[Decimation Squad]

[Ace Trainer]

”We will be moving in squads of two through the village. While the discord team is pushing people out of the town center, we’ll be taking out anyone we’ll be running into. As you’re doing so, we should be destroying major architecture and buildings to allow the village to be raized once we’re done.”

The operative word here was done. It had hung heavy between all of the remaining ‘decimation’ teams before they departed – by done Kozan had meant once everyone was dead. Of all the teams, the people on the decimation squads were probably the most exposed to danger. They would be entering combat with people throughout the cities and with little way to control how many people they were facing, getting overwhelmed was not out of the realm of possibility. They would also likely be exposed to the most amount of combat, and the highest mix of competent fighters. While the other squads would be faced with many civilians, or people unprepared for combat, the decimation squads were tasked with ensuring no survivors. They’d need to drop buildings and flip every stone to make sure none survived.

There were a total of five squads that had each been dispatched separately. All of them had been tasked with focusing on their approach from the east, which meant fully encircling the peninsula so that they could take the village from the eastern coast. Because it was the coast facing the continent, there were far fewer docks here and most were smaller in size, which would allow them to be destroyed rather easily. Instead, these squads would pressure from the east in order to ensure there were no escapees any other way. Kozan and Kinsue in particular were the southernmost squad, which meant they also needed to tackle the point of the peninsula. So, for the approach, Kozan had taken the beach, standing silently on the grainy sand, the cold tide lapping at his heels as his bright yellow eyes stared forward at the village.

The truth seeker on his arms and chest would wriggle alive, his shirt visibly moving as if his skin was crawling as it adjusted itself, melting down his arm towards his hand. The black ink would slowly encompass his entire arm before extending out around his hand, forming into a long blade, the tip just barely touching the sand. Once the signal went off, they would need to push forward and immediately engage. There was no telling how many he’d fight, nor how many he’d kill today. But this squad position would allow him to check in on all the other squads the easiest. He’d give each squad member a small amount of samsara for them to carry with them so he could see and hear where they were at if he needed to, but still being in a decimation squad would allow him to be mobile and check in on the other squads as needed. He would need to handle his task in the mission, but also ensure everyone else was. A lot was riding on him.

A ninja recognizes no limitations

The soaked sand beneath their feet would let out a breath as the tide pulled away from it and then..

BOOM

The mission had begun

[Jinan B]

Kinsue found that he had been chosen to serve at Kozan’s side. A curious enough choice, considering the abundance of close comrades he must have had to pick from. Perhaps his loyalty to the village was in greater question than he thought? The young man could picture the impression the dagger must have had of him with Shinjiro as a mentor. As disquieting as the mission was, he couldn’t afford to feed that distrust today. He needed to be merciless; acknowledge no limitation; further the power of his village.

At least he had little to complain about with the task he had been assigned. Some of them had been ordered to cut down those too weak or afraid to face down the invaders. Fighting the pirates head on would be a far easier pill to swallow. The day would not be free from its own challenge though, especially at the start – before the denizens realized what was happening.

The eastern beach of the peninsula stretched out before him now. Spread between the sand were interspersed a number of small jetties; carrying two or three sailing cutters each. These must have been what the smaller crews of pirates used; perhaps even simply for smuggling rather than overt piracy. In the distance he could just about make out the next dissemination team, waiting alongside them for the signal to begin their gruesome mission.

Kinsue himself now stood close to the nearest cutter, awaiting the signal for them all to begin. ”I’ll take care of the ships first, with your permission,” he had said to Kozan as they made their approach. Some might have called it overly obsequious, but Kozan’s test was how well he could use the shinobi under his command. There was no doubt he would be asked his own appraisal in the future, given his proximity to the dagger.

BOOM

The sound of the explosion rattled the boats, and must have been a grand sight to behold if Kinsue had cared to look. Instead, he ran out onto the water, feet shimmering with concentrated chakra as he skimmed over the waves. He made his way past the ends of the cutters, forming a quick set of hands seals and turning around as they were completed.

A mass of water would then be expelled, forming into a great wave a full 25 meters wide and 20 meters tall. The boats would be picked up effortlessly by the miniature tsunami, carried by them onto and across the beach as it extended a full 75 meters from Kinsue. Then, they and the pirates caught up in the wave would be dashed against the first row of houses on the edge of the peninsula.

The view cleared quickly for the Karagata and he began to make his way back onto solid ground; eyes alert for the first responders to the assault.

Jutsu UsedShow

*[Basic Jutsu • Act of Water Surface Walking]
D-Ranked Ninjutsu
A variation of the Act of Tree Climbing technique, this jutsu requires the user to focus a precise and balanced amount of charka into the soles of his/her feet. By doing so, the user is able to walk on the surface of water as though it were a solid surface. Users with low control 2 or lower are much more likely to fall through the surface of the water, while users with average control 3 or higher will be able to use this technique functionally. It lasts for a number of posts equal to the user's Chakra Pool.

*Suiton • Crashing Wave
C-Rank Ninjutsu
After performing the correct hand seals the user expels a massive tidal wave of water 10 [25] meters wide and nearly 5 [20] meters tall. This wave travels forward at a [35] Speed and Strength for up to 25 [75] meters before losing its steam and failing.

[Ace Trainer]

There wasn’t a lot to see from where they were currently, the beach, some jetties, a row of buildings that hugged the beach and acted as an defacto barricade against any sort of tidal wave or flooding. There were a few people on the beach well over 100m away that seemed wholly unaware of Kozan and Kinsue’s presence. To Kinsue’s question, Kozan would give a curt nod, not otherwise acknowledging his fellow special jounin. Typically, Kozan was quite interested in interacting with other people and trying to better understand how these things went, but as the mission began his brain shifted off of pretty much anything but his focus on the mission and how to manage it.

Kinsue acted quick, but for a short moment Kozan simply stood. He didn’t watch the partner that had been assigned to him, he just continued to staring off into the distance, his orb like yellow eyes unblinking as they stared. Then, with a soft breath escaping his lips, he broke into action. The people he’d noticed earlier had started to run towards the beach, only switching in direction when Kinsue unleashed his wave. Kozan practically vanished, leaping forward at his full speed until he was directly in front of them. The blade that had formed on his arm would slice through the first, cut open the neck of the second, and stab directly through the chest of the third, a small beating heart sticking out the end of the blade coming out the back of the child. The blade reduced itself to liquid, the heart falling to the ground before reforming back on the outside of the child. Kozan would jump to the air, landing on top of a building that gave him a better view of the village. A large billow of smoke forming in the air, he watched it take form for a moment before turning to look back at Kinsue.

This time, he would cross his arms and watch Kinsue as he finished his assault and landed back on the beach. The fact that Kozan had just killed a family didn’t seem to phase the young boy at all, in fact, he seemed much more concerned with watching his new companion. Eventually he would gesture towards the opposite direction with the long black blade, pointing at two individuals rushing at Kinsue with weapons of their own in hand. The blade would change shape forming into a bow, a long arrow coming out of Kozan’s finger and filling into the bow. In an instant, the string would snap forward and the arrow would launch full speed at the head of the first, leaving the second to Kinsue.

Without even glancing, he’d turn his eyes back to the village. Waiting for Kinsue to join him so they could move onto the interior. With the boats destroyed so quickly in Kinsue’s initial attack, Kozan was ready to move on.

[Jinan B]

It wasn’t long before he spotted the first of the pirates who had come to oppose them; two young pirates with blades in hand. They would be the first of many foes today. Thankfully they didn’t seem particularly quick; Kinsue was sure he could take them on with ease.

He wouldn’t have a chance to confirm his self-confidence, however. The moment after he spotted the pair charging at him the nearest would drop to the ground. He was dead before the arrow that had pierced his skull even hit the ground. Kozan’s work was impressive enough; the pirate hadn’t even seen the death blow incoming.

The second of the pirates would be him to slay. Unknowingly the enemy had strayed onto his territory. Kinsue would sharply raise his hand, and the chakra-infused water running down the beach would coalesce and form around the pirate’s blade-arm. Before the poor man could figure out what was going on Kinsue’s hand would close and the suiton would press in on his arm. He could hear the sound of bones being crushed under the force of the attack.

As the young shinobi neared, the pirate would weakly attempt to strike out with his other arm. It was easy enough to duck out of the way of the attack. As he did Kinsue would quickly draw a kunai, move in close to the enemy and plunge it into his skull. The pirate fell to the ground; he had never had a hope of victory.

The pirate and kunai forgotten behind him, Kinsue would make his way to the roof of the building where Kozan was waiting. For the first time he would behold the village in its entirety. The sight now was far from being pleasant. The smoke from the discord team’s signal was now beginning to dissipate, though he could hear screams echoing from the village square. Whatever death trap they had formed was clearly doing its work well. On the far side of the village Kinsue could see Nishiki’s work in the form of fire beginning to plume up into the sky; and the devastation squads to the north had clearly began to wreak their own havoc. Together it was a site to behold for the young man. He had not participated in the great war, and so had never seen destruction on such a great scale as would be brought down today.

He had his own role to play in it, and the tapering outwards of the village up the peninsula made a tempting target for his jutsu. A quick set of hand seals would be formed, after which Kinsue would expel a hurricane-like wind at the homes to the north. Walls would collapse in on themselves under the force of the storm, and the buildings would be brought down to their foundations. Kinsue didn’t allow himself to think about who might have been trapped inside the houses as they collapsed.

Instead, once his jutsu was complete the young man would turn to Kozan. He was sure that they would be swarmed by pirates soon enough; eager to retaliate against the shinobi who would extinguish them. Before that happened he would silently wait for his leader’s direction.

Jutsu UsedShow

*[Aquakinesis]
A-rank Ninjutsu
Having achieved notable mastery over Suiton, the user is capable of shaping, directing, and manipulating existing bodies of the element without the need of hand seals or an existing technique. The range at which the user can manipulate the element is equal to the user's control times 2 metres. While the user can freely manipulate this element, they cannot produce the element naturally.

*Fuuton • Great Breakthrough
C-Ranked Ninjutsu
By performing the needed hand seals and bringing their hands to their mouth, the user can release a wide blast of air. This wave of air moves outward in a cone shape with a 25m [40m] width at the end of the cone and moves with [35] Speed. Once it makes contact with a substance, the wind both cuts at it and pushes it away with [35] strength. This blast goes out for a maximum of 25m [75m] if it doesn't hit anything, where it will dissipate into the surrounding air.

Strength/Speed 35

[Ace Trainer]

Kinsue continued his assault, raining powerful winds down on a group of buildings and causing them to collapse. Kozan said little, watching as the dust slowly settled and bodies became visible. Some people pushing out from under the rubble, adults rushing to it to help people up. Small children being corralled by their parents and general chaos ensuing from the destruction his counterpart had created. He watched for a moment longer, his intention unclear - was he soaking it in? Was he planning? It was just a moment that seemed to hang between the hunter and his eventual victims. Finally, he would lean forward, his body slowly falling until he was in a free fall off the side of the building.

He’d land on the ground and sweep his sword through the air before moving forward, beginning to take out each person before him.

From one perspective, it was art. No single wasted movement, no hesitancy, no meandering. He moved like water flowing through the most natural pathway. For Kozan, this was an unemotional endeavor. He was a sword, no different than the one extended from his hand, a weapon to execute the mission assigned to him by the village. What other purpose did he have than to conduct what was assigned to him? There was no personal note to it, he wasn’t performing out of pride, he wasn’t blood thirsty or hungry, not a man who enjoyed the kill. This wasn’t even a matter of conflict, he wasn’t out for blood for some slight against Kirigakure. In much the same way, this was not a drudge for Kozan, there wasn’t any concern for whether he was doing something wrong as the blood of a child would splash against his hands. This was duty.

He didn’t check with Kinsue at this point, as the bodies fell before him, he continued to move through. None of these people were threats to Kozan, the majority of them weren’t even pirates, they were families or low-level whoever’s that happened to live in the village here. Their lives were forfeit.

The clearing that’d been created by Kinsue continued to slowly fill with people who were attracted to the destruction or the screams that followed. Eventually, Kozan would move down an alley that lead to another area of housing and would attach tags to the wall as he moved through it, only to detonate the tags as he exited it, the two buildings collapsing into each other behind him.

As the dust exploded around him, Kozan would stop and take a deep breath inward, the scent of all the fear around him filling up his brain, neurological pathways lighting up as the hunt continued. Slowly, Kozan felt the natural instinct to hunt grow stronger and stronger. This was truly his domain.

[Jinan B]

It seemed that the mission’s leader was one to lead by example. Rather than discuss their next move, Kozan simply descended on their victims. His ruthlessness and efficiency were certainly impressive. Kinsue could see why Shinjiro had accepted him as the first dagger of the Seven Swords.

For his own part, Kinsue remained on the roof for a moment longer. He had already committed himself to this; killing who knows how many within the destruction of his techniques. Yet, to do it blindly and to see the results were two different things; and now that they were out in the open it was impossible to keep them out of his mind. His instincts cried out at him that the infirm and the young were no threats to his village; that slaughtering them served no purpose.

His future as a shinobi depended on him ignoring those cries, and so he pushed them back down. He had taken the path of cowardice before, but more importantly he had returned for a purpose. What good could he do if he let himself fail over a moral objection? To do this, as insufferable as he found it, was clearly the only path left.

He began to form a new set of hand seals as he watched the Chuunin do his duty. As he finished the concentrated chakra began to swirl around him, increasing in speed until it was forceful enough to cut through anything that might come up against him in the village. He saw the active pirates beginning to mobilise; organising in groups of three or five and moving towards their position. Then, he jumped down to ground level.

The wall behind him gave way even as he fell, blown through and expelled into the ocean to the South. This was the squad with the greatest risk of being overwhelmed, but when the retaliation arrived he would have no trouble with his defence. Two more buildings fell as another explosion rocked the nearby streets before the Karagata again spotted his comrade. ”Real company’s on its way. Bigger groups this time; splitting around the green roof. He said to the younger man; beginning to move to take on one of the squads he had seen.

Jutsu UsedShow

Fuuton • Eye of the Tempest
B-Ranked Fuuton Jutsu
After forming the required hand seals, Kinsue will form a miniature tornado around himself at [control] [35] speed. The tornado serves as armour of sorts, blowing away anything that comes within 30 centimetres [2 Meters] of Kinsue [control] [35] strength, while cutting it with blades of wind as sharp as katana blades. Unless Kinsue chooses to end the Jutsu prematurely, it will last for 4 posts.

[Ace Trainer]

The village had simple tenants for its shinobi, one of them was that ‘Fear’ was not to be ignored, but embraced, it was an ally. From a philosophical perspective, Kozan understood that it meant fear that the individual felt, that being afraid wasn’t to be seen as weakness, but as a challenge to confront. But, for Kozan it meant something very different. Deep within his brain, his thalamus and hippocampus was flashing with electrical activity, the fear all around him feeding into his nervous system and pumping adrenaline through his body. As he took in a deep breath, the dust settling, he could “smell” all the fear around him, as the various teams made the village fully aware of their presence. Every single citizen in this small village were now aware that the explosion was not an accident, that death had descended on this village and that there would be no escape from it.

Kozan would give a quick nod to Kinsue, ”Understood.”, is all he would respond. Kinsue moved without any further guidance, good.

And Kozan went to meet the other group, he allowed the sword in his hand to shift in form, growing larger in size. He could feel the fear in the approaching group grow as their eyes landed on the beast before them. Landing their eyes on the behemoth of the boy, his bright yellow eyes locked onto them seemed to activate a primal response, the confirmation that this was a true attack perpetrated by the people they’d slighted for just a day too long.

But still, Kozan jolted forward to pursue this emotionless endeavor. His clothes slowly becoming more blood soaked as death continued to be born from his hands. The group before him had been larger, 15 or 16 individuals, the majority of them skilled fighters. But Kozan was practically a jounin, and his ability in taijutsu alone was sufficient in fighting most of them, deftly moving between the attacks of his opponents and creating openings to drop them in single blows. The sword would melt down to his hands, forming into two gloves around his hands that would have sharp claws extending from each finger. When one moved a little faster than Kozan had expected, a soft glow would radiate from a fuuinjutsu on his back, and Kozan would suddenly burst with speed, tearing the individuals head from their neck, the body falling to the ground limp.

When only one was left, he would fall to his knees, staring up at Kozan ready to accept his fate. With no tears, and no hesitancy in his voice, he’d ask a simple question; ”Why are you doing this?”, he asked, seemingly demanding the answer as payment for his life.

Kozan simply stared back at him, his bright yellow eyes locked onto the man as he approached.

”These are our orders.”

And with a thud, the body would hit the ground.

[Jinan B]

It was a group of 6 that Kinsue initially found himself face to face with. To his crews they must have seemed fierce; sweeping aboard with mighty strength and putting good loyal servants of Kirigakure to the sword. Put to a true test, however, they were deficient. The young Karagata swept through them like a storm, laying a hand on none of them and never being under even the slightest threat. His jutsu did all the work, scything out swaths of blood and knocking out the foundations of the homes battled between.

Foolish bravado quickly became fear, as the pirates realised that they were no longer the hunters. So used to overpowering mere civilians and low-ranked shinobi, it seemed that it had not even occurred to them that such retribution could strike them down. When another wave of pirates came upon him – saw the bodies of their comrades and the man standing amongst them untouched by the blood and gore that spread across the streets – they turned and began to flee.

Kinsue, giving into his anger above his disgust, quickly began to form new hand seals. A superheated column of flame bled out from him, enveloping his victims and the entire alleyway that they were contained to. An unholy chorus of screams and cries sounded from the carnage, the unfortunate fools felt an instance of excruciating pain before their ends.

Hearing them, Kinsue was shaken from his vicious state. The pretence that he had been holding onto fell apart before him. He could have slain them with less ferocity, made it less painful, fed less of his chakra into the flame. He had done none of that, too furious at the thought of the crimes they had committed against the Karagata. It had been, for a moment, more than simply the following of orders. His disgust returned; directed no longer at the order they had been given, but at his own actions.

He paused a moment, looking upon the ashen homes and bodies now lining the streets ahead. The din of the village was quieter than it had been earlier. There were no wounded victims to crawl out from the rubble, no infirm or children left alive. The fires burning on the edges of the flame’s path began to take on the neighbouring buildings. With no one in a state to organise a firefighting effort, it seemed likely they would spread through the village at large.

JutsuShow

Katon • Flaming Pillar
B-Rank Ninjutsu
After performing the needed hand seals, Kinsue will breathe out fire that will form a pillar 6 [Scaled to 24] meters in diameter. The pillar will travel with [50] speed and will strike its targets with [50] strength. If it does not hit anything within 60 [Scaled to 120] meters of being created, the Jutsu will collapse.

[Ace Trainer]

As Kozan finished the people before him, he paused as he had previously to watch Kinsue. It was hard to tell if Kozan was watching out of some personal interest, or if there was some order he had not yet disclosed to the teams that he was following. However, he was doing little to hide, simply standing in the middle of the chaos, bodies strewn about the ground around him, his neck slowly turning as Kinsue moved to watch the shinobi perform his duties. Kinsue was a good swordsman, but he had been attached to Kozan’s team for a reason - his ninjutsu. Kinsue displayed that exact reason with a column of fire that not only seemed to eviscerate the combatants before him, but ignited buildings in flames and heat, the flames quickly passing and jumping in the close knit houses and buildings that had been informally built in this city.

Kinsue paused, and Kozan would simply stare at him, silence lingering between them across the rubble and ash for a moment before giving the shinobi a quick nod. Kozan would form a single seal, activating the Samsara tucked behind his ears. For a moment, he would check in on each squad. Listening to what they were saying, closing an eye to look out to what they were doing and watching each of their missions. With the flames rapidly spreading in each direction, Kozan would be unable to get an aerial view of the village, so now he would have to rely on the Samsara to ensure each squad was being successful in it’s endeavors.

He saw, through each of these, much of the same thing he’d just witnessed with Kinsue. Disgust. Anger. Rage even. A gradual look of confusion would form on his face, not fully understanding where it was derived from. Were these simply angry shinobi? The tidal team was reigning destruction of the coast, the discord team seemed to be gleefully committing what could be considered nothing less than war crimes. Each of the teams out there seemed to be treating this mission as a personal quest rather than orders from the village. It was hard for Kozan to fully wrap his mind around, not familiar with what they seemed to be feeling. Was Kozan less a Kirigakure shinobi than them? Should he be angry?

The answer came when his attention turned to the pressure team. Kinsue would see a gradual change from confusion to bewilderment to, wholly new for Kozan, anger. Kozan’s mouth would move, no words coming out, seemingly being channeled through the samsara instead. Then, he’d drop the seal he was holding, extend the claws that had formed back into a sword, and he’d very suddenly dart forward. He’d practically snatch a man who had just gotten to his feet and attempted to run and thrust him to the ground, holding the sword directly at his neck, his foot on the man’s chest pinning him to the ground.

”You are the chosen sole survivor.“, with his free hand he’d reach into his flak jacket and drop a flare on the ground next to the man. ”You’re going to take this, and you’re going to go the way we came until you reach the coast. Stand on the beach and ignite the flare. A ship will come and deploy a small boat for you. You go on that boat. You row. You run. And you run to anyone you know. Anywhere you can. And you tell them Kirigakure did this. You tell them what Kirigakure did today, and you make sure they know Kirigakure will come again and again if our land is ever encroached on.”, he lifted his foot and began to walk.

”Kinsue. The other decimation squads have began to head east. Let’s push South. There will be less, but we can clean up anything they’ve missed. We can join in with the Tidal team. The Discord team has….expanded their area slightly so we’ll need to stick to the edges unless you happen to be immune to poison.”, he said rather unceremoniously. A polite way to say they’d lost control of chemical warfare.

[Jinan B]

Kinsue’s focus was torn as he noticed Kozan’s attention. The man’s impassionate nod to him seemingly signalling his approval. The Karagata would return the nod, reclaiming control and hiding his true feelings. Was Kozan truly as callous as he seemed? Or was he, just like Kinsue, hiding his feelings on what they did for the sake of the village. The idea of it being a shared secret -- one that neither of them could dare tell the other -- had its appeal. The possibility that many within Kirigakure would stand with him if he argued for a calmer direction.

He entertained the notion for a moment before he discarded it. He stood alone, or near enough to it. Kozan especially was a different creature. One who seemed to understand only the work that they had both been set to. The man watched as his younger commander turned his attention elsewhere – presumably the seals he had placed on each of them assigned to the mission. The growing confusion, and then subdued anger that took over him was a sight to behold. The boy truly was inhuman, more than anyone Kinsue had ever met.

Yet, even now he was witnessing a shift in Kozan. Nothing was immutable, after all, not even the most devoted of the village’s shinobi.

Kinsue would begin to move again as Kozan gave his orders to the lone survivor of their targets. He would keep a short distance away while the orders were given, watching Kozan continue his work almost as if he had never lost his temper. Now the word would spread of what had been done here today, and the village had been largely destroyed. The mission was finally almost over. The Karagata was ready to be done with it.

The last dregs of work to be done remained, and Kinsue would follow Kozan as they began their final sweep across the village. The news that Shinjiro’s team had been… overzealous came as little surprise; though that Kozan had not expected it brought its own interest. He was proving himself inexperienced mere moments after he had seemed a prodigy. If Kinsue had been a different man, perhaps he would have voiced one of the many questions on his mind. In any case, Kozan would likely be able to see that the lack of understanding was mutual between them.

Instead, his focus turned back to the task at hand. There were only a few scattered survivors in their path, most of them already having fallen beneath the other squads. Cutting down the few stragglers was easier for Kinsue now. He had already crossed a threshold today, and now everything paled in how extreme it seemed.

[Ace Trainer]

Previously, whether it was obvious or not, Kozan was mostly just letting the 'wind' guide him as it were. They were attacking from a specific direction and needed to clear what was in front of them. The buildings they had destroyed, the people they had killed, it was mostly incidental - those were just who and what as among them. And as deliberate as Kozan's actions had seemed, much of it was simply fulfilling the task that happened to be in front of him. Now though, as they planned to meet up, Kozan's movement was more exact and surgical. Having not given much direction to Kinsue so far and instead leaving him to his own devices, as they moved Kozan would signal for Kinsue to move to specific locations, ensuring any rubble that seemed large enough to hide behind or under wasn't being used as such, ensuring that any buildings that had survived the flames, explosions, or bursts of wind that had come from the other squads weren't standing from their sweep either.

Silently, Kozan would point to send Kinsue one way, then diverge in the other way, slicing through someone crawling on the ground, or taking a tag to swiftly detonate on a hut, building, or wall. As they continued to move, either could look behind them and see the shore, nothing but rubble, smoke and ash in their wake.

Eventually, they'd pick up two of the other squads that had been used for the same task, and Kozan would direct Kinsue closer to him, instead using these two additional squads to do the clean up.

"This is your first mission back.", this was more of a statement than a question.

"It was well done. I'm appreciative of your support on this task."

It was a relatively simple statement, but also seemed strikingly out of place. Kozan had singlehandedly killed more people today than many shinobi might in their lifetime. In all likelihood they all had. Collectively, they had very literally wiped a village off of the map. How many corpses would decay in this ash heap? Thousands? Tens of thousands? And yet Kozan spoke of it like it was a chore that Kinsue had helped him do. The notion of ripping life out of so many people didn't seem to bother him. Plenty of shinobi took pleasure in it, the Discord squad was made up exclusively of such shinobi. And if not pleasure, many shinobi saw it as training, or as a test, or that these lives were unworthy. Always there was a layer of masochism, sadism, psychosis or apathy in it.

In this case though, Kozan's words hinted at none of that. Almost as if he didn't recognize the magnitude of what they had done here today.

A ninja is an extension of its village, and thus a tool.

Without a village, a ninja is nothing.