Issei's next mission was an operation to eliminate a group of smugglers, as Kirigakure had a serious problem with illegal trade in the country as an act of resistance to the most recent customs protocols. He wore street clothes to seem inconspicuous, because that minor detail was vital to the success of the plan. He was to identify and kill every smuggler on a specific ship that was to be arriving in one of the smaller, likely illegal ports that had been built recently in Kirigakure. There was to be bloodshed; he had been ordered to kill them rather than take them into custody since they were repeat criminals and likely dangerous. He wasn't afraid. He interpreted most people as potential threats anyway and he was more than capable of and qualified to murder them, fast and cleanly. His biggest challenge in this would be identifying them. When he arrived at the port, there was a ship that had just anchored and was unloading supplies. Issei figured that was the easiest place to start, and he made his way to the man outside who was directing the people carrying cargo.

"Hello," he started, his voice reflecting his somber attitude, "I'm looking for the captain of this ship. I've been out of a job for a while and want a position on the crew, I can--"

"I'm sorry, but we have a full crew on this ship. We're not in need of any new additions," the captain interrupted him. The guilt in his voice was genuine, which led Issei to believe that his ship was legal and he was being honest. The only way to be entirely sure was to get a look at the cargo, however, so Issei nodded and left to follow one of the crew members who was hoisting a box overhead and moving toward the end of the harbor. He intercepted the woman, a petite girl with surprisingly high strength and stamina by the looks of it, and made sure he was out of earshot of the captain. "Excuse me, the captain wanted me to inspect this crate and take it back to him if necessary, something's wrong with it." The woman seemed confused for a moment, and then she went to put down the box. Issei popped the top off quickly and found it was full of produce: fruits, vegetables, and various foods, temperature controlled via preservation in ice. Definitely nothing illegal, so he put the top back on and picked the box up, handing it back to her. "Looks fine to me, you can go ahead."

Just as Issei was going to head back to the captain for more questions, another ship anchored at the dock, which elicited a strange look on the captain's face. "I didn't know there was supposed to be any other shipments coming in today..." Issei, in his shorts and muscle shirt, looked quite out of place at the harbor, but he knew that if this captain didn't recognize the ship that had just arrived, it was likely his target. People started to exit the ship, unloading crates of varying sizes. Issei approached one of the women and spoke plainly. "What is all this stuff?" The captain stood behind Issei, just as curious to know what the answer was. The woman hesitated, but eventually caught her words. "Ninja tools and weapons for the village. It's classified, so unless you're a shinobi, you really shouldn't be here."

Issei smiled lightly, having received the confirmation he needed. "Oh, I am a shinobi, and I know for a fact that this port wasn't scheduled to have weapons coming in. It looks like you're the one who really shouldn't be here." The woman's expression grew angry and she reached for her pocket, but Issei wasn't about to let her try and get the first attack. A long array of extra vertebrae ripped free from his flesh, closing the distance between Issei and the woman and stabbing her clean through her torso. Blood spilled onto the wooden boards beneath them, and the muscles along Issei's back twitched and trembled. His eyes flashed at her, like crimson orbs against a dark sky, with engorged veins pulsing around them. He spoke in a low voice as she dropped her kunai and started desperately gripping at the tail that had skewered her. "One down." He ripped his tail from her stomach, in a speedy motion, and she fell to her knees. He knelt down to whisper in her ear. "It's nothing personal." Then he wrapped his tail around her neck and choked the life out of her, keeping his eyes closed throughout the process.

The captain of the previous ship started to back away in fear, both at Issei's changed appearance and at the murder he'd just committed. Issei wasn't paying much attention to him so long as he didn't affect the mission. The other crew members had noticed Issei standing over the corpse and ditched their act altogether, retrieving weapons from inside the ship and rallying together to fight. They severely underestimated his potential; two of them charged at Issei together, preparing a coordinated attack, and Issei assumed a defensive stance with his tail in front of him. The first of the two lowered themselves and halted as they lobbed a kunai, which Issei easily deflected with his tail. The other used the first as a support to jump high into the air and then used a Katon jutsu to let down a rain of fire onto Issei. Issei merely had to back away to avoid being burnt to death, but the fire set the harbor ablaze. The first man who had thrown the kunai was still kneeling, but he made a hand sign and a pulling motion. Just then, a wire caught Issei by the legs and pulled him to the ground, cutting into his ankles as he went. He hit the wood with a hard thud and the fire singed his feet, but the pain didn't faze him. He used his tail to wrap around the wire and pull at full force, yanking the man forward and loosening up the grasp on Issei's ankle. From there, Issei rolled away from the fire and pulled the wire along further until the man was engulfed in the flames left by his teammate's jutsu. His screams of pain were muffled by the crashing of waves, which managed to keep the fire from spreading too far.

Issei got to his feet and cut himself free from the wire using a kunai of his own, then threw the kunai at the other man, hitting him in the neck. The rest of the crew had flooded out from the ship, including a woman wearing combat armor and carrying a katana, who he assumed was the leader of the smugglers. They stood in a group, the fire and the corpses standing between Issei and them. "Seven left." His skin started to shift and move, as if his blood was boiling beneath, and he kept his eyes focused on the leader. She commanded the others to attack, and they moved to swarm Issei with a barrage of sword swings and fists. Issei's ribs moved out of place to stop a kick, stabbing the assailant's leg in the process. Another man swung his sword but Issei deflected the blade with his tail, stabbed the man with its tip, then knocked him and another one of them into the ocean. The one who had attempted to kick Issei infused his weapon with Katon chakra and swung again, but Issei wrapped his tail around the sword and ripped it away before using it to slash through a few more people.

By the time the captain made her way to Issei and all of her men falling one by one, Issei had completed the hand seals necessary. His skin's stretching halted and bone started to rise from beneath it, coating Issei's entire body. He peeled the remains of his now destroyed shirt from his flesh, seeing as it had been ripped and singed enough to hold little to no purpose being on him any longer. His eyes glowed from behind the slits in his skeletal mask. Another blade came down on him but it slid off of the bone armor without leaving a scratch, useless against Issei. Issei's tail made quick work of that one, hoisting him up by the neck and hanging him. He left the corpse there, holding it in front of him with his tail facing the captain. "And now you're the last living member of your group. Tell me, was it worth smuggling some weapons into the country? You'll die soon enough, too." She didn't respond, instead taking the opportunity to create hand seals. Three clones appeared alongside her and dispersed on a moment's notice, surrounding Issei and attempting to attack him from each side. He dropped the corpse and readied his tail to attack. To his advantage, none of their katanas had any effect; his armor was too strong, and he stabbed on of the clones, causing it to explode into flames. The heat was enough to leave some light burns, it didn't stop him. He stabbed the other two in quick succession, moving his tail as expertly as a refined weapon. He hadn't moved from his spot since he'd gotten up after being pulled down from the wire; there was no need to when he could kill everyone with as little effort as possible, aside from the strain on his chakra supply.

The real captain was behind him now, having used her clones as a diversion while she searched for a weak spot in the armor to take advantage of. She tried to force her sword into the back of Issei's neck, pushing as hard as she could. Though she left a dent, ultimately she was wasting her time, and Issei's tail wrapped around her foot and lifted her into the air. He allowed his exoskeleton to split at the neck, letting him remove the bone covering his face so that he could open his mouth. Katon chakra build in his lungs and he let it out in a fireball at point blank range, roasting the woman alive before he discarded her along with the rest of her crew. All that was left to do after her demise was to report back to the village so that they could appropriate the ship and illegal cargo.

Issei let out a sigh as he stared at the blood covering his tail and pooling at his feet, then turned his gaze to the clear skies.


[ Exit, Mission Complete ]

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