The land of wind had been a lawless wasteland ever since the destruction of Sunagakure and the consequent chaos that came after it. Bandits and former shinobi roamed the lands, banding together in dangerous packs and harassing those who did not want to leave the land of wind in search for a better place to live. In the eyes of the shinobi world this was an utter disaster wrought by misfortune and disarray within the once mighty nation, it was a testament that even in this day and age where powerful shinobi managed to control nations and see them prosper, there was also the possibility of powerful shinobi doing the opposite: utterly destroying a nation and tearing apart its foundations with ease.

Not far from the remains of the hidden village, a small group of bandits had gathered and decided upon their course of action: raiding what seemed to be a small camp of harmless merchants who were unfortunate enough to pass through these lands and thus this newly made gang's territory.

Their attack was done swiftly and with eerie precision, in the dead of night they managed to slit the throats of the guards, plunder the wagons and take with them all they saw as valuable, this included a couple of young girls who would without a doubt fish a hefty price on the black market as slaves. It was thus, in the eyes of these bandits, not a time of chaos, but a time of opportunity for wealth and riches, unbound by laws or order, they were free to do as they pleased.

At least it looked like that until the news came that not one nation, but all the surrounding nations had send expeditionary forces to assert themselves in those lawless lands, claim it for their own or whipe it clean to let it blossom once anew into a new nation under their benevolent guidance.

From their hideout: a deceptively small looking cave entrance, two bandits were on guard duty, smoking a cigarette while keeping a hand on their weapons, laughing and chatting loudly without a care in the world. "I guess those troops are having us surrounded pretty soon," One of the bandits sighed, letting out a puff of teal coloured smoke. "I reckon the boss might want to change our hideout or relocate to a new place. We can't match up against those trained elites these days."

The other bandit snorted and smiled. "No worries, with those four girls, we should be able to get a hefty sum of ryo," he as well let out a puff of teal coloured smoke and sat down on the ground, his long saber stabbing the sand with a hollow thud as he got seated. "Just think about the money and forget about what's happening around us. It's not like we got to deal with that monster of the sands anymore. Last I heard, that lady got her ass handed to her by some Kirigakure soldiers in Kumogakure."

503

It was not the best day any regular bandit could have, in fact, one could have even slated it to be one of the worst if not the worst in this case. As they were simply gathering around a fire, gladly recounting the tales of their deeds and the dreams and prospects of profit which they held so dearly after having gone through the labor of taking down a carefully selected merchant's caravan and raiding both its riches and hoarding what valuable merchandise the caravan possessed. Yet in stead of finding comfort and solace for a life well lived and adventures to be had in past and future lives, the three only saw a woman approach them, barely a woman even, hardly even close to their age. To their surprise this woman suddenly mentioned herself as the monster of the desert, something which at first shocked them, yet was instantly followed by chuckles and laughter.

"Monster of the desert, please, don't make such jokes," The first one jested.

"Oh puhlease, anyone who knows a bit about the destruction of sunagakure knows it wasn't that one who used the fire to burn it down," The second one jeered.

"I know that physical appearance, that girl's a damn Karisuma...really nothing to be affraid of, just some wayward bastard trying to reclaim her home, I reckon." The third one sneered.

Alas, it was the last the three bandits would ever utter, say or pray, for their lives were cut short in such a short, brutal and utterly unfair way, one could call it retribution for their sinful lives or perhaps the cruelty of karma in its rawest and most honest form. The bandits that profited from a tragedy, exploited a village's destruction and now mooched on the countless broken lives and dreams suddenly got caught up in a blazing firestorm, a raging inferno to which they held no answer. As blades were drawn, the metal melted, as eyes opened, they popped like overcooked eggs. Where once was flesh, nought but flakes of dust remained and where once was bone, nought but charred and blackened cinders could be found. The whole place seemed like a miniature version of the sunagakure tragedy, with sand having turned into glass beneath the feet of the assailant and her partner.

The cold moons still shone pale in the night's sky, undeterred by the sudden blaze of light which had erupted moments earlier and the desert was yet again silent, bar for the glass and cinders, there was no more trace of any outburst or eruption of rage and heat to be found. However, as Nova, hidden within her strong and fearsome looking puppet shell started utilizing her own personal gifts, she could notice indeed that there were more signatures remaining in the vicinity and her intelligence did also note that some of them were most likely the conspirators of the bandits that Izumi had taken care of in a flash a mere moment before.

It was near the entrance of a small cave not far from Izumi and Nova's position, that two men were playing cards, wondering what it took their comrades so long to return from their usual walk around. The first of the two men looked up and sighed. "Guess they're disregarding the boss' rules again and just enjoying the night again," The other man looked up as well and smiled, using a spair card from within his sleeve to exchange it with one that was in his hands to slam down a four of a kind aces onto the table;" Does it even matter, I've won!!"

Just as the man wanted to grab the money and objects that had been heaped up between the two, the other guy grabbed his wrist and placed down his own hand, which was a four of a kind...of aces as well. "Nuh uh, we're equal...and you obviously cheated," Without saying anything more, the guy threw his comrade against the floor, upon which a handful of cards fluttered down bearing aces upon them, yet in doing so a few also fluttered down from the other guy's sleeves, showing cards with the same markings and symbols. "Well, seems we were both cheating...split the pot?" The other guy sighed and nodded. "Same as usual I guess, we really should stop cheating against eachother, we never have a clear winner this way."

It was at this point that the boss entered the place where the two were having a little scuffle. "Shut up you dolts, when the others get back, I want you all to come down...we got to discuss what to do with those people out back, sell em or use em?"

The two nodded, though suddenly the first cheater asked how many they had now. was it three or four, to which the boss quickly replied. "It's five out back, no wait...four, argh...it's been a long night, be sure to keep a lookout and come yell me at any sign of trouble."

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