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Kaiten's First Mission
"Kaiten, you have finally passed your gempukko, you are finally part of the Koga. Now, as a Koga ninja, you are
charged with the preservation of the government on Ithidor, and you cannot fail, or your failure can bring much harm to your
family, or the government. Your first mission is contained in this letter," explained Kaiten's sensei, dropping the
letter to the ground.
"Hai, I understand. I will do my best not to fail, no matter the task," replied Kaiten as he bowed to his sensei.
He then picked up the letter on the group before him, and left the room. He was determined to not fail in his first task.
He waited until he was in his room to read the letter. He sighed when he was finished reading, it was a simple assassination
of a low-ranking Kurou diplomat. He was to kill him while he was on the way to the capital, and make sure nobody who traveled
with him survived to reach the city. He blew out the candle at his desk and went to sleep, deciding to leave in the morning
so as to get a head start.
He woke to the sound of a servant outside his door, before he even entered to wake Kaiten. He got up and began to gather
what equipment he would need to accomplish his mission. The servant entered just as he was tying his ninja-to to his waist.
"Ah, I see you already awake, Kaiten-san. Going to leave without saying goodbye to your brother? He was hoping
to talk to you after you passed your gempukko, but you disappeared into your sensei's room before he got the chance. He was
very disappointed." The servant shook his head and exited his room, sliding the shoji closed.
"Bah, Keiken can wait. I'll talk to him when I have completed my first mission," Kaiten muttered to himself.
He finished packing up his equipment, and decided to sneak out of the manor, so Keiken wouldn't see him.
He snuck out flawlessly, nobody saw him. Satisfied that he escaped without having to talk to anyone, he began traveling
toward the capital along the road. After only two days, he saw the diplomat with his yojimbo and servants traveling down
the road. Kaiten didn't want to be seen, so he snuck off the wide dirt road. He followed the diplomat from a distance until
nightfall. Then, it was his time to strike.
It was a clear night, with the moon nearly full and bright stars. This would make it difficult for Kaiten to not be seen.
He smiled inwardly. "This will truly test my skill," he thought. To make it even more difficult, the small group
was camped out in the open away from any trees. Kaiten would need a diversion to draw them into the shadows. He did this
by creeping into a small copse of trees about fifty feet from his target, and tossing a rock to the side, about twenty feet
from him, but still in the trees.
"What was that?" a servant asked, turning towards the sound.
"Probably just an animal, but go check it out just in case," said the diplomat's bodyguard. And then pointing
to the other servant, "You, go with him."
They grabbed their swords, stood up, and made their way to the trees. A couple minutes passed, and they had not exited
the trees yet. The two remaining men were beginning to be worried.
"They haven't returned, what should we do?" asked the now frightened diplomat. He was fidgeting and clutched
a tanto in his hands.
"We should stay put. If they were killed, whatever killed them will have to move right out into the open to kill
us as well," the samurai explained, trying to calm his charge.
Kaiten did not count on his yojimbo being intelligent. Cursing himself, he thought of his next move. He thought of a
few strategies, and finally settled on one. He would disguise himself in one of the dead servant's kimono and walk right
up to them. They would only realize it wasn't one of them when it was too late.
He looked down at the one he stabbed, saw the large bloodstain on the front of his kimono, and decided to use the clothes
of the one who he strangled with a garrote wire. Dressed and ready, he stumbled out of the trees towards the campfire.
"What's going on? Why are you alone?" the samurai asked, as his hand strayed to the hilt of his katana. Kaiten
was now just under ten feet from him. "Wait, who are you? Answer now, or I cut you where you stand!" The bodyguard
drew his sword and shifted to a defensive stance. Kaiten jumped back, threw three shuriken, and ripped the stolen kimono
off of him all simultaneously. The bodyguard blocked two of the shuriken, but the third nicked his side. Immediately, he
felt numbness spread from the cut, and knew he was poisoned.
"Treacherous ninja, you will fall by my blade!" he shouted as he lunged for Kaiten. Kaiten drew both of his
ninja-to and caught his enemy's katana between them, ducked, and swept his leg under the bodyguard. The bodyguard stumbled,
but caught himself before he fell. This left him open, however, and one of Kaiten's ninja-to stabbed right into his shoulder.
He tried to slash Kaiten with his sword, but the numbing poison finally took hold of him and he fell limply to the ground.
The last thing he saw was his killer smile as he plunged his sword into his neck.
"D-d-don't kill me!" cried the diplomat who had been paralyzed with fear up to this point. As Kaiten stepped
towards him, he crawled back a few feet and pleaded once more. "Don't kill me, I can pay you as much money as you want!
I'll do anything, don't kill me!"
Kaiten hesitated for a moment, feeling pity for this pathetic excuse for a man. The words of the letter floated in his
mind, "Do not let any survive." The words strengthened his resolve, and he pulled his sword out of the yojimbo's
neck, stepping towards the diplomat once more.
"Please!" the diplomat screamed, and one slash from the ninja's sword silenced him forever.
"That wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. But still, I prefer my victims to have a fighting chance...
Much more exciting that way," Kaiten thought to himself as he flicked his swords clean and sheathed them.
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