Ever since he was promoted to the Chuunin rank, Yuu was eager to take on some tougher missions with his abilities. So when he was summoned to take on his first mission as a Chuunin, he couldn't say no to this opportunity. However, it wasn't until he was briefed on his mission, where he has to apprehend an outlaw who was infamous for not only vandalism, robbery, and arson, but also an illegal Kinjutsu user. In his honesty, comparing the other missions he took as a Genin, this has got to be the most difficult mission of all due to the risks that he might get killed in this mission.
What was even more problematic was the outlaw’s Kinjutsu itself. Rumors said that no one, even the ANBU knew what their Kinjutsu was. All they knew was their targets were several shinobi who possessed bloodlines such as Uchiha, Hyuga, and much more to be found in Kumogakure and the fact they often disappear from the scene of the crime before anyone can spot them. And even if they get a glimpse of the culprit, most of the crime scenes are very dim at that time, which identifying their gender and appearance was near impossible.
Regardless, he decided to accept the mission and hoped he may able to stop them before they can take any more victims.
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To start off his mission though, he headed to the darker areas of the village such as alleys and abandoned buildings. Considering the outlaw’s M.O. so far, he can guess that he might take advantage of those areas to cover their tracks. Still, all that’s left was the outlaw themselves. He would try to find a bait, but he didn’t want to be heartless just to take advantage of any bloodline villager. Even making himself a bait was out of the question due to the risks he had to take. Yet just as he explore some other options, he heard some footsteps. Thinking quickly, Yuu hid behind one of the abandoned stalls and takes a peek of the incoming visitor.
With a closer look, he saw a young man with blank white eyes walking into one of the buildings while reading the contents of the paper he was holding. From this scene, he can tell that he was reading a note that might invite him there. Now that he thought about it, his eyes meant that he was from the Hyuuga clan, known for their special dojutsu along with Uchiha. Not only that, this made him remember the bloodline outlaw’s M.O., which made him realized that he might be in danger. The thought of this revelation caused him to enter the building with discreet.
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As a shinobi, he can’t rush in and stop the would-be victim, so all he had to do was to quietly sneak around the building and shadow the man to prevent losing his trail. It would cost him some time, but he didn’t want to risk his presence known to the outlaw. He earned the title of Chuunin and he can’t make one rookie mistake just by rushing in like in his Academy days.
Eventually, he found himself on the second floor of the building, where he found the same Hyuuga man seemingly attempted to struggle out of an invisible force. He would grow confused at this scene, but still remembering that this man might be the target, the possibility that the outlaw already attacking the man made him realized that it might be the case. Realizing this, he took out his sword from his sheath, which was now covered in black-veins around its blade and charged onto the Hyuuga man before he swung at him. At first, he screamed that someone came out of nowhere and was about to kill him. But Yuu’s blade somehow missed him by the hair. While confused about the boy’s actions at first, he then noticed that he can move his arms again. “I-I’m free… But I thought…”
However, Yuu raised his sword and rested it on his shoulder as he pointed away and said, “I’ll save the explanations for later. You have to get out of here immediately before your attacker finds out!”
Now realized what the young Chuunin did, he thanked him for rescuing him before he sprinted out of the building as fast as he can. As for Yuu, he turned around and scanned the whole building’s decrepit interior as he shouted, “I suggest you better reveal yourself. I already guessed where you are.”
At first, there was no reply as silence overtook the surroundings for a few seconds. But as soon as he turned around once more, he saw a hooded figure landed down on the ground with his two feet and slowly standing up as he raised his hooded head to the Chuunin. “Judging by how you able to locate me so fast, you must have a good eyesight and Sharingan to see through my trap. Though I never saw a weapon that can cut through my chakra strings.”
Yuu glared at the hooded figure, now suspicious at his words backed away from him as he pointed his sword’s blade to the figure. “I heard everything from the higher-ups about your crimes and as a Chuunin of this village, I won’t allow you to continue your murders any longer.”
However, the hooded figure laughed at the young Chuunin and said in his baritone voice, “Are you some kind of a superhero than a shinobi? Whatever, since you saw everything and that you have Uchiha bloodline, I guess I have to kill you, too.” Before Yuu can do anything, the figure pulled out his kunai from his robe and charged in to swing it to his neck. However, the young Chuunin sidestepped to his right and raised his left hand to block it, which only grazed through it in the process. In response, he swung his sword to counter the man’s attack, but he jumped back a few meters away from him, avoiding the blade completely.
“Tch… I almost lost my guard back there. They ain’t kidding that I should be careful around outlaws like you.” Yuu gritted his teeth as he cradled his injured hand after dropping his sword to the floor. “Though I recommend you should not underestimate me as well. I didn’t obtain my Chuunin rank just for show. And there is no way I will be killed by the likes of you.”
He then took out a spherical object and threw it on the ground, which it exploded into a white puff of smoke that enveloped the whole area. Surprised at this, the hooded figure looked around to see that Yuu has disappeared. But all of the sudden, somebody kicked him from behind as he fell on his knees. “Not bad, for a so-called Chuunin. Is that all you got?”
“Not exactly.”
As the wind blew most of the smoke away, the hooded man’s eyes widened as he found himself facing against not only Yuu, but two clones of himself as both of them wielded his spear and sword while the original wore his gloves as he assumed his battle position. And before he can react, the Chuunin charged in and gave a few jabs on the man’s chest. But before he can give him a 10th jab, the hooded man grabbed his fist and tried to throw him down onto the ground. However, Yuu’s clone charged in and used his sword’s pommel to smack his wrist, which released his original’s arm in the process. In response, Yuu threw another smoke bomb on the ground, exploding and enveloping the whole area in white smoke once more.
“That’s not going to work on me anymore!” The hooded man shouted as he swung his arm to pull some kind of string through the smoke. As the wind blew through the smoke once, his smile was shown underneath his hood as he saw the young Chuunin's head was decapitated. But all of the sudden, the corpse suddenly transformed into electric being before it exploded into several lightning bolts, electrocuting the hooded man in the process.
As this was happening, Yuu and his other clone appeared behind their opponent as they smiled at this scene. “That should incapacitate him for a while.” But as they approached him after the electricity dispersed, the hooded figure quickly recovered as he stretched out his arms, which startled them in the process. “W-Wha-?! But that should have knocked you out cold!”
Before he can attack, the hooded man manipulated his wire to move it towards his opponents. However, they jumped up in the air as Yuu quickly threw one of his kunai onto the man’s wrist, wrapping itself in the process. “You’re not the only one who can use wires!” Yuu shouted before he pulled it in an attempt to trap the hooded man. But instead, his arm popped out and flew to Yuu’s face as he landed on the ground. “W-What the heck is this?!”
Yuu and his clone stared at the dismembered arm for a few seconds, shocked at this strange turn of events. However, his clone noticed something and moved it for a few times until he noticed something. “Ball Joints? Don’t tell me…”
The two stared at the man next, which he simply grinned before he removed his hood. As they saw this, Yuu and his clone gasped as they saw that his shirtless body was somehow made of plastic as his legs, chest, and remaining arm have ball joints. Not only that, his chest has a strange cylinder-like object attached on it. “Have you figure it out yet, Chuunin?” The man asked as a blade appeared on his remaining arm, which he ran up to his friends and attempted to cut them down. They responded by jumping away a few meters back, but all they can do next was to glare at the puppet man.
“Somehow,” Yuu answered as he gritted his teeth, which made him reminisced about his last encounter with another puppet man back in the Tea Country when he was still a Genin. “That might explain why my Lightning Clone’s trap didn’t affect you earlier.”
“It pays to have a body that you can easily repair with. This way, I can rival anyone who is more powerful than me! Soon, Uchiha, Hyuuga, and those powerful clans will be extinct!” The puppet man declared as he aimed his arm to Yuu, which his hand folded back to reveal some sort of gun underneath it. “Sure, I have the largest chakra that I inherited from my father, but it’s not enough. I need to be the strongest of Kumogakure, stronger than any shinobi! And what better way to do that is to eliminate the competition!”
With that said, he fired his gun, releasing several kunais and shurikens to his opponents. However, one of them spun his spear to block them as they glared at the madman. “So you killed them just so you can prove your strength to anyone?! You’re completely insane!”
Then, one of the Yuu’s attempted to charge to the outlaw, but he was caught by something just before he can touch a single hair on him. As he turned around, he noticed that he was caught by some kind of a spider-like puppet as it’s eight arms tightened their grip on his body. “You might say that, but that will be your last words before I can squeeze your life out of your miserable body!” The man laughed madly as Yuu screamed in pain before his body exploded in electricity as the original watched in horror and anger.
“Tch… I’ve just been promoted into Chuunin and now, I have to die on my first A-Rank mission…” He said as he lowered his head for a while, but his expression turned into a determined glare as he turned his eyes on the puppet man. “Yeah, like that would happen! I’m not letting you get away with this!”
But just as he charged onto him, another spider puppet blocked his path as many more began to surround him. “No matter what you do, you won’t able to survive against me and my puppets!” The outlaw then created several chakra threads as he manipulated one of his puppets to grab Yuu and started to squeeze his whole body just like what it did to his clone. As for the young Chuunin, he screamed as he attempted to struggle out of the puppet, but to no avail. “Well, it’s been nice knowing you, wannabe Chuunin. Any last words?”
“Yes.”
Suddenly, the puppet outlaw heard something fell on the ground. When he looked down, he noticed not only his remaining arm was now on the floor, but it was somehow stabbed by Yuu’s sword. Upon he saw who was holding it, his eyes widened to see that it was a young blue-haired boy who wore a black sleeveless coat, blue shirt, long denim blue gloves, blue pants, and long navy blue boots, who then said, “I suggest you let go of my host, unless you want to lose your immortality.”
Confused at the boy’s words at first, the outlaw looked at where his other hand was pointing. To his horror, he saw that he was holding a kunai near his cylinder-like object on his chest with its blade touching near it. “T-The Shadow Spider… B-But how-”
“Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m just here to make sure you don’t damage my creation. Still, I did learn everything about your Kinjutsu. In order to perfect puppetry, you have to resort to an inhuman practice of converting your whole body into a puppet,” the boy said just as he moved his kunai closer to the device. “I know about human experimentation, but your motives are enough to disgust me to the core.”
The outlaw glared at the young boy, angered at his words as the threads from his fallen arm disappeared, which caused the puppets to fell limp on the ground while one of them released the young Chuunin. As he gasped for air, he saw what was happening and said, “Y-Y-You could have said you have to save my neck instead of calling me your ‘creation’, Yuri!”
“Can you stop complaining and help me out here?! I only got a few seconds until he recovers.”
Yuu frowned at the boy’s stoic expression. Yet he complied to his orders as he made several handseals and snapped his fingers, which created a small spark that caused it to grew and encircle him and the puppets in a trail of fire. This caused most of the puppets to caught on fire as the young Chuunin jumped over the fire and ran up to Yuri to rejoin him. But just as he was about to reunite with his friend, the arm that Yuu accidentally detached suddenly flew over him and reattached itself to the man's left shoulder. And before he can react, he used it to grab Yuri by the neck, which released his grip on the kunai as it fell on the floor. At the same time, he managed to kick the sword away from his other arm and used the chakra thread from his right shoulder to reattach it before he drew his blade from his right wrist and pointed it to the young boy’s head.
“Don’t move or your friend dies!” The outlaw shouted to Yuu, which he stopped and stood there, horrified that his former parasite became a hostage. “Though if you want to save him, you have to kill yourself.”
Yuu gritted his teeth at the puppet man’s command. “Are you telling me to commit suicide?! You’ve got to be joking!”
“Do you think I am? Unless you want to see him headless, you will do as I say!” The man said with a crazed smile on his face. However, Yuu noticed that Yuri kept his stoic expression as he stared at him, who was strangely calm despite his situation. As he saw this, his expression turned from pure rage to calm and determined glare as the man continued, “So what it will be?” He looked at the puppet man one more time before he bowed his head, seemingly defeated as he took his sword from the ground and he placed it near his throat. “Good choice. I know you made the right decision.”
“I am. I know this would risk against my code, but if this would save Yuri, then I would do it,” Yuu calmly said to the outlaw. “Though, you’re still very insane.”
“Why? Because you will die and I will kill the infamous ‘Shadow Spider’ at the same time?”
“No, the fact that you made a fatal mistake of making Yuri a hostage.” All of the sudden, Yuu closed his eyes and shouted, “Yuri, now!”
The puppet man was confused at Yuu’s words until Yuri quickly moved his arm back, which revealed a wire that tied onto the sword’s handle. This caused it to pull towards Yuri’s direction as he grabbed it and swung his sword to decapitate him. “I-Impossible!” That was all he can say as he head fell on the floor while his body released its grip from the former parasite. “H-How can this be?! I’m supposed to be the strongest man in Kumogakure! I can’t be beaten by shinobi brats like you!”
But Yuu just stared at him with a stern look on his face and said, “I can imagine why you want to become strong. But your selfish goals made you a monster in the eyes of the village. However, I will give you a chance. Give up and we will spare you. Resist and there will be grave consequences.”
However, the puppet man just gritted his fake teeth as he glared at the young man in front of him. “Spare me? Why do you think I would accept?!”
“To tell you the truth, I’m not actually an Uchiha.” The man’s eyes widened as Yuri watched in shock at his friend’s declaration. “Like you, I had to accept a forbidden power. However, I have no intentions to commit any crimes or shed blood to become stronger. But I will use it to not only protect the village but to make sure no one will let it fall to the wrong hands.” He then stretched his arm and offered his hand to the decapitated man. “I’m giving you a chance. Will you surrender and atone your sins for the betterment of the village?”
A long period of silence has occurred as both parties were speechless at Yuu’s offer. At first, the man stretched out his arm to the Chuunin as he walked closer to let him take it, who seemed to be swayed at his words. However, the man’s expression turned into a crazed smile as the blade extend from his body’s right wrist and raised it above his new victim. “GO TO HELL!!!”
But before he can swing it down, his expression changed into horror as blood dripped on his head. As he slowly looked up, the man saw that Yuri stabbed him with Yuu’s sword as the blood began to leak through the cylinder device on his now-destroyed chest. “I’m disappointed in you. My host gave you the chance to live and then you wasted it. I thought I have to spare you as well. But my guess is correct. You have finally turned into a monster.”
With those words, Yuri pulled his sword out of the chest as his opponent’s body became limp and fell on the ground like a lifeless doll. As for Yuu, he walked up to the now lifeless head of the outlaw as he kneeled down and closed his eyes for the final time. Before, he usually smiled in relief that the mission is completed. But now, he showed a solemn expression as he stood up and stared at the lifeless puppet in front of him with a sorrowful look on his face. “I still can’t believe we had to kill him,” Yuu said as Yuri then took out a small bottle and used it to gather some of the blood on the floor.
“I know how you feel. But considering our options, we can’t let him rampage in the village for much longer. You did give him a chance to spare him, but in the end, his pride and greed got the better of him.” As he stood up, he cleaned his hands with a towel as he walked in front of his former host. “If you like, you can head back home. I’ll report them about our mission in your place.”
But Yuu nodded as he slowly smiled at his friend. “N-No, it’s okay. Let’s report them together. Besides, I can’t trust you running around with my face all day.”
Upon he saw his smile, Yuri sighed in relief that his friend seemed to recover from his initial reaction. “I understand. I already got some samples for my experiments. Hopefully, I might also use this for your new body. Let’s go.”
With that, they spent the whole day salvaging the puppet body into their scrolls before they left the abandoned building.
[MFT/Mission WC: 3539]