The First Rule [P]

Kosuke was sitting in his bed looking at the ceiling as the fan slowly spun. It was just a totally lazy day where he had no plans and no responsibilities. This was a rare occasion for him, as usually his Father had him training or running small time missions or something of the sort, but today he was actually free to do whatever it is he wanted to do. Sitting there, thinking of what that was, he decided he would be using today to explore the village more than he had gotten to in the past. He was something of a recluse, having stayed mostly to himself since he was adopted by the Daimyo. He had attended the academy classes he was required to take to graduate, and then was given a small allowance due to his display of promise. He was then assigned to his Father's guard detail and that was it. Stretching and then slowly rolling from the bed, his feet would hit the floor with a soft thud. He lived on his own, in an apartment paid for in part by his Father, and then the rest from his missions. He was able to live in the Shinobi district which lie closer to the center of the village than the civilian district or the market district.

Today, he would be travelling to an area he had only seen once, the Slums district. He had never been there personally, but he would be changing that today. Most people said that it was no place to be, full of crime, drugs and thugs. It was a place that the lowest in the village ended up when they couldn't fit into the normal areas. He just wanted to see the rest of the village he adored so much, well, the dark side anyways. Opening his door and stepping out into the brisk morning air, he would close and then lock the door behind him. Living with ninja made one always keep their stuff on a tight leash. Walking down the road, he would take note that most of the shops were already open, as it was late morning now, he had already eaten breakfast so he wouldn't need to be stopping any time soon. Making his way through the village proper on his way to the outskirts, he noticed several shinobi flittering across the rooftops. Some genin on missions across the village, and some mere blurs to him, obviously higher ranked ninja on their daily routines. He wanted one day to be able to protect the village with all his might, against any foe that may rear its head against his beloved home. He would do all he could to protect his home.

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As he walked, he finally entered into the outskirts of the village. The area was so obviously different to the atmosphere that he had grown used to. The area was somewhat run down and there were shady looking people all around him. Children, dirty and ragged ran around the streets and ragged people sat against buildings and all in all, it was like a totally different village. He kept a neutral expression on his face as he walked through it though, clearly some areas of the village received more care than others. It was as he walked that he noticed three men seemed to be following him rather closely. One of them stepped forwards once he turned into a dead end. "Hey kid, if you don't wanna get hurt, hand over that silver necklace you have there." The ruffian then cracked his knuckles, obviously intending to do Kosuke some harm. Kosuke flexed slightly, causing the ultra-thin razor-sharp threads he had in the area to converge around the men, killing them. He wouldn't stand for such filth threatening him. It was then that he placed a hand on the scroll in his pocket detailing his current mission. His task was simple, but the first of its kind that he would be undertaking, infiltrate the illegal fighting ring, kill its leaders and shut it down. This would be pretty easy, considering he was already in, technically. He would prepare himself, making sure that his weapons were in the area for quick access. He would then head to the location he was instructed to find. Upon arriving to the address, he found a rather run down building with a metal door. Knocking, he would hear a voice on the other side, "What is life's greatest illusion?" He would then answer with the passphrase, "Innocence." The door would then slide open and he would be ushered inside, down some stairs and into a small side room where he found a man with a goatee waiting for him. "Ah, i'm glad you could make it. Let's get some ryo! Okay?" Great. The man sat down and pointed to a bench nearby, Kosuke sat with him. "Alright kid, there are just a few rules to go through before we get started. Firstly, no weapons allowed. Secondly, if you know any of those damned ninja magic spells, leave them out of this too. We want a good fight, and fair, or as fair as you can get away with. Go for the kill, kid. You can bet your opponents will be doing the same." Kosuke would nod and the man would lead him to a table where he was measured, weighed and asked his age. Given he was rather small and only eighteen, the man put him into the Bronze league. He didn't really have any choice, so he simply accepted it. Looks like it was time to get going with the first fight so that he could figure out the leader's location.

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He was then handed a pair of white pants and some wrap for his knuckles. After changing, he was led down some more stairs to a large room with a cage in the middle. It was clear that this would be where he would be fighting in just a moment. He could see that there was already someone in the cage, it was a thin man with a few bruises, but all in all, he looked to be in tremendous shape. As Kosuke entered the cage, the man bounced on the balls of his feet and cracked the bones in his neck in preparation. This would be an interesting battle to be sure. Entering the cage, he would enter his stance and would then prepare for his new enemy to attack. The man seemed to favor speed over power, but was obviously beginning to feel fatigue from his last match. The fighter rushed Kosuke throwing a rather sloppy haymaker right towards his face. Kosuke ducked it kindof lazily before delivering two quick jabs, one to the mans sternum and the other to the inside of his elbow. He then ducked to the side, tripping the man who was still following through with his motion. With a final movement, he would chop the man on the back of the neck, neutralizing him with minimal effort. All in all, the crowd was totally silent for a period of time before letting loose in a myriad of cheers, applause and other such sounds. It was then announced that he would be moving on to the next round. After a few seconds of waiting, a rather massive man approached the ring. He stood at least three feet taller than Kosuke, and looked to be mostly muscle hidden behind a few layers of thick fat. Looking up to the man, Kosuke would crack his neck. It looked like he would be a bit of a harder opponent, but he also looked slow, but powerful. The man snorted like an animal as he stomped into the ring, glaring down at Kosuke with flared nostrils and an angry look in his eye. The man then turned and displayed himself for the crowd, slamming his fist across his chest. Then the bell rang and he turned around delivering a powerful and deceptively fast punch into Kosuke's chest. Kosuke, for his part, would latch onto the fist with both hands, his hands barely covering the meaty appendage. He would then plant his feet and spin his body to the inside, drawing the arm over his shoulder. He would then wrap his leg inside and behind his opponents leg, quickly putting his knee into the back of his opponents knee.

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Using this leverage, he would hip throw his opponent over his shoulder and slam them onto the ground. He would then drop his knee into the mans throat, cutting off his ability to breathe before slamming his fist into the mans temple, knocking him unconscious. The medics rushed in and moved to take the man out of the ring, it took four of them to move him, but they finally took him off the ring. Kosuke looked around at the crowd, finding that some of them were growing in support for him. He then noticed a single man sitting at the highest balcony, whispering to a guard who then walked out of sight. After a few moments, the announcer came out to say that a special challenger has been found, who would give the young rookie fighter a run for his money. He would focus in and prepare his strategy. Then, a man approached and entered the ring, he was tall with silver hair. He had an Iwagakure headband hung around his neck, it looked worn and old. It was clear that he was a retired shinobi. Of what rank and what skill level, it was impossible to know, but he was ready. Cracking his neck, he would prepare himself. The other man settled into a deep stance, low to the ground with a wide spread of his arms. Kosuke prepared himself for the fight of his life. Getting into his own stance, tighter this time as he was actually fighting someone with training. One hand, palm facing forwards to his opponent and the other hand forwards with the palm facing down, parallel with the ground. This would be the fight of the night, a fight between two skilled shinobi, two people trained, They both waited for an unseen signal. It was deadly silent in the arena, not a single sound was heard. Then, both shinobi vanished from sight of the spectators only to appear in the center, arms crossed, mid attack. The arena erupted in jeers and applause as the two shinobi entered into a terrifying dance of taijutsu. The man was powerful, that was to be sure. He was able to parry almost all of Kosuke's attacks to the point he couldn't land a powerful blow. At the same time, Kosuke couldn't gain any ground as he was also having to focus on dodging, blocking and parrying his opponents attacks. It was obvious he would have to do something to put himself into an advantageous position in this battle if he was to come out on top. Deciding on a rather risky move, he purposely let an attack through his guard, allowing it to strike him, hard.

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Grabbing the man on his outstretched arm, he would move before the man could react. Spinning into the air, he would pull the man off balance as he would use his small size and obvious speed and flexibility advantage to wrap his legs around the mans arm. Twisting further, he managed to break the mans arm, causing him to let out a shout of pain. Keeping his momentum going, he would then break it further, the mans bone now sticking out, he would kick his arm in such a way that the bone would then be lodged in the mans throat. He was now lying dead in the middle of the ring as Kosuke caught his breath. The crowd was absolutely rioting. It was obvious that this was the greatest match of the night. And due to this, he found two guards leading him away from the ring, towards the balcony. One he arrived, he saw a rather portly man sitting in a large chair overlooking the arena as another fight went on. The man seemed to have an intimidating air around him and several guards standing around the place, seeming to be minding their business but he could tell they had their eyes on him. He knew that the moment he made any sudden moves or even looked like he might be planning something suspicious, they would pounce. And while he hadn't been allowed to carry any weapons with him, they most certainly were armed to the teeth. Now, he wasn't usually one to go around starting trouble, but his mission was pretty cut and dry, kill the ringleader, which was the man right in front of him. He would accomplish this goal no matter what the personal cost to himself. He knew the man was well known in these areas for his cruelty and his control over the base level police on the civilian side of things, as Shinobi hardly ever bothered enforcing rules in a district this far out in the slums. While he had come from a place much like this as a child, he hardly held any special love for it. He was mostly just glad that he was able to make it out in the first place. Watching closely the guards, he would approach his target when the man beckoned him to come closer. It looked like the time to strike was drawing nigh, and he would be capitalizing on any moment he could get to kill the man. His only issue, being that he would then need to find some method to escape with his life.

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Approaching the man slowly he would stop several feet when a guard stepped in front of him slightly to block his path. The man he was here for would then stand and walk over to Kosuke. He was short and fat. Shorter than even Kosuke who wasn't on the taller end of things and he had a foul odor about him. It was almost like he went out and bought an expensive foreign cologne as though it would mask the hideousness of both his face and his personality. The man spoke with a voice that sounded as oily as the man himself, "You did pretty good out there. You a Shinobi or somethin'?" Kosuke knew better than to answer that honestly, not if he wanted to gain some modicum of trust from the man, or at the very least some amount of comfort. Because he found that usually when a person gets comfortable around him, then it becomes all the easier to kill them. "No, sir. I am just a fighter, born and raised on the streets." He spoke with something of an accent that he had picked up from listening to the people around him while he was fighting. It was clearly the common accent for the area and would no doubt be useful to have picked up. The man was somewhat suspicious of Kosuke but in the end he simple chuckled and asked, "Well, do you want to make some more money? I have one more champion that you haven't fought. It's my guard here, Bruno." He would motion to the large man that had stepped between them when Kosuke first approached. "He hasn't lost a fight and he used to be a ninja. He should prove to be more than a match for gutter trash like yourself, even if you have some fighting ability." Kosuke had no intention of getting back in the ring, not when he was so close to his target and the man was practically begging to be killed every time he opened his filthy mouth. He had the man within his grasp now, he just had to make up a plan, and then execute it. There were four guards in the area and such, he would have to deal with them, and then the other two that were outside of the door to the balcony that would no doubt hear the commotion. Then there was the muscle bound 'Champion'. All in all, it was kind of more than he wanted to deal with, at least, head-on. He would have to play this extremely smart and follow his gut instinct for this one.

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Cracking his neck, he would lunge his right hand behind him, creating two metal spikes that would fly through the chests of the guards that were behind him, before those spikes turned into liquid metal and rushed back to his aid, blocking a strike from the hulking man that was already next to him. With the man stunned from the surprising sturdiness of his 'liquid' metal, Kosuke would form it back into spikes and kill the other two of the four guards. He would then coat his fists in stone along with allowing his skin to turn a black color as he absorbed some earth chakra into his skin, muscles and bones. This made them extremely hard, allowing him to break three of the mans ribs with his first punch, shatter his jaw with the second and then slam him to the ground with an arm hammer. The fat man was now cowering behind his chair as he had nowhere else to run. That is when he thought he was saved. The door burst open and the other two guards came rushing in but were quickly dispatched in a gruesome fashion by semi-invisible wires that had appeared, glinting in the dimly lit room. Dismissing all of his active jutsu, Kosuke would then approach the man, slowly, the way a predator approached their prey just before they pounce. The man was quivering with fear, on the verge of tears. His eyes watering as he bargained with everything he had for Kosuke to spare his life. Kosuke finally got to the man, lifted him up to eye level and whispered, "Tell me, do you fear death?" Before the man could answer, he found his head rolling across the floor. Dropping the now headless body, Kosuke would make his way out of the building and onto the street. It was time for him to head home after another job well done. While it was his first B-rank mission, he made sure that his success rating stayed right where it was. He just wanted to make his father proud and he would do anything necessary to achieve that goal, including kill.

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