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It seemed the day wasn’t to start off to a good one. Helios was so tired that he just wanted to sleep in; his body was far too exhausted from yesterday’s mission especially considering he spent most of the night on watch for the criminal. Not only that, but he had to spend another few hours writing up his report as well as serving interrogation to make sure his story corroborated with that of the thief. It was still quite a shock to him that the culprit was amongst the Jounin ranks too. The annoying part was that he couldn’t even close his eyes either to get any much needed sleep, as though his body was crying for reprieve, and yet his mind was wide and awake, awaiting for its controller to start pushing buttons and pulling levers to get it into gear and going.

The shinobi couldn’t even tell what time it was; his eyes were so blurred from the sand in them that he couldn’t clearly see the hands of the clock on the opposite wall. He could make out the larger of the two sat upon the five, so it was twenty-five past something. With a thumb and fore finger he rubbed his eyes pressingly, blinking a few times before he could see clearly. Suddenly, he shot up from his bed. ”Ah, crap,” Helios muttered to himself, his voice louder than he anticipated considering that usually when he wakes up his voice is a bit quiet and raspy. ”How the hell could I wake up so late?” Twenty-five past eleven in the morning is what he saw upon the face of the clock as his vision became clear. Even though he only had seven hours sleep it was no excuse that he would awake so late in the day, especially when he still had missions to complete.

Helios quickly shot out the door, clothing and equipment in tow, and headed straight for the mission office. He really didn’t care how many steps the office had, he bolted up the path that circled around the cliff face and to the wooden structure near its peak, even jumping multiple steps at a time with powerful leaps and strides. At one point he even decided to leap from half way up a staircase and latch onto the one above just to make up the extra time; it was quick, efficient, and really did help out his upper body strength.

It wasn't certain to the young shinobi what his attack would connect; of course not, he was just sparring after all, although he was pleased that the little progress he made whilst conducting this practice was, indeed, progress. As his sword came from the bottom left to the top right, Amon's sword pierced through the sky and struck true to the edge of Helios' blade, knocking his chokuto off course further to the right than he had anticipated. But what struck Helios the most was how close the tip of Amon's blade was from the ridge of his nose and, by extension, the rest of his head. Helios could see it clearly, the wave-like groove of the katana down the side, where the flat edge formed a rectangle-like shape, until the metal curved inwards on both sides to create a sharpened edge. It was the first time Helios has had his eyes so close upon such a blade besides his own.

However, instead of maintaining such momentum as he had displayed earlier, Amon seemed to go back on the defensive. The samurai leaped backwards to regain distance, although Helios noticed a smirk on his face. As though through second nature, Helios had to return it, even though he began to think that his opponent was setting up for some sort of attack. Quickly, Helios retracted his arm back to the center of his body, before quickly sheathing his blade, ready to defend himself against any such attack that Amon was ready to release. But, the young swordsman couldn't help but wonder what sort of attack a kenjutsu user would use against his opponent at medium range.

His opponent spoke. It seemed that the time of sparring had come to an end, although from what little time Helios spent conducting such a vicious exercise he realized that he had learned so much; style, speed, control, damage, aggression, but most of all real life experience in a life-threatening fight that would surely help him. Amon's words were ringing true to the swordsman's ears, Helios was indeed holding back despite having the intention of killing should he of needed to. The man's words began to linger in Helios' mind, and it began to work into overdrive in thinking of scenarios he would more than likely find himself in, and then trying to imitate each scenario in his mind while deducing ways to counter; A person who utilized range would require a gap closer; a person who used defense would need a strong force to break through; a time when there would be many opponents he would need to learn to strike out in multiple attacks, or to increase his speed.

Just after Amon began to light up another cigarette, Helios did the same. The young swordsman reached into his pocket, taking out one of two cigarettes left and placed it between pursed lips. Flicking up the cover of his lighter, it sparked the flint that would quickly turn to a small blue and orange flame. A single drag of the cig turned the tip to smoldered ash as the flame ignited the tobacco on the end, with Helios soon puffing a thick cloud of smoke in a single exhale. The shinobi was quite impressed that his friend was able to release shapes with his smoke, although what he began to describe next was better.

A technique that only masters of kenjutsu was able to wield. It wasn't something that Helios thought he would be absolutely ready for, although he couldn't help but feel excited that he would be chosen to learn such an attack. He couldn't help be begin to ponder, was he really ready for such a thing? Could he handle utilizing such an attack? Regardless, it was something that Helios wanted... no, he needed, to learn this technique before the chance could pass him by. For an attack that few could defend against, and with an extremely high mortality rate, how could he not want to?

For all that Helios had heard from Amon, he smiled. It was a nice change of pace being praised, as though he was being ushered in as the next kenjutsu master. The boy look up at Amon, his eyes locked onto his, before taking another drag of his cigarette and contemplating on what was revealed to him.

"Sure. I'm game."

Hah, yeah I guess I got a bit lazy...

But thanks for the heads up, as long as that'd taken care of. Hopefully the rest will go smooth and sweet.

Can I please be graded and approved of this mission?

The Curmudgeon Mission [C Rank]

For some strange reason, Helios was... happy. He was beginning to be comes incredibly pleased with himself, being able to hold his ground with such a swordsman, despite knowing that Amon was definitely not showing his full potential in the fight. Then again, as Helios soon came to realise, it was just a spar, a practice fight, among friends and, in dignity, through a stance of rival. Helios couldn't remember the last time he felt so active, so alive as it were. He remembered meeting with Amon at some point, thinking that they were both within the same scope of power, but it was obvious that this man was more attuned with the way of the swrodsman than Helios was. regardless, the shinobi couldn't just keep comparing himself to others. He had to compare himself to himself, to what he once was, to what he is now, and to what he will soon become.

Helios knew that the rear thrust couldn't be trusted upon, especially considering he was facing another swordsman, who probably already knows the attack like the back of his hand, or rather his scabbard. It was a considerable movement the swordsman managed to pull off, vaulting over Helios with such height and distance, it was obvious he used chakra manipulation to do such a thing. Helios began to wonder if he could as well, but he couldn't theorize and test something in the midst of combat; he had to stick with what he knew and what he knew best.

Helios maintained his vigil. As Amon vaulted, he quickly sheathed the sword back into the scabbard. he didn't think Amon would be so agile himself, his quick turn and charge made Helios hesitate on his next attack, but he knew what he wanted to do. Helios waited for Amon to charged, but as Amon changed his direction, his sword swung high, just above the shoulders of the young shinobi. However, that's the only amount of height Helios needed to maintain a course of defense and to counter strike. As the sword got closer, the shinobi, with such relxibility, arched backwards, bending his knees to lower his height, as the sword swung just over his face, the sleeve of Amon's robe brushed over his nose as he quickly spun low to the ground, kneeling down, but noticed that he wouldn't strike as his opponent dashed past him out of range, but only by a meter or so. Helios stepped forwards before redrawing his sword, going for a powerful Diagonal Slash.

It was odd. Helios was just chasing him but, like the reports said, left no foot prints behind. It baffled Helios as he looked around as he chased the man to the main square, only to lose track of his person completely. No track of foot prints, or even hand prints among the walls if he used the rooftops to escape, and no scent that he gave off. It was definitely not looking good for Helios' progress in the mission. Helios in aggravation kicked at the dirt harshly with a powerful right kick, knokcing up the dirt several feet into the sky and in front of him. "God damnit! Where the hell did he go?"



A voice came from behind Helios. It was distorted, deep, obviously the apparatus, aside from being a breathing equipment, was used to disguise one's voice. Helios' eyes shifted behind him, but he heard the figure draw a sword, the one he carried. Helios instictively withdrew the steel scabbard, still holding his chokuto, and spun around. Holding up, he blocked the horizontal slash that was aimed for his abdomen. Whoeevr this guy was, trying to attempt murder, would see no mercy from Helios. The shinobi slipped the chokuto from the scabbard and attempted to slice at the rubber man, who quickly jumped back several meters.

Helios looked at the man's katana and noticed something odd. Silver hand guard, black material along the handle, and silver metal underneath. The scabbard, from what he could see, was also black, with wooden carvings along the side. It was the stolen sword! But, why would the thief be carrying it while on a theft? Regardless, Helios sheathed his chokuto and held the scabbard in his left hand, gripped. "Dead or alive, you're coming with me." Helios retorted to his attacker before pressing on the attack.

The thief seemed daunted by the pressing attack, especially with his speed. However, as Helios pressed on, a burst of chakra blasted around him, his speed greater than usual. With several swipes, one a cross the chest, another along the arm, the other across the thights, his adversary came down with a large thud. Dropping the katana, the thief groaned in pain and frustration, but before he could get up, Helios pinned him down by the chest with a foot, before impaling the sword through his right arm, immobalizing him, and his arm. Heliso leaned down, removing the man's apparatus and the rubber cowl that stretched over his head.

"It's... you...!"