If Kisei thought the first trial was challenging, then this was on a whole other level. His second trial had taken him to one of the mountain outposts. From what he was given to understand there were five people in that massive three story fortress. One of which he was supposed to tag with a kunai. The Ushinatta looked down to his right hand, holding in his palm a single marked kunai. He regarded the inferior weapon with disgust. When they said that he couldn’t bring any of his… unique, weapons with him Kisei nearly suppressed the desire to blow them up with his umbrella. For some reason he had the nagging suspicion that the Raikage wouldn’t take kindly to sixteen year old boys obliterating his ninja during the exams. Kisei froze. Unbidden images shooting through his mind of flashing fires and burning smog. The sounds of screams and wailing permeating the very sands-

The ninja shut his eyes and pushed the memories back into the corner of his mind. The chuunin exams have been a massive help in distracting him, he didn’t need to go prodding the hollow horse now. No, right now he had a target, and a mission, both he would end flawlessly.

Right now he was shielded by the trees and natural rocky formations, giving him some time to prepare. The young ninja spun to face his small camp. The proctors, different from those inside, had left him a number of clothes. Scarfs, shirts, long pants, shorts. A small back up plan began to form in the back of his head, “Good good.” He moved on to his equipment and what he knew about the exam. Mentally reviewing the layout and plan he had formed earlier. The outlook had two ways to reach the ceiling from what he could tell from his earlier stake out , not including the window escapes. Additionally they had multiple exits on the ground floor but they could easily be blocked off from the outside so he wasn’t worried about that. In fact he had already cut down some decently sized logs to help with that. He had already sealed them away so he wouldn’t be dragged down by the weight when he initiated the attack. “Two ceiling escapes, the ground exits are covered-” Kisei cast a glance towards the three story fortress out keep peering through the trees.

The goal was to tag the VIP and once he did the trial would end and he’d get to go home, blah blah,, yes yes, he already knew that, however the ones guarding him were strong opponents. He might have to fight them and once he was discovered things would get really hard real quickly. So confrontation was to be avoided if possible. No half cooked attempts at completing this mission. Though if Kisei could quickly take down one or two target once he cut off their exits he’d be free to complete this mission much more liberally. The Ushinatta broke a small smile at the thought. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all. Kisei stared down the fort confidently. “Now all that’s left is to start the plan.”


536

Kisei set into work mode, digging through the stacks and endless pile of clothes with mechanical methodology. He started on getting folded pairs of pants and shirts together. Setting the miscellaneous items aside and just gutting the monster of all landry. Once he had arranged all the pairs he calculated the number of pairs he had. Enough for a small army. Thank goodness. Kisei dipped a hand into the scarf pile and started to stack the piles together. “Tie here and perfect!” He bound his first cubic meter of densely packed clothes together with about two long scarfs. “Now I just need to get about nine more.” He sighed, well no time like the present. Minutes passed by quietly as he assembled his arsenal. In the end he could only produce about seven blocks of clothes. Since he only needed to block the important doors he supposed he could use the furniture inside to get the same effect. Though at the same time he didn’t want to waste too much time. Fooling around for too long would be to neglect his mission, and it would leave a greater chance of being found out, and that would undoubtedly lead to mission failure. So that meant only one option. I whispered to myself, “Cut the chances of a bad end to its minimum.”

Kisei held one block in my arm as he slid through the halls. Mapping out the landscape in his mind he felt fairly confident that he already blocked the ceiling escapes, or at least the doors to get to them. Meanwhile he had gotten himself situated inside of the outpost. Trying to find anything to lead him to his targets. At least they were smart enough to turn off the lights. He thought listlessly. Though there is one thing that he noticed about this castle: the dust. The amount of dust here was not too terrible but there was no denying the semi-thick layer of dust covering the halls. He if paid attention closely he could tell make out a few spaces where the dust was scrapped across the ground, or even the walls. Kisei’s guess was that they probably hadn’t had this building used in a while and had only recently thought to incorporate it into the exams.

Whether intentional or purposeful it didn’t matter too much. Kisei glanced down to his clothes cube and kunai. He was still going to complete this mission.

The Ushinatta turned the corner and nearly had to suppress a gasp. A faint but visible candle light flickered under the door down the hallway to his right. They must be pretty confident to leave the light on. Kisei stepped forward, tightening his grip on the only implements he had. Well, the VIP won’t gank himself. He thought optimistically. Kisei knelt down, gently placing the cubic box of tightly folded clothes on the ground, his chakra flowing into it, before shifting his weight on his back foot; falling into a natural sprinting stance. Then, with sudden ferocity, Kisei sprung forward. Jumping the corner and twisting towards the door, kunai raised, and leaped into a full sprint on the door. Calculating how he wanted to start this. Brute force, wasn’t that always the answer these days?

Midway on his sprint he leaped into the air, then snapped his left foot forward. Adjusting his vision to center on the door. The hinges easily broke apart against his efforts and he was sent tumbling into the room. But his immediate view was obscured, just as the door broke down his vision was clouded by smoke. Now! He pulsed his chakra and was transported back into the hallway. The sound of clothes ripping and snapping, the pounding of metal, Kisei let a sigh in relief. He really lucked out on the timing there. The ninja shivered at the thought of the kinds of traps they- BOOM!

A deep echo radiated through the entire building. Sending shrapnel shooting out from the room. Freaking paper bombs?! Are they TRYING to kill me?! Kisei quieted himself, listening for anything to hint to his target’s location. A moment later he could hear faint traces of the voice above the rubble still cluttering around. “Trap…. Fake out.. Evacuate quickly…. Before… Returns..” Kisei tensed as four, no five, footsteps shot out from the shattered room. “Quickly!” A throaty voice commanded.

I smiled, cruelly. “Too late for that jerks!” I jeered, leaping up into air above them just as they turned the corner. Right into his space. I spun into action, literally, not wasting a second on introductions. Hook Scythe Whirlwind! I relaxed my muscles and pushed chakra into my body. Twirling midair in a reverse clockwise spin. I laughed to myself as the wind picked up around him and grabbed all five of his targets at once. For a split second he extended his arm out, keeping his spirally momentum, and struck all five targets at once, then pulsed his chakra once again and escaping the conglomerate of bodies that clustered toward him.

Landing a few meters away from the pile of bodies with small step, twirling the kunai in his right hand. A confident smile stretching along his face. He turned towards his opponents, or would it be more appropriate to call them his proctors? The Ushinatta shot them a innocent smile to their bewildered expressions, they were so confident that a single genin, especially one of the poorer villages, would have been able to beat four of them. Five if you counted the one that wasn’t supposed to fight. The feeling of pride swelling up inside him was… utterly delicious. That was a lot easier than expected.

“So did I pass this test?” He teased. The room fell into silence for a moment before he recieve a groan of approval. He replied cockily. “Damn straight I did.”


984+536=1520
1520/1500 MISSION COMPLETE
-Exit-