A Rank retrieval mission II

Miserable. That was the best way to describe the entirety of the rain territory. Calintz sat alone in the dark with nothing but the nonstop sound of gushing water and the occasional peal of thunder and only his black hooded trench coat and hastily erected shelter to keep the rain at bay. It had been 3 days since he had entered the territory and each day had brought heavier and heavier rain as he moved deeper and deeper towards his objective and now, here he sat, barely a hundred meters from the entrance to the cave system that promised to hold the jewel he had been assigned with retrieving. In his pocket lay a piece of folded paper, but he didn't pull it out. He didn't need to after 3 days of constantly reading over it to pass the time of traveling. But if he had, then it would have read:
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Type: Retrieval
Mission Rank: A
Assigned: Calintz
Objective: Squeal to the previous mission. This time you are searching for a solid blue crystal that seems to purify water instantly. Location is a cave in Rain territory. Be warned this crystal is guarded by Rain ninja of Anbu quality. Do not give away who you are at all costs. Be careful as they set up around 5 fakes to confuse intruders from getting their hands on such a valuable relic.
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With a sigh, Calintz peered out of his shelter that consisted of dozens of thick branches arranged in a fashion similar to an Indian tepee. It was far from waterproof, but it held back the worst of the water and together with his hooded trench coat, he managed to remain not only dry, but warm as well. His shelter was positioned within the tree line of the forest that encroached upon the cave he would be infiltrating. He had arrived late that morning, when it was drizzling rather than pouring and had decided to stakeout the entrance until dark in order to observe comings and goings, as well as to have his eyes adjusted to the dark before he went in.

As time passed and the rain got heavier, Calintz had moved as far away as possible while still observing the entrance and constructed his now blessed shelter. Over the proceeding 6 hours, Calintz observed not a single person leaving or entering the cave, which had a narrow entrance cut into the rock around 7 feet high with a makeshift wooden door that served as the entrance. The biggest issue would be the entry, Calintz had no real way of knowing what lay beyond that door without going in there himself and now... the time had come.

With a shudder of childish dread, Calintz pushed his shelter down around him and stood up, the gushing of the rain now a steady pitter-patter against the tough fabric of his coat. Carefully yet swiftly, Calintz ghosted forwards like a wraith between the trees until he found himself facing the 'no mans land' between the forest and the entrance. With a final furtive glance in all directions and still no signs of any threats, Calintz took a breath and crept forwards. After several seconds of feeling horribly exposed, Calintz reached the entrance and pressed himself to the rock besides the wooden door- which looked more like several planks nailed together- that was loosely wedged into the entrance, no doubt to keep out the wind and rain that pervaded the area.

Calintz remained motionless for a full minute before positioning himself to move through the door. He remained in that position, with one hand on either side of the door and waited. And waited. Finally, a peal of thunder cracked overhead and Calintz immediately yanked the door towards him. It came free with no noise that could be heard over the thunder overhead and within seconds Calintz was inside and had replaced the door behind him. Crouched low to the ground, Calintz quickly took in his surroundings as he looked for potential threats and found none. He was standing inside a short corridor that linked the entrance to the first chamber. Silently, Calintz stripped off his trench coat and shoved it into a naturally formed crevasse in the cave wall where it was unlikely to be found until he was long gone, if at all. With that weigh off, Calintz slipped forwards until he could see the tell tale glow of torches up ahead.

Once again crouching, Calintz pressed himself against the left wall of the corridor and edged forwards. Eventually, he could see that the corridor quickly widened out into a very spacious cavern that was vaguely rectangular in shape. Closer to the center of the room, were several large pillars of rock that connected floor to ceiling arranged in a circle, and attached to the inside of each one was a single torch that cast light inwards. Looking within that circle of light, there was a marble slab that stood at around waist height and a brilliant blue gem lay in its center.

That was when Calintz caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Jerking his head to the left, Calintz searched the darkness until he saw it again. There was a man leaning against a fallen rock pillar, facing the circle of light in the center of the room. With a sigh Calintz knew it would be too good to be true if that was the only guard in the room, so he retreated back further into the coridor where he would be guaranteed to remain unseen and made a quick series of hand seals.
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Name: Shark's Eye

Rank: C

Ninjutsu

While not truly related to sharks or an eye, this ninjutsu is a method of perception that mimics a shark's ability to sense electric fields. The practitioner is able to pinpoint organisms that produce bio-electricity (essentially any large animal, person etc) within a twenty foot radius. The technique does not yield any descriptive information about the organism, simply its location. Strong electric fields, such as other electric ninjutsu, are capable of rendering this technique temporarily useless. Additionally, the user must channel chakra to maintain this sensory enhancement. Unless their chakra control is precise, it is best used deliberately as opposed to a constant passive activation.
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Now when Calintz looked at himself he appeared to be glowing a faint ghostly blue, but in reality this was his electrical field which his jutsu enabled him to see. Creeping forwards once again, Calintz surveyed the cavern with "new eyes" and this time, apart from the first man he had seen, he could see a faint ghostly blue outline on the opposite side of the room to the first man. So there were two men, presumably Anbu level rain ninja in the room with him, and the possibility of more on the far side of the cavern. those were the kinds of odds he liked. Moving as silently as a shadow, Calintz kept to the left wall of the cavern as he moved to get into position behind the first of the ninja. He had to be careful here as stealth had been stressed as a priority for this mission and it would be difficult to deal with the first ninja without his companion noticing. He would have to finish it in a single motion, there would be o second chances...

Drawing a kunai from beneath his shirt, Calintz crept up behind the hapless ninja, who was no doubt wearied by a long, boring vigil and his body clock probably out of whack due to the constant darkness. It was hardly a fair contest, but Calintz wasn't about to complain. Readying the kunai, Calintz crouched in the shadow of the very same pillar the ninja was leaning on.

The ninja caught a sign of movement to his left, turning his head to see what it was, he barely had enough time to register a man sized outline before a hand clamped over his mouth and a kunai simultaneously cut his throat. He was dead almost instantly and he hadn't managed to so much as utter a cry. Calintz wiped the kunai clean on the dead mans clothes and dispelled the clone he had used to distract the man; who was still leaning against the pillar even in death as rigor mortis began to set in. Calintz silently thanked the man for standing so far outside the circle of light and slipped back to the wall of the cavern and continued his way around. He would clear the entire room before examining the jewel so conveniently placed in the middle of the room like a beacon to any would be treasure hunters. To Calintz it just screamed "its a trap."

Ten seconds later, he was glad he did as he picked up a third faint blue glow at the far end of the room. As he got closer, Calintz determined this was the only other guard in the room and beyond him was an opening that led deeper into the caves. With reckless impatience, Calintz began to climb the cave wall, using chakra to stick to its surface. It took him a full minute to reach the caves roof, and another minute still to position himself above the unsuspecting ninja who stood facing towards the center gem as well. With painstaking care, Calintz firmly tied a roll of thin, yet incredibly durable wire to one of the many stalactites that littered the caves roof. He then lowered himself on this wire ever so slowly so he descended into the ninja's blind spot. The poor man never knew what hit him. One second he was standing, wondering how much longer it would be until he could take out his dinner, the next he had Calintz's wire wrapped around his throat, cutting off his air as a hand clamped over his mouth to prevent him calling out to his comrades. In his final moments, tears came to his eyes at his own helplessness and then he lost consciousness. 30 seconds after that, he was dead and his faint blue glow died away. Calintz finally released the wire from the mans throat and eased him into a sitting position against a stalagmite near where he had been standing. In the darkness, it would simply look like he was sitting down and keeping watch. It was only when one got close that they would be able to see the bruise marks from the wire that had been used to strangle him.

Now there was one more to deal with. Once again with murder in his eyes, Calintz moved like a wraith along the wall until he reached the spot where he had first seen the second guard. But to Calintz's horror- he was no longer there. looking around wildly, Calintz couldn't see him. But that's when he heard it. The faint trickling of water coming from closer to the entrance. heart pounding, calintz moved forwards with new found caution as the trickling grew louder, Finally, as Calintz edged around a slight outcrop in the cave wall, the man came into sight and the mystery of the trickling sound was solved. The man was taking a piss. With an odd mixture of relief and frustration at having almost being caught out, Calintz grabbed the mans head from behind and slammed it face first into the wall of the cave. The first time broke his nose, the second time fractured his jaw and one of the 5 impacts after that killed him as well as reducing his face to a bloody pulp. He had truly been caught with his pants down and if Calintz hadn't just killed 3 men, he might have laughed at his own joke.

With the room finally clear of all threats, Calintz approached the table and the blue jewel in the center of the room. It was certainly an impressive looking stone, but if it wasn't the one he was after then it was useless. Picking it up and inspecting it carefully Calintz looked around for some water to purify as a means of testing its authenticity. He found none and when he realized he knew where some was he shuddered in disgust. Making his way back to the final man he had killed, Calintz quickly located the puddle of urine against the corner of the wall. With a sigh, Calintz dropped the gem in. Seconds passed and no noticeable change occurred. it occurred to Calintz that even if it wasn't the one he was after, it could still be worth some good money, but one look at where it now sat and Calintz decided it was best to leave it be.

With a sigh or disappointment, Calintz turned away and made his way towards the far end of the cave where he had found the second corridor and deeper into the cave...

Heading through the next tunnel, Calintz soon found himself with an option of going left or right. Before he could come upw ith his own decision, the distinctive sound of footsteps rang out along the left path, although who they belonged to was still well out of sight.
"Right it is" Calintz muttered to himself before shooting off away from the footsteps. there were few torches along this section of the tunnel, so Calintz was forced to slow down, relying on only his sense of touch and his shark eye jutsu to find his way and aoid hidden enemies. The tunnel made a sharp right hand turn and suddenly Calintz could see again as torches now lined the walls.

Seeing no sign of any enemies, Calintz proceeded forwards unhindered. Soon enough, h found himself with another choice. right,or straight ahead. Peeking down the right path, Calintz could see a ninja several hundred feet along lighting a cigarette, apparently taking his break. "Must be stealthy, must be stealthy..." Calintz reminded himself before darting across the opening and heading straight along the other path. he traveled little more than 10 meters before he found a third choice to make. A closed door on the left wall was more promising than anything else he had seen thus far and he might be able to find what he was looking for or a map of the place inside. The risk would be if there were a dozen ninja inside... "Ah hell, I can take a dozen puny rain ninja" he grinned before easing the door open. As expected, the room was well lit and quite small, no more than 10mx10m.

Pushing the door open completely, Calintz stepped inside and had just enough time to register a blue jewel on a marble slab identical to what he had seen in the first antechamber before a whistling noise made him duck. The assailants mace caught several strands of Calintz's hair as it whistled past. Spinning on his heels in a crouched position, Calintz now saw the rain ninja who had almost taken his head off. The door had swung shut during the brief scuffle and the ninja now stood in front of it.

Straightening up, Calintz laughed as the ninja's eyes darted to the door and back. "Now looks like we have a situation here. you're between me and the way out and if you turn your back on me even for a moment, then you'll die. Looks like we're just gonna have to duke it out right he-" Calintz swayed sideways to avoid the flying mace that the ninja threw at him before making a dash for the door. The ninja was fast. but Calintz was faster. in a flash, he caught the ninja by the right arm and gave it a mighty twist that dislocated it instantly. The ninja yelled in pain as he dropped to his knees before Calintz delivered a powerful straight kick to the side of his neck. There was a loud crack as the mans neck broke and his eyes glazed over as death took him. "So far so good" he sighed as he went over to examine the gem. unlike the first one, this was an obvious fake as it had green flecks within its surface. Apparently it was a trap designed to draw the intruder inside and then the hidden ninja would dispatch them before they could realize. Too bad, if they had had 3 or 4 ninja's it might have worked.

Ignoring the fresh corpse by the door, Calintz turned and left the way he had come, he didn't have time to waste on trivialities like a proper burial.

Closing the door behind him, Calintz turned back down the path he had first come from and quickly reached the turn off he had previously bypassed. The ninja he had previously seen lighting a cigarette had moved in the short time since he had last passed through, which added a certain element of wariness to Calintz's movements as he ventured down the said path. As far as Calintz could see in the flickering torchlight, the tunnel was was now standing in extended for at least 50 meters with no side tunnels or turnoffs linking it to other areas. That meant it could easily become a choke point; for better or for worse.

After 5 painstaking minutes, Calintz reached the far end of the passage, which abruptly opened out into a medium sized chamber with similar dimensions to an average bedroom and several times as high. in the center of this chamber was a ninja. He saw Calintz at the same time that Calintz saw him. Beyond the chamber, the tunnel continued on, and it seemed most likely to Calintz that this ninja was on a patrol circuit and he just happened to have encountered him in a location where Calintz did not have the element of surprise. All of these thoughts and more rushed through Calintz's mind in the split second during which the two's eyes met... and then the rain ninja attacked.

A small hail of kunai sailed swiftly towards Calintz, who ducked back into the tunnel and pressed himself against the cave wall. The kunai pattered harmlessly against the wall, but making a ringing sound that was deafening after the prolonged silence Calintz had become accustomed to. Not wanting this skirmish to draw any more attention than it had to, Calintz swept back into the room, producing 3 shuriken and 3 kunai in each hand in a blur of motion. In the next instant, he released them in a spray of metallic death that in such close quarters left the rain ninja unable to dodge. there was a satisfying sound of metal piercing flesh, but it seemed that this ninja was a cut above the rest, probably one of the A rank ninja's mentioned in the briefing. The Ninja had deliberately taken hits to his right arm in order to reduce the spread of his injuries.

Then he was making hand seals a moment before he shot a jet of water from his out stretched fingers. calintz flung himself sideways, and then ducked as a second jet exploded over his head. The rain ninja kept him always moving as he continually fired quick jets of water that cut into the rock where it impacted. After the 4th shot, Calintz recovered and sprang at the ninja who took aim for his 5th shot. The attack was released less than a second before Calintz could reach and stop him, but the shot merely grazed his arm, creating a deep gash where it made contact. Before Calintz could take note of the pain, he had taken hold of the ninja and broken his hapless neck before letting his body fall to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

With one hand pressed to the wound on his arm, he looked down at the dead man, "Heh, if you're an A rank ninja then I guess I'm A+" he tore strips off the mans shirt and tied it around his wound to slow the bleeding before dragging the body out of the center of the space and extinguishing the torches. it wasn't much but it was better than nothing.

Moving on through the tunnels, which wound this way and that but never offered a choice of direction, Calintz finally came to a room that rang with the sound of running water. It was a long rectangular room, that showed signs of obvious care as the walls were carved smoothly compared o the rest of the cave system Calintz had seen so far. The sides of the room had channels that ran with glistening clear water and at the opposite end of the room, a small yet steady waterfall ran down through the roof of the cave.

But what was odd to Calintz, was that the water coming from the roof was brown and putrid, but as if by magic, it became clear by the time it reached the floor and flowed into the channels. Crossing the room via the center walkway, Calintz approached the waterfall, inspecting it closely. Sure enough, half way down its length, the water became drastically clearer for no apparent reason. but Calintz had read the briefing enough times to have a suspicion. Plunging his right arm into the flow of icy cold water, Calintz groped blindly until his hand grasped something hard and smooth. taking a firm grip, Calintz pulled it free to find himself holding a spectacular blue gem identical to the one he had found on his previous mission, except that it was a pure blue color. Almost instantly, the putrid water flowed along, unchecked by the purifying properties of the crystal and filled the channels, no doubt supplying water to the entire cave. A pity, but now his mission was almost complete. All that was left was for him to escape this place in one piece without leaving any traces that could lead back to the Syndicate. Tucking the crystal securely into one of his pockets, Calintz turned and ran back the way he had come. once the remaining ninja's in the cave noticed the change in water quality, they would be coming straight to that room to investigate. He didn't want to be here when that happened.

Calintz raced back through corridors the way he had come, he moved so quickly that he almost ran headlong into the remaining guards that were on their way to investigate. Throwing himself into a slight alcove in the tunnel wall, Calintz lay perfectly still as 6 confused, angry guards thundered past. once he was positive they were all gone and no more were coming through, calintz crawled back out from his hiding place and quickly placed every exploding tag he had in his possession in various positions throughout the tunnel.

Earlier he had noted that it made a prefect checkpoint and with a cave in here, it could take them days to get out. It took him no more than a minute to place all 16 tags before he turned once again and continued his high speed get away. once he was a safe distance from the tunnel, Calintz made the hand seal for ignition and was rewarded by a muffled boom shortly before the entire cave began to shake as the tunnel caved in from all sides.

Shortly thereafter, he passed the bodies of the guards he had killed in the main antechamber, who would now not be discovered until their companions could free themselves. No doubt by then they would decomposing and the thought made Calintz cringe. But now his priority was to leave the rain territory quickly and without further incident.

After finally reaching the entrance, Calintz dragged his trench coat out of the crevasse where he had left it and put it on before venturing out into the rain once more. Within seconds he seemed to meld in with the wet landscape and disappear as he began the miserable trek home. In his pockets he now had both the red and blue crystals and with no current mission to attend to, he would be returning to HQ

Mission End- Success