On the Border of Greatness

[Ace Trainer]

The transition of taking over the lab had resulted in a fair amount of learning for Kozan. He wasn't exactly picking up his master's old experiments, but he was learning about them, about the village and it's secrets his master was aware of, of plans for the Shiimu, and the various monitoring of world events the family was doing. The recent decline in the slavery market due to a series of international events had left the Shiimu in an odd place. Kozan's master had had enough foresight to recognize this could happen, in part why he'd committed so much time and energy to artificial life. If that could be resolved, the Shiimu family could shift its practice from slavery to focusing entirely on generating perfected soldiers. A shame he was no longer alive to realize that dream - it was not one Kozan would be picking up.

However, it had meant the Shiimu family was particularly interested in international events, foreign happenings, and generally how the world was shifting and growing. His master alongside the family had kept close tabs on things happening on the west coast, and had appeared to have taken an interest in the growing Crescent Coalition, in part because of the rapid change it had undergone. The militarization of a non-hostile nation into one that was clearly aiming to contend with the Grand 5, its leaderships participation in the assault on Wind Country had not gone unnoticed. Many happenings coincided had brought it to the Shiimu families attention - primarily that it was a fresh stock of potential slaves pre-prepared to be subjugated. Typically, the Shiimu worked with existing slavers to bring in slave stock, but if a nation could be brought to it's knees and the right arrangement made...well, many of their problems would be over.

After the fight with Hisayo, Kozan had decided the next step was to travel to the border of the Crescent Coalition. In his final days his master had encouraged Kozan to capitalize on the upcoming discord, if the Grand 5 were to be at war with each other in some capacity, they would be vulnerable yes, but so would the other nations. There would be no one to defend the Crescent Coalition if he elected to infiltrate it. He didn't even need to topple the village, just gain control of it's leadership. So, with a new title within the Seven Swordsmen, a dagger, and a lower ranked swordsman and dagger for him to now lord over after her defeat, Kozan felt that exploring the viability of an attack on Crescent was the logical next step.

It was opportunistic. It always was. The deep predatory instinct within Kozan's brain drove him to find opportunities like this and capitalize on them. It was all about leveraging an advantage. Sure, he could attack any nation and achieve a not dissimilar outcome, but the situation with Crescent was more profitable than others. Not only would it give the Shiimu leverage and fresh stock, it would eliminate a rising power from contention with Kirigakure. And so, he had set out on a long trip to travel very much across the world to the Crescent Coalition.

---

The south of Crescent was a savannah like Kozan had never seen before. Truly the entire trip across the continent had been a constant exposure to new experiences, foods and sights. Not that Kozan gave any value to it. But, just outside the border of Crescent in the no-mans lands between it and the Land of Runes, Kozan looked out upon the country to take it in. You could see farther than Kozan could have ever imagined. In Kiri, the mist kept you from seeing far but even on days it was thinner the mountains that surrounded Kirigakure blocked the view of the ocean they were in. Here from this hill Kozan could see for what seemed like hundreds of miles. The land was flat, covered in grass and shubbery with sparse trees. His natural inclination to hide kept his body low, but his desire to see the world around him kept his neck up and his eyes thin as he scanned taking it in. Not far from where he was he could see the village he'd come to witness...Libertalis.

Massive in scale with towering buildings not unlike Kirigakure's, it stood out with ease on the horizon even from this distance. There was nothing to block his view. Kozan's eyes would thin, the chakra in his body tightening his vision to give him a view closer than what would normally be possible. While it wasn't enough to discern people or individual buildings, it was enough to understand what he was looking at. This was a mecca. The notes his master had left behind noted that Shiimu had established much of the Crescent Coalitions conquered lands were still widely distributed, but the primary place of residence appeared to be this city of Libertalis.

People had alleged there was a Hidden Village too, but it was unclear where it was or what purpose it served. If the goal was to become a village like Kirigakure, taking over Libertalis would at least allow Kozan to determine where this supposed Hidden Village was at make sure it was no threat either.

For a moment, Kozan would stand up straight staring at the giant city on the horizon for just a moment before taking a cautious step forward. Temptation to attack on his own filled his body. They were unprepared, exposed, there was no natural defenses or impediments to attack. Kozan could draw a massive explosive fuuinjutsu right now and turn a part of the village into a crater before they even realized they were under attack. The animalistic drive for predation built into him was growing stronger, the deeper parts of his brain alive with electrical activity as this higher thought weakened. It was. too. easy. With a deep breath, Kozan would blink, bringing himself back into control and calming his natural impulses. The desire to cause death was one he would need to be able to suppress. He could not let the murderous intent that drove him get out of control. He was here to gather information and nothing else.

He would take several cautious steps forward before breaking into a normal stride, attempting to see if as he entered the country officially any sort of response would be mounted. Waves of killer intent radiating from his body every so often to pick up on any fear that may radiate off people. This was not an attack. Not yet. Not without Renji, Hisayo, Kayako to accompany him if he decided to do it. But would he need them? Was this village strong enough? Did it have a military worth anything? Strong enough to stand to him? They were capable of ninjutsu, that much had been documented and confirmed. But little information on the nation was actually available. In spite of his base instincts telling him this would be a free-for-all, the tactical mind he'd been gifted was coldly calculating for every risk and unforeseen possibility. Someone had conquered these nations - Chikara and Enzaragi. They had been seen during the invasion of the northern Wind territories and not been documented by any official Kirigakure books since. Were they threats? None of the information made available by the bingo book made them seem to be a concern.

But there were not a lot of people Kozan wasn't confident he could kill.

The grass was nearly shoulder high in this portion of the savannah. Kozan's mind could help but consider what a battle here would be like in this setting, how easy it would be to stalk prey, to sneak up and kill. The positioning would make an approach on Libertalis childsplay. He'd be at their door without a single alarm going off. Not unless they had some other way of catching him. Perhaps really that's what this exercise was, testing to see how close he could get. The city was still a fair amount away, it would take him at least the rest of the day to actually reach Libertalis at this pace...but was he going to go into the city? Would that make sense? Perhaps that wouldn't be a good plan without support. For now, Kozan would simply stalk forward like a snake coming up on his prey, testing to see how much of a bite he would need to take.

[Zao]

Kozan wouldn't be the only one out in the savannah-like landscape, in fact it was one of the best locations for someone like the older man who was also outside the capital city, not exactly a man who liked to be surrounded by other people you could say. The older man was currently crouched down in the tall grass, a stead hum of hundreds of flying insects located in the area around the man hunting other bugs and small creatures as he eyed something else in the tall grass. Hunched over a steady stream of smoke whisps floated up from the half-finished cigarette in Kemuri's scarred lips at the moment, his ocean blue eyes were studying one of the unique insect species that was a type of praying mantis, only it was about two hands in length, perhaps the largest he'd ever seen. "Never seen one like this before, how intriguing..." Something as simple as this had drawn the man's nearly full attention as he was jotting down a few notes on a small pad of paper with a pencil in his left hand, only a small portion of his hornet swarm was around him (approximately five sync) while another thirty sync had been let loose in the savannah to hunt.

The latter was a reason he wasn't in the city as well, the temptation for his insects to feast on the civilians there was too great at times, especially when he hadn't been able to let them out to hunt, the hornet swarm being the true hunters out of all of his swarms, needing to hunt and kill their prey. It was this type of true violent aggression that he enjoyed and one of the many reasons he had decided to capture and breed this specific insect swarm. Currently the man was probably a handful of miles from the edge of the town and just within a mile from the stranger who had just entered into the borders of Cresent. But it wasn't what Kemuri was doing that would catch the newcomer's attention, at least not yet perhaps, instead it would be something else that he would find himself exposed to firstly.

As the Kiri-nin was stalking himself forward, there would be the sound of something crashing through the tall grass and a hundred meters or so away, if he could see over the tall grass, a pair of large mule deer leaped up completely out of the grass. Both of the creatures seemed to be in a dead sprint, moving at their top speed as they seemed to almost effortlessly jump up to three meters in the air as they moved across Kozan's field of view from left to right. Behind their movement the grass swayed violently, if one had some type of advanced hearing or well-honed ear, they could catch the steady buzzing of potentially millions of tiny wings beating rapidly. The Aburami's giant hornet swarm had found its prey, while it wasn't the flesh of a human, the tender meat of a deer was just as tasty, and they rushed the deer from their bedding area and toward the east. What would have been interesting, besides the size of the pursuing bugs, was the fact that they seemed to be pushing their prey into a certain spot, which became even more apparent a few seconds later.

From either side suddenly three groups of hornets rose up from the grass, about five sync each, in an ambush type of attack catching the two deer as they leaped once more out of the thick grasslands and into the air slamming straight into the swarms that pinned them to the ground with their unreal strength. Cries of the two deer could be heard for hundreds of meters as it was carried with the wind as they rapidly began to burrow into their soft skin like a hot knife through butter, devouring the soft meat and organs first while the prey was still alive. Due to the numerous hornets attacking them the cries only lasted barely five seconds before it was a droning sound of the bugs feeding on the two animals...but just judging from the size of the swarm that was out hunting these two deer probably wouldn't be the last meal they hunted today.

[Ace Trainer]

It didn't take long for Kozan's stride to come to a stop as the veritable cloud of insects made itself visible against the background of the sky. As he'd been walking the pulses of killer intent he gave off would occasionally flag a deer or some large rodent or the various other fauna that would make the savannah it's home. It was set off their own instincts and send them off in another direction, Kozan's own instincts to chase being suppressed. Witnessing the mule deers flee a good 150 if not 200 meters from where Kozan was set off a flag in his mind - it was not him. The insects that chased down the creatures however gave him an answer. His eyes thinned, scanning what he could see to no success. Even from this distance the cries of the mule deer were drowned out by the sound of the insects, as far as it was.

Their hunting patterns were not natural, any shinobi would be able to tell that even with Kozan's preternatural attunement to the natural world. There was someone controlling them. His mind scanned through the bingo books he had seen, trying to think if there was anyone he could think of associated with the Crescent Coalition that controlled insects. Nothing came to mind, giving Kozan a slight cause for concern. Did Crescent Coalition have a powerful shinobi he - and the rest of the world - wasn't aware of? He let out another pulse of his killer intent, extending it the full range to no avail.

Kozan would crouch his body down, staying masked in the tall grass that surrounded him. For a moment, Kozan debated what to do in this situation. He couldn't even see what he was up against. He even questioned if it was truly a controlled swarm of insects and not some freak incident. Even more he wondered if he should back out, he was limited in information. His prey didn't seem aware he was there, it would not be difficult to back out in the moment. He could get closer, but without even an inkling where in the savannah his opponent was by time he got closer he would be letting his opponent know he was there too. There were only a few options left so Kozan would stick to his basics and his roots and begin forward once more. He'd walk slowly and intentionally until he was about 80m away from where he had witnessed the swarm hunting and then he would begin to form a series of hand seals before thrusting his hands forward.

Just like home a thick mist would form over the savannah in front of Kozan, reaching out 100 meters in every direction.

Kozan would take a deep breath, standing tall and moving into the mist as it blinded him and dampened his senses. As it wrapped around him he could feel the droplets of water against the exposed parts of his face. Just like home. Exhaling, his mind sharpened. The moment he could pick up on someone's fear is instinct would kind in. His drive was hungry. The mist dulled all the other senses, leaving nothing but his fear sense. So he would run, Kozan would dart forward his killer intent radiating from his body. As he charged through the mist he would get 50 meters from Kemuri and the scent would reach him. There he was. Kozan had found his target, a soft light glowing from his back as he performed kai. From 50m directly south of Kemuri, Kozan would stop, his truth seeker surging to life and forming into a bow. A single arrow would form on his finger, and Kozan would nock it...and release, shooting through the air with 50 strength at the source of fear he was picking up on.

The hunt was on.

SpoilerShow

[Predatory Instinct: Murderous Intent]
B-rank Taijutsu Discipline
A natural born killer, Kozan is able to radiate out his killer intent, triggering natural fear responses in anyone in 60m of him, so long as their [Willpower] is lower than his own. Even if a target is not aware that Kozan is in the vicinity, his killer intent still radiates and affects them so long as they are within range.

[Predatory Instinct: Ecology of Fear]
B-rank Taijutsu Stance
Prerequisite: [Fear Sense] Ability
The user is able to attune their fear sense ability, taking in a deep breath and focusing their mind, extending it out [Willpower x2] meters rather than the standard 25m.

*Perfect Hidden Mist Technique
S-rank Ninjutsu
Prerequisite: *Obscuring Mist Technique
After forming the required hand seals, the ninja creates a blanket of mist which covers the area around them. The mist covers 100x100x100m area. The mist limits the visibility of those inside to 1/2 meter in any direction, and completely dampens scents, making it impossible to smell anything without advanced smelling techniques, and limiting advance smelling, and scent control techniques to 2m. Additionally, sound is dampened to the point where nothing can be heard without advanced hearing techniques. Those using advanced hearing techniques won't be able to hear anything that's not within 4meters of them. Additionally, the mist is saturated in chakra, which makes it impossible for sensors outside the mist to sense who is within it, and those within it it to sense outside of it. This technique lasts a number of posts equal to the user's 1/2 Chakra Pool.

Lonely Mint
B-rank Augment Fuuinjutsu
Doing a series of hand seals or drawing the seal, Kozan will place his hand on the target, activating the seal. This seal gives +9 Strength for its duration, at the cost of -9 Endurance.

[Arrow]
D-rank Nintaijutsu
Kozan will flex one of his fingers, causing a thin tendril of samsara to form from one of the knuckles and extend out up to 5m, only a few inches in diameter, before forming into a firm rod with a pointed end. This can then be broken off and used as an projectile, a smaller polearm, or a variety of other purposes.

[Zao]

"Hm..." The older man was still studying the oversized mantis species when the portion of his swarm that was surrounding him in the nearby are notified him of a strange mist brewing from across the savannah, "Go..." From his right hand about a one size mass of tiny black beetles were extruded from his own skin as they activated their ability moving forward to meet the growing mist that was being created by some unnatural means just given by the normal weather patterns in this area and the environment itself. His mist like ball of black bugs shot forth at nearly their top speed towards the mist but as they were able to start using their chakra sensory ability near the growing mist the report quickly returned mentally to their master was that it was a mass of chakra that they couldn't clearly see through...chakra...that only meant one thing to the chain smoker. 'A visitor...who uses mist...how rude.'

Kemuri had been a missing-nin for quite some time and even as a shinobi from the Hidden Leaf, mist techniques were something almost solely utilized by those from Kiri, but what would they be doing this far out. Was it a scout doing some type of reconnaissance on the newly formed country? The mist was also something that kept him from being able to pry with the chakra sensing ability. Seeing the mist approaching his position from the distance, the man rapidly retreated at close to his top speed, going into defensive mode as his body stayed below the tops of the grass line with his nearby bugs that were about fifteen sync worth of the giant hornet swarm, splitting themselves into three groups of five sync that rotated closely around the man serving as protection from attack while he continued to flee back towards the direction of the city gate staying far outside the edge of the growing mist created by the unknown shinobi. 'Three Dogs protection.'

If he couldn't see inside the mist with his chakra sensory ability, then he for sure didn't want to get caught inside of it. With a mental thought the hunting party Kozan had seen immediately turned and began to advance on the growing cloud of mist as ordered by their 'king' with their full size revealed for the first time as they rose up from the savannah's grass all at once like an orange and black mist themselves. It would appear that they didn't want to meet and thus he would be just as unwelcoming to this stranger now as from his left sleeve poured out nearly three sync worth of his lightning swarm. If the foe didn't want to be seen then he'd see if this changed his mind as he mentally commanded the swarm to attack, 'Use Flying Dragon Strike...target the middle of the mist cloud.' The group of previously dull looking bugs moved forward towards the massive wall of mist that was still several meters away from its owner who had continued to retreat from its growing size as their bodies lite up with raiton chakra as they closed the gap between themselves and the shroud of mist. After a moment of charging and reaching within twenty meters of the mist, at which point the mist seemed to have reached its limit for expansion, the insects released a massive column of raiton at a downward angel into the mist itself.

The column of lightning smashing through the mist with its nearly 45-meter radius, pushing out from the insects toward what they considered the center point of the mist technique. 'Use dispersion and search after the technique impacts...' On the outer edge to the Kiri shinobi's right side the mass of nearly thirty sync worth of killer hornets began to disperse their selves into a thin looking long wave with a similar width to that of the mist cloud, as the raiton technique would impact whatever or whomever was near the center of the mist cloud at this point. Dispersed out they would quickly begin skim through the scorched and blasted apart grassland. The hornets were an alpha level predatory, their love for the hunt and the taste of a kill only excited the swarm that was about to sweep through the engagement area at their top speed, hungry for what they might find to eat. 'If you find anyone, just kill them.' It was the only order the man spoke mentally to the killer hornets who would latch on to any target they came across to deliver their venomous stings to.

Kemuri briefly glanced down at his cigarette that only had a few draws left on its before he would need to light up a new one...

UsedShow

Think you misread the distance between Kemuri and the part of his swarm attacking the deer near Kozan, he'd still be far out of the way from the mist and his fear wave's range, for the moment anyways.



In order of used.


Bikōchū Swarm - Less than 1/2 a sync - Minute Tracking, chakra sensory at S-rank: 100 meters.



[Three Dogs Defense Formation] - 15 Sync of Giant Hornets around him and his position as he retreated to keep a good distance from the mist.
C-Ranked Swarm Maneuver
Upon the command 'Three Dogs' three portions of the swarm(s), five synch each, will fly forward circling around the host. These three portions of the user's swarm are completely focused on defending the host from the attacks of others that enter within a thirty-meter radius of the host.



Lightning Bug> Swarm - 3 sync worth - using Flying Dragon-Striking Heaven-Shaking Thunderous Bombardment directly into the mist.

*Raiton • Flying Dragon-Striking Heaven-Shaking Thunderous Bombardment
A-Ranked Ninjutsu
This technique visibly charges electricity for a single moment after the user performs their hand seals. Once this moment is over, it fires a massive column of lightning in a single direction, forming a cylinder with a 30m radius that extends up to 65m from the user's position. This cylinder travels at [Control] Speed and erupts on contact with [Control] Strength.

Used at 50 sync = 50 Control

Upscaling range to 105 Meter Range and increasing size to a 45 Meter Radius



[Dispersion] - About 30 sync worth of the giant hornet swarm coming from the right side of Kozan's mist (from Kozan's position) to search the mist after the attack from the lightning bugs.

[Dispersion]
D-Ranked Swarm Maneuver
Upon the command 'dispersion' the swarm(s) will begin to spread out from their normal grouped up appearance in the swarm allowing the user better vantage of the battlefield and increase the coverage of the field with the insects by decreasing the height covered by the swarm and increasing the ground area covered. This also allows the user to set up a variety of follow on actions.

[Ace Trainer]

[Ah I see, it seems I did yeah. I’m just going to assume the last portion of the sequence didn’t happen then since it relies on him picking up the fear sense which wouldn’t have happened]

Kozan continued through the mist until he was at about the center, the truth seeker in his hand forming into a bow. Still nothing. Was his killer intent not affecting his opponent? He paused this time, standing at the center of the mist and attempting to pick up on something, anything. As he did, however, he would turn just in time to see a literal ray of lightning cutting through the mist, striking Kozan full on. He would dig into the ground as it struck him, the electricity surging around his body, eventually causing him to fall backwards onto the ground from the force. The strength of the ray would fortunately be taken in by a small degree by the flak jacket Kozan wore, little more than its ragged scraps remaining. But the contact would be enough that the strength of the lightning wouldn’t paralyze Kozan, instead leaving his entire body slightly numb from the collision.

Remaining laying on the ground, a soft glow radiating from him as he activated a new fuuinjutsu on his back and then Kozan would begin to channel. It appeared the opponent was in the mist, even if he couldn’t sense him. Very well. Lifting his hand in the air, he would pull it down, activating another jutsu. As the swarm would sweep through the mist, the mist would harden into hail raining down on everyone in the mist. Kozan would split the truth seeker in his hands, allowing it to turn into a disk above his body as the hail collided with it, protecting himself from his own attack. Without being able to sense his opponents fear and the mist dampening his senses, Kozan was just as blind as his opponent. This was the only attack he had that would be able to hit everyone in the mist. Fortunately, unbeknown to Kozan it would be effective at shredding into the swarm that was sweeping through the mist.

For a moment, Kozan would simply lie there, his truth seeker beginning to take damage from the impact. He’d pull it back merging it back to it’s full shape and melting onto his arm, allowing the final portions of his own attack to pelt his body with a relatively harmless amount of strength. Slowly sitting up, Kozan would look at the mist around him, another wave of killer intent radiating from his body to no avail. What was the next move? For now, he’d remain hidden inside the mist as it slowly expanded out due to its encroaching nature. Waiting.

SpoilerShow

Flak Jacket - 15str, destroyed :’(

Activate this which sets off the next two…
Rash Mint
B-rank Augment Fuuinjutsu
Doing a series of hand seals or drawing the seal, Kozan will place his hand on the target, activating the seal. This seal gives +9 Control for its duration, at the cost of -9 Willpower.

[Pause]
C-rank Augment Fuuinjutsu
Doing a series of hand seals or drawing the seal, Kozan will overlay this seal over an existing seal. When Kai is performed on this seal, it will pause the effect of the seal without deactivating it. A kai technique can be used again to resume the effect of the sealed fuuinjutsu. This technique can be used on any fuuinjutsu the user drew, otherwise the user must have greater [Control] than the fuuinjutsu that is being paused.

[Switchboard]
B-rank Fuuinjutsu
Prerequisites: [Multi-Kai] [Pause]
A base seal in which other fuuinjutsu are drawn over. Up to 20 fuuinjutsu can be connected via a [Switchboard] fuuin, and all must have the [Pause] fuuin overlaid them. When one of the fuuinjutsu attached to the [Switchboard] is activated, any other active fuuinjutsu connected to it has it’s [Pause] seal activated. If any fuuinjutsu attached to the switch board has the [Pause] fuuin deactivated, all other active seals have their [Pause] seal active. This allows the user to rapidly toggle between a series of fuuin while only ever having one of the fuuinjutsu’s effects active at any given time.

Maelstrom -> at 50 Speed/Strength
B-rank Ninjutsu
The user will do a series of hand seals, then throw their hands downwards. From the top of the mist cloud, water will rapidly condense, forming into golf ball size pebbles that will rain down with [Control] strength and speed, throughout the area of the mist for one post.

[Zao]

"Not even a sound...did it not hit anything?" A new cigarette found its way into the man's mouth at this moment, the other hand flipping open the old, tarnished zippo lighter before taking a long draw as he watched from just at the head level grass observing the aftermath of the attack. "The swarm will sweep the kill area and let me know for sure. The dispersed swarm began to sweep from Hisato's left to right through the giant mist formation as he had already told them that they could eat whatever they came across. It really wasn't that he was protecting the city in the distance behind him, even though he felt a certain way about the place he truly wasn't that attached, instead he was just allowing for his insects to have a little fun, perhaps there was someone interesting here, after all.

'Hmm?' Suddenly he could see a visible shift in the mist but from the distance he didn't know as the mist began to shift into golf ball size hail that started to pummel the swarm that had only swept through about a third of the mist now. 'Tunnel!' His reaction speed was fast, but even the powerful bodies of his swarm that were being strengthen by being raised from his chakra and feeding on others would quickly be beaten to death by the large area effect jutsu. Of the thirty sync that had entered only about ten sync worth had managed to dive down and tunnel into the ground as they continued to slowly tunnel their way across the mist formation causing for Hisato to frown and the cigarette to droop down at the end.

'What a powerful technique...' Rubbing his chin as the insects tunneled underneath the ground looking for any prey, they soon notified him that the hailing mist had stopped around the beating on the ground ceased, 'Go help out.' With that twenty-sync worth of the black horned beetle formation emerged from the gourd on his back and began to snake their way through the grass now below eye level, allowing for them to remain hidden as they rushed forward at full speed and would soon enter the mist themselves. Aiming to search near the center or in that vicinity of the mist for who or what was hiding within the restrictive fog. His lightning bugs and sensory swarm remained just outside the edge of the slowly expanding mist, hovering about fifteen to twenty meters from its edge between their master and the mist, keeping this constant distance. 'Three Serpents' Fifteen sync of the twenty grouped into three distinct groups that swirled around one another looking for a target as the remaining five trailed a bit behind acting like some kind of reserve element.

JutsuShow

[Tunneling Ambush]
B-Ranked Swarn Maneuver
Upon the command 'Tunnel' all or a portion of the swarm controlled by the host will begin begins to tunnel underground at a speed of their synch making their way to their target. These tunnels are roughly three-to-six inches in diameter and when the swarm is at a location the Aburame wants them to burst forth from they will be giving the command 'Emerge' at which time they will burst forth from the ground at a strength of their synch slicing and penetrating with their mandibles at the target's lower body attempting to ultimately completely envelop the target(s).

[Three Serpents Attack Formation]
C-Ranked Swarm Maneuver
Upon the command 'Three Serpents' three portions of the swarm(s), five synch each, will fly forward tracking a single target and continuously assault the target from the front with one portion and the other two will perform pincer style attacks from the side and/or above attempting to overwhelm and crush the target with their numerous attacks and angles of attacks.

---

Bug Info

10 Sync of Giant Hornets in the mist (20 killed off from attack), no tunneling under the ground.

15 sync of Giant Hornets around Kumuri in a defensive formation

3 Sync of Lightning bugs outside the mist

1/2 sync sensor swarm outside the mist

20 sync of horned beetle swarm entering and searching the mist above ground

[Ace Trainer]

Another pulse of killer intent would radiate from Kozan through the mist, hoping it might activate a response in someone…anyone in the area. He would inhale deeply, still laying on the ground and finding no fear to sense. Kipping up, he would land on his feet and channel briefly, another soft glow radiating from his back as one Fuuinjutsu activated and others were paused. Clicking his tongue against his cheek, he would scan around him before propelling his body forward, charging through the mist back to where he had come from. He was fighting against an invisible attacker, unable to locate them, let alone cause them any harm. He’d just expended a fair amount of chakra to set the mist and attack within it, completely unable to parse if his attack had done anything but hit himself. The lack of further attacks gave him some reassurance, but little else beyond that.

As he reached the edge of the mist he would bit down, clenching his jaw together as he charged out of it. He would burst forward about 25m before jumping and spinning in the air, skidding to a halt through the grass as he looked back at the large cloud of mist. Slowly and carefully taking steps backward, he would hold a kunai in front of him defensively, his eyes scanning the mist from side to side waiting to see if anyone would follow him out of it.

At this point, he didn’t know what else to do. If he could put eyes on his opponent, maybe he would be able to fight them then. For now, he would wait, ready to strike the moment his opponent became visible.

SpoilerShow

Jolly Mint
B-rank Augment Fuuinjutsu
Doing a series of hand seals or drawing the seal, Kozan will place his hand on the target, activating the seal. This seal gives +9 Speed for its duration, at the cost of -9 Control.

[Zao]

His horned beetle swarm made concentric circles with the dense mist now, the search patterns growing larger and larger with each pass in order to throughly search the creeping damp cloud of moisture now. But to no avail it would appear as the man extended one arm allowing two small groups of one sync each of his sensory beetles to rush forward. One going to the left and one ground to the right beginning to flank either side of the mist looking for any chakra signatures that might be outside the mist.

The sensory beetles remained low to the ground and used the tall grass to mask their movements as they moved while the lightning bugs ascended upwards until they hung directly above the slowly growing mist cloud. As this transpired the giant hornets remained under the ground within the mist to avoid being caught off guard again by another blind sneak attack like before. Slowly spreading out from each other like a small net attempting to trap some prey within its confines. Soon the sensory bugs would enter range to sense Kozan if he didn't move positions...

[Ace Trainer]

Kozan remained still as he watched something his mind momentarily struggled to comprehend. His eyes scanned the large cloud of mist before him until he saw hovering above the mist what he could only call as they were: bugs. Bugs? If Kozan was capable of exasperation, this would certainly be a moment he felt it. Instead, his predatory mind began to do a cost-benefit once more. Was this a hunt now? These were the very same bugs that he’d witnessed attack an elk that had prompted him to unleash an attack. He had known their behavior was unnatural and indicative of some higher level of capacity but now he was a bit unsure of what to think. Had these bugs unleashed that ray of raiton? Were they some natural creature here in the region? Perhaps they were spirits, and capable of higher thought. But if that was the case, he was not in a good spot. After all, what could he do against a swarm of supernatural insects? How could he defeat them.

Was the Crescent Coalition really being protected by spirits in this way? He made a mental pin on the matter. If this was true of Crescent Coalition, assaulting it would require more than a surprise attack. How had a small nation come in possession of such power?

Taking several steps back in order to try and soak in what he wears observing, Kozan would remain exposed to the sensory swarm, unknowingly pinging his location to the swarm and its master. A master Kozan would have no way of knowing even existed. He debated for a moment whether he should remain or not. He should collect more information. Was there still some unknown combatant masked within the mist, letting the swarm pick him off while the mist offered him protection? Was the swarm under control of the village and acting in concert with some fighter? Or was this swarm simply capable of utilizing jutsu, and if it could, what else could it do?

He bit down again, feeling frustration over the situation. The fact that he was feeling anything indicating the change that had been occurring within Kozan. No, he had information. The Head Hunters Division could dispatch scouts to gain more intel if needed, or the Shiimu could utilize their own network to do so covertly. The odds of him succeeding against this, whatever it was, were too low to make them worth while. Kozan needed to retreat, and he needed to make sure Kirigakure was aware that the Crescent Coalition was a higher risk than intel might have lead to believe. Turning on his heels, Kozan would take off, running at his full speed away from the mist and back to the border. For now, Libertalis would not need to face him.

[Zao]

'There they are...' Finally, the owner of this mist had revealed themself by exiting the mist, though just under a hundred meters away from the sensory swarm that was moving around the right edge of the mist, Kozan's chakra signature had managed to enter the sensory range which quickly reported back to their master. 'Quite a strong one, stronger than me one on one, for sure. ' Hisato was not one to underestimate himself, but judging from the chakra signature given off by the man he could tell that he was probably a step or two above even himself in terms of chakra strength. Then folding that in together with what he'd experienced with a large portion of his swarm being wiped out in the mist all at once, fighting someone like that in a fair face-to-face fight would probably be akin to suicide.

But as quickly as the signature appeared, it started to flee and for not he allowed his sensory bugs to pursue him along with five sync worth of the hornet swarm that burst from the ground just outside of the mist now. The rest dispersed out of the mist and into the nearby area as the other group of sensory beetles began to continuously scout the nearby area, who was to say that this man or woman wasn't the only person attempting to infiltrate the newly formed country. Whatever his purpose, it seemed like for now he'd be departing, the small group of bugs following him would make sure of that. However, they would only follow him for a few miles before giving up chase and returning back to their master and the savannah area of Cresent near the capitol city.

Sadly, he was unable to experience any truly unique techniques or even get a clear look at whom had paid Cresent a visit today, so even if he was to go looking for information on the black market, he didn't have any reliable leads. But he would start putting his feelers out for information on the top shinobi of the Hidden Mist, it seemed the two neighbors were getting a little more than just friendly these days. It wouldn't hurt to start preparing just in case...