The sun was up and beating down on the two shinobi, and the area was unusually quiet. Kenji looked back at Takeshii in response to him.
"Well prepared, good, you'll need to be." He said, Takeshii could see the hint of a proud grin on his face. "We'll begin now Takeshii, follow me, we're going to be heading into the Rice Paddy fields to talk with the locals, stay alert, the guys we're facing are professional. For all I know they already have intel on us, so we'll have to catch up by gathering details so we won't be running in blind." He locked eyes on Takeshii before continuing "Remember, we're just gathering intel for now, let's go."
His sensei took off like a bullet, and Takeshii took off as well. Doing his best to keep on his trail. Though to be honest Kenji's speed so far surpassed him, that if it weren't for his eye sight he would've been lost as soon as he left. Though Kenji was surely aware of this. When the ground became muddy and sticky Takeshii took to the air, being careful not to use any of his abilities yet. He didn't know where the enemy had eyes and ears. For all he knew they could be watching them right now, gathering information on their new enemies.
Finally he made it to the rice feilds and stood next to Kenji. For a town that was recently ravashed by bandits it looked rather peaceful. The grass was green, and rice pods were budding making for quite a beautiful scenery. They met in front of a small broken down shop, grains and oats were scattered about. Takeshii presumed that this place had a special importance to Kenji. Sure they're mission was imperitive, but the vigor and seriousness that Kenji put into the mission told Takeshii that this was more than a mission for him. Perhaps it was the young man which was killed, perhaps something more. Takeshii figured that it wouldn't be prudent to delve into this observation. Instead he would focus his energy into helping his sensei.
"Alright, Takeshii, we're going to split up and talk to the local, I want you to try and gather as much info about the bandits abilities. Maybe their appearance as well, I have a feeling we'll know them when we see them. We'll meet at the front of the Fruit and Veggies store over there... in... about an hour. Stay alert."
"Yes sir." Takeshii said before heading out. He figured the best route would be to find the witnesses who saw the attrocity. They'd have the best knowledge of the attackers, they're abilities, what they looked like, etc. First he'd have to find the witnesses. He started with shop owners, they would know the most about everyone as they would surely have regular interactions with the whole town. After that he would speak to the village elders, they would have the most knowledge of the village and its history.
The first man he spoke to was the town's blacksmith, he was in charge of making and repairing the farming equipment and anything else around town.
"Hello sir, my name's Takeshii. I'm a shinobi from the village. I'm here to help with your bandit problem. But I'll be honest we don't know much about them. So is it ok if I ask you some questions? I'll be breif, I wouldn't want to impede on your work." He said after bowing in respect.
"Sure kid. Anything if it'll get those stinkin' good for nuthin' sons of bitches out of our lives!"
"Did you know the young man who was killed?"
"Yeah, I knew the kid. He was a little older than you. A nice boy, brave. Bandits attacked the granola shop and the kid tried to interfere. He didn't stand a chance. The bastards killed him in cold blood."
"Did you see it?"
"No, but Hanzo did. Old man sees everything around town."
"Ok, have there been attacks like this before?"
"Yeah, plenty. But no one ever got killed, nothing ever got messed up this bad. But this last time was different. They were more vicious, more violent."
"Have you seen any of the attackers?"
"Yeah, 3 of em'. I'm guessing their the real head honchos of the group. But I hear word there's more. Maybe half a dozen or so. One of them carries a huge sword, he's a mountain of a man and can cut down a dozen men with a swipe of his sword. But he's usually quite, I don't see him getting too riled up too often. The second one carries a katana, he's louder than the big guy. But he's fast, and he can back up anything he says."
"And the last one?"
"Don't know much about him. He doesn't say anything, he doesn't ever do anything. All he does is watch. But that second one, I'm telling you the way he yells at everyone. He's gotta be the boss!"
"Hmmm... thank you. And do you know what they look like?"
"Well sure, the one with the big sword is tall and muscular. Bigger than me even. You'll know him by his sword. The other one, he's short and thin. But he's not to be underestimated. Like I said, he can back up anything he says. He'll be the one that talks first and strikes first. The last guy... you know, I just can't remember anything specific about him."
"Ok, thank you for your time." He said with a bow. "One more thing, do you know of any witnesses, other than Hanzo."
"I'm afraid not. If there's anyone you should talk to it's Hanzo. You'll know his when you see him. He's always watching everyone."
Takeshii bowed again, and left the black smith in peice. Once he was outside he looked around, walking the street and talking to the other towns folks. Though he didn't get any additional information from any of them. Eventually he made it to the center of the town, and right there in the center was an old man. He had a ring of white hair around his head, but none on top. He wore a brown simple robe, and little else. He had a brown wooden cane, but he didn't look like he needed it. In fact this old man was in surprising shape. Takeshii appraoched the old man, who eyed Takeshii suspiciously gripping his cane.
"You must be Hanzo. I'm Takeshii a shinobi from the village. I'm here to help with your bandit problem. I heard you saw the attack."
"I see everything son."
"May I ask you a few questions about the bandits?"
"Ask away."
"How do they usually attack?"
"From the south side of town, the entrance closest to the mines. The three youngest come first. One of them uses earth he's short and fat, another uses wind he's tall and thin, and the last uses lightning he's hyperactive and lustful always has a weird grin on his face. They rarely have to do more than simple tricks, a short blast of wind, throwing a small stone, a small shock. Little things like this is enough to scare these folks into submission. After the three youngest come in and scare the town folks, than the two older thugs come in. One of them is short and thin, he's got a loud mouth and he's extremely violent. The other is quite, tall, strong, he's got a huge sword. He follows orders. There's another one, he just watches. I don't see anyone ever interact with him other than to take a quick glance and hurry along with their business. I reckon he's the boss, because of this. But many would presume it's the loud mouth."
"Mm... thank you. This is extremely helpful."
Takeshii bowed and left for the granola stand. Once there he would wait for Kenji. When Kenji arrived he would brief him on what he found out.
"There's six in total. Three lower ranked shinobi. One's described as fat and uses earth, one's tall and thin and uses wind, the other is hyperactive and uses lightning. There's three other shinobi but their ranks are unknown. One's short and thin, he's described as a loud mouth. No one described what his elements are, but from his description he's fast and uses a katana. From this I can deduce that he specializes in close quarters combat, with a specialty in kenjutsu. The second is tall and muscular, he's described as a mountain and is recognizable by the large sword he carries. The black smith told me that its big enough to take out a dozen men, from this description I can deduce that he also specializes in close quarters combat. He's quiet and only follows orders. From this I can deduce that he is a mid level enforcer. The last is not described physically. However, I'm sure from his description that he's the real boss. No one bosses him around, even though he doesn't speak its clear that the others are afraid of him and respect him. He only watches, this tells me that he likes to know his enemy before he confronts them. He's a planner, and this makes him even more dangerous." Takeshii took a breath and looked at all the information for the first time as a whole. In retrospect it just didn't fit.
"I have a feeling that this last attack wasn't random, sir. The black smith said it was different from the last ones, more violent. This tells me that it wasn't a normal attack. It sounds to me like it was a training drill. They've attacked this village dozens of times, yet the black smith said that no one ever died before and nothing got messed up to badly. Why now? Why, unless you were planning a larger attack. And why plan a larger attack, unless your planning to attack something larger? The only place I can think of that's nearbye that fits such a description is Kumogakure. This is all the intel I was able to acquire. I pray it was enough, sir."
(WC 2222/2500)[/color]