*THUNK*
*THUNK*
*THUNK*
*THUNK*
*CRACK*
With a loud moan the tree Okamura Mēkā was cutting fell with the final blow of his axe. The two-man-thick tree fell with an explosion of dirt and debris as he quickly backpedaled to avoid the mess.
When the tree rested on the forest floor he went forward. Resting his axe on his shoulders he called out loudly, his voice carrying throughout the forest as he yelled "It's late noon, everyone Stop gathering! We need to set off back to the village before dark."
With that said he continued Is work in trimming and pruning the tree he cut. Stabbing his axe back into the ground he began sorting through The dead branches and tying them up with twine. He then took the axe into his hands once again and began to split the trunk.
His massive strikes caused bark and splinters to spray all around. When he finished the rustling of leaves alerted him of his companion's return.
Out of the woodwork 22 young men and women and 11 children. Every one of them had various games or packages of herbs that they carried on their backs. But the point is that each of these people was Giants; The men and woman were each standing over six feet tall and covered in lightly padded camouflage clothing and the children were the same almost over 4 feet tall. But each of them was beautiful work of art with bronzed skin, smooth and chiseled features, and smoky and sharp eyes accented their beauty. Lean and hourglass figures were pronounced in their uniforms.
When they came forward into the clearing with their prizes in tow. One of the younger girls rushed forward bringing with her in hand a massive boar looking like it should weigh over 500 kilos. Her thin arms showed none of the Herculean strength she possessed.
"Uncle Okamora, Uncle Okamora, look what I hunted!!!" With a scream of glee, she tossed over half a ton of boar toward the man with a light toss.
The boar barreling towards him immediately made him grimace as he dropped his axe and tools to catch the carcass. With a grunt and a little shake in his steps, he caught it and said to the girl in exasperation "Yes, Yes Akane, a fine hunt. But it's getting dark soon, we need to hurry if we are to make it back to the village before by tomorrow. Go with your sister to secure the Chi-Tori we need them ready for our trip."
Setting the boar down he watched as Akane pouted for a few seconds only to disappear with a flash as she ran forward grabbed the boar with a turn and ran off screaming at her sister "last one there is a rotten egg!!"
At her shenanigans one of the women rolled her eyes and without a word slung the deer she caught off her back to one of her companions and raced right after the little devil.
/I don't know how that boy controls her/ Okamora wiped the imaginary sweat from his brow and said to the rest of the party. "Time to pack up."
With a nod they began to sort and stack the materials they gathered into different piles and took out scrolls that they carried inside of their backpacks. Stacking them onto the scrolls they made a quick set of hand seals before slamming their hands onto the ground.
[Sealing style: Item Enclosing technique]
Immediately with a puff of smoke, the items were sealed into the scrolls. Gathering the scrolls back into their packs they looked back at Okamora.
With a nod, he turned and leaped forward into the direction Akane and her sister ran. Following behind the rest of the group also leaped and bound after him.
Exiting the forest hour later they came into a clearing with a set of caravans with 10 more people lying there in wait along with Akane and her sister, Akiko Mēkā.
Seeing them come out of the clearing Akiko nodded at them and dragged her sister off of one of the Chi-Tori's and into their wagon.
Okamura and the rest also either grappled onto their own Chi-Tori, a massive chicken-like creature, or into a caravan of their own.
The caravan started moving forward at a steady and calm pace. The giant raptors carried the wagons in tow with ease. The journey continued in silence not many speaking except in hushed tones.
4 hours into the journey, the sky beginning to darken completely Akiko left her wagon with a stretch and smile she glanced at her companions signaling with her hands in a set of movements. The people nodded and continued patrolling as if nothing happened, only the tightening of the hands on their weapons as an indication of their nervousness.
Walking forward to the front caravan she knocked on each wagon as she passed by to the last cart where Okamora lead riding on his mount.
Hopping onto the bench behind him she looked at her uncle. The smile completely disappeared from her face as she sat there in silence.
"How bad is it?" He asked lowly to her without looking back.
Akiko only grunted grimly at the question.
"Really? That bad?!" The giant said in slight surprise. His hands slightly tightened on the reins.
"Over sixty raiders. Twenty are mounted, they've already circled ahead to cut us off one mile out. Ten are camouflaged on the road ahead and the rest are scattered in the forest around us. We are surrounded and they have already begun to close the net on us." Akiko said slowly while her eyes looked out of focus staring into the dark road ahead of them.
"How many raids does that make this year alone?"Okamora grunted in grim dissatisfaction at the numbers of the ambush awaiting them.
"Thirteen." Said Akiko in equal dissatisfaction. "We have to stop going this far from the village! The raids are getting worse and whoever is paying them to cut off our trade caravans is getting bolder and bolder."
"The clan NEEDS these caravans to prosper!" Okamura turned and glared at his niece, "The Daimyo has refused to all trade and canceled all mission requests that have come our way for over 3 years at the request of the Hateno Shrine. Merchants that used to flock to us for our craft have scattered into the wind! There is little to no game in our land as predators have come pouring into our territory. If we don't wish to be displaced from our homes as they demand, we can only do this or starve to death!!!"
Akiko at his rebuking glare lowered her head in silence only gripping the edges of the bench under her.
The glare of Okamura softened at this, after a few moments he sighed and turned his head back to the road ahead "I understand what you mean, Akiko, I do. I will talk with the clan head upon our return."
"But," As he glared forward into the night "For Now let's teach these greedy bastards once again why the Mēkā is not one to be toyed with!!!"
"Yes, uncle." No longer sitting the beautiful girl stood and reached under the bench beneath her.
Taking out a massive glaive she gripped tightly onto it. And from her hand's runes slowly lit up the long wooden body that grew along with the chakra being poured into it by its owner.
Then with a grunt, she leaped high into the air, and with a graceful twirl in the air high above the caravan wind coated the edge of the weapon and with a cute cry she swung the weapon down with all her might!
[Wind Style: Swallows Wings Descends]!!!
From the blade, a massive gust of wild blasted down into the forest below on the right of the caravans. The initial blast cut down many trees in its path before splitting once again into many scattered wind blades that ran wild throughout the forest. Cutting trees and bodies that used those said trees for cover like a hot knife through butter.
This attack alone killed many raiders closing in on the wagons. The rest lay moaning in pain from being unable to dodge the sudden surprise ninjutsu attack.
Not finished Akiko let her glaive shrink back to normal size before she spun it in a twirl of a whirlwind around her to greet the array of projectiles that were immediately sent her way in response to her initial attack.
All sorts of needles, kunai, arrows and other hidden weapons poured out of the forest, knocking away the projectiles with her glaive she went forward leap before once again slamming the glaive into the ground. The Earth buckled and cracked while she once again performed another Justu this time the attack came from below.
[Earth Style: Wolf Fang Chasm]
Fissures and spears of sharp rock immediately jutted from the ground in front of her. The enemies that had charged to test the caravan were immediately speared through their bodies by the randomly appearing rocks.
Seeing his men being slaughtered from just two attacks of just one member of the caravan in front of him the leader of the raiders' heart immediately bled in heartache at the sight.
Gritting his teeth in rage and helplessness he immediately took out a short stick. Slamming it into the tree behind him a screeching flare came out of the end of it while he screamed out at the top of his lungs to his subordinates.
"RETREAT YOU, BASTARDS!!! We Sky bandits will get back at these bastards later. Regroup and-"
Before he could finish a shiver came up his back. With amazing speed, he immediately drew his sword from his waist and sliced the arrow screeching towards his head in half with a fluid cut.
"Oh? Did you cut it? Pretty skilled for one of your kind!" A voice of surprised mockery sounded in the woodwork around him.
Before the Sky Bandit leader could even say a word in response three more arrows came at him. This time they were much faster and even came in at a rapid-fire rate. This time he was unable to block a single arrow.
*Thud*
*Thud*
*Thud*
With the landing of each arrow, he became a pinned pig squealing in pain, embedded into the tree he was overcome with the pain that swept through him.
A rustling came out of the woods as a man with a long bow came walking out from the shadows.
Walking slowly towards him the Bandit leader started begging immediately "WAIT, WAIT, WAIT!! Please spare me. I can give you food, gold, a woman, anything you want!! Just spare me!"
"We can already get all of that when we raid your hideout. And we don't even need you sane for that much less alive!"
With that said the man stopped in front of the bandit and while towering over him the man slowly reached out his hand toward the bandit's head.
"Wait!!! Stop! STOP! STOOOOOP!"
And soon after screams of terror and pain echoed in the bloody woods that night.
Back at the caravan, Okamora looked at the girl with her glaive still. Embedded into the ground gasping for air. The girl had overestimated herself in trying to overwhelm the entire bandit raid by herself but he can't deny she performed perfectly in the situation otherwise. The rest of the caravan was already out of their wagons and hunting down the remaining raiders who were still out of commission from her 2 blows.
Detaching his mount from the carriage he rode to her side and patted her twice on the shoulder. Nothing was said he rode ahead of the caravan slowly and grabbed the ax holstered onto his back.
Then while lowering it to his side he said slowly, "People need to get the message. The Mēkā clan is not to be bullied by any little wet bastard that just came from the womb!!!!"
And with that, the axe at his side slowly lit up with flames and a bloody red glow!