[Graded]The Hunting Grounds of Kusatsu

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Jinan B
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[Graded]The Hunting Grounds of Kusatsu

Post by Jinan B » Sat Oct 08, 2016 10:30 am

"Have you seen this man?"

"I'm afraid not, my friend."

"Have you seen this man?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't talk right now."

...

"Has this man come through here recently?"

"Why would anyone ever come through here?"

Unagiru Meiyo had been nothing less than impossible to track down. Even now, when he had been sure that he had finally predicted where Meiyo would strike next, he had been confronted with nothing more than another failure. Kenitsuna Ken'ichi scratched his head, trying to figure out where he could possibly go from here.

He had been so certain as well. A young women had been found dead in Utazu, the owner of the only inn in Ninomiya followed her just a few days later. When Ken had found the Merchant in Haebaru, killed with an arrow just like the others, he had thought he had predicted where Meiyo would go next. So he made his way here, to the small town of Kosatsu, but it seemed as if his prey was nowhere to be found. Perhaps the archer had caught on to the fact that he was being tracked, and had decided to alter his coarse. Perhaps Ken had simply been wrong.

There were other towns in the vicinity, perhaps not incredibly near, but Ken supposed that his quarry might have simply moved past Kusatsu on his journey to one of them. Most probably Ashira, he decided. The Bannin would have to move quickly then, if he wanted to pick up the trail once more.

"Um.. Excuse me!" A young child, perhaps 13 or 14, was making his way towards the bannin. "I'm sorry to bother you sir, but someone like that rented a room from my dad yesterday night." Ken raised an eyebrow, was this a trap, o was this boy simply the only person he had spoken to so far who had seen Meiyo. "Your father, he runs an inn here?"

"Yes sir, the man came in the middle of the night, when everyone else was asleep." Ah, so that's why no one else has seen him. Ken smiled, it looked like he had finally found his target, and even better for him, it was before the Nukenin had had a chance to kill yet another innocent victim. "Is he there now?"

"I don't think so, I could lead you there now, if you like." The Bannin nodded his agreement, and followed the boy as he made his way through the streets of Kusatsu.

Finally, Meiyo was within his grasp.
Characters
NameRankVillageOrgColour
Karagata, Kinsue
Jounin
Kirigakure
HHD

Mediumseagreen
Kenitsuna, Ko’ichi
Genin
Iwagakure
None

Lightsteelblue
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Nyrax
Posts: 417
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[Graded]The Hunting Grounds of Kusatsu

Post by Nyrax » Sat Oct 08, 2016 10:44 am

Practice made perfect.

When Meiyo first started this quest of justice, he had found that he wasn't as good as he thought he was. His archery was just fine, but the way that he found his victims began randomly. First it had been watching a husband hit his wife, but he couldn't always afford to have such luck there. He needed to become better. He had adapted his strategy on how he found his victims. He usually placed himself in an inn that was full of travelers and gossip. A few coins to the right man could make people more willing to divulge secrets and release secrets. Money really did make the world go round.

Meiyo's last kill was a merchant that received his product from bandits who robbed his competitors. The bandits kept a percentage of all the "legitimate" money the man sold, and the bandits kept robbing and killing to provide him his materials. Meiyo had decided to kill the man running the entire scam. Bandits and evil men would always exist, but the loss of their money would make them less willing to attack others. Forces would eventually take the bandits down, but it took someone like Meiyo to strike down the truly corrupt.

Meiyo was now in Kusatsu, preparing himself to find another target to slay and make this village a better place. He was just about to walk in to the streets when he heard a man asking someone if they had seen someone before. Meiyo stopped himself and peaked out from his alley, only to see something that he knew he'd face one day. An Iwa shinobi...damn, so they had finally caught up to him. Meiyo berated himself for not changing his travel paths more clearly, they were starting to follow the trail. Meiyo retreated back as he saw a familiar young boy who worked at the inn he was staying at. Meiyo had a great deal of notes, pictures, and information on his next target that he had planned to slay here, thankfully he remembered the far majority of it. The shinobi was going to be a problem.

Meiyo turned and ran to the edge of the village, knowing what he needed to do. He couldn't risk an open battle in the streets of the city, too much potential an innocent might get caught in the crossfire. No, he needed to draw this man out and get him on to Meiyo's turn. Meiyo made his way to a cliff, one overlooking the village. He pulled his bow out and knocked an arrow, aiming it towards a window that allowed him to see in to the room he had rented. He closed an eye and steadied his breathing. With one eye open he glanced to his scarf and saw it blowing in a light breeze. Meiyo looked back to the window, waiting for the man to enter.

"Come on...hit me" Meiyo whispered, ready to release the arrow when the man entered.

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Jinan B
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[Graded]The Hunting Grounds of Kusatsu

Post by Jinan B » Sat Oct 08, 2016 11:37 am

My dad rented this room here to him, sir." The inn hadn't been far at all from where the boy had found Ken, and so it took them only a few minutes of walking to get to where Meiyo had spent the night. Now, all Ken had to do was wait for his quarry within the room. His skills would be completely negated by the small space. He turned his attention back to the boy. "Child, what is your name?" He asked, crouching so as to look the boy in the eye.

"My name? Keitaru, why do you need to know?" Ken ignored the question, as he dug out a few gold coins from his bag. There was no doubt in his mind that the boy would never have been in possession of so much at one time. He didn't think his family would have had so much either, there can't have been much of an opportunity for profit in a town such as this, after all. He pressed the money into the child's hands. "You're a good man, Keitaru, but this man is incredibly dangerous. I plan to stop him here and now, but I may fail. Go, find your father and stay with him for the rest of the day. Tell him what I've told you. If I don't find you by nightfall, you should leave Kusatsu." He doubted that Keitaru would understand the full gravity of the situation, but to his credit the boy only nodded, and went on his way with a brief thanks to the Bannin of Iwagakure.

Ken opened the door slowly, aware that Meiyo may well have trapped the place where he was staying. It was hardly uncommon to find overly cautious Nukenin after all. Luckily for Ken, Meiyo did not seem to have either the mindset or the means to do such a thing. He was not surprised, the Nukenin had been moving too quickly to have the time to do such a thing after all.

What did surprise him, however, was what was inside the man's room. A veritable goldmine of information lay scattered across the room, from scribbled notes to photographs to more professionally written papers. It took only a brief glance at everything for Ken to realize that it all related to a man within Kusatsu itself. How could he possibly have gathered so much information so quickly. In that moment Ken realized that he wouldn't be able to wait for Meiyo. No, by the time the Nukenin returned to the inn it may well be too late for his target. A tax collector by the looks of things. One of the pictures seemed to be a drawing of the man's home, a modest place that Ken realized he had already seen in the town. He moved over to the window, confirming his suspicions that the man did indeed live no further than across the street from the inn.

Perhaps he would not have to move after all.
Characters
NameRankVillageOrgColour
Karagata, Kinsue
Jounin
Kirigakure
HHD

Mediumseagreen
Kenitsuna, Ko’ichi
Genin
Iwagakure
None

Lightsteelblue
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Nyrax
Posts: 417
Joined: Sun Dec 27, 2015 7:00 pm

[Graded]The Hunting Grounds of Kusatsu

Post by Nyrax » Sat Oct 08, 2016 7:16 pm

Meiyo kept his gaze on the window. There was a bit of movement as the door opened. It was the boy and the shinobi again, both entering before the boy was shooed off. The shinobi likely didn't want the boy to get hurt, he was worried that Meiyo would come back and start a fight. A shinobi that cared about civilians was rare, at least as far as Meiyo was concerned. Most just wanted to finish the mission and get it done. They'd avoid civilian casualties if they could, but rarely took steps to make sure it happened. Meiyo would make sure that their fight didn't have any innocent crossfire.

Meiyo steadied his breathing and remained perfectly still. He wasn't looking to kill this shinobi, only weaken him. Meiyo still had a job to do before he left this village, he couldn't get it done by brawling with a shinobi in the open streets. It was time to remove this shinobi out of the game, or at least heavily slow him down.

As Ken moved to the window, Meiyo aimed his arrow right for the center of the man's chest. HE wasn't aiming for anything vital, but it was going to hurt if it hit. Aim steadied, Meiyo released the arrow and watched it fly.

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Jinan B
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[Graded]The Hunting Grounds of Kusatsu

Post by Jinan B » Thu Oct 13, 2016 6:28 am

Ken turned his gaze over the people in the streets, knowing that his quarry would have to turn up sooner or later. When he did, it would be a simple matter for Ken to get to him and take him in. That is, it would be a simple enough matter as long as Meiyo remained unaware of the Bannin's presence.

The streets were far from full, but that was to be expected from a town of this size. Either way, Ken couldn't spot the Nukenin from his vantage point. Perhaps he was still planning his attack, but if he were why wouldn't he be in the inn to do it. Perhaps it was more mundane, everyone had to eat after all.

Suddenly Ken spotted a glint in the air above the tax collectors house. To his credit, it took him no more than a second to figure out what it was, and to realize that he had made a crucial mistake in assuming that Meiyo would not be aware of his presence. Unfortunately, a second was a very long time in this instance. Ken dropped his hand to draw his blade, hoping to deflect it while simultaneously trying to step out of the firing line of the arrow. He was fast, but not quite fast enough. The arrow stuck him in his left shoulder, tearing into his flesh as the Bannin ground his teeth in pain.

It could have been worse, of course, for it seemed as if the arrow would have taken him straight in the chest had he not noticed it. Such thoughts gave little comfort, however, as Ken began to exercise the control over his body that he knew he possessed. After a moment, the blood welling from the hilt of the arrow began to lessen, before stopping entirely. He rotated his shoulder slowly as he searched for the source of the arrow, discovering, luckily enough, that his left arm was only slightly impaired by the injury. Even still, he would have to be careful, seeing as he wouldn't have the absolute full use of his arm.

Only a moment later, he spotted the Nukenin himself just outside of the town. Having seen his target, Ken didn't waste another second, jumping out of the window and employing the full extent of his speed in order to reach his quarry before he escaped.
Characters
NameRankVillageOrgColour
Karagata, Kinsue
Jounin
Kirigakure
HHD

Mediumseagreen
Kenitsuna, Ko’ichi
Genin
Iwagakure
None

Lightsteelblue
Test Thread Saigen Census V2

User avatar
Nyrax
Posts: 417
Joined: Sun Dec 27, 2015 7:00 pm

[Graded]The Hunting Grounds of Kusatsu

Post by Nyrax » Thu Oct 13, 2016 10:07 am

The arrow caused the window to shatter upon impact. The glass likely wouldn't add any further injuries to Ken, but it sure made a loud noise. It was the kind of noise that drew attention, especially in a town as small and quiet as this one. Not a lot happened, so when anything unexpected occurred people couldn't help but be curious. This was exactly what Meiyo had been counting on. As Ken leaped from the window he'd see a number of people leaving their homes, all of them looking around to see what had taken place. Ken would recognize a man immediately, the face of the tax collector on Meiyo's wall.

By the time Ken realized who the man was, Meiyo had already knocked another arrow and fired. The arrow once again flew true before striking the man, the arrow moving completely through his neck. The man yelled for only half a moment before falling to the ground, dead before he even hit the dirt. Screams came from the village as people saw the man bleeding in the street, no better than a common dog.

His mission done, Meiyo knew that his shot had cost him some time on his escape. Thankfully Ken would have to take a little bit of time getting to him. Turning and sprinting in to the nearby woods, Meiyo moved as fast as he could to try and shake off his new enemy. If he could at least get out of vision, perhaps Meiyo could continue his long range assault to the point of making Ken cease his chase.

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