Narrator Mission:

Darkness...it had seeped into every ounce of the Village Hidden in the Sand, a darkness that it seemed as though no light could penetrate. It had been overrun with crime and corruption for a long time and even though a Kazekage had stepped up who seemingly had tried to stamp it out, nothing she had tried had worked and the criminal scum still owned the village, setting into motion a chain of events that would see the cleansing of the village. Though it seemed that no light could cut through the darkness, the reckoning that was coming for them was no simple light. The demon that was created by pain, a sword sharpened in the sand, and a man who had been given a taste of his sweet retribution once in the past. The man who came for them this night was the Hellfire Drake, Mitsuo Sarutobi, and he burned with a cold fury as he prepared to exact revenge for the loss of the ones he loved. He was dressed in black linens, his entire body covered head to toe and ensuring he had nothing distinguishing about himself showing. Covering his face was the bone coloured mask with the splashes of crimson and silver that he had worn last time he was in the village, when he destroyed the complex of the Karisuma clan.

The gates appeared to be tightly guarded and Mitsuo couldn’t help but wonder why, standing in the shadows as he looked towards the top of the wall. It was dark, but to a man like Mitsuo it may as well have been daylight. He had spent his entire life training for this kind of situation, looking for targets where it appeared there were none. The gate was not his target, as it wouldn’t send the greatest message to those who would survive the fallout, but it was a place to start if nothing else. He would likely have to fight through the defenders at the gate anyway, but he had no interest in having a long drawn out fight there, and so he would find a place where he could meet little resistance and clear the wall before getting back to the task at hand. He gritted his teeth under his mask, drawing the chita no kiba, or the Cheetah’s Fang, from his hip. He waited until the patrol had passed and jumped up to a spot where there were only a couple of guards, looking for the masks of ANBU but not seeing any right away...these were just men.

Dead men…

Mitsuo acted quickly, not wasting a single second as he pounced. His blade sliced through the first man’s throat, hand moving to cover his mouth to stop him from screaming and twisting, a pop signifying the fact that his neck had been broken as he went limp in Mitsuo’s arms. The second turned to investigate the noise as Mitsuo placed the first body down, quickly moving to do the same to the second. The man dropped just as easily, and Mitsuo took both bodies under his arms, jumping down off of the wall on the other side with them in his grasp, before placing them in a nearby cart and covering them with some cloth and skins nearby. He activated his Wings of the Saint sensory jutsu, the winds around him pulsing out as he felt any disturbances within it, and that was when he noticed that he had not gone unseen when clearing the wall. The cat like movements of the figure that stalked him pegged the individual as someone who was highly skilled. Mitsuo turned his masked head towards the figure, seeing another covered up individual, dressed in the ANBU garb of the Hidden Sand village. The figure cocked its head as it observed Mitsuo.

“Scourge of the Karisuma…” The voice was augmented so Mitsuo knew he could determine nothing from it, besides perhaps the fact that he was still remembered in this village. It seemed that his past visit had left an impression on the locals. “You killed them all, women and children, elders, and destroyed their home so that those whom were away would have nothing to return too.” Mitsuo scowled from under his mask, well aware that the other ANBU agent couldn’t see the look on his face, but not caring in the slightest.

“They were corrupt, selling their young into the sex trade, and they deserved what they got. Your Kazekage would have praised my actions had she known what I had done.”

“The Kazekage holds no sway over these lands. This is a land without law, and we are the silent blade that protects it.” Mitsuo chuckled slightly at these words.

“Then stay silent.” He advanced upon the man, chita no kiba in his grasp as his left hand reached out to draw Penance from around his chest. The man was skilled, and Mitsuo wondered how long he had been at this job, but he seemed young as well. This was the new guard, the ANBU whom had been promoted under Midori, and he knew that none of them could hold a candle to those whom he had fought after the Disappearance of Gin, the woman with whom he had fought in the days of the Aoi Bara. Those ANBU were elites, and while there would be no questioning the skill it took to become an ANBU agent, this was the watered down version of the men and women that Mitsuo had killed in the past.

Perhaps that is why they hate you so?

The ANBU agent strung hand signs together as Mitsuo crashed into him, elbowing into his sternum as he felt a satisfying crack, the hands falling apart. Mitsuo brought the Chita no Kiba down through the man’s wrist, severing his left hand from his arm, which the man pressed his right hand towards it, burning it with katon chakra.

Impressive

The man pulled out a blade that could be described as malicious looking, Moving forward to attempt to drive it into Mitsuo’s heart, no wasted movements from the ANBU agent as he got right to the point. Mitsuo dodged, but the ANBU agent moved with him, the dagger cutting through the fabric of Mitsuo’s shirt and through the flesh of his shoulder. He gritted his teeth, grabbing the man’s arm as it went past and snapping the bone in the middle into an extremely awkward angle. The individual grunted, did not scream, and dropped the weapon, no longer able to hold onto it. Mitsuo kicked out the back of the individual’s knees as they dropped to the ground, the Sword Saint looming over the figure.

“I’m going to burn your village to the ground...I will make them all suffer for the pain they have caused my family, and I will ensure that none will be able to hurt anyone as they have hurt me again.” He pulled the turban and mask off of the individual, seeing the face of a young man, maybe seventeen or eighteen. He was the same age Mitsuo had been when he had first joined the ANBU, and it made him sad to see such a life wasted in such a position. Mitsuo snapped the man’s neck, dropping him to the ground, and picking up the turban he had worn. He looked out into the village.

Death was on the air tonight...

(1255)

Chakra = 395/420
Wings of the Saint used and active

Yes, Indeed. Death was definitely in the air, but then again, death was also in the hearts of the two men who came to bring it upon the village they both felt scorn for. Two men of different paths, but similar in a few ways.

There was movement from the slums' gate in Sunagakure no Sato, a disturbance. The two guards standing by were meeting with an ANBU agent who was briefing them on events that happened near the gate. Apparently there was an intruder, the scourge of the Karisuma, a man skilled and bloodthirsty enough to kill an entire clan, so what did he want with the village? The three sat and spoke, urgency in their voices, while the eyes of a man in shadow watched them calmly. When the man stepped from the shadows, he was shrouded in a black cloak, the hood pulled down to show a porcelain mask. This mask was depicted as a feline with a long grin, red markings upon the forehead and near the eyes and mouth. Behind this mask a man quietly glared, his hand upon the hilt of his tanto, Kagayaki-Ha. The brilliance blade in his grasp felt as though he was born to use it, born to shed the blood of others in his quest for a vengeance he had been seeking for fifteen long years. The time was now and the three turned to the man who sauntered towards them.

The two chuunin level men who stood guard saw the mask and considered him an ally, while the ANBU knew better. He knew the mask as one of a traitor, and he drew his own blade, rushing the cloaked figure. It was too late for the chuunin to ask him what was going on, or to stop. When the feet of the ANBU left the ground, a blade pulled from the cloak and the man moved with a quickness unseen in the village for some time. Within a few seconds, it was over. The tanto had protrude and sliced cleanly through the throat of the airborne ANBU with little effort, the operative a corpse before he hit the ground. When the cloaked man reached the chuunin they tried to fight back, but when his body went into the flurry of slashes they stood no chance, two more corpses fell to the ground. The cloaked figure didn't wait, heading for the rooftop of a nearby building. His body pulled to jump into the air, kicking off of the side of a building to land upon the roof of his target. He'd then jump from this building to the next, continuing to do so until he reached where the gates were, seeing the man he supposed the three were discussing. The scourge of the Karisuma, Mitsuo Sarutobi.

He stood upon the roof top, looking down at the man who held a turban in his hand. With a slight tilt of his head, the masked and cloaked man saw an approaching figure from the shadows of an alley. This was to be an ambush for the feared Sarutobi, but the figure would move quicker, and hop down from the building and landing softly upon the sand. He'd be twenty meters from the Sarutobi, and the ambush lying in wait, channeling Raiton chakra into his hand. With a quick push, the chakra would burst out into a running hound, controlled by the caster's whim, headed straight for the man in the shadows. The man in the shadows jumped to a wall and hopped over the beast, running towards the cloaked figure. It was another ANBU, it was just a poor fact of life that he wouldn't live to fulfill his next words. "Traitor! You will die on this day as will the Scourge of the Karisuma!" The cloaked figure shook his head and pulled the raiton chakra back, speaking through the mask with the voice of the previous Kazekage, Suzume. "Omae wa mou shindeiru." The lightning beast came back and collided with the body of the ANBU, scorching him and exploding in a raiton blast, knocking him to the sand, dead from the impact.

The cloaked figure turned his masked face to the man who stood with the turban, a hand still holding the bloody tanto. When the raiton chakra faded, his hand moved up to the mask, removing it from his face to show the scarred features of Syekren Uchiha, traitor of the hidden sand. His gruff beard and light black, greying hair were likely a different sight for the Sarutobi, but the different coloured blue eyes knew the man's name, if not the mask. With a quiet movement, He tucked the mask into his belt and Syekren moved to stand in the path of the man before he spoke. "I heard a rumour from an ANBU who saw some happenings here around the gate, he said that the man behind the mask you're wearing was Mitsuo Sarutobi. I just came to see if it was true or not. You see, there was once a man by that name I knew as a brother, he saved my life once, pity about the eye." With that, the Uchiha touched the scar over his left cheek, which ran through his eyelid into his left brow. "I suppose i just want to know, are you that same Mitsuo I met fifteen years ago, back when I first became a shadow of a village dying, this village that is now without law?"

924

275/300:

White hot rage filled the entirety of Mitsuo Sarutobi as he heard something that he simply couldn’t ignore. Some idiot was using his name. He was completely unknown in Sunagakure no Sato, as he had been extremely careful last time he was here, and yet there it was; someone lying and using his name to try to get under his skin. He had always assumed that mind reading was possible, especially given some of the clans in the history of his village, but he had never seen it on full display until now. No matter the case, though, he couldn’t allow this to continue, as it could be extremely dangerous to his remaining family, and he would not allow them to come to any harm. The fool would face the cleansing fires of penance…

He turned on the man, his tanto coming to bare directly under the man’s chin, and looked over his face. There was the pang of recognition, and though it wasn’t a happy feeling as it reminded him of the day that he had lost his best friend, it was enough to stop him from removing the man’s head. “Some parties are quite prideful on their secrecy, otherwise they wouldn’t wear masks. It is unwise to attempt to reveal a masked shinobi’s identity, especially one who moves with the purpose of a reaper. I am not Mitsuo Sarutobi, and I did not save you from Ukiyo Senju fifteen years ago, and any further pushing on the subject will lead to further denial. I will agree that this land is diseased and must be purged, and I will give you the courtesy of letting you know that none who stand in my way will live to see tomorrow. If you want to leave, ANBU of Sunagakure, I will not fault you.”

He would remove his blade from the man’s throat. “Now if there is something else that you wish to do here, I cannot stop that either. I would recommend staying away from the pulsing Katon seals, however, and letting them do their work. I have also noticed that there is another here, judging by the handiwork I have observed around. This one is one whom was once ANBU in Konoha, and it will be interesting to see why said person is here as well…” He turned on his heel and formed a few hand signs before creating a small chakra seal in his hand, moving forward and placing it on the ground so that it would begin to pulse. All of the sand beneath the seal would begin to melt and turn to glass, and everywhere within twenty meters of the seal would very quickly follow suit as he continued forward down his path, eyes peeled and wind cloak probing for any more unexpected enemies that he might have to face.

“See the beauty of what I bring to this place, ANBU of Sunagakure. Where there once was an endless sea of sand, a completely useless terrain piece that only serves to irritate and otherwise harm, now lies a beautiful pool of glass. This is my vision for this desolate wasteland. It will be cleansed in the fires of the Helldrake, and from the ashes will be reborn a place of true beauty. The desert will be no more, and the corrupt will no longer have their sand dens and such places to hide, for glass doesn’t cover sins, it reveals them to the world. It is through glass that this place will be redeemed in the eyes of the gods, and through death that this disgusting place will be cleansed…”

(1868)

(Chakra 355/420)
Wings of the Saint maintained
Wrath of the Helldrake activated

Syekren's blue eyes flashed the colour crimson for a moment, the three tomoe of his sharingan just barely noticeable for a moment's time. He didn't let it completely activate, but instead listened to the man as he spoke, smiling softly. This was indeed his old friend, and there was one tell that gave it away. "I never mentioned the woman's name, old friend, but there is truth in the words you've spoken. Fine then, Scourge of the Karisuma, you'll find not many truly know who you are. Just a few, one being me, another was an old student, and the third.. Well.." The man looked down at his tanto and flicked blood from the blade before he turned his attention back to the tanto of the masked man, which was retreating from his person. "He's not a factor anymore." The man looked around when he was called an ANBU of the sand, and told if he wanted to leave, he would not be faulted. With a sigh, the man raised his mask and ignored the mild threat of those who got in the Scourge's way meeting their end.

"I'm no longer a ninja of this village, I turned my back on it to protect those who I cared for, until I had the strength to come back and right the wrongs of this place. There is indeed a disease here, and it is the council that is such.  Much as this place is my home within my heart, I know that what you and I have come to do is much the same, and is much needed. There must be a purge, to rid this place of the scum and villainy that occupy it. This village must be cleansed so that the new generations may have something pure to place their hopes on again." Syekren sighed and pulled his mask back up to his face, making sure the strings were tied in place. His body turned from the other man who would tell him to stay from the katon seals and let them do their work. There was likely another here who came from Konoha that the Scourge knew, but Syekren was sure that he didn't know this person. Syekren turned back to see the man perform hand seals and then place his hand upon the sand, letting his chakra pulse into it. The effect was obvious soon enough as the sand began to give way to glass, which made the former sand ninja nod.

He'd done his fair share of glassing, but now it was time for him to be able to do such a thing on a much larger scale. He would soon begin his own hand seals, stringing them together in a bit of rusty fashion, it had been nearly a decade since he'd used these jutsu. He converted chakra in his mouth into an oily solution, holding it as he turned to face a sandstone building, and the alley where the ambusher had come from previously. With the tiger hand seal cast, he'd spit the oil forth which was ignited by flame chakra coming from his finger tips. What followed was a giant fireball that crashed into the side of the sand stone building causing destruction and burning the area around it in a large radius. The flames clung to everything they touched, turning sand to glass and other items to ash. He stared through his mask at the devastation, quietly wiping oil from the mouth portion of his cat mask, which had small holes drilled into it for such occasions.

Syekren turned as he listened to the other man speak his diatribe against the village hidden in the sand. Or perhaps, more of a sermon one would expect to hear in a church. Either way, Syekren found himself agreeing more and more, but didn't let it show too much, since his attention turned to a few approaching sounds. "Scourge of the Karisuma, cleanser of Sins, we have company approaching. Would you like the first stab at them, or should I take that honor? In either case, they mean us harm, but only about three of them seem to be ANBU, none of them captains." His eyes glared through the slits of his mask at the approaching party of chuunin and tokujo jounin, with the three in question leading the pack. A few carried assorted weapons, most of them were readying jutsu or weaving hand seals. Syekren quietly stored his chakra, preparing one of his more favorite jutsu while holding his tanto in a readied stance. He knew these likely were not the only ones they would need to deal with, maybe ten of Sunagakure's 'finest' were hardly a match for the both of them. Could there be more lying in wait, then? Only time or destruction could tell, and the flames were spreading.

255/300:

823|1,747

He would ignore the simple jutsu that the Uchiha clansman was using in order to attempt to destroy a village. Mitsuo had known it since he was a genin, and while it had served its purpose back in the day, he didn't see it being overly useful in this situation. He wasn't going to judge however, or at least not out loud. It had been many years since he had saved this man's life, and he wondered if he had taken that time to get stronger, or if he had simply wasted the years he had to train. Mitsuo knew he had spent the decade since working towards bettering himself, and becoming a more powerful shinobi than he had ever dreamed of being. He had become Hokage, saved the village of Kiri, and done so much more since then. He had become someone who was truly worthy of his accolades, and he was proud of that, but pride held no place in the heart of battle, and the sounds of bodies approaching was one that he recognized anywhere...


Mitsuo knew there was a chance that the man who stood beside him may not have the strength or skill to take on such enemies as those whom stood before him. It was times like these that he missed having Tsuyo around. It was only partly because he knew Tsuyo's abilities, but more so that Tsuyo knew Mitsuo's and would know where not to stand while fighting alongside him. Mitsuo was a dangerous individual in a fight, towards foes and friends, there was no discrimination. If Syekren weren't standing there he would have activated one of his ultimate jutsu and put a quick end to the individuals in front of them, but that jutsu would also turn Syekren to dust. It was sometimes unfortunate to work with a teammate, which is why Mitsuo generally worked alone...

He decided he could find another way to end this, without potentially destroying an ally in an upcoming war. There were only three targets that he had to think about, and they didn't worry him in the least. The others would quickly learn that running towards him was a grand mistake. He would exert all of the pressure that his immense chakra could muster, the heat from his body becoming unbearable and the winds around him intense. He could feel the pressure of his chakra climb until it was at a point when lesser shinobi wouldn't be able to take it, and he watched as the seven or so people who were lower ranking shinobi or not shinobi collapsed to the ground, screaming before death overtook them. The ANBU agents seemed unphased, which was a good sign. At least the sand took some pride in their defenses.


"ANBU of Sunagakure, while I will not tell you what to do, you do not understand the power that stands in front of you at this moment. Your comrades had the sensibility to die when they came into my presence, and unless you wish to suffer a similar end, I would recommend leaving this cursed land. Allow it to be cleansed in the fire and flames and all of the heathens who attempt to hide their sin be judged. I am judgement, I am retribution. I am here to administer your penance. I am the embodiment of death, and the God of Death had seen fit to send me to dish out punishment towards the wicked of this world. Today the wicked are those of this village."

The ANBN didn't flinch, their weapons were drawn as they held the line, slightly before the glassed area. Mitsuo smiled his crooked half smile under his mask. "Well, you have courage, or are greater fools than I'd have given you credit for. I would tell you I respect your dedication to your craft, but instead you will die today...you will become ash like the rest of your precious village, and you will be but another set of lost souls sent to the afterlife to be judged..."

Mitsuo ran towards the three ANBU, Penance in one hand and Justice in the other. He placed his right hand to the ground at the edge of the radius of his fire jutsu, creating another seal and increasing the range of the jutsu once more, as well as burning each of the ANBU standing within the radius at the ankles. He flicked out his chain whip, catching one of the ANBU unawares around the neck and pulling back, popping the head off of the shoulders of the individual in front of him. The other two were left in immense pain as the flames did their job, melting away the bones and their muscles as they had trouble standing. Mitsuo would simply move past them, allowing Syekren to clean them up if he wished.


(2810)

(Chakra 335/420)
Wings of the Saint and Wrath of the Helldrake sustained

Syekren scarcely had enough time to utter his question to the other shinobi before he noticed the lesser shinobi succumbing to an immense heated chakra coming from behind the former ANBU. It seemed that this guy picked up a few tricks since they last met. With the lesser shinobi falling to the sand, their deaths coming almost too quickly, the Scourge of the Karisuma made his move and rushed past Syekren to use a whip or some other sort of weapon to remove the head of an ANBU. Syekren was watching but noticed how hot it was getting around his feet and he quickly jumped up to the buildings, in time to see the other two ANBU fall to the sand, their ankles and feet being burned as though by an invisible source, which could only be the jutsu the Scourge had used. Syekren sighed, noting that they were left to die with the man running off further into sunagakure no sato. With a flick of his wrist, the ninja pulled from his pouch two shuriken. While the two were writhing on the ground in agony, he threw a shuriken to the temple of each, just behind their porcelain masks. Their deaths came quickly.

Syekren nodded solemnly and made his move forward, running after the man who would be causing destruction in the village. He would keep up with him as best he could, finding that in the years since they'd last met his speed had increased to the point that he actually over took the Scourge on the ground, running and jumping over roof tops. With a better view from the roofs, Syekren could see more approaching figures. Some alone, some in pairs, some in groups of three. THey would be directly in the path of the Scourge and would likely slow his progress if left to their own devices, albeit very momentarily. With a quick hand sign and a puff of smoke, another Syekren appeared running right next to the original. This one was sent to the ground, jumping across to the other roofs to be on the other side of the large and open pathway that would eventually lead the pair, now trio, to the administration building. With his tanto still drawn and his path beginning to wind up close to that of those who would be in the way, Syekren decided this was the time for him to make his move and keep the opposition down to a minimum.

His body pushed through the air in a great leap, landing in the sand in front of one of the other ninja. With his speed it was over before they'd realized he landed. The tanto in his hand was shoved forward and stabbed through the throat of the ninja in the lead of two others, the clone of Syekren leaping forward as this happened. Syekren jumped back over to reach the other side where his clone was, the clone landing and ripping the tanto free to stab through the side of another shinobi's throat, twisting it around. This continued again with the switch of sides, Syekren finishing off the last shinobi with another throat stab, ending up on his original roof, with the clone doing the same. He continued running, flicking the blood from his blade and looking back to ensure he missed nothing while the Scourge of the Karisuma made his way through the village. While his speed wasn't much above the other man's he was positive that he had enough of a lead to be able to take care of most, if not all, threats the other would face on his way.

There came to be a group of four shinobi led by an additional ANBU. This would be trickier, but Syekren had enough time to deal with them before the Scourge came up if he worked fast. The clone moved first and jumped down, engaging two other shinobi and distracting the group. Syekren came from behind after jumping down and fell upon the unwary lesser shinobi. His tanto was used to stab them multiple times in the kidneys and ribs in quick succession, using his years of training as a shadowy assassin of the village. When the ANBU figured out what was happening he turned, with a katana in hand, swinging his sword to  strike Syekren. The clone worked to over take one shinobi at this point and snapped his neck cleanly, kicking in the kneecap of the other to take him to the ground. Within seconds, he had snapped that neck as well. When Syekren blocked the katana swing with his tanto in a reverse grip, the clone moved to lock his arms in between the ANBU's and put him in a full nelso, which prompted Syekren to lift his head and expose his throat, slashing it open. Crimson coloured the porcelain mask as the clone dropped the corpse to the ground, the two standing for a moment before nodding and switching rooftops, the clone taking the tanto. They would continue their running, taking out whatever opposition may come.

Syekren knew what he was doing at this point was essentially helping a hostile foreign power overthrow his home. He did know that. But the fact of the matter was it did need to happen in this way. Otherwise the people would never have a freedom from the nation that sold their secrets and safety as though it were cheap market spices. The people deserved a freedom and safety they were not allowed under the current leadership, this much should have been apparent to anyone who had eyes in this situation. Syekren could only hope he was doing the right thing by slaughtering his brothers and sisters who would continue to protect the lies they knew were there. They wanted to keep a false reality because of the benefit to them and Syekren couldn't force himself to be a part of it any longer. The village would revile him as a villain and a traitor, but he knew that they would hopefully someday understand. The ninja sighed as he ran, hoping that he'd gotten Chou safe enough and if she learned of this, that she would understand why he needed to do this. Syekren looked back at the Scourge of the Karisuma as he ran, nodding to him. He would need to speak with this man after this was all over, because there was one other person he had not seen in a while that he would like to keep in contact with, he would also need advice on the child he was soon to take in as his own. Surely a man with the name 'Scourge of the Karisuma' knew enough about kids to help, right?

'What the hell has my life come to?'

Syekren had just realized where his thoughts had taken him. He was in the middle of a war zone and he was thinking about the little girl Chou, who he claimed as his own daughter. Worse to the fact, he was thinking about asking someone he hadn't seen in over a decade about the proper techniques to use with children and raising them. Had he really been so lost for such a long time? Thinking back, Syekren hadn't really had much experience with anything since he'd dedicated his life to the shinobi way and became an ANBU at fifteen.

'I hope Ryu is around when this is over, I'm going to need a few drinks.'

Syekren Chakra:

Clone Chakra:

1,258|3,005

Silently rushing through the streets, doing her very best to avoid any contact with the seemingly increasing shinobi activity near the edges of the village. With her curiosity peaking,Lamya started clambering onto one of the taller houses in her vicinity, keeping close to the chimney on the roof to be as inconspicuous as possible and hide from any of the passing shinobi.

It was a strange sight, to see shinobi of the Sand rush towards the edge of town in such great numbers. It was more than obvious that something was going on and that whetever it was, it had attracted all the attention from the Suna shinobi. Even worse, to Lamya's own disbelief, it seemed that the attention this problem seemed to attract was so big that it had made her own assault go nearly unnoticed. Someone or something really big was coming, that was now a certainty and despite her own arrogance and vanity, there weren't many names that came to the kunoichi's mind when it came to names of shinobi or beasts able to pose a greater threat to the village than herself.

To be fair, Lamya had never been an offensively superior or grand shinobi, she was more useful in a supporting role, a defending role even, but she never really prefered being the shinobi to make the first move or to attack first. It was nevertheless interesting, especially now that she could finally take a decent look at whatever had been drawing such attention from the shinobi gathering around. Wave upon wave of shinobi, small groups of ANBU seemed to rush towards a certain point in the distance and even from her own position, she could see the fire burn, the blood splatter and the bodies drop to the ground and break upon the roofs. There was no fight, it was a full on massacre and it was more than obvious that the Suna shinobi couldn't stop that which was making its way towards the village.

"This is so... beautiful," She whispered, her legs strembling, her gloved hands sliding accross her armor as she embraced herself in pure excitement and amusement. It was exhillerating to see such bloodshed and such brutality, the exquisiteness of chaos and carnage in perfect harmony. With every spat of blood sent through the air, her heart skipped, with every breath of life escaping a shinobi's lips, Lamya felt her head get lighter. This was a masterpiece, a wondrous theatre of death and despair to behold by someone who could feel the strength leave her body and could feel her legs buckle from underneath her the longer she watched this divine spectacle. "I love this."

Yet while the kunoichi was enjoying the show, she suddenly had to hide again, seeing as a small team of Suna ANBU passed near the roof on which she was standing. While she looked at those passing shinobi, she noticed that they were somewhat different compared to the more standard ANBU, carrying mostly long-ranged weapons such as bow and having equipment suited for such tasks like binoculars and scopes. Instantly, Lamya knew what they were up to, it was not so uncommon to see specialists like these after all in a situation like this one. "Hmm, I either let them all be and see how this plays out...or I can aid whomever's attacking just for the sake of the chaos."

The more she thought about this, the more she began to focus on her own desires and not long after having seen those specialized ANBU, she reached her decision and started going after them. Seeing as she clearly saw four of them, she knew how many she had to deal with and as such, any preperation in advance wouldn't be intensive at all.

Leaving her position, she leaped from rooftop to rooftop, looking for the ones she had noticed, finding the first from among them hiding behind a chimney with what looked like a crossbow with a scope in his hands. Without almost any sound, the kunoichi jumped towards this first 'sniper' and with a swift motion of her arm, managed to knock out the shinobi, throwing him off of the roof onto the ground below, all the while using the scoped crossbow to find the other snipers. However, while she was looking around, she noticed a slightly familiar face in the midst of the chaos: Sarutobi Mitsuo, former Hokage and former ANBU captain-general of Konoha, the very person who had conducted Lamya into Konohagakure no sato's elite department.

It seemed that the team was splitting up, leaving a sniper on about three or four different locations to either act as support to the main force of the ANBU or as actual assassins, but to not take any risks, Lamya simply went for all of them. Given that they were so preoccupied with the threat far away, they didn't notice the threat up close, making it easy for Lamya to get from one to the other. The second one was struck down with a well aimed pair of kunai at the shinobi's hands, surprising the poor sob and making him lose balance and fall off the ledge of a roof. The third one had to be subdued by using a kick to the back of the head to drive them face first through a brick chimney, yet the fourth one had suddenly vanished from their earlier position.

...

With a crossbow in hand, cocked and locked, with the arrow in place, a masked ANBU stood on a roof. With their back against a chimney as support, the ANBU looked at the two men who were dealing with the rest of the ANBU in a frighteningly brutal manner, holding the crossbow in place to hit its mark with outmost precision. "Die you insane monster!!" The ANBU would shout, before pointing the weapon at the so-called Scourge of the Karisuma who was bussy a dozen meters away. "Suffer the same fate as my people...ack...w-what?!"

The ANBU dropped his crossbow onto the rooftiles below his feet, his arms reaching for his chest, only to find a gloved hand with stretched fingers protruding from his chest. "How...no...I was going to...kill you..." As the hand got pulled back through the ANBU's chest, the man's mask fell off before he tumbled down from the roof itself, in a mere moment revealing those distinctive eyes belonging to the accursed Karisuma.

From behind the slumping man, a figure arose, fully clad in black armor, latex and leather clothing and an unmistakable black and gold helmet. Though reminiscent of a Konoha Anbu outfit in some regards, it had more similarities to a rogue organization which once terrorized and nearly even captured Konoha itself. The kunoichi now standing on the rooftop simply chuckled, spreading out her arms. "More, give me more carnage, give me more blood... give me a spectacle, Sarutobi Mitsuo the Sword Saint, let me have some...FUN!!"

1176

chakra: 225/370

More...

The numbers of Sand defenders continued to increase as Mitsuo made his way towards the heart of the village, moving to cut the head off of the snake as it were in order to complete his revenge. The Suna council sat in their chambers likely holed up behind a wall of defenders in order to protect themselves, and as they were behind all actions of the village, they were the ones who needed to pay for the transgressions of the village. Besides what they had done to him and his family, they also held his friend Gin's children captive, and Mitsuo would have nothing of it. His slow methodical pace of movement towards his goal was the closest he would come to savoring such death and destruction. He was not generally one to revel in carnage, but he couldn't help but think about how fantastical the situation was. Revenge was like that and he needed...

More...

Syekren took to the rooftops, giving Mitsuo the space he needed in order to really let loose. He watched as the Uchiha made clones and began to fight those who would find him above, a smirk beneath the mask of the Sword Saint of Konoha. He resheathed Justice, holding only his flaming chain whip Penance at this point, and continued forward, hearing the telltale thud of a body falling from a rooftop. It wasn't one that Syekren had dealt with, he was too far ahead, trying to clear the way as though it was necessary to do so. Mitsuo would butcher the entire village if needed in order to achieve his goal. He could feel it again, that familiar presence of the other Konoha ANBU agent, one whom he remembered as he had been the Hokage when she had stepped into the position. One who's father was a man whom Mitsuo respected greatly, and one whom Mitsuo had hoped he would eventually get to see at work. Orochi Risu was her name, and she had yelled out to him, telling him that she wanted...

More...

She screamed his name to the heavens, there was no more hiding it. He moved his free hand towards his mask and removed it, pulling back his hood as his long black hair whipped back and forth in the wind, his scared face visible for all to see, including his different green eyes, one the deep emerald of his original eye colour, and the second the pale green of Synn Karisuma, his trinket from his last trip to the village. There were screams everywhere, the villagers waking up to the carnage of the village, and he could hear the shinobi who were leading the evacuation effort. He could also feel the impressive numbers that the village was attempting to muster against the two of them...no...the three of them. Agent Lamya had made her intent clear with her words, and Mitsuo smiled that crooked half smile, more than a hint of malice across his face. He saw them surrounding him now, ten, fifteen, even...

More...

The fools they were. He placed a hand to the ground once more, placing another seal at the edge of the radius of the previous one, a pulse making its way out as the group jumped, standing on nearby walls in order to avoid the attack. They had learned from his handling of their predecessors, as he had expected. Some of them fell to the flame, but there were at least a dozen still surrounding him. He had no fear, as there was no way that any of them would escape this area alive. He would ensure that. He strung together a few quick hand signs, seeing many of them reaching for weapons and preparing to make their way towards him.

"Yes, that is correct. Feel fear fiends and sinners of the sands. You are faced with the great Mitsuo Sarutobi, the Seventeenth Hokage and the man known as the Sword Saint. I have slain thousands and have no qualms about adding to those numbers. You have all made a grave error in facing me this night." He moved slightly, watching an agent's blade moving by his head, and put his arms out to his sides, what happened next happening in a fraction of a second. Around him a vacuum formed, protecting the Sword Saint of Konoha from what was about to happen, as the rest of the wind within a forty meter radius became razor sharp. The air around people, and that running through their lungs and bodies, would begin to move violently, like blades thinner than any razor's edge, turning all of the former shinobi surrounding him into a bloody mist, staining the glass, sand, buildings and even himself red. He could feel that he had killed many more than just the shinobi who had been coming after him, something that he would likely feel remorse for later, but at the moment none of that mattered. He had known that innocent blood would be spilled on this night, and in order to achieve his goal of purging this den of sinners and heathens, he would spill all of the blood he had to.

His pace quickened to a march forward, those who had seen the carnage that he had unleashed and realized the truth of the situation stopped making their way towards him, and began to flee the other way. The Sword Saint of Konoha had a reputation of being a fearsome opponent, as well as having killed some of the most terrifying shinobi in the world, and on this day he had turned his wrath towards the people of Sunagakure. He could hear pleading and begging as he made his way through the streets of the village, seals and glass moving with him and lesser beings dying all over the place, suffocated by the power of his chakra. A few who survived fell victim to his whip, swift strikes bringing them down.

"Agent Lamya, this village falls tonight. They will pay for their crimes..."

The blood splattered face of the Sword Saint of Konoha housed a look of utter determination and cold fury as he sought...out....

More...

(3854)

(Chakra 285/420)
Wrath of the Helldrake and Wings of the Saint sustained
Winds of Righteous Fury used

More..

Syekren's eyes widened as he turned back to see a corpse fall from a roof, a feminine body in black latex and armour with a mask over her face standing behind where the body had come from. Her outstretched arms spoke of a welcome, instead of a malicious intent towards the two ninja making their way through the village,  slaughtering other shinobi.  She screamed a name to the heavens, begging for more and for him to show her.. fun? She seemed to revel in the carnage that was ensuing, engorging herself on the feeling of taking the lives of those who could not and would not hope to be able to protect themselves against the immense powers they fought. Still they tried, the man who was known as the Scourge of the Karisuma, his name was spoken more than once now. No, not spoken, it was yelled, screamed so that all who would come to attack the trio would know who they were dealing with and just the mistakes they were making. If anything, it only added to the threat the pair had given the village initially, now added to the strength of one coming to add in destruction. Was this who Mitsuo had spoken of before?

Mitsuo seemed to give up his facade of being only known as the scourge, pulling the mask from his face. His hood fell to show his long black hair about his person, the scars upon his face a testament to who he was and who he became. The man with the different coloured eyes, the same as Syekren in that respect. Was he also one who took the eye from another to supplement his own power? Where he stood, he stood so casually, as if inviting discord to those who would dare to tread the path towards the sword saint, the man who wielded a blade with such mastery that he could cleave someone in two with a single stroke. The man that stood there now in the light of the burning village, their sins before his eyes was the man that Syekren knew he would be: the one who had saved him all those years ago. Whether something had changed or not, one thing was certain. Those eyes spoke of the same killing intent, the necessary killing intent he felt when he'd slain Ukiyo Senju that cold night in Kirigakure no Sato's perimeter.

Syekren saw it again, his eyes reliving the reaching of vines to his face, the agonizing pain he once felt as his eye was ripped from the left socket to fulfill another's greed. There were two that came to his aid before, his brothers in name and bond. Daraku and Tsuyo had come,  wishing to aid him in his plight. They too fell victim to the devil woman's paralyzation spores. It was Mitsuo, the Sarutobi who had come much later that had seen what was unfolding and felled the woman with one clean stroke. He had crippled Tsuyo in the strike, the other man losing both of his eyes, but had saved the lives of the three of them with deadly strokes. Back then, those strokes were for the betterment of their group as a whole. To keep her from taking out the alliance that had been built upon during Syekren's first time away from the village hidden in the sand. It was almost surreal to imagine those same killing strokes, that same murderous intent was not being used on a clear and present enemy, but on the people Syekren once used to call brother and sister in arms. But this was what needed to happen. This was a needed occurrence.

Syekren stopped his fight and the clone came from the opposite side of the path to join him. There was much more bloodshed to be had before the night was through, but Syekren saw a half crooked smile on the face of Mitsuo, the malice coming from his figure almost palpable. He smiled as he was surrounded by ninja, more came and more surrounded. He was in dire straits, Syekren meant to help him but noticed the evacuations going on. They were attempting to get the normal civilians out in time before the village was completely run through. Syekren sighed, and made sure neither he or his clone attacked those escaping, it was not necessary to kill them if he could help it. His true targets would be further in the village and to kill those who were escaping was not of his station. Syekren instead turned to watch Mitsuo place another seal upon the ground, the sand pulsing as the flames spread further, glass coming in his wake, the ninja assuredly had grown wise to this game, and they jumped up onto the sides of buildings, clinging to the walls thinking to escape what came next.

So much..

Blood was going to be spilled again. The Sarutobi was not going to miss a beat with these ninja that dared to attempt to kill him, that deigned to think their deaths should come other than a time when he said it should. Some had fallen to the flames, but at least a dozen or so had survived the initial encounter with a man who seemed to be the essence of flame itself. Mitsuo would go on to make quick hand seals, preparing a jutsu it seemed. Syekren himself would prepare a handsela to begin dispersing his shadow clone to recover his chakra. He would need it in the upcoming events that were sure to transpire. The Uchiha closed his eyes, allowing his clone to be his protector, his shield, and his sword. While Syekren stood with his eyes closed, focusing his chakra, the clone was fighting off three ANBU who had come to try and take advantage of what they saw as an enemy who had let their guard down. It was a sound tactic, to eliminate one of those who attacked the village to minimize resistance. Sound, but stupid. The clone proved to be more formidable than they could imagine, his tanto swinging to catch another blade swung, parrying it into the chest of another ANBU. With a kick at the pommel at the bottom of the hilt, the sword was plunged deep into the chest of the would be warrior, kicking him from the roof into the flames below. The tanto then swung to slice the throat of another ANBU who had made it close to the original Syekren, blood spattering the roof and ANBU armour of the clone,  the final ANBU attempting to grab the clone and drag him down to the flames to take them both out. This was for naught, given the clone was a direct copy of Syekren and had all of his martial prowess. The clone broke free from the grapple and jumped to roundhouse kick the ANBU off of the roof into the flames that came from the feared sword saint of Konoha below.

The clone stood, surveying the area around him for any more signs of resistance, looking down upon the spectacle below to watch what would unfold next. An agent had tried to shove a sword towards Mitsuo's head, which was readily dodged, and the man put his arms out to the sides, which surprised everyone, especially the clone of Syekren watching everything unfold. Syekren could hear, but the clone could see. It saw those that would attack the man of the Sarutobi being turned a fine blooded mist. Their bodies ripped to nothing within the vacuum of a wind based jutsu that turned the air around him in a large radius to ripping razor-sharp winds. The blood stained building and glass alike, as well as the body and clothing of Mitsuo Sarutobi. That wasn't what the worst part of the spectacle was, however, and the glow watched in horror, with Syekren hearing so many screams cut short in an instant.

The clone watched as Mitsuo progressed and Syekren opened his eyes to watch everything unfold, feeling moderately sure of his chakra control. What he saw would live with him for the rest of his days. It wasn't just the ninja that attacked Mitsuo Sarutobi that were killed, it was the innocents who were fleeing from the destruction who were caught in the wake of his jutsu. The razor vacuum of air held no distinctions for friend or foe, innocent or guilty, threat or no. Syekren watched in horror as the lives of men and women trying to escape were cut short. There were children among the innocents, children with their entire lives ahead of them. One looked up to the rooftops, the clone and Syekren meeting her gaze moments before she was overtaken with the razor sharp winds. Her little body was nothing more than a fine mist of blood within an instant, her life and anything she could become gone without any reason plain to her. The tiny eyes that widened in the instant of her fate being sealed would haunt the Uchiha as he stared on, many other innocents meeting the same fate for choosing to escape in the wrong manner or way, their blood being among the blood of others spilled for the trio's vendetta. Mitsuo continued to advance, as though nothing had happened, as though he was too far ahead to care about any of the lives he'd taken in his attempt to squash all rebellion.

"There was nothing said of the innocents!" His fury burned within him. He knew that this was not the plan of Mitsuo, the scourge of the Karisuma. The intention was not to kill those that meant no harm and had no qualms, that his jutsu would differentiate not in the slightest for those who would kill him. That didn't stop the rage and sorrow the Uchiha felt inside. He was no longer as sure of his mission as he thought, as sure of it to kill any who stood in his way. This is what it meant to kill a village, to free it from the oppressors but what cost was too high for such a thing? Was his own vendetta more important than innocent lives cut short as they tried to flee? Would this not bother anyone else? The council would see the deaths as 'necessary' should the even live through the night, but to Syekren these people had stories, much of it he knew.

It's too much..

There Syekren was again, in his mid teens, having just joined the forces of the ANBU and reached the 'tokujo jonin' rank. One that would be recognized as a B-Rank shinobi for days to come. He had grown a lot since leaving the academy, and his strength was that of those he'd met in the village that would help him in the trials and tribulations he faced. He grew up with many of the jonin and ANBU who died, he took missions with them, saved lives, killed to protect. Now he was a thirty year old man, watching the life drain from their eyes the instant before they were shredded to nothing by a man that had once protected him. Syekren was conflicted and confused on what he was meant to do. His eyes flashed crimson for a few moments before going back to their original blue. So much death and destruction at the hands of the three, was it all going to be worth it in the end? There was no reason for the ninja to feel the guilt and anger he did now, watching these innocents be reduced to nothing, but he couldn't help feel this way. They were people he'd grown with and loved like his own flesh and blood, and now none of that flesh was left. He was too weak to protect them before and once he'd become stronger he was now the instrument of their demise, or rather, the assistance to such an instrument. Was it all worth it?

It's all too much..

2,033|5,038

Syekren's Chakra:

Shadow Clone Chakra:

Lamya simply enjoyed the show, looking at how the legendary former hokage was leaving a trail of destruction, panic and chaos in his wake, it was monstrous, it was barbaric, it was...perfect. the fear these men would spread, the despair growing in the hearts of those loyal to what remained of Sunagakure, it was all perfect, the most ingenius way to gain control of not just her own hideout, her own camp or village, but a crippling blow that would even be able to let Lamya gain that which she truly needed for her desires to be fulfilled: a nation to follow her every whim.

"Guess I'll send in some reinforcements if necessary," The woman laughed, settling herself on the roof, while making a handseal which allowed for a clone to appear next to her, an exact replica, if it wasn't for the fact that the kunoichi's clone did not wear the helmet. Giving the clone her scalpels, Lamya sat down and made another set of handseals to completely seal herself off from the outside world with the intent to regain her full strength. "Clone...go have fun, I'll know and feel it afterwards."

The clone, now with Lamya's true face revealed, looked at Mitsuo with her golden snake-like eyes and shifted her attention towards the other shinobi who seemingly was facing the incoming squadrons of Sunagakure shinobi, even though his own outfit betrayed his probably 'former' allegiance to the village itself. The clone laughed and jumped down from the roof, instantly starting to run amok and attack anything and anyone within range, showing a mixture of monstrous bloodlust and savagery combined with the outmost precision and coldblooded actions of a professional medic and obvious former ANBU operative of the village hidden in the leaves.

"When the sands are gathered in the blowing winds, you will see the truth. When the fires burn your eyes, you will feel reality. When the very essence of death chokes out your life, you will realize the futility of your incessant struggling," Softly, Lamya recited those words from within her protected barrier, only to hear her own Clone yell out those words as she ran rampant on the ground. It was quite interesting that her own clone was so much in sync with her own thoughts, a nice discovery for later ideas and purposes. If she had a pen with her, the kunoichi would've written down her thoughts, but now she simply had to remember all her ideas.

All the while the original was retreating into her thoughts, allowing her reserves to be regained again, the clone was having a full out field day. She made sure to stay out of Mitsuo's way, yet wasn't averse of spilling the blood of those Syekren dared call innocent. "Hey you, you with the clone!!" The clone of Lamya yelled at the man who seemed to be rather against the deaths of more than just the shinobi, all the while slitting the throats of a few villagers that were unfortunate enough to leave their homes to look what was going on. "Kill one and you're a murderer, kill a thousand and you're a conqueror...kill them all and you're a god. What do you desire to be?"

With a cackle, the clone rushed further into the streets, safeguarding them, should any of the incoming ANBU get the idea of launching an attack on the real Lamya inside the barrier. The times, they were a changing.

More carnage, more bloodshed, this was not even enough, not nearly enough to sate the clone's desires, the desires of the real Lamya. However, just as the clone jumped onto another roof to observe the situation a bit, she could feel a kunai lodge into her shoulder, throwing her aback a bit, noticing a shinobi of Suna standing not too far away from her with an expression that showed  disgust and hatred. "You're a vile monster, you snake!!"

The clone laughed, pressing her hands together, her hair turning into a bunch of snakes and her eyes turning silver."A snake, am I?" A shudder went through the clone's entire body, before suddenly growing tremendously in size while the form of the clone turned into a massively monstrous, eight headed snake. "Perhapsss you'd like to ssseee how sssnakelike I can be!!"

With a single lash of the beast's massive tail, the house on which roof the shinobi was standing collapsed, the monster drawing the attention of many onlookers.

"So, my clone's unleashed the beast," Lamya laughed from within her barrier. "Guess Suna won't be able to stop this beast a second time."

776

Chakra: 95/370

jutsu/actions:

Clone chakra: 50/100

jutsu/actions:

No remorse. No regret. The Uchiha ANBU agent clearly wasn't prepared to deal with this kind of situation as he halted in his path, clearly not steeled properly to the situation. He didn't remember a time when he had felt that way, having always known that it was important to be able to sever your emotions essentially before going on any mission. It was a simple part of the ANBU training that Konoha agents went through, as they all knew that they would be sent into situations that would test their resolve. There was the chance that the ANBU of Sunagakure were not trained in this way, however, but he was still seeing them attack him when the rest of the villagers fled. A name could be as much a fear tactic as anything else, and the Lord of the Sarutobi clan had known this well. His name and his reputation were built up over years of deeds that most shinobi couldn't even imagine, and yet here he was.

As he made his way forward, placing his next seal as the glass continued to spread across the village, he saw four figured show up in front of him, all of them dressed exactly the same except that the fourth one was seemed to be set apart. Mitsuo recognized instantly the difference between them, this man clearly being an ANBU Captain. He held himself surprisingly well in the face of such terror, and Mitsuo would have been impressed had the situation given him the opportunity to do so, but instead he had a job to continue. "Lord Sarutobi. You will not leave here alive." The captain's voice was hidden but Mitsuo knew there was fear inside of it...he could taste it. He began to laugh.

"Child, I have done more in my life than any and all of you put together. I have no fear of death, and when it comes for me I will embrace it with opened arms." He drew his hand across the blade of his weapon and pressed it to the ground once more as the winds whipped up to impossibly high proportions, creating a screen of sand that the Sword Saint of Konoha vanished behind, the four agents preparing for what was coming. They moved forward as a dark blur shot up from the vortex of sand, all looking up to see what had happened as the chain whip shot out and wrapped itself around the torso of one of the ANBU agents, A strong tug severing the body as the Sword Saint launched himself through the whirlwind towards the captain. The other two ANBU moved to attack him, but they were caught unaware by that blur that they had spotted before that, the adamantine staff of the Monkey King Eizo smashing into both of their skulls and crushing them with ease. The ANBU captain pulled out a handle and spun it, the handle extending into a staff with a blade at each end. He spun the staff and blocked the attacks from the Helldrake, a smirk crossing Mitsuo's lips. "Finally...a challenge. Your death will be as painless as I can make it."

"You are too cocky, Sword Saint." The staff swung down to take out Mitsuo's shin as he used his whip to entangle it, Eizo mirroring the attack of the ANBU Captain from behind him, smashing his adamantine staff into his left shin and hearing a satisfying snap. The ANBU Captain didn't fall, much to his credit, and instead smashed his staff onto the ground as sand solidified around his leg, acting as a makeshift cast. Mitsuo scowled. This man was a shinobi who used sand based jutsus, something that Mitsuo simply couldn't stand the thought of. He sent his whip out, the man using his staff to knock it away as well as deflecting Eizo's staff strike, while Mitsuo snuck his sword into the man's ribs, the skilled ANBU agent unable to stop three weapons at once. Mitsuo slid his sword through the man's lung and made its way towards his heart.

"You were a worthy opponent, sand user. I will remember you so that you will live on." The sand user spat up blood into Mitsuo's face, which he reacted to by moving his sword up through the man's heart, before removing the sword and allowing the dead man to fall to the ground. Mitsuo sheathed his blade and looked towards Eizo, the look on his face solemn and serious. "Eizo, I'm sorry I brought you here, but I need your help my friend. You know I would never ask you to do something like this otherwise..." Eizo held up his hand and stopped Mitsuo's words.

"Lord Sarutobi, save the explanation. While I do not agree with this course of action, I will always answer your call. We will avenge your family, but I will not watch as pain and suffering fill your life. This must end tonight." With that Eizo sprung from wall to wall, smashing his staff through skulls of shinobi everywhere he went as Mitsuo broke into a run towards the Kazekage's mansion, looking to put an end to this war sooner than later as he sliced through necks and bodies every few steps...

(4751)

(Chakra 245/420)
Monkey King Eizo summoned
Wrath of the Helldrake sustained, Wings of the Saint ended

Be a god? A god would not revel in the senseless slaughter of innocents.

Syekren finished his preparation and clenched his fists, focusing his chakra inwardly. His own immense chakra began to give off its own heat, crackles of electricity appearing around his arms and legs as he did so. "Disperse." At his word the clone threw the tanto into the tiling on the roof, disappearing into a puff of smoke with his chakra that had been sent to the clone being reintroduced into his body, increasing the electricity about his body.  If this was going to be how it was,  the shinobi formerly of the sand was going to exert his power to the fullest potential he could muster, then he was going to show them what it would be like to slaughter as something more than just what one would call a god. While the other two were powerful in their own rights, Syekren had mostly been holding back the power he had inside so that he would be useful to Mitsuo when the end of the road came about.

No longer, will I hold back. We will end this.

While Mitsuo dealt with the other ANBU and a captain, there was movement on the roof tops next to Syekren's position. One was dressed in sturdier armour than the two that accompanied him. They were coming for him as the thought he was distracted. The two normal ANBU could feel the radiating chakra from the man's body and see the electricity dancing about him. They made to draw their Katana, the captain accompanying them pulling his tonfa to bear. And of others that came to bear, the mask upon the captain's head was one that sparked recognition for the Uchiha. The mask of the coyote would stare at the mask of the feline.  They eyes would be impossible to see from behind the porcelain but each wearer knew just what the other was looking at and thinking. It had come down to this.

Janumba.

The Uchiha knew what was coming. He didn't need the Sharingan to see the future of this battle. One of the ANBU who had assisted him in his time of need was now a captain of the opposite side. This was how it was fated to be and there would be nothing else for it. Syekren's chakra was ready, as was he. He clenched his fists tighter, bringing them down to his side and breathed in deeply. The captain nodded the two subordinate ANBU forward and they came to attack the 'traitor' of the sand. They came to their deaths, and the two who stared at each other knew it. With a kick of his right foot, the tanto that was embedded in the roof came free and was grabbed from the air, with the Uchiha running forward to meet the two Katana. His tanto parried the first and blocked the second, his feline mask glaring into the soul of a bird and a bear.

With the precision of a trained assassin honed over the years, the man pushed the blade away from his body, stabbing his tanto through the chest armor of the ANBU and straight to his heart, the tanto stabbing through into the roof. After which the man turned and used a forceful mule kick to knock the approaching ANBU into the air, where he fell to the ground in the wake of the Sarutobi's flame seals. It was just the two old friends on the roof now, Janumba spinning his tonfa around while Syekren clenched his fist. The two circled each other, glaring through their porcelain masks. There was nothing else in that moment than them and their personal vendettas. The village fell away as they prepared to engage each other in single combat. Only one could survive, and only one could walk away.

"You've grown, but as a mountain from the smallest stone, as have I."



Syekren pulled his feet to part and widen his stance, his fists clenched and pulled up to shoulder height. He unclenched his left fist, opening the hand to point the palm towards his right side, finger tips pointing towards his opponent. He'd stopped circling and readied himself for the showdown that would end the feud between at least these two old friends. They were soldiers in their own wars, heroes in their own stories, now someone's story would need to come to an end. Janumba stopped his circling as well and spun his tonfa, widening his own stance. The two were familiar with the fighting style of the other, now would be their chance to show who had learned the most about fighting in the time that Syekren had been gone. Now they would fight to the death and the hero would walk away.

Welcoming Hand.

The captain Janumba charged Syekren, swinging a tonfa to his head, with the other coming towards his ribs. Syekren's eyes followed each, moving his elbow to block the strike for his ribs, the open palm batting away the tonfa aimed at his head. Janumba followed these attacks with a sweeping kick, knocking Syekren back to the ground. Syekren met this with his hands to the rooftop, pushing up as he fell to flip back onto his feet, re-entering his stance. The man was a Koga, trained in the art of using tonfa to his advantage, much like Suzume Koga had been when Syekren and her fought as kids. This was a much more dangerous fight than it was then, however, but the Uchiha knew that he would persevere regardless of difficulty. This time, he would charge.

Dispersing Hand.

His fist came forward to strike at the chest of the ANBU captain,  with the open palm giving a resounding slap to the side of the ANBU's face, knocking his mask askew. While the fist had been blocked by both tonfa, Janumba had left himself open. The mask fell to the rooftop, showing his tanned skin and brown eyes to the Uchiha. HE was older now, almost as old as Syekren, but the hate in his eyes was in the state of infancy, having just formed after the invasion had begun. Janumba wasted no time to strike back, giving a succession of blows and jabs with tonfa which Syekren blocked for the most part. He wasn't fast enough to take them all without damage, and his mask was slapped off of his face onto the roof by a spinning tonfa strike.

The two men glowered at each other, resuming their stances, each tensing for the moment of attack. It had been the first time in years the two would see the face of one another, the first time they would look in each other's eyes, the last time they would meet and the last time they would each show each other what hatred their eyes truly held. Syekren's eyes held the hatred of a nation betrayed by leaders and left to rot, while Janumba's showed the hatred of betrayal of a friend. Neither were looking to give even an inch of ground to the other. When Janumba began to charge again, a flurry coming from his tonfa, Syekren was ready. It was time for him to put an end to a duel that only one could walk away from. The one who had truly grown in strength since the last ten years of their lives had gone by. Syekren shook his head and dodge the first two strikes and spoke. "I'm sorry, Janumba."

Hajiki.

With that, the last of the strikes were parried away and Syekren's open hand moved like lightning to the exposed throat of an old friend. The ANBU who were moving to reach the pair saw the final moments of the fight. Syekren's hand was pushed into the throat of Janumba, the power of the Hajiki throat strike closing his throat and breaking the neck in the same swoop. The corpse of the captain fell to the rooftop, tonfa dropping from his hands as it did so. The duel between two friends was over, and their rivalry come to an end. Syekren dropped his stance and bowed his head respectfully for his fallen comrade, turning his attention to those that would dare intrude. Three more normal ANBU and another captain would come. It would be time for them to meet their ends as well.

Raiton: Zesubasuto

With the electricity returning the uchiha looked up into the eyes of the approaching Captain. "Now is the time to let loose! I will trample your corpses on the journey to my destination. Neither you nor your dogs can stop me!" His eyes danced alight within the pulsating raiton chakra that ran through his arms and legs. His eyes were crimson with the rotating three tomoe dancing within them the threat to come for those who dared stand in his way. The time for games was over and now the Uchiha would fight with all he had. His fists both clenched and he threw his body back into a backwards leap as his would be executioners approached. The ninja grabbed his tanto's hilt and wrenched the weapon from the corpse it occupied. He sheathed it and he clenched his legs to push himself into the speed he would need for what came next.

As Fire Burns, Lightning Strikes.

Syekren's focus was wholly on his new targets, he had only noticed the giant snake and monkey king when he heard cries of pain to his right. He looked for a few moments and smirked his devilish smile. He was being shown up, and he couldn't have that. The other two were having too much fun without him. Syekren pushed his body forward, the tensed muscles giving his body the burst of speed it needed to reach his targets at an accelerated pace. His moves were precise, but erratic at the same time. They came like the strikes of lightning. When he reached the first ANBU, he pushed his hand to the mask of the offender, causing raiton chakra to flow into the strike, cracking the porcelain mask while Syekren shoved him down towards the roof, using his momentum. Upon contact with the roof there was splintering underneath the tiles and the mask broke, the impact cracking the skull of the first ANBU, the next two being leaped upon by the Uchiha as well.

His movements brought him between dodging blows and pushing one ANBU into the way of another's jutsu, which happened to be earth spikes impaling the unlucky soul. When the captain cast a sand missile jutsu, Syekren's form darted to the last normal ANBU, kicking him in the back to have his body flung into the way. His momentum carried him towards the edge of the roof, the captain weaving handseals and thrusting sand waves at the Uchiha. Syekren jumped into the air, his body over taking the moon and casting his shadow over the captain. There would be no quarter, and no surrender for these vermin. He was growing tired, but his body moved as it was trained. When he tackled the captain to the ground, his fists rained down a multitude of blows to the captain's mask. It would crack, shattering as the blows continued coming, bloodying the knuckles of the Uchiha, sending porcelain pieces into the eyes and skull of the captain, causing permanent damage and contorting what used to be a face. The captain was dead after the first twenty or so strikes, yet Syekren continued until there had been at least seventy.

Is This What It Feels Like To Let Loose?

The Uchiha huffed and stood, looking at the blood and porcelain in his knuckles, picking out a few pieces. The man was something different now, no longer who he used to be. He looked forward to the rest of the rooftops, noting the figure of Mitsuo Sarutobi running and the woman in the barrier while the snake wrought havoc. Syekren spat out at the ANBU captain's corpse, returning to grab his own mask, replacing it upon his face before he ran off after where Mitsuo had gone, heading towards the administration building where he hoped the council would be. Soon, the three of them would be able to end this once and for all. The man on the roof, the man on the ground, and the woman of the snake.

2,093|7,131

199/300:

Stats After Bonuses:

OOC: If you see a blank box in the middle of my post, click it, should make the video show.

Lamya could see everything from her position, despite the interference of the barrier, she was still able to watch the flow of the ongoing battle. She could sense how Mitsuo went up against someone pretty good, summoning something in the process of his fight, but the other one as well was dealing with a significantly stronger opponent. It seemed that at long last, Suna's elite had come out of hiding, but still no sign of the Kazekage or even any member of their council. It was infuriating to know that these old men and women still did not deem them a threat to themselves. "Such arrogance, to believe they're better than me...or any of these men."

It was still strange to Lamya though, to watch Mitsuo, a man who once was in her own position as Konoha's captain general of the ANBU and later on even Hokage, now brutally slaughtering his way through entire squadrons of shinobi of the sand and a man who obviously had been part of this village's ANBU once defying his own former comrades. "Seems that the times really never stand still. The enemy of yesterday may be your comrade tomorrow."

All the while the real Lamya was contemplating her own actions and trying to plan ahead while she was attempting to clear her head, the now monstrous clone was easily spotted by a handful of Suna shinobi, yet handling the Yamata no Orochi was an all different task on its own compared to dealing with a few rogue shinobi. They were now handling a beast easily equal to many of the strongest 'collosal' snakes from the Ryuchi Caves, a beast that would be able to hold its own against the legendary Susano'o from the Uchiha clan.

Reaching upwards of thirty meters, the beast slammed its massive tail against a few homes, the poorly build wooden structures collapsing underneath the feet of any unlucky to go over them and crushing all who were unfortunate to live in them, allowing for only the fires which were spreading quickly, to turn the wooden rubble into a true inferno of flames and ash.

Several jutsu of fire, water, wind and earth were used to try and stop the beast, even going so far that at one point, a squad of four shinobi aimed to contain the massive eight-headed serpent with a large purple barrier. However, even this purple barrier couldn't hold it down for long and the horror simply continued.

While trying to form handseals for a jutsu, one of the shinobi suddenly got grabbed by the leg and flung into the air by one of the beast's heads, before being smashed to a bloody pulp onto the large rocky crown that covered the beast when another head snatched the poor shinobi from out of the air. Despite even the use of a quickly formed swamp underneath the beast, it continued it's rampage, letting out an incredibly loud hiss, while hunting the shinobi that like pesky mosquitoes were trying to take it down.

Without any warning though, one of the massive beast's heads was cut off from the rest of the body, crushing all who weren't fast enough to get away under its weight as the head reached the ground before vanishing slowly. The Yamata no Orochi turned all its heads towards the assailant, noticing a man standing on a chimney with a porcelain mask and not one, but two katanas in its hands, surrounded by three other shinobi with cloth in front of their faces. Even if the beast did not realize what their ranks or status' were, it had now lost a head and its rage had intensified, it's instincts telling it to kill this strange, masked person at any and all costs.

The mysterious man jumped up and started spinning like a toll, with the beast's heads reaching out to snap at the man, only to be cut at the maw wheb the swords started spinning. However, despite its instinct, despite its savagery, the beast wasn't dumb and when the three shinobi that were still on the roof seemed to have formed a plan dispersed, two of the heads turned to them and snapped at them, fortunately grabbing one of them and throwing the poor sob a few dozen meters away into the air, while another shinobi couldn't dodge from a suddenly downwards slamming tail, crushing the man like an ordinary ant.

Alas this distraction seemed to be enough for what seemed to be an actual ANBU captain to leap from another roof again, readying his swords with futon nature and cutting straight through a second head, which again dropped down with its massive weight crushing anything underneath before vanishing slowly. "Is this a joke, this beast's nothing for someone like me. All you need to do is be careful and watch your timing!!"

This shout seemed to strengthen the shinobis' resolve, followed by many of them shouting loudly while charging at their respective targets...

Until they witnessed how the ANBU captain jumped off of a roof, only to be surprised by a head snapping upwards from underneath, ripping away the arrogant man's legs from his body and as he tumbled accross a roof, the massive serpent slithered closer and looked at the broken, legless captain for a few instants, letting out a hiss that sounded eerily similar to a chuckle before grabbing the man by the arms and ripping him in twain and swallowing his remnants like a tasty snack.

With another captain down, the morale was seriously dropping among the suna shinobi, making this the opportune time to strike hard and without remorse or any mercy.

960/2912

Lamya Chakra: 115/370

active jutsu:

Clone Lamya Chakra: 50/100

active jutsu:

He could feel them being extinguished, one by one, the powerful defenders of the village. He wondered if all of the most powerful beings in the village were destroyed would the council of Sunagakure finally show themselves to attempt to save their village? Or would they continue to hide in their seclusion, allowing their people to be slaughtered like mosquitoes around a campfire at night? The Helldrake was willing to wait to draw them out, having no issue with the destruction of the village and its members in the meantime. He wasn't going to stop until they finally were dead, the corrupt overlords of this den of sin brought to justice. He could feel rage fueling him still, his flames burning brighter as he placed another seal on the ground, making his way towards the compound of the Sabaku clan, and he was pleasantly surprised when he got there as the final high chakra blip on his radar appeared. The final ANBU Captain of Sunagakure no Sato stood before him, a scimitar in one hand and a shield in the other. He looked like a true warrior, and the Sword Saint of Konoha was curious to see what he could do.

"You know, defender of the Sands, your heathonist leaders hide and cower as you and your comrades stand and die. It is foolishness that causes you to follow such trash who know nothing about being leaders. A true leader stands up for those whom are under their care and protect them, where as your council and your Kage are nowhere to be found. The Village Hiding Sin in the Sands will burn because of these shadow leaders, and you will die along with it. Does this not bother you?" He brought Penance to rest around his chest and shoulders, drawing his twin blades Justice and Retribution and standing in front of the defiant ANBU Captain, points both pointed lazily towards the ground as he simply stood in front of the man, waiting for the shield user to make his move.

"Mitsuo Sarutobi...I have to thank you." The man's voice showed no fear, though rather a surprising amount of respect, or so it seemed. Mitsuo's head cocked slightly, amused and confused, as he briefly sealed one of his swords away and unsealed a cigarette, lighting it using his fire chakra and inhaling deeply before resummoning his sword with ease. "For decades my people were oppressed, sold into the sex trade by our elders, my mother being one who was put into that life. She was tortured and nearly died, but she believed that one day someone would come and liberate her." Mitsuo exhaled smoke through his nose, watching the cloud raise through his mismatched eyes, the pale green eye briefly noticing the eyes of the man in front of him, that same hauntingly beautiful pale green. That smirk didn't leave his face. "I was the first generation of Karisuma to not be sold into slavery after you saved us from our elders...My mother worshiped you like a hero..."

"It's good to see that you have experienced the effects of my justice first hand."

"I'm not finished," The man's voice grew more angry now, the sword trembling slightly before being clenches and raised into a gunslinger stance, the shield in front of him, his left foot forward so that he was mostly hidden behind it. "She thought of you as a hero, right up until earlier tonight when you killed her." There it was. That was why he was here. Mitsuo almost laughed, taking another drag and exhaling once more at the irony of the situation. It was unfortunate that she had died in the attack, but it wasn't Mitsuo's fault that people had diednon this night.

"Your idle idols caused her death, not I. I am simply consequence. My actions are guided by the gods and I have been put here to pass judgement on those who deserve it." His eyes darted up to track where Eizo had gone. Last he had seen he had been running along buildings, but it had been a little while since he had seen him. The man with the shield stepped towards him and Mitsuo brought his swords into an A frame stance, both points towards the man's face. As the shieldman stepped forward again, Mitsuo used his left blade to thrust towards the man's face, the point of the heater coming to bare in time to turn around the thrust as Mitsuo went for a follow up shot, the thrust being a feint, which the Karisuma in front of him also managed to deflect, this time with his own sword. As the right blade was deflected towards the man's own right side, Mitsuo used the momentum to spin on his heel and drop slightly below the man's shield, the left pomel moving to smash into the man's shoulder, causing his own sword arm to drop.

The two of them would test one another for a while, steel meeting steel as neither of them gave ground. The shieldman clearly began to tire from lifting the large heater, and Mitsuo took notice, deciding to try something a little dangerous. He feined another thrust, the man bringing the shield slightly too high as he yelled out "Eizo now!" and kicked the man's shield as hard as he could, the Monkey King rolling from an amazingly high distance and smashing down onto the man, causing him to drop the sword and shield as he crumpled onto the ground. Mitsuo would activate his signature ability, the Cloak of t he Will, his body heating up to an impossible state as Eizo backed off, allowing Mitsuo to have his space as the man began to glow from the heat. He tried to stand, and Mitsuo walked right up to him, his swords sealed once more as he moved a hand to rest on the man's chest, flesh melting below where he placed his hand as the man screamed in pain.

"You have heart, Karisuma." His hand began to push into the man's chest, flesh and muscle melting around it and eventually bone as well as Mitsuo's fingers made their way around the area he was looking for, the screaming continuing until shock began to kick in and the man stopped being able to make sound. Mitsuo's fingers wrapped around the heart of the Karisuma, holding it in his grip. "Unfortunately that heart is misplaced." He pulled the heart free from the man's chest, the ANBU Captain crumpling onto the ground as he died instantly, his skin and muscle all melting away to ash and the heart in Mitsuo's hand beginning to do the same. He could feel the eyes of several ANBU agents and different Shinobi around him watching him, and heard many weapons drop to the glassed ground, the sounds of several people running away evidant. He didn't blame them for running, he even respected the fact that they understood that sometimes the best course of action was to run away, and he simply continued on his path of destruction, walking through the Sabaku compound and murdering everyone he found inside, not allowing a single member of the sand clan to live. He didn't find the council, but he felt he was the closest he had ever been...

(5996)

(Chakra 195/420)
Wrath of the Helldrake and Eizo sustained
Cloak of the Will activated

Eizo's Chakra 125/150
Cloud Somersault used

Syekren's body moved with the lightning coursing within him, his anger still unabated. Syekren was ready to completely destroy everyone and everything in his path, the deaths of those who would stand in his way music to his ears. He was letting himself enjoy this, perhaps much more than he should have. He was never one to revel in the killings of others, taking it as a fact of life rather than a joyous occasion. It used to be part of his job description to do so and he would do it with a solemn look and a stoic silence. But in the wake of the flames, the glass, and the ashes, the electric charged body of the Uchiha moved as if dancing among the corpses that fell before his fists and his blade. He was on his way to the administration building, but stopped as he noticed a familiar symbol above a compound: Ningyou. His rage was unfettered and his blood was boiling, he felt the anger that he'd had building up since the Kazekage had abandoned her people. There would be no turning back at this point anyway. No, this was retribution for all those abandoned by Ningyou, Midori.


The Uchiha moved into the compound, sheathing the tanto he'd taken into hand to slaughter the chuunin and jounin on his way through the village. There would be nothing to quell the rage the Uchiha felt as he moved through the compound, using his bare hands to snap the necks of those he encountered, hiding. Their wooden arms and puppets would be no match for the anger of a man looking to see them burn. They would try to resist, and they would be cut down for doing so. He wasn't progressing too quickly through the compound, because he wanted to enjoy what was coming. Only five had been slaughtered so far, many more would come to be killed. As if on cue, three ninja of the clan, along with their respective puppets would jump down, challenging the Uchiha. Their puppet right arms giving away where their true allegiance lied. They were members of Ningyou first and ninja of Sunagakure no Sato second. Which explained why they only leapt to attack the Uchiha when their own home in the compound was threatened. The uchiha chuckled behind his mask, the mask's ability making it a hollow sound.

The puppets would be sent after the Uchiha, utilizing chakra puppet strings instead of normal ones, making it so that the weapon the Uchiha wielded could not cut through them. The man in the mask only laughed and ducked under a puppet, moving through the other two, dancing around their blades. He and his partners had taken out the most powerful ninja that could resist them already, these seemingly chuunin level ninja were of no consequence to someone skilled. When he reached the puppeteers he pulled his tanto from the sheathe, pushing it into the chest of one Ningyou to hit his heart. The other two jumped away, attempting to attack once more with their puppets but the Uchiha was ready. He pulled his tanto free and threw it with his might to the head of one while chasing the other. As the tanto stabbed into the skull of the second Ningyou, the third was caught around the throat, his life being squeezed from him with Syekren's bare hand. The ninja lifted up the Ningyou, who kicked and tried to get free of the death grip currently around his throat. Twas all for naught.

None of you deserve life.

A snap rang out through the air, the corpse of the ningyou being dropped into the sand. The uchiha systematically went through the compound with his tanto in hand, slaughtering those who sat in their homes or tried to escape. There would be no quarter, no mercy for the Ningyou. Just as they'd faced near annihilation from a massacre years before, they would face another at the hands of the Uchiha. Their blood spilled and corrupted the colour of the sand and spreading glass, puppet users and their arms broken beyond recognition. Syekren was nearly finished with his work, happening upon the leaders of the clan on his way out. They stood resolute, only two left for some reason or another. Neither held their hands in a malicious way, and neither wielded their puppets. They were resigned to their fate, they would fall like the others. Syekren made his way to them, quickly slitting the throat of the younger leader, grabbing the puppet arm of the elder. With a vicious yank, the arm was ripped from the body, and this was used to swing onto the head of the elder. The body crumpled to the ground, and the Uchiha stood over him, continually bringing the top of the arm that connected to the shoulder down upon the head of the elder. Smashing the bone into splinters and unrecognizable parts. The face cut open to show the gore inside, not a sliver of life left in such a person. The uchiha threw the arm down and flicked the blood from his tanto. He sheathed his weapon and left the compound, the corpses of the clan there for any who would return. There wasn't a living soul in the compound now, none to speak of.

Time to end this.

It didn't take much longer for the Uchiha to reach the administration building district. He was coming to finish the job, and he had waited for this for nearly ten years. It would be for naught, he found, as when he approached the administration building he found something that caused his eyes to widen. There was not a building in place anymore, where it stood was naught but a pile of rubble. The Uchiha looked around, hoping to find the culprit but only found more questions. Confused, he sat upon a large piece of rubble, looking about the burning village with blood upon the sand and glass spreading through out. The point of this exercise in strength was to wipe the administration building and the council from the face of the world. Now he's come to find that the administration building is destroyed and the council nowhere in sight. There were a few ANBU bodies here and there, at least a dozen total, but there were no corpses among the rubble. Nothing to say where the council had gone. This would be a problem.

1,087|8,218

Everything seemed to go pretty well, even if she had not joined in on the madness of this assault on Sunagakure no sato, Lamya still had arguably the best seat of the house, overlooking the entire spectacle from within the safety of her shimmering white scaled barrier. She could see it all, the blood, the fire, the chaos and the hatred. She could hear it all, the screams of men, women and children who didn't sign up for this kind of bloody and chaotic party, the roar of her own clone rampaging through Suna, the taunts and conversations made around her, even the sound of a few shinobi of lower class trying to break her barrier with a bunch of flimsily cast jutsu with less effect than a pebble thrown against a brick wall.

The smell of iron, soot and smoke filled the air, this was what a war was supposed to be, the complete destruction of lives and homes, a brilliant display of pure chaos and in the end there could only be one to stand atop the other, a war was savage, brutal and... beautiful.

"Would you pests please stop trying," Opening her eyes, the golden orbs glared towards two young, if not too young shinobi who were attempting to break through her barrier. Lamya's expression was enough to force the two younglings to freeze and jump backwards. They were no more than chuunin, maybe even just genin going by their age and their rather clumsy and inexperienced use of jutsu. "Don't you think you should be attacking those who are actually doing something or did you boys think that taking me down would be much easier since I'm merely sitting here, enjoying the spectacle?"

The two, who were no more than twelve years old each, felt the coldness and bloodlust hidden behind the woman's calm eyes and were wise enough to take a run for it, while Lamya herself closed her eyes again, letting her senses to the work for her.

She could feel how many lives were being snuffed out at the hands of a person who she was certain to have met before, at least the chakra signature was familiar, though it felt a lot darker, bloodier and chaotic and as she thought more about it, it was the same feeling as when she met Kyohei and tenzo, that darkness that came with the inevitable power of the Sharingan. The corners of her lips curled upwards, to show a rather eerie smile, confident as she was to have found out something good for herself.

It seemed there was much blood and death around this person, even Lamya could hear the screams coming from that man's direction. The Stranger and Sarutobi Mitsuo, they were magnificent in their slaughter, as if they were born only to kill, maim and destroy. However, Lamya also realized that because of this, they were a liability, a danger to her and her ideas, her plans and her goals and she wasn't entirely certain that she'd be able to reign them in when the time would be needed for a less savage and brutal approach. It was obvious that she had to take some drastic steps if she was going to take control of this wretched land of Wind without being interfered with by powerful shinobi like these.

In the meantime, the massive serpent, with still six of its heads remaining, was going on a rampage, attracted by the blood and screams it could smell and hear from the Ningyou compound, it slithered through homes, through offices and shops, it crushed all who were unfortunate enough not to get away as fast as they could. The Yamata no Orochi was probably the most terrifying beast the village of Suna had seen ever since the days in which the known tailed beast, the one-tail Shukaku rampaged there.

Alas, just as it had reached the Ningyou compound, the beast noticed that there wasn't much left for it to devour or prey upon. It's heads turned around, looking, scouring the area to find something to feast upon, to hunt and to consume. It's nostrils flared, it's numerous tongues flicked through the air. It could smell the smoke coming from various areas and its instincts told it not to go to those places, the smell warning the beast that there was only death in those directions.

The beast could also smell Lamya from such a distance, recognizing her still as an an ally, as a kindred, but it did not do so when smelling the place where Syekren had finally ended up. That place smelled familiar, but the beast was a beast after all, a creature with senses more attuned to the nature around it than any man could ever achieve.

It continued to slither again, ignoring the scream of a shinobi getting ground to a bloody paste underneath its massive weight. The Yamata no Orochi had picked up a particular scent, a scent which had remained in Lamya and therefore the clone's memories of the first time they had transformed into the Yamata no Orochi: the scent of an enemy, the scent of prey, the scent of something worthy to kill.

There was no mistaking it, as the now six-headed serpent came closer and closer to the ruins that were once the Administration building, the smell became stronger, the scent of those that had wounded it and by extension Lamya before, the scent of those who'd targeted her for a kill, the scent of those who were destined to die by her hands, claws and if necessary...her teeth, it's teeth.

...

"Do you still wonder what has happened here?" A large, nearly six meters long snake slithered accross the rubble of what once used to be the Administration building of suna, the hub of the village's commerce, its decrees and missions. The snake came closer to Syekren without showing any hostility, yet its chakra signature was eerily reminiscent of the woman who had met up with him and Mitsuo at the edge of the village. "My mistress had already surmised them to be here, yet the council had not been here despite the high chance of it. However, there's something else here and I reckon that her clone has picked up that scent as well, the scent of an enemy."

Letting out a hiss which strangely sounded like a chuckle, the snake seemed to slither as fast as it could, away from the rubble, while a large shadow started to block out the sun's rays upon the ruins of the former administration building.

Without warning, the massive Yamata no Orochi launched its heads into the rubble, digging deep into it with an unseen ferocity, clearing the space up a bit, while it's body got closer to the center of the ruins and rubble, the sound of concrete cracking and wood shattering being heard all over the place.

Just an instant later, the ground seemed to collapse and like a snake in an anthill, the massive beast had found something incredible: hundreds of civilians hidden in a network of tunnels and rooms underneath the ruins of the former important building. Without remorse, without mercy, the huge beast started writhing, its tail and crown crushing several children and elderly villagers underneath its wretched weight, while it became obvious that these villagers had been left behind by those who were supposed to protect them.

However, as there was no resistance and the scent of that which it had been seeking was now blocked out, the massive beast stopped attacking any further and lifted its heads again, picking up the scent yet again, it's heads pointing towards the Kazekage peak, letting out a deep and terrifyingly loud hiss as it made its way towards this new target.

War is savage, war is brutal, war is bloody. It's the blank canvas upon which the painters of the world paint their masterpiece in blood and iron. War is art, war is beautiful, war is eternal

1357/4269

Lamya Chakra: 135/370

active jutsu:

Clone Lamya Chakra: 50/100

active jutsu:

The smell of death hung thick in the air, fire and ash covering everything in the village as the Herald of Death brought divine justice to the sinners of the sands. This village was a disgusting den of scum and villainy and Mitsuo Sarutobi knew that what he was doing was righteous and pure. These were the people who had taken everything that he loved from him, and while it was likely that this would be perceived as an act of revenge, that was far from the truth. No, Mitsuo wasn’t out for revenge, as revenge was simply a blanket term to make people think they felt better...it was to ensure that the terrible people whom had hurt him so would never have to opportunity to hurt anyone else again like they had done him. He wandered the streets, allowing the tremendous heat of his body to burn away the glass, placing another seal as his fire chakra laid waist to what was left of the heathonist village. Nobody was foolish enough to stand up to him anymore, and he didn’t judge any of them for running from certain death. There was only one in this village who was left to pass judgement upon, and he would scour the sound to find them.

Eizo took to the rooftops of what remained of the village, staff twirling and striking as he used it to launch himself between the walls, The Sword Saint of Konoha walking the streets below him. He could feel Mitsuo’s pain and it resolved him to move forward. While he might not believe in this course of action, he believed in his long time friend and would do nearly anything for him. He plucked a piece of fur, blowing it as it transformed into a perfect clone of himself, the two of them splitting off in order to try and find whatever it was that Mitsuo sought in this desolate place. Any who stood before the king of the monkey clans had their skulls caved in by his staff, and none lived to tell the tale. Mitsuo and Eizo, together, covered a tremendous amount of ground, before Eizo suddenly noticed that Mitsuo had stopped advancing and stopped himself, he and his clone looking back to see Mitsuo moving his hand across the doorway of a bar, the door catching fire before he kicked it in with his foot. Eizo and his clone jumped down to Mitsuo’s side as the three of them entered the building, the place an impressive lounge with a man standing at the top.

“To himself everyone is immortal; he may know that he is going to die, but he can never know that he is dead…” The man’s voice was surprisingly calm, Eizo cocking his head as Mitsuo stepped towards the stairway towards the lounge upstairs, furniture taking to the flame and bottles shattering as the immense heat destroyed them. “I knew you would eventually come for me, Sword Saint. I knew it was a matter of time. I knew it from the moment I killed that boy who stood with you in the field, the one you cried over, the one you kissed so tenderly after his death. Your passion gives you strength, and your burning hatred led you to power. You have only me to pin your successful career on, and I believe you should thank me for that.”

Eizo’s clone transformed into his staff form, the Monkey King taking the staff in his hand as he jumped up and balanced on the balcony, looking at the scene in front of him. He saw only one man, but knew there were many more. He sat upon a couch, perfectly calm amidst the destruction around him as everything burned. His white hair had flecks of grey and black in it and the scar on his face and sword on his back made him instantly recognizable to Eizo, who recoiled in shock at the revolation. Mitsuo had figured it out listening to his voice, as it was one that there was no way he could ever forget. This was a man who had taught Mitsuo nearly everything he knew about wielding a blade, and a man who his father had considered to be his closest friend. Mitsuo gritted his teeth as he walked up the steps and came face to face with his former master, Sasori Hiroshi. If he hadn’t been making the temperature so unbearably hot he was sure that tears may have formed in his eyes at the revelation, but instead he simply gritted his teeth and stood before his former master.

“Don’t look so surprised Mitsuo. You knew from a young age what I was grooming you for. You had seen it with my other students as well. I groom assassins to serve under me, and you were the one that got away. We work towards making the world a better place, and if it takes the death of a friend or a student...well so be it.” Sasori stood from his seat, seemingly unaffected by the heat and flame around him as Mitsuo noticed that his armour seemed to be absorbing most of it, a glow of chakra humming from it.

“You were behind all of this? You killed my mother? My father? Kimaru? You killed so many in Konoha, so many innocent lives...and for what? You are the definition of a villain, you are a sinner, the thing you taught me to stamp out of this world…” Mitsuo’s blades were in his hands, and so was Sasori’s Nodachi, ready as always at his side. Mitsuo couldn’t believe the idea that this man had thought that he could achieve utopia through taking the lives of the innocent, as the only way to achieve such a thing was by removing crime and sin from the world. His new god had shown him the righteous path, and it was upon this path that he had discovered the truth behind such things. The man in front of him was a sinner, that was the only thing that was clear at this point.

“If I am a villain, Mitsuo, than you are my protege. Look at the destruction around you. Look at the things you have done to this village. You have destroyed an entire village, more than one in your quest to find me. You have ended thousands of lives, innocent men, women and children even, in order to get to me. You are just like me, Mitsuo. You are a natural born killer, and I have taught you well.” Sasori circled the table, Mitsuo keeping on the other side of it, the sword in his left hand pointing towards his master’s face as the chain whip in his right hand coiled at his feet, like a cobra ready to strike.

“I am nothing like you...Master.” His voice spit poison as he spoke. “Each and every life that was lost, all of the blood spilt in pursuit of you, was necessary. In war there are always casualties, and they are unfortunate, but in order to remove sin from the face of this world their lives are worth the cost. Weight in the cosmos against your life, their sacrifice is noble. While they will be mourned, your death will make it all worth it.” He flicked his wrist, lashing out with the chain whip, which Sasori easily deflected with his Nodachi before stepping forward towards him. Eizo intercepted a blow from the nodachi with his clone staff as Mitsuo activated his Double Helix Blade jutsu, molten flame dripping from his weapons. He clashed with the Nodachi, being turned away again and again as Sasori simply played defensive, something that Mitsuo knew was just him toying with him. Each blow would have destroyed any lesser weapon, but Sasori’s Nodachi was special, hand forged by the man himself. Mitsuo knew that it resisted heat and was hard as diamond,and also knew that a cut from that blade could easily be lethal.

He and Eizo continued to press Eizo as the bar and lounge burned around him, the man in front of him moving closer and closer to the window at the wall, Mitsuo knowing what he likely planned. He nodded to Eizo as the Monkey King began to twirl his clone staff, channeling his chakra into it. Mitsuo’s feet planted as Sasori stopped backing up, feeling the pressure of the ability that Eizo was beginning to use. He could see cuts forming on Sasori’s face, but he knew his part in this particular dance, moving the immense chakra from his Cloak of the Will into his blade along with his Double Helix Flame Blade jutsu. Eizo would bring his staff down in an arc, Mitsuo doing the same as a scream escaped his lips, the two of them pointing their weapons towards the man in front of them.

“You are a killer Mitsuo...You are my greatest creation...and you will take my mantle…” The voice became nothing but whispers as Mitsuo felt Sasori’s chakra fade from the world, he and the bar around him turning to dust as Mitsuo and Eizo fell through the floor to the ground. Eizo landed on his feet, catching Mitsuo before he hit the ground, and sitting him down on the ground of the burning building that had once been a bar in the slums of the village. Mitsuo’s eyes were cold and distant, Eizo having seen this look on his face before. The two of them sat there for a moment, their goal finally realized, before Eizo placed a hand on Mitsuo’s shoulder and reverse summoned the two of them back to the realm of the Monkey’s, deciding that Mitsuo had no reason to be in that place any more. The entire village of Sunagakure had been turned to glass, the buildings burnt to the ground, and his antagonist had finally been defeated...The other's could finish off the council and Mitsuo could finally rest. Eizo flagged down some of his men upon their return to the village and Mitsuo was taking to the bath once more as his body slipped into unconsciousness, taking in all that had happened as he simply needed time...
{Exit Thread}

7724 words
Endurance A2-> S - 2850 words
Perception A2-> S 2850 words
Strength A-> A1 1000 words
Speed A-> A1 1000 words

Eizo Chakra - 35/75 (Fur Jewel Clone/Reduce to Whisper)
Eizo Clone - 40/75 (Adamantine Staff)
Mitsuo - 135/420 (Cloak of the Will, Wrath of the Helldrake, Eizo sustained, Double Helix Flame Blade activated)

Syekren watched the large multi-headed snake as it voraciously tore into the ruins of the administration building, screams following the giant beasts' digging. He was becoming more and more numb to the sounds of his people dying, but furthermore, it seemed that this beast was enjoying the blood. He was conflicted at this moment what exactly one should do. There was so much death and destruction around them, Mitsuo seeming to have gone off on his own for whatever devices he had to finish. It was just the snake and the Uchiha now, alone in a village burning. The man looked over to a large snake that slithered up to him from the ruins. It spoke to him as the great beast slithered away, upon sniffing the air and hissing. This smaller, talking snake seemed to know what was going on, revealing that Lamya had already destroyed the center of the village and the council was nowhere to be found. If anything, they would have retreated to the are that could be defended the best and that meant the Uchiha was going to head to the Kazekage's peak, a secluded area that was normally reserved for the sitting Kage and their guests. ANBU had a knowledge of all places within the village, so something like this was easy enough for him to find. So as the smaller snake left, the Uchiha stood and ran off after the larger beast of a serpent, following towards his destination: The Peak.

He ran through the village, dodging falling debris and flames, his mask doing little to filter the ash and smoke from his breathing. He was so close to finishing this now, and would let nothing stop him. As he ran, he ducked under a large warhammer swing from another ninja, hoping to foolishly protect his home. The Uchiha didn't move to kill him, but instead kicked his legs out from under him before continuing on his way. He continued to run, barely jumping backwards in time as a sword swung for his stomach, leaving a gash upon it that was rather long, but shallow in nature. The blood only fueled his need to continue on, his blade coming to slice across the throat of the ninja after a small bout, a body crumpling to the sand as Syekren pushed on towards his goal. It was like a gauntlet of would be defenders trying to stop him from reaching the Council. They didn't even know they were protecting those that would just as soon sell them out to the highest bidder, to enemies from other nations. No, their nationalism ran too deep for them to care about such trivialities it seemed. The ninja of the sand were nothing if not defensive of their home.

Syekren continued on, dodging a few strikes here and there, being hit other times, with his armor absorbing most of the damage from the blows. At one point there were senbon thrown and he wasn't fast enough to deflect all of them, one sticking into the side of his ribs, under his left arm. He would not be deterred, he would not stop, not until the village rested underneath a veil of dust and glass. Not until the council that stood now on the Kazekage's peak laid dead upon the ground. He would have waited for the Giant Snake, but instead jumped to the rooftops, managing to pull ahead of the great beast on his journey. The village was beginning to pull towards a focal point where the large peak of a small sandstone mountain stood, with five figures upon it casting shadows over a burning village. His feet were laced with chakra as he jumped towards the mountain, placing his soles upon the surface. It would be time for them to die, and no one was going to stop him, not the council, and not those who dared get in his way even now.

As he ran up the mountain, a few ANBU were left to attack him, Syekren roaring with anger as he engaged them in combat. The three were well trained, to be sure, but were pups in an organization that Syekren had once been a part of and mastered. His blade came against their own, clashing and parrying strikes until the stabbing of his tanto found its mark three times. Throats and hearts stabbed and ripped open from the raging Uchiha's dance of steel. Bodies fell to the ground as he continued his trek up the mountainous structure, until he reached the top, letting the chakra in his feet falter when he stood upon the flat solid ground of the peak. There would be no words for the treasonous dogs he saw now. Five council members of differing robe colours looked at him with fear in their eyes. The mask of the 'betrayer' they had set up so long ago to be the fall guy had now reached their last bastion of hope. Syekren sheathed his blade and held out his palm, holding the tiger handseal with his other hand. They tried for a few moments to beg and plead as the flame became an orb in the Uchiha's palm, before growing to the size of a basket ball. There would be no mercy and none would survive. He aimed at the edge of the peak they stood on, throwing his katon chakra ball at the middle council member, the leader. Within moments the life drained from ten eyes as an explosion rocked the peak, blowing it less than nothing, with a shorter outcropping left that was made of glass. The initial flaming explosion reduced the first target to ash, the other four blown back from the epicenter badly burned to the point of being unrecognizable, falling towards the snake below. With his work done, the Uchiha turned his back and began to walk away for what could be the last time.

995|9,213
213 Discarded.
9,000/9,000 Mission Complete!
[EXIT]

Spoiler:

Lamya had waited long enough for her Chakra to be at the very least slightly returning to her and when she thought she'd seen the man she knew as Mitsuo Sarutobi vanishing within a blaze of his own making, the kunoichi finally dropped her barrier and jumped over the rooftops to look where her clone and the stranger had gone off to. She noticed the massive multi-headed snake a distance away and though it seemed to crawl upwards towards the Kazekage peak, Lamya could already see what was happening; the stranger was taking care of the ones she wanted to take care of herself, but than again if she wasn't the one killing those old coots and ths taking the blame, she had more leverage and chance of taking this place as her own after all.

The stench of death was rife in the air, smoke billowed in the skies, darkening them, blotting out even the desert sun in its hellish presence. The village Hidden in the sand was no more, there were only ruins and ravaged homes, only chaos and despair.

Yet even so, it wasn't enough, the last remaining part of its legacy had to go and as the turmoil was at its greatest, while her clone was mopping up the remains, while her so-called allies were doing their job, fullfilling their desire, a single Kunoichi walked up the stairs towards the sacred and mystical Glass museum, which held so many precious artefacts and sculptures of the glory of the past, that it was quite frankly, the last place that would've been expected to be left standing.

Two guards were standing at the entrance, wielding great halberds and armoured with the finest and most expensive gear money could buy, but fine and expensive didn't exactly mean good, it simply meant they had the most ornate armor known to man and though they were probably great warriors in their own right, who were they compared to Her?

Their halberds swirled through the air towards her, but instantly, Lamya managed to pull out both of her scalpels, focing the halberds to slide off of them and plunge towards the ground. It took but a mere moment for her to launch herself forwards and slice open both men's throats, letting them fall into a puddle of their own blood, gasping for air, yet getting none.

The museum was the final testament to Sunagakure's legacy and Lamya knew exactly how to use it for her own gain, yes... she knew very well how to put the final nail into the proverbial coffin of sunagakure, when she placed both of her hands upon the ground and breathed in deeply. "With this simple gesture, I will erase all that made your past," The kunoichi let out a sigh when a shockwave coarsed through the ground, with the walls of the museum cracking, glass artefacts of untold sentimental value and being priceless to any historian, shattered on the ground, littering the trembling floor with a million tiny shards of crystal and glass. "With this, I will take your soul, your light and make it my own."

The building collapsed, the walls of wood and sandstone breaking and crumbling as the tremors passed through the ground. The mystical glass museum had vanished, becoming the true step to complete domination.

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EXIT THREAD

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