Yamada stood outside of the cave, contemplating his options. The stranger that had issued him this mission stated that there was a group of bandits hiding out inside of this cave, and it was his job to try and recruit them. A strange task given to a man who operates outside of the law, surely he should be the bandit? But no, these criminals had a chronic case of the Robin Hood complex, wishing to be vigilantes, and go with the whole, steal from the rich and give to the poor way of thinking. It was strange, seeing as these men considered themselves outlaws, but Yamada wasnt one to complain, these 'outlaws' were writing his paycheck.

It was strange though, that these men didnt wish for the authorities to know about their exploits. To be honest, they werent doing much wrong, and it would be a lot less trouble just to go to the Tsuchikage and inform him about these bandits. Yamada doubted that the Tsuchikage would hesitate in issuing them a warrant to go and deal with the criminals. But no, Yamada's secretive employer wished to operate outside of the clutches of the law, and act as an issuer of vigilante justice. Yamada chuckled to himself. These guys really werent criminals, they were just idiots who considered themselves 'Dark Knights'

Yamada strolled into the cave confidently, looking at his surroundings. In a scenario when battle was possible, it was IMPERATIVE to Yamada that he would survey his surroundings. The last thing that he wanted was the environment used against him. A shinobi can be physically weak, but if they manipulate the environment to their advantage, there is very little that can stop them from winning the fight. In the matchup of man vs nature, nature always wins, regardless of man's power.

The cave was dark, little light was able to find it's way through the small entrance of the cave. Water dripped down from the ceiling of the cave, and evidently, it had been doing this for some time now. The stalactites on the ceiling were large, at least a foot long. It took many many years just for half an inch of a stalactite to form, so this cave must have been thousands of years old. Yamada nodded to himself. The surroundings indicated that the cave was pretty old. It would be pretty easy to manipulate the cave to give himself an advantage. The rocks would be weak.

Yamada walked further and further into the cave that just kept on getting deeper. He wondered how far in this cave went, the bandits sure as hell dug themselves into this place. The light that gently illuminated the end of the cave was a telltale sign that this was the end. It took Yamada quite a while to get here, the Bandits must have been paranoid about being caught. They had dug them selves in really deep, and were hiding out at the back. It was time for them to come to an end now. Yamada was to gain the following of these people by any means necessary.

Yamada stepped into the hollow room at the end of the cave, looking around. There were a few candles that were trying their absolute hardest to light the place up; they managed to bring the cave from pitch black, to dimly lit. There were sacks of money, food, luxuries lining the walls; as well as weapons and armor. These guys were kitted out for war, and apparently they were pretty good bandits too, they had stolen enough food to feed the entire village of Iwagakure for at least a week. It was dangerous hiding that amount of supplies, but it proved that these guys were good at their jobs, and Yamada would need to be cautious.

Directly in front of Yamada, at the very end of the room, were four men, each of them sitting on crudely carved out seats in the rock. There was one who stood out above the rest. His seat was in front of the others', and he clearly held some position of authority. He was fiddling with what looked to be some kind of a spear....no, it was different. Perhaps some kind of weapon from another continent. His armour was beautiful, but it looked like it would protect him from quite a bit of damage, which should prove to be some trouble. Behind him were three other men, who seemed like they were his subordinates. They were dressed in ordinary attire, none of them possessing any weapons other than Kunai and shuriken.

Yamada stepped into the view of the men, trying his hardest not to look too aggressive. He was here to recruit the men, not kill them.

"I was sent here to recruit you guys for a bigger operation"

Yamada stopped short, saying only what he needed to. The leader stood up confidently, taking up a the stance of a man who seemed to really believe in himself.

"Sent by who now, friend?"

"I don't know, Im just doing this for the cash to be perfectly honest with you guys"

Yamada watched as a playful smirk grew across the man's face.

"I'll make you a deal. Defeat me in battle, and I will join you"

Yamada's eyes flickered to the man's spear, wondering what kind of damage that thing could do.

"I see you are admiring my lance. Its a beatiful pieve of craftsmanship if I say so myself. Im Ankoro by the way. A pleasure to meet you!"

"Yamada."

Yamada nodded to the man, hoping to indicate that he was ready for battle. The way the Ankoro charged at him suggested that he got the message across.

Ankoro moved at speeds that Yamada wasnt used to seeing, he closed the gap between them face, and viciously jabbing at Yamada with his Lance. Yamada sidestepped, just barely avoiding the stabs as he felt a rush of wind against his ribs. Ankoro didnt let up, swinging his lance at Yamada, hoping to smash his with the sheer blunt force of the lance. Yamada bobbed and weaved underneath the lance, just barely avoiding the brutal strikes. He smiled to himself, letting his guard down for a second. Big mistake, Yamada looked up to see the lance swinging down to clonk him on his head, there was no way he could avoid it this time.

Bug Kawarimi!

Yamada looked at the man, now at a safe distance. It was a REALLY good job that he had that jutsu, it got him out of a sticky situation just in the nick of time. He looked at Ankoro, assessing him. He was clearly a step ahead of Yamada in the physical side of things. It meant that Yamada would have to apply some tactics in the situation. Lucky for him, Yamada is a complete specialist in tactics. He looked around trying to assess his options, but in the meantime he had a crowd of bugs directly in front of Ankoro that was ready to go.

Bee Cyclone.

Yamada watched as his bees started spinning rapidly, and flying towards Ankoro at full speed. Anorkoro raised his shield to his head, standing still and letting the bees fly right through him. A smirk was on his face when the shield was lowered. He was practically unscathed.

"You'll have to try harder than tha-"

He was silenced with he kunai held to his throat.

"I win, glad nobody had to be hurt"

Yamada had placed a rock behind Ankoro while he was swinging the lance at him. While ANkoro was talking, Yamada quickly executed the Kawarimi jutsu and held Ankoro hostage. A well executed tactic.

"Well done. I guess ill be joining you after all"

The first of Ankoro's subordinates stood up, a look of pure anger on his face.

"Ill never join you!"

He charged at Yamada kunai in hand, swinging violently. Yamada reacted quickly, dodging all of the man's blows before taking a step back. He clearly wasnt't any match for Ankoro's physicality, Yamada would have no trouble. And he had no obligation to keep this man alive, he would end his pitiful life. Yamada waited until the fool charged again, this time ducking underneath the reckless swings and inplanting his kunai directly into the man's neck, twisting, making sure to inflic maximum damage.

The death of his comrade seemed to anger another one of Ankoro's subordinates, as he too stood up to challenge Yamada, charging just as foolishly and recklessly as the one before him. This time around, Yamada wasted no effort, dodging the man's attacks before stabbing him in the stomach, and kicking him off of his kunai. Yamada knelt to the floor where the man lay to dish out the final blow. Plunging his Kunai into the mans throat.

The third subordinate was just as angered, but less foolish, standing up and taking stance, rather than foolishly charging in to battle. Yamada gave him no time to attack, launching his kunai at the fool. He watched as it sailed over his head,

"You missed, fool"

Yamada simply smiled as a large stalactite fell from the ceiling, impaling the man.

"Rookie mistake, never underestimate you're opponent"

Yamada looked over at Ankoro, who had a blank look on his face.

"Sorry about killing those guys, I had to defend myself, and all that"

"Its fine. They were worrying me. Losing sight of our true goal. Its best if I forget them now. Lets go meet my new leader."

[mission complete exit thread]