A strange party emerges

Isamu had been a bit overwhelmed it seemed, by all of the people and them talking. As he slowly came out of his stupor he realized he must have somehow checked out of the conversation and been left behind. The artificial man cursed himself for not being more attentive, trying to recall what the other members of the group had said before departing. Something about a caravan, possible bandits? He recalled that there might be another member of the mission as well. The man he had worked with before... Kitsu?

Fully snapping out of whatever mental freeze he had been in Isamu quickly made his way towards the groups first destination, opting to travel at a higher speed than normal in order to catch up. A few passing civilians were alarmed as the man clad in dark clothing rushed past them, but Isamu did his best to stay several meters away from anyone he passed in order to not frighten them to much. Anytime someone let out a cry of alarm he shouted an apology as he hurried past and towards the caravan.

The artificial man barely made it in time, arriving as Jun talked with the caravan master and made the arrangement with the man running the caravan clear. Glad to not have to work out the particulars himself, Isamu slowed to a normal pace as he got close to the group and apologized for his brief lapse back there. Hopping into the wagon along with the others, Isamu did his best to sit in a spot without encroaching upon anyone else's space. The tall middle-aged-looking man wished that he had a katana or something with him for this mission, but it seemed he would have to rely on his speed and single genjutsu ability as he had in the past. Isamu hoped that after he finished this mission that perhaps he'd be able to finally acquire a weapon for himself, then he might feel less anxious about these types of jobs.

The wannabe samurai kept to himself for the most part as the group traveled, his blue eyes on the lookout for danger. While he'd likely only be able to engage a single target, or perhaps 3, at a time he could at least try and help the group be vigilant for any sort of ambush. The artificial man found the role of lookout to be well suited for him, at least in turns of keeping himself occupied. He wasn't a sensory ninja like his creator so he likely wasn't the best at finding hidden foes, but he found the activity of ensuring their wasn't anything dangerous nearby to be somewhat calming.

As they traveled Isamu kept his creator up to date using his telepathic abilities, informing him of his traveling companions and what the status of the caravan as it traveled from one settlement to the next. Isamu would also occasionally send mental images through the telepathic link, but this was rare as there wasn't much that seemed to be interesting his creator at the moment.

Isamu wasn't the one to spot the coming bandits, and he silently cursed himself for not being more aware as he looked in the direction that Kitsuragi was pointing in. Seeing a large number of bandits alarmed Isamu, the tall man could likely take them on but he wasn't sure how to properly defeat them without a weapon. Taking a deep breath, Isamu considered activating the technique he had recently started to develop. It wasn't one of his own creation but he had been studying it by himself, a way to master his breathing and chakra flow in order to increase his capabilities. He'd likely have to push himself in order to take on this many people at once.

Before Isamu activated his technique he noticed that the others seemed to have come up with a plan, or at least one of them had. The male that Isamu hadn't met before got up and looked towards the crowd of foes, suddenly unleashing a torrent of flames at the bandits without the use of hand seals. Isamu made sure to report this info to his creator as he witnessed the display from behind the young man.

Isamu let out the breath he had held slowly, it seemed he wouldn't need to push himself after all. The artificial man looked at the fire-breather with interest after seeing what he was capable of, trying his best to describe his features to his creator. While Isamu was under the impression that the ability was a minor curiosity rather than something notable, he did understand that he should treat the young man as a skilled manipulator of chakra, perhaps even a prodigy of sorts.

After the attempted attacks by the bandits it seemed that two of Isamu's companions had to leave and return to the nearly complete village of Tsukigakure. Isamu was a little unnerved by the prospect of continuing the mission with half of the party that had set out, but at least he had the firebreather with him. Isamu figured as long as he stayed out of the mans way they'd be able to work together. Isamu figured he may have to rely on the Shadow Clone Technique so as to not limit the man's options for area of effect attacks.

As the green haired woman called out to apologize Isamu would call back, "Safe travels to you both, I hope to be able to work with you again sometime soon."

Isamu was under the impression that his creator would likely have him attempt to join the village soon, or at the very least operate as an ally of sorts. Looking away from the woman and the man who was carrying her away bridal style, the Living Clone's blue eyes returned to the dark haired boy who was tripping on mushrooms. He wondered if this individual intended on joining the village as well, or if he was just a passerby that was looking for some extra money. Isamu didn't really care either way himself, but he knew that sort of info was something his creator would want to have. The artificial man decided he wouldn't press the man for that info unless pressed himself, however, so the question of the fire-breather's loyalties hung in the air for the time being.

The men running the caravan had been spooked by the display of fire ninjutsu but as they calmed themselves they seemed more confident now that they knew one of their protectors was a powerful shinobi. Isamu heard some of the merchants mention something about a fire spirit, but Isamu was struggling to focus on the young man and his exploits and relay them to his creator so he missed out on most of the conversation.

The rest of the trip to the destination was pleasant enough, but the arrival proved to be less than jovial. A man near the front of the caravan was the first to notice that there was black smoke coming from the village they were headed towards, and word quickly reached Isamu that most within the caravan expected an attack. Isamu turned to his sole companion to inform him of their possible plight, but despite being high out of his mind it seemed that the young man had noticed the coming danger as well. Isamu could only watch as the mushroom fueled mind of the fire natured lad processed the situation and came up with its own solution for the problem, realizing that he likely wouldn't be able to stop this kid if he were to start breathing fire everywhere.

As the boy hopped out of the wagon they were on and set upon his drug driven journey Isamu could only hope to follow him and do his best to make sure civilians weren't harmed once he began unleashing his fire ninjutsu everywhere. Isamu quickly did the hand seals for the Shadow Clone Technique and created two clones to either side of him as he jogged after the young lad, sending the two clones off to hastily attempt to fend off any bandits that were attacking civilians.

As Isamu's Shadow Clone's went off and dealt with smaller groups within the settlement it seemed like the young man had focused in on the main conflict itself. Isamu watched in horror as the boy unleashed one of his powerful fire ninjutsu again, expecting to see a number of people immolated. fortunately it seemed that whatever mushroom fueled hazed the boy was in had caused him to aim between the civilians and the bandits. Isamu watched as many of the bandits began to flee in terror, wondering if this had been the intent of the lad. It was just as possible that the boy had hallucinated a large monster in the open space and had been attempting to slay something there, but the artificial man couldn't deny that the boy had proved effective regardless. Deciding to join the villagers as they chased off the bandits Isamu sped towards a few of them, doing his best to knock them over and trip them up as they ran. He tried not to hurt them to much, seeing as it seemed the goal was to simply drive them away. Isamu simply stopped chasing the bandits after chasing them to the outskirts of the village, not wanting to outpace the civilians and his companion to much.

Isamu turned away from the fleeing bandits and returned to the villagers and the young man, who seemed more aware of his surroundings now that the fighting was over. Isamu got some thanks from a few members of the crowd, but most of the gratitude was focused towards the one who had released an impressive display of fire at the enemy upon their arrival. Isamu wasn't bothered or jealous, even if he had contributed more to the fight he didn't think he'd want so many people focusing on him like they were the young man.

Isamu quickly snuck away from the celebrations and made his way to the tavern, finding it to be miraculously unharmed. Thinking that there was absolutely no way that the owner was still inside and serving drinks, but figuring he'd be fine so long as he left a decent tip, Isamu headed inside. The artificial man chuckled at the scene before him as he entered.

Both of his shadow clones were already at the bar of the tavern, drinking away at two different beverages. As he approached they informed him that once they dispersed he could decide which one he liked better, prompting another chuckle from the middle-aged-looking man. As he sat next to his two clones the bartender walked out from a back room, surprising Isamu again. Apparently his clones had saved the bar from some of the attacking and had gotten free drinks as the reward. The bartender struggled and said he might as well give the triplet a drink too, passing one to Isamu and jokingly mocking the man and his clones for wearing the same outfit as well. Neither Isamu nor his clones decided to correct the woman, instead each slowly partaking in their drinks.

Unfortunately their solace was short lived, as someone rushed in explaining that a storm was approaching and that they needed help to repair some homes and get things brought inside before the weather got bad. Isamu and his clones sighed but the three of them made their way outside and began to assist the villagers in preparing for the coming storm. Isamu mostly helped carry things in doors, he noticed one of his clones had been volunteered to help nail down boards on a few buildings. Isamu wasn't sure where the second clone was for some time, but eventually saw that he had begun to talk to the leader of the settlement.

As the storm began to roll through the village both of Isamu's clones dispersed, giving him their memories and experience as he took shelter within the bar. He spent most of the night drinking as other people within the building huddled close and anxiously waited for the storm to pass. After getting decently drunk Isamu found a booth that had been recently cleaned and slept in it, informing his creator and Hasumi of his whereabouts before drifting off to sleep.

The next morning Isamu said goodbye to the people of the settlement and to the young man who had assisted him on the mission. While Isamu still hadn't caught his name he believed that the lad was interesting, and decided that if he saw him again he would get to know him more. Heading towards Tsukigakure, Isamu wondered if he should buy a sword with the money he had just acquired.

[EXIT]

WC:2,126
TWC:3,141

Jun Tsukiko wrote:WC Claims
Starting WC: 2001
+20 Vigor
4000/4000 Ketsuryugan Developed. Previous Training here
1401/6000 Ketsuryugan Matured

Approved
For future reference, do add the WC added to the claim, example 200 WC towards Ketsuryugan. Thank you!

Mission Rewards

Claims:
Completion of 1 B rank mission, failure on the others
6,000 ryo doubled to 12,000 ryo from Beloved Presence
+3,000 Ryo from village rank
15 AP doubled to +30 AP

Rewards total: 15,000 Ryo +30 AP