Mission: Preemptive Measures

Saki started with the fingernails. One by one, she peeled them off the man's fingers with the blade of her kunai, emitting spurts of blood and anguished screams. The sounds of pain only made her grin, as she knew she would win this test of patience.When she was done with the fingernails, she moved on to toenails, far more sensitive than the fingers. She drew the process out, not ripping the nails off quickly, but rather slowly scraping them away, little by little, until the last vestiges of clinging particles broke free.

When all the man's digits were left bleeding and useless, she moved upward and pointed the blade at his left eye. "I know you're in a lot of pain. If you'd been more helpful, you wouldn't have had to suffer so much, but here we are. Now, you can answer our questions, or I can make the pain even worse." She paused a little, moving the blade close to his eye.

"You're probably thinking I'm going to carve your eye out next. But you'd be wrong. See, there is far worse agony I can inflict to that area of the body. You know that burning sensation you get when you leave your eyes open too long? There's a reason we blink. It's to refresh our eyes, and keep out all the damaging particles in the air. But what if you didn't have any eyelids to blink with? What happens after a minute? After an hour? A day? That burning...imagine it consuming your skull as your eyes slowly, painfully dry out to shriveled husks. No way to stop it, no way to make the suffering end."

The blade gently touched the top of the man's eye, while her other hand grasped the eyelid and pulled the flap of skin away from the socket. "So, want to answer our questions yet?"

The shinobi's pain was clear, but he did his best to hang on. A man could only endure through so much though. This young girl was making him feel pain, this was what the mist village was capable of. If she was capable of this, the man shuddered to think what her mentor would do. He was going to break, it was a matter of when, not if.

The man looked up to Saki as she seemed to give him an out. "You're not going to let me go, even if I tell you everything" he said quietly. "If I give you what you want, please just kill me quick...that's all I ask. If you do that, I'll tell you what I know"

"I have a counter proposal," Saki said, with a twisted little grin. She slid her fingers around the man's jaw and pulled his head close to hers, inching her lips next to his ear so she could whisper to him. "How about, if you don't tell us what we want to know...I hunt down your family, butcher them, and bring their heads back for you to see? Does that work for you?"

The shinobi was still breathing heavily, and he looked from Saki to Rakdos, who had just been observing his student as she performed her torture on the man.

"Why are you looking at me like I'm your friend?" Rakdos asked casually. "Talking to me isn't going to do you any good. She's in charge here" Rakdos said as he motioned to Saki once again.

The shinobi knew that this was over. He couldn't take this pain, not like this. He had been tortured before, but these mist shinobi...they were butchers. "There's a mountain about twenty miles from here, inside there is a cave with several shinobi from our village, including the one you're looking for. They've remained out of sight because we were trying to not draw attention to ourselves. Obviously that didn't work though" he muttered quietly.

Rakdos turned his head, despite the darkness he could easily see the mountain the man was talking about. He turned to Saki and nodded his head. They were very likely done here with the man, and Saki knew that Rakdos hated witnesses...

Saki didn't need to be told twice. She gave a simple nod in return and then leaned in close again to the man, this time bringing the knuai blade up against his throat. "Thank you. You've been...most helpful. Before we go now, I just want you to know, we'll be killing everyone involved with this operation. That includes their families...your family."

And with no more warning, she sliced the blade deep across his throat, leaving him to bleed out on the floor.

The man was about to yell before his throat was slit. Instead, he just made some pained gargled motions as he dropped to the ground. He tried to hold his neck to stop the flow of blood, but the damage had already been done. Saki and Rakdos just watched as the man bled out.

Rakdos glanced towards Saki. "Quite the bold statement...I personally don't care if a shinobi or two get away. However, their leader, if you allow him to escape I will consider this mission a failure and you will answer to the village council for it" Rakdos stated before crossing his arms behind his back. "That being said, what's your plan of attack here?"

"If a shinobi or two get away, they can keep planning," Saki said. "By exterminating everyone, they won't be able to regroup. So we go to the mountain hideout, kill this leader of theirs, and then hunt down each and every one of the people involved in this treasonous plot."

Well, someone was feeling extra thorough today. Rakdos smiled at his young pupil. "Yes sir" he said with a nod of his head as he turned towards the mountain. "I'm ready whenever you are"

The mountain was isolated, well away from the prying eyes of anyone else who might question why people were gathering in secret. They probably thought they were safe. Poor, deluded fools. With the cover of darkness upon them, Saki led the way quietly through the trees towards the mouth of the cave where their targets were said to be hiding.

"We'll need to be stealthy. I can tunnel us in through the ground unseen," Saki said. "Since their surrounded by stone, I can also use my earth detection technique to discern how many exactly are inside, and where they are."

"All good ideas" Rakdos said. Before Saki could move forward to create a tunnel, Rakdos held out his arm and stopped her advance. The demon was silent for a moment before turning towards Saki. "You've done well in your training, and you have come a very far amount in the short time that I've been your master. I firmly believe in your skills Saki, but don't forget that on this mission all of these men will be fighting for their lives. You know of ferocity, but you've never faced opponents as strong as this. They are also from Kumo, so don't be surprised if they are using lightning techniques, your earth moves will be nearly useless" Rakdos pointed out.

The demon breathed out one more time before pulling his arm back. "Just...be careful"

"Then it's a good thing I don't need my earth techniques to kill them," Saki stated. It didn't matter if their enemies knew any lightning abilities. Saki knew her own, and hers were likely more advanced. At least, that's what she told herself. Besides, since she was from Kiri they'd probably be expecting her to use water techniques. That gave her an element of surprise either way. "We just need to get in first."

With that, Saki made a hand sign and placed her palm on the ground. Moments later, both she and Rakdos would start to sink into the ground. Unless of course he wanted to get inside a different way.

Rakdos just decided to go with Saki, knowing that her method would get them inside more easily. Kumo didn't know that anyone had information on this operation, so Rakdos doubted that they'd waste energy trying to sense for foreign chakras. As they traveled, Rakdos felt his claws extend, fangs grow, and a few other subtle changes take place across his body.

"I can thin the herd for you. Once we find their leader, he'll be all yours" Rakdos said as his voice changed to a more demonic tone. "I'll make sure none of the others even get close to interfere with your fight"

"I won't disappoint you," Saki assured,as they slowly and quietly tunneled inside the cavern. She had been looking forward to a good test of her abilities for a long time. Slaughtering defenseless rebels was all well and good, but there was only so long she could do that without getting an itch for a real challenge. It had been so long since she'd really been able to cut loose and fight to the fullest extent of her abilities, so this should give her an opportunity to do so. As they neared the suface of the cavern floor, Saki pressed a hand out to the dirt and spread her chakra, sensing vibrations through the ground. "Looks like there's... ten of them or so inside. One of their chakra levels is much higher than the rest, though. I'm guessing he's the leader."

"Good assumption" Rakdos remarked as he glanced around. He could also sense the chakra of those in the room, however he wanted Saki to truly take the lead on this one. She was doing well so far, devising her plan and making sure to get her information before making a rash decision. She knew what was at stake here. Out of the ten shinobi, three of them were towards the back of the cavern, one of their signatures being the leader while the other seven were spread more towards the front.

"How do you wish for me to proceed Saki? Say the order and I'll act"

Saki began moving towards the three chakra clusters near the back of the chamber, where the strongest was located. Still below the ground, she was able to move unnoticed. "You take the others by the entrance, and don't let them get in my way. The leader is mine."