Mission:

Ryo frowned as he looked at the city that he was standing in. Criminals, how did it always come back to criminals? This was the greatest failing of Sunagakure, there were always criminals around that needed to be put down like rabid dogs. He had dealt with criminals before, and he was sure that he had to deal with even more. He vividly recalled such an event. He had met that wonderful, and truly good-looking man with the stitches over most of his body. It was in meeting him that he had dealt with so many criminals killing most of them but sparing at least one of them. Now, he had heard that one of the ones he had spared was now riling up the people to resist the new order that was coming into the land of winds. He did not want Kumogakure to destroy the history of the lands of winds, but he knew that it offered the best hope for the people of the Land of winds. He would not allow these vile dogs to ruin the lives of the people that Sunagakure had protected when it was around, he would not allow these vile dogs to ruin the hope of these people to live prosperous lives.

He checked himself again and made sure that he had everything. Kuro was going to be a very important in this mission. He knew that anyone who had seen Kuro would never forget his oldest and darkest son. In fact, he would use Kuro and the puppeteering prowess of the Knetegawa clan to bring down the willpower of those who would be so stupid to cause problems. Not to mention the fact that he would be using his oldest son to slaughter the criminals in the most spectacular fashion that he could manage. If one was brutal enough then they could demoralize anyone, and these animals were not worthy of mercy nor did he have any left. The wound that he had dealt himself in agreeing to erase the past that was Sunagakure was too deep, too fresh, and far too grievous for him to even attempt to settle down calmly to this important job.

Ryo however, was very grateful for one thing, and that was he didn’t have to do this mission alone. He was going to do it right beside his friend, and now his superior Raphael Kozai. Ryo and Raphael had grown very close after the fall of Sunagakure, and the pair had done a few missions together, and were spending time together more often than not. In fact, he was going to accompany Raphael to his clan’s home somewhere in the land of winds. He didn’t know where the Kozai estate was, but the land of Winds Knetegawa clan compound was gone now due to Ryo’s own hand so he would be unable to show his friend his home where he grew up, and where his clan had first risen to power. The split was something that happened long ago which was the result of a succession dispute between triplets a rarity even among the Knetegawa where twins were far more common than in most families or at least so it seemed to Ryo who read the histories of his family. There was also something about how one of the triplets let half the clan be seperated in a sandstorm, but Ryo hadn't finished reading that. Now, he was waiting for Raphael to come along and meet him at the gates of the Kumogakure forward camp. When they met each other then they could head out to deal with the dogs that were harming the flocks of people who needed Kumogakure to live in peace.

WC: 625

The young special jounin let out a sigh as he lifted himself from his bed, another day within the land of wind and the boy was still no closer to seeing his family. Raphael had been trying for the past year to find the right time to venture off from the village hidden in the cloud and return to the Kozai estate not only to see his family but to inform them that he was still alive, something he had not done before he had left Kaze no Kuni after the fall of Sunagakure no Sato. However with the Raikage making his own plans for a mass migration of shinobi to the land of wind himself, Raphael was unable to find the time to do so, though he did hope that with them already being in the land of wind it might be easier to convince the higher ups to allow him to travel to the estate to see his family and get their support for the Raikage's cause. Unfortunately they would not approve such a journey at this time, there was just too much that still needed to be done and there was just not enough shinobi for them to be able to spare the services of himself and Ryo for a few days. Raphael thought that after all that the cloud shinobi had been able to accomplished in the days since their arrival here within the land of wind that they would be able to make the journey soon, but it seemed no matter how much the Kumogakure shinobi achieved there were still those that would move to oppose them. Today was like every other day has been since their arrival, the shinobi of the hidden cloud village would spread the word of Hastur and his promise to bring order unto this lawless land. There were always those that would stand in the way of that goal, openly opposing the Hidden cloud shinobi's presence within the land of wind, today Raphael was to partner with Ryo and quell the people of Kaze no Kuni. Though there was more than simple preachers on their soap boxes spouting lies and slander against the shinobi of the village hidden in the clouds, there have been reports of criminal activity, riots among the people all rallying against the village hidden in the cloud something that could not be allowed law and order must be brought to the people of Kaze no Kuni and if it had to be brought by force then Raphael was just the man for the job. The young special jounin had a lot of pent up aggression caused by the inability for him to be allowed to go see his family, these people were the reason for this as long as they stood in the way of the Raikage's plan for this land then they stood in the way of him returning to his home and he was sick of it and would put a stop them even if it meant he had to kill each and every one of them. Though he severely doubted that it would come to that, he knew that him and Ryo would more than likely have to put down a few of them he doubted that all of them would have a strong resolve. Once they got rid of the major trouble makers, Raphael felt sure that the rest of them would bend the knee and no longer oppose the rule of the Raikage.

Once Raphael was sure that he had everything he needed, the young shinobi swung his Kaminari Steel Fuma shuriken around to the strap on his back before throwing on his travel cloak and exiting his tent making his way to the gates of the border camp to meet with Ryo. The sooner they got this over with the sooner they could return and with any luck the sooner they could begin their journey to the Kozai Estate. "Good Morning Ryo," the young shinobi said with a wave once he had finally reached the gate to meet with his comrade, "it is going to be a great day to deal with the vermine don't you think?"

---

701

Ryo waited at the gate for Raphael gently patting the scroll holster that held Kuro. He would have to use his belonged first born once again, but this time he would show no mercy. He saw now that it was a mistake to let criminals walk away alive, they would just come back to haunt you later. It was sad that there were so many criminals in the land of wind. When he heard Raphael call out to him he turned to look at his partner for this job. Yet, the look on his face was already one of resignation, as well as the cold brutality that was his whenever he had to go into a fight like this. His eyes were already the cold empty pits that Raphael was likely to recognize from the many times they went into a fight or towards a mission before now. Hearing the question Ryo gave a shrug and started to walk out of the gate towards the bulk of the city “I suppose, but every day is a good day to destroy vermin. Yet, Raph I want to be very clear with what I want to happen. I will not harm anyone physically unless they are a criminal. A serious criminal and those criminals will die, in the most gruesome fashion that I can manage. I spared at least one of these low lives before and now look at this. They are haunting our mission yet again. I will not allow it to happen a third time. It is because of these vermin that our village was in so much chaos that we couldn’t defend ourselves.” The delivery of these lines was the cold calculating voice of someone with experience in the matter.

As he walked out of the gate heading towards the people he said clearly “There is a rabble rouser near the old administration building. Rather, the ruins of the administration building, there is someone stupid trying to create a riot group by the ruins of the academy. These are the two biggest threats that I have been able to find any information on. If we get rid of them then it is likely we will eliminate many, many people. I hope that we get lots, and lots of these vermin.” He said in the same voice that was cold and calculating. It was clear what he was doing, and that he was ready to end this job without showing much mercy. He had decided as soon as this mission was given to him that he would not allow these people to escape again. Presently he said “I think we need to deal with the one at the ruins of the academy. He is a vile criminal slimeball, I have let him go once already, and I do not want to make that mistake again. The things he does are directly my fault. I need to stop him.” He said for the first time the genuine desire to rid the world of what he believed was a problem he created. With this in mind he lead the way towards the few pieces of the academy that was left, despite his best efforts to destroy every brick and block of it.

541
Total:1168

Raphael understood how Ryo felt, there was no need to kill those that were not the heinous criminals that deserve death. The young shinobi could see that Ryo was blaming himself for letting the criminal live in the past, and that he saw to redeem himself by enacting his own version of redemption or justice or whatever his friend considered to be his responsibility. "Do not worry my friend all those that deserve to die this day will die by our hands, and then those that blindly follow them will open their eyes to see the better path that is before them." Raphael replied as he followed Ryo through the gate and into what people want to believe is a city, but to the boy it was no better than the slums of the old village, his clan estate would be more considered a city compared to this in his eyes. Raphael could tell the boy was all about the mission he was not his normal self, Raphael had dealt with his own mistakes that he had made in the past and now it was his job to help his friend do what he needed to do. He knew that his friend was taking this rather personal, so he would allow Ryo the privilege of calling the shots as well as dealing with the riff raff as he saw fit and the young special jounin would only intervene if he absolutely needed to do so. Hearing his friend speak of moving to the ruins of the academy to deal with the man he had once let live now causing trouble snapped the young special jounin back from his thoughts and into the present moment, his friends tone was no longer the cold calculating voice before but rather a flame of desire and hatred. As the young Kozai moved to follow his friend's path to the ruins of the academy, he knew he would have to keep an eye on his friend to ensure that the boy's emotions did not get the better of him in the time to come.

"They come with their promise of a better life, yet all I see is more destruction!" The words followed by a large cheer of a crowd could be heard from blocks away as the duo neared the ruins of the academy, it was clear that whoever this man was that was rallying them they had a way with their words and was getting the backing of the masses. "I urge you to rise up and over throw this so called Raikage and the nation slaved to his will, we are Suna and we will not be ruled by them." The cheer of the crowd continued as the pair rounded the corner, a large crowd of about 50 surrounded a man on a small platform of boxes that he stacked upon each other. "Their here!" Came a shout from a man near the back of the crowd as he turned to see the two boy's and their Hitai-ate's baring the crest of the hidden cloud village. A murmur quickly spread throughout the crowd by the look on most of their faces they were scared of what the two shinobi of the hidden cloud village would do. "Their here to silence us all kill them before they kill all of us," came the man from the platform of boxes as five rather large men made their way in front of the two boys. Raphael raised his hands into the air before he called out to the crowd, "This gathering is shut down, there is no needed for all of you to die. Return to your homes and live honorable lives and you will have no trouble from us or any other shinobi of the hidden cloud village." His words finished Raphael scanned the faces of the crowd, with the exception of the five men many of them we unsure of what they would do and others were outright scared and quickly scurried away. Raphael knew that even those that remained were not to blame, rather they were just followers of someone else's will. Had the situation been reversed he could not say he would not be among the crowd himself had he remained in the ruins as these people had.

Raphael looked to his partner in this, "you get the guy, I will handle these goons if need be." The young boy stated motioning to the five large guys that seemed all but brainwashed by the man's words. He would not harm anyone unless they made a move against himself or his friend, these would ensure that an innocent would not be harmed. Even those that moved against them the boy would only use non-lethal force against them, unless absolutely necessary. With any luck once the speaker was silenced, those within the thrall of his words would come to realize their mistake.

---

1528

Ryo nodded his head in agreement of what his partner said. Yes, those who needed to die would die this day. He would not let a single one of these vile rats escape him this time. They were nothing but mongrels, and worthless scum. He didn’t care anymore; these people were putting those that his clan had fought and died to protect at risk. The ones that his father had fought and died to protect. His father, known throughout his clan as the greatest puppet master of his generation. This was beyond dispute even in the two branches of his clan in both Kirigakure, and Kumogakure. He would not allow this to happen. He would not allow the people that his family had fought so hard to protect to die because of the madness that gripped the fools that sought to bring down destruction upon everything. His anger continued to boil over, but his eyes were so distant, and so icy that no one who looked into them could say there was a soul behind them. Nothing would save those who had to die today, and in all honesty Ryo was even considering the death of anyone who got in his way.

Ryo could hear the words, and the cheering. His blood turned to ice in his veins and he grew angrier still. They rounded the corner and saw the crowd, and the man who was on a small platform. Ryo locked in on him and he slowly snarled as if he was a wolf himself. Hearing the accusations Ryo lifted his hands slowly and undid his Hitai-ate from his head with one hand while the other hand reached into his pocket and pulled up the Hitai-ate of Sunagakure. He tied it around his head before he spoke loudly and clearly “People of Suna, People of the land of wind! I am Ryo Knetegawa! Those of you who called Sunagakure home should know well of my clan! All of my clan of fighting strength and shinobi status moved out to save as many of you from the attack as was possible! My clan, the Knetegawa clan have been guarding the land of winds for generations! Those of you who know of my clan know this as fact! I stand before you today to tell you that the land of wind is in dire straits! It has no choice, there is war coming! All the other lands are looking to take this land for themselves! If you resist you will die, and the rich blood that has flown in the heart of the land of winds will turn the dunes red! I am here once again to protect you all from as much harm as I can!” he pointed to the man on the stage with one hand while his other hand was at his side undoing the strap for Kuro on his scroll harness “That man is looking to get as many of you killed as possible! He will lead the people of the land of wind to destruction and ruin! He serves those who want to enslave you all! The Raikage is not our Kazekage, but as a shinobi of Sunagakure I tell you that is a good thing! He would never allow the violence, the thuggery, thievery, starvation, and suffering of his people! I beg of you to join the Raikage, protect the history of our land! Protect the Suna way of life! If you all die here in the sands blown away by the winds of war that is coming, then our people are gone! I will not allow it!”

He unrolled his scroll slowly as he continued to speak “I come before you not as one of the Kumo shinobi, but as a son of the land of winds, a soldier of Sunagakure! This man is your enemy!” with a puff of smoke he summoned Kuro and attached his focused chakra strings to his first-born son “He is your enemy, and I will destroy him! I will not harm anyone else, only he must die! Those of you who are truly loyal children of Sunagakure, of the land of winds flee from here at once! Go to the Raikage and join with his noble cause of peace and the life that you all deserve! A life not in decay, but of prosperity!” he was done talking now and seeing that some of the crowd were starting to leave already he rushed past the big men who seemed dumbstruck by his speech. He sent Kuro ahead of him aiming to end this farce. Kuro surged towards the man at Ryo’s urgings and he was moving as quickly as Ryo could hope. He twitched the pointer finger on his left hand and the blade on Kuro’s tail shot out immediately. Twitching the ring finger on his right hand caused the tail to swipe forward to swing at the man who was his target. He was driven from the boxes that were his stage and he drew a sword. It was a sword that Ryo hadn’t seen before, but it was eerily similar to the one that he had when they last met, but the steel was much better. Ryo snapped his arms and fingers in the dance that was puppetry sending Kuro in once again. The tail blade sang as it struck the man’s blade, and they continued to dance the dance macabre. He would have to trust Raphael to watch his back from the five enemies that he had left behind.

932
Total: 2100

Ryo's words were moving, even for his partner. It was hard to believe that despite the similarities in live that the two had gone through that they would each be changed in a different way. Where is Ryo clung to the belief of Suna and the past, Raphael had foregone his connection to the hidden sand village and all the evil that it once allowed within it's walls. Surrending himself fully to the way of the hidden cloud village and the will of the Raikage. It could be the fact that the boy was simply more susceptible to the ideas or the Raikage because of the power the boy had seen the Raikage wield and coveting the power for himself, and at the same time it could be that Ryo held a deeper connection with the sand village than Raphael had. Though both of their clans served the village hidden in the sand the Knetegawa had a much stronger connection with the village itself, that could be due to the fact that the compound was within the village's walls or it could be something else. No matter what the case was, the fact that Ryo still held onto his Sunagakure headband was a sign in the boy's eyes that he was not truly ready to give up on the past. Whether it was simply memories or if it was because of his friends father dying in the service of the sand it did not matter. The day would come that Ryo would be asked to surrender his headband as the last reminder of the former hidden sand village, but that day was not today, and this realization would not come from Raphael. The boys friendship with Ryo was more important to him than any duty he held for the Raikage their bond was deep, and if his friend wanted to hold on to the past then he was not going to stop him or say anything against it.

When Ryo made his move Raphael caught one of the men twitching causing a smile to form on his face as he spoke, "go ahead, I'm begging you try something." The boy's words were cold and emotionless as he stared at the five low life goons that were working for the man on the stage. The five of them looked around at each other for a few moments, as if trying to decide their next move. Were they going to be intimidated by the young special jounin amd just stand there as their boss got torn limb from limb by the boy's partner, or were they going to be stupid and try something. The boy was begging for one or even all of them to make a move, he knew that he had told Ryo he would only get involved if he needed to but now that they were there and he could hear Ryo's fight behind him the young shinobi was on edge. He wanted in on the fun of crushing someone's skull in he wanted to help his friend in giving these people and example of why they should not try to rise up and follow some no body that their lives would be under the best protection by the hidden cloud village, and at least the boy got his chance. Two of the men made a move the first one ran towards Raphael while the other made a break to attack Ryo from behind, it was the last move either one would make. Raphael's actions were swift and precise, he left no room for error and was able to dispatch both men with ease. Channeling wind chakra into his foot the boy released an arc of wind at the man that was running towards ryo, this arc formed a tornado that launched the man into the air as well as causing minor lacerations all over the man's body. As Raphael finish his spin kick and rose back up onto his feet the boy released a chakra enhanced upper cut to the man that was coming at him, the connection with the man's face released the built up chakra in the boy's hand sending the man flying backwards and up into the air 10 meters before crashing down on a fruit stand, he was down for the counter. Raphael's next move sent him propelling into the air meeting up with the man that his tornado had launched and performing a single powerful downward kick to the man's head, sending the man rocketing to the ground face first. Of course it did not matter how he landed the impact from the boy's attack would cause an explosion of wind to erupt on the man's skull he would be dead on impact.

The boy landed back on the ground shortly after the impact of the goon, he gave a quick glare to the other three who abruptly took off running away. Cowards the boy thought to himself as he turned his attention to Ryo and his fight with the man that had rallied all of those people together. He was not going to interfere with the fight unless Ryo looked as if he needed help, which Raphael highly doubted would happen. He knew his friend was a good fighter,so the young shinobi just sat back and watched the show. It had been a while since he had been able to just watch his friend operate without being in the thrall of battle either with his friend or against him in a spar, it would be interesting to actually study the fighting style of his comrade.

---

2478

Ryo was happy to let the crowd be watchers. Except that most of the more reasonable of the crowd had indeed heard the words that he had said. His headband, those that knew the clan, and various other things were all a factor. If one were to ask Ryo where the inspiration for those words came from he wouldn’t be able to tell them. He spoke them from his heart, and he was doing his best to save what was his people. He had nothing but respect for the Raikage, and he was fairly fond of his new home. However, the land of wind would always be his home, and nothing would make him betray that. However, he had much more important things on his mind at present. He had to fight, he had to kill these vermin who were threatening the people that his family loved so much.

Ryo was fully engaged with his opponent. The man had gotten himself some kind of training since the last time they had met, but it was still not entirely enough. He was able to hold his own with Ryo’s puppet. The two blades sang in the air as they clashed once, twice, thrice, and yet again. Ryo snarled in his annoyance seeing that he was getting nearly nowhere with the attacking he was trying to do. He would have to change the game up somehow. Raphael would see that his hands and fingers were moving, but his arms barely moved. The movements were elegant, and so fluid that it was clear Ryo was a master puppeteer even if he could only use one puppet. No one who didn’t know what to watch for would be able to tell that the fluidly moving Kuro was a puppet either. Now that he was merely an observer he could see that none of the movements Ryo used went to waste, and most of them, in fact, seemed very natural in order to disguise the fact that Ryo was doing anything.

The rat struck out with his blade and it caught on Kuro’s blade tail. With a smirk and a twitch of the appropriate fingers Kuro’s head snapped towards the man. His mouth dropped open and out of it shot three Senbon which struck into the man’s chest and stomach. He gave a grunt his blade slacking off at this point, and this was the perfect opportunity for Ryo. He used his fingers to make the tail blade flick away slapping the man’s blade away spinning into the sand. Then Ryo moved Kuro’s tail to slash into the man’s leg dropping him down onto one knee. This was not the end as Ryo was going to show no mercy “See here good people! See the man who would lead you all to death and destruction! Witness the true might of both Kumogakure, and the true Sunagakure shinobi!” snapping his arms forward again he forced his son forward to sink its fangs, and claws into the man biting and clawing into him again, and again. The man was far too weak to try and stop this attack and to do so caused the Senbon in his body to dig deeper and wound him further. He also used the tail blade to stab into the man’s legs, arms, and body as well. Soon the man was nothing but a stuck pig bleeding so profusely that the ground around him was the deepest crimson that it could be with all of his blood being spilled from his wounds.

Ryo pulled Kuro back to him and looked to the people “I want you all to head towards the Raikage’s base camp! Put yourselves under his care, and do not take up arms against him, nor Kumogakure! Be gone, or those of you who are foolish enough to follow this path will find yourselves like this vile rat!” those who were left did just as they were told. With the crowd gone Ryo walked over to the man's body and pulled his senbon free wiping them on his pant leg and then opening Kuro's mouth to reload the senbon shooter. When the senbon clicked into place he stood up. Then he walked towards Raphael with Kuro at his side. His eyes were still glazed over, and he still seemed to be on the edge of violence.

741
Total: 2841

Raphael watched in amazement as his partner worked, his movements so miniscule that if Raphael had not been watching the boy so closely he would not even have been able to tell that the boy was actually doing anything at all. Ryo was a true master of puppets in Raphael's eyes, he now understood why it was so hard for him to predict the movements of the boy's puppets during their spars. So much elegance and grace went into his puppets actions just from a few twitches of the boy's fingers that if the boy had not known any better he might of actually believed that the boy's puppet was a true wolf. The man Ryo was facing seemed to be holding his own against the puppet, leading Raphael to the conclusion that he was at least more skilled then the idiots he had just taken out. He debated on whether or not he needed to interfere, however at the same time he knew his friend would not forgive him if he did. Raphael thought back to the spar the two boy's had during the chuunin exams and how hard it was for him to keep up with the puppet movements, now after studying the boy he could see why. The Knetegawa clan was exceptional puppet users, but in Raphael's eyes his partner was so much more, it was not just a puppet master pulling the strings it was more like he was watching a work of art.

Raphael was snapped back to reality from his thoughts by the voice of his comrade as he called out to those who were still watching the fight between him and the man. Raphael witnessed his friend's puppet begin to rip the man apart just as a normal wolf would do, the cries of pain from the man gargled and slurred by the blood that filled his throat and ran down his body. It was a truly bloody sight for all those that bore witness to the event, Ryo pulled his puppet back to himself before making one last announcement to the crowd that still lingered. Raphael listened to the boy as he gave his own ultimatum to the crowd and watching as they began to disperse, before his partner went to the man's limp body and removed some senbons that his puppet had launched into the man's chest before putting them back into it's mouth. As his friend walked back towards him with his puppet in tow, Raphael could see the fire that still raced within the boy's eyes. He had seen a look like this before in his own eyes when he looked in the mirror, his friends eyes glazed as if he was not himself. Raphael knew there was still a job to do and could only hope that his partner was still up for the task, if he wasn't then he would deal with the next man himself.

"Well then, shall we continue?" Raphael asked in as cheerful a tone as he could manage as he began to head down the path to their next target, he knew his friend was still out for blood but he could only hope that his friend would not let this quest for blood and violence get in the way of completing their mission.

---

3041

Ryo couldn’t begin to tell anyone how good it felt to be fighting with his Kuro, he couldn’t or rather wouldn’t tell his friend how he had loved killing this man, this vile worm of a man with his firstborn son. Killing the man who was speaking was so worth while that he honestly didn’t think he would ever have the words to explain it. The feeling of making his son go through that dance, the epic scene that he not only got to make but enjoy as it unfolded. The art that was his and his alone to conduct. His children were his painbrushes and the man’s body had been his canvas. He had made him a work of art, but one that would not last. He had also made his son, his beloved Kuro a work of art as well.

Puppets were an art that lasted for hundreds of years if kept and sealed properly. In fact, Ryo could actually go back into the archives of the Knetegawa clan and find the puppets from his clan’s greatest elders. It was a tradition that the heads of the clan had their puppets enshrined in the “hall of Puppets” for all to see. His mother had been in charge of those scrolls and their evacuation when she returned to the clan compound after all had been truly lost. When the administration building of Sunagakure had gone down she knew that the fight was lost so she hurried home and grabbed the scrolls of history and the Sunagakure “Hall of Puppets” before running to catch up with the rest of her clan. The art of puppetry was one that his clan knew only too well, and Ryo himself could finally start to glimpse the real love of the art. Before, he was just a novice, granted a skilled novice going through the motions. Now however, he was a true artist like the rest of the puppeteers before him. He was really start diving into the art of his puppets.

These thoughts however, would have to be for another time. He shook his head vigorously as if to dislodge some bad thoughts before he spoke “Yes, we need to finish this mission quickly. I do not like being here anymore.” He said the pain of losing his home so plain in his voice. He turned and began to take the lead yet again. He was in charge here that he knew so of course he would take the lead. The next target was a pretty straightforward one. There was a mob that was gathering around the ruins of the former Sunagakure ninja academy. They were beyond help, and Ryo didn’t feel like helping them anyway, so he would slaughter them all, like a wolf who got in amongst the sheep he would put them all to slaughter. They had given up the mercy that he had for them when they actually gathered weapons to take up against Kumogakure. He understood why they would, he really did, they didn’t want to submit and surrender themselves to a foreign power. This was something that he could really understand, but these foolish idiots didn’t realize that until Sunagakure had leadership again, had a Kazekage that could contend with both the Mizukage and the Raikage then it would be impossible to keep what they had. For now, they needed to bide their time and wait, that was what Ryo and his clan were doing, and when they were ready to leave they wouldn’t do so without powerful allies behind them and they would do it as bloodlessly as possible.

Ryo lead the way as he was expected to, and Kuro was right at his heels again the puppet mimicking the motions of life with near flawless performance. However, it would not fool Raphael in the slightest as he knew the secret of Kuro.

657
Total:3,498

The walk to the former administration building was a silent one, Raphael lost in his own thoughts as the pair walked through the ruins of buildings of the glass wasteland that was their former home. It was hard for the boy to believe that just a year ago this sea of glass and ruins was among the powerful shinobi villages, the village hidden within the sand's legacy had span several hundred years and now it was nothing more than a memory. The mere fact that something so horrible had happened to an entire village that was so great just proved that there were people out there with more power then the young shinobi had ever imagined. If he truly wished to be able to defend his village, his home, and more importantly his family then the boy needed to grow stronger, he had been pushing himself further than he ever had before over this past year and yet he still knew he was nowhere near the level of power that just one of the three shinobi that destroyed his home held. He had gone to the village hidden in the clouds seeking shelter and guidance, ashamed of his weakness of not being able to defend the village hidden in the sand. He sought to grow and power so that he could return here and make a difference, to help those that still remained here no matter the reason, he wanted to help forge a path for his people. His goals seemed to align with the Raikage, as the man who proclaimed himself a God promised to deliver a better life for them and so the boy went whole heartedly with his plans. He broke all ties with his former village and the past, save for his friend who still stood beside him to this day. He destroyed anything that bore the symbol of the village hidden in the sand, he destroyed monuments, he has even killed in the man's name just because they refused to let go of the past and accept the Raikage's rule, and now here he was doing it again. It's not so much that the boy was questioning why he was doing all of this, he knew why he was here and why he was doing what he was doing. He was more so questioning as to what would be left at the end of this, he was killing the people he had come here to help because they did not agree with them, so what would be left?

The question played over and over again in the boy's head, he knew there was a reason behind the question just as he knew the answer but he refused to answer his own question. He knew that most of the people in the land of wind were good people, but then there were people like they have been dealing with that prey on the innocent and exploit them. There was no room in the new world for criminals and low lives, but at the same time he knew there were those that are innocent but get caught up by the charismatic speakers such as the man Ryo had just dealt with. It was hard to discern the difference in a radical and an innocent who had been manipulated, especially during the heat of battle. The boy pushed those thoughts from his mind, he could not be bothered by such thoughts he had a job that had to be done and he would ensure that it got done. As the boy's neared the ruins of the former administration building Raphael would finally speak, "I will follow your lead, however I just want to remind you that we are only killing those that deserve it. If we kill everyone it is possible that we would just incite a bigger rebel force against us, we need to make a spectacle to ensure that those who survive will bare witness that standing against us is not the way."

---

3714

Ryo glanced over at his partner and simply nodded his head once. He was not sure that he could do that, but he was sure that there would be no reason that he would have to kill everyone. Except for the fact that he wanted to kill everyone. These fools, these great idiots, they would die horrible deaths, and that would be a tragic waste of it all. They would spill their blood with such useless results and there would be less, and less of them to rebuild Sunagakure when the time came. He fervently believed that there would indeed be such a time, a time when someone was powerful enough to become a Kazekage that would wrestle the land of Wind from the other nations to reform it as its own entity yet again.

He looked forward, hiding these thoughts from his friend he hadn’t missed the subtle cues that Raphael had been giving off. He was not likely to help him in the future, and that would be just fine with Ryo, there was nothing that he could really do about it, but that was the facts of the matter. He was grateful at least, however, that the main branch of his clan would likely be behind the person who decided to break away and reforge Sunagakure. Presently, he said “I won’t kill everyone. There would be no point. I do not want to spill more blood than necessary.” His voice was still cold, and now it had taken on an emotionless quality. It was clear that this work was hard on him. He was trying to fight away his emotions and shut them away, so he could do the work that was ahead of him.

They neared the ruins of the Administration building and he saw a group of about ten people. All of them were holding weapons, but these weapons were just sad little things almost more rust than metal, but they were still sharp enough, and deadly enough to be a threat. He heard the leader speaking “We shall attack the minions of the invaders in groups. We shall ambush them, surprise them, and soak the sands with their blood. This is the task we have to accomplish. Only then can we vanquish these vile demons and ban them from our lands!” The rest of the crowd gave a cheer of agreement. Ryo shook his head, he was disgusted, and he knelt down unrolling his scroll and placing Kuro on his spot. He sealed his son back into the scroll and rolled it up “I am not going to use my Kuro on these fools. They do not deserve to die by the paws, and weapons of my Kuro.” He said as he stood up and grabbed his Kunai out of his weapon’s pouch.

As they approached the leader pointed “Look! These vile demons have come to destroy us! Attack!” Ryo frowned deeply as he heard this and as he saw that the crowd was indeed doing as the man told them to do. Ryo looked very annoyed as he lifted up his hands focusing his chakra into them. Soon enough he could feel the lightning nature of his chakra start to act up and he shot the lightning wave towards the crowd. A pair of them were close enough to be struck by the lightning wave. The shock went through them both knocking them back into a small group of their fellows all of them tumbling down. Ryo didn’t wait and instead he lifted his hand to his mouth in the shape of playing a trumpet. This jutsu wasn’t going to do all that much damage, but he wanted to create space between him and the riotous mob. He sprayed a large amount of high pressured water out of his mouth which splashed out slamming into those of the mob still standing.

It slammed into them causing them to stumble and fall down in a heap. With the enemy mostly in a heap now Ryo figured that there was plenty of time to do whatever he wanted to do next. Of course, it also allowed the chance for Raphael to make an attack.

704
Total:4,202
Jutsu Used
Water Trumpet D rank
Wave of Inspiration D rank

“We shall attack the minions of the invaders in groups. We shall ambush them, surprise them, and soak the sands with their blood. This is the task we have to accomplish. Only then can we vanquish these vile demons and ban them from our lands!” The words of the man who incited this gathering echoed down the glass stained streets that were once the village hidden in the sand, the cheering of the crowd that followed sent a shiver down the young shinobi's spine. It was not that the cheering of so many frightened him, it was the though of someone who had the charisma to rally the people behind him. It was just like the man at the academy had been doing, the refugees that remained behind after the fall of the hidden sand village seemed to be full of weak minded individuals that followed every word of whoever spoke out. The young shinobi began to wonder if these people were even worth the help that him and the others had been trying to provide, “Look! These vile demons have come to destroy us! Attack!” The boys thoughts interrupted by the sound of the leader shouting to the crowd of ten that had gathered around him, the crowd did as their master commanded running forward towards the pair like a pack of wild dogs. A smile formed on the young boy's face as he readied himself for them, however Ryo was the first to act knocking the entirety of the group down with two jutsu fired in succession of each other. It still amazed the young Kozai when he witnessed those who wielded two elements at their beck and call, considering he only possessed one element as did the entirety of his clan.

Raphael decided that he would make use of his partner's attack knocking the crowd back, forming a string of four handseals the boy released his chakra into the environment around him grabbing shards of glass and rock and shaping them almost instantaneously into makeshift shuriken that he then launched into the crowd. Before the shuriken had even reached their destination the boy was already channelling more chakra into his lungs, releasing a breath of wind chakra into his right hand forming it into a sphere before releasing another breath into his left hand and doing the same. Throwing the first sphere into the center of the crowd and creating a third sphere in his right hand with one last breath of wind infused chakra, he would release the two spheres onto either side of the crowd hitting those on the outer edge of the pile of the enemies before them. The shuriken hit their marks, though with all the enemies grouped up in a pile like they were thanks to Ryo it was to be expected. While the tiles hit a majority of the crowd the boy doubted it did serious injuries to all of them, even his wind spheres while they could be very deadly were not something that would stop this mob.

Those unaffected by Raphael's attack soon found their feet under them once again and resumed their charge forward, this time Raphael did not wait to see what his partner had planned and instead began weaving a new string of handseals before surrounding himself and his comrade in a whirlwind of wind chakra that quickly took the shape of a dragon sitting down with the pair of boy's within it's belly. The two boys would remain unharmed by the whirlwind of razor sharp chakra flowing around them, even if they chose to leave the safety of his dragon though they would not be able to get back within it's belly once they exited, however those that were attacking would soon be swept away by it's current if they tried to engage as well as lose any weapon they tried to use against it. The only way they could get to the pair now was through the use of powerful jutsu and the boy doubted that any of them even knew how to use jutsu let alone something strong enough to destroy his dragon.

---

4412

Those unaffected by Raphael's attack soon found their feet under them once again and resumed their charge forward, this time Raphael did not wait to see what his partner had planned and instead began weaving a new string of handseals before surrounding himself and his comrade in a whirlwind of wind chakra that quickly took the shape of a dragon sitting down with the pair of boy's within it's belly. The two boys would remain unharmed by the whirlwind of razor sharp chakra flowing around them, even if they chose to leave the safety of his dragon though they would not be able to get back within it's belly once they exited, however those that were attacking would soon be swept away by it's current if they tried to engage as well as lose any weapon they tried to use against it. The only way they could get to the pair now was through the use of powerful jutsu and the boy doubted that any of them even knew how to use jutsu let alone something strong enough to destroy his dragon.

Ryo was grateful to see that his partner was working just as hard as he was to defeat these vile creatures. He didn’t seem them as humans, he only saw them as animals that were not worth sparing. Still, he couldn’t kill everyone, and that was probably a good thing. When the wind dragon however consumed them neither he nor the crowd were ready for it. The dragon surrounded the pair of shinobi just as the group met them. Several people slammed into the dragon made of wind full force and screamed as they were seriously injured and smashed around with the force of the winds. He looked at the winds that were surrounding them and he was fairly astounded. He couldn’t believe that his friend was able to be doing this kind of thing. The shield dragon was very interesting to be sure, and he wondered how much chakra was required for this jutsu to be made. Yet, a defensive strategy was doomed to fail. Yes, many of these men and women were being thrown back, and their weapons were being sent away violently out of their hands when they tried to strike down the creature made of wind.

He wondered how he would be able to attack the foe from inside of the protective shell. He did notice that several of them however, were running away. The dragon was fairly terrifying to be sure, but that wasn’t much to drive away some of the more lost ones. The ones that did flee hopefully would make better use of their lives, but for now there was nothing that he could really do about it. He finally gave a sigh and looked to Raphael “So, how exactly am I supposed to fight them behind this wind dragon? I don’t think that my lightning jutsu will go beyond this wind dragon, and I do not think that my water jutsu could reach really. Are you going to handle things from here?”

522
Total: 4,724

His dragon was activated just in time, Raphael fought to hold back a laugh as those that were too close to the pair when the tornado formed around them got slung around and then knocked away. The smirk obvious on his face when the idiots that were not knocked away tried to attack the dragon with their puny weapons, he did find some solace in the fact that some of the wiser ones ran away. They were smart enough to know that they were beaten, even if his dragon was defensive and offered no offensive support it still did the job in striking fear into those that witnessed it. There was not much to worry about as far as an attack from those that remained so long as his dragon remained formed, but the boy knew that he could not keep it forever. They were there to do a job and it would not be done if they were just defending, but those that ran would spread the word about the power of the Shinobi from the village hidden in the clouds and so as far as the boy was concerned their job was done. However the young shinobi's thoughts remained on those that ran, Raphael wondered just where it was that they were running to. While it was possible and even highly likely that they returned to their home never to misbehave again, it was also possible that at least some of them might be running to inform the puppet masters of this resistance group of their power and that was something that intrigued the boy more than those that remained behind to try and fight his beast.

Ryo's words rang through the boy's ear pulling his attention from those that ran and back to the situation at hand, he had not even thought of the fact that his comrade did not wield the wind element. While his dragon was strong it held a very high downside in the fact that it only allowed wind techniques to pass through it unhindered, meaning that so long as it was formed his friend would not be able to help defeat the last couple of insurgents that remained even if it was only four of them. "Do not fret my friend, I will not hog all of the fun." Raphael said with a smile as he held his right hand to his mouth and breathe out a ball of wind into it, holding the ball steady in his hand he held his left hand to his mouth and gave breath to a second ball of wind before looking back to his friend. "I will use these to drive the four of them back and give us some space between us and them. Once that is done I will end my dragon, you be ready to strike then and finish them off." The young shinobi said as he readied himself to release the two balls of wind through the mouth of the dragon, when a thought crossed his mind. The young boy's thoughts returned to those that had ran, there was still time for him to pursue them and find out where they were running to and possibly find out just who was behind all the trouble that was being caused. "Once my dragon is down and you are able to attack I will leave these four for you to handle, there is something else that requires my attention and I must take care of. I know you can handle these low lives without any problems, so I will meet you back at the border camp later after I finish my other task." Raphael added in a serious tone before he released the two balls of wind and watched as they were lifted up into the air above his head before reaching the throat of his fifteen meter tall dragon and launched from its mouth at the four that had been trying to break through the barrier that was the stomach of his beast. The balls of wind did as the boy's need them to do, not hitting the men but causing the men to move back to avoid being hit by them. This put the needed distance between the boy's and the low lives that they were sent to deal with, a look to his friend and a wink and the young boy added "get ready to attack."

Raphael dropped his dragon technique which lasted for a few more seconds before the wind fully faded as the dragon was released. Raphael did not wait to see how Ryo would attack the four that remained and instead disappeared as soon as his dragon had, leaving nothing but sand kicked up where he was standing a second before hand. It did not take Raphael long to find what it was that he was looking for, a small group of three were leaving the remnants of the fallen hidden village of the sand and heading out into the vast emptiness that was the desert of the land of wind. Activating his wind sense the boy began following the small troupe, this way he would be able to keep track of their movements and know where it was that they were going without having to worry about keeping up with them ans risking them seeing him and therefore not lead him to where he hoped they would lead him. If he was right he might find the hide out of one of the dangerous criminals of the land of wind, and with any luck he will be able to deal with whoever it was so that there would be one less criminal to deal with in the future. The boy followed the group for what felt like hours to him, until the three were suddenly joined by other's on the edge of his wind sense. This has to be the place, the boy thought to himself as he slowed his advancement towards where the pings in his sense were. Forming a quick string of hand seals the boy suppressed his chakra to the point that it was nearly nonexistence so that only the strongest of chakra sensing abilities would be capable of finding his location. The boy crouched low as he neared the location, hugging close to the desert floor to lower his chances of being spotted. As he topped one of the sand dunes he laid his eyes upon a small encampment approximately seventy five meters ahead of his position, he could not tell how many people were within the camp but he knew he would need to wait until after sunset before he began his approach. If one of his targets were within the camp, then he would need the element of surprise on his side.

{Exit Thread}

---

5551
B-Rank Mission - 2500
Training B-Rank Jutsu Shadow Clone -1500
Training B-Rank Jutsu Intercept -1500
51 words discarded

Being told that his partner wouldn’t hog all of the fun made Ryo shake his head “Nothing fun about killing idiots, weaklings, and trash.” He said his tone and the far away look in his eyes spoke volumes about how he saw these people, and where his state of being was. This was nothing that was enjoyable to him, he didn’t want to be doing this, but he was doing this, and he would see his mission done. He waited and then looked to the four foes that were there waiting for the dragon to falter. He nodded his head slowly “I shall handle them. You need not worry about that. I shall make sure they stay dead.” He responded as he started to weave hand seals in order to make his next jutsu. He was glad that Raphael trusted him enough to handle this task, but there really was nothing glorious about the work they were doing, and he wasn’t having much fun. Still, this was the job, and he would do as he had been told.

He was ready to attack, and he watched as Raphael’s spheres of wind chakra gather up and get ready to attack. When the dragon disappeared, and Raphael had started his attack Ryo let loose his own jutsu. It was a slicing pillar of water that shot out of the ground and slashed its way through the sand towards the group. No sooner had he sent the slicing water towards the group than he quickly filled his mouth with chakra holding the tiger sign shaping it into water. The group saw that Ryo was still there, and while they did see the slicing water coming towards them they thought that they spread around it. They rushed him all at once, and yet this was what Ryo wanted. He opened his mouth and spat out giant bullets made of water. A total of six, five of these found homes slamming into each of the four assailants, but one of the idiots in the front got slammed with a second water bullet.

He wouldn’t allow the space that he created to close and held up his hands forming them into guns with his index and middle fingers. Focusing his chakra, he began to shoot the four people with bullets made of lightning chakra. He was used to aiming these jutsu now and each of them got three bullets, except two who were tagged twice. Now that they were shocked, wet, and weak the slicing water reached them it slashed into their legs and feet which in turned caused them to drop to the ground. They tried to avoid the slicing water, but they were unable to make it happen. One of them was unlucky enough to trip and fall which allowed the slicing jet of water to slice into his neck ripping into it enough to cause a serious and fatal wound.

Ryo was able to close the distance and he did so with the speed that he could muster. His Kunai in his right hand, and murder in his heart he stabbed the first one he came in contact with. This woman was holding a knife, but her leg had been sliced into by the slicing water, so she was on her knees. This made it easy for Ryo to stab his kunai into the woman’s throat, before he moved onto the next target. The man he encountered next however, was holding a sword. Ryo frowned and directed the slicing water jet towards the man cutting into his leg which caused him to gasp out loudly wavering from holding his sword. This gave Ryo the opening he needed, and he stabbed the man in the chest as deep and hard as he could. He stabbed him three times before he leaped back to let the last man be killed like his friend was by the slicing water. He waited to watch and direct the slicing jet of water, so the man would die. He was sliced up in several places with wounds bleeding all over. Finally, Ryo couldn’t wait any longer and he threw the kunai into the man’s chest. He dropped to the sand where the jet of water slashed into his neck like his friends and his life began to soak the sand around his body. This was done, and he was happy to be gone. Now that he had killed his targets he made his way back to the border camp. His mission was done, and he was happy to be back in the camp.

[Exit Thread]

772
Total: 5,496

B Rank Mission- 2,500
Training B rank Jutsu: Water Release: Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death ---1,500 words
Turning 1,400 words in for 350 extra Ryo
96 words trashed