Mission Details:

It was a colder than usual morning that day. The sun had only just risen over the horizon of the Land of Water, and the Village Hidden in the Mist was certainly living up to its name as a thick fog rolled over the entirety of the shinobi village. Nayoko shivered slightly as he stepped out into the morning air, prepared for the day ahead. He had been plagued by nightmares the night before, living through the Dream of the Butterfly Sage school that had been introduced to him by Ayakashi, the Mizukage. He had entered the Dream multiple times now, and each time it had been the same; he faced his mother, who would plead for his help and tell him how much he loved him, before becoming the sinister beast that he harboured within himself. It was a vicious cycle that, no matter how often he experienced it, the Hattori could not grow accustomed to. At least for the time being. He knew that the more he trained, he better be would be able to perform and understand what was happening in the Dream. But even so, he dreaded falling asleep each night for that very reason.

In response for the need for him to continue his training, Nayoko had come to realize that he needed to return home to the Village Hidden in the Leaves in the Land of Fire. He was certainly growing in this foreign land, but at the same time, he had been distracted for the duration of his time here. He had been almost entirely focused on Tano Koyanagi and the mystery that had shrouded the sinister man that he had spent very little time growing as a ninja and more time worrying about what was to come. But now that was behind him, and though he had been physically injured in the altercation, and he still had no idea where the man from his past who turned out to be his uncle had ended up, the young man had come to grips with the understanding that it really did not matter. Tano Koyanagi had never had any good intentions for Nayoko, and now that he had left Nayoko for dead in the Swamp of Sorrow, it meant that the special jounin was somewhat free of that responsibility. Though he still wished to see the man brought to justice, Nayoko was more concerned with seeing his family at this point, and that meant going home.

So, knowing that his last days in Kirigakure no Sato were upon him, Nayoko had decided to take one last mission for the allied village, just to further show his appreciation to the place and everything he had learned from it. He had put his name in for a B-Rank mission the previous evening, asking that he be informed when one became available for him to take on his own, that he might test out his recently healed bones after his battle with his mysterious uncle. Before the sun had come up, Nayoko had heard a knock on the door of his hotel room door, and upon opening it, was greeted by a shinobi of the village who quickly and quietly passed him a sealed scroll before using the Body Flicker Technique to vanish from sight. Nayoko had taken a moment to chuckle to himself, thinking about how absurd it was for that man to leave like that, but regardless, he had received his mission, and so he was satisfied.

Stepping back into the honeymoon suite, he plopped himself down onto the large leather couch in from of the wall sized window of the room, stretching out and yawning before breaking the seal and reading the contents of the scroll. As he had suspected, it was a mission like he had requested, and the contents seemed simple enough. He was to travel to the boarder of the Land of Water to see to the destruction of a Bridge that connected to the mainland. The area on the other side was close enough to the Land of Blood that the connection had been causing an issue, and some even suspected that the smugglers that Nayoko had been forced to fight so often were hailing from that region. There was also a notice that he was to expect some resistance on the bridge itself, as not only were there builders present, but hired mercenaries that had caused a great deal of trouble for the two chuunin that had originally been sent to deal with the issue.

And so, with the scroll containing the mission briefing attached to his belt and the few ninja tools that he used sitting in the pouches on his pants, Nayoko left the hotel that he had stayed in for the past few months and headed out towards the bridge in question. The journey was a fairly significant one, but thanks to the Body Flicker Technique, as well as the familiarity that the young Hattori had developed for the Land of Water, it did not take him very long to arrive just down the road from the soon to be destroyed bridge. Even from the distance that he was currently at, Nayoko could hear the sounds of builders working away on the reconstruction of the bridge that had already been damaged by the Kiri shinobi multiple times. Leaping up into a tree, Nayoko took a moment to scope out exactly how much of a bridge he had to deal with in order to complete his mission. Luckily for him, the bridge must have been attacked a few times before, as it did not extend very far out into the water before the builders were present, working to complete it as quickly as possible. From this point of view, Nayoko could also see a collection of eight men and woman that looked armoured up and ready to fight. Four of them were carrying weapons, whereas the rest seemed to just have their hands as all the weapons they needed.

With their numbers in mind, but their strength level untested, Nayoko decided that quick and decisive force would be the only way to take them out without risking too much. As per the mission, they would need to be killed, but the builders only needed to be frightened into stopping. Silently, Nayoko prayed that the slaughter of their eight guards would send enough of a message to cause them to leave the endeavor behind. And so, without any further preparation, Nayoko  began to sprint at his full speed towards the guards on the bridge, hastily performing a series of hand signs as he approached, readying his first attack.

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One of the men let out a protesting shout as Nayoko charged towards them silently, his hands in front of his chest while rotating through the hand seals required for his jutsu. Wanting to test the skill of the men he was about to face, the Hattori opened with a simpler jutsu, ending his preparation with a wave of his hand in from of him and causing multiple stands of air to come together as one. The two meter long slash of fuuton empowered wind found its mark on the chest of the closest man, cutting him open and sending him sprawling backwards onto the ground. Noting that the blow had not been enough to kill the man, Nayoko sprung from the ground and flipped in the air before coming down hard onto the chest of his fallen victim. The man’s chest cavity caved in on itself due to the impact, leaving him lifeless in an instant.

“What the hell?? Is this how you treat neighboring lands in this damn country? You slaughter them?!” Nayoko heard the shout coming from one of the younger men who was currently positioned behind him. Though Nayoko’s vison was cast elsewhere, he could tell exactly where the man was positioned thanks t him heightened senses. Taking a deep breath, Nayoko felt it was only fair to listen to what would be the man’s last words. “We work here so that our people can have a future, but your damn Mizukage sends ninja to kill foreigners, just because we don’t live here. Well newsflash, the land across the sea isn’t exactly a paradise. We need the resources here, and if we have to take them, then so be it. But know that the only people you are killing, are the fathers and mothers of starving children.”

His outburst was punctuated by one of the women choosing to attack Nayoko alone; a grave mistake to say the least. She came at him with a katana raised, swinging it with full force straight down at Nayoko’s head, as if to cleave him in two. To sidestep the attack was a simple matter, and so Nayoko did so, leaving the woman standing with her sword tip in the ground at her feet. Wasting no time, Nayoko thrusted out with a chop to the woman’s throat, causing her to instinctually reach up to it with both hands as it caved in, suffocating her and drowning her in blood. This left her sword impaled in the ground, which Nayoko deftly pulled from the earth and threw without so much as glancing over his shoulder back at the man who had been shouting at him. The blade found it’s mark in the man’s throat, ending another life in a mere moment.

With his arm still outstretched, Nayoko let out a sigh and a tear slowly ran down him face and dripped off of his cheek, onto the ground below. “You have been ordered to cease and desist this bridge building repeatedly by the administration of the Land of Water. As you have not complied with these orders, you are criminals in this land, guilty of assisting smugglers to pass inside of out boarders and leaving the country vulnerable to attack. The punishment…” Nayoko’s voice trailed off for a moment as he tried to collect his emotion and remember that he was a ninja, not an accomplice to criminal behavior. “The punishment is death.” He heard a few more swords being unsheathed by the men surrounding him, but he paid no mind. He knew how strong these bandits were now, and they would be no match for his prowess as a shinobi. They would all pay the punishment in full.

There was a brief moment where nobody acted. The criminals surrounding Nayoko waited for him to move, and Nayoko did the same. But he knew that they would move first. They were not as disciplined as he was thanks to his training. Plus, he could literally hear one of the men shaking in their sandals. The scared on attacked first, as Nayoko had predicted. He came running forward with his fists raised, and feigned an attack to Nayoko’s head which he followed up with a heel kick instead. Despite the deception, it was a simple matter for Nayoko to duck under the kick, grabbing the man’s head as he sprung back up to his full height and smashing the back of his skull into the bricks that made up the bridge. The next attack came almost immediately after, with one of the women running at the Hattori from behind. In response, he leaped into the air and sprayed a blast of water from his mouth onto her form above, causing her to fall on her dead companion. Landing back n to of her, the young man held her down as he made a series of one handed seals that caused the water on the ground around her to raise up into a thousand water needles that proceeded to launch themselves into her body as Nayoko jumped away.

Now only three of the mercenaries remained, each of them wielding a blade of some kind. Nayoko scanned over them as they attempted to box him in, but still he did not fear them. He was a special jounin of Konohagakure no Sato, and the personal student of Lady Ayakashi, the Mizukage of the Village Hidden in the Mists. He would not be taken down by mere bandits. Without hesitation, Nayoko formed a series of hand seals before creating a blade of his own in the shape of a longsword, though it was formed of pure wind. One of the men gawked for a moment, which gave Nayoko the opportunity he needed to close the distance between them and drive his blade through the man’s heart. As he tore the Blade of Wind from the already dead bandit, he heard both of the remaining men charging up behind him in an attempt to take the shinobi by surprise. Unfortunately for them, Nayoko was ready. Springing upward and twisting so that he was upside down and facing his attackers at the last moment, Nayoko slashed his sword before him, carving through the mundane weapons of his attackers and leaving them defenceless. Landing into a roll, Nayoko found himself on his feet one again before he carved through the neck of one man, rending his head from his body, and then throwing his fist with all of his force into the sternum of the other man. Nayoko heard the sickening crunch as the man’s ribcage imploded into his chest cavity, puncturing holes through his major organs and rendering him lifeless.

As the last of his foes fell, Nayoko raised his eyes to the builders who had been standing by, staring at the display of carnage. His tears had dried at this point, and all that remained was the stony expression of a shinobi who had done his duty to the letter. The builders, who were clearly frightened, slowly began to drop their tools and back away from Nayoko, through all that remained behind them was an unfinished bridge. With an emotionless tone, Nyoko called out to them. “You will leave the Land of Water now, and go back to where you came from. If you ever attempt to build a bridge here again, your punishment will be the same as theirs.” He paused for a moment to wait for a response, but all he got was a stunned silence from each and every one of the builders. “I will assume that I am understood. Now LEAVE!”

With the shout of anger, Nayoko ran and jumped from the side of the bridge to the ground below, looking over the structure to that he could find the best place for his jutsu. It did not take him long to settle on a position, and once he did the Hattori began to form a series of hand seals once again, compressing his fuuton chakra in his chest. When e finished, he released it all from his mouth in the form of a large sphere that moved at a blistered speed, carving through the stone of the foundation and weakening it to the point where it began to fall into the ocean on its own before too long. Turning away from the sight, Nayoko began to make his way back up to the ground level, he could hear the screams of builders abandoning their bridge as it fell into the ocean.

[Exit Thread]

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Mission Complete!!