| abstract | - The sun had fallen hours ago, leaving a silver disk in its place with glittering stars creating multiple artistic formations. Gust of dead winds pushed against tree's, creating a symphony of hushed whispers. Deadly creatures stirred while hunting for breakfast. The road had been used previously by few shinobi, giving it a deserted aura. Two figures dashed from tree to tree, rising and falling with the wind. Over small streams and waterfalls, and through close knit branches. Thieves in the night chasing their prey. After a while the lands tree's disappeared. The two assassin's resorted to regular running, a smooth display a speed which transformed each into flashes. Masked in silence with shrouds of darkness, they remained undetectable through normal means. His red hair resting gently on his shoulder. Her green hair tied behind and kept beneath an obsidian hood. She was shorter than him, but moved with a certain elegance. Her feet almost never touched the ground. Without a smell nor a wasted breath. A large obsidian dagger rested on her hip. Between the two, a red string glowed ever so lightly. "Our target's name is Muketsu," The young boy spoke from beneath his cover. Wind gave his flesh a light pinkish tint. "He's wanted by so many villages It would be easier to list the ones where he is not wanted. Our job is to kill him, erase the body and bring his head back." The young boy and girl had been chasing their target for days. A collaborative effort to chase one man ensued. To involve Akagi, such a known ANBU, meant whoever they were assigned to done or held something dangerous. And when Akagi left, he had been given exclusive and strict order. Orders which would result in horrible consequences if ignored. "Why don't we add him to our family, Akagi-sama?" A bubbly voice erupted in excitement. Her emerald eyes gleamed in moonlight. "If he is so powerful, I'm sure this Muketsu guy would fit well. And he sounds like a cute man. Fufufu." "No, we were assigned what to do for a reason Snake. If word got out Sunagakure is hoarding power, there could be an international struggle. I mean, I already have Her. I can't risk anything else." Akagi noticed a change in terrain. A stony area with numerous large boulders surrounding him. Excellent for hiding. Meaning Snake held an advantage. "We are close, our lead say's he will be around here. "I have another child after me? How pathetic have the Hidden Villages become in their years of stagnation?" A cold man's voice echoed throughout the ground littered with stones and boulders of every kind. His appearance was not in the least intimidating; he appeared beautiful, even. Long purple hair flowed down his back, tied up in a singular ponytail. However, some of these strands were cut down and surrounded his body - he had clearly been in combat. His clothing was slightly torn, though nothing major. After all, he had worn a simplistic sleeveless black kosode and hakama for this very reason. But what would surprise one most about this man? His eyes. The sheer emptiness that plagued them was far beyond what the world could comprehend, and they had looked upwards...and then directly towards the face of Akagi. "I can sense you clearly, you know." The man had told Akagi clearly, in a very sardonic manner. He didn't bother to even move however, for he immediately established a difference between Akagi and himself. Yes, this man was indeed the infamous...the treacherous Muketsu of recent legend. "Oh, by the way...I hope you can see the corpses that are around you, boy." The man known as Muketsu told him clearly, as suddenly the sight of corpses were illuminated by the red-tinted sunlight. At least a dozen corpses were noticed around the man. Each of them had a broken mask, and their wounds were bleeding far beyond repair. Muketsu had, indeed, shattered every one of them. Whether it was one-by-one or altogether was irrelevant - he had destroyed many of the ANBU, and it became clear that there was no intention of mercy for Akagi as well. Muketsu, surprisingly, took a few steps towards one of the corpses closer to himself. He looked upon the equipment that the Shinobi had dropped, and had picked up a rather simplistic katana. "Perhaps it's not what I'm used to...but I dislike fighting unarmed, in any case." Muketsu talked to himself, dismissing the presence of Akagi almost entirely. Casually swinging the sword in a few different directions around himself, it appeared that he was lost in his own world entirely. Akagi remained at a considerable distance from Muketsu. Hiding proved useless against someone who could sense him. But in training, he was taught when a puppeteer could not hide, distance became their second weapon. And his immense control over threads turned any distance restriction into an advantage. His red thread grew large enough for a distance. But Akagi kept it at a low flow in order to hide its visibility. The scene surrounding Muketsu was indeed gruesome. He had to hold his composure in order to complete this mission. The fact his target already took out a handful of ANBU worried him. How many had families? How many children would never see their parents again? No more husbands and wives. All gone over a mission..Akagi felt tears well in his eyes. Talking to this murderer would prove futile. Instead, he remained quiet. Secretly, a Green haired woman had phased into the mountain they stood on. Disappearing with her unique ability gifted by blood. She moved with a certain style which showed skill in Assassinations. Her target had been locked. Akagi relied on her to end their mission before more lives were lost. She moved like a ghost. A vengeful spirit hunted all who have wronged her. An intangible dagger digging through earth until she remained directly under Muketsu. Akagi flicked his finger, and she erupted with an anger. A wrathful aura of immense killing intent as she swung her poisonous dagger at Muketsu. No longer visible. It was a wonderful strategy employed by Akagi. But it's cool down served as a disadvantage. Although no one usually lived after his initial attack, Akagi prepared to have snake defend herself. Meanwhile, Akagi looked at their surrounding corpse. Potential Puppets.. He thought to himself. Invisible threads of crimson energy latched onto three corpses nearby. Reanimating them into his servants. He stole their name and sensitive memories. Impacting his multiple faces further. But he left his new puppets to sleep, until he had to call them once more. Akagi just had to establish the initial connection. "Oh my." Muketsu had calmly stated, and in the moment of the puppet's tangibility, took it upon himself to take a single step backwards. He preconceived the attack based on his unique sensory derivations, which was able to temporarily bypass the unique ability granted by this strange puppet. Having barely avoided the initial projection of the dagger against his body, he quickly arched his back downwards, performing a backflip with enough force to immediately cause the blade he was holding to smash onto the ground and avoid the attack against him in its entirety. Muketsu then glanced his gaze towards the puppet, and with his acrobatic potential, swung the sword out from the ground while still in the air and sent a wave of pressure in a crescent formation against the puppet. Meanwhile, Muketsu had landed on the ground softly prior to flickering himself a significant distance away from the puppet - in the center of the battlefield he was in just before. "Phew, at least you know how to start a fight." Muketsu commented halfheartedly. "I should probably move closer to you, shouldn't I? Although, admittedly...distance is meaningless when faced with a superior combatant such as myself. Maybe there is no reason to do so." Muketsu contemplated to himself, this time keeping himself on a slight edge unlike the careless attitude he expressed before. Snake sidestepped Muketsu's initial crescent blast with an unseen agility. It lead to a beautiful cartwheel followed by her dashing after Muketsu with her dagger. She held it with a looseness which enabled rapid movement.Her ghostly steps masked by a dark cloak. Neither hers or her master's person was visible under mass darkness. Snake flickered seconds after Muketsu, using her gained speed to enhance her attack. A full force ambush. Slashing downwards. She feigned it as if she wanted to cause heavy damage, but in truth, a scratch was all that she needed. A scratch to introduce Akagi's infamous poison. But she also had a secret agenda. Snake aimed to capture Muketsu's attention. Capture it with fast movements and near instant reflexes. An ANBU rose silently and darted towards Muketsu with a Tánto in hand. Snake, in truth, acted as a diversion. And it seemed Muketsu lacked knowledge of Akagi's puppetry. His masked corpse puppet moved with a beating heart and rushing blood. Two strings attached, three more had been split with his allies who also remained dead. Akagi's fingers flicked with immense speed. Turning his movements into a orchestra. But his strings invisibility made it look like something more. His silver hair blowing past his ANBU mask. A cat mask. "Tch, such speed bothers me." Muketsu noticed the attack and immediately brought out his own sword with a horizontal strike of enough ferocity that it completely repelled the opposing attack and forced Snake to be blown aback - he was obviously experienced with such simple tactics. "A revived chakra sensation?" Muketsu briefly thought, and immediately understood the methodology behind the followup attack by the green-haired girl. "So that's what she is." Muketsu, rather than make himself open, instantaneously drew out three kunai and threw them with surprising force against the tantō used against him, obviously allowing for a brief distraction. "I can hear it...the sound of blood." Muketsu grinned slightly, and leapt towards the top of an upright stone hill. He kept himself placed on there, clearly to view the entire scenario of the battle, including finding the position of Akagi with little hindrance on his part. Snake's fragile composure made her an easy target to defend against. Akagi made her with a lighter metal variation. Snake was an assassin. Using her further than an ambush was rare for Akagi. But to summon other puppets at this time could prove a problem. Especially at his distance. Akagi's dead puppet blocked Muketsu's kunai with unparalleled speed. Rapid flashes of silver and sparks. The corpse pulled out tree shuriken and tossed it. Meanwhile, Snake caught her feeling and turned to Muketsu. From her mouth a black blaster erupted and fired a round of Poison senbon. Puncturing sounds at speeds which could break rock easily. Purple liquid dropped from her senbon but still hold enough to kill an elephant. Akagi's second puppet continued trowing shuriken. They wanted to keep a distance from Muketsu. He is fast...Able to react to Snake's ambush with such speed and elegance. No wonder he is wanted internationally. I might need to use my other puppet. Akagi secretly reached for a scroll with a symbol for black on it. "Why do you keep running!?" Akagi enticed. "Tch." Muketsu thought to himself, as he began to speed up his movements in order to begin his evasive tactics. He knew Akagi was at a position not too far away from himself, so he thought of using an...interesting bait. Rather than create further distance from the puppets, Muketsu actually drew himself closer to them. He used a curved approach to allow him to avoid the senbon thrown against him - particularly considering they were fired from a cannon. Nonetheless, Muketsu managed to evade almost all of them except for a single one, which he decided to parry with his blade with an impact strong enough to reverse the direction in its entirety. "Step one." Muketsu, following his seamless evasion of the projectiles, immediately proceeded to flicker haphazardly around the area. Rather than closing in on the puppets being manipulated, Muketsu appeared to appear at the areas where the most corpses closest to Akagi's position were gathered. Evidently, he proceeded to prepare a cutting motion - he found out Akagi's secret. "Shit!" Akagi quickly disconnected his strings causing a silent snapping reaction. His black scroll opened to reveal two black puppets each wearing a brown cloak. A bucket-shaped face sporting two sharp red horns and six arms; with facial features including three eyes similar to Crow, with a dark dishevelled hairstyle. Its overall body-frame somewhat resembling a large barrel. The way Akagi manipulated the battlefield was that he set up multiple traps. Should Muketsu had targeted Akagi, those corpses would act as a surprise attack. And if, which happened, Muketsu focus on his puppets, Akagi's black scroll simply summoned his triumph cards. Akagi showed absolute proficiency with his threads. Crimson strings which he manipulated freely. As if individual arms for his mental use. Black Ant latched wide open revealing a window of shadows. Akagi hoped to capture his target with a swift finger. Akagi's mind worked with multitasking. Crow had took flight and prepared to break apart as well. Each balde dripping his deadly poison. Snake dashed around and fired a second round of Senbon before Black Ant's attempted capture. Akagi needed to pressure Muketsu. Overwhelm his attention so he would unknowingly step into Black Ant's torso. Meanwhile, his new corpse puppet dashed at Muketsu as a just in case. An aimed kick. Hardly believable a sixteen year old was capable of controlling four puppets so easily with free fingers still available. But many saw Akagi as a prodigy. One of Sunagakure's greatest puppeteer. Muketsu was far more perceptive than Akagi could possibly imagine - at this point in his life, anyway. He knew that Snake's senbon barrage was a distraction again, but he had no time to identify the purpose behind it. All he knew was that it had something to do with the puppets he just summoned, and therefore he maintained his distance. However, he realized that the isolated territory of the area he was fighting in, combined with the numerous disadvantages he had in numbers, caused it to be difficult for him to evade the assaults for long. He quickly side-stepped to the right in order to dodge the senbon, prior to taking a strong stride away from the same area in order to casually avoid the kick made by the deceased ANBU puppet. "Shit." Muketsu said out loud, realizing that the torso of the puppet was open for him to be captured in. "Looks like I have to do this another way." Bracing himself, Muketsu launched himself unwillingly inside the torso of the puppet, entrapping himself and waiting for the perfect opportunity. Akagi smirked as he closed his hand with a triumphant smile. Black Ant's door latched shut, becoming nearly impossible to reopen. Preparing earlier allowed Akagi to use this technique rapidly. Crow already separated into multiple pieces with blades piercing out. Purple liquid dripping rapidly. A deadly poison gifted by a mysterious man. "Kurohigi Kiki Ippatsu!" Akagi guided Crow's separate pieces into slits in Black Ant's torso, hoping to impale Muketsu inside. He had not stopped until he heard crow's and black ants wooden components snap together. A key and lock. Akagi's crimsons strings were attached to all of his puppets still. He took a deep breath, hoping his battle ended. Snake and his corpse puppet dashed backwards. Is it over? Akagi thought. "Oi, If I only had to use my masters Puppets, I have to say this was a let down from an S-Rank shinobi." Akagi spoke with unforeseen arrogance. "Looks like," His eyes canned the village protectors of each fallen ANBU. "Sunagakure is the only village capable of producing competent ANBU. Come on Snake, lets destroy the body." "Now now, what do you think you're doing?" A voice echoed from the torso of the Black Ant. Within it, Muketsu simply smirked. "Blood Release: Violent Eruption" In his thoughts, the technique awoke. Suddenly, within the Black Ant, a violent surge of blood erupted from his body. It surrounded Muketsu with such density that the blades had no chance of piercing him. And then, from here, the blood erupted upwards, and like a volcanic eruption, it caused both puppets to shatter in front of Muketsu, while he casually stepped out of the puppet with no injuries to himself. "I hate confinement. It's just so isolated, you know?" Muketsu told Akagi, before a powerful visage crept around him - a fountain of blood pouring from every single angle. "Shall we continue this, puppeteer?" Muketsu looked upon Akagi, radiating the same murderous aura that now transformed into an illusory wave of blood filling the stone ground. Truthfully, these two Shinobi were run deep in blood. Akagi started to shiver in Muketsu's presence. A dog who almost wet itself in it's masters presence. No one survived Akagi's full force attack. How could it be possible? How! Crow's and Black Ant's destroyed body littered the ground surrounding him. His masters legacy broken before his very eyes. Sensei.. His inner voice cracked. The young puppet master looked frantically around. His blood rushing through his body in a surging wave. Blood everywhere. Water, Blood. The Moon, Blood. The stars, Blood. Blood. Blood. Blood. His hands started to bleed. His mouth tasted like copper. His eyes started to tear crimson liquid. Drops pounding against earth. His clattering teeth created a symphony like no other. Trembling fingers. Thoughts clouded. Am I going to die? repetitively playing in his mind. Will he join his parents? His crimson hair turned into liquid. Blood pouring from every hole. But in fear came an anger. A cornered animal without any options. Akagi flicked his finger, which lead to Snake dashing with his corpse puppet. Both brandishing weapons. She swung her dagger upwards, while the ANBU swung his Tanto downwards in hopes of confusing him. Their movements become flashes of wind. But each attack sloppy from Akagi's initial fear. His mind was cluttered in fear. He could feel his blood lose warmth. Second by second. "You're frightened, aren't you?" Muketsu noticed and smiled with a strange glee - a dangerous smile. He noticed the two combatants approaching, and swiftly used his left hand to steal the sword away from the ANBU puppet and slashed the chakra thread that attached him to Akagi, while he once again parried the blow made by Snake, this time with much more ease. As their swords clashed, Muketsu looked upon Snake in the eye, and noticed something strange. He smirked, "So this is the nature of this puppeteer." Muketsu used the spare tantō he possessed to attempt to strike Snake in the stomach, fully disabling her from fighting further. "What the fuck!?" Akagi mouthed as he lost control of the corpse. Usually, he could reattach his threads in a matter of seconds, but his cold blood stopped him. A certain brush of death holding his movements. Which caused Snake to suffer. Unable to activate her ability in time, she roared in pain as Muketsu's blade dug deep. "Snake!" Akagi roared. Snake's limp body hit the earth with a thump. A large bump. Her body imprinted with a massive hole. Large enough to see straight through. Akagi tried to reach for his scroll, containing his other siblings, but his fingers stumbled. Muketsu controlled Akagi's fear. Controlled it with an absolute mastery. "W-what are you?!" He whispered. His fleshy skin stumbled. He hated fear. He absolutely hated fear. Humans are so weak...Humans are so weak...This flesh...Weak...Weak..Bones...Weak. Humans are so weak...His personal mantra as he stumbled. Taking a few steps forward, Muketsu only smiled in slight glee. He was enjoying this outcome. Someone had posed a challenge to him, no matter how minor. It was time to return the favor. "Has fear controlled you, boy?" Muketsu drew closer, removing the blood off of his sword. "You can see, can't you? The fear is going into your blood. It's seeping in. What will it do next?" Muketsu stopped walking; he was only a meter away from Akagi, and he knew moving any closer would be pointless. He didn't want to kill him, actually. He seemed like one of the few people with the resolve to take his words to heart. "You despise fear, do you not? Then let me tell you what fear will do to you." Muketsu drew in closer. "It will engulf you. It will strangle you. It will place you into an abyss which you can no longer escape from. It is an eternal darkness, an abyss so strong that everything else in the world seems like the brightest light - even the strongest of crimes." Muketsu then began to laugh, "Hahaha. Why am I telling you this? Who knows. But you appear to be the kinda guy that listens to people. Good or bad? Well, that's up to you to decide." Akagi fell to his knees. He trembled with an unseen frost. His skin crawling, blood rushing through every pore. Muketsu's words echoed in his ears, his mind and his soul. Fear...Fear...Fear He kept repeating. Each fear an invisible blow to Akagi's psyche. He hated this feeling. Worthlessness. Death. Fear. All of it. He hated it. He despised it, cursed it with an ancient tongue. His blood carried fear like oxygen. But instead of life, it gave death. Akagi's throat tightened, air struggling through his pipes. No one has made him feel in such a way. No one at all. An ANBU as strong as he, struggling to even look his target in the eyes. Something burned inside of him. A centipede crawled against his legs, thousands of legs scurrying against bare flesh. Working as a machine. He could feel it's heartbeat. It's evil aura seeping within his flesh. Am I going to die? Akagi kept thinking. No. "Shut..up." Akagi whispered. His fingers grabbing a handful of dirt. "Shut..up.." Flashes of a battle struck his mind like lightning. A bright light and darkness once more. His fear transformed into something else. Akagi, His mastered spoke from his memory. As a puppeteer, you must always remember this. There is nothing more dangerous than a cornered animal. And that he was. A cornered animal with everything to fight for. He would not die. He could not let himself die. His lively eyes darkened. A different face. A different being. No longer did Akagi look through the windows that were his eyes. A different woman did. A completely new spectator in the building that was Akagi. A tenant hidden within his heart. Suddenly, crimson strings latched onto Akagi's fallen scroll. And with an activation, a puff of smoke emerged. And from that smoke, empty eyes lashed out at Muketsu. Emptiness, reaching to drag him within. But from the emptiness, crimson moons appeared. A spinning disk followed by a new intricate pattern of red. White hair fallen deep over her eyes onto her busy. Rat's silent whispers echoed around the two bodies. Akagi's red threads flared with an unforeseen fire. Soon, the blood in the area started to clot. More blood pooled around Muketsu and Akagi. Consuming their immediate vicinity. Blood everywhere. The clouds became husk of blood, the ground covered in blood. Blood seeping through their every hole. Blood squirming around Akagi. Squirming...A closer look would reveal that it was not blood which squirmed. But thousands of tiny centipedes rustling throughout. Consuming Akagi as he disappeared. The blood red centipedes rustled with thunder. Slowly crawling up his legs, coming from the insides of his body. The moon transformed into centipedes. The clouds of centipedes rained centipedes. Everywhere, all biting and pinching. Akagi no longer visible. Outside noises clouded by rustling insect whispers. All whispering one thing. Fear.Death. Repeat. Fear. Death. Repeat. Thousands, billions, trillions, One. A massive Centipede larger than life, but smaller than death circled him as its children started to consume Muketsu slowly. Frozen in fear. Frozen in death. Repeat. Frozen in fear. Frozen in Death. Repeat. The massive Centipede launched itself at Muketsu...but disappeared. As all other billions did. Akagi's unconscious body lied pale on the floor. His chakra drained from such a technique... Muketsu stood...unable to react. The images of blood, gore, centipedes...horror, they all disappeared in an instant. There was nothing at the point when there was everything. Everything Muketsu had once despised had been brought before him once again...and he couldn't do anything. He was powerless against such a powerful technique, and suddenly, his body felt limp. But he gained a hold of himself, and then laughed loudly. "Hahahaha! That...was truly a sight for my sore eyes." Muketsu turned away from the fainted body of Akagi, "You are a strong young man...let me bestow you with a title. Today...whenever I see you henceforth, you shall be known as...Orikyō (織り恐, The Woven Fear). And with that, I shall head out. Thank you for such a glorious battle, Orikyō...I'm anticipating our next fight." And in that instant, Muketsu flickered away from existence. His thoughts were lingering on one thing: his next meeting with the Orikyō.
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