Mission Description:

Issei was dressed in shameless and beneficially lightweight clothing as he pushed through the crowded city streets. He had his first B-Rank mission that uncharacteristically sunny day in Mizu no Kuni. The objective was to destroy one of the bridges recently built by a smaller country connecting it to Kiri. The reason behind this mission wasn't exactly explicit, but Issei assumed that the bridge was providing a way for criminals (like smugglers, pirates, and maybe even assassins, if it was as urgent as it seemed) into the country. He was armed with his usual, standard ninja tools as well as his brand new handwraps. The left one had a simple Fuuinjutsu seal on the inside of the palm containing the giant shuriken he'd also purchased the previous week, and he couldn't help but feel excited to use it. Matching his clean, white handwraps was the wife beater he wore that showed off his broad chest and muscle definition. His right bicep strained against his Kirigakure headband, which he had tightly tied around it as an emblem of where his loyalty lied. On his lower body, wore breathable, black stitched jogger shorts and tabi. The shorts hung just below his waistline, revealing a small portion of his tailbone so that he could freely use his newest kekkei genkai technique without fear of ruining his clothing. His expression was grim as it always was; he stared straight ahead at all times, and even when there was something in front of him, his eyes seemed to bore through whatever it was as if it weren't there. It was a look of determination, in his opinion, but anyone else would've thought he was on a mission to kill someone. Whether or not he would end up killing anyone was yet to be determined.

Beyond the village gate and into the wilderness, the border of the island was fast approaching once Issei made it past the dense forests and obscuring mists. The bridge stood there, still new and robust over the raging waves of the Land of Water. Unfortunately, Issei noticed that he would be facing some opposition before he could complete his task. A number of people, likely mercenaries, stood guard at the bridge. Whatever small village they were associated with, it was definitely not any ally of Kirigakure's. Issei stopped for a moment, still out of their line of sight, and formulated a quick plan. His eyes darted between his targets; there were two at the far end of the bridge carrying swords, another four further back in a cluster talking, and behind them another pair sitting on the edge of the bridge looking at the waves. Since the two at the far end were attentive, there was likely no way to catch them by surprise. Issei elected to dash in as fast as possible and dispatch those two before the rest of them could react and overwhelm him. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

Then, his legs tensed and he burst into action, entering a full sprint towards his first two targets. His eyes darkened and his irises glowed crimson-red as his kekkei genkai activated.

I'll get this over with fast.

The air whipping across Issei's face as he ran blew his hair back and resounded in his ears. The man on the left noticed almost immediately and turned his attention to his comrades to alert them of the approaching threat. Even at his fastest, the rate at which Issei was sprinting wasn't fast enough and he would be surrounded by the time he reached his adversaries. So, his hands clasped together, his fingers twitching and shifting with every hand seal. He let his chakra pool into his feet and a water formed beneath him, carrying him as it moved forward in a wave. Now breezing by at a solid 20 meters every second, he reached the man who was signaling the rest of the mercenaries and caught him square in the jaw with a punch. The man stumbled backwards, but quickly recovered and retaliated with a forward slash using the keen katana in his hands. Issei spun on his heel using the terrain advantage he had atop his wave and expertly dodged the blade before following up with a quick one-two jab to the gut to leave his target out of breath.

Their one-on-one combat was short lived, as the other guard carrying a katana and sporting a long beard tried to attack Issei from behind. Issei didn't have enough time to turn around, let alone dodge the attack, so his best bet was to deflect it. Chakra gathered in his lower back and his muscles shuddered unusually as bone broke through his skin and elongated to meet the blade at its edge. The weapon was caught in one of the segmented vertebra of the bone tail, rendering it useless as Issei grabbed the guard in front of him by the neck and threw him to the ground. He whipped his tail to the right in a fluid movement, jerking the katana from the other guard's hand and sending it off into the ocean. He got on top of the guard he'd brought down and started to beat him into senseless gore; every punch was at full strength and eventually the man couldn't take it any longer and his neck snapped audibly with the last blow across the face. His body went limp and Issei lifted a foot to stand. Just then, the now-disarmed guard tackled Issei, struggling to overpower him and get him into a chokehold. Issei kept a straight face and proved to be far stronger, physically, as he wrung himself free of the mercenary and stabbed him through the stomach with his tail. He then pulled the tail out and kicked the unconscious guard over the edge of the bridge, doomed to drown. The adrenaline in his system left him breathing hard and made his heart race with every move.

Issei brought a hand to his face and rubbed his eyes; manipulating the tail proved to be exhausting, and his body was reacting appropriately. He needed to kill the rest of them and get the job done before he ended up killing himself in the process. One of the remaining six mercenaries had a bow and arrow and was already aiming for him, so Issei zigzagged forward to avoid getting shot until he was within decent range of his opponents. He bent his knees to stay low and lifted his left arm high into the air, with his right hand completing the hand seal. "Hidden Mist Jutsu..." he muttered as a dense fog shrouded the area and bought him some more time. From there, he made the Tiger hand seal and activated his Body Heat Perception technique to keep track of everything while keeping everyone else blind. There were three fairly close that were standing still, trying to listen closely to pinpoint his location; he took this as a golden opportunity. Maintaining the Tiger hand seal, he let Katon chakra rise from his throat and released a fireball that engulfed them in flames and ignited the bridge at the same time. He then lifted a hand and pointed it like a gun, and released 2 bullets at the mercs further back. The last one had been sprinting toward Issei, so close combat was the only option. He caught the guy with an uppercut as soon as he was close enough, followed by a knee to the gut and one last punch in the face.

With all of his enemies incapacitated, Issei returned to the entrance and watched the fire rise as its intensity grew. They were destined to perish with its destruction, since none of them would be able to avoid the flames nor even manage to swim away from the ruins. The bridge was promptly consumed in the brilliant blaze that contrasted the foaming waters underneath it. He released his kekkei genkai, letting the tail retract and his eyes return to green while he sat there and watched until all that was left of the bridge was ash. His muscles ached and his bones did too, but ultimately his task was not only accomplished, but accomplished flawlessly. It was a victory in what seemed to be a recent string of failures, and he certainly needed the reward money. His journey back to the village was much slower than the one there, though in part due to the fact that he wasn't in a rush back anyway. He reached the village gates by nightfall and the full moon overhead cast a faint light over the emptied streets from the depths of the city to the administration building.

[ Exit Thread ]

Mission:

Jutsu Used: