The sound of the rain on the roofs hides the footsteps of the men who surround an emaciated building in the poorest district of the city. The men are dressed in black, blending into the darkness like ninjas, but their katanas and voluptuous armor betray their samurai origins. There are nearly twenty of them, and their hardened gazes reflect a thirst for blood and combat.
The building's lights are off, suggesting its inhabitants are asleep, but the men seem to disagree with this assumption and block every entrance and exit, every door, window, and even the chimney. Their leader, a man with a samurai helmet and a white demon mask, approaches the front door and unsheathes his katana, a sword like any other, save for the small detail of the strange symbols along its edge.
The samurai holds his position for a few seconds, putting his katana in attack position, causing the tension around him to reach its maximum.
The attack is as swift as it is surprising, as the sword doesn't emit the characteristic chakra of samurai attacks, but rather a slight visual disturbance that cuts through the rain at incredible speed. Three attacks in a fraction of a second, followed by a sonic crash very similar to the sound of breaking glass, a horizontal slash and two diagonal ones.
The rain continues to pour, and the katana begins to steam as the water reaches it. The main door crumbles into pieces, eventually shattering, and several windows suffer the same fate. Screams of pain begin to be heard from inside the building.
The men take action and enter the first floor of the building, including two carrying swords very similar to the leader's. Sounds of combat are soon heard, but the leader does not enter, but rather carefully observes a part of the second floor, while preparing for a new attack.
One of the windows breaks, and an individual emerges towards the samurai. The samurai responds with a slash that hits the attacker squarely, but what ends up being cut is a wooden log, a clear sign of a ninja.
The samurai's gaze moves to his right, a new cut is made, this time towards the ground, raising rocks and water into the air, all with a tinge of blood.
The figure emerges from the ground, missing a leg, a man in furtive clothing, with his clear, though unmarked, forehead protector. His hands move swiftly as he executes the seals of a jutsu.
"Suiton: Misurappa" The ninja pronounces, then expels a large jet of water from his mouth towards the samurai.
The samurai's response is a new cut, this time vertical, which completely dissects the jet of water and continues directly towards the ninja, who is unable to do anything against the speed and ends up losing his right arm.
Seeing his enemy almost completely defeated, the samurai does not seem confident in his victory, making a new cut towards the ninja, cutting him cleanly in half, however, the body ends up turning into a pool of water.
The samurai doesn't seem surprised and immediately turns around, looking directly at the ninja who has just reappeared, still on one leg and with his hands ready to execute a new attack.
Three new cuts are executed at a speed never before demonstrated by the samurai.
"Suiton: Fuuma Mizu Shuriken" Says the ninja, generating a huge water shuriken in his hands, using the rain for it.
But before the ninja can launch his attack, the water shuriken is sliced in half, completely destroying the jutsu. The ninja then falls to the ground, cut into multiple pieces, as the sound of breaking glass is heard again, a sight that surprises even the samurai.
In the span of just a few minutes, the fighting stops and the two Samurai who entered the building approach the leader, who is still staring at the corpse of the defeated ninja.
"Was he a tough opponent?" Asks one of the swordsmen, wearing a black mask, in which only his eyes can be seen.
"Too much, a tokubetsu jounin more than likely, maybe even a jounin" The Leader answers in a serious voice.
"This is too much, these artifacts are truly divine, it's the only way we could finish them all off so easily" comments the other samurai, who is wearing a tiger mask.
"It's not that simple. This particular ninja was overconfident. He could have run and I wouldn't have been able to do anything, but he took too big a risk. Besides, this mask amplifies all my senses. I was able to see almost every move he made. If God's messenger is correct, a full suit of armor will put us on equal footing with the strongest ninjas" the Leader concludes. "Let the word spread among our members. This city is free of outside agents. Now we must focus on taking the city completely"
"If we manage to convince a grandmaster to join our cause, imagine the power he could wield with one of the swords, no one could stop him" says the samurai with the tiger mask.
"It's still too early to speculate. What we should be interested in now is uniting our forces and clearing the cities one by one. In due time, the sword masters will see our strength and join us" the Leader finishes.
The three eventually split up and took their subordinates with them, leaving a scene of destruction, a clear message to those behind this ninja cell, who, in addition to working as spies, were involved in drug dealing and other illicit businesses.
…
[Touki]
When Touki considered letting fate take its natural course with regard to his group of renegade samurai, he never imagined the results would be so swift and that they would be so effective.
In the space of just one month, the operatives concentrated south of the Land of Fire managed to unite and clear two entire cities of underworld presence, including ninjas, and then seize complete political control.
Led by Zenji Taira, one of the first Blessed, now dubbed God's apostle, the conquests were swift and precise, perhaps too brutal for Touki's taste, but certainly effective. There was bloodshed, much bloodshed, but the capital's authorities barely noticed until it was too late.
Zenji was politically adept, utilizing connections in the Daimyo's court to influence decision-making. With much of the money raised from the conquest, enough bribes were paid to pass off what had happened as an anti-corruption campaign, giving credit to some key figures and even the Daimyo himself. While not everyone believed the charade, Zenji was able to secure complete political control of both cities, which, though small, represented a start for the emerging movement.
Touki had no choice but to congratulate Zenji, granting him a full-body armor, a rather reduced version of the original, but with defenses worthy of a jounin.
Another important event stemming from the conquest of the cities was the recruitment of the first renowned samurai from the land of iron, Susumu Otowa, a man known in combat circles as a first-rate swordsman, not at the level of a katana master, but a veteran of many military conflicts. The main reason for his recruitment was not his desire to support the cause, but his thirst for battle and eagerness to participate in battles against the best ninjas, with at least a chance of victory.
On the local level, Touki was able to monitor the movement of many ninja who bought their bikes, although he focused primarily on the few Uchiha who did, especially the young ones and children. Touki's plan is to take advantage of the impending massacre to obtain some members of the clan, who will inevitably be left without family or home, partly to help them, but mainly to preserve the clan's blood and use them for his future plans.
One of the targets Touki was able to successfully track was Izumi, who, as far as he knows, is a true genius, having possessed a three-tomoe Sharingan before her death. Thanks to her bicycle, Touki already knows the location of her house, and the collar allows him to track her in real time.
Izumi presented a difficult case, because despite being a chunin, she doesn't leave the village to do many missions, and when she does, she doesn't stray far, since she seems to be much more involved with the Konoha police.
There were many times when Touki was on the verge of taking action, but in the end, Izumi wouldn't stray far enough from the village to act safely. It wasn't until one day in June that the young woman traveled more than 100 kilometers north of Konoha.
Touki prepared as much as he could, bringing his best artifacts and preparing Suki for a special fight, as no one better suited to combat the Sharingan than a blind person.
All that's left is to hope everything goes well.