A Bag of Ninjas [Mission | Itori]

Job Info:

Eh? For a brief moment, Imai’s eyes shone up in recognition of a certain word on the job request. Inside the Red Dragon Inn, having found himself a calm seat in the Sabertooth-exclusive quarters, he inspected the content of said request that happened to come from his hometown. Shirotsume… his parents and little sister were there. He should make sure that the town was safe from… uh, now that he thought about it, he hadn’t read thoroughly enough yet, so he took another moment to read. A wealthy man had written this, stating that a robbery had taken place in his home. An ancient, powerful tome was stolen from him by masked men, and he wanted those who accepted the request to bring it back to him as well as taking down the thieves who stole it from him. If someone wanted to help, the wealthy man would wait for them at Shirotsume, so that was where Imai was heading.

But first, he had to prepare. His Magnescope had been put aside, and now it was like finding an ant among termits - searching under tables, behind shelves and desks, until the entire quarter was eyed by him, until he finally spotted it near the exit to the main room of the inn. “Phew… there you are,” he spoke in relief and grabbed the sturdy telescope, “And you’re here too, right?” He was talking to the pink alien hanging on his back, seemingly resting peacefully until it was addressed. It opened its big, shiny eyes in response and released a soft mewing sound. “Neat. We’re ready then,” Imai declared as he flamboyantly walked towards the exit when he got another thought; perhaps he shouldn’t go alone. Who would want to go alone on such a mission - excluding the alien’s company - when the entirety of Sabertooth could help him in his task?

Although, he’d have to think through… Kite was at Yggdrasil for the time being, Kenna was out on a mission herself, Ryo was probably with Masha at the moment *cough* and Gaia was likely braiding her fluffy pet’s fur or some other girly stuff. Hahahahaha… haah. That meant that Imai felt rather solo on this one, unless…

“… Wait, there’s a kitsune in our guild too?” he mumbled to himself. He had seen her briefly, but shockingly, he never held any conversations with her as far as he remembered… that was so weird. He should’ve talked way too more with the fluffy lady! Besides, he had never seen any other kitsune before, so they were like really, really rare people! What the hell, Imai?!

“… Hnng, I wish she was here… or maybe she can hear me with her fox ears… nah, that sounds ridiculous.”

WC: 458
(OOC: I decided to start at Ace of Spades before we go to Shirotsume cuz... well, reasons >;3)

Itori felt like she should spend more time in Yggdrasil, but honestly she'd become so used to the Ace of Spades that despite the world tree being a very intriguing phenomenon she felt quite content wandering through the streets and sleeping in the inn that was reserved for guild members. So far it hadn't really been an issue, but eventually she'd have to become more involved in the going ons of the world between realms. The fact that she'd always been standing between the physical realm and the spiritual realm would most likely get involved in some manner.

For now though she was enjoying the good weather that the Ace of Spades was enjoying, smiling as she looked up at the fair skies. She greeted some of the cityfolk who recognized her, asking them how they were doing. One of them mentioned that they were cleaning up their house, at which point Itori offered to help them in case they needed it. Having been part of the Ace of Spades for quite some time now and having established herself as a friendly and helpful soul the man readily accepted her help, which resulted in Itori spending a couple of hours sweeping the floor and throwing out the trash. Eventually the man and his wife thanked her for the help but explained that they could finish the rest themselves, at which point Itori said her goodbyes and left them to finish up the work on their own.

Heading back towards the Red Dragon Inn the kitsune's ears twitched when she picked up on someone talking about her. She was still outside, and the only reason she heard it at all was because of her ears being unnaturally sharp even for a kitsune. However there was clearly a voice inside talking about kitsune, and Itori was the only one in the area. She was definitely the only kitsune related to Sabertooth, so she tilted her head in curiosity for a moment before she walked up to the door and opened it. Inside someone stood who she hadn't met before, but who she could tell was also a part of Sabertooth. More importantly the man made her spiritual senses go off, the kitsune staring for but a moment before she smiled and bowed slightly.

"I believe I am the kitsune you were referring to just know." She stepped through the doorway to not block the flow of people entering and leaving, mentioning for Imai to also step to the side so the both of them wouldn't be getting in the way. "You are also a member of Sabertooth, correct? I can sense the magic and, more surprisingly, a strong spiritual presence inside of you."

Itori herself, being a spirit fox, would have a very strong spiritual presence. She existed as solidly in the spiritual realm as she existed in the physical realm, an anchor which drew spirits and souls to herself. Which was good, since her job was to help the souls of the departed safely travel to the next world and that job became a lot easier if those souls sought her out of their own volition.

"But first let me introduce myself. I am Shirokawa Itori, member of the mage guild Sabertooth and spiritual medium. May I ask for your name, and why you were requesting my presence?"

Given his spiritual nature she wouldn't be surprised if the boy simply wished to meet a spiritual creature like herself, but there could be multiple reasons. For now she'd just listen and see what her fellow guild member had to say.

WC: 598
TWC: 598

A light bulb just turned itself on when a white-haired girl spoke back to his words about a kitsune. She directly stated her belief that who Imai was looking for was none other than her… so she did listen! He knew it; their ears could hear everything! Such a convenient trait for the foxgirls, and now he knew it firsthand. After he stepped aside for people to pass the entrance whether if they were going out or in, he found himself standing right in front of the pretty kitsune. Her most distinctive trait in her appearance was obviously the fluffy tail that just begged to be stroked and petted - Imai could feel his hand grow a little sore from holding back, but his eyes shone like those of a little kid just by looking at her.

A strong spiritual presence? Imai didn’t expect such a first impression of him. Was that due to her foxgirl heritage- wait, kitsune heritage? Maybe she could see something in him that not even he could see… ohh, that sounded so mysterious and exciting! N-Now, it was his time to greet as well, you know, give out his own impression of her. “Y-Yeah. So you’re the famed white kitsune that I’ve heard so much about?” His voice couldn’t hide his eager joy nonetheless despite his attempt at sounding more ‘mature’ - or more specifically, just like her.

This was new to him. He didn’t know that much about spiritual mediums, but word-like, they sounded to be some kind of bridges between this world and the spiritual one… she must’ve seen so many spirits and creatures with such a title, and it impressed Imai even more. He hadn’t been so excited to meet someone since Masha (we won’t talk about her). After having introduced herself, Imai followed suit: “I’m Imai Uchūken, in-the-flesh Ace of yours truly! The pink creature here is Sei.” He pointed to his back and revealed Sei hanging on his clothes in rest, “I wanted to ask you out, because… here, I was wondering if you would assist me on this mission?” He handed the client’s request paper to her, stating the issue back at Shirotsume and the place where he awaited the helpful wizards. A seal was marked on the paper as well resembling a hydra.

“... Y-You know, we could get to know each other much better. I’m looking forward to it…!” he admitted, scratching the back of his head. Besides, he was eager to meet his family again and get an update to their daily life back at Shirotsume; Koguma would be so happy to see him again! She’d probably ask him lots of questions such as how he was doing back at the guild… nah, she’d ask more childish questions given her age, for instance what monsters that he had taken down and how many times he had rescued a damsel in distress. Yeah, that sounded like her.

Either way, Imai had troubles keeping his eyes off Itori’s tails. Despite that, he didn’t ask about them due to the fog in his mind that left him with little focus.

WC: 521 + 458 = 979

If Itori took note of how eager Imai was to pat her tails she didn't show it, instead keeping that same gentle smile as she tilted her head slightly before nodding. "That is correct, although I was not aware that I was famed. There are much more intriguing things to be found in both the world at large and our very own guild, after all." In the Ace of Spades people had become used to having a kitsune walking about being helpful, so Itori rarely had to deal with people becoming wide eyed and excited at her presence. Having Imai be so blatantly enthusiastic made him appear rather childlike to her, which she had to admit was very endearing.

Her tails idly swayed from side to side behind her as she listened to Imai's introduction, her eyebrows going up a little as he proclaimed himself one of the Aces of Sabertooth. She then bowed again, a little deeper this time. "My apologies for having failed to recognize you as one of our Aces, sir Uchūken. I must admit my awareness of developments in the guild is not always adequate. It is a pleasure to meet you and your companion, although I must profess to be curious about their nature, given that I have never seen their like before." Despite being very, very old Itori wasn't very familiar with aliens, so Sei was a very curious thing for her to see.

She accepted the paper containing the details of the mission, quickly reading through the contents. She didn't think she was in need of a suit of armour, but they couldn't let a group of bandits run around with a powerful tome. Thiefs and thugs were already enough of an issue without giving them access to powerful magic. Besides, Itori liked helping people out and she did want to become more familiar with the people of her own guild. That she didn't even recognize one of Sabertooth's Aces just helped drive the point home of how used she was to do her own things and not pay enough attention to the world around her.

"I will gladly assist you sir Uchūken. Leaving such power in the hands of criminals would be irresponsible and dangerous. Aside from that I would also like to become better acquainted with you and the rest of the guild. I have been content with keeping to myself for too long." Itori handed Imai the request paper back, noting how the Ace seemed to have his eyes glued to her tails. It really was endearing just how open the boy was about his interest in the kitsune's nature. Itori would have offered to let him stroke them, but now that the two of them had a mission to go on there wasn't any time to get lost in the land of soft fur.

"Keeping the danger in mind I believe it best if we hurry to our destination. We do not know what magic the tome contains, so the sooner we retrieve it and return it to its rightful owner the better. Do you have a preferred method of transport? I myself usually walk to where I need to be, but I am aware that most humans would rather use different methods of transportation for long distances." Most people hadn't spent millennia walking about after all. "We can discuss the finer details while on the way, and also introduce ourselves in more detail. Unless there is something you still need to do in Ace of Spades before we depart?"

WC: 591
TWC: 1189

Sir… Uchūken? That sounded a little too formal for his taste - sadly, that was more of his childish side rather than the fact that they were fellow guildmembers. It was also quite early yet to tell people about his promotion; he had just recently become the Ace of this fancy guild, and that sure said a lot about what he had been through given that he could still remember day 1 like it was yesterday. Ahh, that was funny to think about… wait, that also meant that he had a bunch of new duties as the Ace! He was probably going to widen his range of jobs available as well as dive deeper into the financial such as economical interests of the guild and many other stuffs including papers… or something like that…

However, his full attention was to be moved to this wonderful, fluffy lady. Man, it was too good to be true. As she was holding the paper, he did throw his gaze back at Sei who was sticking its head out from behind his back. “A-Ahm, ehm, y-you see… Sei is an alien!” he explained bluntly, “A cute alien, yes; I’m sure that he’ll get along with you too…!” He’d have to find out just what Sei was, because ignorance ticked him off more than it should - given his lack of finesse, for instance. I mean, he still eyed the tails now and then, watching them sway majestically behind Itori’s rear as his eyeballs almost followed along. Maybe, if they made it back again, he’d be able to stroke them? Maybe? Just maybe, there was a little chance that she’d let him stroke her seemingly warm, fluffed-up tails as reward? Argh, it sounded way too dreamy to be true… He’d have to hope for the best…

She decided to come along! YES! He almost jumped and hugged her in joy when she confirmed her assistance, but he had to stay a little calmer in order to avoid bumping into random people. Clearing his throat, he heard her question about their way of transport? Easy; Imai had that covered for a while now. “Oh yeah, before we go,” he spoke up before approaching the bar desk inside the inn to order none less than a bottle of soda. His favorite one was on the menu; Valley Blast. “Yes, that one…!” he ordered, then slammed the payment onto the bar desk as he accepted his order. Quickly returning back to Itori, he was already sipping some of his delicious soda when he continued: “I’ll teleport us both to Shirotsume. Fun fact; it’s my hometown, so I can’t wait too long…!” With that said, he’d spawn a black eclipse right next to them both. “… Aaand it’s there now. Let’s go, Itori…!” He’d invite her to enter the black eclipse along with himself, sending them both off into another position on the map… right in front of the entrance to Shirotsume.

“That… went smoother than I expect-wait, I mean of course! Hahaha… hey, we’re here,” he stated the obvious, laying his shiny eyes upon his birth bed, “Shirotsume, I really missed you a lot! You haven’t changed much after all these years… wait, months… yes, months…” The fact that he wasn’t all that old in Sabertooth just slung back at his face at that moment, saddening him a little until he remembered that he was on a mission. Besides, Itori was with him, so he couldn’t behave too childishly with that beautiful sorceress around, could he?

“We should go find our contract first… *light bulb*” His head suddenly lit up like a lightbulb as he got an idea; as a kitsune, Itori’s sense of smell was tremendously strengthened beyond where a normal human’s limits were! All too curious, he turned over to her and asked: “C-Could you, by any chance, smell your way to him? I heard that kitsunes have good noses… but wait, I don’t have anything on me that smells like him… argh, why didn’t I think about that?! Come on, Imai…!”

WC: 676 + 979 = 1655

"Truly? An extraterrestial entity?" Itori looked at Sei once more, clearly curious about the strange little thing. Who wouldn't be surprised and intrigued by the idea of meeting someone who originated from another world? "I do certainly hope that we will be able to get along. It would be unfortunate if we could not become good friends while being part of the same guild." Of course there were people who saw their guild as just an easier way to get work as a mercenary mage, but Itori preferred to have a good relationship with... well, practically everyone who wasn't evil.

It didn't take a genius to tell that Imai was entranced with her fluffy tails, and that the boy had trouble containing his excitement when she agreed. The kitsune refrained from commenting on it as she instead just smiled, watching the Ace first order a drink before explaining to her that he would be able to teleport the two of them. She raised her eyebrows before nodding and bowing slightly. "That is most certainly convenient. It is good to see a powerful mage such as you in our gild sir Uchūken. And of course it is understandable that you would want to return to your hometown as quickly as you are capable." The kitsune suppressed her own chagrine at that last part. Her own home... honestly she wasn't even sure whether it still existed or not and even if it did there was no telling where she could find it. She wasn't going to burden her companion with the feeling that he reminded her of something unpleasant, since he looked like the type who would feel guilty if he knew. Instead she obediently stepped into the black eclipse, feeling it take hold of her and move her without actually moving her until suddenly she was standing in a different place. A sniff of the air and a twitching of her ears helped confirm that they were indeed in a different city now.

"My apologies for eavesdropping sir Uchūken, but am I right in assuming that despite your power you are still relatively new in your position in the guild? I mean no offense asking this of course." She wasn't one to discriminate based on age, but it was important for partners to be knowledgeable of one another, and matters such as age and experience were of some importance in that regard. Seeing Imai become somewhat downcast she briefly placed her hand on his shoulder to reassure him before he regained his composure and suggested that they'd go find their client.

When the Ace suggested that she tracked the client by scent only to remind himself of the flaw in that line of reasoning the kitsune chuckled softly and shook her head. "My apologies sir Uchūken, but as you have accurately surmised I would be unable to use scent to locate someone whose scent I have never encountered before. However we do not need to rely on such methods. The job details included information on our client as well after all, since otherwise we would be unable to return the book after retrieving it from the thieves."

With that Itori looked around, her ears swivelling until she heard a tune she liked. Smiling at Imai she stepped over towards a passerby who looked familiar with the area, politely asking him where they could find the client as described in the job description. The man looked all too happy to help, giving straightforward directions to which Itori thanked him with a quick bow and a wish for the rest of his day to go well. Looking back to Imai she motioned in the direction they needed to go to find their client.

"Well then, shall we go? According to the directions it should not be far from here."

WC: 636
TWC: 1825

Hmh… not much had changed in Shirotsume. It was still good-old Shirotsume, with all its Shirotsumian stuff and Shirotsumian footprints of Imai running across the roofs and walls. He couldn’t put his tongue on it, but… it was home. It felt like home, and he was happy to be here, even when on a brief mission. That was likely one of the reasons that he had trouble focusing when he forgot; to track one’s smell down, you should be able to identify it via memory. It was all in the memory! Council Dogs used to smell to some sock or leftover chicken and boom, they could find the culprit as well- now, now, wait, that was a terrible comparison. It sounded as if he was comparing Itori to a dog, and she was nothing like one, nope!

Yet the self-rebuke made his heart hurt so much inside… he shouldn’t be so disrespectful. Then again, he rarely was, but he was quick to blame himself for shit like this. Like, really… yeah, she might have the fluffy, adorable triple tails that just begged to be hugged and snugged and slumbered into, and those cute fox ears that popped out of her hair twitching in curiosity… he could do a lot to get to snug those tails as they hung in the air, all silver-white and… and… pull yourself together, Imai! She was still a woman! What he was doing would be no different than that of some kind of pervert, but… those tails really looked snuggly. He was feeling kind of exhausted too, you know, like after a whole day of rehearsals where you just wanted to dive into those fluffy tails and black out-

“… O-Oh, what?” he replied to Itori as she had asked about his position as an Ace of Sabertooth. He was spacing out for a moment, but he got to fathom the meaning of her question. “Oh, that, yeah! Uhh, I am new to the whole Ace thing, actually… Kite entrusted me with this position, so don’t fear putting your faith in your friendly Ace Imai!” A sparkle escaped his cheerful smile afterwards, almost illuminating his entire mouth.

She had, right now, caught the ‘no memory of smell, no finding said smell’ thing that he feared. He was left with no hope of finding the client this time; if said man had just put down a description of his position, his appearance, or at least a picture- oh wait, he actually did put a picture of himself as Imai had just remembered… he pretended to remember, because he didn’t, actually.

He was starting to think that he had memory issues…

“O-Oh, yeah,” he let out in relief, “I totally forgot that! Hahah…!” Letting some cheerful laughter remove the awkwardness from his fouled brain, he followed Itori as she indicated to have a way to find the client now. She met a local who was more than eager to show them the right directions, and as the deed was done, they both bowed down in gratitude. Imai did his due respect, he was a neighbor and all.

He would then follow Itori towards said location. Turning around some corners, he spotted a certain man with four guards surrounding him. The man was also donning a grey, long jacket and held onto a piece of paper in his hand. It was likely him, because he eyed at the two Sabertooth Wizards with anticipation…

WC: 575 + 1655 = 2230

Itori smiled as Imai quickly proclaimed that she could rely on him. While he still carreid the enthusiasm of youth she could sense the power he held within him. As such she chuckled softly and nodded. "If our guild master saw fit to entrust such a task to you I shall not disagree with him. I will be in your care for the duration of the job sir Uchūken." She hadn't failed to notice that he looked downcast before he got the opportunity to feel proud about his position, so she didn't hesitate to help cheer him up by declaring her faith in his ability to handle things.

Once they had obtained directions from the helpful passerby Itori led the way towards where they would find their client. "There are some mages who forget that the common folk can also be helpful, especially if you ask them nicely. I suspect that it is because they see themselves as the protectors and the citizens as those to be protected." Although of course the fact that mages carried around supernatural abilities while a lot of people went through life with rather mediocre magic at best would also make it easy for the professional mages to overlook the skills and talents of those who took a different path in life.

"Provided the knowledge that our client saw fit to hire mages, which is quite expensive compared to other methods, it would be safest to assume that these bandits that stole the tome are not unskilled ruffians."

She said this right before they went around the corner and saw their client, a relatively heavy-set man who looked like he was mildly surprised to encounter the mages here but at the same time eager to get things sorted out. Before approaching him Itori quickly whispered something, just loud enough for Imai to catch it.

"Sir Uchūken, I suggest that I do the talking for now. While you are the superior mage a man of such status might resist the idea of taking a conversation with one as youthful as you seriously." Of course he could also be xenophobic but Itori had confidence in her ability to navigate the two of them through the conversation. Approaching th man the kitsune came to a halt at a respectable distance and bowed deeply, her three tails displayed behind her.

"My greetings to you sir Ralvas. I am Shirokawa Itori and this is sir Uchūken Imai. We shall be responsible for returning your tome if you will allow us."

The man raised his eyebrows at the rather old-fashioned manner of speaking and Itori's overall behaviour. He glanced at Imai and let loose a small grunt before offering the paper.

"Well, good. This contains all the information we have on the thieves. Don't waste too much time now you hear?"

Itori nodded and carefully accepted the paper. "Of course sir Ralvas. We shall set out to retrieve your tome with haste."

Bowing once more she turned towards Imai, offering him the paper containing all the important details. Inside of it would be a rough description of the suspected amount of thieves and a map containing the coordinates where Ralvas thought the thieves were entrenching themselves. From the looks of it they had struck gold with their thievery and were using the profits to make themselves a more permanent fortress to the west from which they could terrorize travellers if not taken care of.

"Sir Uchūken, shall we depart?"

WC: 578
TWC: 2393

Huh… good news, Itori trusted his position. That also meant that Imai was worried for naught. Idiot. Bad news; he felt a little low for having forgotten how to ask for help… now that he thought about it, it had been a long while since he ever asked for help from a citizen. For a moment, he firmly positioned himself on the lower levels of… well, human. He then put citizens above him, because whenever he felt bad for something, he usually pictured it like this. It helped him take a fresh breath of air, and he could slowly remember that it really was a matter of perspective - help was universal, and any sort of help benefitted him.

… Or maybe that was just a bunch of inconvenient thoughts that had to pass through…

Either way, he nodded at Itori’s remark about the helpfulness of the common folk. That also reminded him; he should go visit his family when they had completed this mission. Assuming that not too much would happen to such remarkable Sabertooth Wizards, he began thinking about how to introduce his three-tailed guildmate to his parents and Koguma.

They both rounded a corner and spotted a man who happened to be the very client of this request. “Ah, there he is,” Imai proclaimed in relief, “Alright, allow me to-“ He braked mid-track on his sentence when Itori suggested him to let her do the talking. Her evidence… youthfulness. Was that a bad thing? It sounded so.

But they had to prioritize the efficiency of the completion of the mission… hah, three ‘of’ words there. Yeah, Imai would do best to accept the suggestion as he nodded to the fluffy kitsune. Together, they approached the high-standing man, Imai kind of hanging on the background with Itori leading the greeting and following conversation.

Youthful… but what does she mean by that? She’s around my age, too…

Oblivious, he shrugged it off. Her choice of words sounded elegant, almost like how his parents talked with guests in the house. Itori managed to get the man to accept their arrival as his requested helpers - thank goodness for that - and delivered a paper containing the information that they had on the thieves. About those thieves… they were likely no small deal. No, if they knew about it… and the client needed magical assistance… then this could be even more dangerous than one would assume at first.

He grabbed the paper and read through the information. The suspected amount of thieves would be around 35 or more, and they had settled on the west from town not too long ago. It was a dangerous location to be for the travelers who usually passed by on their way to Shirotsume or vice versa. They would have to secure the road too, meaning that they had little time to waste.

“… *cough* Affirmative, milady,” he replied in an utterly exaggerated, Minstrel tone. A rather clear but small grudge about the youthfulness in him that was addressed earlier… but he wasn’t really making it any better, was he?

And thus, they both advanced towards the hills surrounding Shirotsume on the western direction, a good chunk of miles away from hometown, until a large fortress under construction was spotted.

It was approximately 75% finished, discreetly built with low roofs and walls to sort of blend in with the landscape. From afar, you’d hardly be able to see even the watch posts on top without having to climb up one of the hills. It was rather ridiculous, because Imai used to hold picnics here with his family as a child - now, those greedy thieves used the very same land as a base.

He’d gladly just charge in and take them by surprise… but the ‘youthful’ thing still lingered in his head. He wasn’t that youthful - hell, he was like adult and all. Being 18 was being adult, right?

In the end, he wanted to appear more mature than that, despite how against his character it was. It was mostly due to Itori’s presence that indirectly pushed him to that conclusion - being accompanied by an apparently more mature person like her triggered something self-reflecting in him.

From their position, they’d have difficulty in getting close without something… something like a distraction.

“… Any distracting techniques?” he quietly asked Itori, “’Cause I’m very loud, I might as well tell ya…”

WC: 736 + 2230 = 2966

It seemed like the Ace was taking her words about taking into account the helpfulness of the citizens close to heart. She hadn't meant him personally when she mentioned how mages often got a somewhat restricted perspective of non-mages, but she was still gladdened to see that he took the issue seriously and tried his best to not be one of those mages. A youngling such as him would have an easier time shaking off the habit before it even developed, and as an Ace of Sabertooth it would be great if he could set an example for the other mages.

As she finished the conversation with the client she noticed that Imai's movements had become a tad less enthusiastic than before. She did her best to subtly read his body language and facial expression, trying to figure out what might have dimmed that vigour of his. Was he afraid of facing the bandits now that it was a certain thing in the near future? She didn't think he looked afraid though, and she doubted that Sabertooh would elect a coward for an Ace. The guild valued strength of spirit after all, and while cowardice was a useful survival trait those who were dominated by it were also in danger of being influenced by other negative emotions which could cloud their judgement.

If she had to guess she'd say that her companion appeared annoyed about something, even if he was hiding it very well. If it wasn't for her having a lot of practice she might not even have a clue what might be up. As it was she guessed that he wasn't as happy with her taking the lead in the conversation with the client as she'd hoped. After all he was the Ace, under normal circumstances it'd make sense for him to act as the leader of the group during the mission. Internall the kitsune sighed as she followed Imai, the younger mage knowing the area well enough that the fox didn't have to worry about finding the encampment where the bandits would be hiding.

She'd have to apologize for taking the initiative like that. She'd thought it the best, given that she was older and thus more experienced at dealing with all kinds of folk, but she could have been more careful about it instead of just assuming that he'd be all right with it. While thinking about this Itori showed little of it from the outside, only a slight creasing of her forehead as they left the city behind and moved towards the bandit outpost. She looked like she was lost in thought even as she deftly avoided tripping over a wayward rock, her three tails swaying from side to side behind her in the rhythm of her silent footsteps as she occasionally twitched her ears while listening to their surroundings.

Reaching their destination the kitsune studied what they were dealing with, vermilion eyes taking in the sight of the fairly well hidden fortress and the signs of construction. She kept herself relatively low to the ground, her knees bent as if she was worried about being spotted all the way out here. When Imai asked whether she had a distraction available Itori looked up at the skies for a moment, placing her hand on the shoulder of her companion. After a couple of seconds she exhaled and nodded.

"I believe so yes. They have finished the walls but they have yet to complete the defences that prevent intruders scaling the walls, so I would suggest finding a spot out of sight and simply climbing." Pulling her hand away she placed both hands together in front of herself, closing her eyes as she focused. "I do not want to alarm them of any danger until it is too late for them to muster an effective defence, so I shall create an illusion of a sudden downpour. That will keep their minds occupied and most likely cause some of them to seek shelter. However such a large illusion will take some time to create and requires concentration to maintain, so I will be relying on you to take advantage of the confusion. I will halt the illusion and come after you once you have successfully infiltrated the fortress and further distractions become unneeded."

Unless Imai had objections to her plan Itori would then get to work, carefully shaping her mana and spreading it out into the heavens far above. Illusionary rain didn't actually take a lot of mana to form since it was nothing more than trickery, but she would have to be very precise to avoid the bandits quickly catching on that the rain wasn't natural. First she had to weave the mana into immaterial clouds, darkening the skies and accompanied by an ominous rumbling. Following that would be to shape and maintain each and every raindrop as it fell down, and given that a little bit of rain wasn't going to be enough Itori had to keep track of a LOT of raindrops at the same time. Since they were mere illusions she had to keep track of how each one had to behave, her ears at their sharpest to help her listen to the winds so the raindrops would fall according to where the wind should be moving them if they were real.

It didn't take very long before the fortress appeared to have been caught in a localized storm, although those inside the area wouldn't be able to notice that away from the fortress the day was still clear as the rain was dense enough to make it difficult to see farther than a couple of yards. Itori still had her eyes closed, appearing nearly frozen in place as her mind was occupied with the task of making imagination reality, however briefly it may last.

WC: 972
TWC: 3365

Ah, thankfully she did have a spell up her sleeve, it appeared. So the plan was that he would take the early stages of the constructing to his advantage, find a blind area and climb up the wall. Because of how new this place was and how early they had started to settle, the bandits were far from surveillance-covered to the T. Even a brat like Imai would have trouble being spotted if he just snuck in sneakily.

An illusionary downpour? Did she mean rain? She could make an image of raining appear everywhere? Wait, wait… it must’ve been relative to her kitsune heritage that she was an illusionist - maybe, just maybe, Imai was afraid of judging her - so such an illusion was… well, when was the last time that Imai saw her use illusion magic? As far as he remembered, he did know that she could use some kind of healing magic. Maybe she could use tail magic? Why was he focusing on her tails, again?!

So once when her magic took effect, he would enter the fortress. No objectives to that. He could finally go in and show her what a Sabertooth Ace was capable of - total fighting power was on his side. Also, her magic did take effect at this moment - the clouds quickly darkened, almost making him believe that Itori actually bent reality instead of just projecting illusionary images… or well, perhaps both?

With Itori busy with that, Imai charged down the hill controlled by his calculated footsteps. He aimed for the edge of the fortress where steel bars were seen holding up the infrastructure of a future wall. Some workers dashed into the fortress when the rain appeared. Grabbing onto a steel bar, he swung himself inside, leaning onto a naked wall that would lead him further into the building. Imai was now inside.

… This fortress does look sweet, though. Maybe I should refrain from leveling it, me and Koguma could play around here when I’ve cleared it of burglar fools…

He snuck across the floors for roughly 5 minutes before reaching the opening to a room where many of the burglars took shelter. Given by their masks - as Imai stuck an eye out to see - they looked like… ninjas? Freaking ninjas? Were they from Midi?!

He had never fought a ninja before. This would prove funnier than he expected. However, as his main objective was the book, he kept searching around. The opening prevented him from advancing without getting spotted head-on by the ninjas, so he would have to cause a distraction and move on… but was that a good idea? Like, as soon as he had the book in his possession, that would do, right?

Where would they hide such a treasured book, anyway? Maybe at the top? When one entered or broke into the fortress, finding the book should be the very last thing that they would achieve. He assumed the destination to be the tallest room in the fortress and turned around, leaving the room full of burglars for a later visit.

Sneaking up ladders, he soon made it to the upper floor. He worryingly looked around before advancing, but the footsteps of a strange source made him hang onto a steel club on the roof. A ninja walked by… and Imai’s secret hiding spot was revealed. “A-AR-“ the ninja let out furiously before getting a light blast to his face, instantly giving him other ideas than being awake and hostile.

The sound was heard by nearby ninjas who quickly came to find the source. There was a bathroom next to the star mage, so he grabbed the fainted body of the ninja and dashed in. The highly trained ninjas wouldn’t let any trace be left unobserved, so when they spotted the waving door to the bathroom, they obviously entered to check for safety’s sake. Trapped inside the only toilet, Imai began growling and moaning like one who was taking care of business - to everybody’s surprise, it did leave the ninjas confused. At that point, they didn’t know if something had happened or if their guard was just taking a shitter.

“HNNNNNG… *crash*!!!”

“Ufff, hurry up, already!” one of the ninjas complained as they left the room. Embarrassed by the sound of what they assumed to be from their ninja ally, they continued their shelter-chatting and planning of their next target after that rich dude.

Imai had used the loud sound to punch a hole through the wall and crawl out - thanks to his magic sensory, he was free from anyone’s eyes. This room contained a bunch of chests… jackpot. It couldn’t have been more perfect for him. He went over to a chest and realized that with this many, he’d have to be lucky to find the book. Given the description, the book had a blue cover, so having given 5 more minutes, the star mage finally found it.

“Bingo,” he let out in relief, finally able to give Itori the signal. Clenching a hand, he manifested a black hole - calm down, it was a small one - and launched it down through the floor. It leaked down to the room from previously, and boom; it began attracting everything and everyone. A large portion of the roof crashed down and got sucked into the black hole, while the ninjas down there were fighting for their limbs not to get sucked in as well. Near the actual entrance to the fortress, a white hole manifested and began spitting out rocks and poor ninjas.

WC: 932 + 2966 = 3898

As Imai approached the fortress and entered the radius which Itori was affected he would feel the raindrops hitting him as if they had actual shape and mess, even though his clothes failed to become wet. As a member of the kitsune species Itori's illusions weren't limited to fooling the eyes, as instead of merely creating images she was using magic to impose her own imagination upon reality. While she couldn't entirely substitute reality with her imagination she could make everyone believe so, and deception was the entire point of illusions in the end.

Still, Itori herself was left standing outside channelling as she also tried to keep track of Imai's advance. She could hear him climb the walls and slip inside while the bandits all tried to find shelter from the rain. However her companion and partner quickly disappeared inside, where it was harder for her to accurately guess his location as the sounds of his footsteps rebounded all over the place, especially where the construction was still incomplete and there was plenty of irregular objects to help distort the echoes. From the outside there was no sign of the owner's of the incomplete stronghold being aware of Imai's intrusion, although Itori doubted that it would take very long. While she did genuinely believe in Imai's capabilities he didn't seem like the type who would perform entire missions stealthily. That, and given that these bandits bothered to steal an ancient tome they could very well have magical assistance in defending their fortress.

However this also meant that she could stop channelling and get to work infiltrating the fortress herself. Letting reality reassert itself the downpour quickly faded away, although she had the presence of mind to at least make the disappearance look natural rather than everything blatantly fading away in plain sight. Using a much smaller illusion to turn herself invisible she made her way towards the wall where Imai had also entered, the white kitsune putting on her mask to ensure she wouldn't alert the bandits with any other signs of her presence either. With smell, sound and magic masked and her illusion covering her appearance she could safely climb onto the all and slip inside, where she could see that the bandits were already beginning to return to their stations now that the rain had disappeared. That would make moving about inside the main building easier, but would also mean that the bandits would once again be on alert.

Itori decided to not pay too much attention to the fact that their enemies appeared to be ninjas. Historically ninjas were members of the lower caste who relied on subterfuge and stealth to accomplish their tasks. While not obsessed with honour she didn't think they were often criminals who used their abilities to steal from the populace. If they went out of their way to steal the tome... maybe there was a better motive for it than simple greed?

A loud crash above indicated that Imai had been busy. The bigger crash of the black hole moving down towards the lobby where there were still quite a few ninjas was an even bigger indication. Itori presumed that he had located the book, because she doubted the ace would be so blatant with announcing his presence unless he'd already achieved the primary objective.

Now the question was... to escape with the book or get rid of these bandits while they were at it?

Itori's internal question was answered when two figures dashed towards her, steel glinting in their hands. Pulling her sword Itori managed to deflect the strikes aimed at several of her organs, but was pushed backwards until she let herself fall. Rolling back she used a wipe swipe of her white sword to keep the assailants at a distance as she got back onto her feet, regaining her balance as she used ears and nose to get an idea of what she was dealing with.

The two ninjas before her gave the impression of ones who weren't as easily dealt with as those who were sucked into the black hole and then spat out in front of the fortress. They moved with confidence and certainty, and with no small amount of skill. Their scent was very faint, proof that they knew how to conceal themselves even for those who relied on senses other than their eyes. They made little sound as they both kept a safe distance from Itori, the white kitsune holding her blade up while lightly balancing on the ball of her feet.

"Why did you steal the tome? What is your purpose?"

She asked this hoping for an answer that she could use to treat these ninjas as anything other than greedy bandits, but her hopes were dashed when one of the ninjas answered with a gruff voice and a curt tone. "None of your business. Surrender and we may let you go."

Itori's ears twitched as she could hear the sound of movement upstairs. More than one person. It looked like Imai would also be dealing with his own opponents while she was fighting these ninjas. While she didn't think they could overwhelm her they were strong enough that she would have preferred to play it safe and team up against them. "My apologies, but I cannot do that."

With that one of the ninjas jumped forward, throwing several small metal projectiles. Unable to deflect all of those at the same time with only a single blade Itori jumped to the left, but found that the other ninja was already waiting there. Angling her sword she managed to deflect his first strike, at the same time lashing out with her foot in an attempt to hook his foot and make him trip. The ninja noticed this and leaped backwards. This gave Itori the opening to block the other ninja, who had closed the gap and struck at her with a sickle. With sword and sickle interlocked the ninja began to press forward until Itori suddenly turned ethereal. Letting the ninja stumble through her before he regained his balance Itori moved forward. Turning around she turned corporeal once more, her blade in front of her and held with both hands while behind her was the large hole created by Imai smashing his way through the multiple floors with the black hole.

She just hoped they could get rid of these veteran ninjas before all the mooks that Imai had thrown out of the fortress returned. Inexperienced or not their numbers would make this a real hassle.

WC: 1092
TWC: 4457

Oh well, with the book in his possession, Imai should at the very least check on Itori. He could sense her presence approaching rapidly after his very entrance, and with a bunch of ninjas having been lunged down to the first floor, he should aid and make it somewhat of a fair fight. “On my way, foxy…!” he let out as his body charged up a bluish light, surrounding him in a dome of starlight before he dashed out at high speed.

On his way, he crashed into several low-rank ninjas whose own movement speeds were inferior, sadly not capable of saving them from a flying light that darted through their ranks and groups effortlessly.

Once when Imai reached the lower floor almost instantly, Itori was found dealing with two high-ranked ninjas whose superiorities were yet to be unveiled by the new arriver. With the crash behind her, Imai’s presence did alert them, although to his advantage, he could aid Itori without losing sight of those targeting himself. He quickly went to action and fired off a pair of light blasts fast enough to scratch the two higher-ranked ninjas’ noses, making them turn around to see no Imai. As a decoy, he used it to then teleport over to Itori’s behind, clapping her back and leaving a magic seal to boost the speed of her every movement drastically. “Speed buff; you’re welcome…!” he informed her discreetly, disappearing once again as a bluish ray of light that charged towards the massive group of lower-ranked ninjas that were heading towards them.

Sharp projectiles were thrown at him, but as battle-ready as he was, he deflected them with his bare arms with minimal cuts to him. As he then closed in on the group, hell broke out as a flurry of punches and kicks that launched all the ninjas to different directions, some crashing through the walls and others hitting the ceiling. A battlecry emerged from Imai during this melee volley, and his Heavenly Body Magic responded accordingly, increasing in magnitude and almost blinding the entire hallway.

Grabbing the collar of a random ninja, Imai repeated Itori’s question: “Why’d you nail the tome, huh?! Tell me why!” The ninja was a tad too awe-struck and beaten up to come up with a reply immediately, but Imai had other things to worry about as a scythe grabbed onto his left arm whilst he attempted to block it. Unphased by the damage dealt, Imai eyed the three silver-colored ninjas who joined the equation; two of them passing by Imai to gang up on Itori with the others.

Now would be a good time to get on with some spicy illusions… or so he thought. While the rain show did require Itori’s full concentration per his own observation of her, he wasn’t sure where her limit went if she attempted to do one mid-combat. With two silver ninjas approaching her - making it four versus one - it would likely not give her the focus and peace required…

The third ninja lashed himself towards Imai, the latter grabbing the lashing ninja and swinging him over to one of the two others. It was a good idea to keep them gathered like this, undoing one of the perks granted by the element of outnumbering them, which was inevitably the case. “It’s hard to get control of this fight when you lot know what you do,” Imai commented, indicating that some distraction was preferred in his and Itori’s case.

“You’re not getting out of here alive…”

WC: 588 + 3898 = 4486

"Foxy?" Itori thought to herself as she heard Imai's voice from far above. She was pretty sure that the ace didn't know she could hear him, although honestly she was more puzzled by the unusual form of address than upset. That kind of nickname was usually one she gained from children, not from fellow mages. Well, honestly that was a secondary thought right now as she had much more pressing matters. There were two experienced ninjas in front of her who weren't planning to let her go away, and who would get reinforcements if she allowed the fight to drag on for too long. She would have liked it if she could have played defensively and waited for a good opening but she would have to be the one on the offensive this time around. A situation she wasn't fond of, since she wasn't that happy when it came to acts of violence anyway.

Seeing Imai appear behind the ninjas she was having a face-off with Itori didn't betray his arrival with a change in her facial expression, although her eyebrows did go up when he teleported behind her and hit her with a magic seal. She could feel its effects flowing through her body, making her feel lighter than before and as if she was filled with boundless energy. She would have thanked him, but she needed to make use of this opportunity he had given her. While the ninjas were still turning back towards her she shot forward at high speed, bringing her sword down towards one of the ninjas. The man managed to deflect the strike with two sickles, but due to Itori's sudden increase in speed he stumble and lost his balance. The other ninja covered for him with a strike using a short sword that forced Itori to retreat. Stepping backwards she spun on one foot and then used her other foot to propell herself. Pushing herself straight towards the second ninja she this time took a stab at her adversary. The ninja had already adapted to her increased speed and dodged to the side. Unfortunately for him one of Itori's tails lashed out and hit him in the side of the head. While the tail didn't have the strength to deal a significant injury it did halt his momentum and daze him. With her sword still held out in front of her Itori planted both feet firmly on the ground and spun herself around. The sword slashed sideways towards the ninja's midriff, only avoided by him jumping backwards, feet sliding across the floor. However he didn't retreat without striking back, once more throwing several small metal projectiles. Due to her attempt at slicing open the man's torso Itori could dodge. She winced as she blocked the projectiles with her tail, feeling sharp metal cut through fur and dig into skin.

Feeling her tail get injured a surge of anger shot through her, her vermilion eyes flashing while she lashed with her tail to dislodge the shuriken. A surge of energy flowed through her tail, closing the small wounds and returning the silver-white fur to its pristine state. Her ears twitched as she heard the first ninja approach from the side. Without hesitation she dashed forward. The ninja's attack cut only air as she headed straight for a wall, using every step to accelerate while her body began to glow a ghostly white. Hitting the wall she jumped and planted both feet on it. Turning herself around she launched herself straight towards the ninja, spinning mid-air so when she smashed into him she buried one sandalled foot into the side of his head and the other into his stomach. The transfer of momentum sent the ninja flying into the opposite wall while Itori did a salto to land on her feet. Her ears twitched again and she slashed with her sword, cutting down several explosive seals that the second ninja had thrown towards her.

If it wasn't for her ears she wouldn't have noticed the other two high-ranked ninjas approaching her. They were silent enough that no human would have caught them without magical assistance, but Itori's ears were abnormally sharp even for a kitsune. As a result when they flanked her, one holding a net and the other wielding two short swords, Itori turned into a ghost and stepped straight through the one with the short swords. Rematerializing behind the masked woman she used her tails to push her into the net while at the same time striking with her sword, aiming to pierce both ninjas through the chest at the same time.

The ninja with the net reacted too quickly, letting go of the net and pulling her ally with the short swords out of the way while blocking Itori's sword with the metal bracer protecting her forearm. The white metal bit deep into the arm guard without touching skin, glancing off of the ninja's shoulder while at the same time Itori felt a stinging pain as she found that a dagger was now sticking out from one of her lower legs.

Letting out a hiss she pulled back, once more retreating to the spot in front of the hole while holding her sword horizontally in front of herself as the ninjas also regrouped. She'd only delivered two real wounds so far, one by smashing one ninja into a wall and another on the shoulder of the female ninja with the net. Itori herself had a dagger sticking out of her leg, although she used one tail to pull it out.

She could hear that Imai was fighting another ninja of similar skill, and also that the ace was hoping that she would be able to deliver something of a distraction to help even the odds. Given that Imai only had to deal with one of the ninjas she doubted that he really needed her support, but nevertheless agreed with him that they couldn't keep fighting fairly. Thanks to Imai's buff and her own magic she could deal with two of the ninjas at the same time, but they were too good at fighting together for her to land a finishing blow. Every time that she found an opening in one the other would step in and either block it or force Itori to retreat. And four ninjas of this caliber... Definitely too many to be playing fair with. Eventually she'd get brought down by the simple fact that when she made one move they could make four, and each one was talented enough to be a serious opponent in their own right.

"We should balance things out a bit." As she said this she created the simplest of illusions, a simple flash of light that couldn't deal any damage, but would do its job of keeping the ninjas from seeing her for a couple of seconds while at the same time making them too wary to act recklessly. In those few seconds she wove a much more complex illusion, forcing reality to accept the changes that her will imposed upon it. She needed something for herself, and something to make things easier for Imai as well.

If it wasn't for the fact that she'd had thousands of years to become good at this she could never have cast two powerful illusions this quickly.

When the illusionary light disappeared there were four Itori's, each one having the same dagger wound on the leg and each one covered in the same ghostly glow. Each one was also holding a white sword, albeit in different ways while each eyed the ninjas warily with vermilion orbs.

As for Imai, he was suddenly covered in a much more vibrant light, Itori having been inspired by the ace's own magic. The ninja he was facing would no longer be able to make out anything other than Imai's outlines, and even that would be vague as the light didn't spread very far but obscured Imai's form thoroughly. Now that the ninja could no longer read Imai's body language or see his attacks until they were almost on top of him the ace should have an easy time dealing with the ninja. Well, easier at any rate. These were still the strongest ninjas of the clan, and just because Itori was messing with their ability to perceive Imai while also making them fight four of her at once didn't mean they were now helpless.

Of course they might be a bit shocked once they realized that each of the Itoris was real and physical. Well, real... Itori had forced her imagination upon reality, creating three copies that were fully physical and which could copy her physical abilities. They wouldn't be able to cast spells, but right now what she really needed was some additional bodies to prevent her being overwhelmed.

"Shall we?"
"Shall we?"
"Shall we?"
"Shall we?"

WC: 1478
TWC: 5935

Imai clenched his fists a little tighter now that they were in the end game… nah, he still felt like giving it more. These ninjas were so annoying in their discreet, maneuvering art of battle; Imai was way more head-on and destructive in his actions. Merely moving his hand muscles to clench his fists, however, was enough for the ninjas in front of him to appear right in front of him and cause a mirage-like appearance. He dashed forward, using his magic to increase his speed, but the mirage got to him and he was soon met with a following cut from one of the silver ninjas. He barely dodged it, though, and he noticed how they were extremely adapted into planning their next move right after having swung a deadly attack towards him. It was as if they expected to miss and actually planned to just jump around and never hit him for real.

It annoyed him. It annoyed him a lot.

All of a sudden, a vibrant light covered Imai’s body alike his usual magic, but it wasn’t his production. Rather, this must have been Itori’s doing. Annoyance slowly turned into excitement as he eyed the silver ninja who stepped back to try and redo his plan of attack against a body with no clear contours. Imai rushed around in a spiral, approaching the ninja with insane velocity and landing a heavy punch in the silver ninja’s gut - wait, this was platinum! Given by the feeling of the metal sliding off on Imai’s knuckles, he could surely distinguish it from the rough surface of silver…

Guess he was wrong all this time…

He paused not a single second and followed up with a flurry of heavy punches and kicks as he rocketed his body straight at the ninja who was too desperate to even plan ahead. Now blinded by the light, the platinum shinobi was seen pushed through the hallway by a ferocious wizard until he crashed through a nearby wall. Despite all that, the ninja could still stand up - however, his clothes were severely torn apart, revealing all the injuries that he had taken from Imai.

…

A huge explosion could be heard even from Itori’s position. The entire building shook and released cracking dust particles, while a huge cloud of smoke could be seen outside. In the middle of the crater, a defeated ninja was lying in utter helplessness along with a worn out Imai who pushed himself a little further. Cutting wounds, bludgeoning injuries and other signs of a heavy fight were visible on him, but he slowly turned his face back to the entrance and the hallway where Itori was fighting. Ignoring his own injuries, he had taken the win and headed back to aid her… unless if she already took care of two-three ninjas at once…

"Oh boy, you thugs are in trouble now...!"

WC: 4486 + 483 = 4969

Itori had been ready to resume the fight with the ninjas when both she, her copies and her opponents had to focus on keeping their balance as suddenly an explosion with enough force to rock the entire building appears with little warning. While the fox had been keeping an eye on how Imai was dealing with his own opponents she hadn't anticipated that explosive power. Fortunately neither had the ninjas. The result was that neither side recovered quickly enough to take advantage of the other's moment of imbalance, and were forced to rely on a frontal assault. Given Itori's dislike of drawn out fights this annoyed her on some level but she was too old to easily get annoyed by such simple truth's as that you couldn't always get your dream engagement.

The good news was that the ninjas clearly weren't comfortable with the fact that they were no longer outnumbering her. As ninjas they were trained for subterfuge, sabotage, assassination and guerrilla warfare. Direct confrontations weren't their forte, and they usually relied on tricky maneuvering combined with superior numbers to keep their target busy. Instead each of them now had a sword-wielding kitsune to wield with. Worse than that, they quickly found out that these four kitsune were just as good at working as a team as the four of them.

The four foxes dashed forward, the two in the middle each making a stabbing motion while the ones on the side made a big sweep with their blades. Because of that the ninjas couldn't easily circle around them. Forced to retreat the concealed and armed warriors each threw a handful of shuriken (barring the one with the two short swords who appeared to be a close combat specialist). This forced the four kitsune to spread out which the ninjas used to regroup and plan. The one with the two short swords dashed forward to stab at the two kitsune which moved to the right while backed up with the one with the net. While two Itoris had more than enough strength to overpower one ninjas in a contest of raw strength the dual-wielding ninja wasn't giving them the opportunity as she only used fast strikes. Whenever a white sword blocked a short sword the short sword was already moving for another strike. In fact she was moving so quickly that neither Itori could find a good opportunity to press the attack, especially with the one with the net circling around them to find a good oportunity to entangle the two of them.

The other two foxes had to deal with the one with the sickle and the one with a single sword. The one with the sword made a strong horizontal strike that one Itori blocked while the other moved forward to run her blade through the ninja's stomach. Unfortunately because of that she nearly got beheaded when the other ninja appeared from below with a fast strike from his sickle. Changing the thrust she had aimed for the first ninja she instead used it to threaten the sickle-wielder back, which gave the sword-wielder the opportunity to step back as well and avoid the follow-up attack.

The two vixens that were fighten the dual-wielder and the net-wielder suddenly split up. One used her tails to threaten the dual-wielder long enough for the other to step away and instead turn towards the net-wielder. The net-wielder throws a handful of shuriken while moving backwards, but after having seen that projectile attack so many times already Itori dodges easily and closes the gap. She begins to consistently strike at the wounded side of the ninja, the one where she'd already managed to partially pierce the shoulder. Because the shoulder limited the movements of that arm the ninja was forced to evade to the side. The kitsune kept up the pressure, occasionally also attempting to trip the ninja up with her tails. At the same time the net-wielder showed enough skill to still fight back with a dagger even if the wounded shoulder kept her from bringing Itori to a standstill.

The two Itoris fighting the two male ninja also spread out. These two managed by jumping backwards. The two ninjas didn't immediately chase, but the shuriken they threw weren't enough to keep both vixens from moving so one of them stepped to the side after which she quickly began to flank the ninjas. Because of this the men were forced to fight a battle on two fronts, the one with the sickle fending off the flanker while the one with the short sword tried to get an advantage over the other kitsune.

While the ninjas were aware that Itori was wounded on her leg they weren't given an opportunity to capitalize on it. At least, not fast enough. By the time the dual-wielder got the opportunity to strike at the wounded leg she found that it had already healed while the kitsune in question pulled the leg back and at the same time used a wide horizontal strike to force the ninja to duck. Followed by that was another horizontal strike from the same direction, close and low enough that the ninja had to evade to the side.

This ended up with the four ninjas realizing that they were now almost bunched up. While not so close that they were interfering with one another's movements it was clear that they were now forming an inner circle and the kitsune formed an outer circle. A single glance was enough confirmation before the one with the net prepared to drop a smoke bomb with which they would cause a distraction and separate once more. During that single glance the four Itoris suddenly wavered and disappeared and were replaced with a transparant dome, the surface shifting and flowing similar to the surface of a soapbell, but with an ethereal tint to it.

"My apologies. I am not fond of combat myself, so I felt forced to decide this before it dragged on for too long. You have made it clear that you will not cease your criminal activities unless forced to, so I shall render you incapable of doing so." Outside of the barrier Itori appeared, her sword sheathed at her side. She placed one hand against the outside of the dome, the shimmering surface rippling as if a water surface. "Do not worry. Your souls will transfer safely."

The ninjas weren't so stupid as to waste time listening to the kitsune's words, but at the same time couldn't find a way to escape the trap. The attempts to destroy the barrier with metal weapons was quickly proved fruitless, and within such a small enclosed space they couldn't use explosive seals to destroy the floor without causing great harm to themselves as well. They managed to make a hole in the floor with their own strength, but then found that the barrier actually was a full dome that surrounded them on all sides.

Right as they prepared to destroy the barrier with great force the air around the dome-like trap was filled with many, many flames. Each flame looked ghostly, ethereal, and there were enough to illuminate the entire area in an eery and otherworldly light. Itori didn't say another word as instead she made a motion with her hand, and the last thing the ninjas saw was the ghostlight filling their vision before the immense barrage of foxfire ravaged their bodies and severed their souls.

Itori barely waited for the attack to end before she stepped forward, the barrier dispersing before her. At the end the high-ranked ninjas had attempted to keep her from attacking them while they tried to escape with that smoke bomb, but an omni-directional attack didn't need much targeting. And what little targeting was needed she could manage with her ears and her spiritual senses. Reaching out for the four souls she gathered them all in her hands, closing her eyes as she first took some of their energy to compensate for the large amount she expended to create the barrier and the foxfire bombardment. Once she felt like she'd replenished her reserves well enough she dismissed the souls, sending them to the afterlife or whatever fate was in store for them.

Now that the fight was over she looked around, waiting for Imai to return. From what she could sense there was still one powerful ninja in the area, but it didn't look like that one was up for a frontal assault. They'd have to lure that one out to eliminate the last leader of this group of thugs. While taking out five of the leaders would already hurt them greatly the single remaining leader could still keep the group going, and by now Itori was convinced that the only reasonable course of action was the thorough annihilation of this group of thieves and criminals.

WC: 1477
TWC: 7412

Did they clear the entire place, now? Imai couldn’t be so sure yet, because he had trouble sensing these ninjas’ auras… they were likely using little to no magic during this ‘siege’ of theirs. What a bummer. Imai could have been of way more help with such skills of his. He should learn how to sense lifeforces instead of magic at some point. However, their objective appeared completed to him - they had the tome, and the bandit ninjas were reduced to a silent absence. Great!

Upon his way back to Itori, he checked both sides and across other rooms just to make sure that they didn’t oversee any enemies. To his surprise, there were actually none present now. A little hope of having succeeded the mission grew in his heart and his face brightened up as he finally stood at the previous corner room where Itori seemed to have defeated each ninja who grouped up on her. “Ah, nice! You’re safe and sound…” he expressed before eyeing both sides of the area, “… So… does this mean we emptied the house?”

It was oddly silent. Imai didn’t feel as much completed as he expected. It just felt wrong and clouded with delusion that their mission was completed, even though the book was in his very hands and no signs of other ninjas were present. “… So much beating for a single tome-“ he spoke with the book lifted up in front of his face. That was when a strange voice called out to them both from a source difficult to trace down:

“That book isn’t worth the trouble that you two caused. Leave it; it’s a waste of your time.”

“W-What, now!?” Imai almost roared in shock as he turned his whole body around to prepare for any sneak attacks or jumpscares. Was that another ninja’s voice? “… S-Some ninja you are, revealing your presence and all…!” Truth be told, even when the ninja was talking directly to them both, the source of his voice echoed with the entire room and made it nigh impossible for a creature’s sense of hearing to locate its origin precisely. It was definitely a technique worthy of a ninja’s possession. “The book you’re risking your lives to retrieve is common; it has no magical tomes in it, because it’s a dirty doujinshi.” Somehow, instead of attacking them both, the ninja tried revealing how vain their task was by revealing the book’s content to be some… dirty fanfic?

Imai couldn’t believe a single thing that this enemy said. Therefore, he opened the book himself and took a look…

He would then turn his face towards Itori with a small trail of blood escaping his left nostril and a near mesmerized look on his face.

“Could… c-could you find this dude for me?” he begged her, “We have to get out of here… he’s probably talking ‘cause he knows he’s outmatched…”

“One chance; leave now or die…!”

WC: 4969 + 492 = 5461

In the short time she had before Imai would join her Itori tried to sense out the last ninja, but unfortunately it looked like he was good enough at what he did to keep himself hidden even with a spirit fox hunting him. That required a surprising amount of skill and unique talent, since moving silently alone wouldn't hide you from someone who could hunt you down through your soul. What she could sense, however, was that he wasn't moving to run away just yet, despite not making any move to engage either. He must know that Imai was heading towards Itori so the two mages would be joined up again, so why wouldn't he try to attack while they were still separated? The motives were something to be curious and wary about.

She nodded towards Imai when he showed his face again, smiling gently as he expressed gratitude at her safety. "I am also glad to see that you are still in good health sir Uchūken. These bandits are more than just thieves and thugs. Going by their level of skill, organization and equipment it is safe to say that they are more like a band of trained mercenaries. That said you are correct that they appear to have fled. Seeing five of their leaders get struck down by us must have convinced them that they were better off hiding and waiting for us to depart." She stated before nodding in agreement as Imai softly lamented the amount of violence required just to retrieve one tome. Although strangely enough the tome failed to emanate with power, as tomes normally did...

Itori blinked as she heard a second voice, even though this one came from everywhere at once, bouncing off of the walls and ceiling so the owner was hidden. It declared that the tome was worthless, leaving the kitsune frowning. If the tome was worthless, does that mean that these trained ninjas only fought to the death for the sake of defending their fort? It wasn't impossible, but it sounded... implausible... She leaned forward to carefully gaze into the book when Imai checked it, reaffirming with her own eyes that it was indeed smut and that there were no traces of magic or power in any of its pages. Leaning back the vixen tried to make heads or tails of this. She had noticed that there was something strange about the client's story and attitude back in the city, but she wouldn't have expected this. Now that they knew that the book was just smut she wasn't entirely sure what to do with it. They probably should just return it... although she'd want to have words with the client about pretending that something of true value was stolen.

Although at this point she'd already made up her mind about making sure that this band of bandits would no longer be a threat to the surroundings, so that part didn't change. When Imai asked for her to locate the last ninja boss she nodded, closing her eyes as she focused. The ninja threatened to end their lives if they didn't depart immediately, but she could tell that he didn't have full confidence in his ability to kill them. Not surprising, given that they'd just taken down the other five ninja bosses. As for him using echoes to hide his location... while it was certainly a display of skill, it didn't account for Itori. Her sense of hearing went well beyond what any human could imagine, much less prepare for using only non-magical means. As she closed her eyes and focused she discerned which sounds were echoes, where they echoed from and the distance of the point of origin. As such she got a complex mental map of shockwaves reflecting and spreading and reflecting again... until she could hear that the ninja was hiding in the walls.

Drawing her sword Itori dashed towards the wall and sliced it, the white blade easily cutting through the wooden construction. With planks and smaller pieces of wood falling down Itori cut again, now revealing a glimpse of pale cloth before the ninja moved away with Itori following stubbornly. Creating an illusion she made the ninja feel as if he was frozen in a block of cement. While the masked bandit quickly shrugged the illusion off with mental discipline this was enough time for the vulpine mage to cut open the portion of the wall the man was hiding in and pull him out into the open with her tail.

Rolling and standing back up the last ninja readied himself, his eyes filled with a mixture of anger, discpline, determination and a small amount of fear. Itori answered that gaze with one of her own, although hers was almost purely one of focus as she readied her blade.

"Smut or not our client has hired us to retrieve this tome, and in the process I have come to conclude that it would be better for this area if this gathering of criminals was dealt with before they become a bigger issue. Unless you surrender now you will face the same fate as the rest, as you are too dangerous to overlook."

The man didn't answer, only lowering his stance and revealing that in one hand he had a notched sword and in the other he had a large dagger. While Itori wasn't exactly a weapons expert she could tell that the notched sword had as main purpose disarming the opponent by catching their weapon in the notch and then wrenching it out of their hands. Not that either Imai or Itori would really suffer if that happened, but that kind of weapon was only wielded by those with considerable skill, enough that they could reliably catch the weapon of the opponent and then quickly pull it away before the opponent could react. This last ninja... well, the five-tailed kitsune wasn't expecting him to be much bigger of a threat than the other five, but he definitely wasn't one of the leaders for show.

WC: 1008
TWC: 8420

Hmh… oh, there he was. That bastard was hiding in the walls, what a mad lad! Itori’s keen sense of smell quickly tracked down his location, and the ferocity of her tails came to full show in front of the star mage. It appeared that they were both on the same page; smut book was also important for a tome… wait, would she think so too? Like, Imai could understand if the tome was a cover to hide the client’s- oh boy, they should probably pretend not to know anything about its content later. Who wanted a displeased client? This wasn’t even remotely damaging to him - they would still profit in one way or another.

The last ninja seemed fairly well beat - he must have been hiding all along. It was expected from a stealth expert, but also kind of a dick move. Anyway, he was about to meet his brethren outside as Imai clenched his fists. “You’re mine!” he yelled as he leapt up in the air, eager to finish things quickly, so that he could celebrate by snuggling Itori’s attractive, warm, comfy tails. While midair, the ninja assumed Imai for a brat and directly approached him with both blades equipped, intending to flung his body down with the notched blade and finish him with the dagger. However, he quickly scrapped that plan and sped up without his blades aiming straight at him, realizing that this was a battle against a wizard who just blew up a good chunk of the hideout in one blast.

He would have to be cautious with the wizards of Sabertooth. Their reputation was wide and even reached his ears a good while ago.

Of all attacks, having a ball of light kicked at you like a football was the last thing to expect. It came from a 180 degree vertical angle of Imai’s body, and the orb just flew on its own accord with a dynamic trajectory. The poor lad had no way to dodge a ball that could home onto you.

And thus, the ninja was sent across the floor rapidly as Imai quit playing around. The orb pushed him towards a wall at the other end of the hall, and with a big crash, the ninja found himself pinned to the structure of his own hideout. “… Aaaaaaaand we’re done here,” Imai declared, “Let’s go bring back the tome.”

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Back at Shirotsume, the tome was safely handed back to the client as he was accompanied by his associates. In relief, he would thank the Sabertooth Wizards for retrieving his book, but he also asked them if they had ever seen the contents of his priced ‘tome’. Imai would eye Itori and simply shake his head, stating that he hadn’t taken a single look and that the book had been closed for now. It was a satisfactory response to the client who found his deep secrets yet concealed from any public eye. Also, extra reward - a sweet... bag of some sorts.

Imai was more than happy that his mission had come to an end, not because of any apparent difficulty or laziness, but because that he had officially made a guildmate more than just that - a friend of his and a familiar associate. And her tails proved to be much softer and delightful to hug and snug than he imagined in the act of rubbing his cheeks on her… two, three- yes, three tails.

“*mmhhmmm* This is heaven…”

WC: 579
TWC: 5461 + 579 = 6040

As expected Itori didn't really have to do anything once she had revealed the location of the ninja and brought him out into the open. Once Imai had a bead on the guy he was taken out quickly, leaving the kitsune to verify that he was in fact dead before they could move on. She wasn't fond of having to kill like this, but as long as these top ninjas were alive the rest of the clan could reform around them. And trying to imprison a ninja was generally a wasted effort, as their rigorous training lent itself well to escaping bonds and traps.

With all six the head ninjas verified to be dead the kitsune agreed with Imai to return to the client and return the tome, although she had to wonder how important it really was to retrieve a book of smut. The book didn't appear to contain anything which would serve as evidence that it was the client's property, which would make it difficult to use it as blackmail. Maybe he just really wanted it back on hand in case he felt frisky. The three-tailed fox wasn't going to be the one to inquire about that, since she didn't feel like the answer to that was important enough and she didn't think she really cared to know either.

---

The returning to the book happened without incident, Itori this time not interfering as Imai took charge of the transaction. When asked if she had seen the contents of the book she merely shook her head, nodding it when the Sabertooth Ace claimed that it had been closed this entire time and that nobody had gotten a peek. Now that she knew what the secret was it was kind of obvious that the book didn't actually contain any magic, but she kept her mouth shut since she didn't want the client to think that she was suspicious or anything.

Once the book was returned they were rewarded with payment for a job well done, as well as gifted a bag which could hold a lot more than its size suggested. That was certainly a reward worth the trouble of seeking out the bandits and taking out their leaders while retrieving the book. This kind of magic item was worth a lot more money than the jewels they were paid.

Of course, right now it looked like her companion had gotten himself a different reward. Itori knew that her tails were nice to the touch since she made sure of that, but she hadn't expected the ace to dive into them once they were out of sight and they didn't have to worry about decorum any more. Smiling gently she patted the younger man on the head, then placed her hand on his shoulder.

"I appreciate your praise, but shall we return to the guild hall for now? Unless you would like to explore your hometown for a while longer, in which case it would most likely still be more practical to let go of my tails so we can both walk properly."