[attr="class","parchment-h1"]Otakemaru Akimichi: The Demon of the Rain
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[attr="class","parchment-h3"]Sunset
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[attr="class","parchment-thread"]Keeping enemies closer. [break][break][break][break]Beyond the line, one of the greatest sealing specialists in the world was deployed with the help of a team creating a distraction for them. The kazekage's group penetrated deep into the imperial front, she carved a path of blood weaving in and out with the help of the likes of Tenchi Sarutobi, Ichigo Akimichi, and many others. [break][break] It would soon become clear to her who was leading the Taiyou in the assault. Someone who had long ago been a friend and rival. [break][break] Someone who had died. [break][break] Otakemaru Akimichi. In life his penchant for violence served the Hidden Rain well, constantly at war. He was a walking slaughterhouse feared by the Hidden Sand and the Empire alike. He met his end behind these lines, but even Shinko seemed suprised to see the unmistakable glutton through a spyglass. He towered over his entourage in borth height and girth, carrying a massive kanabo that she instantly recognized. [break][break] Through the course of fighting against thick resistance, Ichigo and others had been wounded, others killed. She would eventually order the others to fall back before disappearing into the shadows. Her skill in stealth was so great that she was able to weave between lines of ashigaru unseen on her own, disappearing again as the soldiers would realize she had been there and leaving the lines looking about confused. [break][break] OOC: This thread is mostly to update what is going on with the approach of the empire's main force, which is being held at bay by mostly NPC shinobi. You can technically travel into this thread, but it isn't recommended.
[attr="class","APP3"]The crunching of leaves, the shifting of plate armour, the gurgling death of an ashigaru; these could be heard by the kazekage as she slunk back into the shadows, moving low to the ground and sticking to the dense underbrush of the wilds. A harsh roar of frustration ripped through the lines causing Shinko to freeze in place, her breath hitching in her chest. She watched for movement through the cover of dense foliage. The earth beneath her trembled with each step as Otakemaru lumbered past on his way to investigate the most recent in a string of baffling executions.
Shinko Osore weaved her fingers together in a familiar pattern as two shadow clones appeared flanking her position. The first leapt vertically into the canopy above while the other darted off towards the front line and the kazekage herself moved cautiously further into enemy territory, determined to keep the Akamichi in her sights as she caused what mayhem she could without being caught.
She’d called for the rest of the team to retreat the moment she’d seen him. He’d been one of their own and now it seemed his will had been turned against them; a disaster headed for the front lines and when he arrived the civilized world would fall beneath his massive fists. Her only thought was to delay him for as long as she could. Or perhaps to prey upon the one weakness she’d always teased him for back in their academy days. Otakemaru was, in a word, volatile; likely to fly into a blind rage given the slightest provocation.
If she could set him off here he would tear through the enemy ranks searching for her. If there was anything left of him inside that thick skull… Shinko reached for a kunai but her limbs felt heavy with an impending dread.
No. She would not end up like that. And this was not the end for the Rain. No one would tear down everything she’d spent a lifetime building up. Not while she had the strength left to fight.
[attr="class","APP3]Otakemaru watched as his line moved forward. Many of those with him were fodder, mere farmers armed to bolster numbers. They were the people that would ideally occupy these lands for the Empire and keep it fed as it expanded back into the north, but to the Akimichi they were frustrating inept foot soldiers that moved the supply line far too slowly for his taste. The Emperor’s insistence that he remain with them to protect the more long-term goals of the empire was frustrating. He could keep some of his free will so that he could tap into his inner rage, but the orders passed down by the Uchiha woman were always so boring.
As he walked forward, he noticed people in his ranks starting to fall. Mules were getting free of their carts. Conscripts were moving to desert. Growling, he reached out and wrapped his hand around the neck of a man running by him.
“Hold the line! There’ll be nothing left to bury of cowards!” he yelled in a guttural voice as he slammed the deserters head into the ground.
He scanned the crowd looking for movements, not finding the hidden kazekage but noticing a group of recently fallen. He pushed past a plethora of troops and came to the scene of the attack. He lifted his mask for a moment, revealing the dark sclera around his eyes. He began to sniff, his nose twitching.
“Shinko!” he yelled. “Where are you hiding? I’ve been looking forward to meeting you again.”
