Mission:

The young shinobi stared out into the moon lit desert through the eyes of his mask, the visage of the owl once again prowling the sand of the land of wind. The night air bringing with it not only a cooling breeze, but also an eerie and almost ominous feeling with it as well. Myrddin had just finished his patrol of the camp when he heard the alarms in the distance, activity filled the camp as shinobi of the hidden cloud woke to the alarm poking their heads from their tents in search of the source. The boy wasted no time as he dashed through the camp heading to the edge of the camp, he knew the alarm was not from the camp itself but rather a compound that was to the north which held supplies for the many refugees of the land of wind. The boy was soon joined by three other anbu as they made their way from the camp towards the disturbance, the young shinobi's mind began to race with the possibilities as too what it was that caused such an alarm. The compound was protected by several shinobi enough to withstand and over power a bandit raid, so the fact that they would sound an alarm could be nothing shy of a full scale attack. "When we reach the compound elimination of the threat is the first priority, once that is done we can assess the damage and tend to those that may be wounded. We do not know what we are going into, so keep your eyes open and watch each other's backs." Came the voice of the Anbu captain as the four of them made their way across the desert sand. Traveling in the diamond formation no more than five meters away from another, the squad's form was tight all of them moving inunison with each other as if they knew each other, however that was not necessarily the case. While it was possible that the boy had worked with the other three before, it did not truly matter as during anbu training they were all trained the exact same way and learned to work as a unit no matter how they were assigned thus allowing them to be interchangeable as the need be for missions.

It did not take long for the unit to arrive at their destination, and the sight of what was attacking the compound was shocking. Large creatures were running amuck all over the place attacking the guards as well as crates of supplies and the buildings themselves. The boy remembered the stories that his grandfather had once told him when he was younger about the delicate ecosystem of the land of wind and the terrible creatures that lived beneath it, he had always thought that they were just stories meant to ensure that the young did not venture out into the harshness of the wilderness that surrounded their home. However it seemed that his grandfather was telling the truth, the boy cursed himself for not taking his grandfather more seriously and remembering what exactly the old man had told him about the creatures. The main question on the boy's mind was why were they attacking now and why were they attacking this compound, however those questions would have to be answered at a later time, for now they needed to deal with these beast. The captain gave the signal and the unit broke formation and began their own assault against the desert beasties. The compound was in complete chaos, Myrddin was not sure how many of these creatures there were but he had to believe that himself and the other anbu would be capable of handling the situation.

---

623

Civilians, or the less educated, might assume there comes some reprieved for shinobi once nightfall rolled around. That, during the particular time frame, the world became a quiet and peaceful place for all the inhabitants. Some would like to believe a shinobi’s job got easier when the sky turned dark. Unfortunately, unlike the civilians who had a standard nine to five job, being able to relax and unwind when nightfall came, shinobis did not have the same luxury. Nightfall is when the dangers truly come out of hiding. It is considered one of the dangerous times for a shinobi, especially those out on a mission and patrolling borders, with there being more cove for assailants, and any other thing wishing to cause harm, to hide in. During the night, it was so much easier for a shinobi to die.

“Dammit, all!”, Daremo did not say anything as the young female doctor stormed out of the hospital tent while still wearing blue scrubs. Looking around at the other doctor and two nurses within the tent, their downcast eyes never meeting his own. It would not be surprising that the emotion exhibited by the fleeting doctor was one felt by the other members. In fact, the subtle balling of their fists only point to the fact. He could understand their anger and frustration. Glancing at the surgical table where a black hair boy, no older than thirteen years old, laid motionless, Daremo could not help but sigh. “We did everything we could to save young Ryu. And while I know you all feel as strong as Doctor Takahashi. You must keep those emotions in check, and get ready to perform your duties as medics of Kumogakure no Sato. Learn from the mistakes that happened here, and make sure they never happen again.”, He spoke, receiving a nod from the doctor and two nurses. With his peace said, he exited the tent, nodding as Doctor Takahashi entered, her eyes no longer red and puff but clear with a desire to do her job.


Stepping out into the night air, Daremo looked up at the moon hanging overhead, and allowed his thoughts to wonder for a bit on nothing particular. The breeze sweeping through the base being a welcome feeling, even if it caused him to shiver slightly. Before his thoughts could go any deeper, an Anbu agent shimmered into existence in front of. Their body flicker being as soundless as an owl’s wingbeat. Staring at the nezumi(mouse) mask the individual wore, he waited for them to speak. “Jounin Kobayashi. Your immediate assistance is requested on a mission. The details being in this strong.”, Daremo took the parcel from the outstretched hand, “Once the contents have been read, burn it. Those who you will be assisting will be notified of your appending arrival to aid them.”

Watching as the Anbu disappeared as quickly as they came, Daremo pocketed the scroll, and made his way, with haste, towards his own tent. It did not take him long to change into a dark green kosode with a matching belt that held up the black hakama. The haori was forgone in this situation, and his feet were covered in a pair of black jika-tabi. Weapon pouches were secured to his waist, and his hair was quickly redone in a man bun if only to hold a pair of two-foot-long senbons. Opening the scroll, he scanned over the contents. A horde of gigantic creatures had attacked a supply base not too far from their camp, injuring many that were there, An Anbu squad was dispatch, but, further assistance would be needed to deal with the onslaught along with taking care of the injured and dying. He would help with the clearing of the horde and then rescue those who he could. Having read the information, the scroll disintegrated into ash. The pieces of ash fluttering in the wind as he exited his tent, and made his way outside of the base.


Once cleared of the camp, Daremo wasted little time in racing towards the designation scribed on the scroll. The world around him blending into a single monotone color as he sped across the sand dunes. It did not take him long to arrive to the supply post. The place being in the throes of chaos and discord. Growls and snarls from the beasts echoed loudly in the air. They being accompanied by the screams of those being attacked by the fierce animals. Amongst that there were sounds of fighting, with him only assuming it being caused the survivors and Anbu.

Reptilian eyes quickly scanned the area, looking for his first target. If the Anbu was made aware of his arrival that there was no need to search for them right away. Daremo’s head snapped in the direction where a cry for help came from. His legs propelling him forward, coming around the outside of the compound to find a man being pinned down by a creature. The front pair of its horse-like hooves were pressed on the man’s chest. The beast snarl, showing off it’s canine teeth and dripping saliva over the individual. Just as when the beast opened its mouth, and lightly clamp down on the man’s throat, Daremo acted. A single senbon, black as the night sky, was thrown. The six-inch weapon closing the distance in a blink of the eye, biting into the beast’s flesh, piercing straight through its heart, and killing it instantly. Moving towards the man, Daremo checked him out, finding nothing wrong, “You can either stay and fight or head back to the main camp.”, He spoke, retrieving the senbon embedded into the sand. The weapon having pierced straight through the beast’s body. The shot was a lucky one. He only assumed the anatomy was similar to a wolf or normal quadrupedal creatures.

Having taken care of the beast, spotted several others, and sped to the location. As he raced towards them, a part of him hoped the Anbu who he was supposed to assist was still alive, or else, he might have to use something that was bad for everyone’s health.

---

1046

The young Anbu operative coated his fists in his wind chakra forming small blades surrounding his hands that would allow him to do a little extra damage against the beasts, or at least that was the plan. Flowing his attacks through the wind itself the boy would strike one of the beast from a safe distance away from it to see just how much damage it would do, unfortunately for the boy it was not much, in fact it seemed to not phase the beast at all other than make it angrier than it already was. The beast turned it's attention to the boy charging at him with horns primed to pierce though the young anbu's flesh, the boy had to act fast least he become skewered by the monster. Razor wind still coating his fist, the young anbu used the beast's size as well as his own speed against the beast. Side stepping the beast as it charged forward the boy was able to deliver a few strikes to the beast's side, being as close to the monster as the boy was he was able to actually see the damage to the beast that his strikes were doing. These monsters had a tough hide making his strikes less effective against them compares to against an actual human, but would be enough to end the monster if he continued to strike it. The beast skidded to a stop sinking slightly into the sand, before it reared up on its hind legs and did a one eighty to turn itself around before charging at the boy once again with it's horn primed for attack. The boy once again parried the attack striking the beast once again with his fist, using his speed against the beast to strike the same area he had struck the beast before. Doing this the boy increased the depth of the cuts that were already there from his first string of strikes, the beast howled in pain yet did not falter. The boy let out a heavy sigh as the beast reared around once again to charge him, this time as the beast got close and the boy went to side step it to strike the same spots once again the beast tilted its head causing it's horn to slash the boy's arm. The young shinobi whinist in pain as the horn tore through his cloak and across the upper part of his right arm, causing him grab his arm from the pain as well as causing him to lose focus and miss his chance to strike the beast as it passed by. The blades around his hands subsided, as the boy realized it was a fool's errand to try and continue with his bladed fist as it was not doing what he needed it to do. The boy was spending too much time on this one beast while the camp was full of a multitude of these beast, he could not waste anymore time with this one. This time as the beast began charging forward, the young shinobi began focusing his chakra into his left arm. Condensing his chakra into a small spinning orb of destruction, as the beast neared for its strike the boy made a feint to the left making the beast thing he was going to try and do what he had been doing before spinning and going to the right. The beast cocked it's head to the left preparing to strike the boy just as it had before, but the boy's spin to the opposite side caught the beast off guard and it did not have time to readjust. As the beast passed by the boy, the young shinobi thruster his hand forward drilling into the beast's side before the orb of condense chakra exploded blowing a hole in the beast side killing it before it hit the ground.

The beast looked to be something out of a nightmare, they moved like a dog but it held a horned snout, not to mention the fact that the creature had six legs and its hide was stronger than that of a furred creature. The boy would of loved to examine the anatomy of the beast to learn more about it, but he knew he did not have the time as the base was still under attack. As the boy scanned the rest of the area he heard the cry for help and rushed to find the source. By the time the man who cried for help came into the boys view, the boy saw the creature fall limb and the man that was being attacked joined by another. The young Anbu did not recognize the man, but if he was dealing with these beast then he would consider him to be an ally. The man took off towards the fray of the other beasts, the boy would use this as an opportunity to get up next to the man running along side him. "Thank you for your help," the boy said though the mask of the young shinobi distorted his voice to that of an elder man he had encountered earlier in the week when he was helping the hidden mist village on one of their endeavors. As the boy moved with the man an idea popped in his head, "if we can corral them together away from the base I may have a way to get rid of these creatures all at once." The boy stated to the man, with hope that the man would be willing to help him in his plan.

After waiting for the man to respond, no matter the answer the boy would break off away from the man to do just as he had intended, which was to drive the beast or lure them away from the came to somewhere that he could deal with them without risking damage to the base. Granted the man's help would help ensure that the task was completed, if the man chose to take his own actions against the beast it would not effect the boy's plan just make it where there were a few less for him to deal with. After leaving the man, the boy conveyed his plan to the rest of the Anbu through the short range radio they all held. Getting confirmation from two of the other three, the boy could only assume that the third had fallen to these beast. The boy could not waste time wondering whether his comrade had fallen or not, the young anbu got himself into position and began a string of handseals ending with him holding the dragon seal as he began to focus his chakra into the air above him. Soon the air above the area he told the Anbu to drive the creatures would fill with hundreds of small near invisible orbs of wind chakra, their silver form only slightly visible in the light of the moon. Once the Anbu and the man drove the creatures to the desire spot, the boy would release the dragon seal sending all the spheres plummeting down to the earth on top of the location that would rend the beasts apart. Now he just had to wait for the others to get the monsters away from the base and out into the open desert where the boy needed them to be.

---

1864

Daremo did not stay around to see what the man decision would be; would he stay and fight or head back to the main camp. Sure, the added help in dealing with the monsters currently rampaging throughout the base would be helpful, lessening the burden of those who were currently battling them, if the man freezes up in combat then he just turns into a costly liability. From his peripheral vision, he saw the man scurry up to his feet, “I will fight and kill those bastards who did this.”, acknowledging the man’s hate-filled words, it given away that there was a chance the Kumo-nin had lost people in the attack, Daremo watched as the man ran pass him, towards the sound of conflict. At least, he knew the man would not be a burden if the medical technique he used to himself was any indication.

Looking away from the man disappearing, Daremo thought about the group of Anbu he was supposed to meet up with and provide support to. Since arriving at the chaotic zone, he had yet to see any of the elusive masked individuals. He knew they had to be here. His time in Anbu, of days long ago, telling him, no matter the village, Anbu were always on time when it comes to anything regarding their respective village. Unless things had changed since he was Anbu, admittedly that could be the case, all of the members making of the corps were always punctual. They were the professionals of the professional world.

The roars of several beasts, not far from the current location, caught his attention, scowling amongst some wreckage. Eyes narrowed on the beasts that, for now, seemingly did not realize he was there. Briefly, he wonders was it because, for the time being, he was not moving about; he was still for the most part. How did these creatures hunt? Did they use sound, infrared, or some other biological adaptation to find their prey or a combination of all the aforementioned? The beast cooling at his feet was more akin to a canine. The only thing remotely different about the creature, and the normal canines were the curved ram-like horns and goat-like hooves, everything else about it seemed normal about it. Before he could ponder further on such things, his attention would be grabbed by the individual walking towards his direction.

Anbu. The porcelain mask on the individual’s face was a clear give away into the fraction they belonged to. Of course, one could argue that the individual could be someone else pretending to be apart of the elite assassination forces. It would not be surprising if someone had managed to kill an Anbu, take their gear, and went around like them. He had seen it happened before, so, it would not be a shock if it was the case this time around. Yet, for some reason, he did not believe that was the case with this individual. If the Anbu had been around him from the start, there were many opportunities to deal with him. He could have easily been killed during the skirmish with the animals and left to be consumed by the beast. It was one of the many reasons why he did not believe the individual before him was an ally, and not someone parading around in the uniform. “Your welcome. I’m Koyabashi Daremo, Jounin of Kumogakure. I was sent to help Anbu with the situation.”, Though the individual did not give any information in who exactly they were, Daremo felt it was important to give his. Letting the individual know that he were apart of the Kumo forces, and was here to assist the Anbu in their duties. He did not particularly know why they needed him on the mission. Anbu should have been enough to deal with the nuisance, though, if he had to guess why he was here, it was because of his medical prowess. There obviously would be many injured from the attack, and it would be up to him, and others with the invaluable medical skill, to handle such cases.

Was he ready to perform such duties, after dealing with the creatures? Yes, for while his talents lied in destruction, Daremo was, at his core, a medical shinobi; a helper of the sick and injured. He were the one to potential give others a new chance at life. A second opportunity to live. To deny the Shinigami a chance of receiving another soul. It was his duty to make sure that as many people as possible can survive. A duty many did not have what it takes to due, for it is easier to take a life than save one.

Eyes still fixated on the Anbu, Daremo’s senses were tuned to the surrounding, making sure the several beasts from earlier were still in the vicinity. They seemingly have wondered off a few seconds ago, but, the chaos being caused by them could still be heard. A plan. The Anbu had a way to deal with the creatures, but, there was a hint of uncertainty in their voice. They were not entirely sure if they could get rid of all of the beasts. Outwardly, his facial expression did not chance any, inwardly, he frowned. He did not like uncertainty when it came with dealing with a known threat. He much rather goes with a failsafe plan that did not leave anything up to chance. “Alright, I will help, though, may I suggest thinning the number out more before executing the plan? They do have the numbers on their side. Herding them all in one place would put us at a disadvantage if the remaining numbers exceed our own forces.” He spoke, giving his own insight into the matter. He hoped the Anbu take his suggestion to heart. By thinning out the herd more, it would put them at an advantage. With the removal of more creatures, it lessens the number that would ultimately need to deal with.

Yellow eyes watched as the Anbu disappeared, apparently going to execute the plan that he suggested. Tsk. “Thought Anbu were the smart bunch. Or was that my generation?”, He muttered under his breath. Growling alerted him to a set of monsters prowling together, and stalking towards him. Locking eye contact with them. The beasts stopping in their tracks. The action was unusual to say the least. Wasn’t they supposed to attack? Eyes widening as both of the beasts began clicking loudly. The sound resonating throughout the ruined outpost.

What were they doing? He did not have to wait long for his answer. The ground underneath him bulging, forcing him to jump away, barely missed being trapped in the massive pincer like-jaws of the emerging beast. No sooner after touching the ground, Daremo dodged a stinger-like tail that embedded into the ground that he was previously standing at. Whatever this beast one, he was stronger and faster than its brethren. Looking at the bipedal creature, who was now flanked by the other canine-looking ones, Daremo quickly thought about his options.

How was he going to handle this? It was apparent that the small creatures had called upon the other one. Was it their leader? Was there more of them? He did not know the answer, nor would he have time to ponder it. The bipedal beast blitzing towards him, and its companions flanking on each side. “Tsk. Intelligence.” He muttered, instead of taking on the much stronger beast, Daremo focused on the smaller ones. Not waiting for them to trap him in, he blitzed to the right, jumping over the canine’s head, and started running to increase the distance between him and them.

The screeching and clicking coming from behind him allowed him to know that the beasts were on his heels. He needed to get them out into the opening. From his peripheral vision Daremo the much larger bipedal creature nearly keeping up with his movements exceptionally well. “Shit.”, He cursed watching the beast opened its mouth and firing a fireball towards his direction. Moving out of the direction of the fireball, he had to bite back a scream as his right arm was clipped by the fireball. Without breaking stride, he ripped off the burning sleeve and began applying a simple medical ninjutsu to heal the burns caused. by the fireball.

Speeding out of the based, Daremo spotted the other Anbu who he had talked to moments ago. Alongside the known Anbu were two others that he assumed was his squadron. For a moment, he wondered where the other Anbu was. Didn’t they run in a group of four or was it just something Iwagakure no Sato did? He did not have time to dwell on the information as the monstrous beast, seeing its brethren been rounded up, changed directions, and headed towards the Anbu. Clicking wildly, the creature released a stream of fire that morphs into a massive dragon(Fire Style: Great Dragon Flame) that sped towards the three anbu, moments after its brethren were destroyed.

Seeing how the beast was heading towards the Anbu, Daremo turned his attention to the lesser of the threats; the two canine creatures that was following him. Sharply turning around, Daremo allowed his to circulate through him. Not using any hand signs, his cheeks bulge, releasing a green liquid that morphed into the head of a dragon. The massive head launched towards the two beasts, engulfing them both before they had a chance to dodge. Their screeches of pain were heard throughout the clearing as the beast's skin was rotten off. It is a slow agonizing death for the creatures. Knowing that they were dying, Daremo turned his attention to the Anbus, seeing if they needed his help.

---

1641[2687]

As Myrddin prepared his jutsu, the other two anbu preformed their task perfectly. Using a wide array of different jutsu they proved themselves more than capable of executing their orders. Fire, Water, and Earth techniques could be seen from where the boy was standing and waiting for his moment to strike. He did not know much about the techniques that they chose to use, however he could only hope that they were using caution with them to ensure that the camp itself was not affected by the destruction otherwise this mission would all be in vain. The young Anbu watched from his vantage point as the events of the night took place before him, even what he could not see he was still able to monitor thanks to his wind sense. Any movement within a two hundred and fifty meter radius of the boy that disturbed the wind the boy would sense, allowing him to monitor everything that was happening. He could not truly tell any difference in the movements that would allow him to know which of the movements were creatures and which were human, but he had a good estimation as to which was which based off of how they were moving and the size of the disturbance within the wind. The two Anbu that were still alive of the three that had originally started with the boy seemed to be doing a fine job of corralling the beast and driving them towards the designated spot, though there were still a few strays that the man who had come to help seemed to be dealing with at least from what the boy could tell from his wind sense that is.

The boy did not break his focus on the herd as the anbu began luring them into position, though he hoped that the man would be able to handle himself until the majority of the beast were dealt with. The Anbu would soon join the boy upon his vantage point and begin preparing their own jutsu should any escape the boy's attack, the herd of beast charged forward towards them as a smile formed on the boy's face beneath his mask. "Hurry and launch your attack before they reach us," one of the Anbu stated his voice full of concern about the plan, however the boy would simply ignore him as he continued to wait till the herd got closer to the striking point. He knew once he releases his dragon seal the orbs would decend at an alarming rate he had to ensure that he got the most of the beast that he could as otherwise this would all be but a waste for him and his chakra. The herd was nearly upon them, this time both Anbu began shouting for him to launch his attack but the boy continued to wait it out. Finally when the boy could see the snarls on the beast faces he released his dragon hand seal allowing the orbs to crash down upon the center point of the herd of beast. The explosion was massive creating a large crater at ground zero from the impact, the beast that were not ripped to shreds by his five hundred stars technique would be blasted outward scattering them, though the blast did kill most of them leaving just a hand full of them left. The beast no longer had the team out numbered as the two anbu unleashed their own techniques upon the beasts that were close to them.

The boy felt the presence of something charging at the troupe from behind, turning just in time to see a beast larger than the rest unleash a dragon of fire upon them. There was no time for the boy to dodge the attack, he had to think fast almost out of instinct his chakra released from all around him surrounding himself in a dome of swirling silver wind chakra that looked like a dome version of a tornado. The fire dragon collided with the dome, and by sheer luck the dome was capable of surviving the attack leaving the boy unscathed from the beast's attack. The beast was still charging at the boy, the two other anbu had been lucky enough to dodge the fire dragon attack of the beast and was now flanking the beast on either side of it. It was clear to the boy that this beast would not fall as easily as the smaller ones had, and it would require them working together to bring the creature down. The clicking noise coming from the creature grew louder as the creature drew closer to the young Anbu before bringing its stringer tail down upon him. As the stinger struck the boy he disappeared with a poof, his place taken by one of the smaller creatures as the stinger struck straight through the creature. The large creature began rampaging when it realized that it was one of it's own, the noise it created sounded like a scream to the boy as the beast turned his attention onto one of the Anbu. Just as the boy moved to advance against the beast from his new location, the young shinobi's path was cut off by two of the smaller creatures that had not fallen to his earlier attack. "Damn," the boy said aloud mostly to himself. It looked as if the boy would have to deal with the two smaller creatures before he could lend a helping hand with the bigger one, he only hoped that he could reach the Anbu before they fell to the massive beast.

The young shinobi pulled several of his Kaminari Steel Shuriken from his pouch and began launching them at the beast's that blocked his path, launching three from each hand before grabbing more and launching them as well. All of the shuriken hit their marks, the only problem was that the beast's hide's were tough. Some of the shuriken simply bounced of the two creatures, but luckily some of them stuck. This revealed to the boy that the beast were not impenetrable and as long as he could hit the right spots he could take the wolf like creatures down. The boy quickly formed a string of four hand seals; dragon, rat, horse, tiger. Before reaching out with his chakra to grab the shuriken that had bounced off the two beasts, picking them up with his chakra and then launching them at the soft under belly of the two beast as they charged towards him. Hitting the beast just as they launched into the air to attack, ducking their attack the boy took off towards the larger beast. The two smaller beast were no longer a threat now, as they fell limp to the sand covered ground. By the time the boy made it to the large beastie another one of the Anbu had already fallen, but the creature looked weakwe and slower than before. Whatever had happened while he had been held off by the two smaller creatures, the others seemed to have damaged it. Myrddin took in a deep breath, saturating his lungs in his wind chakra before releasing a powerful five meter sphere of wind that tore through the middle of the creature ripping it apart.

Now that all of the strange creatures were dealt with the camp seemed to be safe, the bodies of the now dead creatures still littered the area but that was just a matter of clean up. Myrddin felt the presence of four beings moving towards them, was it possible that there were more creatures? The boy wondered quickly getting into a defense position should the four be coming to attack however he let out a sigh of relief when he saw that it was not more creatures but rather four more Anbu. "Looks like we missed all the fun," one of them said with a chuckle as the made it to Myrddin. The boy let out a small laugh before looking to the new arrival of anbu, "not quite, there is still clean up. My squad took a big hit, we lost two of our operatives in the struggle. If it was not for the help of Daremo Koyabashi the losses would of been much greater." The boy let out a small sigh, he was tired and worn out from the fight with the creatures. Yet he was one of the lucky ones as he did not sustain any injuries in the fight, his comrade was wounded but was already receiving medical treatment. "I will leave you guy's for the clean up, I must return to the camp." The boy told the new arrival of Anbu with a heavy voice, the truth was that the boy had already had a long day and now thanks to the creatures an even longer night. The boy was tired and needed to get him some rest before he had to begin working yet again in the morning. With a nod the four anbu went to work with disposing of the creature's remains, as the boy took his leave from the storage facility and returnes to the border camp. The boy would not be moving as fast as he had on thw way to the facility making the journey back longer than the trip there but that did not bother the boy, as his only concern was to return to his tent and get some sleep before the sun rose to start the next day.

Once back in his tent the boy removed his owl anbu mask for the final time of the day, "finally" the boy said aloud to himself as he crashed onto his bed without even removing the rest of his gear. The young shinobi was asleep before his head even hit the pillow, his long day finally at an end.

{Exit Thread}

---

3515

A-Rank mission Completed -3500
15 words discarded

What had started out as ear piercing screaming from the beasts, their bodies slowly decaying under the effects of a nefarious jutsu, had become nothing more than painful whimpers. The necrosis afflicted of their body having ate away the majority of their body. Black, grotesque, dried skin peel away from the muscles, hanging loosely as if it was some diseased ridden jerky. The night air stung at the exposed muscles, expanding and contracting with each breath taken. Much like the beast’s skin, necrosis had managed to inflict the muscles and was slowly eating away at the morsel with vigor. Unless mercy was gifted to them, there was no way to start the affliction from stealing their life, and considering who the creatures had the unfortunate circumstances to run into? Mercy would not be given.

Much like a corpse having stayed out in the sun for far too long, the stench of death began to fill up the night air, overtaken any other smell that might been lingering. It was disgusting, sicking, and vomit inducing, yet, to Daremo, it was normalcy. No longer does the smell of decaying flesh bother him. His stomach no longer churns, and do somersaults in discomfort when struck by the strong odor. He had come a long way from the days where the very whiff of decay was enough for him to splatter his guts on the sidewalk. Though, dealing with necrosis for nearly two decades had certainly strengthened his tolerance for the smells associated with it.

Ravenous is the perfect word to describe Daremo’s particular necrosis. It ate, and ate, and ate until nothing remain. It was a glutton on par with those from the Akimichi clan. It feasted on the living with such vigor that some could question if it was alive. . .and Daremo could not always give a straight answer. Watching it consume the remaining of flesh and muscle, turning it black, Daremo remember why necrosis fascinated him.

When it comes to death, there are many interpretations of it. Many shinobi believe some of their strongest techniques is ‘death’ in its purest form, but, no, in Daremo’s eyes, such a distinction lies with necrosis. The very origin of the word, νέκρωσις, means ‘death’, ‘the act of killing’. In his eyes, the perfect illustration of death is necrosis. It does not discriminate on who it kills. It only cares if the thing is alive. It is a destroyer of life in the purest form. There is no conscious to teether it to the rationality of humanity. There is no moral compass preventing it from doing what it desired. The only thing that is there is an insatiable hunger. A hunger to destroy all life. Yes, in his eyes, necrosis was indeed the perfect version of death.

Finally, death would claim the beasts, their last petty whines having already been dismissed from his mind. Glancing in the direction of the last monstrous beast, its attention being on the group of Anbu, who had managed to gather up some of the lesser ones. Most shinobi would move in and helped their fellow comrade deal with the problem, Daremo did not. His interactions with them had been brief, and the man had a plan even before contact with him was made. It was clear, whoever the Anbu was that he spoke to, had thought up the strategy before he became a variable in it. Therefore, he had no place in the plan, at least not after doing his part, they should be able to handle it from here. Sure enough, he watched as the Anbu members unleashed their techniques on the weaker beasts, killing them instantly. Their dying sounds being drowned out by the roar of ninjutsus used.

The act of killing them seem to piss off the stronger one if the intensity of the clicking was anything to go by. He watched as the Anbu, who he had talked to early, handle the opposition, expertly substituting with an injured creature, allowing it to get stabbed by the beast’s scorpion-like tail, instead of themselves. Seeing the Anbu taking a deep breath, unleashing, what he presumed was a ninjutsu, he was impressed at the strength of the attack to render the beast into pieces. Walking towards them, taking his time, Daremo noticed there was more Anbu here than initially thought. “You was the one who had the plan. I just followed orders.”, Daremo spoke when the Anbu mentioned his part in the mission. It was true, he did nothing more than followed the orders, though in his own way, that was given.

Looking at the surrounding area that was littered with bodies, both beast and human alike, Daremo looked at the Anbu member from earlier, “I will be staying here.”, He spoke, “The other part of my mission is to help with the medical efforts.” Indeed, while he was supposed to back up the Anbu team, he had a secondary mission, and that was medical relief aid. Casualties were undoubted would happen at the base. The administration knew this, hence they sending one of their best medics to help with healing those who he can. Having said what was needed, Daremo left the group of Anbu and headed towards the ruined outpost. For the remainder of the night, he would work alongside others in healing the sick, burning the dead, and doing whatever else was needed of him. Thus was his role.

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908[3597]

A-Rank Mission: 3500/3500