Hisateru sits back on his sofa, sighing while looking at the Shohi set.
Game over. The streak continues.
"Well played," Danzo said. "You've gotten a lot better. Not long now. Soon you'll be able to beat me."
"Hooray," Hisateru responds sarcastically, raising his fist into the air as his head lies back on the sofa.
Hisateru squeaks in pain as the feel of Danzo's cane reaching across the coffee table and smacking his knee lightly registers.
"Ouch," Hisasteru cries out loud, with his voice resounding throughout the apartment.
"You're a real pain, Gramps, you know that," he complains.
"And one day you will be grateful for it," Danzo responds calmly.
A few moments of silence pass before one of them speaks again.
"The Chunin examination will be commencing in less than two weeks here in the leaf," Danzo calmly said.
"Yeah, I know." Hisateru lazily nods. "No such fun for me though. I'm a 'rookie,'" he adds with a tone of frustration.
"There is no existing regulation that bars rookie Genin from competing in the exams. It simply isn't common practice in these times as a safety precaution. So don't make assumptions or lose hope," Danzo said.
Hisateru raises an eyebrow at these words: "Do you know something I—"
Hisateru has no chance to finish his sentence when a figure wearing a black cloak with a hood appears at the edge of the coffee table in a burst of smoke, kneeling on one knee.
"Lord Danzo," the man addresses in an empty yet polite voice with his head bowed.
He raises his head, revealing his porcelain mask. He looks at Hisateru for a moment, placing his hand on his chest and bowing his head slightly.
Hisateru nods in response before turning his attention back to Danzo.
The man reaches into his cloak and pulls out a brown envelope from his cloak, presenting it to Danzo. Hisateru watches as the old man rests his cane against the coffee table and takes the folder, opening it silently and reaching for its contents.
A good few silent moments pass before Danzo takes a few papers of the several that were contained in the envelope and slips them into his robe. He takes the remaining documents and files, places them back into the envelope, and slides it across the coffee table that separates the two sofas.
"At this moment this is your assignment," Danzo calmly said as the Hisateru takes out the contents of the envelope and lays them out on the coffee table.
"Your mission has been assigned. You are to infiltrate the Hidden Leaf Strict Correctional Facility and eliminate the former Leaf Chunin known as Mizuki. You have been provided with a means of infiltration. There is a Leaf Chunin, sixteen years of age, named Kenji Sato.
He's been arrested, convicted, and sentenced for several counts of armed robbery and assault in the countryside of the Land of Fire. He's currently being held in a holding facility in the village and is supposed to be transported to the Leaf Strict Correctional Facility in a few days.
However, an 'altercation' that will take place today in the holding cells will have him moved for safety reasons. Considering your closeness in terms of age as well as similar physical build, it shouldn't be too difficult to assume his identity.
Two newly promoted ANBU black op ninja have been tasked with transporting him to the facility. Taking into consideration the abilities of these ninja, an assault squad has been assembled, including yourself, that should be able to eliminate these two individuals without much trouble.
One of the members of this unit, as well as another you are to rendezvous with en route to the facility, will assist you in playing the role of prisoner in order to get in. Once inside, our contact inside the facility will ensure you make it out of your cell and are freed of any chakra suppressors.
From there it will be your responsibility to ensure you carry out the mission and escape the facility without detection or capture. Your instructions have been given. Are they clear? "Danzo questions.
Hisateru listens to this while reading the contents of the envelope. A detailed map of the Hidden Leaf Strict Correctional Facility and other details concerning the mission, such as rendezvous details and points with assignment participants. Four files rest on the coffee table. Two containing information on the two ANBU in question, the third containing information on the Kenji Sato in question, and the fourth being Mizuki's prisoner file, which, among other things, contains his cell location.
"Crystal," Hisateru responds after a few seconds of silence. Danzo reaches for his cane, grabbing it and standing up.
"It must be done before sunrise tomorrow," Danzo said as the tapping of his cane once again filled the room.
He gestures to the masked ninja, who, for the first time since arriving, stands up. Hisateru hears the two bursts that signal his guests' departure and sees the smoke only out of his peripheral vision, his eyes glued to a picture amongst the documents spread out on his coffee table.
A picture of a young male in his teens with brown matted hair and eyes of the same color. His eyes then move from this picture to another of an older male, though still young by general standards, with white shoulder-length hair and green eyes.
A few hours later.
The boy lands with a thud on the ground onto his back. His eyes widen in horror, but the scream he attempts to let out doesn't accompany this look, as a hand covers his mouth. He murmurs, his pleas for mercy incoherent, but can do nothing as a kunai descends on him in a horizontal slash, slicing his throat open. The kunai wielder rises to his feet and watches as the young male thrashes about on the floor for a few moments before finally his body goes limp and silent. He looks to his left to see two grown masked individuals lying still, not far apart from one another. One lying on his back with the setting sun shining on his skin, a sickly purple color, and another on his stomach, two swords through the upper back pinning his body to the ground.
The killer throws his kunai onto the ground, stabbing it into the ground and standing upright. He looks behind him as three other masked individuals meet his eyes, two of them clearly adults, the third having the killer's own height.
"Are any of you injured?" the tallest of the masked individuals questions. The shortest mask wearer shakes his head, and so does the second tallest. They all look ahead as the kunai-wielding killer reaches for his face, it being adorned by a mask of its own. Unlike all others on the scene, though, which are white and each bear an animal design of their own, this particular one is pitch black, bearing the design of a human skull.
Its wearer pulls it off, sparing one last look at his victim, who has a head of brown matted hair and eyes and is adorned in standard leaf Chunin attire, before walking off towards one of the many trees on either side of the dirt path the bloody scene has unfolded on.
"Clean up while I get changed. Then we rendezvous with Seal, and the real work begins," he said.
"Right, Hisateru," the shortest cloaked mask wearer responds.
The kunai wielder stops turning his head to look at the mask wearer in question, his brown eyes shining in the setting sunlight as the wind blows his dark spiky hair.
"We're on a mission. Don't call me that," he said before continuing to walk off.
"Of course. Apologies, Shadow," the mask wearer responds.
Hidden Leaf Strict Correctional Facility: Entrance
A drawbridge is raised behind three individuals after they've walked forwards off of it, a sea of molten lava stretching out on either side of them and the bright blinding light from two watchtowers on either side of a tall building before them shining down onto them.
Two of these individuals are wearing the standard attire of the ANBU black ops of the Leaf, complete with grey combat vests and animal design masks.
They walk on either side of the third individual, who is clearly a male in his teens, clad in the standard Chunin attire of the Leaf, missing only the headband. He has brown matted hair and eyes.
The three newly arrived individuals come to a stop as three men, all clad in standard Jonin attire, stand before them, one stepping forward and two standing back.
"Identification," he said.
One of the masked ninja pulls out a file from the inside of his grey combat vest and hands it to the guard Jonin. He opens it, wiping the sweat from his brow. He reads for a few moments, the only audible sound being the rumbling of the surrounding molten rock. He raises his head, laying his eyes on the newly arrived prisoner, looking him up and down and glancing back at the file in his hands. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a pen, scribbling away on the file before closing it. He turns his head and nods at his colleagues, who step forward walking towards the three males, before handing the file back to the masked ninja who had handed it to him.
"Kenji Sato. Welcome to your new home," the man said, turning and walking away as the other two Jonin grabbed either arm of Kenji, the masked individuals he'd arrived with turning and walking away.
Kenji hears the sound of the drawbridge being lowered behind him as he's led towards the towering building that houses the watchtowers. One of the blinding spotlights is still shining down on him and the guards, whilst the other shines on the masked ninja he'd arrived with.
A large steel door in the center of the front of the building is visible. A sealing array appears on it for a second before it disappears and the door opens, the three guards and prisoner walking in.