"I mean," Kazu started with a shrug, looking away from the tunnel entrance and walking back towards Yoru and the original path,
"if you think we can take them, sure." Let it not be said that Inuzuka Kazuo was one to run from a fight.
"Just try not to spill too much blood, okay? It'll screw with my sense of smell, make tracking the girl's scent that much harder." As he finished his sentence he stopped to think about that particular statement and what it said about him. He wasn't overly concerned with drawling blood because it'd hurt whoever was in their way, he was concerned because it'd make his life more difficult. Huh. Shaking his head to clear the thoughts and started back on the original trail, motioning for Koji to follow with a beckoning of his fingers.
"Well, looks like we're off to kick some ass and take some names."
Of course, this was all assuming that the group of five scents were actually hostile. He couldn't see them yet so he had no clue if they were simply traders and not slavers. But he couldn't smell any horses or donkeys that would be carrying their goods, so… call it a safe assumption they were about to be in for a fight. He made sure to keep his nose out, tracking the scent, using how potent it was as a determining factor of how close they were. When they were just around the bend from the group, Kazuo would hold a hand to his lips to signal for silence and then close his eyes, focusing all of his concentration of his hearing. Their scents were mingled, so it was difficult to pinpoint exact locations, but he could hear them move from this distance with relative ease.
A shuffling of feet here, the jangling of chains there, the heavy breathing of one them and a choking, phlegm filled cough of another, it was all serving to paint a vivid picture in Kazuo's head of what he was about to walk into. He used rough hand signals to tell Yoru what he was hearing. Two on the left of the canyon, one of them was smoking, three on the right. Looking to Koji, he nodded to the dog and he started to gather chakra, Kazuo making a set of hand seals. Within a second the dog was gone and another Kazuo was standing in its place.
Kazuo shrugged and waved for Yoru to take the lead, mouthing
'After You.'
Listening • Distinct Sounds
C-Rank Taijutsu
Prerequisite: Canine Focus • Sound
A more in-depth technique than others like it requiring a single post of focus, the user mentally takes in and registers the default sounds of an area; Creaking on a boat, wind against walls, their own breathing and other sounds one would expect. When done focusing on them the user becomes more acutely aware of sounds that 'don't belong', such as footsteps in an empty room or a branch breaking in a quiet forest. The contrast of sounds is what is important here, not the type, and the user can discern differences in natural sound versus those made by action in most cases unless the actions are deliberately made to sound natural. This focus on distinct sounds once again opens up the user to sonic attacks very damagingly and can often deafen the user.
~Beast-Man Clone
C-Rank Ninjutsu
A staple of the Inuzuka fighting style, the Beast-Man Clone technique is utilized by clan familiars. By working in conjunction with its ninja companion, the canine familiar will transform itself into a copy of the clan member. While this is a clone technique not unlike *Shadow Clone Technique, the animal familiar has an independent chakra pool and can survive multiple weak and medium-strength blows before returning to its original state. Familiars that have used the Beast-Man Clone technique are able to form hand seals to do a number of their own techniques in addition to their clan member's clan techniques depending on their stamina. This clone lasts for five (5) posts.
1-2 Stamina: D-Rank jutsu
3-4 Stamina: D-Rank jutsu and 3 C-Rank jutsu
5-6 Stamina: D, C-Rank jutsu and 2 B-Rank jutsu
7-8 Stamina: D, C, and B-Rank jutsu
9-10 Stamina: D, C , B-Rank jutsu, and 2 A-Rank jutsu
11-15+ Stamina: D, C, B-Rank jutsu, and A-Rank jutsu