[Hyūga Shigure]

The genins of Team 2 were chosen to undertake a C-Rank mission consisting of slaying a monstrous Boar that was living inside a cave underneath a mountain, thus causing some severe rockslides on the road that led to the same mountain village Shigure went while on a milk delivery mission. ”Oh, that makes a hell lot of sense! It was very weird there were so many rockslides on that mountain path.” and the sudden realization made him chuckle a bit; if the orders were reverse and he had been tasked with slaying the beast first, than the other mission would have been far easier. ”Or there wouldn’t be a mission at all, because the deliveryman wouldn’t get hurt.” he remembered, chuckling a bit.

In any case, he was supposed to meet his teammate at the southern exit of the Hidden Leaf Village. The Hyuuga prepared some rations, gathered his ninja tools and headed straight towards the meeting point. His heart was beating fast because this was a far more serious and dangerous mission than before. It involved real combat and risks and, just like he told Ryuunosuke and their sensei, he wasn’t willing to take any chances, meaning they had to succeed in this mission with minor to no injuries. ”I will do my best!” he thought to himself, with a fiery determination filling his heart.

Yuuta Ryuunosuke

[Yuuta Ryuunosuke]

Ryuunosuke would be found waiting at the southern exit of the village; he’d arrived in position and had been waiting for roughly ten minutes by the time his teammate showed up. He didn’t admonish his teammate, and merely greeted him with a silent and stiff nod of the neck. He had prepared his things the night before, simply waking up, washing himself, and getting dressed before heading to the meeting place in order to leave and head out on the errand that they had been given. He wasn’t worried, it wasn’t as if he was some weakling that a boar would be able to bring down, regardless of size and strength, he’d still be able to find a way to bring it down, and with the Hyuuga’s help that hopefully wouldn’t prove much of an issue; as the heir to the leadership of his clan he had to at least be somewhat competent.

"Greetings, Shigure, I hope you’re ready for the road.” The youth said, his face as passive as ever, his body language neutral, and his weapons ready for the off. He got to his feet, dusting himself down before heading towards the gate, though he did pause to wait for the other lad to catch up and keep up. "So, how long is the journey to this place we have to go to again?” He asked.

[Hyūga Shigure]

As he approached the southern exit of the village he could already see Ryuunosuke there, waiting for him. Shigure was on time, which meant that his teammate arrived earlier and that already said something about him: he was probably very punctual and Shigure should make sure not to leave him waiting; it was very rude to be late to one’s duties and he didn’t like to feel irresponsible at all. Ryuunosuke also seemed quite chill, as if he wasn’t concerned in the slightest with the mission and, while Shigure wasn’t really concerned with it either, he was anxious for some actual combat; it had been a very long time and the last time he fought for real, people died and he would make sure it wouldn’t happen again.

The blond boy greeted him and he waved at him in turn, smiling friendly. ”Yo, Ryuunosuke. I am. Hope you are too!” his tone was also very friendly and he bowed a bit when he got close enough. He couldn’t really read Ryuunosuke now as he seemed very neutral, but it didn’t matter for now. When he asked how long it was for the place, Shigure touched his chin for a moment in a thoughtful expression. ”Last time I was pulling a heavy cart and it took me two and a half hours. I guess we can make it there in thirty to forty minutes in a reasonable pace that won’t get us tired. I’m so great stamina wise.” he felt it was important to inform that to Ryuunosuke before they left.

[Hyūga Shigure]

The two Genin continued to head towards the village until they reached the mountain road close to the village, a good thirty minutes after they departed. The trip so far had been peaceful, but they knew it wasn’t going to last. Shigure paused for a bit and nodded to his companion. ”We are fairly close now, so I will activate my Byakugan.” he said as he frowned his brows, making the veins pop out on the sides of his face, as the world around him expanded incredibly.

However, as soon as his sight reached beyond the natural blockages of the environment, he noticed that there were many boulders already rolling down the mountain and heading their way. His eyes widened as he realised they had very little time to react to this terrible situation. ”Crapbaskets!” he thought to himself, gulping briefly.

”Careful! Rocks incoming in a couple seconds!!” he shouted to warn his companion, but it was almost too late. The blond boy jumped to one direction, and Shigure, who used some of his reaction time to make sure his friend knew where the rocks were coming from had less time to physically react, and leaped backwards, coming deadly close to the cliff. ”I will break them with my Rotation!” decided the young Hyuuga as he prepared to spin as fast as he could, using the absolute defence of the clan.

But things didn’t quite go as planned. As he was about to start rotating, one of the rocks collided heavily on the ground near him, and before it could roll towards the boy, the impact broke the side of the road where Shigure was standing, and the boy lost his footing. The next moment he was already falling from the cliff, with a desperate look on his face as he screamed. ”AAAAHHHHHHH!!”color]

[Hyūga Shigure]

Shigure was too far from the side of the cliff to be able to use it to stop his fall. The other rocks cut his companion off from his reach, so he was on his own. With his Byakugan he could see that there was a deep river at the bottom of the cliff, and that there were spots where he could fall without the risk of hitting a rock or something. ”If I can’t stop myself from falling, I will at least try to hit the water on a safe spot...” he thought to himself as he maneuvered his body midair, now facing the water below.

Adjusting his body, he held his arms close to his chest, put his legs together and aimed his feet at the water, to break the impact. It worked as much as it could, and although he felt some pain on his feet and legs, he was now submerged, nearly touching the bottom. The boy quickly started swimming upwards with caution, to avoid the falling rocks, and thanks to his constant focus on his nearly 360 degrees view, he managed to avoid further damage.

As he emerged, he took a deep breath and sighed with relief. ”That was too close… I need to be more careful…” he said as he grimaced a bit; should he had activated his doujutsu a little earlier, they wouldn’t have been caught off guard like this.

[Hyūga Shigure]

Shigure quickly swimmed to the shore and took a moment to sit. He took off his hoodie and squeezed it for a little while to get rid of all the water, and, since he knew for sure he was alone in at least a 650 metres radius, he did the same with his shorts, leaving them out in the sun for a bit to dry a little more. The boy just on his underwear sat down by the grass while he waited a bit for his clothing to dry, while snacking on whatever was left of his packed onigiri; the water made the rice loose and too drenched to be tasty, and he sighed in disappointment.

”I can’t wait too long… I don’t know where Ryunnosuke-kun is, and since I have now confirmed that the rock slides are continuing, I need to stop that creature…” he said to himself. Shigure was feeling a bit conflicted. On one hand, he was stressed with the initial failure and the fact that the prospect of finishing the mission by himself felt overwhelming, on the other hand he knew this mission was not something especially dangerous or complex, which just served to remind him that he was still a beginner, far from being considered a proper Shinobi.

It was not a pleasant feeling.

[Hyūga Shigure]

A few minutes after he finished eating his wet onigiri, his clothing - while still a bit damp - was good enough to be worn again, so he dressed up. Taking a deep breath, he was ready to resume his mission and once again activated his doujutsu. The boy started walking down the path of the river, following what would parallel the path to the mountain village at the trail above the cliff, and after a few minutes, he noticed in the distance a small crack in the cliff.

Intrigued by it, the Genin approached it and noticed it was a small crack leading inside a cave. There was likely more than one entrance as there was a gentle stream coming out of it, and he noticed that he was still small enough to squeeze himself through the crack.”We already know he is likely to be in a cave inside the mountain… Maybe this is it… It is too big for me to see the end of it, so it makes sense… I just need to keep on looking!” he thought to himself, nodding as he psyched himself up. ”I can do this! I have to!”.

With that resolution, the Genin entered the cave and started exploring it, with the confidence his target would be somewhere inside of it.

[Hyūga Shigure]

With every step he took into the cave, Shigure focused all his attention to his sight, trying to guide himself through the place to what it seemed to be the best path, as well as constantly scan for potential enemies or traps; he really didn’t need another embarrassing moment just like the one before he fell down the cliff, losing his footing for failing to notice the frail structure of the place he leaped on. That was a mistake that a Hyuuga shouldn’t commit, and he was well aware of that.

He didn’t want to let that frustration eat him out, but he already had some lingering guilt for the year he took off for failing to deal with the pain of loss. He wanted to be a better Shinobi and someone people could rely on, and to become this person, Shigure seriously needed to do better. And although he had been training harder, he was still acting too careless and being too soft. To go beyond your own limits, you need to work your absolute hardest.

The cavern was huge, and even with the range of his Byakugan, it was hard to tell where he had to go, so he was looking for different signs, such as any movement indicating a wind stream, or humid walls indicating that maybe there was a water source nearby, but so far he found nothing.

[Hyūga Shigure]

After a good fifteen minutes of exploring, he finally found what he was looking for: one of the paths in the cavern showed walls with particles of water, something he had to force his Byakuan to actually see, and felt a sense of accomplishment and pride when his doujutsu stepped up for the task, showing that he was indeed getting better with it.

Not only with his doujutsu, but his analytical skills as well. The reasoning behind the search for humidity and water was that, if the creature was indeed living beneath the mountain, in these caves, it needed some source of water nearby, so maybe there was a stream cutting through the cavern, or maybe even an underground lake.

A small smirk took over his expression as he hastened his pace towards the humid path. If only he had a way to communicate with Ryuunosuke, he might actually get the other Genin to come down and help him take down the beast, but he didn’t have a radio or anything. Worst come to worst, he would likely have to face the creature by himself, and that thought made his heart race a bit faster, and a drop of cold sweat to run down his temple.

[Hyūga Shigure]

As he continued down the path, he saw in the distance an underground lake, and that confirmed his theory. Now, it was very likely that the creature had a nest or something near the area. He still needed to approach a bit more to be able to further assess the situation, as the lake was quite large. ”Not bad, Shigure! Maybe you are actually getting better hehehe!” he spoke to himself, but upon noticing the echo from his voice, he decided it would be better to keep his thoughts inside his head; he didn’t need the creature to be alerted of his presence.

Once he was a little closer, he noticed many signs of damage to the rocky walls around the lake. It looked like something was attacking the walls with plenty of force, and that explained why there were so many rockslides. From his Byakugan, he could see that the lake was beneath the mountain, making the rocks a constant danger to the people using the road around it to reach the village. ”It all makes sense now…” he thought to himself. Shigure was feeling slightly shaky, as the prospect of fighting a creature with so much raw strength was a bit intimidating. He had confidence in his Gentle Fist and the power of the Hyuuga clan, but still, this was the first time in a long time that he would be facing a battle on his own.

[Hyūga Shigure]

Shigure was now being careful on remaining as silent and stealthy as possible. He had found the creature and it was quite the intimidating beast, an albino boar, bigger than a grizzly bear, with large and threatening tusks, one of which was broken in half, but still looking quite sharp. It had a terrible scar on its forehead, which made sense considering the damage to the rocky walls, meaning the beast was charging against it furiously. Its ribs seemed to have grown outside of its skin, but that wasn’t a fresh wound, it seemed like it had been like that for a while.

The creature had a laboured breath and by looking inside of its body, Shigure saw signs of infection. He couldn’t know for sure, as he wasn’t really a med-nin, but he knew enough to realise that it must have been triggering the anger episodes. He could also assess that the creature was old, and there was not really much point in trying to heal it; it was bound to die in the near future, but before that it still could cause plenty of damage to the village and the people travelling to and from it

He had to take it down, it was his duty as a Shinobi.

[Hyūga Shigure]

There was an easy way to take him down: Shigure could throw an explosive kunai on the rocks above its head and let part of the cave collapse on top of the creature. From the density and weight of the rock he managed to assess, it should be enough, but there was a problem with that. ”I can’t predict exactly how the chain reaction will be… I may cause a terrible slide on the village or the road, or even injure Ryuunnosuke… I don’t know where he is, he might even be in a different path underground nearby which might get affected…” he thought to himself, discarding that possibility.

Ultimately, he would have to physically engage the creature. Maybe he could try a silent assassination by slithing the creature’s throat with a kunai before it woke up, sounded like the fastest and most merciful way.

As he silently approached the creature, he slowly grabbed a kunai from his leg holster and readied it with a reverse grip. He was breathing slowly and as silently as possible, but as he got a couple feet away from the beast, he noticed something bad happening: a drop of water fell from the ceiling above the creature and was falling towards its nose.

”Crap…” he thought.

[Hyūga Shigure]

Thanks to his Byakugan and his intense training in being constantly aware of the immense surroundings his doujutsu allowed him to see, seeing the water gave him time to prepare for the creature’s reaction. As the water hit its nose, the creature jumped up, being immediately reminded of its constant pain and it screeched in fury, locking his eyes on the boy in front of it.

Stomping its hoofs on the ground twice, the creature braced itself and charged against the boy.
Shigure quickly leaped backwards, flipped the kunai on his hand and threw it at the creature’s left eye, hitting it right on the spot and making it flinch for a second. However, the creature was already far too familiar with being injured that the kunai that destroyed its eyes felt like no more than a nuisance, further angering the beast.

”Not the reaction I expected…” the boy gulped as he saw the creature getting closer. Getting a grip on himself and keeping the fear at bay, the boy expelled chakra from his tenketsus and spun his body violently, creating a blue defensive chakra sphere all around his body. ”Eight Trigrams: Palm Rotation!!!” he shouted as he used the Hyuuga’s defensive technique.

Beast and Shinobi clashed in a contest of might.

[Hyūga Shigure]

Despite the beast’s immense strength, the secret technique of the Hyuuga clan was too strong, and the constant rotation managed to break the healthy tusk of the boar monster, making it flinch in pain and take a few steps back as it cried loudly. Its voice was so strong that it reverberated the rocky walls of the cave. As Shigure stared at the creature, he focused his Byakygan to try and read its brain activity, hoping to be able to anticipate its next action, but the brain was too different and he couldn’t really recognize its impulses, so that path of action was quickly discarded.

”I can’t waste any time…” knowing that the creature would soon acclimate to the pain, he decided to take action. Shigure dashed forward with his palm ready and as he got close to the creature, the monster glared at the boy and stomped its hoofs on the ground again, showing that it was getting ready to attack as well.

Shigure slid beneath the creature, aiming to go for its heart, but the boar had other plans and aimed to used his weight to crush the boy, which would’ve been successful if the boy wasn’t as swift as he was, quickly rolling to the side and escaping with nothing but a deep scratch to his chest. It was bleeding, but that was better than dying.

The battle wasn’t over yet.

[Hyūga Shigure]

Shigure rolled to the creature’s blind side and that bought him enough time to attack without opening himself to a counter. His Byakugan did a good job finding the creature’s kidney. ”Shoutei!” he shouted as he hit the creature with the palm strike, releasing his chakra inside the creature’s body and causing some serious damage to its kidney. The creature screeched in pain, but the boy was not done.

His other hand quickly placed a couple explosive tags on the Boar, and once they were secured there, he tried to leap backwards, but the boar was oddly agile, and slammed the side of its body on the boy, sending him flying away. Shigure hit the rocky walls and spit some blood due to the impact, feeling like his bones were on the verge of cracking from the attack. ”Not good… I need to finish him up fast!” he thought to himself as he focused the chakra on his feet to backflip further away from the creature’s range.

The boar got ready to attack again despite its pain, but Shigure used the hand seal necessary to activate the explosive tags, and they were enough to put an end to the creature’s misery, leaving a large hole on its side.

With the Byakugan, the young Hyuuga confirmed that the creature had indeed died. The boy took a deep breath and could feel the intense pain in his body. If he was with Ryuunnosuke, this would’ve been way easier, but alone… He almost didn’t make it, and most certainly wouldn’t if it wasn’t for his proficiency with his doujutsu.

Shigure took a very deep breath and started walking away from the cave, so he could inform the villagers that their problem was solved, and the mission concluded.