“Another monster, huh?” Bokuden said to himself as before taking a sip of coffee, “First the troll and now this? What a hassle.” Bokuden placed his mug on the counter and took a look out of the window for a few moments. From this elevation he could see the village gate and the mountainous area behind it, where he had hunted down a troll only days before. Upon receiving the mission briefing, Bokuden and Satomi first suspected that the monster’s description, at least physically and behavior wise, lent itself to being another troll. Extremely large, monstrous strength, attacking travelers and civilians all within a specific area, all like the troll they had been ordered to hunt down during their last mission. This creature however, was apparently not connected to the troll attacks. Incidents involving attacks by this beast occurred in an entirely different area outside of the village, concentrated closer to the border rather than up in the mountains.

The mission briefing also came with a copy of a file from the kage’s office regarding a known criminal organization that intelligence has been able to connect to the beast attacks. According to what sources the kage’s office saw fit to share with Bokuden, the gang was suspected to be behind several disappearances around the Kaminari no Kuni border. Their leader is even said to be harboring an internationally wanted scientist in his midst, guilty of un-sanctioned human experimentation leading to the deaths of many unwilling test subjects. If this scientist was now in the employ of this gang, then there could be much bigger issues to deal with than just a single monster running about. Such things however, would have to wait until after the monster was dealt with. Orders are orders after all, whatever needed to be done to remove the possible threat of the gang was secondary to removing the immediate threat of a savage monster roaming the countryside and killing civilians

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Word Count: 328/1500

Bokuden and Satomi made their way down into the surrounding wilderness around Kumogakure, searching for the site of the most recent monster attack. It was all too familiar a situation for the duo. It had barely been a week since their troll hunt and now they are assigned to do the exact same kind of work. Bokuden figured that it was common knowledge that he was good at killing things, but he did eventually want to get the chance to kill people. Trolls and monsters might be physically strong, but these attacks were the work of less than sophisticated creatures. There was no rhyme or reason to the way that the attacks and the killings were taking place. It was mindless destruction, caravans and bodies violently torn apart by something big, strong, ugly, and stupid. The money and recognition by the kage’s office of Bokuden being capable of handling B ranked missions alone were more than appreciated, but engaging enemies of such inferior intelligence almost seemed like bullying to Bokuden. He would carry out the mission, but he would draw no satisfaction from being able to out maneuver a savage beast.

As they arrived at the site of the most recent attack, Bokuden and Satomi surveyed the area, searching for clues as to where they could find the beast. Bokuden felt it was an unnecessary waste of time as there was likely little that he could have derived from the scene of the attack (which had mostly been cleaned up at that point anyway) that wouldn’t have already been picked up by the investigation team that was dispatched before him. He was ordered to make a stop here however, so he just went along with it and told Satomi to sniff around. There was still a good chance that she could pick up the scent of whatever was responsible for the attack, although she could have likely done the same anywhere in the area as the attacks seemed to be centralized in one area. Beasts did have the tendency to be territorial after all. If they were anywhere near the beasts territory they wouldn’t have to search for the beast, it would find them.

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Word Count: 695/1500

Tired of looking around an already investigated scene, Bokuden motioned to Satomi to move out and led the way as he pulled out a map of the area. After pulling a pen from his coat pocket Bokuden drew a large circle on a segment of the map. “What is that supposed to represent?” Satomi asked, peering curiously at the map, noting the many “X” marks drawn within the circle that was just made.

“The “X”s represent the location of every single attack that the monster we are hunting has been linked to. The circle is an imaginary boundary I made to home in on where we should be looking,” Bokuden explained, still looking forward and hopping from tree to tree.

“Why would you assume that it is going to be in that circle? The attacks haven’t been following any sort of pattern that we could use to predict its next attack. These aren’t calculated strikes, they’re mindless savagery. That thing could attack anywhere at any time. While we are running around in your circle, someone outside it could be getting killed,” Satomi argued. Not convinced by the vagueness of the explanation Bokuden offered.

“But there IS a pattern,” Bokuden replied. “The attacks themselves might seem random, but they all share one thing, this circle,” Bokuden continues pressing his right index finger against the center of the circle on the map, “This doesn’t seem eerily similar to the troll situation we dealt with a couple of days ago?”

Satomi’s eyed widened as she realized what Bokuden was implying. “Territorial killings?” she pondered, “Then the area of that circle must be its territory! That’s why attacks never occur beyond a certain point!”Bokuden turned his head over to face Satomi for a moment, giving her a confirming nod. As he turned his gaze back in front of him he looked down and immediately brought himself to a halt as he landed on the ground beneath him.

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Word Count: 1026/1500

In a crouched position Bokuden traced the large imprint he saw on the ground with his fingers before turning his head to Satomi who had landed right behind him. “Tracks, fresh ones by the look of it,” Bokuden said, rubbing the dirt from the footprint between his index finger, middle finger, and thumb. He stood up straight and performed a quick visual scan of the area before turning his gaze back to Satomi. “Think you can lead us to it?”

“Can I lead us to it?” Satomi scoffed at the idea of her not being able to track the beast, “Let’s go.” Following the large footprints of the beast as well as its scent, Satomi began to navigate through the wilderness area, Bokuden following closely behind. Within minutes they have arrived at a cave opening that Satomi identified as the monster’s lair. Partially eaten and maimed deer carcasses laid scattered around the entrance to the cave, the dirt beneath them soaked in blood. “Ugh!” Satomi groaned, “I can barely smell anything, but those dead animals and blood.”

“It’s alright Satomi,” Bokuden said before petting her head, “I’ll lead from here.” Bokuden led the way into the dark cave. Bokuden was thankful for the numerous cracks and holes in the ceilings roof, as they let just enough rays of sunlight into the cave to allow he and Satomi to see. Bokuden noted the thin ceiling, making sure to take note to avoid using anything too destructive lest he cause a cave in. As they came to an end to the tunnel like section and to a clearing, the duo came face to face with the beast hunched over on the other side of the room. It’s hideous appearance was only matched by the pungent odor that permeated the air. Without hesitation the beast let out a shriek and charged at them, causing them both dive over to the right. The beast slammed against the wall with such force that it cracked and a small amount of debris fell from the ceiling above. “Shit,” Bokuden thought to himself, “If we don’t corral this thing it is going to bring the whole cave down on top of us.”

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Word Count: 1397/1500

Bokuden attached some wire to his two fuma shuriken, aiming to use the same strategy he used to subdue the troll on this new monster. He threw the fuma shuriken and the plan was seemingly a success. The shuriken had swung around the beast, wrapping and constricting it in the sharp wire as it dug into its skin while it struggled. A smug smirk grew on Bokuden’s face as he was confident his plan had worked and he charged in to deliver the finishing blow. To his surprise however, the moment Bokuden closed in on the beast it broke out of the wires and swung its arm at Bokuden, sending him flying back and crashing into the cave wall.

Bokuden gripped his side, sure that that last hit had cracked a few of his ribs, and forced himself to his knees as the beast charged towards him. The beast’s body was covered in deep gashes from forcing its way out of the wires, but it charged forward regardless. Satomi transformed and lunged at the beast, attempting to intercept it before it could attack Bokuden, but was swatted away by the beast’s absurd strength. Unable to move at his full speed thanks to the injury he had suffered, Bokuden scanned the chamber for anything that could help him. Upon seeing a bit more debris fall from the ceiling Bokuden thought up a plan. Without time to waste thinking over the possible drawbacks of his plan Bokuden launched his Wave of Inspiration jutsu directly at the ceiling in front of the charging beast. The lightning blast damaged the weak ceiling enough that large masses of earth fell on top of it, crushing it beneath them. To Bokuden’s surprise, the beast was still alive and was beginning to move the rubble off from on top of it. Before it could stand however, a large stalactite came loose from the crumbling hole in the roof and fell, impaling the beast through its heart. No words were spoken between Satomi and Bokuden as she made her way over to him and helped him up. The mission was done, they now had to tend to their wounds.

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Word Count: 1762/1500