Scars and Lightning

The man’s voice would begin as he held the small recording device to his mouth. He was in his mid twenties, tanned skin with dark eyes. He wore your general Konoha military garb and a katana was belted at his side, ready to be drawn. He was on patrol with the rest of his squadmates and he was taking a moment to record a bit of a diary entry. The man’s name was Mazik and he wasn’t particularly remarkable as a shinobi. He was of average height and build and he hadn’t done anything particularly noteworthy. He was however now assigned to a squad in the trenches that ran along the borders of various minor nations for half the continent. They were enormous, maze like things with walls looming over them that made for a brutal network of tunnels. His squad consisted of three others, as most squads were composed of but the other members were a little further ahead. He had informed them of his intent to hang back and record an entry into his audio diary. The days were starting to run together and sometimes the simple ritual was all that kept him sane in these dark and abhorrently deadly trenches. “Nothing new so far today. We’re about to have to turn back and go report in. We’re almost out of rations and our water supplies are thinning down. We’ll need a resupply soon if we can get our hands on to one. Mission parameters haven’t changed, we’re to move through the trenches and kill any Jashinist loving Kumo spawn we see. We discovered a squad of em last night shortly before we made camp for the night. They were green, nothing but kids, we killed them easily. They didn’t have any ration bars or canteens on them though. They must not have rationed themselves out properly. Stupid kids, well they’re sacrifice loving god has em now.”

Unbeknownst to him, there was an individual who could hear him, quite plainly. Tamwyn moved through the trench, he had foregone his usual armament here in favor of the much better stealth capability he would have if he simply forewent the slock and upper clothing. Even his hat was sealed within a storage scroll he carried on him. What he did wear was dark shinobi pants, a tight, black compression shirt, and his black boots. His hair was pulled back into a ponytail and he wore his old mask from when he was a Darhk Industry employee, which had the benefit of hiding his rather unique and obvious eyes. He skulked through the trench, following Mazik’s team and listening in on their conversations. This diary entry had been rather enlightening so far to say the least and as he moved behind the man, listening, he repressed the urge to grind his teeth together in anger at the word that seemed to be coming from Mazik’s mouth. To kill kids, who were probably half starved and thirsty, and cold, was cruel no matter what they might be fighting for. Beyond that, not every Kumogakure shinobi was a Jashinist. Tamwyn was proof of that given his relative dislike of the cult group and it’s frankly insane religious tenets. The church however was a legal establishment within Kumogakure. For some reason Nariko Mizushima, the predecessor to Ryuko for the title of Raikage, had legalized the religion. It was arguably the single blot on an otherwise great tenure for the village. All in all, she had done well by the village and the country but the single decision had set the stage for how the world would view them for years to come.

“Sano talked about how much he loved the easy fight those kids had been. I however dislike the notion. Frankly, while I feel the children of the ‘Kingdom of Thunder’ should be put out of their misery before they’re forced to grow up in a Jashinist dominated society. That does not mean I enjoy the idea of killing them. Really, I’m just putting them out of their misery. It’s a mercy, nothing more.” Mazik would say as he continued walking, the recorder still close to his mouth as he spoke. “I can’t wait to return to camp and see if Naomi sent word of the birth. She was due any day when we left and so I’m probably a father by now.” He would say, his voice echoing somewhat down the corridors of stone that made up the trenches. Tamwyn would continue to move and stalk silently as the man spoke, listening. The idea that this scumbag could think that what he did was a mercy to those kids was sickening and he felt his blood boil. However he wanted to know if the man would say anything regarding other patrols in this diary before killing him. Any information he could have on where to go next could prove invaluable. He was one of the leaders of the forces out here. Being one of the Jounin with the most combat experience and power under his belt. So anything he could learn would be helpful in the short and long term when it came to planning and other such endeavors for the sake of the warfront. The Seraph of Lightnings step was that of a ghost as he moved, it was night and he was on the wall over the man, outside of torch lights reach. The moon had already passed overhead and the cloud covered sky would prevent his silhouette from being visible against stars or the moon even if it hadn’t already passed. It was only in these circumstances where it was safe to wall walk while spying and shadowing the enemy. Otherwise it was best to follow on the trench floor. Although that had its own dangers. Like who you were following passing by another patrol and one having to hide quickly or be ready for a large fight, or them deciding to turn around and start back toward their own base camp.

The stars aligned for him to be able to follow in this manner however and allow him to avoid all such situations. So he continued to follow Mazik and his group, listening and watching carefully. The recorder was still on, and Mazik was still talking into it. “The Colonel arrived the other day, we hope to have those ‘World Policing’ pests from Kumogakure pushed out soon with his guidance.” This caused Tamwyn’s ears to perk up in curiosity, a Colonel had come eh? That would make for quite the nice assassination target. Already deciding to wait and listen to what Mazik said into his recorder was panning out quite nicely indeed. He would continue to wait and listen, following closely behind unless the situation required him to take action and remove the lot of them. The squad of four wasn’t particularly talented although the leader seemed to have some ability. Either way Tamwyn himself could take one or all of them easily enough so he didn’t need to necessarily wait for an advantageous position either. Although obviously any he could use when the time did come would be. Regardless, Mazik continued chatting away into his recorder. “This place is a hell of it’s own. I’ve seen close friends I grew up with killed like it was nothing. I’ve killed people too, but I’ll continue to do so until we get to go home. Those bastards from the North have no right to get involved in our fight with Iwagakure. They had no right to declare war on our allies in Kirigakure. Even after that attack on Moonspire, it was a mercy to remove those civilians from the field. Now they can rest in peace instead of knowing that they work for a war machine that encourages insane religious rites and slaughter.” He would say, his tone becoming harder.

Tamwyn would repress the urge to twist the man’s head like a bottlecap at that point. He couldn’t control what the propaganda machine in Konoha churned out. He couldn’t help what these soldiers heard every day as their reasoning for being here and to think that he could would be absolutely ludicrous. Instead he simply had to comfort himself in knowing the truth. That Kumogakure had every right to send assistance to a nation in dire straits to provide aid. That aid, once having arrived, was not turned aside and asked to leave, which they would have done. Ryuko herself had gone to the Land of Earth to provide her spear and shield to help them. Because Iwagakure had been freed legally, and the new Hokage, a man named Nyguyen Uchiha, had decided to renege on that and assault the nation. Now they were using it as justification for their attacks on us and for the Moonspire Massacre that had claimed the life of Damien Darhk and thousands of unarmed and untrained civilians. He doubted people this high on the totem pole knew that though. They just went where directed and attacked and slaughtered cold, hungry, and dehydrated children. No, none of this squad would survive the night. He’d make sure of that, for now though Mazik was being far too valuable of an information source. The news that a Colonel was around was big, and it meant he might have some more work to do very quickly. All he needed was some more information and he could make his move.

“We’ve been ordered to ensure this area of the Trenches has been scouted and marked for some of the Colonels Troops. All we have to do is mark the best path for the Colonels elite troops and they’ll strike at the heart of the forces. We don’t know the names of the targets, but considering the list of names we’ve been given to avoid at all costs I can probably assume they’re on the list. Shimiko Chinoike, Seigi Douchiwa, Seid Otsutsuki, and Tamwyn. They’re all powerful enemies that need to be removed in order to ensure our success. Our squad had been deemed too weak to handle any one of them though. Seigi used to be a shinobi in our own military too, the filthy damn traitor, consorting with those scumbag Jashinists. Most information on the others is limited to higher level individuals with the exception of Tamwyn. He’s already been involved in some of the fighting. He’s been sighted out here killing our forces left and right. He’s some kind of incredible lightning specialist but in my opinion if you’ve seen one Lightning user you’ve seen them all. Avoiding him has been deemed most prominent, only because he’s been confirmed in the area. The others haven’t so everyone is watching for the man who’s got white hair, and piercing yellow eyes.” Mazik would say, looking around idly as they continued. Tamwyn would raise an eyebrow at those words, so he was included amongst the ‘powerful enemies that needed to be taken out’. Honestly, he was flattered. It wouldn’t save them though, they didn’t even know he was here now.

Still, the talk of their part in the Colonels plan gave him a quick thought in how to have a little fun with the intent. Moving carefully down to the ground level, or what passed as ground level down in those trenches anyway. Tamwyn moved quietly, not being too close to Mazik, but carefully looking for signs. He found it at an intersection, the leaf village symbol was drawn at an odd angle. The point of the symbol pointed directly to the right, which wasn’t how it was generally drawn or engraved. ‘It’s an arrow.’ He thought as he reached a hand up. It was drawn in with a kunai, probably by one of the three team members of Mazik’s that were in the front. However not that he knew what it was he simply reached up and with a minor application of chakra, rubbed it away. Then he redrew the symbol to direct them going  down a different corridor. Once that was done he wordlessly made a shadow clone and sent it down to make a false trail, this would case the ‘elite team’ that was being sent as an assassination attempt on himself, Seigi, Seid, and Shimiko to become lost and prone to an ambush by Tamwyn himself later. All he needed to know was the time table, since this team was doing the prep work he doubted it would be tonight. Nodding to himself he turned and continued, moving back up to the wall now that he had broken the line of direction. He wouldn’t even have to mess with any more of the symbols. That one would send them down the wrong corridor and then they would follow his markings. A disastrously easy plan to foil.

Moving down the corridor he would catch up to Mazik, well, after a sense of course. He couldn’t let himself get too close or he would be heard or seen and that would obviously be counter productive to what he was doing. So he settled back onto the wall, out of torchlight visibility and continued to move along. When he finally caught up to Mazik however, he would find him finishing up his diary entry and quickening his step to catch up to his team members and Tamwyn would curse to himself. He had taken too long messing with the mark, he should’ve had a clone do it from the start rather than stop long enough to erase the mark and then do it. ‘I’ll have to interrogate him.’ He would think as he moved to keep pace at a distance. It was coming time to take the team down and interrogate Mazik for the time table on the attack and anything he could get on this ‘Colonel’. A name, and potential combat capabilities perhaps, or at least a demeanor so he could try to get some insight into this individuals personality before he himself moved to assassinate them. He would have to of course, he couldn’t let an attempt on his comrades, and his own, life go unpunished. They had to be taught to try such actions as folly and would result in vicious retaliation.

Mazik would finally catch up with his team. Tamwyn himself didn’t know their names yet but it didn’t matter much in the end given that they would die soon anyway. They continued on their way for a time, marking the Konoha symbol to provide direction for a quick route through the maze like trenches to the Kumogakure side. Apparently one of them had been a scout and was providing the markings while the rest of the team was escorting them as a protection detail. It didn’t matter though, that entire plan had already fallen apart by a single adjustment in an earlier stage and now their work would be folly. Tamwyn would take care of this team, leaving Mazik alive for the purpose of interrogation. Then he would spend some time with the man learning all he could before killing him and planning out his ambush. He would have to deal with the team first, then assassinate the Colonel. Any team that individuals thought could take Shimiko, Seigi, and Tamwyn had to be skilled. If he assassinated the Colonel first, the mission would probably be assumed to have been compromised and then scrubbed and the team would get another chance at a later date. If he eliminated the team first, then he would be able to assassinate the Colonel with no fear of the attack coming on his comrades or himself.

Mazik waved to his teammates, a sheepish chuckle on coming from him as he spoke. “Sorry about that guys, I didn’t mean to take so long, I swear.” He would say apologetically. One woman would snort in amused annoyance. “Yeah yeah, it doesn’t matter much anyway. We’re closing up shop for the night soon and heading back in the morning. Apparently this last mark will mark the easiest route. We gotta be careful though, we’re in Kumo’s territory in these trenches. So we’ll keep a watch rotation, you’re first since you decided to spend so much time not helping to watch out for enemies.” She would say, prompting a groan of acquiescence from Mazik. “Aw alright cap.” He would say as one man further up marked a last guide stamp into the wall that prompted whoever knew what it meant to turn left. Tamwyn considered where they had traveled and noted that they had indeed traveled deep into Kumogakure’s area of the trench. That last mark would point them toward an entry ramp that was in fact guarded but any such guard postings could be circumvented if one tried hard enough. Tamwyn considered his surroundings and his own personal sense of where he was and figured that they were actually close to his own campsite. A smirk on his features would come but he would suppress the chuckle that wanted to. Any unnecessary noise could give him away and with Mazik going to be on guard duty first tonight for his squad it left him with a rather interesting opportunity.

He waited, patiently, as they made camp in the trench. It wasn’t the safest option but nothing in these trenches was safe. While they were on the Kumogakure side of things the maze-like area was so criss crossed and in depth that the chances of actually having a patrol run into you wasn’t very high if you stayed put. Although the chances were in fact there, as one would expect. As he waited the squad of Konoha nin he had been following made their little camp, no fire was allowed, the glow cast shadows around corners too easily and increased the likelihood of being found by a patrol too much to be allowed. Even by the most confident of squad leaders. As they turned in, with Mazik being nearby and contemplating something Tamwyn would continue to wait. Guard duty was always boring, and after a while Mazik would do something to keep his mind alert, be it walk around, exercise a bit, or maybe even record an addendum in his diary. Either way, something would draw a bit of his attention away from his duty and that was when the Seraph of Lightning would strike. He positioned himself carefully over the camp, above Mazik’s head where the inexperienced had the nasty habit of forgetting to check and he waited. After a time, an hour or so probably, Mazik would indeed get bored. He pushed himself off the wall he was leaning on with his back muscles, and still not looking up, began to pace.

Tamwyn still waited, he wanted to get a sense of the timing of the man’s steps. The human body was inclined to fall into a pattern. It pleased a deep seeded sense of ourselves for some form of ‘order’ and the Kumogakure Jounin would wait, trench knives already removed from their sheathes, the matte black finish causing no light, even if there was any, to reflect off the surface. Ten paces down the corridor, turn, twenty paces up the other way. Which would turn into him pacing ten paces away from his comrades at any given time. It was a bit long of a window to turn your back on your allies to be honest. Especially in such a hostile environment, Tamwyn however was certainly not about to complain. He was high enough up the wall that Mazik wouldn’t be able to see him due to the shadows. Not with his old Darhk Industries mask on to hide his bright yellow eyes. The corridors were too dark, the cloud filled night keeping even the minute light of the stars from reaching into the forgotten place where murder and war took place. As Mazik paced Tamwyn waited, ensuring that the man didn’t change his pattern. He had time. As his interrogation target paced, not changing the pattern at all, the Seraph would strike.

Dropping from his perch, he would fall onto the camp silently, the three squad mates of the man were arrayed in a triangular pattern in sleeping bags and all three had been asleep for a while. The evened out breathing, and light snoring proved that and so when Tamwyn dropped, and landed with his legs bent and knife, blade down, the impact of the sharpened tips into their skulls would be silent as the grave before he pulled the knives out and moved to puncture the third members in the skull as well. Mazik was five paces away now with his back to him and Tamwyn sank his blade quietly in the last teammates skull before again moving up the wall quietly. Now he would be time for the waiting game to begin. Mazik would turn and walk, passing through the camp and, due to the darkness and the assumption that his companions were asleep, wouldn’t even realize anything was amiss. Tamwyn had been quick enough to wipe his blades clean on the inside of the last team members sleeping back so there was no risk of a blood drop falling at an inopportune moment. No, all he had to do was wait for Mazik to go through his watch, become annoyed by the whole thing and try to wake up his relief with his mind half gone to fatigue.

It was at that point that Tamwyn would strike at the man.

He waited, patient as the night and watched as Mazik paced, moving through the small camp as he paced before he finally settled on leaning against the wall again. Another hour passed and the man would sigh before muttering to himself. “That’s long enough right? Two hours of watch split up between four is fine..” He would say before moving over to one of the forms and shaking them. Unfortunately for Mazik, his attempt to shake the individual awake involved him placing a hand on the ‘sleeping’ teammates head and giving it a mild to moderately rough push to get them started up. However when he tried, the head lolled to one side and his hand came back covered in blood and gray matter. The man’s scream echoed through the chasm for a brief instant before Tamwyn was upon him, a grip like iron upon Mazik’s mouth as the terrified man stood tense. “Now now Mazik, if you scream, I’ll have to kill you too..Do you understand?” Tamwyn would ask, his voice low as he casually threatened the man’s life. He had no qualms with ending it, and Mazik had murdered children after all. However he didn’t know that yet. The shaken man would nod his head quickly and Tamwyn would continue. “I’m going to remove my hand, and when I do you won’t speak unless I speak to you. You will answer every question I have, and if you do so willingly, I’ll let you go. Understand?” He would ask, prompting another nod from Mazik.

Releasing the man, Tamwyn would turn him and shove him hard against the rock face. Then he would reach up and pull his mask up, revealing his own features to the man. Prompting him to stutter. “Y-Y-Yellow e-eyes..T-Ta.” He would begin to say before Tamwyn’s knife was pressed into his throat. “Ah ah, I said no talking, no more warnings.” He would say, prompting a nod. Tamwyn would nod himself before speaking. “Very good, now then, I’ve been following you for a while now Mazik, and I heard your little diary entry. So I’m curious, when are these ‘assassins’ coming for us?” He would ask, his head tilted to the side as he asked the question, a friendly smile upon his features as his eyes glowed an eerie yellow shade. Mazik would take a moment, a few deep breaths which Tamwyn would graciously let him do before he pressed the knife into the man’s throat a little harder and prompted the man to speak quickly. “A-Alright! They’re coming tomorrow night! They’re to leave at midnight. They’re to start with you and work their way through the camp trying to assassinate the others on the list. I don’t know the rest of the list. I just know you’re on it because the path leads to your rumoured camp.” He would say, prompting Tamwyn to nod in understanding before falling quiet. “Very good Mazik, now then, what about this ‘Colonel’. Who are they? Where are they stationed?” He would ask, prompting Mazik to shake his head. “I-I don’t know!” He would call out, his voice cracking in desperation before Tamwyn shook his head. He would take out a small vial and unscrew the cap before pouring some of the liquid onto the trench knife before recapping the vial and putting it back into a pouch before replacing it with the other knife.

Then he would haul off and stab the knife he had coated into the man’s chest, straight into a lung. The pained cry that came from him was audible for a ways and the blood that poured out of what was clearly a lethal wound would cause Mazik to widen his eyes in terror and shock. In the distance, voices could be heard. A Kumo patrol had heard the cry, good. He thought they would have to be close to this position. Tamwyn would remove the knife and watch as the medicine he had coated the blade with did it’s work and healed the ruptured lung and closed the flesh. Mazik took several deep lungfuls of air before leaning back against the wall and crying. “Nice isn’t it? Medicine makes a wonderful interrogation tool when used properly. Now then, I believe you were telling me about the ‘Colonel’?” He would say, prompting Mazik to nod his head as tears streamed down his features. Tamwyn replaced the knife at the man’s throat with the non medicine coated one and waited patiently, a small smile on his features. “C-Colonel Dyvak, he’s a wind element user that was sent to ensure your death. The assumption was that a wind user of sufficient strength would counteract your c-capability with lightning.” He would say, his chest heaving from combined stress and fear. Tamwyn nodded, internally he sneered. As if that would be enough to handle him. It was irrelevant, he could and would handle any simple ‘Colonel’ who fancied himself a match for him due to some ‘elemental advantage’ he thought he had. “And his location?” He would ask, the question almost sounding like an afterthought.

The voices of the patrol were coming closer, although Tamwyn had no intention of hiding from them. They were his forces anyway, but the added fear of additional Kumogakure forces added to the pressure on Mazik until he snapped. “A-Almost exactly across from your own on Konoha’s side, only a mile further west.” He would say, prompting a nod from Tamwyn before the yellow eyed Jounin slit the man’s throat before walking away. Mazik would hold his hand against his throat, using it to feel the wound and then look down again as he tried to take in air. A desperately hopeful expression on his features as he prayed that that knife had had the same medicine as the first. It would be a hope unfounded as his eyes glazed over and he fell still, his hand falling limp as life left him. As Tamwyn walked away a squad of Chunin turned the corner and saw what was left of the squad. One man in front spoke firmly “Light a torch.” To which Tamwyn responded. “Unless you want me to take that torch from him and beat you with it, squad captain, I suggest against it. You’ll ruin your night vision.” He would say, prompting the squad leader to blink in surprise before recognizing Tamwyn’s eyes.“S-Sir! My apologies.” He would say, saluting. Tamwyn would wave it away before jerking a thumb back toward the corpses. “I unconvered an assassination plot against myself as well as Shimiko Chinoike, Seigi Douchiwa, and Seid Otsutsuki. I’ve already derailed it but I’m going to go prepare to assassinate the team of assassins and eliminate them to ensure they cannot be used. Any enemy group that someone believes could handle those names should be removed as a matter of course. Sterilize the scene, I want no trace, understand?” He would say, prompting the man to nod before giving the orders. A few fire jutsu would do the job, but Tamwyn couldn’t do those, and none had the stones to comment on it. Not anymore anyway.

Then he would review the memories his clone had returned to him upon it’s self imposed dispelling. The path would continue a ways still moving toward Kumogakure’s side would in fact end at a dead in the trench which was precisely where Tamwyn would be waiting for the assassins. He moved toward the location, pulling out a ration bar and eating it as he went. He would get there tonight and prepared, a smart shinobi always prepared. It took him some time, and he ran into no issues along the path. Eventually he would reach the dead end and ensure that it was indeed as dead as it seemed he would begin to trap it. Mostly in the form of exploding tags along the upper part of the trench. Blowing them would cause a sizable rock fall that would kill many but really he would rely on one of his favorite techniques.The explosive tags would simply be insurance in case someone managed to escape his jutsu by traveling up. It was possible, if highly unlikely. Still, it always paid to be better safe than sorry. Once he was done he would move up the wall and carve out a niche for him to sit in using his lightning jutsu. It would be deep enough to ensure he was hidden from view from below. Hell the niche itself was invisible unless one was climbing the walls themselves. His opening faced the entirety of the final corridor, it being up on the wall at the turning point into it. It would give him the perfect vantage point to note when all members of the assassination squad had gone in and then when he dropped down he would be blocking the very entrance itself. All in all, a neat little plan.

He waited in the niche, staying awake for the entire day, as a shinobi in a war he was no stranger to sleepless nights and he himself could keep going for a few days before truly needing to lay down. Of course he made a habit of not doing that when he could but today was a bit different. He was in the field and he never, ever, slept in the trenches. None of his men and women did either. It was a rule that if broken would get one sent out of his forces and into another's with a disciplinary review the likes of which would follow them for the rest of their career. Camping in the trenches was too dangerous in Tamwyn’s eyes despite the size of them and it was why the patrol routes required all to return to base camp after a day and a night of patrolling for rest. Then a team would have the next day or two off to rest, as much as one could anyway, before being sent out again. A rotation was kept up that allowed for it to be done efficiently and as such Kumogakure’s forces, or at least those under his command, were always relatively rested, alert, and ready to engage when they came across an enemy. Now though he was having to break one of his own rules because he couldn’t risk guaranteeing the assassin team leaving early and getting to the dead end early and discovering something was wrong. He had to stay here, to watch for them and given that they were tasked with leaving at midnight, he had time before they should arrive. So he learned back in his nook and dozed.

He awoke hours later and continued his vigil, waiting for the assassin team. The sun was high in the sky and he would be waiting for hours yet but he had all the rest he needed from that nap. So he would wait, as patiently as death for those who had come to kill him. The day would be cold for many but Tamwyn was used to them by this point. The Land of Hot Springs was actually a bit nippy in the northern side of it given its closeness to the Land of Frost. The yellow eyed man would wait and meditate on what he had learned that previous night. Konoha’s propagandists had apparently filled their soldiers' heads with the idea of Jashinists running the show and sacrificing them and their families to their dark god. They had played Kumogakure as the bad guys when really, Konohagakure and Kirigakure had launched the first blow on a civilian populace. The Kingdom of Thunder had become enraged as one and for the first time in years Jashinists and those not of their church had fervently agreed with one singular concept. That of vengeance for those massacred needlessly. There wasn’t time for theological debates and protests when there was an enemy who dared assault their people. The war machine of Kumogakure had moved to meet the combined might of Konohagakure, Kirigakure, Iwagakure, although Tamwyn suspected that was due to Konoha’s current political control over it, and Sunagakure. And they were meeting them blow for blow, and even in many cases, winning. The world would know the might of Kumogakure before this was done and when it was, none would dream of going against her or attacking their people again. Not if Tamwyn himself had any say in the matter.

Night fell quickly as thoughts of what occurred at Moonspire sent Tamwyn into a seething frenzy. This would be an opportunity to bite back at those who attacked them. Their people, his people. Any team one thought capable of handling the likes of Shimiko, Seigi, Seid, and himself would have to be talented and strong, and more important, invaluable to any war effort. Konohagakure would feel the bite of what was coming soon and it would come in a brilliant flash of light and destruction. Midnight came and the timer ticked, if they had left on time the team that was coming for him had left their base camp and would be here in a matter of hours. Tamwyn’s vision had grown accustomed to the night time shadows that plagued those corridors and so he had a better chance than most to see what was going on within. He pulled his mask onto his features, the mask's ability to hide his eyes invaluable at that moment. As he waited, his breath calm, he would remain within the niche he had made. Although he would reposition himself to get a better look down into the corridor. He would still be hidden, but his line of sight would change so he could see any approaching targets easier. Time ticked on, Tamwyn waited, and the now clear night, devoid of a moon as it was hidden from the world during this night, would press on silently.

Eventually a group of twelve would turn a corner and dash down the corridor, one in the lead, their hand feeling the wall for the telltale marking of the Konohagakure symbol in the stone to show their turning point. He would reach the point in the wall where the marking was and wait, looking down the corridor to try to see what was ahead. Luckily, the dead end was a good way down the path, shrouded in shadow and so the lead scout wouldn’t see it immediately. The rest of the team caught up to him and then they moved down the corridor as a group, the scout starting forward, picking up speed slowly, to conserve energy. As the last member entered the corridor, Tamwyn would look down the path way to note that there wasn’t a trailing guard and nod to himself in satisfaction before he dropped down silently. He landed on the ground, bending his knees to disperse the impact as a confused cry came out down the tunnel. A torch light went up, illuminating all of them as his hands fell into the familiar diamond like shape at his chest before a single growled “Kikoho.” revealed his location. They turned toward the noise, their night vision ruined by the torch and as they did a beam of pure black lightning ripped through the corridor, engulfing everyone in it and a light of contradiction as the black lightning took those within and obliterated them all. When it was done, Tamwyn moved down the corridor, the rock and stone of the walls too dense to be destroyed by such a widely focused beam to find twelve corpses lying within it. The assassination team was out of the picture now.

Now it was time for the Colonel, one ‘Colonel Dyvak’. He had never heard of the man before but that didn’t really mean anything during a war. A promotion could oftentimes be right around the corner for someone if they were talented enough or in the right place at the right time. It was a fact of life but it went doubly so for war as often times openings were made due to failures or assassination plots. A Colonel being here, whether he was competent or not, meant a perfect target for the enemy's morale. If he could slip into the Colonel’s camp and assassinate him, and potentially eliminate the camp, then he could and would cause a massive blow to the morale of the enemy forces. One that could allow his forces to completely overtake this area of the Trenches and would allow them to begin shifting down the trenches in an effective line from East to West and completely eradicate the opposition. If all he had to do to ensure that happened was eliminate a single ‘Colonel’ then he would gladly do so without hesitation. The night was relatively late though, so instead of going for it tonight, he would wait until tomorrow night. For now he would return to his own camp for some food and rest. As he began down the corridor that led back to his camp another patrol of Kumogakure soldiers came, having seen the destruction and came to investigate. The first in line, the squad leader, came to him and recognized him immediately, even with the mask. He had used it enough in camp so that his soldiers could recognize him at a glance provided their eyes weren’t trashed by any torchlight. Which at times was necessary to investigate a scene one came upon closely.

The squad captain saluted Tamwyn before speaking “Sir, we saw the technique and came to investigate. I take it that it was you who used it?” She would ask, prompting a nod from Tamwyn as he began to speak. “I eliminated an assassin group targeting me as well as some high profile names. I intend to return to camp for the rest of the night and the day before moving out tonight with a squad of my own to assassinate one ‘Colonel Dyvak’.” He would say, prompting her nod once more before she motioned for her squad to form up around Tamwyn like some sort of guard unit. He didn’t need it, but he had stopped arguing with them about it. They felt it was their duty to protect him. The thought of Yenn oh so happily accepting that idea caused him to chuckle to himself as he began to move back toward his base camp. The dawn was slowly approaching and he would have a great deal of work to do in the camp before he could get any kind of rest and a hot meal into himself. The squad who surrounded him moved efficiently and he found himself working to remember their names. It was difficult for any commander to remember the names of every single soldier under their command although he supposed it wasn’t unheard of. However try as he might he couldn’t remember the names of any of these men and women. There were four of them total, as was proper for a team. Two women and two men.

The first woman was the captain. She was a medium-heighted woman with brown eyes and brown hair. She had pale skin and a scar on one cheek. She moved with efficiency and kept a careful eye on her surroundings. She seemed like a competent woman. The next was a woman who might have been in her late teens, no older than nineteen assuredly, and she had brilliant green eyes and flaming red hair she kept in a tight braid.  Her skin was pale and smooth and she seemed to have freckles but it was hard to see that clearly in the night, even with good night vision. She was memorable, red hair was rare in Kumogakure and she was pretty. He’d never pick her over his wife, although he’d never pick anyone over his wife. However she was someone one would take the time to remember the name of. The first of the men was a short individual with a lithe build, like he was built for acrobatic achievement. He had a pair of wicked looking knives at his belt and he was as bald as a stone. His blue eyes took in his surroundings carefully though he also had a hand on one of his knives nervously. The last man was tall and built like a truck, and he had a carefully trimmed brown beard, thick shoulder length hair, and dark eyes. He moved as if he expected no one to get past him and he was walking ahead of Tamwyn.

Why couldn’t he remember any of them though? Why did they seem so nervous? Why was the acrobat fingering his knives so nervously? Was it the assassination attempt on him and others? Possibly, but when he had just dealt with the group then why would they... “Ah, there were two groups then?” He would ask simply, prompting the lithe man to spring into action and drawing his blades, making the strike for the jugular. The women moved back, gaining distance and forming seals while the large man swung back, his arm wide and intent on catching Tamwyn off guard. The arm was armed for his head and the knives for his throat. Tamwyn himself blocked line of sight of both of the men for each other and the two women couldn’t risk their male comrades with their ninjutsu. This put Tamwyn in a more advantageous position than this group might have thought and he didn’t doubt that they hadn’t expected him to catch on. Hell, he almost didn’t. Either way, Tamwyn’s initial action was simple, reliable, and made the entire situation much more interesting.

He ducked of course.

He dropped down low, as the blades from the small man flashed forward and out, trying to take Tamwyn from each side and rip his throat open. Instead, they met the outstretched arm of his companion. Who only grunted in annoyance rather than howled in pain. Tamwyn blinked at this before considering that perhaps ‘this’ group was a bit more capable of doing the job if he assumed such tactics would work. To make matters worse, he learned a new thing right then that he also hadn’t expected. The two women didn't give a good god damn about whether or not their comrades were in the line of fire. The ground shook beneath Tamwyn’s feet, he was low to the ground after having ducked and not in the greatest of positions to deal with an each technique, and he still had a man with two very sharp looking knives and another who didn’t seem to mind being stabbed with said sharp, pointy blades, above him. Maybe it was time to start proving that they were sent after him for a reason at this point. Lightning lanced through the ground emanating from him and his contact with it before moving out in a large radius around him. Shocking Surfaces was an old favorite and was surprisingly effective despite it’s relative simplicity. The large man simply shrugged off the pain but the acrobatic one with the knives arched his back in pain as the lightning coursed through him and ravaged him.

His trench knives were upon his hands, black metal reflecting no light as he slashed at the big man's tendons, the ones in his leg specifically and found that he could barely cut the man with his blades. They were the ones made by Damien, and as such were of high quality, which meant this man had trained his body hard to handle such damage. Nodding to himself  Tamwyn punched the man and attempted to overload the man’s system as the shaking ground intensified only he found that to have no effect as the man simply swung again. Tamwyn sprung up to his feet, still maintaining his lightning technique before striking back like a viper with his blades and driving them deep into the acrobat's heart. Only to feel nothing but earth behind him. Risking a look back he would see stone behind him and nothing more. The original had either replaced himself out, or he had never been here to begin with and he was dealing with an earth clone. Earth elementals were dangerous opponents down here in the trenches, however they did have a distinct disadvantage against him with his highly capable lightning prowess. Deciding that taking things up a notch or three was in order he would activate his Lightning Release Armor as spines of earth erupted down the corridor in jagged patterns from both sides. It was a massive undertaking and would be lethal had his armor not come on beforehand. The spines that hit him weren’t strong enough to pierce the armor and collapsed into chunks of stone. The man before him didn’t have a mark either.

“Your job is to keep me here for the technique then. In that case, I should stop attacking you then, shouldn’t I?” He would ask cheekily before a pulse of chakra radiated out from him. His sensory technique picked up three signatures, one on one end of the corridor, and two more on the other. “Eenie meenie minie mo.” He would say to the man as the spines crumbled apart. The mass amount of them would make visibility within impossible and they would have to disperse the technique to let their comrade out. To make matters worse, they couldn’t afford too much noise this close to his camp, lest they draw more shinobi. The moment the spines had crumbled Tamwyn would be off, dashing down the corridor like a lightning bolt at his best speed, trench knives upon his hands as he reached his first target. The pretty red haired girl was the one who had been alone, what a pity, her eyes caught sight of him as he arrived in front of her and her mouth opened in what would be a scream, but one that would never be as his blades tore her throat out. The image of her pretty face, green eyed, red haired, and freckled screaming silently would be burned into his mind. His own armor illuminated the area around him due to the lightning arcing off of him and so he would have the vision in perfect clarity for who knew how long.

He was moving back down the corridor before her body even managed to hit the ground and rather than stop to fight the bigger man, who he doubted he would have much luck with harming, he decided instead to skip past him for now and get toward the other two. His sensory was still picking up only the two of them and after a few moments, ducking past the large man as he moved, he would reach them. The brown haired ‘captain’ had a sneer on her features as she saw him come and explosions began to radiate around as they backed up quickly. They moved out of the explosion's radius quickly enough and the corridor around him began to fall down upon him. That didn’t matter though. For he hadn’t activated his armor because it made him look cool. The explosions weren’t strong enough to penetrate the protective lighting layer over him either and the stone they fell certainly wouldn’t be. They rained down upon him, bouncing off of him. Too many of them might bury him but he did not simply stop and let them do so like some idiot. He ran through, chasing after the two who were moving much quicker than he might have expected. The large man behind him was now caught on the other end of a rock slide and now the nearby camp, only a few miles away at this point, was radiating sounds of surprise and general movement. The explosion had rallied a response, which meant these assassins only had a few minutes at best to find their work.

This was going fairly well for them so far, not really, but one had to be polite. Either way as he moved a shape would dart out at him from the shadows, the light he radiated ruining his night vision and two gleaming blades flashed. He pivoted and one of the blades nicked his arm and drew blood. That surprised him, and he back pedaled, getting away from those blades. They had not only gotten through his Lightning Release Armor, but they had gotten through his own hardiness that came from it and allowed the man to knick him. He glanced back at the cut and judged that it wasn’t deep at all, just enough to scar. “Those are fine blades.” He would say before rolling his neck and moving at the man again. His opponent didn’t have a sturdy build or seem particularly intelligent. All of his capabilities were probably trained in blade work and Tamwyn made to match him in it. Blades clashed as he punched, the trench knife on his knuckles causing the man to avoid the punch itself. He used his knife to knock the blade up and in the process Tamwyn got a feel for his opponents individual strength. It wasn’t superhuman or anything, and that told the Seraph of Lightning that he was stronger than him, at least while his armor was augmenting his capabilities.

Another exchange, Tamwyn knocking aside thrust and slashed with his trench knives would occur and the yellow eyed man in the mask would note that his blades were starting to chip. ‘Those are higher quality then..alright.’ He would think as the man swung up with his blade and Tamwyn made to block, at the same time however an earth jutsu would activate and cause the earth beneath his feet to drop him six inches. His opponents level remained the same and while six inches didn’t make much difference in a fight it did when you were trying to block a vertically slashed knife with a horizontal block. His block missed and the vertical slash took him in the face, the mask he wore was shattered and a line went up his left eye and even gouged it out of him. He grunted in annoyance, but luckily he couldn’t feel the pain at the moment, blood pooled down his features. Half of his visibility was gone but that wasn’t strictly necessary. Taking a deep breath he kept his sensory active as the man smirked at him triumphantly. “I guess I shouldn’t expect to get the upper hand in blade work against someone with an earth element user supporting them.” He would say, causing his opponent to shrug before striking out again. Tamwyn’s left eye was closed, the instinctive action given her had no eye there at the moment. However he could play the dirty trick game with his own element. Instead of going for the parry or dodge, he went for the full out block of the knives. His blades wouldn’t hold up much longer, they would have to be repaired when he got home as it was, however that brief moment of contact was more than enough for Transference to work.

Lightning coalesced around his hands before the blades met and the contact with his hands to the conductive metal of the handle caused the lightning to travel up his blade. Furthermore the contact of the two blades would create an effective circuit and the lightning would travel down the blades and into his opponents body, causing massive damage. The man’s back arched again and Tamwyn’s other blade flashed out, taking the bald man in the throat. This image would be ingrained into his mind for an unknown time too. This one however would cause satisfaction, an opponent bested, and not a young woman who couldn’t even react in time being slaughtered. Once that was done Tamwyn felt Raijū healing the wound upon his face and he sent a request to the beast. He might not be able to activate the capability of healing at will yet. But he could perhaps request his companion to leave something of a reminder. He sensed a vague sense of acknowledgement from the beast, but slowly he felt his very eye regrow itself as he turned toward the brown haired woman, who saw the entire act. Her eyes were wide with surprise and fear as his eye literally regrew itself in his socket and when it was finished he shook his head as his vision came back before blinking once, twice, three times. Then his eyes would fall onto her. The sounds of the forces from the camp were louder now, that many shinobi, no matter how quietly they were trained to be, were going to be noticed.

The woman started shaking in fear as she started to move through seals at a rapid pace and he began to move toward her. A blade of wind coalesced upon her hand and she swung it at him as a pitch black tendril of black lightning fired out to match it. They collided and her eyes would widen in shock as she realized her technique was not overpowering it. She started retreating, moving through signs as he walked toward her. Chunks and slabs of stone broke themselves off from the surroundings wall and ground and flung themselves at him at her will and he simply moved through them, his tendril of black lightning destroying them before they could reach him and push him back with their force. Her back hit the wall and terror was visible in her eyes as her pupils dilated. She had watched him get cut, watched him lose an eye, and had watched as his eye simply grew back as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Nothing she threw at him could stop him and as he reached her her scream echoed down the corridors as his blades found their way into her heart. She had run out of room to run at that point, and he turned to look in the direction of the last member of their little group. The large man looked angry, viciously so. His cheeks were flushed red with the emotion and his teeth ground together as they watched him. Tamwyn watched the signs carefully, and in his mind’s eye remembered the viciousness of another attack in the past on a dilapidated old fort in the mountains not far from the border of the Land of Iron. He remembered sapphire blue eyes and blonde hair, and an insane lust for blood that the woman they had belonged to emanated. He remembered feeling sick afterwards, remembered having to do what he thought needed doing at the time and regretting it horribly.

He remembered that day though, not just in terror, but for a few lessons learned. He remembered the terror they had spread that day, him and Sayuri. He remembered playing a macabre game of ‘hot potato’ and the frenzy that had caused. He remembered torturing those people and making one of them believe they were free before taking that from him. Had Mazik’s death been influenced by that? The innate desire to remove hope from someone before they died? He had felt at his throat again and again, hoping that the medicine he had used to torture him had been on that other blade, to no avail, and he continued to hope, until he simply died. Now he had tortured this man in another way. This was more insidious in a way, more vicious. “You loved her didn’t you?” He would ask, his head tilted to the side. Then he would continue. “I would’ve chosen the redhead myself, but if you can have what’s left of her if you want.” He would say, shifting her form so that he held her corpse by the back of her neck and offered her to the man. He saw something break in that man’s eyes at that moment. Tamwyn had just removed his team, and killed the woman he loved, invalidated that love and her appearance by insinuating the other girl on his team was pretty, and then treated the woman like a sack of meal. A scream of primal rage came from his mouth as he charged down the corridor at a much faster pace than Tamwyn would have expected. He waited until the last moment and then let go of the woman’s neck before moving. The large man’s fist impacted her against the wall and caused a veritable explosion of stone, bone, and blood as Tamwyn back pedaled down the side corridor.

The man turned back to him, his eyes wide with such hatred Tamwyn could almost feel it radiating off the man. He screamed again in pain and anger, but it was a physical pain this time, and the hardiness of one's body could do nothing against the psychological blows Tamwyn was delivering with his words and actions. He had just tricked the man into destroying his lover's corpse, had removed any ability he might have had to lay her to rest properly. As if that was going to be possible. No, Tamwyn intended for this man to die here. As the man charged at him again, Tamwyn back pedaled, keeping his sensory active for any living obstacles. He would have hopped over the rock pile, knowing where it was but it wasn’t an issue. Because this man was faster than him. ‘What the hell?!’ He thought as the man not only kept pace but caught up to him. His arms outstretched to either side and trailing stone and rock behind him as he made for Tamwyn in an attempt to catch him and crush his skull. Tamwyn of course, had no intention for his skull to be pierced and he simply hopped up on the wall and moved back past the man at a rapid clip. He would note as he did that the man’s ability to react to that stimuli was severely lacking. ‘Raw speed, strength, and durability, but his reflexes suck, and he’s not the brightest.’ He would think as he went through his list of options. Poison wouldn’t work on someone with that level of physical durability, he could overwhelm him with lightning attack after lightning attack he supposed, and that was probably his best option.

Nodding to himself he would call upon Raijū again in his mind, beseeching his companion to empower his lightning techniques and a howl that only he could hear would answer. Raijū would help him in this. The beast couldn’t speak, but Tamwyn could usually get a feel for what he was trying to communicate and as the wolf cried out within his mind his willingness to aid the Seraph Tamwyn would act. His opponent had finally turned himself around and was charging at him down the corridor again, extremely fast. Luckily, this was only a single line, so even if the man was a blur to Tamwyn, his focus on him, and the lack of space to use that speed, gave the much more reflex capable Tamwyn an advantage that he could now abuse. As the man came toward him, murder and insanity in his eyes, blast after black of black raiton from his seal would fire out, traveling with incredible speed and power. Each bolt hit the man and each hit took its toll. As he got close again Tamwyn hopped up onto the wall once more and moved back down the stone corridor and proceeded to fire blow after blow back at him again. Slowing whittling the man down bit by bit. His own reserves were going down but luckily he was generally extremely efficient in his usage of the stuff. Or rather, his techniques were. As the lances of lightning struck the man damage would begin to appear.

His opponent would begin to slow down with each subsequent ‘lap’ through the corridor and the man’s ragged breathing could be heard along with cries of fear as he realized that his opponent was coming close to his threshold for damage. His own body was incapable of keeping up and the continued assault of lightning chakra to his system was sending his body out of whack. Spasms went through him as Tamwyn continued his assault and eventually a spear of black lightning, the Hell Stab technique, appeared around a single digit of Tamwyn’s finger. Enough was enough, the man had been weakened and slowed down enough and it was time to move in  for the kill. With a snarl on his features and his yellow eyes gleaming brilliantly as he brought the spear forward and charged he would reach the man in moments, the impact of the spear would indeed manage to pierce his chest and into his heart. Kumogakure’s Unstoppable Spear has met the mark and the large man’s heart was pierced by the spear. Tamwyn’s opponent fell to his knees, his eyes wide with the shock of death before they glazed over. It was of course at that point that the group from the camp arrived, looking to Tamwyn as they surveyed the damage to the area and the bodies around. One young woman, one Tamwyn recognized this time as his second in command moved up to him and saluted. Tamwyn nodded at her “Lieutenant Serin, I have been beset by assassins this night after having eliminated another group of them. Extra patrols until further notice. Get this cleaned up. I’m going to my quarters.” He would say, prompting her to nod before turning to issue the relevant orders. Tamwyn would travel back to the camp, a guard, hand picked by Serin, was with him. Everyone seemed to look at him strangely as he moved, but he at least knew these people and could trust them.

Arriving at the camp, he would make his way on a quick inspection. It was good for morale to have their commanding officer check up on things. Then when that was done he would move to his quarters. A large tent that had been set up, the third largest in the camp. The largest being a decoy for some idiot who thought Kumogakure shinobi required everyone to know they had the biggest tent, and the second being a meeting tent for his staff when they planned individual excursions. When he arrived a steward brought him a meal and he looked at him oddly too. Tamwyn looked back at him too. He had known Lamos since he had arrived at the Trenches and he had never given him a look like that. “What is it Lamos?” He would ask, a confused eyebrow raised. The man would cough apologetically before answer. “You’re eye sir.” He would say, prompting Tamwyn’s eyebrows to shoot up. Had Raijū not done a good enough job regenerating it? That was unlikely, standing and moving toward a mirror he would look into it and feel his eyes widen in surprise. A long scar ran up the left side of his cheek, and above the eye, seemingly as if it hit the eye too. Of course the itself looked perfectly normal, but the scar was certainly interesting and gave him a much more vicious and feral look. He felt a grin settle on his features as he decided he liked it. Yenn might kill him later for it, but he was quite glad with what Raijū had left behind as his ‘reminder’. “Lamos when Serin gets back, have her report to me. I want to nail down a plan to assassinate one ‘Colonel Dyvak’.” He would say, receiving a nod and a “Yes sir” in response before Lamos turned and left. Tamwyn would proceed to sit down and begin to eat, a small chuckle escaping his lips as he took the first bite. This had certainly turned into an eventful couple of days.

Exit

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