Sero would look up as movement caught his attention some meters further up the hill. His eyes snapping around to locate the disturbance even as the bodies fell. There were more out and about. First his attention was drawn to the ridge. Five still lined up there. Ready to snipe down upon the heads of anyone in the village. Not a great deal for his allies below. He would certainly need to deal with them. For now though as the bodies hit ground he noted the steps of two sets of boots rushing towards him. Almost annoyed with the distraction from what was going to become an obvious problem he shifted straight up. Careful not to disturb the tree as he shot straight up it to place his feet on a thicker branch. Already unloading the spool of wire from around his arm. He needed to deal with them quickly but now they were alerted to his presence. So in silence he tied a noose around one end and attached the other end to his left wrist. Gripping it in his hand. He was prepared for two more enemies that hadn't located him as of yet. His two blades still left in the dead men.

Still the other two arrived. Slowing on their approach as they noted their dead comrades bleeding out onto the ground. Not a twitch of life still in them. They glanced at each other before one raised his crossbow and began to look about them. Covering them while the other shifted forward. Wary eyes out for any sign of disturbance as they decided to move towards their comrades. If they could figure out what had killed them they might have a chance at fighting it. Still even as they knelt down to turn the bodies over it was too late. A thin wire dropped from above over the head of the one covering them and then tightened rapidly. With that Done Sero jumped off the branch and held onto the wire as it dug into his anbu forearm guard. Yanking the man he had caught on the other end straight up as he drew his katana. Slicing through the neck of the man as he slid passed him. The wire yanking the wound open more to splash blood across the ground. It drew the attention of the other just before the first hit the branch and snapped his neck. Stopping Sero mid fall and forcing him into a swing. As the other went for his crossbow it was already too late. A Katana tip was driven into his chest as he was slammed with Sero's body weight into a tree.

Sero would finally Glance back to the village. Beneath there was activity but almost as soon as he finished with the two a Hyoton technique ripped through somewhere near the center of the village. Destroying wires he had to navigate through before at the source and creating an uproar. His hand released the wire letting the other body drop audibly to the ground in a crumpled heap as he pulled his katana free. Setting about collecting his weapons and all four crossbow quickly. He only had a moment before the wires were back up to clear some ground. So he did so. Two crossbows in hand and two hanging from his belt. Moving low and quiet but in bursts of amazing speed from tree to tree. Sliding up the hill as he made his way. The snipers were lining up shots on his allies below but he was within range now. He only had a moment to handle them so he prepared his mind. Calm and collected. Take aim and control your breathing. Those were practiced words in his mind. He was a calm and dangerous thing in the woods. In silence Sero would raise both crossbows and aim at the two already drawing back bow strings. Releasing the triggers on the exhale.

Two bolts flew through the air but Sero was already moving. Having let the two he fired drop as he stepped and was ten meters to the right. Another step carried him another ten meters further right and up the hill. By then the two bolts hit home. One in the eye of the first and the next in the throat. Letting him gurgle as his friend and himself dropped. Now the other three were alerted they were under attack. Turning to look for where the attack had come from. However Sero was already a good distance closer with two more crossbows raised and his back to a tree. He would take in another breath and slide around the tree. Taking aim as they hadn't shifted position yet and firing. Two more taking bolts to the chest before Sero dropped the crossbows and faded into his cloak again. Now it was just the one man with his allies dead around him. A monster floating somewhere around him that he couldn't detect. He could feel him though. He could feel the beast hunting him in the woods. Feel the hunger and rage building as it waited for his mind to fail. For his calm to fade and for him to turn to madness. Whoever was controlling them anyway. They were urged to take on this new challenge now. To turn their attention to the hills should this new enemy prove to be something they could not pray to fight.

Sero had moved around behind the one man at this point. His sage mode reaching out. Feeling for hidden enemies and traps for the moment. A lone sniper was no danger to the people below if he was facing Sero. If they turned their attention back to the village even for a moment it meant death. Their breathing was ragged as their eyes raced around them for the source of this maddening sensation. Like there was teeth just brushing the back of their neck. Somewhere in these woods was something less than human and it was hunting him. He couldn't do his job and let an arrow fly towards Ayakashi or Nozomi or the hostages simply because if he tried he knew he would die. His only hope was locating this thing he already knew he couldn't defeat. Sweat had begun to bead on his face as he was on the verge of hyperventilating. All the while Sero was simply watching from within his cloak with the eyes of the grave. Feeling out for more of the enemies allies in the hills. His objective the only thing on his mind.

From the original, doesn't need to be altered up to a certain point:

Spoiler:

As the Chuunin started to free themselves, Nozomi found that she had one of the guards to deal with on her own. She'd been able to kill off 3 of the enemy with her initial strike, scoring one of them in the eye as well. One of them regrettably was able to dodge and kill the chuunin he had been guarding, and Nozomi was left to deal with the one she'd gashed in the eye. The Chuunin were doing better than she had expected, managing to actually fight back while rounded up. 5 Chuunin vs 1 unharmed Jounin level fighter, and 1 prone Jounin level fighter would be fine for the moment while Nozomi dealt with the assassin who came at her.

She'd scored quite the hit on him, blood dripping and messing with his sight. Mixxed with her Camelio Suit's camouflage, and the lack of his usual sight, she would be hard to detect, but he was swinging wide for anything to connect. Nozomi dodged from side to side, pulling the Serpent's Tongue back into its sword mode, she let the returning whip slide through his body, attacking from behind.

Kicking off as fast as she could, Nozomi launched forward, towards the uninjured opponent, her Camelio suit finally deactivating as she entered the building. Perhaps the sight of the Hunter-nin Captain would serve as a further rallying point for the Chuunin. Her blade clashed against the blade of the assassin's Wakizashi, but nothing akin to fear or surprise registered on the man's face, almost emotionless. Nozomi's mask only returned the same blank stare, although behind it, she seethed with anger. This man had just killed one of her own.

The man's blade became surrounded by an ever swirling blade of water, acting like a buzz saw on his sword. The major problem was that against most weapons, this may have proven enough to break it, but Nozomi's blade wasn't a normal weapon. Still, the buzzing blade of water was forcing her blade to slide around, and so she lashed out with a kick, launching the assassin backwards. His wakizashi went flying out of his hands, and Nozomi's blade had launched forward, engaging its whip mode in order to extend her reach without following him. The blades slipped through his armor, catching slightly as it was quite potent armor, and then yanked back through, turning back into a sword.

Her eyes scanned over as the other Chuunin had engaged into battle with the prone soldier. Even the Chuunin of Kirigakure were a cut above the rest. They had made short work of him, engaging him with superior numbers and not allowing him to get up. Smashing her foot down on his neck, she felt the man's wind pipe crush beneath her, and she allowed them to finish freeing themselves. Ayakashi had already begun her own fight, and she was sure the other hostages had begun their own rebellions. The Jounin of Kirigakure weren't simply the type to let themselves be captured without a fight. Splitting them up had been the dumbest thing they could do.

"Go find the others, but be careful for snipers. Assist where you can. I'll work on freeing one more group of Jounin, and then you'll have to fend for yourselves." she said, as the Chuunin armed themselves with the weapons of the soldiers. They had lost one of their group, but casualties couldn't be avoided fully, unfortunately.

Born-ill: 1/8

Item Used:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Sero watched with cold eyes as his caution was paying off. Still the enemy wasn't sure of his position and had revealed themselves. Their back up gathering into a ball of flesh as if their huddled efforts would gradually comfort them against this thing of war come for them. A hell hound Ayakashi let loose for the men that would challenge her. Her own loyal dog and this dog without its chains was hungry for what it was bred for. War had come to the door once more and Sero was there to answer. A small pale smile played on his lips as he began to enjoy this game. So many mice for the cat to play with and yet they thought they had the advantage in their formation. As if against an Osada grouping up was a valid strategy. How boring it was that they might choose to die together so quickly. However he had not forgotten these were shinobi themselves. Though they had so little chance against him when surprise was his element he couldn't doubt out of the mass there one of them could likely deal with such a direct and slow damage jutsu. He needed a more direct approach than the mist and to be honest, they were not worth the storm he could bring forth.

His attention was breifly brought to the village itself as buildings were being torn apart. Men were dying below in fights that one might consider difficult. Some out of their league entirely. However that was not his mission. He would not go to spare the lives of the men and women below just yet. That aside he was only one of three demons on the field that day. It was true that Ayakashi was occupied with her battle and beyond saving those who were fighting but there was one among them not as limited. A woman he considered his equal. The enemy below was about to fall in droves and men would be slaughtered in a blade dance like no other. If he was power she was grace. Neither of them lacking what the other had but her dance held far more steps than his own tempo. She would handle her mission and he had no reason to doubt her. He might have enjoyed watching her dance if not for his own objective. It was a pity but he had his own dance to step to. His own men to bury.

The twange of a bow launching snapped his attention back to his prey. An arrow had been launched or rather a bolt. His eyes followed the progress as Ayakashi narrowly evaded it in her own fight. His grey eyes widened before they snapped back to the one who had committed the sin. A look of satisfaction playing on his own face as others took aim. However that satisfaction was the last of that sensation they would ever feel. A deep growl echoed through the village and hills as the wind picked up. An aura of death seemed to drain color from the area slightly as the echo filled the streets and buildings. There was a thing beyond beast and man in the hills. It was in the hills, in the village, Everywhere. There was a dark thing hungry for the flesh of the enemy and it had felt rage. That there would be someone with the nerve to attack her while fighting him. While facing him they would turn away. Mist began to creep through the woods as it filled the hillside with the group of men who thought themselves prepared for him. Who thought themselves safer together. Now they stood unable to see more than the shadow of the man next to them.

Sero had activated the hunter nin hidden mist technique. A signature of Kiri and yet it seemed to caress the men it enveloped. Fingers reaching out to stroke their cheeks lovingly only to be swatted away. They knew though what these men refused to acknowledge. Their souls would soon join the dead within the mist. A monsters ball had begun. At first they could communicate. Call out to each other and prepare as best as they could. Suddenly though one would be gone. A shadow plucked from the rest. His scream would echo before cutting of with the sound of flesh parting. His body pressed through a branch thick enough not to give. Hanging by his ribs with the branch replacing his gut. One after another they were plucked as panic began to ensue. The monster was feasting upon them. Even as trained as they were they began to let loose their weapons. Blindly firing and hacking at the air. Their own allies shadow now confused with the enemy. The ground beneath them gradually painted red with their own blades and Sero would quiet as a mouse activate his twin tails to pull them one at a time from the mayhem. Slashing some across the throat as he ripped them passed him. Snapping another neck with his tails. Hurling a body into the group only to increase the confusion even further.

When it was done he stepped passed the last man standing as he screamed out his defiance. His scream cut short as Sero's Katana hummed with his perfect slash. The man fell to his knee's before the top of his head separated from the bottom. With that done in mere moments Sero looked to the scene below as the mist cleared from the hill. A silence was all that could be heard for anyone looking for their allies and snipers. A melody of death was as quiet as the night. In truth death had taken them and now the hills were only a haunting place. To the soldiers fighting they had to understand now who they had crossed. There was no fleeing into those hills. There was no escaping this place. They had buried themselves here and now they were beginning to understand it. Perhaps now even Bao was watching her plan fall apart. However she was a new target for him. Bodies littered the hills as blood dripped from his twin tails with a burning crown upon his head. The once green hill top stained now entirely in a red dye that would not soon fade. His cold gaze on Bao as he finally unloaded his own bow from around his shoulder and waist. His tails fading away like mist as he released them.

Quietly Sero would hop onto a nearby tree. Taking high ground as he could see Ayakashi narrowly evading wires and Bao so proudly attacking at a safe distance. So confident in her abilities. He wondered how she could ignore him. How she could understand so little of what kind of disadvantage she had with him in the high ground. It was obvious that Ayakashi needed an opening. So Sero would gladly give it to her. Quietly he pulled out an arrow as black as night forged only within Kiri. The spiders string found only on his island. The only thing he pulled out that was not so dangerous and more common was perhaps the key to his attack. An explosive tag was tied to the arrow head. Secured tightly before he would draw it to its full length. Judging the wind and distance. If her men could get close with a bolt so inferior he could as well. Still he aimed for her chest from above. Planning on slamming it into her breasts with the tag burrowing near her heart. Even should he miss this would cause a disturbance. Anything near her would cause her great harm. Within one meter would cause her second degree burns but even if she managed to evade the blast entirely, would she be able to handle the opening Ayakashi would have? It was time to see. With that Sero activated the tag. His bow fully drawn as it sizzled. It had a three second fuse. His range was just under eighty meters. He waited a full second extra while it hissed dangerously to take extra aim before letting loose. She would hear the hiss coming but it had less than a second when she would. It was time to see how she liked being harassed from the hillside.

OOC:

Spoiler:

It seemed that Ayakashi's fight was what started the rallying cry for everyone to start their revolts. With Nozomi's freeing of most of the group of chuunin, although a casualty was sustained, Nozomi knew that she had to deal with a few more before they could sustain themselves. Sero would be doing his job and thinning out some of the soldiers, so she really only needed to deal with a group or so. And fast too, so she could start to assist Ayakashi with her own fight with the assassin.

Heading out, having decided against activating the camouflage ability of the Camelio Suit again, Nozomi knew that she could rely on the chaos of battle to stop herself from being spotted by any of the enemy soldiers, although she did have to worry about friendly fire a little more. That potential wasn't particularly worth it for her, in addition to her appearance on the field being a morale boost.

It appeared to her upon leaving the shack that most of the fights had spilled out into the streets. Behind her mask, a smirk appeared on Nozomi's face. Despite the fact that people were dying, the chaos was that which Nozomi rarely saw. It was like a war. Even in Kumo, she operated solo, and didn't partake in large scale battle. She was heavily battle experienced in small skirmishes, but this was something completely new to her, and it was quite thrilling.

In honesty, she wasn't that good at fighting while having to worry about allies. She'd been used to fighting heavily outnumbered, taking on multiple opponents by herself, but that was simple when they had to worry about friendly fire and she could focus on wide attacks to catch everyone. Even still, her smirk was present, and she was thrilled to see how this fight would play out. It was her first large scale thing. It was truly a test for her.

A quick glance revealed to her that the wires that had littered the area had run slack, the wider grid having been taken out somehow. Perhaps Ayakashi had dealt with it at the center, but this wasn't something that Nozomi tended to think about. She wasn't a tactician, she was a warrior, a soldier. She wasn't an intellectual, and didn't exactly think about that sort of thing. If she couldn't see it, and it wasn't an issue for her at the moment, she didn't really care about it. This was one of those times. The grid was disabled, and she had been able to see it to begin with. Now she didn't need to worry about it. Had it been a problem, she would have thought about disabling it herself.

Abandoning her weights, realizing they would only be a detriment to her in this fight, Nozomi took off towards the closest fight she could find. As she ran, Nozomi leaped off to the side, using the side of one of the buildings as a spring board to jump onto the roof of a nearby one. Having a vantage from above, Nozomi launched over a fight, one that had been hard to deal with apparently, and landed in the center of the street, Serpent's Tongue fully extended and trailing behind her.

Channeling chakra through the blade, Nozomi activated the special ability of the blade, the segments of the bladed whip launching out at high speeds that were almost untraceable. They each launched towards their own targets, and although some were miraculously avoided, many of them found their targets, piercing through the enemies with great efficiency. The return arc ensured the deaths of the soldiers. For the soldiers that dodged though, they had to deal with Kiri's own forces, who were always quick to counter attack. Given any opportunity, Kiri's warriors took advantage, shown by their breaking free of their hostage situations.

As Serpent's Tongue reassembled, Nozomi took off once more, having done as she was tasked. With the Chuunin group she'd freed, and the men and women she'd just saved, and the additional forces Sero would be fighting and the forces Ayakashi had already taken out, assisting them would only speed up the inevitable, and she had been tasked by Sero to assist Ayakashi as soon as possible. Against a smaller force of soldiers, Kiri's men would prevail quickly.

A large explosion would come from the center plaza of the small outpost as Nozomi rounded the corner. Sero's arrow had gone off just moments before she came into sight of it, and she was just in time to see the aftermath.

Born-Ill: 2/8
Chakra: 255/290

-25 Serpent's Tongue ability [Shown above in my last post]

Stats:

Spoiler:

Sero would watch as he knocked another arrow as his own flew through the air. It grew close but to no avail. Well not as lethal as he would have liked. He considered that he could have perhaps taken a moment to attach some kunai and senbon to the tag for more effect but with Ayakashi so nearby, such an explosive could of had more dire consequences. Still he would look down the arrow with a calm breath. Watching as she was blown back slightly. Her wires still assaulting his Kage but now her attention turned. He couldn't assess the damage from where he was but he could pick out a counter offensive. She had noted him now and he seemed to have sparked her wrath. This was after all his purpose. Should his Kage be attacked he was a distraction against the mighty. Still her weapons flew free from her hands and Sero opted for the next best option. To remove those weapons from the field. No sooner had it left her hand and took a trajectory than did his first arrow fly. His hand already reaching back for another as the bow string left his fingers. The first arrow soared forth as the weapons designed to kill him made it ten meters. The first arrow knocking one spinner straight down. Anchoring the rest slightly as it turned out to be attached. As he had expected with her wire tricks. He knocked back a second arrow and fired that as well. This time knocking a second spinner at 25 meters from her on the same side. Both spinners smashing into the ground and slicing paths through buildings with their wires. Serving to change the direction of the throw more.

It was only on his third arrow when he managed to hit a third spinner at forty meters that the entire trajectory changed. Just as they all split twenty meters from him they turned a hard left and hewed through some of the forest before tangling around a couple of boulders. Their momentum halted by a forest and three anchored points buried in the rubble of their progress. With that Sero would inhale. Having not breathed so his aim would be more steady. It had only been a moment but as his eyes returned to the battlefield Ayakashi stood among three dead men and it took him a minute to locate the target. Ayakashi was no longer in immediate danger but something was different. The woman seemed to be fighting with herself now. With a shout she would direct a massive amount of energy. Futton from the feel of it and the winds bending the tree's around him. Sero would look onto the increased threat with a dead gaze. It was time for a change in tactics. Orders needed to be given. The town was lost but not the people. Even as the hillside he stood on was crippled with cracks and crevasses with a green energy flowing from them like some infection for a moment Sero would shoulder his bow and launch down the hillside. Moving from land section to land section to get ahead of the crumbling hill. Landing in the desolation next to a Jounin regrouping with the others. Speaking as he lowered his hood. Revealing himself and who everyone knew he was.

"Have the majority of the Jounin get everyone at least two hundred meters from this location as fast as you can. Take only five of the fastest members you have with medical chakra to remain. Tell them to avoid the majority of the fight but remove the wounded from the field and treat them behind the cover of a hill. Leave two spec jounin med nin trained behind that hill as support. Now send out the retreat order."

With that Done Sero would turn to the near beacon like chakra ahead. It was still dozens of meters away from him. He knew Ayakashi and Nozomi would be closer. Likely they would engage without him. He would need to hurry through the disaster in order to reach them. Rubble terrain aside he had lost his high ground. He would need to go about this tactically. She had potent mass range jutsu. Of which he couldn't counter with until the retreat was finished. Much as he wouldn't mind sending a wave much like her own right back at her. Instead he would begin moving to the right. Taking a wide arc and moving like a shadow quickly through the village to remain hidden by buildings while moving to get behind the target. Keeping an eye out for residual wires to avoid being cut as he touched his headset. Relaying a message through the static to the other two assuming they hadn't lost the headsets he had provided them.

"I have ordered a retreat of all our forces. There are wounded in the direction of that last jutsu being collected. In a few moments we should be free to unleash full scale attack jutsu in any direction but where our wounded are being collected. For now keep tabs on her movements, avoid being hit and observe her new abilities. Keep track of each other. I am circling behind her in an attempt to hopefully flank."

As Nozomi rounded the corner, her eye line set on Bao, she saw the results of Sero's arrow explosion, Bao's arms guarding her face from the explosion. Unfortunately, it didn't appear to have done quite the amount of damage that would have been quite hoped for, but it had done enough for the moment. Serpent's Tongue in hand, Nozomi moved to charge forward and assist in the match, when it seemed that the tides of the fight were about to change without her own need for intervention.

As Sero dealt with the assault that Bao had sent his way, Ayakashi was doing her own best to bust through Bao's earlier assault and attack her. And for a moment, Nozomi was convinced that it had worked, as Bao's form seemed to be bisected by Ayakashi's own blades. Unfortunately, the tell tale poof of smoke gave away the Substitution, as a soldier took her place. Nozomi was disgusted with her callous disregard for the lives of her subordinates, using them as meat shields. Nozomi may not always protect her own, and would understand if they died, she would never just sacrifice them for herself.

Still, unfortunately, Bao was only proven to be enraged, and a force to be reckoned with, as she let out an unholy scream, letting out a shout with a broken voice. Nozomi meanwhile, had made it to Ayakashi at that point, wielding Serpent's Tongue, and gathered her chakra around herself before letting it expand out around the two of them. "Ward of Dawn!" she shouted, the mask muffling her voice as an orb of chakra extended around the two of them. Extending out for 15 meters, with Ayakashi and Nozomi in the center, only allies of Kirigakure would be able to pass through it, and anybody else would be blown back. The corpses around them blasted away.

The shield formed around the two of them, and would provide them protection for a time being so Ayakashi could catch her breathe and recollect herself. Sero's voice crackled over the static of the ear piece he had provided earlier. Nozomi's instant reaction was to ignore his voice, and instead held up her left hand, issuing out a massive wave of petals from it, aimed towards Bao's form. The only words she spoke were to Ayakashi. "My shield ignores my own chakra, but not yours. You may pass freely through it though."

The petals blasted from her hand, the massive wave of them moving towards Bao at 45 meters per second. She herself was safe in the Ward of Dawn shield until it broke, so unless it was broken, she wouldn't need to move for the time being. Her own attack would be able to track and follow Bao from a distance so long as she remained within 25 meters of them. If she needed to, she would move to the edge of the shield, but she wouldn't exit it for the time being. It was time to see what Bao could do.

Chakra: 200/290
-25 Ward of Dawn
-30 Petal Storm of the Mist [S rank]

Jutsu used:

Spoiler:

Sero would move around the combat as chakra was tossed back and forth. Remnants of buildings around both parties peeling away and being torn to dust. The ground trembled from the sheer force of the combat between them. Their battle was too intense for anyone under a jounin to survive mere moments with that lot. Still Sero would focus on his duty. He needed to move to an advantageous position. Flanking was important in battle but while he was still clear to the right of it and passing over a building his hand slapped a slab of crumbling chimney rock. Focusing a small amount of chakra into it. He was about to position himself in the line of fire of his allies. The kind of power they were capable of unleashing he needed to be capable of escaping. Otherwise he would just become a sacrifice. A mere martyr for one assassin. Since he had no intention of dying with her he was making preparations before hand. Still he would continue on his way through the roof tops keeping low. Far enough away to avoid being noticed. However occasionally between buildings he would catch just a glimpse of what was going on.

Nozomi was holding her own for now. That much was evident but it was difficult to tell how long that might last. She was strong but this new transformation was concerning. He certainly wished they had some sort of details on it prior to engaging it. Was it damaging the host? Was there some sort of cost to maintaining it? More importantly could he replicate it in a calmer demeanor? His grey gaze would keep shifting between where he had to go and where they were. The pull of battle being ignored for now. His circle carrying him slightly more behind her now by about twenty meters. His Sage mode still keeping strong as it felt like there were three beacons of power raging in their direction. Only this womans was corrupted in some way. He could feel her rage from her chakra and knew she had to die. His grey eyes looked from the shadows as two tornado jutsu finished forming and slammed towards his allies. Two jutsu Nozomi was going to need to continue to repel. His own chakra was forming as he contemplated the best jutsu to use for the moment. Anything with killing intent would likely be sensed again as that arrow had been.

It was then the radio crackled to life. His ear was filled with the sound of Ayakashi shouting over the rage of battle. The town being torn asunder around the three of them. She needed time. If it was time she needed Sero could manage a second or two. At the very least another distraction. His chakra was still flowing strong after all. Though his sage mode was beginning to wear on him. Regardless he would focus his katon and suiton chakra together into his left hand as he stretched out his arm and pointed his fingers at the woman. He had made sure he was slightly to the left of her so his own attacks couldn't simply be dodged and sent at Nozomi or Ayakashi. If he missed it would simply go crashing into a building off to the side. Still he let out a slow breath before forming the hand sign for snake with one hand. As soon as he did five thin silver chains launched out of his finger tips at thirty five meters per second from twenty meters away at a blind spot towards Bao. Five silver chains that if they so much as touched her would bind her. Not for long but it would begin burning the moment it did. Just more damage to her at least and a momentary distraction. Hopefully long enough for Nozomi to deal with the two jutsu and Ayakashi to finish whatever she was doing.

However Sero would sense something else there. A familiar presence he had kept tamed for so long now was echoing from behind Nozomi. A dark being that was half his soul. Or mimicked its taint anyway. He could feel a connection there as it seemed to creep out of the shadows and touch him as it roared across the entire village and into the hills. His own dead grey eyes widening before milking over. His grey crown of steam turning black as night as his eyes would turn a deep crimson of his sage mode unchained. Ayakashi was drawing something from him by exuding so much power of the darkness within him. His hunter instincts were being driven forward. He was tired suddenly of being tactical. His head rolled back as he breathed in the air of battle and shuddered. His darkness meeting hers. Perhaps this assassin was not the evil here. But the righteous. Either way she would feel it now. Ayakashi was by far the greater of the beasts but there was its shadow lurking somewhere behind her. She could not engage one without fearing the other. Both were coming for her head and both would enjoy ripping it from her shoulders.

Spoiler:

Her petals crashed against Bao's scythe of wind, their powers cancelling out. All of Nozomi's force had been behind her petal barrage, but it was countered so easily by the opposing wind force. Nozomi's petals whipped around through the air, the blades falling down to the ground harmlessly but the sheer number of blades simply covered the ground around them.

The assassin's own counter attack was swift, sending two different cyclones to collapse on what remained of Nozomi's defense. It would not withstand the force of both jutsu, but she could withstand one of them. Her focus instead, should be intently on stopping one of the cyclones, and letting her own defense break the path of the other. Her offense broken by the one attack, Nozomi's now free hand moved through the air, pointing at the cyclone coming from her left. Another plume of petals issued from her hand, moving out of the barrier and swirling into the cyclone with a counter force, breaking the cyclone's rotational force and letting the petals drop, once again, harmlessly to the ground. The other cyclone burst against the Ward of Dawn defense, breaking both the defensive technique and itself.

Bao's attack was successfully stopped, although that wasn't going to be the end of the match by far. The ease at which she'd attacked showed that now that Nozomi and Ayakashi were exposed, they would certainly need to do more than stand here and throw jutsu at her to wear her down. Her abilities almost seemed effortless, something Nozomi wasn't sure she herself was really a match for. Luckily, she wasn't alone in this fight, and her allies were monstrous forces as well.

With a blast of frozen chakra, Ayakashi became what could only be described as a beast. Nozomi's eyes furrowed behind her mask as she saw the change in the Mizukage, but she said nothing, and turned her attention back to Bao. Whatever this change was, it was something that would be necessary to take down the monster that Bao had become. Sero's own Sage mode also seemed to affect the land around them, his taint corrupting the very air around them. She hadn't seen Sero yet, but she could feel his aura emanating darker and deeper than usual.

Trapped between these three absolute monsters, Nozomi suddenly felt very.... small. As if she was insignificant in comparison to any of these people. Her breath caught in her throat as her body froze in place, not through any jutsu, but because of her own panic and anxiety. As strong a Jounin as she was, she wasn't without fear, and she froze as she had when she was a child, faced against forces she couldn't even comprehend. She felt powerless and weak.

Her frame shook involuntarily, and she took a step back, holding Serpent's Tongue tightly in her grip as she seemed to almost shrink away. She was too small. Too insignificant. Too weak. If only for a moment, Nozomi failed to hold her own willpower as she faltered in her step backwards. Serpent's Tongue, however, felt comforting, a weapon that sought to protect her, almost with a mind of its own. It called her to stay, to calm. It was her weapon, and would protect her.

Shifting from sword to whip mode, the blade whip writhed in the air, seeking to protect it's master, as a snake would coil to defend itself, ready to spring to action against any perceived threat. Nozomi stopped her shivering, although she was still unsettled by the beasts around her. She took comfort that she wasn't alone, that her blade, alive or not, was there for her. It was a part of her, having taken in her vitae. "Attack." she muttered, the singular thought sending the blade into new life, the 20 segments breaking out from the weapon, launching at Bao at insane speeds, eager to bite into her flesh, to end one of the sources of its master's fear.

Chakra: 175/290
-25 Serpent's Tongue
-20 Petal Reflection

Jutsu used:

Spoiler:

Item:

Spoiler:

Sero would turn his attention to the fight before him as he let out a breath. The air exiting his mouth as steam rising as his blood red eyes would take in the battle before him. He could no longer care for those who had fled at his command. The village was no longer anything but a warzone. A place he had thrived in as far back as he could remember. He had learned even as a child he had to fight back to survive. He had grown as a monster within the mist against seasoned soldiers. A game of survival from the moment he had been born. Blood had stained his hands as his fist true memory. His awakening as the beast he was now. He could feel the trembling need to stop playing from the shadows. He could feel the world trembling around him as he wished for one thing. The urge of the hunt. The need to sink his fangs into his prey. His pale hands clenched and unclenched as his dark nails seemed to grow into crimson claws. His eye focusing as a tunnel vision on the one person who had incurred his wrath. The woman who had scorned his will.

His eyes focused on her as he took his first step. The ground searing at his feet. Black foot prints with embers left behind. A slow walk as he regarded her. A being that had gone against the village he had sworn to protect. Had dared to take hostages and summon him forth. She had committed a cardinal sin and death was her sentence. She would feel him behind her now even as she screamed and broke out of his chains. A soft melody that had always brought forth a monster within him. So many screams had echoed in his past. She would know he was coming. Even as she summoned forth more jutsu she would know there was a reaper behind her. He could no longer be ignored. He would no longer attack from the shadows. She had known the pain of his chakra. Now she would know the pain of his blade. His fang he had never used on another. A blade he had mastered through recent hours alone on his island. She was to receive all his conviction and she would not escape him. Ayakashi had broken through the new jutsu at the cost of her own new form and Sero only heard the echo of her words. He was being ordered to end this.

Sero would crouch down with a sick grin spreading across his face. Another breath as steam erupted forth once more. His right hand would reach out to the air to his right. Stretching forth as a grey mist formed. Distant screams echoing from within. The lost souls of his blood stained past. All screaming to flee, run from this place. Begging his prey to turn and retreat from him. His hand gripped something within the mist as the entire thing turned black and silence suddenly rained. All the sound from his summoning space removed in an instant. His lips parted as he spoke quietly. "Time to feed Sessho Sekki." With that the air would suddenly burst forth around all of them. A weight even ayakashi would feel in her weakened state. Sero was summoning forth a terrible amount of dark chakra. Neither Nozomi or Ayakashi had ever seen this much power at once from him. No one had. He had never been pressed to this level. His right hand would draw out from the dark mist a silver spiraled lance. The captains blade of the seven swords. A weapon with no other like it.

As he pulled it the weapon would cross in front of his lower face as he breathed again. This time the steam that came out began to swirl around the weapon and bond to it. A black mist staining the weapon with heat rising from it. There was something tainted and dangerous about it. Everyone within the entire village would instinctively feel one sensation. Under no circumstances could they allow that blade to touch them. It was too dangerous. Sero had come to go to war. The mist to his right faded and he gripped the handle of the lance in both hands. Shifting as he fed it chakra into a leaning forward and low stance. The spiraling blade of the weapon spinning. The mist clinging to it still. With that he suddenly launched forward. The ground where he had been standing shattering and rocks slammed through the solid stone of the buildings around him as he pushed his body to its limits. He was fast in his strike as he cleared the distance in an instant. The lance driving forward to slam at the center of his targets torso. If it connected it would rip her in half and what was more was if it so much as scathed her there would be no escaping alive. Her veins would slowly turn black and she would burn as all of her blood would turn to acid leaving her as nothing within moments. Not even a puddle of her would remain but for scorched earth where she fell. An incredibly painful way to die.

Spoiler:

Sero's own flank on her had successfully worked, his chains wrapping around the empowered Bao, and worked their magic a little bit, burning into her flesh as the acid that made up the chains made contact with her. It was only for a brief moment that it would work, as she was able to break through them with sheer strength and power, this form of hers allowing for effortless feats of strength. The Hunter-nin Captain was incredibly impressed by that, but her shriek of pain belayed the end of this match drawing close. She was not a god, she could be injured, and she didn't like it.

Despite her newfound confidence, it appeared that Bao's power was greater than that of Nozomi's sword's, her tempest of energy sucking the blades up into it, overpowering the chakra laced attack. Fortunately though, it would appear that Ayakashi had been bought enough time to do whatever it was that she wanted to do, because she began her own assault, the Ice Beast that was the Mizukage surging forward, freezing the tempest around Bao with her own chakra, the oppressive cold that emanated from her chilling Nozomi to the bone.

Unfortunately, the Mizukage's attack would ultimately serve to force Nozomi away from the conflict, having to retreat out of the expanding ice surge, lest she be consumed by the attack herself. It didn't really seem to matter though, as Sero was now primed to pull off his ending attack, taking advantage of the situation himself, and claiming the victory through use of his Captain's Blade, a weapon well known to those of Kirigakure. In her retreat, Nozomi pulled back the Serpent's Tongue, the link she had to the weapon allowing the blades to break themselves loose from the ice they were trapped in, and returning to the whip blade, shards of ice still frozen to pieces of them.

From her spot, right outside 20 meters distance from Ayakashi, having narrowly avoided being frozen herself, Nozomi watched the end of the match, prepared to continue her fight should she be required, but ultimately, she was sure that Bao had been unable to withstand their assault.

Sero's energy was much more intense than she could ever recall it having been, engulfing the area in its entirety. Even accustomed to it as she was, she began to feel unnerved by it once again. A thought entered her head that she should strike down the monster that was her friend, but was immediately dismissed as an instinctual thought of survival rather than her own personal thoughts. Sero was a teammate, not an enemy. He was in control of himself, and thus wasn't a threat.

Sero would follow through with commitment to his attack. His sword slicing through everything on this plain. Rather it was more of a lance than a sword. Its spinning mass ready to tear through anything in its path. Unable to be stopped in its dark mechanization as its purpose was purely to destroy. The darkest parts of him loved this weapon. It was sheer power in his hands. Yet a small part of him wanted something more with it. As if the lance alone was incomplete. He was not a knight in shining armor but more of a lord playing at death. He didn't know what made this feeling of being incomplete. However his target could not move to dodge or strike back. He watched as her body would split apart both from his own strike and that of Ayakashi's. So little would be left of the woman as her body seemed to simply burst. Yet there was something missing here still. He had felt a lack of something close to him in all that darkness that he had hoped would be there. Even as partially frozen body parts fell to the ground like red slush his grey eyes sought the source of his discomfort. Some part of him was missing. Grey eyes cast across the battlefield as his sage mode seemed to wither away. The lance turning its original color like pure gold. It too fading to mist as he looked to Nozomi. She had not attacked with him. Some part of him had longed for it and found nothing there. Still it would appear Ayakashi would approach them both. The battle was over and she had something to say. Even as she spoke those his eyes looked to Nozomi questioningly. Wondering if she did not trust him not to strike her too.

"Well done the two of you, that leaves four of the advisor's entourage alive. We'll need to lure them out and dispatch each of them if we're going to be able to deal with the Daimyo in the Capital... however, now they will likely be on guard... although, she did seem different, I've wounded this one before as well as a couple of others, and the notes on the assassins claimed that one of the side effects of the control serum they're given is numbness... its apparent that this one was disobeying orders in hopes to gain favor... so, perhaps not... ... ... no, knowing them as well as i do now, they'll cast her off as a fool and carry on with their plans. They'll think this reflects her foolishness, not our strength, we still have the advantage, and should move on assuming as such. But -"

Her ambition was apparent. Easily this was the highest risk the could possibly take. Still this was a step forward he had not thought possible. Aside from some wounds Ayakashi herself had suffered while the two of them were occupied the battle was almost flawless. Should there not be hostages or standing forces in the next fight without them having their own forces to occupy them, they could find themselves fighting the assassins one at a time and overcoming these odds as an unstoppable team. Still she would pause and he would turn to follow her gaze only to find a horse had arrived bearing with it a rider faster than should be possible. His sage mode was dropped and his hands without a weapon. He was caught off guard and he knew it. If this one struck now at best he had ninjutsu on his side. He didn't have time to gather anything functional though. Instead he launched back out of reach of the giant horse before the man began to speak.

"It seems the group of you succeeded, perhaps congratulations are in order... Bao Sanniang was skilled. It seems we were right to tread cautiously. In ten days, myself and my teammate will be attacking another village to draw you out, we'll strike from the east, be ready, Mizukage!"

A challenge issued? How incredibly odd he would think to himself. This assassin manipulating a country thought himself honorable? Such a statement did not seem to be one of someone under some sort of control. Still he didn't like being lured somewhere. He was already memorizing the feel of this ones chakra. He had plans to track him if he could. The beast he rode on and the man himself seemed like a trotting well of power. Like a beacon to anyone. However in a split moment the horse was moving away faster than he could follow. He knew the chakra signature now but he would have to scour to the east to find it again. He had ten days if they were being truthful to find them. To locate their camp and eliminate them before they could set their own trap. It would be ideal to catch them off guard. Perhaps even off his horse.


"So, what now? We have ten days before the next attack, if that's to be believed... but i don't think the men heard that... we can't leave this threat unanswered."

The question caught him off guard. Ayakashi seemed to be looking to them for advise. Still his gaze shifted to Nozomi. She was head of the hunter nin. Perhaps her own capabilities surpassed his own when it came to tracking a shinobi. Perhaps she had caught the mans chakra signature too. To reveal himself before two hunter nin of their caliber had been a mistake. So he would speak before going about what he said he was going to do. "I have his chakra signature now. As a trained hunter nin it is only a matter of time before I track him down. If I can not do so within nine days I will return to prepare with you. I would like Nozomi to organize some support from her division in this as well. If not her own help in the matter. However she did preform admirably through this challenge. Saving more lives than either of us. While I am away I would like you to consider Nozomi as having my recommendation for the seven swords with the weapon she holds now."

Exit thread

6165 Mission complete

"I'm sure we'll come up with something." Nozomi replied, staring at Serpent's Tongue. It was a powerful weapon, and she was being given it, welcomed into the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Apparently, she hadn't exactly been all that ineffective in this fight, if she had done enough to warrant such an honor. Nozomi's gaze shifted over to Sero. "As a Hunter-nin Captain, I am beholden only to Ayakashi. As a Seven Swordsman of the Mist, I would be beholden to you as well, the Captain of the group. Only in relation to that will I be your subordinate. I am first and foremost a Hunter-nin however, so in conjunction with that, I will always take my duties over your commands, if we are in a cooperative mission or any such things as that."

With that, they got to planning.

WC: 153
TWC: 6131/5000

EXIT THREAD

OOC: Sorry it's short, but I keep forgetting to actually claim this.