Not Again 2/3 (Group Mission)

Mission Info:

The Infinite Canyons was usually quite dangerous generally and avoided by most, however recently a joint venture with Nikkousato had led to a mining operation and excavating. The party has been hired by a rising businessman, Toshie Hijiro, to protect his new venture from the wildlife that was aggressive and rampant in the region. In particular the newest mine has been having trouble with a local Warlord and he has contracted the villages to send ninja to deal with this problem. The party is to rendezvous at the mines walled camp, and venture out into the region towards the Stone Ship, a landmark that houses the camp of the Bandit Warlord Kyosuke, a disgraced ninja of Nikkousato.

The journey had been long and tiring so far for Genkumaru as he was put in charge of a mission with several C-rank Genin having a chance to prove his leadership abilities once more. The missions he had taken on for the region involved doing more work for the tyrannical businessman Toshie Hijiro, a pompous and self important merchant baron who had laid claim to the barrens and its untold riches, and now began moving out into the The Infinite Canyons. This time he needed him to protect a lucrative mine that had been promising with its metal yields so far. The villages in all their wisdom had sent Gen several of their own to learn from and support him in his efforts to help pacify the region.

As he waited at the outpost for his charges to arrive, he struck up several conversations with the miners and laborers discovering that they were fairly consistently moving large quantities of precious metals and rare gems from the nearby mine and area, making Hijiro an even richer man in the process. However, he didn't pay for a lot of armed guards choosing instead to pay for laborers in bulk. If someone was too injured or died they were easily replaced by two more. Which sickened Gen some, but this was the duty he was saddled with, as Toshie Hijiro was regarded as an important man the world over.

The men had also told him that ninja were only hired to clear out the mine because one of the miners who had died, said that the hive looked to be made of pure gold! Hijiro nearly salivated apparently when he was told this, and moved to have the villages send him aid as soon as possible. Such greed would eventually catch up to Hijiro if he continued to plunder this lands.  

As his wards filtered into the outpost they would find him sitting in front of the mine entrance which appeared to be like a large warehouse of sorts, sifters and procession equipment held inside so that materiel could be evaluated as soon as it was brought to the surface. It laid in the center of the wooden walled boxed outpost. He would be on a stone carved bench over looking the large gates that allowed traffic to flow in and out of the place, waiting to see some more headbands so he could get a start on the days tasks. He was fairly confident that they would be able to handle what ever was thrown at them, as long as they all followed his lead and didn't act rashly or without purpose.

WC: 557/1600
PC: 1/4

Ryojin had made his way up to the outpost on foot as per usual. The normal skip in his step was back and he even seemed in an overall better mood now than he had of late. He was spinning his bo about from hand to hand as rather recently he had managed to get sand and water into the mechanism. As he extended and retracted either side, he was approached by one of the men who marveled at the craftsman ship of his metal staff and he smiled blushing a bit and laughing as they discussed competent use of various metals and theory of weapon craft. The man showed Ryojin a couple short blades of his own and Ryojin had held them up to the light grinning big and noting how flawless they seemed. After a few more moments of his discussion with one of the miners, he gave a wave and a hand shake before making his way over to Gen.

Ryojin had been given the details of this mission up front. He knew they needed to kill again. That was the requirement of the mission. This hadn't steered him away in the slightest. If Gen was there, he trusted that should he fail or fall short, the man could definitely make sure the mission was still complete, but Ryojin now knew he wouldn't fall short anymore. Taking that man's life was what he had needed to push forward in his own growth as a shinobi, and maybe to some extent that would even show.

"You and I again hmm?" Ryojin chuckled as he saw Gen. "Do they just have me with you in order to keep an eye on me? Have I gone and done something wrong at all?" Ryojin asked rather curious or if it had just been circumstance that he was being consistently assigned to missions with the massive fellow. It didn't bother him in the slightest, as Gen was far more than approachable and he felt rather comfortable with someone so dependable on a mission with him nearly constantly. The idea of the man being put in charge of watching him made him feel maybe unsettled at best, only because he was sure he had been extra careful not to be of any trouble to the sun while he was here.

Ryojin pondered on what exactly they would have to clear out from these mines. Had some criminals perhaps made their way here in a hope to get rich quick? Was there some sort of big ninja secret tucked away? Ryojin found himself brimming with anticipation in what it was they were up against this time. He was excited to try out some new jutsu and work together with another shinobi he had yet to meet.

Some time had passed once more after Faustein's most recent adventure, namely a co-op mission wherein he had to assist with the restoration of one of the Sun Village's old training field which had apparently become rather dilapidated over course of time. Since then, he had resumed his usual routine both in his professional life as a practicing physician-scientist/medical ninja and in his ongoing mad science research which he been undertaking for several years now in an effort to unlock and master the mysteries of nature and of the ninja arts and all the associated phenomena. It was several weeks after this return to his brand of normalcy that a day came when he received another mission directive scroll from the Kage Office.

Another day, another mission eh? Ah, how troublesome indeed. However, it is a necessary evil, perhaps, since it does fund my ongoing research.

Musing thus silently, Faustein readied himself in his usual mission outfit which was basically just the physician-scientist/medical ninja outfit he wore to his workplace everyday. This mission was apparently a far more difficult one than the ones he had been doing up till now, so he made that, before he left, he took all of his usual ninja gear. It took him a while to reach the rendezvous spot for this mission, specifically a walled mining camp owned and ran by a merchant baron known as Toshie Hijiro. Faustein and the others mentioned in the mission directive scroll were apparently to meet up there and then head out to hunt down a bandit warlord who was allegedly a ex-Sun shinobi, now disgraced for some as yet unknown reason. However that was of no concern to him, for to him, a mission was simply that, a mission. So, he increased his pace of travel and finally reached the mining camp and headed inside. On the way to his two mission partners whom he could see in the distance already, Faustein struck up conversations with the miners here and there in order to glean what could be valuable intel for this impending mission.

So this mine's yield is in precious metals and rare gems, eh? And this client has essentially bought the workers in bulk it seems...logical, albeit perhaps a tad cold-hearted, but that is inconsequential to the matter as hand...Furthermore, the objective is to protect the mine from the bandits...perhaps there is more data to be mined here...

Musing thus silently once more, Faustein made more inquiries about the bandit camp in order to acquire whatever data he could about its structure and its contents. The data was of a sort that worried him to some degree, but for now he let the matter rest and decided he would simply hand over the intel he gathered to his mission commander who was apparently a higher ranked fellow Sun shinobi. So, once this was done, he headed on over to the two men and greeted them with a simple

"Greetings. Faustein reporting for duty."

Then, he fell silent and waited for the two men to respond and/or react to him, all the while wondering what they would think of his somewhat exotic hair and jet black eyes combination and also of his mission outfit which denoted him as a medical ninja/physician-scientist.

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OOC:

WC:

• Post: 552
  
  
• Total (for Faustein): 552/1600
  

Appearance:

As he waited he pondered about the missions he had been leading as of late. So far they had gone off perfectly but only because he began to channel the discipline of his brother Sojiro, and in doing so had given himself a greater design and purpose to exude. His own personality was too soft and kind, but also prone to rage and emotions, and that would only get his wards hurt if he leaned into it too heavily. He couldn't do that anymore. He was nearing a precipice to change and would reach it sooner or later.

Finally he would see a familiar face in Ryojin, appear before him. Their last mission together was a prime example of Gen's leadership and trust in his wards leading to a successful mission. He had put a lot of effort and time into cultivating his relationships and was glad that Ryojin was paying off as even though he had a difficult time on the last assassination mission they went on here he was assigned to him for another one. This one would be different as well, as their target wasn't a simple bandit but a former ninja now.

Answering Ryojin with a smile and shoulder apt, he spoke with a deeper more confidant voice then Ryo was probably used too form him, "Not at all Ryo! If I could request you on every joint venture I would! I am glad you are here today. Missions like this take a good heart and a steady hand, by having you here with me I know that I don't have a mindless killer at least.", he would close his eyes for a moment before refocusing and taking a step towards the exit to the camp. Fixating his eyes on the semi noticeable landmark in the distance that looked like a stone ship carved from the mountain side.

In that moment is when he heard another voice chime up now, a man with interesting hair and a certain way about him. He was an enigma but would still be welcomed openly as Gen would thrust a meaty hand towards him fro a friendly hand shake, "Nice to meet you Faust, I am Genkumaru Iwamura, call me Gen. Glad to have you aboard.", when his hand would pull away from the shake, he would point off towards the landmark and speak again, "That is our target. They are bandits so do what you want to them, I have no more remorse for those that choose to use others. Their warlord Kyosuke might be challenging though so please don't hesitate with him.", and with that he would begin walking towards the landmark in the distance.

WC: 1004/1600
PC: 2/4

Ryojin blushed slightly at the man's words as it was quite the hearty compliment he wasn't ready for. He gave forth a gentle smile and nodded his head before speaking. "I appreciate your kind words Gen! It means a lot to me." Ryojin then expanded his gentle smile into the usual toothy grin. He had come to rest his hands on the back of his head, elbows out toward either side while awaiting the next incoming Shinobi. When Faust approached and introduced himself, Ryojin already shot out a hand. "Ryojin Tosho at your service! Call me the ice dragon! The snow dragon! Whatever!" He grinned big again, his light coat housing the dragon he spoke of making it's way up his light jacket on either side. He as per usual had worn black under clothing, his forearms and shins wrapped as usual and his fingerless gloves on as per usual. On his left hand, which was the one he shot out for the handshake, one could take note of his missing index finger. "Oh.. Sorry!" He then held out his other hand in it's place. "I'm from the moon!" He pointed out his head band and give a big old thumbs up.

Ryojin then tuned in as Gen told them more about their perceived targets. Bandits huh? Bandits were easy peesy. The definite disappointment would be almost palpable on his facial expression. "You mean it isn't anything exciting?! Just more bandits. Ugh. Always. Bandits." At this point Ryojin would slouch and sulk rather teasingly before snapping back to attention. He would take into note the appearance of the bandit that was their definite target. Easy enough this time around.

Ryojin would stretch his arms out a bit as he limbered himself up for the sake of his bo staff work. Often times it could be quite taxing on his body due to the fact that there was quite an amount of flexibility needed to utilize his bo properly anyway. Ryojin found himself thrilled to push himself once again to see what he was actually capable of outputting. He found himself subconsciously flexing out his bo and spinning it about in anticipation again. "So Faust, You're a sun shinobi right? I've met a few of you who are pretty talented like Gen here! What do you want to do in this crazy world Faust? Are you aiming to become a top tier shinobi yourself?"

As the apparent team leader of the mission came up and extended his hand for a shake while introducing himself, Faustein had nodded and returned the gesture while remarking

"It is an honor to meet you as well, Gen. Yes, I have heard about these bandits from the miners earlier while on my way here. It is reassuring to know that there is no need for restraint in the guidance of my actions."

Faustein remarked and then turned his head to the other mission partner who had addressed him earlier

"That is quite the monumentally impressive name you have there, Ryojin. Here's to working well together on this mission."

He had paused there for a moment to collect his thoughts silently as Ryojin had asked him about what his work was and what he wanted to achieve in the ninja world. Then, he resumed his reply with a thoughtful expression on his face while stroking his strongly set chin and well defined jawline

"Indeed, the Sun Village is most certainly my home. Regarding what is my ultimate objective in this world, perhaps it would suffice to say that survival is the top priority, but beyond that my objective is to reach my full potential as a ninja and a practicing physician-scientist."

The actual truth was that he ultimaely wished to acquire as many jutsu as possible and also to unlock all the mysteries of nature and the ninja arts, but he did not feel like going into detail on that, so he gave the aforementioned generic answer instead. After that, he fell silent and waited for the reactions of Gen and Ryojin while walking alongside them toward the Stone Ship which was to be the site of the upcoming mission.

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OOC:

WC:

• Post: 292
  
  
• Total (Thus Far, for Faustein): 552 + 292 = 844/1600