Chapter 14

Ashidon stood at the entrance of a cave looking out at the night sky. It had been a few days since the incident and he was currently deep in thought. As he had his orders he continued to perform his duty. But at times like these, where he had downtime, his mind would drift back to that village.

'I tired; I gave them a chance. I didn't do anything wrong, I wanted to spare them. If they had just complied, they would still be alive. All they had to do was comply.' He thought while staring up into the star filled sky.

"Argh! Please, stop."

Ashidon sighed at hearing the sound coming from inside the cave. He took one final glance at the stars before turning and heading into the cave. He was met with a grim scene. At the end of the cave his two remaining team members stood with smiles on their faces and blood on their clothes.

Before them lay three bodies, two were motionless and bloody. The last was bleeding from multiple wounds but he was still alive. The sound Ashidon heard earlier came from this man. Not at all bothered by the sight Ashidon looked towards his men. "Did you get anything out of them?"

One of the jonin replied, the one who manipulated Ashidon into action back at the village. "We did, Captain. The other two wouldn't talk no matter what we did to them, stubborn bastards. This last one though, he was a bit more amiable."

"Well, get to it, what did you find?" Ashidon asked.

"Turns out one of the targets is nearby. He's in a camp not too far from here." The jonin replied.

Ashidon nodded and went into thought. 'This is good, we haven't come across a target as of yet.'

"Good work, was there anything else?" He asked.

"Yes, it seems information about a highly dangerous leaf nin has been passing around."

"Oh, who's the information about?" Ashidon asked with a raised brow.

"I believe the information is about you, Captain. They describe a leaf shinobi appearing in the final hour of a heated battle and summoning tens of black creatures." The jonin replied.

"Well, they were bound to find out at some point. Is that everything?" Ashidon asked.

"Yes captain."

"Good, finish him so we can move on." Ashidon replied while absorbing the soul's of the two dead stone nin.

The jonin slit the throat of the last stone nin before making his way to the cave entrance. Ashidon absorbed the soul of the recently killed stone nin before he too left the cave. "Lead the way."

The three left the cave and made their way to a specific location. An hour later they came to a halt, Ashidon could see a mass of souls not too far ahead.

"Spot anything, Captain?"

"Yes, a small camp of about twelve people. I'll verify if the target is among them." Ashidon replied while summoning a crow and sending it out.

The crow moved with tremendous speed towards the camp. As it arrived it looked down from the canopy at a group of stone nin setting up camp. Through its eyes, Ashidon scanned the face of every stone nin present.

'There you are.' Ashidon thought after having found his target. He disconnected his vision from the crow and looked back at his team.

"The target has been identified, we move in slowly while I spread my crows to sweep ahead. Once we are close enough I'll send in my smoke and allow the crows to slip in and finish the job." Ashidon laid out his battle plan to the two.

"Captain, are you not going to send us in?" One of the jonin asked.

"Sending either of you in isn't necessary." Ashidon replied.

"But Captain, surely it would be best if we were the ones to personally ensure the target has been eliminated?" The other jonin added.

"No, it would not. My crows are as physically strong as a low jonin, not only that but I can summon a decent number of them to overwhelm the enemy should it be required. There is absolutely no reason to risk our lives." Ashidon explained stone faced, but inside he was losing his patience.

The two jonin grimaced at Ashidon's words. One of the jonin decided to voice his displeasure. "Captain, surely you could send in the two of us. We could ensure the completion of the mission."

Ashidon eyed the two silently, unbeknownst to him his eyes started glowing a deathly green. The two jonin instantly tensed up. Ashidon paid it no heed as he spoke in a low emotionless voice. "I have given my orders, and you will follow them. We will execute, my, not yours, but my battle plan. If you will not follow the commands of your superior, then we can settle the matter right now."

As Ashidon was speaking he summoned eight crows along with his two black ghosts. He positioned his black ghosts slightly in front of him with a spear raised at the two jonin. The eight crows were separated into two groups, four for each jonin and they too had taloned hands pointed in their direction. Ashidon did all of this in an instant and all without moving an inch or a slight change in his voice. Even his eyes remained cold as he prepared to execute these jonin.

'I made the mistake of allowing you to second guess my orders before, in the presence of the enemy no less. And don't think I didn't realize your manipulation in my unstable state. Though, I must thank you, for you have brought to light a weakness I had. One I will endeavor to rectify.' Ashidon thought as he eyed the two jonin, waiting for their response.

The two jonin looked into the glowing eyes of Ashidon and despite their many years of experience, they felt a chill run down their spine. It was because of that experience that they knew if they stepped out of line, that one wrong word would be their death sentence. At least, one of them had the sense to realize this.

"Captain, no disrespect but as experienced," he didn't get to finish as the crows around him killed him instantly. His blood splashed on the other jonin causing his eyes to buldge.

'I made a mistake in putting these two bloodthirsty jonin on my team. At least they wouldn't have been a problem for the other teams.' Ashidon thought as he absorbed the soul of the jonin.

Ashidon stared at the lifeless corpse of a subordinate he killed for a moment longer before turning his cold gaze to the other. "I'm sorry, but I can't allow you to live. I realize that I could have simply talked him down, gotten him to follow my orders without taking his life. But he had already made an attempt to manipulate me while I was in a mentally unstable state. While that isn't his fault since I am responsible for my own faculties, I cannot allow such a thing to continue."

"I understand, Captain. He was out of line, a hindrance to the mission, he had to go." The jonin smartly replied.

"I appreciate your understanding, so I hope you can understand this." Ashidon replied before the other crows killed the jonin.

'I can't have you telling the others of my actions. Perhaps it would be best if I operated solo, I have the required skill set to do so. No, that's just an excuse. I acted on my emotions again and made another hasty decision. I'm still making mistakes. However, this is a mistake I'd have no issue doing again. I don't need to rely on others to protect me. As long as I'm careful and thorough I'll be fine.'

Having made up his mind and absorbing the soul of the jonin Ashidon turned around and moved towards his target. His crows began destroying the two bodies leaving nothing behind.