Chapter 15: Mangetsu Hozuki
[Turtle Island, Land of Lightning]
Kirigakure was considered one of the five major hidden villages for many reasons. Its geographic location in the East was one of them. Unlike the land of fire which was completely surrounded and caused them to become the very forefront of every shinobi war, the land of water was isolated, with only Kumogakure and Konohagakure as its neighbours.
Being isolated was good as the shinobi from within were relatively free from war. Even if there were tensions, the skirmishes were much fewer in frequency when compared to its peers. Otherwise, they would have never managed to nurture as many elite jonins.
Elite jonins were much stronger than regular jonins. To become one, you needed to master many A-rank jutsu or excel in all fields of combat, which was something that was almost never achieved without talent.
The Hozuki clan was one of the three noble clans of Kirigakure, and one of its seven shinobi clan. Besides the Hozuki clan which had a kekkei gekkai allowing them to liquefy their body, the Yuki and Karatachi clans were the backbone of the village of the hidden mist.
And besides the patriarch, the Hozuki clan had produced a genius : Mangetsu Hozuki, one of the seven swordsmen of the mist. He was also said to have mastered three of the seven legendary swords of Kirigakure, proof that he was highly compatible with those historical blades.
Eventually, he settled on the Kubikiribōchō blade, a sword that could absorb the blood of fallen enemies to regenerate.
A kumogakure settlement had been found on Turtle Island, a neutral territory belonging to the land of lightning. As it was located on the frontier between the land of water and the land of lightning, it had naturally become a very contested territory. Cities and villages on the island had long since been destroyed with the passage of time and consecutive shinobi wars, and an implicit rules of not putting forces on this zone had been followed in times of peace.
However, Kumo had decided to break this rule, sensing that Kirigakure was gaining strength. The rise of Kisame on the battlefield and Zabuza in missions had long since reached the ears of enemies, and eventually, the elders from Kumo took the decision to send forces in the frontier to prepare for defence against potential invasion.
Night had fallen, and a huge fog started to spread on the island. A jutsu capable of covering a whole island was unheard of, but Mangetsu had spent days preparing for this moment. Raising his blade, he navigated through the fog as if it was his playground.
[Suiton no Jutsu - Hidden Mist [A]]
If Takeshi were here, he would have been in awe facing such mastery of water jutsu.
But Mangetsu did not just stop at impairing the vision of the Kumogakure shinobi. He advanced, and silently drew his huge sword. Without making a sound, he slashed through the fog and took down one enemy. Before the corpse touched the ground, Mangetsu caught it and gently put it on the ground. Without dojutsu or a sensor nin actively searching for him, it was but impossible to realize that the settlement was under attack.
*SPLASH*
Another shinobi fell, and then another one.
After some time, some kumogakure shinobi noticed that the settlement was strangely silent.
They went to investigate.
Jonin Uryu moved, and noticed a body.
He shouted: "WE ARE UNDER ATTACK, PREPARE FOR-"
*SPLASH*
Before he could react, a blade slashed through his arm. He quickly retracted, and launched a shuriken. However, instead of hitting their target, the shuriken merely entered Mangetsu's body, as if they were thrown onto water.
After losing his footing, Captain Uryu could not block the second blow and died unwillingly.
However, the situation was dire as dozens of shinobi of chunin and genin ranks swarmed Mangetsu.
But...
"Hozuki Sword Art - Fifth form: Hozuki Tempest"
Just like a tempest, his sword rotated around his body, killing a dozen shinobi in a single move.
After a rough hour of combat, the fog disappeared.
Mangetsu had long since left the battlefield.
No one survived his ambush.
The massive settlement of Kumogakure had been annihilated.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone