Aggressive Bartering

[The Dude]

NAME; BANDITO BROTHERS
RANK; C
DESCRIPTION; SOMETIMES YOU FIND ALLIES IN UNEXPECTED PLACES. FOR US THAT’S SCARECROW GULCH, A BANDIT TOWN A COUPLE MILES OUTSIDE OF THE VILLAGE. WHILE IT’S BEEN A PAIN IN OUR NECK FOR SOME TIME, WE RECENTLY CAME TO THE REALIZATION THAT WE COULD USE THE ROUGH AND TOUGH OUTLAWS AS A TYPE OF PRELIMINARY SECURITY. TASKING THEM WITH PATROLLING OUR BORDERS AND APPREHENDING ANYONE ON A WATCH LIST. FIRST THINGS FIRST THOUGH, WE NEED TO CONVINCE THEM TO ALLY.
REWARD; 50 EXPERIENCE, 1,000 RYO
MINIMUM SHINOBI; ONE
MISSION STATUS; INTERMINABLE

'A good day to be out on a walk,' thought Ekitai as he set out upon the road by himself with long smooth strides and a wicked grin plastered to his face. His eyes were closed enjoying the gentle sunshine that somehow pierced the veil of the mists without bothering with the glare of the sun itself. Wonderful day indeed, and if it was a good day to walk it was a good day to work and make some pocket money. Today Ekitai had received an assignment to negotiate the service of some questionable men to sign in the service of Kirigakure by patrolling the lands and keeping an eye out for trouble. A simple defense but useful none the less, as many foes didn't travel with armies and brashly announce their arrival to the world. True, the islands of Mizu no Kuni were protected by the natural barrier of the ocean herself but the waters were far too vast to be constantly under observation.

On a personal note, Ekitai considered this a service to the royal family as well as Kirigakure. After all strengthening the borders made it all the easier to keep tabs on all the members of the family as well as protect them from trespassers who wished to do them harm. Ekitai's loyalty to the family came first and foremost so any missions that aided them that the village had for grabs would be the first ones to be done on his mission crusade. As a bonus incentive though if Ekitai proved himself as an above average shinobi the family was willing to give him leave to attend the rapidly approaching Chunnin exams, something Ekitai felt he had been held back from unnecessarily. The young man had rarely had the opportunity to test his prowess and compare against other ninja from other countries and this was just the occasion for it. Surely there would be someone at the contests who would keep him more entertained than he had been recently.

He came to a stop hearing the sound of voices in the mist ahead of him, gruff and rough the Hozuki could only assume they were the worst kind of men from the way they carried on among each other. He glanced about the area casually, but fuck it all if he wasn't now standing on the top of a hill away from any water source. It truly felt much more secure to be near a source of water if only for the security it offered the Hozuki, but even if it tired himself out Ekitai was never without a water source. The shadows of the approaching men loomed out of the mist some ten meters away towards Ekitai slowly as they joked and shoved each other about. Ekitai however stood properly.

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[The Dude]

At the head of the approaching party there was a massive man taller than Ekitai by far and tied to his back was a massive claymore nearly as broad as the shoulders that carried it. On either side of him were two physically identical men wearing dark leather clothes with the only difference between the two of them being their weapons. One held two cross bows, a large one hanging from his waist and a peculiarly smaller one strapped to his hip. The other was juggling an assortment of three mismatching daggers in one hand, the other hand was tucked casually into his shirt for what appeared to be nothing more than a lack of anywhere else to put it. The trio wore short scraggly beards and laughed heartily as they shoved one another back and forth, but the giant who lead them noticed Ekitai and with a grasp after his friends' shoulders he brought them to a stop. He looked confused as he spoke out to Ekitai, "Shinobi, we don't have business with you today. Why are you making your way to Scarecrow Gulch? What business have you with our town? Whatever it is you think we've done it wasn't us, we've been learning to steer clear of village affairs. Too much trouble and blood spilled from quarrels that are far from fair fights."

A wry smile streaked across Ekitai's features as he replied, "I've been sent to bring an end to any hostilities between us and bring another chapter of Mizu no Kuni into the fold. I'm on my way to find the leader of Scarecrow Gulch and negotiate his surrender as well as his allegiance to Kirigakure no Sato as a matter of fact. You see? Once I get your lord to bow before mine we can be as thick as thieves if ya like." The Hozuki would've continued by asking his future ally to point him in the direction of his leader as well as the name of the man but he was suddenly interrupted by a clearly insulted man.

He shouted ferally before withdrawing his massive claymore and slamming it downwards smashing into the startled shinobi who scattered in a splattering of water into a puddle on the ground beneath the blade. "That'll teach you shinobi to disrespect and look down upon us. We may be thieves, and we may be criminals you cur but we are not people to cowtow before the new Mizukage just because some young upstart shinobi comes to threaten us. No young man, next time send an army and force us into our servitude. No slick dressed serpent tongued fool will beguile us so easily."

"Perhaps I wasn't clear..." Ekitai's head was forming up from the puddle on the floor raising slowly as the rest of his body began to take form slowly until he was standing with one dress shoe on the road and another standing on the claymore pinning it to the ground. "I said I'm coming to negotiate but perhaps that wasn't as direct as I should have been. Allow me to rephrase then: I'm coming as a messenger of Kirigakure to inform you that you all work for us now. Your boss may try to negotiate if he likes-" Again Ekitai was nearly interrupted as the dagger man leaped at him driving a dagger through his arm which turned to water and reached flooding into the man's mouth and filling his lungs. "But not many appreciate my counter offers."

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[The Dude]

Arrows whistled through the air with a gentle splash as they simply passed through Ekitai's liquid form falling a short distance on the ground behind the Hozuki who continued to hold his arm down the dagger lad's throat as he gurgled and struggled violently flailing to the ground. The man continued to struggle as Ekitai turned his hungry grin towards the archer next who was taken back by his ineffectiveness of his attack and the horrible scene of his ally being drown forcibly on land. Normally Ekitai was not prone to exercising his Hozuki heritage so casually, but he had been obliterated by the claymore while he was trying to speak and make nice... rude. The fact that they had already exposed his heritage now meant he could utilize the Hozuki abilities to his heart's content, and the manner in which they had forced him to reveal this heritage made drowning one of them a small price to pay for their crime.

The big man who couldn't lift his claymore from under Ekitai's shoe opted for a desperate tackle flying through the water and landing face first in the dirt just as the dagger lad's last weak struggle came to a halt. The Hozuki smiled and reformed his arm before turning about to look at the man on the ground, but he had left fleeing into the tree line before the sound of a splash could be heard. The archer while Ekitai had turned his back ran forward and wrenched the claymore free from under the shinobi's shoe knocking him off balance before he too fled but back down the road he had come along to begin with. The pair would retreat and flee back to their small town and warn the miscreants of his approach, most likely they would set up some kind of welcome for the shinobi but the nature would elude him for now.

He looked down at the man he had drown and lit a cigarette complacently with his light blue lighter. After staring down at the body he muttered quietly to himself, "I suppose even scum deserve a funeral... it would be the right thing to do after wouldn't it?" And without another word he pulled the limp body off of the road finding a small clearing down near the coast where the claymore warrior had fled. In the distance Ekitai could make him out swimming along the coast back to the town, a strange way to make your escape but perhaps he hoped Ekitai would pursue the archer next. It mattered not though as Ekitai began digging a hole on the shore to deposit the body of the brigand who had attempted to kill him.

After burying the body Ekitai stood upright beside his grave looking off into the distance just in time to watch the sun kiss the ocean. "Well sir, I don't know your name and I don't plan to pretend that I knew who you were but any man deserves a grave if there is time for one. The coast of Mizu no Kuni is as fine a place as any to rest in peace. Your time is over now, but just as I extended you a common courtesy do us all a favor and join the myriad of dead that watch over these bloody islands. There are good men who died on this island for this island and I'm sure it will be awkward between you at first since you were scum and most of them are quite renown but I'm sure in time you'll learn get along." Ekitai stood for a moment still gazing out at sea before turning and giving a slight bow to the disturbed sand, "See you on the other side soon enough..."

He began making his way down the sandy coast still headed for the town ahead of him, the scarecrow's nest. They would be more than prepared for his arrival by now as they had ample warning from the survivors but as long as Ekitai traveled by the water he had nothing to fear from them. He somehow doubted any of these simple criminals had the ability to kill him but only time would tell. It was time to go in and show these punks what the strong arm of Kirigakure no Sato feels like. "I'm coming boys, and I hope your men told you exactly why I'm coming, I'd hate to have to kill more of you to get the point across... well maybe hate isn't the right word."

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[The Dude]

As Ekitai grew nearer to the village he made a short series of hand seals completing a basic but amazing supplementary jutsu that caused the waves upon the shore to rise up and take form as five clones identical to Ekitai himself. Now it was time for a little deception and cunning, he was after all a shinobi and while he could flood the village or destroy it he highly doubted his superiors would approve of such a powerful blow against what would soon be their allies. Dead pawns were used pawns and Kirigakure had far too many dead foot soldiers as it was, the fresh meat these men represented was a scarce resource that the hidden mist were her to claim as their own.

With a slight nod of his head one of the water clones walked slowly to the village on his own to see how well the inhabitants would receive him. No sooner had the clone taken five steps past the gate however before there was an explosion heard from inside the town and raised voices shouting. Ekitai frowned slightly, "So they learned normal weapons won't work, time to pull out the heavy artillery? I guess I'll just let them have their little 'victory' for now and let them believe that Hozuki would succumb to such crude tactics." While Ekitai spoke to himself quietly one of the water clones beside him quickly ran up a tree on the beach until he could peer into the town. The men were shouting indistinguishably to themselves in fervent search as they looked about for something that was no longer there. One man with a jagged scar over his eye approached the explosion site kneeling down to the ground where a wet stain marked where the water clone had once stood.

When the man rose again he pumped his fist into the air victoriously and the large crowd of brigands could be heard shouting even louder than before but with joy and triumph in their voices. The man raised both arms triumphantly to the cheering and applause before intermingling with his men for a short time as they all congratulated each other on what they had done. After some time the crowd began to disperse and the man took his leave returning home to the largest house in the small village. "Oh how quaint, he's such a salt of the earth man in that little mud hut of his. Perhaps his family's in the mood for hosting a greatly esteemed guest? I can only hope."

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The clone in the tree remained watching until all the excitement had died down entirely before springing back down to the beach landing gently. The time to mobilize into the village had come and with another short string of handseals Ekitai would ensure no one saw him enter this time. After all he was dead now, if they saw anything in the mists it was likely going to be a ghost of the dead and not one of these men would sound very believable with that kind of story. Mist beckoned forth from the sea herself and began to crawl towards the town, and as it did so to did Ekitai walking tall and proud as though the world could see him though he doubted anyone truly could.
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