Piles of smoldering corpses smoked across the plain like crude funeral pyres, the fire fueled wind carried the stench of burning flesh far across the coastline.
Charred armor pieces jutted from the heaps like broken teeth, some still clenched to the limbs of their lost owners.
The air stank of brine, blood, and smoke. Haran Bay, once a sea marshland now stained with the marks of war.
The sea, a restless beast at the edge of the bay, lapped lazily at the bloodstained shore as if it, too, was waiting for the next body to claim.
The rain grew denser and denser, stronger and stronger to the point a spark of lightning lit up within the clouds. The streaks of lightning cracked overhead, pulsing distantly and casting flashes of light across the battlefield.
The flashes of light lasted long enough to reveal just how many died and how few were left, and in the heart of it all lay a single boy. Surrounded by a whole camp of shinobi, Aki gripped his blade tighter with a hint of desperation.
The commander of the first division of the Great Battle Regiment Of The Hidden Cloud, Raiko Tetsuhide. The man wore the newly issued flak jacket for shinobi, a headband wrapped around his forehead with the sign for 'Cloud' engraved into the center, white grey pants and matching shirt along with a short tanto blade attached to a scabbard on his back.
The man was a seasoned survivor of the Warring Stated Period, a period in which the average lifespan was thirty, his age of forty six serving as a medal.
His middle age being a clear achievement of his survival in the harsh and cruel times in which he were born into, and the scar running diagonally across half his face being his constant reminder of this fact.
After Hashirama Senju, united the Land Of Fire with his system of villages, the man followed suit and joined the Hidden Cloud looking to enter a peaceful era...
Which didn't last long, war erupted once more and so Raiko picked up his rusty blade once more and was immediately positioned as the commander of the proud first division
Raiko stood in heavy silence, his arms crossed as he watched the boy gasp for, air standing on the shattered ground. His sharp calculating eyes took in every brutal detail, the blood smeared across Aki's torn skin, blackened burns from fire crawling over his small frame akin to war paint.
And yet, Aki still gripped his sword.
He didn't even have the strength to raise his head fully, but he hadn't let go of the blade.
Raiko stepped forward, his boots splashing through blood and mud. The sound was grotesquely loud in the oppressive quiet.
Not a single shinobi dared to breathe too loudly, the only noise the dull patter of the cold rain against the carnage marked earth.
He stopped a mere arm's reach away, staring down at the boy, taking advantage of his taller frame.
"You're still alive.." Raiko muttered under his breath, almost in disbelieve.
Without a word, Raiko kicked out and slammed the heel of his boot into Aki's chest, knocking the boy flat into the mud.
''Agghhhhh'' The impact forced out a ragged cry from Aki's lungs as he collapsed into the wet earth, with his body twitching in pain from the shock as the kick flared his injuries further.
Raiko didn't stop there.
He planted his foot squarely between Aki's shoulder blades and ground down with deliberate and crushing weight.
Aki couldn't even resist, as his head was shoved deep into the mud, blood, ash, filth and shit mixing into a suffocating paste that filled his nose, mouth and eyes.
He struggled, thrashing as his hands clawed at the ground and Raiki's feet.
His screams were muffled at first, but then rose in fury.
''GET OFF MEE!!'' He howled, somehow fighting through the taste of shit in his mouth.
''GET OFF ME, GOD DAMM IT, YOU DEMENTED CLOUD MOTHERFUCKER!!
''I'LL RIP YOU TO PIECES''
''I'LL KILL YOU, I'LL RIP OUT YOUR GODDAM THROAT!!''
''I'LL CUT YOUR DICK OFF AND FEED IT TO DOGS!!''
At this point, the surrounding shinobi burst out in laughter, they started taunting the boy.
''AHAHAHA!! This kid is amazing, AHAHAHA!! Do it kid, cut his dick off!!''
''The kid has guts, AHAHAHA''
''Where the hell did he come from?!! AHAHAHA''
''And then kill all of us, AHAHAHA!!
''AHAHAHAHA And then cut all our dicks off too!!'' One of the men, with tears in his eyes, couldn't help but add.
''Even if he did, there's no dogs for miles, we might have to help him find some, AHAHAHA!!'' One of the men replied to his friend beside him.
The laughing continued as Aki continued screaming in fury and pain.
Raiko didn't stop the men from laughing, he knew morale was important in times of war. So letting his subordinates laugh here and there, would only help.
Raiko didn't even glance down, he let the boy squirm like a dying animal, pinned and helpless beneath his heel.
Mud smeared across Aki's cheeks as he fought to lift his head, only to be forced back down again.
"Still has fire in him," Raiko muttered.
'In my times, a boy like this would be a rarity'. He thought to himself.
He finally stepped off, letting Aki collapse onto his side, gasping and heaving.
''Looks like you finally ran out of curses to throw at me, huh?'' He commented, seeing the poor state of the boy, covered in mud and filth with his body barely holding together.
''FUCK YOU!!'' Aki shouted from the ground, ignoring the man's words.
''AHAHAHAHA!! Good, good, very good'' seeing the boys tone, Raiko burst out in laughter, his laugh carrying a sinister hint.
"You're either cursed or blessed." His lips twitched into a cold smile, dark amusement flashing in his gaze.
''Let's found out which'' His voice shook the surrounding shinobi.
''Line up all of you, form a circle, you faggots!!''
His subordinates, his subjects exchanged hesitant glances between each other.
Some blinked in disbelief and others frowned, shifting in discomfort in their armour.
Aya, the demented explosive tag obsessed retard and one of his more loyal lieutenants, stepped forward hesitantly. "Sir, what are you...?"
"You heard me." Raiko interrupted him.
Raiko's voice brooked no argument.
"One by one, trial by combat. We'll see if the little demon's death is fated today... or if death itself fears him."
''We'll give the kid a chance to die like a true shinobi, rather than an wounded animal''
A few men chuckled nervously. A few others hesitated, their hands tightening on their weapons.
''Do I need to repeat myself? I said line up!!'' Raiko raised his voice a bit more, flaring his chakra outwards, as the ground rattled underneath him.
He sensed some of the men's displeasure, and decided to make them remember their position.
Raiko was a veteran and an Elite Jonin of the Hidden Cloud, as a jonin, his experience and combat ability was distinctively higher than everyone here.
His chakra was more than enough to physically pressure an average shinobi to their knees.
None disobeyed.
Slowly, a circle closed in around Aki.
''Sorry kid, I have nothing against you''
The first man charged in, with his blade drawn in his right hand, and a cold aloof look on his face.
A cold aloofness is all one should expect from his foe, this is war.
This is not a time to show mercy, not even to children, as a child with a blade is often more dangerous than a grown man with a gun. Not that guns exist in this world.
Time seemed to slow down and come to a standtill.
For Aki, everything seemed so slow, in his final moments, so slow.
The drops of rain colliding with his muddied being, so slow.
The taste of filth still on his tongue, so slow.
The sight of the blade closing in on his neck, so slow.
And then, at the last moment before the sharp abyss was to complete its reaping harvest.
Fast.
Fast was the cornered rabbit.
By instinct, Aki drew his blade upward akin to a whisper being misheard.
His blade parried the opposing foe's edge, by the barest margin, but still parried.
The sword and arm of the cloud shinobi flew up from the parry, exposing his neck.
Aki shifted his battered frame in pain, and seeing his chance, his right arm drew again like fluid water, and there.
It was done.
Blood burst out from the neck of the cloud shinobi, like a fountain, and his body dropped to the ground.
The blood sprayed into the air, right onto Aki below.
Before? Aki was covered in mud, filth and his own blood.
Now? His whole body from head to toe, bright red, from the blood of another.
A crimson rabbit.
''You didn't take my sword from me, you fucking eunuch!!'' Aki screamed.