DEATH SQUAD. [M]

[Seijūrō]

SPOILER: Click to show

Name: Death Squad.
Rank: C
Mission Info: This unit of captured soldiers is warmed up and ready to party. A cell of missing nin we re-captured and tortured into nice blood rage. The only way they’re getting out of here is through you, so do your village a service and win. You’ll be facing one archer, one spearman and a burly iron knuckled brawler. All are entirely tai focused but don’t let them blow your head up too much, they still know how to kill pretty well.
Reward: 50 EXP, 1000 Ryō.
Minimum Shinobi: One.
Mission Status: Interminable.

---

It was not uncommon for Seijūrō to be assigned with the "house cleaning". It was not a secret that the village would eliminate some of their prisoners without due process, but in order to avoid causing a commotion in the general population, some missions would have vague descriptions. Genin were given a manual upon graduation which allowed them to decipher the true objective of the mission. It was an unsavory line of work, but it was the one Sei had been given.

The teenager unraveled the scroll on his dining table before sitting down and taking a closer look at the message. The receptionist back the Mission Compound had given him a skeptical look when he had taken the mission. Sei knew for a fact that most of the receptionists were not taught about the secret codes, but some of them were granted the knowledge upon proving their worth to the Mizukage and their loyalty.

"Where do I begin?"

The mission details were basic, but he recognized that some of the kanji were written in a different manner, indicating that he should write it down. After spending a minute or two jotting down the words, Sei began to eliminate duplicates in order to narrow down the choices. It was one the more basic code decryption methods, but it seemed that the Genin was on the right track. Upon crossing out the last duplicate, there was only three kanji left.

刑務所

Kei-mu-sho, it was another word for prison. It seems his undisclosed rendezvous was going to take place at the slammer. Luckily for him, he didn't have to narrow down the list any more than that because there was only one prison within Kirigakure no Sato. Disposing of the notes he had used as scrap paper, Seijūrō placed the mission scroll within the safe confines his kimono before walking out of his apartment and traveling to his destination. The warm embrace of the sun was a refreshing sight, but he knew that this would not last for long. For the place where he was headed, the sun does not shine and the wicked reign.

[Seijūrō]

The prison was located far from the commercial and living districts of the village, isolated deep within the Northern Zone. It said that out of the Five Great Shinobi Nations, their village was the strictest in terms of their punishment for criminals. Long ago, the village had used its prisoners as slaves to construct the infrastructure of Kirigakure no Sato. Since then, slavery has been abolished but most prisoners were still treated like animals and living conditions remained subpar. ANBU members patrolled the streets like bloodhounds, preventing ordinary civilians from getting even remotely close to the facility without proper identification and authorization papers.

The Genin approached the tall steel gate with a paper seal on it that separated the outside world from the inner workings of the prison. Thick concrete walls that surrounded the prison made it impossible for one to see what took place inside. He could see two masked ANBU guards standing still at the gate, remaining still and silent until Sei walked up to one.

"State your business." There was no emotion in the older man's voice, and if there was he was hiding it well enough that Sei was unable to pick up on it.

"House cleaning." said the teenager before reaching into his kimono and handing the ANBU his mission scroll. He opened the parchment before reading the message within. The man couldn't have examined it for more than fifteen seconds before rolling it up and motioning the other ANBU to open the gates. Peeling the seal off the gate, the two doors slowly opened up, granting passage into the complex.

"Follow me." the ANBU said before Sei followed him through the gates before it closed, leaving one of the guards behind to remain at his post. He could see some buildings located on the far side of the prison. But that was not where the two were headed, instead walking in the direction of a dome-shaped building complex.

"We are heading to the execution grounds. It is there that prisoners are given a chance to fight for their freedom. Your mission is to be the last one standing."

"Simple enough."

"Who am I dealing with?" Seijūrō asked, wanting to know more about his opponents before he fought them.

"The inmates you are facing are nukenin, all of them are Taijutsu specialist and possess formal shinobi training before their desertion."

"Why don't you just finish them off yourselves?" the Genin asked, but his question was met with silence.

[Seijūrō]

Upon entering the execution ground, Seijūrō noticed that he was standing on a higher level that overlooked the grounds which looked like an arena. The ground was stained with old blood and the walls were worn down. No doubt other prisoners have fought here before and met their end there as well. The ANBU next to him gives a hand signal for him to go down below. He gave a look of disapproval to the shinobi, but he could not tell if the man cared about what he thought under the mask he was wearing.

"Here goes nothing." mumbled Sei before leaping down to the floor below. He looked ahead to see another steel gate about ten meters in front of him. It would make sense that the prisoners were going to appear from there. And moments after he had landed on the ground, the gate began to open and three figures slowly crept out from the darkness. He could tell from their rugged uniforms that they were inmates. But that was not the detail which caught his attention. It was their eyes. Pure unadulterated blood lust was oozing from the three prisoners. Long has their ability to reason been stripped from their being and reduced to mere tools. He would be doing them a favor by cutting them down.

"Kill...kill...kill." The three of them droned and repeated the same word before drawing upon their respective weapons. A spearman, an archer, and the last one appeared to possess iron knuckles. His fingers twitched, his mind began to calculate the possible outcomes of the battle, planning and ensuring his survival in this matter.

"Are you going to stand there and talk me to death?" the young shinobi taunted the three prisoners before resting his hand on his katana. He could feel the mounting pressure, but he maintained his calm posture and waited for his opponent to strike.

[Seijūrō]

The distinctive sound of the string of a bow being drawn echoed through the room. It took about half a second before Seijūrō to realize that the archer was preparing to fire at him. He tilted his head to the left as he felt an arrow whiz past his face, leaving a scratch mark on his left cheek. But before he could readjust to the situation, the brawler had closed the gap between the two and began to throw swift jabs and hooks at the Genin in an attempt to knock him down.

Despite their weakened state, the inmates were coordinating with great finesse, with the spearman began to flank around the shinobi. Feeling that the space he had grow smaller and smaller with each passing moment, Sei noticed that the archer was timing his shots to box him in from all angles. He had to widen the gap and take out the archer before he could proceed.

"Raiton: Purazuma Booru!^{(Lightning Release: Plasma Ball)}" Channeling and molding his chakra to the utmost refinement, the brawler was just about to land a hit on the shinobi had he not been knocked back along with the spearman by the blue electric sphere that enveloped and protected Seijūrō from their attacks. Even the archer as he continued to rain arrows upon him proved to be useless in this situation, his arrows deflected by the protective shell that granted the shinobi a moment's respite.

"Not so tough now without your buddies helping you!" yelled the shinobi before letting the ball around him dissipating and dashing toward the archer. His speed was unparalleled even amongst his peers; it would be difficult for the frustrated archer to follow his movements before it was too late.

"Nibaigiri.^{(Double Cut)}" Drawing his katana, the shinobi's blade sliced through the air towards its target. The archer, however, managed to block the vertical slash using his bow, breaking it in the process. He had believed that he had escaped Sei's wrath, but that was far from the truth. Upon reaching the apex of his swing, the blade descended upon the unsuspecting foe. The steel carved its way down and almost split the man in two just like his bow before the shinobi withdrew his weapon.

"One down, two more to go." The hardest part was over, having eliminated the greatest threat out of the three. The two remaining prisoners had regained their footing and had witnessed their friend being cut down before them.

[Seijūrō]

Sei could sense the unrestrained rage that the two prisoners felt. Even in their blood lusted state, their minds understood that their friend was no longer part of this world. The hope of being free grew dimmer and dimmer with each passing moment. The brawler screamed in frustation before charging headfirst at the Genin. His punches and kicks were less refined than before as Seijūrō was able to parry or evade most of his strikes with relative ease. The spearman also joined in on the fray, thrusting his spear at the teenager to no avail.

Both of them lacked the synchronization that allowed them to pin and lock the shinobi into a bad position. He blocked another punch from the close-ranged fighter, feeling the strength that was loaded behind each of his attacks.

"A Gōken practitioner, better not underestimate him."

As he narrowly avoided a crescent kick, the shinobi returned the favor by delivering a kick to the man's abdomens sending him crashing into the wall. The spearman could see from the corner of his eyes what had happened. His attention was focused on the lone child now, increasing the velocity of his strikes with each passing second.

"Kyuu Bara!^{(Sudden Thorns)}"

Seijūrō could feel the tip of the spear grazing past multiple parts of his clothing as he twisted and churned in an effort to avoid getting hit in a vital area. He would not be able to keep up if he tried to use a katana to deflect his blows. Forming a few handseals, Sei began to focus his chakra once again before releasing it in the form of a Raiton jutsu.

"Raiton: Mekurumeku!^{(Blinding Flash)}" The spearman realized his folly in pressing on and neglecting to maintain his solid defense. The bright light blinded him momentarily, giving Seijūrō ample time to deliver another finishing blow to his opponent.

"Kesagiri.^{(Diagonal Cut)}" With a cool deposition, Sei drew a deep breath before devoting his utmost attention into drawing his katana once again. To cut with a blade is seen as a simple action, but to develop it to the point where bifurcation was possible was when the pinnacle of the art is reached. The blade came from an angle, slicing through from one side of the man's waistline to the other like a hot knife through butter.

His spear dropped to the ground with a resounding thud. The man looked down to find his weapon, only to see a pool of blood forming beneath him. His vision began to fade into black as he felt the red liquid escaping from his wound. The spearman fell dead before he had even hit the concrete pavement.

[Seijūrō]

With the last of the armed prisoners down, Seijūrō turned around to see that the melee fighter was back on his feet once. The man was facing down, as if he had been defeated, but Sei couldn't help but get a bad vibe. His fears were confirmed as he felt he could feel a surge of chakra coursing through the area around the prisoner.

He heard about the Hachimontonkou before but this was his first time seeing a person use it. The nukenin vanishing in a blur, the speed of his opponent had dramatically increased after re leashing his one of his limiters. The man reappeared in front of the shinobi, driving his iron fist into the Genin's stomach. The teenager felt like he had been hit with the force of a rhino as the air was forced out of his lungs from the blow, hurling him back a few meters. He rolled around a few times before getting back on his knees.

He had never been hit so hard before in his life. He coughed up a bit of blood before redirecting his sights back on the Gōken practitioner.

"KILL. KILL. KILL!"

"Sorry to break it to you, but I don't plan on dying!" yelled Seijūrō before revealing that his fingers were wrapped with wire strings all along. The shocked expression on the prisoner's face as he tried to move but he couldn't. There was an invisible force that was restraining him from pummeling Sei's face into the ground.

"I managed to use the wires before you landed your punch." The wires continued to tighten on the man's throat as Sei yanked harder and applied more chakra to the strings. The fighter tried to claw the strings that were choking his neck. A few minutes passed as the man writhed on the ground, his limbs convulsing which indicated that he was going into shock from the lack of oxygen he was receiving. And the rest was silence.

He loosened his wires upon confirming that the man was not breathing anymore and let out a sigh before looking up to the stands where the ANBU member had been. The number of spectators had grown since the beginning of the match as there were now quite a few masked shinobi standing alongside the man that had led him in.

He didn't know what their purpose was but he got the feeling that he had been evaluated the whole time. Whatever the case was, he will get his answers soon enough as he got back up to the crowd of shinobi that had gathered to watch him.

"We expect to see more from you." The short and curt response was starting to get old. Once again, the shinobi gave no indication as to whether he was impressed or displeased at the performance he had just witnessed. Seijūrō snickered before walking out of the execution grounds back to the outside world. Now that his mission was complete, it was time for him to receive his payment and get a well-deserved rest.

---

【MISSION COMPLETE!】

[/size]

[KEITH]

+70