Task Name: Fists of Fury
Tier: 2
NPC or PC: NPC
Location: East Blue: Shimotsuki Village
Crew, Team, or Personal: Personal
Description: After Sarutobi's defeat, Jackson prepares to leave the village and make his way to North Blue. Yet, before he's able to leave, he finds himself ambushed once again - this time by the son of Master Sarutobi, Asuma. Unable to deal with the fact that his father has been defeated, Asuma has sworn to kill Jackson before word can spread of his father's defeat.
Enemy Details: x10 T0 Ninjas
Boss: Yes

Boss Name: Asuma
Tier: 2
Description: Asuma is the proud son of Master Sarutobi, as well as Master Sarutobi's number one student. He is highly trained in martial arts and also excels in the use of Ryusoken.
Devil Fruit: N/A
Haki Aura: N/A
Equipment: N/A
Specs: 5 Hand to Hand

The fight between Jackson and Master Sarutobi had been a short one - but that didn't mean it wasn't a hard fought battle. Jackson's drive and desperation to pull out a win had been the only reason he'd been able to topple Master Sarutobi's strategy of forcing him to submit. After the battle, Jackson was allowed to spend yet another day within the dojo and rest before his voyage to North Blue started - and Jackson couldn't have been more relieved. His arm and leg had been dealt a large amount of damage by Master Sarutobi's grip strength, but it was far from what could have occurred had the Master had the intent of taking him with as much aggression as possible.

With a day of rest under his belt, Jackson's limbs still felt a bit sore when attempting to stretch but other than that his movements didn't feel as crippled as the day prior. It was now time for him to leave this island and make his way towards North Blue...yet, before he could do this he needed to make a detour to a place known as Baratie. It was known as a very popular restaurant in East Blue, but it seemed to be run by people that most would have likely considered unsavory. Regardless of all this, Jackson had been informed there was someone there he needed to meet by a few fellow Revolutionaries that managed to meet him here in Shimotsuki.

Jackson wasn't exactly sure what this "meeting" would entail, or who it would be with, but given the fact that two fellow members of the Revolution needed to inform him personally of this meeting it was only safe to assume that this would be important. This only caused Jackson to feel the need to speed himself up even more when it came to making his departure, and thus, Jackson began to bid his farewells at a pace that most probably would have considered rude; but it appeared that the citizens here understood that Jackson had other obligations to attend to and they respected his decision to leave so suddenly.

With his lunch now eaten, Jackson began to make his way towards the the border that separated the village of Shimotsuki and the wild rain forest that surrounded it. Jackson still wasn't exactly sure if the direction he was currently headed in would lead towards the same beach he reached two days prior, but he knew walking in a straight line in any direction would lead him to the ocean, and that was good enough for him at the moment. 

Jackson could only imagine what would be waiting for him when he reached Baratie. He began to wonder if this would be yet another reassignment; and if that was the case, then his training under Master Seifu would likely come to an end if he was placed back into duty within Grandline. He also began to wonder if this could be punishment of some kind.

Though they weren't harsh offenses, Jackson hadn't exactly been putting his duties as a Revolutionary to the fore-front - and maybe a few of his higher ups noticed this. Though it wasn't as if Jackson was simply vacationing or shirking his duties completely; as he was actually attempting to grow stronger for the cause - but he was sure there would be many that would have agreed that he'd taken one too many personal days. Jackson felt as if he needed to be stronger to really make a difference, but there were many low level tasks and jobs that Jackson could be running for the Revolution outside of those that required the "strongest of warriors" to accomplish. Sometimes the smallest tasks could be deemed some of the most important, and Jackson had to admit he had been shirking his duties in that regard.

With a small sigh, Jackson finally came to grips with that fact that maybe the task that Master Seifu had given him might need to take a bit longer than he'd initially intended. No matter what this meeting ended up being about, he'd take a break from Master Seifu's request for a while and focus on his duties as a Revolutionary. The Marines and the World Government were the present threat, and no matter how strong Jackson felt he needed to be he still needed to help his brothers and sisters face them head on. With this in mind, Jackson continued about his hike through the hills on his way to the border.

The longer that Jackson traveled along the path through the countryside before entering the rain forest, the more he began to feel as though he was being followed. He could have simply chalked this feeling up to nerves about his upcoming meeting, but the longer he walked the more he began to feel that he was being stalked in a fashion reminiscent of a lion stalking a gazelle - the occasional snapping of twigs and underbrush followed by  the rustle of leaves every now and then made this feeling even more urgent. 

Given that he was currently traversing through the rain forest, it wasn't out of the realm of possibilities that this was merely a large animal stalking him. During his time traveling through the forest the first time, he'd noticed many different types of animals, yet, he never saw a predatory animal. Where there was prey, there was likely going to be a predator. Jackson steeled himself for what could potentially happen, and continued on with his trek through the forest - if he made it too obvious that he'd been alerted to being tailed it would probably caused whatever was tailing him to act out of desperation and attempt to strike now.

After a few minutes, it seemed that the creature behind him had finally grown restless, and soon enough the hastened sound of branches breaking under the sound of weight echoed throughout the forest. Turning on a dime by pivoting on his right foot, Jackson was able to move out of the way of the creature that quickly darted passed him. Before the creature could move less than an inch away Jackson had already unleashed a strong punch into the side of the creature - sending it flying a short distance before slamming into a nearby tree.

"I see...I should have expected that you'd know we were following you. You've given me yet another reason to see you dead."

Jackson's eyes immediately darted to his left and to the source of the voice he'd heard - only to be greeted by the sight of a man he hadn't expected to ever see again. As the man began to reveal himself from the cover of the trees, about nine others also revealed themselves as they followed behind the male closely.

"You didn't really think we'd allow you to leave, did you?"

As the male said this, the other nine behind him began to unsheathe what appeared to be kunais and began to walk towards Jackson's location. It was obvious what this male's intent was, but Jackson still couldn't get over the fact that he'd seen this man before. Had this all been orchestrated by Master Sarutobi?

"My father would never approve of my actions, but I simply can't allow you to leave this place - not after the shame you've brought upon us."

The young man answered almost as if he could tell what Jackson was currently wondering. There was a sigh of relief that washed over Jackson as he realized that Master Sarutobi wasn't a part of what was currently happening. Things began to make sense with the revelation that this man was the son of Master Sarutobi, and it also explained why this young man was in attendance when Jackson and the Master clashed the day prior. He had been there to witness everything, and if he had taken the loss as a personal affront against his family he could understand the action this young man was taking right now.

However, just because Jackson could understand the motivations behind this attack that didn't exactly mean he was going to allow himself to be killed here so that the son of Master Sarutobi could save face. With a sharp sigh, Jackson dropped down into his stance before nodding in the direction of his assailants, letting them know that he wouldn't be running from this situation and that he accepted their challenge. Within a few seconds, the nine ninjas under the employ of Sarutobi's son began to dash forward, attempting to close the distance of six meters between themselves and Jackson. Reacting at the instant of their movement, Jackson made use of his Kachiage Haisoku technique. The fact that Jackson had seemingly made use of a roundhouse kick that only impacted air seemed to make the ninjas feel as though the man they'd been hired to assassinate was incompetent...at least until the waves that accompanied the kick made contact with their targets, quickly incapacitating all nine of the ninjas  in an excruciating manner before rendering them unconscious. 

The son of Sarutobi appeared to be a bit taken aback by the fact that all of his mean had been taken out in an instant, even though none of them had been physically touched - however, Jackson didn't allow this young man any time at all to collect his thoughts or make sense of the situation. Making use of his Raisoku Shundo technique, Jackson was able to instantly step off of his right foot and propel himself towards the young man at full speed, clearing the six meter distance between them before sending a knee into his gut. With a sharp yelp, the young man was now on the floor unconscious and Jackson merely continued on his way. None of them men had been dealt blows that were lethal, so they'd be awake an hour or two from now and able to head back to their village. Right now, Jackson couldn't afford to stay on this island for much longer - the only thing on his mind was the importance of this meeting.

-Exit- 

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