The water trickled down his throat, soothing the back of his mouth. As the resources grew sparer, Kenji began to take greater delight in the simplest of things, fully appreciating them. While on arduous missions, Kenji had to go days at times without any food or drink. The blue hair shinobi had endured similar obstacles in training in previous years, but that was so long ago he forgot how it felt to yearn for something that seemed would never come. For quite some time now Kenji hadn’t been challenged, now due to coming to the aid of Kirigakure, he felt he was getting his edge back. Also, he hadn’t lost his edge because of sloppiness, it was because his duties didn’t call for it. Kenji throughout most of his career has specialized in espionage and intelligence gathering, now he was thrown back into combat, mortal combat. The unpredictability of warfare, was exhilarating and terrifying simultaneously. Emotions swirled and stirred the man’s soul, calling him to a greater purpose in his campaign as a ninja.



Swallowing the thirst quenching liquid sent Kenji into a small pocket of bliss where he could sit in tranquility for a few moments. His eye lids closed gently. Pushing his eyes back open, he pulled down the wrap that covered the lower half of his face, his dark brown eyes locked in on his student who sat across from him. This catastrophe had been a growing experience for both of the ninja. Kenji would take another sip from his bottle of water before speaking. Kenji was notified in the wee hours of the morning of an assignment. Io, one of the generals fro Seven bells that he faced off against at the gate. Anything involving Io was sure to be ghastly in nature. He remembered him and two other kumogakure shinobi did battle against an army of human puppets. Internally his insides twisted as on multiple occasions the fight presented images and experiences that he would have preferred not to have. The sadistic general however, was rumored to be working on some experiment, but the Kiri force was unable to obtain any valuable information, and now the abomination was roaming the town.

“Zanto…” After he muttered that one word, the table they sat at began to tremble. The grainy surface below their feet vibrated violently.



“This is our next mission.” Kenji said, his eyes falling to the shaking table and the rumbling earth. “One of the generals of Seven Bells, a man by the name of Io, is most likely behind this. This… person has shown a knack for possessing a total disregard to humanity, and this terror in the midst of this village is probably another display of that.” Kenji removed the mission from his pocket and unfolded it. “Here is the meat and potatoes on what we are to do.” He slowly slid the mission across the table to his apt partner. A muffled chuckle escaped. “I am so used to asking if you’re prepared. I am so used to saying this is a serious and dangerous mission, stay alert. HAHA! I am so used to it I almost said it just now. But those words are no longer necessary now. You have shown to work well with me and others. Finish reading that, I am going to retrieve the rest of my gear, I will be back in 5.”



The tall slender man rose from his seat and walked off in the direction of his quarters. He entered the cozy building and went up the stairs to his room. It took him a few minutes to get everything he needed. He had on his gray vest (cosmetic ~ has no defensive properties) and under it was his body wrap. The white cloth extended all the way down to his finger tips, covering both his arms and hands. The wrap also crawled up his neck to just below his nose. Strapped tightly to his hip was his Hane and on his back his book bag quiver and adjacent to it across his shoulder was his crossbow. For the frosting on the cake, he had his projectiles scattered across his person. He galloped down the stairs. The standard ninja sandals slid across the carpet of the building as he neared the exit. His hands pushed against the door as he stepped back out into the humid air, already causing a gentle layer of fog. He got back to the table where the earth was rumbling once more. “Alright, it is time we head into the direction of the sound.” Around the area was swamped with armed ninja marching about and being sent out on their respective tasks, it was now time for Kenji and Zanto to do their part. They took to the rooftops skipping forward to their challenge. They arrived to a safe position, about 30 meters away from the monstrosity. The two now had a visual, and it was grotesque in every sense of the word. “I shouldn’t have expected less.” The two shinobi crouched behind the lip of the edge of the rooftop. The thing was around 10 meters tall and its skin seemed to hang all around. From the saggy flesh were mouths placed all over, a truly disturbing sight, but perhaps no more disturbing than the two figures on each shoulder of the demonic creation. On the right shoulder appeared to be a little girl, and on the left, a little boy. They seemed to dangle. Despite the innocent appearance, it was clear they were apart of the thing’s arsenal, and therefore would have to be targeted with extreme hostility.



From this range, he was confident he could take out both of the shoulder dwelling beings with ease… he looked over at Zanto, “I’m considering launching a ranged attack at the shoulders. With the appetizers out of the way we can then focus on the main course. What do you think, and if you agree, what do you propose our approach to the giant is? I have the speed to get in position and finish this quickly. The only problem is… if you agree with me using a ranged approach, that if it fails, I’ll need you to cover me as I go in for the kill. Since they’ll know my position after the bolts are fired, I won’t make it if I go in without any cover.”



The two didn’t have long to plan as the people of the large fishing town were scurrying around in a panic, and the monster was stalking them. It was up to them to end the terror that haunted them. “We don’t have much time Zanto, what do you think?”


Mission WC: 1129/2500

Zanto was still alive on the fifth day of the war. Just when he thought he had seen everything this war was going to throw at him something else climbs out of the darkness. He was partnered up with his sensei again. This time they were going after some kind of monster in a fishing community. From what Zanto had gathered this ‘thing’ was a creation of a twisted seven bells general. General Io. Zanto only herd rumors about the so called general, but he was disturbed by what he gathered so far. A medical ninja of some sort only twisted. Thankfully Zanto was ready for this mission. He recently had that Anbu’s Katana fixed and it was ready to see combat again, and judging by the rumors he was in for one wild fight.
He looked back on all the missions he had done in the last four days. So far he was engaged in active battle, he led his own team into battle, and he was able to go on a sabotage mission on his own. Of course he sustained a few injuries, but nothing serious. It made him feel at ease going into a fight, but more importantly he thought about what he was fighting for. He used to think it was because he was enjoying the carnage, but that wasn’t it. He wasn’t fighting for his village or his pride and he wasn’t fighting for the people in Kiri. The more he fought the more he came to realize he was fighting for one person in general, because if they lost the war here in Kiri the seven bells would spread their tyranny to the neighboring towns and villages. One in particular was famous for the drinks they made and the tavern that sold them, but more importantly there was one person who worked there. That one person was the only one he shared his secret to; the one person who accepted who he was despite his curse.
‘Setsuko...’ Zanto thought.
He couldn’t think about that right now. He was about to go fight something horrible and he needed to focus.
‘So what else will they throw at us next?’ Zanto thought.
His sensei started talking to him mostly just a quick brief about what this mission was about and he slid the mission folder across the table for him to read. Kenji informed him that he was going to collect his gear he paid no mind to it and took the mission folder.
‘Let’s see what kind of trouble I can get into today.’ Zanto thought before reading the mission log.
He quickly read the information there wasn't a lot to go on so Zanto was going to have to rely on some quick thinking and keen observation in this next fight.
‘With my new ability I had developed getting close to this thing won’t be an issue and I have been Itching to try it out.’ Zanto thought.
His sensei came back and they soon left and followed the sounds of destruction and carnage. The soon gained a visual on this monster and it was more disgusting than Zanto had ever thought possible.
When Zanto looked beast he a few things caught his eye One, the mutated humanoid was attached to two others by a fleshy like rope. Two, the monster was constantly eating it would continue to eat and the two that were connected were probably there to protect it with we some kind of ranged abilities He put two and two together and determined that the rope was a weakness. Although he had something in his arsenal that could easily counter that he didn’t know if it would be effective, but Zanto made a note about it and decided to bring it up to Kenji later. From what the Intel told him, this thing had multiple mouths and constantly eats, so going in close quarters would not be advised unless you want to run the risk of being eaten, and the fleshy ropes were attached to its shoulders. The only real issue in Zanto’s mind is if they do not die immediately he would have trouble fighting them one on one.  
‘Sounds simple enough sense we know its weakness.’ Zanto thought.
 
Kenji had a plan worked out already and it was solid, but it was working with a lot of ifs. It wasn’t the fact that he wasn’t confident it’s more or less Zanto didn’t want to lose the element of surprise without doing a significant amount of damage first. In Zanto’s mind if you have the element of surprise you should use it to deal as much damage in the initial strike that way even if you don’t kill them in one blow you will still cripple them giving you the advantage in battle.
”It’s a solid plan sensei, but If I may make a suggestion. It seems obvious those fleshy looking ropes attached to the other two are a weakness of some kind.  I developed a technique that will get me close before they have a chance to react combined that with my null spheres I think I can severe them with one swift movement. On top of that this new ability will knock that … ‘thing’ back giving you an opportunity to finish it off.  All I would need really is a diversion so I can line up with it and just in case our Intel was mistaken somehow separating them will allow me to get up close and personal with at least one of them while you take the other. The main objective for this attack is to take out that thing that’s always eating. That’s the easy part, but if those two don’t die immediately we will still have a chance to recover and engage them. If we went with your plan and it doesn’t work the first time we would lose our surprise factor. If we do it this way then we will at least have killed one of them so the odds would be even. But in the end it’s your decision sensei whatever you want to do I’ll go with it.
 
WC 1005/2500

Still holding his left arm the numbing pain still stinging from him sleeping on his arm earlier that day. As he rubbed his arm a bit more he began doing some stretches as he prepared to head out. They had been given a new mission as was always the case with this stupid war. As he was about to get ready he noticed a little girl crying as he walked up to her. He went over to her and asked her very nicely. "What is the matter?", as the girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "Is she really dead, did they really kill her?". He was a bit concerned and only slightly worried as he felt something strange as he noticed a strange sensation. "Who did they kill?", he asked as the girl sniffed then said, "They killed Aya-onesama." As he heard that he was filled with sadness, shock and pain. How could she be beaten she was the strongest Kage of all the villages, and this little girl was saying that she died. He did not want to believe it until he noticed someone familiar, a shinobi from the frontlines sitting with his eye missing, and his one leg amputated. He went to the man and asked him what happened. The old man finally replied by saying, "We were not prepared, I saw it with my own, well what is left of my eyes. That man is ruthless and does not care much for anyone but himself. He believes that you should do whatever it takes to win wars. He cares nothing of our future and the only reason i am alive is because they ignored me as i was injured. I was luckily able to get back alive." As he refused to believe it he ran off to get hold of any mission to get this war taken care of.

He had received information for a new mission only moments after he was about to charge into the headquarters to demand one. He was reading the details of the mission and was told he was chosen for this mission due to being familiar with the team involved. He had fought side by side with them on the third day, and was a bit surprised that Zanto was still alive. Kenji on the other hand completed the more difficult portion of their mission, while there were rumors that he had made some passes at the woman he was suppose to protect. Those rumors that had also been mensioned in the bar that he visited some time back due to contract between his clan and the bar. It seems they were making him out to be a diplomat, not that Ren even knew about that word he had an idea that matched that word. He was representing his village while working alongside representatives of Kumogakure.

He finally finished reading the mission and realised he was short on information as he decided to gather some intel. He expected that Kenji would not go charging in and that Zanto must know better since he has survived this long. He began asking around with little help until he found an area that looked devastated. It would not cause alarm, if it was not for the fact that he had seen this area yesterday. He looked around for some survivors as he found a few people lying under rubble. He struggled to move this plank then took out his sword and cut it in half. He removed the lighter half from the man and then asked what happened. As he sat near the man looking around to make sure the coast was clear.

The man began to speak slowly as he was a shinobi, but it was clear he was going to die. Ren noticed there was a huge portion of the man's rib cage missing so it was a given that the man was going to die. The man opened his mouth since this was going to be the last time he would speak to anyone. "We were told to take care of a monster, we had gone to investigate the tremors and found a true abomination,a creature of mouths with things hanging from cords. We got careless seeing that they were two children hanging from the cords that were linked to the creature. We had gotten reckless and aimed all our efforts at taking out the monster before us throwing several explosives. It was stupid, the one child used some massive gust of wind to blow it all back at us. Half of us were taken out by the force as well as by our own explosives, and in confusion our forces did not follow the plan. Several of my men ran up close only to be struck down by lightning as the monster then proceded to eat them alive. You can not afford to be careless like we were. Some of the survivors here need help please take them for medical care I beg of you"

The man had made his plee but Ren just replied to the man, "I can do nothing for you here, our medical squad is already busy everywhere. Right now I am needed to relay this information you gave me to a team that can handle it." The man grabbed Ren's arm as he attempted to leave. "Do not go near there you are going to get killed". He looked back at the man before pulling his arm free then said a farewell to the man. "Goodbye, I have to do this for Aya". The man said no more words as the child who seemed far too mature and cold for his age. The events of today and the days to come would change the path that he had chosen. From wanting to rule so that no one would leave him, to ruling in order for there to be no more war. In the end it would seem that he may be choosing between a path of hatred and a path of salvation.

He picked up his pace as he felt the tremors.As he ran to get to the location he had finally found them. As he aproached them slowly and kneeled behind them he was listening first to Kenji's idea of taking out the two children abominations since the main body should be easy enough. He thought the idea made sense but he felt like it might actually make things difficult in another way as he began thinking about it. Meanwhile Zanto with his common sense and seemingly careful deduction said what Ren was thinking, that if they went to only take out the childrens link to their nourishment there was no idea as to how long they could last outside of her nourishment. There was also no guarantee that they could not merely do other things either as he began thinking really hard.

"Hi Kenji and Zanto, may i say something?" not even waiting for Kenji to give the okay he began to explain what he had learnt and his own ideas. "The children that are linked to that creature are not harmless. I am not sure how it works but apparently they can use strong gusts of wind suggesting use of Fuuton, as well as the ability to use lightning so I do not think we can just attack them from a range. We also can not wait for them either, the Fuuton means throwing meaningless projectiles will just cause trouble. Kenji might be able to get passed that but i am not sure if me or Zanto over here could. The Raiton might be too fast for us to dodge so we have to be very careful. Even you might not be strong enough to handle a combination of Raiton and Fuuton by yourself unless you stronger than i think you are. I am not even sure if it is just the children either, but he did say those mouths begin eating on contact so close range attacks on the main body would be stupid. Being weak though we should serve as distractions since I can not use my water prison on that thing, but i do have a new technique i can use to buy some time or to defend myself. This combination will only work once and will require Zanto to help out. They not quite suited to melee combat in their forms so they probably a lot stronger at a range than we are. I can block their techniques once at most, if you rely on me for that i will rely on you killing them Kenji ." He took a deep breath before saying, "We do not have all day for me to explain everything, but i would like to say I am glad to see you both alive." as the ground began shaking as the monster began making its move towards a group of people. It seemed this creature merely hungered for them and was not really reacting too much to visual stimuli. The two children however seemed to be reacting to nearly every movement as the seemed prepared for almost anything.

"Kenji we need you to get her attention so we do not lose any villagers to this monster, also the idea of feeding her does not seem like a good idea. I think your idea to detach them from their mother is actually the best idea risk and all. I would take on the children if i knew exactly how strong their techniques are. Zanto since you from Kumogakure you must be able to handle yourself up against the Raiton, but we can not take chances. Kenji you can take the first strike, that should buy us time to get closer while you keep the children and the monster focused on you. I could perhaps prepare some clones to learn more on them, but i do not want to waste my chakra and I would use my mist technique if they did not have that stupid wind of theirs. Not even sure if it is a jutsu or perhaps they just breathe wind for all we know. Zanto please try not to forget that we must not use projectiles unless you want to help them" He then sighed after that very fast and quick strategy suggestion as he looked to Zanto wondering if he would be able to handle this mission.

Ren then grabbed his sword as the people began screaming more and falling around. He could not understand why the villagers had to embarrass the village like this. For a moment he nearly thought Seven Bells was right. Until he remembered the Mizukage who helped him out, as he focused waiting for Kenji's decision as the leader for this mission. He believed in his team and trusted Kenji's skills before he finally added. "Please do not make any moves on the girl she is a monster". Trying to make a joke to lighten the mood as he stood ready.

Word Count= 1882/2500
Chakra = 220/220

Kenji listened intently as Zanto expressed his ideas. As Kenji mulled over his plan, soon after his thought process was interrupted by the arrival of… Yuzu. He chimed in as well with a plan of his own. All three shinobi had similar strategies, but Yuzu’s was naturally stronger since he also brought additional information to the mission. He had learned the abilities of the two children attached at the shoulders, and they were indeed not harmless. . As the leader it was up to Kenji to make a decision and fast. “Nice to see you Yuzu. Ok, both of you guys introduce good points, the common theme is a distraction and teamwork. The priority is the villagers, so I shall get the woman’s attention, you two back me up. Yuzu, on the wind user. Zanto, you’re on the lightning user. Do what you can to occupy their attention while remaining safe, if all else fails and you two are overwhelmed, It is my responsibility as the group leader to take the thing on myself…” Self sacrifice was definitely not Kenji’s thing, he indeed knew though that he could take the beast if he gave it everything he had. “It is my move, follow my lead, and Yuzu… after I give the people an opportunity to leave by distracting that thing, when you get a chance try to wet the battle field, I’m pretty sure you know what I’m getting at.”



Kenji exploded into a spinning leap from the rooftop spiraling towards the now flat plain of rubble. This humanoid really did a number on the area already, her strength was incredible. Kenji had an idea of how to get the witches attention. He spurred up a considerable amount of chakra and then quickly infused it with lightning channeling it through his Katana. Through quick slashes at the air, he released the lightning from the blade spinning for the beast’s back. He shot 3 banana sized lightning disks from his katana. They dug deeply into the beast’s flesh and got her attention for sure. The lightning singed the flesh, making a few of her mouths unusable. The thing whipped around and began snarling at Kenji, causing the shinobi to take a few steps backwards. The blue hair shinobi couldn’t afford to take his attention off of his opponent but he was confident that Yuzu and Zanto were mobilizing by now.



Phase one was complete. The monster was now focused on Kenji, and it gave the citizens enough time to flee the area, it was now just a rubble ridden field with three shinobi and an abomination on it. Just as the three had agreed on, Kenji acted first and had the attention of the creature. It stomped towards the Jounin rattling the ground, sending numbing tremors along the surface. “I wonder what Yuzu and Zanto are planning, this thing is freakishly strong…” Just in that thought a crackling stream of lightning came storming for him. Kenji performed a simple acrobatic move to avoid the attack, a swift series of back flips. The main body began screaming and gurgling, the mouths pushing out sounds of desperation in unison. Kenji frowned and then lifted his own voice, “Zanto! Yuzu! Make your move!” His voice boomed through the cloth that covered his mouth.

Kenji still had some lightning chakra sparkling through the blade of his katana, readying it to release another volley of lightning blades if needed. He would most likely use the fast lightning attack to set up an even stronger attack on the “woman”. His lightning jutsu in tandem with his speed and the incredible cutting ability of his Hane, Kenji was sure he would be able to chop the being down in no time. However, this also relied and was dependent on his supporting cast. The two elemental users needed to be distracted if that was a possibility; therefore, if Yuzu and Zanto held up their end of the bargain, this fight would be over soon… as far as Kenji could see. The Jounin was known to be overconfident, so that wasn’t saying much. If Kenji was asked if he could take on all the Kage, he would honestly believe he could.



There was an overcast in the sky. A chill filled the area as the battle was being jumpstarted. The elimination of this real threat was crucial to the weather of the allied shinobi force. If this creation of Io was allowed to continue on its rampage it would make it a lot easier for other invasions of the enemy, leading in storm clouds that would douse the will of the village. Kenji wouldn’t let that happen.





Mission WC: 1916/2500

He waited patiently as he finally received feedback from their leader Kenji as he then began forming his handseals. He performed his water clone technique as his clones went into hiding during the time when Kenji began his skillful distraction of the enemy. He already began closing in but went to hide under some rubble outside of the monsters view but really close to the danger. He was watching from his hiding spot as he witnessed the girl perform a strong Raiton technique which he was not fully sure of, but he was certain it was at the very least Jounin level by the force of it as some of the ground turned to glass as it was hit. If it could turn sand to glass what would it do if it hit you in the face or worse. As he was thinking about that he heard Kenji give him and Zanto the signal to attack.

He needed to buy time for Kenji and he knew he had to rely on Zanto to take care of the lightning but it seems that he might have been hesitant, as the monster was moving even closer towards Kenji it seemed like it was getting a bit faster like a giant mobile artillery accelerating. As things were standing the boy made his move unleashing a massive gust of wind, which was focused in a torrent directly at Kenji which even if it could not land a direct hit would disrupt the lightning that he was building up. Inorder to stop this Ren jumped infront of Kenji and used his new technique Suiton Suijinheki, as the water appeared swirling around him and Kenji as it blocked the torrent of wind. The force could not even be felt but some of the water from this shield was splashing hear and there as it withstood the force. The girl noticed this and decided to attack as well with a violent force of Lightning as it blew the water barrier apart as the water flew into the air getting everyone wet. While it was not ideal he had done what he was told to do. During this time his clone managed to jump from the top of one of the buildings as the boy turned to counter him Ren decided to take this moment to finally attack as he launched his attack. From a distance it would not do much damage but the attack was a decoy as he used Mizukiri, the boy countered the sword technique assuming it to be a greater threat then some unarmed boy jumping his way. The techniques clashed canceling eachother out but not before the clone could get him. The boy managed to punch the clone in the stomach having wasted his jutsu on the sword technique. Ren's sword had landed on the ground next to the beast while the clone bared the pain as this child was nowhere near as strong as the main body. As he performed the water prison technique as the boy was now trapped in water. It would be up to Zanto to keep the girl busy as her Raiton could easily free the boy from that technique which would not be able to hold for long as the monster was moving around. On the other hand maybe they would still make it in time, he had to believe in Kenji's skill and experience to carry them through. As she prepared to jolt a strong force of lightning the other clone appeared forming the suiton suijinheki in the middle on top of the monster as the lightning was blocked but once the clone kept his footing the clone was eaten by the giant monster he used as footing as the monster was now drenched even more in water than it was before as it seemed to be spitting water out having not consumed its usual meal.

While shaking his head as some of the excess water on his head landed on the ground he looked to Kenji then said. " I did what you asked, now take care of that monster before those other two get a chance to attack again"

Word Count = 2578/2500
Chakra = 121/220

List of Jutsu

Jutsu Used by Ren and clone:

Kenji was waiting for Yuzu and Zanto's response, but it appeared the heat of the battle was getting to the inexperienced ninja. He frowned as he watched in bewilderment, the monster from some horrific abyss galloping for him. The boy on her shoulder was prepping a wind technique, "Just my luck, my lightning is weak against wind. This combo they're preparing isn't going to bode well for me... Zanto, Yuzu..."

The boy releases the wind technique, but before it could barrel into Kenji, Yuzu had leapt down in front of him and used a water jutsu that swirled around both of them protecting them from the torrent of wind. The opponent followed up with a lightning bolt that shattered their defenses, and causing a drizzle at the same time. Yuzu shot out of the gates, going on the offensive once more. He would go on to use a series of moves, acting more as a decoy than actually trying to inflict damage.

Yuzu put on a wonderful display of suiton skill as he combined his mastery of the shadow clone jutsu. He did well to deflect the elemental attacks, leaving them open now to Kenji. Yuzu turned to Kenji, telling him to do his part. Kenji smirked.

Kenji drew his Hane and proceeded to explode from his crouched stance. The monster didn't who to focus on at this point, and Kenji would take advantage of that small window of confusion. He blasted forwards leaving on the after image of his blue hair as he moved at Kage level speed. As he moved he stored wind chakra in the blade of his Katana. Once he reached the abomination he released the might gale of wind chakra. The wind jutsu batted the monster back ferociously, he was sure a few bones were broken, and because of the Ninjutsu users unstable position, the whiplash from the forceful gust probably knocked them out. The monster tumbled backwards almost 10 meters.

Kenji wouldn't let up, as there was no time for such luxury, he blitzed the being once more as it rolled away, Kenji with his elite reflexes and scorching speed was able to catch the monster in between one of its rolls where her head was now up, in that small window, Kenji brought his Hane across its throat. The Supa Hane Katana was capable of so much, decapitating this beast would be no problem. The elemental users were in too much of a daze to dream of putting forth any type of defense to Kenji blinding combination. The sharp single edged tool of destruction ripped through the flesh of the neck with some resistance, the sheer size of the creature made that unavoidable. But the beast would fall, separated from its head.

A sliver of sunlight shined down as the three shinobi completed the task at hand, it was a team effort. Without everyone doing their part, injuries were a guarantee and maybe even casualties... They made a good combination, and the blue hair shinobi had a feeling he might have to work along the two again. The head of the monster fell to Kenji's feet, he simply walked away and towards Yuzu and Zanto. Breathing a little heavy due to the excitement, "Great job guys, lets head back, we need to get a unit out here to clean this mess up." They walked back with pride, knowing that they helped Kiri get a bit further to withstanding the shower of terror and fear Seven Bells was sending at them, and a step closer to turning the tide, and winning back the village. As they walked Kenji cleaned his Hane, already preparing it for another battle.


Used Steel Grace ~ 280/320

WC: 2500+/2500