Chapter 20: Assemble In The Sound
Orochimaru stands on a hill top over looking a wide portion of the rice field country's border. The wind blows through his dark black hair as a smile makes its way onto his face as he can see a single shinobi coming over the hill in full military gear walking straight for the hidden sound village. Orochimaru then turns around and walks back toward his stronghold in the heart of the sound village, as the single shinobi is joined by four more. And then ten more, then twenty more, and so on until there is the entire two hundred plus cloud village army coming over the hill toward the sound village.
The Raikage's caravan lies at the center of the group surrounded by his closest personal bodyguards and assistants. He reveals himself from the back of the caravan and gives orders to the shinobi following the caravan.
"All right, I want everyone to fall into ranks as soon as they reach the village. You are to remove all of your head protectors and any other identification that may be used to identify us." The Raikage moves to the front of the caravan and repeats the orders to those ninjas' that are a head of the caravan. "We will place all the identification in the caravans and pick them up after the engagement. I want no excuses, and no slip ups!"
As the cloud village arrives in the sound, they are greeted by Orochimaru and one of his subordinates, who stand at the front of additional troops from the sound village, roughly between seventy-five and one hundred. Standing in the line of troops, is the cloaked figure that aided Orochimaru in his persuasion of the Raikage back in the village. The figure stands with the hood of his cloak pulled over his head, blowing in the wind as he stands quietly amongst the rest of the sound village shinobi.
"Welcome to the sound village, Raikage-dono." Orochimaru says, "I am glad to see that you decided to take me up on my offer."
"Yes I have Orochimaru. My troops and I will do whatever you need to aid the invasion, but I expect to have what I was promised. With no excuses." The Raikage retorts.
"Don't worry Raikage-dono, my informant has mapped out the entire village for us and will see to it that our initial attack is successful in maintaining the element of surprise." Orochimaru then leads the Raikage and his closest entourage toward Orochimaru's stronghold. "Raikage-dono, if you will direct your shinobi to my men, they will get all of your soldiers equipped and dressed as sound shinobi."
"Very well." The Raikage simply nods to one of his attendants, and the attendant rallies the ranks and leads them to the sound shinobi. The Raikage and Orochimaru then enter Orochimaru's compound and make their way to Orochimaru's war room.
"We have knowledge of all of their ANBU patrols throughout the area and where their strongest resistance is located." Orochimaru then points out the area's weak points on a scale-sized map on the table in his war room.
"I am not worried about their guards, or their patrols, or any of their strong points in the village. From what I hear, the other two Sannin are in the village at this time. One of them of coarse is the Hokage, but Jiraiya will also be a problem if he is allowed to mount a defense against our forces. If he gets involved, it won't matter if the village is blind folded when we attack, we cannot counter his jutsu's and still maintain the advantage." The Raikage blurts out as he gets increasingly agitated at Orochimaru's confidence.
"I told you already Raikage-dono. I will take care of them both. I know Tsunade's weakness and I will exploit it personally. That is what those "volunteers" that you brought with you are for. I will personally take care of Tsunade with two of the volunteers."
"But what about Jiraiya?" The Raikage asks, "He is the one I am worried about. The Toad Hermit is not someone to be underestimated. How do you plan to take care of him?"
"According to my informant, there is also some new organization in the leaf village specially trained to handle Sharingan users. That is where my newest associate will come in handy. He and Kabuto will take care of Jiraiya."
Meanwhile in the leaf village, a lone guard is pacing back and forth in front of the main gates to the leaf village as he awaits his relief at the end of his shift. The guard is a young chuunin roughly 19 years of age. He holds a long spear in his left hand that is now hanging limp at his side.
"Aw man . . . where the hell is my relief?" The young man asks himself. "I have been here since midnight last night and I feel like I am gonna pass out. Sheesh, stupid dirt all over my shoes . . . why is it so hot out today? It may be summer but . . . it shouldn't be this hot." The realization that the young man is muttering gibberish to himself soon dawns on the young chuunin. "Oh man . . . if I'm not careful I am going to end up talking to myself."
The young mans attention is soon drawn to a shadow coming over the ridge, the shadow moves coarsely, drifting from side to side as they try to follow the path. As the figure comes into plain view, the young shinobi can make out a womanly figure in bloody clothing drifting from side to side in an effort to simply remain standing.
"What the hell is this?" The shinobi asks himself. "Hey! You there! Are you all right? Do you need help?"
The young woman trips and falls to her knees. The woman tries regaining her vertical base but is too weak to even stand. The young guard runs over to the young woman, dropping his spear as he gets closer to the young girl. He grabs a hold of the woman and looks at her more closely to try and figure out what exactly is wrong with the woman. His attention soon turns to the kunai stuck in the woman's back.
"Holy crap!" The young shinobi shouts. "Someone help! I need some help over here!"
The young shinobi's relief finally shows up and helps the young guard lift the woman up and the three of them then carry the young girl into the village.
"Step aside people!" One of the shinobi shouts, "SOMEBODY GET HELP!"
The townspeople scatter about trying to get in contact with one of the medical teams scattered throughout the village. When help finally arrives to help the young woman, looks up to the young man holding her in his arms, looks into his eyes with a look of utter fear and says, "Those eyes . . . his eyes . . . they were . . ." The young woman shudders in fear and pain and is taken away by the medical teams.
When she arrives in the hospital, she begins to explain what had happened to her vaguely while the medical times try to stop her bleeding and save the young girls life. "They . . . they are after the sacred water . . . you have to stop them . . . please . . . I beg . . . of you."
"Please girl save your strength. We are trying to help you, not interrogate you. But you can help us out, where were you injured? Who attacked you?"
"My . . . ribs . . . and my chest . . . they hurt . . . a lot. My family . . . they're in danger . . . you have to help them . . . Please, I came . . . I came here looking for help. They . . . are still . . . they're still . . . they are still attacking the village. We need . . . Your help . . ."
"Who my dear?" The nurse asks. "Who attacked you?"
"His eyes . . . they were . . . red . . . he . . . he breathed fire . . . and attacked us . . . he murdered . . . anyone that got in his way . . ."
The young woman's mouth then fills with blood and she begins convulsing profusely has she is going into shock. The medics make as many efforts as they possibly can to save the young girls life. Using every possible relevant medical jutsu in their arsenal to help the woman survive.
An hour later, Tsunade has arrived at the young girl's hospital room to check in on their mysterious visitor. When Tsunade opens the door, the medic assigned to looking after the young woman is pulling the white sheet over the young girl's face and head.
"What happened?" Tsunade asks.
"We are not sure exactly Tsunade-sama. " The medic replies. "From the looks of it all and our initial examination, she died due to massive internal injuries and bleeding. From the looks of the wounds, they were caused by shuriken and kunai."
"So she was attacked?" Tsunade asks. "Where was she from?"
"It would appear that her village was invaded by unknown attackers, and we found this in her supply bag." The medic hands Tsunade a head protector covered in blood.
Tsunade grabs a sterilized towel from a box on the counter of the hospital room and wipes the blood from the metal plate of the head protector, revealing the insignia that is associated with the Hidden Falls Village.
"She was from the Hidden Falls village?" Tsunade exclaims just as Sakura, Maea and Naruto come running up behind her from down the hall.
"Who is from the hidden falls village?" Naruto asks.
"A young girl stumbled into the village about an hour ago having suffered serious injuries from an attack on her village." The medic says.
"I was hearing about that amongst the rest of the villagers." Sakura replies. "I was coming here to see if I could do anything to help, and I ran into Maea and Naruto on the way."
"Is the girl ok?" A concerned Maea inquires.
"Afraid not." Tsunade holds up the young girls damaged and still blood soaked head protector in her left hand. "She didn't make it. Apparently someone attacked her village and she must have escaped and came here to seek help."
"That's awful. Who attacked them? The Hidden Falls Village is peaceful. They have nothing of value." Sakura says as she tries to understand what the attacked may have been caused by. It soon dawns on her that their mission over a year ago to the Hidden Falls village, revealed the secret of the hidden village. "Damn, they must have been after the sacred water!"
"What did you say?" Tsunade asks.
"The girl did say that whoever it was that attacked them was after the sacred water." The medic adds. "She noticed something about one of the attackers eyes. And from the sounds of it, he liked using fire jutsu on his opponents."
"But how did the attackers located the entrance to the waterfall village?" Tsunade asks, sparking a reaction from both Naruto and Sakura, who turn to each other, both thinking the same thing. "From what I hear the entrance to the village is very well hidden. Almost impossible to find unless you were in the village before."
"We know how they got in Tsunade-sama." Sakura says silently, holding her head low as thoughts and memories soon rush back into her mind.
"What are you talking about Sakura? Who attacked them?" Tsunade asks.
"Sasuke . . ." Naruto says quietly drawing attention from all those involved in the conversation. "He saw the entrance to the village just like we did. He would know how to get inside. Also the fire jutsu's are one of Sasuke's signature techniques, and she must have been referring to the Sharingan."
The hair on Tsunade's neck begins to stand on end as she realizes the negative possibilities inherent with the idea of Orochimaru possessing both Sasuke as a container, and the sacred water as well. She quickly makes the decision to send a force to the hidden falls village as soon as possible in an effort to intercept the attackers before they leave the sieged village, and alleviate the villagers' suffrage.
"Sakura! Find me Gai or any of the members of SICT. I need to send them on a mission." Tsunade then turns to Naruto who stands quietly looks downward and clenching his fist as the memories of his estranged friend brings back a lot of emotions. "Naruto! I need you to find Jiraiya. If Sasuke is in the hidden falls village, then it is likely that Orochimaru is with him. If not then, we may be able to gather valuable intelligence on Orochimaru's plans and operations. I cannot leave the village at this time, but Jiraiya is the only other person in the village that may be a match for Orochimaru. The SICT will also need another strong leader, with Kakashi still out of the village."
"RIGHT!" Both Sakura and Naruto reply in unison. The two genin the leave Tsunade presence running as fast as they can to locate their respective targets.
Maea follows behind and leaves the building with Sakura as the two of them begin their quick search for Gai. Naruto heads in the opposite direction to find Jiraiya . . . most likely sitting in a bar somewhere drinking sake and looking for young girls.
Meanwhile outside the village, amongst the massive maze of trees and tall grass, a lone shinobi sits watching the events in the village unfold through a set of high-powered binoculars. As he see's Naruto talking with Jiraiya and leading him back to the hospital to meet with Tsunade, the shinobi laughs quietly to himself. He then turns his focus to Sakura and Maea who lead Gai and a number of SICT team members to the same location.
"Well . . . I suppose that it is safe to say that they have fallen for it all." As the scene pans out, a sinister looking Yakuushi Kabuto sits perched in the trees amused as he watches his plan unfold perfectly. "Hook . . . line . . . and sinker."
One of the members of the SICT runs through the streets of the leaf village as news of their new assignment has been quick to reach all of them. The member quickly bolts around the corner of the Ichiraku Ramen hut, bumping into Masato Toragai's shoulder almost knocking him over. The SICT member does not stop running and continues toward his teams gathering.
"Hey what the hell? Watch it asshole!" Toragai angrily shouts at the fleeing shinobi who does not turn to offer an apology or even a response. Toragai soon notices Maea running around the corner as well and she stops a few feet in front of him almost running into him as well. "Whoa their missy what's the rush?"
"Toragai?" Maea enquires. "I thought that was you shouting obscenities around the corner."
"Well can you blame me?" Toragai angrily replies. "That was the third member of this SICT group to almost knock me over in the last ten minutes. What the hell are they up to?"
"Tsunade-sama is sending them on a mission to the waterfall country." Maea responds.
"The waterfall country? That seems to be a pretty big waste of resources to send a tactical team like that out to probably do some menial job like mowing the villages lawn don't you think?" Toragai states trying to arouse a laugh or smile from the serious looking shinobi.
"No. Apparently the village is under attack from Orochimaru."
"Orocha-whoie?" Toragai asks with a confused look on his face.
"Orochimaru, you twit!" Maea says striking Toragai in the side of the head with an open hand slap. "He was one of the legendary Sannin. I don't know much more then that. Except for the fact that he is bad news."
Toragai rubs the side of his head as he shrugs his shoulders with a careless demeanor. "Well have fun with that. I only look out for number one. And right now, number one has to take a number two. So if you will excuse me, I must find the little boys room!" Toragai begins walking away from Maea who can only stand with a disgusted look on her face.
"God you are such a pig Toragai!" Maea shouts as Toragai walks away, raising his hand in a thumbs up position as he chuckles and laughs to himself.
Back in the sound village, Orochimaru and the Raikage continue going over their plans for the upcoming invasion of Konoha.
"When we arrive on the outskirts of the fire country, we should receive an update from our informant on the inside. If he pulls through on his end, we will not have to worry about any of the wandering ANBU patrols throughout the area, giving us a clear-cut path to the village." Orochimaru then points to the section of the map on the table marked with the words outer wall on it. "When we arrive just outside the outer wall, we will receive a signal from the inside of the village to let us know that the time is right for us to strike."
"Signal?" The Raikage asks. "What kind of signal?"
"My informant has a surprise in store for those in the village. It should allow us to maintain the element of surprise."
Orochimaru's commentary continues as the scene changes back to the leaf village, where a lone shinobi walks through the streets of the village unnoticed and undetected. Only his feet and hands are visible from the angle shown. The shinobi walks by one of the many buildings along Konoha's market strip, and with a sly and quick slight of hand the shinobi places an exploding tag on the side of the building with an upward stroke of his hand. And with a downward stroke of the hand, the tag becomes camouflaged on the side of the building, almost invisible to the naked eye.
"With one some new toys I created for him, he should be able to turn the whole village upside down without them even knowing . . . until it's too late."
"What kind of toys?"
"Exploding tags with a camouflage jutsu laced into the fabric of the scroll. Making the bomb invisible to anyone that is not touching it directly. With a single hand seal, the tags can be detonated all at once or in sequence. The tags will be placed in specific areas around the village . . ."
The shinobi places another tag on another building as he calmly walks by the building, making his way through the crowd streets of the market area. The tag disappears just as quickly and fluently as it was placed on the side of the building. When the angle changes to what is behind the shinobi, the vague outline of more then twenty explosive tags can be seen along the building sides. Ten in the marketplace alone. More tags placed on the side of the Hokage building, the Nara household, the ANBU headquarters and the Konoha hospital are then shown to have been camouflaged as well.
" . . . and detonate in sequence, sending all of the response teams into a frenzy as they try to stay on top of the chaos."
"Excellent . . . I am starting to feel better about this invasion already."
In the leaf village, The SICT, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Sakura and Naruto have all gathered on main entrance to the leaf village. The SICT has been outfitted with all the gear and supplies that they will need for the upcoming trip, and Jiraiya has gathered his supplies as well, showing his intention to lead the mission with Gai's assistance.
"All right." Gai turns to his team, briefing them all one last time before they depart. "Our destination is the Hidden Waterfall Village. It would take normal shinobi almost twelve hours to reach the village. But I intend to prove the value of our training in speed, and reach the village within half that time. I will be in charge of our team with Kakashi being out of the village, and I will personally be under Jiraiya-sama's command. So if he is to give an order, you will obey is as if it was coming from me."
Jiraiya turns to Naruto who has also begun strapping on all of his gear quickly, as he desperately wishes to join the mission team, and bring back the man who escaped his custody a year before.
"I'm sorry Naruto, but I can't allow you to join this mission."
"B-but Ero-sensei, I need to fulfill my promise to Sakura-chan! I won't let Sasuke get away again!"
"Naruto, the Akatsuki is still looking for you. If you and I are distracted by this mission and are unable to notice them moving . . . then all of our preparations will have been in vein. You have grown much stronger in only a year of training under me, but you are still no match for a member of Akatsuki. They would easily take you into custody with little to no difficulty."
"Way to boost my confidence Ero-sensei." Naruto crosses his arms in front of his chest in a stereotypical pouting gesture.
"You will stay here, where Tsunade can look over you. I will return shortly, and if Sasuke is in the Waterfall village . . . we will bring him home."
"Thank you Ero-sensei." Naruto says as he looks to Sakura with a frown upon his face, the broken promise of a lifetime from a year before still weighing heavily on his shoulders. Naruto wants to tell Sakura that Sasuke will come home shortly . . . and everything will be as it was. But in the last year, Naruto has grown more wise . . . and is no longer so naive. He knows that if Sasuke is in the village, and he resists the members of SICT . . . Sasuke will not make it home to Konoha . . . alive.
"All right!" Gai shouts loudly as he raises his fist to the sky, showing the intensity and optimism that has become his trademark. "LET'S DO IT!"
With a thrusting forward of his fist, the sharingan intelligence counter tactics team in its entirety take off like a bullet in the direction of the Waterfall village. Jiraiya slams his hand to the ground causing a quick eruption of smoke to engulf the area.
"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" (Summoning Technique) The smoke clears revealing a slender red frog the size of a house with long legs and a flap of skin connecting its front and back legs allowing the frog to almost glide between leaps, making for a speedy transport for the legendary Sannin. Jiraiya leaps onto the back of the frog and with a mighty leap, the amphibian takes off quickly into the direction of the village.
"Well . . ." Sakura says as her and Naruto can only stand and watch the shinobi speed away over the horizon in only a matter of seconds. ". . . now what?"
Back in the sound village, the Raikage and Orochimaru emerge from the depths of the snake charmer's stronghold to the sight of more then three hundred shinobi from both the cloud and the sound dressed in sound village garments. All with black shinobi masks to conceal their identities.
"Well this is truly an awesome sight." The Raikage says as he and Orochimaru move to the front of the formed lines, with all shinobi formed into ranks.
"Excellent Raikage-dono. You can't tell the sound apart from the cloud." Orochimaru then nods to the cloaked figure standing at the front of the ranks with his arms crossed in front of his chest. The cloaked figure then begins moving forward, leading the entire army in a militaristic march behind him.
(Authors note: Ok I'm sorry, I know that it is cheesy and cliche but the only song I found that would perfectly describe this scene . . . would be "The Imperial March" by John Williams from the Star Wars Soundtracks.)
The massive coalition of sound and cloud begin progressing forward lead by Orochimaru and the Raikage himself, with Orochimaru's cloaked subordinate following just behind with the entire army following behind him. As the army moves through the hills and valleys of the rice field country, all of the locals can only hide and look on in awe at the spectacle before them. The army moves through the entire country in less then an hour, passing through the Valley of the End en mass as they enter the outskirts of the fire country. Marching through the forests, traveling through the trees, over rivers on a non stop crusade toward the unsuspecting village of Konoha.
Meanwhile on the outskirts on the leaf village, three ANBU team members have just met together at the base of a large tree, all three members out of breath. The first ANBU wearing a mask with the appearance of a cat turns to a falcon masked ANBU member and requests a report.
"What have you learned?" The first ANBU asks.
"I am not sure what to make of it sir." The jittery ANBU replies. "There has been a hell of a lot of activity through the thunder country's borders and throughout the demilitarized zone in between our country and theirs. Dozens of shinobi all moving in small groups toward the same location. They are all staggered as if they are trying to avoid being spotted as a large moving force. If you ask me sir . . . they are up to something. And whatever it is it can't be good. I think they were heading toward the sound village."
"You think so?" The third ANBU wearing the mask of a dog asks.
"I would be willing to bet my money on it." The ANBU replies.
"All right then." The ANBU leader says as he rises from his crouched position. "We have to tell Hokage-sama. We will have to cut the rest of our patrol short I am afraid. Even if this is a false alarm, Hokage-sama should still be notified."
As the ANBU team readies to depart, their attention is drawn to the sound of a cracking twig coming from the trees.
"What the hell is that?"
"I don't know."
"ARM YOURSELVES!" The ANBU leader shouts, as he readies kunai in both hands causing his subordinates to do the same.
The area around the ANBU is calm and silent with no disturbances noticeable around them. The three shinobi stand in a triple edged circular formation. Their backs to each other and all stand roughly five feet apart. Only the eyes of the ANBU's are visible as they search from left to right and up and down, searching for any sign of an enemies presence.
The ANBU's attention is so focused on the surrounding area that they do not notice the exploding tag drifting down on them from above like leaf falling to the ground. As the tag lands softly on the ground, the ANBU finally notice as the sound of the tags fuse lighting is vaguely heard by all three.
(Music: Queue "A Crisis After Another" from the Naruto OST III)
"SHIT!" The first ANBU shouts just a second before the tag detonates sending all three ANBU soaring through the air. Two of them land hard on the ground below while the other is sent hurdling head first into the trunk of a large tree, fracturing his C2 and C7 vertebra and pinching his spinal column paralyzing the shinobi from the neck down.
"CAPTAIN!" One of the shinobi shouts as he kicks up to his feet just before a shadowy figure appears behind him and thrusts a kunai into the back of his neck, severing his spinal columns and impaling his esophagus killing him instantly. The shadowy figure lets go of the kunai and disappears into the trees.
The third ANBU gets to his feet in time to see his teammate drop to his knees with a kunai sticking out of the front side of his throat soaked in blood. The ANBU searches around the area for any signs of their attacker and can find nothing around him. His search is soon cut short by a kurot wire noose that appears from above that quickly fastens around his neck. The ANBU struggles to remove the noose but is soon lifted off the ground and pulled into the trees by the shadowy figure. The ANBU thrashes about fighting with everything he has to maintain his fleeting grip on life, but the efforts are soon in vein as of the shinobi's oxygen is pulled from his lungs . . . and the shinobi's body goes limp. His body soon falls from the trees landing hard on the ground in front of the paralyzed ANBU leader still laying on the ground struggling for breath.
(Music Ends)
The shadowy figure soon emerges from the trees, landing silently as if he were light as a feather on the earth below. The figure is soon revealed as a mysterious shinobi dressed in an outfit similar to an ANBU's only white all over. He wears a white hood and mask over his face taking away any possibility of him being identified easily. He walks slowly over to the body of the slain shinobi and removes the kunai from the man's throat. He walks methodically toward the paralyzed ANBU leader still laying prone on the ground, struggling for air and trying to regain the use of his body.
"Shhhhhhhhh." The masked shinobi calmly whispers as he places a finger over his lips. The shinobi then slowly and callously stabs the kunai with one hand into the heart of the prone ANBU who lets out no cry as his life is soon extinguished.
The masked figure then ties kurot wire to the ankles of the three slain shinobi and drags them into a more secluded location amongst the trees. The shinobi removes the clothing of the three ANBU guards and hides them amongst the tall tree branches before spraying the bodies with a mysterious liquid.
The masked shinobi then begins walking away from his victims as the scent of the liquid has drawn the intense attention from the local and hungry wildlife that all immediately begin to converge on the slain ANBU.
In the village of sin, Kakashi and Toshida continue their search for Kunashiro's journal. Their search has covered the entire colonies exterior and the two have now journeyed into the depths of the Village of Sins cave system. Searching through the dusty and rotting remains of all that had been left behind after the cloud's slaughter of the villagers, Toshida and Kakashi fail to find what it is that they have been searching for.
"Dammit!" Toshida says as he slams another book on the floor. "We have been searching for over an hour now and still we haven't found my father's journal. I can't even tell which room used to be ours."
"Calm down Toshida." The level-headed Kakashi responds. "We'll find it soon enough. It is tough on the memory to be away from somewhere for so long after a traumatic event. I am surprised you even remembered where to find the village."
"I have been back to the village since I left in the first place. But I never ventured into the cave system. I had trouble navigating through it when I lived here. Now everything seems so much smaller." Toshida then kicks a sheep skinned scroll lying on the ground sending it into the wall of the room the two have been standing in.
The scroll then falls to the ground and unravels slightly on the floor drawing Toshida's attention. As he walks toward the scroll, his fathers handwriting soon becomes visible and the shinobi bends over to pick up the scroll from the floor. Upon examining the scroll further, Toshida then realizes that it is in fact the document they have been searching for.
"Well that was rather anticlimactic." Toshida says, as he scratches the top of his head.
"What do you mean?" Kakashi asks.
"Well I don't know . . . In a situation like this you would just expect the illusive document to be hidden in some secret compartment or something. Or locked in a safe, or taped to the bottom of a table you know? But instead . . . it was on the floor. I must have walked by this exact scroll like four times."
"Yea I suppose that is a little convenient."
The two shinobi then exit the cave system and take a quick look around the area before they set off for home. Toshida tosses the scroll into the air and then catches in his hand in a playful manner.
"Well you know what they say . . . It's always in the last place you look right?"
"Of coarse it is." Kakashi adds. "You aren't going to find it and then keep looking for it are you?"
"Shut up!" Toshida snaps.
The playful banter between the two is sooner interrupted as a kunai lands just a few feet away from them with an exploding tag attached to it.
"LOOK OUT!" Kakashi shouts as he dives toward Toshida pushing the two of them out of the way of the eminent explosion.
The tag explodes sending a barrage of debris and rock into the air as well as a cloud of dust and sand. As the two shinobi rise to their feet and quickly try to locate the source of the obvious attack. The two can hear a quiet yet sinister laugh coming from the cloud of dust and sand in front of them. The sound soon gets Toshida's attention as the sound is all too familiar to him.
"I know that laugh . . ." Toshida says, as his hand slowly reaches for the handle of his sheathed blade.
A voice soon comes from the cloud just as a set of glowing eyes becomes visible through the smoke. "Well I am flattered that after all this time you can still remember my voice Toshida." The dust and dirt soon dissipates revealing a fully charged Seshen Raiken ready for battle with his large broadsword drawn and poised for attack.
"Well hello Seshen." Toshida says as an almost cocky smile comes across his face. "I was wondering if you were going to show up."