Mikazuchi Clan

"We will not accept any cases related to political strife."

- The creed of the Mikazuchi Clan

The Mikazuchi Clan (, Mikazuchi-ichizoku) is very clandestine yet renowned family of assassins.

About
Little is known about the Mikazuchi Clan or its inner workings, though they are a clan renowned for their speed. There are two reasons for the Mikazuchi's speed: the first is the Raishin Style's rite of succession which enables them to achieve a "state of oneness", in which the Mikazuchi apply a form of autosuggestion that unlocks the brain's muscular limiters, enabling them to unleash their full physical potential (much like the Kure's Removal). The second is that from the moment they learn how to walk they engage in drastic training in order to produce legs that specialised for running. The combination of autosuggestion and powerful legs enables the Mikazuchi to attain speeds that far exceed even the Kure Clan. Because of the great amount of strain these speeds place on the body, the Mikazuchi can only maintain these speeds for a split second.

Raishin Style
The Raishin Style (, Raishin-ryū; lit. "Lightning Spirit Style") is a mysterious and fearsome assassination fist that was secretly passed down through the Mikazuchi Clan for 1200 years. Apparently created by Takemikazuchi-no-Kami, the martial art focuses on its users becoming one with everything in order to achieve a state of oneness, thereby allowing its users to "become like lightning itself". Because of the unique physical constitution required to use the Raishin Style, it is a martial art that can only be used by those of Mikazuchi blood.

The style does not only focus on using weapons for assassinations but also extensively in hand-to-hand combat, making it an all-purpose style. Whether armed or unarmed, the Raishin Style focuses mainly on the utilisation of the clan's inherent superhuman speed. The Raishin Style also has many traits that are similar to Chinese martial arts; for example, in a fight the user uses a technique similar in function to "fa jin: armor-piercing permeating force", a technique that delivers an impact that penetrates the exterior to reach the inside of the human body. The Raishin Style has a kata known as "Chi Molding", that helps to ease and clear the mind.

Dream Walking (, Mugen Hohō)
A method of footwork that uses irregular movement at ever-changing tempos to create multiple afterimages, confusing the opponent in order to finish them with Lighting Flash.

Lightning Flash (, Raisen)
The fastest technique in the Raishin Style and the classical form of the Raishin Style. The user attacks with a supremely quick frontal strike, performed at such speed that the target barely has time to register what has happened before the effects of the strike knock them out. However, there are weaknesses in this technique:


 * The faster the user is, the more strain they put on their body; constantly using this technique causes moisture to evaporate from the user's body, making them unable to sweat properly and inducing involuntary shaking and blurred vision. In addition, the incredible produced by moving so fast can make the user's feet bleed.
 * Because the technique focuses on being as fast as possible, it is extremely linear. As a result, while difficult in practice, the technique can be easily countered if the opponent can read and predict it.

Sunfire (, Kagerō)
The user attacks the opponent with fast but low damage strike with high-accuracy that targets the opponent's pressure points (especially their head) to damage the brain. By changing the form of each strike to suit its location, the user can inflict more deeper penetrating damage.

Thunderclap (, Sanrai)
The user attacks the opponent's pressure point(s) with multiple fast, high-accuracy and ever-changing strikes.