Sweet release was in his grasp. This was the final stretch , just one more task the tengu had instructed him. Kill the one who brought misfortune upon you , show us that you have the power and we shall take away your terrible visions. The maddening clutter of the spirit world would be no more and his mind would be at rest to feed and sleep in peace as he once did. And really what could be better? He would feast upon those who had once hurt him , those who had left him for dead. They had made him a monster and now their own creation was back to haunt them.
 
The lookouts were first. Rocks slammed into their skulls knocking both their brain matter and souls from their bodies seeping respectively into the wood of the tower and into the state in-between worlds. Then came the pounding on the gates. Heavy wooden structures that were meant to guard against cavalry and beasts. A shuddering impact rocked through their mass and those inside turned their heads as one to see the source of the trauma. Again the gates shuddered and slight cracks began to form in the structures as they strained and bent.
 
Bandits and cutthroats clutched their swords and shields. They had not expected the ogre to attack their main stronghold. But he was growing more powerful as of late and no one wished to face up against something that acted far more like a force of nature than a man. The reverberation continued and the tension inside the camp grew with each passing strike. A reckoning was immanent and either the bandit's would live and the intruder die or the place would be turned into a smouldering ruin and the miscreants devoured like cattle. However only time would tell which would come to pass.

Ayato's father and the Danketsu had moved to Iwa, which had caused Ayato to make another trip across country, having set off from konoha in the morning on horseback some days back. She moved with the speed of the wind, and that seemed like enough, the horse trotted on at a jog, donated to her by a member of her adopted clan as she sped toward the direction of rock country with an amount of determination, her horse was a good, strong stallion who was built for power and endurance, she needed to reach her father quickly to catch the convoy. Though it had left a couple of days ago, she doubted she would be able to catch up with their pace before they reached the gates of Iwa and settled down into the Iwa encampment.

It mattered not, but she still needed permission from her father to be able to take the goods she needed to Suna, and with the Danketsu in Iwa, and tjhe newly reported Tchusikage being a member of the Amida clan, this would potentially be an event and a road trip worth taking. Sleeping very little, but keeping her horse well rested and well fed she marched on with what suppplies she had, always hauling more than she needed, there was enough pork, rice and noodles to be able to feed three people on her journey yet alone her and her sixteen hands high horse, which ate little but grass on their trip reguardless.

She watched as the pathways turned to desert and deat land, as if this was a place not born of heat, but swamps and dead lands that extended to the horizon put her on edge a little bit, looking to and fro, keeping an eye out for bandits or rogue ninja was paramount in this place, though in the far distance, she could see the towering mountains of Iwa, and was more than keen to get there. She had to feed her horse on oats and ration the water as they moved through the deadlands, the water here was not safe to drink, and there was very little food for the horse, so the two of them had to make do with what they had.

Moving through that country didn't take much longer than a day until the road gained its colour again, looking toward the marvellous land of rock. She remembered the stories of the ninja here, as well as some of the stories of the amida that lived in the mountains and the deeds and trials that had awaited them there, recalling the tale of them and the tengu as one of them, as she decided, then and there that she did not want to have to meet a tengu. She considered herself fine with a blade, her A ranking swordsmanship was something few Danketsu were able to achieve in their lifetime. But the thought of the art the Tengu mastered was not swordsmanship, it was something more devilish and inhuman that almost no-one could hope to match.

Though as she began to climb the rocky foothills she managed to find one of the off roads that was marked on her map, heading off it would dramatically cut the time it took to reach iwa down, though, in the distance in its direction she could see smoke rising, more than likely a border town or something of the like, with this short cut it would be more likely than not she would reach her goal even with a small stop and rest. Making the turn she didn't realise she was taking a step into a predetermined fate. Crossing a thresh-hold she could already feel that something down this road was not right, and with that, she picked up the pace, they may be under attack, they were still pretty close to the deadlands.

Racing through on horseback, she soon saw the bandit stronghold, and she could already feel tha chaos surrounding it as a knocking could be heard. She would not draw her sword, for to do so only means she had failed to prevent violence diplomatically, and when a danketsu drew their blade, they must draw blood. It was a fact of their following, and she could not deny it. Leaving her horse and trying it to a tree which had some grass beneath it, she climbed some of the rock face, and looked down on what seemed to be happening in the tiny shanty town. Something seemed to be breaking in, but what? These men seemed to be worse than the scum of the earth, bodies, slaves, victims of rape, torture and abuse as well as signs of much worse scoured the place...

Then she could se one man... That hint of fire deep in his eyes. One word escaped her lips...

Gaki...

And finally he gates gave way. As relentless as the waves crashing on the rocks the force threw the massive objects through the air landing with an impact that shook the earth and crushed one of the unlucky miscreant's that were huddling and readying themselves for the coming battle. All was silent for several seconds as the world held it' breath.
 
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Then all hell broke loose. Something the size of a bear stormed forth in a flurry of blows slashed and headbutt breaking bones and splitting flesh with each strike. Spears were thrust out in defence but the shafts were broken like twigs and splinters lodged deep into palms. One unlucky wretch was grasped by the neck and lifted struggling from the ground while his throat was crushed by extreme force.
 
As one the bandit's piled on hoping to bring down the ogre with sheer weight o numbers. But it was for naught -the cretures skin became as rock turning aside their weapons and they were drawn into a crushing embrace that shattered ribs which in turn ruptured organs leading to screams and moans of pain for the dying and howls from the spirits who had fled the body.
 
And through all the chaos the demented Amida strode purpose seething through him. A bloody debt that would be repaid in a mountain of corpses. Vengeance would be had - this was his birthright.

It didn't take much for the beast that was attacking them to reveal itself, and when it did, Ayato was HORRIFIED. That beast, this creature was an AMIDA!? That was enough to get her moving, and charging down the hillside to aid him, though there seemed to be something wrong with him, something bestial and raw, filled with fury and bloodlust, he'd charged the battlements and left behind him a trail of nothing but corpses. Ayato grinded down the hillside making handsymbols on the way down, her sword at her back as she neared the ground she jumped, and threw her momentum forward as fire gathered, roaring up into a sixteen hand high Fire Quillin. Red hare had come to the battlefield in a plume of red and white hot flame.

Galloping toward the compound the horse jumped its claws catching into the side of the wood and crushing it in slightly as it vaulted with its grip over the top, to stand on the tip of the bandit's wall. Looking down on everything, trying to find that one evil man. Up high on the baracks she saw crossbows being loaded, Gripping her blade and ordering red hare toward them she shot off at breakneck speeds toward the gathering of inferiors which had taken aim at the man. The sheer size of the horse running across the wall knocked each and every one of them off, and as some turned to fire at the killer horse made of fire, the arrows found themself passing straight through it.

looking down at the bear of a man the wall had been set aflame leaping down she drew her blade and began to move through the crowd slowly, the quilin growling at everything in its path. men began to break, and run, but there was the man with evil in his eye, the gaki burning brightly as the man's eyes became red and bloodshot with his own fury, choosing to charge the one who had set his compound aflame. Red hare jumped to a side as she drew her blade, the bandit lord drawing his own as Ayato darted forward on her mount, passing him with a single powerful strike, not from her arm as much as it was from the momentum of her speed. Clashing with the bandits' sword and jarring his arm.

From the other side of him, Red hare had landed on two feet, kicking backwards at the man knocking him several meters back and winding him with the force of the blow, Ayato knew the Amida was looking for this man, perhaps it was because he could somehow sense what was wrong with him, he was drawn to eleminate the chaos, but, his visage, it looked like he was becoming an entity of chaos in of himself. Which worried her more than words could describe. She had to find a way to free him from this means of thought, closing her eyes she began to pray to amida to show her guidence, as Red hare kicked up and posed on two hooves to avert attack in a glorious flourish of flame, and white haired beauty.

This had to end soon!

Chakra 185:

The slug had made his appearance. Drawn out by the chaos and slammed by the quillin's molten hooves he was ripe for the slaughter. Bursting through the ranks Kyobona charged headfirst towards his adversary knocking lesser soldiers down easily. Now directly in front of the self styled monarch he lifted a massive foot and put in a kick that would have killed most men outright.
 
Ulgotsu however had not clawed his way up form the gutter without gaining a measure of fortitude and thus weathered the blow with anger. Lifting an arm the bandit leader made a swift motion to one of his subordinated who produced a sizable crossbow loaded with a wickedly sharp bolt. Attempting to twist away from the shot Kyobona was only partially successful as the bolt missed his head but instead lodged into deeply muscles of his right shoulder.
 
Seizing his chance Ulgotsu finally drew enough air into his lungs to counter coming at the giant Amida with a blade that could be considered the bastard child of a barong and a machete. Slicing a red line across Kyobona's bare chest he proceeded to push the ogre back with vengeful swings. The pain in his chest was intense and his arm throbbed with the dull ache of a deep wound but adrenalin fury and the memory of the terrible events of his child hood caused the monster that was once a man to power through.
 
Catching the blade in his right palm the weapon as ripped from the brigands grasp and thrown asunder. The free hand closed around the thugs head and incisors bit down into the thugs shoulder. And with a terrible grace the bandit leader head was ripped from his body dripping blood and hanging veins.
 
Lifting the grisly trophy aloft the behemoth roared his triumph to the heavens.