Tales of a Ninja Magician: Of Games of Body and Soul

The Preparation Phase

"Hmmm..." the man disappeared deep within his thoughts while stroking his rodent-sized mustache incessantly. Who could have blamed him, it occurred to Mana that if she had such a rich hairline over her lip, she'd probably be stroking it all the time too, just like when she stroke her plentiful hair. "I am not like my constituents, I am afraid. I will need more information than this to let you place traps that would endanger my own people in my settlement."

"That is understandable, what would you like to know?" Yushijin took over the initiative of speaking for his team as a leader.

"First of all, you people are clearly Konoha ninja. You're not hiding the plates of your forehead protectors but Land of Snow is not used to working with other villages. We've worked with Kumogakure as far as I can remember so this development is extremely suspicious to me." The chief wondered. The man settled down into a chair, wrapped his arms over his chest and placed one leg onto the other, shutting himself off from the team of guests this way.

"We've been hired by a settlement inside the Land of Snow. It is not your settlement but it is local nevertheless. It seems that Kumogakure is too busy with its military engagements to watch their own allies' back." Yushijin replied. It did not seem all too wise to Mana to try and throw shade at Kumogakure in front of a settler who must have been working with Kumogakure ninja his entire career.

"Heh, I suppose that's right..." the chief smiled while opening his uppermost drawer and pulling out a kiseru pipe. "It doesn't seem like you've reported to your client though. Why would that be?"

"There's no use, we've been hired to eliminate this tribe. That is all that we will do. There's no use in moving two thousand kilometers further north just to show our faces to someone. As long as we do our job and pull out, that will be fine." Yushijin replied, for a youth who was shrugging shoulders, he looked quite confident in his reply.

"This tribe, what is it exactly?" the chief wondered while long strands of tar-black smoke extended from the end of his pipe. Something revolting was bubbling at the very end of the smoking tool as if a spoonful of boiling oil. Every expanding bubble was colored with every color of the spectrum while also releasing puffs of smoke with every detonation.

"A nasty piece of work. Raiders who see violence and animalistic brutality as their way of life. They send their young to cause a general ruckus and test the place they will be raiding, then they come full force and decimate the place." Yushijin explained.

"So you've seen it happen?" the chief wondered.

"No. My knowledge of what comes after comes from the mission objective file." Yushijin shook his head. The young man took a brief moment to wipe his hair off of his face afterward.

"It just so happens that I've heard of this tribe, also we've noticed the early signs you speak of and we've called for Kumogakure ninja to intervene on our behalf already." The village chief sighed. While he explained with the proper edge that would have been necessary if one was explaining how they caught a hardened criminal in their act, this time the context did not match the intensity of the man's tone. "So you can see why I am in a bit of an impasse here."

"With all due respect, if the Kumogakure ninja planned on helping you out, they'd have been here already. We were worried to find nothing but bloodstains and ruin while we were coming here, there's no time to sit idly and wait for your saviors to come. You need to prepare." Erumo stepped up. The young kunoichi was always prepared to fight for a possible opportunity to place traps for someone.

"That is the only reason why I did not ask you four out of here yet." The village chief puffed his smoke while leaning back in his chair. "Your effort might be useful to my settlement."