The rumbling of the clouds could still be heard as warning sign to all those who resided in the village hidden in the clouds. It was to let them know that the rain was still around and that it was merely resting so whatever they did, whenever they did it, they should consider the unfriendly weather. To all those who went out, an umbrella should be with them and even still that they should return to their homes on time as the rain could even cause floods sometimes and lastly it served as a mocking tone to stupid shop owners that they could go ahead and display all their wares because when the rain would pour down, it would sweep away their wares with all of its force because of their ignorance. It rained all night and the lightning and thunder accompanied it. It was a cold night indeed but that did not bother Dray as he was used to some extent of cold due to his suiton nature. Dray woke up earlier than usual as he looked at the wall clock in his room and it was five thirty am in the morning when he heard the clouds rumble. One could say that the rest of the day could be decided with this weather but such people could be disappointed by the unpredictable weather and climate condition of kumogaakure no sato. Whatever happened, Dray still had to get something from the malls quick and then he could return home to maybe have a nice sleep. He had not being summoned by the raikage for a while and he was beginning to feel useless. He had not been given a go ahead on his assignment but he hoped that the raikage had not forgotten about it or doubted that he could do the job perfectly. He was ready for it because the first time he had appeared before the raikage, he came of his own free will and he wanted the raikage to command him and if the raikage did command him, he would do just what he was commanded to do.

Dray raised the bed sheets off himself. The sheets were fluffly and they did help during cold nights. The bed was also as if it was made of hay allowing anyone to sleep as comfortable as ever on it for as long as they wanted to without them having any body pains. The giant sleeping was awesome indeed and they were doing a great job in serving kumogakure no sato as a whole but some people did complain about their food but anyone, Dray was not much of an eater. Dray got out of bed and regardless of the cold that was going around the village, he still opened the windows wide enough for the wind to breeze in. The room was spacious enough for what Dray had gotten used to doing each morning. Even though the puppetry skill required the puppets to do most of the work, Dray still needed to keep himself physically fit so he could have a better control on his puppets. Their speed, reaction, and strength mainly depended on his own so frankly speaking, he really needed to keep on being fit. Dray dropped down flat on the ground beside his bed and began doing push ups. He was doing early morning exercises that were not too stressful and in return, they helped build his body gradually. He did over fifty push ups and moved on to sit up. Shinbois often received blows to the stomach and upper torso in a closed ranged battle so having some muscles there would sure be helpful. These were perfect exercises for one morning and looking at the clock, he had almost used an hour on the exercises. The end does justify the means so he would try his best not to stop doing these morning exercises even after he had achieved his aim.

Dray pulled off the shorts he wore to bed the previous night and tied a towel around his waist as he walked to the bath room. Another luxury that the giant sleeping inn provided for customers who could afford it was a bath tub and a shower, two self bathing mediums in the bath room but Dray had always told himself that the shower rinsed the body of dirt and sweat after a rigorous activity but the bath rub allowed one to wash him or herself with comfort and such comfort was required when taking a morning bath and the shower was needed at night but all these were in his own opinion so some other person could reject such thoughts. He ran the warm water in the bath rub and waited for it to be filled. Once the tub was filled, he settled in the water and exhaled a bit as he picked up a nice smelling soap and a soft sponge. He began from head to toe as he washed gently until he was satisfied. He had the soapy water drained away as he filled the bath tub once more and rinsed himself with clean water. The green haired shinobi got out of the bath tub and dried himself with a large towel after which he wrapped it around his waist and walked out of the bath room. He put on his under wears and wore a black shinobi pant after which he wore his green and black cloak like cloth. He wore the head band of kumogakure no sato proudly on his forehead and picked up his three medium sized scrolls and hung them on his back. He did not plan on assaulting anyone or using violence on them. Violence is an aggression that can be avoided besides justice should never be mistaken for violence. Justice prevails and most of the time if not all it creates piece but the only thing that can defeat violence is itself and it leaves bitterness in the hearts of the survivors and darkness in the hearts of the destroyers. He was a shinobi meant to do what he needed to do and what was required of him.
WC:1024

Dray walked out of his room and through the hall way and down the stairs to the dining of the giant sleeping inn. It was time for breakfast and a shinobi needed to eat something no matter how small it was. The tongue needed to savor the taste of good food and the body needed to take delight in it. Dray looked at the menu and ordered for a bowl of hot ramen and pork. It was nice for breakfast given its light nature and the ease in which it went through the mouth. He was soon served as he began eating his breakfast. The wasn’t a slow eater and he was not voracious either so it was correct to just say that he was calm when it came to eating like he was in most of the things that he did. Dray was done with the food after some minutes and he topped it with a clean glass of pure water. The water itself had its own nutrients and also it played a special role in the body system. He sat at the table for a few minutes while his table was being cleared, he wanted his food to digest and since he stayed in the inn, his bill was also compiled and given to him at the end of each week so he could pay up. He liked that idea so he didn’t always have to pay immediately for every food he ate. That was some good trust that the inn keepers had developed in him and he was very much glad with that.

Well that was enough digestion for a breakfast that light. Dray got up from the table calmly and headed for the exit. Once he was out of the giant sleeping inn, he took to the broad streets of kumogakure no sato and headed for the market. He had finally decided to build his own home in the village so he needed to get a few items from the market. The walk from the giant sleeping inn to the market of the hidden clouds village was short mainly because there were shopping malls in almost every corner of the village for easy access. Dray entered into one of the shops and checked out the items that were sold there. He began a conversation with the shop keeper and the two men talked for a while as the shop keeper seemed to be showing Dray the items in his shop and their uses and why they were worth thee amount that were tagged on them. He then took Dray to the entrance of the shop to see some other items that were displayed there. Just as they got outside, a bird perched on Dray’s shoulder and it seemed to be carrying a message for Dray as he could see the piece of scroll attached to the bird’s leg. Dray took the scroll as the bird flew away. The shop keeper was still busy telling Dray about his wares and he was so enveloped in his explanation that he did not even look back to check on Dray. Dray opened the scroll and it was a summon from the Raikage. Dray looked at the man and he saw the joy on his face while he was talking and he decided not to interrupt so he took to the roof of the nearest shop and he was gone. He jumped from roof to roof while landing lightly each time he came down so that he would not damage the roof tops of the respective owners.

Dray got to the administration building and entered inside hurriedly. He took the stairs to the raikage’s office and once he was in front of the office, he knocked on the door and he was allowed inside. The raikage put out a scroll and handed it to Dray. “See that this is done.” That was the only thing that the raikage said before he dismissed Dray. Dray left the office and got out of the admin building. He slowed in his steps as he opened the scroll. His brows were raised as he saw that it was a mission scroll and more importantly it was an A ranked mission. Early today, he had been saying to himself that the raikage had not summoned him for any missions and this was the exact opposite of what he had said. Well this was it and it had to be done. While he walked, he went through the contents of the scroll. His objective was to defeat a Jounin crime boss, now that was some problem. The target was higher ranked than he was but he was confident about it. Sometimes, quantity mattered and Dray had that. A notorious crime boss’ location has been discovered due to his ostentatious behavior and Dray was to stop him at all cost because most of his raids had hurt lots of people and he often escaped the grip of most shinobis so it was up to Dray to stop him even though killing was an option because the target would not hesitate to destroy Dray. His location had been discovered as the abandoned mines and without wasting any time, Dray was to see to the completion and success of this mission.
WC:887

Dray picked up his pace as he instantly switched from walking to running. The thought of the abandoned mines reminded him of his young blonde haired friend, Elin. They had both gone to the abandoned mines to gather some metals and they had some hindrances, rats. It was an experience worth remembering even though the kid was one of a kind. Dray’s pace was at its fastest and the abandoned mines wasn’t any farther now. Just a few minutes and he would have to prove himself as a ninja of the cloud. The clouds rumbled as Dray got to the abandoned mine, he looked upwards to see the dark clouds that were now forming. He lightened his footsteps as he approached the entrance of the mine. He was about going in when he saw a person coming out. As the latter saw Dray, he unsheathed his sword and attempted to strike Dray. Dray dodged the sword slash and kicked him hard on the torso. The man had no strength as the kick pushed him back into the cave. Dray then walked into the cave and was met with a sorry scene. There were over a dozen young men waiting inside the inn for what had kicked their companion back into the cave. Dray looked around and lots of crates were laying around. The young men were all dressed in the same clothes and they all had swords. He hoped that the possessed the same amount of strength as the first victim. Dray would take light steps and walk forward. There was a rod laying on the floor and the young men seemed ready to attack. Dray picked up the rod and threw it up into the air and as expected, the stupid young men looked up to see what would happen with the rod but it was only a distraction and that was when Dray began to strike.

He pounced on the first man like a lion closing in on its prey. Even though he was not a taijutsu specialist, he had knowledge of basic taijutsu and ample strength to back it up. He landed a chop on the side of the young man’s neck dropping him immediately. He leapt in the air towards the next target and a barrage of kicks sent him flying into the others. Coming from the side was a man charging at Dray with a sword pointed outwards. Simple body movements, Dray stepped to the side and the man stabbed another man that was also closing in with his sword and both men eventually stabbed each other with their swords. The other men looked at what had happened and their morale was thrown down the well but then they found it again and came at Dray. The young workers circled Dray and came closing in. The special jounin weaved the sword strikes and stood in the way of one man after the other allowing the men’s attacks to hit each other like a banana leaf swinging outwards and eventually coming back in to hit its trunk. The fight between the young men continued as Dray took the upper hand. He was faced with just seven young men with little to no strength at all and low ranked swords. The first three came as they shouted and lifted up their swords. As Dray did he best in weaving their swords and taking no hits, he put a knee to the first man’s face as he elbowed the second man’s esophagus and grabbed the first man by the collar, turned him around and raised him up flatly before slamming him down on his knee and probably breaking his spinal cord.

Dray stood up straight as he adjusted the scrolls on his back. “Come” he motioned the remaining four workers as they came forward steadily after having an idea of what Dray was capable of. The shinobi of the cloud walked towards them as they walked backwards, He stopped and they stopped, he walked further and they walked backwards. He glared at them as he turned to walk further into the mine to find the jounin crime boss but the workers that he had spared rushed at him and with a swift movement, Dray turned backwards with a kick that met the face of two of the ninjas and with a spin, he kicked the third worker on the chest so hard that he hit the last worker and both fell down together before they managed to scurry away. Dray sighed as he turned around to go on. “Bravoo!” he heard as he saw two younger men standing a few metres away. “This is impressive but you aren’t going past here.” The other man said as they revealed their weapons and advance slowly. The two men imbued their weapons with lightning as they increased their pace. Dray quickly spread his scrolls unto the floor of the mine as he summoned all three of his puppets at once. The puppets stood before Dray beautifully with chi in front and temp and wrath forward to opposite sides of each other. “Let us perform!” Dray said to his puppets as he charged with them forward to the two opponents that were also advancing with lightning imbued Nodacis.
WC:883

Both men seemed to be coordinating their attacks simultaneous as the flung to the far opposite of each other and advance towards Dray. Wrath picked one guy while Temp picked the other as Chi stood at the center. Wrath launched six shurikens at his target with three of the shurikens following beneath the first three and three other senbons as distraction. The man parried the first three shurikens and weaved the senbons that distracted him but the other three hidden shurikens attacked him on his upper torso. The man ignored the pain and started striking as wrath weaved the man’s strikes as he activated his flame thrower and blasted the man who could not defend with his lightning weapon but hold his other arm over his face and got it burnt in the process. Wrath immediately discharge four water bullets that hit the man’s leg and made him crumble to his feet after which he released the flames and scorched his brains before letting him drop to the floor. The remaining man managed to fight on after Temp had broken his left arm with the eternal hammer and stabbed his right foot with the harpoon. The man was losing blood but he was persistent. “Put him out of his misery.” Dray said as Chi took to the air and moved in an arc like pattern before arriving behind the man who was too focused on fighting temo as Chi ejected a blade from his knee and stabbed the man from behind as he watched him slump and drop dead onto the ground.

Looks like Dray wasn’t going further into the mines at all because before him stood another young shinobi. Dray’s chakra strings were still connected to his puppets as they hovered above. Now what did this other person have in store for him.. he wondered. The young man wasted no time in trying to get rid of Dray. He performed some hand seals as the wind began to spiral into a huge sphere and immediately sent it towards Dray . Dray’s eyes widened as he wasn’t willing to take any chances so he did not use temp’s puppet gate modification instead he brought his puppets to his size and deactivated the strings so he quickly performed a chain of hand signs and slammed his hand on the ground and trees rose from the ground and quickly weaved into each other to form a net like defense that stopped then stopped the spiraling ball jutsu but Dray could feel the thud as the ball of air hit the defense and the mine shook. The defense was strong indeed but how then was he supposed to defeat such person? Dray was still protected by the defense and the opponent could not see him and he knew that this defense would not hold for long. Dray activated the wooden strings technique that enabled him control his puppets without the use of his fingers so all three puppets stood upright and seeing as Temp and wrath looked exactly like Dray, it would be difficult for the opponent to recognize who it was.

After doing this, Dray would enter into the earth using his hiding like a mole technique and travel underground to where the target was. Once beneath the target, Dray would wait for the right time to attack. The opponent would then make another spiraling ball that would this time destroy the wooden net wall defense but also protect his puppets for the last time. Immediately the defense was gone, Dray would go on to pull his opponent into the earth with the double decapitation jutsu as the opponent would see two hands grab his ankle and pull him down hard into the ground while leaving only his head above the ground. Dray would then emerge from the earth and jump over a few meters back to his puppets side so that the opponent could see him. The young man would open his mouth in awe as to how the puppets were standing all by themselves. He would then puff and exhale what looked like futon needles from him mouth. Dray would flip in the air to escape this as the man would shoot more. Dray would then launch himself into the air and take shelter behind Temp’s wooden structure after which the puppet would launch it’s chain yanker towards the target who was defenseless. Seeing the claw hand that was coming towards him, he would go on shooting wind spikes but not enough to stop the claw of justice as this claw would get to him and grab his throat before ripping it with all its force. Such a painful death it was.
WC:790

All three puppets flocked to Dray side as they awaited what was coming. The person closed as Dray readied himself. Fire danced on the right palm of the one who was supposed to be the jounin crime boss. He had a grin on his face like he had been watching all that had been happening. “First, you beat up my workers who have been working all day and night, then you burn one of my other man and stab the other after which you ripped the throat of my right hand man.” The man said with the flames in his hand growing more. “Now, who is considered a threat to the hidden cloud village? Me that works or you that kills? Tell me” the man said as he shot a fire ball towards Dray but the distance was large enough for Dray to dodge it easily. “Whatever you say is of little concern to me. I have a mission and I must complete it successfully. That is all that matters and any obstacle that stands in my way will be crushed.” Dray would reply confidently. “Nicely said but do you know how many ninjas have tried to apprehend me and have failed? Of course you don’t but let me tell you that I am the supreme!” the man would say as he would advance towards Dray and hurl several fire balls at him. The distance was still very much on Dray side but Temp’s eternal hammer struck one fire ball that almost caught Dray off guard and split it into tiny fire balls that flew away. “You think these little toys of yours are going to stop me? Then you must be mistaken.” The young man would say as he would clap his palms together and send a blast of wind towards Dray. In return, wrath would shoot fire flames into the wind as the combination would cause an explosion allow the mine to crumble a bit and giving Dray time to move backwards. Dray could now see that this man could use Katon and Futon elemental natures but what else was he capable of. He wanted to ascertain every thing before going all out on him.

The clouds above rumbled and Dray could very well hear them. The sound of lightning enveloped the moment as Dray got an idea. A shinobi should learn to use his surroundings to his advantage and that was exactly what Dray was going to do in this situation. He let the jounin crime boss advance and keep attacking him with the minor techniques that were block able and easy to dodge too. Dray’s main motive was to draw his opponent out of the cave and the plan was working fine. He made it look like the jounin was having the upper hand as Dray did not perform any attacks just yet, he was just evading the incoming attacks. Both Dray and the jounin were now out in the open but the jounin did not quickly take notice as he was engrossed in the though of defeating Dray. Dray looked to the sky and it was perfect. “Your end is today” Dray would say as the jounin would wonder what he was talking about. “What do you mean little brat, I have the upper hand here.” “You do? Try making effective fire attacks now then.” As Dray would finish saying this, the rain would pour down hardly on the earth while forming a flood quickly. “I will show you the totality of my extreme mastery, loser.” With this being said and the jounin a bit confused, Dray would advance towards him with all three puppets taking the front and being controlled by the wooden strings jutsu. “You are no match for me!” the jounin would shout as he would advance too.

“Futon: Wind blades” the jounin would say as he would swing his hands in a slicing motion and send wind blades towards Dray. The eternal hammer would come in play while destroying all blades. Wrath would shoot out six kunais and Six senbons towards the man that would weave them all but the moment the projectiles went past the man, “always watch your back” Dray would say as he would attach chakra strings from his fingers onto the projectiles and redirect them to stab the jounin from behind but the man would skillfully bend to dodge them> “Do not underestimate me!” he would yell as he would perform some hand seals and erupt dangerous flames from his mouth. Temp would then open up the puppet gate modification that was installed in his abdomen as the iron gate wwould block the fire flames. Seeing as the rain had enveloped a nearby pond, Dray would perform a string of hand seals as a water dragon would rise out of the pond and charge for the man. With full speed and force, the man was defenseless but surprisingly, the jounin would create a wind hurricane around himself that would prevent the water dragon from attacking him. “I wont go down so easily.” He would say once again while picking up his speed and shooting wind bullets at Dray. In return, Wrath would shoot out water bullets to counter the wind bullets with both techniques nullifying each other. Temp would eject it’s harpoon and chain yanker and lauch them towards the man that would dodge the harpoon and keep Chain yanker. The weapons would come at the man again from behind as he would flip backwards to evade them though the claws of the chain yanker would scratch his right arm. “Feel this.” The jounin would say as he would form three large wind spiraling balls and send them off to wreck harvoc. Dray would then perform hand seals and slam his palms on the ground to form a water wall. He knew that the water wall would not hold but he needed it for a surprise attack. The moment the spiraling balls would hit the water wall, it would be destroyed as Dray and all three puppets would jump into the air and dive towards the jounin.
WC:1024

Their formation was simple yet very confusing. It was very thoughtful of Dray to have made temp and wrath in his own image making it for an opponent to determine who was the puppet and who was the master. As the dived towards the man who was no more than twenty meters away, Chi which was the youngest and smallest puppet took the fore front with both of it’s arms stretch out. Temp and Wrath were on the right and left though close while Dray was at the rear. As they closed in, the jounin spat out flames from his mouth but wrath’s water blaster killed the flames and shot out rings of fire in return as the jounin dodged them. He then spat out wind needles from his mouth but the eternal hammer blocked them all. The harpoon shot out of its place towards the man that had to simply step aside to avoid it and while he did so, Chi’s left arm retracted with speed and landed the man a powerful blow that made him face away after which wrath shot water bullets at his thigh to make him fall. As the jounin staggered, the whole army that was above were now inches closed as they rained down on the jounin like hail. Chi’s retractable blade stabbed the man’s stomach as the harpoon stabbed his right thigh. The claws of justice grabbed his throat as wrath shot several kunais, and shurikens at him after which Dray finally changed both of his arms to sharp wooden branches and stabbed him in his chest and heart. “Have you seen the totality of my extreme mastery?” Dray would ask the young man that was bleeding hard. “I… have” he would say with his last breath and then die.

The fight was tough indeed but now it was over. The puppets would disengage their weapons from the dead man’s body as Dray would return them back to their scrolls so he would clean them up once he got home. Dray exhaled as he looked around with he rain still pouring down hard. His first mission was a success and it was truly something to be glad of. He had to report the completion of this mission to the raikage immediately. This was the beginning of proving himself and he would go to any extent to show that he was a shinobi of the cloud and to anyone who opposed his motion, they would see the totality of hiss extreme matery!

EXIT:424
TOTAL WC:5032
MISSION COMPLETE: 2000/2000
STAT TRAINING: SPEED: B-B3: 2400/2400
REMAINDER: 632