Naga was taking his first mission. He first real one, at least. His goal was to eliminate some bandits that had been causing trouble in the village lately. He took long strides through the clouded streets of Kumo, bound to eliminate his targets. Horui followed close behind, with a gleam in his eyes.

They continued down the road, step after step, checking every street and byway. Finally, they heard a commotion from a nearby area. It sounded like a struggle, and there was a shrill scream. Horui dashed forwards, heading in the direction of the sound, but Naga ran ahead and stopped him. "We need to take a stealthy approach to this. It'll be easier to take them out."

Nagare flashed a hand sign, and closed his eyes. Goosebumps rose on his skin as the grew sensitive to the heats around him. The strongest heats present were those of 5 humans, 4 of which were bulky and tall and the final was short and rounded, most likely female. "Naga, we don't have time for this. She could be dying."

"I doubt it's that serious. They are at least 5 meters apart from each other, they're probably just threatening her. Here's the plan. I want you to go around the other side of the block and get behind the bandits. I'll approach from this street and catch them in my view. When they see me, I'll try to talk to them. If they don't come with us willingly, we'll just kill them. Simple as that. Now, go!"

Horui hesitated a moment, then hurried around the bend. Nagare turned back to the street, and went toward the bandits who were east of him. He came near and stood behind the woman being terrorized, giving the bandits a murderous glare. The four stood with blank expressions, not paying much attention to Naga, but staying focused on the woman.

"We only wanted to play, lady...you don't have to be so rude!"

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" the woman shrieked.

Nagare looked over the shoulder of the tallest bandit and saw Horui a far ways back, ready to attack if the signal was given. Suddenly, the bandits took a different stance, and brass knuckles gleamed on their fists. Nagare stood in front of the woman now, so that he could not be ignored.

"I'm taking you into custody. One step closer, and your giving me permission to kill you all.",

Horui heard this clearly, and took a few steps closer, careful not to be noticed. The bandits pondered their options for a moment, just a quick moment. A second passed, and they all pounced at Naga, screamed wildly. Nagare thought, "Now!" and Horui jumped into action, dashing forward as fast as he could. Raising his hand full of Raiton chakra, Nagare sent out a blast, knocking all of the bandits to the ground. The woman had already fled at this point, the danger being too much for her to risk.

Horui was now only 10 meters or so away, so he thought to Naga, "Throw me the Scroll of Yami no Ikimono!" Nagare listened, and took the scroll from his hip, tossing it to his clone. Horui caught it in time, unraveled it, and spread his already bleeding finger across its surface, a puff of smoke, and Takeshi appeared, taking immediate and precise flight. Just as he flew over the bandits, he flapped his wings once vigorously, and an expanding wave of wind descended upon them, growing in size as it went. By the time it made contact, it was big enough to affect all four on the ground, and they were forced into the hard pavement, leaving slices and lacerations of all shapes and sizes on their chiseled bodies. One of them stood up and began to run, but Nagare tripped him and he fell to the ground again. Naga put his foot on the man's head, applying a specific amount of pressure so that he couldn't get up.

"So, why were you attacking that woman?"

"LET GO OF ME! GET OFF!"

"Fine, you don't have to tell me, creep. But you do have to answer this. Will you come with me willingly?"

"NEVER!"

"Then you may as well die here." He moved his foot to the base of the man's neck, and pushed with all of his weight until he heard a loud crack. The bandit's head was twisted far to the left, and he was now silent and immobile. Naga turned to the other 3, who were just now getting their feet. Horui stood behind them, ensuring they wouldn't escape. Takeshi circled overhead, a leaving a black shadow trailing him. "We should kill them..."

"I couldn't agree more, my friend."

Horui and Naga each grabbed a neck, and snapped them fiercely. The two carcasses fell with a thud. The last bandit was crying at this point. "Please. Just let me go. I'll never cause anyone trouble again."

"You need judgement; your punishment will be quick, don't worry..." Nagare took the scroll from Horui, and summoned Amaya, who landed on his shoulder. "Do it."

A colorless breath came forth from her small mouth, and the air smelled of noxious gas. The man began screaming, and the two released heated chakra, igniting the flame and leaving the man to burn to death. Flames consumed him, and raged across his body as his skin began to crack and blacken until it left a corpse that looked nothing like what it once was. Masses of dry, coarse hair stood burnt like straw, and charcoal skin was broken and smelled like death.

When the deed was done, they collected the bodies and left the scene, without leaving any clues of their presence or the bandits'. Mission complete.

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Word Count: 1,019/1,000

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