Io has been located on the battle-field with a host of fresh bodies and is moving for the front Gates of Kirigakure to attack the ceremony. Eliminate the puppeted ninja and halt their ghastly funeral procession.

“How do I even let myself get involved in shit like this?” Bokuden thought to himself as he replayed the intercepted message in his head, an amused smirk curving across his lips, not that it could be seen beneath his ANBU mask, “No wonder these fools were so easily forced on the defensive by this Seven Bells and his group of missing ninja. In a state of emergency with the enemy so close to your base of operation one would think that they would take greater care to secure their lines of communication." Using a receiver he had appropriated from the body of a slain Kirigakure shinobi Bokuden had accidentally overheard the message being broadcast to the defending forces, revealing the location of what he could only assume was a major player in the invading forces. There was no reason that they would be identifying this person by first name alone had they not been a priority target, meaning that they were also more than likely to be strong.

Given the current state that the village found itself in, the fact that this man was dangerous enough for even foot soldiers to be able to recognize him with just that little bit of information did not bode well for the shinobi of Kirigakure. It might have been more prudent for Bokuden to simply wait in the wings and allow the Kirigakure forces to engage the target, using the opportunity to spectate and analyze as much information about this Io as he possibly could, but he didn’t particularly trust any Kirigakure shinobi to be of any use to him even as a sacrificial lamb. Also, this siege was progressing more slowly than he had hoped and the fact that a major piece in the war was revealing himself was a good sign. If things were truly about to escalate then he would be able to expedite the process so that he could actually do his job and get out of this hell hole. Besides, for a conflict of this magnitude, the quality of opposition he had faced up to this point had been terribly disappointing. Bokuden did not enjoy unnecessary conflict, but disliked having to fight enemies so far beneath him that he actually felt guilty for having to kill them even more so.

For a job like this however, he would be unable to just waltz about in street clothes and pretend to be just another face in the crowd like he had been doing up until this point. A high priority target would undoubtedly draw far too much attention to allow his face to be seen. For this engagement he was forced to don his ANBU uniform for the first time since arriving in Kirigakure. Temporarily abandoning all personal belongings of his and clothing that would hint at any kind of uniqueness outside of the ANBU uniform, other than a black compression short sleeved tee shirt in order to hide his shoulder tattoos, Bokuden would suit up for the task at hand. A simple armored grey vest accompanied by armguards were fastened snugly to Bokuden’s person, otherwise outfitted in all black; standard for ANBU almost universally in order for their identities in uniform to remain hidden. To accomplish that end he of course wore the signature ANBU porcelain mask, choosing his to be the most generic looking one of all as to hide any trace of individuality further.

He would perform one last inspection of his inventory to confirm that he had not forgotten any of his shinobi tools and that they had all been placed in the right compartments on his person. “Assorted projectile weapons? Check. Wire? Check,” Bokuden thought to himself, flipping through his mental Rollodex as he touched his hand to each object while checking them off the list, continuing in this manner until completion, “Well, that’s everything I suppose. Now that I’m all set, I guess there is no point in sitting around here anymore. It’s time to bury some puppeteers.”

Bending at the knees slightly Bokuden would propel himself forward off of the rooftop on which he was standing and on to a neighboring one. Upon reaching the next rooftop he would land softly, allowing his knees to give ever so slightly once again and using the force to spring himself forward once again. Doing so he both minimized the noise of the travel he made as he moved along the rooftops, avoiding any loud “thudding” noises as his feet hit the surface below, and maximized his travel efficiency. It was all like one continuous, fluid image in motion; the mechanics and body control exhibited by his movements a masterpiece of physical training and muscle memorization. It would be in this manner that he darted through the village, rooftop to rooftop, aiming to get to the designated location, hopefully before things got out of hand.

The designated location, as explicated in the initial transmission was the front gates of the village; a bold location to launch a strike, especially one that seemingly consists of only this one person. The choice of from where this Io would attack reeked of blatant disregard for the forces of Kirigakure and their abilities in combat. For one man to an attack on a village right at their front door with nothing but some puppets at his side was bold; foolish, but bold. Either way this attack was clearly meant not only to serve as a strike, but as a psychological warning shot against the village; a reminder that there is no person and no place in the village safe from their attacks, that there was no fear of retaliation in the minds of the Seven Bells troops. They would not so much as flinch at the thought of meeting resistance. It was an aggressive tactic.

It would not take long for Bokuden to reach the front gates of the village and take his position atop the highest wall from which he could await the arrival of this Io. A handful of other shinobi had beaten him to the spot, but by the looks of anxiety and nervousness on their faces they were most likely just acting on orders. This whole Seven Bells ordeal had shaken up some of these men pretty badly; a bad condition to be in when fighting for one’s life. They wouldn’t be any help to him in this fight. If he was lucky they would all just clear the way for him to do as he pleased without having to worry about accidentally killing them while they spaced out in terror. He would sigh heavily as he took a knee, reducing the amount of his body that would actually be visible from ground level in order to allow himself to moniter the situation down below with a bird’s eye view while not being completely visible. Here he would await the arrival of this Io and if need be confront him at the gate, but if he was lucky one of these Kiri shinobi would be able to handle it without him having to babysit them.

---

Mission Completion: 1226/3500

~The night before~
Io had been furious as the forward medical base had been lost to the now injured Mizukage. He should of tried to finish her. But no he had run from the fight in order to save his arm. Still everyone who had faced him in combat so far had failed to come out on top. The Mizukage, The Anbu captain. The Sannin with the hammers. He still wondered how that sannin's blood would feel on his hands. He however was not done with his influence of this war. His quizzical gaze looking over the ruins where he had fallen back to. He was surrounded by puppet masters now. High ranking individuals. He tilted his head as he observed them. He had not managed to arm more then a couple of them with unique puppets designed as siege weapons. Those two where being sent on their own mission against the samurai. No instead he had a bunch of dead bodies and a bunch of empty handed puppeteers. Of course as his mind made that connection he grinned. Before turning to his assistants.

"Mutilate the Kiri corpses and give them to the puppeteers. Make sure each is armed and resembles the pathetic person they used to be." And with that he went to work for the night and into the next day all the way up until nightfall. And then he was ready. The horror he would visit on the minds of Kiri and her people.

~The Hour of Horror~

Io moved forward with his forces. He had prepared a cushioned seat that was carried by four of his guard. One on each corner on top their shoulders. Around him marched the puppeteers. Some sneered and some where cold and calculated. But they all where guiding a pull cart with something covered within. It wasn't long before a scouting party attempted to engage them. The Kiri fools had recognized him and decided they could do what their Mizukage and Sannin could not. Perhaps they hoped to even wound him. But instead they where greeted by the eager puppeteers. He sipped his wine as the patrol squad screamed terrified reports into their coms before being cut down. Io ordered one of the men kept alive as he wanted a bit of a visual demonstration. They where expecting him now as he approached a direct line for the front gates.

As they moved through the mist the opposition was completely evading him. Likely they had been ordered to fall back to defend against his attack. He smiled as he leaned back in his chair. The green lower robes and the loose white upper robes where comfortable and clean still. He flexed his left arm experimentally. The injury had healed perfectly but he still remembered the loss of feeling in it. Still he had his men pass him the bottle of chilled red wine. As the progression halted they where still hidden in the mist. He smiled and directed the puppeteers to arm themselves. With out question they grabbed the mutilated kiri bodies and attached the invisible chakra strings to them.

Out of the mist emerged what looked like a horde of dead and at the back of it Io's cushioned seat sat where he gazed up at the wall. Oh so they had the nerve to try and stand against him. He smiled as he began to apply pressure to the bottom of the cork to his wine with one hand. His long hair tied back in a pony tail.

"Show them the price they pay for insolence."

With that they escorted the Kiri nin that had been in the scouting party they had engaged. Forcing him to kneel before the gates just within eyes sight. Once he was kneeled down there was a gasp as many above the wall recognized him. friends or family no doubt. And with that he nodded and a knife was jammed through the prisoners throat from behind. A scream echoed from a woman above the wall as she launched herself from the gate. She rushed forward to kill her lovers murderers but instead. Her lovers body seemed to rise to its feet. His eyes dull and grey. Her eyes filled with confusion and horror as suddenly the dead prisoners blade slammed into her heart. In that moment Io popped the cork to his wine. And grinned as she stumbled back and dropped to her knee's.

"Take them."

And with those two words and ungodly roar rose from the ranks of the dead. Something only to be heard from the released hell spawn of the dead. It echoed over the gates as the roar was not meant to be heard by the living. Io sniffed and sipped at his wine as the horde of the dead charged forward. These where not slow zombie either. The ranks that charged forward of horrifying and mutilated corpses where fast! The hell army moving at A rank speed as they charged the wall. The stench of rotting flesh arriving well before the dead themselves.

Bokuden winced as he looked out to the horizon, a black mass visible through the ever present mist closing in on the village gates. As the mass drew closer, a group of what appeared to be soldiers emerged from the mist, marching in no discernable cadence. From that alone Bokuden could surmise that this was not an organized assault, but appeared to be a conglomeration of ragtag, undisciplined criminals. Even so, something was… off about a large portion of the approaching force. Even with Bokuden’s eyes it was difficult to discern any specifics about the group at this distance, especially with the mist obstructing the vision of even the keenest eyes. As they drew closer however, the image of the approaching forces became gradually clearer.  Although they were still somewhat veiled by the mist Bokuden could clearly make out strange movement patterns belonging to a large portion on the group. His preexisting knowledge of the Seven Bell’s group and the faint glowing blue lines that peeked through the mist led him to surmise that the oddly moving figures on the front lines were puppets. He would roll his eyes beneath his mask as he raised himself from his kneeling position, standing upright to peer out over the field from which the assailants approached.

Seconds ticked away as the assailants marched forward, making their way towards the village gates. Looking passed the puppets and their cowardly puppeteers Bokuden took note of one man sitting above the rest of the group, atop a cushioned seat being carried by for men. Bokuden wasn’t sure what was more pompous, the makeshift throne being carried by people or the fact that he was holding a bottle of wine in his hand. His face twisted into a grimace as a feeling of disgust came over him at the display. Like it wasn’t bad enough that these people actually promoted the use of puppets, they were also just despicable human beings… not that the former didn’t already imply the latter.

The oncoming force would suspiciously halt in the distance; just close enough for the front lines to be in clear view of the village gates. Their ranks would part as one member of the Seven Bells army stepped forward; trailing behind what Bokuden could only assume was a captured shinobi from the beat up and bound condition he was in. Bokuden sighed at the sight of the man being forced to his knees in plain sight of the village gates, the reaction of the Kirigakure shinobi manning the gate telling the whole story. There were only two realistic directions in which this situation could turn: either this man would be used to create a hostage situation in which this Io could begin to make demands or this man was about to be put to the sword. Given the tendencies of Seven Bells shinobi Bokuden had heard about and experienced up to this point he didn’t see them taking prisoners or negotiating, which meant that the latter was a very real possibility. In fact, it was more than likely going to become a reality.

Bokuden’s prediction would prove to be true as almost immediately a blade would erupt out of the front of the man’s throat, having been plunged in from behind. A shriek could be heard from amongst the ranks of the Kirigakure shinobi stationed to guard the village walls, drawing Bokuden’s attention to the sight of a woman that leapt forth from the wall and charged head first and all alone at the man who had just plunged the blade through the captive’s throat. Clearly whoever that man was, he had meant something to this woman. “Fool,” Bokuden thought to himself as he watched the situation unfold. For a moment he considered following after her to stop her from doing something foolish and getting herself killed, but she was too far gone for that. Instead he would simply observe the behavior of the enemy at the sight of this woman charging towards them.

To Bokuden’s surprise it was not the soldiers that moved to stop the girl’s advance. In fact, none of them took so much as a step from their original positions as she charged towards their ranks. Instead, the opposition she met was from the corpse of the man that the Seven Bells shinobi had just executed; the one that she was so intent on avenging. “That’s an interesting jutsu,” Bokuden mused as he examined the risen corpse from the distance, taking note that once again it was being controlled by chakra strings, “So they are supplementing their forces by using the chakra string jutsu to take command of human corpses? A resource sure to be found in abundance in a war zone.” Despite his moral opposition to the tactic even he had to admit that it was clever. Not only did it provide a new resource that could be used to augment their forces, but using these corpses in particular could very well stir up more people into a blind frenzy just like it had done to that woman who now laid cold and lifeless on the floor after having a sword thrust into her chest by the man she wished to avenge. Fortunately for Bokuden he didn’t care either way whether these people lived or died, making him largely immune to the psychological tactic being used.

Immediately following that spectacle, the man who Bokuden could only assume to be the Io the message spoke of seemingly gave the signal to proceed with the attack, as evidenced by an ungodly roar being let out by the corpses that were bound by chakra strings to their puppeteers. The display seemed to serve its purpose by striking fear into the heart of the shinobi stationed at the gate, who seemed too stunned to react with haste as the enemy descended upon them. Fortunately the village gates were still sealed leaving the wall in between the invaders and the village interior, giving Bokuden the opportunity to begin sliding down the outside face of the wall to intercept the enemy.

There was however, the issue of being outnumbered to deal with. Taking on multiple opponents could prove difficult even for a shinobi as skilled as Bokuden, unless of course the opponents were just complete trash. But somehow, especially considering the damage that these men were capable of doing to the village over the course of the last few days, he doubted that would be the case. Also, he didn’t want his actions to encourage the shinobi manning the gate to get involved in the fight. Frankly, he simply did not trust their ability to fight alongside him and after seeing that the enemy was using corpses to augment their forces, the less people that were on the field the better. If he wanted to prevent this from becoming problematic he would have to do something to bring down their numbers and force this Io character into a straight fight.

He would begin to weave a complex sequence of hand signs as his the surface of the wall slid beneath his feet. He would pull his ANBU mask up ever so slightly, just enough to reveal his mouth beneath, and channel chakra into the soles of his feet to stop his descent about halfway down the wall. He would then spew forth massive quantities of water which fell down upon the field below, rising up into a series of large tidal waves which would push forth against the incoming forces. The sheer force of the waves crashing down upon the field would be enough to utterly crush any person caught in its wake. Taking advantage of the size of the jutsu, it would allow Bokuden to bring the enemies’ approach to a screeching halt, severely punishing those foolish enough to charge the wall head first and completely submerging the field, taking away the from them and forcing them to fight on his terms. On a lesser note, he would thoroughly enjoy seeing the reaction of the pompous man with the wine as his throne was swept away by the water, assuming he survived.

---

Mission Completion: 2596/3500

Chakra: 320/350:

Io watched as he sipped his wine. It appeared that the intimidation tactic was working rather well. After all the forward forces where making their way closer and closer to the gates and the enemy seemed frozen in place. At the rate they where progressing they would smash through the gates before ever losing a single man. Io leaned back to marvel at his own brilliance. This was going dashingly after all. He breathed in the scent of the wine and poured himself another glass. Oh but this was a moment of celebration. Kiri would once more be injured as they where unable to stand against his brilliance. Still he pitied Kirigakure. He had never wished for them all to die but it had come down to a choice for him. Stand by his oldest friend or be put to the sword. Self preservation had kicked in back then. But now he wondered. Why had they not just left? He had pondered it for hours. The truth of it struck him though. If they had fled Kiri would of hunted them for the rest of their lives. Fools and biggots.

Still he paused as he sipped his wine. One man was sliding down the front of the wall. He wasn't showing much bravado but the ANBu gear certainly marked him. He recalled his last engagement with the ANBU captain of Kiri and how he had taken him within moments. Still he pondered what this man was going to do. But already the man was weaving hand signs. If Io had been closer he might of recognized enough of the jutsu to prevent loses but he had chosen to hang back. As it was a huge amount of water rushed from the mans mouth washing away the front most ranks. Even being so bold as to try and wash away Io himself by the direction the jutsu was fired.

"Move on to phase B."

Io ordered quickly and a flag was waved. The flag had a symbol of two bells on it. They responded quickly to his orders like trained men should. Within a moment the puppeteers not caught in the wave fled back and where met with a line of puppeteers. The tidal wave rose up but the unified puppeteers had been instructed to do something very special. The Horde of undead not yet touched or swept away by the water where suddenly rushed together like a mass of writing bodies and blades. Io in the meant time left his pedistal and landed between them and the rushing water. He smiled as he recognized the technique. He knew it well. So they inteded to flood his army back into the mist. Well he could play that game too. Rapidly he made the same seals just before the mass of water reached him before expanding a ton of chakra through his mouth.Tidal wave of water met tidal wave of water. But he had timed it so that this close the full force would meet the weakened force of the traveled water. Having been within 15 meters of him.. But this was not all. The unified corpses rushed forward like one giant snake bigger then the gate was wide and taller then the wall. Breaking through the water and slamming forward like a battering ram straight for the gate. And straight for anything in its way.

Chakra 370/400:

Io watched calmly as his puppet snake surged forward. The Kiri nin had been effectively nullified by such a sight. And his wave had barely managed to dent the gate. With a leap back he left the now lake filled field from the small hill where he landed to the gates. Likely water was pouring through the gates and flooding the immediate inner streets from just the size of the lake created by the two men. He frowned however. One man was taking on some of the more elite puppeteers and did not appear to be hindered by the mind games. He could only wonder who it was. He narrowed his eyes as he watched. The Swordsmen ditching the cushioned seat in favor of joining him on the hill.

As a group he watched as his army towered over the gate ready to come crashing down on it like a hammer. Even as it surged forward something happened in the water. The entire lake suddenly started to spark and black currents of electricity began to arc across the lake. He watched as the puppeteers burned where they stood. So some clever dog decided to deny him his victory. Still even as he turned and walked away unsure on who had finished his invading force His swordsmen at his side he smiled. So he hadn't managed the blow he wished. But the gate was now nearly submerged and that jutsu was likely to damage the gate as well. If they where not given time to repair it. Well he would just return after having weakened them with more troops. He didn't even bother to look behind him as the tower of puppets began to fall apart and land on either side of the wall and the wall itself. He had horrified them and left them questioning what they faced. He would return with his next plan and plan around this mass jutsu individual. For now he accepted his partial defeat and walked away into the mist.

Exit thread*