A tiny strand of blonde hair fluttered to the ground, as Shiori released another kunai in the direction she guessed the archer was. That was close. Too close. She wasn't going to take another chance with her opponent. Whoever he was, he meant to kill her and it was only luck that had saved her from an early demise. If she died, the trader would suffer a similar state. She could not have that. The time to be on the defensive had passed. She reached to her back, pulling out a short sword from its sheath. She gripped it in her hand and sprinted towards the direction of her opponent, using her chakra to speed up her approach.

She finally saw him, a man with dark hair and equally dark eyes. Shiori blinked, giving her opponent a once over. He was the image of a shinobi, so unlike an amateur like her. Having such a seemingly skilled opponent during her very first mission didn't seem fair at all, even for a child of Ren Tetsume. Still, she couldn't let him continue on with his nefarious plots, whatever they were. She moved forward, the blade of her sword meeting the skin of the man's neck. "Identify yourself," she ordered, applying more pressure to the blade but careful enough not to break skin.