Beach Field Trip

[Zao]

A group of young kids arrived under the chaperon of an older man, a jounin level teacher assigned to keep track of the Sky Reach academy students who had traveled from the Cresent Coalition to Aroma country. It was a journey of many purposes, one for the younger students who knew little more than the countryside around the academy to see the neighboring countries and meet others of their generation. Plus, it served as a means to let others know that the Cresent Coalition had started teaching the way of chakra to their countrymen, starting with the younger generation who would eventually grow up to serve and protect the recently created nation. But this was perhaps a double-edged technique, as many believed that chakra was only for the great Nations and their Hidden Villages, but taking a note from the Lightning Empire, the new country was attempting to do something similar.

Amongst this group was a young man, looking barely the age of twelve but perhaps a few inches short for his age having not found his growth spurt just yet, a elegant looking Japanese style robe flowed around his upper half mixing with blue and white fabric. His own snow-white hair was a bit shaggy, hanging down on each side of his head at around two-to-three inches in length. A wide smile on his face as they entered the beach area, this being his first time seeing such a place as he couldn't help but look from left-to-right and back at all the different people, the vendors, everything was like he was getting to experience it for the first time. "This place is so different from the small villages back around the school." The Sky Reach academy was upon a large mountain range and one had to descend down the mountainside in order to visit any of the nearby villages for different reasons. Yet here, just the number of stores and restaurants on this single main street they were walking down as a group was more than he'd seen in his entire life. The trip had already been quite the adventure for sure, but it had peaked the moment they crested over some terrain that looked down into the ocean front beach area, even causing the young man to pause in his tracks as he took in the wide horizon from side-to-side. "So, this is the ocean he talked about."

Ziv remanence about a time speaking with his father, the last time he spoke with the man, one of the things he told the youth about was the grand oceans that surrounded the mainland, but it was one thing to attempt to imagine it and another to see it in person for the first time. "Woah...." His mouth hung open for a moment before he came back to his senses and realized that he'd fallen a bit behind from his group. The older man escorting them looked back and gestured with his head to catch up and the white-haired boy quickened his pace to fall back into the group. Passing by a number of different people, the youth couldn't help but take note of the number of shinobi that had come to attend the festival here in Aroma, seeing forehead protectors and the like that showed the pride for their own nation and village, while his group was a bit more say secretive about who they belonged to at the moment. Perhaps in time that would change but the teachers had instructed them before leaving the school ground that they were by no means to do anything that would put a bad image on them or the slowly growing reputation of the Sky Reach academy. They were told that there were many who didn't believe or see the Cresent Coalition as a true country due to the backgrounds of some of the founders, perhaps Ziv and his classmates would be able to change a bit of that on this trip. At least he hoped he could garner some not necessarily fame but more so reputation for the school.

Finally, the group arrived at a six-story hotel, bringing their items inside and being assigned rooms with two other students, they all met back down in the lobby with the older man who took accountability of them and started to speak as he placed his arms behind his back. "Everyone here has been briefed about the festival, be on your utmost behavior while you are here. I will be out an about with you lots, do not let me find you young ones causing trouble, or I'll make you stay in the hotel the entire time. Am I understood?" The group of about twelve kids all nodded attentively as he glanced around the group making sure to make eye contact with each and every one of them before he nodded to himself and smiled. "Then please enjoy the festival, everyone shall be back here at nineteen hundred. Once everyone is back, we will go to dinner as a group, on me of course." While the older man had said it would be on him, it was of course some money that the school had sent with him for various expenses, after all, how could someone on a teacher's salary feed twelve kids? What a joke!

With a wave of his hand like an announcer start a race, the children seemed to almost disappear with speed that didn't belong to regular kids, the older teacher could only shake his head at their energy, if only he still had that much energy. Smirking he shook his head and turned on his heels to also exit the hotel, heading straight to the beach to admire the 'scenery'.

For Ziv, having changed into some white and blue shorts and a matching style short sleeved shirt he dashed out of the lobby of the hotel, bidding his quick goodbyes to the rest of his fifth-year classmates that had made the journey, there would be time for them all to hang out later for sure so for the meantime he wanted to just get out and do some sightseeing, perhaps people watching to as he'd never seen so many people in one place either. He was especially looking forward to interacting with those of the great villages, wanting to assess for himself the words of his father. Perhaps he could find others like himself and Yume, perhaps there was even room to build relationship and friendships with them that could carry on into the future. His aspirations were definitely higher than those of his father at this point, who knew what would happen on this trip or who'd he manages to meet in the process of exploring the grand beach festival here in Aroma country.

1128 Words speed training.

[Trusted Grader]

Unbelievable, they had just started school, well, it had been a month or two but they had finally been allowed to travel outside of school grounds without them having to break out of class for once, what was even better was the fact that they had been taken on a trip to another country. Their headmaster thought it would be a good idea for the children of the orphanage to travel to Aroma Country so they could mingle with the ninjas and samurai of the world, so that they could get inspired or deterred from whatever they experienced, much to the teacher's dismay.

Yume couldn't complain, he was happy that they finally didn't have to sit all cooked up within the walls of the classrooms and the endless halls that took them from one box to the other, Yami was happy, he had been trying his best to understand Rei, especially after their short turmoil while Yume did his best to avoid that "psychopath" as he so gently put it. He knew full well that she was too strong to deal with as of now so it was best to try to stay on her good side, Ziv seemed to be stronger than her but he was way calmer, which was good, for if he carried the same level of confidence as Rei then the group would probably end up in a lot of trouble.

Best make sure that his ego doesn't get the best of him. Yume looked at Ziv, he wasn't sure about what he was thinking but the idea that his friend could one-day turn megalomaniac wasn't out of the question, he had seen how the teachers looked at Ziv, as if he had some important past or connection that the school tried their best to keep quiet. Yume experienced a bit similar story but somewhat different, it wasn't really around Sky-Reach that he was treated with respect, it was in Libertalis, for reasons he had yet to find out.

Enough of the thinking. Yume slapped his knees and leaned back, the carriage to Aroma Country would take a while so he did his best to enjoy the ride. He did his best to pick up the names of the villages they passed by and try out new cuisines during their travels, as that was one of the benefits of his troubled past, the knowledge that different countries had different customs, whether it was food or clothing so Yume always did his best to experience as much as he could while he was there, he felt that it was appropriate as he one day hoped to be able to have traveled to all the discovered countries.

Ironically, Aroma Country was both a beauty to gaze at, Yume was smiling ear from ear all the way towards the six-story hotel by the palm trees. Yume and Yami followed Ziv and listened to the elderly teacher, his twin was eyeing Hozok who seemed to be further in the back, Nehan had chosen to take another route, perhaps she wasn't coming at all, while Rei and Kasuma were busy discussing if Yume was none the wiser then he'd expect the two of them to share cooties pretty soon. Gross. Yume leaped out of the back window, he didn't even let the teacher finish his speech before he was already out and dashing down the wall.

His Twin had stayed behind to inspect Ziv, and keep Hozok and the teacher busy, while his brother got to enjoy freedom, Yami already knew that Yume would want to clique up with Ziv so it was pointless to leave the spot for now. The two of them always acted vice versa, if one was playful then the other tended to be downtrodden, so for once Yami was the levelled one. He listened until he was allowed to leave, the 2D shadow followed Ziv until he felt confident enough to climb out of the shadows and appear next to his friend. "So what do you think Aroma is like?" His dark voice called to his friend.

Ziv was the first one to have heard his voice, he was the only one Yami felt confident enough to talk to, with Yume he didn't need to share words and with the rest, he just gestured but Ziv had been the first one he had found as a friend. The black-haired boy scratched his shoulder as he looked around, his green eyes connected with Ziv's as a smile grew on his face. The two of them looked uncanny, Yume and Ziv, while Yami appeared like a darker version of his brother, his colors were almost inverse. Purple and black instead of white and the other colors his brother likes to play around with.

Yume was busy bobbing his head as he confidently walked down the marketplace, his head focused on finding the country's national cuisine, not focusing on Hozok who was slowly moving about 100 meters behind him, deep in thoughts while his twin was on the opposite side of the village. "Aren't you tired of training all the time? Let's relax and find some... What do they call them? Women? That's what Hozok said boys should be focused on." Yami shrugged and scratched his black hair, he wasn't sure what he meant by that as neither of the brothers had hit puberty so girls were just weird, and for some reason, they needed to protect them.

Yami shadow-boxed to suggest that if Ziv didn't want to change his mind then he would be down to spar with him if that could get them to enjoy their free time, especially now that they had some time away from Yume, perhaps they could meet some new people, perhaps Ziv could be the one that made Yami brave enough to meet them. Would Yami really speak to other people before Yume got to hear his brother's voice? That would be a bit cruel but also a bit funny, well, that all really depended on what happened next, it was all left up to fate.

---

1014 / 1000 + 2 Control

[Zao]

The scene wasn't like the first few times that he'd been surprised by Yami, the shadow twin of his good friend Yumi, they could often be found apart, and it wasn't uncommon for the twin to interact with Ziv, it was almost like having another friend even if the young boy still didn't truly understand the fellow student's companion. But while he wasn't surprised that the shadow twin had popped up next to him as he was running, as he had noticed that Yume had been one of the first to slip away, what did surprise the young student was that the shadow actually spoke. It was enough to cause for the white-haired kid to do a double take, almost crashing into to a vendor cart that came out of an adjacent side street forcing him to leap over it, coming down in a forward shoulder roll before landing on his feet. His previous momentum carrying over as he slid forward several feet on the sandy street's surface which made stopping even harder than normal, but regaining control of his body he finally was able to stop. "Yami, I honestly didn't know if you could talk or not." It was a rather blatant statement, but what could you expect from a twelve-year-old kid. Shaking his head for a second, he regained some of his own composure in the brief pause as he dusted himself off from the sand he'd kicked up and as he dusted off his shoulder, he looked back to Yami and spoke. "I'm not sure. There is so much to see and do here that I'm not really sure where to even start, my friend. But is should be a great time."

Ziv spoke back to the shadow twin, his voice sounded like his size, a bit tiny with a slightly high pitch as he spoke to the companion as though it was just another person. He was truly interested in what the beach front town within Aroma country had to offer at this international festival, it was hard for him to believe or even understand that a place this beautiful would host such an event. To bring together all who wished to participate, even those who were currently pitted against one another as enemies could potentially be setting across a table from one another in a restaurant in a peaceful manner. But would that truly happen? Would those with such deep-seated grudges truly be able to put down those same unpaid debts for just this festival. Who really knew and honestly it was far above the current thoughts of the Sky Reach student as he smiled back at Yami now. Maybe when he was older would he be able to understand the significance of such a place that attempted to bring the world together to celebrate in a peaceful manner, perhaps the rest of the nations could learn something from a place such as this.

"Haha, I wouldn't really call this actual training. But if I'm not fast enough who knows what I might miss!" With a playful look on his face in the moment Ziv turned on the balls of his feet and took off in a dead sprint, it was true that he actually wasn't looking to train but that didn't mean he needed to take his time or from his perspective waste any time as he already had a few destinations in mind from the flyers that he'd seen inside the lobby of the large motel that he was staying at. " Keep up if you can!" Yelling out to his friend, the boy took off in a dead sprint, but it wasn't just like they were racing on a track or down an old dirt path like back in Cresent on the school grounds. Here there were tons of people everywhere, more than he'd ever seen in one place and he had to weave his body in and out of the crowds searching for the tiny opening that appeared and disappeared with the mobs of people that were attending to all manner of things here in the festival grounds. The youthful kid was treating the entire thing as a little game between the two of them, as he wasn't quite sure just how face the shadow twin was, being hard to judge his actual speed due to the ability of Yami to shift between 2D and 3D making actually tracking him with an untrained eye rather difficult to do.

But as he leaped over a man pushing a cart across the street a certain idea hit the mind of the fifth year, with a smirk on his face as he landed and rolled from leaping over the cart only to hear the middle aged man behind him yelling something at his back, Ziv channeled some chakra into his feet as he ran up the side of the building to his left side before jumping off the vertical wall of the building and dodging into a narrower side street that could have almost been called an alleyway. From there he reached out using his unassuming strength to grab hold of a thin pole that had a festival flag on it, spinning around it before launching himself diagonally upwards even higher towards the wall of another building before he twisted his body around in order to allow for his feet to be traveling first and landing on the wall. The thin layer of chakra that was still coating the bottom of his wooden sandals clicked gently each time his foot struck the stone wall as he ran up it, reaching the top he planted the middle of his right foot right along the corner of the rooftop and then pushed with his strength to launch himself now up on top of ceramic tile roofing. Landing gently at the peak of the roof of the couple story building, Ziv quickly glanced around wondering if he'd managed to shake his pursuer in this friendly game that he'd started.

1128 + 1001 = 2129 words speed training

[Trusted Grader]

Yami chuckled as he reached out and grabbed Ziv to stabilize him, he had forgotten that he hadn't heard him when he finally spoke to him when he had gotten kidnapped, but now that the cat was out of the bag he felt comfortable in at least sharing with him that he could speak. Yume was out and about somewhere else enjoying ice cream while Yami got the good fortune to scare his friend, he hadn't gotten the best time to socialize with him so he figured that now that they found themselves in Aroma Country they could bond. "Well, you are the first one to hear me speak friend, consider yourself lucky.” The deep-voiced twin chuckled as he looked around to see if anyone would catch what they said.

Yami pulled out his version of slither that was dark green instead of indigo, he slashed twice at the leaves before he sheathed the weapon again. "Whatever happens out here I got your back, if worst comes to worst we only have to survive until the samurai come and save our skins. At least that was what the old geezer said.” Yami turned to face Ziv who seemed more interested in running, with a smirk growing on the shadow twin's face he nodded at his white-haired friend before he looked toward where he was heading. Perhaps we should play a little game of tag, to see who's faster. I believe Yume and Ziv raced against each other in the aptitude test, which Yume barely won, so there's a chance he's gotten faster since then, but so have we. Yami grinned.

"I'll give you a ten seconds heads up.” The boy rubbed his hands and cracked his neck as he prepared to give chase. "I will chase you first but if I tag you then you are it.” Yami chuckled, he got down on all fours, his pseudo muscles contracted as his clothes folded around the knees, hips, shoulders, and elbows. Yami's eyes never left Ziv who was bobbing and weaving between the crowd, a problem the shadowy twin wouldn't have to deal with, but today he was here to try something different, he was going to have some fun with it, he wasn't just going to train his speed but he was also going to train a jutsu, one that would allow him to shapeshift, for there were more ways than humanoid combat styles that could harm the enemy.

Ten! Yami ran on all four and soon black glob covered his entire body, the blob shrunk and soon a black cat ran down the busy streets, the sand beaches buckled under the mighty weight of the black cat that chased the white-haired boy. Yami zoomed between the legs of the passing civilians as he gave chase after Ziv, he aimed to get as close as possible before attempting to nibble at his heels. After the fourth attempt, he would transform back into a human shape and dive after the boy before shapeshifting into a crow that flew after the boy.

The crow cried out as it tried to nibble at Ziv's head as he jumped over the man pushing the cart across the streets, Yami shifted back to human shape to extend his reach, missed and rolled past his friend and chuckled with the boy as he too looked back at the old man. "Sorry old man.” Yami bit down on a green apple and chuckled, revealing why he had missed Ziv. His laughter stopped once he saw Ziv grab a pole and launch himself high up into the wall, causing the kid to toss the fruit and dive into the wall. Black goo splashed off against the wall and began to swim upwards as it gave chase to the white-haired boy, once it cleared the edge a great black eagle would swoop after him.

"You are not getting away that easy!” Yami chuckled.

Somewhere around the ground level, Yume was amazed by the difference in culture and took in as much as he could, the main cuisine was delicious and he was now trying out a pineapple grapefruit ice cream, said to be hailed from an old warrior that helped create Aroma. Sounds like a load of crap but it tastes like magic! Yume was in heaven, he loved this country, the atmosphere, the music, the taste in food, the culture, the —What was that noise again? Yume heard a voice that sounded similar to the one they had heard in by the Griffin's nest, it was Yami's voice, one that Yume had yet to put a finger on as his twin brother had yet to speak to the boy due to their telepathic capabilities.

"There's that voice again?” Yume stopped licking the ice cream and looked around for the source of that voice.

Yami watched Ziv look back to see if he was still pursuing him, when in fact he had flown above and past him then turned 2d to creep up to him. He turned three-dimensional when he looked back, he leaned in and almost rested his chin on his shoulder. "Tag, you're it.” Yami chuckled as he slowly started to back away until he reached the edge, he performed a back flip before turning into a crow that swooped down towards the street levels, once he was close enough to touch the ground he would turn into a small rat and begin to scurry away as a small rodent.

Good luck catching me now! Yami chuckled as he rushed past Yume who was disgusted by the sight of such a massive rat running past him, he looked over in its direction for a couple of seconds before he spotted Ziv giving chase to the rat. "Yo, where are you running off to? Did you see that huge rat!?" Yume couldn't finish his little speech before Ziv would have turned the corner, especially if he wanted to keep up with Yami. "Ditched yet again..." Yume sighed as he continued to walk down another path, perhaps he would have the chance to run into Rei or perhaps Kazuma?

---

1020 / 1000 +2 speed

[Kaitos10]

Nozomi was currently practicing more sensory jutsu this time it was a wind sensory jutsu. She was using shadow clones to speed up the training process as they would all be practicing it to try and speed up the training time. At first they would work on building off the existing wind jutsu, as they trained they noticed there would be a crescent ninja around here training as well. This reminded her of the recent competition coming up recently. Which is another reason to make sure she trained more jutsu.

Currently her only means of sensing is default sensory and chiton which both could be blocked by kiri ninja. So she had to make another more difficult to block sensory jutsu now. If there was a competition coming she wanted to make sure she could beat other Kirigakure ninja especially as tensions in the houses were starting to ramp up. Eventually she would manage to get the jutsu to give moving images for everything within 58 meters. Which was useful but she still didn’t have the jutsu completely finished she wanted to make sure she could use it in combat so one clone would poof to transfer the knowledge to all other clones and Nozomi.

She would then have the clones fight one on one each other with their eyes closed using only wind sensory to fight and detect their opponents movements. Meanwhile Nozomi would be walking around the area with one other clone with both of their eyes closed using the wind sensory to practice seeing with it as they also used vibration sensing to make sure they wouldn’t run into anything.

As the clones fought and Nozomi walked around exploring the area they slowly got more and more proficient with the jutsu that was trying to be made. Eventually they were able to fight normally with only using the jutsu to see. Because of that the real Nozomi would practice running around full speed now. Since they were able to function with the jutsu as their new sense of sight now the final step was to be able to use other sensory jutsu through this jutsu.

They would try using various techniques including one that was recently developed. To analyze jutsu through sensory techniques. But because of the clones all practicing as well they managed to eventually finish the jutsu that was being trained and successfully finish it.

Now that they finished it, they would have the shadow clones poof as they started to rest to recover their chakra as well as try and think what sort of other jutsu they should train.

435

“Jutsu trained&being used”Show

[Sensory Style •surrounding Breeze]
B-rank Ninjutsu
Prerequisite: sensory concentration
The user will do a series of hand seals and place their hands in the air. Releasing waves of chakra out of their hands. These waves of chakra will be one continuous reaching out to 70 meters in the air. As the chakra touches something it will evoke an image in the users head of everything it touches within a 70m area. As well as anything up to 25 meters in the air. These are continually moving images allowing the user to use this jutsu to track up to up to control/4 targets of their choice. It also has the added benefit of working with other sensory Jutsu.

[Sensory Style • supernova]
S-Rank Ninjutsu
Prerequisite: [Sensory Style • Flare]
[Sensory Style • Focused Senses]
The sensor will activate this supplementary technique in addition to a sensory jutsu. For the next [control/5] posts, any time anyone within eyesight beings to prepare a jutsu, the user will see their chakra. By focusing on the chakra with their mind’s eye, the user can quickly determine the affinity, rank, prerequisites, effects, amount of chakra, and control (for ninjutsu), willpower (for genjutsu),
or a combination of those as appropriate, used in the target technique. The user will be able to determine the speed and trajectories of any projectiles they can see. Because of the previously mentioned abilities the user can also use this jutsu to copy any jutsu they see. Copying jutsu follows Fukusha rules with the exception of the user is able to permanently remember any jutsu and keep it as long as it’s a archive jutsu or the user has ooc permission to keep the jutsu if it’s custom. If the user doesn’t have permission they forget the jutsu when this jutsu ends.

[Zao]

"Where is he..." The white-haired kid was looking around as stood up slowly from the peak of the rooftop, his bright eyes scanning the vast number of building and rooftops that one could see in nearly all directions from his point of view, this being the first time for him visiting a true major city like this. But there was a soft smile on the boy's thin lips at the moment as this was truly the first time for him ever playing a game of tag. Due to his up bringing and where he had been sadly raised there hadn't been a place for such childish things, there everyone was expected to train to become a fighter, a warrior, while Ziv truly just wanted to understand what it meant to be a kid sometimes. His head turned to look back out towards the slope of buildings in front of him, where one could see how the terrain and natural environment sloped down to the water's edge now. It was something else that he couldn't wait to do, swim in the ocean, he'd even heard that the water tasted salty. In that moment the Yami had managed to slip by him being in his two-dimensional form and then reverting back to normal as he found himself almost cheek to cheek with him now.

Startled he yelled out, "What the heck!" as he stumbled backwards and nearly fell backwards off the edge of the roof before he managed to recover a few feet from the edge. "Heh." Ziv tried to let out a slightly nervous laugh, attempting to play off how he just screamed almost like a little girl when Yami had surprised him. The ability for the shadow twin to move about quietly and for the most part unseen was amazing, it would make for him being able to infiltrate places or sneak by others on missions almost too easy, or at least that was the thoughts in the young man's mind as he straightened up and nodded to his friend. "Fair enough, seems I underestimated you." Ziv truly had, though he'd been friend with both Yume and his shadow twin Yami, the latter really didn't speak, at least before today, with him and he only got to see glimpses of what the figure was capable of. Today he'd gotten a bit more understanding and offered credit where it was do for his companion as he smirked and nodded back that he was ready just as the other started to back away.

He thought about giving the boy ten seconds like he'd done for him, but now that he was beginning to truly understand just how easy it was for the shadow twin to maneuver through places and people due to his special ability, the boy immediately threw that thought right out the window and as the figure backflipped off the edge and immediately shifted into the form of a bird. "So that's how!" He yelled out, not really at Yami himself but the fact that he could do more than the simple two dimensional to three dimensional but also into the form of other creatures, this just went from normal difficulty to very hard in the blink of an eye. Chakra circulated through his body, but it was mainly being pushed into his lower body as he leaned forward and bent at the knees, his body falling forward to the point that it was almost at a forty-five-degree angle before he pushed hard off his legs, understanding that speed really wasn't he strong suit he still chased with all his might. Rapidly approaching the edge, he didn't slow down as chakra flowed into his feet as he matched up his distance do that his foot would actually miss the edge as he stepped past it. This caused his body to appear to fall forward over the edge as his foot that stepped past the edge came into contact with the wall directly below the edge of the roofing. Sticking to it via the tree walking technique that every young shinobi was taught in order to facilitate learning to properly control their chakra, Ziv was no headed straight down the wall at close to his full speed.

As his bright blue eyes caught sight of the black crow nearing the ground he could see it shift again just before it hit the ground, now taking on the form of a rather disgusting giant rat that was bigger than a normal rat, perhaps closer to a possum or racoon in size. "It's almost like cheating..." Before he managed to hit the ground, literally running, the large shadow rat had shot out into the main road and was rapidly scurrying away. Landing almost in a crouched position he leaped up and ran out into the street and turned to follow the smaller shadow rat but just as he did, he saw his own 'twin' who Yami had just ran beside. "Hey Yume! No time to talk, got to catch that rat!" There was no real context to his words, even as he wanted to stop and explain and see what his friend was up to, he couldn't, or he'd lose sight of the small rodent he was chasing. In a flash the white-haired student zipped by his comrade and barely was able to catch a glimpse of the shadow rat turning the next corner. 'Having to push harder or I'm going to lose him!' Trying to self-motivate him the boy tried to increase his own speed as he quickly reached the corner sliding into it as he began to accelerate again looking for any signs of his 'tag' partner.

946 + 2129 = 3075

[Trusted Grader]

Yami wanted to laugh but due to him being by crowds of people he shied away from it, instead, he focused on making sure that he was one step ahead. The giant possum/rat scurried through the busy streets, scaring the citizens as the thing looked quite menacing, heck, it gave off the impression that Ziv was some sort of animal control sent to take care of this disgusting creature. Another flash of thought almost made the boy laugh, instead, he transformed back to human form, See, you think you are the only one capable of pulling some tricks out of your sleeves huh? he stuck out his tongue and pointed at Yume and Ziv before switching over to a large black cat, figuring that the appearance of a cat wouldn't cause so much panic. Let's hope that the cat doesn't bite his tongue.

The cat leaped up the roof of the makeshift marketplace, slipping between the hanging curtains and using the shade to hide his true form as he continued to run away from Ziv. Yami had so far deducted that he was faster than Ziv but he wasn't as cunning as he was, he had seen through the shared memory he and Yume shared that Ziv always seemed like the type to figure out the path of least resistance, while Rei seemed more like the brutish type who fights her way to victory, she had indeed impressed him when she bested his brother, a feat that made him respect her a little, even though she was a bit raging mad.

Yami leaped down from the rooftops and continued to scurry through the busy streets until he turned left twice and began to run back towards the area where Nozomi was last seen practicing with her clones, Yami had no idea what was ahead but he figured that he needed to come up with another plan or else he would either drain Yume of his chakra pool or get caught by Ziv. Theatrics. The cat giggled, if anyone truly paid attention to the random cat running down the ally then they would hear the strange noise, hopefully, they wouldn't be able to deduce his plan, he expected Ziv to at least have an inkling that the noise was Yami trying to giggle in cat form.

Not far from their little game of tag, was Nozomi, training a jutsu, unbeknownst to her the shadow twin hastily made his way toward her, had he known that whatever happened would be the likely outcome then Yami wasn't all too certain that he would go for it again, the shadow boy was a fickle one after all. Oh, she looks cute, I bet she could help me win the game of tag... Yami leaped up Nozomi's shoulder, appearing as if he was hiding from the mean white-haired boy that had given chase to the cute little cat, he even hissed at Ziv once he got closer in order to sell the bit that he was afraid of him, all the while he was fighting the urge to laugh at his friend, what a fun situation he had found himself in, what would he do? Would he attempt to go for the cat and startle Nozomi perhaps? Or would he try to bargain? Would she trust him? Heck, would she even trust the cat? You know who didn't know the outcome of any of this?

Yume, for he was out and about trying to relax but the sight of a massive possum and his friend giving chase after it really spoiled his appetite, the curious part of him wanted to follow Ziv and find out what the fuzz was all about but the longer he thought about it the more he realized that every time he found himself close to Yume outside of class or recess they got in trouble, so for once, he had chosen to just be by himself (Or so he thought, for Hozok wasn't all that far behind him) The teacher was making on women and keeping an eye out on both Yume and any prying eyes that took an interest in either of them, Hozok knew that Ziv was being tailed by another Avian teacher by the orders of Warui, Dude doesn't know what the hell he is talking about. Hozok shook his head as he continued to follow Yume.

It was true, the psychiatrist had evaluated that Yume and Ziv were not a good pair, that Rei and Kazuma would also lead Ziv astray, Hozok, on the other hand, believed that the four of them with the help of Desu and a few other teachers could train the team to become a powerful squad that could change the course of history, therefor it was outmost important that they raised them with true and just morals, that was why he had signed up at least, he didn't know why Desu had joined, nor why someone like Nehan would, or Ikanbi? Perhaps they seek redemption like I? Hozok closed his eyes and nodded by himself as he continued to track the white-haired boy. The sun was hot and the day seemed to be pretty chill, so Hozok couldn't complain, his student wasn't acting up so he got a chance to enjoy the vacation as well, his brother, on the other hand, was on his own, Yami and Ziv were to deal with the Nozomi situation as best as they could.

Their teacher was a bit on the older side so he took his time trying to catch up to the running children, though they had yet to escape his sensory. The old man may be a bit slow, but he still had a few tricks up his sleeve, he even made sure that his chakra sensory was covered by anti-sensory chakra to combat the boys from trying anything funny and to conceal his actions which he would play off as harmless, and with papers and a quick explanation he was sure that they'd let him go with a warning.

---

1009 + 1020 + 1014 = 3043

[Zao]

Left, right, up, and down. The chase was still on as he quickly began to realize that Yami was much faster than either himself or Yume, added to the fact his ability to shape shift and even flatten into a realistic looking shadow, this was truly a crisis for the youth who was trying to catch the shadow twin. Slipping between a pair of fruit stands he had temporarily lost sight with his 'prey' but in that moment he saw the twin shift back into his full human form, making him easier to spot in the crowd street compared to that tiny rodent form he had just been in a few moments earlier. 'There!' Ziv mentally yelled as he made eye contact with the shadow boy, but in that moment his friend's companion stuck his tongue out at them. "Why you!" It seemed that the shadow was actually just playing with the fifth-year student as he shifted his weight forward and channeled some chakra directly into his legs again seeing a straight-line path that would help him gain a little ground as he shot after his friend now, the game was still a foot.

'Need to close the gap.' Though his opponent was faster than him, he could still use the terrain and hopefully some strategy to cut some corners, both literally and figuratively to aid him in actually catching the shapeshift. Again, the shadow shifted its form, this time into a large black cat, not like a panther or anything to crazy just a large house cat that sprinted off again. 'How many forms does he know?!' Ziv was both impressed and equally frustrated with the rapid ability of the shadow twin to shift forms and the sheer number of forms that he was able to transform him. How useful it must be for him in a real-life scenario let alone here in their game of tag. Up ahead he could see the cat using its small stature to leap up onto the top of some of the market stand, looking to ascend onto the nearby building so Ziv formed hand seals as he ran and flicked his left hand up toward the roof ledge off to his front left, five slender chakra strength shot upwards toward the edge making contact as he pulled down with the arm and at the same time shortened the chakra strings.

This combined motion from both sides literally threw himself upwards, launching him up and over the edge of the roof as he came down along the spine of the tile roof top, crouching as he landed to help absorb the impact before taking off sprinting straight down the center of the roof top as the black cat also made his own appearance around a building ahead. 'I'm getting closer.' Almost as though the cat could hear his thoughts, he dipped off the edge of a building back down onto a cart and ultimately into the crowd as Ziv transitioned over to running near the ledge of the rooftop now, his bright blue gaze sweeping the thick crowd of people below before he was able to see a slender feline shadow slipping easily through the feet and legs of the crowded marketplace. 'I've got to figure out how to get ahead of him.' For the next couple moments, he focused on keeping pace with the cat as he maintained the high ground but with the shadow twin's speed and small size, he would ultimately lose track of the cat about ten seconds later forcing him to descend from the rooftop down onto the ground to search for him.

"Where could that guy have gotten off to?" The white-haired kid simply shook his head as he stopped near an alleyway to recenter himself, in that moment he heard almost what sounded like a faint giggling coming from his left down that very alleyway. 'Seems all isn't lost just yet!' The giggling shadow had exposed himself, now back on the trail of his tag partner the boy turned left and ran down the alley way spotting the wiggling tail end of a black cat that was already at the other end of the building that turned a second left and disappeared from sight. 'Crap!' Lightly cursing at both fellow friend and him he followed rapidly in trace of the cat's route and soon also turned left into the somewhat less crowded street of people, but little did he know was that Yami had such a cunning streak. It only took probably around fifteen or twenty seconds for Ziv to find the catch, but he was trying to perch himself onto the shoulder of a young woman, one he didn't recognize and wondered if this was something that Yami had met before or if he was truly pulling this stranger into their game of tag.

"Found you!" He called out as he started to come within vocal range of the shadowy cat, but then he found the 'cat' putting on a little show for the woman that he was trying to make friends with or perhaps better said to deceive into helping him out against Ziv in this game. "Don't try to hide behind her, sorry miss, but I need that cat." The boy really wasn't sure how to explain their currently ongoing situation of tag, without exposing that Yami wasn't really a cat, as who knew how she would react if she found out that some random dude was trying to jump on her shoulder. All he could do now was keep a bit of a distance, three to five meters there abouts, from Nozomi, who appeared at least a few years older than them. "Yami, don't bother the lady." Ziv spoke again and appeared to pat at his thigh as if telling the cat to come his way.


974 + 3075 = 4049 words speed

[Kaitos10]

Just as she was about to make the shadow clones disappear to rest one of them sensed the incoming solid shadow cat. Figuring it was some sort of trick or attack from Konoha she quickly tried to think of something quick. Poison most likely wouldn’t work, or would it? She thought but then figured better to catch it so she started to work with her clones to make a Tenkujutsu water prison so after working on the jutsu using her shadow clones to speed up the time to make the jutsu she would combine Tenkujutsu with Suiton to make up to four orbs of water appear two of them floated around her while the other two headed towards the strange shadow cat.

The first orb would be heading straight towards it as it was in mid air and the second would be put in stand by used to limit the creatures escape routes or at least stop its approach. The orb would head at speed 25 and trap the creature at strength 40 because of its special tenku sealing ability even if the cat turned into 2d if it made contact the creature would be trapped inside. The creature would then be stuck inside unless it had a way to break out with brute force or found some other method. Also if the shadow my some strange reason needed oxygen it wouldn’t be able to breathe normally because the prison was filled with water.

Then if it trapped the shadow and ziv arrived she would look at him suspiciously and say “who are you? And why do you need the cat? Do you know why that cat was heading towards me?”

She would then wait for his answer and depending on his answer she would release the jutsu. Allowing him to grab the cat.

304 words +100 words from previous posts

“jutsu used”Show

Suiton • waters of Tartarus
S rank Ninjutsu
Prerequisite:Tenkujutsu concentration
Is a jutsu that specializes in capturing non solid targets, elemental bodies, spirits and those with special abilities. After performing the correct hand seals the user is able to spew up to four 20m orbs that orbit the user when not in use. The user can fire and control the trajectory of these orbs. As well as guide them to go where they want. The orbs look like a normal water prison orb but when they hit or get within 2 meter of a target or pass into or near the space it’s occupying it draws the target in at control strength regardless of if the target is made of solid matter it can also suck in inanimate solid or non solid things if the user wishes, once trapped in side the jutsu prevents escape and seals all nth stat abilities the user has preexisting knowledge of as well as common abilities like sage mode and spirits.

[Trusted Grader]

Yami was stumped, no way was he prepared for her sudden shift in attitude, and seeing as Nozomi could move so fast that both Yami and Ziv appeared to be standing still was indeed cause for concern, if Nozomi was observant then during the insane gap of speed difference movement, she would be able to see that there was another person following the duo, this person seemed to be able to react at the same speed as Nozomi, meaning she likely wouldn't be fast enough to kill Yami and Ziv but capturing them in a playful manner had been said to be A-okay!

So there Yami was, trapped within the massive water orb, his spirit form was incapable of escaping, truly locking the boy in, terror soon washed over the shadowy twin who immediately began to shapeshift, he first turned back to his boyish nature, and attempted to swim but couldn't move as the restraints were too rough, Damn it, how was she able to tell that I wasn't a real cat? Drats, if this continues then Ziv will be able to get me! Yami looked over at Ziv who seemed a bit shocked, betting that he too wasn't expecting Nozomi to go this far.

The following teacher's left hand hovered over the handle of his sword, ready to strike the boy free and chase Nozomi away if she tried anything funny, as of now the banter seemed rather calm, he deduced that it had probably just been a misunderstanding and that Yami was a fool for attempting to jump up on Nozomi, a lesson he would hopefully learn from one did learn best from one's mistakes.

Perhaps Yami really should try to observe before acting, Ziv seems better at that but he also seems like the type to get into deep trouble... Shit... Why was I given the rough ones... Yami wasn't supposed to be here, he was supposed to be with Yume, who was Hozok's mission, but due to part of the dynamic duo collecting trouble ensued, and here he was thinking if he should act or just inspect, for this interaction could be good for the boys but could also spell their doom if the teacher wasn't fast enough. How troublesome.

Yume on the other hand continued to walk down the lonesome road, his arm was still in a sling but his casket was now marked by his friends, the stinky protection was really an eye-sore, the casket was also another reason why Yume hadn't been to the beach and probably wouldn't really fully swim this go around, perhaps if Ziv did manage to create that casket for him. The very idea got him thinking about the possibilities he could create with that thing, especially since he was able to utilize some of those chakra threads to his advantage.

In fact, he started thinking about the possibility of mixing and matching his friend's abilities with his, so that they could have an entire arsenal ready to deal with anything that could possibly want to take them down. Yume had been observing Ziv lately, who, after being dosed by Tsukiton had been acting a bit strangely, he believed that something had affected him during his trip, which to be fair, so had Yume, but he seemed to boost him towards becoming more heroic while Ziv seems to have become obsessed with the idea of searching for power. He seemed to constantly be training and searching for ways to be powerful, but the question was, what for? There was still a lot the boys didn't know about each other, but hopefully, with time they would cross that bridge and not break it.

Yami chose not to speak as of yet but figured that if he played a little game then perhaps Ziv and Nozomi would have a strong reaction, so he began the charades that he was beginning to drown, he displayed it by rapidly shifting between forms as if he was panicking, all along the shadowy twin was laughing on the inside, thinking that the second he was released he would make his grand escape and that Nozomi would have to pay for her transgression in the future, when he was capable of retaliating that is.

Oh how wise he believed himself to be, the little trickster continued to play the game until Nozomi would either release him or he got the point that she was a cold-hearted ninja who cared little for other's well-being, which would be a strong sign for Ziv to back away from this being. I really misread the whole situation, here I thought she was this innocent young thing but she is really just another weapon like every other ninja... What a sad world they have created. Yami wasn't sure about the last part since Sky-Reach also raised child soldiers, but they existed due to the hands of ninjas and samurai fighting.

Yes, it was true, Sky-Reach did basically the same but their system was different, they didn't raise them to fight for a specific country's ideologies, but their own, to create a full-fledged human that could make their own decisions and protect the ones in need. With the different house systems, they were even raised to view the world differently as the orphanage with its thousands of years of knowledge had realized that not all humans viewed the world the same and there was nothing wrong with that, that was the beauty of life in fact, to be able to see it from different perspectives and come to some sort of conclusion, whether it was peacefully or filled with blood, Sky-Reach students would match the response appropriately, that was the idea.

So now that the situation was set, what would Nozomi do? Would she still hold Yami in fear that he might be a Konoha ninja or would she release him and perhaps even join their cat-and-mouse game? Now that would be interesting, I wonder how fast she is though, because it is pretty clear that she is far stronger than a fifth grader, even though she looks the part.

---

1018 + 3043 = 4061

[Zao]

Just as Ziv was calling out the shadowy cat, something he truly hadn't expected to encounter here was that the rather similar aged girl suddenly attacked Yami. The orbs of water she produced moved so fast that he couldn't even track their movements from his more distant position and if they had been aimed at him then he would have ended up just like his shadowy friend at this point, trapped in a solid orb of water. 'What kind of technique was that? Some strange suiton jutsu!' This would truly be the first time for him meeting a shinobi, but he wouldn't have expected for someone to react so strangely to such a playful action, even if it was invading her personal space a bit. In the academy the spoke about how some country shinobi were trained to be just weapons of war, tools for the village's use. Could she be one, even as young as she is?

If she was as strong as the boy was assuming she was, fighting back or attacking her in this moment with his measly strength would probably only send the situation spiraling further out than it already was, plus he remembered the rules of the festival that were strictly enforced. "Miss! Miss!" The tiny white-haired kid slid to a stop, both his hands coming up with the palms facing the Kiri shinobi. "There must be some misunderstanding, my friend was just trying to be playful. Can you...um...let him out of there?" What else could Ziv really say, to the pair from Sky Reach this had been just a simple game even if it had gotten slightly out of hand but he still couldn't understand the hostile reaction from the girl. He'd keep both his hands out as if trying not to portray any threat to her, just wanting to get his friend out of the watery prison.