[A-Rank] SSM - Yokai Tears / KIN APP [Part 1]

[Akimitsu Doi]

It was time to work outside the village boundaries for once. Doi received a mission opportunity that would lead him down to the coasts of Lightning Country. His experience in dealing with PYRAMID related affairs is precisely what lead to his selection. The white-haired genin has had multiple run-ins with them thus far and it appeared the higher-ups wanted this to continue onwards and into the future. Doi was very delighted to have received such a chance of course, and quickly accepted. Traveling around the Land of Lightning was just the first step; the boy hoped to travel the world in the near future.

---

Doi rented a glider and used it to make his way down from the village to the base of the mountain. Surprisingly enough, the contraption very easy to handle for a first-time user. Gliding through the air in such a pleasant manner was quite the experience. It was a long way down, so Doi made the best of it by doing occasional flips and turns mid-air. His familiarity with wind release made doing so relatively simple.

Towards the end of his hang-gliding adventure, Doi ultimately arrived at the train station located at the base. He'd successfully purchased his ticket a few moments before the the train was set to arrive. Once it came, the white-haired genin of Kumogakure hopped aboard and rode all the way to the coast. He'd made sure to get a window seat, so he could observe the sights the Land of Lightning had to offer. One thing he naturally noticed was the multitude of different flora and fauna in the area.

The boy knew he was traveling for a mission but was enjoying himself immensely thus far.

[WC: 283]

 

[Akimitsu Doi]

Re: [A-Rank] SSM - Yokai Tears

After traveling aboard the train for a few hours, Doi eventually arrived at his destination. The teenage genin grabbed all of his possessions — including the glider-staff hybrid he'd rented back home — and proceeded to promptly disembark from the train. Now setting foot upon the station, Doi noticed it was situated on a hill near the docks where his mission would take place. The sea breeze barely reaching where he stood. Directly in front of him was a sign that read 'Welcome to Fish Town', and next to it was a short tunnel leading to a flight of stairs that would take him down to the base of the hill.

​

As he walked down, Doi noticed alot of people rushing up the stairs in the direction opposite of him. Men in formal attire, most likely business men, trying to board the train before it left. He also saw a group of kids around the ages of seven or eight playing with a big red ball down towards the last few steps. At the base of the hill was a multitude of kiosks and stands selling a variety of things; things ranging from souveniers to local foods.Taking a length stroll past the kiosk area, the genin sat down at a nearby bench to strategize for the next phase of the mission. Doi reached into his right pocket and pulled out a small green scroll. He was given said scroll at the mission briefing a few days prior, but had yet to open it. The genin could only assume it contained some more mission details.


'Let's see here...' he thought as he unrolled the scroll. 'What's next?'

[WC:276] [MFT]

 

[Akimitsu Doi]

Re: [A-Rank] SSM - Yokai Tears

'Remain close to the dock area upon arrival and keep an eye out for any and all suspicious behavior...' Doi continued reading. 'Intel from one of our moles in PYRAMID suggests the ship from Snow country will be arriving at some point during the night.' The genin paused moment and looked up towards a nearby clock tower. He still had a few hours before it'd even start darkening outside. "I've got plenty of time to scope out the area," he said to himself. Rolling up the small green scroll and putting it back into his right pocket, Doi got up from the bench and stretched his limbs. The Kumogakure genin reached into his left pocket and pulled out some Yen notes. He knew he wouldn't be in the area for much longer than a day, but decided to bring some money with him for food and other expenses. Besides, the genin felt he needed some kind of souvenir to remember his first time outside the village. Perhaps a key chain or something of the like?

Also, he should probably pocket his village headband. It wouldn't do him any good if he were discovered.

---

"Aaaah, that was delicious..."

Doi sighed as he contently rubbed his belly. Who knew there was such great food in small towns like these? Multiple hours have passed since the Genin's arrival in the early afternoon, so it was already dark out. The streets were now empty for the most part, only few shops and restaurants were still open. Well, atleast he’d already secured a place to stay for the night. Specifically a small room at a motel.

The dock were empty too. At least until Doi spotted an incoming ship. Squinting his eyes, the teen was unsure if this was the ship he supposed to be waiting on. He needed to get closer to further investigate.

---

"About time they arrived, I thought I'd fall asleep out here,"

"Yeah, they took forever"

"Settle down, you two. This is serious business. The Pharaoh personally hand picked us three for this mission. We can't mess up here, look professional.

"Right, right..."

Doi listened in on these voices from behind one of the many large crates that littered the dock area. 'These have got to be the guys from PYRAMID,' Doi thought to himself.




[WC: 372]

 

[Akimitsu Doi]

Re: [A-Rank] SSM - Yokai Tears

One could clearly see that all three of the men sent by PYRAMID were dressed differently from one another. Doi most likely wouldn’t have seen any connection between the trio under normal circumstances. One of them was dressed in a maroon colored suit and wore a fedora to match. He was notably shorter than the other two and appeared to be much older as well. The next man had a buzzcut and wore a plain green T-shirt with black pants; it was very casual clothing. The last member of the trio was the tallest and burliest looking as well as the one who seemed the most out of place. He wore a light blue kimono and had his hair in a top-knot. He had a pretty archaic sense in fashion. It was very rare to see someone dressed in such a manner outside of traditional events back in Cloud. Doi decided he’d nickname all three accordingly. He didn’t have any names for them, after all. Thus, they’ll be known as ‘Mr. Maroon’, ‘Average Joe’, and ‘Samurai Jack’ for the duration of the mission.

Doi turned his attention back to the boat in time to see a group of four men disembark the vessel and slowly approach the trio from PYRAMID. Three of them held shiny metallic briefcases in both hands and were armed with swords. They were strong looking men in what looked like armor; easily hired muscle. The fifth member of the group was walking ahead of the others and was a stark contrast from his own companions. This one was a much shorter and scrawnier man, the glasses and the white lab coat he wore gave off the impression of a scientist. Doi figured this would be the guy doing most of the talking on the Snow end of things. He shall be appropriately nicknamed ‘The Scientist.’

When it came to the number of metallic gray briefcases the men from Snow country brought along, there was a total of six in all. Each one had a visible number ‘42’ emblazoned on the side in bold red lettering. Thus proving this was in fact a transaction involving the dangerous mutagen, Serum42.

[WC: 362]

 

[Akimitsu Doi]

Re: [A-Rank] SSM - Yokai Tears

‘Mr. Maroon’ silently signaled towards ‘Average Joe’ as the group from Snow country approached. ‘Average Joe’ nodded back in response and walked over to a nearby crate. He would shortly rejoin his PYRAMID companions while holding a briefcase of his own; though it was a rather basic one made of leather. The question now was what could’ve been inside of this one. A large sum of money would've been an easy guess. Yet, Doi could only assume at this point. There could’ve been something completely different within.


Nonetheless, Doi remained attentive as both parties began to converse. ‘The Scientist’ from Snow country was the first one to speak up. “I trust we didn’t have you waiting here for too long,” he said while pushing up his glasses. “It’s no problem,” responded ‘Mr.Maroon’. "Let’s go ahead and complete our little transaction somewhere private.” He then pointed towards a large warehouse a few steps away. “We’re in warehouse number two, come along.” The ‘scientist’ nodded in response and everyone followed the pair. Doi followed suit, doing a very good job at staying out of sight.

Upon arriving at the warehouse, both parties entered the large building through the use of a side door. Doi had to find his own unique way in, of course. And so, the teen shinobi scaled to the top of the building and silently rejoiced as he saw that it had a series of windows along its roof. He gently pushed one open and crawled through once there was enough space for him to do so.

After having successfully infiltrated the building, Doi now had an eye on the ongoing transaction from above. The warehouse was filled with a large amount of unidentifiable boxes and crates. Chances were, whatever PYRAMID was storing in this place was illegal. Doi’s targets stood right in the middle of it all. Both parties were facing one another while holding their respective briefcases open. Inside the fancy metallic briefcase from Snow country were a multitude of small vials that held a crimson red liquid. A fitting color for a such dangerous substance. On the other hand, what was inside of the PYRAMID trio’s leather briefcase was a bit surprising - or more so underwhelming . It looked like a rather simple piece of jewelry A. necklace with what looked like a large blue stone as its pendant.

How could the value of a nice necklace compete with that of an expensive mutagen? Surely Doi was missing something.

[WC: 414]

 

[Akimitsu Doi]

Re: [A-Rank] SSM - Yokai Tears

“Let’s see here,” The Scientist started; using his index finger to re-position his glasses. He slowly inched closer to the leather briefcase; closely inspecting the necklace. “Yes… it’s the real thing...marvelous.” He promptly turned towards ‘Mr. Maroon’ and grinned triumphantly. “The Pharaoh sure keeps his end of a bargain,” he said respectfully. “Of course,” instantly replied Mr. Maroon. “Our boss is very serious when it comes to business. He highly values professionalism.” Both ‘Average Joe’ and ‘Samurai Jack’ nodded behind him in agreement with his statement.


“Well, I assure I’m very satisfied with this trade. I’m sure our boss back home will be absolutely delighted we brought this back,” said The Scientist. The man then took the leather briefcase off of Samurai Jack’s hands and nodded towards his companions. The hired muscle promptly passed metal briefcases over to the PYRAMID trio on cue. Mr. Maroon then shook hands with The Scientist. “We’ll store these here for the night and send them back to Cloud during early morning. I understand you have other engagements in the area so we won’t hold you here for much longer.”

---

Doi realized he had to strike before the two groups separated at this time - yet, he wasn’t sure of the combat capacity of either group. The three guys from PYRAMID must’ve been strong enough to gain the Pharoahs respect. He was willing to send just them to take care of an important transaction like this one.

[WC: 242]

 

[Akimitsu Doi]

Re: [A-Rank] SSM - Yokai Tears

The white-haired juvenile quickly got into action. A large panther creation - made entirely of black electricity - fell down on the two participating groups from above. Pandemonium ensued as the beast of lightning crashed against the warehouse floor and erupted into a into a massive mess of electricity. The explosion sent nearby boxes and crates flying all over the building and shattered windows. Once everything cleared up, all of the men from Snow country could be seen unconscious; either slouched against the walls of the building stuck under crates. Quite the disappointment as Doi had expected them to put up more of a fight, not that he was complaining. An easy win was still a win.

Unsurprisingly, all three of the men from PYRAMID were still standing. They were looking up in his direction; rage clearly visible on their faces. This was to be expected. He’d just messed up their transaction, why wouldn’t they be enraged?

With his cover now blown, Doi jumped from his vantage point and down to the warehouse floor. It was far too early to claim victory, but he was prepared to go all out if need be.

oOoOo​

50 minutes later...​

Doi quickly made his escape from the dock area with the turquoise pendant in hand; momentarily stopping to look back at the flaming building once known warehouse number two. The battle against the men from PYRAMID wound up in the building being set ablaze. After an unexpectedly long battle, Doi barely managed to defeat them and pull everyone out of the scorching building in time. He abhorred the idea of leaving everyone to burn helplessly just because they were criminals. Besides, his assignment was to intervene on the transaction and ultimately get riid of the serum before it got into enemy hands… not get rid of the participants.

It wouldn’t be long before the local fire brigade would arrive; along with local law enforcement. A blazing building was hard to ignore this late at night, especially with the docks being so close to town. The fire could very easily spread to nearby buildings. Doi couldn’t possibly allow himself to get caught near the area due to his position as a Cloud shinobi. Such a scandal would greatly affect public opinion on the Land of Lightning’s only shinobi village . As such, the teen made way for the room he’d rented earlier back in town. He pocketed the pendant and ran back under the cover of darkness.

He’d head back to town the following morning.

Mission accomplished.

---

[WC: 422]
[WC: 2,371/900]