The clouds were heavy in the sky today, grey everything in sight with their somber weight. Steadfastly they prevented any of the Sun's luminous warmth from penetrating through, thus thickening the air with a cool damp miasma that warned even those who were ignorant of natural processes the anytime soon a torrent would rain down from the sky. All around you could see people nailing metallic sidings across the facade of their windows, every now and then you would see a young genin who was likely much too far from his own village helping those who were too old or too weak to do so themselves. The loud crackling of thunder was oft heard overhead as if the cloud were stretching, cracking, and popping loud, unseen, and faraway joints in the sky as they prepared for the assault that was to come.

Down on the ground the wrath of Susanoo was evident as his gale's knocked limbs from trees and into the homes and streets inside of the small nameless hovel. As the winds grew the shrill and ominous sounds they made made the people of the hovel double their pace as it was apparent to all that they had little time before the real danger began. The Master of Storms's talons pulled at the little protection that the villagers had threatening to threatening to shred it with his intangible grasp. He awaited his brothers to join him in his assault on this little village on the outskirts of Mizu no Kuni's border. Through the winds you could hear his voice growing ever more impatient as his shrill whining swelled more and more shaking trees and blowing over small animals.

Then there was silence. The scene was set for the attack on the small island to begin, and now suddenly all of the assailants seemed to have changed their mind.

The thick, pluming clouds above the village seemed to have other things planned. First lightning plummeted from the sky stripping a tree of all of its vigor and pushing it over onto a nearby building crumbling an old family business filling the nearby area with the the smell of smoke and ionized air. Gō could do nothing, but leave his jaw agape as he watched the viciousness with which the lives of the creatures in the tree and those now buried in rubble were taken. Soon after the rain began to fall, a drop at first, but very quickly more. The winds from earlier returned, but this time with much more force, raising the tide above the hovel's ground level. Powerful currents began to form as those who couldn't find a home to hide in were soon ripped from the land. Gō watched the atrocity from atop one of the buildings that had yet to be assaulted. He had been taught to mesh with nature, but the sight before him went against all that he believed in, and the natural disaster stunned him too much for him to act on his own.

-502

The storm raged against the poor, unfortunate souls of this village, and already many lives had been taken. Izumi looked down on these people as he watched them struggle. Of course such a storm, though unpleasant wasn't likely to be a deadly threat for a ninja. From the simple act of being able to walk on the surface of the powerful waves to the strength that came from the intense training your average shinobi put themselves through. The benefits of the ninja life were readily apparent in this scene as a building full of civilians toppled to the ground, almost guaranteeing each of their deaths. Izumi knew that this was why people should live closer to the main village, so that they could have support against this and worse, but despite his cold mentality, he truly did want to help them. It would have to wait though until after he finished what he came here for.

A scroll he had received from his employer rested at his hip reading as follows. "A rather rude kid has scorned your sponsor for this mission, and he is willing to give you a nice chunk of money for the body of this ninja. Subdue or kill him and bring him to us. Any spoils you find on his person are yours to keep. Remember that this kid is a ninja too, and we don't imagine they'll be terribly inclined to comply. That being said, try not to die on us." The wanderer's hair was held in a high ponytail, keeping any and all hair out of his face even with all of the wind and rain, and for now at least his scarf and haori kept him somewhat warm. The constant barrage from the wind and rain that began to sting his cheeks, would see to it hat he still suffered through this like everyone else

Izumi had located the ninja in question and after many days had finally caught up to him. The effort he had to put in to keep up let him no that this was not going to be an easy fight. With a burst of speed Izumi hopped from where he stood on the wavy tide to the wreckage of a destroyed building avoiding any of the now exposed rebar as he did so. He reached into his sleeves where he kept his kunai and senbon, pulling out one of each, and almost immediately throwing the senbon a the gawking ninja's exposed obliques. Without a shred more of hesitation he jumped off of the side of the abuilding he was on at Go, kunai at the ready, and sailed to the building his quarry was standing on. His feet had barely touched the ground as he swung at the ninja's throat giving him no room to make conversation, as he simply wanted to end this as quickly as possible. He spun the kunai around in his hand to a backwards grip after the first strike and swung down at a 60 degree angle for the jugular. While Go's scarf might have normally made it difficult for the Kansen-Suru nin to accurately gauge the distance to his neck, but Izumi had attempted to overcompensate for it already.

[539 words]

Go believed that the root of all violence was pride, and those who would slay another were the most proud of all. There was something innately personal to the act that most ninja committed, in his opinion.The purposeful destruction of another's life was an act that required ego to a level that the young man could barely comprehend. To eat those that stood next to you in the vicious cycle of consumption, that was the natural way, and Go himself had done it many times before now. It was the purpose of all life to eventually become food to help more life grow, and eventually it would be his purpose. He could accept that.To help something else survive was a noble act, and one worth thanking for. To take a life and leave it out to dry, it drove him insane. To kill for power, for a name, for revenge these things were simply beyond his capabilities to understand. He watched as the storm warred against the populace as his attacker's senbon lodged in his side catching him completely by surprise.

It wasn't that he couldn't hear the metal cut through wind and water to get to him, he had just never been attacked before. The peaceful nomad typically was greeted with charming words and warm smiles, but now he could feel his body ooze it's precious down his side. Not the most pleasant of feelings, but something that he would get over soon enough if he wanted to avoid what was coming next. His attacker was quickly approaching, the speed wasn't one he could match, but it was one his body knew how to follow. Here it was again, a ninja exerting his pride on another. He almost wanted to let the ninja have his way, but fear made him change his mind. He met his attacker at the edge of the building as he landed getting there just a moment sooner, ensuring that his attacker would land in within his range.Go would place a hand against the kunai wielding arm's wrist. He extended it far enough away that the ninja would be unable to stab him with it. He wished desperately for a method to communicate, but in this current weather such a thing would be impossible for him. even if he could manage to get his notepad out the wind and rain would do their number on it

He hated perpetuating violence with violence, but he could already feel the cold begin to seep into his veins, and the warmth that was leaking out of them wasn't helping his situation too much either. His sandal on his left foot audibly ground against the worked stone of the building they were on as the opposite foot came up with a kick aimed for Izumi's face. He did not hope to hold out long in a contest of strength with a shinobi, so his grip was already gone from the shinobi's wrist as he pulled his arms back to a defensive position.

-502/1004

His senbon had struck true, and that was about all Izumi could really ask of it. Had his mastery of his kekkai genkai been further along than where it currently was things might have been different, but for now it was a suitable distraction. The blood that slowly came out of the wound was not quite as significant of a wound as he might have liked it to be, but Izumi planned on making use of every advantage he had. He was slightly surprised that the other ninja was rushing towards him as he landed, and he was immediately stopped by the hand to his wrist. He had underestimated his opponent a bit too much in thinking that such a small injury would cause enough hesitation that he would be able to get him to hesitate. For that folly he left himself wide open for this counter attack. Every good weapon specialist knows that you never let someone into your weapons range, since it is there that you are the most vulnerable. Immediately he started to release chakra from all of his tenketsu, this Jiton chakra into the air around him.  As Go moved into his range he cringed at his folly expecting the ronin to take full advantage of his opportunity he braced himself for a cut, stab, or any other wound caused by any of the numerous weapons that Go could have had on his person, but instead he got the blade of the ninja's foot directly to his jaw, sending him staggering a few feet away.

Behind vicious eyes staring his opponent back down after his head snapped back towards Go, Izumi quickly brushed his tongue around the edges of his mouth, tasting the small amount of iron that lingered after his teeth nicked the inside of his lips. He had counted his teeth while doing so, and to his surprise all thirty two were still there. A slight disappointment as he had expected more from Go than such a light blow. He quickly righted his stance as he swallowed the small amount of blood that kick had produced. He threw another senbon at the boy before him as he lunged in after him closing the gap in a fraction of a second. With one hand he grabbed at the shirt of the other ninja with the other he went for a stab at his throat. Regardless of whether or not the stab hit, he would pull on Go's shirt placing him where Izumi had just been. He wasn't going to let up though like his adversary had he would stay arms length from Go, keeping the distance as best he could. If he so much as tripped Izumi would be there. The torrent beneath them continued to rage, and the wind howled at them blowing stray cloth as the to fought. Panic by the non-ninjas who were below being exposed to this storm began increasingly removing defenses was easy to hear for all those listening. Izumi's focus let him tune them out for now as he was singularly focused on the death of the ninja in front of him, something that every strike of his conveyed.

[531/1070]

[Exit Dead Thread?/ WC Math post]
Total WC= 1070

Speed E-3 -> D= -300
Perception E-2 -> E-3= -225
Reaction Time E-2 -> D= -525

Leftover WC= 20