Re: Of Rice And Men [P]

Sun Jan 30, 2022 2:42 pm

It was a test? Yamato was fine giving Shichiro the benefit of the doubt for now. He felt like he needed to. There was a scheme at play, one that Yamato wasn’t confident he would be able to overcome by himself. Shichiro explained that two of the suspects were missing. Oh. "The Stables. Shichiro, help me today, and I’ll get you paid for it. I’ll also owe you. Blank check.". Yamato offered the man standing before him a handshake. "Time is running out. I need to go to the stables and start looking for the men with or without you.". Yamato waited for Shichiro to make up his mind. He shouted at the rest of the men more orders to extend and finish up the construction they were busy with.

Assuming Shichiro agreed to help him, Yamato guided the two of them to the stables. As Yamato had suspected, one of the stalls had its lock broken. It was empty. Luckily enough for the two, there were two sets of human footprints and one set of hoofprints for a horse. "You feeling up for a chase, Shichiro?" Yamato asked the man who was hopefully still with him at that point. Looking closer, something about the prints seemed weird to Yamato, but he couldn’t immediately put his finger on it. "Any impressions?" Yamato asked his partner on the mission, as he started following the footprints. "Which two were the missing ones by the way?" he then asked, hoping the names matched with the ones Yamato was suspecting earlier.

The tracks led the two to a rocky path where it was hard to isolate footprints. One side of the road led back to Tanbo, and the other lead away from it. Yamato was stumped. "What are your instincts, Shichiro?" he asked. "Do you think they would just walk back into town with a stolen horse? Seems a little risky...". He looked around. They weren’t around. "Surely we would have seen them even as shades on the horizon if they were taking the road to the open fields, though, right?". Then… It happened. From Tanbo within their sights, a wagon rolled its way towards Yamato and Shichiro. There was no way they would be that cocky. Then, another wagon, then another one. A convoy. At least ten vehicles, all pulled by two horses. Yamato turned towards Shichiro with panic in his face. "The perfect cover..." he uttered. "We need to think of a way to differentiate the stolen horse… Fast. They’re approaching.".

Post WC: 419
Total WC: 3440

Tue Feb 15, 2022 3:24 am

His half assed attempt at a cover up seemed to be enough to convince the man, at least for the moment which was good enough for Shichiro. He seemed to be more focused on the task at hand, locating the missing workers, and stopping their thievery, to do this he seemed set on enlisting shichiros help, offering a blank check for his services. The corner of his lip curled at the word as he smiled. It never hurt to have someone owe you a favor, in fact it was just good business.

He accepted the shake, following yamato’s mention of time with a short response. “We’ll then what are we doing standing here, sounds like we’d better get moving” He’d say making a lead the way gesture to the detective. “After you” It wasn’t long before they discovered a trail, and Yamato seemed to have some level of experience in tracking, but seemed to look suspicious about the tracks themselves. “Anything impressions?”

He’d ask the future druglord of Tanbogakure. “Can’t say I’m well versed in tracking, everything looks ordinary to me” He’d reply honestly, there was no use in trying to lie or come up with something on the fly here, Yamato was going to have to figure out the tracks on his own. And in a small frame of time it seemed he would, bringing them to the end of the tracks on a rocky road outside of Tanbogakure.

“Risky to be sure, but I imagine they’re hoping we’d think that. They stole a horse in broad daylight and didn’t bother to cover their tracks. I can’t imagine they’re terribly smart” He’d say stroking his chin with his finger in thought. “If I was them, I would have just stolen the horse at night while the geezers were sleeping. I doubt they stay up past sundown at their age. Much less risky that way.”

“My gut tells me we’re either dealing with amateurs or we’re not seeing something we should be” And almost as he’d finished speaking, the latter of the two was proven to be the case, about a dozen wagons pulled by two horses each were making their way down the road towards the pair. Yamato looked panicked, and surmised that they needed to identify the horse.

There was only one problem, Shichiro had never seen the horse in his life, and by the sounds of it, it didn’t seem that Yamato had either. Shichiro looked to his newfound *friend* and tried to think of a solution. The only one that came to mind, was that they knew what the thieves looked like. Shichiro had traveled with them this morning, and Yamato had interrogated them this afternoon.

“I Imagine if we find the pair of thieves, we’d find the horse with them don’t you think” He’d say taking a step down the road as the wagons approached. A glance to the left showed tall trees, lining the side of the path and casting a shadow overhead, a perfect cover for him to use his shadow possession unnoticed. He doubted very strongly that the convoy would stop at his request, but he put his hand up to keep appearances before shouting “Halt!” before allowing his shadows to spread throughout the massive ones already cast by the trees.

His tendrils would attach to one of the 3 horses from the first 3 convoys forcing them to a stop before swinging each wagon to the left, causing a blockade in front of the rest of the trailing wagons and bringing the convoy to a halt a mere 10 feet in front of him. To most it would look like the carriages had come to a screeching halt to avoid hitting Shichiro, but to a perceptive eye one might be able to demise the sudden paralysis of the right horse in the first three pairs.

He peered behind him to his overdressed companion. “Well, lets go take a look shall we?”

WC: 654
TWC: 3039

Thu May 12, 2022 10:14 am

The vehicles were flying at full speed towards the two men. "I admire your optimism, but I don’t think we have any way of stopping the convoy in its tracks." Yamato told Shichiro and launched into deep thought. He even put his hand on his chin to showcase that he really was thinking. While trying to come up with a strategy, he failed to notice the man beside him casting his shadowy technique.

He looked into his arsenal. "Maybe..." he mumbled, "...I could destroy a wheel to stop the leading cart, which should get the others to stop… But would it really be ok to damage someone’s property like that, to catch a few thieves?". He kept thinking. He came up with plan after plan, and then reason after reason for why those plans weren’t perfect. While he was lost in thought, the voice of Shichiro brought him back to reality. Halt? That was it? Shichiro’s brilliant plan?

…

…

Wait.

It had worked.

Yamato was astounded. He walked up to the man. "Shichiro you… I am speechless...". He stood silent for a few more seconds in awe. He finally broke the silence, speaking to the man in front of him while reaching into his pocket. "You’ve earned this.". He took out a card from his inner jacket pocket. He presented it to Shichiro. The card had details about Yamato and how to find him, along with a flattering profile picture. "Let me know if you need anything from me after this.".

The rest of the work seemed simple enough. Yamato walked towards the wagons. "Let’s go from front to back. The most important part is to make sure nobody sneaks away while we’re checking someone else’s ride.". The blonde man then walked up to the vehicle at the very front of the convoy. He started looking into them, and the people, one by one. It was up to Shichiro if he wanted to join him in this step of the mission.

Luckily, they weren’t going to have to look into every single one of the dozen wagons. As they were making their way through the first three, the criminals started making themselves obvious. The drivers of wagon number seven seemed uneasy. They were watching Shichiro and Yamato carefully. A little bit too carefully. They seemed to have erratic movements whenever Yamato seemed to turn his head away from them. Their bags also seemed to be packed and attached, ready to go. They seemed like they were ready to start running at any moment. Yamato tried to subtly let Shichiro know. "Seventh wagon from the front. Seem like interesting folks. Don’t look right now.". Yamato talked to Shichiro without looking at him, hopefully making it seem like they were having a casual conversation.

Eventually, it was time to make their way directly toward the cart of criminals. Yamato investigated the horses. They had the brand of the farm they were in mere minutes ago. Seemed like an open and shut case. The drivers, two men in their early 20’s, both seemed anxious. They were wearing their backpacks tightly and seemed to be carrying lots of weapons. They had throwable sharp objects attached to their backpacks: shuriken, kunai, kitchen knife, caltrops, you name it. They also each had a katana sheathed around their belts.

Yamato shot a glance at Shichiro. "Do you want to search with me, or wait down the convoy?". He was giving the man an out. He was still a civilian, and had no reason to join him in the fight that was likely about to take place. "You have done more than enough today, if you want to rest.". He wanted to keep talking while giving Shichiro time to walk away, because the dialogue was easing the criminals as well, making them think Yamato was not suspicious of them. At least, that’s what Yamato thought and hoped was happening. He did not want to endanger Shichiro’s life. To keep the ruse up, he kept speaking, "What are your plans afterwards? I understand if you want to move along. Back to the shop? Got anything you need help with?". He watched all three men around him carefully for their reactions. He was ready for a fight any second.

Post WC: 710
Total WC: 3320

Thu May 19, 2022 2:26 am

A business card?

This hardly seemed like the time, but Shichiro gave a nod in reaction to the man's gesture. His earlier comment about Shichiro’s side gig had put the youngest Hashimoto on edge, but this made the man easy to find, and easy to find men were easy to deal with if the need arose. “Thank you, I’ll be sure to give you a shout” He’d say before tucking the card in the interior of his suit jacket.

After that, Yamato’s attention returned to the scene which Shichiro’s shadow possession had caused, an unorganized mess of wagons parked in the middle of the path. Yamato wanted to check the carts one by one, which seemed to imply he wanted Shichiro to accompany him. This wasn’t a ridiculous request, at least from the man’s point of view. But Shichiro was burdened with the knowledge that the second he moved, he’d be releasing the horse from his shadow possession, and their blockade would be ruined.

The exertion of holding back a fully grown horse was great, and Shichiro was struggling to hold on as it was. When Yamato asked if he’d like to search, sweat was already beginning to drip down his forehead. “Phew'' He'd say using the sleeve of his jacket to wipe his brow. “It sure is hot out today”. He’d say before responding. “You go on ahead, I’ll hang back here where I can see them all and keep an eye out for runners. Besides, I’m just a grocer, I fear I’d only get in your way in a fight” He’d remark having thought up the excuse on the fly.

“Yeah, I’m thinking of heading back and stocking some shelves. Trying to get ready for the grand opening” He’d respond to Yamato’s question by elevating his voice to an exaggerated volume so that the thieves could hear him, as his eyes focused on the detective. He was beginning to like this man, and it would be a shame if he died here. It was certainly brave to go after 3 men alone, and at this point the man was wondering if it was arrogance. Only time would tell.

WC: 385
TWC: 3424

Fri May 20, 2022 1:50 pm

With Shichiro at a safe distance, Yamato had little more to worry. No self-respecting mastermind would have been out here trying to steal horses and trying not o get found out by a lonely shinobi. These were clearly small-time crooks trying to stay out of the radar of the village. Yamato started forming handseals, to which the crooks responded by trying to jump him at the same time. Yamato finished the seals while dancing out of the way of the men’s lunges, and created two clones of himself. Suddenly losing the number advantage, the criminals changed their plans and tried running away instead. Yamato’s clones followed them swiftly, tackling them from behind. One of them absorbed the criminal’s chakra to dispose of them, and then the two clones banded together to hold the other criminal down. In a matter of seconds, the two were dealth with. Yamato approached the two, and put shackles on their arms behind their back.

He finally gestured for Shichiro to approach him again, now that all danger seemed to be gone. "Expect a check from the Tanbo for your troubles today, Shichiro. I couldn’t have done all of this without you. Thanks. You’ve practically acted as a contract shinobi today, if you want to put that in your resume.". Yamato chuckled. "Surely that would come up in your future endeavors. Otherwise, feel free to ask for me by name if you need any help from the force of Tanbo.". Yamato stood the crooks up. "I’ll bring these two back to the village and return the horses. If you really meant it when you said you have some work to do, I’ll take care of the rest by myself. It was nice meeting you.". Yamato felt the urge to present Shichiro with a business card, only realizing at the last moment that he had already done so.

Shichiro seemed to be a trustworthy man. While respecting his stature as a business person, Yamato couldn’t help but hope that he could push the man into joining him in some of the simpler jobs he would be taking in the future. There was just an air of comfort around the shopkeeper that Yamato could not place. He didn’t seem to be a particularly driven man. Driven men ended up being the ones willing to go further than legal means if it meant bigger profit. Shichiro didn’t seem the type. He was nice.

Post WC: 404
Total WC: 3724

Exit

Claiming mission rewards and chuunin pay for it.
Memorizing chakra signatures.
Taking max stat discount instead of AP.
3701 words towards 3rd element, Lightning (2299 + 3701 = 6000 / 6000)

Sun May 22, 2022 7:52 pm

approved for Yamato!