Most of the reports had been grim, at best, but at least some of the data showed some forward movement in finding weaknesses within the ranks of the Swarm. A great deal of the stories involved losing all but one of a team, and for the Chunnin, it meant that they were using fear tactics. Strange, for a monster that seemed determinedly mindless. Michino crouched low behind a dune in the dead of night, shivering slightly from the unnatural cold. Clouds had long gathered over and around Suna for days, making the darkness that followed in the absence of the sun nearly unbearable. A long string of steam from his breath crawled up the side of his face before disappearing into the frigid air. Careful slow inhales and release of oxygen. With this he had managed to scout ahead far but he knew full well his team was just moments from attacking. Ahead of him, about fifty-yards, was a small group of six Unbent. They seemed to be walking aimlessly.
The rest of his team was on standby. All of them Toraono, members of the clan who had been assisting in the field already while Michino kept the house at peace with the recent visitors. They spoke the same horror stories he had read, with only minor changes to the gruesome details. His experience with the creatures already wasn’t fantastic either, having lost all but two of his original team while clearing out the border villages. They attack hard, swift, and some had a penchant to cause infections that could create a lesser, more mindless, form of themselves. So far he knew that Demon Fire burned it away, but that wasn’t exactly an option for everyone. The scars left on his friend were horrible to behold, and he had since went into Black Ops due to his new disfigurement. Before he left, he personally talked to Michino and told him he was beyond grateful to still be alive…but any social life he had was gone. The guy was already bad about throwing himself into his work, so, the extreme of that was no doubt joining the branch of the military that didn’t rest.
The creatures before him all walked around like the monsters he was used to fighting so far. Nothing unusual presented itself about the Unbent in front him, but something in the back of his mind was nagging. Something simply felt…off.
His hands curled themselves into a formation of holding a sword on his left hip, and with the utmost care he quietly began to draw on the air to pull his weapon from the realm it resided on. Normally it was quite the theatrical thing, but the things before him already had a knack for catching on to a person’s scent, like an animal, and he didn’t need the air to suddenly stop moving when it was pleasantly blowing his natural aromas downwind. Then the damned creatures lifted their heads suddenly and all turned North; one let out a shriek.
The notes he had said the shriek was a sign they had gotten orders, and were about to obey. When the damn things want to move, and go suddenly, they could. Generally they seemed to look lethargic but they were anything but. The hairs on the back of Michino’s neck lifted, followed by a chill zapping straight down his spine. They were going to move. It was now or never.
Tightening his grip on the air forming between his hands, he materialized his sword, drew, and cut. The dune before him exploded and a blade of air rocketed out to tear into the creatures the moment their backs were turned. Two of them felt the brunt of the attack, but the others managed to turn and hit the blade of air with a force of energy. They screamed, either for their fallen comrades or for the feast they were about to enjoy, and charged.
Two large shadowed bodies crashed into the first one, crushing its skull between their massive fists while a third, far more slender form, snaked between the remaining Unbent, tearing them apart piece by piece. In moments the battle had started and finished as was the way the Toraono confronted most issues; quickly.
Michino released his breath and sheathed the weapon before carefully moving up towards the bodies of their new nemesis. Focusing a little chakra into his eyes he saw that his family looked weary in their attempt to keep up with him, but he was full glad they did. Even with his boundless strength, taking on more than one opponent had always been a bit of a weakness for Michino, and that was still true today.
He crouched down by the Unbent that still had, most, of their body parts and began to carefully write kanji on them before taking a scroll from a cousin, and sealing the beast’s body inside. His eyes looked up, beyond the horizon, and wondered what the order they had just been given was.
The rest of his team was on standby. All of them Toraono, members of the clan who had been assisting in the field already while Michino kept the house at peace with the recent visitors. They spoke the same horror stories he had read, with only minor changes to the gruesome details. His experience with the creatures already wasn’t fantastic either, having lost all but two of his original team while clearing out the border villages. They attack hard, swift, and some had a penchant to cause infections that could create a lesser, more mindless, form of themselves. So far he knew that Demon Fire burned it away, but that wasn’t exactly an option for everyone. The scars left on his friend were horrible to behold, and he had since went into Black Ops due to his new disfigurement. Before he left, he personally talked to Michino and told him he was beyond grateful to still be alive…but any social life he had was gone. The guy was already bad about throwing himself into his work, so, the extreme of that was no doubt joining the branch of the military that didn’t rest.
The creatures before him all walked around like the monsters he was used to fighting so far. Nothing unusual presented itself about the Unbent in front him, but something in the back of his mind was nagging. Something simply felt…off.
His hands curled themselves into a formation of holding a sword on his left hip, and with the utmost care he quietly began to draw on the air to pull his weapon from the realm it resided on. Normally it was quite the theatrical thing, but the things before him already had a knack for catching on to a person’s scent, like an animal, and he didn’t need the air to suddenly stop moving when it was pleasantly blowing his natural aromas downwind. Then the damned creatures lifted their heads suddenly and all turned North; one let out a shriek.
The notes he had said the shriek was a sign they had gotten orders, and were about to obey. When the damn things want to move, and go suddenly, they could. Generally they seemed to look lethargic but they were anything but. The hairs on the back of Michino’s neck lifted, followed by a chill zapping straight down his spine. They were going to move. It was now or never.
Tightening his grip on the air forming between his hands, he materialized his sword, drew, and cut. The dune before him exploded and a blade of air rocketed out to tear into the creatures the moment their backs were turned. Two of them felt the brunt of the attack, but the others managed to turn and hit the blade of air with a force of energy. They screamed, either for their fallen comrades or for the feast they were about to enjoy, and charged.
Two large shadowed bodies crashed into the first one, crushing its skull between their massive fists while a third, far more slender form, snaked between the remaining Unbent, tearing them apart piece by piece. In moments the battle had started and finished as was the way the Toraono confronted most issues; quickly.
Michino released his breath and sheathed the weapon before carefully moving up towards the bodies of their new nemesis. Focusing a little chakra into his eyes he saw that his family looked weary in their attempt to keep up with him, but he was full glad they did. Even with his boundless strength, taking on more than one opponent had always been a bit of a weakness for Michino, and that was still true today.
He crouched down by the Unbent that still had, most, of their body parts and began to carefully write kanji on them before taking a scroll from a cousin, and sealing the beast’s body inside. His eyes looked up, beyond the horizon, and wondered what the order they had just been given was.
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