34

~~Land of Lightning~~

Ghost scanned the landscape for the chakra signature he was sensing. "I feel a powerful chakra nearby, but I can't pinpoint it. It's good enough to deter most sensors, though not for the top-class ones. Let alone those cheating eyes of Sharingan or Byakugan", said Ghost as he kept standing on the branch of a tree.

The black cloth Anbu sighed, knowing no matter what he do. He won't be able to surprise the leader.

Lifting his leg and taking one step from the shadows; his vivid image of himself faded away appearing in front of Ghost in an instant.

His knee was quickly drawn up, and his knee's designated location was Ghost's groan.

"This is a good combination of speed and accuracy", Ghost nodded, "However"

Ghost stood there as the knee and the Anbu phase through him, without wasting any movement he blurred in front and grabbed the Anbu by the neck, and released him, before hitting him with a direct strike to the chest, sending him flying through several trees with a brutal force display of force.

The black-clothed Anbu's back smashed through trees, and after a while, his body finally stopped. He lay on the ground for a while, and then he stood up in utmost pain and maybe a few broken bones. He wiped clean the blood on his face as he grits his teeth to even stand properly

"You'll have to try harder than that. Rookie", said Ghost as he seemingly appeared out of thin air behind the masked Anbu, scaring the Anbu a bit

The Anbu could not even turn around before Ghost forcefully mashed his neck from the back, crushing the soul out of Anbu's body. The clone disappeared in a poof..!! of smoke.

"Using a clone to distract and aim for my blind spot, that's smart, but I don't have a blind spot", Ghost said as he turn back, glaring at the hidden Anbu with a hint of killing intent, making him paralyzed with fear.

"I... surrender...", Anbu said with a hesitant voice and came out of the shadows

"Very well then; let's stop our training for today. Eat something and take a rest afterward. Make sure to get your back treated by the field medic", Ghost said as he went towards the clearing where the rest of the squad is having their final lunch before entering the Village Hidden in the clouds.

"Hai", The Anbu flushed as he stare at his hand that was still shaking, He curled the shivering palms into a fist as he looked at Ghost's back, "Amazing"

"Sensei. You are so amazing", The rookie and the youngest of his squad Shishui Uchiha yelled.

"I am not your Sensei, rookie", Ghost said back and kept moving, Shishui grinned as he rushed towards Ghost.

...

Once they are done eating, Ghost explained his plan to everyone, and after making sure that everyone was finally in the queue before he ended his talk

"The time given to us for this mission was 4 days, we already took 2 days to reach here, which means we have two more days to finish this task and message back to the village...", He looked at everyone.

After seeing that everyone is in synch he finished his speech, "...Everyone, within 46 hours from now, Kumo must be brought onto its knees. Know your targets; know your goals; know the plan, nobody plays the hero. Clear?"

"Crystal", A unified roar of 300 shinobis resounded in the forest

...

~24 hours later~~

The sun had set long ago, and it was past midnight in the village hidden in the clouds. The crowded streets had come to an abrupt silence, and darkness filled the village. However, a small light was emitting from a far-off household.

The light belonged to the office of Mabui; the Fourth Raikage's personal secretary. A figure of a man was sound asleep in the bedroom, leaving her alone, naked, behind her desk, her pen scribbling against a sheet of paper.

The room was rather small for an office, as it was indeed, part of her home. A window was sprawled open behind her, and the only entrance to the room was left open. The room was lightened by single candlelight, sitting firmly on the edge of the desk.

The man woke up some time ago and came up behind her as he put his arms around her waist, he began kissing her neck and cheek. She sort of giggled and shook her head.

"I am working. I didn't get a single thing done for hours now", she exclaimed as she tilted her head in increasing passion.

"I am not stopping you from working", The man said as she kept working and he continued to hold her, stealing a kiss on the cheek or neck from time to time. Finally, he started nibbling on one of her ears. "That tickles!", Mabui cried with a laugh.

He moved his hands up to her catch her bare breasts without any piece of clothes, pinching her nipples. Mabui's mouth was wide open. Her passion was still high, she looked at the paper on her desk and let the pen drop.

He pressed his lips against hers, capturing her mouth with hunger. His hands descended further down, grasping the woman's shapely bottoms.

...

~~8 hours later~~

Mabui was found the next morning, lying atop her own office desk. Her eyes had since rolled back, her eyelids closed forever. A large squadron of shinobi filled the room, searching the room for any evidence. "I don't get it... here she is dead... yet not a trace of the murderer. Are you sure someone killed her?", Questioned one of the ANBU masked figures.

"It's almost certain. I mean, why would she kill herself, not to mention, who kill themselves after taking all of their clothes", Said another, running his hand against the corpse's neck, searching the naked body for any clues.

"This is a real bummer. This'll affect the village as a whole..." Said the masked man, as his fist tightened, "She had information on quite sensitive secrets"

"Isn't that why she was protected all the time? Other than that, she should have been good enough at handling Genjutsu"

He sniffed the air, "There is a weird smell in the air. Probably some long-lasting perfume. We can use that"

His partner shook his head, "She does not seem to be tortured... There was no sign of using Genjutsu on her body, The Anbus guarding her did not make any noise about it either... We are dealing with an experienced killer here. This is most probably a trap"

"Regardless if it's a trap or not. This is the only clue we have right now", Another Anbu came after searching through the whole house, "I searched everywhere, but there is nothing of use. I heard she came with a man yesterday?"

"Yes sir. We ran the details, there is no such person as they say. Either they are lying or...

"or the man planned this murder all along and hid his identity since the start", Completed the Anbu with him

The other man shook his head, which was covered by a cat-like mask, "If that's the case. We can at least rule out the possibility of an argument. They wanted to kill her from the very start. probably for some sensitive details. We also can't pour out the possibility that they murdered her after getting the information they were here for"

The two Anbus nodded their head.

"Whoever committed this murder was here today, within the time span of midnight to now. That gives this person... approximately 8-10 hours window to have fled the village", He explained, lifting Mabui's clothing with a covered gauntlet.

"Have these sent to the sensor corps. A.S.A.P. Tell them to capitalize on this weird scent as much as they can"

"Hai"

"The killer seems to be quite experienced. He left nothing on her body, not even a trace that could lead us back to him, the smell is most likely a trap. Make sure the sensor corps know that", The first Anbu said as well...

"Understood"

...

~~12 hours later~~

Kumogakure's sensory team was hard at work, despite only having been given a short supply of supplies to work with. Picking up on the scent, the corps issued a small squadron of shinobi, accompanied by a dog, to track down the assassin.

"Ginjo-sama." A woman's voice said as the squad of ninjas was hopping from building to building.

"Yes?" Ginjo responded as the woman handed him a piece of paper that gave the briefing of the mission

"I understand that this is your first day on this investigation, sorry we didn't brief you at the meeting, your requested presence was a little rushed being that we caught on to the possible assassin"

"Hmmm..." Ginjo said as his eyes ran through the paper, "Mabui huh, I knew her. Gender of the assassin?", He asks the woman

"Man. We are assuming given the clues"

"Time of death?"

"03:55 sir, can I ask why are you asking me this when the info is all on the paper"

He responded with a grin, "Oh, nothing, just a force of habit. What makes you think the killer is still inside the village...?!", Ginjo asked.

"We don't sir...!"

"Very well...", Ginjo says as he whistles, and the dog in the squad comes up from behind him, "Smell this boy...!"

The dog smells the fabric that was coated with the scent that was at the crime scene and also the man's faint scent that was on Mabui's clothing the night of the murder. The dog sniffs the fabric, then sniffs around a little until it darted straight towards a certain direction. "Well, that was easy"

"I have been told this might be a trap...", She asked Ginjo

"It most definitely is, the assassin was careful enough to not leave a single thing on Mabui's body, yet he left such a strong smell behind", Ginjo shrugged, "Well, it doesn't matter. We will deal with it as we go along. Haul ass everyone", Ginjo said as the team hauled ass towards their assassin.

...

Wearing a black hooded cape, with a mask on his face. The Anbu was perched on a bench, which happened to be, oddly enough, made entirely from steel. Enjoying the warmth of the sun, accompanied by the cool breeze. when suddenly, he felt the presence of a tag on him lit away.

He calmly took out the communication tag on him and put chakra in it to light up the seal.

"They are onto you. Be careful. Everyone else, we have 60 Minutes. Move", Ghost's voice sounded from inside the tag, as the Anbu simply throw away the tag, burning it to ashes.

The several civilians in the village got the information, be it a fruit vendor, or a thief, all twenty Konoha shinobis started to move in different directions at the same time.

The Anbu stood up from the bench, and slammed his hand onto the ground, creating a Fujin dome separating him and his surroundings from the rest of the world...

...

The field in which they found the Anbu was rather large, surrounded by trees. The entire land was filled with grass, aside from the steel bench, The Anbu was seated on. When the Kumo shinobis arrived they found this scene.

Ginjo made certain hand gestures in which were signals for the team to get into a specific position.

When they made it to the masked Anbu, a shinobi behind him was having hands planted on the ground, another was to his right with a weapon scroll ready, the woman Ginjo had been talking to was to Anbu's left with a string of kunai which had a paper bomb attached to them. And last, Ginjo with the dog.

With a firm tone of voice Ginjo said to the unknown man, "Sir, we have a suspicion that you are behind the murder of a woman named Mabui a few days back. We would like you to come with us to our village for questioning. We have not confirmed that you killed her, but it's just you are suspicious of what we have found. So I ask that you not resist and come with us" Ginjo said as the dog growled and barked.

The Anbu lowered his head, as he sighed, "Oh, alright...", He rose slowly to his feet, turning his figure around, his gaze suddenly matching Ginjo's

!!!!

"You are..!!"

"Konoha", He said as a series of blasts strong enough to interfere with his immediate environment took place, destroying the earth around him in a large radius while forcing away the individuals at close range.

"Goddamit, everyone, be careful...", Ginjo yelled as his subordinates jump away from the Anbu. But he didn't finish his sentence because he noticed how Anbu's chakra started to mold.

He claps his hands on the ground and causes the ground around Anbu to quickly electrocute. This included the bench and a few meters all around.

The Anbu immediately changed his jutsu and used hand signs to create the earth prison dome Jutsu to protect himself...!

Watching the trapped Anbu Ginjo smirked, as he commanded his teammates to shoot explosive bombs toward the trapped Anbu.

Some of the bombs stacked Kunai would stick to the earth dome around the Anbu which would cause even more damage.

"..."

The Anbu stood there, getting attacked continuously. He sighed, "I don't have enough time. The clone is going to disappear. Let's start", The masked Anbu muttered as he suddenly vanished with a white pop of smoke revealing himself as the shadow clone, as his real body appeared several hundred feet away from them.

His eyes being the only thing revealing from his mask carried no emotions and he made some hand signs.

Before coming here, the Anbu trapped this entire place with exploding tags. Fujin Trap covers the area, intending to trap his opponent and the noise inside. Following the Anbu's pointed fingers, every tag detonates; the blast being intensified by the dome made of condensed air.

The blast was powerful enough to feed on the dome and explode outwards, destroying everything within a mile radius. The flames released by the explosion produced enough heat to turn nearly anything caught within the blast to ash instantly, producing a near-guaranteed kill.

The dome-shaped Fujin barrier made it impossible for anyone to hear or sense what happened here in this destroyed area. The Anbu came out from his hiding place looking at the barely alive Ginjo who somehow survived this blast.

"Leader. It's done. You can begin", He said as he take out another communication tag burning it away as well. Before he blurred out of the sight and took Ginjo with him.

While the Masked Anbu was fighting, or rather massacring Ginjo and his party of shinobis, Ghost's assassination squad was busy making sensors disappear one by one. This is what Ghost gets from Mabui by sleeping with her that night. The identity of these sensors. As for location, they can do it themselves.

~~30 minutes left from the initiation of the attack.

As for Ghost himself, he was busy kissing another lady in his disguised form. Yugito Nii, the two-tailed Jinchuriki. [T/N: The dude is just a sex addict at this point]