Mission:

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Raphael was up before the crack of dawn doing his normal daily workout, before beginning his patrol of the Kumogakure border camp. It had been a busy past couple of days, between the work he was doing for the Raikage as well as lending his services to the other nations to provide as much help as he could to the people of this land. From escorting refugees to one of the border camps of the four great shinobi villages to the elimination of those that threaten the peace of this land and even the erasing of the past authority of the land of wind from eliminating the monuments or symbols of the village hidden in the sand or the execution of the criminals that took power since it fell or if you believe the hype those that remained in power after the fall. The young special jounin had done it all, whatever it took to help the people of the land of wind. There were those among the shinobi of the hidden cloud village that questioned the boy as to why he was working so hard when they were not required to do more than was ordered of them by Hastur, the Raikage. Of course when asked this Raphael would simply smile and say that he did not need to be given orders in order to help people, especially his former country men and fellow survivors of the fall of his former village. Some claim the boy to be a bleeding heart and if the young shinobi was being honest with himself he would agree, however the boy does not believe in showing weakness and so would not admit it to anyone else but rather claim that he was raised to value all life and to always provide help to those less fortunate than himself.

The boy's thoughts were interrupted as he passed by the northern gate of the border camp, "there was another attack on the supply shipment, if this keeps up the troops will not receive the supplies the require to hold the forward base and may be forced to retreat or worse. If that position is lost it will set the kage's plan back weeks possibly even month's something needs to be done soon about these bandit attacks." The voice echoed in the young special jounin's mind snapping him from his thoughts and returning him to reality, "what supply line is under attack?" Raphael asked the two men who were talking of the attack, "Kirigakure, since the attack against their forward base camp many of the other nations have been sending supplies to aid them. After the first couple of convoys were attacked we changed the supply lines, yet somehow these bandits keeps finding them." The guards seemed oblivious to how the bandits were finding the convoys traveling along the secure supply lines, to the young special jounin however it was obvious, someone was trading village secrets to the bandits but without evidence to prove it the boy's observation would be dismissed as a simple theory, he needed to investigate this but he would have to do so carefully without drawing the attention of whoever the traitor was.

Without another word the special jounin headed to the deployment tent to seek out the information he required for the next shipment of supplies so that he would know where to start looking. While it was possible that the bandits were stationed all over and the attacks on previous convoys were random and unconnected, due to the fact that every shipment thus far had been raided Raphael could not shake the feeling that they were somehow all connected. Whether he was correct in his assumption or wrong the special jounin was going to find this next convoy and ensure that they reach their destination, as well as find out just who it is behind the attacks.

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652

Birds flew and chirped over the path that led out of Konoha and into Sunagakure no sato. It was midday and the sun was past the horizon as he walked, sweating from the heat. It was quite hot indeed, and the Jonin organizing this mission was well aware of the conditions that this missions shinobi will be facing, so he advised that the group wait till night fall for them to begin maneuvering. Tenjin had earlier been called under his alias, to take a mission from the Konoha relief efforts. The mission was to protect the cargo, and be escort to said high risk cargo or intercept bandit raids on supply lines into Suna. It was also advised that the team setup and build a supply line to Konoha from Sunagakure that is capable of not being attacked during the duration of this event. Tenjin wondered what the team had in mind in regards to setting up a supply line to Konoha, although it wasn't really the priority now as the main goal is to get the current cargo from point A to point B without any interruption. Maybe when Sunagakure is back to its glory days, the Land of Wind might be allying with Konoha? It didn't actually matter though, as long it was to assist the current state of the once great Sunagakure no sato, he would complete the mission. Dirt crunched on the path beneath Tenjin's feet as he walked, slowly getting warmer as they furthered themselves from Konohagakure border camp. Apparently two supply lines had needed to be built, a path through the Land of Wind from Sunagakure to Konoha’s border camp. Sunagakure no sato, being the land of deserts, was an industrious place to create paths which nobody has walked on, making the route untouched, was already done. All Tenjin needed to do was guard the cargo with his team, while he and his crew further map the path. They were supposed to be working on a mined out area in the side of a hill that they had already started, and Tenjin was headed there now.

After an hour or so, the location where the team will meet was visible a couple meters in the distance, a fire set up at the camp. Why would they setup a fire? That would just makes them easier to spot through the dark sky when night comes down! What if we get killed by ninja who ambush us? Tenjin thought to himself, nervous at the idea of failure. He really didn't want to be un-successful as, he would probably be miserably unable to learn if he failed. Or worse, he could die. Dying would not be a very good thing to happen. He hadn't even accomplished much yet, nor did he have any reputation built for himself worth dying for as a shinobi, dying now would be unacceptable, even he would hate himself. As they approached the camp over a small rise, the hill behind it with a large opening in it became clear. When Tenjin got over the rise, he was able to see his team sitting around the fire, chatting. Tenjin squinted, looking for any other possibly hidden dangers surrounding the camp site. All he could see were stacks of wood and piles of stone at the camp site and several tents scattered around. Knowing the coast was clear, he ran over to the camp. Once the workers saw Tenjin, they cheered and greeted him happily. Almost instinctively, Tenjin put his finger over where is mouth would be as he was wearing a mask. Why are they being so loud? The young shinobi thought, I bet with all the noise it will attract enemies and we will get ambushed! What might happen then? I could get caught off guard, we might be helpless, and what if we all die? What if I can't protect them and fail the mission? Tenjin continued his thought, now a nervous wreck. Trying to keep those thoughts off his mind, he instructed for there to be torches placed around a large area around the perimeter and the strongest and most combat able there, take shifts patrolling several areas along with Tenjin before the mission officially begins. This process went on and continued until around 9:00 PM, when Itsuka was getting tired and lay down at his position with one other nearby awake to rest.

Later on in the night, a yell roared out through the night. "Hey! Hey! Shinobis!", yelled out a voice, blurred by the frantic movements of other members of this transport team. Soon he was up on his feet and being told something by one of the workers. "We should begin transport now. There's a problem. Someone's here! Two men were found dead and the man who killed them has not shown himself!" the man explained. Someone is here? And he already killed? Tenjin thought, Oh man I hope the cargo isn't stolen, we’ve got to start moving! Tenjin thought, now calm. He ran over to the campsite, going to check on who was still alive. There were about 9 teammates left, and thankfully, another shinobi that was assigned to lead in the mission was here. It was Raphael once again, Tenjin utilized this opportunity to pull his rival aside, and while pulling up his mask he would begin to speak. “This mission appears to have started before we got the chance to begin moving. I dont know what happened, but I honestly only trust you right now. Let’s begin to move now, and I suggest I stay with the cargo while you stray ahead whenever possible to clear the path of bandits. What do you think?” Tenjin offered this plan, because being in the last mission, he noticed that Raphael was a bit more skilled than he was, so it would be wise to have him protect the cargo from afar while Tenjin stayed close and got whoever got in reaching distance of the valuables.

WC 1,000

"Just what the hell have you been doing?" The boy shouted as he slammed his fists upon the wooden desk in front of him effectively breaking the fragile wood in half as pieces of paper that once scattered the desk filled the air between the young special jounin and the now slightly frightened special jounin that the boy was yelling at.

"I am telling you... There is nothing to investigate... Its just bad luck... There is no connection..." The man stammered out after a moment of collecting himself, it took all the young shinobi had not to begin shouting again. Raphael took a step back when he realized his fist were still clinched from striking the table, relaxing his hands the young special jounin took a deep breath trying his best to collect his thought in a way that did not cause him to have another outburst. "So its bad luck? Just random acts with no connection?" The boy paused as if waiting for an answer, yet left an obvious tone that the questions were rhetorical. "Then explain to me how it is that every transport in or out of the Kirigakure border camp has fallen under attack, explain to me why it is beginning to seem that the bandits are more coordinated than the great shinobi village, are you a complete moron?" Raphael stopped himself realizing that his voice was beginning to raise yet again, taking in a deep breath the young shinobi turned towards the exit of the tent, "you are obviously going to be no help to me. I will find someone else who will," and with that the boy exited the tent heading for the gates of the border camp, he had all the information that he was going to be able to gather from here.

The young shinobi set off with on destination in mind the Kirigakure border camp, as the deployment tent there will hopefully have more answers than Kumogakure. All of the transports were originating from different villages so it was doubtful that the saboteur would be in one of the other villages, the fact of the matter was that the only thing all of the transports had in common was their destination. Since most of the villages are not very willing to share their routes with others it would be the only place he would be able to get the information on all of the transports, he just hoped that the Kiri camp officials would be willing to share the information with him since he is not a member of their village. The boy knew his task would not be an easy one, however all he could do was hope that he made a convincing argument to get the information that he required. Raphael topped the sand dune laying his eyes once again on the large floating barge that was the Kirigakure border camp, it was hard to believe that just days before this barren land in front of the camp was a battlefield with hundreds of enemies charging at the camp. Now of course there was no sign of the struggle that happened here, the wind and sand washing away all the blood and bodies that once stained the grounds.

The hooded special jounin approached the camp slowly, even from the distance he could see the movements on the wall of the camp. It did not surprise him in the least, having just been attacked, it only made since that they would be on high alert. The boy was still a ways away from the border camp when he was set upon by a group of Anbu agents that wasted no time in surrounding the boy and cutting off any chance that he would of had to escape. "Stop right there, state your name and your business." Came a distorted voice from behind one of the masked figures that surrounded the special jounin, Raphael raised his arms into the air to show that he was not there to cause problems for them. "My name is Raphael Kozai, I am a shinobi of the hidden cloud. I have been sent here to help, it seems that all the supply lines to this camp has been compromised." The boy paused trying to judge the reactions of those surrounding him, however it was impossible with their masks hiding their faces so the boy would continue. "All the transports originate from different villages so the only common denominator is that of this base, I was hoping you would be willing to help me save some time by allowing me to look over your documents rather than traveling to all the other border camps and only getting parts of the information." The boy put his arms back to his side and waited for one of the Anbu to reply to him, however there was a long pause rather than an answer. The boy could of sworn that he had heard one of them whisper something yet he could not make out what it was that they said or which one of them said it, perhaps they had spoken into a radio and were waiting for a reply. After a few minutes one of them finally responded to his inquiry, "Alright follow us," came another distorted voice before it quickly added, "be warn you are only allowed to be where we say you are and if you even think about causing trouble it will be the last thing you do."

Once they got to through the gate of the Kirigakure border camp the Anbu lead the boy to a tent just on the inside of the gate, "do not try anything stupid, we will be waiting right here, Toru will help you with what you need." Came the distorted voice of the masked agent, as he opened the opening to the tent and making the man who was inside the tent leave as Raphael and one of the other agents went inside. Once they were alone Raphael began looking over the maps and documents that were spread throughout the tent looking for any information that he could find on what was going on. "Just what exactly are you looking for?" Came the distorted voice of the masked Anbu agent identified as Toru, "Well as I stated before I am looking into the recent transports attacks that have been happening, all the information I have gathered has lead me here. This camp is the only thing that all of the transports have had in common," "are you saying the leak is coming from us." Despite the distortion in the voice of the masked man Raphael could hear the hint of anger in it, this man obviously did not like the thought of the young shinobi accusing his camp of misconduct. "Relax I am not accusing anyone of anything yet, not till I have all the facts. I only meant that since all the transports were destined to arrive here, it seemed like I would be able to gather the most information from here. Now what do you know of the attacks?" Raphael asked as he opened up an unmarked map of the land of wind, placing markers on the locations of the different border camps of the four villages before looking at the Anbu to answer his question. After a distorted sigh the man approached the table and began marking different locations all across the map as well as lines marking some of the routes that the man knew of, "these are where we have found the looted convoys, we don't know what happened afterwords because the blasted wind blowing the sand around covers up the tracks." Raphael glared down at the map looking at it all the attacks seemed to be random, at least at first. "Who here knows the routes of the supply lines?" Raphael asked looking up from the map to see a flash of anger in the eye behind the mask of the man, "the Anbu and Hunter-Nins and then a select few of the jounin's." "Are you sure there is nobody else?" The boy asked before receiving a quick reply from the Anbu agent, "Yes I am."

After a few more hours of going over everything the boy looked up to Toru once again, "alright are you expecting any transports?" "There is one coming from Konoha, but it is not scheduled to arrive tomorrow morning." A frown quickly formed on the boy's face, "what route are they taking?" The agent did not answer right away, no doubt weary of telling an outsider, "listen I am trying to help, but if you don't tell me there will be nothing that I can do." The boy stated as he tried to press for the information, "its a new route only certain shinobi know the route, so it is unlikely that they will be found." the man stated as he pointed at the map, "they have shinobi protectors from both Konoha and us as well as two of our hunter-nins. If the bandits try to attack they will be in for a surprise." The man finished sounding sure of himself, the boy however was not convinced. If this was the work of a spy he had no doubt that they would indeed meet with an attack, and if there was a spy then there would be no surprise. "Alright I need to get a move on it, there is only a few hours left till sunset and I need to get there before its too late." Raphael said as he pulled the hood of his cloak back over his head and headed for the exit of the tent. "Just hang on what do you mean you have to go, I am not comfortable with you just leaving with this information. How do I know your not working with the enemy." The Anbu stated moving in front of the boy and blocking him from leaving, "your joking right? Are you seriously asking me this now?" The boy asked trying to fight the urge to smile, "look I am not an idiot. I know that the only reason I am even in this tent is because your boss said to let me in, now please let me do my job and go help the convoy." The man stood his ground for a moment before finally conceded and allowed the boy to pass.

By the time Raphael made it to the convoy the sun was already beginning to set, once he explained the situation to the head of the convoy he was allowed to join the troupe. He surveyed the shinobi that he would be working with, the masked man that had helped him transport the refugees a few weeks before. Seems the man was providing services himself, Raphael would not say a word to anyone save for the jounin in charge as he was not sure who he could trust, any one of these shinobi could be a spy.

The next few hours seemed to drag by, the young special jounin did not see any suspicious activity from the group. That all changed in a matter of seconds, Raphael had just finished his patrol of the area and had gone to check in with the Jounin when he heard the alarm. Arriving on the scene in a matter of seconds the young special jounin found two men with the throats sliced, they each bore a kirigakure hitai-ate, Raphael could only assume that these were the hunter-nin the Anbu told him of back at the camp. Why attack them? The boy thought to himself as well as who, quickly activating his wind sense at maximum range to try and find who attacked them but he could not pinpoint anyone. When the man in the mask revealed himself to be Tenjin the young shinobi did not know how to feel about the situation, it had been a year since they had seen each other and although they left on good terms a lot could change in a year. Was this the same shinobi that he had befriended a year ago, or has something changed within this man. Raphael just could not be sure if Tenjin was still the trustworthy shinobi he had met at the chuunin exams, but he would raise those questions later for now he had a point they needed to get a move on it. With his wind sense active the boy would be alerted should anything happened so he agreed to Tenjin's plan with a simple nod before moving out, it did not take long for the jounin to get everyone on the move Tenjin and four others near the convoy while Raphael and the others spread further out to provide a perimeter as they moved. The jounin stayed with the front cart, giving orders over the wireless radios making sure everyone stayed in contact should something happen. From Raphael's position with his wind sense he would be alerted of any movement that came within his range, the only downside was with all the movement from the convoy and the shinobi moving around to protect it, it would not be easy to differentiate between enemy movement and allied movement if there is an attack. Of course there is nothing to say there would be a difference between allied or enemy as the boy was still unsure it he truly had allies on this mission or if they were all enemies, but the moments to come would reveal it all.

Raphael sensed an approach of five coming in a position to cut off the front of the convoy blocking it's path, "we got some movement coming from the south, moving to intercept." The young special jounin stated into the radio as he dashed off to intercept the attack, there was more chatter on the radio however the boy did not hear what it said for in his dash to intercept the group of five his ear piece fell out of his ear and the boy did not waste time on trying to find it.

---

3010

Tenjin assisted in the transport of the cargo and the mission itself despite the killings earlier, was actually looking a little generally dull, lost in his thoughts as he surveyed the area in front of him, Tenjin wondered what he was doing here. Seriously, What was he truly doing here in Sunagakure no sato? Surely Ishigakure no sato hadn't sent him to a foreign country just to be a messenger of peace. He had a sneaking suspicion that something major was going down soon, but with no ally in this land except Raphael, whom is from Kumogakure no sato and thus should not be considered all that trustworthy in all honesty, but still Tenjin believes in this shinobi to do the right thing. After all, would anyone trust a shinobi who who would live and die to defend a Raikage who takes in a world class criminal and plans on warring with other states for the sake of conquerings sake? No, I didn't really think so either.

Tenjin then noticed something funny, Raphael mentioned people coming ahead and dashed forward. Dropping his headset, Tenjin decided to utilize his seismic wave sensing. Taking off his glove, he laid a finger on the ground. Tenjin, using his direct contact with the earth, was able to utilize his now signature sensing technique. Tenjin was able to feel the five targets as they stepped on the earth. It generated a seismic wave which radiated away from their point of origin, like waves in a pond. But, because the waves also travel downwards through the earth, underground techniques are also detectable, and Tenjin detected many disturbances in a diamond formation underneath the ground with the cargo at its center.

The battle suddenly began as they army came out of the ground, funny thing was, nobody was coming at him as there was just a large clump of people in the middle just beating each other within an inch of the cargo, oblivious to the shinobi that stood guard. He honestly thought about how to best handle the situation and had absolutely no interruptions, but as soon as he finished his train of thought, somebody just had to come after him. The bandits are reckless, they should not be interfering with shinobi affairs. Obviously this random man went flying away with a kick to the face, although not as far as Tenjin would have liked to send him. Oh well, he hadn’t really trained his strength much, so it didn’t bother him all that much. Of course this process soon had to repeat itself, so he was soon surrounded partially by many angry men. Sadly he couldn’t really keep up with such a large number so...time to take out the big guns. Tenjin utilized the repulsion technique, the entire crowd was blasted away and now lay dazed on the ground. By expelling a great amount of chakra from his body, Tenjin produced a strong repulsive force, great enough to break bones with concussive force and push the targets, to a distance.

Most of the bandits around the cargo turned their sights on the young chunin. As they ran towards him Tenjin substituted away to the back of the crowd with a poof of smoke. Taking advantage of the substitution technique, the age-old skill which enables the user to evade the effects of an attack by switching with an item in the area. Activating this jutsu, Tenjin moved at untraceable speeds for just a moment, as the item simultaneously does so as well to take the user's place. Nothing but a flickering after image was left behind for a second, which, when damaged, released the chakra which held it in place in a small smoke cloud, revealing the nature of the technique and the item Tenjin had switched with. This technique causes Tenjin to move at speeds untraceable to human perception, and using the general confusion of his disappearance, Tenjin was able to focus an abundant amount of chakra into the palm of his hand. The Rasengan is a spinning ball of chakra formed and held in the palm of the user's hand, which is only known to a handful of shinobi, and Tenjin was able to learn this technique by himself utilizing the fine tuning of chakra control that all Sencho school students are trained to some proficiency.

Running up to the nearest unsuspecting bandit, Tenjin embroiled his rasengan into the enemies chest with immense speed and power, which caused the bandit to fall back into others. Tenjin created a small orb of spinning chakra in the palm of his hand large enough to fit directly in his palm. The chakra within this technique was dense enough and spun at a high enough velocity to drill itself into the opponent before detonating, potentially causing extreme internal injuries that could become potentially life-threatening quickly if not treated.

On impact, this jutsu drilled 3" into the opponent before exploding in a shock-wave that delivered severe internal bruising and organ damage in a 1/2 foot radii from the point of impact as well as breaking and fracturing bones within that radii. Like a wave the fight for the cargo intensified and Tenjin was ready to defend this armory with his life. A kick to the face here, a punch to the chest there...It wasn’t surprising that these guys had barely gotten any blows on the young chunin considering the time Tenjin dedicates to training his taijutsu. He knew he wasn’t the fastest ninja out there but he is close to the fastest chunin in Iwagakure no sato. Suddenly his train of thought was stopped by a foot flying towards his face. Around five of them came behind the first, it seems that the whirlwind of people wanted a piece of the young chunin. Suddenly, an omnidirectional Gale Palm later sent Tenjin flying into the cargo, then another substitution was used to keep Tenjin from hitting the weapon supply with too much force. Tenjin then noticed that some of the bandits apparently had weapons at their disposal, and every time they punched a person a small burst of chakra would burst forth, seemingly enhancing their blows.

Tenjin then noticed a couple of the bandits now pulling out scrolls that were previously hidden in the folds of their clothes and bringing out armor, strapping it onto themselves for yet another advantage. In total there was 3 people in front of him. 3 people who would need to be on the floor. So he would have to end this in...3 or more hits? Nope, no way was he writing that out. A quick repulsion later sent them all sprawling onto the floor like turtles, except for one who apparently was a bit smarter than the rest as he had lighter armor on and was able to stand up again rushing him. Well, that simply wouldn't do. A kick was sent towards the bandits head, followed up by many others to his stomach knocking the man over again. Well, it seems he wouldn't be getting up again as he stayed on the ground. Tenjin then looked at the cargo and decided to take it to the destination. The mission appeared too dangerous to wait for Raphael to finish up with his crowd of criminals, so Tenjin gathered up the team and began moving forward with the cargo. The team travelled at great speed in order to prevent the bandits in the back from collecting themselves and going for a second attack. Tenjin was able to arrive near the other camp and once getting within range, Tenjin body flickered toward the camp and found the camp captain to tell him the details regarding the events of the mission. “It appears as if there was a spy who set up an ambush.” Tenjin finished his report with these words, and the captain followed by saying, “Interesting, the bounty commissioner would like to hear about this.” Tenjin then left the camp and waited to see if Raphael showed up, seeing as the mission was close to failing, Tenjin simply went ahead in order to successfully complete the mission. Some shinobi would frown upon a ninja who would leave his comrades behind for the sake of the success of the mission, but Tenjin is a true shinobi and his mission always take priority over personal ties as it is all for the greater good of the village. Tenjin didnt notice Raphael come back, and considering how busy these time have been, Tenjin didnt have the time to wait any longer. Tenjin dispersed from the camp and began to head toward the mission border camp in order to get another mission. Tenjin wasnt trying to rest with so much left to do, and in order to complete these missions in an efficient manner, Tenjin needs to work day and night on something new. Tenjin darted out into the night and was able to get to his mission camp in time to have an order to accomplish operation 333.

[EXIT]

WC 1,500
TWC +2,500

Raphael headed straight for the head of the convoy, he would have to trust Tenjin and the others to protect the cargo while he took care of those that were trying to interfere. As he ran his mind could not help but think back to all the information he had gathered earlier that day, this could only prove to be the work of a spy. He had scouted the entire trail from the kirigakure border camp to reach the convoy earlier that day, there were no signs of any bandits along the path and he had made sure that there were no nearby camps. His thoughts went back to the information he got from the Kiri camp about the previous supplies convoys being attacked, the only village that could be connected to all the shipment was Kiri but the question was who and why. Raphael doubted very seriously that the Mizukage would have a traitor as a subordinate as she struck him as the type that could see through others deception, so it would mean someone hiding within plain sight or someone impersonating someone of Kiri. If that was the case then the spy could be any of a hundred or more refugees that Kiri had given shelter, although if Kiri was as anal retentive as kumo they would have dossiers on every refugee. If they had dossiers then it would at least aid him in his search, at least if the information they held is accurate and thorough. Raphael pushed his thoughts to the side as he made it to the front of the convoy, the jounin in charge had been riding in the front wagon and had been keeping watch for the presence that Raphael had announced before his radio silenced. The jounin got down and proceeded to begin yelling at the young special jounin, however the boy was not really listening to the man as his focus was still on that of the five figures that were slowly closing in on them. "Silence you fool, can't you see there are enemies around us." Raphael stated in a cold authoritative tone, the boy did not care that the man out ranked him at this point even the man could be the leak in the information. As far as the boy was concerned at this moment the only one he could trust was himself, after all the jounin was the only one on the team that knew the path that the convoy would be taking he could just as easily be in on it. The young shinobi's accusation however would have to wait as the boy picked up an attack in his wind sense, large object was travelling straight towards the jounin who had been so lost in yelling at the boy that he seemed unaware of the men standing behind him. In one swift motion the boy side stepped the jounin with a spin to the left, in that same motion the boy would grab the man by the shoulder and pull while he pushed with his foot against the man's lower leg. This movement would be sudden and was sure to catch the jounin off guard, however it would not harm him, what it would do is move the jounin out of the path of the incoming windmill shuriken.

The the jounin now face down in the sand the boy moved between the man anf the attackers, the attack did not change anything in the boys analysis of the situation. The attack could be a ploy to hide the man's involvement in the attack, but with the boys wind sense he would still be able to keep an eye on the man should he prove that he is involved and tried to attack the young special jounin from behind. Either way the boy was more concerned with the other five then he was with single man with his face in the ground. Raphael took up a defensive stance with his left leg in front of him and most of his weight on his right leg, his hands opened but ready to strike at a moments notice. "Well look what we got here boys, a Taijutsu fighter. Why don't you just save yourself kid and get outta here? Your out numbered and there is no way your going to win." The first of the five stated out loud over the distance to the boy, a smirk crossed the young special jounin's face. "That's funny I was going to say the same thing to you," the boy replied as he began moving to his left crossing his legs as he slowly moved around the group keeping his upper body facing the five bandits. Small chuckles began to spread across the group of men, "your joking right?" Came the first man's question before looking around him, "there are five of us and only one of you, and if you are thinking any other of those guards are going to help you you got another thing coming. The other should be taking care of them any time now, so like I said just beat it. It will be like you were never here." The man continued with a smile on his face, the man was so sure of himself and his men but Raphael had to believe that Tenjin and the others could handle themselves. His focus needed to be on these men not the others, he had no idea what these men were capable of and if his guard went down for even a second he knew that it could spell the end of his life and that was something Raphael would not or perhaps even could not accept. Raphael showed no emotion on his face even to the man's remark, he would show no sign of doubt in himself or in his own abilities. Whether he could beat them or not was yet to be seen, however the young shinobi had full confidence in his ability to take out the group of low life bandits.

"I am not scared of you, and I feel certain that the rest of the men can deal with your comrades." The young shinobi stated as he moved his hand in a taunting motion to draw the men into an attack. The men all looked at each other, as if they were shocked that the boy was so brave or they believed him to be stupid, either way it did not matter as the one who had been talking motioned with his head and one of the men began to charge at the boy. Raphael smiled as his plan had worked, at least some what. He had hoped to draw more of them in to take them out faster, but it seemed the group underestimated the young shinobi in believing that one of them could take him out. It was a mistake the group would come to regret, however none more so than the poor unfortunate soul that was sent into the grind stone. As the man charged forward the young shinobi waited for the right moment, in less than a blink of an eye the boy struck, using the man's momentum against him Raphael side stepped the attack grabbing hold of the man's arm and added more momentum to the forward motion sending the man past him. Still moving with his free hand charging his chakra into a small ball of swirling chakra, with his other hand still on the man's arm continuing the man's movement forward Raphael drove his rasengan straight into the man's back. This powerful ball of chakra drilled into the man's back before exploding causing not only immeasurable damage to the man both internally and externally but also caused him to propel away from the boy due to the force of the explosion. Raphael could hear the gasps of the other four men standing behind him before he even turned around, no doubt surprised by not only the boys fast movement but the power of the attack. The fact was though if one of them had blinked then they would of missed it, it was over before it started and the other four no longer looked as confident as they had a moment before. Looking back to the four remaining men the young shinobi smiled, "is that the best you got?" This comment seemed to anger the man as he shoved to more of the men forward and motioned for the other to join them as well, now this is more like it the boy thought to himself as the three took up positions in an arc in front of him. He still stood confident in his own abilities, and to him the only difference in fighting the three men now compared to the one man before was that it might take longer. He knew he would have to stay aware of all of them at the same time to ensure that the other two don't get the drop on him while he is dealing with one of them. The trio seemed unsure of themselves as far as what they were going to against the boy, it seemed to the boy that not a single one of them wanted to be the first one to make a move.

A sudden movement from the convoy shocked not only the boy but also the three men in front of him, all of them looking towards the one that had been callling the shots to see he was just as stunned by this turn of events. "They are trying to take off with our prize, after them." the man shouted at the three men, however Raphael moved to block not only their path but the path of the one in charge as well. "It seems that you won't be obtaining your prize," the boy stated as he looked to see that the jounin was missing. The boy could only hope that the jounin and the others were not traitors and could complete their tasks, but that was thought for another time because he had to take care of these four then he could track the convoy down and ensure that it reached its destination later. "The four of you will not get past me, and you are not leaving here alive so I suggest that you just come to peace with that." The boy stated in the same cold disconnected tone he had been speaking to the group in, "we will see about that." One of the men shouted as he moved to attack the boy with a sword, the young shinobi simply smiled as he watched the man make a fool of himself in his attack. In the boy's eyes he had already won this fight, now it was just the matter of him helping them to realize this end result as he did. The first man he had finished in less than a second, but maybe that was took fast of a lesson for the men to realize what they were up against. This time he would demonstrate more control, perhaps take his time with them. His first move was to remove the weapon from the man's hand, moving in close to the man the boy delivered small chakra enhanced strikes to the man's arm ending with a powerful kick just be low the man's wrist that sent the blade from his hand. The weapon was still in the air as the boy charged just a bit more chakra into his left fist before striking the man square in the chest, the man was sent flying before the blade even made it to the ground. The boy pondered if he was perhaps still moving to fast for the men to learn the lesson that he was trying to teach them, however the look of shock on their face answered his question. Raphael decided to truly teach them a lesson it would take him longer time than he really cared to spend, it was obvious that they were either complete idiots or they were just slow on the up take. He was already bored with these men, they were not the fight he was looking for he would much rather be tracking down this traitor.

It was time to end this, creating a ball of glowing chakra in the palm of his hand before tossing it up into the air. While the men were distracted the boy quickly formed a series of hand seals molding chakra before moving at so fast a speed that he left after images of himself as he moved. When the flash went off he was already moving, hidden among his after images in a way that they could not kept up with even if they were not blinded by the flash of light. Raphael dealt with the fist of the three simply by using his speed and strength to drive his Kaminari Steel Kunai straight through his eye socket penetrating the brain. The second man was dispatched just as easily the boy wanted to give the third a show as to what was to come if he was not blinded, still moving withing his after images the boy channeled chakra into his feet before dropping down and performing a leg sweep. His kick let loose a powerful arc of wind chakra that charged at the man creating a large tornado around him, the tornado would cause some damage to him but that was not why Raphael had done it. The boy created the tornado because it sent the second man into the air and Raphael quickly flowed with a burst of chakra from beneath his feet. Raphael quickly rose up into the air catching up to the man that was sent flying into it by his tornado, before he delivered a powerful kick on the man's stomach sending him rocketing towards the ground. The man would die on impact with the ground do to the explosion of wind chakra he had surround the man in when he delivered the kick. Raphael landed on one foot as gracefully as a feather, he was one with the air he controlled it with his very will a fall was not something that the boy had to worry about. Releasing a pulse of chakra the boy rocketed himself toward the third and final man, he had been the shot caller before, there was a reason he had saved the man for last, there was a reason he was still alive.

With the gap between the two closed the boy grabbed the man by the shirt with his right hand while channeling his wind chakra into his left hand creating swirling blades of wind around his fist, "who sent you?" The boy yelled with the intent to intimidate the man as he knocked him down on his knees, "what do you mean we just happened upon this lovely trail of supplies figured we could use it more than some stupid shinobi." the man laughed as he spit in the boys face. "This is too coordinated to just be you happening upon it, and your not smart enough to organize all of them to attack like that. So your stupid if you think I would believe that your the real shot caller," the boy said with a fire in his eye as he looked down at the man. "And your stupid if you think I am more scared of you then I am of them," came the man's reply. The man's statement brought a smile to the boy's face, "so you admit you do have a boss?" The boy questioned now intrigued as to just who it was that this man was afraid, he said them which would imply that there was more than one but just how many more was something that the boy needed to know. The man seemed to realize his mistake in mentioning he was scared of someone as he quickly proceed to close his mouth and shake his head. "Oh you will talk I'm afraid, otherwise I am going to be doing some slicing and show you exactly why you should be more afraid of me then you are of them." The boy said as the most sadistic smile formed on the boys face as he continued to glare into the man's eyes. The man seemed unphased by the boy's remark, as he continued to not talk and so the boy began the slow process of making the man talk. His wind blades around his fist was sharp enough to slice through the man's flesh, but only big enough to go half an inch deep so the boy started at the arm closest to his left arm. Starting at the top of the man's right arm the boy moved his fist down the length of his arm causing twolacerations that were a half inch deep all the way down the man's arm. The cuts were not deep, but they did not need to be they were meant to cause pain and suffering for his victim, a quick death would serve no purpose for the boy. The man cried out in pain as the boy sliced his arm but when the boy looked into the man's eye the man shook his head, as if to say he was not going to talk. So the boy continued slowly dragging his fist across different spots on the man's body, the shallow wounds were doing their job, this was a slow and painful torture after each slash the boy would look to the man's eyes to see if he was ready to talk. It was something that the boy himself had suffered through when he was still young by his trainer back at the Kozai Estate, the boy wondered if the man was going to last longer than he had before he broke the first time he went through this torture. Of course by the time he had left the estate the thought of him giving in to torture was nothing to concern himself with, he had suffered through so much torture he did not even think the hunter nin could torture him into talking if they tried. After an hour the man was covered nearly head to toe in small lacerations, the boy began to wonder just how much more the man could take. He started to make another incision by finally the man begged for the boy to stop, "please please stop, I'll talk ok. I'll talk just please no more." A smile formed on the boy's face, he was actually surprised that the man had lasted as long as he had but finally he would be able to get to the bottom of this. "Alright then, who is giving the orders?" The boy asked as he released the man letting his mangled body fall to the sand.

"This goes so much further than you realize, even my boss has a boss. They are all working together,"

"working together for what?"

The man seemed to laugh at the boys question, "you know for such a fast fighter, your really slow. Don't you get it, enemies that claimed they would kill each other are all working together. Did you ever stop and ask why? It's because of you, all of you shinobi coming in and trying to force your laws and whatever else down our throats. They are tired of it and they are going to put a stop to it." The man stopped talking and began crying as he coughed a spot of blood coming from his mouth, "you still did not answer the question as to who they are," the boy pressed determined to get the answers that he sought.

"I don't know who is calling the shots, they meet in private and no one at my level is even allowed in the same room as them. They kill anyone who turns on them, but hey I'm dead either way right." The man said as he tried to force a smile but the cuts Raphael had made around the man's mouth made it too painful for the man to smile. Raphael quickly processed the information that the man was giving him, if these people were rising up against all the villages then this was just the tip of the iceberg. He had to know more but he doubted this man had the information that he needed, still he had nothing to lose by asking the man. "Whose the spy?" The boy asked with all seriousness in his voice, the man hesitated briefly before asking "what spy?" The boy's eyes flashed briefly as he walked back towards the man and picked him up off the ground by his shirt, "this is not the only shipment that has been attacked, and this is not the first ambush I had to deal with. Now who is the spy? Or do I need to do some more carving?" The boy asked as he stared emotionless into the man's eye, the man could see the seriousness on the boy's face as if it was emitting an aurora around him.

"Alright look I don't know the name, but I over heard a conversation one night when a messenger arrived. They said something about word from their friend in the Kiri camp" the man stammered out, causing the boy to drop the man again. If the man's words were to be believed then his assumptions about a spy within the Kiri camp was confirmed, but he was basing this off the word of a low life. He was going to need more proof before he made his move, but the fact of the matter was that this man would not help him find the spy however he could help him find the puppet master behind all of this. "Where is it that these leaders meet? I would like to pay them a visit"

"Your joking right?" The man asked, "that would be a suicide mission, they are too heavily guarded." The boy let out a laugh that sent a chill down the man's spine, "well if that's true then you would be sending me to my death and therefore avenged the death of your comrades and yourself." The man seemed to ponder the boy's proposal for a few seconds before he spoke, "they met somewhere different each week to discuss different things, but they all have their own fortress and other hideouts. I can tell you where my boss is camped out and maybe they can lead you to the others." The man stated as he pointed south, "about fifteen miles south is a small encampment, my boss and about fives are all set up with their boss, I only know what my boss says about the lady but from his words she is an is real self centered the only reason we are working for her is because everyone is scared of her." The man finished talking, him and the boy both knew that he had no more information for the boy and so it was time for the relief from the pain that the boy had promised the man. Raphael walked back up to the man towering over him as he laid on the ground covered in the small lacerations that he had caused all over his body causing the man so much pain. The man probably thought that the boy could somehow heal the man of his wounds or numb him as if he was some kind of medic, but the fact was that he was not and even if he was he would not help this scum. No he had made a promise that none of them were walking away from this, and now that he had the information that he needed he intended to keep that promise. In one quick flick of the boy's leg, the young shinobi drove the man's face into the sand with a powerful chakra enhanced kick that would of had no problem shattering the man's skull. Now that he was done he needed to ensure the cargo reached their destination this time.

The young special jounin was able to make quick time back to the Kiri camp, happy to see that the cargo had made it and that they were already in the process of unloading the much needed supplies. Seeing the jounin from the convoy the young boy approached the man, "glad to see that you guys made it safely, I hope there is no hard feelings about me knocking you down before." The boy stated as he extended his hand out towards the man, the jounin smiled taking the boy's hand and shaking it. "Are you kidding, you saved my life and thanks to you me and the others were able to get away with the supplies, so thank you very much. I was beginning to fear that the bandits had bested you and was blaming myself for leaving you behind." The jounin spoke fast releasing the boy's hand when he had finished before moving a few steps closer to the boy, "were you able to find out anything about how they found us?" The jounin asked looking to the boy for answers, but the boy was still wary of everyone. If the Kiri camp truly did house a spy then no one could know he was on to the moles trail until he found out who this mole was. "Unfortunately no, but the answers are out there. I am going to find out who it is, I'm going to the Konoha border camp to find out who knew about the shipment on that end and maybe with any luck find out who is leaking information." The boy stated, his statement was of course not true he planned to stick around the Kiri encampment but if his suspension of this man some how being connected it might lower him into a false sense of security thinking that the heat is off of him. Or if he had partners get him to alert them of his movements or something. "Well good luck to you," the man stated with a wave before turning around and leaving the boy on the outskirts of the encampment alone. Raphael had looked for Tenjin but it seemed as though the other male had already moved on, but for the boy it was time for him to get to work. And with a quick movement he body flickered into the distance, of course the body flicker was just for show should anyone had been watching him. The boy travelled down the path to a nearby cave, from here he would be able to watch the activity of the camps coming and going and so long as he kept his chakra suppressed he should have no trouble from the Anbu. If the spy sent out a message he would see it, and intercept it. The boy was going to get to the bottom of this if it was the last thing he did, though his focus was on the spy for now his mind still raced with all the information he had gathered from that bandit about the leaders and the bases and working together. That was going to be a long road ahead of him but with any luck the spy could lead him even closer to his goal.

{Exit Thread}

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7635
B-Rank Mission: -2500
Perception Trained from B-0 to B-3: -2400
Endurance Trained from B-0 to B-3: -2400
335 words discarded

Mission Payout: +500 Ryo & 3 EP
Passive EP Gained: 4 EP (thread hit 10k)
Total Training Cost -1200 Ryo