Sero moved through the manor at ease. Once again the place had been sanitized and cleaned. The blood on the platform out behind the manor scrubbed clean and for now Sero awaited the return of either of his students. He preferred Teru who was eager to learn and yet understood her limitations. The sharingan slowly growing in power within her. He had tested her will and though she had failed, she had pressed on her own into a greater struggle for much longer. Surviving it only to grow in determination. She was focused now and that he could work with. Burritsu on the other hand was another matter. He too shared Teru's eagerness to learn and yet was lacking. Something within that boy was damaged. Perhaps it was his time with Wolfgang but he was slow to pick up concepts and quick to rush in for a suicide attempt. His pride demanding his life be wasted. Sero hoped if Burittsu returned he would return with some humility. Before Burittsu had challenged Sero repeatedly when Sero attempted to teach a simple lesson. It was that young mans blood outside that had been recently washed away. The scent of bleach still lingering within the air.

For now Sero stood in the hallway on the third floor looking out over his garden. While the manor was no longer a damaged and dying thing the flowers had just begun to bloom that Alwen had planted. Another gone from the manor for the time being. It wouldn't be long now before the garden maze outgrew its design and became simply an entangled mess of assorted flowers. Perhaps a couple of months at best. However for the time being it was in full bloom and a wonder to behold. However Sero was not drawn in by the beauty of it but rather the accuracy and positioning of each flower. He held no emotion towards beauty. That aside the manor held a contrast to the forest beyond its property covering the rest of the island and surrounding the road. Tree's seemingly bare of life with black bark and reaching branches. Like claws waiting to consume anything that would dare enter within their grasp. A mist blanketed the woods and kept even Sero from seeing more than the edge of the road leading to the manor from the ferry. He knew what was there though. The blown remnants of a bridge and a ferry, a simple platform with a man and a chain that ran under the water. A motor to pull the chain so he could approach either shore. Though likely for the time being he was not on the side of the Osada Island. Avoiding the dog sized spiders as he called it.

Still Sero would tilt his head from looking over the estate as a bell rang. Light in sound as it was a calming sound. The refurnished deck on the roof was prepared for sun filled days such as this. Well above the cool mist. Sero shifted with a glance down at himself. His long white hair hung loose around his shoulders as his white robe with red flower patters clung close to his thin form. His third eye remained closed outside of sage mode but as of late it had formed a sort of half moon on his forehead. Still his grey eyes shifted as his padded shoes moved him along the manor. He carried only a single Katana on his waist regardless of his full armory. Fine in quality with white wrappings around a silver handle. The symbol of the Osada emblazoned on the handle right next to a seal carved into it. Quietly Sero moved to the top of the stairs leading to the roof. A narrow set of pull down metal stairs which creaked in his passing. Even Yasuo was hidden from him today as was the missing Hanta. Still he emerged to the roof and crossed it to a patio overlooking the property. There sat a table with four chairs and hot mint tea prepared with a a plate of banana fritters. He wondered why they bothered with flavors such as this when he couldn't taste it. At the same time as he seated himself he couldn't help but to acknowledge the heavenly smell.

720

Sero would sip his tea and ignore the food for the moment. It was time to consume some nutrients but he was more interested in contemplating future lessons. Teru was scheduled to return soon for training in Katon jutsu where as Burritsu would be free to return at his own leisure for Suiton jutsu. Teru was hardly an issue being as he had mastered almost every Katon jutsu the world libraries had provided. He had hardly touched the villages private libraries as of yet but they were on his list. His own abilities had grown substantially to the point where he rarely used jutsu anymore. Few challenges had arisen as of late for that amount of effort. A blade piercing a heart was a simple matter. Truthfully helping the new generation after his grow was relaxing. Burittsu however he was still unsure of. The boy was easier to break than he was to remake. He wanted power but found it difficult to grasp the lesson at hand however simple. Perhaps Sero had reached him a little late in his training. Once again he would sip his tea as he reviewed a list of Suiton jutsu to train. Rewritten from the scroll into a hard back book now set on his lap. Seeming to have appeared from no where. Suiton had always seemed such a gentle element to him. It had its purposes but more often than not it was far from lethal. Skin didn't burn and screams were less frequent.

Putting aside thoughts of how Suiton was inherently less intimidating in his opinion than Katon he would flip the page of his book. Reviewing what he did know and idly studying what he did not. Burittsu, should the boy return, would need time to recover with Yasuo still hidden from the public. Capable a medic as Yasuo was Sero did not care to reveal her if it wasn't needed. That choice would remain with Yasuo themselves though they were expressly forbidden from leaving the island for the time being. Still He would pause his gaze on the page as he waited for something. He could hear the small spider moving up his back. Legs slowly peaking over his shoulder before a whisper was heard, hardly louder than a breeze and yet he heard it clearly. Someone had come to the island. His grey eyes shifted from the page to the road leading into the manor. Who could it be that would wander to his island? The ferryman knew not to allow civilians within these lands. A shinobi than. The spiders seemed almost shaken. He would hold his gaze a moment. Like a hawk looking over the distance. It was when Ayakashi moved into his line of sight that his eyebrows would rise. If anyone could command more presence here than he it was the Mizukage. Quietly he would reach up with his right hand and pet the spider before nodding in some sort of approval. Of course she could be granted passage.

When she approached the gate it would budge at her knock. The gate itself was for show and had no lock. Simply a warning posted for trespassers to turn back. The sign strongly insinuating it was the only warning that would be given. Being that the words were written on a white sign in fine penmanship with dead mans blood. Still as Ayakashi waited a large spider would move from some of the flower bushes up to the gate. In a rush it would reach out two legs and pull the gate open before crawling back and giving some sort of strange curtsy. It would then turn as it waved one long leg at her as if to follow before leading her into the manor and up a spiraling staircase. Finally it would move out an open door onto the roof. Sero would hear it skittering closer and as Ayakashi would arrive, another spider would come along and place down a second tea cup. Sero rose from his sitting position almost like a wraith rising to its feet in one fluid motion. Even Ayakashi would feel him now. A growth in power yet again. This whole island had felt off. Like something was lurking behind every shadow. Like the tree's shivered in fear. As she drew closer it felt more and more like a great beast of legend had come to live here. Now as dead grey eyes looked to hers she could see it. A darkness within him with no light. If not for his connection to Duty he had selected as protecting this village, there was little hope that he would not have been a force of chaos and death. Still he would bow his head to her formally as he placed his hands across his chest. Bowing to the only being in the country he considered stronger than himself.

"I bid you welcome to my home Lady Mizukage."

1546

Sero would watch her quietly. His grey eyes taking everything she did without blinking or shifting. Her reflection in those pale orbs memorized. Each movement of muscle and change in expression. The way her hair moved and where her eyes looked. Her attire was professional which indicated this meeting was one of professional standards and not simply a friendly get together. Not that Sero had ever entertained company for long without purpose. Purpose was the meaning of life. To so much as breath without it was a waste. After all order thrived on purpose. Still he would notate the bow sent to him was of almost equal measure to his own. Formal indeed. Perhaps it was even of equal measure and he simply couldn't fathom it being so. She would provide just the hint of a smile and he could detect the adjustment in pitch in her voice. He had studied this behavior. Her words were meant to create something called humor. Hopefully to incite a joyous reaction within him and lower stress levels. If it worked or not Sero showed no change in expression. His eyes simply studying her as he moved while she spoke of feeding his spiders some sort of feline. An odd choice since he was sure the spiders had long since hunted most game on the island. Still as she spoke of her not wanting to be privy to what exactly they ate he would pull out a high backed chair for her next to the tea.

With a wave of his hand the Suiton book closed and scooted to the side. Neatly aligned with the edge of the table. Moving to the side of his own seat he would rest one hand on the back of it. Long, pale fingers slowly curling over it to clutch it tightly. Nearly crimson like nails digging ever so slightly into the fabric. His white hair playing about his face as it rested like silk along his shoulders. She would speak again though this time the humor in her voice was all but gone. His eyes met hers and neither would look away. The dead grey gaze showing no fear of the frozen bird of prey before him. She spoke of the matter of the study from her clan. Burittsu. He hadn't thought it odd sending him away for treatment as he had but it appeared she had concerns with it. His fingers would lift off the back of the chair in a slow rhythm. Tapping as if impatient with the idea of being questioned about his methods. However what irked him was the term used. A performance review. Rarely had he heard such a term used and typically in an official capacity it meant being removed of rank. Or perhaps even placed in a confined space where he could not be of harm to others. It crossed his mind that perhaps she was finished with the nature of this particular beast and now sought a reason to put him down. Still Sero would remain calm in appearance even as the temperature would rise a single degree as if matching his discomfort at the term. He would reach over with his free hand and pour Ayakashi some tea. Regardless of if she sat. His tone slow and deliberate while clearly pronouncing his words. A dull sound and yet lined with a sense of danger to them.

"Burittsu was the former student of a member of the Osada clan. His mentor went missing well before his training was considered complete. As such the responsibility fell to the rest of the clan. Of course I welcomed him here and gave him the option to release us of that responsibility. However he is a prideful one. He remained on as a student of mine. I attempted his first lesson with a live weapons simulation. The purpose of course was to teach him how to get within a weapons range for his taijutsu. For a clan member of yours he was not a quick study. Going so far as to challenge me repeatedly. A lesson in humility was all I gave him. After all he is no longer a child but a soldier in our ranks."

2252

Sero would listen as he moved around his own chair. Little more than a wraith shifting along. It was difficult to tell when he took steps through his robes and in a way it was almost as if he were gliding. She spoke of simply needing to put it on record that as to why Burittsu had been injured. Agreeing that him challenging Sero had been foolish and he had taken a decent course. Dead grey eyes would glance out at the mist rolling within the treeline. The tree's seeming to be blanketed in the mist that hid the village. He was sure that if he stepped within the woods the manor would appear to look much the same. Covered in mist. Still she spoke of his growth. He hadn't noticed before but there did seem to be an increase in control when he didn't do greater harm to the young man. Slowly his grey eyes would turn back to her. Seeming to look at her and through her at the same time. Her reflection in those dead eyes. She had set down her tea. Still he would watch her. Never blinking, never shifting expression. The statue he had always been.

She continued to speak. Concerning herself with covering what he already knew simply from her being here. This matter was not likely resolved over a simple inquiry about a clan members minor injury. He could see hints of signs he saw when men stood before him. Slowly he would shift once more seeming to glide. Moving in a sudden jutting movement as his speed was not something he cared to control in that moment. Shifting to his seat and settling there across from her. His hair moving back a moment in long strands but settling onto his shoulders. He had let it grow considerably but somehow it was clean and without a single hair out of place. As if by his bidding along his hair obeyed and remained in order. He had changed greatly in appearance. No longer tattered robed with blood stains on them. Now he appeared to be dressed formally. Still his grey eyes spoke little to reflect that change. Outwardly he appeared to be the lord of his clan his title suggested. Anyone who gazed into his eyes however would still see nothing human. Still she finished speaking. Requesting his own verbal reports on his latest missions. His eyes regarded her a moment longer before finally his thin pale lips would part and he would speak.

"My reports leave little in detail out. Time stamped when possible for every move taken. As you know I have made repeated incursions to the city under the ocean, long forgotten by many. Repeatedly putting down the rising numbers in troops coming towards the surface of an ancient enemy. My requests to finish off that city ignored repeatedly. A relic of our history I am told. To be preserved even if it threatens our village of today. My ward Yasuo was taken away as someone who wished to take him hid behind the guise of the honey country and laid waste to our temporary holding cells. They managed to escape, all but one who told me a tale of the demon country and a man all men there fear. That individual utilized our own ANBU against me but I was able to subdue them without any serious injury. Lastly I was approached recently by two men. Cultists of some order far to the south. It appears my mother wishes to sacrifice me in an attempt to reincarnate my father. They seek both me and some weapon they claim is imbued with his spirit. They attacked me in this manor in an attempt to claim me. Neither survived. I have yet to discover the nature of the weapon they spoke of."

Slowly as he finished speaking he would collect his own tea by the handle. Lifting it in his pale fingers he would bring it to his lips. Long since cooled down as it had sat there and yet he noticed nothing of it. Simply sipping it as he glanced back over the land to the tree line. It was as if he no longer cared that his mother had been found. Simply another enemy to him. So far distant he was from the boy that had broken into her office simply to look for information on the woman. Enraged by being abandoned and seeking her death. Now he seemed to care very little. No more than a bandit leader seeking his head. Another enemy just like the others. Still as he set his tea back down and swallow the liquid with practice he would speak once more. Bringing up a subject that not many had ever heard him speak of. His father.

"You were once a student of my fathers before he passed. I have spent my life clawing to be out of his shadow. When I fail its a disappointment to my fathers name, when I succeed its to be expected from the son of the late great Sero Osada. A man who encouraged a nation simply to return home and make it whole again. Even with that influence he did little to increase the Osada holdings and what did he claim for his would be bastard son? An island with an old house on it and little to no fertile ground but plenty of predators. A place where pirates used to camp and bandits stored goods. My life has been little less than a constant war here. Even now that I have made this island something whole, that I have mastered every weapon regardless of type, that I stand at the height of my clan, I have to wonder if this too was simply expected. Tell me Lady Mizukage, when did you feel that you had surpassed him?"

3235

Sero would tilt his head and watch her a moment as she considered his words. Finishing his own tea before setting it down. Not bothering to refill it. Instead his grey eyes shifted in almost a twitching motion. Looking over as a small herd of his spiders chased down a rabbit that had somehow managed to make its way onto the island. It would barely be enough to feed two of them and yet six chased after it. In a way some part of it he understood. They were not chasing it out of hunger, Sero kept a sufficient supply of the food they preferred. Blood packets either drained from his enemies or purchased. The spiders cared little for the flesh but more the fluids within. In that way they coexisted well since Sero cared for the flesh but not the blood. So he understood the spiders were chasing the rabbit for sport over need. Though it would not go to waste. After they trapped it they would drain it and then the meat would be stashed in the meat locker. Hung there with webbing and frozen for consumption later. To some the idea of eating something a spider drained was sickening but to Sero it was common place.

Still she spoke of her own experiences when she replaced his father. In some ways she was nearly a sister to him. An older one but the closest thing to a daughter his father had ever had. Still they had barely ever known each other despite that connection. Yet there was some strange sensation as she mentioned the people no longer saw him as simply his fathers son. He was his own individual now. However a whisper seemed to lift onto the air as she finished speaking and finished her tea. His head shifted as his eyes squinted in concentration. It was such a faint thing and yet he could hear it. Something was wordlessly calling out to him. Like a scream of his name bidding him to find it. However it had no direction nor was it truly a sound. His grey gaze shifted to Ayakashi to see if he could tell if she heard it or was the cause of it. She spoke of his fathers deed that he was known for. Posing the question to him on what he had done to repay it. Bidding him to end his work out of mind of the village and step into the light. He would pause as the sound seemed to fade for the moment. His cold grey gaze taking her in. Speaking in a monotone.

"That is an odd idea to one like me. I have spent my life in relative seclusion. Each movement away from this island studied and acted on with purpose. I may have lived in the shadows all these years and yet the sheer number of vicious acts I have committed in the name of this village, be it ending a threat or simply leaving an example has never been of public knowledge. My father may have built this place, but I have ensured its survival. In return the villagers fear this island and myself. How does one who has become this even step into the light when the people only know of the monster you are and not the deeds you became that monster to accomplish?"

Once more Sero would pause speaking. His head twitching slightly to the side as if he could hear some unheard thing. A whisper calling out to him once more. Slowly he closed his eyes and focused on it. Willing the knowledge of what this could be forward. Willing a part of himself he never embraced anymore to assist him. A part that fled him. As his eyes remain closed Ayakashi would bare witness to the part of him he could not. A part of him that fled wherever Sero set his gaze. As if it would only emerge when his eyes were closed. She would see a nearly transparent child. White for what part of the child she could see. It looked at her with grey eyes and she would recognize him. It was the child version of Sero she had met years ago in her office. Or perhaps even younger. It moved over with silent steps. A single white robe covering it for clothing as its bare feet carried it along. Not a flaw on its skin. It moved and stood closer to her. Unlike Sero she could feel no hostility from it. It moved its lips like it was speaking but no sound emerged. It realized this and a look of frustration entered its expression. Instead it pointed a pale finger at the scroll she held. A silent and slow word of "Father" was all it seemed to say. Then Sero opened his eyes and he only saw the spirit for a moment before it fled his presence. A blur slamming back into the manor. His eyes shifted to the scroll before back to eye contact with Ayakashi. Studying her. Speaking again.

"What is it you hold? What could it be that calls out to me?"

4095

Sero sat calmly as he opened his dull grey eyes. Faded as they were like the dead. To anyone who had seen men or women dead before. Friends with their eyes gazing blankly on the battlefield they would see no life within. It seemed as if Sero himself were a lifeless man. A spirit haunted by the past of a country come to reclaim it. A specter of old hero's slowly turned poltergeist. How strange it was that a man that did not live for his own gain would choose such a path as to defend others. He had only ever found one motto to live by that his father had left him. A single plaque in the library beneath them. The only thing in the only place Sero polished personally. The library was dark now but even with only the natural light from the windows streaming in the plaque seemed to reflect it. Bronze made and sturdy with curved words. 'Even when the heavens fall, Law must persist to bring order.' Even as a child he stared at it in the night as he studied some jutsu or another. Reading it time and time again with his expression never altering. So many had only ever seen the flat expression and two others. Anger of some sort when he was challenged, or the occasional sadistic smile when he was on the hunt.

So it was that Ayakashi would see something that none other had ever seen. He watched her patiently as she clicked open the scroll, almost reverent in nature that she would transport the weapon in such a traditional way. As she did smoke would emerge from the scroll as it would flutter to the ground. He would watch with raised eyebrow as suddenly Ayakashi was standing there holding an item he had never thought to exist. His eyes widened as he rose from his chair and his mouth opened slightly in a startled exhale. How could it be? He could hear it crying out to him as if desperate to reach him. So close it was almost deafening as the world seemed to fade from all but them. He could feel a connection to it as suddenly there was a new smell. Salt? What an odd scent. His hand reached up to his face where it seemed to come from and touched under his eye. A single drop of liquid sat there on his fingertip when he held it out. However that could only hold his attention for a moment. The scythe was being offered to him with some flourish.

Sero would resist the urge to yank the weapon to him with some manner of need. Instead he would take a single deep breath. What was this sensation? It was such an ancient thing he had buried. If he recalled it was pain, loneliness. Things he wouldn't have survived had he not grew beyond them. Yet here they stood. For all his power he could only reach out with trembling pale fingers. As he did so the forest seemed to burst into life with birds taking to the air. A great black flock of them blocking out the light above them. Spiders flooded across the lawn running in a frenzy and the world came to life. Reacting to his unstable chakra which ruled this land. When his fingers touched the weapon however there was a sudden shift. The birds all burst outward and seemed to flock in an orderly fashion in a circle away from that place and the spiders began marching in rows back to the forest. His unstable chakra now more commanding than it had ever been. Sero closed his eyes and slowly reopened them. Grasping the Scythe in his grip and pulling it to him to set the pommel on the ground. His third eye opened as three red eyes examined the blade. Pale fingers moving reverently along the blade as it began to burn red behind his touch. When his fingers left it burst to flame as above his head a single crown made of mist formed. Ayakashi had handed him something which seemed to make whole something that never was. His gaze shifted to her and even she would feel that dark feeling he exuded was controlled now. No longer did it come from everywhere. Anyone would feel it was he who felt like the darkness risen. It was he that felt like the end had come. When he spoke his voice was calm though. His three eyes looking to her.

"I thank you for this. Whatever it is you would have me do to be recognized by this village, tell me now my commander and it shall be done. If I must cast aside the mask of bones and become more I will do so. No longer a demon in the shadows but a devil in the light."

4913

Sero would eye the scythe burning in his grasp. He could see the heat rolling off of it as it created a small set of waves. It was a potent weapon indeed. He wondered if perhaps more of its kind were achievable to him. After all he had many weapons to his name and so many of quality nearly the same. If the rumors were true that there was an enchanter within the village than he could convince the man to create him a potent arsenal none would believe. Already his own home armory was enough to arm a garrison of shinobi of varied ranks. This scythe simply being the most potent of them. Many weapons simply waiting to be gifted with elemental properties and abilities. Purchased off the top shelves of weapon shops and yet this was the first proof in his hands he held of a higher quality. He would need to take the lot of them to the enchanter if he found the man, or woman, whatever they might be. His thoughts shifted to Ayakashi as he considered that her mother was adapt at the art if he recalled. Perhaps they would allow him this. More the merrier from his wallet to theirs anyway.

Still his eyes shifted to a hand movement. Blood red eyes, two out of three shifted to her hand and watched as the third seemed to remain focused on her face. Separate in movement from the others. He would watch her with caution as he watched all unexpected movements regardless of the source. Even though in many ways she was close to family, being his mentor, he couldn't truly trust even her. No other had ever invested as much into him. Not unless they had something to gain from him. She had been different and so even if his eyes watched her his body did not tense. Perhaps she had broken by more barriers than he had yet realized. However his attention was torn to the scroll she produced. It was familiar to him somehow. It too had been touched by a member of his clan before he could sense that. His memories searched in his mind until he found a single book in them. A history of Kirigakure volume three. It was something special indeed. If nothing else it was a scroll of legend. One of the seven swords...the first of its kind was within it.

A puzzled look entered his expression but for the moment he could tell they were moving passed this moment. With a breath he would take his fingernail and scratch into the handle a small seal barely pressed into it. He would brand it there later but for now he would suffice with this. The seal connecting it to a very specific location. As he calmed himself the fires died from on the blade and slowly it faded to mist. With it his sage mode dropped and his third eye closed as the crown faded. His own eyes closing in turn. When he reopened them a half moon marked his forehead and his dull grey gaze was back. His stoic expression setting back into place as the monstrous feeling spread once more and no longer held a center point. He listened as she spoke and provided him the answer of how to surpass his father to the public. It was a simple idea in nature but one that he had to prove himself for. Take a famous position and fight as such. Restore the seven swords and he would have his name immortalized. There was just one thing to say in reply as his eyes stared into hers. Never one to flinch away. His words hollow as he spoke but with no sense of doubt within them.

"My goals, such a simple thought and yet more complicated than I had thought possible. If taking that position, head of the seven swords, warrants a possible end to that goal. The slightest hint of a finishing point. I will take your test. There has never been as far as memory serves a test I have failed to conquer. So I ask of you, what is this challenge of yours?"

5615

Sero would watch her within his own thoughts. A powerful being that had his respect. A woman he was tasked with guarding. His one true goal hovering just before him on the table. Such a fate resting in her hands. This was something he actually wanted. Something he craved like a starving man craved bread. He had drowned himself in endless training and mastered every blade so there could be no question as to his capabilities with any sword. A devil in the world of weaponry. His armory expansive and his practice never ending. To himself this was only something he deserved. Something naturally his to begin with. He would not refuse a simple test to obtain it. He sensed through out his body to ready it. A fight with Ayakashi would be no simple matter. He was looking at an opponent far superior to himself. She knew not to take him lightly so she likely wouldn't be holding back. The strongest person in the world stood before him and in a way stood between himself and his dreams. If she were to be his test he was sure he would do everything and sacrifice anything to land a single blow.

However there was something else approaching. Something driving the outer spiders still more wild than tamed mad with hunger. He could feel it within him as they tried desperately to catch something beyond their reach. As if the most treasured meal in the world were simply right there. Something was approaching. His head snapped to look in that direction. What manner of creature flew and held so much the spiders wanted? Already he could feel it as it broke the clearing. The only movement a single blue butterfly. Yet he could sense it more and more as it drew closer. His own chakra bending ever so slightly before its immense power. He had only ever sensed one being like it and he could sense its power surging out to push back against it. Like light against the dark. Momma, the spider that granted him sage mode rested in the bell tower where no bell resided. He knew immediatly they could sense each other. Predator and prey on the same island. Yet something kept them apart as the butterfly rested on Aya's shoulder. As if there was some sort of treaty keeping such creatures from attacking each other. Momma was a creature of impulse so this must be a thing of great importance.

Aya spoke then. Her words describing her own Sage training. He had never had need to investigate her so he had never accessed those public records. However her tale was somewhat interesting to him. Her rise to sage power had been hidden within the mind where as his had been hidden on an island many did not dare trespass. Hidden within the darker shadows of the privacy of the forest. She would acknowledge his physical capabilities but wished to know more of him. Wished to test him within their minds and see his will and his mind in action without his body. For a moment he would hesitate as she stretched out her hand to him. Holding it there as she waited for him to enter this world he was not truly in control of. She had never seen him hesitate before save for her commands to do so. There was something strange about that hesitation. He was afraid of something within himself that would be shown to her soon. Something he had to focus to control always. Still he would take a breath and reach out pale fingers. His finger tips touching hers ever so lightly.

The world would instantly freeze around them and shatter. As the pieces fell they were standing within a frozen forest. His hand fell from hers as he looked around. Like mirrors with distorted images every surface reflected back to him. Unlike Ayakashi though he had taken on a shifted appearance from before. His robes were some form of flowing darkness like oil constantly spilling and fading to nothing on the ground beneath him. Never pooling there. He was thinner in here. His cheeks gaunt and his eyes a little sunken in. His hair while and held back from his face of its own accord. Regardless of his thin appearance he did not feel weak. Instead he felt strong here. She spoke of them being monsters and Sero knew then the source of his concern. His caution and hesitation. He turned to look at her holding her weapon. A young girl on his shoulder resembling that of the butterfly. No doubt they sensed it too. Something dark swam just beneath the surface of the crystal. Not of the sage world but of something breathing deep within Sero since birth. It was large as it swam under them. Distorted and without shape.

Still he would take her words to heart. Focusing himself as he tore his eyes away from it. The thing fading into the forest and swimming in the tree's just beneath the surface. Searching and waiting. His pale right hand reached out. long pale fingers covered in scars not from the world before reaching forth to grasp at a thing not yet there. Summoning forth a weapon here felt so different.No chakra involved and yet his mind wished it and so it was. Before he focused chakra his scythe fell into his hands. He grasped it and pulled it close as if for protection. The blade of it hovering over his head as he took on the appearance of a reaper. Cloaked in darkness and almost skeletal. His dead grey eyes looking to the Cheshire grinning face of Ayakashi before he spoke in an echoing cold tone.

"I know not if you see it as I do or if it hides itself from you. Whatever your test may be here let us take it quickly. We mustn't dally if you do not wish to become impure. "

6616

Sero would listen to his master as she spoke of sensing a dark thing beneath the surface. That she could not see it worried him but he did not intend to be here long enough for it to find a way to emerge,. He cared not to test its might against that of her sage animal. He could sense something there though. An urge to consume the small girl. Butterflies for all their beauty caught in a web so easily. He knew he could not accomplish this though. He could feel the girls immense strength and thus willed himself to forget her even being there. His mind was far to needed now for such distractions. Instead his attention was brought more to Ayakashi as she flourished her own weapon with surprising finesse. He had known her to hold position and power above all else but to combine that with such skill was frightening if he was to be her enemy. For now though he didn't sense even the slightest of killing intent. If she intended combat with him, he wondered if he could even die here. A foolish thought though. He wouldn't be willing to test it anyway. Still if she could sense the darkness he need not worry for her. Simply for his own safety.

She spoke again as her eyes and her gaze on him shifted. She spoke of testing him and even as she spoke he knew combat was coming. As she spoke he would close his eyes for but a moment and when he opened them the normally grey eyes would be blood red and in the center of his forehead an eye would slowly open revealing a third eye. His teeth forming out like fangs as his own sage mode activated. The air around him warming though not to dangerous levels. Power meant nothing here as it was infinite then, she had said as much. If so many more tactics that before had been far to risky came to mind. She would find him a more sturdy opponent than before. One which was dangerous to underestimate. Even as she launched forward Sero already surged his chakra. She was faster so he needed the time it took her to approach him. Meeting her in the center was suicide. Instead he had a plan for that insane power. Not exactly an effective counter if one did exist but one with hope of success.

Even as she slammed her feet down his chakra molded and finished as boulders launched into the air. A massive surge of chakra erupting from him as she launch forward. The ground cracked and the boulder she launched off of flew high into the sky like a cannon ball. However as she landed she would find something off about it. Even as she swung Sero's side emerged as another Sero which pushed Sero himself back. Her cut slashing through the clone with ease. However as it cut him instead of just poofing into smoke the clone would surge and swell before exploding in droplets of acid. An explosive trap for her and anything within three meters of her. An acid clone. Sero himself shifted something in his hand back as he flew to his right. A smoke bomb but there was something else attached to the top. Little balls of black powder and glass. As he tossed it the bomb burst out and filled the area between Ayakashi and himself with smoke and the air with a fine substance that would tear the throat and agonize the eyes if inhaled. Using the propulsion of the smoke grenade to spread the powder.

Even as his feet touched the ground clones began to emerge from Sero one after the other. Minus the one destroyed by Ayakashi's attack seventeen assorted clones emerged for an even eighteen number. Sero felt odd as he allowed this. Each clone should of drained him massively and yet he felt as full as ever. His chakra not even dented. However he took no time to marvel at this and instead. his clones gathered into formation. To either side two clones summoned bows. Black in color and of Kirigakure only quality with special Kiri arrows loaded in. Even Ayakashi would know these bows were far more dangerous than those of average make. The two clones aimed the bows ahead at the smoke. Behind Sero five clones summoned forth Katanas and stood in a defensive line with three in the back standing with their swords in overhead stances and two in the front crouched with their swords held across them defensively. the two archers were acid clones and the three standing were acid clones. The two crouched were fire clones. To either side of Sero on his left and his right two Sero's stood on each. More flame clones as on his left one held a flamberge and another a rapier while on his right one held a bastard sword and the other a rapier.

In the front a water Sero clone stood with another identical to him and both of them activated a set of jutsu. One brought forth a pair of whip like tails while the other launched a huge torrent of water to soak the ground ahead of them. Turning the area into a lake. Lastly the four remaining water clones surrounded Sero in a four corner defense stance with Yari pointed outwards. All done in a rapid and practiced rythm with each clone knowing exactly where they were going in a second. In that moment one Sero became eighteen. With that done Sero himself held out his right hand. A grey orb of chakra growing within his palm as he looked for Ayakashis next move from the smoke,

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Sero would watch her. His three red eyes discerning her movements and chakra gathering even through the debris between them. He could feel her immense power but feared it not. She was coming at him with very basic and direct attacks. Testing the waters as it were. He knew if she were to take him seriously it would be over quickly. A tactical mind only went so far when faced with a grand enough situation. He had wanted this for some time though. Wanted to test his new might against even the strongest. He knew he wasn't ready to face her yet and still here he stood before her. An opponent with his masteries of blade and ninjutsu paling in comparison. The only things they truly had in common were an advanced element though opposite one another in nature. That and mastery over any type of weapon. She froze the world that he burned away. Her ability preserved beauty and his made way for a new style. Acid and ice both so far apart and yet so similar. Perhaps it was but destiny that the spider and the butterfly would fight in the end. Like some chinese proverb.

Still he could feel her gathering power the same as he was. The difference was hers was far quicker. Her body shifted rapidly to pin something to the ground and already his two forward clones were forming chakra of their own for rapid release techniques. Even as she were to jet towards the ground and crash into it her power would be released in an impressive magnitude. He could tell already he could not block it effectively. Simply alter the all encompasing direction. After all the clones were in formation around him facing her. So it was that when winter came freezing the crystal forest towards him the two front clones released their own Boil chakra. From in front of them a trident of liquid acid shot across the ground and split the mass freeze narrowly before it froze and shattered like an ice rocket across the ground. Directly behind it however boil chains would rise up out of the ground like a wall only to have the wave crash against it as well. Saving those two clones in front and those four around Sero. However the rest of the clones including the archers were caught in the wave even as they raised their arms in defense and planted themselves.Frozenin place like the statues in his lawn.

However Ayakashi was far from done with her attack. The wave a mere distraction. A darting shot to the side notified Sero she was on the move. His calm gaze following it and his clones responding to move to that side. Had it been another distraction his flank would of been open but he was finding her attacks far to direct. If the pattern continued she would approach from the obvious direction. Only testing him and not actually attempting to kill him. As the pattern suggested he was right as in a blur of movement she was suddenly next to him. Her blade arcing up with enough power to send a wave of wind blasting back through the tree's behind him. However her blade never reached him as instead she would witness the coordination of his many minds. Four assorted weapons had intercepted her one slash but it had taken all four. Four Sero's holding back her one attack. That moment where it was blocked the ground would crack around them and the ball Sero was holding would launch upwards. Moving into the heavens.

As soon as the ball was gone Sero was free to move again. The two forward clones had exhausted their jutsu but they came with weapons drawn and slammed forward towards Ayakashi from behind. The impact of their launches cracking the ground as they. went to stab her in each thigh. The four Sero's blocking her would thrust forward in a joined effort to force her weapon to the ground while Sero himself would draw his scythe and swipe it down for her right shoulder in one fluid motion. The darkness moving in to consume her. The butterfly diving into the web to be assaulted by the spiders it did not care to fear. However the attacks from above and behind were meaningless. A simple way to keep her attention and keep her in the center. Keep her attention as clouds gathered above. In a world of crystal the light would fade to a more grey nature. The beauty tainted by the dark clouds rumbling above. Now, not only was Ayakashi in danger but so was her spirit animal friend. For the first drops began to fall and it was not rain. The tree's around them burned and sizzled as soon a downpour began. The immediate forest for meters upon meters around them melting away to the storm. of acid Sero had summoned.

However, caught up in their battle as they were one would likely fail to notice the smallest thing happening off to the side where their battle had already left. Where feet had cracked ground or blade pierced the surface of the tree and ground alike something shifted. A dark thing emerging like simple wisps of black smoke here and there. Rising up and vanishing and yet it had already begun. The monster Sero controlled within himself was emerging. Tainting the place in such small amounts. Neither of them paying it heed as it found the gaps in the defense of the butterfly. The spider taking over a world it had so many centuries longed for. A prey that it could never capture. At least that was until the prey had invited it in.




Using S rank boil storm and two A rank boil techniques. Can't copy and paste right now.

Sero would watch her as his strikes strove forward towards her. His blades reaching out like fangs closing over its victim. He had never cared for jewels or riches. Nothing of pretty things or becoming king. No crown dedicated itself to his head. He cared nothing for any of it. Law and power were his only vices. His craving to empower himself beyond the whims of the masses. To reach new heights. The clouds above them rumbled as they formed and thunder crackled. The light dimming as the world hissed its displeasure. Sero's displeasure. However a small smile was forming on his lips. The impossible task was his to preform. Across from him stood the strongest in the world. A woman that no man could conquer. He was enjoying this moment. This sense that his own powers had grown so much. From when he could not dream of standing next to her to being face to face. The blades drawing ever closer to her flesh. However she was far from beaten. She was yet to prove her power and in fact was toying with him.

Her blade suddenly faded and with it the clones lost balance. In that moment Sero knew the counter attack would be vicious. His own would never have been forgiving. Mid swing his weight shifted as he began to launch himself back. Careful to try and gain as much distance reflexively as he could with minimal effort. Her spin was something he hadn't expected. A full defense and when it spun it slammed into him and the clones. The clones were still braced in place so even though they were nocked into the air Sero himself was sent careening backwards. His feet slamming down into the ground as did the scythe. Anchoring him as he was dragged back several meters. Splitting the earth in three paths as he did before coming to a stop as mid spin she switched into a slash. Popping each of his clones with lethal damage. She was as potent a warrior as a kage had been. Regardless of the amount of him that had come against her, regardless of the sheer number of Sero's she had ended them in three moves. It was impressive. But it wasn't enough.

His own goal had been acheived. Drops began to fall as he lifted his scythe and shouldered it. At first it was a small sizzle here and there with steam rising but it built quickly. Rapidly a downpour began and Sero stood in its midst. Unpreturbed by the acid falling negated against his robes and weapons. His grey eyes watching as Ayakashi quickly took cover from the downpour. The drops that burned her freezing and falling away. Her tree melting away but covering her from the storm breifly. He considered sending another jutsu ripping towards her to force her into the storm but thought better of it. He had no goal to kill her. He was being tested for something and so far he felt some restraint called for. Besides the cover would only protect her from the storm a short time. Outside in the real world or at least what they considered real Spiders had begun moving about. Panicked and unsure. However to her wounds they began to apply ointment soaked bandages. They froze almost the moment they touched her but it should soothe the burns they hoped.

Back within the mind expanse Sero noted the world shifting around them. His cloud denied and gone with a thought. Frustrating but for now he had something new to focus on. The scene was vaguely familiar but far more destroyed. His eyes shifted to see Ayakashi nailed to a wall with the world burning nearby. However Nozomi stood not far away. Changed and wearing colors not of Kiri. His eyes narrowed as he turned to look to her. As she spoke a small whisp of smoke dark as midnight touched his robes. Seeping into them as his mind shifted. This was his future...if he didn't kill anyone who would offer this future he was bound to fail. She blamed him but she was the traitor. His equal...his friend turned to the traitors flag. She was charging at him. Her weapon drawn and burning as dark as the smoke around them. She dared to challenge him. So quick on her feet. So fast that debris was flying to either side as the ground cracked after her foot left it. Nozomi was the fast woman that wanted to burn him. The one with the burning death weapon.

Still Sero waited for a moment. Patient and calculating. His right hand hidden up his sleeve as it formed a specific series of hand seals. Holding the molded chakra in like a breath. She would feel it as she rushed him. A dark power smothering all the flames but the one on her scythe around them. Suffocating everything with chakra pressure and killing intent. The grey eyes of the grave waiting as she moved to swing the large and bulky weapon. Only once she was within five meters would he release his breath. The black powder igniting against the scythe and turning the entire jutsu into a mix of white and black flames. Filling the area around and Behind Nozomi with a massive explosion of flame. Sero himself launching up into the air as a huge bang filled the area and the tree's bent from the force of the explosion. As he lowered from his jump his scythe would light on fire. Dropping down to where her burning body should be with a slash that would care through her and scorch both her bones and the ground beneath her body. While this was happening what one might not notice was a black whisp of smoke shifting up from the base of the damaged tree Ayakashi was next to. No scent or sense of touch as it shifted like a living thing to try and touch her ankel. A small influence but enough to taint her chakra ever so slightly. A drop of black in the pure water if she didn't stop it.

Sero would watch as the fires ever so slightly consumed the woman he had once trusted. He knew this to be a vision. Only a possible outcome that Ayakashi wished to show him but anger filled his body from the hairs on his head to the very tips of his claw like nails. A dark void fueling his chakra and bursting it outwards. What light there was in the dark night of the attack was slowly draining as if being fed upon. Darkness was descending and the feeling of something wicked in the air only increased. His red eyes watching as she burst forth from the flame he had burned her in only to scream his name. This was a blasphemy. For her to dare speak to the devil when she burned his home. For her to release those black flames on what he was sworn to protect. There would be a price to be paid. One he would send unto her with a glory nothing of a righteous nature might touch. If he could not prevent this, he would end all those responsible for its becoming. He would destroy her entirely. Only then would he find who she served and had commanded this and take everything from them. Burn the world around them until they were left with nothing and no one. No family left alive, no one that showed kidness to them still breathing. Only when the world shunned them in fear would Sero finally come for their defenseless husk. If countries had to burn and bleed so be it.

As she sent down a wave of black fire Sero lifted his hands as his own wall of suiton chakra shot up from beneath the ground ripping through the earth and forming a ten meter by ten meter cube. A body of powerful water as dark as the swamp lands. As the black flames smashed into it the jutsu would roar to life as the flames encased it. Roaring upwards and taking the black flames with it in the shape of a massive chinese dragon before crashing down into a building behind Nozomi and demolishing it. Leaving the black flames there as dust and debris filled the area. The vision blurred but Sero was already shifting. His hunter nin bone mask forming over his face as his dark robes seemed to swell like black fur around his shoulders. As she threw her scythe he did the same only to knock hers off course as both smashed into the ground scorching the earth beneath them. Sero was hidden from view now by the connection of the two powerful S rank jutsu. However his voice echoed out into the dark. Surrounded her and spoke in an echo like the dead distantly screaming in terror.

"To turn against the nation my father rebuilt. To take my birth right and burn it simply because I was absent to you. I name you a traitor to this village and there is but one destiny for a traitor. Execution. For you the midnight bell tolls."

With that Sero formed a series of hand seals for a clone jutsu used on projectiles. One of immense power as before him a dark bow and a single black arrow formed out of mist. As he finished the hand signs in an instant the arrow and bow were taken into his hands. Quietly he breathed out a mist onto the tip of the black arrow as an acid mist was formed. Coating its blade. With that he lifted the bow and took aim. As he released the black arrow it flew true towards his intended target but in a massive explosion of smoke the acid tipped arrow multiplies a thousand times over. One thousand dark arrows flying at sixty meters per second as a wall of death flying towards Nozomi. A promise that to be caught within this volley was to be left as nothing. Not a drop of blood would be left behind, not a hair not a scrap of clothing. The only thing that would mark the passing of the target of this massive attack was a tainted and burned earth marking their grave.

Jutsu used:

Sero would watch and simply maintain the jutsu as grey eyes watched it overtaking the young woman across the battle field from him. The smoke clearing from the interaction as her petals wiped out arrow after arrow. However Sero was on the offensive here so he could afford to remain calm now. He could monitor the arrows drawing closer to his target though his gaze shifted once passed her for a single moment towards Ayakashi in the distance. Not the corpse nailed to the wall behind him but of the actual woman monitoring him. What test would she have next he wondered? Already he had stood his ground against a superior force using tactics. Now he had taken the steps needed to execute his only friend for turning traitor. His only equal. A squad mate that had been there since his beginning. His grey eyes slid back over to her. He knew it an illusion but the appearance of it was still something, well he supposed the word was 'Emotionally' damaging. It had gotten a rise out of him after all. Not much in the country could do that. Not to that level.

Still he would witness the multiple arrows slamming into different parts of her. She had come close to getting through the attack but it was to no avail. Her petals could not stop a thousand attacks it seemed. Not even of that infernal black fire. He knew that with where she had been hit she was simply waiting to die now. The acid was spreading quickly and holes were melting within her. Arrows falling to the ground without enough flesh and bone left to hold them there. Still she surprised him when she launched forward. Her black petals racing towards him as he raised his bow to take the hit instead of him. Only to watch the flames flicker out with the last of her life. How interesting that the amaterasu could be canceled by killing the user. He would certainly need to make note of that. Still he turned away from the dead illusion of Nozomi. Some part of him did not wish to watch his handy work finish turning her body to a puddle of blood.

However even as he looked to Ayakashi wondering if her test for him was done, another presence could be felt. How odd, so much like his own that for a moment he thought Ayakashi would have him fight himself. Cliche' as that may be he couldn't blame her for it. He was after all one of the few like him. However when the doors slammed open he turned ready to face himself only to freeze. He knew that face though never that voice. He had seen it and memorized it in the one tapestry in the mansion before he had disfigured the faces. As the man spoke the world seemed to shift. A reflection of something else feeding off his fear in this realm where any such shifts should only be achievable from the butterfly. Now they stood in the ruins of the manor from years ago. Before it had been restored. Books and leaves scattered on the floor with blood stains long since dried here and there. The manor looking abandoned except the man at the top of the stairs before they split going left and right. Standing in front of a tapestry of himself and a woman,

Sero himself seemed to peel away. The thing in dark robes shifting like a pile of ash in the wind as it blew away revealing a young genin Sero jr. Dressed in grey clothes and where he had been holding a bow before he now held a single C rank rapier. The first sword he ever earned as a genin. He was in trouble now as he stared up at the ghost of his father. Standing there as a helpless child. Barely even a shinobi and still more creature than man. His grey hair dirty and wild as were his clothes with no head band yet. Sero shortly before she had met him and discovered him alive. Something dark laughed like a distant barely audible sound and yet there was a moment. Standing next to Sero for just a second a vision of Ayakashi flickered. The first of his mentors. As she did a small change happened. Around his neck now hung the kiri head band. She had only been there a moment but now he was a child gripping a rapier in both hands and holding it in front of himself in some vain hope that it could halt his father.