A Stroll Through a Dangerous Place

Wandering around the Black Market might not have been the wisest of decisions, but Taishi honestly didn’t care. He had things to do and people to see, and couldn’t be bothered with anything at the moment. There was supposed to be a guy around here that could sell some fabricated identities, ones that would allow them to slip into the village without concern. Still, while they had a fairly good idea of where they might find him (or at least Ryal had), Taishi was none the wiser on this man’s location here. Lifting up his head, he would peruse various “merchants” selling their wares, likely all stolen if he had to guess. But such was the life of a criminal shinobi, and he didn’t mind at all. These folks were making a living off of their wits, guile, and they did as they pleased. The ultimate freedom, not shackled to some sad villages ideals or laws.
 
You see something you desire and you take it with nothing but the strength of your sword arm and maybe a dash of luck. This was nature at its finest and most pure. This was survival of the fittest, so to speak. Taishi was still just a small fish in this pond, but growth was imminent. It wouldn’t be long before he attempted to become a much larger fish, and moved to a much larger body of water.
 
But that was all in the future, and this is the here and now.
 
The man would find what looked like a run down pawn shop of sorts, and decided to look around inside to see if there was anything worth buying. He would stumble across a section with various books, though most of them weren’t particularly noteworthy. Yet one did catch his eye, “The Fundamental Truths of Chakra”. He figured if anything it would help him get a grasp of all this Ninjutsu crap, so he picked it up, leaned over to the wall and began reading through, though he kept an eye on his surroundings. He was in criminal turf, and he had no reason to be lax.
 
Taishi had finally figured out how to do the body flicker technique. It took him long enough, but this whole “chakra” and “ninjutsu” thing was all really new to him. It was a huge difference than just slitting a guys throat, or cracking a few skulls. It required some sort of melding between ones physical energy and ones “spirit energy”. What exactly the hell is spirit energy? Physical energy was at least something tangible, something he could wrap his mind around and figure out. But spirit energy? Humph. Ninjutsu was honestly rather frustrating, though he never really seemed to have much issue when it came to the manipulation of Earth. Doton or some shit is what they called it, though he had no clue why. So there were a total of five basic elemental chakra natures, not to mention Yin and Yang which he thinks the book said are the ratios of “Spirit” and “Physical” energies. Who comes up with this shit? Taishi just keeps on flipping through, wondering if there were any techniques or such held within.
 
“Hey you! Put that book down unless you plan to buy it!” The wrinkly old man behind the counter would spout, preferring the grey man’s patronage instead of just being a window shopper. Honestly, Taishi considered hassling the man and maybe even breaking a few things, but there was something about this day that kept him calm. Hmm, strange.
“Whatever, old man. I’m putting the damn thing down. Calm down before you give yourself a god damn heart attack.” He would say, looking the man straight in the face as he dropped it on the pile of books without any concern for its well being. Of course, Taishi was looking to also add a few items to his arsenal.
 
“Hey old man, you got any weapons in this establishment of yours.” He didn’t have high hopes, but even criminals needed quick cash at times, and who knows what they might have brought in here to pawn.
 
“No, and you can leave! I don’t want your kind in here!” He would nearly shout, waving his wooden cane overhead as he frantically shook his shriveled, old fist at Taishi.
 
My kind? Taishi wondered what he meant by it, but the man honestly didn’t care that much. He would shrug and walk just outside, resting against the wall of the building. This must be a legitimate business. Strange to find one among all the criminal fronts all around it. Taishi would then spot a couple of what looked to be street thugs entering into the pawn shop. At first, the brute considered helping the old man. But then again, it wasn’t his business and he honestly didn’t care all that much. The old man decided to set up shop here, and had to have known the risks involved.
 
Taishi walked away, hearing the sounds of things being broken as he left. It was almost a shame, really. Maybe the old man, should he survive the whole ordeal will hopefully learn his lesson and get the hell out of this place. An old man that has trouble defending himself like that is ripe pickings for those that want to earn some easy cash shaking him down. Its survival of the fittest out here, and the old and injured are the first prey to be taken down.
 

 So where in this town was he going to find some weapons? Taishi didn’t know the criminal element in this area, and so he likely wouldn’t have the needed passcodes, phrases, contacts and such to see the good stuff typically kept from the public eyes. This was starting to become more and more of a hassle. He just wanted to buy some weapons and false documents. How hard could it really be to get access to that stuff? Hmph. Obviously harder than one would think, as it is really starting to grate him as he ponders about it and looked around. There were some areas that he could expect to have a criminal element to them. He wasn’t completely oblivious to everything, but after thinking it through he figured that it might be best just to return to Ryal in hopes that his partner had everything set up and ready to go. They had to get this show on the road before they lost their window of opportunity.

---Exit--- 

WC: 1082

Claims: 
5 Stats
1082 words towards Earth Release: Earth Wall (with the WC here and the Meijin 3rd Stone discount this brings it past the 2600 wc needed)

Approved.