Starring:
Jon, Chichi, Seiji, Sami, Masahiro
Date: April 24th, 2010
Summary:
War is a bizarre thing. Even amongst two groups of people explicitly trying to kill each other, some actions are seen as taboo…by most, anyway.
"Sami's Geneva Convention Atrocity"
Land of Waves. North End.
So far, so good for the Lightning Liberation, it would appear. Kumo forces have established a foothold in the Land of Waves, and what they lack compared to those Kiri barbarians in sheer ferocity, they're making up for in numbers. And courage, of course. Fortitude. Determination to rescue those poor, oppressed masses of Wave folk from Kirigakure occupation. Won't they be grateful to see the Lightning Empire banner sweeping over their land? n.n
Toward that end, Saito Jon now makes his way across the countryside, along with Kinmu Chichi and Yotsuki Seiji, to reinforce an eastern Lightning front. "Eyes sharp," Jon says to his subordinates as they run. "We're getting close to the hot zone now. No telling what we'll run into."
Chichi is pretty nervous at this point. She has been on a single mission so far in her career as a ninja. Or at least a single >real< mission. There have been plenty of chore-like D-Ranks. But being sent into a >warzone<!? That's on a whole other level! She doesn't know why she was sent, but has to assume that the leaders of Kumogakure are really, really desperate if they chose her. 'Great. Going into a bad situation with almost no combat experience… A dummy like me is probably going to make things even worse!' she thinks to herself as she follows after Jon. Are they running or are they walking? Either way, she does her best to keep up, and not to brood too much that she loses track of her surroundings. She has to prove she's capable, not be down on herself!
"Hm!" she answers Jon. "So is there anything you can tell us about this mission, Jon-sensei? I heard there was a lot of fighting, but it seems like this place is kind of quiet…"
Seiji had been quiet during the trip, he was running through his head why he was picked to be included in this particular war mission. The young Yotsuki felt that his skills weren't on par to be able to go up against any Kiri nin, especially if there are any of the Seven Swordsmen. Seiji didn't shirk away from this either, Seiji was going to uphold his vows to protect his home and friends. Seiji flitted through the woods along with his best friend Chichi and the Jounin Jon. Glancing to both of them from time to time as they moved to rendezvous with the other Kumo nin. His arms were thrown back behind him, his sword was slung behind him and it moved as he moved.
Seiji moves in closer as Jon tells them to keep a watchful eye out. Upon that command Seiji began scanning the area as they moved. It would be bad if they were jumped seeing as they were the reinforcements. He did wait to hear what Jon had to say about Chichi's inquiry.
Meanwhile, to the east, the place where the night before the Kirigakure forces had made a last stand at a tiny camp in the valley between two mountains, is now completely overrun with Kumogakure ninja. They have established themselves fairly well, have been setting up camps of their own, and fortifying their positions. More importantly, they have been tending to the wounded. Wounded Kirigakure ninja who tried to fight were most likely killed. Those who gave up most likely were taken as prisoners of war. But the injured on the Lightning side of things are given the best treatment that can be provided out in the field like this.
The rapidly-assembling structures of the base camp provide some degree of shelter, and once they are completed there will be plenty of space for soldiers to rest and recover from the battle that has been fought for the past several days. But someone does not plan to give them the time to recover. Maybe the Land of Waves is lost to Kirigakure. Maybe it isn't. But Kumogakure is going to bleed for it regardless.
Being situated as they are on an island on the ocean, some degree of moisture is to be expected. And thus, as the cold night turns into a cold and dark morning, at least a few hours before the sun will even hint at rising, fog begins to encroach on the Land of Waves. It builds and spreads, rolling in off the ocean, making it hard to see very far. The fog is not quite impossible to see through. It appears to be 'normal' fog. It will make it harder to remain hidden, but Shima Sami knows that the Kumogakure ninja will already be on alert. Keep the fog thick but manageable should ease any suspicions that it is unnatural.
Slipping out of the water, Sami and a handful of specially-trained ANBU make their way in quick bursts of speed and sudden stillness along the coast. Anyone they encounter along the way is left alone for now. If they don't report back, that would alert those deeper inside the Land of Waves. So Sami directs his companions to head to where a communications hub is located — a camp where messages are being delivered and sent out (to and from, respectively). Some delays are to be expected when people still rely on hand-carried messages or message birds. It will be at least several minutes before anyone comes to investigate when things go silent.
Sami has a different job. Continuing to spread the fog with his Hidden Mist Technique, he stealths into the camps that have been set up, finds the wounded that are recovering in their tents… And begins to kill them. The field hospitals are another target. It doesn't matter who is inside. Doctors, nurses, wounded soldiers on either side… He intends to slit throats silently and efficiently, and move on. The alarm will be sounded soon. Until that time, he is going to murder everyone he encounters. 'This is necessary,' he tells himself in his head. 'Kumogakure is too bold. They do not fear Kirigakure. But they should. And they will.'
Jon nods. "Good observation, Chichi-san. It probably means that the fighting over here has died down. Makes our arrival less necessary, but it's good news anyway. Look, there's the encampment." Jon points out a Land of Lightning flag fluttering above the fog. "We'll see for ourselves what the situation is in just a little bit." Jon leads the way into the Kumo encampment, searching for somebody to report to. Of course, in this fog, it's tough to tell where everything is, so who knows which tent he'll wander into?
Chichi nods to Jon. "Good. Maybe we won't have to fight… I'm not sure I could do anything our side hasn't already done." Once they arrive at the base camp, she looks around at the fog, peering for some sign of other people. There does seem to be some movement in the area, but it's mostly quiet. There is occasional low-chatter of voices as people around talk about the recent battle, or what they're going to do next, or any number of other things. Some are eating actual meals for the first time in a few days. But everyone seems to be recovering nicely.
Chichi smiles towards Seiji, and gives a thumbsup. No getting killed for this team! Yay!
Noticing the fog moving in, Seiji sighs and knows that's going to cause problems for those scouting the area. As Jon begins to speak, Seiji dives to one of the closer branches near his team. "Well if the fighting has died down, we should keep a low profile so as to not alert our enemies to our presence." he states. "Just gives us more of an advantage if we do get into a fight." Seiji's tone was a bit direct. Though his seriousness does falter a bit at Chichi as she gives him a smile and thumbs up. This team will make it through all trails ahead of them. As they come into the camp, he too heard the moving on the others and well he really did hope Jon would go into the right tent.
Sami turns when he hears someone approaching the tent he is in. A doctor is impaled down through the throat with a kunai, drowning as his own blood pours into his lungs. The inside of the canvas tent has sprays and streaks of red splattered all over it. Sami already doused the lights, so there is no outline of himself for someone outside to see. Still, someone is coming. So he turns, pulling the kunai free, and completing his slashing of the man's throat, sending him slumping over to the ground.
Oddly, no noise is made from the cutting of flesh or the impact of the body. It's almost like sounds are being eaten up somehow. Sami faces the entrance of the tent, and waits in a relaxed stance, right hand holding the ninja knife loosely as it the arm hangs at his side. His eyebrows come down, as he sees the person reaching for the tent flap slowly, starting to enter… He prepares to step forward and kill in a single motion…
…And then whoever it is is called away by someone else. "Hoi, Shisei." someone calls out. The person at the tent entrance just goes, "Hnn?" and then turns and walks away. Apparently Sami's tent is not the one that Jon was about to enter.
Instead Jon enters one that Sami has already visited. Jon's entrance knocks a lantern hanging from a hook, causing it to swing back and forth, casting a wild light about the tent's interior, highlighting scenes of horror in brief glimpses, before they are shrouded in darkness… Only for some other vision of gore to be revealed when the light is cast in that direction instead. At least six… No. Eight dead bodies. Three of them on operating tables. The other five scattered on the ground, or piled on each other. One man is half-hanging from a pole via some garrote wire looped around his throat, the rest of him kneeling on the ground. A woman near Jon's feet has a bloody hole where her left eye should be, and the hole goes deep into her skull.
This is probably not normal.
Meanwhile, Sami has left that particular hospital tent, and moved on. He has gotten most of the treatment centers, but there's still recovering patients gathered around campfires, eating and talking. Easy kills so far. Now it's time to do something a bit more difficult. He starts walking right up to the campfire. He draws three more kunai and holds them in a fan formation in one hand. He is about to kill four people at once in less than three seconds. Unless something interrupts him that is.
Jon freezes as he enters the tent. Wounds and blood are to be expected in a warzone, especially in a hospital tent, but it's quite obvious there was an attack here. Jon glances down at the nearest corpse—the blood's quite fresh. Jon sweeps the tent's flap back into place. This is not the time to be exposing the genin to their first battleshock, when they could themselves be attacked at any moment. Jon swiftly pulls his rod from its holster and holds it straight up in the air. It gives a bright flash and a miniature thunderclap. "RED ALERT!!! ENEMY IN THE CAMP!!!" Jon turns to Chichi and Seiji. "Somebody's on a killing spree. Stick close, whoever it is has to be pretty good!" Jon puts himself in the killer's position minutes before. After killing everybody in that tent, the next convenient target would be…there! Jon dashes off, following what is hopefully the butcher's trail.
Chichi blinks and nearly walks into Jon's back when he stops suddenly. "Huh?" When Jon suddenly closes the tent flap, Chichi gets only a glimpse of the interior. Not enough to process any of the visual input. Just the fact that there are some operating tables in there, and maybe a crate of medical supplies. Then Jon pulls out his combat-rod and makes it light up! Chichi leaps back, startled by the sudden announcement. "What!? An enemy!?!" she squeaks. Then she follows after Jon as he takes off, giving a worried look to Seiji. Hopefully that shout will cause people to respond. She doesn't really want to face someone who is 'pretty good' right now. She's too much of a newb.
'A killing spree… Does he meant that…!?' she looks behind her, towards the tent, but she's already lost sight of it in the fog. And when she turns to face forward again, the chaos of people running around, and that brief moment of looking behind has caused her to become confused. …Where's Jon? Where's Seiji!?
"…!@$#." she whimpers as she finds herself separated from her team while an enemy is on the loose. Maybe there's allies running all around her, picking up weapons and looking for the bad guy. But that doesn't do her much good. She's as good as useless under such circumstances. "Jon-sensei! Seiji-kun! Where are you!?" she calls out over all the noise as she begins running in the direction she thinks that they may have headed.
As they stop at a nearby tent, Seiji really doesn't pay attention to Jon as he enters into the tent. Stretching out a little bit, Seiji was looking around from where he was. It was a long jaunt to get here, but one that he was trying to learn from. He turns his head to Jon as he exits the tent and he was about to ask him something when Jon takes out his rod and sends a thunderclap. Upon hearing that ther was an enemy in the camp, Seiji blinks and face goes pale, "But how?" he starts to ask as he looks over to Chichi who also wore a worried look. Shaking his head, Seiji quickly unsheathes his sword and flips it into a reverse grip.
He didn't know if he was ready, he didn't know if he would be able to keep any of his team members safe or not. But then again if that was true Jon wouldn't have picked him for this. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Seiji quickly flanks Jons left side, and keeping back a little bit. Trying to keep both Chichi and Jon in sight, but with all of his fog, he was having a little difficulty doing that. As Seiji turns to look at a group of people he thought he saw, Seiji turns back around and sees Jon, but no Chichi.
"Jon-sama, Chichi-chan is missing." he reports to the Jounin. But as Seiji speaks he thought he heard someone calling out. "How should we proceed, if there is a killer we don't want to leave her alone." he says to Jon as he moves in to Jon's side and keeping his voice low so as not to alert the intruder.
The Lightning clap was all that was needed to draw Masahiro from his tent with a particularly large shinobi-gatana already readied in one hand; it's sleek black appearance bending light around it to avoid reflection.
Masahiro's tent was close enough to the camp fire that spotting the opposing swordsman would be child's-play to the ancient Saito guard. He had figured out how to spot assassins in a royal courts long before Sami was even a bodily fluid.
With a flicker, Masahiro appears twenty feet from the legendary swordsman, his face drawn in annoyance while his brows furrow heavily over his eyes, blocking any visible white, "If you thought you could simply waltz in here and leave, you are sorely mistaken." With the exception of his sword arm, Masahiro's body remains utterly still, while his sword is leveled before of him. There is no striking, no movements. Only steady breathing. Masahiro is focusing his chakra into the infamous Murakumou sword, and it's responding with a faint blue shimmer signifying that it's reacting, "If you leave now, you may be able to return to your Mizukage whole.. but I do not mind chopping you down to size."
There is an eerie calmness about Masahiro, as well as a dramatic wind that flutters the sleeves of the old mans white silk tunic. With a tilt of his head, Masahiro's neck cracks lightly; his foot sliding forward and out, while his hip turns lightly to the right.
Sami stops where he is the moment that the old man emerges. He was busy tying four kunai together with some wire and preparing to throw it in such a way that it would slash the throats of the four men around the campfire. But the alarm has been sounded, and those four men, even wounded, are now alerted. Sami waits, grey eyes cast to the side, tracking the General as he flickers across the distance between them, appearing relatively nearby. At least talking distance, if nothing else.
He resumes fiddling with the four kunai and the wire, apparently deciding to resume what he was doing before he was interrupted. "Leave?" he asks simply, calmly, in monotone. "I have no intention of walking in and then leaving." He finishes, and then examines his handiwork. "I am not going anywhere at all. You, on the other hand…" He returns his attention to the man before him, with the glowing sword. "…May wish to call a retreat, even if it is only to regroup. You will find that the majority of your medical staff — and their patients — are now deceased. Reinforcements will be necessary if you intend to pursue your objectives. It would be a wise choice."
Then he tilts his head to the side and says, "But sometimes wisdom does not come with age. Are you a doddering old fool? Or a wise general… Saito-san?" It seems he has done some research on his enemies.
Sami then swings his hand swiftly, sending the customized kunai-shuriken flying. It arcs AROUND Masahiro, as though it were intelligently avoiding him, and attempts to curve towards the four wounded men who are standing nearby, watching the confrontation. The pale man continues to manipulate the improvised weapon using steel wire with one hand, but his other hand reaches up for something sheathed on his back.
Jon pokes his rod into the next tent and uses it to pull aside the flap. Yup, the killer's been here too…and for the darkness in this one, they might /still/ be. Well, there are plenty of allies around, so it would be better to surround the suspicious place than try to investigate alone. Then Seiji points out that Chichi just went missing. -.-; Jon sucks in a breath between his teeth. "Call for her," he tells Seiji, "but don't go wandering off to find her. She's no more likely a target than anybody in this camp. Hey, Chichi-san, over here!!!"
About that time, Jon hears an authoritative voice talking. Ah, Masahiro-sama! Sounds like he's found the intruder—or one, anyway. Jon looks around for any signs of other places that might've been hit.
Chichi hears the sound of Jon, just barely. She was running nearby, but not quite in his direction. She turns now, and is bumped into by someone in a hurry to get to his post or something. When she recovers, she spots Jon and Seiji. Letting out a cry of relief, she runs over to her team mates. "I'm sorry, Jon-sensei! I only looked away for a moment, and then you were gone!" She also looks towards Seiji, making sure he is okay. Then Chichi spots the dark forms of bodies nearby. Campfires that should have been burning bright have been put out. But there's still enough light, even in the fog, to see that there are people lying still who should be moving.
"…H-how many enemies are there!?" To kill this many in so short a time… She shivers, and turns her attention on the sound of a bold man speaking. She doesn't recognize him at first, but then… Then… She points dramatically at Masahiro and yells, "Aiiiieeee! The yeti! What's he doing here!?" Yes, she still thinks Masahiro looks like a yeti. "…Oh well, he has a cool sword. Maybe he'll help us!"
She cups her hands around her mouth and yells, "YETI-SAAAAN~! PLEASE PROTECT US, OKAY!?" She then hunkers down and tries not to get in the way. Surely Jon and Yeti-san can deal with whoever that is that's standing there! He doesn't look friendly, whoever he is.
As they near another tent, Seiji manages to look inside and frown, "You don't attack the wounded, what the hell!" he growls slightly. It took quite a bit to upset the Yotsuki and well this was one of them. As Jon tells him not to look for Chichi, but to call for her. How could he not go looking for her, but calling for her was still ok. Seiji didn't like it but shaking his head he listened to Jon, "Chichi-chan! OVER HERE!" he calls out as he moves to guard Jon as he continues searching each of the tents. Keeping his eyes open and watching as other Kumogakure ninja move to search the encampment for other intruders.
Seiji hears Chichi as she comes over to them. Smiling and patting her on the shoulders, "Don't scare me like that again." he smiles to her. Seiji was ok, but upon hearing the resounding boom of another voice Seiji blinks and smiles a little, "Looks like there is more reinforcements here." he smiles.
Just for a second the left eyebrow on Masahiro raises just enough for his pupil to be glimpsed at. It's a horrifying visage to behold. No deformity, no weird color. It's not a sharingan or anything of that nature, but it holds the intent of a killer, and that alone is enough to stump most shinobi in their tracks; but Sami isn't most shinobi, is he?
"Retreating is not on my list. It is a shame they had to die, but this is war. If they were unable to live, then they were weak. I am not weak. I will not cow in the face of an enemy." Suddenly the sword slices through the air, Masahiro whipping it around to the side while he dashes forward. The four wounded shinobi are ignored. If they die, then their training didn't pay off.
As the gap is closed the sword is brought upwards, while his free hand grips the spare part of the handle just in time to deliver a powerful slashing attack at Sami's knees. It's only a partial attack, meant to distract Sami while Masahiro side-steps around him, pivoting on his heel. Spinning his gatana, Masahiro brings the blade around and stabs backwards, between his arm and ribcage, aimed to penetrate Sami's spine; his own back facing the enemies. It'd be a devastating combo if landed, yet Masahiro continues to move not letting chance play against him. Expecting both attacks to be blocked, he begins to pivot around again into a defensive position, only glancing away at the sound of, 'Yeti-san'. *sweatdrop*
There is no doubt about, this old man was no cur, his strikes blindingly powerful.
Sami acknowledges Masahiro's words with a slight nod. Good. This enemy is exactly as he expected him to be. No unnecessary movements, nor any unnecessary emotions. But would Masahiro kill his own men as Sami would? Maybe. Maybe not. That was a matter for another time. The four wounded men try to evade the spinning kunai-shuriken weapon, but at least two are fatally wounded while a third is slashed in the arm. Sami lets go of the wire-controlled weapon and simply grips the item on his back. The first attack, though skillful and powerful, is detected well before it can land. Sami closes his eyes and side-steps. When his eyes open again, not even a second has passed and the old man is pursuing with an attack at Sami's spine. He is presently becoming surrounded by enemies. He has no qualms facing this Senshi, but he would rather not have such numbers waiting to join in at a moment's notice. So he attempts to cancel out all sound in the area, channeling Chakra into the thing he is gripping so tightly.
But though silence suddenly fills the area immediately surrounding Sami and Masahiro, it does not seem to throw off his opponent enough that Sami can completely avoid the stab aimed at him from behind. It skims his back, drawing blood, and cutting the straps of the weapon — if it is indeed a weapon — sheathed there.
Sami grunts slightly at the sensation of his flesh being sliced open, but it is a glancing wound. He'll live. He turns and draws the object that was on his back into his hands fully. It's… A guitar. A three-string guitar. A samisen. Sami holds it in his hands as he dances back away from his opponent, getting a little bit of room. Then he grips the samisen, and cracks it open, revealing it is just a shell for a very odd blade. The blade appears to be a giant tuning fork, with a hilt. He discards of the samisen shell, and holds his weapon horizontally across his chest. "I would apologize if I felt it necessary… But I do not." Then his already-pale skin begins to turn even more pale… And then… Transparent? His flesh seems to wisp and move about like mist, or the same fog that now begins to enshroud the area even more thickly than it did originally. Chakra is definitely being focused by Sami now. This is not the time to play around.
Jon exhales. Good, got their little group back together again. Now, what to do… "Seiji-san, get the wounded out of here," Jon orders, pointing at the victims of Sami's thrown attack. "Chichi-san, keep an eye on this tent. If anybody tries to come out, raise an alarm and detain them, even if they look like one of ours." Still don't know for sure who might be in there, after all.
Jon approaches the area of the fight. Looks as though Masahiro-sama has things in hand so far, but helping him out could hardly be a bad idea. Wait, where'd all the noise go? c.c Whoa, that's a disconcerting feeling. And now the enemy's disappearing? That's not good. Jon acts quickly before he loses sight of the adversary, trying to establish a channel of chakra between himself and the foe.
Chichi does as she is told to, nervous but still willing to help. She can't really do much else. 'Watch this tent and yell if anyone comes out.' Simple orders, right? She wishes she could help more than that, but she's also kind of scared. These people… Jounin or even higher… They're dangerous. Like, she can feel the danger waves radiating off of them. Killing intent. She mostly just stays down and quiet.
Seiji bows his head, he was pretty happy that he didn't have to fight, but he would fight if the need calls for it. "Hai!" he says to Jon and begins carrying out his orders. Seiji quickly moved to the men who were wounded by Sami's kunai attack. A few were dead, this shook Seiji, but those who were still alive he had to help them get out of there. Finding one of the Shinobi who was cut along the arm, Seiji lifts his uninjured arm, "Come on, we gotta get you out of here." he says. "Stay here." he says as he spots another injured Kumo shinobi who he quickly goes over to him. Helping him up, it looked like he wasn't too injured, "Help me with him." Seiji asks as he goes back over to first victim. Seiji and the other nin carries off the Kumo nin out of the combat zone.
As the tip of Masahiro's gatana rips from the wound, Masahiro shifts into a defensive posture expecting retaliation from the now ghostly visage. A large bushy caterpillar of an eyebrow quirks momentarily as the old man articulates his plan.
It might be that the old man's hearing is really bad and the lack of sound doesn't seem to effect him, but.. the lack of sound honestly doesn't seem to phase him. As if years of experiencing weird crap just lends an arched eyebrow to the man's emotion. Dirt and rocks skitter across the open field as Masahiro stops his defensive push backwards before leaping into a flurry of precise gatana strikes and stabs. The black blade of the shinobi-gatana radiates with blue chakra as he carves chunks out of the air with it's heavenly aura, so fast that the entire area around the two appear to glow.
Sami's tuning fork-like sword vibrates in response to every action, every motion that Masahiro makes. Sami knows exactly when and where each attack is going to be before it lands. Thus he avoids most of the insanely fast sword strikes. However, one strike manages to get through, slashing one muscular arm, and sending what appears to be mist spraying from the wound. It trails in the air, floating there for a few seconds before turning red as it travels too far from Sami's body, and then dropping to the ground in the form of blood. By then, however, Sami has almost completely melded with his Hidden Mist Technique's fog. He may or may not be undetectable at this point.
Either way, the fog continues to thicken, roiling in and filling the area. The clamor of the Kumo ninja who have been searching for the enemy, and those who have gathered around in large numbers to help Masahiro and Jon fight, floods back in. Whatever was silencing the environment appears to have gone away. Did the Swordsman leave? Did he escape?
No, but Jon still has a link to Sami's Chakra. He may or may not be aware of where exactly Sami is, but he can still try to influence Sami with Genjutsu. Of course, given Masahiro's experience, he may be able to find the transparent and ghostly Sami, even in fog so thick that one can't see one's hand in front of one's face.
If he can or not, there is a sudden inhuman SCREAM beginning and ending high-pitched. In the swirling mist it is very eerie, and seems to echo everywhere at once. It's obviously not a person… It's also not any animal anyone has ever heard… Is it… A ghost!? Masahiro likely wouldn't have time to think much about that. Because before that scream was sounded, a very deadly attack would have already reached the old man's position.
LIGHTNING QUICK POSE FROM JON! Can't see nuthin', but still gotta link, better use it. In Sami's perception, a tall iron rod falls straight from the heavens, burying its end firmly in the ground in front of Sami. It is swiftly followed by more like it, falling in a circle around Sami, and finally a massive stone slab slams down on top of all the rods. Trapped! Or that's the intent.
Chichi is still crouched down by the tent, keeping an eye out for anyone who might still be inside and planning on coming out! …Or she's trying at least. This fight between Masahiro and the pale enemy ninja is really interesting! And scary as hell too, but she's trying not to focus on that. The red-haired young woman tries to yell out encouragement to Masahiro, while at the same time keeping such yells relatively quiet. She doesn't want to draw attention to herself. But… Oddly, no noise comes out when she yells. She frowns. All the cacophony of people yelling and running around and armor jangling and weapons being unsheathed has suddenly gone silent. What the fork?
Then the enemy… Vanishes! He just melds into the fog as it grows thicker and thicker! She can't see anything anymore. Even the tent right next to her is a barely-detected presence. "I've… Never seen so much fog…" she mutters. And at the same time she says this, the sound all comes washing back into the area. She winces a bit, but at least she can hear what's going on now. She thought it was a good thing that she could hear. But then there's that SCREAM. Like a phantom or a banshee or something! It's the scream of a dead thing risen from the grave! The screech of something as it attacks the living!
She can't see what's going on, but she is very unnerved. What if their opponent wasn't really a ninja? What if he was actually some kind of spirit? The spirit of a slain warrior, come for vengeance against those whom have desecrated his grave-site!? Crap! "Aaaaahhhh!" she yells in fear and uses her position near the tent to stumble inside, forgetting about the potential presence of an enemy. Struggling with the tent flaps, she trips over something in the dark, and lands on her face. "Ow…" Then she realizes there's something warm and wet all over the grass she's lying on. Something rapidly cooling. "…I…I…" she doesn't know what to say or do. It's like a nightmare. She whimpers instead of screaming and scrambles to her feet as best she can, trying to find her way back out of the darkened tent. Hiding inside with a bunch of dead people seems less preferable to being outside where her friends can protect her.
With the help of one of the Chuunin Kumo nins, Seiji is able to help the wounded get further out of the combat zone. A new quick make shift meeting area was created where the medical ninja made their work area, still trying to help those in need of their healing. Seiji who now had blood on him, was starting to get tired, he looked around and when called by the Chuunin who's been helping him. Seiji nods and goes over to him, due to the neck injury that the Chuunin had taken, he smiles and offers and grateful nod, if one could think. Seiji was about to go back to where the medical ninja were when a scream comes from where he was earlier. It sounded like there was someone else out there.
Frowning, Seiji quickly rushes with the Chuunin back to the combat zone, both looking for the source of the scream, but Seiji wasn't able to find them. He quickly started looking around, noting the tents that he, Jon and Chichi were passing by as they came in. "Where are…." he stops as a very thick fog was roiling in. "Crap…" he mutters as he looks around. The fog was only giving him just a few inches in front of himself, he was separated from the Chuunin and there had to be another Kumo-nin out here injured and possibly dying. Butterflies began filling him as he could feel and hear the clash of the fight pursuing. But something else also unnerved the poor Yotsuki genin, it was the eerie phantom like scream that suddenly erupts through out the area. "Oh…crap…" Seiji mutters as he tries to move cautiously back to where he remembered the tents being. He wanted to get away from that damn ghost or whatever the hell it was. "Please don't let there be any zombies." he starts to say as he bumps into a tree which scares the utter hell out of him. But he uses the tree as a guide and hides behind it. Tree vanishing technique!
Masahiro glares as the opposing shinobi begins to melt into his surroundings. The Murakumou sword is leveled in front of the old shinobi as he scans the mist for any kind of inconsistencies, while at the same timing preparing himself for something big. The blade illuminates the mist, leaving him a big target. It's at that time there is a loud scream. Again, it doesn't startle Masahiro as it should, but he couldn't find where Sami was. It's too late. The sword begins to glow wildly with chakra as the old shinobi attempts to stop the resonance, but it ravages him. Sliding back thirty feet, Masahiro crashes into the side of a hill, dust and debris exploding into the air. There is a delay, but a swooshing sound indicates that Masahiro was still alive, if not a bit bruised. "I see we've graduated to real attacks." Closing his eyes, Masahiro begins attacking at the mist with his sword, a flurry of small strikes, building up his momentum until he is a tornado of spinning chakra ripping through the mist.
Sami is preparing to continue his attacks, when suddenly there is a cage falling into place around him. He pauses, observing as a stone slab lands on top. 'Someone detecting me well enough to land a cage around me? In this fog? Even I cannot see. Either they used sound… Or…' He holds out one arm, and slices slowly into the forearm with Otomegami. The pain grows and grows, almost reaching the bone of the arm, until the cage suddenly vanishes. Nodding to himself, he moves in on his opponent.
He easily avoids the slashes at the fog, being nowhere nearby, and detecting the vibrations in the air well ahead of time. But then he makes a fatal mistake. He leaps high into the air, negating the sounds of his footsteps and his descent by absorbing the vibrations into his sword. But as he prepares to stab Masahiro in the skull with the two-tipped blade, there is a sudden spin of attacks and Chakra, swirling the fog away from the Senshi General, and slashing Sami severely and repeatedly. He can't dodge in mid-air.
Sami falls to the ground with a thump, having been thrown quite a distance from the site of the battle. Not too far to find and finish off. But he's lying motionless, somewhere in the fog. The fog that is beginning to thin and vanish… Sami, despite the great pain he is in from numerous cuts, and the total absence of strength in his body, as though his life essence had been sucked out of him, does not make any noises of pain. He just lies there and stares up at the fog-shrouded sky. 'The sun will be up soon… I need to be gone before then.' He tries to use his willpower alone to start forcing his numb, immobile body to respond. He may be in a bad state, but near-death experiences are not new to him. He has the will to do what must be done.
He made a promise that he would never be too weak to defend what he cares about ever again. He can't be too weak now. Opponent not-withstanding, Sami has to gather his ANBU recruits and return to Kirigakure. There he can recover and plan for the next stage of his personal mission.
Jon frowns as he feels the chakra link cut off. This guy certainly is formidable. Which begs the question, why is his talent being wasted (not to mention risked) like this? What advantage is gained by going after the wounded and the healers? Just a demoralizing tactic? Could be, but if Kirigakure thinks Kumogakure will waver because of a reduction in medical support, they don't know the spirit of the lightning nin. >/ Still, there could easily be more to it than that…and since Masahiro-sama seems to have the fight well in hand, Jon decides he'd be better of doing what he does best—investigating! He heads for that tent where he'd last left off the trail. "Chichi-san! Seiji-san! You two okay?!"
Chichi finally manages to stumble out of the tent, unaware of what exactly is going on in the battle, other than the sounds of the air swirling violently, and the clash of metal. The fog begins to diminish just as unnaturally swift as it had appeared. She can't see much of anything, until Jon calls out to her. By that point the tent is no longer shrouded in mist, so she can see him. And he can see her. With blood all over her (none of it her own) and looking quite pale. "I… Uhh… I don't think there's an enemy in the tent. J-just… D-dead p-p-people—" she tries not to cry, but there's some tears in her eyes and on her cheeks anyway. She has never been that close to a dead body before, let alone ones of her own country-men. While she's alone. In the dark. With screaming ghosts outside. She has not been trained to handle this kind of fear and stress.
But still, she wipes her eyes with one hand and sniffs as she looks around for Seiji. She spots him crouched behind a tree as the fog continues to retreat. "S-Seiji-kun is over there." She points him out and then moves >away< from the corpse-filled tent, to see what's going on with the battle. Is it over?
Masahiro comes out of his tornado spin with one foot in front of him, knees bent with his sword sticking straight out behind him. It's slowly lowered as the mist starts to dissipate. That's when he knew his attack had landed. It takes but a minute of scanning the area to spot the tattered body of Sami. This draws a grin to his face. Flickering out of vision, Masahiro appears standing above Sami's vulnerable body. "It is a shame to kill such a good warrior. For what?" The sword is brought down viciously into a coup de grace, aimed at Sami's stomach. The stabbing Katana casually penetrates Sami's flesh, the sword easily being one of the sharpest swords in existence. It's not a fast stab either, a slow twisty one that is then viciously ripped from the newly created wound. "May the gods have mercy on your soul." With one last well placed kick, Masahiro punts Sami, not bothering to see if he lived our not.
