#1 On this weeks Threatdown... BEARS!

[Shinryu]

Mountain Bears!
Rank: C
Ninja needed: 1-3
Mission info: A massive bear is roaming the countryside. Find it and kill it. Or tame it - the choice is yours!

I'd left the racoon with a severe case of stomach ache; it was probably dead by now, its stomach acid would have corroded its organs and killed it. I lugged the shoulder and its ears over my shoulder, feeling confident that the next opponent would be fairly easy as well. Thankfully It was only just past mid-day, so I still had plenty of daylight to hunt the bear down. Granted, since it was in the north east, I was even better off, since I had less travel to do as well. I swung the tail merrily, holding the ears in my other hand, making a bit of a game out of the racoon's severed body parts. To call it sadistic wouldn't have been far off, I suppose, but it beat the boredom of monotonous travel, and kept my hands occupied, which was always a good thing on a long day full of missions.

As I made it back to the road, I knew I had to back-track a bit to reach the northern fork. I didn't much fancy the idea of travelling through dense underbrush and grass the whole way to find the bear, after all. For all I knew there could be much bigger creatures lurking around as well. The journey to the fork was short, but pleasant. A breeze had started, and it cooled the air, making the heat more bearable. I was thankful for that much.

[Shinryu]

I struck northward in pursuit of the bear, not entirely sure where to begin looking. The description of this mission was even more vague than the ones before it. All I knew was that he was somewhere in the north, and that it was out in the countryside. I was disappointed in the lack of intel gathered, but for a C-rank mission, I supposed it would simply prove a test of my abilities to try and track it myself, with that little to go on. Still, some help would have been appreciated, as the "north countryside" was quite a large area to compass. It entailed vast kilometers of land, and I didn't have the time or patience to search them all. I only hoped that the bear was closer to civilization than the crocodile had been. I spent nearly a whole day hunting him down, and I hadn't nearly that much time to find this fool thing. I swung the racoon tail around some more, wondering where exactly would be the best place to start my search.

I knew the geography of the north well enough. They taught us enough about that in the academy. There were several rivers that ran through, as well as some marshes, some plains, and large patches of forest and grasslands. I figured the bear would be somewhere in the forest, but even so, those woodlands were not small by any means. I sighed in resignation. I had a lot of work to do.

[Shinryu]

It took me another two and a half hours of walking to reach the border of the north woods. I was about tired of walking by then, but I still had work to do, and I'd be damned if I'd quit a mission when I was this close to completion. I struck into the woods, looking for any signs of destruction. I was surprised to find that there was actually quite a lot of damage done beyond the first few layers of trees. My eyes went wide as I saw the damage done. The last two had knocked over dead trees, sure, and made a bit of an impression in their respective habitats. But this thing had toppled whole oaks, wide slash marks clearly showing in the bark. I was awed by the display of power from this beast. I hoped I hadn't gotten myself into something I couldn't handle. And yet, funnily enough, it was at that moment that I heard heavy growling and felt pounding feet coming rushing up behind me. I turned in shock to see the bear charging towards me! I came to my senses just in time to roll out of the way, quickly running up the side of a tree and out of reach.

The smart little bastard mut have smelled me coming, and doubled back around me to try and get me by surprise. I glared down from my perch in the tree at the furry monstrosity. He was a behemoth alright. Almost twice the size of my past foe. He stared back and roared at me, his paw swiping at the tree.

"Shit just got real...

[Shinryu]

The mammoth beast struck my tree, and with a crunch, I heard the trunk snap from the blow. I was carried by the weight of the attack, flying with the tree due to inertia. As I neared the ground, I jumped and rolled, coming out of the diving manouvre on my feet, and facing the beast. I fired off my senbon launcher, aiming for his snout. Two of them dug into the flesh of the nose, the others scattered off as the bear howled in agonry and rage. As I had a better chance to look at him, I could see the foam frothing from his mouth. That explained a lot, actually. Rabies did make for a good excuse for anger on this level. The bear didn't care to just simply stand around though. Despite being skewered in the nose, it charged after me again, and I had to climb another tree to avoid him, jumping from tree branch to tree branch to keep out of his range. He was a smart one, though, and he started trying to run ahead and bat down the tree I would jump to next.

Even so, I was forming handseals while I jumped, the trees close enough together to facilitate that much, as I felt my gourd become lighter. All of a sudden, there were three of me, and I knew the bear would be confused by the sudden appearance. Hopefully confused enough not to notice that my clones were feinting around him, making handseals of their own.

[Shinryu]

The beast was brutish, but not unintelligent; however it would seem as though he was rather single minded. Despite the shock of three of me appearing, he continued to chase me, swatting at the trees I leapt to. My clones were deft, though, and their kata flashed quickly, as suddenly forty ice swallows burst into existence, swarming the bear. They flew deep into his hide, digging into his flesh. The bear howled and stomped, swatting at the air in vain as the birds buried themselves into his body, blood pouring out and matting its fur. The bear glared at me with redoubled anger. I had pushed it past the point of caring, and now it wanted nothing more than my blood. The murderous gleam in its eyes was far too easy to see. I of course turned and continued on my path, unwilling to even let the thing get anywhere close to me. The clones followed, of course, but at a distance. I didn't want them getting harmed before I could deliver the coup de grace.

I had it all planned out. All I needed was time, and the appropriate opportunity. I kept moving, waiting until I found a clearing with a stream. It would do perfectly for what I had planned. The only problem was that to cross it, I would have to be exposed, and that bear could move much faster than I could run... which meant I only had one choice...

[Shinryu]

I leapt from the tree, forming a single handseal, and dashed off, my feet being coated in ice. I could hear the rampaging bear behind me, closing on me even as I sprinted at twice my speed. I made it over the stream, and dashed up a tree, just as the bear broke through the clearing. My hands came together rapidly, and my clones did the same, as the bear started to barrel towards the tree I was in. Unbeknownst to him, though, six-hundred needles of water were raising into the sky behind him. He came rushing forward, blood pouring from his body, eyes watering and bloodshot, but it didn't matter. At once, the six hundred needles flew into the bear, digging deep into his exposed flesh. All around him was penetrated by the ice, including his chest, stomach, back, neck, throat, groin... anywhere and everywhere seemed to have at least one needle protruding from it. The beast fell as they struck, his momentum digging up a large portion of the earth as he hit chin first, dragging up a sizable chunk of the forest floor with him.

His panting was laboured, and he was weak. I ordered my clones to finish him, and they pulled his jaw open, and set themselves down inside. I heard twin explosions, and saw the bear twitch. I knew then that it was over. Its eyes went milky as I saw that familiar stare, the enraged beast no longer breathing. I lopped off its ears as well, and carried my goods with me, to go back to the village. The countyside was safe again. For now...

[exit]

[Trigga]

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