Exoneration [Nobo]

The Lost Shipment:

It had been two days since Ryuzaki had tasted defeat in the chuunin exams, his proctor Sarutobi Raleth had taken him down with a punch to the gut and a chop to the neck. Ryu awoke in the hospital the next day immediately he tried to turn his neck and discovered that he could not, he started to writhe in agony as the pain in his neck suddenly realized he had regained consciousness, but still, his head would not move. Panic began to set in and Ryu hit the button next to his bed that called for a nurse.

After a few seconds, a nurse rushed into the room "Is everything alright Mr. Nara?". Ryu's eyes snapped to the source of the voice but he still could not turn his head, there was a tremendous amount of fear in his eyes "What happened why can't I move?". The nurse moved over and pressed another button, realizing that there was no emergency "You were brought in with a fractured neck, the blow you took on the neck should not have caused any internal injury but apparently there was existing damage to your spine, you had micro-fractures running all up your spine. This coupled with the blow you took was enough to cause some damage, the doctor here healed your injury and it is as good as new, but we just wanted to monitor you for a few days. You cannot move your head because it is in a head brace to keep it straight while you slept. We can remove it now you are conscious, so there is no need to worry". Ryu let out a sigh of relief and relaxed as much as possible into his position.

Over the next day, Ryu stayed in his bed and was eventually refitted with a smaller neck brace and not the headgear he had on currently. Ryu was then released from the hospital, with one final embarrassing moment where he was wheeled to the front entrance instead of being allowed to walk. Ryu then made his way back through the village and returned to the place where the group from Kumo were staying, he was anxious to see the reaction of their village leader, he did not know what to expect from him. It was early in the morning and no one was up when he entered the building, he sat in the room where they served breakfast and waited for his Raikage to join him, he imagined as the third round of the exams where today that Gin was probably off preparing or perhaps even fighting at that very moment.

WC: 438

Time started to roll on and no one arrived, Ryu began to think maybe the other two had left already. Ryu stroked his increasingly furrowed brow, the anxiety of his multiple failings and just his life, in general, were starting to leave their mark. "Right" Ryu exclaimed as he knocked his clenched fist on the table "Stop waiting for things to happen to you". Ryu pushed his weary body upwards using the table as support. His injuries were still showing their impact on his muscles, even if the external damage had been all but erased by the excellent medical ninja in this village.

Ryu made his way up the stairs of the modest inn, he knock on the door of the Raikage after a minute or two with no answer Ryu then knocked on the room of Gin, but likewise was met by silence. Ryu turned his head back to the stairs as he heard someone approaching. The old man who ran the inn appeared at the turn of the stairs "They have gone boy, to the tournament zone for the exam, your village leader left you a letter, I've left it on the table downstairs. Would you like me to prepare you some breakfast?". Ryu nodded and bowed to the man "Thank you, that would be wonderful, just what I need".

Ryu followed the old man slowly down the stairs and back into the dining room. He unfurled the scroll that Noburu had left for him and read the details, the Raikage had gone to watch Gin in the 3rd round and left a mission for Ryu to complete in the interim. The mission was to track down and eliminate a group of bandits that had been harassing the local village supply lines. The group of bandits was known as Undead Nightmare, and their numbers were unknown. Ryu began to check his equipment as the old man cooked his breakfast, it was likely he would encounter combat on the coming mission.

The man brought out a cooked breakfast for Ryu including bacon, eggs, toast, sausages, hash browns, and mushrooms with an accompanying jug of orange juice. Ryu had been eating this type of meal three times a day since arriving at this inn, normally that type of diet would not be appropriate giving his training regiment, but he was sort of treating this trip as a holiday at the same time, perhaps that was the issue he had in the exams.

WC: 412
TWC: 850

The breakfast was demolished in quick time, however, not nearly as quickly as his village made Gin Akimichi would have devoured the breakfast. Ryu returned the plates to the old man as he toiled away at some unknown task in the kitchen and thanked him again for the meal. Ryu then returned to his room and began to prepare for the coming mission. Ryu ditched his worn and ragged clothes in a hamper that the house staff of the inn would come and collect for laundry at a later time. Ryu entered the shower and scrubbed himself thoroughly clean before moving to the sink and brushing his teeth. Ryu then stepped out of the bathroom and found a nearby towel to wrap himself in to dry naturally. Ryu then dug through his bags that sat on the floor and picked out an outfit for the type of mission he was going to embark on, this included a pair of black shorts, a dark grey, plain t-shirt, compression bandages for his arms and legs as well as a pair of hand wrappings.

Pulling over the compression leggings Ryu covered his ankles to the waist. Ryu then started by winding the bandages around his toes and feet, then around his ankle and up to his calf, finally wrapping it around his mid-thigh, once the bandage had been completely uncoiled and its maximum length reached he secured the velcro together to keep it tight so it stayed in place and also could do its job. Ryu then repeated the process again on his other foot and leg. Ryu then pulled on a pair of black, long shorts that once secured around his waist covered down to just below his knees, where they then met his compression wrappings. 

Ryu then began to wrap his hands and arms, firstly he unspoiled a compression bandage in its entirety. Ryu wrapped a bandage around his hand and up to his arm until it was connected together and held in place halfway up his bicep. Next Ryu then wrapped his hands in actual hand wraps, firstly Ryu held his hand out with his thumb and fingers spread out, he looped the thumb hold over his extended thumb and then began to wind the bandage across the front of his palm and then around the bottom of his hand and over his knuckles, he then wrapped his knuckles twice more. Ryu then continued to wrap his hand by moving the bandage to his wrist and continued the wrapping motion until his wrist had been wrapped three times. Next Ryu layered the bandage up slightly moving closer to his knuckles each rotation until he wrapped his knuckles another three times, his entire hand now covered by the bandage, with very little skin exposed except above the upper knuckles of the fingers, to complete the wrap Ryu wound the bandage around his wrist until it was at the end of its spoil, he then secured the velcro fastening together to hold it in place, Ryu then continued to wrap his other hand and arm the same. Ryu pounded his fists together several times to test the wrap, it appeared to be sufficiently compressed.

Ryu then pulled his chosen t-shirt over his head and nestled it over his torso. The t-shirt was dark grey and plain, it was loose fitting and reached just below his waist. Ryu then picked up his clan ring that sat on a metal link chain from his bedside table and secured it around his neck. Tucking the ring under his t-shirt he then picked up a belt. Ryu wound the belt around his waist and through each of the loopholes on his pair of black, knee-length shorts. The belt was there to keep his shorts in place if combat occurred, but it also had a secondary function. Hanging from the right side of his hip was an extra loophole, this loophole was there so his katana scabbard could be tied to it and he could wear his father's blade with pride. Whereas his other weapons were mostly concealed for a more professional reason. Ryu then pulled on his jacket which was a black, very light summery material with no buttons, on the back of the jacket was another village symbol emblazoned across it. Ryu finished getting dressed by wrapping his headband across his forehead.

Ryu double-checked all of his gear before exiting the room and making his way down to the front desk, where the man now sat reading a local newspaper. "Okay I'm out for the day, please inform my master that I am getting n with his task if he returns before me" Ryu bowed slightly to the man and then turned and exited the inn.

WC: 791
TWC: 1641

Ryuzaki had recently been thinking about extra preparations he could make for coming missions, he was a specialist in fuuinjutsu and he would now be placing seals upon his skin so that he could increase his defensive abilities. Ryuzaki knew the Seals of Absorption, breath, and chakra storage. The seal of absorption once activated allowed for the user to absorb one source of chakra and seal it within the jutsu, if the user has insufficient chakra to store it is weakened but still continues on. The breath seal allowed someone to breathe internally through stored air in the seal, allowing for someone to survive underwater or within an atmosphere that was untenable to the user, or perhaps if there was no atmosphere at all. Finally, the chakra storage seal allows for one to store an amount of chakra within the seal to be released at a later date, like a top-up in a dire situation.

Ryu closed his eyes and started to form handseals, firstly he started with the tiger seal. Ryu brought both hands together paralleled, his thumbs and his palms facing each other. Extending his fore and middle fingers upwards on both hands, once again paralleled. Ryu folded his index and pinkey fingers over and through the gaps of the opposing fingers so that they were clasped across the opposing hand, with that the tiger handseal was complete. Moving on to the Dog handseal Ryu gripped his left hand inward and folded his fingers underneath his palm and into a fist. Ryu then moved his right hand over the top of it pointing towards the bottom of his wrist and completely flat, including the thumb. The dog handseal was complete and Ryu moved on to the Ox handseal. Next Ryu allowed his left hand to stretch outward, his fingers spread out like the forks of a rake. Ryu then extended all the fingers of his right hand upward and slide them through the middle sections of the right hand, once they were poking through the top he folded his middle and index fingers downward and folded them over the knuckles of the left hand. Next Ryu brought both his hands together paralleled and allowed all his finger bar the pinky to fold over each other and rest in the crevices of the opposing hand, the fingers laying over the knuckles of the opposing hand. He folded the right thumb over the top of the left thumb and had both pinkies outstretched equally. Next Ryu unfolded his hands so that they were parallel and curled his fingers and thumbs inward so that they were folded on themselves. Ryu moved onto the penultimate handseal for the jutsu, he folded the pinky and ring finger of his right hand and allowed the middle and index finger to point to the sky. Ryu curled his left hand around the extended fingers of his right hand, completing the rat handseal. Moving onto the final handseal, Ryu brought both hands together paralleled, his thumbs and his palms facing each other. Extending his fore and middle fingers upwards on both hands, once again paralleled. Ryu folded his index and pinky fingers over and through the gaps of the opposing fingers so that they were clasped across the opposing hand, with that the handselas for the Seal of Absorption were complete. The seal of Absorption was placed on Ryu's left palm, it was in the shape of a diamond with a chain wrapping around the edge. Ryu then performed the exact handseals again and placed another seal of absorption on his other palm.

Next Ryu moved on to performing the Breath Seal, Ryu brought his hands together to perform the Hare seal. Ryu gripped his pinky, ring, and middle finger inward on his left hand and extended his index finger outward and his thumb straight up in the air. Ryu then folded his thumb, index, middle, and ring finger inward on his right hand, allowing just his pinky to be extended outward. He then joined both hands together so that the outstretched pinky finger of his right hand and his thumb of the left hand connected together, completing the Hare handseal. Next Ryu allowed his left hand to stretch outward, his fingers spread out like the forks of a rake. Ryu then extended all the fingers of his right hand upward and slide them through the middle sections of the right hand, once they were poking through the top he folded his middle and index fingers downward and folded them over the knuckles of the left hand. Finally, Ryu brought both his hands together paralleled and allowed all his finger bar the pinky to fold over each other and rest in the crevices of the opposing hand, the fingers laying over the knuckles of the opposing hand. He folded the right thumb over the top of the left thumb and had both pinkies outstretched equally. Ryu then touched his hand to his throat and a seal of a black circle with a see-through smaller circle in the middle and three spikes that reached outward from it to the edge of the bigger circle. The breath seal was then active on his throat, ready to be activated if the situation arose.

Finally, Ryu moved on to performing the handseals for the Chakra Storage Seal. First, Ryu brought his hands together paralleled and outstretched all of the fingers on both hands, he then allowed them to fold over the gaps in the fingers of the opposing hand and let the fingers be placed over the opposing knuckles, the thumbs stayed placed together. With that the snake handseal was complete. Next, Ryu moved onto the handseal of the Ram. Ryu folded his pinky and ring finger of his right hand while extending the thumb, middle and index finger up to the sky. Ryu then allowed his left hand to sit just above that of the right hand and all of the fingers were extended up to the sky, he folded over his ring and pinky finger to sit upon the knuckles of the opposing hand. The thumb, index, and middle fingers were slightly above those of the opposing hand, and with that the ram handseal was complete. Next, he then folded the pinky and ring finger of his right hand and allowed the middle and index finger to point to the sky. Ryu curled his left hand around the extended fingers of his right hand, completing the rat handseal. Finally, Ryu brought both his hands together paralleled and allowed all his finger bar the pinky to fold over each other and rest in the crevices of the opposing hand, the fingers laying over the knuckles of the opposing hand. He folded the right thumb over the top of the left thumb and had both pinkies outstretched equally. With the handseal of the Chakra Storage Seal complete Ryu pressed his hand against the center of his chest and on his skin a seal of a small, pale square with the color of lightning appeared.

WC: 1174
TWC: 2815

Applying Seals of Absorption x2, Breath & Chakra Storage - Ap stored 130

Ryu strode out of the village with purpose now that his preparations were complete. After an hour of traveling, Ryu arrived at the location of the ambushed caravan. A cart that was originally covered by a trap was toppled over on its side, the tarping mostly wrapped off and was hanging on by one of the arches, the tarp hung on for dear life as it blew in the wind. A few of the crates were spewn about from the caravan and were opened or destroyed, the contents of which had obviously been deemed unworthy of taking. The number of crates that were there was obviously only about 10% of the load of the caravan, judging by how the crates still at the ambush site were left the other crates were what the Undead nightmare was after.

The caravan had been on the way into Hoshi and was carrying a new shipment of explosive tags, Ryu did not know where they were being delivered from or why the village needed them imported but it did not matter to him, a mission was a mission. Ryu would not try any less on this mission even though it was for a different village, he would still proceed with maximum effort. Unfortunately, Ryu was not specialized in sensory, or in tracking. So this next part would not be easy for him to accomplish, but he did have his Byakugan. Ryu closed both his eyes and brought his hands together in the tiger seal, he flooded chakra through his system and towards his eye. As if a door has suddenly blown off its hinges and a storm entering an isolated building, his eye shot open, the veins connecting to it suddenly bulged and became more prominent on the side of his face.

As soon as his eye was activated his field of vision changed, he could suddenly see in a 360-degree arc, even though only one of his eyes was a Byakugan. Oddly enough the eye worked in such a way that even though his left eye was completely normal and his right eye was the Byakugan his vision acted solely as the Byakugan, the bloodline power of the Hyuuga taking over his normal eyesight. The range at which he saw this 360-degree vision was up to 100m, at half that range Ryu saw a man crouched behind a wall his back facing towards Ryu. Ryu began to approach the wall as he moved closer and got within audible range the man behind the wall drew a kunai and shifted his weight as if ready to spring into action. Ryu stuttered for a second, not wanting to launch an attack until he confirmed that this man was nefarious. After all, he was a guest in this village and had to respond as a traveling shinobi, instead of one acting in their own country.

As if answering Ryu's hesitation the man rolled over the wall and flung a kunai at him. Ryu reached to his back and drew one of his tantos at his full speed, luckily he was ready for the attack, therefore his speed was not dulled by surprise. Ryu swiped his blade to intercept the kunai, he added a twist to deflect the kunai away instead of meeting it head-on. The kunai deflected and spun off to one side, Ryu then pointed the blade forward and at the man who had attacked him unprovoked. Normally Ryu would have executed the criminal with maximum effort, but the caravan attack had been non-lethal. The driver and the two other employees that were transporting the goods were attacked and tied up, but otherwise were left unharmed and eventually made their way to the village to report the attack. "I'm going to give you one chance to come with me now, or I will forcibly take you in, it will be painful" Ryu emphasized the final word as he spoke in his firm tone, he did not expect the threat to work, but it was certainly not an empty one.

An audible scoff could be heard from the assailant, Ryu took that to mean he was not enthused about his offer, then the man charged cementing the thought. Ryu closed his eyes for a split second as he funneled chakra from his center and all the way through his chakra system, the chakra traveled up to his brain, entering both hemispheres and then down his spine to two further chakra points that housed opening points for The Eight Gates Formation. As if all at once the four points blazed with chakra and Ryu imagined a swinging door being blown open, except this time the invisible force that opened them then continued on and blew through three further gates. All of this visualization happened in half a second and he began to transform. "Gate of Pain OPEN" Ryu screamed as his skin turned red, the air permeated off of his skin and his sweat turned to steam as it left the surface of his skin, Ryu's pupils disappeared. The man closed the distance between the pair quickly, but given his new speed under the gate of pain Ryu knew that he could move at least twice as fast. Ryu moved to the side as the man extended his arm to punch Ryu. He ducked around him and rolled forward, at the same time he slashed out with his tanto and connected with the upper thigh of the man. His tanto bit deep into the man's leg and he felt it connect with bone, Ryu twisted his blade and it passed through the rest of the man's leg and out the other side. The man cried out as Ryu finished his rotation on the roll and he turned back to the opponent. The man was still on his feet but he had certainly been affected by the attack "Now are you willing to come with me?" Ryu questioned again. The man cried out as he fell backward, he tried to take a step and could not support his weight on the leg "Yes, Yes. I'll go". Ryu moved forward and wrapped the man's leg to keep him from bleeding out, he would have tied him up but restraining the wrists would have cut off the blood flow and he did not think that was a good idea.

Ryu transported the man back to the village and dropped him off at the location he was given on the mission statement, since he was brought in alive Ryu would expect they would get the information out of him where the goods were being stored. Perhaps if they got the correct information out of him there would be further things for Ryu to do on this mission, but as for right now, he had completed his part in it. Ryu made his way back to the inn that he and the other Kumo ninja were staying at, he would need to clean up after the mission, and perhaps he would use the evening for a training session. Hopefully, Gin and Nobo would be back from the chuunin exams and some motion could be put to moving on.

WC: 1196
TWC: 4011

Claiming 8100 ryo, 1500 words for Nature Chakra Proficiency, 2500 for 2500/3000 Sage Mode, both using the 25% max stat discount.

Approved