Making Lemonade out of Lemons

Halt the Growth

The light in the bar was dim, barely enough to see the bloke next to open another. But to most who go to shady areas such as this, dive bars with barely passible health code grades, they never really go to socialize. Thye simply go to piss away their money, and at times take one hell of a pissa to only get back into the drinking game. Katsuragi was doing all of the above. his form hunched over the bar table, staring down at his bright pint glass. They all acted light night lanterns really. Teh bright yellow liquid seemed to bring enough light to keep the drinkers from snuffing out their own. A little morbid, but with his situation he seemed at a lost. Wasn't much left for him to do at this point. He was stuck within the walls of kumogakure, home to all the greediest SOBs on Earth. IN order to the leave the village, he'd have to give up a valuable technique. he only had one of note that seemed of value, but it wasn't really anything he thought was worth much. His seven breaths technique was considered his most powerful technique at the moment. He'd learn this from a certain sand shinobi, who he considered a good man. he taught him how to take a step back, assess the situation and proceed ahead with a cool head. This was something fathers were supposed to teach their sons. Something Katsuragi didn't have for most of his life.

He did have one person thought, whom he considered a father figure, but now that man was shell of his former self. The was doomed to die behind bars, rotting away strung out to no end. A cautionary tale no doubt, how vices can bring down even the mightiest of men. All that imagery of him being the wisest and one of the most powerful bandits to roam the woods were all but faded. But he didn't had love for him, which he proved recently. When it came down to achieving power or family, Katsuragi chose the latter. He surprised himself with such a choice, but at the end of the day, we were all human. No matter how tough or ruthless one chose to be, family was important. family was pretty much all what most only had. he was fortunate to come across Hui, to learn what he could learn. He would have never made it in prison if it wasn't for him. he wouldn't be sipping beer right now, if it wasn't for the very few people who decided to give a damn about the MaDKat.

he takes a large gulp of his beer, his grip tight on the handle while enjoying the burn. His belly became quite heavy with his time spent here; he almost forgot the reason as to why he even got here. But then he remembered the reason, the reason why he was drowning his sorrows. he was back in prison. it was his own fault really, he literally walked himself into the gates, a feeling he never liked. It all started in the sand village, the creaking sounds of the large gates closing in behind him. And then he did so once again here, all in search of finding his roots lie some lost child. He should have known by now what he was, he was cut from his birth parents by their own choosing, and he was cut from the same cloth that most of these two-bit bandits came from. Perhaps he was in search of a better light, to better himself. He loved doing what he did. a job here and there, spend spend spend, rinse and repeat. he answered to no one. But, to learn that he maybe could have joined something like a family where he'd belong, perhaps that wouldn't be so bad. But all that was a lie, these village systems were nothing more than the bandits he rolled with back in day. Everyone was out to get a pay day, to get theirs. But all this was just a single problem, something he could solve. he was stuck in a village that wanted something from him, he just needed to play the game and come out on top. Feeling the urge to drain himself of beer, he gets up slowly and makes his way towards the bathroom, but not before ordering another beer. he'd need it to help plan out how he was gonna get himself out of this mess.

Katsuragi's attire consisted of a Yakuta black leather jacket, which underneath he wears a hanley blood red hoodie. His belt is black leather, designer's choice, with an overlapping LV emblem as a buckle. The pants he wears is a fresh pair of black stretch jeans with ankle zippers located on the lower inside section of the pants. His boots on his feet also being solid black of a leather material with an emblem labeled "EU", it's made of metal stitched to the tongue of the boots. His hair, still vivid, was a solid dark purple. His hair in contrast with his pale skin, however, his arms torso and hands bore a mural of mostly assorted prison tattoos; all black ink in color. He himself stood at a height of 6'2 feet with a thin frame. His tools and such were all assorted evenly along his attire, given no hint to their whereabouts yet allowed him easy access with a little bit of technique.

Making his way towards the bathroom, he managed to catch a glimpse of a few individuals posted by in a corner booth to his right. he didn't quite know them, but something about them seemed familiar. their accents, the way they talked. They were loud, obnoxious, and mobbed up too. He waves it off, but suddenly, the bar door swings open.

A group of heavily armed cloud shinobi burst through the front door and made their way towards the group. they yelled instructions, telling them to get down on the ground, and submit to their authority. Katsuragi distanced himself 10 meters away from the group of rowdy folk. he'd normally yelled out "fuck the pigs", or something along that manner. But he had to read the room, he wasn't in the position to do so. The Mob stood up slowly and drew their swords instantly after spacing out from each other. "For the Zukumiki Clan!!", they yelled in unison. Katsuragi's heart sank, along with his eyes widening. he instantly sobered up from his few beers. he knew this group quite well and fought like hell to build what little he had in Tanzaku Town.

The Zukumiki were a crime family that is still, to much Surprise by Katsuragi, in operation today. They have a blood feud with the hashimoto family, a group to which Katsuragi himself is affiliated with. He helped the hashimoto family regain and establish roots in Tanzaku Town. And now it seems that the Zukumiki have come to the cloud to establish roots here. The calm before the storm came, it was quiet, the opposing folk stood their ground. sweat poured from each other's foreheads. Neither one of them wanted to die, but neither one of them were going to back down. The standoff lasted for about three seconds, but to them it felt like an eternity. Katsuragi, along with the bartender, who seemed more concerned with his tab, simply waited to see what was going to happen. Then, all hell broke loose. the two teams clashed together in epic fashion. Katsuragi backed away against the wall, to remove himself from the fight. However, being that one of the opposing parties were that of the Zukumiki, he felt an innate feeling to fight them on site. Teh group that wanted his had, that caused him so much trouble in Tanzaku Town, was right in front of him. However, that was another problem, he hated the cloud shinobi too, bunch of greedy individuals. He hated them both and wish nothing but death on all of them. However, after processing all the information, he had to be smart about this. He couldn't leave, not until the leader of the village returned. With that, and the run in with the gate guard, his name was surely on the watch list. He needed to act now, and fast. But, a certain thought popped into the bandit's head, what if, he could use this to his advantage. as much as he hated the cloud, as new as his newfound hate for them was, he hated the Zukumiki even more. Perhaps he could use this to help his cause, perhaps he could use this to make a case. The enemy of my enemy is a friend right? Katsuragi pursed his lips, eyeing the battlefield. he watches one shinobi get pushed down to the ground by one of the more stocked thugs. The shinobi's life was about to end, but not until Katsuragi intervened. He rams the attacking thug with a lariat move, a swift close lining move that knocks him off his feet, he was big and sturdy, but Katsuragi could hold his own in a fist-to-fist fight. the thugs goes flying towards the back wall, crashing into it. he falls on to the ground, his sword following afterwards as it left his hand. With one member down, the rest of the clan fought, but in the end, along with Katsuragi, the Zukumiki were defeated. After a moment of silence, Katsuragi overheard the shinobi talk about how this wasn't the only group of thugs that wore the same matching emblems going around causing trouble in the village.

Still hesitant, he still proceeded with his plan and talked with the shinobi, offering up information about the Zukumiki  and what they were capable of. Normally, they would kick this information straight up to the Raikage's office, but their fearless leader was nowhere to be found, mia. They offered Katsuragi a choice to help them, deputizing a missing ninja to take out criminals. Katsuragi never thought he's see the day. He accepted, and the group walks out of the bar and made their way to the office to discuss their plan on how to deal with this infestation. Of course, they arrested and detained the thugs, waiting for back up to pick them up before they left.

The next day, Katsuragi arrived to the office once again, it was an on going investigation. the night they left the bar, they wanted to start fresh about how to deal with the Zukumiki. It made sense, due to Katsuragi having about four or five beers before the fight broke out. Now recharged and ready to go, he enters the mission ops building with his temp pass, given to him by the shinobi, and made his way to the office where the same three young shinobi he met from the bar were waiting. Katsuragi's attire was the same as before. But, with everything that had happened he might need a new set of gear to handle this onslaught that was about to happen.

Katsuragi's attire consisted of a Yakuta black leather jacket, which underneath he wears a hanley blood red hoodie. His belt is black leather, designer's choice, with an overlapping LV emblem as a buckle. The pants he wears is a fresh pair of black stretch jeans with ankle zippers located on the lower inside section of the pants. His boots on his feet also being solid black of a leather material with an emblem labeled "EU", it's made of metal stitched to the tongue of the boots. His hair, still vivid, was a solid dark purple. His hair in contrast with his pale skin, however, his arms torso and hands bore a mural of mostly assorted prison tattoos; all black ink in color. He himself stood at a height of 6'2 feet with a thin frame. His tools and such were all assorted evenly along his attire, given no hint to their whereabouts yet allowed him easy access with a little bit of technique.

The group welcomed Katsuragi with hesitant arms, still wondering if it was a good idea to hire on the MN as an ally. With the raikage gone, they needed all the help they could get, plus, they needed to end this situation as soon a possible before all hell broke loose. They managed to receive information from some of the scouts as to where the rest of the Zukumiki might be. So, what better way to catch a criminal than to send one after them. After the silent greeting, the group huddled together around the round table, which displayed a map with many circles, a lot of circles. They seemed to be imbedded in almost every corner, every crevice they could find. It truly was an infestation. Katsuragi shooked his head at the site, he wonders if thing were as bad as this in Tanzaku Town. Another reason as to why he needed to get up out of here, as quick as possible. The leader of the group, began to stress how they needed to time everything right, and assume that a few shinobi here in the village have turned. It wasn't a surprise to katsuragi as it was to the other shinobi after they heard it. Their faces grew pale upon hearing that their precious brothers in arms might have been responsible for the infestation. It really wasn't that hard to picture it, in fact it made perfect sense as to how everything got to where is was. A major village, with a support system this large, would not have let such a thing happen. At the very least, not let ot go undetected it. Someone turned a blind eye towards it.

His thought went on Lucky once more, as he scanned the map counting the circles and looking for a place to start. It was greedy people like him, and the gate guard too, who would do things like this. But was really Katsuragi allowed to judge people like so. He  paused, switching the subject in question. He was really beginning to sound like a village Shinobi.

After the talk, the group headed down to the armory to get prepared for the raids. Search and destroy, one by one, till there was nothing left. They needed to do this as swift as possible, as quiet as possible to not alert any of the other groups as to what was going on. The leader even issued kill orders to the team, since they didn't want to fill up the prison. Katsuragi scoffed at the remark, but followed lead anyway. As they reached down to the armory he was met with rows of shelves, filled with armor and weapons. Stuff that seemed so brand new, it was like it was freshly minted. "Whoa...", Katsuragi said, as well as the leader. The leader pointed him to the confiscation section down the hall. Katsuragi, even though he was given temporary access, was not allowed to gain entry into the armory. It was allowed only for tru shinobi of the cloud to use. Nevertheless, he made his way over to the end of the hall way, entering the room to find random pieces of equipment . There was however an inventory manager present, who explained to him that many of these were off the books and up for grabs. As he scanned the area, he saw that all of it was a bunch of crap. Used and abused, nothing of worthy note.

"I see you folks really rolled out the red carpet for someone tryin to help stop the Zukumiki. I aint even from this village, and still offered a hand. I see how you folks treat me..", he scanned the armory once more to see if he missed anything. But, he didn't. It was all useless crap. If the operation was as deadly as he thought it was, he would for sure die wearing this garbage. He steps back and heads out of the room. He tells the team as he passed the armory that he would meet them at the first location they would hit. Lucky for him, Katsuragi had his own set of gear he got from the black market. As he walked out of the building, he found a alley way out back which he went to. He used all of his sensory abilities to scan the area to see if he was alone, which he was. he then weaves a particular set of hand signs to activate the Mochi release: naughty cookie jar technique. His form grew pale as he then pushed out a couple pieces of armor from his abdominal area. He then cancels the jutsu upon getting what he need. He immediately puts on his gear, and places the rest of his clothes off to the side, but not before removing the weapons and tools from them. His gear was more than capable of storing what he was carrying. He then steps out the alley way, displaying his new look.

Katsuragi's gear set consists of a dark grey flak jacket, dark grey metal arm guards and black cloth gloves, dark grey metal shin guards, black boots with spikes for travelling into mountainous regions, and two ninja pouches on the back-waist which housed many of his tools. Both arm and shin guards came with 7 cm in diameter while being 3 cm tall. The spikes placed above the elbow and knee areas. Both spikes were not attached to the metal guards to allow mobility; they even had their own plate and wrappings. On the back of the jacket, there was a strap that allows placement for a sword to keep it fastened. The black bandit boots have 5 cm in diameter sharp spurs which are attached to the boot by a 5 cm durable light weight steel harness.

All plating, plus the flak Jacket, were upgraded with mithril plating while still retaining the dark grey color. The plating for the jacket was housed underneath the outer layers of the jacket. Along the collar of the flak jacket, the Bandit's 9th life tool resides within the collar surrounded with stuffing of the sort. The scales are also placed within the Flak Jacket, it does not provide discomfort.

Katsuragi was ready for battle, he felt it, he looked it, and most of all he craved for it. This would be the day he would strike another devastating blow to the Zukumiki family.

After receiving their mission orders, Katsuragi, armed to the teeth, was posted up on top of a roof. his site was directed two stories down towards a local pawn shop, along with three other sets of eyes looking down as well. This was one of the first locations as to where the first group of Zukumiki  would be. Traffic was light, due to the mission ops setting up a last-minute parade that took place on the north side of the village. It was pretty interesting how much power these shinobi held over the villagers. The best part was that they didn't even know they were being manipulated. As he continued to look towards the building, he sees that the business was lacking security. No barred doors, no one station outside... It was all pretty strange considering it was a pawn shop. nevertheless, the lead shinobi in command, signal everyone to get ready to enter. There were three points of ingress. The top hatch on the roof which seemed pretty easy to break into, the main door which seemed unlocked and the lone open window on the west side of the build which was big enough for an average sized person to enter. Katsuragi was going to go through the roof, the lead would take the window, and the rest of the two other shinobi would charge the main entrance. this would all happen all at once. Plus, with the wireless headset which everyone was wearing, would make it easy to communicate with. His heart was racing, with excitement. He was ready to drop shock and rock as they say. When the leader gave the signal, they all went to their respective positions. Katsuragi used his great strength to leap across the building, making it to the roof without making any noise due to his surface walking technique. he even managed to not gain any attention from the folks below due to the low traffic. Once he touched down, he made his way to the rook hatch and pulled slightly on the hatch, he felt it odd that it was open, but as he pulled it he felt slight resistance. his heart raced as he did a strength stat check and flung it open, pulling a person right out from the inside. He then proceeded to perform a lariat, close lining him in midair. However, he then did so where he would grab the body so it would make a thud sound on the roof.

"Katsuragi, what's your position, are you inside?"
"Um, Nah. I had to take out one of the Zukumiki.
"... Did you know that before you took down said person?"
"boss, what's going on? We're about to charge the door."
"Katsuragi attacked someone without identifying them first"
"Nah man... he a Zukumiki..", Katsuragi looked over to see the body. He was indeed armed and had a tattoo on his neck. He was lucky that the person was a Zukumiki and not a villager. He had much to learn...

Nevertheless, the rest of the team broke in and subdued everyone in the building. There were a few villagers in the mix, but they managed to sort out the situation. It as easy, all they had to do was identify the members by their tattoos. Katsuragi, now inside the building, shook his head at the fact that he helped take down the Zukumiki  scum. But their job was far from over. they still had many other locations to go to. After they rounded up the Zukumiki  members, and placed them into custody. It was now time for an all-out extermination. The kill order was given once again by the commanding shinobi. they were to give no quarter to any Zukumiki  scum. Katsuragi nodded, and the rest of the group ventured out. One by one, they all took down the many Zukumiki  groups, and all by surprise. They all didn't see it coming, their deaths came on swift wings as the group dispatched their brand of justice.

It all reminded him of the time when Katsuragi used to work for a mob boss in in the tea country. A new group was planning to take over the docks which the mob boss already had interest in. He greased so many hands that by the time Kurisu's reign was over, the mob boss had many friends within the fire village. Some say he even made friends with a few Daimyo. Eventually, the new group was killed off, and the best part was it wasn't even by the hands of the underlings like Katsuragi. It was all done by the leaf shinobi, disguised as a simple mission to take out traitors of the leaf. Did you catch that? Katsuragi sure did, he was amazed to see the many parallels between crime families and the shinobi village system.

after the last group was taking out by the hit squad, the group allowed HQ to send in the clean-up crew to take care of the bodies. The group returned to the office, with the leader even thanking Katsuragi for his service. After that, he was given a few thousand ryo for his assistance and was stripped of his temp clearance. He was a bit irked about that, since he couldn't use it to take a peek more into the armory and many other files the village had. Nevertheless, he left with some valuable information. Something that might come in handy in the future when he decides to do what he came here to do. Katsuragi is seen exiting the building, and walking away.
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EXIT/ TWC/4014, claiming 8,000 ryo, 2,000 ryo from maxed out AP, using 1,000 words  to boost Perfect body from B rank to A rank, using 2,500 words to claim the A rank version of Sky Shredding Dragon, using 500 words for Adjustment.

Approved