Aya got home, though what she saw when she got there was a little different than she had expected... The house was a mess, and she could see a man dead in her doorway, the first floor of her home was the greeting room and then her mother's Kiln, a blacksmithery and known to make some of the finest armaments in all the country, Aya's mother made her gloves, enchanted her shroud, created changeling and was the express and only smith she allowed to polish and upkeep the legendary seven swords while they were not in use. So, when a man lay dead in her doorstep, Aya's mother wielding the hammer which forged her weapons with a deep gash along her arm, Aya got mad, really, really fast. So mad that the temperature of the room began to decrease sharply within a heartbeat, the breath from the remaining three assailants could be seen exiting their mouths as the frigidity increased far beyond normal parameters. Taking a step into her house, the sound of her footstep, loud, careless, meant to be heard, attracted the attention of the masked and unidentified attackers, none of which wore a mark showing any loyalty to a village. Aya recognized some of their gear as ANBU corps, so it only made sense that they may have been trained from another country, sent to attack her, or, there was another very real chance that they were remnants of the war, looking to assassinate the leader of the people who won those many months ago...

The three remaining ninja seemed surprised that things had gone so south, but, now each of them knew that there was no chance of escaping the Mizukage, even if they attempted to run in different directions, escape out of different windows, Aya would hunt them each down with her superior speed and tracking abilities. The hesitation however, was all that Aya needed. In a flash one of her three swords was already in her hand, changeling slung out from its sheath, extending into its full bo staff as the string was released from its clasps revealing the longbow. Aya knew that she would not be able to take any of these ninja alive, and so they began to run... Chakra flowed from her body, enough to ignite her second sword as she fired the first arrow toward one of her opponents, a fist full of arrows meaning she did not have to reach back to grab another as some archers would. She pulled back and fired, forcing the first ninja to evade, diving to a side, however, Aya's bow-manship was WAY too fast for the aggressor, with her incredible reaction speed she anticipated his direction and had a second arrow in flight to intercept his path, catching the ninja in the neck and forcing him to use his suicide jutsu.

She span to focus on the second of the men who had dived for cover knowing full well what was in her own home, Aya barely needed to look, aiming her bow up slightly she would take a shot at one of the black-smithy's racks, and send an avalanche of stored weapons and tools down on the ninja's head, forcing him once again to roll out of cover into another waiting arrow, three which hung in flight this time, as Aya was not sure to whether the left, above or the right would be the direction which he would manage to escape to. The arrow wedging itself deep within the back of the ninja as he expired, falling, but not before evaporating into flame. Allowing Aya to then turn to the third ninja, who had made it to one of the windows. Diving out of it as Aya reached to her back and thew the weapon she had flown chakra into so hard and on such a potent spin that the weapon looked more like a bladed disc than a sword in mid flight. The Sword Kusanagi penetrated the wall effortlessly, decapitating the ninja before returning to Aya as she controlled the weapon remotely with her chakra. Catching it, the last of the four ninja did not have the chance to kill himself. With his head removed from his body, the head burnt up as it channeled the last of its chakra into the instinctual move in its death throes, but the body, being detached, did not fade away.

Looking to her mother, Aya made sure that she was okay, calling to the twins to send in a medical ninja to ensure her safety and her health, the gash across her chest was nasty looking, and enough blood was being lost for her to consider the treatment urgent... But it was at about that moment that Tsuneo would enter her home, looking at what was going on there, it seemed that similar people which attacked him had also made an attempt on the Mizukage, who stood there with the silver and ruby embedded glowing blade of Kusanagi in her hand while three body shapes scorch marks could be seen in the opening of her house. Aya would walk past him as he entered to exit her house, allowing him to see what had transpired as a medical ninja would race in behind, laying her mother down and beginning to treat her wounds where she lay. Before Aya was able to pick up the body of the ninja who had done the attacking, decapitated as though it may be, she used Kusanagi to dis-robe him, looking for any signs that he might be allied with someone.

Sure enough, she found the mark which showed him to have been a former agent of Seven Bells on his arm, instantly showing where they got their ANBU training from, however, it was the fact the mark had been defaced with another, a symbol the Daimyo of the country had began to incorporate to mark prisoners in the country that caught her eye. This man had been in the service of the Daimyo at some point in recent history, a tie which would need to be investigated. Though the land of Kirigakure no Sato no longer took prisoners as a policy, The Daimyo of Mizu no Kuni still did, and did often if they had not insulted someone enough to have their head removed from their shoulders... though it was likely this man could have simply served his sentence and sworn vengeance after his release, it was something which needed to be investigated.

Looking back to her guest, the serious face Ayakashi wore lingered.

"I'm sorry we're going to have to put that celebration on a hold, I was attacked in my own home by trained men, and I need to get to the bottom of this now, to see how far this goes up. I hope it was simply the act of a few desperate men, but, you never know in this world, and you certainly don't live long if you don't find out. So, I won't ask you to come with me, but... wait... is everything okay Yosuke?"

She said asking to him, finally noticing that he seemed distressed himself.

Analyzing. . .

Corpses in the Mizukage's room, a woman with a gash on her,  enough blood was lost already, the young man would remember the three men that attacked him, their words were quite dismissive  to the idea of the alliance, a thing to wonder about, the scroll, it commands to either capture or murder the Mizukage leader of the Aisu clan, the reward placed on her capture is much higher, someone needed her alive, they were intending to capture the woman, but how would they escape, the gaze she gave the Mizukage, is that of a mother, Tsuneo was still unsure, but one thing he was sure about that it was either one of those three possibilities.

The first possibility was that someone wanted the Mizukage alive for a grand purpose, most likely use her power, or maybe she has an engraved power of some sort, and the person that appears to be behind this whole operation seemed to be the Daimyo. Second one was that someone was trying to frame Daimyo, which is highly unlikely as such scrolls are marked by the Mizukage's thumbs with his blood, DNA signatures can never be faked under any circumstances however, highly skilled medical shinobi  may have the ability to do so... Third possibility was that someone was trying  to force the Mizukage into attacking the Daimyo and creating a war in order to to ruin the country from the inside, also highly unlikely, Kirigakure's worst enemy is Seven bells and its very unlikely he would destroy the village he wants to rule it, not end it.

As I thought, the Daimyo's ass being the stinky one here is the most logical one, I heard rumors about him being a stinky one anyone, he aims to endanger my Ayakashi, bad news for you Dai-chan, I'm not so nice to criminals, what about people that hurt people I care about.


Let me out Tsuneo, let's kill the rotten fool. . .

Tsuneo smiled inside towards the darkness within him as he spoke to it “DEVOUR. ME.” He is willing to do it, he's willing to resort to the dirtiest tricks, as long as it guaranteed the safety of his dear dear friend Ayakashi. The person he had always wanted to meet, ever since they met when they were little, of course she was older than him, and probably is now, he merely hoped that she was the same person he met when he traveled alongside his father, at the time he was a crybaby that enjoyed playing and while blurry he remembers playing with her, assuming she's truly the one.

The young man headed towards her mother  seeing the wound, and then he would reach using a special kind of cloth he bought from the shops of kirigakure, he would give it to her to place it on the wound as it began emitting green chakra healing the wound, and covering the wound, but this cloth was no substitute for true medical care.

If she'd let him, he would grant the woman the safest defense for her.

“Please Ayakashi let me take care of this. Matoriyoshika!!!” He said as he waved a single hand-sign creating a clone and sealing the woman inside it
 He would then talk to the clone “Take her to safety, guard her, use the transformation technique, as these punks are after me too, before you take her to a safe haven make sure she gets the proper medical treatment.”

As he said so, he would hide  his arm and hand her the scroll with his other hand, although it was more apparent he thought the Mizukage was too occupied to even care.

“I'm not letting you go alone, I'm coming with you.” He said demanding so, while his left eye's sclera would be colored in black, and his iris would change to a red color, a sign of his bloodlust subsiding, and emerging from the pits of Tsuneo's darkened heart.

“I may be weak... In close combat its a weakness that will one day sting me back, but the Centipede will never lose again, he will never lose someone he cares about again, I shall fight for you, you're my dear friend after all~” He said so as his serious demeanor cracked a gentle smile as feint as it was, it was a heartwarming one he directed at her.

The centipede, a well known man for his actions in Takigakure, he would murder all gangs and scumbags, killers, rapists, abductors, any type of idiot the created harm for others, and that was the will of the Aoi Bara, The blue rose's will.

Eliminate all enemies of peace, he was quite known throughout the land for the massacres he delivered to all types of criminals, but no one knows the face of the centipede, his name, or anything of anything about him.

This was how much he trusted her, he would reveal his first identity, and soon his true identity, that is how much he trusted her, but first he had to deal with the ordeal at hand, and he will protect the Mizukage, he had no doubt in his mind, nor did his resolve weaver, his eyes, filled with flames of rage and determination, his  target the Daimyo and his goons, the centipede prefers enjoying his victims with bloody torture. It was a wrong move to mess with the Centipede's friends.

---

WC: 5000

''He's such an Uzumaki at heart...

The thought was simple, as she watched him begin to care for her mother and in some sense take charge of himself in the situation, Aya began to have a greater spark of respect for the ninja she had been training with, who appeared to be more than what he seemed on the inside. Within him, in his beating heart he held the courage and determination of the Uzumaki ninja whom fire and valor ran through the veins of, though she had no knowledge of the truth, and she could not see red hair flowing from his head, the spirit of the clan radiated from him like a golden sun, bright, and proud. A light Aya could hold nothing but reverence for... no matter how dangerous such ambition could be. So in response to his words, medical ninja came to the aid of them, and with the help of the clone, her mother was whisked away to the safest location in Kirigakure short of the Kage's vault. In the mean time, Aya paced, her fingers rubbing at her temples as the attempted to discern the patterns and possible causes of the events that had transpired, coming to very much the same mental conclusions as Yosuke... But it was not his demeanor which struck a chord within the Mizukage, it was his eyes which pierced the arrow through her will and forced her to crack a smile, for a moment she felt like everything was going to be okay, a feeling she had not felt in a while, since Tenmei had been here by her side.

'Tenmei... where could you be now?'

'but wherever it is... I hope you're happy.'

Holing out a hand to shake Yosuke's she would be ready for the mission which lay before them, the contagious smile flickering to her lips as she knew they two of them together were going to rip those who dared to cross them a new one. They would all rue the day they crossed the path of Solstice Ayakashi Aisu, Daughter of Iki Aisu and Mizukage of Kirigakure no Sato. "Glad to have you on my side Yosuke, I just hope that the two of us can get to the bottom of this, now, unfortunately, I have no clue where they came from, but, I can bet, somewhere there would have to be a camp of some sort in the outlying area, more than likely somewhere among the forest of suicides, which is where the reach of myself as the KAge begins to fall thin, and where the Daimyo crosses over into power. Although, I suspect that these were definately once the prisoners of the Daimyo, that means very little, they were likely former soldiers of Seven Bells, captured during the war, so, attacking us and the country is very logical for a plot of vengeance, however, I will need to question the Daimyo for this later, I was not aware he held POW's from that war... and as we can see, that lack of information almost harmed my family and friends, so, this threat needs to be dealt with now before I can proceed with any other course of action in follow up... But again, how to discover the location... I managed to kill this one before he was able to use the evidence destruction jutsu, so, maybe I can track him through his chakra trail through sage mode... it would be faint, but, it's all i can think of."

Aya scratched her head and began to focus ont he nature chakra around her before entering her own sage mode. The explosion of colour was immediate as the markings in thin lines appeared under her eyes and patterns of antennae on her forehead in intricate tribal patterns which began to run all over her body, her hair and eyes glimmered brightly as small twinkling dust specks of her nature chakra fell from her person, chilling the ground into small snow-flake patterns as they hit the ground.Her cloak became more vibrant also, patterns appearing withing the blue waves edging the cloak as translucent chakra wings of an almost butterfly like nature expanded from her back as she finished her transformation in a single twirl. In this mode she was able to feel the presence of everything around herself, she could feel the nature chakra fading from the dead body before her, but, there was also a very light residual trail of similar feeling where he had been, caused by simple things like his foot-prints, leaving some organic matter behind which had its own precise composition of natural chakras, combined with other factors of basic tracking, it became quickly evident which direction he had come from.

"I have a trail, let's get going, I won't run too fast but I expect you to be able to keep up, okay? Now, let's go, and destroy these bastards before they can cause any of us any more strife. But I warn you... my temper is... a downside, I would steer clear of me during the fight... I might lose myself a tad."

She spoke apologetically, hoping he would understand before she took off like a bullet, and although she moved at the top speed she was able to handle she had to slow herself as to be observant of the trail that she could only analyze as it came within the sensory radius of her Sage mode Technique. The trail quickly moved to rooftop and down the back alleyways as she motored through the city, weaving and ducking as she parkoured through the backstreets and through market places. The ninja which had attacked them had paid some definite effort into ensuring that he was not followed en route to his destination, though it was all for naught... as those who were not able to perceive the natural flow of the third state of chakra, could not hope to understand it enough to effect it. And so it was not long until the trail exited one of the merchant entrances to the city and out into the wilderness surrounding it. Taking a path down one of the main roads for some minutes of running before the trail broke off into the deep rain forest surrounding the city. Though, from here the trail ran cold, giving way to another trail, the trail of broken branches and scraped moss which Aya knew like the back of her hands as the ninja had lept through her back yard to get to their destination. No matter how fast or nimble you were, you always left a trail if you took your way through the forest of Kirigakure.

It took a couple hours of travel, but eventually they reached a small tree-house villa, high up in some of the rain-forest canopy, not far from the boarder to the forest which many missing ninja were killed.

Stopping at a hidden position, Aya drew the hilt of the blade of Kusanagi as well as the Hilt of the Raijin sword, two legendary swords held in her grip as she prepared for her onslaught. With her sensory abilities she could sense the tracks of about thirty men, take the six which had attempted to kill them within the city, leaving twenty four potential targets still alive within, each of them more than likely unwilling to bend to the will of the Mizukage, each of them more than likely enemies of the state on such a measure that they would die before they talked. But with the sentence of death looming over all of their heads anyway, there was no chance that this small outpost was not going to be reduced to a Popsicle with twenty four bodies within it regardless...

''Yosuke, give me a plan before I just trash the place, please, my temper's already beginning to get the best of me and I can't think straight...''

With herself getting angrier by the second, she found it hard to think, to formulate, she just wanted her body coated in ice like death, and her death like corruption to spread throughout this canopy until there was no member of Seven Bells left alive!

She spoke...And he replied~

“I spoke my words and while those words may be feint in meaning said in an easygoing manner, but my words are no lies, I'll purge this world of all corruption, as it would make the world much safer to my loved ones, and their families” he said pointing his sentence at her, including her, he finished his sentence by smiling at her the noble smile, a gentle one of one that sacrificed himself for his village.  But she too was a woman of kindness and gentleness, but sadly their will forever be scum that trifle with the happiness of others, those scum, are his targets, he whom weapon is his darkness, and he whom light is his shield.

She then entered her sage mode, and it was a sight to behold, only once in his life had he witnessed as similar beauty, and that when he stood infront of the  rose of the Aoi Bara, the royal blue rose that shone greatly and beautifully, he would meet another rose, but this rose was a woman, her beauty held him in the look of an innocent child amused by the scene of his life. He then focused again, and ran at his maximum speed but her speed was of course superior, still he would not fall behind and give up on his decision to protect her.

 
She warned him apologetically, informing him of her rage, and in reply he spoke gently to her “Don't you even worry in the slightest, I want to stand by your side, if I can't do that much how will I protect you?”   he gently spoke again to her with a gentle feint smile, and after trailing her enemies and his, they would stand amongst the bushes of green leaves as they kept an eye on a small tree-house villa, in it were their enemies, and so the Mizukage spoke with her attractive feminine voice of a lady, an attractive voice indeed, she was trembling with rage or was he seeing things? She stated it, and Tsuneo witnessed it, her rage, her boiling blood, but somehow he acted more like an adult or someone older than her, he would pat her head and smile as his hand was on her head: “Hey, ayakashi. . . Calm down, leave things to me, Ill send out a signal for you to come in if help is needed, is that okay? You no longer need to act alone, I'm here for you.”

Having said so, the boy used the transformation technique, transforming his appearance to that of the men that chased him only difference was, his appearance was slightly more wounded. He would enter and speak to the punks, normally, and apologetically, telling them that they failed and that he was the only one to survive and there he saw, a man in fancy clothing, in fact his were far too fancy from normal, he glared at him angrily from within, and ask one of the men as he stood back, he began talking. And one thing he knew, they all had a seven's symbol, Tsuneo was well aware of it as he had fought and spied and stole much against seven bells.

“Why are we serving this old blabbering fool instead of lord seven bells?”
The man replied saying that this was all according to plan, and that they're merely using the old fool to kill the Mizukage, and give reign to 'lord' seven bells, Tsuneo continued asking saying “What do use do we have of him I see no point for him?” The punk replied, that he would be providing them with spirit items, weapons, and so forth.

Aside from the questions before listening to his lecture as he yelled loudly, he was quite pissed off at the fact that they failed, Tsuneo would notice his own poster as one of the wanted people, Tsuneo indeed was one of the few people that pissed off the cute queen, called bells. Tsuneo pissed off at the Daimyo had also wanted aya to see such a view, but it was better to not, the Daimyo was quite the disgusting filthy rich man. But Tsuneo would shock the twenty four man he had visited.

The young boy glared at him after Tsuneo had went ahead and dealt him a blow that would shock him for eternity, with a pen he picked up, he would pierced the man's eye through the eyelids, shocked at him as he laughed his ass off at the screaming pig as he ran away with the help of two shinobi, running outside, he did that bit for the sake of the Mizukage, so that if she wants to deal with him her way, she may.

And while two left three left heavily armed with spirit items, Tsuneo was worried they may trouble the Mizukage, these spirit items are  legendary abhorrent pieces of work, two of them were abhorrent jars one known as the unbreakable jar of solace, a purple jar that restricts physical movement for good by a hand of chakra, no rank can break the jar or destroy the hand of chakra, despite that it is said that it merely ranks as an A-rank jutsu known as the weakest item, but in all honesty, in Tsuneo's head, the whole thing was abhorrent.

Five items were taken away with and none were left in the tree-house, Tsuneo would seriously worry over Ayakashi's safety, even the most formidable shinobi suffered against those items when only one was being used, what about five. Tsuneo was again infront of a severe challenge nineteen  scumbags, these scumbags were sadly skilled or so they looked to be.

First he had to lock on the long rangers which were a total of four bow users, fifteen melee, chained sickles and metal knuckles, and swords. This was going to be a pain in the head, but never the less, the young lad  attacked viciously as four approached them, he intercepted them with finesse, as one threw a sickle towards Tsuneo's waist he would jump in place not higher by a single inch, it was more like raising both of his leg and remaining in the air, but as soon as the sickle was underneath his legs, he shot them towards the ground and let one leg, which was his left hold down the sickle and with the other he twisted the chain around it as the man gripped the end tightly he would be pushed infront of his attacking friend who slashed him accidentally with his sword  as that man was held in a half bowing position, abhorrent as it was the man cut through his waist like butter cutting four inches deep and through, and as the sickle user fell on the ground dying, the swordsman continued by slashing a bit of Tsuneo's hair as he lowered his upper body, Tsuneo with his improved perception would notice a sickle user behind him coming in place of their fallen comrade but Tsuneo in the heat of the moment would place his fingertips on the swordsman's heart as he released a  spear of lightning piercing through the swordsman and through the sickle user's stomach two were beside the two, one beside the sickle user and one beside the swordsman, the two  would get stunned by the jutsu's effect being held in place Tsuneo didn't hesitate for a second, he would avoid to arrows that aimed for his head but the forth and the third would slice an inch deep on his outer thigh and right shoulder as he dodged, he would grab the sword of the swordsman and strike the neck of the one that was next him, break the neck of the fool that had his stomach pierced with the spear as he writhed in pain, dropping the sword and grabbing the sickle striking the other one that was next to the sickle user planting the sickle in his head.

Six down, thirteen left, this time five approached with broadswords, young Tsuneo would have fallen down far easier if it weren't for his beautiful beautiful techniques, he would of been human steak for cannibals to enjoy, but then he would calmly speak as his calm gaze devoured them to fear his strongest offensive technique


Trained: Forbidden Techniques: Artistic creation of the Ultimate Reality~禁術:现実究极の芸術の創造

7181-4000= 3181 WORDS LEFT

He could not hope to keep Aya in place, as she saw the 5 ninja attempt to escape, She was gone, appearing before them in a flurry of wind, exploding from her feet as she drew changeling in its sword form, long and dramatic as she stared them down, flowing chakra into the Raijin sword... it sparked to life, exploding from its hilt in a flurry of lightning and power, the two swords were legendary in Kirigakure, but none as legendary as the third that she drew, power flowed into the scabbard at her back, empowering the sword of Kusanagi the cutting power of it as it drew anonymously from its sheath as if wielded by some ghostly force made the floating weapon seem eerie, Aya stared down the five as they went for their Jars, but it was already too late, and Ayakashi was on top of them, with a single burst of sprinting speed there was no means for any of the B rank ninja to escape her terrifying speed as well as her rage. Slowly but surely, her mind and her senses honed in on the combat, and nothing else, each of the opponents, nothing outside of it, but she could feel a massive surge of chakra from beyond her, from its source was Yosuke fighting with a terrifying jutsu, one which Aya would have never seen the likes of before, but, Aya was about to fight with her own ones...

She had tried these ninja, found them guilty, and the only fitting sentence... was [link= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASj81daun5Q] Death...[/link]

Spinning in the center of the ninja they all scattered, needing to jump away from her to avoid them being cut in two as a group, Aya already had them on the run, but she knew it would be the Jars she needed to watch out for, in her sage mode she could sense the awesome chakra within them. It was ass she sensed them that a blue emanation of chakra ripped from one of the small jars, lashing out for Aya at speed, a large, demonic, clawed arm that was incredibly muscular. Aya vaulted at the end of her spin as the arm crashed into the ground where she once was, as another opened his jar causing Aya to be swept by hurricane winds which began to drag her backwards. Stabbing her two blades into the ground as soon as she could she would watch as that arm came down for another blow, easily strong enough to bash her directly into the jar of holding. It was very evident that Aya was not going to be able to fight these five men like she was. So, she let go, avoiding the arm but throwing herself in the direction of the item which threatened to engulf her entirely.

Using Hyouton Dash Aya would propel herself shaft upward at her full speed, vaulting up and over the ninja, performing a series of handseals before she would hit the ground, with her sage mode active, it was time to show each and every one of these goons the kind of Kage they were dealing with, she was not the kind who was replaced every year, she had been the Mizukage for half a decade, and she was not about to loose now. The temperature fell through the floor as Aya landed, Ice exploding from her feet in every direction creating a sleet strip for each of them to struggle to walk on. Aya's skin turned black as the Yin imbalance in her chakra overflowed, forcing the Hyouton chakra out of her body in long blades as a second pair of black Ice arms extended from her shoulders over her own ones, her teeth became pointed with ice chakra, her eyes shone radiant blue, her own hands covered and clawed, bladed wings from her back, cloth like wings, soft, with patterns across them in shades of ice, and the image of antennae on her forehead as well as several other orb like eyes. The men before her turned in terror as they were faced with the monster of the Mizukage.

"Yukki Oni Technique... Demonic Ice Corruption... ... ... Himiko."

The Ice armour was enough to protect her, the man before her whom turned to see the monster turned and aimed his powerful Jar, and Aya lunged into him, not feeling the pull of the hurricane force winds as much as she once was. The power of her SS ranked technique was too much for the power of their items, she could see them, she could see their weaknesses, she could see their fear, their chakra. With a single swipe of the swords still held tightly in her arms, the first of the ninja was separated from his waist, Aya did not grin with malice, her mind and her senses had given in to the beast which she had become, and each of the other four whom were there were in grave danger. Drawing their own mystical weapons, swords and a pike which all seemed to be variously enchanted with chakra, Aya worried not for their Faux power. Charging head-first with her own swords, she clashed with the first, her strength forcing his guard to buckle, only to be met with the second. Ducking, Aya swept out a leg for his mid torso... Connecting the foe became little more than a brittle icicle, being thrown backward as the ice corruption spread throughout his body until he hit the ground, splintering and shattering into crystal dust with the force of the kick.

Aya trained her focus on the second man she had been fighting, with both of her swords in hand she attacked in a violent flurry, attacking him and his water enhanced blade, the lightning and ice coursing up Aya's own two swords froze the ice as she threatened once again to blatantly overpower her opponent with speed, strength and ferocity... but then came the arm, slamming into Aya's side and freeing her next victim from her assault, the third man had rolled for the other jar, focusing the chakra winds on Aya again, attempting to drag her in once again to the prison which she would be sealed within should he be successful. Aya's additional arms dug into the earth as not a crack appeared in the visage of the armour from the colossal arm, doing little more than bruises and knocking her around, as well as further angering the beast. Turning on her opponents she coiled her arm up as chakra flowed into her fist, smashing it to the ground the pulse from her Yukki Oni technique spread out in a near 20 meter radius, freezing the ninja wielding the winds barrel solid, and allowing Aya to move once again. Standing slowly, she looked back to notice that the other two had used the substitution technique in order to evade her.

"FinE By Me... Now You HaVe No eScaPE..."

Aya spoke with two voices, her own and the voice of the monster which was puppeting her body. The Yukki Oni... Dashing forward at sprint speed once again, she moved to lock blades with the swordsman she had tried twice already to kill. Though as she neared she watched as the arm once again flew toward her at top speed. So, rather than meeting it head on, Aya jumped high, entering a chaotic spin as she vaulted high into the sky, one of her additional arms reaching behind her and drawing her fine fuma shuriken which became quickly laces with ice, Preparing to throw it as last second she unclipped it into its 4 seperate pieces, raining down on the ninja wielding the arm before her had time to retract it to defend himself. Aya aimed for his two shoulders, behind him, and in front of him with the blades, giving him nowhere to run or dodge to, and without the substitution technique, as all four blades came down enchanted with his ice, the enemy ninja exploded into shrapnel, ending his life instantly and leaving only one.

Landing, Aya looked to him, and approached as he knew there was no escape, he begged for his life but was met only by deaf ears as Aya with a single sweep of Kusanagi, ended him, the ninja dropping to the ground lifeless, frostbitten and finished. Returning to where Yosuke was. Aya's jutsu ended, and the form she had taken to fight melted away, restoring her skin colour and making her feel human once again. She opened her eyes and allowed her Sage mode to come to an end also. But it seemed that while she had fought the five, Yosuke had fought far more than she had. Aya smiled, little more than a bruise coming over her arm and shoulder where she had been hit by the arm jar.

"Nice work Yosuke, now all we need to do is find out where they came from and why they don't want you being here, as well as what they wanted with me and my family..."

[8054 words]

 and with that Tsuneo followed the Mizukage “Alright!” he said in response to her, as he followed her. What awaited the two, one would question themselves.

Aya smiled at her friend, giving him a pat on the shoulder, the steel from her gloves still more than ice could to the touch from the user of her technique which had overcome her whole body. It was never a pleasant experience, releasing that much chakra at once had its cost, forcing Aya to take deep breaths in order to regain her energy, though she believed she was in control, or at least, she was more in control than she used to be, there was an air of deception when it came to those beliefs. Aya felt like she knew deep down that something was not right about that technique, like something was growing within her. Looking to Yosuke, he seemed to be unharmed, and with the only living member of the group of missing ninja, it seemed that now they finally had a lead when it came to who ordered the attack. Her eyes catching Yosuke's the subtle tip in her smirk giving him the silent good job when it came to capturing this sole individual, as she did so however, she caught the concern which was being reflected in his own, within his glassy portals which though they could flawlessly hide emotion, Aya distinctively saw a glimpse of doubt, regret, sorrow, anger, desperation, resolve and something else glimmering within the light of his eyes. It was heartbreaking in some ways to see, but every ninja had one promise to themselves or another, and Aya was not about to judge that, or stop on whatever dream he held dear. Though, deep down, in Yosuke though she saw a hero, with grand ideals which would take him far, part of her could never see him becoming an Sannin or higher, she felt that he did not have the steel will to be able to handle that weight on his shoulders alone... and most of a ninja's life was spent alone...

Leaning down to pick up the living witness, she placed him hard against a piece of rubble that jutted out from the ground. Thrusting him against it the man began to groan in pain as Aya was not pulling any punches with him, having almost put him through the support instead of against it. Standing up tall over the ninja Aya asked the most operative question which was on their minds. "Who sent you?" The question was simple, yet the answer would no doubt be complex, the man looked up with fear in his eyes, shaking his head as Aya reached out and grabbed one of his hands. Taking his palm and spreading out his fingers, reaching for the top of one of them, and with the slightest tweak, broke his fingernail off the tip of that finger. The man gave out a cry as the nail was plucked from its roots like a carrot being pulled from the ground. The man looked up at Aya with determination, and with a single word, the man fell into a dust, breaking apart and blowing into the air. Aya reached down for the man's tongue before he was able to speak, but, the former ANBU trained man seemed to have an ace up his sleeve, the technique which was used to hide evidence, he had used on himself fast enough to erase himself from existence. Leaving the two of them nothing to go on when it came to who sent the criminal forces, other than the branding which was on each of the corpses which lay around them in the direct vicinity. Leaving them with another lead...

"Well Yosuke, I believe that is us then... I'll need to arrange a meeting with the Daimyo tomorrow to ensure that all of this blows over, though in the mean time, I hope that we can make our way back to the capitol and we might have to go our seperate ways, I'll need to organize for tomorrow to some time, though, I am glad that I had the chance to meet you in person. It was an honor and a pleasure to make your acquaintance. You have the proud blood of Iwa running through your veins but with a heart of fire... "

Aya smiled, not expecting that her words might inadvertently catch Yosuke off guard, but in the ninja world the land of Konoha were the nation known most for their heroism ever since the patron of the Uzumaki clan heralded the age of peace three centuries ago. Aya, placing her hands in the pockets of her cloak, began to walk away from the mess, picking up any of her items she had launched in the conflict and beginning the long walk home. She needed a bath, as well as some long needed time to herself to contemplate everything that had happened on this particular battlefield. Trying to think of what kind of mercenary forces were so loyal to their clients, Daimyo or not, that they would kill themselves when they were in a bind. The sheer thought of the entire endeavor was insane... There was something deeper here, and Aya could not help shaking that it was deeper than she wanted it to be. Feeling the same churning in her stomach that she did when she met seven bells for the first time, knowing that this would not be something that ended quickly nor something which she was going to be able to ignore. So... Aya needed to prepare herself, more than ever.

Looking back one last time to Yosuke, she waved, before jumping into the Kirigakure forest, leading the way back to the village...

and hopefully...

the beginning of what was to come...

[exit thread - 9001 words]

Training Perception S-> SS 9001/8500