Spoiler:

He needed a little bit more. Just a little more money, and he would be able to leave this place, and move on to somewhere else. Just the idea of traveling to a place where the heat was not oppressive was lifting his spirits a tad bit. But right now, there was the still the obstacle of not having quiet enough money to make his dreams become a reality. Perhaps a quick trip to the mission board would fix this up, solve his money problems and he could go about his merry way after telling Sunagakure no Sato to kiss his fine tuned ass.

As the male would come to the mission board, he took note of the small crowd gathering around the office window. There were concerned yelling and crying, and the mission clerk seemed distraught. From this distance, he could hear snippets of the conversations.

"Yes, Jadestone! Its the third time this week alone!" "Tis a shame. No one's been dispatched to deal with this yet." "I hope Old Man Sutaka is okay. He's been living in Jadestone for three years."

What was going on? Pushing his way to the front of the crowd, Dakuman would take a look upon the mission postings himself. Up near the top, there was an emergency announcement; it would seem that mission that was upon the board previously as D rank had been elevated to C rank. It was a mission requiring someone to go to Jadestone Village and keep watch for a few days against some bandits; Dakuman had seen this mission here previously when he was looking for something to take; he'd ended up taking the bouncer mission instead at the time. At the time, he had no weapons, and needed money in order to purchase some. With the recent purchase of his weapons that were being tailored to his specific customisations, he was simply left with the Kunai and Shuriken. Perhaps..

As the male continued to stare at and read the posting, he could not help but smile. From it the looks of it, Jadestone had been attacked several more times in the few days since the posting had gone up. Each attack ended with several villagers being killed, and the village's provisions being stolen from them. The villagers were defenseless -- thier guards and lookouts were killed in the first wave of the attack. The posting stated that a group was needed to go out to Jadestone and stand guard until a proper sized security and or patrol force could be sent in to maintain order. If these guys were killing people in Jadestone, then there was really no reprecussions to them being killed. He could feel that itch coming on, that drive to kill that he seemed to possess. His bloodthirsty side was trying to emerge, and it would seem that his closest outlet that would not get him in trouble with the law would be for him to take it out on these bandits. It was an itch that needed to be scratched -- and he was about to satisfy it in a fashion that would seem orgasmic; striding forward, he would snatch the posting from the board. Several onlooked stared at him in mild shock -- were was his group? His squad? The whispers did not deter him; let them talk. The fact that none of them would even attempt to take the mission themselves rendered thier squabbling as nothing to him. Dakuman would take the posting over to the mission counter and present it alongside his R.I.P.

"Dakuman X. I'll be taking this mission, and departing within the hour."

The clerk would give the male a strange look, almost questioning his sanity. He would peer around, noting that no one was standing nearby as if waiting. Finally, after a minute he would look down at Dakuman, an eyebrow raising. "Where's the rest of your squad? This mission calls for a group of at least three."

"I have no squad. I will be doing this solo dolo; other people get in the way."

The clerk blinked. What the frick is solo dolo? Was that some sort of slang? His head would tip to the left, a loud sniff filling the air. "The mission requires a grou-"

"LISTEN!" Dakuman slammed his hands on the counter, causing the clerk to jump, along with several other people in line around him. He would lean closer, his voice dropping to barely a whisper. Despite the volume of his voice, the threat was very clear; each word was hissed through bared teeth as Dakuman spoke. "I do not give a flying frick duck how many people the posting says should be sent. I'm taking the mission, and you're going to fucking sign off on it. We clear, son!?" The clerk would nod rapidly, fumbling around as he attempted to find his stamp so that he could sign off on the posting. Once the paperwork was stamped and signed, Dakuman would offer the clerk a smile as he folded and tucked the paperwork away into a pocket before leaving the room. "Good boy." He would pay no attention the murmurs going on around him; a lion did not concern themselves with the opinion of the sheep. If all they were gonna do was stand around and just gawk, then frick em. He had other things to do that day, and bigger fish to fry.

902 wc

The trek to jadestone was not hard, simply long. It would take him most of the day to walk there, and by the time he arrived, he would be royally fucking pissed off. There was sand in his shoes, hair and eyes, and he was pretty sure his trip took an extra several hours longer than it should have due to him losing his bearings and sense of direction several times. By the time Dakuman would arrive in the village of Jadestone, it would be mid afternoon. With the sun already dropping towards the horizon, he would head into the village, stepping through the broken mess that was once the village gates.

Inside, the village resembled a warzone; many of the buildings contained smashed in windows, blown out walls and had smoke rising from them. Somewhere off in the distance, a dog was barking, and a child was crying for thier mother. As Dakuman walked down the main street, he would adjust the puple scarf around his neck, pulling it up so that it covered his mouth. The air was a thick with dust and smoke from the fires; there was also a strange stench in the air, and the smell of blood, something he knew too well. He did not slow down, he did not faulter; even as he moved, he was fully aware that he was being watched. He could see them from the corners of his eyes; fleeting shadows of the remaining villagers as they peered at him from the burnt out shells of thier former homes and alley ways. Some wore worried expressions upon thier faces -- was this man here to do them harm? Was he with the bandits that harmed the town? For the moment, he would let them wonder; he'd get to thier concerns soon enough.

Dakuman would make his way into what seemed to be the remains of the town square;  this placed seemed like something out of hell; there were sizable craters in the ground, charred bodies and red stains everyhwere. There was even one poor unfortunate soul hanging from the top a building. So, this was the disaster of Jadestone? Man, this shit was hard to look at. No wonder these people were in such dire straits. If this gang of bandits were leaving the people in such a manner, then they needed to be killed. These people seemed so distrusting; even now, they were creeping from the shadows, eyeing the stranger that entered thier town. Some were holding weapons, as if they intended to attack Dakuman should he prove to be a threat. As he watched them carefully approach, he would calmly hold up his hands to that that he meant the people of the village no harm.

"Peace, be still. I was sent by Sunagakure no Sato to secure the area until the main forces arrive. My name is Dakuman X." He paused, watching as the villagers processed the information he gave them; a few seemed distrusting, other faces held glimmers of hope. "I'm supposed to maintain order here until the security force, and if necessary, take out these bandits."

"But you're only one guy! A kid at that!"

Dakuman frowned; was someone here questioning his ability? "I could always leave, you know. You people seem to be doing a fine job defending yourselves so far!" A chorus of disagreement rose up, and the male hid a smile behind hid scarf. "Well then, I suggest we get down to business."

The next morning, and Dakuman was up early before the sun rose in the sky, already out and patrolling the perimeter of the village of Jadestone.  Last night, the appointed spokesman of the village, the late mayor's assistant, filled Dakuman in on the situation;  a group of bandits who called themselves the Masks. It seemed that the bandits were ex-ninja who took to raiding the minor villages to sustain themselves. Because Jadestone was one of the 'larger' minor villages, they were hit repeatedly. There were five members of the group. Each one wore a  black mask over thier face save for the leader. Thier leader distinguished himself from the rest by the red, ornate mask he wore. Armed with this knowledge, Dakuman aimed to set off early in the morning, learning the layout of the village. When the rest of the villagers awoke, they awoke to the sight of Dakuman standing atop the remains of the temple, staring out into the desert at what seemed to be an approaching cloud of dust. Judging by the speed at which it appeared to be moving, it would not be long until the cloud reached the village. Even at this distance, Dakuman could tell that this cloud was not a natural phenom. He had to act quickly; either this dust cloud contained the reinforcement forces promised by Sunagakure no Sato, or it was another raid.

He prayed for the former, but could not help but think it was the latter.

Turning his attention to the villagers, he spoke quickly, as time was of the essense. "Hide. I'll handle this. Do not come out until you hear this bell ring three times." With that, the male parted his topnot to reveal the bell hidden there; He then channeled extra chakra to it to release a high pitched ring that could be heard clearly across the town square. As the villagers scrambled to find places to hide, Dakuman leapt from the top of the temple to a nearby rooftop before sprinting to the village outskirts. As he moved, the male began to channel chakra to the bell hidden in his topknot in preparation for something to come, should the people this dust could contain proved to harbor ill intentions. Dakuman would come to a stop outside the village gates, waiting patiently as he adjusted his his scarf to cover the bottom half of his face. Soon enough, a group of five men descended upon the gates, each wearing a mask upon it, with one of them wearing a red one.

As they spotted Dakuman outside the gates, they came to a stop roughly ten meters away, watching him carefully; who was this man? Why was he here? Was he some sort of protection the village hired? Finally, the man wearing the red mask stepped forward, pointing at Dakuma. "Who the frick are are you?!"

Dakuman smiled behind his scarf. "Me? I'm nobody. Who are are you?"

"I'm Setsuko Kashiro, leader of the Masks!" Ooh, this one was a boastful one? Dakuman continued to smile behid the scarf, feeling that familiar itch begining to surface. That itch, that desire to murder. For the moment, he pushed it down, repressed it. He would give in to it soon enough, and it would feel all that much better.

The one thing he could not hide -- did not even bother to try -- was the boner he was getting from this.

"Thats nice, Setsuko Kashiro." The response was nonchalant, as if the male was wholly unimpressed by the name. In truth, he was not. He did not care for this man's name, but it was valuable information nonetheless. Perhaps there was a bounty on his head that Dakuman could collect on for more money? He would have to lug the body back to Sunanagakure no Sato if there was, or perhaps there was a bounty station nearby? He would figure it out later; right now, there was still the matter of dealing with these people. "So, I'm going to have to kill you now, okay? Just so there's no confusion as to what is about to happen, okay?"

The leader laughed. It was obvious that he did not think that Dakuman could back up his words. "You? You defeat me, the great Setsuko Kashiro, the leader of the legendary Masks?! Impossible!" His henchmen laughed as well, but Dakuman ignored them. "There's only one of you, and five of us! You can't do shit to us! I suggest you run your ass back home to Mama and hide, little boy, before I put you over my knee like your Papa should have done."

Dakuman paused for a moment, considering this man's choice of words. It took only a split second, but in that split second, he decided that this man's very poor choice of words had flipped a switch within his psyche. For this, Setsuko Kashiro's reward would be a slow, painful death. With a small sigh, Dakuman pulled out his Kunai, charged it with Raiton chakra, and began to lay waste to Setsuko Kashiro's men. In a flash, Dakuman crossed the expanse and swung the kunai twice, slashing out the throats of the two closest Masks. The scent of burning blood would fill the air as the crimson liquid crumbled off the blade, as Dakuman turned his attention to the three remaining bandits. Despite the masks covering most of thier face, Dakuman could tell a horrified expression when he saw it. Beneath that scarf he wore, the grin grew; the murderer was released, and he would not go away until the job was finished.

"Get him!" A cry from Setsuko's mouth as he pushed the two remaining men forward and turned away in an attempt to run away. Unfortunately for him, Dakuman was not having any of that. No, this man was beyond saving. There was no salvation, help was not coming. There would be no forgiveness, and running only made you look like prey. No, these men had come to this village with the intention to pillage only to find the tables turned upon them. Dakuman wondered for a moment before he drove the kunai into the eye socket of the next mask member if they expected something like this to happen? Did they think that thier actions would not garner the attention of a monster? There was always someone bigger and badder out there that was higher up on the food chain that you were, and everyone's days were numbered. For these men, they devoured the villagers, and in turn, they were being devoured by Dakuman. Survival, at its most base.

With a wet suction sound, the Kunai was yanked free of the third Mask and and shoved into the mouth of the fourth, knocking out teeth; a solid upper cut to the jaw would drive it through the soft tissue of the palate and into the brain. Dakuman knew there would be no time to retrieve it just then; the Setsuko Kashiro was attempting to get away! No matter. Before the Mask leader could get out of range, Dakuman released the jutsu that he had been preparing since he'd left the top of the temple; a loud ringing sound would fill the air around them, stemming from the bell located in Dakuman's topknot.  With the usage of chakra, the full force of the ringing was guided and amplified towards Setsuko's eardrum, throwing his nervous system for a loop. He immediately stumbled and fell over retching until he emptied the contents of his stomach into the sands. So long as Dakuman kept up the ringing, this guy was not going anywhere. With a smug smirk, Dakuman walked over and kicked Setsuko Kashiro over onto his back.

"Add one more body to the body toll. May God rest this poor bastard's soul."

A fist was drawn back as Dakuman dropped upon this man, pummeling him into the ground with no remorse. On and on the blows rained down until bones cracked within the skull and the face caved in. The body had long since ceased twitching, but Dakuman did not care. When he finally pulled off this man, he he was exhausted from beating it. Beneath him, the sands were stained red, and a bits of grey matter were splattered about. Dakuman cleaned of his hands on Setsuko's clothes, and ambled back to the village to alert them that the threat of the Masks was no longer a threat.

~Thread Exit~

2000 | 2902 WC total

C rank Mission complete 2902/1000 = 1902

PER E1 to D0 1902/675 = 1227

REA E1 to D0 1227/675 = 552

Taking the last 500 WC as a E rank jutsu credit

Taking the mission credit in exchange for a C rank jutsu