Capture the Thief – C Rank:

It's not “Chūnin like” to sink an entire ship they said. You have to set an example they said. You can't just go around beating up fishermen and destroying their boats because they looked at you weird they said. Well, why the hell not?! It wasn't Rin's fault that he had a lazy eye that seemed to follow him no matter where he went! ...Or maybe that was his normal eye and the other was lazy, but the small details didn't matter. It was his fault for looking at him all weird! Now he was stuck on some kind of probation period to “prove himself” worthy as a Chūnin, and that probation included going on some half rate mission to find some fool who stole a worthless old sword. It almost made him sick how much emphasis those mission poindexters put on returning both the thief and the blade alive and relatively unharmed. He was barely even a shinobi, and definitely not a miracle worker, but at the very least he was a good tracker. Or maybe the thief was just bad at concealing his methods and path.

Rin had arrived on the scene of the crime only ten minutes ago and had already determined a direction. He was heading southward, presumably toward the large forest the island's inhabitants had dubbed “Silent Selena”. To be honest, the forest was probably his favourite part of the island. The wind normally blew strongly on most parts of the landmass, but inside the forest, all he could hear was the sound of the leaves rustling and the wind blowing. The large trees with their deep roots and thick trunks blocked the strongest winds, providing only a gentle breeze at most. But now some fool was trudging about with some rusted old piece of rubbish, ruining the forest's serenity.

Rin followed the tracks that he left behind and found him resting in a small clearing. He was clutching that old sword like his life depended on it, and just the sight pissed Rin off. Nothing was stopping him from using a technique to go beneath the ground and dragging him under like a shark going right for it's bleeding prey, but Rin had come all this way. Why not have a bit of fun?

He placed his right foot firmly on the surface of a large tree that he had been using to conceal his own position and began a short sprint up the vertical surface, utilizing chakra to keep him stuck to it like it was a conventional surface to run upon. As he reached the canopy, Rin leapt from the tree. He positioned himself just above the thief to block the sun that was shining through the clearing, casting a shadow over him to make him aware of Rin's presence. He landed hard with a loud thud, gathering up some dust by releasing his chakra as he landed, similar to how one would put too much chakra into their surface climbing discipline.

“H'oi, you got somethin' that doesn't belong'tya.”

“H'oi, you got somethin' that doesn't belong'tya.”

It seemed like his sudden brute like entrance was enough to frighten the petty thief. He leapt forward toward Rin and through the smoke that had begun to clear. The old blade in his hands was swung in an arc toward Rin, who reacted swiftly. He pulled his head back away from the blade, allowing for the edge to only graze his face slightly.

Rin watched the thief follow through with the motion and saw a clear opening. He raised his right hand and tightened it into a fist. He stepped hard onto his right foot and kept his left firmly pressed on the ground, then jabbed the thief once in the jaw before he quickly pulled his arms back. The thief barely staggered from the bare fist hit and brought his blade back, aiming to swing backwards in the same arc as before, only in reverse. Rin pulled both his arms closer to his body and avoided the second swing. The thief followed through with his slash again, and as the sword was in the air, Rin brought his left fist toward the gut of the thief. It connected and his hand sunk into the thief's flesh, forcing him to double over, but Rin wasn't finished there. He brought his arm back and pivoted on his right foot, then sent the back of his heel for the thief's temple.

The thief took the hit, though it wasn't exactly his choice, and rolled back a good few meters before sliding to a stop. “Hey dumbass, that sword is the only thing keeping you alive!” Rin yelled out, grinding his teeth against one another. This guy was seriously using that old thing as a weapon? He'd be better off tearing down a branch and attacking with that, it'd probably leave more of a scar anyways. “Tch... Fuck you!” the thief yelled out in return.

He charged against with the katana held tightly in his right hand. He swung low this time, likely intending on getting Rin off his feet and throwing off his balance. The thief was likely unskilled in hand to hand combat himself, but he could see that Rin was rooted to the ground and that he couldn't do much without that rooted stance. However, Rin had analytical skills as well, and he observed the thief's attempt at besting him. Instead of jumping, Rin skipped backward, only to be met with an incoming barrage of slashes.

Rin's eyes were glued to the blade and the motions of his opponent. He watched the footwork carefully, observing the direction that he was going to slash judging by the position of his feet. The first incoming slash was aimed from the low position he was already in upward, likely across his torso. Rin moved backward and to the left, away from the slash that was aimed to the right. The sword was maneuvered horizontally this time in an attempt to go right for Rin's throat. He pulled his head back and watched the blade soar just barely an inch away from his neck. “I swear, if you break that thing, I'll shove it so far down your throat that you'll shit daggers!” Rin yelled while constantly dodging the sword. The attacks were becoming sloppy, whether it was a product of fatigue or inexperience could not mean any less to Rin. In fact, Rin himself was growing tired of the situation. The thief swung wide and missed again, and this time Rin stepped forward. He entered a range that would be very difficult to maneuver a blade in and caught the thief's arm by the wrist as he tried to swung back down on Rin. He stepped under the arm and placed his hand on the thief's shoulder in one swift motion, then pivoted on his heel and slammed the thief into the tree he had been leading him to for the duration of his barrage of attacks. With his face in the bark, Rin twisted his wrist to release the grip on the blade. “'Yer actually a dumbass, y'know that?” Rin said.

Luckily, Rin had brought along Hiramekarei. He placed his right hand on the handle of the blade and released some of the chakra inside. The blade did not assume the form of a weapon, but the pressure it discharged unraveled the bandages that wrapped it. Rin grabbed the wrappings before they could go far and tightly bound the thief's hands.

“Don't try'n break out of those or somethin' weird, yeah? Else I'll release this thing on my back 'fer real.” he said. Rin lead the thief along and picked up the ancient looking blade. The walk back was going to be long. Maybe he should have bound the damned thief's mouth too.