Some Minor Assistance

Missions:

Amikiri woke up and raised his arms above his head, stretching them. He let out a loud yawn, tired after working hard across the world. He had finally returned home to Hoshigakure after his time in Snow Country as well as Tea Country. While he wasn’t in his home in rural Haven Country, it certainly was nice to be able to have a sense of homeliness.

He got out of bed and threw on some clothes for the day. Even though spring was just kicking into gear, Haven country was still quite far north. The dark haired Hyuuga threw on a dark gray shirt, his usual black pants, and a green flannel. The colors didn’t match the best, but Amikiri had never been an expert in fashion. His clothes were certainly functional and that was what mattered.

Deciding not to spend too much time on breakfast, he would have oats today. He got a pot of water on the stove and let it boil. He would’ve preferred milk, but he was cutting costs right now. He had been reading through some catalogs and hearing stories about rare, exotic materials from other nations. It might possibly be worth seeing what he could do with that.

His milk was getting quite hot, so he dumped his oats in and started stirring it. For flavor, he decided to go with some salt and a pinch of brown sugar.

Once it was done cooking, he poured the oats into a bowl then walked out the door. While the oats were cooling, he figured it would be the perfect time to grab his mail. Not much, except for a notice for two missions to do. Relatively minor and it was just some standard work.

WC: 289

The Hyuuga walked back into his home and, now that his oats had sufficiently cooled, started to chow down. The flavor was quite bland, but it was what Amikiri could afford. After a few minutes of sitting in silence, eating, and observing the requirements for his job for the day, Amikiri set out to work. He decided that today’s work would be relatively easy and there was no urgent need for combat. The black haired Hyuuga took a small quantity of his ninja tools with him, but he didn’t bring his Great Spear. He was wearing his Nise, but it wasn’t an obstruction to his clothing in any way, so he didn’t mind.

He put his bowl in the sink and filled it with water. Oats were a pain in the ass to clean if they dried up, so this way, even though he didn’t clean the bowl now, it wouldn’t be too bad when he returned home.

The man headed out the door, on his way to his first job. This one was quite simple. He had to work at an information booth and help many people throughout Hoshigakure. It was simple enough and it paid okay. Amikiri noticed that people, especially his employers, had started appreciating his work more and more. He was making a lot more, if not double, what he made in the past.

The Hyuuga enjoyed the sights around him. As he gained more and more money working, he had to remind himself to avoid materialism and enjoy the simpler parts of life. The fresh air and the noise of the world around him.

WC: 269
TWC: 558/1000

It was important to keep himself grounded and focused on the world around him. He didn't want to forget the reasons why he was doing it. He made a mental note to head out to the country side to visit his family soon. He didn't like going too long without seeing them. The Hyuuga had spent his whole life under one roof with his siblings and his parents. It would also be nice to meet up with his mentor figure, Suko, again. The older man would likely be proud to see how far Amikiri had come.

Eventually, the black haired Hyuuga made his way to the information booth. It was near the palace gates. Contrasting the beautiful, sweeping stonework of the castle, the small wooden stand was very different. Since it was still relatively early in the spring and, due to Haven country's northern position, there wasn't that much foot traffic from visitors at this time of year. At the moment, it seemed like Amikiri would be working this job solo.

It didn't seem like it was that much work, so he decided now would be the perfect time to read. His book of choice was his recently purchased Jutsu Encyclopedia. He'd have to be careful reading it. Especially after what he'd hehard of Valen's attack, the opinions of Hoshigakure's citizenry on ninja was less than favorable. He decided to put the cover of the book down on the desk, so one would have to attempt to read upside to see what he was reading.

WC: 255
TWC: 813

The Hyuuga saw his first visitor approach. They stood approximately five feet four inches tall and seemed to be on the smaller side, in terms of weight. As they got closer, Amikiri was able to discern that they was actually a man. He dressed quite simply in a red shirt and blue jeans. He must have been native to this climate and temperature, because his style of dress was quite bare for this weather.

The man approached Amikiri and said, “Would you be able to point out the location of the nearest restaurant for me. I’m starving and haven’t eaten breakfast yet.”

The Hyuuga took a moment to ponder, before pulling out a map. Laying it on the counter in between the two of them, the Hyuuga marked with a red X where the two of them were. Explaining the directions while tracing his finger along the map, the dark haired Hyuuga managed to explain to the man where he could find a place to eat. The man thanked him, before heading off.

Soon enough, Amikiri would see his second visitor. A couple hours had passed already, showing how quiet the tourism section was at this time of year. This visitor was dressed in stark contrast to his last one. The man, though it was very hard to tell, in front of Amikiri was bundled in many layers, likely trying to protect himself from the temperature.

The man would ask, “Excuse me. Do you know where the nearest hotel is? Additionally, could you point me to the closest fabric or blanket store?”

WC: 262
TWC: 1075/1000

Amikiri internally chuckled a bit. Clearly this man was not native to this area, based on the clothing he wore. That assumption was also made more clear and true considering the man had asked for a location of a hotel room as well as where to buy some blankets.

Regardless of where the man came from though, Amikiri would still help him out. The black haired man had also once been new to this village, so it was only fair to help others the way others helped him.

Amikiri pulled another map out of a box. It took him a few seconds to figure out a hotel and store that would sell blankets that would be close to each other. Fortunately, the merchants of Hoshigakure recognized the need for cold weather clothing, gear, and goods, so they were well stocked and frequent around the village.

The Hyuuga explained the steps required of where to go and how to get there. The man thanked him, then promptly left. Amikiri wasn’t bothered by the man’s hasty exit because, after all, Amikiri was simply doing his job. It also didn’t help that the man was clearly, if not cold, trying to exit the cold.

After the man left, the Hyuuga got back to reading. The black haired man sat there for a couple more hours, before hearing the bells strike noon. That meant his shift here was done. Soon enough, after a couple of minutes, his replacement showed up. The two nodded a silent nod of respect to each other, before Amikiri went to his next job. Now, he had to help an elderly couple prepare a meal for a special dinner tonight.

The Hyuuga started his trek through the city, making his way towards the address provided. Twenty three, sixty four, Ambrose Row. It was in a pretty obscure part of the city, but fortunately, Amikiri had just been looking at maps the past few hours. It was always nice to get a refresher of the locations and routes in the city, as could be seen in a moment like this.

Eventually, the dark haired man made his way to the house in question. From the outside, it looked fairly average. The Hyuuga appreciated the beauty of the architecture, with the house’s roof having many beautiful, sweeping curves that gave it a great shape and flow.

He approached the door, which was stained a beautiful, deep, rich, dark brown. Amikiri knocked on the door, hoping someone would come to the door. And soon enough, an elderly man opened up the door.

WC: 429
TWC: 1504/1000

More Missions:

The Hyuuga said, "Hello sir. I was instructed to come here and help with the dinner preparations for the holiday."

The man on the other side of the door step said, "Good good, your help is greatly appreciated. I invited some friends over for the holiday and, well, I might have bitten off a bit more than I can chew."

The Hyuuga nodded and said, "Well, I'm happy to help out. My name is Amikiri Guhin and, if you don't mind me asking, what is your name?" The dark haired man stuck his hand out, wanting to shake the elderly man's hand.

The man grasped Amikiri's hand, shook it with a firm grip, and responded with, "My name is Jacob, but you can call me Jake."

Jacob stepped to the side and stuck his left hand in the direction of the interior of the house. Amikiri clearly understood this as an invitation, as well as a direction, to enter the house. Once the Hyuuga stepped inside, he was able to take a better look at the man. Jacob was a short, relatively skinny man. He was dressed in a simple pair of blue jeans and a black shirt. At first, the Hyuuga thought that the outfit was relatively inappropriate for a holiday, but after a moment of consideration, realized that the man likely planned on changing in to clothes that more closely matched the expected dress of a holiday. Speaking of the holiday, Amikiri realized he knew very little about what holiday he would be helping to prepare for. The Hyuuga had not been in the village of Hoshigakure for very long and, naturally, was not very accustomed to many of the traditions and practices of the village. Especially considering that he had been here for less than a year, Amikiri did not know many of the annual holidays. Te Hyuuga figured he could question the man later into the night. After that very brief tangent crossed through the head of the Hyuuga, he finished observing the man. The man wore a very comfortable looking pair of slippers and had his medium length, thin, gray hair tied up in a pony tail. The entrance room was, just like the exterior of the house, beautiful and nearly took the Hyuuga's breath away. The walls were made of the same dark wood as the exterior was and a beautiful dark red blanketed the floor. On the right side of the room, a set of stairs guarded by an intricate railing rose up to a higher floor. Two large entrances split off from the entrance room, going in to two separate rooms. The one on the left was a well furnished living room. The Hyuuga spied a couple couches and a few arm chairs in there, as well as a fireplace. Currently the fireplace was not being used, but the Hyuuga figured that as the day wore on, night started to fall, and the temperature dropped, the fireplace would would be filled with, quite appropriately, a fire. Fortunately, the living room area seemed to be quite well cleaned already, so the dark haired man figured he wouldn't have to do any work cleaning that area. The Hyuuga appreciated a man who kept his house clean. Cleanliness was a key part of living as an adult and it showed one's responsibility and discipline. The last room was straight ahead of the two of them. The room in front of them put a new definition to the word beautiful. A large slab of wood that was beautifully carved and stained to become a table top was supported by four elegantly carved legs. Each was carved in beautiful patterns, so intricate and fine that one could look at them for day on end and still be lost in their beauty. Atop the table was a green cloth that, while not being wide enough to fit the width of the table, was long enough so it hung off the ends slightly. The dark haired man was quickly able to discern that the purpose of this cloth was not to be a table cloth, but more so a decorative piece. The Hyuuga noticed that in the corner of the dining room was a door that led in to what he guessed was a kitchen. Jake said, "Well, let us get to work. I've got a couple of dishes to prepare for tonight's dinner, and I don't have all the ingredients ready. I'm going to need you to head down to the market and get me some things. Tonights main course will be pasta in a red sauce with sausage, a tad spicy, and sweet peppers. Additionally, we'll be having potatoes roasted and then pan fried in butter and garlic. Lastly, we'll be having, for the dessert, good old fashioned oatmeal raisin cookies." The old man pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Amikiri. "This should be everything. If something is missing on there, let me know. I'm going to start work on making sure the house is fully cleaned and the kitchen is ready."

The Hyuuga nodded and said, "Sounds good to me sir. I'll be back shortly." He grabbed a couple of cloth bags that were next to to the door, and as he exited, he heard Jacob call out to him.

"It's not sir, my name is Jacob."

The Hyuuga turned his head back and said, "Yes si- I mean Jacob." That was a close call there but the Hyuuga managed to save himself. He headed out the door, going towards one of the markets. Unfortunately the Hyuuga was not practiced enough in the locations of Hoshigakure to know if it was the closest one, but he figured, if he put a little bit of a pep in his step, the distance traveled would not make a difference. The Hyuuga had learned to be incredibly fast, faster than he had ever thought was possible, by training his bloodline and simply becoming, well, faster. Of course he had thrown in some plyometrics to increase his speed, jumping, and throwing abilities. However, regardless of his speed, he did not want to show it off at the moment. Hoshigakure was relatively hostile to those who practiced the shinobi arts. Even though Amikiri stayed pretty close to physical practices, his inhuman abilities and Hyuuga blood and Hyugua eyes still deemed him opposed to the will of whatever deity, or deities, the people of Hoshigakure rallied around. And it was for all of those reasons that the young man avoided showing off his full speed to those in the village. He would simply walk a little bit faster than normal, but still well within the realm of what a normal human was capable of. The dark haired man briskly walked through the village, making his way to his destination. Even though he had lived here for about four or five months, the Hyuuga was still amazed at the beauty of this town. The well cleaned and paved cobblestone roads were almost always filled by the bustle of people. Even on a relatively cold day today, people were still out and about, doing their regular tasks. The village of Hoshigakure always had a certain energy or vibe to it that Amikiri loved. Even though many citizens would look down on him after learning about his side job and what he did in his spare time, he did not mind. In Amikiri's opinion, a key part of life was learning that you could not change the opinions of others and many times you simply had to accept their judgements. Afterall, one cannot live without pain, but how one chooses to react to that pain is fully within their power. As he approached the market, he heard a large chiming sounds repeat itself twelve times. Amikiri looked upward, noticing a large clock affixed to a tower struck noon. The tower itself rose into the sky, seemingly scraping they sky itself. Looking around the market, the Hyuuga took quick stock of his surroundings and what stores were where. Looking down at his grocery list, he saw that it read:
-Flour
-Eggs
-Sweet peppers
-Canned whole tomatoes
-Spicy pork sausage
-Onions
-Potatoes
-Garlic
-Butter
-Oats
-White sugar
-Brown sugar
-Raisins

The Hyuuga reviewed the list and, noticing a few logical things were missing, assumed that Jacob had those already. Spices was the main thing that was missing. Though, it would be quite strange for a man of Jacob's age to not have any spices or flavorings in his home, so it did make sense for Jacob to exclude those from the list. Walking around the market, going from shop to shop, the Hyuuga observed the beauty of all the people and things here. Even in the later parts of winter, the market still had a beautiful mix of almost every color that the dark haired man could think of. He first stopped by a store that mostly sold staples. Here, the Hyuuga found flour, eggs, oats, butter, potatoes, and both colors of sugar. He paid the man under the stall and continued on. Looking around, he quickly found a store that sold produce. He bought his raisins, onions, and sweet peppers here. All that was left for the Hyuuga to find was the garlic and spicy pork sausage. After about ten more minutes of shopping around, he managed to find garlic at a store that sold a variety of odds and ends. The last thing to find was the spicy pork sausage. Amikiri spent about another ten or fifteen minutes walking the stalls, unable to find any. Growing frustrated, the temptation to use his Byakugan grew and grew. However, the Hyuuga knew that using it would probably be noticeable and he didn't want, as much as he tried to ignore the opinion of others, to be known as a shinobi. This was partially to protect his revenue of course because, if someone who shopped at his workplace saw his Byakugan, he would likely be fired. So, trying to find a nice solution, he noticed a small outhouse to the side of the market area. This would be helpful for a couple of reasons. The first of which overlapped quite well with the intended purpose of an outhouse, while the second definitely did not meet the parameters of the intended purpose of the outhouse. Well, it partially did, considering that the Hyuuga would be using it for privacy. Amikiri walked over to the outhouse. It’s construction was of marginal quality. It was just a simple wooden shack. Even though it looked like it wouldn’t hold up well against the slightest bit of wind, the Hyuuga noticed that it was well built enough to afford the dark haired man some privacy. He knocked on the door, hoping it was empty at that moment. Unfortunately, he heard someone shout out from the interior, “Occupied.” The Hyuuga, even though he tried to be patient, after another minute, started tapping his foot. Clearly this man must be taking a nasty shit because of how long it was taking. After a couple more minutes, the man in question finally exited the outhouse. He looked at the Hyuuga and said, “Sorry about that, but sometime nature calls.” Amikiri nodded, understanding that sometimes, nature does call. The Hyuuga usually notices that his bowels get a little more active whenever he increases his training regimen. The dark haired man stepped into the outhouse. Time for his first order of the business. This one was quite simple. To piss. After that, he was on to his next task. This one was likely a not very intended use of a outhouse. The Hyuuga allowed his clan’s famous ability to activate. Channeling his chakra into his eyes, he activated his Byakugan. Veins bulged around his eyes and his eyesight became incredibly enhanced. Even though the outhouse the dark haired man was located in was not very central in the market, his Byakugan still gave him the ability to see and scan the entire market. Looking through the market, the Hyuuga first started by looking for any signs. Even though he could see the entirety of the market at once, his ability to read still limited his speed, so it took him a bit to read through all of the signs in the market. Amikiri managed to narrow it down to about ten or so stores that might carry what he wants. From there, he looked through their products. Six of the ten stores didn’t carry any sausages at all, so they were clearly out of the picture. After that, three of the stores advertised themselves as practicing a specific religion. Amikiri, even with his limited time in the village, knew that this religion disallowed the consumption of any pork products. That left only one store left. The Hyuuga exited the outhouse and walked over to the store in question. It was a simple market stall, with a red and white awning and several meat products on display. Bundles of sausages were hung from the ceiling and after a few seconds of searching, he managed to find the one that was labeled spicy pork sausage. The Hyuuga handed the man behind the counter some ryo, who then gave Amikiri the appropriate amount of sausage. The dark haired man threw all of the food he bought into the cloth bags he got earlier, making sure to be extra careful with the eggs. He made his way back to Jacob’s home, taking the quickest route he could. The Hyuuga didn’t know how much time it would take to prepare this meal or what time the guests would be arriving, but Amikiri preferred to be ahead of schedule rather than be behind schedule. Eventually, after winding his way through the streets of Hoshigakure, the Hyuuga eventually made his way back to the residence of Jacob. He knocked on the door and his employer opened up, smiling, and saying, “It’s good that you’re back. Now, let’s start preparing things and cooking.” The Hyuuga nodded and followed Jacob inside. The two walked into the house and headed into the entrance room and through the archway in front of them. Jacob and Amikiri then made their way through the door in the corner of the room and headed into the kitchen. The kitchen was absolutely beautiful. Tile floors with beautiful granite countertops and a granite island. Pans hung from a rack from the ceiling and everything was close to spotless. A couple windows on the side of the kitchen let in plenty of natural light. Jacob instructed Amikiri, “I want you working on the tomato sauce. Get the tomatoes in the pot. Then, there should be a recipe book up on a shelf that has the recipe for it. Mix the spices and herbs in. Then, I want you to go ahead and cut up the potatoes. Cut the potatoes in to eights and make sure to leave the skins on. From there, go ahead and roast them with some oil and garlic. I’m gonna start work on some other steps.”

The Hyuuga nodded and responded with, “Sounds good. With the two of us, none of this cooking should be that difficult.”

Amikiri started to work on his assigned cooking tasks. He walked over to the stove and lit one of the burners, before putting a large pot on it. The pot was clean and immaculate, looking brand new. The Hyuuga assumed that the man must simply take very good care of it, because most old people he knew liked to keep one set of things for a long time. The Hyuuga grabbed a can opener from a shelf and opened up the canned tomatoes, before dumping them into the pot. He made sure to include everything in the can, including tomatoes and any juices. Amikiri then pulled the recipe book from a shelf, being very careful with it. The seams looked like they could fall apart at a moment’s notice and many of the pages were yellow and aged. The first step in the recipe required the Hyuuga to dice and cook some onions, until they were a golden color. He got out a nice pan and put some oil in it. He started to let it heat up and, in the mean time, rapidly finely diced an onion as well as mix in the various herbs into the sauce. The sauce required many herbs, ranging from basil to oregano to red pepper. The Hyuuga incorporated them into the sauce, thoroughly stirring and mixing it. At this point, the oil in the pan had started to heat up. He tossed in the diced onions, letting them cook.

Now that the sauce was starting to be on it’s way, the Hyuuga started the potatoes. He placed them all in the sink and rinsed them off, making sure they all were thoroughly clean. After that, he laid them out on a towel and dried them all down, since the dark haired man did not want any to have any excess moisture when cutting them. Amikiri quickly scanned the room, looking for any sort of cutting board. Unable to find one, he asked the old man, “Jacob. Do you have any cutting boards I can use for the potatoes?”

Jacob, hearing the question, looked over his shoulder at Amikiri. The elderly man quickly scanned the room, before pointing to a rack in the corner and saying, “Yep, right over there.”

The Hyuuga nodded, and headed over to the rack in question. And on that rack there were a few cutting boards. The Hyuuga grabbed a decently middle sized option as well as grabbing a baking sheet. He started cutting up the potatoes, cutting them in half, then halved again, and halved one last time. It took him about five minutes to get through half the potatoes. The work was very repetitive, but Amikiri knew he was getting paid for this, so it was his obligation to do this. Jacob came over to Amikiri and said, “I didn’t hire a shinobi for some slow ass cutting. I thought you shinobi were supposed to be fast. Come on man, cut some potatoes like a real shinobi.”

Amikiri said, “Alright man, sounds good. I didn’t know you were okay with ninja and all that.” The Hyuuga was very surprised by this. Most people in Hoshigakure were strongly against shinobi, seeing it as a perversion of the natural world and as an opposition to their religion. At this moment, the Hyuuga started to use some of his trained speed to cut the potatoes at record speeds. At this rate, the Hyuuga would be done in no time with his work.

Jacob said, “Wow, you certainly are fast. I guess it’s fitting for one of your blood to excel at quick movement.” Amikiri was a bit shocked that Jacob knew he was a Hyuuga, but with age comes wisdom. Considering the old man’s attitude of supporting shinobi, he must have spent a little bit of time learning something about them.

The dark haired man asked Jacob, “So why are you supportive of shinobi, while the rest of the Hoshigakure seems so against them.” Amikiri was still very puzzled by this man’s opinion and would like to hear more about it.

The old man responded with, “I mean it’s real simple. We are all so focused on labeling each other and hating each other that we don’t actually grow as a culture and society. Our battles, real and figurative, just slow our societies down. Sure, one group’s actions might cause accidental harm to the other. But that is always true regardless of if that person is a shinobi or a member of the religion. If we stopped grouping people up and simply understood that we are all people, our world could be so much better off.”

Amikiri nodded in agreeance, saying, “It’s a shame. Our society is so divided, yet if we came together, we could become so much stronger and more advanced.” At this moment, the Hyuuga finished up cutting the potatoes. He put the baking sheet pan he got from earlier and put it on the island. The dark haired man laid out the potatoes, making sure none were on top of each other. From there, he drizzled them with oil and put several garlic cloves in the pan.

Heading over to the oven, the Hyuuga remarked, “Shit! I forgot to preheat the over.” That was certainly true. In the process of preparing everything else, the Hyuuga had forgotten to preheat the oven. He set it to the desired temperature and put the potatoes to the side, for now.

He then started working with the sweet peppers. To do this, he would have to cut them up and roast them. The Hyuuga had learned a helpful trick for cutting up bell peppers years ago. He put the pepper upside down and, carefully balancing, made diagonal cuts along the side. This allowed him to have minimal white stuff and no seeds after the cuts.

The Hyuuga sliced away at the peppers, very carefully. He didn’t want to cut himself or screw up the peppers. Thanks to his speed though, he managed to complete the task incredibly fast. In the end, all of the peppers were cut up into strips. Getting another sheet pan from a cabinet, the Hyuuga laid out the strips of peppers and seasoned them with a bit of salt and black pepper. He also seasoned the potatoes the same.

WC: 3596
TWC: 5100/7000



Also making some mid thread claims:

20 Vigor (80 > 100) giving me max stats

62 Bonus AP (60 > 122)

77 WC to Chakra Infusion (1500/1500)
1500 WC to Blacksmithing (1500/1500)
1500 WC to Shimi Daikon (1500/1500)
1312 WC to Dominion (1312/1312)
188 WC to Ventrilioquism (188/188)
375 WC to Storage Displacement (375/375)
184 WC to Adjustment (184/375)

Approved !

It took the two of them a while, but they eventually managed to wrap up the cooking process. Amikiri asked the old man, “Is there anything else you need from me? I’d be happy to stay and help clean up or serve the guests.”

The elderly man shook his head, saying, “No, I’m perfectly fine. Thank you for all of your help though.”

With that, the dark haired Hyuuga would exit the house and head back home. He had done several straight hours of cooking and was quite tired after all of that. The dark haired Hyuuga quickly took a shower before heading to bed for the night. Fortunately and unfortunately, the Hyuuga had a strange night. It was not strange in a weird set of dreams, but in fact the opposite. It was one of those nights where you have no dreams and fall asleep incredibly fast. Amikiri woke up feeling as if no time had passed but simultaneously feeling fully rested. He started off his day by cracking two eggs into a pan, quickly cooking up some scrambled eggs. It didn’t take him long, and that was one of the key reasons he enjoyed it. While hard work was important, sometimes the pay off of hard work simply wasn’t there. While the Hyuuga ate, he grabbed his mail. He didn’t get that much, but it was still important to check it every day. Looking at his utility bill, he was satisfied. Amikiri had been trying to cut down on costs recently and had been very successful. He put the quantity of ryo he needed into the envelope and then slid it under his landlord’s door, paying for his expenses. A few months ago, the money he was paying for expenses might’ve had him worrying. However, his shinobi job had allowed him to amass large quantities of money. From what had once been a simple side hustle had now formed a massive revenue stream. Amikiri quickly threw together a sandwich for the day. He had received a letter outlining some basic work he had to do on the gates and then afterwards the dark haired Hyuuga would have to go to his normal day job. He got dressed in his usual attire, choosing to rock a blue flannel for the day. Dark blue was always a nice color and it paired well with the rest of Amikiri’s mostly black outfit. The Hyuuga headed outside and down to the gates. As part of preparations for one of the upcoming holidays, he had to take care of the gardens near the gates. He surveyed the job site. Apparently the largest problem had been that a large section of the garden had become overgrown. It didn’t help that plenty of private land and home owners nearby had started to complain about it encroaching on their property. The Hyuuga saw that this would be quite the job and, in preparation for that, walked over to an outhouse. Oh how strange it was that Amikiri seemed to always be returning to outhouses to do his little ninja tricks. This time, it was four quick handseals. He likely would’ve been able to do them faster than the human could see if he was outside, but someone might’ve been suspicious of that. From a scroll, hidden on his right arm, came his trusty weapon, his Great Spear. He slung it over his back, accidentally almost cutting a hole in the roof of the building. Amikiri grimaced, annoyed at his almost mistake. The dark haired Hyuuga headed out of the door of the outhouse, back to the work site. A close observer might be suspicious of how Amikiri had magically obtained this weapon that measured at almost six feet long and was taller than Amikiri himself. However, there weren't many close observers in Hoshigakure, especially in this semi-secluded area. Amikiri quickly got to work, cutting away the overgrown greenery. Being careful to make sure it didn’t emit an obvious glow of chakra, Amikiri would channel a bit of his chakra into his blade. This allowed him to make quick work of all the vines and various greenery that he was assigned to do. Surprisingly, this mission was a pretty quick and simple one. After that, it was time to head to his normal day job. Though, Amikiri had different plans today. Especially after observing his financial situation and his performance as a shinobi, Amikiri realized something simple. In the long and short run, it was infinitely more profitable for the Hyuuga to pursue his career as a shinobi. While yes, it did carry some risk, the dark haired Hyuuga ignored that. Right now, he was mainly focusing on supporting his family. Walking into work that day, Amikiri’s attire was distinctly different than it should have been. He did not wear his usual work uniform. The Hyuuga was simply wearing his normal clothes. Fortunately between the time of him gardening and now, he had resealed his Great Spear away. Amikiri walked into the grocery store where he had stalked shelves for so long before heading to the back. Knocking on the door of his manager’s office, he said, “Hey, it’s Amikiri.” The Hyuuga shortly afterwards heard his manager’s voice call out, “Come in.” Amikiri would walk in and, not wanting to describe all the details since it was pretty irrelevant and brief, would walk out a minute later not an employee there anymore because well, quite simply, Amikiri had quit. Now he was a full time shinobi and, as part of that, he took a couple new missions under his belt. The first one was relatively simple. He had to rescue a lost puppy. For a normal shinobi, they likely wouldn’t have anything that could help them out. Sure, a shinobi’s faster speed and faster reaction time would be very nice, but other than that, they were basically the average citizen looking for a puppy. Fortunately, Amikiri had a trick up his sleeve. Well, not so much a trick. And not so much up his sleeve. It was quite obvious, and it was his eyes. His Byakugan would allow him to do what might’ve been an all day mission scouring the village into quick work. Amikiri spent a quick minute deciding how to do this. He could run throughout the entire village and use his Byakugan’s 360 degree vision. However, that would likely attract attention, unless he wanted to move very slowly. The other option was to find a few spots in the village where he could use his Byakugan’s other ability without anyone noticing. That ability being its ability to scan a very narrow area from a great distance. Amikiri decided the first place to start was near the address of the person who requested it. The dark haired Hyuuga headed over to their place and, finding a park nearby, hid under the shade of a tree and activated his Byakugan. It took him only a little less than a minute to find the puppy in question. Thank goodness for this ability. It was likely no one would have seen a small puppy hidden in the bushes outside of a restaurant almost a mile from home. The family he returned the puppy to was very grateful and seemed like a nice household. Next on his list of work was to cut down a large and annoying tree. Unfortunately, it was in the dead center of a suburban area and a standard tree felling would not work. Amikiri had plenty of experience in standard tree felling, but a specialized job like this was something he had never done before. The dark haired Hyuuga quickly realized that he would need to come up with a different solution. The best step was probably to start with delimbing the tree. He’d need to get into the branches for that to work though and getting into the branches likely would entail Amikiri using the surface walking jutsu. However, Amikiri remembered something. One of his relatives had worked in the forestry industry and showed him something. The Hyuuga, using a mix of chakra and rope, attached a universal projectile to the side of each of his boots, so the blade would be facing downward. Grabbing the trunk with his hands, he shoved the blades into the tree, being almost parallel. Then, step by step, he climbed the tree. Amikiri quickly learned that he would not be able to take nice long steps and would have to take small, short steps up the trunk of the tree. Step after small step he made his way to where most of the big branches were. Using another of his universal projectiles, he embedded it deep into the trunk of the tree. Using some rope he picked up on the way, Amikiri tied a knot on to the projectile and tied the other end of the rope to his belt. It was a very simple safety rigging system. It meant if he fell, he wouldn’t fall all the way to the ground. Unfortunately, if he fell though, the rope would snap tight. It would hurt, but a little bit of pain was better than the possibility of a broken bone. Amikiri, making sure not to get his rope tangled in the branches, started climbing around the tree. He started by cutting off all the small branches with a universal projectile, making sure they didn’t fall on any roofs. They wouldn’t cause any damage if they fell on a roof, but it would be a hassle to clean up and probably have a few complaints attached to it. After finishing off the small branches, the tree was a strange sight. Just the main, strong trunk and larger, twisty branches splitting off the sides. One could’ve easily confused the time for winter since Amikiri had cut the tree bare of all its leaves. Now it was time for the hard part of the project. Using a lot of rope, Amikiri managed to rig up a system where, when they fell, any large branches would fall to the ground below the tree and not cause any property damage. This time to cut the branches, a simple universal projectile wouldn’t cut it, no pun intended. He had to use his large Great Spear. Unsealing it, Amikiri started cutting away at the branches. It was a lot of work, but after a long enough time, he managed to wrap it up. From there, it was simply cutting away at the trunk slice by slice, until he only had a stump left. It took Amikiri a tiny bit of basic Earth Release, but he managed to dig up and destroy the tree stump. Satisfied with the job he did, he moved on to his next task. Amikiri walked over to a bakery. He had been tasked with distributing baked goods and sweets to children for the holiday. As he continually reminded himself of, Amikiri realized that he really should learn all the holidays, or at least some of them. Anyway, heading down to the bakery, Amikiri picked up what seemed like a mountain of boxes. They were all very short rectangles, clearly meant for optimal sweet carrying. All the boxes were some sort of pastel colors, clearly meant to look friendly and inviting. For about thirty minutes Amikiri moved through the village, handing out sweets to various children. After that, Amikiri went home.

WC: 1900
TWC: 7000/7000

[Exit]

Claiming completion of 2 E-ranks, 4 D-ranks, and 1 C-rank mission
28k Ryo (103,950 > 131,950)
70 Bonus AP (200 > 270)

38 Bonus AP (270 > 308)

344 WC to D-Rank Ninjutsu Amplifier with past progress (375/375) here
375 WC to C-Rank Ninjutsu Amplifier (750/750)
750 WC to C-Rank False Surroundings (750/750)
375 WC to D-Rank Taijutsu Infusion (375/375)
46 WC to C-Rank Taijutsu Infusion (421/750)

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