Kirigakure-Administration building entrance

With soft and precise steps, a group of three shinobi entered the administration building. Their Anbu armor glistening in the dim light of the evening sky, their masks showing the scars of battle, yet their breathing calm and practically non existent.

Trained as they were in both stealth and educated in formalities, the three seemed to decide not to disturb the daily proceedings of the administration too much, keeping to themselves and remaining quiet and calm in both their entrance and their general conduct.

No one seemed to look up when they arrived, yet it seemed that they were still not of a high enough rank in their division to just walk up to the Mizukage's offices without announcing themselves at the reception with the twins.

"Ichigetsu, Nigetsu and Sangetsu are here to meet with the mizukage," one of the three said with a cold and rather distant sounding voice, placing their identification tags on the desk where the Twins would be. "It's important that we speak with her, there's been a development at the Shores of the Bloodmist island."

...

Elsewhere

The salty air of the sea seeped through the delapitated wooden building, the wooden beams creaking as the wind howled loudly outside, yet this did apparently not deter the man sitting inside what was supposed to be the livingroom from enjoying a hot cup of tea, brewed at a quickly made campfire.

As he blew at the cup he was holding, his empty eyes glanced towards the raging sea right outside of the old, decaying house. His lips curled into a soft grin, as he notice the lightning streaks crackling through the darkened sky, signaling an approaching stormfront near the island where he had managed to get some shelter for the night.

"I'd call this rather suiting for the game we're playing," The man sighed, took a sip from his cup of tea and smiled brightly, yet with a rather diabolical glitter in his otherwise deep and rather disturbingly calm eyes. "I'll take the liberty of making the first move, so what will you do now, Mizukage?"

Another flash of lightning illuminated the skies, the electricity notably crackling as it passed through the clouds above, followed by a cold breeze of wind coming from out at sea and passing into the island's mainland.

Standing up and putting on his coat, the man walked towards the old house's terrace, feeling the planks creak and crack under his weight, as his eyes scoured the coastline beyond the house. A single grin appeared on his face when he yet again took a sip of his steaming hot cup of tea.

Another flash of lightning shed light upon the coastline for a single moment, revealing the sand to be littered with masks, tools, weapons and corpses and as a fog started to come from the sea into the island, the waters of the shores had already turned red, the air smelling heavily like iron. "Perhaps I should've brought some sugar, it's kind of hard to come by on this miserable island."

’Fires Burned in Kirigakure’

In the early hours of the morning a dark shadow ran across the sky, ducking and diving as smoke plumed in the background. Up until a moment ago there were screams hung aloft in the air before they were stiffled by the desperate gurgling sounds of blood. So far the docks, a warehouse, and numerous alleys had been hit by the mysterious figure that had been stalking the night, but nothing on this scale had been hit so far. A mercinary organization, one that had been within the nation of Kirigakure for some time due to its want for the quality arms and equipment of the country and had often competed with the villages ANBU and hunter ninja had been attacked, and subsequently annihilated by some alien force. The compound, one that had been officially sanctioned to them by the village was left on fire for kirigakure ninja to extinguish as the hallways were marked with messages written in blood, bile and viscera.

"Murderers! Extortionists! Killers! Thieves!"

Until finally, there was a single tag on the front of the building, in full view of the public domain. A man with his head crushed into the wall, not quite dead, but definately dying as the blade had been penetrated through his spine, the sharp A rank blade facing upwards towards him as the man had desperately attempted to prevent it from cutting any deeper. Bloodied, beaten and his thumbs cut from his hands he had no means to grip the blade with enough strength to pry it free. Forced to slip on the hilt and place his palms on the upward facing blade as every slip slowly dragged the blade further and further up his body. The word plasted in his own blood above him.

'Spy!'

Far grander and brighter than the others as the fire nipped at his toes, dry baking him with the upward flowing heat. Once the fire died down, little more than char remained, the wet messages on the walls creating a textured difference allowing them to still be visible... Many people gathered to see the mess, though none saw the event happen, from the first scream to the last the entire event was over in moments. The ANBU that stalked the building even while it was happening had trouble keeping up with the shadow as it moved through the building like a whirlwind. A black shadow, with the face of an ivory bird.

Ayakashi woke up to the reports, it seemed that with the ANBU investigation, it was uncovered that some of those who had been killed had been using the organization to not only funnel funds and Kirigakure exports out of the country, but a subsidiary of theirs had also been used as an information broker, selling various information on kirigakure basic training and other such effects. While not directly espionage, and within the moral grey zone, it was something that likely could be considered spying, should an extremist like this... black-bird have come across it. The issue was enough of a pain that Ayakashi would put out a specific hit on whatever the creature was that was causing these disturbances, it was to be treated as an A rank threat, only to be handled by ANBU and Hunter Ninja Captains or S ranking ninja...

'It was a bad start to a long day.'

Ayakashi later would be dealing with the paperwork fallout when the ANBU would come to the door, paged by one of the twins, Ayakashi would free-fall from her office immediately, looking to the three men as something was immediately off about them. Though she couldn't place what it was, she was unaware that ANBU in the beginning were patrolling bloodmist isle. Blood country was where the Seven Bells rebellion had begun, and it had ended on the shored of kirigakure. For ANBU to be outside the country and on long distance report rather than the Hunter Ninja felt, off. However, it was not the first or the last time that Ayakashi had sent or allowed ANBU to be sent to far away countries, to travel to either better themselves or contribute to the causes of other nations. So, it was with a cautious, but careful resolve that she would approach the three of them. As she did so, having exited her room too quickly, one of the twins would look to the mizukage and begin to explain.

"These are units Ichigetsu, Nigetsu and Sangetsu, they're here to report about their mission to the bloodmist island. They say it's urgent." With that, Ayakashi would turn to the three, realizing that there was only the three of them. While squads of three in the country, especially at lower ranks for official missions normally worked under the guise of a Captain. Were the mission important enough that this kind of fault could develop, it was a question in need of answering.

"Alright, I'm listening, talk. What has developed within Bloodmist? And where is your squad commander?"

Seeing the Mizukage before them, the three Anbu operatives knelt to the ground as was common when in the presence of their village's leader. Only raising themselves again when spoken to by Ayakashi, nodding in silence to her question, before all three suddenly answered in unison to at least part of her question. "We haven't had a squad captain in ages, not after our last one died at least."

The three shinobi removed their masks, revealing what Ayakashi had obviously already suspected: something was indeed quite wrong with them, as looking in their eyes was like looking into a dead fish's eyes, they were no longer among the living, yet their movements were fluid and calm, they had voices and responded to the mizukage's words and the words of the twins. While the one named Sangetsu moved towards the twins calmly, suddenly drawing two scalpels from underneath its armor and pointing it at the two throats in front of it. "I would be requesting you to remain calm until the proceedings are done."

The one called Nigetsu in the meantime placed a hand atop Ichigetsu's shoulder, after which the one called Ichigetsu suddenly smiled calmly, the dead corpse's eyes twitching within their sockets as they suddenly turned towards Ayakashi. "I must apologise for the rather rude way to enforce this meeting with you, Lady Mizukage."

The corpse reached calmly for a paper from underneath its armor, revealing that it contained a detailed report on several of Kirigakure's shinobi abroad, their names, their ranks and their locations, all mentioned on a single document now handed over to the mizukage. "I think you know what this means, do you not?" The corpse, in a twisted fashion chuckled and let its arms hang at its side again. "I have done some extensive research on Kirigakure these last few months, combined with the intel I already had and was so freely available thanks to your nice alliance with Konoha, I learned some interesting things. However, fret not...for now, your dear shinobi abroad are safe, but not out of my reach."

The one called Sangetsu suddenly dissolved to a puddle of water, the two scalpels falling on the ground with a metallic sound.

"It seems our time is almost over, Lady Mizukage. Now Nigetsu dissolved into a puddle of water in front of the Mizukage's eyes and it was obvious due to the moisture on Ichigetsu's skin that that one wouldn't last much longer either. "I made the first move and I will be very delighted to see what you'll do next or if you even managed to deduce my next move from the clues I've left you.
Now than my dear mizukage, I will await your response with great joy... but beware, when the seven bells ring, I will make my second move and the sea will run red with blood."

After those words Ichigetsu finally dissolved as well, leaving nothing but three Anbu outfits behind...

...

Elesewhere

A person dressed in farmer clothes and wearing a large straw hat removed its hand from a single, almost regal looking man, nodding silently.

"Very well, bring me that Anbu captain now, it's about time I thank him for his cooperation," Just as the man said that, a thin, blueish gray-haired man was lead in front of him and forced onto the ground. "I should thank you and your squadmembers for being such good pawns in my game. So now I'll let you have your wish and allow you to disappear from my sight as promised."

The captain looked up and seemed to show a thankful expression in his eyes when looking at the man who had just spoken to him, yet in that very instant, he also understood that he had been duped and that he wasn't getting his wish exactly how he had wanted. He did promise to disappear after cooperating and to never return, but this wasn't what he had in mind.

"Wish granted," The man launched his hand towards the captain, who seemed to quickly gather his chakra as well after which the captain coulf feel the regal man's hand stop right into his chest. Despite being completely turned into water, the captain started to ripple before bursting apart into nothing, not even a droplet reaching the ground. "Interesting, seems that my technique can be delayed a tiny bit by this man's own jutsu... good to know."

Sero was resting in his bed as the hour came upon them. The hour of long awaited retribution. There was an enemy that had been avoiding the end of the sword for such a long time. An agonizing wait that had left the hearts darker for it. What was it that ones mind could not forget this enemy over the others. One had seen the devil and had no mercy for his soul. Of things that lived on this world not many had harmed Nozomi. Much less if the timing had not been a coincidence they had opened a door. A dark door none dared knock upon anymore. They had opened the door to Sero's wrath and he had no mercy for them. They had taken her and drew her blood. He could feel the growl within his soul as even the parts of him left untainted crawled with a darkness that could not be tamed. Of what was left when god left the land Nozomi stood as a pinnacle of his to return to. He did not sleep for he was filled with a sense of longing. No silver no gold could satisfy him but for the mans soul. He would personally open the door to the mans hell.

that was of course paranoia. He was not actually sure this was the one who had disabled Nozomi and placed her in the hospital. However he was not taking any chances with her life even for his own. He was death and the hour had come. A message seemed to appear in his mind. The voice of one of the twins reached out to him. He would lay there and his grey eyes would stare at the ceiling. So Ayakashi had been attacked in the same manner as the bells war. What was it that was going on here? No man of that level stood a chance against Ayakashi. This was a message or a trap being lured. He would feel along the connection like oil on a thread and reply back with the information of Nozomi's condition. Requesting her troops be redirected to guard her. An attempt had been made on her once before. He would not allow it again. He was death but he had chosen one he wished to remain immortal before him. He had struggled with her and village and no other had forced his mind with that decision before.

Still he would rise from his rest as something more than the devil he was known as. He was death and as such his squad, squad zero would move with Ayakashi and track down this threat. He would shift into dark shinobi pants and padded boots with the pants tied into the ankle of the shoes. On the small of his back he would place a katana and tie it tightly before slipping on his ANBU and Hunter nin gear. Choosing the hunter mask and the red cloak over it as it shifted in color to the dark surrounding it. Lastly he picked up the black scythe. The scythe of his father and glanced it over before taking it up in his right hand. Grey eyes staring from the depths of the skull mask as he stepped into the hallway where his hunter nin had already gathered. To anyone who could see him he had taken on the appearance of the reaper come to collect. However it was far worse for those that could feel him. Even the hunter nin around him would feel a pressure in the air regardless of the ANBU gears suppression. It was so prominent the paint on the wall began to peel upwards with each step the world seemed to grow darker as shadows writhed in time with his foot falls. He would depart with his men for the rendezvous point.

They arrived later than the bulk of the force and stood off to the side. Thirty one men apart from the bulk force that stood under Sero's command. In comparison the force around them may as well has been children as death flooded off of them like ruin come to the world. The end was nigh for someone and even their own forces gave them a wide berth. None wanted to be in their path even as the reaper at the center of them listened to Ayakashi. Her speech reaching him as he knew his presence would reach her easily. He was a venom waiting to infect the enemy. Even as she finished her speech and tore forward his own men would break into a quick pace to keep up with her as much as she allowed. His words though carried to each of them through the head set.

"There will be traps. No one picks this fight without setting traps. Our job will be to find these ambushes and eliminate them. So that the threat will be buried this night."

824

War truly did seem to run through the blood of those who had ruled Kirigakure past and present with iron will and iron fist. But just like Kirigakure seemed to be boasting two figureheads which could be called the greatest shinobi of kirigakure and among the greatest shinobi of all time, they seemed to have no idea against whom they were actually truly waging this little war, this game of moving pawns and carefully meassured moves.

While the village hidden in the mist had managed to rally its troops, amass its forces and strengthen its resolve, they would come to remember the name of the very island they were about to invade, as the beaches were littered with puddles of blood and scattered corpses, bodies belonging to both Konoha Anbu and Kirigakure anbu could be found, some were obviously of older times, times that a certain individual had declared war upon Kirigakure and had been defeated only because of the village's then and current mizukage, but there were also numerous fresh bodies among them, bodies that could not have grown cold for more than three or four days prior.

The man who was responsible for this new massacre was someone these kirigakure people had not yet faced and had actually been on their side in a sense for a long time now. He had lived through the era of Uchiha Hao, he had witnessed the Seven Bells war and now he was spearheading a simple game between himself and the Mizukage, a game which he knew he could not yet win in just a few moves, but the prelude was all that mattered, this was but a battle, a skirmish to fully examine and analyze the strengths and weaknesses of his enemy, while they would be none the wiser.

To do this though, he had to rely solely on the strength of his most powerful subordinate and without a doubt, it would cripple his protegè for a few days, especially with such numbers to control on his own. However, there was no fear, his own forces were growing, his contacts spreading and his rumors taking hold. In fact it was quite a wonderful advantage to have Kirigakure think they'd be engaging against a man who had not shown himself for so many years and with the use of his subordinate's strengths, they'd probably even believe it all the more.

"I could not find Gan-ning or that witch of his, so I reckon this may draw him ot of hiding," A single man was standing on the deck of a lone ship a few hundred meters away from the coast of Blood island, looking at the shinobi scouring into the forest, throdding over the shores and open bogs littered with corpses. "If this does not bring him to our side, we'll just have to eliminate him in due time as well."

Taking a few steps backwards, the man wearing a purple coat with a white furline on the collar, his face covered with a black mask, approached a mysterious person who sat down on the wooden floorboards of the ship's deck, his hands forming the unique handseal usually only utilized by the Yamanaka clan of Konoha, yet when the preperations seemed to be complete, this person changed his handseal into a Yin seal and suddenly slumped down like a lifeless puppet. "The preperations are complete and I will grant you my assistance for this display."

The masked man placed his hand upon the mysterious person's back, a shudder following suite, gowing through the mysterious person's body. "Let's show these fools of the mist what the difference is between me and their old enemies. Let's show them horrors they've never seen before."

During the Kirigakure advance

Trained in stealth and assassination, there was no doubt Sero and his part of the advancing forces would be the first to realize that it wasn't that the place was filled with traps, the entire area was a single deathtrap awaiting to be sprung and when a shudder of chakra seemed to course over the entire area, like a silent wave of refined power washing over the shores and into the forest, the response to Ayakashi's move in the game had shown itself.

The fresh bodies that had littered the shores came upright and strated to assault the forces of Kirigakure, harrying them with impossible determination and lack of fear as only corpses could be able to muster. No doubt Ayakashi would recognize the movements and unity of the corpses movement, as they were akin to those of the three Anbu operatives that had entered the administration building.

Yet if they thought that the corpses would be their only hurdle, they would be wrong. Though the corpses would no doubt provide lots of dissarray, they were but the distraction for the things that were waiting for them in the forest; a human puppet formation of a hundred strong, but not the usual kind.

After decades of experimenting with children, discarding their bodies after numerous failures or the extraction of their "capabilities", Enaka's most trusted subordinate had decided to add all of them to his extensive collection and though he had not find a purpose for this collection of his protegé before, now Enaka had found a way to get rid of these poor remnants of his many experimentations under the guise of his Black Anbu. It was time to let loose... The Children.

Sero had made his way to the bow of the ship as he arrived. His own men moving into positions where their sensory would not be inhibited as much by others. Taking shifts of small sensory pulses in timed efforts before recovering their chakra as another took over. It was designed so that none of his unit would be lacking chakra to dangerously in the event of a surprise attack at sea. He had engaged pirates before in his hunts and had learned that it was a patient mans game. If the pirates saw them first they would wait for a weakness to reveal itself. Men drained of energy were easy targets. Sero had learned that a considerable amount of time passed. Still he himself was standing there as he looked over the rolling waves. Still he couldn't help but wonder what waited them out there. He had been intending to take time into the demon country but for an enemy to be found there. An old enemy at that. One they could not ignore. Certain things happening all so soon made him nervous. Though it wouldn't show on his expression. Yasuo had been kidnapped to the demon country, a stranger had taken down Nozomi and infiltrated them, the masked vigilante had been rumored about but so far no definitive proof...and now this. His thoughts were broken as he began to debate any relation to it all by a call summoning him over to Ayakashi. Grey eyes would glance in her direction before he would step obediently. Due to it being a ship full of trained jounin no one was surprised by his speed. A single step was enough to cover the distance. Quietly he bowed his head at her side. The loyal soldier. Listening as she spoke. His commander taking up his attention from the puzzle.

"It's nice to see you, I've been waiting for the chance to fight side by side with you again Master Osada. The Battle-plan with this shore assault is simple, I've instructed two squads of 50 men under cover of the horizon to disembark the ships and strafe the landing point about 3 miles to either side and enclose from the flanks, likely taking a couple of minutes and serving as a scout unit simultaneously. They'll eliminate any hostile on the way. I'll spear-head the beachfront with my squad of thirty and yours under the cover of the hunter mist technique if you wish to join me with the remaining men coming in from the back, that way our forces stagger in quickly to flank any resistance while simultaneously allowing us to be more reckless in the opening conflict if there should be one. Once we've secured a beach-head we'll move into blood nation and cleanse everything in our way. This nation will be called New Yukigakure by the time I'm through with it..."

He would look her over for a moment with the eyes of the grave. She was the warlord bringing him souls for the ferry and he was there to collect at her behest. It was indeed a simple tactic but effective. Preventing all their forces from being surrounded and perhaps flanking any attempts to do so. He would simply nod his head before glancing to a couple of his men. He was an assassin in nature so it made more sense for him to move to the front lines and seek out potential high risk opponents for elimination. However he was still on edge on how much he felt baited by all this. Normally he wouldn't spring such an obvious trap but there was two other motives for him. If there was any connection to Yasuo or Nozomi, he was going to tear the information from them. Still he would reply to her before she had a chance to remove herself from his presence.

"A fair plan Lady Mizukage. Basic as it may be it covers our forces well and increases our soldiers survival rate. I would alter the plan slightly though. My forces will gladly join yours in a second wave except myself and two men. Being as we are trained in stealth and infiltration, we three will wait for a break in whatever enemy force awaits us and rush through. From there the three of us will scout ahead and eliminate anyone I deem a potential threat to our forces. Of course if you say otherwise, I will proceed as instructed. As your adviser though I think it best to know what lays in wait."

Still there wasn't much in the way of disagreement between them. Or if there was he would consider her words the true course. Regardless he was a calculating man. So the travel time she spent with him was only factual and less entertaining than one might expect. He had no room in his day for laughter or warm smiles. Still her bringing up the spirits of her men was a good sign as a commander. He would leave her to it until the reached their destination.



Still once they arrived they approached from a position he couldn't see well. Relying on the reports of those in the masts. The two squads shifted and moved across the water. Moving along their assigned objectives. As they did he glanced to two of his men and spoke quietly. "I don't trust this. As you progress across the sands send out minute chakra pulses. Don't drain yourselves but detonate any traps under the sand before the forces reach them." The two would nod and shift to join the first force. Subtle but there. When the first wave charged the beach he wasn't shocked to see corpses. It was the preferred army of the bells after all. A trap couldn't be any more obvious. Still he would follow Ayakashi's lead here. Except for one thing. He turned to the captain as his own forces waited to move to the field.

"Beach the ships. Our forces will cover your crews. However being as these are dead puppets a standing force will be left with each ship to prevent sabotage. The dead have no need for breath."

A shout from Ayakashi brought his attention back to the beach. As expected the dead were rising. Sero lifted his hand and let it fall. The second wave would cover the beach head and eliminate any enemy at Ayakashi's back. The two forces that scouted to either side would return given time to reinforce and pincer. They just needed to hold out until the advantage was theirs. Sero and his two subordinates though were already moving. Dark blurs lifting off the ship and sinking into shadows on the beach. Moving rapidly from shadow to shadow in the fight until Ayakashi let loose her chakra wave. It was effective in creating the opening and three shadows followed far enough behind it to not be caught in the cold. Breaking through and leaving the fight behind. Sero moved straight forward with his honor guard. If the child army kept its advance whoever was watching over this would sense Sero first. Assuming they were using sensory. Either way Sero was well on his way to discovering the child army with a small honor guard.

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