Aiza stood in the second highest branch of a tree, concealed by the leaves. This forest, the Dense Forest, the same place he had chased that cat. Another task was to be completed here, although admittedly he had finally gotten one of true importance. He was extremely urgent in his effort to be as silent as possible while he scanned over the surrounding area. He was to eliminate seven missing-ninja who had stolen a forbidden jutsu scroll...now, forbidden jutsu weren't anything to be played with. If he failed this mission, lives would be at stake when these criminals got their precious jutsu. So there he was, looking through the gaps between the leaves until the group caught his eye, just as he expected. "Quite the odd bunch, but I'm sure their skills are deadly." he whispered as he recalled the mission details. There were, according to them, four Genin, two Chuunin, and a leader of Aiza's own rank, Special Jounin. He wasn't worried, though. He had back-up.

Aiza made a careful effort to keep track of them as he peered to the left, awaiting his sensei's arrival. That was when he would strike. It wouldn't be much of a problem after that, with an ANBU Captain like Mitsuo and a Special Jounin like he. The skirmish would be over in a matter of minutes, the real problem would be if they tried to escape. No doubt with seven of them running in different directions, one was bound to get away. Another look back, and Aiza noticed the scroll strapped to the tallest one's back, probably the leader or at least a Chuunin. He made note of this before relaxing against the hard bark of the tree again, completely unnoticeable from the perspective of anyone on the ground. Any moment now...

(310)

He moved silently through the trees making his way towards the location that he had been told he would be able to find the group of nukenin. His information had led him to this spot, once again proving just how useful Takeshi’s information circuit was. He was wearing his ANBU uniform underneath of his regular clothes of his fishnet shirt, black coat and ninja pants, so that he could move more silently and not have anyone realise that he was one of the ANBU of Konohagakure no Kato. He had become quite skilled at moving around stealthily since joining the ANBU and was quite proud of himself because of it. As he approached the camp he noticed that it was becoming increasingly dark out. He took up position so that he was to the north of the group, directly across from where his student was supposed to be positioned. His hand unconsciously brushed against the hilt of his weapon and he went to push the glasses up the bridge of his nose, completely forgetting that ever since his surgery to replace his left eye he hadn’t needed to wear glasses anymore. His slightly off coloured green orbs scanned the area in front of him and he prepared to make his descent onto the nukenin beneath him.

Once he noticed the man with the scroll he smiled gently to himself, making a mental note of which he was so that he could safely retrieve the scroll before killing the person who was carrying it. He imagined this was probably the leader of the band, as why would he entrust such a valuable piece of equipment to anyone else? He quietly unsheathed Chita no Kiba from its sheath, the smoky blade not reflecting any light from the moon above and he made his way down the trees, landing thirty meters behind the man with the scroll and using his dark clothes to blend in with his background. He was hoping that his stealth skills were enough that his enemies would not be able to detect him, but in the event that they would be able to he had placed his free hand on Seijin no Ken, making sure that he was prepared to draw his trusty blade at a moment’s notice.

This is it Nii-san, this is where we really test our teamwork with Aiza. Time to see how much he learned with during his time training with me.

(407/1500)

Aiza finally noticed an ever-so slight change in a nearby tree. The leaves now shook gently and the branch had shifted positions just a bit, as if it was carrying additional weight. A single green eye was visible through the greenery, and Aiza then knew that Mitsuo was now present. He rose to his feet and hopped down from the branch, landing down in the soft grass silently. The missing-ninja were now sitting in a circle, as they had started a fire of sorts and were using it for warmth. If this was their camp, it would be opportune to ambush them here; they would be easy targets if they weren't expecting an attack. He signaled to Mitsuo to proceed, then focused again on the seven in front of him. None of them took notice, as the one closest to him was facing the opposite direction. How to proceed in a situation without arousing the attention of the others...they were in a circle. If he tried to attack from behind and suffocate one, all the others would notice and attack immediately. So, naturally, Aiza figured he should take on a blitzkrieg strategy while Mitsuo could use stealth tactics and speed.

The Special Jounin turned to looked at his sensei, and signaled to attack from the shadows. Of course, he didn't know if he was doing the right signals at all...he made some sort of "go around" gesture, but he was sure that Mitsuo would understand at least a little. He dashed forward, taking no time in gripping the scrawny boy sitting towards the left of the circle and snapping his neck with a swift flip of the wrist. The sickly cracking noise that accompanied the kill was bittersweet, as his adversary was surely dead but at the same time he felt a bit guilty for killing someone. Well, not that guilty, as with full intent of dealing death, he came at the next person, most likely a Chuunin, and threw a hard punch to their face, stabbing them with his gauntlet and knocking them to the ground. The guy bled fiercely as he clawed at his face and screamed in agony. Aiza turned to the other five, who had risen from their positions around the fire and were now glaring intensely at him.

"Heh, hey boys. Sorry about letting those two go ahead of you, but don't worry, you'll get your turns." Aiza said as he braced his arms and closed his fists tightly, keeping his eyes peeled for any sudden movements. Such a genuine thrill of battle was quite refreshing after so many support and search missions.  The rogue ninja closed in, with sinister grins and weapons drawn. Their leader, who was indeed the tall one with the forbidden scroll on his back, was the only one of them who remained completely solemn and calm, and his eyes were full of murderous hatred. Aiza didn't flinch, and waited for an opportune moment to strike...

(814/1,500)

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Currently Equipped Weapons:

Mitsuo was completely focused on the task at hand, smiling slightly to himself when he realised he managed to not tip off any of the shinobi in front of him. He looked towards Aiza to see that he had similarly dropped down and seemed to be signalling to him. He wasn’t entirely sure what he was trying to tell him to do but Mitsuo had an idea. He had every intention of using his stealth and speed advantage to steal the scroll and get it away to safety before anyone noticed. He nodded towards his student and watched as he strolled out, taking down two of the nin in the blink of an eye. He really was quite impressive and Mitsuo couldn’t help but feel a small amount of pride at that fact. He decided it was time to get to work himself, watching and noticing that the man in front of him hadn’t moved an inch. He knew this wasn’t going to be easy but he also moved about as fast as was humanly possible for a person to move and could use that to his advantage. He ran as quickly as he could towards the man and cut the scroll off of his back before quickly retreating, making his way towards where his long time companion Chisoku was hiding.

He strapped the scroll to Chisoku’s back and had him run back to Takeshi’s office before moving back to the tree where he had positioned himself before, weaving together a quick hand sign and creating an exact clone of himself. One the clone had appeared the two of them both drew their weapons and leapt down into the crowd below. They both slashed with their extremely lethal Katana, each of them severing a head in the process and dwindling the number of enemies down to two. The real Mitsuo then turned on the leader of the bandits and attempted to catch his gaze, not realizing that he had moved towards him and charged into Mitsuo’s torso, briefly knocking him from his feet with a loud thud noise. The clone of Mitsuo jumped backwards and stood beside Aiza, his katana drawn and ready to attack any on comers as the real Mitsuo struggled back to his feet, slashing out along the ground in an arc at the enemies’ feet so that they wouldn’t be able to get close without losing a few inches of height.

“ The scroll has been secured, let’s play clean up with the rest of them Aiza,” The clone whispered to his student, taking a defensive stance and preparing for the inevitable attack that was about to come.

(849/1500)

Jutsu Used:

Chakra:

Mitsuo moved like a blur, dashing between the adversaries and reaching their leader within half a second. He noticed the scroll suddenly fade from the chief's back, and figured that Mitsuo, in his rapid strategy, had taken it. Now at a slower pace, the ANBU created a clone and faced the leader face-to-face, only to be struck head-on and thrown back a bit. The clone jumped back and stood level with Aiza, and gave a subtle whisper into the man's ear, just barely intelligible: “The scroll has been secured, let’s play clean up with the rest of them, Aiza.” Aiza nodded, now needing no further incentive to attack again. He ran forward a tad and stopped after a meter or so by twisting his foot and pressing it down into the earth. He used the sudden stop to throw off the rogue that came at his left, block the incoming blade with a gauntlet, and sidestep into a follow-through punch into another's torso. A brief moment of recoil later, he found both the blade-bearer and the man whom he'd punched (now with a stab wound in the torso) facing him and closing in with counterstrikes.

Aiza certainly didn't have the speed nor the opportunity to avoid both, so he figured it would be better to be hit by an incoming kick rather than a blade. He ducked under the sword and instead took the kick directly to the face, sending him stumbling back. He fell to the ground but recovered immediately by performing a backwards somersault to rise back to his feet. His hands were already formed into a hand seal, and water condense nearby into a two clones. They pushed past the current enemies and went for the remaining ones, save the leader. Aiza released the hand seals as soon as the clones were made and he held his arm out. I'm not ready to test my kekkei genkai in battle just yet, but that doesn't mean I can't put up a fight... he thought as his arm surged with Suiton chakra. He waited for either the swordsman or the stab victim to approach, and surely enough, the swordsman began to make his way forward...

Without hesitation, Aiza lunged ahead, and smashed his closed fist into the swordsman's chest. Yet another crack could be heard, surely some severe damage in the ribs. His expression was surprised (and pained) while Aiza's spanned into a smile. "Water Release: Azure Dragon Palm!" He, at that moment, released every bit of Suiton chakra, creating a blast that launched his target off into a far tree, impacting with a thud. The figure lay motionless afterwards, either unconscious or dead (and either way, of no consequence to Aiza). The water clones, in the meantime, were occupied exchanging blows; one with one of the Chuunin, and the other with the last two Genin. With three of seven rogues incapacitated, this mission was moving in favor of Aiza and his sensei rather quickly...the one with the snapped neck, the one with a stabbed face, the one with the crushed ribs. All that were remaining were the ones that his clones were battling and their leader, but even so, they were conveying the fact that they weren't going down easily with their resistance efforts. Impressive, for low-life rogue ninja scum, he gave them that.

(1,389/1,500)

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186/275:

Mitsuo only had to focus on one enemy; he knew that Aiza would be able to take care of the rest. He had the upmost faith in his student and he knew he wouldn’t be proven wrong. Mitsuo’s focus would be on the b-ranked missing nin whom had knocked him down. He had quickly risen back to his feet and smiled softly, having slipped his mask back in place so that the missing-nin would truly see that he was staring death in the face. The clone of Mitsuo elected not to adorn his own mask and considering it would be impossible to tell he wasn’t a real person there was no reason for him too. The clone ran up to stand beside the real Mitsuo, his sword drawn and pointed towards his enemies face as Mitsuo drew his Chita no Kiba tanto and placed it tip pointing at his elbow and blade out resting on his forearm.

“Enemy of the leaf, you have made a grave mistake this day. Look into my face and know that you face certain death, for I am death incarnate. I am ANBU agent Chita, Sasori, and I will destroy you.” The clone moved as a blur while he spoke, moving to the left side of the missing nin leader and preparing to launch an attack when the missing nin put up a water wall between himself and the clone. Mitsuo was not impressed however. The water wall was a smart move, and Mitsuo ran up himself, tanto at the ready as he prepared to strike. It would be a two pronged attack, the flashing of blades and countering of jutsus; water wall, water whip, lightning javelins, he must be getting tired from using so much. That, however, was when something unexpected happened. Mitsuo watched as the man formed a hand sign in front of his face and then a thick mist set in over the battlefield. He had seen this technique before and knew it to be almost exclusively used by the shinobi of Kirigakure no Kato. That’s when something else that was unexpected happened. He began to feel tiny impacts on his armour, which were going straight through his chain but not his ANBU armour. He could feel the tiny water needles trying to penetrate and suddenly felt one strike home on his upper arm, cutting into his ANBU tattoo. He winced and tried desperately to find the source.

He smiled briefly, remembering something he had seemed to be overlooking. He was ANBU; this mist meant nothing to him. When he had been trained for his new position he was taught the secret sensory jutsu of the ANBU black ops. In this mist using the technique was like being given new eyes again. He ran headfirst at his opponent, his clone moving behind where he was after similarly using the sensory jutsu of the ANBU Black Ops. His opponent might see him coming but that didn’t personally bother Mitsuo as he was hoping something like that might happen. The missing nin did see him coming and had prepared his jutsu so that when Mitsuo got close enough he would entrap him in a Water Prison Jutsu, which was a smart move. The mist started to clear and Mitsuo was standing face to face with him, trapped inside a water bubble and knowing that the man was similarly unable to move. He smiled and rose his gaze to lock with the missing nin’s, watching as a smug look turned to one of horror as he saw Seijin no Ken’s tip begin to protrude from the man’s chest.

“I warned you that your time was at an end.” The clone said cooly as the missing nin dropped, the water prison dropping as well. The ANBU pulled his own katana and placed it on the man’s shoulder, his free hand removing his mask as he struck, severing the man’s spine easily and cleaving clean through his neck. He knew that he didn’t have to do this, the man would have died from his chest wound, but it never hurt to follow up and make sure your enemy was dead. He turned around to scan the battlefield and see if his student needed any assistance, which as he had expected, he really didn’t. All of the enemies had been dispatched by the duo and Mitsuo smiled, dispersing his clone and walking up to his older student, his hand resting on Aiza’s shoulder and his eyes meeting Aiza’s own.

“You did a good job today, Aiza. It was a pleasure working with you and I think you’re almost ready to join our ranks. I have one more test for you, and then I believe you will be ready to become ANBU, if you would like.” He flashed his student a smile and began to make his way back to the Hokage’s office to report to Takeshi what had happened with the band of missing nin, and to make sure that Chisoku had successfully delivered the important package to the Hokage.

I have one more mission for him, Nii-san, and then he will be ready. One more before I induct the newest member of my ANBU squad…I’m sure he is ready.

(1721/1500 complete)

Jutsu Used:

Chakra:

With all of the rogues dealt with, Aiza gave a cool smile and stretched a bit. His water clones dissipated, falling to the ground and becoming mere puddles in the dirt. Mitsuo seemed quite content as he approached Aiza. He explained that there was 'one more test' before Mitsuo could deem him worthy of being ANBU. He'd thought about joining ANBU before, but now that Mitsuo was actually offering him a spot on the man's ANBU squad, it seemed a more realistic option. He smiled and nodded. "I'd love to, if I pass this last 'test'. It'd be an honor to join the Black Ops. I'll see you then, Mitsuo-sensei." Mitsuo then left, passing through the forestry and headed back to the village. Aiza lingered for a while, looking into the fire that the rogues had left, before putting it out and heading for the Administration Building.

(1,542, Mission Complete, Thread Closed)