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"Turns out there's a special kind of beast in this land that bumps at night!" Leifazu said.
Leifazu's POV (Western River Plains of Irminsul - Terra)
"Dear Kami…" Suzumebachi said, shocked. "What the hell are they? There are so many bodies… Did you really kill all of them?"
"Yeppp! It took a while, but I figured Mishiro would want to see them! Maybe I didn't need this many, but now I am in a good mood and got some extra training in!" Leifazu explained. She stretched and shook off extra blood from the creatures as she marched over to one of the many rivers; stopping to fully finish her stretching, she dived into the cold waters. Swimming in circles to wash off a bit, she marched out once she seemed clean enough to her standards. Hoping the sun would dry her off in time. She doubted it cleaned her thoroughly, but she cared little.
"You're a damn psychopath!" Suzumebachi remarked, seemingly somewhat horrified by her.
"Now, that would be up to a therapist to decide. Self or peer diagnosing is harmful, you know." Leifazu said teasingly. "Besides, I'm not mentally unwell; I know what I do, why I do it, what it means, and just what I am. I simply don't intend to change unlike some."
"I see one of you was busy last night." Mishiro's voice cut through the tension. The woman stood before them already looking prepared for the day and seemingly undisturbed by the scene in front of her. "Leifazu, let's all discuss this over some tea. I also have some prevalent news of my own to share."
The two women followed Mishiro as she led them into her personal large tent. The thing stood out in their campground. It was the tent Ikam and her shared when they traveled. A massive tent that Ikam had created to be temperature-controlled, lit from within, and even more spacious on the inside. All due to the Fuijutsu genius that Ikam and Ashira wielded. Inside the spacious tent sat at the front a small sitting table with pads with seats where the three of them sat as Mishiro had Suzumebachi pour them tea. Off to the side sat another small desk where various sheets of diagrams, seals, and even sketches of the Okama sat. Lastly, a large, lavish bed looked alien in the tent. Mishiro, as always, seemed to sample the tea and add sugar as she deemed fit. Lefiazu watched patiently, as did Suzumebachi, who seemingly had learned to let Mishiro have her tea.
"Leifazu, your news is more pressing. Were we attacked last night? My security seal was never alerted, nor were my defensive ones triggered. I saw some remains of the foes. Who, or seemingly more accurately, what, were they?" Mishiro began.
Leifazu began recounting his tale, explaining their behavior, appearance, the apparent ability to sense Fuijutsu, and his bout of combat with them. By the end, Mishiro's interest seemed piqued.
"So the land has a dominant and strange species of humanoids that hunt at night. Likely, the summoning clans are aware and have some sort of defense against them. It's good you left some mostly intact, I and I'm certain my love will enjoy looking over them." Mishiro thought out loud.
"Would almost have to; from what Leifazu is describing, these things would wreak havoc against those clans. I encountered some of the Okama myself, and while interesting, they weren't all that powerful. I could've removed their outpost had it not been for the Leaf." Suzumebachi agreed.
"It seems my seals held them at bay, but avoiding travel at night would seem most wise." Mishiro mused. "With any luck, they proved much more problematic to our foes. However, considering what I learned last night, it bodes poorly for us. It seems Suzumebachi, one of your brothers, perished last night. I think his name was Jibachi?"
"Jibachi died?!"
"Figures," Leifazu said with a roll of her eyes.
"Indeed, the seal I placed on him alerted me as soon as his heart stopped beating. Considering the hour of the night, it seems likely he suffered at the hands of these creatures." Mishiro finished bluntly.
Suzumebachi slammed her hand so hard it split Mishiro's desk in two. But to Leifazu's surprise, Mishiro barely reacted to it.
"I am sorry for his loss," Mishiro said simply.
"We were expendable to you from the start." Suzumebachi accused. "You brought us into this dangerous land with little preparation."
"His recent death indeed affects me little," Mishiro admitted. "But I can empathize with the idea of losing someone you love. I don't really care but merely wish to offer that small kindness. More than what someone like you deserves, I'd say."
"It doesn't matter! Someone that weak was a burden to the Kamizuru Clan! We are better off without him! Besides, Kurobachi didn't die according to your seal!"
"Rich coming from the lady who lost to a Genin, but are we certain Kuro whoever is alive? They were surely together, and I find it hard to believe one would escape if the other didn't. Those creatures are savage and merciless, after all." Leifazu charmed in. "They came close to killing me several times."
"We should assume he is predisposed as well." Mishiro decided coldly. The bit of emotion she had shown had been crushed in an instant. From the years Leifazu had known the woman, love was the only thing that moved her. Primarily, she loved Ikam, but she also seemed to enjoy others. An odd trait for a woman almost as sinful as her, but Leifazu had learned to accept it. "We cannot waste time looking for him but this does make it clear we may need to rethink our strategy. We have plenty of threats with these beasts prowling the night and an unknown amount of enemies during the day, not to mention the clans. Even with the three of us that is quite the handful. Perhaps we should seek a clan we could leverage aid from."
"I could use my unique technique, which I told you about earlier. It should be more than enough to control some animals," Suzumebachi offered. "It did so with the Okama, and I can do so to a fair bit of animals without difficulty."
"Oh yeah, let's offer the woman with shaky loyalty an army who's loyal only to her. That won't get us killed," Leifazu snarked at the woman, remembering her waiting to see if she had died against those beasts earlier.
"A fair point; however, I see the logic in your idea, Suzumebachi. However, Leifazu is right to doubt you; for me to allow such a thing, a condition must be met…"
"Which would be?" Suzumebachi answered cautiously.
"Oh, come on now, Kamizuru, isn't that obvious? We need a way to discourage you from setting that army at us. And how would we do such a thing, perhaps something that could keep you in line remotely?" Leifazu said her smile was just the wrong side of viscous.
"You damn Uzumaki and your Fuijutsu. And if I refuse?"
"You're fired," Mishiro answered simply.
"Which means I'll get to kill ya," Leifazu added.
"Fine, just remember I'm on your side. I won't give you a reason to kill me; I can't die before I redeem the Kamizuru Clan."
"Now, that would be just terrible," Leifazu said mockingly.