Mission:

It was time to get back into the swing of things. Syekren had been spending most of his time training other people and newbies for whatever reason, but now was his time to start making money again and keeping the village safe. The Uchiha had taken an A-Rank mission that seemed to be rather dangerous. Which made sense, being that it was an A-Rank mission. Still, that no one would take this didn't bode well for the Uchiha, since that usually meant that it was too hard or too intimidating. Syekren was not one to back down from a challenge though, especially if it meant an income and protecting his village. Syekren had taken the mission with pride, to which people viewed him as though he were crazy. He was a jounin now and that meant that he'd have to take the most hectic and dangerous missions if he wished to succeed.

The mission statement was asking for the disposal of a small force that was intent on invading a small village just outside the village hidden in the sand's protection. There would likely be no less than one or two hundred bandits, led by someone somewhat capable. Or so Syekren was hoping. Fighting off evils like a crazed maniac in the slums was well and good, but he felt that it was no real challenge to him given his immense and ever rising skill. The mission was named aptly: One Man Army. He would prove this mission title to be correct with his performance today. Upon making sure he had his mission briefing and supplies, the ninja made his way out of the ANBU headquarters underneath the administration building, following the tunnels to the exit that let out just outside of the village gates, far from watchful eyes. When he exited, Syekren covered the entrance he'd come from and set out.

Syekren was clad in his normal clothing: black shinobi netted shirt with black out sleeves, a black shinobi gi vest over that. Black shinobi gi tights and black tabi with black shinobi sandals. To offset this was a sandy brown Sunagakure no sato flak jacket, which was without the shoulder guards so it was more like a vest. Syekren tied his hitai-ate tightly around his forehead, keeping his jet black hair from his eyes, and checked to make sure he was ready once more. His right thigh had bandages wrapped around it with a tool pouch over that, containing his kunai and shuriken. The bandages were to keep from the abrasive materials giving him a rash or something. On his belt in the back upon the right side was a shiny new tanto, Hikari-Ha. Emphasis on shiny, for this blade was able to cast a blinding light.

Syekren smirked to himself and nodded. He was ready and he would not be defeated. Remembering the location details from his mission brief, he closed the scroll and put it into his gi pocket, making a mad run for the direction he was sure was the way to the outlying village. He wondered if he'd get there in time to stop the invasion and assault, or if he'd have to fight through a small village of hovels to get to his targets. Either way was fine to him, as long as he got the mission done. He knew enclosed spaces would make this mission a bit easier on himself, since he was specialized in close quarters combat. For all he knew though, so were the bandits he was off to face. Wasn't that the fun though?

606/2,500

It took the Uchiha a little less than twenty minutes to reach the village in question and he could tell by the screams and smoke rising that he was already too late to stop them from attacking the village.  The fact that he didn't see any bodies when he stepped into the village limits was a good sign that they hadn't started killing anyone just yet. Syekren looked around, being wary of his surroundings as he walked deeper into the village. He heard one scream and loud laughter coming from the general direction in front of him but it didn't seem like there were any other victims. Just one feminine sounding scream. Normally, this would be a good thing, but when it came to the lives of those the ninja was supposed to save by taking care of these bandits, that normally spelled out their deaths already. Hearing a slight noise from a hovel to his right as he approached the village square, Syekren turned to see a window with the blinds closing rather quickly under his gaze. Giving in to his curiosity and suspicions, Syekren stepped forward, reaching back to place a hand on the hilt of his tanto. The blade slowly drew out about half an inch, exposing the shining metal. He wasn't going to draw yet, but he'd be ready.

Upon reaching the door of the hovel, the Uchiha heard noises from behind the door and forced it open, drawing his tanto. A flash of movement to his left and the ninja brought his tanto to have the tip pointed at the throat of what he found to be a tottering old man. To his right, the shinobi noticed a feeble looking older woman with a broom raised above her head, absolute fear in her eyes. Syekren looked between the two for a moment, then pulled his weapon back and sheathed it, crossing his arms. He wasn't here to kill civilians, and by the looks on their faces, that's what they were. "My name is Syekren Uchiha. I'm a jounin from the village hidden in the sand. We've received intel on a large force of bandits that are supposed to be around this area, possibly on their way to attack this village. Unless that is why there is laughing and the screaming of what sounded like a young woman out there." The jounin looked between the two, the older lady lowering her broomstick, tears welling in her eyes. It appeared the two of them were going through something and were likely to ask for help with it. It seemed like it would be a pain so Syekren turned to leave.

"Wait! Our grand daughter.  They have Shizuya! Please, you have to help her. When they arrived, we all hid in our homes but she was out getting herbs and they grabbed her. Save her, before it's too late."

Well, Syekren was right on both accounts. They did want something, and it would be a pain. Still, this sort of thing was his duty to see through to the end. Without a word to either of them, the jounin exited their hovel and closed the door tightly, looking around. He'd need to work through the village through the shadows, so as not to alert any of the bandits to his presence. If they didn't see him coming they would be less likely to harm the girl and he would be able to kill off a number of them without too much hassle. Syekren nodded and moved into the shadows of a nearby hovel, near the village center, looking around. In front of him, leaning against a wall and drinking, was a bandit. He seemed to be enjoying himself and was likely keeping watch for anyone that would come up on the village to stop their reign of terror. With a sigh of happiness, the bandit finished his drink and turned to 'relieve himself.' When he did so, he'd see the flash of movement Syekren was at that moment, a blade drawn and moving quickly to swipe at his throat. It was over before he could cry out, the bandit fell to the ground, gurgling and drowning in his own blood.

Syekren flicked his blade, to get the blood off but needn't have bothered. Two others turned the corner to relieve their buddy and found the ninja standing over his body. They shouted and grabbed their weapons, but the Jounin was too quick. Before a swing was taken, the tanto was stabbed into one throat and then the side of the other's head. They were both dead before they hit the ground, but others would be coming. Syekren shook his head and activated his sharingan. He'd have to fight the groups anyway, and just hope that the girl would be fine. Stepping into the village center, there were definitely ninety or so little guys left and a large monolith of a man. He sat upon a makeshift throne that looked like a broken statue, with a frightened young woman seated at his side. His axe glinting in the sun, was held next to her to keep her still.

"Well well. If it isn't a little ninja. How about this, I came here with a hundred men. You killed three, which leaves a whole lot more. Math isn't my forte, but I can see there's only one of you. So why don't you just sit there... and DIE!" A wave of his axe and the horde rushed forth. One on one, they wouldn't have been too much of an issue. But ninety or so on one was a whole other story. With his sharingan activated he would have more time to register their moves and react, but only just so. The Uchiha's red irises had two black tomoe spinning in the continuously as his eyes darted back and forth. A dodge here, a counter there, it was all he could do to strike back and stay alive. All of his blows only seemed glancing, but as he worked through the strikes of the army, he was working towards their leader. Syekren was not going to allow this man to get away with whatever he had planned. When he'd made it to the middle of the army, the leader kept laughing, watching the situation unfold.

Three came forth and lost their lives, another six took their places. It was hard to keep up with everything going on, but the jounin got a sudden idea and began to store up chakra, dodging and weaving as he did so. He'd counter strikes and parry, doing critical damage when he took advantage of the openings these two left. There was nary a person who could attest to being able to stand toe to toe with an ANBU in their prime. Syekren was not only that, but an Uchiha. A possessor of the sharingan. He only needed to wait until his chakra was ready, then he would be able to end this rather quickly. Ducking, dodging, countering. It continued on and on, seven more falling, then another seven. Twenty bandits total had lost their lives to the blade of the jounin, Hikari-Ha. He was getting his own injuries, small cuts and bruises, but injuries nonetheless.

1,235|1,841
1,841/2,500

290/300:

It was time, Syekren had stored enough chakra to unleash the move he was storing for. But he'd need the opportunity to use it. His body turned in quick succession, a twirling motion and a flurry of his blade. The tanto struck home on multiple targets around him.  Twelve more would fall from this maneuver. Leaving the total bandit to thirty-two who had lost their lives to the ninja. This was starting to break morale, which was good because it gave Syekren room to breathe as he unleashed the jutsu. A puff of smoke and from it behind him came an exact duplicate. This clone was his equal in nearly every way, barring strength and speed values. Still, it would be more than a match for these guys, and they appeared shaken when they realized they would be fighting none one seemingly invincible jounin, but two. Using this to his advantage, Syekren ran forward, as did the clone. While the clone struck at multiple foes with a sweeping kick to take them to the ground, the original jumped up, using heads and springs boards and steps to get over the crowd. The army of bandits converged on the clone while trying to stop the ninja who jumped at their leader. Their leader was quick and drew his axe up, giving the girl a chance to run and hide behind a house. Steel met steel in a clash against two indomitable wills.

But Syekren wasn't just running towards the leader for this opportunity. He was running so he could get out of a specific zone. While the leader and Syekren clashed, with the Uchiha dancing around the axe and the leader, his clone was being impaled on swords. Instead of just disappearing however, the clone smirked as  Syekren willed the jutsu's secondary effect into play. A massive explosion took place  where the clone was, killing the five or six bandits who were making direct contact with the flame and combustion of the explosion. While multiple others were injured in it, bones being broken by the direct force and knocking many of them down or back onto the ground. This explosion was unprecedented in many regards, and no one save for Syekren had expected it. They were all flabbergasted and confused, openings were left everywhere. Especially with the bandit leader who had been shocked by the noise and looked over, his weapon being lowered ever so slightly as he lost focus. That was all the opening one would need were they looking to end this fight.

Syekren saw this opening and took it, his blade meeting the flesh of his target, pushing deep into the ribs to puncture the lungs and then the heart. A soft gasp came from the lips of the bandit leader as he realized what had happened to him, staring down at the wound as Syekren pulled his blade back.  The leader fell to his knees, clutching the wound. Syekren turned and as he did so, he swiped the blade across the leader's exposed throat, causing copious amounts of blood to flow from a second wound. The man fell face first into the dirt, dead from his wound while the jounin looked back at the gathering bandits. The remainder of the army, being around fifty to sixty ruffians. The uchiha shook his head and cleaned his blade off on the shirt of the leader, resheathing his tanto. There was nothing in the air from these louts other than palpable fear. Those that could, ran, those that could not were left behind, struggling to catch up to their brethren. As for any who could do neither, well, they were dead upon the ground. Houses started opening, people coming out to look in the middle of the town, beholding the sight of the lone man who had taken on an army and won. There were nothing but cheers, and a few angry people kicking the bodies of the bandits. Syekren looked around, slightly uncomfortable from the cheering, but nodded anyway. His job had been done, the people were safe.

684|2,525
2,500/2,500
Mission Completed, 25 words discarded.

235/300:

[Exit]