The clouds in Kashizudoto's head were beginning to clear up: he was starting to recount the events that had just transpired. Essentially, he had stormed into a restaurant to confirm whether or not Oki was a hallucination caused by sleep deprivation, finding that the dense man was indeed a corporeal form. He met a boy named Yanagi Yusuke, who he unilaterally named "servant boy" in his straightforward, fatigued state, not even recalling that something like that was rude and uncultured on his part. He knew of the Hokage's arrival in about half a day or so and wanted to appear in front of him as alert and ready, so he bribed the two genin to help him out with the promise of an A-rank mission: the 'servant boy', who he had figured by now was probably a simple waiter, gave him some disgusting, hot tea (the tokubetsu jonin found that all tea was absolutely deplorable, contrary to his friend Takashi) while the densest genin in Iwa, Oki Kuma, stabbed Kashizudoto's arm with his sharp, untrimmed nails: thus, the tokubetsu jonin was made alert, at least for a day or so, by the sensation of pain through both horrible tastes and sharp wounds. In the end of it all, Kashizudoto had screamed out a terrible sequence of crude expletives as a result of the sudden wake up call; as a result of such a display, only Oki Kuma, who had already seen how respectable Kashizudoto was when he wasn't sleepy, and Debu, his pet bear, would follow the tokubetsu jonin in the rain. It didn't take very long for Kashizudoto to notice the 'servant boy' staying behind in the restaurant while he and the other two traversed the muddy path. He felt bad that the boy didn't get to see the real him.

By the time that they would reach the Administration Building to find a mission in Iwa's public dossier, the rain would have stopped and left a beautiful rainbow in the sky. The tokubetsu jonin would flip a few pages before identifying just the right mission for them: to assassinate a criminal boss, showing the mission to Oki and pointing at it before they would head to be debriefed on the confidential details of the mission from the administration's upper echelons.

"Chu Bu is his name," an old jonin of Iwa, most likely retired into a desk job, would speak to them in a private room, "Our intelligence suggests that he resides at the peak of Itami Mountain and leads several gangs. Kill him, and there will be a bountiful reward." The group would then immediately head out for their task.

"Y'know," the tokubetsu jonin would speak to the bear man on the way, "I didn't mean to be so... crass back there. Sleepiness feels almost like a disease. You just don't feel like yourself. Sorry 'bout that." He would hope that this apology of sorts would suffice, though he regretted not being able to say this to Yanagi Yusuke.

Whatever his response, they would eventually reach the peak and pinpoint the location of the crime boss's settlement with basic ninja skills, including Kashizudoto's expert vision and, if the two companions offered it up, the relatively good sense of smell that he suspected that Oki and Debu possessed. When they spotted the large wooden residence, the squad captain, Kashizudoto, would gesture to his two companions to hide with him quietly behind a large boulder as they observed the battlegrounds. In front of the residence were two C-rank bodyguards armed with katanas; he would probably let Oki and Debu handle them while he would go in and handle whatever or whoever was inside the house.

"You two can deal with the guards; while they may have a physical advantage over you, at least from what I can tell at this distance," he would whisper to his companions, "You two can use whatever jutsu you've got in store against them, not to mention what I'd assume are excellent teamwork skills between the both of you. Meanwhile, I'll deal with whatever's inside" If Oki agreed, he would jump out into the open to lead the charge against the guards, hoping to slip out during the fight so that he could go inside and most likely fight the boss himself while the others were busy in their own fight.

WC: 745

The dynamic duo of Oki and Debu made it outside, the rain easing off into a drizzle, then stopping entirely. The sky clear, blue, stark in contrast to the grey of before. Vibrant colours of assorted hue stained the sky in an arch, the familiar sight of a rainbow. Truly it was a sign that today was looking to be a good day! Or at least, that’s what Oki felt, Debu meanwhile knowing science. So, as the trio made their way to the administration building, the bear buddies following Kashizudoto as if mere followers, the two talked among themselves about various things. Sometimes it was a talk about the best way to eat fish. Other times, little gossip about recent brawls. Either way, the conversations were predictable. Upon entering the building, the group went to the mission bureau, Kashizudoto flicking through the missions before pointing a finger at a mission and showing it to Oki and, in doing so, to Debu. It was without a doubt a step up from the missions Oki had been used to performing. Assassination of a gang leader, a true A rank mission. Bit of a step up from rescuing goats and wrestling with a snake.

It was while the genin, jounin, and bear were reading the mission that an old man from nearby spoke up, clearly aware of the mission. Chu Bu. A rather short and easy to remember name. Oki of all people could respect that. So, the man who appeared to be retired, grey hair and wrinkled skin giving little to the imagination in terms of age, informed the trio of the location of this Chu Bu, as well as of the objective and the reward. The reward wasn’t tremendously important to Oki however. He was just here because he was.

Once again, the dynamic duo and Kashew made way. It was, as one might expect, an average trip. Not a lot happened during the journey up the mountainous region to the lord of crime, except perhaps a few birds. Of course, another thing that occurred was the inevitable talking of Kashizudoto. Specifically, an apology. At that, Oki couldn’t do much but shrug. “I do not believe it is me you should apologise to. Besides, it’s mostly affected you. I doubt you left a good impression on that ladies restaurant my friend!” he replied, nodding as if he’d said sheer amounts of wisdom, Debu instead just continuing to plod along.

A little search, and a slightly further trek, and the trio found themselves standing at the camp the supposed gang leader was waiting in. Two, averagely built men were stood at the entrance, each holding a katana in hand. They didn’t look lethally strong, however Oki knew that he personally would struggle. After all, despite his size, he was just a genin. Of course, Oki couldn’t tell much more than that, the trio hidden behind a boulder. From this position, Kashizudoto began whispering his instructions to Oki and Debu, who both just kind of nodded. Now was a time to be serious.

As the group leader jumped out from behind the bush, running towards the duo, Oki would give Debu a quick high five, before following suit, dropping to all fours. In a primal, animalistic sprint, the bear man would head directly towards the rightmost guard, the leftmost guard likely focused more on Kashizudoto than Oki due to the significant difference in speed. Debu meanwhile would simply begin climbing up on the boulder, standing ready on all fours and just kind of… Watching. Or perhaps waiting would be the right term. Regardless, the guard that Oki began running towards decided the best option was to counter charge, to best get the initiative and just end the fight right there and then. Oki, being slower, was of course the one to get approached, rather than doing the approaching, the guardsman swinging his katana down in an arch towards the man. Digging his hands and feet into the ground, claws leaving marks in the dirt, Oki skidded to a stop, unable to find the time to jump out of the way to dodge. So, if an attack’s coming your way and you can’t dodge, what’s the best way to do things? Take the hit like a champ! Suddenly, doton chakra rushed through the beast of a man’s body, skin becoming almost armour like. With a clang, the sword swing bounced backwards, the Kuma getting knocked backwards by the impact to his right shoulder. It wasn’t a huge amount of momentum, but it was enough to allow him to propel his weight backwards into a two legged stance, to best fight the guard on equal footing.

781

(OOC: Sorry for the delay~)

Chakra: 135/150 (-10 for D rank jutsu, -5 for placing a chakra tag on Debu (Dun dun dun))

Jutsu used:

Kashizudoto could see, from the corner of his eye, the bear man high-fiving Debu and then leaping at the guard on the right on all fours while his bear stood still. The tokubetsu jonin didn't have the time to deal with the guards himself, as he needed to go and find the boss. However, it seemed that the boss would find him. All of a sudden, the front of the residence that Kashizudoto was heading towards would blow up; a battle hammer would be seen on the right side, but dust and debris would mask the identity of whoever did it. The tokubetsu jonin would assume that this was the man known as Chu Bu behind this cover, so he would take out his blade, inflame it with katon chakra, and then slam the right shoulder of the guard on the left, pushing hard on the guard's shoulder so that he could propel himself upwards into the air and towards the residence at the expense of the guard's shoulder.

"WHO DARES TO DISTURB THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS CHU BU!?" an assorted fur-clad giant would scream before observing the tokubetsu jonin in the air coming at him with his flaming sword, "A BOY? HAHAHA, YOU INSULT ME! NOW FACE THE WRATH OF THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS CHU BU!" For some reason, this... over-the-top guy would remind the tokubetsu jonin of Oki (of course, he wouldn't say that out loud, as he had already thrown enough insults today). The man would tower over everyone else on the scene, holding two giant battle hammers in his hands. Kashizudoto would not want to get hit by one of those under any circumstances; if he did, he'd be frickin' toast.

The giant would pound the both of his battle hammers to the ground before picking them up and attempting a downwards slash at the airborne boy, who would respond by parrying both hammers with his flaming katana. Upon impact with the A-rank katon jutsu, the A-rank battle hammers would undertake severe damage from burns; that idiotic giant wouldn't even look at what his opponent had on his persona before swinging at him! Chu Bu's extreme denseness would remind Kashizudoto of his squad partners... As a result of the impact between the two weapons, Kashizudoto would get pushed back at least a few meters due to the huge disparity in strength; however, he would manage to land on the ground gracefully.

The giant would charge at Kashizudoto, swinging his half-broken battle hammers at him. Again, the tokubetsu jonin would parry them with his inflamed sword; this time, the strike would absolutely destroy the battle hammers beyond repair, as they would have been made brittle by the previous strike.

"HAHAHAHA! YOU BROKE THE HAMMERS OF THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS CHU BU!" the giant would yell, "WORRY NOT, I'LL PUNCH THE SHIT OUT OF YOU, HAHA!" Kashizudoto would need to be careful, as he would probably be dead if even one punch from this big guy landed on him. The giant would throw out his broken battle hammers in the direction of Debu and then proceed to throw a punch towards Kashizudoto with his left arm, which the tokubetsu jonin would readily block with his sword flaming, getting pushed back another few meters due to recoil and dealing 2 1/2 inch cuts with third degree burns running through them due to his katon jutsu. While the giant would charge towards Kashizudoto again, he would quickly gather katon chakra in his throat and release it as a fireball taking the shape of a dragon head. If the dragon head would hit the giant, he would be consumed in flames that would cause major 2nd degree burns and minor third degree burns all over the area of impact.

Kashizudoto Chakra:

WC: 1389

As the man erupted from inside and Kashizudoto moved the guard in his way out of the way, Oki just continued getting on with the fight, paying no heed to arguably the only person louder than him. The guard Oki was fighting, clearly seeing what the squad leader did to his team mate and deciding he could do that too, rushed the large genin, shoulder barging him back quite a surprising amount. Meanwhile, Debu, who had been waiting, clearly decided now was the best time to strike, jumping in the air towards the guard that Kashizudoto had recently pushed away, the bear having decided to take the brief moment of no balance to strike. Or at least, look like he was about to strike.

Putting his hands together, Oki formed a couple of hand seals at a rather surprising speed, before without warning trading places with the flying bear, Oki now propelling at the poor guardsman, still regaining his footing from the shoulder barge. Oki of course had to keep up momentum to keep safe, so began instantly gathering chakra… Into his belly. The guard recovered quick, giving a rather human reaction of panicking at the sight of a flying giant aiming directly at him, and began moving out of the way. Began, but not soon enough, Oki’s huge mass of bulk colliding with both of the man’s legs with an audible crunching sound as the mass of flesh that is Oki crushed the man’s legs into the ground. While it didn’t do irreparable damage, the man was without a doubt in pain, several metres of the rocky earth growing fractured and dishevelled.

Meanwhile, where Oki was before, the second guard fighting him, was instead Debu, with a confused guard who was likely deciding they weren’t paid enough for this. Perhaps the guard would have been terrified of the sight of the bear… Where it not just a juvenile, Debu being more chubby than large. Still, Debu seemingly wasn’t going to let the guard take initiative, roaring once before running back to the boulder, seemingly just retreating. Of course, upon sight of the bear going back to the boulder, Oki grinned. Debu had a plan, which meant all Oki had to do was follow whatever it is Debu seemed to be planning.

Not wishing for the sudden teleporting and switching of the two bear ninja once again, the guard that was not yet injured pursued Debu, catching up on the bear quickly. But Oki wasn’t standing still either. As the wounded guard, who for convenience will be referred to as guard A, began getting up off the ground, Oki began a four legged sprint towards Debu, reaching the bear before the guard who was significantly faster and… Picking Debu up by the legs. As the guard continued approaching, now out of sight of his friend who was on the other side of the boulder and had just gotten up, legs incredibly sore from the impact, Oki began spinning the bear in circles. One. Two. On the second spin he released, launching Debu point blank into the unsuspecting chest of the man, who dropped his katana and stumbled backwards from the sheer force of having a bear thrown at him at a rather fast speed. Oki and Debu, the dynamic bear duo of Iwa, didn’t let up the pressure as the second guard began approaching to aid his friend. The brown bear, Debu, curled up into a ball, as if hiding or something, while Oki simply picked him up. Arms over his head, Oki lobbed the bear ball at the still stumbling guards, directly impacting the man on the temple. It didn’t kill him of course, but it knocked him out for the time being.

One down, one to go.

629 + 781 = 1410

Oki's Chakra: 110/150 (-10 for Companion Sub, -15 for Grand Slam)

Debu's Chakra: 20/35 (-15 for C rank jutsu)

Jutsu used (In order):

The giant would shield himself with his large, meaty arms; he took minor third degree burns all over them, a serious injury that would render his arms basically useless; although, if he hadn't protected himself using his arms, he would have taken these burns all over his body instead.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHH! HOW DARE YOU BURN THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS CHU BU'S ARMS, LITTLE CREATURE! I'LL KILL YOU!" the giant would scream in pain as the tokubetsu jonin would jump in the air and form a hand seal. One kage bunshin each would show up midair to the left and right of the gang leader with their flaming sword in tow, swinging them at the giant along with the original. As a result, the giant would receive three slashes that would cut in 2 1/2 inches with third degree burns running through them; with his arms completely burned, he couldn't move them fast enough to stop the onslaught. Still, while all three Kashizudotos attempted rebounding out using their swords, the giant quickly swung his arms out towards his left and right with an amazing force, pushing out the two shadow clones of the group into the air and, as a result, destroying them with his strike, although the original was luckily able to escape by pushing off into the air. The tokubetsu jonin would realize that he underestimated this guy, damn it! Now he would have to budget his chakra really well if he was going to be able to finish this.

While in mid-air, the tokubetsu jonin would form some hand seals to shape the ground below into an earthen dragon head that would fire ten balls at Chu Bu. One of them would slam right into the giant's chest, dealing major bruising and pushing him back a bit, giving an opening for the other nine to slam him at various spots, disorienting him. The tokubetsu jonin would proceed to charge at the gang leader would now be bruised and burned all over his body in order to deal some basic strikes while the giant would be off balance.

He would slash from left to right at the bandit, who would step backwards to dodge every time Kashizudoto slashed at him. The tokubetsu jonin would decide to take advantage of this, attempting to perform a low sweep of this guy's legs to knock him over; however, unlike the weaker foes that he fought in the past, this strong man would react in time to kick the tokubetsu jonin's flaming blade with his right foot, sending Kashizudoto flying backwards into the air and cutting 2 1/2 inches into the giant's (with third degree burns running through them). Of course, the gang leader would now be limping along on his left leg now that his right foot was burned and cut up; however, he at least wouldn't get knocked down completely by the kid's low sweep.

He would manage to land on the ground relatively gracefully, his shoes taking the brunt of the blow on the ground. Damn, he would be really low on chakra now. Although his enemy would be clearly wounded pretty badly, he would still be dangerous, and Kashizudoto just wouldn't have much capability for jutsu at the moment due to his chakra levels, other than the technique that he was maintaining right now to keep his sword inflamed. Still, he could finish this with basic strikes + Sword of the Will, so he would charge back into the fray with his flaming sword in the air, hoping to knock a decisive blow on his gravely wounded enemy.

Kashizudoto Chakra:

WC: 2000

The last guard turned the corner, stepping over the prone form of his unconscious ally. Katana drawn and held in front of him, he began weighing up the situation, as one would reasonably do. A tall individual, nearly as tall as the boss of the gang, was standing there, alongside a bear, both brandishing the symbol of Iwagakure. Ninja of the village of stone. Putting two and two together isn’t hard, and so the guard was conflicted. As the sound of conflict between the squad leader, Kashizudoto, and the gang leader, Chu Bu, the guard had to make a choice. Attack the man attacking his boss, leaving his back open to the twin bears, or attack the twin bears and hope the boss is fine. With not long to really choose, the twin bears already advancing on the guard, he made his mind up in a semi-state of panic.

Katana in front of him, the guard swung at Oki, the bigger of the duo, Debu diving for the man’s legs. With a slash, the katana entered and lodged itself into the big hulk of a genin’s shoulder, Oki crying out in pain at the impact, as Debu meanwhile swiped a large paw at the rather averagely built legs of the guard. A mess of a situation. Warm, crimson liquid dripped from the large genin’s shoulder, his teeth grit as the katana lodged itself in his shoulder. His hand gripped the blade, cuts lining his hands as he held the katana in place, not wishing to allow the guard to recover his weapon as Debu’s sheer weight swiping at his legs caused the guard to plummet to the dirt trodden ground like a sack of flour. With an almost primal roar, Oki followed the collapsing guard, thick club like hands smashing into the guard’s back, further pushing him into the ground, blood seeping quicker from his shoulder as the katana dislodged itself and fell to the ground with a clatter.

Glaring intensely at the man who had just stabbed him, Oki grabbed him by the shoulders, forcibly lifting him off the ground and onto his feet. Doton chakra coursing through his veins and body intensely, the large man grappled the slightly dazed guard in a seismic bear hug, arms wrapped around him like a vice. He was angry, in pain, but he still wasn’t going to kill the guard. From what he read, only the big boss needed assassinating, and Oki wasn’t the sort for unneeded deaths. Holding the guard, face to face, Oki looked him dead in the eye and… Licked him on the cheek. With a grin that belied the amount of pain from his shoulder, Oki leant his head back… And then forwards in a dramatic head-butt, forehead smashing into the poor guard’s cheek with a loud cracking sound. In a slight panic, the guard went to speak, but the side of his face that was impacted seemed to fall behind, offering no way of speech, no words, just incoherent blubbering. The left side of his face was numb, barely usable, as if he’d just been for a visit to the dentist. Well, mister guard. Doctor Bear will see you now. With a second roar, Oki leant back dramatically, giving the guard a good old fashioned German suplex into the ground, head first.

Both guards now unconscious, Oki and Debu went back to the boulder, looking over it to watch the rest of Kashizudoto’s fight with Chu Bu, perhaps hoping to learn a thing or two from the jounin that really, really wasn’t good at leading squads. After all, he took a genin on a jounin levelled mission under the instruction that the duo follow all instructions… But proceeded to give no instruction. With a shrug, Oki just kept watching. Maybe his fighting style would make up for it.

641 + 1410 = 2051

Chakra: 80/150 (-30 for 2 C rank jutsu)

Jutsu used:

Kashizudoto would proceed to charge at the large, crippled giant, who could be seen with three wide, deep gashes with third degree burns running through him. He would rush in with his flaming katana in the air, quickly sliding on the ground to dodge a punch thrown in his direction by the gang leader. He would then proceed to deliver a decisive low sweep on Chu Bu's feet to knock him off balance; he had weakened the enemy to the point where he wouldn't be able to react fast enough. As a result, the blade would carve 2 1/2 inch cuts deep into the giant's feet, third degree burns running through the gashes to reveal a particularly gory sight as the giant fell forwards; meanwhile, Kashizudoto would perform a barrel roll to get out of the way, getting back on his feet by the time that the giant would fall the the ground. He would take a look around to find Oki and Debu watching the battle and the two guards fell.

"AAAAHHH, THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS CHU BU HAS SEEN HIS END ON THE BATTLEFIELD!" the giant would scream in a strange mix of glory and reminiscence, "YOU ARE A TOUGH FIGHTER INDEED, AND IT IS AN HONOR TO DIE AT YOUR BLADE! IT WAS ALWAYS MY DREAM TO DIE A WARRIOR'S DEATH. MY LAST REQUEST BEFORE I DIE IS TO KNOW THE NAME OF THE WARRIOR WHO FELLED THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS CHU BU! Like many in the shinobi world, this overly loud and proud man wanted only to die a death in battle; the tokubetsu jonin, however, disagreed with this notion, wishing for himself to die of old age. He would wonder whether the bear man, who seemed to share many qualities with this gang leader such as loudness and denseness, dreamed of dying in battle.

"My name is Kashizudoto Sarutobi," the tokubetsu jonin would respond, "You are by far the greatest foe that I have encountered in my lifetime." It was no exaggeration, only the truth of the matter. More importantly, this comment would make the man happy; it would only be spiteful to demean someone in their final moments, even if they were a gang leader.

"Make this quick, great warrior," Chu Bu would ask with an uncharacteristic calmness before Kashizudoto would slit his throat quickly and cleanly.

"Mission complete," he would tell the two with a stoic look on his face, still trying to grapple with the concept of two enemies having respect for each other, Let's go."

"You probably noticed that I didn't do as much ordering, the tokubetsu jonin would point out to Oki and Debu, "Such is the way of my Kage and I, you see? We both prefer to guide our friends rather than command them. As a shinobi of Iwa, where the Will of Stone, I believe, is the norm, this kind of leadership might be a little difficult for you to comprehend, but I think that you'd thrive in this kind of environment with your... creativity." Of course, the last bit referred to the bear fling that Oki did back in the restaurant so as not to get the floor wet; that's the kind of thing that Kashizudoto would've never thought to do nor would've been able to order from the genin. In his opinion, guiding people to unlock their individual creativity rather than ordering them to establish a hive mind was the key to a good team; however, he would know better than to go that deep into a subject with the two dense teammates of his.

After receiving their hefty rewards at Iwa's Administration Building, the tokubetsu jonin would part ways with the loud man and his bear, the boy hoping to meet them again soon sometime. Right now, he had a Hokage to meet up with.

Kashizudoto Chakra:

WC: 2680

[Exit]

A-rank Mission: 2500/2500

Oki watched as, to him, it seemed Kashizudoto was kind of dancing with fire in his hand. Like a ballerina that was too small to be in the swan lake. Truly a tragedy. So, as the seemingly one sided fight continued, which was rather strange for a special jounin to do so well against a criminal boss, Oki and Debu just kind of kept watching. With a singe, blood falling to the gravelly, rocky, dirty ground, the hulk of a man sunk to the ground, collapsing onto his knees. Oki didn’t really pay too much attention to Kashizudoto’s interaction, but regardless couldn’t help but cover his eyes as the squad leader slit the man’s throat. Gruesome, but the man was dead, and the mission was done.

With a grunt, Oki walked out from behind the rock, Debu in tow. His shoulder was bloody, and he found himself holding his meat of a hand against his shoulder simply to reduce the severe amount of bleeding. Upon Kashizudoto walking up to him, Oki just kind of watched as he spoke, giving his reasoning for why he didn’t give orders. Or at least, Oki would have perhaps called it reasoning, if it didn’t just sound like an excuse, and a terrible one at that. If he was planning on giving guidance or guiding him at all, the squad leader didn’t show it, giving about as much guidance as the currently unconscious guards. For once, Debu and Oki were in agreement. It was kind of a dumb moment.

As Kashizudoto began walking off without anything, Oki went over to the broken hammers of Chu Bu, grabbing one of them and dragging it along, as proof of the missions completion, since otherwise Kashizudoto was just going empty handed. Oki didn’t know how things worked in Konohagakure, the village of leaves, but so far he had to say he wasn’t too fond of the place. In the brief time he’d known Kashizudoto, Oki’d felt that perhaps the child didn’t respect him at all, he’d been impolite to his friend, left Oki to fight off two guards on his own, and hadn’t even noticed that his abandonment of Oki had caused the genin to get stabbed. Freaking stabbed.

So, the trio made the trek back to the village, walked to the administration building (with Oki growing increasingly faint from blood loss), then handed in the mission. Oki had to admit, he’d never imagined getting paid that much. But the amount of pain he was in right now kind of overshadowed the feeling. The dynamic duo would go home. But first, a trip to the hospital, to get the katana wound treated and covered properly by professionals.

449 + 2051 = 2500 WC DONE

[EXIT THREAD]