OOC Details:

Kashi had not taken a mission in years. It was ironic that after rising the ranks so quickly, from genin to jonin in mere months, he would completely burn out and retreat to the wilderness for years, allowing the peers who he had once rushed past to catch up to him - or potentially even overtake him - as a ninja. He couldn't help it though; he had seen some quite frightening things as a ninja, and his training in senjutsu under the Raikage Sanosuke Flynt gave him the perfect excuse to escape life as a shinobi and become a sage sitting under some big tree in the middle of nowhere in Hi no Kuni. He ended up befriending the nearby villagers and had lots of fun getting to know everyone in the village, but after years and years of living a calm, laid-back life as a sage, he decided that life was not worth living if it didn't scratch his itch for growth and adventure. It was time to return to the shinobi lifestyle.

Now that he had talked to the administration and had finalized his return, he was being sent on a rather high-profile mission. The daimyo's daughter, Mira Madoka, was to go on a tour of the Land of Fire, visiting all the major villages and working the maintain the daimyo's relationship with them. Her first stop, of course, was none other than Konohagakure, the Land of Fire's hidden village, and the daimyo requested that Konohagakure lend a few shinobi to supplement the samurai guard in case of attack.

The administration of Konohagakure, wanting to ingratiate themselves with the daimyo, sent Kashizudoto, making sure to let the daimyo know that he was formerly a sannin of the Hidden Leaf. It was, no doubt, a strategic move. Sending a former sannin to watch over his daughter, the daimyo would be assured that Konoha placed great value on protecting him and his family, and, thus, would offer Konoha greater power in the future over the affairs in the Land of Fire.

In truth, though, Kashi was quite rusty, and the title of sannin, even referred to in the past tense, did not fit him quite well. Although he had spent quite a bit of time reading books and studying various theories relating to chakra and jutsu during his time as a sage, he had not had a proper battle in years. The ninja world had changed over the past few years, and Kashi had not yet adapted. This wasn't even to mention his age; even though he had spent about five years away from the village and shinobi life, he was still only 18 and had quite a bit of growing to do. He was a jonin and a former sannin only in name, it seemed to him, and though he was still quite a talented shinobi, he still couldn't stave off this nervous feeling in his stomach that something was going to go wrong, and his rustiness would come back to bite him. He doubted that something bad was going to happen, as most of these escort missions were rather low-key, but if something did happen - if bandits were to jump them or if an assassin were to ambush them - would he have the power to stop them?

To add onto this feeling, the administration had also informed him that a chuunin would be accompanying him. If this chuunin were to die on the mission, from some stray maneuver by a bandit that Kashi could not stop in time, how could he face the administration and tell them of their demise? Certainly they wouldn't expect such sloppiness from one of the former sannin.

The group was leaving at daybreak, and Kashizudoto was loitering around the village, trying to walk off his nervous feeling. He eventually decided to embrace it and showed up at the village gates, perhaps about five minutes late by his count. He had read somewhere that there was a such thing as being "fashionably late," and he was curious to find out how people would respond to it.

Despite having been away from the shinobi life for a while, it was clear that he had taken the time to maintain peak physical shape. So fast was Kashizudoto that when he appeared in front of the group, no one chuunin level or below would have even been able to see his movement, only feeling the wind blow as he seemingly appeared in front of them in an instant, with a bit of a grin on his face. But his speed was no laughing matter; even those at the tokubetsu jonin level would only see his movement as a blur.

The wind blowing from Kashizudoto's entrance was so strong that it blew the curtains on the litter, revealing none other than the daimyo's daughter herself for the few seconds that the curtains were blowing. She smirked a little at Kashizudoto, and he, somewhat coyly, averted his eyes to the ground a little bit. He was naturally a pretty shy guy, although his position as a high-ranking ninja had afforded him quite a bit of confidence stemming from that fact alone.

He was a figure of above average height, standing at about six feet tall in a black swordsman's robe, with a bamboo sheath on his left hip containing the Tentetsutou or the Sword of Heaven, a sword forged out of meteorite. Underneath the robe, he had on his ANBU armor but not his mask; although this was not an ANBU-related mission, he figured that if he was in a position where he was struck, the armor would come in handy and probably save his life.

"Hi," he said to an authoritative-looking man standing next to the daimyo's daughter's litter, likely the advisor to the daughter of the daimyo, "Kashizudoto Sarutobi, reporting for duty!" He didn't look particularly happy, perhaps because Kashizudoto was late or because his appearance was too flashy. It seemed that the chuunin had yet to show up, so they waited for her.

Kashizudoto looked on in amused confusion as the girl ran straight up to the daimyo’s daughter’s litter, opened the curtains, and threw off her jacket, all the while wearing a dress that left little to the imagination and sporting makeup that seemed quite overdone for a shinobi mission. She seemed to have gotten the wrong idea about this escort mission, and that was all the more apparent when she tapped the daimyo’s daughter on the shoulder, winked at her, and uttered something quite lewd before noticing the presence of guards and a shinobi. The older man who was an advisor to the daimyo’s daughter was quite taken aback and was obviously irritated, if not enraged by the misunderstanding, but, as for the daimyo’s daughter and Kashizudoto, it was a surprising but obviously amusing and harmless circumstance, one which they could crack a smile about and proceed with the day’s work.

The girl’s name was Hina Braveheart - or Hina Hyuga, he wasn’t sure. She had said both names and, to some degree, seemed to be a little unsure herself. He had never heard of the Bravehearts, but the Hyuga were, of course, a famed clan, renowned across the Five Great Nations for their Byakugan’s visual prowess. It was said that the only clan to even come close the Hyuga in terms of dojutsu was the great Uchiha clan with the Sharingan. However, scattered all around the Five Great Nations as they were, the Uchiha never had quite as much influence on village politics as the Hyuga and, as a result, never really seemed to be that big of a deal anymore. However, Kashizudoto, more than most other people, could attest to the power of their eyes. He had fought two Uchihas in the past - if Maigo was to be included - and his near-death encounters with Zuko Uchiha, including the one time he was almost entirely consumed in black flames, only served to reinforce that the Uchiha were incredibly powerful - even more so than the Hyuuga.
Even so, if she was a Hyuuga, she must have been quite powerful regardless of her rank and would serve to be a valuable asset on this mission, even if it was only for her sensory ability alone. The Byakugan was said to have unimaginable sensory powers - xray vision, chakra detection, and more - that could detect threats from quite a distance. Such abilities were especially useful when navigating a forest and were, truthfully, well beyond his capabilities even as a ninja with unusually strong perceptive abilities himself. Still, he couldn’t be certain how strong she had trained her Byakugan or even if she had awakened it at all, and, judging by her apparent part-time job, it seemed that she wasn’t fully dedicated to shinobi life like the other Hyuga were.

Still, he had a mission to take with her - and a very high profile one at that - and he was to make sure that they would see it through to the end. Kashizudoto’s pet messenger hawk Hawky flew down from the skies, perched on his shoulder, and squawked. The third and final member of their mission had arrived. And with that, they were all off - the samurai guards, the advisor, the servants carrying the litter with the daimyo’s daughter inside, and, of course, the two shinobi and the hawks.

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And, so, they traveled for most of the day, stopping at major villages along the way so that the daimyo’s daughter could meet with the village leaders and deliver prepared speeches to the people. She was quite down to earth and obviously was at least somewhat intelligent, given that she could perform her duties properly and conduct herself royally without appearing high and mighty like many other nobles. If Hina was willing, Kashizudoto would engage in conversation with her at various points throughout the journey. He would tell her that he was a jonin of the Hidden Leaf named Kashizudoto Sarutobi who was back after a long-term mission that spanned years and that among his skills were ninjutsu, swordplay, and sealing (though he did not mention senjutsu). If she volunteered any information about herself as a shinobi, he would proceed to inquire about her heritage and about whether or not she had awakened the Byakugan. If Hina was willing, Kashizudoto would also make small talk with her and, occasionally, the daimyo’s daughter would chime in on their conversations from behind the curtains in her litter, although she would occasionally lift the curtains to join in for longer periods of time if she found a subject particularly interesting. It was apparent that the daimyo’s daughter, Mira Madoka, was somewhat well-read and that despite her beauty and status, she thought of herself as a normal person and expected to be treated as such when she wasn’t performing her duties as the daimyo’s eldest daughter.
Sunset was fast approaching, and in a few hours, they would be stopping to sleep for the night at an inn, with the daimyo’s daughter, of course, receiving the finest room. Kashizudoto had a hunch that they were somewhat near the small village that he had stayed at for the past five years, the village of Chu, and his suspicions were confirmed when he spotted a familiar mark on a tree. It was a sword slash, and he remembered how he made it himself when training over there with Hawky - about three years ago if his memory served him correct. Obviously, the daimyo’s daughter and her entourage would not be stopping at a small, remote village such as Chu, so if he wanted to stop by and visit, he’d have to temporarily part with the group. While it wasn’t a particularly responsible choice to leave the group when he was supposed to be escorting them, they hadn’t encountered any trouble yet, and he figured the most threatening thing would be a few roving bandits that the samurai and Hina could quite easily dispatch of.

Given the nature of the daimyo’s daughter and weighing it against that of her stern advisor, he figured it would be easier to ask her directly for permission to “visit some old friends,” as he put it, and then return by nightfall. As he expected, much to the advisor’s chagrin, she sent him off with a smile, and, with that, he left. So fast was Kashizudoto that even to a typical chuunin-level shinobi, it would look to them almost as if he had just vanished out of thin air, but that was hardly the case, as was evidenced by light footprints in the mud.
He was happy to meet all his friends in the village, who welcomed him back with open arms and smiles. Ty Lee, in particular, was ecstatic to seem him and greeted him with a kiss on the lips. Oh, that’s right, he hadn’t quite figured out his relationship status with Ty Lee. He figured since he was returning to the Village Hidden in the Leaves, they had broken up by default, but clearly Ty Lee hadn’t gotten the message. However, he himself wasn’t quite sure what he wanted yet, so he didn’t mention it to her, and, within about half an hour, departed to catch up with the group.

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Meanwhile, the group continued their journey without him. However, unbeknownst to them, a powerful enemy was on their tail. There were actually three enemies, in fact, but although they were very powerful shinobi in their own right, at least at the level of a tokubetsu jonin, their leader completely eclipsed them. He was, in fact, something of a living legend as his prey would find out - a former candidate for one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.

Hiding within a tree, having moved from tree to tree so quietly that only a highly perceptive jonin-level shinobi could have been able to notice his movements, he finally decided to make his first move. He threw a kunai at the front of the group that had a paper bomb seal on it, which, if it was not dispatched of, would blow up and take out almost all the samurai in front of Hina and the litter, and although the majority of samurai were in the front, there were still a few more samurai left on the sides and in the back. Then, his two henchmen would appear in front of the group, moving so fast that it would appear to be almost a blur to a typical chuunin, armed with katanas. The remaining samurai would ready their swords and prepare for battle as the advisor cowered in fear and the servants who were carrying the litter set it down and stayed on guard, though they had little if any fighting prowess. None of these people, servants or samurai alike, would be able to defeat even the henchmen, but perhaps Hina could, at the least, stall for time and defend the daimyo’s daughter through whatever unconventional means possible. She was a shinobi after all and apparently a Hyuga at that. It appeared that the leader wasn’t moving from his tree at all, perhaps letting his henchmen have the first stab so he could swoop in for the kill.

As Kashizudoto leaped from branch to branch on his way back to the group, he couldn't help but notice that something was wrong. The tree branches looked to have already been traversed - three shinobi, at least, by his count. It was possible that these shinobi were friendly or on some unrelated mission and though this was the most likely scenario, Kashizudoto, if only as a precaution, let Hawky out to fly ahead of him in case something was wrong. Normally, Kashizudoto was somewhat faster than Hawky; however, the forest slowed Kashizudoto down, whereas Hawky could simply fly over everything and experienced no impediment to his speed as a result. Kashizudoto did not feel uncomfortable in the slightest letting his hawk fly ahead of him into what could have potentially been a dangerous situation. Hawky had the physical prowess of a typical jonin-level ninja, with a chakra reserve that, while lower than a human's, was still large enough to cast jutsu that could pose a serious challenge to most ninja. Aside from that, Hawky could fly, allowing him to escape from enemies that couldn't do the same.

Hawky arrived on the scene as the two henchmen started to notice the genjutsu. Putting two and two together and realizing that two strange men and samurai strewn all across the ground meant trouble, Hawky swooped down and attacked the henchmen. Given that Hawky had the physical prowess of a jonin-level ninja, fighting with talons that could withstand the force of their katanas, he would be able to fend off the two tokubetsu jonin-level henchmen, and if Hina were to lend a hand, that would have been all Hawky needed to get the upper hand somewhat. But after a few minutes of dancing to the tune of the hawk, it was clear that the henchman to the right had had enough of it. He jumped back, striking his katana against the hawk's talon to provide himself with more momentum, and was followed in doing so by his partner. Mid-air, he began forming hand seals, and his partner followed with the same set of hand seals, with only an eighth of a second of delay at most. They both seemed to be muttering things under their breath, but it was so silent that not even Hawky, as perceptive as he was, could hear it. With a little deductive reasoning and a look at what was attached to their ears, it was clear they had wireless radios and were using them to coordinate their actions.

As their feet hit the ground, they had both formed their last hand seal, and two great big sharks made out of water appeared out of thin air and charged towards Hawky. In the meantime, Hawky had prepared by amassing chakra within his wings into the shape of a ball. He released the ball of chakra towards the sharks and allowed it to expand to its full size. It would seem that the two sharks were of equal strength to his ball of chakra, as they both created a great explosion that made it quite hard for each opponent to see each other. But from his peripheral vision, Hawky could suddenly make out a katana; using the collision to obscure Hawky's vision and distract him, the enemy was able to sneak behind him. But Hawky was just quick enough to barely dodge the blow, and then he charged at the enemy.

But that was just a fakeout, as Hawky would come to realize. He was, after all, fighting two enemies, and it became apparent as he was stuck inside a bubble of water that the henchman standing behind Hawky, who had used the other henchman as a distraction, created a Water Prison Barrier to contain Hawky. Struggling was pointless; even jonin-level ninja didn't have the strength to break through this without the use of a jutsu. Hawky could potentially muster up another ball of chakra to break out of the prison, but that would be it for him: two spheres, and he'd be drained and useless, at least for a while. At least sitting here in this prison, if someone were to break him free - say, Hina or Kashizudoto - he could become useful again.

Hawky Jutsu:

Perfect. Hina was apparently one smart cookie, as she had found a way to dispel the Water Prison Jutsu and distract the two enemy shinobi long enough for Hawky to break free and reorient himself. He wasn't just about to fall for the same trick twice - not when Kashizudoto's reputation was on the line. These were quite strong ninja - at least at the level of tokubetsu jonin if not stronger - and there was no doubt that if it were left to a battle of attrition, Hawky would be finished, even with the help of the chuunin who had just freed him. It was likely that these two tokubetsu jonin together had chakra reserves that far exceeded Hawky's and Hina's combined, not to mention access to what was likely a variety of specialized jutsu for different situations. Combine that with the wireless radios attached to their ears that allowed them to coordinate each and every movement, and Hawky and Hina certainly had a challenge ahead of them if they were to try and take out these shinobi. It also seemed that there was a third hiding somewhere throwing kunai, and while Hawky could have probably been able to locate them given enough time and searching, he had neither the time nor the ability to leave his location to go search, as he was occupied with stalling the assassins.

Meanwhile, while most of the samurai were far too injured from the bomb attack to offer any meaningful assistance at this point, some of the remaining samurai attempted to escort the daimyo's daughter to a safer location away from the henchmen, only to be met with a storm of kunai. They determined that with a hidden ninja about, the safest place was for her to be was, in fact, her litter, which at least provided her cover from the kunai knives, and they simply escorted her and her advisor back into her litter and surrounded it, swords drawn and on the ready. Another kunai attached to a paper bomb flew in, but, this time, the samurai were prepared and deflected it. However, being that the paper bomb was timed for the exact moment when the kunai hit the sword, it exploded almost instantly upon impact, knocking back most of the samurai and blowing off the top of the litter, exposing the daimyo's daughter, who was shielding herself from the debris with her arm.

Hawky heard the explosion and was about to fly over and help, but the two shinobi each grabbed one foot, preventing him from flying with their combined strength. He resisted: squirming, shaking, and batting his wings at them; however they deflected his attacks with their tantos. If Hina were to help by temporarily distracting or disabling one of the shinobi, he would probably be able to break free of their hold on him, though not in time to help with what was coming next.

The leader decided to make his critical move. With speed that was essentially blinding to everyone involved sans Hawky and his two henchmen, he jumped from his tree and landed in front of the daimyo's daughter's litter with a gigantic sword in hand, tearing the ground itself with his weight. He was a giant, hulking figure - easily seven feet tall with rippling musculature and an exposed chest that made him even more menacing. Using only his two elbows, he knocked back the two nearby samurai, the only ones left standing, several meters back into the ground and then proceeded to lift up his sword above the daimyo's daughter's head and swing.

But his swing was stopped mid-air, as if some invisible force was blocking it. The leader and everyone else - the surrounding samurai, the advisor, and even the daimyo's daughter - looked on in both fear and confusion as the giant swordsman tried to force his blade forward to no avail. The deadlock continued for a few seconds until, suddenly, the grizzly man was sent flying into a nearby tree, as if he been kicked by some invisible ninja.

And that was exactly what had happened. Kashizudoto began to understand the severity of the situation as he approached closer and closer and saw what were unmistakably the tracks of three high-speed ninja, fast enough to be jonin-level. He unveiled his true form, a form that had blended so much with the nature chakra around him that he had become essentially invisible, silent, and odorless, leaving no tracks in his wake as his movements, too, simply blended with the nature around him. He was, as Hanuman had called him, the "Invisible Flame," but, invisible or not, he had to hurry to make it on time.

It seemed that he had arrived just in the nick of time, in fact, just as the grizzly swordsman was lifting up his blade. Kashizudoto, in response, lifted up his arm and pointed it at a tree across from him, pulling the trigger on the Dansuburedo to fire a kunai at the tree with a long chain attached to it, and this chain was what blocked the large man's sword. Kashizudoto's items, too, were invisible, silent, and odorless like himself, and when piercing into the tree for support, the Kashizudoto's kunai did not actually poke a hole into it, simply blending into the bark itself as the natural energy created a buffer between the tree and the kunai. Of course, all of this was imperceptible to everyone else at the scene including Hawky: all they saw was the invisible defense to the swordsman's attack and the resulting blow to him, which was delivered when Kashizudoto used the Dansuburedo's propulsion mechanism to propel himself along the chain and deliver a kick to the giant swordsman.

Although the swordsman was very bulky and could normally resist such a blow without being knocked back, it was safe to say that the kick had surprised him, having come out of essentially nowhere as far as he was concerned. However, although he was knocked back, he quickly got back up. And that's when Kashizudoto noticed it: the tattoo on the upper right hand corner of the man's exposed chest. He had been too distracted by the swordsman's attack on the daimyo's daughter to notice it at first, but this was definitely the same tattoo that Zuko Uchiha and his henchmen had - the emblem of Black Dawn. To see that emblem was a trip down memory lane - and not a good one at that - but what pressed him even more than his emotions, strong as they were, was a simple question: Why was Black Dawn after the daimyo's daughter? He didn't think Zuko to be one to care much for politics - only building up his power and his army of ghouls, and, for that, it was mass slaughter that was necessary, not the heads of the rich and powerful. Kashizudoto paused to muse this over, and that gave the grizzly swordsman enough time to stand on his own two feet. Of course, Kashizudoto was invisible and essentially undetectable without a good enough sensory jutsu, so he felt rather safe.

"So I see you like to hide yourself," the swordsman muttered, cracking an almost creepy sort of smile, the kind a hardened, brutal warrior gives when he knows he's met his match,  After feeling the kick, it must have been fairly obvious to him that it was an invisible shinobi, rather than someone hiding and using jutsu. Meanwhile, Kashizudoto retracted the chain of the Dansuburedo, reloading the kunai in the launcher. It seemed this man had a trick up this sleeve.

"Well, two can play at that game." The swordsman stood on one leg and formed the Seal of Confrontation, and thick mist began to rapidly roll out from his location, concealing everything from sight. Kashizudoto knew what this technique was: the Predatory Concealing Mist technique, a specialty of the Hunter Ninja that, when paired with the Silent Killing Technique, spelled certain death for all but a few shinobi who had adequate sensory capabilities. Thankfully, Kashizudoto was one of those shinobi; given his training in the sage arts, he could passively sense the presence of life forms around him, including this swordsman. Of course, given how thick this mist was, so thick, in fact, that not even a dojutsu could see through it unless it was exceptionally advanced, he wouldn't be able to see incoming jutsu, so he had to be very careful. Still invisible and silent, he jumped into the half-broken litter in front of the daimyo's daughter and revealed himself to sight and sound for a moment just as the mist rolled in, "Don't worry. I'll protect you."

He then resumed his invisible and silent form, although with how thick the mist was, only the latter really mattered.

Abilities/Items Used:

The daimyo's daughter, seeing Kashizudoto in front of her for a split second before he went invisible, grabbed onto him tightly as if holding onto her own life. This was probably the case, as the head assassin would have chopped through her head quite cleanly had he not been stopped by Kashizudoto in time. Having reached a point where she was that close to her death, she couldn't help but break out into tears and almost suffocate Kashizudoto with her grip, as if she were punishing him for leaving her side. The mist rolled in, and it was Kashizudoto's job to defend the daimyo's daughter from the assassin's attacks. This was a serious job and required his full range of abilities; as such, he took in some of the nature chakra around him and entered Monkey Sage Mode. A tail erupted from his buttocks, and dark makeup engorged his eyes. His limbs loosened; his reflexes heightened to a point where they were comparable to a Kage-level shinobi. He drew his sword, the Tentetsutou, out of its bamboo sheath. It was go time.

When the other two henchmen saw the cloud of mist that surrounded Kashizudoto, the daimyos' daughter, and the leader, they proceeded to fire two coordinated blasts of water at Hawky. While he was able to dodge both of them, the point was not to hit him: it was to divert his attention so that he wouldn't see them slipping into the mist - or, at the least, would not be able to stop them. The three assassins, Kashizudoto could assume, were familiar with the Predatory Mist Concealing technique, to the point where they could maneuver through the mist as if it wasn't even there. That wasn't the case for Kashi, who wasn't familiar with the techniques of the Kiri hunter ninja beyond theory and what he had studied of it. In fact, he had never faced a ninja who used mist of any sort; all he knew was straight out of the book, no first hand experience whatsoever. However, given that he was in Sage Mode, his passive sage radius grew to 20 meters, allowing him to sense life all across the mist. He could track the movements of the leader and notice the entrance of the two henchmen into the mist.

He felt confident enough that he could take on the leader and at least have a stalemate, but the leader and two others? No way - he and Mira had to get out of there and fast. He could detect the leader, running around them, trying to get behind them and slice off their heads. But he wouldn't let him have the opportunity.

"Hold tight," he whispered to Mira as he quickly unsheathed his sword, temporarily revealing himself to sound before becoming silent once more. An ability that he learned from the monkeys, emulating their ability to swing from branch to branch quickly and smoothly, Kashizudoto used his chakra to amplify his natural speed by 85 m/s in a single burst, bringing it up to 205 m/s as he sprinted away from the mist, carrying Mira along with him. He would appear in front of Hina and Hawky in what would appear to a chuunin-level ninja as a sudden flash. He revealed his visible form to Hina so that she wouldn't be scared. With little time to explain what had happened, all he could offer was a quick debrief of the objectives.

"Hina, Hawky, I want you to protect Mira with your lives," he said as he set the girl down next to Hina and drew his sword, "They're coming." The two henchmen jumped out of the mist just as returned to his invisible and silent form. Hawky charged forth at one henchman as he drew his sword, and the other began to weave hand signs, preparing for a counteroffensive against the hawk. But it was too late for the one weaving hand signs, as he was hit by Kashizudoto's Dansuburedo, moving at a speed of 285 m/s, before he could even finish his last seal; to others, it would appear as if some invisible knife had just pierced the henchman's stomach, blood spurting out as Kashi retracted the blade; all the while, he and his items remained invisible, silent, and odorless - in other words, untrackable without a special jutsu of sorts. The other henchmen got into quite a tussle with Hawky, and, in the end, he simply pushed the hawk away with a clever maneuver and retreated back into the mist along with the wounded henchman.

All the while, the mist was rolling, rolling forward and cloaking everything in such a manner that not even Kashi or Hawky, as keen-eyed as they were, could see through it. His training in the sage arts could certainly help him somewhat, but, nonetheless, these trained assassins in the mist could do a far better job maneuvering in the mist than he could, given their experience and the fact that they apparently had wireless radios to communicate with each other through faint whispers into the radio. If the daimyo's daughter was caught in the mist, the odds would not be in her favor.

"The mist, don't let her get into the mist!" Kashizudoto yelled, having revealed himself to sound but not sight for the moment. The result was that people would hear Kashizudoto but not see him, almost as if his voice was emanating from the air itself. The mist itself was not particularly fast, creeping forward at a mere 10 m/s. He was almost sure that the leader was right behind the mist in an ideal position to land a blow on the daimyo's daughter and that he had used his henchmen as a distraction to allow the mist to creep closer and closer to the group.

"Okay, I have a plan," he announced to the others as he took a few steps back towards Hina, Hawky, and Mira, still invisible, "This mist isn't very fast, so I want you to run, as fast as you can to the next town, and I'll hold those three off if they try to give chase." He paused and made himself visible for a split second as the mist crept to a distance of about ten meters away, "Go!" Hawky grabbed the daimyo's daughter with his talons and started to fly down the path to the next village, and if Hina were to choose to follow, Hawky would pick her up as well and start flying them both down the path. If she chose not to follow for whatever reason, Kashizudoto would have no choice but to protect her with the same vigor that he protected Mira. After all, he was partly responsible for this mess, having left the group to go do his own personal errands.

Kashizudoto returned to his invisible and silent state, taking a few steps back away from the mist, drawing his katana, and repositioning himself as he had just given away his location earlier when discussing his plan. In the next moment, the leader emerged with his sword. He didn't know what had given his position away, but it was obvious that the swordsman was going straight for him. Their swords clashed mid-air, and then the swordsman directed the rest of his body to land straight on top of Kashi, crushing him under his sheer weight, using his free arm to restrain Kashizudoto's free arm as it struggled to resist. The mist continued to creep closer and closer to Kashizudoto; after all, the technique followed its user at a relatively slow speed, and its user was currently on top of Kashizudoto restraining him. Meanwhile, the two henchman leaped out and weaved hand seals, creating a giant wave that they surfed on, giving chase to the rest of the group so that they could capture the daimyo's daughter while the leader had.

"You might as well give up the invisibility act," barked the grizzly figure. "With my Water Vapor Sensory Jutsu, you can't hide from me, you little runt."

"Well, you got me," he disabled his invisibility and silence for a moment as he struggled to break free of his man's stranglehold, "So that tattoo on your chest..." He tussled with the man for a bit, "Black Dawn, was it?"

"You're quite the know-it-all, kid," his enemy barked, "It's Daifuku. Daifuku Momochi, and, yes, I am a member of Black Dawn." He'd heard the name before, in a short excerpt about the recent history of Kirigakure and its special divisions. Daifuku Momochi was a powerful, battle-hardened shinobi deemed too ruthless to even join the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist - the Bloody Mist, that had a reputation for folk who were absolutely ruthless If this man was who he said he was, then Kashizudoto was in for a load of trouble.

The man released his grip on Kashi's free arm and then quickly elbowed Kashi's hand into the ground, with force that tore through the earth itself, freeing up his own hand to create a hand seal while continuing to restrain Kashizudoto. In a puff of smoke, a clone appeared, unmistakeably a shadow clone. In all his life, Kashizudoto had never seen someone pull off a one-handed Shadow Clone Jutsu, and, yet, Daifuku had done it just now. The clone started running down the same path that Hawky took, evidently trying to catch up to Hawky and launch an attack, all while Kashizudoto was restrained here. He'd gotten himself into quite a pickle really; his right hand was holding his sword in place to parry Daifuku's sword, and his left hand was smashed into the ground by Daifuku's elbow, all while Daifuku's shadow clone was giving chase to the rest of the group. Kashizudoto's invisibility wouldn't help in this situation because apparently Daifuku had some sort of sensory technique. Normally, when Kashizudoto moved, he did not disturb the natural surroundings, including water vapor; however, evidently, Daifuku had infused his own chakra into the water vapor, ensuring that it would be displaced upon contact with Kashizudoto and thus sense his every move and his form, allowing Daifuku to make accurate movements just as if his opponent were visible.

Struggling, Kashizudoto lifted his left arm up, resisting Daifuku's elbow, just enough to point the Dansuburedo at Daifuku's stomach. It seemed that Daifuku, using his Water Vapor Sensory Jutsu, had already uncovered the underlying mechanism of the Dansuburedo and knew what was coming, and a split second before Kashizudoto pulled the trigger on the Dansuburedo, Daifuku rolled over, continuing to parry Kashizudoto's blade, but dodging the incoming kunai and chain. But that moment of respite was all Kashizudoto needed to sprint away, firing the kunai and chain of his Dansuburedo to the top of a tree and using the launcher's propulsion mechanism to pull himself along the chain to the top of a tree. Like a monkey swinging from branch to branch, he used the Dansuburedo to propel himself from tree to tree; given that the Dansuburedo fired and propelled at a speed of 285 m/s, it was leagues faster than his or Daifuku's running speed, giving him time to catch up with the rest of the group. He was quite sure that Daifuku was trailing behind him and that he would catch up to Daifuku's shadow clone before he made it to the rest of the group.

It was the henchmen he was really worried about. By now, they had caught up to Hawky; of course, Hawky - and pretty much anyone with ears - could hear the wave crashing behind them, which the two henchmen were surfing on. Hawky swooped down to the ground and dropped Mira - and Hina if she had decided to come - and turned around, releasing a giant ball of energy as he had done before to destroy the incoming wave, which was traveling at a speed that he simply could not race against. The two henchmen had seen this attack before and knew what to do: they jumped in opposite directions to avoid the impact, all the while weaving hand seals; as expected, the wave and the ball created a huge explosion, and the henchmen appeared on the side mostly unscathed. It appeared that their wounds from before had healed - probably a water healing jutsu if they were gone this fast. The two henchmen proceeded to shoot blasts of water at the daimyo's daughter from both directions, and Hawky was simply too exhausted from his recent attack and all the flying to launch any meaningful counterattack or defense.

Abilities/Items Used:

Kashizudoto Jutsu:

Hawky Jutsu:

---

It was quite a bumpy ride for Hawky and co., but it seemed that the gang had made it to the nearby village in one piece. It wasn't a large village, so its military force was made up of samurai who were locally trained and thus were not particularly well-versed in chakra control. The truth was that a clever chuunin or two could make quick work of the entire corps, but, with the hawk and Hina bolstering the might of the village's local force, the henchmen decided to hide in the trees for the time-being and wait for Daifuku's shadow clone, who was all the while ordering them through the wireless radio headsets that they wore. Daifuku himself was quite far behind the rest of the gang thanks to Kashi, and he was out of the radius of wireless radio communication at this point, although it was a sure thing that a jonin-level ninja like Daifuku would be able to catch up quickly. Kashi, while ahead of the original Daifuku, was a bit behind the shadow clone thanks to the tactic that Daifuku had employed earlier, but he had been catching up thanks to the blinding speed of his Dansuburedo's propulsion system, which propelled him forward at 285 m/s from tree to tree, like a monkey swinging from branch to branch.

A few minutes after they reached the village, just as Hawky and co. were starting to feel safe and secure with the support of local military forces, Daifuku's shadow clone had arrived, and the next attack commenced. The henchmen and Daifuku's shadow clone stormed the village with their blades, fighting through the front guard of the samurai before charging for the daimyo's daughter. Daifuku's blade met with Hawky's talons, and some of the samurai would be able to hold off the henchman on the left for the time-being, but the henchman on the right was all up to Hina to hold off or distract. The daimyo's daughter backed up, but the truth was that there was not a single safe space in the village when such a powerful ninja was on her tail.

It wasn't long before Kashizudoto reached the scene, only to see what appeared to be a bit of a stalemate between two sides: Hawky, Hina, and the samurai versus Daifuku's shadow clone and his henchmen. Kashi was here to tip the scales before the original Daifuku could arrive, and hopefully wipe out Daifuku's shadow clone - and with it, half his chakra supply - as well as his henchmen. He figured that Daifuku's shadow clone would have the Water Vapor Jutsu active, meaning that he couldn't launch a surprise attack on Daifuku, but the henchmen were a different story.

Assuming his invisible and silent state, he fired the Dansuburedo at the lower back of the henchman to the right, that Hina was supposed to be holding off; although Daifuku's shadow clone noticed and yelled "Behind you!" at his partner, it was too late because if Daifuku's shadow clone moved to block it, he would get hit by Hawky with a blow that would be fatal to a shadow clone, and the henchman simply could not react fast enough to Daifuku's warning, and as the blade was invisible and made no sound, meaning that Daifuku's warning was the only indicator he had of the incoming attack. The henchman dropped to the ground, incapacitated at least for the moment, and Kashizudoto used the Dansuburedo to propel himself to the henchman's body, where he revealed himself to sight if only to reassure the surrounding allies that the invisible presence was a friendly one, as he was wearing a leaf headband.

Daifuku's shadow clone, in coordinated movement with the other remaining partner, jumped backwards. He weaved a few hand seals and said, "I don't know how you got here so fast, monkey boy, or why you're here at all." He started floating up into the air; undoubtedly, he had just cast a flight jutsu, more than likely something that utilized water vapor to fly given his other abilities, "But no one gets away from Daifuku Momochi of the Mist." The other henchman continued jumping backwards, far away from the village, as if the whole area was in danger.

Daifuku weaved some more seals as he continued flying far up into the sky, with the remaining henchman now so far away that he was out of sight. Kashizudoto drew his sword and stood in front of Mira, making himself visible for now as there was no advantage to invisibility in a time like this, and it could only confuse his allies. Daifuku weaved his last seal, creating a gigantic bubble of water within the sky, the size of a lake. It cast a shadow upon the entire village, and the villagers and samurai alike looked upon it with awe and terror. It was so large that it cast a shadow upon the entire village, and evidently, he was going to release all this water down upon the entire village; given how massive it was, the water would completely obliterate the village and all the people in it. Kashizudoto was familiar with this technique: the Water Dragon Biting Explosion Jutsu, an S-rank technique in which the user creates a giant pool of water that explodes into a geyser shaped like a dragon's head. He imagined it was quite a spectacle to watch the dragon's head erupt from the water, but, in any case, if they were caught up in this explosion, they certainly wouldn't be living to see the dragon's head.

Daifuku, flying hundreds of meters above the village, released the giant bubble of water upon it, and the daimyo's daughter squealed and grabbed onto Kashizudoto. He formed a half-snake seal with his left hand and created a giant semispherical chakra barrier that surrounded the entire village, allowing the water to hit the barrier and slide away along the edges. The water flooded the surrounding forest area and destroyed a good chunk of it with its sheer mass alone. He was certain that this deforestation and forest flooding would have consequences for the villagers, but at least they were all safe and their homes were intact. Some compensation would be fair for these villagers after all this was over; after all, they didn't ask for the daimyo's daughter to bring in an assassin that would beat up their local samurai and destroy the surrounding landscape. He dispelled the giant chakra barrier once the last stream of water drizzled down the edges.

"Protect her," Kashizudoto told Hina as he formed an Ox seal, casting his own flight technique: the Lightened Boulder Jutsu. It was originally the technique of the ancient Tsuchikages but had been lost to the annals of time. Kashizudoto, studying ancient techniques during his time away from ninja life, figured out how to do the technique on his own. Like the ancient Tsuchikages, he used Doton to lower his gravity until he was lighter than the air itself, allowing him to fly up into the air, sword drawn, to fight in the skies. His hawk, being a natural flier, joined him, making it a 2v1, Kashizudoto v.s. Daifuku Momochi. Still, Daifuku had shown himself to be an incredibly strong opponent, and this was going to be quite a tough fight ahead.

Meanwhile, the henchman made his way back to the village, where he would confront the remaining samurai and Hina, trying to kill the daimyo's daughter as Kashizudoto and Hawky battled Daifuku's shadow clone in the skies. Daifuku's Water Vapory Sensory Jutsu made Kashizudoto's invisibility quite useless, so Kashizudoto revealed himself to sight, if only for his avian partner's sake, so that he and Hawky could better coordinate their actions. Given that it was a 2v1, they obviously had the upper hand, but Daifuku was a fierce fighter who held his own against them, even as a shadow clone.

The critical moment of their clash in the skies began when Daifuku's shadow clone fired a great vortex of water towards Kashizudoto, the Tearing Torrent Technique. In response, he simply sealed the entire torrent within the Nature seal on his chest, using his Defensive Sealing Technique, preparing to unseal and reflect it back onto Daifuku's shadow clone. But the Tearing Torrent Technique was simply a diversion. But it was too late, as Daifuku's shadow clone started swooping down towards the village, and when Hawky tried to interfere, Daifuku, with his great strength, simply elbowed him away and continued charging through the skies towards the daimyo's daughter. When Kashizudoto noticed this, he too gave chase to Daifuku, but, as they were flying at the same speed, he wouldn't be able to reach Daifuku in time through his flight technique alone. Thus, he augmented his speed using his sage ability, which allowed him to increase his speed by 85 m/s to a total of 205 m/s in order to catch up to Daifuku.

By this time, the fight between the one remaining henchman and the samurai, as well as Hina if she chose to help, would have drawn to a close with the defeat of the henchman, so the people on the ground would have no choice but to watch as Daifuku Momochi's shadow clone charged down from the skies towards the daimyo's daughter with sword in hand to kill her in one fell swoop. After all, Daifuku was so much more powerful than any of them that getting in the way would just get them killed along with the daimyo's daughter. But just as the tip of his sword was inches away from the daimyo's daughter, the shadow clone paused mid-air and coughed up blood on her cheek. It seemed that Kashizudoto had caught up to the shadow clone just in the nick of time to stab the shadow clone's upper back with his black blade, and, with that, finishing him off. The shadow clone dispersed into a puff of smoke, and Kashizudoto landed on the ground.

With his left hand, still damp from all the water vapor techniques, he wiped the blood off Mira's cheek. He turned to Hina, "That was just the clone. The real one's right there." He looked up and gestured to the top of one of the few remaining trees that stood among the flooded mess surrounding the village, where, of course, the original Daifuku Momochi stood.

"I don't know how you took out my clone and my henchman," the original Daifuku yelled from the top of the tree. He jumped backwards, to the top of another tree. It was a wonder that most of the trees left standing were packed so close to one another, as if each had helped the other not to fall amongst the great flood of water. Daifuku pulled out a scroll - a summoning contract no doubt. He bit his finger and drew his blood signature across the blood signature, "Summoning: Ursa, Lord of Bears!"

Meanwhile, Kashizudoto was preparing for his own next move; once he saw Daifuku's contract, he figured it might have to come to this. He turned to Hina, "Stay put. Don't let her out of the sight of your Byakugan." He then speeded away, with his hawk perched on his shoulder, to an area in front of the village, between Daifuku and the village but still a reasonable distance away from it in case he had to use what he was thinking he might have to use.

In a giant puff of smoke, a large grizzly bear stood erect in the middle of the flooded wilds; this was Daifuku's giant summon, no doubt, and he stood on top of it, ready to trample the entire village under the weight of this beast just for the sake of killing the daimyo's daughter. In a similar fashion to how Daifuku summoned his giant grizzly bear, Kashi pulled out his contract and formed a blood signature, "Summoning: Hanuman, Lord of Monkeys!" A giant puff of smoke appeared, and out of it, a giant monkey about as big as the grizzly bear stood erect.

Both giants stood 100m tall, with their summoners standing on top of them. Hanuman, as the Lord of Monkeys was called, was the only thing standing in between the giant grizzly bear and the village. It would become readily clear to everyone, both the summoners and those watching in the village, that a clash of titans would determine the fate of this village.

"Now, I need you more than ever," the grizzly man told his bear.

"I am sorry Lord Hanuman, but the fate of this village and the daughter of the fire daimyo is at stake."

"Say no more, Kashi," the monkey spoke, waving away Kashi's concerns with his enormous hand. The giant monkey's voice was so great and loud that even those in the village could hear it from all the way where they were standing, "Ursa, I never thought I would have to face you in battle."

"Times are changing," the giant grizzly bear mumbled, though his voice was still loud enough for everyone to hear quite clearly. He roared a great big roar, but, unbeknownst to Hanuman and Kashizudoto, this was not simply for the purpose of intimidation. This was a call to the nearby bears in the wilderness to attack the village, and, within a few minutes, a number of wild bears showed up at their doorstep. As Kashizudoto and Hawky were too occupied with the fight to even see what was going on in the village, this would be a job for Hina and the samurai to handle. These were wild bears, not ninja bears, and though they had physical prowess that could match that of a chuunin-level ninja, they had no chakra and were not particularly intelligent, although that didn't mean that dispatching them would be easy for an already exhausted group.

The titans clashed for a while as Kashizudoto and his hawk battled Daifuku Momochi in the skies above the giants. During the fight, Kashizudoto continued to inquire about Black Dawn and their goals, but was met with the silence of a hardened warrior doing anything to defend his reputation. The fight was over once Kashizudoto and Hawky pierced out the eyes of the giant grizzly bear Ursa, allowing Hanuman to land a blow on him and knock him to the ground. As the giant grizzly bear disappeared in a puff of smoke, Daifuku too, vanished using the smoke as his cover, and it was safe to assume that he had fled after both his henchmen, his shadow clone, and his giant summon had been rendered unable to battle.

---

---

Daifuku and his partners had caused quite a mess to the group, but by now, the last of the bears had been taken out by those on the ground, and Daifuku himself had evidently retreated. Thankfully, they had already stopped at all the major villages, and they could now return the daimyo's daughter to the capital city of the Land of Fire where it was safe, although it might not have been in the same flashy precession that she had initially left with. Given the armor that the samurai with the daimyo's daughter were wearing, none of them died from the flash bomb attack, and he could tell this to the daimyo's daughter with certainty because he sensed their natural life forces back when he was fighting Daifuku; however, he doubted that they would be able to accompany the daimyo's daughter on the way back.

Thus, Kashizudoto requested Lord Hanuman to carry all these samurai back to the village so that they could rest and recover; given his size, all the samurai could easily fit into the palm of his hand, so this was no issue, and Hanuman began this task at once. Kashizudoto then told Hina that she did a good job on the mission and was free to return to Konoha once everything had been taken care of in the small village and that he was going to fly the daimyo's daughter back to the capital city of the Land of Fire along with Hawky. He figured that they ran into Daifuku along the way, the missing-nin would be too low on chakra to defeat them; after all, losing a shadow clone and using so many powerful techniques came at a price, even for such a powerful jonin-level ninja as Daifuku Momochi.

The daimyo's daughter promised the village that compensation would be in order once everything was sorted out, and, with that, Kashizudoto flew off with Mira in his arms and his tired hawk perched on his shoulder. Usually Hawky was the one doing the flying, but he figured his pal needed a break. They landed to take a short break after about a half hour of flying, and Kashi and Mira shared a short kiss. It was brief and more than anything was probably just a result of all the adrenaline flowing through their systems. They didn't talk for the rest of the trip, and Kashizudoto wondered whether the daimyo would be more mad about the fact that he dipped in the middle of the mission or the fact that he kissed his daughter. He hoped that Mira wouldn't tell her father about either and trusted that she could keep a secret.

Abilities/Items Used:

Kashizudoto Jutsu:

Hawky Jutsu:

Hanuman Jutsu: