Ladon sat quietly on a tree branch, his invisibility jutsu cloaked over him. His target was in sight, but was surrounded by able-bodied ninja. He had decided to take on this mission alone. Not one of his better ideas. He'd have to attack and run for it, because that would probably be his only chance of survival. Silently pulling out a kunai, Ladon whipped it at the target, and, knowing it would hit its’ mark, turned quickly. He could set traps as he ran, and that would surely take care of the rest of the ninja. If not, he'd be sure to take the rest out himself.

He ran for several minutes before two kunai flew past his head. “Damn,” he cursed under his breath. He hadn’t expected the ninja to be so fast. It seemed they were already catching up to him. His eyes scanned the area quickly, looking for an opportune spot to set a trap. Then he saw it. They’d set up a trap for him. He stopped in his tracks and looked around. He didn’t have much time, and it didn’t look like there was any way around the trap. He’d have to fight it out. He turned to face his attackers. He wasn’t going out today. Not after everything he’d worked for.

Xantrex watched from a distance. Ladon’s kunai had missed its’ target, having been blocked by the two guards. The target was hurriedly pushed into a house that seemed to have been hidden by genjutsu. The poor guy had walked right into an ambush on a single person A-Ranked mission. With a grin, Xantrex threw kunai with explosive tags on it at the house, setting it ablaze at once. It was poorly built, so it fell quickly, and when the target ran out, Xantrex jumped from his spot in a tree and took him out without a moments’ hesitation. He’d decided whose identity he was going to take. He grinned and disappeared.

Ladon was on his last lines of defense. These guys were tougher than he’d expected. As soon as he’d seen the trap, he knew this was an ambush. He’d have to report that to the kage after he was finished here. These guys knew he’d be coming. The two ninja who’d come after him were easily at a jonin level, perhaps even ANBU. This was bad, very, very bad. There was a slim chance of survival for him, but he knew that a slim chance was better than no chance. So he’d take it. Pulling out a kunai in one hand and shuriken in the other, he whipped the objects at his assailants. And the fight had begun.

Xantrex watched the scene silently with amusement as the ninja fought his way through the two jonin and ended up seriously injured. Hell, the guy would’ve died from blood loss before he’d made it back to the Magma. And hey, Xantrex would be doing him a favor by ending his suffering sooner than Death intended. Walking out of the shadows, Xantrex made his way over to the Magma ANBU. “Can I be of assistance?” he asked kindly. Kindly? Yes, yes, kindly.

His breaths heavy, Ladon pulled out another kunai in defense. He did not know this man, therefore he was an enemy. In fact...the guy didn’t have a headband of any sort on, just a dull grey cloak. He didn’t even look like a ninja! But Ladon knew from experience about that old saying having to do with looks. “No,” was his only response. Ladon was a serious guy, very cautious on his missions as well.

Xantrex merely shook his head. “That’s too bad. You in a lot of pain?”

“No.” The kunai still in hand.

“Your mission was completed. The man you were after died. The house he was in mysteriously blew up,” Xantrex said with a light grin.

Ladon looked at him suspiciously. “Were you sent to aid me in my mission, or are you an enemy? I don’t have time for games,” he said, his hand grasping the hilt of the kunai.

“Games? Do you think I’m joking?” He shook his head. “I have my own mission and it has nothing to do with making sure that man is dead. There is a certain man, however, I must see to it dies.” A grin. “Are you in a lot of pain?” he asked again.

Ladon didn’t like the looks of this. This guy seemed a little...nuts. “I already told you, n-” his eyes widened and his voice caught when he felt a kunai enter right above his rib cage, dangerously close to his throat.

“Are you now?” Xantrex chuckled and pulled the kunai down forcefully while it was still embedded in the other ninja. The ninja known as Ladon fell to the ground and died in less than a minute from the amount of blood that exited his body. Xantrex crouched down next to the face up body and removed the mask. “Tsk tsk tsk, if only you’d answered my question truthfully,” he said, shaking his head. “I would’ve spared you those last few moments of pain,” he said, putting the mask to the side, away from the blood. “Now then...” He started a rather long jutsu and put two fingers on the ninjas’ forehead. “Secret Art: Memory Retrieval.” His hand glowed a light blue color and he stayed like that for several minutes before removing his hand.

Now that he had the ninja’s memories, it would be a simple act to play out this ninja’s life. At least until Deidara had the information he needed. Yes, yes, this was all one big plot by his leader. Leave the Akatsuki (in a rather dramatic fashion), have those sent out on the mission to kill him believe that they’d really killed him, take the place of a ninja in the Magma Valley, and wait it out. Get information on the village, security, training, etc etc. It was all part of one big plot. It was only a lucky coincidence that he’d managed to get an ANBU Captain alone on an A-ranked mission. How lucky was he.

Taking a step back from the body that laid before him, he did yet another jutsu (one of the ones he’d learned from acquiring the memories) to destroy the body. Closing his eyes, Xantrex performed a genjutsu, transforming himself into his new persona. Taking up the mask, Xantrex put it on and started towards the Magma Valley. From this day on, he’d live as Ladon Blitz. Yeah, he’d miss the Akatsuki, but it wouldn’t be long until he’d be going back. And when he went back, they’d be in power once more. The Death was already in their control, and next was the Magma. Oh how swell things were going for the Akatsuki. He grinned at the thought.


(I was gonna wait til later on in the War to put this, but simply couldn't wait.)