Kashizudoto had finished delivering the letter to Lord Tsuchikage; now he was free to do  whatever he wanted until the Hokage, the man named Satoshi, and his genin escort showed up. While he did spare some time to dick around in the village and explore the Land of Earth, the chuunin felt that it would be best to do some short-term missions for Iwa while he waited so that he could stay productive and active, not to mention getting some ryo along with it.

So basically, vicious bandit attacks were becoming increasingly common around the village, and a merchant caravan, wanting to protect their goods, enlisted the help of Kashizudoto to protect their merchants as they made their way to the Land of Earth's border - even though he was a foreign shinobi, he seemed relatively trustworthy to them. And indeed, he didn't mean to cheat them: that would be a stain on Konoha's reputation. There was one thing that bothered Kashizudoto about the assignment: he was ordered to kill any bandits who attacked. While he had no qualms about the act of killing itself when it was for a just cause, he preferred rehabilitation over punishment. Still, perhaps the deaths of these criminals would send a message to the other bandits that Iwagakure would not tolerate thievery.

Kashizudoto came wearing his usual attire, with a swordsman's robe - a gift from Master Piandao following Kashizudoto's apprenticeship under him - that covered most of his body. On the left side of his hip was a bamboo sheath holding the Tentetsutou or the "Sword of Heaven", a blade which Kashizudoto forged out of a four billion year old meteorite while he was apprenticing under Piandao the Blacksmith. Below that was a coil of wire totaling 50 meters, which he would use to rappel, set up traps, or use in jutsu. Right next to that, he had a holster which held three shuriken and one kunai knife.

WC: 328

The caravan was relatively fast; they would end up approaching the border in about an hour or two at this rate with no interruptions. It would be hilarious if he ended up running into Lord Kenta and his escort on the way. Their unusually quick pace could be attributed to their fear of bandits, apparently this route was chock full of them. Couple that with being protected by a foreign shinobi, not a native one, and you've got a ton of speedy merchants trying to get their wares to the border as fast as possible. All seemed peaceful though...

Wait. Were those... bandits? His ace eye could pinpoint three shady figures, holding what seemed to be battle axes, from afar. Damn, he was outnumbered; however, he was a shinobi. Finesse and ninjutsu could even out the playing field against the odds.

"Get ready!" he cried to the six merchants behind him, "There are some bandits coming at 6 o' clock!" Of course, they didn't have the slightest clue what he meant by the last part, only people who had went to a ninja academy would have learned that; however, they did hear bandits and that was enough to make them understand what was going on. They readied themselves for the onslaught.

WC: 541

Two strong bandits jumped midair, descending on Kashizudoto and the caravan while swinging their battle axes - their partner charged for the merchants and their escort from the ground, planning to sack the goods for all they were worth. No, no, he couldn't let them touch the merchants' goods. That would reflect poorly on Konoha. Not to mention the loss of capital was always a sad thing.

Fire Style: Fire Clone! In front of Kashizudoto would appear a clone made entirely out of katon chakra. It would help him to deal with the two threats simultaneously. The clone focused on the lone bandit attacking from the ground while the original trained its gaze on the two bandits throwing around their battle axes in the air.

Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu! Out of the original's mouth came a great fireball about five meters in diameter, which he sent straight as a projectile going straight for the two enemies. They were in for... a bit of a burn. Meanwhile, he would prepare for a surprise attack that he'd launch once they'd taken a hit.

Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu! The clone would proceed to summon ten spheres of fire that were about the size of basketballs, launching these projectiles towards the guy at the ground.

Kashizudoto Chakra:

Kashizudoto Katon Clone 1 Chakra:

WC: 757

The great fireball hit the two bandits in the air, giving them minor second degree burns on exposed skin and major first degree burns on whatever little unexposed skin they had (their outfit really made Kashizudoto shudder). It also knocked them back a fair distance, reversing their landing destination so that gravity would pull them towards their partner on the ground. Meanwhile, Kashizudoto's clone had already launched his offense of ten fire spheres at the bandit on the ground.

But these guys weren't just gonna take this sitting down. One of the guys in the air threw his battle axe at the flames, damaging the weapon but dispelling the projectiles. Because of this, the bandit on the ground was free to charge straight at Kashizudoto's clone with his battle axe ready to destroy the caravan. Meanwhile, the other bandit flying mid-air was able to launch his battle axe straight for the wagon at the back. No... No... No... He couldn't let the wares be destroyed!

The original Kashizudoto rushed for the charging bandit with his Tentetsutou in hand. His meteor blade, with a black, shiny hue, clashed with the rugged, bloody battle axe of the bandit. This was his first time using his own katana in a real battle. So he had to crush this guy. He sidestepped to the right to throw the bandit, who was using an unwieldy battle axe, totally off balance. He would proceed to slash at the criminal's left hip while the guy was caught off guard.

Meanwhile the katon clone needed to divert the battle axe heading straight for the wagon. He was out of chakra; there really wasn't much he could do jutsu-wise. Unlike the original Kashizudoto or a kage bunshin, this one couldn't use Bukijutsu, only Katon ninjutsu. However, it could act as a shield. So that's what it did. The clone jumped straight at the axe, poofing away as the axe was thrown off course and hit a boulder. An act of self-sacrifice and quick thinking on the clone's part. It was his duplicate, after all.

WC: 1114

The glimmering black blade pierced through the bandit's left hip, causing him to yelp. No, no, he was not finished. His assignment was to... kill them. The battle axe swung right at Kashizudoto's jugular. He pulled the blade out and ducked before slashing again at the belly of the bandit, toppling him.

"Iwagakure doesn't tolerate bandits," Kashizudoto said point-blank to the bandit, before stabbing him right in the heart. Blood spattered all over his swordsman's robe; even a little got on his chin. It was fine, he could wash that off, physically and mentally. He was a strong-willed person. While he preferred not to kill, he was strong enough to carry on with his life after taking someone's life for the first time, since they had probably done the same to countless innocent merchants in the pursuit of money. The bandit would likely die soon.

Two more charged straight at Kashizudoto with their fists in the air, as they had already thrown their axes. He dislodged his bloody onyx blade from the chest of the bandit. He had no time to reminisce about what he had done. It was time for the next two to get what was coming for them... He charged.

WC: 1324

The two enemies and Kashizudoto made face to face as the bandits threw punches at Kashizudoto. He ducked and performed a low sword sweep with his Tentetsutou, knocking the two unsuspecting criminals off their feet before diagonally slashing them through their bellies. He heard them both screech as they realized that their fates would be similar to the one that the chuunin had just killed. Meanwhile, the merchants watched, not in horror but in relief. They were... happy? To see people die? Even if there were enemies, that kind of obsession with goods wasn't healthy.

Either way, he had to send a message to the other bandits about Iwa's no tolerance policy for theft, even if it meant adding two more to the list of people he'd killed. Heck, Kashizudoto was probably saving more people than he was killing, although it certainly didn't feel that way.

"Make this quick, kid," one of the bandits said, as they looked at Kashizudoto. He heeded the criminal's last request. One quick slash through their throats with the Tentetsutou opened them up. The nerve endings would end up losing their connection, and they'd instantly lose their brain's connection to the rest of the body, killing them relatively quickly - not too painfully either.

"Let's go," he told the merchants as they headed off to the border. Within about an hour, as Kashizudoto had predicted, they reached the border and thanked him for his service as was customary. It was now time for him to report back on what had transpired.

WC: 1587

[Exit]

B-rank Mission: 1500/1500