Mission:

Heat. Sweat. Discomfort.
..Urgh..
Raishi was on his bed, as usual, trying to find the most comfortable position to sleep in the incinerating weather that the sunny day had to offer him. It was early in the afternoon so the sun was wide awake, high in the sky shining down its unpleasant rays of masked pain. It was a lovely day for a tan, and as usual, Raishi could hear the buzz of the village even from his secluded home, as they basked in the glory of the sunlight. Laughter and jubilation seemed to always resonate throughout the village on sunny days such as this which was a curious occurrence I his opinion. He thought the sun was great, yes, but with it came a burden, a suffering that only a few other people experienced. Unending sweat.

This burden was utterly irritating to Raishi because the sweating snatched away his ability to be comfortable whatever he did; the feeling of little droplets of bodily fluid slowly running down his face, his clothes exponentially getting drenched – he absolutely hated it. But it couldn’t be helped. This, if not anything else, was the actual curse of the Kanetsu clan. This was due to the fact that all Kanetsu clan members naturally have an abnormally high body temperature, which is somewhat beneficial when in harsh, cold conditions. But being as Iwagakure was always hot, this innate trait tended to be an annoyance more than a blessing. At least to Raishi it was.

As he lay there, pajamas soaked and the bed getting wet, Raishi adjusted his sleeping position for the last time before eventually getting up to sit in his bed. He looked up, facing the window that was right across him, the sun rauys from the windows on his right making the droplets of sweat glisten in the mirror, almost as if he had diamond skin. He stared at himself for about ten minutes, having a mental battle between his body and his mind. His mind wanted to work, to keep true with the promise he made to himself weeks ago, to step up his game, but all his body wanted to do was sleep all day, all week, all month. ”I have to get up and work,”he told himself, using what seemed like every morsel of strength in his system to get up from bed. Now he was up, everything he did was automatic; change of clothes to his standard shinobi attire, village headband and then stepped out of his house to mission HQ. ”Getting a mission would be a sensible way to try and jump start my previous training…” he said to himself, trying to convince his body to go on.

Stepping out of his home, without forgetting to lock the door this time, Raishi could feel the full intensity of the sunrays as he walked on the rowdy streets of Iwagakure. And of course, as usual, this caused hi to sweat even more than before. Much to his pleasure, there were frequent strokes of coolness from the wind that blew, so he was not sweating as badly as he would have sitting down on his bed, infinitely melting away. ”It’s a good thing I wore my sleeveless undershirt today,” he said to himself smiling as he neared the mission center. He was starting to comprehend the contagious feeling of joy that resonated throughout the ninja village.

”Good morning!” he said to the receptionist, greeting her enthusiastically before then going ahead to ask if there were any missions available for him.”Oh yes, in fact there is, and you may be familiar with this…” she said to the young shinobi cryptically, which made Raishi a bit curious about what this mission was. Upon saying that to him, she retreated into one of the cupboards of her massive office desk, shuffling through scrolls to look for the right one. A few moments later, she found the right one and handed it to him with a smile.”Enjoy!} she said. With a nod and a slight smile, Raishi quickly headed out of the busy building, but not until he noticed the big announcement board. The one thing that caught his sight was a card showing the different insignia of the village ANBU.The Oracles… he thought to himself as he slid out of the building. He just discovered a new objective for himself.But first this mission.

Now back on the streets, Raishi read through the scroll thoughtfully and couldn’t help but smile softly to himself. He now understood what the receptionist meant by what she said. This mission was more or less tied to the mission he had taken last week, in the sense that they both had to do with gang activity. The only thing was that this concerned not just one gang, but a multitude of them in Iwagakure. Basically, he was to find the council that seemingly ran all the gangs of the village, and eliminate them. By doing this, nobody would be hurt again because of gang activity, no more gang rapes and violence within the village. Wives and children would no longer need to hurry along the road if they see a group of strangers, living in fear in their own home. Yes, eliminating them would be a big help to the village, but Raishi didn’t know what he was up against. Surely, if this ‘council’ controls every single gang then they must be strong he thought to himself, the sliding fading ever so slightly from his face. This would be a tough mission, so he needed to go prepared. Most of all, he needed help.

Raishi picked up his walking pace as he took a turn towards the Wilderness around the outskirts of the village. Of course, the mission stated that he could find the council somewhere on Itami mountain, but he needed to get Iwayama if he could have a chance at all at getting out of this alive. Upon arriving at the all too familiar grassland with massive boulders littered on the ground, Raishi whistled the iconic tune, that would then summon Iwayama from wherever he was. ”Why did you have to disturb me now? I was just enjoying my sleep” came a deep gruff voice from behind him. Raishi just chuckled to himself before briefing Iwayama on what they had to do. Now aware of the mission, the pair jogged off towards the Itami mountain.

Now arriving at the mountain, the pair decided to start their ascent upwards, following the ancient pathway that slithered thought the entire monolith. ”We need to have an idea of what we’re up against first Iwayama. I’m guessing it’s somewhere close to the top,” he told his rhino, realizing that he may well be unprepared for the following encounter. Raishi looked up as he walked alongside his companion, the scorching sun firing down on him. This was going to be his hardest encounter yet.



1153

The sun continued to beat down its fiery rays on Raishimaru as he walked up the mountain, seat gushing from his body. Iwayama, who walked alongside him, didn’t seem to mind the fuming torture, and instead walked up the mountain following the pathway with a skip to his step. Raishi on the other hand, found nothing pleasant about the temperature. If not anything, it made his assignment more of a hassle, because he would not be able to focus in such stifling heat. He looked up to the sky, wiping off a bucket of sweat from his temples. The sun shone down, uncaring of Raishi’s predicament. Curse this naturally hot body.. he said to himself, before giggling upon the realization of the dual meaning that his statement could dignify. He stopped for a moment, and looked up ahead on the pathway that he had to traverse. It was a long and winding one, spiraling all the way to the peak of Itami mountain, the jagged rocks decorating the somewhat treacherous path. Raisihi was definitely not in the mood for this. Not in this heat. ”Iwayama,” he said to his companion, stopping in his tracks as he wiped off some more sweat off his face, ”Perhaps we should take a break. I need to cool myself down” Iwayama merely grunted, then sat down upon Raishi’s request. The rhino looked cool and calm, and seemed to actually be enjoying the trek up the mountain. Raishi looked for a rock that was as regularly shaped as possible, and then sat down to open his flack jacket in order to let some air in. It was only a few moments afterwards, that Iwayama then stood up abruptly. ”We have to go now Raishi. Suck it up,” he said harshly, pushing Raishi off the rock he was sitting on with his horn before he then continued, ”You want to be great, yet you don’t want to push yourself? If you don’t, nobody will and you will remain stagnant in life, a slave to oblivion”. Iwayama’s tone shocked Raishi because he had never heard his companion speak so strongly and sternly to him concerning anything. It proved just how serious Raishi’s lackadaisical state was. And he needed to change. Raishi stood up, now trying his best to ignore the heat and suck up the discomfort. Iwayama was right. He could not spend the rest of his days dreaming big about becoming strong, yet when the time to prove his worth came, he would still linger into weakness. If he kept on going on that rate, then his goals would transcend into the realm of fantasy and unreality. If I want to be great, I have to act great.. he thought to himself, stretching out his arms ias if to embrace the warmth and the heat and the discomfort that he was faced with.

At that very moment, a deep, chilling sound resonated throughout the mountain. Birds could be seen up above in the sky, flying away from the peak of the mountain in panic, fleeing from what sounded like an unearthly monster. The mountainous voice boomed everywhere, seeming to devour the mountain itself in its totality. The earth itself shook at the pure might alone of this continuous sound, which seemed to fill the entire Earth. The sound continued for a few more tense moments, before a deep unsettling voice followed..”Come if you dare!” the voice boomed and the mountain seemed to shake from its root as the rancorous voiced echoed from wall to wall. Again, the sinister sound followed right after the raspy voice and Raishi then came to understand that this was in fact, laughter. This person he was after, was laughing at him mockingly, daring him to attack. Of course, feared crept deeply into Raishi, wrapping it’s long slimy fingers around his very soul. The laughter had stopped now but still, Raishi remained frozen on the spot, his feet rooted to the ground. He was this monster he was going after? It seemed to Raishi, that he was going against something that was beyond human. A superhuman of some kind, and this frightened him more than anything in the world. For the first time in his life, Raishi stood in the face of death. It didn’t help that he was way behind prepared for this kind of encounter since he hadn’t trained in months, and even Iwayama was unsettled by the voice. The massive rhino held a strange look on his face, a look Raishi had never seen before. It was a look of fear. Of course the fear wasn’t as much as Raishi’s but all the same he had never seen Iwayama look frightened at all in their long years together. It meant that he was truly up against something sinister. ”We have to keep going,” he said to Raishi after an eternity of silence, ”At least, now we know for sure where he is and we can formulate a plan”. Raishi merely nodded and kept walking up the mountain alongside his companion without talking, still dazed by the sheer power in the voice of his opponent.

Moments afterwards, the pair reached a cave guarded by two bodyguards. Upon arriving there, the voice called from deep in the cave, dark and sinister ”Take on my bodyguards first. If you can’t handle them, then you are not worthy of my time. Mere seconds after uttering this, his two bodyguards launched their attack, both of them charging straight for Raishi, their katanas ready mid-swing. They’re fast.. Raishi thought to himself, instinctively drawing out two kunai ready for their attack. But Iwayama was faster than they were, charging into the air and throwing them off their original trajectory. ”Go!” Iwayama said, his attention on the two bodyguards, ”I will deal with these two”. Kunai still in hand, Raishi rushed into the cave, fear still tightly holding on to his heart. What was he doing? He was totally unprepared for this battle. The inner workings of the cave seemed to rumble more and more as Raishi ventured into the belly of the beast. Eventually, he came to an open space with a hole at the ceiling which allowed a few fleeting rays of light into it. The light gave an ominous look to the chamber, creating a frightening ambiance as well as increasing Raishi’s fear ten fold. There in the middle of the chamber sat a grotesque figure with a rancorous smile on it’s face. ”So..you have come.” said the being, unmoving from it’s calm and collected sitting position. Raishi looked at him more carefully and noticed his massive bear paws for hands. In them were two massive hammers, hammers that could undoubtedly crush a man by the looks of them.I have to avoid those he thought to himself carefully, mentally preparing himself for the hardest battle he had ever fought. ”Before we begin, let me introduce myself,” the fact that the man spoke so casually and coolly, made Raishi fear even more. Who was this person? As a matter of fact, what was he? As the man stood up just before he replied, Raishi squeezed his kunai tighter than he ever had in his life, his mind sharp on alert. ”My name is Chu Bu, the strongest man in Iwagakure. Fear me!

With that, the man charged at Raishi, much faster than he could keep track of . Shit, he is fast… Raishi thought to himself, instinctively throwing the two kunai that were initially in his hands at the monster of a man and attempted to jump out of the way. The man simply used the hammer in his left hand to thwart both kunai that were launched at him, and then used the hammer in his other hand to swing at Raishi as he attempted to jump out of the way. Indescribable pain shot up Raishi’s right arm and then his entire body as the hammer made impact, throwing him back into the jagged cave wall. ”This is truly pitiful!! I was expecting more,” Chu Bu said, looking at Raishi with disgust but without charging. ”It is a true pity that you wasted my precious time,” and with that he started his charge towards Raishi once more. Raishi painfully weaved some handsigns, dispelling a fireball towards the monster that was charging towards him. Unfortunately, Chu Bu dodged the fire ball, by jumping high into the air, swinging his hammers down, hoping to crash into Raishi. ”Now die!!” he shouted, death grinning right at Raishi, ready to take him away. Raishi quickly jumped up, using the supernatural walking technique to stand on the wall. He watched as Chu Bu smashed into his previous position, obliterating the rock there into dust. ”There is no point prolonging the inevitable, accept defeat now! He then launched himself at the wall, hoping to do the same thing again. But then, Iwayama arrived right on time, using his Shell Shock sling technique to smash Chu Bu into the side of the wall. Just before impact, Raishi jumped off the side of the wall, throwing 4 of his blazing shuriken straight at the back of Chu Bu’s head. He landed on his feet, stumbling a bit from the pain that his body was under.  As Iwayama landed, Raishi could see Chu Bu’s dead body, plastered on the side of the mountains wall, the back of his skull exploded slightly open due to Raishi’s jutsu, and his arms and legs at odd angles due to Iwayama’s crash.”You look like crap” Iwa joked looking at Raishi’s current state. He really needed to get to a hospital.

1632

1153 + 1632

2785/2500

Mission Complete