Ayumu sat upon the front seat of a carriage beside the driver, hunched over with his arms resting on his knees as he read the dossier on his target. Murikubou Yosuke was his name. He didn't come from any shinobi village, he was no missing-nin. He was born in a small town in northern Fire Country to a couple of farmers and worked on that farm until he was about 20, then went off to find his own place in the world. He had a couple of different jobs in a nearby town, but then ended up going off the radar about two years after he left his home. Snapshots of him and a number of other unaffiliated shinobi had been taken when they attempted and occasionally succeeded in sabotaging various missions by Kumo shinobi over the past few months. There was a list, now that some information had been gathered about some of them, and Ayumu was tasked with eliminating several of the shinobi on the list. This was his first.
Given the small allowance he had for the mission he had hired a driver and carriage to take him through the forest area where Yosuke had disrupted Kumo missions in the past. He had also paid a few people in the nearby town to spread rumors that Kumo had been hired to transport a rich individual via carriage through this particular forest. These shinobi had proven to be little different than bandits or mercenaries for hire, and as shinobi they were the some of the few that actually had the audacity to try to interfere when a Kumo shinobi was involved. Because of that, Ayumu felt sure that Yosuke would take the bait. He slipped the dossier back in to his belt pouch and returned to keeping a lookout. Of course, there was no rich noble inside the carriage, but nobody needed to know that.
About an hour in to the trip, the honored guest arrived. He was a shinobi after all, wherever he had been trained, so he successfully got the drop on Ayumu. He heard a whirring noise and looked to the left to see three blades of wind so concentrated the disturbance of the air made them visible. The blades of air were headed right towards Ayumu and the driver. Having little time to react, Ayumu threw himself in front of the driver to shield him. The three blades tore in to Ayumu's back and sent both of the men off the side of the carriage which at least wasn't moving too fast. The commotion, however, spooked the horses who began to gallop at full speed dragging the carriage along with them and leaving Ayumu and the driver in the dust.
Yosuke dropped from a tree branch, landing on the carriage's top as it passed underneath. He then dropped down to the side of the carriage landing on the small step to the door while the carriage drawn by the horses clipped along down the path. Grasping the handle he turned it and opened the door to reveal the passenger... Ayumu, of course! Somewhere further back on the side of the path the driver was pushing a small log with three large gashes in it off of himself. As soon as the carriage door opened a crack, Ayumu Jr. (the sword!) shot out to impale Yosuke. Yosuke was caught off guard but reacted quickly- still, the top of the blade pierced his abdomen and he tumbled off the side of the carriage rolling a couple of times before getting back on his feet.
Ayumu jumped off the carriage as well, landing more gracefully and performing a few handseals as he skidded to a stop. A puff of smoke on either side of him introduced two black shadowy figures which followed as Ayumu moved to finish Yosuke. Yosuke recovered quickly and went through a few handseals as Ayumu and his shadow servants approached. As the three of them swung their swords Yosuke exhaled and a dome of immensely pressurized air formed around him, stopping the blades in mid air and blocking the attacks. Yosuke drew his tanto and wakizashi. He swung one to take out and disperse a shadow servant between him and Ayumu, then the other at Ayumu seemingly connecting. Instead of bleeding, Ayumu suddenly turned pitch black for a moment like his shadow servants and subsequently split in to three apparent clones of himself. The last remaining shadow servant swung again, only to be blocked by the tanto. The three of the clones attacked at once, Yosuke making a lucky guess and blocking the real Ayumu's katana as the two clones passed through harmlessly.
Yosuke jumped back to create some distance between him and the multiple creations and simultaneously channeled a jutsu through his weapons. Two giant cyclones erupted from Yosuke's swords and slammed through Ayumu's creations destroying all of them and knocking him back against a tree while also causing several nasty cuts on his forearms when he defensively raised them to block. "Ow..." he muttered as Yosuke began to channel another jutsu through his weapons. Another three blades of wind shot out at different angles at Ayumu whom was still recovering. Ayumu gathered chakra in to his legs to prepare for some very quick movement and then seemingly vanished in to thin air while the three wind blades slashed a poor defenseless tree up. Ayumu reappeared behind Yosuke, his blade raised prepared to strike as his other hand also grasped the hilt. Yosuke spun around quickly, raising both blades in a cross to block. Ayumu let out a mighty shout as he brought the blade down with all of his considerable strength in an unbalancing strike, ripping the two blades from Yosuke's grip before his katana tore in to the man, ending his life.
Yosuke's body collapsed to the ground as Ayumu pulled his black back out. Ayumu pulled a cloth from his belt pouch and wiping of the blood in one clean sweep. He replaced the cloth in his belt pouch and retrieved a scroll meant especially for Yosuke. Unrolling it beside the body, he performed a few handseals and then placed his hand on to the scroll to channel chakra in to it. A puff of smoke subsequently obscured Yosuke's body for a moment as it disappeared in to wherever scroll storage items went. Ayumu guessed it was something akin to a pitch black void or something depressing like that. He rolled the scroll back up and replaced it in his belt pouch before going back to locate the driver and be sure he was fine. After helping the driver retrieve his carriage, Ayumu returned back to the village and turned over the corpse scroll as proof of the deed. There were more on the list, as soon as information was gathered on them.
[Mission Complete]
[WC: 1,141]
Given the small allowance he had for the mission he had hired a driver and carriage to take him through the forest area where Yosuke had disrupted Kumo missions in the past. He had also paid a few people in the nearby town to spread rumors that Kumo had been hired to transport a rich individual via carriage through this particular forest. These shinobi had proven to be little different than bandits or mercenaries for hire, and as shinobi they were the some of the few that actually had the audacity to try to interfere when a Kumo shinobi was involved. Because of that, Ayumu felt sure that Yosuke would take the bait. He slipped the dossier back in to his belt pouch and returned to keeping a lookout. Of course, there was no rich noble inside the carriage, but nobody needed to know that.
About an hour in to the trip, the honored guest arrived. He was a shinobi after all, wherever he had been trained, so he successfully got the drop on Ayumu. He heard a whirring noise and looked to the left to see three blades of wind so concentrated the disturbance of the air made them visible. The blades of air were headed right towards Ayumu and the driver. Having little time to react, Ayumu threw himself in front of the driver to shield him. The three blades tore in to Ayumu's back and sent both of the men off the side of the carriage which at least wasn't moving too fast. The commotion, however, spooked the horses who began to gallop at full speed dragging the carriage along with them and leaving Ayumu and the driver in the dust.
Yosuke dropped from a tree branch, landing on the carriage's top as it passed underneath. He then dropped down to the side of the carriage landing on the small step to the door while the carriage drawn by the horses clipped along down the path. Grasping the handle he turned it and opened the door to reveal the passenger... Ayumu, of course! Somewhere further back on the side of the path the driver was pushing a small log with three large gashes in it off of himself. As soon as the carriage door opened a crack, Ayumu Jr. (the sword!) shot out to impale Yosuke. Yosuke was caught off guard but reacted quickly- still, the top of the blade pierced his abdomen and he tumbled off the side of the carriage rolling a couple of times before getting back on his feet.
Ayumu jumped off the carriage as well, landing more gracefully and performing a few handseals as he skidded to a stop. A puff of smoke on either side of him introduced two black shadowy figures which followed as Ayumu moved to finish Yosuke. Yosuke recovered quickly and went through a few handseals as Ayumu and his shadow servants approached. As the three of them swung their swords Yosuke exhaled and a dome of immensely pressurized air formed around him, stopping the blades in mid air and blocking the attacks. Yosuke drew his tanto and wakizashi. He swung one to take out and disperse a shadow servant between him and Ayumu, then the other at Ayumu seemingly connecting. Instead of bleeding, Ayumu suddenly turned pitch black for a moment like his shadow servants and subsequently split in to three apparent clones of himself. The last remaining shadow servant swung again, only to be blocked by the tanto. The three of the clones attacked at once, Yosuke making a lucky guess and blocking the real Ayumu's katana as the two clones passed through harmlessly.
Yosuke jumped back to create some distance between him and the multiple creations and simultaneously channeled a jutsu through his weapons. Two giant cyclones erupted from Yosuke's swords and slammed through Ayumu's creations destroying all of them and knocking him back against a tree while also causing several nasty cuts on his forearms when he defensively raised them to block. "Ow..." he muttered as Yosuke began to channel another jutsu through his weapons. Another three blades of wind shot out at different angles at Ayumu whom was still recovering. Ayumu gathered chakra in to his legs to prepare for some very quick movement and then seemingly vanished in to thin air while the three wind blades slashed a poor defenseless tree up. Ayumu reappeared behind Yosuke, his blade raised prepared to strike as his other hand also grasped the hilt. Yosuke spun around quickly, raising both blades in a cross to block. Ayumu let out a mighty shout as he brought the blade down with all of his considerable strength in an unbalancing strike, ripping the two blades from Yosuke's grip before his katana tore in to the man, ending his life.
Yosuke's body collapsed to the ground as Ayumu pulled his black back out. Ayumu pulled a cloth from his belt pouch and wiping of the blood in one clean sweep. He replaced the cloth in his belt pouch and retrieved a scroll meant especially for Yosuke. Unrolling it beside the body, he performed a few handseals and then placed his hand on to the scroll to channel chakra in to it. A puff of smoke subsequently obscured Yosuke's body for a moment as it disappeared in to wherever scroll storage items went. Ayumu guessed it was something akin to a pitch black void or something depressing like that. He rolled the scroll back up and replaced it in his belt pouch before going back to locate the driver and be sure he was fine. After helping the driver retrieve his carriage, Ayumu returned back to the village and turned over the corpse scroll as proof of the deed. There were more on the list, as soon as information was gathered on them.
[Mission Complete]
[WC: 1,141]