Kaen was of course testing these two genin, gauging each of their respective intellects and innate wisdom. Kazu had a leg up on Daijamitsu simply because of his current tenure as a genin, but Daijamitsu had already proven himself a step above the norm in his age group. Both were demonstrating great potential and promising futures as shinobi. Kaen was in agreeance with both of the genin. Daijamitsu's insight was sharp and surprisingly accuracate. Either the academy had gotten their act together and had begun teaching their students about the Unbent, or this kid had some some solo research. Given his history Kaen was led to believe it was the latter, this was good. Kazu was a well of information with understanding beyond his years. His gaze would not steer him wrong in this situation and would know that the injury had been caused by a man-made instrument. Though it was no bladed weapon, even Kaen would have difficulty discerning this wound considering his ineptitude with such contraptions. It was a rare oddity for someone to use projectile type weapons, guns were not something commonly used in the shinobi world. Had what followed not come to pass, Kaen most certainly would have gone the route Kazu suggested with a baited attack. But...
As the Unbent continued to hobble westward from their current position Kaen would acknowledge his genin in a hushed tone. "
I think a baited attack of our own would be the best plan of action. With what little information we have this is the best course to take. I don't expect either of you to put yourself in harms way for this one..." Kaen would begin to form a few seals to create another clone of himself but stopped before the final seal, canceling the jutsu. His eyes narrowed as his ears perked up, something else was coming. Both of them most likely would have heard it as well, the soft and subtle pitter-patter of something, or someone, running on the surface of the desert at a hastened pace. From the same direction as the Unbent had come a mysterious masked individual would come sprinting from out behind the dunes.
"
Get back here ya friggin monster!" A slightly distorted voice, on account of the odd mask, rang out as they literally jumped into action. This was no amateur desert traveler as they were quite adept at traversing the loose sand. It was almost as if they were barely giving any physical effort to tread across the sea of glistening sand, how peculiar. Kaen would pick up on this, but would his genin? And what did it mean? The unknown hunter would quickly gain upon the Unbent. But the Unbent had heard them coming and would turn to attack, to no avail however. It would lunge towards the pursuer as the distance was closed between them, it's gruesome maw wide and wanting, attempting to take a bite out of the hunter. "
Get ya ugly mug outta muh face!" Quirky and determined, the masked being would drop to the ground and drift across the desert floor and kick the injured leg out from under the Unbent before pushing themselves off of the sand. Again the effort seemed minimal for the masked hunter, who was this and why were they out here chasing after Unbent? All the while the trio would still be ducked down behind cover and watching the scene unfold before them.
"
Not so tough now, are ya?" They would punt the Unbent's face as it tried to crawl to its feet and go for another attack. A sickening crack rang out as its jaw came loose, thick black, viscous blood splattered across the sand. The hunter would place one foot on top of the Unbent's back to pin it down, pulling a large weapon off their back they would place the muzzle firmly against the back of the Unbent's head. "
Teach you to eat up my merchandise, piece o' shit..." A muffled shot would ring out as they pulled the trigger. It was quieter than one would expect had anyone been familiar with this particular weaponry. It was a shotgun of sorts, but somehow suppressed to reduce the amount of noise it made as it was discharged. Picking up a loose end of their cloak they would clean the end of their gun off, wiping away black residue. "
Damn Unbent anyway, so bad for business these days..." The hunter would grumble surlily as they started back from whence they came.
Clearing his throat, not entirely expecting this sort of development, Kaen would address the situation. "
Well... That was interesting." Normally he might have just waited a while longer and then set out as normal, but something about this whole ordeal rubbed him the wrong way. Merchandise was a multi-faceted term in the land of Wind Country. Most commonly referring to wares of some sort, but not ones that an Unbent would 'eat'. Their sort only really had one goal or interest and that was people. If his intuition was right, this guy was up to no good despite his most welcome dispatching of the Unbent. "
Following Daijamitsu's sound suggestion, we will scout for information. Something seemed off about what that guy said just now." Using his Anbu skills he would weave together a simple, yet not commonly known, string of signs. [
Snapshot] A faint glimmer in his eyes would be the only physically noticeable effect of his jutsu, if this was going to be what he thought it was then recording it would be critical for any follow up.
"
Which of you know how to track?" Prompting a response from his two squad members, he would give one, or both of them, a chance to further prove themselves. While he was the leader of this mission, he did not want to hold their hand and do everything for them. He was merely there to supervise at best as this was supposed to be a simple mission to hunt down some boars. Although there was a slight twist and deviation from the original task, this would provide welcomed opportunities for practice and experience. Though if neither of them knew how or were uncomfortable with attempting it, Kaen would of course yield and do it himself. But given Kazu's background he at least would have some semblance of understanding in the ways of tracking. Either way the story would unfold itself it would be pertinent to notice the indentations made by the masked hunter. Comparatively to those of the Unbent, whos tracks were deep and distinct, the hunter's would be lighter and more evenly spread. In fact it was nearly identical to their own footsteps, or at least Kaen's who had learned to adapt the water walking skill towards the different yet similar structure of the desert sand.
Along the followed trail the trio would encounter a few more slain Unbent, all shot by the same weapon type that the hunter had used previously. All the way the hunter's trail kept its uniform pattern consistent with the theory outlined previously. More and more as Kaen went along he suspected they were trailing another ninja, or at least someone proficient with the usage of chakra. Not more than about ten minutes worth of methodical tracking they would crest a sandy ridge and spot the hunter some distance away. Far enough for him not to hear them, but close enough to know it was him, and what he was approaching. Immediately the air around Kaen would grow noticeably more torrid, his fists clenching, a resentful look flaring to life in his eyes. "
You get them sum'bitches, Eiji?" So the hunter had a name, good.
Waving nonchalantly as he approached an interestingly designed pulled sled-carriage. About a dozen large, beefy dustboars were reined together with thick bridles, ropes and chains. Together they were pulling this sled-carriage, more appropriately labeled as a prison wagon with how they were using it. About four tied and gagged children were restrained upon the wagon, a fifth one mangled and bloody carelessly tossed off to the side. This must have been the 'merchandise' Eiji had spoken of as he dispatched the Unbent from earlier. "
Yeah I gottem." Eiji lazily replied as he hopped up onto the back of the wagon, the other at the head with the reins and whip in hand. "
Good, that'l teach'em. They got that lil girl good, she would have fetched a pretty sum. Wadda shame." Barely able to restrain himself, much less either of the genin with him, Kaen would allow them to trail away into the distance as the front man cracked the whip, causing the boars to rush off.
Had Daijamitsu or Kazu attempted to run into the fray Kaen would have stopped them. Hopefully the fierce, intense look in his eyes would be enough to subdue them lest he need to resort to more physical means. While he wished for nothing more than to go out and stomp the life out of both of these human traffickers, he needed to know where their final destination was. To label them as such might seem a bit premature, but the evidence was pretty hard to deny. There was little to no reason for any of them to suspect it as anything else. The evidence was too much to think otherwise. Rage clearly building up within the Flame Court Hybrid, Kaen would order his genin through gritted teeth. "
Daijamitsu, Kazu... Let's go."
Slightly visible flames would begin to lick outwards off his body as he rose up from their hiding position. The wagon out of sight now and the coast clear, Kaen would approach the female corpse the hunters left behind. Her lifeless eyes laid open, blood strewn nearly everywhere. Her clothes ripped in places, lacerations covering the majority of the girl. She couldn't have been much older than seven or eight years old, so young and helpless. The apparent cause of death was the large gash in her neck, loose strands of flesh caked with dried blood gave evidence to the statement made by Eiji, the Unbent "eating" their merchandise. Kaen would not advice them to shield their eyes, no. Should they wish to become true shinobi of Sunagakure this is something they would need to learn to stomach. This was the nature of their line of work, the same fate might become of them as well. Leaning down to close the girl's eyes Kaen would speak again in a low, solemn voice, but not to them. "
Mother Suna, watch over the soul of this lost child. Take her into your benevolent bosom, may she find peace in your ways..." A curiosity to be sure. But despite her disappearance, Kaen still revered Mother Suna to be the governing god queen of this country. Having met her face to face, those particular and undisclosed events having transpired, he felt it appropriate to do this. That and he had somewhat of a personal stake in this, but nobody but Kasen would fully understand this.
"
Stand back you two." Kaen spoke as he rose and stepped back a few paces. There was no way of knowing where they had stolen the girl from, giving her some sort of burial was the least he could do. After performing some semi-comlex handsigns together the earth would swallow the girl and fresh sand would cover the area up leaving no trace of the grizzly murder. [
Antlion Sinkhole] [
Sand Coffin] Turning to Kazu and Daijamitsu he would address the obvious discomfort as well as the distressing situation they had stumbled upon. "
While I don't usually expect genin to have to experience such things, consider this a hard life lesson of reality. This is what your life will consist of, harsh outcomes that you won't always be able to control. Death is inevitable in a shinobi's line of work. If this is something you cannot come to terms with you should find another profession immediately. Rest assured my young genin, these assailants will not go unpunished." Turning his head towards the direction the sled had gone he would continue; "
Fortune has favored us, delivering two bounties into our hands. A convenient sounder of dustboars, and a pair of human traffickers that we will apprehend." By apprehend he meant kill, most likely, after exacting whatever information he needed beforehand, but that was for a later scene. "
Any questions, comments? Now is the time, because here on out it's going to get serious..."