Chapter 6: The Marsh Mist Fiends

Iax had found the footprints owners. It wasn't pretty.

If he hadn't of counted five sets off foot prints whilst he tracked them down he would have struggled to guess their number. All of them bar one man were dismembered, mutilated limbs were scattered every which way. The mud here was stickier and darker in colour. Their weapons that were still clutched in desperate death grips were broken; each face looked drawn and agonised.

Iax checked the tree line; their footprints had suggested they'd been pushing for shelter. Then the one following them had struck.

Iax circled the bodies trying to learn a bit more; he noticed how the legs of one of them had been cut clean through. 'Through the shin bone no less.' Crouching next to the corpse he examined the cut, perfectly smooth. The blade had sliced through flesh and bone like it was butter. 'Enhancing the edge with chakra. Lightning? No, no it's too clean. Wind chakra' He straightened, let out a sigh, it wasn't a lot to go on.

The most annoying thing was that the assailant's footprints disappeared here as well. They were incredibly shallow in comparison with the tracks of the victims. The man walked like a ghost. Iax looked back to the massacre; there was a look of abject terror on the face of one body. They eyes bulged almost comically but there was something else about the look in them. There was a hint of recognition. The murderer had met his victims beforehand, he'd let them walk off and then followed.

'What does that imply? The murderer is meticulous? He avoided direct confrontation and attacked later when he had the advantage. Shinji wouldn't need the element of surprise.'

"Your poor bastards" Iax scrunched up his face sourly and spat into the gore. He lifted his hands 'Tiger, horse, ram, snake' Doton: Sinkhole Tomb Jutsu. The ground beneath bodies rippled like water then suddenly collapsed and the corpse disappeared into the earth. Iax stood for a moment at the impromptu grave, he didn't do sentimentality but respect didn't cost a thing, before turning to face east. The sun was rising now, the forests canopy bathed in the rosy rays.

Was this Shinji? Shinji would have struck them down when he'd met them the first time; Iax had never known Shinji to stalk prey. But the way they'd been killed… It was skilled work. The person who'd done it obviously enjoyed himself as well, especially as he'd taken the time to reveal himself to the man who'd recognised him. 'Wind chakra…' That was an impressive technique.

Iax shrugged, he didn't have any other leads. There was no way of confirming whether or not this psycho was his quarry but Iax didn't care. One less murderer on the loose was a win in his books. Plus the technique of this mystery killer excited him. The clean cut shin bone jumped to mind and a sadistic smile grew on his face. If he found this man it'd be a fight to remember.

In the far east of the Land of Waves there was one super power remaining, a clan strong enough to survive The Downfall. They owned three villages controlling an area of about 60 miles or so, each village formed a triangle around a massive salt-water lake, comparable to a small sea. It was their source of income; they fished for food, formed the coral they dived for into jewellery and were known as competent shipwrights throughout the land. They were famous however for another reason.

The Hozuki Clan, powerful and unforgiving. A few years earlier a large group of rogue ninja had attempted to take the largest of their villages. It was a fools errand they paid for their arrogance many times over though when the Hozuki had crushed them. However the Hozuki's thirst for vengeance was not sated by that alone, they proceeded to systematically destroy each of the known rogue ninja gangs in the area surrounding the lake, they made it as gruesome and as public as possible. They were a clan of sadists after all and each clan member made it well known to anyone that listened that the Hozuki were enjoying the purge.

Shozagetsu Hozuki was the captain of their ninja forces, the strongest ninja they had to offer. He was a tall, athletic man with thick white hair that fell to his shoulder blades; he let it hang loosely all over the place because he liked how it looked when it was stained with his enemies' blood. His bright violet eyes shone out from behind the messy locks, they had a cruel excitement to them that was echoed by his grin of sharpened teeth. He'd been one of the commanding officers during the purge, his exploits had made him a legend in his own lifetime.

Shozagetsu was hunting rogues. He'd been assigned with making the Hozuki clan's land safe for its residents, a task that filled him with pride. He was already the peoples hero and he loved servicing that image. It complimented his ego nicely. Turning to his hand selected team he wiped dew from his purple t-shirt, the Hozuki clan symbol was emblazoned boldly on the front, and smiled. They were assembled in a clearing just outside the most western village, the ground beneath foot was damp and boggy. The late morning sun made the soggy forest sparkle.

"Now my loyal and noble clansmen… and women" he added quickly seeing his second in command Yu frown. "We have been tasked with safety of our homeland" his sibilant voice almost hissed the sentence "as I understand it; this is the most important job in the ninja world. The Hozuki clan is the last hope for this miserable planet and protecting it is safeguarding the future." He was swept away with emotion, moisture forming in his in his violet eyes before a hand quickly swept it away, he smiled proudly.

"Careful boss, it really weirds me out when you get all weepy." The bass tones of Fumiaki Hozuki stated bluntly. He was a short, squat man his body swathed in a long pale blue coat with a high collar; his white hair was dread-locked and pulled back into a ponytail and the bridge of his nose had two metal rings pierced through. Two violet eyes stared coldly out either side, they were not aggressive just truly indifferent.

Yu quickly stepped between the captain and Fumiaki."Boy's let's not fight again." She said softly, her voice was husky and rich, like good whisky. she calmly looked from left two right as the clearing filled with the two mens killing intent. Shozagetsu was resting his hands on his matching kriss; Fumiaki was spinning his axe in lazy circles. They stared into each other's eyes and the tension reached breaking point.

"Hoh hoh hoh" Fumiaki's deep booming laughter echoed through the clearing it almost harmonised with Shozagetsu's snake like sniggering.

"I'll kill you one day bastard heheheh" Shozagetsu giggled as he lowered his hands from his kriss. he then leisurely walked over to Yu as if the confrontation had never occurred "So, heheheh" he was still giggling hysterically "sorry forgive me! Back to business! So!? The Intel?" He was still barely managing to contain his merriment; the thought of killing Fumiaki was just too amusing.

Yu glared at him, her violet eyes were lighter than the two men's, more lilac. She swept her black hair behind her ear and let her stern face dissolve into a look of exasperation. "Why do you keep picking him for your team if you hate him so much?" The captain was always very particular about his teams and without fail he always selected Fumiaki to be on his team, this choice always baffled Yu.

"Because he's the best…" The captain's eyes sparkled "plus he makes me laugh"

The team were hunting down rumours of a large contingent of rogue ninja moving east. They'd destroyed a few villages in the past few weeks; the refugee's turning up at Lake Hozuki had warned the clan elders of their approach. Within half an hour Shozagetsu had been standing in their office, head bowed respectfully, as he received his orders. If the swathe of destruction was anything to go by this ninja gathering were too be viewed as a threat, Shozagetsu's team was to primarily scout out the enemy and after sending the location back to HQ they were to thin out the numbers with guerilla tactics.

It was Shozagetsu's favourite type of mission; the hunt, the strategising that all just built the anticipation and served to sharpen his appetite. Then the fun part. Killing stray ninja off at first, slowly letting the majority know they were under attack, then when the Rogue Nin were too afraid to leave their camp-fire… full scale assault. A shiver of satisfaction ran down his spine.

The settlements around Lake Hozuki were the Land of Waves last hope for civilisation. It was an intense honour being charged with protection of humanities... humanity. He would not let it fall. Plus it was great bragging rights.

According to the Intel the team headed west. The autumn chill in the air had created a light mist that swirled around the mangroves. It was about waist high and covered the boggy mud beneath. This thicket of stunted trees was old; it creaked loudly in the wind, huge rotting logs protruded out of the marsh and its mist. Shozagetsu smiled fondly, he found a rugged beauty in the swamp. The marshlands circled Lake Hozuki for many miles, during the rainy season the lake flooded, causing vast swathes of land to be drenched in salt water. Only the hardiest trees survived, beyond the mangroves were the salt flats and then eventually normal forests resumed.

Shozagetsu considered all this land as Hozuki land and any Rogue Ninja brave enough or stupid enough to set foot on it deserved death. The Hozuki were like the mangroves, resilient and adaptable. They would endure, survive and outlast.

Yu had said that the Rogues had been travelling eastward but had not yet reached the salt flats though. Shozagetsu had decided that they would find them in the deciduous forests and establish the numbers. It wouldn't do to fight them on the flats, they were too open but if they sent words for reinforcements, the team could launch a series of guerilla attacks in the forests, flee back across the salt plains and lead the Rogue ninja into an ambush in the mangroves. In the mangroves the Hozuki were unstoppable, using the mist and salt water to full advantage with their hydrification technique.

The trio raced through the mangroves, leaping from the twisted thickets of wood, sailing through the damp air. Each was smiling, each had teeth filed to a deadly point. They were the pride of the Hozuki clan, the first line of defence and the shadows stalking the mangroves. The Marsh Mist Fiends.

Iax walked through the forest, the gruesome murder scene still bouncing around his head. He was trying to keep an eye out for the ghost like foot prints, but the trees had protected the forest floor from most of the rain. The ground was too hard to leave an impression in, it wasn't good for tracking.

The air was damper here; the Land of Waves was famed for its mist, it was gathering around his shins now. It had a certain ghostly beauty but Iax viewed it only as a hindrance, it concealed roots making the each step treacherous. He quickly leapt up into the branches above him and started travelling in true ninja fashion. Iax preferred walking really, it allowed him to process his surrounding more efficiently plus if ninja were to stray across him they might mistake him for a civilian with a sword. He enjoyed the looks of surprise when he cut them down.

Catching himself smiling cynically, Iax frowned. The world was harsh and he'd seen some of the worst of it. Homes in ruins, orphaned children, bloodthirsty maniacs. 'These days I'm not sure if I'm hunting one or I am one' He shook his great head, quickly ridding the thoughts. He took no pleasure in killing the weak, he reassured himself. Iax let out a sigh, 'this will all be over soon. Then I'll hang my sword. But not until I've rammed it through his chest.'

The Marsh Mist Fiends had intensified the mist with their chakra; they had crossed the salt plains without any hiccups and were now skulking through the deciduous forest. The sun had passed the noon mark a few hours ago, the days were getting shorter and the sun was losing its heat. Shozagetsu had drawn his kriss; he held each in a reverse grip ideal for slashing throats. Their wavy blades were dull grey and whilst the edges were a lighter silver, they almost saw toothed from parrying attacks. Fumiaki frowned at the state of ill repair

"You should take better care of those things. One day they are just going to snap and you'll be dead" Shozagetsu just smiled.

"Fumiaki dear, are you my mother? I mean I'm pretty certain you're not. My mother wasn't a fat troll but the way you're nagging me…" Shozagetsu's smile widened as he saw the flame of anger flare in his rival's eye.

"Fuck you" the deep voice responded.

"Nah fuck you" was hissed back.

"Shut up both of you!" Yu hissed. These two never knew when to quit, for all they knew the rogue ninja camp could be five meters away but they just had to have a little bicker. Shozagetsu sneered at his subordinates then quickly returned his attention to the hunt. Whilst the mist covered them it made tracking difficult, rendering sight nearly useless anyway the ground here was too dry for footprints. He turned to Yu, nodding quickly she jumped up into the branches of a tree.

She sank into a relaxed cross legged position placed both her hands in the bird seal and closed her lilac eyes. Yu moulded her chakra with the mist. She felt flickers of heat pop up around her, the mist working as a medium for her sensory jutsu. There wasn't much going on around them; pushing further she continued the search. Her eyes snapped open, wide with shock.

"Shoza…"

"Yeah?"

"Send word to HQ, we need the full jonin force and chuunin force."

"Ahhh I see" She couldn't see him in the mist below the tree but she could hear the toothy grin in his voice. 'Fucking nutjob.'

Iax frowned; he'd reached a very strange part of the forest. Great strips of trees had been cut down; in their place were wide dirt tracks, the dirt churned up by hundreds of footprints. This was completely out of place, "Not many villages around here. What could have caused this? … Ninja army" He stood in shock for a second. 'It's huge.'

He kept to the tree line, leaping from branch to branch he started following the track. It wasn't wise, but he had to see this.

Shozagetsu grinned widely; they had found the 'camp'. It was more like a fortress. About a mile wide circle of trees had been chopped down, the largest trunks (great gigantic trees that even on their side stood fifteen feet high) had been used as walls, the earth behind the wall had been dug up to form a ditch, filled with stakes and what looked like oil. Behind the ditch the excavated earth, coloured the dark sticky red of clay, had been piled high to form embankments that were also peppered with stakes. The most impressive aspect though was the sheer number of ninja.

It wasn't some rogue troupe; they number easily over a hundred, probably closer to a thousand. Each ninja wore a uniform of plain black, their trousers taped around their ankles. Their hair was all cut to fine stubble; the only defining features they had was their choice of weapon, they were no longer ninja, they were too devoid of character to be ninja. Soldiers. It was a truly remarkable sight. A force like this could conquer the ninja world.

'That is if they hadn't run into The March Mist Fiends' Shozagetsu giggled inwardly. He turned to his team-mates. "So! What d'ya thinks gang?"

"Asides from the fact you're insane not much boss" Fumiaki mumbled monotonously. Shozagetsu was too excited to go for the bait though; he flicked the hair out of his violet eyes. He had certain magnetism when he wanted to, his team groaned silently as they felt him switch on his charm.

"Guys, guys, guys, gu…"

"Get on with it"

"Shut up Fumiaki, we were sent here to do a job. Sure there's a few more than we thought there would be…"

"A few hundred more."

"Interrupt again Fumiaki dear, I dare you. Sure there are a lot of them, but even if the jonin and the chuunin forces came we'd still be out-numbered. It'd be a waste of Hozuki blood." He wagged his index finger at them knowingly. "However… If we stick to the original plan, we whittle these guys down a bit. We run away" he ran his index and middle fingers along the palm of his other hand to illustrate the point. "We could turn the tide just enough to win in the mangroves."

His machinations were greeted with silence.

He spread his arms "What d'ya says boys and girls?"

Fumiaki turned to Yu, "It's a death mission. Sounds fun."

Yu weighed the options; of course she was placed on a team bloodthirsty enough to think certain death escapades were 'fun'. But logically it was the best chance for the villages. She sighed emphatically "I suppose it could be a laugh" her tone dripping in sarcasm.

Smack! Shozagetsu slammed his fist into his other hands palm. "You guys are the best. Well Fumiaki's alright but we don't have time for that right now. ssh ssh" He placed an index finger of Fumiaki's mouth before his squat team mate could weigh in.

Turning, they faced the army's camp.

"Fumiaki?"

"Boss."

"Don't die until I'm there to finish you off"

"Fuck you"

"Nah Fuck…"

Toki stood watch; he was one of the newer recruit in the army. Having drawn the short straw for the evening, he was left shivering in the mist. Originally from the more temperate Land of Winds Toki hated the Land of Waves. It was miserable, if it wasn't raining it was misty, the air was too damp it got straight into his bones.

Pacing back and forth to warm up Toki muttered under his breath. Why were they even in the fucking country? Heading east? There was nothing but sea in the east, nobody crossed it. Not like the higher ups would explain it to a lowly chuunin though.

It had all been fun and games when they'd been sacking villages on the way here, but soon they were in a remote wilderness. The forest was ending as well, scouts had come back with stories of great salt plains.

'I'm getting so drunk when my shifts over. I don't even care if I'm doing it alone.'

Unfortunately Toki's shift didn't end as planned.

Shozagetsu loomed from the shadows behind him, violet eyes almost glowing in the mist. A kriss punched through the back of Toki's neck, his voice box destroyed by the blow. Toki fell to the floor screaming silently.

The Marsh Mist Fiends descended open the camp.

Fumiaki stood in the tree tops, his index finger pointing at a ninja strolling to the latrines. He slowly started cocking his thumb back 'Water Style: Water Gun Jutsu' His thumb snapped down like the hammer of a revolverA small droplet of water sped from the tip of his index finger and shot straight through the ninjas skull. Fumiaki smiled briefly, his heavy features lighting up with satisfaction.

Yu had slipped past the defences on the northern side of the camp; using the mist as cover she quietly slit the sentry's throat. Then creeping through the first set of tents, she liberally placed explosive tags on the resting places before leaping back into the surrounding tree line. She heard a faint chuckle as she left; Shozagetsu was still prowling the camp looking for sentries or a poor sod that was going to the toilet.

'Sadists…' She groaned internally.

It was their classic formula for taking down rogue ninja encampments. Fumiaki stood at sniper, watching their backs. Shozagetsu took care of security whilst Yu set about sabotaging and setting up the wide spread destruction. That was just the start of it though, how they announced their presence. The explosion would signal the start of the free for all.

From her perch in an oak she saw Shozagetsu leap over the defences. He waved to Yu then stuck his middle finger up at Fumiaki. She saw Fumiaki start to cock his thumb back, sighing at her team mates shenanigans and figuring that as they weren't scrambling for safety they were obviously clear of the blast radius, she slapped her hands together "Kai!"

The Encampment exploded violently, a giant mushroom of flames raced up into the sky. The screams of wounded men and the roaring of the flames nearly drowned it out but Yu could faintly hear her team mates whooping with enthusiasm.

Iax had been following the track for a few hours now. The sun had set behind him as he leapt with ever increasing pace. He still couldn't figure out how many men made up this army. 'Truly daunting. I wonder if the Wind style guy got mixed in with this lot.'

Suddenly a huge explosion rocked the ground and fireball raced into the night sky. It was like a small sun that illuminated the misty woodlands. It was about three miles away.

A chilling grin grew on Iax face, his left hand reached up to the pommel of his sword.

'Maybe you have to be a maniac to hunt maniacs…'

Shozagetsu charged through the camp, blurring in and out of focus. He'd caught a cluster of panicking shinobi off-guard. The twin kriss slashed through two pair of Achilles tendons. Then spinning quickly he slashed the throats of two other ninja. Then as quick as he'd appeared he was gone, the immobilised ninja lay on the floor wailing in agony as their comrades blood pooled around them.

Skidding behind a tent the Hozuki Captain waited patiently. A ninja charged around the corner trying to head to his downed team mates. He didn't get very far though, a kriss plunged into his stomach. The other slid between his ribs before both were pull out forcefully.

'18. Fumiaki better be keeping up' Shozagetsu thought smugly. The kill count game was one of their favourites.

Meanwhile on the far side of the battleground Fumiaki was causing mayhem. In one hand his heavy single bladed axe in the other a whip formed out of water. He was taking on fifteen men at once, his deep bass voice bluntly pointing out their combat errors.

"Over extended" he quipped, side stepping to the right of a katana before hammering his axe into the man's knee. Stepping past him Fumiaki parried a spear thrust and used his water whip to pull out his assailant's feet from under him. "Foot work!" He stomped on the downed man's face. He heard it crunch and felt the man spasm beneath his boot. Fumiaki was forced to jump as a fireball shot at him; he avoided it narrowly but smiled as the enemies behind him were fried.

"Boy this is fun" He mumbled to himself. '22! I'm counting those fireball kills.'

Yu was taking a more relaxed approach to the assault. She knew the two boys would inevitably start playing the kill count game, so she took up a supporting role. Seeing the majority of ninja were now racing toward Fumiaki's position she was thinning out their numbers before they got to the squat pedant.

Her short spear had finally come out to play. It was a simple pole of steel with a sharpened end, brown leather bands were wrapped around the grip area and the other had a crescent moon blade. She, like Shozagetsu was an ambush fighter, hiding as a discreet puddle she would wait for ninja pass her. Three men did just that.

She sprang up and out of the puddle. Spinning her spear above her head rapidly. She felt the crescent moon blade tug through a man's neck, the kill confirmed by the spray of lifeblood splashing on her cheeks. Landing gracefully she parried a kunai, holding her spear like a quarterstaff. She quickly kicked the ninja in the fork of his legs. He dropped groaning as she span to face his ally. He was half way through a set of seals when the point of the spear punched through his left eye. As he dropped lifelessly and Yu turned to face the last man. He was dribbling and clutching at his groin.

"I wish you could see the funny side of this." Yu remarked before finishing him off.

Fumiaki spun the whip around his head. He fed more chakra into it, letting it grow. He managed to drive the swarming ninja back but they had formed a circle around him now. It didn't look good.

'Consider this a big fuck you, boss!' He chuckled at his own joke.

The ninja looked at him hungrily; they would soon spot an opening. However Fumiaki still had one trick up his sleeve. He charged. A wall of weaponry rose to meet him, but he just smirked. And ran straight into it… the weapons harmlessly splashed through him as he became water. Reforming within the ninjas guard he laughed hysterically and started hacking through the shinobi.

"HE'S A HOZUKI!" A ninja managed to shout the warning before Fumiaki's heavy axe decapitated him. He just chuckled at the futility.

"Of course I am." He parried another attack and locked eyes with the ninja. "You're on our land."

TO BE CONTINUED