She looked over the war-scape and found what she saw more than disturbing, she saw the lives of her people gather and in desperation attempt to fight a monster that she felt responsible for unleashing on the world, should she have accepted his maniacal gratitude, respected him as a warrior, used him as an asset like the Mizukage before her? Or would that make her no better than seven bells herself? So many questions and moral conflicts were running through the fibres of her mind, twisting around each other like a spiders web of inner turmoil and confusion. There was little she could do now that the die had been cast and the stage was set for the up and coming battle... But there was something that she was able to do for her country...

Attack!

Solstice picked herself up from the ground, and with the power of her mind, she fought through the agonising pain which would cripple a lesser ninja, sitting to the side of her generals' chair, she looked sternly and dropped her mask, so that no-one could see the pain in her eyes. She had done an amazing job at hiding her wounds, but, they had almost paralysed her. She was moving on muscle memory alone, forcing each of her muscles with strict focus and willpower to move in the directions she wanted them to, each and every move from her core jarred her breathing, and brought sweat to her brow almost instantly. But the Mizukage needed to be the pillar of strength for her village, she had no choice in this, she needed to lead from the front-lines, only that way would the morale of the nation back her.

She needed to be the leader the people needed...

Picking herself up, she took the twin swords which she had claimed for herself as a temporary prize, for her use in this battle and placed her armour over her cloak, pulling her hood up and loading her quiver with arrows, finely catered to her personal bowman-ship. Death at this point was not an option, and the people needed to know that she would have their backs, as well as them having hers. Standing, the pain shot through her body like lightning. Painful enough to have made any other ninja buckle and fall, but the Mizukage tensed hard, and made firm every muscle in her body, exhaling a single, forced, shaky breath. It was time to move. Taking her combi-weapon, she took to the fleet out of the tent with nothing but the silent on-looks of the medical ninja who had been attempting to treat her condition, they knew how bad she was, but they also knew of her determination, knowing that she was unlike any other ninja in the world, and that she would be the one to pull them from this chaos. If no-one else.

Taking to the fleet, her goal was nothing more or less than to cut a swathe through her enemy and reach the chambers of the leader. This was a moment for the skill and power of the Mizukage to shine, many of the forces of seven bells were little more than B-A rank ninja, falling two ranks lower than her speed, and three ranks lower than her strength, even wounded her body was not weakened. Aya had finely honed her body and mind to be able to withstand and break through such physical barriers, both as a sage and as a warrior and martial artist. Her mind was a fortress, with its gates barred and guarded from things so meagre as pain and distraction.

And so through the mist she became a bullet, cutting through the world, she was to be the sword of Kirigakure no Sato in this war, and she would be the one to cut down all who stood in her path, drawing her Bo staff, she span it to one side of herself like a helicopter blade, pushing through the calm trees of Kirigakure troop territory, and into the bowles of the chaos, she put the tip of the weapon to the ground and vaulted with all of her might, meters into the air, landing within the formation of the enemy troops, within a moment, the weapon revealed a blade from the tip of the staff, becoming Naganata and spinning around herself once, cutting through the soft skin and fragile human bone of the enemy soldiers, felling them at once before whipping the staff to a side, locking the blade down to one side, and cementing the scythe blade into place.

Precision...

That was what it meant to be a warrior, taking off once again before the dust or the screams of the men she had cut down had settled, she burst through the ranks of the fight once again. Traversing her weapon from side to side as if she were riding some form of cavalry. eliminating the legs and arms of few of the soldiers who were in her striking range, but it was not long before the realised the threat of the human cannonball which was tearing toward them foot-ball fields per second. Firing the volley of one of their deadly siege weapons, the 2m long projectiles which could tear through stone walls threatened to impale the Mizukage through, though, without so much as a wink, Aya folded to the ground, falling backward and sliding, knees forward and lying flat back on the ground, flat as a board... the lowest of the siege bolts passing no more than ten centimetres over her, close enough to feel the wind force, and have Aya back on her feet, and at the engine before the men had a chance to react.

Grace...

Standing above and atop the siege weapon, she changed her weapon to its curved blade, the men who stood around it quickly abandoned their positions and took to the heel. Leaping backwards from her perch, Aya came down on the machine with her blade, cutting through it like its weight in bamboo and parting the mechanical killing machine in two, which would leave a small door for others to be able to follow suit. Such was war, the smallest breach in a defensive position could cost the position entirely. A weakness, a crack, able to be exploited until it becomes a fissure, before threatening the entire structure of their defence. Such was the Mizukage's hopes, but she had a bigger opponent to worry about.

coming to a bridge at the front of the manor, Aya began to bolt across its lengths, gripping her fuma shuriken to her back, and staring down one of the Siege engines as it prepared to fire. Throwing all of her weight, speed, and strength into a single spin, Aya threw her leg back and sent her Demon Windmill Shuriken hurtling toward the enemy position, with such force, the ground beneath it cut before ever the blades manage to scratch its surface. Solstice followed closely behind it, until moments before the weapon was able to fire, there was an explosion of blood and gore as one of the soldiers who were operating the firing mechanism seemed to detonate on impact with Aya's weapon, ripping through him like a coloured water balloon and stalling the activation of the weapon for the crucial second it took for Aya to already be behind the operators...

Strength...

A solid, full forced punch was what met the first of the remaining soldiers which stood guard of the gates to the expansive building which stood before her, the man, taking the force of the open palmed strike to the chest, and hurtling into the rock face of the manor's wall, a small blood splatter expanding from where his head met the granite... Planting her hand on the weapon, Aya turned, kicking herself from the ground to pivot horizontally in mid air, throwing a kick to the chest of one of the other two men, sending him back, colliding with the other in such a manner they both flew from their footing and off the side of the bridge. They, would more than likely survive their fall, but they were out of her way, out of the way of the people who needed to cross here, so, with a nip of her blade, she cut the string of the siege bow, to ensure its disuse, before continuing to the building which housed her target.

These are what it took to be a Kage...

Storming the front gates would be dramatic, but, they were more than likely well guarded, and Aya was trying her best to conserve chakra for when she would need it against her opponent. It was already agonising enough to move and she could not afford any more disadvantages than she already had. But she was almost in place... soon she would be able to find the location of the person she was looking for, her target, the man who had caused all of this to happen in the first place... would die by her hand and her hand alone...

Looking up the wall to a third story window frame, she nodded to herself, knowing that would be her target. Taking to a run, and without even using supernatural walking, she took to the side of the wall, leaping before impact and planting a foot to the side of the building, pressing upward with all of her might as her body moved closer and closer to the wall before jumping just high enough to grip the sill with her outstretched hand. Strength enough to lift her full weight with but a single finger flowed through all five within her gauntleted hand, curling her grip and hurling her upwards towards so that her feet met where her hands once were... She would only have one chance for this jump.

Kicking off the sill, which crumbled beneath her the black figure of the Mizukage in full gear launched skywards like a dragoon and landed dramatically crouched on the rooftop, meeting each of the guards up here armed with longbows... Scrambling they surrounded her, and Aya flicked the reset on her weapon, causing the blade to retract and the pole to expand once again, forming her staff, but with a subtle difference. One twist and the string along its length became unclipped, forming her bow placed on the ground before her. But her enemies knocked their first volley, taking aim against the intruder, their eyes locking onto their target like trained hawks before they finally let fly.

Running forward a few meters in the gap of a sixtyith of a second, she jumped, corkscrew flipping through the mesh of arrows as they crossed over through the middle, landing and letting out a round house kick for the arrow which lagged behind her, spinning and catching the side of the wooden shaft, spinning it off course and toward one of the men which had fired the shots to begin with, the arrows tail re straightening the arrow in flight like a dart before connecting tip first with his neck, and throwing him from the roof of the building...

Each of the men which stood before her now readied their second shots, but from here it was too late. By the time their arrows knocked, Aya's arrows were already in flight, her superior middle eastern archery style allowed her to hang at least ten arrows in flight before the first one landed its target, allowing maximum fire potential, without the sacrificing of accuracy. The archers keeled over, stung in vital arteries which would kill them as an accumulate in less than a minute without access to supernatural healing capabilities. Which by now were more than spent on people on the front. Leaving Aya to move freely and retrieve her arrows from her marks, all the while calling to the twins for a location on the room which they would assume Seven Bells to be within.

Though the grandmaster ninja wore ANBU armour which masked his chakra, there was a throne room within this miniature estate castle block. And Aya had thought it the perfect place for an egocentric, sociopathic lunatic to be holed up in. Taking a leap down, aiming for the stained glass of the window she took hold of the awning overhanging the design and with an explosion of glass and shrapnel, Aya catapulted down toward the centre of the room, landing on one knee and turning to scan the entire room for opponents. There was no way a man like him would be able to resist the chance to cut the head off the army of Kirigakure here and now, such an opportunity was too tempting for any man, yet alone a madman.

"SEVEN BELLS! It's time for you to show me just how weak I really am...! We both know you want my head on a pike, so, come an claim it... If you can..."

She taunted, looking over the blasted hidden forbidden holy ground. It was time to play the requiem for one of these leaders, for better or for worse. There was only one way out of this room, and that was with the wind.

The moment had come, his foe had arrived with only a moment's notice for warning. Before the coming of the moment, was the lead up of the unmissable battle between the righteous and the truly deserving, for the few moments that he'd spend punishing the Mizukage and her pawns would be her last memories before her destined death. Yes, indeed the time had come. The one who wore the title of Mizukage would soon walk through hose hefty, stained wooden doors that glared at him from the opposite end of the room. To think the Mizukage wouldn't show up was to denying the possibility of death: it was just another fact that had to be accepted and expected. The only surprise Seven Bells was looking forward to see would be the look on the Mizukage's face when she begged him for mercy. With the only thing she'd see being the blood-stained carpet eating up her face, would the Mizukage beg the man for amnesty or would she bravely accept death in front of everything else? Would she use words to curse at the man or disposable weapons? Had she the right mind set to even dare to challenge the man himself, or would she leave it to her helpers to clean up the mess she has started? The moment would reveal the next chapter of the story, along with the events that would follow up.

Seven bells sat loosely in his chair, glaring at the wooden doors he expected the Mizukage to barge in through with vengeful intentions, for that's all she could do. A person who couldn't show great gratitude to the one god that showed her people mercy in their times of need was surely destined to die by her own ignorant actions. It was only at the last minute that the kage decided to make her arrival noticable, as she broke through the stained glass covering the holes in the walls around the room and landing in the middle of the building on one knee. Although the grand entrance was one the man hadn't expected of the kage it surely grabbed his attention and made him sit on the edge of his throne, though the only other reaction the man chose to publicize was the flinch of an eyebrow after seeing the kage's sudden appearance. A smirk painted itself across the man's lips, accompanied by the lowered eyebrows that soon showed up across the man's eyes. The sound of shattered glass had woken the war lord up from his deep observation of the wooden doors that stood against him on the other side of the room, stealing his attention and re-directing it to the Mizukage who now knelt before him. "SEVEN BELLS! It's time for you to show me just how weak I really am...! We both know you want my head on a pike, so, come an claim it... If you can..."" Seven Bells felt the sharpness in the kage's words, but discarded the thought of finding any deeper meaning behind the phrase. "BITE YOUR TONGUE MIZUKAGE! It will do you well to silence your words. Your weakness is evident, i saw it the first time our paths crossed and if you haven't seen it yet i asure you will by the time i'm through with you," Seven roared.

A moment after the appearance of the gutsy Mizukage, Seven Bells decided to raise himself from his sitting position, before slowly walking away from the throne he one rested in and made his way slowly towards the edge of the royal red carpet. The man studied the Kage's look, noting all of the tools she had brought with her and the armor she had chosen to wear to her funeral. It amused the man to see such a powerful, internationally well recognized figure feel the need to wear protective gear when approaching him; it said something about not only the Mizukage's fear of losing, but her fear to lose to the likes of he. "IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE GOOD IN ME, I WILL HIGHLIGHT IT TO YOU BY SHOWING YOU THE BAD IN ME!!" the man called out the the Kage, before making his move towards the Mizukage. After weaving together a few brief hand signs Seven bells would suck in a large amount of air, before rapidly pushing out the air in the form of a large burst of flaming chakra, in the shape of a dragon. The flaming creature was in size larger than him and the Mizukage put together and was more than capable enough of knocking back the Mizukage 5m away should it land a hit on her. Out of the caster's control, the dragon swam through the air, closing the distance between its caster and his target before targeting the Mizukage herself. Seven Bells would then push against the ground and glide 6m away to the right of his initial position, keeping the Kage in his line of sight at all times.

Chakra 470/500:

There was a time and a place for restraint, now was not this moment, the Mizukage listened for the short term it took to take in the auditory venom spurting forth from her opponent. Solstice's fists clenched, and with all of the thought power she could spare, she began to rapidly devise her plan of action... Her mind taking in the surroundings of the room with each of her many weapons and utensils at her disposal, she would need to use each and every one of them to be able to turn this harrowing confrontation into a potential victory. But her thoughts came to a close with a rush of fire exploding in her direction, her opponent had already made his first mistake... Using fire against the worlds most powerful ice user... Drawing all of her power inward, combining it with her focus, it was time that this fight begin...

throwing a fraction of strength into her gloves, which for a long while was much of Aya's own name sake. She opened her palms toward the curling draconic beast, using the mirror like surface of the chakra resonance which surrounded them to deflect the beast back in on itself, causing the dragon jutsu to detonate and crumble in on itself in a dramatic flurry of azothic flame. Tearing through the Mizukage thought it finally time to enter close quarters combat. It was where her true power shone, and where she was notably the most dangerous. Her area of effect abilities and her own sword-skill would be his undoing in this fight, but, she was still afraid of the puppet which he was more or less famous for.

Drawing her bow, as it stood she charged Bells, drawing a handful of seven out of twenty arrows from her quiver and firing each and every one of them in rapid and almost simultaneous succession, the arrows were each aimed for the centre of Seven Bell's chest, tracking his movements should he strafe further to the side, attempting to force him to take some form of evasive action. Simply a tool to close the gap, she would attempt to reach him, clipping the bow string back in, her blade faster than the batting of an eyelid would transform, erecting a blade and knocking it down on a 90 degree angle to form a curved scythe blade in stead of the arrow, spinning the weapon and striking in close quarters for the head of the maniacal man which had threatened not only her, but her entire country with the terror of war and death.

There were several things in this world which Aya could not forgive... Stealing the livelihoods of others was one of them, whether it be their possessions or their way of life, it was unacceptable, and Seven Bells fought his war with an ARMY of those whose livelihoods he had hand picked and stolen for his own maniacal means, the thought of which stung Aya to her stomach. The second detestable act, was ignorance, and disregard for the things in life which were the most important, one being the sanctity of life in itself, but here before her stood a man which had no regard for such things, and only wanted to see a world of his own making, and burn anything which might infringe upon his ideals. The third, was those who murder... and with that realisation, Aya truly believed that the man who stood before her, was possibly the true antithesis to her entire being...

The rage, the emotional zen which pushed her beyond the state of anger into hate, beyond the state of hate into blind fury, and beyond that into a state of pure, truest focus, which kept her eyes bearing down on her opponent with a ferocity and intensity which would not be easily matched by another living entity. It was as if she were staring down a crude changeling, something Aya could not consider as human, he had to be something else, something crueller, more murderous and destructive.

The power of the emotions which ran through her body dropped her body temperatures through the floor, to negative levels beyond imagination as before the strike for the neck of Seven bells was struck, she found herself twisting into the form of Sage mode with great effort, and activating the power of her Demonic Ice Venom technique as a starter, the S ranked Ice powers which coursed through her veins would be enough to sting him with the icy grip of death on contact, making Aya one of the most powerful blades-masters in the ninja world, where but a nick from her weapon was lethal on contact. The power of the jutsu coiled down her scythe, causing both herself and her weapon to radiate fog from their surfaces, the air around them warmer than their ice cold surfaces. Thr ground beneath her feet even beginning to freeze over.

Chakra 320:

The failed attack from the flaming dragon, although literal in itself was only the tip of the iceberg as the Mizukage, a gifted Hyouton user would say. The flaming figure of a mythical beast had only served Bells as the distraction to his master plan, a diversion of what was truly to come. The honored man couldn't stand in the same room as the Mizukage knowing whatever he threw towards her would just crumble into itself to reveal the failed attempt, but truth be told he had a powerful force behind him and would only use it should his hands be forced. The war lord saw the Mizukage literally grab the flaming beast and somehow destroy its shape and form, leaving nothing behind but the trail of light it led as it dove into the kage's reflective gloves. 'Not as useless as i thought,' thought the war lord. 'But i'm afraid you'll have to do much better than that in order to extinguish this morale of mine.' Just as Seven came to a sudden stop after his quick slide across the ground to the right of his initial position, the Mizukage activated a technique of some sort that made her skin change in colour and temperature. "More surprises i hope?" the man bantered, before changing his stance and potentially his battle plan.

After what seemed like a short moment within the blink of an eye, seven sharp spears came flying towards his chest at fast speeds, all targeted towards one part of the veteran's body: the central chest/torso area. Seven Bells assumed the Mizukage had targeted the easiest part of the body to protect only to make sure he avoids the attack in a certain way that would leave him vulnerable for a follow up offense routine. Though the man's assumptions could not be proven true, it also couldn't be proved false. Trusting his gut rather than his mind, Bells made a risky move he feared he'd regret later on, though at the time was positive it was most likely the smart thing to do at a situation like this. The man pushed himself backwards away from the flying arrows and the Mizukage herself, knowing he had much less than a full second to avoid either the kage or her spears. Whilst sliding backwards across the carpet floor, Seven Bells would raise from the ground (ground of the floor they're on) a large doton wall, measuring 20m across, enough to go from one end of the side walls to the other with a height of 10m and a depth of 6m. The wall was large enough to split the room into two halves, though due to its over-sized height the top of the doton wall crashed into the roof above and weakened it to a certain degree.

Seven Bells looked down on his hands, before charging each with a massive amount of raiton chakra powerful enough to ignite both of his hands with a glowing yellow lightning effect, at the same time producing loud crackling noises that could've been heard between the two separate rooms. He'd then point the palms of his left hand towards his left whilst holding his right hand 15cm in front of his face. Given the right time and moment, the war lord would launch a devastating attack towards the Mizukage the moment he saw another one of her tricks sneak past his defense or her herself. The Jutsu Seven Bells had started preparing for would only fully activate itself the moment the user chose their time to attack, after which a large electric Eel would form a meter away from the user where their left hand palm was facing, whilst the right hand helped to guide the eel towards its intended target. Originally Bells had designed the jutsu for use on opponents he couldn't seem to get a hold of whilst in battle, but after all the years of constant fighting with different foes of different fighting styles Bells had learned that it was useless to lock the justu for one use only.

The battle had only just begun, at this point anything could happen, at least that's what a coward would say. Bells believed in self confidence as much as the next guy, no, more than the next guy. The man couldn't stand to loose to weaklings such as the Mizukage, a shinobi that hides behind her title and lets those who worship her do her job for her. Although the man couldn't sympathize with the kage, he knew the burden she had to carry upon receiving the title kage. He knew she had to take on the responsibility of the entire village and lead them as their patron. He knew the sacrifices her people made for her and in turn the sacrifices she had to make for them, but he felt as though the Kage had failed to make this one sacrifice for her people now. Her denial of ending the war between her village and Bells, with him as the one to walk away as the winner would surely cost her the lives of her people, the grounds of her land, the blood of her family. Her mind shall be cleaned, her eyes needed to see the truth in the future; the truth that Seven Bells will walk away from the battle in victory, stepping over the dead bodies of the Mizukage's followers and all those who followed them. The kage hadn't a clue of who she was dealing with, but Bells will do well to educate her once more.

Chakra 420/500:

Aya's arrows let fly, crashing against the stone wall as one of them was knocked up and over, Aya thought about her offensive attack, but there was too much risk in using her substitution jutsu so early in the battle, she would need to save it for an attack that she would not be able to avoid. The wall was tall and strong, as she reached it, her blade cleaved through the wall, creating a slate of ice on one side of it around where she had attempted to land her blow. Aya's mind raced, Doton was one thing, but, once the jutsu had come to the end of its duration, she coiled her fist, and looked to the wall before her, pausing for a moment hoping that Seven bells would not be expecting this next assault on his senses.

Ayakashi Aisu was not about to step down to a murderous fiend~!

Coiling her fist, she prepared to strike through to the heart of her opponent. Pouring chakra through her body and into her fist, she threw it forward with enough force to create a massive crater with the power of chakra enhanced strength. Her fist plummeting into the side of the rock wall would send tremors down it, crashing the tonnes of boulder sized pieces and exploding them out toward Seven bells in a rock-slide of force and power, hopefully powerful enough to intercept his eel jutsu, and bury him under the body crushing debris. Flipping up into the air and activating the sensory power on her mask, Aya would with another skillful flick of her weapon retract the blade and re-brandish her bow, knocking an arrow, and using the surge prepared from the activation of her ability, she flowed the Hyouton power through one of her arrows, a power which would destroy the bolt once and for all, but it would also more than likely kill Seven Bells.

Firing the bolt, the chilled arrow would cascade through the cracks in the debris perfectly until it would either impact with Seven Bells or at least the ground near him, in which the pulse of ice at almost sonic speeds would spread from the point of impact, expanding six meters in every direction in an instant, causing the ground, the rocks, and even the moisture in the air would turn to ice fragments which would disperse with the breeze. Though the 12m diameter glacier was something Aya was proud of. It represented more than simply her will and power, it represented the years of training and development it had taken her to get this far, though, if she could get here, in the fourteen years she had been a ninja, Seven Bells probably had double, and no shortage of training partners with his intended victims.

Landing, Aya collapsed her bow once again, the string attaching to the crook on the side of the pole, and then folding over one another to reveal the long blade on the inside, and arching outward to produce a cross guard, revealing her skill in swordsmanship in brandishing the blade. Aya was the most powerful swords-woman in the living world, and she was about to prove it. Her ice ran through the weapon constantly, adding a frosty glimmer to the surface of the blade, as she rose it to her face in a swordsman's salute. She had the item advantage here, until he drew his puppet which she had still yet to see, or the living puppet technique which he got his name for. The solar powered puppet which defeated the member of the Schichiouza with a light speed attack... something that dangerous needed to be kept from the light...

Charging head-first at her opponent once again, it was time to see what this man was made of, he had done nothing but attempt to push her away, which made her believe he was not as strong in close quarters combat as she was, he didn't want her to get there, because he knew he could not keep up with her when it came to mastery of the blade. Though, within Aya's chest she felt a hitch, the pain which was reverberating through her body with ever earth shattering step was agony, the wounded Kage had to keep focused, and remove the pain from her head, but it was all the worse when she attempted to use chakra, the wound, which had hit her chakra system, felt like fire on the inside of her veins, threatening to burn her away as a fever began to develop.

Chakra 275:

Seven Bells smiled from his seated position, looking straight towards the Mizukage's desperate attempts at landing a single hit on his clone, albeit mistaking it for him. It amused him a lot to see the Kage throwing her attacks towards a mindless look alike, though the level of embarrassment he felt for her couldn't be compared to the level of embarrassment she was about to feel when she realized she had been fighting a clone of the real Bells the whole. That she had wasted 10 seconds of her life chasing after the fake Bells whilst the real Bells sat quietly in the throne he had disguised as empty the moment he heard the window shatter to the appearance of the Mizukage. An experienced man such as he couldn't allow himself to be drawn in towards a battle he knew he could have lost in the first 10 seconds, that he needed a way to waste those few seconds, a filler moment. That was the term he chose to title the 10 seconds he made the Mizukage waste with. To an experienced observer what Bells was about to do next would seem somewhat like a cleverly thought-out genjutsu, though the man wasn't experienced in the art.

The look-alike of Bells saw the large shards of rock come pelting their way towards his direction, each frighteningly large enough break if not shatter most of Bell's bones should he have let the attack go through unattended. With the electric eel ready for use, Bells' clone quickly brought its left hand around and in front of him, bringing along the eel with it to block the path of the flying rocks. As they neared the eel, each piece of rock began crumbling into smaller and smaller pieces until it passed through the look-alike Bells as a cloud of brown dust. Within seconds every single piece of rock that had target Bell's clone had fallen to the ground in the form of a thick layer of dust, dirtying the red velvet carpet that lay across the room underneath Bell's feet. The clone had been quick to avoid the sideways rainfall of shattered rocks, but had forgotten the launched arrow of the Mizukage that had managed to pass through the mid-flight debris aimed for the clone's body, but thankfully the real Bells hadn't forgotten. Whilst the clone worried itself with stopping the pelting attack of the flying debris, Bells had managed to summon his puppet just in time and at the last minute had it claw at the incoming arrow with just one of its 10 heavy, SS ranked blades.

Before the dust fully settled across the carpeted floor Bell's clone 'poofed' away, returning the left over chakra it had back to its owner who now stood in front of his throne with one hand aimed towards the now-revealed puppet with chakra strings pouring out of the tips of his fingers and each shooting forwards towards the puppet, each attaching itself to a key point on the puppet's body that helped Bells move its head and limbs. Bells watched from the distance as his puppet stood 7m away from the gutsy Mizukage, glaring at her figure through its dead, glass-like eyes. It didn't take the man any more than 3 continuous seconds before he started running his mouth once more, only this time he had reason. "Still falling for the oldest tricks in the scroll are we Mizukage, it is a shame to see you like this. I thought i might as well bring out my puppet Gaoren, to really kick start this unfortunate gathering of 'friends', though i wonder where yours are," Seven Bells would mock the kage, before giving his right hand a flick and triggering his puppet to go into an offensive stance against the Mizukage.

With the Kage's body in his line of site, from his distance Bells would force the puppet to aim its right hand towards the Mizukage, before shooting out its 5 bladed fingers towards the kage in a wide-spread star formation. A long chain followed each of the fingers as they drew near and nearer towards the kage, reaching her within a second after launch. Should the Mizukage manage to avoid the incoming attack from the puppet's claws, Bells himself would launch an attack of is own in order to re-direct the Kage's attention from the puppet,  all the while letting it slowly gather large amounts of pure light energy from the moon light through the cracked windows. The light came directly form the moon and beamed through the tainted windows, before reflecting into the eyes of the puppet and slowly supplying the puppet with its energy: preparation for the final attack had to be made whilst the Mizukage was still weak with hope.

Chakra - -/500:

Solstice watched in awe as her attack had landed, but, out in the corner of her eye, she saw movement, aborting any other movement she dived to a side as Gaoren came into being before her and the arm of another man appeared as it had moved, coming into the view of her mask. He must have sat deathly still and more than 15 meters away from her to not have been sensed by her Sage mode or the mask, both were unfortunate instances, she could have come at him with the full force of surprise, which would have been more than an advantage, but such was the nature of combat. As he spoke aloud, she smiled, and could not help but let out a small laugh at the trap he had fallen into, in blocking her arrow, there was something which he had fallen into, something which he would regret...

"Mock me at your will Seven Bells, but, in your pride, you have lost your most precious weapon... As you've spoken, you're precious puppet has been frozen solid... Unable to even lift one of its bladed fingers. HA, NOW IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO FEEL THE WRATH OF KIRIGAKURE!!! "

Stabbing her blade into the ground, she drew each of the twin blades, Kukan and Sozo, The Legendary sword of the Mist Gripped tightly in each hand as it was time to draw on the power of her ultimate technique. Her chakra within her became like a cold fusion reactor, her chakras lighting up like inverted suns as they exploded to the ultimate extreme and expression of Hyouton Taijutsu techniques. Her hair becoming longer, fibrous and sapphire crystalline, her skin turning black as night, while her scars became bracken cracks, over her skin the air itself froze into dry ice forming a coating over her entire body, a tail snaking from the end of her spine, made of pure, moving ice and hyouton chakra, horns and spikes running down her forehead, and spine, her elbows and knees as her feet extended into long raptor-like talons.

Her fists coiled as a separate pair of arms extended from her elbows, longer, clawed, mimicking the movements of her true arms beneath them like a demonic shadow. The hood of her cloak and her cloak itself becoming coated in the ice, looking more like frosted scales as she took a much more Jurassic appearance. " Demonic Ice Corruption: HIMIKO!!! "

The transformation would be near instantaneous, but she charged her opponent with Sage mode still activated beneath it, pumping power into the crystallised armour which she now wore, moving faster and faster, she had one turn to end this, she was putting everything into this assault as she lept at him with all the force and thunder and training of a God slamming its fist into the earth. The room around them had become like an ice box with her presence, the air and the cold rebounding off the stone, and causing the frigid air to feel like daggers on the lungs of those which were inhaling it. Entering close range combat with a single wide sweep, the ground at Ayas' feet began to freeze over in wide arcs as she made contact with the stone, her claws digging into it as she moved so she was able to easily keep her own footing. Raising her arms, the would unleash a ferocious volley of attacks in the direction of Seven Bells, Striking with her twin blades being followed up by the large two arms which swung at him in tandem.

He would have been informed of this technique from Io, but he had still himself never seen it with his own two eyes. Solstice was the Demon Ice Witch of Kirigakure. She would end this battle with her claws and her teeth should she need it, and though she no longer needed her mask, seeing him through a plethora of light as she immersed herself with the natural chakra of the area. But the beauty of this attack, was that she knew that he would not be able to fight her now, there was nothing he had at his disposal which was able to destroy her. Save for his destruction style which he displayed in the attack on the Mizukage mansion... Bus she would have to simply watch out for that ability, just like she would have to watch out for his special technique, which as she had been informed was able to puppet armies of puppets without the use of chakra strings...

this battle was reaching its maturity, but Aya could taste victory!

chakra 185:

There was not so much as a flinch. No flicker of emotion through those predatory amber eyes. No intake of breath when the ice air bit in to his war hardened skin. There was nothing that betrayed the thoughts that flowed like ice water through Gan Ning's mind.
This technique; he had heard of it before. The utter strength of the ice limbs, stemming from the users back like ghostly arms. The absolute cold of it's deathly kiss. The damage such power could do to a place as fragile as this. Io had detailed it's devastation perfectly.
But the man known as Seven Bells was not afraid of it's power when he had heard of it back then... and he certainly was not afraid of it now. Not even when it stood there in all it's absolute power; baring down on him with all the wrath and fury of it's unworthy user. 

The movement was so flawlessly smooth. So subtly performed. Not even the Mizukage who rushed towards him with her unruly barrage of frost bitten attacks would see his hand drop almost carelessly to his side to find the blade that rested sheathed there. Fingers coiling around the handle, muscles tensing, rippling under the skin....the older male then flicked his arm out with controlled ease and threw the blade towards the on coming female. 
It was almost beautiful. The way it sailed through the air, singing it's ghostly lullaby as it cut through the unseen layers of oxygen, soaring straight for the ice witch's side with the hilt glowing like a dying star... But then moments, mere seconds before it could tear through her flesh like a hot knife through snow, Bells' weapon breezed past her thin form. By the bare grazes of an inch it had missed. He had missed.....
Or had he?

It was a poor use for a weapon such as his Kitan Blades.
Yet, he cast the blades with such impeccable accuracy  and power, that it would only appear to be sailing towards his target. Only he would know that the real target was behind her. The wall which would hold his weapon there until he let go of that breath... that moment...
She came closer. The cold reaches of her jutsu extended to claw away at his strength. Licking at the edges of his aura. Then, in the fragments of the second it took Gan Ning to expel that tension, he released the jutsu built up behind his stance. And then he was gone. Simply gone. Leaving only the dagger to face the utter devastation of her ice enriched attack. 

There was chaos. And then there was nothing. 
The ground where he stood froze over completely, scarring it in a way that could never be repaired. Glass shattered to coat the floor, in broken fragments of light. Wood splintered like brittle bone. Even the solid stone would fracture through till it's core from the immense pressure it had been dealt. But none of it was as damaging as the almost reassuring silence that followed. The moment of calm....
  "This is the last time you will disappoint me....Solstice Ayakashi Aisu"
Just like chill returned to his words, so did his dagger return to his hand. Reappearing with naught but a coating of ice over the blade and a few more scratches. Blemishes that would not stop him from driving the mono edged point, straight for her side at hopefully, point blank range, aiming to cut through the muscles, the tissue and bone. Before violently twisting it in it's place. But her punishment would not end there. Whether the female had the time...had the energy to move or not. Seven Bells released the handle of his dagger for the second time and slapped his hands together.

That sound. That death calling sound which sent echoes and shivers about the room, came to focus straight for the female Kage. Allowing not a thought to pass as the space in between the two, were filled with the sonic booms of his jutsu. A force so strong that it would send any person to fall a good twenty meters through the air before coming to a bone shattering landing on the ground before him. 
In a way, and in a place where they should have been all along. 

If his attack had been a success. Or if by some miracle the Mizukage had withstood the immense pressure. Or even if she had managed to slip away like an eel between icebergs: Seven Bells would walk up to her, his second knife in his hands, crackling with the same raiton energy which had laced the previous attack like a poison. He would step up to her and look down with the same nothing as before.
  "Foolish little girl. You are not worthy of the power of that jutsu. And just as I didn't deserve the atrocious welcoming, you don't deserve this village. Look around you. It falls apart as we speak. You have failed. You have lost and I am done with these lessons" 
Then Gan Ning of the Seven Bells would throw his remaining knife towards her chest. Aiming to end this once and for all.

Chakra (Will figure it out after):

Desperation

That was the absolute feeling which went through her body when she felt her opponent give way before her blows, she thought for a moment she had caught him, but that was when her mind began to race to all of the other conclusions which were immediately apparent with his sudden disappearing act. Solstice turned with the force of a hurricane, the knife which attempted to penetrate her side was met with nothing but the cold, hard armour of her jutsu, proving to be harder than he no doubt expected. With all the speed of her ancestors, the blade which was aimed at her side ground across her armour sending sparks cascading across her, exploding from the force of the attack painting galaxies across the canvas of her armour with a deep chip into the chitinous surface.

Ignoring the attack as she knew that her armour would hold was key, she swung her blade toward his head, the claw which extended about half a foot beyond her natural reach getting so close that the skin on his face began to turn black, overlapping the zone of a burn scar which dotted his face, the origins of which Aya was ever curious, she felt as though she was walking in the footprints of the great ninja who had once landed this prestigious blow on this man, who was probably no longer alive... So Aya would fight for that ninja, her blow would strike true, and with all the force of the heavens, but just as she got there, pico-meters from impact with his skin there was a ripple which even Aya's extreme speed at this range was unable to avoid, the power of which reverberated through her body, her armour, and her cloak, insulating the attack somewhat, lessening the blow, but she felt herself leave her feet...

Cascading backwards the force of the wave of Raiton energy blew her backwards like a rag doll. Within a second she felt her body crash into the solid surface of stone with such force and velocity that the foundations crumbled, and her, with half tonne bricks of stone and mortar were flown through the wall, crashing into the ground and bouncing like a childerens toy, with no control of her limbs as the tried to route herself she was hit by one of the boulders, knocking her from her resolve and forcing her to redouble her efforts... For a moment, the pain from her side flashed through her... and her world went black with the trauma. Moments later, she came to, her jutsu still active, saved by the shroud of the mizukage, the lightning resilient material which had protected her, and was with no small gratitude the only reason she was still alive right now.

Standing to her feet, the Ice armour had compound fractures running through it, and although the cold of the ice was beginning to re-seal the cracks, it would take minutes... Standing up, Aya forced herself to her feet, before holding her side in agony, there was absolutely no way she would be able to fight like this now, the pain of his direct hit, the shock of the lightning had broken her focus, and her wound was now taking its toll after being struck so hard with the jutsu... She was SO CLOSE, but it was too late, and the damage had been done, or the lack there of. Cringing and holding her side, if only she was able to fight him at full vitality, without this wound, perhaps this would have been an even battle, her reactions were slower than average, her punches were slightly off, so little that anyone on any lower level would not notice, but in a clash between titans, even a sliver of strength is enough to create a rift, which grows ad infinitum.

But, there was still time, Seven Bells was no doubt deliberating his next move, and Aya had one more chance of landing a killing blow. Using the pulse from her technique, she froze the land around her, in thirty meters in every direction so thoroughly that the entire clif-face would become like the top of the highest mountain. The Yuki Oni had created her battlefield, and she would plant the seed of her forest the moment that Seven bells appeared. From here, from this perch behind his mansion, she could witness the entire battle taking place around them, the front seemed to have pushed further forward than she could have imagined, her city, her country, had done so well. So, when Seven Bells would approach her on her frozen tundra, Aya would speak with pride as she would channel her power into her hand... and thought of Tenmei.

"Seven Bells... Can you not see what is happening around you? The power of Kirigakure, our Samurai, our men, woman, and children unite against you... You may be, without doubt, the most powerful ninja I have ever combated, the most powerful tyrant which has ever trodden this countries soil, but you, are NOT stronger than the people of this country. Your pride, is drowned by the weight of their fighting spirit... of their ninja way... and there is no weapon, no jutsu, no single person in this world who is able to destroy that kind of strength..! This kind of strength!!!"

Her power flared in her fist like a neutron star, as she raised it to the heavens, she did not need to turn away from telegraphing this attack, he had already substituted, and there was no way he would be able to escape the range in time to avoid it. The blue luminescent light of her chakra, her sage mode, intermingled with the light which was setting on the battlefield, bathing the battle with a blue hue for but a moment as the spark of light, the spark of hope and bravado exploded into an inferno within Ayakashi. Seven bells had fallen into a trap, and this was a trap he would never be able to escape from!

"YUKI ONI TECHNIQUE: SEED OF THE DIAMOND FOREST!"

She yelled simultaneously as her fist collided with the ground, ripping up the most beautiful and pristine rose-like vines from the ground around her. But these were larger, like bilge ropes or trees, perfectly crafted from the ice as they tore up from the ground, ripping up from the ice and like a whirlwind of destructive force hewed through the air with the force of a blender, snaking out in every direction turning the cliff edge into a sculpture scape of beautiful flowering vines of purest sapphire blue and Diamond white, which butterflies made of similar ice flowed betwixt and between. the destructive force of the Jutsu was near impossible to match, but there was one final trick to her coup de graces...

She had not only activated one technique... ... ... the Butterflies~

Aya had in tandem activated her Ga-kabe no jutsu, to chaff out his long range techniques from use, and block his ability to ise any projectile jutsu to be able to counter her, in the most stealthy of means. This was the power of her attack, the power of her Sage mode and the power of her resolve to destroy him. Recreating the dreams she had had, Aya felt her memories of the training with her phantom master, training in this exact same forest, which now she had the power to create around her in real life. This time she was the monster in the darkness, and he was the prey.

It was over...

Chakra 100:

Poised. Ready.


The Kitan Blade was as steady as a painters brush in his white knuckled hand. Even when aimed towards the snow pale flesh of the woman before him, the man did not tremble. He did not doubt because he knew.
Gan Ning of the Seven Bells knew that there were somethings in life that were sure, and somethings that were left to the actions of people.
He had stepped in to this land with nothing but good intentions draped over his hands and they treated him with the disrespect of a common criminal. Insulting him with their thoughtless words. Attacking him with little excuse and then thinking their honour would protect them from the consequences of their actions. They were fools. Cowards.
And now he would see their village fall on bended knee, as penance fro their misjudgments. This...this was what the Seven Bells was sure of. 

When the Mizukage turned on him....he held strong. 
Standing like an iron statue with his grip unwavering, the male didn't budge. Even as the sparks leaped from the grating sounds, dancing around his wrists like fire crackers. Even as the force of the inertia. threatened...dared to rip his own dagger from his hands. Gan Ning forced the short bladed weapon to remain in position despite the damage it would do to the sharpness of it's singing edge. 
It didn't matter. Even if his unique weapons were muted for now, their caresses had created cracks in the witches armour. Denting it with scars, bruising the shine. It would shatter and there would be nothing left to hold the girl together. 

His chakra was growing. Welling up between the palms of his hands when it came for him. The blade that hungrily reached for the rich blood in his veins. The arm that followed it's lust. The sting that shadowed the pain of an earlier scar. It should have made him angry. He should have been furious at her weak swipes of revenge. But he wasn't...he simply. Wasn't. Instead, a vicious grin reached his cold amber eyes. An expression of pure pleasure as he breathed in the adrenalin...the endorphines that tried to naturally over come the ache which gripped his mind. The feeling was......unbelievable. Unreal. So much so that, without a second thought, he unleashed the attack that would send the female hurtling through the wall and skittling across the ground towards the cliffs edge. 

She was weakened.

He could sense it. He could taste it. He loved it.
The sounds of her laboured breathing, breaking up the heavy blanket of mist. The heavy calculated steps as he got closer....and closer to the edge. The male made no attempt to mask the sheer delight he got in seeing the young Mizukage stumble to her feet like a discarded and broken puppet. Seeing that the hate she held for him and his actions were the only thing that was keeping her conscious and fighting. 

"Seven Bells... Can you not see what is happening around you? The power of Kirigakure, our Samurai, our men, woman, and children unite against you... You may be, without doubt, the most powerful ninja I have ever combated....."

"Stop this little girl. It's over" 


"....the most powerful tyrant which has ever trodden this countries soil, but you, are NOT stronger than the people of this country. Your pride, is drowned by the weight of their fighting spirit..."


"You have already LOST!"

".....of their ninja way...and there is no weapon, no jutsu, no single person in this world who is able to destroy that kind of strength..! This kind of strength!!!

What....was this?



A sharp inhale...and he squinted through the light as his watched the female before him change. Alter and shift in to something that was getting further from human as the milliseconds ticked silently by. 
He was so sure of his knowledge.  He knew what she was. Former head of the Aisu clan. The one responsible for this village and with a jutsu that she should never have received. But then this.....
She was like a Jinchuriki...
but there was no beast anywhere inside her. 
The maniacal grin slipped from his eyes as he stood...watching in a half trance as she continued to change past the point of  recognition.
Sliding further away from the parts of life where things were so sure. 

A rapid exhale....slipped ever so slightly from his control as the ground below then shuddered. Jarring like the very earth itself had taken a hit from an almighty hammer. The stone cracked as it had done before....the blades of grass crumpled under the terrors of her jutsu. 
It lashed and whipped and writhed out of the ground, joining in to a chaotic, devastating  forest of thorns that left nothing for mercy to shine on. It came for everything. It came for him.....and the man they had called Seven Bells felt his foot slip back away from this monstrosity, his arms raised as if that would protect him from the thorns that edged dangerously close to the area. 



It was over...




When suddenly...there was a flash. A familiar glimmer from behind the walls of the room they had been in only seconds ago. 
It blinked once. Twice. Then the laser like light, flashed through the still evening skies. Cutting through the air like a comet on it's death plunge, piercing the fragile brick walls and heading straight for Solstice Ayakashi Aisu. The Mizukage of Kirigakure......

Fangs... is what they felt like, fangs of light penetrating through the chest of the mizukage, the see through armour which should have protected her could not defend from light, she was unable to move in time and she had forgotten his attachment to the puppet which had thawed by the time he had needed it, the entrance wounds entered her chest and her jutsu came to a stop, just shy of seven Bells once again, halting as the Mizukage staggered a step backwards, the two holes through her chest were magnified by the ice around her, becoming as sharp as a scalpel at their finest point... A light speed attack... not something that you hear about every day in the ninja world... but it was not entirely unheard of.

Staggering, she felt a hand move to her chest as she looked up in an amount of disbelief, confusion crossing her masked face as she felt her weight giving way from beneath her, and with a single motion she fell backwards, not looking, not feeling, she could not catch her breath, and everything seemed to begin to slip away, the first thing that went was her sight, the world began to blur as she felt herself falling toward the sounds of the crashing waves below, she felt the harshness of the wind which felt like she would be crashed against the rocks... so, in the end, she was not even able to wound the man... perhaps he deserved to be the true ruler of kirigakure? Perhaaps his claim was rightful, and she should never have stepped in the way.

Aya knew that under the likes of him, Kirigakure would most definitely turn back to the ways of the bloody mist. The death fights for rank ups, the lethal nation which cherished bloodshed and ruled over its people with an iron fist... And there was nothing she could do about it, but if the people did not want it, they would each have to fight for themselves, with their fighting spirit, and their ninja way. It was up to the people now, to strafe, and the swordsman, to Tenmei and her squad of people, the the squad leaders, the Chuunin, and the Genin... Each of them had a part to play in this war, and as Aya's sense of hearing began to fade, she felt the icy cold of the waves devour her body, as she was thrashed around, still slipping slowly away.

Her mind wandered to the people in the end she felt like she let down, she let down her clan, her people, her mother... Tenmei, worst of all... Her friends, and everyone and everything she held dear. There was no knowing that Seven Bells did not intend to take this war to the world soon after, in which she hoped that another Kage, stronger than herself would be able to handle the fiend and his powers... But, each of those people he knew was strong, strong enough to be able to handle themselves in combat, and each of them more than strong enough to be able to fight against him and his regime. Even if some of them would die attempting it, she would not spare the company... so long as Tenmei lived... She had done her best, and as the waves washed any trace of the mizukage away from this world... she did not feel the touch of water touch her lips or fill her lungs. her body encased in a coffin of ice amongst the waves, protecting her from the ravaging nature of the sea, and its creatures...

Until finally, all she could feel was warmth, and her mind slipped away into blackness, into what she knew would be her last chance at a long, long rest... ... ...

---

meanwhile, the loss of the Mizukage's chakra signature was felt by the twins, gasping, and no longer knowing her location, they mapped out the area in search of a sannin, looking for someone who would be able to at least retrieve the body... Strafe Aisu should be the person to do it, also sending the message to her sister, a member of the Sotsuji clan whom would need to hear the news...

[End thread]