Chapter 19

Ashidon and his company move some distance away from the camp to go over their battle plan. He looked at the men and women who have followed him until now. They have each changed in many ways and Ashidon couldn't help but smile thinking how far they had come, himself included.

"Is there something funny, Captain?" Nakko asked, he as well as the others found Ashidon's smile to be a little off putting.

"It's nothing, just thinking of simple things, now onto more pressing matters. Sensors, try to find any enemies in our immediate area."

His sensors nodded before focusing on finding any chakra signatures. While they did that Ashidon used his eyes to try and locate any souls nearby. One of his sensors locate a group of stone nin not too far from their current position. "Captain, there are three unfamiliar chakra signatures in that direction."

Nodding his head, Ashidon summoned three crows and sent them in the indicated direction. The crows moved swiftly, as if they were hounds that had caught the scent of prey. They came upon a group of three stone nin and without wasting any time they killed the stone nin who thought they were well hidden. Once the stone nin were killed the crows began dancing around their corpses. Ashidon, having confirmed their deaths, banished the crows.

"Anyone sense anything else?" Ashidon asked and they all shook their heads in the negative. After another half hour of waiting Ashidon spoke.

"This is taking far too long and highly inefficient. We'll split into individual teams, I'll provide each team with three crows as support. You are to scour the area for any enemies and eliminate them. I'll be providing support and relaying messages back and forth as needed, move out."

His company nodded and split into their separate teams before heading off in different directions. As they left Ashidon was only accompanied by his two black ghosts standing ever vigilant. He looked at them for a moment before an idea struck him. Commanding one of the ghosts to crouch down he stood before it facing away. The ghost released its spear and it dissolved before hitting the ground. The ghost reached out and grasped Ashidon's body, wrapping its arms around him and holding him close. "I don't know why I never thought of this before."

Holding Ashidon securely in its grasp, the ghost spread its wings and took off into the sky. They flew high in the sky and Ashidon had a birds eye view of the terrain. With his other ghost flying alongside him he focused on using his eyes to locate any souls. He immediately identifies a team of stone nin some distance away and mentally commands his other black ghost to attack. The black ghost dives towards the team of stone nin and they were completely unaware of the coming danger. As the ghost reaches them it decapitates the closest one. Whipping its spear around it stabs another directly in the heart before pulling it free and bisecting the last from shoulder to hip. This all happened in mere moments and the crow stood among their dead bodies. They didn't even have time to weave a single hand sign before their lives were ended.

The black ghost returns to Ashidon's side and he continues searching for any other kill teams. While he is scanning the area for any souls he is suddenly jarred as the black ghost carrying him begins flying erratically. "What the hell?"

The black ghost was flying evasively as spikes of earth flew past them. The earth spike moved at a decent speed but in the air the black ghost was able to evade them with ease. It rolled and dipped when necessary, it was as if the black ghost was dancing in the air, its movements like a ballerina in the air. "While I do have better visibility up here it also makes me an easier target. Good thing my black ghosts are able to operate autonomously or it would be far too difficult to use a strategy like this."

Ashidon had his other black ghost move over to be a buffer against the oncoming attacks. It would bat aside the earth spikes as they approached, its speat moving swiftly, not allowing a single earth spike to pass it. As this happened Ashidon summoned five crows in order to kill the stone nin. Since he was in the air he had to wait for the crows to land before they could make their way over so he just kept his eyes trained on the enemy in case they tried to flee.

Finding their efforts fruitless the enemy stopped attacking and began running, no doubt wanting to reposition and strike from a more advantageous position. Ashidon followed them at a safe distance, not letting them escape. His five crows continued to descend, they took a crouching stance in an attempt to be able to instantly run once they hit the ground. As they hit the ground they launched themselves towards their target. Ashidon guided them so all they had to do was run, and run they did. They covered so much distance so quickly, it was like the hounds of hell had been unleashed. They didn't even bother evading any obstacles as they ran, relying on their tough bodies to simply run through anything in their path. The stone nin could hear their approach and picked up their pace but soon realized that escape was pointless they turned, ready to face the threat.

The crows were still invisible so when they came upon the stone nin they were confused as they couldn't see anything. The enemy they had been running from was nowhere to be seen. The crows, upon reaching them, went absolutely still before moving silently. The stone nin stood at the ready, waiting for the attack but it never came. Standing with their backs facing each other they looked outward but found nothing. Until suddenly the crows became visible and attacked all at once. As the crows became visible the stone nin were surprised but they composed themselves and prepared to cast a jutsu. In the next instant one of Ashidon's black ghosts landed amongst them and in one fluid motion decapitated all of them with a swing of its spear.

Up in the air Ashidon watched this all happen and nodded in satisfaction. "Even though revealing the crows was completely unnecessary I enjoyed seeing them work together like that. Revealing one threat while sending in another undetected to finish them off. Now, I need to get moving, the sooner we get rid of these threats the sooner we can move to the next stage of the plan, the hill."

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It is the dead of night and Ashidon and his company have conviend once more. They had spent the entire day locating and eliminating any enemies they could find. And find them they did, they managed to kill at least twelve teams of stone nin. But now that they had finished clearing the area of the flies they gathered to discuss the next stage of their plan.

"Good work everyone, now we move on to the next stage. Night has fallen and we are far more lethal under its embrace. With that in mind, I will fly over the camp and guide you all to specific locations around the hill. Once you all are in position I will land directly in the center of the hill amongst the enemy."

"Captain, you're putting yourself in unnecessary danger." Nakko spoke up.

"Don't worry Nakko, I have this all figured out. Once I land I will release as much void smoke as I can manage and summon my maximum number of crows. That will be your que to attack, I will draw their attention while you take out anyone on the perimeter. An attack from within and without, they won't stand a chance. Any questions?"

After hearing his plan nobody had any objections. After a moment longer Ashidon dismissed them. "Alright everyone, move out."

As they dispersed Ashidon took to the sky. He flew until he was directly above the hill but high enough that the enemy would not notice. Looking down on the camp Ashidon could see the huge number of souls occupying the hill. Not only that he could tell that there were even more stone nin inside the hill. They have hollowed it out to some extent but this didn't change Ashidons plan. Using his crows he led his teams to specific locations around the hill, ensuring that they would remain undetected while being close enough to notice his signal. Once they were in place he dismissed his crows and began his descent.

Ashidon in the embrace of his black ghost with the other following behind dove like an eagle. With their wing tucked they fell like a torpedo and Ashidon felt a slight thrill in his chest. He didn't notice his eyes glowing brightly as he channeled his power. Black smoke began to surround him until it resembled a cloak of darkness. His eyes unobstructed as it covered his face, from a distance the light from his eyes could be seen. It looked like a star was crashing down upon the hill.

"Hey, what's that up there?" A stone shinobi asked while pointing towards the sky. His words caught the attention of those around him and they too looked up. This action spread throughout the hill as every eye turned skyward and they saw what was coming and it gave them chills. In the back of their minds they could only think of one thing, the Wraith.

Some stone nin managed to fire jutsu in an attempt to kill Ashidon before he landed. They couldn't say why, but they felt that if he managed to land amongst them then it would be the end of their lives. Ashidon's other crow didn't remain idle and batted aside anything that was thrown his way and eventually they landed.

The floor cracked and the black ghost's feet connected with the ground. Its wings wrapped around Ashidon acting as a shield while the other black ghost landed beside them with its spear at the ready. Ashidon immediately summoned fifty crows around him and even made them visible. In the next instant a massive cloud of void smoke burst forth from him like an explosion, the force of it so strong that it knocked those too close off their feet. The crows collectively threw their heads back and screeched.

"Scraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw!!!"

The scream traveled all the way back to the leaf camp and the sound of it made the captain quickly exit his tent. He looked towards his guards and roared his commands. "Have everyone move to the front lines, now!!!"

When the scream died down the crows ran towards the shocked stone nin and the slaughter began. On the edges of the hill the scout teams ran towards the hill after having heard the scream and attacked anyone they came across. Ashidon was unaware of all this however as he had to focus entirely on spreading his void smoke. Under normal circumstances this amount of focus would not be necessary, but with the amount of smoke he was producing he had to channel as much power as he could. He drew on his reserves to fuel his smoke and with every soul consumed the range of the smoke grew.

Each stone nin that died, Ashidon absorbed their souls into himself and used it to further fuel his smoke. With shocking speed his smoke covered the entire hill rendering the enemy completely paralyzed. His teams were unaffected by the smoke so with the help of the crows they finished off any they came across. They didn't stop there however as Ashidon pushed his smoke into the underground passages and sent his crows in to clean them out. The screams of the enemy rang throughout the night, there was so much blood due to the brutal way the crows went about killing the enemy that a red haze seemed to cover the top of the hill.

The hallways underground were smeared with blood as the crows went wild. It seemed that the more they killed they more frenzed they became, and with that came a disturbing reverence in slaughter. They even began to collectively laugh a crazed and airy laugh that caused the approaching leaf forces to halt once they reached the front lines. The hill was nearly covered in black smoke and with the crazed laughing coming from it they dared not get closer. They could only watch in horror, wondering what god of death descended upon the stone nin. Then they wondered what the stone nin had done to earn its ire.

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As the sun rose the hill was absolutely silent. The smoke had long since dissipated and the hill was visible for all to see. The leaf shinobi stood and stared in silence at the hill, nobody daring to even take a step forward. One of the leaf shinobi looked up and something caught his eye. He pointed it out and everyone present looked up but could not make out what it was due to the sun. The Captain stood at the very edge and stared for a moment longer before a smile came to his face. 'Well I'll be damned, he actually did it.'

Ashidon landed a few feet from the leaf shinobi with his black ghost visible to all. Once he landed the black ghost set him down and went invisible again but stood ready to defend him along with its twin. Walking over to the Captain, Ashidon nods before speaking. "Captain, the mission was a success, all enemies have been eliminated, the hill is ours."

The Captain laughed before speaking. "Hahahaha, I can see that boy. You've done great work, great work indeed."

Ashidon relaxed a little before replying. "All in a day's work."

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The Commander stood in his tent reading a scroll that was recently brought to him. He was alone and the tent was completely silent as his eyes roved over the contents of the scroll. When he was finished he put the scroll down and smiled. "It seems the boy is getting stronger. Not only that but his skill with his recently awakened kekkei genkai has progressed amazingly. Lord Danzo will be pleased to hear of this."