WC: 474. Total = 1434)

Actions, AP, Calcs, and Stats:

A small smirk started to etch after throwing the Kunai across Kaito's once serious expression to one more akin to bloodlust excitement. The scarlet-haired adolescent couldn't control his visual exuberance, now dawning on him that it had been far too many weeks that he hadn't had a serious fight. As the Kunai left his firm hands, strengthened by his countless battles against powerful shinobi, it would appear that his opponent was not a full-blown idiot shown by him immediately sidestepping diagonally forward to Kaito's left and moving an additional 3 meters to the Uzumaki's left. The Kunai that Kaito would throw wouldn't explode, as Guren had already dodged it so it would be idiotic to explode without reason, the weapon dropping after traveling 30 meters from Kaito's position after displacing himself from his opponent's previous shuriken throw. Whilst Guren was moving, Kaito would watch in interest as his opponent would form four hand seals, but that wouldn't mean the Uzumaki would stand there like a moving duck. Since Guren was forming hand seals, Kaito would immediately assume that he was indeed, trying to perform a jutsu of some sort. Buckling his knees and preparing to counterattack, the moment that Guren would weave his second-hand seal, Kaito would lift his left hand and weave the Tiger hand seal with only that hand, by virtue of his exceptional chakra control...

Concurrently, the scarlet-haired adolescent would dash one meter forward, giving a slight pause to his moment. That pause was enough for his jutsu to activate, the Water Clone Technique along with Guren's Rain Sharks to form. Forming seemingly out of no water source, a replica of the Uzumaki named Maito would form a meter behind him, parallel to Kaito's new position. Maito would serve no purpose...other to be obliterated by the Rain Sharks conjured by Guren just above him. Kaito had created Maito especially for that purpose, as the moment that Kaito would perform the Tiger hand seal was the time that the Rain Sharks would appear 5 meters above him. Moving a meter forward and using the Water Clone to substitute his position and to be destroyed by the jutsu, he wouldn't be harmed by the concussive force of Guren's jutsu. Now wasn't the time to worry about Maito, as immediately after Maito was destroyed by the Rain Sharks, Kaito would rush towards Guren at maximum speed whilst outstretching his palm, 13 meters separating them. Focusing chakra, as well as the latent power of the Uzumaki Clan, a single chain that was a meter in length and 2 inches in width, would spurt out of the Uzumaki's left inner palm the moment he began his dash. The last 30 centimeters of the meter-long chain would possess a spearhead that was 2 inches in width. 

The chain was intended to strike Guren in the heart should Kaito reach him, causing in an instant death should the chain connect with Guren's heart. However, Kaito was not foolish enough to think that Guren would simply let himself die like that, so the Uzumaki would lift his right hand for any mid-dash jutsu he needed to perform, looking closely at his opponent to see for any sudden changes in movement.

WC: 635
TWC: 1570

Actions + Boring Calcs:

Kaito's bloodlusted charge towards Guren still took place, using all of his speed to rush towards his opponent with the Chakra Chain extending, his eyes meeting the vermillion abyss of his adversary's eyes as they peered back into the Uzumaki's amber eyes...Suddenly, the jeers of the crowd stopped. The perilous and persistent rain halted as the sky cleared up once more, bringing the area back to reality...if that could be any less true. Foolishly enough, the scarlet-haired adolescent would stop in his tracks, deactivating his chakra chains and scanning the area once more. Blinking many times, the scenery wouldn't change. "W-w what the hell is happening?" Kaito thought fearingly, stepping a few steps back, trying his best to analyze a completely irrational event. The Uzumaki would scan the area once more..slowly realizing that there was not just 1 Guren, but 3. However, what was far more frightening was that each of the Guren's was bloodied and had many lacerations along with wounds, defying death with each thundering step they took. Not only that, but each of their wounds...resembled that of three distinct opponents the Uzumaki fought within the Bloodworks arena. No. Kaito wouldn't accept it. There was no way the dead could haunt him. Dead people should stay dead. It wasn't his fault for killing them, they signed up for it on their own accord. They wished for death by his hands, so...who was he to not fulfill that wish? 

The Uzumaki was paralyzed with fear, yet unbeknownst to him, the whole circumstance was a Genjutsu. A sickening urge to vomit blood and fall ran through his stomach and throat. Looking down, a hole ran through his stomach, blood gushing out as a last attempt to recover the spilled contents of his stomach. The pain was excruciating as Kaito fell to the ground immediately. Only did it dawn on him a few moments before his untimely death that, it was indeed, Guren's Rain Sharks that performed the final blow on him due to the Genjutsu ending at the last moment he opened his eyes, embracing the cold embrace of the afterlife. Yet, for a young man who lived the life of a Rogue Ninja for his whole life...he couldn't help but shed a few tears before passing on, internally congratulating Guren on his victory.


Kaito Uzumaki was freed of his mortal coil.

(EXIT, CLAIMING KAITO'S DEATH)

WC: 398
TWC: 1968

+19 Stat Points for Enishi Kurosawa
821 WC to finish off Poison Mist (1500/1500), previous WC is here
1147 WC towards Nature Chakra Conversion (1147/2500)

Also claiming all Mission Rewards the mission offers as part of the NPC'er payment incentive for staff which includes:
2.5k Ryo for Enishi Kurosawa
+3 AP for Enishi

Alright, I believe everything checks out. Approved @Tadashi

As the genjutsu played out, Guren could feel the panic in his competitor's presence. It was a well orchestrated technique, with a focal point centered around a topic that hit home the most. Although his opponent took pride and relished in his accomplishments within the Bloodworks Arena, it seemed as if his actions haunted him as well. The technique worked precisely as planned, as it stalled Kaito long enough so that Guren's remaining water sharks devoured his opponent. It was gorey, and sad. It was his first kill. Yet it wasn't as rewarding as he thought it might feel. Nor was it as disturbing. It felt kind of natural, yet strangely bittersweet. As his opponent died, Guren watched every second of it. Never breaking eye contact until Kaito's eyes fell shut. It was over. 

And with that, Guren tuned out the cheers and roars from the audience. It didn't mean much to him to be the victor. It was just a payday. It was barbaric for the audience to rally behind the death of another man. Guren didn't wish to relish in it. Instead he paused in silence for a moment to pay respect to the fallen, and took his leave without a glamorous exit. Part of him wondered if Kaito had any family that would miss him. Friends even. But unfortunately this was the life of a shinobi, specifically of a missing ninja. In an effort to acquire power and ryo, we willingly place ourselves in harms way. Guren was no exception to this, as he battled in the same arena that Kaito did. The only difference was that he was the victor. And so the cycle would continue on. 

~Exit~

(WC: 281. Total = 3405)

Claiming Mission Rewards: 2.5k Ryo

Using 25% WC discount from max stats as below:
- 1125 words towards Suiton: Water Wall (1125/1125)
- 1125 words towards Water Release: Water Trumpet (1125/1125)
- 619 words towards C Rank, Chakra Shroud (750/750)
- 536 words towards Self Releasing Blood Seal (536/750)