I care not for your gods

Taichi continued to creep, knowing that shift change for the guard detail was coming near and soon it was going to be the moment in which the thief was going to use as his opportunity to strike for whatever trinket they were going to target tonight. As he was scoping out the guards, especially the cloned guards, he noticed a familiar figure drop down from the rooftops, and he seemed to be talking to himself. He slowly rose out of the ground, just enough for his head to be above the ground so he could listen to what the village nin had to say about the situation. "A decoy, eh? Makes sense." This was when both of the ninja jumped into action as the thievery had begun. 

Taichi flew through the ground, heading for the shrine that housed the grand gem arrangement that was in the shape of the village in which they were within. The platinum haired Viking looked to see multiple clones flood into the shrine, albeit quietly, but still a large enough gathering to make the grab in a quick motion. He rose from the ground and branches began extruding from his bodies, penetrating all of the clones, or the real one if he was stupid enough to be a part of the rushing party. His branches destroyed the clones, but the real one was nowhere to be seen. "A decoy again." Taichi thought to himself as he began to scour the surrounding area with his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan to make sure that he would be able to see the chakra of the thief should he be hiding within the shadows. "Come on out, you worthless excuse for a thief. You tried and failed, now it's time to answer for the poor job you have done here tonight." Taichi would wait for the village nin to inclue himself into the situation, hopefully he had found the real thief, so then and only then could the job of the night be completed.

The jounin calmly walked the halls of the landmark temple. By what he overheard, it sounded like the bandit was already here and ready. So... where was he? As he turned the corner he noted the storage place for the gem arrangement when it wasn't on display, and then took a double take. Three of them were missing... the largest ones. The Castle, the Jewel temple... and the Unseen University. There were some others that were out of place and on the floor, but those three.. they were gone.

He heard the entrance of his associate from the main part of the temple, and the familiar sound of... wood? Interesting. Arashi sent a clone to stay here and investigate, in case the criminal tries to come back, but it looked like he was certainly interrupted. Arashi moved forward, bringing up his hands as he faded in the dark light. A cloud moving through the hall like a ghost, until he saw him. The familiar 'shinobi' who carried a bag of gems, and was currently clutching his right shoulder. It would appear that he was injured. Probably by the mass of branches just on the other side of the hall. The shinobi started to move back to where he was, but Arashi made his move then, reforming behind the ninja and already holding a kunai out.

"I don't think we've met. I'm Arashi.. Hoshi's Jounin Prince. Maybe you've heard of me?" he said, with the weapon at the man's throat. With no real place to go, the shinobi sighed, as Arashi urged him along. This guy seemed to have given up too quick... maybe he was smart after all.

Pushing open a door and stepping through back into the main hall, sure enough the signs of wood were all around him.

"Well... it looks like I believe you completely. Look who I found." he said, calling out to Taichi. Arashi reached over and yanked the bag out of the guy's hand, tossing it to the silver haired ninja. "Immediately saw three gems removed.. the largest ones, of course. Check them." he said, showing trust by giving the bag to the visiting nin. Inside, however, was interesting. There were three large gems... and well as three other identical gems. Not to mention dozens of the smaller gems in the bag, despite those gems still being on the landmark itself.

(WC: 398)

Taichi made quick work with his sacred wood chakra, but he noticed that all of the assailants that he had been dealing with were nothing more than clones. He noticed a trial of blood exiting the room that he was in, so he was quick to follow. He saw no need to use his Mayfly as he was dealing with an individual that was already injured, he exited the room and the village nin was standing there before the bloody thief. The village nin grabbed the bag from the thief and he tossed it over to Taichi, something that he was not expecting a Jounin of the village to do, something that would have required a rather large amount of trust that he wouldn't just vanish and sell these himself, a thought that did honestly pass through his mind, but he had a tugging feeling to stay there, a rather odd feeling indeed. 

"Wow. These are absolutely beautiful. But wait, why do these look so damn familiar. Aren't these still on the landmark itself?" Taichi would look to the village nin, as he would have a branch protrude from his side and wrap around the true thief in the night, ensuring the bastard couldn't go anywhere while the two would talk about the gems that Taichi had in his possession. "By the way, my name is Taichi, Taichi Uchiha. It was good working with you, we make quite the team." Taichi would offer out his hand that wasn't holding the gems, outstretching his hand as to shake the village nin's hand, also hoping he would catch his name so he could differentiate him from the other village nin within the walls of the gate.

As soon as the criminal nin was bound, thanks to the wood, Arashi was able to let go, and reached out to pull off the Hoshi headband. The number of thefts ensured that this shinobi would no longer be a shinobi of the village. Not to mention the brazen attempt to steal from a trusted landmark and a rare and valuable treasure. And even if Arashi didn't have the authority to do so... he had another pull to ensure that this thief would not wear another smooth star headband again.

He looked up at Taichi, and smirked. "A bit clever, actually. I can tell you without a doubt that the three gems were specially cut and dug out of the very land around us. Their shear size was a rarity. I find it highly unlikely that three identical gems were also found recently. Which means they were planning on a switch. Isn't that right?" he said, turning to the bound ninja. Not that he expected an answer.

"We caught him in the process of replacing them, so I suspect he was just trying to make an exit. Probably to get back to his guard buddy." he said, shaking his head. "I'm am more than convinced that most of those are fakes." he said, as yelling was heard from outside and actual security and a few of the priests came by.

Arashi grimaced, walking forward so that they didn't automatically assume that Taichi was on the wrong side. Luckily, it was some of the priests that he talked to earlier. "Arashi Tekiatsu, one of the founders of the shinobi side of the village." he said, turning towards the guards.

"We caught the thief who's been ransaking the shrines and temples. I can vouch for this person here, and the village can vouch for me, that we are not responsible for the theft. It was this man; we're taking him in for the justice system." he explained, so that he could avoid the typical priests vs shinobi debate.

(WC: 333)

Taichi had handed the bag to the village nin that was full of the gems and trinkets from the shrines. The very same preists that had explained the situation to him in the first place walked up to them and began to question them about what had happened. The village nin did not shake Taichi's hand, the reason was something that Taichi was unsure about, was it because he didn't share the same respect for Taichi that Taichi had for the village nin? Or was it because he was distracted by the two priests that had walked up to them both and didn't want to be seen shaking hands with an unaffiliated individual such as himself. Taichi didn't allow himself think about it too much and decided to change his focus on the priests that were walking up to them.

The vilage nin he was with seemed to explain the situation with swiftness, so Taichi decided to continue to stay quiet, being glad that he was not actually on the wrong end of the law this time. After the bag was taken from him Taichi would soon after turn his attention to the open gates that led to the greater part of the village. "Thank you guys for all of the fun, but I will take this man in and let your guys' legal system take care of this guy. Thanks for helping me out, Arashi. I appreciate you not thinking I was the one trying to steal the trinkets in the first place." Taichi would carry the thief to turn him in as he spoke. 

After turning in the criminal, he turned in to the nearest tavern so he could end his day properly.

WC:306
TWC: 3633

Claims: 6000 ryo & 30 AP
+3633 towards Lightning as 4th element (4080/6000) [Max stat discount]

Approved

He was naturally tense as the priests came in.  While many were very much against the shinobi, it appeared that the two that showed up were at the very least tolerant of the ninja.  Instead of taking Taichi's hand like he meant to, Arashi instead has to slip his hand around behind him to slip the headband into his pocket.  For the most part, a shinobi in this country without a headband was assuredly a rogue or bandit, and by hiding the headband, which honestly would have been taken anyway, he could avoid giving fuel to the fire.

"Thank you again for your help, and for returning the gems." the priest stated, opening the bag and looking inside.  He raised an eyebrow as he saw what looked like all of them... plus a second complete set of their precious jewels.  The priest reached in and pulled out one of the emeralds, looking closely at it. "How did... oh!  Its a fake!" he said, showing his buddy.  The priests seemed to understand what the plan was, and nodded.  He reached in and pulled out the second large emerald, inspecting it.  

"It is fine craftsmanship.. but that is not an emerald." he said, pointing to the fake stone.  Arashi nodded, assuming it was just some fake junk.  

"It is a real gemstone, though.. just not an emerald." said the second priest, holding it up to the light.  "I would say either a garnet or a peridot.  We might not have discovered it for a while, at least none of the younger disciples." he said, nodding.  The first priest pulled out the other two, a ruby and sapphire, as well as the duplicates.  The ruby turned out to be another garnet stone, but the sapphire... that one was interesting.  

"It is... a tanzanite!  Probably came from the land of stone to the east.  Its rare... not as valuable, but rare." Arashi's eyebrows shot up, and he was obviously shocked.  "That's unusual.  You wouldn't expect a fake to be... valuable." he said, shaking his head.  

"It's not too big of a deal, but on principle we can't let these three stay here.  It's... blasphemous." he stated, for lack of a better term.  The second priest held the gems out to Arashi.  

"Here, you can take these.  And give one to that other fellow; he deserves a small token of gratitude for his help." he said, handing Arashi the three gems.  Being a fan of blue, he pocketed the Tanzanite and put the other two in another pocket.  With that, the jounin bid the two farewell and left the temple; jumping to head back to the University building, and to give a full debrief.  

END MISSION

(WC: 450)
(TWC: 3151)
Claiming Mission Rewards:
3000 Ryo
7 AP
31 stats
1 Tazanite Gem

Claiming Chakra Absorption, Hangover Cure

Leftover WC: 1651 wc

Approved