Palles reviewed his notes for the quest he had been given. It had a map and details about the criminal gone savage. He was apparently located in an abandoned cave, causing havoc to travelers who passed by. It was now Palles' job to eliminate him from the face of the shinobi world. Seemed easy enough.

"Damn, how far away is this thing?" The Seven Tailed beast seemed agitated. It was clear that he was hungry for somoe form of combat. "We're almost there. Can't be too... Ah! There it is." Indeed, there it was. The entrance to the cave was small, but the inside was monstrous. Palles looked around, marveling at the sheer size of it. It truly was a spectacle.

"Where art thou, swordsman? Why must you hide from our side? Show yourself!" Seemingly on command, the savage man came out of the shadows. He looked like a monster with scars covering the entirety of his chest. He smiled cheekily, unveiling his dirt-riddled teeth. He spoke not a word and instead opted to make the first move. In less than a second, the man had seemingly disappeared and reappeared directly above Palles. Damn, he was fast.

"Remember what I taught you, ignorant-kun. Focus on your surroundings. Assume your stance and wait for him to come to you." Palles listened closely and assumed his fighting stance immediately, knees clenched close to the ground. He closed his eyes and focused on his enemy. Behind? In front? Above? No... Right..... HERE!. Palles aimed a punch to his left, connecting with the speedy shinobi's stomach. The intense force of the punch was enough to send the savage spiraling back.

"Nice punch, boy! Don't let your guard down. Here he comes again!" Palles re-assumed his fighting stance, waiting for the man to make his move. This time, the criminal opted to approach with his blade unsheathed, aimed directly at Palles' chest. This unpredictable movement led to Palles' nearly being stabbed. He was barely able to dodge it, receiving contact from the blade, making him bleed a bit. Oh, no.

Blood, blood, blood. "AHAHA, AHAHAHA! YOU'VE DONE IT NOW!!!" The sight of blood brought out the insane side of Palles. His laughter echoed throughout the crevices of the cave, filling the room with loud noises, engulfing the silence that previously resided there. "Calm down, Palles!" Palles would not listen. He couldn't. His instinctual side, his animal side, was escaping. Black chakra began to recede from Palles' back, slowly but surely engulfing the entirety of his body. He was falling into uncontrollable rage.

Palles screamed, this time louder than before. The force of his scream called several medium-sized rocks to roll about, cracking them in the process. Fueled by rage, he ran toward the savage that had caused this to occur, forming handseals in the process. Immediately, condensed balls of water formed from water that had been spit from his mouth. They sped toward his enemy at an alarming rate. In a matter of milliseconds, the balls made contact with the man's chest, piercing straight through them due to the amount of chakra pumped into them.

Palles was not done. He pounced atop the man and began tearing off his arms, then his legs, and finally his head. The mission was done... The man was dead.

Or was he? As Palles cooled down and begun his venture out of the cavern, he heard a slight rumbling from a few yards back. He turned around... Nothing. Surely, it was nothing. Palles continued to walk toward the exit until he felt something take hold of his leg. What the fuck, he thought to himself. He looked down, yet all he could see was shadow. He shook his head, once again telling himself that it was nothing.

Then he felt it again. This time, it pulled his legs from underneath him and he collapsed on the floor. "So, you thought I would be disposed of that easily? You have another thing coming, boy." This was an unrecognizable voice to Palles' ears, yet he knew immediately who it was. The man he had self proclaimed as dead, was actually alive.... Somehow. Who was this man? Was he a man at all, or a demon?

"Seven-Tails, what is he?" Silence. Silence. More silence. "I-I don't know... I've never seen anything like this before" Without hesitation, the man attacked again. He seemed different this time. Yes... He was faster. But how? Palles had many questions that would remain unanswered. He had no time to contemplate and think about the answers to them, either. He had to react bef--.

Cough... Cough. The man let out a smile as Palles' blood sprayed across the cavern walls. The sword had pierced through his shoulder. The swordsman pulled back the sword and performed a couple flips to get away from Palles in case of a counter attack.

There would be no immediate counter-attack. Palles fell on his knees, his vision blurring. "Hang in there, boy! Stay still so I can focus on healing you!" For the first time, Seven Tails sounded desperate. Palles followed orders as closely as he could, but it was kind of hard to pay attention after a sword just cut through your shoulder. He could feel himself losing stability. He was going to... He was going to pass ou--

NO!. A surge of energy rushed through his body. The wound had seemingly healed and Palles was back on his feet. "There we go. Listen, I'm going to lend you some more of my chakra. If I don't, we might not get out of here alive." Palles simply nodded. The cloak that had covered his body before had overtaken his body again. First a tail sprouted, then a second, then a third, and finally, a fourth. Palles' skin began to morph into a leather-like material. Whatever it was, it was new to Palles. "[color=blue]This new skin of yours will protect you from that sword of his. You don't have to dodge it anymore, just focus on offense.

Palles charged, but something else also felt different. Was he.... Was he slower? Yeah, that was it. He decided against chasing his opponent and instead opted to return to his Snapping Turtle Style stance. Closing his eyes once again, Palles patiently waited for his opponent to make his move. Once again, the swordsman aimed for his shoulder. This time, Palles did not attempt a dodge. Instead, he grabbed the sword by the blade and flipped it across the length of the cave.

The man, shocked at the display of strength, scrambled for his blade. Pallas watched intently, readying himself for the man once again. On cue, he rushed at Pallas once again, this time aiming for his head. Pallas began creating handseals, after which his arm became enveloped in water, increasing in size. As the blade ran down from above the man's head, Pallas raised one arm, stopping the blade completely. Using his water-covered arm, Pallas aimed a punch at the man's face. Once the punch connected, the man flew back several feet. Still, the swordsman got up.

Pallas needed to end this battle already. No matter what he did, it seemed like the man was not receiving any damage whatsoever. He needed a trap of sorts. Pallas looked around the room, focusing intently. "The roof, idiot!" Pallas looked up on command and saw several large, bulging pieces of rock hanging from it. Pallas quickly abandoned his fighting stance as the Bijuu transferred his plan to Pallas' mind.

Pallas jumped straight to the roof of the monstrous cave. Once there, he punched one of the several massive rocks at its base. The rock trembled and eventually fell near the man. Shit, I missed. Pallas continued to scale the cavern, punching down many of the rocks to no avail. The speedy swordsman continued to dodge the rocks. "You need to immobilize him. This isn't working."

Pallas jumped down from the roof, landing with a loud thump on the floor. Once again, he resumed his fighting stance. The idiotic man rushed toward Pallas, fist in the air. Pallas grabbed the man's fist and held it, doing the same to the second punch. Pallas slid his body to the ground, tripping the man onto the floor. Unsheathing four kunai from his pouch, Pallas placed them on the man's hands and feet. There!

Pallas jumped back to the roof and began punching three boulders. They fell at an alarming rate down to the man, creating a crushing sound, no doubt the man's bones. There the man lay, and there he would lay until the end of times.

Leaving the cave, Pallas couldn't help but feel a certain haunting mood wrap itself around him. He shook it off and headed back to the village, carrying the man's blade as a sign of success. Another completed missions under Pallas' belt. The village had truly groomed the perfect weapon. Not a single scratch was visible on Pallas. It was as if the man hadn't touched him at all.