Mission name: The Infinity Gang
Mission rank: B
Objective: Go and wipe out the Infinity gang and their leader.
Location: The Wild West
Reward: 500
Mission description: One of the most prominent Gangs in the area call themselves the infinity gang. You are to go there and wipe them out. If some escape that is fine but slaughter their leader with out fail.
Mission details: The gang is properly named for its mass of members. About 20 academy level members with Kunai With E-3 stats and about 20 genins armed with C rank swords with D-3 Stats. The leader is a massive chunnin with all C-3 Stats (Speed is C-2 while Strength is B) And Armed with a B rank Halberd. You must kill at least the leader. Once he is dead the rest will scatter.

2500 wc

Faith and superstition are strange powers. Intangible in nature, unseen in form. They seep into the minds of people and subtly take hold of their actions and perceptions. Altering the future. Swaying the heart. The weaker the will of the person, the meeker they are. Such powers nudge them into a moral code, suppressing their urges to question statements fed by the spoon. Fangs are pulled, wings are clipped, blinkers are worn. But those of stronger will are often worse for the wear. They twist faith and superstition to fit their needs. Zealots. False prophets. And feed the masses a tainted version that riles them into a suicidal charge.

When life presses man hard enough, some will collapse under its weight and rebel against the society that made them bend their knees. A moment of chaos, an uproar. Easily quelled by those in power. It is the unfortunate side effect of living in a world driven by the ambition to reach the top. Just to make life easier. But when the rebel meets the zealot, man gives birth to an unholy matrimony. A blind devotion towards self-destruction is created, driven by a force unknown that might not be too far off from the ambition to lay claim upon what a twisted heart desires.

Within the Valleys of Iwagakure a new presence has made its introduction. A young woman in tattered kimono. A yamabushi seeking to live of the land as she seeks to find inner balance and peace of mind. No one would care about another person roaming the land, but this one yamabushi has taken it upon her to halt the miscreants that crossed her path. Bandits out to harm the weak just to sustain themselves in their misguided perceptions. Though few of these bandits are robbed of their life, all one needs is fear to turn a simple situation into a veritable nightmare. A repetition of events, a foul wind spreading the word. And so, an akuma is born, haunting the lives of the fallen.

It is said that when rot taints the apple, one should cut it out. If the rot is not removed, it will sicken the entire apple. And eventually the whole fruit basket. It is not hard to remove the rot out of an apple, but is it possible to remove rot out of existence? A man can slay another with a blade and take its life to remove rot of society, but can a man slay the mind with a blade to remove the reasoning behind it? It matters not how many lives the akuma takes as she preserves the life of the weaker. As long life persists, rot will taint it and eventually destroy it. Such is the nature of man and that of the world.

Not everything about reputation is good. When bandits are allowed to live, a second chance offered to change their ways, but their mind and perceptions have not been reformed, word travels fast. The dream of one becomes the dream of many. The vision of one, because the dream of the masses. And so a collective of bandits is formed. A mass of fallen men and women taking up their pitchforks to deal with the akuma that happens to crush their vile dreams as they cross her. Or in this case, a mass of bandits of varying skill banding together to deal with the obstacle barring their dark path.

Patience. Perseverance. With those two the gang of bandits eventually found the yamabushi along one of the roads. The show could begin...

---

Black smoke rose up to pollute the clear blue skies as Mizuki walked in between two hills. The area here had little to show for. Lush green grass wherever the eyes could see, altered in altitude by the rise and fall of the hills that had were created at nature's whim. The wide area was open for the winds to tease as they saw fit and usually low on life with the exception of rabbits. Nothing else. The yamabushi had come here for a casual stroll but at the sight of such quantity of rabbits she was inclined to take down one or two to prepare as food for the coming days. She was about to conjure her bow when the intense sting of a gaze made her look sideways and at the young man that had created the black clouds to begin with. Something felt off, but other than the odd sensation he was keeping an eye on her there was little reason to worry.

Turning her gaze on the rabbits again, a figure in the corner of her eye attracted her attention. Another young man stood at the top of the hill, arms crossed, watching her. His eyes seethed with hate, his intent palpable even at this range. Then a duo showed up, two pair of eyes fixated on her, one of them playing with a kunai in a cocksure way. He could already see Mizuki's blood cover the earth, her life taken away by his hands. At that point, Mizuki halted. There was no mistake. Whoever these people were, they had one and the same goal - her.

As if that realisation was the cue, the men started to run down the hills towards her, shouting loudly as they stormed her. Mizuki waited calmly for them to arrive, expecting them to be just a small group of muggers with her being their unfortunate victim. They would soon come to understand their mistake as the first one reached her in an attempt to punch and found his fist subtly directed away from her with her left hand. Moving with a slight step, she then pushed him with her right hand, using his own momentum against him to see him stumble forward as he was brought out of balance. The next one ran in, his attack parried with ease before he found her knuckles strike his plexus uncomfortably precise. He doubled over in pain and rolled on his back as he gasped for air, body shut down in temporary paralysis. Two more reached her, from both sides. Stretching arm and feet, the yamabushi kicked one backwards as her hand slided past the other's offence and found his chest. The two hit the ground at the same time, leaving but one to deal with. Seeing his allies being dealt with so easily, he suddenly decided against a blind assault in numbers and clenched his kunai until his knuckles turned white.

There would be no time for a conversation as the distracting presence of a wildly frenzying gang suddenly showed up from all sides. Mizuki could feel a shiver run down her spine as she came to the understanding that the first five were just there to keep her occupied. The real danger would come now, armed with weapons and blood lust. Appearing as last at the top of one of the hills stood a broad man, arms crossed and smiling smugly. The yamabushi recognised him. He had been one of the highway men she had beaten in defence of a couple of tourists. It seemed he had not forgiven her interference.

---

Track: 5/20 AS, 0/20 Genin, 0/1 leader defeated.

1198

What followed in the wake of the troops' revelation was a skirmish like few would be seen. On her own against three dozen disgruntled bandits, surrounded, there was little means of escape at first sight. A variety of weapons, a single shared spirit of vengeance. There was no way to assess their power and skill at first sight but from the looks of some opening stances they didn't look too trained. She was inclined to unseal her own weapons against the sheer amount of people she would be facing, but not wishing to betray her shinobi heritage she decided against it. Unarmed combat it was although her reputation as unmatched swordswoman in the area preceded her. There were plenty of weapons to pick if she really needed one.

"Get her!", the leader shouted at the top of his lungs, face turning red as he did so. Under one load war cry, the masses stormed in one after the other. Not prepared for this, the kunoichi was glad to have picked up a technique from a previous encounter during the Chuunin Exams. Channelling raiton chakra, electricity would course across her body without sound or sight, providing a sort of defence that would grant her an advantage in counter-attacking. Following that one up, she subtly formed the snake hand seal to add another layer of defences just in case these brigands would have the ability to cast jutsu as in a situation as this even a slight underestimation could prove fatal.

By the time the first wave would arrive, Mizuki was running to meet them. Though peace was a preferred approach, right now the yamabushi would show them why exactly she was considered an 'akuma' in their eyes. There would be no holding back against those that had come for her skin and thus the first of her opponents made his acquaintance with her elbow, breaking his nose as he was knocked back a meter by the combination of speed and strength. The second one's attack was dodged, pushed back into the third one before the fourth one's wrist was smashed by her counter attack, making him drop his kunai as he could no longer hold it. As he yanked his hand back in pain, she picked up the kunai as it fell down, parried the strike of the fifth and threw her kunai in the eye of the sixth. Returning to the fifth bandit who hadn't given up just yet, she sidestepped and move to stand beside him, her fist finding his temple before she grabbed his lumping body as a meat shield against number seven. The seventh member hesitated as he didn't want to strike his ally, making a grave mistake as she dropped the body and used it as a step-up to slam her knee mid-flight against his face. Landing on the floor, she ducked under the eight's attack, grabbed another kunai as she rolled through, and swiftly stabbed his calf, thigh and kidney in succession to disable him from the battle.

All in all she had moved three meters forwards since first contact, leaving six disabled bandits behind her in a matter of seconds. The two that had been pushed rather than hit returned to their senses, joining the next wave to strike the kunoichi. Mizuki had found her opponents' coordination and follow-up horrible, their speed slow and their reactions much to wish for. These were what, genin rank at best? Still, she couldn't drop her awareness as more of them had to be dealt with. Wave two was about to happen, even though it would still feel like one giant wave crashing down upon her to the bandits.

Rolling to the side, Mizuki dodged the sword swing of a back-strike, his killing intent betraying him as he shouted in anger, then parried a second attack in front of her with her kunai. Cleverly timed, the third one kicked her in the chest with intent to kick her into the waiting blades behind her, but the jutsu armor stopped him dead in his tracks, shocking his foot in the process. Even without it, his strength would not have sufficed for the balanced stance of the trained swordswoman, and found her counter-attacking by kicking the only leg left to stand on as he jumped around in pain. Seeing the kunoichi resist their tactics, the two in her back decided to lunge forward. Little did they know a ball of raiton chakra would reply to their attack. Unleashing the power as they were about to hit, the two opportunists found themselves in the backlash along with three others that had been too late to jump back to get out of its radius. The second degree burn wounds took them out swiftly, the scent of burned flesh and moans making that obvious to all.

The technique had cleared a small perimeter around her and for the first time the bandits were starting to see the error they had made. Misjudging their opponent for a swordswoman, great was their surprise when the raiton made short work of their troops. Her reputation among the bandits was set even more now. Akuma. Not just a yamabushi or even a swordswoman, they had angered a demon that had otherwise been content defeating them with taking a minimum amount of lives. The beginning of fear was visible in their eyes, but even if Mizuki felt a pang of pain shoot through her heart at the violence she was forced to wield, she would not stop until they surrendered, ran away or ended up dead.

"Don't just stand there! It's just a trick!", the leader shouted, rallying his people to continue their attack. As they regained their morale, fear once more pushed back by incited vengeance, Mizuki took the opportunity to dash closer towards the leader. She would not be able to reach him, but every meter closer to him was a small victory. If she could take him out, the others would scatter easily. The challenge was getting through the mass of bandits that were once again running up to her.

---

1030
Total: 2228

Track: 13/20 AS, 3/20 Genin, 0/1 leader defeated.

190/240:

Battle became more dangerous as the better trained units arrived to join the fray with swords. The kunai's short range was nothing to worry about, but the swords made it harder to counter attack. Especially if there were more than a dozen of those pokers trying to slash her to ribbons. There was no other option for her than to even the fight with her own weapon. Clapping her hands together, Seiun would appear in a puff of smoke within her hands, instantly drawn from its scabbard as the first strike was made in her direction. It was not an ideal iaijutsu strike, but the power behind it was sufficient to knock the blade out of his hands. No time to finish off her strike, two others flanked her and lunged. Mizuki jumped and over the disarmed man, kicking him in the back as she landed on her feet and immediately rolling forward to create some more distance. As she stood up, she parried two incoming strikes, then another one, before she cut of the main hand of the last attacker and stomped another in the stomach. Redirecting the attack of the eighth swordsman with her sheathe, she retaliated with a clean jab in his stomach, before sensing an attack from behind. She stepped forward out of its reach performed a handless cartwheel kicking the tenth into the ground and followed it up with a jab at the eleventh man, who attempted to parry but saw the kunoichi's katana pass his defences and pierce his chest like it was made of butter.

As a couple of men stood up, the others rushed in despite the fluid dance of the yamabushi. A couple of the units in the back hesitantly started to walk backwards as they saw their plan crumble apart with the increasing rate of their allies knocked out, wounded or dead, but the leader would have none of it. Raging even more and starting to scold them for their weakness, tension rose tremendously within the ranks of the bandits as Mizuki continued her deadly cadence. Flourishing her katana before her, a few poor attacks were deflected quickly before Seiun suddenly lashed out to slash a man across his chest. Though not a deadly blow, it was still too much for the untrained brigand who dropped into the ground.

Another round of quick parries with sheathe and katana followed before her shoulder rammed into an opponent, pushing the air out of his lungs as he tumbled onto the hard ground. Future reasons to stand up were instantly killed as Seiun bit deeply into his shoulder. As she removed the katana, a surprisingly fast attack cut pieces of the linen that made her tattered kimono, strand of dirty gold dwindling to the ground before he suddenly seemed to look guilty when Mizuki's hawk eyes turned to his direction. Catching the whistle of a kunai in flight to her left, she took a step back to dodge it, watching how the guilty bandit took the chance to make himself scarce. At the same time, the kunai hit the shoulder of the man that was nearing from her right side and tumbled over his knocked out ally behind him.

Looking to her left to find the one who had thrown the kunai, two more bandits tried to stop her as they shouted wildly and desperately. One by one, she deflected their attacks, forced to a brief stand still by their desperate fierceness before she found an opportunity on the outside range of the two. Faster than the two could perceive, she stepped in on the right and cleanly executed the first of the two by separating his head from his body. Instantly after, she parried the second berserker's attack and executed him as well.

By now the battlefield was so much as empty. While more than a handful bandits had lost their lives, most were either wounded or knocked out. A minority of them had fled in terror, leaving only the leader and five of his most trusted men behind. The blood on Seiun made the purple and gold katana look even more mystical than it already was, the colour of life itself beautifully mingling with the 'nebula' that was represented by this master crafted weapon. With one swift motion, Mizuki shook the blood of the blade and sheathed it, finally finding the time to tie the scabbard and position it properly for traditional iaido. Blue-green eyes rested upon the remaining members of what had been a small bandit army, determined to take down the leader once and for all.

A test of will took place between the fierce bandit leader and the calm and balanced yamabushi. He shifted his grip on his halberd, a pearl of sweat running down his cheek. His five bodyguards glanced at each other nervously. Loud swallowing. Then, against all odds, the leader suddenly ordered them to attack Mizuki as he turned a 180° and tried to run away. Surprised as they were suddenly abandoned, the five bodyguards turned around to looked at their escaping leader, only to see blue tendrils of lightning arc over them and electrocute the man on the spot. As he cried out in pain, Mizuki slowly moved forward allowing the raiton chakra to incinerate him little by little until nothing but a smoking, burned carcass remained.

Cutting her chakra flow, she would still move forward to halt in between the bodyguards paralysed with fear. A couple of seconds would pass before she spoke, the bandits visibly trembling now that the 'akuma' stood next to them.

"Please, stay out of trouble now."

Leaving her words at that as she believed this battle would have made clear the difference between the common thief and that of the 'yamabushi of the Valley', the kunoichi disappeared from sight with a flicker and a flash.

---

[EXIT]

982
Total: 3210

-2500 mission (500 ryo)
-700 extra (+175 ryo)

160/240: