Kage is Kira

Oh, I'm more then aware that many reviews demanded the appearance of Lacus. I realized they've already became complaints at this point. But, mercy sakes alive, my pride just wouldn't allow me to rush things. CURSE YOU PRIDE! One of the seven deadly sins you are indeed! Allow me to explain the reason.

The event in this story is based on the Gundam seed, with some twist of my own. Kinda like what will Kira becomes if the event of a friend's death happened earlier, and no one helped him to recover scenario. There's 1 crucial factor that I noticed in the anime: Kira went into a total murderous rage when Tolle died, way at the middle of the series. The shock of his friend's death caused Kira into that rage. But that was only momentary and occurred long after he began to mature. After which, Kira was given a chance to heal that scar, with Lacus at his side. See, here, Lacus was quick to be by Kira's side, healing that scar, curbing that anger, redirecting his will to something more constructive, thus turning him into that goodie-goodie sweet guy we all love or/and hate.

But in this fic, the shock of losing a close friend happened much earlier. In this case, the death of Kuzzey does the job in this story. Sending Kira into that murderous rage at a far earlier stage of the conflict, when his mental state is still unstable. Even worse, even though his friends were there to support him, the scar is still there. Instead of getting healed quickly like it did in the anime, Lacus weren't there (not yet) and the Kira of this universe was instead tossed into more combat, more conflict, all his rage are channeled into aggression, and the scar fester and ran deeper. This creates a darker, angrier, more vicious, and crueler version of Kira, as the next few chapters will show. Kira and Lacus relationship will be based on how Lacus will have to penetrate layers after layers of rage, guilt, and hate in Kira's heart before they can be together. But then again (SPOILERS) the pink haired princess won't be without her own dark secrets…

And believe me: it's killing me more than I can imagine… my fingers itching to write that chapter when the two meet but I can't just jump to that chapter… argh… But don't worry. That moment is fast approaching. All the chapters from the first to this one and the next is part of what I call the Five Weapons Chronicle – since it focus on the five secret weapons and their fate (Shiki's in particular). And it's at its end. As proof, the next few chapters maybe extra long (about 2 to 3 times as long – think of it as a movie). Including this one. So warning: Headache hazard. I'm trying to wrap this whole ordeal as quickly as possible.

So please… continue reading (I didn't put Kira and Lacus for no reason ya know) and don't forget to review!

NOTE:

"Doryaaaaaaaaaa!": normal talking

"Charge!": special case

'Darn!': thoughts

GWA HA HA HA! : Giant creature speech

DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING!

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The massive army of Bladebanes and Mercenary forces make camp before making their way to the next village. Thousands of stoves were set up for the soldiers to prepare their meal. The Bladebanes, in a show of military discipline, create stockades and ramparts, dig ditches, set up tents, even set up small watchtowers in every corner of the base, and at every gate to guard the perimeter. In stark contrast, the mercenaries simply set up camp wherever, and some simply lay down on the grass with the sky for a roof.

Meanwhile, away from the camp, Shiho Hahnenfuss was practicing her aquatic swordsmanship near a small lake. With rapier in hand she began swinging it around elegantly. Her sword strikes are swift, precise, and above all, unearthly beautiful. If she was not carrying a sword, one can easily mistake her dancing. As her movements became faster and faster, she began to move closer towards the lake. She appeared to be in a trance as her rapier had became a flurry of afterimages. And then, she jumped to the lake, and a small patch of the lake hardened to ice a scant moment before her feet landed there. She took another long leap and landed right at the center of the lake, she landed just right on the surface of the lake with naught but a ripple, and there she stood, and her sword dance continued on undaunted. In fact, it became more breathtaking, as the lake's water rose to life and are now accompanying and followed her every stroke in perfect harmony. The water splashed around her, and soon became like a floating field of blossoming flowers. Shiho opened her eyes, observed the water lotus that is her handiwork, and had contemplated to continue practicing some more… until she caught sight of Yzak looking at her from the bank of the lake.

"Kyah!" Caught by surprise, she lost her focus in an instant, and fell into the lake with a splash. The water flower field construct also collapsed and fell to the lake.

Some of the water splashed to Yzak, but the silver haired boy pay them no heed.

Shiho hastily rose back to the surface of the lake and her head splashed out of the lake. But then, she saw it was Yzak's turn to get flustered, and then she looked at her being and realized Yzak can see her body through her wet clothing. Completely flustered, the girl splashed back into the lake, leaving only her head popping out. "Lord Joule… ahh… I'm just…"

"I'm sorry to interrupt your training." Yzak cleared his throat to cover his flustered face. "That was a beautiful swordsmanship, Shiho."

"I… beg your pardon?" Shiho's mouth opened slightly and her face warmed up upon hearing the praise, despite she was drenched in ice cold water. "N-n-n-no such thing. I-I-I'm still a junior Water Knight… I-I-I-I still have ways to go…!"

"Nonsense. Half the senior Water knights couldn't even do a quarter as well as you." Yzak looked around and seeing Shiho's condition, he contemplated to leave. "It appears my coming here is ill timed. Should I come back later?"

"Eh…umm…" Shiho saw Yzak's face being troubled and she quickly spurted out. "NO! I'm okay like this! Is there something I can help you with, Lord Joule?"

"You're sure?" Yzak was a bit uneasy seeing Shiho in the pool while he stood at the shore. But the girl nodded furiously, giving him her approval of the situation. Sighing, Yzak nodded and sit back to his original position. "Okay." Yzak remain silent for a few moments and then begin. "…Shiho… what do you think of me?"

"Eh?" Shiho's face was steadily getting redder.

"I'm a knight, sworn to conduct myself in accordance to the code of honor. Yet here I am, doing things that a knight shouldn't be doing. What do you think of that? Speak freely. And be honest."

Shiho frowned and quietly think of an answer. "…Lord Joule-"

"Yzak. Just call me Yzak."

Again Shiho was slightly flustered foir being given such a privilege, though she quickly recovered. She took a deep breath and answered bluntly. "Alright Sir Yzak… then… If Lord Veia were alive, he won't be pleased with what you've done."

Yzak perked and looked at the girl on the lake. He did say she's supposed to be honest but didn't expect her to be so straight. "Go on. Speak up."

"The… The massacre at the latest village… it's called Saiga… there's this… young woman… who were escaping from the mercenary we set loose there. In her confusion she ran to me. A bunch of bandits chasing after, intending to kill her, rape her… God knows… probably both. I just happened to be there and prevent that. And she looked at me. And I looked at her." Shiho paused, seemingly remembering something unpleasant. She remembered sending the mercenary away under the threat of her rapier. They didn't seem pleased. Good.

Yzak wanted to urge her to continue, but something told him to wait.

Shiho took another deep breath and continued. "She knew. She knew, that I, her savior, was the one who commanded the hand that nearly rob her of everything. The hands that had destroyed her home, her life."

Yzak tensed in an uncomfortable silence.

"And there's no anger in her eyes. No hate. No lust for vengeance. All I saw was pity. She pitied me, pitied us. All of us." Shiho closed her eyes. It's bloody hard to erase the said woman's look from her mind. "She knew. We are fighting for something in which, at the end, when the blood debt is paid, can never be returned. And yet… we cannot go back either. She knew that. And so she pitied us."

"I was the one who ordered the attack."

"And I stood there… and watch. It doesn't matter. I stand at your side, and I watched it happened. I didn't try to do anything to prevent it. I'm no more innocent than you are, my lord."

Yzak sighed and entered a deep thought. He took another look at Shiho and nodded. "You're a good knight Shiho. The Empire needs someone like you a lot more than it needs me."

Shiho burst disapprovingly at this statement. "That's not true!" The water around her splashed as she quickly swim her way and get out of the lake before standing in front of Yzak again, ignoring the silver haired boy's gasp. "The men looked up to you. You, who are the closest knight to lord Veia. We always knew you were his favored. The proof is this: you called, and we followed you all the way here. Not just for the honor of the Bladebanes and Water Knights, and the memory of Lord Veia, but it's also for you."

Yzak's eyes widened at Shiho's outburst. He looked at the girl's face, particularly her eyes. And it unnerved him. The girl will follow him to Hell's mouth itself. She was prepared and determined. Yzak quietly took off his own cape and intend to drape it over Shiho's drenched figure. "Here, put this on."

Shiho jerked in realization and suddenly took notice of her own condition, blushing furiously. "N… No. T-t-that won't be necessary, Sir Yzak." She gently refused while covering her nearly see-through clothes.

"Hm?"

"Well… I was planning on taking a quick bath after training and… well…" At this point, Shiho's face already resembles a tomato underneath her long brown hair.

Yzak also blushed. What an honest girl, this one is. He recovered by clearing his throat. And so he placed his coat on a nearby branch. "I'll leave it here. Just in case you need something to wear until your clothes dried up."

Shiho watched as Yzak prepared to leave. Realizing this, she hurriedly added. "We… I will follow you, Lord Yzak."

Yzak paused and sighed, but he didn't turn around. He already knew she was going to say that. "It's truly beautiful. Your sword work. Like a field of blooming balsam flowers (Housenka). You be sure to perform that well in combat, Housenka no Shiho."

Shiho was stunned for a moment upon hearing the moniker Yzak gave her. But she quickly recovered and saluted. "Yes sir!"

Yzak walked away from the area, leaving Shiho who seem inexplicably happy. She whispered her moniker to herself, and she couldn't stop herself from grinning widely like a child who just got her first candy. "Housenka…" She chuckled happily, and her chuckle turned into a happy laugh before she turned around, leap to the center of the lake, and practiced her sword work some more, this time with more excitement and elation than the previous.

Shiho made good of her plan to take a bath in the lake after she finished her training, 15 minutes later. And for that, she naturally had to remove all of her attires, including her armor and her weapons and left them behind. Apparently, some mercenaries had been waiting for just that, as at least 7 of them suddenly appeared from everywhere. Shiho glared at them angrily while one of her hands covered her modesty. "…you realize I can just scream. Sir Yzak is still within earshot, you know?" Apparently, the bluff didn't work. She looked at two of them and noticed they were the same mercenaries she had deprived of their carnal needs. One of them smirked as he playfully showed Shiho's sword and armor in his hands.

Shiho remained indifferent. So they think to hurt her when she's like this. Thinking she's vulnerable. Well, she's a naked girl in a lake. Who won't? "So. What's it going to be? You're going to come at me, or just… stare at me?"

The mercenaries growled angrily and they jumped into the lake.

The fools.

Chapter 21:

The Konohagakure Massacre

At the same time…

Day 1!

After that bizarre Military Pledge which seem numbered Kage's days, the Captain waste no time to begin a radical restructuring of the 7th division at the very same day. His first order of business: he divided the 7th division into 9 groups, each to be headed by one of the existing Juppongatana. The Juppongatana were given the task to not only to train the man in basic fighting skills, but also to teach them their tricks.

"Basically, I want them to be able to do what you guys can do. If you're an archery expert, teach them how you make 10 out of 10 bull's-eye. If you're a hand to hand expert, teach them how you punch and kick. The goal is, to put it roughly, to make more of you. We have limited time, so I'm not expecting them to become experts overnight. But at the very least, if you have 10 skills, I want them to know at least 1 from you."

In particular, for Kamina's group, Kage set him on a very special task.

"It's something you guys do VERY well. You might actually enjoy it."

"Oh, really?" Kamina perked.

"Yeah. Really. I'm asking you to be a pirate and do some… piracy work for me… or whatever you call it. I will cover your expenses and share your plunder accordingly and profitably; in fact, allow me to go out of my way to bolster your pirate brigade into a pirate fleet." Kage showed him what he had in mind on the docks of Archangel, and Kamina practically jaw dropped.

Still within the constraint of the first order of business regarding soldier drilling, Kage made good of his request of wanting some intensive training in horse riding.

"Why, sure. I used to be in the Cavalry division as mounted archer, so yeah, I do have some formal training." Neil explained. "But if you really want to be the expert you ought to have Toudou tutor you. But unfortunately he's not here yet."

"Well, that's okay. I need to learn the basic, and I only have 5 days to do it (after which I'm dead). And I still have a lot of things to do, and you also need to drill the troops. So we'll do this at the evening for today, but tomorrow onward we'll do it at dawn. That is okay?" Yessir, Kage now decided that he had to run a very strict time schedule. He doesn't have much time left after all.

"Good for you boss-man."

Secondly, and initially, this come as quite a horrifying surprise, is to promote Balsam Arendo once more into the ranks of the Juppongatana. Except that… it's not EXACTLY like what Balsam had in mind.

"Balsam! I want that fucking dumbbell 5 minutes ago!"

"Sir, yes sir!" Balsam quickly picked a dumb bell and gave it to Canard, who observed it and tossed it away.

"Wrong dumbbell, you fucking dumb ass!" And Canard kicked his less than competent errand boy in the ass, again.

"BALSAM! WHERE'S MY TOWEL!"

"BALSAM!"

"BALSAM!"

That's right; Balsam was appointed the Lieutenant's assistant-aka-his errand boy. But in the end, Balsam really had no real power whatsoever. A fact that Canard takes great joy of reminding his errand boy with a kick in the arse.

Thirdly, was to separately assign his Shadowguard to different groups and have them transferred from one group to the next. Their mission: to teach the soldiers of 7th division the basic tricks of Shinobi: such as throwing Shurikens and using kunais, simple jutsu such as Kawarimi and Shunshin, as well as several simple taijutsu moves.

Fourth order of business, which also coincides with the third, was a request to Murdoch to mass produce his weight suit. And every active duty soldiers must wear it 24/7, while they work and train, while they eat, while they take a bath and even while they sleep. The only time they're allowed to take it off was during combat. No questions or buts allowed. Although, Kage did suggest that they wear it during combat, if they're feeling confident. A suggestion many rejected outright.

Fifth order of business: the mobilization of the civilians in that fortress. Kage have them all work as manual labor and helped the running of the base: cooking, food distribution, as well as foraging in the forest (under heavy escort – in form of Fuji, naturally) and helped Murdoch and the maintenance team in fixing the fortress so that the soldiers can focus on training for battle. The refugees did't mind. After all, it's the least they can do to the people who had saved their lives. As for the soldier's break time and stress relief, instead of the stupid game or the now officially forbidden Punishment Logue, Kage have the soldiers do something else:

"Oi! Don't go there! It's dangerous!" A soldier managed to catch a child before they got too close to the workshop where Murdock is working. (Burning furnaces, hot metal, sharp blades-lots of time for himself-yeah right.)

"Waaai!" A child jumped right into a soldier's lap, followed by at least a dozen children, piling on top of the poor soldier.

That's right: for their break time, Kage had soldiers who are resting to work in a makeshift daycare facility as babysitters. While their parents worked to support the fortress, the resting soldier must babysit their children and ensure they didn't wander into the wrong places.

"All you had to do is sit there and keep them where you can see them. Easy and relaxing no?" Kage described the job ever so innocently.

"Easy, yeah, right." The piled soldier moaned.

This turned out to be quite a nightmare-at least for the soldiers. They've faced super humans with various crazy special superpowers, but by God, they are scared shitless when facing the innocent might of children. Some of them, quite in fact, begged to be quickly returned to training instead of staying for one more second in the daycare by the end of the day.

His seventh order of business:

"Prayer, this Captain's coat…" Kage held Harlbarton's vest in front of him. "Since I'm the captain, I can practically do whatever I want with it. Right?"

"Well… Yes. Of course."

"I can modify it?"

"I've seen captains that sew animal pelts into it, or add some padded armor here and there. How do you want it modified?"

Kage gave him a list of things he wanted for his new coat. "Here are some ideas for my coat."

Prayer took and read the list. One entry in particular strike his fancy. "Wow. You're quite thorough about this… But this one entry here… it's interesting…"

"Can I do that?"

Prayer chuckled. "Well… it's unprecedented, but I can certainly see its use, particularly in regards to your fighting style. I'll see what I can do."

Kage spend the rest of the day assuring that all of his orders of business are being performed. Approaching evening, Kage was satisfied and retreated to medical ward, where Setsuna was recuperating in bed with Karren at his side.

"How is he?" Kage asked the doctors.

"He's one tough son of a bitch. There are 23 scars and we've like, spent two rolls of string to stitch them all up. But no vital organs were injured and he's recovering in a surprisingly fast rate. Mostly only flesh wound I suppose." Mikhail gave his report. "He can walk out of here by tomorrow morning, but he better not strain himself."

"Thank you doc." Kage nodded. "And how were… the prisoners?"

Mikhail smiled sarcastically. "Nice job. Serious trauma everywhere. I've only seen people get injured like that when they get stampeded by horses. Physical recovery thirty days, full psychological recovery 6 months."

"Psychological recovery?"

Mikhail gave a look saying 'Are you kidding me?' "30 full grown men getting brutalized black and blue by one small guy? Their ego is in shambles. Some of them are still in delirious denial."

"Nah. They'll live." Kage turned to Karren. "And how's your day going?"

Karren looked at the captain. "You're serious?"

"About what?"

"About everything you said?"

"Every word." Kage smiled kindly and confidently beneath his mask. Karren frowned, but decided to just wait and see if their new captain really was a whack-job or he really can deliver. Kage continued. "There's a team prepared for you. I want you to train them, just like the other Juppongatana is training theirs. You can start tomorrow morning. Now you better rest, soldier."

Karren sighed. Well, at least this new captain really acts like one. "Sir, yes sir."

The one armed girl left the ward just as Setsuna shifted in his bed. Kage noticed that the white haired teen is awake. "And how are you feeling?"

Setsuna flexed his neck and balled his fingers to a fist multiple times. He smirked. "Pissed off and ready for round two." Then he thought for a moment. "The enemy's coming. At this pace they'll arrive in a week's time… probably less."

Kage smiled at the report. With that said, everything is okay. Kage nodded. "Alright. You can start drilling your team tomorrow morning. But as the doctor ordered: no straining yourself. Now…"

The stable…

Neil had picked up a wild mustang of a horse. A very dark grayish stallion with some small patch of white markings on its muzzle, coupled with a ferocious look on its yellow eyes. It took three people to hold the horse down, and even they had quite some trouble keeping the horse on leash. And by the looks of it, the horse was itching to throw down anyone dare to hop unto its saddle and smash them but good. "We just caught this beauty this afternoon. A rare find for sure. So it's still wild as heck. We decided to call it the Nut Striker."

Kage take a huge gulp. "Nut… Striker…?"

"These guys were the one who put the saddle on the guy." Neil jerked his thumb to a bunch of injured men lined up behind them, all of them were rolling on the ground, holding their groin while muttering painful words such as "…the pai-iiin …the suffering…" or "Join the cavalry they said… it's a man's life they said… it's a lady killer they said…" all in sheer, pure agony. Neil continued. "First, you must remove every metal in your being. Swords, knives, whatever metal you got. To a wild horse such as this one, the smell of metal is the smell of danger. You wanna tame a horse, don't become its enemy from the very beginning."

Kage did so, but his purple eyes widened in sheer horror. Ignoring his captain's reaction, Neil innocently continued his explanation. "Next is how to stay on top of the horse, no matter what happened." Neil helped the now reluctant Kage to get on the saddle.

"You know, if the idea is to teach me how to handle a horse, shouldn't we start on a more docile horse?" Suddenly Kage felt he's not so eager to study how to ride a horse anymore.

"In normal case, we would've given you an old sourdough heading to slaughterhouse. But you don't have much time left and you seem have a little bit of a suicidal streak. So… allez up!" And with that, Neil suddenly slapped the Nut Striker's dock (a horse's buttock).

The mustang whined and jerked. Caught by surprise, Kage was thrown forward, and something snagged.

The next short, but wild and intense, minutes saw Kage and the Nut Striker jumping about, trashing and hopping around in a rodeo. The Nut Striker live up to its reputation and in its trashing about, it tried to plant its hoofs to the nuts and bolts of every male in vicinity; particularly to this shady fellow riding at its back, that is, if only it can throw him off its back. And yet for all its violent trashing, no matter how hard the Nut Striker violently jerked itself, the ninja just won't buck away from its back.

20 minutes later…

And they're still at it. Only this time, one can see Kage was no longer holding the leash, and he was helplessly being tossed up and down and yet he's still remained on horseback.

"Hoots mon. I've never seen anyone ride that good since Toudou's Zangetsu backed into that blasted cactus during the campaign in desert storm." One of Neil's men commented as he watched in awe of how Kage didn't get thrown off even after all that trashing.

"Yee haw! Go for it Captain!" The other followed suit and cheered the Captain on. If only they knew…

After another 20 minutes…

The horse and the rider, both drenched in sweat and exhausted, finally stopped. The soldiers cheered and clapped their hands in admiration. Neil carefully approached the horse and grasped the horse' leash. His smile of admiration turned upside down upon seeing the truth of the feat.

Kage was swaying back and forth, he was barely conscious, and his eyes spinning. His belt accidentally snagged on the saddle horn; that tied him to the saddle no matter how much the horse struggled. As soon as they brought their captain down, Kage quickly dashed to the corner and throw up all of his today's lunch, breakfast, and the dinner from yesterday.

A little while later, at the stables… Kage watched as the horse drink some water and the ninja gave it some more hay to eat. He gently rubbed the horse's mane. "It's a good horse…"

"It's not broken yet though. It is gonna happen several times until he acknowledges you as its master." Neil brought a carrot for the horse but it seems to ignore it.

"Broken?" Kage twitched at the word. "I'm not sure I want a broken horse."

"It's a figure of speech captain. It means-"

"I know what it means." Kage cuts in. "…but no. To be told to stand down, keep your heads on the ground, shut up and listen, and do as you're told. No one wants to be shackled by another. Be it human or animal."

Neil was a bit taken back. "So… what now?"

Kage looked at Neil and sighed. He rubbed the horse's mane one last time and gave it the last food for the evening. "Set this one free. To the wilderness where it belongs. I'll use other, more docile horse for tomorrow."

The British sniper stood aghast for a moment, but then smiled in understanding and admiration. "Yes sir."

And end one day. Four more days till d-day.

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Meanwhile…

Back in the lake where Shiho trained…

Shiho had just finished putting back her now dried clothing and armor. She also took back her sword, still as clean as a whistle, and then, more lovingly, she took Yzak's cape, smiled kindly as she tidied it, making sure it's clean, and then she was ready leave. "Next time, you dunderheads better learn: never attack a Water Knight in water."

She took one more look and then angrily added. "Or should I say… your next life?" She brushed her hair and then left, leaving a trail of seemingly drowned and horribly mutilated bodies of her would be rapist. The lake remained clean, not one drop of their blood stained the water.

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Day 2!

If Kage's bizarre military pledge on the first day is horrifying enough, his act on the second day is officially considered a whole new level of creepy.

He woke up, earlier than everyone, asked permission to the harbor guard and then, to their total bewilderment, he started making salt from the sea water. Multiple patches of them, lined allover the beach. Even Neil, who came looking for him that morning for the promised horse-riding training, and Kamina who wanted to make his report, flabbergasted when the Dock guard told them where and what their captain was doing. And even his Shadowguard was evidently at lost.

Kage stood silent while occasionally checking if the salt is ready.

"Err… Captain?" Neil quietly asked.

"Ah, Neil, Kamina. Is it time already?"

"Yes… We're leaving now… as you've… suggested…" Kamina asked in a rather scared tone.

"Yes. Indeed it is. Tolle." Kage checked the salt and then let it fall back to the patch.

The Shadowguard in question stand ready upon being addressed, waiting for orders.

"Go with Kamina. See if you can learn a thing or two of pirate's ways of doing things."

Tolle's face brightened upon hearing the order.

Kage looked at Kamina. "Naturally, he will be acting as one of your crew, and feel free to treat him as such. The ship is still yours, senchou. He'll be there as a learner, not an observer or whatever. Peace of mind."

"Well okay. I'll be going then, Captain." Kamina gave a nod before leaving.

"Good hunting."

As soon as Kamina and a happy Tolle left, everyone was quick to note the said Shadowguard's unusually happy mood. Neil shook his head while chuckling; understanding the situation completely, while Milly was a bit confused. "What is it with boys and pirates?"

"Call it a man's romance. It's a man thing." Kage chuckled. "Now, what's in our program for horse riding, Neil?"

Neil was glad to move on to that subject. "I don't know if you're expecting this… but… guess who showed up this morning in the stables."

Kage turned to Neil. "Neil? You did let it go? As I ordered?"

"I did it personally, you've seen it. But she's back. And get this, I put a saddle on her back, and she didn't even bust anyone's nuts."

"Bust anyone's nuts?" Sai was a bit horrified upon hearing the comment. Now he understood why yesterday there's an outbreak of an unusually high number of people with their rocks injured with an imprint of horse's hoof on it.

In a short order, they get to the stable, where, lo and behold, the Nut Striker was there. The horse seems pretty docile, but no men dared to get within 10 feet of the horse, fearing for their manhood. Kage looked at Neil, and Neil encouraged his captain to go on. When Kage entered the horse's sight, the Nut Striker jerked up and looked at the person riding on his back yesterday. The man and beast walked towards each other until the steed's muzzle is within Kage's arm's reach. The ninja raised his arm but halted just before he touched the mustang. And there he waited. The horse looked at Kage again and then, gently bent its head forward, allowing itself to be touched by Kage. The ninja happily rubbed the horse multiple times. "Aile."

"Boss-man?"

"I'm not calling my horse the 'Nut Striker'. It freaks me out. So I'm naming her Aile. It's French. For Wings. Yesterday she ran like flying and kept trying to send me flying. So, Aile." Kage concluded. Kage rubbed Aile's head several times, the horse seem to be enjoying it as well, whining quite happily, apparently approving her new name: Aile.

"Aile huh? That's a good name." Neil nodded in approval. "Want to test-ride it? For real this time. I think you better. Seals the bond between the rider and the horse."

Kage nodded and quickly get on top of his new horse. Once his feet are secured, the horse and the rider quickly dashed out of sight, and out of the fortress, at full speed. Kage… as in Kira, in particular was shocked. Not on the fact of how easy it was for him to control this-just yesterday-ferocious horse. Not even the fact of just how fast the horse is going or that Aile quickly went to full throttle on their first go. He was shocked… at how good it felt. The wind blowing against him felt as if they just ran past him… going through him. It really felt like flying. Mwu may say that he's a talented cook and killer, but now he knew: he was born for this. "Faster Aile. Let's do this faster!" And Aile obliged.

Kira spent the rest of the morning having fun with his new partner, riding around the forest. Nearing afternoon, Kira have Aile took him to a higher ground. A place where he can see the Archangel fortress in its entirety. Kira get down from his new friend and let her graze on the grass and rest while he goes about with his business.

Come lunch, Kage returned, welcomed by Canard, who apparently had been informed of the situation.

"Bloody hell. Looks like someone just fell in love with his horse." Canard commented in his usual sarcastic tone.

"Nothing new while I'm gone, I guess?"

"The DaiGurren Brigade… no, Fleet… had just returned. They seem pretty happy. I take it that's good for us?"

Kage silently smiled in relief behind his mask. They went to the docks, and there, everyone had gathered at the docks watching the commotion. Kamina welcomed them with the biggest grin he can manage. "YOU'RE A GENIUS, BOSS!"

"I take it they came in handy?" Kage looked at his addition to the Dai Gurren brigade: a cache of Zaft's merchant ships, 6 of them were left behind during the whole Bladebane infiltration ordeal.

"Those Zaft guys didn't suspect a thing, HAHA!" Tolle laughed. He's wearing a bandana in a true style of a pirate, and an eye patch. This outfit earned him a glare from Milly. "What?" The boy smirked innocently.

"Tell me this is not permanent." Milly growled exasperatedly, pointing at that ridiculous eyepatch.

"Wha… of course not!" Tolle removed the bandana and the eyepatch, revealing his face being completely okay, no eyes are lost.

Milly shook her head in disbelief of her boyfriend's immaturity. "Grow up Tolle."

"I take it we get a good catch?"

"It went exactly as you've predicted." Tolle grinned.

"Feast your eyes, Captain." Kamina stretched his arm towards the Merchant ships.

Kage eagerly went to the cargo hold and Yoko was waiting. Kamina nodded, and the girl kicked it open. Kage went inside and grinned happily. He took a sack of grain and placed it outside for everyone to see. "HERE'S OUR FOOD!" In an instant, every starving soldier of the Alliance in that fortress cheered in a loud voice.

Kage went to another cargo hold and this time pulled out veggies, meat, and all sorts of supplies. The soldiers hurriedly went to the ships and they began to unload the cargo. Prayer and Bushido, who watched the scene in wonder, were at lost. They approached Kage. "Captain?"

"Prayer. Mr. Bushido. This should give us another week's worth of food. Now we got 2 weeks. 3 weeks if we're careful."

"This one wonders where all this food comes from."

"From Zaft, Mr. Bushido. Truth be told, I had some doubts about it… but… I guess Kamina and his pals are professional pirates."

Kamina yelled in approval of the moniker. "You got it in one, boss!"

"So I told them to do what they do best. To be a pirate. But since they told me that they can't get through the naval blockade, they need a ship that's invisible." Kage banged the Zaft merchant ships several times to make his point. "They've infiltrated us with these ships. Time to return the favor."

"You mean… you have them sneak past the blockade and rob other merchant ships?" Prayer deduced.

"Hell no. I told them to rob the ships doing the blockade."

"WHAT?" Prayer's jaw stood aghast, while Mr. Bushido showed an obvious, though seemingly rarely displayed, signs of surprise.

Kage grinned widely, and he began outlying his strategy.

Flashback:

There were around 3-4 hundred battle barges that blockaded Archangel's waters.

The bogus merchant ships were fully loaded with Kamina's men. But they were all dressed up in looted Zaft knight armor. The Merchant ships simply sailed back and forth, just passing through, and they were ignored by the blockade fleet. But then, Kamina's Daigurren appeared out of nowhere and start firing at the merchant ships. As expected, coming to the rescue, a pack, consisting of five barges peeled off from the main fleet and went to look after the merchant ships. The bogus merchant ships ran far, baiting the barges to peel too far away from the main fleet. Eventually, the Zaft barges managed to came between the merchant ship and the Dai Gurren. The barge began shelling at Dai Gurren.

But then…

The bogus merchant ship finished its duty and quickly turned around towards the Zaft barges. Two ships went after one barge. Soon, three barges suddenly found themselves being boarded by Allaince soldiers dressed up as Zaft knights form the six ships. Upon the ships, as Kage had predicted, they were understaffed, just enough to run the ship and commandeer barely half of the guns. And they weren't even Bladebanes, merely squires, and they were caught unprepared. Thus they were outmatched and outnumbered. Three ships were quickly taken over, its crews held hostage, and all of its guns were manned and aimed at their former allies. The remaining two remained adamant and one seem about to just shoot. That is, until Dai Gurren suddenly burst forth and slammed its ramming blade right into its hull. The final blow to the last ship came from the sight of Tolle, who had been given permission to wear a full Kage disguise, it practically shattered their morale. All five ships were completely looted clean of all supplies and ammo. All four ships had its weaponry sabotaged, disabled, or looted, and its rudders were broken and all the sails were removed, making sure they're sitting ducks in the ocean. And one, due to the massive hull breach from Daigurren, was to be sent down to Davy Jones' Locker. The crew were hanged and stripped. The latter being suggested by Kamina.

Flashback ends…

"This one wonders how you knew those barges will be understaffed." Bushido wondered.

"Well… it's easy really, if you think about it. Karren reported that the enemy practically emptied Gamoff, so she said. And that's how it is. They gathered the total force, their best are being pulled out for the frontal assault. But they still need people to commandeer their ships. Now normally, they would've asked for Zaft knights from other station to man those ships. But since they're currently regarded as Renegades, they had no choice but to rely upon themselves. Hence, they would have to use their squires. Their younger brethren. Unseasoned, young, and low ranked soldiers to simply man their ships. These 'kids' should be lower in number, fighting skills, as well as morale. They don't feel as much attachment to Goud Veia when you compare them to their seniors. And so they won't fight to the death, and their heart is quite fragile too." Kage explained calmly and thoroughly.

Prayer's jaw can get any lower than this. Kamina had long since short-circuited some time ago. Bushido was completely overwhelmed with awe. He never expected the new Captain can actually think that far ahead. A brilliant strategist as well as a formidable and deadly warrior. What a lethal combination.

"The problem is now, they might increase their vigilance. We might not be able to use this tactic if we don't come in force." Kage frowned in deep thought. But then he added cheerfully. "But with this, one problem solved. For now."

Canard snarled in approval while Neil nodded. "Well, at least that gave us a fucking assurance that you're not a complete nutjob."

"So you're saying the blockade is the least of our worries. But how are you going to deal with the Zaft Bladebanes?" Balsam, now not so smug anymore, asked.

"About that… Neil, from here on out, I want you to drill the soldiers in horse riding. And drill them hard."

Neil looked at Canard, who quickly caught on. "So that's how it is. You want a fast bloody horse charge blitzkrieg attack to pierce through their army? Take out their leader in one big bang, is that it?"

Kage doesn't react beyond smiling confidently behind his mask. Canard smiled even more ferociously at his captain's confidence. "Neil, you heard the captain."

"Ro-ger." Neil didn't try too hard to complain.

After which, Kage went to Murdoch and spend most of his days there. In part to shoe his horse, and partly in regards to his request to add the weight of the soldiers' weight suit.

Later, Kira closed that day by giving the starving people of the Fortress with a big spread as a service – which was welcomed by thunderous applause from Mwu and all the fans of his ramen.

And end the second day. Three more days till d-day.

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That night…

Just outside the blockade, a single heavy battle cruiser bearing the name Odysseus stopped just outside. "Toudou-san… this is…" Nagisa Chiba observed the hundreds of battle barges blocking the way into the Fort before she turned towards her superior.

Kyoshiro Toudou had just returned from the Australian outback. But now he found himself couldn't even get close to the fortress. "So the fortress is under siege… find a shore to land immediately. If we have to get there on foot, then we shall."

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Day 3!

Kage is still looking after his salt patches. To the confusion of his lieutenant and his mentor.

"What's with these salts? We're not exactly short on spices, you know." Mwu scratched his head in total confusion.

Kage looked at Canard (who had Balsam in tow) and Mwu, and for a moment seemingly contemplating to say something, but then he decided to remain silent and continue observing his salt.

Canard was unnerved even more and attempted to yell something. But before he can say anything, Kage spoke. "The right people, the right place… the right time. That's what I'm waiting for."

The black haired man's mouth was opened but no voice came out as they were cut midshout. But then, Canard finally sighed, giving up trying to get his captain from talking his mind out. "Well, whatever. But can't you at least say something? The suspense is killing us all!"

"Mm. Well… there's one thing that troubles me…" Kage rubbed his chin. "It's been two days since the last report. I think we need new information on the enemy. Where are they? How far are they from our base? Mwu-san, can you and your boys…"

"We've already done that this morning. I sent 8 scouts last night. They haven't returned yet, but they should be any minute now."

"Good." Kage put back the salt to the patch. "How goes the training, Canard?"

"Neil's drilling them hard. Since some of the men are experienced horsemen, they don't need much training, they should be able to do some charge and cavalry maneuvering just okay… but you have to understand, Neil is not exactly the expert. And neither are our men." Canard made his report. "As for the other Juppongatana, they don't seem mind sharing their boons to the soldiers. Your Shadowguards were also good learner. A bit of a whiner though. That is why you send them to us? To have us whip their ass in your stead?"

Kage nodded. "Whip their ass as many times as needed. Ignore their whining. They should've back away when they had the chance. So, all in all, we need a cavalry expert. Neil told me Toudou was one such expert."

"Argh! But he is not fucking here!" Canard angrily growled. Seriously, his captain's calmness is just unbelievable. And only a few days ago he would've vomited in front of his men. "What on earth had made you in such a calm and good mood anyway?"

"Well… I can name a few things…" Kage chuckled as he lifted a finger to make his point. "Like yesterday; we didn't even get a single inflow of refugees. That's a sign that the Bladebane army had start running out of villages to attack. Since there are so few now, it's getting easier to predict their next move." Kage explained, still in that silent and calm tone.

Canard was slightly baffled, but then calmed down upon realizing their captains had really think things through. But Mwu wasn't finished. "One more thing. Yesterday you spent an awfully long time with my brother and Murdoch at the workshop. I know it's more than about shoeing your horse and mass producing the weight suit because he won't say a damn thing at me. What the hell is going on?"

"Ah, well I asked a little favor from Murdoch to do something for me. Prayer has all the details so he had to help him. And yeah, I kinda convinced Murdoch not to say a word. Not even to you."

"I'm his captain, for God's sake!" Mwu exclaimed incredulously.

"It's supposed to be a surprise. A secret… and many sources told me you have a hard time keeping secrets even when your life depends on it."

"Ah, ain't that the fucking truth." Even Canard agreed!

Mwu's jaw stood aghast, and then he fell into despair on all fours.

Kage chuckled. "More importantly, where are your scouts? Didn't you say they're supposed to be here by now?"

Picking his miserable self up, Mwu was wondering the same thing. "You know, I've been wondering about that myself." Mwu looked to the direction of the forest with genuine concern. "If they get caught, then that means the enemy is close…"

Kage nodded. He picked up his katana, preparing to leave.

Canard gaped. "Where the fuck you think you're going?"

"Obvious, isn't it? Shinobis are spies. It's our job to spy on the enemy. And I'm still a shinobi. And as for the base, I've given my order. I'm counting on you, my lieutenant, to keep things in order until my return. That's what you're here for, no?" Kage left on that note, and Canard clearly can't say anything to that, but left incredulously speechless (in addition to feel really stupid). Balsam snorted, earning a harsh kick in his ass-again.

"Congratulations. You may have over-inspired the lad." Mwu tapped Canard's shoulder several times before he chased after the boy.

"Payback's a bitch." Canard felt Kage really was getting back at him the one time he made him looked like an idiot.

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Not a moment too soon, Kage and Mwu dashed out of the fortress atop their mounts. Kage and Aile ride out excitedly, Mwu and his military issued horse had a hard time keeping up. "Wow, slow down boy!"

"Sorry… but this is really fun! Horse-riding that is…" Laughing, Kage slowed down and allowed his mentor to catch up.

"Nice to see you having a good time, kid."

"Well… not exactly." Kage removed his mask, and become Kira for a moment. "I'm still an Orb citizen before I'm an alliance soldier. These are my people getting butchered here. My countrymen. I'm pissed. As hell. If I don't take the time to cool off every now and then, I might not be able to take it. And I need to be level headed if I'm to see the bigger picture." Kira turned to look at Mwu, who was unnerved at his tense look. He must've been bearing it all this time. Just then, they heard a familiar chirping from the distance. Kira turned around and smiled. It was Torii. The bird landed softly at Kage's shoulder, nibbling his ear softly, tickling its master, earning a few chuckles. "I know what everyone has been saying. And I know more than anything my impassioned speech the other day didn't really get to the men."

"Things like this… take time."

"We don't have the time." Kira shook his head. "I've stirred things up by killing Veia, I no longer have the luxury of taking this the slow and easy way."

"I suppose you don't." Mwu ended the discussion by taking a map out.

Likewise, Kira move closer to also take a look at the map. As Kira had foreseen, there aren't many village left on the way to Archangel… there's only… two left… actually.

"This village, Inaba. It should be only a few hours journey on horseback from Archangel. Judging by the village they've attacked so far, they're most likely to pass through this village. I suggest we go there. I'll approach it from the east." Mwu pointed at the village Inaba.

"I'll go from the west. We'll meet at the village." Kira put back his mask, Mwu also put up his own. The two shinobi saluted one another before they went their separate ways.

Kage grabbed hold of Aile, and the horse whined loudly as they zoomed deeper into the now familiar forest. As Kage dashed through the woods, he couldn't help to notice that he just passed through the spot that he passed weeks ago when he first came to Archangel. Kage stopped to take a look at the surrounding and ponder things. It seems only yesterday when he was but another one of those refugees coming to Archangel for safety. Now he passed through them again, but this time, he had become such a different person. Kage stopped near a small pond and have Aile drink from it. After a quick reminiscing and a quick look on the surrounding, Kage ride out again. The forest rustled on.

A few hours later…

Kage already have the village of Inaba in sight and for a moment all seem well. But then smoke start rising from the village. Kage's heart skipped a beat. "Let's go Aile. HYAH!" The ninja rushed his horse to an overlooking hill. And there he saw the situation. The village was already ablaze. Armored mercenaries raiding the village, killing everyone they see. Kage gritted his teeth beneath his mask. "A battle… no… a massacre. Hm?" Kage barely dodged an arrow by an inch. The ninja furiously turned and saw a bunch of mercenaries shooting arrows that were coming from his back.

"There's another one of those warriors there!"

"His head is mine!"

He jerked Aile, and the horse quickly dashed away. 'He said: another one? So… there's more than one?' From the distance he saw a woman was being attacked by a mercenary wielding a Naginata. Kage gritted his teeth in anger and pulled out Shiki. 'Shoot Through Hell…' His right arm enclosed in armor, his Shiki swirled in green flame. "Midori Shiki!" Kage quickly take aim, while Aile, sensing the tension from her master, slowed down her pace and slightly stabilize her running. "Yosh, good girl, keep it like that…" Kage aimed at the Naginata wielding mercenary and let loose. Neil had taught him some of the advanced skills in Archery skills, and he did earn a few nods of approval from the sniper. The arrow flies through the distance, it pierced through the target, ripping the mercenary's entire upper half along the way, and the arrow still going until it exploded, taking out a whole group of mercenary right behind the first.

The mercenaries were shocked at such show of destructive power. Kage quickly turned around and Aile dashed straight into the village. Again, Kage switched weapons. 'Slice the Heaven…' a blue armor enclosed his left arm, Midori Shiki was enclosed in blue light. "Aoiro Shiki!" The immaterial blade of the blue Shiki extend out, but its length and size is significantly smaller when compared to the usual gargantuan blade: only about the same length of its staff-like handle, turning it into a naginata, but it's far denser to the point it actually looked like a physical blade; the length is perfect for fighting on horseback.

Meanwhile, two horsemen charging from the front, challenging him. "RAAAAAAAH!" Kage roared to the challenge. The horses are charging to one another. When the first horseman was within striking distance to Kage, the rider launched a spear. Kage dodged it by a hairbreadth just as his Shiki pushed forward. The immaterial blade grazed the spear, and went through its target all the way until part of the handle burst out of the man's back. Kage let go, and then grabbed the Naginata by the exposed handle and then pulled it out from the lifeless man's back. But before Kage can recover his shape, the second mercenary is already at his nose. The mercenary swing his pole axe and Kage had to duck backward to dodge it, and the axe passed through him, but it barely missed Torii by millimeters. Furious, Kage spin thrust the Aoiro Shiki backward, and the blade extended, to the mercenary's horror. He tried to outrun it, but it was simply too fast, it finally went through his chest, instantly killing him. Kage continue to dash forward, but before he can catch his breath, two mercenary spearmen burst out of his flank and was about to gut him. Kage had no time to dodge this time.

Suddenly a jet black armored horse soared from his other flank, passed through him overhead (missing his hair by inches) and landed atop the mercenaries, smashing their faces to a bloody mess. Kage was unnerved at the sight as Aile grinded to a halt. The black horsemen also stopped, leaving a trail of bloody gore, and the two horsemen stood, facing each other from the side. Riding the jet black armored horse is a warrior clad in armor of matching jet black colors, carrying an enormous black sword. The blade looked like an oversized elegant cleaver. No tsuba and no proper hilt; the so called handle is merely wrapped in cloth. The sword is about as tall as its user, and has a black blade with a silver edge, it's three times as thick as any normal katana and its white cloth covering the hilt extended at the end of its pommel, flowing freely. The headgear are encrusted with a pair of horns, making it looked like the devil, and a long bright red mane decorated the said headgear. The armor is also decorated with golden linings, and there's a golden headcrest at his helmet, but it's broken. The armor's design, with overlapping armor pieces, Kage noted, is unmistakably genuine article to that of the Samurai.

"A Samurai? No… that broken headcrest… Rounin?" Kage was noticeably troubled by this.

The man shouldered his blade. "Indeed I am."

Kage perked. A dishonored samurai? Normally, he thought, someone like that could only make a living as a mercenary. So why is this one attacking the others? "You're not one of these guys?"

"No. And apparently neither are you, Black Devil."

Kage tensed. "You know who I am. So what? You want to kill me to regain your honor again?"

"If I wanted you dead, I would've smashed you under hoof just now." The Rounin's horse swished its head menacingly, it's matching red mane flared, as if confirming what its master had said. "We can argue later. For now, I'm here to stop this massacre. What of you Shinobi?"

"I'll ride with you Rounin. But I will have some questions for you later."

"Likewise." The rounin swished his heavy blade to the side. The sound of horse whining drew their attention, and they saw a small flock of mercenary foot infantry charging ahead while at the rear some mercenaries on horseback yelled and swing weapons, encouraging the other foot infantry to go forward. The Rounin quickly stated. "Pay attention to those two horsemen, let your horse mow through the infantry. They're cannon fodders."

Seeing the blades and pikes of the infantry however, Kage was somewhat unconvinced. "They'll skewer my horse!"

"Their spears aren't long enough. Follow my lead." The Rounin jerked at his horse with his feet and the horse charged forward. Kage did the same and followed slightly behind them. The two horsemen charged forward, side by side. The Rounin continued to give instructions. "First, take out their leaders. You have a longbow, use it."

Kage nodded. His Aoiro Shiki transformed into the Midori Shiki once again. His now armored right arm flexed his fingers, and two arrows appeared. Kage pulled both arrows and aimed it at the two mercenaries on horseback, and let it loose. The arrows fly past all the infantry and both hit bullseye, pushing the riders off their horse before exploding, incinerating them to ashes. For a moment, the infantry was confused as their leaders were taken out, and the line of pikes and blades faltered.

"That gives us a few seconds of confusion. I'll concentrate on the enemy on my right; you concentrate on the enemy to your left, leave the enemy at front to our horses. Plow through them." Again the Rounin gave the instruction. The distance between the two horsemen and the mercenaries were closing fast. And just like that, Aile and the Rounin's black horse literally mowed down the hapless and confused mercenary infantries like grass, while their riders hacked and slashed enemies on their respective sides. The Rounin then noticed two mercenaries recovered from the shock, and grabbing hold of their crossbow, and they took aim to their horses. The Rounin quickly roared a warning. "Archers, 12 o'clock!"

Kage quickly noticed, but it was too late to change the Aoiro Shiki, and so, instinctively, Kage lifted Aoiro Shiki and threw it as a spear. Only, that was not the only thing flying. Apparently, the Rounin also had the same bright idea and throw his sword as well. The two weapons zoomed ahead of their users, straight towards the archers in front. The archers gasped, but they were too late to dodge, as the blue blade burst through one's chest, while the black blade crushed the other one's head. However, with their weapons left their hands, the two riders were left defenseless… or are they? The black rounin pulled back the long cloth tied to his huge blade and the blade came back to his hands. Kage had just contemplated to quickly rush to his sword and took it back when the blue blade in question suddenly yanked itself out of the corpse and flew back to his armored left hand. 'Okay… that's new.'

Meanwhile, with this, all that's left are just small fries. Kage quickly assess the situation. "Let's chase some more until they get out of the village."

"What, you want to kill them all?"

"No. They're leaderless and they're already in chaos. Just scare them a little a bit and they'll scatter. Our priority is to secure this village!"

The Rounin was a bit taken back and then chuckled. "Well, you're a level headed one. But that won't be necessary." The Rounin whistled, and from the bushes, from four directions, four more samurais wearing dark grey armor of matching design with the black rounin's, also on horseback, charged in and entered the fray. The mercenaries went into an even greater chaos. Not long after, they scattered to every direction, leaving behind their dead in the ravaged village. The villagers who saw the enemy had left cheered and yelled happily. They all flocked to the black Rounin and Kage, their saviors.

Kage brushed the sweat glistening on the opening of his mask, while the Rounin stared at him intently. The four horsemen from before gathered around the two, and the villagers hailed them as well. The four horsemen looked at Kage vigilantly. Kage looked at the Rounin questioningly. "You… who are you?"

"Ottotchottoto…AAAAAARGH! DAREGA TASKETTEEE…!" Just then, a familiar panicked sound echoed from their back. Everyone turned and saw Mwu, riding a half crazed horse. Whatever happened, the horse was pissed.

The villagers panicked and quickly dispersed for fear of being trampled by the crazed horse. Kage was also unnerved, and had contemplated to steer clear as well.

"That idiot still can't ride a horse on his own even if his life depends on it…" The Rounin shook his head. The comment attracted Kage's attention. The Rounin jerked his horse and charged straight at the wild horseman. The moment the two horses were side by side, the Rounin extended his arm and pulled the blond captain off his saddle by the collar. The Rounin's four subordinates quickly moved in and subdued the rampaging horse. The Rounin grabbed hold of Mwu by the collar for a few more seconds, before roughly dropped the man-child to the dirt.

"Ouch! Can't you drop me gently?"

"Grow up Mwu. You should know better than to ride a horse. I remember trying to teach you how to do so, but you couldn't take it." The Rounin sternly scolded the blond captain like a father to a child.

"Not regretting it." Mwu looked at Kage's confused look. "I see you two have met."

"Indeed. A very interesting person he is." The Rounin finally unmasked, but Kage no longer need any introduction. His horse riding skills, his strategic thinking, and he knew Mwu. And there's only one member left of the Juppongatana had yet to arrive.

"Kyoshirou Toudou, the Miracle Sword, I presume." Kage bowed down.

The Rounin, Kyoshirou Toudou bowed back. "You live up to your reputation, Black Devil."

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A little while later, Kage, Toudou and his team as well Mwu had left the village of Inaba… which was on fire.

It was Kage's suggestion after hearing Toudou's report.

"We saw the army you spoke off. And the combined army is currently 120,000 strong. At least. They're just half a day away from this village, maybe less. They will arrive at this village by evening I believe. So they sent a small pack off from the main army and attacked this village. Mostly had returned to the main army, bringing in their haul. We ran into them by accident and we decided to follow them. Then we get to this whole mess." So Toudou reported.

Upon hearing the report, Kage went straight to the village elder, and his request AKA order is simple: "Burn this village down. All of it. The fields, the barn, the granary. All of it. Bring all the food you can with you, do not leave even a single scrap of food for them. Do not even leave a single brick for them to shelter themselves when they arrive." Kage thought again for a moment and then added. "And throw your shit to your wells."

The village elder literally jaw dropped. And the villagers looked at each other. "But… I thought you're here to rescue us?"

"That's what I'm doing right now. Take your villagers and run, away from here. A bigger army than this one is coming, and they'll do worse to you than these guys. This village is better off to be on fire rather than at their hands. They will pass through here, and they will stop here. They had to. But they won't find comfort here."

"But throw our shit to the wells…?"

"I won't even give them anything to drink." Kage added with finality.

And so it was, with a heavy heart, the villagers decided to do what Kage suggested, and they took what they can carry (what's left of them anyway) and burn the rest to the ground. The villagers then left as Kage and his men returned to their base. Kage turned to Mwu. "You didn't find your scouts after all?"

"Just parts of them. None of them are in one piece. These Bladebanes are really angry." Mwu regretfully reported.

Kage then turned to Toudou and his men. Toudou seem to have been waiting for chance to exchange some words, and he began immediately. "How would you know the army will stop at that village? They could've just passed through that village seeing there's nothing left to be looted."

"This army is 120,000 strong you say? To move an army that big will be far more difficult than to move an army of tens of thousands. It'll splinter and shed from time to time if it were to be forced to continue to move on without rest every now and then. The commander wouldn't want that. That's why their pace had greatly slowed down." Kage explained. "On the other hand they cannot afford to lose time to continuously built one outpost after another. They would've used this village as a staging ground to invade us. And so I ordered it to be burned down, and its well to be shitted on, so they can't use it. They will stop here to take a rest. But they will not stay-since we've shitted the water. They will try to find a more suitable place to be made their staging ground for the invasion."

Toudou nodded in approval at Kage's acumen. But his next statement shocked both Kage and Mwu. "I knew it. You are NOT Kage."

"What do you mean?"

"I know you are not who you claimed to be. For starters, you use a name that does not belong to you." Kage's eyes widened at the comment, and Toudou continued. "You are a fake. I know this, because I know the original Kage. And that person is not you."

Kira's eyes widened at the revelation, and then he turned an angry glare to Mwu. The blond captain merely smiled innocently. "What? I told you the guy exist."

"I thought it was playful banter!" Kira barked angrily. This angry exchange however, provided all the information Toudou needed.

"I see. So it was Mwu's idea after all." Like Kira, Toudou also glared at his former junior.

Kira sighed exasperatedly. He undid his mask and appeared as he is. Toudou and his retinues were naturally shocked when they saw just how young the Black Devil really was-a teenager-they were expecting someone older or more grizzled. Kira felt a bit uneasy, but he understood their shock. "So… a ninja named Kage does exist… and in Orb military too."

"It's not a name one would carelessly toss around, much less reaching such level of infamy like now." Toudou explained. "I've seen the ninja called Kage only once in my life, when I still serve in Orb military together with Harlbarton. But I can never forget the feats of legendary proportion the nin performed that day. You two… are vastly different."

"Why, naturally. I'm not Kage. I'm just a guy who used that name." Kira admitted solemnly.

"I can already tell from the way you behave, you didn't use that name for fame, did you?"

"Why would I want that?" Kira shook his head exasperatedly. "I used it for anonymity. So that no one knows who I really am. It fooled most people, but quite frankly, it has been less than useful these days. Then after a little bit of this and that… everything just… spiral out of control."

"So you're saying what happened to you has been… one big bad luck?" At this question, Kira paused for a moment, Aile also stopped, while her rider thought for an answer. Toudou and the others also stopped, waiting for the boy's answer.

"At first, I admit, it was bad luck. Bad luck that the alliance had thought it'll be a good idea to hide one of the sacred weapons in my town, bad luck that I get caught up with Mwu's cockamamie scheme." Mwu raised his hand and gave up. He's officially the bad guy of the day. Kira continued. "But there are times when I can pull back. There are times when I stand firm and made the decision to say yes or no. I've made my share of mistakes… and there have been casualties." At this, Kira couldn't help remembering how Kuzzey died and choked. "And in the end, I chose to go on. Now I use this name to continue fighting, to protect that which I hold dear. So no. It's not luck. It's choices that I've made. And I don't regret. And if eventually I did realize I've made a mistake… then it's a mistake I have to live with."

Toudou stood transfixed for a moment, assessing the boy's answer, nodded, and smiled in admiration. "Harlbarton was always a good judge of character."

"Amen to that, God rest his soul." Kira nodded sadly.

"So… what's your name, really?"

Kira smiled kindly and bowed down in a proper introduction. "Kira Yamato. A ramen bar waiter from Amaterasu."

"A Ramen bar waiter?" one of Toudou's retinue, an elderly man gaped in delightful surprise. "Oh, this is gonna be a lot of laugh… Next time we march, let's just bring an army of cooks altogether."

Toudou chuckled. "This is Ryoga Senba," the fat elderly man who joked earlier bowed. "…Shogo Asahina," a young man with glasses and a scar across his right eye. "…Nagisa Chiba," the only woman in the group; "…and Kosetsu Urabe." A thin middle aged man with pointy blue hair sleeked backward, the tallest of the group. "Together, they make up the Shiseiken (Four Holy Swords)."

Kira nodded to each of them. "Toudou-san… this can't be all your men, no?"

Toudou shook his head. "We managed to recruit some more on our way here, that's why we're late. We figured, after that fierce battle of Archangel Bay you might need some extra men. We bring 500 extra soldiers-that's a fleet of Skirmishers and one battlecruiser. They're currently waiting at the shores not far from here. Asahina, go there and tell them to go to Archangel, we will rendezvous there." Asahina nodded, but before the man can go anywhere…

"NO!" Kira suddenly yelled, surprising everyone. "No, no, no. Wait. Tell them to wait there! Don't go anywhere but put them on standby. Right there!"

Everyone looked incredulously at boy. He looked pretty desperate in saying he doesn't need more men too. Mwu decided to try to talk some sense into his boy. "Kid, listen. I know 500 doesn't seem much, but it'll be a big help. Especially when we take your crazy ass military pledge into consideration…"

"Military pledge?" Toudou perked. And then Mwu took the time to explain their situation, ended with how Kira made a military pledge of winning the battle against the Bladebane invasion with only one fifth of the current standing forces, and within five days… of which Kira now had only two days left. After hearing the explanation, Toudou looked at Kira's expression. "Well… I can see why Mwu will be scared shitless… but I can tell the difference between a man with a plan and a man who is desperate. And you are the former. You do have a plan?"

Kira's answer to that is: "The right place, the right people… and the right time. I have the right place in mind… I need the right people now… and I'm still waiting for the right time. Right now… that 500 men you said you bring… no one knows about them yet. It is an advantage that makes them the right people… not now though, but they are already in the right place. I just need to wait for the right time. That's all I'm asking."

Toudou nodded approvingly. "Very well. Asahina. Go to the troops and tell them to stand down, and await further instructions."

"Yes sir." Though confused as hell, the bespectacled man did so nonetheless.

"And tell them not to make too much of a fuss. We need them to stay hidden!" Kira added.

And so Asahina left. Kira then looked at Toudou. And entered a thought. It's already the third day. He took a gamble, but truth be told, there's a possibility that he missed. If it happened and he died, someone need to pick up the torch and ensure the plan is carried on. The Shadowguards knew the plan, but they're not strategists. He needed someone who can adapt to the changes. "Toudou-san…"

Toudou looked at Kira.

"I may have found the right people. Will you help me?"

Toudou realized that Kira intend to tell him everything. Judging by this, the boy must've told very few people about what he was really up to. "Show me what you're really capable of."

Kira smiled and put back his disguise. "Once we arrived at the fort, call Canard, Murdoch, and Prayer. I will explain everything. Do NOT tell the men that you brought reinforcements with you."

Toudou nodded. "Understood, Captain Kage."

Mwu and Toudou's retinue were completely dumbfounded. They say geniuses live in their own world after all…

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That evening, the soldiers welcomed Kage and Toudou back. But upon seeing there were only four of them, their spirit went down quickly. As instructed by Kage, Toudou and his retinues, the Shiseiken, did not breathe a word about the 500 men reinforcement they've brought with them.

Toudou was given time to catch up with everything that has been going on in the fort, while Kage gone ahead; (to the bewilderment of everyone) to check his salt, again.

The 7th seat quickly noted the many changes Kage had wrought upon the said division. The inclusion of the Shadowguards, the order to have the Juppongatana to train the soldiers, Toudou was particularly impressed on how Kage enforce the banning of the Punishment Log by brawling with 30 or so Zaft inmates bare handed.

"Impressive. I've heard of how Captains who made changes to their division as soon as they were in charge… but I've never seen changes done so thoroughly like this." Senba particularly noted the giant of a man Fuji, who's currently listening to Murdoch down below, something about a living quarter.

"I don't trust him." Chiba exclaimed. Knowing Toudou is still listening, she continued. "I have nothing against that boy using the name of the legendary shinobi seeing that it was not of self interest. I will not even say anything about his hidden agenda… but why I do feel like… there's something that boy didn't let out."

"I understand how you feel Chiba." Urabe nodded. "It's hard to believe this much change can be made by an ordinary ramen waiter… I've talked to a few men about the details of the battle of Archangel Bay… the execution is flawless… defeating Veia is already such a seemingly impossible feat, he also outwit that fox Raww le Klueze that gave us so much trouble in the past with his tricks… it's way too flawless to be made by someone who didn't have years of training and study."

"He's still young and inexperienced." Toudou commented. "And yet he took the right action in this situation."

"What do you mean the right action?" Chiba was a bit taken aback.

Toudou was silent for a moment and then asked: "Your first son and your second son. You can only save one. Which one will you save?"

The Shiseiken were naturally caught off guard at the question. "Wh… What kind of question is that?" Urabe gulped. To choose between which son to save? Is there any answer to that?

"Alright, let me rephrase the question: your countrymen in the far distance, or the countrymen under your protection. You can only save one. Which one will you save?"

They finally see the connection between the two questions. "I'm not sure I can… choose…" Senba nodded in shame. "I'll probably just stand down and watch."

Toudou nodded. "That is the right answer. And that is the answer he has taken. He stood by and watched as his countrymen are being slaughtered left and right. Waiting, patiently, while suppressing the rage boiling inside him." The Shiseiken gasped in realization. "To act heartlessly… is the proof he has a heart. If he had acted impulsively and charged rashly to try to rescue everyone, he would be left with nothing in the end. He understands this, see so far ahead of everyone, probably farther than me. And like I said, he's still young and inexperienced and that's why he's the most terrifying person one can imagine… he's at the beginning stage of his growth. If he's purely relying on talent and natural instinct for this sort of decision…" the Miracle Sword's stern tone could not abate the terror gripping the hearts of his retinues.

"This man might be able to change the very courses of war itself…" Urabe gulped in fear.

"The War, Urabe? Widen your gaze. This is not the attitude of a warlord." Toudou gazed ahead. "This sort of attitude is not an attitude of a man born to lead armies but to create an era. The World, Urabe. Give this boy time, and he might change the World. He will tear it down to its very foundations if he had to, and then rebuild it anew."

The Shiseiken was shocked at this statement. Meanwhile, just ahead, Canard, Murdoch and Prayer were gathering in some discussion. Farther ahead, Kage and his Shadowguards on approach.

"I see. It's time already." Toudou nodded to his Shiseiken and the three elite warriors stay their distance. But they warily flew their gaze upon a certain black masked man.

Kage spoke something to Tolle, something that seem stressed the boy greatly, but the boy reluctantly nodded. Kage then turned around and saw Toudou. "Say, Toudou-san; the real Kage… what was he like?" Kira was somewhat curious as to what exactly give him away so easily that Toudou was able to see through him in a single exchange.

Toudou perked and for a moment, seem a bit confused about what to say. Apparently he had a trouble answering the question, fidgeting as he looked for the right word. "Mmm… well… if I have to summarize it in one word…"

"Yes…?" Kira and his friends leaned closer, awaiting the grand answer. Canard and Prayer also seem to be interested in this topic and lean closer as well.

"He's a total… idiot."

Canard and Prayer nearly fell from their mounts, and the Shadowguards fell on their backs. But 'Kage' fell to the ground, hard, head first. The weight of the statement literally buried Kira's head into the cracked ground.

"He's boorish, opinionated, impulsive, idealistic, shortsighted, more brawns than brains… in summary… a total IDIOT." As Toudou list these unimaginably terrifying flaws unbefitting of a legendary shinobi, Kira's head sank deeper and deeper, as if it was being hammered by those words: huge-ass chunks of his imagination shattered by reality, until the Idiot verdict fell and only his neck can be seen. "That's why I knew right away that you were not the original Kage… he is nowhere as smart as you." The last statement was like a jackhammer which smashed the boy's upper body portion deep into the ground. Even the Shiseiken almost felt pity for the boy. Almost. "But in the end… he sticks to whatever he believes in, and sticks to it to the very end, even at the risk of his own life." The Miracle Sword kneeled next to his downed Captain. "Are you ready to show that same measure of will, Kage?"

Kage plucked his head out of the ground and grinned beneath his mask. "Ready to hear the whole story?"

"Let me see the man who defeated that immortal monster Goud Veia and even outwitted Raww le Klueze." Toudou stated.

And so the five men left the Fort Archangel on horseback.

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Meanwhile, the Bladebane army had just arrived at the village of Inaba to see its charred remains.

"They've burned everything." Dearka reported. He was closing his nose while he made the report. "And they even throw shit into the wells. We can't expect to make a base here!"

Yzak gritted his teeth. "Those stupid Mercenaries overdid it!" He saw the sky darkened. There's no way they can continue like this. "Set up an outpost here. We'll make a temporary camp here for today. Tomorrow we move on. No more lootings."

"There's still another village though. It's nearer to the Fort, and it's far more suitable to be a staging ground." Shiho opened a map and looked for villages nearby their location.

"What Village is that?" Yzak took the map from Shiho and saw the name written on the map. "Kono… Kono…"

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In a cliff overlooking the Village Konohagakure, Kira had just finished explained his grand plan in its entirety to the shocked and horrified audience consisting of Canard, Toudou, and Murdoch. Prayer was the only one who wasn't too surprised by the revelation as he had been told the whole story beforehand.

Canard tensely gritted his teeth, while Toudou's expression was as tense as it can get. Murdoch was so overwhelmed that he fell on his back. "Y… You gotta be shittin me…" the half Japanese half Canadian man muttered almost deliriously.

"You think it's too cruel?" Kira sighed.

Toudou exclaimed. "But to go that far…!"

"I'm the living testament that something like this is necessary." Prayer stated calmly. Kira grabbed hold of Prayer's shoulder and gently pulled him back. Then Kira presented himself, raising his hands.

"I didn't bring Shiki with me. I didn't bring any weapon or any protective gear of any kind. If you feel what I'm doing is wrong… if you feel that it's too cruel, too farfetched… that you just can't take it… take your sword and strike me down right now. You can just tell the men I tried to renege on the military pledge afterwards. Because I won't stop. I can't. This is the measure of my will."

The three was completely unnerved at the sheer… cruelty of the plan. A 16 year old boy. By the Gods, a 16 year old…!

Murdoch was the first one to recover and he grasped Kira's collar. "You swear, on the lives of my men, that they can survive this?"

"I think you should understand why I called you here. You, instead of your Captain. The lives of your men are also in your hands. If you can deliver that is."

"I'LL DELIVER DAMN YOU!" Murdoch was sweating buckets as he roared and let go. "I'LL FUCKING DELIVER! God damn it…"

Canard almost felt regret for bringing this slumbering monster to a full awakening. He didn't expect it to be this terrifying. "Back then you cracked… I take it you didn't expect to collapse like that either, did you? Are you telling me that if I had not yelled at you like that, you wouldn't have the resolution to do this?"

"It did gave me pauses and reconsideration more times than I could count. I admit… that was a miss on my part. I wasn't mentally prepared back then. But you helped gained my bearings, and so I decided to tell you too." As he said this, Canard was quick to notice that Kira's eyes were cold and lifeless. He's been like that the entire time he gave them the blow by blow briefing. A stark contrast with his usual self he often saw in the kitchen: kind, gentle and calm but nevertheless lively.

Canard gulped and snarled nervously. "Now you make me feel I just signed my own death warrant. Fine… I'll fucking see this to the end. But if you dare chickened out… I'll cut your fucking head off!"

Kira turned to the last person. "Toudou-san?"

Toudou tightened his grip on his great cleaver. After Kira's explanation, everything makes sense now. His bizarre behavior, his restructuring of the 7th division, the burning of Inaba… Out of the three person who just heard the truth that day, he can feel that he's the only one seriously contemplating to strike this man… no this demon in human skin right then and there. But after a brief but clearly violent mental battle with himself, Toudou finally exclaimed. "Very well. I will see it through."

Kira nodded. "Thank you. I understand how hard it'll be for you to stomach this, so I thank you."

"Thank you isn't gonna CUT IT!" Canard roared.

"I know." Kira turned around and gazed upon Konohagakure. "The right place I've been looking for. It's here. Right here, on this village!" And so he declared.

And end the third day. Two more days till d-day.

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Day 4…

Kage was exercising his usual routine of making salt.

Canard drilled his men harder than usual that day. He also shouted orders more often to Balsam, kicked him twice as much and twice as hard.

Toudou was told to replace Lockon in drilling the troops in cavalry battle, while Lockon taught them about archery combat. But nevertheless, whatever Kira had said clearly had rocked the man to his very core. Shiseiken were clearly troubled by this fact.

Mudoch seem to be in a perpetually, extremely foul mood from the moment he wakes up today. He's been taking swigs of Rum every now and then, but then spit it out saying it tasted bad, and take another swig.

Everyone predicted that everything will be the same level of bizarreness like yesterday's calm… until… nearing afternoon…

Uproar erupted. Not from the men, not from Murdoch the daily yeller, not from anyone but one person.

Just as the soldiers were getting discussing what will Kira made for lunch, Kage suddenly knocked the door off its hinges and roared at the top of his lungs. "CANARD!"

Canard gasped at the roar. He turned and saw Kage by the smashed up door, panting. His tense eyes widened like a teacup, and his skin is deathly pale. Canard casually asked. "What?"

"ASSEMBLE THE MEN! THE RIGHT TIME IS NOW!"

And Canard dropped everything in sheer shock. "A… ALREADY?"

"Yes. We're doing it TONIGHT!"

And now the whole base is in uproar. In an instant, the word was spread: Kage will make good of his military pledge TONIGHT!

The soldiers suddenly dropped all their training routine and sortie. Kage quickly briefed them of the operation and that it will be a night raid, a blitzkrieg attack on horseback. With one fifth of the total force as pledged. At the present there are around 2000 men, and so 400 men, mounted on horseback, were chosen and assembled by Canard. Kage also requested that Mwu and Toudou to come with him.

"I will divide these 400 men into three teams, and I need two more senior officers to lead them."

"I'm coming with you alright. Even if I have to force myself in. As long as I can get a goddamn general idea of what you're up to…" Mwu groaned. At least he finally got something to curb his frustration.

"Then you need to appoint three more officers, Kage. In case one of us falls, another must carry the torch." Toudou suggested. Kage nodded and looked at his options. His gaze fell upon Setsuna and then he remembered something that the white haired boy once said. "Setsuna. You fit?"

The white haired boy cracked his neck. "Fit and ready."

"Good. You'll be my aide. As for you two…" Eventually, Kage appointed Kamina to be Toudou's aide, and for Mwu…

"I'll do it." Canard snarled.

"You're the lieutenant. You can't go. You'll be in charge while I'm away."

"Don't underestimate the 7th division. This base had survived my absence more times than I can count. They'll be fine without me. And I'll be Mwu's aide within acting capacity throughout this fucking operation. Just appoint another to be in charge while you're away." The Seven Sword smiled sadistically while giving a vicious, but meaningful glance to Kage.

Kage engaged a brief glaring contest with his lieutenant, but he finally relented. "Prayer. You'll be in charge. Shadowguards, all of you will be acting Lieutenants until we've returned." Prayer and the Shadowguards nodded. Kage turned to Toudou. "You've briefed the Shiseiken?" Toudou silently nodded. "Send a runner, as we discussed." The Captain gave the letter to Toudou, who in turn, gave it to Asahina. The bespectacled man looked at Kage with slight animosity, and then dashed ahead as fast as his horse can carry him.

Just then the sound of falling items attracted everyone's attention. They all saw a young boy struggling to clean a pile of stuff he just made. Kamina cheered. "Aha! Right on time! SIMON! Come here!"

Kage tilted his head. "He's one of your crew, Kamina?"

"'One of my crew?' Now, that's rather insulting. He's my second in command of the Dai Gurren Brigade! Come on Simon, introduce yourself to everyone!" Kamina literally dragged the young boy right to the middle for everyone to see.

"Eh… eh… hallo…" Simon timidly flapped his hands. Kage was taken back. The boy is probably only 12-13 years old! He has short raven hair, wear a pair of yellow goggles. Like Kamina, he didn't wear any upper, but he's draped in a oversized jacket bearing the skull of the Daigurren Brigade.

"He's also our main armorer." Prayer explained. "We call him Simon the Digger, because well… he literally digs stuff out. Interesting stuffs too. And then he put that into the weapons and armors he made."

"And he's carrying… what?" Kage looked at the pile of stuff Simon dropped earlier.

"I… I've been making s…some armor and weapons for you guys to use…" The boy flabbergasted as he explained.

The soldiers gathered around the pile of stuff and start picking things up.

"Aha! This one is mine alright!" Kamina take his pick, and Simon nodded happily. Indeed, he made that just for his Aniki.

Kage then noticed some of the items were actually…

"Yes. It was Simon who made those things you've ordered." Murdoch roared. It seems he was swinging between being a drunkard and just being angry. "If it weren't for him working all night, we might not have finished so early."

"Which reminds me." Prayer suddenly ran and starts rummaging amidst the mess. And then he found a package he was looking for. "Simon just finished this yesterday." Prayer unwrapped the package and pull out something smooth… and then he gave it to Kage.

Kage's new Captain's vest.

Kage took it and checked it. Everything was exactly as he had requested. Kage leaned forward and looked at Simon. The boy initially fretted at Kage's stern look, but then his eyes gradually turn kinder. Kage patted Simon's hair several times. "Good work, Simon. Thank you. It's perfect." Simon smiled in return.

Kage looked at the vest and then put it on. This new haori is vastly different from Mwu's, Murrue's and even Harlbarton's original design. It's still sleeveless, to allow unrestricted movement for Kage's arms, but it's slightly shorter, as it was tailored to fit Kage's size, but it still appear tattered and as ragged as before. The insides are lined with pockets for storing and concealing weapons. Its waist area is fitted with utility bags to keep items like wires, explosives and flashbang bombs. A detached zipper set was fitted on the chest area. The vest also made metal rustling sounds whenever it moved, and it was noticeably heavy, judging by the way its jagged tattered rims drop down to the ground. "A layer of lead wire mail has been woven in-between the two pieces of clothes sown together, so that may take some time to get used to. But that is your request?" Simon explained. Kage nodded satisfyingly. That's just what he wanted. The collar has also been extended to a gaudy hood to cover his head, completely covering his face in black (AN: think the Naz'Gul). But the biggest difference with the traditional vest… is that the whole vest is colored in black and, appropriately, the small, upside down Kanji of Seven was written in such a way at the inside of the hood, so that when it's pulled back, the marking showed in the right spot at the back of Kage's collar, and it was written in white.

"If I wear that bright white vest as it is, it'll be the same as screaming out loud: HEY, I'm right here! Come and get me! Like that. Yeah." Kage gave a short explanation to a dumbfounded Natarle.

Prayer smiled and looked at the pile and he noticed some new armaments. Not just for Kamina and Kage, but also for almost everyone in the Juppongatana, including one armament for himself. "You've made things for everyone huh?"

"Not everyone. Hey Simon, I need a new fucking sword." Canard looked everywhere for a two handed sword.

"NANNI? You broke it again?" Simon almost cried at the request.

"It's a battle barge, what do you expect?"

"You used it to cut a BATTLE BARGE?" Simon cried even louder.

"And he was successful too if I might add." Lockon added while marveling at his new armaments.

"Here, use this." Kage suddenly slammed something heavy and large right in front of Canard. The Lieutenant gasped, recognizing the sword.

"This is…"

"Glamm. Harlbarton's sword. I feel like… if it's just stuck there on some sad little cemetery gathering rust and dust is doing a disservice to such a great sword, with a great history. I can't use it either. So you use it. Though I have no idea how you're going to use seven swords at once." Kage looked at Canard, waiting his response.

Canard sniggered. He grabbed the heavy sword, lifted it with just one hand, before spin it several times overhead and placed it on his back. "Watch and learn amateur. Watch and fucking learn."

And with that, Kage looked around and decided to wrap out their preparation immediately. "Alright! That's about it people! Get your gear and finish up! We're moving out in 10 minutes!"

And within 10 minutes, Kage lead an army of 400 Horsemen, one fifth of the current standing forces, just as he promised, and sortie out of the gates of the Archangel.

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Konoha was far closer than Inaba. In less than an hour, the horsemen army had the village in sight. There's no smoke or signs of battle yet, thank God. But the village had yet to be evacuated. "They haven't evacuated yet… I think Asahina is still arguing with the village chief." Mwu saw the condition of the village through his binoculars.

Kage turned to Setsuna. "Setsuna. Can you hear them?"

Setsuna looked at his captain, finally understanding why Kage brought him along. "Of course." He dropped down from his horse and pressed his ear to the ground. He may be blind, but his incredibly sharp ears had given a 360 degree radar kind of hearing sense. "Yes. I can hear Asahina is arguing with the village chief. He seems pretty stubborn and he doesn't believe that the mercenary threat is real." Setsuna raised his head. "I also hear thunderous footsteps, coming from a great distance. They're moving very slowly. Most likely, it's the Bladebanes."

"We don't have the time to wait. We move to plan B, right away." Canard quickly decided.

Toudou protested. "Give Asahina more time. These villagers and their ancestors had lived here for decades. So what if they need more time to make the decision?"

Kage knew this all too well. "Fine. Toudou-san, take 100 men and go there, help Asahina to convince the elder and the villagers. Mwu-san, send out scouts. And Toudou-san? You have until the end of the afternoon. After that, we go with plan B." Toudou nodded and quickly ran towards the village together with 100 men.

"What's with all the hurry?" Mwu was completely lost.

"Like I said, we're attacking tonight. Precisely, midnight tonight." Kage nodded. "That's why I wanted that village emptied. And that's why I burned Inaba to the ground yesterday. So that the Bladebane army will have no choice to set camp here, where we can ambush them."

"But 120,000 against 400?" Yet another whining.

Kage sighed. "This army has virtually marched from one end of the island to the end of another. Initial pace was that they were able to cover 100 miles a day. As their numbers grow, their pace slowed down to barely a third of that speed. The number may seem formidable, but when they get here, all we'll be facing are a bunch of tired soldiers, lazing about, barely recovering their full strength. Despite their superior numbers, we can win." By now, everyone's face in the team brightened up as they had also begun to gain confidence that they can actually win. "By tomorrow, they would've recovered, and they'll begin the offense. That's why it has to be tonight."

Kage then looked at Setsuna, who was jerking his head about, and seem to have caught another sound.

"Setsuna? What is it?"

"That army we're talking about? A single sound peeled off from the main army. And it's coming this way on all fours." Setsuna began sniffing the wind blowing their way and snorted in disgust. "It's him."

"Who?" Kamina perked up.

"The bastard who sent me to hospital."

Kage frowned in thought. "He must be a scout. Setsuna, Kamina, you two go and intercept him, and be careful, he must be a sensor type. Do not allow him to return back to the main army! The rest of you! Get ready for Plan B. We cannot wait for the afternoon anymore!"

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Meanwhile, in the village of Konoha…

"Once again I refuse! The only one who can tell us to leave is the Lion of Orb himself! This village has been our home for generations! We will not defer to the foreign power of the alliance!" The village chief banged the table to make his point.

Toudou was even more desperate. "Look! An army of bandits and mercenaries are coming your way. Your children and women will be slaves or worse, and the men will be killed!"

"Then we'll call in the Samurais! They'll take care of those bandits good!"

"By the time they get here, all that's left of your precious village will cinders and ashes!" Asahina groaned in annoyance at the elder's refusal to see reason. "The enemies are only half a day away!"

"The only enemy I see here is you!" The village elder pointed an accusing finger to Toudou. "You're a rounin aren't you? Dishonorable wretch! We will not fall to your trickery! Now GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!"

"Why you…!" Asahina nearly lose his temper and reach for his sword, but Toudou quickly stopped his subordinate. "Enough, Asahina. We're leaving."

As the two soldiers left the chief's house, Asahina was still fuming in anger. "That man has no right to put you on the same level as those other…"

"But we are, Asahina. We are." Toudou looked ahead, and lo and behold, an army of "mercenaries and bandits" descended from the cliff top. Asahina was shocked at the sudden appearance. "Wh… that's way too early!" But Toudou doesn't seem to be surprised.

Within moments, panic arises as horsemen charged in and began stampeding everything, setting houses on fire, trudging through sties, trampling over fields. Doors were smashed off its hinges and the occupants were dragged out, screaming. A single horseman, clearly the one in charge of all this stopped right next to Toudou, who stood silent. But his eyes clearly disapproving with what his captain has done. Just then, the village chief burst out of his office, wielding a beat up spear.

"DAMN BANDITS! DON'T THINK YOU CAN DO AS YOU PLEASE! RAAAAAAAHH!" Before Toudou or Asahina can stop him, the elderly man charged towards the bandit lord. The Bandit lord easily dodged the spear, gripped it tight, and wringed it out of the chief's hands. And then, mercilessly, the Bandit Lord thrust the blunt end of the spear and struck down the chief by the head, rendering him unconscious. Toudou winced in anger at the act, yet did nothing to stop it, realizing the Bandit Lord could've done much worse.

The Bandit lord looked at Toudou's angry look. "I don't have much of a choice. If you disapprove with the measure of my will, why didn't you stop me?"

"I didn't stand in your way, that doesn't mean I did not condemn it, neither did I condone it."

Kage's eyes shone kindly through the helmet as he smiled approvingly beneath his bandit lord disguise. "Then from here on out, you will take the path of righteousness and honor. Dirty evil stuff…" Kage jerked his thumb to himself. "Go. Use the 100 men to escort the villagers away from our 'attack'. Return after you ensure their safety. But do hurry up." The 'bandit lord' dashed away, leaving the dumbfounded Asahina and Toudou.

Toudou sighed and picked up the unconscious village chief. "So he says. Go Asahina."

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In a swamp, a few miles away from Konoha…

Setsuna and Kamina crawled amongst the reeds; their bodies are completely covered in mud and dirt.

"Tell me again why are we getting a mudpack shower earlier on?" Kamina groaned as he scratched his itching muddy body again.

"The last time I went after this guy, he practically sniffed and saw us from a mile away. He has ridiculously keen senses. This mud will cover our forml and right now, the wind is against us… and in this marsh, the stench will annoy his smell. But I can hear him just fine. So we wait here and…"

A LOUD growling sound from Kamina's stomach HAD to interrupt Setsuna's explanation. "Otto… time for a quick chow!"

"Quick chow! Oi! We're supposed to be hidden you IDIOT! Wait!" Too late, the boisterous Pirate boss rose up and ran to the center of the marsh, looking for some game. Setsuna felt the urge to hop in and cut this idiot's neck's off, but in the end simply slapped his face silly.

Like a wild man, Kamina excitedly looked around, looking for a prey. Then he saw a bird flying overhead, and quickly took a crossbow from his belt, and shoot. The arrow hit the bird just right! "Yatta!"

Setsuna whistled sarcastically. "Nice shot…" But then his ears caught something.

Kamina quickly ran towards where the bird had fallen. "Where is it, where is it… AH! There it is!" He grabbed the bird and smiled happily, seeing the arrow pierced the bird just right… except there's another black arrow stuck on it. "There are… two arrows?" Kamina's survival instinct kicked in and he realized… he's not alone. That instinct quickly saved when an arrow suddenly fly towards him, barely missing him by the inches. Kamina quickly reloaded his Crossbow and search his surroundings. There are reeds growing all around him, and they are tall, tall enough to cover a full grown man if they crouched. So his attacker could be hiding anywhere… Sensing a movement from his back, Kamina turned around and fired. The arrow pierced through the reeds and hit its target, a bow without the archer. Kamina grunted and reloaded…

…and suddenly, from his back, a beastlike humanoid raised a cleaver and prepared to cut his neck off.

But the beastman didn't expect Kamina to quickly turned around and smashed cleaver off with his crossbow. The crossbow was crushed to pieces, but it managed to deflect the cleaver away, throwing its wielder back. Kamina looked at his opponent.

A Water Knight, wearing a very light blue armor (almost white) with a helmet that has a headcrest of a full circle. He's carrying what looked like an elongated kitchen cleaver. But even with all the armor, one can see his claws, fur, and the pale yellow mane like hair from beneath the helmet. His slitted yellow beast eyes shone through the insides of the armor. "Nicely done, Natural. I'm Viral, of Gamoff's Senior Water knight, also known as the Beast knight. Hand that bird over. That's my lunch!"

"Izzatso?" Kamina threw away his now useless crossbow. "Sorry. I shot this guy first! But if you want it, ya can HAVE IT!" Kamina threw the dead bird right to Viral's face.

The beastman slammed the bird away and rushed angrily. "Don't you dare try to run, Natural-huh!" Viral's eyes widened as the bird's body were reduced to a bloody pulp soon after a blade suddenly burst forth and missing his face by the inches. The Beastly Water knight pulled back and saw his opponent had readied a ridiculous weapon.

"Run away? Oh perish that thought! Who the hell do you think I am? I am Kamina, the Pirate Boss of the Great Daigurren Brigade! I'm also known as the Spiral Sword, the 8th seat of the Juppongatana. I never turn my back to my enemy!" Kamina already pulled out an unearthly long blade, with the lower jaw of a red skull at its hilt. "And for the record, I've returned that sneakshot you got at me."

"Juppongatana eh? That bravado will get you killed." Viral's comment was cut short as soon as Kamina charged right at him and slashed his sword. The reed around were completely cut down to size. But Viral quickly jumped and began counter attacking with a furious string of slashes. Viral's shorter and hence lighter cleaver went past Kamina's defenses, being too fast for Kamina's long sword.

"Why you!" Kamina stopped the attack in a way Viral did not expect.

By banging his head to Viral's helmeted head, breaking the circle crest of the said helmet, while slightly cracking the faceplate.

"Gk! You crazy sonnova…!" Viral growled in anger, while Kamina meely grinned ear to ear… ignoring the fact he actually suffered more damage to his head than Viral. (I mean, one guy wears a helmet, the other just a head… ya know what I mean).

"Okay you beast knight freak! Let me show you a real fight!" Suddenly Kamina pulled yet another huge object out of nowhere (hammerspace) and tried to swat Viral with it. But once again, the beastman was too fast, and he quickly put some distance between the two. But when Viral get a better look at Kamina's new weapon, he almost jawdropped.

A sword… or more like… a drill head. The hilt of the said drill had the upper portion of a flaming red skull, wearing a black and larger version of Kamina's ridiculous eyeglasses. The drill has a spiral helix on the surface, but these helixes are sharp, like blades. Kamina lifted the drill at the top of his head. "GATTAAAI!" And just like that, Kamina simply inserted his long sword into the drill head. The lower jaw from the nodachi matched the upper jaw on the drill head perfectly, forming a skull head.

Silent from Viral's part for a few seconds due to the ridiculousness of the scene. Kamina charged in again, lifted his new weapon, and to Viral's shock, slashed it in a horizontal chop. Viral jumped to the air. 'What the? What is that? That's not a drill… that's a sword! A Zweihander…!' Viral smiled nervously. Indeed, Kamina was using the giant drill not as a stabbing weapon, but as a heavy sword. 'But in that case… a sword that big is just a vast cloth of lump iron…!' With that in mind, Viral charged at blinding speed and began landing one blurring slash after another. Kamina managed to block one of his slashes, at the moment of impact, Kamina flicked something, and the drill roared to life and spin rapidly. As a result, Viral's cleaver was knocked away by the sudden spin, throwing the Beast Swordsman off balance. Kamina used the chance to charge in with a slash while his drill sword is still in full spin. Viral quickly blocked the overhead slash with his cleaver, but the spinning drill sword grind through his weapon at rapid speed. Grunting, Viral let go of the destroyed cleaver and hopped back. Gritting his teeth, Viral looked at his now useless cleaver and then turn his attention back to Kamina, and his ridiculous drill sword. "That's a very peculiar sword you have there, Natural."

"Atari maeda! What the hell do you think this is? This is Lagann. The great drill sword. Emphasize on the sword please." Kamina marveled at his new weapon Simon had created for him and raised it on high. "It's perfect, Simon!"

Viral had no idea who Simon is, but he realized now this guy maybe Ridiculous with the capital R, but his skill is no joke. "Fine. You have the honor of me pulling my sword out. Get ready yourself, Natural!" Viral pull out a pair of short black katana and his hand began to flicker around. They flickered so fast, it was as if the beast man had more than two arms. "Tell me, how many arms did you see, Natural?" With that, Viral charged in and began attacking Kamina rapidly. Kamina was utterly confused with the many arms and he was cut multiple times across his body. "Horahorahorahoraaaa-!"

Kamina growled angrily, and ended the sword tirade short by first blocking a sword attack with Lagann in his right arm, and then pull something from his pocket with his left before slashing it upward.

Viral gasped and back away just in time. But blood splattered out from the small cut on his face, courtesy to a small arrow in Kamina's hand. "NANNI…GRH…!" Viral quickly bacedk away. He swept the blood off his cheek, and realized the fresh wound will scar.

"No matter how many arms you got, you still only have one head, beast freak!"

"Not bad, Natural. Among us Water knights we have a saying: Too bad you weren't born one of us. That is praise to our enemy, if they are a swordsman of worthy skill, and yet they are not Water knights."

Kamina grinned half ferociously, half nervously. "No problem for me. All you Knightly codes and all that shit doesn't suit me anyway! Now, ready for more!"

Viral returned the grin. "Have at you, KAMINA!"

Before the two ferocious warriors can continue however, Setsuna, still covered in mud, suddenly burst out of the reed, to the surprise of Viral. "Hi, remember me?" Setsuna brought down his bandaged hand and cut down. Viral, noticing that was no normal hand slash, barely dodged the slash, but his blades were cut to pieces, to his shock and anger.

"My Enki and Dulga! Damn you!" Viral groaned. "Reinforcements?" He looked at the white haired mummified man that just appeared out of nowhere. His figure is completely covered in mud, which is why his nose didn't notice him earlier on. But now that he got a good look at him, he remembered this was the enemy scout that he flushed out the other day. "Hng. Haven't you and that red haired bitch got enough lessons for the day?"

Ignoring the disparaging comment, Setsuna checked on Kamina, who reeks of his own blood. "Kamina! You okay?"

"Ah! Setsuna. Thank goodness!"

"Come on! We have to take him out now!" The two swordsman of the Juppongatana stood against the Beast knight.

Now rendered weaponless, Viral was unnerved at the opposition and entered a deep thought. Last time he fought the white haired boy, he was together with a red haired girl with clawlike arm. He attacked them, and they escaped, as a scout would. But now, instead of running away, they opted to stand and fight him? That's when Viral realized, now their condition is reversed: HE is the scout, and they are here to flush him out! The naturals are preparing for something they didn't want him to see. Which means…'They're preparing an ambush!' The clarity was shown from Viral's shocked eyes, eyes that spurned his opponents to take the initiative to go on the offensive.

Viral realized he can't linger here too long. He must warn Yzak of this. The Beast knight flickered out of sight, avoiding simultaneous strikes from Setsuna and Kamina. But before he can go far, a white blur suddenly appeared right in front of him and smashed the Beast knight by the face, knocking his helmet off while breaking his faceplate completely, revealing his beastly face. "Nanni…!" Viral landed with a splash and saw the culprit, and trembled.

Mwu la Flagga, the Eagle of Endiminion arrived on the scene.

Now the Beast knight was surrounded. The Eagle of Endiminion at the front, and two warriors, both apparently are from Juppongatana, and he's unarmed. Viral pant and gasped out of breath, but then he start laughing ferociously. "Hu…HuhuhuhuaWHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"What are you laughing at?" Kamina growled.

"Whahaha… You naturals dare to gang up on ME? A water night in WATER?" Viral was referring to the waters in the swamp. He swiped his hand. And the water sprang to life. Perhaps the idea was to have the water raged forward as a beast, but apparently, that was not the case as the water suddenly spiral around… and moved away from Viral. He looked at the direction where the water was going and gasped in horror.

A black figure bent down in the distance. One hand was touching the swamp waters on all five fingers, while the other hand was forming a seal before his masked mouth, controlling the water. The water that's supposed to be Viral's weapon was spinning rapidly around the black figure, creating a small gust that flings his black captain's vest haphazardly. Kage the Black Devil has also entered the scene. Viral gazed with horror upon seeing that the Black Devil had literally drained every drop of water in their vicinity and gathered them all in that spiral of water, leaving them all standing in dry if slightly muddy ground. He had heard that the Black Devil was able to control fire, ridiculing an entire battalion of Exorcists while he's at it. 'I never knew he can do that with water too…'

Mwu, grinning mischievously, pointed his kodachi menacingly to Viral's neck. "This far away from your precious water? Aye. We dare."

Viral gritted his teeth and realized he had been defeated. Reluctantly, he knelt down and put his hands behind his head.

"Kamina! Take him away!" Kage ordered. "And strip him."

"WHAT?" Viral and, surprisingly, Kamina both roared incredulously at the order.

"Just knock him off first. Let the man have some dignity." Mwu shook his head. "Setsuna?"

"With pleasure." And with that, Setsuna slugged the Beast knight unconscious.

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By now, the village of Konoha has been emptied. And the 400 alliance soldiers had taken up residence there. Viral was securely locked away (and out of the earshot), and with everyone gathered in the village chief, Kage began the meeting in the earnest. "There's gonna be a rain tonight." Kage finally explained to everyone. "Precisely at midnight tonight. That is the right timing. That's our only window to attack. And this village will be the ground zero. This is the right place."

"How do you know there's gonna be a rain tonight?" One of his men asked.

Kage showed them the salt he's been making in the last few days. "With this." He showed that the salt was wet and thus clumped together. "Farmers who lived near beaches knew how to predict rain by making salt. When the humidity of the air is high, the salt gets clumped together like this. That, and there hasn't been any rain in the last few days… so they're gonna be a storm tonight."

"That's why you wanted to use horsemen… using the sound of the rain as cover to the sound of hoof steps." Canard nodded.

"Correct. It'll be a fast bloody raid; we'll hit them fast and hard and then be away before they know what hit them."

"Do you want to us to cut the enemy's head during the confusion?" Toudou asked. "But even we managed to do that under the cover of rain, their army won't just disperse. The Water Knights can just take control of the mercenary army. After all, they paid them."

Kage chuckled. "The Water Knights and Bladebanes are prideful bunch of people. Hiring mercenaries are not something they do often… almost never. As many times as they broke it, the knights of Zaft often strictly preached about honor and knightly codes… as such they have little respect… and even lesser trust to mercenaries and bandits. And we're talking about an army which more than ¾ of it are composed of both."

Upon hearing the explanation, realization dawned on every officer in the room.

Kage sighed in relief as the men finally see things his way. "400 vs 120,000? Well… let's put that odd to the test."

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By night, the army of Bladebanes and mercenaries had arrived at Konoha.

A scout was sent, only to return and reported that the village has been completely deserted. And there seem to be no signs of damage or combat.

"Perhaps the villagers had left long ago." Shiho sighed in relief. "At least we don't need to raid this place to empty it."

"But why didn't Viral report back?" Yzak was concerned. "Secure the village, fortify it. From here on out, we'll make this place our staging ground. Tomorrow we'll attack. And… Shiho, take a scout. Find out what happened to Viral."

The female Water Knight looked to the far distance and saw black clouds forming, making that evening seem darker than before. "Yes, Sir Yzak."

That evening passed with the Bladebanes made their base in the middle of the village. This base is noticeably bigger and more fortified than the previous outposts, as they were intended to be their main base for the attack. The mercenaries took the surrounding buildings and stayed there. While others who didn't get the space had erect their own tents and set up camp. The village's meager walls were fortified with some rocks and sharp wooden spears, creating makeshift walls. All the horses were tied to makeshift stables, and they were fed. The torches were lit. Thousands of stoves were set up as the army began to cook meal for dinner. Some soldiers chop wood down to feed the fire. A camp that serves as the armory began the routine of sharpening their weapons.

All this noise was listened to by Setsuna, who was pressing his ear eagerly to the ground from a safe distance. While he listen, he gave instructions to his assistant, Asahina, who noted on the where, what, and which of the base's layout, writing them all down to the map in his hand. For hours they continued this activity, making sure they got all the details. After a long while and the sky are pitch black, the two left their hiding spot and rejoined the Alliance army, waiting in the forest.

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In the forest…

The Alliance soldiers were also preparing for the attack. They were only waiting for Setsuna and Asahina's report.

A small whistle sound signified the blind scout and the scarred Shiseiken had returned. Once Setsuna rejoined them, he began first by debriefing what he had found.

"The main fort is at the center of the village. The Bladebanes mostly stayed there, rarely gets out. The mercenaries occupy most of the village buildings left behind in the surrounding perimeter around the fort. The buildings were reserved for the head of the mercenary groups, while others will have to set up camp. Archers are spotted on here, here and here, at every corner of the base. The outer walls had also been reinforced, but not against cavalry attack. The same cannot be said to the center fort. The fort wall is mainly wood, but with stone base. It's tall, and there are no openings whatsoever for archers. I doubt they brought any archers. There are 4 gates, all have quite narrow opening, and they can be opened quickly, allowing the Bladebanes to pour out swiftly. But I'm guessing the Bladebanes intend to use the mercenary camps as some sort of gauntlet wall to whittle away all attackers."

"The stables?"

"Right here, here, and here." Asahina pointed several points in the base.

"The supplies?"

"There are two types. One, the big, main storage, kept at the main base, for the main army. The rest was kept in small storages all across the base."

"Alright! All of you! Listen up!" Kage yelled to draw everyone's attention. The soldiers looked at their captain tensely. "When it starts, you won't even have time to wait for my orders. When the rain starts, and it will, you won't have time to hear, much less see where you're going. And this is supposed to be a fast raid. So I expect everyone to know what they need to do, and where they need to go. No stops. No pauses. No second guesses. An instant you do that we fail. I can't promise that all of us will return home, but know this: I'm with you. All the way. To the end. Now are you ready?"

The soldiers gave a silent reply in form of a salute, and soon they mounted their horses, and Kage mounted Aile. Setsuna had also mounted his, but Kage had some doubts. "Setsuna… I think you should stay out of this one. When the storm comes, there will be so much noise; you can barely 'see' anything."

Setsuna laughed. "No need to concern yourself. In fact, if it rains… it's a blessing for me. You see… the only sound a rain makes is when the raindrop fell to the ground. When I concentrate on that… from my point of view it looks as if there's a blanket over the world. When that happens… it's almost as if I can see again."

Kage chuckled at how convincing Setsuna's story is. "Well alright then. Guess one more reason why the rain better fall."

"Oh it'll fall. I can feel the moisture in the air… the pressure… the temperature drops… it'll fall. You'll keep your head yet, Captain."

Kage chuckled and put on his hood, completely enclosing his face in black darkness.

And with that, the 400 horsemen mobilized.

And the operation begins.

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Only a few minutes left until midnight.

"We're dividing our forces into three teams. 190 horsemen will hide at the left flank. Toudou-san, Kamina-san, you'll lead this team, you're the Crescent Unit. Another 190 horsemen will hide at the right flank. Canard, Mwu. That's your unit: the Lion unit. The remaining 20 horsemen will come with me. We'll be the Shadow unit."

As ordered, the Shadow Unit followed Kage, the Crescent unit moved to the left, the Lion unit moved to the right. In the middle of the charge, everyone heard the sound of thunder from the sky, signing the long awaited rain has come. Kage smiled. 'Right on time.' The Alliance soldiers cheered as raindrops began to fall on their heads, and to their joy, it's getting heavier and heavier. The Mercenaries at the Zaft base did not share the sentiment and ran quickly for cover while the rain douse their torches and drenched their stoves. The camp soon went dark, except for the illumination coming from within the tents.

"The Shadow unit will go straight from the front, using the rain as cover. Our goal is to sow as much chaos as possible. Kill every enemy unit you see, release their horses, bring down their tents, trample everyone inside… whatever it takes."

A night guard was just cursing his luck for being on duty when the blasted weather occurred. Suddenly, appearing out of nowhere from the rain, a dark grey horse, ridden by a black rider who looked like the Grim Reaper itself descended upon him, and with a single swipe from the demon rider's blue glaive, the Night guard's head was separated from his neck before he can utter another sound.

As ordered, the Shadow unit charged in straight from the front gate. As expected, the 20 horsemen ride almost undisturbed within the seemingly near empty camp. Trampling and killing every night guard they caught by surprise. The sound of their hoof was completely muffled by the rain. No one noticed anything. They began by throwing hooks at a single house and then simultaneously pulling it to every direction, effectively bringing it down, shocking its occupants. And while they're still confused and terrified when they are surrounded by riders with demonic visages. The riders wear masks of horrifying faces. In broad daylight, that masks would only serve to earn them some laughs. But in the rain, when one's visions were severely limited and blurred, it can be a terrifying sight to behold. And so the riders were quick to slaughter them all when they're still terrified. Kage's main focus in particular, is the head honcho of that mercenary pack. Easily distinguished by the only one who had weapon in hand, albeit with his pants down. "KILL THEM ALL!" Their screams of panic and terror were also muffled by the sound of lightning strikes.

Once they're done with one house, they went to another, and repeat the process, and then another and another. Upon the process of bringing down the fifth house, a pack of Bladebane patrol had just arrived, having noticed that something has gone horribly wrong. When they saw a pack of horsemen were slaughtering the leaders of the mercenaries they yelled angrily. But when the horsemen turned to face them, the Bladebanes were horrified when they saw the riders' demonic faces, halting their advance. This gave the horsemen a chance to yell the order: "KILL!"

"I figure… we'll be able to take out about 4 houses before they start noticing something was wrong. When that happens, either the Lion unit or the Crescent unit will charge out of their hiding spot."

Canard raised his hand. "How do we fucking know if it's the Crescent or the Lion unit that needs to go?"

"I'll send a go code. Don't worry, it'll be impossible to miss."

Kage saw the first to arrive was in fact, the Bladebanes. So with that in mind… the Aoiro Shiki turned into Midori Shiki. "Lion Unit… this is… your Go-code!" And with that, Kage sent out a green arrow to the right fortification. The arrow exploded into a giant lion conflagration that blew the walls apart. At this point, the Shadow unit who were all dressed in black wasn't exactly visible in the dead of the night and they've already scattered away unnoticed.

From the blown walls, 190 horsemen from the Lion Unit poured in. They were all dressed disorderly, with looted mismatched armors taken from here and there, making them seemingly passable to your average mercenaries. They begin to shout and yell angrily, rousing their 'fellow' mercenaries. "WAKE UP! WAKE UP! THE BLADEBANES HAD BETRAYED US! WAKE UP!"

The mercenaries woke up upon hearing the uproar and they burst out of their tents. When they saw a bunch of Bladebanes (who still had no idea what the hell is going on) with their sword unsheathed standing dumbly next to a pile of dead mercenary bosses, coupled with all the shouts and yells, and the blurring rain and the darkness, the mercenaries were quick to rage and became convinced of the betrayal. "GET UP! GET UP! ALL OF YOU GET UP! WE GOT A FIGHT! MURDER EM! MUDER'EM!" The mercenaries heard all the noise and they poured out and began charging towards the Bladebanes.

The Bladebanes were shocked when the mercenaries that were supposed to be on their side is attacking them. In response, they too easily flared into anger and attack back. "DAMN YOU MERCENARIES! YOU DARE TO BETRAY US? I knew it was a mistake to hire you scum! Attack! ATTACK! FEEL THE WRATH OF THE BLADEBANES!" And chaos ensues.

The Bladebanes and the mercenary troops began to battle one another amidst the rain. They were so preoccupied, they fail to notice the Shadow Unit and the Lion Unit had gone into the stables. Mwu and Canard quickly unleashed all the horses from the stable, sending them running across the base. On another stable, Kage tied several horses to several houses before setting them all loose. 3 houses were pulled down when the horses went into stampede, and the Shadow unit joined forces with the Lion unit to mow through them and killed all the mercenary and bandits inside. The Lion unit continued to yell and shouted of how the Bladebanes had betrayed the mercenaries, rousing more and more mercenaries to battle their former employers.

At this point, the patrol Bladebanes had been completely overrun, though just a small pack had slaughtered a great number of mercenaries by themselves, but they are on their last leg. This was the sign for Kage to unleash his second go code. "Crescent-Unit! Time to ROLL!" The Aoiro Shiki's blade initially shrunk to a smaller size and Kage quickly threw it spinning towards the Bladebane's main HQ. Mid spin, the blade suddenly extended to its usually unearthly huge proportion. The Bladebane watch guards didn't even noticed Shiki until it has transformed into its gargantuan size, crushing them while cutting across a huge section of the base, as well destroying the supply storage in the process. The Blue Shiki spins around and then returned back to Kage's clawed left arm.

The loud sound of the destruction beat the sound of the rain, and the Bladebanes and Water knights rushed out of their base to see what's going on. And then suddenly, someone, wearing the armor of Viral, leading a whole bunch of Bladebanes rode out from the giant hole made by Aoiro Shiki and screamed: "The mercenaries are attacking us! They've turned on us! They've destroyed our storage! Fight my brothers! FIGHT!" 'Viral' shouted out whilst swinging his large(?) drill sword(!).

The Bladebanes recognized Viral by the circular headcrest design of his helmet, even though it has been broken. What's more, when they saw, through the rain, of the chaos that's occurring down there, added with the sight of their brethren (the patrol pack) being butchered by the mercenaries converging upon them, all this convinced the Zaft warriors that they have been betrayed. "Those lying backstabbing lowlifes! To arms my brothers! To ARMS!" And the Water Knights led their Bladebanes, pouring out of their base and charged towards the mercenaries. Likewise, the mercenaries saw the Water knights and the Bladebanes descending upon them with hostility convinced them that their employers wish to do away with them. The mercenaries and the Zaft knights collided into an all out battle amongst themselves. Unaware that 'Viral' had peeled away from the main army and attacked another stable, setting the horses running scared. As this happened, the Shadow unit had brought down yet another house, killed all the occupants, including yet another mercenary warlord.

Kage looked at the situation and realized everything has been going exactly as planned. At this point, all their food storages across the base has been destroyed, the main storage has also been leveled down. All their stables were in chaos, and all the mercenary lords had been killed. Now just one last thing to do.

The Lion unit and the Crescent unit looked at the pandemonium erupting at the base and realized their job is done, and so they all left the base under the cover of the rain. The two units rendezvous at the cliff, overlooking the village of Konoha, where chaos has escalated into a true scene of Hell. Leaderless and maddened by rage and quite possibly, greed, the mercenaries and the bandits turned on against their employers and kill every Zaft knight on sight. The Water knights lead their Bladebanes and counter attack under the pretense that the mercenaries had betrayed them. The Zaft knights are better trained and an elite stock of warriors and swordsmen, but the mercenaries win in numbers and variety of units. The rain continues to fall in the black of the night and as the last fire was doused; their perception was worsened by the total darkness.

The Water Knights utilized all their watery sword skills in the midst of the rain. Some unleash a horde of icicles that penetrated multiple mercenaries; others unleash a serpent of water that whipped several enemies by the head. Now according to themselves and logic should've dictated that they should've performed well in rain where water is seemingly abundant. But surprisingly… in this situation… their water sword art didn't do too well and its effectiveness seem greatly reduced if not malfunctioning completely, and they rely more on their swordwork. A quarter of the Water knights had been completely overwhelmed due to this.

Canard and Toudou saw all this and frowned in surprise. "I'll be fucking dumbfounded forever… who would've thought…"

"To think the Hyomonken had such a weakness…"

"You know… I've been thinking. You're relying on the mercenaries to reduce their number greatly. But… this whole operation will occur during rain! There's a saying: don't attack a Water knight in Water. And it's understandable. But during rain… wouldn't the Water Knights easily beat the shit out of those mercenaries six ways to Sunday?" Canard made a point.

"Hyomonken is not without a weakness. I know that for sure, because I've beaten a master of Hyomonken, I understand. Even having plenty of water around doesn't mean the Hyomonken will be invincible. Trust me. This rain will help us in more ways than one."

With their Hyomonken inexplicably malfunctioning in the rain, the Zaft knights had to gain advantage through other means: their advanced bloodline limit. Some, as they noted, start sprouting bones, snap them and throw them as projectiles. Others teleported around, killing an enemy and then teleported to another. But the mercenaries are a congregation of soldiers not only of naturals… but advanced as well. And they too, used their special abilities to counter their enemies. A mercenary turned into a were-tiger, and some turned into a mass of rocks while others breathes a sticky green goo. Whatever the tricks both sides pull, it's still not clear who had the advantage over their adversary.

By then, the Shadow unit returned… without Kage.

Canard was quick to notice this. "Where's the Captain?"

"Captain says: I need to put the finishing touches to this operation. Go ahead without me." Setsuna explained.

"Finishing touches?" Mwu was dumbfounded.

Meanwhile, in the chaos that is Konoha, one rider rode through the carnage like a shadow, ignoring and being ignored by the rest.

Yzak had just got out of his quarter when he saw the riot occurring down there. He already heard about the mess at the basecamp, but he never thought it can escalate so quickly into such a catastrophe. "Where are the mercenary lords? Call them in! I want explanation immediately!"

"They're dead sir!" One of the more level headed Water knights who didn't go along with the others reported. "All of them… or at least… we think all of them… it's impossible to say in this chaos!"

Upon hearing the news Yzak realized this must be the machination of the enemy. "The enemy has come… they've incited this riot! They killed all the mercenary lords… We must find the inciter quickly!"

"Yzak, you have to take control of the situation first before all is lost!" Dearka frowned.

"I KNOW THAT ALREADY!" Yzak roared angrily and he left to fetch his horse.

The two Elemental knights rode into the chaotic battlefield. Yzak yelled angrily. "STOP THIS MADNESS NOW YOU IDIOTS!"

Alas, his voice was whittled by the heavy rain, and completely drowned by the sound of the battle. Just then, one of the mercenaries tripped his horse and Yzak fell face first to the muddy ground. Yzak rose up, angry as hell. The mercenaries quickly ran into him with hostility. Raising Ryujinzan, Yzak roared and split the first mercenary within range into two by the waist. The second thrust his spear and Yzak dodged it before cutting his arm off. While the mercenary is still screaming in pain, the silver haired boy headed straight to next Mercenary, cut off his leg and then got back to the previous by stabbing him from the back.

However, what Yzak did merely worsen the situation. After all, it was Yzak who paid for the mercenaries. So when even the main sponsor also entered the slaughter, the mercenaries themselves became truly convinced that their employer had double-crossed them. More and more mercenaries flocked and charged to Yzak. The Water Knight found himself completely surrounded in a circle and he was ready to fight to his last breath…

…and then suddenly, the mercenaries stopped as they were surrounded by a flock of red feathers. Following, without warning, a soundless, crimson wave of destruction suddenly erupted where the feathers lie in a circular pattern. Every mercenary around Yzak were split to separate parts. The pressure from the shockwave rattled Yzak slightly. And before he can regain his bearings, through his blurry sight a horse burst out of the rain. Red feathers also flocked around him and then a figure, clad in flowing feathery long red coat, was floating soundlessly upside down on top of Yzak, his hooded head was just inches away from Yzak's, and he was accompanied with the same shining red feathers that seemingly flowed out of his coat. Yzak seem to be barely aware of this figure right on top of him until…

THUNK!

The red figure knocked Yzak's head with a gentle tap before he flowed away and landed on top of his horse. The horse stopped for a moment under the rider's order, just before he moved completely out of Yzak's sight. Yzak take a look at the rider. The red feathery coat dispersed into red feathers which dissipate soon after, revealing a hooded figure draped in black tattered coat, carrying an all too familiar katana in his hand. The man's head was hooded, but then he lowered it and turned to look at Yzak over his shoulder, giving the Water knight a good look of the face of his rescuer.

And all rational thoughts in Yzak's head fly out of the window, replaced by unbelievable rage that made the scar on his face felt like it burst into flames.

"KAGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Before Yzak can do anything, Kage jerked his feet and Aile rushed into the night and into the chaos, the rider and his horse vanished to darkness.

Yzak had never felt angrier or more humiliated his entire life. He was RESCUED by the man he's supposed to DEFEAT? In a chaos that man himself incited? Where in the blazes is the logic in that? But logic is the least of Yzak's concern at the moment. The pain of this insult fueled his anger, added with his lust for vengeance worsened his fury to the point of uncontrollable berserk, bordering on insanity, which manifest into hallucination and delusion. As Yzak's half sane eyes blackened with wrath, he began seeing images of Kage in every darkness. And since this is in the middle of the night… the darkness is everywhere.

Driven mad by rage, the Water knight began his berserk rampage across the field of battle, killing every hostile enemy he came across. Unfortunately, every person who saw him at such state instinctively responded by violence. And that is hostile. Dearka, who was fending off his own share of enemies were shocked when he saw his friend is in such a state: killing everyone he see, friend or foe. "Yzak? What's wrong with you? YZAK!" But Dearka's yell fell on ears deafened by anger and uncontrollable hatred. Yzak couldn't even see who or what he's attacking. He didn't even realize his hated enemy had long since left the battlefield.

Kage take one last look at the chaos he had created. It's hard to believe: it took him 4 days to prepare everything, and more days to think this out… all the details, the plenty of preparations… and yet the whole operation itself lasted for only 30 minutes.

In particular he looked at Yzak, who rampaged in battle, attacking everyone in sheer rage and madness. Kage frowned in depression. 'Veia… I'll keep my promise to you yet…' Slowly, and with heavy heart, Kage nudged Aile to return to the rendezvous point and waited until this pandemonium is over.

But when he did get to the rendezvous point, he was quite surprised when he saw Kamina, Toudou and even Setsuna on the ground, wounded and gasping for breath. The only ones that still capable of fighting and still fighting were Canard and Mwu. And even those two didn't seem to be doing quite well.

Their enemy?

Kage blinked to ensure he wasn't dreaming. "…I left you guys alone for five minutes and already you're having this much trouble?"

An angry Shiho Hahnenfuss, enclosed by a field of blossoming balsam flowers made of water- seemingly undaunted by the rain, pointed her rapier angrily at her enemies.

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At the same time… back in the fortress of Archangel…

…which is currently on FIRE…

Tolle ran across the upper walls of Archangel. The soldiers hastily trying to put out the fire, since there's no rain in these parts. But a fireball landed upon them and nearly incinerated Tolle. Fortunately the boy managed to jump away in time, but the men didn't manage to avoid the fireball in time.

The massive gates of Archangel were shaking. More cracks appear on the said gate with each shock.

Tolle continued to run until at last he arrived right next to the person he needed to see. "Well?"

"Well…" Captain Murrue Ramias stated the obvious. "…we're terribly outnumbered."

"I hope Kage return here soon… or they won't be any fortress left to safe." Neil commented.

For outside the walls of Archangel, stood a whole army of Zaft's invasionary force; 100,000 strong; all of them are Zaft elite knights; led by none other than Raww Le Klueze, Mwu's sworn nemesis.

"Bright knights of the Ruby Exorcists! FIRE!" Raww raised his sword, and the Fire Knights led their Exorcists and launched a rain of fire upon the Archangel.

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The Codex

During his time leading Zaft people in their darkest times, George of Glenn also saw the need to teach his people in the ways of war. And so he wrote the Codex: An epitaph that taught and regulated his people on not only how to build their society, but also how to structure their military and wage war with it. The Codex proved itself during many campaigns during the days where the Naturals were the dominant military force in the era. The fact that not only it allowed the Advanced race to prosper, it also allowed them to create a strong and powerful army that contend against any earthly force was a testament to George's brilliance both as a warlord and as ruler. Such was the Codex's effectiveness and efficiency that even after many decades since its inception, the codex still proved to be a relevant reference to answer any sort of problems that arose in the foreseeable future without needing any modification or adjustments to its content.

After his untimely demise, the Zaft society looks only to the Codex for guidance in dark times that followed. From this codex, the Advanced race managed to survive the destruction of the sundering and rebuilt everything they have torn down. The original codex written by George was originally kept in secret by an order called the Librarian Works. However, due to unknown circumstances, a breakout occurred between the Librarians and the Zaft governing body, resulting in the Librarians disappeared-together with the original codex. Fortunately, copies of the said Codex had been made and they have been distributed to the populace to serve as a guidebook and its contents have since been considered the law of the Advanced race-or a bible in some… more fanatical circles of the Advanced society.

The Codex also responsible for the structuring of Zaft's army. Based on the art of war written within the said codex, Zaft army was divided into 8 branches:

Emerald Knights: The basic army of the Zaft Empire.

Sapphire Bladebanes: The close combat specialist-swordmasters.

Ruby Exorcists: As the name implies, they are anti demon specialist. They were made as a counter the Genma. Had an almost exclusive relationships with the Fire Knights.

Onyx Hassansins: Assassination and infiltration specialist.

Amber Fangriders: Desert Beast masters. A specialized cavalry unit riding special breeds of Saber-toothed Tigers.

Diamond Doom Troopers: The legendary super-heavy-class unit. Currently it's considered defunct.

Forge-corps Legion: Artillery and engineering specialist. Also the one responsible in the invention and makings of Zaft's weapons for war and their ships.

Magia Collegia: a more recent addition to the army. Their Magus specialized in the magical and mystical arts. The order itself had a rather ambiguous loyalty to the Empire, hence they are generally viewed as untrustworthy by Zaft military.

These 8 branches of military were led by three levels of authority.

The first, and relatively the lowest level is the Elemental Knights. Powerful knights who had distinguished themselves in battle and said to have the fighting prowess of an entire Battalion of regular Advanced warriors. Elemental knights' ranks can be taken from any of the 8 branches, and depending on their fighting style, they were designated with an element from the five elements system (Fire, Water, Wood, Earth and Steel). They were given the rights to commandeer their own team of knights. Although by comparison, they're more akin to Field commanders and an elite fighting force. It's not unusual for several knights to band together to form a squad.

The Elemental Knights' command may only be superseded by the second level of authority: the Hakutenkun, the White Celestial Nobles and the Crimson Emperor. To hold the rank of Hakutenkun means to stand above tens of thousands of men, answerable only to one being: the Crimson Emperor himself. And there's only two ways to hold this most distinguished title: either recommended by the Emperor himself, or the Hakutenkun relinquish its title to a chosen candidate, after the candidate had survived a very strict filtering processes and tests (which only 1 out of a 100 Elemental Knights might survive). Hence, even if the Elemental knights number in hundreds, the Hakutenkuns are very few… (in fact… after Veia's death and Raww's demotion, only 2 remains). But those few… are considered some of the most powerful beings not just in the empire… but also in the world.

Last, and at the very top of the authority is the FAITH Guard. The FAITH Guard is the Crimson Emperor's Royal Guard and attendants. Considered to be the extension of the emperor's will itself. FAITH Guard are considered the most privileged status… they are One-Man Army and a separate military body. FAITH Guard is similar with Hakutenkun in many ways with one difference: they can countermand even an order from the Emperor himself if they feel such order does not serve the FAITH Guard's sole duty: the safety of the Empire and that of the Advanced race. They can act outside traditional military jurisdiction; countermand an order from anyone short of God. For this reason… they also serve as the Inquisition, the internal affairs of the Zaft military.

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A trailer for the next chapter:

"You've made your big mistake, young Captain."

"Wanna hear yours before you make another one?"

The end of the Five Weapons Chronicle

Kage sighed as he shouldered the nodachi. "Tell me. What good is your pride when you are dead?"

Thousands of Ruby Exorcists set themselves on fire as they charged forward, sending rains of fire to the fortress ahead, leaving a trail of flames behind them.

The Shadowguard etched one sword at the left side of the crack, and etched another on the other side. He raised his hands in a challenge. "No one will get through the range of my swords." And before him, the whole Zaft army looked at him, ready to answer the challenge.

Kira's War begins now

"Gentlemen… welcome to Hell." Canard smiled happily. "And we are the devils!"

Fuji screamed as his face was hit by a series of infernal explosions.

See…

"YOU LIED TO US?" Kamina couldn't control himself and punched Kage by the face.

Tolle had just burst out of the rubble when Milly screamed the order to a group of archers. "FIRE!" And the arrows flew straight towards Tolle.

The end…

Kage threw Shiki in a spin.

Bushido slammed his sword to the ground. The earth split apart in an instant, creating massive fissures all around him.

Of the beginning…

Raww saluted as the walls of Archangel came crushing down.

Shiho screamed as petals of watery flowers burst to every direction.

A siege tower collapsed at last, crushing other soldiers beneath it as well as the ones inside it.

Tolle screamed as the walls of Archangel exploded right beneath him.

The last chapter of the Five Weapons Chronicle:

Rise of the Shadows

"Tell me Nemesis, when you picked that boy up from wherever he came from… did you know?" Raww asked rather nervously.

Mwu answered with an equally nervous chuckle. "Did I know I just picked up the most terrifying, the most ruthless, and quite possibly, the most brilliant warlord I have ever seen in my entire life? No."

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And there it is. I just made a declaration. Next chapter will be the last of the FIRST chronicle (NOT the end of the fic mind you). And then… well… we'll see.

Till the next chapter.