The stage had been set.
A new gang of bandits had made themselves a target through their over-aggressive methods. Simple thieves were easier to ignore and brush aside, for both village and citizen, but these were true bandits. They attacked and stole from caravans coming to and from Soon's Haven, reportedly using rudimentary jutsu to aid in their attacks. Even this would've been easy to gloss over, save for the fact that their attacks were borderline obsessive. Whereas most would make a hit and cool down for a bit with the stolen loot, these seemed to prey upon merchants for the mere enjoyment of it, hitting as many as humanly possible.
This, obviously, drew the ire of numerous groups, leading the village to act. Initially, they sent a task force of AiTs to search for the bandits. When they were found, it became a tracking mission. The AiTs followed the bandits' movements into the village, discovering their base within the Grand Palais, where rumors grew that the number of merchant muggings had begun rising exponentially. Some basic scouting revealed their numbers tallying in between ten to fifteen, making them a decent sized force. When their reported ability to utilize basic jutsu was added to the mix, it was decided that the village wouldn't risk a team of AiTs. In their place, they requested the service of a Special Jounin by the name of Satsumaru, an Uchiha who had a long history of tactical prowess.
Given his status as both a strategist and combatant, he was more than qualified for special situations like this. Numbers were nothing but factors to be calculated and put into order to be defeated, as far as he was concerned. He wasn't the strongest in the village, by any means, but he was amongst the top-tier and had the abilities necessary to see this particular job to a quick completion.
And so, a plan was set into motion. A false merchant caravan would lure the bandits into an alleyway, where Satsumaru would go to work and silence or apprehend them. It was a wide alley, but it would suffice.
The long-haired Uchiha decided to tag along as a member of the 'merchants', cloaked and hidden from view. It wasn't long before the bandits emerged from the ground beneath them, believing themselves to have ambushed the caravan. It was then that the 'merchants' in Satsumaru's company dispersed into smokey nothingness and Satsumaru cast off his cloak. Some of the bandits stepped back and began to move themselves away, while others were visibly still confident in their ambush. To prevent any of them from escaping, Satsumaru performed a few lightning-quick handseals and created a Ring of Fire. It's raging flames dissuaded the less-encouraged bandits from fleeing.
In an instant, three of the bolder bandits rushed forward, intent on seizing the intiative. Satsumaru, quick to act, took a long leap backward and released a Dragon Flame Bomb jutsu, molding the chakra until it formed a three-headed hydra of fire to match the three opponents. Each head of the hydra hit its mark, seemingly bursting with flames upon their bodies and sending them to the ground as their bodies fizzled and smoldered. "Three down, twelve to go," Satsumaru remarked in thought, instinctively keeping track of the status of the 'battlefield'.
Suddenly, a knife came flying past the Uchiha's head from behind, prompting him to spin around and begin sprinting at the assailant. Another handful of knives were flung from the bandit's hand, spinning through the air toward the shinobi. Without even the slightest attempt to dodge, Satsumaru stood in the way of the knives. When they impacted, however, the would-be Satsumaru sunk into the shadows. In an instant, a black ninja-to pierced the bandit's spine from behind, his blood running down the blade and glowing from atop the blade's firey runes. The figure of Satsumaru materialized from shadow, his hand the one holding the weapon. "Eleven, now," he thought to himself, continuing his mental count.
Hoping to use their numbers to their advantage, three more took off toward him with kunai in hand, while two more sunk into the ground...a familiar jutsu, yet lending credit to the rumors that they were at least capable of rudimentary jutsu usage.
One at a time, the Uchiha locked eyes with the oncoming assailants, directing his Eternal Mangekyou gaze into their own to instill a genjutsu of his choosing. Instantly, they became prey to the Endless Gap jutsu, stopping them in their tracks as they perceived their distance between themselves and the attack growing ever wider. Disoriented, one fell to his knees, while the others were obviously confused. The two who had sunk into the earth erupted from behind Satsumaru, each thrusting their blade at his back.
Before the weapons could hit their target, minerals from the ground they shared rose up and coated the Uchiha in Earthen Coating, causing the kunai to deflect from his stone flesh. Spinning around instantly, Satsumaru cast off the armor as dirt into the face of his opponents and pushed them backward with his hands before moving them into elaborate handseals to use the Underworld Prison jutsu. The shadow jutsu bound them in place as dark shadowy tendrils pierced their bodies and held them still. With muffled screams, the shadows began eating away at their lifeforce while Satsumaru turned to send a volley of senbon directly into the throats of the disoriented victims of his genjutsu, killing them almost instantly as both air and blood exited through the wounds in their throats and drained the life from them. Just as the two attackers behind him began to feel the last of their existence fade away, Satsumaru clenched his fist, releasing them from his deadly shadow jutsu and allowing them to crumple up on the bare surface like rag dolls, unconscious - and likely full of nightmares. "Six," he noted to himself mentally.
Seeking to attack from multiple angles, all but one jumped to the offensive, enacting a widespread assault. Two simultaneously launched an Air Bullet jutsu, while the three others attempted the Stone Bullet jutsu. Satsumaru's eyes glowed red as the elemental projectiles hurtled his direction. The projectiles seemed to slow as a visual vortex (Kamui) seemed to surround the air around the three attacks, collapsing in on them and leaving nothing but undisturbed space in its wake. With a grin, Satsumaru began to glow as he performed handseals, releasing them to allow his fiery chakra to mold into an enormous, demon-like beast comprised of hellish flame. Stopping in their tracks, the bandits stumbled upon themselves as they tried to flee, but the living jutsu slammed his flaming arms together around them, leaving nothing but charred skeletons in its wake. "And that leaves one," the Uchiha noted, dusting himself off as he walked nonchalantly toward the single remaining target.
He was a short distance from the ring of fire, making it obvious that he was considering the attempt through the flames. Instead, he was cowering in a ball. Feeling Satsumaru's presence, he looked up only to lock with crimson eyes staring down at him. In an instant, the world around him seemed washed away by the image of a black-and-red battlefield littered with bodies pierced by spears. The victim himself stood strapped to a giant post. Though it seemed, to the outside world, that he was cowering in fear for a brief moment; in his mind, he spent an entire day of trauma and torment - a mercy when compared to the limits of Tsukiyomi's power at Satsumaru's disposal. Regardless, the bandit collapsed, paralyzed by fear. His eyes were wide in terror, but he made no move.
With a flick of his wrist, the ring of flames that surrounded the area dissipated and Satsumaru pressed a finger to activate his channel on a headset.
"Satsumaru, reporting. Mission complete. Fifteen targets silenced...three incapacitated, twelve deceased. I'll dispose of the bodies, but I recommend sending a retrieval team for the apprehension of incapacitated targets. Over and out," he reported, speaking calmly into the microphone.
Fifteen men...well, fourteen really...sought to end his life, just as they had ended many others in their lust for blood and money. Of those fifteen, twelve were dead, two would waken to the inside of a cell in the Obsidian Palace, and one probably wouldn't have the capacity to speak for a few days. However gruesome, this was a fitting end to those who made it their purpose to prey on Sunans and disrupt the village's workings.
[Mission Complete]
[WC: 1406...went a little overboard >.>]
A new gang of bandits had made themselves a target through their over-aggressive methods. Simple thieves were easier to ignore and brush aside, for both village and citizen, but these were true bandits. They attacked and stole from caravans coming to and from Soon's Haven, reportedly using rudimentary jutsu to aid in their attacks. Even this would've been easy to gloss over, save for the fact that their attacks were borderline obsessive. Whereas most would make a hit and cool down for a bit with the stolen loot, these seemed to prey upon merchants for the mere enjoyment of it, hitting as many as humanly possible.
This, obviously, drew the ire of numerous groups, leading the village to act. Initially, they sent a task force of AiTs to search for the bandits. When they were found, it became a tracking mission. The AiTs followed the bandits' movements into the village, discovering their base within the Grand Palais, where rumors grew that the number of merchant muggings had begun rising exponentially. Some basic scouting revealed their numbers tallying in between ten to fifteen, making them a decent sized force. When their reported ability to utilize basic jutsu was added to the mix, it was decided that the village wouldn't risk a team of AiTs. In their place, they requested the service of a Special Jounin by the name of Satsumaru, an Uchiha who had a long history of tactical prowess.
Given his status as both a strategist and combatant, he was more than qualified for special situations like this. Numbers were nothing but factors to be calculated and put into order to be defeated, as far as he was concerned. He wasn't the strongest in the village, by any means, but he was amongst the top-tier and had the abilities necessary to see this particular job to a quick completion.
And so, a plan was set into motion. A false merchant caravan would lure the bandits into an alleyway, where Satsumaru would go to work and silence or apprehend them. It was a wide alley, but it would suffice.
The long-haired Uchiha decided to tag along as a member of the 'merchants', cloaked and hidden from view. It wasn't long before the bandits emerged from the ground beneath them, believing themselves to have ambushed the caravan. It was then that the 'merchants' in Satsumaru's company dispersed into smokey nothingness and Satsumaru cast off his cloak. Some of the bandits stepped back and began to move themselves away, while others were visibly still confident in their ambush. To prevent any of them from escaping, Satsumaru performed a few lightning-quick handseals and created a Ring of Fire. It's raging flames dissuaded the less-encouraged bandits from fleeing.
In an instant, three of the bolder bandits rushed forward, intent on seizing the intiative. Satsumaru, quick to act, took a long leap backward and released a Dragon Flame Bomb jutsu, molding the chakra until it formed a three-headed hydra of fire to match the three opponents. Each head of the hydra hit its mark, seemingly bursting with flames upon their bodies and sending them to the ground as their bodies fizzled and smoldered. "Three down, twelve to go," Satsumaru remarked in thought, instinctively keeping track of the status of the 'battlefield'.
Suddenly, a knife came flying past the Uchiha's head from behind, prompting him to spin around and begin sprinting at the assailant. Another handful of knives were flung from the bandit's hand, spinning through the air toward the shinobi. Without even the slightest attempt to dodge, Satsumaru stood in the way of the knives. When they impacted, however, the would-be Satsumaru sunk into the shadows. In an instant, a black ninja-to pierced the bandit's spine from behind, his blood running down the blade and glowing from atop the blade's firey runes. The figure of Satsumaru materialized from shadow, his hand the one holding the weapon. "Eleven, now," he thought to himself, continuing his mental count.
Hoping to use their numbers to their advantage, three more took off toward him with kunai in hand, while two more sunk into the ground...a familiar jutsu, yet lending credit to the rumors that they were at least capable of rudimentary jutsu usage.
One at a time, the Uchiha locked eyes with the oncoming assailants, directing his Eternal Mangekyou gaze into their own to instill a genjutsu of his choosing. Instantly, they became prey to the Endless Gap jutsu, stopping them in their tracks as they perceived their distance between themselves and the attack growing ever wider. Disoriented, one fell to his knees, while the others were obviously confused. The two who had sunk into the earth erupted from behind Satsumaru, each thrusting their blade at his back.
Before the weapons could hit their target, minerals from the ground they shared rose up and coated the Uchiha in Earthen Coating, causing the kunai to deflect from his stone flesh. Spinning around instantly, Satsumaru cast off the armor as dirt into the face of his opponents and pushed them backward with his hands before moving them into elaborate handseals to use the Underworld Prison jutsu. The shadow jutsu bound them in place as dark shadowy tendrils pierced their bodies and held them still. With muffled screams, the shadows began eating away at their lifeforce while Satsumaru turned to send a volley of senbon directly into the throats of the disoriented victims of his genjutsu, killing them almost instantly as both air and blood exited through the wounds in their throats and drained the life from them. Just as the two attackers behind him began to feel the last of their existence fade away, Satsumaru clenched his fist, releasing them from his deadly shadow jutsu and allowing them to crumple up on the bare surface like rag dolls, unconscious - and likely full of nightmares. "Six," he noted to himself mentally.
Seeking to attack from multiple angles, all but one jumped to the offensive, enacting a widespread assault. Two simultaneously launched an Air Bullet jutsu, while the three others attempted the Stone Bullet jutsu. Satsumaru's eyes glowed red as the elemental projectiles hurtled his direction. The projectiles seemed to slow as a visual vortex (Kamui) seemed to surround the air around the three attacks, collapsing in on them and leaving nothing but undisturbed space in its wake. With a grin, Satsumaru began to glow as he performed handseals, releasing them to allow his fiery chakra to mold into an enormous, demon-like beast comprised of hellish flame. Stopping in their tracks, the bandits stumbled upon themselves as they tried to flee, but the living jutsu slammed his flaming arms together around them, leaving nothing but charred skeletons in its wake. "And that leaves one," the Uchiha noted, dusting himself off as he walked nonchalantly toward the single remaining target.
He was a short distance from the ring of fire, making it obvious that he was considering the attempt through the flames. Instead, he was cowering in a ball. Feeling Satsumaru's presence, he looked up only to lock with crimson eyes staring down at him. In an instant, the world around him seemed washed away by the image of a black-and-red battlefield littered with bodies pierced by spears. The victim himself stood strapped to a giant post. Though it seemed, to the outside world, that he was cowering in fear for a brief moment; in his mind, he spent an entire day of trauma and torment - a mercy when compared to the limits of Tsukiyomi's power at Satsumaru's disposal. Regardless, the bandit collapsed, paralyzed by fear. His eyes were wide in terror, but he made no move.
With a flick of his wrist, the ring of flames that surrounded the area dissipated and Satsumaru pressed a finger to activate his channel on a headset.
"Satsumaru, reporting. Mission complete. Fifteen targets silenced...three incapacitated, twelve deceased. I'll dispose of the bodies, but I recommend sending a retrieval team for the apprehension of incapacitated targets. Over and out," he reported, speaking calmly into the microphone.
Fifteen men...well, fourteen really...sought to end his life, just as they had ended many others in their lust for blood and money. Of those fifteen, twelve were dead, two would waken to the inside of a cell in the Obsidian Palace, and one probably wouldn't have the capacity to speak for a few days. However gruesome, this was a fitting end to those who made it their purpose to prey on Sunans and disrupt the village's workings.
[Mission Complete]
[WC: 1406...went a little overboard >.>]