Fresh shinobi sandals settled on a dock with a mission, a terminal to be reached. The young illusionist recalled his memories; the man in the bar said that there were rumors that Gin had spent a significant amount of time at Akako’s Dojo. His hand reached into his pouch and pulled out a map. The map had light pencil sketches to route the way to Akako’s Dojo. This would ensure that the navigator would not get lost. Seito also felt confident about this information because the shrouded man from the bar had plenty of Kirigakure apparel, including a necklace that displayed the four lines of the village, the very same lines that Seito bears above his eyebrows. The travelling shinobi would need to find himself traveling through the route, by night time, he was in the middle of a dense landscape. Rigid mountains surrounded the boy and small crevices in the opaque rock proved to be the Lightning Country’s primary terrain. There were plenty of insects living in the sierra; the range was also accompanied by a breezy gust of wind, which sent chills down Seito’s spine. The star filled sky lit the way, yet; there was not much that Seito could see. He was going to need to camp out. Light whispers muttered underneath his mouth cursing the sailor that mapped this trail.

A rock dropped from the top of the mountain, alerting the shinobi. His eye jolted, scanning the mountainous skyline. The fogged, cloudy sky prevented Seito from seeing well but he could hear light whispers. His eyes focused further, honing on the unknown. Several kunai cut through the wind, straight towards the young adult. The projectiles were followed with roars that seemed to inspire a charge, causing three bandits to leap down; two with kunai and a leader with a katana.  A slender body and natural agility were the only things that allowed him to awkwardly evade the lethal projectiles. His immediate, innate response was to formulate his hands into seals that could perform a genjutsu. He had not even thought about grabbing his tanto at this point. While forming these handseals, the boy’s eyes attempted to discover who threw the kunai. By the time he finished, he had only located two bandits wielding kunai. Their feet landed on the ground and both stood frozen, in a state of shock.

A third man landed between them, only moments later wielding a katana. His one was taller than the other two and much more lean. If Seito had not known any better, he would assume that this was the squad leader. “What are you two doing?!” The bandit leader shouted at his subordinates. His face conveyed an expression of confusion and frustration. “We’ve done this a hundred times!” He swore, his mouth opened; not to speak but due to surprise. His comrades dropped their kunai and frantically scurried away, both complaining about different things that made no sense. One complained and pointed towards the sky claiming a chakra beast was about to kill them, the other only muttered nonsense that was completely incomprehensible.

Success! His genjutsu prevailed once again; simple tricks to dissuade his adversaries proved as a useful technique. By changing their perceptions, he altered reality. The angered bandit leader examined the shinobi who stood before him. “And who told you to come through this route, shinobi of Kirigakure?”
After unsheathing his tanto, he stood tall and remained silent. “You and all the other Kirigakure shinobi that have passed through here have all been trouble!” Time froze. ‘Other Kirigakure shinobi? Could it have been Gin?’ The boy thought, breaking his own concentration. “You will pay for all their damage!” The bandit leader shouted as he hastily charged towards Seito.

The lack of concentration could have been costly had Seito not already been equipped with his tanto. His much larger blade came down onto Seito in a swinging motion. Both his hands clinched his tanto in a defensive position, clanking two metal beams together. Another strike promptly was swung; Seito and his tanto defended it. Not with finesse or skill, but just enough to prevent the blow from landing. The shock from the force caused pain in his wrists and hands. Soon, another blow came. The bandit leader was simply throwing his heavier sword onto Seito. If Seito was able to wield the tanto better, he might have been able to use the speed advantage to sneak a blow but he simply lacked the experience to attempt such a move in a real battle. A sideways swung from the bandit leader shot the tanto out of Seito’s hand, sending it flying 10 meters away and sticking into the dense earth. Both of their eyes widened, one with blood thirst and the other with concern.

A razor sharp blade dropped down towards Seito’s head as a guillotine; the executor’s grin displayed all his emotions. His eyes were filled with retribution. Time seemed to move slowly as Seito watched the blade come closer to his eyes, yet, in a natural, instinctive response, the Hattori brought his left hand up. His middle and index finger barbed towards the bandit leaders face. A ration blast shot upwards at his face. In the spilt second, the leader’s head whiplashed. His hands dropped the katana onto the boy without causing any major damage. The bandit leader let out a loud grunt and held onto his face. Seito shot the leader several more times on his torso, sending the leader to drop on the ground like an injured animal. The bullets scorched his ragged robe and left minor burns on his body. Though quite obviously, the leader was more concerned with his face and eye.

Leaping up, he grabbed the katana and mounted over the leader’s body with the point of the katana pressing against the throat of the wounded rogue. “Who are the other Kiri shinobi that have traveled through here?” The outlaw let out a robust laugh but was suddenly choked by the penetrating power of the katana. With a somber expression, the genin slowly let the katana stick into the throat.  The thief understood the situation. “All the Kiri shinobi have gone to Kumo for the chunin exams.” The wielder’s eyebrow rose. “Give me names.”

The bandit gave some high profile names and descriptions. It appeared that the bandits had this area scouted for a while. Half way through the list, the bandit mentioned a shinobi traveling with genin that was missing both an eye and an arm. He mentioned that he overheard them heading towards Kumogakure and that the students were expressing their concerns for her love of alcohol. He hilt of the sword smacked on the forehead of the bandit, sending him to sleep. With that, the shinobi replaced the katana with his tanto and pressed forward to Kumogakure!

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