[Mission 08 & 09] Stone Throws Away

An Extension of yourself
All it takes is dexterity

A dexterity a day keeps the doctors away

The daily trip to the Konoha mission boards had once again proven fruitful, this wasn’t cleaning leafs or helping an old man fish - this was pure Ninja work, two missions that could be completed in the same area, Cho would find it easy to pick this up, even if it was in the form of competitive flare. He grabbed Senbon from the corner of his pack and headed out towards a larger field on the outskirts of the city. He knew the place, a market with equipment for testing, it was always sidelined by a competition, Cho had watched the competition each year. That same confident man appeared every single time, dominating the competition with each passing round. There had been some tomfoolery in the past, and as he read each addendum to the original mission document he laughed.

”Ah yes, that time when that asshat, some joker of a student came and extended his jaw with some weird Jutsu, almost swallows the guy whole” Cho spoke to another student, younger than he by some years who had decided to accompany him to the mission, the two of them apparently would work together, Cho was no marksmen but he could spot to see if the guy was cheating, or offer advice to the other student if needed.

”Why aren’t you taking part anyway, it makes much more sense for the both of us to try than just the one of us” The younger student looked up to the stone statue Cho, who looked down on the boy, because of height and not because he thought he was superior to him, and shook his head. ”Why not - you’re a shot with the Senbon, I’ve seen it.” again Cho shook his head, the boy gave him no chance to speak before piping up and having another go. ”I’ve seen you hit a target, not always on the mark but you always hit it. Much better than me, I’m either great or rubbish.”

”The key is confidence, you’ve got the skills and you’re the best in our class at this. But everytime the going gets tough, well, you shit your pants.” Cho responded, though laughed at himself, patting the younger boy on the top of his head. ”Imagine it’s your Genin exams, you gotta pass and make the shot. All on you buddy. Besides whilst your doing that, I’ve the pleasure of testing out some weapons.” Cho had agreed that whilst he wouldn’t be able to complete the completion mission, he would instead help the younger student and split the reward, it wouldn’t go on his record but he would make more money anyway. Nothing wrong with that.

The two would carry on discussing at length their plan, until they got to the entrance, not wanting it to be obvious they were working together they split up and went there seperate ways. Around the area were several stores, each selling merchandise mostly linked to Shurikenjutsu, there were some arrows and even bolts around. Leather clothing dotted around the place too, all of them bore the same mark as the others, this travelling guy was from a company, which made it extremely likely that this was a scam. The better he was able to do with this equipment the more people would want to buy it, perhaps others had worked this out.

Regardless, he was here to learn and to complete a mission, so entering one of the tents marked as a testing area, he immediately began looking around for what he could test out. In his hand was a notepad for taking his own notes, helpful for proof of him completing the mission and for him to remember what not to buy if he was ever in a position that he could afford to purchase from this brand.


First he grabbed a Kunai, testing its balance in his hand with a flourish before throwing it like a throwing axe directly at a target. The swift movement hit on the outer ring, the salesmen made a larger than life deal out of the success, anything however outside of that inner ring was a failure. Next he moved onto the Shuriken, throwing a handful of them one at a time towards the target, the senbon did hardly any better, all missing the mark by some degree. He liked the feel of the weapons, but they were weighted in a way that didn't feel right for him. Maybe practice would help.

The next half hour was filled with attempts to get in and out of some leather armour, though Cho felt supported, warm even as well as comfortable - he knew that any continued effort in the armour could affect his mobility negatively. Running the risk of being cut was much less worrying than losing an entire arm because he was too slow, he took the armour off and returned back to the armoury. Lastly he took a Tanto similar to his, he swung the blade back and forth and realised that the blade was certainly lighter, sharper and was genuinely of a better quality than his own, but the price tag was an immediate worry. He wouldn’t be able to afford that on his basic pay.

Finally happy with trying out numerous prices of equipment Cho would finish up the second half of the missions today, which was winning the competitions. By time Cho got to the range, the other student was already several points down. The students final shot veered off-course and missed by a metre, but did end up killing a hay bale. Cho cursed under his breath. He had to think of something, Cho couldn’t use a bow, his shurikenjutsu abilities were not up to scratch. What would he do? Throw rocks.

Almost immediately his eyes lit up, ofcourse. Throw rocks! He knew literally everything about that. Earth Release was his natural affinity, alongside his capabilities as an ex-Iwagakure resident. He proudly headed to the challenge booth, waiting for the guy to come back. That smug bastard's face made him want to punch him into next week, but apparently that was unsightly. So he headed over, slamming my his hand down on the table and declaring a challenge.

”Ho-ho, what will your challenge be today good sir, a bow, a crossbow! Maybe even a SHURIKEN the guy pulled out what can only be described as a golden shuriken with a flourish, throwing it without looking. It slammed into the bull eye from a good 50 metres away, impressive, he would admit. But not enough to deter him.

”Just throwing rocks at that target. Points count if you break the surface of that paper surface. You up for that? Oh… and move it back another 50 metres.” Cho smiled, twisting a smooth rock between his fingers. The man looked at him up and down, learned forward to whisper if he was sure.  

Cho nodded, barged past him and got ready to throw. The two of them took marks next to each other, Cho went first. Throwing a rock which only reached the first 50 metre mark. He smiled, looked to the man and gestured for him to go. The rock was thrown and landed next to his,
”Obviously a draw goes to the defending champion. As you have to beat me. he looked nervous, but it didn’t change a thing. Cho took another rock from the ground, studied it and threw it with a hefty push. The rock slimmed over the ground as if it was water and hit the rock he threw the time before. It skipped up and cut the paper, on bare the corner of the target but still a point. He was lucky it hit.

The man forfeited then, not wanting to be embarrassed. ”You resorted to trickery, how dishonest. he contorted his face in anger before paying the winners fee and returning back to his show. ”Hey - I still won!” Cho laughed as he left, if you can’t beat them. Join them.

[exit]

WC: 1332
2 x E Rank Missions
2000 Ryo
10 AP
+ 11 Vigor
+ 1 Chakra
+ 1 Speed

Previous Claim - Mud Spore

Mud Spore [1000/1000] 562 Used to complete
Water/Tree Climbing Technique [250/250]
Mark Seal [250/250]
Basic Sealing Technique[270/500]